Belmont Abbey College is a private liberal-arts Benedictine/Catholic college located in Belmont, North Carolina, United States 15 miles (24 km) west of Charlotte. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. The school is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and the Order of Saint Benedict. Offering an undergraduate education, the college enrolls students from diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Belmont Abbey College was founded in 1876 as St. Mary’s College by Benedictine monks from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania. Father Jeremiah O’Connell purchased Caldwell farm and donated the land to the Benedictines hoping the community would found a Catholic educational institution in the Carolinas. On April 21, 1876, Father Herman Wolfe from St. Vincent’s arrived with two students to take possession of the property and begin classes. In 1878, the college held its first commencement exercises. Katharine Drexel, a benefactor of the monastery and college, visited Belmont Abbey in 1904. The present name of the college was adopted in 1913.