Lexington College
Former name
Lexington Institute of Hospitality Careers
TypePrivate women's college
Active1977–2014
AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic
Location
Chicago
,
Illinois
,
United States

Lexington College was a Catholic women's college located in Chicago, Illinois. The curriculum was focused entirely on hospitality management studies.

Originally known as the Lexington Institute of Hospitality Careers, the college opened in 1977 and closed in 2014.

History

Lexington was founded in 1977 by three Chicago-area laywomen – Helen Healy, Nancy McCormack, and Ann Jans – who were inspired by their affiliation with Opus Dei.[1] Before his death in 1973, Opus Dei founder Josemaría Escrivá had encouraged them to start a U.S.-based program to train women in hospitality.[2] The school was the US' only women-only hospitality program.[3]

Lexington was originally named the Lexington Institute of Hospitality Careers, in honor of the street upon which its first campus, in Chicago's West Side, was located.[4][5] In 1993, it received accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission, and in 1995, the name changed to Lexington College.[5] By 1998, the college was based at a small campus in Morgan Park that offered three classrooms, one dormitory, a one-room library, a bookstore, and a chapel to serve its approximately 50 students.[1] By 2003, Lexington had moved to the West Loop and shared a building with an Opus Dei tutoring center.[2] By 2010, it was located in Greektown.[6]

In May 2014, the president of Lexington College posted a message on the college website announcing the closure of the college at the end of the academic year.[7] After Lexington's articles of incorporation were dissolved, all of the transcripts of its students were transferred to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE).[8] Students who had been studying in the Bachelor's degree program were eligible to transfer to Kendall College or Roosevelt University to complete their degrees.[7]

Affiliation

Lexington was widely described in media as being run by or affiliated with Opus Dei.[9][10][4][11] Opus Dei itself agreed, referring to Lexington as "a corporate work of Opus Dei," with a "philosophy of education...inspired by the social teachings of the Catholic Church."[12] According to the organization, the college helped serve as proof of their good intentions.[9] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said that Opus Dei was the operator of Lexington.[13]

Lexington itself objected to media descriptions of it being an Opus Dei institution, saying that the college represented diverse viewpoints and that descriptions of it being Opus Dei-operated were "not accurate."[2] They acknowledged sharing resources with Opus Dei, having members on its staff and board (including an Opus Dei chaplain), and working the organization's teachings into the curriculum, but said the college was "inspired by the social teachings of the Catholic Church" as opposed to Opus Dei specifically and that they did not require students to be Catholic.[4][2][1] In John L. Allen Jr.'s book Opus Dei, Lexington's president said that about 20 students had become numeraries between 1977 and 2005, suggesting that the college was not an effective Opus Dei recruiting tool.[14]

The Princeton Review and the College Board, two national clearinghouses for information on U.S. higher education institutions, described the college as being affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.[15][16]

Academic and student life

The founders wanted Lexington to focus on guiding women towards professional careers while being introduced to the teachings of Escrivá and practicing service to others. In addition to hospitality training, students took courses in liberal arts, with an emphasis on ethical and religious teachings. Accounting, literature, and housekeeping were all taught, as was a course called "Good News of the Bible," taught by the Opus Dei regional vicar. An Opus Dei mass was offered daily.[1] Other topics of instruction included the history, presentation, and etiquette of afternoon tea; table manners; holiday dining; and children's dining.[17][18] Students were required to complete externships during their second year of enrollment.[19] The student body size was kept small to provide more focused education and training.[20]

The college was noted for its diversity, starting with a group of Hispanic women in 1977 and by the turn of the 21st century ranking seventh nationally among all women's colleges for its percentage of Black students.[20][21] In 2007, the College Board reported that Lexington was a Hispanic-serving institution, with a student body that was 44% Black/Non-Hispanic, 39% Hispanic, 11% White/Non-Hispanic, and 6% Non-Resident Alien.[16] That same year, it was the smallest institution in Illinois to offer Bachelor's degrees, with 56 students.[22]

Lexington followed an open admissions process, admitting any student who had attained at least a 2.0 GPA in high school and submitted an admission essay and high school transcript.[23] 200 students were reported to pass through each year.[24]

