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TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments V Board of Trustees, 2014-15 VI Copyright © 2015, Webster University All rights reserved. Introductions by President Elizabeth (Beth) J. Stroble and Provost Julian Z. Schuster X Foreword by Chairman Steven O. Swyers XII Published in cooperation with Preface by Centennial Planning Chair Elizabeth Robb XIII Reedy Press www.reedypress.com From Local College to Worldwide University 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form The Courage to Act Produces a Singular College 3 or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in A Tradition of Inclusive Leadership 10 writing from the publisher. The Home Campus Evolves 23 Reaching out to Working Adults 34 Permissions may be sought directly from Webster University at the following mailing address or via our website at www.webster.edu/wup: Support for Active Military and Veterans 42 Broadening Perspectives through Global Opportunities 50 Webster University Press c/o Webster University Library 470 East Lockwood Avenue A Distinctive Approach to the Educational Experience 77 Saint Louis, Missouri 63119-3194 Cultivating Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship 78 Unconventional Paths to Quality Learning Experiences 90 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015945795 ISBN: 9780982161500 Student-Centered Learning in the Disciplines 102 Growing School Spirit 204 Printed in the United States of America 15 16 17 18 19 5 4 3 2 1 Enriching Learning through Community Partnerships 218 An Enduring Spirit of Caring and Inclusiveness 227 Support for Webster’s Mission 228 A Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive University 238 Social Justice and Community Service 250 Environmental Sustainability Yesterday and Today for the Webster of Tomorrow 262 The Future 269 The Centennial Year: Bridge to the Future 270 A Visionary Plan for the Future 275 Endnotes 286 Photo and Public Art Credits 290 III FROM LOCAL COLLEGE TO WORLDWIDE UNIVERSITY The story of Webster University is the story of the human spirit, a spirit constantly dreaming of a better tomorrow, persevering through unending challenges, embracing new frontiers, and believing anything is possible with a combination of faith, intellect, hard work, and a helping hand. From humble beginnings in a single building in America’s heartland, the Sisters of Loretto guided the young college through its formative years University Webster and laid the foundation for the university we see today. In the second half of the 20th century, administrators, trustees, faculty, staff, and alumni worked together to implement a new model of governance which led to growth not only of physical campuses but of innovative programs with a global reach. Webster today boldly claims the world as its classroom and inclusiveness as its lingua franca. | A Century of Defining Moments The Courage to Act Produces a Singular College 3 A Tradition of Inclusive Leadership 10 The Home Campus Evolves 23 Reaching Out to Working Adults 34 Support for Active Military and Veterans 42 Broadening Perspectives through Global Opportunities 50 XIV 1 1915 LORETTO COLLEGE OPENS In the early 1900s, women who wanted a would be one of the first women’s colleges higher education in a Catholic environment west of the Mississippi River. had few choices. Most well-known Catholic universities were just open to men, and only The college welcomed its first five students, a Singular College Act Produces The Courage To a small number of Catholic women’s colleges all graduates of Loretto Academy, a boarding existed in the United States. school in Kansas City, MO, in the fall of 1915. Classes were held at Loretto in Kansas City In 1915, the Loretto Community, a Catholic during construction of the building now called order of nuns, agreed to open a college in St. Webster Hall. A year later, Loretto College Louis, MO. These dedicated women not only opened on September 13 in its new facility. filled a need for higher education for Catholic The building has served an important role in women of that era, but established a university the college’s operations ever since. Today, that would bring learning to tens of thousands Webster Hall houses classrooms, offices, the of students worldwide over the next 100 years. Winifred Moore Auditorium, and a Welcome Center for prospective students. The site for the college was the land originally occupied by the Loretto Seminary for Girls, One hundred years later, Webster University which had opened there in 1898 and closed still embodies the spirit of the Sisters of after a fire in 1904. The sisters chose the Loretto: to take education where it is needed, abandoned site for Loretto College—the whether it be a city in the Midwest United forerunner of Webster University. The school States or a campus halfway around the world. 