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Fairfield University

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Fairfield University
MottoPer Fidem ad Plenam Veritatem (Latin)
Motto in English
Through Faith to the Fullness of Truth
TypePrivate, Coeducational
Established1942
AffiliationRoman Catholic,
Jesuit
Endowment$269 million [1]
ChairmanPaul J. Huston '82[1]
PresidentJeffrey P. von Arx, S.J.
Vice-presidentDr. William Weltzer[2]
ProvostDr. Orin L. Grossman[3]
Academic staff
239 full-time (13-to-1)
Undergraduates3,941 (642 at UC)
Postgraduates994
Location
Fairfield
,
Connecticut
,
USA United States
CampusSuburban 200 acres (809,000 m²)
NewspaperFairfield Mirror
Colors      Cardinal
      White
AffiliationsAJCU, MAAC, NEASC
MascotStags File:FairfieldStags.png
Websitewww.fairfield.edu
File:Fairfield University logo.png
Main Entrance and Alumni House

Fairfield University is a private, co-educational undergraduate and master's level university located in Fairfield, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1942, and today is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. About 3,900 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students study in Fairfield's six schools and colleges: The Fairfield College of Arts and Sciences, The Charles F. Dolan School of Business, The School of Engineering, The School of Nursing, The Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions, and The University College. The primary objectives of a Fairfield University education are to develop the creative intellectual potential of its students and to foster in them ethical and religious values and a sense of social responsibility.[4]

History and tradition

History

St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., Patron Saint of Fairfield University
Presidents of Fairfield
Years President
1942-1944 Rev. John J. McEleney, S.J.
1944-1951 Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J.
1951-1958 Rev. Joseph D. FitzGerald, S.J.
1958-1964 Rev. James E. FitzGerald, S.J.
1964-1973 Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J.
1973-1979 Rev. Thomas R. Fitzgerald, S.J.
1979-2004 Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J.
2004 - Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J.

Fairfield University was founded in 1942 by Society of Jesus when the Jesuits acquired the two contiguous estates of the Jennings and Lashar families. In the same year the Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J., the Provincial Superior of the New England Jesuit Province appointed the Rev. John J. McEleney, S.J. the first President of the "Fairfield University of Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J." and Vicar of the Fairfield College Preparatory School. In 1944, the Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J. became the second President. During his tenure, Fairfield University was chartered by the State of Connecticut to grant degrees in 1945; the first class of 303 male students was admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences in 1947; the College of Arts and Sciences was accredited by the State of Connecticut and the first summer session of undergraduate courses was held in 1949.

A detailed account of the history of Fairfield University was written by the late Rev. Joseph MacDonnell, S.J. in his book entitled If these Stones Could Speak.[5] Further, a brief history of The Jesuits in Fairfield can be found on The Fairfield Jesuit Community website.[6]

Recent history

In September 2000, Charles F. Dolan H'04, founder of HBO and chairman of Cablevision, donated $25 million to the renamed Charles F. Dolan School of Business, which still represents one of the largest donations from a single source to a business school.[7]

In July 2004, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., a graduate of Princeton University, former Chair of the History Department at Georgetown University, and former Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, became the eighth Jesuit President of Fairfield University succeeding the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., the longest tenured and most accomplished President of the University.[8]

Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Center

In September 2004, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. announced that the capital campaign, "Our Promise: The Campaign for Fairfield University," launched and led by the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., raised a record $137.9 million. The capital raised resulted in the construction and renovation of seven buildings, the creation of four new academic chairs, and the significant increase in the University's endowment.[9]

In October 2006, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., and Paul J. Huston '82, chairman of the Board of Trustees, dedicated the Aloysius P. Kelley. S.J. Center, a new environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art welcoming center for prospective students and a "one-stop shopping" administrative center for current students.[10]

And in March 2008, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., announced the Bridgeport Tuition Plan offering full tuition scholarships to admitted students who are graduates of a Bridgeport, Connecticut High School whose family earns less than $50,000 a year.[11]

Roman Catholic and Jesuit tradition

Fairfield University's Roman Catholic and Jesuit tradition and history reach back nearly 500 years to the life, teachings and insights of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). As one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Fairfield belongs to an elite group that continues Ignatius' dedication to developing the whole person. Fairfield's nurturing environment invites students of all traditions to a maturing of faith, self knowledge, respect for the dignity of themselves and others, a devotion to justice, a commitment to serving the poor, and a passion for truth, reflection, and lifelong learning.

Seal of the University

Fairfield's seal combines elements of its several traditions. The gold pinecones come from the coat of arms of the family of Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J., for whom the University was originally named. Superimposed on the cones is the badge of the Society of Jesus - the letters IHS surmounted by the cross and surrounded by the instruments of Christ's passion - to indicate that the University is in the care of members of the same religious family.

There are three compartments in the upper portion of the shield, because "the school is dedicated and exists in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit." The central compartment portrays a hart crossing a ford, a part of the coat of arms of the Diocese of Hartford, whose boundaries encompassed the Town of Fairfield, when the University was founded. Finally, the two outer compartments show clusters of grapes, charges taken from the town seal and symbolic of the fertility of the verdant fields of the Town and County of Fairfield. When the University was founded in 1942, the official name of the University was "Fairfield University of St. Robert Bellarmine". Three of the original seals with this name still exist on campus - in the main lobby of Alumni Hall, on the exterior of the Barone Campus Center, and on the glass front of Regis Hall facing the Quad.

