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Seton Hall: Land of Contrasts

A strange place, Seton Hall University.

It’s Catholic, so it features things like The Heart of the University Retreat Series:

The Heart of the University Retreat Series gives faculty and administrators of all faiths the opportunity for quiet reflection guided by four members of the University’s priest community.

… “Deep in the heart of every university are the hearts of its teachers, and as we explore the university’s identity, we naturally need to explore ourselves. Ultimately, whatever our discipline, we teach who we are – `professing’ our worldview, our ethics, our values, as well as our hopes and dreams.”

Just the sort of gentle quiet reflection on values you’d expect at a Catholic school. The heart of Seton Hall is its teachers, and they are teaching values, etc., etc.

… Or maybe that’s not the heart of Seton Hall. Maybe its heart is its basketball program, a program so dirty, with a coach so violent, that it’s featured in today’s New York Times. The photo accompanying the article shows the coach shrieking like the very devil.

Or yet again maybe the heart of Seton Hall is its generous alumni?

… Business Week magazine dubbed [the university the] “Seton Hall of Shame” in 2002 for having not one but three major buildings bearing the names of disgraced corporate executives.

The trio included Kozlowski Hall, Walsh Library (named after former Tyco board member Frank Walsh, who pleaded guilty in 2002 to concealing a $20 million bonus) and Brennan Recreation Center (named after convicted First Jersey Securities founder Robert Brennan, who is serving time for bankruptcy fraud and money laundering).

Seems to be a disconnect between the priest community and the rest of the place.

Margaret Soltan, March 8, 2010 10:42PM
Posted in: kind of a little weird

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5 Responses to “Seton Hall: Land of Contrasts”

  1. University Diaries » Update: Seton Hall Basketball Coach Says:

    […] In this post, UD noted that Seton Hall University employs, at an enormous salary, a borderline psychotic basketball coach. […]

  2. University Diaries » Brooks and Krugman, in today’s New York Times… Says:

    […] as having explicitly moral missions (Catholic Seton Hall, for example, despite having had to blast more imprisoned alumni names off of buildings than any other school in America, and hiring one of the foulest coaches known to humankind, […]

  3. University Diaries » “Spokeswoman Julie Tanguay wouldn’t directly answer whether the university would try to rename its Telfer School of Management, but noted Telfer had denied the allegations against him.” Says:

    […] of Management to be featuring his name on every piece of silverware. It will need to consult with Seton Hall University here in the States – a school which has blasted more names off of more business school walls […]

  4. University Diaries » Mellow Out Says:

    […] plastered all over campus buildings goes to jail for corruption? Certain schools – Seton Hall, most prominently – experience this problem over and over […]

  5. University Diaries » Seton Hall University is One of Those Schools. Says:

    […] scandal-magnet, it’s always sandblasting the names of generous scummy alumni from its buildings, firing degenerate coaches, and, as of yesterday, watching as an assistant law school dean is escorted to prison for three […]

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