University of Dallas

University of Dallas Irving, Texas www.udallas.edu Overview The sprawling city of Irving, Texas is a 200,000-person suburb of Dallas. In it are the headquarters of such giants as ExxonMobil and the Boy Scouts of America as well as the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It also is the home of one of the finest Catholic colleges, the University of Dallas. Founded in 1956, this liberal arts-orient- ed institution consistently ranks among the most praised colleges in the United States. In addition to its orthodox Catholicism, the Uni- versity of Dallas is widely respected for intellectual rigor and quality of teaching. QUICK FACTS The driving force behind the establish- Founded: 1956 ment of the university was the Sisters of Saint Type of institution: Small university Mary of Namur. They approached then-Bish- Setting: Suburban op Thomas Gorman to expand their junior Undergraduate enrollment: 1,232 (2006–07 college, Our Lady of Victory, and give control academic year) to a board of trustees under the jurisdiction of Total undergraduate cost: $30,836 (tuition, room and board for 2007–08) the Diocese of Dallas. Among the initial fac- Undergraduate majors: 27 ulty in 1956 were members of the Cistercian, Sisters of Saint Mary and Franciscan orders. FIVE KEY POINTS The university draws students from 1. Strong commitment to a core throughout the United States and from 18 curriculum, even in graduate study. other countries with its commitment to a core 2. An orthodox Catholic identity is curriculum, largely based on the classics of emphasized. Western Civilization. Academic preparation is such that more than 80 percent of the stu- 3. Teachers and students have created a vibrant intellectual environment. dents attend graduate or professional schools. The university has the distinction of gaining 4. A Rome semester is highly popular a Phi Beta Kappa chapter faster than any oth- and impressive. er institution in the 20th century. 5. There is a vital spiritual life on and near the campus. The Newman Guide 97 University of Dallas There are 27 majors that are rooted in the trative positions at the University of San Di- typical liberal arts disciplines. Included are ego, Marquette University and the University classics degrees in either Greek or Latin and of Dayton. a studio arts program. The Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts was added in 1966 and offers master’s degrees in eight areas and an Public Identity interdisciplinary Ph.D., which has the unique character of also relying on a core curricu- As part of its mission statement, the Universi- lum. The management school offers several ty of Dallas declares: “The University is dedi- M.B.A.s as well as additional master’s degrees cated to the recovery of the Christian intellec- in management. tual tradition, and to the renewal of Catholic theology in fidelity to the Church and in con- To receive an undergraduate degree at UD, structive dialogue with the modern world.” students must take half of their courses in the core curriculum. There are 15 required cours- The emphasis of the university is rooted es distributed as follows: four each in English in a core curriculum because the administra- and history, three in philosophy, two in theol- tion believes that its western tradition is the ogy and one each in economics and politics. Catholic tradition. One English professor told Students also select an additional 10 courses us, “The core teaches us that the goal of edu- from several liberal arts fields. cation is to seek the Truth and that Truth ex- ists.” One former faculty member said of the core curriculum: “Its brilliance lies in study- As a result, one 2006 alumnus said the uni- ing the ancients, medievals and moderns versity is “one of the only universities left that several times during the college years. While is both Catholic and catholic. That is to say, it there is an historical and sequential study of is orthodox and faithful and is very willing these eras, students also go back at different to pursue Truth from whichever avenues it points during their years [at UD] to read, for might come.” example, Aristotle and Plato again.” President Frank Lazarus gives much cred- it for this Catholic faithfulness to the profes- Governance sors. In his inauguration address in 2004, he said: “The faculty and administration, but especially the faculty, of this institution have The university is governed by a 30-plus mem- from the time of the founding positioned the ber board of trustees, comprised largely of lay University of Dallas in the mainstream of business leaders from the Dallas area, other the Catholic Intellectual Tradition by virtue parts of the nation and alumni. There are a of their scholarship, their development and few Catholic religious figures on the board, cultivation of the core curriculum, and by the most notably the Bishops of the Dioceses of example of their own lives in the form of per- Dallas