Saint Catharine College is an independent, co-educational college founded in the traditions of the Catholic Church and the history and ministries of the Dominican Order. The Kentucky Sisters of Saint Dominic established the first school in a converted still house under the leadership of Mother Angela (Mariah) Sansbury in 1823. In 1839, the Sisters applied for and obtained a charter from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to “grant educational degrees.” The Academy grew rapidly and became an important institution in the region. In 1904, a disastrous fire razed the Academy’s building. A decision was made to immediately rebuild on a site adjacent to Bardstown Road, now US Route 150. Today’s Mother House is the result of that decision. A statue and a plaque marks the spot of the original building, as do fields of daffodils in the spring.
In 1920 the charter was amended to give explicit authority to found colleges and to grant collegiate degrees. The Academy grew into a Normal School, established to meet the need for a teacher education program, which became the immediate forerunner of today’s Saint Catharine College, which was formally founded in 1931. Originally a women’s Academy and Junior College, the College became co-educational in 1951. Saint Catharine College achieved regional accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1958.
Originally, the College was governed directly by the Officers of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters and the presiding Mother General was also the College President. In 1957 Sister Jean Marie Callahan, O.P., who was not an officer of the Congregation, was appointed to the Presidency of the College. Twelve years later a Board of Directors, composed of both members of the Religious Congregation and the men and women from the community at large, was appointed to govern the College. The College was incorporated as a separate, independent entity in 1978 with an independent Board of Trustees. The link to the Congregation of Dominican Sisters was maintained through a two-tier governance system in which the Congregation retains reserved powers regarding the appointment of the President and the College mission.
The current President, William D. Huston, is the first man to hold the office. Under his leadership, the College has launched a major drive to expand enrollment, facilities, and academic offerings. A new dormitory and student life complex and a new athletic complex have been built, The Richard S. Hamilton Health and Sciences Building, containing state of the art classrooms and laboratory facilities, was dedicated in May of 2006. In December of 2003 the College gained accreditation to offer the Bachelor degree. In the fall of 2004 the College began offering Bachelor's degrees.
For nearly 800 years the motto of the Dominican Order has been Contemplare et Contemplata Aliss Tradere. Translated from the Latin it means ‘to contemplate truth and share with others the fruits of this contemplation’. Concretely Dominicans identify four pillars: prayer, study, ministry and community, which are foundational to the mission of any Dominican school.