Alma Mater

Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola
Fairfield! See the stag with cross of Gold
Rears once more its undefeated head.
Fair our field, as any field of old,
Bids our banners, like our blood, be red.
"Through faith, unto total truth," our cry
Swells from the sea to spire and sky;
Hear, Alma Mater, hear! Fairfield, hail!
Mem'ries fold away the thought of thee:
Autumn roses crimson on the bough,
Bright snow breaking to the dogwood tree
Keeps spring singing, then as now.
"Through faith, unto total truth," our cry
Swells from the sea to spire and sky;
Hear, Alma Mater, hear! Fairfield, hail!
Alma Mater of Fairfield University by Rev. John L. Bonn, S.J.

Academics

Academic programs

Main article: Fairfield University - Academic Programs

Fairfield's Jesuit ethos trains students in scholarship; prepares students for leadership; encourages students to engage in service projects; and develops students with strong social concerns for the common good. Fairfield University is an intellectual, social, spiritual, and cultural destination of choice for students and faculty from a rich diversity of backgrounds. Everyone in the University commits to excellence in educating, serving, inspiring and training students in various disciplines and fields.

McAuliffe Hall, School of Engineering

Fairfield University offers 34 undergraduate majors and 16 interdisciplinary minors, 34 graduate programs leading to a Master's degree or certification, as well as more than 350 credit and 250 non-credit courses in University College. The Fiske Guide to Colleges recognized Fairfield's Strongest Programs to include Biology, International Studies, Art History, Religious Studies, Sociology, Accounting and Finance, and Mechanical Engineering. The innovative New Media major is the first of its kind among Jesuit universities and features Cinefest Fairfield, an annual film festival showcasing student work created in production courses.[12]

Academic achievement

Fellows and scholars

Main article: Fairfield University - Fellows and Scholars

Fairfield University students and graduates have been the recipients of numerous academic awards including the MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarship and McGowan Scholarship.

  • Fulbright Scholars: Since 1993-94, 53 Fairfield students have been awarded highly prestigious Fulbright Program Scholarships from the flagship international educational program sponsored by the U.S. government.[13] Fairfield has been ranked #1 among universities that grant master's degrees in the Fulbright Program's list of colleges and universities that produced U.S. Fulbright Fellows since 2006.[14] Besting 55 other schools in the category, Fairfield was selected by the Institute of International Education, the non-profit agency which administers the Fulbright Program and The Chronicle of Higher Education, for this ranking. This was the fifth time in six years that Fairfield has been singled out for having the largest number of Fulbrights in its category.[15] In the last nine years, eight faculty members have been awarded Fulbright Program Scholar Grants for postdoctoral research. Fairfield faculty members have published hundreds of scholarly articles and books in the past two years.
  • Phi Beta Kappa: Fairfield University is the second youngest institution to gain membership in Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ), the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. When the Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was chartered at Fairfield University in 1994, Fairfield joined an elect company of 262 colleges and universities. Nationwide, only one percent of college seniors are invited to join Phi Beta Kappa annually. As of 2007, forty-three faculty and staff members on campus, including University President Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, are members of Phi Beta Kappa.
  • USA Today All-USA College Academic Team: Two Fairfield students, Chris Pilkerton '95 and Michael Franz '99, were selected to the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team which honors full-time undergraduates who not only excel in scholarship but also extend their intellectual abilities beyond the classroom to benefit society.[16]

Centers of distinction

Center for Catholic Studies

The Center for Catholic Studies promotes an understanding and appreciation of the Catholic intellectual tradition by supporting academic programming exploring the Catholic and Jesuit mission and identity and the Minor in Catholic Studies.[17] The Center sponsors the Voices of Others video series in which Dr. Paul Lakeland sits down with distinguished scholars, theologians and social activists to discuss issues surrounding the theme “Listening to the Voices of Others.” Past special guests include Loung Ung, Rev. Gregory Boyle, S.J., Dr. Paul Farmer and Archbishop Demetrios of America.[18] The Center is directed by the holder of the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Chair in Catholic Studies, currently Dr. Lakeland.[19]

Center for Faith and Public Life

The Center for Faith and Public Life provides a cross-disciplinary forum for students, scholars, policy makers, and religious leaders to converse and reflect on the many issues where religion intersects with civic life. Through academic research, teaching, publications and public initiatives, the Center provides a new and exciting focus for viewing the role of religion in the public square.[20] The Center sponsors the Politics Meets Faith video series in which American politicians such U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman,[21] U.S. Representative Christopher Shays[22] and U.S. Representative Jim McGovern have gone on record in front of a live audience of students for a conversation on the role of faith in political life.[23] The Center is home to the Office of Service Learning which incorporates the service learning teaching methodology into the Fairfield curriculum by providing students opportunities to combine their academics studies with active community service to local organizations in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut.[24] For example, education and psychology students can participate in the Adrienne Kirby Family Literacy Project,[25] business students can participate in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program,[26] and nursing students can work at the Health Promotion Center.[27][28] The Center is also the current home for the Connecticut Campus Compact, providing state level support for the Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 1,100 colleges and universities, representing close to six million students, dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service learning in higher education.[29] The Center for Faith and Public Life was founded in 2005 and is directed by the Rev. Richard Ryscavage, S.J.[30]

Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies

The Bennett Center provides students and the local community exposure to and contact with Jewish ideas, culture, and thinking. The Bennett Center has brought several world-renowned lecturers to the University, including Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, Former Ambassador Dennis Ross, and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.[31] The Bennett Center was founded in 1994 with an initial endowment of $1.5 million from Carl and Dorothy Bennett of Greenwich, Connecticut and is directed by Dr. Ellen Umansky.[32]

Center for Microfinance Advice and Consulting

The Center for Microfinance Advice and Consulting is at the forefront of the microfinance movement working to help develop self-sustaining business operations in developing countries.[33] In keeping with the Jesuit mission of Fairfield University, Dr. Winston Tellis and Dr. Michael Tucker co-founded the Center in 2001 where the professors and business students have helped develop self-sustaining businesses in poor rural areas of Haiti and Nicaragua.[34] The Center was honored for its work for Haiti's poor by FONKOZE USA (F/USA) which supports Fonkoze (Fondasyon Kole Zepol), Haiti's only alternative bank for the poor. F/USA is one of only five non-profit organizations approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to solicit U.S. investments for foreign organizations.[35]

Rankings and ratings

Barron's Educational Series

  • Listed as highly competitive in the 2007 edition of Barron's Profiles of American Colleges.

Fiske Guide to Colleges

  • Profiled as one of the "country's best and most interesting colleges and universities."
  • Stated that "Fairfield is one of the up-and-coming schools in the Roman Catholic universe" and "is moving into the same class as older, more revered East Coast Jesuit institutions."
  • Ranked among "Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Business."

The Princeton Review

  • Ranked among the "Best 361 Colleges."
  • Ranked the Charles F. Dolan School of Business among the "Best 237 Business Schools."
  • Ranked among the "Best Northeast Colleges."
  • Ranked among "America's Best Value Colleges" in 2005. (The only Connecticut school and among 77 schools nationwide).
  • Ranked among "Top 25 Most Connected Campuses" in 2004.

U.S. News America's Best Colleges

  • Ranked second in the top tier of colleges with master's degree programs in the North.

University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN)

Arts and enrichment

Quick Center For the Arts

File:Fairfield Quick Center.JPG
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is the major center of theatre and the arts at Fairfield University and recognized as the "cultural epicenter of Fairfield County" by Westport Magazine.[37] The Quick Center opened in 1990 and includes events such as popular and classical music, dance, theatre, and programs for young audiences. It houses the 740-seat Kelley Theatre, the 150-seat Lawrence A. Wien Experimental (Black Box) Theatre, and the Thomas J. Walsh, Jr. Art Gallery. The Quick Center has become known as one of the finest concert halls in the country.[38] The Quick Center is home to the Open VISIONS Forum, which under the direction and moderation of Dr. Philip Eliasoph brings a wide range of speakers to campus to participate in an open dialogue about topical issues impacting the global and national agenda. Past guests have included two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, prize-winning NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto; documentary filmmaker Ken Burns; Forbes CEO and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke; United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky; Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim; and former hostage and author Terry Waite[39]

Cinefest Fairfield

Cinefest Fairfield is an annual film festival held in association with the Fairfield Community Theatre featuring short films by students, alumni and faculty. The film festival is sponsored by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and showcases its innovative New Media major. "CineFest Fairfield will become a notable annual event for the University and for Fairfield County," Fr. James Mayzik, S.J., Director of the New Media major and Media Center said. "Fairfield students will emerge as leaders within the region and the nation for their creativity and talent in film, television and radio within this exciting new program."

Kress Foundation Art Collection

"Madonna and Child", c. 1525

The Samuel H. Kress Collection of Italian Paintings at Fairfield University is a Kress Study Collection of 10 old master paintings that date from the mid-14th through the early 18th centuries and are representative of the major schools of Italian Renaissance painting and Baroque painting. The paintings represent a spectrum of religious and secular images generally attributed to the followers or the studio workshops of some of the noteworthy major painters of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art. This collection was a gift to Fairfield University by the Discovery Museum and Planetarium in Bridgeport, Connecticut and arranged by Dr. Philip Eliasoph.[40] The paintings were originally given to The Discovery Museum by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation whose mission is to promote the understanding and appreciation of European art in the United States. Fairfield is one of only 23 colleges and universities to maintain a collection from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. In Spring 2009, the Kress Collection will take permanent residence at the new Bellarmine Museum along with a teaching collection of Medieval art on loan from the The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[41] Other notable art collections at Fairfield University include a Plaster Cast Collection of over fifty pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a select Asian Art Collection; and a Japanese Garden designed in the 1920s by renowned landscape architect Arthur Asahel Shurcliff, as well as his original watercolors of the formal gardens designed by him at Bellarmine Hall.[42]

Theatre Fairfield

Theatre Fairfield is the resident production company of the Theatre Program of the Department of Visual & Performing Arts at Fairfield University. Theatre Fairfield's season includes professionally directed and designed productions; a Festival of student-written, directed, and designed plays; performances by On the Spot, an improv company; Director's Cut or A Class Act which features the work of advanced directing and acting students; and independent projects created by junior and senior theatre majors.[43] The PepsiCo Theatre, a renovated 1922 carriage house, is the home to Theatre Fairfield. This theatrical facility includes a 70-seat flexible black box theatre, coffeehouse, dance studio, design studio, and costume shop/dressing room.[44]

Athletics

Main article: Fairfield Stags
File:FairfieldStags.png
Fairfield Stags

Fairfield University is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and is classified as Division 1 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association for a majority of its athletic programs. Fairfield sponsors 20 varsity sports - baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's crew, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball. Men's lacrosse is a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League and field hockey is an associate member of the America East Conference.

