University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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academic orientation. The national prom- inence its football teams have enjoyed since the famous Army game of 1913 has undoubtedly succeeded in attracting benefactors; and the reputation attached to Notre Dame as the pre-eminent Cath- olic institution of learning has drawn the affection of countless nuns and parish priests and devoted Catholics. Founded by a French priest on land bought from dispossessed Indians, Notre Dame has long been identified by both sportscasters and students as the Irish. The tension involved in the nomenclature

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and the history are a reflection of the vitality and the struggle still evident in the growth and development of the University. The role of the university, Father Hesburgh has often said, is that of the mediator he has also said that for it to deserve its existence it must be a wild and dynamic place. Mediation, cross- roads, dialogue, communication and commu- nity are all terms especially relevant in the post-conciliar Catholic world in which the old certainties of hierarchy and order are just now being jolted by the lately realized impact of the technical and cybernetic revolution. And at the same time that automation is ex- panding into the education area, a new sense of individual responsibility and freedom is likewise developing. Without ever avowedly striving for it, Notre Dame has become a geographical cross- roads. Its student body represents all but one of the fifty states, and some fifty-five other nations primarily the countries of Latin America and Africa. And yet the diversity of the student body is undercut by the other ele- ments which emerge from a statistical study of its composition: nearly all white, middle class, and heavily over 95 per cent Cath- olic. And despite efforts by both students and the office of admissions, this pattern does not seem likely to be altered in the foreseeable fu- ture. Nor do other patterns appear likely to be changed soon. Football, on a national scale, will continue to be part of Notre Dame. The social impact of a football weekend will not soon be a forgotten relic. Residential living on campus does not seem likely to lose its prominence at Notre Dame. The prospects for additional living space with- in the next decade appear somewhat better than at any time during the last five years. Plans for graduate accomodations are already developed, and consideration is being given to more undergraduate residences. But what could be an elimination of overcrowded con- ditions seems to be vitiated by the other an- nounced intention in building new dorms: bring back onto the campus the students who live in South Bend. The tradition of government in the name of a student ' s parents has in effect long been discarded by the University; its rules are now promulgated for the sake of good order. And yet the pattern of fiat remains, without the students ' participation in decisions that direct- ly affect the conduct of their lives. Other instances can be cited : and yet Notre Dame continues to produce loyal alumni and generally sympathetic students. That it can continue to do so is attributable to the high calibre of its academic achievements. Emerging from the war years, Notre Dame had little more than a two million dollar en- dowment (even so, the largest of any Catholic school) and a faculty of some three hundred. The growth in physical plant since 1945 signi- fies the explosive development of the school.