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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.

Pioneering disability rights

Published: July 26, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

July 26 is National Disability Independence Day. In this feature, we look back at a story that appeared previously in Notre Dame Magazine about the pioneering role Notre Dame played in the disability legal rights movement.

A new generation of employees is looking for more than business as usual

Published: July 24, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

At a recent birthday dinner, a friend asked me what she thought was an easy question. “Now that you’ve finished one decade,” she said — I was turning 31 — “what’s your vision for the next one?” I paused. For most of my 20s — perhaps even my teens — I had an answer ready for what I envisioned for...

The liberation of literacy: Stephane Dunn found her way with words

Published: July 14, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

Stephane Dunn ’94 M.A., ’00MFA, ’00 Ph.D., has always savored reading. Her parents kept books around her childhood home in Elkhart, Indiana, and she frequently visited the public library with her older sister. She’s still in contact with her now-88-year-old sixth-grade teacher, who encouraged her to write and create skits in class, and also with her high school English teacher...

Panel probes affirmative action rulings

Published: July 07, 2023

Pauline Namuleme

Where do we go from here? Notre Dame administrators are considering that question in the aftermath of the June 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling means race cannot be a factor in admission decisions and requires institutions to look for new ways to achieve diversity in their student bodies.…

University reaction to Supreme Court decision

Published: June 30, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., made a statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision on race-conscious admissions policies in higher education.

Alumna Mary Rzepczynski named 2023 Yenching Scholar

Published: June 23, 2023

Erin Blasko

University of Notre Dame alumna Mary Rzepczynski, of Concord, Massachusetts, has been named a 2023 Yenching Scholar. She is Notre Dame’s 10th Yenching Scholar in the past eight years.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., shares Juneteenth message

Published: June 19, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

“Let us recommit ourselves as the Notre Dame community to treating every person with dignity and as a beloved child of God,” Jenkins said.

June is Pride Month

Published: June 18, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

Find out more about the history of the observance as well as resources to support LGBTQ+ community on Notre Dame’s campus and beyond.

‘Off the Court’: ND Law hosts event in New York City with Muffet McGraw and Coquese Washington ’97 J.D.

Published: June 15, 2023

Jonathan Bailey

Notre Dame Law School hosted a special alumni event on June 6 in New York City with two legends from the Fighting Irish women’s basketball program. Muffet McGraw, who served as head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, and Coquese Washington ’92, ’97 J.D., the head women’s basketball coach at Rutgers, sat down for a fireside chat with G....

Fulfilling her purpose with hands, heart and mind

Published: May 25, 2023

Carrie Gates Jantzen

In her dissertation research, Abigail Jorgensen found that many women associate motherhood with struggle. It’s something she can relate to. While pursuing her doctoral degree in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology, she brought home her newborn in the midst of the pandemic. Then, five months later, she contracted COVID-19 in November 2020

Connecting students with the resources and accommodations they need

Published: July 25, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

Brent Fragnoli, a care and wellness consultant and prevention and outreach specialist in the Center for Student Support and Care, partners with colleagues across campus to increase retention, well-being and support for students with disabilities.

What Gen Z students want us to know about their lives

Published: July 19, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

Daymine Snow is a junior and first-generation student with a major in business analytics and a minor in digital technologies. He was recruited to Notre Dame through the Posse Foundation scholarship program. Notre Dame undergraduates grab their backpacks, visit the dining hall and walk to class. Later they’ll head to Hesburgh Library or their residence halls with a pile of...

A leap of faith

Published: July 10, 2023

Office of Brand Content

How two Christian and two Muslim young women went from Nigeria to Notre Dame, overcoming tragedy and trauma to show the world-changing power of knowledge Maijidda Haruna didn't have the words to explain how cold it was. On the day she stepped outside of O'Hare International Airport — her first time on American soil, her first time outside Nigeria,...

Notre Dame International participates in student orientation, counselor training in Mexico City

Published: July 05, 2023

Norma Sofia Rivera Padilla

Leah Zimmer, executive director of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSA) at Notre Dame International joined the Mexico Global Center team to participate as a speaker on the topic of international students’ responsibilities while studying at a U.S. college or university. The event took place as part of EducationUSA Mexico City’s Pre-Departure Orientation series.…

Research fellow studies civic feminist Virginia Salvi in Rome and Venice

Published: June 27, 2023

Costanza Montanari

McKenna is currently the National Endowment for the Humanities and Teagle Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches classes on the history of science and gender.Since the days of undergraduate studies, McKenna was fascinated by women authors and their active involvement in civic and politics.

