The University of Dallas is in its 52nd academic year. Since opening its doors in September 1956 with 96 students, the University has grown to over 3,000 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The original chapel, named in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, was located on the west side of campus and was used for daily Mass and private prayer until the opening of the Chapel of the Incarnation on March 24, 1985.

On August 15, 2001 the Diocese of Dallas changed the status of Chapel of the Incarnation to the Church of the Incarnation. This title indicates and emphasizes the churchs special status as a faith community that is centered not in a geographical setting, but rather on a university campus. The church has as its primary responsibility to serve the spiritual needs of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the university and all those others who choose it as their spiritual home.

As a Catholic faith community, it stands in a position of openness and of hospitality to all those who wish to worship here.