Less than a month after the University revealed a list of four new “ND Values” for staff which omitted a previous value calling for staff to accept and support the University’s Catholic mission, Notre Dame President Fr. Robert Dowd announced Friday that the University would be adding an explicit reference to the Catholic mission of the University back to the list of values.
The new values were announced to Notre Dame staff during town halls on Oct. 29 and 30 and initially included four values: community, collaboration, excellence and innovation. The prior list of values, instituted by then President Fr. John Jenkins years ago included: accountability, teamwork, integrity, leadership in excellence and leadership in mission. Under the leadership in mission value, the University expected that each staff member “understands, accepts and supports the Catholic mission of the university and fosters values consistent with that mission.”
This change in the ND values was first reported by The Observer on Nov. 14 before being covered by national outlets such as Fox News and Catholic News Agency.
In a letter to Notre Dame staff posted to the ND Works website on Friday, Nov. 21, Dowd stated a fifth value – “Catholic Mission” – would now be added to the new list of values. That list had not explicitly called for staff to support the University’s Catholic mission but included the following preamble to the values: “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.”
In an interview with The Observer, vice president for human resources Heather Christophersen described the Catholic mission as an overarching “umbrella” rather than one specific value for staff to adhere to.
In his letter, Dowd expressed a similar rationale for the original list.
“In that version of our Values, our commitment to our Catholic mission-which is the primary value that grounds all that we do-was referenced in the preamble to the four values as a way to show its overarching importance,” Dowd wrote.
The language in the new “Catholic Mission” value varies from the previous language, emphasizing support for Notre Dame’s broader mission as a research institution. It asks staff to “Be a force for good and help to advance Notre Dame’s mission to be the leading global Catholic research university.” It is listed as the first of the five values.
In the letter to staff, Dowd said that the reference to the University’s Catholic mission was added to the list as an explicit, individual value “to avoid any further confusion.”
“Thanks to some constructive feedback we received, we now realize that placement is causing confusion, and that some could interpret that not as elevating our mission as we intended, but as a sign of diminishing commitment,” Dowd wrote.
Dowd maintained the importance of the University’s Catholic identity in its mission despite the controversy.
“I hope this change makes clear what I believe we all understand: Our Catholic mission guides and informs all that we do and how we work together,” Dowd wrote. “I invite each of us to reflect more deeply on how we can be a force for good in the context of ND’s mission to be the leading global Catholic research university. Our Catholic mission has animated our common work from the University’s founding, and it will always be our guiding force.”