Catholic SLU

How Catholic is Saint Louis University? Perhaps the better questions ought to be: How seriously does the university take its Catholic history, tradition, culture, etc., and what obligation do the administrators feel in transmitting that culture to the students? The other day, curiosity led me to the bookstore on Saint Louis University's campus. I wanted to get a sense of what it offers the students, in terms of spiritual reading, Catholic formation, etc. As it turns out, the university bookstore is operated by (or outsourced to) Barnes and Noble, so it's pretty much a mini-B&N, with some SLU hoodies, mugs and other school spirit paraphernalia to boot. The store is located in the Busch Student Center, in the heart of SLU's campus.

Allow me to jump ahead for a moment. After perusing the bookstore, I wanted to get the lay of the land of the student center. A little bit down the hallway from the bookstore I came upon the "Cross Cultural Center" (or something to that effect), a spacious area, decorated with all sorts of African art and nick-nacks. There were some couches, tables and chairs; it was a student lounge, basically, for the university's "ethnic" students, I imagine. To me, it came across as forced and contrived, like all multicultural spasms in a politically correct culture. I wondered: How does one gain access to the "Cross-Cultural Center"? Do you have to demonstrate sufficient ethic and diversity credentials? How many of the Cross-Cultural Center denizens speak more than one language, or have lived abroad and seriously engaged foreign cultures? What is the ultimate purpose of the Cross-Cultural Center? Anyway, across from the diversity salon was the information desk. To my surprise, I caught notice of a large crucifix above the information desk and also a large icon of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The happy thoughts over these two manifestations of Catholic identity were soon dashed, however, for just a short distance down the hall was a huge, grotesque painting of a recumbent, nude woman sharing the pose with a companion doing...who knows what. One reason I loathe abstract art is that it's often impossible to tell what the subjects in the work are doing. In this case, it was probably better that way.

Back to the bookstore: Now, one might expect that, at a Catholic university, the administrators and president would be interested in providing their students with an array of Catholic resources to assist them with their formation as Catholics. Where is a good place to offer such things? Bookstores! Books on the faith, the lives of saints, ethics and morality, etc. are all essential tools in the formation process. But at SLU's swank campus bookstore, scant traces of Catholic literature or identity were evident, and nothing was conspicuously displayed. In fact, Ted Kennedy's autobiography had a higher place of honor than the Pope's Jesus of Nazareth. (But of course, I'm aware that for some, Kennedy is all but officially canonized.) For what it's worth, the magazine section looked pretty much like what you'd find at a typical Barnes and Noble (present were GQ, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, etc.), minus the most offensive stuff. It would have been refreshing to see some substantive journals like First Things and Inside the Vatican, but no.

So, as small, secular bookstores go, this one was okay. But what about the fact that this is the principal bookstore on the grounds of a major Catholic university? No effort was made to feature and highlight Catholic literature in any special way. Certainly, a bookstore offering a wide selection of Catholic materials (prayer books, biographies, rosaries, icons, prayer cards, etc.), located in the middle of a bustling university, would provide a great service to the students' spiritual needs. If the university leaders would place as much effort in transmitting a Catholic culture as they do in assuring us of their "Cross-Cultural" perspectives, the state of Catholicism in the nation would no doubt be better than it is today.