College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

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College of Saint Benedict
Motto:	Sic Luceat Lux Vestra (so let your light shine)
Established:	1913
Type:	Private
Religious affiliation:	Roman Catholic
President:	MaryAnn Baenninger
Provost:	Rita Knuesel
Faculty:	294 full-time; 65 part-time
Undergraduates:	2049 (3966 combined with SJU) [1]
Location:	St. Joseph, Minnesota, USA
Campus:	Rural
Colors:	Red and white[2]
Nickname:	Blazers
Athletics:	MIAC
Affiliations:	Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities
Website:	csbsju.edu

Saint John's University
Latin: Universitas Sancti Joannis Baptistae
Motto:	Induomar Arma Lucious (Put on the Armor of Light)
Established:	1857
Type:	Private
Religious affiliation:	Roman Catholic
Endowment:	$125 million
Chancellor:	Abbot John Klassen, OSB
President:	Fr. Robert Koopmann, OSB
Provost:	Rita Knuesel
Faculty:	294 full-time; 65 part-time
Undergraduates:	1917 (3966 combined with CSB) [1]
Location:	Collegeville, Minnesota, USA
Campus:	Rural
Colors:	Cardinal and Blue[3]
Nickname:	Johnnies
Athletics:	MIAC
Affiliations:	Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities
Website:	csbsju.edu

The College of Saint Benedict (CSB), for women, and Saint John's University (SJU), for men, are partnered liberal arts colleges respectively located in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Students attend classes and activities together, and have access to the resources of both campuses. CSB/SJU are located about three and a half miles apart - the campuses are located on 3,200 acres (13 km²) of forests, prairies, and lakes.

Saint John's University has produced its own coarse-grained bread, Johnnie Bread, since 1856 and used the proceeds to fund projects such as the Abbey Church.^[4]

[edit] Partnership

CSB and SJU are two separate institutions that share a single academic program. Men and women attend classes together on both campuses. About 4,000 students are enrolled in CSB/SJU combined.

The Institute of International Education ranks CSB/SJU among the top baccalaureate institutions in the nation for the number of students who study abroad. Additionally, the colleges enroll 175 students from 35 countries, and offer 200 undergraduate courses that have a global focus.

The Benedicta Arts Center of the College of Saint Benedict is a performing arts center on campus. The BAC presents three annual performances by the Minnesota Orchestra and has recently commissioned works by Diavolo and Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at SJU is home to the Saint John's Bible (the first hand-scribed bible in 500 years) and a collection of religious sculpture, paintings, prints, and artifacts.^[5] Saint John's University also includes Saint John's School of Theology Seminary, a graduate school which confers Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees. The school also prepares seminarians for the priesthood.

[edit] Housing

All first-year and sophomore students are required to live on campus.

[edit] Men

Freshman dorms for the men of Saint John's University include Saint Thomas Aquinas Hall (Tommy Hall) and Saint Mary Hall. There are two men per dorm room in both of these buildings. Sophomore men at Saint John's live in three residence halls: St. Bernard (Bernie), St. Boniface (Bonnie), and St. Patrick (Pat). St. Boniface Hall and St. Patrick Hall are connected. Again, all three Sophomore halls have two men per dorm room. There are other housing options available for sophomores like St. Benet Hall which is attached to the Quadrangle Building (Quad). Also St. Joseph Hall (Joe Hall), St. Gregory House (Greg), and the Virgil Michel Apartments are an option. The first floor of Tommy is another common option for Sophomores to live. All of these are separate from the other three sophomore dorm halls. There are also housing options for juniors and seniors to live on campus, like on-campus apartments. These apartments include Placid House, Maur House, Saint Vincent Court, and Metten Court.

[edit] Women

First-year women at the College of Saint Benedict live in three residence halls: Corona, Aurora, and Regina. Sophomore women at the College of Saint Benedict live in three residence halls: Lottie, Brian, and Margretta. Juniors and seniors who choose to live on campus can live in the either the West Apartments (Dominica, Gable, Girgen, Schumacher, Smith, Sohler, and Westkaemper) or the East Apartments (Luetmer, McDonald, Wirth, and Zierden). Students can also choose to live in "living communities" in other campus houses, such as Izerda, the Rainbow House, or the Anne House.

[edit] Athletics

CSB/SJU are members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Saint John's continually finishes at or near the top of the conference in football, and their coach John Gagliardi has been with the program for 55 years. Gagliardi currently holds the record for winningest coach in college football history, regardless of division, with over 450 wins. Saint John's has won six national team championships (2007, 2008 Golf Division III, 2003, 1976 Football Division III, 1965, 1963 Football NAIA). Saint John's biggest rival is the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

SJU made MIAC history in the fall of 2006 by winning team titles (or a share thereof) in all four fall sports: football, soccer, cross-country and golf (the golf team went on to finish first at the NCAA III championships in the spring).

Saint John's University sportsmen compete in men's intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Wrestling, Football, Golf, Soccer, Nordic Skiing, Ice Hockey, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field.

College of Saint Benedict sportswomen compete in Women's Intercollegiate Basketball, Golf, Cross Country, Nordic Skiing, Volleyball, Ice Hockey, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field.

