Cave Riri Tastas

My wife is an alumnus of Rosary College (now Dominican University), and so we get their alumni magazine. (College grads never need to worry about being cast away on a desert island--the alumni association will find them.) In the most recent issue they proudly describe honoree Cobell performing the spirit smoke ceremony, and boast of the character of Daley--a founder of Call To Action. They praise their new peace pole, dedicated by Hindu and Muslim as well as presumably Christian prayers. The faculty news highlights such classic efforts as "The Powerpuff Girls: Empowering the Post-Todler Generation." I will mercifully omit the name of the professor of communication arts who perpetrated this illiterate title.

When my wife studied there the school had the reputation of a very good liberal arts college; and in certain majors their connections guaranteed high profile jobs to the graduates. Now I detect a distinct odor of post-Christian decay, and a decadence in the liberal arts that is about as bad as UW-Madison's. And the school doesn't have a strong science or engineering department to anchor it in reality . . .

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but it wasn't that long ago that Eldest Daughter and I toured Edgewood College, and I took the time to read the posters and fliers on the bulletin boards. The place cared more about other cultures than Christ, and more about the fate of old trees (think sit-ins with a big drum) than about the fate of unborn babies.

If you're going to go to a new-Age ultra-leftist college, why not pick a state university? They're cheaper. And who knows, you might get tired of the sloppy thinking in the liberal arts (what a horrible degeneration of an honorable phrase!) and have some fun with reality over in math or agriculture.

OK, to be fair, the magazine also honored an heiress who became a nun and popular economics teacher, and several other noble or at least amiable alumni. But in the Births section's photos of babies was the picture of somebody's dog. Can't they make distinctions any more?

My wife thoroughly enjoyed her college reunion there, and found many of the people she had known had grown up to be good and happy people. She came home later than planned after an impromptu prayer session in the morning lasted much longer than anyone expected. And she enjoyed her years at Rosary, which perhaps she'll write about some day. No, neither of us is Catholic.

Alumni will understand this post's title :-)