A Reflection on the Duality of Control of Catholic Higher Education in the United States Fifty Years after the Land O' Lakes Statement

Abstract

This paper reflects on the duality of control fifty years after the Land O’ Lakes Statement through an exploration of (a) the American Association of University Professors and the American Council on Education understanding of academic freedom, tenure, and governance as these principles relate to teaching and research; (b) the Catholic Church’s unique understanding of teaching and mission as it pertains to U.S. Catholic universities in the time leading up to the Land O’ Lakes Statement; (c) subsequent understanding by the Church of university governance and autonomy from the Code of Canon Law (1983), Ex corde Ecclesiae (1990), and The Application of Ex corde Ecclesiae for the United States (2000); and concludes with (d) a framework for achieving that which was envisioned in the preamble of the Land O’ Lakes Statement.