Notre Dame University raised some eyebrows after it released an “updated” version of its so-called “ND Values” that removed a commitment to the school’s Catholic mission. The school’s Vice President for Human Resources, Heather Christophersen, announced the creation of new values for university staff at town halls on October 29 and 30^th, with the new values omitting a commitment to the school’s Catholic mission according to the Notre Dame student-run newspaper, The Observer. The principles are meant to apply to staff at the university, which excludes faculty members.

A news release from Notre Dame referred to the new values as “refreshed.”  In an email to staff announcing the new values, Christopherson wrote, “At Notre Dame, our values are more than words—they are the foundation of our community and the guiding principles that shape how we work, interact, and contribute to a purpose greater than ourselves. These values reflect who we are and who we aspire to be.” She continued stating that, “By embracing these values, we reaffirm our commitment to one another and to the University’s mission.”

The former values were accountability, teamwork, integrity, leadership in excellence, and leadership in mission. They had been the core principles since the university’s founding. Leadership in mission included the phrase “Understands, accepts and supports the Catholic mission of the university and fosters values consistent with that mission.” Speaking to The Observer, Christopherson stated she’d received feedback that the old values were “stale,” and confusing. “They could be values anywhere. They could be a value at Northwestern or Duke or Stanford, or they could be in the corporate world. You know, the words like integrity and teamwork and accountability, they’re great words, but they didn’t feel Notre Dame,” she said. “We thought it was an opportunity to refresh them and to make these [values] feel more connected to Notre Dame.” Christopherson said the change was meant to make the values fall under a more Catholic umbrella.

Writing for The Catholic World Report, Dr. Larry Chapp pushed back at the sentiment. “First, it is indeed strange that there is no mention of a specifically Catholic mission that guides all the staff values if the goal was to emphasize that all the various values fall under that Catholic umbrella,” he wrote. “A neutral observer, ignorant of Notre Dame’s Catholic status, if handed these values would have no inkling from them that they were animated in some way by a Catholic missional identity.” He also pushed back that it caused “confusion.” “That problem is now ‘solved’ at Notre Dame since the staff values no longer mention Catholicism at all. However, at a school where Catholic identity is truly valued and where there is a proper theological vision for a true Catholic humanism/globalism, instead of eliminating the Catholic mission bits, there should instead be a series of sub-statements that make it very clear what adhering to the Catholic mission of the school means and, most importantly, what it does not mean,” he said. “This would give employee evaluators and the staff members the specific and concrete criteria they need for adjudicating expectations.”