CATHOLIC EDUCATION PREPARES STUDENTS FOR LIFE

By Vic Davolt, Regis University
www.regis.edu

Walking across the stage, diploma in hand and a job around the corner, is the final goal when a student chooses a college. But a Catholic education offers so much more than simple mastery of skills needed for a career. It also offers the skills needed for a life lived with purpose, meaning and happiness.

Academic rigor

Without question, education forms the foundation for all of the 200-plus Catholic colleges and universities in the United States. It’s been that way since the beginning: the world’s first universities were connected to monasteries.

Rigorous academic expectations guarantee that graduates of Catholic institutions know the fundamentals of their chosen professions. But education in the Catholic tradition also means students are formed learning to think independently within a framework of moral values, ethical behavior, mutual respect and civility.

Practical experience and education in a specific discipline are important, but knowing greater ideas and ways to think provide a better framework for a future of professional success and personal satisfaction.

Catholic education is committed to integrating faith with life, to examining the moral and ethical implications present in each discipline and to viewing religious experience and religious questions as integral to the understanding of human existence and human culture. These are elements that are essential to helping improve the global community of the future.

Businesses want to hire employees who have the blend of intelligence, practical skill and moral values students gain while attending Catholic colleges and universities. Alumni of Catholic education can be found at the top of almost every profession, from communication to business to the sciences.

Religious studies in all faith traditions are encouraged at Catholic colleges and universities. Ethics also are an integral part of the experience, with students in every discipline from business to health care being given the opportunity to examine the ethical implications of decisions and options they will face as they enter the workforce.

The Catholic educational tradition is faithful to a centuries-old intellectual tradition that asserts the intrinsic value of human reason and maintains that faith and intellect illuminate each other.

Catholic faith in daily life

For Catholic students, a Catholic education offers a seamless way to blend their faith with their education and day-to-day life. Daily Mass on campus and special liturgical celebrations, such as Holy Week services and Mass of the Holy Spirit, which traditionally kicks off a new academic year and baccalaureate Mass before commencement, also are celebrated with special solemnity each year.

At the same time, Catholic educational institutions are supportive of religious diversity within the university community as a condition for genuine dialogue: Catholic, ecumenical, interreligious and secular.

Outside of Mass, students are invited to participate in a variety of retreats during the school year, from weekend discernment for seniors to brief retreats designed for busy students.

Talking about religion, moral decision-making and spirituality is something students at Catholic institutions are comfortable with, even encouraged to do. An opportunity to deepen their faith—whatever it may be—comes along with that. Worshipping God in the Christian tradition is integral to Catholic education. Students benefit from an understanding of ritual, sacrament, liturgy and worship, even when they are not of the Catholic faith.

Beyond the university walls

Catholic institutions help their students link their skills, talents and interests with those who need them most. And from these activities comes a deeper understanding of the fundamental rights of human beings.

Social justice activities are an essential component of students’ lives and educational experiences. Examples of such activities include tutoring at local schools, helping out at local food banks and delivering meals to the elderly.

Social justice, one of the fundamentals of Catholic belief, also engages students in discussion and activities that allow them to understand wider world views and problems. Understanding the needs close to home and far away help these students realize the difference they can truly make. In the Jesuit tradition, it’s based on St. Ignatius Loyola’s vision of the fundamental goodness of the world and his view of human endeavor as a partnership with the creating God.

Students participate in and organize mission trips, protests, volunteer projects and simply reach out to someone they see is in need. They learn to think and reflect—sensitively—about what they can do to serve others.

Service learning (known by a variety of names at different institutions) takes that service one step further, linking students’ off-campus projects with their coursework, providing an opportunity to serve others while reflecting on the causes of myriad social problems. Examples find IT students networking and programming the computers at a women’s shelter; nursing students offering free health care at an inner-city elementary school; and communication students creating a marketing plan for a nonprofit group.

Faculty and staff who care about the person

None of this programming would work without faculty, staff and administration who understand and promote the mission of Catholic education.

At the forefront are dedicated priests and religious sisters serving in a wide variety of faculty and staff positions. But the laity also contributes significantly to the overall impact on students of Catholic colleges and universities.

Student activities, academic affairs and even the office of public affairs all strive to support and encourage students to live and learn to their fullest potential. Classrooms, residence halls and work-study positions are all considered part of the learning environments offered to students.

These caring individuals nurture students’ minds as well as the whole person—body, heart and spirit. They model integration of faith and life, Christian conscience and moral responsibility.

Once students graduate from a Catholic institution, we know the changes will continue as they take their knowledge—about life, about careers, about faith and about helping the less fortunate—to help make the world a better place.