Catholic University of America
The 'Catholic University of America' is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a seminary – and the only institution of higher education founded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Established in 1887 as a graduate and research center following approval by Pope Leo XIII, the university began offering undergraduate education in 1904. In the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, it is classified as an R1 university.
Its campus is adjacent to the Brookland neighborhood, known as "Little Rome," which contains 60 Catholic institutions, including Trinity Washington University, the Dominican House of Studies, Archbishop Carroll High School, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
CUA's programs emphasize the liberal arts, professional education, and personal development. The school stays closely connected with the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations. The residential U.S. cardinals put on the American Cardinals Dinner each year to raise scholarship funds. The university also has a long history of working with the Knights of Columbus; its law school has dedications to the involvement and support of the Knights.
History
Founding
At the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops first discussed the need for a national Catholic university. At the Third Plenary Council on January 26, 1885, bishops chose the name The Catholic University of America for the institution.In 1882, Bishop John Lancaster Spalding went to Rome to obtain Pope Leo XIII's support for the university, also persuading his family friend Mary Gwendoline Caldwell to pledge $300,000 to establish it. On April 10, 1887, Pope Leo XIII sent James Cardinal Gibbons a letter granting permission to establish the university. On March 7, 1889, the Pope issued the encyclical Magni Nobis, granting the university its charter and establishing its mission as the instruction of Catholicism and human nature together at the graduate level. By developing new leaders and new knowledge, the university was intended to strengthen and enrich Catholicism in the United States.
The university was incorporated in 1887 on of land next to the Old Soldiers Home. President Grover Cleveland was in attendance for the laying of the cornerstone of Divinity Hall, now known as Caldwell Hall, on May 24, 1888, as were members of Congress and the U.S. Cabinet.
19th century
When the university first opened on November 13, 1889, the curriculum consisted of lectures in mental and moral philosophy, English literature, the sacred scriptures, and the various branches of theology. At the end of the second term, lectures on canon law were added. The first students were graduated in 1889. By 1900, CUA was one of the 14 colleges that offered doctorate programs which formed the Association of American Universities.20th century
In 1904, the university added an undergraduate program. The president of the first undergraduate class was Frank Kuntz, whose memoir of that period was published by The Catholic University of America Press. The university gives an annual award named for Kuntz.Bishop and Rector Thomas J. Shahan gave a speech to the Ancient Order of Hibernians in 1894 in which he advocated for Irish independence in language, culture, and politics. This resulted in the Hibernians endowing a chair of Gaelic Languages and Literature at the university. Only Harvard University had a similar position at the time, and this attracted the attention of William Butler Yeats. During a trip to the United States, Yeats spoke to students in McMahon Hall on February 21, 1904. In a follow-up letter to Shahan, he said: "you have surely a great university and I wish we had its like in Ireland."
Despite Washington, D.C., being a Southern and segregated city when the university was founded, it admitted black Catholic men as students. At the time, the only other college in the District to do so was Howard University, founded for African-American education after the Civil War. In 1895, Catholic University had three black students, all from DC. "They were simply tested as to their previous education, and this being found satisfactory, no notice whatever was taken of their color. They stand on exactly the same footing as other students of equal intellectual calibre and acquirements", according to Keane. Conaty, speaking to President William McKinley during a visit on June 1, 1900, said that the university, "like the Catholic Church ... knows no race line and no color line." The policy was reversed in 1914, with CUA kowtowing to segregationist policies and commencing denial of admissions to Black students.
In 1935, the university's coat of arms was designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
A victory parade for the 1936 Orange Bowl champions went up Pennsylvania Avenue on its circular route from Union Station to campus. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, "on his way to church, became an unwitting parader, when the march de triumph jammed traffic in front of the White House."
In 1938, due to the rise of the antisemitic priest Charles Coughlin and not long after Kristallnacht, CUA officials asked CBS and NBC to broadcast an event live from the university campus. The broadcast had little effect, participating clerics did not mention Coughlin, and barely mentioned Nazi conduct by name, while offering general support for Jews.
The university began admitting Black students again in 1936, following protests from Thomas Wyatt Turner, the Federated Colored Catholics and NAACP, and the Catholic Interracial Council. Forty Black students were enrolled by 1939 with most in the School of Arts and Sciences. However, Black students continued to experience discrimination at the university with segregation practiced in many parts of the campus until the mid-1940s.
The presence of CUA attracted other Catholic institutions to the area, including colleges, religious orders, and national service organizations. Between 1900 and 1940, more than 50 international Catholic institutions rented or owned property in neighboring Brookland. Following World War II, Catholic University had a dramatic expansion in enrollment, thanks to veterans making use of the G.I. Bill to complete college educations.
