Justin Albert Driscoll

Justin Driscoll was born in Bernard, Iowa, to William and Agnes (née Healey) Driscoll.[1] He studied at Loras College in Dubuque, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942.[1] He completed his postgraduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.[1] He was ordained to the priesthood on July 28, 1945.[2] He then served as a teacher at Loras Academy until 1948, when he became secretary to Archbishop Henry Rohlman.[1] In 1952 he earned his Ph.D. from Catholic University.[1]

Returning to Iowa, he served as secretary to Archbishop Leo Binz (1952-1953) and superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Dubuque (1953-1967).[1] He was president of Loras College from 1967 to 1970.[1] During his administration, he gave full scholarships to twelve insufficiently vetted African American students, who occupied a building on campus when they realized that many of them were going to flunk. A Loras committee decided to expel them. But the involvement of Jesse Jackson in Chicago short-circuited that possibility. Ultimately, the insufficiently overseen scholarship program was dropped.[3] He was eventually forced to suspend the twelve students. The semester length of the suspension and other factors made him unpopular with some faculty, who then sought his resignation.[3]

On September 8, 1970, Driscoll was appointed the fifth Bishop of Fargo, North Dakota, by Pope Paul VI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 18 from Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, with Archbishops Leo Binz and James Joseph Byrne serving as co-consecrators.[2] He remained as bishop for the next fourteen years, until his death at age 64.