University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy

Jesuit education

Approximately 500 Jesuits have taught at U of D since its founding in 1877, with eight Jesuit assigned there in 2016. Lay faculty first joined the staff during World War I and by the school's 100th anniversary in 1977 the lay to Jesuit ratio stood at nearly 3 to 2. In 2007 the school celebrated its 130-year anniversary, making it the oldest Catholic high school in the city of Detroit.

Academics

U of D Jesuit is a college preparatory school. Students may take advanced placement (AP) courses in American History (sophomore year), Government, Modern European History, or Chemistry (junior or senior years), and English, Calculus, Physics, or Biology (senior year). Chinese, Latin, and Spanish are offered as foreign languages.

History

In the winter of 1876-1877, Thomas O'Neill, Jesuit provincial superior in St. Louis, sent retired Bishop John Baptiste Miege, to found the school and serve as its first president. Caspar Henry Borgess, who had come to Detroit from Cincinnati on May 8, 1870, was cofounder of the school.

Originally located at the Trowbridge Mansion on Jefferson Avenue, in 1890 the school moved across the street to Dowling Hall to accommodate a growing student body. In 1923 news began circulating that the school would move to what was then the city's edge. Then in the late 1930s construction of the new building began at 8400 S. Cambridge near Seven Mile Road, under Jesuit John P. McNichols, president of U of D. This new building was designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham. Classes at the new campus were scheduled for September 9, 1931, but a polio epidemic kept schools in the Detroit area closed until September 23.

In 1950 Detroit Jesuit acquired a new gym, the largest in Detroit at the time. In 1992 under president Malcolm Carrona a science center was built, with labs and departmental office space.

In 2001 the school celebrated the completion of a $25 million fund-raising campaign "Reclaiming the Future" under Timothy Shannon. Funds raised paid for restoration of the original chapel (which had become a library in 1968 after Vatican II) and the addition of several classrooms, a spacious art room, and two new gymnasiums. The faculty endowment, student financial aid, and scholarships also benefited from the campaign..

In 2005, after the closing of several Metro Detroit Catholic schools, University of Detroit Jesuit waived its transfer rules for juniors coming from the closed schools and accepted students with a 3.0 or higher grade point averages.

On April 6, 2006, U of D Jesuit launched the public phase of a $22 million endowment campaign called "For the Greater Good," designed to support tuition assistance, faculty salaries, and other means of strengthening the school's core mission. The school's president, Karl Kiser, defined this mission as providing a quality education in a value-centered and Christ-centered environment. Kiser added that it involved recruiting and retaining the best teachers in Southeast Michigan. He explained that while "Reclaiming the Future" had tended to Detroit Jesuit's body, "For the Greater Good" was about its heart and soul. CBS Sports play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, a 1985 graduate, served as emcee for the April 6 event, which also paid tribute to 20 former teachers. Johnson told assembled students and alumni that having a chance to "come home and speak to my family" was the most special moment of his career, and defined his "family" in this context as the teachers who affected and changed his life. The $22 million endowment campaign sought to raise $10 million each to help maintain the school's faculty and to continue to provide tuition assistance. The remaining $2 million would go toward campus improvements. According to Kiser, the public phase of the campaign was to run two years.

In 2011, the planning of an addition to the Science Center began. The addition would consist of three additional floors, up-to-date science equipment, computer labs, and offices such as admissions and billing. Construction started in April 2015 and was completed in August 2016.

Although U of D Jesuit was originally called the Detroit College, the registry of birth dates and registration dates shows that students were of high school age and as young as nine years old. They were placed according to their ability and background as well as their age. College level classes were added in 1879. The College became the University of Detroit, and then University of Detroit Mercy upon its merger with Mercy College in 1990,

Athletics

The Cubs are a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) and compete in the Detroit Catholic High School League with Brother Rice, Detroit Catholic Central, St. Mary's Prep, and De La Salle as their primary rivals.

Detroit Jesuit fields teams in fourteen sports: football, basketball, baseball, cross country, track and field, wrestling, tennis, golf, hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, swimming, bowling.

In its history, U of D Jesuit has won five state championships:

Extracurricular activities

U of D has more than 40 student clubs. The Quiz Bowl team won the National Championship in 2012. Founded in 2004, the FIRST Robotics team has competed in the state tournament. The St. Joseph of Arimathea Club was founded in 2015, placing students as pallbearers for those in need.