"

South Bend Needs Notre Dame 

By John P Carlson

“South Bend? Never heard of it.”

Teachers. Coaches. Family members. Everyone else I can think of off the top of my head right now. When I told these people that I’d been accepted into Notre Dame, their immediate first question was, “Oh, that’s awesome! Where is it?”

When I answered, they all gave the same response.

I will admit that I knew about the city of South Bend before I got accepted into Notre Dame … but I still credit the university with bringing the city to my attention. Why? Because I first heard the words “South Bend” from a James Patterson kids book … that took place at the University of Notre Dame.

Based on my experiences, if you don’t live in South Bend, you don’t know that it exists — unless you know about Notre Dame.

Have you ever heard someone say, “Boy, I really hope I get into Notre Dame … I’ve always dreamed of living in South Bend, Indiana, where it takes 15 minutes to drive two miles, and I have to wear three layers of clothes in the wintertime just to keep my fingers from falling off?” People don’t come to Notre Dame for South Bend; they come to South Bend for Notre Dame.

I’m a resident of Anaheim, California. When most people think of my hometown, they think of Disneyland; however, if I were to ask someone to name something else significant about Anaheim, they would probably be able to come up with a few other answers. Angel Stadium. The Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks. The Anaheim Convention Center.

When I ask people (specifically non-residents) to name something significant about the city of South Bend, they always provide the same answer: “Oh, that’s where Notre Dame is.” If I ask them to name something else, the only answer I get is a defeated shrug.

The city of South Bend would not be the same city without the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame attracts visitors from across the entire world to South Bend. People rent and buy apartments and houses here just so they can be within walking distance of Notre Dame stadium. Notre Dame is the only reason why many U.S. residents — myself included — even know that South Bend exists in the first place.

Now, I must clarify that none of these things are bad. South Bend wouldn’t be the same place without Notre Dame, but Notre Dame wouldn’t be the same place without South Bend either. Sure, people might think that Notre Dame is out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s part of what makes it so special. The influences of the greater South Bend community, culture and geography enhance Notre Dame’s culture with a certain uniqueness and charm. There’s a beautifully symbiotic relationship between South Bend and Notre Dame, and the way I see it, Notre Dame’s location at the heart of South Bend allows it to serve as a source of unity for locals and visitors alike.

 

Notre Dame Needs South Bend

When I was deciding where to go for college, I faced the age-old dilemma of the prospective Notre Dame student: I wanted to go to Notre Dame, but I didn’t want to be in South Bend. My mother, an alum, counselled me with these words: “You have your whole life to live in a big city. But you only have four years to go to Notre Dame.”

Let’s note that she did not say “live in South Bend.” It would have been a more effective parallelism if she did. But that’s exactly the choice high school seniors think they make when they choose Notre Dame; they choose the institution over the place, the education over the location. Now that I’m in my senior year at Notre Dame, I no longer think this is the case.

Take colleges like New York University (NYU) or the University of Southern California (USC). They’re both great schools in famous cities, even if the former lacks a storied football team. They can boast of their academics and global status just as we can, even if the latter is the embodiment of pure evil. There’s not much that makes Notre Dame stand out from the crowd of great universities, it seems.

Until you consider that our retention rate is higher than both of those schools, our estimated cost of attendance is lower by thousands of dollars, our sports teams are among the highest ranked in the nation and our school was built on a strong foundation of faith and tradition. Many of these facts are due to or bolstered by the university’s location.

In a big city, the boundaries between your university and the grandeur of cities like Los Angeles or New York City are blurred. Your time at university should be more than an anticipatory workplace simulation. If you don’t intend to live in South Bend after graduating, then you can spend four years focused on just your education and college experience. Here, the priority is your formation, not growing the diverse economic and cultural output of a major city.

Because you’re effectively stranded onsite for three years, we build a strong university community outside the classroom but still on the campus. When you can live off campus and begin venturing out into the Bend, you’ll find a rich community there as well. This issue covers many South Bend-specific highlights, but behind the restaurants and golf courses, there is a city dedicated to the flourishing of its people. Every South Bend home I’ve spent time in has been overflowing with love and warmth from local families.

Much of the good of Notre Dame is possible because of, not in spite of, its location. We’re a little sheltered and a little isolated, but that shelter gives us the safety to enjoy our college experience for what it is.

Sorin, wrote of the 640 acres of land that would become Notre Dame, “It is a delightfully quiet place, about twenty minutes from South Bend.” I agree with Sorin; I think the quietude is delightful, and the proximity to South Bend is something to boast of.