In the presidential election contest, as we explain below, Notre Dame on the whole appeared to tilt toward Kamela Harris, even though her signature campaign pledge was unhindered access to abortion. Still, there was more political balance than at many, if not all, other major universities. And the Trump victory appears to have been taken in stride by both faculty and students — in contrast to other leading universities where “[m]any professors canceled classes . . . citing the emotional needs and trauma of students.”
In recounting some of the election related events, we begin with the most disappointing episode, the suppression by Campus Ministry of the bishops’ advice to Catholic voters on the primacy of the abortion issue.
Campus Ministry’s Misdirection to Students
In the first of a series of Campus Ministry events on “Faith and the Election,” a staff member described Church teaching on a battery of issues with moral implications.
“Specifically,” the Irish Rover reported, she “focused on the Church’s call to a ‘consistent ethic of life,’ citing a list of life-related issues, ranging from abortion to immigration.”
This appeared to put abortion on the same plane as immigration and other life-related issues such as capital punishment and euthanasia, whereas the United States Conference of Bishops had declared abortion the “preeminent priority” for the election in their guide to Catholic voters, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.
Since the Campus Ministry moderator cited this document, and since this elevation of abortion above all other issues was widely publicized, we assumed this omission was deliberate,
But to be sure, Bill Dempsey wrote both the moderator and the C.S.C. Assistant President for Campus Ministry.
Twice. With no response.
In his second letter, Bill wrote: “Enough time has elapsed for me to be certain the omission was not accidental.”
This circumvention of episcopal teaching on a “preeminent” moral issue obviously benefitted Harris and disadvantaged Trump. We are left to speculate as to why Campus Ministry, of all Notre Dame organizations, chose this course.
This is especially regrettable, we add, because Campus Ministry otherwise does much good on campus. See, e.g., the Irish Rover report on the very recent Campus Ministry-sponsored appearance of the Notre Dame alumni founders of Hallow, “the top prayer and meditation app in the world.”
Student Polls
The Irish Rover, the The Observer, and the Scholastic conducted student election polls with varying results. The Rover showed a narrow edge for Trump while the others registered a substantial lead for Harris.
All, however, showed a significant gain for Trump over 2020 and 2016 and more support for Trump than college students generally.
Here are some details:
- Trump led Harris 47.6 % to 45.9 % in the Rover poll but trailed her 42.6% to 57.4% and 38.3% to 54.2% in Scholastic and Observer polls, respectively.
- In all three polls, Trump improved substantially from 2016 and 2020, when he stood at 22.2% and 27.8%.
- Trumps’ showing in all three polls greatly exceeded the pitiful 19% for college students nationally.
- Trump did better among males than females, as he did nationally.
- He also did better among Catholic students than non-Catholics.
- In contrast to national trends, the abortion issue cut for rather than against Trump.
There is no obvious reason for the disparity between the Rover’s and the other two polls. We suspect it has to do with Trump supporters being less likely to respond to the Observer and Scholastic solicitations and liberal and non-Catholic students less likely to respond to the Rover’s.
In any case, all three polls evidence a more conservative student body than at a typical university. That inference is confirmed by the division of students in the Scholastic survey into roughly equal groups along the political spectrum, with 36.3% identifying as conservative, 19,5% moderate, and 34.2% liberal.
Still, even in the Rover poll there was a good deal more support for Harris, the nation’s pre-eminent pro-abortion paladin, than one might expect at the nation’s leading Catholic university.
In that respect, it is significant that non-Catholic students were more supportive of Harris than Catholic students, almost surely because of abortion. This shows the importance of maintaining the 80% Catholic goal for admissions.
The First Installment of the Democracy Initiative
The first event of The Notre Dame Democracy Initiative dealt with the election.
The Democracy Initiative is a component of the school’s ten-year 2023 Strategic Framework. In explaining the Initiative, the university declared, “Democracy is in crisis at home and abroad,” and
At a time when many universities are grappling with their role in American democracy, Notre Dame is uniquely situated to respond to this crisis.
But not a word as to why Notre Dame is “uniquely situated” to address this topic, the name of which has overtones of anti-Trump rhetoric.
The Observer’s report on the first program of the Initiative affords no reassurance on either score.
So far as the report discloses, however effective the style of the presentations, there was nothing “unique” about their substance — nothing that a reader of the New York Times or Washington Post would not have read in one form or another.
Perhaps the most notable feature of the panel was its evident lack of balance. There were a good many swipes at Trump – e.g., “Trump has violated many of our regular democratic norms,” “he will disregard democratic institutions,” he “is a great vessel for anger.” And not one good word about him, so far as appears.
One panelist even attributed bilocation to Trump in his attempt to reverse the election. Trump was in the White House during the January 6 melee, but nevertheless the panelist declared he “led an attack on the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
One is left to wonder about the reason for, and the direction of, the Initiative.
Debate on The Presidency and American Democracy
A day before the Democracy Initiatives event, Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government sponsored a debate about the election and related issues such as the prosecutions of Trump.
The account of the debate, which we commend to the reader, describes spirited but friendly exchanges between two experts of differing views on highly charged political topics.
