University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order of priests and brothers, the main campus of 1,261 acres (510 ha) has a suburban setting and contains landmarks such as the Golden Dome main building, Sacred Heart Basilica, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Word of Life mosaic mural, and Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university is organized into seven schools and colleges: College of Arts and Letters, College of Science, Notre Dame Law School, School of Architecture, College of Engineering, Mendoza College of Business, and Keough School of Global Affairs. Notre Dame's graduate program includes more than 50 master, doctoral and professional degrees offered by the seven schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The university's athletic teams are members of the NCAA Division I and are known collectively as the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is noted for its football team, which contributed to its rise to prominence on the national stage in the early 20th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame teams in other sports, chiefly in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have won 17 national championships.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major improvements to the university occurred during Theodore Hesburgh's administration between 1952 and 1987. Hesburgh's administration increased the university's resources, academic programs, and its reputation. At the end of the fiscal year 2022, Notre Dame's endowment was valued at $20.3 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its network of alumni consists of 151,000 members.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

History

Foundations

Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, had come to the area invited by Potawatomi chief Leopold Pokagon to minister to his tribe, and had bought these Template:Cvt of land in 1830. In 1842, the bishop of Vincennes, Célestin Guynemer de la Hailandière, offered the land to Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross, on the condition that he build a college in two years.<ref>"Founding Information". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007.</ref> Sorin arrived on the site with eight Holy Cross brothers from France and Ireland on November 26, 1842, and began the school using Badin's old log chapel. After enrolling two students, Sorin soon erected more buildings, including the Old College, the first church, and the first main building.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame began as a primary and secondary school; in 1844 it received its official college charter from the Indiana General Assembly,<ref name="Hope, C.S.C. 1979">Hope, Arthur J. (1979) [1948]. "IV". Notre Dame: One Hundred Years (2nd ed.). Notre Dame, IN: University Press. Template:ISBN.</ref> under the name the University of Notre Dame du Lac (University of Our Lady of the Lake).Template:Efn The university was originally all-male; the Sisters of the Holy Cross founded the female-only Saint Mary's College near Notre Dame in 1844.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A bearded Edward Sorin sits in a chair at a desk looking at the camera

Edward Sorin, founder of the university, photographed in 1890

Early history

The college awarded its first degrees in 1849.<ref>Hope, Arthur J. (1979) [1948]. "V". Notre Dame: One Hundred Years (2nd ed.). Notre Dame, IN: University Press. Template:ISBN.</ref> As it grew under the presidency of Sorin and his successors, new academic programs were offered and new buildings built to accommodate the growing student and faculty population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Hope, C.S.C. 1979" /> The brief presidency of Patrick Dillon (1865–1866) saw the original main building replaced with a larger one, which housed the university's administration, classrooms, and dormitories. Under William Corby's first administration, enrollment at Notre Dame increased to over 500 students. In 1869, he opened the law school, which offered a two-year course of study, and in 1871 he began construction of Sacred Heart Church, today the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Two years later, Auguste Lemonnier started a library in the Main Building, which had 10,000 volumes by 1879.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The current Main Building with a golden dome

The current Main Building, built after the great fire of 1879

Fire destroyed the Main Building and the library collection in April 1879; the school closed immediately and students were sent home.<ref>"The Story of Notre Dame: Main Building". University of Notre Dame Archives. Retrieved December 31, 2007.</ref> Rebuilding began on May 17, and the third and current Main Building was completed before the fall semester of 1879. The library collection was redeveloped.<ref>"The Story of Notre Dame: Lemmonier Library". University of Notre Dame Archives. Retrieved December 31, 2007.</ref>

The presidency of Thomas E. Walsh (1881–1893) focused on improving Notre Dame's scholastic reputation and standards. At the time, many students came to Notre Dame only for its business courses and did not graduate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Walsh started a "Belles Lettres" program and invited notable lay intellectuals like writer Maurice Francis Egan to campus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Washington Hall was built in 1881 as a theater,<ref>"The Story of Notre Dame: Washington Hall". University of Notre Dame Archives. Retrieved December 31, 2007.</ref> and the Science Hall (today the LaFortune Student Center) was built in 1883 to house the science program (established in 1880) and multiple classrooms and science labs.<ref>"The Story of Notre Dame: Science Hall". University of Notre Dame Archives. Retrieved December 31, 2007.</ref> The construction of Sorin Hall saw the first freestanding residence hall on campus and one of the first in the country to have private rooms for students, a project championed by Sorin and John Zahm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During Walsh's tenure, Notre Dame started its football program and awarded its first Laetare Medal, one the earlist such honors bequesthed by a Catholic university in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Law School was reorganized under the leadership of William J. Hoynes (dean from 1883 to 1919), and when its new building was opened shortly after his death, it was renamed in his honor.Template:Sfn

Growth

John Zahm was the Holy Cross Provincial for the United States from 1898 to 1906, with overall supervision of the university. He sought to modernize and expand Notre Dame by erecting buildings and adding to the campus art gallery and library, amassing what became a famous Dante collection, and pushing Notre Dame toward becoming a research university dedicated to scholarship. The congregation did not renew Zahm's term, fearing he had expanded Notre Dame too quickly and had run the order into serious debt.Template:Sfn In particular, his vision to make Notre Dame a research university was at odds with that of Andrew Morrissey (president from 1893 to 1905), who hoped to keep the institution a smaller boarding school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Morrissey's presidency remained largely focused on younger students and saw the construction of the Grotto, the addition of wings to Sorin Hall, and the erection of the first gymnasium. By 1900, student enrollment had increased to over 700, with most students still following the Commercial Course.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, completed in 1888

The movement toward a research university was championed subsequently by John W. Cavanaugh, who modernized educational standards and dedicated himself to the school's academic reputation and to increasing the number of students awarded bachelor's and master's degrees. As part of his efforts, he attracted many eminent scholars, established a chair in journalism, and introduced courses in chemical engineering. During his time as president, Notre Dame rapidly became a significant force on the football field.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1917, Notre Dame awarded its first degree to a woman, and its first bachelor's degree in 1922. However, female undergraduates were uncommon until 1972.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> James A. Burns became president in 1919 and, following in the footsteps of Cavanaugh, he oversaw an academic revolution that brought the school up to national standards by adopting the elective system and moving away from the traditional scholastic and classical emphasis in three years.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Notre Dame continued to grow, adding more colleges, programs, residence halls, and sports teams.<ref name="Archives Chapter 4">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 1921, with the addition of the College of Commerce,<ref name="Archives Chapter 4" /> Notre Dame had grown from a small college to a university with five colleges and a law school.<ref name="Law2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Drawing of the University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame in 1903

President Matthew Walsh (1922–1928) addressed the material needs of the university, particularly the $10,000 debt and the lack of space for new students. When he assumed the presidency, more than 1,100 students lived off campus while only 135 students paid for room and board. With fund-raising money, Walsh concentrated on the construction of a dormitory system. He built Freshman Hall in 1922 and Sophomore Hall in 1923, and began construction of Morrissey, Howard and Lyons Halls between 1924 and 1925.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 1925, enrollment had increased to 2,500 students, of which 1,471 lived on campus; faculty members increased from 90 to 175. On the academic side, credit hours were reduced to encourage in-depth study, and Latin and Greek were no longer required. In 1928, three years of college were made a prerequisite for the study of law.<ref>Notre Dame Alumnus, IV, (1925–26), 106.</ref> Walsh expanded the College of Commerce, enlarged the stadium, completed South Dining Hall, and built the memorial and entrance transept of the Basilica.<ref>Scholastic, LIX, (1925–26), 358.</ref><ref>Notre Dame Alumnus, VI, (1927–28), 89.</ref>

