Ave Maria University: A Catholic project gone wrong

Miami New Times ^ | Oct 20 2011 | Michael E. Miller

[Paradox]

Miami New Times is the local ultra-liberal rag. Read it for fun, not for news.

[BlueDragon]

The size of a graduating class as Ave Maria law school, still a separate institution, is 209.

According to the article;

Its law school, which is still in Naples, remains in rapid decline. This summer, only 11 of 23 of its graduates passed the Florida Bar exam. At less than 48 percent, it was the worst result in the state and nearly 20 percentage points behind its closest competitor.

Any recent bar exam takers around here? What's the bulk of the test focused on?

[BlueDragon]

In light of the media blizzard from one, er, denomination, I can't help but to think of jokingly captioning the pic

And we're Mormon!

[Lee N. Field]

Don't attend Ave Maria folks, or you might end up like this!!

The Stepford Catholics?

[dangus]

What I’m wondering is why a “nose-diving” law school has a class of 209, but they are reporting the results of only 23 graduates.

[dangus]

I wonder if these 23 graduates are the only ones who couldn’t finish on time, but also couldn’t transfer out when Ave Maria left Michigan... because yeah, it’s THAT class.

[dangus]

Did you know that Ave Maria includes required courses in sacred music chorus? Given a Catholic school like that, you’re going to invoke “But Father, I don’t want to sing!”

[dangus]

Did you know that Ave Maria includes required courses in sacred music chorus? Given a Catholic school like that, you’re going to invoke “But Father, I don’t want to sing!”

[BlueDragon]

I think it's self explanatory and tells us all we need to know about the publication's objectivity.

You'll find some agreement concerning the slant of the photos, from someone who actually knows about the goings one there, from http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-10-27/news/reader-mail-ave-maria-university-is-like-rehab-for-smug-catholics/, but otherwise, she claims the article is basically factual;

Photo lies: Your story about U.S. Senate candidate Marielena Stuart's complaints about Catholic university Ave Maria ("Stepford U," Michael E. Miller, October 20) used a broad brush. I know many of the facts were accurate, at least the ones I lived, but is it fair to present only the negative like this? It was myopically focused on the problems. And what's with the cover photo used to depict students? The article wasn't even about them! It seemed like an unnecessary low blow.

Kate Ernsting

Ms. Ernsting was featured in the article;

In May 2004, the DOE ordered Ave Maria to pay back $259,000 in financial aid and fines, but Ernsting's cooperation and hustle kept prosecutors happy and staved off criminal charges. Yet she was fired, so several weeks later she filed a whistleblower lawsuit. In a deposition, Monaghan claimed, "What [Ernsting] reported was slanted and erroneous and maybe even malicious."

"The whole thing was kind of a nightmare for me," says Ernsting, who nearly went bankrupt because Monaghan's lawyers delayed the trial for five years. "These were people that I loved. I still have very warm feelings for Tom Monaghan... but I knew brushing it under the rug wasn't right either." Monaghan declined to comment for this article.

Here's something coming from none other than "Ave Maria's new president and CEO" "Jim Towey...a former assistant to Mother Teresa";

"This is a very unique arrangement here. It's almost like what you would see in medieval times when a baron would go and build himself a church and monastery."

I found the article to be chock-a-block FULL of stuff like that, that fairly leap off the page.

Just waving one's hands at the photo the Miami publication used, dismissing all the rest, is to bury one's head in the sand, concerning all the rest.

The Broward/Palm Beach New Times version didn't use the weird photos.

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2011-10-20/news/ave-maria-a-catholic-university-experiment-in-the-everglades-gone-wrong/

Here's some more, from the in-case-you-missed-it department;

Monaghan had built himself a church; now he wanted to name his own pastor. The bishop refused to let him. The building had been largely unused for a year. "The only times they would open it was for tours or concerts," Stuart says. "And that was so people could donate money." The church now has a priest but to this day retains its ignominious title as the world's only "quasi oratory" — uncertified church.

[Publius6961]

Ave Maria is already the fourth most exclusive Catholic university in America, behind only BC, Georgetown, and Notre Dame.

British Columbia?
Boston College?
Barney's College?
What?

I left my Ouija Board in my other suit.

