We are offering thepatronage of Newman because he helps us to translate the life of Christinto the contemporary academic scene. The greatest problem in the days ahead willbe a creeping utilitarianism, a disease which attacks the heart and thesoul and renders the subject powerless to respond. It is a paralysisof the supernatural, when a student reaches the point where he or she willdo nothing unless they see something in it for themselves. Then theyare paralyzed and disconnected from the Newman Apostolate. When the student finds that prospect silly, youat least know that the disease of the useful has begun its ravaging work.
Some students follow persons and some followabstractions.
The cult of the personal patron has given way to thecult of abstractions in some schools. I mean that Joyce or Voltaireare not as powerful in the lives of students as they were ten years ago. Success and social prestige are the dominant abstractions on the secularcampus today. The desire for power is a hard-running third in thatbid for followers. Students and faculty will follow someone or something.