<p>If legacy were all about the money, my son would not be part of the Class of 2009. In fact, were it not for the U.S. Navy, which pays his tuition as an ROTC student, my son would not be part of the Class of 2009. </p>
<p>I am part of the little-known group called Screaming Edge of Broke Domers, having chosen to use a lot of time time and talent in volunteer positions in my parish and community. We have a roof over our head and live a middle class lifestyle, and that's about it. In other words, we won't be donating a wing.</p>
<p>I graduated from ND in 1984 (which will put me on the same Reunion cycle with my son, thereby enabling me to prove that I really am cool after all, as were all my friends <g>). I was, by the way, not a legacy, either. What I've come to conclude is that the legacy factor is not about cash, but about family appreciation for a place different than any other.</g></p>
<p>We're the broke Domers who stay in the dorms for a week in the summer because it is a cheap vacation. My son got in. There is another family in our community that is absurdly wealthy and quite prolific in sharing it with the university. Their son did not get in. My son also scored a 34 on his ACT and had a "chances"-type list as long as any I've seen. Sort of ticks him off, in fact, when it's implied he got in on his mother's coattails. (Not so much, though, that he's not happy to be there.)</p>
<p>As I see it, there are two main things admissions is trying to determine. One, does the applicant meet the basic criteria to be deemed capable of handling the university workload and making it on campus. The admissions office itself will tell you there are many, many applicants turned away who are capable of being ND students. In a situation like that, where there is an abundance of high quality applicants, Notre Dame, like other elite universities, has the luxury of of applying even more criteria. Some schools, like Harvard, strive for diversity of race, ethnicity, religion, geographic, demographic, etc.</p>
<p>Notre Dame, I think, strives to find students who will, to steal an old political buzz phrase "get it." There is more to the place than its academics or football. There is a mission to the university that pulsates through its very being, one that includes, but is not limited to, its uniquely Catholic identity. Legacies are simply kids who have grown up with more insight into what Notre Dame is and what it means than people who have not had such exposure.</p>
<p>In our case, my daughter, now a hs senior, also wants to go to ND. I'm not super keen on her being so far away. I have no idea how on earth we'll pay for it, if she gets in. She has a strong profile and is a good candidate for admission, but there are other universities which are willing to make it an easy financial decision for us. And yet, knowing now that she genuinely wants this from her life, I want it for her. Because I know what is up there; I know what values form the undercurrent of Notre Dame. They mesh with hers, and with ours. I will not go into the details, but the caring concern shown by the priests in my son's dorm when my father-in-law died and he couldn't get back for the funeral was amazing. The role of faith is open there.
It's the kind of environment I want my kids to be in, and I say that with my eyes open to all aspects of the place, warts and all.</p>
<p>The more legacies are part of the incoming class (they don't lower the standards for them, just give them the benefit of the doubt in tie-breaker situations), the more likely the mission and value set of the university will continue and prosper from generation to generation in an increasingly secular world; one in which most Catholic universities have long since shed their religious identities.</p>
<p>There are always critics out there, wanting to take a whack at the Dome. I disregard them. My guess is that, were I to talk at length with any of these people who right such things, I'd find that the viewpoint of what ND is would be just one of many areas of polite disagreements. Notre Dame meshes with my values and my family's values.</p>