History of Marylhurst University

I know many people don't know about Marylhurst University. The campus is located 10 minutes south of Portland, Oregon on Highway 43, between Lake Oswego and West Linn. MU is the oldest Catholic University in Oregon.

Here is a general outline in MU history:

First, a group of Catholic nuns called The Sisters of the Holy Names came to the Northwest to serve the educational needs of the community in 1859.

In 1893, The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary started a liberal arts college for young ladies in downtown Portland, OR. The school was original called St. Mary's Academy and College. The Sisters realized young ladies didn't have much opportunity to have higher education so they believed it was an injustice.
(This is one of the events that have MU today to believe in social justice for all.)

In 1908, The Sisters brought 63 acres of land between Lake Oswego and West Linn to build a permanent college space for their young female students. In addition to have housing for the faculty, the nuns and the students so no one need to commute. Back then, cars weren't used as often as now and many people couldn't afford them. In this area of Oregon, there weren't really any paved roads like today.

Where did Marylhurst name comes from? The Sisters has Mary, the mother of Jesus as their patron. In 1913, they renamed the area by combining words, "Mary" (the Mather of Jesus), and "hurst" (woods). To make it more melodious, the "L" was added, thus, creating "Marylhurst."

In 1929, one of the first original buildings was built called the Administration Building. This building was rededicated in 1988 in honor of B.P. John, pioneer furniture manufacturer of the area (John's Landing) and father of MU's first registrant in 1920, Imelda John Condon '34. On the third floor of the B.P. John Administration building is where many of my ed classes will be. My professors' offices is also up there as well as the ed department main office.

In front of this building, there is a fountain paid for through the donations of the men employed at the College back in 1933. Next to it, there is the Knight's Green (2006), in honor of NIKE's Phil and Penny Knight whose generosity made possible the Marylhurst Knights Opportunity Scholarship program. This space I heard is where many students like to rest, study or play outside games on warm, sunny days.


From the beginning, the college was for women only. The college's vision to serve more people came in 1974 when men enrolled here for higher education. In 1974, Marylhurst becomes a co-educational institution and the first liberal arts college in the United States to be designated as a college for lifelong learning.

In 1998, the college got renamed as Marylhurst University, Clackamas County's first
university. Marylhurst University is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Marylhurst has received specialized accreditation and approvals from numerous organizations. The first accreditation happened in 1931.


Here is a link for more history details of MU: http://www.marylhurst.edu/aboutmarylhurst/history.php.

Here is a quick history on preparing students to become teachers:

The Sisters ran the Marylhurst Normal School, a separately incorporated institution for teacher certification, the Normal School was granted a charter by the state in 1911. A change in Oregon law allowed the Sisters to merge the program with Marylhurst College in 1950. When the college changed visions, they stopped offering the teacher training program.

Over 5 years ago, Tomas Ruhl and many other MU faculty wanted to go back to the university's early vision to prepare people to enter the teaching profession.

In 2007, the Masters of Arts in Teaching program was inaugurated and approved by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission of Oregon.

In 2008, the Masters of Education program was included into the ed department.

In previous blog entries, I have shared with you why I chose Marylhurst and why I chose the teaching profession as my career path. MU's grad ed programs is relatively new but it is strong. The ed department people did a lot of research in what makes a strong teacher training program and connected to what the university's mission is. Many of the values here is the same or similar in what I believe in the education field and teaching. You will get to know more as I write more blogs through my journey in grad school.

R.I.P. Thomas Ruhl who was the ed department chair as well as the founder of the graduate ed programs. Tom Ruhl was in charge of my group in discussing about the MAT/M.ED programs at one informational night last Fall ('10). I remembered how he gave my group an encouraging message to get into the teaching field. He told us to call him any time if we needed to know more or just have a friendly chat. After the session was over, I had some time talking with him. I sensed he was a caring, kind and compassionate person. I wished I did took the opportunity to call him and chat with him more. I knew he had experiences with elementary students. Even though I don't really know him, I did feel a tiny connection with him at that meeting. At that time, I thought I had plenty of time to call him up when I get into the program. His death was so sudden when he passed early July 7, 2011. (Ruhl's passing is almost a year after when my dear Gong Gong past away on July 16, 2010.) I was so busy applying to graduate school, dealing with financial aid and just life stuff. I am aware that many of his colleagues in the ed department is mourning of his death.

Here is the link to the press release from MU: http://www.marylhurst.edu/aboutmarylhurst/pressrelease20110707.php.

If anyone who wants to honor his life, here is a link: http://www.marylhurst.edu/calendar/20110924memorialbookdrive.php.