OA-FALL 2023 MAG-LINKS 1

March 2021 SMWC was named in two competitive grant awards by Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of a Phase 3 Charting the Future of Indiana’s Colleges and Universities initiative. The two grant initiatives are collaborative efforts designed to support student retention and mental health resources. King said, “I am so grateful to the Endowment for setting in motion a process that has allowed us to dream again while addressing the most pressing needs facing our students today.”

June 2021 King announced that SMWC would join five other colleges and universities in the Midwest and Upper South to field a sprint football team starting in fall 2022. This became the

16th intercollegiate scholarship team at SMWC. Sprint football has the same rules as standard American football with the requirement that players must maintain a weight limit of 178 pounds.

August 2021 It’s been nearly 100 years since Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College opened a new residence hall. Dottie L. King, Ph.D., president, led the official opening of the College’s newest facility to house students, Les Bois Hall. The structure is a multi use facility, featuring a new dining hall — which was named the Barbara Doherty Dining Center and blessed in May. The opening of Les Bois Hall adds another 92 beds to the more than 300 beds already on campus, along with a market and new bookstore home.

August 2021 Despite the challenges of recruiting students during a pandemic, The Woods welcomed 211 new students, a record-breaking incoming class, who started their journey as the Class of 2025

August 2021 The Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology awarded SMWC a $50,000 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grant to rehabilitate and restore the crumbling front steps and side walls of the iconic Conservatory of Music building.

March 2022 SMWC announced that the master’s nursing program was ranked nationally in US News & World Report: Best Nursing Schools: Master’s in 2022. SMWC was also ranked in the Nursing Schools Almanac for 2021 in The 30 Best Nursing Schools in Indiana and The 100 Best Nursing Schools in the Great Lakes.

November 2021 The Woods welcomed Little Onyx as its live mascot.