The Doctor and I were having a conversation the other day about university buildings and the donors who pay for them. As university people ourselves, we’re grateful to those wealthy alums who help ensure that we have adequate facilities for our work. There is, however, one unfortunate thing about the use of donor money for building. The building is generally named for the person who underwrote the building of it, or in some cases for somebody else designated by the donors. Hence, our university buildings tend to bear the random names of wealthy alums, or perhaps friends or relations of theirs. I can’t say it’s unreasonable that a person who gives 20 million dollars to put up a building should get to pick the name. But for good (and wealthy) Catholics, wouldn’t it be nicer to name buildings for saints, or at least illustrious Catholics whose lives we should admire?

It seems to me that, among those Catholics who have sufficient funds to erect a building, it would be a lovely custom to name the things they build for their patron saints. What better tribute to one’s patron, than to ensure that thousands of undergraduates should say his name daily? Those who have enough to erect several buildings might name some for their children’s patron saints, or their parents’. This way, they would be honoring both the patron saint himself and also, indirectly, the person for whose sake the patron was chosen. They would also be contributing to Catholic environment in both tangible and intangible ways. If they want to have their own “signature” somewhere on the building (which, if not exactly the picture of humility, is still very natural and human), the university could put in a plaque naming the donor. The plaque could also include a few words, either written or chosen by the donor, honoring the patron for whom he named the building. I think this would be a very fine thing for a wealthy Catholic family to do.

As a college undergraduate at Notre Dame, I lived in Lyons Hall. This building (built in the days when Notre Dame’s student body was all male, but now a women’s dormitory) was named for Joseph Lyons, an English teacher who was much loved and admired in Notre Dame’s early years. Lyons Hall, being 75 years old, was somewhat shabbier than some of the newer constructions to the west of campus. I was always proud, though, to live in a dorm that was named for a scholar and not a businessman. Please understand: I have nothing against businessmen! It’s necessary to have such people in the world, and they have no reason to hang their heads. Their wealth, if they are wealthy, can be used in good and honorable ways. Nonetheless, they are, at best, auxiliary to the mission of the university. Their support is appreciated, but it is support; it isn’t itself the work for which universities are founded. They would do their office better, therefore, if they used their means to draw attention, not towards themselves, but towards others that they know to be especially worthy of admiration.

At the rate we’re going, it’s looking extremely unlikely that the Doctor and I will ever be wealthy enough to underwrite a university building project. So I won’t be able to practice what I preach on this one, but I thought I’d at least post the suggestion, just in case we have some fabulously rich readers who might see it, and be inspired.