SCOOP. Amy Coney Barrett to Attend Notre Dame Donor Event
ACB graduated with distinction from Notre Dame Law School in 1997.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett (ACB) is scheduled to attend a private reception hosted by the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Before her 2020 senate confirmation to the high court, ACB taught for seven years at Notre Dame Law School where she won several awards and was published in the Notre Dame Law Review.
The Union Station event is for the university’s ‘President’s Circle’ of top dollar donors who each contribute at least $25,000 annually to the university. The donor group is in Washington this week for an annual week of meetings.
On Monday, Notre Dame hosted a private dinner for donors in the Senate’s Mansfield Room where Father John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s outgoing president, and Father Bob Dowd, the university’s president-elect, both gave remarks.
At least four senators dropped by Monday’s dinner, but none stayed long. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) barely crossed the threshold, choosing instead to chatted up a donor for a few minutes in the doorway before heading to another event.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was the first lawmaker to wander into the Notre Dame dinner, before Jenkins and Dowd arrived, but no one seemed to notice the senior senator from Texas, so Cornyn quickly moved on.
Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Todd Young (R-IN) stayed slightly longer than Bozeman, glad-handing with donors for just over 10 minutes after the evening’s only vote.1
Former Sen. Joe Donnelly, an Indiana Democrat now serving as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, stayed for the duration of the dinner, telling Capitol Press afterwards that Dowd is the right pick to lead Notre Dame as the university’s 18th president. Dowd replaces Jenkins on June 1st.
“The strategic plan that's been laid out for the future of Notre Dame is genuinely inspiring,” Sen. Coons said after dropping by the dinner. “It meets the moment nationally and, if carried out, would continue to strengthen Notre Dame's already nationally prominent position.”
“Our country is going through a hard time in terms of hearing each other, respecting each other, and a world class university like Notre Dame has a special role to play in modeling what respectful dialogue informed by faith, and yet open to people of all backgrounds, could look like,” Coons added as the elevator door closed.
Fathers Dowd and Jenkins last visited the Capitol in January when they met with Rep. Mike Donnelly (R-PA) about tax policy. On Monday, Jenkins told Capitol Press that the Notre Dame group had not met with President Joe Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic.
A university spokesperson on-hand for Monday’s dinner offered no comment on the week’s itinerary, but multiple donors said they were excited to meet Notre Dame’s first and only Supreme Court Justice.
Just fixed a typo to John Bozeman's name. I'd spelled it Boozman. My bad.