Senior Send-Off Ceremony

Senior Send-Off Ceremony

May 16, 2025; University of Notre Dame President Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. shakes hands with graduates during the Institute for Social Concerns Senior Send-off at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Michael Caterina/University of Notre Dame)

All students who have participated in and been formed by courses at the Institute for Social Concerns are invited to attend a ceremony that celebrates a commitment to the common good. Cords are given to students completing the Catholic Social Tradition Minor and Justice & Society Minor. Following the ceremony, family and friends are invited to attend an evening of celebration, food, and drinks.

The 2026 Send-off Ceremony

Story

At the ceremony, the institute celebrated nearly 90 graduates who minored in Catholic Social Tradition or Justice & Society or engaged with the institute’s signature undergraduate programs or immersive courses, while sending them forth to be agents of hope in the world. The atmosphere inside the Leighton Concert Hall was effervescent with a sense of collective accomplishment—a beautiful, vibrant send-off punctuated by song, laughter, and exuberant applause. Read the story.

Video

A live stream of the Senior Send-Off Ceremony is available each year. Here is the recording of the 2026 ceremony.

Awards

The institute selects two students each year to be recognized with awards at the Senior Send-off for excellence in the pursuit of justice and the common good.

Bernice Antoine received the Sister Thea Bowman Award, which is given annually to a student who exemplifies a commitment to justice and dignity through active engagement within and outside the campus community and who demonstrates a sense of vocation dedicated to the common good in the spirit of Sister Bowman.

Josethy Perez received the Jay Brandenberger Research Award for the Common Good (named in honor of Jay Brandenberger after 36 years at the institute) for her capstone thesis on how Chilean organizations walk alongside Haitian immigrants to help them build lives of dignity despite structural constraints.

Featured Guests

The institute is honored to have the University president offer words of blessing to graduating seniors each year. In addition, distinguished guest speakers have included Dr. Timothy Shriver, Laetare Medal recipient; Marguerite Barankitse, ND Honorary Doctor of Laws recipient; Dr. Rafat Ansari, ND Honorary Degree recipient; Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America; and Norma Pimentel, M.J., recipient of the 2018 Laetare Medal, among others.