Notre Dame's New Coke?
The recent passing of Donald Keough, the chair emeritus of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, reminded me of a valuable lesson he had learned during the tenure of his presidency at Coca-Cola: Be very careful about changing the formula of an iconic brand. I see a parallel to the current discussion about changing one of the key constituents of our core curriculum, the requirement of two theology courses.
The Notre Dame brand is one of the most valuable brands in higher education. The Notre Dame brand includes a legendary football team, superior academics, and a dedication to having all who are involved with the University feel like they are part of a family. But many of the other top 20 universities can, and will, lay claim to the some of the same characteristics for their brand. We are not unique in these areas.
Where we distinguish ourselves from other top universities is that we are Catholic and that the Catholic faith informs the culture of the University. Notre Dame’s Catholic character is the one part of our ‘formula’ that the other top 20 universities cannot lay claim to. Many of the graduates of the University have placed significant value on the lessons taught and learned in the two required theology courses as a foundation of the Catholic character of the University. The suggestion to alter this part of our formula in the hopes of providing a better ’product’ for future consumers is not a risk we should take lightly. In fact, I believe it is a risk we should not take at all.
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