Project Sycamore

Bloggers' Code of Conduct

Joseph Caudle — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Please read our Code of Conduct before posting a comment.

Notre Dame Commencement: As It Should Have Been

Bill Dempsey — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:12:19 -0400

(This bulletin consists of an account by Bill Dempsey of the events sponsored by the student group ND Response on Graduation Day. Bill and his wife Mary were joined at Notre Dame by Arina Grossu ('05) of the Sycamore Board and a number of Sycamore supporters. In our next bulletin ...

Notre Dame vs. Church

Bill Dempsey — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:32:18 -0400

As all know, Notre Dame's imminent honoring of President Obama has triggered a storm of protest. We have received countless messages and copies of letters to the University that are suffused with anger, sorrow, and indignation. Alumni are turning diplomas to the wall, putting class rings in drawers, ceasing contributions, changing wills, and resolving not to send children to Notre Dame.

Protest ND Obama Tribute

Bill Dempsey — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:44:01 -0400

As you know, Notre Dame's prospective honoring of President Obama has unleashed a storm of protest. So far thirty-four bishops, including two Cardinals, have joined Bishop D'Arcy in condemning this action. The fissure between University and ...

ND Website Undermines Catholic Teaching

Bill Dempsey — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:48:08 -0500

In this post, we return to the subject of a prior report: an organization of prominent women faculty, ND Watch, whose website contains materials flagrantly hostile to the Catholic character of the University and is linked to the University in several significant ways.

Law professor says Catholic Identity is a question of will

Bill Dempsey — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:49:26 -0500

In a recent essay in The Observer, Law School Professor Emeritus Charles Rice examines several troublesome by-products of the University's drive to be recognized as a top tier research institution. All of them - for example, a "diminished emphasis on undergrad teaching" - are of interest. In terms of Catholic identity, the truly alarming consequence is the "decrease of Catholic faculty" already experienced and to be anticipated.

V-Monologues and Stem Cell Advocates on ND Board (and More)

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:36:46 -0500

In a recent issue (vol. vi #5), the independent student publication The Irish Rover featured four articles respecting Catholic identity that cover too many subjects for us to discuss in a single newsletter. Accordingly, we will postpone for now consideration of the story describing the "Fund to Support Human Life," ...

Father Jenkins's "Creative Contextualization"

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:51:03 -0400

In the cover article of the August/September issue of The Catholic World Report, Dr. Thomas S. Hibbs, Dean of the Honors College of Baylor University, provides an exceptionally insightful discussion of The Vagina Monologues episode. He brings to this subject impressive credentials.

ND Scholar Applauds Sycamore Trust

Bill Dempsey — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:43:15 -0400

In a recent column appearing in the Internet publication, The Catholic Thing, one of the most honored Notre Dame scholars, Dr. Ralph McInterny, discusses the University's Catholic identity and the role of The Sycamore Trust. The article, Alma Mater, requires no elaboration by us.

V-Monologues as Farce

Bill Dempsey — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:54:29 -0400

In our letter of July 10, 2008, to Father Jenkins, we pointed out how this year's student production of The Vagina Monologues failed to meet his requirement that the students in the audience receive an explanation from panelists of relevant Catholic moral doctrine, and we urged that accordingly he should not approve such performances in the future....

The Pope vs. The Professors

Bill Dempsey — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:19:30 -0400

On April 17, 2008, the Pope, in his address to Catholic educators, described a Catholic university in terms of the fullness of its Catholic identity. The day before, the Notre Dame Faculty Senate urged that the University's "academic aspirations" take precedence over its Catholic identity.

This startling disjuncture evidences both the degree to which secularization has already taken hold at Notre Dame and also the grave risk that this process will continue until the University's claim to Catholic identity has been entirely undermined.

Would today's Notre Dame welcome a Professor Ratzinger on its faculty?

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:15:04 -0400

In a Wall Street Journal feature opinion essay titled "The Weekend Interview: Rev. John I. Jenkins, Catholicism, Inc., deputy editor Naomi Schaefer Riley provides an illuminating description of her interview with Father Jenkins in anticipation of the Pope's address to college and university presidents.

It should be noted ...

V-Monologues Despoil Easter Week

Bill Dempsey — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:09:04 -0400

NOTRE DAME, IN - Bishop D'Arcy Denounces Father Jenkins's Decision

It is with profound regret that we report that Father Jenkins, having authorized multiple student performances of The Vagina Monologues, has also permitted those performances to take place during Easter Week. They are to be held on each of three ...

Vagina Monologues 2, Bishops 0

Bill Dempsey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:22:56 -0400

NOTRE DAME, IN - Father Jenkins Disappoints Again

The Vagina Monologues will, after all, be performed on campus later this month. We recently reported that some 50 bishops had moved their conference off campus because the play might be produced. Father Jenkins has now decided it will be. He says ...

Decision Pending as Project Sycamore Petitions Father Jenkins

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:37:45 -0500

In this bulletin we reproduce the letter we have sent to Father Jenkins respecting The Vagina Monologues, and we also provide additional information respecting both the current state of affairs and the recent episode involving the bishops that was the subject of our last bulletin.

Since that bulletin, we ...

Bishops Shun Notre Dame

Tim Dempsey — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:45:42 -0500

Last year's respite from on-campus performances of The Vagina Monologues has evidently ended. The play has departmental sponsorship and is slated for performance on March 24-26.

In an even more startling development, Father Jenkins has refused the request of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Doctrine that he not approve this performance because of the Committee's scheduled February 11-12 meeting on campus, and in consequence the bishops have moved their meeting off campus to Mishawaka and will not stay at the
Morris Inn.

NOTRE DAME, IN - New Faculty Hiring Policy Undermines Catholic Identity as University Declines to Release Hiring Results

Bill Dempsey — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:02:40 -0500

We deeply regret bringing you news of a new hiring policy that, unless changed, will soon fatally compromise Notre Dame's Catholic identity. Here are the facts:

As we have stressed, all studies confirm that a university's religious identity depends upon its faculty. That is where secularization begins and where it ...

Should Anyone Care if Non-Catholics Predominate on Notre Dame's Faculty?

Bill Dempsey — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:08:34 -0400

We bring you a trilogy of articles that should be required reading for all members of the Notre Dame family. In these articles, two of the University's leading scholars exchange contrasting views respecting the question whether Notre Dame's Catholic identity is threatened because of the precipitous decline in the proportion ...

Faculty Site Promotes Material Hostile to Notre Dame's Catholic Character

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 05:37:16 -0400

NOTRE DAME, IN - Faculty Group Website Recommends Pro-Abortion Organizations, Urges More Lesbian and Homosexual Faculty, and Provides Other Noteworthy Insights

An organization of women faculty at Notre Dame called ND Watch has a website that, while providing useful information for new women faculty members, also contains material hostile to ...

Must Read Article by Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C.

Tim Dempsey — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:21:23 -0400

The Secularization of the Notre Dame Faculty – A “Must Read” Article by A Prominent Notre Dame Professor

In the September 10, 2007, issue of “America,” Father Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., describes in compelling detail the extent to which the Notre Dame faculty has been secularized.

“America” deserves praise for ...

The Heart of the Matter

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:26:11 -0400

While manifestations of Catholic life at Notre Dame are abundant, is there a potentially fatal fault line that has opened out of public view?

Let's begin this discussion with the threshold question whether there is a serious threat to the Catholic identity of Notre Dame. I say there is. The School's Mission Statement tells us so.

That provision declares that the school's Catholic identity "depends upon" the "continuing presence" of a "predominant number of Catholic intellectuals"...

Rank Over Religion

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:25:54 -0400

What's more important, Catholic identity or pride of position in the U.S. News & World Report hierarchy?

Some, perhaps many, will argue that it's more important to pursue scholars with the most impressive academic credentials than it is to maintain a Catholic majority on the faculty. They regard Father Jenkins's ...

Soothing Melodies, Happy Memories

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:25:37 -0400

If the risk to Notre Dame's Catholic identity is so evident, why don't more seem concerned?

Here's an interesting question for discussion. We've heard from some who think the number one goal for Notre Dame should be still further improvement in its academic reputation in secular academe. If that means ...

The Means to the End

Bill Dempsey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:10:00 -0400

Should those in governance ensure that the faculty's latitude in hiring will not trump the Mission Statement?

How can the Mission Statement's requirement be met?

Although the President holds ultimate authority, as a practical matter hiring has been left almost entirely to departmental faculties. Father Jenkins has been stressing the ...