Concurrently, a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation led to a Symposium at Notre Dame and publication of the book, Religion, Revolution and Reform: New Forces for Change in Latin America (1964).
Research grants from The Carnegie Corporation, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), and The Rockefeller Foundation, allowed him to examine the role of the Catholic Church at a time when birth control, public policy and a woman's right to choose had become prevalent political issues.
Beginning in the fall of 1963, and extending to 1968, Notre Dame created a Committee on "Population and Responsible Parenthood", which included Social Scientists, Medical Doctors, Philosophers, Theologians, and Lawyers, all working informally with the Papal Birth Control Commission.
This national group consisted of faculty from 57 Catholic colleges, clergy, nuns, lawyers and physicians, all of whom supported government family planning programs.
"[3] On May 11, 1966, The New York Times published an article citing a Gallup poll showing that 59% of the nation's Roman Catholics supported Federal Aid for family planning clinics.
It was part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, and was intended to provide funding to states to support a variety of community health programs, including family planning services to poor women.
In 1971, D'Antonio left Notre Dame and became a professor at the University of Connecticut (UConn) where he also served as chair of their Sociology Department for five years.
The reason for leaving Notre Dame was based in part on his concerns over growing racial and ethnic unrest in his home state.
In 1974, he received an ethnic heritage grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to create booklets on the 12 largest ethnic-racial groups in Connecticut for use in high school programs.
The UConn School of Education successfully carried out the program for many years in an effort to reduce racial discrimination by promoting cultural understanding and ethnic pride.
Another area of political activism served by D'Antonio involved a new group of faculty leaders organized under the banner of the AAUP, the American Association of University Professors.
They accepted then governor Ella Grasso's invitation to organize themselves as unions able to bargain with the State over salaries and other employee benefits.
During this time period D'Antonio was also active in collective bargaining efforts with State legislatures on behalf of the faculty to ensure good pension plans and health insurance for life.
The book's success turned his attention to the manner in which sociology was being taught to students during a time period which brought many changes in the United States (Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, The Women's Movement).
By then, D'Antonio's outspoken advocacy work on behalf of social science research helped COSSA grow to include membership from another 50 universities.
His most recent media appearance was in a PBS documentary The Italian Americans, a 4-part television series on how immigrants from Italy came to shape America.