Back in the 'sixties there was a game show called You Don't Say! (whose host, Tom Kennedy, may well have been toothiest game show host in history, though with much competition, especially from the legendary Wink Martindale). In any event, Mr. Kennedy would always open (or close, I don't remember) the program with the pithy adage: "Remember, it's not what you say that counts, it's what you don't say!" Said pithy adage came to mind today upon learning, via the Cardinal Newman Society, a recent study found that on the home pages of Catholic college websites, more that 60% of them don’t identify the institution as being Catholic. It's as if they're embarrassed by it, or ashamed of it, or annoyed by it or worry they may scare off the atheists and the Moslems. Whatever.
In the end, however, those reticent Catholic colleges provide a useful service by their coyness. Prospective applicants (or their parents) who consider themselves orthodox may pretty much learn all they need to know about a putatively Catholic college and the sort of education it might offer if it is too squeamish to give even a cursory nod to the institution responsible for its very existence. They may safely click away from that site and look elsewhere. Should save them a lot of time.
3 comments:
And money. And the headache of having a kid who's been badly formed in the Faith.
When I was looking for a college -- my parents would pay for three applications, period -- Georgetown had a recruiting night in a local hotel. My father asked the (Jewish?) recruiter about the presence of the Jesuits on campus, and the recruiter replied: there are some, "but they won't bother you too much!" He laughed, which made the moment less awkward as no one else did.
Too tired to check out sites now but I can see this happening for two reasons: first, places like Georgetown and Manhattan College that have turned secular making a play for mainstream kids besides the ethnic Catholic children of alumni. (Marist College is officially no longer Catholic even though the Marist Fathers are still there.) Second, places like Notre Dame and Villanova that, for all their posing as being big-time just like secular schools, essentially are the ethnic sons and daughters of alumni so there's no point in saying all over the place that they're Catholic. Then again since Villanova's religion IIRC is PC mainline-wannabe it's just as well – at least getting Jersey Girls and Masshole frat boys to work in a soup kitchen to teach them compassion isn't bad. (You've got the old ethnic worker/Democrat connection reinforcing the leftward slant.) I understand ND really is Catholic and feeling the benefit of JPII's and Benedict's Catholic revival. You can go to the Tridentine Mass there!
Post a Comment