Today brings news that Georgetown alumnus and author of The Exorcist William Peter Blatty intends to pursue a canon law lawsuit against his alma mater that may possibly result in Georgetown’s not being able to call itself a Catholic university any longer.  Not coincidentally, today also marked the appearance at Georgetown of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who was invited to speak at an awards ceremony at Georgetown’s Public Policy Institute. 

Georgetown’s decision to invite Sebelius to speak can only be seen as a challenge to America’s Catholic bishops, who have unanimously denounced the mandate authored by Sebelius that requires Catholic universities, hospitals, and charities to provide health insurance covering contraceptives, including contraceptives that act as abortifacients.  Indeed, as Governor of Kansas, Sebelius was instructed by her bishop that she could not receive Communion, because of her staunch and public support for abortion.  While governor, Sebelius vetoed several anti-abortion bills, including one directed at late term abortions, and received financial and political support from both Planned Parenthood and late-term abortionist George Tiller, whom Sebelius even invited to the Governor’s mansion.  The invitation for Sebelius to speak was so egregious that it caused blogger Jeff Miller to quip that the reason Sebelius was invited was because “Judas was unavailable.”

Blatty’s attitude toward his alma mater is the correct one.  The unfortunate reality is that far too many American universites and colleges are now dedicated to subverting the values they were founded to uphold.  Far too many of them see their current mission as inculcating leftism.  Conservative alumni should no longer be filling the already overflowing coffers of places like Georgetown.  They should instead follow Blatty’s example and try to get their alma mater back on course.