|
Into
the Future
In the years
leading up to its sesquicentennial, Saint Joseph’s
experienced a rise in both the quality and quantity
of its student body, devoted more resources to student
housing, and, for the first time in its history, had
a majority of its students living in university residences.
There was a renewed emphasis on the university’s
core curriculum and expanding opportunities for doing
service in the wider community. The university also
spent much time on addressing gender issues, on trying
to attract more students of diverse backgrounds, and
on providing more extensive student services. A continuing
decline in the number of Jesuits available for faculty
and staff positions led to an intensification of the
Jesuit-lay dialog. At the same time, the Catholic Church’s
efforts to define what it meant to be a Catholic college
or university touched off wide ranging debates about
Saint Joseph’s place in both American and Catholic
higher education.
During the
1980s and 1990s campus improvements and beautification
projects were considered essential for attracting and
keeping good students. Among these were the sundial
plaza in front of Barbelin Hall and the flag pavilion
and new entrance opposite Lapsley Lane, made possible
through the generosity of board member Paul Henkels.
Further enhancing the campus were the flower and shrub
border along the garden wall of the former Gest estate,
the creation of a shrub enclosed circle with stone benches
on the walkway to the library, the relandscaping of
the Barbelin quadrangle with benches and new plantings,
and the relocation of Saint Joseph the Worker from the
terrace outside the former Villiger Hall (a sculpture
done back in 1967 by artist Maurice Lowe) to the front
of Barbelin Hall.1...
Order
book
Back to Saint Joseph's
University Press
|