2 3 1919 FIRST COMMENCEMENT 1924 RENAMING TO WEBSTER COLLEGE “Today, you may justly look back with satisfaction over the trying task of organizing When Loretto College opened in 1915, so great an undertaking, of attempting pioneer work in the field that called for heroic it joined an array of elementary schools courage and unflagging enthusiasm.” and high school academies operated by the Sisters of Loretto. Often, the young a Singular College Act Produces The Courage To ~ From Rev. Francis V. Corcoran’s address at Webster’s first commencement college was confused with two Loretto Academies for girls in St. Louis. That issue was resolved in 1924 when its name was In June 1919, the young progressive concept in an era when US women changed to Webster College. The new college reached its first first gained the right to vote in 1920. name was chosen in honor of Webster significant milestone Groves, the city in which the home campus when it graduated In later years, the commencement ceremony is located, and in recognition of Benjamin the inaugural class of included ivy planting and the reading of an ivy Sr. Louise Wise Webster, the previous owner of the land Loretto College. poem written by a student. Today, Webster’s on which the college was built. annual main commencement includes over That first 1,000 graduates from around the world, with Webster cleared another hurdle a year later with commencement over 10,000 in attendance. accreditation from the North Central Association (NCA), featured two graduates: largely through the efforts of Sr. Louise Wise, Webster’s Florence Waddock, dean. who would teach high school English, French Webster’s tradition of academic excellence had been and math, and Sr. Ann established even then, and the college passed NCA’s Francis, a member of the Loretto Community. The Courage To Act Produces a Singular College a Singular College Act Produces Act Produces The Courage To inspection with high marks. The NCA inspector called the teaching at Webster “superior” and said “he had inspected Loretto College's first commencement, held women’s colleges from Maine to the Gulf and never met June 4, 1919, fulfilled a bold decision by the one better organized and equipped.” Sisters of Loretto in 1915 to build the only Catholic college for women within several NCA unanimously recommended Webster for full hundred miles. The sisters developed a liberal accreditation in the spring of 1925, a distinction Webster education that trained women for careers—a 4 has held for the past ninety years. 5 1924 YEARBOOKS THROUGH THE YEARS 1926 MAY DAY Starting in 1924, Webster published a traditional The holiday often includes students performing yearbook called the Lauretanum, filled with an intricate dance around a Maypole, and features found in most other yearbooks, then Webster College was no exception. But May and now. Although similar in content to its Day at Webster also included other features. peers, the 1926 Lauretanum distinguished itself The Lauretanum, Webster’s yearbook, first by winning a national yearbook competition. mentions May Day on campus in 1926. The festivities included students electing a queen But Webster’s traditional yearbook changed and her court. radically in 1967, a year that saw Webster become a secular college. Webster’s students The election of a May queen and her court produced the Non-Yearbook, a multimedia became an annual fixture at Webster until effort that included cartoons, quotations, and Today May Day, an important holiday in most 1963, when the celebration moved to a hotel audio recordings of students, faculty, and staff. of the world, goes largely ignored in the and included a spring dance. Citing costs, United States. At one time, however, the disinterest, and a belief that electing a queen The offbeat approach reached its summit in holiday was celebrated at numerous and her court had no purpose, Webster ended 1968 with the Webster College Year Box. As institutions throughout the nation, including the May Day tradition in 1966. the title implied, a box housed the yearbook’s Webster College. contents. They included a board game, a spinning wheel of photos, a jigsaw puzzle, and posters. The Year Box won prizes at the St. Louis Art Directors Annual Awards in 1968, including The Courage To Act Produces a Singular College Act Produces The Courage To Best of Show and the Strathmore Paper Award for most creative use of paper. The 1969 edition, replete with photos and quotations, marked the final yearbook— traditional or otherwise—from Webster University. 6 First lay board Front row, l-r: Peg Jostedt, Sr. Rose Maureen Sanders, TRANSFER TO LAY BOARD Sanford J. Zimmerman, Sr. Jacqueline Grennan, 1967 Sr. Francetta Barberis, Lee M. Liberman; second row, l-r: Francis V. Lloyd Jr., Leonard Hornbein, Michael Witunski, Jane Hart, Joseph Kelly; On January 11, 1967, a decision was announced deeply personal. One of Grennan’s conclusions, back row: George D.