The debate was typical of the worthy events that the Center under the leadership of Dr. Phillip Munoz, its founding director, has brought to the university.
For another, read on.
The appearance of Gov. DeSantis
On November 8, at the invitation of the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, Governor Ron DeSantis came to Notre Dame to speak about his experiences as governor of Florida and the future of the conservative movement.
Inside the packed auditorium, he was greeted with a standing ovation.
Outside, students representing a collection of student groups, including College Democrats, protested.
Some of their signs read “KEEP ABORTION LEGAL,” “DESANTIS, STOP BEING A SH**T,” and “GAY IS OK.”
The Irish Rover pitches in
The “Catholic Case for Trump” was forcefully presented by the Politics Editor of the Irish Rover. See his detailed analysis of the Harris and Trump records and campaigns from a Catholic perspective here.
Trump as Commencement Speaker
The election of Trump once again puts to the administration the question of inviting him to be commencement speaker.
As we have reported, Father Jenkins did not invite Trump during his previous term in office notwithstanding the university’s long tradition of inviting sitting presidents – a tradition Jenkins had cited in defending his invitation to President Obama, then the Church’s most formidable adversary on abortion.
Then, once Trump was gone, as we reported, Father Jenkins resurrected the policy by quietly inviting President Biden, another abortion champion.
Happily, Biden pleaded a conflict – which turned out to be a weekend at Camp David with his wife.
Now it is Father Dowd’s call.
Conclusion
In the context of an overwhelmingly liberal higher education landscape, Notre Dame is a relatively moderate outlier. If it were more Catholic, there would not be as strong support for pro-abortion politicians or suppression of episcopal electoral counsel or picketing of prominent pro-life officeholders and the like. But in the university world as it is, there is much about Notre Dame to be grateful for.
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Oremus
Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. (1 Cor 3:18-19)
O God our Father, Eternal Wisdom and Love, You have created us in Your own image and likeness, and called us to live in humble obedience to You and according to the order which You have established to govern the universe. You sent Your Son, Wisdom Incarnate, to save us from sin and to reconcile us to You and to one another. He established the Church to be a saving witness of Wisdom and Love, Goodness and Truth to a rebellious world. We implore You to dispel the darkness that surrounds us. May all who have rejected the truths of creation, seeking to replace Your design for the human race with one of their own, be awakened to the destructive folly which passes for wisdom in this age. Enlighten us all by the Truth which sets us free and grant that we may courageously embrace the scorn and contempt of the wise of the world so that we may joyfully share in the Wisdom of God. Through the intercession of Notre Dame, our Mother, we make our prayer in the Name of Jesus, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
The above prayer is by Sycamore Trustee Father John Raphael (’89). To join us in regular prayer projects such as our Novena for Catholic Education and our Meditation on the 12-Days of Christmas, please join our Apostolate.
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7 Responses
The Pope is a Catholic and so is the President. DeSantis and Trump have no idea. The idea of such a poor example of integrity as president when the same party lies constantly, creates death and destruction thru poor vaccine & healthcare leadership, obfuscation on immigration, pro weapons of death for all with little in terms of regulation, and zero concept of peaceful transfer of power.
Certainly, the Pope is a Catholic. Why suggest otherwise? As to the President, the fact that he identifies as not just Catholic but devoutly so is part of the problem.
Robert Royal called him the first “anti-Catholic ‘Catholic’ president.” Now that’s a glove that fits! He doesn’t just disagree with the Church on abortion, same-sex marriage, gender identity, contraception, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, freedom of conscience, etc. — but he has used the power and prestige of the Oval Office to fight against Church teaching on these and other issues.
The reason that this is relevant to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and our mission is because the Jenkins Administration awarded him the Laetare Medal against the directions of the USCCB which says “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Seems pretty straightforward. But so far, the Laetare Medal stands.
The faculty hires and promotions have done great damage. They adversely influence students and are a public rebuke of Catholic teaching.
The entire faculty recruitment snd retention process needs a cleansing.
You are quite correct, Mike: faculty are the key to Catholic identity. As we have often said, Notre Dame fails its own test of Catholic identity, a “preponderant number” of Catholics on the faculty. We will return to this subject soon in another bulletin.
I believe that Notre Dame is ripe for a university-wide institution of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae. This combined with all teaching staff being required to have the Academic Mandatum conferred upon them, even retrospectively if necessary as several other orthodox universities do, may well help suppress the heterodox teachings and confusions, at least in the classrooms.
Thank you for the input and concern for Catholic values. Since 2009, I tell most that Notre Dame “used to be” Catholic. Certainly next to Fransican. Univ. of Dallas, St. Thmas University, it is not very Catholic. It is embarrassing and shameful. It is very difficult for me to come round to praying for my enemies, but I do. I will continue to pray for my alma mater as well and because of your organization and others who are Catholic in practice, not theory, I will not call ND my enemy…yet. Morrison ’76
Governor DeSantis’ talk was awesome! It’s so refreshing to hear an elected official speak the truth so clearly.
Thanks to Fr. Raphael for the beautiful prayer.
Happy Thanksgiving and Go Irish!