Holy Spirit College (HSC) is a private

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

college located in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA. The college describes itself as an "authentic Catholic college" in the spirit of the apostolic constitution '' Ex corde ecclesiae'' of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. Pontifex University is the

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

counterpart to Holy Spirit College.

History

Holy Spirit College was founded in 2005 as an undergraduate college offering courses in the Liberal Arts to students of

Holy Spirit Preparatory School Holy Spirit Preparatory School (abbreviated HSP) is an independent, Roman Catholic preparatory school located in Atlanta and Sandy Springs, Georgia. It was originally established in 1996 as Donnellan School. Location and administration Pre-K4 ...

. Starting in fall 2010, the college admitted its first class of full-time undergraduate students pursuing bachelor's degrees in philosophy. These students were offered majors in Philosophy, Theology and Catholic Education.

Coat of arms

The college's institutional

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was created by the heraldic designer James-Charles Noonan, and is

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

ed as follows:

'' Azure, between three
fleur de lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
, one in bend in the
dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...
chief point, one in bend
sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...
in the sinister chief point, one in
pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...
in center base point or, on a
nimbus Nimbus, from the Latin for "dark cloud", is an outdated term for the type of cloud now classified as the nimbostratus cloud. Nimbus also may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Halo (religious iconography), also known as ''Nimbus'', a ring of ligh ...
set around the rim with three equidistant bosses or, the dove of the Holy Spirit descending
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...
flammant
proper Proper may refer to: Mathematics * Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact * Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...
.''

The

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

is blazoned as:

''On a
torse In heraldry, a torse or wreath is a twisted roll of fabric laid about the top of the helmet and the base of the crest. It has the dual purpose of masking the join between helm and crest, and of holding the mantling in place. The torse is somet ...
of the colors argent and azure a lamp of learning or, its flames proper.''

Governance

The college's

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

is Monsignor Edward J. Dillon, J.C.D.; the college's president is Gareth N. Genner, and Archbishop

Gregory John Hartmayer Gregory John Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv. (born November 21, 1951) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A Conventual Franciscan, he serves as the archbishop of Atlanta in Georgia, having returned to the archdiocese where he worked fr ...

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Campus and student life

The college's campus is located on grounds shared with Holy Spirit Parish and Holy Spirit Preparatory School. A Commons Building provides the college with facilities for study, dining and relaxation; the parish complex offers a library and college lecture halls.

Academics

The college was founded for the purpose of providing programs to

leading to an Associate of Arts degree or certificates in philosophy or the liberal arts. In 2010, the college announced that it planned to expand its course offerings and academic focus. Starting in the fall of 2010, the college now offers a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

program, while maintaining an emphasis on theology, philosophy and liberal arts. After a period of decline, the undergraduate program was reinvigorated and the college began to gear up for the Fall of 2019 when it would begin to recruit students in a more focused manner.

Affiliations and accreditation

Though an independent Catholic college not affiliated with any religious order or congregation, Holy Spirit maintains a close association with Holy Spirit Parish, and the

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. The college is authorized to grant degrees by the Georgia Non-Public Secondary Education Commission (GNPEC). The college also maintains memberships in the

American Catholic Philosophical Association The American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA) is an organization of Catholic philosophers established in 1926 to promote the advancement of philosophy as an intellectual discipline consonant with Catholic tradition. Among the means used t ...

(ACPA), the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and the Shakespeare Association of America. Holy Spirit is not accredited by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

, the

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member ins ...

association which covers Georgia.

References

External links

Holy Spirit College

Holy Spirit Catholic Church

Atlanta’s College Start-Up
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2005 Universities and colleges in Atlanta Catholic universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state) 2005 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)