Editor:
Tom McFadden
Managing Editor: Niall O'Donnell
Contributing Editors: Matt Hadro (Sports), Matt Anderson (Rome
Report)
Issue:
October 26, 2007
Name: Mairin Vieira Age: 20 Year: Junior From: Manassas, VA Major: History Any Hobbies? I guess Irish Dancing would be number one—done it for 11 years now! Other than that horseback riding, kayaking, trying to play guitar and sometimes cooking—and being really bad at it. What's your favorite class or professor? Freshman 101 Philosophy with Mr. Brown. He's one of the most engaging teachers and he really helped me to appreciate philosophy for the first time. Do you play any sports? Yes, soccer and basketball. I've always LOVED sports; so any opportunity I have to play, I will. It also helps to keep me busy with something other than school. Do you participate in any drama or music related activities? I acted all through high school in Shakespeare plays and then was in a musical, Bye Bye Birdie. I haven't acted in anything at Christendom, but I hope to before I graduate! What is your favorite thing about Christendom College? The Community. You can really get to know everyone and develop great friendships with people in all the different classes. Why did you choose Christendom College? There was a lot of family pressure to come, but after my first year I knew this was where I needed to be and it was the best choice my parents have ever encouraged me to make. What do you plan to do after graduation? Not sure. There's lots of possibilities floating around: missionary work, become a certified Irish dancing instructor, and I am even thinking about joining the Coast Guard
Questioning the Duration of the World
On Thursday, Philosophy Professor Mark Wunsch delivered a public lecture entitled Could God Have Created a World with an Eternal Duration? Both faculty and students filled a classroom in the St. Lawrence Commons.
Prof. Wunsch focused on St. Thomas Aquinas' response to this question, which was highly debated in the time of the Angelic Doctor and is still today.
This very fascinating lecture can be found at Christendom on iTunes U. Find out more about this exciting edition to Christendom’s multi-media presence on the web by clicking on the link above. Click on "Download on iTunes" below to listen to Prof. Wunsch’s lecture. (Apple iTunes required.)
Students Go on Retreat for Fall Break
As most of the students headed home or joined a friend to see another part of the nation for a much-needed Fall Break, twenty-four students headed to a weeklong silent retreat. The Chronicler Online caught up with Senior Elli Ampi, who attended the retreat, to find out how it went.
CO: So, where did you stay?
Elli: The Community of St. John in Princeville, IL. There were about 15 Sisters and 7 Brothers, plus novitiates.
CO: So how was it?
Elli: It was amazing! So peaceful and inspiring.
CO: What was a usual day like?
Elli: We just follow their daily schedule: the guys with the brothers and the girls with the sisters. Silent prayer at 6:00 am, Morning Prayer at 7:00, then gardening... the guys helped prepare a new retreat center. There was Lexio Divino, we would read a passage from the Gospel of St. John and meditate on it. It was really cool to see how they try to shape their lives around the Gospel of St. John.
There were two talks a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, then night prayer. All the students would come together for lunch and dinner with the brothers. One brother would read and we would sit there in silence, which was interesting... We would laugh a lot at meals. I was really bad at meals. If I saw anything slightly humorous I would just start laughing. When you're not supposed to laugh, everything is so much funnier.
CO: Any activities of days jump out at you in particular?
Elli: We got to play basketball with the sisters in the pouring rain and they were really good. They killed us. And on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila they said, "We have a surprise for you," and they brought us into the dining room and they had laid out blankets and plates for us. So we sat around and ate pizza and talked, which was great because they're cloistered and we hadn't really gotten the chance to talk with them too much. So that was the one night we got to visit with them and ask them questions.
CO: How was the silence?
Elli: The silence was intense, but brother Nathan said if you absolutely have to talk, go on a rosary walk and pray the rosary on the way out and talk on the way back. We did that a couple times but for the most part we did a good job of keeping the silence. It's hard at first but after the third day you start to get used to it and really get into it and it becomes easier after that. The hardest part is trying to get the songs to stop running through your head.
CO: So needless to say, it was a fruitful experience?
Elli: Yes! Fr. Nathan and Fr. John Therese gave the talks and they are very energetic and dynamic. The talks were very inspiring. And just experiencing the contemplative life was a real eye-opener.
G.K. Chesterton Comes to Kilian's Café
Mr. G.K. Chesterton traveled all the way from England (and the “other side”) to visit the students of Christendom College in St. Kilian’s Café on Wednesday night.
Dr. John "Chuck" Chalberg was the real man behind the Chestertonian mask. He is known for delighting many audiences throughout the United States with his historical impersonations of American and British characters, such as President Theodore Roosevelt and G.K. Chesterton.
In the skit, Chesterton offered his own unique views on everything from the virtues of things small, such as families and pubs, to the evils of things large, such us imperialist schemes and socialist states.
All the students were delighted by his performance.
