Greorgetown and Notre Dame

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Someone please fill me in on Georgetown University? What kind of university is it? I went to its web site and all I saw was “private institution” but no identity.

What doesn’t make any sense to me is why President Obama would ask any school to cover up objects (statues of Jesus, for example) that speak to its identity. But what further perplexes me, why does a University bow to such a request? Have we lost the right of free speech, to practice whatever our faith is? Have our higher education lost its moral compass and become more interested in fame, popularity with a politician, etc.?

What has happened to our pride, our identities, our individualism that we once so cherished?

It’s scccccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy.🤷😊
 
can anyone post Fr. Jenkins speech?

Have you noticed how little attention the protestors got ND? Sad
 
quacker66 said:
can anyone post Fr. Jenkins speech?
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I’ve found it.

I wish I could also find the speech that President Lee Bollinger of Columbia University gave in 2007, introducing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That was good speech. (Although I can’t find the full speech online, this article will give you a pretty good idea: Iran president denounced as ‘petty and cruel dictator’. I guess it goes without saying that, when he spoke at Columbia, President Ahmadinejad wasn’t awarded an honorary degree. ;))

Anyhow, here is Fr. Jenkins speech (emphasis added):
President Obama, Fr. Hesburgh, Judge Noonan, Members of the Board of Trustees, Members of the faculty, staff, alumni, friends, parents, and most of all – the Notre Dame Class of 2009:
Several autumns ago, you came to Notre Dame from home….now Notre Dame has become home. And it always will be. For home is not where you live. Home is where you belong. You will always belong – and I pray you will always feel you belong – here at Notre Dame.
You are … ND.
In my four years as President of your University – I have found that even among those who did not go to Notre Dame, even among those who do not share the Catholic faith, there is a special expectation, a special hope, for what Notre Dame can accomplish in the world. They hope that Notre Dame will be one of the great universities in the nation, but they also hope that it will send forth graduates who—grounded in deep moral values—can help solve the world’s toughest problems.
Their hope is in you, the graduates of 2009.
That is a good place for hope to be. I have great confidence in what your talent and energy can accomplish in the world. But I have a special optimism for what you can do inspired by faith.
It is your faith that will focus your talents and help you build the world you long to live in and leave to your children.
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The world you enter today is torn by division – and is fixed on its differences.
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Differences must be acknowledged, and in some cases cherished. But too often differences lead to pride in self and contempt for others, until two sides – taking opposing views of the same difference—demonize each other. Whether the difference is political, religious, racial, or national—trust falls, anger rises, and cooperation ends … even for the sake of causes all sides care about.
More than any problem in the arts or sciences – engineering or medicine – easing the hateful divisions between human beings is the supreme challenge of this age. If we can solve this problem, we have a chance to come together and solve all the others.
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A Catholic university – and its graduates – are specially called, and I believe specially equipped, to help meet this challenge.
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As a Catholic university, we are part of the Church – members of the “mystical body of Christ” animated by our faith in the Gospel. Yet we are also – most of us – citizens of the United
States – this extraordinary evolving expression of human freedom. We are called to serve each community of which we’re a part, and this call is captured in the motto over the door of the east nave of the Basilica: “God, Country, Notre Dame.”
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As we serve the Church, we can persuade believers by appeals to both faith and reason. As we serve our country, we will be motivated by faith, but we cannot appeal only to faith. We must also engage in a dialogue that appeals to reason that all can accept.
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When we face differences with fellow citizens, we will be tested: do we keep trying, with love and a generous spirit, to appeal to ethical principles that might be persuasive to others – or do we condemn those who differ with us for not seeing the truth that we see?
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The first approach can lead to healing, the second to hostility. We know which approach we are called to as disciples of Christ.
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Pope Benedict said last year from the South Lawn of the White House: “I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society.”
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Genuine faith does not inhibit the use of reason; it purifies it of pride and distorting self-interest. As it does so, Pope Benedict has said, “human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and extending … public debate.”
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Tapping the full potential of human reason to seek God and serve humanity is a central mission of the Catholic Church. The natural place for the Church to pursue this mission is at a Catholic university. The University of Notre Dame belongs to an academic tradition of nearly a thousand years – born of the Church’s teaching that human reason, tempered by faith, is a gift of God, a path to religious truth, and a means for seeking the common good in secular life.
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It is out of this duty to serve the common good that we seek to foster dialogue with all people of good will, regardless of faith, background or perspective. We will listen to all views, and always bear witness for what we believe. Insofar as we play this role, we can be what Pope John Paul II said a Catholic university is meant to be – “a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture” [Ex corde ecclesiae, 3.34].
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cont …
 
