The University of Saint Joseph 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 recorded ...

Catholic university in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...

, United States. It was founded in 1932 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 st ...

by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

of Connecticut and began admitting men to its undergraduate programs in 2018. The university is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...

. There are 857 undergraduate and 959 graduate students (fall 2024). USJ has more than 30 bachelor's degree programs and more than 30 graduate programs including master's programs and two doctoral programs (Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Pharmacy).

History

When it was founded in 1932, USJ was the first college for women in the Hartford area. Psychology professor

Pamela Trotman Reid Pamela Trotman Reid is an American developmental psychologist Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and ch ...

became the first African-American president of the university when she was appointed in 2008; she retired in 2015. In November 2016, the University of Saint Joseph began its comprehensive research and review of becoming a coeducational institution. Based on this review, the university began admitting male students to all full-time undergraduate programs in the fall of 2018.

Notable alumni

* Barbara Favola, Virginia State Senator * Catherine Gentile, author * Jahana Hayes, United States Representative *

Marilynn Malerba Marilynn Roberge Malerba (Mohegan-Pequot language, Mohegan-Pequot: , ; born August 17, 1953) is an American tribal leader and former nurse who is the lifetime chief of the Mohegan Tribe. She previously served as the 45th treasurer of the United ...

, Treasurer of the United States and 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe *

Evelyn Mantilla Evelyn Mantilla (born February 16, 1963) is an American politician from Connecticut who served from 1997 to 2007 as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Mantilla was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and moved to Hartford, Connecticut, ...

, former United States Representative * Maura Melley, former Connecticut Secretary of State * Antonina Uccello, former Mayor of Hartford

Facilities

The University of Saint Joseph has maintained a distinctive Georgian brick architecture in most of its 19 buildings, including six residence halls, a library, student life building, administration and classroom buildings, and an arts center with a theater and art gallery, among others. The buildings are arranged around two tree-lined quadrangles on an campus designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a Landscape architecture, landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape ar ...

. Approximately 73 percent of first-year students live on campus and USJ offers university sponsored off-campus housing at the Millennium in downtown Hartford.

O'Connell Athletic Center

The O'Connell Athletic Center features a newly renovated fitness center, indoor track, six-lane pool, two gymnasiums, a varsity weight room, and newly renovated locker rooms. The OC's outdoor complex includes six tennis courts, a turf soccer/lacrosse/field hockey field, turf softball field, and grass practice field.

Nursing Education and Simulation Center

This lab is a combination classroom, clinical practice area, and study space, and provides a high-quality simulation-based health care education. The unit includes an array of medical technology such as an electronic medication system, a Pyxis machine for dispensing medications, and high-fidelity manikins that enable students to practice a broad range of skills.

Art Museum

USJ's on-campus Art Museum houses a collection of more than 2,800 works of fine art.

MakerspaceCT

In April 2024, USJ announced its partnership with MakerspaceCT, a 28,000-square-foot workshop and skills development center in Hartford, offering the community support and resources to learn and create. Through this partnership, USJ’s engineering science students will have access to those resources and the opportunity to apply for internships with MakerspaceCT.

Athletics

USJ Blue Jays wordmark In September 2018, the university made headlines by signing

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is an American former college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships ( ...

, a

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

inductee, as head coach of the newly formed men's basketball team. The list of varsity sports includes (for both, men's and women's) basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Men's only sports include baseball, and women's only include field hockey, softball, and volleyball, for a total of 10 sports sponsored by the University of Saint Joseph at Connecticut.

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control 1932 establishments in Connecticut Buildings and structures in West Hartford, Connecticut Universities and colleges established in 1932

University of Saint Joseph The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) is a private Catholic university in Macau, China. The university was founded in 1996, previously known as Macau Inter-University Institute (; ; IIUM). It was jointly organized by the Catholic Universi ...

Universities and colleges in Hartford County, Connecticut Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Liberal arts colleges in Connecticut