University Liggett School
Encyclopedia
University Liggett School, also known as ULS and Liggett, is a private, secular school in
Grosse Pointe Woods
, Michigan
, United States
. Founded in 1878, it is Michigan's oldest independent coeducational day school.
The school has two campuses totaling 50 acres (202,343 m²). Its Cook Road Campus teaches pre-kindergarten
and kindergarten
in the Primary School, grades 1 through 5 in the Lower School, and grades 9 through 12 in the Upper School. The Middle School, located on the Briarcliff Campus, serves grades 6 through 8. According to the school, over 50 zip codes in Southeastern Michigan are represented by its student population. Over $2 million in merit- and need-based financial aid is awarded to new and returning students annually.
was commissioned to design a lower school, a middle school, and other facilities, such as a new gymnasium, an auditorium, a library, and fine arts rooms, to complement the two-story brick building erected in 1928.
In 1969, the need for an increase in space for the middle school was solved by merging Grosse Point University School with The Liggett School to form University Liggett School.
or advanced courses to encourage "independent" thinking and learning.
100% of graduating seniors are accepted to accredited four-year colleges.
and Association of Independent Michigan Schools. ULS' sports teams compete with regional private and public high schools, such as Detroit Country Day School
, Greenhills School
, Oakland Christian, and Cranbrook Kingswood. Liggett competes athletically in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference for most regular-season contests with many other similarly sized independent schools throughout Michigan. It is a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association
and its 9-12 enrollment of 244 currently places it in MHSAA's Class D.
University Liggett School also has a FIRST Robotics Competition
team that began its rookie season in 2010.
and the Educational Theatre Association
as Troupe 5253. The school's Manoogian Arts Wing was added in 1981, under the planning of then-Arts head Ed Jacomo; it added arts facilities to the school, including a new dance studio, an art display, an audio-video editing studio, five arts classrooms, arts offices, and a conference room.
Grosse Pointe Woods
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Woods is a suburban city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, comprising a large portion of the Grosse Pointe communities. The population was 16,135 at the 2010 census...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1878, it is Michigan's oldest independent coeducational day school.
The school has two campuses totaling 50 acres (202,343 m²). Its Cook Road Campus teaches pre-kindergarten
Pre-Kindergarten
Pre-kindergarten refers to the first formal academic classroom-based learning environment that a child customarily attends in the United States. It begins between the ages of 3-5 depending on the length of the program...
and kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
in the Primary School, grades 1 through 5 in the Lower School, and grades 9 through 12 in the Upper School. The Middle School, located on the Briarcliff Campus, serves grades 6 through 8. According to the school, over 50 zip codes in Southeastern Michigan are represented by its student population. Over $2 million in merit- and need-based financial aid is awarded to new and returning students annually.
The Liggett School
In the spring of 1878, seven members of the Liggett family, headed by the Reverend James D. Liggett, settled in Detroit to establish a small, independent school for girls christened originally as The Detroit Home and Day School. In 1883, the school moved to a three-story brick building at the corner of Cass Avenue and Stimson Place. In 1914, the Albert Kahn-designed “Eastern Liggett" branch, on Burns Avenue at Charlevoix, was built and soon fully occupied. It would remain so until 1964, when classes would be held in a new building constructed on Briarcliff Drive in Grosse Pointe Woods.Detroit University School
Detroit University School, the second of ULS’ predecessor schools, was founded in 1899 by Charles Bliss and Henry Gray Sherrard, who sought independence from public schools. In 1916, after a fire destroyed Detroit University School's original building at Elmwood between Larned and Congress, it moved to what became known as the "Castle," a Gothic-style former residence on Parkview Drive midway between Jefferson Avenue and the Detroit River. There it remained until 1928, when, with the help of Henry and Edsel Ford and many other Detroiters, the school relocated to Cook Road, then the eastern limits of Grosse Pointe.Grosse Pointe Country Day School
Opened in 1915 in a white frame house (still standing at 301 Roosevelt Place in Grosse Pointe), Grosse Pointe Country Day School served boys and girls from kindergarten through ninth grade. A year later, classes opened in an English-style building located at Fisher Road and Grosse Pointe Boulevard. In 1941, Detroit University School and Grosse Pointe Country Day School joined forces under one board. For the day-to-day life of the schools, the major change was that Country Day sent its older boys to Detroit University School and became a school for girls.Grosse Pointe University School
In 1954, the Country Day building was sold to the Grosse Pointe public schools and the girls joined the boys on the Cook Road campus, merging the schools to make Grosse Pointe University School. Minoru YamasakiMinoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
was commissioned to design a lower school, a middle school, and other facilities, such as a new gymnasium, an auditorium, a library, and fine arts rooms, to complement the two-story brick building erected in 1928.
In 1969, the need for an increase in space for the middle school was solved by merging Grosse Point University School with The Liggett School to form University Liggett School.
College Preparation
The school offers Advanced Placement classes in history (World History, United States Government and Politics), science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), English (Literature and Composition), foreign language (Latin Virgil), and mathematics (Calculus AB). However, in its September 2010 newsletter, the school announced a change to its curriculum that included phasing out AP courses and replacing them with honorsHonors course
Honors course is a distinction applied in the United States to certain classes to distinguish them from standard course offerings. The difference between a regular class and the honors class is not necessarily the amount of work, but the type of work required and the pace of studying...
or advanced courses to encourage "independent" thinking and learning.
100% of graduating seniors are accepted to accredited four-year colleges.
