U of D Jesuit High School - Time Magazine

[danofcamden]

Good Press for a great school.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...933203,00.html

[SWMAP]

Not the last Catholic High School in Detroit. Also Christo rey in SW Detroit.

[d.mcc]

Not the last Catholic High School in Detroit. Also Christo rey in SW Detroit.

Redeemer is gone though, sadly, as is De Porres...

[danofcamden]

The article says it is the last Catholic College Prep school not the last high school. Cristo Rey [[Jesuit's started these though not the one in Detroit) and Loyola [[Jesuit again) are very fine schools with a definite mission, but they are not the same type of school as U of D.

[Detroitej72]

Good Press for a great school.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...933203,00.html

I couldn't have said it better myself.

My father teaches there and told me the photographer and reporter were around campus last week. The Jesuit's have a long and storied commitment to areas like Detroit that are under served and abandoned by the majority.

[65memories]

I love the University of Detroit High School. When other schools gave in to racist and old blockbusting tactics and moved further and further from the city, ie. Detroit Catholic Central, which became Redford Catholic Central and is now Novi Catholic Central and Detroit DeLasalle, which became Warren DeLasalle, the U of D High continued to maintain its presence in the city.

[Detroitej72]

When other schools gave in to racist and old blockbusting tactics and moved further and further from the city, ie. Detroit Catholic Central, which became Redford Catholic Central and is now Novi Catholic Central and Detroit DeLasalle, which became Warren DeLasalle, the U of D High continued to maintain its presence in the city.

And, if I may, expanded their presence in the city by embracing and actually helping Detroit, one student at a time.

[Neilr]

I've always been proud to have been a UDHS graduate.

[MikeM]

Here are a couple of quality posts, from the old forum, from a thread titled "U of D Jesuit: The Decision to Remain in Detroit"...


Expat
Username: Expat
Post Number: 5

Posted on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 9:21 am:

I graduated from U of D Jesuit in 1972, not long before the decision to remain in the city. It is hard to overestimate the degree to which the culture of the school at the time was associated with the city and the urban culture of Detroit. We saw ourselves as attending an elite "city school" that drew students from the entire metropolitan area. And quite frankly we had contempt for the suburbs [[including those of us, not me, who were from the suburbs!). And although there were relatively few blacks at the school at the time [[that came later, after the decision to remain in Detroit), we completely bought in to the liberal, integrationist vision of the Detroit Archdiocese at the time [[the liberal John Deardon was cardinal; we had symposia at school about open housing, Focus Hope, etc.; a popular public-service extracurricalar was the "Community Action Movement," etc.). What we, as students, did not know was that the all the changes in the city--the '67 riot, white flight, increasing crime [[including in the school's neighborhood)--was making it difficult to attract the school's traditional white Catholic student body into the city and had led a considerable portion of the faculty and alumni to favor moving the school to the suburbs [[had we known, we would have been shocked and appalled). The story I had always heard was that the local Jesuit community and faculty had voted to move, but that the Detoit Jesuit province said no. But according to the school's website, the actual decision to "recommit to the city" was made by the Jesuit superior-general in Rome. [[By the way, that superior general, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, visited U of D Jesuit a few years later; his talk used the phrase "men for others" which has since become the school motto).

Years later, I believe that the decision to stay in the city was the single most important decision in the history of the school, one that has allowed it to both stay true to its core identity and reinvent that identity in a changing world. Today, U of D Jesuit is substantiallly less white and more multiracial, less Catholic, and indeed less Jesuit [[due to the radical shrinking of the order post Vatican II). And yet, from my rather distant vantage point, it seems to have remained true to its Jesuit ethos.

The other amazing thing, something I have only begun to appreciate recently, at mid-life, is the tenacious hold the school has on many of its graduates. An anecdote: I recently had lunch with a classmate of mine. He is a psychiatrist in Providence. I am a writer/editor in Boston. And there we were, talking about the hold that U of D Jesuit and Detroit as a whole have on our imagination to this day--a phenomenon that our spouses and our families recognize even as they don't entirely understand!

Crash_nyc
Username: Crash_nyc
Post Number: 53

Posted on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 9:55 am:

I'm a proud alum of U of D Jesuit High: Class of '89. Through all of my educational experiences thereafter, none of my college professors could hold a candle to the least of the teachers I had at The High. Great school.

