John Carroll University opened as Saint Ignatius College on September 6, 1888. Originally located on Cleveland’s West Side, it was founded at the request of Bishop Richard Gilmour by German members of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, founded in 1540. In 1923, it was renamed John Carroll University after America’s first bishop. In 1925, the university acquired land in Idlewood Village, now University Heights, and began construction of a new campus in 1931. Classes began there in 1935 with 456 students. The institution admitted laywomen to evening and graduate classes in the 1930s and officially became coeducational in 1968. Its Jesuit Catholic mission inspires individuals to excel in learning, leadership, and service, both regionally and worldwide, and it is one of 28 Jesuit institutions of higher learning in the United States.