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Saint Francis University is a four-year, coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on 600 acres (2.4 km²) in the forests and farmland of Loretto.

Contents 1 History 2 Notable alumni 3 References 4 External links

Saint Francis College was established in 1847 by six Franciscan Friars from Ireland. In 2001 Saint Francis finally attained the status of University, though widely critized as lacking in the graduate programs necessary for the University status. The University was one of the first Catholic Universities in the United States and the first Franciscan college in the nation. Although it originally only admitted males, it became one of the first Catholic Universities to become co-educational. Loretto is the site of the first English-language Roman Catholic Church established west of the Allegheny Front, in what is now the United States, by Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin in 1799. The student population of the university is approxiametely 1500 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. The president of the university is Fr. Gabriel Zeis, TOR. At Fr. Zeis' induction ceremony, he told all in attendance that the university was created on that spot in Loretto because that was the location the Friars' donkey died as they were making their journey through the wilderness.^{[citation needed]}

• Scott Layden - Former president and general manager of the New York Knicks NBA basketball team and former general manager of the Utah Jazz.^[1]
• Brennan Manning (christened Richard Francis Xavier Manning) - Popular Christian author (e.g., The Ragamuffin Gospel), monk, priest, contemplative, and powerful speaker.
• Charles M. Schwab -- Industrialist
• Maurice Stokes- Basketball player (Basketball Hall of Fame)
• Joy Thomas -- Senior Vice President, MasterCard International
• Robert Conway - Vice Admiral USN

• Official website
• SFU Campus Map in Google Earth

Northeast Conference
Central Connecticut • Fairleigh Dickinson • LIU–Brooklyn • Monmouth • Mount St. Mary's • Quinnipiac • Robert Morris • Sacred Heart • St. Francis(NY) • St. Francis(PA) • Wagner

Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
East Stroudsburg • George Mason • Harvard • Juniata • New Haven • NJIT • NYU • Penn State • Princeton • Queens College • Rutgers–Newark • Sacred Heart • Saint Francis • Springfield • Vassar

Coordinates: 40°30′21.87″N, 78°38′23.66″W