The Dominican Charism in American Higher Education:A 12th

The

Dominican

Charism in

American

Higher

Education:

Service

Truth

Vision

Inspired by the

12th Biennial Colloquium

of Dominican Colleges

and Universities

2 1

Introduction

The future of American Dominican institutions of higher education is, in

large part, in the hands of dedicated lay women and men. These partners

in mission bring their gifts of leadership, wisdom, knowledge and faith to

colleges initially founded and primarily staffed by sisters and friars. Today the

founding communities have entrusted what is most valuable and cherished

of the Dominican tradition and its educational vision to the lay partners who

serve in these institutions. As bearers of the Dominican tradition and keepers

of the charism, these partners in mission are called to know the history,

preserve the legacy, nurture the culture, and engage the intellectual and

spiritual heritage for generations of students to come.

Collaboration of vowed Dominicans with lay women and men is not without

precedent in the history of the order. In 1206, Dominic gathered together a

community of religious women and men, as well as devoted lay persons who

valued preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel for the church of their

age. Today in our colleges and universities the collaboration of lay women

and men with Dominican sisters and friars in commitment to Dominican

mission embodies the fullness of Dominican family that Dominic had

envisioned at the beginning of the order.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given

for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit

a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by

means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,

to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous

powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between

spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to

still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work

of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each

one, just as he determines. 1 Cor 12: 7-11

This document was commissioned by the presidents of the Dominican

colleges and universities in the U.S. in conjunction with the 2012

Dominican Higher Education Colloquium entitled The Contemplative

Vision: Love, Truth and Reality. It is intended to be “a conversation

starter” within and among the institutions of Dominican higher education

in the United States to stimulate research and writing that will further

explore and articulate the richness of the Dominican tradition. All are

invited to bring their scholarship, convictions and experiences to the

conversation.

Thanks to the initiative of President Donna M. Carroll, Dominican

University has assumed responsibility for the publication of the

document and will serve as the distribution center for copies requested

by Dominican institutions.

Special thanks go to the American Dominicans who formed the

writing team:

• Charles Bouchard, OP, former president of Aquinas Institute of

Theology and present provincial of the Province of St. Albert the Great

• Ruth Caspar, OP, professor emerita of philosophy and humanities,

Ohio Dominican University

• Marcella Hermesdorf, OP, professor of English, Dominican University

• Diane Kennedy, OP, vice president for Mission and Ministry,

Dominican University

• Judy Schaefer, OP, dean of theology, St. Mary’s University

The writers were both honored and challenged by the task entrusted

to them. They submit their work to the scholarly communities of the

Dominican colleges and universities with the hope that a communal

conversation will become a dialogue that generates future publications

on the Dominican contribution to higher education in the United States.

“In our daily and often difﬁcult search for

truth, we have not only the inspiration of

one another to keep us going, but also the

great ‘cloud of witnesses’ in the Dominican

tradition in which we stand and to which

we are called to contribute in new ways.”

Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP

prayer and ministry, his pursuit of truth was unique and relentless. One of

the most endearing stories about Dominic describes a nightlong conversation

he had with an innkeeper, who had been misled by the local heresy of the

Cathars. By dawn, after conversing patiently all-night, Dominic had helped

his companion to accept the truth of the Gospel and turn away from heresy.

Those hours spent in dialogue and debate reﬂect Dominic’s pragmatic

approach to truth, which later found expression in the earliest constitution:

“Our order is known to have been founded from the outset precisely for the

sake of preaching and the salvation of souls, and our zeal should be

primarily and passionately directed to the goal of being useful to the souls

of our neighbors.”

This dedication to the pursuit of

truth for the sake of others has

inspired and formed saints and

scholars whose works have built

up the faith of the church and

contributed to the intellectual and spiritual traditions of the order:

Dominic: Our founder from whom we inherit our zeal for the

Word and ﬁnd inspiration in his special gifts of governance

and administration.

Thomas Aquinas: Our brother philosopher, theologian and poet,

who offers us an immeasurable legacy of wisdom.

Albert the Great: A scientist and lover of the universe, who inspires

our care of the earth.

Meister Eckhart: A German master of prayer and contemplation,

who gifts us with audacity to be open to all sources of truth.

Catherine of Siena: Our sister-doctor who inspires all to speak

truth to power.

Fra Angelico: A gifted friar, who preached not with words but

with paint and color, and who challenges us to see God

through the beauty of the arts.

This document is written to the contemporary world of Dominican higher

education in the United States — out of the collaboration of women and

men, religious and lay — for the sake of sustaining a continuous conversation

regarding the unique heritage, vision and mission of American Dominican

higher education in the 21st century. By initiating the conversation we hope

to engage the scholarly richness and diverse experience of our colleagues

in Dominican institutions in reﬂection upon our shared mission and, most

importantly, to occasion further research and writing that will articulate the

wisdom of the Dominican charism in higher education.

