Personnel 0/ the Campaign Ten Facts About Fa~r/ield University
Personnel of ·the General Solicitation
FOR EDUCATING THE
Open' the Door
TO A GREATER OPPORTUNITY
1. This is Fairfield County's first University. and as
such prOVides a particularly' fine opportunity for higher education
for boys in this area. and especially for war veteral\s.
2. Fairfield University is the 16th University founded
by the Society of Jesus in the United States. starting with
Georgetown in 1789. and prOVides a system of education with
400 years of successful experience.
3. Opening in 1942 with a registration of 319 boys.
Fairfield College.Preparatory. School now has a registration
of 703. all day students. The Preparatory School is the first
unit of the University. to be followed in September. 1947. by
the opening of the Freshman year of the College of Arts and
Sciences.
4. The Jesuit Fathers. who devote their lives to the
educating of "the complete man" serve without salary. The
38 JeSUits now comprising the faculty of the College:,Prepara.
tory School at Fairfield for example. are by their free service.
making an ,annual contribution with a cash value in
excess of $100.000.
5. Fairfield University's faculty will· comprise Jesuit
educators distinguished in their respective fields. Through the
traditional exchange of professors among Jesuit colleges and
universities here and abroad. students will share the teachings
of men of world-wide renown in the various fields of the
arts and the sciences. .
6. The campus of' the Fairfield University consists of
more than 200 acres. and its location has been declared by
educational experts to be one of the most magnificent campus
sites in the United States.
7. Fairfield University's campus is readily accessible
from all parts of Fairfield County and the nearby area. so
that many boys who otherwise might not be able to go to
college. may live at home with their families. and attend as
day students.
8. Boys of all -races and creeds are admitted to Fairfield
University. At present in the CollegecPreparatory Schoo!'.
there are more than 30 students. who come from other than
Catholic homes.
9. Fairfield University is opening its College of Arts
and Sciences this coming September. several years earlier than
originally planned. so that boys. especially World War veterans.
need not be longer deprived of the opportunities for
higher education, now limited by the crowding of existing
facilities elsewhere.
10. Starting in September. 1947. with a Freshman class
enrollment limited to 300. the College of Arts and Sciences
wHI open its Sophomore Year in September. 1948. the Junior
Year in September. 1949. and the Senior Year in September.
1950.. graduating its first class in the various courses leading
to the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in
June. 1951.
In every town in Fairfield County
and in several towns of the nearby
area. men and women of all ~aiths
are participating now as volunteer
workers in the Fairfield University
BUilding Fund Campaign to help fi·
nance the construction of the first
bUildings at Fairfield University.
Occupying positions of leadership
in this great campaign. the objective
of which is a minimum of
$8.00.000. are men distinguished in
industry. in business. and in the pro·
fessions. and women who include not
only the mothers of present and
prospective students, but also many
are participating wholeheartedly in this
Ansonia.Derby.Shelton WiIliam K. Bennett
Bridgeport.. J'lmes V. Joy
John H. McCall
Fairfield :..WiIliam J. Fitzpatrick
George Longstreth
Stratford . . Edward W; McPadden
Norwalk I?ichard D..Halloran
Dr. William H. McMahon
Stamford E. Gaynor Brennan
Greenwich ~ J. Gerard Tobin
Danbury.Bethel.. George McLachlan
Milford : Richard H. Simons
Trmbull·Easton : Frank A. Rice
Newtown Joh;J T. McCarthy
Westport.. John H. Mountain
Darien·Noroton James T. Clooney
James J. Holahan
COL .ALPHONSUS J.
DONAHUE.
Executive Chairman
other women who
great enterprise.
Col. Alphonsus J. Donahue. of Stamford. is Executive
Chairma·n. and the Rev. Walter E. Kennedy. S.J., is Faculty
Director of the. Campaign.
"How Much ShaUl Give"
A Dollar A Week for Two Years Might Be Just
A Small Sacrifice, But It Would Mean $100 to Help
Start Fairfield County's First University.
