Saint Michael’s College: A Place to Call Home in the Midst of Difference

In my last blog, I noted how Catholic higher education can be home to a diverse population of people, all of whom can be considered guests of the College.  Diversity in this sense requires welcome and hospitality, as all good hosts should provided to those who are their guests, regardless of cultural background or religious belief.  On the part of those who are indeed guests in the home of another, respect and cooperation are essential qualities when invited to share another’s home, acting with deference toward the host.  This is the model suggested by Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen in No Longer Invisible:  Religion in University Education (10-11).

Admittedly, Saint Michael’s College is Catholic.  However, being Catholic does not preclude providing welcome and hospitality to all those who seek an education and who work on behalf of the College in educating students.  Saint Michael’s College can be what it was intended to be:  a Catholic college, while at the same time open to the diversity all those who study, teach, and work at the College.

Albert Camus (1913-1960)

There is in the life of Albert Camus (1913-1960) a wonderful demonstration of what it means to be Catholic and open to diversity.  Camus, a philosopher and author, was an admitted atheist, a non-believer who thought human life absurd in his denial of the existence of God.  However, Camus found common cause with Christians in fighting evil, despite his views on the absurdity of life and existence.  At a lecture given at a Dominican monastery, Camus outlined the challenge facing humanity at the conclusion of World War II.  He remarked about the task of confronting evil in the world, “If not to reduce evil, at least not to add to it.”

Camus received the respect of Christians from many denominations, including Catholics, who made common cause with Camus in challenging the evils of the world.  Camus was welcomed by Christians and shown deference because of his stance against evil.  Catholics along with other Christians entered into dialogue with Camus in facing the challenges of a world torn apart by World War II.  For his part, Camus remarked in The Unbeliever and Christians, “What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear…that they should get away from abstractions and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today.  The grouping we need is a grouping of men resolved to speak out clearly and to pay up personally.”

Pope Francis (1936-Present)

During a papal audience in August of 2024, Pope Francis noted that what is required of Christians in working with each other is not uniformity but unity.  The diverse beliefs that exist among Christians with regard to ritual and creed need not prevent Christians in their diversity from working together in building a more just world.  Our essential unity as human beings is found in our common belief in the value of human life and our capacity to see beyond our differences to what unites us.  In the realm of acting for a better world and being unified in building more just societies, we live out what is the one creed that unites us all:  the value of our common humanity and the human dignity of each person.

Most Catholic colleges such as Saint Michael’s today have diverse student bodies, faculties, and staffs.  This is to be celebrated not eschewed.  Even more, as a College we can benefit from the diversity we experience at Saint Michael’s because we can be made all the more human in our encounter with each other if we embrace the diversity that is “us” and respect each other in our differences.  As a Catholic college that identifies with the teachings of the Catholic Church, Saint Michael’s welcomes others in their differences and diversity, seeking to build that Beloved Community of which Dr. King, Jr., often spoke.  The hope of the College is that others in their differences will find welcome and feel at home at Saint Michael’s.

In a subsequent blog, I will attempt to explore further the meaning of “in the light of the Catholic faith.”  Any comments you would like to make at this time can be addressed to me at dtheroux@smcvt.edu.  Let’s talk.