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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.

Women in Engineering group experience Ireland’s sustainable engineering solutions

Margaret Arriola

While others may have been catching a tan on the Florida keys, 12 undergraduate students in the Society of Women Engineers, led by Maria Warren, assistant teaching professor, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, headed to Ireland’s slightly more unpredictable climate over their spring break for a week of international, immersive experiential learning. …

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Panelists share insights on Carson v. Makin and the legal landscape for school choice

Panelists share insights on Carson v. Makin and the legal landscape for school choice

Arienne Calingo

On March 30, the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative hosted a panel discussion that explored the dynamic and complex intersection of education and religious liberty. The event featured accomplished attorneys who have taken up cases that pose questions about the interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause in relation to educational programs.…

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MA Student Ester Aguirre Alfaro wins Social Justice Award

MA Student Ester Aguirre Alfaro wins Social Justice Award

Maurcia Marschke

Spanish MA student Ester (Tesi) Aguirre Alfaro is the recipient of the 2023 Social Justice Award. This Graduate School award recognizes and honors distinctive and exceptional achievements by a graduate student in the Notre Dame community who has shown a commitment to advancing the University’s mission and has demonstrated compassion, perseverance, and courage in tackling complex issues in our society...

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Africana studies professor’s book, detailing how slavery’s influence survived emancipation, wins Paul E. Lovejoy Prize

Africana studies professor’s book, detailing how slavery’s influence survived emancipation, wins Paul E. Lovejoy Prize

Beth Staples

Zach Sell’s book Trouble of the World: Slavery and Empire in the Age of Capital has won the 2022 Paul E. Lovejoy Prize from the Journal of Global Slavery for its excellence and originality in a major work related to global slavery. The panel of judges unanimously awarded the prize to the assistant professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Africana...

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Notre Dame defends religious freedom in Oak Flat oral argument

Notre Dame defends religious freedom in Oak Flat oral argument

Anna Bradley

A group of Western Apaches and a diverse coalition of legal and religious experts today urged the government in federal court to protect Native American sacred sites on the same basis as other religious groups.  The Ninth Circuit heard arguments again in Apache Stronghold v. United States after the court decided last fall to hear the case…

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Five questions with Marisol LeBrón: Decolonizing scholarship in feminist studies/critical race and ethnic studies

Five questions with Marisol LeBrón: Decolonizing scholarship in feminist studies/critical race and ethnic studies

The Editors

Marisol LeBrón is an Associate Professor in Feminist Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to arriving at UCSC, Dr. LeBrón held appointments at the University of Texas at Austin, Dickinson College, and Duke University. Dr. LeBrón received her PhD in American Studies from New York University and her bachelor’s degree in...

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From Dublin to London to D.C., American studies major is focused on improving affordable housing for urban communities

From Dublin to London to D.C., American studies major is focused on improving affordable housing for urban communities

Hailey Oppenlander

In just the past year, Notre Dame junior Jasmine Mitchell has studied in Dublin, London, and Washington, D.C. In each location she’s traveled to, Mitchell has studied how localities are addressing affordable housing, and she hopes to eventually bring innovative solutions back to urban communities in the United States. Because no matter how far her travels have taken her, she’s never...

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Poverty’s Perjury: A discussion on poverty in America with Prof. James Sullivan

Poverty’s Perjury: A discussion on poverty in America with Prof. James Sullivan

Kathryn Desai

LEO co-founder, Jim Sullivan, recently joined an episode of the Reaganism podcast. On the episode, host Roger Zakheim, Director at the Reagan Institute, speaks with Jim about government policy towards poverty in America and the mistruths and misunderstandings surrounding poverty and being poor in America, today. Listen here.…

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Confronting cultural change: Divinity students seek intercultural competency to improve ministry

Confronting cultural change: Divinity students seek intercultural competency to improve ministry

Office of Brand Content

Students in Notre Dame’s Master of Divinity program cited a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the emotional highlight of their pilgrimage to Mexico City. Seminarian Johnny Ryan, C.S.C., said getting to experience Mary’s maternal love for everyone was more powerful than he expected even though he was familiar with the story of Mary’s appearance before Juan Diego in a...

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Cristian Villatoro awarded Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF)

Cristian Villatoro awarded Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF)

Kathy Phillips

ACMS PhD student Cristian Villatoro has been awarded a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) by the Krell Institute. Established in 1991, the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems.…

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Arnaldo Serrano and Katharine White Receive NSF CAREER Awards

Arnaldo Serrano and Katharine White Receive NSF CAREER Awards

Rebecca Hicks

Arnaldo Serrano, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Katharine White, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, have been selected as recipients of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. The award is given to recognize outstanding research and its integration with education, and it is one of NSF’s most prestigious awards for...

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Haleemah Ahmad (MGA '24)

Haleemah Ahmad (MGA '24)

Ciera Griffin

Second-year MGA student Haleemah Ahmad is a researcher, advocate, and peacebuilder focused on reducing violence in local communities through bottom-up programming. Haleemah has been published in the Tony Blair Institute for Change essay collection, served as the editor-in-chief of the Da’wah Institute, and advised the Carter Center on peacebuilding. In this student Q&A, Haleemah shares her journey to the Kroc...

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VIDEO: Maria Ressa keynote address for 2023 Asia Leadership Forum

VIDEO: Maria Ressa keynote address for 2023 Asia Leadership Forum

Liu Institute

Maria Ressa, a Filipino and American journalist who won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for reporting on abuses of power and fake news, was the distinguished speaker for the Asia Leadership Forum at the University of Notre Dame on March 21, 2023. Notre Dame Law Professor Diane Desierto, a Liu Institute faculty fellow and international human rights attorney, moderated the discussion...

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Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Spotlight: Jefferson Saransig

Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Spotlight: Jefferson Saransig

Luke Van de Walle

Nestled in the highlands of northern Ecuador, Otavalo is a region rich in culture and hailed as the textile hub of indigenous Ecuadorians. Its residents, called Otavaleños, have transformed the region as they achieved high levels of success through exporting their fabrics both domestically and internationally. Jefferson Saransig, our 2022-23 Quechua (Kichwa) Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, comes from this rich...

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Angela Seidu (MGA '24)

Angela Seidu (MGA '24)

Ciera Griffin

Angela Seidu is a first-year MGA student from Ghana focused on youth empowerment, community development, and gendered peacebuilding frameworks. In this Student Q&A, Angela discusses women in peacebuilding, obstacles to community development, and her Kroc experience thus far. 

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Alberto Solís-Castro (MGA '23)

Alberto Solís-Castro (MGA '23)

Ciera Griffin

Alberto Solís-Castro is a second-year MGA student and peace practitioner from Mexico with 15 years of experience in the field. Alberto is well versed in social movements, victim advocacy, indigenous rights, and mediation processes. A committed peacebuilder, Alberto shares his extensive peace work, reasons for pursuing a Master’s degree, and recent internship experience in Colombia and Washington D.C.…

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