University of Dallas Totally Explained

Everything about The University Of Dallas totally explained

The University of Dallas is a Catholic institution located in Irving, Texas.

History

The University of Dallas (founded in 1956) is a Roman Catholic university. The University was started with the assistance of the Sisters of Mary Namur and the Cistercian fathers at Our Lady of Dallas Monastery. The slogan of the university is The Catholic University for Independent Thinkers and its mascot is "The Crusader." The current president of the university is Dr. Frank Lazarus.

Degree Programs

Undergraduate students are enrolled in the Constantin College of Liberal Arts or the College of Business. Graduate students enroll in the Braniff Graduate School, the School of Ministry, and the Graduate School of Management (GSM).
The University of Dallas offers thirty-one Bachelor of Arts majors and five Bachelor of Science majors. Students may earn Concentrations in a variety of disciplines (the equivalent of a Minor).
Via the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts, the University of Dallas offers Master's degrees in many disciplines including American Studies, Art, Catholic School Leadership & Teaching, English, Humanities, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Religious Education and Theology. The Institute for Philosophic Studies offers three interdisciplinary doctorate degrees: Literature, Philosophy, and Politics.

Academics

All undergraduate students at the University of Dallas study a Core Curriculum, a series of specific courses that emphasizes the great ideas, deeds, and works of Western civilization from classical to modern times.
   The core curriculum includes four classes in literary tradition (Epic Poetry, Lyrical Poetry, The Play (comedy and tragedy), and The Novel; four classes in history (two American and two Western Civilization); four philosophy (Philosophy and the Ethical Life, Philosophy of Man, Philosophy of Being and a Philosophy elective); two fine arts and one math, or one fine art and two maths. These requirements were recently reduced. Still required are: two of the same foreign language in the intermediate level or higher (modern or classical; German, French, Spanish, Italian; Latin and Greek); two theology classes (Understanding the Bible and Western Theological Tradition); one course in American politics and one course in economics.
   After the core curriculum, students then go on to pursue their chosen major.
   Although, as a liberal-arts college, the University of Dallas faculty is primarily devoted to teaching, UD professors have been active in many areas of research. Thus, members of the Theology Department coordinated the publication of an International Bible Commentary

; Thomas G. West, who teaches politics at UD, is well-known for his book Vindicating the Founders

; and Michael Cosgrove, a professor at the Graduate School of Management, authored the widely discussed volume The Cost of Winning: Global Development Policies and Broken Social Contracts

. Moreover, UD houses several ongoing scholarly projects, such as the Center for Thomas More Studies

, the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series, and the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly

Faculty

The University of Dallas has 121 full-time faculty members and 35 part-time faculty members. 90% of the faculty hold a Ph.D. or highest degree in their field. The University has a student/faculty ratio of 12:1.

Students

The school is attended by 1,200 undergraduate students and 1,950 graduate students from 49 states and 18 countries; 71% of undergraduate students are Catholic. 56% of undergraduates are female. On campus residency is required of all students under 21 years of age who are not married, not a veteran of the military or who don't live with their parents in the DFW area. Tuition and fees for the 2006-07 academic year are $20,780 plus room and board of $7,332. In 2006 the University provided its students with $9 million in institutionally-funded scholarships and need-based grants.
Approximately 80% attend graduate school; over 85% of pre-med and over 90% of pre-law graduates are accepted by their first-choice professional school. There are over 40 clubs and organizations; varsity, club and intramural sports; lectures, films, exhibitions, concerts, plays; campus-wide annual celebrations.

Irving Campus

The school is located on a 744 acre (3 km²) suburban campus in Irving, Texas, 12 miles (19 km) from downtown Dallas. It is just southeast of the upscale development of Las Colinas, Texas.

Academic Programs

Constantin College

The University of Dallas' undergraduate course of studies offers a unique academic program based in the Western Tradition. All students take courses in the Core Curriculum, a carefully crafted sequence of courses that exposes students the greatest texts in Western Civilization. UD offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in Art History, Biology, Business Leadership, Ceramics, Chemistry, Classics, Comparative Literary Traditions, Drama, Economics, Finance, Education, English, French, German, Ancient Greek, History, Latin, Mathematics, Painting, Philosophy, Physics, Politics, Psychology, Printmaking, Sculpture, Spanish, and Theology.

Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

A 1966 grant from the Blakley-Braniff Foundation established the Braniff Graduate School.
Students in Braniff can pursue Master of Arts degrees in Art, American Studies, English,Humanities, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, and Theology.

The Institute for Philosophic Studies

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 Institute for Philosophic Studies (IPS) offers doctoral programs in Literature, Philosophy and Politics.

