A Sign of Hope and Responsibility from the Heartland
VOTF Vice President, Sally Vance Trembath's Statement

I am a child of the Midwest and was heartened and proud to read of the action of the Board of Directors at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. I graduated from St. Ambrose in 1976. I studied Theology alongside the seminarians and I earned my degree in English as well as my teaching certificate there. The professors at St. Ambrose trained me well and I continue to look to many of them as models for my own teaching. It was very gratifying to see that Professor Rogalski, who was my Psychology professor, exercised leadership in healing victims of abuse and in making St. Ambrose a sacramental sign of Catholic identity. During a time when Catholic Higher education is struggling with issues of identity, it is very satisfying to see places like St. Ambrose where Catholicism is not a slogan but a way of life. I was formed by St. Ambrose in the informed reception of Vatican II. Across all the departments that educated especially English, History, Art and Philosophy, I was challenged to understand why Catholics count themselves as intellectuals as well as people of faith. I learned to drink deeply from the liturgy at noon Mass at St. Ambrose where the homily was always well crafted and the movement of the Eucharist was intentional and welcoming.

The St. Ambrose Board of Directors continues to model this cooperation between lay and clergy. This is a specific example of a local community trying to implement the emblems of Catholic identity. Our symbols matter. They tell the world who we are and what matters to us. It is surely tragic to have to remove a bishop's name. But doing so also marks a truth. The bishop contributed to the harm to victims. Removing his name is an act of contrition and thus healing begins.

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