Efforts under way to start Catholic college in southeast Michigan
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 23, 2007
DETROIT – A group of educators, priests, scholars and businesspeople are cooperating on an effort to establish a small Catholic liberal arts college in southeastern Michigan.
The school, the College of SS. Peter and Paul, is to be located either in the Archdiocese of Detroit or the Diocese of Lansing, and is to have a core curriculum centered on teachings of the Church, according to members of the college's board.
"The need is for a very high-quality, small liberal arts college that pays very close attention to the teachings of the Magisterium, to train its students very deeply both academically in terms of analysis and writing, and also understanding what the Catholic faith demands of us and how it needs to affect how we see every one of the disciplines," said Henry Russell, a member of the board of directors for the effort, in a phone interview this week.
The board's goal is to have the school open by the fall of 2008. It currently is seeking a site to house the school.
Russell is one of several board members and teachers associated with previous efforts to establish Ave Maria University near Ann Arbor — a venture which eventually was established in southern Florida instead, funded largely by businessman and philanthropist Tom Monaghan.
|
College of SS. Peter and Paul Benefit
What: A fundraiser to found a new Catholic Liberal Arts college in southeastern Michigan.
When: Reception begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 16.
Where: The Inn at St. John 44045 Five Mile Road (near Sheldon Road) in Plymouth Township.
Featuring: Keynote speaker Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, bishop of Lincoln, Neb.
Cost: $40 per plate; or $150 to include private reception with Bishop Bruskewitz.
For details: Call (248) 347-3649 or visit www.sspeterandpaulfoundation.org. | The directors for the College of SS. Peter and Paul include an archdiocesan priest, Fr. Andrew Bloomfield, and national pro-life leader Monica Miller, founder of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society. The college also has several high-profile names on its board of advisors, including Detroit Auxiliary Bishop John Quinn.
The startup costs for the school initially are projected at about $6 million, Russell said. The board is informally kicking off fundraising efforts with a benefit dinner featuring Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., to be held on March 16 at The Inn at St. John's in Plymouth Township.
Cardinal Adam Maida, who Russell said has exhibited a "friendliness and openness" toward the board's plans, will be the honorary chairman of the benefit dinner.
Russell, a teacher at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti — a remnant of what became Ave Maria University in Florida, which exists to complete the education of those who initially enrolled in Michigan — said the demand for such a college as SS. Peter and Paul still is strong.
"So many (people in southeastern Michigan) have done so much to support such a college in the past," he said. "I am convinced that there are, at this point, well over 8,000 high school seniors in the nine-state area around Michigan who would be looking at a college like ours."
By working with intentionally modest figures, he said, the school should have at least 45 students in its first year, with a maximum of 425. And based on support for like schools in other parts of the country — such as Ave Maria University, Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo., and Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio — the college should be able to support itself within four years.
"I believe we're at the stage where we are going to need a college like this in every state in the union, just to keep up with students who will be looking for this type of education," he said.
The college's 90-credit core curriculum already is detailed on its Web site, www.sspeterandpaulfoundation.org. In the future, Russell said, the college would be highly interested in cooperating with existing Catholic institutions to fill out its non-core curriculum.
While finding a location and raising funds for a new Catholic college may seem a tall order, Russell said the board already has reasons to be confident.
"We're not a fly-by-night operation," he said. "We've been working on this for almost two years, and I think things are coming together for us."
As for the location, he added that the board already has "several good options that have come up," and one thing's for sure – they're not going to leave town.
"This is a college for the people of Michigan and the surrounding states," Russell said. "We are dedicated to this area. We feel called to this area."
|
