Joseph A. Esposito, Director of The Cardinal Newman Society’s Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education, spoke at the President’s Council dinner at Magdalen College, April 5.  The talk was attended by the college’s faculty and staff, the entire student body, alumni and supporters.

Esposito discussed the challenges in Catholic higher education as well as its developing rebirth and Magdalen’s contribution to it.

He said of the college, “Here is a faithful Catholic college that has been forming Catholic young men and women for nearly 35 years.  MagdalenCollege is a beacon that has and will continue to guide young people and to show an example to other colleges.”

Esposito also praised college president Jeffrey J. Karls.  He quoted from a statement that Karls wrote on the college’s Catholic identity:  “In order to maintain and safeguard our Catholic identity, we must sustain our commitment to be faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church; we must provide courses for students on Catholic moral and religious principles and their application to such critical areas as human life and other issues of social justice; and we must care pastorally for the students, faculty and staff.”

Magdalen College is one of 21 Catholic colleges and universities recommended in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College,published in November 2007.  Esposito is editor of The Guide, whose second edition will appear in 2009.

The Warner, N.H., college will be celebrating its 35^th anniversary starting in August 2008.  More information on the college can be obtained from the website, www.magdalen.edu.