As a member of the Jewish faith, I am definitely an unlikely candidate to have purchased and read CATHOLIC HIGHER EDUCATION: A CULTURE IN CRISIS. After our weekly Rotary club meetings, some of my fellow Rotarians and I, both Catholic and Protestant, have coffee and discuss and compare our involvements in our respective congregations. A devout Catholic with whom I have known many years recommended the book at our of our informal meetings.

First, I learned more about the Catholic Church in my first hour of reading than I had learned in my lifetime. The book was well-written and easy for a non-Catholic like me to follow and not get lost.

Having been involved in the past in religious education at my synagogue, I found many of Piderit and Morey's ideas to be potentially helpful for Jewish education as well, whether at the higher education level or any level for that matter. I know that after our discussion last week, one of our Episcopalian members of our Rotary Club is going to read it for the same reason. Their ideas and thinking on the matter of Catholic higher education can be implemented to some degree by Jewish educational institutions, as well as Protestant and Muslim for that matter I am sure.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Rev. John Piderit, S.J. and Mealnie Morey have presented a hot-button topic in a sensible way that is easy to follow for someone like me who is not well-versed in the field of Catholic higher education.

First, I bought this at the bookstore because I saw the name of Father John Piderit, S.J. as the author. I attended Fordham University in the 1980's when Father Pidertit was an economics professor there. While he was known as being a demanding professor whose courses were definitely not an easy "A", as was the case for some of his Jesuit brethren, Father Piderit taught a special manners class every semester in which students who partook learned how to cultivate superior table manners. This manners seminar was legendary. In fact, the sitcom in the 1990's "Spin City", starring Michael J. Fox, featured the actor as a Fordham grad who was the Deputy Mayor of New York City; during Fox's five year run on the hit show, there were several references to his character having taken Father Piderit's manners class while a student at Fordham.

I admit I embarked upon this book due to Father Piderit's reputation, but Father Piderit and Melanie Morey won me over. I read the book during the recent controversies at the University of Notre Dame and it helped me to better formulate and express my opinions on the role of Catholic colleges and universities. In recent years there have been many controversies like the aforementioned ones at Notre Dame in 2006; in my opinion, this book should be used as a textbook for such cases, both by Catholic educators and the Catholic press.

One thing that struck me as impressive was how each of the various order of priests, brothers and nuns were held to the same standard. The fact that Father Piderit is a Jesuit and is the former president of Loyola University in Chicago is irrelevant because a whole spectrum of religious congregations received equal attention in the book. The Jesuits by no means received prominent coverage.

Certainly there are other crises in the Catholic Church at the moment, but the success of Piderit and Morey in addressing the crisis in Catholic higher education should receive much attention, both in the Catholic media and the secular media alike.

Two people have already asked to borrow the book, but I have refused to lend it out because I know that I will definitely use it as a reference guide in the future. I would not be surprised if some heads of institutions of Catholic higher education were to receive this book as a gift from an alumnus or two.