| When a university requires adherence to the dogmas of diversity or
discourages instructors from sharing their faith in the classroom, the
establishment calls it openmindedness. But when a Catholic university simply
tries to remain faithful to its stated mission, it is accused of denying
academic freedom.
As a result, the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minn., is
trying to maintain its reputation while explaining why it didn't give
academic credit last spring for an internship performed at Planned Parenthood.
You might have thought that students who chose to attend a Catholic
university would have known that asking the school to endorse work performed
at Planned Parenthood wasn't a good idea. You might even have wondered how
anyone can argue that preventing universities from remaining faithful to
their religious traditions advances academic freedom. Wouldn't the broadest
possible academic freedom exist if we had some universities tied to faith
traditions and some that are not, and we let students and faculty make an
informed decision where to go?
If you thought those things, your logic is certainly clearer than that of
the Planned Parenthood chapter president who criticized St. Thomas after the
university made its ruling nine months ago.
St. Thomas isn't exactly setting new standards in narrowmindedness. After
refusing to grant credit to the anonymous senior sociology major for her
hours at Planned Parenthood, the school waived the internship requirement so
she could graduate on time. And this is a school that requires all freshmen
to read Heaven's Coast, the story of how a gay man deals with his partner's
death.
But as St. Thomas president Dennis Dease pointed out, if the university
has no right to set boundaries on permissible internships, it could be
compelled to give credit for a student's work with the Ku Klux Klan.
Seeing a chance for rhetorical victory, Planned Parenthood's Thomas
Webber published an editorial calling Dease's KKK reference "irresponsibly
inflammatory." Having unleashed this inflammatory blast of his own, Webber
then called for dialogue. I hope he doesn't moonlight as a bridge-builder.
Since the incident began, St. Thomas has been considering whether a
formal policy or informal guidance may be the best way to define the
boundaries of permissible internships. A decision is anticipated by December.
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