Advisory Board

     Alumni Advisors

      William Grafe, Jr. '44
      F. Michael Gray, '48
      Thomas Hessert, '48
      Charles S. Trotter, '48
      John O. Grimes, '49
      Jerome Frazel, '50
      John Tracy '54
      Thomas O'Toole '81
      Fr. Thomas Euteneuer '84

“I TRUST IN THE LORD,
LEST I FALL INTO CONFUSION”

On November 26, 1842, Father Edward Sorin of the Congregation Sainte-Croix (C.S.C.) led a party of priests and brothers of his Order to a beautiful site near two lakes on the northern Indiana prairie, where he founded what become over time the foremost Roman Catholic university in the United States, Notre Dame du Lac, dedicated to Our Lady of the Lake.

During the grim winter of 1842-42, Sorin wrote "if heaven grants our prayers, a great work will be done here, under the auspices of our august Mother... My only fear is to spoil the work of God by trying to advance it by means that are too human.  In Domino confide, non confundar, To God, therefore, and to Mary, I confide all my desires and all my needs." (Marvin O’Connell, C.S.C. Edward Sorin, U. of Notre Dame Press, p. 130.)

Fr. Sorin’s "great work" is today being spoiled, because University of Notre Dame administrators, faculty and board members are trying to “advance” the institution “by means which are too human," validating Fr. Sorin’s fears.

We seek to lead the University of Notre Dame back to the auspices of Our Lady of the Lake, as Fr. Sorin wished. 

Fr. John Raphael, ND ’89, and principal of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, spoke truly for us in his April 7, 2009 letter to Fr. Hugh Cleary, C.S.C. Superior General, stating "many have acted out of love for God, Country, Notre Dame, the unborn, Fr. Jenkins and President Obama" by seeking to admonish the University for illicitly honoring the President.

As "Catholics in Political Life", the USCCB’s 2004 pastoral letter notes, "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.  They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

By all that we do organizing here, we intend to “teach clearly and help other Catholic leaders” at Notre Dame teach clearly about the Church’s fundamental moral principles, by prayerfully but energetically protesting, by demonstrating through faith and reason who is leading Notre Dame wayward, and by persuading “all people that human life is precious and human dignity MUST be defended.”

Daniel M. Gray, esq.
April 19, 2009
Divine Mercy Sunday