St. Gregory's University

Last updated
St. Gregory's University
Benedictine Hall Shawnee.jpg
Benedictine Hall
Former names
Sacred Heart College (1877–1901)
Catholic University of Oklahoma and St. Gregory's Abbey (1915–1922)
St. Gregory's College (1922–1997)
Type Private university
Active1875–2017
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic (Benedictine)
Chancellor Lawrence Stasyszen
President Michael A. Scaperlanda
Provost Richard L. McDowell
Students692 systemwide
Location, ,
United States
Campus Rural, 75 acres (300,000 m2)
Colors Red & Blue
   
Nickname Cavaliers
Sporting affiliations
NAIASooner (until 2017)
Website stgregorys.edu

St. Gregory's University was a private Catholic university. It was one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It had its main campus in Shawnee and an additional campus in Tulsa. The university closed its operations at the end of the fall 2017 semester. [1] [2]

Contents

In December 2018 the sale of the Shawnee campus to Hobby Lobby was approved by the bankruptcy court. The campus was leased to Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU), a private Protestant university in Shawnee. [3] In May 2019, OBU renamed the tract as the OBU Green Campus, both in honor of the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, and because the color green is one of OBU’s official university colors. [4] In December 2019, Hobby Lobby and the Green family donated the campus to OBU. [5] OBU also retains academic records from St. Gregory's, including student transcripts. [6]

History

St. Gregory's traced its roots to the Sacred Heart Mission, [7] founded in Atoka, Oklahoma on October 12, 1875 by the Benedictine monks Father Isidore Robot, O.S.B., and Brother Dominic Lambert, O.S.B. In 1876, the mission relocated near Konawa, Oklahoma and became an abbey. Sacred Heart College was founded with the permission of the Vatican in 1877 and later gained approval from the territorial government in 1883. After a disastrous fire in 1901 that destroyed the school and the monastery, the monks accepted an offer from the town of Shawnee and began construction of the Catholic University of Oklahoma and St. Gregory's Abbey in 1910. The school opened its doors in 1915, and in 1922 the name was changed to St. Gregory's College. The monks jointly operated a high school for boys at the location until 1965. In 1927, the abbey moved from Konawa to Shawnee. The school was known as St. Gregory's College until 1997, when it changed from a junior college to a baccalaureate-conferring university known as St. Gregory's University. In 2005 St. Gregory's was accredited to offer a graduate program in business and began offering classes in March 2006. [8]

2011 earthquake

On November 5, 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake caused damage to Benedictine Hall, the campus's central feature. One turret collapsed immediately following the quake. [9] In the days that followed the earthquake, one of the turrets had to be pushed down, and the other two were removed brick by brick.

More than 3,400 donors from around the world contributed roughly $2.5 million to help the school reconstruct the turrets.

Timberlake Construction and Advanced Masonry, both of Oklahoma City, were charged with the task of rebuilding the turrets – this time with steel "bones" that could withstand an earthquake.

The decorative aspects of the towers were faithfully recreated. The brick was matched to the rest of the building, and the grotesques and shields that were part of the original gothic architecture were molded in the exact image of their predecessors. The new turrets were officially blessed during Homecoming on November 9, 2013. [10]

Closure

The board of directors voted to close the university at the end of the 2017 fall semester following an unsuccessful loan application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The loan, around 1 million dollars, would have kept the university open for one more semester. [1] [2] [11]

Enrollment

St. Gregory's University served 692 students in two colleges – the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Continuing Studies (formerly the College for Working Adults). Students in the College of Arts and Sciences were provided with a solid foundation in the liberal arts through a common core curriculum, the heart of which was the four-semester "Tradition and Conversation" program, which offered students the opportunity to engage some of the greatest minds and discuss some of most influential texts of the Western and Catholic intellectual traditions in a seminar format. The College of Continuing Studies was located in two cities – Shawnee and Tulsa – and offered accelerated, evening degree programs at the associates, bachelors and masters levels. St. Gregory's had a student/faculty ratio of 12:1.

