This article discusses Sundar Kumarasamy and how he is remaking the rituals of recruitment at the University of Dayton. For years Sundar Kumarasamy walked through the lobby of the University of Dayton's admissions building and daydreamed about changing every inch of the place. Mr. Kumarasamy, the university's vice president for enrollment…

In a warmly received address to Roman Catholic educators, including 200 college presidents, in April, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "profound gratitude" for the educators' "selfless contributions," which "serve both your country and the church." Pope Benedict's talk also built an intellectual case for academic freedom that is based on a bedrock…

Melanie M. Morey is the senior director of research and consulting at NarrowGate Consulting, a division of the Catholic Education Institute. She is also the author, with John J. Piderit, of "Catholic Higher Education: A Culture in Crisis," which is based in part on a study of 124 administrators at 33 Roman Catholic colleges and universities in the…

It's not every day that scientific researchers need to defend themselves against charges of destroying humanity. And yet a group of several dozen physicists associated with the Large Hadron Collider may be getting pretty good at it--and, at the same time, actively engaging in public education and debate in ways that university scientists have…

Every college president's success depends on building good relationships with outside groups, whether donors, alumni, or legislators. Presidents of Roman Catholic colleges have one more party to please: the local bishop. In recent months, the bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, asked colleges in his diocese to assure him that they were not providing…

As the director of a new general-education program at the Roman Catholic university where he teaches, the author recently spent time introducing their curriculum to a variety of campus constituencies. On two occasions, members of their Board of Trustees asked him how the new courses would contribute to students' religious development and to the…

Gay and lesbian professors have become increasingly visible on Catholic campuses, speaking out on issues like domestic-partnership benefits and recognition of gay-students groups. One of the efforts they put in includes the Conference at Santa Clara University, a public gathering of gays and lesbian professors from Catholic colleges.

A mutiny may be brewing at a Catholic law school whose board has voted to pack it up and move it from Ann Arbor, Michigan to a rural community in southwest Florida. More than half of the professors at Ave Maria School of Law are fighting the move to Ave Maria, Florida, the town being created by Thomas S. Monaghan, the Domino's Pizza mogul who…

When the main building of Our Lady of the Lake University was damaged in a fire this spring, its president, Tessa Martinez Pollack, worried the blaze would exacerbate its money woes. She told "The New York Times" that it's a known fact and that they are like a lot of other Catholic universities that are struggling to stay afloat financially. Not…

Discusses how the deadline for Roman Catholic theologians at Catholic colleges to gain bishops' approval of their teaching passed without the uproar over academic freedom that many had expected. (EV)

Observers say the Vatican's revocation of a prominent scholar's license to teach theology at the Catholic University of America poses no immediate threat to academic freedom at other Roman Catholic colleges and universities but could make theologians at those institutions hesitate to express opinions. (MSE)

Excerpts are presented from a recent papal encyclical that sets forth John Paul II's views on timeless moral truths and on dissent from them within the Roman Catholic Church. The responsibility of bishops to monitor Catholic institutions, including educational institutions, is noted. (MSE)

Describes how the small Ave Maria College of the Americas in Nicaragua, which turned from Baptist to Roman Catholic after receiving $3 million from the founder of Domino's, has had a difficult transition. (EV)

Reports on the founding of Ave Maria School of Law (Michigan), opening in 2000, which plans to integrate Catholic teachings into every course. Focus is on the school's founder, Thomas S. Monaghan, and the school's first dean, Bernard Dobranski, who suggest that the new school can avoid difficulties with tenured liberal professors and attract top…

Describes how DePaul University, once a commuter institution, set out to become larger, stronger, and more committed to serving low-income students, and is now one of the country's largest private universities. (EV)