College of the Holy Cross

College of the Holy Cross Summary

The College of the Holy Cross is an exclusively undergraduate Roman Catholic college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Holy Cross is the oldest Roman Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. Today, Holy Cross is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is part of a consortium with other Worcester colleges, including Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University. Holy Cross was founded by Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ, second Bishop of Boston, after his efforts to found Boston College were thwarted by that city’s Protestant civic leaders. Relations with Boston’s civic leaders worsened such that, when a Jesuit faculty was finally secured in 1843, Fenwick decided to leave the Boston school and instead opened the College of the Holy Cross 45 miles west of the city in central Massachusetts where he felt the Jesuits could operate with greater autonomy. Fenwick gave the College the name of his cathedral church, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Andrews In 1998, Holy Cross initiated an eight-year capital campaign, “Lift High the Cross,” with a three-year quiet period. The funds allowed Holy Cross to establish an additional 12 new faculty positions, along with more than 75 newly endowed scholarships for students. Holy Cross has traditionally drawn many of its students from a pool of historical Catholic high schools and private boarding schools, though a slight majority of current undergraduates come from public schools. Holy Cross received 6,700 applications for admission to the Class of 2010 — a 41 percent increase from the previous year and a school record. Even though Holy Cross did not first admit women students until 1973, its student population is currently majority female, as with most liberal arts institutions, with this majority continuing to grow with the most recent entering classes. World Report ranked Holy Cross 32nd in the U.S. among liberal arts schools. Holy Cross is also the only Catholic college among the top 50 liberal arts schools on the U.S. News list. Holy Cross was ranked 4th overall in its combined graduation and retention rates, which tied the school with Wellesley College, Middlebury College, and Bowdoin College. The Washington Monthly’s “College Rankings,” an alternative college guide to the U.S. News and World Report ranks Holy Cross 62nd as a “National Liberal Arts College” in its September 2006 issue. Additionally, in its 2007 The Best 361 Colleges, The Princeton Review awarded Holy Cross a 95/100 academic rating – higher than many of its peer Catholic institutions including Georgetown University, University of Notre Dame, and Boston College. In May 2005, Holy Cross announced that it would no longer make standardized test scores an admissions requirement, which university officials argued would lower the importance of the tests and place far greater weight on the academic experience of a candidate as demonstrated through the high school transcript and recommendations. As of October 2006, there are over 730 four-year colleges and universities of varying rank which do not use the SAT I or ACT to admit bachelor degree applicants including Holy Cross. Holy Cross has 299 faculty members, who teach 2,790 undergraduate students. Of particular note is the Classics department at Holy Cross, which has ten faculty members, making it the largest classics program of American liberal arts colleges. During the 2006-07 academic year, Holy Cross will specifically be editing the Homer Multitext Project, a long-term analysis and electronic presentation of all the many variations of Homer’s epic poetry. Holy Cross administration have stated that a unifying goal of the program is an effort to “bridge the gap” between the academic and social lives of students. In March 2006, Holy Cross voted to implement a universal program for all first-year students. Holy Cross offers a distinct honors programs for high ability undergraduates. Holy Cross students have been honored in recent years as Fulbright, Goldwater, Marshall, and Truman Scholars. As noted by the college mission statement, “What is our special responsibility to the world’s poor and powerless?”, a key focus of Holy Cross, as an institution, is the Jesuit philosophy of homines pro aliis, “men and women for others.” Holy Cross has embraced sometimes controversial schools of theological thought, including liberation theology and social justice. In 2001, Holy Cross was one of 28 colleges and universities in the country to receive a grant from the Lilly Endowment in the amount of $2 million. The College of the Holy Cross describes its official seal as follows: The outer circle of the seal states in Latin “College of the Holy Cross, Society of Jesus, Worcester, Massachusetts.” In 1977, Holy Cross was cited by the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) for having the best-maintained school or university grounds in the United States Holy Cross is marked by an irregular layout as its 175-acre campus is situated on the Northern slope of a very steep hill named Mount Saint James which offers it a panoramic view of the city of Worcester. Smith Hall, opened in 2001, was