Magdalen College calls students in their whole person to a transformative Catholic liberal arts education.

We believe this kind of education is good in itself and prepares students well to face future challenges. In this sense, Magdalen College functions somewhat like the community of Rivendell in Lord of the Rings. Rivendell is a place of natural beauty and inspiration, where characters are equipped with strategic learning, council, conversation, and fellowship before setting out on a challenging mission to bring good to the world. Rivendell also housed artifacts that sustained significant memories of its people and their history.

Likewise, Magdalen calls students to a scenic, mountainside community where they are immersed in formative intellectual, spiritual, and social fellowship. They engage great texts and authors of the past and participate in sacred traditions and liturgies of the Church. Here students are trained to discern what is true, do what is good, love what is beautiful, articulate their convictions effectively, and serve God and others in their communities. Such formation—and, indeed, transformation—prepares them to pursue their callings and careers in an antagonistic culture. And it prepares them for an even higher goal: to share in the very life of the Triune God, the ultimate end for which we all are created.