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O rd e r N u m b e r 9123128

The autonomy o f the student in higher education: An

interdisciplinary examination of academic freedom in Catholic
universities
Vigilanti, John Anthony, Ed.D.

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Fordham University, 1991

Copyright 1990 by Vigiianti, John Anthony. Ail rights reserved.

UM-I

300 N. Zeeb Rd.

Ann Aibor, MI 48106

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THE AUTONOMY OF THE STUDENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC
FREEDOM IN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES

JOHN ANTHONY VIGILANTI, EdD

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AB, St. Joseph's Seminary, 1968

MDiv, St. Joseph's Seminary, 1972
MRE, Catechetical Institute, 1979
MA, Fordham University, 1982
JCL, Catholic University of America, 1984
MS, Iona College, 1987

Mentor
John Elias, EdD

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Readers
Charles Russo, JD, EdD
Robert Starratt, EdD

DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION OF
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
1991
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FORD HA M UNIVERSITY
G

raduate

Sc h o o l

October 4

SO

19

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This dissertation prepared under my direction by

John A. Vigilanti_______________________________

entitled

THE AUTONOMY OF THE STUDENT IN HIGHER ED.

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AN INTERDISCIPLINARY EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM

IN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES__________________________

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has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements fo r the

Degree o f

Doctor of Education______________________

fbhn Elias

(F a c u lty A d v iser)

Committee Members:
Dr. C. Russo
Dr. R. Starratt

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Copyright by John Anthony Vigilanti, 1990

All Rights Reserved

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iii
k.-'

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to acknowledge his parents who
instilled in him a genuine thirst for knowledge and who
supported him generously in his continuing search for truth.
Perhaps their greatest gift was one of independence. The
subject matter of this dissertation is a testament to their
legacy.
No work of this complexity can be brought to its

conclusion without the skills and talents of those who

worked laboriously over the various drafts of the text. To

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my sister Annette and to my loyal friend Jeannette the

author extends his inadequate gratitude.

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The author wishes to acknowledge Msgr. Charles McManus

and the people of St. Bartholomew's Parish, Yonkers, New
York for seven spirit-filled years of pastoral work, their

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gentle encouragement, and their continuing friendship.

This author would be remiss if he did not acknowledge
the kindness and generosity of the Ursulines of the New York
Province. In addition, a note of thanks to the staff and men
of the 102D Engineer Battalion, 42D Infantry Division, New
York National Guard for allowing me the opportunity to
digest a welter of articles and documents in the preparation
of this dissertation while serving as the Battalion
Chaplain.
J.A.V.

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iv

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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to those adult Catholics
who are faced with new and bewildering questions as they
seek to grow in grace and wisdom.

May they come to realize

that the discovery of truth is not an event but a lifelong

process.

May this realization bring them encouragement.

May it move them to continue the search, to remain open to

new possibilities, and to critically evaluate the formulae
In so doing may their unique contribution

of the past.

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journey of discovery.

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enrich the Church and those beginning their own personal

r
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S ...................................... iii
D E D I C A T I O N .............................................. iv
PROLOGUE................................................... 1
Purpose of Study................................ 1
Context of the Problem......................... 3

Theoretical Rationale.......................... 5
Significance of Study.......................... 7

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Definition of Terms.............................8
Methodology.................................... 12

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Organization................................... 21
Limitations of Study.......................... 24
Chapter

HIGHER EDUCATION: HISTORICAL SURVEY........... 26

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I.

Organization.................................... 27
Bologna..........................................29

Teaching Methods................................ 32

Academic Freedom: German Contribution......... 35

American Higher Education: Foundations........ 41
The Student..................................... 44
Philosophies of Higher Education...............50
Catholic Higher Education: United States.......54
Philosophy of Catholic Higher Education....... 62
Summary..........................................69

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Chapter
II.

AUTONOMY: PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS............ 72

Introduction.................................... 72
Autonomy: General Notions...................... 74
Autonomy in Philosophical Thought............. 75
Autonomy: A Goal of Education.................. 93

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Autonomy: An approach to Education............ 97

Research on Autonomous Learning...............101
Autonomy and Student Development..............103
Adult Student Autonomy........................ 105

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Paternalism.................................... 119
Summary.........................................123
Chapter

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III. ADULT DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING, AND EDUCATION....126

Introduction................................... 126

Adult Development.............................. 128

Adult Education.................