Fairfield University ... Four Years in
Fairfield ... Four Centuries of Successful
Educational Experience of Worldwide Fame.
Many friends of Fairfield University throughout Fairfield
County and the nearby area. after considering the opportunity
which is now presented to them and their neighbors. to partic·
ipate as lounding subscribers of this first university i? th.is
county and the first Jesui.~ institution of higher ~du~.at1on III
Connecticut, have asked: How much should I give,?
It would be impertinent to give a categorial answer to
this question. The amount of resources which any person may
use for patriotic and philanthropic purposes depends upon hiS
or her own private and personpl circumstances.
It may be helpful. however. to point out the following:
1. This is a capital funds appeal in which the goal is
$800.000. It is for a permanent investment. not for maintenance
or operating expenses for which there would be a
renewed appeal each year: as is the case in loc'al or national
charitable or welfare appeals.
2. The amount. therefore, s!;lould be proportionately
larger than one ever has given in such annual drives referred
to above.
3. Your gift may be paid in four installments spread
over the rest of 1947 and 1948. Consider•.then. how much
you may be able to give in cash. and multiple it by four. Of
course. you may. if you wish. pay the entire amount now.
, I
Contributions to Fairfield University Building
Fund are Fully Deductible from Your
Income Tax (up to lSOIo of the Inelividual
Gross Income).
As the need requires. the development of the Graduate
Schools will provide facilities at Fairfield University in the
Law Sehoo!, a School of Education. Schools of Engineering,
Schools of Languages (classical and modern). Schools of Philosophy.
Schools of Political and the Natural and Social
Sciences. an Institute of Industrial Relations. a School of
Business Administration. as well as other schools. and finally
the Medical and Dental Schools.
COMPLETE MAN
A Gift That Will Endure Forever-
Give Now to the Fairfield University Building Fund.
VERY REV.
J. H. DOLAN. S.).
Rector, Pairfieid U.
An added reason of major influence, in leading to this
decision comes automatically from the critical need for the
prompt mobilizing of all available educa,tional resources to
meet the requirements of the young men returning from military
service in the recent World War who are so intent upon
availing themselves of the opportunities provided for their
continued ~ducation under the federal law known as the "G.!.
Bill of Rights."
To every qualified young man applying for admission.
reg'ardless of race, creed or color. Fairfield University will
offer educational opportunities that would not otherwise be
available to them because of the financial problem involved in
attending more distant institutions.
Reverend
W, E.KENNEDY, S,),
Prin.cipaL CollegePreparatory
School
The university campus at Fairfield will be a center of
interest for many of the residents, not only of the universitytown
itself, but also of the neighboring towns and districts
throughout the county. The leadership which many educators
in the Society of Jesus have earned in. various specialized
fiields' will make itself known and. sought in the economic.
the industrial and the social phases of community life. TIe
people of Fairfield, of Bridgeport. and of the neighboring
vicinities are even now enjoying the stimulation to spiritual
and intellectual values which have been prOVided by the
presence in the community of the Fairfield College-Preparatory
School and its.faculty.
THE NEXT STEP
IN DEVELOPMENT
The planned development of the Fq.irfield University program
is undertaken at this time, with conviction that it will
be a significant contributing factor in the solution of this problem.
In its immediate provision for the opening of the College
of Arts and Sciences in September, 1947, and in the gradual
development of Professional and Graduate Schodls, Fairfield
University offers to the High School graduate, to the veteran
of the World War and to the student· populatio'n at large
throughout this county and the surrounding area opportunities
for self-improvement that' over a period of years will raise
the educational level of county and state.
