Carroll College

This article is about the college in Montana. For the former Carroll College, Wisconsin, see Carroll University.

Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus,^[3] has over 35 academic majors,^[4] participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports,^[5] and is home to All Saints Chapel.^[6] The college motto, in Latin, is “Non scholae, sed vitae.” The college translates this into English as “Not for school, but for life.” Carroll's colors are purple and gold^[7] and the school's athletics teams are known as the Fighting Saints.

Carroll College

Former names	Mount St. Charles College (1909–1932)
Motto	Non Scholae Sed Vitae
Motto in English	Not For School, But For Life
Type	Private college
Established	1909; 114 years ago (1909)
Religious affiliation	Catholic Church
Academic affiliations	Space-grant
Endowment	$44.4 million (2020)^[1]
President	John E. Cech
Undergraduates	1,430 (2015)^[2]
Location	Helena , Montana , U.S.
Campus	Rural
Colors	Purple & Gold
Nickname	Fighting Saints
Sporting affiliations	NAIA – Frontier
Mascot	Halo, St. Bernard
Website	www.carroll.edu

History

 

Vol. I, No. 1 (1912) of the Mount Saint Charles Scholastic quarterly shows St. Charles Hall.

 

The inaugural issue of the Mount Saint Charles Scholastic quarterly includes a portrait of founder John P. Carroll.

In 1883, the first bishop of Helena, John Baptist Brondel,^[8] proposed a Catholic college in Montana to help produce future priests for the soon-to-be diocese of Helena. He died before his plans could be realized. Pope Pius X selected John Patrick Carroll, a young priest from Dubuque, Iowa, as Brondel's successor.

Bishop John Patrick Carroll, second Bishop of the Diocese of Helena, was able to carve out the funding needed to launch the college while at the same time raising money to construct the Cathedral of St. Helena. In 1909, William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, helped lay the cornerstone of St. Charles Hall at the college.^[9][10]

The college was founded on September 27, 1909, by John Patrick Carroll, second Bishop of the Diocese of Helena, Montana. It was originally called Mount St. Charles College to honor St. Charles Borromeo. The intent was for it to be an all-men's liberal arts college, with an emphasis on preparing men for careers in the priesthood, law, medicine, teaching, and engineering. In his speech after the laying the cornerstone of St. Charles Hall, President William Howard Taft said, "The college you are building here will be a blessing to Helena and to the whole state of Montana. The only trouble is we have not institutions enough of this kind in the United States."^[11]

In September 1910, Mount Saint Charles College opened its doors for classes. The first college student graduated in 1916. In 1932, the school's name was changed to Carroll College in honor of its founder.

During the 1935 Helena earthquake, Carroll College suffered only minor damage, while many other buildings and schools in the city were greatly affected. Property damage was estimated at half a million dollars.^[12] The top of the gable wall on the southern portion of St. Charles Hall was damaged and many of the structure's large stones had fallen off. The college decided to replace the roof with a slightly shorter and flatter roof.

The fallen stones were repurposed and used to build an observatory on campus. Carroll College's Neuman Observatory, named after former chemistry professor Edward Neuman, is the oldest astronomical observatory in the state of Montana.^[13]

During World War II, Carroll College was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program; it offered students a path to a Navy commission.^[14] After the war, the college began a period of expansion^[15] that included enrolling many military veterans under the GI Bill. It later admitted the first female students,^[16] and was transformed by changes resulting from the Second Vatican Council.

The 1989 Helena train wreck caused significant damage to Carroll, notably to Guadalupe Hall, the women's dormitory at the time.^[17]

Student life

Carroll College has a female to male student ratio of nearly 3:2 (60%/40%). Montana residents comprise just under half of the total student body (Montana/Out-of-State: 45%/55%). Of students reporting a religious preference, 44% are Catholic.^[18] From an admissions standpoint, U.S. News & World Report indicates Carroll as being "more selective" with an average incoming GPA of 3.46, an ACT of 25, an average SAT (prior to March 1, 2016) of 1645, and an average SAT (after March 1, 2016) of 1145.^[19] Tuition and fees for the 2014–2015 academic year are $28,607. Total estimated attendance (with room and board) is approximately $40,220.

