History
On June 24, 1944, the Bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Christopher E. Byrne, entered into an agreement with the Houston based members of the Congregation of St. Basil to found a co-educational Roman Catholic university in Houston "as soon as practicable after the War, if possible by 1947." The Basilian Fathers had previously started several other secondary schools, as well as institutions of higher learning, throughout Texas in the early 20th Century, including St. Thomas High School, also located in Houston. The first classes at UST began on September 22, 1947 with 57 freshmen and 8 faculty members. UST graduated its first class on May 31, 1951.
The University is named after St. Thomas Aquinas. Originally consisting solely of the Link–Lee House on the corner of Montrose and West Alabama, the University has expanded towards the South and West over the last 60 years, establishing itself as a notable landmark in Houston with over 17,000 graduates. The current expansion plan includes the acquisition and development of the majority of the land comprising 25 city blocks.
Former University President J. Michael Miller, C.S.B. was appointed on November 25, 2003 by the Pope to preside as Secretary of the Congregation of Catholic Education. By virtue of this office, Miller was elevated to Archbishop by Pope John Paul II on January 12, 2004.
Read more about this topic: University Of St. Thomas (Texas)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)