Spalding University will begin the celebration of its 100th year as an institution located in downtown Louisville with its annual Founders’ Day Weekend, Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 1-4.

Spalding’s location is a source of pride for the university made all the more significant in light of the ongoing demonstrations in the name of racial and social justice.

Founders’ Day Weekend will include a slate of free, public virtual activities, including Spalding’s annual 24-hour Giving Day fundraiser on Thursday Oct. 1; a series of free, public “Alumni College” mini-workshops led by Spalding faculty; and a Sunday Mass conducted by the Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz, Archbishop of Louisville, at the Spalding Mansion Chapel.

There will also be reunions for the five- and 10-year anniversaries of every graduating class since 1950.

The Alumni College mini-workshops are new to Founders’ Day this year. Free and open to the public, the hour-long virtual sessions feature Spalding faculty from a range of academic disciplines discussing historical and current-affairs topics related to race, politics, health care, Kentucky literature and design thinking.

The Founders’ Day Weekend events will begin a 12-month celebration of Spalding’s 100th year downtown. Through Founders’ Day 2021, the University will share alumni and history stories on Spalding’s website and organize community service projects and special events, in accordance with public health guidelines during the pandemic.

“Spalding’s mission statement says we are a diverse community of learners dedicated to meeting the needs of the times,” Spalding President Tori Murden McClure said. “Set on a path by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, we are proud to have been in downtown Louisville for 100 years, and we will be here for the next 100, meeting the needs of the times, educating future leaders and promoting peace and justice.

“We welcome the public to join us over Founders’ Day Weekend in celebrating Spalding’s rich history and commitment to the future of our neighborhood.”

About Spalding’s history

Spalding is a private, Catholic institution that was founded in 1814 as Nazareth Academy by Mother Catherine Spalding and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nelson County, Kentucky.
In the fall of 1920, the Sisters established the downtown Louisville campus under the name Nazareth College – Kentucky’s first four-year Catholic college for women – at the Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion at 851 S. Fourth St.

In 1973, the university, then called Spalding College, was incorporated as an independent, urban, coeducational institution in the Catholic tradition for students of all traditions. It assumed its current name of Spalding University in 1984 in recognition of the range of academic programs it offered.

In 2011, Spalding was certified as the world’s first Compassionate University by the Compassionate Action Network.

Spalding’s campus has expanded to nearly 25 acres, with buildings and green spaces located primarily along South Second, South Third, South Fourth, West Kentucky and West Breckinridge streets. The campus also includes a seven-acre athletic fields complex that opened in 2019 west of the primary campus, between South Eighth and South Ninth streets.

Founders’ Day Weekend activities
Here is a rundown of the public virtual Founders’ Day Weekend activities, including Alumni College sessions:

THURSDAY, OCT. 1
All Day – Spalding’s Annual Giving Day: Spalding will hold its fifth annual all-day fundraiser – 24 hours focused on generating donations from within Spalding’s community of faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and going through midnight, donations can easily be made online at https://givespalding.givingfuel.com/2020-spalding-giving-day.

FRIDAY, OCT. 2
Noon-1 p.m. – Alumni College: Anne Braden’s “A Letter to White Southern Women,” with Dr. Pattie Dillon, Chair of the School of Liberal Studies and Professor of History
6-7 p.m. – Alumni College: African American Involvement in Local and State Politics, with Dr. Deonte Hollowell, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies, and Executive in Residence Jerry Abramson

SATURDAY, OCT. 3
11 a.m.-Noon – Alumni College: From Nazareth Academy to Spalding University: A brief history of a great university, with Dr. Kurt Jefferson, Dean of Graduate Education
Noon-1 p.m. – Alumni College: Before the Anti-Racist Movement there was Black Studies, with Dr. Tomarra Adams, Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Dr. Ricky Jones, Chair of Pan-African Studies at University of Louisville
1-2 p.m. – Alumni College: The New Essential Kentucky Novels, with Professor Kathleen Driskell, Chair of the School of Creative and Professional Writing, and MFA in Writing alumni Silas House, Crystal Wilkinson and Katy Yocom
2-3 p.m. – Alumni College: Design Thinking and Creative Innovation: Leaning into Change, with Professor Deb Whistler, Associate Professor and Director of the Creative Arts program

SUNDAY, OCT. 4
11 a.m.-Noon – 2020 Founders’ Day Mass, with the Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz, Archbishop of Louisville
2-3 p.m. – Alumni College: Health Care Today – Whom Do We Really Care About? with Brother Ignatius Perkins, Chair of the School of Nursing

With Spalding University approaching the 100-year anniversary of the creation of its downtown campus, members of the university community will have an opportunity on Nov. 8 to learn more about the history of Spalding and its continued focus on compassion and social justice.

President Tori Murden McClure will host the “Changing Our World through Courage and Compassion: Historical and Current Realities” presentation and community conversation from 2-4:15 p.m. Nov. 8 in the College Street Cafe. The event is sponsored by the Center for Peace and Spiritual Renewal and the Office of the Graduate Dean.

Sister Frances Krumpelman, the historian for the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, which is Spalding’s founding body, will begin the program with a presentation about the university’s history.

Then McClure will lead a talk about present-day issues and challenges and opportunities to change the world through courage and compassion and the lessons we can learn from the Sisters’ example.

Chandra Irvin, Director of the Center for Peace and Spiritual Renewal, said Sister Frances “tells a captivating and compelling story of the courage and compassion which led to Spalding’s founding despite difficulty times. ”

Center for Peace and Spiritual Renewal Program Coordinator Liz Anderson said that attendees can expect Sister Frances to share stories about the compassion that inspired Mother Catherine Spalding to found Spalding University and the courage it took to make that a reality in 1814.

“It is so important, especially as Spalding approaches it’s 100-year downtown anniversary, for us to remember the vision and mission of Mother Catherine, know that we are standing on the shoulders of giants and be inspired to continue the work that she and her fellow Sisters of Charity of Nazareth began all those years ago,” Anderson said.

Anderson said that after Sister Frances’ presentation, the community will participate in talking circles that will consist of structured reflection and sharing around the importance of the courage and compassion we can (or maybe can’t) find in our own lives. The discussion, Anderson said, will challenge the group to continue carrying out the mission to meet the needs of the times that began with Mother Catherine.

“As we approach our 100-year anniversary in Louisville, it is important to reflect on how we are writing our own chapter in Spalding’s history,” Irvin said. “… As President McClure has said, the degree to which we embody both courage and compassion in our time will determine how our chapter will be read the future.”