Merrimack College - History

History

The Irish Augustinians came to Philadelphia in the United States in 1796. From a humble beginning, a small number of Augustinian Friars eventually became the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and in 1842, the Province established Villanova College, today a flourishing university about twelve miles west of the city of Philadelphia. The same Province of St. Thomas of Villanova established Merrimack College in 1947 in North Andover, Massachusetts at the invitation of Richard Cushing, then Archbishop of Boston, to serve the needs of G.I.'s returning home from World War II. In March 1947, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted a charter to what was then called “The Augustinian College of the Merrimack Valley.” Merrimack College, as the school eventually came to be called, especially seeks to relate to and to serve the inhabitants of this valley. A native Lawrencian, Reverend McQuade O.S.A., initially led the College. Since that time, the now 220 acre Merrimack College has graduated nearly 22,000 students; has grown to nearly 40 buildings including a 125,000-volume library; four classroom buildings; including the Gregor Johann Mendel, O.S.A., Science, Engineering and Technology Center; the Sakowich Campus Center; the Rogers Center for the Arts; the S. Peter Volpe Athletic Center; Austin Hall, which houses administrative offices; the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher; student apartment buildings, townhouses and residence halls; and the Louis H. Hamel Health Center.