Webster University

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Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> The university has an alumni network of around 170,000 graduates worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

History

The college was founded in 1915 by the Sisters of Loretto as Loretto College, a Catholic women's college, one of the first west of the Mississippi River.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> One of the early founders was Mother Praxedes Carty.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its name was changed to Webster College, after Senator Daniel Webster, in 1924.<ref name="timeline">Template:Cite web</ref> The first male students were admitted in 1962.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The sisters transferred ownership of the college to a lay Board of Directors in 1967; it was the first Catholic college in the United States to be totally under lay control.<ref name=WU>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1983, Webster College's name was changed to Webster University.<ref name="timeline" />

Webster was involved in the early racial integration battles in St. Louis. During the early 1940s, many local priests, especially the Jesuits, challenged the segregationist policies at the city's Catholic colleges and parochial schools. The St. Louis chapter of the Midwest Clergy Conference on Negro Welfare arranged in 1943 for Webster College to admit a black female student, Mary Aloyse Foster, which would make it the city's first Catholic college to integrate.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, in 1943 Archbishop John J. Glennon blocked that student's enrollment by speaking privately with the Kentucky-based Superior General of the Sisters of Loretto.<ref>Donald J. Kemper, "Catholic Integration in St. Louis, 1935–1947", Missouri Historical Review, October 1978, pp. 1–13.</ref> The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper with national circulation, discovered Glennon's actions and ran a front-page feature on the Webster incident in February 1944.<ref>Ted LeBerthon, "Why Jim Crow Won at Webster College," Pittsburgh Courier, February 5, 1944, p. 13.</ref> The negative publicity toward Glennon's segregationist policies led Saint Louis University to begin admitting African American students in summer 1944.<ref>"Pressure Grows to Have Catholic College Doors Open to Negroes," Pittsburgh Courier, February 19, 1944, p. 1; "St. Louis U. Lifts Color Bar: Accepts Five Negroes for Summer Session", Pittsburgh Courier, May 6, 1944, p. 1.</ref> In the fall of 1945, Webster College responded to pressure by admitting Irene Thomas, a Catholic African-American woman from St. Louis, as a music major.<ref>"Missouri College Admits Race Girl," Pittsburgh Courier, October 13, 1945, p. 1.</ref>

In the 1960s, the school dropped its Catholic affiliation following the issuance of the Land O'Lakes Statement. The school's then-president, Jacqueline Grennan, renounced her religious vows and continued as head of what had effectively become a secular institution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Academics

Colleges include:<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

  • College of Humanities & Social Sciences
  • College of Health and Science
  • Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
  • George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology
  • School of Communications
  • School of Education.

Webster University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Specific programs are accredited by specialized accreditors, including the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the National League for Nursing (NLN),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Council on Accreditation (COA),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE),<ref>Template:Usurped</ref> the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the National Board for Certified Counselors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2023, Webster University was ranked 22nd among regional universities (Midwest) by U.S. News & World Report.Template:Citation needed

Partnerships

Webster University maintains a Confucius Institute in partnership with Beijing Language and Culture University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, US senator Josh Hawley asked Webster University to close its Confucius Institute.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Campus

Webster University's home campus is located in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis.<ref name=WU /> Many of the domestic campuses are located near military bases; some are located in various metropolitan areas. The international campuses are located in several European countries including Switzerland, Austria, Georgia, and The Netherlands; several are also located in Asia, such as in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Thailand, and China.

In addition to its own international campuses, Webster has also formed partnerships with a few universities that are based in their countries of interest. For example, The Webster Graduate School was until 2015 tied with Regent's University London;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Webster maintains a relationship with Kansai University in Osaka, Japan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and with The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Recently, Webster started a study abroad program in Greece.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, Webster released a report on its Thailand campus citing several issues, including badly inadequate facilities and a culture of distrust between students and the administration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The report also cited several strengths on the campus, including strong academics and financial stability, saying "recruitment, marketing and admissions" are an area of strength for the campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One month after the internal report was issued, a campus ombudsman was appointed to address the communications issues and to bring the Thailand campus more in-line with the home campus' policies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Webster Hall
    Webster Hall
  • Loretto Hall in 2007
    Loretto Hall in 2007
  • The Campus in Geneva, Switzerland
    The Campus in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Campus in Leiden
    Campus in Leiden
  • Campus in Ghana
    Campus in Ghana

Athletics

Webster athletics wordmark

Webster University's athletic mascot is the Gorlok, named in honor of the school's location at the corner of Gore and Lockwood Avenues in Webster Groves. Athletic teams participate in the NCAA Division III and in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Men's sports: baseball; basketball; cross country; golf; soccer; tennis; and, track and field
  • Women's sports: basketball; cross country; soccer; softball; tennis; track and field; and, volleyball

Webster's Baseball Team has made back to back trips to the Division III World Series placing fifth in both 2012 and 2013. They also made the Division III World Series in 2015. They made it to the regional Division III championship in 2014 but were defeated in the first round.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Major League pitcher Josh Fleming played for Webster.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE)

Webster's chess team has won more national titles than any college team in the country and has been ranked #1 continuously since 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2025, Webster's chess team won its seventh national championship earning the distinction of having the most President's Cup championships than any other college program in the United States. Webster previously won the national title in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

SPICE was founded by chess Grandmaster and Webster University professor, Susan Polgar. She served as the head coach of the Webster chess team from 2012 until her retirement in 2021. The team's current coach, Liem Le, is a Webster alumnus and contributed to the chess team's President's Cup wins four years in a row from 2014 to 2017. He became a Grandmaster at just 15 years old and is currently the number 20 ranked chess player in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Due to this history of excellence in Chess, in 2022, Webster began offering a “Chess in Education” minor which is 18 credit hours of instruction on subjects ranging from the history of chess to the psychology, strategy, and global perspectives of chess. The program aims to prepare students to become future chess educators. With this course of study, Webster became the first university in the United States to offer a formal chess degree program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student life

Webster University, in Fall 2014, enrolled 5,010 undergraduate students and 17,190 graduate students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The average SAT composite score for the undergraduate class was 1,194. The average ACT composite score was 24. Students come from 49 states and more than 122 countries.

Webster University St. Louis has a student newspaper called The Journal and a student radio station called The Galaxy. The Galaxy was re-launched online in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Webster University has other e-newsletters such as Webster Today and departmental publications.

Webster University recently allowed the formation of the first Greek organization on its St. Louis campus, with the founding of the 152nd Chapter of Delta Upsilon and the founding of the Gamma Zeta chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon.

Notable people

Faculty

Template:See also Professors for the university have included Chess grandmaster Susan Polgar, actor/dancer Lara Teeter, dancer Alicia Graf Mack, poet David Clewell,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> video artist Van McElwee,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> political scientists Daniel Hellinger and Johannes Pollak, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women Rashida Manjoo,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> activist and writer Sulak Sivaraksa, sound engineer Bill Porter, Holocaust scholar Harry J. Cargas, and former Missouri Governor Bob Holden.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Alumni

Template:See also There were over 190,000 alumni as of 2017.<ref name="2017 Facts">Template:Cite web</ref> They include:

References

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