Student Organizations

Clubs
Social Life
Volunteer Work

Student Organized Clubs

Student Government: The Student Activities Council consists of 11 elected members of the student body who serve a term of one year. The Council meets weekly for the purpose of planning and executing various social, cultural, recreational, religious, and athletic activities for the benefit of the entire student body. It operates according to set by-laws, and meetings are conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.

Debate: The Debate Club encourages students to hone their argumentative and rhetorical skills. Formal debates on contemporary issues are held several times per year.

Christendom Choir: Men's and women's choir which sings for Sunday and feast day Masses on campus. The choir sings sacred polyphony by such noted masters as Palestrina, Victoria, and Josquin des Prez. Occasionally the group gives performances off campus.  

Christendom Literary Club: Students are encouraged to write literary works for a number of officially sanctioned College publications. Click here to read some works by the students.

The Rambler, a Journal written by and for the students of Christendom College.

Schola Gregoriana: The Schola Gregoriana assists in the College community's worship in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by chanting the traditional propers. This all-male group thus beautifies the weekly Sunday Mass, helping to elevate the hearts of the Faithful to interior participation in the Holy Sacrifice. The group also chants the propers for the high feasts celebrated during the school year as well as at the graduation mass. The group generally will make two or three excursions yearly to assist at masses at area parishes.

Oratory: Chaplains and student meet informally to discuss spirituality and the writings of the great Doctors of the Church (St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, etc.). The objective of the group meetings is to provide students with an opportunity to integrate the theological truths they are learning in the academic forum with their own intellectual and spiritual development and their life of prayer.

Shield of Roses: Every Saturday, this group of students travels to Washington, DC, to pray the rosary at area abortion clinics.

Holy Rood Guild: This group of women students cares for the vestments and altar linens used in the Chapel, and coordinates displays and decorations for religious celebrations.

Ambassadors: These students are selected by the Admissions Office to represent the College to prospective students, College alumni, and donors. In return for voluntarily hosting prospective students on weekend visits to the College and for assisting at a variety of events, Ambassadors generally are among the first students chosen to attend galas and other College functions.

St. Genesius Society/ Christendom Players: Troupe of students interested in drama. Those in the Society (St. Genesius is the patron saint of actors) hope to advance the role of drama and theatre in the Christendom community through such activities as play readings, workshops in acting, make-up, set design, etc.; attendance at worthwhile plays in the Washington, DC/ Virginia area. The Christendom Players have the specific task of staging and producing the annual play in March.

Legion of Mary: The Legion of Mary is a world-wide organization of the lay apostolate. Students in the Legion seek to take the light of faith they receive at Christendom to the wider world. They do so by accepting a routine of prayer and apostolic works-- at least two hours a week-- thus deepening their faith while bringing it to others. Works include door-to-door evangelization, comforting of the sick and dying in nursing homes, and visitation of inmates at a local prison.

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Social Life

Christendom students are an outgoing, lively bunch, and the social life of the campus reflects their myriad interests, talents, and tastes. A Student Activities Council comprised of representatives from each class meets weekly to plan student events. Frequent weekend activities include college-sponsored parties and dances, movies, cookouts, talent/variety shows, music appreciation nights, concert trips, and outings. And the students display a remarkable ingenuity and creativity in devising entertainment for themselves.

Feast Days of the Liturgical year are observed with particular celebration. Holy Days of Obligation are campus-wide holidays. For the College's patronal feast, the Feast of Christ the King in November, a beautiful, sung mass begins festivities which usually extend through a day or even an entire weekend, and often include a dance and a champagne brunch.

As befits her high place of honor within the Church and the College Community, the Blessed Mother is reverently venerated on campus. Her feast days are joyfully observed.

St. Patrick's Day is a particularly welcome feast coming as it does during Lent. After a true Irish meal of corn beef, cabbage and Guinness Stout (for those who have reached their majority), a group of kilt-clad Christendom men lead a large and appreciative crowd of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and their families in singing Irish songs and ballads. Other students and faculty members entertain the audience with Irish dancing, poetry recitation, more singing, and story-telling.

St. Joseph's feast day is celebrated with liturgical pomp and a grand banquet. After mass, a procession forms, wending its way from the Chapel to the Commons. There a true Italian feast is spread, and, according to tradition, an amazing assortment of breads baked and brought by students and families awaits the priestly blessing.

Not to be outdone, students and faculty of German descent honor the cultural contributions of their forebears with Oktoberfest revelry which includes music, dancing, singing, and recitation (and stein raising, of course). Last year a group of students learned the Austrian folk dance, the Lendler (seen in the Sound of Music) and taught it to all interested dancers.

Among many other remarkable yearly campus traditions are St. Cecilia's Eve, a night of classical, operatic, and sacred musical pieces performed by students; Coffee House, an artsy evening of comedy, singing, recitation, and drama; impromptu variety shows; and even a Lip Sync-ing contest.

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Volunteer Work

Since self-centeredness is the greatest single cause of human misery, the Student Affairs Department encourages students in good academic standing to participate in spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The Legion of Mary thrives on campus. The Student Activities office organizes blood drives and Christmas food drives. Some students participate in a ministry of catechesis and evangelization in Winchester, Front Royal, and inner-city Washington, DC; others volunteer at a nearby crisis pregnancy center. In the process of building the Body of Christ through such activities as these, students improve their sense of perspective on themselves, and they mature. The volunteer activity, of course, remains distinctly secondary to the students' primary academic responsibilities.

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