The Dilemma of a Catholic University

- click for article (09-20-07)

DPAC Features Star-Studded Lineup

WITH A STAR STUDDED 2007-2008 concert schedule, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center is showing that it is one of the premier collegiate concert halls. 

- click for article (09-20-07)

US News and World Report Rankings: Notre Dame #19
Should Notre Dame Remain in the Rankings?

EARLIER THIS MONTH a shiny new version of the U.S. News and World Report “America’s Best Colleges” hit news stands once again. The eagerly awaited issue packed with articles about higher education sells an enormous number of copies each year. U.S. News even offers a accompanying book which is also a hot seller. Although there are loads of content in this hefty issue, most people buy the magazine for one reason: the college rankings.

- click for article (09-20-07)

Critical Juncture

IT IS CLEAR from the excellent reporting on Catholic mission hiring by Executive Editor Brian Boyd, continuing in this issue for the second of three parts, that Notre Dame is at a crossroads. With an aging majority of Catholic faculty, Notre Dame is precariously close to falling short of its mandate, set forth in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, to retain ‘a preponderance’ of Catholic intellectuals. If trends in faculty hiring do not alter substantially in the coming years, Notre Dame will face the very real possibility of becoming a place with a vibrant religious heritage and student body, and a secular faculty.

- click for article (09-20-07)

"Take Five": Brubeck Plus Four Choirs to Play at the DPAC

FROM THE DAYS of Bach and Mozart through modern times, there is a long tradition in Western society of praising God through music in a concert setting. 

- click for article (10-04-07)

"A Very Special Place" No More Despite Hesburgh Support
University Club to be Demolished

THE UNIVERSITY CLUB, a private not-for-profit organization whose membership includes faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University, will no longer be a part of the Notre Dame community—at least not at its current location. 

- click for article (10-04-07)

South Bend Becoming a College Town?

FOR THE PAST 10 years, South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke and the Notre Dame administration have envisioned a commercial center resembling a traditional college town near the intersection of Eddy Street and Edison Streets. The development would satisfy students’ need for a place to shop and socialize within walking distance of campus. The development has been delayed by neighbors’ fears that their residential area will be ruined by a raucous student hangout and by university members who expressed concern that over-commercialization would mar the aesthetics of campus. The design of the Eddy Street Commons, however, has allayed those concerns with its use of New Urbanism.

- click for article (10-04-07)

History Profs Duel Over Catholic ID

MOST PEOPLE who visit Notre Dame’s sprawling campus dotted with chapels, shrines and religious statues assume that the Catholic identity of the university is and always will be as much a part of its character as its iconic golden dome. In an article in the September 10th issue of America magazine entitle “The Faculty ‘Problem,’” however, Notre Dame history professor Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C argued that unless drastic measures are taken to increase the percentage of Catholic faculty, Notre Dame’s proud Catholic identity will soon amount to nothing more than a façade.

- click for article (10-04-07)

Notre Dame Forum on Immigration
Who's Talking? Who's Thinking?

DESIGNED TO supplement the education of the student body, the Notre Dame Forum seeks to be “not just a 2-hour flashy event, but the centerpiece of a campus-wide conversation during this academic year,” said its lead organizer, Professor Timothy Matovina. Given this year’s topic of immigration, an issue about which many Notre Dame students and faculty have strong and often contrasting opinions, Matovina suggested that this year’s event separated itself from the previous two in that it provided grounds for meaningful conversation on an issue of already heated national debate.   

- click for article (10-29-07)

Newman College Guide: No to Notre Dame

ON NOVEMBER 1, the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), a conservative Catholic watchdog organization, will publish the first edition of its Newman Guide to Choosing A Catholic College, an advance copy of which was sent to The Irish Rover for review. It includes detailed entries on 20 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States and one in Canada, for each of which it provides key statistics and comparative facts. It is not until one reaches the Guide’s epilogue, however, that Notre Dame is reviewed – without recommendation.

- click for article (10-29-07)

Catholic Faculty: Point of No Return?

This article is the third in a three-part news analysis series investigating the effects, rationale, and importance of President Jenkins’ Address to the Faculty, wherein he announced a renewed emphasis on the Catholic mission of the University.

- click for article (11-19-07)

 
Is America Ready for a Woman President?

ON WEDNESDAY, November 14th, in an open forum hosted by Women in Politics and Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Honor Society, three University professors discussed whether or not America is ready for a woman president. Attendance at the South Dining Hall’s Oak Room was strong but, perhaps discouragingly, predominantly female.

- click for article (11-19-07)

Universty Pushes Undergraduate Research

“AT NOTRE DAME, we must enhance undergraduate education by making research an important and expanding aspect of the undergraduate experience.”  With these words, President John Jenkins, C.S.C., addressed the faculty this past September by promoting undergraduate research as a means to a superior educational experience.  In order to encourage Notre Dame’s shift towards becoming a more research based university, the university created a new Assistant Director for Undergraduate Research position, expanded the honors programs in the Colleges of Arts and Letters and Science, invested $25 million into one-time funding research initiatives, and heavily increased its focus on the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

- click for article (11-19-07)

"Research" Focus Cause for Caution

IN THIS ISSUE, Executive Editor Brian Boyd completes his three-part series on Catholic “mission hiring” at Notre Dame and gives us, in the data presented, a snapshot of what Our Lady’s University may look like if current trends in Catholic faculty hiring are not soon reversed. In addition, Kathleen Donahue reports on the University’s declared shift, under the leadership of president Fr. John Jenkins, to a “research university” model that will place a greater emphasis on research in the undergraduate curriculum.

- click for article (11-19-07)