Football, Catholics, and Prejudice
The year 1924, when Grantland Rice penned his famous lede—“Outlined against a blue, gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again”—wasn’t the birth of Notre Dame football, but it was the moment when the University learned to leverage its gridiron fame for a greater purpose. A Hesburgh…
The year 1924, when Grantland Rice penned his famous lede—“Outlined against a blue, gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again”—wasn’t the birth of Notre Dame football, but it was the moment when the University learned to leverage its gridiron fame for a greater purpose.
A Hesburgh Libraries multimedia exhibit, Notre Dame Football Kills Prejudice, employs archival materials to explore how University leaders harnessed the unprecedented popularity of the 1924 football team to combat bigotry and promote a more inclusive America.
The University Archives’ senior archivist for graphic materials, Elizabeth Hogan, and Greg Bond, sports archivist and curator of the Joyce Sports Research Collection, teamed up to curate the exhibit.
Latest University News
- Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, to receive 2025 Laetare MedalKerry Alys Robinson, the president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities USA, has been selected to receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2025 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 180th University Commencement Ceremony on May 18 (Sunday).
- U.S. Ambassador to the EU visits Notre Dame as second Nanovic Forum Diplomat in ResidenceMark Gitenstein, U.S. ambassador to the European Union (2022-25), will join the University of Notre Dame between March 22 and April 4 as the Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, part of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
- Opponents, exonerees to take part in inaugural Death Penalty Abolition Week at Notre DameNotre Dame Law School will host Death Penalty Abolition Week from Monday to Thursday (March 24 to 27) at the University of Notre Dame, featuring a series of talks from exonerees and opponents of the death penalty.
- Acclaimed scholar and author Danielle Allen to speak at Notre Dame Forum eventDanielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor and director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard University, will deliver a public talk as part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum at 4 p.m. March 27 in McKenna Hall, Rooms 215/216, and via livestream.
- Brandon E. Roach appointed vice president and Robert K. Johnson General CounselUniversity of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., announced that Brandon E. Roach has been appointed vice president and Robert K. Johnson General Counsel effective June 1. Roach’s appointment follows an extensive national search.
- Adm. Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to deliver Notre Dame’s 2025 Commencement addressAdm. Christopher Grady, the Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the principal speaker and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 180th University Commencement Ceremony on May 18, Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., announced today. Grady, currently serving as the 12th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer, graduated from Notre Dame in 1984 and received his commission through Notre Dame’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.
