Catholic Colleges and Universities

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Will_B

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One of my daughters just transferred from one Catholic University to another. Boy, what a difference…

The first university, just across the Ohio River, was full of the Holy Spirit… All the students were very reverent and very must in love with Our Lord… They loved Life… The entire (almost) student body were very active in defending life, from conception to natural death… Our Family Loved this school.

The second university, on the East Coast, seems like it’s run by pagans… 80% of the student body have posters on their dorm doors supporting the candidate that favors abortion. To make matters worse, the political science department seems to support the abortion agenda… Prayer is unheard of before class begins… The chapel on campus is reserve for a few sisters (nuns) that still reside in the convent, so the faithful Catholic Students walk down the street to another Catholic Church for Mass, Confession, and other spiritual needs.

The second university is so far out of step with the Vatican that it should resign from the Catholic Church…

Is this the norm… A handful of faithful universities and the rest just wear the symbols, but don’t practice the teaching of the Church???
 
Yes, that is the norm. However…there are some catholic schools that still have a smallish set of kids who are faithful, and if you get a good one, it can be a boon to one’s spiritual life and a challenge to grow stronger at the same time.
Does your son like his school? I live in the MD area, and I attend one of the schools I just described…it works fine for the right person. 🙂
 
I think a lot of religiously-affiliated universities are like this.

I went to a Lutheran college, and while there were some religious requirements like a Bible history class, a faith class, and Church once a month, it was not very Christian at all. Most of the professors in the department where I received my major were aethetists or agnostic. I think this was the standard at the school. It was a HUGE party school. The pro-choice organization on campus was the largest organization at the school.

Most academics tend to be more liberal with their beliefs. I think it is just becoming the norm. However, if your child is well-founded in his/her faith then it shouldn’t matter. Every school has churches near by if not on campus and has the opportunity for religion classes (if it isn’t a public university).
 
thenewmrssears said:
I think a lot of religiously-affiliated universities are like this.

I went to a Lutheran college, and while there were some religious requirements like a Bible history class, a faith class, and Church once a month, it was not very Christian at all. Most of the professors in the department where I received my major were aethetists or agnostic. I think this was the standard at the school. It was a HUGE party school. The pro-choice organization on campus was the largest organization at the school.

Most academics tend to be more liberal with their beliefs. I think it is just becoming the norm. However, if your child is well-founded in his/her faith then it shouldn’t matter. Every school has churches near by if not on campus and has the opportunity for religion classes (if it isn’t a public university).
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Both Universities say they are Catholic, not just affiliated with the church…

I know one college in Maryland just changed their name, and dropped the association with the Catholic Church… However the one my Daughter attends in not just affiliated with, they say they are Catholic…

To be Catholic and Pro-choice just isn’t right…
 
As I noted in another thread, I went to Trinity, a nominally Episcopal college, in Connecticut. Nancy Pelosi went to Trinity, a nominally Catholic college, in D.C.
 
I attended Loyola University in Chicago. It’s a Jesuit school. It had a Catholic Church on campus with convenient mass times for students who like to sleep in (I think the first was around 10pm and then a couple in the afternoon and a couple in the evening and then one at around 10pm), it was always open and had regular confession hours. The Jesuit residence had a chapel and there was almost always a daily mass available for those who wanted to attend one. One of the male residences had a chapel that a priest said mass in every Sunday night at 9pm. In other words, if you wanted your Sacraments, they were abundantly available.

The university also had a core curriculum requiring 3 courses in theology, 3 in philosophy and other requirements.

But they didn’t hammer you over the head with Catholicism. As an individual student you could choose whether to go to mass or not. You could choose a course on Church and Sacrament or a course in Old Testament or a comparative religion class or what not. There was no prayer in class (well, other than the silent desperate student kind) or proselytizing of students by instructors. The students were free to support whatever politicians or entertainers they wanted.

Due to this freedom, the school had a lot of non-Catholic students attending, too. So it had a Jewish student’s group, an Orthodox student’s group, a Muslim student group…
 
Will_B said:
One of my daughters just transferred from one Catholic University to another. Boy, what a difference…

The first university, just across the Ohio River, was full of the Holy Spirit… All the students were very reverent and very must in love with Our Lord… They loved Life… The entire (almost) student body were very active in defending life, from conception to natural death… Our Family Loved this school.

The second university, on the East Coast, seems like it’s run by pagans… 80% of the student body have posters on their dorm doors supporting the candidate that favors abortion. To make matters worse, the political science department seems to support the abortion agenda… Prayer is unheard of before class begins… The chapel on campus is reserve for a few sisters (nuns) that still reside in the convent, so the faithful Catholic Students walk down the street to another Catholic Church for Mass, Confession, and other spiritual needs.

The second university is so far out of step with the Vatican that it should resign from the Catholic Church…

Is this the norm… A handful of faithful universities and the rest just wear the symbols, but don’t practice the teaching of the Church???
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Sounds like a radical, left-leaning, ‘Catholic’ university, the kind the Marxist variety of Liberation Theology would promote. Time to transfer.
 
