A retired University of Notre Dame priest and historian has called the university’s appointment of a pro-abortion advocate to lead a campus institute “untenable,” disputing the advocate’s recent pledge to uphold academic freedom and mutual respect.
Father Wilson Miscamble, a Holy Cross priest and professor emeritus of history, made the remarks in a letter published Jan. 30 in The Observer, Notre Dame’s student newspaper. His response came after Susan Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs, defended her appointment as incoming director of the Keough School of Global Affairs’ Liu Institute of Asia and Asian Studies. Fr. Miscamble previously called for a reversal of the decision in a Jan. 28 opinion essay, as Zeale News previously reported.
In a statement previously quoted by The Observer, Ostermann said she was committed to fostering “mutual respect,” maintaining academic freedom, and serving as a steward of the institute’s mission rather than advancing a personal political agenda. She also said she respects Notre Dame’s institutional position on the sanctity of life.
Miscamble disputed those assurances, accusing Ostermann of evading questions about her past public advocacy.
“The dissimulation evident in the comments of Prof. Susan Ostermann quoted in The Observer, Jan. 30, gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Paris is well worth a Mass,’” Fr. Miscamble wrote. “Her clever efforts to avoid addressing her strident pro-abortion advocacy can only be described as outright evasion.”
Fr. Miscamble noted that Ostermann had not retracted her prior statements linking the pro-life movement to white supremacy, nor disavowed claims that crisis pregnancy centers mislead vulnerable women.
“Does she still believe that crisis pregnancy centers — like our own Women’s Care Center — are propaganda fronts which mislead vulnerable women?” he wrote.
He also questioned whether she still believes that access to abortion aligns with her understanding of “integral human development.” He said the principle of integral human development is foundational to the Keough School and incompatible with abortion.
He further criticized Ostermann’s past work as a consultant for the Population Council, an international organization that supports abortion access, asking whether she was willing to publicly distance herself from what he described as its human rights abuses.
“The answer to these questions thus far is no, and that is why Susan Ostermann’s appointment to head the Liu Institute is untenable at a Catholic university like Notre Dame,” Fr. Miscamble wrote.
Beyond Ostermann herself, Fr. Miscamble faulted university leaders who approved the appointment, saying the decision reflects a failure of judgment and a failure to uphold Notre Dame’s Catholic mission. He said those responsible should face scrutiny regarding their own fitness for leadership.
He wrote, “The lack of judgment as well as the failure to uphold Notre Dame’s Catholic mission demonstrated by those responsible for this disgraceful appointment must raise serious questions about their own suitability for the positions they presently occupy.”
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