Students at the University of Notre Dame are set to gather Feb. 27 for a candlelit “March on the Dome” as they call on university leadership to rescind the appointment of Professor Susan Ostermann as director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, according to a press release shared on X by Sycamore Trust.
The release states that the students are urging the university's President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, to revoke the appointment. The demonstration follows weeks of controversy surrounding Ostermann’s disparagement of the pro-life movement and outspoken advocacy for abortion access, which critics say conflicts with Church teaching on the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.
In earlier coverage, Zeale reported on concerns from bishops, students, alumni, and clergy who questioned whether the appointment was consistent with Notre Dame’s Catholic mission and its commitment to the Gospel of Life.
The march was inspired in part by a Feb. 11 statement from Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the diocese where Notre Dame is located. Bishop Rhoades expressed “dismay and strong opposition” to the appointment, warning that it risks causing scandal among the faithful. He urged university leadership to “rectify this situation” and invited Catholics to pray at the Grotto that Notre Dame remain faithful to Christ.
In the following days, other prelates publicly backed Bishop Rhoades, including Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Organized by Luke Woodyard and Gabe Ortner in collaboration with Notre Dame Right to Life, the Knights of Columbus Council 1477, The Irish Rover newspaper, and other student groups, the event is garnering widespread support on campus.
“The Bishop did not urge us to sit silently and watch our Lady’s University fall before our eyes; he gave us a clear call to action,” said Luke Woodyard, co-organizer of the March, according to the release.
Woodyard referenced the bishop’s invitation for the faithful to pray at the Grotto, “invoking [Mary's] prayers that Notre Dame will always stand firm in her commitment to the Gospel of her Son, the Gospel of Life,” the release noted.
Ortner described the appointment as “the last straw in a long series of University actions counter to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity.”
The procession will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Main Circle and move to South Quad for student speeches. Speakers include Right to Life President Anna Kelley and Irish Rover Editor-in-Chief Lucy Spence, and others. Retired Notre Dame professor Father Bill Miscamble, CSC, who has also spoken out about the appointment, will bless candles before the evening concludes with a Rosary at the Grotto led by the Militia of the Immaculata.