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Students uphold Notre Dame mission

Letter to the Editor

Published: Monday, April 12, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 13:09

As members of the faculty and staff at Notre Dame, we take seriously the University's mission statement, which says, "The University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings, but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice."

We see it as our responsibility to help students learn about the world in which they live and to encourage them to make an impact on that world, so that "learning becomes service to justice."

Some Notre Dame students recently passed out information on campus regarding what they believe are practices by the HEI Corporation that result in poverty, injustice and oppression. Their actions were peaceful and not disruptive, yet their informational leaflets were confiscated by Notre Dame security police and they are now being subject to disciplinary action by ResLife.

We believe that these students were acting in the best traditions of Notre Dame and living up to the ideals expressed in its mission statement. We do not think that they should be disciplined by the University for doing so. We call upon Father Jenkins to cancel these disciplinary actions.

 

Heidi Ardizzone

Lance Askildson

Kevin Barry

Mary Beckman

Gail Bederman

Mary Burgess

Annie Coleman

Brian Collier

Mary Rose D'Angelo

Jarett T. DeAngelis

Jean Dibble

E. Jane Doering

Margaret Doody

Julia Douthwaite

Kevin Dreyer

John Duffy

Stephen Fallon

Barbara Fick

Robert Fishman

Judy Fox

Laura Fuderer

Agustin Fuentes

Jill Godmilow

Dan Graff

Stuart Greene

David Hachen

Susan Harris

Peter Holland

Coleen Hoover

Carlos Jerez-Farran

Robert L. Jones, Jr.

Kwan Kim

Janet Kourany

Stephen Lancaster

Cecilia Lucero

Nicole MacLaughlin

Joanne Mack

Karen Manier

Sara L. Maurer

Jim McKenna

Connie Mick

John Monczunski

Darcia Narvaez

Felicia O'Brien

Sean O'Brien

Jessica Payne

Catherine Perry

Richard Pierce

Dianne Pinderhughes

AnnMarie R. Power

Clark Power

Ava Preacher

Anita Rees

Robin Rhodes

Jaime Ros

David Ruccio

Amy Shirk

Valerie Sayers

Sharon Schierling

Kristin Shrader-Frechette

Donald Sniegowski

John Sitter

Jackie Smith

Jim Sterba

Rachel Tomas Morgan

Steve Tomasula

Barbara Turpin

Peter Walshe

Andy Weigert

John Welle

Michelle Wirth

Marty Wolfson

faculty and staff

April 11

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12 comments

Anonymous
Tue Apr 13 2010 22:17
Hey Anon #1, what part of "students" and "peaceful and not disruptive" did you not understand? If the "Notre Dame 88" (Or rather, the 88 trespassers at Notre Dame) shouldn't have been arrested then maybe we should just open Notre Dame up to have all outside protesters with no affiliation with the University running amok on campus.

Did you get some kind of brain damage when your mom tried to abort you?

Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 21:17
Faculty can support whatever causes they want. Is this news to you?
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 20:59
Oh, it's great when faculty support the students. It's just an entirely predictable response from the usual suspects, who are very selective in the student-led causes they will support.
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 20:47
When losing the argument (as well as the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and the culture) always bring up abortion. It's a real winner.
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 20:16
I do have a "your" and "you're typing problem- my bad =)
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 20:07
I don't understand why anyone would be upset at faculty supporting the students. It's nice to see staff and students standing side-by-side.
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 19:55
Anon @ 14:13:

Learn the difference between "you're" and "your."
Then tell me how many of these faculty members conducted independent investigations of HEI before deciding to sign this letter. Bonus points if any of their "education, research, and experience" has involved the finer points of NLRB administrative law.
Extra bonus points if any of these faculty members also participated in the March for Life in Washington D.C., supporting the hundreds of Notre Dame students who are advocating for the human rights of the unborn.

Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 18:57
anonymous @ 14:13- you're argument no longer makes sense. You just said that a group of easily brainwashed, (probabl yignorant students who lack life experienced) successfully coerced 70 faculty members (who, fyi, approached the students first, not the other way around) to write and sign a letter in support of both free speech on campus and the HEI campaign. Do you think that after all their education, research and experiences, those 70 individuals couldn't decide for themselves whether what the students have been saying has merit? Are the faculty not "grown-ups" capable of deciding the ethical value of a company?
Also, to answer your question: No, none of these faculty members are directly involved in the HEI campaign.
Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 14:43
The adults have already decided that
1. HEI isn't an evil corporate empire and
2. That the students in question appear to have violated university rules

It's the kids who keep on protesting. Now they've asked their big brothers and sisters on the faculty to appeal to the grownups. Most likely, it was one or more of these letter-signers who enticed the younguns to go after HEI in the first place.

Anonymous
Mon Apr 12 2010 11:24
YES!
Anonymous
Sun Apr 11 2010 23:38
Why don't you go grab a fetus sign, a bucket of red paint, and a street corner, and leave this one up to the adults, big guy.
Anonymous
Sun Apr 11 2010 21:38
Great idea.
Are you also working on behalf of the "Notre Dame 88," who were arrested by campus police while they were attempting to create a sense of human solidarity on behalf of the unborn?
Because they are facing criminal charges, not just a slap on the wrist by Res Life.
Or do you intervene only when you agree with the demonstrators?




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