RICHARD A. SOKERKA
As a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, you will not hear many words of praise from me for the University of Michigan, our longtime archrival on the football field.
However, news reports out of Michigan in the past few weeks have led me to stand up and applaud the actions of the university’s medical school and its head football coach for having the courage of their convictions.
Here is why.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Kristin Collier, an assistant professor of medicine at University of Michigan Medical School, delivered the keynote address for the school’s white coat ceremony — an event that marks the start of medical studies for the entering class. Members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which comprises students, residents, and faculty, voted to invite Dr. Collier to deliver remarks. Dr. Collier was graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her residency at the University of Michigan Health System, where she was chosen as chief resident. She serves as an assistant professor of medicine, co-directing the program on health, spirituality, and religion. There is no doubt that her resume made her eminently qualified to be the keynote speaker.
Sadly, roughly half of the medical school students walked out of the ceremony in protest of Dr. Kristin Collier’s being chosen as the keynote speaker. Why? Weeks prior to the event 400 people signed a petition demanding that Collier’s invitation be rescinded simply because she is pro-life. Imagine that! A doctor who is not only pro-life but also follows the Hippocratic Oath!
Given today’s woke culture that is running rampant on college campuses, many, myself included, would have thought the university would cave in to the petitioners’ demands. But university officials did the right thing and refused to bow down to the abortion zealots. Michigan Medical School spokeswoman, Mary Masson, said Dr. Collier was selected due to her medical qualifications and the invitation would not be rescinded because Dr. Collier is pro-life. “The University of Michigan does not revoke an invitation to a speaker based on their personal beliefs,” Masson said. “The white coat ceremony will not be used as a forum to air personal, political or religious beliefs; it will focus on welcoming students into the profession of medicine.”
During her speech, Dr. Collier did not discuss abortion or any other political topic. She offered encouragement for the incoming students, and gave them advice on what to expect. Her one semi-political statement was to call for unity and healing, according to the National Review.
How refreshing it was to see the university stand behind Dr. Collier!
Even more refreshing in our woke world were the words spoken by Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh, a Catholic, who was the keynote speaker at the Plymouth Right to Life dinner and delivered a powerful speech in defense of the unborn.
“I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born,” he said, according to the Detroit Catholic. “I love life. I believe in having a loving care and respect for life and death. My faith and my science are what drive these beliefs in me. Quoting from Jeremiah, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’
“In God’s plan, each unborn human truly has a future filled with potential, talent, dreams and love,” he said. “I have living proof in my family, my children, and the many thousands that I’ve coached that the unborn are amazing gifts from God who make this world a better place. To me, the right choice is to have the courage to let the unborn be born.”
Later in an interview with ESPN, Harbaugh shared how he has told his family, players, and staff members that if they found themselves in an unplanned pregnancy and could not take care of the baby then he and his wife would raise the child.
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing praised Harbaugh for having the courage of his convictions. “Jim Harbaugh has eloquently spoken up for two of the most vulnerable groups in our society: mothers in crisis pregnancy situations and their unborn children,” said the bishop. “What is more, he has done so with great courage, compassion and, indeed, common-sense. Across the Diocese of Lansing, there will be many people — and not just Catholics — who are enormously encouraged by Coach Harbaugh’s public witness to the sanctity of human life. For that he has our gratitude and, of course, our prayers.”
I do not know about you, but I have become a big fan of the University of Michigan, except, of course, when they step on the football field to play my beloved Fighting Irish!