Ireland Hall was the site of the Virgin Mary statue vandalism last week, addressed by President Julie Sullivan in a campus-wide email. (TommieMedia file photo)
This story was updated on March 14 at 1:06 p.m. to include interviews from First-year Class President Noah Katula and Aaron Macke, associate dean of students and director of residence life.
Vandals shattered a statue of the Virgin Mary last week in St. Thomas’ Ireland Hall, prompting a response from university president Julie Sullivan. The statue had been in Ireland Hall, the university’s oldest dormitory, for many years.
Sullivan sent an email to the St. Thomas community Tuesday describing the incident, signed by herself and Executive Vice President and Provost Richard Plumb.
“The destroying of a holy object of any religion is a grave act of disrespect and is completely inconsistent with St. Thomas’ values and convictions,” Sullivan wrote.
First-year Class President Noah Katula, who lives in Ireland Hall, was disappointed to see students vandalize the statue. Katula said the statue was shattered by being pushed down a staircase.
“This is not tolerable. We don’t accept this kind of hate and action,” Katula said. “Catholic students make up 54 percent of our school. It’s a large group of students being represented and we want to make (sure) everyone’s beliefs are protected. We want to make sure they feel comfortable and welcome to the university.”
According to Sullivan’s email, the students involved in the incident have been identified in a St. Thomas Public Safety investigation and will be subject to the student conduct process. The Ireland Hall area director sent out an email to residents condemning the act and reminding students about the Code of Conduct they all agreed to.
“Students did a great job of cooperating and sharing information,” said Aaron Macke, associate dean of students and director of residence life.
Jake Reilly, the Ireland Hall area director, sent out an email to residents condemning the act and reminding students about the Code of Conduct they all agreed to.
The email says that counseling and support from campus ministry are available for students. In addition, residents of Ireland Hall will be invited to a listening session with each other and members of campus ministry.
Campus ministry and Residence Life are working together to replace the statue.
Brennan Campbell can be reached at camp3460@stthomas.edu.
As I stated on the President’s official statement:
I firmly hope that St. Thomas intends to handle this act of sacrilege against the Blessed Virgin Mary without delay. Could St. Thomas please confirm that it intends to cancel classes and make clear to students via a public gathering and address from the President that acts of vandalism against sacred Catholic objects is obscene and must not occur again? I take it that, with the school’s reaction to recent vandalism centered around race, it intends to take as strong of steps to counter this attack as it did ones in the recent past.
I will add to my previous comment that a listening session as described in this article hardly matches the response of St. Thomas for other acts of vandalism, which is surprising given that this strikes at the heart of the faith held by the school. I hope that St. Thomas will make clear with an appropriate response that this is a grave offense.
I just hope the state isn’t replaced with something ugly or interpretive. Just let the BVM be her beautiful self.
The oldest dormitory on campus is Cretin Hall (built 1895), not Ireland Hall (built 1912).
Otherwise I’m terribly sorry to hear about the incident, and I’m glad the university is responding appropriately.