The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 17, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Page: 3 of 16
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The University News
News
March 22, 2011, 2011 - 3
President Keefe, bishops provide
assurances of orthodoxy
Gabbi Chee
Managing Editor
Initial opposition to the pasto-
ral ministry degree has ebbed
as members of the University
of Dallas administration and
two United States bishops have
publicly given their support to the
program. President Thomas Keefe,
Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese
of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of
the Diocese of Fort Worth, have all
vouched for the degree program
and asserted that doubts about the
orthodoxy of the program were un-
founded.
CSO REPORT from page 2
On March 2, Patrick Fagan, fa-
ther of five UD alumni and direc-
tor of the Washington D.C. based
Marriage and Religion Research
Institute, posted a column on The
Catholic Thing, "an online forum
for intelligent Catholic commen-
tary." The column, entitled "TROU-
BLE at the University of Dallas?"
called into question the orthodoxy
of members of the School of Min-
istry, who will be teaching courses
for the new degree.
Fagan released a statement to
The University News Monday saying
that he had accepted the reassur-
ances of Bishops Farrell and Vann
and President Keefe. "The Chancel-
lor who is also the local ordinary,
his fellow bishop on the board, and
the President have all put their rep-
utations on the line that the School
will be thoroughly Catholic," he
said. "I trust them, and they have
the grace of state."
The column was quickly for-
warded to students and alumni. A
Facebook group was also formed,
through which students and alumni
organized several forms of protest
against the new major. An online
petition was created and e-mailed
to President Thomas Keefe, along
with hundreds of other individ-
ual e-mails expressing concerns
about the new major. Students also
planned to meet the members of
the Board of Trustees before the
March 3 board meeting.
About a dozen students
showed up in upstairs Haggar on
the morning of March 3 to meet
the members of the board. Keefe
met the students around 7:30 a.m.
and warned that any hostility to-
wards board members would incur
consequences. He said that the in=
formation that had instigated the
students to act was based on "half-
see ORTHODOXY, page 4
to a fire alarm in Augustine Residence
Hall. The hall was evacuated, and the
Irving Fire Department responded to
the scene. It was determined that the
alarm was caused by burned food.
Monday, Feb. 28, 1 1.27 a.m. - The
Office of Student Life adjudicated an
offense of a minor possessing alcohol
in a residential area. The offense
occurred on Thursday, Feb. 17 at
1 0:20 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 28, 1 1:35 a.m. - The
Office of Student Life adjudicated an
offense of a minor possessing alcohol
in a residential area. The offense
occurred on Thursday, Feb. 17 at
10:20 p.m.
Thursday, March 3, 7:57 p.m. -
The Campus Safety Office received a
report of graffiti in Gregory Residence
Hall.
Friday, March 4, 1 1:26 a.m. - The
Office of Student Life adjudicated
an offense of drug possession in a
residential area. The offense occurred
on Saturday, Nov. 6, 201 0 at 1:47 a.m.
Thursday, March 10, 11:21 a.m. -
The Office of Student Life adjudicated
an offense of public intoxication in a
residential area. The offense occurred
on Saturday, Feb. 1 9 at 3:1 0 a.m.
Thursday, March 17, 8:03 p.m.
- Campus Safety responded to a fire
alarm in Gregory Residence Hall. The
hall was evacuated, and the Irving Fire
Department responded to the scene.
It was determined that the alarm was
caused by burned food.
RESPONSE from page 1
exemplify that is with the
mandatum, but that's not the only
way. It involves more than a piece
of paper. And we do that."
"I meet with [the bishop]
regularly. Ever since I've been
dean of SOM, the diocese has had
a chair on the search committee.
Every single hire we've made, the
diocese has been represented,"
said Schmisek. "We do that
precisely because we are designed
to serve the Church, and so the
diocese is intimately involved in
what we do, in the courses that
we offer, in the degrees that we
offer."
"We have an advisory council
that meets twice a year. It's loaded
with people from the dioceses
of Fort Worth, Dallas, Tyler and
Shreveport," said Schmisek.
As an example of their
relationship with each diocese,
Schmisek said the Bishop of Tyler,
Bishop Alvaro Corrada, approves
the School of Ministry's faculty
syllabi every semester. If Bishop
Farrell wanted to do the same for
their classes in Dallas, he could,
said Schmisek.
"The idea that we are somehow
heretical is so outrageous that it's
really laughable," said Schmisek.
"The fact that those charges took
root is just sad. And it makes the
faculty pretty hurt, because it is
very shocking and surprising that
someone could make those kinds
of accusations based on little
to no evidence and sway whole
swaths of undergraduates and
alumni."
The charges are offensive to
the faculty they accuse, Schmisek
emphasized. "They're spending
their time serving the Church, and
then to ask them to prove they're
not heretics is silly. For anyone to
say, 'You're a heretic, now tell me
why you're not. If I'm wrong, no
harm done,' that is what Fagan
said."
"I think that was his most
blatant and brazen lie; that if
he's wrong, no harm is done.
The reputation of UD has been
damaged because of him. That we
would have heretical professors,
or that the bishop wouldn't know
that they're heretical, is just
ridiculous."
"But I do have faith and trust
in the education that UD provides,
and that it is going to win out in the
end. That we do believe in truth
and virtue, and that nowhere in
the Christian tradition is suspicion
a virtue," said Schmisek.
"And what's so devastating
is that the damages for UD are
real," said Schmisek. "This will
still be the best pastoral ministry
program in the nation, but now
there will be a blog out there
questioning its Catholicity."
In a response message, Fagan
also commented on the effect his
article has had and the University's
decision to implement the new
degree.
"Whether the issues [raised
in my article] were valid as
reported, whether they are part
of a deeper pattern or merely
a statistical aberration to be
dismissed, is for wiser heads to
judge," Fagan said.
"Bishop Farrell, the local
ordinary with jurisdiction over all
who teach the Catholic faith in his
diocese and Bishop Kevin Vann
of Fort Worth, both took a very
public stand to ensure that what
transpires in the future for the
School of Ministry will be in full
accord with all that the Church
is. That changes everything," he
said.
"The Chancellor who is also the
local ordinary, his fellow bishop
on the board, and the president
have all put their reputations
on the line that the school will
be thoroughly Catholic...I trust
them, and they have the grace
of state. I look forward to seeing
a great school that UD will be
proud of, a school that will be a
great contribution to the local
Church, and one that will add to
the University of Dallas' national
reputation as the leading Catholic
liberal arts college in the U.S.'"
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Chee, Gabbi. The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 17, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 22, 2011, newspaper, March 22, 2011; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201542/m1/3/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.