One of the main driving forces in the university's growth was its football team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.<ref name="ncronline.org">Template:Cite web</ref> Knute Rockne became head coach in 1918. Under him, the Irish won three national championships, had five undefeated seasons, won the Rose Bowl Game in 1925, and produced players such as George Gipp and the "Four Horsemen". Knute Rockne has the highest winning percentage (.881) in NCAA Division I/FBS football history. Rockne's offenses employed the Notre Dame Box and his defenses ran a 7–2–2 scheme.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The success of Notre Dame reflected the rising status of Irish Americans and Catholics in the 1920s. Catholics rallied around the team and listened to the games on the radio, especially when it defeated teams from schools that symbolized the Protestant establishment in America—Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Army.<ref name="ncronline.org" /> Its role as a high-profile flagship institution of Catholicism made it an easy target of anti-Catholicism. The most remarkable episode of violence was a clash in 1924 between Notre Dame students and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white supremacist and anti-Catholic movement. The Klan decided to hold a week-long Klavern in South Bend. Clashes with the student body started on May 17, when students blocked the Klansmen from descending from their trains in the South Bend station and ripped KKK clothes and regalia. Two days later, thousands of students massed downtown protesting the Klavern, and only the arrival of college president Walsh prevented any further clashes. The next day, Rockne spoke at a campus rally and implored the students to refrain from further violence. A few days later, the Klavern broke up, but the hostility shown by the students contributed to the downfall of the KKK in Indiana.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Expansion in the 1930s and 1940s

View of both Alumni and Dillon Hall on Notre Dame's South Quad.

South Quad, built in the 1920s–1940s, includes many residential halls

Charles L. O'Donnell (1928–1934) and John Francis O'Hara (1934–1939) fueled both material and academic expansion. During their tenures at Notre Dame, they brought many refugees and intellectuals to campus, such as W. B. Yeats, Frank H. Spearman, Jeremiah D. M. Ford, Irvin Abell, and Josephine Brownson for the Laetare Medal, instituted in 1883. O'Hara also concentrated on expanding the graduate school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> New construction included Notre Dame Stadium, the law school building, Rockne Memorial, numerous residential halls, Cushing Hall of Engineering, and a new heating plant. This rapid expansion, which cost the university more than $2.8 million, was made possible in large part through football revenues. O'Hara strongly believed that the Fighting Irish football team could be an effective means to "acquaint the public with the ideals that dominate" Notre Dame. He wrote, "Notre Dame football is a spiritual service because it is played for the honor and glory of God and of his Blessed Mother. When St. Paul said: 'Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all for the glory of God,' he included football."Template:Sfn

During World War II, O'Donnell offered Notre Dame's facilities to the armed forces. The Navy accepted his offer and installed Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units on campus as part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Soon after the installation, there were only a few hundred civilian students at Notre Dame. O'Donnell continued O'Hara's work with the graduate school. He formalized the graduate program further and replaced the previous committee of graduate studies with a dean.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

John J. Cavanaugh, president from 1946 to 1952, devoted his efforts to raising academic standards and reshaping the university administration to better serve its educational mission and an expanded student body. He stressed advanced studies and research while quadrupling the university's student population, with undergraduate enrollment seeing an increase by more than half, and graduate student enrollment growing fivefold. CavanaughTemplate:Anchor established the Lobund Institute for Animal Studies and Notre Dame's Medieval Institute,<ref>Wolfgang Saxon, Rev. John Cavanaugh, 80, Former President of Notre Dame (December 30, 1979).</ref> presided over the construction of Nieuwland Science Hall, Fisher Hall, and the Morris Inn, and the Hall of Liberal Arts (now O'Shaughnessy Hall), made possible by a donation from I. A. O'Shaughnessy, at the time the largest ever made to an American Catholic university.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also established the university's system of advisory councils.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hesburgh era: 1952–1987

The Word of Life, a large mural on the side of the Theodore Hesburgh Library depicting the resurrected Jesus

The Hesburgh Library, decorated by the Word of Life mural.

Theodore Hesburgh served as president for 35 years (1952–1987). Under his presidency, Notre Dame underwent huge growth and transformation from a school mostly known for its football to a top-tier university, academic powerhouse, and preeminent Catholic university.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The annual operating budget rose by a factor of 18, from $9.7 million to $176.6 million; the endowment by a factor of 40, from $9 million to $350 million; and research funding by a factor of 20, from $735,000 to $15 million. Enrollment nearly doubled from 4,979 to 9,600; faculty more than doubled from 389 to 950, and degrees awarded annually doubled from 1,212 to 2,500.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Hesburgh made Notre Dame coeducational. Women had graduated every year since 1917, but they were mostly religious sisters in graduate programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the mid-1960s, Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College developed a co-exchange program whereby several hundred students took classes not offered at their home institution. After extensive debate, merging with St. Mary's was rejected, primarily because of the differential in faculty qualifications and pay scales. "In American college education," explained Charles E. Sheedy, Notre Dame's dean of Arts and Letters, "certain features formerly considered advantageous and enviable are now seen as anachronistic and out of place. ... In this environment of diversity, the integration of the sexes is a normal and expected aspect, replacing separatism."<ref>Susan L. Poulson and Loretta P. Higgins, "Gender, Coeducation, and the Transformation of Catholic Identity in American Catholic Higher Education," Catholic Historical Review 2003 89(3): 489–510, for quotes.</ref> Two of the residence halls were converted for the newly admitted female students that first year,<ref>"Badin Hall". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref><ref>"Walsh Hall". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref> with two more converted the next school year.<ref>"Breen-Phillips Hall". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref><ref>"Farley Hall". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref> In 1971, Mary Ann Proctor, a transfer from St. Mary's, became the first female undergraduate. The following year, Mary Davey Bliley became the first woman to graduate from the university, with a bachelor's degree in marketing.<ref>Sienko, Angela. (2007) "A hardcover thank-you card". Notre Dame Magazine. Retrieved April 27, 2019.</ref><ref>Therese, Ann (2007). Thanking Father Ted: Thirty-Five Years of Notre Dame Coeducation, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Template:ISBN. p. 78.</ref> In 1978, a historic district comprising 21 contributing buildings was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="nrhpdoc-ndc">Template:Cite web With Template:NRHP url. Map of district included with [[[:Template:NRHP url]]|text version available at National Park Service].</ref>

Recent history

In the eighteen years Edward Malloy was president, the school's reputation, faculty, and resources grew rapidly.<ref name="Notre Dame's president to retire">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He added more than 500 professors and the academic quality of the student body improved dramatically, with the average Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score rising from 1240 to 1460. The number of minority students more than doubled, the endowment grew from $350 million to more than $3 billion, the annual operating budget rose from $177 million to more than $650 million, and annual research funding improved from $15 million to more than $70 million.<ref name="Notre Dame's president to retire" /> Notre Dame's most recent (2014) capital campaign raised $2.014 billion, far exceeding its goal of $767 million. It was the largest in the history of Catholic higher education, and the largest of any university without a medical school at the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

