Wyoming Catholic College is a go

Cheyenne, Wyo., Jul 13, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A $2-million land donation has made it possible to realize Wyoming’s first Catholic college. Wyoming Catholic College will begin accepting students in the fall of 2007 at an interim campus in Lander; the permanent home will be the scenic Broken Anvil Ranch, 12 miles south.

Franci Mortenson-Perkins gave the 2,155 acres of deeded and leased state and federal lands to the college. The gift includes a long-term lease of an additional 6,200 acres of adjacent deeded lands.

Bishop David Ricken of Cheyenne said Wednesday at a press conference that the four-year Catholic liberal arts college is an idea that came from prayer.

The campus will be "imbued with the spirit of Catholic morality and tradition where students will be immersed in the natural world," Bishop Ricken said.

The college will also be the state’s second four-year institution of higher education. The documents to formally incorporate Wyoming Catholic College were filed Monday.

Mortenson-Perkins said the donation stands as a legacy to her late husband Christopher Mortenson and herself for the young people of the region.

"The Broken Anvil Ranch is a special place, and I am especially pleased that it will remain, in perpetuity, a place of learning,” she was quoted as saying.