The letters we publish here are edited for space and are representative of those we receive. We print only those letters referring to an article in the most recent edition of the magazine, not those responding to letters or commenting on issues not addressed in the recent edition. For a full presentation of letters, visit our website at magazine.nd.edu.
Higher ed’s higher purpose
As a 37-year educator, I believe Paul Blaschko’s essay (“Will We Ever Learn?”) makes an important and timely point: Higher education loses its moral and human purpose when students are reduced to bundles of achievements. We do not teach disciplines in the abstract; we teach young people whose minds, habits and values are being formed. The aim of education is not merely content mastery or credential accumulation, but the cultivation of wisdom, judgment, humility and the ability to live well through our relationships with others.
When activities are treated as signals of merit, students learn to perform virtue rather than pursue it. Service becomes a checkbox, and involvement becomes another form of status competition. In that system, we are not helping students form meaningful lives; we are training them to optimize appearances.
A healthier vision of education values these experiences only insofar as they genuinely shape character and deepen commitment to the common good. The goal should be formation, not self-branding; discernment, not credentialing. If we want students to become people capable of truth, goodness and beauty, we must resist reducing every experience to an admissions signal or career asset. Otherwise, we risk producing graduates who are highly accomplished on paper but underdeveloped in the virtues that make life worth living.
Douglas C. Orzolek
State College, Pennsylvania
Can’t spell education without AI
“Will We Ever Learn?” raises concerns about artificial intelligence and its place in university education. While the caution is understandable, I respectfully disagree with the idea that AI is incompatible with meaningful learning. AI is becoming an important part of how students explore ideas, solve problems and engage with complex material. Used responsibly, it can strengthen — not weaken — the learning experience.
Across higher education, AI is already reshaping how students study and how faculty conduct research. Students use AI tools to evaluate concepts, analyze information and receive immediate feedback. Employers increasingly expect graduates to be comfortable working with AI-supported systems. Traditional lecture-based models, though valuable, are no longer sufficient to prepare students for a world where AI will be present in every profession. Rather than resisting this change, universities should help students learn how to use AI thoughtfully, critically and ethically.
The question is not whether AI belongs in education, but how we choose to shape its role. Notre Dame can show that the future of learning is full of possibility.
(This letter was researched with AI; the thoughts, content and structure are mine.)
Tom Reedy ’65, ’66
Pinehurst, North Carolina
Back in our day
Given the pressure Brigid Iannelli describes in “Overbooked,” she’s not crazy to feel nostalgic. Maybe it’s rosy retrospection, but I recall a very different experience as an undergraduate in the early ’90s. Sure, we had papers to write, tests to study for and on-campus work, but the stress was manageable. Competing for a job wasn’t the focus for many of us.
Instead, I remember fall evenings lying on the quad, staring at the stars and debating the day’s philosophy lecture. A dozen friends crammed into a quad every Thursday night to watch “Must See TV” together. Senior year, I attended almost all of Father Michael Himes’ Sacramentality course, even though I wasn’t registered for the class; he allowed over a dozen of us to sit in the aisles or stand in the back to soak in his lectures, warmth and Irish accent. In another class that met in O’Shag, I remember nonregistered students regularly sitting in the window ledges.
Student life wasn’t about locking in another minor or about the GPA. Truth be told, I didn’t even look at a report card for four years. Most of my friends were president of nothing. Instead, we played Bookstore Basketball (badly), entered a sinking boat in the Fisher Regatta, volunteered at El Campito, played in the mud at An Tóstal, went to retreats and festivals and plays and concerts — not to secure a future, but because life was richer and more interesting that way. Somehow things turned out OK. I wonder if the same would be true today?
Amy Cooper ’95
South Bend
I think of the words written by Dr. Tom Dooley in his final letter to Father Hesburgh and shared by his statue at the Grotto: “Do the students ever appreciate what they have, when they have it?”
It is so easy to get lost in the stress and distractions of our everyday lives. And Iannelli is probably correct that the pressure is greater today than during my years on campus. But Dooley’s words help me stay centered on the important things, to appreciate the current, even when overwhelmed.
Brian Aquadro ’87
Libertyville, Illinois
Abuse investigation
Your report, “Investigation confirms sexual abuse by two priest-rectors,” is alarming for everyone affected. But it is also disturbing that these two perpetrators never went through the due process of law and had their say in front of a jury. Here we go again with abuse findings in the Catholic Church. Your article states that
Rev. David Porterfield, CSC, ’65, ’78M.Div., continued as a rector in another dorm after allegations of abuse by him in a residence hall. Yet the Congregation of Holy Cross said nothing as he “served” in South Bend parishes after these allegations. Then it had the audacity to hide him in retirement in Holy Cross House and Fatima House.
You want Notre Dame to send a strong message? On the first report of abuse allegations against a priest on campus, have that priest arrested and tried in a court of law. No more passing around reports and waiting for a response. You can have all the violence prevention education in the world, but it never will stop sick people like Rev. Thomas King, CSC, ’65, ’81M.A., and Porterfield from doing their unfathomable things. What will stop them is facing jail time with inmates who abhor such behavior.
This has been my Achilles’ heel with the Catholic Church for decades, and the reason I left. The hypocrisy is appalling. Those who still practice the faith should pray very hard that the Church immediately pursues the due process of law upon the initial report of abuse.
Brian Sontchi ’75
Batavia, Illinois
Discovering my heritage here
“Filipino Trailblazers” means so much to me, and I will never think of my alma mater the same way again.
I am a first-generation child of Filipino immigrants. Learning that my graduation came 100 years after that of Notre Dame’s first Asian graduates gives my own experience and connection to the University an even deeper meaning.
I cherished my time at Notre Dame, but I often felt like an outsider: a minority student navigating a University where many traditions felt connected to legacy families. Your article helped me see a history that includes people like me. I feel a stronger sense of belonging to Our Lady’s University.
Sally Salvador Floyd ’06
Palo Alto, California