St Francis College - Motus Yearbook (Biddeford, ME)

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First high school graduates, circa 1943. Saint Francis High School, I940. The majority of human institutions have had very humble beginnings. They are products of their age, formed to meet certain needs. 80, too, our College, now in its tenth year is of similar origin and was founded to meet a certain need, the higher education of the youth of today. Invited to Biddeford by Fathers Zenon and Deccry, who were then serving Saint An- dre's Parish, two Franciscan priests and a Franciscan brother began their opostolate in Biddeford, Maine on November 30, 1933. In finding a new settlement in Biddeford, these men were following in the apostolic tradition of their Order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century. The conquer- ing spirit of Saint Francis, common to his sons, brought to our continent its first missionaries with Columbus. The names of Le Caron, Hennepin, Juan Perez and Junipero Serra hove immortalized the missionary labors of countless Franciscan pioneers. Until 1937 the Franciscan priests served as chaplains of local convents, assisted the parish priests in their pastoral work and preached retreats in the area. They founded Saint Francis High School in an endeavor to meet the needs of the Catholic youth of the area. The High School enjoyed a rapid growth and was soon considered to be of high caliber. The First graduation was in 1943, at which time the administration judged it expedient to extend the educational program to include the First two years of college. 17

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Reverend Father Justinien Mercier, O.F.Mt the Franchcan fdary and Rs hrn supedov The founder of Decary Hall, circa 1914. True education is the art of developing and cultivating the various physical, intel- lectual, aesthetic and moral faculties. It is a bringing to fruition of the rationality and the unimality of the human being. Man is man and he who wouid deny his animality would err grievously. But for the great thinkers man has always been some- thing more. It is his spiritual nature which places him above the animal. Only an insti- tution which recognizes these spiritual dimen- sions can hope to pierce through the confines of materialism to the world of true morality and true education. Such were the aims of Saint Francis Col- lege when the State of Maine chartered it as a four-year liberal arts college in 1953. At that time, the trustees, their associ- ates and successors of the Franciscan Fathers of Maine were constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of Franciscan Fathers of Maine. The corporation was further em- powered and authorized to establish, main- tain and conduct at Biddeford an institution of higher learning to be known as Saint Francis College, and to provide in that College instruction in such languages and in the liberal and useful arts and sciences, including, but not limited to, courses in the humanities, sacred sciences, as the trustees of that corporation would determine; and to grant and confer at and through the College the academic degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science.

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18 9 Presentation of the College Charter, 1953. left to right: Mr. Harold D. Carroll iApostolic Syndich Reverend Norman Thibodeau tHigh School Principal,,- Reverend Frederic Belanger v'fxrst CoHege Presidentl; Governor Cross; Mr. Napoleon Nadeau xBiddetord representative in the Maine Legislature1. Foundation at the new building, circa 1949. From a humble missionary settlement, estab- lished in 1933 on the banks of Saco Bay, Saint Francis, by 1943, had grown a iunior col. lege. Further development was inevitable and the year 1953 witnessed the granting of a Senior College Charter. It is for these reasons that we the graduates of 1963, feel it neces. sary to include this section in MOTUS 1963: to celebrate this triple anniversary of Saint Francis College. World War 11 ha1ted plans for the erection of new living quarters and a gym. Only through a community etctort, in the Iiterai sense of the term, was Saint Francis able to overcome the dimcultiest Neighboring houses were obtained and converted to serve academic purposes. During these same trying years the Fathers, Brothers and students channeled their physical energies to the leveling and landscaping of the athletic Field and the campus. Construction of Saint Francis Hall began in 1948 and was completed in 1950. This new hall served many purposes. 1t provided housing for 200 students, served as a dining room, included twelve classrooms and a gym- nasium. With these added facilities, Saint Francis College was empowered by the state legislature to grant the degrees of Bacheior of Arts and Bachelor of Science. In the sixth month of 1954 Saint Francis First awarded diplomas to its graduates. Because of the rising cost of maintaining both College and High School and because of the urgent need fOr higher Catholic education, the Franciscan Fathers decided to devote all of their resources to expand the College and de cided to eliminate the High School. Saint Francis College High School had its last grade uation in 1960. The new development program which was drawn up in 1961, under the guidance of educational consultants, underlined the urgent need for more land in order to assure ade- quate expansion. The College acquired the adjoining Stella Maris property and adjacent parcels of land thus extending the campus to 130 acres along the Saco River. After underv going considerable remodeling this summer, Stella Maris Hall now houses the Friary, the Library and the Administration. The necessity for this expansion is witnessed by a Rockefeller Foundation report on educa- tion which states in part: Education and col- lege administrators are greatly concerned with what they describe as, 'the coming tidal wave of studentsf This it is estimated will, within a decade or 50, deposit six million students on the doorsteps of the Nationis institutions of higher learning. There are some three million