44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

ACKNOWLEDGING THE HISTORY AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE COLLEGE OF SANTA FE ON THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS CHARTER.

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College was founded in Santa Fe in 1859 by four members of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a teaching order founded by Jean Baptiste de la Salle in 1684; and

WHEREAS, the Christian Brothers were recruited from France by Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy, the first bishop of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College was housed in an adobe hut attached to San Miguel Chapel, located one block from the

present-day state capitol; and

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College provided the only education for young men of the territory for many years; and

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College expanded to include higher education and was chartered as the "College of the Christian Brothers of New Mexico" by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature in 1874; and

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College built its campus along the Santa Fe Trail, including the present-day Lamy Building that houses the state Tourism Department; and

WHEREAS, more than one-fifth of the delegates to the 1910 statehood Constitutional Convention were graduates of St. Michael's College; and

WHEREAS, while St. Michael's College dropped higher education after World War I, college-level courses were revived by Brother Benildus of Mary in 1947 on the grounds of the Bruns Army Hospital in Santa Fe, enrolling 148 students with a faculty of 15 Christian Brothers; and

WHEREAS, St. Michael's College graduated its first class of 23 students in 1953, including future congressman and Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan Jr.; and

WHEREAS, the college was accredited in 1965, and in 1966 it began admitting women and changed its name to the College of Santa Fe; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe assumed responsibility for the continuation of services provided by the University of Albuquerque, which closed in 1986, and has since expanded its undergraduate programs in Albuquerque, now serving over 700 students each year; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe has contributed significantly to the education of New Mexicans, and its alumni include thousands of New Mexicans in government service, professional occupations, education, business, the arts and social services; and

WHEREAS, Brother Benildus, Brother Raymond Ogden, Brother Cyprian Luke, Brother Donald Mouton and Dr. James Fries have served as presidents of the College of Santa Fe since 1947; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe, under the direction of an independent Board of Trustees, remains committed to the Lasallian philosophy of a caring, personalized education and a strong liberal arts curriculum, and it serves the community by offering many cultural and educational events annually; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe has continued to expand its regional, national and international reach and reputation through collaborative programs in New Mexico, the United States and Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe is now known throughout the United States as a preeminent institution for higher education in the liberal arts, visual arts, performing arts and moving image arts; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe operates a professional motion picture studio and sound stage which is used by the film industry, operates a collaborative education program at Santa Fe's Alvord Elementary School, offers the only master's degree in education in the United States specifically devoted to at-risk youth and offers teachers in our state the only alternative certification program for bilingual and English as a second language endorsement; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe has recently completed the construction of its new Visual Arts Center, a unique structure in New Mexico designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta; and

WHEREAS, the College of Santa Fe graduates approximately 400 students each year and is one of three private, nonprofit liberal arts colleges in New Mexico that continue to contribute significantly to the higher education of New Mexico's students;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the College of Santa Fe, President James Fries, Board of Trustees Chairman Christopher Leinberger and its Board of Trustees, its faculty, staff, students and alumni are congratulated on the quasquicentennial, the 125th anniversary of its charter, issued by the Legislature of the Territory of New Mexico in 1874; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the College of Santa Fe.