Multi Million Dollar Jesuit Residence At Marquette

A $5 million gift to the university from Ray and Kay Eckstein’s charitable trust will be used toward the construction of the new Jesuit Residence, Interim University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild announced in his State of the University address Tuesday. This donation will add to the $7.5 million the university received from an anonymous donor earlier this year. Only $2.5 million is now needed to complete the funding necessary to begin construction, which is currently set at $15 million. Margaret Callahan, interim provost and dean of the College of Nursing, said in an email that the steady influx of charitable donations is “remarkable.” “The speed with which Father Wild and our University Advancement team were able to raise these funds is a powerful statement for just how integral our Jesuit community is to the mission and identity of Marquette,” Callahan said. Wild said in the address that the Jesuit building is being funded completely through donations. The building, which will be constructed between Schroeder Hall and the Alumni Memorial Union, is planned to be environmentally friendly, will “emphasize the Jesuit commitment to higher education” and will underscore “the university’s identity and tradition as a Catholic, Jesuit institution.”

Link (here) to read the rest of the story at the Marquette Wire

15 Million Dollars, Divided By 44 Jesuits Equals $341,000.00 Per Jesuit, For New Jesuit Residence

Marquette's current "Jes Res"

A $10 million gift from an anonymous benefactor will help Marquette University build a new residence at the center of campus for its community of Jesuit priests and boost need-based scholarships for students, Father Robert A. Wild, the university's interim president, announced Monday. Wild said $7.5 million of the gift would be used toward a new Jesuit Residence one block north of the existing building.

The project, which will cost a total of $15 million, also will allow the university to renovate the center of campus with more green space and less surface parking after the existing Jesuit Residence is eventually torn down. The project will be financed entirely from donations. The new building will be built in the 1400 block of W. Wells St., flanked by the Alumni Memorial Union and Schroeder Hall. Construction is to begin after another $7.5 million is raised. The remaining $2.5 million of the anonymous gift will be dedicated to need-based scholarships, a key priority identified in the university's strategic plan unveiled last May, according to Wild, who shared the news Monday in a letter to faculty and staff. In announcing the significance of the gift, Marquette officials made reference to Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to be elected pope. The Jesuits — the Society of Jesus — are the Catholic Church's largest religious order, and are known primarily as educators and advocates for service and social justice.

"Pope Francis has led by example in remarkable ways when it comes to connecting with the people, and our new, more visible and more accessible residence at the center of campus will help us to follow this same leadership style," said Father Jeffrey LaBelle, rector of the Marquette campus Jesuit community.

Marquette's Jesuit community is engaged in public works of service to the university and additional ministries in Milwaukee, including teaching, research and administration. By remaining at the center of campus, LaBelle said, the new facility will underscore the university's identity and tradition as a Catholic, Jesuit institution, and emphasize the Jesuit commitment to higher education. It also will be environmentally friendly, he said. "This significant gift is a tremendous investment in the future of our members of the Society of Jesus who make such profound academic and spiritual contributions to life at Marquette," Wild said. 

Equally as important, Wild said, "this generous contribution to support scholarships will help us to continue to provide a world-class, transformative education that is both accessible and affordable."

Throughout his 15-year tenure as Marquette's president, and now as interim president, Wild has stressed the importance of access to higher education, significantly increasing money for student scholarship aid and creating scholarship programs specifically targeted at underserved populations. The $2.5 million dedicated to need-based scholarship aid will help ensure a Marquette education remains affordable and accessible to students, according to Wild, who has been the university's interim president since October but who had plenty of experience in the job prior to that. Marquette's current Jesuit Residence, endearingly known by students, faculty and staff as the "Jes Res," is in the 1400 block of W. Wisconsin Ave., across the street from Raynor Memorial Libraries. It houses 44 members of the Jesuit community at Marquette and was built originally as the Stratford Arms Hotel in 1916.

Link (here) to The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal

Fr. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J. Resigns As President Of Marquette University

Fr. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.

