The University of Notre Dame has eliminated a long-standing requirement that staff explicitly support the school’s Catholic mission, a change revealed during late-October town hall meetings and reported by The Observer, the university’s student newspaper.
According to The Observer, Heather Christophersen, Notre Dame’s vice president of human resources, presented a new set of “ND Values” on October 29 and 30. The previous version, created during the tenure of former president Father John Jenkins, directed university staff to support “the University’s Catholic mission” and uphold “values consistent with that mission.” The updated version removes direct references to the Catholic faith, opting instead for broad principles of “community,” “collaboration,” “excellence,” and “innovation.”
Christophersen told The Observer, according to LifeSiteNews, that revising the values had been a major priority for university president Father Robert Dowd, who took office in 2023. She explained that the human resources department held focus groups over the past year and a half in pursuit of becoming “the best global Catholic research institution” and noted that the university does not track the religious identity of its 4,500 staff members as it does for faculty and students.
The change does not apply to professors or instructors, but many Catholics across the country worry that the update signals another step in what they see as the school’s gradual departure from its Catholic foundations.
Their concern is heightened in light of recent institutional decisions. Earlier this year, according to LifeSiteNews, First Things reported that Notre Dame’s provost sent an email to faculty stating that the university aimed to “increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities on our faculty,” calling this goal “equally important” as hiring “Catholic faculty and other faculty deeply committed to our mission,” according to the First Things report.
In recent years, the university has also expanded its diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure. According to reporting cited in the source material, Notre Dame launched an “Office of Institutional Transformation” in 2022 and invested over $6.5 million in DEI salaries. A separate “Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” was established in 2023.
For many Catholics, these developments reflect a pattern stretching back decades. The university has faced intense criticism for hosting drag performances, celebrating June as “Pride Month,” and honoring public officials whose positions sharply conflict with Church teaching. Past decisions include granting President Barack Obama an honorary award and presenting Joe Biden with the Laetare Medal, while declining to extend an honorary degree to President Donald Trump.
The tension between institutional identity and Catholic fidelity is not new at Notre Dame. In the 1970s, its leadership under Father Theodore Hesburgh embraced reforms that reshaped the university, including co-education and his involvement in the Land O’ Lakes Statement, a document declaring independence from formal Church authority that remains controversial among Catholic educators.
Notre Dame was founded in 1842 by Holy Cross Father Edward Sorin, who named it Notre Dame du Lac, Our Lady of the Lake, with the intention of building a university rooted firmly in Catholic life and teaching. Today, many Catholics believe that the removal of explicit mission language from staff expectations signals a continued drift from that founding vision.
As the university continues to redefine its institutional values, Catholic observers will be watching closely to see how Notre Dame balances its stated desire to be a “global Catholic research institution” with the concerns of the faithful who fear its identity is slowly being diluted.
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