The Friday afternoon announcement going into the Victoria Day long weekend caught Catholic students and staff at the University of Sudbury by surprise: 鈥淧lease note that Fr. David Shulist鱿鱼视频app contract with the University of Sudbury will come to an end on May 30th. We are thankful for his various contributions as Director of Spiritual 鱿鱼视频app,鈥� said an e-mail from vice president of programming and communications Sylvie Renault. No reason was given for his departure.
As of noon May 27, 361 students, professors and staff had signed a petition on change.org demanding the bilingual Catholic affiliate of Laurentian University reinstate Shulist, who was hired in 2013. Shulist himself is left wondering why Canada鱿鱼视频app Jesuits would want to continue their association with the university they founded in 1913.
鈥淭he Scripture tells us, we want to shake the dust off our feet and move on,鈥� Shulist told The Catholic Register.
He fears the Jesuit name and Catholic history has been reduced to a marketing gimmick for something that began as the College du Sacre-Coeur de Sudbury and was once the only route to a higher education for francophones in Ontario.
鈥淎re we here because of historical roots?鈥� asked Shulist. 鈥淎re those roots being severed 鈥� not by us but by others?鈥�
University of Sudbury president and vice-chancellor Sophie Bouffard maintains the school 鈥渋s proud of its Jesuit roots and its Catholic identity,鈥� she said in an e-mail. Over the summer the university鱿鱼视频app spiritual services department will be dormant while new plans are formulated.
鈥淚 am in discussion with the Jesuit provincial (superior) in order to ensure next steps and to explore the possibility of enhancing our collaboration with the Society (of Jesus),鈥� Bouffard said. 鈥淏e assured that upcoming decisions will be informed by the needs of the university and of its students.鈥�
The Jesuits confirm they are in discussions with the university.
鈥淲e have an ongoing partnership with the university. That hasn鈥檛 changed,鈥� said Jesuit communications director Jos茅 Sanchez.
As a student in the University of Sudbury鱿鱼视频app Indigenous studies department, Nikola Argirovski is suspicious.
鈥淢y concern is that the administration is not acting in the best interests of the wider university community,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ast year, the administration at the university decided to disconnect itself from the chapel. So they wished the university to be a separate entity from the St. Ignatius Chapel there. This is a strong indication that they didn鈥檛 want to be affiliated at all with Roman Catholicism or anything connected to spirituality of any kind.鈥�
The University of Sudbury is a full member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Canada. While no longer a Jesuit institution, the Jesuits retain the right to nominate one-third of its board. Plans to sign Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the Vatican鱿鱼视频app constitution defining Catholic universities, were blocked by the faculty association during contract negotiations in 2006.
鈥淭he university has been distancing itself from its Jesuit and Catholic roots lately as it rebrands itself,鈥� said a university lecturer who asked to withhold his name.
A university residence that had been named after Fr. Lucien Matte, founder of the Laurentian University teachers鈥� college, was renamed University of Sudbury Residence.
鈥淭o many baby boomers, to the generation that controls the institutions now, religion has become a sign of weakness,鈥� said University of Sudbury philosophy professor Lucien Pelletier in an e-mail.
鈥淎ll I know is that this past fall the university changed its logo, removing the symbol of Loyola, which represents the Jesuit heritage and our Catholic community,鈥� said student Maryse Leveille. 鈥淚鈥檓 not really sure if they are turning away from their Catholic identity. We will have to wait and see what will happen in the next year.鈥