HISTORY OF ST. VINCENT'S COLLEGE

-- 1625, St. Vincent de Paul, an apostle, begins a seminary in France. The Vincentian fathers derive their name from this order.

-- 1816, Bishop William Bubourg visits Europe to request more priests and laymen for the diocese in the Louisiana Territory.

-- 1838, the Rev. John M. Odin founds the St. Vincent's Male Academy.

-- 1842, stone quarrying to be used for the buildings begins.

-- 1843, cornerstone of first building was laid.

-- May 1844, students at St. Mary's of the Barrens in Perryville are transferred to St. Vincent's College in Cape Girardeau.

--1844, Mississippi River flood destroys the college's farm crops.

-- 1847, Angelo Navarro of San Antonio, Texas, is the college's first graduate.

-- 1849, The Seabird, a river boat loaded with gunpowder, explodes. No injuries are reported.

-- 1850, tornado rips through the area and kills the school's gardener.

-- June 1859, St. Vincent's College stops operating as a secular college.

-- September 1859, school begins operating as a theological college.

-- 1861-65, Civil War; the college remains open.

-- 1865, St. Vincent's begins accepting students for a classical education.

-- 1865-1893, Perryville seminary students are transferred to St. Vincent's. The college begins offering both classical and ecclesiastical courses.

-- 1893, theological department is transferred to St. Louis.

-- 1893-1910, St. Vincent's offers both secular and theological courses.

-- 1979, last class graduates in May; seminary closes.

-- 1989, Provincial Administration of the Vincentian Fathers of St. Louis announce seminary is for sale.

-- 1991, Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation forms.

-- 1993, foundation makes two offers to buy seminary but both are refused.

-- 1995, Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation agrees to buy the seminary for $700,000.

-- October 1996, Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation fails to secure financing, and deal falls through.

-- January 1997, Southeast Missouri State University first expresses interest in seminary property.

-- May 16, 1997, University's Board of Regents tours facility.

-- May 29, 1997, SEMO President Dale Nitzschke inquires if property can be donated.

-- Jan. 11, 1998, Vincentians will not donate property.

-- Jan. 14, 1998, B.W. Harrison discusses seminary property with SEMO president.

-- Feb. 17, 1998, Harrison makes a conditional pledge to University Foundation for purchase of property.

-- April 29, 1988, Board of Regents receives site assessment report on property.

-- May 27, 1998, Board of Regents requests University Foundation purchase the property. University's Executive Foundation Committee agrees to request. Decision announced at press conference on seminary grounds.