College life, like high school and every period, is a time of spiritual drama and combat. Spiritual life is never static, inert, or steady: there is always advancement toward God or decline into sin. God's grace is always at work; but so are the dark powers of the world, the flesh and the devil. Every day we are being pulled toward the kingdom of heaven or down into the swamp of sin. One might even be advancing in one area but declining in another: imagine someone who is engaging in service of the poor but also cohabitating and not praying or attending mass: an advance on one front, a retreat on another.
A typical scenario: an 18 year old from a good Catholic family goes away to school and is drawn into the notorious "dorm/party" culture of alcohol and promiscuity; stops mass attendance and prayer; imbibes secular, progressive ideas and comes to disparage Catholicism. The family pays hundreds of thousands of dollars and gets: loss of faith, disgust for the Church, possibly an alcohol and/or sex addiction, and sometimes lack of career preparation or ambition. Catholic colleges often are not better, and can be worse. College is a dangerous place! Some history of higher education follows.
Secular Universities
We recall that most of the prestigious schools, especially the Ivy's, started as seriously religious, Protestant and mostly Calvinist. In the course of time they secularized and detached from Christianity. In the 60s, along with the broader culture, they radicalized and largely adopted anti-Christian ideologies of the left: Marxism, sexual liberation, pro-abortion feminism, an atheism more or less explicit, an idolatry of science/technology/achievement/success, and a progressivism contemptuous of religious tradition.
Catholic Schools
Prior to the 1960s, the Catholic community kept its own separate college system. As part of the "Catholic ghetto," clearly defined against mainstream (historically anti-Catholic) Protestantism, it included courses in philosophy and theology which articulated, clarified and deepened the faith. It was considered academically inferior to the better secular schools. A lively debate erupted in the 1950s and early 1960s about this perceived inferiority status. But in the post war period of 1945-65, Catholicism, including its colleges, was warmly welcomed into mainstream middle class culture even as it retained Catholic practice and theology.
Vatican II, Land of Lakes Conference and Mimetic Envy of the Ivy's
A sea change occurred, however, in the wake of Vatican II. That historical event had two foci: engagement with the contemporary world and a renewal in Christ through return to the sources of Scripture and Tradition. In American Catholic higher education the first came to dominate: a fascination with contemporary, elite culture. Tragically, this uncritical embrace by a now more liberal Catholicism of secularism occurred at the exact moment when that culture itself was turning radically away from it's Christian past. This catastrophe was most pronounced in Catholic higher education, especially the more prestigious, pretentious schools.
In the post-war years of 1945-65 Catholics increasingly accultured into middle class society and attained acceptance and prestige as the "ghetto" dissolved. Largely without clear deliberation, they also succumbed to the above noted academic "inferiority complex" and desired to emulate the more esteemed institutions that were at that moment secularizing radically. Sadly, we must admit that there was some credence to the inferiority accusation when we see how broadly (with exceptions) Catholic academia abandoned i'st treasured legacy to mimic the seculars.
This trend prevailed after 1965 but had a defining moment in the Land O' Lakes Conference in July, 1967. Fr. Theodore Hesburg of Notre Dame convened leaders from the more important Catholic schools (Boston College, Fordham, Georgetown, Catholic University and others) and together they declared a hard academic freedom free from any external authority, including that of the Church. With this disastrous decision, they divorced the academy from the Church. They adopted a secular model. They surrendered Catholic identity in order to imitate the higher status schools.
Sidebar: It is worth noting that at this very time Notre Dame was accepting money from the Ford Foundation and others for summer conferences on the need for widespread contraception in the face of a feared "population explosion." They happily jettisoned the Catholic view of sexuality/fertility in dread of a crisis that did not develop. Indeed, we are now facing a demographic winter as, across the West, Russia, China and Japan, there are not enough younger people to support the expanding older generation. The Ford and other WASP (white-anglo-saxon-protestant) foundations were at the time terrified of the demographic fertility of Catholics and Afro-Americans who threatened their hegemony. The WASP campaign succeeded fabulously, with the collaboration of Hesburg, as Catholics (despite Humanae Vitae) and Blacks went on to contracept and then abort at very high proportions.
Sidebar to Sidebar: Fr. Hesburg was in many ways a devout, devoted, and extremely gifted priest-leader but seriously flawed by an unconscious compulsion to gain the esteem of the ruling, liberal, post-Protestant elite. In this he is emblematic of Catholic higher education of the last 55 years.
