WEST
Gonzaga: This No. 1 seed is a Roman Catholic institution founded in 1881 by Father Joseph Cataldo and was originally run by Jesuit priests. From the school’s website: “A constant throughout the years is Gonzaga’s educational philosophy, based on the centuries-old Ignatian model of educating the whole person – mind, body and spirit. At Gonzaga, students discover how to integrate science and art, faith and reason, action and contemplation. “Cura personalis,” or care for the individual, is our guiding theme.”
West Virginia: The scholastic home of the Mountaineers was, like Gonzaga, led in its infancy by a man of God. The Rev. Alexander Martin was the school’s first president, and the university itself was founded on the grounds of the Woodburn Female Seminary (est. 1858). And while the seminary may be long gone, its legacy lives on in the school’s ancient and picturesque Woodburn Hall, located in Woodburn Circle. Oh, and for the school’s first few decades of existence, students were required to attend chapel every weekday and at least one church service on Sundays.
Xavier: Like Gonzaga, Xavier’s a private Catholic university, and it takes its religious underpinnings seriously. “As a Jesuit, Catholic institution, our heritage calls on us to serve those in need,” we read on its website. “It also calls on us to deepen our spirituality through the promotion of knowledge and social justice.” Students representing at least 15 different faiths on campus have donate more than 80,000 hours of community service every year.
Arizona: Richard Jefferson, a member of the NBA champ Cleveland Cavaliers and famous Arizona Wildcat alum, was raised in a profoundly Christian home. His parents were both strict missionaries, and when they discovered a cassette tape in his room in high school, they worried he might’ve been listening to some forbidden rock ‘n’ roll. Turned out it was a motivational tape made by Richard himself—one he listened to every morning.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In