Notre Dame University, one of the nation's top catholic universities, gave money from the students activities fund to pay for five students' trip to the gay rights march on Washington, DC over the weekend. The money from this fund comes from the school itself as well as from money raised from the Alumni Association.
Alumni of the school are non to pleased to find this is how thier money is being spent. Many people in the association are still upset at the University's decision to have President Obama as the speaker at the graduation ceremony.
The catholic church has the strictest policies when it comes to homosexuality. This has only increased since Pope Benedict has taken over from Pope John Paul. The pope has made it very clear that you are persona non gratis to serve as a priest if you have any homosexual feelings or approve of the "lifestyle".
The controversy has just added to the bad press that the University has received since the graduation. The alumni association has been trying to get an explanation from the school, but has yet to recieve a satisfactory answer. Apparently the funds are made available to students as long as one faculty member approves the trip.
The university needs to decide if it is a catholic university or not. If the university wants to be more open to social issues such as gay rights and abortion than that is it's choice. But it cannot continue to call itself a catholic university while it is supporting things that the church has very clear guidelines against.
The catholics that are part of the alumni association needs to ask themselves is giving money to the school that is clearly turning it's back on it's roots is a worthwhile use of thier money.
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