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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.

Observer letter to the editor: #MigrantLivesMatter

Published: February 17, 2016

Institute for Latino Studies

The cooler opened and the pungent smell immediately hit our noses. Before our eyes were dozens of dead bodies, most of them labeled John and Jane Doe. Migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border are flooding the Pima County medical examiner’s office with hundreds of migrant remains each year.

Inaugural Ursula Williams Faculty Fellow develops hybrid Chinese language course

Published: February 03, 2016

Anne Daly

The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures has partnered with the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning to offer the Ursula Williams Faculty Fellowship. The fellowship connects foreign-language faculty with technology experts and supports research to help faculty members determine which technological tools are most helpful in language classrooms. Chengxu Yin, associate teaching professor of Chinese, was awarded...

Next steps in our journey of purpose; beyond Walk the Walk Week

Published: January 27, 2016

Cidni Sanders

What does it mean for the Notre Dame community — its students, faculty and staff — to be doers, not merely speakers or hearers, of the call to Walk the Walk? As the campus paused January 18-22 to reflect on the values central to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the mission of the University,…

Black Lives Matter co-founders share message with overflow crowd

Published: January 20, 2016

Sarah Snider

Black Lives Matter co-founders Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors spoke January 18 to an overflow crowd of 600 interested students, faculty, administrators and South Bend community members at DeBartolo Hall.

Building a community of genuine love and respect

Published: January 18, 2016

Notre Dame News

The following is a transcript of University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.’s remarks at the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Luncheon on Monday (Jan. 18).

Fulbright Scholars bring foreign languages to Perley School

Published: January 12, 2016

Kathy Borlik

Pupils at Perley Primary Fine Arts Academy in South Bend are expanding their world view with classes brought to the school by the University’s Center for the Study of Language and Culture and Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants. As young students learn languages such as Hindi, Portugese and Korean, teaching assistants have a chance to learn about American public schools...

Planting produce, growing jobs

Published: January 07, 2016

Jessica Trobaugh Temple '92

Lifting a panel of romaine lettuce, Jan Pilarski ’79, ’96M.A., exposes a tangle of plump roots. Over a year’s time, her social enterprise business, Green Bridge Growers, can produce several hundred pounds of organic vegetables and herbs. The entrepreneurial venture Pilarski began with her son Chris Tidmarsh is an aquaponic farming operation that provides training and jobs for young adults...

The embarrassment of racism

Published: January 01, 2016

Terry Fitzgibbons '04

Gathering with extended family or old friends often seems to churn up different versions of the same story. From the vantage point of the distant northern suburbs, our conversation dips down into Philadelphia: who lives there now, where someone else used to live, how this neighborhood has changed, how that neighborhood has changed back. “We grew up near Olney,” we...

Women at work: What's next in tech

Published: December 15, 2015

College of Engineering

Meet some of the next generation of innovators — the women of Notre Dame engineering.

Psychology graduate student examines link between mental health and marriage satisfaction

Published: December 08, 2015

Carrie Gates

For married couples, the odds aren’t good when one partner has anxiety or depression. The presence of such a mental issue significantly increases the risk that the couple will get divorced. Notre Dame psychology Ph.D. student Judith Biesen wants to find a way to improve the outcomes for those couples. With an American Dream grant from the Institute for Scholarship...

Black Domers book honors pioneers

Published: February 12, 2016

Kerry Temple ’74

Some stories need to be lived in order to be told truthfully, truly and fully. But even an African-American student would be unable to tell the story of being black at Notre Dame because there is no single story, no singular experience, no one person who can speak for all who have come here from so many places, families and...

Helping those in need One Shirt, One Body at a time

Published: February 02, 2016

Daily Domer Staff

What if more student-athletes gave their extra gear and clothing to those in need? That simple notion gave birth to a nonprofit organization now known as One Shirt One Body, a student-athlete led initiative to donate athletic apparel to local communities

Enrollment Division establishes Matriculate chapter

Published: January 25, 2016

Dennis Brown

The University of Notre Dame’s Enrollment Division has established a Matriculate chapter on campus. Founded in the fall of 2014, Matriculate is a college-access organization based in New York City that helps high-achieving, low-income high school students make the transition to college by pairing them with advising fellows at leading colleges and universities nationwide.

Students, staff pay tribute to two leaders in civil and human rights

Published: January 20, 2016

diversity.nd.edu

More than 800 students and staff from the Notre Dame community took part in a project to recreate a photograph of former University President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., standing arm-in-arm with Martin Luther King Jr. The iconic image is a visible reminder of Notre Dame’s longtime involvement in the dialogue on civil and human rights. And now, a new generation of...

