Catholicity: Who We Strive To Be


11/29/2014

As a proper noun, Catholicity is defined as "the beliefs of the Catholic Church." Definitions for the word as a common noun, meanwhile, include "broad-mindedness," "universality" and "general inclusiveness."

At St. Ambrose University, our core mission value of Catholicity is a living word that defines itself as all of the above, and reveals itself as so very much more.

Students can comfortably find and share their faith at daily Masses, as well as through the many programs and the caring counsel of the Campus Ministry staff.

One senior enriches lives through song during Masses in Christ the King Chapel. Another is very proud to have independently forged a faith of his own choosing through deep reflection at student-led retreats, and through academic study and open discussion.

Indeed, St. Ambrose students can explore and challenge their faith or beliefs in classrooms, through lectures, readings, or even over a cup of coffee on a campus where the Catholic Intellectual Tradition readily welcomes inquiry and deeply encourages critical thinking.

Catholicity is neither dogma nor dogmatic. Certainly not at St. Ambrose, where you need only to look to the president's office for proof of our steadfast commitment to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, is as faithful to her role as an educator as she is to her ministry for the Church. In a sense, these roles are intertwined, considering her order's history in Catholic education. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded and sponsor five universities and numerous high schools and academies across the US.

As for "universality" and "general inclusiveness," a university that calls itself "independent," "diocesan" and "Catholic" proves it can be all of those things by warmly embracing people of non-Catholic faiths, as well as those without religious affiliations or beliefs.

As St. Ambrose students, a southern-bred Missionary Baptist and a Chinese Buddhist came to believe more deeply in the likelihood of a universal God and the certainty of the universal good. An ordained Episcopalian minister and a retired minister of the African Methodist Church, meanwhile, both teach at St. Ambrose with a deep and abiding respect for Catholicity, a comfort and confidence in their freedom of expression, and a sense of awe and ownership in the Ambrosian commitment to transform Catholicity from noun to verb.

History is rich with examples of St. Ambrose clergy and lay faculty and staff-as well as students and alumni energized by the above examples-taking leadership roles in the movements for civil rights and for work equality.

"Nobody in history has done more for those with less than the Catholic Church," said Thomas Carpenter, PhD, the retired AME minister and the director of SAU's School of Education. "That's why I came here. We really do believe in peace and justice."

We believe in service, too, that most Catholic of actions. Almost daily, our students and alumni serve their communities and its less fortunate citizens in ways big and small. To that end, Rev. Robert "Bud" Grant, PhD, would tweak the last few words of the official university mission statement to read: "Our lives will be enriched precisely to the degree that we enrich the lives of others."

This is Catholicity at St. Ambrose - a way of acting much more than a way of thinking. It is what we do. It is how we teach. It is who we strive to be.

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Addy Nelson ’23 was born with an entrepreneur’s spirit. With her parents owning the bowling alley in her hometown of Gregory, South Dakota—the same place she perfected her game to earn a scholarship to St. Ambrose University—she learned early to be innovative, customer-focused and business-minded.

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Maggie (Verdun) Bohnert '15, '16 MOT
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At SAU, hard work = recognition. Here is a list of full-time students who were named to the St. Ambrose University Dean's List for the Fall 2023 term. These students earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale).

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