In the 25 years after its inception in 1976, the SII granted its Certificate of Liberal Arts to approximately 1,000 students.[2] During these years the SII generated both controversy and accolades due to its greater advocacy for Catholic doctrine within a diverse, more liberalJesuit institution. It has since changed into a less dogmatic living-learning community, with Catholic doctrine playing a smaller part in its curriculum.[3]
Founding and Great Books curriculum
In 1976 a group of educators[4] founded what their leader, the Rev. Joseph Fessio, S.J., called "a completely integrated liberal arts program in the Jesuit tradition."[5] Fessio described SII as adhering to a more traditional Jesuit approach to education.[6]
The four-year-long sequence of studies in the liberal arts was designed to follow a method of seminars and lectures based on the students' reading of the Great Books of the Western World, in a roughly historical order.[7] The reading list mostly resembled those at other undergraduate colleges offering Great Books programs such as St. John's College[8] in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and at Thomas Aquinas College,[9] in Santa Paula, California.
Like Thomas Aquinas College, the SII espoused academic freedom by not limiting admissions to applicants of any religious or philosophical belief.[11] Students tended to be Catholic, but some non-Catholics became students[12] and faculty members.
Unlike some other institutions with Great Books curricula, the SII operates within a larger university and does not constitute an alternative to the obligatory major that USF students declare before graduation. The original program was strong in the humanities (languages, literature, composition (language), philosophy, theology) but had a weaker offering in mathematics and the natural sciences.[13] Students who fulfilled the requirements of the SII were awarded a Certificate in the Liberal Arts, by which USF and the SII certified that the student had achieved USF's core education requirements toward an undergraduate degree.[14]
Controversies
For its first quarter-century, the SII was a lightning rod of controversy within the university and among more progressive members of the Roman Catholic Church. Some members of the university criticized what one scholar called a "parti pris"[15] approach to education with a narrow Catholic – mostly papal – perspective.
Faculty of the SII clashed with members and friends of USF's Department of Theology who objected to SII's practice of hiring theology professors for SII classes rather than relying upon the Department of Theology to provide these faculty.[16] The SII rejected interference by the Department of Theology because it wanted to maintain a strong adherence to theological positions loyal to the current Pope and Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, especially on moral matters such as contraception, abortion, and homosexuality.[17] Eventually the differences between the SII and the Department of Theology were symbolized by their contrasting responses to Ex Corde Ecclesiae issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990.[18] The papal document called for a mandatum to be signed by professors of Catholic doctrine as a testament to the instructor's orthodoxy. The SII faculty signed the mandatum as a self-defining act.[19] But USF and the Department of Theology resisted signing the mandatum, as did theologians in many other U.S. Catholic universities in a controversy that continued for over a decade.[20]
Various events also sparked debate, with the SII's continued existence frequently called into question. In 1978, the SII hosted a symposium[21] to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical by Pope Paul VI condemning contraception.[22] British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge delivered the keynote address, arguing that contraception is a lethal threat to Christian civilization.[23] Another speaker, Fr. Gerald Coleman, dean of St. Patrick's Seminary, Menlo Park, California, delivered a paper for the minority at the symposium, expressing opposition to the keynote address and arguing for "allowing theological dissent and reception of communion by couples practicing artificial birth control."[24]
In 1987, USF's campus minister denied access on Sundays for the SII's popular but controversial chaplain, Fr. Cornelius M. Buckley, to celebrate Mass, alleging that his liturgies fostered a cult-like following. Critics of the decision expressed regret at the loss of variety in styles of liturgical worship at USF caused by the campus minister's ruling. Some described Buckley's liturgical approach as more "simple" and "solemn."[25]
Also in 1987, the SII faced its greatest crisis to date when the university president fired Fr. Fessio from his position as the SII's first director, over a disagreement concerning the use of a $1 million gift that San Francisco benefactress, Mrs. Louise Davies,[26] gave to the SII.[27][28] Fr. Robert Maloney, S.J., succeeded Fessio as director.[29] Fessio continued to teach theology at USF and in the SII until 1992, when he resigned to spend more time developing Ignatius Press, the lay-run publishing house he directs in San Francisco.[30]
Controversy again erupted in 1988 when the USF student government required that an SII student who was the editor-in-chief of the university's award-winning newspaper, the San Francisco Foghorn, accept a co-editorship arrangement in the interests of journalistic objectivity.[31]
