Notre Dame Controversy: A Potential Violation of Academic Freedom

Controversy has recently hit South Bend, Ind. The news of President Barack Obama being invited to make a commencement speech at Notre Dame University may seem typical considering that Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have all previously spoken at Notre Dame during their time in office.For some, this is a serious issue of religious and political freedom and even bears weight onto the issue of academic freedom in higher education. Obama is seen as an unfit and unwelcome commencement speaker due to his stance on abortion and presumably other social issues as well. Some critics, and even the archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, find it necessary to display openly and publicly their disgust towards the situation. Cardinal George even went so far as to call the expected address an "extreme embarrassment to Catholics."

At St. Norbert, our own institutions' authorities state that "people need to understand that a Catholic college is not a parish, it's a college. The primary goal of a college is to educate students and to expose them to all sorts of views. Exposing students to views is not the same as endorsing those views," according to President Thomas Kunkel. He also adds that, "academic freedom is vitally important to any college, including Catholic colleges."

Kunkel nonetheless remains diplomatic in saying, "Anything that comes close to the abortion issue really hits people where they are most passionate. I absolutely respect that. But at what point do you let that drive all your decisions?"

St. Norbert was graced with the air of controversy last spring for hosting endorsers of the democratic presidential campaign. Dean of the College and Academic Affairs Vice President, Michael Marsden states, "We were criticized for having Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama here. I think we would have been a poor institution for not having them."

In recent days, some alumni who oppose the presence of Obama at Notre Dame's commencement have begun a movement to withhold further funding and donations to the college. When asked about the financial jeopardy of our college due to the appearances of Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, President Kunkel says he was "not aware of any donors taking money." He also suggests that "most people who give to higher education understand higher education. They know that things happen at the institution that they may not personally agree with, but they support the overall mission."

In light of this controversial issue that is falling heavy on the shoulders of President Jenkins from Notre Dame University, he has support from Dean Marsden. Marsden is quick to agree that "President Jenkins is correct. He is not endorsing Obama's stance on social issues. He is honoring the man that is president of the United States who has accomplished a great deal."

It seems as though those who are against Obama's commencement appearance are against much more than his stance on social issues. As stated previously, Jimmy Carter, who supported pro-choice ideologies, and George W. Bush who enforced the death penalty as governor of Texas, both spoke at ND in years past, and no such controversy ensued their expected arrival.

Upon visiting Notre Dame's official website, one encounters a phrase that declares, "Notre Dame campus as a place where faith is treasured and diverse traditions shared and respected."

Marsden is confident about the decision of Notre Dame to invite Obama and is confident that the ideals of academic freedom would be upheld at our institution as well. He states, "This is a college. A place where people examine ideas, people test ideas and people challenge ideas. We can't do that if we isolate ourselves from the world.