SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Reaction to the death of the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, who helped transform the University of Notre Dame while serving as its president from 1952 to 1987:
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“During his lifetime of service to his country, his church, and his beloved University of Notre Dame, Father Hesburgh inspired generations of young men and women to lead with the courage of their convictions. His deep and abiding faith in a loving God, and in the power of our shared humanity, led him to join the first-ever United States Civil Rights Commission, and join hands with Dr. King to sing ‘We Shall Overcome.’ His belief that what unites us is greater than what divides us made him a champion of academic freedom and open debate. …
“Father Hesburgh often spoke of his beloved university as both a lighthouse and a crossroads – the lighthouse standing apart, shining with the wisdom of the Catholic tradition, and the crossroads joining the differences of culture, religion and conviction with friendship, civility, and love. The same can be said of the man generations of students knew simply as ‘Father Ted.'” — President Barack Obama.
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