One ordinary man. One extraordinary life. Love thee Notre Dame.
Hesburgh (2019)
No words I write will ever do justice to the incredible leader, priest, mentor, and person Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. was.
As a student, I never truly understood who was on the 13th floor of the library carrying his name. I knew he had been influential in politics, that he’d done a lot for the university, and that he had once stood hand in hand with MLK. I knew some students read to him. I knew some dorms and classes got to meet him. I knew I didn’t really care that I never did.
The documentary about his life and legacy opened my eyes to what a mistake that was.
Some critics say Fr. Hesburgh pushed the University of Notre Dame too secular, took the Catholic out of the Catholic university. He wanted to turn a football school into a top university, one that would attract the greatest minds to study and to teach.
“There is no academic virtue in playing mediocre football and no academic vice in winning a game that by all odds one should lose…There has indeed been a surrender at Notre Dame, but it is a surrender to excellence on all fronts, and in this we hope to rise above ourselves with the help of God.”
He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He stood up to the Pope, he stood up to Presidents, he knew where to draw the line. But more importantly, he built bridges where no one else could. He convinced delegates from the USSR and the US to attend mass together, although none were Catholic. He convinced Northerners and Southerners, Republicans and Democrats, to agree on a report that would later serve as a major influence on the Civil Rights Act of 1964— all by realizing that despite their differences, they were all fishermen. He understood people.
A friend told me she once asked him out of all the things he had done for Notre Dame, what was he most proud of? He answered opening the university to women. I agree.
Hesburgh is a wonderful tribute to an incredible man. I felt more school pride leaving the theatre than I have since graduation. Without Fr. Ted, I would have a degree from some other school buried in the back of my closet. So many of us owe him a great deal.
go irish.
