In 1957, Sponga was named head of Woodstock College, the Jesuit theological center in Maryland, and the rector of its Jesuit community. At thirty-nine years of age, he became the youngest president of the College since it was founded in 1869. Under Sponga's supervision, Woodstock College recruited a number of well known theologians, including Father John Courtney Murray, S.J. He served as Woodstock's president for six years until he was appointed the president of the University of Scranton in 1963.
