General
Mission Statement
Saint Joseph's University is a Catholic and Jesuit university that instills in each member of its academic community: a love of learning and of the highest intellectual and professional achievement; moral discernment reflecting Christian values; and a transforming commitment to social justice. Saint Joseph’s is a private Independent and Comprehensive university.
The defining element of Saint Joseph's intellectual tradition experienced by all of its undergraduate students is its strong and integrative core curriculum in the liberal arts that informs their study of particular disciplines. While remaining true to that humane and formative tradition, Saint Joseph's now embraces the challenge of excellence in graduate education in both the arts and sciences and in business. Our understanding of the centuries-old Jesuit educational vision of "concern for the individual person" (cura personalis) establishes effective and rigorous teaching and learning as a primary value. Since teaching and learning in the modern academic context require research at both the undergraduate and graduate level, the University cultivates, in students and faculty, generative scholarship that embodies free and open inquiry, and provokes imaginative thinking, aesthetic appreciation, and precise communication. As a necessary complement to intellectual achievement, we seek to illuminate the affective and ethical dimension in learning within the various disciplines at every level. Cura personalis also calls for the fullest development of the individual student's potential both inside and outside the classroom.
The Catholic character of Saint Joseph's University springs from its historical relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, and from its current embodiment of the great traditions of Catholic life and culture. For this University, Christ and the Church are sources of truth, guides and inspirations for life. Catholic values are normative, including: full respect for the freedom of conscience of each person, freedom in research and teaching according to one's discipline, and the continuous pursuit of truth, human rights, and the common good. We foster a lived awareness of the challenging and mutually enriching interaction between Christian faith and diverse contemporary culture; we seek to engage the full participation of the entire community in the University's intellectual, cultural, and spiritual life.
The University's Ignatian identity derives from its founding by the Society of Jesus in 1851 and from the subsequent shaping of the University's development by the evolving world view of the Society. In ways consistent with its nature as a university, Saint Joseph's espouses the educational priorities of the Society of Jesus which include: searching for God in all things, pursuit of the greater good, the service of faith together with the promotion of justice, and effective compassion for the poor and those in need.
For the University's defining institutional ideals to matter at the regional, the national, or the international level, they need to be realized and expressed within an inclusive environment marked by trust and enriched by a diversity of ideas, cultures and religious commitments. The contemporary Ignatian vision of educating "men and women for others" assumes a Saint Joseph's University community--students, staff, and faculty--that exists as a vital cultural plurality, aware of and committed to its central identity, while yet open and welcoming to all.
May, 1998
Saint Joseph’s University University Fact Book History of the University
On the morning of September 15, 1851, some thirty young men gathered in the courtyard outside Saint Joseph’s Church, located in Willing’s Alley off Walnut and Fourth Streets and one block from Independence Hall. After attending High Mass and reciting the Veni Creator in the church, these young men were assigned to their classes in a building adjacent to the church. That September morning marked the beginning of a rich and exciting history for Saint Joseph’s University.
As far back as 1741, a Jesuit College in Philadelphia had been proposed and planned by Rev. Joseph Greaton, S.J., the first resident pastor of Saint Joseph’s Church. The suppression of the Jesuits (1773-1814) and lack of human and financial resources delayed for over a hundred years the realization of Fr. Greaton’s plans for a college. Credit for founding the college is given to Rev. Felix Barbelin, S.J., who served as its first president. He, along with four other Jesuits, formed the first faculty of Saint Joseph’s College. Before the end of the first academic year, the enrollment rose from fewer than forty to ninety-seven students. In the following year (1852), when the college received its charter of incorporation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the enrollment grew to 126 students.
In January, 1856, Saint Joseph’s College moved to a more spacious site on the fashionable Filbert Street. Due to financial difficulties and the serious illness of the college’s second president, the college returned to its Willing’s Alley location in 1860. Shortly thereafter, the civil strife between the North and South became the first of many wars that would greatly diminish the college’s enrollment. Through the Civil War and postbellum years, Saint Joseph’s College struggled to remain in existence.
