A Catholic Community that Cares
For over 160 years, Seton Hall University has provided a nurturing, caring and supportive academic community which fosters the intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth of our students. In 2013, Pope Francis recognized the University for its dedication to its Catholic mission and imparted the Apostolic Blessing to Seton Hall, making it the first academic institution in the United States to claim such an honor.
One of the oldest Catholic Diocesan University in the nation, Seton Hall was founded in 1856 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, who named the school after his aunt, Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first America-born saint. Bishop Bayley envisioned a university that would be a "home for the mind, the heart and the spirit" — a place that would develop well-rounded, compassionate leaders who are prepared to serve society.
Today, we remain dedicated to this vision. One of our primary missions is to develop students who will be servant leaders. This means you will not only be given multiple opportunities to develop your leadership skills on campus but you will also learn the importance of possessing integrity, compassion and a commitment to helping others while also helping yourself. Our goal is to help you grow into a leader, guided by a moral compass.
Seton Hall is a diverse and welcoming community. We celebrate that we have students from all 50 states and from 70 different countries. We have a diverse student body, over 40 percent of which are students of color, and we welcome students of all faiths and backgrounds. At Seton Hall, we foster the values of respect, kindness, patience and understanding. We engage our students in a dialogue about the intersections of culture, faith, reason, science, philosophy, religion and more.
To expand our commitment to developing servant leaders and teach lessons that can't be taught in the classroom, we actively encourage our community members to participate in service activities. Through the Division of Volunteer Efforts (DOVE), our students perform more than 40,000 hours of service each year — lending a hand at soup kitchens and after-school programs; getting their hands dirty planting a garden with local school children; giving their time to organizations like the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the New Jersey Special Olympics and many others. Each year, DOVE also sponsors service-learning trips to orphanages in Haiti and El Salvador. These experiences expand the worldview and develop character of our students — enriching them in heart, mind and spirit.
