Cry Me a River

Cry Me a River

Notre Dame president the Rev. John J. Jenks thinks the NCAA is treating his school unfairly because of its refusal to reinstate 21 football victories that were nullified in the wake of a cheating scandal.  Basically, Jenks feels the cheating wasn’t that bad since there were no “serious forms of institutional culpability,” as he wrote in a statement released this week.

No, there was just a “full-time undergraduate who had part-time employment” helping athletic trainers.  That student did school work with or for eight Notre Dame football players that the NCAA found objectionable.  By singling out a student for blame, Jenks showed where his priorities lay.  That wouldn’t be anywhere close to those of former president the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh.

Early on in his tenure, Hesburgh made it clear that football was subordinate to the university and not the other way around.  That dictate as much as anything led coach Frank Leahy with his 87-9-11 record to move on.  Poor Leahy, born too soon.  He and Jenks would have been made for each other.  What Jenks fails to realize is that there are a whole bunch of people out there—like me—who aren’t particularly fond of his school.  Hesburgh, though, commanded my respect as a principled administrator who transformed his school into an academic, not simply an athletic, powerhouse.

If you didn’t like Hesburgh’s Notre Dame, shame on you.  If you don’t like Jenk’s Notre Dame, I can definitely see why.