Strake Jesuit College Preparatory

{{Infobox school

| name = Strake Jesuit College Preparatory

| logo = StrakeJeb.png

| image = StrakeJesuitCut.jpg

| motto =

| motto_translation =

| address = 8900 Bellaire Boulevard

| city = Houston

| state = Texas

| zipcode = 77036-4699

| country = US

| coordinates = {{coord|29.70809|N|95.53979|W |format=dms|type:edu_region:US-TX_source:placeopedia|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map = Texas#USA

| type = Private independent college-preparatory school

| gender = All male

| religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic
Jesuit

| denomination =

| patron = Stanislaus Kostka

| established = {{Start date and age|June 21, 1960}}

| founder = Michael Kenelley

| principal = Ken Lojo

| chaplain = Fr. Michael Wegenka, S.J.

| staff =

| faculty =

| teaching_staff = 104.8 (FTE) (2017–18)

| grades = 9–12

| ratio = 9.7:1 (2017–18)

| slogan = "Magis"

| song =

| fightsong =

| athletics =

| conference =

| sports =

| mascot =

| nickname = Crusaders

| accreditation = Southern Association of Colleges and Schools{{cite web |url=http://www.advanc-ed.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary?institutionId=22641 |title=SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement|access-date=September 30, 2010 |author=SACS-CASI}}

| athletic_conference = UIL 6A–District 23{{cite news |last1=Coleman |first1=Adam |title=A look at UIL's district realignment for next two school years |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/highschool/article/UIL-district-realignment-2020-2022-high-school-15025826.php |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=Houston Chronicle |date=February 3, 2020}}{{cite web |title=2020-22 Official District Alignment Football and 2020-21 Basketball Conference 6A |url=https://realignment.uiltexas.org/alignments/2020/6ABBFB2020.pdf |website=UIL |access-date=March 22, 2020}}

| ranking =

| publication = Inkwell (literary magazine)

| newspaper = Magis

| yearbook = The Crusader

| fees =

| president = Fr. Jeff Johnson, S.J.

| campus = Urban

| campus type =

| hours_in_day =

| mascot image =

| colors = {{Color box|green}} Green
{{Color box|white}} White

| enrollment = 1,108 (2017–18){{NCES Private School ID|01325276|school_name=Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School|access_date=May 13, 2019|do_not_render=y}}

| website = {{Official URL}}

| module = {{Infobox mapframe

| stroke-color = #C60C30

| stroke-width = 3

| marker = school

| marker-color = #1F2F57

| zoom = 13}}

}}

File:StrakeArt.jpg

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown area and in the Greater Sharpstown district of Houston, Texas, United States."[http://www.sharpstowndistrict.com/chinatown Chinatown]." () Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on December 4, 2012. [http://www.sharpstowndistrict.com/images/SharpstownZones/GSMD-MarketZones-Chinatown-large.jpg Map image], It is near Alief.Asin, Stephanie. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1993_1146049 GOING BY DIFFERENT BOOKS/More private institutions get the call]". Houston Chronicle. August 8, 1993. Section C, Page 1. Retrieved July 21, 2011.

With over 1,200 students, it is the largest Catholic high school in Houston. It has a full-time curator for its art collection; the City of Houston has classified the campus as an art museum.{{Cite web |url=https://www.strakejesuit.org/about/art-museum |title=Art Museum |website=Strake Jesuit College Preparatory | access-date=September 4, 2019}} The school is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It is one of only two private schools in Texas that are members of the University Interscholastic League (the other being Dallas Jesuit), which allows it to compete athletically against the largest public schools.

History

The school was founded by Father Michael Kenelley, S.J.,{{cite news |first=John |last=Pope |title=The Rev. Michael Kennelly, former Loyola University president, dies at age 96 |url=http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/01/the_rev_michael_kennelly_forme.html |work=The Times-Picayune |date=January 11, 2011 |access-date=January 17, 2011}}{{cite news |title=Past president of Loyola dies at age 96 |url=http://www.loyno.edu/news/story/2011/1/5/2363 |work=Loyola University New Orleans |date=January 5, 2011 |access-date=January 17, 2011}} on June 21, 1960, in what was then the undeveloped, west side of Houston. It is named in honor of oil tycoon George William Strake Sr.

