College of the Holy Cross

The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. Holy Cross was the first Catholic college in New England and is among the oldest Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States. Holy Cross is a four-year residential undergraduate institution with approximately 3,000 students. Students choose from 64 academic programs, including interdisciplinary and self-designed majors in liberal arts disciplines. The college is situated on a hill overlooking the Blackstone River and neighboring Auburn, Massachusetts; its 174-acre (70 ha) campus is located approximately 45 miles west from Boston. Admissions to Holy Cross are selective, with 21% of applicants being admitted in the 2023 academic year for the class of 2027. The college has one of the largest endowments of any liberal arts college in the United States, and is one of the academically competitive Hidden Ivies. In 1986, Holy Cross joined the Patriot League, where its athletic teams compete as the Crusaders in NCAA Division I. Notable graduates of Holy Cross include recipients of Emmy, Grammy, Academy, and Tony awards; 5 Rhodes Scholars, 5 Marshall Scholars, 6 Truman Scholars, Goldwater Scholars and Watson Fellows; Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel Prize laureate, U.S. Senators, and Olympic athletes. Other notable alumni include Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The college is a top producer of Fulbright scholars, having graduated 176 grantees. The College of the Holy Cross was founded by Benedict Joseph Fenwick, second Bishop of Boston, as the first Catholic college in New England. Its establishment followed Fenwick's efforts to create a Catholic college in Boston which had been thwarted by the city's Protestant civic leaders.