and Fort Worth, but there no longer is sonal witness to the Faith and fidelity to the any diocesan control. teachings of the Church.” Dr. Frank Lazarus became the seventh Those we interviewed gave high marks president of the University of Dallas in 2004. to President Lazarus for reemphasizing the All of his predecessors, with one exception, university’s Catholic identity while proceed- were lay presidents. Dr. Lazarus, a scholar of ing in a balanced way. He places a high prior- classical languages, previously held adminis- 98 The Newman Guide University of Dallas ity on Ex corde Ecclesiae and stresses the uni- Some of UD’s speakers do not necessarily versity’s Catholic commitment to high school deal with Catholic issues but rather address students and their parents in prospective stu- a range of intellectual concerns. Robert and dent weekends. John Hollander of the digital Princeton Dante Project and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Unfortunately, the administration of Dr. Borlaug, the Green Revolution pioneer, are Lazarus’s predecessor, Msgr. Milam Joseph examples. We are aware of no objectionable (1996–2003), was marked by some contro- speakers on campus. versy. It was reported to us that during his tenure, the university’s Catholic identity was The university also reaches out to the somewhat diluted and there were a few fac- broader Catholic community. One example ulty departures. However, the university, by is through the renamed University of Dal- all accounts, seems to be back on its solid, his- las School of Ministry, which held a two-day torical footing. conference on the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ doc- ument “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the This Catholic ethos has a transformational Lord,” dealing with lay ministry, in March effect on students, according to close observ- 2007. The interdisciplinary Society of Catho- ers of the college. For example, Father Philip lic Social Scientists held their 2006 meeting Powell, O.P., the campus minister, said, “Many on campus. freshmen come in looking like conservative Catholics. Over the course of their time at UD, The university has benefited as well from they often become orthodox Catholics.” its long relationship with a number of religious orders, including the Cistercians, Fran- He adds, “And what is ‘orthodoxy’? It’s ciscans, Dominicans, Sisters of Saint Mary of thinking, teaching and preaching with the Namur and School Sisters of Notre Dame. mind of the Church. Look first to the Church, the presumption being that the Church has the answer, and in 99.99 percent of the time, Spiritual Life Her answer is right.” In addition to the curriculum, the univer- The spiritual life at UD is, in the words of a sity bolsters its Catholic identity by its choice 2006 alumnus, “extremely robust and alive.” of campus speakers. Among recent com- One characteristic of it that repeatedly mencement speakers have been Archbishop emerged in our interviews is that faculty and J. Michael Miller, then the Secretary of the their families actively participate in Masses Congregation for Catholic Education at the and other religious activities. As a result, one Vatican, in 2006; and former U.S. ambassador English professor said, “The students can see to the Vatican Jim Nicholson in 2003. their professor as a whole person.” Other speakers have included Russell Hit- About 75 percent of the student body is tinger, the Warren Chair of Catholic Studies Catholic, and that helps ensure an active par- at the University of Tulsa, who delivered the ticipation in spiritual activities. Two Masses first John Paul II Theology Lecture in Febru- are offered Monday through Friday (12:05 ary 2007; John Millbank, a British academic p.m. and 5 p.m.) at the campus Church of the associated with Radical Orthodoxy, who pre- Incarnation; combined they attract about 200 sented the 2006 Aquinas Lecture; and mar- students daily. There are four Sunday obliga- riage and family expert Patrick Fagan of The tion Masses, including one on Saturday night. Heritage Foundation. The Newman Guide 99 University of Dallas cian monks. There is also an Opus Dei center, the Wingren Study Center, in the area; one of their service projects is organizing an annual spring-break trip to a school for the poor in Monterrey, Mexico. Catholicism in the Classroom As befits a college that, as President Lazarus notes, emphasizes the Catholic intellectual tradition, it is not surprising that the theology and philosophy departments would be strong. Because of the core curriculum, students also encounter this religious heritage “at different Confessions are heard five times a week and times and in different ways in their studies,” by appointment. according to one faculty member. Father Powell, the campus minister and The theology department is anchored by also known as the assistant chaplain, is highly chair Dr.

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