The University of Notre Dame, one of the most well-known Catholic universities in the world, recently announced a new set of "ND Values" for staff that no longer includes a call for employees to accept and support the school’s Catholic mission.
The Observer, a student-run newspaper that covers Notre Dame, St. Mary's, and Holy Cross, reported that the former list of "ND Values" "included a value that called for staff acceptance and support of the University’s Catholic mission, which was absent in the new list."
The new values, according to a Notre Dame press release, announced during staff town halls in October, include "Community: Treat every person with dignity and respect; Collaboration: Work together with honesty, kindness, and humility; Excellence: Pursue the highest standards with a commitment to truth and service; and Innovation: Embrace opportunities with creativity and dedication."
It prefaced it by saying, "In all that we do, we seek to advance Notre Dame's mission as a global Catholic research university to be a force for good in the world."
One of the five former values stated, "Leadership in Mission: Understands, accepts and supports the Catholic mission of the university and fosters values consistent with that mission."
The university’s "About" page says the school began "as a bold act of faith, a belief that a one-room cabin in the Indiana wilderness could one day shape minds and serve humanity. That same sense of conviction drives us today."
The page adds, "At Notre Dame, faith and inquiry are never at odds. Excellence is expected and elevated by our desire to serve the common good. So students are taught not just how to think, but how to live. We foster intellectual growth and moral character in equal measure — pursuing breakthroughs in research, leadership in every field, and purpose in all that we do."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Notre Dame said, "As articulated in the University's mission statement, Notre Dame is ‘a Catholic academic community of higher learning, animated from its origins by the Congregation of Holy Cross... which pursues its objectives through the formation of an authentic human community graced by the Spirit of Christ.'"
The spokesperson added, "This language is echoed and amplified in the opening statement of the University's values for staff members that was recently released: 'In all that we do, we seek to advance Notre Dame's mission as a global Catholic research university to be a force for good in the world.' This framing provides the foundation and context for all of the University's activities, encompassing the four core values that follow: community, collaboration, excellence and innovation.
"Far from diminishing the importance of Notre Dame's Catholic mission, the University's recent rearticulation of its values seeks to reinforce the centrality of our distinctive mission. Conversations with staff members across campus about how best to communicate and reinforce the timeless values that have always animated the University led to the reformulation that was announced a few weeks ago, but the University's values and unfailing commitment to its Catholic mission have not and will not change."
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Vice president for human resources Heather Christophersen told The Observer that the decision to remove the value "Leadership in Mission" came in an attempt to make the Catholic mission an overarching theme of Notre Dame's approach.
"It’s in everything we do," Christophersen told The Observer. "We strive to be the best global Catholic research institution, to be a force for good. So that kind of phrase frames these values."
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