“To form leaders of faith, to be the places where the Church does her thinking, to fight against the caricature of God proposed by our secular culture, Catholic universities must offer more than ‘Theology Lite,’” Woo wrote. “In all the efforts to define learning goals for a Catholic university, how about ‘to know God’ as a starter?”
It’s a powerful argument, especially from a Catholic leader who is so widely respected. Woo was dean of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business from 1997 to 2011, which earned the top ranking among U.S. business schools during her tenure, and she previously was associate executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University. She was the first female to chair the national accrediting association for business schools and has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Since 2012, Woo has been CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), earning admiration for taking steps to strengthen the agency’s Catholic identity amid concerns from pro-life and Catholic organizations.
(source: Prominent CEO Carolyn Woo Speaks Out for Faithful Catholic Education)
(source: ND Theology Dept.)
The primary task of a Catholic college is to help students come to know God, Woo said. This means that colleges must not stop at simply “hiring for mission”—requiring support for the mission of the college as a condition for employment. Even more, she said, Catholic colleges must strive to be places of genuine Catholic culture where the Catholic identity is woven into the very life of the institution.
“I think hiring for mission is necessary and it means more than just hiring Catholics, as many may not practice nor are committed to mission,” she said. “Hiring for mission means recruiting those who share the commitment to mission and have the ability to contribute to the foundations of faith as a daily, integral institutional reality.”
An integrated Catholic identity is something that must penetrate all aspects of the university, Woo explained, including academics, student life, finance, human resources, development and leadership.
“I think that everyone involved—not just the teachers, but the administration, alumni, and everyone—has a role in saying that this is an approach to life that we buy into,” Woo said. Even non-Christians among the faculty, staff and students can recognize and encourage the immense good that Catholic colleges contribute to society.
(source: Prominent CEO Carolyn Woo Speaks Out for Faithful Catholic Education)