As if on cue, the Catholic News Service has just published an article about the Old College Undergraduate Seminary Program. It features one of the program's most recent 'graduates,' Kevin Wack, who will proceed this August to the Candidate Program at Moreau Seminary:
"Kevin Wack has a pilot's license and even started college as an aerospace engineering major, but he will not be flying planes for a living after he graduates from the University of Notre Dame next spring. Instead, he plans to become a priest.
Although he has considered other paths -- pilot, husband -- Wack said the priesthood has been popping up since childhood family gatherings with his two uncles, both priests in the Congregation of Holy Cross.
"Priests were always very normal people to me. They were and still are the two happiest people I know. As a young kid, 8 years old, I was really drawn to that happiness," Wack said in a phone interview with Catholic News Service.
As a senior in high school, Wack was serious enough about the priesthood to apply to Old College, an undergraduate seminary at Notre Dame. The three-year program is a precursor to the Congregation of Holy Cross' Moreau Seminary, also located on Notre Dame's campus in South Bend, Ind.
Old College is an example of a collaborative college seminary. Unlike stand-alone seminary colleges, collaborative programs are attached to accredited colleges or universities.
"We find it a great asset to be able to be here on campus," said Holy Cross Father Kevin Russeau, director of Old College and himself an alum of the program, in a phone interview.
The "Old Collegians" live in their own residence hall, a tiny, 166-year-old brick building that survives from the university's founding. Father Russeau said its number of occupants has fluctuated in the last decade: from 18 in 1999, down to four in 2006, and up to a crowded 22 this fall.
Though Old College residents form a tight community, they are not tucked away from the rest of campus. From taking classes with other undergraduates to joining extracurricular activities, Old College students can and do participate in college life.
"We have some that are on a club-level baseball team, others in the marching band, others working in campus ministry. They do a variety of things typical to college students," said Holy Cross Father Ed Obermiller, vocations director for his congregation's Indiana province.
"Unlike their peers, however, they tend to go to bed a little earlier because they are up at 7 a.m. for a half-hour of meditation," he said.
Another thing that sets Old College apart is its meticulous application process, including interviews with current Holy Cross priests and a screening by a psychologist. Joining Old College also depends on acceptance into either Notre Dame or the nearby Holy Cross College, but that decision is up to each school's admissions committee.
Old College has a more diverse curriculum than some college seminaries because of the Holy Cross focus on teaching.
"Because we are a teaching community, we do not wish to require that all seminarians major in philosophy. We want them to discover their passions and perhaps find the field they might pursue a Ph.D. in and teach at one of our institutions," said Father Russeau in an e-mail to CNS."
To read the rest of the article visit CNS, and for more information on the Old College Program visit the Holy Cross Vocations website.
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