84R19569 BPG-D
By: Márquez H.R. No. 1884
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Reverend Theodore Martin Hesburgh, former
president of the University of Notre Dame, passed away on February
26, 2015, at the age of 97, bringing a great loss to higher
education; and
WHEREAS, One of the foremost educators of the past century,
Father Hesburgh guided Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987; he transformed
an institution once only known for its football team, improving
academic rigor by recruiting highly regarded deans and top
scholars; benefactors were energized by his vision of "a Catholic
Princeton," and he raised funds to endow professorships and
substantially expand the campus, doubling enrollment in the
process; and
WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh led the way for a movement among
Catholic colleges in the 1960s, transferring governance from the
church hierarchy to the laity and rebuffing attempts to abridge
academic freedom; he helped coordinate a "Statement on the Nature
of the Contemporary Catholic University" that was signed by notable
Catholic educators, and under his leadership, Notre Dame admitted
its first female students in 1972; "Father Ted" remained
approachable throughout his tenure, and even had chats with
undergraduates who climbed a fire escape to tap on his office window
after dark; and
WHEREAS, In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Father
Hesburgh as a founding member of the United States Civil Rights
Commission, which investigated the suppression of the African
American vote and other injustices; he joined hands with the
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. at a rally in advance of a landmark
civil rights bill, and in 1970, he was chair of the commission when
it reported severe deficiencies in the enforcement of
antidiscrimination laws; as a result, aides of President Richard M.
Nixon pressured him to resign from the commission, but he went on to
serve by presidential appointment again in the Ford and Carter
administrations; and
WHEREAS, This respected moral leader was influential in
matters from human rights to nuclear proliferation, and he held
numerous papal appointments; as the Vatican's representative to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, he at times acted as a broker
between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War;
he was the recipient of two of this nation's highest honors, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; and
WHEREAS, Born in Syracuse, New York, on May 25, 1917,
Theodore Hesburgh recognized his calling early and enrolled in a
seminary at Notre Dame in 1934; he was ordained four years after
graduating from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and
then completed a doctorate in sacred theology at Catholic
University before returning to Notre Dame to teach religion; and
WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh built Notre Dame's reputation for
excellence, and he was a strong voice for positive change on the
national and world stage; although he will be deeply missed, his
enormous accomplishments will continue to resonate in the years to
come; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of the Reverend Theodore
M. Hesburgh and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones and the
University of Notre Dame community; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the
Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh.