[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 74 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CELEBRATING THE 175TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. MARY'S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 14, 2015

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 16, 2015, students, faculty, and staff 
will gather in historic St. Mary's City, Maryland, to celebrate the St. 
Mary's College of Maryland Class of 2015 Commencement. They--along with 
many others across Maryland and our country--will also be marking the 
175th anniversary of the College's founding.
  Since its humble beginnings in 1840 as a female seminary, St. Mary's 
College of Maryland has been a center of learning and educational 
empowerment. Set along the St. Mary's River, where Leonard Calvert and 
the first English settlers disembarked from the Ark and Dove in 1634 to 
found the colony of Maryland, it expanded in the early twentieth 
century to become the State's first junior college and became co-
educational. In the 1960's, the school transitioned into a four-year 
college and granted its first undergraduate degrees in 1971. 
Recognizing its tradition of excellence in liberal arts education, its 
high standards, and its unique history, the Maryland General Assembly 
formalized St. Mary's College of Maryland as the state's only public 
honors college in 1992. Today, it continues to graduate some of 
Maryland's best and brightest students from thirty-one academic 
programs and ranks among the best public liberal arts colleges in the 
nation.
  I am proud to represent the students, faculty, and staff of St. 
Mary's College of Maryland in Congress as well as to have served as a 
member of its Board of Trustees since 1995. Alumni of the College run 
businesses, contribute to the arts and athletics, conduct research in 
marine biology and the environment, report the news through national 
outlets, and serve in government--including in my Congressional office. 
They are continuing their alma mater's tradition of preparing graduates 
to make a difference wherever they live and work throughout Maryland 
and across our country.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating the entire St. 
Mary's College of Maryland community, led by its dynamic new President, 
Tuajuanda Jordan, on reaching its 175th year of serving as a living 
memorial to those first Maryland colonists' commitment to religious 
freedom, tolerance, and opportunity.

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