People first at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College is celebrating a successful 25 years this year with staff and students alike fondly looking back on an institution that has grown steadily as it strives to educate the whole person. 

Located in Barry’s Bay in eastern Ontario, the private Catholic liberal arts college formerly known as Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy was incorporated in August of 1999 as a small study centre for six students. A year later, and with the help of the Diocese of Pembroke in renting a convent, the school opened its doors and began offering a one-year certificate program in Christian Humanities. 

“Our Lady Seat of Wisdom has always believed in whole-person education, which is what the Catholic Church advocates as the ideal for education. It should not just be filling people’s minds with information, but rather forming the person’s character intellectually, spiritually and even socially,” said Dr. Christine Schintgen, the president of the college. 

The program for the close-knit community slowly grew over the years from a one-year certificate to a two-year and three-year program before the school was officially recognized as a college by the province in 2017. With that, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom was able to grant a three-year degree for a Bachelor of Catholic Studies. 

As much as things have changed over the years at the small institution a couple hours west of Ottawa, the general vision and plan it has for its students has remained relatively unchanged. Everything from the residential living, course content and extracurricular opportunities go back to the theme of bettering the individual person. 

“We hover around the 90-100 student mark so interaction between the professors, faculty and students is important here. Each student is known by name and the education they receive is personalized and tailored to them,” Schintgen explained. “It is beautiful to see (students) want to better their Catholic faith. I have been here 21 years and I constantly see strong friendships formed where they study, eat, play, do chores and even pray together.” 

While the education provided looks to prepare students for any calling in life by developing skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, writing and speaking, many students have pursued vocations to the priesthood or religious life — on average one every year. 

According to Teresa Buonafede, the development liaison, the school saw two alumni ordained to the priesthood this past spring, one alumnus ordained to the transitional diaconate, five alumni enter various seminaries and another alumnus start his formation to become a brother with the Toronto Oratory in the summer. Further, a female alumnus entered a Carmelite order in the U.S. while three separate Catholic marriages between alumni took place this year alone. 

Schintgen spoke to the culture of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and how it fosters vocations in more ways than one. 

“I think what we provide is an environment where people are supporting one another in paying attention to God’s voice and what He might be calling a person to do. Between our chaplain Fr. Brian Christie, the vibrant parish of St. Hedwig’s next door and various retreats and pilgrimages, we are blessed to have and encourage so many opportunities for spiritual growth.”

To celebrate its anniversary, the school hosted two dinners on Oct. 19: a formal president’s ball attended by Ottawa-Cornwall Archbishop Marcel Damphousse and Bishop Thomas Dowd, Bishop Sault Ste Marie, as well as a dean’s dinner attended by Pembroke Bishop Michael Brehl.  

Along with honouring its storied history, staff and friends celebrated the granting of a new four-year degree for a Bachelor of Arts with three separate majors of either history, literature or classical and early Christian studies that was approved in February. 

“We are going to keep going from strength to strength, never losing our Catholic orthodoxy identity,” Schintgen promised.

“We will preserve the ‘whole person’ education in the sense that no student is just a number, they come here and they get our personal attention, a personal education and whole person formation.”