University of Dallas

History

The University of Dallas' charter dates from 1910 when the Western Province of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) renamed Holy Trinity College in Dallas, which they had founded in 1905. The provincial of the Western Province closed the university in 1928, and the charter reverted to the Diocese of Dallas. In 1955, the Western Province of the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur obtained it to create a new higher education institution in Dallas that would subsume their junior college, Our Lady of Victory College, located in Fort Worth. The sisters, together with Eugene Constantin, Jr. and Edward R. Maher, Sr., petitioned the Diocese of Dallas to sponsor the university, though ownership was entrusted to a self-perpetuating independent board of trustees. "Bishop Gorman, as chancellor of the new university, announced that it would be a Catholic coeducational institution welcoming students of all faiths and races and offering work on the undergraduate level, with a graduate school to be added as soon as possible. The new University of Dallas opened to ninety-six students in September 1956 on a 1,000-acre tract of rolling hills northwest of Dallas."

The Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur, monks from the Order of Cistercians (Cistercians), friars from the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), and several lay professors formed the university's original faculty. The Franciscans departed three years later; however, friars from the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) joined the faculty in 1958 and built St. Albert the Great Priory on campus. The Cistercians established Our Lady of Dallas Abbey in 1958 and Cistercian Preparatory School in 1962, which are both adjacent to campus. The School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in 1962 and opened the Notre Dame Special School for children with learning difficulties in 1963 and a motherhouse for the Dallas Province in 1964, which were both on campus. The sisters moved the school to Dallas in 1985 and closed the motherhouse in 1987. The faculty now is almost exclusively lay and includes several distinguished scholars.

A grant from the Blakley-Braniff Foundation established the Braniff Graduate School in 1966 and allowed the construction of the Braniff Graduate Center. The Constantin Foundation similarly endowed the undergraduate college, and, in 1970, the Board of Trustees named the undergraduate college the Constantin College of Liberal Arts. The Graduate School of Management, begun in 1966, offers a large MBA program. Programs in art and English also began in 1966. In 1973, the Institute of Philosophic Studies, the doctoral program of the Braniff Graduate School and an outgrowth of the Kendall Politics and Literature Program, was initiated. The School of Ministry began in 1987. The College of Business, incorporating the Gupta Graduate School of Management and undergraduate business, opened in 2003.

Since the first class in 1960, university graduates have won significant honors, including 39 Fulbright awards.

Accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools came in 1963 and has been reaffirmed regularly. In 1989, it was the youngest higher education institution to ever be awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Governance and leadership

The University of Dallas is governed by a board of trustees, which is currently chaired by Joseph C. Murphy. According to the university's by-laws, the bishop of Dallas is an ex-officio voting member.

Kevin J. Farrell, bishop of the diocese of Dallas, currently serves as the chancellor. The office, held by a Catholic bishop per the constitution of the university, is an unpaid, honorary position.

Previous chancellors include:

1. Thomas Kiely Gorman (1954–1969)
2. Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe (1969–1990)
3. Charles Victor Grahmann (1990–2007)

Thomas W. Keefe became president of the University of Dallas on March 1, 2010. Since he took office, the percentage of alumni making annual contributions has risen to nearly 17%.

Previous presidents include:

1. F. Kenneth Brasted (1956–1959)
2. Robert J. Morris (1960–1962)
3. Donald A. Cowan (1962–1977)
4. John R. Sommerfeldt (1978–1980)
5. Robert F. Sasseen (1981–1995)
6. Milam J. Joseph (1996–2003)
7. Frank Lazarus (2003–2009)

Campus

The university is located in Irving, Texas on a 744-acre (301 hectare) campus, in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The Las Colinas development is nearby. It is 10 miles (16 km) from downtown Dallas. The campus consists mostly of modern, brown-colored rectangular brick buildings set amidst a native Texas landscape. Several of these buildings were designed by the well-known Texas architect O'Neil Ford and his partners. The mall is the center of campus, with the 187.5 feet-tall (57.15 meters) Braniff Memorial Tower as its focal point.