The official statement from the University is reproduced below. Marquette President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., has “what’s the real story behind this?” We don’t claim any inside sources, but a common assumption seems to be that Pilarz simply wasn’t a good fundraiser. He he didn’t have the gregarious personality necessary to glad-hand alumni and others who might write big checks to Marquette. He has not been around long enough for us to have a distinct impression of him, but we have liked what we have seen. He had the gumption to pull official sponsorship from the salacious FexSem seminar that was being sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center last spring. More importantly, he canned Provost John Pauly after allowing him to serve a “decent interval.” Then he made it clear that, with Pauly’s replacement, there was going to be a fundamental change in how the University is run. When Albert J. DiUlio, S.J. took over the presidency of Marquette in 1990, he shifted the balance of power in the University away from the “academic side” toward the “business side” of the organization. Where before the bureaucrats running the business affairs of the institution had been rather deferential to deans, department chairs and even individual faculty members, they began to dictate all kinds of decisions. Pilarz has promised that the new Provost who replaces Pauly will be the “number two person” in the administration. That is, will dominate the business side of the institution. That’s a massive change for the better. So we wish Pilarz well. And as we always must be at a time like this, we are apprehensive for the future of Marquette.

resigned. This came as a shock to the campus. And of course, everybody is asking

Official Statement

Dear alumni, parents and friends:

As chair of the Marquette University Board of Trustees, a fellow alumnus and Marquette parent, I’m writing tonight to let you know that Marquette University President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., has informed the Board of Trustees of his resignation in order to pursue new apostolic work.

Father Pilarz informed the Board of Trustees of his resignation now to allow the university to begin its search to have a new president in place for the 2014-15 academic year. He will stay on as university president through the end of the first semester of the 2013-14 academic year, which ends on Dec. 14. Marquette will begin the search process for a new permanent president immediately.

In a news release sent out tonight, Father Pilarz said, “After 10 years as a university president, I believe the time has come to consider other apostolic opportunities for me as a Jesuit priest. I have made this decision after much prayer, discernment and conversation with religious superiors, my spiritual director and others whose counsel I have sought over the past three years.”

During his tenure as president, Father Pilarz guided Marquette into a newly reconfigured Big East conference, hired a dean for Marquette’s largest college, the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, and collaborated across campus with faculty, staff and students to develop a university-wide strategic plan. He also led significant renovations for the university’s historic core buildings of Johnston Hall, Marquette Hall and Sensenbrenner Hall, as well as an expansion of the School of Dentistry.

The entire Board and I thank Father Pilarz for his accomplishments and dedication to Marquette, our faculty, our students, and our alumni, parents and friends throughout the world. As Chair of the Board and a proud alumnus, I take immense pride and responsibility for ensuring the mission and innovative spirit of our Catholic, Jesuit tradition continues well into the future. The Board of Trustees and I have the utmost confidence in the university leadership currently in place and will work closely with them to map out a transition plan for the future success of this great university.

Sincerely,

Charles M. Swoboda, Eng ‘89
Chair, Marquette University Board of Trustees

Link (here) to the Marquette Warrior

My Jesuit Professor

As an undergraduate at Loyola University in Los Angeles (now Loyola-Marymount) in the 1950s, I took a course in classical Greek. I'll never forget one day when my Jesuit professor waxed eloquently about Socrates, comparing him to great Christian mystics like St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. There are good grounds for this view. In Plato's Symposium, we hear about Socrates' frequent "trances," in which he would stand, sometimes for twenty-four hours, rapt in contemplation, and then, when all was finished, return to normal life as if nothing had happened. Friends and acquaintances learned not to interrupt him during these events; he would simply not respond. Socrates also had a "voice" by his side from his earliest years. In Plato's Apology, the history of Socrates' trial for "corrupting the youth of Athens," Socrates revealed that he had always followed a voice he heard from childhood, which always gave warnings to keep him from evil. Aside from that limitation, it left him completely free to do as he willed. Socrates said that if there was anything evil awaiting him after death, he was certain his voice would warn him. So, asked to choose his punishment, and unwilling to leave his countrymen for exile, he chose execution. 

