Word: hesburgh
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...Hesburgh searched for one letter in particular, a reply from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who had been offered a Notre Dame degree this year. He finally found it: a polite no. Hesburgh was disappointed-but he had already landed his friend Jimmy Carter as the commencement speaker. The graduation ceremony will be a deliberate show of support for Carter on human rights, one of Hesburgh's passions. Hesburgh will award degrees to Bishop Donal Lament, who was ousted from Rhodesia; Stephen Cardinal Kim, who has fought against government repression in South Korea; and Paul Cardinal Arnes, who has spoken out against...
...Hesburgh sounds more confident on the subject of happiness. "It can only come," he says, "from giving at least a corner of yourself to others. People today are so egocentric. God help the person who goes through life doing nothing for someone else. He's doomed." He finds that young people today are less ambitious than a generation ago, duller than in the '60s but more eager to find some meaning in their lives. Hesburgh keeps a close rein on his own ambitions, even as he enjoys the trappings of success, smoking a Cuban cigar and sipping...
...Hesburgh the outer man seems unfailingly optimistic. Close friends say they never find him in a bad mood. But his is a calling where true feelings are often submerged. For all his heartiness, the inner Hesburgh seldom surfaces. "I think he's probably a lonely man who makes up for it by work and talk," says a colleague. Hesburgh laughs at this. He says his religion protects him from loneliness. While he says Mass every day. whether in a Moscow hotel room or at the South Pole, he seldom quotes the Bible in conversation. He is not a scholar...
Though he is popularly viewed as a kind of Catholic Mr. Chips, Hesburgh is now held in such awe by Notre Dame students that they seldom deal personally with him. Student Body President Mike Gassman says he would not dare interrupt the president with ordinary school problems because "he's too important now." Another student says, "Father Ted is usually too busy playing world savior." Both of them are swift to add, however, they think Hesburgh is the main force behind Notre Dame's stress on values...
...Even as Hesburgh buries himself in his work, no one really understands what drives him. Is it his need for prestige or power, or is it his need to keep building for the greater glory of his God? His answer is just to keep working. He turns 60 this month and has no plans to retire. Instead, he announced a week ago that Notre Dame is undertaking the largest fund-raising drive in its history. $130 million. "Show me the top ten endowments," says Hesburgh, "and I'll show you the top ten schools in the country." Notre Dame...