University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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Executive Vice President: Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. ing different teams from all over the country, and I think when its over, its over; I don ' t think you have to live on football the whole year round. At the same time I think football is does provide a dimension of an outlet of spirit here, and a dramatic evidence of our competitive spirit is a good thing, and I hope that it is with us in the future as it has been in the past, but at the same time I don ' t conceive for a moment that its being here is going to stop us in any way in proceeding full speed ahead toward our academic goals. Scheck. Father, in that relation, how important a factor do you think is football in recruitment, if I can put it that way, of students? Fr. Hesburgh: I don ' t think it is terribly important. Naught. To change the subject, Father, it seems a tragedy that at Notre Dame a majority of the students don ' t realize until they become juniors or seniors the necessity for a lot of our disciplinary rules. I was wondering if you would try to explain your own feel- ings on this matter as to the need for such things as morning checks and night check, no cars, anything of this nature. Fr. Hesburgh: Perhaps I should come in the back door by saying that the report of the first American students that studied in Russia last year evidenced that the greatest lack of all these students was the complete lack of discipline they didn ' t know how to live dis- ciplined lives and they came out quite badly in com- parison with the Russian students. I think once you understand that the purpose of rules is to learn to live your life in a given society under given conditions of that society, you learn to live with them and grow with them and be happy with them in order to follow these CONTINUED 17

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The President: Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. 16 tr a?edyt]

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rules from a personal freedom rather than just to be living in rebellion against them. I think this is part of the total education. My impression is that rules are much more relaxed today than they were ten years ago. What the picture will be ten years from now I have no way of knowing, but I think for example that we are probably one of three universities in the country that doesn ' t allow cars, but every university president that I know of that has cars on campus says they are the biggest cause of worry in causing trouble on the campus. I don ' t think because most have given in we have to. Personally I think it is a good idea not to have cars. Stalt. Father, we ' ve talked about academics this morn- ing quite a bit, and no doubt since we ' ve been here great strides have been noticeable, and everyone would admit this, but there are some areas of the University where academic progress hasn ' t been as great as in other areas. Now a frequent complaint is the Univer- sity ' s Religion Department. Others will talk about the Philosophy Department and several others, and I won- der what specific programs are in mind for these areas where we haven ' t advanced as quickly as we might have. Fr. Hesburgh: Since I began by teaching religion here I can tell you certainly that there have been great advances. I think there is a natural problem here. I think it requires a certain amount of maturity to dis- cuss and to understand and to become interested in philosophical questions because these are questions that only a mature man is concerned with. I think that in theology, many of the men who come to Notre Dame have had catechism or religion in grammar school and high school and they think they know it, and they don ' t think they know thermodynamics because they don ' t teach that in grammar school or high school, or they Vice-President, Academic Affairs: Rev. Chester A. Soleta, C.S.C.