Confronting legal and policy threats with Newman Guide leaders

Your support fuels collaboration with top experts, attorneys, and the White House

With our focus on Catholic formation and evangelization, we can’t ignore the legal threats meant to keep schools and colleges from properly forming students in the faith. Over the last two decades, your support has allowed us to collaborate with leading legal and policy experts to help inform and defend Newman Guide Recommended institutions.

Education leaders tell us that, beyond our core programs—The Newman Guide and outreach to families—CNS leadership on religious freedom is so important.
With your support:

• You help inform educators of critical legal threats to religious freedom and offer advice to fight back.
• You help file court briefs and represent Newman Guide education to government leaders and the media.
• And you help ensure religious freedom protections for Newman Guide institutions by supporting our work to develop policies that are clearly rooted in their Catholic mission—and then help schools and colleges adopt our policies.

Bob Laird, Senior Counselor to the President of The Cardinal Newman Society, is leading and expanding our work on religious freedom. You will hear more about this in the coming months. In addition to strategizing with our partner organizations, Bob will bring our concerns to the Trump administration. Just recently, we spoke with a new Education Department official who is a close ally and former vice president of a Newman Guide college.

It’s a blessing to have Bob leading this charge: a 22-year Army veteran who studied and taught at West Point before helping negotiate nuclear treaties. He led the Arlington Diocese Family Life Office for many years and helped establish a pro-life OB/GYN practice. Now, his devotion to our mission is inspiring!

You may recall reading our report on Policy Priorities for Catholic Education 2024 (posted on our website), which has been making its rounds to new and influential leaders in Washington, D.C. Already progress has been made on some of the priorities—but more must be done to secure Newman Guide institutions. Please, we need your prayers!