Don’t Give Up On The Jesuits

An excellent article published in The Hoya entitled “How Georgetown Can Stay Catholic” is worth reading. This seems to be a nationwide issue that is reaching critical mass.

“Give up on Georgetown. It’s not a Catholic university anymore,” an alumnus told me recently.

Yes, yes, I’ve heard, and participated in, the “Georgetown is losing its identity” lament for years, but why such cynicism? Do people only attend this university because of its U.S. News and World Report ranking? Look at the crucifixes in the classrooms; Jesus’ words, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” hold an entirely new meaning. We have come to the point where our own alma mater’s identity is as shallow as the butt of a poor Jesuit joke.

Georgetown’s “Catholic and Jesuit identity” is not a mere pitch for the Admissions Office and should not be defined as simply “Jesuit professors,” “social justice” or “why my student group gets no money.” My alma mater has struggled to find herself as a university as she has grown in size and scope, expanding her faculty and stretching from the Hilltop to the other Hill across the District.

Georgetown needs to reclaim it’s rightful status as the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university, and there are several necessary steps to do so.

Firstly, don’t fund things that contradict the Catechism. Georgetown tuition funds should not go to support or promote interests that contradict Catholic values directly or indirectly, such as providing bandwidth for the LGBTQ marriage agenda (in the form of Georgetown Law professor Chai Feldblum’s Moral Values Project), as that would be support for activities directly contradicting Catholic values by a Catholic institution. If anyone disagrees with the Pope or Catechism, there are venues to discuss the issues, such as tabling in Red Square, holding class discussions or writing into the newspaper about it, rather than using Georgetown’s official resources intended for the creation of Georgetown’s official representation.

Being respectful and accepting of Catholic values should be an integral part of the campus life. Why did Jane McAuliffe, the dean of Georgetown College, feel the need to explain the actions of Cardinal Francis Arinze for opposing homosexual marriage made at the College commencement ceremony in 2003? I hardly have to mention the issue of the Law Center funding internships for students working for organizations promoting abortion. But this is not a stand-alone issue, and is symptomatic of Georgetown’s divergence from its Catholic identity.

You can read the rest here.