School of Ministry

The University of Dallas School of Ministry is one of the few Catholic universities in the U.S. that offer a comprehensive, four-year Catholic Biblical School (CBS) certification program. This program, which covers every book of the Bible, is also offered online and in both English and Spanish. The CBS is the largest program of its kind among all Catholic universities in the U.S. based on 2007 enrollment numbers.

College of Business

The Graduate School of Management (GSM) at the University of Dallas enrolls approximately 1,600 students in its programs, which are offered in the classroom (at the Irving, Tarrant County, and Frisco campuses), onsite at corporate partner locations, and online. It hosts the largest MBA program in the D/FW metroplex, and was founded in 1966 to provide practical graduate management education to working adults.

Campus Life

Social Events

Popular weekly events include:

TGIT (Thank Goodness It's Thursday) concerts in the "Rat" (Rathskellar)
Music on the Mall (Friday afternoons, recorded music is amplified onto the mall, and students congregate)
Weekend Rugby games

Yearly events that attract large numbers of current students (and alumni) include:

Charity Week: 7 days of wild & crazy events in September-October organized by the current junior class (returning from their respective fall and spring semesters in Rome). The Jail is a highlight of the week: students and professors can pay to throw each other into a makeshift prison (and thus miss class). All proceeds from this student-run event (generally around $20,000 dollars) go to charities chosen by the students.

Oktoberfest: An outdoor festival that includes a live polka band and a Biergarten.

Groundhog Day: On the cusp of spring, students and faculty enjoy a concert/picnic/keg party in the woods. Formerly, the event was "undergroundhog" and wasn't sponsored by the college. To ensure student safety, the event has come "above-ground" and it's now assisted by the Student Life Office and the Irving PD.

Mallapalooza: A day in April when bands play continuously while students listen, dance, and buy commemorative tee shirts.

Clubs and Organizations

Collegium Cantorum

Collegium Cantorum is the Latin Liturgical Choir of the University. Collegium, as the group is called, sings at Masses in the Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey Church (which borders the campus to the north), around Dallas, Texas, and around the world. Directed by Marilyn Walker, the choir has a broad repertoire of polyphonic Mass ordinaries and motets. The Schola, a subset of the group specializing in Gregorian Chant, is directed by Father Ralph March, a well-known chant scholar. First Friday Masses, a Requiem Mass on November 2, and the Easter Triduum are Collegium traditions that draw in alumni from around the country to sing, and that overfill the Cistercian Abbey Church with listeners. Although membership ranges from 35-50 students a term, hundreds of students attend the Masses sung by Collegium in Irving and Dallas.
The University doesn't have a Music Major; however, the department offers a Concentration in Music.

The Orpheion

In the summer of 2003, a team of students (undergraduate and graduate) and faculty helped the Facilities Department design and build an outdoor hillside Greek theater, which they named the Orpheion, in honor of the Greek mythological poet Orpheus.
On September 26, 2003, the theater was inaugurated, blessed, and dedicated by University faculty before a crowd of over 300 spectators, who had gathered to watch the classical comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, staged by students on their own time and on their own dime. Since 2003, the theater has hosted a variety of independent student plays, especially the great comedies and tragedy of Greece and Shakespeare.

Rome Campus and Program

History

Since the 1970s, the University of Dallas has offered students, typically sophomores, the opportunity to spend a semester of study-and-travel based out of Rome, Italy. Over the years, the University has had several campuses in and around Rome (a sign of a former campus now hangs in the Irving campus cappuccino bar).
In 1990, the University purchased a villa southeast of Rome in the Castelli Romani, the Alban Hills of ancient Roman history and legend. In June 1994, the newly renovated 12-acre property was inaugurated as the Eugene Constantin Rome Campus, and that fall it hosted its first students. Just south of Rome along the Via Appia, the campus includes a library, chapel, housing, a dining hall, classrooms, tennis courts, a swimming pool, an outdoor Greco-Roman theater, a forno (a traditional outdoor wood-burning oven), working vineyards and olive groves.

Mission

As part of the undergraduate education on the liberal arts, about 80% of students spend a semester (either the Fall or Spring, generally of the Sophomore year) studying in Rome. The Rome semester curriculum is carefully integrated with on-site experiences and focuses upon the history, art, and architecture of Ancient Greece, the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, the Early Christian Church, and Renaissance Italy.

Academics

Students take a full load of college courses (15 hours), taught by their University of Dallas faculty. Courses include

Literature (Lit Trad III: Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy and Comedy)

Theology (Western Theological Tradition: the Patristics, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Calvin)

Philosophy (Philosophy of Man)

Art and Architecture of Rome (ancient, medieval, and Renaissance)

Language (Italian, Greek)

History (Western Civilization I: ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome; medieval and Renaissance Europe)

Science (Astronomy, Biology,Chemistry, Physics)

Travel

Group Travel

To complement the Art and Architecture course, students visit and study historic sites around Rome.
The students and their professors also take two longer trips together. The first ventures to Northern Italy for 6 days; the second, to Greece for 10 days.

