Universities Respond to Cardinal Newman Society Report

29 Problematic Online Links Removed

Only a couple of weeks ago the Cardinal Newman Society unveiled the results of their investigative report, “A Scandalous Relationship: Catholic Colleges and Planned Parenthood.” That report detailed more than 150 connections demonstrating Catholic institutions of higher education supporting and linking to Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest provider of abortions. I originally reported on it here.

Now, not even a month later, the Cardinal Newman Society is reporting that 29 of the online links have been removed. You can find the updated report here.

Among those removed, were some that I had drawn attention to in my original blog post, such as:

University of St. Thomas (MN) adjunct professor Jennifer Oliphant, touts her experience as a health educator with Planned Parenthood of Minnesota/South Dakota. 

The University of Dayton’s (OH) Women’s Gender and Studies Program identifies “placement opportunities” for student “service learning,” including Planned Parenthood.

The College of St. Catherine (MN) communications students’ COMM Club announced in April 2007 their plans for a support rally for Planned Parenthood.

These, and many others, have been removed.

“We’re excited. That’s nearly 20 percent,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society. “The tide is turning. These schools don’t want a bad reputation. We expect to see more changes in the upcoming weeks.”

I asked Reilly whether the removal of such links was necessarily a good thing, in that the connections may remain, but only hidden from the public.

“These aren’t the biggest problems. They point to larger problems at these institutions,” said Reilly. “The underlying problems at these colleges are still there and need to be addressed, and that takes time. But we do know that, as often happens at these institutions, problem faculty, staff, and students create these links and it’s not until we bring it to the attention of college officials that they’re able to do anything about it.”