Our Dominican Heritage and Charism

Christians believe that the Holy Spirit continues to

grace the church in every age through gifts entrusted

to individuals and groups. Through this grace, religious

congregations have been birthed over the centuries

in response to particular needs of the church and the

world. One of these ecclesial groups is the Order of Preachers, also known

as the Dominicans. The unique gift — or charism — of the Dominican

family is a passion for truth, a passion pursued through communal study

and contemplation and expressed in works of preaching and teaching.

Founded by Dominic de Guzman in the 13th century, the Order of Preachers

was a bold experiment that integrated contemplation and rigorous study with

an itinerant life of teaching and preaching. The order was born in the rapidly

developing cities of the Middle Ages and was nourished by the intellectual

life of the newly founded universities in Paris, Oxford and Bologna. Dominic

wanted the order to serve from the heart of the church and to offer a

response to the needs of the world out of an active dialogue with the best

learning of the time.

Dominic himself was born and lived his entire life in medio ecclesiae — in the

midst of the church. He devoted his remarkable gifts of zeal, compassion and

administrative genius to helping ministers and members of the church remain

faithful to the truth of the gospel. From all that we know about Dominic’s

founders. They offer curricula that integrate the liberal arts and professional

education in ways that prepare students for making a living as well as making

a life.

A Dominican Vision for Higher Education

The Dominican intellectual tradition that has shaped Dominican colleges and

universities in the United States is grounded in values integral to the mission

of the order: the pursuit of truth, integration of study and contemplation,

seeing God in all things, compassion and justice, and engaged scholarship.

The Pursuit of Truth

“Veritas” — Truth is the operative virtue of the Order of Preachers. The

pursuit of truth motivates and propels Dominican mission. In an early

formulation of Thomas Aquinas, truth is deﬁned as “adaequatio rei et

intellectus,” or conformity of the intellect with the thing itself. For Dominican

scholars, commitment to truth is both a virtue and a passion. Yves Congar

confessed his passion for truth when he wrote: “I have loved the truth as one

loves a person”

; Richard Woods describes Dominicans as “followers of the

star called Veritas;”

and Ann Garrido speaks of the Dominican quest for truth

as “the quest to come to know what is real,” a quest that implies engagement

of the world — coming to know through one’s senses what actually exists.

The Dominican passion for truth

presumes a conﬁdence in the intellect’s

capacity for discerning truth and for

reaching a level of clarity that enables

both teacher and student to distinguish

truth from error, and distortions and half-truths from truth. The writings of

Thomas Aquinas demonstrate the scholastic practice of disputatio, a method

that seeks to resolve difﬁcult questions and controverted issues by ﬁnding the

truth in each. This practice required of medieval masters and students, as it

does today of teachers and learners, a rigorous exploration of multiple ways

of resolving a question, ways leading to the one resolution that can be best

supported by reason and evidence. The practice of disputatio and

“Truth is the holiness of the mind as

goodness is the holiness of the heart.”

Paul Murray, OP

Francisco de Vitorio: A brilliant lawyer-friar, who, along with his

friar-brothers at the University of Salamanca, developed

international law that would reform the Spanish colonies

of the Americas.

Marie-Joseph LaGrange: A faithful and fearless lover of the Word

who founded L’Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.

Yves Congar: A French theologian whose scholarly work shaped

the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

The Beginnings of Dominican Higher Education in the United States

The history of Dominican higher education in the United States begins in the

early years of the 19th century when Dominican friars came to the Kentucky

and Ohio frontier and established houses of study (studia) to educate their

members as well as other young men of the area. By the late 19th century the

sisters of the order began to establish liberal arts colleges for young women

of Catholic families in the American

church. From the Hudson River to

the Mississippi, from Michigan and

Wisconsin to Kentucky and Louisiana,

from New Haven and New Jersey to

Ohio and California, congregations of

Dominican sisters founded colleges

that provided opportunities for

graduate and undergraduate education

for young women. In a similar fashion, in the early 20th century, the friars

founded Providence College for the education of men and added studia in

California, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri as provinces were established.

The remarkable commitment of American Dominicans to the higher

education of women and men that began in the 19th century and expanded

with a transition to co-educational campuses in the late 20th century created

a national network of colleges and universities grounded in the liberal arts

tradition. Today, these institutions of Dominican higher education remain

inspired by the Catholic faith and the Dominican traditions of their religious

“As scholars and teachers, we delight in

the world of scholarship that allows us to

ponder, propose, discover, articulate, verify,

conﬁrm and publish, so as to enter the

classroom and give it all away. In fact, we

participate in a unique economic system

wherein we give knowledge away but

never lose it.”

Laurie Brink, OP

Compassion and Justice

Out of a deep belief in the grace of creation and in ﬁdelity to the spirit of

the founder, the Order of Preachers emerged in response to the suffering

and ignorance that Dominic encountered in the world of the 13th century.

