Concluding remarks
by the editors
In order to meet our obligations to subscribers, and to publish our last issue before the students leave for the summer, we have combined in one final “mega-issue” what would otherwise have been the last two issues of the first semester of the University Concourse.
Several new points of discussion are raised, and various lively “conversations” continued—many of them are very important for our life as a university, and we hope they will be picked up again when we resume publication next Fall. As always, the opinions expressed in our pages are not meant to represent the “last word” on the topics they address, but to encourage us all to deepen our reflection and apply our minds more rigorously to matters of serious interest to a Catholic intellectual community.
It is hard to believe that the first semester is already behind us. Looking back on it, the editors think we have reason to feel proud of the accomplishment and grateful for the success of our endeavor. Certainly there were some mistakes, and occasionally we may have made judgments that did not live up to our own high standards. But, on the whole, we think we have made a good start toward the goal we set for ourselves in the beginning: to provide a place “where minds can meet, where thoughts can be aired, where particular ideas can be expressed and challenged, where understanding can be expanded and deepened, and where consensus can be built—all for the sake of cooperating with one another in advancing the Kingdom of God and the welfare of this marvelous University.” We could not have done this on our own. What success we have had, we owe in large measure to the unflagging support of many friends. In particular we wish to thank our advisers, above all Dr. Crosby, whose commitment to the principle of the Concourse held us up in moments of doubt and difficulty, and Dr. Carrigg, who peppered us with kind and humorous impressions throughout the semester. We also thank the several students who assisted us in the tedious, time-consuming and typically thankless tasks of proof-reading, collating and distribution—especially Joanna Bratten and Mary McElwee (both of whom will be joining the editorial board next year), Erin Breen, Katherine DeLine and Patrick Prescott.
Lastly, we thank those on the faculty and among the students and alumni, who contributed to the “conversation” by writing in. This has been an especially welcome help in getting the Concourse off the ground.
The editors
My own task as Editor-in-chief would not be complete if I did not publicly acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe to my fellow editors. As the ostensible head of this body, almost all the “glory” of the Concourse has come to me, while in truth, much of the grief has gone to them. They have truly made my “yoke easy and my burden light,” and in the process have become, one and all, real friends.
Finally, none but those very near to us know how much I rely in everything I do and in everything I am on my husband, Jules, who rather than resenting the great cost to him that my work on the Concourse demands, has ever encouraged me to dig deeper and aim higher, and has made it his joy to see me grow. This blessing has been too huge for words.
And one last word of thanks, to Maria Ellis, who knows what for.
By now many of you will have heard that our family will be moving back to Austria over the summer. Jules has accepted a position at the International Theology Institute in Gaming. But, there is no cause for alarm—thanks to the technical wonders of the internet, and the steadfast commitment of the other editors, we mean to continue the Concourse from there.
Until next semester, then, peace in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
Kathleen van Schaijik