142

Critical Thinking in Adult Education......... 154

Philosophies of Adult Education...............165
Liberal Adult Education..................... 166
Progressive Adult Education................. 171
Humanistic Adult Education.................. 175
Radical Adult Education..................... 179
Analytic Philosophy Of Adult Education

183

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vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Summary.........................................187
Chapter
IV.

THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS..................... 190

Introduction.................................... 190
Conciliar Insights of Vatican I I ...............191
Christian Adulthood.............................203

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Revised Code of Canon Law...................... 211

Reception....................................... 215
Dissent..........................................225
Summary..........................................230
Chapter
V.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE

CONFIGURATIONS....................

232

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Introduction.................................... 232
Catholic Institutions of Higher Learning...... 234
Land O'Lakes.................................... 239
Kinshasa........................................ 241
R ome ............................................. 242
Post Vatican II to the Present................. 245
Theological Styles: 1965 to the Present....... 260
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations...... 264

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viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
REFERENCES............................................... 276
ABSTRACT................................................. 317

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V I T A ...................................................... 319

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PROLOGUE

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the notion of

academic freedom in Catholic institutions of higher learning
in the United States, not from the traditional stance of the

institution or professor, but rather from the student's

right to learn (Annarelli, 1987). This study focuses

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primarily on the student's right to know and to learn as the

basis of academic freedom for both students and instructors

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within Catholic institutions of higher learning, regardless

of a particular institution's degree of affiliation to the
official church. Should there be full academic freedom, as

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historically conceived, in the contemporary Catholic

university? Should even the most rigidly controlled Catholic
institution or specialized faculty of theology under the
direct supervision of the Vatican permit true academic
freedom (Orsy, 1987)? Should professors, whose credentials
to teach Catholic theology at specific institutions are
granted by the Vatican, enjoy the academic freedom to offer
an understanding of official Church teaching that is new or
even contradictory to accepted doctrine (Code of Canon La w .
1983)?

Is the organizational integrity of such specifically

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controlled institutions or faculties maintained when

academic freedom is operative (McCluskey, 1970)?
The recent dismissal of Fr. Charles Curran as professor
of moral theology at Catholic University of America has been
an institutional response (McManus, 1989). Academic freedom,
it seems, is limited and conditioned when applied to those
who teach with a canonical mandate in the name of the Church
(Lipscomb, 1988). Is this response the only viable

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alternative available? Should a case be made for a

professor's freedom to maintain or offer an opinion or
hypothesis that differs from official Church teaching, even
when the right to teach originates from and is governed by

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an organizational authority external to the institution?

This study will suggest a possible solution based on a
re-discovery of the freedom to learn concept which is rooted

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in the history of academic freedom but infrequently

considered (Hofstadter & Metzger, 1955).
The historical recognition of the student's right to
know and to learn, it will be maintained, argues for the
acceptance of a theology professor in an ecclesially
controlled institution or faculty to teach, to research, and
to offer opinions and hypotheses that vary from official
Church teaching.

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Context of the Problem

The Second Vatican Council concluded its work in 1965

(Abbott, 1966). Its documents began to chip away at the
post-Tridentine rigidity that so dominated over four hundred
years of church history. The council was not only a
heuristic exercise rediscovering the rich, textured, theo
logical fabric of the past but it also precipitated a div

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ersity of theological and ecumenical perspectives that have

resulted in a more sophisticated and complex ecclesial
terrain characterized by an empowered laity, evangelical
fervor, third-world awakening, and a greater desire for

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personal autonomy and democratic ideals.

This evolution has been far from smooth. It is far from

over. Twenty-five years is but a brief moment in the history

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of a people who, for almost 2000 years, have wrestled with

the mandates of the Gospel, the dignity of the human being,
the vicissitudes of community, and modern realities.
Five recent events remind us of the delicate balance
between institutional authority and personal autonomy, the
freedom to teach and the freedom to learn: the promulgation
of the 1983 Code of Canon Law with its requirement (canon
812) that those who teach theological disciplines in any in
stitution of higher learning must have a mandate from the
competent ecclesiastical authority (Code of Canon L a w .
1983); the proposed schema and norms issued by the Vatican

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Congregation for Catholic Education in April 1985 entitled

"Proposed Schema for a Pontifical Document on Catholic
Universities"

(Congregation for Catholic Education, 1986);

the dismissal, in 1988, of Fr. Charles Curran from the

faculty of the School of Religious Studies at the Catholic
University of America (Curran, 1986); the two-part 1989
document "Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office to be
Exercised in the Name of the Church" issued by the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Quade, 1989);

and the 1990 "Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the

the Faith (Origins. 1990).

