Jan 13, 2009 / 01:32 am
During this National Vocation Awareness Week, the Cardinal Newman Society reports that several Catholic colleges have had “notable success” in fostering vocations among their students.
The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), a nonprofit organization committed to the renewal of Catholic higher education, is highlighting the vocational efforts of several colleges, which are also profiled in its book “The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.”
The CNS attributes the schools’ successes to several factors, which include formal vocation programs, a robust campus ministry, or a faithful learning environment which emphasizes the Catholic intellectual tradition.
At Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, 11 percent of graduates since its founding in 1971 have reportedly entered religious life. In 2007, university president Thomas E. Dillon attributed this flourishing to Catholic fidelity, the school’s academic program, its chaplains, the lay witness at the college and a supportive student body.