Lourdes University is a

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Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

university in

Sylvania, Ohio Sylvania is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 19,011 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, and encompassed by Sylvania Township, Lucas County, Ohio, Sylvania Town ...

. Established in 1958, the university is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania.

History

In 1916 Mother Adelaide Sandusky traveled from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Northwest Ohio Northwest Ohio, or Northwestern Ohio, consists of multiple counties in the northwestern corner of the US state of Ohio. This area borders Lake Erie, Southeast Michigan, and northeastern Indiana. Some areas are also considered the Black Swamp a ...

to establish a province of the Rochester Franciscans that eventually became the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania. For nearly 50 years, she cultivated the Sylvania Franciscan community establishing ministries including the Catholic and Franciscan institution known today as Lourdes University. Initially created as an extension campus of the College of St. Teresa (in Winona, Minnesota), Lourdes Junior College was founded in 1958 to educate the Sisters of St. Francis. In 1964, the liberal arts institution was accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

(HLC) of the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

. As time passed and there were fewer candidates in formation, Lourdes began admitting lay students with women enrolling in 1969 and men in 1975.

Academics

As a Franciscan university, Lourdes students receive a

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

curriculum with application to the professional studies.

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among "Master's Colleges & Universities: Small Programs", Lourdes offers baccalaureate degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Leadership, the College of Nursing, and the College of Social Sciences. Students can also pursue several pre-professional programs or a graduate degree.

Campus

Lourdes University is located in the suburban city of

Facilities

Residence halls

Residential students choose from 1 and 2 bedroom

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

-style living spaces in separate residence buildings.

Appold Planetarium

The Appold

Planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

features SciDome, a single projector fulldome video system powered by Starry Night that allows real-time 3D sky simulation, fulldome shows and multi-media presentations.

Library

The

Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( ; , "Duns the Scot"; – 8 November 1308) was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher and theologian. He is considered one of the four most important Christian philosopher-t ...

Library at Lourdes University is named after a 13th-century Franciscan scholar. It has a collection of over 60,000 volumes. Lourdes University is a member of the OPAL/

OhioLINK The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Serving more than 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at 88 institutions with 117 libraries, OhioLINK' ...

, a consortium of universities sharing their library resources electronically. File:Lourdes University.jpg, Aerial view of the campus File:Appold Planetarium.jpg, Appold Planetarium File:Russell J. Ebeid Recreational Center.jpg, Russell J. Ebeid Recreational Center

Scholarships

Lourdes University has scholarships available for academics, band, chorale, esports, campus ministry and athletics. At Lourdes, 99% of students receive financial aid consisting of federal grant funds and institutional aid.

Athletics

The Lourdes athletic teams are called the Gray Wolves. The university is a member of the

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

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. The conference consists of twelve colleges and u ...

(WHAC) for most of its sports since the 2011–12 academic year; while its men's wrestling team competes in the

Sooner Athletic Conference The Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Originally developed as a five-team conference of Oklahoma-based schools, the SAC now boasts 13 ...

(SAC). The Gray Wolves previously competed as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) during the 2010–11 school year (the same season when they joined the NAIA). Lourdes competes in 25 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; and co-ed sports include competitive cheer, competitive dance and eSports.

Colors

The school competes under the colors of terra cotta and black.

Mascot

The mascot is Gubi, named after the tale of St. Francis of Assisi, a Wolf and the town of Gubbio.

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control Franciscan universities and colleges Catholic universities and colleges in Ohio Buildings and structures in Lucas County, Ohio Education in Lucas County, Ohio Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges established in 1958 Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo Nursing schools in Ohio Business schools in Ohio 1958 establishments in Ohio Sylvania, Ohio