Questions? Ask a current student

<p>I’m pretty liberal, but I’m interested in Notre Dame because of Mendoza, the football, architecture, proximity to home, and I know a couple current students. Just how conservative is Notre Dame? I’ve heard they don’t admit gays or allow GSA clubs, students held up cardboard chopped baby feet at Obama’s commencement speech, Notre Dame doesn’t let very liberal speakers come to Notre Dame, etc. I’ve researched it a little bit and seem to be finding that while Notre Dame still tends to be very conservative, it is becoming more and more progressive.</p>

<p>Any insight would be helpful.</p>

<p>I hope it doesn’t get any more progressive or liberal & they stick to their conservative Catholic roots. They are my reach school for transferring for Fall 2014.</p>

<p>Soccerox – I don’t want to highjack the thread, but a lot of what you heard is exaggeration . . . . The student body tends to middle of the road, certainly gay students are admitted (though the practice of any pre-marital sex, heterosexual or otherwise, violates the code of conduct) and this year, the school did recognize an official student organization which supports GLBT students and issues. There were graphic protests (blood strewn baby carriages on campus) when Pres Obama spoke at graduation, but many of those protests were not student protests. </p>

<p>At the same time, the school itself is often politically conservative, in large part because the strict Catholic view dominates issues involving abortion, gay rights, birth control etc. The historical commitment to social justice Catholicism remains, it is just less well-publicized. There remain incredible people doing great work. Visit and see for yourself whether it is right for you.</p>

<p>I’m actually visiting this week! How liberal/conservative a school is actually not at all a big priority in my choice…I had just heard some disturbing things about Notre Dame. I’m glad you cleared things up. Thank you!</p>

<p>soccer – have a good visit, and do talk to students, here and on campus, to get the actual student experience. I am just a parent who knows a bunch of ND students.</p>

<p>Soccerox, I consider myself a fairly liberal, non-Catholic Christian and I’m fine at Notre Dame. Yes, many of the students you will encounter are fairly conservative (and in my opinion a few are close-minded, but I digress…), but ultimately it’s not as extreme as your original post portrayed it. There are certainly gay students in the student body and the 4 to 5 movement is rapidly growing and gaining popularity. There are many more progressive people than you might be led to believe. Notre Dame is indeed changing/becoming more progressive and is not as conservative as it may have been in the 70’s or earlier, but it is true that the majority of the people you will encounter are conservative.</p>

<p>A couple of things - President Obama actually won the student wide election in 2008. Also, I have attended a couple of Notre Dame Democratic club events. While I am not actively involved in the club, it’s a great place to find and connect with people like yourself. Do not worry, if ND is right for you, you will soon find that you love this place regardless of these other things.</p>

<p>Finally, you will find that the majority of the extreme conservative individuals that associate themselves with ND are older alums who are against much of the changes that have occurred in the past twenty years. It’s the students, however, who influence your experience at ND, not the alums.</p>

<p>soccercox: I have just a few points to add beyond what others have said.</p>

<p>On the topic of gay students, one of my closest friends is an openly gay man who was dating another man from ND last year. He is very active in the different LGBTQ clubs on campus, one of which was just recognized as a university sanctioned club last year. While the university is required to take an anti-gay marriage stance because of its Catholic affiliation, it is by no means anti-gay people. In fact, there is now a mandatory activity for freshmen where they watch a video about accepting LGB students with the other freshmen from their dorms and then they have small group discussions about what they can do to show kindness to LGB students.</p>

<p>On the issue of not having liberal speakers: Idk about speakers, but one of my professors last year was extremely liberal. And I am pretty sure there are many other professors like him.</p>

<p>As far as the student population goes, I think conservatives are definitely the majority, but there are also plenty of liberals. And, more importantly, I don’t think there are all that many close-minded, in your face conservatives. There was a student last year who wrote an extremely conservative editorial about gay marriage, and he received some pretty heavy backlash for some of the content of his editorial.</p>

<p>A school with exclusive single-sex housing and requires religious studies through its curriculum will appeal to a far different applicant than a school with exclusive co-ed bathrooms and bans religious groups from campus. </p>

<p>I think it is reasonable to assume that the former group will tend to be more conservative than the latter group.</p>

<p>Hello! My name is Becky and I’m currently trying to decide whether ND is for me! I was just accepted as a transfer student a few days ago and I’ll be visiting the campus this upcoming Monday. I had a question about life on campus.</p>

<p>I’m female, hispanic, kinda dorky, and not very religious. A lot of people make Notre Dame sound like a safe haven for upper middle class, religious, white kids and it’s kind of making me feel… alone? GAH! I’m not racist I swear! I like a campus with students that are different from me, but I would also like to know that I’m not completely alone on campus. So what I wanted to know is what life is like for a minority like myself? Are there clubs for hispanics and latinos? Is the student body really not that diverse? Will I stick out like a sore thumb?</p>

<p>Of course I’ll get a feel for the campus in a few days, but I would like to know what it’s like during the fall-spring academic year.</p>

<p>Chimikins, you’ll actually be surprised that there a lot of Latinos on campus - they are the largest group of minority students. A lot of them hang out, have a great time, and there are definitely clubs that would interest you. While you said you’re not religious, if you are interested, there is even a Spanish Mass held in one of the dorms weekly. While diversity may not be one of ND’s strengths, the people are nearly all friendly and you’ll fit in the ND family in no time.</p>

<p>Does Badin Hall have triples these days?</p>

<p>I know that a lot of the dorms do not allow lofts any more, but what about dorms like st. Ed’s and Sorin?</p>

<p>I abaolutely loved my visit to Notre Dame! I visited for a good day and a half and was impressed the entire time.</p>

<p>By the way, I’m not gay, I just brought the topic up to get a feel for how liberal the campus was.</p>

<p>Anyway, I visited Northwestern, UChicago, ND, Oberlin, Valpo, and Baldwin Wallace this week and definitely liked Notre Dame the best.</p>

<p>What do ND students do when they want to go off campus and do something fun? Chicago is a bit far away and it is a tedious train ride? Isn’t ND a bit isolated?</p>

<p>If you really want to get off campus to do anything, there are cabs you can call to come get you and take you and your friends wherever you need to go. ND also has the zipcar program so if you don’t want to pay for a cab, you can rent a car on campus as well. The town of Mishawaka is less than a 5-10 min drive from campus and has movie theaters, a bowling alley, go karting, a mall, and bunch of restaurants to choose from. Getting to Chicago isn’t too terrible either. My freshman year roommate went many times over the course of the fall and spring semesters and never really found it a hassel to get there.</p>

<p>To be honest, I don’t find myself having to go off campus regularly. I always found that there was something on campus to do. The university realizes that ND isn’t located in the most lively city so clubs and organizations will try to host a variety of events to keep things interesting. This plus all the sporting events going on, you’ll never really have a chance to be bored. Hope this helped!</p>

<p>Yes this helped!! I’m applying this fall and I was worried about what attractions are close by & things to do off campus.</p>

<p>Is it easier to be admitted if you’re catholic?</p>

<p>I don’t think they really consider religion at all when making admission decisions. They want smart, motivated, kind people who hold many different types of beliefs.</p>

<p>I know St Eds allows lofts but I’m not sure about Sorin. If you’re an incoming freshman, check your dorm’s website for specific information.</p>

<p>Hey Irishfan 8, have you been able to get many opportunities for research as a SCBUS major? (ps I’ve tried messaging you but apparently I haven’t been a CC member long enough to have that privilege. )</p>