Located in the foothills of Wyoming's spectacular wind river range, Wyoming Catholic College,

an accredited four-year Great Books Institution, is built on the ancient Western tradition

of the liberal arts and the freedom of the American West. The college offers its students

an immersion in the primary sources of the classical tradition, the grandeur of the mountain

wilderness, and the spiritual heritage of the Catholic Church.

Students experience the illumination of imagination and intellect through the great books

and traditional disciplines, literature and philosophy, mathematics and theology, science and Latin,

and an outdoor program second to none. The college celebrated an in-person graduation with its

seniors last year and welcomed its largest

freshman class ever this year. Learn more about the college's unique space in the world of

American higher education at Wyoming Catholic.edu. The Pioneer Institute has a collection of

essays on a narrow subject that I thought would interest our listeners. It's called

A Vision of Hope,

Catholic schooling in Massachusetts. There is a forward by our own George Weigel, and the editors

are Chris Sinicola and Kara Candel. Dr. Candel is with us today. She's a senior fellow at the

Pioneer Institute and at the Center for Education

Reform. She's served as research professor at Boston University, also the author of

the fight for the best chartered public schools in the nation. Welcome, Professor Candel.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you today.

Well, first, the background question. What was the impetus for this volume of essays?

The volume actually comprises essays that have been written probably, you know, in the past 10 years,

although certainly they have been updated over time.

...