Belmont Abbey College Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == [[Image:Benedict.png|thumb|St. Benedict]] Belmont Abbey College was founded in 1876 as St. Mary's College by Benedictine monks from [[Saint Vincent Archabbey]] in Pennsylvania.<ref>Brenner, Morgan G. (2003). The encyclopedia of college & university name histories. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 21.</ref> Father Jeremiah O'Connell purchased Caldwell farm and donated the land to the Benedictines, hoping the community would found a Catholic educational institution in the Carolinas.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=James I.|title=Belmont Abbey College|url=http://www.ncpedia.org/belmont-abbey-college|website=NCpedia|access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref> On April 21, 1876, Father Herman Wolfe, from Saint Vincent, arrived with two students to take possession of the property and begin classes. In 1878, the college held its first commencement exercises. [[Katharine Drexel]], a benefactor of the monastery and college, visited Belmont Abbey in 1904. The present name of the college was adopted in 1913. In 1967 John Oetgen, college president and Benedictine priest, conferred an honorary degree on the [[Protestant]] evangelist [[Billy Graham]], marking what was at the time seen as a bold [[ecumenical]] gesture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/belmont-38887-president-abbey.html |title=Gaston Gazette - Gastonia, NC |publisher=Gaston Gazette |access-date=2019-04-16 |archive-date=February 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228100442/http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/belmont-38887-president-abbey.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Originally a college for young men, Belmont Abbey became a coeducational institution in 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/pdf/BelmontAbbeyHistory.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625030352/http://www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/pdf/BelmontAbbeyHistory.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-25 }} Belmont Abbey History</ref> In 1987, Sacred Heart College for women merged with the abbey, and its campus began to host a variety of abbey classes and programs.<ref name="lib.unc.edu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/gbnf/shc.html |title=Gone but Not Forgotten - North Carolina's Educational Past - Sacred Heart College |access-date=2010-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605132448/http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/gbnf/shc.html |archive-date=2013-06-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The '''Belmont Abbey Historic District''' was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1993.<ref name="nris" /> It includes at its heart the separately listed [[Belmont Abbey, North Carolina|Belmont Abbey Cathedral]]. Other contributing buildings include the Brothers' Building (1893, 1897, 1904), Old Science (1893), Jubilee Hall (1897), The Monastery (1880, 1891, and 1894), the College Building (or Stowe Hall, 1886, 1888, 1898), Saint Leo Hall (1907), and The Haid (1929).<ref name="nrhpinv">{{cite web | author=Reverend Paschal Baumstein, O.S.B.| title=Belmont Abbey Historic District| work = National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory | date =October 1992| url = https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/GS0020.pdf | publisher = North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office | access-date = 2014-11-01}}</ref> === LGBTQ+ stance === In 2016, the college, along with other religious colleges and universities throughout the United States, came under increasing criticism from [[LGBT]] activists for refusing to implement [[Discrimination|anti-discrimination]] policies on behalf of [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[Bisexuality|bisexual]], and [[transgender]] students. Belmont Abbey College argued that its status as a primarily Catholic institution was in conflict with these anti-discrimination policies. In a statement, the college claimed that such policies would "abdicate the responsibility of the college community as a whole to act in accord with its fundamental identity as a community which publicly identifies itself as in communion with the Catholic Church."<ref>{{cite web|title = Religious colleges granted Title IX waivers on LGBT issues targeted by activists - The College Fix|url = http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25768/|website = The College Fix| date=7 January 2016 |access-date = 2016-01-12|language = en-US}}</ref> === Faculty health care coverage controversy === <!---still a bit [[WP:UNDUE]] probably needs further shortening---> <!---I trimmed this portion ever so slightly.---> In 2007 the college's administration removed healthcare coverage for "[[abortion]], [[contraception]], and voluntary [[Human sterilization (surgical procedure)|sterilization]]" after discovering that these were covered by the college's healthcare policy. Eight faculty members responded by filing complaints to the North Carolina Department of Insurance, the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]], and the [[National Women's Law Center]]. The latter threatened a lawsuit on behalf of the eight faculty members, several of whom were allegedly lifelong Catholics.<ref name="Crusader">Wentowski, Ray. [http://crusader.bac.edu/english/crusader/print/APR08.pdf "Belmont Abbey Removes Contraception Coverage from Employee Healthcare, Benefits from Contraceptive Sales on Abbey Land"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912002501/http://crusader.bac.edu/english/crusader/print/APR08.pdf |date=September 12, 2008 }}, abbeycrusader.com, May 7, 2008.</ref> On November 11, 2011, Belmont Abbey College sued the federal government over a new regulation that requires employer health insurance plans to provide free coverage of contraceptives and sterilization, even if it may be contrary to their religious beliefs."<ref>{{cite news |author=Patricia L. Guilfoyle |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104431.htm |title=CNS STORY: Catholic college sues federal government over contraception mandate |work=[[Catholic News Service]] |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113101848/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104431.htm |archive-date=13 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page