Georgian Court University

Georgian Court University
Motto Expand Possibility
Type Private
Established 1908
Affiliation Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)
Endowment $51.288 million[1]
President Joseph R. Marbach, Ph.D.
Academic staff
 236[2]
Undergraduates 1,621[1]
Postgraduates 687
Location Lakewood Township, New Jersey, USA
Campus Suburban
Colors Blue and Gold         
Athletics NCAA Division II – CACC
Sports 14 varsity men's and women's teams
Nickname Lions
Mascot Roary the Lion
Affiliations Conference for Mercy Higher Education
MSA
ACCU
NAICU
CIC
Website

www.georgian.edu

Georgian Court University, Lakewood Campus
Sunken Garden and Lagoon
Location Lakewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Built 1908
Architect Bruce Price, et al.
Architectural style Georgian
NRHP Reference # 78001788
Significant dates
Added to NRHP December 20, 1978[3]
Designated NHLD February 4, 1985[4]

Georgian Court University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Lakewood Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Operated by the Sisters of Mercy, the university has more than 1,500 undergraduates and more than 700 graduate students. In 2004, the institution was recognized with university status by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. In 2012, Georgian Court became fully coeducational after more than 100 years as a women's college.

History

The Sisters of Mercy founded Mount Saint Mary College as a liberal-arts school for women in 1908, in North Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1924, the Sisters of Mercy purchased Georgian Court, the estate of George Jay Gould I in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, moved the college there and renamed it Georgian Court College.[5] The College was granted University status by the State in February 2004.[6] The university offers more than 31 undergraduate majors through the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, and the School of Education. Georgian Court University (GCU) is non-discriminatory and welcomes people of all faiths, ethnicities, etc. For more than 100 years, the school was led by the Sisters of Mercy. The organization continues to sponsor Georgian Court through the Conference for Mercy Higher Education, but in 2015, Dr. Joseph R. Marbach became the first permanent lay president—and man—to take the helm.

Georgian Court University is widely known for its majors in the School of Education, which include bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as many certifications in education, including concentrations in early childhood development, elementary school, secondary school and special education. The School of Business offers both undergraduate and MBA programs, and has expanded its global partnerships through [7] COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning). The School of Arts and Sciences has small class sizes and intense laboratory experiences. Because of small class sizes, students get the benefit of conducting research with faculty scholars and working closely with educators and staff on meaningful service projects. In 2014-15, students, faculty and staff contributed more than 90,000 volunteer hours to projects in the community and abroad.

GCU identifies itself as a vibrant learning community adapting to the needs of today's students in all of its majors. Three of the newest major offerings on campus are the Bachelor of Arts in Dance, the Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, Wellness, and Sports; and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Additional graduate programs developed in recent years include Applied Behavioral Analysis, Homeland Security and the school's online Holistic Health Studies program. In 2015, the school also launched an online graduate certificate program in Mercy Spirituality.

Historically, GCU was known for its former women's college. Since 2012, however, the university has been fully coeducational. Georgian Court offers classes for students who live on campus, and for nonresidential undergraduate, and graduate students. Evening, weekend, and online classes cater to women and men with busy schedules, and beyond classes offered on the main campus in Lakewood, Georgian Court programs are offered at the New Jersey Coastal Communiversity in Wall. The university is the only Catholic college serving students throughout Central and South Jersey—the two areas from which it draws most of its enrollment.

The GCU Lions compete in 14 NCAA Division II and CACC athletics programs, including basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. Men's lacrosse was added in Spring 2016. About 95% of students receive some form of financial aid or scholarship assistance.

Location

The university is located on the former winter estate of the millionaire George Jay Gould I, son of the railroad tycoon Jay Gould (1836–1892). Named by the Goulds as Georgian Court, the estate was designed by the New York architect, Bruce Price. He also designed three of the gardens that are featured on the campus today - the Italian Garden, the Sunken Garden, and the Formal Garden. Takeo Shiota designed the Japanese Garden. In addition to the gardens, GCU has maintained much of the original architecture and the Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum. The name of Georgian Court University is derived from the estate.

On February 4, 1985, Georgian Court was designated a National Historic Landmark. One of the many historic aspects of the campus is that it houses the only real tennis court at an American school. Approximately forty-five real tennis courts are still in use in the world today.

In 2004, university status was granted by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education; the name was changed to Georgian Court University. The school colors are blue and gold and the mascot is a lion. There are three residence halls: St. Joseph's, Maria, and St. Catherine's. A large percentage of the students commute daily.

Athletics

Official athletics logo.

Georgian Court teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II. The Lions are a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). Women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. As of fall of 2013, Georgian Court added men's sports when it became fully co-educational (with basketball, cross country, soccer and track & field). In fall 2015 the school will be adding a men's lacrosse team[8]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. 1 2
  2. ↑ "Georgian Court University". Petersons's. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. ↑ "Georgian Court". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2008-06-23.
  5. ↑ Axel-Lute, Paul (1986). Lakewood-in-the-Pines: A History of Lakewood, New Jersey. South Orange, NJ: The author. p. 84.
  6. ↑ Jeffries, Rosemary, "Transforming a College into a University," ' ' Presidential Perspectives: 2009/2010 Series ' ' , chapter 3, http://www.presidentialperspectives.org/pdf/2009/chapter03.pdf
  7. ↑ "A Brief History of the SUNY COIL Center". suny.edu. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  8. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/sports/once-for-women-only-georgian-court-looks-to-mens-teams-to-raise-profile.html?hp

External links

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Coordinates: 40°05′56″N 74°13′44″W / 40.098889°N 74.228889°W / 40.098889; -74.228889

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