Franciscan University of Steubenville is a privateFranciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio, United States.[5] As of fall 2023, the university enrolled 3,750 students in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs.[3] The student body is majority Catholic, and Franciscan claims to have the largest number of students majoring in theology, catechetics, and philosophy of any Catholic university in the United States.[5]
The school was established as the College of Steubenville in 1946 by the FranciscanFriars of the Third Order Regular at the request of Anthony John King Mussio, the first bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville.[6] In 1974, Michael Scanlan became president and began a series of major reforms to restore the school to its Catholic heritage.[7] The college changed its name to the University of Steubenville upon achieving university status in 1980 and adopted the current title Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1986.[6]
The College of Steubenville was successful during the early years, under the tenures of presidents Daniel W. Egan, Kevin R. Keelan, and Columba J. Devlin. By the end of Keelan's second term in 1974, the school was suffering from social upheaval and declining enrollment.[8] For some time, it looked like the college would close. Michael Scanlan was chosen to fill the position of president.[9] Incorporating knowledge from his experience in starting a charismatic renewal movement at St. Francis Seminary, Scanlan worked to institute a similar renewal at Steubenville. He took over the Sunday liturgy on the campus, incorporating charismatic praise and worship and more passionate preaching into the Mass. He instituted households, small groups of men and women devoted to personal and communal growth, and required students to join one. Scanlan also created a renewal center on the campus, which organized retreats and seminars to further instruct students in the Roman Catholic faith. The center began holding religious conferences in the summers, one benefit of which was attracting many young people to the college. Scanlan often spoke at these conferences.[10]
Even with these changes, the college struggled to stay open. The first year after Scanlan instituted the changes, the incoming freshman class was the smallest in the college's history.[11]:160 Five of the top administrators at the college left or were dismissed, and the remaining faculty expressed discontentment with Scanlan's leadership.[11]:161 Despite this, Scanlan continued to make changes, especially to the curriculum. Scanlan reintroduced a theology program, which quickly became the top major at the college, and also oversaw the development of graduate programs in business and theology, which helped the college obtain the title of university in 1980. In addition, the nursing program rose to higher distinction. It was chartered by the state government of Ohio in 1984 and then received accreditation from the National League of Nursing in 1985.[11]:169
Scanlan orchestrated many other changes at the university. He instituted an Oath of Fidelity to the Magisterium, which was required of the theology professors at the university. Under his guidance, the undergraduate theology program became the largest of any Catholic university in America. He also created the Human Life Studies minor, the only one of its kind in America. By 2000, Scanlan's leadership and changes had helped the university to increase dramatically in size; there were more than 2,100 students, nearly double the number in the early 1970s.[9][dead link]
The university was granted an exemption from Title IX in 2014 that allows it to legally discriminate against LGBT students.[12][13]
In 2022, David Morrier, a Franciscan friar who served as a campus minister until his removal in 2014,[14] was sentenced to probation after being pleading guilty to sexual battery of a student whom he had been counseling, which took place over three years, from 2010 to 2013.[15][16]
The academic buildings on campus include Christ the Teacher Hall, Egan Hall, Stafford Hall (attached to Egan Hall), Saints Cosmas and Damian Hall, and the Saint Joseph Center. Some Engineering classes (that have not been relocated to Christ the Teacher) are held in Saint Junipero Serra Hall, which also serves as a residence hall.
Christ the Teacher Hall is the newest and largest academic hall. It houses engineering on the ground floor which include engineering labs. Business on the first floor, and Nursing on the second floor with a state of the art nursing simulation lab. A chapel and conference center are also located on the first floor, and admissions, Registrar’s office, and Financial Aid are located on the ground floor.
Egan Hall houses classrooms, a theater, television and radio studios, special laboratories for the education and psychology departments, and computer workstations on each floor.
In the newly remodeled Stafford Hall, there are classrooms, and offices, on the first floor, and faculty offices on the second floor.
Saints Cosmas and Damian Hall, the main science building, houses biology and chemistry laboratories, classrooms, the campus' largest lecture hall, and two computer science labs equipped with advanced software for programming.
