Aquinas College :: Heritage & Traditions


Students at work in the 1940s science lab. The large number of women reflect the war years when male students were serving in the Armed Forces.	Sr. Mildred

1940
• The Dominican sisters enter into negotiations with the North Central Association to expand GRCJC to a four-year college. In 1940, a third year is added to GRCJC's curriculum. • Grand Rapids Catholic Junior College becomes Aquinas College, a four-year degree granting institution.

1941
• A fourth-year of classes is added to GRCJC's offerings and the name of the institution is changed to Aquinas College , with Father Bukowski named as its first president.

1942
• WWII calls most male students into service. Recruiting days are held on campus and several male faculty members enter the service. Several students and alumni are killed in action. • On the home front, students collect pennies for copper salvage, sell war stamps and bonds, pray and hear Masses for the armed forces. A service flag, dedicated on November 5, 1942, contains 114 blue stars and one gold star, blue for those in service and gold for those who died. By December, 1944, the flag had 273 blue stars and 6 gold. • General education requirements totaled 70 semester hours, including Latin and Greek. • Summer courses are taught at Marywood, for the convenience of the Dominican sisters. • Religious events through the year include an annual crowning of Mary in May, and a celebration of the feast of Thomas Aquinas on March 7.

In 1944, the first Aquinas College prom is held.
Even though World War II is on (note student in
uniform and Sam Brown belt), students find time for fun.

Holmdene, the former Lowe mansion on the Robinson
Road campus. Its 22 rooms housed most of the
college’s functions in the early years. Included
were offices, library, bookstore, with former
bedrooms upstairs serving as classrooms.
The mature trees in front of the mansion reflect the
Lowe family’s lumbering interests and many of the
trees on campus are rare species. There was at
least one tree of every species that grows in
Michigan as well as imported beeches from England,
maples from Norway, and many elm trees, later
wiped out by the blight.

To hear an alumna from 1945 speak about
the move to Holmdene and student hijinks,
click here. This audio link is to "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College.

1945

• Purchase of Robinson Road Campus, the former Lowe estate. This property was once owned by the short-lived University of Grand Rapids which went under financially during the war. Mother Euphrasia Sullivan spearheaded the purchase, taking out a loan of $115,000.

• April: Fr. Bukowski announces the College’s move.

To hear Sr. Jean Milhaupt reflect on the announcement and on how she scooped the diocesan paper as a young reporter, click here for an audio clip from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College.

• Summer: The Holmdene manor house was readied for incoming students.

In 1945, when the college moves from the Ransom Street campus, there is much work to be done to convert the former Lowe estate into a college campus. Here Aquinas students work with scythes to clear away a field of hay.

In 1947, students on a budget learn to entertain themselves with an annual
"Review-Preview" and other activities.

1946

• Aquinas College receives accreditation from the North Central Association.

• The first yearbook is published and named "The Thomist."

• The Aquinas Circle, a social club founded by German-born Father Henry Nauer, meets weekly at the Knights of Columbus hall downtown.

• Enrolment swells to 426 students as 144 returning World War II vets come back to campus.

To hear alumna Millie de Alva Marin discuss the effect of the returning vets on the college, click here for an audio clip from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College.

Before the Administration building was constructed,
nearly all college activities were housed in Holmdene.
Here students work in the library in Holmdene in 1948.

1949 Aquinas basketball team. The Aquinas
sports program in these days is limited
to baseball, basketball, golf,
cross-country and track.

1948

• Father Bukowski is elevated to the status of Monsignor.

• Students form a chapter of the Dominican Tertiaries (3rd order), construct the shrine of Our Lady
of Fatima. The first Marian Congress is held, May 1. This annual event draws crowds of more than
2,000 people each year.

To hear alumnus Tom Zoellner talk about the construction of the Fatima shrine, click here. This audio link is to "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College.

Graduation day, 1949, is held in the gym, the upper
level of the old stables. Note the angled ceiling which
provides for interesting "carom shots" in basketball
and volleyball games!

Father Terrier


1607 Robinson Road S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506-1799 - (616) 632-8900