Ave Maria University Gets a New President

Pray for Ave Maria University. We need faithful Catholic schools, but it's been a rocky ride in Florida according to a local resident and reporter. See her take on the new president and the state of the school.  I've always thought that monstrosity of a church, designed by Tom Monaghan, looks like an upside down boat, not a particularly inspiring visual for a community that supports the bark of Peter.

Clueless or Culpable? Ave Maria Steps in it Again!

Ave Maria Town seems to be a magnet for controversy. The latest bit of scandal is the cozy relationship between Jackson Labs and Tom Monaghan. Jackson Labs has a long history in the eugenics business and internationally is promoting embryonic stem cell research. And yet, they are being welcomed with open arms by the president of Ave Maria University, Nicholas Healy, and Tom Monaghan.

Here's what researcher, Randy Engel, reports about the relationship:

Barron Collier Companies of Southwest Florida in partnership with the Domino pizza magnate and Catholic philanthropist, Thomas S. Monahan (sic), is the creator of Ave Maria Town, home of Ave Maria University. The new Institute will be situated off Oil Well Road about three miles from the Ave Maria campus on the southwestern edge of property originally controlled by Ave Maria Development.

Last year, Blake Gable, Ave Maria Town project manager and President of Barron Collier’s Real Estate Division approached Monahan to discern if his firm’s business partner had any objection to the Jackson Labs project, and if not, would he (Monahan), be willing to sell his interest in the land to Barron Collier thereby making the project independent of Ave Maria Development joint interests.

Concern about the morality of having a large genetic research facility so close to Ave Maria University and Town, Monahan is reported to have sought advice from the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) in Philadelphia, which ultimately advised him that they could see no moral impediment to the land transaction.

Engel goes on to describe the questionable postions of the NCBC on issues like abortion and brain death. She also provides a history of the Lab which is up to its neck in abortion/contraceptive/eugenic research. In the 1960s partnering with Johns Hopkins, the lab helped to develop amniocentesis for the search and destroy mission which has decimated Downs Syndrome children.

Here's how Engel sums up her Catholic case against Jackson Labs:

A Summary of the Catholic Case Against Jackson Labs

Ok. Let’s tally up the arguments against the donation of land to Jackson Labs by Barron Colliers Companies, partners with Thomas Monahan.

Clearly, Jackson Labs officials have deliberately withheld information from the general public and from Ave Maria leaders including Tom Monahan (sic), regarding the role of its founder/Director, C.C. Little, in the early eugenic, birth control, sterilization, racial, and euthanasia movements of the first half of the 20th century. Each of these movements was vigorously opposed by the Catholic Church.

Jackson Labs is a major promoter of eugenics and eugenic abortion.

Jackson Labs promotes and engages in human embryonic stem cell experimentation as well as contraceptive research in violation of the Natural Law and Church Law.

These objections alone should be enough to convince Barron Colliers Companies to scrap the project. If not, then Monahan (sic) along with pro-life state legislators, right-to-life leaders and residents in Florida, especially the students of Ave Maria University and resident of Ave Maria town, should force the issue.

In 1912, Father Thomas J. Gerrard speaking for the Catholic Social Guild, dubbed radical eugenics doctrines as “a complete return to the life of the beast. …Man is not an animal by nature; the table not a feeding trough, and the home not a biological experimental station,” Gerrard said, an obvious slap at the Cold Springs Harbor Experimental Station for the Study of Evolution where C.C. Little was later employed.

Ave Maria Town and Ave Marie University do not need a little Auschwitz in their backyard. (For the complete article, go here.... )

If Ave Maria allows the transfer of land for this evil organization, it is one more example of their trading Catholic values for money. After all, the lab offers potential employment for residents of Ave Maria town. But what kind of employment? If they do this thing, they will be directly implicated in cooperation with one of the most evil movements on the earth. Do your homework, Tom. I'm sure Randy would be happy to speak with you and President Healy.

Ave Maria Controversy about Honoring Tom Golisano Continues

Matt Abbott at Renew America has an interesting article covering the on-going scandal at Ave Maria University. Ave Maria named their sports complex after Tom Golisano in exchange for a $4 million grant. Galisano's also funnelled millions of dollars into the campaign chests of NARAL-endorsed candidates including the most pro-abortion politician in history, Barack Obama. But Galisano claims he has "always" been pro-life. Wow! Our mothers told us actions speak louder than words, but when you want a piece of the Golisano pie maybe the only action that matters is the hand filling out the "pay to" line on the fat check.

Apparently some prominent Catholics think the scandal is insignificant. Deal Hudson and Keith Fournier are cheerleading for Ave Maria's decision to honor Golisano while attacking The Wanderer for covering the scandal and dismissing the "peanut gallery of whining negative critics" (like me) who think honoring Golisano is wrong. Seems money covers a multitude of sins including using your millions to facilitate the murder of the innocent by electing radical pro-aborts. Galisano contributed big bucks to 50 such candidates (endorsed by NARAL), 47 of whom were elected. Perhaps the next folks who will get a pass for "always" being "pro-life" will be all those "personally opposed to abortion" politicians who consistently vote to advance child-killing while claiming that in their heart of hearts they oppose it.

Deacon Fournier says he is saddened by all this and I agree. The bible says love of money is the root of all evils and Catholic universities have, for the most part, sold their Catholic souls for it. That is certainly something to mourn. This time Ave Maria sold a building which will forever bear the name of a man whose money has done some legitimate charity (just like Bill Gates) but is also closely associated with the culture of death. What will Ave Maria put on the auction block next?