Additional controversies took place during the term of the SII's third director, John Galten. Under his watch the SII's faculty had to design a course in Asian philosophy to satisfy pressure from the university to incorporate non-western sources into the curriculum.[32] A renewed clash was brought on by the transfer of the SII's chaplain, C.M. Buckley, away from San Francisco.[33] Buckley, a published historian and translator with decades of university teaching experience,[34] assigned as chaplain for a Catholic hospital in Duarte, California, where Fessio would be assigned by his Jesuit provincial superior some years later.[35]
Amidst these controversies, some SII faculty members and alumni expressed in print that their experience at USF had been enriched by their participation in the SII's intellectual community.[36][37]
Removal of John Galten as Director
USF totally revamped the SII in 2001, when the new university president, Jesuit Fr. Stephen A. Privett, dismissed Director John Galten and Associate Director John Hamlon, citing cost savings and describing the two as not qualified to head an academic program, despite their years in the position.[38] Most of the SII's faculty resigned in protest.[39] The affair received national media coverage.[40] Conservative leaders expressed support for Galten, including former U.S. Secretary of EducationWilliam J. Bennett and Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute, in a full-page ad published in the San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere.[41] In a memo published nationally, Privett responded to criticism of his decision, stating that the replacement of the SII's leadership would promote "synergies between St. Ignatius Institute and other university programs" and create "efficiencies by consolidating resources."[42] He held a conference with students to assure them that the SII would continue as a Great Books curriculum with qualified instructors.[43]
SII now exists as a living-learning community at USF. Students live together in one of the residence halls, participate in monthly community events, and take a humanities-based curriculum designed to introduce them to topics and texts outside their primary fields of study. The current SII bears little resemblance to the original program.[3]
Offspring
The ousting of Director John Galten and his faculty at the SII spawned offspring institutions. Galten, with the assistance of Fessio and his Ignatius Press, launched Campion College of San Francisco in 2002, located just off the USF campus.[44] Friends and alumni of SII also organized a sister college, Campion College of Washington, DC, but it never began operations.[48]
Campion was a two-year Great Books program that effectively transplanted the SII reading list and curriculum,[49] under Galten's watch, to a new junior college granting Associate of Arts degrees to its graduates.[50] Campion operated for two years, graduating fourteen students,[50] before financial constraints forced its closure.[35]
Fessio's participation in the founding of Campion College was viewed by USF authorities and by the Society of Jesus as a direct challenge.[51] Consequently, Fessio's superiors ordered him to have no contact with the new school, and they transferred Fessio to the same Duarte, Calif., hospital where Buckley was chaplain.[35][51] Fessio later resurfaced as founding chancellor and, later, provost of Ave Maria University, a new Catholic university launched in Naples, Florida, by the mercurial billionaire Thomas S. Monaghan, founder of the Domino's Pizza chain. There Fessio would also run into difficulties with university authorities who stated that they had "irreconcilable differences" with Fessio "over administrative policies and procedures,"[52][53] and who – according to Fessio – objected to his traditional approach to liturgical worship.[54] Fessio was dismissed from his post, but then rehired to a lesser position at the university.[52]
Notable alumni
Mary Beth Bonacci, internationally known speaker and columnist[55]
Delia Gallagher, journalist (Rome-based), Senior Editor, Inside the Vatican,[56] CNN Faith and Values Correspondent[57]
George Neumayr, author, The Political Pope; editor, Catholic World Report; executive editor, American Spectator; contributor, National Review; contributor, California Political Review; editor, San Francisco Faith; Hoover Institution Media Fellow
Raymond Dennehy, Ph.D., philosopher and anti-abortionist; author of Reason and Dignity (1981) and Anti-Abortionist at Large: How to Argue Intelligently about Abortion and Live to Tell About It (2002) [82]
Anne Prah-Perochon, Ph.D., founder and Editor-in-Chief, France Today[83][84]
↑ "Institute and University Move Forward Together,"Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback MachineUSF News 10:8 (Apr. 11, 2001]: "The 25-year-old St. Ignatius Institute, with 150 students currently enrolled, is a unique Great Books program rooted in the Catholic tradition. Courses are taught by College of Arts and Sciences faculty through seminars with accompanying lecture courses, organized in historical sequence, in literature, philosophy, and theology."
↑ As a program within the University of San Francisco, the SII followed the University's non-discrimination policy, as stated in the official USF catalog: "The University of San Francisco admits students of any race, religion, sex, color, handicap, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, national and/or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarships...." in University of San Francisco 1984-85 Catalog, p. 7
↑ "SI Institute: Complex Tapestry," USF Monday Bulletin (Dec. 7, 1987): "Most of the 157 students are Catholic; fewer than 10 percent are not."
