Disregard the hurricanes that marked the start of the 2004-05 school year and the physical complications of educating 310 students in temporary facilities, and the second year of Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., starts looking like a success.

After all, the average SAT score of its incoming freshmen class rose from 1,100 to nearly 1,200, the number of undergraduate students tripled, and this May the school held its first commencement exercises for 23 graduating seniors.

Ave Maria University President Nick Healy say the challenge facing the school now is continuing to integrate its strong academics, faithful Catholicism and vibrant student life while making do at a temporary location: The permanent campus won't open until 2007.

“All of that takes ongoing attention and effort,” says Healy. “To continue building the community of the university is a great challenge, but one that I think is of utmost importance.”

When its doors opened in 2003 with a $200 million donation from Catholic tycoon Tom Monaghan, Ave Maria University welcomed 100 undergraduate students, 75 of them freshmen. There were detailed plans for a 1,000-acre campus and a 4,000-acre European-style town centered on a large oratory constructed mainly of glass. The first phase was slated for completion by 2006.

But plans changed. The church was downsized and redesigned. Difficulties with permits pushed construction on the campus back by one year.

On the academic and student life side, however, the changes were mostly positive. By last fall, 310 students had enrolled at Ave Maria. They came from 42 states and 10 foreign countries. Most of the 40 faculty members held doctorates, and students could choose from nine majors and four graduate programs, including a Ph.D. in theology.

Even an ongoing dispute over the fate of Ave Maria College in Michigan — also founded by Monaghan — seemed to approach resolution as Ave Maria University established itself as a wholly separate institution.

Last December, Ave Maria obtained pre-accreditation status by the Board of Trustees of the American Academy for Liberal Education. The school will also apply for accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Community life started to take shape. Students organized and participated in medieval dances and touch-football games. They made first forays into organized competitive sports, setting the ground for a sports program that Healy hopes will qualify for inclusion in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The university's ultimate vision, according to its literature, is to be “an institution of Catholic higher education that would be faithful to the magisterium, and could produce the future faithful educators, leaders and mentors that our challenged society needs.”

Or, as professor James Peliska explains it, it's not just about equipping students with the technical expertise of their subject area but also with the ethical framework in which to practice it.

Peliska, professor and chairman of the biology and chemistry departments, points to the pre-med program as one place this duality occurs.

“We don't just provide the coursework that's required,” he says. “We instill within that seminar speakers and physician mentors who address issues related not necessarily to the science itself but concerning ethics and morality and issues surrounding things like human suffering.”

Vocational Vitality

As the first major Catholic university founded in this country in 40 years, Ave Maria's Catholic identity is central to its mission and vision. The school adheres to the principles set forth in Ex Corde Ecclesiae and all theology faculty take an oath of fidelity to the magisterium.

The university also focuses on vocation discernment. Its pre-theologate program and Center for Discernment provide male students the opportunity to discern their vocations to the priesthood, religious life or the laity. Last year, 32 men participated in the pre-theologate program; this fall, Healy said he expects up to 40.

There is a comparable program for women operated by the Servant Sisters of Hogar de la Madre with help from a group of Benedictine sisters.

Of the first graduating class, three students entered the priesthood or religious life.

Outside of formal discernment programs, students engage in their own faith-based activities. Last January, a group raised the money for airfare to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Students participate regularly in Eucharistic adoration, daily Mass, Rosary recitation, sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics and works of mercy in nearby Immokalee, home to many migrant and immigrant workers.

For the future, Healy looks toward the opening of the permanent campus and an enrollment that should grow from 600 students in the first phase to about 5,000 when the campus is complete. The curriculum will expand to a full range of traditional liberal arts, sciences and engineering programs.

‘A Great Mission’

Meantime, Healy admits to foreseeing formidable challenges even with the new campus. Real estate prices in Florida are rising quickly, and he said the university is committed to making sure that faculty and staff can afford to live within the new town of Ave Maria.

Without committing to any specific strategy, Healy says other schools in high-price areas around the country have used subsidized mortgages, shared-equity arrangements and low-cost loans for down payments to assist their employees.

For faculty, the move to the new campus 20 miles away from their current space means more than just new professional facilities.

“For many faculty and staff, it's going to mean uprooting their families, selling their homes, and moving to a whole new town,” says Healy. “That, too, needs a lot of tender loving care. “

Sophomore and classics major Matt Grady admits that the transitive nature of the campus can lead to a feeling of being in exile, but that it also builds anticipation of something great.

“I chose Ave Maria because I see a great mission, a bright future for our Church and our world from a truly Catholic education with high standards,” he told the Register. “My experience at Ave Maria so far has been in accord with these aspirations.”

Dana Lorelle writes from Cary, North Carolina.

Information

Ave Maria University

naples.avemaria.edu

Law School Makes Grade

The Ave Maria School of Law announced Aug. 8 that it has received full accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA).

The law school, which first opened for classes in 2000 in Michigan and received the bar association's provisional accreditation in August 2002, was granted full accreditation in its first attempt — and in the shortest time frame possible.