Brescia University - An Institution of Academic Distinction
The roots of Brescia University rest in the establishment of the Mount Saint Joseph Junior College for Women. Founded in 1880 in Maple Mount, Kentucky, by a group of Ursuline Sisters, Mount Saint Joseph offered elementary and secondary education to its students. Over the following 45 years, the Ursuline Sisters continued to educate young women from the Western Kentucky region while planning for the inauguration of Junior College, a goal that was finally attained in 1925.
After the addition of an additional campus in Owensboro for coeducational courses in 1949, the Sisters made plans to merge the two facilities into a single institution on Frederica Street in Owensboro. Thus, with the onset of the 1951 academic school year, Brescia College began to function as a four-year, private, liberal arts institution.
During the years following World War II and the Korean War, many GIs returned home to advance their education. Due to Brescia's new academic status, the school was able to offer a full range of courses for veterans. Further progress was made in 1953, when Brescia conferred the first degrees to its first students and graduated from its Junior College status to assume the role of a fully functional four-year institution. Four years later, in 1957, the school officially received its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Brescia moved to inaugurate its first President, Sr. Joan Marie Lechner. President Lechner oversaw several important construction projects for Brescia, including the completion of Merici Residence Hall, plus new buildings for the purposes of scientific studies, administrative offices, and athletics. In addition, an assortment of summer classes were initiated, helping to push total enrollment to over 1,000 students. Lechner also assisted with the introduction of the Contemporary Woman Program, a vital part of Brescia's curriculum.
Over the subsequent three decades, three additional presidents from the order of Ursuline Sisters took the helm of Brescia University. After President Lechner stepped down in 1974, she was replaced by Sr. George Ann Cecil. Following President's Cecil's tenure as Brescia's leader, Sr. Ruth Gehres was elected president in 1985. A decade later, after the retirement of President Gehres, Sr. Vivian Marie Bowles was installed as the institution's new commander in chief, paving the way for Brescia College to officially become Brescia University in June of 1998. Brescia's newest president, elected to office in June 2007, is the Reverend Laurence Hostetter, S.T.D., the first and only male president in the school's history.
Brescia currently offers eight different associate's degrees, 30 bachelor's degrees, and 18 separate minors. In addition to distinguished programs in the fields of English, education, social work, and science, Brescia also supplies its students with first-rate business courses through the William H. Thompson School of Business. Moreover, Brescia offers post-baccalaureate degrees in accounting, banking, pastoral ministry, Catechetical studies, youth ministry, and master's degrees in management and in curriculum and instruction. Beginning in 2002, a vast selection of courses also became available online, supplying continued education to those students looking to earn their degrees from home or abroad.
Although affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, Brescia has continually welcomed people of all faiths to its campus. As stated in its mission, Brescia is an institution that "emphasizes the liberal arts and prepares its traditional and non-traditional students for successful careers and for service to others."
If you would like to learn more about Brescia University, please visit our campus or read about us on our Web site (www.brescia.edu). Our staff would be delighted to show you around our school and welcome you to our college family!
