Professor Tania Tetlow, President of Fordham University, explores how the modern university owes much of its origin and structure to the Catholic Church in Europe. For centuries, Catholic institutions of higher learning have shaped the very idea of scholarly community—enduring longer than most nation-states.
In the United States, the Church established universities as alternatives to elite Protestant institutions that were often unwelcoming to Catholic immigrants. These universities sought to broaden access and opportunity rather than reinforce social hierarchy. By the twentieth century, many had become centres of research and intellectual ambition, competing nationally while maintaining a distinctively Catholic identity.
Today, Catholic universities face renewed challenges as the American state takes a more interventionist role in higher education—pursuing aims such as consumer protection and civil rights enforcement. While these measures promote equity and accountability, they also raise concerns about academic and religious freedom.
This lecture considers how Catholic universities in the United States—particularly those with Jesuit foundations—have navigated this evolving environment and the tensions between institutional autonomy, public accountability, and moral purpose. If you have any questions about the event, please contact events@campion.ox.ac.uk.
About the Speaker: Professor Tania Tetlow is the 33rd President of Fordham University—the first layperson and first woman to hold the position. She previously served as President of Loyola University New Orleans, leading a financial and institutional transformation that strengthened academic programmes, expanded enrolment, and advanced diversity, equity, and inclusion. A graduate of Tulane University and Harvard Law School, she has also held senior leadership and faculty roles at Tulane, where her legal scholarship influenced U.S. Department of Justice policy on constitutional policing. Born in New York and raised in New Orleans, Professor Tetlow brings a lifelong commitment to Jesuit education and the Catholic intellectual tradition.
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