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Staff Stories

Notre Dame seeks to enhance our community by attracting employees from all walks of life. The work of maintaining and advancing our University requires individuals who approach challenges from unique perspectives borne of varied and nuanced personal experiences. Moreover, it requires learning from one another in an environment that welcomes open discussion and invites personal as well as professional growth in this area.

The stories below showcase the diversity of thought and experience of the people who work at Notre Dame.

FDO offers staff equity programming during Walk the Walk Week

Published: March 09, 2021

NDWorks

The Facilities Design and Operations (FDO) division celebrated Walk the Walk Week, Feb. 22-28, with its own efforts to ‘walk the walk.’ In the fall, the division founded Equity FDO, an initiative for staff to learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion with the mission "to achieve a culture within FDO that embraces and empowers all individuals and celebrates their uniqueness."...

Statement from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on Pope Francis traveling to Iraq

Published: March 04, 2021

Notre Dame News

By making the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, he is bringing hope to the Christian faithful there who have faced persecution, while at the same time engaging in interreligious dialogue on the Plain of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch of Muslims, Christians and Jews.

A conversation with Mike Brown '01

Published: February 23, 2021

NDWorks

Mike Brown ’01, regional director, athletics advancement, development, recently shared a Gospel reflection with FaithND readers in the context of Black History Month. Here, he takes a moment to share beyond his reflection.

Diversity training prepares volunteers to spread equality with action

Published: February 15, 2021

Carrie Rulli Stone, Internal Communications

ND staff get behind the Diversity and Inclusion workshops, led by Eric Love, as Diversity Education Volunteers. Left to right are Marty Harshman, Torence Witherspoon,…

Fulbright students share language, culture with local school children, translate texts for parents amid pandemic

Published: February 11, 2021

Erin Blasko

The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program at the University of Notre Dame is unique among FLTA programs in that it involves community engagement as well as teaching, exposing educators from around the world to life beyond Notre Dame’s campus while introducing local school children to different peoples and cultures.

Conversations That Matter: The Intersection of Racial Justice and Life Issues

Published: February 01, 2021

McGrath Institute for Church Life

The Notre Dame Office of Life and Human Dignity will host a free, three-part webinar series through spring 2021 addressing the integral relationship between racial justice and the culture of life, from conception to natural death. The first event is Feb. 3.

The Rome Gateway commemorates the International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Published: January 27, 2021

Costanza Montanari

The Rome Gateway has had a special connection to the historical heritage of the Jewish presence in Rome since the acquisition of the ND Villa, the living-learning community where the students of the University of Notre Dame in Rome live, located in Via Celimontana. The ND Villa housed a Jewish school in the two-year period from 1938 to 1940

Civil Rights Memoir Resonates with Today’s Call for Racial Justice

Published: January 25, 2021

Kathryn Pitts

Taking the Fight South is available in paperback and digital editions from the University of Notre Dame Press.

Blue and Gold and Black and White

Published: January 18, 2021

Notre Dame Magazine

From the health disparities that COVID-19 has exposed in communities of color, to the killing of George Floyd that sparked nationwide protests, it has been a tragic and tumultuous year, prompting a reckoning with racial issues across the country, including at Notre Dame.

ThinkND series to explore world religions

Published: January 13, 2021

Amanda Skofstad

University of Notre Dame theologians from the World Religions World Church program will embark on a seven-session virtual teaching series examining the Catholic Church in a global religion context starting Jan. 26 (Tuesday) and running through October.

Women Lead 2021

Published: March 05, 2021

Office of Brand Content

In celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month, meet eight women leaders who are challenging the status quo in their fields.

March is Women’s History Month

Published: March 03, 2021

Cidni Sanders

The month of March is set aside as a time to celebrate the many contributions of women to society and learn more about what can be done to improve gender equality. The Gender Relations Center is hosting two events in conjunction with Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.

“Walk the Walk” is more than a week, it’s an invitation

Published: February 23, 2021

NDWorks

“Walk the Walk” is more than a week to recognize Notre Dame’s efforts to be a welcoming and inclusive campus …

Staff member paints piece for Chinese New Year

Published: February 15, 2021

NDWorks

The Chinese New Year, known in China and East Asia as the Spring Festival, starts this Friday, Feb. 12.

