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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Reverend Theodore Martin Hesburgh, former |
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| 6 | 7 | | president of the University of Notre Dame, passed away on February |
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| 7 | 8 | | 26, 2015, at the age of 97, bringing a great loss to higher |
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| 8 | 9 | | education; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, One of the foremost educators of the past century, |
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| 10 | 11 | | Father Hesburgh guided Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987; he transformed |
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| 11 | 12 | | an institution once only known for its football team, improving |
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| 12 | 13 | | academic rigor by recruiting highly regarded deans and top |
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| 13 | 14 | | scholars; benefactors were energized by his vision of "a Catholic |
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| 14 | 15 | | Princeton," and he raised funds to endow professorships and |
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| 15 | 16 | | substantially expand the campus, doubling enrollment in the |
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| 16 | 17 | | process; and |
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| 17 | 18 | | WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh led the way for a movement among |
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| 18 | 19 | | Catholic colleges in the 1960s, transferring governance from the |
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| 19 | 20 | | church hierarchy to the laity and rebuffing attempts to abridge |
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| 20 | 21 | | academic freedom; he helped coordinate a "Statement on the Nature |
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| 21 | 22 | | of the Contemporary Catholic University" that was signed by notable |
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| 22 | 23 | | Catholic educators, and under his leadership, Notre Dame admitted |
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| 23 | 24 | | its first female students in 1972; "Father Ted" remained |
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| 24 | 25 | | approachable throughout his tenure, and even had chats with |
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| 25 | 26 | | undergraduates who climbed a fire escape to tap on his office window |
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| 26 | 27 | | after dark; and |
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| 27 | 28 | | WHEREAS, In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Father |
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| 28 | 29 | | Hesburgh as a founding member of the United States Civil Rights |
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| 29 | 30 | | Commission, which investigated the suppression of the African |
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| 30 | 31 | | American vote and other injustices; he joined hands with the |
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| 31 | 32 | | Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. at a rally in advance of a landmark |
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| 32 | 33 | | civil rights bill, and in 1970, he was chair of the commission when |
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| 33 | 34 | | it reported severe deficiencies in the enforcement of |
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| 34 | 35 | | antidiscrimination laws; as a result, aides of President Richard M. |
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| 35 | 36 | | Nixon pressured him to resign from the commission, but he went on to |
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| 36 | 37 | | serve by presidential appointment again in the Ford and Carter |
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| 37 | 38 | | administrations; and |
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| 38 | 39 | | WHEREAS, This respected moral leader was influential in |
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| 39 | 40 | | matters from human rights to nuclear proliferation, and he held |
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| 40 | 41 | | numerous papal appointments; as the Vatican's representative to the |
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| 41 | 42 | | International Atomic Energy Agency, he at times acted as a broker |
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| 42 | 43 | | between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War; |
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| 43 | 44 | | he was the recipient of two of this nation's highest honors, the |
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| 44 | 45 | | Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; and |
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| 45 | 46 | | WHEREAS, Born in Syracuse, New York, on May 25, 1917, |
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| 46 | 47 | | Theodore Hesburgh recognized his calling early and enrolled in a |
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| 47 | 48 | | seminary at Notre Dame in 1934; he was ordained four years after |
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| 48 | 49 | | graduating from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and |
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| 49 | 50 | | then completed a doctorate in sacred theology at Catholic |
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| 50 | 51 | | University before returning to Notre Dame to teach religion; and |
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| 51 | 52 | | WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh built Notre Dame's reputation for |
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| 52 | 53 | | excellence, and he was a strong voice for positive change on the |
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| 53 | 54 | | national and world stage; although he will be deeply missed, his |
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| 54 | 55 | | enormous accomplishments will continue to resonate in the years to |
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| 55 | 56 | | come; now, therefore, be it |
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| 56 | 57 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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| 57 | 58 | | Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of the Reverend Theodore |
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| 58 | 59 | | M. Hesburgh and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones and the |
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| 59 | 60 | | University of Notre Dame community; and, be it further |
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| 60 | 61 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 61 | 62 | | prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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| 62 | 63 | | Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the |
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| 63 | 64 | | Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh. |
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