 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Saint Martin's University" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
Former name | Saint Martin's College (1895–2005) |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Think with heart" |
| Type | Private university |
| Established | 1895; 131 years ago (1895) |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic (Benedictine) |
| President | Bill Brownsberger |
| Students | 1,387 (fall 2024)[1] |
| Undergraduates | 1,186 (fall 2024) |
| Postgraduates | 201 (fall 2024) |
| Location | ,, United States |
| Campus | Suburban, 380 acres (1.5 km2) |
| Colors | (Red, white, and black) |
| Nickname | Saints |
| Website | stmartin.edu |
 | |
 | |
Saint Martin's University is aprivateBenedictine university inLacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as a boys' boarding school run by monks of theBenedictine 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 fromSaint Martin's College to Saint Martin's University. There is a Benedictine monastery on campus grounds and some members of the monastic community serve as professors.
Saint Martin's patron saint isSaint Martin of Tours, a fourth-century monk and missionary. The university and its founder,Saint Martin's Abbey, sit on 300 acres (1.2 km2) of woodlands, trees, rocks, and meandering trails. The site was selected in 1894 by Abbot Bernard Locnikar ofSaint John's Abbey, Collegeville,Minnesota, which was the mother abbey of St. Martin's Abbey. At apublic auction on April 21, 1894, the wooded parcel that would become the Saint Martin's campus was purchased for $6,920.
Work began on Saint Martin's first building in January 1895. By late summer, a four-story structure housing both the school and a monastery was completed. The school at that time offered preparatory classes for boys, plus commercial and classical education for older boys and young men. Boarding students who came from outside of town also were housed in the campus' one large building.[2] Today, that structure is referred to as Old Main and continues to house many of the university's classrooms and offices.
The college offers 28 baccalaureate programs and fourteen graduate degree programs. The university offers programs and courses atJoint Base Lewis-McChord andCentralia College.
Saint Martin's has agreements of cooperation with four Korean universities;Sogang University,Konkuk University,Cheongju University andSangmyung University. Saint Martin's also has sister universities in Japan (includingMukogawa Women's University andReitaku University), three in China (includingShanghai Maritime University), and one in Taiwan (Chung Shan Medical University).
In the fall semester, 2012, a new 22,000+ square foot engineering building, Cebula Hall, opened. The Learning Garden was started at SMU in 2010.[6]
The school's sports teams participate in theNCAA'sGreat Northwest Athletic Conference at theDivision II level. The women's basketball team qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament in 1992 and 2008. In the 1940s and 1950s, Saint Martin's had a men's college football team and a boys' high school football team, which won the Washington Class A championship.[citation needed] In the 1990s, the name of the mascot was almost changed to the Ravens. In 2008, the men's basketball team defeated Division IColorado State Rams men's basketball, making it Saint Martin's first major publicized victory over a D-1 opponent. In 2009, the Men's Soccer team seized the first team title in any sport for Saint Martin's University, winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.[7]
| Ordinaries |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Auxiliary bishops | ||
| Churches | ||
| Education |
| |
| Priests | ||
| Miscellany | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
47°02′26″N122°48′56″W / 47.04056°N 122.81556°W /47.04056; -122.81556
