Heart of the University, Faculty Retreat Series 2025-26

The Heart of the University Retreat Series gives faculty and administrators of all faiths the opportunity for input and guided reflection. The series is co-sponsored by the Office of Mission and Ministry, and the Center for Vocation and Servant Leadership.

The third retreat, given by Anthony Haynor on the theme of "A Catholic Philosophy of Education: Meaning – Sacralizing the Intellect," will be held from 9 - 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, in the Chancellor’s Suite, Lower Level, University Center, and via Microsoft Teams.

We will explore how a Catholic university can build a community of knowers committed to the full development of an intellect that achieves “a higher viewpoint.” This goal involves progressing on the scale of values from those that are vital, social and cultural, to a state of self-transcendence or authentic personal integrity. This existential journey is given meaning through an understanding that recognizes the Spirit of God as the source of our desire to know and the core of our personal identity. It is in this sense that the cultivation of the intellect in all disciplines can become “sacralized.” Sacralizing the intellect at a Catholic university becomes an “inter-subjective” reality that confers meaning on our individual and collective lives.

Anthony L. Haynor, Ph.D., is the associate professor of Sociology, contributing to the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Catholic Studies programs and the University CORE. His teaching and scholarship center on the relationship between Catholicism and the human sciences. Haynor is a GEM Fellow in the Praxis Program.

If you have any questions, please contact Linda Garofalo or Francia Peterson at [email protected].

RSVP to [email protected] by February 16, 2026. Click here for further information.

Categories: Faith and Service