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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.

Immersed from afar: Canceled study abroad programs got creative to keep students connected

Immersed from afar: Canceled study abroad programs got creative to keep students connected

Katherine Corcoran, University Communications

Of Notre Dame students who had to transition to distance learning, the most dramatic change came for those who left their study abroad programs to go home halfway through the semester. Though it sounds difficult, students, faculty and staff found creative ways to maintain their immersion experiences abroad from their living rooms in Illinois, California or Michigan.

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Seniors team up for Hesburgh Program capstone project, researching bipartisan solutions to reducing recidivism

Seniors team up for Hesburgh Program capstone project, researching bipartisan solutions to reducing recidivism

Sophia Lauber

Seniors Kendrick Peterson and Andrew Jarocki are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but they brought their perspectives together for research they hope will make an impact on the South Bend community. The pair chose to team up for their Hesburgh Program in Public Service capstone project — searching for a solution to reducing recidivism that Democrats and Republicans...

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Alumna Nikole Hannah-Jones awarded Pulitzer Prize

Alumna Nikole Hannah-Jones awarded Pulitzer Prize

Dennis Brown

Nikole Hannah-Jones, a 1998 University of Notre Dame alumna and an investigative reporter for The New York Times Magazine, was honored Monday with the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Hannah-Jones was recognized for her introductory essay to the newspaper’s landmark “1619 Project,” an ongoing and interactive series she created that focuses on the 400th anniversary of when enslaved Africans were first brought...

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Department's math circles program stretches young brains in fun ways

Department's math circles program stretches young brains in fun ways

Ashton Weber

Amanda Serenevy, Ph.D., executive director of the Riverbend Community Math Center, has committed herself to improving math accessibility through her work at Riverbend. She wants to empower all students, regardless of family income and background, so the center provides its unique STEM opportunities, including math circles, free of charge. 

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Statement by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame, on racial justice

Statement by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame, on racial justice

Notre Dame News

“George Floyd’s tragic death cries out for justice and a recommitment to fight racism. Recalling the image of Father Hesburgh and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. locked hand-in-hand in 1964, we pray, on this Feast of Pentecost: Come, Holy Spirit, inspire us to work for justice, solidarity and a healing…

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At a Chicago museum and a South Bend kindergarten, anthropology and Spanish major discovers a future in research and education 

At a Chicago museum and a South Bend kindergarten, anthropology and Spanish major discovers a future in research and education 

Ashley Lo

Firing a portable X-ray fluorescence scanner at 2,000-year-old artifacts last summer, Claire Stanecki discovered the value of hands-on education. A 2020 graduate who majored in anthropology and Spanish, Stanecki’s Arts and Letters education has been defined by exploring nontraditional forms of learning — from conducting research at a museum to studying the benefits of bilingual education in a local school....

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Through research and teaching, Notre Dame historian and gender studies scholar-in-residence explores how archives shape narratives

Through research and teaching, Notre Dame historian and gender studies scholar-in-residence explores how archives shape narratives

Carrie Gates

What Karen Graubart didn’t find in archives in Spain and Peru was, in some ways, as valuable as what she did. An associate professor in the Department of History, Graubart has spent more than 15 years conducting archival research on women and non-dominant communities in the Iberian Empire for her first two books. But she is also considering how the archives themselves...

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Retracing the Route of Freedom: Notre Dame group rides a bus to civil rights landmarks across the South

Retracing the Route of Freedom: Notre Dame group rides a bus to civil rights landmarks across the South

Brendan O'Shaughnessy

Goose pimples broke out on a student’s skin in the pitch-black cellar of a Tennessee stop on the Underground Railroad. A visceral sadness seeped into a faculty member in the Memphis hotel room where Martin Luther King was shot on the balcony. The physical presence of the souls of black leaders overwhelmed…

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Keough School’s McKenna Center launches new entrepreneurship programs to fight global poverty, underemployment

Keough School’s McKenna Center launches new entrepreneurship programs to fight global poverty, underemployment

Renée LaReau

Two programs that help disadvantaged entrepreneurs in South Bend and South Africa now have a new home at the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs. The programs are directed by Michael Morris, professor of the practice, a scholar of entrepreneurship who joined the Keough School in August.

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Message from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. --

Message from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. -- "We have work to do"

president.nd.edu

We were all horrified by the video of the terrible killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis as he pleaded with one of them to take his knees off his neck so he could breathe. As heartrending as the video was in itself, it has evoked anger and frustration among the black community—and all people of goodwill—over the...

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Sociology and Latino Studies guide recent grad to Fulbright in Mexico

Sociology and Latino Studies guide recent grad to Fulbright in Mexico

Oliver Ortega

Since high school, Erin Albertini has been focused on becoming a bilingual doctor serving children and families. But the recent Notre Dame graduate’s path to medicine is uniquely intersectional. Eschewing traditional pre-med majors such as biology and chemistry, Albertini instead took on sociology, Latino studies, Spanish and early childhood literacy during her time at Notre Dame, which culminated this May.

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International economics major combats poverty through researching and implementing microfinance services

International economics major combats poverty through researching and implementing microfinance services

Ashley Lo and Carrie Gates

At Notre Dame, senior Emily Pohl found a passion for social change — and put it into action. An international economics major with a concentration in French, Pohl worked to combat the cycle of poverty by researching and implementing microfinance initiatives. She is graduating with a portfolio of real-world research experiences, a published journal article, and a position at LEK Consulting...

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Japanese major’s study abroad and internship experiences help launch career as U.S. diplomat

Japanese major’s study abroad and internship experiences help launch career as U.S. diplomat

Jack Rooney

Before Beth Gee ’10 studied abroad in Tokyo during her junior year, the Japanese and political science major had never left the United States. Now, as a U.S. foreign service officer, Gee travels for a living. She is currently working at the American Embassy in the Republic of the Congo — where she employs the language, communication, and critical thinking...

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