Thanks to Tom for this post regarding the wonderful Tom Mengler and his thoughtful reflections on why a Catholic law school should be Catholic. I would like to offer an example of what I think Dean, now President, Mengler referenced.
Earlier this week I was present at our law school graduation mass. It was especially lovely due to bountiful student participation. An acutely poignant moment for me was during the prayers of the faithful, which were read by many individual students. The prayer for members of our military, particularly those who had been killed or injured and their families, was read by a student, Mary, whom I knew to be a veteran. She was also the President of our Catholic Lawyers Guild. As she read those words, I was moved, as I knew that she intensely understood their profound meaning. With less than one percent of Americans in active duty military service, Mary had been asked to serve her country at great sacrifice and risk. She had resisted the social messaging given to her generation (not to mention women of her generation) as well as the easier path of self-enrichment selected by most of her peers, and answered the call of her country. No doubt as she read that prayer, she was keenly aware of the effects of war and its casualties.
That, however, was not the most interesting part of this observation. I had had the pleasure of meeting her mother, also named Mary, before mass. Like many of the graduates' parents, she was beaming with pride. The three of us began talking and I had remembered that the Mary's brother had come to visit our law school class shortly before himself deploying to Afghanistan. I also learned another brother was a fireman. I inquired from the mother if theirs was a military family and was surprised to learn it was not. What inspired her children to follow such paths of service and heroism? "Oh, that was September 11th," she modestly stated.
It was not just September 11th. As I talked more to this family and their particularly humble mother, it was clear to me it was so much more. It seemed to me that through her faith, this mother had instilled values of service, sacrifice, and responsibility in her children. So, when an event like September 11th occurred, they were ready to respond in a way few others do…with their lives if necessary.
This is perhaps an example of what Dean Mengler meant when he said that a Catholic law school should help students "continue on their journeys by searching actively for the truth in their lives." These are the students who come to us. Whether, as I suspect in Mary's case, they come from a Catholic tradition which values service, or from some other community, so many students come to law school searching for that truth in their lives, and understanding that it is found often in serving others. I might suggest that it is one role of a Catholic law school: to continue the work of the students and their mothers and fathers, families, and all those who helped instill in those students such values. The Catholic law school is different because its mission does not end with solely providing intellectual and academic excellence - necessary components of a legal education. Beyond that, it should also be a place that nurtures these students, reinforces and strengthens their resolve to serve, and awakens such a resolve in others. As in Mary's case, they often come to us from fertile ground. We take on an almost sacred responsibility to cultivate that ground, make it more potent, and support it, such that it will bloom even more brilliantly than when it came.
Our conversation ended with Mary's mother saying she "was so excited to see what Mary will do next. I know it is going to be great." I was honored to have met them, honored to have been present for the prayer, and honored that Mary and students like her choose to attend our law school. Catholic law schools, I might suggest, serve an important role of nurturing and promoting the whole student to achieve all the great-- and selfless-- things Mary's mother envisions.
The NYT this weekend published another of its periodic pieces about 'the Mommy Wars',this one really solid summary of the current state of the argument in feminist legal theory, by Dartmouth philosopher Amy Allen. She ends with this conclusion, the same one I've reached in a lot of my work. So many of the feminist legal theories & mainstream media debates focus on the psychological or theoretical implications of the 'choice' a relatively few privileged women in this country have between raising a family and taking a paying job, when the more significant issue is a structural conflict:
. . . the conflict between economic policies and social institutions that set up systematic obstacles to women working outside of the home — in the United States, the lack of affordable, high quality day care, paid parental leave, flex time and so on — and the ideologies that support those policies and institutions, on the one hand, and equality for women, on the other hand.