[x]

Owned by Village Voice Media.

VVM was getting sued because online ads it runs promote and provide essential services to child prostitution, but a judge threw out the case.

[mockingbyrd]

Is that a legit stat? I thought you took the bar in whatever state you wanted to practice in, so the fact that only 11 passed the Florida Bar might be because only 11 took the Florida bar. The sentence is worded that you assume the rest flunked it, but does actually come out and say it. Being the NYT, I wouldn’t put it past them.

[Tax-chick]

I *so* don’t care what anti-Catholics say about Ave Maria University. If my debating kid (currently in 10th grade) is interested in a Catholic school focussed on his strengths, we’ll strongly consider it. Plenty of reptiles (his other enthusiasm) in Florida, too. And his grandparents!

[Notwithstanding]

Looks like this Marielena woman is a pariah.

http://www.aveherald.com/news/934-scant-financial-support-for-ave-maria-residents-us-senate-bid.html

Scant Financial Support for Ave Maria Resident’s U.S. Senate Bid

Tuesday, 25 October 2011 10:59

The long-shot bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. senate by Ave Maria resident Marielena Stuart has failed to attract much interest from people willing to support her financially, according to documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

Campaign finance reports show that Mrs. Stuart had just $51 in her campaign account as of Sept. 30, the lowest amount of any candidate who filed a quarterly report by the Oct. 15 deadline. She raised only $615 from donors other than herself or her husband in the third quarter of 2011 and her reports show no donations from anyone in the town of Ave Maria, where she is best known.

As would be expected, the top-tier candidates in the race raised the bulk of the money.

Adam Hasner raised $545,000 in the third quarter and had $786,000 in cash on hand. George Lemieux raised $403,000 and had more than $1 million cash on hand. Craig Miller raised $235,000 in the quarter and had $145,000 cash as of Sept. 30.

Fundraising by all Republican candidates paled in comparison to incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson who raised almost $2 million in the third quarter and has about $7.5 million in cash on hand.

Full copies of the FEC financial disclosure information can be viewed at www.fec.gov.

[Dumb_Ox]

These kinds of utopian communities wouldn't have any appeal if normal neighborhoods and localities were allowed to enforce public morals and, perhaps, screen out proposed neighbors of low moral caliber.

My proposed marginal reform: allow realtors to advertise if a home or apartment for sale/rent is near a church or religious school. (This is presently illegal, I think.) Less strictness about religious steering would also help.

[vladimir998]

What about Christendom College or Thomas Aquinas College? They seem pretty exclusive to me.

[Tax-chick]

Define “exclusive” for the context. Does it simply mean what is commonly called “selective,” that is, the number of accepted students as a percentage of the number of applications?

[Notwithstanding]

Kate Ernsting, who was mentioned in that article as winning a lawsuite against the university, posted this in the comments section of this article:

“This was kind of a broad brush used to paint everything Ave Maria. I know many of the facts were accurate, at least the ones I lived, but is it fair to only present the negative like this? It was pretty myopically focused on the problems. And what’s with the photo was used to depict students—the article wasn’t even about them! It seemed like an unnecessary low blow. I will admit that I was interviewed for this article. There’s a time and a place speaking truth to power, or trying to correct a wrong, I hope that purpose was served here. I’m not sure I think it was. This is a project I still support, these are people who good people, human beings in the process of seeking redemption—just like me. It seems myopic to air all this without pointing out one exculpatory fact. What about the fact that the Bishop just granted AMU recognition to allow themselves to be identified as a Catholic institution? Would this article have been written if Tom Monaghan were Steve Jobs and a Buddhist? Or would he have won his legal battles more easily if he were Eisner (Disney cases I, II and III)? I think this is over the top—hopefully everyone has the common sense to see that. — Kate Ernsting”

[mockingbyrd]

Those schools are both selective and exclusive, due to the fact that they have strict standards that they expect their students to maintain on campus.

Wyoming Catholic College also doesn’t take federal funding. Like Hillsdale, which my sister is loving. I’m a TAC grad myself, respect and admire the school, but am keeping my options open for my own kids. No matter what, if my children want me to assist with their college education, it will be a Catholic school we both agree on, or local, where they don’t have to deal with dorm life.