John Early (educator)

Father John Early (1814–1873) was an Irish-American Jesuit educator and founder of the Loyola College in Maryland. He was also the President of Georgetown University from 1858-1866 and again from 1870-1873.

Born to farmers in Maguiresbridge, Northern Ireland in 1814, Early left his home at a young age to study at the Armagh Academy. Hoping to become a priest he applied to the seminary at St Patrick's College, Maynooth where he was unable to gain admission.

Frustrated, the nineteen-year-old then moved to the United States and enrolled as a third-year college student at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. After gaining some academic momentum, Early then left St. Mary's for Georgetown University where he sought enrollment in the Society of Jesus, due to the influence of his mentor Father John McElroy.

In 1848, thirty-four-year-old Father John Early was mandated the presidency of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Young and newly ordained, Early became quickly frustrated as the college exhibited two large problems since it had yet to be chartered. First off, since it had not been chartered with the state it was unable to distribute diplomas. Secondly, a non-chartered school was subject to very large taxation. With the help of Boston's Bishop John Fitzpatrick, and a current senior's father, Orestes Brownson, Early wrote up a petition to the state that included privileges of six of the school's Jesuits. He, however, was not included because of his lack of American citizenship. The state of Massachusetts quickly rejected because of Bishop Fitzpatrick's clause which Fr. Early highly criticized that insisted only Catholics be allowed to enroll. Holy Cross would not distribute diplomas for another sixteen years. In 1851 Father Early handed the reins over to Anthony Ciampi, who had the arduous task of rebuilding the college after it caught fire in July 1852.

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