With the purchase in 1866 of a city block between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets fronting on Stiles Street as a new site for the college, its future began to look brighter. Rev. Burchard Villiger, S.J., one of the original members of the college faculty, became its president in 1866.
It was during his tenure that new college buildings, made possible largely through a generous bequest from the estate of Francis Anthony Drexel, were constructed on the Stiles Street location. A sporadic but continuing growth, both in student enrollment and academic excellence, is recorded for the new life of Saint Joseph’s College from September 2, 1889, when the college moved from Willing’s Alley to Stiles street, until 1927, when a still larger campus was judged necessary.
In November 1922, an ambitious building fund campaign to raise $1,000,000 was organized by Rev. Matthew Fortier, S.J. His work in this difficult undertaking was successful and the pledges did exceed that goal, but the actual contributions did not. Subsequently, Saint Joseph’s College was able to purchase twenty-three acres in a beautiful residential area at the western edge of the city. Construction of a handsome building in modern Collegiate Gothic architectural style was begun in November 1925. Its dedication took place on November 14, 1927. From that time to the present, the location of Saint Joseph’s has been 54th and City Avenue.
During the Second World War, the college’s enrollment was again greatly reduced. Following the war, aided by the “G.I. Bill of Rights,” enrollment grew rapidly. In 1943, an Evening
Saint Joseph’s University University Fact Book College was founded. It was also after the war that Saint Joseph’s acquired several spacious homes adjacent to the campus, which were converted to its first residences for students. Through the decade of the sixties, Saint Joseph’s experienced unprecedented physical growth. Five more properties were added to the campus including the nine-acre estate of Margaret Gest, a Jesuit faculty residence, the Post classroom building, a science center, the Drexel Library building, a six-story student dormitory and expansion of the Student Center. All enhanced the modern facilities of the campus.
In the fall of 1970, the undergraduate day college opened its doors to women, bringing to an end its tradition as an all-male institution. Saint Joseph’s was recognized as a university by the Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on July 24, 1978. The corporate charter was formally changed to reflect university status on December 27, 1978. Shortly thereafter the University added a College of Business and Administration to complement the College of Arts and Sciences, and it also expanded graduate programs. At the same time, Saint Joseph’s built a new Student/Sports Recreation Complex. The need for a larger library prompted the expansion of the University’s Drexel Library into a Library/Learning Resources Center. The campus was enlarged to 49 acres with the purchase of Saint Mary’s and Bronstein Halls.
The last decade has marked an era of significant change in student enrollment; development of new undergraduate and graduate programs in all three colleges; integration of state-of-the-art technology of every kind, in the classroom and throughout the campus; upgrading of science laboratories; hiring of new faculty; and new campus construction. Among the most important building projects undertaken are the following: the Chapel of St. Joseph; the McShain Student Residence and its footbridge traversing City Avenue and linking the city and suburban campuses; Mandeville Hall, home of the Erivan K. Haub School of Business; three large new student residence halls; and a new boathouse on Philadelphia's famed Kelly Drive.
