Tag: Rev. John Jenkins

Notre Dame president tests positive for COVID-19 before inauguration

Tough news for the head man.

2024 marks a new era for Notre Dame in the form of a new president, the [autotag]Rev. Robert Dowd[/autotag]. It’s way too early to tell exactly what impact he’ll have on the university, but hopefully, it mostly will be for the better, both for athletics and otherwise.

However, Dowd is human, and we’re not far removed from COVID-19 upending everyone’s way of life. Even with the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, the disease very much remains out there, and it can affect anyone at any time. Notre Dame’s previous president, the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag], tested positive for it during the pandemic.

Unfortunately for Dowd, he has tested positive for the disease, and the timing for it couldn’t have been worse:

The good news is that earlier this year, CDC guidelines relaxed the isolation period to 24 hours from the previous five days. So it’s not like Dowd will have to miss his inauguration bonanza altogether. Still, it’s a reminder that the real world can and will inject itself into pageantry whenever it feels like it.

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Rev. Robert Dowd officially begins tenure as Notre Dame president

Best of luck to Father Bob.

June has begun and so has a new era in Notre Dame’s long history. The [autotag]Rev. Robert Dowd[/autotag] officially has succeeded the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag] as the 18th president in the university’s history. Dowd, affectionately known as Father Bob, was greeted appropriately on social media:

Dowd’s time as president comes at a very interesting time in the university’s history. In March, [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag] took over the athletic department for [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag]. That’s two big changes for the university in only a few months.

This also is happening at a time when college football is at a crossroads with the advent of NIL and the expanded College Football Playoff. For most of Notre Dame’s other sports, the future of the ACC somewhat is concerning as it risks being swallowed by the new super conferences in the SEC and Big Ten.

The problem for Dowd and Bevacqua is how to navigate Notre Dame through all these changes that are coming faster than anyone keep up. As long as wins come, Irish fans will be happy. They need to recognize that.

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The High Kings perform at 2024 Notre Dame commencement ceremony

Take a music break.

Another academic year at Notre Dame has come to an end. Naturally, the year couldn’t reach its official conclusion without the annual commencement ceremony at Notre Dame Stadium.

The 2024 ceremony brought a special conclusion besides some parting words from the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag], the university’s outgoing president. After all the speeches were given and diplomas were disbursed, the High Kings, an Irish folk band, provided a little entertainment.

The group performed three songs, including Notre Dame, Our Mother and a new song dedicated the university entitled Glorio (For Notre Dame). Here’s the performance in its entirety:

Is it out of the realm of possibility that a new Notre Dame anthem has been born? Everything one could want in a song dedicated to the university is right there, and the university would be out of its mind not to fully embrace it.

We’ll see if Glorio has a serious life at Notre Dame beyond this ceremony. Until then, congratulations to the Class of 2024!

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Notre Dame fencing team member Spencer Vermeule killed in car accident

Awful news.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame fencing program is in mourning after losing one of its own. Sophomore [autotag]Spencer Vermeule[/autotag], who was on the 2023 national championship team, died Saturday after the Audi A3 he was driving hit a tree and flipped over in Elkhart County. He was pronounced dead at the accident’s scene, and an investigation is continuing.

Notre Dame’s president, the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag], released the following statement:

“We are deeply saddened by Spencer’s tragic death. On behalf of the entire Notre Dame community, I extend our deepest sympathies to the Vermeule family, and offer prayers of comfort and peace to Spencer’s family, friends and all who knew and loved him.”

A moment for silence for Vermeuhle was planned before the women’s basketball team’s sold-out home finale against Louisville at Purcell Pavilion. We at Fighting Irish Wire join Notre Dame in offering our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.

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Rev. Robert Dowd elected as Notre Dame’s 18th president

The future is near.

The Notre Dame community now knows who will lead the university when the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag] retires after the current academic year. The [autotag]Rev. Robert Dowd[/autotag] has been elected as the 18th president in the university’s history. He will take over for Jenkins on July 1.

Dowd originally is from Michigan City, which is about 40 miles west of campus. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame in 1987 and, after being ordained a priest in 1994, served as part of campus ministry. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member of the political science department.

Jack Brennan, the head of the university’s board of trustees, said the following:

“We are thrilled that Father Dowd will be Notre Dame’s next leader. His character and intellect, along with his broad academic and administrative experience and his deep commitment to Notre Dame, make him an ideal person to lead the University into the future. Since its founding, Notre Dame has been led by a priest-president from the Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious order to which Father Sorin, the University’s founder, belonged. The University has had only three presidents in the last 70 years, each exceptional in their own right – Father Jenkins, Father Edward Malloy, C.S.C., and Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. Father Dowd continues in this rich tradition.”

Dowd, meanwhile, said this:

“I am deeply humbled and honored by the Board’s decision. We can all be grateful for Father Jenkins’ selfless and courageous leadership for almost two decades. Working together with others, his efforts have positioned the University extremely well in every way. We will build on those efforts. Informed by our Catholic mission, we will work together so that Notre Dame is an ever-greater engine of insight, innovation and impact, addressing society’s greatest challenges and helping young people to realize their potential for good.”

Here’s to much success for Dowd and the university once he assumes the reins.

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Rev. John Jenkins to step down as Notre Dame president

A major change is coming to the university.

There soon will be a change in leadership at Notre Dame. The university’s president, the Rev. John Jenkins, has announced that the 2023-24 academic year will be his last at the helm. Jenkins, who has been Notre Dame’s president since 2005, will remain at the university as a teacher and minister.

