What Scandal?

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, Sept. 18 — A spot check by the paper of 18 Catholic high schools in Ohio and Kentucky showed a slight increase in overall enrollment this fall compared with a year ago.

“The finding is significant,” said the newspaper, because it “is the first opportunity to measure how Catholics responded to the [clergy sex-abuse] scandals.”

William Madges, a theology professor at Cincinnati's Xavier University, credited the solid reputation of the local schools and the fact that less than 1% of American priests have been implicated in the scandal.

Campus Church

FLUSHING TIMES LEDGER, Oct. 3 — New York's St. John's University recently broke ground for the St. Thomas More Catholic Church at the center of its main campus, reported the Queens, N.Y., weekly.

Brooklyn Bishop Thomas Daily used the same shovel that has been employed at every St. John's groundbreaking since the school's founding in 1870.

The new building — scheduled to be the only free-standing church on any of the university's five campuses — was made possible with a $10 million donation from St. John's alumnus John Brennan.

New President

DAILY PRESS & DAKOTAN, Oct. 4 — Iowa native James Barry is the new president at Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., reported the city's local daily.

Barry has worked in educational administration for 29 years, including stints at two other Catholic institutions, St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, and at Avila College in Kansas City, Mo. His responsibilities have included public relations, marketing and fund raising.

Mount Marty is staffed by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Yankton.

Oops

THE TOWER, Sept. 26 — A concert by Rusted Root, a rock band associated with the proabortion position, was held at Catholic University of America in September, reported the school's undergrad paper.

Several students objected after discovering a link to Planned Parenthood on the group's Web site, prompting administrators to promise to be more vigilant about who is allowed to perform at the Washington, D.C. university, including better procedures for vetting possible performers.

‘Indian School’

JOURNAL AND COURIER, Oct. 6 — Drexel Hall, the oldest “Indian school” building east of the Mississippi, will be restored by St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., thanks to a $500,000 federal grant, reported the Indiana daily.

Built by St. Katharine Drexel in 1888, the brick building sits across from the main campus. Once the home of Chippewa boys as they learned to be farmers and tradesmen, it served as a dormitory for St. Joseph's for 40 years before it was shuttered in 1975.

Uses for the building have not been finalized by the university, which is administered by the Precious Blood Fathers.

Land-Rich

ST. ANSELM COLLEGE, Oct. 4 — The New Hampshire college has received the donation of a 38-acre property valued at $11 million — the largest gift in the history of the Benedictine Fathers’ college.

Located several miles from the main campus in Goffstown, it was given to the college by the Flatley Company of Braintree, Mass.