Rivier University is a private Catholic university in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. Rivier is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education.

History

The school, initially named "Rivier College", was founded in 1933 as by the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in Hudson, New Hampshire. The congregation named the college in honor of its founder, Anne-Marie Rivier. In 1941, the college moved to its present campus location in Nashua. The university was incorporated in 1935 and granted the authority to offer both graduate and undergraduate level programs. The university is dedicated to Anne Marie Rivier's mission of Catholic social teaching and serving the economically disadvantaged. On January 15, 1960, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, visited Rivier College shortly after leaving the City Hall Plaza in Nashua, where he held his first event for his candidacy for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. In 1991, the college became

coeducational 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 ...

, admitting its first male undergraduate students. Rivier College was renamed Rivier University on July 1, 2012. In 1994, Rivier was sued in federal court by Mary Nedder, an assistant professor of religious studies at Rivier, under the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) after the university declined to renew her contract because of her weight. Sister Jeanne Perreault, the President of Rivier at the time, allegedly made her views about overweight faculty known and in a report circulated among the faculty stated that "fat teachers do not get much respect from students." Nedder won her lawsuit and was reinstated.

Campus

Rivier University's campus consists of 44 buildings spread over in Nashua. It has four residence halls—Trinity, Guild, Presentation, and Brassard—which accommodate 421 students. Rivier offers intercollegiate club sports and has a student activities office, a multicultural office, counseling center, career development center, and campus ministry. Rivier has a chapter of Habitat for Humanity. There is a Model United Nations Club, a Business Club, a Biology Club, an Alliance Club (Gay-Straight Alliance), and numerous other organizations. Club membership is open to any interested student. Student clubs and activities are student-run, some with faculty advisors. Club funding is delineated through the school's Student Government Association.

Academics

Rivier University enrolls approximately 2,500 students. It includes the school of undergraduate studies, which includes traditional day programs, a professional studies division for undergraduate online and evening programs, and the school of graduate studies. Rivier is a member of the New Hampshire College & University Council, a consortium of institutions of higher learning. The university offers traditional courses, online courses, and hybrid courses.

Athletics

Rivier University teams (nicknamed the ''Raiders'') participate as a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III. The Raiders are a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball. In 2020, Marika Lyszczyk, a player from Canada, became the first woman to catch in a men's college baseball game while playing for Rivier University.

Notable faculty

* Herman T. Tavani -

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

in information and computer ethics, and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of philosophy.

Notable alumni

* Robert A. Baines - former mayor of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, NH, college professor, educator. * Skip Cleaver - politician, USMC veteran. * David Danielson - politician, NH

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

veteran. * Ivan Edwards (physician) - ex-pastor,

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

flight surgeon, community activist, CEO. * Donnalee Lozeau - politician, former mayor of Nashua, NH; first female mayor of Nashua, NH. * Cindy Rosenwald - politician, educator. * Frank Snow - politician, businessman,

veteran, US Customs inspector. * John Sibley Williams - poet, educator, journal editor.

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{portal bar, New Hampshire Education in Nashua, New Hampshire Universities and colleges established in 1933 Universities and colleges in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Nashua, New Hampshire 1933 establishments in New Hampshire Catholic universities and colleges in New Hampshire Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester