Welcome To Our Blog

We're excited to launch our official blogsite for Project Sycamore where we encourage you to join us in an ongoing discussion about issues relating to the Catholic identity of Notre Dame.

We hope this site provides you with a deeper insight into our work and why we think this is a critical time for our beloved University.

Keep on the lookout for upcoming posts from our team and from guest bloggers who will provide you with additional perspectives and insights. (To avoid organizational sclerosis, the officers and directors of Project Sycamore will generally express their views in a personal, rather than a representative, capacity. We will open with several related questions posed by Bill Dempsey '52, the Project's President.)

To post your comments, you will need a reader account. Just follow the links at the end of each article to log in or to sign up.

Thank you very much for your interest in Project Sycamore and your concern for Notre Dame

The Heart of the Matter

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." This means a solid majority, according to the author of the provision, then President Rev. Edward Malloy. Provost Burish reaffirmed this standard in the current issue of the Notre Dame Magazine. It's significant that this is also the minimum that Pope John Paul II prescribed in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, his explication of the nature of a Catholic University. This focus on faculty reflects the uniform conclusion of experts that the secularization of colleges and universities begins and ends with the faculty. (Resources)

Notre Dame is perilously close to failing the Mission Statement test, if it hasn't already.

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Rank Over Religion

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 goal of boosting Notre Dame into the top ranks of research universities as more important than his goal of ensuring its Catholic identity. Father Jenkins insists that the goals are compatible. Maybe so in the long run, some will say, but maybe not in the short run. Hasn't Notre Dame's rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings been largely due to adding mostly non-Catholic scholars with degrees from elite secular universities? Why stop now, the argument goes. In short, hire on the basis of credentials only, as they are judged by secular academe. There will always be enough Catholics in the mix to staff a Catholic studies program for those who want it.

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Soothing Melodies, Happy Memories

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 continued reduction of the proportion of Catholic faculty, so be it. They agree with the faculty majority that religious commitment ought to be disregarded in hiring. For them, Father Jenkins's new goal of recognition as a top research university is more important than his goal of arresting the decline of Catholic faculty.

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The Means to the End

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 need to hire Catholics, but the required course change is daunting and past experience is not encouraging. In 2003, Father Malloy, too, declared the hiring of more Catholics to be a "priority," only to see the rate plummet to near 40% the next two years.

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