financed in large part by Holy Cross alumnus Park B. A plaza outside Smith Hall, named Memorial Plaza, commemorates seven Holy Cross alumni who perished in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Holy Cross operates 10 on-campus residence halls divided into three geographic clusters. The Holy Cross Library System is comprised of four libraries centrally located within the campus grounds. Including its affiliation with the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System, a collaborative formed in 2003 by more than 20 academic, public and special libraries with research collections in the central Massachusetts area, Holy Cross students have access to a combined total of approximately 3,800,000 volumes and more than 23,000 journal, magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Holy Cross’s athletic teams for both men and women are known as the Crusaders. It is reported that the name “Crusader” was first associated with Holy Cross in 1884 at an alumni banquet in Boston, where an engraved Crusader mounted on an armored horse appeared at the head of the menu. The name was rediscovered by Stanley Woodward, a sports reporter for the Boston Herald, when he used the term “Crusader” to describe the Holy Cross baseball team in a story written in 1925. The name appealed to the Holy Cross student body, which held a vote later in that year to decide whether this cognomen or one of the other two currently in use – “Chiefs” and “Sagamores”- would be adopted. According to the account, there was a disagreement during the 1870s between Holy Cross students from Massachusetts and Connecticut concerning the schools’ baseball uniform colors. Of its 25 varsity teams, Holy Cross supports twelve men’s and thirteen women’s sports. Holy Cross teams have won two NCAA team national championships — the men’s basketball team in 1947, and the men’s baseball team in 1952. The baseball team of Holy Cross remains the only team from the northeastern part of the United States to have won The College World Series. Later that year, BC’s athletic director, Gene DeFilippo, caused a minor controversy when he announced that the school would not schedule any more basketball games against Holy Cross, claiming that it was not beneficial for BC. On March 24, 2006, the Holy Cross men’s hockey team made history by defeating the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament by the score of 4-3, in overtime. In its history, the Holy Cross ice hockey program has seen two NCAA appearances, and has won the Atlantic Hockey and MAAC conferences three times (1999, 2004, 2006). In addition, the Holy Cross rowing teams, both men and women, have enjoyed success over the years. With its relative distance from a major city, and without a Greek life at Holy Cross, undergraduate social life revolves around a number of school-sponsored groups, events and off-campus houses on nearby city streets (notably Cambridge, Caro, College and Southbridge streets), which are open to upperclassmen and serve a similar role to that which fraternities and sororities do at some other campuses. Holy Cross also has a unique student-published law journal, The Holy Cross Journal of Law & The latter category includes The Fenwick Review, a journal of conservative thought, and The Crusader, the weekly newspaper published by Holy Cross students for the college community. The largest student organization at Holy Cross, Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD), is a community service organization sponsored by the college Chaplains’ Office consisting of over 25 different outreach programs and over 350 active members. Other volunteer and social justice programs offered by Holy Cross include Pax Christi, the Appalachia Service Project, Student Coalition on Homelessness and Housing (SCOHAH), and the Arrupe Immersion Program, named in honor of Fr. Holy Cross is located in the College Hill section of Worcester, which is also referred to historically by its original Nipmuck Indian designation, Pakachoag, one of the “seven hills” that distinguish the topography and different neighborhoods of the city. Worcester is also home to the Worcester Tornadoes baseball team, which currently plays its home games at Hanover Insurance Park on the campus Holy Cross. In more recent years, “town and gown” relations have soured, and Holy Cross has had varying levels of disagreement with the surrounding residential College Hill community. There is also considerable isolation of the Holy Cross campus from the surrounding community and relatively low levels of interaction between Worcester residents and Holy Cross students. Holy Cross also has created student liaison positions to attend Community meetings and engage residents and also created new on-campus housing to lessen the off-campus population. It is also the site for a popular campus sport known as stickball, a long standing Holy Cross tradition usually played by Wheeler residents. It has been roughly estimated that Holy Cross students began playing stickball at Wheeler Hall around 1940. Student life at the Holy Cross is marked by a number of unique traditions and celebrations: Holy Cross has more than 35,000 alumni as of January 2007.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.

