Southern Catholic College to become Legion of Christ institution

Jul 16, 2009 / 20:06 pm

The Legion of Christ and Southern Catholic College have agreed to make the school a Legion institution, saying the move will advance Catholic higher education in Georgia.

Southern Catholic College (SCC), a co-educational liberal arts college, claims to be Georgia’s first and only residential Catholic college and describes itself as “grounded in the Catholic intellectual and moral tradition.”

Founded in 2000, it now has more than 200 students from 25 states on its Dawsonville, Georgia campus an hour’s drive north of Atlanta.

“This is a great step for Southern Catholic and, we hope, for Catholic higher education in North America,” Jeremiah J. Ashcroft, president of SCC, said of the agreement.

He added that the Legion’s “experience and leadership” will help attract students from across North America and will help develop programs with other institutions worldwide.

“This expanded reach and support greatly enhances our ability to achieve our mission to prepare moral and ethical leaders who will enlighten society and glorify God.”

Fr. Scott Reilly, LC, the territorial director for the Legion, said the order wanted to build on SCC’s “great reputation.”

“There will be considerable sharing of best practices with our existing institutions. I expect that SCC will experience significant growth in the years ahead, as we can expand the availability of Catholic higher education to students from across North America,” Fr. Reilly said in a press release.

The Legion of Christ, a religious congregation, was founded in 1941 with the stated mission of extending the Kingdom of Christ according to Christian justice and charity.

The order is currently the subject of an Apostolic Visitation, following revelations that its founder Fr. Marcel Maciel had fathered a child with a mistress.

CNA contacted SCC to determine how the Visitation affected the decision to create an alliance between the college and the Legion but did not receive a response before publication.