In the top 25 of Catholic Universities Quiz

Answer: Boston College

It is reputed that a Catholic/Jesuit institution of learning was not popular with the Massachusetts Assembly in the mid 1800s; therefore, the founding of Boston College on its first application to the state of Massachusetts was not accepted. On its second try, the start of the Civil War interfered, but at its third attempt Boston College was finally established in 1863.

In the twentieth century, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (who was a graduate of Boston College) began his ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Boston College has appeared on five different lists of the Top 10-25 Catholic universities.

Answer: Fordham

Founded by the Catholic Diocese of New York City in 1841 and given to the care of the Jesuits for a short interim, Fordham University of New York City was selected seventh in Time Magazine's 1962 edition citing what they named the Top Ten Catholic Ivy League schools. Well known Fordham alumni include Alan Alda, movie and televison actor, and Geraldine Ferraro, the nominee for Vice-President of the United States in the 1984 Presidential election. Fordham appears on at least five different lists of Catholic universities in the top 10-25 favored schools.

Answer: Providence

Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Friars of St. Joseph and the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, Providence University named a Dalmatian dog, Friar Boy, as their school mascot representing their founding fathers. With good humour, it is said that the pun on the origin of the title "Dominican" comes from the Latin "domini" (lord) and "canis" (dog). Currently the dog is Friar Boy V. Many paintings of St. Dominic show him holding a dog or a rosary.

Providence University is recognized in as many as six different lists of Top 10-25 Catholic universities. Christopher Dodd, who was a United States Senator from Connecticut from 1980 until his retirement in 2010, is a noted graduate of Providence University.

Answer: Blue and Gray

Georgetown University was founded by Bishop Carroll of Baltimore in 1789, with its location near the country's capital. It is close enough to Washington D.C. that its students have been witness to many historical events including the burning of the White House during the War of 1812. Georgetown University had also turned part of its campus into a hospital for wounded soldiers during the American Civil War. To commemorate the end of the Civil War, and to celebrate the union of the North and the South, the school colors of blue and gray were chosen. Listed at least six times on the top ten lists of Catholic universities, Georgetown claims many famous graduates including former President Bill Clinton, who was the 1973 class valedictorian, and Antonin Scalia, 1957 class valedictorian, who became a Supreme Court Justice.

Answer: Villanova University

The University of Villanova, which is located in the general Philadelphia area, was named in honor of St. Thomas of Villanova, an Augustinian priest and scholar, who was born in Villanova de los Infantes near Castile in Spain. In 1801, St. Augustine Church was established by the Augustinian priests in the city of Philadelphia. By 1811, the Augustinian fathers had founded St. Augustine Academy which was the forerunner of Villanova University.

In a listing of "Catholic Ivy League" schools, Villanova is known as one of the "Three Little Catholic Ivy League" schools along with Fordham and Holy Cross Universities.

Not so little in stature, the former Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is among its graduates. Portrayed as "little" in the NCAA Basketball finals of 1985, "little" Villanova surprised all with its March Madness NCAA "big" win!

Answer: It has no lectures, textbooks, or electives

There are no lectures, textbooks, electives, majors or minors at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. The college curriculum is based on the Socratic Method, with discussions of the Great Books of Western Civilization. There is a maximum of twenty students to a class. It was established based on the precepts set out in the book "A Proposal for the Fulfillment of Catholic Higher Education". This book, commonly known as the "Blue Book", was authored by four Professors, along with one of their graduate students from St. Mary's College near Oakland, California. The "Blue Book" became Thomas Aquinas College's founding document and inspiration.

Thomas Aquinas College opened its doors to a freshman class of thirty-three students on September 11, 1971. This college has been noted on five or more lists of top Catholic higher education schools. Two of its more prominent graduates are Karen Walsh, founder and manager of the Catholic Business Journal and Richard Diamond, Vice President of the Export, Import Bank of the United States.

Answer: Notre Dame University

Established in 1869, the Notre Dame Law School (NDLS) was the first Catholic law school in the United States. The Law School is a branch of its parent school, the University of Notre Dame. The school is located near the city of South Bend, Indiana, and about thirty miles from Chicago. NDLS has been ranked 23rd best law school in the nation by the magazine "US News and World Report".

A noted graduate of NDLS is Brian T. Moynihan, President of Global Corporate & Investment Banking, for the Bank of America Corporation. Notre Dame Law School's parent school, The University of Notre Dame is on almost all lists of Top 10 Universities in the United Stares.

The University of Notre Dame boasts two Governors as alumni, Bruce Babbit, former governor of Arizona and Bob McDonell, Governor of the state of Virginia.

Its most vocal advocate and devoted sports fan of its "Fighting Irish" football team seems to be the television personality, Regis Philbin.

Answer: Loyola University Chicago

Having once been known as the "Rome Center of Liberal Arts", this school is now officially known as the "John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago". This institution is the oldest continental American program in Italy. Founded in 1973, by John Felice, a Jesuit priest from Malta, and a former teacher of theology at Loyola University Chicago, John Felice, Director Emeritus of John Felice Rome, was honored in 2005 with the school's new full name.

John Felice, former teacher and priest, through his dedication and perseverance, experienced his dream come true with the establishment of a school for international studies. The John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago is an academic center of Loyola Chicago with fully accredited and easily transferred credits. Loyola University Chicago is highly respected and is on the Top 10 to 25 lists of respected Catholic universities. The actor and comedian Bob Newhart is a 1952 graduate of Chicago Loyola University.

Answer: Marquette

After three decades of seeking financing to open a liberal arts school for men, the first Catholic bishop of Milwaukee, the Most Reverend Martin J. Henni, realized his ambition and the doors of Marquette University were opened in the late summer of 1881. Because of Bishop Henni's admiration for the Reverend Jacques Marquette, Jesuit missionary and 17th cntury North American explorer, the bishop named his new school, Marquette. On its campus a statue of Jacques Marquette S.J. stands by the St. Joan of Arc Chapel statue. Father Marquette is commemorated on the lower half of Marquette University's school crest.

Bishop Henni would, I suppose, be pleased to know that today Marquette has approximately 8,300 undergraduate and 3,400 graduate and professional students. Highly recognized on Top 10-25 different lists of best Catholic Colleges and Universities, Marquette proudly acclaims US Navy Admiral Gerald R. Baeman and US Air Force General William A. Mathleny as two of its alumni.

Answer: The College of Holy Cross

In 1849, the first graduating class of what was to become The College of Holy Cross had as its valedictorian, James Augustine Healy, first born son of Michael Healy, an Irish planter from Georgia, and his common law wife, Mary Eliza, a former slave of mixed background. James Healy went on to study at the Sulpician Seminary in Paris, France, and was ordained a priest in 1854 at Notre Dame Cathedral. In June 1875, the Reverend Healy was ordained a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church with the distinction of being the first African American priest and subsequntly Bishop in the United States. The College of Holy Cross was founded in October, 1843, by the Bishop of Boston, Joseph Fenwick, and is located in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Today Holy Cross is reputedly actively seeking a more diverse student population to excede their almost twenty-five percent minority population of students. Recognized as a top liberal arts school, it numbers Chris Matthews moderator of the TV program "Hardball" as one of its famous alumni.