Notre Dame Drops “Catholic Mission” Reference in Staff Values

The University of Notre Dame recently embraced a new, streamlined version of its staff values that no longer explicitly includes support for and acceptance of its “Catholic mission,” Catholic News Agency and other Catholic publications reported.

The university announced the new set of values at staff town halls held in late October, detailed in a news release last week. The old version listed a value called “leadership in mission,” described as an employee “understands, accepts and supports the Catholic mission of the university.” The new version includes values like “community,” “collaboration,” “excellence” and “innovation” and leaves “leadership in mission” out. However, the values list is prefaced by the statement, “In all that we do, we seek to advance Notre Dame’s mission as a global Catholic research university to be a force for good in the world.”

The university’s vice president for human resources, Heather Christophersen, told Notre Dame’s student newspaper, The Observer, that the new values “might not say specific mission-related words,” but “trying to weave them throughout was our goal.” 

The Catholic mission is “in everything we do,” she continued. “We strive to be the best global Catholic research institution, to be a force for good.”

A statement from Notre Dame to Inside Higher Ed emphasized that the university’s Catholic mission isn’t changing.

“Far from diminishing the importance of Notre Dame’s Catholic mission, the University’s recent rearticulation of its values seeks to reinforce the centrality of our distinctive mission,” the statement read. “Conversations with staff members across campus about how best to communicate and reinforce the timeless values that have always animated the University led to the reformulation that was announced a few weeks ago, but the University’s values and unfailing commitment to its Catholic mission have not and will not change.”