On January 1, The Wall Street Journal published a letter by Matthew Grad, who wrote: “We are an observant Jewish family who chose the Catholic, Jesuit Saint Louis University for our daughter, and she has been delighted. She decided she’d rather be in an environment where strong faith mattered, and people walked the walk, rather than one where piety and morality are unimportant, mocked or even scorned.”
Grad was responding to a Dec. 21 WJS op-ed by Greg Weiner, the president of Assumption University, who suggested that the crucial inquiry shouldn’t be merely about the reactions of academic administrators to antisemitism but rather delve into why the educational environments they cultivate appear to nurture such animosity.
“For American Jews, the question cuts deeper: Given our traditional love of learning, do we care about the quality of education or only the prestige of the institutions providing it?” wrote Weiner.
“Universities that take seriously their duty to teach will turn out students ready to grapple with difficult moral and political questions that can’t be reduced to slogans. That our elite institutions are producing students who think otherwise is a more acute embarrassment than the failure of college leaders to condemn the predictable result,” Weiner added, and advised American Jews to “re-evaluate whether elite institutions—whose obsession with selectivity perversely grounds their prestige in the proportion of students they refuse to teach rather than how they actually educate—truly reflect our belief in the importance of learning.”
“These institutions have largely abandoned their responsibility to form morally circumspect and intellectually curious citizens by engaging the permanent questions of the human condition,” Weiner wrote.
Grad related that Saint Louis University agreed to install a kosher kitchen for his daughter “so that she could have a seat at the table, literally.”
“They said no one had ever asked for it before, but since then she has met a number of other students whose families had made the same decision,” Grad reported, adding that “in today’s ominous campus atmosphere, a strong Catholic university may be a better option for Jews than an Ivy League school.”
Inside Higher Ed reported on October 23 that Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, announced its commitment to not only welcome Jewish students but also streamline the transfer process for them.
This decision came in response to widely reported incidents of antisemitism on American college campuses, particularly those linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The leadership of Franciscan University expressed a clear and unwavering stance on reaching out to Jewish students and emphasized their belief that other colleges should take more substantial measures to safeguard them.
The October 18 press release by the Rev. Dave Pivonka, President of Franciscan University, read (see the full text below):
In the wake of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 and the ongoing Israeli military response, Franciscan University of Steubenville has created an expedited transfer process for Jewish students in danger of antisemitic discrimination and violence on campuses across the United States.
“With our fellow Christians around the world, we are praying for justice and peace,” said Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University. “But with too many universities preaching tolerance but practicing prejudice, we feel compelled to do more. We are witnessing a very troubling spike in antisemitism and serious threats against Jewish students. We want to offer them the chance to transfer immediately to Franciscan.”
Franciscan University’s administration has taken action to expedite their transfer process and make plans to accommodate any additional students. Despite the logistical challenges that have come with this year’s record-breaking enrollment, Franciscan University administrators believe creating a safe haven for these students is the right thing to do.
“Our community will welcome them with generosity and respect,” said Father Pivonka. “Our religious differences will not cause any conflict. On the contrary, at Franciscan, our radical fidelity to Christ and the Catholic faith demands of us fraternal charity toward our Jewish brothers and sisters, as it does toward all people.”
Mindful of the many Jewish students who may want to transfer immediately out of universities where they face hostility, Father Pivonka has invited presidents of other faithful Catholic universities to join Franciscan in this effort.
Franciscan University and The Philos Project recognized the need to confront a resurgent antisemitism many months ago when it organized a joint conference, Nostra Aetate and the Future of Catholic-Jewish Relations at a Time of Rising Antisemitism, for October 24-26. The conference coordinators never imagined the tragic timeliness their event would take on.
“It is a great source of distress and sadness that the recent Hamas terrorist attacks—in themselves unspeakable evils—have led to yet further increases in threats of violence against the Jewish people,” said Dr. Stephen Hildebrand, vice president for Academic Affairs at Franciscan University and conference organizer. “We affirm the Church’s repeated condemnations of antisemitism made necessary throughout history and today by ongoing acts of violence and discrimination against the Jews.”
The Catholic Church has acknowledged her own past failings in fraternal charity toward the Jewish people and roots her repeated condemnations of antisemitism in the Gospel. According to the Vatican Council II document, Nostra Aetate, “The Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” This condemnation has been forcefully repeated by Pope Paul VI, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. The bishops of the United States have also expressed their unanimous condemnation of antisemitism.”
It reminded me of the joke about a European Jew and an American Jew who argue whose continent is better, and the European Jew brags, “We have the best museums, the best restaurants, the best environmental protection, what do you have?” And the American Jew answers: “We have the best goyim.”
