Rev. James J. McCabe, S.J.

1858-1933
Member of the missouri province of the society of jesus
Served as president of marquette from 1908 to 1911

In 1909, just one year after becoming president of Marquette, Rev. James McCabe, S.J., received a report emphasizing the dire need to improve the education of teachers in Catholic elementary and high schools. Religious sisters, who were the primary teachers in Catholic schools, needed advanced education to fulfill Wisconsin’s teacher certification requirements. That summer as Marquette prepared to open the first summer session in Catholic higher education, Father McCabe made the transformational decision to permit women - religious and lay alike - to enroll alongside men in what was at that time the quintessential course of study at any Jesuit institution, the bachelor of arts program. His history-making decision introduced coeducation to Catholic higher education.

Father McCabe’s decisive action was met with opposition within the local Jesuit community as well as from Rev. Rudolph J. Meyer, S.J., head of the Missouri Province and former president of Marquette from 1899 to 1893. After being denied permission to admit women by his religious superiors, Father McCabe appealed this decision to the head of the Society of Jesus in Rome. In the intervening three years while awaiting a decision from Rome, women continued to walk through Marquette’s doors. Father General’s approval of coeducation arrived in 1912, confirming Father McCabe’s courageous decision.

Before this final approval arrived from Rome, Father Meyer reassigned Father McCabe to classroom teaching in Detroit. Later, as president of what is now Xavier University in Cincinnati, Father McCabe replicated his Marquette milestone and opened that school’s summer program to religious and lay women, as well.