Top

Bill Kirk Fired After 22 Years

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Bill Kirk Fired After 22 Years 

Bill Kirk Fired After 22 Years, This is a complex situation, but Jack Fowler at NRO’s The Corner does a good job explaining it:

Notre Dame philosophy professor David Solomon posted a devastating analysis on his “Ethics and Culture in the News” blog on a troubling campus development: the sacking of long-time ND staffer Bill Kirk, the only man from the university [senior] administration who joined an on-campus pro-life “NDResponse” rally last year (also attended by South Bend Bishop John D’Arcy) protesting the selection of Barack Obama as the commencement speaker.

Kirk and his wife Elizabeth are prominent campus abortion foes (she was assistant director of one of the few institutes on campus that is avowedly pro-life and orthodox). Now their voices have been silenced, and by the same people who gnash their teeth and pluck their beards about living wages, unionization, fair treatment of employees, and the rest of the Catholic Left’s lobbying agenda. One can hear the college brass channeling Henry II: Will no one rid us of this troublesome pro-life Associate Vice-President for Residence Life?

The decision to fire Bill Kirk was made by Father Tom Doyle, ND’s new VP for Student Affairs. I think it’s appropriate to email Fr. Doyle a brief note asking him to explain why he fired Bill Kirk. Fr. Doyle’s email is Thomas.P.Doyle.22@nd.edu.

More context from David Solomon:

The parents of two young adopted children, Bill and Elizabeth Kirk were in the process, as Bill Kirk’s bosses well knew, of adopting a third child at the time he was fired. Can one imagine Father Doyle firing an at-will employee of Notre Dame with 22 years of service, two toddlers at home and a wife in the early stages of labor with a third child? As adoptive parents, this was the Kirk’s situation. The disruption in their life, and the life of their young family, suddenly and with no prior notice, has been wrenching for them as well as for their many friends. The excuse given for Bill Kirk’s firing, “restructuring”, seems strange indeed. It is impossible to believe, for example, that the firing was part of a larger organizational shift in the Office of Residence Life, since Bill Kirk seems to be the only person in the office whose job was eliminated.

I think simple justice demands that the Notre Dame administration explain itself to the Catholic community.

Bill Kirk Associate Vice President For Student Affairs

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Bill Kirk Associate Vice President For Student Affairs 

Bill Kirk Associate Vice President For Student Affairs, Bill Kirk will leave his post as associate vice president for Residence Life,  Incoming Vice President for Student Affairs Fr. Thomas Doyle confirmed today that Bill Kirk will not continue as associate vice president for Residence Life when the fall semester starts in August.

Doyle, along with University spokesman Dennis Brown, declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Kirk leaving the post. Doyle said the University considers personnel matters private and as a policy, does not offer comments on staff changes.

Doyle also said he cannot say whether Kirk will remain an employee at the University or if his former position will be filled.

No press release on the staff change has been issued at this time.

Kirk was appointed associate vice president for Residence Life in 2003, under Fr. Mark Poorman’s tenure as vice president for Student Affairs. Poorman announced he was stepping down from the post last fall, and his term officially ends June 30.

Kirk has both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Notre Dame. Before serving as associate vice president, he was an assistant rector of Sorin Hall, rector of Holy Cross Hall and rector of Stanford Hall. He also teaches an undergraduate level business course.

Bill Kirk Notre Dame

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Bill Kirk Notre Dame 

Bill Kirk Notre Dame, Notre Dame philosophy professor David Solomon posted a devastating analysis on his “Ethics and Culture in the News” blog on a troubling campus development: the sacking of long-time ND staffer Bill Kirk, the only man from the university administration who joined an on-campus pro-life “NDResponse” rally last year (also attended by South Bend Bishop John D’Arcy) protesting the selection of Barack Obama as the commencement speaker.

Kirk and his wife Elizabeth are prominent campus abortion foes (she was assistant director of one of the few institutes on campus that is avowedly pro-life and orthodox). Now their voices have been silenced, and by the same people who gnash their teeth and pluck their beards about living wages, unionization, fair treatment of employees, and the rest of the Catholic Left’s lobbying agenda. One can hear the college brass channeling Henry II: Will no one rid us of this troublesome pro-life Associate Vice-President for Residence Life?

Here is just a piece of Prof. Solomon’s take, which adds more tarnish to the Golden Dome:

As official faculty advisor to the Right to Life Club, Elizabeth served as primary advisor to the student coalition formed in the spring of 2009 as “NDResponse” and served as a conduit for many, including junior, untenured faculty members, who were unwilling to get involved directly for fear of reprisal. Without compromising his administrative duties, Bill stood with the students of NDResponse at their rally on the South Quad on Commencement day. He was the only senior administrator at Notre Dame willing to do so. With the firing of Bill Kirk, Notre Dame will almost certainly also be deprived of Elizabeth’s talents.

At the time Bill took part in the NDResponse rally, many people commented on the courage it took for him to stand with his wife and other witnesses to this protest of Notre Dame’s decision to award President Obama an honorary degree. I personally discounted these worries, believing that the Notre Dame administration would admire him for his principled stand on a matter so close to the Catholic heart of Notre Dame, even if they disagreed with his particular action. The administration welcomed President Obama’s sharp dissent from and attack on central Catholic teaching on life. It seemed only reasonable that they would equally welcome dissent from university policy by such a loyal Catholic and member of the Notre Dame family as Bill Kirk—especially when his dissent was made in the name of the Catholic principles at Notre Dame’s heart and in the company of his bishop.

Perhaps, alas, there was reason for Bill Kirk to be worried about his participation in NDResponse after all. There is no doubt that the treatment of Bill Kirk this summer will have a chilling effect on the participation of other administrators, unprotected by the safety net of tenure, in the great debates about public policy and moral principle into which Notre Dame will be inevitably drawn. A number of other administrators have told me that in light of Bill Kirk’s treatment, they will in the future keep their heads down rather than dissent from the policies of the central administration. It will be tragic if these pressures toward uniformity become a permanent feature of Notre Dame life. Universities are no place for yes-men.

By the way, Kirk also had the temerity of requiring the school’s pampered athletes to live by the same rules of conduct expected of all students. So there will surely be some joy over his ouster this coming weekend at the alumni tailgate.

Bottom