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Student Stories

Notre Dame endeavors to be a place where each student can grow individually in both mind and heart, and become a part of something larger than themselves. By celebrating the unique gifts each student brings to our shared community, student life is enriched immeasurably.

The stories below share just some of the ways Notre Dame students are celebrating and taking advantage of the wonderful diversity on our campus – through both scholarship and development and formation outside the classroom.

Tashi Kyil monks return to Notre Dame to create peace mandala

Published: September 25, 2018

Jessica Sieff

The visit continues "the ecumenical monastic tradition begun between Thomas Merton and the Dalai Lama,” said Dominic Vachon, director of the Ruth M. Hillebrand Center for Compassionate Care in Medicine.

The Insider Project: Exploring ethnic identity and self-esteem in Vietnam

Published: September 05, 2018

Colleen Wilcox

Tony Do with two other student research assistants at Imperial City, Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Notre Dame senior Tony Do didn’t know what to expect when he…

Class of 2022: Intellectually and globally diverse, dedicated to service and leadership

Published: August 24, 2018

Erin Blasko

Both intellectually and globally diverse, the class of 2,070 first-year students includes more than 600 international students or U.S. students of color and nearly 160 first-generation students.

Keough School introduces new undergraduate global affairs major

Published: August 16, 2018

Ti Lavers

A supplementary major in global affairs, designed for students interested in exploring contemporary global issues, will be offered to this year’s incoming class of 2022.

Alumni Association establishes advisory board to guide programming for young graduates

Published: July 24, 2018

Bill Gangluff, Alumni Association

The Young ND Board will represent the interests of and steer programming for Notre Dame graduates who are 32 and younger. The new 16-person body will meet on campus twice a year and hold regular digital meetings.

Students learn about immigration through service work in Texas border town

Published: July 09, 2018

Andy Fuller

Economics major Francis Brockman and political science major Daniel Rottenborn, are working for Annunciation House, a Catholic organization that gives shelter to refugees in El Paso. It’s here that asylum-seeking migrants asylum-seeking migrants spend a few days in between their release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and continuing their journey to a sponsor somewhere in the U.S.

Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., welcomes 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows to campus

Published: June 25, 2018

Luis Ruuska

University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and some 100 guests from across the University and the greater South Bend area convened in Jenkins Nanovic Halls on June 21 to welcome the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows to campus.

Online course connects students with perspectives from around the world

Published: June 05, 2018

Katie Boruff

Gabriel Said Reynolds greets his students on the final day of his Introduction to the Quran course. He is in a small classroom on Notre Dame’s campus. His students are in Orlando, Colorado, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and beyond. Such arrangements are not uncommon in the world of massive open online courses (MOOCs), but this one is different....

EYH Conference: If middle school girls can see it, they can be it

Published: May 14, 2018

Kathy Jonas

Nearly 300 sixth, seventh and eighth-grade girls attended the 21st Annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Conference April 28 at Notre Dame. EYH is a national organization begun in 1974 by a group of scientists in San Francisco concerned that women were underrepresented in the math and science fields.

Statement by Father Jenkins on the 50th anniversary of MLK’s death

Published: April 03, 2018

Notre Dame News

"On this anniversary of his violent death, let us at Notre Dame and throughout the nation and the world recommit ourselves to work for justice everywhere.”

For history major Micah Johnston, a year of service was a ‘master class’ in relationship building

Published: September 19, 2018

Emily McConville

Now a senior program office for IREX in Washington, D.C., Micah Johnston '06 spent his first year after graduation volunteering for the Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly in Chicago. He learned how to have patience in building relationships with people of different backgrounds and life experiences — close connections, he found, take time to develop.

Notre Dame Stories: Helping the Most Vulnerable

Published: September 05, 2018

Andy Fuller

Two Notre Dame students signed up to spend their summer at a shelter near the US-Mexico border, helping migrant families who are seeking asylum. But they didn’t know the role that shelter would play when the immigration issue exploded.

Why Gender Studies?

Published: August 23, 2018

Linnie Caye

Pamela Wynne Butler, associate director and director of undergraduate studies in the Gender Studies Program, discusses the Gender and Culture in American Society course she teaches as part of the Summer Scholars program.

A legacy shared: Maria Irene Fornés, mother of Latinx theatre

Published: August 15, 2018

Lauren Melancon

Honoring the legacy of Maria Irene Fornés, mother of Latinx theatre, the annual Fornés Playwriting Workshop aims to pass Fornés’ unique writing style on to a new generation of Latinx theatre artists.

Notre Dame, Girls Who Invest partner to advance women in finance

Published: July 17, 2018

Erin Blasko

In addition to gender diversity, Girls Who Invest promotes social, racial and ethnic diversity. About 20 percent of this year’s class are historically underrepresented minorities, and one quarter of the women come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Notre Dame community in India celebrated with special event

Published: July 05, 2018

Colleen Wilcox

The Mumbai Global Center event was held to celebrate the Notre Dame community in India and welcome newly admitted students. The event is in its third year and helps showcase the growth of Notre Dame’s undergraduate and high school engagements in India.

Fr. Jenkins responds to Administration practice of separating immigrant families at the border

Published: June 19, 2018

Notre Dame News

“Central to the Holy Cross education Notre Dame offers is a sense of family, centered on the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and in that spirit I call on the Administration to end immediately the cruel practice of separating children from parents and parents from children.”

The Commencement of the Notre Dame Class of 2018

Published: May 20, 2018

Amanda Skofstad

The University of Notre Dame celebrated its 173rd Commencement Ceremony Sunday (May 20) in Notre Dame Stadium, with an audience of approximately 21,000 family members, friends, faculty and graduates.

Black Law Students Association honors Ndidi Massay, ’93 J.D., with alumni award

Published: May 03, 2018

Kevin Allen

Notre Dame’s BLSA chapter presents the award each year to a graduate who distinguishes herself or himself within the legal community and supports BLSA programs and activities. The honoree also demonstrates a commitment to service through involvement in the community.

Bishop Edward K. Braxton delivers Dean’s Lecture on Race, Law, and Society

Published: March 23, 2018

Notre Dame Law School

In the prologue of his Dean’s Lecture on Race, Law, and Society, “The Catholic Church and the Racial Divide in the United States,” the Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, asked a thought-provoking question: “What if?”

National Hispanic Heritage Month events on campus

Published: September 17, 2018

Luis R. Fraga

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Special Olympics athletes from South Bend, Ann Arbor to compete in flag football game

Published: August 30, 2018

Erin Blasko

Special Olympics Notre Dame is a non-profit service club for Notre Dame students that provides year-round training and competition in a variety of sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the South Bend area, consistent with the Special Olympics movement.

From jazz clubs to buskers: A music student’s experience of London

Published: August 17, 2018

Colleen Wilcox

Describing music as “a way to experience community," Alex Mansour stepped away from his life in South Bend and threw himself into the dynamic and limitless musical culture of England’s capital city.

A social experience in Jerusalem

Published: August 09, 2018

Colleen Wilcox

As a first generation college student at Notre Dame, Hardy sees it as his mission to help bring a global perspective to everyone through his social media presence.

How the liberal arts helped a first-generation American find her voice

Published: July 11, 2018

Carrie Gates

Sara Abdel-Rahim ’17 found her voice in the liberal arts — and she amplified it through research, internships, and leadership roles on campus. As a first-generation American citizen, the political science and Arabic major wants to battle against cultural and religious discrimination.

Social design course challenges students from Notre Dame and India to use creativity to tackle a global problem

Published: June 26, 2018

Carrie Gates

When Kacey Hengesbach began her undergraduate career at Notre Dame, she didn’t imagine that it would include traveling 8,000 miles to Ahmedabad, India. But thanks to a new course created by Neeta Verma, she had the chance to spend three weeks there last summer, working collaboratively with students from India’s National Institute of Design.

Four Notre Dame students awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships

Published: June 14, 2018

Erin Blasko

The Critical Language Scholarships program is part of the U.S. government’s effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages in the name of U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.

Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J.: 2018 Laetare Address

Published: May 20, 2018

Notre Dame News

Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J., executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and longtime advocate for immigrants and refugees, received the University of Notre Dame’s 2018 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 173rd University Commencement Ceremony on May 20.

Conference to mark 50th anniversary of Fair Housing Act

Published: April 18, 2018

Kevin Allen

This month marks 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law, prohibiting discrimination against buyers and renters on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status.

Mai Ni Ni Aung to receive Kroc Institute 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award

Published: March 15, 2018

Hannah Heinzekehr

Mai Ni Ni Aung, M.A. 2003, has been selected to receive the Kroc Institute’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award. She is the founder of the Sone-Tu Cultural Preservation Project and the director of its sister organization, Sone-Tu Backstrap Weavings. Both organizations work to preserve and elevate the culture and traditions of the Sumtu Chin community in Rakhine State, Myanmar.