The Idea of a University

The issues that John Henry Newman raised--the place of religion and moral values in the university setting, the competing claims of liberal and professional education, the character of the academic community, the cultural role of literature, the relation of religion and science--have provoked discussion from Newman's time to our own.

One of the best-known Catholic thinkers, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was an Anglican priest for two decades, and was one of the founders and principals in the Oxford Movement, which sought to reinvigorate the Church of England. In 1845, he left the Anglican Church to convert to Roman Catholicism. He was ordained a priest soon after, and was elevated to Cardinal in 1879 Major General Josiah Bunting III is superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute