Webster University is aprivate university with its main campus inWebster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.[7] The university has an alumni network of around 170,000 graduates worldwide.[8]
The college was founded in 1915 by theSisters of Loretto asLoretto College, aCatholic women's college, one of the first west of theMississippi River.[9] One of the early founders wasMother Praxedes Carty.[10] Its name was changed toWebster College, afterSenator Daniel Webster, in 1924.[11] The first male students were admitted in 1962.[12] Thesisters transferred ownership of the college to alay Board of Directors in 1967; it was the first Catholic college in the United States to be totally under lay control.[13] In 1983, Webster College's name was changed to Webster University.[11]
Webster was involved in the earlyracial integration battles in St. Louis. During the early 1940s, many localpriests, especially theJesuits, challenged thesegregationist policies at the city's Catholic colleges andparochial schools. The St. Louis chapter of the Midwest Clergy Conference on Negro Welfare arranged in 1943 for Webster College to admit a black female student, Mary Aloyse Foster, which would make it the city's first Catholic college to integrate.[14] However, in 1943 ArchbishopJohn J. Glennon blocked that student's enrollment by speaking privately with theKentucky-basedSuperior General of the Sisters of Loretto.[15] ThePittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper with national circulation, discovered Glennon's actions and ran a front-page feature on the Webster incident in February 1944.[16] The negative publicity toward Glennon's segregationist policies ledSaint Louis University to begin admitting African American students in summer 1944.[17] In the fall of 1945, Webster College responded to pressure by admitting Irene Thomas, a Catholic African-American woman from St. Louis, as a music major.[18]
In the 1960s, the school dropped its Catholic affiliation following the issuance of theLand O'Lakes Statement. The school's then-president,Jacqueline Grennan, renounced her religious vows and continued as head of what had effectively become a secular institution.[19]
Webster University's home campus is located inWebster Groves, a suburb ofSt. Louis.[13] Many of the domestic campuses are located near military bases; some are located in various metropolitan areas. The international campuses are located in several European countries includingSwitzerland,Austria, Georgia, and The Netherlands; several are also located in Asia, such as in Tashkent, Uzbekistan,Thailand, and China.
In 2015, Webster released a report on its Thailand campus citing several issues, including badly inadequate facilities and a culture of distrust between students and the administration.[35] The report also cited several strengths on the campus, including strong academics and financial stability, saying "recruitment, marketing and admissions" are an area of strength for the campus.[36] One month after the internal report was issued, a campus ombudsman was appointed to address the communications issues and to bring the Thailand campus more in-line with the home campus' policies.[37]
Webster University's athletic mascot is the Gorlok, named in honor of the school's location at the corner of Gore and Lockwood Avenues in Webster Groves. Athletic teams participate in theNCAADivision III and in theSt. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC).[38]
Men's sports: baseball; basketball; cross country; golf; soccer; tennis; and, track and field
Webster's Baseball Team has made back to back trips to the Division III World Series placing fifth in both 2012 and 2013. They also made the Division III World Series in 2015. They made it to the regional Division III championship in 2014 but were defeated in the first round.[39] Major League pitcherJosh Fleming played for Webster.[40]
Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE)
Webster's chess team has won more national titles than any college team in the country and has been ranked #1 continuously since 2012.[41] In April of 2025, Webster’s chess team won its seventh national championship earning the distinction of having the most President’s Cup championships than any other college program in the United States. Webster previously won the national title in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2023.[42]
SPICE was founded by chess Grandmaster and Webster University professor, Susan Polgar. She served as the head coach of the Webster chess team from 2012 until her retirement in 2021. The team’s current coach, Liem Le, is a Webster alumnus and contributed to the chess team’s President’s Cup wins four years in a row from 2014 to 2017. He became a Grandmaster at just 15 years old and is currently the number 20 ranked chess player in the world.[43]
Due to this history of excellence in Chess, in 2022, Webster began offering a “Chess in Education” minor which is 18 credit hours of instruction on subjects ranging from the history of chess to the psychology, strategy, and global perspectives of chess. The program aims to prepare students to become future chess educators. With this course of study, Webster became the first university in the United States to offer a formal chess degree program.[44]
Webster University, in Fall 2014, enrolled 5,010 undergraduate students and 17,190 graduate students.[45] The average SAT composite score for the undergraduate class was 1,194. The average ACT composite score was 24. Students come from 49 states and more than 122 countries.
Webster University St. Louis has astudent newspaper calledThe Journal and a student radio station called The Galaxy. The Galaxy was re-launched online in 2007.[46] Webster University has other e-newsletters such as Webster Today and departmental publications.
Webster University recently allowed the formation of the first Greek organization on its St. Louis campus, with the founding of the 152nd Chapter ofDelta Upsilon and the founding of the Gamma Zeta chapter ofDelta Phi Epsilon.
R. Alan King, military veteran (Panama and Iraq) and author ofTwice Armed: An American Soldier's Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq – Winner of 2008 William E.Colby Award
^Donald J. Kemper, "Catholic Integration in St. Louis, 1935–1947",Missouri Historical Review, October 1978, pp. 1–13.
^Ted LeBerthon, "Why Jim Crow Won at Webster College,"Pittsburgh Courier, February 5, 1944, p. 13.
^"Pressure Grows to Have Catholic College Doors Open to Negroes,"Pittsburgh Courier, February 19, 1944, p. 1; "St. Louis U. Lifts Color Bar: Accepts Five Negroes for Summer Session",Pittsburgh Courier, May 6, 1944, p. 1.
^"Missouri College Admits Race Girl,"Pittsburgh Courier, October 13, 1945, p. 1.
This includes institutions outside of the city limits of St. Louis which have "St. Louis, MO" postal addresses. Note multiple places with "St. Louis, MO" postal addresses are not in the St. Louis city limits.
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