Established in 1956, the University of Dallas is a private, independent Catholic regional university located in Irving, Texas that is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. According to U.S. News & World Report, 80% of 2010 graduates participated in international programs, which is the sixth highest percentage of students from any higher education institution in the US to study abroad.
Since at least the late 1960s, the University of Dallas has consistently been mentioned as one of the leading Universities for both Catholic orthodoxy and traditional academic excellence. The college has been especially praised for its conservative cultural perspective by many leading voices in political conservatism for most of its history. William F. Buckley, Brad Miner, and Pat Buchanan are just a few of the American conservative leaders who have spoken at UD over the years.
The university comprises four academic units: the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts, the Constantin College of Liberal Arts, the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business, and the School of Ministry.
Dallas offers several master's degree programs and a doctoral degree program with three concentrations. There are 136 full-time faculty and 102 part-time faculty, and the school has an 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
History
University of Dallas faces financial challenges - University of Dallas faces financial challenges.
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.
The University character was defined from its first day as being quite unlike the other Catholic universities of Texas and in fact unlike most Catholic colleges nationwide because of the understanding in Bishop Gorman of what a great University was supposed to be. This understanding came in great part from his own education in Europe between the wars at the Louvain, the Catholic University in Belgium often thought to be the greatest Catholic University in the world.
"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.
The Role of the Cistercians
Bishop Thomas Gorman wrote as early as 1954 to Fr. Anselm Nagy, O. Cist. to ask the displaced Hungarian Cistercian fathers from the Monastery of Zirc, Hungary to come assist in founding the University. On the first day of classes in September 1956, 9 Cistercian fathers, half the entire faculty, were employed at this new University. Led by Father Anselm Nagy, these refugees from Communist Hungary brought with them a level of education that a brand new college in the Protestant south could not even have imagined possible. And the history of UD to this day is greatly connected to both those founding Cistercian priests and the many more Hungarians who would move to Dallas over the next decade and begin teaching at UD.
In a 2008 interview for the magazine of the Cistercian Prep School, longtime UD employee, Sybil Novinski said "To be able to start a university with bright, educated monks, with traditions reaching back to the 11th century, was just amazing. The university’s intellectual reach and aspirations were strongly influenced by the Cistercians, and everyone knew that, even back then."
The first Academic Dean of UD, Dr. Gene Curtsinger said "I’m sure we could have made it without them. We just would have been a lot dumber and slower. They were an amazing group of men."
Donald and Louise Cowan
In the spring of 1959, Louise and Donald Cowan were recruited to come bring their teaching excellence to the English and Physics departments respectively. In a 2006 speech, Louise Cowan related the encounter this way: "When this University was completing its third year, and Gene Constantin, Ed Maher, Bishop Gorman, and Msgr. Maher took Don and me to dinner, confiding in us their hopes for this new institution that they, along with the Sisters of Mary of Namur, had founded. They wanted it to make a difference in America and the world. We saw that we shared with them a piety toward the ideals of our nation (a cast of mind already becoming rare) and a conviction that we were witnessing the end of a long cultural era. We all agreed that the hope for our national ideals and indeed the world lay in American education. Further, like them, we held the conviction that not a college, but only a very fine university, even if small, could make any difference in the nation’s educational scheme."
Louise Cowan described that unique curriculum that defined UD this way in the same 2006 speech to faculty "We conceived of a Catholic university as an opportunity for generosity on the part of the Churchâ€"the great texts from the past having been preserved in a Christian culture and now in danger again of being lost, a treasure trove as definite as the collection of art in the Vatican museum. And this meant, of course, that we conceived of a Catholic university’s chief task as educational, not specifically religious. We all agreedâ€"the Bishop too, who had earned a doctoral degree at Louvainâ€"that the kind of liberal learning that had developed ex corde ecclesia was something the Church could offer a world much in need of it."
"Assured that we would have freedom to plan a curriculum if we came here, Don and I imagined what could be done with Catholic higher education. If we did cast our lot in with this new school, we made clear, it would have to be a real universityâ€"one dedicated to liberal learning for all its students. The world did not need another moderately good college. We were eager to develop innovative programs that would give an entire school a genuine education, for we felt sure that such a curriculum would ignite sparks, spread into a kind of firestorm, and eventually illumine an entire nation. We had converted to Catholicism in 1956 and had both taught at Vanderbilt before coming to TCU. Our ideas of education had been shaped by our friendship with the Southern Agrarians, along with study of Newman, Dawson, Maritain, Gilson, and intense reading in the brilliant theology of the forties and fiftiesâ€"de Lubac, Guardini, Sertillanges, Rahner, John Courtney Murrayâ€"as well as C. S. Lewis and T. S. Eliot. All these writers were concerned with the relation of truth to culture. And all recognized that the culture we took for granted was in decline."