Jenkins released the following statement:

“Serving as president of Notre Dame for me, as a Holy Cross priest, has been both a privilege and a calling. While I am proud of the accomplishments of past years, I am above all grateful for the Trustees, benefactors, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends who made them possible. There is much to celebrate now, but I believe Notre Dame’s best years lie ahead.”

Board of Trustees chair John J. Brennan said the following:

“Notre Dame is and has been incredibly blessed by Father Jenkins’ courageous and visionary leadership. Together with the remarkable leadership team he has assembled, he has devoted himself to advancing the University and its mission, fulfilling the promise he made when he was inaugurated – to work collaboratively to build a great Catholic university for the 21st century. This is an extraordinarily exciting time for Notre Dame, and we are confident that the next leader will take the University to even greater heights of accomplishment.”

Here are some images of Jenkins at Notre Dame over the years:

Will Notre Dame ever be able to attract five-star recruits again?

Irish fans have to have this question on their mind.

During my junior year of high school, the math team won the state championship in what some might consider unusual fashion. In the state competition, the team placed first in only one event. But a bunch of second-place finishes put the team over the top. It was a proud moment for the school.

But college football doesn’t allow the same cushion as high school math competitions. You need to finish first in several races to have any real shot at a national championship. Not the least of those races is for five-star recruits. And Notre Dame is far behind the sport’s best in that area.

Irish fans are smarting over five-star defensive tackle recruit Justin Scott picking Ohio State when Notre Dame seemed to be in the running. It wasn’t only that this happened or that Scott fit the profile of many past Irish signees. It was that it was the latest in a long list of five-star recruits to snub the program.

The numbers speak for themselves, and they don’t speak kindly about the Irish. Ohio State and Georgia’s 2024 recruiting classes have four and three five-star commits, respectively. Three more await the Bulldogs in their 2025 class. Going back to the 2014 class, the Irish have had two: [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylen Sneed[/autotag].

So to recap, two programs that are in college football’s top tier have more five-star commits for 2024 than every Irish recruiting class spanning a decade combined. Florida has equaled that number for 2024. While there are several reasons the Irish haven’t been able to crack that top tier, this one has to be at or near the top of the list.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s worth questioning when or if the Irish will attract a bunch of college football’s top recruits again. We know they have plenty of three- and four-star recruits, but those only will take you so far if you want to win a national championship. Eventually, you need to either get a regular piece of that five-star pie or develop your own players to be on that level. The Irish don’t have a recent track record of doing either.

Whether the Irish can get to that next level and stay there could depend on getting out of their own way. That means abandoning many of the things that the university seems resistant to. Particularly, will it choose to play ball in the NIL era, and will it relax its stringent academic requirements to some degree? As dirty as it sounds to Notre Dame, it might be the only way to end the national championship drought.

The pressure will be on [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag] and the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag] to produce results before too long. They can go about business as usual and hope for the best, or they can follow the rest of college football’s top dogs so the program doesn’t get left behind. The choice sounds easy for us outsiders, but as we know all too well, Notre Dame often has caught up too late or not at all. When it comes to five-star recruiting, it would be better late than never.

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Marcus Freeman ‘was in complete shock’ about Jack Swarbrick news

What was your reaction to the news?

When [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] announced that he would depart as Notre Dame athletic director in 2024, [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] didn’t expect it. In fact, that would be putting it mildly. In a discussion with NDInsider.com, Freeman was asked whether he knew the news was coming, and he said the following:

“No, I didn’t know (in advance). I knew at some point Jack Swarbrick was going to say, ‘This is it.’ And he’s told me that and (Notre Dame President) Father John (Jenkins) has told me at some point (in) this thing, ‘Hey, we’re getting to the end of our time here at Notre Dame.”

Freeman then added:

“I just did not expect it to be last week when we had this conversation. I was in complete shock.”

Freeman also said a few other things about Swarbrick, but you get the idea. Hopefully, after Swarbrick’s departure, he’ll have a good relationship with incoming athletic director [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag]. Perhaps then, he’ll be able to do everything he wants with the program and more. That’s not necessarily to say Swarbrick doesn’t do that, but there’s at least the hope that Bevacqua will give his coaches a little more freedom.

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Mike Brey, Cormac Ryan, Marcus Hammond speak after Notre Dame loss

Read some final words summing up the season and a whole era of Irish basketball.

Notre Dame’s 67-64 loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament signaled the end of an era. Yes, it means [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s days as Irish coach are over, but it also means the end for many players on the roster, especially rotational players. Two of them are [autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] and [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag], players who didn’t begin their collegiate careers with the Irish but were the most impactful in Brey’s final game for the program. That allowed them to come out with Brey for the season’s last postgame news conference.

Hammond and Ryan sat next to Brey as he, among other things, called out the officials for a late lengthy review that ultimately resulted in a dead-ball technical for [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] that might have affected the game’s outcome. This came as the Irish were about to shoot their own free throws in a close contest. Brey has called out ACC officials before, and he apparently decided to do it one more time on his way out.

Here is what the Irish trio said after the game:

Notre Dame fans replying to Jenkins’ MSU tweet should be ashamed

Is football all some people think about?

Once again, the nation finds itself in mourning over a school shooting, this one at Michigan State.

As of this writing, three students are dead and five are in critical condition after being wounded. In an act of solidarity, the Grotto on Notre Dame’s campus has candles spelling out Michigan State’s initials. The university’s president, the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag], tweeted a photo of the arrangement at the Grotto along with a message for those in East Lansing:

Unfortunately, too many Irish football fans took the tweet as an opportunity to bash Jenkins, athletic director [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] and the university as a whole for not paying up to get Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. With Ludwig staying where he is, Irish fans were infuriated, and they decided to vent.

We will not post any of the replies here, but let’s just say a lot of them don’t know how to read a room.

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