Marquette Administration Internal Politicking: Defeat Marriage Protection Amendment

Rana H. Altenburg is Marquette’s Vice President for Public Affairs, which means she handles both lobbying and public relations for the University.

She is apparently an opponent of the Marriage Protection Amendment, since she sent out, in the following e-mail, an essay by a liberal faculty member urging a “no” vote on the Amendment.

The Catholic Bishops of Wisconsin have urged support for the Amendment.

But the position of the Church doesn’t carry much weight among liberal Marquette administrators.

From: Altenburg, Rana

Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 3:06 PM

To: Altenburg, Rana; Acord, Lea; Bauer, Cindy; Bloom, Margaret; Brooks, Jack; Deahl, Robert; Geraghty, Patricia; Henk, William; Jaskolski, Stan; Kearney, Joseph; Kliebhan, Gregory; Lamb, John C.; Lobb, William; McKinney, Michael; Pauly, John; Russell, Stephanie; Scheuber, Arthur; Shrock, David; Simmons-Welburn, Janice; Thon, Andrew; Tolan, Julie; Wake, Madeline; Wiener, William; Wild S.J., Robert

Cc: Baker, Melody; Bargholz, Jeananne; Belanger, Mary; Bublitz, Debra; Burrell, Clarice; Cvetich, Irene; DuChateau, Julia; Frederickson, JoAnn; Kolar, Mary; Krenz, Laura; Kurowski, Nicole; Lueck, Lisa; Marthaler, Jessica; Moser, Rosemarie; Newman, Kimberly; Ozminkowski, Lori; Patterson, Kim; Plewa, Michele; Reeder, Debra; Rogers, Nancy; Schoewe, Shelley; Shaw, Katie A.; Stachewicz, Carol; Tuchel, Stacy; Turben, Donna; Zello, Laureen; Sajdak, Caryn

Note that the “To” list includes the top administrators at Marquette, and the “CC” list includes secretaries, Administrative Assistants and other clerical staff.

Subject: RE: Opinion Piece in the Catholic Herald

Several people had difficulty with the attachment, so I have pasted a copy of the text below....

Rana

Respect for all Catholic values key in marriage amendment vote


By Fr. Bryan Massingale

The proposal to amend Wisconsin’s constitution to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman is one of the most contentious issues facing voters in this November’s election. Some view this as an opportunity to defend the institution of marriage, which they see as imperiled by an array of hostile social influences. Others consider this measure to be an attack against an already outcast social group, making it the scapegoat for the anxiety and unease that many feel.

We won’t reproduce the entire essay, which can be found here.

The key point is that Massingale is opposed to the Amendment.

He won’t come right out and say he’s for gay marriage, but rather says the following:

The amendment’s second clause is: “. . . and a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”

Like the admittedly secular opponents of the Amendment, he claims that the “second clause” of the Amendment is questionable, and doesn’t want to talk about gay marriage per se.

But in fact it is hard to believe that Massingale really opposes gay marriage. The notion that it would somehow deprive people of rights and benefits they currently have has been thoroughly debunked.

The people who make these arguments are, quite simply, people who favor gay marriage and don’t want to admit it.

The bottom line is this: Since same-sex marriage is already illegal in Wisconsin and prohibited by church law, a “no” vote changes nothing. Gay marriages would remain illegal; the current unique status of heterosexual marriage remains unaltered; no one’s health care access is endangered.

Voting “yes” opens the door for major changes in the status quo, changes that would not be consistent with all of our Catholic values and convictions. Voting “yes” risks harming children and families. Therefore, voting “no” on the marriage amendment , in my judgment, is the best way to respect all of our Catholic beliefs and values.

Fr. Bryan Massingale is a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and an associate professor of moral theology at Marquette University.

Reprinted with permission of your Catholic Herald, (414) 769-3500

Rana Altenburg
Vice President
Office of Public Affairs
Marquette University
rana.altenburg@marquette.edu

This reinforces the conclusion, which is hard to avoid if one watches the actions of Marquette University, that the ranks of top administrators are filled with liberals who simply don’t accept the teachings of the Church when they conflict with secular values.

We don’t need an internal e-mail to know this. Consider:

• Marquette’s Office of Student Development approved a campus chapter of FAIR, a pro-gay marriage group, whose agenda has been to lobby for defeat of the Marriage Protection Amendment.
• When the liberal student group J.U.S.T.I.C.E. held their “Social Justice Teach-In” on campus, it included a representative of FAIR urging the defeat of the Marriage Protection Amendment, and a representative of the Marquette Gay/Straight Alliance. It had no speaker upholding traditional marriage. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. is an organization with a very close relationship with the University Ministry and the Office of Student Development.
• Marquette sent official representatives to the “Out There” pro-homosexuality conference at Santa Clara University
• The web page of the University Ministry supports a gay and lesbian political agenda
• The Admissions Office planned to send a recruiter to a “Gay Pride” event for high school students

Finding a conflict between secular values and the values of the Church is about as old as the Church itself.

But the real problem is that Marquette, like most universities, is top-heavy with bureaucrats. And those bureaucrats tend to be liberals, or else careerists who will go along with whatever is fashionable among the ranks of university bureaucrats elsewhere.

The net effect is universities (and Marquette is hardly the only one) which more often than not come down on the side of secular values, and not the teaching of the Church.