CELTIC CROSS

 

Location on Queens Campus:  On the Great Lawn facing St. Augustine Hall .  

 

About the cross:  The bronze Celtic cross was donated by SJU alum Allen Raiken in 1985. Before being donated it graced the Mr. Raiken’s back yard. There is not much known about where the cross came from or who sculpted it as research suggests that Mr. Raiken’s father had found the cross on an abandoned farm.

 

Symbolism :  The Celtic cross is synonymous with the Irish people and their culture. St. John’s University was started by the Vincentians in 1870 serve the poor immigrant children of that time, which was predominately Irish.  Anti- Irish and anti- Catholic movements such as the “Know-Nothing” party were rampant at the time of St. John’s University’s conception.  Opportunities for Higher education for immigrants such as the Irish were nonexistent. St. John’s sought to change that by opening the doors to their school to educate the poor immigrant children. They believed that everyone, even those that are poor and looked down upon in society, deserve to have access to education. Today, St. John’s University still upholds that belief. Many of the students at St. John’s University continue to be children of immigrants and first of their families to go to college.

The students that come to St. John’s are not immigrants or immigrants children from Ireland, they come from many other places in the world, the Celtic cross symbolizes how far St. John’s has come and that it will always be a place to educate those less fortunate.