Two Suicides
Of late I have been very saddened by two suicides that have got some attention. I'll do them in separate posts. The one that has been in the news, and has a special resonance for me, is Lizzy Seeberg. Miss Seeberg was a student at Saint Mary's College in South Bend, IN, the sister school for Notre Dame. She committed suicide earlier this year after reporting that a football player had sexually assaulted (not raped) her.
I won't rehash the details here. I don't know what happened in the room. Here's a good article from a classmate of mine, Melinda Henninberger, a former NYTimes reporter on the opposite aisle from me on politics and most issues.
Yet we each seem to find most disappointing that the President, Father Jenkins, appears to have lawyered up. I'm sure all the lawyers so advise. And though I've had my differences with the man, especially over the honors extended to President Obama last year, I do know he is a good priest. Alas, when this tragedy happened he did not do what I believe he, as president/priest, should have done: personally visited the family of the girl -- many of whom have attended Notre Dame. By contrast, the President of Saint Mary's reached out to the family and gave them a class ring for their daughter, so she could be buried with it.
Again, I'm not taking any position on what happened, or legal guilt, etc. Just the sadness of a young life gone, and what seems to be a cold institutional response.
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Re: Two Suicides
Institutions of higher learning project a warm and fuzzy glow. When it comes to managing a situation like this, they are very rarely anything but Machiavellian.
Re: Two Suicides
That's sad, especially at a university that purports to stand for something. It strikes me as similar to the Rutger's kid who committed suicide after being taped having sex with another man. In all the sound and fury over what to do, no one thought of the simplest answer: Treat one another with dignity, the way you would want to be treated.
May '10
Re: Two Suicides
In Father Jenkins's defense, I thought he handled the Declan Sullivan tragedy with dignity and compassion. I was shocked to find that even a good man like Father Jenkins would so readily admit complete responsibility for the tragedy given our litigious society and the risk it poses to our alma mater.
Dec '10
Re: Two Suicides
As a Notre Dame graduate who will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Class of '61 this coming spring, and as the father of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's graduates, this situation is extremely disappointing. The administration and its lawyers have obviously circled the wagons around the accused, a member of the football team. The incident in question happened on the campus of the university. The fact that the accused with not be charged with a crime does not excuse the university from investigating what happened and taking action appropriate to its own standards of student conduct.
Nov '10
Re: Two Suicides
This story reminds me a bit of a story posted on Ricochet a few weeks ago about a Texas hgh school cheerleader who had been raped by a star football player. It seems as though football players get a free pass in our society, doesn't it?
Jun '10
Re: Two Suicides
Let me guess.....alcohol was involved? My daughter's friend (a soph) sadly become a party girl while at Notre Dame & is in danger of being kicked out for now twice being ill after a night of drinking. Notre Dame has terrible inconsistency in enforcing alcohol rules, protecting students from the nutty Indiana alcohol police, and admitting institutional blame for anything.
I attended a Notre Dame panel in NYC during the NDvArmy game and it was called "Shattering the Stained Glass Ceiling: Fifty Years After the Election of America's First Catholic President." E.J. Dionne, John Dilulio, John McGreevy, and Robert Putnam were the panelists. It should have been called, "Shattering the Stained Glass Ceiling: Sweep up the shards, bury them, and let's run from our Catholic roots as fast as we can." Dilulio became downright prickly at the comment I raised, quite respectfully, about his strange habit of calling the Catholic Church "pro-life but anti-poor" being both incorrect and unlikely to promote useful dialogue.
I'll probaly always be a ND football fan, but my respect for the school has tanked over the years.
Re: Two Suicides
The key -- and very damning -- lines from Henninberger's column are:
I find this story appalling.
Jun '10
Re: Two Suicides
"Evidently, it was more important that this player get suited up and take the field against Purdue and Michigan than that he answer questions from the cops about what happened in that dorm room. Should a school that can't show any more respect for women than that just take the Virgin Mary off the top of the Dome and be done with it?"
We don't know if an assault really took place. We just know that by not questioning the football player, ND made it clear that they didn't much care. And by ignoring the grieving family they show that liability is more important to them than life. Pro-life isn't just about social justice causes for Third Worlders, the hungry, and the poor. That theme may make for some grand commercials in the "We are the fighting Irish" ad campaign aired on football Saturdays, but ND has certainly not fought for justice for Lizzy.
And on a side note --- can't we roll back the drinking age to 18? These kids are sneaking around, drinking in dorm rooms, with no responsible adults keeping watch or modeling responsible drinking behavior. It's a recipe for disaster.
Re: Two Suicides
I don't presume to know the football player did anything criminal, etc. My main disappointment is with the reaction. Universities must be terribly lonely places. Students do all sorts of things. Especially from a Catholic institution, what we should expect is that a loving pastoral approach takes precedence over a lawyer's approach.
The President of Saint Mary's College gave the family of Lizzy Seebeerg a class ring she could be buried with. The President of Notre Dame has refused to meet, or even read a letter from the mom and dad. Only a lawyer could justify that.