According to ESPN and wikipedia and the LA Times, Notre Dame officially won the 2005 game against USC, the most recent Game of the Century, due to breaking like kinda alot of NCAA rules. If USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin even thinks about stepping out of line, he is going to be in some serious, uh, doo-doo.

In case you needed a reminder…:

Read it and WEEP, Kiffin.  Next time I’m on campus, I’m going to officially storm the field, like I tried to in 2005. As far as justice goes, well, better late than never.

Last November I participated in a panel at a conference at the University of Notre Dame on the issue of President Obama’s May 2009 commencement address. Other participants on the panel included Radford University’s Matthew Franck and Gwen Brown, moderated by my Baylor colleague, Donald Schmeltekopf.

A version of the paper I delivered on that panel has just been published in Touchstone: A Magazine of Mere Christianity (May/June 2010).   Entitled, “Justice for Some: Moral Theology & the President’s Honorary Doctorate,” here is an excerpt:
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I am sad to report the death of Ralph McInerny, a man that I had the privilege to get to know last year while I was on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame. Here is a portion of a note I received today from a friend in South Bend, Indiana:

Ralph died early this morning at 7:45… It was, from what I can discern, a happy death, serene and full of the acceptance that comes from a sure and strong faith. I know that for me, I never expect to know another like him in this life. He was outstanding in all the important roles of life: husband and father, friend and teacher, inspirer and witness, in love with God and truly love by God. Has there ever been a happier man, a man more able to make all around him smile?

Ralph was the sort of intellectual giant that becomes more rather than less formidable when one attempts to explain to those outside the guild the scope and influence of his work, the generosity of his spirit, and the habits of Christian virtue and philosophical rigor that he imparted to his students and colleagues in both word and deed. Although I did not have the privilege to study under Professor McInerny, I am one of literally tens of thousands, both inside and outside the academy, who has been deeply influenced by his work and example.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May Ralph’s soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

(cross-posed on Return to Rome blog)

Yesterday I had the good fortune to attend the inauguration of Virginia’s 71st governor, Bob McDonnell.  All the guests were full of energy and enthusiasm as we watched him take the oath of office, along with his Lieutenant-Governor Bob Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  It really felt like being at a concert of my favorite rockstar – the excitement goes beyond description. I couldn’t do it justice if I tried. There was a little something for everyone, from the flyover after the oath to the Redskins cheerleaders to the history in which Richmond is steeped.  The next four years should be good for Virginia and I pray for the Governor and his family.

Below is the full text of his Inaugural Address, courtesy of #bobmcdonnell: (more…)

Don’t despair, Frank.  A few mandatory viewings of the following will help turn things around (on two fronts).

It has been over 20 years since the Notre Dame football team won a national championship.  Its present coach, Charlie Weis, is on the brink of being fired. But it doesn’t matter who is at the helm. The Irish will never be great again. Here are the reasons. First, the cultural memory of Notre Dame greatness has vanished. This means that recruits, all born after the last championship, will not be lured by that tradition. Second, compared to the cities in which the sunbelt football powers reside, South Bend, Indiana feels like a refrain in a Dust Bowl folk song.  If you were 18 years old and had a choice between a football power in the sunbelt or Notre Dame, where would you rather play? Third, the ND campus is a geographic and aesthetic nightmare.  It is both sprawling and cluttered, if you can imagine such a combination.  And because of its geography and infrastructure, it always feels abandoned. Unlike other campuses, you don’t get the sense that there’s anything going on there, except when there’s a home football game. Fourth, ND refuses to join a major conference. Their schedule is haphazard and aside from the lopsided USC rivalry, each season brings no real “big games” to look forward to. At Texas, for example, there is Oklahoma, A & M, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. At ND, there is Michigan and Michigan State in addition to USC. But the former two are not in their ascendancy, and ND is no factor in their conference standings. 

Let’s face it.  It’s all over for ND.  Remember the golden age fondly. But it’s gone forever.

The only team that really matters

I love you like nothing else (except maybe God), but sometimes you just don’t make sense.