External and peer review are also indicators of institutional progress and the awarding of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter to the university and AACSB accreditation in both business and accounting for the Haub School of Business augur well for the future of Saint Joseph's. In the summer of 2005, the University agreed to purchase the Merion campus of neighboring Episcopal Academy. The acquisition will add 38 acres containing 52 classrooms, eight laboratories, 113 offices, and 14.5 acres of playing fields. Subsequent to the announcement of the agreement, alumnus James J. Maguire '58 donated $10 million to help fund the purchase, and Saint Joseph's officials announced that the tract will be known as the Maguire Campus once the University takes possession of it, expected to be 2008 or 2009. Maguire's gift was later matched by a donation of the same amount by Brian Duperreault '69; the two donations are the largest alumni gifts in Saint Joseph's history. Data Source: University Catalogue
Accreditations, Approvals, and Memberships
Saint Joseph’s University is approved by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (267) 284-5000. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Accreditation Status Accrediting Body Saint Joseph’s University
2004 Accreditation
Middle States Commission on Higher Education 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267) 284-5000, http://www.msache.org
Erivan K. Haub School of Business
2000 Accreditation The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – 777 South Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 750, Tampa, FL 33602; (813) 769-6500, http://www.aacsb.edu/
Accounting Department
2000 Accreditation
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – 777 South Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 750, Tampa, FL 33602; (813) 769-6500, http://www.aacsb.edu/
College of Arts and Sciences
2000 Approved The Phi Beta Kappa Society 1606 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 265-3808 http://www.pbk.org/
Chemistry Department
2002 Accreditation American 1155 Sixteenth St., NW, Washington, DC 20036 Chemical Society (800) 227-5558, http://www.chemistry.org
Financial Services Administration Program
2005 Registration/Re-Approved
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. 1670 Broadway, Suite 600,Denver, CO 80202 (303) 830-7500, http://www.cfp.net
Interdisciplinary Doctor of Education Program
2002 Approval to include program within scope of institutional accreditation
Middle States Commission on Higher Education 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267) 284-5000, http://www.msache.org
Interdisciplinary Doctor of Education Program
2003 Approval Pennsylvania Department of Education 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126 (717) 783-6788, http://www.pde.state.pa.us
Teacher Education Department
2004 Approved
Pennsylvania Department of Education 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126 (717) 783-6788, http://www.pde.state.pa.us
Graduate Nurse Anesthesia
2005 Accreditation Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
222 S. Prospect Avenue, Park Ridge, IL 60068 (847) 692-7050; http://www.aana.com/
Institutional Memberships
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education American Council on Education (ACE)
American Library Association (ALA)
Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU)
Association of Liberal Arts Colleges of PA for the Advancement of Teaching Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)
National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU)
Founding Date Institution City
1789 Georgetown University Washington, DC
1818 Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO
1830 Spring Hill College Spring Hill, AL
1831 Xavier University Cincinnati, OH
1841 Fordham University New York City, NY
1843 College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA
1851 Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, PA
1851 Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA
1852 Loyola College Baltimore, MD
1855 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
1863 Boston College Boston, MA
1865 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA
1869 Loyola University Chicago, IL
1870 Canisius College Buffalo, NY
1872 Saint Peter’s College Jersey City, NJ
1877 University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI
1878 Creighton University Omaha, NE
1881 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
1886 John Carroll University Cleveland, OH
1887 Gonzaga University Spokane, WA
1888 University of Scranton Scranton, PA
1889 Regis College Denver, CO
1892 Seattle University Seattle, WA
1910 Rockhurst College Kansas City, MO
1912 Loyola University New Orleans, LA
1942 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT
1945 LeMoyne College Syracuse, NY
1954 Wheeling Jesuit College Wheeling, WV
Jesuit Colleges & Universities in the United States
The University Seal
The official seal of the University was placed in a prominent location on the original building (now Barbelin) of the present campus. Two years after the opening of the new campus, the April 1928 issue of the literary magazine, the Crimson and Gray, describes the seal:
To the left and above the central entrance of the new Saint Joseph’s College is the institution’s seal. It is carved in one solid piece of stone and the escutcheon, a tapering shield, is raised above the stone about it. The charges, consisting of seven bars running slantwise from left to right in the upper left quarter, the rebus of the house of Loyola in the upper right, a lily of Saint Joseph in the lower left, and the monogram of the Society of Jesus in the lower right-hand corner are embossed upon this shield.
The bars represent the seven brothers of Saint Ignatius Loyola, who were killed defending their house against the Moors. The representation of the two wolves approaching a kitchen hearth signifies the hospitality of the house of Loyola toward the poor of the country. Saint Joseph’s lily needs no explanation. The Society’s monogram, however, will bear some little description. Within a crown of thorns are raised letters, I.H.S. (Iota Eta Sigma), at the base of which are three nails. A small cross surmounts the lettering.
The official seal, placed on diplomas and some other official documents, was originally circumscribed by a Latin inscription giving the official name of the then-college. The currently used seal bears an English inscription, which reflects the achieving of university status.
