Centenary of St. Michael's College

CENTENARY OF ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 13, 2004)

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, this is a time for celebration of higher education in the Green Mountain State: One hundred years ago Saint Michael's College was founded in Winooski, Vermont.

In the past century the college has seen its enrollment burgeon from 34 students to 1,900 students. It has grown from very modest beginnings into a major institution of higher education, widely known as one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, and one of the premier Catholic colleges in America. With the diversity of its student body, and its long history as one of the first schools to offer education in teaching English as a second language, its reputation for academic excellence is not just national but international.

Priests of the Society of St. Edmund emigrated to North America, fleeing religious persecution in France in the late nineteenth century. They settled in Vermont, and changed forever the shape of education in their adopted state.

As an order dedicated to education, the Edmundites founded Saint Michael's College in 1904. With an initial investment of $5,000 they began the college on the Kelly Farm in Winooski Park. Their initial effort was modest, just under three dozen students ranging in age from 10 to 22. Few, except the visionary founders, would have believed that from such small beginnings would emerge the thriving institution which, a century later, is widely known for both its rigorous academic program and its deep commitment to service.

The founders themselves probably did not foresee that the college, originally open only to men, would go co-educational in 1970, or that its commitment to excellence in every pursuit-in developing the ethical as well as the intellectual and spiritual side of human existence, in improving the body as well as the mind-would lead to the Ice Knights winning the NCAA Division II hockey championship. (Nor have the women far behind: in 2000 the St. Michael's field hockey team advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four.) The founders knew they were sowing the seeds for building character and giving a base for achievement in the secular world, but even they could not have foreseen that graduates of St. Michael's would serve in the United States Senate, and head some of America's largest and most important corporations, or win the Pulitzer Prize. Many graduates serve their fellow men and women, here and abroad, with great dedication, though that they could have foreseen, for commitment to the welfare of the underprivileged and dispossessed has always been central to the Edmundite mission.

Today, the 1,900 full-time undergraduate students at St. Michael's reside in an environment in which learning takes place both in and out of the classroom. In addition to its undergraduates, a multitude of graduate and international students experience its commitment to moral and ethical development, a commitment inspired by the strong Edmundite tradition of service. Although it is now run by a secular Board of Trustees, and no longer are the majority of its teachers Edmundite priests, St. Michael's still is guided by the spirit of its founding order, the recognition that service and education are inextricably linked, and intellectual growth must proceed in concert with spiritual and ethical deepening.

St. Michael's was one of the first colleges to institute an Alternative Spring Break, enabling students to work in inner cities and rural areas to rebuild communities and provide needed services. Today, the college lives out its commitment to service in many ways at home and abroad. In the past few years, student programs have gone to Calcutta, Tanzania, Haiti and elsewhere to learn and do good work. St. Michael's remains dedicated to teaching biology and literature, history and philosophy-but is also enduringly dedicated to working with the impoverished, the homeless, and the victims of AIDS.

It is a particular mark of St. Michael's excellence that it was recently invited to join the elite ranks of colleges and universities hosting Phi Beta Kappa chapters on campus.

And Saint Michael's continues to grow ever stronger academically. For fourteen consecutive years it has been highly rated in rankings of colleges by US News and World Report, and in 2003 it was identified by Newsweek magazine as one of thirty "hidden treasure" colleges that deserve wider national recognition.

Under the able leadership of President Marc vanderHeyden, a dedicated and excellent faculty teaches courses which are at the cutting edge of knowledge, while still rooted in the great traditions of learning. The staff at the college are as committed to excellence and the growth of students as are the faculty. The alumni, those prior generations of St. Michael's students, have gone on to do significant work in the world, serving as models for the engaged students of today, and contribute as generous benefactors to the fiscal well-being of the college.

I have spoken at St. Michael's, met with classes there, and had its students serve as interns in my office. So I say with confidence that its students are remarkable young people, for they embody that dedication to conjoining learning with service which is the hallmark of the college.

As St. Michael's College moves into its second century, the people of Vermont salute its past achievement and its present accomplishment. Situated above the Winooski River, overlooking the splendors of Mount Mansfield, it is my firm expectation that St. Michael's College and its campus community will continue to sparkle, a bright jewel in the Green Mountain State.