Professor John Brandl: In Memory of a Faith-Based Policymaker

For all the accolades rightly heaped upon the late John Brandl (the former Dean of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota who died this past Monday, August 18), what most understandably miss is the fact that his Roman Catholic faith had much more to do with his approach to public policy than is widely known. But those with a tin ear for the voice of Christian faith are to be forgiven for failing to recognize this salient feature, as John himself was not given to openly expressing his faith in the context of academia and rarely if ever wrote about it.

In an editorial on August 20, the Minneapolis Star Tribune summed up John’s work this way: “Serving humanity through better government.” Well-stated, but it begs the question, “Why?” I suggest that John’s vision to “serve” was a direct function of the fact that he emulated Jesus Christ, who said “I have come not to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.”

For one thing, John was deeply concerned about the needs of the least amongst us. And so he was passionate about educational opportunities for the urban poor, for example. I well remember conversations, mediated by Dr. Mitch Pearlstein of the Center of the American Experiment, where John’s concern was unmistakably grounded in his Christian faith. I think that explains why he acted more on principle rather than in terms of political affiliations. He was deeply acquainted with the research data which showed that young urban males benefit enormously (in terms of improved academic achievement) by enrollment in religious private schools. But the reason why he defied his party (the Democratic Party, with whom he served in the Minnesota State Senate for eight years) to openly favor tuition vouchers for the poor was because his concern for Christian principle (“Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me”) was greater than his concern for political loyalties.

John’s patience and kindness is also righty noted by friends and commentators. I know of two separate instances when he gave some of us extended opportunities to make our best cases for policy-oriented programs that take account of the role of religious faith. When I say that these were extended opportunities, I mean that this incredibly busy professor and dean spent multiple hours in helping us to think through programs which, at the time, did not see the light of day. Believe me, such an investment of time is rare in an institution where faculty are under immense pressure to produce research, not help outsiders conduct programs. That patience was all of a piece to those of us who knew him as a quiet, but deeply committed Roman Catholic follower of the Greatest Servant whoever lived.

Many of us who knew this man who, in the words of Dr. Bob Kudrle in the Humphrey Institute, “cared that families lived lives of meaning and dignity” understood that the single explanatory factor behind Brandl the family man and the public policymaker was a faith whose implications stretch far beyond the private to the very essence and the core of public life.