University-Wide Priorities
While the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign will elevate a variety of niche areas on campus—including individual departments, research programs, and centers and institutes—some of its most compelling priorities are those that will enrich the experience of every member of the Notre Dame family.
Chief among these are the scholarships and fellowships that will help the University to attract a more accomplished and diverse student body than ever before by ensuring that the most capable students are able to select Notre Dame based on their talent and desire—and not on their finances.
Other priorities in this category will protect and enhance the residential traditions so integral to the Notre Dame experience; help the libraries to keep pace with expanding curricula and an explosion of digital information; enrich the campus arts scene; and, last but certainly not least, support the students, teams, and facilities that give shape to the spirited traditions of Fighting Irish Athletics.
Memorial Gift Funds New Softball Stadium
On April 28, ground was broken for a new women’s softball stadium. Melissa Cook Stadium is being constructed on the southeast corner of campus, near Eck Baseball Stadium.
One of several Department of Athletics priorities for the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign, the stadium is the result of a generous $3 million gift from Linda and Paul Demo, the parents of Melissa Cook.
Cook, a 1994 Notre Dame alumna, was one of four people killed in March 2002 when a section of scaffolding fell from the John Hancock Center onto traffic in downtown Chicago. Cook’s cousin, Jill Nelson, also died in the accident.
The families of those who died and were injured reached a settlement with the skyscraper’s owners and other companies named in a joint lawsuit. The Demos have devoted much of their portion of the settlement as a gift to Notre Dame and to the Melissa Cook Memorial Foundation, established to provide scholarship assistance to students from northwest Indiana.
Raised in Merrillville, Indiana, Cook played for the Fighting Irish softball team in 1991 and ’92, at second base, shortstop, and catcher. She led the team in triples as a freshman and earned a monogram. An accountancy major, she earned a bachelor’s degree and was the controller for the Teamsters Union Local 786 at the time of her death.
“The groundbreaking of Melissa Cook Stadium is one of the most exciting days in Notre Dame softball history,” said head coach Deanna Gumpf. “The stadium represents the future of our program and the legacy of one of our own.”
What does the Spirit of Notre Dame mean to you?
Share what the spirit means to you
Meagan Fitzpatrick ‘06
Baltimore, Maryland
“It can be embodied in one memory: January 2006. Father Jenkins opened the discussion on academic freedom and Catholic character, and students responded to his invitation with respect, intelligence and, most important, passion. That afternoon, Washington Hall teemed with young men and women grappling with the issues. It was Notre Dame at its best: people willing to ask hard questions, take a stand, speak their minds, and listen. You could almost hear Father Hesburgh’s words whispering from the walls…‘Here is where the Catholic Church does its thinking.' ”
View more stories | Share Your Story
Supporting the Spirit
What does the Spirit of Notre Dame mean to you?
Campaign Progress Report