Feb 12, 2009 3:44 pm US/Eastern
Are Crucifixes At BC "Offensive?"
CHESTNUT HILL (WBZ) ―
-
-
A crucifix hangs in Boston College's Higgins Hall room 265.
Boston Herald
Poll
Should BC be allowed to place Catholic symbols around campus?
You need the latest Flash player to view our Poll.
Click here to download.
Click here to
bypass this detection if you already
have the latest Flash Player.
Some faculty members at Boston College are upset that the Catholic school has placed crucifixes in every classroom and other Christian artwork around campus.
But BC officials say they are just showing pride in the school's Jesuit tradition.
Biology professor Dan Kirschner, faculty adviser for BC's chapter of the Jewish student group Hillel, says the school is being "insensitive" to people of other faiths.
Maxim Shrayer, chairman of the Slavic and Eastern languages and literature department, calls the religious symbols "contrary to the letter and spirit of open intellectual discourse."
School spokesman Jack Dunn says the artwork reinforces BC's Catholic mission. "We are a Catholic university. We take great pride in that fact. Our attempt was not to offend anyone in any way, but rather to manifest symbols that show our pride and our commitment to our Catholic heritage," Dunn tells WBZ Radio.
He says there have been no complaints from students, about 70 percent of whom are Catholic.
"I think it comes with the territory," said BC junior Rory Rudnick. "If you are going to teach at a Jesuit school, you're going to see things like that and it shouldn't come as a surprise really."
"It's a Jesuit school, so I don't think anything about it," said BC sophomore Mike McCarth. "I didn't even know there were Jewish professors here so… It doesn't offend me, but I'm not Jewish, but it's a Jesuit school so you have to understand."
What do you think?
Join the conversation in our
Conversation Nation blog.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Snow Drought Ends With Big Storm Wednesday 10 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments