Grotto candles are arranged to form “2020” in tribute to graduating seniors shortly after the March 30 announcement that the spring commencement ceremony was canceled and degrees would be conferred in a virtual ceremony. (photo by Matt Cashore '94)
The two University photographers document a historic year on campus.
March 2020
(Note: Photos reflect the health and safety guidelines in place at the time photos were made.) Provost Thomas Burish ’72 and Laura Carlson, vice president, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, confer before a March 17 meeting with academic leaders about the University’s coronavirus response. University Sacristan John Zack places a notice on the east door of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on March 17 notifying the community that in-person celebration of Mass was suspended because of COVID-19. Workshops were offered to help faculty members transition to teaching online. (photos by Matt Cashore)
“I was ready to leave, but I wasn’t ready to leave this soon.” — Michael Chamberlain ’20 as he prepared to leave campus after the COVID shutdown midway through the spring semester.
A Building Services employee sprays disinfectant March 24 in a classroom in DeBartolo Hall. (photo by Matt Cashore) Elia Romero disinfects a stairwell in the Hesburgh Library on March 23. (photo by Barbara Johnston) A March 25 notice placed on a door to Jordan Auditorium in the Mendoza College of Business. (photo by Matt Cashore)
Classes with live instruction became a grid of faces via Zoom. Teaching professor Laura Hollis '83, '86J.D. talks virtually with undergraduate students on March 25. (photo by Matt Cashore) Walter Clements, a teaching professor and associate dean of Executive Education in the Mendoza College of Business leads a graduate business class on March 31. (photo by Barbara Johnston)
April 2020
A white board outside Cafe de Grasta in Grace Hall bears a message of hope April 4. An unplugged refrigerator airs out in a Breen-Phillips residence hall room. With students told to go straight home from spring break, staff members took on the work of removing perishable items from dorm rooms, cleaning out refrigerators and gathering personal items for shipment. (photos by Matt Cashore)
Campus Contributes
Professor Matt Leevy checks a 3D printer in the Innovation Lab at the IDEA Center. With national shortages of personal protective equipment in the early months of the pandemic, several Notre Dame laboratories coordinated to make 3D-printed face shields that were donated to local medical facilities. (photos by Barbara Johnston)
Nina Ansimova and Wieslawa Ruchniak sew face masks at St. Michael's Laundry. (photos by Matt Cashore)
May 2020
Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., flanked by Provost Thomas Burish '72 and Board of Trustees Chairman Jack Brennan, confers degrees during the May 17 online commencement ceremony. (photo by Matt Cashore) Some graduates returned to campus for socially distanced celebratory moments. Irla Atanda tosses her cap on the steps of the Main Building May 16. (photo by Barbara Johnston) MBA graduate Nicholas Tawse is photographed by his father in front of the Main Building on May 12. (photo by Matt Cashore)
Wildlife
Campus has always been a place to see waterfowl and unusually plump squirrels. The scarcity of humans during the pandemic made deer and fox sightings more common in unexpected locations.
Swans and cygnets on St. Mary's Lake. (photo by Barbara Johnston) A squirrel on Main Quad. A fox crosses Dorr Road. Deer outside McCourtney Hall. (photos by Matt Cashore)
June 2020
On June 17, Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. participates in an interview with NBC Nightly News correspondent Rehema Ellis about the decision to have students return to campus in August for the fall semester. "HERE" campaign stickers and signs are installed June 19. (photos by Matt Cashore) Ron Grisoli, assistant director of Duncan Student Center, measures to make sure tables and chairs are at least six feet apart to provide for social distancing when students return to campus. (photo by Barbara Johnston)
July 2020
August 2020
Masks
"HERE we wear a mask." Don't have a mask? Notre Dame will provide one. Forget your mask? HERE ambassadors will remind you. (Sign photo by Matt Cashore, all others by Barbara Johnston)
Classes
A small group of students on August 7 in a Moreau First Year Experience class. (photo by Barbara Johnston) Business professor Ed Hums '75 stands behind a Plexiglas barrier as he teaches on August 10, the first day of fall classes. (photo by Matt Cashore) "HERE" stickers designated spots where students were allowed to sit in Stepan Center, which was reconfigured to serve as a classroom. (photo by Barbara Johnston) Theology professor Tim O'Malley '04, '06M.T.S. teaches a class in Leighton Concert Hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. "Yo Yo Ma was supposed to be here this fall, and now you have me," O'Malley jokes. (photo by Matt Cashore)
Student Life
Some aspects of student life changed considerably. The dining halls, normally a place to hang out and socialize, became only a place to stop by for take out. "HERE" signage across campus reminded students and employees of protocols intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Other aspects of student life look familiar, only a little further apart and masked. (photos by Barbara Johnston)
September 2020
The Library Lawn on September 2. (photo by Barbara Johnston) The Notre Dame football team played its first game of the season September 12 against Duke. Attendance throughout the season was limited to students and some employees, with masks required and seating spread out within the stadium. (photos by Matt Cashore)
October 2020
“When you go into hardship with a group of people, you come out with a sense of satisfaction.”
—physics professor Zoltán Toroczkai
Left: Vials of saliva samples are tested October 14 in Notre Dame's PCR testing laboratory in McCourtney Hall. Right: A sign on a Pasquerilla West dorm room. (photos by Matt Cashore)
November 2020
December 2020
Students left campus well before the Christmas season, but the holiday spirit was present. The tree on Main Quad glows December 11. (photo by Barbara Johnston) NCAA basketball games proceeded mostly on schedule, but with very limited attendance. The annual "Teddy Bear Toss" women's varsity basketball game on December 13 had the stuffed toys as spectators rather than being tossed by fans. For the first time in 33 years, the Irish women's basketball team had a new head coach, as former player and assistant coach Niele Ivey '00 was named to lead the team following the retirement of Muffet McGraw. (photos by Matt Cashore)
January 2021
The return to campus for the spring semester was spread out over several days, just as it had been in August for the fall semester. Before students' ID cards were activated to allow entry into residence halls, they had to stop by the surveillance testing facility in the Joyce Center, shown here January 28. Between the fall and spring semesters, Notre Dame's saliva testing achieved certification to allow diagnostic results. A student submits her saliva sample at the campus surveillance testing center in late January, a few days before the start of the spring semester. (photos by Matt Cashore)
February 2021
March 2021
On Mar. 26-27, in partnership with the Indiana Department of Health, Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena parking lot became a drive through vaccination site for eligible Indiana residents. The Indiana National Guard provided personnel for both logistics and the vaccinations. (photos by Matt Cashore)