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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.

Inspiring prayer service centered on unity and love among Walk the Walk Week highlights

Published: January 24, 2023

Sue Ryan

From start to finish, the annual University of Notre Dame Walk the Walk prayer service featured inspiring song and rousing words and prayer on Sunday (Jan. 22).

Notre Dame Law School serves community on 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

Published: January 18, 2023

Denise Wager

More than 100 Notre Dame Law School students, faculty, and staff volunteered on Monday, January 16, to serve the greater South Bend community.

Beijing Global Gateway staff share special message for Lunar New Year

Published: January 12, 2023

Colleen Wilcox

Staff at the Beijing Global Gateway (BGG) are creating a special message to help the University of Notre Dame community celebrate the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit, the fourth of the zodiac animals. A special piece of art was created by Vivian Zhou…

‘A plurality of voices’: Building multi-faith engagement at Notre Dame

Published: December 19, 2022

Carrie Gates

In many religions — including the Islamic and Jewish traditions — the heart is the center of thought and the seat of wisdom. And for a growing number of faculty and students of these faiths, their hearts are leading them to the University of Notre Dame.

Sones de México Ensemble teaches students to write corridos

Published: December 02, 2022

Alessandra Gonzalez

Students and members of the Notre Dame community came together for a corridos songwriting workshop hosted by the Institute for Latino Studies. The workshop was led by Juan Dies, co-founder of Sones de México Ensemble, a group based in Chicago. A corrido is a traditional Mexican song style with origins in northern Mexico and the southwest United States. It is...

Environmental activist Sharon Lavigne to receive Notre Dame’s 2022 Laetare Medal

Published: March 30, 2022

Carrie Gates

Sharon Lavigne, an environmental justice activist, will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2022 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 177th University Commencement Ceremony on May 15 (Sunday).

Women Lead 2022

Published: March 07, 2022

Notre Dame News

As we pursue an end to the pandemic, we seek a world that incorporates sustainability in every sense of the word, in every aspect of society. Meet seven Notre Dame women who are helping to create such a world through their research, scholarship, and creative endeavors.

Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on threats to HBCU institutions

Published: February 09, 2022

Notre Dame News

“We deplore the bomb threats made against a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. These institutions deserve our respect and support for their contributions to American higher education and this nation, and we stand in solidarity with them.”

In celebrating MLK Day, students consider what it means to be a ‘beloved community’

Published: January 19, 2022

Erin Blasko

Walk the Walk Week, an annual celebration at the University of Notre Dame of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., kicked off Tuesday (Jan. 18) with a student-focused panel discussion titled “Walk the Walk: Building the ‘Beloved Community’ at Notre Dame” — a reference to King’s vision of a global community characterized by an all-inclusive spirit...

Supreme Court must determine religious voices deserve a place in the public square, experts say

Published: January 13, 2022

Shannon Roddel

Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative filed an amicus brief in the case to ensure that government actors — like the city of Boston — may not create benefits, opportunities or platforms that exclude religious believers.

Notre Dame students contribute to South Bend mural celebrating the immigrant experience

Published: January 23, 2023

Erin Blasko

Reflecting themes of hope and renewal, a new mural outside La Casa de Amistad, created with help from the University of Notre Dame, commemorates the emotional journey for people who immigrate to the U.S. in search of a better life and in response to violence, persecution and economic hardship back home.

ND Law implements new DEI programming series to connect students and law firms

Published: January 13, 2023

Denise Wager

This fall, Notre Dame Law School debuted a new series of events called “Including YOU!” to create more opportunities for law students from communities underrepresented in the legal profession to network with leaders of law firms and other legal employers from across the country.…

Keona Lewis to join Notre Dame as assistant provost for academic diversity and inclusion

Published: January 05, 2023

Cidni Sanders

Keona Lewis, associate director of research and evaluation for diversity, equity and inclusion at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named assistant provost for academic diversity and inclusion at the University of Notre Dame, effective Feb. 1.

Students celebrate Las Posadas on campus

Published: December 14, 2022

Chloe McCotter

University of Notre Dame students gathered on campus Wednesday (Dec. 7) to celebrate Las Posadas, a Latin American tradition.

