Dear Reader,
Last fall an alumnus called and asked us to make sure he would continue to receive the magazine. We assured him alumni receive the magazine free for life. Well, he said, a few years ago he had told us to stop sending it — that he and Notre Dame were parting company.
But this past fall, when the football team came to his town, he had reluctantly attended a local club event. “There were some real good people there,” he said, and the goodwill and camaraderie reminded him of the sense of community he had known — before he let differences get in the way. He missed the magazine, he said, and he missed how it kept him close to the place.
We liked hearing that. We know quite well there can be differences among 150,000 readers educated to think for themselves. We don’t mind diversity of opinion or outlook; we respect differences. But we also celebrate how very much we have in common. We treasure the shared experiences that constitute Notre Dame and the fundamental values which unify us.
Notre Dame Magazine offers a safe place to grapple with differences. It provides readers and storytellers a path toward common ground as they explore life’s meanings and mysteries. It encourages conversations among alums engaged in the world around them. And it plays an integral role in helping the University be a voice for good.
We want the magazine to bring us together and to move that vision forward. But we need your help to do this. The need is real; your contributions make this magazine possible. So we ask for a gift of $30. Any donation to the magazine is applied to the annual contribution necessary for the football ticket lottery, and gifts of any amount are appreciated.
This year, in appreciation of gifts of $52 or more, we will send donors a print of “Sunrise at Notre Dame,” a view from the west across St. Mary’s Lake created specifically for this purpose by Texas artist Cap Pannell.
Each year that I have made this appeal as editor the need seems to be increasingly necessary — and your generosity ever more greatly appreciated.
Yours in Notre Dame,
Kerry Temple
To donate, click here.