Moments on campus
From the changing built environment to the changing seasons, every one of the 365 days of 2025 looked different. Notre Dame photographers have to be ready when the lightning strikes—sometimes literally!
February 12: A camera flash illuminates snow falling near the Main Building.
(Photo by Michael Caterina)
September 19: University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., blesses the redesigned main circle, renamed the Notre Dame Circle, a new landmark on campus marking the 50th anniversary of the admission of undergraduate women and the contributions of Notre Dame’s women students and graduates.
(Photo by Matt Cashore)
April 2: Lightning strikes in the distance behind the Dome and Basilica.
August 13: The sun shines on the The Word of Life mural, commonly known as “Touchdown Jesus,” on the Hesburgh Library.
November 4: A squirrel eats near fall foliage.
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Catholic community
“This effort to educate students and conduct research at the highest level animated by a distinctive Catholic mission is one of the most exciting and consequential experiments in global higher education.”—Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework
April 11: The Golden Dome is visible through a stained-glass window in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
April 17: Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
April 21: Rev. Pete McCormick, C.S.C., assistant vice president of Campus Ministry, celebrates an Easter evening Mass for students in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
May 8: A group of students gather around a phone to watch the first statement by newly elected Pope Leo XIV. In November, University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., had a private audience with Pope Leo.
April 27: Rev. Aaron Morris, C.S.C., celebrates the Graham Family Hall Sunday night Mass. He was ordained a priest the previous day.
Student life
From first steps on campus to preparing for future careers, Notre Dame nurtures the formation of mind, body, and spirit in and out of the classroom.
August 22: Dalton Smart helps his daughter Martha Smart hang lights in Pasquerilla East during move-in day.
August 25: Students make their way through DeBartolo Hall on the first day of classes of the fall semester.
September 11: Participants run the stairs in Notre Dame Stadium for the annual ND110 event. ND110 is a fundraiser organized by Duncan Hall that honors the first responders who responded to the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Participants climb 110 flights of stairs in Notre Dame Stadium to experience the physical toll faced by the first responders in the twin towers in New York City.
(Photo by Ethan Fredrickson)
April 10: The Notre Dame Dance Company Spring Showcase at Washington Hall.
April 16: The Notre Dame Army ROTC Fightin’ Irish Battalion marches in the 2025 Pass in Review ceremony on South Quad. Notre Dame’s Army ROTC won the 7th Brigade General Douglas MacArthur Award, which goes to the nation’s top Army ROTC programs.
Research and discovery
Notre Dame is fighting for advancements in knowledge to benefit humanity both in and out of laboratories, while also taking time to make research and science accessible and fun.
March 13: A petri dish in a McCourtney Hall lab.
March 21: Kate Biberdorf, College of Science teaching professor and professor for public understanding of science, popularly known as Kate the Chemist, gives a demonstration at Chem Fest on the Library Lawn. Her demonstrations use fire and explosions to engage and entertain while highlighting the groundbreaking science happening on campus.
October 24: Curtis Whittaker, pastor of Progressive Community Church in Gary, Indiana, leads participants in the Institute for Social Concerns Graduate Institute for Engaged Teaching and Research as they walk from a food handling and storage facility run by the church. The Graduate Institute is a three-day seminar over fall break for graduate students across several disciplines to meet and talk to different organizations in the area to learn more about community-engaged research.
September 4: A portrait of David Richter, the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Environmental Fluid Dynamics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Richter’s research into better hurricane forecasting was featured in the What Would You Fight For? series.
November 16: Ryan Sensenig, professor of the practice in biological sciences, directs a controlled burn at the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF) near campus. Sensenig’s research includes fire ecology in grasslands and prairie lands.
Sports spectaculars
Sports bring out the excellence and teamwork from student-athletes in Notre Dame’s 26 NCAA Division I teams, and also in band members, cheerleaders, and participants in intramural sports.
September 13: The Notre Dame Marching Band forms a cross and anchors—the Congregation of Holy Cross seal—as four US Marine Corps helicopters fly over Notre Dame Stadium during pregame ceremonies before the first home football game of the season.
April 12: Chris Kavanagh (50) scores against Virginia during a men’s lacrosse game.
November 23: Interhall flag football women’s B division championship game between Breen-Phillips Hall and Welsh Family Hall in Notre Dame Stadium.
October 3: Women’s basketball guard Hannah Hidalgo celebrates winning with Team Shamrock City during the Irish Jam at Eddy Street Commons.
November 22: Running back Jeremiyah Love makes a heart with his hands to celebrate a touchdown against Syracuse at Notre Dame Stadium. Love set a new single-season program record for touchdowns with 21. He won the 2025 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the best running back in college football, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
Best wishes in 2026!
© 2026 University of Notre Dame
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