The University of Notre Dame’s Division of Student Affairs recently awarded scholarships for the 2024-25 academic year to six junior undergraduate students in recognition of their demonstrated leadership on campus and beyond.

After reviewing nominations from across campus, a selection committee composed of representatives from Student Affairs and the academy awarded Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarships to Allison Caffrey, Collette Doyle, Amir Khouzam and Caroline McCaffrey and Hipp-Beeler Leadership Scholarships to Diane Musabese and Frances Ubogu.

Each scholarship is designed to recognize and provide additional resources to students who display exemplary leadership qualities and pursue a holistic education that strengthens mind and heart. The criteria for these scholarships include demonstrated leadership in residence hall programs, spiritual activities, community service, student government, student activities, entrepreneurial projects, interhall sports or any combination of these or other activities in the area of student life.

Established by Mike Harper in 1995, the Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship encourages recipients to develop leadership qualities similar to those of Lou Holtz, a former head football coach at Notre Dame.

Allison Caffrey, a business analytics major from Carmel, Indiana, was recognized for her work on behalf of Student Government’s Gender Relations Center. In her role focused on Title IX and women’s initiatives, Caffrey led efforts to recognize Notre Dame’s 50th anniversary of the admission of undergraduate women. She also served as vice president of her residence hall, where she reinstituted the hall’s annual wheelchair basketball event and raised more than $1,500 for River City Challenged Athletes Inc., a South Bend wheelchair basketball league and disability advocacy group.

Collette Doyle, a political science major with a supplemental major in theology from Chicago, was also awarded a Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship for her outstanding work as the chief of staff in Student Government’s Executive Cabinet. In this position, Doyle supervised 24 department leaders and oversaw several signature initiatives. She also collaborated with the Office of the President to facilitate projects around two major events: the Notre Dame Forum and Walk the Walk Week.

Amir Khouzam, an Arabic and neuroscience and behavior major from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, earned a Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship for his active involvement in student organizations that reflect his passions of faith, music and mentorship. He holds a variety of on-campus leadership roles, including president of the Music is Medicine Club, vice president of the Arabic Club and director of faith for Student Government. Khouzam also mentors other students through the Neuroscience Mentor Program, Sorin Scholars, and his residence hall’s St. André Committee and Brother’s Keeper faith-sharing group. He is a member of the Christians of the Middle East club, and serves as the co-chair of the student-led discussion program for the popular first-year philosophy course God and the Good Life.

Caroline McCaffrey, a neuroscience and behavior major from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, received a Lou Holtz Leadership Scholarship for the leadership she has demonstrated as president of her residence hall and as a devoted volunteer in the community. The neuroscience and behavior major organized several events alongside fellow hall residents to assist area families, including a toy drive and a pancake breakfast that raised more than $5,000 for a local food bank. As she lives out her compassionate care in medicine minor, McCaffrey regularly volunteers at Beacon Children’s Hospital and is a member of Notre Dame’s Compassionate Care in Medicine Club.

Established in 1992 by Student Government, the Hipp-Beeler Scholarship honors student-athletes Colleen Hipp and Meghan Beeler, who died when their team’s bus crashed while returning home from a competition.

Diane Musabese, a mechanical engineering major, was recognized with a Hipp-Beeler Scholarship for her work to improve career development opportunities on behalf of international students such as herself. After facing difficulty finding engineering internships that accept students without U.S. citizenship, Musabese dedicated time as a student worker in the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development to elevate similar opportunities for her peers. The junior from Nyagatare, Rwanda, highlighted these opportunities through a biweekly newsletter written for all engineering students and by developing workshop and panel opportunities. Musabese is also an active member of the Notre Dame chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the African Student Association.

Frances Ubogu, of Lagos, Nigeria, was awarded a Hipp-Beeler Scholarship for her commitment to improving campus life for all students. A biological sciences major, Ubogu led a team of students to develop communication strategies to increase awareness about Speak Up, an online reporting tool for incidents of bias, discrimination and harassment. She also co-chaired The Plunge, a retreat for first-year Black students, and was a continual presence at the University’s Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion during its inaugural year. Elsewhere on campus, Ubogu helps conduct cancer research in the Schafer Lab, and is an active participant in the student groups Dance Africa, Shades of Ebony, Black Cultural Arts Council and the African Student Association.