John I. Jenkins took over from Malloy in 2005.<ref>"About Notre Dame: Officer Group Bios: Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref><ref>Heninger, Claire (May 1, 2004). "Monk moves on: Jenkins will succeed Malloy after June 2005". The Observer. Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref> In his inaugural address, Jenkins described his goals of making the university a leader in research that recognizes ethics and builds the connection between faith and studies. During his tenure, Notre Dame has increased its endowment, enlarged its student body, and undergone many construction projects on campus, including the Compton Family Ice Arena, a new architecture hall, and additional residence halls.<ref>Campus Crossroads Project. http://crossroads.nd.edu/ Template:Webarchive Retrieved March 23, 2016.</ref> Announced as an integration of "the academy, student life and athletics,"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> construction on the Template:Cvt Campus Crossroads project began around Notre Dame Stadium in November 2014. Its three buildings house student life services, an indoor gym, a recreation center, the career center, a 500-seat student ballroom, the departments of anthropology and psychology, a digital media center and the department of music and sacred music program.<ref name="2018-01-16SBendTr">Template:Cite news </ref>

Jenkins announced the 2023–2024 academic year would be his last as president in October 2023. The board of trustees subsequently elected Robert A. Dowd to succeed him, effective June 1, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Campus

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A view of the historical part of the campus, with the Basilica and Main Building

Notre Dame's campus is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, in the Michiana area of Northern Indiana.<ref name="About ND">Template:Cite web</ref> It lies on Template:Cvt, south of the Indiana Toll Road and includes around 170 buildings and athletic fields located around its two lakes and seven quadrangles.<ref name="Campus">Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Infobox NRHP It is consistently ranked as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the United States and around the world, and it is noted particularly for the Golden Dome, the Basilica and its stained glass windows, the quads and the greenery, the Grotto, the Hesburgh Library with its Word of Life stone mural (nicknamed "Touchdown Jesus" by students), and its statues and museums.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame is a major tourist attraction in northern Indiana; in the 2015–2016 academic year, more than 1.8 million visitors, almost half of whom were from outside St. Joseph County, visited the campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Anchor A Template:Cvt historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as University of Notre Dame: Main and South Quadrangles. The district includes 21 contributing buildings in the core of the original campus such as the Main Administration Building and the Basilica.<ref name="nrhpdoc-ndc" />

Administration and academic buildings

The Main Building serves as the center for the university's administrative offices, including the Office of the President. Its golden dome, topped by the statue of Mary, is the campus' most recognizable landmark. The main building is located on Main Quad (also known as "God Quad"), which is the oldest, most historic, and most central part of campus. Behind the main building stands several facilities with administrative purposes and student services, including Carole Sadner Hall, Brownson Hall, and St. Liam's Hall, the campus health center.

There are several religious buildings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current Basilica of the Sacred Heart is on the site of Sorin's original church, which had become too small for the growing college. It is built in French Revival style, with stained glass windows imported from France. Luigi Gregori, an Italian painter invited by Sorin to be an artist in residence, painted the interior. The basilica also features a bell tower with a carillon. Inside the church, there are sculptures by Ivan Meštrović. The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, built in 1896, is a replica of the original in Lourdes and is a popular spot for prayer and meditation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Old College building has become one of two seminaries on the campus run by the Congregation of Holy Cross.

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The Golden Dome, built under Sorin, has become the symbol of the university

Academic buildings are concentrated in the Center-South and Center-East sections of campus. McCourtney Hall, an interdisciplinary research facility, opened its doors for the fall 2016 semester, and ground was broken on the Template:Cvt Walsh Family Hall of Architecture on the south end of campus near the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center which opened in fall 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2004, several buildings have been added, including the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center,<ref name="DPAC">Template:Cite web</ref> the Guglielmino Complex,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Jordan Hall of Science.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new engineering building, Stinson-Remick Hall, a new combination Center for Social Concerns/Institute for Church Life building, Geddes Hall, and a law school addition were completed at the same time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many academic buildings were built with a system of libraries, the most prominent of which is the Hesburgh Library, built in 1963 and today containing almost four million books. The Stayer Center for Executive Education, which houses the Mendoza College of Business Executive Education Department, opened in March 2013, just south of the Mendoza College of Business building.

Residential and student buildings

Template:Main There are 33 single-sex undergraduate residence halls. The university has recently announced a co-educational undergraduate dorm community based in one of the graduate residential apartments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most of the graduate students on campus live in one of four graduate housing complexes on campus. A new residence for men, Baumer Hall, was built in 2019. Johnson Family Hall, for women, was also completed and opened that semester. The South Dining Hall and North Dining Hall serve the student body.

Colorful trees on the Main and South Quadrangles in autumn

Fall on the Main Quadrangle

The campus hosts several entertainment, general purpose, and common spaces. LaFortune Student Center, commonly known as "LaFortune" or "LaFun," is a four-story building built in 1883 that serves the student union and hosts social, recreational, cultural, and educational activities.<ref name="Lafortune Student Center">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="acui.org">Template:Cite news</ref> LaFortune hosts many businesses (including restaurant chains), student services, and divisions of The Office of Student Affairs.<ref name="Lafortune Student Center" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A second student union came with the addition of Duncan Student Center, which is built onto the Notre Dame Stadium as part of the Campus Crossroads projects. As well as additional food service chains, recreation facilities, and student offices, Duncan also hosts a student gym and a ballroom.

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Historic Washington Hall on the Main Quadrangle, popularly termed the "God Quad"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Athletics facilities

Because of its long athletic tradition, the university features many athletic buildings, which are concentrated in the southern and eastern sections of campus. The most prominent is Notre Dame Stadium,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> home of the Fighting Irish football team; it has been renovated several times and today can seat over 80,000 people. Prominent venues include the Edmund P. Joyce Center, with indoor basketball and volleyball courts, and the Compton Family Ice Arena,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a two-rink facility dedicated to hockey. There are many outdoor fields, such as the Frank Eck Stadium for baseball.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legends of Notre Dame (commonly called Legends) is a music venue, public house, and restaurant on campus, just Template:Cvt south of the stadium. The former Alumni Senior Club<ref name="SAO Website">Template:Cite news</ref> opened in September 2003 after a $3.5 million renovation and became an all-ages student hang-out. Legends is made up of two parts: The Restaurant and Alehouse and the nightclub.<ref name="Legends Observer Article">Template:Cite news</ref>

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The new wing of the Law School

Environmental sustainability

The Office of Sustainability was created in the fall of 2007 at the recommendation of a Sustainability Strategy Working Group and appointed the first director in April 2008. The pursuit of sustainability is related directly to the Catholic mission of the university.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other resources and centers on campus focusing on sustainability include the Environmental Change Initiative, Environmental Research Center, and the Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame.<ref name="Dame">Template:Cite web</ref> The university also houses the Kellogg Institute for International Peace Studies.

