St. Ignatius alumni battle over two fired, conservative theology teachers

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The identity of St. Ignatius High School, the nationally recognized Jesuit institution for boys in Ohio City, is the subject of a robust debate among some of its alumni, parents and students.

The debate is fueled by the departure of two long-time theology teachers, whose contracts were not renewed for the coming school year, and mirrors our recent presidential election with divisions running along multiple conservative and liberal lines. It also is emotionally charged by, among other issues, gay rights and refugees.

To some proud alumni, the school's traditional, conservative-leaning approach to Catholicism is being eroded by a growing progressive philosophy and an emphasis on social justice issues. As a result, they believe, the school is pushing out good teachers who don't fall in line with the new agenda. Others dismiss such claims as irrational and argue the school's Catholic identity, mission and quality education remain intact.

The debate is playing out publicly online to the dismay of school officials. The debate, for instance, has spawned a Facebook page, several blogs and a petition drive to reinstate the teachers. It also has generated heated comments, leaked documents and social media hashtags, including "Make Ignatius Catholic Again."

Joe McAuliffe, the president of the school's board of regents, said in a March letter sent to fellow board members (and posted by a critic anonymously online) that critics are "inappropriately" linking the departure of the two teachers and the Catholic identity of the school. McAuliffe offered a number of talking points to his colleagues to address concerns raised by alumni and parents.

Father Raymond Guiao, St. Ignatius' president, said in an email to me that the online debate is not a reflection of what is going on at the school.

"Unfortunately, many of the comments are based on false assumptions about why certain members of our faculty are not being offered contracts, leading to an online debate based not on facts but on speculation and erroneous conclusions about ideological or political agendas," he wrote. (You can read his full letter below this article.)

The debate gained attention earlier this year after the school told longtime theology teachers Martin Dybicz and Jim Hogan, who have about 60 years of teaching between them, that their contracts would not be renewed. Their backers quickly turned to the internet to rally support. They created a Facebook page called "Men for Dybicz & Hogan," which is a reference to the school's motto, "Men for Others."

Several blogs also popped up, including one with the tagline "Jesuit Identity doesn't equal Catholic." A petition calling for the teachers' reinstatement attracted 2,000 signatures.

Blog posts and comments referred to Dybicz and Hogan as "orthodox" and "solidly Catholic" and teachers who "unequivocally teach the Holy Catholic Faith," suggesting that they were being persecuted for not being more liberal. (The teachers have not spoken publicly and the school said it can't discuss personnel matters.)

Ignatius has a powerful network of alumni, which includes attorneys, elected officials and business owners in Northeast Ohio, who closely watch the school and help fund its projects. William Coughlin, a partner at law firm Calfee, Halter & Griswold, recently rebuked his alma mater over its decision to not bring back Dybicz and Hogan. He was so upset that he asked that the school return a donation he made to the school's new grotto that is dedicated to the former long-time Ignatius theology teachers Jim Skerl and Michael "Doc" Pennock.

"In light of the administration's continuing refusal to reinstate Jim Hogan and Marty Dybicz--Jim Skerl's friends and colleagues for 30 years--to the Theology faculty, I have asked the school to return my donation for the Skerl/Pennock grotto," he wrote in a letter to the school, which was later posted on a blog supporting the teachers. "The non-renewal of Hogan and Dybicz defiles Skerl's memory. ...The grotto is a farce."

The right-wing website, Churchmilitant.com, also picked up the story and added fuel the dispute by mischaracterizing or overstating several aspects of the debate. It claims "Faithful Catholics are fighting to reclaim one of the most prominent Jesuit schools in the nation." The website, which is frequently critical of the Catholic Church and whose headlines have been compared to those on the right-wing news site Breitbart News, highlighted the departure of Dybicz and Hogan as the latest example of the school's drift "towards heterodoxy." The article also noted that the school's quarterly magazine, "Ignatius," recently featured an article on the school's Ignatian Alliance, a group for gay students. The theme of the issue, which featured on its cover a photograph of two students with arms across each other's backs, is "Preparing students to meet a diverse world." In the issue's opening letter, Guiao, who is Asian-American, said the school must continue to make the school more inclusive by recruiting students from varying socio-economic backgrounds. The school's student body is predominately white. (Tuition is $15,000 a year, though the school's strong network of alumni has helped raise a healthy endowment that helps offset tuition for 50 percent of the students.)

One Ignatius graduate (whose identity I confirmed) posted a comment under the Churchmilitant.com story blasting critics of the school.

"I went to Ignatius. Great school and still is," he said. "It's hilarious hearing right-wing nuts claim to be Christians. You're not. Send your kids to Trump-loving Walsh if you have a problem with Ignatius." (He is referring to Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls.)

Some conservative-leaning Ignatius alumni told me they support the school's efforts to be more inclusive, but worry such efforts could become what one described as a "social platform for the Jesuit order." They point to Guiao's letter on the school's website in which he advocates that the school add its voice to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope Francis and others condemning President Trump's executive order regarding immigration and refugees.

