THEY'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING TO KEEP UP WITH PATRICK HENRY:

A Catholic Renaissance at Princeton (George Weigel, November 23, 2005, THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE)

Having taught James Madison at the College of New Jersey (as Princeton was then known), the Rev. John Witherspoon has a claim to the honorable title, "Grandfather of the U.S. Constitution." What, I wonder, would a good Presbyterian Scotsman like Witherspoon make of the fact that Princeton University Chapel now has a Blessed Sacrament chapel, complete with tabernacle and icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe?

Some might imagine the good reverend spinning in his grave at an impressive rate of r.p.m.'s. I think he'd be pleased, once he got over the initial shock. For Princeton's vibrant Catholic community is, today, at the center of the enterprise to which John Witherspoon dedicated his life: the dialogue of faith and reason in the service of democracy and human freedom. If you're a student looking for an intellectually challenging education and a Catholic community whole-heartedly committed to the new evangelization, or if you're a parent looking for such a school for your son or daughter, you could do far worse than look at Princeton. Indeed, you'd be far better off with Princeton than with several high-priced institutions whose Catholicism is vestigial at best. [...]

Thanks to the efforts of Princeton's unembarrassed Catholics, the Department of Religion will offer a for-credit course next spring, "Recent Catholic Thought from Vatican II to John Paul II," which will be taught by the distinguished Lutheran theologian, Robert Jensen. Those same students and alumni have created a new campus club, the Anscombe Society (named for the late English Catholic philosopher), to defend marriage, promote pre-marital chastity, advance a pro-woman feminism, and, as one of the organizers put it, "defend male and female as distinct and complementary." The Princeton pro-life group recently sponsored the first interfaith Respect Life service in Princeton Chapel, featuring luminaries like Father Richard Neuhaus and Rabbi David Novak, as well as an evangelical pastor and an imam.

You won't find any of these things, alas, on too many putatively Catholic campuses; but you'll find them at Princeton.

Being perceived as the most religion-friendly Ivy would convey a significant recruiting advantage.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 9, 2005 12:00 AM