Scholar-athletes

Fairfield University athletes are among the most academically successful in the nation, according to the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR). In the past several years the NCAA has honored many Fairfield University sports teams for their academic performance with Public Recognition Awards. These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports nationwide.[45] In 2006-07, eight teams, and in 2007-08, seven teams received NCAA Public Recognition Awards. Further, in recent years, eleven Fairfield student-athletes have been honored as Academic All-Americans or National Scholar-Athletes in recognition of their academic and athletic achievements.

Notable success

The Stags most notable success in athletics has come from the basketball, lacrosse, and soccer programs. The men's basketball team held a half time lead over the number 1 seed University of North Carolina Tar Heels before falling short in the 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament. Darren Phillip '00 was the nation's top rebounder averaging 14 rebounds per game in 1999–00 and Deng Gai '05 was the nation's top shot blocker averaging 5.5 blocks per game in 2004-05. The former women's basketball head coach, Diane Nolan, achieved her milestone 500th career win in 2005-06 and led the Stags to four post-season bids to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 1988, 1991, 1998 and 2001. The men's lacrosse team won berths to the 2003 and 2005 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournaments behind leadership of Captain Peter Babbles while the women won the 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2008 MAAC Regular Season Titles. The women's soccer team won a berth to the 2005 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship tournament.

Alumni Field and Thomas J. Walsh Athletic Center

One of Fairfield's most recent successful athletic programs has been men's soccer. Fairfield has defeated several college powerhouses including North Carolina State, University of Connecticut and St. John's University. The men's soccer team won the 2005 and 2006 MAAC Regular Season Championship as well as the 2006 MAAC Tournament Championship. This win earned the team a First Round NCAA Tournmant Game at in-state rival University of Connecticut. Prior to the game, UConn had never lost an NCAA Tournament game on its home field. Fairfield secured a 2-1 first round victory, thanks to a late goal by star player James Gaughan. During the years of 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the team was nationally ranked, rising as high as #15 in several polls. In 2007, the Men's Soccer team defeated St. John's University 2-1. St. John's was the 1996 NCAA National Champion while UConn was the 2000 NCAA National Champion. No other Fairfield University athletic program has ever defeated a former National Championship team.

Sport clubs

Sport Clubs offer a competitive athletic opportunity for students including baseball, equestrian, men's and women's ice hockey, martial arts, men's and women's rugby, sailing, men's and women's skiing and snowboarding, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's track and men's and women's volleyball.[46] The 'Equestrian Club was Regional Champions in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, & 2003 and in 2007 seven Fairfield riders were invited to the elite Tournament of Champions, a horse show for the nation's top collegiate equestrian teams.[47] The Men's Hockey Club (formerly an NCAA level Division I program of the now-defunct MAAC) competed in the 2007 MCHC Championship game and the 2008 ACHA National Tournament.[48] The Men's Rugby Football Club or Red Ruggers, established in 1963, is the longest continuously running sport club at Fairfield University and has produced two USA Rugby Collegiate All-Americans and two former players who have gone on to play for the USA Eagles in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and the USA Tomahawks.[49]. The Men's Volleyball Club won the 2006 and 2007 New England Collegiate Volleyball League Division II Championship and competed in the 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Volleyball Championships.[50] Historically, the 1979 Football Club led by All-America quarterback Craig Leach '81 played in the National Collegiate Football Association's championship game where the Stags fell 60–40 to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The 1980 Football Club started the season ranked #1 in the pre-season NCFA Polls.

Campus and region

Fairfield University is situated on a pastoral campus offering scenic views of Long Island Sound and all the amenities of a major, comprehensive university in a setting of rolling hills, sprawling lawns, picturesque ponds, and bucolic wooded areas-a setting ideal for education.

File:Fairfield Bellarmine.jpg
Bellarmine Hall

Today, Fairfield's 200-acre (0.81 km2) campus consists of 35 buildings anchored by the three manor homes of the original estates: Bellarmine Hall (1921), formerly the Lashar's 'Hearthstone Hall', re-named to honor Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J,; McAuliffe Hall (1896), originally O.G. Jennings' 'Mailands', re-named for Bishop Maurice F. McAuliffe, who sanctioned the creation of Fairfield University; and David J. Dolan House, Lawrence Jenning's 'Larribee', dedicated to honor the uncle of Charles F. Dolan who made the 1989 acquisition of Dolan Campus possible.

Buildings names

Along with Bellarmine Hall, named in honor of Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J,, many of the buildings on the campus of Fairfield University are named in honor of Jesuit priests. Behind each building name is a story of a Jesuit priest who was an exemplar of the Jesuit mission and their pursuit of educational and intellectual contributions, human rights and social justice.[51]

Main article: List of Fairfield University buildings

DiMenna-Nyselius Library

DiMenna-Nyselius Library

Built in 1968, the DiMenna-Nyselius Library originally was named the Nyselius Library in honor of benefactors Gustav and Dagmar Nyselius. They were Swedish immigrants who had settled in Stamford and wanted to make a donation to Fairfield University to repay in part the kindness of their adoptive country. In 2001, the Library underwent a major renovation and expansion and was renamed the DiMenna-Nyselius Library in recognition of a generous donation from alumnus Joseph A. DiMenna, Jr. '80. It’s warm and inviting Arts and Crafts details blends in beautifully with Fairfield's New England campus.