Campus Life

The Rome Campus is a close community, one in which students, professors, and the local Italian staff mingle collegially. There is a vibrant campus life.

Religious Life

Weekly masses in the Aula Magna (the Main Hall)

Convocation Mass in the campus theater

Masses in historic churches (St. Peter's, Assisi, etc.) during Group Travel

Weekend Silent Retreats for Women and Men

Confession and Adoration

Artistic and Cultural Life

Faculty Lecture Series

Guest Lectures

student-directed Theater Productions, in the campus Greco-Roman theater (outdoor 'amphitheater')

end-of-semester Talent Show (music, drama, sketch comedy, etc.)

Social Life

the semester kick-off Wine and Cheese Party

Halloween in the Fall, and Carnevale (Mardi Gras) in the Spring The Rome Semester isn't just a study-abroad program; it's a life-altering experience. It deepens friendships--with both people and ideas--as it expands one's Weltanschauung.

Additional University of Dallas Facts

Youngest university in the 20th century to be granted a Phi Beta Kappa chapter

Top 10 Colleges for American Values based on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) Choosing the Right College

The Harvard Business Review in May 2005 in an article titled, “How Business Schools Lost Their Way”, recognized the university as one of four business schools in the nation that had retained its professional focus and was an example of best practices

The undergraduate class of 2005 contained nine Fulbright Scholars

One percent of all MBAs in the world received their degree from UD

Recognized by the Princeton Review for being “one of the best private school bargains in the nation” and in the top 20 for having outstanding professors

Recognized by the Princeton Review for being one of the top 10 universities in the nation where students pray on a regular basis and students are most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan

UD has maintained a campus in Rome, Italy for over 35 years where a large majority of its undergraduate students attend for a semester

UD alumni are represented in over 150 countries around the world

UD freshmen have the highest average SAT and ACT scores in Texas for incoming freshmen of 2007.

First university in America to be accredited by the American Academy of Liberal Education

The only Ph.D. program in the United States with a core curriculum in the great books

The Fiske Guide to Colleges states that the University of Dallas is without a doubt the best Catholic-affiliated school south of Washington, D.C.

Recognized by the Dallas Business Journal as being the number one choice for graduate management education for working adults in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex

The National Review ranks the University of Dallas as one of the top 50 liberal arts schools in the nation

Despite having an excellent academic track record for its students, the University of Dallas has had continuous financial problems for many years. Faculty salaries are the third lowest in Texas, according to a recent report in the campus newspaper.

One of the few Universities to offer a bachelor's degree in Political-philosophy and a Masters of Politics degree.

Religious life is served by the Chapel of the Incarnation. Dedicated in 1985 the chapel, the now Church of the Incarnation serves as an on campus parish that ministers to staff, faculty, administration, students and residents of Irving and surrounding communities.

The University of Dallas was one of three finalists (together with Baylor University and Southern Methodist University) for the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. The University of Dallas withdrew itself from consideration on January 22, 2007.

The University is located on the highest point in Dallas County and has excellent views of the Dallas skyline and the countryside

In 1975 the University hosted one of the best known intellectuals in the world, Marshall McLuhan, and appointed him McDermott Chair. Edward Cowan notes that McLuhan spoke at a conference along with Malcolm Muggeridge, Jacques Barzun, and Hans Georg Gadamer.

In 2007, the University hosted the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, for its annual McDermott Lecture. The

Notable Alumni

Tadashi Inuzuka - Japanese politician and diplomat

Katherine, Crown Princess of Yugoslavia

Peter MacNicol - actor whose notable appearances include Mel Brook's Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Ghostbusters II, Ally McBeal, and 24

Helmuth A. Merklein, Fmr. Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs

Trish Murphy - singer-songwriter

Susan Orr - headed the United States Children's Bureau

Tan Parker - Texas State Rep.

Gary Schmitt - served as the co-founder and executive director of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) from 1998 to 2005 Academia Among the noted scholars who have attended UD are:
(Name, Field, Institution)

Arthur L. Boyer, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University

Daniel Donaghue, Professor of English, Harvard University

Thomas Hibbs, Dean of the Honors College, Baylor University

Michael McGaha, Professor of Modern Languages, Pomona College

Eileen C. Sweeney, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

Brantly Womack, Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia

Controversy

School of Ministry/IRPS Controversy

In 2001, the entire full-time staff of the IRPS prgram, including the director Douglas Bushman and associate director Timothy Herrman and David Twellman, resigned and moved to Ave Maria College (Crisis Magazine; Catholic World News.) Then Bishop of Dallas Charles V. Grahmann called the departure a "blessing." He said, "we are changing the direction of the program.” By this he meant that the program had departed from its original vision of serving the needs of the diocese of Dallas and surrounding dioceses. According to Grahmann, the Institute's then administrators had become, "advocates of an ideal orthodoxy and built walls that no one could penetrate.” (Catholic World News.)

