Ave Maria University is a Catholic university founded in 2003 by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, growing out of Ave Maria College, which he had established in Michigan in 1998. With an initial $250 million donation from Monaghan and a land gift from the Barron Collier family, the university built a permanent campus at the heart of the purpose-built town of Ave Maria in Southwest Florida, dedicating its Oratory in 2007. The university describes itself as faithful to the Catholic Church's Magisterium and to Pope John Paul II's vision for Catholic higher education.