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.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a warm meal for the holidays, but thanks to the Student Bar Association at Notre Dame Law School, 50 families from the YMCA of North Central Indiana will feast on turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, green beans, sweet corn, cornbread and cookies.
Marc Burdell named program director, Low Socioeconomic Status support
Burdell will oversee the creation of a student life enrichment program under the Fighting Irish Initiative, a groundbreaking initiative that will fully fund the cost for low-income students to attend Notre Dame — including tuition and fees, room and board, books, transportation and personal expenses.
Ruth Riley goes to Congress, recounts childhood hardships in advocating against cuts to food stamps
"I can’t imagine what my path would have been if I’d been tall, lanky, uncoordinated…and hungry," Ruth Riley (EMBA '16, ND '01) testified on Oct. 27.
Notre Dame adds to Wall of Honor on Founder’s Day
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, added two plaques to the Wall of Honor in Notre Dame’s Main Building on Tuesday (Oct. 13). One plaque honored Notre Dame theologian and teacher Rev. John S. Dunne, C.S.C., and another honored the first generation of African-American students at Notre Dame.
Senior Mark Brahier explores barriers to healthcare in Nicaragua
Mark Brahier, a senior biological sciences major and international development studies minor, spent five weeks in Nicaragua this summer. Traveling with International Samaritan on his fourth trip to Central America, Brahier set out to study social, political, economic, and geographic barriers to healthcare access.
Anything you want to be
I was taught to pursue my dreams, but I wasn’t told that every woman must weather something like gravitational resistance if she is to make what she wishes out of her one life.
Notre Dame hosts international biology workshop at Rome Global Gateway
The 15th International Workshop on Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plasminogen Activation began this week at the University of Notre Dame Global Gateway in Rome. Held every other year since 1985, this year’s workshop will host more than 85 scientists from 16 countries.
Celebrate Latino Heritage Month!
Join MSPS in celebrating Latino Heritage Month!
There are tons of events going on across campus which means there is a little something for everyone.
$20 million gift to fund initiative to support students from low socioeconomic families
University of Notre Dame graduate Sean Cullinan and his wife, Sue, from Glen Ridge, New Jersey, have made a $20 million gift to his alma mater to fund a groundbreaking program that will make a Notre Dame education a reality for students from low socioeconomic households. The Fighting Irish Initiative will fully fund the cost for low-income students to...
Kellogg PhD funding bears fruit in new book on Haiti
A decade ago, Notre Dame graduate student Marlene Daut received a Kellogg Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship to continue her study of Haitian Creole.
Soundreef internship bolsters Rome study abroad semester
Senior Mary-Catherine McRoskey, who studied abroad in Rome for spring 2015, leveraged her study abroad internship to gain professional experience while exploring academic and personal interests. Notre Dame’s vision for a robust study abroad experience includes rigorous engagement inside the classroom as well as outside of it, the latter often taking the form of internships.
Catholic intellectual life: Student perspectives
For students in the College of Arts and Letters, the unparalleled liberal arts education they receive is grounded in and enhanced by the Catholic intellectual life fostered on campus. Catholicism is an essential part of courses that every student takes, such as theology and philosophy, but it also serves as a background for all fields of study, from analyzing the...
Notre Dame to host Global Forum: Asia in Hong Kong
The University of Notre Dame will hold the first-ever gathering of all the Notre Dame clubs of Asia.
Video: Cross-Cultural Leadership Program immerses students in Latino communities
The Cross-Cultural Leadership Program (CCLP) is a three-credit, eight-week summer course administered by Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies. This service learning experience immerses students in organizations serving Latino communities in either Chicago, Los Angeles, or Washington, D.C. All living expenses are covered for the students during the program. “We’re able to go out into the community, speak Spanish,...
History Ph.D. students win major fellowships and grants
The projects took them them to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and England. The research offers new insights into the Renaissance, Protestantism, immigrant religiousness, monks, and begging practices. Eight graduate students from Notre Dame’s Department of History received competitive fellowships or grants in support of their research—awards including a Rome Prize, a Fulbright, and Louisville Institute, Newcombe, and Schallek fellowships.
Notre Dame Black Law Students Association hosts regional academic retreat
The Notre Dame Black Law Students Association (BLSA) will host a one-day academic retreat Saturday with the Midwest Regional BLSA. The day will focus on mock trial preparation, stress management and networking.
A brother with autism led to this software startup
Crain's Chicago Business profiles Katie Hench MNA '11 about her company, Infiniteach.
Exploring new horizons as an intern in Puerto Rico
Like many of her fellow students, Caitlyn O’Malley ‘16 spent her summer as an Architectural Intern. Unlike the others, she was also experiencing a new culture as she worked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Corey Robinson: In My Own Words
South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation, and it has a history that’s been largely defined by division. That’s what makes it such a fascinating place: A country that prides itself on unity and cultural diversity was for years defined by discrimination and hatred.
CCHR welcomes class of 2016
The Center for Civil and Human Rights welcomes its new class of international human rights lawyers for the 2015-16 academic year.
Matters, in black and white
Some straight talk about America’s deep, dark and difficult racial divide.
Notre Dame to celebrate Native American Heritage Month
November is Native American Heritage Month, and in celebration, the University of Notre Dame will host several events including a dinner, performance from artist Sacramento Knoxx and crafts night.
Notre Dame to host gathering of Latino poets
The University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), in close collaboration with the Creative Writing Program, will present a conference, “Angels of the Americlypse,” on October 28 and 29, 2015, featuring Latino/a poetry readings, literary translation, and roundtable discussions. The event—held in conjunction with Letras Latinas, the ILS literary initiative—will include readings by acclaimed poets Rosa Alcalá,...
Notre Dame alumna establishes Chávez Family Law Fellowship to benefit Hispanic students
Notre Dame Law School is pleased to announce the generous donation from alumna JoAnn Chávez, ’86, ’90, J.D., to establish the Chávez Family Law Fellowship to benefit Hispanic students at Notre Dame Law School.
FTT course on nonfiction graphic novels inspires visual storytelling by students
After adapting his award-winning documentary On the Bridge into a graphic novel that both portrayed stories of veterans and offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Olivier Morel’s emotions and struggles as he interviewed them, the FTT assistant professor was inspired to create an undergraduate course. In Graphic Wounds, Graphic Novels, in-depth readings and discussions with some of the genre’s leading...
Notre Dame observes Hispanic Heritage Month with events around campus
Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the culture of and recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans, is being observed in the U.S. from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The University of Notre Dame is marking the month with several events and an award.
Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, ’93 J.D., shares key insights with students
Growing up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, an area historically inhabited by working class Irish immigrants, Mary Yu, ’93 J.D., wasn’t afforded the opportunity of seeing many people who looked like her in positions of power or significant influence, she told Notre Dame Law students this week. The daughter of a Mexican farm worker and Chinese factory employee, Yu was...
Fighting for unaccompanied immigrant children, one client at a time
In early June, Michael Hagerty, ‘13 J.D., a staff attorney with Public Counsel, a non-profit legal aid firm in Los Angeles, was in Visalia for the first time to represent a client in the Tulare County Probate Court. On that day a crucial guardianship hearing was set to take place—one that Hagerty knew was likely to determine the ultimate fate...
Architecture students explore design solutions during Accessibility Awareness Day
Several students of the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture will experience firsthand the challenges confronting people with disabilities in daily campus life, during the University’s eighth Accessibility Awareness Day on Friday (Sept. 4).
Notre Dame Class of 2019: Passionate, dedicated and diverse
The University of Notre Dame’s Class of 2019 arrives on campus this week impressively equipped with intellectual promise, creativity, leadership and commitment to service of others. “This year’s ‘yield rate,’ the number of students who enroll after being admitted to Notre Dame, was 56 percent, which places Notre Dame among the top 10 private national research universities for yield success,”...