This year marks the 70th anniversary of Bellarmine University.

 

The year 2020 has been a challenging one for many reasons, not the least of which has been the continued presence of the novel coronavirus and the vigilant response it requires. Working together, our faculty, staff and students have done a fantastic job of maintaining the Bellarmine Difference while also keeping each other safe and healthy. 

 

Then again, working together is nothing new for the Bellarmine family. Our community has had to unite in the face of adversity on multiple occasions since the very inception of the institution. 

 

On Oct. 3, 1950, Bellarmine College opened its doors to its first students—metaphorically, anyway; the first and only building, Pasteur Hall, didn’t have a front door yet when classes began.

 

Those 115 freshmen (and they were all men) were known as the Pioneer Class. But only 42 of them would make it to the first graduation ceremony in 1954. The Korean War, which had begun in June 1950, interrupted or ended the college careers of many of the others. 

 

Working together is nothing new for the Bellarmine family. Our community has had to unite in the face of adversity on multiple occasions since the very inception of the institution. 

There were rumors that the fledgling college would close.

 

But Bellarmine remained strong. The college received accreditation in 1956, and by 1959, not quite a decade after opening, it welcomed just over 1,000 students.

 

The 1960s were a time of growth for Bellarmine. The college built four residence halls, Knights Hall and a student-activities building, and enrollment doubled, to more than 2,000 students—including women, when Bellarmine merged with Ursuline College in 1968 and became an independent, co-educational institution. 

 

The 1960s were also a time of turmoil in Louisville and across the country. Msgr. Alfred Horrigan, the college’s founding president, was committed to serving and advocating for the public good.   

 

Msgr. Horrigan continued that important work long after he left Bellarmine in 1972. He was replaced by Dr. Eugene Petrik in 1973, after Msgr. Raymond Treece served for a year as interim president. When Dr. Petrik arrived, enrollment had fallen to nearer 1,000 than 2,000 students, and Bellarmine had operated at a deficit for several years.

 

There were rumors that the college would close.

 

Instead, Dr. Petrik gauged the needs of the Louisville community and began adding professional programs, such as business and nursing, to the curriculum. As enrollment once again increased, Bellarmine added more buildings. When Dr. Joseph J. McGowan arrived as the third president in 1990, he named two of the buildings on campus for his predecessors, and a decade later, he presided over Bellarmine’s own name change, from college to university.

 

Under Dr. McGowan’s leadership, Bellarmine continued to grow, adding more than 20 new academic programs, constructing landmark buildings such as the W.L. Lyons Brown Library and Centro (a portion of which is now named McGowan Hall in his memory), and becoming a true residential campus.

 

That brings us to today. Once again, our city, our country and our world are engaged in challenging times. Bellarmine University does not shrink from these realities. Guided by our strategic plan, we continue to provide a transformative student experience; to partner with local businesses, non-profits, and Catholic and public schools; and to increase access and affordability. (Download our Annual Impact Report 2020.) We embrace our elevation to an NCAA Division I university as an opportunity to recruit excellent students from across the globe.

 

Through innovation and resiliency, Bellarmine has risen to the occasion over the past 70 years—and we know that our students and alumni will continue to have a global impact in the next 70 and beyond. I’m honored to serve as Bellarmine’s fourth president and to lead this illustrious institution into the future.