On his way out of town, the eminent sociologist Christian Smith nailed his ninety-five theses to the doors of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, resigned his longtime professorship, and raged against the dying of the light in an essay in First Things: “I am done with Notre Dame.” Presumably, it’s mutual.
As Catholic scholars who also taught for years at Notre Dame, we recognize—and reject—Smith’s dyspepsia. He has failed to understand the unique place of the university in American Catholic history. Founded in 1835 by French priests whose new congregation aimed to restore Catholic institutions after the French Revolution in 1789, Notre Dame grew along with its region over the course of a century. It instructed and elevated to professional achievement numerous descendants of immigrants. Its students fought the local Klan in South Bend. And under the leadership of Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, it realized its aspirations to become a nationally prominent university for both women and men in the humanities and the sciences. With that success came danger.
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