DeSales College

{{Short description|Private Catholic college in Toledo, Ohio, US}}

{{Distinguish|DeSales University}}

DeSales College was a private Catholic college located in Toledo, Ohio. It opened in 1936 and closed in 1942.

DeSales College was formed with the consolidation of St. John's University and Toledo Diocesan College and occupied the campus of St. John's High School and College.{{cite news |author= |title=Appointed To College Board |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-journal/123797001/ |newspaper=Mansfield News-Journal |location=Mansfield, Ohio |date=June 27, 1936 |page=3 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} It opened on September 21, 1936. The school's president, Monsignor Francis Macelwane, announced that the school had 30 full-time instructors teaching in 20 departments.{{cite news |author= |title=New Toledo College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-richmond-item/123796984/ |newspaper=Palladium-Item |location=The Richmond Item |date=August 27, 1936 |page=8 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} Macelwane died suddenly from a heart attack, on December 5, 1940, at Calvert Hall, a dormitory on the school's campus.{{cite news |author= |title=Death Claims DeSales Head |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-messenger/123797573/ |newspaper=Freemont News-Messenger |location=Fremont, Ohio |date=December 6, 1940 |page=1 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}{{cite news |author= |title=Death Claims DeSales Head (continued) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-messenger/123797730/ |newspaper=Freemont News-Messenger |location=Fremont, Ohio |date=December 6, 1940 |page=2 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} DeSales closed in June 1942. Enlistments and drafting into military service during World War II led to declining enrollment.{{cite news |author= |title=Desales College To Close in June |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-herald/123796936/ |newspaper=Dayton Journal |location=Dayton, Ohio |agency=Associated Press |date=January 15, 1942 |page=1 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

DeSales College's sports teams were known as the Sailors. The school's colors were vermillion red and royal blue.{{cite web |author= |title=De Sales College |url=https://www.lostcolleges.com/desales-college |publisher=America's Lost Colleges |access-date=April 30, 2023 }} The 1939 football team, the first fielded by the school, went undefeated and was champion of the Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference (MOCC).{{Cite news|date=November 11, 1939|title=Ends Year Unbeaten In First Attempt|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85394995/the-philadelphia-inquirer/|access-date=September 9, 2021}} The following season, in 1940, DeSales was co-champion of the MOCC with {{cfb link|year=1940|team=Assumption Purple Warriors||title=Assumption}} of Windsor, Ontario and Lawrence Tech of Highland Park, Michigan.{{cite news|title=DeSales Blasts Blue Devils: Sailors Win, 33-7, to Throw M.O.O.C. Race into Three-Way Tie|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|author=Bob Latshaw|date=November 10, 1940|page=Sport 5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787293/desales-blasts-blue-devils-sailors/|via=Newspapers.com}}