Unlike Deacon Fournier I cannot congratulate Ave Maria's president. I think the decision to honor Golisano is a scandal and I applaud The Wanderer for having the guts to call it what it is. Actions still speak louder than words and Golisano's aren't pro-life at all despite his verbal assurances to Ave Maria.

The Price of Integrity at Ave Maria University? A Cool $4 Million!

You've probably heard the joke about the man who says to the beautiful woman, "Will you have sex for me for a million dollars?"

She bats her eyes and says, "Sure. Where and when?"

Then he says, "How about for ten dollars?"

Insulted, she responds furiously, "What do think I am?"

The man answers coolly, "We've already established that; we're just haggling over the price!"

Well, sad to say, Ave Maria University in Naples, FL has sold its Catholic soul to pro-abortion billionaire Tom Golisano who donated $4 million to build an athletic complex which will bear his name. That he's pro-abortion is easily established and Ave Maria officials were apparently aware of it. What's particularly galling is that, according to Golisano, Tom Monaghan agressively solicited the donation.

To those who think this is a tempest in a teapot rather than a serious scandal, consider how you would feel if Planned Parenthood donated $4 million for a science building named after Margaret Sanger or less notorious Dr. Alan Guttmacher. What if they built a TV studio and communications building donated by a billionaire neo-Nazi who wanted to name it for Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels?

One might be able to give Monaghan a pass if he approached Golisano saying, "Look, you're in serious trouble with the Lord because of your commitment to abortion. Why don't you at least invest some of your wealth in our university. We'll promise you nothing but prayers for your conversion. We won't have any kind of ceremony honoring you. We'll name the building after St. Paul because of all his statements about running the race, and we'll ask our students to pray for the anonymous donor."

I might be able to go along with that approach. It might even convert the guy. But to honor a pro-abortion rich man at a Catholic university, to offer him honor and respectibility, and even a standing ovation for his generosity...well, in my opinion, that makes it even harder for him to repent. How can the Lord condemn a man who gives $4 million to a Catholic school named after His mother? What a mockery!

I have eighteen grandchildren and the first two will be in high school next year. I hope they never consider going to a Catholic university with a building named after a public pro-abortion figure. I've spent my entire adult life fighting abortion and other culture of death initiatives. What Tom Monaghan and Ave Maria have done is a reprehensible public scandal that deserves condemnation from every serious Catholic.

If you have money to contribute to Catholic education, give it to a college that truly deserves the name, not one that will sell its integrity for 30 peices of silver.

Ave Maria Stoops to New Low by Banning Journalist from Property

Ave Maria Town is the home of Catholic journalist Marielena Montesino de Stuart. It's also home to Ave Maria University, the school founded by Tom Monahan, the Domino's Pizza giant. Since its founding the university has been beset by problems related to its iron-fisted handling of a number of situations. First it was moving from Ann Arbor, MI and breaking promises to numerous faculty and staff there. Then it was demanding the move of the law school which not only broke more promises, but destroyed its excellent standing and threatened its accreditation. Ave Maria fired Fr. Joseph Fessio - twice, the second time during summer vacation apparently to avoid student protests and adverse publicity.

With Mrs. de Stuart, the iron fist is up close and personal. The university has banned her from its property. But much of Ave Maria town belongs to the university so the de Stuart family who live there are forbidden from their own neighborhood. FOX news covered the story which described how her children are now afraid to leave the house. Makes one thrilled at the thought of living in that town, doesn't it?

That this type of action could take place at a campus founded specifically to advance orthodox Catholicism is shocking, but it's become typical of how Ave Maria operates. Fr. Fessio was fired (the second time) because he PRIVATELY took concerns about the financial stability of the university to the head of the board of directors. Obviously the stability of Ave Maria town is directly related to the health of the university, so Mrs. de Stuart's concern is well founded.

Ave Maria's unchristian behavior has brought criticism from notable Catholics like eminent lawyer Charles Rice and others. The destruction of the Ave Maria Law School and the treatment of several of the faculty members is, as Rice puts it, "beyond contempt."

My husband and I welcomed Ave Maria with outstretched arms. We signed up for the Founders' Club and began giving a monthly donation. When things started to come apart early on we reluctantly withdraw. We felt the blow to the law school in Ann Arbor personally because we knew several friends with children there.

Those who criticize Ave Maria and have any connections at all that make them vulnerable to the wrath of Tom Monaghan can expect reprisal. Marielena Montesino de Stuart settled in Ave Maria Town with high hopes that it would be a truly Catholic experience. What's happening to her now sounds like hell. That it is being done in the name of a university named after the Blessed Mother is not only appalling, but a crucifixion.

Tom Monaghan seems like a sincere man who wants to spend his fortune doing good. De Stuart doesn't question the motives of him or anyone involved in the Ave Maria venture, but one can't help but wonder that a man, who claims he divested himself of his luxuries to pursue a Catholic vision has gone about it like a tyrant. One thing that makes me scratch my head about his comments on pride is the fact that he designed the church for the town. What exactly qualifies the pizza king to design a church, which has been widely criticized. View the videos below and judge for yourself what's

Pray for all who have been hurt during the building of this so-called Catholic University and town and pray especially for Tom Monaghan. A man with money who can call the shots that impact people's lives had better be sure he's doing God's will.

Is Ave Maria University Crazy?

We need every faithful Catholic college we can get. But there's one relatively new school that seems ever bent on demolishing itself. They've fired Fr. Fessio again because of a private conversation he had with the former head of the board last November. Are they nuts? Or is this just one more example of MCF (Management-by-Control-Freaks)?

Pray for Ave Maria, especially that the administration will imitate the woman for whom the university is named. Maybe they need to "ponder" a little in their hearts as she did before making stupid decisions!