Saint Francis University (SFU) is aprivate Catholic university inLoretto, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of theFranciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on 600 acres (243 ha) in the forests and farmland of Loretto.
Saint Francis was established in 1847 by six Franciscan teachingBrothers fromMountbellew, Ireland. They had been given land in Loretto byMichael O'Connor, the firstBishop of Pittsburgh, to establish a school.[4] Saint Francis Academy opened on September 2, 1850. Originally an academy, Saint Francis became popularly known as Saint Francis College as early as 1860, although that designation was not formally adopted by law until 1911. The university was one of the first Catholic universities in the United States and the first Franciscan college in the nation. Although it originally only admitted males, it became one of the first Catholic Universities to becomeco-educational. amending its charter in 1948. Loretto is the site of the first English-language Roman Catholic settlement established west of theAllegheny Front, in what is now the United States, byDemetrius Augustine Gallitzin in 1799.
In 2000, Saint Francis College was approved to become a university by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and was formally renamed "Saint Francis University" on January 1, 2001.
Saint Francis University enrolls approximately 1,658 undergraduate students (of whom 1,392 are traditional students and 266 are continuing education students) and 527 graduate students.[5] The university offers 25 undergraduate majors and 7 graduate fields of study (including Physical Therapy, in which the university awards a doctorate) to its students.[4] The university maintains an average graduation rate of 70.3%.[2]
The main building for theSouthern Alleghenies Museum of Art, which also has a number of smaller facilities across the local region, is located on campus. Also on the campus are The DiSepio Institute for Rural Health and Wellness,[6] Center for Watershed Research & Service,[7] and The Institute for Contemporary Franciscan Life.[8]
Immergrün Golf Course is a semi-private, nine-hole, regulation-length 3,234-yard, par-36 course on rye grass located on the campus of Saint Francis University at 105 Saint Elizabeth Street. Immergrün has not been altered since Donald Ross built it for the steel magnateCharles M. Schwab in 1917.[9]
Saint Francis University campus
The John F. Kennedy Center
DeGol Field
North Campus
Mt. Assisi Gardens, which are located on the former Schwab Estate.
^Tobin Center Staff (2010-05-01)."Boyton (Captain Paul) Collection".St. Francis University Tobin Center Archives Collections. (Information submitted by Nagy, John A. to the archive center via email on May 1, 2010): Additional Information – via Margaret M. Tobin Center for Archives and Special Collections.
