Irish Monthly No. 2 ☘️
Father Jenkins' Final Month as ND President.
Hi again, Notre Dame! Father Bob Dowd becomes the 18th president of Our Lady’s University exactly one month from today.
So in this second edition of Irish Monthly we’ll start by looking back at the distinguished 19-year tenure of Notre Dame’s outgoing president, Father John Jenkins.
If you haven’t read it yet, check out the fantastic profile of Jenkins by Bruce Dold in the Spring edition of Notre Dame Magazine.
"if you're different and you're not very good, no one cares."
— Father John Jenkins, CSC1
Irish Monthly caught up with Notre Dame’s outgoing president last month during a reception at the Senate’s Mansfield Room. Jenkins held court for a President’s Circle dinner for an A-List of university donors. Jenkins seems to be relieved when asked if he’d be rejoining the philosophy department post-retirement. I then asked Jenkins if he’d met with President Joe Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic, during his visit to Washington, D.C. “No,” said Jenkins, shaking his head. “Nothing like that.”
Politics has never been Jenkins’ thing. Especially not after “the Obama controversy” early in his term. “I was less experienced, and it came unexpected of me,” he told ND Mag of the tidal wave of controversy that befell the university after he invited the president of the United States to speak to the graduating class of 2009.
“I think it was the first salvo in how we’ve become so utterly polarized, and so unable to give any respect to someone who disagrees with us. I think it started with that, and I didn’t expect it.”
From someone who lives and breathes the utterly polarized political madness in our nation’s capital, Jenkins seems be too hard on himself and his presidency. “I was committed to not be partisan, but the elected leader of the country, that’s important,” he told ND Mag, and he’s right.
Great universities book American presidents to speak at graduation. Notre Dame did long before Jenkins’ presidency and should continue to book the White House under Dowd. Relevance matters. “No one likes to look at the heart of darkness,” said Father Ted Hesburgh, Notre Dame’s 15th president. Hesburgh also made clear to the White House, “If you violate civil rights, I’m coming for you.”
He might not be as famous or outspoken as Hesburgh was, but Jenkins’ boldness as ND president can be seen in the vast educational network of programming funded and aimed at understanding the world we live in, making it better where we can, while staying consistent with our Catholic faith and mission.
Jenkins should be damn proud of his presidency which, as the ND Mag profile points out, kept Our Lady’s University distinctly Catholic in an area of secularized Catholic university brands. He made the university even harder to get into by attracting more esteemed academics and oversaw the endowment through its most lucrative years.
“To be a great university, you have to go be open to inquiry. If you believe that God is true, God created the world, God gave us minds to understand truth, you should not be afraid of open inquiry. You just shouldn’t. It could be done irresponsibly. You have to make sure it’s the right form. But I am utterly committed to that, and utterly committed to Notre Dame playing that role.” said Jenkins.
Read the full profile here.
From Philosopher To Political Scientist
Father Bob Dowd, the university’s president-elect who replaces Jenkins under the Golden Dome one month from today, hails from the department of political science. Irish Monthly No. 1 caught Dowd’s eye last month, he told me when I saw him leaving the President’s Circle Dinner on April 9. Hopefully, he reads this one, too.
Notre Dame makes plenty of news these days. “ND in the News” is a must-read page on nd.edu. It’s where the university posts ND Experts being quoted in the news on a near-daily basis, a tribute to the outstanding media relations team under Jenkins.
Irish Monthly No. 3 will focus on Dowd, but suffice to say it’s an exciting time at Notre Dame. Not only is Dowd uniquely qualified for a hyper-political era; he ascends with Jenkins as an on-campus advisor the way Monk Malloy has been during Jenkins’ tenure.
"The whole University community is called to accompany others, especially young people, with wisdom and respect, along the paths of life and help them cultivate an openness to all that is true, good and beautiful. We cannot overlook the essential role of religion in educating people's hearts." — Pope Francis to the Notre Dame Board of Trustees (ND Mag, Spring 2024, p 14)
ND on the Move
The Observer news editor Liam Kelly was interviewed by Mary Louise Kelly this week for NPR’s flagship news program, “All Things Considered,” to discuss his newsroom’s coverage of protests on campus. Listen to the interview here … Three ND scholars were chosen as 2024 Guggenheim fellows. They are English Prof. Roy Scranton, philosophy Prof. Barbara Gail Montero, liberal studies Prof. Gretchen Reydams-Schils …. Prof. Tengfei Luo has created a new window to slash energy consumption (New Atlas) … Rick Hennessey ‘13 has been promoted to Director at ButcherJoseph where he's worked since 2015 … Sean Coccia has created "Domers in Media and Entertainment (DIME)" on LinkedIn. Request to join here.
VIDEO: Congratulations, Benjamin ‘28!
TODAY Show host Hoda Kotb did an exciting segment yesterday featuring Benjamin Robinette(sp?) from Omaha, Nebraska, who declared on live TV where he’d be headed to college in the fall. I’m sure you can guess where this is going ☘️ Huge congrats to Benjamin and props to ND Media Relations on a segment well-produced.
Thanks for reading!
That’s it for this month. Huge thanks to everyone who’s subscribed so far to Irish Monthly. I didn’t expect to have such a robust response to Irish Monthly No. 1. Getting better each month is the goal, so don’t be a stranger. Email any questions, concerns, or ND news tips (especially for the ND on the Move section) to editor@irishmonthly.com.
Go Irish!
Pablo Manríquez
Editor, Irish Monthly
Notre Dame Magazine, Spring 2024, p 20