At present, the Library contains an extensive and carefully selected collection of print and electronic resources which include over 300,000 bound volumes, 1800 journals and newspapers, over 11,000 audiovisual items and the equivalent of 92,000 volumes in microform. Its electronic resources, provide online access to a wide variety of World Wide Web subscription databases that bring full text journals and statistical information to the desktop anywhere on campus. Throughout the Library, wireless access is available in designated areas. The Library also contains two open access computer labs featuring Macintosh and Dell computers (one with 24-hour access for students), two dozen multimedia workstations, an electronic classroom, a 90-seat multimedia auditorium, and study rooms.

Among its valuable collection, the DiMenna-Nyselius Library is home to a rare facsimile of The Book of Kells, which was donated by The Wild Geese organization. The Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800 in the style known as Insular art. It is one of the more lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from the Middle Ages and has been described as the zenith of Western calligraphy and illumination.

Environmental sustainability

In recent years, Fairfield University has implemented an institution-wide Green Movement taking major steps to reduce its impact on the natural environment and improve its sustainability. Fairfield now builds facilities with an eye to energy efficiency, recycling, and high marks from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council that promotes responsible building practices and sustainable design.[52]

In October 2007, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and U.S. Representative Christopher Shays joined the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. in unveiling the University's new environmentally friendly Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) designed to reduce strain on the region's power grid and reduce the University's overall carbon footprint by more than 10,000 metric tons per year.[53]

In May 2008, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate.[54]

Most recently, on Earth Day 2008, a ground breaking took place for the new Fairfield Jesuit Community Center, an environmentally friendly home and retreat and meeting center that will feature a roof garden and a geo-thermal heating and cooling system.[55] Fairfield is also in the process of replacing its 125-vehicle fleet with biodiesel-powered buses and hybrid vehicles.[56]

Fairfield Beach, Connecticut

Region

The Town of Fairfield was rated a Top Ten Best Place to Live in 2006 by Money Magazine offering students Fairfield Beach along the scenic shoreline of Long Island Sound and a vibrant downtown area which are both located just five minutes from campus.[57] The University runs a shuttle between campus and downtown where students can catch a dinner and a movie or hop on a Metro-North Train bound for Grand Central Station and New York City.

The Black Rock neighborhood of the City of Bridgeport bordering on the Town of Fairfield is located just ten minutes from campus and provides students a metropolitan village-like atmosphere that boasts some of the best restaurants and entertainment in Fairfield County.[58] Fairfield University students frequent the "Acoustic Cafe" which has been named "Best Place to Hear Alternative Music" three years in a row by Fairfield County Weekly's reader poll and helped launch Fairfield University's own award-winning Indie rock band, The Alternate Routes.[59]

People

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Fairfield University people

Despite the relative youth of the institution Fairfield University alumni are achieving considerable success and making significant contributions in the fields of academia, business, economics, education, law, government, medicine, science and social justice.

Notable benefactors

Fairfield has had many financial supporters, but some stand out by the magnitude of their contributions. Among those who have made large donations commemorated at the university are:

Publications and media

  • Campus Currents - The Official News Publication of Fairfield University
  • Fairfield Now - The Magazine of Fairfield University,
  • Press Room - Fairfield University's Electronic News Room
  • The Mirror - The Independent Student Newspaper of Fairfield University
  • The Reluctant Environmentalist - Blogging about Earth-friendly living at Fairfield University

Academic journals

  • Mezzo Cammin - An Online Journal of Formalist Poetry by Women.

Media Center

The Media Center is a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) facility located on the ground floor of Xavier Hall that houses the New Media: Film, Television, and Radio major, the Campus Television Network and the student run HAM Channel. The Media Center also operates a 32-foot (9.8 m) television production satellite uplink truck that can transmit and receive digitally encoded television signals from geostationary domestic satellites. Fairfield University is one of few colleges in the nation to have this technology allowing campus programming and international news organizations including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg Television to be broadcast worldwide from the University.

The Media Center staff and New Media students have won national recognition for their award-winning programs and production of multimedia presentations for the University. The Media Center has received several Telly Awards including a Bronze Telly Award in 2001[63] and one Silver Telly Award and three Bronze Telly Awards in 2004.[64] Other recent honors have included the Crystal Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards 2005 Print Competition; two Awards of Excellence from the Videographer 2005 Awards; and the Platinum BEST of Show from The Aurora 2005 Awards.[65][66]

Residence life

Residence halls

John C. Dolan Hall

Fairfield University guarantees first year students four years of campus housing and provides several housing options depending on their class. Most underclassman live on campus and live the typical residence hall life in the Quad or The Orient sections of campus. The Quad is located in the northwest corner of campus and consists of Campion Hall, Joques Hall, Gonzaga Hall, Loyola Hall, and Regis Hall. Students typically choose to live in The Quad in order to be close to the classroom buildings and to enjoy the annual battle of dorms water fights; and frisbee and wiffleball games during the warm weather. The Orient is located in the southeast corner of campus and consists of Kostka Hall and Claver Hall which is suite style living, and also the apartments, the newest on campus housing. This section earned its name due to its woodsy seclusion from the main area of campus. Dolan Hall is located in the northeast corner of campus is the primary residence hall for students who request to live in singles housing. This building also holds some freshman doubles.