Dominican institutions of higher education continue to address the thirst for

truth and cries for justice of their age; they are called to be communities of

compassion and justice in the service of truth. From their earliest beginnings,

Dominicans have been called to see what is needed and to do what is useful.

Engaged Scholarship

Urgent questions fuel Dominican scholarship. The liberal arts tradition of

the institutions founded by Dominican

sisters is a story of engaged scholarship.

Dominican sisters who earned doctorates

in political science, economics, chemistry

and biology were not only active in their

professional guilds but were also engaged

with social and scientiﬁc questions of their

time. For example, the engaged scholarship of Dominican sisters exposed the

false biological assumptions underlying racial prejudice and helped to build

the intellectual foundations for the civil rights agenda. Dominican women

contributed to the advancement of cancer research, explored the relationship

between religion and science, and worked to integrate elements of faith and

psychology. In the depths of the Depression, in response to the needs of

surrounding communities, Dominican sister-scholars offered free evening

courses for adults in both liberal and professional studies.

“Instead of saying one was right and

the other wrong, the task was to

reconcile the truth that was in each

of them. , , , the holistic, reconciling

way of doing theology came to

characterize the best of the

Dominican theological tradition.”

Liam Walsh, OP

the heritage associated with it challenges Dominican men and women

of all ages to direct their talents not only to the resolution of matters of

speculative interest, but also to urgent questions of justice and peace.

Study and Contemplation

Study and contemplation engage all of reality in the pursuit of the true

and the good for the sake of others. Sharing the fruits of these pursuits

has shaped the educational mission and message of Dominicans in every

age. From its beginnings, the order was formed and shaped by both the

intellectual pursuit of the friars in the universities and the prayer life of

the sisters in the early monasteries. Thus, Dominicans have engaged the

reality of their world and sought a deeper truth through assiduous study

and contemplation. Dominican pedagogy, then, is the union of study and

contemplation in the service of truth, wherever it leads.

Seeing God in All Things

The search for truth requires not just looking, but seeing — seeing God in

all things, and all things in God. A clear vision of reality is the basis of all

knowledge and of the sacramental life itself — a vision where the created

order is seen and experienced as an occasion of grace. Good in itself,

nature mediates God’s grace and participates in it. In the Dominican

world-view, creation is sacred; grace builds on nature; and faith and

reason are in harmony.

Thomas Aquinas expressed this holistic vision of looking at and being in

the world in his understanding of “natural law.” It is available to all rational

persons, and is based on the conviction that God’s plan is refracted to us

through revelation, tradition and reasoned reﬂection on human life and

experience. This deep conviction is rooted within our belief that human

nature and our intellectual powers are wounded but not disabled by original

sin. They remain dependable guides to the will of God.

Promoting the Arts

Since the time of Fra Angelico, Dominicans have exercised their charism

of preaching through participation in and practice of the arts. From the

earliest founding of the American Dominican colleges, the arts have been

central to the curriculum. Dominican faculties have been and are comprised

of remarkable artists, musicians and sculptors, whose work reveals God as

beauty as well as truth, and whose teaching awakens the creative gifts of

students. Dominican campuses feature the works of these sculptors and artists,

musicians, and poets, who express the Dominican charism through their

artistic works. They were and are scholarly teachers as well as artists, and in

their studios and from their works, students

ﬁnd expression of the mystery of the divine

presence at the heart of reality. Today, lay and

religious faculties continue to collaborate in

their commitment to expressing the truth of

beauty through the arts.

Making Connections

Dominican institutions exist within a dynamic and challenging information

society. Students and faculty are awash in print, digital, audio and visual

information that not only teaches but also affects personal lives and

relationships. It is tempting to deal with this surfeit of information by cutting

it down, separating it, dichotomizing it, and dividing our intellectual pursuits

into disciplines and departments. If we do so, we often lose sight of the

essential connections among them. Information is important; knowledge is

essential, and inspired wisdom leads us to shared truth and social justice.

Historically, theology and philosophy have been integrating principles

throughout Catholic institutions of higher education. Dominican faculties

in all academic disciplines carry on this tradition when they ask what their

disciplines have to do with one another, and how their ﬁeld of knowledge

can relate to questions within philosophy and theology. Every area of study

— law, economics, history, biology, chemistry, business, art, music, etc. —

entertains questions of meaning. Interdisciplinary seminars designed to be

“What the world needs is openness

to light, if I may put it like that. For

me, that light is love, and points to

the immortality of the soul. As an

artist, my job is to make the inner

light visible.”

