On first glance, the accusation that Notre Dame is not Catholic enough strikes most people as odd. I graduated from Notre Dame in 1986 and returned as a faculty member a decade ago out of sympathy with the university’s effort to at once work toward academic excellence and sustain a serious commitment to Catholic intellectual life. I’ve found the place even better than advertised. But apparently not everyone agrees, and beneath Miscamble’s manifesto lie two important issues.
Read More of Catholic Enough? Religious Identity at Notre Dame off-site...Dan Kelley says:
Some scholars have balked about residing in South Bend, but when one adjusts the salaries of the Notre Dame faculty for the lowered cost of living in the city those who do accept positions enjoy more purchasing power than some of those employed at universities located in more glamourous cities.
John Powers says:
But Dan,
Wouldn't a Presbyterian or Baptist also face the same lack of glamor in South Bend that a Catholic would? That was my point.
JBP
Dan Kelley says:
Understood. My point is that when academics decry South Bend as a preferred job location it has nothing to do with the cash. For myself, since Chicago is a short train trip away from Notre Dame, I cannot see how these elitists cannot manage to have their cake and eat it to. The culture vultures could visit Chicago or Indianapolis to their hearts' content each weekend. The Notre Dame University campus is growing by leaps and bounds and I cannot see how it pales next to Bloomington, Ann Arbor, or Champaign-Urbana as a desirable place to work.
John Powers says:
Or West Lafayette or Beloit...McGreevy's point here sounds very unlikely, similar to the myth that the Catholic College Prep Schools in Chicago are not able to attract Catholics as teachers.
He does raise some valid discussions (current statistics, faculty contribution to the mission of the university etc), which is why we included his article.
JBP
Pat Hickey says:
How about getting down to 'first principles' once again?
Catholics - like married partners - need to be committed to what are suppossed to be about. 'I'm married but not wearing my ring, while out of town.What the wife don't know can't hurt her or the kids.'
What did that last great deconstructionist intellect hired by UND in Jim Bowman's piece tout as intellectual doctrine ? 'The Truth is what we make it?'
Once Cathlolics get their feet comfortable in the old wing-tips once again, we'll be able to kick off the smelly sandals.
John Powers says:
Perhaps the Fighting Irish may have more Catholic Faculty than Football Players, but there are some statistics in this article needing scrutiny.
While 24.5% identify themselves as Catholics, McGreevy quotes a study which "suggests" that only 6 percent of tenure-track scholars in the arts and sciences or business self-identify as Catholic. Hmm..in a normal distribution, we just lost 75% of the Catholics...that seems odd. Could it be that
1) Catholics are not pursuing education very strongly, which does not fit any ancedotal observations I have made.
or
2) Catholics don't think they are going to get jobs, so drop out of the educational profession (which is Jim Bowman's and Fr. McCamble's suggestion
McGreevy also proposes that it is hard to lure Catholics to South Bend, which seems improbable to me, having been to South Bend many times. Is it any easier to lure Methodists to South Bend than Catholics? Wouldn't the generally good reputation as the "Catholic Ivy", be sort of appealing for Catholic faculty over say Beloit College?
I know Historians don't take many courses in statistics, but that does not absolve McGreevy's argument from the principles of 8th grade arithmetic.
JBP