St. Rita of Cascia High School

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St. Rita of Cascia High School is an all-male Augustinian Roman Catholic high school located on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and has approximately 800 students.

St. Rita of Cascia High School
Motto Veritas Unitas Caritas
("Truth, Unity, Love")
Established 1905
Type Private, secondary, all male
Principal Mrs. Sally Deenihan
Students 800
Grades 9–12
Location Chicago, Illinois, USA
Campus Urban
Colors Red and Blue
Mascot Mustangs
Yearbook 'The Cascian'
Newspaper 'The Ritan'
Website http://www.stritahs.com

Contents

[edit] History

The school was founded in 1905 by the Very Reverend James F. Green, O.S.A. Building Green Hall was the initial building on the original campus. Student enrollment grew rapidly and by 1922 St. Rita High School had become established in Chicago as one of the leading secondary schools.

Successor to the founder was the Very Rev. William L. Egan, O.S.A., during whose incumbency the original Harris Gym and Egan Hall were completed. The Very Rev. Joseph B. Kepperling, O.S.A. followed Father Egan in 1926, but his career was brought to an untimely close by his death on June 4, 1929. The Very Rev. John J. Harris, O.S.A. was selected as the next rector of St. Rita.

In the summer of 1935, the Rev. Ruellan P. Fink, O.S.A. succeeded Father Harris. Father Fink was the motivating spirit of one noteworthy developments, the installation of a technical course in 1936. Father Fink also began an extensive expansion program as evidenced by the erection of the Mendel technical building, completed in June 1938, and the addition to Egan Hall, completed in August 1939. A modern concrete stadium was built in 1946 and the new monastery was completed in May 1949.

Rev. John E. McLaughlin, O.S.A. succeeded Father Fink in 1956 as Principal. In 1962 Rev. Francis P. Crawford, O.S.A. became Principal. Hslute was succeeded in 1968 by the Very Rev. Daniel B. Trusch, O.S.A. In 1971 Rev. LaVern J. Flach, O.S.A. became Principal; in 1979 Rev. David L. Brecht, O.S.A., in 1983 Rev. Patrick E. Murphy, O.S.A. became Principal and in 1989 Rev. Bernard R. Danber, O.S.A. was appointed Principal. Both Fr. Murphy and Fr. Danber are graduates of St. Rita High School.

On June 27, 1990, Rev. Bernard R. Danber O.S.A. was given the keys to the new campus at 7740 S. Western Avenue. In 1993 a new president-principal model was adopted for the school. Rev. Michael J. O'Connor, O.S.A. became the school's first president. Rev. O'Connor appointed Mr. Joseph F. Bamberger as Principal. In the year 2000 Rev. Thomas McCarthy O.S.A. was then named the second President and the first alumni president of St. Rita High School. In the spring of 2002 Rev. McCarthy, O.S.A. became President-Principal after Mr. Joseph F. Bamberger retired after 42 years of dedicated service to St. Rita High School. In 2007, Mrs. Sally Deenihan became not only the twelfth principal in the school's history, but also its first female principal.

In 2006, St. Rita was named one of 96 "outstanding" high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report The Catholic High School Honor Roll named St. Rita one of the 25 top academic institutions in the United States.

St. Rita High School has been the source of many local (Chicagoland), national and international leaders over the past 100 years. In 1990 the St. Rita Campus moved from 63rd and Claremont Avenue to 77th and Western Avenue. Prior to St. Rita's purchase of the 77th and Western campus, Quigley Seminary South High School resided there. The Archdiocese of Chicago closed Quigley South prior to St. Rita's purchase of the property, returning the Chicago minor seminary to its original site at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary.

[edit] Patron Saint

St. Rita of Cascia was wife, mother (of twins), and after the murder of her husband and the death her two sons, spent her last 40 years as a nun living the Rule of St. Augustine in the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalen at Cascia. She now is a pre-eminent Augustinian saint, canonized in 1900.

[edit] The Augustinian Order in North America

The North American foundation of the order happened in 1796 when Irish friars arrived in Philadelphia. Michael Hurley was the first American to join the Order the following year. Friars established schools, Universities and other works throughout the Americas, also including Villanova University in Philadelphia and Merrimack College. Malvern Preparatory School was founded in 1842 alongside Villanova University, and by 1909 two Augustinian houses and this school had been established in Chicago, 1922 in San Diego, by 1925 a school in Ojai and Los Angeles; 1926 a school in Oklahoma; in 1947 a college in Massachusetts; in 1953 a school in Pennsylvania; 1959 a school in New Jersey and in 1962 a school in Illinois.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Athletics

St. Rita competes in the Chicago Catholic League Blue, regarded as "one of most distinguished athletic conferences in the country."[1]

The 1963 football team was recognized as National Champions. The 1970-71 football teams won back to back Chicago City Prep football championships. The 1970 game was the last game held in the original Soldier Field on December 6th 1970. St. Rita won the IHSA State Championship in football in 1978 and 2006. St. Rita won the IHSA 7A State Football Championship in 2006 by defeating Lake Zurich High School 35-21. Highlights included a 94-yard kickoff return touchdown by Darian Hood, a new record for the longest kickoff return in an IHSA state championship game. St. Rita won the 1978 IHSA State football championship by defeating Buffalo Grove High School 15-9.

St. Rita also won the 2007 Prep Bowl on November 23, 2007 defeating Morgan Park High School 31-7.

St. Rita won the IHSA State Championship in wrestling in 2003 and 2004.

The original football stadium at 63rd and Claremont was used in the beginning of the movie Rudy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rotzoll, Brenda Warner. "John Hoerster, 53, coach, mentor to Loyola Academy football team." Chicago Sun-Times August 26, 2003 [1]

[edit] External links