Art Print Controversy

On February 14, 2008 an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was stolen from the Upper Gallery of the Haggerty Art Village. The image, entitled "Saint or Sinner", was on loan from Murray State University in Kentucky and reportedly portrayed the Blessed Virgin Mary as an exotic dancer. Responding to the incident, President Frank Lazarus issued immediately the following statement:
"By committing an intrinsically evil act before the administration has had a reasonable chance to formulate a response, this theft severely damages the prospects of dealing with this issue in a measured and rational manner as befits the dignity of a university community. Nevertheless, I'll respond in a timely fashion to the substantive issues surrounding the display of this work of art in view of our Catholic character, our religious values, and the urgent question of the proper meaning of academic freedom."
   Reaction to Dr. Lazarus' statement prompted heated campus discussion. Opinions ranged from support of academic freedom to open hostility towards the university's administration and calls for the president to resign.
   On February 24, 2008, Dr. Lazarus issued a statement entitled "Catholic Character, Academic Freedom, and Artistic Expression." The statement reiterated Dr. Lazarus' condemnation of the unauthorized removal of the image. Dr. Lazarus continued on to develop an argument concerning the nature of academic freedom at a Catholic institution:
"The print itself, in my view, asks a question and depicts biblical and mythological symbols that suggest literary, psychological, and religious archetypes of woman seen as the progenitor of the human race, the origin and cause of evil in the world, and the source of redemptive power in rebirth and conversion. While these questions are excellent ones, (and there are many other interpretations possible) and while the artist surely had noble intentions, the piece of art itself is objectionable, as would be the case if a sacred symbol in any other religious or ethnic tradition were to be similarly treated."
   One opinion circulating Facebook discussions among students points out that the issue of censorship calls into question the reading of other controversial or non-/anti-religious views in the University's curriculum. For example, the Church found Caravaggio paintings using prostitutes for models of the Virgin Mary offensive, but art students continue to study these works.
   On February 26, 2008, the University News, swamped with letters from concerned students and alumni, featured a special section in the issue showcasing the level of concern among the university community. Again, reactions ranged from concerns for academic freedom to distress over the perceived desecration of sacred images.
   On March 8, 2008, the Dallas Morning News ran an article covering the controversy on its front page, entitled "Missing artwork of Virgin Mary as stripper stirs University of Dallas."
   The article quotes the print's artist, Joanna Gianulis, a senior art major at Murray State University, as saying,

"The work is a black and white woodcut relief print depicting a scantily clad stripper wearing a veil and holding a rosary. Other details in the work are scrolls saying 'Sinner or Saint?' in Spanish and referencing the Virgin [of] Guadalupe, and also a snake, some white lilies, a pair of scales, and also a small image of a bar of soap opposite a bottle marked 'xxx.'"

The article states

"Ms. Gianulis said she didn't meant to offend Catholics in Dallas or anywhere else, and didn't even know UD is a Catholic school. The purpose of the print, she said, is to raise questions about who is perceived as saint and who as sinner. 'How do we know that an exotic dancer is sinful?' she said in a prepared statement for the UD art department. 'What if she's the best intentions and strives only to help those in need?'"

The article then states

"Juergen Strunck is the UD art professor who helped arrange for the exhibit and was there for the installation. He said that if he'd interpreted the work as sacrilegious or pornographic, he'd have considered not displaying it. But he saw it as a serious work, so he went ahead."

The article states that University President didn't respond to requests for an interview. The article does cite a statement that the President issued, in which he said, "A number of mistakes were made, and there are lessons to be learned here."
The article also states

"Dr. Lazarus was away from the school when the work was first exhibited, but when he returned he learned of complaints. He went to see for himself, and in his statement said that while 'the artist surely has noble intentions' he found the print objectionable. But Dr. Lazarus also had academic freedom concerns. Instead of having the work removed, he and other officials decided to put up signs at the exhibit warning that some images might be considered offensive."

As of May 4, 2008, the image hasn't been recovered.

New School of Pharmacy

In October 2007, the University of Dallas Board of Trustees affirmed the addition of a School of Pharmacy and has begun searching for a Dean of Pharmacy. The school is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2009. The new School of Pharmacy would be the eighth Catholic pharmacy school in the nation. Currently, accredited programs exist at Creighton University in Nebraska, Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, St. John Fisher College in New York, St. John's University in New York, and Xavier University of Louisiana. Student reaction to the new School of Pharmacy ranged from open support to concern over maintaining the University's identity as a liberal arts institution.

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