Like many eager Notre Dame students, during the end of my freshman year, I worked to seek out ways in which I could have a greater impact on the Notre Dame community. I received an email from the Student Union Board in April of my freshman year inviting students to apply for their executive board, and with very little idea of what SUB was, I decided on a whim to apply to be the Director of Art. When I applied, I had so little idea of the immense impact that SUB would have on me and my experience at Notre Dame, and I am forever grateful that I decided to take a leap and apply to join.
The Student Union Board (SUB) is the event programming branch of Notre Dame’s Student Government. Our mission is to enhance the Notre Dame undergraduate experience through intentional and engaging programming. Throughout the year, we host a ton of different events to appeal to as many students as possible, whether it’s a stress-relieving midterms event, a fun tropical-themed giveaway in the depths of winter, our weekly Acousticafe where students have the chance to see their peers perform live music, or anything else we can dream of. We also host a few larger events, such as our annual concert (more on that later!) and Antostal, a week of a ton of activities available to all students. Think fun, think SUB!
As the Director of Art, my role was to oversee our graphic designers and to work with our committee chairs in order to ensure that all of our amazing events were being shared with students in engaging, creative ways. In this role, I was able to have my hands in all of the activities planned by SUB and strengthen my artistic and creative skills. As a Neuroscience major, my classes don’t always afford me the opportunity to be artistically creative. While contributing to projects that benefited the student body, I also learned effective marketing strategies, worked with incredibly talented event programmers to help make creative ideas come to life, and developed my leadership skills by managing and working with my incredible team of designers. Especially during a year dominated by COVID where students were looking for things to do to keep engaged, I was able to have a hand in ensuring that students’ Notre Dame experiences were always full of fun, enriching activities. I continued in my artistic role in SUB into my junior year as a designer before I studied abroad, and I was able to further develop my artistic abilities and work more directly with the event programmers to incorporate their incredible events into engaging art.
This past year, I had the opportunity to serve as SUB’s Concerts Committee Chair. Every year, SUB hosts artists on campus to perform a concert for undergraduate students, and my job as the committee chair was to work with my committee to choose a lineup that would appeal to as many students as possible, contacting music agents, and planning the concert. This year, we hosted Sound of SUB, a large-scale music festival with food, games, and incredible music. We had the opportunity to host Noah Kahan and Chelsea Cutler as our headliners, supported by Briscoe and three incredible student openers. Our committee worked all year to plan the festival with the goal of creating an event that would excite the student body. The festival itself sold out the Stepan Center on campus, and went incredibly smoothly thanks to the hard work of everybody in SUB. Through careful planning, long hours, and a massive team effort, many students got to create lifetime memories and have the time of their lives.
I am not planning on pursuing a career in the music industry, but I have always loved attending concerts. Because of my involvement in SUB, I was able to pursue a passion project in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something to benefit the Notre Dame community. I have learned the value of working through difficult, long-term projects, and have a greater appreciation for the gratification that comes when you have put your all into an event. I had the opportunity to work with incredible students who deeply care about making Notre Dame a better, more engaging place. I am incredibly grateful for my time in SUB, and for the ways that it has made me a more creative person and a stronger leader (plus, who doesn’t love getting to meet their favorite artists?!).
If you want to see what SUB is up to on campus, make sure to follow our Instagram @subnd !