Thank god they never moved to the suburbs, because they would have lost some of the key components that make it such a vital instution today: diversity and tolerance. There's white schools and black schools, and when they mix, cliques tend to develop. U of D had a healthy mix while I was there [[don't know what the situation is there these days), but by the end of 4 years there, most everyone got along, regardless of race.

Here's a great example of what makes the school special:
There were two guys in my class who normally would have never have become friends under other circumstances, if not for a catalyst like U of D. One commuted from Birmingham and was the son of a millionaire auto executive, and the other lived three blocks away, and came from a poor family. Tuition for the first guy was like a nickel falling out of his father's pocket, while tuition for the other consisted of donations from his family [[uncles, grandparents, etc). By the end of 4 years at The High, they were best friends. In how many schools in the country could something like this happen? Not many, and thats one of the things that makes U of D unique.

The Jesuits are hardcore about discipline and education, but don't ever confuse a Jesuit education for conventional Catholic school. They beg you to question what you're taught, especially by the Priests who help you to understand the Bible. On my first day as a Freshman, I was told this by my Theology teacher: "We're going to analyze the Bible, verse-for-verse. I'm going to show you both sides of the coin, and I want you to embrace the contradictions that you'll encounter when you go next door and learn about Anthropology. At the end of 4 years at this school, you will either be so devout in your faith that you may consider moving on to a Seminary, or you may be an Agnostic. It's your choice, and The Word will be in your hands to analyze for yourself and for your life." I've never forgotten those words. Again, what an amazing school.
[I leaned a litle toward the Agnosticism toward the end, but it forced me to develop my own spirituality.]

Expat
Username: Expat
Post Number: 6

Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 10:28 am:

I want to second Crash_nyc's comments about the extraordinary intellectual environment at U of D Jesuit. I went to what is probably one of the best liberal-arts colleges in the country: demanding curriculum, small classes, great caring teachers, etc. Not only was I totally prepared by my high school experience at U of D Jesuit. In many respects, it was the far more formative intellectual experience in my life.

I have often felt that U of D Jesuit was as close as you could come in the United States to a certain style of European education. The place was like a French lycee or German gymnasium: a highly selective but also incredible diverse urban school with a strong classical foundation [[I took Latin and French for four years).

A memory: Junior year English with Fr. Polakowski. In this world literature course we read: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Elie Wiesel, Chinua Achebe, Yasunari Kawabata, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Graham Greene, Richard Wright--in short, about the most "multicultural curriculum" you can imagine. And this was in 1971! The climax of the course was Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce's autobiographical novel of his childhood--including his experience at Jesuit elementary and high schools. As Fr. Polakowski said when we started the book, "Some people read about it, gentlemen; you are living it." And we believed him!

My question for those of you who have had more recent experience at U of D: has the school retained its rich and demanding intellectual environment? Put more bluntly: is the school as good as it used to be [[the classic question of the middle-aged alumnus, no?)? More specifically: what has been the impact of the decline in numbers of the Jesuits [[I may be wrong but I have the impression that the only Jesuit at the school now is the president)? Can a largely lay faculty do in the classroom what a faculty in which roughly half the teachers were Jesuits can do? How, if at all, has the shift in the school's demographic mix affected what goes on in the classroom? These questions aren't meant to be provocative. I'm genuinely curious about the current academic/intellectual environment at the school.

[Cristo Rey Mike]

As a graduate of a Jesuit high school [[Walsh Jesuit), I have enjoyed reading the conversation regarding the University of Detroit High School. The history of Jesuit education is a strong one.

However, as others have pointed out, there are two other Catholic college prep high schools in Detroit – Loyola and Cristo Rey. As President of Detroit Cristo Rey High School, I would also like to share some background on our school.