Ignatian Residential College

Loyola Hall is home to the Ignatian Residential College, which offers a unique residential college experience for Fairfield sophomores. Funded by a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the program provides over 200 students with the opportunity to study and live together while pondering questions of identity, faith and purpose. In addition to living together and taking two classes together students meet once per month in groups of ten with a mentor, hear from weekly speakers, attend one overnight retreat per semester, and take cultural trips.[67]

Upperclassmen alternatives

File:Fairfield-Clam-Jam-1997.png
Clam Jam at Fairfield Beach, 1997

Upperclassmen are able to choose between living at the Townhouse Complex, Apartment Village or Fairfield Beach. The 10 unit Townhouse Complex is a series of 104 two-story student townhouses for 469 juniors and seniors. There are between five and seven students living in each townhouse which has two or three bedrooms upstairs, a living and dining area, a kitchen and two bathrooms. During the colder weather the townhouse basements serve as a unique gathering place for students to socialize and catch a live performance by their favorite student band. And during the warmer weather students enjoy their back porches and lawns with an occasional barbecue and wiffleball game. The Apartment Village is at the southeast corner of campus and was opened in September 2000. These apartment-style residences house 192 juniors and seniors. Each apartment contains four single bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. Finally, Fairfield Beach is truly a unique Fairfield living experience for 200 eligible students to rent beach houses along the Long Island Sound. Fairfield Beach historically has been the center of off-campus social life hosting such Fairfield traditions as the Clam Jam and Mock Weddings. However, as the Fairfield Beach community has evolved from a part-time summer beach community into a more permanent residential community, Fairfield Beach has become a source of strain on town-gown relations leading to greater controls over student social life.

Student life

Community service

The goal of Jesuit education is homines pro aliis, “men and women for others”. For this reason Fairfield students are involved in many local and international community service opportunities. Locally, the award-winning Annual Hunger Clean Up is a one-day service-a-thon where the entire University community joins together to work at 40-plus local agency sites throughout Fairfield County and to raise money for local and national hunger and homelessness causes.[68] The Fairfield chapter of Colleges Against Cancer hosts an annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life, an overnight event designed to spread awareness of cancer prevention, treatments and cures, celebrate cancer survivors and raise money for cancer research.[69] The Adrienne Kirby Family Literacy Project, recognized as a model program by the Corporation for National and Community Service, involves about 175 Fairfield student-volunteers a year in providing individual tutoring to preschool children to increase their language and school readiness skills at the Action for Bridgeport Community Development's Early Learning/Head Start Program.[70]

Internationally, Ignatian Solidarity Corps volunteers annually participate in two-week international service trips during their spring and winter breaks traveling to Ecuador[71] Mexico, Jamaica, Belize and Haiti where Fairfield alumnus, Doug Perlitz '92 founded and directs Project Pierre Toussaint, a mission helping Haitan street children.[72] In 2004, Mikaela Conley '06 and Aamina Awan '07 founded The Afghan Children's Project to raise awareness and funds for children who have suffered the effects of war, violence, and poverty in the heart of Afghanistan.[73] Both were interviewed on CNN Daybreak in August 2005 for their work in funding the building of a water well for Aloudine, a small village outside Kabul, desperate for clean drinking water.[74] And in 2008, nine Fairfield students, inspired by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, started Sustainable Equity for Women, a micro-lending project designed to raise and invest money in small businesses run by women in developing countries in conjunction with Kiva Microfunds.[75]

Diversity

In total, the Fairfield student body hails from 32 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 45 foreign countries. 13% of undergraduate students are African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American (AHANA), or multiracial. Valuing a mix of experiences in the classroom and on campus, increasing diversity at Fairfield is a major goal of the University's Strategic Vision,[76] and in 2005, during the University's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Celebration and Convocation, the Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., called on the University community to join him in efforts to increase diversity at the institution.[77] For this reason, the Office of Institutional Diversity Initiatives[78] and the Office of Student Diversity Programs[79] were created to pursue a number of initiatives to increase racial and socioeconomic diversity. These diversity initiatives are helped annually by the Fairfield Awards Dinner held in New York City in which funds are raised for The Alumni Multicultural Scholarship Fund. The 2008 Fairfield Awards Dinner raised a record-breaking $1.1 million.[80]

John A. Barone Campus Center

Fairfield University Student Association

The Fairfield University Student Association (FUSA)] is the official student association for full-time undergraduate students and is the largest student organization on campus.[81] The association exists to represent student issues and concerns to the faculty and administration and to sponsor a multitude of student programs and activities. All full-time undergraduate students are members of FUSA. FUSA is organized into three branches – legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch consists of the Student Senate, comprising 40 elected representatives (10 from each undergraduate class year). The executive branch is headed by the popularly-elected President of FUSA, who serves as the official spokesperson for undergraduate students in addition to administering the student association on a daily basis. In 2002, Karen Donoghue '03 became the first women elected President of FUSA.[82] The FUSA President is assisted by a popularly-elected Vice President, elected class officers, and a number of other appointed officers, including the Executive Director of Programming and the Executive Director of Clubs & Organizations. The judicial branch is known as the Student Court, which serves as a hearing body in certain student conduct cases, as well as performing the judicial functions required for the student association.[83]

