Pro-Life Law Prof Declines Award

A Harvard Law School professor declared yesterday that she will not accept a prestigious award for American Catholics from the University of Notre Dame, citing concerns over the university’s decision to grant commencement speaker President Barack Obama an honorary degree.

In her decision to turn down the Laetare Medal, Mary Ann Glendon raised objections to the university’s willingness to honor someone whose “fundamental moral principles” differ from those of the Catholic Church.

Obama has in the past taken a pro-choice position on the issue of abortion, and Glendon, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and a prominent Catholic intellectual, is known for her staunch pro-life stance in accordance with Church doctrine.

According to a letter Glendon wrote to Notre Dame University President John I. Jenkins, the university had issued “talking points” suggesting that her presence at the commencement would “balance” Obama’s pro-choice views.

“It is not the right place...for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision...to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice,” Glendon wrote.

In recent weeks, controversy has swelled over Obama’s invitation to speak at Notre Dame, but school officials have downplayed the criticism the university has recently faced from the Catholic community.

“Any time there’s a politician, there are going to be positions that are contrary to church teaching,” said Notre Dame spokesman Dennis K. Brown, who noted that former president George W. Bush’s support of the death penalty also engendered criticism before his 2001 appearance at the school.

In a statement, Jenkins said that the university was “disappointed” by Glendon’s decision and planned to name another recipient in the near future.

The Laetare Medal, which recognizes a Catholic whose “genius has ennobled the arts and sciences,” has been awarded annually since 1883. Notable recipients include former President John F. Kennedy ’40 and former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Tona M. Boyd, a third-year Harvard Law School student, said she was disconcerted by the backlash from the Catholic community against Obama’s invitation to speak at Notre Dame, even while acknowledging Glendon’s predicament.

But Boyd, a co-president of the Harvard Catholic Law Student Association, also criticized the “politicizing” of religious questions related to the sanctity of human life.

“I would like to see more consistency across the board in terms of advocating against the death penalty, for living wages, and other issues that are clearly on the Church’s agenda,” Boyd said.

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached egroll@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Athena Y. Jiang can be reached at ajiang@fas.harvard.edu.