AURORA | Regis Jesuit High School retracted the winter issue of its student magazine because it contained an op-ed from a student expressing pro-choice abortion views, and fired both of the magazine’s faculty advisors, according to Sentinel sources.
Elevate, a Regis Jesuit student magazine, publishes in print and online four times a year. In the Winter 2021 Edition, a student wrote an opinion piece titled, “The battle for our bodies: confronting abortion and human rights.”
The piece is written from a pro-choice point of view, and argues that making abortion illegal causes women to die from unsafe illegal procedures, and that there is a meaningful distinction between a fetus and a baby.
“Instead of changing the laws and creating a pseudo-religious government to rule over women having better access to contraception, meaningful sex education, and family planning services should take place,” the article said. “Religious beliefs of other people should never interfere with a person’s choices with their body and future.”
Editions of the magazine are printed and also hosted online on the publishing platform Issuu. In place of the winter edition, a letter signed by the school’s president and principal says that it has been retracted in its entirety due to the op-ed.
“Earlier this week, the winter edition of the student-produced Elevate magazine was released to the student body,” the letter said. “An opinion piece that presented a stance on abortion clearly in opposition to Church teaching was included that we found both deeply troubling and unacceptable.”
The letter says that it affirms the teaching that life begins at conception. Regis Jesuit is a private, Catholic high school, and a web page on the ‘mission’ section of its website states that it follows the tenets of Catholic social teaching and is influenced by Jesuit spirituality.
“We do not tell our students what to think; we teach them how to think and how to discern with an informed conscience,” the site says.
The letter says that regarding the op-ed, the school failed to provide students with proper guidance regarding its beliefs.
“We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again,” it said. “The issue has been retracted in its entirety. While we believe in providing an avenue for student expression, we are taking steps now to consider the magazine’s editorial process to ensure its compatibility with and responsibility in representing the mission of Regis Jesuit.”
The letter did not say if any students or staff members were disciplined. The masthead of the fall edition of the magazine lists two faculty advisors, neither of whom currently appear in the school’s staff directory. After being contacted by the Sentinel, both confirmed that they were no longer employed by Regis Jesuit but declined to discuss the situation further.
A Regis Jesuit student told the Sentinel, on the condition of anonymity, fearing possible reprisal, that students were told on Tuesday, the first day of the semester, that the two advisors had been fired. Many students and teachers are very upset at what happened, the student said.
The teachers’ journalism classes are currently being taught by substitutes, according to the student. A third advisor, who previously was working with the school’s video team, is now overseeing the magazine.
The student believes that backlash from parents and the Denver Archdiocese is what led to the retraction and firings.
“This is a school that the only thing that seems to make them make any decision is pressure from parents,” the student said. “And so instead of encouraging a conversation about abortion, they shut it down because that’s what parents had been calling for.”
The student expressed frustration with the gap between the school’s actions and the way it presents itself publicly as an intellectually and spiritually rigorous institution.
“At the end of the day, they’re a school, and a school’s job should be teaching students how to think, not what to think,” the student said.
Regis Jesuit officials declined to answer specific questions from the Sentinel or to confirm whether the advisors had been fired. In a statement, President David Card said the school did not comment on personnel matters as a rule.
“What I can tell is (sic) that as a Catholic, Jesuit institution, we believe that life begins at the moment of conception,” Card said in an email. “We believe that the protection of life at this stage represents the foundational requirement of respecting the dignity of human life at every stage. Through that lens, we failed our students in providing proper guidance in how to consider matters involving these firmly held beliefs. As an institution focused on teaching and learning, we are using this situation as an opportunity to help form our students.”
The letter to parents signaled likely changes for the magazine.
“We are currently reviewing the policies and editorial practices of our student journalism program,” Card’s statement to the Sentinel said. “Students, faculty and staff will be included in this process. Our desire is to support this program as a vehicle for students to share their voices and perspectives while continuing to represent and respect our Catholic, Jesuit mission.”
A spokesperson from the Archdiocese of Denver declined to comment on the matter, saying Regis Jesuit is not directly controlled by the Archdiocese and is in charge of its own operations. Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has long been active in the pro-life movement. He is one of a group of American bishops arguing that President Joe Biden should not be able to receive communion because of his stance on abortion. Biden is a practicing Catholic and has long been a staunch supporter of pro-choice state and federal legislation.
But in a letter to the community written over winter break, Aquila said that many families had reached out to the diocese expressing concern about the op-ed. In the letter, he said it was a failure that it had been published, and that he has asked his team to assist the school in ensuring that students and staff are receiving Catholic faith formation.
The school’s handling of the situation appears to directly contradict the editorial policy printed in the magazine, which said that the student editorial board will have final say in the content of the publication and that “school officials, administration or faculty and staff shall not practice prior review or have the ability to censor any student publication” except in specific circumstances including articles involving deaths or legal situations.
The policy also states that the views of opinion columnists do not necessarily represent the newspaper staff.
The private school editorial policy is not backed by statute, according to experts.
Student journalism has fewer First Amendment protections than other publications, and student journalists at private schools have very little recourse to fight staff censorship, according to Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel at nonprofit advocacy group Student Press Law Center.
The Colorado Student Free Expression Law protects the rights of student journalists at public schools and limits their ability to be censored. It also contains a clause protecting faculty student media advisors from being retaliated against by school administrators. However, the law only applies to students and employees at public schools.
“If this had happened at a public school clearly this would be breaking the law,” Hiestand said. “But at a private school you don’t have any sort of First Amendment protections.”
These types of situations are non uncommon at private Catholic schools, especially when it comes to the topic of abortion, Hiestand said.
It is not the first time local religious schools have been at odds with students and employees over issues of religious doctrine. In August, a volleyball coach at Valor Christian, a private school in Highlands Ranch, said he was forced to resign after school administrators found out he was gay. After the news broke, another former coach said the same thing happened to her in 2019.
Many Valor students spoke out against the school’s decision. A group of students and alumni formed a group called Valor for Change, which is lobbying to change the schools’ policies regarding gender and sexuality.
While private schools have the legal right to censor student publications, Hiestand remarked that it seems strange to teach students about the importance of the First Amendment in class and then punish them when they put it into practice.
“It’s a weird lesson they’re providing these students,” he said.
It is surprising a Jesuit organization would actually stand up for Catholic teaching and the Truth. We go to the King Soopers near Regis and based on the girls we see there it is obvious they do not teach their students the virtue of modesty.
I would love for you to expand on how your objectification and oversexualization of underage girls is supporting your argument!!
fr bruh
It’s a student paper, not a “Jesuit” or “Catholic” one. Inside the school, they can teach whatever they like, but this should not extend to student activities not run by the school or church.
I am a student of regis Jesuit and it is very clear that it is a school sponsored paper I have read the whole magazine and this piece was at the end with no disclosure that this was the students beliefs and not the schools that is the issue that the administration have
Ratio
really weird that you think polos and pajama pants are immodest
Dude shut up. What kind of mad free time do you have to judge high school girl’s “modesty” at a king Soopers. Good lord get a hobby and try not being so judgmental. Also a bit creepy on your part.
Sincerely,
Everyone at RJ with human intelligence.
As a student at Regis Jesuit I think ur message is subjective and honestly just wrong. Regis is not in control of the students personal life but if u want that changed I’m sure u can talk to them. It’s pathetic to put the school’s reputation on some kids you saw or heard at King soopers. What’s surprising about a catholic organization standing up for catholic beliefs. Besides the fact that the article was awfully written with typos throughout and know real argument it also should never have been put in the newsletter in the first place.
Well, duh! This is a Catholic affiliated school. Their views are no abortions. Don’t go to a school that is conservative and guided by their religion. I am surprised the article was published especially when the pope recently chastized those who choose not to have children but opt to have pets. I believe it is the decision of a woman and not others.
There are other reasons to go to a school aside from it’s views, like academics and athletics?? Besides that, the catholic church isn’t affiliated with a specific political party
The affiliation may not be “official,” but everyone on the planet knows the connection. Thank God, most Catholic laypersons do not follow along like sheep.
It’s just extremely self contradicting, the teachings and philosophy is extremely left leaning but it’s manipulated into promoting right leaning beliefs
It is a private school and nobody’s business but theirs. Having said that it speaks volumes about the social indoctrination occurring at private schools (again their business not anyone else’s).
Bottom line- no public funding to these types of institutions…ever.
And no tax exemptions.
While I respect your opinion with no government funding towards these institutions, you need to realize thays what makes them a private school. They fund themselves.
Not true. In fact, Regis received between $2 and 5 million just from PPP loans meant for small businesses. All private schools get federal funding, tax exemptions, etc.
It does concern others when it becomes a legal situation. Even though it’s a private school, this students constitutional rights were violated. That is something that needs to be spoken about.
“We do not tell our students what to think; we teach them how to think and how to discern with an informed conscience,” the site says.
REALLY?????
Watch what they DO not what they SAY.
You are never punished at Regis for thinking differently. If this was posted bby the student on there own media they would not be in trouble. This magazine is school sponsored that is why it was an issue.
You need a comma after “Watch what they DO”. You’re welcome.
Censorship is a tool of fascists. And a student newspaper is not a function of the school and should be outside of its “control.” It’s similar to what happens with all other after-school clubs. If the students who run the paper offer equal time to an opposing view, I see nothing wrong.
There’s literally a typo in the title
Not sure how that is really relevant (it’s rarely the writer who types the headline), but there is also “literally” a typo in the first sentence of the president’s statement.
No one is saying that students can’t have opinions. Young students and many adults don’t fully understand both sides of difficult issues to be able to articulate thoughts and ideas without them being misconstrued. We should do our due diligence when teaching children to understand as opposed to letting them have free reign of all their thoughts. My fear is for this young writer to be put in the spotlight like this on a very controversial issue. I think that is missing in this article. We took a simplistic view on a student not being able to voice their opinion without taking into consideration of the care of this very young student. I support that Regis retracted this to protect a very young student.
It’s a High School, not kindergarten. It’s also a HS newspaper with HS journalists researching and writing it, and with adult teachers helping. It’s a pretty well-written article, with some facts and statistics. Regis could have used this as an opportunity for dialogue and respect for their students and encouraging a range of views be expressed. That never seems to occur to Catholic leaders or any religious leaders. Brainwashing, censorship and punishment are typically their approach.
They didn’t retract this piece to protect the student in any regard. They retracted it because they got backlash from Archbishop. The Catholic identity of the school is in question so that’s why the article was retracted. Students do not have a safe place to express there opinions because when they do repercussions are taken. They say part of growing in our faith is questioning and challenging the beliefs and practices of the church although when we do articles are retracted. The whole reason this opinion piece by a student was retracted was because the school was in jeopardy of losing funding and there Catholic identity, none of this was to protect the students it was to take away the freedom of sharing our opinions because it’s puts the school at risk.
As an alumnus of Regis Jesuit, this is incredibly disheartening. Pushing your views on students is not education. It’s indoctrination. Great, informative article. The actions of the administration show exactly how under the thumb of the corrupt Denver Archdiocese (specifically Archbishop Aquila, who has made sexist comments and used Holocaust analogies in the past- ironically those disgusting analogies were about the freedom of religion… interesting how he can advocate for one part of the First Amendment but not the other). This situation should strike the consciences of everyone affiliated with Regis Jesuit. Stop censoring students.
” Pushing your views on students is not education. It’s indoctrination”
Sort of like, “everything bad that happened in history is the fault of white people.”
bro when did race come up at all ????
“We’ll complain about indoctrination, except when we’re the ones doing it.”
Many of FWO’s comments are racist.
Speaking from experience?
As an alumnus of Regis Jesuit, this is extremely disturbing due to the lack of respect for human life. As a Catholic institution, Regis Jesuit should not support pro-choice beliefs in any written or verbal form.
First and foremost, the Catholic Church believes in life at conception, which can occur as soon as 3 minutes after sexual intercourse. The first step of human development after the formation of the zygote is cell division without growth, creating a morula. The cells migrate to the outside, creating a “hollow ball”, called a blastocyst (some cells become part of the mother’s placenta). Lastly, the cells migrate inward in waves, creating the endoderm (eventually becomes organs), mesoderm (composes muscles and structural formations), and the ectoderm (constructs skin, teeth, etc.). Through the change in classical cadherins, the neural plate is distinguished from the ectoderm, becoming a neural tube, which will eventually be distinguished into the separate regions of the brain.
Now tell me, how is this not life? How is God not present in this developmental event?
By receiving an abortion, a woman is committing an act of murder. We must act now to protect the lives of babies and to guard the phenomenon of human development.
I expected Regis Jesuit to be better, and I hope and pray that the administrators can begin to orient education in science, service, and faith.
Looks like someone got educated by Regis. Maybe there is hope for future generation after all.
Frankly, just as you are free to express your beliefs on abortion and when life begins, that student should be free to make her argument for choice. The editorial policies are clear in that the Opinion section does not represent the beliefs of the magazine, nor the school. It is widely recognized that what constitutes the beginning of human life, as well as whether there is a right to abortion, is disputed. This is not a question of whether or not abortion is moral. Thus, your beliefs on abortion really don’t contribute to what is happening right now. The issue is one of free discourse, censorship, and education. A good education allows for questioning and diversity of thought (something Regis touts on their website). You will not prepare students for the real world if you do not expose them to real world ideologies.
The primary goal of Regis Jesuit High School is to provide a well-rounded education to young adults in order to promote the development of men and women with and for others. As stated on the institution’s website, “Regis Jesuit High School—a Catholic educational community—engages the gifts of young men and women in a single-gender environment, fosters faith in Jesus Christ and promotes justice and mercy, develops critical minds and nurtures compassionate hearts to serve others – all for the greater glory of God.” Therefore, Regis must teach students about true mercy and compassion, characteristics that expand to all human beings, including unborn children. By fulfilling this mission, Regis Jesuit will prepare students to tackle real world issues with an analytical and compassionate mindset.
Although many individuals believe the firing of teachers is an act of censorship that violates the First Amendment, Regis Jesuit is a private institution that has the right to regulate political conversation. Through this regulation, Regis maintains the ability to orient students’ mindsets in faith and mercy. Consequently, Regis is able to carry out its mission that is promised to students and their families.
On the same note, the students and families are aware of Regis Jesuit’s mission statement before attending the institution. If students are not happy with the educational guidelines, then they should choose to attend a public institution instead of accusing Regis for “censorship.”
If you think the Archdiocese is corrupt in itself, then do not choose to go to a Catholic school.
Regis Jesuit also has a mission to develop graduates who are intellectually competent, as well as to “teach them how to think, not what to think” (as per the website). It preaches the importance of dialogue between diverse viewpoints. Censorship is directly contradictory to that premise of intellectual diversity, which is integral to education more generally. The recent actions of administration were not an attempt to “orient students’ mindsets”; they were an attempt to police the words and thoughts of a freshman girl (just like the pro-life movement polices the bodies of women). Honestly, censorship by those in power of the vulnerable/young/those with differing opinions only occurs when they are scared of the censored ideology. RJ does educate students on the Catholic position by promoting pro-life rhetoric through theology classes and in official statements. While it is a private institution and thus has greater legal freedom in terms of the First Amendment, Regis also instituted editorial policies to establish extremely limited review/censorship of student media by administration. Per the Student Press Law Center and precedent from several cases at every level of the court, private school handbooks and policies may be treated as contracts between students and the school. Even if this is a legal gray area, the legality here is not as straightforward as you argue. Regardless, I think you would agree that just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is moral (like abortion, in your view). If Regis truly wants to educate its students, it will allow for diverse opinions. If you truly want students to believe in pro-life rhetoric, you must allow them to be exposed to pro-choice rhetoric as well, just like the real world (where according to Gallup polls, a greater percentage of adults are pro-choice than pro-life). As a student, I was aware of Regis Jesuit’s beliefs and never had a problem with being taught them in theology class 🙂 But I was also aware of their editorial policies and (at the time) promotion of free and open discussion. That is the Regis Jesuit I know and loved. Because RJ is not an archdiocesan school, but rather a private Catholic school, it should not be held captive in answering to the Archbishop for recognition. A school, first and foremost, should care for its students and teachers—not donors and religious/political figures. If you don’t want to truly educate students, and rather just indoctrinate them, then you shouldn’t run a school.
“The recent actions of administration were not an attempt to “orient students’ mindsets”; they were an attempt to police the words and thoughts of a freshman girl (just like the pro-life movement polices the bodies of women).”
Just because your every thought and utterance isn’t indulged doesn’t mean you’re being “policed.”
my guy did you read the article ????
Yes, and now I’m critiquing the quoted assertion. Can Zoomers not handle such things?
They don’t want dialogue. The person who speaks the loudest wins (per David Card). I think we know who spoke the loudest here. The culture will continue.
As an alumni of Regis, you should know better. Catholics don’t support abortion. Don’t write an article supporting abortion for your Catholic schools paper. Your statement is more reason to ensure they don’t get another dime. Clearly they aren’t teaching Catholicism there and haven’t been.
I was raised in a family that imposed Catholicism on us and sent us to scary and cruel Catholic schools. My family was big on all of us going to college where we finally were allowed to freely explore the world’s marketplace of ideas. What this Catholic HS did is not surprising but is saddening. Remember this is a school supported by a religious group that hid priest abuse and rape of children for decades and is still doing it. Catholic leaders also have never figured out that trying to brainwash, censor, take hypocritical stances and punish, all drives away potential supporters. The HS could have used this as an opportunity to explore views about abortion show respect for differing opinions and create open dialogue. That’s how you help people learn. That clearly never occurred to them, as usual.
The most important part of article is: “While private schools have the legal right to censor student publications, Hiestand remarked that it seems strange to teach students about the importance of the First Amendment in class and then punish them when they put it into practice. ‘It’s a weird lesson they’re providing these students,’ he said.”
Nothing brings out the anti-Catholic, abortion apologists like an article about a private school standing behind their beliefs. Well played, Sentinel.
ratio
Okay, Zoomer.
There’s a severe difference between simply “standing behind their beliefs” and outright censorship of a different opinion of a student newspaper.
It would be great if the Sentinel actually exposed Regis for what they are. This isn’t the school standing behind their beliefs, this IS what they believe. They got caught and are at risk of losing funding and support. That’s all this is. They will sweep this under the rug and move forward, treading that line.
RJ Girls alum here –
If it had been an op-ed promoting the death penalty, or an op-ed decrying immigrant rights, or an op-ed promoting any other form of violence and threat to human life… IT WOULD HAVE LED TO THE SAME RESULT. Conception until natural death is the basis of Catholic Social Teaching. At Regis I learned to fight the unjust prison system, vote to end the death penalty, march for the equal pay and treatment of women in the workforce, stand with DACA and migrant students, and protect the individual rights and dignity of a fetus in the womb. It’s called a consistent ethic of life, and it’s the backbone of the Catholic faith, which is why American Catholics have historically voted Democrat.
Perhaps instead of seeing this as some “weird conservative private school thing,” you should view it through the lens of an institution that’s committed to promoting human dignity and rights *at literally every stage of life.*
The paper had one article with one viewpoint. It wasn’t a discussion. It wasn’t a debate. It wasn’t part of a larger conversation. Just one article, with no context, in direct opposition to the consistent promotion of dignity that Regis values. I have been a part of (and watched) many big discussions about hot-button issues at Regis (police brutality, immigration, etc), always presented with nuance and giving students lots of space to explore and share viewpoints and opinions.
I find it odd that the paper ran such an *obviously* inflammatory piece, on a super hot button issue, without any larger discussion or context. An essay like this within a classroom discussion? Totally. (And if you know Regis, you know the freedom to debate these things happens daily.) An essay like this printed in a school-wide newspaper without context or debate? Weird.
As a former Editor in Chief of this magazine, I can assure you that the same response would not and did not happen for any other issue of “violence and threat to human life”. Last year, we were told we had to include an OpEd that was anti-BLM, even though we (and the school, in official statements) disagreed wholeheartedly. We did so because that is free speech, and that is journalism. The school/admin/archdiocese had zero problems with that article and allowed the issue to run. Why does the school get to censor a student expressing opinions about abortion, but not about the murder of fully formed adults? It is blatantly hypocritical. You don’t get to pick and choose the First Amendment, unfortunately.
You don’t get to pick and choose who receives the right to life. Your reply in itself is hypocritical. Why would you advocate for BLM but not the rights of children? Why does the fact that unborn babies are not fully formed affect their right to life? What if a black person was missing an arm or was mentally underdeveloped? Human rights apply to all. Not just black people, Hispanics, or Asians. This includes babies.
