(The following statement is issued by Bishop Thomas Zinkula, as chair of the Board of Trustees of St. Ambrose University and Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport; Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, president of St. Ambrose University; and Paul Koch, provost and vice president of academic affairs for St. Ambrose University in Davenport.)
We are responding to the opinion column published in the Quad-City Times on March 12, 2019, by Dr. Keith Soko, a professor in the Theology Department at St. Ambrose University. First, we want you to know that we consider St. Ambrose University to be your University, and many of you are alumni of St. Ambrose. We are a Catholic Diocesan University, and as such, our role is to be in and of and for the community.
As a Catholic University, we endorse the teachings of the Catholic Church and strive to remain faithful to and in communion with the Church. We do not endorse the views of Dr. Soko, and we apologize for any negative impact his piece has had on you. While we support the rights of faculty, staff and students to hold their own views, we do not support their rights to express views in a manner that confuses their individual views with those of St. Ambrose University or the Church. Such confusion clearly occurred for some when Dr. Soko identified himself as a Moral Theologian and Professor at St. Ambrose. We commit to continue our ongoing conversation between the Diocese and St. Ambrose to ensure that dialogue continues about how we can continue to best serve each other and the Church and remain in faithful communion.
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