In light of the near universal enthusiasm for the notion that Notre Dame should buy out the remaining term of Coach Weis's contract and spend whatever it takes to improve the football team, here is a thought in this season of Advent and in praise of folly: In these times of continuing economic difficulty, when so many faculty but especially staff who love and have dedicated their lives to the Catholic education we aim to promote, continue to experience hardship amongst themselves, and are either falling behind or by the wayside, it strikes us as not only unjust but frankly obscene to pay an employee millions of dollars to do nothing.
So we expect the coach to remain and honor his contract, as we intend to honor it by retaining him. And if that means we lose more football games, so be it, for the Lord did not ask us to be successful, he asked us to be faithful. If that means the football program will not earn as much as it normally does and contribute to the University as much as it usually does, well so be it. For we will all suffer together as once Christians were proud to do, rather than bow reverently before the gods of this world. If you want to know what someone thinks is sacred, look to what he treats as sacred.
Through this decision we hope to help all of our fans and supporters to know what Notre Dame stands for as a Catholic institution. What we really fight for. We don't merely play like champions here. We act like them.
John O'Callaghan
faculty
Dept. of Philosophy
Nov. 30