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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 4, 2018 18:15:42 GMT -5
I wasn't aware the University of Pennsylvania had a permanent exhibit geared towards Catholicism and its themes. That's probably because they don't, but again, you're ignoring 90% of what I'm saying. There are numerous "Catholic-themed" museums, exhibits, and shrines to individual saints all around the city and surrounding suburbs, including the oldest one in the country - the American Catholic Historical Society on 4th street (which is free). You've proposed charging admission to go to the basement of Olney and suggested that this same basement could annually draw 1/5 the visitors that Ohio State does. These are the hallmarks of your master plan to save the arts. Quite frankly, I'm ignoring 90% of what you are saying because when you make statements as ludicrous as these, it invalidates any and all arguments you were attempting to make.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 18:17:53 GMT -5
Those numbers are what they are because the university neglected it out of either incompetence or malice, just like with the basketball team, the other 24 NCAA sports, the religion department, and basically anything that isn't nursing or business. You also forgot that the passage of time exists, and that I specifically stated the university is operating in "dog ate my homework" panic mode. The past 20 years had to happen first for the university to need to raise money at $10k a ticket as quickly as possible. Shouldn't this paragraph lead to an understanding and acceptance, albeit reluctant, of why this is being done and not why its a horrific decision? (And seriously, how is charging admission to a basement museum in North Philadelphia when (1) we can't sell out high mid-major basketball games and (2) a top 10 national art museum exists in center city even a proposal?) On the first part, I suppose it's a matter of perspective. This seems like a mistake to fix a mistake. Your view is presumably that past mistakes must be remedied with present medicine. This isn't something we'll reconcile. As for the rest of it, having the PMA does not prevent the Museum of the American Revolution, the Franklin Institute, the Barnes Foundation, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, or any number of other institutions from thriving. La Salle's art museum is where it's at because of La Salle's decisions, not anything else. Also, I cannot understate how uninterested I am in any Atlantic 10 team not named St. Joes. This is not an uncommon view - no one gets excited to play Duquesne, Fordham, UMass, GW, or any other team in the conference.
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Post by SICguy84 on Jan 4, 2018 18:23:15 GMT -5
You mean the basement they was renovated through generous donations and facilitated by Burke to Renaissance/Tudor/etc appearances to match the art work in each gallery.
It's not a rowhome cellar.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 4, 2018 18:24:05 GMT -5
Also, I cannot understate how uninterested I am in any Atlantic 10 team not named St. Joes. This is not an uncommon view - no one gets excited to play Duquesne, Fordham, UMass, GW, or any other team in the conference.. I'm surprised you're not excited when we play St. Louis. Not only are they Catholic, but they also have a Top 20 rated Art Museum: www.bestcollegereviews.org/best-college-art-museums/
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 18:26:01 GMT -5
I wasn't aware the University of Pennsylvania had a permanent exhibit geared towards Catholicism and its themes. That's probably because they don't, but again, you're ignoring 90% of what I'm saying. There are numerous "Catholic-themed" museums, exhibits, and shrines to individual saints all around the city and surrounding suburbs, including the oldest one in the country - the American Catholic Historical Society on 4th street (which is free). You've proposed charging admission to go to the basement of Olney and suggested that this same basement could annually draw 1/5 the visitors that Ohio State does. These are the hallmarks of your master plan to save the arts. Quite frankly, I'm ignoring 90% of what you are saying because when you make statements as ludicrous as these, it invalidates any and all arguments you were attempting to make. You keep saying basement museum like there is some absolute rule that says that is where it must be, as if God himself ordained it in the Book of Genesis. It could have been integrated into Founder's Hall. The art museum was left to die, and now it is dying. You keep leaving out the first part and assuming that it alone bestowed upon itself this fate. As a matter of stewardship, this was what's commonly known as an institutional dick move. The only reason I'm engaging on you with any of this is because I want to understand more fully, as I cannot bring myself to believe that this is what people think about the university from within the university. Then not only do you double down, but then pile on top things that diplomatically call me a deranged asshole.
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Post by theneumann64 on Jan 4, 2018 18:34:53 GMT -5
Oh man. I bet Explorer Steve’s ears are ringing so loud right now people in the same room as him can hear it. Almiller?
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Jan 4, 2018 18:41:45 GMT -5
Maybe I will check out the art museum before the VCU game.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 4, 2018 18:56:37 GMT -5
Maybe I will check out the art museum before the VCU game. It's closed on weekends.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 4, 2018 19:09:59 GMT -5
As a matter of stewardship, this was what's commonly known as an institutional dick move. I would argue that stewardship, and being stewards of the University is about ensuring the future sustainability of the University and keeping it focused on its core mission. In that sense, the Trustees are being proper stewards to ensure a future for students and growth in core areas for the University. Clearly, they collectively do not feel that an Art Gallery is central to the University's mission, and by selling these assets, they will be able to use that money to double-down on critical areas of focus, rather than trying to be all things to all people. The "institutional dick move" is being complacent about the hard choices that need to be made in order to try to keep everyone happy. Prior administrations made decisions that brought the school to where it is today. Maybe they were the right decisions for the time in the short-term, and maybe they weren't. The reality is, the current administration is taking steps to set a different strategic plan, vision, and identity for the University, and enrollment numbers show that this is working. It takes 3-4 years in a business to make a cultural change of this magnitude, and even longer in a slower moving academic setting. Whether this is the right or wrong move is difficult to tell at this juncture, but at least it is in support of a longer term vision, plan, and identity for La Salle, and so far, this administration is getting results in higher enrollment and higher incoming standardized test scores from enrolled students.
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Post by glorydays on Jan 4, 2018 20:27:53 GMT -5
Fjord and Glitter. This is a great discussion. I am with Fjord on the Catholic identity. I am with Fjord on the strategic vision. If we have to sell the art work to keep the wheels turning so be it. Sorry that I can't bring any real enlightenment to this conversation.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jan 4, 2018 20:28:47 GMT -5
Maybe I will check out the art museum before the VCU game. It's closed on weekends. This was good.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 20:33:11 GMT -5
As a matter of stewardship, this was what's commonly known as an institutional dick move. I would argue that stewardship, and being stewards of the University is about ensuring the future sustainability of the University and keeping it focused on its core mission. In that sense, the Trustees are being proper stewards to ensure a future for students and growth in core areas for the University. Clearly, they collectively do not feel that an Art Gallery is central to the University's mission, and by selling these assets, they will be able to use that money to double-down on critical areas of focus, rather than trying to be all things to all people. The "institutional dick move" is being complacent about the hard choices that need to be made in order to try to keep everyone happy. Prior administrations made decisions that brought the school to where it is today. Maybe they were the right decisions for the time in the short-term, and maybe they weren't. The reality is, the current administration is taking steps to set a different strategic plan, vision, and identity for the University, and enrollment numbers show that this is working. It takes 3-4 years in a business to make a cultural change of this magnitude, and even longer in a slower moving academic setting. Whether this is the right or wrong move is difficult to tell at this juncture, but at least it is in support of a longer term vision, plan, and identity for La Salle, and so far, this administration is getting results in higher enrollment and higher incoming standardized test scores from enrolled students. Not a peep about Catholicism or Christianity in those 256 words, but plenty of talk about business realities. Look, if La Salle is in the business of providing an education, it's doing an average job in an industry where it's nearly impossible to do much more than an average job. If La Salle is in the business of providing a Catholic education, then it is failing in that duty and this doesn't really help change that. Focusing on business realities will mean that the Catholic part of a Catholic education will continue to lose value at La Salle. This likely got glossed over because I added it in as a later edit, but it's worth repeating: To that end, on matters of institutional vision, identities, and inertia, while I have been patient the new administration has more or less plucked all the low hanging fruit it could have at this point. If this is really the next step, and more importantly, if having been shared this new institutional vision has failed to resonate with donors, then I'm gravely concerned by the lack of vision as it relates to what La Salle is, has and does. There's also the possibility that it either hasn't been shared with donors, or that there are no known donors to share it with. Both would be equally concerning.
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
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Post by MisterD on Jan 4, 2018 20:45:50 GMT -5
I'm a little lapsed but this is a serious question: In terms of serving our stated values and priorities, where does keeping the art versus repurposing its value fall on the "good catholic-ing" scale?
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Jan 4, 2018 21:10:45 GMT -5
Do we want La Salle University to exist in 15 years, or do we want that art sold or donated when we have to close our doors?
