Ignatius Press has launched an exciting new venture in Catholic higher education — Campion College of San Francisco. The new two-year program of integrated Catholic liberal arts and great books curriculum is slated to begin in the Fall of 2002.
The program is designed to prepare students to transfer into a four-year university. It offers a single degree: Associate of Humanities.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, a supporter of the program, says, “It will be a beautiful enrichment for the vast field of Catholic education. It will provide an excellent formation in the best tradition of Christian humanism. Campion College is truly full of promise.”
In 2002, a group of faculty members, administrators, and alumni of the St. Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco — dissatisfied with changes made to the Institute by a new university administration — decided to act upon an idea they had been thinking about, praying over, and discussing for some years: an independent program embodying both the spirit and the curriculum of the original St. Ignatius Institute, free from the constraints of a larger university that does not share its goals. Campion College is the result.
The world’s most prestigious universities — Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Stanford — are all associated with publishing houses. In these cases, the colleges established the presses. With Campion College, the reverse is true. Campion College is affiliated with the widely respected Catholic publishing house, Ignatius Press.
More information is available at the new Campion College web site. Highlights are found below.
Summary: Campion College of San Francisco is a two-year college with an integrated Catholic liberal arts, great books curriculum designed to prepare students to transfer into a four-year university of their choice. It offers a single degree: Associate of Humanities.
Mission Statement: The mission of Campion College is to provide talented and disciplined young men and women with the solid foundation of an integrated Catholic Liberal Arts education and the academic preparation necessary for the pursuit of further studies necessary for a successful professional career. Its academic curriculum is grounded in the long and rich tradition of Christian humanism as it has been preserved and fostered within the Catholic Church.
Curriculum: Campion College is by intention a small, intense learning community. At its core is an integrated curriculum grounded in the long and rich tradition of Christian humanism as it has been preserved and fostered within the Catholic Church.
Financial Aid: Because this undertaking is designed for young men and women of character who are seeking to live a virtuous Christian life and who are eager to join the Campion community in a pioneering venture in Catholic education, faculty, administrators, and benefactors are willingly making sacrifices to ensure the success of Campion College. We expect our students and their parents to participate in that sacrifice by contributing as much as they are able toward the expenses of the college. However, Campion College is offering full tuition scholarships to every student who is admitted. A personal financial aid package of grants and loans will be worked out with each student. Campion College is committed to ensuring that no student will be unable to attend because of financial need.
Student Life: While the defining purpose of all education is the pursuit and communication of truth, those who study and teach are human beings created in the image of God, who has destined them not only for knowledge and wisdom, but for virtue, love – of God and neighbor – service, and ultimately for eternal life with the Holy Trinity in the communion of Saints. Because Campion College is a Catholic institution grounded in the Church’s rich tradition of Christian humanism, the personal, moral, spiritual, and social development of its students-and faculty – are an integral part of its mission.
Spiritual Life: As a Catholic community of scholars, we understand that the ultimate aim of our lives is union with God in Christ. Our intellectual mission as students, faculty and staff is embedded in this higher and deeper vocation. We therefore place the sacramental life of the Church at the very heart of our communal life, and commit ourselves to doing everything possible to deepen, strengthen, refine and increase our life of faith, as individuals and as a body of believers.
Campus: Campion College is in an urban residential neighborhood. Within two blocks are the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey, the University of San Francisco (with many free events and activities open to the public), the world-famous Golden Gate Park, St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Ignatius Church, Rossi Park, and bus stops for four different San Francisco bus routes. Campion College’s administrative offices are collocated with those of Ignatius Press at 2515 McAllister Street. There are classrooms, a library, offices for students to meet with faculty and administrators, and rooms available for student lodging in or near the neighborhood. In effect, the neighborhood and the city of San Francisco is our campus.
