CURE News and Clergy Blog News and Commentary for Christians
A Roman Catholic university in Indiana has failed to answer the state attorney general’s specific questions about whether the school is discriminating against employees, students, prospective students, faculty, staff, and job applicants based on race.
The College Fix reported that the University of Notre Dame released a report in 2023 called the 2033 Strategic Framework that “emphasized Notre Dame’s efforts to recruit students and job applicants of certain racial and ethnic groups.”
Todd Rokita, Indiana’s attorney general, sent the university a letter in May seeking to determine whether the school was complying with state and federal civil rights laws and the state’s non-profit statute.
Notre Dame failed to address or respond to Rokita’s specific questions. In a follow-up letter (PDF) in August, Rokita wrote:
“It is not an adequate response to my inquiry to offer an assurance that Notre Dame complies with civil rights laws but not to produce any of the materials requested by my letter that would allow for an independent assessment by my office of the University’s compliance,” Rokita wrote. “The
University’s unsubstantiated claim that it follows the law does not make it so, and the concerns I raised in my May 9 Letter remain.”
Rokita has expanded his investigation of Notre Dame. In the Trump era, some red state politicians are taking racial discrimination in educational institutions seriously. Rokita and the governor have made it clear that “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies are illegal in state contracting as well.
According to The College Fix, Notre Dame changed the name of its former DEI center to the Sister Thea Bowman Center. But the school did not confirm that it has ended DEI practices.
It is past time to bring institutions that violate individuals’ civil rights to heel.
Photo credit: By Matthew Rice – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, link
