Mount Senario College (MSC or Mt. Senario) was a private non-profit college located in

Ladysmith, Wisconsin Ladysmith is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census. History The Ojibwe who travelled the Flambeau River called the area that would become Ladysmith ''Gakaabikijiwanan'' ...

, in the

Diocese of Superior The Diocese of Superior ( la, Dioecesis Superiorensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that encompasses the city of Superior and the counties of Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, L ...

History

Early history

The College began in 1930, when summer extension courses were conducted in

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

for the

Servants of Mary The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

(Servite Sisters) by Eau Claire State Teachers College (now

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...

). In 1952, courses were expanded to a junior college affiliated with the College of St. Scholastica. Ten years later, the Servants of Mary established Mount Senario College as a four-year college. Enrollment was open to the public and emphasis was placed on teacher training. The college was named after

Monte Senario Monte Senario is a Servite monastery in the comune of Vaglia, near Florence in Tuscany, in central Italy. It stands on the mountain of the same name, on the watershed between the Valdarno to the south and the Mugello The Mugello is a histo ...

, the birthplace of the Servite Order, near

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. In 1963, it received approval for certification of elementary teachers by th
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
approval for secondary certification was received in 1965. Mount Senario College became a non-sectarian institution in 1972, when a plan for the reorganization of the school was adopted by the board of trustees and approved by the Servants of Mary. The college was granted academic accreditation by the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...

in 1975. Mount Senario had 28 satellite locations serving students mostly in the areas of

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

. ;Main campus The main campus consisted of two major buildings. The largest was the college, consisting of college administration, library, bookstore, cafeteria, lecture hall, several classrooms, chemistry laboratory, biology laboratory and physics laboratory. Adjacent to the college building was the dormitory. ;Fine arts campus The fine arts campus was located a half mile east of the main campus, on the corner of

Wisconsin Highway 27 State Trunk Highway 27 (often called Highway 27, STH-27 or WIS 27) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The highway spans a length of and is generally two-lane local road with the exception of urban multilane arterials within some ...

and College Avenue, and consisted of one building. It had originally been erected in 1959 for Our Lady of Sorrows High School, which eventually became Servite High. When that facility closed in 1967, the building became the Fine Arts Center for Mount Senario College. This building housed MSC's music and art programs. The college used the gymnasium as a multi-functional space for basketball games, concerts and other large public gatherings.

Later history

Mount Senario closed on August 31, 2002 as a result of financial trouble. The college had been in poor financial health that was exacerbated by mismanagement and corruption involving school president Norman Stewart that ultimately led to the school's closing. The city of Ladysmith offered some financial assistance (purchasing the athletic fields); however, it was not enough to save "The Mount". Official student transcripts became the responsibility of the State of Wisconsin Educational Approval Board in August 2003 by court action. The transcript responsibility was transferred in December 2005 t
The Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

Since closing

For the 2006–07 school year, part of the former campus was operated as Concordia Preparatory School, a private Christian preparatory school. That institution also faced financial problems and closed midseason. Silver Lake College of

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

began offering courses at Mount Senario, renamed "Mount Senario Education Center", beginning September, 2009.Silver Lake College: Mount Senario Education Center's website
Silver Lake (later Silver Lake College of the Holy Family) itself closed down in 2020.

Athletics

The school colors were blue and gold, with the athletic teams named the Fighting Saints. Prior to the school suspending all athletics in December 2001, the school was a member of the

Upper Midwest Athletic Conference The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is a college-level athletic conference. The UMAC is a conference of NCAA Division III since the 2008–09 season. Prior to that, it was a non scholarship conference affiliated with National Association ...

Notable people

* A. R. Morlan (1958–2016), author

References

*Kurtz, Bill
"Now or never at embattled Mount Senario College"
''

Superior Catholic Herald Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

'', 2002. *Kurtz, Bill
"Mount Senario loses its struggle for survival"
''

'', 2002.
"Mount Senario College's Administration of the Title IV, HEA Programs for the Period July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999"

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

September 2000. *Rust, Pamela
"Fiscal, management problems undo Mount Senario"
BusinessNorth.com, August 1, 2002 {{authority control Defunct private universities and colleges in Wisconsin Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States Buildings and structures in Rusk County, Wisconsin Educational institutions established in 1930 Educational institutions disestablished in 2002 1930 establishments in Wisconsin 2002 disestablishments in Wisconsin Catholic universities and colleges in Wisconsin Servite Order