Free Republic

How much did it cost Notre Dame to get rid of Charlie Weis? Start with $6,638,403. And keep counting until December 2015. Notre Dame made an initial "termination payment" to Weis of more than $6.6 million and will continue to cut smaller checks to its former football coach for the foreseeable future, according to federal tax documents obtained by the Tribune on Thursday. Weis' apparent buyout is revealed on the Form 990 Notre Dame must submit to the Internal Revenue Service. It was made available to the Tribune upon request. Weis' total severance pay — which was subject to debate...

New Notre Dame trustee donated thousands to pro-abort EMILY’s Listby Kathleen Gilbert NOTRE DAME, Indiana, May 19, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The newest member of the University of Notre Dame’s board of trustees has dedicated thousands of dollars to supporting pro-abortion groups, including the pro-choice political action committee EMILY’s List. The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) broke the story May 11 that Roxanne M. Martino, president and CEO of Aurora Investment Management and Notre Dame alumna, had donated a total of $16,150 to EMILY’s List, an organization dedicated to “electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.” Notre Dame announced Martino’s election last month...

Criminal charges against anti-Obama protesters on the University of Notre Dame campus two years ago have been dropped, but the conflict has new life. One of the demonstrators, who was arrested but never charged, this week filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university and St. Joseph County police, alleging her constitutional free speech rights were violated because Barack Obama supporters were allowed to demonstrate without being arrested or forced off the campus. The plaintiff, Karen Torres, is a 54-year-old grandmother who has no ties to South Bend or the university. She and her husband, Sonny, drove to town...

Conflicted: University of Notre Dame honors family planning group, then pro-life leader by Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 6, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While the University of Notre Dame has taken several highly public steps to reaffirm its commitment to pro-life values in the last two years, the school sent mixed messages late last month after it honored a charity health organization that promotes condoms and emergency contraception, and then a top pro-life Catholic leader, on successive days. According to the independent university newspaper The Observer, the nonprofit organization Partners In Health (PIH) was honored on April 27 with the...

In this special bulletin, we are pleased to report that, after two years, charges have been dropped against the ND 88. Counsel for Notre Dame and for the ND88 announced today a settlement pursuant to which the criminal charges against the ND88 have been dismissed. Under the agreement, the ND88 agreed not to sue the University for damages and the University in return agreed to ask the prosecutor to dismiss the charges, which he has done.This is a notable victory for the defendants, who refused to take an easy way out, and a prudent backing off by the University....

... On Thursday, Michael Dvorak, St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor, dismissed the criminal trespass charges that he has pressed against almost all of the pro-life protesters, known as the “ND88.” The individuals were arrested for trespassing when they entered Notre Dame’s campus in peaceful and prayerful protest against the University’s bestowing honors on President Barack Obama at the 2009 Commencement. Dvorak dropped the charges as part of an agreement between the Thomas More Society and the University.

Charges Dropped Against Anti-Abortion Protesters at University’s Commencement with President ObamaMay 5, 2011 (Chicago)… Today, Michael Dvorak, St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor, dismissed the criminal trespass charges that he has pressed over the last two years against almost all of the pro-life protesters, known as the “ND88,” the individuals arrested for trespassing when they entered upon Notre Dame’s campus in peaceful and prayerful protest against the University’s bestowing honors on President Barack Obama at the 2009 Commencement. Dvorak dropped the charges as part of an agreement between the Thomas More Society and the University. “This is a big step forward...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Even Maya Moore's magic wasn't enough for Connecticut this time.Sophomore guard Skylar Diggins scored 28 points and hot-shooting Notre Dame upset UConn 72-63 on Sunday night, ending the brilliant career of Moore and the Huskies' quest for a third straight national championship.Ten years after their last title, the Irish will be playing for another one Tuesday night against Texas A&M, which beat Stanford 63-62 in the first semifinal.Notre Dame was 0-3 against its Big East rival this season but the Irish had all the answers this time for the Huskies, who lost for just the second time in...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Department of Labor has cited the University of Notre Dame for safety violations in the wake of the death of student-employee Declan Sullivan last October. Sullivan died after strong winds toppled a scissor-lift he was standing on while videotaping a Notre Dame football practice on October 27. He was 20 years old. "We've issued a knowing citation, which indicates the most serious safety violation," said Department of Labor Commissioner Lori Torres during a morning news briefing at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. "The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrated that the university made a decision to utilize its scissor lifts...

There's been a lot of discussion in certain circles on the topic of President Obama's "eligibility." (Incidentally, Dr. William Oddie cogently argues in a recent commentary that Obama is an enemy of the Catholic Church. Click here to read it.) Charles E. Rice, professor emeritus at Notre Dame Law School — and author of the book What Happened to Notre Dame? — argues that it's time for a new approach on the eligibility issue. His commentary is reprinted below.

