Notre Dame panel expresses disappointment in school leader

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame’s Faculty Senate formally expressed disappointment in the school president’s failure to wear a face mask at a White House event days before he tested positive for the coronavirus.

The school’s Faculty Senate voted 29-13 Thursday for a resolution expressing disappointment in the Rev. John Jenkins’ failure to wear a mask and social distance at a Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor confirmed last month as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. The Faculty Senate was originally expected to vote on a no confidence resolution, but that was amended.

Jenkins tested positive for COVID-19 days after the Rose Garden ceremony, where President Donald Trump introduced Barrett as his nominee to the high court. Jenkins was seen without a mask and he shook hands and sat shoulder-to-shoulder with others.

He later apologized for his actions, saying in a statement that, “I failed to lead by example, at a time when I’ve asked everyone else in the Notre Dame community to do so.”

The resolution from the Faculty Senate reads: “Whereas President Jenkins failed to abide by the University Policies concerning COVID-19 precautions during his trip to Washington D.C.; whereas Fr. Jenkins has apologized for his actions, be it resolved, the Faculty Senate expresses its disappointment in his actions. Be it further resolved, the Faculty Senate also accepts his apology.”