Thursday, May 19, 2005

Cardinal Newman Society opposes some local Catholic college grad speakers, mentions DePaul prof's stripper book

The Cardinal Newman Society is a watchdog group keeping an eye on Catholic universities. Essentially, it asks Catholic colleges to, well, be Catholic.

They've gotten a decent amount of press as they've raised objections to various commencement speakers at Catholic universities who oppose the Vatican's stance on issues such as abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage and the like. Among the graduation speakers they've opposed include Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guiliani, both over their abortion views.

The Chicago Tribune (free registration required) has an article with a local angle, as Loyola University and St. Xavier university, both in Chicago, will have commencement speakers who hold views opposite of those of the Catholic Church, according to Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society.

DePaul, as if they needed more bad news, gets yet another demerit (at least according to Reilly), this is in the Tribune article.

"The protests aimed at Loyola and St. Xavier are not the first time the Cardinal Newman Society has criticized activity at local Catholic schools. In January the society lambasted Rachel Shteir, an associate professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at DePaul University, for authoring a book titled "Strippers: The Untold History of the Girlie Show."

This is from a January Cardinal Newman Society e-mail alert.

"[Catholic Campus News]
DEPAUL PROFESSOR STUDIES STRIPTEASE
This is NOT why DePaul University is a respected research institution:Rachel Shteir, associate professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism,has authored a new book, Strippers: The Untold History of the Girlie Show. Shteir's research on female vaudevillians of the early 20th century ledher to admire the theatricality of the striptease, Shteir told the Chronicle of Higher Education (12/10/04): "The stripper had a walk, and had to learn how to do that. And take off her clothes in a particular way." The book comes complete with photos of topless women.

Oh, about that previous post on the V-Monologues (I'm trying to not use that word for three reasons. My mother reads this blog, and I don't see the need to offend others besides my mother, and also, I don't want search engines find the "V" word and bring bizarros to Marathon Pundit.) I'm aware that DePaul has a drama department, and they will (and should) put on plays, but there are plenty of other scripts out there. Secondly, that play has been performed consistently somewhere in the Chicago area for several years. If you want to see it, you can. But I honestly don't understand the compulsion of having to HAVE TO put on "The Monologues." Unless it's for the shock value.


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