Gates An Unexpected Donor

SEATTLE TIMES, Feb. 1 — The Diocese of Yakima Catholic School District just got a $1.36 million windfall, the Seattle daily reported — and the source might come as a surprise.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is known for funding numerous population-control and pro-abortion international agencies, announced that the Yakima diocese will get its grant over five years. The diocese is the first Washington private school district to receive a grant from the Gates Foundation, although one Catholic school in Spokane, Wash., had received an individual grant earlier.

The diocese will use the money to buy computers for the district's supervisor and its eight principals, as well as to increase teacher training, improve curricula and buy computers for teachers.

ROTC and Pacifists Find Truce at Notre Dame

THE OBSERVER, Jan. 30 — Students at the University of Notre Dame are forging an unusual bond between peace activists and cadets in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, the university's student daily reported. The school's pacifist group, Pax Christi, even counts an Air Force cadet among its members.

The group's discussions draw up to 100 students, including many cadets and officers exploring what it means to be a Catholic in the military. Notre Dame has 375 students in ROTC, one of the largest programs in the country.

Although Pax Christi, which was founded to oppose ROTC's presence on campus, initially alienated many cadets by sponsoring lectures like “Ten reasons why ROTC should be banned from Notre Dame's campus,” it now hosts dialogues in which cadets can present their own beliefs. Pacifists and supporters of Catholic just war theory square off regularly. And every month, the officers who run the school's ROTC programs have lunch with professors from the Peace Studies program to discuss issues relating to pacifism and the just use of force.

Dispute Continues at Boston College

BOSTON GLOBE, Feb. 8 — Boston College thought that a 25-year dispute with a radical feminist had ended when theology professor Mary Daly agreed to drop her lawsuit against the school, the Boston daily reported.

Daly, the author of Beyond God the Father, has refused to allow men into her class for the past 25 years, despite Boston College's repeated requests. In 1999 she told the college that she would rather stop teaching than admit men. The college then announced that she had retired — prompting Daly to sue for breach of contract and violation of tenure rights.

The two sides signed a pact in early February, in which Daly agreed to retire. But the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Daly's lawyer apparently violated that settlement by issuing a press release claiming “victory” for Daly. Both sides must now enter a new round of negotiations.