St. John's University (Jamaica, New York)

St. John's University

English translation of the Greek on the original seal of the University is " a lamp burning and shining" or " a lamp shining brightly" a reference to St. John the Baptist (see John 5:35). (A later seal of the University uses a Latin phrase that may be rendered "Christian education perfects the soul".)
Latin: Universitatis Sancti Johannis
Motto	Educatio Christiana Animae Perfectio
Motto in English	Christian education perfects the soul
Type	Private
Established	1870
Religious affiliation	Catholic Church (Vincentian)
Academic affiliations	ACCU MSA NAICU
Endowment	$643.4 million (2016)
President	Conrado "Bobby" Gempesaw
Academic staff	1,456
Students	21,354
Undergraduates	15,720
Postgraduates	5,634
Location	Queens And Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Campus	Urban, 105 acres (42 ha) (Queens campus)
Colors	Red, White, Black
Nickname	Red Storm
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Big East
Website	www.stjohns.edu

St. John's University (SJU) is a private, Roman Catholic, research university located in New York City, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission (C.M., the Vincentian Fathers) in 1870, the school was originally located in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant in the borough of Brooklyn. Beginning in the 1950s, the school was relocated to its current location to Utopia Parkway in Hillcrest, Queens. St. John's also has campuses in Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City, overseas in Rome, Italy, and a graduate center in Oakdale, New York. A campus in Paris opened in the Spring of 2009. The school is named after Saint John the Baptist.

St. John's is organized into five undergraduate schools and six graduate schools. As of 2011, the university has a total of 15,720 undergraduate students and 5,634 graduate students. St. John's offers more than 100 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs.

St. John's University was founded in 1868, by the Vincentian Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church in response to an invitation by the first Bishop of Brooklyn, John Loughlin, to provide the underprivileged youth of the city with an intellectual and moral education.

St. John's Vincentian values stem from the ideals and works of St Vincent de Paul (1581–1660), who is the patron saint of Christian charity. Following the Vincentian tradition, the university seeks to provide an education that encourages greater involvement in social justice, charity and service. The Vincentian Center for Church and Society ("Vincenter") located on the university's Queens campus serves as "a clearinghouse for and developer of Vincentian information, poverty research, social justice resources, and as an academic/cultural programming Center."