(Fr. Jenkins speech, continued.)
Of course, dialogue is never instantaneous; it doesn’t begin and end in an afternoon. It is an ongoing process made possible by many acts of courtesy and gestures of respect, by listening carefully and speaking honestly. Paradoxically, support for these actions often falls as the need for them rises – so they are most controversial precisely when they can be most helpful.
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As we all know, a great deal of attention has surrounded President Obama’s visit to Notre Dame. We honor all people of good will who have come to this discussion respectfully and out of deeply held conviction.
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**Most of the debate has centered on Notre Dame’s decision to invite and honor the President. Less attention has been focused on the President’s decision to accept.
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President Obama has come to Notre Dame, though he knows well that we are fully supportive of Church teaching on the sanctity of human life, and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
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Others might have avoided this venue for that reason. But President Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him.
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Mr. President: This is a principle we share. **
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As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote in their pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes: “Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act differently than we do in social, political and even religious matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be able to enter into dialogue with them.”
If we want to extend courtesy, respect and love – and enter into dialogue – then surely we can start by acknowledging what is honorable in others.
We welcome President Obama to Notre Dame, and we honor him for the qualities and accomplishments the American people admired in him when they elected him. He is a man who grew up without a father, whose family was fed for a time with the help of food stamps—yet who mastered the most rigorous academic challenges, who turned his back on wealth to serve the poor, who sought the Presidency at a young age against long odds, and who – on the threshold of his goal—left the campaign to go to the bedside of his dying grandmother who helped raise him.
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He is a leader who has great respect for the role of faith and religious institutions in public life. He has said: “Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.”
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He is the first African American to be elected President, yet his appeal powerfully transcends race. In a country that has been deeply wounded by racial hatred – he has been a healer.
He has set ambitious goals across a sweeping agenda—extending health care coverage to millions who don’t have it, improving education especially for those who most need it, promoting renewable energy for the sake of our economy, our security, and our climate.
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He has declared the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and has begun arms reduction talks with the Russians.
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He has pledged to accelerate America’s fight against poverty, to reform immigration to make it more humane, and to advance America’s merciful work in fighting disease in the poorest places on earth.
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As commander-in-chief and as chief executive, he embraces with confidence both the burdens of leadership and the hopes of his country.
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Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States.
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The following was sent to me by a good friend of mine, that i trust to tell me the truth
When I asked him about how one would go about removing ND’s catholic status, he lead me to this article.
When I read it I was pretty shocked, but then again why was I shocked? i should have know that Obama would have his filty Chicago politics invade esp. a Catholic University.
Also, if he was so changed by working w/Cardinal Bertilino (?) why was this the first it was ever mentioned. Why not bring it up when he was endlessly questioned about his affiliation w/Wright and Flagger?
I am just so disappointed in upper level Church Authority and the Vatican also, they need to step in and put an end to College’s that do not practice or enforce out Roman Catholic faith, as they claim to.
It seems the Layity are left to totally defend the faith. Sometimes better than preist. A fr Beck was on hannity Sunday night, what a disgrace. We are in deep trouble, no wonder it is difficult to keep the youth inspired w/poor examples today, not only by their actions, but their silence is worse!!!

I will put it in 2 responses as it is long
 
Article about ND’s Board of Trustees

CNSNews.com - Notre Dame, Trustees and Father Jenkins’ Final Word
Friday, May 15, 2009 By Judie Brown
Our good friend Frank Walker has written one of the most insightful analyses of the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees that I have ever seen. In fact, we are reprinting it below in full so that you can gain a better understanding of the foundational problems that the University of Notre Dame’s leadership is actually dealing with today and has been since the Hesburgh reign. He writes:
No Likely Support From Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees For Rescinding Obama Invite
By Frank Walker
May 10, 2009 - A great deal of criticism has been leveled at Notre Dame President, Rev John I. Jenkins, for his choice to honor President Obama at this year’s commencement. But Fr. Jenkins, like all university presidents, must consider the will of the school’s governing board. The Notre Dame Board of Trustees is a powerful organization, comprised of top international business owners, chairs of rich endowments, academic leaders, judges, attorneys, faculty, and prominent clergy. These individuals are typically very wealthy, well-connected and highly accomplished; many with broad interests outside the university. A closer look at the board and its affiliations might shed light on just how Notre Dame came to this decision. Many of the influential alumni on the Notre Dame board are from the nearby Chicago area, and are part of the same Chicago power structure that President Obama ascended. Richard and Peggy Notebaert are leading members of the ND community, and Notebaert is chair of the Notre Dame trustees. While Obama served in the senate, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, received federal funding earmarked by Obama… Key Obama campaign fundraiser, Frank Clark served on the board of the Notebaert Museum at the time. The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, where ND trustee Arthur Velasquez is on the board, also received millions in earmarks. Velasquez contributed to Obama’s campaigns in ’04 and ’08.
con’t
 
