John Carroll University history

In 1841, settlers living in the Wisconsin Territory community of Prairieville established the academy that five years later would become Carroll College.

Reverend Savage will hold office from 1850-63.

The Philomathean Society, a literary and debating club and Carroll’s first student organization, is founded by the freshman class of 1853-54.

The first advertisement for the college was listed in the Catholic Bulletin on August 19, 1886.

At the end of the first school year, on June 27, 1887, there was a convocation ceremony with a program, music, and prizes being distributed for good work in the classroom.

By 1888, he had worked long and hard to see to the construction and opening of the first wing of the new building for the college, which is presently St Ignatius High School.

In 1890, St Ignatius College was incorporated under the laws of Ohio and granted the power to confer certificates and degrees.

The first two degrees were awarded in 1895.

There are the first of many honor societies to be formed in the 1920s.

With a generous gift from the late R. Jack Sneeden ’50 and his wife, Cherrill Swart Sneeden ’50, the college begins restoration of the Sneeden House, a magnificent 1922 colonial home now used as a guesthouse and conference center.

In 1923 the college was renamed John Carroll University, honoring the first archbishop of the US Catholic Church, who founded Georgetown University.

In 1925, the first copy of The Carroll News was published.

Thanks to the business sense of John J. Bernet, general chairman of the building committee and Herman R. Neff, chairman of the preliminary campaign, $1,400,000 in pledges was secured by 1929.

Since financial success was evident, the building of the new campus began by laying the cornerstone on July 5, 1931.

William Arthur Ganfield becomes president and will hold the position until 1939.

In 1943, with the war in full swing, the campus was shut down to students, but opened its doors to the Navy, when its V-12 program was established.

In 1945, upon reopening the school after the war, the School of Business, Economics, and Government was established.

He will hold this office until 1946.

In 1947, a temporary gymnasium was erected on the original chapel foundation.

In 1949, the Evening College was established.

Nelson Vance Russell becomes president and will hold office until 1951.

Olive J. Van Male in memory of their son James R. Van Male of the class of 1954.

Dennis Punches, class of 1958, pledges $1 million to build an outdoor track along Grand Avenue.

In 1961, Grasselli Library opened its doors.

He will hold office until 1967.

In September 1968, the university made the transition from full-time male enrollment to a fully coeducational institution, admitting women to the College of Arts and Sciences for the first time.

1969 saw the completion of a Student Activities Annex which included a student bar known as the “Airport Lounge,” Little Theater, Development and Alumni offices, and Military Science.

John T. Middaugh becomes president and will hold office until 1970.

In 1971, the Fritzsche Religious Center opened.

The first group of women graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1972.

The William H. Johnson Natatorium was built to house the campus swimming pool in 1975.

In 1978, a new dormitory was built and named North Hall.

In 1982, Cleveland businessman Walter Sutowski’s gift of one million dollars brought the American Values Campaign over its goal of $8.4 million.

In 1984, a $2.1 million grant from the Mellen Foundation of Cleveland endowed a chair in finance in the School of Business.

1986 marked an amazing accomplishment as the University celebrated its Centennial.

He will hold office until 1988.

Dan C. West becomes president and will hold office until 1992.

In 1994, the T.P. O’Malley, S.J., Center for Communications and Language Arts was opened and dedicated.

The John G. and Mary Jane Breen Learning Center, an addition to Grasselli Library that doubled its size, was dedicated in 1995.

In 2003, the university opened the $66 million, 265,000 sq ft (24,600 m) Dolan Center for Science and Technology, named after alumnus Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision and HBO, and his wife Helen Dolan.

Frank S. Falcone becomes president and will hold office until 2006.

In 2011, the university completed the removal of the Bohannon Science building and celebrated the Hamlin Quad enhancement project.

In 2013 Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to be elected pope.

The university announced in December, 2017 that its board of directors had named the school's first non-Jesuit president, Michael D. Johnson, PhD. Johnson had been the provost at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

He began his tenure on July 1, 2018, and was officially inaugurated on September 6, 2018.