Renaissance Woman
With her knowledge of philosophy, archaeology, theater, blacksmithing, and SCUBA, Emily Phillips is truly a Renaissance woman. In addition to pursuing all these interests, she is an extraordinary student and friend, exemplifying the well-roundedness that the University of Dallas strives to foster.
Emily came to UD from Houston, Texas in the Fall of 2022 and is now in her junior year as a philosophy major. For Emily, attending the University of Dallas is a family affair. Emily’s mother is a UD alumna, and her brother, Daniel, is a member of this year’s UD Freshman class. However, when asked about choosing UD, she mentioned other paths that she had considered before eventually discerning her current school and major. Emily said, “I had a very clear and regimented view of what I was going to do in life, and I kind of threw it out the window to start seriously pursuing philosophy.”
For Emily, faith and reason go hand in hand. In 2023, during her freshman year, Emily came into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass. She said that having conversations with fellow UD students led to her interest in learning more about Catholicism. Soon after, she started RCIA. However, she still thought that she ultimately wouldn’t go through with the program until things began to fall into place. Emily said, “I realized I was probably Catholic for a lot longer than I thought I was.”
She was a member of the “Hobbitish” class in Sprome this past spring of 2024. After her Rome semester ended, she went back to Italy to participate in the Gabbi project, where she spent five weeks excavating the ancient site of the Latin city of Gabbi outside of Rome. She said that her summer was spent “excavating different elements of burial tombs in ancient Etrusca to determine what it would have been like for the individuals in a more domestic setting.”
When she’s not abroad doing archaeology work, Emily is involved with several on-campus activities here in Irving. She was a stage manager for several UD drama productions, including The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, and is currently in the process of establishing a G.K. Chesterton Society chapter at UD. She also aims to start a UD blacksmithing club through the Art Village Association.
Emily said that her post-college plans include finishing her certification for a Texas real estate license with the goal of starting her own brokerage and a potential career in underwater archaeology.
When asked about things she loves about UD, Emily mentioned the incredible lectures often given on campus by UD professors and other prominent academics, the deeply faith-based UD community, and the opportunity to form lifelong friendships. She strongly urged all UD students to take advantage of these valuable benefits of life at UD.
As an upperclassman, Emily’s advice to incoming students is to “use the time that you have to explore as many things as you can when you’re first starting out, and once you determine what you really love, focus on it.”