Mount St. Mary's University is a private Catholic university in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, in proximity to Emmitsburg. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richard J. Bolte School of Business, and the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. "The Mount" has over 40 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs, as well as bachelor's/master's combinations in partnership with other universities, 8 master's programs, and 6 postgraduate certificate programs.

History Origins

Mount Saint Mary's was founded by French émigré John DuBois, a French-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of New York from 1826 until his death in 1842.Hayes, Patrick. "John Dubois." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 Aug. 2014The university's Latin name Universitas Sanctae Mariae Ad Montes Fundata Ab Joanne DuBois literally means "Mount St. Mary's University founded by John DuBois". In 1805, DuBois bought land near Emmitsburg, Maryland on the mountain that Catholic colonists had christened "St. Mary's Mountain," and laid the cornerstone for Saint-Mary's-on-the-Hill church. Parishioners from two local congregations built a one-story, two room log cabin for DuBois, and that cabin was the first structure of Mount Saint Mary's.Emmitsburg.net History of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church: Historical Highlights of Saint Joseph's Parish The church was completed in 1807. DuBois first opened a boarding school for children.The Archdiocese of Baltimore: Mount St. Mary's Seminary Then, in 1808, the Society of St. Sulpice closed Pigeon Hill, its preparatory seminary in Pennsylvania, and transferred all the seminarians to Emmitsburg.The Story of the Mountain: Mount Saint Mary's College and Seminary: Mary E. Meline & Edward F. X. McSweeny Published by the Emmitsburg Chronicle, 1911 This marked the official beginning of Mount St. Mary's.Spalding, Thomas W., The Premier See: A History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 1789–1989 DuBois was appointed president of the college. Simon Bruté, whom President John Quincy Adams called "the most learned man of his day in America",History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume 1 p. 412 by George E. GreeneThe Old Vincennes Cathedral and Its Environs p. 12 by Curtis Grover Shake joined Mount St. Mary's as teacher and vice-president in 1812.The Story of the Mountain: Mount Saint Mary's College and Seminary chapter 4, Mary E. Meline & Edward F. X. McSween The small faculty of Mount St. Mary's strove to offer a full high school and college course to lay students and potential priests and developed Mount St. Mary's into "one of the most important ecclesiastical institutions of the country".Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889 and 1999; (available online as "John DuBois: Hall of North and South Americans") DuBois Hall, named for DuBois, was completed in 1826 in what had been a swampy thicket on the mountain. The first charter for a university was obtained in 1830. Until the early 1900s, Mount St. Mary's also acted as a boarding school. Some remnants of the boarding school, such as Bradley Hall (one of the oldest buildings on campus), still exist. The Mount was known as Mount Saint Mary's College and Seminary until June 7, 2004, when the name was changed to Mount Saint Mary's University.

Saint Joseph College history and merger with Mount Saint Mary's

Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity and the first native born United States citizen to be canonized as a saint,"Biography of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton." National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton came to Emmitsburg in 1809. She lived on the campus of Mount St. Mary's while her own school was being built.Spalding, Thomas W., The Premier See: A History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 1789–1989. For a while, she lived in the same log cabin that had been built for DuBois. In June 1809, Seton established Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School for girls, the first free Catholic parochial school in the United States.setonscene: about Mother Seton This school is considered to be the foundation of the entire Catholic parochial school system in the United States.Pittedu: Elizabeth Ann SetonMother Seton School: A Rich History"National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton," The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Seton wrote classroom textbooks and trained her Catholic sisters to become teachers,EWTN: ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON–1774–1821 and accepted all students regardless of ability to pay. Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School developed into Saint Joseph College High School (1890–1946), Saint Joseph's High School (1946–1982), and Saint Joseph College (1902–1973), a four-year liberal arts college for women.

There was a long shared history between Saint Joseph and Mount St. Mary's. In 1815, Seton sent several of the Sisters of Charity to manage the Infirmary at Mount St. Mary's. As enrollment at Saint Joseph's Academy grew in the 1800s, some professors from Mount St. Mary's were added to the Saint Joseph's faculty,St. Joseph College Alumnae Association, St. Joseph College History and, since the campuses of the all-female Saint Joseph College and the all-male Mount St. Mary's were just a couple of miles apart, the schools historically depended on each other for social life.Morris, Roger, "Saint Joseph College is Dying" In 1967, female students at Saint Joseph College began taking some classes at Mount St. Mary's, and men from Mount St. Mary's began taking some classes at Saint Joseph. In 1973, with declining enrollment numbers and rising operating costs, Saint Joseph College closed its doors and merged with Mount St. Mary's, which has been fully co-educational since then.