Campus

The Abbey Church St- Gregory's Abbey and College 2012-09-17 16-11-37.jpg
The Abbey Church

St. Gregory's Abbey was originally situated on 640 acres (2.6 km2), of which the OBU Green Campus now occupies 75 acres (0.30 km2). Other small parcels have been sold off. The abbey remains open. [12]

St. Gregory’s Abbey and College is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art

The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is an independent non-profit art museum. While located on the former campus of St. Gregory's, it operated separately and survived the University's closing. Its collection includes ancient Egyptian, medieval, Renaissance, and Hudson River School art. The museum was founded in 1914 by Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB. In 1919 the museum was located in Benedictine Hall. The current museum building opened in 1979. [13]

Athletics

The St. Gregory's (SGU) athletic teams were called the Cavaliers. The university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) from 1999–2000 to 2016–17.

SGU competed in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving and track & field; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, track & field and volleyball. Co-ed competitive cheerleading was also offered.

Discontinuation

However, once the decision to suspend operation of the university was reached, all athletics programs were suspended immediately. [14] [15]

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Benet's Hall, Oxford</span> Permanent private hall of the University of Oxford

St Benet's Hall was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern end of St Giles' on its western side, close to the junction with Woodstock Road, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawnee, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

Shawnee is a city in and the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictine College</span> Private liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, U.S.

Benedictine College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College for men and Mount St. Scholastica College for women. It is located on bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, northwest of Kansas City, Missouri. Benedictine is one of a number of U.S. Benedictine colleges and is sponsored by St. Benedict's Abbey and Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. The abbey has a current population of 53 monks, while the Mount monastery numbers 147 community members. The college has built its core values around four "pillars" — Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal Arts, Residential — which support the Benedictine College mission to educate men and women in a community of faith and scholarship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Leo University</span> Private Catholic university in St. Leo, Florida, U.S.

Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monastery. The university and the abbey are both named for Pope Leo the Great, bishop of Rome from 440 to 461. The name also honors Leo XIII, who was Pope at the time the university was founded, and Leo Haid, then abbot of Maryhelp Abbey in North Carolina, now Belmont Abbey, who participated in founding the university and served as its first president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictine University</span> Private Catholic university in metropolitan Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Benedictine University is a private Roman Catholic university in Lisle, Illinois. It was founded in 1887 as St. Procopius College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in the Pilsen community on the West Side of Chicago. The institution has retained a close relationship with the Benedictine Order, which bears the name of St. Benedict, the acknowledged father of western monasticism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belmont Abbey College</span> Catholic college in Belmont, North Carolina, United States

Belmont Abbey College is a private, Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Belmont, North Carolina. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. The college is affiliated with the Catholic Church and the Order of Saint Benedict. Belmont Abbey is the only college in North Carolina affiliated with the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Baptist University</span> Private liberal arts university in Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States

Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville</span> Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota

Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania in 1856. Saint John's is one of the largest Benedictine abbeys in the Western Hemisphere, with 110 professed monks. The Right Reverend Fr. John Klassen, OSB, serves as the tenth abbot.

Glenda Allen Green is an American artist, academic and author. She has accomplishments in art, art history, science, philosophy, spirituality, and philosophy.

