After four years at Loyola and two years on tenure track, religious studies professor Christian Brugger is leaving Loyola.

“I’m leaving because of the department,” Brugger said. “I’m leaving because conservative Catholic theological ideas are not tolerated in this department; they are silenced.”

“Within Arts and Sciences, students get one-sided views and when traditional viewpoints are put forward, they are portrayed unfairly,” Brugger said.

According to Dr. Robert Gnuse, chair of the religious studies department, when a person is brought up for tenure, the review committee looks at the candidate’s service, published works and teaching.

“For the past four years, Christian (Brugger) got positive evaluations in the three areas. There are other issues involved with tenuring a person. All departments except us [the religious studies department] evaluate a tenure candidate according to collegiality. I can’t say there were problems [with his collegiality] because the AAUP says we can’t use that to evaluate,” he said

Students confirmed Gnuse’s reports of Brugger’s excellent teaching record.

“He’s extremely well-educated,” psychology senior Laura Marques said. “My education is more well-rounded because of his viewpoint.”

“He embodied what the mission statement is,” religious studies senior Emily Dauterive said.

Brugger, who won the Spirit of Loyola Award for Outstanding Organization Advisor for the 2002-2003 school year, said his colleagues in religious studies were telling students not to take his courses.

“They were spreading rumors, saying I said things in the classroom that I never said nor even thought of saying, telling students not to take my courses,” Brugger said.

Gnuse denied ever hearing that religious studies professors were specifically telling students not to take Brugger’s courses.

“People always come to professors and ask if they should take this or that class for their program,” Gnuse said. “All advisors recommend who to take and who to avoid. I don’t know of any professors in the religious studies department who explicitly told students not to take his courses.”

Dauterive said that she was twice advised not to take Brugger’s courses, once being told that he taught from a Roman Catholic standpoint, and the second time being told that he required a lot of work.

“There was always this feeling of ‘don’t take him.’ They were never mean about it, but I could sense it,” Dauterive said.

“Doctor Brugger takes a different perspective from other professors. Whether or not one agrees with what is taught, variety and critical thinking demands that different ideas be presented,” Marques said.

Several religious studies professors declined to comment.

Gnuse denied that the departmental vote on whether or not Brugger should have his contract renewed had anything to do with Brugger’s decision.

“Recommendations are given to the dean every year about faculty members. We had some reservations, which we reported to the dean. There are always reservations in any report. The university in no way fired him. The department did not terminate him. It didn’t really have that power,” Gnuse added. “Christian decided the wisest thing to do was to leave, so he took a position in Virginia, which was a very, very noble thing to do.”

According to Arts and Sciences Dean Frank Scully, Brugger has been reappointed every time his tenure came up.

“The department gives feedback to the dean and it had reservations which it reported to the dean,” Gnuse said. “He was never taken off tenure track. Loyola affirmed his abilities to the very end.”

“I want to have him leave and have people think highly of him,” Gnuse added.

Brugger said that his decision to leave Loyola was affected by the atmosphere within the religious studies department.

“I can no longer comfortably teach. It’s a hostile environment; it’s a gossiping environment,” Brugger said.

“I think Doctor Brugger was one of the few professors at our university who embraced the church’s teachings and was willing to give a fair account of it in the classroom,” Philip Braun, A’03 said.

Marques said Brugger’s style of teaching, alienated him from the department.

“He had opinions that didn’t conform to the ideas and viewpoints of a lot of the faculty and that was not appreciated. Other professors feel he should have been more critical. He’s not criticizing what they criticize,” she said.

Gnuse said that he could see how other professors might have a problem with Brugger’s conservative viewpoints.

Brugger condemned the lack of tolerance for opposing viewpoints in the religious studies department.

“We talk about critical thinking at the university, but do we really train them to be critical thinkers by portraying even the ideas of those thinkers they disagree with in the best possible light?” Brugger asked.

“I think this is part of a larger issue at Loyola, which makes it such a big deal,” Braun said. “From my experience at Loyola, when a topic involving Catholic morality or teaching is discussed in a classroom most often the church’s position, perhaps unintentionally by the professor, is not accurately presented or subtly dismissed as ludicrous. As a result, students will be unable to think critically on an issue because throughout their Loyola career, they consistently only hear one side.”

“There is not academic freedom in the Religious Studies department,” Brugger said. “Diversity of opinions is not tolerated. Plurality of views does not characterize the Religious Studies department. These professors want to clone themselves by hiring other professors who share their own ideas.”

Rachel Ritter can be reached at [email protected].