Link (here) to the Catholic Education Resource Center to read the full article by Marquette University Professor Howard Kainz

Marquette University Cancels FemSex Workshop

Fr. Scott Pilarz, S.J

Marquette University began hosting a 12-week FemSex workshop on campus. After protests, the University pulled its support. The group has continued meeting off campus. Last week, 53 professors signed a public letter to University President Fr. Scott Pilarz, S.J., Provost John Pauly published in the Marquette Tribune protesting the University's decision. They claim that the workshop's mission is consistent with that of the University's new Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC). "FemSex directly supports the GSRC’s mission to 'provide a space dedicated to the pursuit of dialogue, growth and empowerment around issues of gender, sex and sexuality,'" said the letter. "The GSRC has not only the right but also the responsibility to host FemSex and similar programming."

Link (here) to The Cardinal Newman Society

Hobbit SJ

J.R.R. Tolkien course at Marquette University in Milwaukee is hugely popular with students. The university is one of the main repositories of Tolkien’s writings and drawings, including the manuscripts for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.”  William Ready, director of Marquette’s libraries from 1956 to 1963, obtained the manuscripts through a London book dealer for less than $5,000. Marquette’s Tolkien collection numbers more than 10,000 pages of the author’s book manuscripts, typescripts and drawings. “It’s a fantastic course,” said senior Joe Kirchoff. “It’s a great way to look at something that’s such a creative work of genius in such a way you really come to understand the man behind it.” Taught for the first time this past fall, the course was part of the university’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of “The Hobbit,” which happened to coincide with the release of the film. On February 21, the last anniversary event — a roundtable discussion on the film — will be held at the university. While other schools offer Tolkien classes, Marquette students were able to see Tolkien’s revisions and maps at the school’s archive. “It’s the best class I’ve had in 27 years here for student preparation, interest and enthusiasm,” English professor Tim Machan told the Associated Press. “And I can throw out any topic and they will have read the material and they want to talk about the material.”

Link (here) to Jesuit.org to read the entire article

Chronicles Of Marquette University

The Cardinal Newman Society reported that the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Marquette (GSA) celebrated  

“LGBTQA diversity” on campus with an event called “Chronicles of the Closet” which was described on the university’s website as “an open-mic night for sharing coming-out stories.” 

The Cardinal Newman Society also reported last year that Marquette University Law School appointed pro-abortion rights former U.S. senator Russ Feingold as a visiting law professor.

Link (here) to the Cardinal Newman Society

Jesuits Sign Recall Petition Of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Jesuit  recallers include:
Father Gregory John O’Meara, SJ  1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father James O’Leary, SJ    1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father Grant Garinger, SJ  1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father  Jose Luis Moreno Aranda, SJ   1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father  David G. Schultenover, SJ  1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee  View Petition
Father David Shields, SJ  1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee    View Petition
Father  G. Simon Harak, SJ    1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee  View Petition
Father  Karl Voelker, SJ   1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father  Michael Zeps, SJ    1404 W Wisconsin  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father Robert M Doran, SJ   1404 W  Wisconsin  Milwaukee View Petition
Father Patrick J. Burns, SJ    831 N  13Th St   Milwaukee   View Petition
Father  Thomas  Hughson, SJ   831 N 13Th St   Milwaukee    View Petition
Father  Thomas Sweetser, SJ   831 N 13Th St Milwaukee   View Petition
Father John L. Treloar, SJ    831 N 13Th St Milwaukee    View Petition
Father  Charles Stang, SJ   726 N 34 Street  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father  Terrance N.  Brennan, SJ    726 N 34 Street  Milwaukee   View Petition
Father Eugene Donahue, SJ   4800 Fahanwald Rd  Oshkosh    View Petition
Father  Thomas N. Schloemer, SJ   4800 Fahanwald Rd  Oshkosh  View Petition
Father John Schwantes, SJ   4800 Fahanwald Rd  Oshkosh  View Petition
Father Gerald T. Regan, SJ  10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa   View Petition
Father Michael D. Kurimay, SJ   10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa   View Petition
Father John Daly, SJ   10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa   View Petition
Father Joseph Eagan, SJ  10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa   View Petition
Father John A.  Hennessy, SJ   10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa   View Petition
Father Daniel J. Kenney, SJ   10100 W Bluemound Rd   Wauwatosa  View Petition
Father  John Wambach, SJ 10100 W  Wisconsin Ave  Wauwatosa  View Petition
Link (here) to  read the all the details of the Jesuits that signed the petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker
Background
Gov. Scott Walker attended Marquette University (here)
Gov. Scott Walker and his anti-abortion pro-life positions (here) 

