[ad_1]
Photo:
Getty Images/iStockphoto
I am blessed to be the father of a beautiful young woman who just began university after graduating from St. Mary’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Portland, Ore. I’ve always been surrounded by strong and faithful women—my mother, my two elder sisters, my many nieces, and of course my wife. In addition to rearing children, they have followed many vocations, some as doctors, engineers, attorneys, investors and the like. But reflecting on the state of my daughter’s high school, I’m concerned that girls today are being offered radically limited ideas of how to live meaningful lives.
We are Episcopalian and were grateful to have our daughter educated in a faith community that emphasized God’s presence in all places and striving for the good in every endeavor. Having a Catholic girls school in ultraliberal Portland is a challenge. Many students come from radical left-wing families with avowedly anti-Catholic views who forced the school to compromise on the ideal of a nonpolitical education.
Like all Catholic schools, St. Mary’s was pressured during the past decade to get woke with equity teams, affinity groups, Black Lives Matter movements, Native American land acknowledgments, transgender affirmations, climate-change hysteria and all the rest. I found myself counting the days until my daughter was out.
Like all prudent parents, I kept my peace for the most part. But after my daughter graduated, I had an opportunity to reflect on the school’s direction when I received the first alumni donor appeal. The school president defined St. Mary’s mission as preparing girls “to bridge equity gaps, explore careers in STEM, and advocate for change in every element in society.”
Every element in society? This appeal for girls to become mindless agitators without any contemplation of the need, direction and consequences of change should scare the living daylights out of any parent. Yes, your daughter can grow up to be
Jane Fonda.
As a handy reference, the fundraising letter included a header with suggested future roles for your daughter. “Girls as . . .” was the repeated phrase followed by a series of suggestions: global citizen, social activist, environmental champion, political leader, scientist, entrepreneur.
To me, the list looked rather circumscribed. I turned the letter over and scribbled down a dozen or so roles that were missing: loving mother, faithful witness of Christ, steward of a free society, corporate executive, patriot, advocate for parental rights, soldier, caregiver, civil servant and so on. In other words, I noted things girls are discouraged from being by today’s liberal mainstream.
I worry that my daughter will feel like a failure if she doesn’t appear in alumni updates for working on intersectional justice in marginalized communities. I worry that a whole generation of girls is being sent screaming into the culture wars by the social anxieties of its parents.
I mailed the letter back with my additions and a fresh postage stamp of
Nancy Reagan.
Mr. Gilley is a professor at Portland State University and a member of the board of the National Association of Scholars.
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the October 11, 2022, print edition.
[ad_2]
Source link
(This article is generated through the syndicated feeds, Financetin doesn’t own any part of this article)