This is not the Southern Appeal I knew.  Four weeks into the college football season, and I have seen little smack talk taking place.  You’re leaving it up to the Yankee bastard (as I was affectionately dubbed by a college hall mate who – shockingly – went on to pledge KA) to put up a post.  But I think now is an opportune time considering that the Tide just rolled Arkansas and Charlie Weiss, despite winning another squeaker, is a week closer to getting the axe.  Oh and the Jets and Giants are a combined 6-0, but I guess y’all don’t care much about that.

Andrew (ND ’09, a good friend of my sister’s, the Irish Rover‘s Spring 2009 Editor in Chief, and a crazy guy on a bike) is doing one of those wild and random things that we all wish we had the gumption to do.  Today, he and some friends are leaving from Boston and biking across the United States, through several states and a few Canadese territories.  He’s going to be writing about it at crazyguyonabike.  You can find his inspiration on the site. Bon Voyage!

(The book that features prominently, Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, is in my reading queue and should, according to my sister, be in yours as well. Get thee to a library.)

Rush Limbaugh spends a show discussing what happened. He  says it isn’t about what Obama said or didn’t say, it’s about what has happened to Notre Dame over the years, and then makes some other salient points.

That’s the message Obama delivered yesterday, morality is immoral.  Pro-life is a moral position.  Pro-life is the extremist position, rather instead of being a moral position.  Pro-life is an extremist position, according to President Obama.

. . . And in conjunciton with that, The American Thinker on how Notre Dame has drifted away from the Catholic Church.

Prof. Rick Garnett’s comments at Mirror of Justice on President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame strike me as spot-on:

To talk, as the President did at Notre Dame, as if one “respects” the other side, and welcomes their arguments — indeed, he encouraged pro-life citizens to continue making their case — while at the same time committing oneself to a legal regime that precludes these arguments from having any real-world policy effects is, it seems to me, a bit disingenuous.  To welcome dialogue only when one is sure that one’s conversation partner’s views have no chance of actually being reflected in real-world policy is not really to welcome dialogue.  It is just to strategically humor that partner.

Mad props to ND Law Grad Anna Franzonello for praying yesterday for the President rather than attending the ceremony that recognized him with an honorary degree. I’m sure our country is in good hands with future lawyers like Ms. Franzonello!

Having given it a quick read-through, it is an interesting and at the same time pedantic read: his story of the doctor writing to him about his views on pro-lifers in Audacity is by this time a bit trite in the Obama repertoire. It’s a conflicted speech where he tackles “head on” what he calls “great problems” and “moral conflicts” but offers little more than hortatory solutions. That’s par for the course now with President Obama. It makes every problem from abortion to energy truly seem less-than-urgent especially because he needs to explain everything in some sort of narrative of destiny (that’s condescending to all of us by now: REALLY we don’t get they’re important?). His few paragraphs to the end about faith are moving and in fact, harken back to his 2006 speech on religion. They are the few glimmers of hope. But then he follows saying that all people are bound under one law, the golden rule. That’s a much different tradition than the full, Catholic natural law tradition which says that the Natural Law is truly part of the order and plan God has for the world. Not some wishful, amelioration of how we treat one another. Obama, it is safe to say, clearly does not believe in Natural Law in any meaningful way. On the whole, this speech is far, far from compelling. Still, it is a very good insight to the President, especially to what is quickly emerging as the shallowness of his moral imagination (after so much soaring rhetoric on hope…) and to his fleeting tendencies to show glimmers of possibility through his perception of faith.

Commencement speaker aside, congratulations Notre Dame class of 2009! Most of You’ve earned it!

Cross-posted previously at In Toon With the World.

Alan Keyes and a Catholic priest were among 21 pro-lifers who were arrested for a protest march onto Notre Dame’s campus.

Although I will admit Mr. Keyes is a little crazy, he is a tenacious supporter of the rights of the unborn. I had the privilege of meeting him in Illinois when he challenged the ambitous senatorial candidate Barack Obama.  He gave an incredibly fiery pro-life speech and was a gracious enough to give me a photo op after.

Former Laetare Medalist Judge John T. Noonan will deliver a speech in the spirit of the award.

Why him?

“In thinking about who could bring a compelling voice, a passion for dialogue, great intellectual stature, and a deep commitment to Catholic values to the speaking role of the Laetare Medalist – especially in these unusual circumstances – it quickly became clear that an ideal choice is Judge Noonan,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of Notre Dame. “This commencement ceremony, more than anything else, is a celebration of our students and their families. Judge Noonan will join with President Obama and other speakers in that celebration, sending them from our campus and into the world with sound advice and affirmation.

