Tmc Rewritten 102009

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts Merrimack, New Hampshire www.thomasmorecollege.edu

Overview When Thomas More College co-founder Dr. Peter Sampo launched TMC in 1978, he had already served as president of Magdalen College for the previous four years. He had a keen sense of what he wanted, both in terms of religious identity and academic rigor. More than three decades later, the successful but little-known Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is now reaching for national recognition, with a new curriculum and a new generation of intellectuals who share a passion for genuine liberal arts education. TMC students don’t anguish over majors; every student graduates with a degree in the liberal arts, and all students take the same courses with some opportunity to specialize in junior and senior tutorials and projects. The new core curriculum, implemented in the fall of 2009, is adapted from the original design by Donald and Louise Cowan, both of whom had long associations with the University of Dallas. Students gain a firm grounding in the leading thinkers of Western civilization and the Catholic intellectual tradition, including study of the Great Books as well as more recent writings. Four semesters of Latin or Greek, plus courses in literature, art, music, philosophy, Scripture, theology, natural sciences and humanities set TMC apart from nearly every other American college. The college prides itself on attracting an inquisitive, eclectic group of students from

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quick facts Founded: 1978 Type of institution: Very small liberal arts college Setting: Small town Undergraduate enrollment: 95 (2008–09 academic year) Undergraduate cost: $23,600 (tuition, room and board for 2009–10) Undergraduate majors: One

Five Key Points 1. All students graduate with a degree in liberal arts. 2. Four-year core curriculum emphasizes Catholic intellectual tradition and Western Civilization. 3. All sophomores participate in a semester abroad in Rome. 4. Unique “Way of Beauty” courses study Christian art and music. 5. Relatively low tuition for a private college in New England

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across the U.S. and Canada. The 2008-09 enrollment was 95, all undergraduates. According to the college, more than 60 percent of alumni pursue graduate study. A recent survey indicated that graduates have gone on to study at 26 different law schools, 68 graduate schools and one medical school. TMC is fully accredited by both the regional agency, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and the American Academy for Liberal Education. For the past 28 years, the college has been located in the town of Merrimack, which has about 27,000 residents. It is in southern New Hampshire near the border with Massachusetts; Boston is one hour away. At $23,600 for tuition, room and board, the 2009-10 costs were well below average private-college costs in pricey New Hampshire. TMC is working to enhance scholarship programs for students, including one established for inner-city youth by the late journalist Robert Novak. Financial aid is generous, including opportunities for federal assistance. The college has also established two funds to support vocations. The Saint John Vianney Fund for Future Priests and The Saint Mother Katherine Drexel Fund for Future Nuns absorb student loans accumulated by graduates who are entering a seminary or religious life.

Governance The college is governed by a 10-member lay board, which includes retired Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice and pro-life leader Paul Schenck, who has received an honorary degree from the college. Cardinal Edward Egan, former Archbishop of New York, previously served on the board. The chairman of the board, Patrick Monaghan, is Special Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. Dr. Sampo served as the president of 222

From the Financial Aid Office “Thomas More College is committed to keeping our tuition costs low, and our scholarship opportunities high—allowing students to receive an excellent education without the burden of a lifetime of debt. “The Presidential Award is awarded to incoming students based on high test scores, exceptional involvement in the community and a commitment to learning. “The St. Francis Fund is awarded to students who demonstrate financial need as determined by the Student Aid Report (SAR). “The Faith and Reason Essay Contest: Students are judged by essays on Pope Benedict’s words on faith and reason. Firstplace prize of $30,000 over four years; two second-place prizes of $20,000 each, and three third-place prizes of $10,000 each. “The John Vianney & Katherine Drexel Fund is offered to graduates who find that they are called to enter religious life or the priesthood. Thomas More College assumes the student’s debt when admitted into a monastery or seminary. “The Robert D. Novak Scholarship is a comprehensive scholarship available to minority students who have shown exceptional intellectual curiosity and demonstrate financial need.” TMC from its founding until 2006. His successor and a noted Edmund Burke Scholar, Dr. Jeffrey Nelson, served until April 2009. The current president, Dr. William Fahey,

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arrived at Thomas More College in 2007 from Christendom College, where he was founding chairman of the classical and early Christian studies department. Before being appointed president in 2009, he served TMC as provost, vice president for academic affairs and professor of humanities. He received his Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. Dr. Fahey is a Benedictine Oblate (novice) with the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Clear Creek, Oklahoma, and has five children with his wife Amy.

