The story
Founded by Edward J. Sparling on Apr 24, 1945.1
The university was founded in 1945 by Edward J. Sparling, the former president of Central YMCA College in Chicago. He refused to provide Central YMCA College's board with the demographic data of the student body, fearing the board would develop a quota system to limit the number of African Americans, Jews, immigrants, and women at the school. Sparling resigned under protest and took with him many faculty and students to start a new college. Faculty voted in favor 62 to 1, and students 488 to 2 for the school. In the beginning, the university had no library, campus, or endowment. The new college was chartered as Thomas Jefferson College on March 28, 1945, and had financial backing from Marshall Field III, the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, and numerous other individuals and organizations. Two weeks later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. The college obtained his widow Eleanor's permission to rename the institution as Roosevelt College in his memory. In 1947, the college purchased the Auditorium Building for one dollar, and it became the permanent home. The college was rededicated to both Franklin and Eleanor in 1959. Early advisory board members included Marian Anderson, Pearl Buck, Ralph Bunche, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Gunnar Myrdal, Draper Daniels, and Albert Schweitzer. In August 1996, the university opened its Albert A. Robin Campus in Schaumburg, after a donation from Albert A. Robin, an entrepreneur and immigrant. Robert Morris University Illinois merged with Roosevelt University in 2020. The integrated university continued under the name of Roosevelt University. Robert Morris added its majors to Roosevelt's large portfolio of programs under the name Robert Morris Experiential College, now one of several colleges of Roosevelt University.
From Wikipedia’s article on Roosevelt University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5