University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy


The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy was founded in 1877, and is one of two Jesuit high schools in the city of Detroit, Michigan, the other being Loyola High School. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, the school is rooted in the Ignatian tradition. It is an all-boys school with an academy for grades seven and eight. The school's mascot is a tiger cub and its teams are dubbed the Cubs. Its colors are maroon and white.

History

In the winter of 1876-1877, Thomas O'Neill, Jesuit provincial superior in St. Louis, sent John Baptiste Miege to found the school and serve as its first president. Caspar Henry Borgess, who had come to Detroit from Cincinnati on May 8, 1870, was cofounder of the school.
Originally located at the Trowbridge Mansion on Jefferson Avenue, in 1890 the school moved across the street to Dowling Hall to accommodate a growing student body. In 1923 news began circulating that the school would move to what was then the city's edge. Then in the late 1920s construction of the new building began at 8400 S. Cambridge near Seven Mile Road, under John P. McNichols, president of the University of Detroit. This new building was designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham. Classes at the new campus were scheduled for September 9, 1931, but a polio epidemic kept schools in the Detroit area closed until September 23.
In 1950 Detroit Jesuit acquired a new gym. In 1992 under president Malcolm Carron a science center was built, with labs and departmental office space.
In 2001 the school completed its $25 million fund-raising campaign under Timothy Shannon. Funds raised paid for restoration of the original chapel and the addition of several classrooms, an art room, and two new gymnasiums. The faculty endowment, student financial aid, and scholarships also benefited from the campaign.
In 2005, after the closing of several Metro Detroit Catholic schools, University of Detroit Jesuit waived its transfer rules for juniors coming from the closed schools and accepted students with 3.0 or higher grade point averages.
On April 6, 2006, U of D Jesuit began the public phase of a $22 million endowment campaign designed to support tuition assistance, faculty salaries, and other means of strengthening the school's finances.
In 2017 the school proposed to buy a shuttered recreational facility and school that the city had placed up for sale. The president of U of D Jesuit tried to reassure neighbors that some sports facilities would be available to the public in the renovated complex.

Athletics

The Cubs are a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association and compete in the Detroit Catholic High School League.
Detroit Jesuit fields teams in fourteen sports: football, basketball, baseball, cross country, track and field, wrestling, tennis, golf, hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, swimming, bowling.
In its history, U of D Jesuit has won five state championships:
The St. Joseph of Arimathea Club was founded in 2015, placing students as pallbearers for those in need.

Notable alumni