Faculty Senate Killed Resolution Commending Notre Dame to ‘Culture of Life’

[buffalo]

Faculty Senate Killed Resolution Commending Notre Dame to ‘Culture of Life’

During the March 2011 meeting of the University of Notre Dame Faculty Senate, a resolution failed that would have offered the Senate’s affirmation of the University’s commitment to the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life. According to the minutes of that meeting, eight senators were in favor of the resolution and 22 were against it.
The resolution text placed the proposed faculty support in the broader context of the University of Notre Dame’s pro-life initiatives over the course of the past two years. The resolution mentioned how Notre Dame adopted its Institutional Statement Supporting the Choice for Life on April 8, 2010, and how Fr. Jenkins responded to a recommendation of the Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life by creating the position of Coordinator for University Life Initiatives.

more…

 

[Barbkw]

The minutes from the March Faculty Senate meeting give the responses of various members as to why they disagree with the resolution.

One senator opposed it because “it sends the wrong message to the outside world, some quarters of which already view the university as a peculiar place at which to pursue research.”

The minutes also recorded that there were concerns that some faculty would misinterpret the resolution, “thinking that their senator was attempting to speak for them on a matter on which individuals tend to take very different positions.”

And the minutes continued with other faculty senators’ reactions to the proposed resolution:

It was then pointed out that not everybody in this university is Catholic and that this resolution may not reflect the viewpoint of many of those individuals.

Again the timing of this resolution was questioned on the grounds that it could create unnecessary tension within the University and on the grounds that it does not address other social policies that the Catholic Church endorses.

Philip Bess answered saying that support for this resolution would show that the Senate endorses those social policies and also urges the administration to follow those policies. It would also, he said, challenge the claim that a Catholic university cannot be a great university.

Another senator said that talking about abortion will not start any new discussion about the issue and said that this resolution will not serve the goal of making this university a better place.

Others said that some people will see this resolution as support for the pro-life movement and not for the rest of Catholic social teaching….

Finally, one senator said that this resolution, if approved, would be perceived as a reprisal for the Senate’s 2009 endorsement of Father Jenkins’ invitation to President Obama, adding that he was opposed to the resolution for that reason.

 

[FCEGM]

Two words come to mind: cowards - weasels.

 

[Raskolnikov]

I don’t understand what good pbjection one could have toward an institutional resolution. It doesn’t claim to speak for the faculty or the students, just the institution, and since it is a Catholic institution, it should have been taken for granted that it is committed to the ‘culture of life.’

One senator opposed it because “it sends the wrong message to the outside world, some quarters of which already view the university as a peculiar place at which to pursue research.”

I found this sentence particularly annoying. The message it sends is that this Catholic institution is indeed Catholic. If working at a Catholic institution is such a problem for this person, then they can go work at a secular one; no one there is trying to force them to believe anything either.

And I’ve never heard or read off anyone claiming Notre Dame was a “peculiar” place at which to do research, but what is so peculiar about. For most devout Christians, almost every major univeristy in the country is already a “peculiar” place.

 

[Dale_M]

My sense (and I may be wrong) is that the resolution was merely symbolic. The Faculty Senate wasn’t voting to authorize any policy.
Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting:

The next comment resonated with the previous one, saying also that it is not the
role of the Senate to endorse or reject any task that Father Jenkins may wish to
undertake.

Minutes of the Faculty Senate Meeting:

It was said that this endorsement might have some symbolic value for some
segment of the Notre Dame community since Father Jenkins represents the whole
university.

So was this proposal similar to the “Motherhood and Apple Pie” resolutions which the US Congress occasionally votes on? If so, I would think the repercussions for voting against it would be stronger than any reason to vote against it.

Some of the major proposals of the task force can be found here:
newsinfo.nd.edu/news/14371-notre-dame-task-force-on-life-makes-preliminary-recommendations/

Have faculty at Notre Dame spoken against some or all of the Task Force proposals? Why else would the faculty senate feel comfortable rejecting the resolution in support of Fr. Jenkins and the Task Force?

I’m trying to understand the depth of the problem there.

 

[pnewton]

Even though this is a blog, and not a news source, I have to say that was one of the most balance works of journalism I have seen in a while. It gives just the facts and stays away from opinion. As to the topic, I would never waste any of my money on Notre Dame. If we opt for a Catholic university when the time come, it will be one that is unabashedly Catholic. Notre Dame reminds me of the Church of Laodecia, the epitome of compromise with the world, selling their Catholic soul for thirty pieces of scholarship (c. Peter Kreeft).

 

[Lainey63]

Wasn’t this the college in which a bunch of prolifers including a Catholic priest was arrested for protesting a couple of years ago for Notre Dame’s President’s Anti-life stance?

 

[Robert_Bay]

blog post, not a news article