Kim En Joong, OP

Dominican Practices Faithful to Our Heritage

The distinctive vision of Dominican education is manifest in characteristic

practices and pedagogy. Many of the practices we treasure and celebrate in

Dominican institutions come from eight centuries of life and ministry in the

university milieu. In the 21st century a shared vision of Dominican higher

education ﬁnds expression in practices such as the following:

Nurturing a contemplative spirit

True to the Dominican motto, “contemplare et comtemplata aliis tradere,”

Dominican schools provide time and space for students to reﬂect on all

reality — the self, God, nature, the cosmos, the world and its people near

and far. Dominican educational practices encourage students to sharpen their

vision, to look beyond the surface, to probe the depths of all creation and

of all that they encounter, both inside and outside the classroom. Patricia

Walters suggests that Dominican colleges and universities might best be

labeled “schools of ophthalmology,” where students and teachers alike learn

to perceive and to see more clearly. In a world ﬁlled with noise, ﬁxated

on multitasking, and obsessed with “doing,” the Dominican dedication to

contemplation as a way of seeing anew, as an avenue to pursuing truth, is,

indeed, countercultural.

For Dominicans, contemplative study has

two purposes. It brings a deeper and more

holistic understanding of a particular science

or discipline and, even more importantly, it

is ultimately revelatory of God. If our study

is oriented to truth, it is oriented to God.

Whether the object of study is mathematics or art or music or literature —

each reveals something about God. This conviction breaks open the boundary

between “secular” and “sacred” knowledge. For a student in the Dominican

tradition, any discipline can entertain the question: “What does this tell us

of God?”

“Any real dialogue with another

person is bound to be a struggle.

True dialogue is a struggle to come

to illumination. You are both drawn

to a truth which is larger than either

started with.”

Timothy Radcliffe, OP

Word, theological reﬂection, campus ministry, retreats and especially through

student participation in the annual Dominican Preaching Conference.

Because faith is not simply a private matter, our institutions engage in

“public preaching” oriented more to justice and the common good than to

personal spirituality. Dominican schools have a serious obligation to preach

by addressing economic, political and social issues that affect society and

our life together. Dominican institutions preach publicly when they raise

questions, frame hypotheses, challenge prevailing assumptions, or critique

policy decisions in light of the basic principles of Catholic social teaching.

This mode of preaching creates space in public discourse for the explicitly

ethical and moral dimensions of public policy.

Building Community

In the Dominican tradition, the search for truth is not solely an individual

pursuit; professors, scholars, researchers and learners seek understanding

together as a community. Whether in the classroom, the laboratory, the

garden, the theatre or the art studio, students and teachers learn from one

another in an atmosphere of openness and mutuality. Dominican colleges

and universities provide a hospitable space where all are invited to share

their personal points of view, their opinions, and their insights as all seek to

know the many faces of truth within the community. Dominican teaching

and learning is a sustained conversation about things that matter; it is a

conversation that forms a community of truth.

Cultivating Diversity

The fundamental Catholic principle of the

inherent dignity, value and equality of each

human person lies at the heart of Dominican

education and fosters a spirit of inclusion,

mutual respect, empathy, hospitality and caring

to create diverse learning communities. The

Dominican call to community is a call to embrace

a diversity that originated with the Founder. Since the time of Dominic, the

“The hallmark of the

community of truth is in

its claim that reality is a

web of communal

relationship, and we can

know reality only by being

in community with it.”

Parker Palmer

integrative in nature help students to articulate connections between their

coursework and their lives beyond the classroom, and between their own lives

and the lives of others — past, present and future.

Within Dominican institutions of higher

education inherent connections are made

between the pursuit of truth and the work

of justice. Dominican educators seek to

integrate the principles of Catholic social

teaching into their disciplines. Doing so

enables them to develop arguments from

philosophy and Scripture against the

death penalty and to bring medical science into dialogue with Catholic moral

teaching and the Christian spiritual tradition on death and dying. In American

higher education the contemporary focus on civic engagement and global

citizenship ﬁnds a strong rationale and vision in the Catholic social tradition

and in the history of engaged Dominican scholarship.

Questions framed in the light of the Gospel and from the richness of

Catholic social teaching encourage students to work for justice in our world,

particularly in courses that include a service-learning component. These

courses enable students to put into practice the principles of Catholic social

teaching. Public sector internships allow students to develop an understanding

of their civic responsibilities. Through both their internships and their service

learning projects, students are called to articulate the connection between the

principles of justice and the demands for just action.

Preaching Justice

Dominic was above all a preacher. He sent his friars out two by two to bring

the light of the Gospel to the far corners of a dark world. Dominic founded

“houses of study,” priories and convents that formed and nourished the

“holy preaching.” These communities were an institutional embodiment of

Dominican mission. Today Dominican institutions of higher education have

inherited this vocation to preach. They do this through assiduous study of the

“The thirst for justice is not separable

from the thirst for truth, witness

not separable from proclamation,

solidarity with the poor not separable

from solidarity with Christ; action

on behalf of justice is not separable

from the evolution of a contemplative

consciousness.”

