“Theology, there’s no place for that here,” said a lady to Dr. Graedon Zorzi after he finished giving a talk to a graduate school workshop on the centrality of theology to John Locke’s political thought.
Zorzi, PHC’s Assistant Professor of Theology and Philosophy, brought up that comment while delivering a lecture on “Theology as the Heart of the Academy” at PHC’s Fall 2025 Faith and Reason event. The main point of his lecture was that although the academy now seeks education without God, “Nothing works well cut off from Christ.”
The endowment had been gifted to PHC by Jaye, attorney and speech and debate mom of four, and Tom Hungar, former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and General Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives. Their gift endures in perpetuity. The interest or investment income will be used to fund all expenses related to the chair.
“Zorzi is a genuinely talented professor. His love of the Lord really comes through,” said Tom Ziemnick, the Vice President for Advancement.
Standing beside Zorzi, the Hungars explained why they didn’t wait till the end of their lives to give an endowment. They said, “You know what? Why wait? Let's stretch, and God will take care of it.” They put their name on it reluctantly, but with the thought process that others might see and be encouraged to do the same.
Later that day and week, as students discussed the lecture and panel over meals in the dining hall, walks to classes, and rides to Church, one thing remained clear in their minds—theology has its place at the very heart of PHC.
Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.