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New Notre Dame trustee donated thousands to pro-abort EMILY’s Listby Kathleen Gilbert NOTRE DAME, Indiana, May 19, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The newest member of the University of Notre Dame’s board of trustees has dedicated thousands of dollars to supporting pro-abortion groups, including the pro-choice political action committee EMILY’s List. The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) broke the story May 11 that Roxanne M. Martino, president and CEO of Aurora Investment Management and Notre Dame alumna, had donated a total of $16,150 to EMILY’s List, an organization dedicated to “electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.” Notre Dame announced Martino’s election last month...

... On Thursday, Michael Dvorak, St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor, dismissed the criminal trespass charges that he has pressed against almost all of the pro-life protesters, known as the “ND88.” The individuals were arrested for trespassing when they entered Notre Dame’s campus in peaceful and prayerful protest against the University’s bestowing honors on President Barack Obama at the 2009 Commencement. Dvorak dropped the charges as part of an agreement between the Thomas More Society and the University.

Charges have finally been dropped against 88 pro-life advocates who engaged in protests on the Notre Dame campus when pro-abortion President Barack Obama came to town for a controversial graduation speech. The 88 pro-lifers peacefully assembled against the Catholic university’s decision to honor the vehemently pro-abortion president. They were arrested and subject to various charges that remained despite the help of the Thomas More Society, a national pro-life legal group.

Wednesday September 22, 2010 Former Notre Dame Official Will Now Testify in ND 88 Case By Peter J. SmithSOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Attorneys representing the 88 pro-life demonstrators arrested at the University of Notre Dame for protesting President Barack Obama at the 2009 commencement ceremonies, won the right Monday to require a former ND official to testify under oath about the treatment of the pro-life protestors.In St. Joseph County Circuit Court, Chief Judge Michael Scopelitis ruled that Thomas More Society's (TMS) special counsel, Tom Dixon, may depose William Kirk, former associate vice president for residential life...

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,...

Monday August 16, 2010 President Obama to Speak at Catholic Xavier U. By Kathleen GilbertNEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, August 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama is slated to speak at Louisiana's Xavier University, a Catholic institution of higher education, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina August 29.Xavier President Dr. Norman Francis said the school was "pleased and grateful" at Obama's decision to visit the campus. “Mr. Obama will get to see firsthand why we are so proud of the progress we have made here at Xavier during the five years since Katrina, not only restoring our campus but...

Thursday August 12, 2010 Catholic University Turns Down Obama Appearance Over Timing Issues By Kathleen GilbertAUSTIN, Texas, August 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - St. Edward's University, a Catholic institution of higher education that shares its founder with the University of Notre Dame, has rejected a request by President Obama to give a speech at the school. University spokeswoman Mischelle Diaz stated that "St. Edward's University is honored to have been considered a potential venue for President Obama's recent visit to Austin," but "Regretfully, it was not a good time for us to consider this." "With the short notice provided -...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, June 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Thanks to the strain of being subjected to criminal prosecution on charges of trespassing, one of the 88 peaceful pro-life protesters who was arrested at the University of Notre Dame's campus in May of last year recently suffered a heart attack. According to Dr. Therese Beste's doctor, she continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress related to the prosecuation.The doctor's diagnosis has been submitted to the pro-lifers' defense lawyer as members of the group, known as the "Notre Dame 88," continue to face prosecution and a possible penalty of up to a year...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, April 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While numerous pro-life protesters who were arrested for trespassing at the University of Notre Dame last year continue to face up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine, anti-military and pro-gay demonstrators who were previously arrested on campus had their charges dropped, according to a shocking new investigation by the Sycamore Trust. Furthermore, the president of the University, Fr. John Jenkins, has reportedly refused to discuss the disparate treatment.William Dempsey, Notre Dame alumnus and president of the Sycamore Trust, notes in the organization's latest bulletin that Jenkins has responded to inquiries...

'I don't know that this will be a dramatic change,' president says SOUTH BEND -- The University of Notre Dame on Thursday issued an institutional statement affirming "its commitment to the defense of human life in all its stages." The university also has adopted new principles for the institution's charitable activity. "I don't know that this will be a dramatic change," the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, said in a telephone interview. "We wanted principles that we could apply consistently." The development and adoption of the statement and principles were among recommendations made to Jenkins by the campus...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, March 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, the prestigious former president of the University of Notre Dame, may have helped swing a critical House Democrat vote to the "yes" column after House Speaker Pelosi asked for his help, reported the LA Times and the Associated Press last Tuesday.  The South Bend Tribune confirmed the report on Friday. Hesburgh was called in to persuade U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) to vote for the health care bill despite the vast expansion of abortion funding embedded in it. Donnelly had been a member of the group of Democrats led by...

