Wyoming Catholic College student wins Presidential 1776 Award

A Wyoming Catholic College student wins a White House civics competition, Benedictine College shows off its new library, and more in this week’s roundup of Catholic education news in the U.S.

Incoming Wyoming Catholic College student Miriam Washut took home a $150,000 scholarship after winning first place in a civics competition sponsored by the White House.

Hosted by Mario Lopez, the Presidential 1776 Awards, which aired on CBS News, took place at the White House on June 30. Washut, who is the daughter of Wyoming Catholic College President Kyle Washut, won first place after competing in regional competitions followed by a national competition among 20 finalists in Washington, D.C.

Washut and her fellow finalists met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office July 1 after the competition alongside Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

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Trump congratulated the finalists and gave them each a Presidential Challenge Coin. When the president asked Washut what she wanted to do when she grows up, Washut replied: “I kinda wanna be a smokejumper, but I’m not really sure,” according to a video posted by the White House Rapid Response account on social media. A smokejumper is a wildland firefighter “trained to reach remote fires by parachuting from about 3,000 feet above the ground,” according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

University of Mary launches graduate school of theology in Arizona

The University of Mary has announced it will open a graduate school of theology in Phoenix in the fall.

The satellite graduate school will offer a four-year master of divinity degree and a 36-credit master of arts in theology, taught in person at the Arizona Center, located across from St. Mary’s Basilica and the diocesan pastoral center, the university said in a June 30 press release. The university described the move as a further development of its “long-standing partnership with the Diocese of Phoenix and Nazareth Seminary,” and an expansion of its Arizona mission.

“The university’s graduate school of theology is doing something that no other university is doing in the Valley at the graduate level: The University of Mary now has an actual physical presence in downtown Phoenix — students and professors will interact in person,” said Eric Westby, associate professor of theology at the university. “What originally started as undergraduate formation for the seminarians of the diocese has blossomed into an academic program that now includes master’s-level work. This formation will help students know their faith more deeply and be equipped to pass it on in a variety of settings.”

Benedictine College to open Independence Hall library replica July 4

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, will hold a soft-launch opening of its Moritz Library, built to resemble Independence Hall in Philadelphia, on July 4.

The replica of the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon, the college said in a press release. Visitors to the library, which is “in the final stages” of construction, will also be able to view a replica of the Liberty Bell. “The morning’s activities will include an exhibition of historical documents, children’s games, and costumed reenactors. It is all free and available to the public,” the college said.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to view a collection of historic documents through an exhibit titled “Celebrating the American Experiment.”

“Thirty-nine documents trace the story of the American founding and its origins in centuries of Western political thought,” the exhibit page states. “Among them are works by Aristotle, Cicero, John Locke, and Algernon Sidney, as well as the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and a rare 1788 printing of the Constitution of the United States, one of only five known copies in existence.”

The exhibit is on loan to the college through November from the Remnant Trust.

DeSantis blocks funding for security improvements at Catholic schools

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that would have allocated $15 million in state funding for security improvements at Catholic schools in Miami-Dade County.

“Security enhancements are not a luxury; they are an essential component of providing safe environments where students can learn and thrive,” the Archdiocese of Miami said in a June 29 statement. The veto came after the Florida Legislature passed the bill on May 29.

The archdiocese expressed its disappointment with the veto and thanked lawmakers for their efforts to pass legislation to protect its more than 37,000 students. The archdiocese noted that it does not receive any funding to offset security costs despite other privately-run public charter schools in the state receiving government aid.

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