• Our school opened in 2008. We are adding one class of students a year – this year we have freshmen and sophomores. Our first graduation will be in June 2012.
• Detroit Cristo Rey is known as the “the school that works.â€� All Cristo Rey students work one day a week at local corporations and organizations, performing a variety of entry-level jobs to help offset the cost of their tuition and gain real world job experience. [[There are 48 businesses and organizations providing 34 jobs worth $675,000 for the students currently enrolled at Detroit Cristo Rey High School.)
• Sponsored by the Sister Servants of IHM and the Basilian fathers, the school focuses on providing a Catholic, college prep education for students who could otherwise not afford one. We are part of a network of 24 schools across the country. The Cristo Rey Network was founded by the Jesuits.
• It is the only Catholic high school in the city of Detroit that accepts young women.
• The school has a diverse student body. Sixty percent of current students are African-American and 35% are Hispanic. Half of the students are Catholic; half are of other faiths.
• Over 90% percent of the Cristo Rey students live in the city of Detroit.
• The students of this Detroit school all plan to be college graduates! [[In fact, within the Cristo Rey network of schools, 99% of graduates are typically accepted into college.) We only have one curriculum – college prep.

I would encourage everyone to visit our school, meet the faculty and most importantly, spend some time with our students. Please contact me at the school to arrange a visit. Our phone number is 313.843.2747. Ask for Mike Khoury.

[jjaba]

There were two religions in Detroit growing up in the 1940s. Catholics and Publics. jjaba was a Public, although he lived in St. Brigits Parish. What is know about her?
jjaba, Proudly Westside.

[SWMAP]

Oh, gosh ! Wonderful that jjaba is returned. One of the most missed posters [[imo).

[eastland]

While the Jesuits get rightful kudos for keeping U-D High in the city, Notre Dame High was another college prep school that probably had a higher proportion of Detroit students. It was located right on the Detroit border and was closed in 2005.

[Detroitej72]

While the Jesuits get rightful kudos for keeping U-D High in the city, Notre Dame High was another college prep school that probably had a higher proportion of Detroit students. It was located right on the Detroit border and was closed in 2005.

Actually, ND, for the most part moved most of the faculty and resources to the Pontiac/Bloomfield boarder and renamed it Marist Academy/ Notre Dame Prep.

Then they closed the old Harper Woods location a fews years after, thus the school didn't officially "move".

[p69rrh51]

I love the University of Detroit High School. When other schools gave in to racist and old blockbusting tactics and moved further and further from the city, ie. Detroit Catholic Central, which became Redford Catholic Central and is now Novi Catholic Central and Detroit DeLasalle, which became Warren DeLasalle, the U of D High continued to maintain its presence in the city.

A little history, UofD looked very hard at moving out of the city in the early 80's, but did not have the money. I have also heard a wild story that they wanted to purchase the Lochmoor Club property in Grosse Pointe Woods at one time. Fortunately the school has been able to draw from all over the metro area!
As for the "racist tactics" of CC and DeLaSalle what would you do if 100% of your core student body moved away you would move where they are!! At one time there were a several catholic high schools fairly close to DeLaSalle, even Trinty on the border of Detroit, Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe could not attract enough students, how would you expect CC or DeLaSalle to keep open those large buildings with no students? Also with the decline of inner ring suburbs DeLaSalle is probably going to move again in the next decade or so just as CC has recently done.

[Huggybear]

U of D Jesuit was told by the Superior General of the Jesuits that it was not moving. The money was not an issue.

A little history, UofD looked very hard at moving out of the city in the early 80's, but did not have the money. I have also heard a wild story that they wanted to purchase the Lochmoor Club property in Grosse Pointe Woods at one time. Fortunately the school has been able to draw from all over the metro area!
As for the "racist tactics" of CC and DeLaSalle what would you do if 100% of your core student body moved away you would move where they are!! At one time there were a several catholic high schools fairly close to DeLaSalle, even Trinty on the border of Detroit, Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe could not attract enough students, how would you expect CC or DeLaSalle to keep open those large buildings with no students? Also with the decline of inner ring suburbs DeLaSalle is probably going to move again in the next decade or so just as CC has recently done.

[mwilbert]

U of D Jesuit was told by the Superior General of the Jesuits that it was not moving. The money was not an issue.

There had been discussion of moving since at least the mid-70's. The financial case for moving [[primarily that it would make the school more appealing to a higher-income demographic outside the city) was pretty strong, but the Jesuits decided that it was contrary to their mission to remove the school from where it was needed. I agreed with them at the time; I still agree with them; and the fact that they have remained in place is one of the main reasons my wife and I still contribute to the school. As far as I am concerned it wouldn't have been the same school if it had moved.

At the time however, a lot of parents and alumni thought it wouldn't be the same school if it stayed, and were anxious that it move. I don't think finding the money would have been a major problem.