By Jack Figge

ATCHISON, Kan. (OSV News) — A recent survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal, ranked Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal arts college, as the sixth most highly recommended college by its students and recent alumni.

Benedictine, located in Atchison, Kansas, has grown rapidly in the past 20 years, doubling its enrollment to over 2,500 students and developing infrastructure on its campus. College president Stephen Minnis says that this new poll shows that students are in love with the identity and mission of the small college.

“I think that says a lot especially now when we’re at a time when young people sometimes can be cynical about the place they go to college at,” Minnis told OSV News. “Here, you have a place in the middle of the country, Benedictine College, where the students just love the place that they go to college, and it really is inspiring to me.”

Other notable colleges that received a top 10 ranking in The Wall Street Journal poll include Brigham Young University, ranked No. 1, Princeton University, ranked No. 8, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ranked No. 9.

Benedictine’s recognition comes three months after the media scrutinized the college — and its Catholic identity — when Kansas Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave a controversial commencement address to the graduating seniors. Butker’s speech generated praise and pushback, including from orthodox Catholic voices on both counts, for various parts of its wide-ranging content covering life issues, COVID-19 protocols, secular and church leaders, the vocations of women and men, among others. Minnis, in a USA Today column, defended the choice of Butker as part of the university’s commitment to create a culture where people of different views “can be free to speak their minds and engage each other without being shouted down, threatened and intimidated.”

Minnis told OSV News he sees The Wall Street Journal ranking as a reminder that the college is making a positive impact on students.

“Even though sometimes there’s a lot of noise out there about who our students are, or what the culture is on our campus. I think in the end, when you show love to your students and you have a mission that you’re adhering to, that’s something that our students respond to,” Minnis said. “It doesn’t matter what outsiders say, and it doesn’t matter what the noise is from the secular media. Our students love the type of education that they are getting, and they respond to the love that our faculty and staff give to them.”

Minnis said he believes the school’s success is rooted in how the faculty, teachers and students have embraced the mission of the college, giving way to a dynamic community.

“We promise students that they’re going to come to a place that embraces its mission of community, faith and scholarship, and that we’re going to adhere to and support the teachings of the Catholic Church,” Minnis said. “Our students respond to that, and we think and cultivate a culture where it’s normal to be hospitable to our guests and to love our students, and it’s normal to want to strive for greatness; it’s normal to support life, the church and those things that our students are really excited about.”

With this emphasis on academic excellence, the faith and building community, the college has cultivated a rich environment that students love. Over his four years at Benedictine, senior Jeff Schremmer has fallen in love with the college. Schremmer shared that one of his favorite aspects about Benedictine is the relationships he has built with his teachers.

“The relationships that I have built with my professors have been incredibly profound,” Schremmer said. “I can go to my professors not just about issues with homework assignments but with things that are going on in my life. They have been role models and mentors for me, and that’s something that’s been facilitated by the environment that we have at Benedictine College.”

The rich community extends well beyond the faculty. Anna Katell, who graduated last May, shared that she loved her time at Benedictine because she was able to meet so many people and form relationships rooted in Christ.

“One thing I love about Benedictine is that you can walk in anywhere and have a friend there,” Katell told OSV News. “People say that home is where the heart is, but it is really where the faith is, and Christ is so alive here on the campus and in the people that it is easy to feel like Benedictine is home.”

During her time as a student, senior Maggie Halpin said, she has found the college’s vibrant Catholic culture has helped her to pursue the call to holiness and increased her desire to be a saint.

“Iron sharpens iron, and the Catholic faith is valued and pursued on campus, which has helped me to grow in my faith life,” Halpin shared with OSV News. “There is not a part of campus where the Gospel is not alive in every area of campus.”