Can a Catholic University Teach a Course on Gay Marriage?

Seton Hall University is a Catholic school in South Orange, New Jersey, known as being a pretty prominent university when it comes to academics. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito taught there. U.S. Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher went there. It has the number one business school in the entire state of New Jersey.

But can a college with such a trusted name in academics teach a course on gay marriage? That's the question facing the university, in the wake of a stinging rebuke from Newark Archbishop John Myers.

The plan was this: Professor W. King Mott was scheduled to teach a political science course on the subject of gay marriage, approved by both the political science department at Seton Hall and the Dean's office. It wasn't an advocacy course, but rather an overview of the subject, studying perspectives on the subject of gay marriage from a variety of philosophies, including Eurocentric, Asian ... and naturally, the perspective of gay marriage proffered by the institutional Catholic Church. Call it gay marriage 101, if you will.

But if Archbishop Myers gets his way, you won't be able to call this course anything, other than canceled.

Archbishop Myers, who as head of the Catholic diocese in which Seton Hall rests, sits on Seton Hall's Board of Trustees. And while he has no authority to cancel a class, he can certainly try to lobby others to do so. Which is exactly what he chose to do with a strongly worded statement to Seton Hall administrators and students.

"This proposed course seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the Church teaches. As a result, the course is not in synch with Catholic teaching," Archbishop Myers said. "Consequently, the board of trustees of Seton Hall have asked the board of regents to investigate the matter of this proposed course and to take whatever action is required under the law to protect the Catholicity of this university."

He went on to say that the thought of students getting an overview on the subject of gay marriage "troubles me greatly."

This is a huge problem, and one that could threaten the academic integrity of Seton Hall and other Catholic institutions. As Professor Mott said multiple times, this is not an advocacy course. This is a political science course.

Theoretically, the Catholic Church opposes the use of nuclear weapons. Would they object to a political science course that gave an overview of nuclear history? Most likely not (and if they did, woe be to the rankings of Seton Hall's political science department). The same should go here. This isn't about lobbying students to support gay marriage; this is about teaching them a subject that dominates contemporary politics. Is that such a sin?

Meanwhile, a few students spoke to The Setonian, Seton Hall University's student publication, supporting the idea of the course. One junior, Anthony Angelella, said that he was excited to see the course listed among Fall 2010 offerings.

"I was surprised to see the class offered, but I'm excited to see what can come from it,” Angelella said. "I think that, as a Catholic myself, the class being offered just shows that a Catholic campus doesn't have to be so cut and dry about controversial issues."

Perhaps Angelella should try telling that to Archbishop Myers.

Photo credit: puroticorico