Strawberry Hill dilly dilly......

I have been following the unfolding events at Strawberry Hill (St Mary's) from afar.

When I was a ten year old, Strawberry Hill was the venue for all Middlesex schools to have their annual sports day and I well remember coming second or third on a regular basis.

Now this "University" (aherm) is the centre of a row over changes to its programme management and, as a result, a senior member of staff being escorted from the premises by security guards.

Oho! sez I, I've been there (well, not Strawberry Hill exactly) but I have experienced 'Eduspeak' and 'programme change' and, from where I sit, things are not looking good for for SH.

Bishop Moth needs to check for holes in the fabric of this insitution; it's never good news, to merge different programme areas, especially when they are poles apart.

It is like saying: "From now on Civil Engineering and Philosophy will come together under one roof"
Yeah? I don't think so.

And when the heavyweights of the institution start pulling out, that is the last point where the situation might be retrievable (with rather a lot of back pedalling) - when you are in a hole, know when to stop digging as Denis Healey famously once said.

So, here, from happier times, is a verse on Strawberry Hill - I hope the Board of Governors reflect on the words.

 

Some talk of Gunnersbury,

For Sion some declare;

And some say, with Chiswick House

No villa can compare;

But, all the beaux of Middlesex

Who know the country well,

Say that Strawberry Hill,

Strawberry, doth bear away the bell.

 

 

Though Surrey boasts its Oatlands,

And Claremont kept so grim,

And though they talk of Southcote's

'Tis but a dainty whim;

For ask the gallant Bristow

Who does in taste excel

If Strawberry Hill, if Strawberry,

Don't bear away the bell.

 

Horace Walpole

 

 

 



Catholic Universities in England - are they really Catholic?

Having had a bash at the schools last week, a subject I intend to return to, I thought I should take a look at our Universities, I think that's a plural!

St Mary's Strawberry Hill I used to know well, it was the focal point for Diocesan school sports events and many's the 100 metres I have streaked shambled over in those pre modernist years.

I knew that I would be unlikely to discover a hotbed of Catholic fervour, of religious imagery and reverence and, to my amazement.....I was right!

Am I being unfair?

Is this, in fact, a Catholic University?
It used to be a teacher training College but I guess it morphed into a Uni along with all  those excellent Ploytechnics, post 1993.

I assume it is still a Catholic institution, it does have a Chaplaincy and, on further investigation I uncover just about enough info to convict them of being so.
In June 2010 they recruited a new Principal. Philip Esler, a well respected academic hailing from, where else but Australia.

However, they rank 94 in the Times Good University Guide Tables, that places them, err, in front of......umm.....not too many others.
But they do lay claim to being  fifteenth in terms of London Universities (that must mean that they come last after all the others?).

If I was their Marketing Director, I think I might leave that statistic out of any prospectus information.
And, incidentally, the contact details for their marketing person give their designation as "Marketing Manger" (sic) - yes, we all know what they mean but for an educational organisation to get that wrong is, well, really pretty poor.

Reminds me of the ad for a college which read:

Come to St B-----'s College for a Quality Eduction

But I digress. As I stated earlier, you only know that St Mary's is Catholic when you dig a bit deeper into the various click buttons and then it's there, from time to time in the body copy.

They have the (by now) intensely boring and fatuous mission statement:

St Mary’s prepares its students for flourishing lives, successful careers and social commitment through excellent, research-enriched teaching in a strong community of mutual respect based on our Catholic ethos and identity.

Oh, No! Catholic ethos and identity - again! Meaningless gobbledygook unless backed up with real Catholic ethos and identity.

Do they have a crucifix in every classroom?
Do they stop for the Angelus at mid-day every day?
Does their teaching reflect the teachings of HMC and does a framed photograph of the Holy Father meet you in the reception area?

No? Well it ain't got no Catholic ethos and identity then.

Now, I hasten to add that I have not been able to determine whether the above statements are correct or not but I'll happily donate £50 to SPUC if someone proves me wrong.

I skimmed over the events calendar only to note that, on 14th March an American Professor, one Dr Colin Barr from Ave Maria University, Florida, gave a lecture on Cardinal Newman.

Here is an extract from the preview blurb:

Dr Barr commented, “In recent years, John Henry Newman has become an exemplar of orthodox piety, and a gay icon. His most famous book, The Idea of a University, is by common consent, one of the most influential treatises ever written on the philosophy of higher education. Yet it too suffers from anachronistic, political, and wildly conflicting interpretations.

If I was a Principal of a Catholic University I would not give the stage to someone who wished to talk about Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman as a "gay icon".

Perhaps that says it all.
There is a lot of talk about Fairtrade, Ecumenism and more but not too much on what I would wish to see from a 'Catholic' place of High Education.

More to come on other allegedly Catholic institutions during the week.