I am a huge Notre Dame fan. I did not attend the school, but I love Notre Dame Football. I have been a fan since I was 16 years old. In light of the recent tragic deaths of Lizzy Seeberg and Declan Sullivan, I would not allow either of my two children to attend Notre Dame unless significant changes were made.
With the tragic death of 19 year-old Lizzy Seeberg on September 10th, many have speculated that the University of Notre Dame "lawyered up" and put the football program ahead of what was morally right. Shortly thereafter, the university struggled to overcome the death of a student filmographer, Declan Sullivan who was killed in an October 27th accident in which the lift he was standing on while filming football practice toppled over in unsafe wind conditions. Are the two related and what conclusions can be drawn about the Notre Dame Football program?
In the case of Lizzy Seeberg, the victim was not a student of Notre Dame. She was a St. Mary’s College student who had accused a Notre Dame Football player of sexual abuse. Shortly after her police report, she was sent threatening text messages by a friend of the football player who stated, “Don’t mess with Notre Dame Football.” It appears that the stress from the situation caused her to take her own life, ten days after her report. In that time, none of the South Bend police or Notre Dame Administration had even begun to investigate the incident.
There are several very disturbing issues surrounding the Seeberg tragedy. First, the police did not investigate quickly, stating that their case load was heavy do to football season and increased underage drinking. They did not even interview the accused Notre Dame student until five days after Lizzy’s death. The university also did not publically issue statements or show any concern about the issue. It has been well documented that the Notre Dame student in question has a history of behavior issues. For example, his senior year in high school, after being recruited by Notre Dame, he was suspended from school for throwing a desk at a teacher after she took his cell phone away during class. Kids make mistakes, but certainly someone in the football program knew that if any behavior issues came up with this student, action would have to be taken swiftly.
Secondly, not once has the university reached out to the Seeberg family. In fact, the family was stonewalled by Notre Dame. The Seebergs were forced to hire an attorney to get any communication from the school administration and were told by the school’s general counsel, Marianne Coor, "I hope the Seebergs know how bad this could get for them'' if they ever went public. The Seebergs wrote a letter to Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, who refused to read the letter, let alone meet with the Seebergs, on the advice of counsel. How horribly wrong and insensitive is that?
The Seeberg case was terribly mishandled by the university. They snubbed the Seeberg family’s requests and treated them as if the tragic death of their 19 year-old daughter was insignificant. It is clear the university was afraid of significant litigation brought against them for the behavior of the accused football player. If this situation was managed differently, with love and caring as directed by God’s word, the school may have been able to prevent the untimely and heartbreaking death of Lizzy Seeberg.
The Sullivan case is equally disturbing, on a similar managerial level. Wind gusts the day of Sullivan’s death were in excess of 50 mph. Sullivan himself tweeted twice:
3:22pm "Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I've lived long enough."
4:06pm "Holy (blank). Holy (blank). This is terrifying."
The last tweet was just minutes before the lift toppled and Sullivan was killed. It is tragic that this death most definitely could have been prevented. Many other universities have commented about the use of lifts for filming football practice. Policies address the use of lifts, which are to be abandoned if winds exceed 20-25 miles per hour. It seems obvious to many of us that whoever was in charge, whether it was Head Coach Brian Kelley or Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, should have made the call to abandon the lifts well before practice. It is reasonable to assume that the university staff had a duty to analyze the situation and make that call. It is equally reasonable to assume that Sullivan, who was committed to his effort to be a part of the football program, did not act in his best interest by not seeking shelter from the high winds. However, that does not absolve the university from fault. Especially since practice the day before Sullivan’s death was held indoor due to high winds. Legal experts have predicted that compensatory and punitive penalties against the school could cost upwards of $30 million.
Notre Dame is not a small state public school. It is a private, well-funded and high profile Catholic university with a large student body and an active alumni. You would think that they would be sensitive to these issues. Faith alone should cause the administrators of the university to act with high moral values and compassion. It is clear in both of these cases that the school leadership has much work to do in this area and I consider their actions a complete moral failure. I pray that the university leadership takes these lessons to heart, prays and asks for forgiveness and makes the necessary changes in their attitudes to prevent similar tragedies in the future. If their course of action remains unchanged, they are going to have one less fan watching their football games and potentially two less students when my kids are of college age.
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