News

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. president of the University of Notre Dame, has made three staff changes in his office, effective over the next month.

Frances L. Shavers, chief of staff and special assistant to the president, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief diversity officer; Ann M. Firth, most recently associate vice president and counselor to the president and previously associate vice president for student affairs, will become chief of staff; and Rev. William M. Lies, C.S.C., executive director of the Center for Social Concerns, will take on the new position of vice president for mission engagement and church affairs. Read More

For more than 40 years, the Office of International Student Services and Activities (ISSA), in conjunction with other campus departments and organizations, has hosted International Festival Week at the University of Notre Dame. International Festival Week 2012, which will celebrate Notre Dame’s international community, will take place Feb. 25 through March 4 (Saturday through Sunday).

For more information as well as a complete list of International Festival Week events, click here. Read More

The University of Notre Dame’s 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Series for the Study of Race will feature four consecutive Wednesday night discussions led by prominent athletes, coaches, university athletic directors and sports scholars.

All the conference discussions, collectively entitled “Playing with Fire: Race and Sport in American Culture,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Legends nightclub each Wednesday night from Jan. 25 through Feb. 15. The series is open to the public. Read More

Martin Luther King Day will be observed at the University of Notre Dame with a prayer service Monday (Jan. 16) at 11:30 a.m. in the Main Building rotunda.

Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., will lead the “Prayer Service to Honor the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Other participants will include Rev. Hugh Page, dean of Notre Dame’s First Year of Studies and associate professor of theology and Africana studies and community leaders from the Michiana area. Music will be provided by Notre Dame’s Voices of Faith Gospel Choir. Read More

Statisticians quibble, but it is widely agreed that most Americans identify themselves as Christians, and it is inarguable that the Catholic Church is the largest of the Christian churches in the nation. More than half of the Catholics in the United States who are under the age of 25 are Latinos, and, due to birthrates and immigration, a majority of American Catholics will be Latinos by the year 2050. As Peter Steinfels, former religion writer for the New York Times summarized, “Latino Catholics will not just have a place at the table, they are likely to be the hosts at the table.”

A new book by Timothy Matovina, professor of theology and director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, closely considers the five-century-long history of Latino Catholics in America and how that history has affected them and their Church. Read More

A new, unprecedented national survey of African American Catholics by University of Notre Dame researchers reveals several significant insights into individual religious engagement and identifies several notable demographic trends facing the church. The survey was sponsored by the National Black Catholic Congress and Notre Dame’s Institute for Church Life and Office of the President.

Notre Dame social scientists Darren W. Davis and Donald B. Pope-Davis, who co-authored the report, set out to test the validity of anecdotal accounts that African American Catholics were becoming increasingly disengaged from their religion. Read More

Stephen Ponzillo, director of community services and public policy for United Way of Tampa Bay in Tampa, Fla., has been appointed director of the University of Notre Dame’s TRIO programs, which currently include Talent Search and Upward Bound. Read More

Executives from McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Bank of America and other major companies will be talking about what diverse individuals and teams contribute to their businesses when they address the fourth annual Notre Dame Diversity Conference April 8 and 9 (Friday and Saturday) at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Organized by Notre Dame MBA students and presented by ACS, a Xerox company involved in business-process outsourcing and IT services, the conference is free and open to the public. However, attendees must register online, and the deadline is April 6 (Wednesday). Read More

For more than 40 years, the Department of International Student Services and Activities (ISSA) at the University of Notre Dame has hosted International Festival Week, a celebration of international heritage and culture. International Festival Week 2011 will take place from March 25 through April 2. Read More

Indiana Minority Business Magazine (IMBM) has honored Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, with a 2011 Champion of Diversity Award. Father Jenkins was one of 14 individuals, institutions and companies recognized by the magazine at a ceremony Jan. 14 in Indianapolis.

Father Jenkins and the other award recipients were cited as “leaders in their respective fields, not only because they excel at what they do, but also because they are inclusive,” according to Shannon Williams, president and general manager of IMBM. Read More