Law school
In 1954, Columbus University merged with the law program of CUA to become the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, after the American Bar Association in 1951 challenged law schools not affiliated with a university. The CUA law school was the first professional school of the university.21st century
By the early 21st century, the university had over 6,000 students from all 50 states and around the world. In 2018, the university experienced some challenges as administrators worked to reduce a $3.5 million deficit. Some faculty objected to the draft plan and voted "no confidence" in the president and provost.On September 22, 2021, it was announced that John Garvey would be stepping down as President of Catholic University on June 30, 2022.
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus and Catholic University of America have a history of "a close and supportive relationship" that dates almost to the founding of the university.In 1899, the National Council of the Knights of Columbus established a Knights of Columbus Chair of American History at the university. More than 10,000 Knights were on hand on April 13, 1904, to present a $55,633.79 check to endow the chair.
In December 1904, Cardinal Gibbons appealed to the Knights for more financial aid to help meet operating costs after some investments went sour. The Order gave nearly $25,000. By 1907 the financial situation of Catholic University had improved but was still shaky. Every Knight was asked to contribute $1 a year for a five-year period, and in December 1913, a $500,000 endowment was established.
In 1920, the order contributed $60,000 toward the Catholic University gymnasium and drill hall, which later was adapted for use as the Crough Building housing the School of Architecture. In 2006, the Knights announced an $8,000,000 gift to the university to renovate Keane Hall and rename it as McGivney Hall, after the Knights' founder, Michael J. McGivney. The building, which was vacant, now houses the Washington session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, funded by the Knights and established at the Dominican House of Studies adjacent to the CUA campus in 1988.
In August 1965, a $1 million fund was established to underwrite the Pro Deo and Pro Patria Scholarship, providing twelve undergraduate scholarships annually to the university. In 1989 the Knights voted a $2,000,000 birthday gift to the U.S. bishops on their bicentennial, to be given to Catholic University and used to fund special projects jointly chosen by the university and the Knights. Part of it was used to build the Columbus School of Law.
Papal visits
CUA is the only American university to have been visited by three popes and is one of only two universities to have any visits by a pontiff. Pope John Paul II visited on October 7, 1979. On April 16, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI gave an address at the campus about Catholic education and academic freedom. Pope Francis visited on September 23, 2015, during his trip to the United States, where he celebrated Mass on the east portico of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.Campus
CUA's campus is in the residential community of Brookland in Northeast Washington; its main entrance is 620 Michigan Ave., NE. The campus is bound by Michigan Avenue to the south, North Capitol Street to the west, Hawaii Avenue to the north, and John McCormick Road to the east. It is three miles north of the Capitol building.The tree-lined campus is. Romanesque and modern design dominate among the university's 48 major buildings. Between McMahon and Gibbons halls and alongside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception runs The Mall, a large strip of grass often used by Ultimate Frisbee players and sunbathers. Conte Circle is in the middle of Centennial Village, a cluster of eight residential houses.
The Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center opened in the spring of 2003, bringing student dining services, the campus bookstore, student organization offices, an 800-person ballroom, a convenience store, and more student services under one roof. The John K. Mullen Library completed a $6,000,000 renovation in 2004.
Columbus School of Law is on the main campus and has a building with mock courtrooms, a library, chapel, classrooms, and offices.
Theological College, the United States' national Catholic seminary, is affiliated with CUA, sending students there for their studies. Also located near campus is the St. John Paul II Seminary, a minor seminary for the Archdiocese of Washington but also serving nearby dioceses and hosting seminarians from dioceses around the country. Students from the minor seminary study for their undergraduate philosophy degrees at the university. Several organizations of religious life also have seminaries nearby—including the Josephites, Carmelites, Franciscans, Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Paulist Fathers, each of which send students to CUA.
In April 2004, CUA purchased of land from the Armed Forces Retirement Home. It is the largest plot of open space in the District and makes CUA the largest university in D.C. by area. There are no plans for the parcel other than to secure it for future growth.
In 2007, CUA unveiled plans to expand its campus by adding three new dormitories to the north side of campus. The first of these, the seven-story Opus Hall, was completed in 2009 in the university's traditional Collegiate Gothic style. It houses 420 upper-class students and is Washington's first LEED-certified dormitory. Opus Hall is the first residential community to house both male and female students since the 2007 adoption of a single-sex dormitory policy.
In 2022, Welcome Plaza, located between Fr. O’Connell and Gibbons halls, was built to house the 4 ton sculpture Angels Unawares by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz. A fountain was installed below the sculpture, creating an illusion that the boat is sailing forward within Welcome Plaza.
In 2011, CUA demolished Spalding, Conaty and Spellman dormitories, which allowed for the development of Monroe Street by Bozzuto contracting. In partnership with the university, Monroe Street Market and the Brookland Arts Walk opened in 2014. A CUA Barnes & Noble bookstore opened on Monroe. New apartments in the development allow older students the opportunity to reside off campus within walking distance of the university.
The campus is served by the Brookland-CUA station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Near the campus are the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America.