Aquinas College is a
Roman Catholic institution of
higher learning located in Nashville
, Tennessee
, named in honor of Saint
Thomas Aquinas.
Aquinas College was founded by the
Dominican Order in 1928 as St. Cecilia
Normal School, and was first a school for nuns located at the St.
Cecilia Motherhouse. In 1961, the school moved away from the
Motherhouse, opened to the public, and became Aquinas Junior
College. Aquinas College currently offers four year programs as
well, notably in
nursing and business. It is
part of the Dominican
Campus, located
approximately five miles (8 km) west of
downtown Nashville. Also on the same plot of land
are Overbrook School, an eight-grade Catholic
primary school, and Saint Cecilia Academy, a
Catholic girls'
high school.
The addition of a third and fourth year collegiate curriculum
caused a major change in the school's operation. It had previously
been a major power in junior college athletics (notably
baseball and
basketball).
However, the school's administration felt that continuing to play
junior college athletics while operating as a four-year college, as
was done for a period, misrepresented the school's true nature to
the public and that competition at the four-year collegiate level
of athletics would prove cost-prohibitive, so the institution
currently sponsors no athletic programs.
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