Jamaica, Queens, New York 11439

 

 

Anne Hendershott

University of San Diego

5998 Alcala Park

San Diego, CA 92110

anneh@sandiego.edu

203 283-1161

 

Anne Hendershott is Professor of Sociology at the University of San Diego.  She is the author of The Politics of Deviance, and The Politics of Abortion, both published by Encounter Books.  Currently, she is completing a manuscript on Catholic colleges and universities. 

 

 

Secularizing the Mission Statements of Catholic Colleges and Universities

 

This paper describes the results of a systematic review of the mission and values  statements of more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities.  It reveals that a substantial number have carefully constructed their college descriptions on their websites to downplay their ties to the Catholicism—and many have deleted the word “Catholic” from their own websites, catalogues and bulletins.   Instead, many of these Catholic institutions  highlight status concerns—proudly proclaiming their inclusion on Princeton Review’s listings of “Top Colleges,” “Best Value Colleges,” “Most Beautiful Campuses,” or even “Colleges with a Conscience.” What is less visible on each website is the Catholic affiliation.