Saint Martin's University

Saint Martin's University
Former name	Saint Martin's College (1895–2005)
Motto	"Think with heart"
Type	Private university
Established	1895; 129 years ago
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic (Benedictine)
Endowment	$27 million
President	Bill Brownsburger
Academic staff	202
Undergraduates	1,412
Postgraduates	359
Location	Lacey, Washington, United States
Campus	Suburban, 380 acres (1.5 km2)
Colors	Red & White
Nickname	Saints
Website	www.stmartin.edu

Saint Martin's University is a private Benedictine university in Lacey, Washington. It was founded in 1895 as a boys' boarding school run by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a degree-granting institution in 1940. The college became coeducational in 1965. In 2005, it changed its name from Saint Martin's College to Saint Martin's University. There is a Benedictine monastery on campus grounds and some members of the monastic community serve as professors.

History

Saint Martin's patron saint is Saint Martin of Tours, a fourth-century monk and missionary. The university and its founder, Saint Martin's Abbey, sit on 300 acres (1.2 km²) of woodlands, trees, rocks, and meandering trails. The site was selected in 1894 by Abbot Bernard Locnikar of Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota, which was the mother abbey of St. Martin's Abbey. At a public auction on April 21, 1894, the wooded parcel that would become the Saint Martin's campus was purchased for $6,920.

Work began on Saint Martin's first building in January 1895. By late summer, a four-story structure housing both the school and a monastery was completed. The school at that time offered preparatory classes for boys, plus commercial and classical education for older boys and young men. Boarding students who came from outside of town also were housed in the campus' one large building.^[1] Today, that structure is referred to as Old Main and continues to house many of the university's classrooms and offices.

Presidents

1955–1959 Damian Glenn
1959–1964 Dunstan Curtis
1964–1971 Michael Feeney
1971–1975 Matthew Naumes
1975–1980 John Scott
1980–1984 John Ishii
1984–2005 David Spangler
2005–2008 Douglas Astolfi
2008–2008 David Spangler (interim)
2009–2022 Roy F. Heynderickx^[2]
2022–2023 Jennifer Bonds-Raacke
2023–2024 Kilian Malvey and Roy F. Henderickx as interim co-presidents^[3]
2024- Bill Brownsberger^[4]

Academics

The college offers 28 baccalaureate programs and fourteen graduate degree programs. The university offers programs and courses at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Centralia College.

Colleges and schools

College of Arts and Sciences
College of Education and Counseling
Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering
School of Business

Sister schools

Saint Martin's has agreements of cooperation with four Korean universities; Sogang University, Konkuk University, Cheongju University and Sangmyung University. Saint Martin's also has sister universities in Japan (including Mukogawa Women's University and Reitaku University), three in China (including Shanghai Maritime University), and one in Taiwan (Chung Shan Medical University).

Student life

180° panorama on the campus of Saint Martin's University, Lacey, Washington on a sunny August afternoon.

Sustainability and technology

In the fall semester, 2012, a new 22,000+ square foot engineering building, Cebula Hall, opened. The Learning Garden was started at SMU in 2010.^[5]

Athletics

The school's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the Division II level. The women's basketball team qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament in 1992 and 2008. In the 1940s and 1950s, Saint Martin's had a men's college football team and a boys' high school football team, which won the Washington Class A championship.^{[citation needed]} In the 1990s, the name of the mascot was almost changed to the Ravens. In 2008, the men's basketball team defeated Division I Colorado State Rams men's basketball, making it Saint Martin's first major publicized victory over a D-1 opponent. In 2009, the Men's Soccer team seized the first team title in any sport for Saint Martin's University, winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.^[6]

Notable people

Alumni

Jill Lannan, brigadier general
Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter, governor of Idaho
Kyle Sokol, bass guitarist for Rude Squad
Baseball players Justin Leone and Dick Ward
Mike Thibault, NBA and WNBA coach

Faculty

David Price, anthropologist

References

^ Scott, John Charles (1996). This Place Called Saint Martin's, 1895-1995: A Centennial History of Saint Martin's College and Abbey, Lacey, Washington. The Donning Company. ISBN 0-89865-982-5.
^ "WHEFA - Who We Are". Whefa.org. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
^ "Office of the President". Saint Martin's University. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ "Bill Brownsberger, S.T.D." Saint Martin's University. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
^ "Sustainable Saints". sustainablesaints.blogspot.com. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
^ SMU Saints Website — Saint Martin's University; retrieved November 17, 2009.