In Search of Wisdom and Virtue: Valor Education and the University of Dallas Announce Partnership
Irving, TX (April 22, 2026) — University of Dallas President Dr. Jonathan J. Sanford and Valor Education President David Williams today announced a partnership that seeks to promote a vision of education ordered toward truth, virtue, friendship, and wisdom. By bringing together UDallas’ distinguished liberal arts tradition with Valor’s growing network of classical charter schools and the Valor Institute for Studies in Person and Community, the collaboration aims to form students, teachers, and professors across Texas for lives animated by wonder and gratitude.
Grounded in a shared vision of the human person and a common commitment to the true, good, and beautiful, the partnership will provide formation for faculty and students from UDallas and Valor through a variety of initiatives.
"The University of Dallas has long stood as a witness to lives ordered toward truth and charity,” said David Williams. “At Valor, we are cultivating a renewal of intellectual virtue—habits of mind rooted in humility, memory, docility, careful judgment, and a steadfast devotion to truth. These are not abstractions; they are moral obligations that shape how we read, think, speak, and live. The University of Dallas has always formed its community in these virtues with exceptional seriousness, and our partnership will deepen this shared work.”
“We are excited about deepening our partnership with Valor schools, which provide a paradigm for K-12 education,” said UDallas President Dr. Jonathan Sanford. “Deeply rooted in the Western tradition and the arts that bring genuine freedom, the University of Dallas and Valor stand as partners to advance at every level of formation the education that enables our graduates to be the leading citizens—those individuals formed excellently in mind, character, and purpose—which our country and our future depend upon.”
The partnership will include a range of collaborative efforts designed to support classical education, expand teacher formation, and strengthen the intellectual life of both communities, such as:
A fellowship for UDallas graduates to teach in Valor schools
Opportunities for UDallas faculty to share their scholarly interests as Kingfisher Fellows through lectures, courses, and academic retreats
Provide UDallas students and alumni with expanded access to Valor Institute events
Deepen opportunities for Valor teachers to participate in UDallas graduate programs and receive UDallas credit for Valor Institute summer courses.
An exclusive UDallas scholarship for exceptional Valor high school students and UDallas’s distinctive academic culture, including a scholarship created specifically for Valor’s graduates.
Exploring the possibility of an independent school in North Texas.
The partnership deepens a growing relationship between the two institutions, animated by a common conviction that an education ordered toward truth, virtue, and friendship is essential for human flourishing.
About the University of Dallas
The University of Dallas is the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the nation, recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society for its rigorous Core Curriculum and vibrant intellectual and spiritual life. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UDallas forms students intellectually, socially, and spiritually for a life well-lived through undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in the humanities, business, ministry, and classical education. Learn more or apply at udallas.edu.
About Valor Education
Valor Education exists to educate the whole person in authentic communities for a full human life and is committed to providing high-quality tuition-free classical education to all students, regardless of background or ability. Through its K–12 charter schools and the Valor Institute for Studies in Person and Community, Valor builds communities dedicated to wisdom, virtue, and friendship. Valor serves nearly 5,000 students in the Austin and San Antonio metro areas with a waitlist of more than 5,500 children. Learn more at valoreducation.org.
Contact:
Clare Venegas, VP Marketing & Communications
University of Dallas
cvenegas@udallas.edu | (972) 721-8545
Daniel Gray, Chief of Staff
Valor Education
dgray@valoreducation.org | (512) 646-4170