Although the university is Catholic, the exteriors of most campus buildings are not characterized by explicitly religious design. Perhaps reflecting prevailing biases against mid-century modern architecture, the Princeton Review once mentioned the University of Dallas as having the fourth-least beautiful campus among the America's top colleges and universities. Travel + Leisure's October 2013 issue lists it as one of America's ugliest college campuses, citing its "low-profile, boxy architecture that bears uncanny resemblance to a public car park," but noting that a recent $12 million donation from alumni Satish and Yasmin Gupta would bring new campus construction.

A Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Orange-Line light rail station opened near campus on July 30, 2012.

Enrollment

Undergraduate

The 2016–2017 estimated charges, including tuition, room, board, and fees, for full-time undergraduates is $54,976.

81% of freshmen who began their degree programs in Fall 2014 returned as sophomores in Fall 2015. 66% of freshmen who began their degree programs in Fall 2009 graduated within 4-years.

Graduate

Core Curriculum

There is a Core Curriculum, a collection of approximately twenty courses (two years) of common study covering philosophy, theology, history, literature, politics, economics, mathematics, science, art, and a foreign language. The curriculum not only includes a slate of required courses, but includes specific standardized texts, which permit professors to assume a common body of knowledge and speak across disciplines. This emphasis on common readings fosters a tight-knit student body engaged in common intellectual endeavors. Classes in the Core typically have an average class size of 16 students to permit frequent discussion. Dallas is one of 25 schools graded "A" by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for a solid core curriculum.

There is a similar Core Curriculum for graduate studies in the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts.

Departments

Constantin College of Liberal Arts

Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

(Note that departments in Constantin College also teach graduate courses for Braniff.)

School of Ministry

College of Business

Undergraduate

Undergraduate students are enrolled in the Constantin College of Liberal Arts, the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business, or the School of Ministry. The university awards bachelor of arts (BA) and bachelor of science (BS) degrees.

Rome Program

In 1970, the university started its own study abroad program in which Dallas students, generally sophomores, spend a semester at its campus southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills along the Via Appia. In June 1994, the property was renovated (12 acres [4.86 hectares]) and dedicated as the Eugene Constantin Rome Campus. It includes a library, a chapel, housing, a dining hall, classrooms, a tennis court, a bocce court, a swimming pool, an outdoor Greco-Roman theater, working vineyards, and olive groves.

Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

The Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts administers master's degrees in American studies, art, English, humanities, philosophy, politics, psychology, and theology, as well as an interdisciplinary doctoral program with concentrations in English, philosophy, and politics.

Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business

The University of Dallas Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business is an AACSB-accredited business school offering a part-time MBA program for working professionals, a Master of Science program, a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Graduate Certificates, graduate preparatory programs, and professional development courses.

School of Ministry

The University of Dallas School of Ministry offers master's degrees in Theological Studies (MTS), Religious Education (MRE), Catholic School Leadership (MCSL), Catholic School Teaching (MCST), and Pastoral Ministry (MPM). Classes are offered onsite during weeknights and online. The University of Dallas School of Ministry also is one of the few Catholic universities in the US that offer a comprehensive, four-year Catholic Biblical School (CBS) certification program. This program, which covers every book of the Bible, is offered onsite and online in both English and Spanish. The CBS is the largest program of its kind among all Catholic universities in the US based on 2007 enrollment numbers.

Lectureships

The Aquinas Lectureship: The Aquinas lecture series, begun in 1983, is an annual event sponsored by the Department of Philosophy in which notable philosophers address contemporary topics in the spirit of Thomas Aquinas. Starting in 2013, the Aquinas Lectures are published by St. Augustine's Press of South Bend, Ind.

The John Paul II Theology Lectureship: In 2007, the theology department announced that a donor had endowed a new lectureship to be named in honor of Pope John Paul II.

The Landregan Lectureship: In 1999, the Institute for Religious and Pastoral Studies, which grew into the School of Ministry, established an annual lecture in honor of Steven T. Landregan for his distinguished service to the Catholic Church in North Texas.