Clearly, you are part of the radical left. Your comments would be well placed if this was a public school. Use some of these comments to further educate yourself – it isn’t a one sided world. It may be useful for your future if you occasionally listen to a conservative news outlet. Better yet, get to Mass & one held by our Bishop. AMDG
Clearly, we disagree fundamentally on what constitutes life, and as such, what constitutes a right to life. I agree that we do not live in a one-sided world and respect the right of the school and other commenters to share their opinions on abortion. Because we do not live in a one-sided world, it is vital that we encounter beliefs outside of our belief systems rather than existing in echo chambers. I value the dialogue I have had within Regis and outside of it for helping to form my beliefs and do in fact listen/read a variety of news sources! I also think it is vital to realize that you can be religious and even Catholic and a part of what you call “the radical left”. I respect and love Catholics who advocate for their position without suppressing the positions of others because that is what a functioning democracy looks like. If you suppress the beliefs of others, you will only succeed in turning people against the Catholic Church. I ask you the same question: Why does the school censor this and not anti-racial justice articles if they hold a consistent ethic of life? Calling me hypocritical (based on your conception of life) does not render the school any less hypocritical for their actions.
You are clearly missing the point. I agree with Brandon, you do not get to pick and choose who receives the right to life. You are personally fighting for the rights of the black community but not the rights of babies? That doesn’t make any sense. You are also attempting to suppress Regis’ belief on this topic, which is censorship in itself, right? In addition to your liberal education, you should also include some science classes (to teach you what constitutes life since you seem a little confused). You criticize Regis for not holding a “consistent right to life” but you also do not hold a consistent viewpoint. Therefore, you are hypocritical as well. Fix yourself before you try to fix Regis.
To the students reading the comments,
Keep learning. Find out that Catholics get abortions at the same rate as other spiritual denominations. Find out that most Catholics in the US do not follow the contraception restrictions. Find out about how often natural abortions happen under God’s watch. Find out that most natural abortion (spontaneous miscarriages) occur due to medical anomalies.
Learn about when the church finally weighed in on the “evils” of family planning and chart it with a time-line of medical discoveries. Were there a bunch of years it wasn’t a sin? In the wave of a pen the church undid the teaching of limbo. Maybe the child rape hiders in Italy were making things up as science figures out what happens before a quickening.
Abortions are a conflict of needs between a living sentient human and a potential one. We will never all agree on who is more important in the situation and this will be debated until the end of humanity. Never let someone convince you that people with uteruses are the negligible cost of their personal belief system especially if the topic will never impact their own future liberties. It is complex and complicated. A government which obtains the power to stop a medical procedure, is a government who holds the power to force medical procedures. Mandatory sterilization is in our countries past, and it potentially will return with more religious zealot politicians.
“Potential” life? Dude, that fetus is alive. It’s a living organism. You learn that in AP Bio. Pick up a human biology book. There are arguments to be made for keeping abortion legal, but leaning on the notion that a fetus “isn’t alive” is not one of them.
To any Catholics who are unsure of the morality of abortion, or of the Church’s teaching on it:
Pick up a copy of Denzinger’s “Sources of Catholic Dogma” and find out that abortion and contraception have been solidly and consistently condemned since the days of the Twelve Apostles—we have the literary evidence!
Don’t fall for people muddling the issue by introducing spurious terms like “natural abortion” to make it seem that chopping babies up into little pieces and sucking out their brains is akin to any natural process.
And don’t believe the lie that the fetus is either 1) not really alive, 2) not a truly human life, or 3) negligible. Ask anyone with a single semester of Thomism in their CV: such an individual should be able to amply destroy those three false claims within about 10 minutes. It’s pretty easy because *all* the scientific evidence and *all* rigorous logical thought supports the pro-life side—not simply a preponderance.
You’re wrong about Thomism. Thomas Aquinas followed the science of Aristotle, and thus taught that a male embryo received its human soul (hence became a human being) at 40 days after conception, whereas female embryos were slower to develop and did not receive their human souls until 80 days. He believed that conceived embryos were living before that time, but at first they had vegetative souls (“substantial form” in Scholastic language) and then non-human animal souls, and then finally human souls. An axiom of both Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy was that a substantial form (soul) of a certain type can be joined only to matter that is appropriate to it, hence requiring some level of neural development to accommodate a human soul.
