Union and the College-Bred
UNION AND THE COLLEGE-BRED IT IS a good thing for American life when college trained men band themselves together in the interests of certain things which their alma maters call ideals. It is...
...but it was always just as evident that he meant to give helpful atTHE COMMONWEAL November 18, 1925 tention to its future development and achievement...
...and the visiting delegates from thirty colleges must have been deeply impressed with the dignity and solidarity of the great body to which they belong...
...The first convention of the National Catholic Alumni Federation is now a matter of history...
...And with it must be ranked the interest and aid of the many other prelates and dignitaries who honored the occasion— among them Bishop Shahan, Monsignor Pace and Admiral Benson...
...There is, for the world which lives apart from Christian guidance, no deeply respected authority other than academic authority...
...Can the Catholic voice be heard...
...He has a way to make, children to rear, practical work to do...
...but no matter how he himself lives, he would not know how to get on without those standards...
...His kindly address at the first meeting stressed the virtues of charity and faith which are at the heart of the Catholic educational system...
...he must be permitted to do what he can...
...He is a busy man, an honest man, a broad and tactful man...
...Therefore the ambition to unite Catholic college men is the fine fruit of a healthy patriotic impulse as well as the child of a resolve to make the riches of a spiritual tradition more evident and more readily serviceable...
...But they do know that the details of their first endeavor were splendidly arranged: there was a breadth and a body to the work—a manifest steadiness of purpose and sincerity of resolve...
...We say "demanded" for two reasons: in the first place the nature of American life and of the strong currents in contemporary civilization make it impossible for the average man to live apart from definite religious policies and concerns...
...The Catholic layman must do what he can...
...in the second place, the call to the layman has come from high quarters in the Church—from the hierarchy and the spokesmen of great religious orders— in unequivocal accents of confidence and of understanding...
...Those better days cannot come too soon...
...It is the layman, our bishops have said, who must rise to their defense...
...Shall the abiding wisdom of the masters of religious learning be brought to bear upon the civilization of this America to which our hearts are given in patriotic fealty...
...Women have different aims and opportunities than come to men, but the two groups will stand together for common causes...
...Rarely has a new society come before the world under such brilliant auspices...
...To get hold of as many of these as possible...
...He cannot claim for himself a sphere of activity—apart, of course, from the functions of the sacred ministry—which has not already been urged upon him time and time again by those whose counsel he is most ready to follow...
...That the affirmative answers to these questions lie, to a large extent, in the hands of laymen is a circumstance which, because it has been vouched for by an ever increasing number of princes of the Church, ought to be accepted by such organizations as the new federation with pride and conscientious resolve...
...It is particularly a good thing when these men are faithful to the view that religion is a not unessential part of civic virtue and mental culture...
...This is a movement among the laymen," he said, "and the inspirational thought back of it all is your faith...
...The convention agreed that associate memberships could be held by those who have graduated from secular universities ; and thus the door has been opened as far as is now feasible to Newman Club alumni, whose strength will, in time, prove very important...
...Sometimes he will see how these daily plans of his are bound up with the eternal purposes of the religious life...
...It was evident that His Eminence had made a great personal sacrifice of time and energy on behalf of the movement...
...But the feeling is warranted that the launching of the alumni federation augurs better days for the Catholic educational system in this country...
...Dore has been made the first president of the organization is about as fine a pledge of future good work as anybody could hope to get...
...and to stimulate them to vigorous cooperation—these are not dramatic tasks, but upon getting them done the future depends...
...And like all charters born of insight and charity, this one will prove its wisdom more fully as years go on...
...We do not believe in being riotously enthusiastic...
...Is the beauty of a great cultural tradition being obscured by ugly substitutes which rival Puritanism in their sacking of immemorial shrines ? Again it is the layman, summoned by those who are his ecclesiastical superiors, who must join hands with his brethren in a vow to rescue the treasure which long ages have struggled to amass...
...The doctrines of philosophy, of science, of social relationships, as they are given out dictatorially from the high places of secular learning, carry more and more weight with a generation which entrusts itself almost ruthlessly to the colleges...
...Whenever the people of this country see the world steadily for what it is, whenever they are really serious about their estimate of values, they are grateful for the existence of a Catholic method of higher education which is pledged to the duties and privileges of the soul...
...None of those who shared the hard work of bringing it about are unduly optimistic of the future, knowing full well that no organization leaps at once to the full stature of manhood...
...Precisely what will be the major purposes of the federation...
...for it grows more and more obvious that while scholarship and the discipline of the mind, no matter in what spurious forms they may exist, are the lights by which contemporary America has determined to be guided, for weal or woe according to the measure in which the kingdom of the soul shall have its share in the great domain of human science...
...And as the layman goes on with the endeavor entrusted to him, as he attempts to perform the tasks which have been assigned to him, he will discover other problems and new agencies for the reason that he lives in immediate effectual contact with surrounding society...
...The organization has a model in the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae, but its purposes must naturally be different in some particulars...
...The average citizen does not like to be continually reminded, in an obtrusive fashion, that religious standards exist and are cherished...
...and the fact that Mr...
...To unite for the advancement of the Catholic intelligence is, it is true, only one form of lay activity demanded by the present age...
...Edward S. Dore and his associates...
...Are the conclusions of Christian social philosophy in danger of neglect...
...All this is encouraging proof that the very difficulties of the era in which we live have suggested certain potential remedies...
...It is hard to start anything, but the smoothness of this initial program did not reveal the tremendous difficulties that had been overcome nor the doubt of success that must sometimes have been a trial...
...Many a noble endeavor perishes on a diet of applause...
...There are nearly 200,000 potential members, but a large share of these have been lost track of by their own colleges or universities...
...It is easy to see that some day a great pattern may be woven of now widely scattered strands—a pattern that is like a mighty army for the defense and victorious advance of spiritual culture...
...to set them thinking about the value of firm union...
...For the present its great task must be organization...
...When its recruiting has been done and its position secured, the federation can undertake to aid in the settlement of educational problems which have already been clearly visualized and which are of so much concern to Catholic educators everywhere...
...and because he sees clearly he will act steadily and effectively...
...Credit must go in a large measure to Mr...
...His own great personal prestige will be an asset of incomparable value and beneficence...
...These words of a prominent religious authority are a kind of charter for the work of groups like the Catholic Alumni Federation...
...But perhaps the most illustrious aid given to the young federation was the active interest and benediction of His Eminence, Cardinal Hayes...
Vol. 3 • November 1925 • No. 2
