the hatchet man, Tom Doyle, Notre Dame’s new
Vice-President for Student Affairs
Posted on 09/02/2010 3:48:07 PM PDT by wagglebee
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A top pro-life professor at the University of Notre Dame is calling into question the motives of the university after Bill Kirk, a long-time member of the Notre Dame community and the only administration member to join a protest against President Obama's appearance on campus, was abruptly terminated.
In May 2009, Kirk boycotted the official graduation ceremony at which President Obama was giving the commencement address and receiving an honorary law degree, and instead attended an alternate graduation ceremony held by pro-life graduates protesting Obama. Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, whose diocese includes the campus, also opted to attend the alternate ceremony.
The Observer newspaper reported Thursday that Father Tom Doyle, Notre Dame’s new Vice-President for Student Affairs, had terminated Kirk from his position as Associate Vice-President for Residence Life.
Doyle praised Kirk's "thoughtful and caring" service as Student Affairs administrator, but said he had been fired "in anticipation of a restructuring that I want to do."
A Notre Dame spokesman refused to comment to LifeSiteNews.com about the reasons behind Kirk's termination, saying only that the university does not discuss personnel issues.
But Notre Dame philosophy professor David Solomon, the founder and director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, said on the Center's blog, that he sees a connection between Kirk’s “removal from office” and what he called “the background of other events at Notre Dame that inevitably raised questions about its real motivation."
Solomon suggested that Kirk's insistence on maintaining school-wide disciplinary standards for Notre Dame football athletes helped precipitate the move. However, the professor also said the news appears to confirm fears that Kirk's stand against the highly controversial honor to Obama would prove fatal.
"At the time Bill took part in the NDResponse rally, many people commented on the courage it took for him to stand with his wife and other witnesses to this protest of Notre Dame’s decision to award President Obama an honorary degree. I personally discounted these worries, believing that the Notre Dame administration would admire him for his principled stand on a matter so close to the Catholic heart of Notre Dame, even if they disagreed with his particular action," wrote Solomon.
Since the administration welcomed Obama's own "sharp dissent from and attack on central Catholic teaching on life," he continued, "It seemed only reasonable that they would equally welcome dissent from university policy by such a loyal Catholic and member of the Notre Dame family as Bill Kirk — especially when his dissent was made in the name of the Catholic principles at Notre Dame’s heart and in the company of his bishop.
"Perhaps, alas, there was reason for Bill Kirk to be worried about his participation in NDResponse after all."
The professor said Kirk's treatment would undoubtedly have "a chilling effect" on un-tenured administrators in public policy and moral debates on campus. He noted that "a number of other administrators have told me that in light of Bill Kirk’s treatment, they will in the future keep their heads down rather than dissent from the policies of the central administration." "It will be tragic if these pressures toward uniformity become a permanent feature of Notre Dame life," he wrote.
Solomon said that what he termed the "callousness and brutal insensitivity" of Kirk's termination has had "the greatest impact" on the close-knit Notre Dame community: Kirk and his wife Elizabeth, who have already adopted two young children, were in the process of adopting a third at the time of the firing.
The professor contrasted the situation with the magnanimity shown by former Notre Dame President Rev. Ted Hesburgh to Ralph McInerny decades ago when, as an assistant philosophy professor, McInerny received monetary help as he struggled to make ends meet following the tragic death of his 4-year-old son from a brain tumor.
"It may be that in an era when Notre Dame has become more of a brand and less of a community, such actions are no longer possible and that those of us who long for them are simply being naive," wrote Solomon.
"If so, it is surely a great loss."
The prestigious Catholic university has been widely criticized for its handling of other aspects of the Obama controversy as well. Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins continues to refuse to request leniency for 88 pro-life witnesses arrested for peacefully protesting Obama's presence on campus, while pro-Obama and pro-Notre Dame protesters were allowed to roam free. Several pro-life leaders have unsuccessfully urged Jenkins to intervene for the pro-lifers, who continue to face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine under prosecution by St. Joseph County.
Yes, this was Notre Dame. It was NOT Georgetown or Catholic University.
Any relationship between Notre Dame and the Catholic faith is purely coincidental.
He was the only member of the ND administration to join the protest, many faculty members joined the protest.
“based upon things I know, I’m also 100% behind his removal from the job. It has nothing to do with the Obama protest.”
Well spill those cool bean, unless it’s double secret probation classified.
We’d all love to hear why he should be fired.
the hatchet man, Tom Doyle, Notre Dame’s new
Vice-President for Student Affairs
The Catholic Church should officially sever all ties with the university, and all other “Catholic” institutions like it, that fail to uphold and defend the teachings of the Church. I say this as a non-Catholic.
I have been a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish since I can remember - more than 60 years. As awful as I feel about the administration’s inviting Imam Hussein to deliver the commencement address, I can’t abandon the tradition of Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung, Leon Hart, Johnny Lattner, Terry Brennan, inter alia.
Fortunately, I've always agreed with post number 12; ND sucks.
**Bill Kirk, a long-time member of the Notre Dame community and the only administration member to join a protest against President Obama’s appearance on campus, was abruptly terminated.**
I bet this professor would win if he were to take this to court.
If the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t finally yank this insti-stupid-ition’s permission to claim the umbrella of the church, it is in essence dragging Jesus Christ’s name through the mud its own self.
That may in fact be the goal. Better to take it back to prior principles.
“Notre Dame” is maybe Gaia to them?
Maybe it's because I'm married to one of the more positive alums of Notre Dame, but I don't think Jenkins is going to be successful in bringing ND down. I don't know what Our Lady has in store, but she has a mighty big presence (quite literally) at the university, and if enough people pray for Notre Dame, I think she will win over all ... but I agree with you, this is disgusting ... why would a priest hand his soul over to the devil? ... he, of all people, should know better ...
Does Notre Dame turn people into pompous A holes or were they that way before they went there? I’m sorry, but it is true based on the small sample I have met.
Ping. Time for another Notre Dame protest?
“can’t abandon the tradition of Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung”
You mean the has been tradition.
ND losing Bowl record is now 14-15
1-9 Since 1995 including
Holds NCAA Record for Consecutive Bowl Losses
They suck. Out of principle I wouldn’t send my kids to that school if they begged me.
They lost me when they allowed the most pro-abortion President in history to speak there.
Notre Dame is suffering for turning their collective backs on God.
But that priest is under orders from Rome. The Pope can do something.
Not too long ago Notre Dame was trying to import Tariq Ramadan to teach.
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