On Monday morning, before Saint Mary’s Raise Your Voice Symposium, the Center for Faith, Action, and Ministry (CFAM) partnered with the Title IX Office to hold a prayer service in honor of the late Saint Mary’s student Lizzy Seeberg and all students who have experienced sexual assault.
Seeberg was a freshman in 2010 when she filed a police report alleging that Prince Shembo, a Notre Dame football player, sexually assaulted her within the first few weeks of her fall semester. After making the report, Seeberg received threats from Notre Dame football players and their friends to discourage her from moving forward with an investigation. On Sept. 10, 2010, a week and a half after the report was filed, Seeberg died by suicide.
“I think it's important for me to not allow our campus community to forget Lizzy and her story, as it's one that I see in so many students on our campus, and I never want someone's story to end the way that Lizzy’s did. I think it's really important to continue to talk about her and remember her and honor her,” Title IX officer Liz Baumann said.
Students and faculty gathered in Seeberg’s memorial garden outside of Riedinger House. Seeberg’s family donated funds to build the garden after her passing in her honor. The service began at 10:30 a.m. with an opening prayer from assistant director for justice and solidarity Sarah Neitz.
“We pray for all who have experienced sexual violence, that they know the healing mercy of God who binds up all our wounds and enfolds us in gentle care,” Neitz prayed.
Director of CFAM Nicole Labadie read aloud a Bible passage on the story of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth. A short reflection given by Baumann connected the passage with the prayer service and talked about her connection with Seeberg’s story.
“Lizzy’s story is one that greatly impacted me in 2010 and continues to even more so. Growing up just across the state line, this national news was personal for me. I, too, was a first-year college student, having just moved to my own campus in rural Ohio when the news of Lizzy's death broke … I felt immediately drawn to Lizzy and her experience,” Baumann said.
Baumann continued to emphasize the importance of believing survivors of sexual assault and knowing how to respond accordingly.
“So many survivors of sexual violence never report to their school or law enforcement, and this is largely due to the types of responses they receive from friends and family,” Baumann said. “Knowing how to respond to disclosures of sexual violence is critical, because a negative response can worsen trauma and foster an environment where perpetrators face no consequences for their actions. It is our responsibility to stop this cycle of silence by improving our personal and professional responses.”
Afterwards, those in attendance participated in praying a psalm and a universal prayer of petitions. After the closing prayer, participants placed carnations of various colors next to Seeberg's plaque in the center of the garden while singing the hymn, "Let There Be Peace on Earth."
Neitz, who helped plan and participated in the prayer service, learned of Seeberg's story recently and was inspired to spread awareness for resources made available to survivors of sexual assault.
“We need to be able to address these issues in community. We can't do it alone, and we can't ask people who've experienced it to go at it alone. It makes me feel a strong surge of needing to make sure that we come together as a community to address sexual violence,” Neitz said.
Junior Ally Krause, a student who attended the prayer service and is a student advisory committee member for the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO), felt it was important to attend for herself and show support to other survivors.
“As a survivor myself, remembering Lizzy in this way really speaks to my heart, especially during Holy Week. I feel that it's an important way to kind of reconnect with other survivors who came before me,” Krause said.
In reference to the wide variety of prior events associated with the 2025 Raise Your Voice Symposium, Neitz was optimistic that this prayer service acted as a moment of refocusing and reflection for faculty and staff.
“I hope that they feel empowered and strengthened to be able to participate in a day full of tough conversations where we're really focusing on some of these tough realities, but also having a sense of hope that that by attending to this, we're able to provide better support and better empower and believe survivors,” Neitz said.
