Georgian Court University (GCU or Georgian Court) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

university in

Lakewood Township, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5 ...

. Founded in 1908 by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

, the university has more than 1,600 undergraduates and nearly 600 graduate students. The institution became a university in 2004 and began admitting male students in 1994 after more than 100 years as a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

. The university is open to students of all faiths, while emphasizing its mission of Mercy, which incorporates respect, justice, integrity, compassion, and service. The Lakewood campus (main campus) was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978Added on December 20, 1978: With and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1985.

History

Location

The main campus was built in 1899 on the former summer estate of the millionaire George Jay Gould, son of the railroad tycoon

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...

. The Goulds named their home ''Georgian Court'', probably after George or the Georgian-revival architecture. The estate was designed by

Bruce Price Bruce Price (December 12, 1845 – May 29, 1903) was an American architect and an innovator in the Shingle Style. The stark geometry and compact massing of his cottages in Tuxedo Park, New York, influenced Modernist architects, including ...

, a New York architect, and was one of his most important residential works. He also designed three of the campus's gardens: the Italian Gardens, the Sunken Garden, and the Formal Garden.

Takeo Shiota was a Japanese-American landscape architect, best known for his design of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Biography Shiota was born about 40 miles (60 km) outside of Tokyo on July 13, 1881. He came to the ...

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 Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum, on the campus of Georgian Court University, in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, United States, was once the landscaped park for the winter home of George Jay Gould, millionaire son of railroad tycoon Jay G ...

. The estate was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture and its association with the Goulds. In March 2022, GCU announced that it had reached an agreement to sell 42 acres of mostly unused land at the edge of its campus and several administrative buildings along Lakewood Avenue to

Beth Medrash Govoha Beth Medrash Govoha ( he, בית מדרש גבוה, Sephardi pronunciation: ''Beth Midrash Gavoha''. lit: "High House of Learning"; also known as Lakewood Yeshiva or BMG) is a Haredi Jewish Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' in Lakewood Township, New Jerse ...

for an undisclosed sum. The proceeds of the sale will be used to construct a new center for nursing and health sciences, to reimagine its Casino building (currently used as a multi-purpose office and event space) as a modern student center, to update its Mansion building (currently used for receptions) to be used as an administration hub, and to modernize its student housing/dorm facilities.

School

The

founded Mount Saint Mary College as a liberal arts school for women in 1908, in North Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1924, the

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

purchased Georgian Court estate and moved the college there, renaming it Georgian Court College. For more than a century, from 1908 to 2015, the institution was headed by Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy organization continues to sponsor Georgian Court through the Conference for Mercy Higher Education. The full transition to a coeducational institution, admitting both women and men into all academic programs, became complete at the outset of the Fall 2013 semester. Georgian Court is the only Catholic college or university located in Central or South New Jersey. Most of its enrollment is drawn from these areas. In 2004, university status was granted by the

New Jersey Commission on Higher Education The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education is a government agency in New Jersey that is responsible for providing coordination, planning, policy development, and advocacy for the state's higher education system. The Commission is also responsibl ...

; the name was changed to Georgian Court University.

Administration and faculty

The first eight presidents (1908–2015) of the school were all

. The first male academic dean was appointed in 1967. In 2015, Joseph R. Marbach, Ph.D., became the first permanent

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune * Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) ...

president — and the first male — to take the helm of Georgian Court University.

Academics

Georgian Court offers more than 35 undergraduate majors and 10 graduate majors through the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business and Digital Media, and the School of Education. In July 2021, the university formally created the Hackensack Meridian ''Health'' School of Nursing & Wellness at Georgian Court to house its undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Georgian Court University is nondiscriminatory and welcomes people of all faiths. Beyond classes offered on the main campus in Lakewood, Georgian Court programs are also offered at GCU at Lincroft, New Jersey (at

Brookdale Community College Brookdale Community College is a public community college in the Lincroft section of Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1967, the college also has regional locations in Neptune Township, ...

's Northern

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

Campus), online and at other locations.

Athletics

The school colors are blue and gold, and the mascot is a lion. The Georgian Court University Lions have 14 sports teams that compete in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

. The university is a member of the

Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (or CACC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fourteen member institutions are located in the northeaster ...

(CACC). GCU features a 67,000-square-foot Wellness Center equipped for athletic training, physical education and sports competitions. In addition, a 1,200-seat arena, athletics fields which offer synthetic turf, a six-court outdoor tennis center, and an abundance of training space offer student-athletes modern facilities and on-campus resources for their sports and recreational activities. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track & field, and volleyball. As of fall of 2013, Georgian Court added men's sports when it became fully coeducational, adding men's basketball, cross country, soccer, and track & field. Men's lacrosse was added in the spring of 2016.

"Real tennis"

One of the many historic aspects of the campus is that it houses the only "

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

" court, also called a "court tennis" court, at an American school. This indoor tennis court was built in the Casino building (which was a "

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

" in the 19th-century sense of the term: a place for social gatherings). Approximately forty-five real tennis courts are still in use in the world today.

Gallery

File:Georgian Court, Lakewood, NJ - Sunken garden and marble stairway.jpg, Sunken Garden and marble stairway Image:Georgian Court University - Japanese Garden.JPG, Japanese Garden Image:Georgian Court University - Sculptural detail.JPG, Sculptural detail File:Georgian Court, Lakewood, NJ - Casino, eastern entrance.jpg, The Casino (unrelated to gambling) Image:Jeu_de_paume.jpg, '' Jeu de paume'' (

, 17th century)

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1908 Real tennis venues National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Catholic universities and colleges in New Jersey Sisters of Mercy colleges and universities Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Lakewood Township, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Ocean County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places 1908 establishments in New Jersey Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges in Ocean County, New Jersey Gilded Age mansions Georgian Revival architecture in New Jersey