Abortion-rights advocate Susan Ostermann’s decision to withdraw from her appointment as the new head of the University of Notre Dame’s Asian studies institute is welcome news, so far as it goes.
But it’s only the start of initiating a necessary review to identify the factors that allowed her completely indefensible appointment to occur. And more broadly, to do everything that’s necessary to reinstate a comprehensively Catholic identity, throughout all of Notre Dame’s operations.
The decision to appoint Ostermann to head the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, despite her strident history of abortion-rights advocacy throughout her tenure as a professor at Notre Dame’s Keough School for Global Affairs, ignited a national firestorm of criticism. On campus, it was spearheaded by the university’s student pro-life group and several members of the faculty. Among the wider community, opposition was led (and properly so) by Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, whose denunciation of the appointment as a “scandal” garnered the public support of 18 other U.S. bishops, along with a broad cross-section of concerned lay Catholics. Bishop Rhoades also personally visited the campus this week to lead a prayer vigil in support of Notre Dame’s Catholic identity.
The pro-life community can take heart from what happened after these voices united to make themselves heard. Unlike in the case of Notre Dame’s shameful decision in 2009 to bestow honors on pro-abortion-rights President Barack Obama, this time around the university stepped back from an action that fundamentally contradicted its Catholic mission with respect to upholding the sanctity of life.
When pro-life voices speak together like this — and are backed by powerful prayers — they can attain positive outcomes even when the odds seemed stacked against them.
That said, Notre Dame’s administration hasn’t acknowledged its profound lapse of judgment in appointing Ostermann in the first place. This obstinate refusal to admit mistakes demonstrates how urgently reform is needed. As Holy Cross Father Wilson Miscamble, a retired Notre Dame history professor, commented to the Register, “This sad episode reveals that there is much work to do to uphold the Catholic mission and identity of Notre Dame.”
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