Don Goergen, OP

staffs create an atmosphere in which students are encouraged to develop

academically and socially, and in which diversity is respected. During their

years of study, library staff and the IT department provide resources to

students that enhance their learning and engagement. Those serving in

health and wellness centers compassionately tend to students’ physical and

emotional well being, just as university ministers encourage and enhance

students’ spiritual development. Thus, staff members play a crucial role in

the spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual growth of our students.

Professors see suffering around them and realize that their scholarship

and teaching must serve the needs of the world, especially with regard

to justice and peace. This is a traditional understanding of compassion —

responding to the emotional and physical needs of others. But professors

have the opportunity to exercise intellectual compassion as well. This kind

of compassion causes us to be moved not only by others’ physical suffering,

but by their intellectual confusion or uncertainty. Intellectual compassion

seeks to bring comfort to others by dispelling uncertainty and helping them

to understand. St. Thomas said it is better to illuminate rather than merely to

shine, and this is exactly what intellectual compassion compels professors to

do. Careful scholarship and teaching seek to clarify, simplify and enlighten.

This atmosphere of compassion and caring exists because the administrators

of Dominican institutions encourage faculty and staff in their dedication to

the total well being of every student. Without their inspiration and support,

faculty and staff would lack the resources to serve students in a spirit of

caritas. Administrators themselves model and inspire compassion in their

conversations and interactions with colleagues and students.

Promoting the Common Good

The common good is a political and social reality that may deﬁned as

“the sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups or

individuals, to reach their fulﬁllment more fully and more easily.”

The

common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and

even more from those who exercise the ofﬁce of authority. From this, we

see that the common good is the goal of political life.

Order of Preachers has been inclusive — of men and women, religious and

lay, ordained and non-ordained. In the contemporary American experience

of Dominican higher education, institutions founded to serve a single sex

student body are now coed; schools of theology founded to prepare men for

priestly ministry now educate both women and men, lay and religious. The

21st century Dominican learning community has a multiplicity of perspectives

and differences that include race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual

orientation, socio-economic status, physical and intellectual abilities, and ways

of knowing — a microcosm of the human family. Exposure to the wide range

of human experience within higher education expands an understanding of

the multiple threads that create the fabric of a collaborative society marked by

solidarity and acceptance of differences. Timothy Radcliffe reminds Dominican

institutions of higher education of their true call when he says, “But we are

called to be a place of counter-culture, of a different way of relating, through

which one believes that one may learn something from those with whom one

disagrees. This requires of us compassion and vulnerability.”

Inspiring Compassion

In a tradition that began with Dominic, who

sold his books to alleviate the sufferings of

the poor, Dominican educational practices

foster compassion for all those in need. Study

is undertaken not for itself alone, but for its usefulness to the world at large.

Those educated in the Dominican tradition study in order to respond to the

needs of their time, whether that means alleviating suffering, enhancing

the dignity of each person, serving those in need, or working for peace

and justice.

All who serve in a Dominican institution — administration, staff and faculty —

model compassion and empathy by creating a hospitable atmosphere where

diversity is respected and where students are encouraged to speak their truth.

From the moment students enter a Dominican university or college, they are

welcomed by the staff committed to student services — in admissions, the

registrar’s ofﬁce, student accounts, ﬁnancial aid, to name but a few. Residential

“Your heart must be tender to feel

another’s suffering. If you can do

that, you are truly human.”

Vincent Shigeto Oshida, OP

Endnotes

1. Order of Preachers. 1220 Constitutions.

2. Yves Congar. The expression “I have loved the truth as one loves a

person” is a profession Congar took from Madame Swetchine. 82.

Puyo, Une vie pour la vérité, 47.

3. Richard Woods. “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Presented at: The

Contemplative Vision: Love, Truth and Reality. 12th Biennial Colloquium

of Dominican Colleges and Universities, River Forest, IL. June 2012.

4. Ann Garrido. “On Being A Dominican School.” Aquinas Institute of

Theology Convocation Address, St. Louis, MO. August 2011. Accessed at:

http://www.dominicanstudies.org/on-being-a-dominican-school.

5. Patricia Walters. “Higher Education in the Dominican Tradition.” Presented

at: The Contemplative Vision: Love, Truth and Reality. 12th Biennial

Colloquium of Dominican Colleges and Universities, River Forest, IL.

June 2012.

6. Examples such as the martyrdom of Bishop Pierre Claverie of Algeria and

the Maryknoll sisters and co-workers in Guatemala.

7. Pope John XVIII. Pacem in Terris, 51.

8. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologiae 1-2, q. 19, a. 10. For a commentary

on this passage, see Appendix 4 in the Gilby Summa, translated and

edited by Thomas Gilby (New York: McGraw Hill, 1963), vol. 28, p. 172,

“Common and Public Good.”

