Trashing Life at DePaul

Dr. Paul Kengor

by Dr. Paul Kengor on February 14, 2013 · 9 comments

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A large group of students at DePaul University in Chicago trashed a campus pro-life display marking the sordid anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The display memorialized the 56 million unborn babies killed in abortions since 1973. According to LifeNews.com, some 13 students at DePaul have been identified for their angry action.

The DePaul University chapter of the Young America’s Foundation hosted a Flags for Life Project to mark the 40th anniversary of Roe. The students set up 500 flags at 7:00 AM the morning of January 22, 2013 to symbolize a mere portion of the lives lost every day due to the injustice of abortion. This act of innocence enraged a group of pro-choice DePaul students.

DePaulWhat’s most alarming about this assault is that it was done not merely by the typical campus liberals who meaninglessly profess tolerance and diversity—which they then routinely and grossly violate—but that it was done at a Catholic university. DePaul, after all, is a Catholic institution. Or is it?

I’ve been to DePaul only one time, in April 2007. I was there as a speaker for what a campus group was billing as the first annual “Catholic Week” at DePaul. Other speakers included George Weigel and Michael Novak. Think about that: these faithful Catholic students considered their Catholic college so lacking in faithful Catholicism that they created an actual “Catholic Week” on campus, bringing in outside Catholic speakers to teach Catholicism to the student body.

What are they teaching at DePaul? What kind of an atmosphere exists on the campus of this Catholic university that would lead its students to trash a pro-life display? What are they learning?

If you have a child at DePaul University, or if you’re an alumnus, and especially if you send money there, I strongly suggest you consider making an inquiry. Ask about the trashing of the pro-life display. Ask why some students felt compelled to host a “Catholic Week” at this Catholic institution. Ask what, precisely, is being taught at this university. You deserve some answers.

 

Dr. Paul Kengor

By Dr. Paul Kengor

Dr. Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values. His books include “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism” and “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.”

Tagged as: abortion, DePaul University, Pro-Life

  • susanhaines

    Many of our “Catholic” Universities are Catholic in name only. After faithfully contributing to my Catholic alma mater, I stopped about 8 years ago after noticing how secular their publications and religion department had become. Told them that when they made the Newman College List of truly Catholic schools, I would resume my donations. Thank you for bringing this sad situtation to our attention.

  • Hank

    In the 90′s there was a series of news stories about a PhD candidate on tenure track whose thesis was rejected because it was to much “orthodox Catholic”. The Archdiocese intervened and I never saw a report on the final result.

  • Jim

    I truly doubt that the vandals were taught or egged on by a professor to do what they did. There are people at DePaul trying to make a difference and reverse the cultural tides of the last two generations. Rather than perform drive-by attacks such as this one, or withdraw funding as some commenters have suggested, why not support those who are trying to revitalize these universities? If we are the light of the world, we should not merely retreat into a Catholic ghetto.

  • jaybird1951

    DePaul has become so huge and is essentially an urban based trade school with a relatively small Catholic presence that forming a group to trash a pro life display would not be hard. No encouragement or participation by members of the faculty or the administration is necessary. I am Georgetown graduate who stopped donating to that school a couple of decades ago basically for the same reasons as Susan. My annual donations and future bequest go to Thomas Aquinas College in CA, one of our very best.

  • Greg

    What I want to know is – what consequence did these thirteen students receive as a result of their criminality?

  • Just passing through

    God bless you! (and I’m sure that he does!!,) I am not a Catholic, but I am a Christian and I chanced to come across some of your remarks.

    Their is a term to describe people like you. Christ-like. Here’s another one, Bible-centered.

    You get the idea, I’m pretty sure.

    About those students at DePaul, they need Christians to talk to, they need Christians who will love them enough to counsel them, to befriend them, to spend time with them showing them why and how to be a Christian.

    I don’t like saying this… But sometimes people choose evil. Remember, that’s why God made hell (“for satan and his angels.”) And what does Scripture tell us?, that each of us will be judged and those without a relationship with Jesus will be tossed in with “satan and his angels.”

    I don’t like saying this either… But the campus authorities need to be wise in their response. I know this incident isn’t that recent but still, I hope that people were praying for the people who had the responsibility to respond to this misdeed.

  • http://twitter.com/NGHahn3 Nicholas G. Hahn III

    You’re absolutely right, Jim. I was a student and conservative campus leader at DePaul and I tried for many years to convince my conservative friends to support us! Petitioning the Bishop to remove the Catholic name from a University does nothing.

    See here:

    http://www.cdobs.com/archive/featured/well-rounded-education-makes-a-better-depaul/

  • Anonymous

    DePaul is not a Catholic university by any stretch of the imagination. From what I can tell, the priests and religious on campus are not pro-life. (I’m a current student.)

  • Roger

    This is what happens when you let ‘feelings’ cloud your judgment over faith and reason. Unfortunately, the pro-abortion group is usually very angry and dismissive of others who think different from them. It’s no wonder their cause is shrinking every day.