So Long to the Class of 2010

It's senior week here at Notre Dame.  What that means is that the pesky and pest-y underclassmen have departed for the summer (I try not to let my screams of joy echo down the corridors), leaving the seniors for one final week of fun and sun at Notre Dame prior to their commencement ceremonies.  Senior class officials plans all sorts of fabulous events for them during this week:  Senior Ball, trip to the Cubs game (most assuredly to watch them lose), jaunts to Lake Michigan (that's a laugher, since it hasn't been over 52 degrees all week and right now it's overcast and raining), and, of course, the famous "Last Visit to the Grotto."

The Last Visit is the big emotional moment which has been re-edited over the years, with, I believe, the deliberate intention of producing an emotional reaction in all present.  If a senior attends this event and doesn't shed buckets of tears during the service, it's considered a disgrace.  When I was here in my previous life, I loved this event.  It was a simple evening ceremony where seniors would visit the grotto, pray, sing and say goodbye.  Now, it has become such a huge production that, because of the large numbers of people,  it begins in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and eventually migrates down to the grotto. It should, in fact, be called "Senior Last Visit to the Basilica, with a Side Trip to the Grotto."

The Grotto is, indeed, a very special place on this campus.  Modeled after the one in Lourdes, which commemorates the appearance of Our Lady to a 14 year old French girl named Bernadette Soubirous, the Notre Dame Grotto was erected in 1896 by Fr. Sorin, the French Holy Cross priest who founded Notre Dame.  Even though it is a fraction of the size of the original Grotto, it is a powerful place of prayer and reflection.  The rosary is said daily there in the evenings, and, on football weekends, you will find it impossible to locate an available candle to light.  It was always my hope that visiting alumni were lighting candles on those weekends for family and friends, but I suspect the candles were sent up as prayers for the Notre Dame Football team.  Somehow though, I never believed Our Lady bothered to take sides in a football match, even if one team bore her name.

If you ask Notre Dame students to name their favorite place on campus, many will point to the Grotto.  I know this for a fact, having been a Rector in the residence halls for 9 years.  Many fled there in times of stress; for example, if they were overwhelmed with exams or school work, or if there was trauma at home, or they were experiencing relationship difficulties, or if someone in the family was ill.  On the rare occasion when there is a student death here, the Grotto is ablaze with lit candles.  The Grotto is also the site of many senior proposals.  It is not uncommon for a couple to wend their way down to the Grotto during senior week and come back being engaged.

I can't help but reflect on the different tenor of the campus this week, as compared to last year at this time.  This year, Brian Williams, of NBC News, will be the featured commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary degree.  I hesitate to remind folks that last year, the recipient of this degree and featured speaker was the President of the United States, Barack Obama.  Obviously, there are no protestors here on campus this week.  Brian Williams seems a nice enough guy and not the type who is apt to cause any major controversy by his presence here.

I have very definite opinions regarding what the University did last year in inviting President Obama, but I am not going to get into the moral or political issues which were the cause of the controversy.  I have to say that I am very grateful that this year's senior class (many of whom I am quite fond), does not have to endure the same sorts of things that last year's class did.  I am loathe to reignite this controversy by even referring to the episode because I know that the five or six readers of this blog vary tremendously in their attitudes towards the event.  Some would gladly have attended, seating themselves in the front row and cheering on our President.  Others might have joined the 4,000 plus individuals, including graduates, at the "alternative" ceremony in South Quad.

My views about this event are simple and basic,and do not delve into deep moral beliefs, academic freedom, the need to dialog, or Church teaching.  At the time, I was stunned at the University's announcement. Graduation, quite simply, should be about graduates, but, I'm afraid, at Notre Dame, it has become about something entirely different.  So, regardless of what one believes about whether a Roman Catholic University should award an honorary doctorate of Laws to a politician who holds pro-abortion views, the real issue, in my opinion was more about the total lack of consideration the Board of Trustees held for the graduates in planning their graduation for them.  Of course, many of the graduates (and faculty and staff) were thrilled that the President was to be their commencement speaker.  But many were not, and some were forced to make a choice as to whether it was even morally acceptable to attend their own ceremony.  How could a University, who claims to be committed to her students, ever put individuals in such a position--ripping away the proudest moment of their young lives?  Planes pulling banners were flying overhead and protesters never left the gate.  It was, in fact, a circus, and not in any good sense of the word.  This was not the time nor was it the place to have a debate.  It was a time to honor seniors and other graduates, as well as parents and family members; and those that invited the President must have known that, by so doing, they were going to open the floodgates to protesters, the press, and all sorts of unwanted shenanigans.   I never understood why they did this.  It took absolutely no foresight at all to know what was going to happen after that announcement was made. Dimwit that I am, even I felt a sense of foreboding the instant I learned the news.  I realized immediately that the campus would become the focus of a tremendous amount of (unwanted) national attention. I turned out to be a prophet, in fact.  Now, if I was able to figure that out beforehand, I wonder, why didn't the Board of Trustees and the President of the University, who happens to be a bright, Thomistic scholar, foresee it?  It would have made oh so much more sense to invite the President here at another, much more appropriate time, instead of during commencement.  Then they could have held the true dialog that they claim so much to have wanted.  Unfortunately, the result of this event was nothing but divisive for our University.  It pitted the University against the Diocese, Holy Cross priest against Holy Cross priest, faculty and staff against each other, and, sadly, it divided the students. This was not merely an academic debate.  It caused a wound in this small community, and we have not yet recovered.

I am not trying to resurrect the arguments surrounding this situation at all, but it's nearly impossible to be here this week, and not reflect back on the turmoil of last year.  Graduation at Notre Dame is almost sacred.  Not many students would even consider not participating in it.  It is rare, indeed, when proud parents are not present for the event.  And so for seniors, law students and graduates--the Class of 2010, I am thrilled that there is no sort of controversy this year (at least to date) that will mar the ceremony in any way.  Excited graduates and proud parents can file into the stadium and participate in an event that they have anticipated since first setting foot on this campus.  Despite the rain and miserable weather, this is the way graduation should be--focused on the graduates and their achievements.

I wish the class of 2010 the very best.  God go with you.  We will miss you.