The Editorial Board of The University News writes in its editorial from Jan. 25 (“Tempest in a universi-teapot”)that the fundamental question of the Burke-Majerus feud concerns “the nature and purpose of a university.”

However, the editorial essentially ignores the very word that makes this entire issue worth discussing.

For the issue is not simply about the nature of a university; rather, the issue is about a university that is Catholic. The issue is whether that label has any meaning, whether it has any content-whether it should be taken seriously when it’s claimed as a foundational tradition.

The University’s Catholicism is not simply an historical accretion owed only reluctant respect. It does not mean simply that students are provided a space to attend Mass (most non-Catholic universities, through their Newman Centers, do the same thing).

More than that, the University’s Catholicism is (or should be) its life force-the cardinal intellectual and spiritual nutrient nourishing students, faculty, and staff.

Otherwise, how is Saint Louis University at all different than any other non-Catholic University?

Matt Emerson
Alumnus, Class of 2004
3rd Year, Notre Dame Law School