February is Black History Month

Published: February 05, 2021

Cidni Sanders

Students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in a variety of events throughout February in recognition of Black History Month.

Begin with empathy: Notre Dame Ethics Week explores finding common ground

Published: January 29, 2021

Carol Elliott

Notre Dame Ethics Week, held Feb. 16-19, features four events exploring the theme “Beginning with Empathy: Listening and Learning From Others.” The sessions explore a wide range of topics related to empathy, including the underlying science, diversity and inclusion, teaching empathy as part of problem solving and how medical professionals employ empathy.

Elizabeth M. Renieris appointed founding director of the Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab

Published: January 26, 2021

Notre Dame News

Elizabeth M. Renieris, currently a technology and human rights fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a practitioner fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab, has been appointed founding director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab at the University of Notre Dame.

Statement from Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on the passing of baseball legend Hank Aaron

Published: January 22, 2021

Notre Dame News

“When Notre Dame bestowed an honorary degree on Hank Aaron in 2005, our citation referenced his legendary baseball career and concluded that, most importantly, he had done it all ‘fair and square.’ His many records, particularly in the face of racial prejudice, make him one of the greats of the game.

Notre Dame launches interdisciplinary Initiative on Race and Resilience

Published: January 18, 2021

Josh Weinhold

The University of Notre Dame has launched the Initiative on Race and Resilience, a new interdisciplinary program focused on the redress of systemic racism and the support of communities of color both within and beyond the Notre Dame campus. Led by the College of Arts & Letters with additional support from the Office of the Provost, the initiative will bring...

Wrongful Convictions: Notre Dame law students pursue exoneration cases in nearby Elkhart

Published: December 14, 2020

Brendan O'Shaughnessy

Elliot Slosar was in a Zoom meeting in April with Notre Dame law students working on a wrongful conviction case when he got a call asking him to pick up Andy Royer, whom a judge had just freed after 16 years in prison.

Beyond a week or a month

Published: March 05, 2021

Cidni Sanders

Graduate students create resource guide to further antiracism actions at Notre Dame.

Q&A with Marian Botchway

Published: March 02, 2021

Elizabeth Smith

Marian Botchway is one of the program directors for the Eck Institute for Global Health (EIGH). She discusses her current research, her position with the EIGH, and her path to a career in global health.

Walk the Walk Week Prayer Service

Published: February 22, 2021

Notre Dame News

This year, since we are not able to gather in person, we encourage…

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo to speak at Notre Dame

Published: February 15, 2021

Arts and Letters

Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States and the first Native American to hold the position, will speak at Notre Dame on Monday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. The online event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights announces Spring Series: Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary

Published: February 05, 2021

klau.nd.edu

Series begins Friday, February 12. The entire series will be offered via Zoom, and is open to the Notre Dame community—students, staff, faculty, and alumni.

State license ‘the culmination of a decade-long dream’ for Robinson Center preschool program

Published: January 29, 2021

Erin Blasko

The Robinson Community Learning Center’s early childhood program is now a licensed preschool program in Indiana, allowing it to accept voucher students and participate in the state’s child care quality and rating system as a reference for parents and a pathway to accreditation.

Notre Dame, others join to fight rising local hunger

Published: January 25, 2021

Erin Blasko

The Health Improvement Alliance of St. Joseph County, in partnership with Cultivate Food Rescue, established the Emergency Food Initiative in March as a way to support food security in South Bend and the surrounding area and negotiate the complexity of that task during the pandemic.

Statement by Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on presidential orders and actions

Published: January 21, 2021

Notre Dame News

"We’re thankful that President Biden has taken immediate action through an executive order to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and for his support for legislation to provide permanent status and a path to citizenship for Dreamers."

Books in Honor of MLK Jr. Day from Notre Dame Press

Published: January 14, 2021

Notre Dame Press News

The University of Notre Dame Press is proud to publish two profoundly moving books this spring that look at the history of the civil rights movement and a great abolitionist and archivist of the Underground Railroad.

Niele Ivey speaks up about speaking out

Published: December 09, 2020

USA Today

USA Today article highlights how Notre Dame's women's basketball coach balances sports with social justice