St. George's University

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St. George's University
MottoThink Beyond
TypePrivate, Medical School
EstablishedJuly 23, 1976
ChancellorCharles R. Modica
Academic staff
2,300+
Students6,300+
Location
St. George's
,
St. George
,
Grenada

12°00′02″N 61°46′23″W / 12.000557°N 61.773065°W / 12.000557; -61.773065Coordinates: 12°00′02″N 61°46′23″W / 12.000557°N 61.773065°W / 12.000557; -61.773065
CampusTrue Blue Bay
MascotKnights
Websitesgu.edu

St. George's University is a private medical school and international university in Grenada, West Indies, offering degrees in medicine, veterinary medicine, public health, the health sciences, nursing, arts and sciences, and business.

St. George's University was established by an act of Grenada's parliament on July 23, 1976. Classes in the School of Medicine began January 17, 1977. In 1993, the University added graduate and undergraduate programs. In 1996, it was granted a charter for the School of Arts and Sciences and a Graduate Studies Program. In 1997, undergraduate courses in international business, life sciences, medical sciences, pre-medical and pre-veterinary medicine were added. The School of Veterinary Medicine was established in 1999, as was the University's Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

History[]

St. George's University was founded on July 23, 1976, by an act of Grenada's Parliament, which was then effectively controlled by Prime Minister Eric M. Gairy.[1] The school was named for the capital city of Grenada,[citation needed][2] but it was the brainchild of Charles R. Modica,[1] a 29-year-old lawyer and education entrepreneur.[3] Modica envisioned creating a for-profit medical school in the English-speaking Caribbean that would cater to academically qualified American students who failed to gain admission to medical schools in the United States.[1] Besides Modica, the other three original founders of the school were also from Long Island: Louis J. Modica, Charles' father[4] and a successful real estate developer; Edward McGowan, also a land developer; and Patrick F. Adams, a business lawyer.[citation needed][5]

Classes at St. George’s School of Medicine began on January 17, 1977 with 125 students and six part-faculty.[3] Almost all of the founding faculty members had been educated either in the United States or Europe. By the early 1979, the school had expanded to 23 full-time faculty and about 600 island-resident students.[6]

On March 13, 1979, a Marxist-inspired revolutionary party forcibly (but nearly bloodlessly) overturned Gairy's despotic (but nominally democratic) rule. Despite the school's association with the ousted Gairy regime, it survived and prospered under the new prime minister, Maurice Bishop, because it generated significant income for the government and people of Grenada. The school amicably co-existed with the revolutionary regime until Bishop also became embroiled in a domestic leadership challenge four years later.[3][1]

On October 19, 1983, Bishop and seven of his closest supporters were executed by Army soldiers loyal to an insurgent element in Bishop's own party. To quell any mass protests, the island's military declared martial law and placed the entire island under a 24-hour, shoot-on-sight curfew.[7] The bloodletting and repression raised fears in the Eastern Caribbean that Grenada's turmoil would destabilize democracy and law and order in the entire region. In Washington, the Reagan Administration feared for the safety of 1,000 US citizens on the island (including students, faculty, families, etc.). The U.S. government, urged on by allies in the English-speaking Caribbean, launched Operation Urgent Fury on Oct. 25, 1983. The surprise invasion was an attempt to secure the safety of American nationals on the island, but also sought to restore Westminster-style democracy and evict the Soviet-Cuban presence on Grenada.[8][9]

The operation was supposed to have been essentially over in a day, but the invading multi-national forces ran into stiffer than expected resistance from the Grenada's People's Revolutionary Army and militarized Cuban workers on the island. On D-Day, the principal independent information coming out of the island was from a ham radio operated by a St. George’s student.[10][11]

Because of an intelligence failure, the American-led forces landed on the island without knowing that the medical school had more than one campus. It took the invaders three days to reach all the students and staff on the island. Eventually 564 were evacuated back to U.S. soil without suffering any injuries.[citation needed][12]

In his memoirs, President Reagan recounted the return to the U.S. of the St. George’s students as an event that affected him deeply. "I was among many in our country whose eyes got a little misty when I watched their arrival in the United States on television and saw some of them lean down and kiss U.S. soil the moment that they stepped off the airplanes that brought them home."[13]