The Eugene McDermott Lectureship: In 1974, the university established the Eugene McDermott Lectureship, an endowed lecture series created in honor of Eugene McDermott, the late scientist, businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist.

Rankings

Undergraduate

Graduate

Research

The on-campus editorial offices of Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations have been publishing a book series of medieval Latin texts with facing English translations. The goal of the series is to build a library that will represent the whole breadth and variety of medieval civilization. The series is open-ended; as of May, 2016, it has published 21 volumes.

Haggerty Art Village

The University of Dallas Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts features a small, graduate art program, located in what is called Haggerty Art Village. Haggerty Art Village is separated from the rest of campus by a wooded grove, and the social atmosphere around the village is considerably different from the rest of the university. One notable feature of the graduate art program is that it provides all accepted graduates a full tuition scholarship, allowing them to study for three years and receive both their MA and MFA degrees.

Offerings
Haggerty Art Village itself features printmaking (all forms, plus papermaking and letterpress studios), painting, sculpture (well-equipped and spacious woodworking and metalworking studios), and ceramics facilities, though graduate students are not bound to a single medium, and receive their degree as a broader "art" classification (despite this, students are required to choose an adviser, based on which medium they might employ the most). There is also a Mac lab for digital photography and web design seminars. The program is small and intimate, and allows students to exhibit work both on and off campus. University of Dallas MFA candidates typically go on to successful artistic careers nationwide, and students come from a variety of backgrounds (there have also been numerous international students). Each student receives a private studio space in a collective studio environment. At this time, there are 16 graduate art students, indicative of the competitive nature of the acceptance process. In addition to flexible studio art courses and independent studio work, graduate art students are required to fulfill numerous art seminar credits, as well as take four art history courses throughout their time at UD (modern and contemporary art, plus two others; many students choose to create their own independent coursework). Because the UD art faculty are linked to the Dallas - Ft. Worth arts community, there are often graduate field trips to various Dallas - Ft. Worth art institutions, such as the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Modern in Ft. Worth, and several others.

Beatrice Haggerty
The University's gallery is named after Beatrice Haggerty who was influential in forming the Art Village. Haggerty's involvement with the art program emerged out of a personal need when her daughter Kathleen was seriously injured in an auto accident. The Haggerty gift of the first art building in 1960 was engineered for her therapy. At the time Dallas was not highly developed, so Haggerty suggested to her husband Patrick E. Haggerty that the new university could benefit by a small building for sculpture. In return, their daughter had access to the needed therapeutic work. Giving an alternative opportunity of recovery for her daughter, Beatrice Haggerty simultaneously cultivated partnerships and future opportunity for the university's art program to flourish. After the completion of the Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art in Wisconsin, Haggerty again donated to fund the building of the first art building at the University of Dallas in 1960. It is currently one of six structures that make up the Haggerty Art Village. In 1994 a “Belong, Believe, Become” campaign was launched to fund the completion of the entire art village. Haggerty promised the “seed money,” remarking: “I would like to see the art center finished.” The funds would renovate the older art buildings and add a multipurpose art history building, a new sculpture facility, and an art foundations building. This donation served the first part of the 125 million dollar campus wide aid campaign. The original investments of the Haggerty family helped to establish a respectful, healthy, safe environment that promotes the values of quality and creativity in the visual communication of artist and their art. As a prominent member of gardening clubs and possessing an eye for aesthetic landscaping, Beatrice advocated to uphold the natural beauty of the campus’ trees and to maintain an environment for all artists to find inspiration. Currently, the exhibitions in the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery are designed to encourage a dialogue between the University of Dallas and the broader artistic community by inviting an array of contemporary artists, both national and international, to the university's campus.

