Taking the Check or Checking the Take

This essay studies the endowments of modern American colleges and universities. It examines the norms that govern the activities that affect the size of the endowment, specifically spending, acceptance of donations, and investment of endowment funds. The norms regulating the latter two are found to be insufficient, as is evidenced by their inconsistent application. However, American catholic colleges and universities apply the norms regulating investments more consistently than other schools. Catholic colleges' and universities' Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) practices are found to be rooted in the catholic church's official teaching on catholic universities as found in ex corde ecclesiae and the catechism of the catholic church. These documents suggest the need to develop, codify and apply even more rigorous norms governing the acceptance of donations and investment of endowment funds at every American catholic college and university.

Theology in the Catholic University

Major secular universities do not teach theology; they teach religious studies, if they teach anything about religion at all. It is impossible to imagine a Catholic university without theology. Four characteristics of Catholic theology show the unique contribution the discipline makes to Catholic higher education. False dichotomies are identified: critical or catechetical and faith or reason. This chapter describes the dramatic changes over the past sixty years in who teaches theology and what is taught to lay students at Catholic universities. Theologians need to address effectively the problem of widespread religious illiteracy among most college students. The Vatican document on Catholic higher education, Ex corde ecclesiae, offers a broad and demanding vision of the type of theological and moral education necessary for Catholic colleges and universities. The expectations of Catholic theologians in the academy and beyond it are daunting.

Humility and Courage

Examples of the ways in which Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor interacts with his peers and critics show both humility and courage. Taking the time to understand what other scholars have written, listening carefully to criticism, and responding respectfully and candidly to them are all indications of a humble maturity that too many faculty lack. Given that the academy today is typically more secular in its culture than that of the surrounding local colleges leads many faculty who are religious to censor themselves in ways that indicate a lack of courage—fearing that if a religious tradition influences one’s research, then that research is no longer academically respectable. Given that most Catholic colleges and universities established policies of academic freedom and tenure only in the 1960s, faculty today are quick to defend these policies and practices in ways that make it more difficult to see the value of the Catholic intellectual tradition and a positive and appropriately independent relationship with the global Catholic Church.

Conclusion

This chapter rehearses the arguments of the book, reaffirms the importance of the open circle model, and sees gains for Catholic higher education through academic freedom (as explained in chapter 8), engaging religious pluralism while teaching and researching Catholicism as an intellectual tradition. The chapter explains why the phrase “Catholic intellectual tradition” is used. It returns to the critical importance of the three north stars: Jesus (existential component of love and justice), Mary his mother (education, formation, and wisdom), and John Henry Newman (the continuing relevance of his Idea of a Catholic University). For Catholic colleges and universities to avoid going secular, as have most of the major mainline Protestant universities in the United States, the chapter underscores the critical importance of leadership, faculty recruitment and formation, and the Catholic intellectual tradition.

A University That Evangelizes?

After nearly a decade of consultation and discussion, the Vatican issued in 1990 its major statement on the identity and mission of Catholic colleges and universities, Ex corde ecclesiae. One of its claims was that a Catholic university should evangelize. This chapter explores various meanings of evangelization and asks how a Catholic university with academic freedom might evangelize.

Racial Inclusion and Justice at Catholic Colleges and Universities: From Tokenism to Participation

The chapter considers various elements of the discussion concerning racial equity and inclusion on college campuses today. It presents some statistics showing persistence of racism on college campuses today, higher education’s historical ties to slavery and white supremacy, the prevalence of micro-aggressions and racial battle fatigue, and some recent resistance to diversity and inclusivity on Catholic campuses. The author argues that Catholic social teaching requires moving beyond tokenism to promoting the equality and right to participation of people of color in all facets of campus life and offers some practical suggestions for achieving this goal. As in the case of U.S. higher education as a whole, some progress has been made at Catholic colleges and universities to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion of racially minoritized students, faculty, and staff. However, the author contends much work remains to be done.

Gender and LGBTQ Equality in the University

This chapter advances the argument that the Catholic social tradition, which includes the work of feminist theologians and ethicists, can point toward greater equity for women in the academy. This chapter also discusses the continuing need to create more inclusive campus communities for LGBTQ persons. The author contends that the issues that women face because of their gender and the LGBTQ community's ongoing struggle for equality are not the same and warrant more extensive treatment than can be offered in this book. However, the chapter aims to offer some insights about how CST can promote the dignity, equality, and full participation of women and LGBTQ persons in Catholic higher education. Ways in which Catholic colleges and universities have promoted equity and full participation of women and LGBTQ persons on their campuses are considered. The concluding section confronts the problem of sexual violence in campus, which the author contends is a severe affront to a person’s autonomy and right to fully participate in a community.

The Mission of Catholic Higher Education in the Age of the Corporatized University

This chapter problematizes the contemporary context in which Catholic colleges and universities operate in the United States, namely, that of corporatized higher education. It describes the corporatization of the modern University and its negative consequences, locating this phenomenon within the ascendancy of neoliberalism. The author argues that the corporatization of the university has infected higher education with hyperindividualistic practices and models imported from the business world, essentially creating a clash of values with the Catholic social tradition. This phenomenon hinders the ability of Catholic institutions to fulfil their mission, which includes creating an environment imbued with values and principles of CST such as respect for human rights, solidarity, and justice. This final section of this chapter introduces the reader to the values and principles of CST, which should inform the policies and practices of Catholic institutions and counteract the values of corporatized education.

Embodying Solidarity on Catholic Campuses: The Case of Worker Justice

This chapter focuses on the situation of adjunct faculty, the largest group of contingent faculty. The chapter presents what the author perceives to be the unjust, dire circumstances of these faculty members. The author appeals to the ideals of solidarity, justice, the option for the poor, the common good, and the workers’ rights tradition of Catholic social teaching to evaluate the adjunct situation. The situation of adjunct faculty is presented vis-à-vis expenditures on athletics and salaries of the highest paid university employees to raise the question of mission-oriented priorities. After describing the situation on the ground, the author argues that complicity in the unjust treatment of adjuncts at Catholic universities glaringly violates CST. Moreover, perpetuating this situation by appealing to its purported inevitability, budgetary constraints, or the excuse that “everybody else is doing it” seriously undercuts the mission of Catholic institutions of higher learning. After critiquing the efforts to prevent adjunct faculty from forming unions, which exacerbates an already unjust situation and runs the risk of causing scandal, the author turns to some of the positive steps taken at Catholic colleges and universities to improve the situation of adjunct faculty.