Celebrating 125 years of leadership

Nearly 125 years ago, the Vincentians founded St. Vincent’s College on a 5-acre plot on Chicago’s North Side with seven faculty members and 70 students. From that small start, DePaul has grown into the largest Catholic university in the country, with about 22,000 students on two campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop.

During the 2022–23 academic year, DePaul is commemorating 125 years — its quasquicentennial — of providing a transformative education steeped in Vincentian values.

As part of that celebration, the university asked its community to nominate people, past and present, who have made significant contributions to DePaul. The planning committee selected 125 representative faces — a sampling of the many faces that make DePaul what it is today.

The 125 faces of DePaul showcase outstanding leaders, groundbreaking STEM experts, artists, athletes and lifelong learners. For more information, photos and quotes about the faces featured, visit the anniversary website at 125.depaul.edu.

Winning Logo

DePaul senior Vick-Ariel Privert, a political science major from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, created the logo for the 125th anniversary. Privert, inspired by DePaul’s Vincentian values and its commitment to its larger community, won a logo design challenge open to all students. She received a $3,000 scholarship for the winning design.

(Click here to view larger version of logo.)

Class Quotes

Looking to the university’s next 125 years, we’d like to know how you plan to carry DePaul’s mission forward.

Answer this question, and we may print your quote in the spring 2023 issue of DePaul Magazine, as well as on the Alumni & Friends website, alumni.depaul.edu.

How has your DePaul education influenced your life and work, and how do you plan to carry those lessons forward?

Email your answer to depaulmag@depaul.edu, along with your first and last name, class year and degree received. Use the subject line “Class Quotes.”

DePaul University: A Story of Transformation

With great joy, the Division of Mission and Ministry presents a video celebrating DePaul’s transformative legacy over its 125 years of existence.

DePaul’s identity has continually been shaped by an inseparable binomial: the Vincentian spirit and historical reality.

The ways in which we live our values in light of our roots have evolved and been transformed by the challenges of history and present-day reality. Through it all DePaul has always sought to faithfully respond to the calls coming from our students, our community partners, our city, and our world.

As we have done over the past 125 years, DePaul University continues its commitment to providing accessible education that fosters creative solutions to pressing social and environmental issues.