Growing increasingly concerned that American Catholic colleges were
abandoning Christianity during the early 1970s, Dr. Warren H. Carroll
envisioned establishing an institution of higher learning dedicated to
teaching the truths of the Catholic faith.
Fewer than 10 years after his conversion to Catholicism, Carroll joined four
other Catholic laymen to found Christendom College, a small Catholic liberal
arts college in Front Royal. This month, Christendom celebrates its 30th anniversary — quite
a feat for a college that does not accept any federal funding.
But Carroll, who turned 76 on Easter Monday, attributes the college’s success — as
he does all successes in his life — to the grace of God.
“I always tell my students that God will never allow any enterprise He
favors to fail for lack of money,” said Carroll, speaking from his home
in Manassas.
He recounted how two significant initial donations — one from a bachelor
professor of mathematics he had met only once — enabled Christendom to
open its doors within two years of beginning work on the project.
Providential designs
God’s grace was evident early in Carroll’s life. While growing up
in Maine, Carroll was influenced more by his mother’s personal faith than
by his agnostic father. As a boy, he read C.S. Lewis, the well-known convert
to Christianity, but Carroll put thoughts of Christianity aside until years later
while attending the University of Colorado law school where he met his future
wife, a devout Catholic.
Anne Carroll relays the story of her husband’s conversion as an example
of “divine providence.” She explained how Carroll had decided to
attend a law school that would admit him in January, and the only one that would
was located in Colorado where she was living. Anne met Carroll through his best
friend, and eventually the two married. She began praying for her husband’s
conversion, but admitted, “it happened faster than I thought.” The
couple married in July 1967 and Carroll was baptized before Christmas 1968.
After abandoning the idea of law school, Carroll became involved in the political
arena, eventually moving to Washington, D.C., where he worked for a California
senator. When the senator failed to get re-elected, Carroll managed to combine
his religious fervor and his love for history (he has both a master’s and
doctorate in history from Columbia University) and writing by obtaining full-time
employment with the Catholic magazine Triumph.
Eventually, he became known as a Catholic historian and author, publishing numerous
articles and books, including The Rise and Fall of the Communist Revolution and
a major multi-volume work entitled The History of Christendom.
“I guess I got that from my mother,” he said of his writing skills,
noting that Gladys Hasty Carroll was a fiction writer who wrote a national bestseller
in 1933.
His employment in the CIA’s anti-Communism division during the 1960s prompted
him to write his first book Seventy Years of the Communist Revolution.
“I was always anti-Communist, but that deepened the strength of it,” Carroll
said of his experiences as a Communist propaganda analyst.
And although some may find the thought of publishing books daunting, Carroll
believed he had a “great advantage” in getting his historical books
published because of his association with Christendom College.
Continuing presence
He served as the college’s president until 1985 and then as chairman of
the history department until he retired in 2002. Carroll still maintains ties
at Christendom by presenting monthly lectures on historical figures. After the
lectures, he often can be found joining undergraduates at the dinner table — a
practice Anne Carroll said not only inspires the students but inspires him as
well.
“It helps him to see that all the wonderful people there are fulfilling
his dream,” she said.
Both Carrolls are strong supporters of Catholic education. In 1975, concerned
that there was no Catholic high school in the area, Anne Carroll founded Seton
School in Manassas, which includes grades 7-12.
“Neither one of us had experience in educational administration,” Anne
Carroll said. “But we had these ideas we thought were worthwhile, and God
took care of it. He sent us what we needed; He sent us students when we needed
them, Catholic families who supported us and people who were willing to commit
to an untried institution. It was just a daily series of God’s graces sending
you what you need when you need it.”
Hovey is a freelance writer from Greene County.
