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Conversatio: Why America is Still Worth Celebrating

Dr. Thomas Varicalli sits down with historian Dr. Wilford McClay—author of Land of Hope and professor at Hillsdale College for a wide-ranging Constitution Day conversation. They explore why America remains worth celebrating, how its founding ideals took root in a real people and place, and what citizens must know to sustain ordered liberty. Dr. McClay also shares insights from writing Land of Hope and offers essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the American story.

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The Crusader Newspaper: Fall 2025, Issue 2

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Belmont Abbey College Expands Full Tuition Scholarship Statewide

Belmont Abbey College Expands Full Tuition Scholarship Statewide

Belmont, N.C. (December 10, 2025) – Belmont Abbey College announces the expansion of its Abbey Advantage Scholarship Program to include all North Carolina students, effective for the 2026-2027 academic year. This initiative aims to make higher education more accessible by covering the full cost of tuition for eligible students statewide. 

Initially launched in late 2024, the Abbey Advantage program was limited to eligible students residing in specific counties. The program’s expansion reflects Belmont Abbey College’s commitment to providing affordable education to a broader demographic within North Carolina.

Leveraging the students’ state and federal grants first, the college will award an institutional merit award to cover the student’s remaining tuition costs for the 2026-2027 academic year. This approach ensures that eligible students can attend Belmont Abbey College without the burden of tuition expenses. 

“By making this scholarship available statewide, we’re extending our commitment to provide even more talented students access to high-quality education by alleviating cost concerns,” said Jesse Dorman, Vice Provost of Enrollment. “Belmont Abbey College seeks to form graduates grounded in virtue and prepared to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Expanding this program allows us to break down financial barriers and welcome students from across the state who share those aspirations.”

The Abbey Advantage Scholarship is available to first-time, full-time non-athletes pursuing a traditional major of study. Students must have completed the FAFSA and the NC Residency Determination Form for the NC Need-Based Grant. Students must be receiving the full Pell Grant and NC Need-Based Aid amounts. Eligible candidates must have earned at least a 2.8 high school GPA and have lived in North Carolina for more than a year.

The Abbey Advantage Scholarship Program is designed to alleviate financial barriers that often deter students from pursuing private education. “These students enrich our community, and we are honored to help shape their journey,” shared Dr. Joseph Wysocki, Interim President and Provost of Belmont Abbey College. “With programs like the Abbey Advantage, the leadership of our distinguished faculty, and the encouragement of our Abbey family, we’re dedicated to ensuring they have every opportunity to thrive–academically, professionally, and spiritually.” For more information on the Abbey Advantage program at Belmont Abbey College, visit our website at https://belmontabbeycollege.edu/financial-aid/abbey-advantage-scholarship/. 

Students who are eligible for the Abbey Advantage Scholarship Program will be notified after completion of the FAFSA. The deadline to apply for the Fall 2026 semester is July 1, 2026.

About Belmont Abbey College: Founded in 1876, Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic baccalaureate and liberal arts institution. Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. Guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others. Our beautiful and historic campus is conveniently located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., and is currently home to more than 1500 students. For more information, visit belmontabbeycollege.edu.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sarah Bolton

P: 704-461-7016 E: sarahbolton@bac.edu

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Conversatio: Women’s Hidden Convictions, and the Courage to Speak

Attorney and author Kimberly Begg, president of the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women and author of Unbreakable: Saints Who Inspired Saints to Moral Courage, joins our host, a Belmont Abbey College criminal justice professor and attorney, to talk about forming courageous young women in a hostile culture. They discuss why so many college women hide their convictions, how mentorship and authentic Catholic womanhood can counter that pressure, and how the stories of the saints can shape families, imaginations, and moral courage. Whether you’re a parent, educator, or young woman yourself, this conversation offers practical hope and a higher vision of what it means to be a woman today.

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Right here, right now.

This week I know many of us will gather with family or friends to share a meal, watch a parade, cheer on a favorite football team… Offices will close, kitchens will warm, and the first, furtive Christmas songs will wend their way over the radio. But whatever your Thanksgiving plans, I hope your day is full of warmth, joy, and light.

After all, Thanksgiving may not be a liturgical holiday, but it offers a festive chance to exercise that most joyful and necessary response to God’s gifts: lifting up our grateful hearts! It’s a response we recognize at Mass, that greatest feast of thanksgiving, when we acknowledge “our duty and our salvation” to thank God always. And it’s a response that feeds the very root of peace and joy throughout our lives, even – or especially – at times of difficulty and darkness. Few gifts are greater than the opportunity to express gratitude, for and with our loved ones, to the God who loves us with such infinite tenderness.

I know, of course, that Thanksgiving Day can also present challenges. For some of us, large family gatherings can raise tensions or open old wounds. For others, loneliness or hardship become a heavier than usual cross. And even for those looking forward to visits and cheerful activities, the hubbub of preparation and the frenzied rush so quick to take over this time of year can blur us out of the present, even though the present is the only place we find God and experience His love.

So, with an eye to the joys and the perils of Thursday – and to every day in which we thank God for the gift of life and love and breath – I wanted to share a quote from St. Catherine of Siena, something one of our beloved Abbey monks, Br. Edward Mancuso, shared with me when he knew I needed to hear it: “To the servant of God, every place is the right place, and every time is the right time.”

It’s something I tend to forget, equally in the face of holiday excitement or “ordinary” monotony. And it’s something to which both Benedictine stability and gratitude itself bear quiet witness. Every place is the right place, and every time is the right time. Because God is there.

As I’m writing this, as you’re reading it, as each of us moves through our day, moment to moment, God is here. There are no “filler” passages in the stories of our lives. Every day is a thanksgiving feast because the root of our hope and our gratitude lies not just in knowing that God sends us gifts, but even more that He bears them personally into our lives and makes every moment a place to encounter Him, the Giver.

We may not always see it, but if we abandon ourselves to His will, which is Love, there are no times or places without meaning. Our resting, our work, our play, our projects, our interruptions, even our periods of waiting – we can live them all in Him, in gratitude that nothing we do or say escapes the redeeming beauty of a significance far beyond what we could hope or invent. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness are closer to us than we are to ourselves.

We don’t have to wait for a sign or a holiday. Gratitude acts by lifting up our hearts to the God who is always with us, who makes us co-creators with Himself and fills our lives with meaning: with Love that isn’t constrained by our weakness or our limited vision. Let’s thank God that every place is the right place, and every time is the right time. And let’s allow the joy of this to fill our celebrations and continue through eternity.

God bless you this Thanksgiving!

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