O'Neil Ford Buildings
The first University of Dallas art building was completed in 1960 through the benevolence of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick E. Haggerty. The objective was to create a space that would allow artists to be cultivated and challenged. Designed by O'Neil Ford and his firm Ford, Powell and Carson of San Antonio, the associated architects Landry and Landry of Dallas, the building is separate from the rest of campus by a wooded grove. Using simple materials, the building features both exhibition and gathering spaces with high ceilings and natural light. To further encourage the making of art, the building includes three, semi private studios. In 1965, the University of Dallas welcomed its second art building designed by Ford. This building provided studios and a frame shop for both painting and printmaking studios. In 1975, the addition of the third art building designed by Ford was accomplished. The space was created for both ceramics and graduate studios. Additionally, the building served as a printmaking expansion, drawing room, and art history classroom and kiln shed. These buildings were the first of six structures to form the Haggerty Art Village. With an atmosphere considerably different from the main buildings at the University of Dallas, these buildings provided the foundation for a nurturing environment to create art.

Galleries
Haggerty Art Village features the Upper Gallery, which can be merged for one, large exhibition, or separated into two distinct exhibitions. The Upper Gallery is fully equipped with track lighting and movable walls. Many students show in the Upper Gallery for their MA on-campus exhibitions. In addition to the Upper Gallery, there is a small studio space gallery, which usually shows group exhibitions featuring recent graduate work. The art history building features the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery, which hosts an eclectic array of exhibits, featuring works by artists from around the United States and the rest of the world. There are other places outside of the Art Village to show work: Gorman Lecture Center Foyer is commonly used, as is the Braniff Lounge (called "the fishbowl" by students for its many windows and natural light).

Matrix Program The Matrix Program invites visiting artists from around the country. It allows students to print an edition of that artist's work. Artists have included Endi E. Poskovic. Students who participate in printing the edition typically receive a finished, numbered print to add to their personal print collection. Matrix donors feature several citizens of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex community appreciative of the arts. For their donations, they receive a print by every other Matrix artist (Matrix artists are divided into "small edition" and "large edition" semesters; donors receive "large edition" prints). The program also features a student-curated exhibition of the artists' work, complete with an opening reception and an artist demo session.

NCECA Conference
The University of Dallas was the local sponsor for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts' (NCECA) 32nd annual Conference in 1998 with the central theme of “Heroes, Icons, History, Memory.” The University’s Dan Hammett acted as the Dallas–Fort Worth Onsite Conference Chair and has served the organization in various capacities for seventeen years. A Clay Traditions exhibition appeared in conjunction with the March Conference, promoting the mission of ceramic education. Instructors from various institutions combined the different roles of teacher and artist, providing a cross section of contemporary work in clay. The University started the ceramic exhibition and elevated the Conference's visibility through exhibitions and P.B.S. style films released throughout the country. In all, three exhibitions were presented on the campus to make available the visual icons of the organization to students. Hammett mounted the work of Professor Harding Black, a regionally respected Texas artist, in upstairs Haggar; the work of Maria Martinez, an artist from New Mexico; and a national Student Competition in the University Gallery in Haggar which no longer exists. On the Irving Campus by the Madonna Pond, the Constantin Arch serves as a continuing testament to the organization. Designer Robert Harrison constructed the brick, cement, steel, and ceramic tile structure over four days with University art professors, Dan Hammett and Cameron Schoepp, and students. Hammett's position on the national Board of NCECA has been beneficial for the Graduate and undergraduate ceramic students, whom he takes to the national Conference each year.

Media

The University of Dallas' student newspaper is The University News and its yearbook is The Crusader.

Residence life

On campus residency is required of all students who have not yet attained senior status or who are under 21 and are not married, not a veteran of the military or who do not live with their parents or relatives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. These requirements change from year to year depending upon the size of the incoming freshman class; for instance, in 2009, all students with senior credit standing were required to live off campus. Freshmen live in traditional single-sex halls, while upperclassmen live either in co-ed dormitories or off-campus.

Notable people

Alumni

Notable alumni include:

Faculty

The university's full-time, permanent faculty have included the following scholars:

Notable visiting or part-time faculty have included: