The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame strives for a spirit of inclusion among
the members of this community for distinct reasons articulated in our
Christian tradition. We prize the uniqueness of all persons as God’s
creatures. We welcome all people, regardless of color, gender, religion,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class, and nationality,
for example, precisely because of Christ’s calling to treat others
as we desire to be treated. We value gay and lesbian members of this community
as we value all members of this community. We condemn harassment of any
kind, and University policies proscribe it. We consciously create an environment
of mutual respect, hospitality and warmth in which none are strangers
and all may flourish.
One of the essential tests of social justice within any Christian community
is its abiding spirit of inclusion. Scriptural accounts of Jesus provide
a constant witness of this inclusiveness. Jesus sought out and welcomed
all people into the Kingdom of God—the gentile as well as the Jew,
women as well as men, the poor as the wealthy, the slave as well as the
free, the infirm as well as the healthy. The social teachings of the Catholic
Church promote a society founded on justice and love, in which all persons
possess inherent dignity as children of God. The individual and collective
experiences of Christians have also provided strong warrants for the inclusion
of all persons of good will in their communal living. Christians have
found their life together enriched by the different qualities of their
many members, and they have sought to increase this richness by welcoming
others who bring additional gifts, talents and backgrounds to the community.
The spirit of inclusion at Notre Dame flows from our character as a community
of scholarship, teaching, learning and service founded upon Jesus Christ.
As the Word through whom all things were made, Christ is the source of
the order of all creation and of moral law which is written in our hearts.
As the incarnate Word, Christ taught the law of love of God and sent the
Holy Spirit that we might live lives of love and receive the gift of eternal
life. For Notre Dame, Christ is the law by which all other laws are to
be judged. As a Catholic institution of higher learning, in the governance
of our common life we look to the teaching of Christ, which is proclaimed
in Sacred Scripture and tradition, authoritatively interpreted by Church
teaching, articulated in normative understandings of the human person,
and continually deepened by the wisdom born of inquiry and experience.
The rich heritage of the Catholic faith informs and transforms our search
for truth and our understanding of contemporary challenges in higher education.