A few months before the publication of a new book by Melanie Morey and John Piderit, S.J., entitled, "Catholic Higher Education: A Culture in Crisis" (Oxford University Press), I had provided an advance comment for use in the book's promotion. It appears on the book's back cover.

"This may be the most important study of Catholic higher education that has ever been done," the blurb reads. "An exceedingly well-researched, straightforward, and balanced presentation, this book should be required reading for every administrator and trustee of every Catholic university and college in the country. If I had a magic wand to wave, I would see to it that every faculty member and student in those institutions would also read and ponder it."

It is now several months later and I see no reason to change a single word of that endorsement. I remain convinced that this book raises and addresses in a singularly compelling fashion the most pressing issues facing Catholic higher education today. And it does so in such a detailed and scientifically grounded fashion that it will be exceedingly difficult for the conscientious administrator, trustee, faculty member, or student in a Catholic university or college to dismiss it out of hand. They may simply ignore it, however, and that would be most unfortunate.

To my knowledge, no other book like it challenges the generalities so frequently mouthed about Catholic character, identity, and mission. Even if one finds herself or himself in strong disagreement with some, or even many, of its recommendations, this book can serve as the basis of substantive conversation, argument, and, one hopes, eventual improvements in the functioning of Catholic universities and colleges.

It is also important to note that this book was not patched together in some proverbial ivory tower. Melanie Morey, whose doctorate is in Higher Education Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has been involved for the past 35 years in both education and administration, serving as a researcher and consultant to Catholic colleges and universities, religious congregations, and other Catholic institutions. John Piderit, a trained economist with a doctorate from Princeton, is president of the Catholic Educational Institute, former vice president at Marquette University, and former president of Loyola University of Chicago.

Few studies have examined, as this one has, the full range of Catholic universities and colleges in all their rich diversity: "From small two-year colleges to major research universities, from institutions founded by religious congregations of men and dioceses to those founded by sisters and lay Catholics, from religiously conservative institutions to self-proclaimed liberal ones, from rural universities and colleges to suburban and big-city institutions, from residential colleges to commuter schools, from regional colleges to national powerhouse universities."

The co-authors interviewed 124 senior administrators at 33 of these institutions across the United States. (There are about 220 Catholic universities and colleges in this country.)

The first, or data-gathering, phase of the study disclosed that women are disappearing from the presidency in Catholic colleges and universities; that there is a significant lack of theological and spiritual preparation among presidents; that the great majority of lay presidents feel ill equipped to lead the religious mission of their institutions; that many religious and lay presidents find the phrases "Catholic identity" and "Catholic intellectual tradition" to be "fuzzy concepts that lack sufficient vitality on campuses"; that presidents desire a more supportive working relationship with the hierarchical Church but find such a relationship "elusive and complex"; and that, while they all acknowledge the central role that faculty members play in their institutions, both lay and religious presidents report that the faculty is "an obstacle to effective leadership in the area of Catholic character, mission and identity."

The findings also disclose that boards of trustees who hired the presidents "have not yet identified the minimum standards of religious education and training they deem essential for all Catholic college and university presidents."

"The profile that emerged from the first phase of the study," the book's Introduction notes, "indicated that presidents at Catholic colleges and universities increasingly resemble their peers in non-Catholic institutions, and in so doing it raised questions about their claims that Catholic colleges and universities are truly distinctive from the rest of American higher education."

In the book's concluding chapter, which reflects both phases of the study --- the data-gathering and the extensive interviews --- the co-authors report that, while senior administrators are "enthusiastic" about the Catholic intellectual tradition and "excited about sharing it with students," they themselves "appeared to know little about it."

Those who might be inclined to dismiss such a conclusion need to consider the factual data contained in this important book.

Father Richard P. McBrien is the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.