Notre Dame's tightrope walk

With one of the 15 biggest endowments in the US and a spot in Newsweek's 25 " new elite Ivies " the University of Notre Dame has plenty to be cheerful about. But events on the northern Indiana campus have once more exposed the uneasy relationship between the university's Catholic foundations and progressive elements of the student body and society at large. A cartoon published in the Observer, one of several college newspapers, depicted a conversation between two characters. "What's the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?" "No idea." "A baseball bat." The original had "Aids" as the punchline instead of "a baseball bat" but the paper felt it was inappropriate to make fun of those suffering from the illness and rejected this version of the cartoon. This editorial intervention failed to prevent the ensuing outcry – the assistant managing editor stepped down and the paper apologised for the "cruel and hateful" comic strip. It said "hurtful language" was still present among some circles and that such comments should not be made at all: "We will not allow our pages to be a forum for such hatred. Publishing commentary that seems to encourage or support hate against fellow human beings is inexcusable. We must look to promote instead a culture of acceptance and support for all." Testing these ideals earlier this month was a column from regular contributor, Professor Emeritus Charles E Rice. The Observer turned it down, claiming it exceeded the word count and that the language was a cause for concern. What Professor Rice said – however disagreeable and objectionable one may find it – is an accurate reflection of church teaching on homosexuality. Indeed, Benedict XVI could not have said it better. The Observer, still reeling from the comic strip controversy, saw the column as an expression of hurtful language. Rice refused to restrict his presentation of Catholic doctrine and says he will no longer write for the Observer. Though it garnered fewer headlines, this spat as another illustration of the challenges facing the university while also highlighting and the disconnect between the Catholic hierarchy and ordinary Catholics. Of course the most famous example Notre Dame's struggle over its identity is Obama's visit to the campus last May, when he received an honorary degree and delivered a commencement address. At the heart of this debate is how Catholic the university wishes to be. A strict adherence to doctrine risks excluding students from its desire to be "a bellwether institution in the pursuit of truth and knowledge". Ignoring its religious heritage alienates those drawn to the college precisely because of this ethos. Official Catholicism is not well known for its ability to compromise, but the college could do worse than to remember its mission to provide a forum where "through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity."