Bill Text: TX HR1884 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of the Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-05-12 - Reported enrolled [HR1884 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HR1884-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 1884 |
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WHEREAS, The Reverend Theodore Martin Hesburgh, former | ||
president of the University of Notre Dame, passed away on February | ||
26, 2015, at the age of 97, bringing a great loss to higher | ||
education; and | ||
WHEREAS, One of the foremost educators of the past century, | ||
Father Hesburgh guided Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987; he transformed | ||
an institution once only known for its football team, improving | ||
academic rigor by recruiting highly regarded deans and top | ||
scholars; benefactors were energized by his vision of "a Catholic | ||
Princeton," and he raised funds to endow professorships and | ||
substantially expand the campus, doubling enrollment in the | ||
process; and | ||
WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh led the way for a movement among | ||
Catholic colleges in the 1960s, transferring governance from the | ||
church hierarchy to the laity and rebuffing attempts to abridge | ||
academic freedom; he helped coordinate a "Statement on the Nature | ||
of the Contemporary Catholic University" that was signed by notable | ||
Catholic educators, and under his leadership, Notre Dame admitted | ||
its first female students in 1972; "Father Ted" remained | ||
approachable throughout his tenure, and even had chats with | ||
undergraduates who climbed a fire escape to tap on his office window | ||
after dark; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Father | ||
Hesburgh as a founding member of the United States Civil Rights | ||
Commission, which investigated the suppression of the African | ||
American vote and other injustices; he joined hands with the | ||
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. at a rally in advance of a landmark | ||
civil rights bill, and in 1970, he was chair of the commission when | ||
it reported severe deficiencies in the enforcement of | ||
antidiscrimination laws; as a result, aides of President Richard M. | ||
Nixon pressured him to resign from the commission, but he went on to | ||
serve by presidential appointment again in the Ford and Carter | ||
administrations; and | ||
WHEREAS, This respected moral leader was influential in | ||
matters from human rights to nuclear proliferation, and he held | ||
numerous papal appointments; as the Vatican's representative to the | ||
International Atomic Energy Agency, he at times acted as a broker | ||
between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War; | ||
he was the recipient of two of this nation's highest honors, the | ||
Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Syracuse, New York, on May 25, 1917, | ||
Theodore Hesburgh recognized his calling early and enrolled in a | ||
seminary at Notre Dame in 1934; he was ordained four years after | ||
graduating from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and | ||
then completed a doctorate in sacred theology at Catholic | ||
University before returning to Notre Dame to teach religion; and | ||
WHEREAS, Father Hesburgh built Notre Dame's reputation for | ||
excellence, and he was a strong voice for positive change on the | ||
national and world stage; although he will be deeply missed, his | ||
enormous accomplishments will continue to resonate in the years to | ||
come; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of the Reverend Theodore | ||
M. Hesburgh and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones and the | ||
University of Notre Dame community; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the | ||
Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh. | ||
Márquez | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 1884 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the House on May 7, 2015. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||