Student activism

A central tenet of a Jesuit education is the promotion of the values of peace and social justice.[84] Fairfield University students have embraced and reflected these values in their own student activism. In 1988, 1989 and 1990, the Coalition for a Better World constructed "Cardboard City" and held a 36 hour vigil,[85] and again in 2008, the Students for Social Justice similarly constructed "Homeless Village" and hosted the "Oxfam Hunger Banquet" to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless in the United States.[86] In 1999, students staged an 11-hour sit-in at the home of the university president and later a hunger strike to protest a contracting company used by the university that the students said was anti-union and paid janitors poorly.[87] Each year, the Students for Social Justice travel to Columbus, Georgia for the annual School of the Americas Watch protest at a combat training school for Latin American soldiers now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The date of the protest marks the anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests, their maid, and her daughter in El Salvador at the hands of soldiers trained at the School of the Americas.[88] And in 2008, Fairfield for Peace NOW created "Hope Trail", a pathway of flags around campus symbolizing the cost in life and casualties from the Iraq War,[89] and "A Cry For Peace", a play written and performed with Theatre Fairfield demonstrating the toll of the Iraq War on the families of soldiers back in the United States.[90]

Student clubs & organizations

All student clubs and organizations comprise the Student Organization Board of Governors (SOBOG), which is governed by a board of governors and administered by a chairperson selected by members of student organizations. SOBOG exists to encourage student involvement and participation in approximately 80 clubs and organizations each year including the Glee Club, Jazz Ensemble, Pep Band, Dance Team, Stag in the Stands, Habitat for Humanity, mission volunteer trips, and Theater Fairfield. The oldest club on campus is the Fairfield University Glee Club which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007. The Fairfield University Debate Team of Jason LaRue '99 and Courtney Darts '01 won first place at the 1998 Columbia University Parliamentary Debate Tournament beating 69 other teams, including teams from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Yale and Williams.[91]

Student media

File:Fairfield Ham Channel logo.png
  • The Cream Filling - The Student Artistic, Literary, and Cultural Special-Interest Magazine of Fairfield University
  • Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose
  • The HAM Channel - The Student Television Station of Fairfield University
  • The Mirror - The Independent Student Newspaper of Fairfield University
  • The Mirror Sports Blog - The Independent Student Sports Blog of Fairfield University Athletics
  • The Sound - The Student Literary Magazine of Fairfield University
  • WVOF - The Voice of Fairfield University

Traditions

Student life at the Fairfield is marked by a number of unique traditions and celebrations:

  • Stagstock - Stagstock is an all day, outdoor concert organized by the HAM Channel and WVOF each year. Co-sponsored by the office of New Student Programming and FUSA, Stagstock brings together local bands, along with bigger, nationally recognized acts, and showcases them in a free concert. The concert is traditionally held in the Quad on the first weekend of the new school year.
  • Mock Weddings - Mock Wedding is a long standing Fairfield tradition in which senior class members select peers to be part of a faux wedding ceremony at The Point at Fairfield Beach followed by a wedding party at a local reception hall late in their final spring semester.[92]

Notes of interest

Fairfield in American history

  • Battle of Round Hill: During the American Revolutionary War in 1779, the "Battle of Round Hill" took place on the present day Bellarmine Hill on the campus of Fairfield University where the Americans under the command of Colonel Samuel Whiting (whose third-generation grandson Andrew Whiting graduated in 2005) repelled the British invaders under the command of Major-General William Tryon, but not before the British laid ruin to the Town of Fairfield.[93]
  • Tilton vs. Richardson: Fairfield University won a significant legal victory at the Supreme Court of the United States in Tilton vs. Richardson establishing an important legal precedent concerning the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and government financial assistance to religious-based colleges and universities.[94] This landmark court case questioned the legality of Fairfield and three other Connecticut religious-based institutions securing federal construction grants under the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963. An appeal was denied the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court on June 28, 1971, ensuring Fairfield a significant amount of federal money which contributed to the construction of the Nyselius Library (1968) and Bannow Science Center (1971).[95] In the Majority Opinion written by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, the Court upheld, 5-4, the federal construction grants as long as the facilities were not to be used for sectarian instruction or places of worship.[96] The Court held that the church-related institutions in question had not used their federally-funded facilities for religious activities, and that the facilities were "indistinguishable from a typical state university facility."[97]

