Patrick Henry College

At PHC, we understand that there is much more to the college experience than academics. During this critical time where the cement isn't completely dry, building a Christ-centered community is vital. Alumna Jae Mowka told us how much the PHC community impacted her.

"The community here is such a rich element, and making time for friends is a must," Mowka said.

We caught up with members of the women's soccer team and asked them a few questions. Cheryl and Kirsten are both seniors. Here's what they had to say!

"In those games where we see what we worked on in practice come together and we leave the field knowing we gave it our all gives such a rewarding feeling," Cheryl said.

Strait is the team captain this year and has enjoyed soccer since she was six years old. "My favorite memory from a PHC game was from last semester. I was team captain alongside Cana Cossin. At our first game of the season, within the first 5 minutes of the game, I assisted her for a beautiful goal. I threw the ball in from the right side of the field, toward the corner. Cana trapped it in our attacking third. She took two touches and then made a left footed shot from the right side into the back, upper corner of the goal. I immediately ran to her and embraced her. We were both so excited for that goal. It was a beautiful shot and a wonderful moment that I was able to share with my co-captain and best friend."

The Faith & Reason lecture is a time-honored PHC tradition of gathering together as a campus community to consider the shape and contour of important topics as presented by faculty and guest lecturers.

This year, our own Professor of History, Dr. Rob Spinney, will be presenting his talk on "Expressive Individualism: the toxic worldview that we breathe every day."

Join the PHC community for our Fall Faith & Reason Lecture at 9:30am through the Webcasts page!

https://bit.ly/3EH5Tfg

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a book for economics? You read that right! We've compiled a list of books that focus on your field of interest. You might even find some titles that surprise you!

Click the link to discover your next book: https://bit.ly/44RdEKb.

Did you know that today is Constitution Day? On September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia. Test yourself to see how well you know America's Constitution!

QUIZ: How Well Do You Know the Constitution? Take this quiz to test your knowledge on America's Constitution.

Dr. Darrel Cox, Professor of Biblical Studies, shared his testimony and his initial encounter with the Holy Spirit in a chapel message last semester.

"He is Lord, so trust Him. Trust Him because He will undertake in ways that we never can because we cannot provide for ourselves ... And He knows every single hair on your head and they are numbered by Him and He loves you dearly."

Visit www.phc.edu/careers to learn more.

Rachel McCracken (CLA '23) shares how God used events in her life to slow her down and cause her to delight in the mundane.

"I've learned how good I am not, how much I desperately need the Lord, how beautiful life is. …I want to challenge you all to engage your five senses to find beauty and delight in the mundane with your childlike wonder and God-like excitement."

What will you delight in this Sunday?

Meet the new Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. Michael Jackson! We recently chatted with him to learn a bit about his story and what he looks forward to here at PHC.

"I want to encourage PHC students to see the supremacy of God’s Word in every area of their lives and scholarship," Jackson said. Read our Q&A with Dr. Jackson here: https://bit.ly/3Rl1gPL

"We've seen so much that brings tears to our eyes and makes us all feel a sense of anger. But God can be trusted, even when life seems at its darkest."
– Billy Graham, Sept. 14, 2001

[Image credit: Zoe McBride, Class of 2027]

PHC recently welcomed alumnus Dr. Kyle West (History, '14) as a full-time faculty member!

A little over a month after giving his dissertation to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania this summer, West is now on the other side of the classroom. “It felt like God had hung a neon sign over the door, [indicating] go this way!” West said.

Read the whole story here: https://bit.ly/48ajqK0

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

― Abraham Kuyper

Calling all High School Families! Registration for PHC's Teen Leadership Camps Summer 2024 is open NOW! Are you ready to grow deeper in your faith, learn from PHC's best, and have a BLAST with Teens from across the country?

Choose from 11 camps!

Whether you want to become a master spy at our Strategic Intelligence camp, learn directly from PHC President Jack Haye at Leadership and Worldview camp, hone your skills at our Moot Court camp, or take the stage at our Drama & Theatre camp, we have something for you!​​​​​​​​​

Alumnus Spencer Reeves shared with us how his time at PHC changed the way he views work.

"Through my time at PHC, God used people to show me that our calling is to love the labors laid before us and to love the people placed in our lives for their own sakes, in a very conscious way."

Here at Patrick Henry College, we desire to launch our graduates into the world with the skills to continue learning, think through and respond to issues, and defend what they believe.

"Light is the embodiment of order, of intelligibility, of rationality, of ordered hierarchy. Ultimately, it is as Dante would put it, 'The love that moves the sun in heaven and all the stars.'

With the Incarnation, the Light became visible—became present to us. The goodness of embodied created order was decisively ratified in that moment."

