Dr. John D. Welty, president of California State University, Fresno, and Dr. Craig Bernthal, a professor of English, will speak at the third annual Sergio P. Negro Memorial Lecture: “The Idea of a University: Is Newman’s Vision Relevant Today?”
The lecture presentation will be at 3 p.m. March 27 at the Cardinal Newman Hall at St. Paul Newman Center (1572 E. Barstow Ave., just west of the campus and north of Bulldog Stadium).
John Henry Cardinal Newman was a 19th century Anglican priest and theologian who converted to Catholicism. He is the namesake for Newman centers on or near college campuses that serve the religious needs of Catholic students, faculty and staff.
The St. Paul Newman Center is home to the Newman Catholic Students Association and is a general parish within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno. Father Negro, who died in 1999, was the founding pastor of the church, a lecturer in theology at Fresno State, a medical ethicist and diocesan vicar general.
Welty will speak about Newman’s work pertaining to the “ideal university” and how those ideas might be applied today when running a university in a secular environment. Bernthal will explore Cardinal Newman’s background and the subject of classical humanities in modern education.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact 559.436.3434.
