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Aquinas College (Michigan)
Encyclopedia
Aquinas College is a small Catholic college that aims to provide a liberal arts education located in Grand Rapids, Michigan
. Aquinas is considered one of the best liberal arts colleges in the Midwest region by U.S. News and World Report (2006).
Aquinas has more than 2,100 students and offers over 60 majors, awarding Bachelor's degree
s and Master's degree
s. 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.
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
.
Notable Board of Trustees members include Chairman William Duncan Vicar General
of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids
. Trustees Emeritus include Sr. M. Aquinas Weber and local philanthropist Peter Wege.
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.
, 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 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.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. Aquinas is considered one of the best liberal arts colleges in the Midwest region by U.S. News and World Report (2006).
Aquinas has more than 2,100 students and offers over 60 majors, awarding Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
s and Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s. 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 DominicanDominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886, Aquinas has a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
heritage. Aquinas began as a novitiate normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, 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
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
from the state of Michigan to grant degrees in 1923. In 1931, it became the first Catholic college in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
.
Administration
The school's first administrator was Monsignor Bukowski, for whom the school's chapel is named. Following Bukowski was Norbert Hruby, for which Hruby Hall, an administrative building holds his name. After Hruby came Peter O'Connor, who served from 1986 until 1990. R. Paul Nelson became the fourth President, serving until 1997, when he resigned, and was succeeded by President Harry Knopke. Knopke served from 1997 through 2006. Provost Ed Balog had served as interim president since 2006 and became the 6th President on July 1, 2007.Notable Board of Trustees members include Chairman William Duncan Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids
Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in western Michigan, in the United States. It comprises 102 churches in Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Montcalm, Mecosta, Lake, Mason, and Osceola counties in Michigan. The diocese was created on...
. Trustees Emeritus include Sr. M. Aquinas Weber and local philanthropist Peter Wege.
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.
Athletics
Nelson, a St. BernardSt. Bernard (dog)
The St. Bernard is a breed of very large working dog from the Italian and Swiss Alps, originally bred for rescue. The breed has become famous through tales of alpine rescues, as well as for its large size.-Appearance:The St. Bernard is a large dog...
, is the mascot of the Aquinas Saints. Aquinas is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA), and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference of ten colleges and universities in the U.S. states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Founded in 1992, the conference was created as a successor group for the now-defunct NAIA District 23...
. As Aquinas has never fielded a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, the men's and women's soccer and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
teams prove big draws. 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
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
.
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
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
team finished second to Virginia Intermont College at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA) national meet in Louisville, Kentucky. Five Aquinas athletes have won seven individual national titles in golf and indoor and outdoor track and field.
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
Notable alumni
- Paul AssenmacherPaul AssenmacherPaul Andre Assenmacher is a former left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for fourteen seasons. Assenmacher pitched for the Atlanta Braves , Chicago Cubs , New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians...
, a pitcher on the school's baseball team in the late 1970s and early 1980s before going on to play for five Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams during a 14-year career; - Dave Gumpert, who pitched for three Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams during five seasons in the mid-1980s; and, Canadian sportscasterSportscasterIn sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator... - Brian WilliamsBrian Williams (sportscaster)Brian Williams is a Canadian sportscaster who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games.-Biography:Williams' father was a very successful doctor...
, 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.