— Dr. Mark T. Mitchell, Dean of Academic Affairs, Patrick Henry College

Watch his fall 2023 Orientation lecture here:

Strange Fire and the Light of the World | Mark T. Mitchell, Ph.D. Dr. Mark T. Mitchell, Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College, warns about the lure of counterfeit light—a false light. They are a deceptive light—a "strange fire"—that only leads to confusion and death.

Staying in the air conditioning today? Beat the heat and read something inspiring!

Aletheia is the name of the academic journal of the Classical Liberal Arts program at Patrick Henry College. The aim of Aletheia is to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ by sharing His truth, goodness, and beauty in the various classical disciplines of philosophy, history, literature, classics, mathematics, science, music, and biblical studies.

Each issue’s works relate, either directly or tangentially, to that issue’s particular theme. To acknowledge Aletheia’s dependence on God, each issue also opens with a prayer and closes with a hymn, both of which are researched and chosen from the body of Christian tradition and are relevant to the issue’s theme.

Issues of Aletheia available here: https://bit.ly/3Z2OhDT.

Dr. Cory Grewell shares how the "hermeneutics of generosity" can help us enjoy quality film adaptions of our favorite books. What is your favorite film adaption? Comment below!

Read the article here: https://bit.ly/45CyYnZ

College life is much more than academics. It affects every area of life and helps students grow, both socially and spiritually. We asked our students to share the advice they would tell their high-school selves. Click the link below to read their responses!

https://bit.ly/45K22tl

Alumnus Ben Stieglemeier (EBA '21) challenged students to consider how their study habits reflect how they will approach the rest of their lives, specifically their relationship with the Lord.

"Being a student here was a reflection of the rest of my life and, to a certain extent, my view of God. I challenge you guys to think about that. Do you see your studies and your grades as a reflection of what God thinks of you? Because it's not. And if you feel that it is, you can repent and live in God's grace and His freedom. … I just encourage you to look to Jesus and have a right view of God and yourself."

Alumna Kira Nelson was featured by the Gospel Coalition! Her article, "Motherhood Isn't Martyrdom," critiques the narrative of motherhood that our culture presents us and offers biblical encouragement for Christian mothers. Read her article here: https://bit.ly/3P7jZfT and read more about how Kira is encouraging moms' hearts through her podcast here: https://bit.ly/3P9WO4w.

This is Finn Buck, PHC Student Body President, delivering the Scripture Reading.

Convocation is a worship service and a community-uniting time of fellowship and learning; committing the new academic year to the Lord.

Let's go, PHC!

Navigating the college application season is both an exciting and intense time for high school juniors and seniors. To help make the process easier, we have compiled information that might be helpful to you and your family as you begin the process of identifying where you feel called to study.

Read the blog post here: https://bit.ly/3KRFWNC

What comes to your mind when you hear "new semester?" Does it include a fall retreat? Does it remind you of a banquet or of worshipping and praying together as a family and Christian community? This is how we kick off an academic year at Patrick Henry College!

Our guest speaker this year was 2010 Alumnus, Jensen Near, co-pastor and Director of Student Life at Christian Encounter Ranch. Click to jump on over to our Facebook 2023 fall retreat photo album for more images from last weekend: https://bit.ly/3sv3zVJ.

Yay, students are back!

May God's peace be with each and every one of you in the high moments and the low moments; when you get good surprises and not good; in the conversations and in the quiet moments; in the classroom discussions and the personal reflection; in the reading and in the writing; in the running and in the standing still; in the hard work and when playing; and in that confident moment or when you could use a boost of confidence. May this academic year be your best year yet!



[Be watching for more media from Orientation and Fall Retreat!]

First day at college! This is Zoe from Annandale, VA. She wants to study Economics & Business Analytics with the hope of starting her own photography business. Today is the first day of classes and, for freshmen like Zoe, the exciting start of their PHC journey. We pray that God's truth will be a lamp for all of our students' feet and a light to their path. May the Lord meet you here at PHC like never before.

Zoe is the first in her family to attend PHC. Originally, she wanted to apply for several large state colleges, however, after receiving a card in the mail and visiting the campus, she made the decision to join PHC! In her own words, “We came just to visit but I fell in love with the school and it quickly became my number one choice."

We recently caught up with alumna Kira Nelson (Journalism '13) to hear about her new podcast, Delighted Motherhood.

After feeling discouraged by both the secular and Christian narrative of motherhood, Nelson sought to encourage her own heart by creating a space to help her have a delighted motherhood.

Click the link to read her story: https://bit.ly/3KRPbgH

As a classical liberal arts school, Patrick Henry College teaches its students to recognize and embrace the good, true, and beautiful in the world. Another hallmark to the classical liberal arts is the understanding of freedom. The liberal arts are called "liberal" from the Greek root which means "free," emphasizing that only those who are educated can truly be free.

