Leadership: Single Sex Dorms Return to Catholic University of America

By Deacon Keith Fournier
6/14/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Here is one simple step colleges can take to reduce both binge drinking and hooking up: Go back to single-sex residences.

Next year all freshmen at The Catholic University of America will be assigned to single-sex residence halls. The year after, we will extend the change to the sophomore halls. It will take a few years to complete the transformation. The change will probably cost more money. There are a few architectural adjustments. We won't be able to let the ratio of men and women we admit into the freshman class vary from year to year with the size and quality of the pools. But our students will be better off.

Mr. and Mrs. John Garvey prepare for the March for Life last year

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - First, full disclosure; I sincerely HOPE to be able to call the Catholic University of America (CUA) my Alma Mater in the not too distant future. I am working on the dissertation having completed all the coursework and exams for the PhD in Moral Theology. My experience in that program was life changing. My experience of the faculty and participation in the faith and culture on campus all contributed to my love of this institution.

Those who read me know of my conviction concerning the importance of preparing the next generation of Catholic men and women at authentically Catholic Colleges and Universities. During my time at CUA, now Bishop David O'Connell, C.M served as the President. His leadership was an example of how vital the role of President is in securing the Catholic identity of a University. His tenure at the helm bore tremendous fruit. So, while I was not surprised that the Holy Spirit tapped him for the episcopacy, I was concerned that the Presidency at CUA be filled by someone who would continue the forward momentum.

Last year when the Board announced that Boston College Law School Dean, John H. Garvey, would be the new president, I was not sure what to think. I knew of Garvey's impeccable credentials. I am a lawyer. I also knew of the praise he had earned for his service to the Reagan administration and at the helm of Boston College Law School.

However, it was when Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, who chairs the university's board of trustees told the Washington Post that he fully expected Garvey to continue the work of reclaiming the Catholic identity of the university that I breathed a sigh of relief. Both because I deeply respect the Archbishop and because he hit the proverbial nail right on the head, a committment to Catholic identity is the singularly most important criteria in choosing a Catholic College President.

Then, a day before his inauguration, John Garvey spoke to the students in Caldwell Hall Auditorium before joining them, along with his wife, at the 38th Annual March for Life. He called them to "be the kind, loving face of Catholic University, the Catholic Church, and the pro-life cause. Caldwell Hall holds fond memories for me from my classes there. The only other place more significant is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception where I spent so many hours at the beautiful Masses and praying in the chapels dedicated to Our Lady. President Garvey spoke to the students of the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady is depicted pregnant with the Lord:

"What if she had been alive today in America, faced with exhortations to 'live your own life, be yourself, do your own thing'? What about those 50 million children who have been the victims of abortion since Roe. v. Wade? What could they have become? Right now in America, the unborn are looked at as not being people, as [African American] slaves were at one time. Today, we stand for justice." I knew then and there this vital University, the academic heart of the Catholic University network in the United States, was in good hands.

On Monday, June 13, 2011, the following editorial appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It only confirmed my judgment:

******
Why We're Going Back to Single-Sex Dorms: Student housing has became a hotbed of reckless drinking and hooking up.
By JOHN GARVEY

My wife and I have sent five children to college and our youngest just graduated. Like many parents, we encouraged them to study hard and spend time in a country where people don't speak English. Like all parents, we worried about the kind of people they would grow up to be.

We may have been a little unusual in thinking it was the college's responsibility to worry about that too. But I believe that intellect and virtue are connected. They influence one another. Some say the intellect is primary. If we know what is good, we will pursue it. Aristotle suggests in the "Nicomachean Ethics" that the influence runs the other way. He says that if you want to listen intelligently to lectures on ethics you "must have been brought up in good habits." The goals we set for ourselves are brought into focus by our moral vision.

"Virtue," Aristotle concludes, "makes us aim at the right mark, and practical wisdom makes us take the right means." If he is right, then colleges and universities should concern themselves with virtue as well as intellect.

