You may have heard “Force for Good” mentioned in conjunction with Notre Dame. The “What Would You Fight For?” series spans over 100 powerful stories showcasing the work, global impact, and scholarly endeavors of Notre Dame’s faculty, alumni, and students. The idea of using a Notre Dame education to serve others is not just part of our founding story, but part of Notre Dame’s past, present, and future. So what does that mean for you, as a prospective student?
Past: “One of the powerful means for doing good”
On November 26, 1842, Fr. Sorin and seven Holy Cross brothers founded a school in honor of Mary, the Mother of God. They named it L’Université de Notre Dame du Lac (The University of Our Lady of the Lake) or, as we know it today: Notre Dame.
Not even a month after arriving, Fr. Sorin wrote back to his superior in France, Fr. Moreau, declaring that Notre Dame would become “one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country.” That dream was key to Notre Dame’s founding and remains a part of Notre Dame’s mission and values, to bring solutions to a world in need.
Present: “A global Catholic research university”
Notre Dame’s newly inaugurated University President, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., has proclaimed Notre Dame as “a global Catholic research university where tomorrow’s leaders, across every discipline and field of study, can cultivate the skills and habits of mind they will need to solve the world’s most pressing problems, and the ethical, moral, and spiritual foundation that will guide them for a lifetime.”
Fr. Bob’s words are reminiscent of Fr. Moreau’s vision of an education where “The mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart.”
A Notre Dame education is one of full-person development. Students don’t simply come to the University to learn in their intended area of study; a Notre Dame education is one pursued in service to others. No matter what a student studies at Notre Dame, or what they plan to do after graduation, a Notre Dame education is grounded in the values of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
In the Mendoza College of Business, students learn to “Grow the Good in Business.” Our science majors do research, and pursue medicine, in hopes of caring for our world and the people who inhabit it. Arts and Letters majors “study everything” and “do anything” they can to impact our society in a wide range of fields. Architects learn design techniques that are sustainable and care for our planet while also creating beauty in our world. Our global affairs majors look beyond our borders to consider the biggest questions affecting our world today. And our engineers are at the forefront of technical advances in their areas of expertise. In every college, students are learning how to be global citizens, and about the ways they can address the biggest problems facing our world today.
A Notre Dame education is truly transformational. We’re looking for students who are seeking the formation and opportunities that a Notre Dame education provides. Many of our students hold serving others as a core value, which is why approximately 80 percent of students do service before they graduate. Learning happens in the classroom, but the greatest impacts are made beyond the perimeter of the campus.
Future: “A complementary approach to excellence that bridges faith and reason”
In the past year, Notre Dame joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), which is the leading US organization for research-intensive universities. We are currently the only religious university to be invited to join this distinguished cohort, providing us with a unique opportunity (and some might say obligation) “to offer a complementary approach to excellence that bridges faith and reason in an academic world accustomed to separating them,” as stated in the introduction to Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework.
As the University looks ahead to its role in higher education and the global world at large, Notre Dame is striving to “be the leading global Catholic research university, on par with but distinct from the world’s best private universities. This effort to educate students and conduct research at the highest level animated by a distinctive Catholic mission is one of the most exciting and consequential experiments in global higher education.”
We’re dreaming big, and we know that our undergraduate students have a big role to play in the Notre Dame of tomorrow. Notre Dame is investing in undergraduates in ways that are financial, curricular, and community-life oriented. We talk about the Notre Dame family, which a student joins before they even set foot on campus and remains part of for the rest of their life, no matter where in the world they find themselves.
We invite you to learn more about Notre Dame, our mission, and our values. And if you’re excited to join a community where “learning becomes service to justice,” we look forward to reading your application to Notre Dame!
Maria Finan is a senior assistant director of admissions and counselor for the Bay Area, California, Northern California, Hawaii, Alaska, Hong Kong, and South China. Meet Maria