The Idea Of A Catholic University

"A deeply thoughtful articulation of an enduring and appealing ideal. It is an ideal with a resonance beyond the world of Catholic higher education for all in the academy who still respond to the beckoning vision of the ultimate unity of all human knowing and who view it, indeed, as a necessary inspiration if we are to succeed in according to our intellectual activities the sort of seriousness and moral significance they properly deserve." --Francis Oakley, President Emeritus, Williams College "There is a real need, indeed an absolute necessity, for a Catholic university that is true to its religious values. By so being, it makes other, non-Catholic institutions that much better." --E. Gordon Gee, Chancellor, Vanderbilt University "Dean Roche has done a rare thing. He has articulated a sharp and clear Catholic theology of Christian higher education. What has been implicit in the practice of great Catholic universities has now been made explicit in this fine essay." --Robert Benne, author of Quality with Soul: How Six Premier Colleges and Universities Keep Faith with Their Religious Traditions "Catholic identity will mean nothing in the world of higher education if it lacks a genuine intellectual dimension. Mark Roche understands that fundamental fact, tackles the problem directly, and deals with it cogently." --Philip Gleason, author of Contending with Modernity: Catholic Higher Education in the Twentieth Century