The school's patron saint is Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish Jesuit who serves as a patron of students; additionally, as a Jesuit institution, Ignatius of Loyola is invoked as an unofficial patron saint.{{Cite web |url=https://www.strakejesuit.org/about |title=About - Strake Jesuit |website=www.strakejesuit.org |language=en-US|access-date=November 13, 2018}}

In 1971, the school asked to declare Chapter 10 bankruptcy as it lost money in the Sharpstown scandal.{{cite news |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/dallas-texas-catholic-feb-20-1971-p-1/ |title=Strake Jesuit asks Bankruptcy |work=The Texas Catholic |publisher=Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas |volume=19 |issue=22 |date=February 20, 1971 |page=1}} The school surrendered seven acres of its original property to pay its debts and emerge from bankruptcy protection. The seven-acre tract was repurchased by the school in 2012 for $3.3 million.{{Cite news |url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/memorial-news/article/School-buys-tract-lost-in-1971-3714135.php |title=School buys tract lost in 1971 |date=July 17, 2012 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle | access-date = August 11, 2019}}

From 1990 to 1993, the number of applications submitted to Strake Jesuit doubled. Fr. Brian Zinnamon, the school president, said during the year that there were twice as many applicants as available spots. At the time, tuition was $4,700 per year, described by the Houston Chronicle as steep. Father Zinnamon said, "Certainly what is going on in the public schools is a factor. Parents are choosing a safe environment where they know their children are getting Christian values."

In 2005, before Hurricane Katrina, the school had 899 students. An additional 410 were temporarily enrolled at Strake after the hurricane for a period of time from Jesuit High School in New Orleans. {{cite web|author=Abram. Lynwood|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Sally-Landram-72-superintendent-of-Catholic-1837302.php|title='Sally' Landram, 72, superintendent of Catholic schools|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2007-07-08|access-date=2020-06-06}}

Athletics

The "Fighting Crusaders" were one of many Catholic high schools that originally competed in the now defunct T.C.I.L. (Texas Christian Interscholastic League).{{cite news |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/best-of/2003/sports-and-recreation/best-way-to-break-in-to-the-big-time-7401342 |title=Best of Houston® /// Sports & Recreation /// 2003 Strake Jesuit joining the UIL Best Way to Break In to the Big Time |newspaper=Houston Press|access-date=March 3, 2017}} The league began in 1935 under the direction of Albert Mitchell (then principal of Central Catholic, San Antonio). Strake Jesuit's last year of competition in the T.C.I.L. concluded when the league came to a close in the 1999–2000 athletic season with the baseball team capturing the final T.C.I.L. State Championship in any sport.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} After T.C.I.L. merged with TAPPS, both Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit were not permitted to join as TAPPS believed those two schools were too powerful. From the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2003, the Crusaders competed as an independent in all sports.

They were admitted into the University Interscholastic League (U.I.L.), the public school athletic league, partly due to the efforts of Joe Nixon, a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Texas Senate Bill 1943 opened the UIL to Strake and Dallas Jesuit, which established rules to put those two schools on equal footing with public schools.{{cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/article/Private-schools-must-play-by-same-rules-as-public-9578282.php|title=Private schools must play by same rules as public schools|work=Houston Chronicle|date=2007-05-15|access-date=2020-04-16}} After its admission into the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit began competing in its listed district of 19-5A in the fall of 2003. The Crusaders have won several district and regional championships along with a state championship, state runners-up, and state semi-finalists within the past eight years in the U.I.L. The "Fighting Crusaders" athletic department provides 14 different programs which include: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, water polo, and wrestling.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

The Houston Press ranked the U.I.L. realignment as the "Best Way to Break In to the Big Time" in 2003.