Notre Dame received a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in 2014, though in 2017 it was downgraded to silver.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, the Office of Sustainability released its Comprehensive Sustainability Strategy to achieve its goals in a wide area of university operations.<ref name="About the Office//Office of Sustainability//University of Notre Dame">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, 17 buildings have achieved LEED-Certified status, with 12 of them earning Gold certification.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame's dining service sources 40 percent of its food locally and offers sustainably caught seafood and many organic, fair-trade, and vegan options.<ref name="Design & Construction//Office of Sustainability//University of Notre Dame">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, irrigation systems' improvements led to 244 million fewer gallons of water being used and a 50 percent reduction in water consumption over 10 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, Notre Dame announced major environmental sustainability goals, including eliminating using coal by 2020 and reducing its carbon footprint by half by 2030.<ref name="Dame"/> Both these goals were reached in early 2019.<ref name="McLaughlin">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="green.nd.edu">Template:Cite web</ref> This was achieved by implementing energy conservation, energy efficiency strategies, temperature setpoints, low-flow water devices, and diversifying its energy sources and infrastructures.<ref name="McLaughlin"/> New sources of renewable energy on campus include geothermal wells on East Quad and by the Notre Dame Stadium, substitution of boilers with gas turbines, solar panels on Fitzpatrick Hall and Stinson-Remick Hall and off-campus, a hydroelectric facility at Seitz Park in South Bend powered by the St. Joseph River, and heat recovery strategies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="green.nd.edu"/><ref name="Dame"/> Future projects outlined by the university's utilities long-range plan include continual diversification of its energy portfolio, future geothermal wells in new buildings and some existing facilities, and a collaboration with the South Bend Solar Project. Current goals include cutting Notre Dame's carbon footprint by 83 percent by 2050 and eventually becoming carbon neutral, diverting 67 percent of all waste from landfills by 2030.<ref name="Dame"/><ref name="green.nd.edu"/><ref name="McLaughlin"/>

Global Gateways

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The former United University Club

The university owns several centers around the world used for international studies and research, conferences abroad, and alumni support.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• London. The university has had a presence in London since 1968. Since 1998, its London center has been based in Fischer Hall, the former United University Club in Trafalgar Square. The center hosts the university's programs in the city, and conferences and symposia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university also owns a residence facility, Conway Hall, for students studying abroad.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Verify source</ref>
• Beijing. The university owns space in the Liangmaqiao Station area. The center is the hub of Notre Dame Asia. It hosts a number of programs including study abroad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Kylemore Abbey

• Dublin. The university owns the O'Connell House, a building in Merrion Square in the heart of Georgian Dublin. It hosts academic programs and summer internships in Irish studies for both undergraduate and graduate students in addition to seminars, and is home to the Keough Naughton Centre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2015, the university has partnered with Kylemore Abbey, renovating spaces in the abbey so it could host academic programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Global Gateway shares space with the university's Tantur Ecumenical Institute, in a Template:Cvt facility on the seam between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It hosts religious and ecumenical programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Rome. The Rome Global Gateway is on Via Ostilia, very close to the Colosseum. It was recently acquired and renovated and now has Template:Cvt of space to host a variety of academic activities. The university purchased a second Roman villa on the Caelian hill.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In addition to the five Global Gateways, the university also owns the Santa Fe Building in Chicago, where it offers its executive Master of Business Administration program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university also hosts Global Centers located in Santiago, São Paulo, Mexico City, Hong Kong, and Mumbai.

Community development

The first phase of Eddy Street Commons, a $215 million development adjacent to campus funded by the university, broke ground in June 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The project drew union protests when workers hired by the City of South Bend to construct the public parking garage picketed the private work site after a contractor hired non-union workers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The $90 million second phase broke ground in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Organization and administration

Theodore Hesburgh sitting at his desk

Theodore Hesburgh, photographed in 2012, was the 15th and longest-serving president of Notre Dame.

The university's president is always a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The first president was Edward Sorin; and the current president is Robert A. Dowd. Template:As of, John McGreevy is the provost overseeing academic functions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Until 1967, Notre Dame had been governed directly by the Congregation. Under the presidency of Theodore Hesburgh, two groups, the Board of Fellows, and the Board of Trustees, were established to govern the university.<ref name="leadership">Template:Cite web</ref> The 12 fellows are evenly divided between members of the Holy Cross order and the laity; they have final say over the operation of the university. They vote on potential trustees and sign off on all that board's major decisions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The trustees elect the president and provide general guidance and governance to the university.<ref name="leadership"/>

Endowment

Notre Dame's endowment was started in the early 1920s by university president James Burns; it was $7 million by 1952 when Hesburgh became president. In fiscal year ending in 2021, the university endowment market value was $18.07 billion.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> For fiscal year 2023, the university reported total endowment assets of $16.62 billion.<ref name=NACUBO /><ref name=AnnualReport />

Academics

Colleges and schools

• The College of Arts and Letters was established as the university's first college in 1842. The first degrees were granted seven years later.<ref name="Hope 5">Template:Cite book</ref> The university's first academic curriculum was modeled after the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum from Saint Louis University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Today, the college, housed in O'Shaughnessy Hall,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> includes 20 departments in the areas of fine arts, humanities, and social sciences, and awards Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees in nearly 70 majors and minors, making it the largest of the university's colleges. As of 2022, there were 2,000 undergraduates and graduates enrolled in the college, taught by 500 faculty members.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Jordan Hall of Science

• The College of Science was established in 1865. The curriculum involved six years of coursework, including higher-level mathematics.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Today, the college, housed in the Jordan Hall of Science,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> includes over 1,200 undergraduates in several departments, each awarding Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to university statistics, its science pre-professional program has one of the highest acceptance rates to medical school of any university in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Notre Dame Law School was established in 1869 and is the oldest law program at a Catholic university in the United States.<ref name="Law">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, the school ranked 20th among the top American law schools by U.S. News & World Report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The law school grants the professional Juris Doctor degree, as well as the graduate Master of Laws, and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees.<ref name="Grad Degrees" /> It was ranked fourth in graduates attaining federal judicial clerkships in 2024,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and seventh in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Bond Hall, house of the School of Architecture from 1964 until 2019

• The School of Architecture was established in 1899,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the year after Notre Dame first granted degrees in the field.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Today, the school, housed in Walsh Family Hall of Architecture,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> offers a five-year undergraduate program leading to a bachelor's degree. All undergraduates spend their third year in Rome.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The faculty teaches (pre-modernist) traditional and classical architecture and urban planning (e.g., following the principles of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also awards the annual Driehaus Architecture Prize.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The College of Engineering was established in 1920;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> however, courses in civil and mechanical engineering had been taught in the College of Science, since the 1870s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Today, the college, housed in the Fitzpatrick, Cushing, and Stinson-Remick Halls of Engineering,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> includes five departments of study, with eight B.S. degrees offered. The college also offers five-year dual degree programs with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Business awarding additional B.A. and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Mendoza College of Business was established in 1921 by John Francis O'Hara, although a foreign commerce program had been launched in 1917.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Today, the college offers degrees in accountancy, finance, management, and marketing and enrolls over 1,600 students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Mendoza's undergraduate program as second in the country,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after five consecutive years in the first position.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For its 2023 ranking, U.S. News & World Report ranked the graduate school 25th, tied with Vanderbilt University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Keough School of Global Affairs was established in 2014. The first new school in nearly a century, it builds on the presence of seven institutes founded for international research, scholarship, and education at Notre Dame. The school offers six doctoral programs related to international peace studies, a Masters in Global Affairs focused on either peace studies or sustainable development, and five undergraduate majors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is focused on the study of global governance, human rights, and other areas of global social and political policy. A $50 million gift from Donald Keough, a former Coca-Cola executive, and his wife Marilyn funded the school's creation. The school opened officially in August 2017, in Jenkins Hall on Debartolo Quad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Special programs

