Login/Join

Where is the Sense of Community?

Discussion
Nov 15, 2009
by: EricH
Channels

     LDS dominant Utah has but three Catholic high schools in the whole state; small St. Joseph's up north, new Juan Diego out south,  and (my school) old Judge Memorial.  Juan Diego and Judge each take part in an often bitter rivalry between the two schools that developed from a sporting feud in 1999, the year of Juan Diego's founding.  As a non-athletic man, I found no place for myself in the rivalry but I was curious about the political, social, and spiritual cultures among the three schools.  Several friends and I decided this would make an interesting piece for the Judge school newspaper, "The Bulldog Press," and Judge's video segment, "JMTV", so we began to formulate a common survey to be distributed at each school.  We chose Juan Diego as the first research site, and we patiently jumped through the appropriate administrational hoops until we had received enough permission to bring video equipment down during the school day.  They did, however, want us to wait for further approval to distribute the survey. 

     As we were making the 40 minute drive to Juan Diego, I received a call from my main contact at the school with disappointing news; the survey had just landed on the vice principal's desk and he did not want our crew in his school.  I quickly explained our situation and told her that, if for nothing else, we would come in only to plead our case.  She reluctantly agreed and we eventually found our way to Juan Diego and into the vice principal's office.  He discussed his hesitation and explained that it was based in the rivalry between the two schools.  He was, in good conscience, very afraid of furthering the rift that had come between Judge and Juan Diego.  We explained this was not our intention in the least but he refused to allow interviews until he had more time to review the survey and discuss it with the principal.  We knew further arguments would be pointless so we resigned to accept our fate for the day.

  
      We were all extremely disappointed but I was confused.  It seemed each of his reasons for resisting our survey and interviews were based on containing the bitter rivalry.  However, he did not trust us with distributing a survey, he did not trust us with handling the results, and he did not trust us with conducting open interviews with his students.  He spoke in the spirit of unity, but was defensive and closed when students of the rival school presented him with an academic exercise.  Of course they have reason to fear hostility, but when one side asks for academic cooperation it is frustrating and counter productive to be treated so.  It is sad to think that although only three Catholic schools exist in the entire state, they refuse to cooperate.  The three administrations remain cordial of course, but that graciousness ends as soon as the students become involved.  How can we survive if our relationship is based on grudges and mistrust? I would expect better from institutions that pride themselves in the virtues of community and brotherhood.

 

Comments

Eric,      This post was

Submitted by TeresaPond on Sun, 2009-11-15 20:00.

Eric,

     This post was great and your frustrations are completely understandable! What I find most interesting in the Judge - Juan Diego conflict is the fact that we are supposedly "sister schools" and yet we, at Judge, are encouraged to refer to Juan Diego as "the school down South". Even more, we consider them our rival school. Neither of these sound sisterly to me. I also think it is interesting that an academic institution like Juan Diego would block an academic project from its "sister school" in fear of controversy. If our administrations are trying so hard to bring our schools together, why don't they trust you to use the material you collect appropriately. They are trying to pull us together while simultaneously pushing us apart. Like you said, all is well until students become involved.

     Great job on this post! I found it very true and insightful.

- Teresa


 

 Dear Eric, I felt your

Submitted by parkermjmchs on Sun, 2009-11-15 21:29.

 Dear Eric,


I felt your post dealt with an excellent issue, especially in light of the recent front page of the Judge Memorial school newspaper. This is a prime example of a very real problem in our current... "community" (?) - how often have people in positions of power, like the JD principle, been all bluster and no substance when it comes to instituting real, workable bonds between two competing entities? I find this issue to be particularly offensive in light of the absolute hypocrisy of the circumstances.

First, I am appalled by the handling of the situation overall by Juan Diego: " As we were making the 40 minute drive to Juan Diego, I received a call from my main contact at the school with disappointing news; the survey had just landed on the vice principal's desk and he did not want our crew in his school.  I quickly explained our situation and told her that, if for nothing else, we would come in only to plead our case.  She reluctantly agreed.." This inconsiderate approach, the reluctance to allow for a discussion, etc, are so far beyond the opposite of "community building" it is absurd. I cannot imagine that anything approved by your newspaper supervisor would constitute any definition close to the that of the adjective "divisive" with regards to school relationships.

Secondly, your treatment of the issue in this article is fair-minded, and is a laudable effort at maintaining composure in a clearly personally offensive situation. You deal in your third paragraph with the opposing views, acknowledging that his concerns are legitimate, but unfounded with respect to your inquiry. It is, as you said, an academic exercise, not a so-called "rifting process" working to further divide the two schools. Acknowledging the division is the first step to eliminating it; JD has clearly done that. However, further understanding what the root cause is seems to be the next logical step in the healing process, which as of now seems to be a process JD is not fond of encouraging.

As you put it, sir, "I would expect better from institutions that pride themselves on the virtues of community and brotherhood." I am extremely disappointed in the blatant hypocrisy evident in this situation - it demonstrates to me the absolute antithesis of "community," and Juan Diego's administration has displayed an inexcusable amount of ignorance and disregard for cooperation.

Thank you for your post Eric. Issues such as these are true calls to enact change in society, and I applaud both your writing and handling of this conflict.

-ParkerM