In 1877, a group of exiled Italian Jesuits established a small college in Las Vegas, New Mexico.[9] The Jesuits named this institution Las Vegas College which would ultimately become known as Regis University.[9]
In 1884, the Bishop of Denver invited the Jesuits to create a college in Morrison, Colorado where Sacred Heart College was opened. In 1887, Las Vegas College and Sacred Heart College merged and moved to the present location of Regis University. At the time of the merger, the school was then called the College of the Sacred Heart. Later, in 1921, it adopted the name of Regis College in honor of Saint John Francis Regis, a 17th-century Jesuit who worked with prostitutes and the poor in the mountains of Southern France. The preparatory section was separated to become the present-day Regis Jesuit High School.[citation needed]
In 1991, Regis College was renamed Regis University.[citation needed]
Regis University played host to the rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968,[10] as well as the British rock band Queen, who played their first concert in the United States at Regis, on April 16, 1974.[11]
On June 1, 2012, Michael Sheeran stepped down as the university's president. He was succeeded by John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J., who became the 24th president of the university.[13]
The university's current president is Salvador Aceves, the first non-clergyman to hold the role.[14]
Other speakers have included author Elie Wiesel in 2001, former President of Poland Lech Walesa in 2003, and most recently, David Trimble of Northern Ireland in 2006. Altogether, 13 Nobel Peace Prize recipients have visited Regis University since 1996.[citation needed]
Papal visit
On August 12, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Northwest Denver Campus of Regis University, where he met with President Bill Clinton for the first time. They greeted about 150 visitors, who had been chosen through a lottery system, and met privately for an hour in the President's Dining Room of Carroll Hall.[citation needed]
Schools
Regis College
Regis College houses the traditional, undergraduate (and Masters of Art in Education & Masters of Science in Biomedical Sciences) programs. These programs are designed for recent high school graduates, or transfer students, with little or no professional work experience. Regis college offers a choice of majors, minors, emphases, and pre-professional tracks. Students wishing to enter the nursing, physical therapy, or pharmacy programs often enter Regis College to complete pre-requisite requirements.[15]
Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions
When Regis absorbed her sister school, Loretto Heights College, the Rueckert Hartman College for Health Professions was born.[16] Regis operates a nationally recognized nursing program, and one of the premiere physical therapist programs.[17] The school is divided into three schools and two divisions: Loretto Heights School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Physical Therapy, Division of Health Services Education and the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy. The college offers three doctoral programs, Doctor of Nursing Practice (entirely on-line), Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Doctor of Pharmacy.[18]
Anderson College of Business and Computing
In 2015, the College of Business and Economics was officially established to combine the Regis College Division of Business and the College for Professional Studies School of Management and Master of Nonprofit Management. After a donation made by Denver architect Andy Anderson in 2018, the college was renamed to the Anderson College of Business. The college offers both classroom-based and online course options.[19] Undergraduate programs in Computer Science (CPS), Computer Information Systems, and Computer Networking are ABET accredited. They are the only ABET accredited programs of their kind that, in addition to classroom, are also offered 100% online.[20]
Center for Service Learning
Regis University's Center for Service Learning (CSL) facilitates student voluntary service, the development of service learning components in coursework, and placement among the needier members of society for those with work study awards.[21] These are essential components of the university's mission to train men and women for others.[22]
A distant view of the athletic fields, Field House, and Main Hall
Regis University is in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference along with Adams State, Black Hills State, Chadron State, Colorado Christian, Colorado Mines, CSU Pueblo, Dixie State, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa, Metro State, New Mexico Highlands, South Dakota Mines, UC-Colorado Springs, Western New Mexico, Westminster, and Western State Colorado. The university offers women's lacrosse, men and women's soccer, baseball, softball, men and women's basketball, volleyball, men and women's cross country, men and women's golf, Men’s Rugby and forensics.[citation needed]
Rankings
Regis University was ranked 202nd among National Universities by U.S. News & World Report in its 2020 rankings.[23] This was Regis's first year of competition on this national list since it was reclassified in 2019 as a Doctoral/Professional University.[24] It had previously been ranked 26th among "Regional Universities West".[25]
Gil Cisneros, lottery winner, philanthropist, 11 year Navy veteran and former U.S. Representative for California's 39th congressional district from 2019 to 2021; was nominated in 2021 by President Joseph Biden to oversee the Pentagon's Personnel and Readiness Office[28]