The time for, the development of this second unit of
Fairfield University, the College of Arts and Sciences, has
now arrived. It has arrived sooner than the Fathers of the
Society of Jesus had anticipated. Out of their vast experience
in the foundation and development of
twenty-five colleges and universities
in this country alone. they had planned
their progressive program of expansion
from the first unit of the
College-Preparatory School to the ul·
timate realization of the complete
Fairfield University, with its College,
Graduate Schools and Professional
Schools. There are many contributing
factors that have impelled the opening
of the College of Arts and
Sciences two years in advance of the
original schedule. The first is the high
degree of universal and encouraging
enthusiasm with which the people of
Fairfield County and the surrounding
areas have voiced their approval' of
the College-Preparatory School. The
second reason rises from the repeated and widespread requests
for the opening of the College Department from the days of
the opening year of this first Jesuit educational foundation in
Connecticut.
McAULIFFE HALL
I .
PRESENT BUILDINGS ON FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
BELLARMINE HALL
The above rendering shows the comprehensive plan f9r the development of the Fairfield University. On the campus of more than
200 acres at Fairfield, when development of the university is substan tially complete some years hence, will be a total of more than forty
buildings which are indicated on the above draWing in addition to the stadium. athletic fields, and other items in the university development.
The highway in the foreground' is North Benson Road, and the College-Preparatory School group of buildings will be developed
on the portion of the campus fronting on this street. The college group of buildings may be seen in the background of the picture, and
this group will be confined to the Round Hill Road side of the campus. At the left in the picture above is Barlow Road, marking the
sOllth boundary of the campus, and it is in this area that the graduate and professional school group of buildings will be constructed.
Berchmans Hall, now under construction, is on the North Benson. Road side of the campus. and the second new building to be started
soon will be immediately in front of Berchmans Hall.
Now in its fifth year the College-
Preparatory School has reached
an enrollment of more than 700. all
non-resident students. notwithstanding
the usual restrictions of entrance examinations
and a sustained h i g h
standard of studies. The securing of
an additional property, in the Sea-'
side Park area of BridgepQrt for the
accommodation of the incoming Freshman
Class of September, 1945, provided
but a temporary and inadeqate
relief. It has now become a
matter of urgent necessity to seek a
solution of more permanent value by erecting a classroom
building on the Fairfield Campus, that in addition to the
existing buildings will supply sufficient accommodations for all
the Preparatory School students and for the Freshman enrollment
of the College of Arts and Sciences, to be opened as
previously announced. in September, 1947.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY'S
FIRST UNIVERSITY
.Early in 1942 the Fathers of the Society of Jesus acquired
the splendid property of some two hundred acres.
located in the town of Fairfield, for the establishll}ent of the
future Fairfield University. In the following September, the
Fairfield College-Preparatory School
opened its full four year curriculum
of courses with a registration of 319
non-resident students.
This highly significant development has been in the planning
stage for many years. In compliance with the expressed
wish of the Bishop of the Hartford Diocese, the Most Reverend,
Maurice F. McAuliffe of revered memory. and with the encouraging
approval of his immediate successor in that office,
His Excellency, Bishop O'Brien, this first educational institution
of the Society of Jesus in Connecticut was incorporated
with the definite aim of advancing from its initial status as a
College-Preparatory School to that of an institution of higher
learning through the gradual development of collegiate, graduate
and professional schools. Such a development is in the
tradition of the comprehensive program of Jesuit education.
after the manner of the growth and expansion of such wellknown
Jesuit universities as Georgetown. Holy Cross. Boston,
Fordham, St. Louis, and Detroit.
In 1945, the General Assembly of Connecticut, upon
favorable report from the Senate Committee on Incorporations
and by joint action of the Senate and th~ House. granted a
charter to Fairfield University of Saint Robert Bellarmine,
and on May 29 of. that year the app,roving signature 01
Governor Raymond E. Baldwin was attached. By this Act
of the General Assembly, the Reverend James H. Dolan, S.J.,
Rector of the Fairfield University. was authorized and commissioned.
with his associates and their successors, to "establish,
organize, maintain and conduct an institution for intermediate,
,secondary, undergraduate and graduate education in
the :State of Connecticut ... and to confer all 'such academice
degrees as are usually given in, colleges and universities."
