Regis College - Ranger Yearbook (Denver, CO)

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s 7 Fj£ kft; ' : -- ' ---s:i:. ■-.;,.; ■ : ' » » w . ? ' — r ' ta w. ; - ' £:- p ' .»;. The sunken garden east of Carroll Hall in morning sunlight. students with all its news under the surveillance of Fr. William Doyle. The result of the first year assured the Jesuits that their efforts had not been wasted; the College was firmly established. Just two years later, the first graduates of the College gained their well-earned diplomas. In that first year graduating class were exactly ten men, sturdy and true, who had survived t he hard- ships of preparation and now were prepared to steer their ships of state. That year saw, too, the first dramatic venture of the College prove highly successful when it was presented in the old Tabor Theater before a capacity crowd. The statue, which today decorates our beautiful campus, was erected through the donations of Mr. and Mrs. Walker (parents of the College ' s first benefactor) and Mr. Robert Johnson of Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, at a total cost of over $1,500.00. The statue was blessed and the school consecrated to the Sacred Heart on the feast of St. Peter Claver. Later in the year the first priest was ordained in the College chapel, and the first free scholarship was offered in this year as well. The year 1891 was a most interesting one for it was in this year that Brother Ben, 11 as he is known to all Regis men, took possession of the Grotto. 11 The grotto had been previously built at a cost of $300.00 and was in serious danger of being torn down until the good brother came to its rescue. That grotto is today indeed an inspir- ation to all that are drawn to its beauty. In ad- dition to the one little shrine which decorated the hollow then, there are now seven beautiful objects of worship. Not only Brother Ben, but every Page 10

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The Story of Fifty Years Page 9 Pantanella was greatly impressed with the possi- bilities of Colorado Springs harboring a large col- lege, and some even say that the property was already purchased, though the records give no such indication. Finally upon the insistence of Bishop Machebeuf, Regis was destined to adorn North Denver. Mr. J. Bnsben Walker generously offered forty acres of land northwest of the city. After some discussion the land upon which the College now stands was selected. Rocky Moun- tain Lake was permitted the students for their private use; and in addition to the foregoing dona- tion Mr. L. K. Perrin generously offered the Col- lege ten more acres. On September 13, 1887, ground was broken and the cornerstone of the new College of the Sacred Heart was laid by Fr. Marra, then superior of the New Mexico-Colorado Mission. Work progressed on the building very rapidly and the building was completed in one hundred days. The College of the Sacred Heart was not con- sidered a new institution but merely a continua- tion of the Morrison and Las Vegas Colleges. Fr. Persone was appointed to act as the first president of the College upon its opening on September 5, 1888. The curriculum was made up of a classical and a commercial course. By an act of the Colo- rado State Legislature, the College was empow- ered to confer degrees. It is in the first year of its existence that the College saw its first publica- tion appear — The Highlander. The paper was discontinued in 1893 and the school was wi thout a publication until 1918 when the first issue of the Brown and Gold attracted the attention of the Carroll Hall is the Regis collegians ' residence.

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The Story oi Fifty Years Page 1 1 Regis man has taken a keen interest in the growth of the grotto and the inspiration that it affords. It now stands as one of the greatest attractions of the enire campus with its beautiful tribute in stat- ues and shrines to Sts. Aloysius, Joseph, Xavier, Isaac Jogues, and Patrick, as well as to the Little Flower. This same year the Holy Family Parish was founded at the College and was moved to its present location only in 1904. Tragedy stalked the campus in the following year, 1892. Two boys were trapped in a fallen cave which today would be located just south of Carroll Hall. The first boy brought out was al- ready dead and the hopes for the second were greatly diminished, but happily upon the second boy ' s revival the fear of a greater tragedy was erased from the minds of the anxious onlookers. The financial panic which followed in the next year almost succeeded in closing the school, but the Jesuits had founded the school amid hardships and were not to be deterred from their ideals by a few inconveniences. The College weathered the troubled times safely. From 189 ' ) to 1919 the story of Sacred Heart College is one of beginnings; for it was during these years that most of the present campus activi- ties were developed. In 189?, athletics first ap- peared on the campus as an organized form of ac- tivity. A philosophate for the Jesuits of the Colo- rado-New Mexico Mission was formed in 1896, The Grotto and garden of our Lady of Lourdes. . • ' .:-.- ' ' ' % ? mm t r ! fm W tS mrvx ' ' wife K? W jr m r » t ' ' S ' -, H , . vj m Br 4 v. - -r rx-- ■ ? t m ' ,, • -r »iW p ?sflP- •jsa - - % $$ »-