“Do not accept anything as truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth! One without the other becomes a destructive lie.” - Pope St. John Paul II 

Founded as a Catholic institution of higher education, the University of Dallas is uniquely situated to inspire its students, faculty and staff to promote what Pope St. John Paul II called “a civilization of love.” ("He who does not love does not know God; for God is love"(1 Jn 4:8)). With the local Catholic bishop as its chancellor, the University of Dallas is, as our mission states, “dedicated to the recovery of the Christian intellectual tradition and to the renewal of Catholic theology in fidelity to the Church and constructive dialogue with the modern world.” The university embraces Catholic teaching about the human person, who is created in God’s image and likeness, endowed with God-given dignity, rights and responsibilities, and called to a transcendent destiny. The University of Dallas seeks to realize the very goal of liberal education: to lead students into freedom so that they can live in accord with the UD motto: Veritatem, justitiam diligite, “Bind yourselves to truth and justice.”

Knowledge and wisdom are the proper ends of education. Yet, as members of a Catholic institution, in a world where so many are suffering and near despair, we understand that the pursuit of justice is not a distraction from the pursuit of higher things; it is an integral aspect of this pursuit. Solidarity helps us to fulfill divine justice. 

As members of the University of Dallas community, we strive to combine robust, civil — and yes, charitable — discourse with a welcoming spirit, which expresses itself in solidarity with all members of our community. “The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony … Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.”[1]

The university recently released a statement, which you can find at the bottom of this page, related to a Facebook post of a faculty member. The university does not speak, or issue statements, through the personal social media sites or email correspondence of faculty and staff. The university is committed to providing working, living and learning environments free from discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and to promoting a Catholic vision of difference and unity, justice and mercy, precisely because we believe that every person has inherent dignity.

The University of Dallas, like the Church, desires the flourishing of every human person — without exception.

[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1827.

Joint Statement by President Thomas S. Hibbs & Provost and Incoming President Jonathan J. Sanford on Jan. 29, 2021:

The university is following its existing policies and protocols in this matter, and will not yield to internal or external demands to divert from them. We are not in the business of limiting the speech of our faculty and staff when they speak on personal social media sites. If anyone is wondering whether we uphold Catholic teaching, we do. Our Catholic identity and fidelity to its teachings is at the core of our mission. The university embraces unreservedly the Church's articulation of the moral law, including its articulation of those truths that deal with the embodied nature of the human person and human sexuality. If anyone is wondering whether we will protect the civil rights of all the members of our community, we can say unequivocally that we will. UD endeavors to respect the intrinsic dignity of each and every person in a spirit of truth and charity.

Clare Venegas, Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications:

As our mission statement clearly states, UD is fully and wholeheartedly "committed to the Catholic Church and its teaching." The university is committed to protecting the civil rights of all our students, faculty, staff and we are committed to a Catholic vision of difference and unity. President Hibbs sent two recent communications to the UD community reiterating this commitment. In the first, he noted a number of ongoing initiatives to promote our common good as rooted in our inherent dignity as children of God, and in a subsequent email on Jan. 25th, he also announced a series of information sessions led by our general counsel and Office of Civil Rights to ensure all faculty and staff are aware of UD’s civil rights policies.