Fordham : a history of the Jesuit university of New York : 1841-2003

Based largely on archival sources in the United States and Rome, this volume documents the evolution of Fordham from a small diocesan college into a major American Jesuit and Catholic university. It places the development of Fordham within the context of the massive expansion of Catholic higher education that took place in the United States in the twentieth century. Based largely on archival sources in the United States and Rome, this book documents the evolution of Fordham from a small diocesan college into a major American Jesuit and Catholic university. It places the development of Fordham within the context of the massive expansion of Catholic higher education that took place in the United States in the twentieth century. This was reflected at Fordham in its transformation from a local commuter college to a predominantly residential institution that now attracts students from 48 states and 65 foreign countries to its three undergraduate schools and seven graduate and professional schools with an enrollment of more than 15,000 students. This is honest history that gives due credit to Fordham for its many academic achievements, but it also recognizes that Fordham shared the shortcomings of many Catholic colleges in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There was an ongoing struggle between Jesuit faculty who wished to adhere closely to the traditional Jesuit ratio studiorum and those who recognized the need for Fordham to modernize its curriculum to meet the demands of the regional accrediting agencies. In recent decades, like virtually all American Catholic universities and colleges, the ownership of Fordham has been transferred from the Society of Jesus to a predominantly lay board of trustees. At the same time, the sharp decline in the number of Jesuit administrators and faculty has intensified the challenge of offering a first-rate education while maintaining Fordham’s Catholic and Jesuit identity. June 2016 is the 175th anniversary of the founding of Fordham University, and this comprehensive history of a beloved and renowned New York City institution of higher learning will help contribute to celebrating this momentous occasion. 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This is honest history that gives due credit to Fordham for its many academic achievements, but also recognizes that Fordham shared the shortcomings of many Catholic colleges in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Covering struggles over curriculum and the change of ownership in recent decades from the Society of Jesus to a predominantly lay board of trustees, this book addresses the intensifying challenges of offering a first-rate education while maintaining Fordham’s Catholic and Jesuit identity. Exploring more than a century and a half of Fordham’s past, this comprehensive history of a beloved and renowned New York City institution of higher learning also contributes to our debates about the future of education. Fordham is the story of the evolution of a small diocesan college into a major American Jesuit university. Founded by John Hughes, the Bishop of New York, as St. John’s College in 1841, the Society of Jesus assumed ownership of the college in 1846. The name was changed to Fordham University in 1907, two years after the establishment of the first two graduate schools (Law and Medicine). A major expansion took place in the 1960s with the creation of the Lincoln Center campus. A recent fund-raising campaign raised over a half-billion dollars. In 2015 Fordham had an enrollment of over 15,000 students from48 states and 65 countries A history of Fordham University that traces the evolution of the institution from St. John' College, a small diocesan college founded by Bishop John Hughes in 1841, to one of the major Jesuit and Catholic universities in the United States.--Publisher description