Lay-religious partnership needed in higher education

Because of the religious values of their founders, Catholic colleges and universities are characterized by a dimension of service in addition to the goals of teaching and research. Through service to immigrants, minorities, older students, and the poor, they give evidence of their Catholic character. The responsibility for continuing the Catholic mission of higher educations rests with each institution's board of trustees and must involve a genuine partnership between lay and religious Catholics. The shift in governance, or "laicization," that has occurred in the last 20 years does not signify that a role for the original sponsoring body no longer exists. Rather, as Rev. David Hassel, SJ, recommends, a religious community must exercise "significant influence" and promote its corporate leadership in ways that do not intrude into governing authority. The fact that many institutions already have as presidents laypersons or religious from another community suggests that Catholic identity can be retained in the absence of the sponsoring group. Openness to such leadership and to new structures is essential to continuing the work of those who founded Catholic higher education.