Five Elements of the Catholic Identity of a College or University
- Public Profession. To be clear about it, and to enlist the collaboration of all concerned, the Catholic identity must be stated in constitutional documents, information given to board members, the faculty handbook, promotional literature, and information given to students. Besides being stated in words, the Catholic identity needs to be expressed in worship on campus, in public ceremonies, in the curriculum, through policy decisions, in dormitory life, in counseling services, and so forth.
- Engagement with culture and scholarship. To be truly and fully a Catholic college or university, the institution must ensure the presence of Catholic wisdom and critique is brought to bear on all aspects of human knowledge as represented in the curriculum.
- Fidelity to the gospel as transmitted in Catholic tradition. The Catholic college or university not only should teach the Catholic tradition in doctrine, morals, social justice, and worship, but it also should model it. This applies to board decisions, internal management, the conduct and relationships of administrators and faculty, the treatment of other employees, and the services offered to students as well as the demands and expectations expressed concerning their community and behavior on campus.
- Service to Church and society. The Catholic college or university needs to relate to the Church as People of God, to the Church as hierarchy, and to human suffering of all kinds. For instance, scholarly, resources should be made available to respond to the pastoral needs of the Church, to help with Catholic education at all levels, and to help solve problems of human suffering. Faculty should see this as coming within their scope, and students should be encourages in volunteering, offered “immersion” experiences, taught the principles of Catholic social teaching, and guided in social analysis.
- Transmission and exploration of the broader Catholic cultural heritage. It is the special province of the Catholic college or university to keep alive in succeeding generations the cultural heritage of the Catholic community in philosophy and theology, in literature and the arts, in the study of nature and the society, in ritual and symbolism, in spirituality traditions, and the full celebration of the Christian calendar.
This aims to provide students with empirical and theoretical evidence and opportunities to answer the question “what am I doing when I am knowing?” Several multidimensional facets of holistic health from a personal and spiritual perspective was explored. Emphasis was on the integration of body, mind and spirit. Techniques that were introduced include, but not limited to, mindfulness, reflection and other exercises to recognize the relationships between spirituality and health.
In this application of the method (ATM) students identified personal core belief systems and values and explored cultural aspects of healing, spirituality and ritual. Utilizing the Generalized Empirical Method (GEM), students learn about the spiritual components and the life-changing aspects of disease, chronic or terminal illness. Students are required to identify and write about a personal change that they want to make in their lives. Students write a 2 part reflective journal, (one part on the change they want to make and the one on spirituality in the context of Lonergan) the journal includes reflections on that week’s spirituality discussion (guiding questions are posted separately. This reflection encourages the change they are looking for and helps them to discover their authentic self. The focus on spirituality is coherent with new understanding of its import to health and efforts to adopt healthy behaviors.
It is our responsibility to teach students how to love one another in a community by setting a positive example through modeling Values. By viewing Jesus as a teacher and valuing the Ten Commandments we will create a caring and safe environment for our students to learn in.
Our role as educators is to permeate our Catholic faith through our instruction and interactions with students, families and staff. I believe it is in the little things that we demonstrate our faith: a smile, a hug or an encouraging word to someone who is struggling. Faith is demonstrated through how we deal with others, those we like and those we do not like. We model our faith by being compassionate, encouraging and kind.
This philosophy aims to provide students with empirical and theoretical evidence and opportunities to answer the question “what am I doing when I am knowing?” Several multidimensional facets of holistic health from a personal and spiritual perspective was explored. Emphasis was on the integration of body, mind and spirit. Techniques that were introduced include, but not limited to, mindfulness, reflection and other exercises to recognize the relationships between spirituality and health.