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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

New President Says Catholic University Should Unite Intellect with Virtue

John H. Garvey, J.D., President of The Catholic University of America
John H. Garvey, J.D., was inaugurated yesterday as the 15th President of our alma mater, The Catholic University of America.  He has very big shoes to fill and we wish him well.

Garvey's inaugural address, in which he reflects on Blessed John Henry Newman, suggests that he has thought seriously about not only the distinctively Catholic culture on the campus of America's pontifical university, but the importance of integrating virtue with the intellectual life and thus transforming and renewing the culture.  His inaugural address is here, and the  beautiful  Mass and installation ceremonies can be seen in the video below.



2 comments:

  1. This is wonderful if this is what he believes now, but this was not where he led students at Boston College. It will be interesting to see how his speech translates where the rubber meets the road. Keep us informed!

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  2. Thanks very much, Carol, for your comments. I share your concern and have expressed disappointment with this choice: http://www.sunlituplands.org/search?q=Catholic+University

    However, Catholic University has received so much attention from religious and secular media and organizations for its course correction under Father O'Connell, that I think it will be very difficult to slide back. Observers as different as the Newman Society and The Washington Post are agreed that CUA has become an authentic and distinctively Catholic university, and not one in name only. Should Mr. Garvey do anything to change that culture - invite pro-abort politicians to speak on campus, allow homosexual student organizations, or hire apostate faculty - I think he would discredit himself and the university and bring down upon himself the kind of opposition that Father Jenkins has experienced at Notre Dame.

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