A Question of Identity

Recently my school has been celebrating its 125 anniversary. As part of that celebration, we have been discussing our identity as a Catholic liberal arts school. Somehow (not really sure how this happened) I was chosen to speak about Catholic identity on a panel of student. I attended three other lectures about it throughout this last quad, did a lot of thinking, reading, and a lot of casual discussing with professors and other students about it. I started out with a bunch of conflicting ideas and questions. By the time I had to speak, I had a whole new set of questions bouncing around, but I managed to work a lot of what I had been thinking about into my presentations, which I have posted below. The actual panel discussion went pretty well, although we barely scratched the surface. I hope the conversation continues and goes as well next year.

            I transferred to Aquinas College from a larger community college in one of the most unreligious states in the nation. As soon as I walked on campus here, I was aware and so very grateful to be at a small, Catholic college. It was a relief to be in an environment where faith and reason were not assumed to be at odds. Most importantly, I would have a community here that supported me as a whole person.

            George Weigle talked about how the distinct role of the Catholic college is to study and uphold the meaning and value of the human person. If the school succeeds in that, every student who walks on this campus will feel that respect. There are many places and people on campus who make this work. One good example is a class with Dr. Chesley. He walks into the class and reminds us that we are "Persons of quality." Even if we think it's a joke at first, our level of respect for ourselves and our class mates has been raised.

            However, this challenge of upholding the human person isn't something that we can check off our list as long as people are nice to each other. We have to be in a constant state of evaluation as we engage the world around us. As Weigle pointed out, the dominant culture tends to measure a person's value in utilitarian terms. Even while we study the messier side of humanity; all the things that can go wrong in the human body, mind, heart, and society, we have to preserve a firm belief that each human person has a dignity so deep that nothing can dislodge or diminish it. As a Catholic school, we have to boldly ask, “Do our activities, speakers, policies, and studies celebrate, or degrade the human person?”

            Sister Reid spoke about this kind of evaluation being part of the Dominican charism of study. We must evaluate our world by study and prayer, which become almost inseparable. She described a Dominican balance of personal study and reflection, and bringing the fruits of that to the community to draw from the wisdom, history and teachings of the Church. The Catholic church has all of this experience and history recorded for our education. There are always new challenges, but it would be foolish to ignore this resource.

            There is a lot of talk about what should or should not happen at a Catholic school. These are often really hot button issues. We should have no shame about using Catholic teaching to evaluate these issues. This means listening, (not silencing) understanding, and then comparing the message in question to the one we stand for as a Catholic school. It is very valuable for us students to learn that process, even if we aren't Catholic. We are all going to be faced, in our lives, with choices about what we want to be involved in or support. We need to learn how to discern if something is consonant or dissonant with our most deeply held convictions. I'd call that critical thinking, which is, after all, one of those selling points for the liberal arts education.

            So, a Catholic school is not one where everyone is Catholic and there is no disagreement. A Catholic school is in constant discussion, study and prayer to find truth and love among all the disagreements. That is an environment in which the human person; mind, body, and soul, is respected.

Here are the other three talks I attended and make reference to. Professor Eberle, Sr. Barbara Reid, George Weigel!