Great news: Hasson to receive honorary degree from Notre Dame

I am delighted to pass on the news that my friend Seamus Hasson -- the founder of and inspiration for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty -- will receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame (his alma mater) at commencement this year.  Hasson is, for me, a hero -- his book, "The Right to Be Wrong", is an excellent brief for religious liberty as a fundamental right for all persons, because they are persons -- and the Becket Fund is a crucial player in the struggle to vindicate and protect religious freedom.

Unfortunately, the Cardinal Newman Society -- for which Notre Dame's missteps seem to serve as never-to-be-missed occasions for direct-mail and online fundraising -- has focused instead on the person named to be the speaker at a separate (i.e., not Commencement) event for the Graduate School.  (I think my bona fides as someone who cares deeply about the Catholic character of our Catholic universities are pretty well established, but I confess to being frustrated by watchdogs who notice only Notre Dame's occasional errors and challenges -- and disproportionately focus on Notre Dame's, as opposed to others' -- while ignoring its strengths, progress, and promise.)