Introduction to the College

Edgewood College Mission Statement

Edgewood College, rooted in the Dominican tradition, engages students within a community of learners committed to building a just and compassionate world. The College educates students for meaningful lives of ethical leadership, service and a lifelong search for truth.

Edgewood College Vision Statement

Edgewood College will be an inclusive model of learning, teaching and scholarship.  Our students, alumni, faculty and staff will be recognized for their pursuit of purposeful lives, vibrant and sustainable communities, and a just world.

Edgewood College Identity Statement

Sponsored by the Sinsinawa Dominicans, Edgewood College is a community of learners that affirms both its Catholic heritage and its respect for other religious traditions.  The liberal arts are the foundation of all our curricular offerings in the humanities, art, sciences, and professional programs.  Committed to excellence in teaching and learning, we seek to develop intellect, spirit, imagination, and heart.  We embrace and aspire to reflect the rich diversity of the world’s cultures and perspectives.  We foster open, caring, thoughtful engagement with one another and an enduring commitment to service, all in an educational community that seeks truth, compassion, justice, and partnership.

Edgewood College Diversity Statement

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Learning: Anchored in our Dominican heritage…

1. Sponsored by the Sinsinawa Dominicans, Edgewood College is a community of learners that affirms both its Catholic heritage and its respect for other religious traditions and spiritual perspectives.
2. Dominicans are called to preach the Gospel as a way to nurture relations among people of every rank and class, based upon recognition of their basic needs, human dignity, and infinite value.
3. A Sinsinawa Dominican education celebrates a diverse and collaborative community. Students are taught to share their talents and insights, to collaborate with others, to recognize diversity and differences in our world with respect.
4. In that tradition, we welcome people who reflect the rich diversity of the world’s cultures, perspectives, and experiences.

Beliefs: What does this really mean to us…

1. Injustices and inequalities of power and privilege are the reality in our world, and their existence serves to perpetuate both overt and subtle discrimination, intolerance, hate, micro-aggressions, and attitudes of indifference.
2. Each of us has the ability and responsibility- in our pursuit of justice- to address inequalities in all aspects of our institutional life that interfere with the fulfilling of our mission, vision, and values.
3. Diversity is an essential element of meaningful teaching and learning. It presence deepens and makes more authentic our search for truth through multiple perspectives.
4. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion draws us into the world and invites the world to our college. It acknowledges our mutual dependency and shared responsibility for each other and the common good.

Actions: What we are called to do…

1. We seek to create inclusive living, learning, and working environments that reflect the demographics of the communities we serve and that foster open, compassionate, and thoughtful dialogue and engagement with other another.
2. We expect all members of our College to assume responsibility for understanding and engaging with the diverse individuals and communities that comprise our learning community, with particular attention to groups that have historically been marginalized in society and institutions of higher education.
3. We will acknowledge and confront inequalities and injustices, including those that negatively impact teaching and learning and those that exist at institutional level- structures, policies, and practices.
4. We will ensure that ongoing opportunities for learning and professional development around issues of diversity and inclusion exist for our students, faculty, and staff.

Sinsinawa Sponsorship

The Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation of Catholic Sisters, founded in 1847, has throughout its history engaged in an ongoing commitment to sponsored ministries in an effort to further its mission.  In each of their sponsored institutions, the Sinsinawa Dominicans, in partnership with administrators, faculty, staff, board members and friends, seek to influence the ongoing development of each unique ministry.  Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters serve on the faculty and staff at Edgewood College.

The elected leaders of the Sinsinawa Dominicans are responsible for representing the mission of the Congregation to each institution.  These elected leaders, along with their General Finance Officer, form the Corporate Members.  The Corporate Members are empowered to:

• Create, amend and restate the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
• Approve the mission
• Assess the implementation of the mission
• Approve appointment of members to the Board of Trustees
• Approve acquisition, purchase and sale of the assets of the corporation
• Approve dissolution, consolidation or liquidation of the corporation.

History of Edgewood College

In 1881, Governor Cadwallader C. Washburn gave his Edgewood Villa and 55-acre wooded estate on the shore of Lake Wingra for the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa. They moved St. Regina Academy, which had been located in downtown Madison, to the Edgewood site and, after a tragic fire in 1893, rebuilt the school as Sacred Heart Academy, which was later separated into Edgewood High School and Edgewood Campus School. In 1927, Edgewood College was founded as a junior college for women with a two-year liberal arts curriculum, housed in the same building as the high school. The senior college developed in 1940, focusing on the preparation of teachers, and the first Bachelor of Science degrees in education were awarded in 1942. Marshall Hall, originally built in 1864, was converted for use as a college residence hall in 1941-42, becoming the first distinctively collegiate building separate from high school facilities. The North Central Association of Schools and Colleges first accredited Edgewood as a senior college in 1958; its most recent ten-year accreditation was completed earlier this year. Mazzuchelli Biological Station, Regina Hall, DeRicci Hall, the gymnasium, and Weber Hall were built as Edgewood College flourished through the 1950’s and 60s. The Oscar Rennebohm Library was completed and opened for use January 1991, and the Sister Marie Stephen Reges Hall was ready for occupancy by resident students in fall 1994. The Sonderegger Science Center opened in January 1999. Its opening marked the completion of Phase 1 of the Campus Master Plan which included a new entrance from Monroe Street and a multi-level parking structure. The Sonderegger Science Center is the home for the nation’s first “Kindergarten through College” science education model. Ground breaking for the Henry J. Predolin Humanities Center took place in June 1999, and the building opened in August 2000. The beautiful, welcoming entrance functions as the “front door” of the College. The Predolin Center houses the Campus Assistance Center, the Anderson Auditorium, a café, lounge, and recreation area in the Commons, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, and includes the President’s and the Dean of Student’s offices, and other faculty offices and classrooms. Male students began arriving on campus from Holy Name Seminary in the mid-1960’s, and in 1970 the campus became officially co-educational. Non-credit adult education classes were initiated that same year, followed by the undergraduate Weekend Degree Program in 1979. In 2002, the Returning Adult Accelerated Degree Program was launched with a program in business administration. Accredited master’s degree programs in business administration, education, and religious studies were introduced in 1985; since then, graduate programs in nursing, accountancy, and marriage and family therapy have been added. A doctoral program in education was added in 2001-02. Edgewood College’s 2,400 students pursue degrees in the arts and sciences, the humanities, business, education, and nursing. In the Fall of 2007, the first students moved into Dominican Hall, the largest residence hall and the newest building on campus. The beautiful hall, housing nearly two hundred students, will serve generations of Edgewood College students well into the future. As the College continues to grow and prosper, it remains true to its Dominican Mission as a community of learners, “committed to building a just and compassionate world.”