The Sad Abandonment by Catholic Universities and Colleges of Their Religious Identity to Serve Budgetary Purposes

From: Brophy, Michael
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2018 12:19 PM
To: #All Benedictine Community
Subject: Difficult news

Greetings, all:

All employees whose positions have been eliminated for budget reasons have been advised of this difficult news. Please pray for them and their families as they leave our University community.

Every care has been taken to deliver these partings in a Benedictine manner.

Sadly,  

Dr. Michael Brophy

President

Benedictine University

Commentary: A Few Questions and What Good Is the University’s Mission Statement?

Were the bloated salaries of the administration reduced in order to save these employees? Did any administrators lose their jobs? Has Benedictine University creatively and actively pursued student recruitment through affordable tuition instead of increasing student debt? Has Benedictine University guaranteed four-year graduation rates for its students? Has Benedictine University aggressively pursued private and alumni donors? Has Benedictine University considered aligning with other institutions in a partnership instead of operating as an independent institution?

It is stated in the Benedictine University Center for Mission Identity, “[that the university’s] curriculum, policies and activities draw on the wisdom of the Church regarding ways to build a just society and live lives of holiness in the modern world. To that end, the university engages key themes of modern Catholic social teaching identified by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: life and dignity of the human person; call to family, community, and participation; rights and responsibilities; option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God's creation…”

Indeed, “[f]or the [Catholic] Church, there is no distinction between defending human life and promoting the dignity of the human person. Pope Benedict XVI writes in Caritas in Veritate [Charity in Truth] that ‘The Church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized’” (no. 15) (Human Life and Dignity).

Surely, flagrant indifference to the mental and physical well-being of its employees is incompatible with the adage “cura personalis” (care for the entire person). Is this all that a Catholic University can offer to its employees who are fired? “…Please pray for them and their families as they leave our University community. Every care has been taken to deliver these partings in a Benedictine manner…”

What remains to be seen at universities like Benedictine and across the nation is the rejoinder to an essential ethical question: “To what extent can universities be considered [moral and just] while engaging in practices or ideologies that run contrary to [their Mission, Vision, and Commitment Statements]? ...Catholic universities have to decide whether or not running a [consumerist/capitalist academic structure] that utilizes [and exploits their employees]… fundamentally contradicts Catholic teaching [and its ideals]” (The Fordham Ram Unfair Adjunct Wages Go Against Jesuit Values).

-Glen Brown

To read about The Continuing Demoralization of University and College Adjunct Faculty, click here.