Honor Revoked
, May 14 — Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md., has withdrawn an honorary degree from Alberto Gonzales. The move came in the wake of a campus protest over the White House counsel's support of the death penalty.
The protestors said Gonzales' support of the death penalty was contrary to the school's mission. They also asked that he not speak at the college's May 23 graduation.
College president Thomas Powell, however, said the degree was withdrawn because he had failed to seek proper approval to award it, the Baltimore Sun reported. Gonzales was still scheduled to speak at the graduation.
Legion School Grilled
(New York), May 18 — More than 110 residents near Thornwood, N.Y., turned out for a planning board meeting May 17. At issue: a proposal by the Legion of Christ to build a 3,000-student university.
Citing traffic, safety and environmental worries, several residents criticized the plan, the Journal News reported. They also raised concerns about the cost to taxpayers because the school would be tax exempt.
The Legion of Christ applied last year to build the $200 million school on a 165-acre site. The university would begin with fewer than 100 graduate students, the paper reported, adding undergraduates after a year or two.
They'll Go With the Flow
, May 16 — Despite the fact that same-sex marriages contradict Church teaching, Regis College and Boston College in Massachusetts have let it be known they will follow state law in recognizing them.
“As a Catholic university, we are committed to upholding Church teaching. However, the court's ruling makes it clear that all institutions are expected to abide by the new law effective May 17,” a Boston College spokesman told the Boston Globe.
A spokeswoman for Regis College said the college is still studying the implications of the new law but for now expected to comply with it.
Movement at St. Mary's
(Indiana), May 15 — St. Mary's College president Marilou Eldred oversaw her last graduation ceremony as the school's leader May 15.
Eldred, 63, is retiring after seven years as president. During her tenure, the college's endowment rose from $65 million to $93 million, the Tribune reported. The school is planning for a new classroom and faculty building, and construction is already under way on a new student center and student apartments.
Eldred will be succeeded by Carol Mooney, a 1972 graduate of the college who is currently vice president and associate provost at the University of Notre Dame.
Hellwig Stepping Down
CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY, May 21 — Monika Hellwig, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, has announced her retirement effective end of summer 2005.
She made the announcement at the association's annual meeting earlier this year, according to the association's spring newsletter. A search for a new president began May 22.
Cardinal Newman Society, an organization that seeks to restore Catholic identity in Catholic colleges and universities, noted that Hellwig was a vocal critic of the society and “in the 1990s, Hellwig led the ACCU's efforts to prevent full implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education, in the United States.”