Response to Amy

I just realized that I failed to respond to Amy's question, here.  After presenting, helpfully, different "models" for "engagement", she asked:

My question is whether within the expanse of Catholic education in the United States we might want to encourage a variety of models engagement (perhaps with a baseline and a ceiling, but with quite a bit of room for difference) with the culture.  Rick, do you agree?

I do!  As I see it, though, the debate about Notre Dame's decision to honor President Obama is not a debate about whether Notre Dame should "[e]mphasize dialogue with difference so as to engage the culture from a stance of openness to exchange and growth in mutual understanding."  It is about whether Notre Dame's own purported mission and character, and her aspirations to be true to that mission and character, create -- in Amy's words -- a "baseline" that, in this case, given all the givens, she has not respected.