(LifeSiteNews) — The University of Notre Dame has dropped a nearly two-decade old requirement for staff to support its Catholic “mission.”
According to The Observer, the school’s student-run newspaper, a new set of “ND Values” was unveiled during town hall meetings with staff on October 29 and 30 by Heather Christophersen, vice president of human resources.
The “Values,” which were established under former president Father John Jenkins, previously directed staff to support “the University’s Catholic mission” and to foster “values consistent with that mission.” But the updated list removes specific mentions of the Catholic faith, replacing it with more generic goals oriented around community, collaboration, excellence, and innovation.
While the revised list does not apply to faculty – professors, instructors, and the like – many concerned Catholics believe the statement will weaken the already increasingly secular nature of the university, which employs an estimated 4,500 staff in administrative, communications, facilities, and other departments.
Christophersen explained to The Observer that updating the list was a top priority of new president Father Robert Dowd, who succeeded Jenkins in 2023. She said that her department has been holding focus groups over the past year and a half with the goal of being “the best global Catholic research institution” in the world. She noted that the university does not keep track of the religious beliefs of staff as it does for faculty and students.
Earlier this year, Notre Dame doubled down on diversity, inclusion, and equity practices. A report published by First Things in February revealed that the school’s provost informed faculty three days before President Trump was sworn in via email that they are looking to “increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities on our faculty.” The provost told employees that the goal of hiring women and minorities was “equally important” as hiring “Catholic faculty and other faculty deeply committed to our mission.”
Christophersen’s announcement has left many faithful Catholics across the U.S. concerned about the university’s continued drift away from the faith in recent decades. In 2022, Notre Dame founded the “Office of Institutional Transformation,” hiring several DEI staff to promote woke ideology on campus. Salaries for such persons were reportedly north of $6.5 million in total. A “Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” was also established in 2023.
While it has been long regarded as the most prominent Catholic university in America, Notre Dame has increasingly failed to live up to its professed religious identity. The school previously gave pro-abortion President Barack Obama an honorary award while bestowing on Joe Biden it’s prestigious Laetare Medal. It has also hosted drag shows on campus, celebrated June as “pride month,” and promoted many other pro-LGBT initiatives. The university has notably denied President Trump an honorary degree.
Founded by French priest Father Edward Sorin in 1842, the university’s formal name is Notre Dame du Lac, or “Our Lady of the Lake.” In the 1970s, heterodox president Father Theodore Hesburgh made Notre Dame co-educational and helped draft the heavily criticized Land O’ Lakes statement, a document approved by presidents of various Catholic universities across the U.S. that declared independence from formal Church authority and doctrines.