Sen. Rick Santorum was the commencement speaker at a university in Pennsylvania. He got booed and about one-eighth of the graduates walked out.
About one in every eight graduates walked out of Sunday’s commencement at Saint Joseph’s University before the keynote address by Sen. Rick Santorum, who recently infuriated gay groups and others with derogatory remarks about homosexual behavior.
St. Joseph’s University. Saint. Joseph. Catholic. Or to be more accurate, Jesuit. Anyone surprised? Actually I’m only surprised that the invitation wasn’t revoked.
Actually, the only accreditation that matters is the recognition of the local bishop. In New York, Cardinal Egan recently announced that Marist College can no longer be considered Catholic and that it should no longer identify itself as such in any literature.
James,
For a different perspective on why Catholic colleges in general are suspect, take a look at this article from Catholic World Report: “Are Catholic Colleges Leading Students Astray?”
It’s not that all Jesuit colleges are bad, but that most American Catholic colleges are bad. It’s just that so many of them are Jesuit.
When one-eighth of the graduating class doesn’t just disagree but actually gets up and walks out, I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re not getting good Catholic formation. That’s why I was surprised they didn’t cancel him altogether.
My point is that almost all Catholic colleges are suspect, especially when you hear stories like this all the time.