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

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INotre Dame ' s efflorescence has been one of the most spectacular developments in higher education in the last twenty five years. I suspect that Notre Dame has done more than any other institution in this period, possibly because there was more to do. Robert Hutchins One hundred and twenty five years after its founding in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is the outstanding Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States. Al- though this is by no means obvious to all, Notre Dame is unquestionably at the forefront of Catholic education, and its president, Father Hesburgh, has been instrumental in gain- ing for Notre Dame this position. Prior to the appointment of Father Cavanaugh to the presidency in 1948, however, there was little to indicate the academic prominence that Notre Dame now enjoys. Liter- ally molded by the disciplined hand of its founder, Father Sorin, Notre Dame was a typically self-centered Catholic institution, in possession of all the truth worth knowing, and oblivious to events occurring outside of its narrow constructs. While part of this was due to a mission mentality on the part of the University ' s constituents, much of the parochial atmosphere resulted from institutional exigen- cies; Notre Dame was, quite simply, a financially poor university, and merely keeping the doors open was an all-embracing task. Until 1913, Notre Dame slept quietly by its two lakes. Then by virtue of an upset victory over Army ' s football team, the university was formally introduced to the academic and social world. Under the aegis of Rockne, football be- came a national institution and Notre Dame a national university. Although far from a scholarly activity, football provided the only reliable source of income in the university ' s history, thereby indirectly aiding its academic pursuits. But football does not make a great university, and for most of its history, this was Notre Dame ' s greatest contribution to American life. While the accomplishments of Fathers Nieuwland and Zahm have been endlessly touted, academic accomplishment was obvious- ly not Notre Dame ' s forte. In the early 50 ' s, Father Cavanaugh convinced a conservative alumni and clergy that academic proficiency is necessary to a university. His activity provided a firm foun- dation for Father Hesburgh ' s extraordinary remolding of Notre Dame ' s football image into that of a respected academic institution.