Louise Cowan was hired that summer to run the English department and in that role she designed the Literary Tradition sequence of four courses which is at the heart of the text based core curriculum which developed in those first few years of the 1960s and which would go on to define a UD education thenceforth.
Donald Cowan was also hired in 1959 to teach Physics. At the end of the sixth year of the University, when the school's prominent though controversial 2nd President, Robert Morris, left UD, Dr. Donald Cowan was asked by the Board of Trustees to become the President of the college.
From 1962 to his resignation in 1977, Donald Cowan was both the leader of UD and it defining force. With his wife's charismatic personality and his collaboration with the Board of Trustees, the University of Dallas became a nationally prominent school especially in the world of classical learning and orthodox Catholic belief.
"Under Donald Cowan, the university set its mission as a place of intellectual inquiry rooted in Catholic philosophy and a spiritual world view"
In their years together at UD, the Cowans cultivated relationships among Dallas' rich and powerful citizens very well. Though some occasionally considered the reverence given to the Cowans by high society to be a little too strong, there is no doubt that the Cowans left a mark both on the college and on Dallas society that lasted long after their official leadership ended in the late 1970s.
After the resignation of Don Cowan in 1977, there was a period of about a decade where the Cowans did not have any role at UD, but they returned in 1989 and Louise resumed to teaching a class in the Russian Novel and advising graduate students in the Braniff Graduate School. Donald Cowan was less visible in those years. He died in 2002. Louise continued to speak and interact with students at UD almost up to her death at 98 years old on November 16, 2015.
Governance and leadership
By a tradition started by founding Board of Trustees Chairman and Chancellor, Bishop Thomas Gorman, UD is a lay run university with only nominal involvement by the Bishop of Dallas. Though religious priests and sisters have played a role in teaching at UD throughout its history, the University has not been controlled by any of them. Nor has it been controlled by the Diocese of Dallas.
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.
Edward Burns, 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:
- Thomas Kiely Gorman (1954â€"1969)
- Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe (1969â€"1990)
- Charles Victor Grahmann (1990â€"2007)
- Kevin J. Farrell (2008-2016)
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:
- F. Kenneth Brasted (1956â€"1959)
- Robert J. Morris (1960â€"1962)
- Donald A. Cowan (1962â€"1977)
- John R. Sommerfeldt (1978â€"1980)
- Svetozar Pejovich (Interim 1980-81)
- Robert F. Sasseen (1981â€"1995)
- Milam J. Joseph (1996â€"2003)
- Robert Galecke (Interim 2003-2004)
- Frank Lazarus (2004â€"2010)
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 (16Â 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
- 1,342 students
- 44% in-state; 55% out-of-state; 1% international
- 98% full-time
- 56% female; 44% male
- 99% age 24 and under
- 82% Catholic
The 2016â€"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
- 1,045 students
- 31% full-time
- 36% Catholic
Academics
Core Curriculum
There is no more important element in the unique experience that is a UD education than the core curriculum of the undergraduate education. Almost no exceptions to this required coursework is allowed within the University for undergraduate students. Over the years even the most minor efforts to change this required course of study has resulted in chaos and conflict.
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
- Department of Classics (includes philology, Greek, and Latin)
- Department of English
- Department of History
- Department of Modern Languages (includes French, German, Italian, and Spanish)
- Department of Philosophy
- Department of Theology
- Department of Biology
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Physics
- Department of Economics
- Department of Politics
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Art and Art History
- Department of Drama
- Department of Music
- Department of Education
Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts
- Institute for Philosophic Studies
(Note that departments in Constantin College also teach graduate courses for Braniff.)
School of Ministry
- Undergraduate Department
- Graduate Department
College of Business
- Undergraduate Department
- Graduate Department
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.
Dual Degree Engineering Program
UD offers a five-year dual degree program in Electrical Engineering, in collaboration with The University of Texas at Arlington.
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.
