Vol.169No. 7
On Apr. 1, 2026, NASA’s Artemis II rocket officially launched, marking the first crewed lunar...
"No fall break. Can’t go home. Can’t visit new places. Can’t catch up on sleep. But you still need a break!” This was the slogan that Notre Dame’s McDonald Center for Student Well-Being used on their website to advertise Restoration Week.
Our hearts ache with the news of the passing of first year students Valeria Espinel and Olivia Laura Rojas.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett has brought more press to Notre Dame recently with her nomination and recent confirmation to the Supreme Court on Monday October 26.
Over a ten week winter break, the University of Notre Dame will be piloting its first Winter Session, during which many forms of virtual experiences will be offered for students who want to use the time for networking, service, academics or research.
The evolution of Catholics’ role in American politics has been “one of the most dramatic changes in American political life over the last, say, 50 years,” said David Campbell, Notre Dame professor of political science. Campbell is the author of several books examining the role of religion in American politics.
Recently it seems that every year has been crowned historic in nature for one reason or another. But 2020 actually fits the bill, if only due to the sheer number of pivotal moments it has yielded.
The Notre Dame Center for Career Development hosted its first virtual career fair last month, bringing together over 2,600 students and 242 employers in an event they had been anticipating since Notre Dame went online last spring.
In response to the nation’s growing racial justice movement, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. announced several efforts the university is making to enhance diversity and inclusion, including modifications to the Moreau First Year Experience course and the creation of a diversity center.
Rev. Joseph Pedersen, C.S.C. of Waterloo, Iowa, serves Notre Dame as the rector of Siegfried Hall. He has an extensive history with the university, receiving undergraduate degrees in philosophy and theology, a Master of Arts in theology from the university’s Echo Graduate Service Program, and a Master of Divinity.
In 1918, Notre Dame had to cancel three out of its nine football games due to an outbreak of the Spanish flu. But this hitch did not entirely derail Notre Dame’s season that year.
As we hit the midterm mark of the semester, we are taking this opportunity to reflect on what moments have been worth celebrating and to be intentional about what initiatives to take on in the future.
Spread amongst the northwest bleachers, the Band of the Fighting Irish was still an indelible part of the game day experience. But the pandemic has challenged some of the group’s longest-running traditions, many of which were thought to be integral to the ensemble’s identity.
The beginning of the semester has been an absolute whirlwind. As leaders, we are learning that one of the most important things we can do in this time is listen. Every day, the situation ahead of us takes shape in a new way, and there is no way to predict the course of the semester. However, we will do our best to actively seek out student voices, critically monitor our systems and respond with empathy.
While many people probably envisioned that a return to Notre Dame would entail difficulties surrounding health and safety, the campus community has also had to grapple with another hurdle: division. Though the Fighting Irish pride ourselves on the unity of our community, COVID-19 has positioned students, faculty and administration at odds with one another.
His name is arguably as majestic as his creations: Maclovio Cantu III. However, to the 140 or so residents of Sorin College who see him every day, Cantu, the dorm’s maintenance man, is simply known as Mike. For the past two years, Cantu has worked as the head custodian of Sorin while assisting with cleaning services in other dorms. But his presence at Notre Dame and in the South Bend community goes back much further.
Amidst the rage of World War II in the Aug. 14, 1942 issue of Scholastic, the students of this university faced a similarly complicated, unstable and daunting environment. At the onset of the fall semester, President of the University Rev. Hugh O’Donnell, C.S.C. issued a letter to the student body in order “to keep the students accurately informed of developments vital to their welfare in the current emergency.”
When sophomore James Gilman went to North Dining Hall for the first time this semester, it wasn’t at all how he remembered it. “My first meal back on campus was a box of lettuce topped with one cherry tomato,” he said.
There’s no denying that the Notre Dame community is constantly adjusting to new norms and rules brought about by COVID-19, but there’s one group of students who have an additional adjustment to make: the first years. Being a freshman in college is always an experience, so what does it look like to be a freshman during a pandemic?
Laurel Daen is an Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University. She works with the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values and specializes in disability, sickness, medicine, and health in early America. She is currently writing a book about disability and civil rights, and has been published in the Journal of Social History, Journal of the Early Republic, Early American Literature, History Compass, and Rethinking Modern Prostheses in Anglo-American Commodity Cultures, 1820-1939. This semester she is teaching “Epidemics in America,” a course which looks at the history of health and disease in American history and its influence on the longlasting culture of the country.
Scholastic wanted to hear firsthand from Notre Dame students about their experiences away from campus and transitioning to asynchronous learning.
What a time we are living in.
In an Oct. 19, 1918 issue of Scholastic, writers reported on an announcement made by then-president Father Cavanaugh. “For the protection of the University, he announced that permission to go to the city can not be had,” it read.
Notre Dame students and faculty had to quickly adjust to a new educational reality, completing the semester’s coursework while scattered across the globe.
Since joining Scholastic…
The UCC’s goals include providing services to Notre Dame students facing issues ranging from depression or anxiety to general stress. Despite the closed campus, their mission remains.
Hadas Elber-Aviram is an adjunct assistant professor at the university’s London Global Gateway. She has been working there for three years, over which she has taught…
In order to catalog the living history of Notre Dame at this point in time, Scholastic asked a number of students, both on and off staff, to write about their experiences over the past few weeks.
For years, Americans have been told to follow the three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle...
According to the December 1975 edition of Scholastic, the winter blues have affected Domers for generations.
On Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22, professors, players and purists of jazz flocked to Notre Dame for the university's annual Collegiate Jazz Festival (CJF). Celebrating its 62nd year of operation, CJF is the oldest jazz festival in the country, collegiate or otherwise.