Access to opportunity?: Researching the experiences of the Windrush generation in the London urbanscape

Published: June 22, 2023

Ida Addo

Ida Addo's capstone project builds on her interest in examining the welfare of marginalized groups across the world and the characteristics of the barriers they face. In London, she conducted research on the policies and urbanscapes that have contributed to the hindrance of economic progress among Afro-Caribbeans in the UK.

Initiative on Race and Resilience director highlights importance, history of Juneteenth

Published: June 19, 2023

Pauline Namuleme

Dear Friends, May we celebrate the freedom and self-determination for African Americans that Juneteenth represents. And as we do so, here are a few links to the history of this holiday. Also, I highly recommend Natasha Trethewey's poem "Elegy for the Native Guards…

ND Law graduate Lenora Popken joins Exoneration Justice Clinic as legal fellow

Published: June 17, 2023

Staff

Notre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic has hired Notre Dame Law School alumna Lenora Popken ’20 J.D. as a legal fellow.

Meet the Class of 2027

Published: June 12, 2023

Enrollment Division

The Class of 2027 includes a record 20.5 percent of first generation and Pell recipients, including 96 students admitted through the QuestBridge National College Match program. The class also represents a historic multicultural composition, with 42 percent identifying as U.S. students of color or international. Students currently reside in all 50 states and 48 nations.

Toward a more sustainable future

Published: May 25, 2023

Erin Blasko

Growing up in a suburb of Cleveland, Audrey Miles dreamed of being a writer. Then a high school teacher introduced her to the so-called central science. “I had a really excellent chemistry teacher who made a huge difference,” she said. It may have helped that, like writing, chemistry seeks truth and understanding from within.

ND Law’s Religious Liberty Initiative presents 2023 Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty to Lord David Alton

Published: July 24, 2023

Denise Wager

The third annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, hosted by Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative, culminated on Thursday, July 13, with a black-tie gala at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London.

God gave me a gay son . . . and I did not always think it a blessing

Published: July 17, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

Editor’s Note: This piece was written 19 years ago, by a father learning to accept his son’s homosexuality with honesty and love. It was one essay in the magazine’s 25-page exploration of a subject that has evolved since that publication, while revealing and examining important issues that endure to this day.…

Beijing Global Gateway helps secure crucifix from Chinese Artist Dao Zi

Published: July 10, 2023

Colleen Wilcox

Dao Zi is pictured with Jingyu Wang from the BGG The Crucifix Initiative at the University of Notre Dame is adding a new addition to its collection. Dao Zi, a well-known Chinese artist who recently retired from the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, donated his latest piece “Crucifixion on the Red Cross” to Notre Dame. Through his...

Alumni Profile: Jasmine Shells ’13, founder and CEO of Five to Nine

Published: July 05, 2023

Shannon Rooney

As a Notre Dame student, Jasmine Shells ’13 had to learn to start saying “no” to protect her time. She wanted to do everything at Notre Dame and there were plenty of activities to choose from. Shells was on the leadership council of Shades of Ebony…

Flamenco: The soul of Andalucía builds community in South Bend

Published: June 27, 2023

Office of Brand Content

Over the last two years, flamenco has created connections between Spain and Notre Dame and between Notre Dame and South Bend, helping to build a community from neighbors.

Rome Global Gateway collaborates on restoration of the Biblia Hebraica

Published: June 20, 2023

Costanza Montanari

The Renaissance Bible was recently restored with the contribution of the University of Notre Dame Rome Global Gateway and Center for Italian Studies, as part of a collaboration between Notre Dame and the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome.

Terra Foundation for American Art awards grant to Raclin Murphy Museum of Art in support of Indigenous works

Published: June 19, 2023

Gina Costa

The new museum will include a suite of galleries dedicated to Indigenous Art of the Americas. The galleries open with the North American Art gallery and transition into Mesoamerican Art, followed by the Central and South American Art galleries.

A Perilous Journey: Economics students witness the challenges of migration in Mexico

Published: June 15, 2023

Office of Brand Content

A group of migrants at a shelter near Puebla, Mexico, sat in a circle of chairs and stared nervously across at five students from Eva Dziadula's Economics of Immigration class and a few other Notre Dame students studying abroad there.…

Increasing representation on the screen

Published: June 12, 2023

Allison Griffith

Sophia Costanzo ’19 grew up in a Cuban American family that passed down their culture and tradition through oral storytelling. Now, as a filmmaker, Costanzo hopes to bring more Latina representation to the screen.

Blazing a family trail: First-generation student Karen Angeles earns doctoral degree in engineering

Published: May 24, 2023

Brendan O'Shaughnessy

Not a single member of Karen Angeles’ extended family in southern California had ever attended college. It just didn’t seem like a realistic possibility because it had never been done before. But Angeles didn’t stop at college—she continued onward to Notre Dame to get a doctoral degree in structural engineering.