Dear Notre Dame Administrators, We, faculty members at the University of Notre Dame, write to you regarding the Raising the Standard Campaign’s (RSC) recent proposal “Recommending Compensation and Labor Policies That Reduce Economic Hardship.” We demand the University engage in good faith negotiations on this proposal and offer a public response regarding its decision. As the largest employer in St. Joseph County, Notre Dame is a major driver of economic trends in the region, including both its successes and failures. In the spirit of this shared responsibility to ensure the future success of those who live here, the University has both a strategic motivation and moral obligation to ensure that residents of the community are able to support themselves financially. Yet, we fall short of this commitment. The overall poverty rate in South Bend is 23.6% — nearly double the national average. A large percentage of that poverty is concentrated among Black households, with a poverty rate of 40.2%. In a meeting last August with South Bend civil rights leaders and community activists, a self-organized group of Notre Dame professors working under the name “Justice ND” asked what Notre Dame could do to alleviate poverty and racism in the community. The local leaders replied simply and earnestly: “Pay your staff a living wage.” Current wages paid to many non-professional staff have not met the threshold of a living wage and do not uphold the dignity of the worker. Students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, also struggle with low wages from campus employment. Despite the University’s commitment to meet “all demonstrated financial need,” loans often constitute large portions of student aid packages and fail to consider the various other costs associated with campus life. As a result, low-income students find themselves working countless hours just to afford a visit home for break or a laptop for class. Their limited hours are forced to be spent working rather than investing in their studies or engaging with the campus community. It is little wonder why the percentage of low-income respondents who say they “strongly disagree” with a sense of belonging at Notre Dame is nearly triple that of all other income brackets. On a campus where all should be included, financial barriers force some to the sideline. The time is now for Notre Dame to reform its wage standards. We are recovering from a global pandemic that brought to light the importance of all workers and the many inequities existing within the labor market. As a global leader in Catholic Social Teaching who champions our commitment to equity and inclusion, Notre Dame can no longer allow the market to be the sole determiner of what we deem acceptable. We must instead follow the path of Pope Leo XIII “not to look upon [our] work people as [our] bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character.” Notre Dame must reclaim its Catholic ethos. Raising the standard of how we treat our workers is the first place to start. Further details of the holistic RSC proposal can be found on their website. We ask that you show consideration for all members of our community and offer a timely response for action. Students and alumni can join this cause by signing the change.org petition, “Raise the Standard for Notre Dame Workers.” Yours in Notre Dame,
Ann Astell
Tawrin Baker
Katrina Barron
Christine Becker
Gail Bederman
Heidi Beidinger-Burnett
Kimberly Belcher
Kraig Beyerlein
John Blacklow
Patricia Blanchette
Catherine Bolten
Keith Bradley
Eric Bugyis
Katie Bugyis
Pam Butler
Matthew Capdevielle
Elizabeth Capdevielle
Kevin Christiano
Lee Anna Clark
Robert Coleman
Manoel Couder
Kathleen Cummings
Meenal Datta
William Donahue
Margaret Doody
Nilesh Fernando
John Fitzgerald
Judith Fox
Mary Frandsen
Stephen Fredman
Johanna Frymoyer
Justus Ghormley
Monisha Ghosh
Anne Gilbert Coleman
Jill Godmilow
Victoria Goodrich
Dan Graff
Karen Graubart
Barbara Green
Jennie Grillo
David Hachen
Gerald Haeffel
Douglas Hall
Anna Haskins
Matthias Hoelzlein
Maria Holland
Romana Huk
Eileen Hunt
Carlos Jauregui
Lionel Jensen
Emily Johnson
Encarnacion Juárez-Almendros
Asher Kaufman
Tamara Kay
Mary Celeste Kearney
Rosemary Kelanic
Richard Klee
Janet Kourany
Greg Kucich
Kevin Lannon
David Lantigua
Erin Moira Lemrow
Marya Lieberman
George Lopez
Jay Martin
Julia Marvin
Barry McCrea
Ken Milani
Fr. Bill Miscamble
Olivier Morel
Leslie Morgan
Michèle Müller-Itten
Amy Mulligan
Robert Norton
Abigail Ocobock
Yasemin Ozkan Aydin
Rachel Parroquin
Juanita Pinzón-Caicedo
Jean Porter
AnnMarie Power
Clark Power
Joseph Powers
Gretchen Reydams-Schils
Francisco Robles
Ryan Roeder
Mark Sanders
Valerie Sayers
Catherine Schlegel
Jim Schmiedeler
Roy Scranton
John Sitter
Lyn Spillman
Jason Springs
Michael Stanisic
Jim Sterba
Julia Thomas
Steve Tomasula
Andrea Topash-Rios
Anre Venter
Robert Walls
Joanna Want
Hannelore Weber
Henry Weinfield
John Welle
Susanne Wengle
Richard Williams
Pamela Wojcik
Marty Wolfson
Susan Youens
Calvin Zimmermann
April 10
