College Football Playoffs. Bowl Game. Marcus Freeman. Ice Chapel. The Liu Institute.
In just the past three months, the University of Notre Dame has provided the national media with no shortage of front-page worthy news. Our Lady’s University is perhaps the most prolific producer of clickbait headlines among the world’s greatest institutions of higher learning. Notre Dame SNUBBED from College Football Playoffs. Notre Dame is a CRYBABY program. Marcus Freeman LEAVING Notre Dame. Ice Chapel Mass draws THOUSANDS to North Quad. Major backlash after PRO ABORTION PROFESSOR appointed to leadership!
At times, this level of constant, emotionally-charged attention can feel exhausting. The recent appointment of Professor Susan Ostermann as director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies has once again placed Notre Dame in the national spotlight. Ostermann’s appointment has drawn ire due to her public history of pro-choice advocacy, leading to think-pieces published from right wing publications like the National Review, Fox News, The Irish Rover to even our most esteemed Observer.
My personal opinions on the matter are irrelevant. I’m not a Roman Catholic, nor am I in the Keough School of Global Affairs. Before her appointment apparently roiled the global Christian community, I had never heard of Susan Ostermann. That being said, I don’t quite understand why the Liu Institute director should be required to pass an ideological and religious purity test to lead a non-theological institute at a school committed to fostering freedom of expression and academic belief.
As Father Dowd explained two years ago, “Some of the views expressed [at Notre Dame] may not be in accord with the principles of Catholic teaching or the values of the University, even as we ensure that Catholic views are represented on campus. Our commitment to freedom of expression permits controversial opinions.” But, again, that’s not my fight.
I am deeply concerned, however, with the fight itself. A Notre Dame emeritus professor and Holy Cross priest recently published an article in First Things, one of the nation’s most widely read and influential Christian magazines. Rev. Wilson Miscamble wrote in late January that the appointment marks a “crisis of Catholic fidelity” on campus.
Personally, I struggle to see faltering “Catholic fidelity” when approximately 2,500 students stood in freezing temperatures to celebrate the Holy Mass at a student-built ice chapel just five days after Miscamble published his article, also printed in the Rover. Miscamble’s article is articulated very well and presents valid, good-faith arguments. He knows more about the Catholic faith than I ever will. But to attack one of his colleagues so publicly in the national media hurts our University much more than Ostermann’s appointment ever will.
On Saturday, I encountered two nuns and a companion in the Zahm Hall parking lot. They looked lost. I approached, asking how I could help. “Where can we see the Ice Chapel?” They asked. I wonder now: Did those saintly sisters of the faith, who drove out to our school in 20-degree temperatures, question the Catholic fidelity of the University of Notre Dame?
The discourse regarding Ostermann and the Liu Institute is nothing new. When I was home for Christmas break, I encountered many friends and acquaintances whom I had not seen since graduating high school. Without fail, they asked me what I thought about Notre Dame not making the playoffs, boycotting the bowl season and whether or not Marcus Freeman would leave for the NFL. I responded, and they would stand politely — although not really listening — until I finished speaking. Immediately, they all launched into minutes-long diatribes about their personal opinions about Notre Dame.
That we’re soft. That we never deserved to be in the playoffs. That we got robbed. That they support us.
All of these controversies and triumphs have taught me an important lesson. The world is watching us. They will celebrate when we fall. They will notice when we succeed. People expect something higher from the sons and daughters of old Notre Dame.
We might be intimidated by such attention. Notre Dame and her students are mere human beings — that fail, make mistakes and at times even make ill-informed decisions. But it’s also one of the most loving, intelligent and faith-driven communities that I’ve ever encountered. Since the national media clearly wants to focus on the negatives, we’ll all be a little bit happier if we stay on the sunny side.
Upon his retirement from the sport, legendary professional bowler Pete Weber, famous for his “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!” remark after a strike, also said “Hate me or love me, you still watched. That’s all you could do.” Whether one hates Notre Dame or loves Notre Dame, they still have an opinion about Notre Dame. That’s all they can do.
We must afford that responsibility the gravity it deserves.
Grayson Beckham is a freshman living in the Coyle Community in Zahm Hall. He hails from Independence, Ky. When he's not publishing woke propaganda inThe Observer, he studies political science and eloquently uses his silver tongue on the mock trial team. You can send him relevant hate mail at gbeckham@nd.edu.
