[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 108 (Thursday, July 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the University 
of Scranton on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of its founding. 
For more than a century, this esteemed institution of higher education 
has made invaluable contributions to the City of Scranton, the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, most importantly, the lives of its 
many alumni.
  Founded in 1888 as Saint Thomas College by Most Reverend William G. 
O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, the college was staffed by 
diocesan priests and seminarians until 1896, and then briefly by the 
Xaverian Brothers. From 1897 until the arrival of the school's first 
Jesuit administration in 1942, the college was administered for the 
Diocese by the Christian Brothers. Renamed the University of Scranton 
in 1938, it is today ``a community dedicated to the freedom of inquiry 
and personal development fundamental to the growth in wisdom and 
integrity of all who share its life.''
  I am proud that my hometown is host to an academic institution of the 
caliber of the University of Scranton. An anchor of the city's Hill 
Section, the university has grown well beyond its roots as a commuter 
school into a nationally recognized and respected university with a 
total enrollment of over 6,000 students in undergraduate, graduate and 
nontraditional programs.
  As a Senator representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and a 
member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and 
Pensions, ensuring that our Nation's children and young adults have 
access to high quality educational opportunities is one of my highest 
priorities. I firmly believe that anyone with the drive, fortitude and 
desire to pursue the opportunities afforded by higher education should 
be able to realize that dream. Throughout its history, the University 
of Scranton has enabled countless students to further their education 
and become productive members of society.
  It is with great pride, as both a Senator from Pennsylvania and as a 
native of Scranton, that I honor the University of Scranton today. The 
contributions that this institution has made to both our Commonwealth 
and to our Nation are commendable, and I wish them all the 
best.

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