But the common good is not just a political and social reality. It also has a

theological dimension. Thomas Aquinas understood the common good as

intrinsic to God. “. . . Now the good of the whole universe is that which is

apprehended by God, who is the maker and governor of all things: hence

whatever he wills, he wills under the aspect of the common good. This is

his own goodness, which is the good of the whole universe.”

Formed by Aquinas’ understanding, Dominicans see the common good

as a foreshadowing of the reign of God. The common good is an organic

experience of living together in justice and love, not simply the sum total

of individual needs and desires. By the study of all ﬁelds of knowledge,

Dominican higher education endeavors to help shape a society where the

pursuit of goodness is possible and in which every person enjoys dignity and

respect.

The Dominican practices described here are not intended to exhaust the

many dimensions of the Dominican tradition of higher education but

rather to stimulate further reﬂection on the charism as it is embodied in

contemporary American Dominican institutions of higher education.

Epilogue:

American Dominican institutions of higher education have been inspired

and shaped by an 800 year history and the rich traditions of the Dominican

Order, and they claim the charism joyfully. With the members of the family of

Dominic, they exist — as Dominic did — in the midst of the church and the

world; and they speak out for truth and justice, “ex corde ecclesiae,” from the

heart of the church. These 16 colleges and universities and the three studia

have inherited this legacy and seek to make it manifest so that it may ﬂourish

and be shared with future generations. The charism and its manifestation in

Dominican institutions of higher education are a cherished gift needed in our

troubled world and as light and hope for the church of the 21st century.

6. What is the integrative core of your curriculum? Where are the opportunities

for interdisciplinary dialogue?

7. Culture has been described as “distinctive and inheritable.” In what ways

is the Dominican culture of your institution distinctive? How will you pass

it on to the next generation?

8. The lay leadership of boards, administration, faculties and staff of

Dominican higher education has been entrusted with the Dominican

heritage, legacy and intellectual tradition. How will they experience this

tradition, allow themselves to be formed by it, and pass it on to the next

generation? What kinds of programs are in place for their orientation,

formation and appropriation of Dominican tradition and culture so that

the future is rooted in that same tradition? What are the outcomes we hope

for, and how do we measure those outcomes?

Questions for Communal Reﬂection

This document offers a brief overview of the Dominican educational charism

and a vision for Dominican higher education in the United States that ﬂows

from this heritage. This vision is foundational to our institutions and has

shaped our practices and pedagogy. College and university leaders are

invited to bring board members, faculty, staff and students into conversation

about how the Dominican educational charism shapes their own institutions

and how it can be deepened and developed into the future. The following

questions are offered to begin the conversation.

1. From your experience at a Dominican institution of higher education, how

would you describe the Dominican tradition? How does your experience

correlate with the heritage and vision as described in this document?

2. What do you think are the essential aspects of the Dominican tradition?

How are those aspects of the tradition expressed and embodied in your

institution at the present moment?

3. What practices outlined in this document can you identify at your own

institution? What additional practices would you include as essentially

Dominican?

4. Included in the story of the Dominican heritage are saints and scholars

who have helped to form and shape the Dominican intellectual tradition.

Who is missing? In the past 150 years American sisters and friars have

continued to express and shape that tradition. Who are “the greats” in your

institutional history? Who will tell the story of their contributions?

5. Where in your curriculum are the “big questions” addressed? Where are

connections made between the pursuit of truth and the work of justice?

Can you name ways in which your discipline intersects with theology

or philosophy?

Aquinas Institute of Theology

Impelled by the Catholic faith and the Dominican mission, Aquinas Institute

of Theology educates men and women to preach, to teach, to minister

and to lead.

Barry University

Barry University is a Catholic institution of higher education founded in

1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Grounded in the liberal arts tradition,

Barry University is a scholarly community committed to the highest academic

standards in undergraduate, graduate and professional education.

In the Catholic intellectual tradition, integration of study, reﬂection and action

inform the intellectual life. Faithful to this tradition, a Barry education and

university experience foster individual and communal transformation where

learning leads to knowledge and truth, reﬂection leads to informed action,

and a commitment to social justice leads to collaborative service.

Barry University provides opportunities for afﬁrming our Catholic identity,

Dominican heritage and collegiate traditions. Catholic beliefs and values are

enriched by ecumenical and interfaith dialog.

Through worship and ritual, we celebrate our religious identity while

remaining a university community where all are welcome.

Caldwell University

Founded in 1939 by the Sisters of Saint Dominic, Caldwell University

promotes intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic growth to a diverse population

and welcomes all cultures and faith traditions. Inspired by St. Dominic de

Guzman and our Catholic heritage, we transform students’ lives by preparing

them through the liberal arts and professional studies to think critically,

pursue truth, and contribute to a just society.

