St.

Gregory’s University
Shawnee, Oklahoma
www.stgregorys.edu

Overview
Benedictine monks reached central Oklaho-
ma in 1875 and immediately laid the frame-
work for a Catholic college. By the early 20th
century, their college was moved to Shawnee
and became known as the Catholic Univer-
sity of Oklahoma. It grew modestly and was
renamed St. Gregory’s College and then, in
1997, St. Gregory’s University.
The university is the only Catholic college
in a state that has a Catholic population of
about four percent of its nearly four million
residents. It also is the oldest higher educa-
tion institution in Oklahoma. quick facts

St. Gregory’s has grown with the city of Founded: 1875

Shawnee, which has a population today of
29,000 and is located a half-hour east of Okla-
homa City. The university has an undergrad-
uate enrollment of 740 students, a majority
of them at the Shawnee campus next to St.
Gregory’s Abbey. There is also a College for
Working Adults at Shawnee and at a center in
Tulsa about 100 miles away.
The university emphasizes its dedication
to the Catholic, Benedictine tradition; its flex-
ibility in academic programs; and its focus on
a sense of community. This latter is reflected
in what they call “A Community for Life,” an
appreciation for the sacredness of life and the
importance of human relationships.
Students can major in several broad fields
in humanities, theology, business, social sci-
ence, natural science and health and sports
science. There also is a teacher education pro-
Type of institution: Small liberal arts college
Setting: Suburban
Undergraduate enrollment: 740 (2006–07
academic year)
Total undergraduate cost: $19,980 (tuition,
room and board for 2007–08)
Undergraduate majors: Five (and numerous
concentrations)
Five Key Points
1. Catholic environment reflecting
Benedictine Abbey influence.
2. Has programs for student evangeliza-
tion and interaction with monks.
3. Offers flexible course programs.
4. Appeals to non-traditional students
through the College for Working Adults.
5. A regional college that recruits primar-
ily from Oklahoma and nearby states.

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St. Gregory’s University

gram. A unique aspect of the curriculum is two institutions as well as on the university’s
a Design-A-Degree option, through which Catholic identity.
undergraduates can focus their studies on a
particular concentration. In effect, this allows
for nearly 50 concentrations. Public Identity
The university is committed to helping
St. Gregory’s strongly promotes its identity
non-traditional students gain associate de-
as a Catholic and Benedictine university.
grees in a number of fields, including medi-
Certainly, the presence of the abbey as well
cal technician, liberal arts programs and sa-
as the involvement of the Benedictine monks
cred music. The adult campus in Tulsa offers
has helped. The university motto is Fides Lu-
primarily business degrees at the associate,
men Praebeat or “May Faith Grant Light.” The
bachelor and master levels. There are 40 grad-
community frequently refers to eight Bene-
uate students at the university.
dictine traits: hospitality, community, rever-
About 58 percent of the students are from ence, attentiveness, service, balance, integrity
Oklahoma, but they also come from 14 other and excellence.
states as well as more than 20 other coun-
There is an opening Mass at the beginning
tries.
of the academic year. One former student told
us, “A question arose whether non-Catholic
students must attend this Mass, and the fac-
Governance ulty insisted that the school must maintain
its Catholic identity regardless of the varying
The university is separately incorporated but
faiths of the student body. They pointed out
is a corporate ministry of St. Gregory’s Ab-
that non-Catholic students were choosing to
bey. The primarily lay board of 31 members
attend a Catholic university.”
includes five Benedictines as well as Arch-
bishop Eusebius Beltran of the Archdiocese We have found no evidence that inappro-
of Oklahoma City. priate speakers or questionable extracurricu-
lar activities have taken place on campus.
St. Gregory’s third lay president, Dr. Dave
Wagie, took office in April 2007. Dr. Wagie has
had an impressive career. In addition to be-
ing an active Catholic, he was a career army
Spiritual Life
officer, retiring with the rank of brigadier
Campus spiritual life revolves around the
general; he holds a Ph.D. in engineering; was
Abbey Church, where there are daily Masses.
provost at the U.S. Air Force Academy; and
There also are Masses Wednesday and Sun-
has worked full-time on establishing schools
day evenings in St. Benedict’s Chapel in one
in the United Arab Emirates.
of the three residence facilities, Duperou Hall.
Dr. Wagie succeeded Abbot Lawrence Eucharistic adoration is held once a month.
Stasyszen, O.S.B., who had been university Confessions are weekly.
president for seven years and who promoted
In addition to the Opening Mass of the
Ex corde Ecclesiae. Today he is head of St. Greg-
Holy Spirit, there are Praise and Worship
ory’s Abbey and is chancellor of the univer-
services, Founder’s Day prayer services and
sity, focusing on the relationship between the
other special religious activities. During the

