Notre Dame 1919–1922: The Burns Revolution

Extract

After father edward sorin, C.S.C, the founder, Father John A. Zahm, C.S.C, was the chief inspiration of modern Notre Dame. Zahm, in turn, dedicated one of his books on South America, written under the pseudonym “Mozans,” to his “Brothers in the Congregation of Holy Cross, James Burns and John Cavanaugh.” After Sorin these three men were the creators of the modern university and, while its buildings have multiplied and its students and teachers have increased greatly, whatever is worthwhile has been built on the foundation laid by these men. Some would give Zahm the highest honors, others like best the eloquent Cavanaugh, but the best theorist was Burns. Zahm's plans for a great Catholic university, perhaps premature but well conceived, were buried in the avalanche of conservatism that swept American Catholicism in the early decades of the twentieth century. Father Cavanaugh tried to keep Zahm's noble ideals alive during this conservative reaction and Father Bums took over for a brief period and began to correct the evils of stagnancy and to set Notre Dame again on its way to intellectual achievements. These generalities are much too sweeping and cover too many years for a brief narrative. The three years of the presidency of Father James A. Burns are the most tempting part of the story and the one least known.