Mr. John Harned, Class of 2010
President and CEO, Epworth Villa Retirement Community, Oklahoma City, OK

My graduation from the IPT was one of the most significant days of my life. The IPT not only educated me, it transformed me. I now live an intentional life summarized in my personal mission statement: Passionately Serve God, Family, Seniors (citizens), Community. My entry into this line of work was after a prayerful discernment and the formation I received in the IPT. I am much happier and so is my family. I have grown much more comfortable trusting in God after the IPT and know that without this education and formation my life would not have the meaning it does today. We all continue to grow and add life experiences along the way to the ‘collection’ of who we are.  I give thanks to God I had the experience I did with the IPT.

Mr. Tyler Graham, Class of 2010 
Humanities Instructor, Donahue Classical Academy, Ave Maria, FL

"During my time in the IPT, I came to see how much the Church wants holiness; she tirelessly proclaims the truth open to both faith and reason, and roots her arguments in common sense, using deductive principles to draw out conclusions from revealed truth. The three year journey through IPT helped me unpack the meaning and importance of the Rosary, Eucharistic adoration, active participation in Mass, frequent reception of the sacraments (especially Confession), and the proper philosophical and theological context in which I could understand the call to holiness in everyday acts - especially in my vocation to marriage and fatherhood. 

Although I started the program hoping to answer some specific theological questions that had emerged in my teaching high school, I was amazed at how many connections the program allowed me to make with the whole of teaching: in all of the humanities - even math and sciences.  I found my discussions on Dante's Inferno and geometric proofs to have a new edge, depth, and liveliness than before.  Above all, the message of the divine pedagogy, from which the discipline of pastoral theology gains much force and "exemplary causality," has appeared to me in a new and more brilliant light.  I am a teacher, and Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd (or Pastor), is my model, my guide, my cause and my end.  Every good act of teaching is an expression of the lived experience of the doctrines of pastoral theology." 

Mr. Luke Condit, Class of 2010
Dean of Students, St. Catherine of Siena Academy, Wixom, MI

"It is a great privilege to write about the IPT Program of Ave Maria and the profound effect that it has on me both personally and professionally. The program is unique in it's ability to provide students with a masters level education, while at the same time giving the student an opportunity for the conversion of the heart. It is through this program that I more fully understood my vocation to the married life, as well as my role as father; both of which were to occur during the course of my studies and are real fruits of the program. Not only do the professors help us understand how to explain our faith but they also give us the tools to live our faith and to live out the universal call to holiness, in all areas of our lives, including our professional lives. The IPT not only allowed me to be more effective in my vocation but it also has been a catalyst for my career in education."