Jean Vanier school considers name change
Jean Vanier Catholic High School is among the many institutions named after religious hero Jean Vanier grappling with how to proceed now that his legacy is tarnished.
Students at the local Catholic high school were given the option of not wearing their uniforms this week as school officials review how to best move forward after Vanier was found to have abused women.
Vanier, a Canadian philosopher and theologian, is the founder of L’Arche International, a network of more than 154 care communities and 19 projects in 38 countries around the world that support people with intellectual disabilities. He died in May.
L’Arche International released the findings of its independent inquiry this week revealing it “received credible and consistent testimonies from six adult women without disabilities, covering the period from 1970 to 2005. The women each report that Jean Vanier initiated sexual relations with them, usually in the context of spiritual accompaniment… The relationships were found to be manipulative and emotionally abusive, and had a significant negative impact on their personal lives and subsequent relationships. These actions are indicative of a deep psychological and spiritual hold Jean Vanier had on these women and confirm his own adoption of some of Father Thomas Philippe’s deviant theories and practices.”
Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board Director of Education Brian Beal and Jean Vanier Catholic High School principal John Collingbourne responded with a letter to parents and guardians on Feb. 23 saying, “We are praying for the women who were betrayed and victimized by Jean Vanier’s actions. We honour their courage and thank them for standing up and speaking out. We also pray for the staff and students in our school community who actively and publicly celebrated Jean Vanier in his life and in his death. We were proud of our namesake and openly admired him for his work as a humanitarian and especially for his work with L’Arche. All of this has now seriously come into question…”
“As a result of Jean Vanier’s reprehensible actions, our community finds itself in a troubling and difficult situation. As a community, we have legitimate concerns, discomfort and perhaps a sense of shame about having a namesake who was involved in the sexual assault and exploitation of several women. There are so many things we will now need to consider as we move forward as a school community, not the least of which is our school’s name.”
School officials, decided to make this week a “Civvies Week” giving students the option of not wearing their school uniform, which bears Vanier’s name.
Creemore student Sarah Crawford said, she like majority of her fellow students, are not wearing their uniforms to school this week.
“When I found out about it, I thought, I don’t want to wear my uniform because the sweater I wear has his name right on it and I don’t really want to associate myself with someone whose done things like that,” said Crawford, a Grade 11 student.
Crawford saw the story in her newsfeed last Friday and said it caught her attention.
“I was surprised and a little shocked,” she said, and wondered, “What exactly would it mean for the school?”
“At school, some teachers were very upset about the news. Students were kind of shocked but it’s not as much of an impact on this generation, I find,” said Crawford.
She said she was vaguely aware of Jean Vanier’s work with the disabled and his connection to the Catholic community, but otherwise didn’t know much about the man.
Students were talking about it Monday but, aside from the e-mail, a couple of announcements and a few teachers who were talking about it, Crawford said, student life was business-as-usual. She was hoping the school would do more to address student concerns directly.
“There hasn’t been an assembly or anything. We don’t really know what’s happening. What’s being discussed. We haven’t gotten together as a school and talked about it,” said Crawford. “I think they need to change their name, no matter what.”
She doesn’t have any suggestions necessarily. She said it may be appropriate to name the school after a saint or Catholic figure, just hopefully someone who is not currently living.
The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board has a policy, which specifically outlines the criteria for school naming, said school officials.
“In light of what we now know about Jean Vanier, we are committed to working with the staff, students and parents in our community to review how we should best move forward with the name of our Catholic high school in Collingwood,” states the letter to parents.
Correction: The Echo apologizes for misidentifying Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board officials in the Feb 28 article “Jean Vanier considers name change.” Brian Beal is the director of education and John Collingbourne is the school’s principal.