They should’ve given it to Martin Sheen this year.

According to the Notre Dame web site:

The following statement from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, is in response to the decision by Mary Ann Glendon to decline acceptance of the University’s Laetare Medal:

“We are, of course, disappointed that Professor Glendon has made this decision. It is our intention to award the Laetare Medal to another deserving recipient, and we will make that announcement as soon as possible.”

I am no expert in public relations, but regifting a prestigious medal should not even have been on the table. It runs the risk of adding injury to insult. For whoever is the runner-up recipient of the 2009 Laetare Medal will now undergo a level of scrutiny that would have not occurred if he or she were the first choice under different circumstances. Very, very strange.

(cross-posted on What’s Wrong With The World)

Update (Feddie): Donald at American Catholic has a good guess as to who might be (read: is) tacky enough to accept a regifted medal.

More from Notre Dame …

A statement by Bishop D’Arcy, Bishop of the Fort Wayne/South Bend diocese, in the middle of which is, wait for it, Notre Dame itself.

I consider it now settled — that the USCCB document, “Catholics in Public Life,” does indeed apply in this matter.
The failure to consult the local bishop who, whatever his unworthiness, is the teacher and lawgiver in the diocese, is a serious mistake. Proper consultation could have prevented an action, which has caused such painful division between Notre Dame and many bishops — and a large number of the faithful.

Also, there are some interesting tidbits over at The Irish Rover’s website, the independent Catholic paper forever entrenched in warfare with the daily student paper, The Observer.  In particular, there’s an article about the student response coalition and Jenkins, which is always a good read.

As I noted elsewhere, Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn was scheduled to speak this evening at the University of Notre Dame. I just returned from the talk. It was outstanding and powerful. Mr. McGurn, who I had the privilege to speak with after his lecture, offered a principled defense of his point of view while being charitable to those with whom he disagrees.

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture has published the text of the talk online, which you can find here. The following are some excerpts:

The precipitate cause of our gathering tonight is the honor and platform our university has extended to a President whose policies reflect clear convictions about unborn life, and about the value the law ought to place on protecting that life. These convictions are not in doubt. In July 2007, the candidate spelled them out in a forceful address to a Planned Parenthood convention in our nation’s capital.

Before that audience, he declared that a woman’s “fundamental right” to an abortion was at stake in the coming election. He spoke about how he had “put Roe at the center” of his “lesson plan on reproductive freedom” when he was a professor – and how he would put it at the center of his agenda as president.

He invoked his record in the Illinois state senate, where he fought restrictions on abortion, famously including one on partial-birth abortion. He said that the “first thing” he wanted to do as President was to “sign a Freedom of Choice Act.” And he ended by assuring his audience that “on this fundamental issue,” he, like they, would never yield….
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This lecture is sponsored by the academic unit at Notre Dame in which I hold my visiting appointment, the Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture. If you are interested in attending, here are the vitals:

Thursday, April 23 – “A Notre Dame Witness for Life”

William McGurn, Notre Dame alumnus (Class of 1980) and former chief speech writer for George W. Bush (2005-2009), will be lecturing on Thursday night on the topic, “A Notre Dame Witness for Life.” Mr. McGurn, currently a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, will be speaking in Room 155 DeBartolo Hall and there will be a reception following his lecture. The lecture will be open to the public.

In his talk, Mr. McGurn will be exploring the ways in which the University of Notre Dame is of special significance for the pro-life cause globally. Mr. McGurn offered the following comments on what he plans to talk about:

“President Obama’s invitation to speak at Notre Dame comes at a moment when the nation’s most prominent Catholics — our Vice President, our Speaker of the House, the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services — are all strong and unequivocal advocates for enshrining abortion into the law as a constitutional right. For the prolife community, the issue is not so much opposition to a commencement speaker as what we long to see at Our Lady’s university: affirmation for the premier civil rights cause of our day. In a nation wounded by Roe, in a culture that sets mothers against their own children, we know this: Our church, our culture, and our country are poorer without the life witness of Notre Dame.”

