Recruiting More Catholic Professors

[DFW HOYA]

From the Sunday Boston Globe: Notre Dame to raise funds to recruit more Catholic professors.

A quote from ND's president: "If we do nothing about this, inevitably we're going to sink to the national average of 25 to 30 percent, and if that's the case, it's hard to claim you're Catholic in any distinctive sense."

www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/11/12/across_us_catholic_colleges_are_searching_for_their_identity/

[hilltopper2000]

Can someone explain to me why Notre Dame's efforts aren't illegal? Are they really arguing that religion is a BFOQ under Title VII? I wouldn't want to argue to a judge that the university needs more Catholic chemists or economists because that improves the education the students receive. I'm shocked that Notre Dame even tracks the religion of their employees. I'd be interested to know if anyone has litigated this.

[EasyEd]

Kudos to Notre Dame.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

I'd rather have the best professors possible regardless of religion, race, creed, sexuality, gender, or nation of origin. Not to say that I don't want Catholic professors. I want the best Catholic professors as well as the best protestant, orthodox, jewish, muslim, hindu, buddhist, agnostic, and atheist ones.

[Frank Black]

hilltopper2000 said:

Can someone explain to me why Notre Dame's efforts aren't illegal? Are they really arguing that religion is a BFOQ under Title VII? I wouldn't want to argue to a judge that the university needs more Catholic chemists or economists because that improves the education the students receive. I'm shocked that Notre Dame even tracks the religion of their employees. I'd be interested to know if anyone has litigated this.

It would be strange indeed if a private, Catholic university were legally barred from giving preference to a Catholic professor.

[hilltopper2000]

Frank -- Why does that strike you as strange? Discrimination based on religion is generally outlawed. The only exception would be if the school could articulate a reason for the discrimination that the court deemed a bone fide occupational qualification. For instance, an imam could not sue for being rejected as the head of the Catholic ministries. Religious organizations are thus generally exempt from Title VII as it pertains to religion. But Notre Dame is not a relgious organization. It is an independent university. And I have no idea how it could possible argue that all of its employees must be Catholic. What legitimate benefit could that discrimination possibly serve? I've only done a few Title VII cases and they weren't in this area. For all I know there could be an exemption for Catholic colleges. That's why I asked the question.

In any event, I'd prefer my alma mater not engage in any employment discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, or otherwise. I can almost assure you that prospective professors are not asked about their religious faith.

[DFW HOYA]

Since when is an outreach program discrimination?

ND isn't guaranteeing jobs by denomination, only seeking to expand the base of applicants so that more qualified Catholic faculty are in a position to be hired. That's what outreach programs do.

It's an interesting PR tactic and one which shoots across the bow of schools like Georgetown.

[hilltopper2000]

Okay, so I'll just answer my own question.

Here's the exception for educational instituions: "it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular religion if such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society, or if the curriculum of such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion."

-- I doubt Notre Dame could fit in under this. I know Georgetown certianly wouldn't. Catholic University would be okay though.

[hilltopper2000]

DFW -- I didn't get the impression that it was designed to merely expand the pool and then to engage in hiring without preference toward a religious faith. I'm sure the Irish have some solid employment people in their university counsel's office who have figured this out.

As for GU, I can think of 10 different ways to help Georgetown fulfill the religious aspect of its mission without articulating any hiring preferences.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

hilltopper2000 said:

Okay, so I'll just answer my own question.

Here's the exception for educational instituions: "it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular religion if such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society, or if the curriculum of such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion."

-- I doubt Notre Dame could fit in under this. I know Georgetown certianly wouldn't. Catholic University would be okay though.

Both schools could. It comes down to what the word propagation means legally. I would argue that Georgetown and Notre Dame are substanitally managed by Catholic religious orders.

[SirSaxa]

hilltopper2000 said:

it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular religion if such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society, .......

I know Georgetown certianly wouldn't. Catholic University would be okay though.

GU wouldn't qualify?
Who owns GU?
Who supports it, controls it, etc. I thought it was the Jesuits. You mean it isn't?
Maybe my information is really out of date, but that looks like GU fits precisely.

Meanwhile, here are some excerpts from that Globe Article. THis is an area that should be discussed and explored by all who are seriously interested in the academic and religious nature of GU. DFW -- thanks for finding and posting.


"The colleges are seeking to be more explicit in how they discuss, and how they implement, their Catholicity," said the Rev. Mark T. Cregan, president of Stonehill. And Richard A. Yanikoski, president and chief executive of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, said, "I'm seeing initiatives everywhere, on almost every campus that I'm in touch with............."


The push is being driven by a confluence of factors. At most Catholic colleges, the number of faculty and administrators who belong to the founding religious orders is dropping precipitously. The percentage of undergraduates who attended Catholic high schools is also dropping, meaning that matriculating students have an increasingly weak formal understanding of their own faith...............


In recent years there has been pressure from the Vatican and US bishops for Catholic colleges to demonstrate their faithfulness.

www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/11/12/across_us_catholic_colleges_are_searching_for_their_identity/

[hilltopper2000]

GU is not owned or controlled or even managed by the Jesuits. It hasn't been in almost 50 years. I can't imagine the propogation argument working, but that's the best one.

[hilltopper2000]

BTW: This is how Father McFadden characterized the issue of professors' religious beliefs: “We’re not even allowed to ask if somebody’s Catholic or not.” I imagine university policy flows from the restrictions of Title VII. If it knew the relgious beliefs of its employees, it would open the institution up to suits any time someone didn't get a promotion or an office with a view.

www.thehoya.com/news/083101/news3.cfm

[EasyEd]

What an affront! Why would a Catholic university be so near-sighted as to want to have some Catholics on the faculty? I'm puzzled.

[hilltopper2000]

Ed -- the university can do all sorts of things to attract more Catholic faculty that do not involve hiring preferences. For instance, I would love to see GU found a school of Catholic Studies (cultural, religious, etc.) in the model of SFS. You could have Catholic experts in not only theology but also history, government, english, AMT, and philosophy. But professors would be hired based on their expertise in Catholic studies, not on their personal religious beliefs.

And I'll take this one step further and argue that the personal religious beliefs of the faculty in most disciplines are really irrelevant. In the vast majority of disciplines, such preferences would qualify as the exact type of religious discrimination that we outlaw in this country -- in large part to protect groups like Catholics who have suffered hiring discrimination.

[SirSaxa]

hilltopper2000 said:

GU is not owned or controlled or even managed by the Jesuits. It hasn't been in almost 50 years. I can't imagine the propogation argument working, but that's the best one.

Hilltopper, you skipped over most of the question.
WHo does own and control GU?

[hilltopper2000]

GU is not owned by anyone. To the best of my knowledge, very few universities can be said to be owned by an entity or group of people. Georgetown is an independent entity and does not have stockholders or any other sort of ownership group.

It is controled by the Board of Directors. Here are the university bylaws: president.georgetown.edu/board/bylaws.html

Incidently, there are a few Jesuits on the Board -- something like 5 out of 40, I think. But the chair is a layperson, as is the president of the University, the provost, every school dean, and every vice president, with the exception of the head of campus ministries. It has been a long time since the Jesuits ran Georgetown.

[SoCalHoya]

I don't understand why people are surprised about this. The real issue is, from a PR perspective, is ND shooting itself in the foot on this issue?