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Key Takeaways
- The University of Minnesota is producing a play titled 'De Profundis Ego Resurrexit' which explores Oscar Wilde and 'queer theory,' receiving funding from a 'campus climate micro-grant.'
- C.J. Doyle, a Catholic leader, criticizes the play for focusing on Wilde's sexuality, even though he died a Catholic.
A University of Minnesota play about author Oscar Wilde and “queer theory” may not be entirely accurate, according to an expert.
The University of Minnesota’s Office of Equity and Diversity handed out a “campus climate micro-grant” to a project called “De Profundis Ego Resurrexit,” according to documents obtained via a public records request by The College Fix.
The play, scheduled for February 14-16 next year, “expands understanding by creating a space where students can critically engage with the literary queer history of Oscar Wilde, queer theory, and the personal and sociopolitical queer experience of the playwright,” the project description states.
The play will also “deepen student’s collective awareness of factors that shape campus life for queer people through the playwright’s dialogue between the personal and the historical queer playwright Oscar Wilde.”
Yet a Catholic leader questioned the premise of the play, since Wilde (pictured) converted to Catholicism at the end of his life, after years of living an actively homosexual lifestyle.
“The homosexual sub-culture has a perverse, preternatural and longstanding obsession with Catholic themes, language and imagery,” C.J. Doyle told The College Fix in an email. He’s the executive director of the Catholic Action League, based in Massachusetts.
Doyle notes that while Wilde is “claimed by the homosexual movement,” he repented toward the end of his life and became a Catholic.
Days before he died, he joined the Catholic Church with the assistance of a priest named Cuthbert Dunne, according to Doyle.
“A written account of the event, composed by Father Dunne, was discovered in the archives of a Paris church,” Doyle said. “It only became available to scholars in 2023.”
Along with the priest, “Wilde recited…the words of the Act of Contrition,” a prayer Catholics say as part of the sacrament of Confession to express sorrow for their sins.
“For organized homosexualism, the matter of Oscar Wilde is a sore point, which requires constant reinforcement,” Doyle said. “You might even say that it is an example of cultural expropriation, attended by much special pleading. Oscar Wilde lived a depraved life, but died a good death.”
Doyle continued to criticize the irony of left-wing activists calling for the separation of Church and state, while using “taxpayer supported venue[s]” for projects like ‘De Profundis Ego Resurrexit.’”
The calls for separation have “never been a consistent principle for the cultural Left, just a convenient cudgel to batter the Christians whom they despise.”
The Fix contacted Professor Deborah Pearson, the listed recipient, for comment on possible anti-Catholic themes in the play. “De Profundis Ego Resurrexit,” comes from the Psalms but is also from a letter Wilde wrote to his boyfriend while in prison.
“The project is a student project and I am only the advisor,” Pearson told The Fix via email on Oct. 17. She has not responded to a follow-up message that asked for contact information for the student organizer and for the amount of the grant. The DEI grants range from $500 to $1,200.
The Fix obtained a full list of the recipients via a public records request after the university ignored multiple requests for the winners.
“As part of our commitment to fostering a campus environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging, the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota is excited to announce the return of the Campus Climate Micro-Grants program,” the program description says. “These grants empower initiatives that drive positive change.”
Many of the project descriptions appeal DEI concepts, using words such as “marginalized group,” “identity-based,” “queer experience,” and “historical trauma.”
Other winners include a “brewing justice coffee hour,” an “inclusive teaching workshop” about chemistry and material science, and a “Queer Affinity” psychology group.
In addition to the “brewing justice coffee hour,” the Society of Women Engineers will also host “inclusivity coffee hours.”