Categorized | Those Zany Heretics Another View of The Notre Dame Scandal - The March for Life Posted on 07 May 2009 by Steve Skojec Steve Sanborn, founder of the Crossroads pro-life walk, is sort of my brother-in-law, once removed. His sister Maureen is married to my brother Matt, and while we don’t see each other very often, we do keep in touch sporadically online.Last year, Maureen made me aware that Steve was putting together a documentary called “Thine Eyes: A Witness to the March for Life.”  Since then, I’ve been following along as the film progressed, with filming...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- At the March for Life last Friday, pro-life advocates confronted Father John Jenkins. He is the Notre Dame university president who is under fire for allowing President Barack Obama to give the college's commencement speech and by giving him an honorary degree. Jenkins participated in the March for Life for the first time as a way of making amends but he was confronted by pro-life advocates for the fallout from the event.Specifically, they are upset that he has not gotten Notre Dame officials to withdraw the charges against the 88 pro-life protestors arrested on campus...

Over the years governors have given Christmastime pardons to people who have been convicted of some of the most serious crimes on the books. In Wisconsin for example, within the past twenty years at least two murderers were pardoned by the State’s governors. Civil pardons for this kind of offenses happen every year. Acting in a strictly civil capacity, governors have shown the type of mercy and compassion to those who have committed these crimes and set them on their way back to their new life. While such mercy and compassion is also the professed position of the Catholic Church...

Notre Dame’s practice Tuesday gave coach Brian Kelly a good indication that the Irish (7-5) are ready to play Miami (7-5) in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas. Notre Dame completes practices in South Bend today before the team disperses for Christmas, and the coaches and players will reconvene in El Paso on Sunday. The Irish will head to Texas with no major injury issues. Kelly is also making sure there is no chance his players will wander into Juarez, Mexico, which is plagued by drug-related murders, by taking their passports. “That’s serious. Don’t go over...

The Big East's football expansion plans leave the conference with 17 universities, including non-Football members. That's a terrible number for scheduling; the only way the basketball teams can schedule an even number of games is if they play every other team only once. 18 teams would allow three divisions of six teams each. Any team would play the other five teams in its division twice, and one half of the twelve other teams in the conference. 18 sounds like worsening the problem of too many teams, but having three divisions could actually restore some rivalries, and return the conference to...

A 19-year-old Northbrook woman died of an apparent suicide nine days after telling University of Notre Dame police that she had been sexually attacked by a football player in a dorm room, the Tribune has learned. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg, a freshman at neighboring St. Mary's College who had battled depression, apparently overdosed on prescription medication in her own room during the third week of classes in September. The player, meanwhile, has remained on the field. More than two months later, Notre Dame refuses to publicly acknowledge the case, and what actions university officials have taken to investigate her allegation remain...

A Notre Dame student killed Wednesday in a tower collapse tapped out two chilling Twitter posts before his fatal 30-foot plunge. In the first post, Declan Sullivan, who was perched on a scissor lift to film a Fighting Irish football practice, made a dark joke predicting his horrific fate. "Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I’ve lived long enough," Sullivan wrote at 3:22 p.m., just as practice was getting started. More than 40-minutes later, the 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was frozen with fear as wind-gusts approached 50 mph....

American Life League 28 October 2010Washington, DC – American Life League president Judie Brown issued the following statement on the news that contributions to the University of Notre Dame fell by over $120 million during the fiscal year in which [Alleged] President Barack Obama, a zealous abortion advocate, delivered a speech and was honored at commencement ceremonies.As one of the first responders to the scandal, American Life League and its supporters insisted that the university had forfeited its right to be called Catholic and thus petitioned for the school’s removal from The Official Catholic Directory.“It is heartening to hear that Notre...

Thursday October 28, 2010 South Bend Council Rejects Pro-Homosexual Employment Discrimination Bill By Peter J. SmithSOUTH BEND, Indiana, October 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The South Bend Common Council has decided to vote down a proposed bill which could have forced employers, especially those of faith-based companies, to hire homosexuals.The Council voted 6-3 to defeat Bill 30-10, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s employment non-discrimination code.The city’s Human Rights Commission unanimously supported the measure, which was sponsored by homosexual activists under the banner of South Bend Equality. Had Bill 30-10 passed, the Human Rights...

In April, 6' 8" football recuit Matt James fell off a 5th story balcony in Florida. He was scheduled to attend Notre Dame this fall. Later blood alcohol tests found him to have blood alcohol levels twice the legal limit. On October 26, 2010, student manager for the football team died when the tower he was on fell over. The conditions were unsafe for the student to be on the platform -- the platform was unsafe for winds over 25 mph. Winds were gusting to 50+ mph. This was the tragedy of Delcan Sullivan. It seems odd that there have...