Another Sidebar: In these same years large amounts of federal money became available to colleges so the secularization process (e.g. taking crucifixes off walls) was intensified by impulse to growth and desire for funds.
And so we see the widespread imitation of secular schools in their worst aspects: acceptance of secular ideologies and rejection of Church tradition; loss of Catholic identity in teaching and practice; embrace of "dorm culture" and cultural/sexual liberalism.
This idea of "absolute academic freedom" is untenable as every scholar and institution already starts from some philosophical posture. This can be scientific, political, religious. So what happened across Catholic education was the widespread rejection of the faith in favor of alternate commitments to technology, science, career advancement, and ideologies of the Left.
Catholic Reaction Schools and "Ex Corde Ecclesiae"
A very small number of very small schools resisted this trajectory to assert, firmly, a counter-cultural Catholicism. Such maintained a Catholic ambience of prayer, liturgy, theology, concern for helpless human life, encouragement to chastity, openness to vocations of marriage/priesthood/religious life, and interest in the humanities and classics
Franciscan University of Steubenville is noteworthy: it was on the brink of collapse when taken over by Fr. Michael Scanlon, a gifted, charismatic, Franciscan friar. He led the community in the opposite direction from the mainstream: dormitories centered in prayer and the sense of Christ, an exceptional Catholic theology program, a warm welcome to forms of traditional Catholicism no longer received by the Academy such as pro-life movement, homeschooling families, charismatic and other renewal movements. This campus is on fire with Catholic zeal, in a number of ways. Recently I attended a political conference on the emergence of an economic populism on the Right; that same weekend hosted a vocations conference and another political conference. A visit to the adoration chapel (open around the clock) at 10 PM on a Saturday night finds 10 to 20 students in prayer. Just this morning (Oct. 21, 2023) I read that in response to the crisis of anger on college campuses, this passionately Catholic campus is offering a special program for Jewish students who feel unsafe on their campuses. This entails arrangements for synagogue worship, kosher food, and distance learning. It reflects the intense love for Jews in the Catholic Church, since the Council, without prejudice against Muslims and Palestinians.
Other schools are smaller and maintain a family feel with focus on the classics: Thomas Aquinas College, Magdallen College, Christendom, Belmont Abbey, Wyoming Catholic, and others.
Larger schools which retain a thick Catholic identity include: Catholic University of America, University of Dallas, Benedictine, and Ave Maria.
In 1990, Pope John Paul issued an authoritative apostolic constitution "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" in which he affirmed that an authentic Catholic college is guided by our faith. It was a direct contradiction of the Land O' Lakes Statement and a clear articulation of Catholic academic identity.
Elite Catholic Progressive Schools
Most of the more prestigious, competitive Catholic schools by 1990 were all the way down the path of secularization and completely ignored Ex Corde Ecclesiae. For example, the Pope asked that teachers of theology be certified by their bishops as clear teachers of the faith. At that time I myself was teaching theology as an adjunct at Caldwell College; I requested that certification and was proud of it. That directive was ignored, along with the entire document, by most schools.
Emulating the elite schools, aspiring universities watered down Catholic identity, qualified for large amounts of federal money, expanded, focused on career goals and research. Worst of all, they abandoned "hiring for (Catholic) mission" and instead hired the most prestigious professors, with the right degrees from the right schools. They became imitations of the seculars with a flavoring of Catholicism, especially in areas like social justice congenial to leftist progressivism.
The hard scientific, engineering fields are largely oblivious to the Culture War and less affected by the ideologies of the liberational, progressive revolution of the 1960s. Not so with the humanities. Literature and history largely surrendered to hermeneutics of deconstruction and skepticism along with radical ideologies. The social sciences, especially psychology, systemically embraced an underlying philosophy of moral relativism and agnosticism. Jared Crawford, husband of cousin Christine Polycastro Crawford, himself a liberal professor of psychology, interestingly did his dissertation on the pronounced liberal bias in the discipline of psychology. It is well known that more than 90% or psychology professors self-identify as liberal. Whether due to self-selection or bias in hiring, it has become unheard of for a psychologist with conservative beliefs to pursue a career in academic psychology.
Theology departments of these liberal schools consistently deliver a progressive alternate to Catholicism as received from earlier generations: deconstructive of gender and the masculine priesthood, sympathetic to legal abortion, liberal/relativistic in sexual morality, devoted to identity politics including the militant homosexual agenda and critical race theory, dismissive of the supernatural, and accommodating of the secular culture.
