90+ ND Faculty and Staff Deem HHS Accommodation Unacceptable

More than ninety faculty and staff members from the University of Notre Dame have joined "over 300  leading scholars, university presidents and other academic administrators, activists, and religious leaders from a multitude of faiths... in a statement rejecting the HHS mandate requiring employers to provide, directly or indirectly, insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilizations, and contraceptives, and also rejecting President Obama’s so-called “accommodation” of religious liberty as a mere “accounting trick” that changes nothing of moral substance."

To read the full letter, click here. The names of the signers from the University of Notre Dame have been listed below:

Margaret F. Brinig
Fritz Duda Family Chair in Law
Notre Dame Law School

Daniel Costello
Bettex Chair Professor Emeritus
College of Engineering, University of Notre Dame

Ann W. Astell
Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

Don P. Kommers
Robbie Professor of Political Science Emeritus
University of Notre Dame

Robert M. Gimello
Research Professor of Theology and of East Asian Languages and Cultures
University of Notre Dame


Tom Pratt
Dept of EE, College of Engineering
University of Notre Dame

David W. Fagerberg
Associate Professor
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Peter M. Kogge
Ted McCourtney Prof. of Computer Science & Engineering Concurrent Professor of Electrical
Engineering, Univ. of Notre Dame

Michael J. Crowe
Cavanaugh Professor Emeritus
Program of Liberal Studies
University of Notre Dame

Msgr Michael Heintz, PhD
Director, Master of Divinity Program
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame

John Uhran
Emeritus Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
University of Notre Dame

Thomas A. Gresik
Department of Economics
University of Notre Dame

W. David Solomon
Associate Professor of Philosophy
University of Notre Dame

Dr. Kirk Doran
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame

Tonia Hap Murphy
Mendoza Pre-Law Advisor
Associate Teaching Professor
University of Notre Dame

Jim A Seida
Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Accountancy
Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame

Jeffrey J. Burks
Assistant Professor of Accountancy
University of Notre Dame

Adrian J. Reimers
Adjunct Assistant Professor
University of Notre Dame

Patrick Griffin
Department Chair and Madden-Hennebry Professor of History
University of Notre Dame

Richard W. Garnett
Associate Dean and Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

John Cavadini
Director, Institute for Church Life and Associate Professor of Theology,
University of Notre Dame

Christian Smith
William R. Kenan Professor of Sociology & Director
Center for the Study of Religion and Society
University of Notre Dame

Gary Anderson
Hesburgh Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Harindra Joseph F. Fernando
Wayne and Diana Murdy Endowed Professor of Engineering and Geosciences,
University of Notre Dame

William N. Evans
Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame

Alfred J. Freddoso
John and Jean Oesterle Professor of Thomistic Studies
Concurrent Professor of Law
Philosophy Department
University of Notre Dame

M. Katherine Tillman
Professor Emerita, Program of Liberal Studies
University of Notre Dame

Walter Nicgorski
Professor, Program of Liberal Studies
University of Notre Dame

Philip Bess
Director of Graduate Studies and Professor of Architecture
University of Notre Dame

Paolo Carozza
Professor of Law and Director, Center for Civil and Human Rights
University of Notre Dame

John F. Gaski
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of Notre Dame

Duncan G. Stroik
Associate Professor of Architecture
University of Notre Dame

Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C.
Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Kenneth Garcia, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts
University of Notre Dame

Gerard V. Bradley
Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

Amy Barrett
Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

Sean Kelsey
Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Philosophy
University of Notre Dame

Gabriel Said Reynolds
Tisch Family Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology
University of Notre Dame

William K. Kelley
Associate Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

David O’Connor
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Concurrent Associate Professor of Classics,
University of Notre Dame

Joseph Kaboski
David F. and Erin M. Seng Associate Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame

Vincent Phillip Muñoz
Tocqueville Associate Professor of Political Science
Concurrent Associate Professor of Law
Department of Political Science
University of Notre Dame

