Catholic University Walks Back Attempt To Water Down Religious Values After Backlash

The University of Notre Dame is fully reversing changes to its staff values ​​after major backlash against the school watered down its historic Catholic mission.

On Nov. 10, the Catholic university replaced staff values ​​that required employees to understand and accept “the Catholic mission of the university” with generic concepts such as “treating each person with dignity and respect” and “working together.” Notre Dame is now reaffirming its “commitment to our Catholic mission” by adding a whole new faith-centered value, saying it received “constructive feedback” that the decision was “confusing.”

Following the Daily Caller News Foundation’s article denouncing Notre Dame for seemingly abandoning its Catholic identity, some people posted the article asking the school “what’s your problem?” and criticizing the decision, saying: “People around the world love Notre Dame because of our unapologetically Catholic identity, not in spite of it. »

In the latest announcement, Notre Dame’s public affairs office denied the suggestion that it was downplaying the school’s Catholic identity. (RELATED: Notre Dame calls DEI ‘just as important’ as Catholicism in hiring decisions)

“In this version of our values, our commitment to our Catholic mission – which is the core value on which everything we do is based – was mentioned in the preamble to the four values ​​as a way of showing its overriding importance,” the university insisted. “Through the constructive feedback we received, we now realize that the placement causes confusion and that some might interpret this not as an elevation of our mission as we had intended, but as a sign of waning commitment. To avoid further confusion, we have now included language about the Catholic mission as the first of our five core values.”

Along with its previous values ​​of community, collaboration, excellence and innovation, the university adopted an additional requirement, entitled “Catholic Mission”. It reads: “Be a force for good and help advance Notre Dame’s mission to become the leading Catholic research university in the world. »

Notre Dame Updates Its “Values” Statement (via University of Notre Dame)

“Our Catholic mission guides and informs everything we do and how we work together,” Notre Dame continued in its update. “I invite each of us to think more deeply about how we can be a force for good within the context of ND’s mission to become the world’s leading Catholic research university. Our Catholic mission has animated our common work since the University’s founding, and it will always be our guiding force.”

Notre Dame’s previous values ​​included such things as ensuring staff maintain a “high moral standard,” a commitment to “the overall goals of the team rather than self-interest,” and consideration of the “common good.” The new values ​​simply suggest that staff “seize opportunities with creativity and dedication” and are committed “to truth and service.”

The changes were made “in response to the changing higher education environment,” the university said in the original announcement.

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