Wyoming Catholic College

“The mountains are calling, and I must go.”

On Sunday, August 2nd, the members of the Class of 2030 attended early morning Mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, grabbed breakfast, circled up with their lead instructors and chaplains for a pre-trip prayer (and group photos), and headed off into the wilderness, where they will spend the next 21 days on the most unusual (and best!) Freshman Orientation program in the country.

Divided into five groups—three of men and two of women—they will "Step into the Real" in a way that few freshmen can, spending the next three weeks trekking through the Wyoming backcountry, climbing 11,000-ft. passes and summiting 13,000-ft. peaks, hiking roughly 100 miles, fly fishing some of the most beautiful lakes in the Rocky Mountains, cooking their own meals, and growing in wonder as they study “God’s First Book.”

Led by a trio of upperclassmen who have fulfilled the instructor coursework and requirements of the College’s own Outdoor Leadership Program and accompanied by a chaplain, the men will work their way through the Teton Wilderness, while the women will spend their time in the College’s own beautiful backyard, the Wind River Mountains. Embracing what the College calls “the most unusual orientation program in the country,” these young men and women will learn more about themselves in these three weeks than many students learn in four years of college.

Please keep them and their instructors in your prayers during the coming days.

While most of us are still enjoying our summer, these five SAA graduates are starting off college life at Wyoming Catholic College by going on a 21 day backpacking adventure into the wilderness. Keep them in your prayers!

Notice anything new?

“Getting to Lander, Wyoming isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. And we know that when young people put down their phones, step out of their comfort zones, and breathe in the mountain air, everything changes and they begin to actually consider an invitation to attend Wyoming Catholic College. We made this video to give a very specific type of student (those who have heard of the school, expressed interest, and haven’t visited) a taste of what life is like on campus. Yes, six minutes is long (this isn’t top of the funnel!), but we feel the investment in time required to watch it is proportionate to how different the school is… and we want prospective students and families to sit down, take a moment, and enter into the experience… and then come visit!”

https://wyomingcatholic.edu/new-website-and-video/

From Dr. Peter Kreeft's powerful, recent appearance on Matt Fradd's podcast, a wonderful shout-out to Wyoming Catholic and its unique community.

"Wyoming Catholic College is very small and very rural and and people absolutely love it. And one of the things that distinguishes it is that when you go on campus, you leave all screens behind, no cell phones, four years of college education without a cell phone or or a computer. And many people say, 'I couldn't possibly do that.' And freshmen say, 'Well, I'll try it, but I'm not going to like it.' All the seniors say it was wonderful. You have real contact with real people, real things, real nature."

Absolutely right, Dr. Kreeft, and absolutely life-changing. "Up here," as we like to say "it's all real."

Love, Loss and the Meaning of Suffering (Dr. Peter Kreeft) | Ep. 587 On May 31, 2026, Dr. Peter Kreeft’s beautiful wife of 63 years, Mar...

As we prepare to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday tomorrow, we're so proud of Miriam Washut, recent national champion of the inaugural Presidential 1776 Award competition and daughter of Wyoming Catholic College's president, Fr. Dcn. Kyle Washut. Miriam, who joined more than 8,000 students nationwide in the competition, advanced (with 20 finalists) to the June 9 national championship at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., hosted by Mario Lopez, where she won the top $150,000 scholarship. At the Oval Office ceremony where Secretary Linda McMahon announced the results, Miriam told President Donald J. Trump that she is planning to attend Wyoming Catholic College.

Asked about what her main take-aways from the competition, Miriam said that months of studying America's founding documents "gave her a new appreciation for the ideas that shaped the nation and strengthened her faith as she relied on God throughout the scholarship competition." She looks forward to attending WCC because of its emphasis on reading original texts, saying the competition demonstrated “how different it is to read what was actually written by the people who were there.”

Congratulations, Miriam, on your incredible accomplishment, and we can't wait for you to join the WCC student body!

Photo credit: U.S. Department of Education

As the high school students participating in our PEAK program return to Lander from their four-day backpacking excursion and as we await pictures from their trip, here are some scenes from their WCCLE war rooms, a long-standing WCC tradition.