A Permanent, Expanded Center
CIT is delighted to share that we have secured a $7.02 million donation that will ensure the long-term future of CIT and allow us to convert CIT into a permanent center at the Columbus School of Law.
As you might recall, the donor who gave the initial $4.25 million gift to start CIT intended that the gift would fund 2-3 years of programming (in addition to helping CUA hire new faculty and build a new suite of centers-and-institutes-related offices), after which the donor’s representative would assess whether to make a larger donation. Given the tremendous success CIT has had since the initial gift, the donor’s representative recently approved a $7.02 million gift, which will ensure long-term funding and the conversion of the temporary Project into a permanent Center.
The new center will be called the Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT). While CIT always has and always will have a special focus on originalism and theories of constitutional interpretation or adjudication, our new name will more accurately reflect the broader academic focus that CIT has had the last three years: on the Catholic intellectual tradition in relation to the Constitution more generally, not just in relation to theories of interpretation or adjudication specifically. Our mission statement remains the same in substance; all that is changing is the name.
Announcing Organizational Changes
We also write to share a few organizational updates for 2024-2025. First, establishing CIT as a center enables CIT to serve as the host organization for particular projects and institutes. CIT’s first project will be the Project on Judicial Power and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. At his request, Prof. Kevin Walsh, who has served as Co-Director of CIT, will assume the roles of CIT Senior Fellow and Director of our new Project on Judicial Power and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Starting this summer, I will serve as the sole Director of CIT.
Second, Prof. Chad Squitieri and Prof. William M. M. Kamin, who have previously served as CIT Fellows, will become Managing Directors of CIT, assisting me with day-to-day management of CIT’s programming. In addition, two new faculty hires are joining CIT: Prof. Jenn Mascott, who came to CUA from George Mason University this summer, joins us as a Senior Fellow, and Derek Webb, who starts with CUA this fall, joins us as a Fellow.
Third, CIT’s Associate Director, Camden White, will be moving on to other opportunities in September. We thank Camden for all his hard work over the past year. In place of the Associate Director position, CIT will now have two staff members who will support CIT and two other centers at the Law School: our new Director of Operations, Carol McHale, and an Operations Assistant position that has yet to be filled.