Graduate programs
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
- Ranked No. 12 among Western regional universities by U.S. News & World Report (2015 edition).
- Ranked No. 15 among master's universities by The Washington Monthly (2015 edition).
- Ranked No. 64 among Western regional universities on the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (2012 edition).
- Ranked No. 225 on Forbes list of America's Best Colleges (2017 edition).
- Ranked as one of the best Western colleges by The Princeton Review (2017 edition).
- Earned an A-grade on the 2011 "What Will They Learn?" project of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
- Endorsed by the Cardinal Newman Society, an association dedicated to the promotion and renewal of faithful Catholic education. (Twenty schools in the US received such an endorsement).
- Ranked as one of 26-best studio art programs in the US by Parade in 2010.
- Ranked the least beautiful campus and the 12th most LGBT-unfriendly college by The Princeton Review.
- Ranked No. 3 among United States universities for study abroad engagement by Institute of International Education.
Graduate
- The Department of Art was ranked No. 191 by the U.S. News & World Report's Best Graduate School Rankings 2016.
- The 2010 National Research Council Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the US ranked the University of Dallas' doctoral concentrations at or near the bottom (survey-based quality score) of those surveyed in the US: English: 116-119/119; philosophy: 76-89/90; politics: 100-105/105.
- A 2010 survey of political theory professors published in the journal Political Science & Politics ranked the doctoral concentration in politics 29th out of 106-surveyed programs in the US specializing in political theory.
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 from 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. This first building was opened in 1960 and was dedicated by the Bishop of Dallas, most Reverend Thomas K. Gorman, and attended by Sr.Mary Corita Kent, renowned contemporary print-maker from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles 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).
National Print Invitational
Started by Juergen Strunck in 1974, the National Print Invitational was an annual exhibit that allowed printmakers from all over the US to share their work without paying entry fees. With no fee, a couple hundred submissions were narrowed down to roughly 50 by the university printmaking graduate students.
After the initial $2000 university funding was spent and not replenished, continued fundraising was mostly accomplished through membership fees: for $200 a year, members received a print as well as funded future exhibits.
With Strunck’s retirement, the National Print Invitational ended after many successful years of supporting not only artists in the immediate community, but nationally as well. Hardcopies of all invites are located in the Matrix and Printmaking Collection in the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery, with the exception of the first NPI, which does not have an invite.
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 Dallasâ€"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 Dallasâ€"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.
The Celebration of Japanese Arts The university agreed to house one of the most renowned and respected swordsmiths in Japan in the spring of 1980. Master Yoshindo Yoshihara hoped to come to the United States and demonstrate how blades were forged and ultimately produce the first Samurai blades forged in the Western Hemisphere. In the early spring of 1980, the garden between the art buildings was transformed into a Japanese setting with plants and a gravel surface to welcome the guests. The project began on Holy Saturday, after the lighting of the fire of sacramental order. Yoshihara, inside the Kaji-Ba, struck the first fire with flint and steel at the forge, and began with raw ore that had been transported from Japan. Along with Yoshihara and his assistants there was also a hibaki maker, grinder, and a polisher. The scabbard and hibaki makers sat on tatami mats inside the sculpture studio, which is currently the printmaking studio at the university. 16 blades were completed, and three from raw ore. One is in the Metropolitan, one in Boston, and the third in on the University of Dallas Campus. A week long Shinsa was offered in upstairs Haggar. Here the blades made by Yoshihara were evaluated and approved for transportation. Along with the smithing, The Samurai Sword Museum in Kyoto offered to send an exhibition of spear heads, blades, kutani, and Tsuba. The University also housed an exhibition of Japanese ceramics in the Art building. The blades were displayed in the University Gallery, located then where the student life offices are now. They were considered so valuable that they were guarded during the day. So precious were they that no catalogue or identifying labels were permitted. The oldest was 10th century. Also offered in the Campus wide Celebration of the Japanese Arts was a tea ceremony, flower arranging, and kite flying. Among the UD Community Education programs was an eight-week instructional class on "Beginning Ikebana Japanese Floral Art" along with a four-week lecture series on "Zen and Contemporary American Literature" and an eight-week lecture series on "Treasures of Japanese Civilization." A 30-minute, 16mm film “ Samurai†was made by Lowell Jordan that shows the process of the forging of the blades on the University campus. The film was shown on PBS and also won a silver medal at an International film Festival.
