On October 30, Ms. Olivia Turner was invited to give a talk to the Christendom community on pro-life matters.

Olivia Gans Turner is the director of American Victims of Abortion (AVA), founded in 1985 as an outreach of the National Right to Life Committee. In 1981, while a college student, Mrs. Turner underwent a suction aspiration abortion 12 weeks into her pregnancy.  After suffering an acute emotional reaction to her abortion for almost two years, Mrs. Turner helped organize one of the nation’s first pro-life peer-to-peer post-abortion support groups in the New York City area.  Mrs. Turner became AVA director in 1985, and since that time has spoken on post-abortion syndrome and other abortion-related issues throughout the United States and around the world.  In addition, Mrs. Turner serves as president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, the state affiliate to the National Right to Life Committee.

Mrs. Turner has regularly appeared on such national news prorgrams as Nightline, Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, and Fox News Channel.

On October 15, Congressman Frank Wolf came to Christendom College to give a talk entitled “Challenges Facing America”.
Having received his degree in political science and law from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., Wolf joined the United States Army as a reservist and became a lawyer for the military.

In 1968, he entered politics and became a legislative assistant to Edward Biester, the Republican congressman from Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district. From 1971 to 1975, Wolf served as an assistant to the Secretary of the Interior, Rogers Morton.

Now, Frank Wolf is an American Republican legislator who represented Virginia’s 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 1981 to January 2015.

On September 29, world-renowned Scripture scholar and Theology professor Dr. Scott Hahn launched Christendom College’s Major Speakers Program, delivering a lecture on “The Gospel According to St. Paul.”

His lecture focused both on Paul’s conversion and his understanding of Christ. Quoting scripture, Hahn said, “‘Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped’ … a better translation would read, ‘He did not count equality with God something to be exploited for personal advantage.’”

An exceptionally popular author, speaker, and teacher, Hahn has delivered numerous talks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics related to Scripture and the Catholic faith.

Robert Spencer breaks through the cognitive dissonance of our time illuminates the meaning of Jihad. Religious dialogue is an increasingly pressing issue, which is often distorted and plagued with disinformation. 

Michele Velasco (’91) is the Vice President for Finance of Sirius XM radio. She encouraged students to work hard and realize that, sometimes, they must start at the bottom in order to make it to the top. “I started as an intern and worked my way up from the very bottom. Over the years, I assumed more and more responsibilities because I was willing to take them on. You have the skills you need: don’t be afraid to take it on, and move forward.” Through networking, she made the transition to consulting, which moved her resume to a Fortune 500 company. She advised students to “get in there and talk to people”, when these opportunities arise.

Velasco realized the importance of her Christendom education in her job as manager of a computer network: “I didn’t think I could go into finance. I had a lot of confidence in my writing, and I expected to make a career out of it. But when I applied for a consulting position, they asked for a writing sample. They couldn’t find any errors, so they decided to hire me.” She also advised students to ask questions and develop their own opinions and positions, closing by stating, “Direct your passion into your work, don’t simply go through the motions. If you do this, results will follow.”

On April 7, Philosopher and Former Christendom College President Dr. Damian Fedoryka delivered an address entitled “John Paul II’s Hermeneutics of the Gift as the Key to Understanding Life and Death” to students at Christendom College.

The talk delved into the richness of John Paul II’s often-complex philosophy, highlighting the late pontiff’s emphasis on the importance of the human person.

Fedoryka, currently active at the Center for Personalist Anthropology and Ethics, explained that the gift of God’s love or human love could only be received if a person possesses himself. If he is clinging to a vice such as lust or gluttony, he cannot receive the gift.

Dr. Warren Carroll addressed students with a talk entitled “Thirtieth Anniversary Reflections from the Founder” on November 12.

“I regard myself as immensely privileged to have been able to devote so many of my 75 years to the creation, guidance, and maintenance of this college and I know that under my splendid successor, Timothy O’Donnell, this College will remain unchanged throughout the next thirty years, halfway through the twenty-first century.”

Before founding Christendom, Carroll dreamed for years of a college or university that would change the world, he said.

On October 26, Professor Mark Wunsch delivered a talk entitled “Could God have Created a World with an Eternal Duration?”. After receiving a B.A. in philosophy from Regis University in Denver, CO., Prof. Mark Wunsch, Ph.L., Ph.D. (Cand.) pursued his graduate studies in Rome at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), where he obtained Ph.B. and Ph.L degrees in philosophy and where he is now a Ph.D candidate. In addition to serving Christendom College as a professor of philosophy, Prof. Wunsch has traveled widely, lecturing on a variety of topics including the relationship between faith and reason, the connection between philosophy and history, and the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Randall Terry emphasizes the importance of diligently fighting against the evil of abortion. He address the nation's need for courageous citizens.

Father Mode is the author of The Grunt Padre, the biography of Vietnam War hero and Navy Chaplain Father  Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, whose 1967 death in battle while assisting U.S. Marines posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor, the U.S. Military’s highest decoration. The Catholic Church has declared Father Capodanno, a Maryknoll missionary from Staten Island, N.Y., a “Servant of God,” formally initiating his Cause for canonization.  The AMS is the Promoter of the Cause.

Prior to his priestly ordination, Father Mode underwent formation at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He joined the United States Navy Reserve in 2005 and was assigned to active duty in 2007. Over the course of his career so far, Father Mode has served on two aircraft carriers, including the USS Harry S. Truman, and numerous deployments, including to the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. He was also assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where he helped to form future leaders of the military. Father Mode actively supports lay ministry in naval church communities through direct supervision of, and communication with, lay leaders, providing information and encouragement to meet challenges.

Currently assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, Father Mode went to the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, bringing relief to survivors. The storm, which struck in early November, left more than 6,000 dead and nearly 1,800 missing. In the Easter edition of SALUTE, the AMS’s quarterly news magazine, Father Mode recounts hand-delivering spiritual supplies, including wine, hosts, rosaries, and liturgical books, to a parish in the devastated town of Guiuan, where the church and attached rectory were reduced to rubble, leaving the faithful to attend Mass outdoors.