“How was your break?”

What we did while campus was on vacation, summer 2024

By University of Notre Dame

August 20^th, 2024

University photographers Barbara Johnston and Matt Cashore share a little of what they’ve photographed since the pomp and circumstance of Commencement came to a close.

We had a little work done . . .

Construction cranes, detours, and dirt piles were common sights as campus underwent improvements and updates over the summer.

Photos by Matt Cashore

May 22: Traffic on Angela Boulevard leaves streaks of light across the frame looking north on Notre Dame Avenue. The avenue was closed just south of campus for resurfacing and a new bike lane.

May 28: A large crane lifts materials for renovation work on the penthouse of the Hesburgh Library.

July 15: Demolition of Fisher Hall was underway. Two new residence halls will replace the 1950s-era Fisher and Pangborn Halls.

August 2: The chapel of Graham Hall, Notre Dame’s newest residence hall.

Not all the buzz on campus was construction

A bumblebee flies over a patch of wild bergamot at the designated “pollinator prairie,” where native plants and flowers were planted on the west side of campus near the WNDU building. Read the Notre Dame Magazine feature on the importance of protecting pollinators.

Photo by Barbara Johnston

A new (old) Washington Hall

Notre Dame’s 143-year-old theater closed for a major renovation after Commencement Weekend. The most visible part of that work will be re-creations of artwork originally painted by Luigi Gregori and Louis Rusca. The 1890s decor had been mostly covered up during remodeling work in the 1950s. Notre Dame Magazine is doing a multi-part story on the restoration and re-creations.

Photos by Barbara Johnston

July 12: Fine artist Inga Belozerova from Conrad Schmitt Studios paints the floral design inside the dome of Washington Hall.

June 18: A section of the original murals on the ceiling of Washington Hall.

July 9: Close-up of mural artist Oleksandr Lytvynenko’s paintbrush as he works on a 6-foot-tall canvas painting, which will go on a wall of Washington Hall.

In our nation’s capital

Fifteen educators representing dual-language Catholic schools from four states—Holy Cross School (South Bend, Indiana), Bishop McNamara (Joliet, Illinois), Archbishop Borders School (Baltimore, Maryland), and St. Matthew Catholic School (Phoenix, Arizona)—toured the nation’s capital to deepen their understanding of American history and civics. All the teachers are Latina, and most were born outside the United States.

Photos by Barbara Johnston

June 11: Magda Arguello from Holy Cross School in South Bend reads a quote engraved at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

June 10: Maria Rodriguez, who is from the Dominican Republic and is a teacher at Archbishop Borders School in Baltimore, takes a selfie at the Lincoln Memorial.

June 10: Teachers gaze up at the rotunda during a tour of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.

The faculty and staff kept busy on campus. Here are a few:

Photos by Barbara Johnston

Keeping campus beautiful

Karen Fulford is a custodian/traveler in Building Services who was featured in Seen@ND, an NDWorks feature on campus employees.

A missed Moon mission

Clive Neal, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences at Notre Dame and an expert in lunar exploration, was photographed in his office in Cushing Hall of Engineering on June 19. Neal spoke about NASA’s plans to cancel a lunar rover program.

Photo by Barbara Johnston

Entrepreneurship in action

Raymond Barbour, owner of Ko’s Port-a-Pit Barbecue, prepares smoked ribs under a tent at AutoZone on Western Avenue in South Bend on May 21. Barbour worked with Notre Dame’s McKenna Center Urban Poverty and Business Initiative.

Photo by Barbara Johnston

Cleaning up “forever chemicals”

Professor Gary Lamberti stands in Juday Creek in South Bend, Indiana. Lamberti is one of several researchers at Notre Dame tackling the problem of per- and polyflourinated alkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS. The researchers’ work was featured in a four-part series on PFAS.

The other football

Notre Dame Stadium hosted an international friendly football (soccer) match between Chelsea and Celtic on July 27.

Photo by Matt Cashore

Rafaella

Duncan Stroik, a professor in Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, and his wife, Ruth, commissioned an original ballet in memory of their daughter Rafaella. The Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend staged two performances in June. Notre Dame Magazine told the story of the ballet and the young woman who inspired it.