Notre Dame is allowed (I assume – again, I am just an employee and am not 
involved in admissions or with the University Counsel’s work) to take religion, 
and many other factors, into account when building its classes, sure.  Does 
anyone believe that Notre Dame should *not* be able to conduct admissions so as 
to, for example, admit classes that are predominantly Catholic?

Best,

Rick

Richard W. Garnett
Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Political Science
Director, Program on Church, State & Society
Notre Dame Law School
P.O. Box 780
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-0780
574-631-6981 (w)
574-276-2252 (cell)
rgarn...@nd.edu<mailto:rgarn...@nd.edu>

To download my scholarly papers, please visit my SSRN 
page<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=342235>

Blogs:

Prawfsblawg<http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/>
Mirror of Justice<http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/>

Twitter:  @RickGarnett<https://twitter.com/RickGarnett>

From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu 
[mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Marci Hamilton
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2014 3:08 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Cc: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: The nonprofit contraception services cases

This is strictly an informational question-- is Notre Dame allowed to 
discriminate on the basis of religion in undergraduate admission?



Marci A. Hamilton
Verkuil Chair in Public Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School
Yeshiva University
@Marci_Hamilton



On Jan 6, 2014, at 2:46 PM, Rick Garnett 
<rgarn...@nd.edu<mailto:rgarn...@nd.edu>> wrote:
Dear colleagues,

I would recommend Prof. Kevin Walsh’s post (here:  
http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2014/01/what-does-the-form-that-the-government-insists-the-little-sisters-of-the-poor-must-sign-actually-do.html)
 on the issue with which Marty kicked off this thread a few days ago.  Kevin’s 
post is called “What does the form that the government insists the Little 
Sisters of the Poor must sign actually do?”

Of course, others have moved from the specific issues that Marty raised to more 
general (and always important) conversations about RFRA’s constitutionality and 
the moral desirability of Yoder, but I wanted to ask just a few things with 
respect to Greg Lipper’s report that Americans United for Separation of Church 
& State has filed a motion seeking to intervene in the University of Notre 
Dame’s lawsuit challenging the mandate.  (Although I am blessed to teach at 
Notre Dame, I have no role in the University’s lawsuit.)    
https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-seeks-to-intervene-in-notre-dame-lawsuit-challenging-womens

I understand (though I do not agree with) the claim that, because Notre Dame is 
a large employer in the area, its right to refuse to provide coverage for 
contraceptives (in cases where a physician has not indicated that the 
contraceptives are medically indicated) to employees who do not embrace the 
Catholic Church’s teachings on sexual morality and abortion is limited.  That 
is, Notre Dame’s role and place in the market limits its right to say to 
employees “this is who we are, and if you want to work for us, you should 
expect that who we are will be relevant to the terms of our arrangement with 
you.”

With respect to students, though, it is harder for me to see why Notre Dame 
should not be able to say to prospective students (as Notre Dame does), “This 
is who we are.  If you come here – and you are welcome to, but you don’t have 
to – you should know that our character, mission, aspirations, and values will 
shape the terms of our arrangement with you.”   Is it the view of AU, or of 
others, that the Establishment Clause (or anything else) prevents the 
government from exempting a Catholic (or other mission-oriented) educational 
institution from an otherwise general rule in order to allow the institution to 
say (something like) this to students and the broader world – again, assuming 
that students who get into Notre Dame (a) have plenty of options and (b) know 
full well that Notre Dame aspires to a meaningfully Catholic character?

Best,

Rick

Richard W. Garnett
Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Political Science
Director, Program on Church, State & Society
Notre Dame Law School
P.O. Box 780
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-0780
574-631-6981 (w)
574-276-2252 (cell)
rgarn...@nd.edu<mailto:rgarn...@nd.edu>

To download my scholarly papers, please visit my SSRN 
page<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=342235>
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