ever to excel

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 15, 2006

Boston College's student newspaper asked students, faculty, and administrators what they understood by the phrase "Jesuit ideals." The twenty-eight published responses show that the meaning is not univocal. Here's what the Director of Undergratuate Admissions had to say:

The earliest Jesuits sought to encounter the world in its richness and wonder, as well as its problems and challenges. It's that ideal that we are aspiring to here at Boston College. We want to prepare our graduates to encounter an even richer and more complex world and and to make a difference with their professional skills and their personal qualities.

OK, he made it across the political/ecclesiastical creek with his socks dry, but there's nothing in these "ideals" that can't be affirmed by Texas Tech or Oral Roberts or the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Many kennels offer obedience classes that are comparably Christo-centric.

A Junior-year undergrad was less reticent in his opinion:

"Jesuit ideals" is a catchphrase used by someone with a cause that they think other people should support simply by virtue of attending Boston College or other Jesuit universities. This catchphrase is used to lend moral weight to causes that almost always run contrary to Catholic doctrines.

Sad to encounter such cynicism in one of tender years. As always, Uncle Di prefers to stress the positive, noting that BC's policy on transfer of graduate credits is entirely in keeping with the norms of Ex Corde Ecclesiae and the Second Vatican Council.