Notre Dame won't become a sanctuary campus

That decision was made by the Rev. John I. Jenkins, university president, despite calls from the faculty senate, student senate and others to take such a step to protect Notre Dame's undocumented students.

Jenkins announced his decision in a Feb. 7 letter to the faculty senate. The letter became public this week.

In the letter, the priest said he is in full agreement with the faculty senate in its concerns. However, Jenkins said he's not able to make the commitment to declare the campus a sanctuary for undocumented individuals.

"We do not now, and would not, voluntarily provide information about any student without a clear legal requirement to do so, but we would comply with the law and so cannot promise a campus entirely 'free from civil intrusion.' I do not want to appear to make our students a promise on which we cannot deliver," Jenkins wrote.

The priest wrote that he also is mindful that a public declaration of Notre Dame as a sanctuary campus could draw attention to vulnerable students and provoke a reaction from authorities that might otherwise be avoided.

Some faculty senate members have expressed disappointment in Jenkins' response, said Jeanne Romero-Severson, a biological sciences professor who is chair of the body.

The designation was sought primarily as a symbolic gesture, Romero-Severson said. "We were not asking that Notre Dame engage in civil disobedience or break any laws," she said Thursday.

Jenkins took a cautious approach that perhaps will give him room to act on the issue with fewer negative consequences, said professor Ben Heller, a faculty senate member who wrote the original draft of the resolution. "I do feel he missed an opportunity to send a strong message (of support) to undocumented students."

Jenkins has previously expressed strong support on behalf of Notre Dame's undocumented students.