All students graduating from Lexington received either the Bachelor of Applied Science or the Associate of Applied Science. Students could major in Hospitality Management with a concentration in culinary arts, hotel/restaurant management, event planning, or health care and wellness. Students had to complete one (A.A.S.) or two (B.A.S.) internships while attending Lexington to receive their degrees.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Ellen Rooney (April 12, 1998). "Service with a smile – and a degree". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mangels, Susan (December 22, 2003). "College description". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  3. ↑ Clermont, Betty (December 2, 2010). The Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-0-932863-98-0.
  4. 1 2 3 Grossman, Ron (December 7, 2003). "Catholics scrutinize enigmatic Opus Dei". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Lexington College Statement of Accreditation Status". Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ Postsecondary Sourcebook for Community Colleges, Technical, Trade, and Business Schools Index of Majors and Sports. Wintergreen Orchard House. 2010. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-936035-19-9.
  7. 1 2 O'Leary, Kelly (May 9, 2014). "Dear friends of Lexington College". LexingtonCollege.edu. Lexington College. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Public Disclosure Notice for an Institution Resigning Commission Affiliation: Lexington College, Chicago, IL" (PDF). Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Alfano, Sean (April 30, 2006). "Behind The Shroud Of Opus Dei". CBSNews.com. CBS News. Retrieved May 1, 2022. Susan Mangels is president of Lexington College in Chicago, an Opus Dei-run women's school that teaches the culinary arts. Opus Dei points to Mangels as proof that its members aren't weird and to the college as proof that its intentions are good.
  10. ↑ Miranda, Carolina A. (April 16, 2006). "Religion: Lucy: Broken by the Demands". Time. New York, New York. Retrieved May 1, 2022. After graduating from high school in 1985, she attended Lexington College in Chicago, an Opus Dei-affiliated school for women interested in hospitality professions.
  11. ↑ Coburn, Marcia Froelke (June 29, 2007). "Voices in the Church". Chicago Magazine. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Opus Dei in the Chicago area, 570 members strong, runs preparatory schools in Niles and Des Plaines; Lexington College, a downtown hospitality management school for women; and, on the South Side, the Midtown Educational Foundation, which runs programs for inner-city children.
  12. ↑ Hunt, Mary (January 14, 2009). "Lexington College: the Joy of Serving". OpusDei.org. Opus Dei. Retrieved May 1, 2022. Lexington College is a corporate work of Opus Dei. Its philosophy of education is inspired by the social teachings of the Catholic Church.
  13. ↑ Duriga, Joyce (January 26, 2014). "New film shows Opus Dei's U.S. roots are in Chicago". Chicago Catholic. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Today in the Chicago area, Opus Dei staffs St. Mary of the Angels Parish, operates Northridge Prep and Willows High schools, the Embers Elementary School, Lexington College and Midtown Educational Foundation, along with its centers.
  14. ↑ Allen, John L. Jr. (2005). Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. Crown Publishing Group. p. 489. ISBN 978-0-385-51687-7. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  15. ↑ Princeton Review (2004). Complete Book of Colleges, 2005. College Admissions Guides. Random House Information Group. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-375-76406-6. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  16. 1 2 "Lexington College". CollegeBoard.com. College Board. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  17. ↑ Valadez, Eloise Marie (March 14, 1999). "Traditional tea makes a comeback". Frankfort Star. Frankfort, Illinois. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  18. ↑ Valadez, Eloise Marie (November 21, 1999). "On the town: Holiday dining opportunities for children". South Holland Star. South Holland, Illinois. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Lexington College offers training in hotel industry". Orland Park Star. Orland Park, Illinois. July 10, 1997. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  20. 1 2 Townsend, Barbara (2002). Two-Year Colleges for Women and Minorities: Enabling Access to the Baccalaureate. RoutledgeFalmer Studies in Higher Education. Taylor & Francis. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-135-57948-7. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  21. ↑ "It's Not True That Black Women Stay Away from Single-Sex Colleges". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 30 (30): 12–13. Winter 2000–2001. doi:10.2307/2679053. JSTOR 2679053. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  22. ↑ King, Sammi (May 6, 2007). "Next stop, your dream school". Arlington Heights Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  23. ↑ Peterson's; Snider, Mark D. (2009). Colleges in the Midwest. Peterson's Colleges in the Midwest. Peterson's. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-7689-2690-3. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  24. ↑ Allen, John L. (2005). Opus Dei: Secrets and Power Inside the Catholic Church. Allen Lane. p. 360. ISBN 978-0-7139-9901-3.

41°52′39″N 87°38′59″W / 41.877413°N 87.649735°W / 41.877413; -87.649735


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