Feb. 1 to Feb. 5, I participated in the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. This year’s theme was Rethinking Catholic Higher Education in a Transformed Landscape. Of the six sessions I attended, two were really helpful.
The first of these was Board of Trustees Mission Formation, which discussed ways in which presidents successfully partner with their mission officers to share the Catholic social, spiritual, and intellectual tradition with their boards. We reflected on different approaches to the development of formation programs, systems and practices for engaging the board with Catholic mission and identity and the use of guiding documents. I look forward to applying some of these approaches to the formation of our board.
Our Soul and Our Survival: Mission Integration in Athletics and Student Life was another great forum. This topic firmly stated that the soul and survival of Catholic higher education depend on our ability to successfully instill moral, and spiritual growth in students and communicate this to all stakeholders. Few of us, I suspect, would deny this claim!
With immigration on everyone’s lips in DC and across the country, I thought it opportune that time was given to the issue of Dreamers. If interested in learning more about the application of Catholic social teaching on this issue, check out this site, https://cliniclegal.org/
Next month I head to St. Louis for a Catholic Health Association conference. I look forward to sharing some insights from that gathering with you later.
Blessings,
Father Oliver