Spalding University
Founders’ Day 2021

Celebrating 100 Years of
Education in Downtown Louisville
On October 4, 1920, five Sisters of Charity of Nazareth welcomed a handful of students to the Tompkins-Buchannan-Rankin Mansion at 851 South Fourth Street for the first classes held at Nazareth College. Dedicating themselves to an enduring tradition of education, service, and compassion, these women succeeded in laying the foundation of today’s Spalding University.
2020 was a special Founders’ Day Weekend as we kicked off our Centennial Celebration, reflected upon the remarkable history of our university, and imagined what the next 100 years will hold for our compassionate community of world-changers.

* If you have any suggestions for Alumni College course topics that may be of interest to you or fellow alums, please email Chief Advancement Officer Caroline Heine at [email protected].
“As I try to imagine those early days, I know St. Paul’s reminder to Timothy to ‘bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God’ was equally true of the women who dared to open Kentucky’s first four-year, liberal arts college for women. We stand on their shoulders.”