University of Notre Dame fans descending on Indianapolis for the Shamrock Series off-site home football game between the Fighting Irish and Purdue Boilermakers on Sept.13 (Saturday) will have an opportunity to enjoy a series of academic and service activities in the days leading up to the game.
Notre Dame’s College of Science will sponsor an academic event titled, “Let’s Have a Moment of Science” at 9:30 a.m. Friday (Sept. 12) at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, 3000 North Meridian Street. The event will include fun, hands-on investigations in ecology, chemistry, math and physics. At 10:30, three Notre Dame College of Science faculty will make presentations in the Indiana Children’s Museum’s Lilly Theater. Matt Leevy will discuss “3-D Printing: Building a Better Tomorrow in Medicine and Manufacturing, Layer by Layer;” Justin Crepp will address “Earth-like Worlds Orbiting Other Suns;” and Jennifer Tank will examine “Preventing Coastal Dead Zones from a Distance.” The events are free and open to the public.
The Kellogg Institute for International Studies will sponsor a Shamrock Series Lecture by Michael Coppedge, professor of political science and Kellogg Institute fellow, on “Democracy in HD: An Online Journey Across Time and Space” at 1:45 p.m. on Friday in the Westin Hotel, 301 W. Washington St. The lecture is free and open to the public.
At 3 p.m. on Friday at the Westin, the Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications will sponsor a presentation by Nitesh Chawla, Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and director of the Center, and Vania Smith-Oka, associate professor of anthropology, on “Bringing Big Data to Healthcare: Making a Societal Impact.” Their presentation is free and open to the public.
The Notre Dame Alumni Association, in partnership with the Notre Dame Club of Indianapolis, will sponsor a Shamrock Series Service Project from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Near Westside neighborhood of Indianapolis, which is located approximately three miles west of the Westin Hotel. Located in the neighborhood are three community partners: Providence Cristo Rey High School, Hawthorne Community Center, and Hearts and Hands of Indianapolis.
Notre Dame played a crucial role in the 1966 founding of the Cristo Rey model, which couples college preparatory coursework with professional internships for students with economic need. Many of the students who attend Providence Cristo Rey live in the same neighborhood, and benefit from the services provided by both the Hawthorne Community Center and Hearts and Hands. Hawthorne works to meet the social, economic and recreational needs of the community, while Hearts and Hands, under the umbrella of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, strives to provide affordable housing to those most in need.
Notre Dame alumni, parents and friends will be restoring Providence Cristo Rey’s 110-year-old building and landscaping, installing safety features between Hawthorne and Cristo Rey, and working with Hearts and Hands to beautify and prepare a home to be lived in. Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin are among those expected to be pitching in.
Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) will be partnering with the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and local and national policy makers and entrepreneurs for an unprecedented conversation on the Circle City’s recent innovations in K-12 education on Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Manor at the Children’s Museum, 3050 N. Meridian St.
The luncheon event will explore the exciting work underway to reimagine K-12 education in Indianapolis: from the expansion of high quality educational options in the traditional public, charter and private school sectors, to the growth of public-private partnerships to stimulate urban renewal, to ongoing work to create a pipeline of teaching and leadership talent for high-performing schools.
A Notre Dame Pep Rally event featuring musical entertainment, a Notre Dame Marching Band performance and the Notre Dame football team and VIP guests will take place at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Georgia Street and the Pam Am Plaza. The event is free and open to the public.
The Shamrock Series 5k Run will be held on Saturday at 8 a.m. beginning at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse at the Pam Am Plaza.
A Mass at which Archbishop Tobin will preside and Father Jenkins will serve as homilist will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. The Mass is free and open to the public.
A Notre Dame Game Day Experience featuring a tailgate, food trucks, beverage tent, Indy racing cars, inflatable games, Under Armour merchandise, a photo backdrop kiosk, and VIP guest speakers is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at Georgia St. and Pan Am Plaza. The Game Day Experience is open to the public.
The Institute for Church Life will sponsor a Saturdays with the Saints Lecture titled “Mary at Notre Dame: Mary in Art and Image on Notre Dame’s Campus,” by Lawrence S. Cunningham, O’Brien Chair of Theology Emeritus, on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Westin Hotel. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The Notre Dame Band Drummer’s Circle will take place at noon on Saturday on Georgia St.
The Notre Dame Band Parade and Concert will begin at 4:15 p.m. Saturday with a performance of two songs at Monument Circle. At 4:30 p.m., the band will step-off from Monument Circle to Pan Am Plaza and play a concert from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. at Pan Am Plaza. Step-off to Lucas Oil Stadium is scheduled for 5:25 p.m. The band parade and concert are free and open to the public.
A complete listing of the Shamrock Series weekend’s events and activities can be found online at gameday.nd.edu.