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The Observer > Viewpoint

Retaining Weis

Letter to the Editor

By John O’Callaghan

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Published: Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, December 1, 2009

In light of the near universal enthusiasm for the notion that Notre Dame should buy out the remaining term of Coach Weis’s contract and spend whatever it takes to improve the football team, here is a thought in this season of Advent and in praise of folly: In these times of continuing economic difficulty, when so many faculty but especially staff who love and have dedicated their lives to the Catholic education we aim to promote, continue to experience hardship amongst themselves, and are either falling behind or by the wayside, it strikes us as not only unjust but frankly obscene to pay an employee millions of dollars to do nothing.
 
So we expect the coach to remain and honor his contract, as we intend to honor it by retaining him. And if that means we lose more football games, so be it, for the Lord did not ask us to be successful, he asked us to be faithful. If that means the football program will not earn as much as it normally does and contribute to the University as much as it usually does, well so be it. For we will all suffer together as once Christians were proud to do, rather than bow reverently before the gods of this world. If you want to know what someone thinks is sacred, look to what he treats as sacred.
 
Through this decision we hope to help all of our fans and supporters to know what Notre Dame stands for as a Catholic institution. What we really fight for. We don’t merely play like champions here. We act like them.
 
John O’Callaghan
faculty 
Dept. of Philosophy
Nov. 30

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10 comments

Andrew Owens
Tue Dec 1 2009 20:31
When it comes to Notre Dame's commitment to social concerns and the football program, it is not a matter of supporting one or the other. The university has and always will support social outreach projects around the world as well as the football program's commitment to excellence. If it were not for the football program, Notre Dame would never have emerged as a leader in such social outreach programs. As Dave said, Notre Dame would be just another Catholic school without football. The football program has raised financial revenue (through home games, television contracts, and bowl berths, etc.) that has been used for financial aid for students who would otherwise not be able to attend this great school. The faction of people who have no interest in football have no problem taking advantage of the benefits of successful athletic programs, yet they complain when the university buys out the contract of an unsuccessful football coach. You can't have it both ways. Spending more money now to return the football program to an elite level will result in much more money for the university than the $18 million it will be spending over the next six years to buy Coach Weis out.

And if I had $10 million to spend, the Notre Dame Athletic Department is exactly where it would go.

Andrew Owens
Class of 2013

Craig
Tue Dec 1 2009 18:14
Dear Andrew Owens, why don't you set a great example and 'support the commitment' (whatever that means) by sending in a check of say $10 million tomorrow for the sake of a 'successful football program'? Or perhaps ND should raise your tuition to $100,000 per year? What's the right tuition level for a Catholic university with a 'Center for social concerns'?
Bootach
Tue Dec 1 2009 17:42
To further defend Prof. O'Callaghan's worth to this university, I suggest that a professor's value should be based principally on his or her teaching, and only secondarily on his published work. John is published, sure enough, but his value to the university should be measured by his impact in the classroom. As one of his former students I can attest that he has made a lasting impact on countless students by his excellent teaching. And more generally it is clear to me that a mentor's spoken words, and not an author's written ones, are most "productive for the university."

Anonymous - who is likely a bitter, well-published colleague of John's and yet a terrible teacher himself - should reconsider what is most important and "productive," not for his own CV but rather for the STUDENTS, next time he comments in a public forum...or steps into a classroom.

Scott
Tue Dec 1 2009 17:15
Actually, Professor O'Callaghan writes a lot. But he's not so self-absorbed as to be updating his status on the Philo department web page. However, what he writes he always signs his name to--which is more than we can say for Mr. Courageous here. Last time I checked, anonymous web posters were pretty high on the expendable list.
Anonymous
Tue Dec 1 2009 16:24
Prof. O'Callaghan,

You haven't written a noteable paper since 2003. Why don't you do something productive for the university? The last time I checked, medieval philosophers are fairly high on the expendable list.

Andrew Owens
Tue Dec 1 2009 15:31
As an earlier post stated, Notre Dame would not be as it is today without the football program. Anyone who states otherwise is clearly not "a voice of reason." People like to reap the benefits of a successful football program but they do not support the commitment it takes by the university to aim for that success. Many people don't realize how much money has been awarded in financial aid, for example, that would not have been possible without Notre Dame Football.

GO IRISH!

Andrew Owens
Class of 2013

Observer
Tue Dec 1 2009 13:52
Great letter to the editor, a voice of reason in this time of insanity! Now, the next question is: how much will ND pay its NEXT big shot football coach per year - $4 million, $5 million, why not $10 million? Is there any limit to this insanity, or is all the talk about justice, sensibility to poverty, and 'social concern' just lip service?
Chris Whelan
Tue Dec 1 2009 12:58
Football success and taking care of our faculty are not mutually exclusive.

Chris Whelan
Class of 2013

Your name
Tue Dec 1 2009 07:54
If it wasn't for football, Notre Dame would be a nice little liberal arts college located in a cornfield in Northern Indiana. To try to separate the role that football has played in helping ND obtain its place in the world of elite colleges and universities would be revisionist history of the worst kind.

Dave Angelotti

Class of 1985

Your name
Tue Dec 1 2009 03:22
The money saved by not buying out Weis' contract is paltry compared to the money that a successful ND football team can bring in. Football, and athletics in general, have been a large part of the University's success for the last 75+ years; to claim now that coach salaries are unjust is to ignore the prosperity that athletics bring to Notre Dame and the surrounding community.






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