Prof. Alfred J. Freddoso
Philosophy Department
336 O' Shaughnessy Hall
University of Notre Dame
In your recent letter to the National Catholic Reporter you make two points about the controversial appointment in Theology: first, that the department rejected him because of his "sectarian" views; and, second, that he was the victim of "an ongoing and nasty personal feud" between his dissertation director and "several senior members of the theology department," including myself (identified only as the chair of the Faculty Senate and former chair of the department).
You offer no evidence for the first charge (which implicitly challenges the academic integrity of the five members of the appointments committee and the department chair), apart from a fragment of a quotation from Larry Cunningham's evaluation of Michael Baxter's dissertation. In fairness to Larry (and to the appointments committee), you ought to ask him directly about that evaluation and also about the validity of your conclusion that the department used "nationalism" as a "criterion for employment" in this case.
With regard to the second charge, you offer not even fragmentary evidence because there is none. In fact, after that very same charge was formally presented to the Dean of the College by one of your colleagues and mine, the Dean investigated it and found no basis for it whatever. In his letter to me of August 30, 1996, Dean Attridge wrote: "As part of my review of the appointment process, I thoroughly investigated the allegations that came to my attention and found them to be quite unwarranted. I am convinced that the advice given by the members of the department to the Committee on Appointments, Tenure, and Promotion was serious and reflected conscientious judgments about the merits of the case. I am equally convinced that the members of the Committee on Appointments, Tenure and Promotion exercised their own independent judgment in making their recommendation to me and voted as their consciences dictated. In reaching their recommendation the Committee was not manipulated or subjected to improper lobbying by any faculty who opposed the appointment."
Out of respect for the truth and in fairness to me and the other unnamed "senior members" of the department, Fred, you should make an appointment to see Harry Attridge and to ask him directly about his investigation. If you are satisfied that the evidence for your second charge in particular simply does not exist, I would ask you to write a second letter to the NCR to retract or at least to modify substantially what you wrote the first time.
While I am at it, Fred, can you also provide me evidence for the "ongoing" nature of the "nasty personal feud" that I (and others) are supposedly having with a former colleague, Stanley Hauerwas. Speaking only for myself, I am not aware of anything negative that I have written or said about him since he left Notre Dame some years ago. If, as you allege, the "feud" is "ongoing", I can only conclude that it is a one-sided feud. I am certainly not a party to it, nor do I wish to be.
Sincerely,
(Dick)
Richard P. McBrien
Crowley-O'Brien-Walter Professor of Theology
January 16, 1997
Rev. Richard P. McBrien
Crowley-O'Brien-Walter Professor of Theology
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Dear Dick:
As I pore over your letter of January 10, it is evident to me that with regard to the Baxter affair, we differ from one another in our perceptions of certain facts and our interpretations of other facts. As a philosopher, I am not surprised by this particular sort of epistemic standoff, since it is a relatively common phenomenon that philosophers from the time of Plato have noticed and tried to explain.
My website contains a page with links to various documents related to the Baxter affair, including Faculty Senate documentation, the Marsden-Solomon letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education, and my own letter to the National Catholic Reporter. In the interest of letting all sides have their say, I am willing, with your written permission, to include your letter of January 10 among those documents.
Best wishes,
(Fred)
Alfred J. Freddoso
Professor of Philosophy