Dominican College

The aim of Dominican College is to promote educational excellence,

leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the

Mission Statements of Dominican Colleges and Universities

in the United States

Albertus Magnus College

The mission of Albertus Magnus College is to provide men and women with

an education that promotes the search for truth in all its dimensions and

is practical in its application. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Peace,

Albertus Magnus College, faithful to its Catholic heritage and the Judaeo-

Christian tradition, remains dedicated to providing an opportunity for learning

which responds to the academic needs and ethical challenges of its students

and society.

Aquinas College—Michigan

Aquinas College, an inclusive educational community rooted in the Catholic

and Dominican traditions, provides a liberal arts education with a global

perspective, emphasizes career preparation focused on leadership and service

to others, and fosters a commitment to lifelong learning dedicated to the

pursuit of truth and the common good.

Aquinas College—Tennessee

The Mission of Aquinas College is unchanging because Truth itself is

unchanging. Taking inspiration from St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas, the

College exists to serve the Church by transforming lives for the Gospel

of Christ.

Aquinas College is a Catholic community of learning in the Dominican

Tradition with Christ at its center. The College directs all its efforts to the

intellectual, moral, spiritual, and professional formation of the human person

in wisdom. Students are formed individually and in Christian community so

that the harmonious integration between faith and reason can permeate every

dimension of their lives. Immersed in exploring the relationship between

human civilization and the message of salvation, the College community

embraces the Dominican imperative to preach the Gospel, serve others, and

engage culture in truth and charity.

accepts all interested and qualiﬁed students without regard to race, gender,

religion or ethnic background. The Dominican House of Studies is committed

to imparting to all of its students a capacity for serious scholarship and a basic

competence in philosophy and theology through the study of St. Thomas

Aquinas in dialogue with the best of contemporary thought. For ministry

preparation it offers a comprehensive program of studies integrated with

spiritual and pastoral components in order to form students imbued with a

desire for holiness, capable of effective preaching, and competent pastoral

ministry. With an academic environment shaped by a Thomistic focus, a

small student enrollment, and a high faculty — student ratio, the Dominican

House of Studies fosters among students and faculty an intimacy conducive

to personal formation in the spiritual, intellectual, and ministerial spheres of

preaching, teaching, and other ministries.

Dominican University

As a Sinsinawa Dominican-sponsored institution, Dominican University

prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service and to

participate in the creation of a more just and humane world.

Dominican University of California

Dominican University of California educates and prepares students to be

ethical leaders and socially responsible global citizens who incorporate

the Dominican values of study, reﬂection, community and service into

their lives. Guided by its Catholic heritage, the university is committed to

diversity, sustainability, and the integration of the liberal arts, the sciences,

and professional programs.

Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology

The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the

Graduate Theological Union, is a community of scholars committed to

the pursuit of truth as revealed in the Gospel and discovered by human

reason. Inspired by the Dominican practice of disciplined inquiry and

learned preaching, the school draws its students into the rich tradition

individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the

Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the College is an independent institution of

higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition,

it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of

education rooted in the values of reﬂective understanding and compassionate

involvement.

Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal

arts and sciences, the College maintains a student-centered climate and serves

a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs.

The College empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve

with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical

and sustainable world.

Dominican College is dedicated to the principle that its educational programs

and services must be both challenging and supportive, distinguished both by

high standards and by attention to the needs and potential of the individual

student. Afﬁrmed and engaged by these standards and values, graduates are

prepared for purposeful lives and for the careers and professions they choose

to pursue.

Dominican House of Studies

The Dominican House of Studies traces its mission to the preaching charism

and Catholic intellectual heritage bequeathed to the Order of Preachers by

its founder, St. Dominic de Guzman. Dominic constructed a religious order

international in scope yet decentralized in structure to address the needs

of the church by preparing preachers both intellectually informed and

pastorally competent. This evangelizing mission is asserted in the basic

claim of the Fundamental Constitution of the Order of Preachers that the

order was instituted “especially for preaching and the salvation of souls.”

In service to the evangelizing mission of the Dominican Order, the primary

purpose of the Dominican House of Studies is to provide a Catholic

theological education that prepares students for the ordained ministry in

the Province of St. Joseph. Recognizing the wide appeal of a theological

education in the Dominican tradition, the Dominican House of Studies

Mount Saint Mary College strives to provide a stimulating environment

that promotes the intellectual and personal growth of undergraduate,

graduate and continuing education students.

Ohio Dominican University

As a Catholic liberal arts university in the Dominican tradition,

Ohio Dominican University is guided in its educational mission by

the Dominican motto: to contemplate truth and to share with others the

fruits of this contemplation. Ohio Dominican educates all individuals

committed to intellectual, spiritual and professional growth to become

lifelong learners committed to serving others in a global society, as ethical

and effective leaders grounded in the pursuit of truth, justice and peace.

Providence College

Providence College is a Catholic, Dominican, liberal arts institution of higher

education and a community committed to academic excellence in pursuit of

the truth, growth in virtue, and service of God and neighbor.

