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Preamble
At John Paul the Great Catholic University, faculty and students are enjoined to come to know, love and serve Jesus Christ.
As a Catholic University, it consecrates itself without reserve to the cause of truth, serving at one and the same time both the dignity of
man and the good of the Church. As a Catholic University, it is completely dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential
connection with the supreme Truth, who is God. It does this without fear but rather with enthusiasm, dedicating itself to every path of knowledge,
aware of being preceded by Him who is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life'. For those who have embraced the true gospel of Jesus, JP Catholic offers
a particularly rich and full kind of academic freedom. To seek knowledge in the light of truth is, for those that know Christ, to be free indeed.
The freedom of religiously distinctive intellectual communities is protected not only by the principle of religious freedom but also by
long-established principles of academic freedom. JP Catholic University community embraces the traditional freedoms of scholarship, inquiry,
and dialog, together with the special responsibilities implicit in its Catholic mission. These include the obligation to nurture faith, to
exemplify charity and virtue, and to endeavor to teach in the spirit of Christ and the Church He established.
These statements articulate in clear but general terms how JP Catholic’s mission relates to principles of academic freedom.
Ex
Corde Ecclesiae, the apostolic constitution of Pope John Paul II on Catholic Universities
is the guiding light in crafting these principles and many of them are taken directly from that document. JP Catholic
regards the following approach not as limiting the scope of freedom but as enabling greater and much cherished freedoms.
Individual and Institutional Academic Freedom
Academic freedom at JP Catholic distinguishes between individual and institutional academic
freedom. Both are necessary to maintain the unique intellectual climate of JP Catholic.
- Individual Academic Freedom. Individual freedom is at the core of both religious and academic life. Freedom of thought, belief,
inquiry, and expression are fundamental to a dedicated search for truth. Historically, in fact, freedom of conscience and freedom of intellect form a
common root, from which grow both religious and academic freedom. The Church, accepting the legitimate autonomy of human culture and especially of
the sciences, recognizes the academic freedom of scholars in each discipline in accordance with its own principles and proper methods, and within
the confines of the truth and the common good.
The freedom of the individual faculty member to teach and research without interference is fundamental to a university, which depends on
unconstrained inquiry to discover, test, and transmit knowledge. While all universities place some constraints on individual academic freedom,
they allow ample room for genuine exploration of diverse ideas.
At JP Catholic, individual academic freedom celebrates the value of free inquiry and the freedom of conscience of each person is to be fully
respected.
- Institutional Academic Freedom. JP Catholic University defines itself as a distinctively and orthodox Catholic university, with a
special commitment to an uncompromising adherence to Catholic Church magisterial teaching. JP Catholic claims the right to maintain this identity by
the appropriate exercise of its institutional academic freedom, expressing the privilege of universities to pursue their distinctive missions.
This time-honored concept of academic freedom guarantees institutional autonomy. The concept of institutional academic freedom is tacitly
sanctioned by WASC.
JP Catholic, while established with the consent of the diocesan Bishop, is owned and operated a Board of Trustees. JP Catholic provides a
university education in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church. Catholic
faculty must live lives reflecting faithfulness to the Word of God and sign a statement reflecting that fidelity. In addition, theology faculty m
ust interview with the diocesan Bishop and must obtain his mandate as a condition of employment. Faculty of other faiths must agree to respect the
Catholic nature of the university and its mission, while the university in turn respects their religious convictions.
Thus JP Catholic University, as Catholic, informs and carries out its research, teaching, and all other activities with Catholic ideals,
principles and attitudes. This differs clearly and deliberately from the public university that is legally bound to a separation of church and
state. It is not expected that the faculty will agree on every point of Catholic doctrine, much less on the issues in the academic disciplines that
commonly divide faculties everywhere. It is expected, however, that a common faith in Christ Jesus and a spirit of Christian charity will unite
even those with wide differences and that questions will be raised in ways that seek to strengthen rather than undermine faith.
- Abuses of Institutional Freedom. Institutional academic freedom, important for any college or university, is indispensable for
institutions with distinct Catholic missions. Nevertheless, institutional freedom is a prerogative that, if regarded as absolute, would invite
abuse. Therefore, academic freedom must include not only the institution's freedom to claim a religious identity but also the individual's freedom
to ask genuine, even difficult questions. Learning can be unsettling. At any Catholic university, including at JP Catholic, there always will be
the possibility of friction between individual and institutional academic freedom.
