Magdalen: A Catholic College Where the Students Sing (in Latin)
With so many Catholic schools moving away from their religious identity, it's always good to see an institution that embraces it.
The Holy Father said that, first and foremost, every Catholic educational institution should be a place where its students encounter Jesus Christ and His love. That is very real at Magdalen College and is why our students are truly and joyfully Catholic.
PrintWASHINGTON, D.C. (Inside Catholic) - Recently I had the chance to speak with Jeffrey J. Karls, president of Magdalen College in Warner, New Hampshire. Like many people, I had a few misconceptions about the school. After speaking with him and getting the facts, I thought it would be nice to turn our conversation into an informal interview.
With so many Catholic schools moving away from their religious identity, it's always good to see an institution that embraces it.
♦ ♦ ♦
Deal W. Hudson: I understand that Magdalen College is a place where the students sing. Could you tell me about that?
Jeffrey J. Karls: Singing is at the heart of our life at Magdalen College. Other colleges might highlight their athletic programs, but we highlight the music program, especially the singing. Each student sings every year in the choir. Even students who don't think they can sing find their voices. Some enter the college a bit apprehensive about singing but are tutored in everything they need to learn to be a member of the team. They sing polyphonic harmony at Mass every day, and they chant the Mass in Latin.
Everyone who visits here comments on how incredibly beautiful our liturgies are. The choir is invited regularly to sing at the cathedral for the Red Mass and other special liturgies. We are receiving so many requests for them to sing we may have to get a booking agent. But this is only one way we teach our students how to work together.
I read that the Cardinal Newman Society college guide described your college as one of the top "joyfully Catholic colleges." Do you think your singing has anything to do with that?
It has everything to do with it. Singing gets the students out of themselves, helps them to be creators of harmony and beauty, and it nurtures their sense of wonder. That is part of the reason that joy permeates our campus. We recently went through the process of finding a new tutor, and all the applicants noticed how engaging the students are, how polite, and how joyful. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Magdalen College is surrounded by some of the most beautiful country New Hampshire has to offer.
Do you describe yourself as a "great books" college?
No, we are careful to distinguish ourselves from places like St. John's College and Thomas Aquinas College. We are a classic liberal arts program with a core curriculum based upon the classic works of western civilization, but our students read other books as well. All the tutors choose every book read in our classes. The faculty does everything by consensus. We also have a four-year emphasis on theology and catechesis. If a student keeps above a B average, he receives an apostolic catechetical diploma in addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Are all of your classes run as Socratic-style seminars?
Yes, for the most part, except for classes like geometry or Latin, which tend from time to time toward lecture. We have 10:1 student-faculty ratio, so the seminars are small; and often two tutors will lead a seminar, such as in philosophy. The discussion between students and tutors doesn't end with the seminar; they eat meals together -- breakfast and lunch -- in a dining room, not a cafeteria. It offers faculty and students the opportunity to interact with students from different classes; freshmen with seniors, juniors with sophomores, and so on.
What you are telling me is somewhat at odds with the Magdalen that is perceived to have a reputation as a "Catholic boot camp."
These rumors are very misleading; they were probably first circulated in the founding years, in the early 1970s, and never went away. Magdalen, at the beginning, was somewhat like an overprotective mother and could have a bunker mentality, but we think we have now achieved a much better balance. For example, there is a rumor that we looked in students' drawers to see how their socks were folded. The truth is that each dorm has a clean-up day, and the resident life assistants check to make sure all the rooms are neat and tidy. The campus is 17 years old, and we still have the original carpets and paint -- everyone takes pride in our campus.
I have heard students are not allowed to date. Is that true?
That's another misunderstanding about our college. Our students go out together all the time, and we have wonderful couples on campus. We place a great deal of value on having a thriving community life, and young people can fall into cliques. With 70 students, having that kind of community is important. Exclusive friendships at the expense of not participating in the community are what we are trying to avoid. A former student, Nancy Carlin (class of 2002), said on EWTN's Life on the Rock, "If I was at another college or university I would have been friends ...
With so many Catholic schools moving away from their religious identity, it's always good to see an institution that embraces it.
♦ ♦ ♦
Deal W. Hudson: I understand that Magdalen College is a place where the students sing. Could you tell me about that?
Jeffrey J. Karls: Singing is at the heart of our life at Magdalen College. Other colleges might highlight their athletic programs, but we highlight the music program, especially the singing. Each student sings every year in the choir. Even students who don't think they can sing find their voices. Some enter the college a bit apprehensive about singing but are tutored in everything they need to learn to be a member of the team. They sing polyphonic harmony at Mass every day, and they chant the Mass in Latin.
