President-to-be Kilpatrick stated, "One of the things that I know from my experiences at Notre Dame with campus ministry is that you have to meet students where they are — and students come to us from all over the country and all over the world in very different places, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. And I think we have to meet them at that place where they’re at."
This quote makes me nervous. I know it's a popular quote in Church circles today, from the Pope on down. To meet someone where they are...and leave it at that, or even to "walk with them," implies a compromise. Many of us are not strong enough to prevent that walk from becoming a one way trip to hell.
Most Catholics today are so poorly formed in their faith that for them to take that walk is a case of the blind leading the blind. What I would prefer, is to say, "We must bring people from where they are to the Good, the True and the Beautiful, which is only wholly found in the Catholic Church." As Jesus said, if you are rejected, shake off the dust and move on.
Regarding his comment about standardized testing, that they are not good predictors of success, is contestable. There is a lot of evidence that it is a valuable piece of information. MIT, one of the premier STEM universities, just reversed itself and is reinstating it as a requirement:
"The team’s research during the pandemic found that the school’s ability to accurately predict student academic success at MIT is “significantly improved by considering standardized testing — especially in mathematics — alongside other factors” and that while “some standardized exams besides the SAT/ACT can help us evaluate readiness” that “access to these other exams is generally more socioeconomically restricted relative to the SAT/ACT.”
Great interview and great comment at the end about reading your own work prior to publishing. Ha!
President-to-be Kilpatrick stated, "One of the things that I know from my experiences at Notre Dame with campus ministry is that you have to meet students where they are — and students come to us from all over the country and all over the world in very different places, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. And I think we have to meet them at that place where they’re at."
This quote makes me nervous. I know it's a popular quote in Church circles today, from the Pope on down. To meet someone where they are...and leave it at that, or even to "walk with them," implies a compromise. Many of us are not strong enough to prevent that walk from becoming a one way trip to hell.
Most Catholics today are so poorly formed in their faith that for them to take that walk is a case of the blind leading the blind. What I would prefer, is to say, "We must bring people from where they are to the Good, the True and the Beautiful, which is only wholly found in the Catholic Church." As Jesus said, if you are rejected, shake off the dust and move on.
Regarding his comment about standardized testing, that they are not good predictors of success, is contestable. There is a lot of evidence that it is a valuable piece of information. MIT, one of the premier STEM universities, just reversed itself and is reinstating it as a requirement:
"The team’s research during the pandemic found that the school’s ability to accurately predict student academic success at MIT is “significantly improved by considering standardized testing — especially in mathematics — alongside other factors” and that while “some standardized exams besides the SAT/ACT can help us evaluate readiness” that “access to these other exams is generally more socioeconomically restricted relative to the SAT/ACT.”