Ave Maria University

Ave Maria College Ave Maria College was founded by Catholic philanthropist and former Domino's Pizza owner and founder Tom Monaghan on March 19, 1998, occupying two former elementary school buildings in Ypsilanti, Michigan, near the campus of Eastern Michigan University . [ 7 ] Monaghan's goal was to create a Catholic university faithful to the magisterium of the Catholic Church, providing a liberal arts education in a Catholic environment. He originally intended to construct a full college campus on his 280-acre (1.1 km 2 ) property in nearby Ann Arbor Township , known as Domino's Farms . [ 7 ] The plan for the Ann Arbor campus also included a 25-story crucifix , which was never built. [ 7 ]

After being denied zoning approval by Ann Arbor Township to build a larger campus near Domino's Farms, Monaghan decided to move the college to Florida. Monaghan initiated the founding of Ave Maria University with a donation of $250 million. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] In August 2003, the university opened an interim campus in The Vineyards in Naples, Florida , enrolling some 100 undergraduate students, 75 of whom were freshmen. [ 8 ] While occupying the interim campus, Monaghan focused efforts on constructing a new campus and planned community nearby known as Ave Maria, Florida . The Barron Collier family donated the land in southwest Florida for the campus, joining Monaghan in the enterprise as 50% partner. [ citation needed ] While the infrastructure of the new campus and town were being completed in early 2007, the Ypsilanti campus was also closing at the end of the 2006–2007 academic year. Monaghan planned to have most of the staff transferred to the Florida location. The Michigan location remained open until students graduated or transferred, leaving just three students for the final year and a number of the remaining staff. [ 10 ]

The university moved from the temporary facility to the new campus in 2007. [ 11 ] In its first year at the new campus, the university enrolled about 450 undergraduates and 150 graduate students. Frank Dewane , the Bishop of Venice in Florida , formally dedicated the university in 2008. [ 12 ] In March 2007, Monaghan dismissed the university's original provost , Joseph Fessio because of what Monaghan described as "irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices". [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Immediately, the school's first-ever student protests were mounted in support of Fessio. [ 15 ] Outside observers were critical: editor Philip F. Lawler of the conservative Catholic World News said the firing was "institutional suicide", and that if a respected theologian such as Fessio could be fired then no others would want to fill the position. [ 15 ] Monaghan reinstated Fessio the next day as theologian-in-residence. He was dismissed from that position in 2009, stating he was fired the second time because of a conversation he had with Academic Vice President Jack Sites about administrative policies harming the university's finances. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] He said his firing was "another mistake in a long series of unwise decisions" but that he would continue to guide students to AMU. [ 17 ] Monaghan planned to continue to expand the university and hoped to one day have an enrollment over 5,000, Division I athletics and an academic reputation as "a Catholic Ivy ", however as of 2024, only had about 20 percent of this goal. [ 11 ] The university's growth has fallen short of its stated goal of "growing the University's undergraduate enrollment at its main campus in Florida to approximately 1,700 students by the fall of 2016" [ 18 ] and 1,500 by the year 2020.

[ 19 ] [ 20 ] In 2011, James Towey , former Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and former President of Saint Vincent College , was unanimously voted President of Ave Maria University by the AMU Board of Trustees. He also assumed the role of CEO in place of Monaghan, who remains the Chancellor. [ 21 ] The 2008 financial crisis took a toll on Ave Maria's finances. Monaghan said in 2012 that Ave Maria's construction cost estimates doubled over three years, requiring the university to cut back on planned buildings. The troubled Florida real estate market also meant that Ave Maria School of Law had to shelve plans for a building, as its existing campus was worth less than was paid for it. [ 22 ] According to Towey, for a period of time the university survived through Monaghan's funding of a $10 million annual deficit. Towey credits his efforts at controlling financing costs, along with increased contributions, with placing the university back on a firm financial footing by 2014. [ 6 ] In February 2012, Ave Maria made national news when it filed Ave Maria University v. Sebelius , [ 23 ] suing the government over the US Health and Human Services birth control mandate by claiming it would force the university to forego its religious freedom . It became the second college to do so, and was followed by several others, including the Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University of Notre Dame . The lawsuit is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty . [ 24 ] In June 2012, President Towey wrote that the university would "vigorously prosecute its lawsuit". [ 25 ] In 2016, the Supreme Court unanimously sent the case back to a federal appeals court to find a solution that would both honor religious organizations objections and provide their employees with birth control. Ave Maria administrators celebrated the decision as a "great victory".