Interestingly, some schools have philosophy departments (Fordham, Boston College) that are more lucidly Catholic than the theology programs.
These progressive Catholic schools have many worthwhile assets: tremendous scholars and students, athletic programs, solid academic departments, career opportunities, social justice activities and others. The danger is that the theology departments are systemically hostile to traditional Catholicism, disparaging it as chauvinist, homophobic, reactionary, legalistic and ignorant. These same biases prevail largely in the humanities, history and social sciences.
There may be many good reasons for you to chose such a school. I simply urge you to be vigilant and alert to the oftentimes subtle attacks upon our faith. These schools are actually more dangerous than the purely secular ones in that they do not merely attack our faith, but they costume these assaults in an appealing, progressive synthesis that postures itself as a superior, enlightened, modern kind of Catholicism. It is in truth an alternate to our faith as received; but that reality is unrecognized or disguised.
Catholic Counter Culture in the Secular University
From the Catholic perspective, the advantage of a strictly secular, even neo-pagan university, is that the overt hostility may elicit a strong reaction of faith from the student. Oftentimes, such places cultivate small Catholic communities of resistance.
Fr. Joe Laracy studied computing engineering at the University of Illinois in a technical program in a huge, secular institution. He benefited immensely, however, from a fierce Catholic Newman Club, run by a charismatic Monsignor Swetlan, graduate of the Naval Academy and John Paul Institute. A scientist-theologian, he became mentor to the student Joe Laracy and shared an intellectually vigorous, spiritually rich Catholic faith. Such programs are also common on Ivy campuses, where faith and intellectuality merge in a strong mixture in resistance to a hostile environment.
Families in the stronger renewal movements (Charismatic and Neocatechumenal Way) often prefer to send their children to such secular schools where they are not vulnerable to the Catholic-flavored progressivism prevailing on Catholic campuses. Additionally, they avoid "dorm culture" and keep their children close to family and faith community.
Mixed Catholic Campuses
We have considered two strongly contrasting, mutually contradictory models: the progressive and the countercultural/conservative. Most schools, however, are a mixture of elements of both; with countervailing and contradictory dynamics regarding the faith. Such harbor quite a variety: party culture, sports, academic and professional programs, various levels of status, and communities of faith. Our family has familiarity with a number of such schools, mostly in the Northeast.
Seton Hall University. As a diocesan and institutionally Catholic school, "the Hall" boasts a respected seminary, Judaeo-Christian Studies and Catholic Studies programs as well as a litany of past luminaries: Ostereicher, Dougherty, Laki, Finkel, Frizell, Liddy, Guarino, and others. It is a rich source of Catholic study and life for those who seek that, even as it is a typical bourgeois "party school." It's flaw, typical of such mixed schools, was identified by my sister, Margaret Laracy Smolin, in her doctoral dissertation on the implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae there: the failure to "hire for mission" in the academic disciplines and administration. Preferring secular status to Catholic commitment, the school, over time, systemically, has created an imitation of the secular model. For example, some years ago when Archbishop Meyers wanted to appoint his friend Monsignor Swetland (mentioned above as mentor to Fr. Joe), the pushback of the faculty was so fierce that he had to defer. This school continues to offer an abundance of Catholic riches, but with the passing of time the powerful forces of liberalization seem to increasingly prevail. Immaculate Conception Seminary offers a solid theology program, but the Religious Studies Department is very progressive; the Catholic Studies program offers an intelligent, moderate liberalism, while the Judaeo-Christian program is rich in historical appreciation for Judaism but tends to soft pedal classical aspects of Catholicism. Not long ago, the self-support group for homosexuals seeking chastity, Courage, was cancelled on the campus as homophobic. Reflective of the broader Church, Seton Hall offers strong expressions of Catholicism along with intense disgust for its practice and teaching. (With 10 family members have studied or taught there, our connection with this school is long and close, but not untroubled.)
St. Peter's University. (With 11 members of our family having studied or taught there, our connection with this school is also long, close, and not untroubled.) A smaller, Jesuit school with a respected past, this now serves a more urban and low-income population. My children benefited from generous financial packages, intense involvement in student life and athletics in a tough urban ambience, and rich friendships with admirable Jesuit scholars. Our family endowed a modest Alwyn Remmele Scholarship, intended for as need-based for a student suffering from anxiety or mental illness. In 2008, to my own distress, the school hosted a campaign talk by Barak Obama whose support for abortion, even partial birth, glaringly contradicts Catholic respect for life. That event deeply offended me. Yet, to this day the St. Peter's Campus Ministry Kitchen provides a meal for our Magnificat Home every week. It is another good example of a mixed school.
