Calling it a scandal, Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese Bishop Kevin Rhoades has sharply criticized the University of Notre Dame’s recent decision to promote a professor with a history of voicing abortion-rights views.
The university last month announced it’s appointing Susan Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs, as director of the Lui Institute for Asia and Asian Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs. In various publications, Ostermann has been a vocal supporter of abortion rights.
Her promotion has sparked backlash on campus. The Pillar, a Catholic journalism outlet, reports that two Liu Institute professors have resigned in protest, and the university’s Right to Life executive board has called for her appointment, effective July 1, to be rescinded.
Rhoades also made that request of the university in a statement he posted to the diocesan website. The university operates independently of the diocese, yet Rhoades notes that in 1990 Pope John Paul II said bishops should “promote and assist in the preservation and strengthening of the Catholic identity of Catholic universities” within their dioceses.
The university declined our interview request but in a statement they called Ostermann a “deeply committed educator.” Despite her personal views on abortion rights, the university said, “Those who serve in leadership positions at Notre Dame do so with the clear understanding that their decision-making as leaders must be guided by and consistent with the university’s Catholic mission.”
