Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Just a Question. . .
The other day in class, some people brought up the fact that Saint Mary's is too Catholic. I was wondering what y'all meant by that. I have gone to Catholic schools my entire life, both parochial and private, and I do not find this school that Catholic at all. Yes, we are required to take religion courses. However, we are not required to take classes that teach Catholic Doctrine, Church history etc. But we are given the oppurtunity to learn about other religions, Judaism, Islam etc. . . which I think is extremely important to be a well rounded individual in today's society. There are crucifixes in the classrooms, mediation rooms, parietals, but this is a Catholic school. That is to be expected. I mean this school could be way more Catholic, or Christian for that matter. Univeristy of Samford which is Methodist, has curfews for students (they literally lock the gates) and has a no alcohol policy for all its students. Holy Cross College, our neighbor, has parietals and you have to have the door open when a member of the opposite sex is in your room. I know this school is far from perfect, but I am really interested in how other people view Saint Mary's as being too Catholic, or if I am totally missing the boat on this otherwise.
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I totally agree with you. It does have the requirements for a Catholic school, but I think there are many things that make our school very progressive. The fact that we are allowed boys in the rooms, and we can have alcohol so long as we are of age. Things of this nature I think make us into a more progressive Catholic school then most. The one thing I think SMC lacks is a vast majority of diversity. Not even just on a racial scale. A lot of the women who attend here are that of a white, catholic, high socioeconomic class, and I think with that mixture that the class might have been classifying SMC into the category of "too Catholic". Mostly because we have a high population of the same type of students. But SMC is a Catholic school which does make this fact inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThat comment in class stood out to me as well. While we are a Catholic institution, I feel that compared to many other religious schools, our institution is conducted much more comparatively to public schools. Many religious schools have the kinds of rules that you have mentioned, but I think that Saint Mary's have done a great job in making it possible to attend here without feeling that they are forced to become Catholic. We are required to take a religion class, but that class is not based on Catholicism, but focuses on religiosity in general. We are not required to attend mass, we are not a dry campus, and most classes are not taught by priests and sisters. I think that the reason SMC lacks diversity is because we are first of all, all women. Many women do not want to attend an all women's college. I feel this is mostly because they are ignorant as to what life is really like at an all female institution. Also, the tuition at Saint Mary's is not exactly one that many families of lower economic standings can afford. Thus, many of the women who choose Saint Mary's of of high socioeconomic class.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the Catholic identity part. That is our identity. It is not our only identity but it is a strong one after all we were founded by Catholic Sisters not any other religion. I like the fact that we have kept our religious identity personally. And in response to Brittany's post, although our tuition is high SMC does give lots of financial so I think alot of it is more our all women identity that is the problem. I fully love the fact that we are all women but I believe that some people just can't deal with it.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for diversity, we have to start somewhere. I do not beleive that we can fully consider ourselves diverse but at least there is some effort. I don't agree with how we are doing it but at least there is a start.
I completely agree with Liz. We are labeled a Catholic school and therefore should be Catholic. It is a strong part of what makes SMC what it is. It's not that SMC doesn't accept students that are not part of Catholicism.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it does take time to fully make a school or community diverse. SMC is doing what it can for now to help promote it and welcome diversity. I give them credit for that and for starting somewhere, although I do agree that it is not as diverse as it could be.
I have also been to Catholic schools for almost my entire education, and while we are not required to attend mass together or anything- I think that it is the way we treat people through our policies and the way we assert elitist views on non-Catholic students that I have a problem with. While this is a Catholic school and I believe in keeping traditions- we do not have to impose our beliefs on others or treat others like Catholicism is the one true religion and other religions are not as worthy. Likewise, while this is a progressive school- we still have a long way to go. I think we have wonderful professors and that the content that we are presented with in classes is great and helps us grow, however, when those same professors are not met with the same welcome or respect as other professors who conform to the idealized roles the administration would like it's students to conform to- that is wrong and hinders our ability to be a pioneer in education. We are not diverse or accepting to those whom the Catholic church does not accept such as gay/lesbian professors or even allowing certain productions like the SMC monologues to take place. I think it is good that we are trying somewhat- however, my personal experiences with administrators at this school has shown me that while the faculty and students may want change and try to create a more diverse accepting environment- the policies and view points of the people in charge of this college- hinder our ability to make real progress.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mallory. This is a Catholic institution but what does that mean? DePaul University is also a Catholic school and they have partner benefits for their professors, a LGBTQ minor, etc. It depends what type of Catholic principles this school wants to have.
ReplyDeleteAs for the school being accepting of people of other religions. We don't have religious studies class on other religions such as Hindu, etc. Furthermore, last year the Women's Studies faculty had to fight to allow a Muslim student to wear pants at graduation to keep in line with her religious beliefs. If this school was so tolerate then the department should not have had to argue so hard for such a policy.