We only are a few days into the [autotag]Rev. Robert Dowd[/autotag]’s tenure as Notre Dame’s 18th president. He’ll be confronted with many challenges out of the gate and many more in the years to come.
One issue that is starting out complicated and only figures to get more so is the changing landscape of college athletics. In a profile piece about Dowd for Notre Dame Magazine, one excerpt shows his thoughts on this very subject:
“Dowd has been a Notre Dame football fan since childhood, attending all games when he’s on campus. He’s closely following the myriad changes in college athletics. ‘That’s becoming a wild and ever-shifting landscape,’ he says.
‘I want to make it perfectly clear that we’re going to do our best to maintain integrity,’ he says. Notre Dame is foremost an academic institution, but at the same time aims to compete at the highest level on the athletic field. ‘And I really think to do both is the Notre Dame way.’
‘Ultimately, finally, we want to do what’s best for our student-athletes and what’s best for the University,’ Dowd says.”
So there you have it. The question now becomes how he and new athletic director [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag] plan to keep Notre Dame competitive athletically to the point where a few more national championships can be added. Irish fans who are hungry for a winner will be eager to find out.
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