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times of these events, classes are canceled
and all offices on campus are closed to allow
students and faculty to attend.
Interviewees repeatedly discussed with
us the importance of the Buckley Outreach
Team, which consists of approximately 10
students who volunteer to organize and per-
form retreats for Catholic junior high and
high school students in Oklahoma, Texas and
Arkansas. In the fall of 2006, for example, re-
treats were sponsored as far away as one in
North Little Rock, Arkansas, 300 miles from
the university.
Established in 1990 from a bequest by the
parents of Academic Vice President Father
Charles Buckley, O.S.B., the Buckley Team
promotes evangelization in about 20 retreats
in 50 parishes and reaches 1,000 students each
year. One faculty member told us, “The Buck-
ley Team is the main attraction and program
at SGU.”
Campus ministry is active. There is, for ex-
ample, a special Lenten and Advent program
known as “Food for Thought.” This program
invites students, staff and faculty to enjoy a
homemade bowl of soup while listening to
meditations.
The campus ministry recently began a
four-cycle of courses on Catholic teachings,
an example of a catechetical program that
is completely separate from the theology or
other academic units. This program focuses
only upon Church teachings, and is open to
anyone of any faith. The topics for the courses
in the rotation include the Sacraments, the
Eucharist, God, moral theology and works of
mercy.
There also are such outreach activities as
pro-life efforts, including participating in the
annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.,
each January, the Angel Tree program that
provides Christmas presents to children of
incarcerated parents and spring break mis-
The Newman Guide
St. Gregory’s University
sion trips. A Career Vocations and Volunteer
Fair allows students to explore religious or-
ders, vocations and lay mission and volunteer
services.
There is a student and monk community
dinner that gives students further interaction
with the monks and priests. Another related,
unique program is the Observation Program
for University Students (OPUS), where young
men of the campus are able to observe monks
in their daily lives. Although not many avail
themselves of the opportunity, young men are
able here to live in the monastery and experi-
ence monastic life first hand for a semester.
Catholicism in
the Classroom
Theology courses are reported to be ortho-
dox. A former student says that the faithful-
ness of the theology department exemplifies
the Catholic identity of the university. One
theology professor frequently recommended
in our interviews is Sister Marcianne Kappes,
C.S.T.
The area with the largest enrollment is
business, followed by natural sciences, edu-
cation, social science, humanities and arts.
Nothing was uncovered by our research that
203
St. Gregory’s University
indicates problems with any of the disci-
plines.
The Common Core is 56 credits earned
through courses required of all students. It in-
cludes “Tradition and Conversation,” a four-
semester sequence of seminars based upon the
heritage of Western civilization. Four courses
are required under the heading of “Faith and
Reason,” encompassing introductions to the-
ology, philosophy, scripture and ethics. Other
traditional subjects in the liberal arts, such as
mathematics, history, fine arts and writing,
are included in the Common Core.
Everyone also takes six to eight credits of
professional development work dealing with
computers and orientation to the work world.
The university prides itself on its commit-
ment to technology, calling itself “Wireless
Laptop University” because of its Local Area
Wireless Network.
Student Activities
There are 25 campus student organizations.
These include four honor societies; two local
fraternities and two local sororities with ser-
vice components; the student newspaper, The
Chant; and such diverse groups as Students in
Free Enterprise, American Indian Student As-
sociation and Habitat for Humanity. There is
a Knights of Columbus council and a Fellow-
ship for Christian Athletes group.
There are no organizations that are at vari-
ance with the Church. One university official
told us that prohibiting them is a “quiet way”
of enforcing Catholic teaching.
The St. Gregory Cavaliers participate as
one of the 12 members of the Sooner Athletic
Conference under the auspices of the Nation-
al Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
204
Residential Life
All full-time students unless exempt by vir-
tue of age, marriage or being a local resident
are required to live in an on-campus residen-
tial facility. There are three residence halls,
two of which are designated solely for women
and one that has both men and women but in
separate sections.
A strict visitation schedule exists, and
there is no visitation anytime after midnight.
The university is a “dry” campus as well as
drug-free one, and there are few disciplinary
problems regarding either issue. One staff
member said, “The dry campus allows stu-
dents to enjoy their college experience with-
out being surrounded by drunkenness.”
The campus is safe, and crimes that do
occur are usually petty violations. We could
find no evidence of violent crime over the last
several years. Shawnee’s crime rate is gener-
ally at or above the U.S. average in most cate-
gories. Overall, the city’s crime index is more
than 25 percent above the national figure.
The Community
Shawnee is a small city that is somewhat of
a suburb of Oklahoma City, about 40 miles
away. Oklahoma City has a population of
530,000 and has such major attractions as the
Oklahoma City Museum of Arts, a zoo, a sci-
ence center, a cowboy museum and various
minor league sports teams.
Will Rogers World Airport, a half-hour
from Shawnee, is the gateway for students
arriving at St. Gregory’s from some distance.
Interstate 40 is a major highway that many
others would use.
The Newman Guide

The Bottom Line
St. Gregory’s University is not well known
nationally. However, what we have seen im-
presses us. The university benefits from its
relationship with St. Gregory’s Abbey and its
commitment to the Benedictine tradition.
There are a number of attractive points
to the university, including its flexible cur-
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St. Gregory’s University
riculum that allows students to effectively
design their major and degree. Similarly, they
have a commendable focus on working and
adult students, clearly an important empha-
sis for the future. We also are impressed by
the Buckley Outreach Team that evangelizes
and supports young adults in three states. For
all these reasons, students—especially those
from the Great Plains—will want to consider
St. Gregory’s.
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