Reflections and Updates about the Year Ahead

Dear Students,

It is a joy to begin another academic year with you after what I hope was a wonderful summer. Whether you traveled home, abroad, or continued your studies at Notre Dame, I am thrilled to have seen so many of you over the last several days, and I look forward to meeting and reconnecting with others in the weeks ahead.

As is my practice at the start of each semester, I write to offer a few reflections, provide a few important updates, and extend an invitation to you as we embark on a new academic year together.

Last year, we reflected together on the theme of Belonging—a central part of our shared life at Notre Dame. This theme has deep roots in the Christian tradition, stretching back to the Old Testament with God’s invitation to His people to seek deeper communion with God and one another. Throughout Scripture and the early Church, Jesus and his followers extended this same invitation so that others might also experience the transformative power of God’s love.

To belong is to be seen, known, and loved—and to offer this same gift to others. It goes hand in hand with accompaniment, which involves meeting people where they are and walking with them toward who God is calling them to be. Ultimately, this journey is one of transformation in truth, and it’s an essential component of the holistic education students undertake at Notre Dame.

I’m grateful for the many conversations and insights that emerged from last year’s focus on belonging. Some came through formal channels, including focus groups and the Inclusive Campus Student Survey, while others emerged through informal discussions and impromptu gatherings. Regardless of the setting, each interaction made clear how deeply we desire to create a campus community where all students can find a true sense of belonging in support of our broader commitment to educating both the mind and heart.

Many of you are familiar with the work of Multicultural Student Programs and Services, the Gender Relations Center, and the Office of Student Enrichment. As a part of the larger Belonging and Engagement area within the Division of Student Affairs, these offices are committed to growing strategic partnerships with colleagues and students to help further cultivate students’ sense of belonging in our campus community. Housed on the second floor of the LaFortune Student Center and led by Executive Director Dr. Doug Thompson, these offices are intended to serve as a true catalyst and point of connection for all students to engage more fully with the University’s educational mission through various programs, resources, and leadership opportunities.

This year, I’m thrilled to share that the space occupied by these offices will be named the Sister Thea Bowman Center. Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman was a Black Catholic religious sister, teacher, musician, liturgist, and scholar known for her radiant joy, deep faith, and tireless commitment to unity in Christ. She also has deep ties to the University as the recipient of the Laetare Medal, the highest honor bestowed at Notre Dame. Our hope is that, like Sister Thea Bowman, the Center will serve as a space rooted in faith, connection, and conviction that inspires trust, reverence, and a true sense of belonging among all Notre Dame students for many years to come.

In the weeks ahead, we encourage students to participate in the opportunities to celebrate Sr. Thea’s life and legacy so that her witness may continue to inspire the Center’s mission and deepen your own belonging as members of the Notre Dame family.

It is in this spirit that I announce this year’s theme, Hope to Bring, which is rooted in the mission of the Congregation of Holy Cross whose Constitutions describe us as people “with hope to bring.” This hope is not simply optimism or wishful thinking—it is a theological virtue and a gift from God that sustains and guides us. True hope trusts in God’s presence and purpose and lifts us from discouragement, opening our hearts in expectation. Importantly, it also recognizes that even the crosses we carry can be signs and sources of hope.

In my own life, hope has been especially vital in moments of discernment—when I’ve asked not just what I want to do, but who I am called to become. This theme is particularly timely in light of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope and University President Rev. Bob Dowd’s selection of “Cultivating Hope” as the theme of this year’s Notre Dame Forum.

As we prepare for the year ahead, I invite us all to consider: What hope am I being called to bring? Whether it’s hope for a friend or colleague going through a difficult time; hope for a conversation marked by difference; or hope for a community in need of healing, please ask yourself, how are you being called to bring hope? Similarly, I invite you to ask: Am I open to receiving hope from others? By receiving and extending hope, we help shape the kind of community described above—where each person finds belonging and an anchoring during their time at Our Lady’s University.

My friends, people of hope don’t have all the answers, and we don’t know that everything will “work out,” or at least not in the ways we often expect. Still, we anchor ourselves in God’s promise and providence, trusting God is present even—and especially—in uncertainty. Hope invites us to keep asking, growing, and choosing love, especially when it’s hard.

Let us be people who carry hope with quiet courage and deep faith. May our lives, imperfect as they are, become signs of God’s faithful presence.

Ave Crux, Spes Unica. Hail the Cross, our only hope.

Sincerely in Notre Dame,

 

Fr. Gerry Olinger, C.S.C.
Vice President for Student Affairs