June 20, 2008

The 'Dark Side' of Catholic Colleges

To the Editor:

I appreciate my former colleague Laurence E. Musgrove's thoughtful "Mystery and Humility in General Education" (The Chronicle Review, May 16), including the story of his own interesting spiritual journey. But I have some serious reservations about the essay.

I will put aside my doubt about the meaningfulness of Musgrove's purportedly theistic appeal to "the selfless gift of Mystery." The point on which I want to focus is his somewhat Pollyannaish account of