↑ "St. Ignatius Institute," in The University of San Francisco Catalogue, 1984
↑ The phrase was that of the university theologian and critic of the SII, Fr. Bernadicou, see: "St. Ignatius Institute founder fired, future uncertain," National Catholic Register, July 12, 1987, p. 9: Bernadicou asks: "Does the program, as it's now oriented, do justice to the classics they read or are they read from a parti pris position? Do they let the books speak for themselves?"
↑ Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Paul VI, Fifteenth Anniversary Commemorative Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, July 1983), prepared by the Rev. Marc Caligari, S.J., "on the occasion of the symposium of July, 1978, sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and by the St. Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Encyclical's promulgation," p. 4
↑ Michael Torre, “A Fellowship Founded on Truth: The History of the Saint Ignatius Institute,” in Truth Matters: Essays in Honor of Jacques Maritain (Catholic U. Press: Washington D.C, 2004), 66-75.
↑ Lagan, Irene (2003-10-23). "Campion College Offers Catholic Alternative". Arlington Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-26.; cf. Monika K. Hellwig, "President's Letter,"Archived 2006-01-05 at the Wayback Machine , Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Update, 32:2 (2004): "Campion College of San Francisco is beginning a similar east coast two-year liberal arts college, Campion College of Washington, DC. This is a 64-credit tightly integrated program in western intellectual history."
↑ Listed as lecturer in SII in University of San Francisco 1984-85 Catalog, p. 391, and in various other editions
↑ "Cornelius M. Buckley (1973-2000) Professor of History, Emeritus, B.A., Santa Clara University, 1950; M.A., Gonzaga University, 1952; S.L.T., Alma College, 1959; S.T.D., The Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1963." USF CatalogArchived 2009-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Listed as lecturer in SII in University of San Francisco 1984-85 Catalog, p. 399, and in various other editions
↑ Accepted invitation to speak at 1978 Humanae Vitae symposium, but prevented by illness from attending; cf. "Humanae Vitae's Tenth Anniversary,"Archived 2008-04-21 at the Wayback MachineFellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter, 1:4 (Sept., 1978) p.3; subsequently addressed a class at SII
St. Ignatius Institute, Newsletter of the St. Ignatius Institute, approx. 7 vol. (1976–2000)
Cornelius M. Buckley (former SII chaplain and professor), "The Saint Ignatius Institute: A traditional Catholic College," America March 25, 1978
J. Card. Villot, Letter of The Holy Father Paul VI, Signed by the Secretary of State, to Msgr. John Raphael Quinn, Archbishop of San Francisco, Friday, 21 July 1978: on "the Symposium commemorating the tenth anniversary of “Humanae Vitae” sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the University of San Francisco." vatican.va
Raymond Dennehy (former SII professor), "Is a Catholic University a "Contradiction in Terms"? The Mission of the Catholic University," New Oxford Review, Sept. 1980
James Hitchock, The Pope and the Jesuits: John Paul II and the new order in the Society of Jesus (National Committee of Catholic Laymen, 1984): discusses Fr. Fessio and SII
Joseph Fessio, S.J., "Admittance of Women to Service at the Altar as Acolytes and Lectors," Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter 11:2 (March 1988) pp.14–16
Cornelius Buckley, S.J., "Conscientious Objector: A Jesuit resists forced membership in a faculty union," Crisis Magazine, Oct. 1990
John R. Dunlap, "The Translator's Vision: USF Professor Erasmo Leiva," San Francisco Faith, 1998 (about former SII professor) sffaith.com
William Casement, "Whither the great books?" in Academic Questions 15:4 (Sept. 2002) 36-51: discusses success of Great Books curricula and references the SII
Larry Witham, "Pope intervenes in San Francisco campus dispute," The Washington Times, March 25, 2001
Kelly Yamanouchi, "Students, staff protest consolidation of Jesuit institute," The Washington Times, March 31, 2001
"New SII Director Embodies Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Ignatian Spirituality," USF News, The Newspaper for the Campus Community, 10:8 (April 11, 2001)
Don Lattin, "USF institute's fate divides hierarchy: SF archbishop discusses Vatican's concerns," San Francisco Chronicle, July 7, 2001
John L. Allen Jr., "Institute defenders reach pope," National Catholic Register, July 29, 2001
Adrea Billups, "USF trustees urged to ax president's reorganization," The Washington Times, 2001
Paul Likoudis, "USF President Suppresses St. Ignatius Institute," The Wanderer, Feb. 1, 2001
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