Saint Ignatius College Prep is a selective

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coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

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college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

located in the Near West Side neighborhood of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The school was founded in Chicago in 1869 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Dutch missionary to the United States.

History

Inception

In 1836, the Dutch Jesuit Fr.

Arnold Damen Arnold Damen (1815–1890) was a Dutch Jesuit missionary who is noted for bringing Jesuit education to Chicago. Biography Damen was born in Etten-Leur, Leur, North Brabant (The Netherlands) on March 20, 1815, and joined the Jesuit missions in No ...

, S.J. (March 20, 1815, Leur, Netherlands – January 1, 1890,

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

),In Chicago kent bijna iedereen pater Damen
(in Dutch) was recruited to work with Native Americans in the Dakotas by Fr. Peter De Smet, S.J. In 1844 he was ordained a priest in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In 1857, Damen was first assigned to Chicago to start a parish for Irish immigrants on Chicago's near-West Side, then an area of the sprawling prairie. The construction of the Holy Family Church was completed in 1860. The culmination of Father Arnold J. Damen, S.J.'s work in Chicago, the St. Ignatius campus was opened in 1870 as St. Ignatius College. Loyola University originated from this institution but, since 1922, St. Ignatius has operated solely as a college preparatory school. The Second Empire-style edifice is among the oldest in the city, a rare and distinctive example of institutional designs pre-dating the Chicago Fire of 1871.

Admissions

Demographics

The demographic breakdown by race/ethnicity of the 1,373 students enrolled for the 2019–2020 school year was:

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Saint Ignatius competes in the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some o ...

(CCL) and the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) and is a member of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...

(IHSA) which governs most sports and competitive activities in the state. The school's teams are stylized as the "Wolfpack".

Notable alumni

Charles Bidwill Charles W. Bidwill (September 16, 1895 – April 19, 1947), sometimes known as Charley Bidwill, was an owner of the National Football League's Chicago Cardinals. He owned the team for 14 seasons, from 1933 through 1946. Early years Bidwill was ...

, owner of the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

(1933–47); inducted in 1967 into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Chloe Bennet Chloé Wang (; born April 18, 1992), known professionally as Chloe Bennet, is an American actress and singer. She starred as Daisy Johnson/Quake in the ABC superhero drama series '' Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020). Early life ...

(2010), Actress and Singer * Lawrence H. Biondi, S.J. (1957), President, St. Louis University *

John P. Daley John P. Daley (born December 5, 1946) is the 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman in Chicago, Illinois, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (11th district), and the Chair of the Cook County Board Audit and Finance Committee. He has p ...

(1965), Cook County Commissioner *

William M. Daley William Michael Daley (born August 8, 1948) is an American lawyer, politician and former banker. He served as White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, from January 2011 to January 2012. He also served as U.S. Secretary of Commerc ...

(1966), former White House Chief of Staff under

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and former

U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

(1997–2000) *

Richard Driehaus Richard Herman Driehaus (; July 28, 1942 – March 9, 2021) was an American fund manager, businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder, chief investment officer, and chairman of Driehaus Capital Management LLC, based in Chicago. The philant ...

(1960), businessman and philanthropist; namesake of the

Driehaus Prize The Driehaus Architecture Prize, fully named The Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame, is a global award to honor a major contributor in the field of contemporary traditional and classical architecture. The Driehaus Prize was ...

given in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

Nnanna Egwu Nnanna Egwu (born October 22, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Earth Friends Tokyo Z of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini. Egwu holds the career record for blocks at Illin ...

(2011), professional basketball player, former

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

Mellody Hobson Mellody Hobson (born April 3, 1969) is an American businesswoman who is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, and the chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation. She is the former chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation, having stepped down after negoti ...

(1987), Co-CEO of Ariel Investments; also TV correspondent in the field of finance; married to filmmaker

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

Dan Lipinski Daniel William Lipinski (born July 15, 1966) is an American politician and political scientist who served eight terms as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 3rd congressional district from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Lip ...

(1984), Former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

representing

Illinois's 3rd congressional district Illinois's 3rd congressional district includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Marie Newman since January 3, 2021. The district was previously represented by Dan Lipinski from 2005 to 2021, and by Lipinski's father Bill ...

(2005–2021) *

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United Sta ...

(1960), former

Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives The Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives is seventh (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and President of the Senate, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Go ...

* John J. McNichols, Illinois state representative and lawyer *

Stanley Miarka Stanley Vincent Miarka (February 8, 1932 – May 28, 2001) was one of the five white professional baseball players to be the first to join the Negro American League. He was signed to the Chicago American Giants in 1950 by Ted "Double Duty" Radcl ...

, Negro league baseball second baseman *

John Mulaney John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...

(2000), Emmy-winning standup comedian and former writer on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' *

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

(1947), actor and comedian (''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'', ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psy ...

'') *

Jason Steffen Jason Hyrum Steffen (born May 15, 1975) is an American astrophysicist and assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He is also a member of the science team for NASA's Kepler mission. He worked at ...

(1982), Music Department Chair and Band Director *

Todd Stroger Todd H. Stroger (born January 14, 1963) is the former president of the Cook County, Illinois Board and a former alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago. Stroger is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2001, he was appointed to the Chicago City Counc ...

(1981), former

Cook County Board The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the Uni ...

President * Ed Sweeney, (1905), starting catcher for New York Yankees *

Robin Tunney Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. Tunney made her film debut in the comedy ''Encino Man'' (1992) and rose to prominence with leading roles in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her perform ...

(1990), actress *

Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...

, sports columnist for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and host, commentator and analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Notable faculty

David Abidor David Abidor (nicknamed "Slabby"; born October 5, 1992) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Chicago House AC in the National Independent Soccer Association. He played college soccer for University of Dayton and Creighton U ...

(born 1992), assistant soccer coach, and soccer player

Notes

References

*Directory of Private Schools (2005)
Directory of Private Schools: St. Ignatius College Prep
*Newbart, Dave. "University Dean Will Lead St. Ignatius," ''Chicago Tribune'', March 31, 1998.

External links

Official St. Ignatius College Prep websiteForgottenChicago.com's Excellent article about Architectural ornaments in the garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Ignatius College Prep Catholic schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1869 Jesuit high schools in the United States Chicago Landmarks School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Private high schools in Chicago Catholic secondary schools in Illinois 1869 establishments in Illinois School buildings completed in 1870