Benedictine College Preparatory is a private Roman Catholic military high school in Goochland, Virginia. It is owned and operated by the Benedictine Society of Virginia, part of the American-Cassinese Congregation. Benedictine offers education through a private military institute model, which has long been a traditional form of education for young men in Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art</span> Art Museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma

The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a non-profit art museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. It is located on the Oklahoma Baptist University Green Campus, being the campus of the former St. Gregory's University. The museum operated independently of St. Gregory's and survived its closure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ampleforth Abbey</span> Church in North Yorkshire, England

Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks a mile to the east of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It descends from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster, Sigebert Buckley. As of 2023 the monastery has 46 monks, and sometimes will have 50 nuns of the monastery organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Gregory's Abbey (Oklahoma)</span> Benedictine monastery in Shawnee, Oklahoma

St. Gregory's Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by monks of the French monastery of Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire in 1876, was originally located in present-day Konawa, Oklahoma and called Sacred Heart Abbey. At present the community numbers around twenty-one monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours. They used to staff various parishes but no longer do so, and their school, St. Gregory's University, was closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American-Cassinese Benedictine Congregation</span> Association of Benedictine monasteries

The American-Cassinese Congregation is a Catholic association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1855. The monasteries of the congregation follow the monastic way of life as outlined by St. Benedict of Nursia in his early 6th century Rule of Saint Benedict. The congregation is one of 19 congregations in the Benedictine Confederation and includes 25 monasteries: 19 autonomous abbeys and 6 dependent priories, located across 15 states and Puerto Rico, as well as Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Taiwan.

Saint Martin's University is a private Benedictine university in Lacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as an all-boys boarding school by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a degree-granting institution in 1940. The college became coeducational in 1965. In 2005, it changed its name from Saint Martin's College to Saint Martin's University. It has a functioning Benedictine monastery on school grounds and some members of the monastic community also serve as professors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedictine Hall (Shawnee, Oklahoma)</span> Historic college building in Oklahoma, United States

Benedictine Hall is located on the Green Campus of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was the central feature of the now-closed St. Gregory's University, housing its administration, library and most of its classes. Designed by St. Louis architect Victor Klutho, the facility opened in the fall of 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Gerrer</span> American priest and artist

Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB was a Benedictine Priest at Sacred Heart Abbey, artist, art historian and museum founder.

Arts Trek is an annual cultural festival in Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States, in mid-spring. It is an event by the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art and is located on the campus of St. Gregory's University. The one-day festival features a performance walk, in which visitors move around campus in an organized trek to view fine arts performances such as choirs, spoken word art, theatre production scenes, interpretive dance, and live mural painting.

G. Patrick Riley is an artist, art educator and mask maker from Oklahoma. His masks have been used in productions at the Kennedy Center. His works are in the collections of Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Oklahoma State Capitol, Arkansas Arts Center, AT&T collection and Lady Gaga. In 2011, the Oklahoma Supreme Court awarded Riley a commission to create an eagle sculpture, 28 feet in height, in the atrium of the supreme court building.

Heinrich Suso Mayer OSB, usually called just Suso Mayer, né Franz Mayer, was a German Benedictine and priest.

References

  1. 1 2 "St. Gregory's University suspending operations at end of semester". 8 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "St. Gregory's University to suspend operations at end of semester". 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. "Hobby Lobby buys St. Gregory's campus in Shawnee, leases to Oklahoma Baptist University". Nolan Clay, The Oklahoman, Dec 5, 2018. 5 December 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  4. "St. Gregory's campus gets a new name". Jacob Factor, The Bison, May 6, 2019. 6 May 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  5. "Hobby Lobby and Green Family Donate Campus to OBU". OBU website, December 11, 2019. 11 December 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  6. "Transcript Requests". Oklahoma Baptist University. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  7. Sacred Heart Mission, Konawa Public Schools Archived 2006-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  8. A Short History of St. Gregory's Abbey
  9. Lacey, Marc (November 7, 2011). "A Seasoned Combatant of Tornadoes Now Finds the Earth Is Moving, Too". New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  10. "A New Era Begins".
  11. "St. Gregory's University to close at end of fall 2017 - St. Gregory's University". www.stgregorys.edu. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  12. "Saint Gregory's Abbey" . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  13. Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art
  14. Official athletics website
  15. NAIA website

35°22′03″N96°57′15″W / 35.36750°N 96.95417°W / 35.36750; -96.95417