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| 1886 |
• Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters establish the Novitiate Normal School to train members of the order for teaching. |
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| 1923 |
| • Sacred Heart (Marywood) College grows out of the Novitiate Normal School and is chartered by the state of the Michigan as a two year college for women. |
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Grand Rapids Catholic Junior College Ransom Avenue campus in downtown Grand Rapids. Classes are conducted in this four-storey 19th century brick building, with a two-floor addition. It holds two offices, four classrooms, four labs, a library and a small chapel. For large lectures and gatherings, the college uses the Knights of Columbus hall across the street. Physical education classes are held at Grand Rapids Junior College, and Education classes are held at Marywood. Music studios are in a small building next door. One classroom has windows opening on to the long back porch of the main building and students use them as an escape route from boring classes. |
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To hear GRCJC alumnus Joe Cavera talk about the student "smoker" on the Ransom Street campus, click here. This audio clip is from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College. |
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| 1931 |
| • With encouragement from Grand Rapid Bishop Joseph Gabriel Pinten, Dominican prioress, Mother Eveline Mackey, decides to move Sacred Heart (Marywood) College to downtown Grand Rapids and rename it Grand Rapids Catholic Junior College. GRCJC opens its doors to men and becomes the nation's first coeducational Catholic College. |
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| • Bishop Pinten
calls GRCJC "a new diocesan institution... placed
under the direction of the Dominican Sisters of Marywood...
to promote the higher education of our young men and women
in accordance with Catholic principles." GRCJC courses
include "Catholic Action, liberal arts and sciences,
pre-commerce, pre-law, and courses leading to journalism
and the profession of teaching." |
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In the early years, Dominican sisters make
up a large percentage of the faculty. Because their work is counted as "contributed service," they become the "living endowment" of the college, allowing the college to contain
costs in its early years. |
The Dominican mother house on Fulton. Catholic Junior College students take their Education courses here. |
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| • The arrangement
with the Grand Rapids diocese causes friction, with the
bishop attempting to control faculty and administrative
appointments in the college. Mother Eveline insists that
the Dominican order, as a "regular" order of
the Catholic Church, is a papal institute, not subject
to local diocesan control. Eventually, the diocese recognizes
the College's independence. |
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| • Dean Burton Confrey, a layman who had written several books, becomes the academic leader of GRCJC. The faculty consists predominantly of Dominican sisters. |
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| • Depression-era tuition at GRCJC is $50 per semester. A work-study program is initiated to help students pay this high tuition. Library workers in this New Deal era are hired with WPA funds. |
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| • The first GRCJC
graduation is distinctive. Dr. Confrey decrees, "There
will be no formal commencement exercises. "Instead,
when preparing for their baccalaureate, the graduates
make "a vigil similar to the knights of old." |
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| 1933 |
• The first student newspaper, The Lantern, is produced every other week on a mimeograph machine. |
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| 1934 |
• Fr. Arthur F. Bukowski is appointed chaplain and dean of the College, later becoming its president after Dr. Confrey's retirement. |
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To hear Msgr. Arthur Bukowski reflect on his arrival at GRCJC, click here for an audio clip from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College. |
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• Enrolment soars to 90 students, mostly from Grand Rapids, but some coming from as far away as Beaver Island. Women out-of-town students live in Esther Hall, a residence in Heritage Hill run by the Methodist church. Men out-of-town students are given a list of nearby facilities. |
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• By the late 1930s, enrolment reaches 200. |
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| • The Catholic Junior Herald replaces The Lantern as the student newspaper. |
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During the Depression, students use ingenuity and creativity to entertain themselves. In addition to staging shows and holding parties, an annual picnic becomes a college-wide celebration. Pictured here is a 1938 GRCJC picnic at Johnson Park on the banks of the Grand River.
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To hear Monsignor Bukowski speak of the annual Ascension Day picnic, click here. This audio clip is from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College. |
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Catholic Junior College features only two sports teams, baseball and basketball. Pictured here is the 1938 baseball team.
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To hear a GRCJC alumnus speak of the early sports program, click here. This audio clip is from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College. |
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