John I. Jenkins
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John Ignatius Jenkins, C.S.C. (born December 17, 1953) is a Catholic priest of the
Congregation of the Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...
and the current president of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
in
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. He previously served as its vice-president and associate provost. He replaced
Edward Malloy The Rev. Edward Aloysius Malloy, C.S.C. (born May 3, 1941), nicknamed "Monk", served from 1987 to 2005 as the 16th president of the University of Notre Dame.
as president. He was chosen as
president-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...
by the Notre Dame board of trustees on April 29, 2004; his tenure began on July 1, 2005. On October 11, 2019, Jenkins was elected to a fourth consecutive five-year term as president.


Early life and career

Jenkins was born and raised in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, and attended
Creighton Preparatory School Creighton Preparatory School (simply referred to as Creighton Prep or Prep) is a private, Jesuit high school for boys in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was established in 1878 under the name Creighton College and is located in the Roman Cat ...
. Jenkins earned bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1976 and 1978, respectively, and was ordained a priest of the
Congregation of Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = L ...
in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus in 1983. While earning master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy from
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in 1987 and 1989, respectively, he also taught in Notre Dame's London Undergraduate Program. He earned a master of divinity degree and licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in 1988. Jenkins has been a member of the Notre Dame philosophy faculty since 1990; he received a Lilly Teaching Fellowship in 1991–1992. He served as director of the Old College program for Holy Cross seminarians from 1991 to 1993 and as religious superior of the Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame from 1997 to 2000. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles published in ''
The Journal of Philosophy ''The Journal of Philosophy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal on philosophy, founded in 1904 at Columbia University. Its stated purpose is "To publish philosophical articles of current interest and encourage the interchange of ideas, ...
'', ''Medieval Philosophy and Theology'', and ''The Journal of Religious Ethics'' and of the book ''Knowledge and Faith in Thomas Aquinas''. Jenkins is a member of the Board of Directors for the
Commission on Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pre ...
.


Notre Dame presidency

At Jenkins’ inauguration on September 23, 2005, he stated: "My presidency will be driven by a wholehearted commitment to uniting and integrating... academic excellence and religious faith." In his inaugural address, Jenkins described his goals of making the university a leader in research that recognizes ethics and builds the connection between faith and studies. During his tenure, Notre Dame has increased its endowment, enlarged its student body, and underwent many construction projects on campus, including
Compton Family Ice Arena The Compton Family Ice Arena is a 5,022-seat, two-rink ice facility in Notre Dame, Indiana on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The arena saw its first game on October 21, 2011. The ice arena replaced the 2,857-seat rink in the north d ...
, a new architecture hall, additional residence halls, the Jenkins-Nanovic Hall, and Campus Crossroads, a $400 million enhancement and expansion of
Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest c ...
. Jenkins' decision to include an invitation to President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
to deliver the 2009 commencement address at Notre Dame and to receive an honorary degree was controversial. Inviting the sitting president of the United States to speak at commencement is, however, a custom at the University of Notre Dame. A number of Catholic bishops, including John Michael D'Arcy, the bishop of Fort Wayne–South Bend, as well as
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, criticized the invitation because of Obama's stance on abortion. In 2016, Kevin C. Rhoades, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said that he disagreed with Notre Dame's decision to honor Vice President Joe Biden and John Boehner, the former
speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U ...
, with the university's
Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...
; Rhoades said he would have preferred the university to invite Biden and Boehner to speak "rather than bestow an honor that can provoke scandal." In 2018, Rhoades issued a statement saying, "I strongly disagree with Notre Dame’s decision to provide funding for contraception in its health insurance plans." Jenkins has also been criticized for other decisions such as allowing performances of ''
The Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run in at Westside Theatre. The play explores c ...
'' and showings of gay films on campus. As a member of the Holy Cross order, Jenkins is bound by a vow of poverty and like his predecessors is not paid a salary. The salary that is allocated for the president of the university, is given instead to the Holy Cross Order.


Salary

As a member of the Holy Cross order, Jenkins is bound by a vow of poverty. There is, however, still a presidential
salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. F ...
paid to Jenkins, according to an Internal Revenue Service
Form 990 Form 990 (officially, the "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax") is a United States Internal Revenue Service form that provides the public with financial information about a nonprofit organization. It is often the only source of such i ...
, which is filled out by most
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such as private universities. In 2014, this salary was $830,119, making Jenkins officially the highest paid university president in the state of Indiana. To put this figure in perspective, it is more than double the official salary of the
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
.


COVID-19

On September 26, 2020, Jenkins attended the White House Supreme Court nomination ceremony for Notre Dame professor judge
Amy Coney Barrett Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. ...
. Pictures showed him not wearing a mask and in close physical proximity, even hugging other attendees. On October 2, 2020, Jenkins tested positive for COVID-19, joining Trump, Melania Trump, U.S. senators
Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...
and
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, former
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governor
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and
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, all who attended the ceremony maskless. Days before the diagnosis, after photos were published, Jenkins publicly apologized for not wearing a mask nor adhering to social distancing guidelines. On October 8, 2020, a faculty senate motion to consider a vote of no confidence was postponed by a 21 to 20 vote and after a raucous debate so that more feedback could be gathered. Jenkins was also criticized by the faculty for not following the strict health policy he imposed on campus while in Washington, for traveling while he has forbidden them and students to, and for opening Notre Dame's reputation to political exploitation. A student-authored petition that called upon Jenkins to resign gathered 213 signatures—a number equal to approximately 2.5% of the size of Notre Dame's undergraduate student body. On October 1, 2020, one month after Jenkins tested positive for COVID-19, the majority of Notre Dame's undergraduate student senate voted in opposition to the petition. In arguing against the petition, many members of the student senate said that the motion was too extreme and that only a very small fraction of Notre Dame's undergraduate students had actually signed the petition calling for Jenkins' resignation.


References


External links


University of Notre Dame
biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John I. 1953 births Living people Presidents of the University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame faculty University of Notre Dame alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley alumni Clergy from Omaha, Nebraska American Roman Catholic priests University of Notre Dame fellows Congregation of Holy Cross University of Notre Dame Trustees