1/12 "As a professor at Notre Dame since 2001, I had been closely following the debate over my university's decision to open two weeks earlier than usual during the pandemic." https://twitter.com/NotreDame/status/1265263704893001729

2/12. "Thus I read with great interest the May 26th op-ed by President John Jenkins in which he justified the decision in terms of its morality and its modeling of leadership and courage for the student body."

3/12. "After reading over 400 responses to his op-ed, I formulated the following three suggestions for my university to consider:"

4/12."First, Notre Dame would do a better job of modeling leadership and courage by listening to the largely critical responses to its decision to re-open in August, before adequate safety measures for students, staff, faculty, and the wider community are in place.

5/12. "Second, Notre Dame could use its power and clout in the academy and the NCAA to push for a deferred football season, perhaps to begin in Spring 2021, with no spectators but some sort of pay-per-view or streaming-season-pass policy for alumni and other fans."

6/12. "Third, if Notre Dame opens in August, then it must make it easy for students (including student-athletes), faculty, and staff to elect to work, study, or train from home if they feel that their lives or health are endangered by working, studying, or training on campus."

7/12. "Fr. Jenkins, whom I have admired for his balanced judgment in the past, spoke of "moral questions" and "courage" in his op-ed. I dare him to have the courage to reconsider his judgment to re-open campus precisely because it is a moral question."

8/12. "The lives of people in the community are at stake in this deliberation. The religious mission of Notre Dame demands that we take those lives seriously—and to avoid even the appearance of caring more for financial matters such as tuition, room & board, & football revenues.

9/12. "What do we lose by primarily working from home for at least one more semester? Nothing but some money. What do we gain by waiting to until it's safe to fully re-open? The moral certainty that we did the right thing for our community."

10. "As a full professor, I humbly submit this letter on behalf of my many friends and colleagues at the university who may feel that they cannot speak up due to their vulnerability in this unprecedented time of political crisis."

11. I submitted this as a letter to the editor to the @nytimes on the day Fr. Jenkins's op-ed was published there. Posting here because my conscience will no longer allow me to stand by. Notre Dame needs to realize it must ensure public safety during the pandemic.

12. I will add only one thing that I have considered since writing this. Notre Dame has a unique opportunity to become an influential, ethical, & courageous leader of high-quality online/hybrid liberal arts education. That is the real opportunity here. Notre Dame should seize it.

13. PS. Thanks everyone for your support of this thread! I apologize for the rushed style, occasional typo & somewhat awkward syntax. The urgency of the situation meant that I wrote this letter to @nytopinion in about 5 minutes and sent it post haste. Posted it verbatim here.