Carroll has over 35 active student clubs or student groups that host nearly 350 events annually.^[20] Groups include CAMP, or Carroll Adventuring and Mountaineers Program, Carroll Crazies, Up 'Til Dawn, Saints' Swing Dance Society, Engineers Without Borders, Carroll Student Activities (CSA), and Carroll Outreach Team.^[21]

CAMP offers mountain biking, kayaking, trail running, hiking, backpacking, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, and more. CAMP provides trips for students to explore the outdoors during academic breaks, such as a spring break to Moab, Utah.^[22] The Carroll College newspaper, The Prospector^[23], is student-run and student-written.

Academics

Carroll College offers numerous academic majors in the major liberal arts and life sciences, as well as engineering, education, computer science, nursing, physics, ROTC, and theology. The school offers as well as several medical pre-professional programs including pre-seminary, pre-med, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy and pre-veterinary. The school is known for a higher than average rate of acceptance of its students into medical school.^[24] The national average medical school acceptance rate is approximately 44%.^[25] Carroll College students have an 85% average acceptance into med school and dental school.^[26] Unique to the college is a Human-Animal Bond Program, now anthrozoology. It offered the first such undergraduate degree in the US.^[27]

The college is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 Regional College in the West in the 2021 edition of America's Best Colleges. Carroll College has held the #1 ranking for 10 consecutive years.^[28]

Campus

 

Southern portion of the Carroll College campus, as seen from atop Mount Helena

 

The Carroll College campus (right), viewed from the northeast, with Mount Helena in the left background

Carroll College has four residence halls on campus. These are Trinity Hall, Borromeo Hall, Guadalupe Hall, and St. Charles Hall. Additionally, Carroll has on-campus apartments open to 3rd year students and above. Carroll has community advisors on every floor of every residence hall. Among their duties are creating events for members of his or her floor.

The football stadium is known as Nelson Stadium. In 2017, the Hunthausen Activity Center (HAC) will house student recreation and fitness.^[29] The Student Center is informally known as "The Cube," derived from "Carroll Campus Center," or C-cubed.

Simperman Hall houses classrooms, science labs, and offices for professors. Wiegand Amphitheater, located in Simperman Hall, seats approximately 140 students, and student groups sometimes show movies for the student body. Built in 1979, the Corette Library houses classrooms, computer labs, study rooms, conference rooms, and a small auditorium. It is open to the general public for use.^[30] St. Charles has classrooms, professors' offices, a small chapel, and the president's office and staff. In addition, the Artaza center—the center for global education—is located in St. Charles.^[31] On the fourth floor of St. Charles is the bouldering wall, open to students to climb.^[32]

Old North, the north wing of St. Charles, was a gymnasium for Mount St. Charles College. Old North was deconstructed and rebuilt as All Saints Chapel, finished in 2017. St. Albert's Hall holds the alumni and development office. The Civil Engineering building has a fully equipped lab, and the engineering department hosts occasional barbecues.^[33][34]

Athletics

 

The football team entering the field for a game on October 25, 2008

The Carroll athletic teams are called the Fighting Saints. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Frontier Conference since the 1935–36 academic year.

Carroll competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.^[35]

Football

See also: Carroll Fighting Saints football

The Carroll Fighting Saints football team began playing in 1920 and is one of the most successful programs in the NAIA division of college football. The team has won 11 straight Frontier Conference Championships (2000–2011), ten national final appearances, including six straight (2000–2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011), and six NAIA National Football Championships in ten years (2002–2005, 2007, 2010). The 1931 football team was undefeated, untied, and unscored upon and finished the season as state champions. The Fighting Saints were also the first collegiate coaching home for John Gagliardi, known as the winningest coach in all of college football (regardless of division). Gagliardi coached at Carroll for four years before moving to St. John's University in Minnesota, where he coached them for 60 seasons.