If anybody can connect the dots between selling art and becoming a secular college, I'd be open to blast this and see it from the other side.
Like Mr. D, I'm a little lapsed, but as my daughter grows, I will take her to church and become a better Catholic, hell, I may even put her in Catholic School in 4 or 5 years.
I will repeat myself so I'm clear on the issue. It sucks to lose that cool hidden gem that is our art museum... And let's face it, once the million dollar pieces are sold, the art museum won't have the allure. I also think it's a short term money grab, and I don't know that this helps us long term.
However, unless anybody is sitting on a cool $5 million that's unaccounted for, (and if I did, we would have a new basketball coach) this is the reality of the situation. It is what it is. It's not 2006 anymore. The higher education bubble is about to pop. Small, private colleges that don't have huge endowments are going to be swimming up stream. We may be in better shape than Cabrini or Neumann, but we aren't Nova.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jan 4, 2018 21:17:42 GMT -5
Do we want La Salle University to exist in 15 years, or do we want that art sold or donated when we have to close our doors? This is enough.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 4, 2018 22:01:34 GMT -5
Not a peep about Catholicism or Christianity in those 256 words, but plenty of talk about business realities. Look, if La Salle is in the business of providing an education, it's doing an average job in an industry where it's nearly impossible to do much more than an average job. If La Salle is in the business of providing a Catholic education, then it is failing in that duty and this doesn't really help change that. Focusing on business realities will mean that the Catholic part of a Catholic education will continue to lose value at La Salle. This likely got glossed over because I added it in as a later edit, but it's worth repeating: To that end, on matters of institutional vision, identities, and inertia, while I have been patient the new administration has more or less plucked all the low hanging fruit it could have at this point. If this is really the next step, and more importantly, if having been shared this new institutional vision has failed to resonate with donors, then I'm gravely concerned by the lack of vision as it relates to what La Salle is, has and does. There's also the possibility that it either hasn't been shared with donors, or that there are no known donors to share it with. Both would be equally concerning. I'm not sure how selling some art is turning La Salle into a non-Catholic institution, particularly when there are many pieces being kept, including Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Mary”. The Art Museum will still be there and used by the school. The selling of these high value pieces represents fewer than 1% of the holdings. The Strategic Plan - Momentum: 2022 - was approved by the Board of Trustees in 2017 and has been communicated many times and there are 5 key themes of it: Theme I: Ensuring our Sustainable Community Theme II: Fostering our Premier Student Learning Experience Theme III: Transforming our Environment Theme IV: Cultivating our Community of World Class Colleagues Theme V: Sharing our Unique Story The overarching goal being (with emphasis added by me): Over the next five years, with a shared sense of our Catholic Lasallian mission, La Salle University will affirm its place among those colleges and universities recognized nationally for exceptional student outcomes resulting from deeply engaged, integrated, innovative high-impact teaching and learning. The Cliff Notes version is here: clubs.lasalle.edu/collegian/2017/10/04/momentum-2022-rolls-out-five-year-plan-aims-to-grow-student-achievement/The full version is here: wa3.lasalle.edu/channels/docs/get.php?id=1498To say La Salle is doing an average job is just missing the point of everything the University has been doing. Our Student-Athlete graduation rate exceeds the D1 National average. The Business School was named to Princeton Review's Best Business Schools, La Salle is in the WSJ Top 300 College Rankings (our 3-point defense last year couldn't even achieve that) and was ranked #34 of top Northeast Regional Schools by US News and World Report this past fall and 4th in the Nation in MBA Job placement. We must have different definitions of "average", but I'd say that's a pretty good track record for a small private Catholic school recovering from a major financial crisis.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 22:53:50 GMT -5
If anybody can connect the dots between selling art and becoming a secular college, I'd be open to blast this and see it from the other side. The problem is there are a lot of subtle dots between here and there, and the paintings are a single dot. Consider Founders Hall, which people apparently like. I despise the architecture of it for reasons I've discussed previously, but it also lacks the edifying nature of older buildings on campus, both at La Salle and other Catholic institutions. If you put it down on Temple's campus, you would have never known it was designed for La Salle or a religious institution of any sort. So there's dot #2. Dot #3 I've already touched on: The religion department. Here's the department head's published works. Note the absolute lack of anything that could be conceived as overtly Catholic or Christian. Note