Public Identity TMC’s motto, adopted in 2006, is Caritas Congaudet Veritati (“Charity rejoices in the truth”), from 1 Corinthians 13:6. According to a 2004 alumna, “Thomas More College affirms the union of faith and reason. It also upholds the understanding of the Church as Mot her—generous, welcoming, unwavering in its adherence to the truth but loving in the way it offers the truth.” All faculty members are Catholic and most of its students are, but the college emphasizes that nonCatholics are welcome. Accordingly, the website notes that the institution “is dedicated to providing a Catholic education to students of all faiths.” The public identity is manifested in its choice of campus speakers. The commencement speakers from 2004 to 2008 were former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Raymond Flynn, Heritage Foundation president Edwin Feulner, Jr., journalist Robert Novak, Catholic novelist and apologist Ron Hansen and Father The Newman Guide

James Schall, S.J., of Georgetown University. The 2009 speaker was former Vatican official Cardinal Francis Arinze. Lecturers have included leading Catholic intellectuals like Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, Dr. Peter Kreeft and Father George Rutler. A notable visitor to the campus in May 2009 was Archbishop Jean Sleiman, O.C.D., of Baghdad, Iraq. According to one of our alumni interviewees, “Usually our speakers were rather heady but very interesting. They were great choices. Most were not expecting to be grilled so intensely by a well-informed student body.” The college sponsors the Vatican Forum, a speaker series for journalists in Rome. Director and founder Andrea Kirk Assaf is a daughter of the late Catholic conservative Russell Kirk and wife of Tony Assaf, director of TMC’s Vatican Studies Center. As another example of a growing interest in expanding its Catholic public presence, the college announced in March 2007 that it had become co-publisher of Second Spring: An International Journal of Faith and Culture. The Christian humanist publication has included among its writers then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) when he was the Vatican’s Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Spiritual Life The spiritual life is faithful and traditional. The college has a new full-time chaplain, Father John Healy. In addition, five other lo223

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cal priests visit the campus to celebrate daily Mass (“reverent and peaceful,” according to one alumnus) in a small chapel that is located in a multipurpose 18th-century building. The Ordinary Form of the Mass is celebrated in both English and Latin and occasionally according to the Eastern Catholic rites. The college is planning to offer mass in the Extraordinary Form and Anglican-use Catholic Rite in the near future. There are regular confessions available before Mass and by appointment. There also are Divine Mercy devotions, nightly recitation of the Rosary and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There is a voluntary annual retreat. A recent graduate remarked, “Because of the strong intellectual bent on campus, it can be easy for students to think more than pray.” But college officials have made a concerted effort to change this, with the new full-time chaplain and expanded liturgical options. Their stated goal is to ensure that “the liturgical and spiritual intensity match the college’s intellectual prowess.” Students also have access to two local parishes in Merrimack. The cathedral of the Diocese of Manchester, St. Joseph Cathedral, is located 10 minutes away. Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered twice monthly in nearby Nashua.

Academics Thomas More College’s great strength is the integrated curriculum, significantly revised in 2009. The college cites Michael Aeschilman, the noted Professor of Education at Boston 224

University, who has reviewed the curriculum and calls it “an ideal paradigm” of integrated studies. “Acknowledging and promoting the interdependence of knowledge and virtue, it is simultaneously Socratic and Christian,” Aeschilman says. The college strives for a real collegium, a society of students and scholars joined in a common life and common reading of texts. The professors do not separate into specialized areas but are, to a large degree, committed to rotating through courses. This requires a broad-minded faculty, including such recent hires as naturalist and humanities scholar Christopher Blum (former chairman of Christendom College’s history department) and theologian-cum-political scientist Walter Thompson (co-founder of the International Thelogical Institute in Austria). It also requires that all faculty understand Catholic teachings and how to apply them to the coursework. Professors in all disciplines take the Oath of Fidelity each year, and theologians must have a mandatum as required by Canon Law. All professors are reported to be excellent. One alumna said, “Everyone has invested themselves in their teaching, not just their reputation, ideas or careers.” All students take the same courses in the same order for most of the curriculum. Although this has similarities to the prescribed curriculum at Thomas Aquinas College, there are differences: the emphasis on Great Books is supplemented by secondary texts and more recent writings, professors are encouraged to employ a variety of teaching methods not

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The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

necessarily restricted to Socratic dialogue in group discussions, and courses are still largely defined by discipline instead of by author or topic. Unique to TMC is its “Way of Beauty” program, a year-long freshman course in the fundamentals of Western and Christian art. It is taught by artist-in-residence David Clayton, an Oxford-educated artist and iconographer skilled in both Baroque and Byzantine styles of painting, and guest lecturers on Western

musical traditions. Students learn to chant the Psalms in the Liturgy of Hours, “write” (i.e. paint) icons and apply the principles of Euclidian geometry to artistic expressions of order and harmony. Also unusual today is TMC’s commitment to Greek and Latin. Students strive to master either language by speaking, writing and reading original authors found elsewhere in the curriculum like Homer, Plato, Saint Paul and Saint Thomas More.

Message from the President Dear Parents and Prospective Students: So many colleges will offer you the same thing—a new experience, something different, great friendships. Why do you think they never emphasize the education? Isn’t the education what college is all about? Thomas More College gives you a comprehensive education that provides a solid understanding of Western civilization, its greatest thinkers and its most enduring books. After four years, you will be able to quote Plato and Aristotle at will, compare modern economic conditions with ancient Greek tragedies, rattle off the great theological debates of Christianity and quote the literary works of Faulkner and Homer. We offer a Catholic environment with daily Mass and a vibrant community life. Our students spend three full months studying in the heart of Rome, staying at a majestic villa and taking private tours of the Eternal City. You can also travel to Oxford, England, to study in the private library of G.K. Chesterton or take advantage of several internship opportunities at prestigious locations like the U.N. in New York City and prominent think tanks in D.C. If the cost of college is worrying to you, then our low tuition rates—which rival even in-state tuition costs—might surprise you. We also offer several merit and need-based scholarships. I invite you to find out more about Thomas More College and schedule a visit. Please do not hesitate to contact me or our Director of Admissions.

