In just two weeks, more than 1,100 Fordham University alumni and others have signed a student-sponsored petition opposing the University’s plan to honor Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer with a legal ethics award.

The open letter to Father Joseph McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, is posted online at www.CardinalNewmanSociety.org. All concerned individuals and organizations are encouraged to sign the petition. A drive for more campus signatures is scheduled for the end of this week by Fordham Respect for Life, the campus pro-life students who organized the petition.

Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion in the 2000 case striking down state laws banning the horrific practice of partial-birth abortion, a decision that has been described as “legislating from the bench” and comparable to the infamous Dred Scott decision.

Nevertheless, Fordham is still scheduled to present its Fordham-Stein Ethics Prize to Justice Breyer at a dinner in New York City on October 29.

Fordham Respect for Life (RFL) students report that several Jesuit priests, faculty and staff members have expressed support for their protest of the award. The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) has posted the Fordham RFL petition online to encourage alumni and other Catholics to indicate their support.

“Alumni and faculty are now much more aware of the problem and have expressed their displeasure with the situation,” said a Fordham RFL student. “We think that we have brought the matter to people's attention.”

After weeks of attempting to meet with University officials to discuss their concerns, Fordham RFL students were finally granted a meeting last week.