Aurora Griffin on Being Catholic at Harvard

tonygill — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 09:00:46 +0000

What is it like to be a devout Catholic attending a secular university? What steps can young believers take to ensure the integrity of the faith? Aurora Griffin, a graduate of Harvard University and a junior research scholar at the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at the Catholic University of America, answers these questions and provides valuable insights from her book How I Stayed Catholic at Harvard. After a brief discussion of her current duties at Catholic University, Ms. Griffin provides us with some biographical background on her faith and education growing up, and how she ended up at Harvard. Starting out with the intent to major in biomedical and cardiac research, and a side-interest in philosophy, she details how she ended up on an academic track focusing on the classics. Aurora also discusses the stresses of applying for college and what the first few months on campus are like – intellectually, socially, and religiously. Along the way, we are treated to great bits of advice regarding how to navigate the difficult waters of one’s college career, including the realization that things change.

Aurora then recounts an important story that set her down the course of writing her book about life at Harvard. It was during her graduation dinner with family, friends, and select faculty members that her father offered a toast regarding how significant it was that Aurora kept her Catholic faith so strong throughout college. This came as a bit of surprise as Aurora was expecting a recounting of her various academic achievements, but this point did prompt her to reflect upon the beliefs and practices that kept her strong, write them down, and publish them as bits of advice for other students who would find themselves in her position. When asked what the most important disciplines keeping her faith strong were, she replied that is was: 1) attending Mass regularly; 2) observing all required fasts; and 3) going to confession at least once a year. We discuss how the act of confession helps to promote reflection and humility, and how regular practices (or rituals) such as attending Mass create strong habits in other parts of one’s spiritual and secular life.

The discussion then turns to more specific advice in several areas including choosing one’s community, one’s approach to academics, and how to “live out” faith on a daily basis. Aurora points out that it would be hard to maintain one’s religious faith without a community of like-minded supporters, thus it is important to seek out other students and faculty that share your beliefs. This is a task that is important right from the start. Aurora also discusses her success in forming a Catholic sorority to bring together a community of 35 or so female students who connected with the Daughters of Isabella organization. The Harvard chapter of the Daughters of Isabella initiated their organization with a black tie ball, organized other social events, and became engaged in various charitable activities such as pancake breakfasts to support a local parish and baby showers for low-income mothers. We also discussed what it means to “just be Catholic” on a secular campus and Aurora’s thoughts on how to embrace the teachings of the Church without picking and choosing selectively. Tony asks if building a strong community of like-minded adherents runs the risk of creating a bubble around a student, which then moves us into a discussion of how important it is to also interact with people who are different than you, a lesson she learned at Oxford.

Academically, Aurora champions the importance of finding religious faculty members to interact with, attending conferences, and conversing with guest speakers to campus. She recounts her first meeting with philosopher Peter Kreeft of Boston College while picking him up at an airport in California. This seemingly mundane encounter became the springboard from which further intellectual interactions occurred in Boston. We then talk about “living it out” — i.e., how to be openly religious in our modern world. Aurora raises an interesting question that she heard from one of her friends: “If we lived in a country where Christianity was illegal, would there be sufficient evidence to charge you with?” This provocative question became a measuring stick for Aurora’s own faith and she talks about how rejecting various temptations at social gatherings and keeping the Sabbath are important markers for one’s spiritual developments. She recalls how she would attend Mass regularly on Sunday and spend leisurely afternoons with her friends afterwards as a way of keeping the Sabbath, a difficult task in the high-pressured world of the Ivy League. We also talk about how regular habits of faith may seem robotic and sterile, but really allow a person to avoid things that they could become “hurt by” and how this leads to a more fulfilling and happier life.

The conversation concludes with some of Aurora’s personal reflections on what she has experienced since finishing her book and what her future plans are. Recorded: Janary 12, 2018

John Errington on “A Long Way Off” and Religious Movie Making

tonygill — Sun, 04 May 2014 08:00:33 +0000

With religiously-themed movies such as Noah and The Blind Side making their way into major motion picture releases recently, we talk with writer, producer, and director John Errington about his new independent film project A Long Way Off set to be released on May 16th, 2014. Our conversation takes us into the world of independent film making to see how smaller movies with religious themes can compete with big cinematic productions.

We start off with a quick synopsis of the movie A Long Way Off, which follows the story of the prodigal son in the New Testament. After this short “trailer,” we then take an overview of John’s life, finding how a kid born in Detroit, raised in North Carolina, and educated at Harvard ends up directing motion pictures and winning an Emmy (albeit not for directing). John provides some insight into his personal faith and other tidbits about his life including how he goes from making a movie in college for fun to directing a motion picture with stars such as Robert Davi and Edie McClurg. John reflects upon his love of storytelling and how it relates to film making.

Following this autobiography, we dive into the world of making a movie. Tony learns why there are so many different companies (e.g., Word Films, Uptone Pictures) with their “hands in the pot” and what constitutes an “independent film.” John explains that every film is really a business enterprise unto itself that brings together a number of different companies. It is revealed that Word Films is actually a distribution subsidiary of Warner Brothers, yet A Long Way Off still qualifies as “independent” based upon how the funding for the making of the picture was assembled. We also talk about why the film was shot in North Carolina and the impressive cast that was assembled for this film, including important roles for the likes of Robert Davi (the Bond villain in License to Kill and Edie McClurg from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Frozen). Tony probes whether working on an independent Christian film might brand or limit an actor/actress/director in terms of future career options.

Our conversation also covers the plot of the film, what type of liberties John and the writers took with the prodigal son story, and how the movie is being marketed. The latter includes discussion on how to give the story some “edge” so that it doesn’t come off as a sappy Hallmark made-for-TV movie, yet keep it clean enough to make it enjoyable family fare. As for marketing, we talk about the role that churches can play in helping to “get the word out.” John, while not principally responsible for distribution, does talk about the use of social media and religious networks to help the film get some traction.

We finish with John’s general thoughts about the role of religion in Hollywood and popular culture and how the lower costs of film making has changed the landscape. Recorded: April 18, 2014.

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Aurora Griffin on Being Catholic at Harvard

John Errington on “A Long Way Off” and Religious Movie Making