Well, not what Cbean wanted, but for anyone who wants to see the Inquirer story without bothering to subscribe. Netscape took me to a subscription page but IE took me to the story, here 'tis. -- Bob
<<Posted on Thu, Jan. 20, 2005
Controversy over Villanova memorial
Critics say naming an alcove after a depressive teacher who killed her baby and herself betrays the school's teachings.
By Larry Fish
Inquirer Staff Writer
Villanova University remembers professor Mine Ener as a teacher, mentor and friend.
But some say that naming a section of the library for a woman who killed her handicapped child and later herself would betray the Catholic school's teachings on the sanctity of life.
This morning's ceremony to honor Ener may draw protesters upset that the university is dedicating an alcove to her memory.
Ener said she was suffering from severe postpartum depression when she killed her 6-month-old daughter, who had Down syndrome, in 2003. Ener then killed herself in jail.
The library study lounge is furnished by the friends and family of Ener, who at age 38 had a growing reputation in her field of Middle Eastern studies and was known for her concern and mentoring of students.
But one Villanova student said she was shocked to return to campus this week after the semester break to find out about the naming.
She plans to pray with other students and members of Down syndrome support groups to mark the time of the ceremony.
"I was upset even though I understand that she did a lot of good research at Villanova and was well-loved," said Jeanne Marie Hoffman, a senior and political science major from Yonkers, N.Y.
"But this is a Catholic university, and Catholic universities emphasize the sanctity of life," Hoffman said.
The memorial committee is made up of faculty members including the Rev. Kail C. Ellis, dean of college of liberal arts and sciences and a member of the Augustinian order of friars that founded Villanova in 1842.
The campus has white crosses to remember aborted fetuses, and the school is encouraging students to go to Washington on Monday for the March for Life on the 32d anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortions.
All members of the Main Line school's faculty and staff directed calls to Barbara K. Clement, head of the office of communications and public affairs, who called the Ener memorial "compassionate" and said that it honors her life, not "her last days when she was extremely ill."
"If she had been in her right mind, she never would have done those things," Clement said.
She said that remembering Ener before her illness was not inconsistent with the church's positions.
"There should be a certain degree of compassion, not condemnation," Clement said.
But Troy Memis of Mullica Hill, whose son has Down syndrome, and who heard about the naming on local talk radio, said he would go to Villanova this morning with as many people as he could get to "pray and show a presence."
"I am offended personally that they would honor such a person," Memis said. He said he was the "father outreach coordinator" for a group called Kiids (Knowledge and Information About Individuals With Down Syndrome).
Ener, a native of Minnesota, married University of Pennsylvania professor Ron Donagi in 2002 and soon became pregnant with their daughter, Raya.
Raya's Down syndrome was discovered only after birth. She required feeding through a tube in her nose on a schedule which contributed to Ener's fatigue and despair.
In the summer of 2003, Ener was taking antidepressants and antipsychotic medicines and thinking of suicide. She went to stay in her mother's house in Minnesota.
On Aug. 4, she was found with blood on her hands, standing over the body of her 6-month-old daughter. She had slit her throat.
Police said Ener told them that she thought the baby's outlook was "hopeless" and that she did not want her daughter "to go through life suffering."
Ener was on a suicide watch in jail, but managed to get hold of a plastic trash can liner. She suffocated herself about three weeks after killing her baby.
"The whole thing is a tragedy," said Hoffman, who said she remembers the sorrow and shock on campus at the time.
"We don't want to hurt them," Hoffman said of those touched by Ener's acts, but she said she did not think naming a campus facility for her was appropriate.
Anne Wein, editor in chief of the Villanovan student newspaper, said that because most students had returned from break only in the last day or so, few appeared to be aware of either the memorial ceremony or the controversy.
But Wein said she was "a little surprised" herself to find that the school would remember Ener that way.
Hoffman quickly turned to the Internet and her personal Web page to spread her views.
She noted that Villanova's basketball arena was long known as the John E. du Pont Pavilion, in honor of a wealthy benefactor.
But du Pont killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz in 1996, was found guilty of third-degree murder, and was judged mentally ill.
Villanova removed du Pont's name from the arena the next year, and spokeswoman Clement said at the time the name was "no longer appropriate."
Clement said yesterday the cases were not parallel.
"Certainly there is a great deal of difference between somebody who was on campus and teaching and being a friend and mentor and someone who wasn't," Clement said.
Hoffman said she had not spoken directly to any university officials about her concerns. Among students, she said, she found some who shared her views and others who wanted Ener memorialized at the library. >>