John O’Callaghan
Director, Jacques Maritain Center & Associate Professor of Philosophy,
University of Notre Dame

Daniel Philpott
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame

Mary M . Keys
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame

Eric Sims
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame

Mike Pries
Associate Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame

Edward Maginn
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Associate Dean for Academic Programs, The Graduate School
University of Notre Dame

Angela M. Pfister, J.D.
Associate Director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture
Concurrent Instructor, Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame

O. Carter Snead
Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

Stephen F. Smith
Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

Phillip R. Sloan
Professor Emeritus, Program of Liberal Studies and Graduate Program in History and
Philosophy of Science
University of Notre Dame

Richard A. Lamanna
Emeritus Professor of Sociology
University of Notre Dame

Fr. Ronald M. Vierling
Rector, Morrissey Manor
University of Notre Dame

Rev. William R. Dailey, CSC
Visiting Associate Professor
Notre Dame Law School

Thomas A. Stapleford
Associate Professor, Program of Liberal Studies
University of Notre Dame

Thomas P. Flint
Professor of Philosophy
University of Notre Dame


Daniel J. Costello, Jr.
Bettex Prof. of Elec. Engr., Emeritus
University of Notre Dame

Nicole Stelle Garnett
Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

James O'Brien
Associate Teaching Professor
University of Notre Dame

Matthew J. Barrett
Professor of Law
Notre Dame Law School


Marian E. Crowe
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Visiting Scholar, Program of Liberal Studies
University of Notre Dame

Trent Dougherty
Department of Philosophy
Baylor University
Visiting Research Professor
University of Notre Dame

Charles E. Rice
Professor Emeritus
Notre Dame Law School

Thomas Gordon Smith
Professor of Architecture
University of Notre Dame

Dr. Dan Hubert
The Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy
University of Notre Dame


David S. Younger
Assistant Director
Italian, Classics, German, and Russian Programs
Office of International Studies
University of Notre Dame

Kelley M. Shrock
Operations Specialist
University of Notre Dame Investment Office

Bartley Burk
Social Sciences/Hispanic Cataloger
Hesburgh Libraries
University of Notre Dame

Judy Hutchinson
Assistant Director
Office of International Studies
University of Notre Dame


Craig Tiller, RA, LEED®AP
Senior Director, Project Management
Facilities Design and Operations
University of Notre Dame

Joseph A. Reimers
Technology Support Assistant III
University of Notre Dame Kresge Law Library

Michael A. Zenk
Director, Post Award Financial Management
Office of Research
University of Notre Dame

Mary K. Daly
Program Coordinator, University Life Initiatives
Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame


Michael A. Mogavero Ph.D
Director of Undergraduate Studies
The University of Notre Dame

Greer Hannan
Program Coordinator
Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture

William G. Schmitt
Communications/Media Specialist
Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI)
Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE)
University of Notre Dame

Joseph S. O'Hannigan
Senior Associate Director of Executive Programs
Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame

Diane C. Freeby, SMC '88
Editor/PrayND, Notre Dame Alumni Association
University of Notre Dame

Al Bucci
Director of Regional Development
University of Notre Dame


Judy Madden, M.A.
University of Notre Dame

Richard F. Klee Jr. CPA
University Tax Director
University of Notre Dame

Lynn M. Hubert
Director of Regional Development
University of Notre Dame

Beth Bubik
Life Initiatives Program Coordinator
Notre Dame Alumni Association

Anthony Monta
Associate Director, Nanovic Institute for European Studies
University of Notre Dame

Luke Conway
Associate Regional Director of Development
University of Notre Dame

William E. Dotterweich
Chairman of the Advisory Board
Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture

Donald L. Stelluto, Ph.D.
Associate Director,
Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study


Elizabeth Kirk
University of Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life

Kathryn Lopez: Where are the women? They are the young leaders at Notre Dame.

In a recent article for the National Review, Kathryn Lopez writes about attending the 2012 Edith Stein Conference, hosted and organized by undergraduate women at Notre Dame. 

