Other notable alumni include Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

[15] He petitioned the Society of Jesus to seek their approval in establishing an institution in Worcester, and they sent Thomas F. Mulledy to prepare a report regarding Fenwick's proposal.

The first class graduated in 1849, led by the valedictorian James Augustine Healy, the mixed-race son of an Irish planter in Georgia and his common-law wife, a mulatto former slave.

[16] Petitions to secure a charter for the college from the state legislature were denied in 1847 for a variety of reasons, including anti-Catholicism on the part of some legislators.

[27] Its 175-acre (0.71 km2) campus is a registered arboretum and is marked by an irregular layout situated on the northern slope of the Mount Saint James hill, where a panoramic view of the city of Worcester is visible.

[34] The most recent former Jesuit residence, Ciampi Hall, which has been converted to dormitories along with the new townhouse style senior housing buildings, lie on the southwest side of campus.

[40] In 2015, Holy Cross announced the construction of a $22 million facility in West Boylston, Massachusetts, comprising 52 acres and a complex to provide a retreat for students.

Including its affiliation with the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System, a collaborative formed in 2003 by more than 20 academic, public, and special libraries with research collections in the central Massachusetts area, Holy Cross students have access to a combined total of approximately 3.8 million volumes and more than 23,000 journal, magazine, and newspaper subscriptions held among the 20-plus regional institutions.

[44] Constructed in the 1920s, the room's ceiling is sectioned in a grid-like pattern and embellished with gold, painted trim, and carvings along the top of the interior walls.

Large wooden candelabra are suspended from the ceiling, and Ionic columns – echoing those on the Library's exterior – anchor three sides of the room.

Noted collections include the papers of James Michael Curley, David I. Walsh, Louise Imogen Guiney, and Joseph J. Williams.

[51] Holy Cross has taken numerous steps toward environmental sustainability, which has led to the reduction of the institution's carbon emissions by 46.8 percent between 2007 and 2017 according to the latest data.

[55] Programs in sociology, psychology, and mathematics are also popular among students, as are concentrations in philosophy and religious studies which relate to Jesuit focuses.

As a result, in 1974, Time magazine referred to Holy Cross as the "cradle of the Catholic Left" because it educated Philip Berrigan and socialist leader Michael Harrington, author of the influential book on poverty, The Other America.

[66] With the grant, the school launched a five-year program to "make theological and spiritual resources available to students as they discern their life work, including consideration of vocations of ministerial service within religious denominations".

[77] Kiplinger's Personal Finance placed Holy Cross at 15th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States.

[79] In the 2023 Times Higher Education ranking of top Catholic colleges and universities published by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Holy Cross placed fourth nationally.

College officials said this policy would reduce the importance of admissions tests and place greater weight on the academic experience of a candidate as demonstrated through the high school transcript and recommendations.

For Williams and Figge Halls, each apartment houses four students and is equipped with a bathroom with separate shower, kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms.

[92] Second-year to fourth-year students also have the option of living off-campus but only a small percentage do so, as the school has built additional housing in recent years and the number of desirable apartments near campus is limited.

With its relative distance from a major city, and without a Greek life at Holy Cross, undergraduate social life revolves around a number of school-sponsored groups, events, and off-campus houses on nearby city streets (notably Boyden, Cambridge, Caro, Chelsea, Clay, College, and Southbridge streets) which are open to upperclassmen.

One suggests it was derived from the royal purple used by Constantine the Great (born about 275 A.D., died in 337 A.D.) as displayed on his labarum (military standard) and on those of later Christian emperors of Rome.

[106] Holy Cross alumni have made significant contributions in the fields of government, law, academia, business, arts, journalism, and athletics, among others.

Michael Harrington, author of The Other America and an influential figure in initiating the 1960s War on Poverty, was a graduate of the college, as was the famed pacifist leader Phillip Berrigan.

Wendell Arthur Garrity, United States federal judge famous for issuing the 1974 order that Boston schools be desegregated by means of busing, is also an alumnus.

In 2003, an honorary degree and public platform was given to pro-choice Holy Cross alumnus Chris Matthews despite pro-life alumni objections.

McFarland along with the majority of the current Holy Cross community continue to defend this, stating that while Matthews is pro-choice, that is not his defining characteristic and he did not talk purely about abortion in his speech.

Power and Associates founder; William J. McDonough, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch.

In media and the arts, Holy Cross has several distinguished alumni: Ann Dowd, Emmy-winning actress best known for her roles in The Handmaid's Tale and The Leftovers;[109] Neil Hopkins, actor best known for his roles in Lost and Nip/Tuck; Bill Simmons, ESPN.com sports columnist and head of The Ringer, Channel 33, and the Bill Simmons Podcast Network; Dan Shaughnessy, sports columnist for The Boston Globe; Bartlett Sher, Tony Award-winning Broadway director; Joe McGinniss, bestselling author of The Selling of the President, Fatal Vision, and other books; Edward P. Jones, 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction for writing The Known World; Billy Collins, 2001–03 Poet Laureate of the United States; Dave Anderson, The New York Times sports columnist, 1981 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary; Jack Higgins, editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times, 1989 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning; and Kevin O'Connor, the host of TV's This Old House.

In the sciences, Holy Cross also has several notable alumni, including Joseph Murray, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Medicine; immunologist Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief medical advisor to the president; and MacArthur Foundation "genius" bioengineer Jim Collins.