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Christendom College

Christendom College is a small Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States, in the scenic Shenandoah Valley.

Educational Mission

Christendom College is a Catholic coeducational college institutionally committed to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.

The College provides a Catholic liberal arts education, including an integrated core curriculum grounded in natural and revealed Truth, the purpose of which at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is to form the whole person for a life spent in the pursuit of Truth and Wisdom. Intrinsic to such an education is the formation of moral character and the fostering of the spiritual life. This education prepares students for their role as faithful, informed, and articulate members of Christ’s Church and society.

The particular mission of Christendom College, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, is “to restore all things in Christ” by forming men and women to contribute to the Christian renovation of the temporal order. A temporal order infused by the spirit of Christ and Catholic teaching is generally called "Christendom," meaning those places in which Christ's teachings are considered the basis for society and its governance. This mission to restore all things in Christ, or in other words to rebuild Christendom, gives Christendom College its name.

The College's Vision Statement reads in part:

History

Christendom College was founded by Dr. Warren H. Carroll in 1977 in Triangle, Virginia, with only $50,000. The original campus was an abandoned elementary school in Triangle, housing a total of only 26 students and six faculty. The founding faculty consisted of Dr. Carroll himself, Dr. William Marshner (then Mr.), Dr. Jeffrey A. Mirus, Dr. Kristin (née Popik) Burns, and Mr. 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.

Student Life

As a Catholic liberal arts college, Christendom's essential purpose is to place students on the path to Christian wisdom, a wisdom born from the contemplation and love of both natural and divinely revealed truth. Toward this end, the academic and other programs at the College work in conjunction. The chief goal of the academic program is to form intellectual virtues in the students. The activities, events, community and spiritual life on campus also foster the cultivation of wisdom, helping students to form the moral virtues, the habits of Christian living, which will enable them to order properly the goods and things of the body and the higher goods and things of the soul.

At Christendom, the athletic program seeks to complement the College's higher goal of the moral and intellectual perfection of man. As a member of The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), Christendom fields intercollegiate teams in both men's and women's soccer and basketball as well as men's baseball and rugby. The athletic department maintains facilities and equipment to support a variety of student interests, such as tennis, racquetball, handball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, weightlifting, archery, and fencing. Plans are currently underway to establish a crew program, which would make use of the beautiful Shenandoah River that adjoins the campus.

Similar to athletics, Christendom offers students a debate program, sponsored by the student run Chester-Belloc Debate Society. Utilizing a modified parliamentarian style of debate, the Society provides a stimulating atmosphere where students can build upon the wisdom they receive in the classroom. The Society's debates assist in refining the excellence of the intellect, and give a practical opportunity for students to publicly speak, and stand by the Truths they know and learn at Christendom.

Christendom encourages its students to take part in the many organized recreational activities that the College has to offer, and to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities presented by its location in the Shenandoah Valley.

Academic degrees

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

Dr. Patrick Keats, Dean

All graduates of the undergraduate college are awarded the bachelor of arts degree. The fields of study are:

Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College

Dr. Kristin Burns, Dean

Master of Sacred Theology

Rome Program

Each undergraduate has the option of going to Rome in his or her junior year as part of the college's Rome Program. The college offers this program at a loss so that students can have the opportunity to go to the heart of Christendom, to explore the epicenter of Western Civilization, and to be at the center of the Church and its 2000 year history. Students report this as being a life changing experience. The Program includes a continuation of the College's core curriculum program for juniors (PHIL 301 Medieval Philosophy and THEO 301 Moral Theology during the Fall, PHIL 302 Modern Philosophy 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 culture, intellectually, spiritually, and physically. The Program also includes a week's pilgrimage to Assisi and Florence.