Chicago power at Notre Dame extends to political posts as well. Justice Ann Claire Williams was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1999 to the U.S. Court of Appeals 7th District. In 2004, she ruled that the Department of Justice could not subpoena hospital abortion records to enforce the ban on partial birth abortions. Left-leaning Chicago politics has a place on the Notre Dame governing board. Currently Ann Claire Williams is receiving serious attention among the top three possible Obama replacements for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Some Notre Dame board members have made ethical misjudgments in the past. Chicago trustee Philip B. Rooney, Chairman of Claddagh Investments, is former CEO of Waste Management Inc., the world’s largest waste services company. In 2002, Rooney and Waste Management, along with Arthur Andersen, Enron and others, were indicted by the SEC in a massive fraud case. WMI management eventually settled for 30.8 million in penalties. The SEC barred Rooney permanently from being an officer in a public company. He divested most of his own stock before the investigations caused shareholder assets to plummet. Despite this history Rooney retains his board position at Notre Dame today. ND Trustee Douglas Tong Hsu is chairman of Far Eastern Group, a $32 billion dollar Chinese conglomerate. Hsu’s strong political connections in Taiwan lean toward unification with mainland China.
He recently stated that democratic governance is a hindrance to investment, and praised communist China’s system for being more favorable to business with its staunch system of rule. In 2006, Hsu was indicted for breach of trust and forgery in connection with a major department store takeover. These charges also involved the Taiwanese first lady, Wu Shu-chen. With Douglas Tong Hsu, the political and business interests of the PRC have influence at Notre Dame. In 2006, ND President Jenkins led a small delegation to East Asia, where they met with Hsu, and travelled to communist Beijing to develop partner programs for the university. There are Notre Dame trustees who directly support [sic] Obama administration goals. Dr. Mary Anne Fox is chancellor at U[niversity of] C[alifornia] San Diego and Vice-Chair of the National Science Board. Recently Fox announced the opening of a new research facility where the school will cultivate and experiment on human embryonic stem cells. The laboratory will partner with Scripps Research and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA where Fox also sits on the leadership council. In 2007 the Institute hosted a stem cell ethics conference. R. Alta Charo, bioethicist and advisor to the Obama transition team was a key speaker.
At UCSD the bio-engineering department has just established a partnership with Tsinghua University in China, to further their research. Raymond G. Chambers, co-founder of anti-poverty organization Millenium Promise, serves on the ServiceNation leadership council. ServiceNation is a political group that supports the enormous multiplication of federal national service programs in the Obama agenda, including the just-passed Kennedy Serve America Act. The Kennedy act was touted as the “largest expansion of community and national service since the launch of the Civilian Conservation Corps.” In September, Chambers was a panelist at the ServiceNation Summit as special envoy for malaria, United Nations. Several Notre Dame board members lead American banks and major investment houses, where the federal government has sunk billions in bailout funds and stock purchases. Robert Conway was head of Goldman Sachs (AIG). Philip J. Purcell was formerly CEO of Morgan Stanley and COO of Dean Witter. Enrique Hernandez, Jr. is on the board of Wells Fargo Bank. Business leaders in this sector are under increasing pressure to appeal to the Obama administration, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Congress for their survival and direction.
In conclusion, a review of the Board of Trustees at Notre Dame does NOT reveal a particularly strong Catholic identity. There are board members whose actions and associations put them in a position directly at odds with Church teaching and in line with the Obama administration. At the Notre Dame board, we see a group of well-connected well-heeled individuals from all sectors of society, and at the most prominent levels. Taking a stand against inviting the President of the United States would likely jeopardize membership in the elite club where they travel. Therefore it is highly unlikely that there will be any movement from within the board to rescind invitation to President Obama. When I first read this article on May 10, I reflected on the challenge that is currently being faced by those at Notre Dame, both among the faculty and the student body, and it occurred to me that nothing is ever over until the final moment is at hand. But then I read the May 11 letter that Father Jenkins wrote to each of those who will graduate this Sunday, as well as an obviously much wider audience and I realized that the hour has passed. In that letter Jenkins said:
 
