Franciscan University of Steubenville history

In 1949, for example, the first Founders’ Day Dinner was held at the Fort Steuben Hotel and the first Board of Advisors was formed.

In June 1950, the first graduating class was honored with 17 different events, including a solemn Mass at St Peter’s Church and a June 8 commencement at Steubenville High School.

In 1953, the friars purchased a 40-acre tract on a site overlooking the city of Steubenville.

The basketball team, meanwhile, was surprisingly successful throughout the decade, once winning 56 home games in a row under coach Hank Kuzma and earning the title “Number One Small College Basketball Team in the United States” with a record of 24-1 in 1958.

The friars bought a 40-acre property overlooking the city, and accreditation was provided by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1960.

He had served as dean of the College from 1964-69 and was well known as one of the leaders of the Catholic charismatic renewal.

In 1965, the graduating class topped 100 students for the first time.

The decline slowly became worse, leading to only six students and eight faculty members attending the opening Mass for the semester in 1973.

He spent his first semester in fall 1974 getting to know the students—playing seven intramural sports with them, attending their plays, concerts, and sporting events, showing up at any party he heard about, invited or not.

The Charismatic group in turn, asked if the university could host their first priest conference, which took place in 1975, and was attended by 500 priests.

Forty years ago, in the summer of 1976, the first youth conference was held.

Scanlan reintroduced a theology program, which quickly became the top major at the college, and also oversaw the development of graduate programs in business and theology, which helped the college obtain the title of university in 1980.

Walter Hildebrand, an Austrian architect, purchased the 14-century Carthusian monastery in 1983, which was in shambles due to occupation by the Soviet Union after World War II, according to the guide.

Also in 1985, the Pre-Theologate Program began.

In 1987, St Mary of the Angels, a replica of the Portiuncula built by St Francis of Assisi, was built.

In 1989, the members of the theology faculty along with the friars at the University were the very first professors and campus ministers in the United States to publically make the newly formulated Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity called for in the revised Code of Canon Law.

A graduate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, in 1990, he earned his juris doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and spent 10 years as a practicing attorney before he entered the Franciscan Third Order Regular.

Although renovation was not yet finished in 1991, the first group of students spent their study abroad semester in the “Kartuase,” as it is affectionately known by the students.

In 1992, the Finnegan Fieldhouse was dedicated, boasting courts for basketball and racquetball, a weight room, and an exercise room.

In 1996, the University helped to launch the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family (ITI) at Gaming.

According to the history, when Scanlan stepped down in 1999, he had left a legacy.

Appointed the fifth president of Franciscan University in August 2000, Father Terence Henry, TOR, held to the University’s legacy while moving the school into the future.

Since 2001, United States News & World Report’s guidebook on “America’s Best Colleges” has ranked Franciscan University in the elite “top tier” of Midwestern universities.

A new residence hall, the 48,000-square-foot SS. Louis and Elizabeth Hall, opened in fall 2007 as home to 177 students.

In 2010, the campaign concluded, having raised $31 million.

Knowing how important it is for young Catholics to take up key leadership positions in business, politics, media, education, health care, and “every occupation proper to Christian laity,” the University founded the Center for Leadership in fall 2011.

The age of heroic Catholicism has begun.” Toward that end, he directed Franciscan University’s 2012 lawsuit opposing the federal government’s HHS mandate that would force the University to provide health insurance coverage that violates its religious principles.

In June 2013, Father Henry’s 13-year tenure as president concluded when he stepped down to become the University’s second chancellor.