Mount students enjoy an ice cream treat at the college’s recent Sundaes with the Dominicans event.
A packed audience of first-year students recently got the scoop on the history and heritage of Mount Saint Mary College – all while enjoying ice cream sundaes with all the toppings.
Charles Zola, associate professor of Philosophy, director of the Mount’s Catholic and Dominican Institute, and Assistant to the President for Mission Integration, discussed the four pillars of Dominican life on which Mount Saint Mary College was founded: study, spirituality, service, and community.
“A Dominican education is to know the truth and to teach the truth,” Zola explained, “like the motto of Mount Saint Mary College, doce me veritatem, which means ‘teach me truth.’ The four pillars guide us in the search for truth.”
Following in the footsteps of St. Dominic, the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh established Mount Saint Mary College as a four-year institution 60 years ago. Now, more than 18,000 graduates and six decades later, the Mount continues its rich tradition of academic excellence and dedication to service. And the four pillars of Dominican life are still as integral to the Mount experience as they were six decades ago.
The event was hosted by the Catholic Dominican Institute, which promotes the Mount’s heritage of St. Dominic, advances the Dominican charism of study and service, provides a forum for discussion of contemporary ethical issues, and enhances Catholic and Jewish dialogue. The Institute welcomes persons of varied faiths and acknowledges different religious traditions as essential to the college’s intellectual and spiritual life.