HISTORY

Providence College was founded in 1917 by the Dominican Friars at

the invitation of Bishop Harkins to provide a Catholic education in the arts

and sciences.

FAITH AND REASON Providence College is conﬁdent in the appeal of reason,

believes that human beings are disposed to know the truth, and trusts in

the power of grace to enlighten minds, open hearts, and transform lives.

Providence College maintains that the pursuit of truth has intrinsic value, that

faith and reason are compatible and complementary means to its discovery,

and that the search for truth is the basis for dialogue with others and critical

engagement with the world.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Providence College is committed to academic excellence,

and holds itself to the highest standards in teaching, learning, and

scholarship. Its core curriculum addresses key questions of human existence,

including life’s meaning and purpose, and stresses the importance of moral

and ethical reasoning, aesthetic appreciation, and understanding the natural

world, other cultures, and diverse traditions. Providence College honors

of classical philosophy and Catholic theology, especially as exempliﬁed

by St. Thomas Aquinas, and from this tradition engages contemporary

scholarship and culture in mutual enrichment.

As a Center of Studies of the Order of Preachers and an apostolate of

the Western Dominican Province, the school is committed to preparing

women and men for academic and apostolic vocations.

Edgewood College

Edgewood College, rooted in the Dominican tradition, engages students

within a community of learners committed to building a just and

compassionate world. The college educates students for meaningful

personal and professional lives of ethical leadership, service and a

lifelong search for truth.

Molloy College

Molloy College, an independent, Catholic college, rooted in the Dominican

tradition of study, spirituality, service and community, is committed to

academic excellence with respect for each person.

Through transformative education, Molloy promotes a lifelong search

for truth and the development of ethical leadership.

Mount Saint Mary College

As reﬂected in its motto “Doce Me Veritatem” (Teach Me the Truth),

Mount Saint Mary College is an independent, coeducational institution

committed to providing students with a liberal arts education to prepare

them for lives of leadership and service. Through a variety of majors and

professional programs, students are also prepared for career entry or graduate

and professional studies.

Consistent with Judaeo-Christian values and the Dominican tradition of

education that values the inherent worth of the individual, the mission

of Mount Saint Mary College is to create an environment which fosters

close student-faculty interaction that enables students to reach their full

potential as lifelong learners.

academic freedom, promotes critical thinking and engaged learning, and

encourages a pedagogy of disputed questions.

COMMUNITY AND DIVERSITY Providence College seeks to reﬂect the rich diversity

of the human family. Following the example of St. Dominic, who extended

a loving embrace to all, it welcomes qualiﬁed men and women of every

background and afﬁrms the God-given dignity, freedom, and equality of

each person. Providence College promotes the common good, the human

ﬂourishing of each member of the campus community, and service of

neighbors near and far.

VERITAS AND PROVIDENCE Providence College brings the eight-hundred-year-old

Dominican ideal of veritas to the issues and challenges of today. It seeks

to share the fruits of contemplation in an increasingly global and diverse

society, and to praise and bless all that is good and vital in human endeavors.

Providence College supports the Dominican mission of preaching the gospel of

Jesus Christ to a new generation of students and helping them discover God’s

providence in their lives.

St. Thomas Aquinas College

St. Thomas Aquinas College is an independent liberal arts college, which

provides education at the undergraduate and graduate levels for students

from all traditions. In continuing its Catholic heritage and the spirit of its

founders, the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, the college is committed to

the principle of enlightening the mind through truth, as exempliﬁed by

Thomas Aquinas, and to the classical and Judaeo-Christian ideals which

have contributed to the development of humanity. Accordingly, the

college is dedicated to the development of each student consistent with

the individual’s resolve to work and ability to achieve.

Consistent with its commitments, the college requires each undergraduate

to attain a broad foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. The college

provides a range of undergraduate majors and graduate programs to assist

students to prepare for careers or for further education through a deeper

focus in a major ﬁeld of study.

The college creates a welcoming, caring and challenging environment

for learning. Intensely student-centered academic activities and vigorous

student-life programs are purposefully combined to enhance the educational

process and to foster intellectual, moral, social and spiritual growth.

Within this environment, St. Thomas Aquinas College assists each student

in the effort to develop as an articulate and independent member of society

who uses a reasoned approach to all issues, who strives to become a

responsible citizen and leader in shaping the diverse world community,

who lives in a manner exemplifying the principles of service, mutual

respect, and individual responsibility, and who appreciates the value of

learning as a life-long endeavor.

Siena Heights University

The mission of Siena Heights, a Catholic university founded and sponsored

by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, is to assist people to become more

competent, purposeful and ethical through a teaching and learning

environment which respects the dignity of all.

7900 West Division Street

River Forest, IL 60305

dom.edu

Our Mission

As a Sinsinawa Dominican-sponsored

institution, Dominican University

prepares students to pursue truth,

to give compassionate service

and to participate in the creation

of a more just and humane world.