The Chicago Tribune reports that the president of Notre Dame University has approved future installments of a gay film festival on campus. This year's annual festival, the third such event, took place in February and will now be able to continue after it was feared school leadership might cancel all future fests. In an announcement released Wednesday, the Reverend John Jenkins gave his OK to both the festival and to a production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues but added the caveat that no fund-raising or other activities could imply endorsement by the university. "The challenge is not to do just one of these--or even to do both of them in parallel--but to promote academic freedom and affirm our Catholic character in a way that integrates the two and elevates both," Jenkins said in a prepared statement. "This university was founded on the premise that these goals are compatible and can be mutually reinforcing."
Kaitlyn Redfield, a student who helped organize a petition drive in support of both programs, told the Tribune she was "happily surprised" by Jenkins's decision, adding, "I think it's a good first step toward a more open discussion on sexuality and issues of Catholicism at Notre Dame." (The Advocate)
