A Saint Michael’s College student was told she couldn’t get academic credit for an internship at Planned Parenthood, and now she’s pushing the Catholic institution to establish clear guidelines about which organizations it chooses to sanction.
Erin Irons, a senior from Fair Haven, Vt., is double-majoring in history and political science, with a minor in gender studies. She applied for a public affairs internship at Burlington-based Planned Parenthood of Northern New England over the summer — and got it.
But Planned Parenthood staff warned Irons that a previous St. Mike’s student had been denied academic credit for an internship in 2011, prompting her to contact the college dean, Jeff Ayres. (Because the internship wouldn’t commence until spring, Irons had not yet submitted an application for credit.)
One week later, according to Irons, the dean told her that the administration’s position hadn’t changed: Granting academic credit for an internship at Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions as well as other health services, would conflict with the school’s Catholic mission.
The administration’s response, first reported in the student newspaper, the Defender, has sparked a debate about the tension between religious values and academic pursuits at a Catholic school with a reputation for open-mindedness. Roughly half the students are Catholic.
Karen Talentino, vice president for academic affairs, summarized the administration’s stance: “One of [the Catholic church’s] most fundamental convictions is that abortion is sin and is murder of a living person, so given that we are a Catholic college, I think it makes sense that we would not form a formal relationship with an organization that not only performs abortions but is an advocate for continuing to perform abortions.”
She also emphasized that the school supports and encourages internships.
Irons had planned to spend the spring semester as a public affairs intern, tracking environmental health-related legislation for Planned Parenthood in Montpelier. She said she reluctantly turned down the internship, because in her final semester of college, she needs to accrue the credits necessary to graduate. “If anything was to prepare me for the quote unquote real world, it would have been this internship,” she said.
“I understand that it’s a Catholic institution,” continued Irons, who was raised Catholic but no longer identifies as such. “But it’s also an educational institution.”
With backing from the executive board of the Student Association — the college’s student government — Irons is calling on the administration to establish a more transparent internship policy. She wants a list of organizations at which students wouldn’t qualify for academic credit. And she wants to know who makes decisions about whether an organization’s mission aligns with that of the Catholic Church, and what criteria they use.
These requests, outlined in a letter sent to the college president three weeks ago, have gone unanswered, Irons said.
Talentino said she plans to meet with Irons this week, and that the college is committed to finding her another internship. It’s unlikely, however, that the college will acquiesce to Irons’ requests.
Noting that it’s rare for a student to appeal a decision regarding academic credit, Talentino said it wouldn’t make sense for school officials to spend time vetting a large number of organizations. She pointed out that St. Michael’s already has people who guide students through the internship application process — including an internship coordinator, faculty mentor and a site supervisor — helping them determine whether a certain organization would be a good fit.
She also argued that students have a role to play when it comes to vetting internship options. “Students need to think first and foremost about what would be a good learning experience for them,” she said. But given the school’s mission, she continued, “they should also think about is there any reason why this might not be a good choice.”
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Why do people who HATE. The church, choose to attend a catholic school?, to destroy it. Who wants to destroy the church ? Satan!
And she wants to know who makes decisions about whether an organization’s mission aligns with that of the Catholic Church, and what criteria they use.
Uh, how about the thou shalt not kill criteria? Abortion is the purposeful taking of and individual human life, not even feminists like ever say that so the couch it in euphemisms like , choice and women’s health.
Feminism, bad fr women since 1969
Good job St. Michael’s! What’s ironic is that this student talked about the need for ‘transparency’ from the administration on these issues. Laughable comment coming from someone who supports the abortion industry. How about showing some videos on what happens during an abortion, information on saline abortions, pictures of abortions, etc. etc. Ironies of ironies.
Thank God for the Good News, Jesus came to die for our sins! How merciful and loving is God to take on the punishment for our sins! Love asks Christians to recognize and help others see that abortion is a sin that destroys the life of a child. As we enter into the advent and Christmas season, ponder the mystery of the work of Christ in the world even when still an unborn Child. Mary was a teenage unwed mother, how brave she must have been in that culture to have said yes at a time if you were pregnant outside of marriage you would be stoned to death. Scripture shows Elizabeth felt her child’s joy and the excitement of her son John moving around within her and that led by the Holy Spirit asked Mary how the mother of her Lord would come to visit her. The unchanging and irrefutable truth recognizes the unborn child’s humanity. The same word is used in scripture for the Divine Infant before he was born as when he was laid in a manger. Fetus is a Latin word for little one. Human beings are made of genes from our mother and father. Our own unique dna continues unchanged through our whole life. The unborn child is Christ among us still. Like the Christ Child who’s Divinity went mostly unrecognized, the unborn are people though we fail to recognize their humanity. These children are moving, kicking, smiling, sucking their thumbs and have little hearts beating at their own unique pace thier own blood type. How horrible fathers are denied their God given rights to protect the life of their children. The unborn deserve laws for protection. May God bless the leadership at Saint Michaels and thank God who forgive us our sins.
I commend St. Mike’s for being clear about their mission as a Catholic College. No student is being forced to attend there.
Those of you claiming that only “3%” of planned parenthood’s activities are abortions is like someone claiming that only 3% of MLB really is about baseball. Yeah, a team plays 162 games in the season, true, but they also sell hundreds of thousands of hot dogs, sodas, fan merchandise, etc so in reality baseball is only a small part of what they do…no. at planned parenthood every “service” revolves around the one thing they do more than any other organization in America: provide abortions. They are a disgrace to society and humanity and all any Catholic, both a school, and individuals, can do is pray for their conversion; God’s love is the only remedy for such horrors.