The Saint Joseph Center houses some administrative offices as well as The Sacred Music Program, Social Work, and Criminal Justice.
Starvaggi Hall is the main administrative building on campus housing many departments including Information Technology, and Career Services.
The St. John Paul II Library's collection includes more than 230,000 books and bound periodicals, and more than 390 current periodicals. The OPAL Catalog and OhioLINK Network provide access to many research databases and more than 7 million books and journals.[17]
Franciscan University of Steubenville has two soccer fields, a rugby field, a baseball field, and a field designated primarily for intramural sports. In 2007, the university purchased the golf course which borders the main campus from the city of Steubenville for future development. It is currently used by the cross country team for practice.
Christ the King Chapel is the center of the spiritual life of the campus. There are four Masses every weekday while classes are in session, five Masses on Sundays, vespers on Sunday evening, praise & worship every Tuesday, and confessions held at least four times per week. Weekday Masses are routinely standing room only, while Sunday Masses during the school year require extra chairs to be arranged in the foyer and the Marian chapel. Currently the Chapel is under expansion and renovation and will reopen in Fall 2025. Weekday Masses are currently held in the Gentile Gallery in the J.C. Williams center and Weekend Masses are held in The Christ the Teacher Event Center.
The Portiuncula chapel, a replica of St. Francis' original chapel, sits on the edge of the main campus. It is home to perpetual adoration (at least two students volunteer to be present and adore the Blessed Sacrament during every hour of the week throughout the fall and spring semesters). Outside of this chapel are the Tomb of the Unborn Child, which contains the remains of seven aborted fetuses, a Creche, Stations of the Cross, and Marian Grotto. In 2009 the Vatican designated the Portiuncula as a place of pilgrimage where the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence on five certain days through the year and under certain conditions of prayer and a detachment from sin.[18]
The J.C. Willams Center is the student center, which houses the Tom and Nina Gentile Gallery containing numerous works of art donated to the university, the University Bookstore, and a coffee shop.
The Finnegan Fieldhouse is home to a basketball court, two racquetball courts, a weight room, one room for aerobic classes, a cardiovascular room, and the campus health and counseling center, as well as classrooms.
At the far north end of campus is the Steel Cross. This cross, made of two steel I-beams, is 35 feet tall and visible from afar.
Academics
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Christ the King Chapel
The university offers 41 majors (seven pre-professional programs), 34 minors, 10 special minor programs (not available as majors), and seven graduate degree programs.[19] The university maintains a 14:1 student-faculty ratio.[20] Undergraduate students need a minimum of 124 credits for graduation. The number of electives varies with each major program. The university operates on the semester system. Three summer sessions also are available.
The Priestly Discernment Program offers human, academic, spiritual, pastoral and fraternal formation for men considering the Catholic priesthood.[23]
Austria study abroad program
Since 1991, up to 180 students per semester study at the university's program in Gaming, Austria. The campus is located in a renovated fourteenth-century Carthusian monastery, known as the Gaming Charterhouse,[24] in the foothills of the Austrian Alps.[25] The old monastery serves as a hotel during summer months.
The Austrian Program features a four-day class schedule, Monday through Thursday, so students may spend extended time visiting religious, cultural, and historical sites throughout Europe. The program sponsors trips throughout Europe.[26]
In 2011 Franciscan University launched a summer mini program[27] in Austria. The session lasted from May 21 to June 30, 2011.[28]
Partnerships
In 2014, Franciscan University introduced a dual-degree undergraduate engineering program, partnering with the University of Notre Dame, Gannon University and University of Dayton to offer an array of different engineering disciplines. Through the dual-degree program, students matriculate into Franciscan's quantitative and liberal arts curriculum for the first two years of undergraduate study and are able to directly transfer into engineering programs at any of the partner schools for an additional two to three years. Upon culmination of the program, the student will obtain a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts from Franciscan University (contingent on the program and credits elected) and a Bachelor in Science from one of the partner schools.[29]
Franciscan University also offers a "2+2" program in which students can earn an Associate of Science degree in Natural and Applied Science from Franciscan before transferring to another school to complete a Bachelor of Science in engineering.[30]
In 2016, Franciscan University announced an agreement with D'Youville College which created a 3+4 dual degree program between the two schools.[31] Under the current arrangement, undergraduate students may enroll at Franciscan to begin studies in chemistry or biology and, after three years, may transfer directly into a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy program at D'Youville College's School of Pharmacy. Upon completion of the seven-year program, the graduate receives a Bachelor of Science degree from Franciscan and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from D'Youville.[32]
In 2017, the university entered into a similar articulation agreement with Duquesne University, which grants Franciscan University students preferred admission in the Mylan School of Pharmacy upon completion of an Associate of Arts degree.[33][34]
In conjunction with the School of Canon Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Franciscan University offers a course of study that fulfills the requirements for the First Cycle of studies in Canon Law. Graduates of Franciscan University who complete this course of study are allowed to proceed directly to the Licentiate in Canon Law program at the Catholic University of America.[36]
In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, Franciscan University of Steubenville was ranked 28th out of 165 regional universities in the Midwest.[39]
In 2012 the Social Work curriculum included a course called SWK Deviant Behavior 314, which examined behaviors such as: murder, rape, robbery, prostitution, homosexuality, mental illness and drug use. Noting that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) had removed homosexuality as an illness, two Franciscan graduates tried to get the course description changed. In a written statement to NPR, the school said, "Franciscan University follows Catholic Church teaching in regard to homosexuality and treats homosexual persons with 'respect, compassion, and sensitivity' ... while holding homosexual acts as 'intrinsically disordered.' " In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, university vice president Daniel Kempton stated, "that principles of academic freedom apply to the course and that the view that homosexuality is deviant is a legitimate perspective for the course."[42]
Student life
Originally, campus life consisted of fraternities and sororities starting at Franciscans' founding in 1946. Under the leadership of Father Michael Scanlan, households (small groups of men and women devoted to personal and communal growth) were instituted and a once blossoming Greek life began to wilt, ending in 2016 when the final chapters, Theta Phi Alpha and Alpha Phi Delta were excluded from campus life. Though not recognized by the school, Alpha Phi Delta a nationally recognized fraternity, has remained active (as of 2019).[citation needed]
Instead, students are encouraged to join in faith households, groups of three or more students of the same sex, whose members study, recreate, and pray with one another. These student groups are attached to a particular residence hall on campus with a meeting space or common room within the hall where they hold their commitments or spend time together in community. Household members can apply to live “on wing” (the part of the residence hall where the common room is located) during housing periods. These households are centered around particular devotions or charismatic gifts. As of March 2015, there were 24 men's households and 26 women's households.[43][44] In 2024, Franciscan University celebrated 50 years of household life on campus.[45]
The campus is known for its liturgies, retreats, and spiritual talks. Most students make a weekly commitment to Eucharistic adoration in the Portiuncula chapel, and Masses are well-attended. Masses have standing room only, even on weekdays.[46]
The university sponsors 20 sports, nine for men and eleven for women. The athletics teams, nicknamed the Barons, compete in NCAA Division III as members of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) after completing a transition from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in July 2020.[48] The Barons started their PAC transition by joining for men's and women's lacrosse in 2018–19. For 2019–20, Franciscan added women's golf, plus indoor and outdoor track & field for both men and women, to its PAC membership. Finally, the school became a full PAC member in 2020–21.[49]
The mascot of the university's sports teams is Baron von Steuben, modeled after Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.
The men's rugby team is a member of the National Collegiate Rugby and competes in the Allegheny Rugby Union Conference. In 2001 Franciscan became the second college in the nation, of any division, to have a varsity rugby club. In July 2011, Franciscan signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with Adidas.[50]
The university offers intramural sports throughout the academic year. The main sports played include sand volleyball, indoor volleyball, flag football, and 5 on 5 basketball. Other leagues throughout the year include kickball, badminton, Spikeball, softball, futsal, and dodgeball.
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↑ Benne, Robert (2006). Quality with Soul: How Six Premier Colleges and Universities Keep Faith with Their Religious Traditions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
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