CAMPUS

Do Professors Read Student Newspapers?

Most of the people that read this website are in some manner involved with a student publication at the collegiate level. A CN newspaper, like any other student group, has to foster a relationship with the campus community. Responding the the needs of students is critically important, because it is students that the university caters to, teaches, and makes its impression on over the course of four years. Professors, however, are also important to student newspapers. Unlike students, professors often stay at an institution for a decade or longer as they look to build a career, so in some ways they are the ones most invested in developing an atmosphere of true dialogue.

Is Columbus a Villain?

Just days after the very public controversy over the posting of crucifixes in classrooms at Boston College finally began to die down, a new controversy has erupted on the heights. A picture of Christopher Columbus has appeared above a cubical in the student activities area at BC. The picture depicts Columbus with an arrow sticking through his forehead and includes a brief caption protesting the celebration of Columbus Day. While the picture has not raised as much controversy as the crucifixes, some students are nonetheless concerned about the image, which was apparently put up by a Latin-American group.

BC Professor to be Censored

Anna Djintcharadze, a doctoral student and teacher in the philosophy department at Boston College, may have her published work permanently revised without her permission in order to make it more politically correct.

Djintcharadze, who recently penned two articles for the controversial Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, could have her work amended by Blackwell Publishing even though both her and the editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia steafastly stand behind the accuracy of her articles. Accusations by some that the encyclopedia is “too Christian” sparked an immediate response from the publisher. The printing of the encyclopedia has been stopped indefinitely and the volumes in shipment have been recalled. Contributers to the encyclopedia have been asked to return their complimentary copies and the publisher has destroyed all copies of the publication in its possession.

BC Professors Protest Crucifixes

Returning to school for the spring semester, some professors were shocked to learn about a new university policy that added crucifixes to every classroom on campus over the winter break. Calling the crucifixes and Catholic icons offensive at a Jesuit university, at least one professor is refusing to teach in classrooms adorned by a crucifix even if he should have to move his class to a different room at his own expense.

Debate over Crucifixes at Boston College

The Observer at Boston College recently broke a story about professors quietly protesting the introduction of crucifixes into the classrooms at Boston College over the Christmas break. Some professors have refused to teach in classrooms with either crucifixes or icons. Some professors have said that they feel betrayed by Boston College in that they were recruited to teach at a university where they were explicitly told by administrators that Catholicism would be downplayed. The breaking story has scored an outpouring of support for University President Father Leahy as parents and alumni have repeatedly made the case that a Catholic school should follow a Catholic Tradition.

BC Students REACT

Very rarely do I find a student group that initiates a solution to a problem that society is blind to. Most student groups seem to be subsets of larger organizations (such as College Republicans or College Democrats). A group of women from Boston College, however, recently started the group REACT with the intention of ending human trafficking in the Boston area. The struggle to end human trafficking in Boston remains under the radar to many inhabitants of “Bean town” and a mere three police officers have been assigned to ending this modern form of slavery. Most of these officers remain tied up with trying to rehabilitate and normalize the lives of women who were previously victims of human trafficking.

The English University

My recent post about the differences between the English and German university systems raised a few eyebrows at Boston College and prompted a few questions as to how exactly the English university was ever connected with religion. The connection between higher learning and religion could not be more natural. In fact, Greek philosophy and early Christianity were almost inseparably intertwined in many instances. While the Greeks certainly concentrated much more heavily on theory than practice (Plato could not convince a ruler to implement The Republic for even one day), Christians expected that practice would be much more relevant to their current situation than theory.

Two Schools of Thought

I had a very interesting discussion with a former member of the Heritage Foundation this past Sunday about the unique nature of American universities. Now a student at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, Dan Moloney patiently explained to me over lunch that most students never realize that American universities are a curious hybrid of English and German cousins of high education. The English model emphasizes the importance of personal religious development and relationships with the divine, as seen through their historical function in preparing young men for the ministry. The German model, meanwhile, derives from a sense of the university we are more familiar with, namely that of the research university.

From Animal House to the Academy

The moment I opened the front cover of From Animal House to the Academy, I knew I was about to fall in love. Jeffrey Langan’s new book opens with a quote from Pascal’s Pensees, one of my all-time favorite philosophical works and the best argument I have ever seen for an existence that extends beyond what we can see, touch, or hear. Professor Langan’s book is brilliant in that it argues that colleges should not just be concerned with educating students for successful life in the workforce while giving them the cliched “college experience” that so many use to “find themselves.” Instead, Jeff argues that colleges need to also concern themselves with the souls of their students, enabling them to see a more complete truth than they ever could have imagined.

BC Football, Bringing Back Classy

With the New York Jets looking for a new football coach, BC Coach Jeff Jagodzinski was one of the first in line to interview for the position. Learning from a reporter that the “ball coach” at BC was interning for the New York Jets without giving him prior notice, Athletic Director Gene DeFillipo told “Jags” that if he interviewed for the job, he would be fired. Jags interviewed with the Jets and DeFillipo held true to his promise, firing Jags earlier this week.