St. Mary's University serves the various communities of San Antonio, the Southwest, the nation and the world through the intellectual, spiritual, moral and professional leadership of its faculty, administration, staff and students. The University continually engages in a dialogue with these communities to understand their needs and to offer appropriate spiritual and intellectual responses.

Rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, the University strives to contribute to the urgent task of extending justice, freedom and dignity to all people. It intends to be a center for the kind of examination, understanding and evaluation of American culture that leads to both its affirmation and its transformation. Representing a distinctive viewpoint within the arena of contemporary higher education, St. Mary's University is committed to serve those groups who are in greatest need of its ministries by working alongside civic and religious groups to make the research and scholarly reflections of its faculty available to all.