All Dressed Up and Ready to Dance
The Contra Semi-Formal took place in the Chester-Belloc Room on Saturday, November 17. Students who met for Contra Club every week learned and practiced new contra dances, and they got to exhibit these dances at the Semi-Formal. Thus, for those students who love to contra dance, this event is the highlight of the semester.

“Contra Semi-Formal is always one of my favorite dances of the semester,” says Senior Rachel Kujawa. “It is always such fun to take a break from studying and dance the night away with friends!”

As always, the Virginia Reel and Ladies’ Chain were very popular dances as well.


Seniors Johanna Troendle and Nicholas Weber enjoy a dance.


There was an elegant spread of gourmet foods to enjoy.


Contra dance events always feature a variety of dances that are fun and easy to learn.


Sophomore Alex Clark sashays with junior Monica Davis.



S'more Please!
The Student Activities Council hosted a bonfire for students on Saturday evening, November 17, in St. Catherine’s Glade. Students enjoyed being in each other’s company and conversing over hot chocolate, s’mores, and snacks.

“The bonfire was very enjoyable because I got to hang out with my peers all night,” says Freshman Sean Salmon. “The marshmallows just enhanced the atmosphere!”


The hot cocoa and s'mores, made it a great way to enjoying the cool fall night.



The Last Debate
Sunday night, the Chester-Belloc Debate Society held their last debate of the semester, titled, “After 40 years, the March for life has done nothing, but make us feel good about ourselves.” Many attended this controversial debate and new inductees, such as, freshmen Peter Zinman and Kevin Young who took the floor to speak on this issue. With many moving speeches on both the pro and con side, the night was filled with emotion. Christendom students, alumni, and faculty all contributed to the given resolution and after a vigorous evening of debating, it was time to vote. The final vote was 8 pro and 21 cons, showing that the resolution had failed! Until next semester, senior and Society Chairman Sean Connolly, bids adieu to further debates and thanks all who have attended this fall semester.

The Chester-Belooc Debate Society hosts a number of debates each semester, intentionally choosing provoking issues that encourage students to practice public speaking and hone their rhetorical skills.


Freshman Hugh Forester argues against the proposition.



Cultural Conservatism
On Monday evening, November 19, the Cincinnatus League presented Dr. James Matthew Wilson to speak on “The Drama of Cultural Conservatism” in St. Kilian's Café. Dr. Wilson is a Professor of Literature at Villanova University, and he came to Christendom as a very special guest lecturer. Students, faculty, and staff enjoyed his lecture on the very relevant topic of cultural conservatism. Dr. Wilson gave very practical examples of what this has meant in past decades, and what it now means in today’s society.

“Dr. Wilson delved deep into the annals of conservative history, making distinction after distinction about where the movement has gone and where it is heading,” says Senior Matt Naham. “It was a real privilege to attend such a learned presentation on culture and philosophy.”


The Cincinnatus League is student-faculty club, which aids students in the application of the philosophical foundation they have received at Christendom to contemporary education, culture, and politics.



Roman Orchestras and Food
On the Feast of the Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul, November 18, Dr. and Mrs. O’Donnell hosted a Music Appreciation Night at their home.Students enjoyed Italian fair as they listened to music by Ottorino Respighi. Three orchestral pieces were featured: "The Fountains of Rome,” “The Pines of Rome,” and “Roman Festivals.” Social events at the homes of professors are just part of what makes Christendom's educational experience so unique and personal.



Processing in Honor of Christ the King
This Sunday, most of the students had not returned from Thanksgiving break, but that did not stop a small group and Assistant Chaplin Fr. Mark Byrne from holding Christendom's annual Eucharistic Procession in honor of the Feast of Christ the King. Students, staff, faculty and friends of the College processed with our Lord around campus as they prayed the rosary and sang hymns.


The College holds Eucharistic and Marian processions every year.