The colleges also offer a variety of club sports including: men's and women's lacrosse, crew, ultimate frisbee, water polo, men's and women's rugby and Australian football.

The rugby club recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007 and continues to be a strong presence in Minnesota and the Midwest. The club has claimed the Minnesota Division II state championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and has made appearances in the Midwest Final Four the past two years.

The men's lacrosse team has been a strong force in the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League (UMLL) which is a division of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Johnnies compete in Division II of both the UMLL and MCLA. The team served as the 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 UMLL Champions, defeating the University of St. Thomas in each of the championship games. They have also appeared in the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 MCLA National Championship playoffs. In 2006 and 2007 they played in the MCLA Division II National Championship game, and were the runners up both years. Currently the team is coached by Derek Daehn.

Saint John's Abbey Church on the campus of SJU

[edit] Student Government

The Saint Ben's Senate (SBS) is the elected student government at the College of Saint Benedict. The Saint John's Senate (SJS) is the elected student government at Saint John's University. The Senates, while individually governering in the interest of their own student body, work closely together with students, faculty, staff, and university administrators to enhance all aspects of student life. The SJS President is Emmanuel McDonald and the SBS President is Ashley Ver Burg.

[edit] Music

College of Saint Benedict; Main Building (right), Sacred Heart Chapel (left) and Main Convent (center).

The music department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University is quite expansive considering the size of the school. The department of music has many ensembles including four choirs, an orchestra, a wind ensemble, a jazz ensemble, and several small chamber ensembles. Many of these ensembles tour extensively both domestically and abroad. The department also presents an opera every year and recently premiered a Stephen Paulus oratorio about the Holocaust entitled "To Be Certain of the Dawn", performed jointly with choirs and orchestra from Saint Cloud State University in Europe in May of 2008. There are also several student run groups, notably the a cappella group Johnnie Blend. Over half of the students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University participate in some kind of music ensemble.

[edit] Media

All student media is run independent of the CSB/SJU administration.

[edit] The Record

The Great Hall, on the campus of SJU; it served as the abbey church until the construction of current present church.

The official SJU newspaper since 1888, The Record became the official newspaper of CSB in 2000. The newspaper is published weekly during the fall and spring semesters and has been recognized among the best weekly college newspapers in Minnesota and the U.S. All back issues of CSB newspapers are available for full-text searching and viewing online through Vivarium, the CSB/SJU Digital Image Collection.

[edit] KJNB

The official student radio station of CSB/SJU allows students to host talk and music-oriented shows in one-hour segments. The studio is located in the lower level of Guild Hall (also called the Old Gym and Rat Hall) in the center of campus. Broadcasts are streamed over the Internet and are broadcast on campus TV Channel 6 and in a few public locations across both campuses. The official broadcasting signal was purchased by a local commercial radio station, so it could expand its service area, though the studio manager in February 2006 reported that an effort was underway to regain the signal. KJNB does not advertise and dead air is filled with randomly cycled music.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Tom Burnett, hero of United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Attended SJU for two years, but did not graduate.
• Eugene Dupuch, prominent Bahamian publisher, businessman, and politician
• David Durenberger, former U.S. Senator
• Jon Hassler, novelist
• Michael Hayden, Tony-nominated actor
• Peggy Hoffman,^[6] judge of County Criminal Court 9, Dallas County, Texas
• Shaun Johnson and Mark McGowan, founding members of Tonic Sol-fa
• Mark Kennedy, former U.S. Congressman
• Matt Kirby and Kevin Truckenmiller, members of alternative rock band Quietdrive
• Bill Kling, co-founder and president of Minnesota Public Radio
• Bernie Kukar, former National Football League referee
• Terry Leiendecker, former pro soccer goalkeeper for Minnesota Strikers and the US team during the Japanese world games
• Eugene McCarthy, former U.S. Senator, author, and Presidential candidate
• Mike McCarthy, businessman
• John McCutcheon, Grammy-winning folk musician
• John McNally, aka "Johnny Blood", National Football League Hall of Famer
• Larry Millett, journalist and author
• Matt Schnobrich, 2008 Summer Olympics crew rower
• Paul Schurke, Arctic explorer
• Eugene P. Sheehy Head Academic Librarian at Columbia University, 1967-1986
• Stephen Sommers, movie director
• Axel Theimer, composer and conductor

[edit] Notable faculty

• Dr. Arthur J. Spring, Professor of Education, inspired a former US Ambassador to attend Columbia University^[7]
• Fr. Rene McGraw OSB, Professor of Distinction, Spaeth Teacher Award winner^{[citation needed]}
• Dr. Gary Prevost, Professor of Politcal Science & Distinguished Author of Latin American Politics
• Dr. Axel Theimer, Professor of Music, member of Minnesota Music Educators Hall of Fame
• Dr. Dan Finn, Professor of Theology, William E. and Virginia Clemens Professor of Economics & the Liberal Arts
• Dr. Miguel Díaz, Professor of Theology, nominated by President Barack Obama to be ambassador to the Holy See

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Official CSB Blazers athletics site
• Official SJU Johnnies athletics site
• Johnnies.net Alumni Site
•  "Saint John's University". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Saint_John%27s_University.