Augustinian Values at Merrimack

The life and thought of Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) serve as a foundation for the Catholic intellectual humanism of Merrimack College.

The educational and spiritual traditions of the Order of Saint Augustine (1244 CE) also enrich our academic community. Merrimack College celebrates its Augustinian mission and affirms the following values that are ours by heritage and grace.

  • Before all else our college is a community of scholarship and service whose members support and challenge each other in a wholehearted pursuit of knowledge, holding one another to the highest intellectual and ethical standards.
  • Knowledge grows into wisdom when we recognize the limits of reason and of our individual perspectives, attend to the common good, and fashion the changes inspired by learning.
  • The pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning requires diligent study, freedom of thought, dedication to dialogue, and collegial respect for each person’s experience.
  • The contemplation and reflection encouraged by the intellectual life inspire an ethical sensibility as well as a prophetic critique of social structures in light of justice and peace.
  • The great texts of human history, including sacred scriptures, call us to continuing dialogue as our varied religious and philosophical convictions enrich our Catholic mission.
  • Our lifelong pursuit of truth and understanding can be for Christians an expression of the inner pilgrimage with Christ the Teacher, for adherents of all faiths part of the search for God, and for everyone a journey of hope amidst the ever-expanding horizons of human experience.

These values invite all members of our community to learn, teach, work and study in ways appropriate to their discipline and their service, and in a manner that makes Merrimack College a vibrant Augustinian academic community.