In Christ & Mary,



Dr. William E. Fahey

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Every sophomore travels to Rome (at no additional charge) for a semester to take courses at the college’s Vatican Studies Center. The director, journalist Tony Assaf, is well-connected with Vatican officials and helps place students in internships with ZENIT news agency, H20 News and the Pontifical Council of Social Communications, giving them an insider’s experience of what goes on in Rome. While students spend much of their time in the city, the residence is at a beautiful monastery in the nearby countryside, allowing for quiet study and reflection in an ideal setting. Writing tutorials are taught by writer-in-residence John Zmirak, a conservative columnist and well-published Catholic apologist. Zmirak combines lectures with one-on-one mentoring to help students write well by imitating great authors. There is some opportunity for students to customize their curriculum in the junior and senior years. Junior tutorials allow small groups of students to focus on particular disciplines or topics that were treated more broadly in the core curriculum. Senior tutorials allow students to prepare for careers with emphasis on particular disciplines and skills. Students also choose subjects and work independently on a junior project (culminating in an oral examination before a faculty panel) and a senior thesis and examination. Despite the intellectual rigor, TMC students study in a relaxed and friendly environment and exhibit a degree of individual-

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ity. According to one graduate, the college “doesn’t mold people in a certain way, and that is a distinction between TMC and other small schools—it authentically teaches a tradition, not a mold.” Former president Nelson launched a number of initiatives to enhance the formal learning sponsored by the college. These include the Center for New England Politics and Culture and the Center for Faith and Culture at Oxford, England. After review, TMC expects to continue most of these initiatives, although they may be reshaped and more strictly anchored to the college’s core mission. In addition to the Vatican internships, TMC encourages internships with employers like the World Development Coalition in New York and the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington, D.C. A new freshman orientation program brings students for a week to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hiking, outdoor Masses and readings from New England authors like Hawthorne and Frost make for a popular introduction to the core curriculum. Prospective students can experience TMC life as part of the Collegiate Summer Program for High School Students. There are two two-week sessions that cover literature, philosophy, American politics and apologetics.

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The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

Student Activities

Residential Life

Campus organizations are minimal. There is a St. Cecilia’s choir and a schola cantorum. There is a Theatre Guild, which included Much Ado About Nothing among its recent performances. Students have access to the Merrimack YMCA, which is next to the college. There are no groups that are in opposition to Church teaching. A winter highlight is the annual celebration of Thomas More’s birthday, February 6, with a medieval banquet. There is a Friday night speaker and film series, which is now an institution. So, too, is the annual November Mudbowl football game between the “Saints” and “Sinners.” And students enjoy the Christmas dinner dance. There is, of course, time for informal relaxation. The Student Social Council meets every week to help direct social functions. Social events include excursions to outdoor locales and to cities such as nearby Nashua and Manchester as well as Boston. Athletic activities are limited to occasional Frisbee games and personal exercise, but the college says it is considering club sports including fencing (once popular at TMC). All students perform service on campus, including working in the dining hall, participating in snow removal and assisting with security. This is all part of an effort to create a community spirit and keep tuition low.

TMC’s campus is primarily residential. There are two residence halls, Kopka Hall for men and Stillman House for women. Students are not allowed into the residences for the opposite sex. Chastity is encouraged by teaching of the Theology of the Body, talks about chastity and peer monitoring. There is a curfew and students may not go off campus without permission. Drinking is not allowed on campus, but problems do occur periodically, more so in the men’s residence hall. A bigger issue, however, is off-campus drinking. Despite discouragement from faculty, we are informed that there is a longstanding tradition of drinking in the nearby woods.

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The Community Merrimack is a small New England town, with easy access to the state’s two largest cities. Manchester, with a population of 110,000, is nine miles northeast of Merrimack, and Nashua, with a population of 87,000, is two miles south of Merrimack. New England’s largest city, Boston, is about 50 miles away. Students have access to three regional hospitals, each about 10 minutes away: Elliot Hospital in Manchester and Southern Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua. Also nearby is the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, an efficient and rapidly

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growing airport. And, of course, Boston Logan International Airport is an option for air travelers. The winters, although long and cold, provide opportunities for skiing. There also are many hiking options in the mountainous state. Crime in Merrimack is about as low as it gets in the United States. The crime index rate was only about 12 percent of the national crime figure in 2007.

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The Bottom Line The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a rigorous, classical education grounded in truth and fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. Alumni have told us that the college offered a liberating experience that was refreshing and sometimes surprising. Thomas More College has long emphasized its intellectual offerings and has recently strengthened its already notable Catholic identity. For students seeking an intense intellectual and spiritual experience without the distractions of significant extracurricular activities or pre-professional studies, this is an attractive institution.

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