Seton Hall University Course on Gay "Marriage" to Proceed Despite Archbishop's Objections.

[mdgspencer]

Archbishop Myers among others is protesting that this Catholic university in his diocese is proceeding with a course given by a gay professor that presents gay marriage as legitimate, contrary to what the Catholic Churches teaches. Though the archbishop is on the board over the school, the university is openly rejecting the archbishop’s protests about what he calls a denial of authentic Catholic teaching at this Catholic school.
see www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=1501

 

[Julia_Mae]

Archbishop Myers among others is protesting that this Catholic university in his diocese is proceeding with a course given by a gay professor that presents gay marriage as legitimate, contrary to what the Catholic Churches teaches. Though the archbishop is on the board over the school, the university is openly rejecting the archbishop’s protests about what he calls a denial of authentic Catholic teaching at this Catholic school.
see www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=1501

Well, not exactly, I don’t think… This is from the article:

Professor W. King Mott’s course, “The Politics of Gay Marriage,” is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 31. The controversial professor acknowledged that the course, which will present the “marriage” of same-sex couples as a matter of legitimate public debate within a Catholic educational context, had drawn opposition, most notably from the archbishop.

Read more: ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=1501#ixzz1gkxpzWWR

So as I understand it, he wants to explore issues, not promote gay marriage. And the Arcdiocese doesn’t seem to have authority here. Not sure how that works.

 

[LiveCatholic]

Archbishop Myers among others is protesting that this Catholic university in his diocese is proceeding with a course given by a gay professor that presents gay marriage as legitimate, contrary to what the Catholic Churches teaches. Though the archbishop is on the board over the school, the university is openly rejecting the archbishop’s protests about what he calls a denial of authentic Catholic teaching at this Catholic school.
see www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=1501

ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=1193 [Diocese of Peoria to meet with university officials over fired professor]

Look at a similar case, in which the secularist ideology is ‘challenged’ by a university professor (University of Illinois)–and only hypothetically–explaining Catholic positions on homosexuality in a Catholicism course, and the professor is instantly barred from teaching in any capacity.

This is an ideological war, and its being waged by people who view it as such. That is, the people who know that there is one answer: the Truth.

 

[LiveCatholic]

Well, not exactly, I don’t think… This is from the article:

So as I understand it, he wants to explore issues, not promote gay marriage. And the Arcdiocese doesn’t seem to have authority here. Not sure how that works.

This is the equivalent of a man attempting to ‘explain the issues’ of squaring a circle, without reference to geometry.

If this kind of nonsense continues, Seton Hall needs to drop this: shu.edu/catholic-mission/index.cfm act, and start calling a spade a spade.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

And the Arcdiocese doesn’t seem to have authority here. Not sure how that works.

Not exactly. Seton Hall University is a diocesan university. There are probably issues of governance involving canon and civil laws. However, I’d find it strange that a diocese has zero authority in a diocesan school.

 

[meltzerboy]

Well, not exactly, I don’t think… This is from the article:

So as I understand it, he wants to explore issues, not promote gay marriage. And the Arcdiocese doesn’t seem to have authority here. Not sure how that works.

Although this is a Catholic institution, it is also a University, so that academic freedom of speech and discussion applies. However, the professor, himself openly gay, must make every effort to avoid personal bias in discussing the issues. Furthermore, it should be made clear what the Catholic position is so that students are not misinformed or confused about what the Church teaches. And the professor must also specify what the objectives of the course are, such as the dissemination of information on the issue from a legal, social policy, religious, and moral standpoint. I don’t think students should be shielded from knowledge and public debate on controversial social topics, provided, that is, the professor knows what he’s doing.

 

[LiveCatholic]

Although this is a Catholic institution, it is also a University, so that academic freedom of speech and discussion applies. …

What you’ve written is correct and even-handed. …

… but there’s a time and a place for everything, and right now there’s (a) an atmosphere where the positions favored by homosexual rights advocates are increasingly normative for all of us, and (b) Catholic universities are cleaving from the model set out in Ex Corde Ecclesiae and their Catholic heritage. Therefore, its troubling that the department in question did not see fit to use their finite amount of speech and discussion towards a more distinctly Catholic approach to this issue.

 

[Dale_M]

The article in the first post is dated August 2010. Since that time, the undergraduate course in Political Science has been taught twice.

The archbishop’s statement of objection was made several months before the course was taught. He mentions that the Board of Trustees (which he heads) asked the Board of Regents “to investigate the matter of this proposed course, and to take whatever action is required under the law to protect the Catholicity of this university.” Here is the archbishop’s statement:
rcan.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_id=1741

In response, Larry Robinson, Seton Hall’s vice provost, was quoted in the local newspaper:

“The initial review at the departmental level and at the dean’s level suggests that the course is not an advocacy course … but a ‘special topics’ course to objectively examine a significant current public policy issue,” Robinson said. “Thus, we fully anticipate that the Catholic position on same-sex marriage will be explored.”

nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/seton_hall_to_hold_first_gay_c.html

In April, 2011 a report was submitted from the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Freedom to the Faculty Senate. It observed about the Fall 2010 course:

The course ran and was fully enrolled. Professor Mott reported, “I experienced unwavering support from my academic colleagues including my departmental chairperson, the dean and the provost.” Neither Professor Mott, nor the department chairperson, Professor Jeffrey M. Togman, were ever asked to cancel the course by university officials.

academic.shu.edu/senate/AcadFreedom_report_Apr2011.pdf

According to the EWTN article in the first post, the professor intended the course to examine the topic from all sides. However, the archbishop objected to Catholicism being treated as merely one of many supposedly valid viewpoints, within the context of a Catholic university.

Presumably, since the course has been taught twice, the professor has been true to his word. He taught a course about an issue much in the current news and avoided advocacy. And the university administration is comfortable with his handling of the topic.

But that still leaves us with the archbishop’s objection regarding the nature of a Catholic university and whether non-theological courses should be allowed to question Catholic teaching. I am thinking that the archbishop might (and I am speculating) be comfortable with an “all sides considered” approach if at the end of the course, Catholic teaching is reaffirmed as the correct answer.