Catholic College Makes a Stand (Laramie, Lander: 2015, credit, loans)
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I'll post a link to the college president's explaining their decision. That will give us the news first hand. After you listen to his statement I suggest looking over the rest of the website. They have an oustanding liberal arts program coupled to an excellent outdoor program. This would be an excellent college for those planning to go into law and related fields as well as those simply seeking an education rather than glorified vocaational training. Those graduates who remain in our state will be real assets. They can be a definite source of material for political office. Too many of the good guys in our legislature were educated in a far different era.
We may hope that refusing federal funding will be sufficient to avoid governmental interference. However, we must keep in mind that the federal government increasingly classifies as ''hate speech'' what was considered normal free speech just a few years ago.
Regardless of your religious views, I hope that you will all make Wyoming Catholic College know that both the college and its community are esteemed and valued neighbors and friends.
After visiting their web-site, Wyoming Catholic College seems like a Catholic version of Bob Jones University. That it's not accredited probably stems from the fact that students apparently spend much more time praying than studying, and what they study isn't likely to land them jobs outside of maybe academia or the Catholic priesthood. Their faculty has 1 science professor ("mathematics and natural sciences"), 2 Latin professors, 5 theology professors, 2 horsemanship instructors, and 2 outdoor instructors/leaders, and a handful of profs in humanities, arts, and philosophy.
The people running this college -- and the students who attend this school -- seem to be trying to pretend it's 1940 ... or maybe even 1890. Check out the "Cultural Life" tab.
$30k a year to attend an unaccredited college that only offers a "liberal arts" curriculum loaded with philosophy and theology seems to be a case of fools and their money are soon parted IMO.
While this tale sounds like such a "noble" cause, the fact is that Wyoming Catholic College would likely not qualify for federal aid for long even if it had sought it. All colleges now have to demonstrate that they offer programs of study that prepare students for the real world of employment, and that their students actually do get jobs if they want to be able to offer them Federal grants or loans. There's not a big demand for employees who can speak Latin.
While this tale sounds like such a "noble" cause, the fact is that Wyoming Catholic College would likely not qualify for federal aid for long even if it had sought it. All colleges now have to demonstrate that they offer programs of study that prepare students for the real world of employment, and that their students actually do get jobs if they want to be able to offer them Federal grants or loans. There's not a big demand for employees who can speak Latin.
Wyoming Catholic College has received preaccredidation which makes it eligible to be a part of the government educational structure.
The accredidation process for new schools is purposely a lengthy one. WCC received its preaccredidation after only three years instead of the normal minimum of four.
Again I congratulate this traditional and uncompromising school that has kept educational goals ahead of the common tradeoff.of accepting control in return for money. Interestingly, Harvard had always eschewed accredidation, taking the not unreasonable view that Harvard needed no outside endorsement. They did, finally seek accredidation for reasons solely financial.
Just finished perusing the college catalog. I must say that I am mightily impressed. If I was an owner of a company, I would not hesitate to hire any graduate of WCC. Reviewing the faculty list, except for Laramie, there must be more Ph.D. degrees in Lander than anyplace else in Wyoming.
Can't agree with Linda_d. The students aren't spending all their time praying . . . they are spending all their time reading the classics. Each year has an incredible reading list. It's taken me more than four years to get part-way through Cicero's De Officiis. It's not a book you can just pick up and read at leisure. You can only read a paragraph or two before you have to put it down and do a lot of thinking about what you just read. And that's just one text of a very long list for each year. Students at WCC must be something special.
(disclaimer: I am not Catholic, even though I was born one and raised one till my mid-teen years. I most closely identify myself as a member of a different Christian denomination.)
Just finished perusing the college catalog. I must say that I am mightily impressed. If I was an owner of a company, I would not hesitate to hire any graduate of WCC. Reviewing the faculty list, except for Laramie, there must be more Ph.D. degrees in Lander than anyplace else in Wyoming.
Can't agree with Linda_d. The students aren't spending all their time praying . . . they are spending all their time reading the classics. Each year has an incredible reading list. It's taken me more than four years to get part-way through Cicero's De Officiis. It's not a book you can just pick up and read at leisure. You can only read a paragraph or two before you have to put it down and do a lot of thinking about what you just read. And that's just one text of a very long list for each year. Students at WCC must be something special.
(disclaimer: I am not Catholic, even though I was born one and raised one till my mid-teen years. I most closely identify myself as a member of a different Christian denomination.)
Well, as a business owner, you can hire whomever you want to, but most employers want to see coursework and skills sets that can be useful to their business, which means that most are not going to be impressed with 24 credits in theology, 16 credits in Latin, 15 credits in philosophy, and 22 credits in math and science, none of it higher math or hard science.