blog.beliefnet.com/viamedia/2009/05/have-we-mentioned-notre-dame-yet.html
Notre Dame has a long custom of conferring honorary degrees on the President of the United States. It has never been a political statement or an endorsement of policy.
It is the University’s expression of respect for the leader of the nation and the Office of the President. In the Catholic tradition, our first allegiance is to God in Christ, yet we are called to respect, participate in, and contribute to the wider society. As St. Peter wrote (I Pt. 2:17), we should honor the leader who upholds the secular order. At the same time, and born of the same duty, a Catholic university has a special obligation not just to honor the leader but to engage the culture. Carrying out this role of the Catholic university has never been easy or without controversy. When I was an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Fr. Hesburgh spoke of the Catholic university as being both a lighthouse and a crossroads. [emphasis added] As a lighthouse, we strive to stand apart and be different, illuminating issues with the moral and spiritual wisdom of the Catholic tradition. Yet, we must also be a crossroads through which pass people of many different perspectives, backgrounds, faiths, and cultures. At this crossroads, we must be a place where people of good will are received with charity, are able to speak, be heard, and engage in responsible and reasoned dialogue. Much could be said about this letter, but focusing on the entire message that St. Peter was teaching the Disciples of Christ, one could take away an entirely different interpretation. For example, the Jerusalem Bible, 1 Peter 2:16-17 actually reads as follows:
God wants you to be good citizens so as to silence what fools are saying in their ignorance. You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like free men, and never use your freedom as an excuse for wickedness. Have respect for everyone and love for our community, fear God and honor the emperor.
Father Jenkins may have a different translation, but clearly honoring a leader does not equate with ignoring Catholic identity in the process. More than 70 Catholic bishops have basically said what St. Peter said, and they have done so without compromising a Catholic’s call to remember that he or she is a slave to no one except God.
Perhaps the lighthouse is now so dim that the crossroads have become impossible to see. Only God knows.
 
I guess that “Father” Jenkins thinks that it is OK to burn “just a little” incense to the statue of Caesar, martyrdom for the Faith having gone out of style at Notre Dame. I certainly have not the power to judge him and those like him, but when Judgement day does arrive, I would rather be in the shoes of those arrested for the Faith than in his, who pandered to the idols of Darkness and the killers of the innocent. I am blessed to be Catholic, but I am ashamed of some of my so-called “leaders.” Such a shame, Notre Dame was once such a fine Catholic college.
 
workingman said:
The nerve of the President to even have asked for religious symbols to be covered up
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Yes, that would really be something. However, President Obama did not ask for religious symbols to be covered. The White House requested that university identifying symbols be covered, and Georgetown interpreted this to mean covering the IHS symbol.
“In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com.

“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” she added. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”
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cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46667

There is no evidence indicating that the White House knew that the IHS symbol would be covered.
 
wow , are we all judges? i think we all need to ask ourselves ,what the 10 commandments really say?i think we all moved,far away from its true meaning.making things up and making them into one, for hundreds of years.ask yourselves,really ask yourselves.you think god,wanted all these different religons.let alone arguing,whos right.thats gonna be our downfall in our society.we say,we’re trying or doing gods work. are we really?really?all this , just confuesing people.we’re just making it hard for people to understand the real truth.we need to go back to the begining, and stay their.and not intoducing new ideas and interpretations , and making it law into our religons.as noterdame goes, we need to grow up.its just someone speaking. its not like he was recruiting .i think people get confused about politicions,when you got to deal with a huge amounts of people.their has to be a grey area.its easy for us to act high and mighty,we dont have to run nothing .
 
Peter_J said:
Would you still say it was “nothing” if you had been one of the 20 people arrested?
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yes.what,their only gonna spend the night.most likely or a couple of hours.thats nothing.they must of took it a little too far.
 
Why would obama insist on removing Christ’s name at a catholic college like georgetown? This is sorta getting creepy freaky and weird if you ask me … has this ever happened in the history of our country?
 
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