World War II

During World War II, Mount Saint Mary's College was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

2016 "Drown the bunnies" controversy

In January 2016, The Washington Post reported on plans by university president Simon P. Newman to use a questionnaire administered to freshman students to dismiss 20 to 25 freshmen in the first weeks of school to improve the school's retention statistics. The questionnaire included questions about students' mental health, disabilities, and financial support.Jaschik, Scott. "The Questions Developed to Cull Students," Inside Higher Ed, February 12, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016.Svrluga, Susan. "The freshman survey that rang alarm bells for some at Mount St. Mary's," Washington Post, February 12, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016. The story originally appeared in the university's student newspaper, The Mountain Echo.Schisler, Rebecca and Ryan Golden. "Mount President's Attempt to Improve Retention Rate Included Seeking Dismissal of 20-25 First-Year Students," The Mountain Echo, January 19, 2016. Accessed February 10, 2016.Mangen, Katherine. "Turmoil Continues at a Maryland Campus With a Provost's Resignation and Faculty Firings," The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 9, 2016. Accessed February 10, 2016. Newman was quoted as saying, in response to criticism and questions from colleagues, "you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can't. You just have to drown the bunnies ... put a Glock to their heads." Two professors who objected to the president's policies were abruptly terminated without severance. One, Ed Egan, was the faculty adviser of The Mountain Echo, while the other, Thane Naberhaus, was a tenured professor who had publicly questioned the president's actions. The two were told they were fired because they had violated "a duty of loyalty" to the university.Brown, Sarah and Katherine Mangan. "Fallout at Mount St. Mary's Spreads as Scholars Protest Firings," Chronicle of Higher Education, February 10, 2016. Accessed February 10, 2016.Bauer-Wolf, Jeremy. "Firing of two Mount St. Mary's teachers — one with tenure — attracting national backlash," The Frederick News-Post, February 10, 2016. Accessed February 10, 2016.Stack, Liam. "Maryland University Reinstates Two Faculty Members Amid Outcry," The New York Times, February 12, 2016. Accessed February 12, 2016. University provost David Rehm also objected to the president's plan and was asked to resign as provost but allowed to keep his faculty position. Professors throughout America protested the terminations and denounced them as retribution.Svrluga, Susan. The controversy at Mount St. Mary's goes national after professors are fired The Washington Post, February 9, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016. Over 8,000 scholars digitally signed a petition for them to be reinstated,Academics' Statement of Protest Regarding Faculty Firings at Mount St. Mary's University, Accessed February 12, 2016.Svrluga, Susan. "Mount St. Mary's faculty asks president to resign by Monday morning," Washington Post, February 12, 2016. Accessed February 12, 2016. while organizations such as the American Association of University Professors,McPhete, Mike. "Newspaper Adviser Is Fired After Students' Scoop Roils Maryland Campus," New York Times, February 10, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016. Student Press Law Center, and Foundation for Individual Rights in EducationSvrluga, Susan. "Controversy deepens after professors who opposed university president are fired," Washington Post, February 8, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016. issued statements condemning Newman's actions. On February 12, 2016, the Mount St. Mary's faculty issued a resolution asking Newman to resign; on that same day, Newman announced at a faculty meeting that the two fired professors would be reinstated.Korn, Melissa. "Mount St. Mary's Faculty Rejects Olive Branch, Calls for President to Resign," Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2016. Accessed February 12, 2016. On February 29, 2016, the university announced Newman's resignation.Magnan, Katherine and Nick DeSantis."Simon Newman Resigns as President of Mount St. Mary's," Chronicle of Higher Education, March 1, 2016. Accessed March 1, 2016.Joseph, Yonette and Mike McPhate. "Mount St. Mary's President Quits After Firings Seen as Retaliatory," The New York Times, March 1, 2016. Accessed March 1, 2016. In a statement, Newman said that he cared deeply about the university, and that the recent publicity regarding his leadership became "too great of a distraction to our mission of educating students."

Connection to Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College in Indiana

French missionary Simon Bruté spent two decades as teacher and pastor in the formative years of Mount St. Mary's. He was considered "one of the foremost scholars in America," and he had a great deal of influence on the Catholic Church in America.Simon Brute' de Re'mur, First Bishop of Vincennes. By Sister MARY SALESIA GODECKER, O.S.B., Ph.D. St. Meinrad Historical Essays, St. Meinrad, Indiana, 1931. Pp. xliii + 441,Indiana Catholic History: The Death of Simon Brute' – June 26, 1839 In 1834, he was appointed the founding bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. In 1832, Stephen Badin of Indiana purchased of land surrounding two lakes near South Bend, Indiana, and when he retired in 1835 he deeded the property to the Diocese of Vincennes. It was Badin's dream that a school would be established there.University of Notre Dame Sacred Heart Parish: A Brief History