School is an absolute joke. Coming from a conservative family, I sent my kid here and would do anything to keep him from going here again. Sent my other four to the local public school, far better off than Regis Jesus. Absolutely awful, this underscores the ludicrousness of the entire school from academics to administration.
I agree that there could have been more oversight prior to publishing the article on the part of the advisors. However, we should be reminded that the advisors of the magazine are full time teachers. We all know well at this point that teachers are pushed to the brink. Those at Regis are no exception.
What does it say about the support Regis provides and the pressure it puts on its faculty?
Was the response by Regis the appropriate one?
I don’t know these 2 teachers, but it is quite possible the students lost 2 very high caliber teachers and mentors as a result of this hard line, and they may lose more.
Are teachers at Regis hired with clear understanding that allowing for the contradiction of Catholic views is grounds for termination?
What happened to compassion and understanding? Regardless of one’s stance on abortion, ultimately the end result seems to be a loss for the students and the culture of trust at Regis.
Disappointed in Regis and their reaction to this. Both my boys graduated from RJ and one was very active in journalism. The school has always been open minded but that has changed rapidly the last four years. These teachers and students did not violate the editorial policies in place at the school. The knee jerk reaction by the administration is questionable.
Coming from the catholic school system I can tell you it was quite a shock when I changed to public school in mid High school.. All of a sudden every thing was not viewed through the eyes of religion. I think many in the same situation have moved away from faith based teachings to allow that there is another side to the story. Our future lies in a place I would hope and “pray” for a place where dialog is allowed. What is gained by censuring speech and expression of “opinions”. There is just as much danger in being so one sided if you are teaching the need to not be a sheep and woke in seeing everything through race or in this case RELIGION. Yes it is a christian school… but they teach socialism and such things as the 1619 project- which is just rewriting history. Many years back they did this in the bible… taking out women. That has changed history… lets embrace diversity and the ability to not be so much in fear if someone holds a different passion.
Huh, the 1619 project didn’t rewrite history, it exposed a dark side of it that Americans don’t like to own. How about we teach your version of history alongside the 1619 project—as you say, let’s allow some dialogue. Do you think that the wealth that this nation accrued (and is held by a hugely disproportionate amount of white folks) had nothing to do with slavery? BTW—Christ would almost certainly identify as a socialist. No doubt about it.
“ Do you think that the wealth that this nation accrued (and is held by a hugely disproportionate amount of white folks) had nothing to do with slavery?”
Not since 1865. But I understand how much your hate for white people drives you.
“BTW—Christ would almost certainly identify as a socialist. No doubt about it.”
The same Christ who said, “He who loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” told tax collectors to change their ways?
Just stopped at 1865, huh? Dead stop. No holdings, land, gold still chugging on in the hands of plantation owners? Give it a rest. I’m white. Most of my friends and loved ones are white. Doesn’t mean I love everything whites have ever done. What a vapid, simplistic argument. And that last quote, it seems that you think it means that caring about the world and its people is antithetical to Christ’s teaching. Again, simply dumbfoundingly inane. Sorry.
Never saw so many comments on any Sentinel article/editorial. Excellent and that is educational to me.
Hope the young ones contributing get the message that if you write or say something publicly against your “boss”, (right or wrong), your chances of being fired are around 100%.
THE BATTLE FOR OUT BODIES
Missing the point much?
This student presented facts based on their opinion and it was both completely shut down and caused two staff members to get fired. Why? Allowing a student to publish a controversial subject is quite literally the law. If this was a pro-life article, nothing would have happened.
I belive that is a big part as well, because it was pro-choice, there was backlash.
Twenty years ago I wrote a controversial op-ed at Regis. A week later the faculty published a rebuttal, quoting Voltaire: “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That’s how you treat a student publication. That’s how you run a school. That’s real leadership.
They have no idea what they are talking about. A fetus is not an organism, it is an individual God given HUMAN LIFE. I agree with the Jesuits and school…this ought to have been monitored and never permitted. A teachable moment was LOST> Lord, have mercy
Ironically, because of the censorship and the firings, now this story has gotten national publicity and the text of the censored article is available for all of us to read.