Vol. 32 Issue 9
Possible Discrimination page 4
April 8, 2009
Carroll University
Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll pages 8-9
FACULTY
Liz Ramus
Editorial Staff
RESPONSE Caitlin Schmitt
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CROSS
Staff Writer
Did Carroll’s affiliation with the Presbyterian Church impact your decision to teach here?
EXAMINATION
“No, because it doesn’t get in the way of academic freedom. It doesn’t enter the classroom in a restrictive way.” Deirdre Keenan English Professor Agnostic
Exploring Carroll’s religious identity
“It had some influence. I was attracted to the fact that it was a church related college and I grew up Presbyterian so it is part of my history.” Jim Grimshaw Religion Professor Christian (Disciples of Christ)
“No. Religions are social institutions, which is different than spirituality. An ethical code is built in the religion and people have built in their own code of ethics.” Eric Thobaben Biology Professor No Religious Affiliation
“It was a connection at church that got me here.” Julie Rapps-Hedgcock Biology Professor Presbyterian
Photo by Tim Worms.
“I asked how it operated because I wanted to get a sense how Presbyterian nature might influence [the university].” Lilly Goren Politics Professor Jewish
For 159 years Carroll University has been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Today, the alliance still stands strong but for the last decade, confusion has clouded the community’s knowledge of Carroll’s affiliation and visibility of religious expression on campus. Carroll is affiliated with three levels of PC(USA): The Presbytery of Milwaukee, the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities. Since 1973, Carroll’s covenant relationship lies with the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, who governs the 908 churches and is affiliated with seven PC(USA) colleges, including Carroll. The covenant, signed in 1985, is the symbol of the affiliation of the partnership between PC(USA) and Carroll. “The covenant serves as a document that guides to a certain extent, the direction that we have discussed with the Presbyterian church and about the institution and about the relationship we have with one another’s organizations,” said Carroll President Dr. Doug Hastad. Many covenants, including Carroll’s are outdated. “They are all old, and need to be updated and that’s a process we are working on,” said Duane Sweep, Associate for Communication for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. “This is a living document and it is something we should renew, it is no longer 1985,” added Provost Dr. Joanne Passaro The covenants are not binding. “We don’t put any restrictions on our institutions in the covenants. We have moved away from any sort of governing for our institutions,” said Sweep. Hastad said that he wants to revisit the document COVENANT page 3
Spiritual Life Task Force tackles Carroll’s mission Liz Ramus
Editorial Staff The Spiritual Life Task Force was assembled in March 2009 based on the 2008 Institutional Self-Study to address a discussion of religious expression on Carroll's campus and to clarify the mission of the institution. Carroll's mission currently states: "We will provide a superior educational opportunity for our students, one grounded in the liberal arts tradition and focused on career preparation and lifelong learning. We will
demonstrate Christian values by our example. We shall succeed in our mission when our graduates are prepared for careers of their choice and lives of fulfillment, service and accomplishment." In the 2008 self-study, Carroll identified that "members of the Carroll community seem to struggle with the concrete meaning and implications of ‘We will demonstrate Christian values by our example’… the college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA but this affiliation is very loose." One year later, the Spiritual Life Task Force, co-chaired
New Perspective - Carroll University’s Student Newspaper
by Rev. Dr. Debra Block and Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith, is challenged with the same the same question: How does Carroll demonstrate Christian values? "To some extent what Carroll can work on is saying that more explicitly. We don’t have to make it more explicitly religious… we don't have to say that that’s religious in nature, but we can include that in what kinds of things we do by example," said Rev. Bill Humphreys. Provost Dr. Joanne Passaro and President Dr. Doug Hastad outlined the task-force http://newperspective.cc.edu
process and said that a formal recommendation will be made from the co-chairs in May to senior staff. Carroll is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through a 1985 covenant with the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Hastad acknowledged that he would like to update the covenant. "When we get the initial results from the task force we can sit down with the synod and have a conversation about how the next covenant will look, and we can do so with a great deal of authority," said Hastad. The task force met Fri.
March 27 in closed and open sessions and discussed religion at Carroll. Block, co-chair of the task force, was excited about the discussion. "There were two things that stood out from the day: One, the thoughtfulness of the faculty conversation was energetic and pointed to their appreciation to learning and the role of faith to learning and two, going forward we need to hear from more students' broader perspectives," said Block. "The students on the task force were representatives from TASK FORCE page 3
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