The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture congratulates the 126 student Sorin Fellows who completed their studies at Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College in 2023. In all, 63 undergraduates and 63 graduate and professional Sorin Fellows participated in commencement ceremonies this year.
Among the undergraduate Sorin Fellows, 26 graduated with academic honors of cum laude or higher (3.783 G.P.A.), and 16 were accepted into national academic honors societies including Phi Beta Kappa (Arts & Letters), Nu Rho Psi (Neuroscience), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering), and Beta Alpha Psi (Business).
Natalie Christensen '23 was honored with the Patrick J. Niland, M.D. Award, given to "the preprofessional studies student who has demonstrated a high level of academic achievement, professionalism, and integrity," and Ana Reyes '23 was honored with the Wittenbach and Milani Award, given to accountancy majors "for outstanding service to the department, programs, and community."
Rachel Colligan '23 and Joshua Gilchrist '23 were among the 20 Notre Dame graduates receiving Fulbright Awards for 2023-24. Colligan will study global food systems at Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche in Pollenzo, Italy. Gilchrist will serve as an English teaching assistant in South Korea.
Among our Sorin Fellows in the Law School, Billy Eisenhauer NDLS '23 received the Colonel William J. Hoynes Award, the Law School's highest honor, given to a member of the graduating class for outstanding scholarship, application, deportment, and achievement. Eisenhauer, who was a research assistant for dCEC director Carter Snead, will clerk for Judge Amul Thapar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Ben Beaton of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Olivia Rogers NDLS '23 won the Dean Joseph O’Meara Award, presented annually to a member of the graduating class for outstanding academic achievement. Rogers will clerk for Judge Kevin Newsom on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, then for Judge David Stras of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Among the graduate fellows, Abigail Jorgensen, Ph.D. '23, who has been a Sorin Fellow since the early days of the program as an undergraduate, will begin a tenure-track position teaching sociology & healthcare ethics at Saint Louis University. Fr. Vincenz Heereman, L.C., Ph.D. '23 will teach theology at the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum in Rome.
Nine graduating members of the Class of 2023 will return to Notre Dame to pursue further studies. Three members of the class are entering into military service, two in the US Navy and one in the Air Force. Four are entering religious life with the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the Dominicans, the Jesuits, and Miles Christi. Two graduate Sorin Fellows, Mike Ryan, C.S.C. and Nik Guiney, C.S.C., will profess final vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross and be ordained as transitional deacons in September. Wedding bells will ring for at least nine Sorin Fellows over the next few months, including three couples where both are Sorin Fellow alumni.
The Sorin Fellows student formation program, now in its ninth year, provides Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Holy Cross College undergraduate and graduate students opportunities and resources to integrate their social, intellectual, and spiritual values in the context of their collegiate experience and in the discernment and pursuit of their vocations. More than 450 students participated in the program in 2022-2023. Learn more about the Sorin Fellows.