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:
Intellectuals, Artists & Entertainers
- Larry Arnhart - Political theorist
- Jeffrey Bishop - Philosopher, physician and bioethicist (Director of the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics) at St. Louis University
- L. Brent Bozell III - Founder of Media Research Center and Fox News political commentator
- L. M. Kit Carson - Actor and screenwriter
- John C. Eastman - Constitutional law scholar and Reagan Administration official
- Joe G. N. Garcia - Pulmonary scientist and physician
- Lara Grice - American film actress known for The Mechanic (2011), The Final Destination (2009) and Déjà Vu
- Ernie Hawkins - Blues guitarist and singer
- Jason Henderson - Best-selling fantasy novelist and comic book author
- Thomas S. Hibbs - Philosopher and Honors College Dean at Baylor University
- Andy Hummel - Bassist and songwriter for Big Star
- Emily Jacir - Palestinian-American artist and activist
- Anita Jose - Professor, business strategist, essayist
- Joseph Patrick Kelly - Literary scholar focused on the works of James Joyce
- Peter MacNicol - Actor, notable performances include Ghostbusters, Ally McBeal, and Fox's 24
- Patrick Madrid â€" Author, radio host
- William Marshner - Ethicist and theologian
- John McCaa - American television journalist
- Trish Murphy - Singer-songwriter
- Carl Olson - American journalist and Catholic writer
- Mackubin Thomas Owens - Assistant Dean of Academics for Electives, Naval War College
- Tan Parker - Texas State Representative from Flower Mound and businessman
- Gary Schmitt - Public intellectual and co-founder of the Project for the New American Century
- Daryush Shokof - Artist "Maximalism", Filmmaker "Amenic Film", Philosopher "Yekishim"
- Christopher Evan Welch - American actor famous for playing Peter Gregory in the HBO series Silicon Valley
- Gene Wolande - Actor (L.A. Confidential) and television writer (The Wonder Years)
- Brantly Womack - Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia
- Eric McLuhan - media theorist and son of Marshall McLuhan
Business, Politics & Public Affairs
- Robert Bunda - Hawaiian politician
- Suren Dutia - Business executive and entrepreneurship expert at Kauffman Foundation
- Emmet Flood - Special Counsel to President George W. Bush, 2007â€"2008
- John H. Gibson - Senior Defense Department official and business executive
- Tadashi Inuzuka - Japanese politician and diplomat
- Katherine, Crown Princess of Yugoslavia - Wife of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
- Thita Manitkul - Member of Parliament (House of Representatives) of Thailand
- Rosemary Odinga - Kenyan entrepreneur and activist
- Susan Orr - Former Head of the United States Children's Bureau
Religious Leaders
- Oscar Cantú - Auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio
- Michael Duca - Bishop of Shreveport
- Daniel E. Flores - Bishop of Brownsville
- David Konderla - Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa
- Mark J. Seitz -Bishop of El Paso
Athletes
- Mike McPhee - NHL player and investment banker
- Tom Rafferty - Professional football player (offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys)
Notable Faculty
The university's full-time, permanent faculty have included the following scholars:
- Mel Bradford - Professor of English
- Louise Cowan - University Professor of English
- Willmoore Kendall - Professor of politics
- Thomas Lindsay - Texas Public Policy Foundation, Center for Higher Education
- Wilfred M. McClay - Professor of history
- Robert Skeris - American theologian
- Glen Thurow - Professor of Politics
- Gerard Wegemer - Professor of English
- Thomas G. West - Professor of Politics
- Frederick Wilhelmsen - Professor of Philosophy
- Eugene Curtsinger - Professor of English
- Anthony Kubek - Professor of Politics
Notable visiting or part-time faculty have included:
- Magnus L. Kpakol - Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Nigeria
- Marshall McLuhan - Media theorist and philosopher
- Bernard Orchard - Biblical scholar
- Mitch Pacwa - American theologian and host of several shows on EWTN
References
Further reading
- University of Dallas: 50 Years of Vision & Courage, 1956â€"2006 (Irving, Tex.: University of Dallas, 2006). ISBN 978-0-9789075-0-1. 165 pp.
- The University of Dallas honoring William A. Blakley (Irving, Tex.: University of Dallas, 1966). 19 pp.
External links
- Official website
- University of Dallas Athletics website
- The University News â€" student newspaper