The University of Notre Dame, a nominally Roman Catholic institution of higher learning, is hardly a bastion of conservative thought. In 2020, 66% of the students supported Joe Biden while Trump didn't even crack 30% (29%). It was the same story in 2016 with 59% supporting Hillary Clinton and 24% for Trump.
Nevertheless, there is a strong pro-life presence on campus as evidenced by the controversy over the pro-abortion views of two professors. Tamara Kay and Susan L. Ostermann, professors in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, wrote an article titled “Forced pregnancy and childbirth are violence against women — and also terrible health policy” in Salon in 2022.
“Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion … and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death,” Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins said.
The professors endured criticism and even some harassment from students. Kay sued the Irish Rover, the student publication, for libel after a headline in the publication suggested that she was offering abortion services. Suffice it to say that support for the radical left is not universal on Notre Dame's campus.
This was born out by a poll that the Irish Rover conducted on the presidential contest that showed Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris 48% to 46%.
When asked for his club’s reaction to the poll, College Republicans President Elliot Anderson told the Rover, “It is amazing to see a college campus stand by President Trump. We hope that the trend of ultra-liberal colleges is finally coming to an end with the increasing youth support for conservative policies.” College Democrats did not respond to a request for comment.
Professor David Campbell, Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy and Director of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, commented that the results of the poll “demonstrate that Notre Dame students are a microcosm of the nation as a whole.”
“The student body is closely divided,” Campbell added. “As we head into the home stretch of this hotly contested presidential election, I hope that the students of Notre Dame can demonstrate to the country that it is possible to disagree politically, but do so agreeably.”
Notre Dame is not Columbia or Berkeley. Its Catholic traditions temper the radicalism of many students. The pro-Palestinian protests on Notre Dame's campus, for example, were small, and police broke them up with no violence. Only about 100 students participated and the police confiscated the tents after talking to the students.
Trump's support appears to be due to dissatisfaction with the policies of Biden-Harris.
Trump’s apparent strength appears to be at least partially driven by widespread dissatisfaction with the job performance of the Biden-Harris administration. Just 35 percent of students polled said they strongly or somewhat approved of the current administration, while 65 percent said that they strongly or somewhat disapproved. The strength of those views is especially notable: Only 5 percent said they strongly approved of President Biden, while 40 percent said they strongly disapproved. The findings match another recent survey by Harvard University that showed Biden’s approval at an anemic 31 percent among young voters.
“The last four years are why my family is on welfare,” one Catholic-identifying male voter said in explaining his vote for Trump.
Is there a hidden strain of support for Trump from college students? Harris has a huge 31-point lead over Trump among 18-29-year-old voters. But I wonder how solid that is and if at least some of Trump's support is undeclared.
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