Each year, a dedicated group of Notre Dame students works to provide a unique and colorful design for the following football season's much-anticipated The Shirt.
The Shirt committee chooses the color of The Shirt, designs the logo, selects the quote and unveils the finishe d product the night before the annual Blue-Gold game.
This year's The Shirt committee will select a president after candidates interview Oct. 6 and 7.
Last year's president, senior Lauren Marzouca, said leading The Shirt committee was the most influential opportunity she has had while at Notre Dame.
"While [it] was stressful occasionally, I had such a great committee to help me that I would do it again in a heartbeat," she said. "Before becoming president, I did not appreciate and value cooperative teamwork as I should have."
Marzouca said the time commitment to The Shirt varies depending on the position a student is selected for.
"President is a big time commitment in October because you don't have a committee to help, and you need to get a lot of the logistics settled for the process of selecting a shirt supplier," she said.
She said a typical week for the president, after the committee is chosen, consists of checking The Shirt email account, leading weekly meetings, meeting with the project advisor and sometimes the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore manager.
While the president has numerous weekly tasks, Marzouca said committee members' jobs and time commitments range.
"Most committee members' positions are like this: there are periods of activity interspersed with times when your only job is to show up for one weekly meeting to talk about The Shirt design," she said.
While working on The Shirt can be stressful at times, Marzouca said there are definite perks. Committee members get free shirts, and sometimes, the committee gets to tour the factory where The Shirt is made, Marzouca said.
The biggest perk for Marzouca came when she and the other members of The Shirt committee got to present a preview of The Shirt to head football coach Brian Kelly.
"Brian Kelly has always been really supportive of our project, and meeting him was definitely one of the highlights of my ND experience," she said.
Over the years, The Shirt design process has evolved — Marzouca said last year was no different.
"Last year we took a new approach and designed The Shirt 2011 in one meeting," she said. "We sat down and hashed out the details while our wonderful graphic designer worked her magic on Photoshop."
Marzouca said color is always picked first, followed by the rest of the design.
"Last year our [committee] slogan was ‘new Shirt, same tradition,'" she said. "We used this because The Shirt was a slightly different color [than before}, but we felt that the design and quote made it feel very traditional."
Marzouca said students interested in becoming president must send in their application by midnight on Oct. 3 to The Shirt website, theshirt.nd.edu.
Students who receive an interview for the position of president will be notified Oct. 4, and interviews will take place on Oct. 6 and 7.
Marzouca said after a president is selected, committee applications will be posted to The Shirt website, and then applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted.
"Usually there are five to 10 committee members, and anywhere from 20 to 50 people applying depending on the year," she said.
