Since the death of Fr. Theodore Hesburgh on Thursday night, the Notre Dame community has honored him with various tributes around campus, spontaneous and planned. We have collected some of those moments here.
March 1
10 a.m. — University President Emeritus Fr. Edward “Monk” Malloy celebrates Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and reflects on Fr. Hesburgh’s legacy in the homily. The Liturgical choir led a rendition of the Alma Mater in Hesburgh’s honor at the end of the Mass.
9:33 a.m. — The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team unveiled the patches it will wear to honor Fr. Hesburgh in its Sunday afternoon game against Duke.
Feb. 28
1 p.m. — The No. 2 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team observed a moment of silence in honor of Fr. Hesburgh before its game against Dartmouth in Loftus Sports Center. The team also wore “Fr. Ted” stickers on its helmets.
“If you look at the history of Notre Dame, Knute Rockne made Notre Dame famous, and Fr. Ted took that and made Notre Dame a great university,” Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said.
All day — The American flag in the middle of South Quad flies at half staff.
Feb. 27
9:45 p.m. — Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra played the Notre Dame Alma Mater in honor of Fr. Ted following its concert Friday night.
“Notre Dame lost her greatest son,” orchestra director Daniel Stowe said.
7:00 p.m. — Fr. Ted was honored by the hockey team before its game against No. 9 Boston College at Compton Family Ice Arena with a moment of silence and a video tribute, in addition to “Fr. Ted” stickers on the Irish helmets.
“I had no idea when I first started here what kind of man we had with us here on campus,” Irish coach Jeff Jackson said.
7:00 p.m. — The 85th annual Bengal Bouts Tournament remembered Fr. Hesburgh with a moment of silence and a 10-bell salute while his picture was put up on the video boards.
5:27 p.m. — Senior Associate Athletics Director John Heisler sent out an email to the Notre Dame football media list reading, “Beginning today, Notre Dame athletic teams will wear 'Fr. Ted' patches or stickers on some combination of their uniforms, warm-ups or helmets. Moments of silence will be observed prior to home events in each of Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports. In the near future, there will be commemorative signage created for each Notre Dame home athletic venue — to be featured either on the field or court itself or displayed elsewhere at the facility.”
3:28 p.m. — The Notre Dame softball team announced through its Twitter account that players would wear black ribbons in their hair during two games against No. 20 Missouri and Georgetown “in honor of the late Father Theodore.”
3:00 p.m. — A bouquet of flowers sits in the snow at the feet of the Fr. Hesburgh statue in front of the “Word of Life” mural on the south face of Hesburgh Library.
11:00 a.m. — Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins held a press conference to reflect on Fr. Hesburgh’s influence on the University and to provide details about the schedule for the upcoming days.
“Next to Fr. Sorin, no one had a greater impact on this University,” Jenkins said. “Notre Dame lost a piece of its heart last night. But Fr. Ted lives on.”
At first light — The Notre Dame Grounds Crew began putting up Hesburgh banners on light poles across campus.
Throughout the night — Notre Dame students, faculty and community members gathered at the Grotto to remember Fr. Ted. Candles spelling out “TED” were arranged on one of the racks, and some people sang the Alma Mater.
1:07 a.m. — The Observer tweeted out the news Fr. Theodore Hesburgh died at the age of 97, confirmed by a University spokesperson.
