Mission & Student Life
Mission & Student Life
Our mission is our motto: veritas. Latin for truth.
Seeking veritas animates the entire college.
Don’t let the old language fool you: veritas isn’t about preserving forgotten relics of the past. It’s about your future. It’s about bringing timeless wisdom, as well as the most pressing questions one can ask, to the journey of your life. Veritas draws your hopes and aspirations, your hard work and sacrifice, and your mind and heart to the future for which you were made.
Veritas is the core of our academic life. This is a place to seek the fullness of truth. You will seek truth in the classroom and the research lab. Professors will challenge and inspire you. They will guide you as you explore great works of literature, the nature of the cosmos, a philosophy of life, and cutting-edge professional expertise. You will travel as far as human reason can go. But you won’t stop there. By reason and by faith, that is by seeking after the truth that has been given to us by God and that we hold in faith, you will explore the origin and destiny of all that is. All these pursuits, we believe, draw us nearer to God in Jesus Christ, who has revealed himself to be veritas incarnate.
An Education Dedicated to Truth
Pursuing truth together
At Providence College, faith is a lived and shared journey. Visible signs of our Catholic and Dominican identity are found across campus: a centrally located chapel, crucifixes in classrooms, and a rhythm of life shaped by prayer, contemplation, and the pursuit of truth. These signs point to something deeper: a community grounded in faith and committed to welcoming all students in the pursuit of truth, regardless of background.
Students bring this faith to life in powerful ways. Many serve as liturgical ministers and retreat leaders. Others take on leadership through clubs and organizations, as well as one of the many ministries offered on campus. Through retreats, community service, lectures, and events, our students create spaces to encounter their faith in transformative ways.
Providence College is the only university in the United States founded and administered by the Dominican Friars. This makes us unique—and it shapes everything we do. The Dominicans, founded in 13th-century southern France by St. Dominic de Guzman, are vowed religious who live in community and dedicate their lives to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, you’ll find over 30 Dominican Friars and several dedicated Sisters living, working, praying, and walking alongside you on campus. Clad in their distinctive white habits, they’re not just part of the scenery—they’re part of your journey. They’re here to share their mission with you. They’re here for you.
To be a student at Providence College is to join this living tradition—a community rooted in the Dominican pillars of prayer, study, community, and preaching. From the earliest days of the Dominican Order, Friars like St. Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Bartolomé de las Casas, and Francisco de Vitoria have shaped theology, philosophy, and the foundations of human rights. At PC, you’re invited to take up that same call: to seek truth, grow in faith, and discover the person you are called to be.
Join the Friar Family
