Dear Friends,

During the College’s 100 Nights’ celebration, when our seniors began their official countdown to Commencement, they traveled downtown to Fells Point. That evening, as the bus returned to campus, driving through our stone pillared entrance, the seniors spontaneously burst into applause.

That joy, expressed at the close of a memorable evening, echoes the affection generations of students and alumnae share for College of Notre Dame. Many of our students say that from their very first visit to campus, they knew they had come home.

Visitors to Notre Dame discover not only the historic and natural beauty of the campus, but also the tangible sense of a truly caring—and scholarly—community. If you visited our campus this semester, you would experience our vibrant learning community for yourself.

So pause for a moment and step into life on Notre Dame’s campus...

Fill your plate with tantalizing delicacies from several countries at our International Women’s Day celebration. Participate in a presentation in Japanese flower arranging or origami and leave with your very own folded-paper crane—and compliments on your folding skills from a student visiting from our sister college in Tokyo.

Listen to one of our esteemed lecturers. Meet Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Marjane Satrapi when she reads from her bestselling book Persepolis. Brush up on your entrepreneurship skills—and learn about the pharmaceutical field—with Ellen Yankellow, Pharm.D., CEO and president of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services. Or ask Baltimore Museum of Art Director Doreen Bolger to describe opportunities for women as leaders in the art field.

Stop to talk to our students—a diverse, active and selfless group of inquisitive learners—and ask Jacky Bosworth ’08 how it feels to be a Fulbright finalist. She’d probably rather talk about the play she wrote that will be performed on campus at the end of April. Her classmate, Liz Knauer ’08, just learned her paper on Jude the Obscure will be published in the Hardy Review, which is edited at Yale University. If you have time, visit the Center for Service and Honor to hear how many homes students built on their alternative spring break trip to a Texas migrant town.

Stop by Knott Science Center and ask Dr. Joseph Di Rienzi, Ph.D., professor of physics, to display February’s lunar eclipse in the planetarium. Lean back in a cushioned theatre seat and admire the view through our new digitized equipment. Want to go further back in time? Dr. Di Rienzi will gladly set the equipment for another place and time… the Mediterranean, perhaps, to see the stars Homer admired while writing his legendary Odyssey.

Watch our sophomores carry glowing candles across campus during Notre Dame’s traditional Lantern Chain in the dusk of a May evening. Standing on the balcony of Meletia Hall—that elegant and historic residence hall—the seniors wait for them to arrive and listen as the sophomores sing a song dedicated to the senior class.

At College of Notre Dame, every day offers students opportunities for discovery. Supported by committed and invested professors, students pursue a personalized college experience. If you are curious about the Notre Dame experience, I invite you to explore our Web site—or visit our campus in person. Our students are creating memories and learning for life—even as they launch their personal and professional future.

Sincerely,
Mary Pat Seurkamp
President