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Theologian" issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of

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These actions have occasioned a re-examination of the

concept of academic freedom within Catholic higher
education. As the American Catholic community takes notice

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of the bicentennial of Catholic higher education, initiated

with the founding of the Georgetown Academy in 1789, the
unique tensions which exist in the United States between
Catholic institutions of higher learning and the Vatican, in
regard to a contemporary understanding of the requirements
of academic freedom, are brought into sharper focus.
Traditional studies on academic freedom have emphasized
the professor's freedom to inquire, research, teach, and
their attendant issues, including the autonomy of the
academic institutions in which these activities take place
(Hofstadter & Metzger, 1955). This dissertation attempts to

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focus on an aspect of academic freedom that has received

little formal attention since its formulation in nineteenth
century German academic thought: the student's freedom to
learn a notion briefly glimpsed recently in the Curran case
when five students of Professor Curran brought suit in
Federal District Court to argue their right to learn and to
stake a claim that as partners in the teaching-learning
dynamic, the university, in removing Fr. Curran, acted in an

arbitrary and capricious fashion. Although the suit was

eventually dismissed, a voice was raised on behalf of the

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students (Curran v. C U A . 1989).

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Theoretical Rationale

Recent statistics and demographics point to a

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transformation in the make-up of the student bodies in our

institutions of higher learning. Adult students continue to
stream into colleges and universities at unprecedented rates
(United States Department of Education, 1989). They
represent a wide range of diversity in goals, experience,
skills, intellectual capacity, and learning styles
(Weathersby & Tarule, 1980).
Attempts have been made to discern the specific
educational philosophies which form the foundation of theory
and practice in educating adults both within and without
institutional settings (Elias & Merriam, 1980). The majority

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of these major philosophical orientations support an

approach to adult education which honors the autonomy,
freedom, and self-directedness of the adult learner. The
autonomy and freedom of the learner have been addressed not
only in the history of the development of the university,
but also in a comprehensive understanding of the notion of
academic freedom (Hofstadter & Metzger, 1955; Rashdall,
1936).

The presence of adult learners in Catholic institutions

of higher learning and a serious desire on the part of those

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in the administration of these institutions to maintain the

integrity and historical mission of the university have
brought about a tension with those mandated to safeguard the
deposit of faith (McCluskey, 1970). The mission of the
university to provide a forum for the exploration of a

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diversity of ideas is unsettling to some when applied to the

teaching of Catholic theology.
This study seeks to provide a theory rooted in history,
founded upon recognized philosophical contributions,
attentive to the demographic shift among undergraduate
students, and open to the post-cone2.1aar acknowledgment of a
mature, adult laity, which would allow for a full,
collaborative, and objective examination of theological
constructs by both students and teachers, an enterprise that
would honor the organizational and administrative integrity
of the university.

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Significance of Study

A documentary analysis of the historical evolution of

the student's right to learn and to know will not be
sufficient to suggest a possible compromise to the present
dilemma of maintaining full academic freedom for professors
of Catholic theology in officially controlled Church
institutions or faculties.

The right of the student to learn and to know is

grounded in individual and personal autonomy. As a

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consequence, a philosophical understanding of autonomy is

crucial (Collopy, 1986). In addition, student autonomy is a

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theme within contemporary educational philosophy and, in

particular, adult education and therefore deserves critical
consideration and evaluation (Boud, 1988).

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By the middle of the next decade, traditional college

students, that is those who move on directly from high
school to college to enroll full-time in an undergraduate
program, will be a distinct minority of all students in
collegiate programs (United States Department of Education,
National Center for Educational Statistics, 1989). The
presence of so many adults has motivated educators to become
more familiar with adult growth and development and the
characteristics of adult learning which have emerged. These
findings aid in viewing academic freedom from an important
yet unique perspective.