Every Notre Dame undergraduate is part of one of the school's five undergraduate colleges or is in the First Year of Studies program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The First Year of Studies program was established in 1962 to guide freshmen through their first year at the school before they have declared a major. Each student is assigned an academic advisor who helps them choose classes that give them exposure to any major in which they are interested.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The program includes a Learning Resource Center, which provides time management, collaborative learning, and subject tutoring.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> First Year of Studies is designed to encourage intellectual and academic achievement and innovation among first-year students. It includes programs such as FY advising, the Dean's A-list, the Renaissance circle, NDignite, the First Year Urban challenge, and more.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Every admissions cycle, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions selects a small number of students for the Glynn Family Honors Program, which grants top students within the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science access to smaller class sizes taught by distinguished faculty, endowed funding for independent research, and dedicated advising faculty and staff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Graduate education

Each college offers graduate education in the form of master's and doctoral programs. Most of the departments in the College of Arts and Letters offer PhDs, while a professional Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program also exists. All of the departments in the College of Science offer PhDs, except for the Department of Pre-Professional Studies. The School of Architecture offers a Master of Architecture, while each of the departments of the College of Engineering offer PhDs. The College of Business offers multiple professional programs, including MBA and Master of Science in Accountancy programs. It also operates facilities in Chicago and Cincinnati for its executive MBA program.<ref name="Grad Degrees">Template:Cite web</ref> The Alliance for Catholic Education program<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> offers a Master of Education program, where students study at the university during the summer and teach in Catholic elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools across the South for two school years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The university first offered graduate degrees, in the form of a Master of Arts (MA), in the 1854–1855 academic year. The program expanded to include Master of Laws (LLM) and Master of Civil Engineering in its early stages of growth, before a formal graduate school education was developed with a thesis not required to receive the degrees. This changed in 1924, with formal requirements developed for graduate degrees, including offering doctorates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although Notre Dame does not have its own medical school, it offers a combined MD–PhD though the regional campus of the Indiana University School of Medicine, where Indiana medical students may spend the first two years of their medical education before transferring to the main medical campus at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Centers and institutes

In 2019, Notre Dame announced plans to rename the Center for Ethics and Culture, an organization focused on spreading Catholic moral and intellectual traditions. A $10 million gift from Anthony and Christie Template:Nowrap funded the new Template:Nowrap Center for Ethics and Culture.<ref name="sbtribune">Template:Cite web</ref>

The university is also home to the McGrath Institute for Church Life, which "partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to address pastoral challenges with theological depth and rigor".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, founded in 1986 by donations from Joan B. Kroc, the surviving spouse of McDonald's owner Ray Kroc, and inspired by Father Hesburgh, is dedicated to research, education, and outreach on the causes of violent conflict and the conditions for sustainable peace. It offers Ph.D., master's, and undergraduate degrees in peace studies. It has contributed to international policy discussions about peace building practices.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Libraries

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The interior of the Kresge Law Library at the Notre Dame Law School

The university's library system is divided between the main library, the 14-story Theodore M. Hesburgh Library, and each of the colleges and schools. The Hesburgh Library, completed in 1963, is the third building to house the main collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Word of Life mural by Millard Sheets, popularly known as "Touchdown Jesus" because of its proximity to Notre Dame Stadium and Jesus' arms appearing to make the signal for a touchdown, adorns the front of the library.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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The Clarke Memorial Fountain, a war memorial dedicated in 1986, known colloquially as "Stonehenge"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The library system also includes branch libraries for Architecture, Chemistry and Physics, Engineering, Law, Music, and Mathematics and information centers in the Mendoza College of Business, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and a slide library in O'Shaughnessy Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A theology library, opened in the fall of 2015 on the first floor of Stanford Hall, is the first branch of the library system to be housed in a dorm room. With over three million volumes, the library system was the single largest university library in the world at the time of completion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It remains one of the hundred largest libraries in the country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Admissions

The fall 2024 incoming class admitted 3,324 from a pool of 29,943 applicants for 11.1 percent acceptance rate.<ref name="admissions.nd.edu">Template:Cite web</ref> The university practices a non-restrictive early action policy that allows admitted students to consider admission to Notre Dame and any other colleges that accepted them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This process admitted 1,675 of the 9,683 (17 percent) who requested it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Admission is need-blind for domestic applicants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Admitted students came from 1,311 high schools; the average student traveled over Template:Cvt to Notre Dame. While all entering students begin in the College of the First Year of Studies, 26 percent have indicated they plan to study in the liberal arts or social sciences, 21 percent in engineering, 26 percent in business, 24 percent in science, and 3 percent in architecture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tuition

Tuition for full-time students at the University of Notre Dame in 2023 is $62,693 a year.<ref name="University of Notre Dame">Template:Cite web</ref> Room and board is estimated to be an additional $17,378 a year for students who live in campus housing. Notre Dame is a private university, so it offers the same tuition for in-state and out-of-state students.<ref name="University of Notre Dame"/>

Rankings

colspan=2 style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle" | USNWR graduate rankings<ref name="USNWR Grad School Rankings">Template:Cite web</ref>
Business	30
Engineering	50
Law	22

colspan=2 style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle" | USNWR graduate departmental rankings<ref name="USNWR Grad School Rankings"/>
Biological Sciences	73
Analytical Chemistry	13
Chemistry	59
Clinical Psychology	37
Computer Science	58
Earth Sciences	68
Economics	47
English	33
Fine Arts	99
History	27
Mathematics	39
Non-profit Business	5
Logic	3
Physics	52
Political Science	37
Political Theory	8
Psychology	60
Sociology	32

In 2022, Notre Dame ranked 9th for "best undergraduate teaching", 22nd for "best value" school and tied for 18th overall among "national universities" in the United States in U.S. News & World ReportTemplate:'s Best Colleges report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The school ranked 18th in U.S. News & World ReportTemplate:'s 2022 Best University Rankings report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> U.S. News ranks Mendoza College of Business undergraduate school as tied for 12th best in the U.S. in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Philosophical Gourmet Report ranks Notre Dame's graduate philosophy program as 17th nationally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to PayScale, undergraduate alumni of University of Notre Dame have a mid-career median salary $110,000, making it the 24th-highest among colleges and universities in the United States. The median starting salary of $55,300 ranked 58th in the same peer group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Named by Newsweek as one of the "25 New Ivies."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university is a member of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Consortium.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Research

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Hallway within Hurley Hall

Joseph Carrier, director of the Science Museum and the library, was a professor of chemistry and physics until 1874. Carrier taught that scientific research and its promise for progress were not antagonistic to the ideals of intellectual and moral culture endorsed by the Catholic Church. Notable researchers in the early history of the university include John Augustine Zahm, whose book book Evolution and Dogma (1896) defended certain aspects of evolutionary theory as true;<ref>Ralph Edward Weber, Notre Dame's John Zahm: American Catholic Apologist and Educator (1961)</ref> Albert Zahm, John's brother, who built an early wind tunnel to compare lift to drag of aeronautical models; Jerome Green, who became the first American to send a wireless message;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Julius Nieuwland, who performed early work on basic reactions that were used to create neoprene.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The study of nuclear physics at the university began with the building of a nuclear accelerator in 1936,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and continues now partly through a partnership in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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The Pietà by Ivan Meštrović, a European émigré

