Ward, L. R. (1949). Blueprint for a Catholic university. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co.
This is a good example of the Catholic response to the growing secularization of higher education and the difficulties that Catholic colleges (particularly in the United States) faced in maintaining their identity and purpose. Ward argues that “merely trying to keep up, not get behind” (p. 7), particularly in terms of standardized testing and accreditation, has resulted in dismal “mediocracy” along with a siege mentality in which “simply to keep the faith” rather than moving forward became an end in itself. He observes that “Merely being not non-Catholic, merely saving the faith, merely making not-bad men, is aiming at mediocrity and at best achieving it” (p. 8). Continue reading “Blueprint for a Catholic University”
This is an interesting and readable book, and although it was not well reviewed (largely on account of being impractical, and perceived as elitist and reactionary) I felt the author made some important points. At the crux is the dialectic between the university as an intellectual “community of scholars” (with a nostalgic look back to medieval times) and the socio-political reality of universities as training for profitable employment and the entry of universities into a competitive marketplace.