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Only recently, with the documents of Vatican II, has

the Church itself taken seriously the implications and
ramifications of its call to maturity in faith (Abbott,
1966). Should not the Church tolerate mature, inquiring,
autonomous believers (Schaefer, 1982)?

When these believers

enter theology classes, should they not have the right to

seek from each other and from the professor open, honest
inquiry, respecting views and opinions grounded in reason or

affirmed through personal experience? Should not even our

most tightly controlled academic institutions and faculties

learners?

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tolerate such a free exchange among a community of adult

This study will attempt to suggest an answer rooted in

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the historical evolution of academic freedom, a

philosophical understanding of student autonomy, current
findings in adult learning and education, demographic trends
in undergraduate enrollment, and the Church's most recent
reflections on adult education and the organization of its
institutions of higher learning.

Definition of Terms

This study will make use of specific terms and concepts

of history, philosophy, and educational theory.

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Furthermore, theological and canonical constructs will be

employed as the study presents a thesis which is
interdisciplinary in nature.
Every attempt has been made to clearly designate and
define the critical terms utilized in this study. Since
these terms are drawn from different disciplines, they are
defined as most commonly accepted within the particular
discipline in which they emerge.

several ways.

The term is interpreted and understood in

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Adult.

Paterson (1979) viewed an adult as one who

was the rightful object of the expectation of being

emotionally and morally mature.

The biological definition viewed

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four basic definitions.

Knowles (1982) suggested

the adult as one who was able to biologically reproduce.

Legally one was an adult when one reached an age at which

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certain actions could be undertaken that were not legally

permissible previously.

Socially one was thought of as an

adult when one assumed the roles identified with the adult
stage of life, for example, parent and spouse.

The

psychological definition included the recognition that one

was essentially responsible for the direction of one's
life.
Adult Education.

This study views adult education as

the variety of activities that are liberating, that increase

the awareness, the breadth, and the perspective of the
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learner; that call for collaboration in the teaching-

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learning environment; that take seriously the adult

learner's experiences; that acknowledge the freedom and the
right of the adult student to learn (Brookfield, 1986).
Knowles (1980) viewed adult education in a variety of ways:
the process of adults learning; a set of organized
activities carried on in educational settings; a field of
social practice.

Paterson (1979) considered adult education

as true liberal education which raised the awareness of the

individual and contributed to further development and

personal growth.

The word denotes self-rule.

It is the

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Autonomy.

capacity that in some positive way is constitutive of what

it means to be a human agent.

The notion of autonomy that

views agency in an open, relational, interactive mode is the

concept which informs this study (Collopy, 1986).
Critical Thinking.

Within adult education it is

considered as "perspective transformation" whereby the adult

learner becomes aware of the assumptions which hinder an
understanding of ourselves and our relationships.

Critical

thinking calls for a reconstitution of experience and allows

for acting upon these new understandings (Brookfield, 1987;
Mezirow, 1981).
Dissent.

In theological discourse it refers to the

offering of a different opinion or arriving at a conclusion

which is at variance with officially held teaching
(

(Orsy, 1987).

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In loco parentis.

This is the notion, in educational

practice and philosophy, which regards the parents of

students as the clients, rather than the students themselves
(Wallerstein, 1969).
Lectio.

This was a method of instruction in the

medieval universities whereby instructors read the texts of

classic authors and commented upon them (Rudy, 1984).
Lehrfreiheit.

The nineteenth century German academic

manner one chooses.

term to express the freedom to teach what one chooses, in a

It refers to the freedom of the

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professor, teacher, or instructor to teach, to write, and to

research (Hofstadter & Metzger, 1955).

The nineteenth century German academic

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Lernfreiheit.

term to denote the student's freedom from compulsory drill

or recitation and the student's freedom to determine the

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choice and sequence of the courses offered.

It refers, in

particular, to the student's right to learn and to know

(Hofstadter & Metzger, 1955).
Ouestiones disoutatae.

This was a method of

instruction in the medieval university whereby the students

were called upon to marshal arguments against an instructor
or another student in an oral presentation on some specific
proposition (Rudy, 1984).
Reception.

In theological discourse it is a process

which does not impose belief or practice, but views the

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