Walk the Walk Week 2022

Join us at Purcell Pavilion for a top-25 ranked matchup between Notre Dame women’s basketball and North Carolina. The event is part of Athletic's year-long celebration of the 75^th Anniversary of Black Student-Athletes. In-game festivities include a halftime recognition of faculty and staff members who have championed our campus community efforts and helped move the needle locally in diversity and inclusion, along with a special video showing the success of the athletic department's StaNDtogether initiative. In addition, our women’s hoop team will be wearing throwback warmup shirts from the 1980s in honor of Trena Keys, the first black women’s basketball player to earn a scholarship with the program. 

On January 17, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Going forward, Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be a University holiday for students, faculty, and staff. So that we might all have the opportunity to honor Dr. King’s legacy on MLK Day in our own ways—by participating in a service project, attending events in the local community, worshipping in our faith communities, engaging in dialogue with friends and colleagues, or spending time with our families and loved ones—we will not plan any campus-wide observances that day.

Below you will find opportunities in the local community on MLK Day. 

Listing of community events

Join us for a live, in-person, episode of Black@ND as we speak with various groups on campus about what it's like to be Black at the University of Notre Dame. 

Members of the Notre Dame community are invited to attend "Walk the Walk: Building the Beloved Community" at Notre Dame for a student-focused panel discussion sponsored by the Office of the President in collaboration with Student Government. The student-focused panel will discuss Dr. King's vision for the "Beloved Community" and consider the actions we can take, individually and collectively, to build such a community here at Notre Dame.

Following the panel discussion, join us in the Main Building Rotunda for our annual MLK Day Candlelight Prayer Service.

The doors of Washington Hall will open at 7:30 p.m. Masks and physical distancing will be required. The panel discussion and prayer service will also be live-streamed on diversity.nd.edu/mlk.

Join us as we reflect on Dr. King's legacy and pray for an end to racism, inequality and injustice in our communities, nation, and world. 

The Prayer Service will take place in the Main Building Rotunda and will also be live-streamed on diversity.nd.edu/mlk.

Please note this event has been postponed to a later date to be determined.

Bishop Michael Curry, the first African American to serve as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, is known for his zeal for Christ, his captivating preaching, and his efforts to cultivate a culture of inclusion among Christians. Join Bishop Curry and members of the Notre Dame community in a Q&A session to hear more about his life, faith, and ministry.  

Show Some Skin is an annual, student-led monologues performance project that gives voice to unspoken stories centered on identity and difference, written and submitted anonymously by members of the Notre Dame community. Join us for a screening of 2012's inaugural Show Some Skin: The Race Monologues, to be followed by discussion about race, racism, and equity at Notre Dame.

Please note, this event has been postponed to a later date to be determined. 

Join members of the Notre Dame and greater South Bend community as we gather to celebrate what it means to be children of God. Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and one of the most prominent African American clergymen in the country, will be presiding. Bishop Curry will be joined by local clergy from the South Bend community to pray for unity and celebrate our diverse expressions of faith. We invite members of the Notre Dame and South Bend communities from all faith backgrounds to take part in this celebration.

K. Melchor Quick Hall

Resident Scholar, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

In this interactive lecture, Hall aims to explore what a transnational Black feminist (TBF) framework has to offer peace studies. She will guide audience members in a discussion about the TBF guiding principles of intersectionality, scholar-activism, solidarity, attention to borders/boundaries, and radically transparent positionality.

This event is sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. More information and registration can be found here.

Come join us to find ways to engage in the South Bend community. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to meet with more than 50 local community organizations and community-oriented student groups. Meet local community leaders and sign up for various community engagement opportunities including community-engaged learning/research, volunteering, internships, civic engagement, and employment opportunities. Get to know South Bend and learn how to get involved during spring semester and beyond. More information can be found here.

This event is sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns, ND Student Government, Alliance for Catholic Education, Holy Cross College, Indiana University South Bend, and Ivy Tech.

The campus is invited to learn more about the DEI initiatives at Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS) and to build and strengthen fellowship within the Notre Dame community. There will be opportunities to sign up for workshops, meet with student groups and leaders, and learn more about the spring events that will be hosted by MSPS and our cultural clubs. 

Join Snite Museum staff for a discussion of Kevin Beasley's monumental installation, Chair of the Ministers of Defense. After closely looking at and thinking through the work of art, student leaders from Student Government will lead a restorative reflection, inviting participants to visually reflect on the work of art, the discussion, other events of Walk the Walk Week, and how the work of art challenges us today. Co-sponsored by Student Government.

The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights will welcome Fr. Daniel P. Horan, Director of the Center for Spirituality at St. Mary's College and the author of A White Catholic's Guide to Racism and Privilege, for a special Spring edition of its Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary series on Catholic Allyship. Klau Center Associate Director Dory Mitros Durham will engage Fr. Dan in a conversation about racial justice rooted in the Catholic faith and about the special obligations of Catholic institutions of higher education to address racial justice with as much fervor as we approach other morally imperative justice issues.  Registration and more information can be found here. 

Join the McDonald Center for Student Well-Being, University Counseling Center, and Student Government for a conversation on mental health and well-being in the black community. Participants will be invited to view a showing of a “Mental Health, Trauma and Black Communities” special, and will be guided in group discussion by members of McWell and the UCC. We will seek to engage in conversations that address the stigma of mental health, the importance of effective allyship, and opportunities for healing as a community. Spots are limited. Typical COVID guidelines will be in place, and masks must be worn during the entirety of the event. Please use this form to register.

Students are invited to share their insights during this workshop for the  PricewaterhouseCoopers Center for Diversity & Inclusion. Workshop Architects, Inc. (the same firm that designed Duncan Student Center) will be available to listen to students share their ideas as to what is needed in the Center. These Open Focus Groups will occur concurrently in both the Sorin and Dooley Rooms on the first floor of LaFortune Student Center.