Irish Monthly No. 1 ☘️
Introducing a Notre Dame Newsletter for the Father Bob Era.
Greetings, Notre Damers. This is the first edition of Irish Monthly, a Notre Dame newsletter on the first of every month edited by me. This first edition is published exactly three months before Father Bob Dowd becomes Notre Dame’s 18th president.
PERSONAL NOTE. Father Bob was priest-in-residence during my two years living in St. Edward’s Hall, so naturally I’ve been asking my fellow Stedsmen to comment for next month’s edition.
SPOILER. So far, only the highest regard has been expressed for Father Dowd, which is how I remember him too.
My hope is to interview Father Bob when he’s in Washington this month for an event for members of the university’s President’s Circle of donors. Father Dowd and Father John Jenkins met in January with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, a story I scooped last week in Capitol Press, my newsletter on Congress.
CONTEXT. If you aren’t a subscriber, Fathers Jenkins and Dowd were among a steady stream of administrators from universities with large endowments inquiring with the Ways and Means Committees in the House and Senate about tax policy. More to follow when Congress returns to the Hill the week of April 8.
HIT ME UP. What’s your Father Bob story? Share your experiences with Notre Dame’s next president to editor@irishmonthly.com. I’ll feature the most compelling.
What Senators Are Saying About Notre Dame
Notre Dame’s media relations team did not provide any information about the Dowd/Jenkins visit to Capitol Hill, so I did some digging, especially in the Senate where I asked lawmakers about their relationship with Our Lady’s university. Here are some snippets of what they had to say —
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Have you ever been to ND? “No.”
Do you have any relationship with Notre Dame? “Nope.”
Chris Coons (D-DE)
“Go Irish,” said Coons, tapping a finger on the bill of my ND hat as I was getting off the elevator with another senator.
Thom Tillis (R-NC)
“I would like to meet with him,” said Tillis of Father Dowd, adding: “Only time I went to the campus was a football game. Because I grew up in Tennessee. So I'm a Tennessee Vols fan. We went there and beat them and you know what? The Notre Dame fans are not very friendly when you beat them.”
Tedd Budd (R-NC)
“Have I ever been to the campus? No. Never have,” said Budd, who said he’d not yet met with Father Dowd.
James Lankford (R-OK)
“They’re not even in the dance and you’re wearing the hat,” said Lankford, who said he had not yet met with Father Dowd.
Peter Welch (D-VT)
I’ve been asking your colleagues if you've ever been to Notre Dame or if you have any relationship school…? “I haven’t, but it’s a rival Catholic school,” said Welch who went to Holy Cross.
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Have you ever been to Notre Dame? “Yeah, it’s been a long time. I went to a football game there when I was a kid,” said Lee, who said he hadn’t met Father Dowd and was unaware of any big alumni event in April.
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
“I’ve visited but I don’t really have a relationship with them,” said Stabenow, Michigan’s senior senator, of Notre Dame.
Well that’s all I’ve got for you this month. Please like and subscribe to get the next edition of Irish Monthly free in your inbox on May 1. Until then, Vita, Dulcedo, Spes. And as always, GO IRISH.
— Pablo
Fr. Bob Dowd and I squared off in a 5-on-5 game at the Moreau Seminary basketball court in 2005. Players drove over in a couple cars; it was cold, we were lazy, or both. St. Ed's guys usually played at Rolfs, but jumped at Fr. Bob's offer to try a new court. He was gracious – "Uh oh; I've got a tough matchup" – and tenacious on defense: active feet, good positioning, and quick hands (but doesn't reach). He snagged several rebounds that defied my height advantage. On his team was a freshman who didn't look like much – maybe 5'11, goofy shoes, dad haircut – but was scoring at will. Layups in my grill. Pretty cocky, too. How the tables had turned! Three years prior, our all-freshman St. Ed's team won the B-division championship on the JACC center court (now Purcell Pavilion), toppling one squad after another of ill-equipped upperclassmen. Now it was me who'd lost a step (okay, several) to senior sloth. I don't know whether that freshman kept his edge or faced that familiar slide. But I hope he followed the example of Fr. Bob and is still ballin.