Facilities

Nelson Stadium is home to the football and soccer teams; the PE Center hosts basketball and volleyball games along with several other community events; the Green Meadow Country Club is home to the golf teams; Helena's Centennial Park hosts the softball team's home games; and the track & field teams host events at Helena's Vigilante Stadium.^[36]

Notable alumni

• Casey FitzSimmons, NFL tight end, Detroit Lions (2003–09)
• Jeffrey M. Fleming, Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings^[37]
• John Gagliardi, college football head coach^[38]
• Sinan Güler, Turkish professional basketball player
• Norman "Jeff" Holter, biophysicist
• Raymond Hunthausen, Archbishop of Seattle (1975–91)
• Father Stuart Long (1963–2014), Class of 1986, boxer-turned-Catholic priest; inspiration for the 2022 film Father Stu
• Joseph Monaghan, congressman from Montana (1933–37)^[39]
• Jerry O'Connell, congressman from Montana (1937–39)^[40]
• Bobby Petrino, head football coach at Missouri State^[41]
• Paul Petrino, head football coach at the University of Idaho^[42]
• Marc Racicot, Governor of Montana (1993–2001)^[43]
• Jovan Šljivančanin, Serbian professional basketball player
• George Thomas, Bishop of Helena (2004–18), Bishop of Las Vegas (2018–present)
• Bernard Topel, Bishop of Spokane (1955–78)
• Tarah Wheeler, Cybersecurity Executive and Author of Women in Tech^[44]

References

1. As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
2. Carroll College - Facts, information and more about Carroll College
3. "Carroll Campus". Carroll College. 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
4. "Explore Academics". Carroll College. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
5. "Carroll College Athletes - Official Athletics Website". Carroll College Athletes. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
6. "All Saints Chapel". Carroll College. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
7. "Visual Identity Guide". Carroll College. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
8. "1884-1903 Bishop Brondel |". Retrieved 2020-09-16.
9. "Carroll_College". www.helenahistory.org. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
10. Record, Independent (29 October 2015). "St. Charles Hall, Carroll College, Helena". The Billings Gazette. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
11. The Pioneer. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 1930. p. 9.
12. "SCHOOLS OF CITY ARE HARD HIT BY EARTH SHOCKS; LOSS MAY REACH A HALF MILLION". Helena Independent Record. October 20, 1935.
13. Writer - 04/15/07, MARGA LINCOLN-IR Staff (15 April 2007). "Reaching for the stars". Helena Independent Record. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
14. . Helena, Montana: Carroll College. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
15. Swartout Jr., Robert (2009). Bold Minds & Blessed Hands The First Century Of Montana's Carroll College. Helena, MT: Carroll College.
16. "Carroll professor writes its history". The Billings Gazette. Associated Press. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
17. "20 years ago today, Helena shook, rattled and froze". 2 February 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
18. "Carroll College About". Retrieved 2018-02-15.
19. "Carroll College". Carroll College- CC- The College Board. The College Board. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
20. "Campus Life". Carroll College. 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
21. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
22. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
23. "The Prospector". Carroll College. 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
24. "College Profiles - Carroll College". Retrieved 28 August 2016.
25. AAMC. "FACTS: Applicants and Matriculants Data".
26. . Carroll College. Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
27. . Archived from the original on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
28. [e-mail], TYLER MANNING (14 September 2020). "Carroll College named best regional college in the west for 10th straight year". Helena Independent Record. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
29. Kavanaugh, Nate (8 October 2014). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
30. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
31. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
32. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
33. "ASCE Fundraiser Golf Tournament". Carroll College. 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
34. . www.carroll.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
35. "Carroll College Athletics Website". www.carrollathletics.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
36. "Carroll College Athletic Facilities". www.carrollathletics.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
37. "Rinunce e nomine". press.vatican.va. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
38. "Former Carroll College football coach John Gagliardi, college football's winningest coach, dies at 91". MTSPX. 2018-10-07. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
39. "MONAGHAN, Joseph Patrick, (1906 - 1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
40. "O'CONNELL, Jerry Joseph, (1909 - 1956)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
41. "Helena native Bobby Petrino to be named head coach at Missouri State". MTSPX. 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
42. Mansch, Scott. "Former Carroll football coach Bob (Putter) Petrino dies". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
43. "Montana Governor Marc Racicot". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
44. "April 15, 2016 QuickNotes: It's All About Our People". Carroll College. Retrieved April 27, 2018.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carroll College.

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Historical photos at HelenaHistory.org

46°36′03″N 112°02′21″W / 46.600867°N 112.039153°W / 46.600867; -112.039153