(Cross-posted on Return to Rome)

Something that has been obscured in the Obama/Notre Dame controversy is how much progress the university has made in recent years with respect to asserting and living out its Catholic identity.  A fine example of this is the Annual Eucharistic Procession, now on its fifth year and scheduled for April 26.  Matthew Alderman, an ND alum, explains at the New Liturgical Movement:

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For those in the South Bend, Indiana area, I will be speaking on my return to the Catholic Church at the weekly gathering of Notre Dame’s Catholic Student Fellowship, Four:7. It is scheduled for 8:30 pm in the chapel of Cavanaugh Hall on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. For more information, go here.

(cross-posted on Return to Rome)

During discussions over the Notre Dame/Obama controversy, it has repeatedly been brought to my attention that, in 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was named an honorary canon—in fact, the only honorary canon—of the Pope’s cathedral in Rome: the Basilica of St. John Lateran.  Sarkozy is pro-choice—albeit much less extreme than many of his French counterparts—and has captivated the tabloids with his marital infidelity and love affair with First Mistress, Carla Bruni.  So the questions ask themselves: Why the outrage among Catholic Americans over Obama at Notre Dame when the Vatican itself honored a pro-choice politician?  Are Catholic Americans more Catholic than the Pope?

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Be sure to read William M. Daley’s pathetic op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune.

My “favorite” part: “Those of us who were raised in the Catholic tradition believe our actions—in our personal, professional and public lives—should meet a certain moral standard.” Which for Mr. Daley includes the endorsement of infanticide. Nice.

Here’s the full text to President Obama from the Superior General of the CSC, the order that runs Notre Dame.

Notre Dame has been searching for a new Dean for their law school for quite some time now.

Who did they come up with after this long and arduous search?   A gung-ho supporter of pro-abortion Democrats!   Splat goes the ND law school.

As Cardinal George said yesterday regarding the previous scandal, “”it is clear that Notre Dame didn’t understand what it means to be Catholic.”

The President Obama scandal will be over in May.  This one may have effects for years to come.

As a 3L law student at Notre Dame, I’ve been paying close attention to the controversy surrounding the University’s ill-considered invitation to President Obama to give the Commencement Address. The Catholic blogosphere has already more than explained why the decision was ill-considered, so I won’t revisit all those arguments in this post. Suffice to say, I think the University’s decision is wrong, not least because it is the type of conduct previously condemned by the U.S. Catholic bishops.

If for some inexplicable reason anyone hasn’t heard the case for why President Obama should not be giving the Commencement Address, then I’d recommend reading Bishop D’Arcy’s statement, Cardinal DiNardo’s statement, Prof. Rick Garnett’s excellent posts on the matter, and the press release from Notre Dame Response. Notre Dame Response’s press release is especially noteworthy because it is one of the few critiques that voices the concerns of graduating students at Notre Dame. Regardless of whether you think it’s okay for President Obama to be giving the Commencement Address at Notre Dame, it’s just a fact that a significant portion of the Notre Dame student body doesn’t think it’s okay based on deeply held moral & religious beliefs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear Fr. Jenkins and the Administration adequately considered how their decision would affect those students

That said, I have mixed feelings on the matter, in part because I’ve been un-settled by the tone and language used by some of the University’s most out-spoken critics. Here are two of my concerns:

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It seems to me that one’s reaction to the announcement of Pres. Obama being the commencement speaker at Notre Dame and receiving an honorary degree depends largely on their view of abortion.   If abortion/ESCR  are just two issues among many to a person, then it will be incomprehensible what the big stink is all about.

If, on the other hand, abortion and ESCR are THE defining issues of our time, then it’s obvious that one should be upset.  I doubt, for example, that too many people would have difficulty understanding why it would be an outrage if Notre Dame invited George Wallace to receive the same honors in the early 60′s, no matter what his other views were….Hypothetically speaking, would anyone NOT be outraged if ND invited a top political figure who staunchly advocated the ‘termination’ of anyone with a costly medical problem?

Some political positions are just so beyond the pale of civilized thought that they render the one holding those positions unworthy of any sort of honor whatsoever, regardless of the dignity of their political office.   Most people can see that – some people just don’t think abortion is among those issues.

Sadly, even the US bishops as a whole are a lot more wishy-washy on the issue of abortion and ESCR today than they were about racism and desegregation back in the 1960′s.  On that matter, we need to remind our bishops to man up.