Since Last Month…
We appreciate the comments we received after last month's issue of ND Today. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and we hope to keep up the momentum. One way of keeping things fresh is to update you on what has happened since our last issue.
Hundreds of you responded to our request to send a supportive message to the football team. Chuck Lennon '61, '62MA, executive director of the Alumni Association, put them all in a large binder and gave them to the team before the Michigan State game. By most accounts the team has improved, earned its first exciting win at UCLA and stands ready to take on the Trojans. I look forward to seeing many of you, especially our former Alumni Board members this week. It will be a great weekend with our 1977 National Championship Team coming home to be honored.
ND Forum
Last week the University held its third ND Forum with a fascinating discussion about immigration in America. I attended along with Alumni Board President-Elect Ceyl Prinster '76, and Dr. Phil Carter '67, '71Ph.D, chair of the Alumni Board's academic committee. Both have worked hard to make sure this discussion is made available to as many ND clubs as possible. In particular, Ceyl is helping the Office of Public Affairs and Communications produce a DVD for ND clubs to use to host a discussion in their communities about immigration, continuing the dialogue begun on campus. If many of you are anything like me, there is a lot learn about the immigration issue. It is clear there are many conflicting viewpoints even within political parties and other groups where normally people may speak with one voice. Please watch for this DVD, and visit http://forum.nd.edu for valuable resource materials. The site also features a video of the forum.
The Board of Trustees will be meeting this week. I hope to be able to update the Alumni Board and of course, my fellow alums, on the results in an upcoming ND Today.
Preserving Our Catholic Character
Notre Dame was formed to provide a place where Catholic faith is an integral part of a world- class educational institution, and many of you have inquired about the steps the University and Alumni Association are taking to preserve this foundation.
It is obvious to me, from my first year on the Board of Trustees, that there is a clear intent and policy to preserve Notre Dame's place as a preeminent Catholic undergraduate and research institution. On multiple occasions, I have met with Provost Tom Burish -- and recently Ceyl and I met with both the Provost and Father Jenkins -- to express how important this issue is with our alumni. The message was well-received. They could not have been more supportive, and reminded us of the efforts that have occurred to date and the encouraging results.
One of the primary concerns expressed to me has been the decline of Catholic faculty at Notre Dame. The Board and Administration are committed to having a numerical majority of Catholic faculty. A multimillion dollar gift from Board of Trustees Chairman-Emeritus Don Keough and his wife Marilyn has been earmarked to attract world- wide scholars who demonstrate a commitment to Notre Dame's Catholic mission. Dr. William Evans, a world renowned Catholic economist, has become the first Keough-Hesburgh Professor. The University recently announced the hiring of 40 professors, many of whom said the reason they came to Notre Dame was its commitment to a Catholic mission.
At the same time, the Alumni Association, its clubs and Board have numerous service and spirituality initiatives to make sure we, as an organization, exhibit by deed the Catholic mission of Notre Dame. I encourage each of you to visit our Alumni website, and in particular, pray.nd.edu to link into campus spiritual resources, offer a prayer request, look at a video of sacred places on campus, and read a daily meditation and Gospel reading. The site has received more than 47,000 visits since it launched earlier this year.
Our service ethic was recently recognized in the book Saturday Rules by Austin Murphy, a senior Sports Illustrated writer. He complimented the Alumni Association's service initiatives: "Resent them for having their own private network; excoriate them for getting an annual shortcut to a BCS bowl. Exult in their postseason floundering. Roll your eyes at their love of institution, which absolutely crosses the line, oftentimes into smugness. But give the Domers their due. They aren't a bunch of young swells taking communion on Sunday, bowing their heads and looking the part. These people walk the walk." (Page 21; emphasis supplied).
On Campus Construction/Off Campus Project (Eddy Commons )
Your next visit to campus will cause you to marvel at the transformation underway:
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Juniper Road has been replaced by beautiful landscaping, especially between the Stadium and the Joyce Center
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The old Post Office has been replaced by a deep hole to support the foundation of the Law School expansion
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A new men's dorm, Duncan Hall, is well underway near the practice green at the Rock
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The new Melissa Cook Softball Stadium, between Frank Eck Stadium and Edison Road, will be ready for play this spring
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Landscaping has begun on a new 12-acre park area called "The Commons," located south of the Debartolo Performing Arts Center. It is designed to bring the campus and community together
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Construction will begin soon on Eddy Commons, south of the new park. The 23 acres will contain two hotels, a parking garage, 268 apartment homes, 75,000 square feet of office space, 189 condominium homes and 90,000 square feet of retail shops. Expect the hotels and parking garage to be ready in the fall of 2009.
I hope you find this information useful. If you haven't been back to campus lately we hope to see you soon. It is the most beautiful time of the year as the leaves are now turning colors. If you can't get back to campus, please continue to bring Our Lady's University to your own community. It will certainly be better for it. Go Irish !
NOTE: James Riley '94, chairperson of the Board of the Black Alumni of ND, will be the guest columnist for the next issue of ND Today. If you have questions for James, please e-mail them to the editor at alumpubs@nd.edu.
