The board of trustees of The Catholic University of America in Washington gathered for its June meeting in Alexandria — and though they were on the opposite side of the Potomac from the university’s 176-acre campus in Washington, they were still at home.
This semester, Catholic U. opened its new Alexandria location on the second floor of the Catholic Charities USA headquarters. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge blessed the new 18,500-square-foot office and education space June 7.
In his blessing, Bishop Burbidge dedicated the center to “education and to progress of the sciences.” He prayed it would become a place “where students and teachers, imbued with the words of truth, will search for the wisdom that guides the Christian life.”
This year, university also launched Catholic University-Tucson, which provides an undergraduate option for business students in Arizona.
Joseph Carlini, the board chairman, followed the blessing with a toast. “The expansion of Catholic University through the opening of this new Alexandria campus, along with the growth of our Tucson program, makes it a truly exciting time for the Cardinal family.”
“We are always working to attract more students to Catholic University,” said John Garvey, president of Catholic U. “Our presence here in downtown Alexandria will expose more people to the quality education we offer and help expand our profile and reach.”
Garvey thanked Sister Donna Markham, trustee and president of Catholic Charities, whom he credited with making the partnership possible.
“I am excited for our students who will take classes here,” said Garvey. “The first group will be adult learners from our metropolitan school of professional studies. We will also have graduate students from our school of engineering, and eventually law students, studying here as well.”
Woods is director of creative services at Catholic U. in Washington.
Find out more
For more on the new Alexandria location, go to communications.catholic.edu/news/2021/03/alexandria.html.