Charles R. Modica, the school's founder and chancellor, initially criticized the invasion as "very unnecessary," but changed his mind the next day after receiving a private State Department briefing that convinced him the intervention was justified.[14] Classes were moved to Long Island, New York; New Jersey, and Barbados temporarily until 1984.[15]

In response to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, students were again relocated temporarily to campuses in the United States.[16] The school has a comprehensive hurricane plan in place currently.[17]

In August 2014, SGU received a $750 million investment[18] from Baring Private Equity Asia and Altas Partners, a Canadian private equity company whose other major investment is in a salt mining operation.[19] In August 2015, G. Richard Olds, the founder and past dean of UC Riverside School of Medicine, was named as the school's president and CEO.[20] Dr. Andrew Sussman, former executive vice president of clinical services for CVS Health, was appointed the university's CEO in May 2017.[21]

Campus[]

St. George's University owns 65 buildings on 42 acres of land, spread out in a peninsula in the southwest corner of Grenada located in the West Indies. A major campus expansion begun in the early 1990s resulted in 52 new buildings. The architecture of the buildings are of Georgian architecture. The campus hosts a beautiful black sand beach known as Mandem Beach, which lies to the west of campus.[22]

University schools[]

St. George's University School of Medicine offers a Doctor of Medicine degree program that can be earned individually or as part of a dual degree with a Master of Public Health, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science, or Bachelor of Science. School of Veterinary Medicine students may obtain a DVM by itself or with the aforementioned degree programs. In addition, the School of Arts and Sciences offers bachelor's degree programs, and students can earn an MPH, MBA, MSc or PhD through the Graduate Studies Program.[23]

University administration[]

Chancellors

  • Charles R. Modica (1976–present)

Presidents

  • Charles R. Modica (1976–2015)
  • G. Richard Olds (2015–present)

Vice Chancellors

Notable alumni[]

Notable speakers[]

White Coat Ceremony Speakers
School of Medicine[24]

Bourne Lecture Speakers

Keith B. Taylor Memorial/WINDREF Lecture Speakers

See also[]

References and notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Wolfe, Linda (April 25, 1983). "Young Doctors at Sea". New York (magazine). Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (August 3, 2014). "Second-Chance Med School". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kukielski, Philip (2019). The U.S. Invasion of Grenada : legacy of a flawed victory. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. pp. 166–67. ISBN 978-1-4766-7879-5. OCLC 1123182247.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Ashbury, John (April 27, 2016). "Louis J. Modica dead at 92; helped rebuild downtown Bay Shore". Newsday. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  5. ^ "A New Auditorium Dedicated in Honor of Patrick F Adams". SGU Gazettte. March 30, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  6. ^ Ibid
  7. ^ "Remembering Reagan's Invasion of Grenada". Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  8. ^ Holmes, Steven A. (1994-05-02). "Less Strategic Now, Grenada Is to Lose American Embassy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  9. ^ "Jonetown". Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  10. ^ Magnuson, Ed; Redman, Christopher; McWhlrter, William (1983-11-21). "Getting Back to Normal". Time. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  11. ^ Magnuson, Ed (1983-11-07). "D-Day in Grenada". Time. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  12. ^ Correll, John T. (November 1, 2012). "The Grenada Adventure". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "Lebanon, Beirut and Grenada". Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  14. ^ Joy e, Fay S. (October 27, 1983). "First Evacuees Arrive in U.S. From Grenada". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "St. George's University History". Archived from the original on 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  16. ^ "Hurricane-hit Grenada med school moves".
  17. ^ "SGU Dangerous Weather Emergency Plan".
  18. ^ Korn, Melissa (8 August 2014). "St. Georges University Lands $750M Investment Deal". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Altas partners with St. George's University". Altas Partners. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  20. ^ "Dr. G. Richard Olds Appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of St. George's University". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  21. ^ "St. George's University Names CVS Health Executive Vice President Dr. Andrew Sussman As New CEO". Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  22. ^ "Campus Facilities". Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  23. ^ "Campus Programs". Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  24. ^ "School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony speakers". Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-08-11.

External links[]

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