History of the University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame was founded on November 26, 1842, by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, who was also its first president, as an all-male institution on land donated by the Bishop of Vincennes.
Notre Dame rose to national prominence in the early 1900s for its Fighting Irish football team, especially under the guidance of the legendary coach Knute Rockne.
Bishop De la Hailandiere gave Sorin and his brothers possession of the church of St Peter and its annexed farm in Montgomery, Indiana.
Near the end of October the bishop offered Sorin certain lands at the furthermost limits of the diocese, in the virtually unsettled area of northern Indiana, just a few miles from the southern boundary of the state of Michigan.
[9] With the departure of the Potawatomi and the death of Petit, the land reverted to the bishop, who then in 1840 offered it to the Father of Mercy Ferdinand Bach, with the hope he could fulfill Badin's stipulation that a college be built.
The rest of the community stayed in St Peters to continue the educational effort under the guide of Brother Vincent and a local priest, Fr.
[11] On the afternoon of November 26, 1842, Sorin arrived South Bend (at the time just a small village) where he reached the home of Alexis Coquillard, a French-American trapper who had been the first permanent white settler in the area and who was known to Bishop de la Hailandiere.
At the time, St. Joseph County was small (around 6,500 to 7,500 persons) and largely unsettled, with South Bend barely reaching 1000 inhabitants; although in the following years it would experience substantial growth.
The early curriculum focused mostly on reading, writing, arithmetic, history and geography, but more sophisticated topics like Latin, Greek, French, mathematics, oratory, botany, drawing, music, and zoology were also taught.
[23] Notre Dame began as a primary and secondary school, but soon received its official college charter from the Indiana General Assembly on January 15, 1844.
[25] Although the university was originally only for male students, the female-only Saint Mary's College was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross near Notre Dame in 1844.
A farmer who owned the adjoining property built a dam to power a mill, and this backed up water onto the land around and between the Notre Dame lakes and created a swampland, perfect for breeding flies and mosquitoes.
Basil Moreau, founder and Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross, made his only visit to the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College.
In particular, his vision to make Notre Dame a research university was at odds with that of Andrew Morrissey (president from 1893 to 1905), who hoped to keep the institution a smaller boarding school.
Morrissey's presidency remained largely focused on younger students and saw the construction of the Grotto, the addition of wings to Sorin Hall, and the erection of the first gymnasium.
An intellectual figure known for his literary gifts and his eloquent speeches, he dedicated himself to the school's academic reputation and to increasing number of students awarded bachelor's and master's degrees.
James A. Burns became president in 1919 and, following in the footsteps of Cavanaugh, in three years he produced an academic revolution that brought the school up to national standards by adopting the elective system and moving away from the traditional scholastic and classical emphasis.
By contrast, the Jesuit colleges, bastions of academic conservatism, were reluctant to move to a system of electives; for this reason, their graduates were shut out of Harvard Law School.
William Corby and planted a tree in honor of his visit, and toured the university archives where he saw the sword of Thomas Francis Meagher and the flag of the Irish Brigade.
The most remarkable episode of violence was a clash between Notre Dame students and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white supremacist and anti-Catholic movement, in 1924.
During their tenures at Notre Dame, they brought numerous refugees and intellectuals to campus; such as W. B. Yeats, Frank H. Spearman, Jeremiah D. M. Ford, Irvin Abell, and Josephine Brownson for the Laetare Medal, instituted in 1883.
O'Hara strongly believed that the Fighting Irish football team could be an effective means to "acquaint the public with the ideals that dominate" Notre Dame.
[43] The situation changed when president Hugh O’Donnell reached out to Admiral Chester Nimitz to offer Notre Dame's facilities to the Navy.
In October 1942 the program becomes a full-fledged United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School and the officer trainees receive a full four-month course.
The presence of these programs ballooned the university's student population from a paltry 750 to the 3,500-4,000 range and above and kept Notre Dame financially viable during the war years.
[45] On October 18, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Stepan Center, in an event organized by the South Bend Citizens’ Civic Planning Committee as a fundraiser for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Notre Dame's most recent capital campaign raised $1.1 billion, far exceeding its goal of $767 million, and is the largest in the history of Catholic higher education.
[56] In his inaugural address, Jenkins described his goals of making the university a leader in research that recognizes ethics and building the connection between faith and studies.
[65] The university implemented mandatory testing, contact tracing, and quarantine measures for students, faculty, and staff,[62] though the quality of these services has been the subject of controversy.
[69][74][75] In October 2020, Jenkins tested positive for COVID-19 after having attending the White House Supreme Court nomination ceremony for Notre Dame professor Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
