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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.

A conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Published: September 13, 2016

William G. Gilroy

Watch video U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ann Claire Williams, a Notre Dame alumna and Trustee, asked Ginsburg a series of questions on a wide range of issues.In a reflective, frank and often wryly humorous conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Monday night (Sept. 12) at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center,...

Small acts of great love

Published: August 15, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

Notre Dame undergraduate Emily Vincent discovered the nonprofit Chunmiao Little Flower on a service trip during high school in 2013. There, she learned the extent of China’s issue with orphaned and abandoned children. There are an estimated 600,000 abandoned children in China—98 percent of whom have disabilities.

Hesburgh and King statue in the Works

Published: August 04, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

In 2017, The City of South Bend will install a sculpture at Leighton Plaza depicting figures of the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and the Rev. Martin Luther King joining hands, just as they did at a civil rights rally in 1964.

Prayers for peace, justice and solidarity amid divisive time across the nation

Published: July 21, 2016

Cidni Sanders

It may come as no surprise that, in times of division and frustration in the United States, members of the Notre Dame community choose to unite in prayer. Students, faculty, staff and community members were invited to attend two prayer vigils promoting peace, unity and understanding. “We come here today to pray and spread love. ... WWe hope that love overcomes hate,...

Dolly's House

Published: July 06, 2016

Ken Bradford '76

Where doors and arms opened to the abandoned, abused, disabled and addicted.

Claim that MBA! A grad’s letter says it all

Published: June 17, 2016

Christine Cox

Kristen Sawdon was on top of the world when she graduated in May, especially because she never seriously considered an MBA in the past. She always reasoned that it wasn’t the right fit for her.Even an encouraging talk from her then COO couldn’t convince her. “While I never consciously discounted an MBA because I’m a woman, I do think I struggled...

Maggie Skoch receives The Jed Foundation’s Jerry Greenspan Student Voice of Mental Health Award

Published: June 08, 2016

Ann Hastings

The prestigious annual award honors a student who has reduced prejudice around mental illness, raised awareness of mental health issues on campus, and encouraged help-seeking among their peers.

Giving Back: A former media executive is changing lives in Paterson

Published: May 03, 2016

Elisa Ung, The Record of North New Jersey

Accountancy alum Dan Renaldo, a former NBC executive, volunteers as a mentor at Eva's Village, a social service nonprofit in Paterson, New Jersey. Story by The Record of North New Jersey.

Notre Dame LL.M. grads lead in South Africa

Published: April 27, 2016

Lauren Love

Twenty years since the birth of South Africa’s democracy, graduates of Notre Dame’s LL.M program in International Human Rights Law with the Center for Civil and Human Rights returned to Notre Dame to discuss their efforts to maintain and improve the country’s developing constitutionalism.

Why majoring in English made Patrick Lyons ’08 a better doctor

Published: April 19, 2016

Brian Wallheimer

Dr. Patrick Lyons ’08 doesn’t ask his patients if they have questions when he’s finished talking with them about a diagnosis. There’s a good chance they’ll say no. Instead, he asks what questions they have. Looking at how he practices medicine now, especially in his interactions with patients, Lyons realizes his time as an English major had a profound effect...

CCHR welcomes LL.M. Class of 2017

Published: August 23, 2016

Kevin Fye

The Center for Civil and Human Rights welcomes its new class of international human rights lawyers. The diversity of this year’s group is seen as one of its greatest strengths.

Former basketball star sets her sights on a new challenge

Published: August 14, 2016

Lauren Love

Cameasha Turner walked into South Bend’s Center for the Homeless earlier this month a little bit apprehensive, but mostly excited to volunteer in the community she would be calling home for the next three years. Turner grew up in a predominately black and poor community and is one of 11 children. Because her home life was not always stable — she...

You're not listening to me

Published: August 04, 2016

Chris Lowery '72

It may be, as my father warned me on the eve of my marriage — marriage being an apt metaphor for the indissoluble relationship among the races in America — that the very struggle to achieve the common understanding that eludes us is intensifying our frustrations.

The call of the streets

Published: July 15, 2016

John Rudolf

How Jim O’Connell’s one-year plan turned into a lifetime of taking health care and humanity to the homeless of Boston.

His church and mine: A love story

Published: July 06, 2016

Nicole Steele Wooldridge ’07

“So, you’re Catholic, but you’re married to a Lutheran pastor. How does that work?” I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been asked this question in my seven years of marriage. Depending upon the inquirer, I have a few canned answers that easily roll off the tongue, but the simplest and most genuine is this: “By the grace of...

