Yesterday the University of Notre Dame gave back to the South Bend community in their second annual "CommUniversity Day" -- as more than 700 Notre Dame students volunteered to work on 40 projects throughout the city. There were also activities on the Notre Dame campus for the community. See the South Bend Tribune story:
Katie, a senior from Gary, IN was selected as Notre Dame's Class of 2010 Valedictorian. In 161 years of graduating students, Washington is the first African American to receive this honor at Notre Dame. A 4.0 GPA in Biology, Washington will pursue a M.D./Ph. D degree from John Hopkins University. Congratulations Katie! Here's a link to the story:
The cover says he throws the "perfect spiral." I'm sure he, his family and his agent hopes he throws well tomorrow morning at his NFL Pro Day. Here's a link to an interview on ESPN.com with Clausen -- and what he does to throw the perfect spiral -- click on the link below.
Former Notre Dame QB, Jimmy Clausen, will have his "Pro Day" workout for NFL teams tomorrow morning at the University of Notre Dame. Representatives of every NFL team are expected to be on campus tomorrow to see Clausen throw for the first time since his off season foot surgery. Jimmy will be throwing to a few of his former teammates; Golden Tate, Robby Parris, James Aldridge and David Grimes. If you'd like to watch it LIVE -- you can at www.und.com. Here's a link to where you can watch his workout -- it begins at 11:30 AM, Friday April 9th. Good Luck Jimmy!
His work received some publicity today when ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach wrote about Brian Kelly's purchase of a print entitled "Original Fighting Irish." The artist is none other than ND Alum; Revere La Noue. Revere was a former ND Lacrosse player and a large piece from his "Original Fighting Irish Print Series" is hanging in Arlotta Stadium (the new home of the ND Lacrosse program) at Notre Dame. La Noue's latest work is a series devoted to the unknown history of the college mascot. Here's a link to his website:
Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly -- has this painting hanging in his office. The print is entitled "Original Fighting Irish" and it's the work of former ND Lacrosse player; Revere La Noue -- an award winning artist. ESPN.com reporter, Mark Schlabach penned this article today on the changes Coach Kelly is making to the "habits" of Notre Dame football -- click on the link below. You can also click on the link to a YouTube video that shows the actual steps involved in the painting of the Original Fighting Irish.
Jordan Prestwood, a 6'-6" 270 lb. student athlete out of Plant City, FL held a press conference Monday afternoon, at his high school, to announce his commitment to the University of Notre Dame. Prestwood, chose the Irish over schools such as; Florida, USC, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, etc. He played TE for the majority of his junior season -- leading many schools to recruit him at that position. The Irish have other plans for Jordan -- and he's in agreement that his best position will be at the offensive tackle position in college. Prestwood is the second commitment from the Class of 2011 -- as high school athletes continue to commit earlier and earlier. Here's some info on Jordan:
Notre Dame Professors Dan Hungerman and Kasey Buckles have been studying the economic impact of when you were born -- and have determined that if you are born in the winter months you are going to have lower wages and less education than most. Pretty controversial -- watch it for yourself:
Former Notre Dame All-American, Adrian Dantley is currently the interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets -- while head coach George Karl deals with his cancer treatments. Dantley has been an assistant for the Nuggets for the past four seasons. The Nuggets are 9 - 7 since Karl had to leave the bench to deal with his neck and throat cancer.
Notre Dame senior, Ashley Barlow, competed last night in the State Farm Three-Point contest in Indianapolis -- finishing in second place to University of Detroit's Bridig Mulroy. Mulroy was the NCAA leader this season in three pointers made, with a .515 shooting percentage. Barlow scored 19 points in the first round to Mulroy's 20 -- and in the Finals, Barlow went first and struggled, scoring only 11 points. Mulroy surpassed Barlow with one rack of balls to go.
Coach Kelly announced yesterday that his football players would not be playing Bookstore Basketball this year -- meaning the defending champions "Hallelujah Holla Back" (Dayne Crist and Jonas Gray) will not be able to "re-peat." Kelly made it very clear that his players need to concentrate on football this spring. Probably a good idea! Coach Kelly said he would revisit this subject again next year. Games start this Saturday.
Irish Senior, Ashley Barlow will be competing this evening at the 22nd Annual State Farm Slam Dunk and Three Point Championships at the site of this weekend's Final Four -- in her hometown of Indianapolis. Ashley, won't be dunking -- but, she will be competing in the three-point competition against seven of the top shooters in the country. The competition is taking place inside the Indiana Convention Center (adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium - where the Final Four will be played) at 7 PM EST. ESPN will be televising the event on a "tape-delayed" basis at 9 PM EST tonight. Good Luck Ashley!
A plane carrying Notre Dame Head Football Coach Knute Rockne - crashed on this date, 79 years ago. Ironically, Rockne was on his way to participate in the filming of a movie called "The Spirit of Notre Dame" -- which just happens to be the name of Notre Dame's current development campaign. The plane crashed in a wheat field near the town of Bazaar, Kansas -- killing all eight people on board.
The University of Notre Dame's NonProfit Professional Development announced today that it would begin providing executive training to the YMCA's senior leadership this August -- at Notre Dame's executive classroom space in Chicago. The YMCA joins other service organizations such as; Volunteers of America, Catholic Charities USA and National Human Services Assembly -- who have sought executive training from Notre Dame.
In a move to accommodate more people at graduation -- the University of Notre Dame is moving Commencement, for the first time, to Notre Dame Stadium. The renovation of Purcell Pavillion left the arena with about 1,000 fewer seats, thus the need to move to a larger venue. This morning, Notre Dame announced the eight who would be receiving Honorary Degrees from the University. Here's a link to the story:
The University of Notre Dame's Psychology Department is working with "social robots" in their work with children with Autism. Here's a story released yesterday by Notre Dame concerning their work in this area. Click on link:
No, its not a prototype for a "George Jetson" dorm room at Notre Dame -- it's a 9,000 square foot classroom in Stinson-Remick Hall. It's the new home for some of Notre Dame's most advanced research projects. Click on the link to the story:
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame hit the Lumbar Practice Fields for the first time yesterday under the direction of new Head Coach, Brian Kelly. One of the changes Kelly has brought to the Irish program is you "can't take your helmet off" during practice. It's all part of the discipline and attention to detail that Kelly felt our football program was lacking. Yesterday's practice was the first of fifteen (including April 24th's Blue & Gold Game) that the NCAA allows for Spring Practice. If you'd like to see some free video online of the Irish's practice -- click on the link below:
In an annual survey of more than 3,000 parents of college applicants by the Princeton Review, when asked "what dream college do you wish your child could attend if acceptance or cost weren't issues?" -- the University of Notre Dame was ranked the "seventh most dreamiest University in America." In last year's survey -- Notre Dame was ranked fourth, which leads me to think high school parents must have had some "nightmares" these past twelve months!!! To see the list of the "top ten" -- click on this link: