Notre Dame President Rejects ND Response Requests for Dialogue

The students also asked that the University affirm its commitment to defending human life in its most vulnerable stages before any meeting.

NOTRE DAME, Indiana (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a private letter addressed to a coalition of 12 campus groups and organizations, University of Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins denied students' requests for dialogue regarding the University's invitation of President Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at this year's commencement exercises.

Responding to a letter sent to him by representatives of the ND Response coalition on April 7th, the University's president wrote that "conditions for constructive dialogue simply do not exist," and said that students could disregard his earlier invitations to meet with him.

In their letter to Fr. Jenkins, the student leaders of ND Response had expressed hesitancy to accept the parameters of a meeting he outlined in an email to ND Response on March 27th. President Jenkins had offered to hold a closed-door meeting with 25 members of the coalition.

The student group, however, requested that the meeting be held in a large classroom and open to all members of the coalition groups.

The students also asked that the University affirm its "commitment to defending human life in its most vulnerable stages" before any meeting, outlining some steps the school might take to recuperate and guard its reputation and agenda on life issues.

"These requests were intended to lead the University into making gestures of good-will that would facilitate our productive discussion and demonstrate President Jenkins' genuine interest in transparent dialogue," ND Response spokeswoman Mary Daly said.

Although Jenkins repealed his offer to dialogue, Daly says that "ND Response remains open to true and transparent dialogue with Fr. Jenkins on this issue."

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