St. Mary of the Plains College was a four-year

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 th ...

college in

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

, United States that closed in 1992.

History

Soule College

The roots of St. Mary of the Plains can be found in Soule College, which opened in 1888 to a gala celebration. Hopes for higher education in western Kansas were dashed by the economic depression of the 1890s. Unable to get the college off the ground, in 1903 the Presbyterians sold the institution to the Methodist Church. The Methodists had no better luck. The college was closed and the property put up for sale.

Re-opening

In 1912, John Hennessy, then Bishop of Wichita, visited Dodge City and viewed the defunct campus of Soule College. Thinking that the campus would make an appropriate Catholic boarding school for young girls, Hennessy purchased the land and buildings for $8,500. In 1913 Bishop Hennessy brought the

Sisters of St. Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for S ...

to Dodge City in order to operate a Catholic academy for day students and boarding students. Bishop Hennessy chose the name “St. Mary of the Plains Academy” and officially opened the school in September 1913. The academy was a boarding school for both grade school and high school students and also accepted day students through 1917. Operating a boarding school in Western Kansas, where the population was sparse, was never easy, but the academy struggled on and survived through the Great Depression. On May 10, 1942, however, disaster struck. A tornado blew through the campus and destroyed the buildings. There were no human casualties, but the buildings were beyond repair.

New construction

With new construction materials severely rationed due to U.S. involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Sisters of St. Joseph were unable to rebuild. The sisters were undaunted, and encouraged by Bishop Christian Winkelmann of Wichita, fundraising for a new campus proceeded. With new buildings, however, the sisters promised that the new campus would be an institution of higher education, serving both high school and college students. The groundbreaking ceremonies took place in September 1950 with a goal of construction being completed in two years. In September 1952, the exterior of the new main building, Hennessy Hall, was completed. Although work remained to be done on the interior, classes began on schedule and on September 15, 1952, St. Mary of the Plains began operation as a high school and two-year college. By 1954, the college became a four-year institution. The motto of St. Mary of the Plains College was, ''Sapientia Caritas Prudentia'' (Wisdom, Charity, Prudence). The college was accredited in 1963 by

The Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

and in 1968 became a member of the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...

. Due to expanding enrollments, the college expanded dramatically and added four dormitory buildings in the late 1960s. In 1969, with accreditation and expanding college enrollment, the high school closed.

Population decline

Enrollment declined again after the 1970s, and with a corresponding decline of population in Western Kansas, St. Mary of the Plains simply could not maintain its operations. Without a large endowment to sustain itself, in 1992 St. Mary of the Plains was forced to permanently close its doors. The campus buildings were leased to the city of Dodge City, and in the late 1990s several were sold off.

Athletics

The St. Mary of the Plains athletic teams were called the Cavaliers and Saints. The college was a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

(KCAC) from 1968–69 to 1991–92. The high school teams were known as the St. Mary of the Plains Crusaders.

Football

As of 2010, the school still holds the NAIA football record for fewest points allowed per game at 1.3 (13 points in 10 games).

Notable alumni

Gerald Govan Gerald Govan (born January 2, 1942) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA), from 1967 to 1976. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Govan played high school basketball ...

, retired NBA player * Don Dee (1943–2014), NBA player * Bradley Ralph, attorney and member of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafti ...

Records location

Campus and alumni records for St. Mary of the Plains College are housed today at

Kansas Wesleyan University Kansas Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in Salina, Kansas. Founded in 1886, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. About 800 students attend KWU, with approximately 700 of them studying on the 28-acre campus. ...

in Salina.

References

External links

St. Mary of the Plains Academy, High School and College Alumni Association

Catholic Diocese of Dodge City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary of the Plains College Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1913 Educational institutions disestablished in 1992 Buildings and structures in Dodge City, Kansas Defunct Christian universities and colleges Education in Ford County, Kansas Catholic universities and colleges in Kansas Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City 1913 establishments in Kansas 1992 disestablishments in Kansas Defunct private universities and colleges in Kansas