This is the conflict that we should be talking about. Unfortunately this is also a conversation that is difficult for us to have in the United States where discussions of feminism always seem to boil down to questions of choice. The problem with framing the mommy wars in terms of choice is not just that only highly educated, affluent, mostly white women have a genuine choice about whether to become über moms (though the ways in which educational, economic and racial privilege structure women’s choices is a serious problem that must not be overlooked). The problem is also that under current social, economic, and cultural conditions, no matter what one chooses, there will be costs: for stay at home mothers, increased economic vulnerability and dependence on their spouses, which can decrease their exit options and thus their power in their marriages; for working mothers, the high costs of quality child care and difficulty keeping up at work with those who either have no children or have spouses at home taking care of them, which exacerbates the wage gap and keeps the glass ceiling in place. (Families with working mothers and fathers who are primary care givers avoid some of these problems, but have to pay the costs associated with transgressing traditional gender norms and expectations.)
If the “the conflict” continues to be framed as one between women — between liberal and cultural feminists, or between stay at home mothers and working women, or between affluent professionals and working class women, or between mothers and childless women — it will continue to distract us from what we should really be doing: working together — women and men together— to change the cultural, social and economic conditions within these crucial choices are made.
This is a silly and uninformed editorial. There are, of course, differences of opinion about the political wisdom of the HHS mandate and resistance to it. But this editorial is about the legal challenge to the mandate. And it calls that challenge "built on air." Actually, it is built on the Constitution and a federal statute, and we'll soon see whether those foundations remain solid enough to support it.
The editorial does mention the Constitution and the federal statute. But what it says misrepresents both. It also fails to mention that the original mandate -- and not the putative change in plans alluded to by the President in February -- is at present the law. The editorial uses Employment Division v. Smith as an argument that the government ought not to accommodate dissenting religious conscience. And it makes the following colossally stupid statement about RFRA: "In 1993, Congress required government actions that “substantially burden a person's exercise of religion” to advance a compelling interest by the least restrictive means. The new contraceptive policy does that by promoting women’s health and autonomy." Can anybody figure out how the second sentence follows from the first? Did anyone at the Times think to check with a lawyer before writing this? How about a law student?
There are arguments to be made in defense of the mandate. Surely the government will make them in court. But this editorial neither makes nor even references any of them. What an embarrassment.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Not Catholic Legal Theory, but an important reminder:
The school year is coming to an end. Among other consequences of school being out for summer is that families of thousands of children who receive free or reduced-cost meals during the school year have to replace those meals, which puts increased demand on food shelves around the country.
Although demand at food shelves is highest duing the months of June, July and August, donations are usually at their lowest during the summer.
So please remember to donate generously to your local food shelves, which usually are happy to receive cash as well as food donations.
Friday, May 25, 2012
As I write this post, Tom Mengler is finishing his last day as dean at St. Thomas. Susan has already expressed the mixed feeling of sadness and peace that we feel as Tom and Mona follow their call to his new position as president of St. Mary's University (San Antonio). I'm reflecting today joyfully on the many things that the law school has put in motion or carried forward during the 10 years of Tom's leadership--10 of the 12 crucial first years of our institution. It's fitting, I think, to link to Tom's own description, from his 2009/10 speech and article at Villanova, of "why a Catholic law school should be Catholic" and what has progressed and might progress on that front both among schools generally and at St. Thomas. From his conclusion:
As we at St. Thomas have together reflected on the core of a Catholic law school, we have tried to focus principally on two reasons why we believe a Catholic law school should be Catholic: the integration of Catholic thought, as well as other religious traditions, in faculty scholarship and throughout the academic program and the encouragement of everyone in the community – students, faculty, and staff – to continue on their journeys by searching actively for the truth in their lives. We believe ultimately that from these twin goals everything that is commonly associated with a Catholic law school follows – an embracing community, a service ethic that is focused on our most vulnerable neighbors, a commitment to the highest professionalism. Grounded in an intellectual, moral, and spiritual formation, we hope to prepare our students for purposeful lives as lawyers and servant leaders of their communities. In so doing, we try to fulfill the mission of a Catholic law school.
Thanks, Tom and Mona, and godspeed.
