Spring Hill College is a

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college in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Alabama ...

. It was founded in 1830 by Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile. Along with being the oldest college or university in the state of

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, it was the first Catholic college in the South, is the fifth-oldest Catholic college in the United States, and is the third-oldest member of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

History

Spring Hill College was founded by the first bishop of Mobile, Michael Portier, who was from France. After purchasing a site for the college on a hill near Mobile, Bishop Portier went to France to recruit teachers and raise funds for the new college. Portier recruited two priests and four seminarians from France to staff the school. A friend of Portier, Cardinal

Joseph Fesch Joseph Fesch, Prince of France (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French priest and diplomat, who was the maternal half-uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte (half-brother of Napoleon's mother Laetitia). In the wake of his nephew, he became Archbishop ...

, Archbishop of Lyons, was a major benefactor to the fledgling College, donating his philosophical and theological library and various works of art.

Pauline Jaricot Pauline-Marie Jaricot (22 July 1799 – 9 January 1862) was a French member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She also was the founder of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and the Association of the Living Rosary, Pope John XXIII rat ...

, founder of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, donated 38,000 francs, an enormous sum in those days. The bishop himself taught theology to the ecclesiastical students, who numbered six the first year. Upon his return from France, Portier rented a hotel next to the college grounds and started the first semester on May 1, 1830, with an enrollment of thirty students. On July 4 of the same year, the bishop laid the cornerstone of the first permanent building. It stood on the site of the present Administration Building and opened for classes in November 1831. Spring Hill is the oldest institution of higher education in Alabama and among the oldest colleges in the South. It is the third-oldest Jesuit college in the United States. Spring Hill College 02

In 1836 the governor of Alabama, Clement C. Clay, signed a legislative act that chartered the college and gave it "full power to grant or confer such degree or degrees in the arts and sciences, or in any art or science as are usually granted or conferred by other seminaries of learning in the United States." This power was used in the following year, 1837, when four graduates received their degrees. The first two presidents of the college were called away to be bishops, one to

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

(Bishop Mathias Loras), the other to

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. Founded in 1732 by French fur ...

(Bishop John Stephen Bazin). The third president, Father Mauvernay, died after a brief term of office. Bishop Portier transferred the college, first to the French Fathers of Mercy, and next to the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, but both groups lacked teaching and administrative experience. He persuaded the Fathers of the

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

nais Province of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(Jesuits) to take possession of the college. The new regime was inaugurated with Father Francis Gautrelet, S.J., as president in September 1847. Since that time the institution has continued under Jesuit direction. Many boys were sent to Spring Hill during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

as they neared the draft age. But numerous students wanted to be part of the war effort. The college eventually formed two military companies. Some of Spring Hill's Jesuit fathers became chaplains for the Confederacy. A recruiter tried to conscript all forty of the Jesuit brothers at the college into the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

. The college president, Gautrelet, dispatched an urgent message to the assistant secretary of war in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

, who granted a temporary reprieve of the brothers' conscription. Spring Hill College Quad 01

During the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

, the college recruited students from among the sons of Central American and Cuban leaders. Following student complaints that Spanish was challenging the dominance of English on the campus, the Jesuits organized a Spanish–American league. In 1869 a fire destroyed the main building. Students and faculty had to relocate for a time to St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. Bishop John Quinlan and other benefactors assisted in rebuilding the college, which reopened at Spring Hill before the year's end. As the enrollment increased, Quinlan Hall, St. Joseph's Chapel, the Thomas Byrne Memorial Library, and Mobile Hall were erected. In 1935, the high school, which had been a unit distinct from the college since 1923, was discontinued. In the space vacated by the high school, the Jesuit House of Studies was opened in 1937, and the Scholasticate of the Sacred Heart opened on a site adjoining the college a few years later. Spring Hill College Quad 04

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, a great influx of veterans taxed the facilities of the college, which erected numerous temporary buildings on the campus to handle the new students. At the request of Archbishop

Thomas Joseph Toolen Thomas Joseph Toolen (February 28, 1886 – December 4, 1976) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mobile from 1927 to 1969, and was given the personal title of Archbishop in 1954. Early life and educati ...

of Mobile, the college became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

in 1952. As a Southern college, Spring Hill did not admit black students for the first 124 years of its existence. It played a significant role in educating the region's plantation owners and slave holders, especially in Louisiana, where many wealthy whites were Catholic. It eventually admitted its first black students in September 1954, a few months after the Supreme Court ruling in '' Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954) that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional Mrs. Fannie E. Motley was the first black graduate from the institution in 1956. Even that late start made Spring Hill College comparatively early in educational civil rights for Alabama's African Americans. In his 1963 "

Letter from Birmingham Jail The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to ...

," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said he "commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago." On the night of January 21, 1957, a dozen or more darkened cars entered the main avenue of the college.

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

members tried to set up a kerosene-soaked cross outside Mobile Hall, a dormitory. They were unaware that they were there during finals week. Most of the white, male residents were still awake, studying for exams, and several heard the hammering. Once alerted, students streamed from both ends of the building carrying whatever items were handy as weapons – golf clubs, tennis rackets, bricks, a softball bat – and put the panicked Klansmen to flight. A KKK contingent returned the next night, burning a cross at the gate of the college before students reacted. The following day, a group of students – male and female – hanged a Klansman in effigy at the college gate, with a sign reading, "KKKers ARE CHICKEN." On July 27, 1963,

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

spoke at Spring Hill about life in the Soviet Union, at the invitation of his cousin, a student at the college. His speech was considered controversial because of strong opposition in the United States to communism during the Cold War. His lecture took place months before he assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Following Hurricane Katrina's widespread destruction along the central

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

in 2005, Spring Hill accepted 117 students, the majority of them from Loyola University in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, a sister Jesuit institution, for the remainder of the year.