The Rev. Canon Hugh Page appointed inaugural VP for institutional transformation and advisor to the president

Published: April 27, 2022

Dennis Brown

The Rev. Canon Hugh R. Page Jr., vice president and associate provost at the University of Notre Dame, will become the University’s first vice president for institutional transformation and advisor to the president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, announced today.

Inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Case Competition to culminate on April 1

Published: March 30, 2022

Carol Elliott

The competition, hosted by the Mendoza College of Business, takes place in Mendoza’s Jordan Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to speak, hold book signing

Published: March 04, 2022

Sue Ryan

New York Times bestselling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will speak at the University of Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. March 25 (Friday) at Leighton Concert Hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Author Elijah Anderson discusses being ‘Black in White Space’

Published: February 07, 2022

Chloe McCotter

The Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame hosted Elijah Anderson, the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies at Yale University, via Zoom on Friday (Feb. 4) for a conversation about his new book, “Black in White Space: The Enduring Impact of Color in Everyday Life.”

Author, activist Bernardine Evaristo to deliver 28th annual Hesburgh Lecture in Ethics and Public Policy

Published: January 19, 2022

Hannah Heinzekehr

Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning novelist, essayist, literary critic and advocate and activist for inclusion in the arts, will deliver the 2022 Hesburgh Lecture in Ethics and Public Policy. The event will take place virtually at 4 p.m. EST Feb. 7 (Monday).

NEH awards four fellowships, digital scholarship grant to Arts and Letters, Keough School faculty

Published: January 13, 2022

Renée LaReau and Beth Staples

Three faculty members in the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters and one in the Keough School of Global Affairs have won National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, extending the University’s record success with the federal agency committed to supporting original research and scholarship.

Season Two of "Curated Conversation(s): a Latinx Poetry Show" Premieres this Month

Published: January 18, 2023

Brent Ameneyro

"Curated Conversation(s): a Latinx Poetry Show” is returning for a second season later this month, but with a twist. Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, is collaborating once again with The Writer’s Center and Poet Lore to co-produce this year-long program…

Philosopher, Buddhism scholar Jay Garfield to deliver Justice and Asia lecture

Published: January 13, 2023

Liu Institute

Jay Garfield Philosopher and Buddhism scholar Jay Garfield of Smith College will deliver the third annual Justice and Asia Distinguished Lecture…

Tijana Milenkovic to receive 2023 ND Women in Engineering Impact Award

Published: January 05, 2023

Karla Cruise

Tijana Milenkovic, professor of computer science and Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2023 Catherine F. Pieronek Women in Engineering Impact Award.

CSLC cookbook now available: Recipes From Across the World

Published: December 12, 2022

Maureen Hogan

Recipes from Across the World Collaborating across languages and cultures is a key skill in today's world. Our question in the Center this semester was easy. How do you get multiple language departments, over 100 students, and a large international community to learn those skills? Publish a book, of course!…

Political motivation often comes down to personal assessment of other races’ deservingness

Published: March 30, 2022

Colleen Sharkey

While maybe not racially prejudiced, a broad swath of American citizens nonetheless do and say things that racists do, according to a new study.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones to speak at Notre Dame

Published: March 16, 2022

Carrie Gates

Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times Magazine and a 1998 alumna of the University of Notre Dame, will return to campus to speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday (March 15) in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child receives $3.4 million to support resilient education in Haiti

Published: March 02, 2022

Institute for Educational Initiatives

These awards — from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the LEGO Foundation and USAID — build on Notre Dame’s long history in Haiti and its ongoing commitment to strengthen Haitian education through the Institute for Educational Initiatives.

Notre Dame observes Black History Month with campus events

Published: February 01, 2022

Erin Blasko

The University of Notre Dame is celebrating Black History Month throughout February with a number of events.

Supportive early childhood environments can help decrease effects of trauma, study finds

Published: January 18, 2022

Colleen Sharkey

In a first-of-its-kind study conducted by Darcia Narvaez and doctoral student Mary Tarsha and published in the journal Anxiety, Stress and Coping, results show that positive childhood experiences can help buffer the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on physiological health in adult women.

Ruby Bridges urges Notre Dame Community to ‘pick up the torch’

Published: November 09, 2021

Chloe McCotter

The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights hosted Ruby Bridges via Zoom on Friday (Nov. 5) for a conversation titled “The First Big Step” at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.