Porta Fidei – the Door of Faith
Everything comes to an end. And so like everything else, so has our semester in Rome. The last week was a scramble to complete the check-list of places to visit and things to do. Saturday, a group of students completed the seven church pilgrimage of St. Philip Neri—joining in the 16th century tradition of walking to Rome’s seven major basilicas was worth sacrificing a study-day before finals. Sunday, we attended mass at St. Peter’s, conveniently also the feast of the dedication of the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul. With finals complete on Tuesday, students celebrated by constructing class notes into paper airplanes and flying them from the dome of St. Peter’s.

As a few students had flights home a day earlier than the rest, Wednesday evening my friends and I planned a pizza picnic at the Bourgese Gardens. The group bought food from a favorite pizzeria – a rustic Italian shop where you can watch the chef creates your order and cooks it in a large open oven. Best pizza in Rome! We took the food up to the gardens to enjoy—sitting along the edge of the garden terrace and relishing the view of the Roman skyline was the perfect way to close the semester together.

The next morning, Thanksgiving Day, the remaining students attended Mass at the tomb of St. Peter. Our semester began with Mass at the tomb, so to end there made the semester seem complete. At the farewell luncheon with the faculty and staff, we discussed how it was fitting the semester end coincided with Thanksgiving. Perhaps the Italian lunch was not turkey and pumpkin pie, but the emotions felt at the conclusion of our semester tied in perfectly with the idea of the holiday. Living in Rome for three months gives you much to be thankful for! We thanked the teachers and faculty for their hard work. Even more so, we were thankful for our families, homes and country to which we would soon return.

Summarizing the semester in one Rome Report is difficult. It was a personal, spiritual, and intellectual growth for each person. G.K. Chesterton best describes the idea of travel when he says its object is “not to set foot on foreign land; it is to set food on one’s own country as a foreign land.” The change is not in the object, but the viewer, who is able to see things, appreciate things, or judge things from a new focus. Often travelers find this from comparing cultures and peoples. However, for my classmates and I, it was more than just experiencing a new culture. We experienced Catholicism alive in Rome. In the catacombs and Coliseum, we met the martyrs; in the churches and relics, we encountered the saints; in the Holy Father, we saw Christ and His Church. It was the “necessary personal conversion” Pope Benedict described during the inauguration the year of Faith in October. He spoke of the ‘door of faith’ (Acts 14:27) which is “always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church.”

The excitement and beauty of the semester was encountering our faith, which can only impact us personally and change our world view for the rest of our lives.


Thanksgiving in Rome.


Frolicking through Roman fields.


The great pyramid of Rome.


Coin toss in the Trevi Fountain.


Conor Knox helps Helen Snyder perfect her paper airplane for flight...


...from the dome of St. Peter's.


They're going to miss that brick oven pizza!


Twilight in the Eternal City.


Pizza and the Roman skyline.




Professors & Academics Beyond the Classroom
While the professors at Christendom College provide one of the best personal educational experiences in the nation, they do more than just teach. Many of the faculty participate in a variety of fascinating academic activities outside of the classroom. From lecturing as guest speakers at various events to attending conferences to writing books, teachers keep themselves busy outside of school hours.

Some professors have been recognized with high honors for research done in their respective fields. Just this past year, Associate Professor of History Dr. Christopher Shannon received a major fellowship for a research project sponsored by the prestigious Historical Society called “The Salvation of the Nations: Sacred and Secular Narratives of Progress in the Postwar West.” As a result, Dr. Shannon will receive funding to spend the next two years taking a break from full-time teaching to research and publish a paper based on this project.

It’s not uncommon for faculty members to be invited to give talks to audiences outside of Christendom, whether in Virginia or other parts of the world. In June of 2012, Christendom College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell gave several talks at the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Closer to home, Philosophy Professor Mark Wunsch delivered a lecture this month sponsored at the Institute of Catholic Culture. Held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Northern Virginia, his speech was entitled “Desire: Understanding the Will of Man.”

Professors also give free lectures to Christendom students outside of class time. History Professor Michael Lane gave a talk sponsored by the Christendom Library in October giving his student audience a peek into his doctoral dissertation about vocational discernment. And this coming week, students will be able to attend Professor Dr. Kurt Poterack’s lecture on “The Sacred Liturgy and Faith.”

