The announcement Thursday that an advocate of legal abortion won’t take a leadership position at Notre Dame pleased pro-life critics of the appointment, though they still have serious concerns about what they see as the university’s drift away from its Catholic identity.

A candlelight student protest planned for Friday night is still going ahead, organizers told the Register, even after the withdrawal of Susan Ostermann, who was to have taken over as director of the university’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies starting July 1.

“This is great news, but although we won the battle, the war rages on,” said Luke Woodyard, 20, a sophomore who helped put together the event, which is called “March on the Dome,” a reference to Notre Dame’s iconic, golden-topped main administration building.

“The fact that this pro-abortion professor could ever be appointed signifies a much deeper split between students, deans, and administration,” Woodyard told the Register by text. “The spirit in which we ‘March on the Dome’ was never just Ostermann, it was making sure nothing like this shocking appointment is ever tolerated at Notre Dame.”

Seven weeks ago, on Jan. 8, Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs announced the appointment of Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs and political science at the school, as the Register reported Jan. 13.

University officials stood by the appointment for several weeks through sharp criticism from opponents, issuing a statement as recently as Wednesday night backing Ostermann for the job.

Between May 2022 and May 2024, Ostermann co-authored 11 articles for newspapers and websites arguing for legal abortion and against attempts to ban it.

In the articles, Ostermann, who is also a consultant for the Population Council, which advocates for contraception and abortion worldwide, links opposition to abortion to white supremacy during the 19th century; describes laws banning abortion as “forced pregnancy and childbirth,” “trauma” and “violence”; calls crisis-pregnancy centers “anti-abortion rights propaganda sites”; and calls for Congress to cut off Medicaid funds to any state that doesn’t legalize abortion.

The announcement of Ostermann’s withdrawal from the Liu Institute job came two days after Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop Kevin Rhoades on Tuesday led a public Rosary at Notre Dame’s Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, with the prayer intention that the university would uphold its Catholic identity. Two weeks ago, on Feb. 11, Bishop Rhoades, whose diocese includes Notre Dame, released a 1,150-word statement calling the appointment of Ostermann a scandal and urging Notre Dame to rescind it. Eighteen U.S. Catholic bishops have made statements supporting Bishop Rhoades, who declined comment through a spokesman on Thursday.

A spokesman for Notre Dame provided the Register a written statement Thursday, calling Ostermann “a highly valued member of our faculty.”

“We respect Professor Ostermann’s decision to decline the directorship of the Liu Institute. We appreciate her deep commitment to the Institute’s mission and her desire to advance its important work,” the university said.

Mary Gallagher, dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, who appointed Ostermann, also praised her in an email message to Keough School affiliates, calling her “a respected scholar of South Asian politics and regulatory governance whose research and teaching reflect the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary excellence at the heart of both the Liu Institute and the Keough School of Global Affairs.”

“I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision,” Gallagher said in the email message, which the Register obtained.

Ostermann, in a written statement released by Gallagher on Thursday, said she didn’t apply for the Liu Institute position but “was truly honored to take it on.”

“At present, the focus on my appointment risks overshadowing the vital work the Institute performs, which it should be allowed to pursue without undue distraction,” she said.

“At the same time, it has become clear that there is work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish. Both academic inquiry and the full realization of human dignity demand this of us,” Ostermann said, while announcing she has “decided not to move forward as Director.”

“Instead, I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across the university to build a campus community where all can speak openly on the issues that matter to them most, and to continuing collaborations with colleagues at the Liu Institute and beyond,” Ostermann said.

Ostermann’s statement irked organizers of the student protest, including Gabriel Ortner, a 20-year-old junior who serves as deputy grand knight of Notre Dame’s student council of the Knights of Columbus.

Ortner noted that Ostermann implied she was recruited for the post by Notre Dame administrators.

“That’s the targeted demolition of the Catholic identity of Notre Dame in progress,” Ortner told the Register.

He said Notre Dame’s provost, John McGreevy, should fire Gallagher, who appointed Ostermann.

“This is a moment where his leadership can truly be tested if he intends the best for the Catholic identity of Notre Dame,” Ortner said.

As for Notre Dame’s president, Holy Cross Father Robert Dowd, Ortner noted that Father Dowd offered a parting blessing in January to students departing the campus for the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., which he suggested is at odds with the Ostermann appointment.

“He needs to take action against these groups,” Ortner said, referring to Father Dowd. “He needs to show the university and everyone who is watching that Notre Dame does uphold Catholic values. Otherwise, he will appear hypocritical.”

“I think he has been put in a very unfortunate situation, and I hope that he has the strength to do what is courageous and what is right,” Ortner said.

Timothy Dempsey, executive director of the Sycamore Trust, which monitors Notre Dame’s commitment to Catholicism, called Ostermann’s withdrawal “significant” — but not the end of the story.

“For years, we have warned of a widening fault at Notre Dame — between elements of the university’s leadership and the Catholic mission entrusted to it. The reaction to this appointment has brought that fault line into sharper relief,” Dempsey told the Register.

“We pray that the urgency of this moment does not dissipate under the perception of a victory. The underlying concerns remain,” Dempsey said.

“Tomorrow’s march is not about a single appointment. It concerns whether Notre Dame will remain fully aligned with the Catholic faith she professes — not only in word, but in witness,” Dempsey said. “We remain committed to a university that is unapologetically in living communion with the Church and worthy of the name she bears.”