Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Who was St. Anthony of Padua and why is he the patron of this initiative?
A. Please click here
for more information on this saint.
Q. Is there any precedent for organizing the college's finances and operations
in such a non-traditional way?
A. Yes. The college's approach is inspired by the Christian schools movement
as originally conceived by St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle (see his Meditations
for the Time of the Retreat).
Q. What does the college offer to adult learners?
A. Lectures, seminars and courses. There are periodic lectures arranged by the
college and held in San Francisco and the East Bay which you can look up on
the calendar. There is an ongoing Seminar in Catholic Novels open to adult learners.
There is a cycle of Church History Classes which are geared specifically to
the adult learner. For the current schedule of offerings, look here.
Q. What does the college offer to parents of future college students?
A. The college offers four direct types of support for parents. First, the faculty
of the college stand ready to act as a scholarly resource for specific questions
from parents. Second, the college will provide parents with guidance as to appropriate
preparation of children for the rigors of collegiate Liberal Arts studies. Third,
the college makes its lectures and classes available to suitably prepared older
children and their parents. Finally, the college facilitates practicums and
tutorials in Latin and writing for students preparing for collegiate studies.
Q. What services does the college provide to the broader Catholic community?
A. The college community is intended to provide training to catechists, clergy,
and religious in addition to its main purpose of serving the laity. This will
be provided in such a way as to complement existing sources of learning
such as the San Francisco School of Pastoral Leadership. The college's charter
specifies its readiness to meet the educational needs of Catholics answering
Pope John Paul II's call for New Evangelization.
Q. What about accreditation?
A. Good question. Stay tuned.
Q. There are already several fine Catholic Colleges in the San Francisco
Bay Area. Why start another one?
A. With the demise of the St. Ignatius Institute and Campion College, the Bay
Area is left without a certain important higher educational option characterized
by complete solidarity with the Magisterium and an intent pursuit of educational
excellence inspired by the Great Books/Liberal Arts tradition. Many faithful
Catholic parents and adult learners desire a local resource which is faithful,
excellent, cost-effective, and responsive to the urgent needs of lay Catholics.
The available institutions of Catholic higher learning in the Bay Area operate in competition with their secular counterparts. Such institutions serve a large number of consumers admirably. However, this new foundation aims to be a conscious agent of the New Evangelization by providing an excellent education inspired by the Liberal Arts/Great Books tradition and in complete solidarity with the Magisterium.
There is a need, and we aim to fill it.
Q. What are the "Liberal Arts" and why does the college place such an emphasis
on them?
A. The distinction between servile and liberal human activities or "arts" is
ancient. Traditionally the liberal arts are divided into the trivium
comprised of grammar, rhetoric and logic, and the quadrivium composed
of geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. An excellent introduction to
the role of the Liberal Arts in education is found in Dorothy Sayers' Lost
Tools of Learning. Other foundational documents listed at the left of
this page also explore this topic. The goal of the undergraduate education is
that the students learn how to think cogently, speak clearly, and write soundly.
The Liberal Arts are the tools that enable the student to do this. After these
are mastered, any specialist or professional education can be pursued effectively,
in proper perspective, and in a manner which is less susceptible to the dangers
of the narrowness engendered by over-specialization.