further that François Laruelle, the object of a big chunk of his scholarly attention, is a non-philosopher, which is essentially postmodernism with extra steps. Postmodernism is no friend of Catholicism or Christianity. Dot #4: A quick CTRL+F on lasalle.edu brings up a big fat 0 on hits for Catholic and Christ, you have to dig into a menu. Dot #5: Sequestering the chapel in the basement of College Hall. I could have made that 50 or more points, and selling out rarely stops once it's started. La Salle started before the paintings. Not a peep about Catholicism or Christianity in those 256 words, but plenty of talk about business realities. I'm not sure how selling some art is turning La Salle into a non-Catholic institution, particularly when there are many pieces being kept, including Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Mary”. The Art Museum will still be there and used by the school. The selling of these high value pieces represents fewer than 1% of the holdings. The Strategic Plan - Momentum: 2022 - was approved by the Board of Trustees in 2017 We must have different definitions of "average", but I'd say that's a pretty good track record for a small private Catholic school recovering from a major financial crisis. The middle 80% of every major at every university is average. What's under that 80% is people who shouldn't be teaching for any number of reasons, and everything above that is the high flyers in their field. Think Noam Chomsky at MIT, or Ed Rollins when he was at Hofstra. As far as I know, La Salle has no Chomsky equivalents, no former presidential advisers or anyone that should be fired yesterday. Academically, there isn't a lot at La Salle that you couldn't get elsewhere, and I am not about to start bragging about USNWR's #34 in the Northeast ranking. For what it's worth, I also don't recognize UCF's national championship. As for Momentum 2022, it's just more triage. Housekeeping. It doesn't lay out anything you can make a catchphrase out of - nothing you can grip on to as a donor and say YES SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY to. A lot of it is stuff the university should have been doing a decade ago. Some of it also pivots on how faculty handles it, and if you're relying on faculty at any college to do the heavy lifting you've already lost. The rest means nothing until actual policies are put into place to achieve the objectives laid out. For example, "Develop a comprehensive talent recruitment plan" does not get me pumped in the slightest, and most of the rest of the document follows along the same lines of saying something non-controversial as a blueprint for the future.
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Post by durenduren on Jan 5, 2018 0:03:04 GMT -5
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 5, 2018 9:30:46 GMT -5
The problem is there are a lot of subtle dots between here and there, and the paintings are a single dot. Consider Founders Hall, which people apparently like. I despise the architecture of it for reasons I've discussed previously, but it also lacks the edifying nature of older buildings on campus, both at La Salle and other Catholic institutions. If you put it down on Temple's campus, you would have never known it was designed for La Salle or a religious institution of any sort. So there's dot #2. Dot #3 I've already touched on: The religion department. Here's the department head's published works. Note the absolute lack of anything that could be conceived as overtly Catholic or Christian. Note further that François Laruelle, the object of a big chunk of his scholarly attention, is a non-philosopher, which is essentially postmodernism with extra steps. Postmodernism is no friend of Catholicism or Christianity. Dot #4: A quick CTRL+F on lasalle.edu brings up a big fat 0 on hits for Catholic and Christ, you have to dig into a menu. Dot #5: Sequestering the chapel in the basement of College Hall. I could have made that 50 or more points, and selling out rarely stops once it's started. La Salle started before the paintings. The middle 80% of every major at every university is average. What's under that 80% is people who shouldn't be teaching for any number of reasons, and everything above that is the high flyers in their field. Think Noam Chomsky at MIT, or Ed Rollins when he was at Hofstra. As far as I know, La Salle has no Chomsky equivalents, no former presidential advisers or anyone that should be fired yesterday. Academically, there isn't a lot at La Salle that you couldn't get elsewhere, and I am not about to start bragging about USNWR's #34 in the Northeast ranking. For what it's worth, I also don't recognize UCF's national championship. As for Momentum 2022, it's just more triage. Housekeeping. It doesn't lay out anything you can make a catchphrase out of - nothing you can grip on to as a donor and say YES SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY to. A lot of it is stuff the university should have been doing a decade ago. Some of it also pivots on how faculty handles it, and if you're relying on faculty at any college to do the heavy lifting you've already lost. The rest means nothing until actual policies are put into place to achieve the objectives laid out. For example, "Develop a comprehensive talent recruitment plan" does not get me pumped in the slightest, and most of the rest of the document follows along the same lines of saying something non-controversial as a blueprint