Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nursing, and technology. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. History In 1877, a group of exiled Italian Jesuits established a small college in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The Jesuits named this institution Las Vegas College which would ultimately become known as Regis University. In 1884, the Bishop of Denver invited the Jesuits to create a college in Morrison, Colorado where Sacred Heart College was opened. In 1887, Las Vegas College and Sacred Heart College merged and moved to the present location of Regis University. At the time of the merger, the school was then called the College of the Sacred Heart. Later, in 1921, it adopted the name of Regis College in honor of Saint John Francis Regis, a 17th-century Jesuit who worked with prostitutes and the poor in the mountains of Southern France. The preparatory section was separated to become the present-day Regis Jesuit High School. In 1991, Regis College was renamed Regis University. Regis University played host to the rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968, as well as the British rock band Queen (band) who played their first concert in the United States on April 16, 1974. In 2011, Regis academic programs expanded with partnerships with the National University of Ireland, Galway, and with ITESO, the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, Mexico, for the first online bilingual joint MBA degree program. Michael Sheeran stepped down as the university's president on June 1, 2012. Sheeran was succeeded by John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J., who became the 24th president of the university. Guest speakers Desmond Tutu spoke at the university in November 1998, following in the footsteps of Betty Williams of Northern Ireland and the Dalai Lama in 1993. Other speakers have included author Elie Wiesel in 2001, former President of Poland Lech Walesa in 2003, and most recently, David Trimble of Northern Ireland in 2006. Altogether, 13 Nobel Peace Prize recipients have visited Regis University since 1996. Papal visit On August 12, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Northwest Denver Campus of Regis University, where he met with President Bill Clinton for the first time. They greeted about 150 visitors, who had been chosen through a lottery system, and met