Student body

More than 1,400 students study at Spring Hill College each year, of which more than 56% are from outside

. The student body is 39% male and 61% female; 90% of the freshman class and 70% of the total student body live on campus. The student-faculty ratio is 13:1, and the average class size is 13. Of faculty members, 91% hold doctorates or the highest degrees in their fields. More than one-third of graduating students continue their education at graduate or professional school.

Academics

Spring Hill College offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

students bachelor's degrees through a variety of majors. The available departments include the Division of Business, the Communications/Arts Division, International Studies, Interdivisional Studies, Language and Literature Division, Nursing, Philosophy and Theology, Sciences Division, Social Sciences Division, Teacher Education Division, and lastly, the Pre-Professional Programs. Each of these divisions offers a variety of concentrations from which students can choose majors and minors. Spring Hill has an academic center in

Bologna, Italy Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

; it also accepts study abroad students from other colleges and universities. Areas of concentration in graduate programs include Master of Business Administration, Teacher Education, Master of Liberal Arts, Master of Science in Nursing, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Pastoral Studies, and Master of Arts in Theology. Certificate programs are offered in theology and ministry. An online master's degree program for a Master of Science in Nursing is offered that combines online and offline nursing experience. Through the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad consortium, students may arrange for

study abroad International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

programs and internships in England, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Mexico.

Campus

The Spring Hill College campus is located in the Spring Hill neighborhood of

. The college has remained on the same campus that Bishop Portier purchased in 1830. A number of its structures are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. They include the Sodality Chapel (built 1850); the Spring Hill College Quadrangle, comprising the Administration Building (1869), St. Joseph's Chapel (1910), and four other structures; and Stewartfield (1849). Other notable feature of the campus is the Avenue of the Oaks, where graduation traditionally occurs. An 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

is used by the team and other students. The historic Administration Building renovation was completed in 2008. It was renamed as "The Gregory F. Lucey, S.J. Administration Center", after the college's 38th President.

Student life

Clubs and organizations

There are over sixty student-run clubs and organizations at Spring Hill College. They include community service clubs, ministry organizations, athletic and academic clubs.

Greek life

Seven national Greek organizations are represented on campus. Sororities: * Phi Mu * Delta Delta Delta *

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...

* Sigma Kappa *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...

Fraternities: *

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

Delta Chi Delta Chi () is an international Greek letter collegiate social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 30, 1922, Delta Chi became a general membership soc ...

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, cree ...

The Greek organizations participate in a "deferred recruitment" process, meaning that the formal recruiting activities occur at the beginning of the spring semester. This is in contrast to many colleges where recruitment takes place at the beginning of the fall semester.

Athletics

The Spring Hill athletic teams are called the Badgers. The college is a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black c ...

(SIAC) for most of its sports since the 2014–15 academic year; while its men's & women's soccer and women's golf teams competes in the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the M ...

(GSC). The Badgers previously competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC; formerly known as Georgia–Alabama–Carolina Conference (GACC) until after the 2003–04 school year) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 2010–11 to 2013–14; and in the NAIA Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) from 1981–82 to 2009–10. Spring Hill competes in 18 NCAA sponsored intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and dance.

Move to NCAA Division II

The school formerly competed in the GCAC at the NAIA level. On July 12, 2013, Spring Hill was accepted by the NCAA to begin its process towards joining the NCAA Division II. Spring Hill joined the

beginning in Fall 2014, becoming the first non-

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

to join the conference. On August 11, 2014, the GSC announced that Spring Hill would join the conference as an affiliate member competing in men's and women's soccer and women's golf. Spring Hill began to compete in full schedules starting in 2014, but it was not eligible for post-season play until the 2015–2016 school year.

Club sports

The college offers club sports in men's and women's bowling, eSports, and men's rugby.

Intramural sports

Spring Hill College has a student-run intramural program. The following sports are offered: *

Sand volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

(4-on-4 Co-Rec, up to 8 on team) *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(5-on-5) *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(6-on-6, including the goalie, up to 10 on team) *

Flag Football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. The sport has a strong amateur following ...

Mascot

The mascot is the

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

Football

The Spring Hill

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team played its first game in 1900, but was disbanded in 1941.

Baseball

Spring Hill College has maintained a baseball team since its first intercollegiate play in 1889. Currently, the Spring Hill College baseball team plays its home games at Stan Galle Field ("The Pit"), the oldest continually used college baseball field in the country. Notable baseball alumni include Blake Stein, former pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals, and Jim Hendry, former general manager of the Chicago Cubs.

Rugby

Spring Hill moved its

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

program to varsity sport status under the athletic department to provide more resources and to help boost admissions to the college in 2012. In 2018, the college reassigned the men's and women's rugby teams to club sport status. Spring Hill rugby competes in the small college division.

Sailing

Spring Hill College won a national championship in

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

in 1986, the North American Intercollegiate Sloop Championship.