Aquinas College (Michigan)

 

Aquinas College
Established	1886
Type	Private
Endowment	$20.2 million
Students	2,159 Undergraduate: 1,604 full-time 32 part-time Post-graduate: 268 full-time 255 part-time
Location	Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Campus	107 acres (0.43 km2)
Nickname	Saints
Mascot	Nelson the St. Bernard
Affiliations	Roman Catholic
Website	www.aquinas.edu

Aquinas College is a small Catholic college that aims to provide a liberal arts education located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Aquinas was ranked among the "Best Regional Universities - Midwest" by U.S. News and World Report (2012).

Mission Statement: Aquinas College, an inclusive educational community rooted in the Catholic Dominican tradition, provides a liberal arts education with a global perspective, emphasizes career preparation focused on leadership and service to others, and fosters a commitment to lifelong learning dedicated to the pursuit of truth and the common good.

Aquinas has more than 2,100 students and offers over 60 majors, awarding Bachelor's degrees and Master's degrees. It is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. Many Aquinas graduates go on to graduate schools: approximately 90% of pre-med students from Aquinas are accepted into medical schools. The opportunity to study abroad is a draw for many Aquinas students, as many take a semester at an international university. A study abroad program in Rome was added in 2010.

History

Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886, Aquinas has a Catholic heritage. Aquinas began as a novitiate normal school, for young women who had yet to take their vows to the Dominican religious order.

In 1922, the Dominican Sisters merged their newly created college for lay women with the normal school. This new college received a charter from the state of Michigan to grant degrees in 1923. In 1931, it became the first Catholic college in the US to go co-ed, and was reorganized as Catholic Junior College.

The college began to operate as a four-year institution in 1941, when it was renamed in honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Administration

The school's first administrator was Monsignor Bukowski, for whom the school's chapel is named. In February, 1969, Dr. Norbert J. Hruby succeeded Monsignor Bukowski as President. Hruby Hall, an administrative building and residence hall on campus, bears his name. Aquinas’ third president, Dr. Peter D. O’Connor, took office in 1986 and served until 1990. In 1990 Mr. R. Paul Nelson was named the College’s fourth president, serving until 1997. Dr. Harry J. Knopke became the fifth president of Aquinas College in 1997. Dr. Knopke served from 1997 through 2006. On July 1, 2006, Provost C. Edward Balog was named Interim President and he became the College’s sixth president in May 2007. Dr. Balog retired from Aquinas College on June 30, 2011. Dr. Juan Olivarez became the seventh president of Aquinas College on July 1, 2011.

In June 2008 Dr. Charles Gunnoe Jr. became Provost and Dean of Faculty for Aquinas College. He had served as head of the History Department for five years prior.

Notable Board of Trustees members include Chairman Lt. General John Nowak, United States Air Force (Ret.) and Sr. Nathalie Meyer, O.P., Prioress of the Grand Rapids Dominicans. Trustees Emeriti include Msgr. William Duncan Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids, Sr. M. Aquinas Weber, O.P., and local philanthropists Martin Allen, Jr., Peter Wege and Kate Pew Wolters.

Athletics

Aquinas Saints logo

Nelson, a St. Bernard, is the mascot of the Aquinas Saints. Aquinas is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. As Aquinas has never fielded a football team, the men's and women's soccer and basketball teams prove big draws. The men's Cross Country team holds the nation's longest current active streak of being ranked in the Top 25. The Saints have been a mainstay in the poll for 106 consecutive weeks dating back to September 2000. The Athletic Department is led by long-time men's baseball coach Terry Bocian, who retired from coaching in 2002 to focus solely on his duties as athletic director.

Aquinas College teams have been national runners-up twice. In 1963, the Aquinas men's golf team narrowly lost to host Southwest Missouri State in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II tournament. The '63 squad was inducted into the Aquinas College Athletic Hall of Fame on September 26, 2003. In 2004, the men's cross country team finished second to Virginia Intermont College at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national meet in Louisville, Kentucky. Five Aquinas athletes have won seven individual national titles in golf and indoor and outdoor track and field.

In 2010, a team of students led by freshman Hugh Ingalls successfully started the Aquinas College hockey program which will begin play in the 2012-2013 season. The team is led by Head Coach Mark VanVliet and will compete in the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) and American CollegiateHockey Association (ACHA) Division 3.

Team National runners-up

• 1963 - Men's Golf - NCAA Division II
• 2004 - Men's Cross Country - NAIA

Individual National champions

• 1964 - John Kurzynowski - Men’s Golf - NCAA Division II
• 1974 - Tom Carr - Men’s Hammer Throw - NAIA
• 1978 - Pat Weiler - Men’s 3000-meter Steeplechase - NCAA Division III
• 1999 - Jason Carver - Men’s Outdoor 200-meter Dash - NAIA
• 1999 - Kellie Leeuw - Women’s Outdoor High Jump - NAIA
• 2001 - Jason Carver - Men’s Indoor 55-meter Dash - NAIA
• 2001 - Jason Carver - Men’s Indoor 200-meter Dash - NAIA
• 2010 - Rumeal McKinney - Men's Indoor 60-meter Dash - NAIA
• 2012 - Nicholas Thelen, Grant Gunneson, Dustin Heiler, and Caleb Teachout - Men's Outdoor 4x800m Relay - NAIA

Notable alumni

• Paul Assenmacher, a pitcher on the school's baseball team in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going on to play for five Major League Baseball teams during a 14-year career;
• Dave Gumpert, who pitched for three Major League Baseball teams during five seasons in the mid-1980s; and, Canadian sportscaster
• Brian Williams, a 1968 graduate who began his broadcast career while calling the college's basketball play-by-play in 1967. His professional career started with Toronto's CHUM radio. After a year at CFRB Radio in Toronto, he joined CBC Television's Toronto station, CBLT. With more than 25 years of broadcast experience, Williams is considered the dean of Canadian sports commentators.

External links

• Aquinas College website
• Alumni website