Christian Brothers University is a
private Catholic university in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the
De La Salle Christian Brothers
The De La Salle Brothers, officially named the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (; ; ) abbreviated FSC, is a Catholic lay religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in France by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle ( ...
, a Catholic teaching order.
History
Founded on November 19, 1871, it was established by members of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a
Catholic religious order
In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute.
Subcategories of religious orders are:
* can ...
founded by
St. John Baptist de la Salle, the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of teachers. At foundation the educational institution was named Christian Brothers College, which was changed to Christian Brothers University when the school became a university in June 1990.
[CBU History.](_blank)
Christian Brothers University. Accessed October 1, 2007.
Christian Brothers awarded the first post-secondary degree in the city in 1875.
Christian Brothers University. Accessed March 2, 2008. LeMoyne College (one of the two constituent parts of present-day
LeMoyne-Owen College) has a founding year of 1871, but it was an elementary and secondary school at the time. The city's largest university, the
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
, was not founded until 1912. Although
Rhodes College was founded in 1848, it did not move from
Clarksville, Tennessee to Memphis until 1925.
Maurelian was appointed the first president. His three terms as president totalled 31 years.
In 2021, the university began to experience severe issues with
accreditation
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
caused by emerging financial challenges. The university's physician's assistant program was placed on probation by its accreditor, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA); its accreditation was denied entirely in 2023 and the program is being closed.
In 2022, the university's education programs were placed on probation by the
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
The university as a whole was also placed on probation by its institutional accreditor, the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Full accreditation was restored to the university's undergraduate education programs in October 2022 and the university's graduate education programs in October of 2024.
In 2023, the university publicly acknowledged severe financial challenges. By the end of 2024, the university projected a deficit of between $5 and $7 million. It declared
financial exigency and began plans to make significant budget cuts, including the potential firing of tenured faculty and closure of academic programs.
In December of 2023 the university announced that it was eliminating 28 faculty positions at the end of the academic year and dropping programs including Chemistry, Cultural Studies, Ecology, Engineering Physics, English, History, History Education, Liberal Studies, Physics, Politics and Law, and Political Science; the university also planned to close the Master of Education program. Art Therapy and Philosophy concentrations was also planned to be cut. In November of 2024, the university again made faculty and staff cuts, eliminating 20 full-time and part-time positions.
Academics
Schools
The university has four schools:
* Rosa Deal School of Arts
* Gadomski School of Engineering
* School of Business
* School of Sciences
The Rosa Deal School of Arts supports undergraduate programs in Psychology, Creative Writing, English for Corporate Communications, Neuroscience, BFA programs in Studio Arts and in Graphic Design, as well as, Religion and Philosophy. It also offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Education, leading to licensure and add-on endorsements. The School houses a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Accreditation
The university is
accredited by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...
. The university is currently on probation due to a number of major shortfalls including financial struggles and student recruitment and retention issues.
The university's Gadomski School of Engineering has four engineering programs, including Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, that are accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and appli ...
(ABET).
In 2023, the physician's assistant program was accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) but lost its accreditation in 2023 after being placed on probation in 2021.
The university's teacher education programs are accredited by the
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
Study abroad
As a member of the Lasallian Consortium, i.e. the seven Lasallian universities in the United States, CBU offers study abroad semesters in Australia, Brazil, China, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, and Spain.
Facilities
Campus
Christian Brothers University is located on a wooded campus in the heart of
Midtown, Memphis, four miles (6 km) east of
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
. It is across from the Memphis Fairgrounds, home of the
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, and diagonally positioned from the
Cooper-Young Neighborhood.
The first building on campus, Kenrick Hall, constructed in 1939 as the original
Christian Brothers High School, was demolished in 2015 to make room for the Rosa Deal School of Arts, set to open in January 2017. In 2021, CBU installed a manufactured building, which houses the nursing program. The campus includes the Rosa Deal School of Arts, Cooper Wilson Sciences Building, and the Benilde Hall Engineering Lab, which is currently being expanded, as well as sports facilities for basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, and softball.
The university's architecture follows the
Georgian style popular at the time of the campus' relocation to
East Parkway. Arch-covered walkways traverse the main campus, allowing students and faculty to get to most buildings shielded from the weather. The campus is enclosed by an iron fence with brick accents with entrances on East Parkway South, Central Avenue, and Avery Avenue. Security gates have been added to facilities on the north side of the campus in 2023.
Student life
Athletics
CBU is an
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...
program and a member of 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 ...
. Buccaneer teams include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Lady Buccaneer teams include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, STUNT, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field and volleyball.
The Lady Buccaneers and Buccaneers have won multiple conference and national championships, including the 2002
Division II women's soccer championship and the 2008 GSC men's basketball championship.
The men's soccer team won back-to-back conference titles under coach Clint Browne during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 2011, and most recently won the Gulf South Conference Tournament title in 2022 under coach Enda Crehan and advanced to the NCAA National Tournament.
Greek life
21% of male students and 24% of female students are members of
fraternities and sororities
In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
[America's Best Colleges 2008]
"Christian Brothers University."
U.S. News & World Report. Accessed October 1, 2007.
Campus Greek councils include the
Interfraternity Council (IFC), the
Panhellenic Council (NPC), and the
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).
Honor societies and professional organizations
Chapters of a number of
honor societies exist at CBU to recognize excellence in academia and leadership. Active honor societies and their specialties include:
Alpha Chi (general academic),
Beta Beta Beta (biology), the
Order of Omega (fraternity and sorority members),
Phi Alpha Theta (history),
Psi Chi (psychology),
Sigma Tau Delta (English),
Alpha Psi Omega (theatre), and
Tau Beta Pi (engineering).
["Clubs & Organizations"](_blank)
Christian Brothers University. Accessed February 23, 2009.
Professional organizations include:
American Institute of Chemical Engineers,
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
,
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...
,
Institute of Electrical Engineers,
Society of Physics Students, and the Student Affiliates of the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
.
Notable people
Alumni
*
Harry B. Anderson –
United States district judge for the
Western District of Tennessee
*
Charles Bartliff – soccer player and Olympian
*
Ray Crone – professional baseball player
*
Zach Curlin – college basketball coach
*
Robert B. Hawley – U.S. representative for
Texas's 10th congressional district from 1897 to 1901 and accomplished businessman
*
Thomas Aquinas Higgins – senior
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
*
Bill Justis –
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
pioneer
*
Robert W. Marshall – Bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria
*
Youssef Naciri – professional soccer player
*
Chandler O'Dwyer – current professional soccer player
*
David Parker – member of the
Mississippi State Senate
*
Malcolm R. Patterson –
governor of Tennessee (1907–1911)
*
Chip Saltsman – Republican political strategist and presidential campaign manager
*
Kevin H. Sharp –
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Faculty (current and former)
*
Arun Manilal Gandhi, scholar and peace activist
*
Jeffrey Gros, Catholic theologian and ecumenist
See also
*
Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee)
*
Christian Brothers High School (Memphis, Tennessee)
*
La Salle University
References
External links
*
Athletics website
{{authority control
Lasallian colleges and universities
Universities and colleges in Memphis, Tennessee
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
1871 establishments in Tennessee
Catholic universities and colleges in Tennessee
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Universities and colleges established in 1871