Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita threatens Notre Dame for pursuing diversity in student body, faculty

The Republican recently sent a letter to the president of the University of Notre Dame demanding the South Bend school turn over to the state by June 9 thousands of pages of documents and records relating to its strategic plan and diversity initiatives.

Rokita appears to have been set off by statements in Notre Dame's 2033 Strategic Framework, issued Aug. 30, 2023, committing the university "to enroll a student body that reflects the diversity of experiences and gifts of the human family," along with attracting a faculty that ensures all students can take a "course taught by someone who looks like them."

The attorney general contends, "In Indiana, what someone looks like — and in particular a person's race or the color of his skin — is not a lawful basis on which to make hiring, promotion, admissions or other student or employment-related decisions."

"Our state's laws plainly demonstrate that Indiana has a fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating racial discrimination in education," Rokita said. "Actions by a university organized as a nonprofit that appear to contravene such deeply rooted state policy raise a host of questions (sic) about whether the university is serving a public or charitable purpose."

Reading its strategic plan as a whole, Notre Dame makes clear its commitment to diversity is rooted in its Catholic beliefs, which Rokita's own "Churches' Bill of Rights" declares are protected from government action that "compels someone to act against their faith, or substantially pressures someone to alter or abandon their religious observance."

Specifically, Notre Dame declares in its strategic plan: "The dignity of all human beings is the core theme of Catholic social thought and as such the cornerstone of the university's diversity and inclusion efforts. Becoming more diverse and strengthening the university's Catholic mission is a single project, not two parallel tasks."

The university also said in response to Rokita's letter: "Notre Dame is a premier Catholic research university, and as such, seeks to serve and reflect the broader Catholic Church, which is the world's most global, multicultural and multilingual institution. We do not engage in unlawful discrimination in our hiring or admissions processes and look to attract the best and brightest to our campus."

Rokita's threats toward Notre Dame echo similar actions taken by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump against Notre Dame and 44 other colleges and universities demanding they end all efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

Similarly, Senate Enrolled Act 289 — approved in April by the Republican-controlled Indiana General Assembly and enacted May 6 by Republican Gov. Mike Braun — eliminates on July 1 existing diversity initiatives at Indiana public universities and establishes a new legal cause of action for any person who believes they've faced discrimination in public education, employment or licensing due to their race, religion, color, sex, national origin or ancestry.