(BTW: All six of our married children met their spouses at their colleges! How cool is that? But that is not to say that you go to a Catholic school to meet a mate!)
Mount St. Mary's, Emmitsburg, This mid-sized school, set in historic, rural Maryland near Gettysburg has a rich legacy, including a highly respected seminary, the gorgeous Marian ghetto, and the breathtaking shrine of St. Elizabeth Seton. It's Catholic identity remains relatively thick, including a fine philosophy program. (With 8 family members graduated there, our family connection is close, strong and basically untroubled.)
DeSales University of Allentown Our Clare met her husband Dave there and she received an excellent professional preparation for a career as a Physican's Assistant as well as some depth theology study in the thought of St. John Paul and the Theology of Marriage. To my knowledge, it retains a Catholic identity, along with the party atmosphere and pressures from the progressive Left.
University of Notre Dame As the uncontested premier Catholic University, this is also the quintessential mixed school. It represents the entire American Church, in its progressive and conservative expressions. It upholds traditional values even as it continues the Hesburg legacy of imitation of the seculars. Our Margaret Rose probably earned her valedictory status through her engagement in such a wide range of activities: social justice institute, teaching of ESL, semester in Chile in identification with poor, friendship with Legionnaires of Christ, and other. Their theology department is huge and diverse, offering every imaginable flavor of theology: Thomistic, liberation feminist, patristic, "resourcement," and other. It lacks the cohesive, integrated Catholic theological ethos available at Franciscan University or the graduate program of the John Paul Institute. It honored then-President Obama, to the consternation of conservatives like myself.
Other schools we know which are mixed in this fashion are Felician, Caldwell and Assumption. These are smaller, less prestigious, but similarly preserve a genuine Catholic core in the face of pressures to accommodate to woke culture.
I personally cherish a long, close connection with both Seton Hall and St. Peter's, both are "family" to me, but both have left me betrayed and disappointed. The University of Notre Dame elicits a similar, if lessor ambivalence. More satisfying is our strong connection with Mount St. Mary's which has given us three children-in-law, retains a clear Catholic identity, offers a solid academic program (particularly in philosophy), and carries a rich historic and religious legacy. Positive thoughts also pertain to smaller, admirable Catholic colleges of Caldwell, Felician and DeSales...including warm associations with the Dominican and Felician sisters.
Conclusion
This essay is not to endorse or condemn any schools.
Although, to be honest, I would love someone to go to Franciscan University, that flaming torch of deep, Catholic life. (It became a joke with our daughters' counselor as I brought each girl there but none chose the school.) Oh yes, I would shudder at a theology degree from a prestigious liberal school!
There is a mountain of considerations for your choice: cost, aid and scholarship package, sports, status, academic excellence, distance from home, large/small, urban/rural/suburban, Catholic/secular, social atmosphere, demographic mixture.
Choosing a college can be (but not always) an intuitive, subjective, personal, moral and artistic decision. It is not always entirely deliberative and cognitive. It can resemble accepting a friendship, falling in love, hearing a religious call. My realtor-friend, Joe Napolitano of happy memory, told me that frequently a woman will look at a house, without entering it or learning about it, and fall in love at first sight, like a man and woman in a romantic comedy. And so your choice may be a matter-of-fact, practical, realistic evaluation of facts. Or, it may be a mysterious surrender to what you sense as True, Good and Beautiful, about a specific school, whether prestigious or humble and unpretentious.
As your grandfather, I am most concerned with your spiritual life. None of the schools are all good; none are all bad. For example, at my own favorite, Franciscan, I recall student comments reflecting a tone of superiority that I found offensive. Also, browsing their bookstore I marveled at the breath and depth of Catholic literature, but I missed seeing a little of Marx, Freud and Nietzsche who are the great masters of suspicion, our antagonists, but also geniuses with deep insights to offer. Contrariwise, the most woke schools will surely offer rich countercultures of Catholic life and thought.
I have every confidence that your faith is deep and that you will flourish in whatever school you choose, rejecting the weeds but benefiting from the wheat.
God bless you!
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