The "Bump" was conceived after President Obama's commencement address at Note Dame University last year where he said he wanted "to find ways to communicate about a workable solution to the problem of unintended pregnancies." First it was the Real World, then came the Jersey Shore. Now, a new pseudoreality show is hoping to make an impression – only this time the cameras are following three actresses pretending to have unwanted pregnancies, and whether or not they decide to get an abortion is up to the viewers. The "Bump" was conceived after President Obama's commencement address at Note Dame University...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- At the March for Life last Friday, pro-life advocates confronted Father John Jenkins. He is the Notre Dame university president who is under fire for allowing President Barack Obama to give the college's commencement speech and by giving him an honorary degree. Jenkins participated in the March for Life for the first time as a way of making amends but he was confronted by pro-life advocates for the fallout from the event.Specifically, they are upset that he has not gotten Notre Dame officials to withdraw the charges against the 88 pro-life protestors arrested on campus...

Judge Jenny Pitts Manier South Bend, Ind., Jan 12, 2010 / 06:05 pm (CNA).- The trial judge assigned to the legal case involving 88 pro-life activists arrested for demonstrating at the University of Notre Dame recused herself from the case last week. The activists had demonstrated against the university’s decision to host President Barack Obama as a commencement speaker and award him an honorary degree.Defense attorneys had appealed Judge Jenny Pitts Manier’s ruling denying their request that she recuse herself. In Indiana the standard for recusal states that the judge must be shown to have actual bias or the...

Contact: Tom Ciesielka. 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net   NOTRE DAME, Ind., Jan. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- In the ongoing case involving 88 pro-life demonstrators arrested at the University of Notre Dame in the days leading up to (and in some cases during) [Alleged] President Barack Obama's commencement speech and receipt of an honorary degree, the assigned trial judge has recused herself just days after defense attorneys filed an appeal from her earlier ruling, denying recusal.   Judge Jenny Pitts Manier filed an order, dated January 6, 2010 (an Epiphany gift for the defense), reciting that she had decided to recuse herself,...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, January 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The unprecedented controversy that rent the U.S. Catholic community over President Obama's abortion-themed commencement speech and his reception of an honorary law degree at the University of Notre Dame last May has apparently not fazed the school's president, who called the climax of the scandal "a successful" day that he does not regret.When asked in a South Bend Tribune interview published December 27 whether he would do it all over again, Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins answered, "Yes, I would." "He is the president of the United States, and there was...

December 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Thursday the judge hearing the case of the 88 pro-life protesters who were arrested for trespassing on Notre Dame property earlier this year granted a motion to stay the charges pending an appeal into the question of whether she should recuse herself from the case due to bias.Judge Jenny Pitts Manier, who is assigned to the case of the 88 pro-lifers who were arrested while protesting President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame in May, is married to Notre Dame Professor Edward Manier. In addition to several writings revealing his pro-abortion beliefs, the Professor...

December 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lawyers for the 88 pro-life protesters who were arrested on the University of Notre Dame's campus earlier this year will be heading to court tomorrow in St. Joseph County, Indiana, to argue in favor of a motion to dismiss the charges against the pro-lifers. Currently trespassing charges are pending against the 88, who were arrested on Notre Dame property while protesting the commencement speech and honorary law degree given to pro-abortion President Barack Obama in May. If convicted, the pro-lifers could face up to 1 year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Despite repeated...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, November 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An anonymous advocate for the 88 Obama protesters who were arrested on the University of Notre Dame's campus in May sent an aerial message this month to remind University President Fr. John Jenkins of the arrestees' plight for witnessing to life.The 88 individuals arrested on the university's campus while protesting President Obama's commencement address and honorary law degree May 17 are still facing charges of trespassing in St. Joseph County court.  While witnesses say pro-Obama protesters were allowed to roam free, the arrested individuals were singled out for displaying any pro-life message...

South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- On the heels of pro-abortion President Barack Obama speaking at the University of Notre Dame and getting an honorary degree, a noted pro-life advocate will give a speech at its law school. Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, whose husband subjected her to a painful euthanasia death, will speak.Schindler has been invited to speak today at The University of Notre Dame Law School as part of the Jus Vitae speaker’s series.Jus Vitae is committed to the principle that the right to life is inherent and inalienable in every human being and cannot be abridged...