The critics see the departure of Dybicz and Hogan as directly related to a recent school audit by Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus, which regularly reviews Jesuit school operations and teachings. (The Society of Jesus is a Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers founded by Ignatius Loyola. They are known as "the Jesuits.")

The audit, known as the Ignatian Identity Review and which was leaked online, compliments the school's academic excellence and commitment to Catholic teachings. But the review, which is posted below, says the school's Theology Department still needs to change and that it needs to realign the curriculum, an issue identified in earlier audits. The audit does not identify specific curriculum changes.

"We believe that these issues lie with a small number of Theology faculty members, but they are significant, not merely matters of style and/or pedagogy, but matters of substance," the review says.

One school alum told me the school's identity is strong and that changes to the theology department should have been made years ago.

"The most recent audit makes clear that we are a flagship school and we are successfully achieving our identity goals," Guiao wrote. "However, while I am proud of the report's results, it was never meant to be shared with a broad audience and, when taken out of context, is subject to misinterpretation by those not familiar with our history, culture and way of proceeding."

The school has no plans to discuss the issue publicly. The board of regents recently moved to end discussion among themselves about the departure of the teachers.

Best update I have seen on situation at St. Ignatius High School:

A Concerned Alumnus Looks at the Ignatian Identity Review

St. Ignatius was founded in 1886 by a band of German Jesuits to, in the words of the alma mater, “impart” the Catholic Faith to young men in the Diocese of Cleveland. Generally speaking, Ignatius has done an admirable job fulfilling this mission. The school’s Theology Department has become well known for its orthodoxy and fidelity. Not coincidentally, the school generates more vocations to the priesthood than any Jesuit high school in the country. The school’s focus on Christian service has become one of its hallmarks, and some of the programs designed to enable the students to perform the Corporal Works of Mercy have been emulated by schools around the country, including the St. Benedict Joseph Labre ministry to the homeless and the St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry, which has become the largest extracurricular in the school and even gained attention in the national media. Many Seniors now prepare for graduation by spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, and many students mark the somber anniversary of Roe v. Wade by praying the Rosary. The school has also helped to strengthen the Faith beyond the campus. Thanks in part to the school’s historic commitment to giving preference to applicants from Catholic grade schools, the Diocese of Cleveland boasts the fifth largest parochial school system in the country, even though twenty or so dioceses are larger. These achievements are even more noteworthy when set against the larger backdrop of American Catholicism, which sees fewer and fewer Catholics attending Catholic schools, getting married in the Church, or even passing along the Faith to their children. Catholics remain the largest religious group in the country, but the second largest religious group is ex-Catholics.

Most of this would not have been possible without the Ignatius Theology Department. Although Labre and the Pallbearer Ministry were the ideas of the late Jim Skerl, his efforts were fully supported by his longtime friends and colleagues in the Theology Department, and the entire Department has been responsible for fostering a commitment to Catholicism at the school. Yet, inexplicably, the Theology Department is the only department in the school to be criticized in the Ignatian Identity Review conducted by the Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus in October 2016. Indeed, that Review revealed that earlier reviews in 2006 and 2011 were also critical of the Theology Department: “Regarding the concerns about methods used by some in the Theology Department, our team referred to the 2011 review report which in turn referred to the 2006 report. We noted that there have been changes in the Theology Department that have positively addressed some of the issues presented in those reports…. However, in our judgment, the concerns have not been adequately resolved. We believe that these issues lie with a small number of Theology faculty members, but they are significant, not merely matters of style and/or pedagogy, but matters of substance. The issue needs to be resolved.”

It is against this backdrop that the school’s startling decision not to renew the teaching contracts of Marty Dybicz and Jim Hogan should be viewed. Each man served in the Theology Department for more than 30 years, and many hundreds of alumni have contacted the school on their behalf. Indeed, the decision not to renew their contracts has created consternation among alumni like no other decision has. I also have little doubt that their longtime friend and colleague Jim Skerl would have vigorously protested the decision to end their tenure at the school, if he were still with us. The precise reason for this decision has not been made public, but it clearly was not any moral failure on their part. As Fr. Guiao wrote to alumnus Brian Hurley, “These are good and holy men and deserve our respect and gratitude.” As to why the school would suddenly terminate two “good and holy men,” Fr. Guiao said this: “We are simply trying our best to create a culture where our students can best come to know Christ. In this time and place we are choosing to use new ways to achieve that goal.” Fr. Guiao did not describe these “new ways,” but the rest of the Ignatian Identity Review might offer some clues.

The Review notes that “While there have been significant strides made in educating students for social justice, we encourage the school community to dig deeper, looking at systemic racism and good social analysis…. [The students] understand helping others, but they are also very capable of engaging in study as to why there are homeless, why there are rich and poor, etc. This type of social analysis can occur across the curriculum.” Of course, what the Review describes as “helping others”—the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy—is firmly grounded in the Gospel and is something in which all Catholics believe. The same cannot be said for classroom instruction on “systemic racism and social analysis.” There are many legitimately Catholic answers to the questions of “why there are homeless, why there are rich and poor, etc.” The school’s former president, Fr. Robert Welsh, S. J., chose to observe the school’s centenary by inviting the famous conservative William F. Buckley, Jr. and the famous Thomist Mortimer Adler to Cleveland. Somehow, though, one doubts that the Review’s authors are calling for more political and economic analysis inspired by Buckley and more philosophical and theological analysis inspired by Adler in the classroom.

The Review also calls for the school to “Continue to work on issues of inclusivity, be they attitudes toward women (by some adults and students), LGBTQ people, or any who are in a ‘different’ category.” Indeed, the most recent issue of the alumni magazine celebrated the Ignatian Alliance, which it compared to “LGBT groups” that exist in area public schools. No mention was made in the article of how the Ignatian Alliance might differ from such public school “LGBT groups,” much less of the Church’s teaching, as set forth in the Catechism, that “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are gravely disordered’. . . . Under no circumstances can they be approved.’” The “T” in LGBTQ presents even greater challenges, since the Church does not believe in the multiplicity of genders that LGBTQ activists claim exist but believes instead that “God created man in his own image . . .male and female he created them.” The Review does not say whether “inclusivity” of “LGBTQ people” requires the downplaying, or even jettisoning, of such Catholic teaching, but there is little doubt that this is what most LGBTQ activists want.

The Review also observes that “As an all-boys school with a largely male faculty and administration, and with deep traditions and a strong culture, there is a danger of a culture that feels closed, and we heard this experience reported from a number of students and adults.” This does not match my own experience of the school, where I felt welcome and at home, even though I was different from my classmates in a number of respects. But it does suggest that the Review’s authors are deeply troubled by the school’s past and the way most Ignatians cherish the school’s traditions. After all, can any institution that refuses to admit girls be said to be truly “inclusive” of females? Can any institution that values tradition be said to be truly “open?”

No one is denied admission to Ignatius or employment at the school because of his race or ethnic background. But the Review’s authors are greatly troubled by the fact that school’s demographic makeup mirrors that of Cleveland’s Catholic population, which is largely comprised of the descendants of European immigrants. The Review urges the school to “Continue to develop specific targets and procedures that will bring in more students of color. Metro Cleveland is 28% of color. That might be a good target for Saint Ignatius as it seeks to represent the Cleveland community.” The Review also urges the school to “Develop specific targets and procedures to hold yourselves accountable for bringing in more faculty and board members of color.” (No mention is made of how this would impact faculty applicants who have the disadvantage of being white, a disadvantage shared by all the great teachers I had at Ignatius who had such a large and positive impact on my life).

Given that the percentage of Catholics among Cleveland’s African-Americans is lower than the percentage of Catholics among Cleveland whites, it is difficult to see how the school can implement the Review’s recommendations on minority enrollment without watering down the school’s commitment to supporting Cleveland’s Catholic grade schools. The Review’s authors seem to be close to recognizing this, when they exhort the school to “Continue to celebrate and live the Catholic identity of the school, while at the same time looking at policies and procedures that can ensure that all feel welcomed. A wider latitude for acceptance of Catholic students from public schools is recommended. While it is commendable that St. Ignatius historically has supported the local Catholic grade schools by prioritizing their applicants, we also need to ensure that the school does not put itself in a position to turn away large numbers of qualified Catholic students whose families have chosen other good schooling options for them.” There is no need to wonder what effect this recommendation would have on Catholic grade schools if it is ever implemented.

Then there are the things the Review doesn’t mention. The focus of the review is generally on contemporary issues, not the salvation of souls. And the Review concerns itself with only some contemporary issues. The Review’s authors don’t mention teaching about abortion “across the curriculum,” even though over 1,000,000 children are deliberately killed in the womb every year in America. They don’t recommend teaching about the Church’s definition of marriage “across the curriculum,” even though that definition is under attack as never before. There is no mention of promoting the classics of Catholic thought “across the curriculum,” even though exposure to such classics would undoubtedly help students refute the atheist arguments they are likely to encounter in college and later. No mention is made of “The Absolute True Story of a Part-Time Indian,” a book assigned by the English Department that extolls pornography, masturbation, and gay marriage, while ridiculing Christ. Some parents and alumni have protested the assignment of this book, but apparently it poses no threat to the school’s Ignatian identity.

I do not report any of this with joy. I am deeply grateful for the four years I spent at Ignatius, and I have always been a proud and loyal alumnus. But, for the first time, I am beginning to wonder if I can continue to support the school and the Jesuits financially. I doubt that the sturdy sons of Ignatius who founded our famed alma mater would recognize the school they founded in the school the authors of the Ignatian Identity Review propose to create. Sadly, despite what the alma mater says, it seems that years in passing can indeed sever ties of new days from the old.

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St. Ignatius alumni battle over two theology teachers -- and identity of the school: Mark Naymik