Everyone who visits here comments on how incredibly beautiful our liturgies are. The choir is invited regularly to sing at the cathedral for the Red Mass and other special liturgies. We are receiving so many requests for them to sing we may have to get a booking agent. But this is only one way we teach our students how to work together.
I read that the Cardinal Newman Society college guide described your college as one of the top "joyfully Catholic colleges." Do you think your singing has anything to do with that?
It has everything to do with it. Singing gets the students out of themselves, helps them to be creators of harmony and beauty, and it nurtures their sense of wonder. That is part of the reason that joy permeates our campus. We recently went through the process of finding a new tutor, and all the applicants noticed how engaging the students are, how polite, and how joyful. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Magdalen College is surrounded by some of the most beautiful country New Hampshire has to offer.
Do you describe yourself as a "great books" college?
No, we are careful to distinguish ourselves from places like St. John's College and Thomas Aquinas College. We are a classic liberal arts program with a core curriculum based upon the classic works of western civilization, but our students read other books as well. All the tutors choose every book read in our classes. The faculty does everything by consensus. We also have a four-year emphasis on theology and catechesis. If a student keeps above a B average, he receives an apostolic catechetical diploma in addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Are all of your classes run as Socratic-style seminars?
Yes, for the most part, except for classes like geometry or Latin, which tend from time to time toward lecture. We have 10:1 student-faculty ratio, so the seminars are small; and often two tutors will lead a seminar, such as in philosophy. The discussion between students and tutors doesn't end with the seminar; they eat meals together -- breakfast and lunch -- in a dining room, not a cafeteria. It offers faculty and students the opportunity to interact with students from different classes; freshmen with seniors, juniors with sophomores, and so on.
What you are telling me is somewhat at odds with the Magdalen that is perceived to have a reputation as a "Catholic boot camp."
These rumors are very misleading; they were probably first circulated in the founding years, in the early 1970s, and never went away. Magdalen, at the beginning, was somewhat like an overprotective mother and could have a bunker mentality, but we think we have now achieved a much better balance. For example, there is a rumor that we looked in students' drawers to see how their socks were folded. The truth is that each dorm has a clean-up day, and the resident life assistants check to make sure all the rooms are neat and tidy. The campus is 17 years old, and we still have the original carpets and paint -- everyone takes pride in our campus.
I have heard students are not allowed to date. Is that true?
That's another misunderstanding about our college. Our students go out together all the time, and we have wonderful couples on campus. We place a great deal of value on having a thriving community life, and young people can fall into cliques. With 70 students, having that kind of community is important. Exclusive friendships at the expense of not participating in the community are what we are trying to avoid. A former student, Nancy Carlin (class of 2002), said on EWTN's Life on the Rock, "If I was at another college or university I would have been friends ...
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please pray for me to set me free from evil , amen.
FYI - APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II ON CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES
The Catholic University in the Church
27. Every Catholic University, without ceasing to be a University, has a relationship to the Church that is essential to its institutional identity. As such, it participates most directly in the life of the local Church in which it is situated; at the same time, because it is an academic institution and therefore a part of the international community of scholarship and inquiry, each institution participates in and contributes to the life and the mission of the universal Church, assuming consequently a special bond with the Holy See by reason of the service to unity which it is called to render to the whole Church. One consequence of its essential relationship to the Church is that the institutional fidelity of the University to the Christian message includes a recognition of and adherence to the teaching authority of the Church in matters of faith and morals. Catholic members of the university community are also called to a personal fidelity to the Church with all that this implies. Non-Catholic members are required to respect the Catholic character of the University, while the University in turn respects their religious liberty(26).”
Conference Hall of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Thursday, 17 April 2008 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080417_cath-univ-washington_en.html
“All the Church’s activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself: in his goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal himself and to make known the hidden purpose of his will (cf. Eph 1:9; Dei Verbum, 2). God’s desire to make himself known, and the innate desire of all human beings to know the truth, provide the context for human inquiry into the meaning of life. This unique encounter is sustained within our Christian community: the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith (cf. Fides et Ratio, 31). It can be described as a move from “I” to “we”, leading the individual to be numbered among God’s people.
This same dynamic of communal identity – to whom do I belong? – vivifies the ethos of our Catholic institutions. A university or school’s Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students. It is a question of conviction – do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22)? Are we ready to commit our entire self – intellect and will, mind and heart – to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools?
In regard to faculty members at Catholic colleges universities, I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church’s munus docendi and not somehow autonomous or independent of it.
Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.
What a joy it would be to be able to attend that College, if one had ones time over agin. I really like the way the College discourages pairing off, unlike the rest of the world where that attitude closes people off from one another and creates horrible "pretend" communities. Daly no such College existed when i was at the right age Erik