for the future. I'm not sure how paintings, buildings, publications, and a bad site search engine detract from the Catholic character of the school. Some people prefer the intimacy of the chapel under College Hall. The students at La Salle do a lot of service, most of which is not publicized (including many of the sports teams)...in fact, they offer service-based scholarships. If you go to the alumni page on the web site, there are lots of alumni service opportunities as well. Also, I'd rather have professors publishing than teaching, and THAT teaching is in line with Lasallian values (since our patron saint was a teacher, and the Christian Brothers are known as educators). It was an eye-opener for me when I got to graduate school (at a very prestigious Catholic university in the mid-west with a big dome on top) and professors openly said they hated teaching but it allowed them the opportunity to publish and do research. Professors at La Salle teach. I'm not sure what statistics courses you had previously, but declaring the middle 80% as average seems a bit trite. Since this is a basketball board, I'll use RPI figures. You're saying that teams ranked from RPI 36 to 314 are "average" (middle 80% of 350 teams..I know there are 351 but I like round numbers). Looking at last years' final RPI, you're saying Dayton, with an RPI of 36 and a 23-8 record was "average"...as was, by your definition, McNesse State with their 314 RPI and 5-21 record. I think if we finished with a 36 RPI and that record people would be happy and not have considered us "average".
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
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Post by MisterD on Jan 5, 2018 9:34:03 GMT -5
Speaking of true facts: I was never inside the chapel and couldn't guide you to it. I would sell the pews before the art.
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Post by coachd on Jan 5, 2018 10:48:31 GMT -5
Not sure what is more likely: A. La Salle selling art that most have never seen and making $10 mil that will go into the new arena fund which already has $x million. B. MisterD introducing DurenDuren to Bobby J during halftime of the next home game. C. Jimmy Whispers encouraging Duke Gola to run for Governor of PA. D. Explorer Steve, et al resurrecting the old website. E. The Mods on this board buying out G's contract on January 9, 2018.
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Post by Shout out to my Cousin Bern on Jan 5, 2018 11:20:55 GMT -5
Speaking of true facts: I was never inside the chapel and couldn't guide you to it. I would sell the pews before the art. There are no pews in the chapel.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jan 5, 2018 11:22:27 GMT -5
Speaking of true facts: I was never inside the chapel and couldn't guide you to it. I would sell the pews before the art. There are no pews in the chapel. Gone in the firesale of 1989.
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
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Post by MisterD on Jan 5, 2018 11:24:23 GMT -5
Not sure what is more likely: A. La Salle selling art that most have never seen and making $10 mil that will go into the new arena fund which already has $x million. B. MisterD introducing DurenDuren to Bobby J during halftime of the next home game. C. Jimmy Whispers encouraging Duke Gola to run for Governor of PA. D. Explorer Steve, et al resurrecting the old website. E. The Mods on this board buying out G's contract on January 9, 2018. Insider trading alert
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Post by durenduren on Jan 5, 2018 16:34:10 GMT -5
Not sure what is more likely: B. MisterD introducing DurenDuren to Bobby J during halftime of the next home game. Got me again. Starting to get worried for BJ's father, you're getting a little obsessed.
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Post by gymrat67 on Jan 5, 2018 16:34:46 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 18:18:22 GMT -5
The problem is there are a lot of subtle dots between here and there, and the paintings are a single dot. The middle 80% of every major at every university is average. I'm not sure how paintings, buildings, publications, and a bad site search engine detract from the Catholic character of the school. Some people prefer the intimacy of the chapel under College Hall. I'm bored of this. Either you can see the greater picture, and how small things are adding up to big things, or you can't. I will say, however, that we agree that professors at a college ought to embrace teaching. You technically didn't write that, but I think it's what you meant. I will leave you with parts of the mission statements from two Christian Brothers schools as well as the entirety of La Salle's, with emphasis added on how they explain their relationship with and desired contribution to Catholicism. From De La Salle High School in Concord, California: From La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor: And finally, the full text of the university's mission statement: I hope you can appreciate the differences between these three, and in this juxtaposition see the subtle ways in which the university's mission statement, among other things, has been sterilized to avoid offending the sensibilities of a non-Catholic audience. As a bonus, here's Villanova's interesting approach: For further consideration: Notre Dame's, and The Catholic University of America's 'aims and goals'.
