Introduction
In this bulletin, we offer a brief introduction to the lawsuit that will be discussed by the lead speaker at our May 31 Annual Breakfast—Jim Bopp, Jr., the nationally prominent pro-life attorney representing The Irish Rover in this important case. Please join us either in person or via livestream for what promises to be a compelling account of this unprecedented legal challenge and its implications for Catholic identity at Notre Dame.
The lawsuit – very briefly
Tamara Kay is a tenured Notre Dame Professor of Global Affairs and Sociology.
She is an outspoken pro-abortion advocate.
The Irish Rover, as our readers know, is an independent Notre Dame student publication dedicated to the preservation of the Catholic identity of the University.
Our lead speaker is James Bopp, Jr., a nationally prominent attorney who serves as general counsel of the National Right to Life Committee and who represents The Irish Rover in this litigation.
Professor Kay sued The Irish Rover for punitive damages, claiming it had defamed her in two articles describing her pro-abortion activities. She alleged that The Rover students “acted with malice, wanton and willful misconduct, and a reckless disregard for the truth, all with the intent to damage and negatively impact the plaintiff.”
The trial court emphatically disagreed:
The three-judge appellate court concurred:
The undisputed facts established that the Irish Rover’s two articles were written in good faith, and that the alleged defamatory statements were not false
We thought this was the end, but we learned recently that Kay will not let go. She has petitioned the state Supreme Court to grant yet another review. We trust that court will consider the unanimous judgment of four judges sufficient.
The Media
So far as we can tell, this defamation lawsuit by a faculty member against a student organization is rare. Evidently a teacher suing students or their organizations just isn’t done. And a legal assault by a pro-abortion professor against a Catholic student group at the most prominent Catholic university in the country is especially eye-popping.
Accordingly, the lawsuit drew a tsunami of media reports nationwide. See, e.g., the Google collection here. For an example of media criticism, see Jonathan Turley’s illuminating reports here and here.
On Campus
The administration doubtless knew everything the courts did and was aware of the negative publicity, but it has maintained a hands-off policy throughout.
Indeed, in a truly bizarre side note to this episode, the university continues to list Kay as a “ND Expert” available to media “to analyze, provide context and commentary” on “[a]bortion, women’s rights and ethics.”
A clue to the administration’s diffidence might lie in faculty criticism of Father Jenkins, then Notre Dame president, for disassociating the university from one of Kay’s pro-abortion op-eds, this one in the Chicago Tribune.
In a bracing letter to the editor, Father Jenkins wrote that, while Kay and her co-author were “of course, free to express their opinions on our campus or in any public forum,” their essay “does not reflect the views and values of the University of Notre Dame in its tone, arguments or assertions.”
Whereupon Professor Kay erupted in the Notre Dame Observer:
It was also an unprecedented attack by a university president on women faculty’s expertise, research and policy work. But it was particularly shattering that he so thoughtlessly whipped up another round of vitriolic harassment with his statement after ignoring my pleas to help stop it months earlier.
The Sociology Department, the Keogh School, and some 100 faculty and staff weighed in with academic freedom statements in support of Kay. The Sociology Department insisted Father Jenkins should remain “neutral” on public statements by faculty on controversial issues.
And Kay’s GoFundMe editors accused Father Jenkins of “violating the university’s academic freedom policies” and “caus[ing] an escalation in harassment against Prof. Kay.”
Conclusion
This has been an especially lamentable episode. We look forward to a successful conclusion in court through the work of Mr. Bopp, but support of abortion by Notre Dame faculty is sure to continue. It is a sign of the weakened Catholic identity of the University.
We pray Father Dowd, the new president, will not be deterred by extravagant academic freedom claims in checking the undermining of Church teaching on campus and disassociating the university from promotion of abortion by faculty off campus.
Join Us!
Saturday
May 31, 2025
Smith Ballroom (at Morris Inn)
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Complimentary breakfast at 7:15 AM EDT
Program 8:00 am – 9:30 AM EDT
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If you share our love for Notre Dame and want to see an authentic Catholic renewal under the Dome, please consider lending a hand in whatever way you are able — by giving of your time (especially in prayer), talent, or treasure. The funds we receive are used to continue our work to keep you informed of Notre Dame’s imperiled Catholic identity, organize events and activities to strengthen our collective voice, and financially support the efforts on campus by students and their organizations to stand tall for the Truth of Catholicism.
Oremus
O God of Truth and Love, You have called us into a loving and faithful relationship with You. Your Son identified Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and called us to follow Him wherever He goes.
In their care for and guardianship of the University and the students it serves, may the administrators of the University of Notre Dame always commit themselves to the pursuit and embrace of the Truth, which alone can set us free.
May the Holy Spirit lead them into all truth and recall them to it in times of peril. May they embrace the sorrow that comes from being different from, and rejected by, the world, so that they may rejoice always in the goodness of the Lord.
In the day of battle, may they joyfully take courage in Him who has already overcome the world.
We make our prayer through the intercession of Notre Dame, Our Mother, and 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.
Submit Your Mass Intention
Father John J. Raphael (’89) offers a monthly Mass for the intentions of our Sycamore Trust community. If you have an intention that you would like him to include at his next Mass, you may submit it by clicking on the following button.
