History
Stevenson University was founded in Maryland as Villa Julie College in 1947 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and founder Saint Julie Billiart as a one-year school training women to become medical secretaries. The College was named for Saint Julie Billiart, foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Stevenson's Greenspring campus is located on the 80-acre (320,000 m2) former estate of the George Carroll Jenkins family. The estate's name was "Seven Oaks," a reference to oak trees planted on the property that were thought to be part of a traditional Native American burial ground. One of the original seven oaks stood on campus until it was deemed potentially hazardous and cut down in August 2007.
Villa Julie was approved as a two-year college by the Maryland State Department of Education in 1954 and received its first Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation in 1962. In 1967 the College established a Board of Trustees and became independent of the Roman Catholic Church. The first male student was admitted to Villa Julie in 1972, making it coeducational.
Bachelor's degree programs were added in 1984 starting with a degrees in Computer Information Systems and Paralegal Studies. Traditionally a commuter college for local residents, the College started attracting students interested in college housing in the early 1990s. Without the proper zoning for such an addition to the Stevenson campus, the College leased off-campus apartments in Pikesville and later in Towson where resident students began living in 1993. Villa Julie was granted admission to the NCAA Division III in 1994 and started offering master's degrees in 1995. A major campus expansion in 1997 more than doubled the amount of instructional space on the Stevenson, MD campus.
On October 28, 2000, Villa Julie College inaugurated its fourth president Kevin J. Manning Ph.D., succeeding Carolyn Manuszak. Manning brought new momentum to the development and expansion of the College and its facilities. As enrollment continued to increase and the demand for college-owned student housing intensified, the College made plans to open a second campus in Owings Mills. The College broke ground on a new campus in August 2003 and the Owings Mills campus opened in August, 2004.
Stevenson University enrolls approximately 4,000 students in more than 30 bachelor's and master's degree programs. (higher as of 2010.) Current enrollment makes the school the third-largest private university in the state of Maryland. Approximately 1,300 students lived in eleven residence halls on the Owings Mills campus. The campus expanded once again with the 2006 opening of Rockland Center, a new student union and dining hall. The University's athletic facilities include the Caves Sports and Wellness Center, former training facility of the Baltimore Ravens. The Howard S. Brown School of Business and Leadership opened for the fall 2008 semester and houses the Departments of Business & Legal Studies and Information Technology. The school expanded once again in 2010 with the opening of a school gymnasium on the Owings Mills Campus and a football team. The team is scheduled to play as a division team in the season of 2011. The freshman enrollment and housing enrollments had risen dramatically between 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, As of the fall semester 2010, there are over 900 freshman students, around 700 of which are residents. The student population has increased to well over 1,300 in 2010. Stevenson University also is in the process of surveying the property of a former institution, the Rosewood Center, in 2010. Environmental and surveyor issues are still in progress to determine whether the university can purchase the property to expand the Owings Mills campus to the east. There has also been discussion with Shire US Medical, where Stevenson University is considering purchasing this property adjacent to the Owings Mills Campus, on Crondall Lane. In late 2007, the school's leaders decided to push Villa Julie forward and attain university status. Many meetings were held to help determine whether the name should be changed to Villa Julie University, or have a more drastic change. Some of the other names considered were Great Oaks University, Tufton University, Greenspring University, Rockland University, Sagamore University, and Billiart University. On June 11, 2008, the university's Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the school to Stevenson University.
On May 21, 2010, Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales delivered his first college commencement address to Stevenson's graduating seniors and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University.
Some of the university's long-running annual events include: MustangFest, Mr/Ms SU Pageant, and the Alumni Bull and Oyster Roast with Auction.
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—Tacitus (c. 55–117)
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