Origin of Students for a Fair Society
Students for a Fair Society (SFS) was not started by accident, it is an organization that has been sought out for many years. SFS originated on the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville, an institution of higher-learning known for its active leadership in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to some, and its staunch conservatism to others. A leading group on campus, then College Republicans, was seen by numerous students as the Franciscan University of Steubenville group of poster-children. However, a select duo on campus saw two important things concerning this phenomenon, 1) the University should not have to water-down its Catholic identity in embracing either conservatism or republicanism, and; 2) because of the cultural lack of consistent Catholicism, a type of 'herd mentality' was put forth in a way that penetrated the entirety of student life on campus, spirituality, academics, and community.
Problems associated with the conservative and republican identity fixing were manifested, and continue to this day to be made manifest, in the Administration's, numerous faculty and staff members', and a majority of the students', removing themselves, in word and deed, from the fullness of Catholic teaching. While the University cried out in pride its culture's full involvement in the anti-abortion movement, it fail(ed)/(s) to perfect that involvement and turn it into a true Pro-Life movement. For example, while much of the school was for traditional marriage, against violence in the womb and towards the elderly, it sustained and fed a culture that appeared apathetic towards and/or biased against: the poor, the weak, those suffering from bullying and/or sexual exploitation, the uninsured, the underinsured, the uneducated, the homeless, the hungry, the immigrant, the imprisoned and those of varied sexual orientations/the LGBTQ, equal civil rights, due process, environmental protection, unjust war, crimes against humanity and peace, and capital punishment - and this was blatantly contrary to Catholic thought and action.
At first, in order to provide an opportunity for a less narrow-minded exchange of ideas, Paul T. McLaughlin (graduate class of 2012) and Keith Michael Estrada (undergraduate class of 2012) pursued in the Spring of 2011 establishing a College Democrats chapter on campus. While neither of the two agreed with the Democratic Party's platform, they saw the majority of the party's stance on distributive justice essential to Catholic dialogue and thought.
In the Fall of 2011, however, the Vice-President of Student Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mr. David Schmeising, after having rejected the duo's request to establish a College Democrats chapter several times, announced that in the Spring of 2012, Franciscan University would no longer allow party-affiliated organizations on campus. Estrada, now left on his own as McLaughlin returned home to California, saw what good would come from this decision.
While College Republicans eventually became Young Americans for Freedom (on Franciscan's campus), Estrada saw that the opportunity had come to allow a group to originate which would not be kept from flourishing due to the secularization of the Catholic identity. That is to say, instead of continuing an effort to establish a "progressive" group on campus, Estrada decided to organize students committed to Catholicism in its fullness in a way that would eventually lead one to say that being Catholic is sufficient, as it is the only expression that points to the true transcendental nature of man and his calling - something neither "progressive" nor "conservative" could do.
A few like-minded students came together to form the founding members of Students for a Fair Society at Franciscan University of Steubenville and ratified the constitution on the fourth of October, 2011 by a majority vote. It was soon submitted to the VP of Student Life for approval in order to become recognized as a student organization. It was not until after much discussion took place concerning the group's blatant defense of people with same-sex attraction, that Mr. Schmeising wrote on November fifteenth, 2011, "I am granting 'Students for a Fair Society' official standing as a Franciscan University of Steubenville student organization...." With that, there was much rejoicing.
Due to the fact that the organization was not granted official recognition by the University until late in the Fall of 2011, and due to a lack of funding, an actual meeting was not successfully held until the coming Spring. Due to the organization's radically Catholic and non secular/republican/conservative/democratic/liberal/libertarian etc. stance, it has faced much criticism on certain positions from some people and on different positions by others. With the Sacred Scriptures, the Saints, Magisterial documents including the Catechism and Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine, and the Sacraments at the disposal of the group, we have sought to live and teach Catholicism on campus and in the surrounding community sometimes in the name of the Seamless Garment, other times in the name of the Consistent-life Ethic, but always for, with, and in, Christ.
SFS is funded in part by Franciscan University Student Government, however lacks the funds necessary in order to more effectively carry out its mission.
See our Constitution for a basic introduction to the group's platform or see some of our Past Events.
Problems associated with the conservative and republican identity fixing were manifested, and continue to this day to be made manifest, in the Administration's, numerous faculty and staff members', and a majority of the students', removing themselves, in word and deed, from the fullness of Catholic teaching. While the University cried out in pride its culture's full involvement in the anti-abortion movement, it fail(ed)/(s) to perfect that involvement and turn it into a true Pro-Life movement. For example, while much of the school was for traditional marriage, against violence in the womb and towards the elderly, it sustained and fed a culture that appeared apathetic towards and/or biased against: the poor, the weak, those suffering from bullying and/or sexual exploitation, the uninsured, the underinsured, the uneducated, the homeless, the hungry, the immigrant, the imprisoned and those of varied sexual orientations/the LGBTQ, equal civil rights, due process, environmental protection, unjust war, crimes against humanity and peace, and capital punishment - and this was blatantly contrary to Catholic thought and action.
At first, in order to provide an opportunity for a less narrow-minded exchange of ideas, Paul T. McLaughlin (graduate class of 2012) and Keith Michael Estrada (undergraduate class of 2012) pursued in the Spring of 2011 establishing a College Democrats chapter on campus. While neither of the two agreed with the Democratic Party's platform, they saw the majority of the party's stance on distributive justice essential to Catholic dialogue and thought.
In the Fall of 2011, however, the Vice-President of Student Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mr. David Schmeising, after having rejected the duo's request to establish a College Democrats chapter several times, announced that in the Spring of 2012, Franciscan University would no longer allow party-affiliated organizations on campus. Estrada, now left on his own as McLaughlin returned home to California, saw what good would come from this decision.
While College Republicans eventually became Young Americans for Freedom (on Franciscan's campus), Estrada saw that the opportunity had come to allow a group to originate which would not be kept from flourishing due to the secularization of the Catholic identity. That is to say, instead of continuing an effort to establish a "progressive" group on campus, Estrada decided to organize students committed to Catholicism in its fullness in a way that would eventually lead one to say that being Catholic is sufficient, as it is the only expression that points to the true transcendental nature of man and his calling - something neither "progressive" nor "conservative" could do.
A few like-minded students came together to form the founding members of Students for a Fair Society at Franciscan University of Steubenville and ratified the constitution on the fourth of October, 2011 by a majority vote. It was soon submitted to the VP of Student Life for approval in order to become recognized as a student organization. It was not until after much discussion took place concerning the group's blatant defense of people with same-sex attraction, that Mr. Schmeising wrote on November fifteenth, 2011, "I am granting 'Students for a Fair Society' official standing as a Franciscan University of Steubenville student organization...." With that, there was much rejoicing.
Due to the fact that the organization was not granted official recognition by the University until late in the Fall of 2011, and due to a lack of funding, an actual meeting was not successfully held until the coming Spring. Due to the organization's radically Catholic and non secular/republican/conservative/democratic/liberal/libertarian etc. stance, it has faced much criticism on certain positions from some people and on different positions by others. With the Sacred Scriptures, the Saints, Magisterial documents including the Catechism and Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine, and the Sacraments at the disposal of the group, we have sought to live and teach Catholicism on campus and in the surrounding community sometimes in the name of the Seamless Garment, other times in the name of the Consistent-life Ethic, but always for, with, and in, Christ.
SFS is funded in part by Franciscan University Student Government, however lacks the funds necessary in order to more effectively carry out its mission.
See our Constitution for a basic introduction to the group's platform or see some of our Past Events.