A Sign in an Alienated World

Dear Students,

It’s been wonderful to see so many of you over the last several days after what I hope was a restful and enjoyable summer.

 

As we begin a new academic year, I write to share a few personal reflections about events that have unfolded within Student Affairs and across the University in recent months, including several exciting leadership announcements and more difficult realities that call for our collective attention and care.

 

I also write to introduce this year’s annual theme and invite each of us to consider how we might continue to strengthen the community we are called to be at Notre Dame.

Several Student Affairs leadership announcements were shared since the spring, including the elevation of Dr. Doug Thompson to the role of Assistant Vice President for Belonging and Engagement, and the addition of Emily First as the Director of the Center for Student Support and Care and alumnus Dr. Paul Popiel as the Kenn and Pamela Ricci Director of Bands.

 

Like other staff working in Student Affairs and throughout the University, these Division leaders are dedicated to supporting your holistic development and formation and cultivating your God-given gifts to help you become a force for good in the world.

 

As you navigate the weeks and months ahead, I encourage you to connect with and seek guidance from these and other professional staff who care deeply about your flourishing in both mind and heart.

In addition to changes in leadership, I’d also like to address some of the more challenging realities that have occurred in recent months that underscore the importance of how we live and care for one another in community.

 

In May, the University released an external investigation report into allegations of abuse against a priest and former rector who served at Notre Dame from 1980 to 1997. As a Holy Cross priest and the Vice President for Student Affairs, I found this report deeply troubling and incredibly difficult to read. It has caused me to reflect on the suffering endured by those who were harmed and the responsibility entrusted to us all to create a community worthy of upholding the inherent dignity of every person.

 

Over the summer we also learned about more recent allegations of sexual misconduct involving a Student Affairs staff member that were made anonymously and are still under investigation. While it is essential that the investigative process proceeds before we draw any conclusions, it is equally important to acknowledge the impact these situations have on members of our community. For many, these situations raise difficult questions, painful emotions, and a renewed commitment to ensuring that every person is treated with dignity, respect, and care.

 

I realize that hearing about these cases may be upsetting to students who may also be personally impacted by sexual misconduct. If you are in need of support, I encourage you to engage with these support resources. Additionally, if you experience or witness conduct that violates your dignity or the dignity of another person, I urge you to file a report through the Speak Up online form. Doing so enables the University to respond appropriately, support those who have been harmed, and continue the work of building a community committed to the dignity and flourishing of everyone who calls Notre Dame home.

These events and other situations each of us may have faced remind us why hope is so central to the University’s mission and how we as a community are called to be a sign in an alienated world.

 

As many of you may recall, last year’s theme, Hope to Bring, reminded us that Notre Dame is a community grounded in hope. This hope looks backward, rooted in the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it looks forward, anchored in the promise of what is yet to come. It is a hope that shapes who we are as individuals and as a community, and not in an abstract way, but concretely—in our families, in our friendships, and in the communities that surround us.

 

My friends, the world needs the hope that we have to give. It needs people who know how to see the dignity of others, and people who know how to build community in a time of division. It needs people who understand that true flourishing happens not in isolation, but in relationship with one another. While this need places a demand on us and calls us to live in a certain way, by doing so, we can become a powerful sign for our world. A world that is so often marked by isolation, violence, and meaninglessness, and often struggles to offer a deeper source of connection.

 

In the way we care for one another, and in the way we build community, and in the way we both receive and give hope, we become a sign for our world. A sign that points to another way. A sign that says: there is a reality beyond this one, where the logic of love, rather than the logic of disunity, prevails.

 

As we begin the next academic year, I am asking students and staff members alike to take up this new theme rooted in our Holy Cross tradition: To be a “Sign in an Alienated World.” I hope this theme serves as an anchor and constant reminder of the community we are called to cultivate alongside one another, and the powerful sign we can be in the world when we commit to this common objective together.

 

Thank you for the many ways each of you strive to live this way day in and day out. Please know of my prayers for you as you begin the fall semester.

 

Sincerely in Notre Dame,

 

Fr. Gerry Olinger, C.S.C.
Vice President for Student Affairs