Mission and Values

Our University Values

We look to the 214-year heritage of the Mount for principles that serve as waypoints in our quest for excellence. Our history is filled with examples of the Mount holding true to timeless virtues while adapting to a changing society. We will continue to do so, inspired by those who have gone before us. For this inspiration, look no further than our founder, Father John DuBois, whose example en-courages us to overcome our individual struggles, seek greatness, and have faith that the Holy Spirit will help us every step of the way. We are immensely "Mount Proud" of where we have been and are inspired by where we are going together.

As members of the Mount St. Mary’s community, we deeply value:

• A Student-Centric Focus: Students, and their future success, are the reason our institution exists and are the focal point of all that we do.
• Our Catholic Identity: In a dynamic higher education environment, an enduring commitment to our Catholic mission inspires a fearless engagement with the world and a hospitality to all regardless of religious background.
• Service to God and Others: Our enduring purpose and key to our greatness is that we develop ethical leaders who seek to use their God-given talents in service to God and to others.
• Academic Excellence: Through the Catholic intellectual tradition we educate students to advance human understanding of our world and the human condition while cultivating in them an excellence in a chosen profession and a zeal for lifelong learning.
• Our People: Our hard working, caring people and our innovative intellectual capital are the lifeblood of the Mount.
• A Transformative Learning Environment: Together we create the caring and intellectually stimulating environment that inspires our students’ desire to lead lives of meaning and purpose.
• Teamwork: We care for and respect all members of the Mount community and are passionate about working together for their development and success.
• Stewardship: In a culture of stewardship, we preserve the value and beauty of the facilities and manage resources responsibly to fulfill our mission as effectively and efficiently as possible.
• Inclusion: We harness the energy created by diversity of thought and engendered by a richly diverse staff, faculty and student body to ensure that all feel welcome and included at the Mount.
• An Ethical, Competitive and Entrepreneurial Winning Spirit: We set bold goals and rally our team every day to achieve them with honor. We challenge our teammates to do the same for their own personal growth. We pursue relentless, pragmatic optimism.
• Honesty and Integrity: Our respect for others leads us to respond with honesty and integrity in our daily interactions.

Our Undergraduate Mission Statement

Mount St. Mary’s is a Catholic institution of higher education dedicated to liberal learning in the pursuit of truth. Mount St. Mary’s, mindful of its role in the Church’s mission to the world and respectful of the religious liberty of all, affirms the values and beliefs central to the Catholic vision of the person and society, and seeks to deepen understanding of our faith and its practice in just and compassionate engagement with the world.

In order to enable individuals to understand and to challenge or embrace the cultural forces operating on them, Mount St. Mary’s, in all its curricular and co-curricular programs, encourages each student to undertake free and rigorous inquiry leading to a reflective and creative understanding of the traditions which shape the communities in which we live.

Mount St. Mary’s strives to graduate men and women who cultivate a mature spiritual life, who live by high intellectual and moral standards, who respect the dignity of other persons, who see and seek to resolve the problems facing humanity, and who commit themselves to live as responsible citizens.

Our Seminary Mission Statement

Mount St. Mary’s Seminary prepares men for the Catholic ministerial priesthood in the Third Millennium; men who love with the heart of the Church, think with the mind of the Church, and are formed to have an integrated core of human, intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral virtues modeled by Jesus Christ, our High Priest.