College of the Holy Cross

Foundation The College of the Holy Cross was founded by Benedict Joseph Fenwick , second Bishop of Boston , as the first Catholic college in New England . [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Its establishment followed Fenwick's efforts to create a Catholic college in Boston which had been thwarted by the city's Protestant civic leaders. [ 12 ] From the beginning of his tenure as bishop, Fenwick intended to establish a Catholic college within the boundaries of his diocese; a new influx of immigrants after 1830, consisting mostly of Catholic Irish Americans , prompted the need for a Jesuit educational institution. [ 13 ] He considered Benedicta, Maine , as a location, but abandoned the idea. [ 14 ] He petitioned the Society of Jesus to seek their approval in establishing an institution in Worcester, and they sent Thomas F. Mulledy to prepare a report regarding Fenwick's proposal. [ 15 ] Mulledy's favorable report secured the Society's approval in August 1843. [ 16 ] Relations with Boston's civic leaders worsened such that, when a Jesuit faculty was finally secured in 1843, Fenwick decided to leave the Boston school and instead opened the College of the Holy Cross 45 miles (72 km) west of the city in central Massachusetts, where he felt the Jesuits could operate with greater autonomy. [ 15 ] The bishop's letters record his enthusiasm for the project as well as for its location: Next May I shall lay the foundation of a splendid College in Worcester ... It is calculated to contain 100 boys and I shall take them for $125 per an. & supply them with everything but clothes. Will not this be a bold undertaking? Nevertheless I will try it. It will stand on a beautiful eminence & will command the view of the whole town of Worcester. [ 15 ] The site of the college, Mount Saint James, was originally occupied by a Catholic boarding school run by James Fitton , with his lay collaborator Joseph Brigden.

On February 2, 1843, Fitton sold the land to Fenwick and the Diocese of Boston to be used to found the Catholic college that the bishop had wanted in Boston. [ 12 ] Fenwick gave the college the name of his cathedral church, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross . Fenwick Hall, named after Benedict Joseph Fenwick, was one of Holy Cross' inaugural structures. The building's cornerstone was laid on June 21, 1843 [ 17 ]

Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick , founder of Holy Cross The school opened in October 1843 with Jesuit Thomas F. Mulledy , former president of Georgetown University , as its first president, and on the second day of November, with six students aged 9 to 19, the first classes were held. [ 12 ] Within three years, the enrollment had increased to 100 students. Initially the education was more at the elementary and high school level; later it became a higher level institution. Since its founding, Holy Cross has produced the fifth most members of the Catholic clergy out of all American Catholic colleges. The first class graduated in 1849, led by the valedictorian James Augustine Healy , the mixed-race son of Michael Morris Healy, an Irish planter in Georgia and Eliza Clark Healy, an enslaved woman of mixed race. [ 18 ] Healy is now recognized as the first African-American bishop in the United States, but at the time he identified as white Irish Catholic. [ 19 ] His father sent all his sons north for their education at Holy Cross College; two other sons became priests, and three daughters also made careers in the Catholic Church. [ 12 ] Fenwick Hall, the school's main building, was completely destroyed by fire in 1852. Funds were raised to rebuild the college, and in 1853 it opened for the second time. [ 15 ] Petitions to secure a charter for the college from the state legislature were denied in 1847 for a variety of reasons, including anti-Catholicism on the part of some legislators. The increased rate of immigration from Ireland during the famine years roused resistance from some residents of Massachusetts. [ 12 ] Initially, Holy Cross diplomas were signed by the president of Georgetown University. After repeated denials, a charter was finally granted on March 24, 1865, by Governor John Albion Andrew . [ 15 ]

Éamon de Valera , President of Ireland , was conferred an honorary degree in 1920 During World War II , College of the Holy Cross was one of 131 colleges and universities that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. [ 20 ] In 1998, Holy Cross initiated an eight-year capital campaign, "Lift High the Cross", with a three-year quiet period. The campaign for Holy Cross ended in fiscal 2006 with $216.3 million raised, surpassing its original goal of $175 million. [ 21 ] The funds allowed Holy Cross to establish an additional 12 new faculty positions, along with more than 75 newly endowed scholarships for students. During the campaign, the college's endowment grew to more than $544 million. [ 22 ] On July 1, 2000, Michael C. McFarland became the president of the college. In 2011, Philip L. Boroughs , the Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Georgetown University , was named McFarland's successor. [ 23 ] In 2021, he was succeeded by Vincent D. Rougeau , dean of the Boston College Law School . Rougeau is the first lay and first black president in the history of the college. [ 24 ] In early 2018, the college began publicly exploring the possibility of changing its "Crusader" mascot and associated imagery. The college's leadership ultimately decided to keep the mascot, distinguishing its use of the nickname from the historical associations with the Crusades . [ 25 ] In 2019, the college ended its need-blind admissions policy. [ 26 ]