Fordham Professor Tom Beaudoin Describes S@domy As "Real Life" Theology

Lot facing his "real life" theology

Catholicism has very little s@xual theology “from below." There are, in truth, more than a few resources that can inspire Catholicism to take grassroots LGB/T theologies more seriously, but one recent book that I hope will inspire a new kind of theology "from below" of Catholic sexual diversity is (Marquette University) sociologist Dawne Moon's book God, S@x and Politics: H@mosexuality and Everyday Theologies (Chicago, 2004). 

Moon looks at how everyday theologies appear in Methodist congregations trying to talk about h@mosexuality, and she builds a case along the way for everyday theology as the theology that matters most in people's ordinary lives. 

It seems to me that Moon agrees with (Protestant Anglican) theologian Jeff Astley's argument about the existence of an "ordinary theology" that motivates people on a day-to-day basis (see his book Ordinary Theology (Ashgate, 2002)). Both Moon and Astley show that in "real life," theologies come from and return to very personal experiences, and do not change by intellectual force alone, or even foremost. They have to do with the faith-sense people make of what they have endured in their lives. 

Link (here) to Fordham Professor Tom Beaudoin's full post at America Magazine's blog In All Things 
The Church's teaching on the subject:  Aquinas (here) , Catechism of the Catholic Chruch (here), (here) and (here)   Overview (here)

Conflicted

Suicide’s legalization has been advocated by prominent professors in Catholic universities including Georgetown, Marquette, Santa Clara, and Boston College. It is a particular irony that the bishops’ statement comes this year, even as the bishops are quietly reviewing the implementation of Vatican guidelines for Catholic higher education in the 1990 constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae.

The professors’ efforts came to light during a Cardinal Newman Society investigation in 2005, following news reports of a legal brief filed by 55 bioethicists in opposition to “Terri’s Law,” a Florida measure that empowered Gov. Jeb Bush to ensure that the comatose Terri Schiavo received water and nutrition. 

As reported in “Teaching Euthanasia,” an exclusive report in the June 2005 issue of Crisis, multiple professors at Catholic universities had taken positions on end-of-life issues that seemed to conflict with Vatican teaching.

Link (here) to the full article at Crisis Magazine

Marquette University Professor Say Archbishop Betrays Church Teaching

Former Priest Dan Maguire

......in 2006, Archbishop Dolan (then of Milwaukee) corrected Dan Maguire for claiming that Catholics could support abortion and marriage between couples of the same sex. Maguire had sent two pamphlets titled The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception and Abortion and A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage to all 270 bishops in the United States. The USCCB agreed with Archbishop Dolan and corrected Maguire in 2007. [Note that I said "corrected." He was not excommunicated.] So how does Maguire react to the constructive dialogue between House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Archbishop Timothy Dolan on how to help the poor while also addressing our debt crisis? Well. He claims that Archbishop Dolan ‘betrays Church teaching.’ Yes, I know. This seems rather awkward coming from the same theologian who has called on Pope Benedict XVI to resign last year. You see, Maguire thinks Dolan’s letter suffers from an ”outrage deficit.” The dissident theologian thinks Chairman Ryan should have received a letter full of anger and scorn from Archbishop Dolan.

