This Friday, Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan becomes the seventh of the nine sitting Supreme Court justices to visit Notre Dame since 2008. On Thursday, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón spoke at Saint Mary’s.
As the semester moves forward and responsibilities pile up, the thought of committing free time to anything that’s not assigned or a form of blowing off steam can sound outlandish.
But when you take a step back, the tri-campus offers us opportunities that we’d be hard-pressed to find just about anywhere else. In a span of just two days — in addition to one of the most highly anticipated college football games of the season — a sitting Supreme Court justice and one of the most famous poets in the nation are speaking here.
Notre Dame’s history of commencement speakers further illustrates this trend. The University has had more U.S. presidents serve as commencement speakers than any other university besides the service academies. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Barack Obama. The list speaks for itself.
How does the tri-campus attract such high-profile speakers? There are a number of possible reasons: academic prestige, the sense of community, the Catholic identity or some combination of these factors..
What we do know is there aren’t a whole lot of opportunities in our lifetimes to have a steady flow of incredible speakers and professors come right into our backyard. It’s on us to take advantage of these opportunities and make their time worthwhile.
Sure, two prominent speakers are here this week. But there are impressive figures most of us have never even heard of visiting campus all the time — some even teaching on campus.
Former President of Colombia and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Juan Manuel Santos taught in the Keough School last fall. Juan Sebastian Chamorro, who was detained by the Nicaraguan government after running for president against the current authoritarian regime led by Daniel Ortega, is a Kellogg Institute professor this fall. Judge Amul Thapar, who was on the shortlist for the 2018 Supreme Court vacancy, is currently teaching a one-credit course in the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government.
This is not to say you’re missing out if your professors haven’t won Nobel Peace Prizes. Many of the tri-campus’s professors on campus are extremely accomplished within their own field. Get to know your professors. Go to office hours and talk to them. Chances are they have some unique stories to share.
Just as we’ve chosen to call the tri-campus home, our professors have too. For a short time, the speakers who visit campus also choose the tri-campus. It’s easy to get bogged down in work and just blindly power through the semester. Take this as a reminder to make the most of your short time here. You never know what doors might open.
Leading voices of our time are visiting the tri-campus. Don’t miss out.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks during the Tocqueville Lecture at Leighton Concert Hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
