Renewing Catholic Higher Education | June 17, 2011 |
What a grand month of June! On Monday, the new president of The Catholic University of America announced that he would put an end to 30 years of co-ed dorms to reduce drinking and sexual activity.That comes less than a week after Notre Dame trustee Roxanne Martino resigned, following The Cardinal Newman Society's revelations that she donated thousands to the pro-abortion Emily's List.And now we have a report that Bishop Rhoades, the new bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, met privately with Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins prior to Martino's resignation!The CUA and Notre Dame developments are flip sides of the same coin—the renewal of Catholic higher education is underway. The Holy Spirit is moving, and we just have to keep struggling (and praying!) to prevent the secular culture from overwhelming it.Certainly we face serious challenges. Our new report on the "hook-up" culture on Catholic campuses finds that noncommittal, physical activity "has become the dominant script for forming sexual and romantic relationships on Catholic and secular campuses."Please, won't you keep The Cardinal Newman Society in your prayers? Urge St. Michael's intercession for this work of rooting out scandal, and the prayers of our patron Blessed John Henry Newman for the task of rebuilding Catholic education.Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! (And please, do continue to help us when you can!)Patrick J. Reilly President, The Cardinal Newman SocietyP.S. You may be interested in the substantial media coverage of both developments. I recommend the following:National Catholic Register – What Notre Dame's Trustee Resignation Means for the University Wall Street Journal – Why We're Going Back to Single-Sex Dorms Crisis Magazine – Catholic University Trusts Its Students The Cardinal Newman Society The Cardinal Newman Society |
Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.