With the support of Pope Leo XIII, the U.S. Catholic bishops founded The Catholic Uni- versity of America as a national graduate in- stitution in Washington, D.C., in 1887. In its unique role, the university focused primarily on teaching theology and philosophy to reli- gious and laypeople.

The university added a number of gradu- ate and professional schools, including the Columbus School of Law in 1897 and the National Catholic School of Social Service in 1918. In between launching those schools, the university expanded into undergraduate pro- grams.

degrees, such as canon law, which are recog- nized worldwide within the Church. As a re- sult, many priests from throughout the coun- try have studied at the university.

Today, CUA joins with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Concep- tion, its next-door neighbor, in forming the nucleus of a sprawling Catholic enclave of seminaries and other religious institutions in the Brookland section of Northwest Wash- ington, D.C. The university is located about 15 minutes north of the U.S. Capitol.

Founded:18 87
Type of institution: Large university
Setting:Ur ban
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,123 (2006\u201307

ery state and 97 other countries, even though 58 percent of them come from the Mid-Atlan- tic region. More than one-third of the alumni

environmental chemistry. There also are four interdisciplinary programs: early Christian literature, Irish studies, medieval and Byzan- tine studies, and early Christian studies.

undergraduate programs\u2014management, in- formation technology and interdisciplinary studies\u2014in its Metropolitan College.

Graduation requirements vary according to the school to which the student is admit- ted. Arts and Sciences students are required

that school is required to take four courses in theology and religious studies and four courses in philosophy, but there is a certain amount of choice.

\ue000ve sequences: An Aristotelian Studium; The Christian Tradition; Critical Exploration of Social Reality; The Environment, Energy and Policy; and Media, Technology and Culture.

lor (the archbishop of Washington, D.C.) and the president\u2014are members by virtue of their position.

The elected board members are equally divided between clerics and lay people. U.S. archbishops and bishops must constitute at least 18 members. All seven U.S. cardinals currently heading archdioceses are mem- bers.

The Catholic hierarchy supports the uni- versity in various ways, including through the annual American Cardinals Dinner, which was established in 1989. The dinners

have raised $22 million since 1989, including $1.2 million for university scholarship funds at the most recent one in April 2007. There is

also an annual nationwide parish church col- lection taken for the university on one Sun- day every September.

reputation of being the home of dissent in the Catholic Church. With all due regard for le- gitimate academic freedom, which I certainly support, the institution lost a bit of its credibil- ity as the Church\u2019s university for many years,\u201d Father O\u2019Connell said in an interview with the

One of the most challenging issues that it faced was the public notoriety of having on its theology faculty Charles Curran, a Catho- lic priest known for his strong dissent on po- sitions of Catholic moral teachings, including

position in 1986 by the Vatican\u2019s Congrega- tion for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was led by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI).

There were other examples of lax leader- ship, but that changed with the appointment of Father O\u2019Connell. One faculty member in the business and economics department told us, \u201cCUA has come a long way in terms of strengthening its Catholic identity in the last

Father O\u2019Connell said, \u201cI felt that in order for the university to succeed, it needed to reclaim its credibility, it needed to be the place where the Church did its thinking. It needed to be the place where both students and the gen- eral public at large, especially the Catholic faithful, could turn to ask questions, to seek an understanding of what the Church teaches

Ways in which the university\u2019s Catholic identity has been enhanced include an em- phasis on strengthening the campus minis-

try\u2014which by all accounts has been e\ue002ective with a new Franciscan in\ue001uence\u2014and by hir- ing professors and sta\ue002 members who re\ue001ect

One professor added, \u201cI think a good barometer for judging such things [Catho- lic identity] is vocations\u2014how many gradu- ates embrace vocations to the priesthood, religious life, missions, etc. There has been a

to 13 years in particular. At every graduation they announce the names of graduating stu- dents who are moving on to the priesthood or religious life.\u201d

In other areas, too, Father O\u2019Connell has exerted leadership. Students from the drama department had proposed a performance of

ther O\u2019Connell that the university would not sponsor it and that theM o n ol og u e s were inap- propriate for a Catholic institution.

There also has been much discussion about hosting Catholic speakers who are at variance with Catholic teachings. Perhaps the

an appearance by actor and writer Stanley Tucci, a pro-abortion and Planned Parent- hood advocate. Father O\u2019Connell disinvited him.

This event followed by a few weeks a statement that Father O\u2019Connell sent to the university\u2019s academic leadership in which he wrote, \u201cI cannot approve pro-abortion/pro- choice speakers on campus. This is not part of any vast right-wing conspiracy or an assault on academic freedom. It is simply what we are, as a Catholic institution, obliged to fol- low as an expression of our Catholic identity and mission.\u201d

rial candidate Robert Casey, Jr., was invited to speak at the law school in the midst of his general election campaign against then-Sena- tor Rick Santorum, a staunch pro-life legisla- tor. Casey, who was subsequently elected, had expressed support for emergency contracep- tion and federal funding for contraceptives.