The rise of Hitler and other dictators in the 1930s forced many Catholic intellectuals to flee Europe; President John O'Hara brought many of them to Notre Dame. Anton-Hermann Chroust, in classics and law,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Waldemar Gurian, a German Catholic intellectual of Jewish descent, came from Germany.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Ivan Meštrović, a renowned sculptor, brought Croat culture to campus.<ref>See Template:Cite web</ref> Yves Simon brought the insights of French studies in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of philosophy to the university in the 1940s; his teacher, Jacques Maritain, was a frequent visitor to campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The exiles developed a distinctive emphasis on the evils of totalitarianism.<ref>William S. Miller, "Gerhart Niemeyer: His Principles of Conservatism," Modern Age 2007 49(3): 273–284 online at EBSCO</ref> Richard T. Sullivan taught English from 1936 to 1974 and published six novels, dozens of short stories, and other works.<ref>Una M. Cadegan, "How Realistic Can a Catholic Writer Be? Richard Sullivan and American Catholic Literature," Religion & American Culture 1996 6(1): 35–61</ref> Frank O'Malley was an English professor during the 1930s–1960s, who developed a concept of Christian philosophy that was a fundamental element in his thought.<ref>Arnold Sparr, "The Catholic Laity, the Intellectual Apostolate and the Pre-Vatican II Church: Frank O'Malley of Notre Dame." U.S. Catholic Historian 1990 9(3): 305–320. 0735–8318</ref> In 1939, Waldemar Gurian founded The Review of Politics, which quickly emerged as part of an international Catholic intellectual revival, offering an alternative vision to positivist philosophy.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The College of Arts and Letters is distinguished for its contributions in the field of theology and religious studies,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while its affiliated Medieval Institute is the largest center for medieval studies in North America.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university has many multi-disciplinary research institutes, including the Medieval Institute, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Center for Social Concerns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Recent research includes work on family conflict and child development,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> genome mapping,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the increasing trade deficit of the United States with China,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> studies in fluid mechanics,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> computational science and engineering,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> supramolecular chemistry,<ref>Leotaud, V. R. "Scientists develop technique to reduce cost, environmental impact of mining precious metal", by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, reporting on study published by the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Mining.com, June 10, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.</ref> and marketing trends on the Internet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the university was home to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, which ranks countries annually based on how vulnerable they are to climate change and how prepared they are to adapt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the fiscal 2019, the university received the all-time high research funding of $180.6 million, an increase of $100 million from 2009 and a 27 percent increase from the previous year, with funded projects including vector-borne diseases, urbanism, environmental design, cancer, psychology, economics, philosophy of religion, particle physics, nanotechnology, and hypersonics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame has a strong background in the humanities, with 65 National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, more than any other university. Focus areas include anti-poverty economic strategy, the premier Medieval Institute, Latino studies, sacred music, Italian studies, Catholic studies, psychology, aging and stress, social good, and theology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the sciences, research focuses and specialized centers include the Harper Cancer Research Institute, the Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, the Center for Nano Science and Technology, the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, the Eck Institute for Global Health, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center, Topology and Quantum Field Theory, the Nuclear Physics Research Group, and the Environmental Change Initiative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student life

As of Fall 2022, the Notre Dame student body consisted of 8,958 undergraduates and 4,134 graduate and professional (Law, M.Div., Business, MEd) students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An estimated 21–24 percent of students are children of alumni,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the student body represents all 50 states and 88 countries. Thirty-seven percent of students come from the Midwestern United States, and 40 percent of students are U.S. students of colorTemplate:CN, eight percent are international citizens.<ref name="admissions.nd.edu"/>

Residence halls

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Howard Hall, one of 15 women's dormitories

The residence halls, or dorms, are the focus of student social and intramural life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Each hall is led by a rector, a full-time, live-in professional who serves as leader, chief administrator, community builder and university resource to the residents, and is a priest, religious sister or brother, or a layperson trained in ministry or education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rectors direct the hall community, foster bonding, and often coordinate with professors, academic advisors, and counselors to watch over students and assist them with their personal development.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rectors select, hire, train, and supervise hall staff: resident assistants (required to be seniors) and assistant rectors (graduate students).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many residence halls also have a priest or faculty members in residence as faculty fellows, who provide an additional academic and intellectual experience to residential hall life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Every hall has its own chapel, dedicated to the hall's patron saint, and liturgical schedule with masses celebrated multiple times a week during the academic year, in the tradition of individual chapels at English university colleges.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Fraternities and sororities are not allowed on campus, as they are described as in opposition to the university's educational and residential mission.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The residential halls provide the social and communal aspect of fraternities, but in line with the university's policy of inclusion and zero tolerance of hazing.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Over four-fifths of students live in the same residence hall for three consecutive years and about one-third of students live in the same residence hall for all four years Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new policy was put into effect beginning in 2018, which required undergraduates to live on-campus for three years. In spring 2019, the university also announced a policy (that has since been reversed) that prohibited students living off campus from participating in dorm activities, such as intramural sports and dorm dances.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most intramural (interhall) sports are based on residence hall teams, where the university offers the only non-military academy program of full-contact intramural American football.<ref name="Life FAQ">Template:Cite web</ref> At the end of the interhall football season, the championship game is played in Notre Dame Stadium.<ref name="Dillon-Hall-Football-2017">Template:Cite news</ref>

Student clubs

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The hall of the Notre Dame Council of the Knights of Columbus

There are over 400 active student clubs at the University of Notre Dame, with the financial oversight of each club delegated by the student-run Club Coordination Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university subsidizes clubs, providing almost 15 percent of clubs' collective projected expenditures of $2.2 million during the 2018–2019 academic year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are a variety of student clubs on campus, including nine for students from different states,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> about three dozen clubs that represent different nationalities and origins,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and clubs dedicated to Catholic theology,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> diverse faith practices, social service, political advocacy and awareness, competitive athletics, professional development and networking, performing arts, academic debate, foreign affairs, fraternal brotherhood, women's empowerment, and many other interests.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university hosts their annual Student Activities Fair early in the fall semester for all students interested in joining clubs or other student organizations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student union

The Notre Dame Student Union is divided into nine branches, as articulated in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the Undergraduate Student Body of the University of Notre Dame du Lac.<ref>The University of Notre Dame Student Union. "Constitution of the Undergraduate Student Body of the University of Notre Dame du Lac" (PDF). University of Notre Dame Student Government. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved March 21, 2024. </ref>

Senate

The Student Senate is the legislative body of the Student Union that shall formulate and advance the position of the undergraduate student body on all issues concerning campus life. The Senate is composed of representatives from each of the University's undergraduate residence halls, and other representatives from the Student Union.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Executive Cabinet

The Executive Cabinet is led by the Student Body President and Vice President. Membership is composed of Cabinet Directors who lead various departments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Executive Cabinet is tasked with advancing the agenda of the President and Vice-President through working to protect the interests of students in all areas of university life, provide services to the undergraduate student body, and advance the policy priorities of the broader Student Union.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student Union Board

According to the Student Union Board's (SUB) mission statement, "The SUB Programming Body shall enhance undergraduate student life by providing undergraduate student services and social, intellectual, and cultural opportunities that respond to the needs and wants of the undergraduate student body in the most efficient manner possible."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> SUB is divided into seven committees, which consist of Acousticafé, AnTostal, Community Engagement, Concerts, First Look Into Programming (FLIP), Live Entertainment, and Signature Events.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hall Presidents Council