My son is a freshman at Notre Dame. I was very nervous about how we would find the lifestyle there, and whether there would be genuine support for his Catholic faith. It is a VERY interesting place. If you look at it from one side, that of the “pagan” lifestyle of the majority of students, you come away thinking this is NO place for a “real” Catholic. But if you look at from the side of the self-proclaimed mission of the school (as we heard very clearly from the top administrators at the orientation weekend), the presence of the Blessed Sacrament reserved in EVERY residence hall, the huge number of opportunities for faith building–well, my husband and I came away from there very, very impressed, absolutely convinced this was the right place for our son.

Now, what Notre Dame has that many so-called Catholic universities and colleges do not have is a clear Catholic mission. It is so strong that it is turning the tide of the student body, like the rudder of a huge ship, slowly, almost imperceptibly, but strongly and steadily so that the Notre Dame of today is so much better than what it was 10 years ago.

My point is you have to look at many sides of a college, know what you want from it, and see, if perhaps in places you never thought to look, God just might have something good going on.

EM
 
Hi

I am new to this site and wanted to say hello. You are right about Catholic universities. Right now I know of at lkeast one young student who is looking for a University - preferably small - anywhere in the world where the Catholic values are still in force and where he can find a very supportive and friendly, motivating environment. He is interested in Informatics and likes making web sites, He came to me, I guess beceuase, he was at a loss, not knowing exactly what his natural talents were. Any body can help please? Thanks you.
 
Hi

I am new to this site and wanted to say hello. You are right about Catholic universities. Right now I know of at least one young student who is looking for a University - preferably small - anywhere in the world where the Catholic values are still in force and where he can find a very supportive and friendly, motivating environment. He is interested in Informatics and likes making web sites, He came to me, I guess because, he was at a loss, not knowing exactly what his natural talents were. Any body can help please? Thank you
 
Back in the late 80’s I attended the small Catholic university (1,500 studnts?) just across the Ohio River. At the time, there were more theology students there than Catholic U and Notre Dame combined.
 
Bright_Orion said:
Hi

I am new to this site and wanted to say hello. You are right about Catholic universities. Right now I know of at least one young student who is looking for a University - preferably small - anywhere in the world where the Catholic values are still in force and where he can find a very supportive and friendly, motivating environment. He is interested in Informatics and likes making web sites, He came to me, I guess because, he was at a loss, not knowing exactly what his natural talents were. Any body can help please? Thank you
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John Paul the Great Catholic University is an interesting place. jpcatholic.com/

I have a good friend who taught communications there.

EM
 
a_cermak said:
I attended Loyola University in Chicago. It’s a Jesuit school. It had a Catholic Church on campus with convenient mass times for students who like to sleep in (I think the first was around 10pm and then a couple in the afternoon and a couple in the evening and then one at around 10pm), it was always open and had regular confession hours. The Jesuit residence had a chapel and there was almost always a daily mass available for those who wanted to attend one. One of the male residences had a chapel that a priest said mass in every Sunday night at 9pm. In other words, if you wanted your Sacraments, they were abundantly available.

The university also had a core curriculum requiring 3 courses in theology, 3 in philosophy and other requirements.

But they didn’t hammer you over the head with Catholicism. As an individual student you could choose whether to go to mass or not. You could choose a course on Church and Sacrament or a course in Old Testament or a comparative religion class or what not. There was no prayer in class (well, other than the silent desperate student kind) or proselytizing of students by instructors. The students were free to support whatever politicians or entertainers they wanted.

Due to this freedom, the school had a lot of non-Catholic students attending, too. So it had a Jewish student’s group, an Orthodox student’s group, a Muslim student group…
Click to expand...
Sounds like my Jesuit school (University of Detroit Mercy). I loved that my physics class was taught by a Hindu in a classroom with a Crucifix on the wall. 😃 He had no problem with this, and I think he liked teaching at a university where he could really serve his students and be involved in community outreach and service, where it was not considered strange to be a scientist and person of faith. In fact, that was the impression I received from all of the faculty, Catholic or not.

The mission of the university is to serve in Christ the surrounding community by providing quality higher education in a Catholic environment. I had the opportunity to interact with students from all races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and I think most of them took away a respect for the Church. I was also able to interact with several professors who were either clergy or active lay Catholic parishoners, and see how they were able to integrate their faith into their careers and lives. It was cool to go to school on Ash Wednesday and see, for example, the analytical chem prof walking around with ashes on her forehead because she’d been to early Mass. It was also cool to discuss things like Pre-Cana with my physiology prof and parish life with my biochem profs (my advisor was an RCIA sponsor). Yes, UDM was not as Catholic-immersion as some schools, but it was light-years above the state school where I began my education in terms of faith, morality, and service to others. Now that I’m back in a secular university, working under a vocal atheist, I really appreciate that undergrad environment where people of faith were accepted as the norm.

Oh great, now I’ve gone and made myself homesick for my alma mater again. :o
 
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