Christendom College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States, which is located in the Shenandoah Valley. It is endorsed by The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College. The school does not accept federal funding.
History
Christendom College was founded by Warren H. Carroll in 1977 in Triangle, Virginia, with $50,000. The original campus was an abandoned elementary school in Triangle, housing a total of 26 students and five faculty. The founding faculty consisted of Carroll, William Marshner, Jeffrey A. Mirus, Kristin (née Popik) Burns, and Raymund P. O'Herron.
In 1979, the College acquired its new campus in Front Royal, Virginia, overlooking the Shenandoah River. It still occupies this site today.
In 1997 Warren Carroll acknowledged the debt Christendom College owed to L. Brent Bozell, Jr. and Triumph magazine in his obituary for Bozell:
"Christendom College was gestated in the womb of Triumph magazine and the Society for the Christian Commonwealth, Brent Bozell's creations. All of our original five faculty were long-time subscribers to Triumph and three had attended the program in Spain. Our current president and his wife and our executive vice-president had attended the program in Spain. Two of the three original major donors who enabled our College project to be launched financially had attended the program in Spain, and the third had seen his son attend it. Many of the original members of our Board of Directors were Triumph readers. In a very fundamental sense Christendom College was a Triumph enterprise, and always will be."
A Call To Greatness Campaign
Starting September 19, 2016 Christendom College launched an ambitious project called the "A Call To Greatness Campaign" to raise $40 million. The funds are to be divided between the college's endowment, the annual fund, and a construction project to build a new 750-seat medieval gothic chapel featuring a 130-foot tower and eight prayer altars. The cost of the chapel is estimated to run approximately $13.5 million, with an additional $13.5 million allocated to the endowment and the remaining $13 million going to the annual fund. Within a month of the fundraiser's launch, roughly 70%, or $28 million, had been raised for the campaign.
Campus
Residence halls
Men's dormitories:
- St. Augustine Hall
- St. Benedict Hall
- St. Francis Hall
- St. Joseph Hall
- St. Pius Hall
Women's dormitories:
- Blessed Margaret Hall
- St. Catherine of Siena Hall
- St. Edmund Campion Hall
- St. Theresa Hall
- St. Clare Hall (opening Fall 2017)
Academic buildings
- Aula Magna Mariae (Chapel Crypt)
- St. Lawrence Commons
- St. John the Evangelist Library
- St. Thomas Aquinas Hall
Other buildings
- Christ the King Chapel
- King Louis the Crusader Gymnasium
- John Paul the Great Student Center
- Madonna Hall (aka The CWOD)
- Regina Coeli Hall
Organization and administration
- Dr. Warren Carroll 1977 - 1985
- Dr. Damian Fedoryka 1985-1992
- Dr. Timothy T. O’Donnell 1992 - current
Academics
Christendom College has two schools offering graduate and undergraduate degrees. Undergraduate students combine a liberal arts core-curriculum with eventual upper-level courses in their major field (or fields) of study. Graduates can choose from three theological concentrations: Systematic Theology, Moral Theology, and Catechetics
Undergraduate college
All graduates of the undergraduate college are awarded a bachelor of arts degree in one of the following fields of study:
- Classical and Early Christian Studies
- Economics (minor only)
- English Language and Literature
- History
- Philosophy
- Political Science and Economics
- Mathematics
- Music (minor only)
- Science (minor only)
- Theology
Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College
The graduate school offers a Master of Sacred Theology degree.
Rome Program
The Rome Program includes a continuation of the College's core curriculum program for juniors (THEO 301 Moral Theology during the Fall; and THEO 302 Apologetics in the spring), as well as courses in Italian, Roman Art & Architecture, and a general catch-all course that highlights Rome as a center of Italian and Catholic culture. The Program also includes a week's pilgrimage to Assisi and Siena as well as a trip to Florence.
Student life
Athletics
Christendom has several varsity sports, and has a variety of intramural sports throughout the year.
Student Activism
Christendom College promotes its student-run pro-life group, Shield of Roses, on its web site, and students regularly protest at regional abortion clinics and other events, sometimes with the Bishop in attendance. Shield of Roses has been active since at least 2009 at major rallies, according to the school's web site. The college publicized the closure of an abortion clinic in Silver Spring, Maryland, after Christendom College students protested there. Students protested at the Falls Church Health Care Center, where abortions are performed, in Falls Church, Virginia, in April 2017.
References
External links
- Christendom College official site
