Trevor Noah and Alexis Ohanian will speak during Idea Week 2020, the University announced in a press release Tuesday.
Noah is a comedian and the host of the “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. Ohanian is the co-founder of Reddit, a social news website.
Idea Week will now also feature the Fighting Irish Esports Invitational — Notre Dame’s first official esports tournament, which will take place in an all-in-one area folding out from a semi-truck.
The week will take place April 19-25. Noah will perform April 19 at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, and Ohanian will deliver a keynote address on April 23 at the Renaissance District in downtown South Bend. The esports tournament will be held on Notre Dame’s campus April 23-24.
Idea Week, described by the release as an “annual gathering celebrating entrepreneurs, innovation and the incubation of new ideas,” will also include a performance by the band One Republic.
“Fun events like Trevor Noah, One Republic and the esports tournament are partly designed to act as magnets for students and the general public so they can hear this important message, while interesting and educational keynotes from entrepreneurs like Alexis Ohanian of Reddit are designed to amplify it,” Bryan Ritchie, vice president and the Cathy and John Martin Associate Provost for Innovation at Notre Dame, said in the release.
Noah’s show on Comedy Central has received two 2019 Emmy nominations, and he has written and starred in a total of eight comedy specials. He is the author of the No. 1 bestseller “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood,” and he created the Trevor Noah Foundation, “a youth development initiative that enhances youth preparedness for higher education or entry into the workforce,” the release said.
Under Ohanian’s leadership, Reddit recently passed Facebook in number of visitors — it is now the third most popular internet destination for users in the United States, according to the release. Ohanian has also founded Initialized Capital, a seed-stage venture fund, and has written a nationally bestselling book.
Tickets for Noah’s show go on sale Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. They cost $25 for college students and between $45 and $95 for members of the general public.