Besides all of this, there are numerous other interesting academic projects Christendom professors have been involved in. This summer, Philosophy Professor Dr. John Cuddeback participated in a series of Catholic Lecture Courses being filmed for St. Benedict’s Press. Meanwhile, in June, Astronomy Professor Dr. George Garrigan joined hundreds of other astronomers in Hawaii to observe the rare transit of Venus.

One can be sure that if Christendom professors aren’t grading a paper or delivering a classroom seminar, they’re staying busy and making important contributions to the academic community at large throughout the world.

Student-Athletes Receive National Recognition
Ten Christendom College student-athletes are nominated to the 2102 USCAA National All-Academic Team. To receive the nomination each student-athlete achieved at least a 3.5 GPA in addition to their contributions to their teams.

“One of the benefits of being part of a National Conference is that our student-athletes who work so hard to excel in all they do are able to be recognized by the conference for their achievements” says Chris Vander Woude, Athletic Director at the College.

This fall’s recipients were seniors Tim Beer, Nicholas Blank, Lisa Hill, Katie Wunderlich, and Charlie Rollino; juniors Klarissa Blank and Jonathan Fioramonti; and sophomores Peter Foeckler, Mark Turner, and Peter Stephens.

These student-athletes participated in one of three fall sports that Christendom offers: women’s volleyball and soccer, as well as men’s soccer. Christendom boasts seven varsity intercollegiate sports, which sets itself apart from other colleges who are similar in size and enrollment.

“We believe that Christendom offers a uniquely balanced opportunity for student-athletes, like these ten, to be able to compete at the college level, while at the same time being formed academically and spiritually through a Catholic liberal arts education,” Vander Woude says. “These recipients demonstrate what is possible here at Christendom—to strive for excellence in all they do.”

All ten students played important roles in their teams' successes this past season. Seven of them were starters on their respective teams, including Tim Beer who will graduate having started each soccer game for the Crusaders during his four years at Christendom. These student-athletes are also involved in many other facets of campus life and serve as Residence Assistants, Student Activities Council members, Student Ambassadors, sacristans, and altar servers. In addition many are dual sport student-athletes, who also play basketball or baseball.

The USCAA is a national organization that exists to provide quality athletic competition on a regional and national level. The USCAA focuses specifically on smaller institutions of higher learning and their student-athletes. The association believes that all athletes and programs deserve the same national opportunities as larger institutions and works to provide those opportunities. Find out more at theuscaa.com.

Q I am a bit of a procrastinator. In fact, I was going to ask you this question about a month ago, but, well, I put it off. But what I want to know is this: I really want to apply to Christendom, and I want to be able to apply for financial aid, but, I think I have missed the opportunity to apply by the December 1 deadline. Is there any hope for me? Can I still apply and get accepted and get some money?

A. There is always hope, my friend, even for the procrastinators out there! OK, so here's the deal. December 1 is the Early Action Application Deadline. What that really means is this: those who get all of their application materials in to my office by Dec. 1 will get an answer from our admissions committee by December 15. Those people can then apply for financial aid in February, and they have to send in their deposit to reserve their spot by March 15.

If you are not going to make the December 1 deadline, nothing to worry about, for now. You can still apply and get everything in to my office by March 1, the Regular Application Deadline, and you have lost nothing. You can still apply for financial aid (loans and grants), and you can still take your SAT or ACT many more times to achieve academic scholarship levels (1920 or higher on the SAT or 29 or higher on the ACT), but the downfall to waiting until March 1 is that you will not get an answer from our admissions committee until right around April 1. Sometimes, though, based on space and the quality of applicants, we do give answers before April 1, it depends.

Christendom does not accept federal funds or financial aid, but we do offer a robust financial aid program, funded by our generous donors. Therefore, the FAFSA does not work for us, but rather, we have our own financial aid form that needs to be filled out and submitted. Here is a link to our current form for this year, the new one for the 2013-14 year will be on our website in January. You can't do this, normally, until tax returns have been filed for the 2012 year.

So, there you have it. There is plenty of time, and plenty of money left for you to get, so don't put it off too long, or you may just end up on the waiting list!

Director of Admissions
tmcfadden@christendom.edu
800.877.5456 ext. 1290

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.