The Hall Presidents Council (HPC) is responsible for planning, funding, and executing residence hall events. The council is composed of leadership from all of Notre Dame's undergraduate residence halls, in addition to council leaders.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Club Coordination Council

The Club Coordination Council (CCC) is responsible for communicating issues facing undergraduate club issues, providing funding for undergraduate clubs, serving as the representative body of undergraduate student clubs, and working with student clubs to ensure that clubs can coordinate their programming of activities.<ref name="constitution">Template:Cite web</ref> The CCC oversees around 400 student clubs,<ref name="Student Groups">Template:Cite web</ref> each of which serves a unique purpose.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="fox-news-scop-denial">Template:Cite news</ref> The approval of the council, along with that of the Notre Dame Student Activities Office, is a requirement for official recognition of student clubs.<ref name="scop-denial-ncregister">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="irish-rover-scop">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ClubRespect">Template:Cite news</ref>

Class Councils

There are four Class Councils, one representing each undergraduate class level: First-Year, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Class Councils. They each promote the wellbeing of their respective classes by sponsoring functions that promote unity among class members. Each class is represented by four elected class officers, including a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. In addition to the officers, the Class Councils are made up of members from all across campus that work together to plan events.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Off-Campus Council

The Off-Campus Council represents any undergraduate students not residing on the campus of the University. They provide to the needs of those students, given that the issues differ from those residing in the dorms.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Financial Management Board

The Financial Management Board (FMB) is responsible for the creation and maintenance of a budget for the Student Union. FMB conducts an annual hearing to ensure that undergraduate funds are allocated fairly, known as the Annual Allocation Hearing. The FMB representative from each organization prepares a budget and then meets with the Student Union Treasurer to discuss their organization's monetary needs, which are presented at the Annual Allocation Hearing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the allocations are agreed upon by its members, the budget is proposed to the Senate Committee on the Budget, which either approves or rejects these allocations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Judicial Council

The Judicial Council is tasked with overseeing the ethical behavior of Student Union leaders, maintaining the constitutional conduct of the Student Union, administering its elections, and providing support through Peer Advocates to students navigating the Office of Community Standards' hearings and conferences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student events

Website BestColleges.com ranks the university's intramural sports program as number one in the country in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Over 700 teams participate each year in the annual Bookstore Basketball tournament;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while the Notre Dame Men's Boxing Club hosts the annual Bengal Bouts tournament to raise money for the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the fall, the Notre Dame Women's Boxing Club hosts an annual Baraka Bouts tournament that raises money for the Congregation of the Holy Cross Missions in Uganda.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Many of the most popular student events held on campus are organized by the 30 residential halls. Among these, the most notable are the Keenan Revue, the Fisher Hall Regatta, Howard Hall Totter for Water, Keenan Hall Muddy Sunday, the Morrissey Hall Medallion Hunt, the Dillon Hall Pep Rally, the Keough Hall Chariot Race and many others. Each dorm also hosts many formal and informal balls and dances each year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Religious life

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Basilica of the Sacred Heart at night

While having a religious affiliation is not a criterion for admission, over 93 percent of students identify as Christian, with over 80 percent of those being Catholic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There are 57 chapels on campus, including one in every residence hall. Collectively, Catholic Mass is celebrated over 100 times per week on campus, and a large campus ministry program provides for the faith needs of the community.<ref name="Life FAQ"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There is also an active council of the Knights of Columbus on campus, which is the oldest and largest college council of the international Catholic men's organization.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Non-Catholic religious organizations on campus include the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), Jewish Club of Notre Dame, the Muslim Student Association, the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, and many more.<ref name="Student Groups"/>

The university is the major seat of the Congregation of Holy Cross (albeit not its official headquarters, which are in Rome).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its main seminary, Moreau Seminary, is on the campus across St. Joseph Lake from the Main Building.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Old College, the oldest building on campus near the shore of St. Mary's Lake, houses undergraduate seminarians. Retired priests and brothers reside in Fatima House (a former retreat center), Holy Cross House, and Columba Hall near the Grotto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Student-run media

Notre Dame students run nine media outlets: three newspapers, a radio and television station, and several magazines and journals.

The Scholastic magazine, begun as a one-page journal in 1876,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is issued twice monthly and claims to be the oldest continuous collegiate publication in the United States. The other magazine, The Juggler, is released twice a year and focuses on student literature and artwork.<ref name="Publications"/> The Dome yearbook is published annually. The newspapers have varying publication interests, with The Observer published daily and mainly reporting university and other news,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> staffed by students from both Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College. Unlike Scholastic and The Dome, The Observer is an independent publication and does not have a faculty advisor or any editorial oversight from the university.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2003, when other students believed that the paper had a liberal bias, they started The Irish Rover, a print and digital newspaper published twice per month that features regular columns from alumni and faculty and coverage of campus matters. As of 2005, The Observer and the Irish Rover were distributed to all students.<ref name="Publications">Template:Cite web</ref> In Spring 2008, Beyond Politics, an undergraduate journal for political science research, made its debut.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2023, a professor at the university, Tamara Kay, sued the Rover for defamation. The case was dismissed, and Kay filed an appeal in February 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

WSND-FM serves the student body and the larger South Bend community at 88.9 FM, offering students a chance to become involved in bringing classical music, fine arts and educational programming, and alternative rock to the airwaves. Another radio station, WVFI, began as a partner of WSND-FM; it now airs independently and is streamed on the Internet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The television station NDtv grew from one show in 2002 to a full 24-hour channel with original programming by 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Athletics

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Notre Dame Stadium

Notre Dame's sports teams are known as the Fighting Irish. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports—except football and hockey —since the 2013–14 school year. Men's ice hockey is played in the Big Ten conference.<ref name="Athletics">Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame men compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field; women's sports are basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The football team competes as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> since its inception in 1887, except for 2020, when it competed as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both fencing teams compete in the Midwest Fencing Conference.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Large crowds seated in the Football Satdium

Football stadium during a game

Notre Dame's sports conference affiliations, except football and fencing, changed in July 2013 because of major conference realignment, and its fencing affiliation changed in July 2014. The Irish left the Big East for the ACC during a prolonged period of instability in the Big East;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while they maintain their football independence, they have committed to playing five games per season against ACC opponents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Notre Dame joined the ACC, the conference announced it would add fencing as a sponsored sport beginning in the 2014–15 school year.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

There are many theories behind the adoption of the team name<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but the Fighting Irish name was used in the early 1920s with respect to the football team, and alumnus Francis Wallace popularized it in his New York Daily News columns.Template:Sfn Notre Dame's official colors are gold and navy blue.<ref name="Gold And Blue">Template:Cite web</ref> Green is sometimes worn because of the Fighting Irish nickname.<ref name="Gold And Blue"/>

The Notre Dame Leprechaun is the mascot of the athletic teams. Created by Theodore W. Drake in 1964, the leprechaun was first used on the football pocket schedule and later the football program covers. Time featured it on a November 1964 cover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since its inception in 2011, Fighting Irish Media (FIM), made up of part-time student workers and full time producers, has filmed nearly all Fighting Irish sporting events for live digital and linear broadcasts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With the installation of a videoboard in Notre Dame Stadium in Fall 2017, FIM has taken over video board production for all Fighting Irish teams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, the University of Notre Dame and Under Armour reached an agreement whereby the company provides uniforms, apparel, equipment, and monetary compensation to Notre Dame for 10 years. This contract, worth almost $100 million, was the most lucrative in the history of the NCAA at that time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to some analysts without direct connection to the university or its athletic department, Notre Dame promotes Muscular Christianity through its athletic programs.<ref name=C&P>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Sponsors>Template:Cite book</ref>