As for accreditation, "preaccreditation" by the American Academy for Liberal Education is not particularly impressive for any college. The members of this group include only 9 college/universities, most of which are located in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
The accreditation that counts is that of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, which is one of the six regional accrediting bodies recognized by the US government. The Catholic College of Wyoming has not been accredited or even "preaccredited" by that organization which means that its students are at a disadvantage when applying to any graduate program that requires a degree from a regionally accredited institution. That may be why most of its graduates who go on to graduate studies have gone on to Catholic universities.
The purpose of a liberal arts education is to learn to think critically. When the curriculum ignores or gives only cursory entire topics, that's NOT a liberal arts education. Examples:
art history only covers art from the classical to Baroque periods;
history/humanities spends three years covering the Greeks, Romans, Middle Ages, and Renaissance, and then squeezes everything since the 17th century to the present into one year; it totally ignores the entire world outside of Greece, Rome, Western Europe, except for giving a cursory view of "American culture";
the only math offered is Euclidean geometry;
More importantly, there is absolutely no real discussion or dissent or questioning at this college since all faculty must pledge to toe the theological line of the Catholic Church:
Quote:
In fact, all Catholic teachers make a public Profession of Faith and take the Oath of Fidelity at the start of each academic year, while all non-Catholic faculty promise to never publicly reject or defy the teachings of the Catholic Church or the Pope’s authority as head of the Church. The President, Dean of Students, and chaplains join the faculty for the
Quote:
profession and oath
That's a much stricter standard than found at all but a handful of Catholic colleges and universities in the US outside of seminaries and theological studies programs.
Wyoming Catholic College can call what they offer "liberal arts" curriculum but in reality what they offer is an anachronistic, Eurocentric program that prepares its students for the world of 1895, not 2015 and beyond. This school does not represent most Catholic colleges nor most Catholic education nor modern liberal arts education. It's likely that there's much more indoctrination than actual thought going on at this school.
Disclaimer: I am Catholic, have taught science, math, and history in Catholic schools, and have worked in higher education administration for the last 17 years.
Wyoming Catholic College has received preaccredidation which makes it eligible to be a part of the government educational structure.
The accredidation process for new schools is purposely a lengthy one. WCC received its preaccredidation after only three years instead of the normal minimum of four.
Again I congratulate this traditional and uncompromising school that has kept educational goals ahead of the common tradeoff.of accepting control in return for money. Interestingly, Harvard had always eschewed accredidation, taking the not unreasonable view that Harvard needed no outside endorsement. They did, finally seek accredidation for reasons solely financial.
See my response to volosong. There are only 9 colleges and universities accredited by the AALE. The federal government does not recognize that organization, only the North Central Association's accreditation through their Higher Learning Commission.
As for accreditation, "preaccreditation" by the American Academy for Liberal Education is not particularly impressive for any college. The members of this group include only 9 college/universities, most of which are located in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
The accreditation that counts is that of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, which is one of the six regional accrediting bodies recognized by the US government. The Catholic College of Wyoming has not been accredited or even "preaccredited" by that organization which means that its students are at a disadvantage when applying to any graduate program that requires a degree from a regionally accredited institution. That may be why most of its graduates who go on to graduate studies have gone on to Catholic universities.
Just finished perusing the college catalog. I must say that I am mightily impressed. If I was an owner of a company, I would not hesitate to hire any graduate of WCC. Reviewing the faculty list, except for Laramie, there must be more Ph.D. degrees in Lander than anyplace else in Wyoming.
Can't agree with Linda_d. The students aren't spending all their time praying . . . they are spending all their time reading the classics. Each year has an incredible reading list. It's taken me more than four years to get part-way through Cicero's De Officiis. It's not a book you can just pick up and read at leisure. You can only read a paragraph or two before you have to put it down and do a lot of thinking about what you just read. And that's just one text of a very long list for each year. Students at WCC must be something special.
(disclaimer: I am not Catholic, even though I was born one and raised one till my mid-teen years. I most closely identify myself as a member of a different Christian denomination.)
I've never read De Officiis. I read the first and third Orationes in Catalinam in high school and the Pro Caelio later on my own. Beyond that I've read a number of his letters which are fascinating. Strange as it may seem, I've read the entire Naturalis Historia of Pliny The Elder. Obviously, he's one of my favorite authors. I'm very fortunate to have had four years of Latin and two years of Greek at a private high school.
I do have a couple of quibbles with WCC on this matter. First, I prefer teaching the pronunciation of the Golden Age, at least to the beginning Latin scholar. Secondly, they should be devoting time to teaching Latin composition. Writing in a new language insures that the student will have the capacity to think in that language, the real key.. They should have some Greek on the menu as well, either Attic or Homeric. I understand the problem of having entering students who have no background in Latin and Greek. However, WCC is very open to students who have been homeschooled; many homeschooling parents have Latin in the cirriculum. In fact, one of the members of the WCCC faculty has written several didactic works for their benefit.
I really wish that you'd move to Wyoming; we need more classicists. I hope that WCC will be the seed for a new intellectual community here with no governmental connections.
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