Dominican College of Racine was a college in Racine, Wisconsin founded in 1864 as St. Catherine's Female Academy and later known as St. Albertus Junior College, Dominican College, Dominican College of Racine, and College of Racine.
History
It was founded in 1864 in Racine by the Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic as St. Catherine's Female Academy
In 1888, a normal school was added to the Academy to train young women of the community for the teaching profession.
In 1924, St. Catherine's High School was built in Racine and the Academy closed, but the normal school continued to operate until 1935 when St. Albertus Junior College replaced it.
In 1948, the first graduation ceremony was held with 6 graduates and a full-time advisory board was instituted.
In 1955, the Congregation of St. Catherine of Sienna purchased 25 acres of lake frontage, five miles north of Racine, as a site for an expanded campus and
In 1957, the school was incorporated as Dominican College of Racine, Incorporated and the following year, groundbreaking occurred at the new campus
In September 1960, the school moved to the new campus with 363 full and part-time students and a faculty of 30 nuns, 2 priests and a lay business manager.
In 1968, management of the college was transferred from the Dominican Sisters to an independent nondenominational board.
In 1970, the college underwent a major administrative reorganization, involving restructuring of administrative positions and responsibilities, and replacement of the traditional academic departments with four broad divisions.
In 1972, a program offering a Masters of Science Degree in Education was introduced, and the college changed its name to the College of Racine.
In 63-64 Dominican's basketball team was known as the Shakespearean Players. When Paul Pryor was hired during the first part of 64-65, he began by changing the name to the Squires. The school started playing intercollegiate basketball in the 1964-1965 season. They continued to play under the name of the Squires In addition to basketball, the 1966-67 Squires also participated in intercollegiate golf, tennis and softball. By 1968, the school had changed its nickname to the Lakers. During the 1973-1974 school year, Bill Cofield was hired as athletic director and basketball head coach. He became the nation's first black athletic director and head coach at a predominantly white institution of higher learning by accepting these positions. Bo Ryan began his collegiate coaching career in 1973 as an assistant coach under Bill Cofield, the Dominican basketball team went 14-15 that year. During that same season, Ryan would earn the first of many Coach of the Year honors in his career as head coach of the Dominican baseball team.