Graduate student travels to Nepal to design and construct housing for earthquake victims

Published: January 14, 2016

Carrie Gates

Kevin Phaup, who is pursuing a master’s degree in industrial design, went to Nepal last summer to conduct research for his thesis project—designing stronger, safer, cost-effective temporary shelters for refugees and victims of natural disasters. While there, he worked with Hope for Nepal, an organization co-founded by Assistant Professor Ann-Marie Conrado, to construct temporary shelters, permanent homes, and schools after...

Experiencing the World Fellowship inspires commitment to culturally centered development

Published: January 11, 2016

Emily Beaudoin '17

Unless you have a conversation to really understand culture, you can’t make effective change. That’s what Emily Campbell ’17 learned during her Kellogg Institute Experiencing the World fellowship last summer. Her experience in Rwanda focused her future academic work, affirmed her career goals, and motivated her to make lasting international development change.

A longtime voice in the dialogue on civil and human rights

Published: January 06, 2016

Cidni Sanders

From the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s to today’s efforts to advance justice and human dignity around the world, the University’s commitment to human rights has been inextricably linked to social teachings of the Catholic Church.

Galilee Program shapes students’ views on being a different kind of lawyer

Published: December 21, 2015

Lauren Love

The one-credit, student-led program is the only one of its kind, according to Associate Dean of Experiential Programs Bob Jones. In small groups of four to seven, the students will fan out across 15 different cities, including Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Miami and Los Angeles, to see how lawyers grapple with some of the urban poor’s most pressing legal issues.

Economics major finds abundant research opportunities at Notre Dame

Published: December 14, 2015

Tessa Bangs

Notre Dame economics major Melanie Wallskog walked into her professor’s office hours with a question. She walked out with a job. That simple act of reaching out to a professor led to research opportunities in Nicaragua, Ireland, and Chicago. The senior from Bloomington, Indiana, and Glynn Family Honors Scholar has now co-authored a paper with two of her professors and...

Summer Language Abroad program provides immersive experiences for students

Published: December 02, 2015

Tessa Bangs

Sarah Tomas Morgan, Scott Copeland, and JesusisLord Nwadiuko were three of 60 College of Arts and Letters students who engaged in an immersive cultural and linguistic experience through the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures’ Summer Language Abroad program. Through intensive language coursework and daily interaction with native speakers, students rapidly enhanced their command of a foreign language...

Notre Dame celebrates Black History Month

Published: February 05, 2016

Sarah Snider

Multicultural Student Programs and Services invites you to celebrate Black History Month at one of these many exciting events happening on campus and in the community.

ScreenPeace Film Festival addresses global issues

Published: February 01, 2016

Notre Dame News

The University of Notre Dame’s annual ScreenPeace Film Festival includes six films on topics ranging from an inside look at North Korea, to the 1965 Indonesian genocide, to the indigenous people of Chile.

Out of the Office: Remembering MLK

Published: January 22, 2016

Kit Loughran '16

I stood outside Main Building just before midnight this past Sunday, shivering in the frigid snow, waiting for my candle to be lit. A classmate shared a light; I hurried through the door. A huge gust of below-freezing wind immediately blew out the flame.

King Day prayer service honors the past, looks to Notre Dame’s future

Published: January 18, 2016

Cidni Sanders

The midnight prayer service held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2016 was just as much about the historic actions of the slain civil rights leader as it was about the prospective actions of the Notre Dame students, faculty, staff and guests who gathered together. More than 1,000 people attended the service at 12 a.m. on Monday, January 18, the...

Spanish students connect with South Bend through community-based learning

Published: January 13, 2016

Josh Weinhold

Through a series of new community-based-learning Spanish courses at Notre Dame, undergraduates are improving their language skills both inside and outside the classroom. Spanish students in intermediate-level and community-based learning classes now average about 3,000 hours of service per year in South Bend. The model is based on the idea that a faculty member and local organization leader are co-educators...

A class that's only technically about coding

Published: January 07, 2016

Josh Stowe '01

South Bend Code School aims to eliminate barriers between people and technology.

MLK Day — A time for reflection

Published: January 06, 2016

Cidni Sanders

It will begin, fittingly, at the Hesburgh Library Reflecting Pool, a serene spot on campus designed to encourage serious thought and meditation. A midnight march will kick off the University’s celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I hope you will use this occasion to reflect on the values that are so central both to...

Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures offers new minor: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Published: December 18, 2015

Charlene Dundek

The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters is launching a new minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The program offers students the opportunity to study linguistics education, learn how to teach English, and develop classroom management and lesson planning skills.

Video: Student researches impact of Communist ideology in Shanghai

Published: December 14, 2015

Todd Boruff

During the summer of 2015, Notre Dame history and political science major Matt Souza interviewed laborers in multiple Chinese cities. The goal of his research was to determine whether the official ideology of the Communist Party is still influential amongst Chinese citizens. “All of my findings, they’re actually quite different from all the previous research, and I really want...

Notre Dame law students raise funds for South Bend families in need

Published: November 25, 2015

Lauren Love

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.