The Higgins Alumni Network (HAN), launched in 2014, connects current students to Notre Dame alumni whose professional or volunteer work engages labor questions from a wide variety of perspectives—as lawyers, researchers, teachers, managers, policymakers, union organizers, and justice advocates. HAN features two components.

First are visits to campus by alumni for intimate conversations with students. Sharing a meal with an academic or practitioner passionate about shared interests is a great vehicle for helping students discern vocation, envision life after college, and connect intellectual and social concerns with career goals. In today’s uncertain economic climate, where students face the pressure of making a living while also hoping to make a positive impact in their communities, alumni who faced similar questions not that long ago can play a calming and constructive part in helping students make informed, wise choices.

Second is the creation of a network of Notre Dame alumni, faculty, staff, and students dedicated to the cause of workers’ rights and justice. By connecting labor union organizers and officers, elected officials and government employees, nonprofit advocates and activists, academics and teachers, social entrepreneurs and enlightened managers, and labor and civil rights attorneys, HAN brings together members of the Notre Dame family to foster research, education, and policy initiatives to promote the common good.

Be watching for announcements about visits by ND alumni who engage “the labor question” in their work as professionals, citizens, and advocates for justice.