from Fordham University. Dr. Luckey has been busy academically and has also earned an MBA from Shenandoah University and an MA in Economics from George Mason University. Sr. Kathryn Maney is a member of the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln and serves that diocese as Archivist. She holds a BS in Biology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. John Mercandetti is an alumnus of Christendom for both a BA and MA. He is continuing his academic pursuits at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, working toward a Licentiate in Sacred Theology while working at Seton Home Study in Front Royal. Bobby Murphy teaches religion at John Paul the Great High School in Dumfries, VA. He is a graduate of Mt. St. Mary’s University and is married with his second child on the way. Hugh O’Donnell is another double alumnus of Christendom, having received his BA in English and Literature in 2004. He has been teaching at St. Monica’s Academy in California since 2005, where he just recently received the “Outsanding Teacher Award” from the Americanism Educational League. He plans to pursue doctoral studies in history. Andrew Olson earned a BA in linguistics from Yale before coming to Christendom and is now discerning a religious vocation and preparing for doctoral studies. Sr. Cecilia Trang Pham is a member of the Lovers of the Holy Cross, a Vietnamese
religious order. She is a parish director of religious education in California and earned her MA by attending Christendom’s Summer Program and the Vita Consecrata Institute. Kimberly Rogers is the Director of the Northwest Pregnancy Center in NW Washington, DC. She came to Christendom with a BS in Mental Health and Human Services from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Ken Scheiber teaches at St. Mary’s-Ryken Catholic School in Maryland and plans to continue teaching there while pursuing further study in World Politics at the Catholic University of America. Dr. R. Thomas holds a doctoral degree in computer science and is happily married with three children. He is very active in apologetics and evangelizing non-Christians. Dan Giroux is a long-time catechist who now manages a Catholic book store in Cinncinnati. He started taking courses at then-NDI in 1989, and recently attended the Summer Program to finish his degree. Bob Eastman has an MS in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. As a convert from Protestantism, he feels especially called to help his former brothers to the Catholic Faith. Ed Walsh is a professional journalist in the defense field and former US Marine Officer. He is a graduate of St. Anselm College and a life-long student of Catholic philosophy.
“Some people have it in their personalities to desire to control their own future. In a way, I was raised this way; not in a “control freak” kind of attitude, but with the idea that one cannot just sit around waiting for something, but one had the responsibility to have a goal in mind in whatever one did, and work to carry out that goal. I planned to go to college and major in physics—God showed me in my first semester that the physicists did not have all the answers; the philosophers did. I planned a career in the Marine Corps—three years into it I got hurt, and was no longer able to serve. Back at college, my department chairman said that I would make a good professor. I never planned to teach at all. I took his advice, went to graduate school and loved it, and got a PhD in Political Philosophy. When Christendom was on shaky financial ground years ago, I decided to study accounting, just in case. I thought it would be boring. It was fascinating. I then got an MBA, and I discovered, among other things, that economics had changed for the better since I was an undergraduate, and I loved it. So, I pursued an MA in Economics. But my development was not finished, if it will ever be. As a Lay Dominican, I had been studying theology informally all my life. I had theology as an undergraduate, but, even though I was always a good Catholic, the theology I had was boring and way too cut and dried. I remember wondering how anyone could major in that. So, to make a long story short, I decided to go to Christendom’s graduate school and take one course—Patristics. The course was wonderful and I stayed for a whole degree in Systematic Theology. The courses are academically rigorous, and I should know; and they are very inspiring because they are taught by professors who actually believe the things they are teaching. My experience at the Grad School was another life changing experience, and I am so glad I did it. All this teaches a major lesson; yes, one should plan one’s life, but always keeping in mind that the Holy Spirit has His own plan for you. Always be open to it and follow His lead!”
Graduate Marie Antunes with her family.
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Dr. William Luckey, Professor, Political Science and Economics, Christendom College, and 2011 graduate of Christendom’s Graduate School.