Holy Cross Presidential Colloquia to Examine Jesuit Education in the U.S.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Kathleen Mahoney, president of the Humanitas Foundation, will give a lecture titled "Jesuit Education in the United States: Holy Cross through the 1940s" on March 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. Rev. Anthony Kuzniewski, S.J., of the history department, and Joanne Pierce, of the religious studies department, will serve as respondents. Theresa McBride, of the history department, will be the moderator. For additional information on the talk, which is free and open to the public, please contact Pat Hinchliffe at 508-793-3869.

Mahoney, a former faculty member at Boston College, is author of Catholic Higher Education in Protestant America: The Jesuits and Harvard in the Age of the University (John Hopkins University Press, 2003). The book looks at conflicts between Harvard and the Jesuits of Holy Cross, Boston College and Georgetown University over what constituted a suitable education for students in the 20th century. This public conflict revealed differences over prescribed vs. elective curricula, the role of athletics and extracurricular activities and the place of moral education in the classroom.

This presentation is part five of the "Presidential Colloquia: Jesuit Liberal Arts Education and the Engaging of Cultures," a year-long series of presentations and discussions sponsored by the President’s Office and Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. Each event will focus on a particular moment in Jesuit history and its connection to Jesuit educational aims today. In addition to facilitating an exchange of views, the colloquia also aims to further explore the principles of today’s Holy Cross education within its Catholic and Jesuit traditions.