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There is an opening for an assistant professor position at a US university, that I really want to apply to. However, it is a Catholic university and the application requires a "Statement of Contribution to Mission." I have read the university's mission statement which, besides the usual academic missions, includes quite a few religious missions. I am not Christian; in fact, I am an atheist. From the answers to this related question, and that the job posting states clearly Equal Opportunity, I understand that I can still apply to this position. But I have no idea how I should write such a statement. Of course I won't lie in the statement to pretend that I'm Christian. But having no clue and personal connection to those religious values, tradition, and missions, I find it impossible to write even one word.

Is there any suggestion for writing such a statement? Or should I not apply?

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Tim
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4 Answers4

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I think you should certainly apply, as long as you have no personal opposition to Catholic education writ large; the previous question you link is a great source if you are uncertain.

As to your question, for an example, I pulled the mission statement for Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI.

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by serving our students and contributing to the advancement of knowledge. Our mission, therefore, is the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. All this we pursue for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community.

Following this broad statement, they have four subsections on Excellence, Faith, Leadership, and Service. Of course the mission of your university may differ but I presume it will paint similar broad strokes.

I would write a statement that addresses the primarily non-Faith elements of the mission. Quoting again from Marquette, on Excellence they state:

education must encompass the whole person: spiritual and moral as well as intellectual, the heart as well as the mind

Without aligning with their religious beliefs, you could certainly contribute to education encompassing the whole person, particularly in intellectual pursuits.

Most U.S. Catholic universities that I am familiar with belong to either the Jesuit or Franciscan orders, though there are others as well - it might be worth spending a bit of time researching the order of the university you are applying to. Painting in a very broad brush, Jesuits tend to value intellectual pursuits as valuable contributions to society, and lean quite a bit more liberal than official Church policy on social issues. Franciscans are particularly concerned with service to the poor, and as such their universities try hard to accommodate students with financial difficulties. Even if you disagree on the religious aspects, you can probably find something in the general mission of these orders you also support.

Bryan Krause
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This answer is too late for the OP but may be of use to those reading this thread.

  1. Clearly, religiously affiliated colleges have to allow fair employment procedures not only in regard to applications but also in regard to decisions for both student intake and faculty appointments.

  2. There are questions of the demographic viability of a traditional spiritual/professional education in the modern age: the ~ 200 catholic colleges across the USA simply will not be able to recruit teachers/researchers up to an adequate standard from within their denomination alone. I know plenty of Christian-affiliated liberal arts colleges in USA and EU with Muslim and Jewish staff - all excellent lecturers and researchers.

  3. Lastly - and firstly too - the essence of a Jesuit education is largely overlapped by the values of a good secular education. The student must always find his/her own way to God and Truth.

So in your situation I would see this Statement Of Contribution To Mission as simply an elaborated version of the Personal Statement that you would attach to your résumé with any other job application; the only extra item is of course the fact that your are not a Christian but an atheist. So elaborate clearly on your professional (or vocational, if that's how you see your job) values in this same Statement as the "mission" is in major part one of professional preparation of young people for work and society.

Naturally, any interests/skills you may have in relation to extra-mural activities and willingness to contribute there would be to your advantage in a Jesuit college as much as anywhere else.

In fairness to yourself, you must obtain tolerance of your own beliefs or lack of them from your employer's human environment. So you might add a closing sentence of aspiring to "contribute to an educational environment that is wholistic, tolerant and compassionate".

That is all you can do. Some religiously-affiliated colleges will make a sane decision, others not so. Take all this philosophically, not personally - it's just the vagaries of the academic job market after all.