It was a great way to spend a rainy evening: a live performance and coffee in cozy Kilian’s Café.
Café e Amore: Coffee and Love
Welcome back to another edition of the Rome Report!
One of the aspects of the semester in Rome that makes Christendom unique from other schools is the approach to academics. Most of the time, the course load is kept lighter than on the main campus in order to encourage students to explore the city. This week, however, very little exploring was done due to a number of midterms and papers. Thus, while I have very little to report in the way of explorations, I have a number of stories that help to highlight the lessons that we have learned here in Rome.
For instance, as our philosophy professor put it, Rome is the perfect city in which to be sleep deprived. The reason for this is the presence of a small coffee shop on every corner, allowing the student that has pulled an all-nighter to sustain himself simply on the sweet nectar of coffee. However, there are certain guidelines to ordering coffee. A cappuccino is strictly speaking a morning drink, while in the afternoon it is more acceptable to have something like a Macchiato. When, you can't get to a coffee shop, though, there are plenty of coffee machines to give you a quick fix. In fact, with the amount of coffee Christendom students have bought this week from the machine outside our classroom, we probably could have bought a machine for ourselves. We are all wide-awake though! (At least for the next 45 minutes, when we will need another cup of coffee.)
There has been some other exciting news other than coffee. We would all like to congratulate John Snyder and Mary Grace Antunes, as well as Ed Burns and Megan Von Ehr. Both these couples are now engaged, and they are in our prayers and we are so happy for you four!
In other relationship news, Hillary Shafer and Liz Fraser climbed the steps of Santa Maria Ara Coeli on their knees, a tradition that says they will soon find their husbands. While Miss Shafer says she saw the writer of this Rome Report at the top of the stairs (a rumor this journalist thoroughly denies) Miss Fraser is keeping the identity of her dream man a secret. So please pray for these couples as well, though they aren't really couples.
Anyways, thanks for sticking with me to the end. I know it was long, but grab yourself a cup of coffee and a loved one and everything will be ok. This weekend we visit Orvieto! Until then, Ciao!
In
honor of the 30th Anniversary of Christendom College
the Chronicler Online takes a peek into the past
of the college each week.
presents
An Interview 28 Years in the Making
College Registrar Walter Janaro has been at Christendom College for 28 years. He came as a Freshman the first year that the Front Royal Campus opened in 1979. The Chronicler Online invaded Walter’s office to get a first hand account Christendom's past and to find out what he loves about the place.
Listen to the interview below!
Crusader Soccer: 2007 Season in Review
A new coach? What to do with the holes in the starting line-up from last year’s starters who graduated this past May? Would the Freshman contribute right away? The Crusader Men’s Soccer team faced a plethora of questions at the beginning of the 2007 season. Were they answered?
The team started off hot, winning its first three games. They avenged both of last season’s losses to rival Davis College from New York, shutting them out 2-0. The team was in noticeably better condition than usual, as it had to be due to losing three out of last year’s top four scorers. Forward Denny Pregent graduated along with midfielder John Archer. Forward Jackson Kulick was in Rome for the semester. Noah Morey was all that was left from last year’s weapons to carry the scoring load.
Sweeper Peter Kromhout, the anchor of last year’s defense, also graduated. But upperclassmen stepped up in the graduates’ absence, led by seniors Morey and Adam McSheffery on the offensive side. Goalie Bryan Gallagher, although injured for a few games, once again made his presence known in the net. As the team had no official back-up to Gallagher, a couple of the season’s losses stemmed purely from his absence in the net.
The Freshman class was a pleasant surprise this year. Freshman phenomenon Johnny Ciscanik showed his masterful footwork in the field en route to becoming one of the team’s leading scorers, including a beautiful rocket-shot from back near the midfield stripe that found the crossbar and bounced into the net against Lord Fairfax. Other Freshman notables included Sam McMahon and James Hannon in the field.
The team underwent a dry spell in the middle of the season, dropping five straight disappointing games. But the Crusaders recovered and played right with Lord Fairfax CC, to whom they lost 4-2 earlier in the season. They forced a double-overtime tie with the Cannons the second time around. Then they avenged a midseason loss to Patrick Henry College, stopping them 1-0 in the conference final.
A number of players noted that though the conditioning was definitely harder this year, they respected Coach Vander Woude’s new coaching style. The conditioning paid off in a number of close games. As always, the seniors were also a key to the team’s chemistry and success. Playing for seniors Adam McSheffery, Paul English, and Noah Morey came easy to the younger players, who looked up to the team leaders with respect. Morey especially will be missed, as he was one of the program’s leading scorers for three years in a row.
The team finished 4-5-1, finishing just below its goal of .500 for the season. But hopefully with a healthy goalie for all of next season, and some more contributions from the younger players, the Crusaders will surpass the .500 mark for next season.
