A chance Mother’s Day encounter with a Jewish alumnus of Notre Dame provided Cardinal Timothy Dolan, principal speaker at the 168th University Commencement Ceremony, with the inspiration for his address: The proud graduate revealed to Cardinal Dolan the “secret” that makes Notre Dame great. (Watch Video)

“‘It’s not the library, as first-rate as it is. It’s not the professors and the courses, as stellar as they are. It’s not the campus, as enchanting as it is, or even the football team, as legendary as it is, or even the magnificent service projects,’” Cardinal Dolan told the graduates.

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The University of Notre Dame’s Graduate School recognized 438 master’s and 213 doctoral degree recipients and presented several awards during Commencement ceremonies Saturday (May 17) in the Compton Family Ice Arena.

Nathan O. Hatch, president of Wake Forest University and formerly provost and the Andrew V. Tackes Professor of History at Notre Dame, delivered the Commencement address.

Hatch focused on the themes of curiosity and grit in his remarks.

“This morning I want to leave you with two simple messages, the first about intellectual curiosity and the importance of learning as an end in itself; the second, about what scholars are now calling ‘grit’ or resilience,” he said.

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Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president emeritus, who celebrates his 96th birthday May 25, will himself be celebrated three days earlier at a special reception in the U.S. Capitol.

A reception hosted by John A. Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, will be held May 22 (Wednesday) beginning at 3 p.m. in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol. All members of Congress, both House and Senate, have been invited to the reception, at which both Boehner and Pelosi are expected to make remarks.

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The Fulbright Exchange Program, Churchill and Clarendon and other national organizations have awarded postgraduate scholarships and fellowships to seven members of the University of Notre Dame’s Class of 2013.

The University’s Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement helps students find appropriate fellowships, navigate the application process, write robust proposals and personal statements, and prepare for interviews.

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The University of Notre Dame’s International Studies office has announced that it will offer three new opportunities for study abroad in South Korea, Spain and Switzerland in spring 2014.

Notre Dame and Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, will begin a bilateral exchange program in the spring 2014 semester. Open to undergraduates in all majors, the program does not require knowledge of the Korean language, since its courses will be taught in English. Available courses will include Korean language, Korean studies, business and economics, politics, sociology, engineering, sciences and human ecology.

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To ensure that postdoctoral scholars in the early stages of their careers receive necessary resources, training, mentoring and comprehensive professional development support, the University of Notre Dame is forming an Office of Postdoctoral Scholars. The newly formed office will be administered through the Graduate School and is slated to open July 1.

Postdoctoral scholars are researchers who have received their Ph.D.s and who are undertaking additional training before assuming their professional careers, be it in the academy, industry, government or nonprofit setting. There currently are 271 postdoctoral scholars at Notre Dame.

Building on a foundation put in place by the Office of Research — which formerly managed the appointments of postdoctoral scholars — the new office will consolidate services and provide additional professional development training and resources that will allow postdocs to flourish both at Notre Dame and beyond in their careers.

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With the help of a group of University of Notre Dame undergraduate students, children from the Robinson Community Learning Center worked together to publish a book of their stories and artwork.

Called “Every Child Has a Story,” the self-published children’s book features three stories and drawings that were created by the RCLC students, all between the ages of 7 and 11.

In spring 2011, a group of about 10 undergraduates from Notre Dame’s Student International Business Council decided to create and market a book with the students from the RCLC that could provide continued income to the center. Many of the Notre Dame students in the group, working as the Global Development section of the SIBC, volunteered at the Robinson Center and saw an opportunity to help develop the children’s literacy and creativity skills.

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The University of Notre Dame, in cooperation with St. Joseph County, has installed a new type of traffic signal that has been proven to increase pedestrian safety when crossing the street. The new signal is known as a “HAWK” signal, an acronym that stands for high-intensity activated crosswalk.

The HAWK signal has been installed near the intersection of Twyckenham Drive and Vaness Street, the first of its kind in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. HAWK signals were developed by the city of Tucson, Ariz., in 2004. They have since been installed by many other states and in Washington, D.C.

By installing the HAWK signal, the University is bringing proven technology to the campus area to enhance pedestrian safety. Studies have shown that more than 90 percent of motorists properly yield to pedestrians in crosswalks using HAWK signal. The HAWK signal at Twyckenham Drive is replacing a traditional pedestrian crossing. It will be more effective at increasing motorist awareness of pedestrians in the crosswalk.

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In one of his earliest public addresses, at an audience for journalists, Pope Francis spoke of how, immediately following his election, an old friend and fellow churchman had embraced him, urging, “don’t forget the poor.” The new pope said that he subsequently chose as namesake the saint “who wanted a poor church,” and concluded his remarks by exclaiming, “Ah, how I would like a church that is poor and is for the poor!”

Pope Francis’ words were invoked early on during the Indiana Catholic Poverty Summit at the University of Notre Dame last month, and the paradox of Catholic doctrine — the imperative to alleviate the poverty we encounter in others while trying to become poor ourselves — was appreciable in the gathering.

Having heard nation- and statewide overviews of the worsening plight of the poor and the increasing inadequacy of communal response, the summit participants received more intimate views of urban and rural Indiana poverty from diocesan social workers at work in Evansville, Tell City and South Bend before breaking into five respective diocesan groups to discuss the use of education, advocacy, service and prayer in battling Indiana poverty.

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Two members of the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees were elected Fellows of the University, three individuals were elected to the Board, and three Board members were elected to emeritus status May 3.

Rev. José E. Ahumada F., C.S.C., and John J. Brennan were elected Fellows, filling the vacancies left by Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., and Patrick F. McCartan, both of whom reached retirement age and were elected emeritus members of the Board.

Father Ahumada is the rector of Saint George’s College, a 2,600-student Congregation of Holy Cross primary and secondary school in Santiago, Chile, and the president of a consortium of more than 70 private schools on the east side of Santiago. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Notre Dame and graduate degrees from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., and the Catholic University of Chile. He was ordained a priest in 1983.

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