Studying sociology and Spanish prepares graduate for career in education

Published: June 14, 2016

Tessa Bangs

Notre Dame alumna Ray’Von Jones ’16 wants to make a difference in the world of education. And her sociology and Spanish majors are going to help her get there. “Education doesn’t only happen inside schools,” Jones said. “It happens in communities and in neighborhoods. So it’s important for me to have a larger understanding of what’s going on in our...

Latino Studies celebrates graduates of the Class of 2016

Published: May 24, 2016

Institute for Latino Studies

On May 14th, 2016, the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) celebrated 13 students graduating as majors during the Latino Studies Certificate Ceremony. Honorary doctorate recipient Arturo Sandoval, an internationally acclaimed jazz and classical musician and composer who also performed Ave Maria at the University Commencement Ceremony, spoke at the ceremony.

Nineteenth annual Expanding Your Horizons broadens career aspirations for girls

Published: April 29, 2016

Shadia Ajam

On Saturday, Apr. 23, Notre Dame hosted the 19th annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) career conference for middle school girls that focused on activities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Throughout the conference, students had the opportunity to collaborate and learn from female role models working in STEM fields. This exposure provides a gateway for empowering girls to see...

Cordell Carter, ’07 J.D., awarded BLSA’s Alvin McKenna Alumni Award

Published: April 25, 2016

Lauren Love

Cordell Carter II, ’07 J.D., was awarded the Alvin McKenna Alumni Award at the recent Notre Dame Law School’s Black Law Students Association Alumni Banquet.

Architecture students to present plans for new South Bend housing project

Published: April 18, 2016

Michael O. Garvey

The students, directed by Kim Rollings, assistant professor of architecture at Notre Dame, will present plans for a 30,000-square-foot facility to provide safe and affordable housing for chronically homeless people.

Two worlds meet for Shannon Hendricks

Published: August 16, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

Giving back to the special needs community has always been close to the heart of University of Notre Dame women’s soccer sophomore Shannon Hendricks. This spring, Shannon began helping coach the ND Special Olympics Unified soccer team, of which her brother Brian is a member. It was only a matter of time before she brought her two worlds together.

Irish Abroad: Adams' Indian education

Published: August 10, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

"While I thought I knew what I was getting myself into having worked in India last summer for two months at an NGO for children with disabilities, nothing could prepare me for this new adventure," blogged Adams, a senior goalkeeper on the Irish soccer team.

Two students named Gilman Scholars

Published: July 27, 2016

William G. Gilroy

The program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages and economies, making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.

The forsaken virtue

Published: July 06, 2016

Andrew Barlow '88

To be effective voices in arresting our nation’s spiral into distance, disrespect and disenfranchisement, we must embrace dignity, our own and that of others, regardless of consequence. As a starting point, it is helpful to remember the difference between dignity and arrogance. Dignity flows from the belief that each human life is not just inherently valuable but is equally valuable. Arrogance says,...

Sustainability students cross disciplinary boundaries to address real-world issues

Published: June 29, 2016

Tessa Bangs

Notre Dame’s sustainability program, open to all majors, seeks to inspire students to cultivate practices and ways of living that preserve natural resources for future generations. “It is important to think about how our different areas of knowledge complement each other and to understand that many of our most serious problems are not well behaved and do not stay within...

CCHR graduate addresses U.N. forum on indigenous peoples

Published: June 09, 2016

Kevin Fye

Linda Manaka Infante, a Venezuelan lawyer and 2016 graduate of the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law, spoke before the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations this May. The session was built around the theme “Indigenous peoples: conflict, peace and resolution.”

Abby Davis: 2016 Valedictory Address

Published: May 15, 2016

Notre Dame News

Watch video Gen. Dempsey, Former Speaker Boehner, Vice President Biden, Father Jenkins, distinguished faculty and guests, family, friends and fellow graduates: Today is a very important day. Today, we — the class of 2016 — are going to receive one of the most expensive pieces of paper we may ever possess: our college diploma.

David Roth '91 starts walk across America

Published: April 29, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

To raise money for veterans, a math teacher and a Notre Dame graduate and police officer from Indianapolis plan to take a walk tomorrow in Atlantic City – a long walk.

‘Disability is not the whole of who you are’

Published: April 22, 2016

Catherine Owers and Haleigh Ehmsen

For students with disabilities, the University and College provide notetakers, extended test time and accessible dorm rooms, among other resources. But the impact of disabilities extends beyond the classroom and the residence hall, and the Sara Bea Center for Students with Disabilities and…

'Can I have it all?'

Published: April 13, 2016

Tracy Kijewski-Correa

Tracy Kijewski-Correa says young women routinely ask her whether they can 'have it all.' In this opinion piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Notre Dame professor shares her answer.