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Catholic higher ed still open to all, bishops say after Supreme Court blocks affirmative action

July 10, 2023 Catholic News Agency 5
The exterior of Georgetown University’s School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. / Shutterstock

Denver, Colo., Jul 10, 2023 / 08:44 am (CNA).

The U.S. bishops have reaffirmed the importance of education access for marginalized racial groups after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in higher education.

“Education is a gift, an opportunity, and an important aspect of our democracy that is not always within the reach of all, especially racial and ethnic groups who find themselves on the margins,” Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry of Chicago, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, said in a July 7 statement. “It is our hope that our Catholic institutions of higher learning will continue to find ways to make education possible and affordable for everyone, regardless of their background.”

Perry cited St. Katharine Drexel, a pioneer of Catholic education: “If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor as well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing,” Drexel said.

Perry noted Drexel was quoted in the title of the U.S. bishops’ 2018 pastoral letter “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.”

The June 29 U.S. Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard concerned the affirmative action programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

However, the decision will impact all universities across the country, including Catholic institutions.

In the 6-3 decision, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the nation’s highest court effectively struck down public and private universities’ ability to include race-based affirmative action in their admissions decisions.

For decades, many universities have used affirmative action in their admissions programs to increase minority representation on their campuses. However, some have argued that affirmative action promotes the admission of certain ethnic minorities at the expense of others, often negatively impacting Asian students.

In the ruling, Roberts wrote that “Harvard’s consideration of race has led to an 11.1% decrease in the number of Asian-Americans admitted to Harvard.”

Leaders of numerous individual Catholic universities strongly criticized the decision, as did the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU). The association, founded in 1899, has dozens of Catholic institutions as members and describes itself as the “voice of Catholic higher education.”

In a June 29 statement, the ACCU said the decision ignores “the more-than-apparent effects of continued racism in our society.” It objected that the decision undermines higher education’s voluntary efforts to solve the “social evil” of racism “in a society that provides too few solutions.”

The statement added that the ACCU would seek to act within the boundaries of the Supreme Court decision and continue to be guided by Catholic social teaching “to create paths by which those in society who do not have opportunity find it at our institutions.” 

Georgetown University, a Jesuit school in the District of Columbia, led a coalition of Catholic universities and colleges that filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of affirmative action in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case. The brief was joined by The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and 55 other Catholic universities and colleges from across the country.

The brief argued for the “allowance of the use of race as one factor among others in college and university admissions policies.” It suggested affirmative action was part of religious freedom, saying “the free exercise of religion provides additional constitutional weight to the compelling interest in racial diversity in admissions for the Catholic institutions of higher learning.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited the brief in her dissenting opinion.

Georgetown University President John DeGioia issued a June 29 statement decrying the court’s decision. He vowed that the university would “remain committed” to “recruit, enroll, and support students from all backgrounds to ensure an enriching educational experience.”

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The founder of Domino’s Pizza wants to be beacon for Catholic higher education

July 6, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0
Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, spoke to Colm Flynn on EWTN News In-Depth on June 23, 2023. / Photo credit: EWTN

Denver, Colo., Jul 6, 2023 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza, sat down with EWTN News InDepth on June 23 to share how he went from living in an orphanage to becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world. He now devotes his time and money to helping young people receive a well-formed Catholic education. 

Monaghan was 4 years old when his father passed away on Christmas Eve. Unable to cope with the death of her husband, his mother placed her two sons into St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, an orphanage in Jackson, Michigan.

“The orphanage was basically like a prison,” Monaghan told Colm Flynn in an interview with EWTN News In-Depth on June 23. “It was 50 boys, Polish nuns, very strict, very holy.”

One of Monaghan’s daily tasks during his time in the orphanage was to clean the small chapel. This mundane task ended up bringing him closer to the Blessed Sacrament.

“I felt I was in a special place and I, of course, knew that Jesus was in the tabernacle up there,” he said.

Despite the hardships the young boy faced in the orphanage, he managed to focus on what he would achieve once he was out of the orphanage. Monaghan shared that he was always “looking ahead.” 

“I was going to do all the things I’m capable of doing and want to do and should do when I’m 18 years old and on my own,” he told Flynn.

After leaving the orphanage Monaghan joined the United States Marine Corps. Once he finished his time with the Marines, he was looking for a job and a purpose in life. That is when his brother gave him the idea to borrow a couple of hundred dollars to buy a pizzeria that was for sale in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The pizzeria was called ‘Domi-Nick’s.’

“It was a hole in the wall,” he said. “It was 500 dollars down, but became the largest pizza chain in the world.”

Monaghan went on to change the name from ‘Domi-Nick’s’ to ‘Domino’s’ and opened two other locations in Michigan. Over the next two decades, he redesigned the pizza box so that it would keep the pizza hotter for longer. He decided to focus on takeaway and delivery, instead of dining in, and he designed the conveyor belt pizza oven to cook the pizzas faster.

However, the marketing strategy that would change the course of his life was his guarantee to customers that they would receive a hot pizza in 30 minutes or get their money back.

Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, speaks with Mother Angelica at EWTN. Photo credit: EWTN
Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, speaks with Mother Angelica at EWTN. Photo credit: EWTN

“Finally, after 20 years, I got everything worked out,” Monaghan told Flynn, “I started in 1960. This was 1980 and we took off like a rocket. We were the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the history of the world. In 1985 we opened 954 stores. More than anybody ever did in one year.”

“In 1980 we had about 300 stores, in about 1986 or seven we had about 5,000,” Monaghan added.

As the business grew exponentially, Monaghan shared that he began to lose sight of what was truly important and was distracted by material possessions.

“I wasn’t as ready for it as I thought I was,” he admitted. “I was going to Mass every day, practicing my faith, reading a lot of spiritual books, and I thought ‘I can handle it, I can handle it,’ but I got into the toys; I justified the yachts, the airplanes.”

Monaghan was once quoted saying, “My life had become a high-speed train going down the tracks, but was about to become a train wreck.”

It wasn’t until he read a book from C.S. Lewis that Monaghan realized he was only chasing material goods in order to prove to others that he was successful in life.

“C.S. Lewis said that the reason that you aim so high and want so much, it’s not what you want, it’s what you want is more than other people, sell more pieces than anybody else, have more money than anyone, and I thought, ‘that’s not what I want to be,’” he shared.

In 1988, Monaghan sold Domino’s Pizza for a reported one billion dollars. With that money, he went on to build a church and Ave Maria University. In addition to the church and university, he built an entire town called Ave Maria, where young Catholics could study, live their faith with their families, and grow in community. 

“I want to be a beacon for Catholic higher education. Show that orthodoxy sells,” he said.

Today, there are about 33,000 people living in the town of Ave Maria. The area has its own neighborhoods, restaurants, bars, parks, and the church, which is at the center of the town. The university has over 1,200 students who study a range of subjects from economics and business to biochemistry and physics.

Monaghan hopes that every student comes out “being a well-formed Catholic” and wants “to teach courses that the Church needs the most.”

“When I get to the pearly gates — God’s been very good to me — I want to be able to say, ‘I used what you gave me well,’” he said. 

Since the filming of the interview, Monaghan’s wife of more than 60 years, Marjorie Monaghan, died. She passed away at home surrounded by loved ones on July 3. The couple has four daughters, ten grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

The entire interview on EWTN News In-Depth can be viewed below.

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