Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

O’Donovan Not the Ideal Jesuit as Our University President

O’Donovan Not the Ideal Jesuit as Our University President

By Robert Swope

There was a time at Georgetown when it was expected that the faculty and administration would act in a manner that accorded a place of respect for the teachings of the Catholic church. There was a time when in following the model set forth by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, Georgetown combined the best in Catholic scholarship with what was finest in the Western intellectual tradition into a system of education. This Catholic pedagogy cultivated in the minds of students a respect for the highest ideals of both the Judeo-Christian intellectual tradition and American pluralist civilization, forming the essence of a truly liberal education.

Yet modernity, in its most insidious and destructive form, has savaged Georgetown and ripped away what was at once most beautiful and most essential in Her mission: the task of educating men and women ad majorem Dei gloriam, – “for the greater glory of God.” This mission is now replaced by the secular humanism found in institutions of higher learning across the country. In its wake has emerged a culture of moral relativism, the notion that truth cannot be objectively discerned; that values and religious faith born of reason and revelation, even God, are nothing more than human constructs and that humanity itself remains the sum and end of all existence.

Remarkably, an alumnus – a Jesuit – a priest, has presided over the university during these times of trial and decay. This man, more than any other, is responsible for and even complicit in the meltdown of Georgetown’s core. He must be called to account for it by students, by alumni, by faculty and by the Jesuits themselves, for this violation of the trust reposed in him from generations past to maintain the university’s Catholic and Jesuit heritage. Poor judgment is no longer an excuse.

Repeatedly, University President Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., has allowed derogatory anti-Catholic hate speech to be displayed on campus and funded by the university. Last spring, one of America’s foremost pornographers and religious bigots, “Hustler” magazine publisher Larry Flynt, spoke on campus.

When asked to explain his reasoning for permitting such an event to occur, O’Donovan hid, as is his habit, behind the misused notions of “academic freedom” (even though Flynt never set foot near a classroom) and “freedom of speech” (when what was at issue was not Flynt’s First Amendment rights, but rather the appropriateness of a Catholic university sponsoring such an event). Instead of standing up for a respectful discussion of the teachings of the church, O’Donovan allowed Flynt to express to students how the “Catholic church has had its hand on other people’s crotch for the last two thousand years.” Without even the correcting response of a teacher, O’Donovan once again tore away at the foundation of the university’s greatness: its Catholic tradition.

From his perch on the second floor of the Healy building, O’Donovan sat idly by while the politically correct and careerist forces within the university successfully sought to revamp the curriculum in order to reflect the current postmodern fads so prevalent in today’s academy, when common sense advised otherwise. Gone are the days when English majors were required to read the classics. Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer are dead, and it therefore seems no longer worth studying. Substituted for them are elective courses, such as “Feminist Film Criticism,” “History and Theories of Sexuality” or an examination of the theoretical issues to be found in the works of Alfred Hitchcock. This month, Playboy magazine, which has previously recognized the university as being one of the nation’s premier “party” schools, noted Georgetown’s dedication to such scholarly pursuits and, in its “Campus Buzz,” named the course on Hitchcock as one of those “Worth Waking Up For.”

The two most defining and debasing moments in O’Donovan’s career, however, were his mishandling of the crucifix debate and his infamous support and recognition of the pro-abortion advocacy group, “GU Choice,” the group now known as “H*yas for Choice.”

Beginning in 1996, a group of students petitioned O’Donovan to replace crucifixes that had been removed “unintentionally” from university classrooms. O’Donovan resisted the effort without explaining why it was necessary for the university to have to discuss replacing crosses that had been removed unintentionally, though aware that displaying Catholic symbols at America’s oldest and most recognizable Catholic university could be deemed “offensive,” calling upon committees to analyze the issue. O’Donovan continued his resistance until his hand was forced to finally make a decision by the scrutiny of the national press attention and campus controversy, and only after the Alumni Board of Governors, GUSA and the editorial board of THE HOYA all voted to support the plan.

Throughout his tenure, O’Donovan has continued to support and accept clubs and organizations that promote ideals antithetical to the university’s mission. The worst of these was his support for the pro-abortion advocacy group “GU Choice.” After Vatican officials summoned O’Donovan to Rome telling him to terminate GU Choice’s status as a university-recognized group, the decision was finally reversed, but not before a storm of controversy arose with ensuing public humiliation and outcry.

From the drop in academic standing (behind the Catholic Notre Dame) and the lackluster alumni giving rate (lowest among Georgetown’s peers) to the decisions made during his tenure that have contributed to the university’s national derision as a Catholic institution, O’Donovan has made his mark on Georgetown, and it has not been for the better. He has failed to enhance the Catholic culture of the campus and in his desire to be pluralistic has forsaken our center and forgotten what it is that makes Georgetown truly pluralist: Her Catholic nature. For this abdication of responsibility to safeguard Georgetown’s Catholic heritage, O’Donovan must take the only honorable course of action: he should resign. Or he must be replaced.

Robert Swope is a senior in the College.

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