As our students prepare to begin the fall semester, we wanted to share what alumnus Spencer Reeves (Government, Class of 2020) shared about his educational experience at Patrick Henry College.

"I think our modern vision of education tells us that a job is the goal of collegiate study. While I’ve been accepted to law school and equipped to succeed as a professional, I count this among the least valuable things PHC has imparted to me."

Read his full testimony here: https://bit.ly/3P1fOSY

We are so excited to have our student body back on campus! For our freshmen, it is the beginning of a new stage in life. In the midst of making new friends and moving into their dorm rooms, some may have lingering questions about the academics, faculty, and life outside of academics. If that describes you, read a PHC junior's list of questions and answers that she wished she had asked as a freshman!

Click LearnPHC in bio or copy/paste: https://bit.ly/47FUWbi

Here at Patrick Henry College, we understand why it is so vital for us to set aside time to worship the Lord. Over and over again, the Lord calls His children to worship Him, whether in solitude or in community. Worship gives us time to recognize who He is and what He has done for us, what He is doing for us in the present, and what He will do for us in the future. It is an opportunity to come daily into the presence of Christ. Thus, worshiping the Lord in community is built into our students' routines.

One of the ways students can worship the Lord in community is through joining Chapel Guild. It is an opportunity for students to lead fellow students, faculty, and staff in a time of worship every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in corporate worship. Read more about Chapel Guild and the purpose of worship: https://bit.ly/47sxiyB.

After receiving a "A" Rating and a 100% grade in the nation from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni's (ACTA) "What Will They Learn?" Project, Patrick Henry College was featured in an ACTA video discussing the importance of a core curriculum, including interviews with faculty, leadership, and students.

"Externals like a big name, prestigious status, or a huge campus don't actually matter as much as they want you to think that they do. What matters is the actual substance of the education offered by a college, which inevitably includes the substance of people there who are going to impart that education to you. ... Ask yourself, "What kind of person do I want to be and the college that will form you towards that end will, by far, comprise the most fulfilling experience you could ever ask for and the best preparation for whatever field you end up in."
— Charity Kim, PHC '23, Classical Liberal Arts

Watch the full video at https://bit.ly/47B9fh1

One of the chief aims of the PHC experience is a graduate's ability to communicate persuasively in writing and in speech. It's also imperative that the graduate understands the primacy of the Word of God and has the ability to logically apply it to every area of life.

You have probably heard about PHC's "three commitments." You may have even read about our (1) High Academic Rigor, (2) Fidelity to the Spirit of the American Founding, and (3) Unwavering Biblical Worldview. We can see what kind of graduate benefits from commitments 1 and 2; High Academic Rigor and a firm grasp on the virtues of our American heritage.

But what kind of graduate does the Christian Worldview produce? To answer that question, there is a spiritual profile that a PHC graduate should meet upon receiving their diploma.

So, what does the Spiritual Profile of a PHC graduate look like? Click the link to find out:

The spiritual profile of a PHC graduate Are you wondering what PHC graduates look like at the end of four years? Look no further; read this article to read about their Spiritual Profile.

PHC is a unique place not only for students but for professors as well! Dr. Kristina Tanner shares her experience in the classroom.

"The questions are deeper here as well. When I ask on day one of Music History and Appreciation, 'So how would you define music?', it is totally in the frame of possibility for a student to reference Platonic forms, a high or low telos, or the flaws in a pragmatic philosophical approach. That is not typical, in my experience, anywhere else. … I truly appreciate the students, the faculty, and the staff and their love for the Lord and desire to know truth as well as the good and beautiful."

Making it a priority to spend time alone with God is a essential part of thriving as a PHC student. Alumna Jae Mowka shares her advice!

"View your time here as an opportunity to invest in your God-given talents, to build meaningful and lasting relationships, and to grow closer to God as you seek His purpose for your life. What you do here, how you live, and the habits you form will follow you into the rest of your life. Time with God is precious, and it radically impacts your life. Read some verses in the morning and pray for a friend. Read a Psalm at night and thank God for all the blessings that day before bed."

Unlike a quick drop-off at so many colleges and universities around the nation, the center of New Student Orientation is not course registration, picking up your ID badge, and paying for a parking decal for your car.

At PHC, we have a full week of carefully-planned time for getting to know the other members of your class, participating in friendly competitions, showing off a bit in a talent show, worshipping, and fellowshipping together.

What is/was your favorite event upon returning to campus? Comment below! We'd like to hear it.

Click the link to get a glimpse into the week before the school year begins! https://bit.ly/3s9rJ83