Link (here) to Catholic Vote

Some Jesuit Universities "Expanding The Circle"

From March 3 through 6, an Expanding the Circle conference was held at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Expanding the Circle is an initiative of the California Institute of Integral Studies, and its stated purpose is “Creating an inclusive environment in higher education for LGBT/Q students and studies.” Catholic universities were well represented.

Fr. Donal Godfrey, S.J.

Titles of some of the workshops at the conference indicated the bias common to post-modern social science, that reality is a human construction: “Reimagining S@xual Desire and Spiritual Longing in Sacred Texts”; “Does G-d Really Hate Me: Reconstructing and Reinterpreting Challenging Religious Texts”; “(Re)vamping the Que@riculum: Issues in the Teaching of Language and S@xuality”; “Imagining Qu@er Selves: LGBTQ Literature, Libraries, and the Coming Out Process”; and the near-parodic “Fostering Multivariate Inclusion: Multiple Marginalized Identities and the Interplay of Sexuality.” Others, while more crudely titled, were quite clear: “That’s SO G@y: Queering the Curriculum in High Schools through Community Collaboration”; “Ripe for the Picking: Queer-Themed FIGs (First-Year Interest Groups)”, and “Building a Successful LGBTQ Program at Catholic Institutions.” The following Catholic schools participated: College of the Holy Cross, DePaul University, Dominican University, Georgetown University, Loyola Marymount University, Marian University, Marquette University, Santa Clara University, St. Anselm College, St. Edward’s University, St. Joseph’s University, St. Louis University, and the University of San Francisco. 

Link (here) to read the full article at California Catholic Daily

Marquette University Professor On Teachings Of The Catholic Church

Fr. Bryan Massingale

Rev. Bryan Massingale, a priest with the archdiocese of Milwaukee and an associate professor of moral theology at Catholic, Jesuit-run Marquette University, and Sr. Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby, 

both spoke at a recent event for a group that advocates “full equality” for h@mosexuals. At the event the pair were confronted by a reporter with CNS News, who asked the priest whether he agrees with the Catholic Church’s teaching on h@mosexuality – a question that the priest demurred from answering. 

The March 30 event on Capitol Hill was hosted by a group called “Equally Blessed” which describes itself as “a coalition of faithful Catholics who support full equality for le@bian, g@y, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people both in the church and in civil society,”

Link (here) to read the full interview of Fr. Brian.

Birds Of A Feather

A discussion on “The S@xual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic S@xuality” will take place Monday, April 11, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Marquette Hall 200. 

The discussion will be presented by Dr. Todd Salzman, professor and chair of theology at Creighton University, and Dr. Michael Lawler, professor emeritus of theology at Creighton University. 

Respondents will be Dr. Susan Ross, professor and chair of theology at Loyola University Chicago, and Rev. Bryan Massingale, associate professor of theology at Marquette. 

Link (here) to the full post at the Marquette Warrior

Hat Tip to Dad 29 (here)

Wild Wrestling

Marquette University president Robert Wild today announced he has directed the Milwaukee school’s Department of Human Resources to include coverage for registered domestic partners in the university’s health insurance plans, beginning with the start of the new coverage year, Jan. 1, 2012. Wild said he had wrestled with issue over the past few years. “If we are truly pastoral in our application of the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, I asked myself if I could reconcile that with denying health benefits to a couple who have legally registered their commitment to each other,” Wild said. Wild noted that the State of Wisconsin gives legal recognition both to marriage for heterosexual couples and to a registered domestic partnership for same-sex couples.

Link (here) to Biztimes.com

Never Ending

SNAP is asking the Jesuits to create a public registry of all priests with confirmed reports of abusing children.The request comes after a former Marquette University High School teacher was permanently removed from the ministry.The Rev. Perry Robinson, S.J. worked at MUHS in the 1980s. He was reassigned to a parish in Nebraska after an investigation involving n@de photos of students. Last month, the archbishop of Omaha removed Robinson from the ministry after receiving a new report of abuse from a former MUHS student. SNAP is also requesting that all records and evidence of sex crimes by priests be turned over to law enforcement."I think it's imperative, especially in light of (the Archdiocese of) Milwaukee going through bankruptcy right now, that Archbishop Listecki call on the Jesuit superiors in the city to be transparent and to be forthright with issues of sexual abuse," said John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin's coordinator.

