Hibner, Amelia Blanton

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 53 Article 16February 2018An Historical Moment: Saint Louis University:200th Anniversary of Saint Louis UniversityAmelia Blanton HibnerFollow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationHibner, Amelia Blanton (2018) "An Historical Moment: Saint Louis University: 200th Anniversary of Saint Louis University,"Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 53 , Article 16.Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol53/iss1/16FoundingIn 1818, on the banks of theMississippi River, BishopLouis DuBourg foundedSaint Louis Academy. Afterit expanded to a college in1820, DuBourg realized thecollege was more than hecould manage and ap-pealed to the Belgian Jesuits at George-town College for assistance. In 1823,twelve Jesuits made the treacherousjourney to St. Louis andtook control of the collegethree years later. Under the leadershipof the college’s first presi-dent, 29-year-old Fr. PeterVerhaegen, S.J., the collegebegan its history of “firsts.”In 1832 it changed its nameto Saint Louis Universityand received its formal charter fromMissouri, making it the first universitywest of the Mississippi. It followedwith two more firsts west of themighty river, opening medical and lawschools in 1836 and 1843. Race RelationsThough not often remembered, six Jesuit-owned slaves traveled west with the Je-suits from Baltimore in 1823 and workedon a farm in Florissant, Missouri. Thesesame slaves, or others hired, likely con-tributed to the construction of the col-lege’s new building in 1826. Sadly, the38 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION                                                                                                                              Saint Louis University200th Anniversary of Saint Louis University By Amelia Blanton HibnerLeft: The ﬁrst building constructed by the Jesuits in 1829 to house Saint LouisCollegeBelow: Saint Louis Universitydowntown campus, 1890.Inset: Peter Verhaegen, S.J.,the college’s ﬁrst president.All photos courtesy of Saint Louis University Libraries Digital Collections.an historical MoMent1Hibner: An Historical Moment: Saint Louis University: 200th Anniversary oPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2018Jesuits in St. Louis continuedtheir history with slavery, pur-chasing a slave as late as 1862before Missouri abolishedslavery in 1865.        The university’s historywith race took a turn in 1944,when Fr. Claude Heithaus,S.J., delivered a sermonwhere he lambasted SLU forits failure to racially integrateand called upon students anduniversity officials to act.While it resulted in his ban-ishment from Saint Louis, thesermon also moved the uni-versity to admit its first fivestudents of color, makingSaint Louis the first univer-sity in any of the former slave states toestablish an official policy of integration.       Challenges over race were broughtto the forefront of the university’s con-sciousness with the recent occupationof campus by student protestors in2014. These protests were eerily similarto the 1969 occupation of an office bythe Association of Black Collegians,which resulted in a list of ten demandsfrom the students. The peaceful occu-pation in 2014 resulted in a thirteen-point agreement between theprotesters and the university that com-mit SLU to enhance diversity, equity,and inclusion.Beyond the Society As the university expanded, it wres-tled with the equally expanding rolesof women and lay people. In 1908 theuniversity admitted five women to theLaw School, marking the beginning ofwomen’s history at SLU as students. In1929 the universityconferred its firstPhD, in physics, to awoman, MotherMarie Kernaghan,R.S.C.J. However, itwasn’t until Fr. PaulReinert, S.J., becamepresident in 1949 thatwomen and menwere allowed to sitside-by-side in class.Fr. Reinert’svision for expansioncontinued with theestablishment of a layboard of trustees in1967, the first of itskind at any Catholiccollege or university in the UnitedStates. When the new board met for thefirst time, ten Jesuits, nine Catholic lay-men, and nine men of other faiths werein the room. In 2014, the university cel-ebrated another milestone with the in-auguration of its first lay president, Dr.Fred P. Pestello. Under his leadershipthe university has seen new strategicand master building plans. Amelia Blanton Hibner, MTS, is analumna of Saint Louis University and iscurrently a doctoral student in higher ed-ucation administration and works in theSchool of Social Work at the University.                                                                                                                                                                                                               39Left: Philosophy students withTom Sherman, S.J., circa 1880s.Middle: Students lining up toregister, 1951.Bottom: A woman acceptingher graduation award, 1956.2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 53, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 16https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol53/iss1/16

An Historical Moment: Saint Louis University: 200th Anniversary of Saint Louis University

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An Historical Moment: Saint Louis University: 200th Anniversary of Saint Louis University

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