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Post by charmcityexplorer on Jan 5, 2018 19:08:27 GMT -5
Fjord, I respect your passion and agree with a lot of what you’ve said in this discussion about the art museum. However, your opinion that La Salle isn’t Catholic enough (my words, not yours) bothers me, and I don’t agree with it. It bothers me because La Salle (and all La Sallian institutions) are, and should be, welcoming of students of all faiths and, dare I say, non-believers. La Salle is not a seminary. Further, students who want to further explore or strengthen their Catholic faith have the opportunity to do so at La Salle. Those who would rather take Judaism, as I did, to fulfill a core requirement, should have that flexibility. After four years of Religion at a La Sallian high school, it was refreshing to be able to learn about another faith rather than to have more required (and redundant) coursework on The Church.
I also don’t agree with your premise if its underpinnings are based solely the Mission Statements of other Catholic high schools and universities. I did my graduate work at one you referenced, THE Catholic University of America, and aside from having more options and locations on campus to attend Daily Mass, I found it to be no more Catholic than my experience at La Salle. If anything, the presence of the Christian Brothers made my college years more faith-filled than those at CUA (although I there for law school, which tests the faith of many).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 20:08:08 GMT -5
Fjord, I respect your passion and agree with a lot of what you’ve said in this discussion about the art museum. However, your opinion that La Salle isn’t Catholic enough (my words, not yours) bothers me, and I don’t agree with it. It bothers me because La Salle (and all La Sallian institutions) are, and should be, welcoming of students of all faiths and, dare I say, non-believers.Believe it or not we don't disagree on the italicized part, and after 5000+ words written I think you can reasonably summarize my stance as "La Salle isn't Catholic enough." The other stuff is a matter of detail, and while I don't necessarily agree I completely understand the difficulty of striking a good balance. I assure you though, if you for some reason parse all those words you'll find it's not just about the mission statement, or the paintings, and while this is obviously all targeted at La Salle, I could do the same write up about Notre Dame.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jan 6, 2018 11:10:11 GMT -5
Fjord, I respect your passion and agree with a lot of what you’ve said in this discussion about the art museum. However, your opinion that La Salle isn’t Catholic enough (my words, not yours) bothers me, and I don’t agree with it. It bothers me because La Salle (and all La Sallian institutions) are, and should be, welcoming of students of all faiths and, dare I say, non-believers.Believe it or not we don't disagree on the italicized part, and after 5000+ words written I think you can reasonably summarize my stance as "La Salle isn't Catholic enough." The other stuff is a matter of detail, and while I don't necessarily agree I completely understand the difficulty of striking a good balance. I assure you though, if you for some reason parse all those words you'll find it's not just about the mission statement, or the paintings, and while this is obviously all targeted at La Salle, I could do the same write up about Notre Dame. Since we seem to somehow have made the leap from selling art to that representing how "Catholic" a school is, I asked my son who is home on break what he thinks about the "Catholic" nature of La Salle versus Villanova versus Notre Dame (he was admitted to and visited all 3..ultimately choosing Villanova because they gave him a full ride...tuition, room and board, and books..hard to turn that down..and ironically he's not really into college basketball so that wasn't a factor for him). He told me he saw no discernible difference among the three when it came to the "Catholic nature" of the schools. So I pressed him a bit and said...well what about the full church at Villanova and ND versus La Salle's basement of College Hall chapel. His answer was interesting. Basically he said....having a fancy building doesn't make something more or less "Catholic"...it's about the community of people and the service they do and how they engage with others. Further, buildings and statues (like at Notre Dame) are just symbols that don't necessarily say one place is more or less Catholic than the other...it just means one place had more land or money than the other...but that's not a judge of how Catholic something is. This from a 18 year old who participates in service activities and goes to Mass weekly at college (along with rowing crew and double majoring in Comp Sci and PreMed).
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