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Former names | Novitiate Normal School (1886–1922) Sacred Heart College (1922–1920s) Marywood College (1920s–1931) Catholic Junior College (1931–1939) |
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| Motto | Non nisi te, Domine (Latin) |
Motto in English | "Nothing but You, Lord".[1] |
| Type | Privateliberal arts college |
| Established | 1886 |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic (Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids) |
Academic affiliations | AACU |
| Endowment | $48 million as of 2021[2] |
| President | Alicia Córdoba |
| Provost | Terry Keller |
Academic staff | 86 full time 159 part-time |
| Students | 1,265[3] |
| Undergraduates | 1,169 |
| Postgraduates | 96 |
| Location | ,, United States 42°57′36″N85°37′43″W / 42.9600°N 85.6286°W /42.9600; -85.6286 |
| Campus | Urban, 117 acres (0.47 km2) |
| Colors | Maroon & White |
| Nickname | Saints |
Sporting affiliations | NAIA –WHAC |
| Mascot | Nelson theSt. Bernard (dog) |
| Website | www |
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Aquinas College is a privateRoman Catholic liberal arts college inGrand Rapids, Michigan. TheDominican Sisters of Grand Rapids formed it as the Novitiate Normal School in 1886. It has also been known as Sacred Heart College, Maywood College, and Catholic Junior College. The college has more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offers 61 majors, awardingbachelor's degrees andmaster's degrees. Alicia Cordoba is the ninth and current president of the college.
The Congregation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of theOrder of Preachers (Dominicans), today commonly known as the "Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids", led by Mother Aquinata Fiegler, OP, founded theNovitiate Normal School inTraverse City,Michigan in 1886. The school's mission was to educate young women who had yet to make their vows in the Order (i.e.,novices), to beparochial school teachers throughoutMichigan. It trained and sent forth numerous sister teachers successfully. In 1911, the school was transferred toGrand Rapids, along with the motherhouse of the sisters, under an invitation of the bishop of the youngDiocese of Grand Rapids.[4]
In response to the need for their sister teachers to holdbaccalaureate degrees, in 1922 the sisters reorganized the Novitiate Normal School asSacred Heart College and also commenced admitting lay women. TheState of Michigan granted acharter to award two-year degrees to women in the new college in the same year. The site of the new college was transferred to the newly erected motherhouse of the Sisters on East Fulton Street, in the margins ofGrand Rapids.[4]
At some time between 1922 and 1931 it was renamed asMarywood College.[5] In 1931, it was reorganized asCatholic Junior College, transferred to a site on Ransom Street adjacent to theGrand Rapids Public Library, and became the firstRoman Catholic college in the United States governed by women religious to becomecoeducational. BishopJoseph G. Pinten ofGrand Rapids instigated the reform to admit men alongside women.[4] At that time it awarded two-year degrees.
In 1939, Catholic Junior College added a third year to its curriculum. The college began awarding four-yearbaccalaureate degrees and was renamedAquinas College in honor ofSt. Thomas Aquinas and its founder, Mother Aquinata Fiegler, OP, in 1940, but the articles of incorporation to legally effect the institutional change were not filed with theState of Michigan until 1941. In 1945, Mother Euphrasia Sullivan, OP executed for the college the purchase of the Holmdene Mansion, erected by Edward Lowe in 1908, and its arboreal lands, at 1607 Robinson Road, bordering East Fulton Street. The college relocated to the former Lowe estate where it is sited to this day. The North Central Association accredited it in 1946.
In 1948 students instituted a chapter of the Dominican Third (Secular) Order (tertiaries; TOP). In May 1950 the outdoor Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima was dedicated, in memory of the members of Aquinas College who sacrificed their lives in theSecond World War, after a student and alumni campaign of two years.[6]
The 1950s and 1960s were a period of great growth and construction and during them, the college abandoned and sold the original campus on Ransom Street. In 1955 the new Administration Building, now the "Academic Building", was erected.[7]
In 1974 the college became legally independent of theDominican Sisters of Grand Rapids. In 1975 the name of the athletic teams was changed from the "Tommies" to the "Saints", under a student poll, because African American members had been racially ridiculed as "Toms".[8]
In 1977 the college was accredited to award its first graduate degree, the Master of Management in business, which was distinct from the conventional Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree awarded by other institutions because it was primarily based on the humanities and not mathematics.[8] In 1993 the college awarded its first doctorate, albeithonoris causa.[9]
Also in 1997, the college officially named its mascot, aSt. Bernard dog, "Nelson" in honor of President Paul Nelson, who retired that year. In 1998 the college was reorganized into three schools, each led by a dean and subdivided into departments: the School of Education, the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the School of Management.[9]
A marker designating the college as aMichigan Historic Site was erected by theMichigan History Division, Department of State in 1962.[10] The inscription reads:
Aquinas had its beginning in 1887 as the Novitiate Normal School of the Dominican Sisters of Marywood. In 1922 it became Marywood College of the Sacred Heart. When the college was moved downtown in 1931, it became the coeducational Catholic Junior College. It began operating as a four-year college in 1940 and was named in honor of the great medieval theologian and philosopher, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas is primarily a liberal arts college. It was moved to this campus, the former Lowe estate, in 1945.
The arboreal campus is inGrand Rapids, Michigan. The college has four dormitories: Dominican Hall, Hruby Hall, Regina Hall, and St. Joseph Hall. It also has five apartment buildings on campus and five "living-learning communities", denominated "houses" on campus.
| Admissions statistics | |
|---|---|
2021 entering class[11] | |
| Admit rate | 89.0 (1,275 out of 1,432) |
| Yield rate | 16.9 (216 out of 1,275) |
| Test scoresmiddle 50%[i] | |
| SAT Total | 1000–1170 (among 45% ofFTFs) |
| ACT Composite | 20–25 (among 7% ofFTFs) |
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The college has around 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students[12] and offers 61 majors,[13] awardingbachelor's degrees andmaster's degrees. It is accredited by theHigher Learning Commission.[13] Its most popular undergraduate majors, in terms of 2021 graduates, were:[14]
Many graduates continue to graduate schools: approximately 90% of pre-medical students are accepted into medical schools. The opportunity to study away is a major attraction to many students, as many study for a semester at an international institution. Programs currently offered include: England, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, and Dominican Exchange (US). Short-term faculty-led trips are also offered.
The college is headed by a president and a board of trustees.
The college's first administrator was Monsignor Bukowski, for whom its chapel is named. In February 1969, Norbert J. Hruby succeeded Bukowski as president. Hruby Hall, an administrative building and residence hall on campus, bears his name. Aquinas's third president, Peter D. O’Connor, served from 1986 to 1990. R. Paul Nelson served as the fourth president from 1990 to 1997 followed by Harry J. Knopke from 1997 to 2006. On July 1, 2006, Provost C. Edward Balog was named interim president and he became the college's sixth president in May 2007; he retired on June 30, 2011. Juan Olivarez became the seventh president on July 1, 2011, and retired upon completion of the school year in the spring of 2017. Kevin Quinn was the eighth president and left mid-term. Steve Germic served as the interim president until July 2022 when President Alicia Cordoba was elected. She is the ninth and current president of the college.
Publications:
The student radio station is "AQ Sound".[15]
The Aquinas athletic teams are called the Saints. The university is a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in theWolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) since the 1992–93 academic year.
Aquinas compete in 30 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball; while women's sports basketball, bowling, cross country, dance, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, stunt, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports.
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