President McLean Discusses Religious Liberty on EWTN News In Depth

Thomas Aquinas College President Michael F. McLean appeared on Friday’s edition of EWTN News In Depth to discuss various efforts to strip Christian colleges and universities of their protections under Title IX of the U.S. Civil Rights Act. “Our religious convictions are very important to us, and we really have put together our rules of residence in a way that manifests Catholic teaching,” he told host Montse Alvarado, so as “to model and encourage our students in the acquisition of Christian virtue.”

If implemented — either by executive order, the passage of the so-called Equality Act, or as a consequence of an ongoing federal lawsuit — these changes could compromise schools’ abilities to maintain rules of residence that reflect their religious convictions. They could also deprive families that depend on federal student loans from attending the colleges or universities of their choice.

“Our Catholic community is central to our mission and central to what draws students to us,” said Dr. McLean. “In this day and age, with the challenges that secular culture is presenting, I think it’s very important for Catholic institutions, and religious institutions generally, to be confident and up front about their convictions and to model those convictions in their rules of residence and the guidelines they offer to their students.”