[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 127 (Wednesday, September 26, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9871-S9872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACADEMY OF THE SACRED 
                                 HEART

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, earlier this month people in my 
home state of Michigan gathered to celebrate the 150th birthday of the 
Academy of the Sacred Heart an institution that, even though it was 
founded for the ``sake of one child,'' has been providing excellence in 
education to countless individuals. This celebration culminated on 
Sunday, September 16, 2001, when His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida, 
Archbishop of Detroit conducted a celebratory liturgy for this the 
oldest independent school in the State of Michigan.
  This year marks the third centenary anniversary of Detroit, MI. In 
that time, many changes have dramatically altered the city as it 
evolved from a small trading outpost into an international center of 
commerce and industry. Through all these changes, one thing has 
remained constant for the past century and a half: the Society of the 
Sacred Heart's commitment to educating the youth of metro Detroit. 
During this time, the Academy of the Sacred Heart has been an 
institution dedicated to the education of mind, body and spirit. This 
focus on educating the whole person has enabled the Academy to develop 
students that embody the hallmarks of a Catholic education: 
intellectual rigor combined with service to God and others.
  The Academy began in 1821 when the co-founder of the University of 
Michigan, Father Gabriel Richard asked the Society of the Sacred Heart 
to establish a foundation in Detroit. In 1849,

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the Society was given the land necessary to establish a school, and the 
doors to the first school opened on Jefferson Avenue, between St. 
Antoine and Beaubien Streets, in 1861.
  In its first 20 years, this institution--dedicated to the pursuit of 
``faith seeking understanding'' and the service of others--underwent a 
tenfold increase in enrollment. Detroit's economic growth paralleled 
the school's increasing enrollment, and the school found itself 
surrounded by factories and warehouses. The changing demographic led 
the school to sell its building, in 1918, to the Packard Motor Co. The 
school relocated to the corner of Lawrence and Woodrow Wilson Avenues. 
Further development and the establishment of the Lodge Freeway 
separated this new facility from the neighborhoods it served and 
enrollment dropped. This led the school to seek yet another new campus.
  The third incarnation of the Academy of the Sacred Heart led it to 
its present location in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Today, the Academy 
continues to build on its tradition of faith and dedication to service. 
Attendance has blossomed at the school with nearly 500 students, of 
many faiths and cultural backgrounds, from all across the Detroit area. 
In addition to receiving quality academic instruction, students at the 
Academy learn by performing community service through various 
organizations in Detroit.
  The entire Academy of the Sacred Heart community--the Society of the 
Sacred Heart, the faculty, alumni and current students--can take pride 
in the school's long and honorable service to the people of Michigan. I 
hope my Senate colleagues will join me in saluting the Academy of the 
Sacred Heart for a century and a half of achievement and in wishing 
them well on the next century and a half of continued success.

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