From an academic procession from the steps of the Main Building to a concert by a Grammy Award-winning musician and a dance of the field of Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame administration is preparing for a new chapter in its history with the inauguration of University President Fr. Robert Dowd.
The events will begin Wednesday, Sept. 11 with the inauguration picnic on Library Lawn from 5-8 p.m. The picnic, open to students, faculty, staff and families, will feature free food and live music. Because of the picnic, both dining halls will be closed for late lunch (2-4:30 p.m.) and dinner.
Junior class president Molly Swartz is serving on the student planning committee for the inauguration. Swartz said the picnic is reflective of the student planning committee's goals.
“[The picnic aims to make] all students feel welcome and proud of this big event for the University,” she said.
The majority of the planning for inauguration week was handled by the University administration, but the student planning committee, consisting of class presidents, the student body president, the student body vice president, the chief of the Student Union Board and two members of the Hall Presidents Council, was tasked with assisting to plan the student inaugural ball and other student engagement opportunities, Swartz said.
In an interview with The Observer, Dowd’s chief of staff, Ann Firth, declined to say how much the festivities would cost but emphasized the historic nature of Dowd’s inauguration.
“This is the first inauguration that we’ve had in 19 years,” Firth said, noting that other institutions have far more frequent turnover at the top. “I think that this is, in some ways, a historic celebration for us. It’s only the third time, as I'm sure you know, that Notre Dame has inaugurated a president. So I think it’s a historic milestone. I think this is not about necessarily making it grand, but rather making it reflect the values of the place, in terms of the breadth of Notre Dame’s impact, the breadth of the depth of our values, the importance of community.”
Firth noted that preparations for the event began basically as soon as Dowd was named Notre Dame’s 18th president last December.
Swartz said that a key example of the committee’s contributions was the inclusion of a diverse array of food trucks at Wednesday’s picnic. According to the inauguration website, these offerings include a taco tent, smoke house barbecue, a global foods tent, a dessert station and many local food trucks.
The committee also created a playlist for the inauguration events that accommodates a wide range of musical preferences.
The Notre Dame Forum’s inauguration speaker series will take place Thursday, Sept. 12. The forum will consist of four conversations between different global leaders, each centered around the Notre Dame Forum 2024-25 question, “What do we owe each other?”
Dowd will participate in the final conversation at 3:15 p.m., titled “Advancing Peace in a Fractured World,” with Joe Donnelly, former U.S. senator and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, and admiral Christopher W. Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Donnelly is teaching a course at Notre Dame this semester.
Friday’s events will begin with the inauguration mass at 10 a.m. Seating inside of the Basilica is reserved, but a covered seating area on Bond Quad will be available for those who would like to attend. The service will also be livestreamed.
At 1 p.m., students are invited to gather on DeBartolo Quad for a student rally featuring ice cream, lemonade and guest DJ Fr. Pete McCormick.
Students will proceed to Purcell Pavilion at 2:15 p.m. for the inauguration. The academic procession will begin at 2:20 p.m., following a reading of letters written by University founder, Fr. Edward Sorin, on the Main Building steps at 2:15 p.m. The convocation and inauguration ceremony will start at 2:45 p.m.
After the ceremony, Grammy award winning artist Jon Batiste will perform at Purcell Pavilion at 8 p.m. Free tickets for the concert were made available to members of the Notre Dame community in early August and have since been digitally distributed.
The Student Inaugural Ball will take place inside of Notre Dame Stadium from 9:30-11 p.m. and is open to all students.
“[The ball] is such a cool event because [the inauguration] is mostly catered towards the politics of the University, which means ensuring that the Board of Trustees feels included in the weekend, with national leaders flying in and church leaders from across the globe coming, but I think it’s really important that they remember that students are a big part of this too,” Swartz said. “Even though students aren’t invited to most of the actual inauguration events, this is a great way to include them.”
Notre Dame faculty and staff will assist with the inauguration’s service aspect — a Habitat for Humanity build in St. Joseph county — during the week of Sept. 16.
The Notre Dame chapter of Habitat for Humanity invited students to sign studs in Duncan Student Center from Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11. These studs will be turned into walls during the on-campus staff wall build and go into the homes during the week, shared chapter co-president Billy Bonnist.
Bonnist said the signatures were a great way to visualize the student body’s support for Dowd and the recipients of the Habitat for Humanity homes, who will see the walls as they help with construction.
“[Students were] really excited about the idea of their signatures living in St. Joseph County forever and proud that they made a small effort to contribute to our community here in the larger Notre Dame area,” Bonnist said.
Isa Sheikh contributed to this reporting.