Lopez writes about the Conference:

A group of young women there invited me, among others, to speak about the “vulnerability” of all things, at their seventh annual Edith Stein Project conference. Stein — a canonized saint who was killed at Auschwitz —  was both a Carmelite sister and a philosopher and university professor. The women of Notre Dame find in her a role model in both the intellectual and the spiritual realms — a courageous, well-integrated life. 

These students were — to quote the title of their conference — “Encountering Vulnerability,” with a rare healthy, honest openness to tried and true models. They cited Pope John Paul II as saying, “No amount of economic, scientific, or social progress can eradicate our vulnerability to sin and to death.” In conference materials, the undergraduates commented: “This gives us good reason to guard ourselves carefully in situations where we could be harmed; however, in trying to protect ourselves, we often come to fear our vulnerability.”
The young women — who were joined by many of their male classmates — were interested not in political mantras but in practicalities: How do we confront reality rather than coming up with policies and pills to help us try to escape the inescapable? 

The task of the weekend conference was to ask, as its organizers put it: “Perhaps there is a flip side to vulnerability. In addition to examining ways in which it may be misused, we must also consider its value. If vulnerability is intrinsic to us as human beings, is there a proper place for it in our identity and our relationships?” 

The answer lies, in part, in Saint Paul, who recognized that “it is when I am weak that I am strong.” And the exploration of the “defenseless vulnerability of love” is a weekly task at Notre Dame, as part of the Identity Project, in which students meet each week to reflect on Catholic teaching on women, femininity, and masculinity. The answer, too, is in their identity as Christians who present themselves regularly for Mass and Reconciliation, seeking sustenance from Providence, which no earthly power or principality can match. 

The Edith Stein conference and the weekly related meetings attract almost as many young men as women — not surprisingly, inasmuch as their discussions are about the complementary nature of men and women. “Women and men have to understand femininity and masculinity if they are going to relate to one another in any kind of healthy way,” explains Margaret Kennedy, a junior and an accounting major. 

Notre Dame has been criticized for giving cover to the Obama administration, particularly through having awarded the president an honorary degree at its 2009 commencement. But there is something different happening there in the wake of the HHS mandate. One of the first people I heard from after the president’s faux “accommodation” was law professor Carter Snead, who has circulated a letter declaring the president’s position “unacceptable” — a letter hundreds of academics and other leaders have signed. 

The young men and women of the Stein Project have no illusions about the challenges they face on campus and beyond. “I understand that I am not living my life only for myself,” Kennedy tells me. “And I am making choices that reflect that.” Confronting vulnerability is at the top of the list. “What we typically think of as a negative is actually a positive,” she says: Feminism dictates that “we’re not allowed to be vulnerable, but we cannot escape that vulnerability. By hiding ourselves from it we don’t actually escape it.” 

“Contraception,” she says, “is but a mask,” covering up our vulnerabilities. It’s like alcohol, she adds: “a way not to confront our fears or take responsibility for our actions.”Claire Gillen, a history major graduating in May, is getting married to her high-school sweetheart that same month. “Adults, especially, tell me I’m too young, I should be established in a career,” she says. But as for the students, “Honestly, I know very few people who don’t want to get married. They’re happy to see someone truly happy.” They are tired of forced war-between-the-sexes hostilities. 

In reality, the answer to the question “Where are the women?” — which every abortion-advocating feminist group is now milking for fundraising — is: on the committee’s secondpanel. Those who asked the question the most, as an act of political showmanship, didn’t stick around long enough to meet the woman, Dr. Laura Champion, who runs Calvin College’s medical services. And the more long-term answer is: They are the young leaders at Notre Dame, who have a lot to teach those who have been suppressing or denying reality for all too long about who we are and what we need and want.

For Lopez's full article, click here.

To watch videos from the conference, click here

For more information about the Edith Stein Conference and IDND, click here.