Link (here) to the full article WISN.com

Texas A & M Verses Marquette

Texas A&M is a special place, culturally; in many respects, it seems to have skipped the ‘60s, such that its 21st-century life is in palpable continuity with its past. That’s a deeply Catholic cultural instinct, which St. Mary’s has seized to build a program that is a model for the entire country.A commenter notes, sourly:

Prediction: in 50 years the American Catholic Church will be dumbfounded by the amount of time, resources and energy it spent building a system of higher education that produced....almost nothing. I exaggerate only slightly.

The fundamental virtue at A & M is that the Catholic Campus Ministry there is actually Catholic, while the Campus Ministry at Marquette is liberal/left and politically correct. At Marquette, promoting the g@y agenda and demonstrating against the School of the Americas seem to be the first two priorities.

But an authentic Catholicism is attractive to young people, who may have fallen away a bit from the religion views of their parents (which might be Protestant, secular, or bland, nominal Catholicism) but are looking for meaning in their lives.

But to attract people, a Catholic ministry has to actually be Catholic. Nominally Catholic political correctness won’t hack it.

Link (here) to the Marquette Warrior

Marquette Consultant

The battleground for this engagement on the merits of Le@bian-G@-Bis@xual-Transg@nderness is, of course, Marquette University. Still reeling from the tasty scandal where the university decided not to hire someone whose ideals conflict with the school’s own mission, another interesting flower has sprung up. As reported in the Warrior blog (mu-warrior.blogspot.com), Vice President of Student Affairs Chris Miller invited lesbian activist Ronni Sanlo Ed.D. as a “consultant” for an on-campus meeting October 28 and 29. If you haven’t heard of this, you’re not alone; apparently no one did. A search for Sanlo’s name brought up no results on the Marquette web page, and the invitation e-mails obtained by Warrior staff were sent to a very narrow selection of people. Furthermore, there is no mention of Sanlo’s visit in the Marquette University News Briefs, though the invitations to attend her meetings were sent out weeks before. The implication is that we hoi polloi were not welcome to attend and support Sanlo’s message, or to question its relevance to our own experience, or even to be aware that one of the “20 Powerful Lesbian Academics” named by Rachel Pepper, coordinator of LG/T studies at Yale, was visiting our humble campus with us in mind.

Link (here) to read the full article

Hat Tip to The Marquette Warrior (here) and (here)

Kooky Marquette Professor On The Tea Party

The Tea Party passions are the rancid emissions of class-based greed disguised with flags and Christian symbols. They are reminiscent of a description of the British Conservative movement of 1845 as "Organized Hypocrisy."

Link (here) to Daniel Maguire's full essay

Marquette University And Freshman Orientation Thought Reform

St. Joan of Arc Chapel at Marquette

In a previous post, we discussed some of the things that go on during Freshman Orientation. We took particular exception to an exercise called “Take a Stand” which requires new Freshmen to publicly declare a position on some topic – often a topic that is highly contentious. 

We called the process “Stalinist thought reform.” We did not have the script of the monologues that students were exposed to before the “Take a Stand” exercise, nor did we have the instructions to Orientation staff people who lead the exercise. 

The Division of Student Affairs, which we asked to provide them, failed to do so. Our sources were students who had been through the exercise. This past Tuesday (September 21) we finally met with Jeff Janz, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, and L. Christopher Miller, Vice President for Student Affairs. They defended the program, and gave us access to the script and several sheets of guidelines and instructions given to both discussion leaders and new Freshmen.

.

Link (here) to read the lengthy and well documented post by John McAdams at the Marquette Warrior.