Blackfriars is a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. Blackfriars houses three distinct institutions: the Priory of the Holy Spirit, the religious house of the friars, whose current prior is Robert Gay; Blackfriars Studium, the centre of theological studies of the English Province of the Dominican Friars (although it numbers members of other orders and lay people among its students and lecturers); and Blackfriars Hall, one of the constituent educational institutions of the University of Oxford. The current Regent of both the hall and studium is John O’Connor. The name Blackfriars is commonly used to denote a house of the Dominican Friars in Britain, a reference to the black-colored "cappa", which is part of their habit.