I want to mention two places where schools might direct that concern, and a slightly old-fashioned remedy that will improve the practice of virtue. The two most serious ethical challenges college students face are binge drinking and the culture of hooking up.

Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of death for young adults aged 17-24. Students who engage in binge drinking (about two in ...

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1 - 10 of 15 Comments

Robert Mazzella
1 year ago
I have an update: George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf--long famous for his lawsuits against the tobacco industry--is due to file suit against Catholic University of America over the above-mentioned plan.
Diane
1 year ago
Back to single sex dorms? It's about time. Common sense tells us you don't throw temptation at people, We are to avoid temptation. To Albert Maas- the world has changed and the thinking of people like you is being rapidly left behind. Your attempts at sarcasm are laughable.
John D
1 year ago
Albert Maas, have you visited a college campus recently? These kids are playing musical room mates. Your attitude, as reflected in your sarcastic response to a college trying to put a bit more restraint on fornication and intoxication, is exactly the attitude that has gotten us into this sorry state. Rampant "hooking up" and binge drinking does not produce good results. These things hurt human beings.
Susan Beers
1 year ago
To Albert F. Maas,

Too bad you are such an extremist. Your comment shows the typical knee-jerk reaction of an unthinking liberal. You are in my prayers that your hard heart will be softened and your eyes will be opened.
David
1 year ago
I for one agree with the transition back to single sex dorms. You ask why? simple, you are there to learn not party and fornicate. This is not a frat house this a respected CATHOLIC INSTITUTION FOR EDUCATION. Don't forbid interaction between students just reduce contact to where they can learn together. What they do on their off time is their business but, when it comes to learning they should be focused on the task at hand. And as for the alcohol and partying, I for one agree there should be minimal alcohol consumption, I stress again this is not a frat house. My personal opinion is if you want to drink yourself to death and have extramarital affairs do it on your time not the colleges If it bothers you that badly then get out, its that simple.
Theresa
1 year ago
Thank God! The "fall" of the Catholic University of America (CUA) all started in the 1960's and now the CUA is coming back "full circle" to being truly Catholic, i.e., upholding the Catholic faith and morals. There are other "signs" as well that have already been manifested over the past few years. Hopefully, soon, the CUA will require all professors to take the "Mandatum." After all, it is the "flagship" for America of a "Catholic" University!
Albert F. Maas
1 year ago
Let's make the girls wear the burka like the nuns used to.
The men should also grow beards.
And while we are at it, let's offer up a burnt lamb or ox!
You catholics are regressing just like the muslims.
How barbaric!
Martin Van Tassell
1 year ago
Two questions:
1. Why, if it is a good idea to have separate dorms (and it is a good idea), will it take YEARS to implement? Surely this could be done immediately across ALL dorms.

2. What investigation will be conducted as to why such a scandalous condition was allowed to exist at a Catholic university in the first place? Who should be removed from their posts on the Board or in administration for such an outrage?!
Linda Kracht
1 year ago
Great article and precisely the reason why i have just published Surviving College: Laying the Foundations for a Moral Life by Linda Kracht.

Catholic colleges have for generations had a golden opportunity to turn our catholic students convicted fo their faith. Instead they have turned out lukewarm - at best- catholics unsure of their faith and unsure how to proceed in a pluralistic society. Today is the time for the New Evangelization - let the Catholci colleges become the starting gate for this!
Wendy
1 year ago
My son is a rising senior and I wish I could afford to send him to CUA. I love the transition back to single-sex dorms. Keeps the earnest honest!

My personal philosophy is that if you keep the pants on; zipped & belted and both feet on the floor - no one will get hurt.

The whole notion of 'they're just going to do it anyway" defeats the ideal of chasity and sobriety. My dorms at a public institution were single gender and no alcohol permitted. Didn't mean that there wasn't any sneaking - it meant that there were consequences if you got caught! One of those consequences was getting kicked out of school.

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