Noah Groll ’21: From Estate Planning to Theology Studies at Oxford

This article appeared in the November 2022 issue of the Dominican Magazine

A senior year course in religion and literature sparked Noah Groll’s interest in studying theology post-graduation — and overseas.

After working in estate planning for an Oak Park law firm, Groll ’21 was accepted this fall to the Master of Studies in Theology program at the prestigious University of Oxford. It’s a familiar place for Groll,  who also studied theology there during his junior year as part of a visiting student program.

“I thought this would be a good time to go back, continue to study and see if I want to pursue an academic career,” Groll said.

After graduating from Dominican with a bachelor’s in philosophy and a minor in theology and political science, Groll was named the Theology Department’s Outstanding Senior of 2021. He said it was  Dr. Clodagh Weldon’s course “The Mystery of Evil in Religion and  Literature” that cemented his desire to continue pursuing theology.

“That was my last theology class at Dominican,” he said. “When it was over, I thought, ‘I’d like to keep going.’”

“I like taking a subject, really chewing on it for a while and looking at different perspectives,” Groll explained. “The concentration I’m in  blends theology and philosophy with the idea of really digging into  topics and looking at things from different viewpoints.”