I wrote an article, last issue, on the budget cuts. If you did not read it, there was only one necessary takeaway. “The demographic cliff is not a storm to be weathered; it is an elimination round in a race where the weak are culled.”

Why are national news agencies so bad at covering Christianity? Recently, POLITICO reporter Heidi Przybyla stepped into the spotlight for claiming that Christian Nationalists “believe our rights as Americans and as all human beings do not come from any earthy authority. They don’t come from Congress, from the Supreme Court, they come from God.”

Yes. As do all Nicene Christians. In fact, the idea that persons have value aside from their citizenship in the Roman Empire (or membership in any race or polity, including the American polity) is one of Christianity’s most ubiquitous innovations. What Ms. Przybyla obviously meant as a put-down is a foundational tenet of America (“that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” yadda, yadda). 

Another screw-up comes from the New York Times. When they’re not snapping disapprovingly at Chick-fil-A, NYT writers are reporting that a “statue of Jesus” was rescued from the burning Notre Dame Cathedral. This wouldn’t be notable, except that what had been rescued was the ‘corps du Christ’— a consecrated host.  

Our doe-eyed commentariat is frequently shocked to learn of the newly invented fringe ideology,  natural law. They are aghast when Pope Francis is not gender-affirming. They are scandalized when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson quotes scripture to defend policy (Why does Jesus quote Lincoln so often?). To be a reporter is to navigate an unprecedented and deeply scary new world.

There’s some arrogance at play in the frequent fumbles of national reporters. They think themselves on the right side of history, and thus anything foreign is mere anachronism to be swept away soon enough. Why learn about something that, in the scale of history’s ongoing dialectic, doesn’t matter? There is also a degree of dislike. Christians think differently about issues, especially moral issues, than do reporters. The term ‘Christian nationalist’ has no more descriptive utility than ‘visible Christian who disagrees with me on politics.’ I have never heard anyone other than a commentator use the term, Christian or otherwise.

But, more than arrogance and dislike, the poor reporting on Christianity is the result of national news agencies employing very few practicing Christians. As of 2007, only 8% of journalists at national publications attend weekly service. Given the ideological cleansing practiced in the past decade by Chick-fil-A haters, I would be shocked if that number is over 5% today.

I recently looked through back-editions of Omnium Gatherum. I noticed that the column used to be more positive, more commendatory. In that vein, Admissions does a great job of setting up open houses. I have only seen small parts of the process at NHIOP and the Humanities Institute, but the organizational muscle brought to bear is apparent. Enrollment numbers, too, attest to the efficacy of the events.

Nikki Haley won one. The Beast from the Southeast picked up nineteen delegate votes in the District of Columbia. Many of the 2,000 Republican voters who participated are involved in GOP politics and, so, the little primary might be seen as a gauge of party support. Marco Rubio won the race in 2016.

Last October, the college announced the creation of a Bias Response Team (BRT). The project has been abandoned in favor of a Belonging and Respect Team (BRT). This is certainly a positive development. I have heard all sorts of terrible things about BRTs (Bias Response Teams) but have never heard an ill word directed towards a BRT (Belonging and Respect Team). The BRTs (Bias Response Teams) at University of Michigan, Virginia Polytechnic, and Iowa State University (among others) were sued for First Amendment violations. A BRT (Belonging and Respect Team) must not arouse first Amendment Concerns because I have not heard of a lawsuit against one. Besides, we’re a private institution, not held to the same standards as the defendants— what is technically legal must therefore be technically moral. Furthermore, BRTs (Bias Response Teams) have been frequently and credibly accused of chilling campus discourse and impinging on academic freedom. Such things, I would never wish upon SAC. Fortunately, we will have a BRT (Belonging and Respect Team), not a BRT (Bias Response Team).

Now, I know that I have only made the negative case for a BRT, saying only that it will not have the injurious effects of a BRT. Unfortunately, I do not feel able to make the positive case for a BRT. However, I’m sure it will do good and great things (for it is not a BRT). Perhaps someone cannier than I can explain the good effects of our system, independent from the bad effects of others’.

To what degree does “The Ballad of Hollis Brown” work as the American story? It is dark, yes, and America is a nation of growth, with hope for the future— but is not the Donner Party American? Is not the cautionary tale, the snake oil salesman, or the land boom gone bust American? 

Dave is having serious quality issues. ABC higher-ups, here for the debate, commented on a noticeable drop in quality since the last time they were here. These were people who did not know that we switched service providers.

It is obvious that Dave workers work extraordinarily hard, but something is not working. Things have gotten worse, not just since AVI took over, but in the past academic year.

To point out something specific and fixable, the lack of options on weekends is extremely noticeable. I am concerned that it will incentivize students to go home on weekends, which, if it happens in large numbers, will have a deleterious effect on campus culture.

Another fixable issue is that so many meal options are variations on heavily breaded fried chicken: chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets in buffalo sauce (called ‘wings,’ they’re not), chicken nuggets in orange sauce, popcorn chicken, or chicken tenders. Saint Anselm College is paying a premium to be service provided by AVI. Look at what we are getting.