Father Robert Cook is the first president of Wyoming Catholic College, having been appointed to the position on December 8, 2005. His tenure as chief executive has been notable for the key role he has played in the establishment of the nation’s newest Catholic liberal arts college, including arranging for the College’s initial facilities, helping to design the first course catalogue and website, assembling the original faculty, directing the recruitment of the first class of students, and leading the efforts to obtain the necessary financial support for the college.
Education and Early Years
Born in Rifle, Colorado, Robert Cook attended Regis College in Denver, graduating with a classical bachelors or arts degree, magna cum laude, in 1962. He attended Stanford University Law School and graduated with an L.L.B. degree in 1965. After obtaining his degree, Robert Cook practiced for six years as a corporate attorney, a deputy district attorney, and a civil trial lawyer.
From 1968 to 1971, he traveled to Europe and Asia, where he experienced a broad range of cultures and perspectives of life. In 1972, he put some of these new perspectives into practice, forming a non-profit organization known as “Alternatives, Inc.” – an agency which provided an alternative to abortion for parents struggling with a pregnancy, believing that if parents had a meaningful choice between life and abortion, they would choose life. (After Father Cook left the agency, some of its volunteers eventually created an agency typically called a “Caring Center,” which provided the same service. There are now many Caring Centers in Colorado and Wyoming.)
Father Cook received permission to join the Benedictine monastic community of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico, from 1974 to 1977. During his time there, he helped preserve the monastic silence and solitude of the monastery by leading a campaign to purchase a nearby tract of land that was being considered for a resort. He also played a key role in the selection of Fr. Philip Lawrence, O.S.B., as the Superior of the community, a role that Fr. Lawrence fulfills even today.
He returned to the practice of law in 1977 in Boulder and Denver, specializing in the defense of federal criminal cases, and was widely respected by attorneys and judges alike. It was in these subsequent 19 years of practice that Father Cook repeatedly encouraged his clients to do all they could to reform their lives. One of the few attorneys who made these efforts, he was rewarded with a large number of successes -- former clients who are now reformed and contributing citizens.
Priesthood and Contributions to the Diocese of Cheyenne
In 1996, Father Cook felt called to discern a vocation to the priesthood and soon thereafter said “Yes,” to the Lord’s Call. He attended Sacred Heart School of Theology under the sponsorship of the Diocese of Cheyenne and graduated in May, 2000, with a M.Div. degree. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Joseph Hart, D.D., at the Cathedral of St. Mary’s in Cheyenne, on May 11, 2000.
Father Cook was assigned to St. Anthony’s Church in Casper, Wyoming as associate pastor. During that time, he served as the Director of the Newman Center for Casper College, involving himself deeply in the spiritual life and spiritual direction of the Catholic students there. He also taught religion to 7th, 8th and 9th graders at St. Anthony’s Tri-Parish Catholic elementary school.
In 2001, Bishop David L. Ricken, DD., JCL, named Father Cook pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church, also located in Casper. During his tenure, he directed the remodeling of the church and the installation of stained glass windows depicting the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary -- the first of their kind in the world.
While pastor at Our Lady of Fatima, Fr. Cook served as secretary for the Presbyteral Council for the Diocese of Cheyenne. During this time, Fr. Cook also served on the College of Consultors, a group of special advisors to the Bishop of Cheyenne. Beginning in 2004, Father Cook served as Director for the Wyoming School of Catholic Thought -- an adult program designed to help parishioners and educators throughout Wyoming become agents for the restoration of a Catholic culture -- a position he held during its 5 years of operation.
Wyoming Catholic College and the Presidency
In 2004, Bishop Ricken gathered together a small “Founders Committee” to explore the possibility of Wyoming’s first Catholic college – a college inspired by the vision of a classical liberal arts curriculum using the Great Books of Western Civilization, an authentic Catholic identity, and an experiential learning of leadership in the mountainous terrains of Wyoming.
The following year, Bishop Ricken asked Father Cook to become the Director of the Wyoming Catholic College Implementation Committee, charging him with the establishment of the college at its interim site in Lander, Wyoming, and working with Dr. Carlson to implement the college’s Philosophical Vision Statement.
The college’s corporation papers were filed in Wyoming on July 11, 2005, and a board of directors was formed. The board then appointed Father Cook to the position of President on December 8, 2005. In June, 2006, Father Cook left his position as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima, and began to devote himself completely to the establishment of the college.
While Father Cook, as the Chief Executive Officer of Wyoming Catholic College, is responsible for all facets of the College’s activities, he recognizes that delegation and collaboration are essential to success. He has established an Academic Council of four faculty members to help guided the College in fulfilling its educational mission, and has recruited a group of extremely gifted administrators who are responsible for the smooth operations of the college in its various aspects of finance, management, institutional advancement, and student life.
Father Cook also holds the formal office of College Chaplain, but is ably assisted by an assistant chaplain who is responsible for providing for the liturgical, sacramental, and spiritual needs of the students. Father Cook is deeply committed to maintaining the Catholic identity of the College, provide its students with, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, an “encounter with the living Christ” during their years at Wyoming Catholic College.
The President and the Future
Father Cook intends to continue perfecting the educational programs of the college over the next few years, and hopes to begin work on the capital campaign which will provide for the first phase construction of the permanent campus.
While it is clear that Father Robert Cook, as the College’s first president, has played a pivotal role in its establishment and continued success, he never tires of reminding others that “This is the Lord’s College, whose patroness is Jesus’ Mother, Mary Seat of Wisdom.” Father Cook is untiring in his insistence that the College exists solely out of the goodness of the Lord and His Mother, and that all those who so ably assist him in his efforts do so as instruments of God’s Will.