College of the Holy Cross Academics

There’s never a reason to feel alone in your studies either, since there are academic support services like Tutoring and Writing Center. In addition, when any student is looking for some counseling or other types of support, Alcohol/Substance Abuse Counseling, Campus Ministries/Chaplain, Career Counseling, Employment Service, Financial Aid Counseling, Freshman Orientation Program, Health Services, Minority Student Services, Personal Counseling, Placement Service and Women’s Services can help. For instance, the university has a Accelerated Program, Cross-Registration, Double Major, Dual Enrollment of High School Students, Honors Program, Independent Study, Internships, Liberal Arts/Career Combination, ROTC, Air Force, ROTC, Army, ROTC, Navy, Semester At Sea, Student-Designed Major, Study Abroad, Teacher Certification and Washington Semester. College of the Holy Cross is unique in its study options. The university has disability services as well, so be sure to inquire about them if needed.

The following are the types of degrees and majors offered at College of the Holy Cross.

Philosphy and Religion:

Philosophy, Religion/Religious Studies

English Language and Literature:

English, English Language & Literature – General

Computer Science:

Computer/Information Sciences – General

Psychology:

Psychology – General

Mathematics:

Mathematics – General

Biological and Biomedical Sciences:

Biology

Foreign Language and Literature:

Classics, Comparative Literature, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish

Popular majors:

thirty-four percent social sciences, eleven percent english, eleven percent history, nine percent foreign languages and literature, nine percent psychology, seven percent biology, seven percent mathematics, five percent visual and performing arts

Business, Management, & Marketing:

Accounting

Physical Sciences:

Chemistry, Physics

Multiple or Interdisciplinary:

Medieval/Renaissance Studies

History:

History – General

Social Sciences:

Anthropology, Economics, Political Science/Government, Sociology

School of Visual and Performing Arts:

Art History/Criticism/Conservation, Drama/Theater Arts, Fine/Studio Arts, Music – General

In addition, for international students, the application fee is 50. Are you an international student? The Fall application deadline for international students is the 15th of January.

College of the Holy Cross Admissions

This school requires an application fee consisting of fifty dollars regular application fee, fifty dollars out-of-state application fee, fifty dollars online application fee and point zero . Transfer student are not ignored. For example, there were ninety-four total number of transfer students who applied and thirty-four total number of transfer students who were admitted. Admission policy is currently Percent applicants admitted: 48% and Percent of students who return for sophomore year: 97%. Remember that this can change at any time.

the SAT subject section score is due the 30th of January. If you wish to apply early, your application will be do no later than the 15th of December, of which you should hear back from the university no later than the 15th of January. SAT and ACT score reports are due the 30th of January and The regular application is due the 15th of January. If you are a transfer student, you will be notified of your acceptance by the 1st of June. For all student applicants, the Fall application deadline is the 15th of January. Will you make it in time? Make sure to know when all the due dates and deadlines take place. It is also very important to submit financial aid applications as quickly as possible, and make sure they are in by the 1st of February. Regardless of which application you submit, this school will notify you by the 1st of April.

College of the Holy Cross Athletics

The following sports can be found here:

• Men’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate and Men’s Club Baseball
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Basketball
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate and Women’s Intercollegiate Cross_country
• Men’s NCAA Division IAA and Men’s Intercollegiate Football
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate and Women’s Intercollegiate Golf
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Club and Women’s Club Soccer
• Women’s NCAA Division I, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Softball
• Men’s Intercollegiate and Women’s Intercollegiate Track_and_field
• Men’s NCAA Division I and Women’s NCAA Division I Track_indoor
• Men’s NCAA Division I and Women’s NCAA Division I Track_outdoor
• Women’s NCAA Division I, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Volleyball

College of the Holy Cross Financial Aid

Financial aid distribution is at seventy-one percent scholarships per grants and twenty-nine percent loans per jobs. Financial aid for students is readily accessible at this school. If you are not a need based student, non-need distribution for financial aid is determined by Academics, Athletics and ROTC. Financial aid forms are Business/farm supplement, CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, FAFSA, Noncustodial PROFILE and Other: Parent and student federal tax returns. In the same way, need based financial aid distribution is determined through Academics, Athletics and Minority Status.

College of the Holy Cross Students

College of the Holy Cross offers Bachelor’s degrees. Further, it is part of an Suburban setting, Small city (50,000 – 249,999) and Residential campus. The school’s size is approximately two thousand, seven hundred and seventy-seven degree-seeking undergrads and seven hundred and twenty-one first-time degree-seeking freshmen. The university is a Private, Liberal Arts College, Four-year, Roman Catholic Church, Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Coed, where 48 percent of the applicants were admitted, Regionally accredited and College Board member. Furthermore, the student body consists of thirty-eight percent in-state students, sixty-two percent out-of-state students, fifty-five percent women, forty-five percent men, less than one percent american indian per alaskan native, four percent asian per pacific islander, four percent black per non-hispanic, six percent hispanic, seventy-one percent white per non-hispanic, one percent non-resident alien, thirteen percent race per ethnicity unreported, sixty-six percent in top 10th of graduating class, ninety-three percent in top quarter of graduating class and one hundred percent in top half of graduating class.

This school features the Suburban setting, Small city (50,000 – 249,999) and Residential campus. Students should note the housing policies: Guaranteed On-Campus Housing For All Undergraduates, one hundred percent of first-year students live in college housing, eighty-eight percent of all undergraduates live in college housing, Coed Housing, Apartments For Single Students, Special Housing For Disabled Students, Wellness housing (alcohol/drug/smoke-free), one-MAY deadline for housing deposit, five hundred dollars amount of housing deposit and point zero . Further, the university has many unique facilites such as greenhouse, facilities for aquatic research. Anyway, the school is located 45 miles from Boston.