St. John Fisher University 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 ...

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022.

History

St. John Fisher University (originally St. John Fisher College) was founded as a men's college in 1948 by the Basilian Fathers and with the aid of

James E. Kearney James Edward Kearney (October 28, 1884 – January 12, 1977) was an Americans, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, Diocese of Salt Lake City in Utah (1932–1937) and ...

, then the Bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. The college became independent in 1968 and coeducational in 1971. In 2015, St. John Fisher College applied for and received the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE). The college was listed as a census-designated place in 2020. In 2022, the college was renamed St. John Fisher University.

Academics

Fisher is made up of five schools. It offers 35 undergraduate majors, as well as a variety of master's and doctoral programs.

School of Arts and Sciences

The School of Arts and Sciences is the largest school within St. John Fisher University. It offers degrees and minors in over 20 undergraduate academic disciplines.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education

The School is named after

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the f ...

, the founding owner of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. It is accredited by the

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was a professional accreditor focused on accrediting teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. It was founded in 1954 and was recognized as an accreditor by ...

and offers undergraduate degrees in Inclusive Adolescence Education and Inclusive Childhood Education. It also offers a master's degree and initial certification program for those areas. Teachers already holding initial certification can earn graduate degrees and professional certification in Literacy Education (B-6 and 5–12), Special Education, and Educational Leadership, as well as an accelerated Doctor of Education in Executive Leadership. The School of Education is active in community outreach programs including a literacy center that provides tutoring and small group instruction in literacy for elementary through high school students. The School of Education works closely with local school districts including the Rochester City School District, which hosts a number of Professional Development Sites where practicing teachers and pre-service teachers work alongside education faculty to develop best practices.

School of Business

Fisher's business programs are accredited by the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...

(AACSB International). When this accreditation was gained, all business programs at the University were brought together in 2003 to form the school's first professional school, the School of Business.

Wegmans School of Pharmacy

The Wegmans School of Pharmacy is one of eight pharmacy schools in New York State and is the first pharmacy school in the Greater Rochester community. It opened in fall 2006 and became fully accredited in May 2010. It awards a

Doctor of Pharmacy A Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD; New Latin: ''Pharmaciae Doctor'') is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries the ...

degree to candidates who successfully complete four years of professional study. The school was made possible by a $5 million gift from the late Robert Wegman, who served for many years as president of

Wegmans Food Markets Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a privately held American supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Gates, New York, and was founded in 1916 in Rochester. As of , Wegmans has 110 stores, mostly in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions. ...

Wegmans School of Nursing

This school is also named after Robert Wegman, who contributed $8 million to the college to create the School of Nursing. Fisher's nursing programs are fully accredited by the

New York State Education Department The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...

and the

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is a nursing education accrediting agency in the United States. The CCNE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. CCNE accreditation is a voluntary, self-regulatory process, and the ...

. The university also offers an online RN to BSN program, master's degrees in both Nursing and Mental Health Counseling, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.

Scholarships

Nearly all first-year students receive some form of financial assistance. Need-based and merit-based scholarships, as well as grants, loans, and part-time employment, are available for eligible students. Two unique scholarships are awarded to incoming freshmen.

Athletics

The university is a founding member of the Empire 8 Athletic Association and competes with other full member schools. It competes at the NCAA Division III level, and is a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), the Empire 8, the Liberty League (men's and women's rowing), and the United Volleyball Conference (men's). Its mascot is the

. During the 2014–15 season, St. John Fisher won Empire 8 championships for men's indoor track & field, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's outdoor track & field, men's golf, and women's lacrosse. Growney Stadium is home to Fisher's football, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse teams. The stadium's all-weather playing field has lighting and a 2,500 seat grandstand. The Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium is home to the men's and women's basketball teams. Dugan Yard is Fisher's baseball field. Other outdoor facilities include the Polisseni Track and Field Complex, regulation-sized practice fields (which serve as the home rugby fields), and a softball diamond. In 2006, Fisher's football team finished the season with a 12–2 record overall and shared the Empire 8 Conference title. Fisher received an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, in which they defeated Union College,

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

, and Rowan University to reach the national semifinals, which they lost to Mount Union College, the defending national champions, by a score of 26–14. In 2007, Fisher's men's basketball team won the Empire 8 Conference title for the 5th consecutive year and the 6th time in seven years. In 2006, Fisher advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship Tournament. The women's basketball program was led for 34 seasons by Phil Kahler, who posted a career record of 797 wins (the most in Division III history) and 175 losses with a career winning percentage of .821. Under Kahler, the women's basketball program reached the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament 14 times and played in the

NCAA Women's Division III Basketball Championship The NCAA Division III women's basketball championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of women's NCAA Division III collegiate basketball in the United States. It was held annually from 1982, when the NCAA began to spo ...

game in 1988 and 1990. Kahler retired shortly before the start of the 2008–09 basketball season and was replaced on the bench by Marianne O'Connor Ermi, his top assistant coach for 20 seasons. The women's basketball team is now led by Melissa Kuberka who was hired as a head coach before the 2017-18 season.

