History of St. Francis College

A group of Franciscan Brothers first came to Brooklyn in 1858, opening St. Francis Academy several months later in 1859. It was the first private school in the diocese of Brooklyn. The school, which was opened to educate the boys of the diocese, started in a building on Baltic Street and grew quickly. In 1884, just 25 years later, the trustees of St. Francis received permission from the state legislature to "establish a literary college" under its current name and giving it the power to confer diplomas, honors, and degrees. In June 1885, St. Francis College conferred its first Bachelor of Arts degree, and seven years later the first Bachelor of Science degree was granted.

See a visual timeline of our first 150 years

The College continued its meteoric growth and built a new facility on Butler Street in 1926. In 1957, the Regents of the University of the State of New York granted an absolute Charter to the Trustees of the College. In 1960, St. Francis embarked on an expansion program. It moved to Remsen Street, where it had purchased two office buildings from Brooklyn Union Gas Company, allowing it to double its enrollment. Shortly thereafter, it became a co-educational institution and additional property was purchased on both Remsen and Joralemon Streets. The College expanded its facilities with the construction of a science building, athletics complex and housing to accommodate the Franciscan Brothers and provide more space for faculty.

The addition of the Anthony J. Genovesi Center in 2003 offers students additional opportunities to participate and watch athletic events while the $40 million Frank and Mary Macchiarola Academic Center which opened in 2006, houses a library, numerous smart classrooms, HDTV studio, and black box theater.

Today the School has more than 2,600 students and 20,000 alumni. They come primarily from Brooklyn and the other boroughs of New York City, although their diverse backgrounds represent some 80 countries. A record 450 undergraduate and graduate degrees were conferred in the liberal arts and sciences in May of 2012. Many distinguished public servants, scientists, lawyers, business professionals, and teachers call St. Francis College alma mater, as do many of the priests and nuns within the Dioceses of Brooklyn-Queens and Rockville Centre.

Mission

St. Francis College is an inclusive and diverse institution of higher education rooted in a commitment to academic excellence, compassionate hospitality, and ethical leadership. Inspired by St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, and founded by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, the college prepares students to serve and thrive in a global community and help shape a just society.

Goals

Recognizing the original Franciscan understanding of hospitality as a challenging, risk-taking social contract, we strive for gradient and appreciable success in achieving the following measurable goals:

1. Promoting academic excellence
   • Promoting existing and emerging academic undergraduate programs and exploring further development of graduate programs.
   • Recruiting and sustaining students and professors into a dynamic cooperative of artists-athletes-scholars.
2. Advancing a thriving intellectual community
   • Continual commitment of resources to state-of-the-art technology throughout the campus.
3. Supporting student life and the development of the whole person
   • Enabling the smooth transition of our local, national and global student body into the college community and city.
   • Promoting holistic wellness to develop both leadership and fellowship.
4. Enabling the transition from student to citizen of the world
   • Fostering students’ self-confidence and encouraging both responsibility and innovation through mentoring, classroom experiences and internships.
   • Developing collaborative leadership and citizenship by participation in activities, sports, clubs, and student-faculty projects.