Friday September 3, 2010
Notre Dame Spokesman Refuses to Speak to LifeSiteNews.com
By Kathleen Gilbert
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although previously willing to speak to LifeSiteNews.com, the University of Notre Dame has evidently implemented a policy against such communication in the future.
Earlier this week LSN attempted to confirm the termination of Bill Kirk, Associate Vice President for Student Life, with Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown.
Brown: I’m sorry, I have no comment to you.
LSN: You have no comment to me specifically?
Brown: That’s right.
LSN: Why’s that?
Brown: I’d rather not get into that, but no comment.
LSN: Is this ND policy that you can’t speak to LifeSiteNews?
Brown: We don’t discuss personnel matters, but in particular I have no comment to LifeSiteNews.
LSN: Ok, you don’t want to share a grievance with us? We’d be happy to hear it.
Brown: No, thank you.
LSN was the leading source of information on the scandal surrounding President Obama’s honor at the university last year: most notably, a sheet of talking points was leaked exclusively to LifeSiteNews.com. That sheet revealed suggestions offered by Notre Dame administration to trustees on how to handle the controversy. One of those talking points, which pointed to how former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon’s scheduled reception of the Laetare Medal could act as a counterbalance to Obama’s honor, prompted Glendon to turn down the honor in protest.
A comprehensive list of U.S. bishops who spoke out against the scandal – 83 in all, 80 of whom are actively serving – was also compiled exclusively by LifeSiteNews.
In addition, LSN has published several updates on the “Notre Dame 88,” a group of pro-life witnesses who were arrested for trespassing in May 2009 as they protested Obama’s presence on campus. Fr. John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, has refused to request leniency for the pro-lifers, who still face up to a $5,000 fine and a year in jail under St. Joseph County prosecution.
Although Jenkins claimed that the protesters have been treated the same as other trespassing groups of protesters at Notre Dame, that claim was debunked by an investigation that found charges against homosexualist and anti-military protesters were dropped in 2007.