Fairfield in Presidential elections

Fairfield on the national stage

References

  1. ^ Fairfield University Board of Trustees
  2. ^ Biography: Dr. William Weitzer, Senior Vice President
  3. ^ ZoomInfo Web Profile: Dr. Orin L. Grossman
  4. ^ Fairfield University: Mission Statement
  5. ^ If these Stones Could Speak: Fairfield University's Ur-History.
  6. ^ The Jesuits in Fairfield
  7. ^ Business School Donations
  8. ^ Fairfield University inaugurates its first president in 25 years
  9. ^ Campaign for Fairfield University raises $137.9 million
  10. ^ Fairfield University honors former President with green, hi-tech administration and welcome center
  11. ^ Fairfield University announces Bridgeport Tuition Plan for students with family incomes under $50,000
  12. ^ Film, Television and Radio major led by three Jesuits
  13. ^ Fairfield University sets new record with nine Fulbrights awarded this year
  14. ^ Fulbright Rankings 2006-2007
  15. ^ Fairfield University once again tops in its class in Fulbrights awarded
  16. ^ All-USA College Academic Team: About and advice
  17. ^ Center for Catholic Studies
  18. ^ Voice of Others
  19. ^ Center for Catholic Studies
  20. ^ Center for Faith and Public Life
  21. ^ Senator Joseph Lieberman answers questions about faith and politics posed by Fairfield University students
  22. ^ Shays kicks off Politics Meets Faith series
  23. ^ Politics Meets Faith Series
  24. ^ Office of Service Learning
  25. ^ Literacy Program Teaches the Teachers
  26. ^ Taxes Teaching Lessons
  27. ^ Fairfield University School of Nursing Health Promotion Center
  28. ^ Office of Service Learning Community Partners
  29. ^ Fairfield Welcome Campus Compact
  30. ^ Cardinals McCarrick and Dulles help celebrate the opening of Fairfield University's new Center for Faith and Public Life
  31. ^ Carl & Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University
  32. ^ Judaic Studies: From enrichment to enlightenment
  33. ^ Center for Microfinance Advice and Consulting
  34. ^ Business students investigating viability of sun ovens for Haiti
  35. ^ Business professor honored for support of Haitian poor
  36. ^ U-CAN: Fairfield University
  37. ^ Intellectual Hot House
  38. ^ Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
  39. ^ Eliasoph Brings Headliners To Fairfield
  40. ^ The Discovery Museum presents Kress collection of ten old master paintings to Fairfield University
  41. ^ Fairfield University announces plans for a new art museum on campus
  42. ^ Art Collections at Fairfield University
  43. ^ Theater Fairfield
  44. ^ The PepsiCo Theatre
  45. ^ NCAA Honors Division I Teams for Academic Performance
  46. ^ Sport Clubs
  47. ^ Equestrian Club
  48. ^ Men's Hockey Club
  49. ^ Men's Rugby Football Club
  50. ^ Men's Volleyball Club
  51. ^ Names of The Fairfield University Building
  52. ^ What is Fairfield doing?
  53. ^ United States Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Congressman Christopher Shays help unveil Fairfield University's new eco-friendly Combined Heat and Power Plant
  54. ^ Fairfield University President commits to 'climate neutral' campus
  55. ^ Fairfield University's Jesuit Community Center groundbreaking ceremony set for Earth Day
  56. ^ What is Fairfield Doing?: Conservation
  57. ^ Money Magazine Top Ten Best Place to Live in 2006: Fairfield, CT
  58. ^ Black Rock Entertainment District
  59. ^ Acoustic Cafe
  60. ^ Vasa Order of America: Rudolf F. Bannow Profile
  61. ^ Vasa Order of America: Gustav Nyselius Profile
  62. ^ Fay Vincent gives Fairfield University $2 million for scholarships
  63. ^ Media Center wins Telly Award for video production
  64. ^ Fairfield University Media Center wins three Telly Awards, Student video secures a fourth Telly
  65. ^ Fairfield University Media Center wins Platinum BEST of Show in major film and video competition
  66. ^ Fairfield University Media Center wins four awards in international competitions
  67. ^ Fairfield University - Fairfield, CT - Colleges of Distinction
  68. ^ Annual Hunger Clean Up
  69. ^ All aboard for Relay for Life!
  70. ^ Literacy Program Teaches the Teachers
  71. ^ Fairfield students provide aid in Ecuador
  72. ^ Project Pierre Toussaint: Our Story
  73. ^ The Afghan Children's Project: Background
  74. ^ A Well That Runs Deep
  75. ^ Fairfield University seniors leave legacy of micro-lending project, Sustainable Equity for Women (SEW)
  76. ^ Fairfield's Strategic Vision: Windows to the Future
  77. ^ Fairfield President pledges campus-wide effort to increase diversity
  78. ^ Office of Institutional Diversity Initiatives
  79. ^ Office of Student Diversity Programs
  80. ^ Record-breaking $1.1 million raised by Fairfield University for drive to increase diversity
  81. ^ Fairfield University Student Association (FUSA)
  82. ^ Kenneth Best, "Fairfield University's B.W.O.C.," New York Times, March 31, 2002.
  83. ^ Fairfield University Student Handbook
  84. ^ Program in Peace and Justice Studies
  85. ^ Cardboard City on the patio of Barone Campus Center
  86. ^ Food for thought: Students for Social Justice host Hunger Banquet
  87. ^ Six Students End Hunger Strike After Fairfield Drops Contractor
  88. ^ Fairfield University: Social Justice: School of the Americas Protest
  89. ^ Fairfield University students erect symbols of Iraq war casualties
  90. ^ Fairfield shows activism
  91. ^ Debate Team wins major tournament
  92. ^ Stayin' alive...Va-va-Vegas??
  93. ^ Fairfield University's Ur-History
  94. ^ Oyez: Tilton vs. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
  95. ^ Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J., 5th President of Fairfield University (1964-1973)
  96. ^ Oyez: Tilton vs. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
  97. ^ Oyez: Tilton vs. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
  98. ^ "Movie to be filmed at Fairfield next week". Fairfield Mirror. May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  99. ^ Fairfield's campus captured in a feature film
  100. ^ GE College Bowl TV Show History: Fairfield University
  101. ^ College Bowl 1963, Fairfield University vs. Brooklyn Polytechnic
  102. ^ Grand Central | American Experience | PBS
  103. ^ Schlichting's stint on the silver screen
  104. ^ Amazon.com: Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Engineering, and Architecture in New York City: Books: Kurt C. Schlichting
  105. ^ Fairfield and Fantasy Mix on 'Who's the Boss?
  106. ^ Season 5 "Winter Break" episode

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