Trunk
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    "Clearly, religiously affiliated colleges have to allow fair employment procedures..." This is actually not the case, as a matter of law. Religiously affiliated institutions are legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion in hiring (42 USC 2000e-1(a)). It would be perfectly legal for the university in the question to decide flat-out that they will only hire a Catholic. I addressed this in the answer that OP linked. – Nate Eldredge May 28 '23 at 14:29
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    Now that said, the mention of "Equal Opportunity" in the ad is probably meant as a signal that the university doesn't intend to discriminate on religion, at least not explicitly. But there are certainly others that do. – Nate Eldredge May 28 '23 at 14:32
  • Yet it's not that simple. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/903/aid-to-religious-colleges-and-universities#:~:text=Religious%20colleges%20are%20exempt%20from,hiring%20and%20other%20personnel%20decisions suggests that universities with religious affiliations which receive state or federal education funds need to be mindful of the right of persons of other religions to be fairly considered for purely secular roles (e.g. assistant professor of economics) within these institutions. It would not therefore be okay for a catholic university to "decide flat out to only hire a catholic". – Trunk May 29 '23 at 00:09
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    That article seems to say just the opposite. "In a related but separate issue, case law suggests that religiously affiliated institutions of higher education may preferentially hire employees on the basis of religion without impairing the entitlement of such institutions or their students to state and federal assistance programs." – Nate Eldredge May 29 '23 at 04:23
  • A case in point would be Baylor University, which receives all kinds of government funding, and in a recent job ad for a mathematics assistant professor, states that "as a religious educational institution, Baylor is lawfully permitted to consider an applicant’s religion as a selection criterion." – Nate Eldredge May 29 '23 at 04:47
  • @Nate Eldredge I guess you are applying a different meaning to "preferentially" than I am. For sure, there is a clash between the traditional American idea of religious freedom and the "mission" that religiously affiliated colleges have. The way I interpret "preferentially" is that, all non-religious criteria being much the same, the college may choose a member of its own faith. But where there is a clear superiority by a candidate of another faith then that candidate's faith should not be a bar to his/her being appointed. I looked at the Baylor ad but can't link to selection details page. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 11:08
  • @Nate Eldredge I also see that Baylor is a private college - not funded by state or federal money though they may have students who are funded by grants. Reading https://www.baylor.edu/risk/doc.php/339225.pdf I can see that Baylor exempts itself from any obligation to hire equally without regard to religion and any other criteria, e.g. sexual orientation, that it believes is predicated by its religious affiliation. Math faculty https://www.baylor.edu/math/index.php?id=53580 reveals non-Baptists, e.g. jewish, Asians, Central Europeans, etc. It also shows a husband/wife in the department. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 11:40
  • @Nate Eldredge So, okay I take your correction point of this discrimination being there in principle and apparently - to some extent at least - allowed in law too. But, in the everyday reality of maintaining schools capable of competing for good students and faculty, religiously affiliated universities must hire from other faiths to maintain their academic standards. I would expect the vast majority of other religiously affiliated university departments to show the same diversity of faiths regardless of the majority one. So OP would likely not be alone in his atheism were he appointed. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 11:55
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 14:46
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Bigger question- why would you apply to a college or university that is based in a belief system that is fundamentally opposed to your view of the world? The Catholic Intellectual tradition is based foremost in a belief in God. You do not believe in God. How can you teach from a prospective you do to believe in or understand? Is that fair to the students who are going to that university to learn from that prospective? Is it fair to the administrators and religious of that school who build programs and collaborations based in the prospective? Is it fair to others who may want the job who do hold the same beliefs?

Tim
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  • I'm confounded by the -2 or two people who downgraded my response. The response is based in simple logic and is a clarifying question as to motive and eventually the happiness and well being of both the applicant and the institution. I would like one of the people who voted the comment down to help me understand the logic behind their opinion, or is this just anti-Catholic or religious mind set showing? – Tim May 26 '23 at 14:24
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    To answer your question: (1) Simply because applicants of other beliefs need to get a job so they can get on with their lives and (2) Religious universities are universities first and foremost. Whatever that university's ideal outcomes for their students may be, as an academic institution it exists in a competitive space and its down-to-earth mission, i.e. to offer good learning & research programs to young adults takes priority. If a staff vacancy occurs college deans have to apply realistic weighting to competence vs religious orthodoxy. OP needs a start to his career, not a full one. – Trunk May 26 '23 at 22:40
  • And no, I didn't vote you down ! – Trunk May 26 '23 at 22:41
  • Oh and thanks for not voting me down, but entering into academic dialogue. That's a gift our modern academic culture seems to be losing! – Tim May 28 '23 at 06:42
  • Trunk, in a Catholic School, the entire institution is based firmly on God, which is "the priority." If your (meaning faculty mostly) basic belief system conflicts with the culture and job needs, then you are unable to "offer good learning & research programs to young adults..." that are in line with the school mission and with student expectations because they choose a Catholic School. This is basic psychology. Plus, you have taken a job from someone who could fulfill that role. That's putting yourself above student needs and learning outcomes so applicants can "get on with their lives". – Tim May 28 '23 at 06:52
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    Look at the standard of some of these universities: Georgetown, Fordham, Boston College, Marquette, etc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_universities_and_colleges_in_the_United_States Would Bill Clinton seem to you to be someone browbeaten into a narrow catholic mindset by his time at Georgetown ? "God" is open to all sorts of interpretations. If catholic colleges in US were running a sort of Operation Mind-Control we'd have heard about it by now. They don't. At best they can only hope to influence people to a more fair-minded society after graduation, marriage, mortgage, etc. – Trunk May 28 '23 at 09:25
  • @Truk- The universities you listed as Jesuit and have lost their Catholic identity. They removed much of their Catholic identity from their mission. Second, You are Anti-Catholic bigot stating things like: "someone brow beaten into a narrow catholic mindset.. and Operation Mind-Control" Would you say the same if the subjects were LGBT, Women, or Black Colleges? Is this an academic discourse? Plus, you are ignorant of history. The Catholic Church, like it or not, founded the University system used today and is the basis for most Western thought. Finally, it is YOU who are not fair minded. – Tim May 29 '23 at 14:00
  • I am generally well-disposed towards sincere adherents of any religion. I strongly object to your characterizing me as an "anti-catholic bigot" simply when I question the real capacity of university educators to fundamentally change the beliefs - as opposed to the social practice - of individual students. In my view the idea that any religious affiliated university could alter students' beliefs as they pursue secular curricula is an insult to both professors and students. It also shows an absence of experiential challenge by anyone suggesting it: belief change happens in life outside academia. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 14:12
  • @Turk, Your strong objection is noted, but you used anti-Catholic bigot language, so I was pointing out a fact of your behavior. Why would you write such discriminatory words if you did not mean them? And the state "real capacity for education." So Catholic schools do not educate? That's not anti-Catholic? Additionally, They are not “changing beliefs,” but presenting knowledge within a framework. That is how education works! Social practice follows from any education -secular or religious. And no college, with all the social agendas today, is truly secular. So your logic, at best, is flawed. – Tim May 29 '23 at 14:52
  • Let's leave this discussion ! BTW my user handle is not Truk or Turk but rather Trunk ! – Trunk May 29 '23 at 15:18
  • I'm having difficulties to understand the meaning of the word "prospective" in your answer. It is my understanding that this is an adjective, but in the answer it seems to be used as a noun. Could you clarify? – Jochen Glueck May 29 '23 at 20:52
  • @Jochen Glueck Perhaps " . . . from that perspective . . ." might make more sense. It's like the confusion between "perquisite" and "prerequisite" in the METU syllabus some years ago ! – Trunk May 30 '23 at 13:34
  • @ Jochen- I think you answered your own question. – Tim May 30 '23 at 15:05
  • @ Turk and Jochen Sorry, I'm dyslexic, so sometimes we confuse word spellings and transpose letters. You illustrate another point I find interesting in academia (Jochen). You know what I meant but chose to focus on a common misspelling. I see this a lot in academia; I call it forest for the tree syndrome. Thanks for an interesting discussion. – Tim May 30 '23 at 15:10
  • At Tim: Sorry for my late reply. No, I did not know what you meant - that's why I asked for clarification. While I was indeed wondering whether you might have meant "perspective", I was far from sure. I'm not an English native speaker and it happens quite often that I don't know a word or idiom I read and that my best guess what it might mean turns out to be wrong. (My original goal was to add a comment to the discussion between you and Trunk, but I didn't feel comfortable to comment as long as I'm unsure whether I understandd your argument correctly - so I asked for clarification.) – Jochen Glueck Jun 09 '23 at 19:34
  • Anyway, thanks for your response. Please be ensured that my request for clarification was not intended to annoy you. – Jochen Glueck Jun 09 '23 at 19:36
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I know this question is old, but there is one glaringly obvious answer that does not appear.

If you know nothing about a topic, read a book about it.

For example, Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.

gib
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    OP seems want to avoid all spiritual discussion in his interview. He doesn't want to get into an argument on faith. And certainly not against religious minded people who will always have to "win" on their own ground. He just wants to baldly state that personally he's an atheist and then get on with the meat of the interview, i.e. his educational ethos, past academic work, research, teaching, extra mural stuff, career plans, etc. A university having a christian ethos doesn't mean everyone among faculty has to share it. – Trunk May 26 '23 at 22:51
  • I was not talking about getting into an argument about faith, I don't think religious people are more stubborn than atheists, and I didn't say OP would have to become religious in order to apply. I was just addressing OP's main point that he/she felt no connection to religion and didn't know what to do. – gib May 27 '23 at 09:26
  • I was just addressing OP's main point that he/she felt no connection to religion and didn't know what to do . . . How would reading the boring essays of some old Oxbridge academic help OP in any way to write a Statement Of Contribution To Mission for a university run by an order of some religious denomination ? OP isn't going to discover a previously unnoticed Christianity in himself, is he ? His atheism seems thought through and genuine, unlike Lewis' pubescent flirtation with it before he returned to the common fold. Better to acknowledge that and write on his own educational ethos. – Trunk May 27 '23 at 13:44
  • @Trunk I haven't read Mere Christianity, but it is classic and popular so I doubt it is boring. Lewis was not "some old Oxbridge academic" but a famous and popular author. Reading that book would help OP to learn something about Christianity, which would help them understand the university's mission and get ideas for their application. OP's atheism might be "thought through," but the question contains no evidence of that, and more suggests the opposite ("no clue" about Christianity). Lewis was in his 30 s before he returned to religion, so his atheist period was not a "pubescent flirtation." – gib May 28 '23 at 12:24
  • I have read Mere Christianity and I would say that it is more a book intended to persuade the viewer to C. S. Lewis's point of view (which he presents as least-common-denominator Christianity, and is popular among a wide range of Christians, though many Christians have disagreements with certain positions) than to educate the reader about what Christians believe. I don't think that research is a bad idea, but I prefer books that find common ground without trying to convert, and like the suggestion made in an earlier answer to read about the religious tradition that the college comes from. – Alison Miller May 28 '23 at 20:01
  • @gib You shouldn't recommend any book you haven't read yourself. Lewis' (re)conversion to christianity was in 1929 when he was ~31 - the sort of age when most of us realize our own mortality. He had also by then assumed care for a dead friend's mother and pitched in to a house purchase with her, her daughter and his brother. – Trunk May 29 '23 at 00:35