=Rivalry=

Despite moving to the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit had a storied rivalry with Saint Thomas High School (STH). Since its beginning in 1964, Strake Jesuit had a record of 24–29–1 against STH. However, as of 2020, both schools have announced the end of the annual competition and Strake Jesuit will now compete with Dallas Jesuit instead. This decision however was disliked by students and alumni from both schools.{{cite news |last1=Coleman |first1=Adam |title=Longtime Strake Jesuit-St. Thomas rivalry game canceled for 2020 football season |date=January 30, 2020 |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/highschool/article/Longtime-Strake-Jesuit-St-Thomas-rivalry-game-15018038.php |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |access-date=4 March 2020}}{{Cite news |last = Jenkins |first = Jeff |url = http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/bellaire/news/7160553.html |title = Game of the Week Strake to host rivalry game Crusaders favored over historic foes in opener of school's 50th |newspaper = Houston Chronicle |date = August 19, 2010}}{{Cite web |url=https://thebuzzmagazines.com/articles/2019/09/strake-jesuit-wins-football-opener-vs-st-thomas |title=Strake Jesuit Wins Football Opener vs. St. Thomas |last=McKenna |first=Carter |website=The Buzz Magazines |date=September 2019 |quote=Strake Jesuit and St. Thomas, who have been high school football rivals for five and a half decades now, ...}}

Notable alumni

File:StrakeJesuitEntrance0.jpg

Gerald Hills (1973) – politician and educator; former chair of the Michigan Republican Party
Jim Murphy (1976) – Member of Texas House of RepresentativesTexas House Bio https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=133
Rod Graves (1977) – former General Manager of the Arizona Cardinals
Fred Viancos (1980) – former professional tennis player and chief operating officer of United States Professional Tennis Association
Eric Mullins (1980) – Co-CEO of Lime Rock Resources and former NFL player
Chris Darkins (1992) – former NFL running back
Garth Jax (1982) – former NFL linebacker
Bill Nguyen (1991) - Technology entrepreneur, founder of Onebox.com, SEVEN Networks, La La Media Inc., and Color labs
Jake Voskuhl (1996) – former NBA player
Derek Lyons (2000) – Counselor to the President Donald Trump{{cite news |title=How chatter and conservative anger upended a White House staffing search |language=en |work=POLITICO |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/17/white-house-staffing-search-upended-261226 |access-date=17 May 2020}}
Nelson Akwari (2000) – former professional soccer player
Chris Ogbonnaya (2004) – former NFL running back
Nicolas Jean-Baptiste (2007) – former NFL nose tackle
Greg Casar (2007) – [https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/31/greg-casar-house-district-35/ US Rep TX-35], former Member of the Austin City Council{{Cite web |last=HAMILTON |first=HEATH |date=2007-05-16 |title=Strake Jesuit runner gives it his all in state finale |url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/sports/article/Strake-Jesuit-runner-gives-it-his-all-in-state-9578554.php |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=Chron |language=en-US}}
David King (2008) – former NFL defensive end
Austin Claunch (2008) – college basketball coach, head coach of Nicholls State Colonels
Tim Frazier (2009) – NBA player
Juan Adams (2010) – professional mixed martial artist
Pace Murphy (2012) – former NFL offensive tackle
Rasheed Sulaimon (2012) - professional basketball player{{cite web |title=Rasheed Sulaimon - 2013-14 - Men's Basketball |url=https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/rasheed-sulaimon/4384 |website=Duke University |language=en}}
Ilolo Izu (2015) – track and field athlete specializing in sprints and hurdles
Matthew Boling (2019) – track and field athlete specializing in sprints and long jump{{Cite news |last=Sondheimer |first=Eric |date=May 12, 2019 |title=Matthew Boling sets national record in the 100 meters in Texas |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-vti-national-record-100-meters-20190512-story.html |access-date=May 23, 2019 |via=latimes.com}}
Michael Wiley (2019) – college football running back for the Arizona Wildcats{{cite web |last1=Krueger |first1=Nick |title=Arizona emerges as leader for RB Michael Wiley |url=https://n.rivals.com/news/arizona-emerges-as-leader-for-rb-michael-wiley |website=Rivals.com |date=May 11, 2018 |access-date=31 January 2024}}