Football

File:2004 Notre Dame-Navy Game.jpg

Notre Dame playing against Navy

The Notre Dame football team's history began when the Michigan team brought the game to Notre Dame in 1887 and played against a group of students.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Since then, 13 Fighting Irish teams have won consensus national championships (although the university only claims 11),<ref name="Athletics"/> along with another nine teams being named national champions by at least one source.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The program has the most members in the College Football Hall of Fame,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is tied with Ohio State for the most Heisman Trophies won by players,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has the 3rd highest winning percentage in NCAA history, behind Ohio State and Alabama.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame has accumulated many rivals; the annual game against USC for the Jeweled Shillelagh has been described as one of the greatest in college football.<ref name=greatest>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Knute Rockne on ship's deck.jpg

Coach Knute Rockne

George Gipp was the school's legendary football player of the late 1910s.<ref>John U. Bacon, "The Gipper," Michigan History 2001 85(6): 48–55,</ref> In 1928, coach Knute Rockne used his final conversation with the dying Gipp to inspire the Notre Dame team to beat Army and "win one for the Gipper"; that scene became the climax of the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American, starring Pat O'Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as Gipp.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The team competes in the 80,795-seat Notre Dame Stadium.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current head coach is Marcus Freeman, who was promoted to head coach after Brian Kelly departed Notre Dame to coach at LSU at the end of the 2021 regular season. Forbes ranked the program college football's eighth most valuable for its average annual revenue of $120 million. It has a TV contract with NBC worth an estimated $15 million per year and one of the country's largest fan bases.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Football game-day traditions

During home games, activities occur all over campus and dorms decorate their halls with a traditional item (e.g., Zahm Hall's two-story banner). Traditional activities begin at midnight with the Drummers' Circle, involving the Band of the Fighting Irish's drumline beginning the other festivities that will continue the rest of the game day. Later that day, the trumpet section will play the Notre Dame Victory March and the Notre Dame Alma Mater under the dome. The entire band will play a concert at the steps of Bond Hall, then march into the stadium, leading fans and students alike across campus to the game.<ref name="ND Gamedayl">Template:Cite web</ref> At the end of each game, the Notre Dame Marching Band plays the alma mater.

Men's basketball

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The Joyce Center, home stadium for Notre Dame's basketball teams

As of the 2020–2021 season, the men's basketball team has over 1,910 wins and appeared in 36 NCAA tournaments<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BBall">p.73Template:Cite web</ref> Former player Austin Carr holds the record for most points scored in a single game of the tournament with 61.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the team has never won the NCAA Tournament, they were named by the Helms Athletic Foundation as national champions twice.<ref name="BBall"/> The team has orchestrated a number of upsets of top-ranked teams, the most notable of which was ending UCLA's record 88-game winning streak in 1974.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Notre Dame has beaten an additional eight number-one teams, and those nine wins rank second, to UCLA's 10, all-time in wins against the top team.<ref name="BBall"/>

Other sports

Template:See also Notre Dame has won an additional 15 national championships in sports other than football. Four teams have won multiple national championships; the fencing team leads with 10,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> followed by the men's lacrosse,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> men's tennis, and women's soccer teams with two each.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="past">Template:Cite web</ref> The men's cross country<ref name="past"/> and golf<ref name="past"/> teams have won one and Notre Dame women's basketball has won two.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the first 10 years that Notre Dame competed in the Big East Conference its teams won a total of 64 championships.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the women's swimming and diving team holds the Big East record for consecutive conference championships in any sport with 14 straight conference titles (1997–2010).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Band and "Victory March"

The Band of the Fighting Irish was formed in 1846 and is the oldest university band in continuous existence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The marching band plays at home games for most sports. It regularly plays the school's fight song, the Notre Dame "Victory March", identified as the most played and most famous fight song by Northern Illinois professor William Studwell.<ref name="leroux">Template:Cite web</ref> According to College Fight Songs: An Annotated Anthology published in 1998, the "Victory March" is the greatest fight song.<ref name="leroux"/> It was honored by the National Music Council as a "Landmark of American Music" during the United States Bicentennial.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song is featured in the films Knute Rockne, All American, Airplane! and Rudy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alumni

The school has over 130,000 alumni and 275 alumni clubs around the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notre Dame is ranked among the universities with strongest alumni networks.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> Many give the university yearly monetary support. Notre Dame is ranked among schools with the highest alumni donation rates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A school-record of 53.2 percent of alumni donating was set in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many buildings, including residence halls, on campus are named for major donors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Classroom buildings,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the performing arts center are also named for donors.<ref name="DPAC"/>

Alumni working in politics include state governors,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> members of the United States Congress,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notable alumni from the College of Science are Eric F. Wieschaus, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in medicine,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Philip Majerus, discoverer of the cardioprotective effects of aspirin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many university officials are alumni, including the current president, John Jenkins and incoming President Robert Dowd, a professor of Political Science who specializes in African Studies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Alumni in media include talk show hosts Regis Philbin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Phil Donahue,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and television and radio personalities such as Mike Golic<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Hannah Storm.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A number of sports alumni have continued their careers in professional sports, such as Joe Theismann, Joe Montana,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tim Brown, Ross Browner, Rocket Ismail, Ruth Riley, Jeff Samardzija,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jerome Bettis, Justin Tuck, Craig Counsell, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brett Lebda, Olympic fencing gold medalist Mariel Zagunis and two-time bronze medalist Nick Itkin, professional boxer Mike Lee, former football coaches such as Charlie Weis,<ref name="Weis">Template:Cite news</ref> Frank Leahy and Knute Rockne,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Basketball Hall of Famers Austin Carr and Adrian Dantley. Other notable alumni include prominent businessman Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. and astronaut Jim Wetherbee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two alumni have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Alan Page and Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.), and two the Congressional Gold Medal (Thomas Anthony Dooley III and Bill Hanzlik).

In popular culture

The University of Notre Dame is the setting of several works of fiction, as well as the alma mater of some fictional characters.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref> In mid-20th century America, it became "perhaps the most popular symbol of Catholicism" as noted by The Routledge Companion to Religion and Popular Culture: Template:Blockquote

Film

• Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The "Win one for the Gipper" speech was parodied in the 1980 film Airplane! when, with the "Victory March" rising to a crescendo in the background, Dr. Rumak (played by Leslie Nielsen) urged reluctant pilot Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) to "win just one for the Zipper", Striker's war buddy George Zipp. The "Victory March" also plays during the film's credits.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Rudy is a 1993 account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at Notre Dame despite significant obstacles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Television

• President Josiah Bartlet from the show The West Wing is a Notre Dame graduate and First Lady Abigail Bartlet attended Saint Mary's College. Danny Concannon, a member of the White House press corps, is also a graduate of Notre Dame. Actor Martin Sheen specifically asked that his character be a Notre Dame alumnus due to the Catholicism shared by both the actor and the character.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":9" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other media

• One of the music videos for the song "This Too Shall Pass" by OK Go was created in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Marching Band and was shot on the university campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, held on campus every summer

Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links

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• Notre Dame Athletics website