There is no way to eliminate these tensions altogether, except by eliminating the claims of one kind of freedom or the other.
To do so would result in a net loss to JP Catholic, while eliminating its right to define and preserve its institutional identity would
threaten to transform JP Catholic into a university like any other. At the same time, to override the very concept of individual academic freedom
would threaten the vitality of JP Catholic as a university. Thus, the opportunity is to establish principles and procedures that help minimize
conflict and that guide the board of trustees, faculty, and administration through differences that may arise.
- Relationship between Individual and Institutional Academic Freedom.
Neither Freedom Is Unrestricted. Neither individual nor institutional academic freedom can be unlimited. Therefore the exercise of
individual and institutional academic freedom must be subject to reasonable limitations.
Reasonable limits are based on careful consideration of what lies at the core of the mission of the university. In general, a limitation is
reasonable when the faculty behavior or expression seriously and adversely affects the university mission or the Catholic Church.
A faculty member shall not be found in violation of the academic freedom standards unless the faculty member can fairly be considered aware that
the expression violates the standards. Examples would include expression with students or in public that:
- contradicts or opposes, rather than analyzes or discusses, fundamental Catholic doctrine;
- deliberately attacks or derides the Catholic Church or its hierarchy and clergy; or
- violates the University Honor Code because the expression is dishonest, illegal, unchaste, profane, or unduly disrespectful of others.
These principles shall be interpreted and applied with persuasion, humility, kindness, and love in the spirit of Jesus Christ and through
established University procedures that include faculty review. The ultimate responsibility to determine harm to the university mission or the
Church, however, remains vested in the university's governing bodies-including the university president and central administration and, finally,
the board of trustees.
- Summary. Reasonable limitations mediate the competing claims of individual and institutional academic freedom. In practice, instances in which limitations are invoked against individual faculty conduct or expression are few and infrequent. This is because:
- Individual Academic Freedom Is Presumptive, While Institutional Intervention Is Exceptional. Individual freedom of expression is broad,
presumptive, and essentially unrestrained except for matters that seriously and adversely affect the university mission or the Catholic Church.
By contrast, institutional intervention is exceptional and limited to cases the university's governing bodies deem to offer compelling threats to
JP Catholic's mission or to the Catholic Church. The board and administration most effectively exercise their freedom to preserve JP Catholic's
institutional identity by setting general policies.
- University Posture Is One of Trust. The faculty is entrusted with broad individual academic freedom to pursue truth according to the
methodologies and assumptions that characterize scholarship in various disciplines. This trust necessarily encompasses the freedom to discuss and
advocate controversial and unpopular ideas. However, the board and administration reserve the right to designate, in exceptional cases,
restrictions upon expression and behavior that, in their judgment, seriously and adversely affect JP Catholic's mission or the Catholic Church.
- Faculty Posture Is One of Loyalty. Faculty members, for their part, agree to be loyal university citizens according to the guidelines
set forth in the JP Catholic Handbook. It is expected that the faculty will strive to contribute to the unique mission of JP Catholic.
This expectation, which aims at the fulfillment of university aspirations rather than merely at the absence of serious harm, properly figures in
advancement and continuing status decisions.
- Tone of the JP Catholic Community Is Charitable. The faculty, administration, and the board should work together in a spirit of love,
trust, and goodwill. The faculty rightly assumes its work is presumptively free from restraint, but at the same time it assumes an obligation of
dealing with sensitive issues sensitively and with a civility that becomes believers. JP Catholic rightly expects Catholic faculty to be faithful
to Church teachings, and other faculty to be respectful of, the Church and JP Catholic's mission. Thus both the university's governing bodies and
the faculty obligate themselves to use their respective academic freedom responsibly, within the context of a commitment to the gospel.
Conclusion
It is the intent of JP Catholic University to reaffirm hereby its identity as a Catholic university. JP Catholic intends to nourish a community of
believing scholars, where students and teachers, guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, freely join together to seek truth in charity and virtue.
For those who embrace the gospel, JP Catholic offers a far richer and more complete kind of academic freedom than is possible in secular
universities because to seek knowledge in the light of God’s revealed truth is, for believers, to be free indeed.
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