Sports
University Liggett School is accredited by the National Association of Independent SchoolsNational Association of Independent Schools
The National Association of Independent Schools is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1963, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary...
and Association of Independent Michigan Schools. ULS' sports teams compete with regional private and public high schools, such as Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School is a private, secular school located in four campuses in Oakland County, Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safety and security services, and the upper school are located in a campus in Beverly Hills, along with the middle school...
, Greenhills School
Greenhills School
Greenhills School is an independent college preparatory school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.-Awards and recognition:Greenhills Upper School was recognized as one of six national Intel Schools of Distinction in 2007 for excellence as one of the nation's top schools for science...
, Oakland Christian, and Cranbrook Kingswood. Liggett competes athletically in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference for most regular-season contests with many other similarly sized independent schools throughout Michigan. It is a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association
Michigan High School Athletic Association
-About:The Michigan High School Athletic Association is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing...
and its 9-12 enrollment of 244 currently places it in MHSAA's Class D.
University Liggett School also has a FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. Each year, teams of high school students compete to build robots weighing up to , not including battery and bumpers, that can complete a task, which changes every year...
team that began its rookie season in 2010.
Arts
University Liggett Schools students produce films and workshops made throughout the year, and the performing arts department launches two major theatrical productions annually: a drama each fall and a musical each winter. The school is active in the International Thespian SocietyInternational Thespian Society
The International Thespian Society is an honorary organization for high-school and middle-school theatre students located at more than 3,600 affiliated secondary schools across the United States, Canada, and abroad. The International Thespian Society was founded in Fairmont, West Virginia...
and the Educational Theatre Association
Educational Theatre Association
The Educational Theatre Association , founded in 1929, is the professional association for theatre education. EdTA’s mission is to make theatre a part of lifelong learning...
as Troupe 5253. The school's Manoogian Arts Wing was added in 1981, under the planning of then-Arts head Ed Jacomo; it added arts facilities to the school, including a new dance studio, an art display, an audio-video editing studio, five arts classrooms, arts offices, and a conference room.
Notable Faculty and Alumni
- New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
editor and author Kevin Conley, who graduated from ULS in 1978. - Isabel Cleves DodgeIsabel Dodge SloaneIsabel Cleves Dodge Sloane was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm....
: Dodge Automobile CompanyDodgeDodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
heiress and prominent thoroughbred horseracing owner/breeder - Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author Jeffrey EugenidesJeffrey EugenidesJeffrey Kent Eugenides is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer. Eugenides is most known for his first two novels, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex . His novel The Marriage Plot was published in October, 2011.-Life and career:Eugenides was born in Detroit, Michigan,...
, who graduated from ULS in 1978. Eugenides' novel, The Virgin SuicidesThe Virgin SuicidesThe Virgin Suicides is the 1993 debut novel by American writer Jeffrey Eugenides. The story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the suicides of five sisters. The Lisbon girls' suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for...
, functions in many ways as a parody of ULS, mentioning some teachers by slightly altered names. Additionally, Eugenides features the knightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
logo of University Liggett School and other clear references to the school in his bestselling novel, MiddlesexMiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. - Edsel B. Ford II ’66 (GPUS): retired Ford Motor Company executive and philanthropist
- William C. Ford, Jr. ’75: Chairman of the Board of Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
- Comedian Max GailMax GailMaxwell Trowbridge "Max" Gail, Jr. is an American actor who has starred in stage, television, and film roles. He most notably portrayed the role of Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz on the television sitcom Barney Miller....
, who taught at ULS prior to his role on "Barney MillerBarney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
." - In 1980, Jean HarrisJean HarrisJean Harris was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia who made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high-profile murder case of her lover Dr...
killed Dr. Herman TarnowerHerman TarnowerHerman Tarnower was a cardiologist and the author of the bestselling diet book The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet...
, a co-author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet; she was a lower school teacher at GPUS in the late 1950s. - Actress Julie HarrisJulie HarrisJulia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
, who graduated from GPCDS in 1944 - Tennis player Aaron KricksteinAaron KricksteinAaron Krickstein , nicknamed "Marathon Man", is a former American professional tennis player, who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour.Krickstein reached his career high ATP ranking of World No....
, ranked as high as #6 in the world, attended ULS in the early 1980s and played for ULS' tennis team. - Kandia MiltonKandia MiltonKandia Milton is a Detroit politician, who served briefly as acting mayor of Detroit. He served previously as the mayor's chief of staff.-Life and career:...
, who graduated in 1990, became Detroit MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Kwame KilpatrickKwame KilpatrickKwame Malik Kilpatrick is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Kilpatrick's mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice...
's chief of staff on January 31, 2008. Pleaded guilty to felony bribery charges and is presently awaiting sentencing to Federal prison - Miles O'BrienMiles O'Brien (journalist)Miles O'Brien is a broadcast news journalist specializing in aviation, space and technology.-Early life:...
, a CNN news anchor. O'Brien graduated from ULS in 1977 and was a co-founder of the school's newspaper, The Knightly News. - Comedian Gilda RadnerGilda RadnerGilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
, who graduated from Liggett in 1964. - Journalist and author Keith RichburgKeith RichburgKeith Richburg is an American journalist, a longtime foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, and the author of Out of America, which detailed his experiences as a correspondent in Africa, during which he witnessed the Rwandan Genocide, a civil war in Somalia, and a cholera epidemic in...
- Filmmaker and film instructor Vicki Vidal ’55 (GPUS).
- Television producer (MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, BETBlack Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
, ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
) Heather Vincent (1977).