DePaul University has always been part of Chicago. What was once the school under the “el” is now the “Largest Catholic University in America.” Even now, a DePaulite’s education is bound tightly to the city itself. However, post-1968 the school began to resemble Chicago in too many unflattering ways. It saw the increasing population of Jews and Muslims and charted a course away from Vincentian evangelization and towards a new “vincentianism” or some post-modern, baseless form of interfaith with a scattered, quiet mentioning of Christianity. While at DePaul’s campus in May of 2007, and after reading through the course requirements for DePaul’s Catholic Studies major, George Weigel quipped, “Only a school in Chicago would accept either ‘Intro to Catholicism’ or ‘Catholicism in Chicago’ as its base course.”

What happened is that the university lost its base course. Societies don’t like vacuums and Chicago began to fill the culturally bankrupt campus with its own. Now, forty years later, Catholics were violently awakened from their historical context by a new post-modern university. DePaul’s campus is now the host of “Coming Out Balls” for homosexuals; the homosexual movement controls part of the curriculum, Muslims have footbaths in bathrooms, and the crucifixes have been put in drawers.

In January of this year an article, with the headline “Lay leadership must maintain Catholic and Vincentian tradition,” appeared in DePaul’s official publication for faculty and staff. The article predicts that by 2030, the last Vincentian priest will retire and “lay leaders will assume the mantle of its religious character.” Many Catholic universities are preparing for their own “2030,” simply because the Church is running out of priests altogether. But DePaul is in a particular bind. A good percentage of DePaul’s “lay leadership” is non-Catholic. As a matter of fact, most of those who sit on the board are Jewish. Such Catholic lay leadership as exists would much rather invoke the secularism. ”

This, if viewed just by itself, is a truly unfortunate picture of a dim future. Students, however, have sought to shift the horizon. It was because of the persistence of young Catholics that some in the university are trying to head off a “2030.” President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider takes a new look at 2030 and has begun, with the help of students, to turn the tide at DePaul. In fact, Holtschneider doesn’t hesitate in reminding his faculty and staff that St. Vincent de Paul was a Catholic priest––something fairly simple, yet convenient to forget.

He quietly orchestrated the construction of a Catholic chapel in the Lincoln Park Student Center, the campus’ main gathering building. While the opening of the chapel marked an important milestone in the return of Catholic ethos to DePaul, some in the university still felt the need to explain it away. Some emphasized the fact that it “shares a common foyer with another new prayer space created for students of all faiths.” Others spouted more gibberish, explaining that “the symbolism of water and birth reflects the feminine spirit of God and of St. Louise de Marillac.” The Catholic lay leadership is still timid and uncomfortable with Catholicism playing a central role in the campus discussions.

Yet, in addition to the opening of the Chapel, Holtschneider also allocated serious funding to the Catholic Studies program and authorized two new full-time, Catholic faculty hires: Peter Casarella and Farrell O’Gorman. Casarella, formerly of the Catholic University of America, “has written extensively on topics related to his expertise, including medieval Christian Neo-Platonism, contemporary theological aesthetics, St. Bonaventure’s Trinitarian theology of creation, the idea of emergence in contemporary physics, and the Hispanic/Latino presence in the U.S. Catholic Church.” Dr. Karen Scott, the Chair of the program, is clearly prepared to confront “2030” face-to-face: “DePaul is well on its way to providing a variety of places where students can learn about Catholicism and engage the Catholic intellectual tradition within the diverse setting of the university.” What’s more, Scott sends at least two non-Catholic professors a year to a conference dedicated to training professors how to incorporate Catholicism into their curriculum.

Catholicism is no longer a hostile conversation at DePaul. Student organizations are comfortable holding events discussing Catholic topics. In April of 2007, the DePaul Conservative Alliance held a full week of speaking events dedicated to the Catholic intellectual tradition. The following academic year marked a flurry of activity from the university’s official Catholic student organization. Catholic Campus Ministry now holds weekly events with a Catholic professor speaking on a pertinent topic. The pro-life group on campus even held a “Cemetery of the Innocents,” a memorial dedicated to all those lost to abortion.

Even the Office of Advancement took notice and began Catholic targeted fundraising efforts. A new brochure sent to Catholic donors vividly details the new Chapel. In it is a letter from the Director of Catholic Campus Ministry: “With your help, DePaul will be more ready than ever to foster the development of a new influx of young adult Catholic and religious leaders for tomorrow.” A bold statement, one that flies in the face of 2030.

Holtschneider and Scott are two who remain unapologetic. With the encouragement and help of students, they are ushering in a new, yet classic DePaul.

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Nicholas Hahn III, a contributor to the Chicago Daily Observer, has been named one of the nation’s 10 leading student conservatives.