Q: What are the main differences between Christendom College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Ave Maria University? L.M. -- Chicago, IL
A: That’s a good question and one which I will answer in as delicate a way as I can. It is not my position to try and tell you about other schools, but to tell you about Christendom. It is the Directors of Admissions at these schools whose jobs it is to tell you all about their offerings. It is also important for you to remember that I am under the impression that Christendom College is the greatest college out there:) And, very importantly, I also do not want to make any types of remarks that will make it sound as if I am “bashing” one of my sister schools.
So, with all of that said, I will focus on two main points. Christendom College differs from Steubenville (FUS) and Ave Maria University (AMU) in many ways, but the following two ways are I think the most obvious and ones which should be known by all. Again, I think the Christendom way is best, but I fully realize that it might not be best for you so if the FUS and AMU way works for you, then great. If you prefer the Christendom way, that’s fine with me.
Christendom College has 397 students this year. Next year, we will have probably 397 students, possibly 400. In five years from now, we will still have 400 students. And someday, well into the future, we may end up with 450 students. This is our plan. We want to remain the size that we are so that we can have the Big Catholic Family feeling here on campus. We do not want to grow and we believe that being the small size that we are affords our students many luxuries that are unavailable at other larger colleges. FUS has about 2000 students. AMU has about 450 students right now and wants to grow to be at least as big as FUS, if not bigger. Each to their own.
The second biggest difference is that Christendom College has a code of conduct expected of its students, including a number of very important policies/rules and regulations which govern student life. These include:
Professional dress code for classes, Mass, and lunch;
A modesty dress code at all times (which normally affects how women dress, but deeply affects us men so much more because we do not have to wear blinders on our eyes as we go about our business);
No alcohol allowed to be consumed on campus except at a limited number of officially sponsored events at which time those 21 years or older are offered a limited number of alcoholic beverages (and this lack of alcohol on campus really affects the entire campus culture);
No TVs or internet in the dormitories (so that students can spend time with real people, getting to know their fellow classmates, and also to prevent some dangerous temptations for our students);
Men and women are not allowed in each others’ dorms at anytime.
To the best of my knowledge, AMU and FUS do not have these rules or policies governing student life.
These are simply two of the main differences and it is up to you to determine which of these schools, or any other school, fits your needs.
I hope this helps and God bless.
If
anyone has questions about applying, visiting, scholarships,
financial aid, campus life, rules and regulations, majors,
core curriculum, transfer credits, or even about the food
here at Christendom, please do not hesitate to contact me
at any time: 800.877.5456 ext 1290 or tmcfadden@christendom.edu.
Copyright
2007. Christendom College. All rights reserved.
.g
Name: Mairin Vieira
On Thursday, Philosophy Professor Mark Wunsch delivered a public lecture entitled Could God Have Created a World with an Eternal Duration? Both faculty and students filled a classroom in the St. Lawrence Commons.
As most of the students headed home or joined a friend to see another part of the nation for a much-needed Fall Break, twenty-four students headed to a weeklong silent retreat. The Chronicler Online caught up with Senior Elli Ampi, who attended the retreat, to find out how it went.
CO: Any activities of days jump out at you in particular?
Mr. G.K. Chesterton traveled all the way from England (and the “other side”) to visit the students of Christendom College in St. Kilian’s Café on Wednesday night.
For instance, as our philosophy professor put it, Rome is the perfect city in which to be sleep deprived. The reason for this is the presence of a small coffee shop on every corner, allowing the student that has pulled an all-nighter to sustain himself simply on the sweet nectar of coffee. However, there are certain guidelines to ordering coffee. A cappuccino is strictly speaking a morning drink, while in the afternoon it is more acceptable to have something like a Macchiato. When, you can't get to a coffee shop, though, there are plenty of coffee machines to give you a quick fix. In fact, with the amount of coffee Christendom students have bought this week from the machine outside our classroom, we probably could have bought a machine for ourselves. We are all wide-awake though! (At least for the next 45 minutes, when we will need another cup of coffee.)
College Registrar Walter Janaro has been at Christendom College for 28 years. He came as a Freshman the first year that the Front Royal Campus opened in 1979. The Chronicler Online invaded Walter’s office to get a first hand account Christendom's past and to find out what he loves about the place. 
The team started off hot, winning its first three games. They avenged both of last season’s losses to rival Davis College from New York, shutting them out 2-0. The team was in noticeably better condition than usual, as it had to be due to losing three out of last year’s top four scorers. Forward Denny Pregent graduated along with midfielder John Archer. Forward Jackson Kulick was in Rome for the semester. Noah Morey was all that was left from last year’s weapons to carry the scoring load. 
The team underwent a dry spell in the middle of the season, dropping five straight disappointing games. But the Crusaders recovered and played right with Lord Fairfax CC, to whom they lost 4-2 earlier in the season. They forced a double-overtime tie with the Cannons the second time around. Then they avenged a midseason loss to Patrick Henry College, stopping them 1-0 in the conference final. 