Buffalo Bills Training Camp

Since 2000, St. John Fisher University has been home to the

summer training camp.

Student life

Many campus clubs and organizations are available to students. Four of the major organizations on campus include the Student Government Association, the Student Activities Board, the Residence Hall Association, and Commuter Council. Other clubs include music groups, Greek-lettered organizations, language clubs, cultural organizations, student publications, and intramural sports. Many academic departments also sponsor clubs. Fisher students can contribute to the community through a variety of service organizations including Students With a Vision and Colleges Against Cancer. Numerous service projects occur each year including Project Community Convergence, Relay for Life, the Giant Read, and the Sweetheart Ball.

Teddi Dance for Love

The Annual Teddi Dance for Love is a 24 hour dance marathon started by Lou Buttino in 1983 that benefits

Camp Good Days and Special Times Camp Good Days and Special Times, commonly called "Camp Good Days", is a residential summer camp which provides summer camping experiences for children, adults and families whose lives have been touched by cancer and other life challenges. The ...

, Inc. This project funds a trip to Florida for the children of Camp Good Days and has raised over $1 million since its inception.

Notable alumni

* Russ Brandon, sports executive, and current President of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. * Rich Christiano, film director, producer, and writer. *

Maria Cino Maria Cino (born April 19, 1957) is an American public servant and political operative of the Republican Party. She served in the United States Department of Commerce and served as acting United States Secretary of Transportation during the Geor ...

, public servant and political operative of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. *

Richard C. David Richard Claude "Rich" David (born May 14, 1976) is an American politician and journalist. He served as the mayor of Binghamton, New York from 2014 to 2021. He ran for the 52rd district of the New York State Senate in 2022. Education and early ...

, former mayor of

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. * Mark C. Johns, former member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

. * Dan Kane, news reporter and investigative journalist for the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper The News & Observer. * Pandora Boxx, drag queen, and contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race (season 2),

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 1) The first season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012. Contestants from the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' show returned to compete again. Cast members were announced on August 6.

, and

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 6) The sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' premiered on June 24 and concluded on September 2, 2021. The first two episodes of the season aired on the same day. On August 20, 2020, VH1 renewed both ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and ''All Star ...

. *

David G. Larimer David George Larimer (born March 3, 1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. Education and career Born in Rochester, New York, Larimer received a Bachelor of Arts ...

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. * John “JR” Rickert, sports agent, chief operating officer of Authentic Athletix Sports Agency's East Coast Offices, and the owner of JR Sports Enterprises. Additionally, he is a former high school teacher and coach, and the current principal of

Niskayuna High School Niskayuna High School is a public high school in Niskayuna, New York, United States, and is the only high school operated by the Niskayuna Central School District. History Niskayuna High School opened in 1957 after the Board of Education recomme ...

. *

Jamie Romeo Jamie Romeo is an American politician from the state of New York. A Democrat, Romeo has served as Monroe County Clerk since 2020. She previously represented the 136th district in the New York State Assembly, covering parts of Rochester and its ...

, former member of the New York State Assembly, and current Monroe County Clerk. *

John Schwert John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, film and commercial director and producer and owner/operator of ''Fourth Ward Productions''. *

Edward W. Stack Edward W. Stack (born 1954/1955) is an American billionaire businessman. In 1984, Stack took over as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dick's Sporting Goods, a sports equipment retailing company founded in 1948 by his father, Dick S ...

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman who was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

from 1984 to 2021. Son of Dick’s Sporting Goods founder Richard “Dick” Stack.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John Fisher College 1948 establishments in New York (state) Education in Rochester, New York Educational institutions established in 1948 Former Catholic universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in Monroe County, New York Catholic universities and colleges in New York (state) Liberal arts colleges in New York (state) Private universities and colleges in New York (state)