According to the Cardinal Newman Society, there are sixteen Catholic colleges and universities who will offer “lavender graduation” ceremonies this year, including one at Seattle University that will host a show by a drag queen. Some of these schools having been hosting such graduation ceremonies for a few years now, including some of the most prominent Catholic schools in the country: Georgetown, Gonzaga, St. Louis University, Boston College, Fordham, and Marquette. The entire list is as follows (and I have added the religious order with which these schools are associated):

• Georgetown University, Washington, DC – Jesuit
• Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA – Jesuit
• University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA – Jesuit
• Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA – Jesuit
• Fordham University, Bronx, NY – Jesuit
• Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI – Jesuit
• Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio – Jesuit
• Seattle University, Seattle, WA – Jesuit
• Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO – Jesuit
• Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA – Jesuit
• Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA – Jesuit
• St. John’s University, Queens, NY – Vincentian
• College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA – Jesuit
• Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT – Dominican Sisters of Peace
• Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA – Christian Brothers
• Siena Heights University, Adrian, MI, which is closing down at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year – Adrian Dominicans

As you can see from the list above, the Cardinal Newman Society could almost just as well title it’s story as “LGBTQ-Affirming ‘Lavender Graduations’ Persist at Prominent Jesuit Colleges,” given that fully twelve of the sixteen are founded and run by the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. Two of the other four are founded and run by Dominican orders of women religious, and the other two are Vincentian and Christian Brothers.

But there’s no coincidence that the great majority of these Catholic universities and colleges are Jesuit. The Jesuits seem to have abandoned their Catholic identity as being the major force in their education mission in favor of a mission more accommodating to the current trends in secular culture. They hide behind the banner of “academic freedom,” which empowers them to essentially lay aside their Catholic roots and mission. After all, they want to be taken seriously by others in the academic world, and that often means compromising Catholic faith and morals and adopting the whims and priorities of secular academia. One of those whims and priorities is to do whatever they can to make LGBTQ+ students feel comfortable and accepted, because they are a marginalized group in America.

Or are they? One has to wonder if a group that constitutes less than 3% of the population, but who dominate the news cycle almost daily for their accomplishments and victories in the courts, a group that can convince others, even those in the medical profession and in the government, to adopt their language for themselves and their fantasies about men becoming women and women becoming men, or of men marrying men, and women marrying women, who can have a person fired for “dead-naming” them or “mis-gendering them” (BTW, I cannot tell you how many times I was called “Ma’am” by families in the pediatric hospitals I worked for, despite having a beard for the last 45 years), that is celebrated in the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, France, that has their sexual activity with minors either erased from history, ignored altogether, or vehemently denied – can such a group truly be called “marginalized”?

I am opposed to the idea of separate gradution ceremonies for specific groups, whether along racial lines, ethnic lines, and certainly around sexual orientation. No college or university in their rights minds would sponsor a white graduation ceremony separate from the main ceremony, nor should they. The practice of sponsoring separate graduation ceremonies according to race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation is contrary to the goals of the Civil Rights movement and contrary to the goals of the system of higher education, or at least it ought to be. One has to wonder what the goals of the system of higher education are when they’re sponsoring entire departments dedicated to “Women’s Studies” or “Ethnic Studies.” It’s all well and good to study the history and progress, as well as the pitfalls and opposition faced, of women and various ethnic groups throughout history as a subset of the Sociology or Anthropology department. But entire departents dedicated to such narrow and exclusive topics? I don’t think so. Yet, as of 2025, there are in the neighborhood of 250 universities with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. There’s a degree to build a career on!

It’s especially grevious when Catholic colleges and universities get in on the act. It is especially grevious when Catholic colleges and universities sponsor graduation ceremonies exclusively for the LGBTQ+ community. Why? Two reasons: first, it separates the student body into classes based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation when one of the purposes of a Catholic education is to be taught that we are all children of God, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. A second reason, at least for LGBTQ+ graduates, it creates the impression that these people are not like the rest of us, they’re different, and what makes them different is the main thing about them. Closely tied to the second reason is the third: it creates the impression – in fact, it demands the impression – the the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is normal and morally acceptable, and that the Catholic Church gives her blessings to such a lifestyle.

But the schools listed, especially the Jesuit schools, don’t seem much interested in teaching Catholic dogma and doctrine. They seem more interessted in making sure their students are affirmed in their identity and that the gay lifestyle is normal and acceptable. These schools ought to know better and act on that knowledge. To do otherwise is, frankly, to deny their Catholic identity and their Catholic mission. The bishops where these schools are located should call them out and demand that they no longer pretend to be a college or university within the Catholic tradition. That they will not do so manifests the profound lack of integrity among the administration of these schools and among those who attend these schools. The Church can do better. The Church can expect more from colleges and universities that call themselves Catholic.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.