Continuing with my look around the schools in the Sunshine State Conference this off-season will be my feature school of this month Saint Leo University.
Saint Leo is a private non profit Roman catholic liberal arts university established in 1889 and reestablished as a college in 1959. It is located in Saint Leo, Fla. which is 35 miles north of Tampa. The university is associated with the Holy Name monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, A Benedictine monastery. The University and the abbey are both named in honor of Pope Leo The Great, who is recognized by catholics as both a Saint and one of the most outstanding leaders in the history of the church. The oldest catholic college in Florida, and the sixth largest in the United States, Saint Leo was one of the first universities to provide distance learning opportunities to students, beginning to educate millitary men and woman in 1973 during the Vietnam era at the height of the anti war movement. Saint Leo has 17 education centers in seven different states, including California, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
In 2012 Saint Leo had a total enrollment of 15,932 students worldwide. Many of which were military based students. 2,167 students were enrolled at the main Florida campus. Saint Leo University offers over 40 associate, baccalaureate, and masters degree, and certificate programs, and is inaugurating it's first doctoral program in 2013. The university does not utilize teaching assistants, but employs 1,380 faculty members.
Saint Leo's team colors are green and gold. They are a member of NCAA DII athletics. The Lions is the school's nickname and they are a member of the Sunshine State Conference. Men's sports include basketball, baseball, cross county, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and tennis. Woman's sports include basketball, golf, lacrosse, cross country, soccer, swimming, tennis, softball and volleyball.
