Where it Began: Mount Celebrates Founders Week

Ari Graham

This is the second year the Mount has held Founders Week as a campus tradition. The purpose of adopting this tradition is to give students and staff a moment to reflect on the conception of this university and the people who laid the foundation of this institution.  

Three figures are mentioned significantly during Founder’s Week--Father John Dubois, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and Father Simon Bruté. 

Dubois fled the French Revolution and was assigned to Maryland by Bishop John Carroll to establish a Catholic presence in Western Maryland. By 1805, he began work on the mountain and in 1808 he began creating the college and seminary we know today.  

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton arrived at the blossoming university in 1809 and helped build the bridge between Catholicism and education. She later established the first American women’s religious community, known as the Sisters of Charity. 

Father Simon Bruté, a French Catholic Missionary, graduated at the top of his medical school in Paris. He brought intellectual and spiritual leadership to the Mount; arriving with one of the country's largest private library collections. 

Dr. Layton Field, Vice president for Mission and Ministry emphasized that their story is now ours. One of Field's most memorable stories was about the original stone building that Dubois spent two years constructing.  

In 1824, just days before it was ready to fully open, the building caught fire and burned to the ground. Students wrote letters encouraging Dubois to not give up, and he responded by thanking them for giving him the strength to continue. Instead of quitting, he immediately planned a new building, which became DuBois Hall, completed around 1827.  

Field added the cupola on DuBois Hall, now featured in the University's logo, stands as a symbol of perseverance, hope and rebuilding after hardship.  

The Director of Center for Campus Ministry Krysti Patient said that as part of the Founders Week celebration, Campus Ministry incorporated the event into its weekly Frassati Night, where Field gave a presentation on Mount alumnus Fr. Edward J. Flanagan Class of 1906. 

Flanagan founded Boys Town in Nebraska where he helped provide guidance for children with behavioral, emotional and academic issues. He believes that "there are no bad boys" helped reform juvenile justice and create one of America's first integrated communities for children. 

Founders Week isn't about simply repeating history, Field stated, "instead, it's about using the founders' examples to inspire students to face current challenges.” He believes that Mount students inherit both legacy and responsibility to make a difference in the world. 

"Founders Week isn't just about how we tell the story of the past. It is inviting every member of this community to think about the story of our past as illuminating a pathway forward in our future." 

Reverend Justin Gough added that the foundation of our institution is in prayer, so it's important to ground Founders Week in prayer as we look back to our beginnings.