Class of 2026: The next generation of Notre Dame leaders

The original article, written and published by Erin Blasko, was shared on Notre Dame News.

While widely recognized as the leading global catholic research university, the University of Notre Dame is committed to offering an unsurpassed undergraduate experience, one that nurtures the formation of the mind, body, and spirit. In fact, undergraduate education and formation is among the University’s four central goals, as outlined in “Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework.”

In addition to the teaching and guidance offered by faculty in the classroom, undergraduates enjoy a rich community life, bolstered by opportunities for social, intellectual, and faith-based engagement. More than half of all undergraduates participate in original research with a faculty mentor.

Whether examining the causes and conditions of mass atrocities, tutoring local schoolchildren, volunteering at a men’s prison, or running to save lives, these members of the class of 2026 exemplify this commitment. Formed by a rich education and possessed of mature faith in service to others, they leave Notre Dame prepared to take their places at the forefront of discovery, innovation, and human achievement.

Bernice Antoine

Business analytics major Bernice Antoine hopes to establish the first sustainable waste management company in her country of Trinidad and Tobago. She was named a 30 under 30 Caribbean Changemaker and served as a Caribbean Climate Ambassador for the Caribbean Youth Climate Council. A leader in sustainability and service at Notre Dame, Antoine founded Planet Plate, a sustainability initiative and is launching Caribbean Development Group, a nonprofit which aims to teach youth practical sustainability skills. Read more ›

Lizbeth Cordova Lopez

Lizbeth Cordova Lopez, a psychology major with a supplemental major in education, schooling, and society, has made the most of her time at Notre Dame. Now, she has one key piece of advice for first-year students: Trust that the things you’re passionate about will lead you somewhere meaningful. For Cordova Lopez, a first-generation college student and AnBryce Scholar, that meant researching incarceration in the United States and how it impacts families, especially children with parents who are incarcerated. “Those children are at a much higher risk of dropping out of school and are much less likely to attend college,” she said. “And that’s something I’d like to change.” Read more ›

Charlie Desnoyers

A McNeill Common Good Fellow with the Institute for Social Concerns, Charlie Desnoyers, a chemistry major from suburban Chicago, has spent nearly as much time in the lab as in the classroom during his four years at Notre Dame. “Charlie is everything you’d want to see in an undergraduate research colleague — smart, innately curious and genuinely excited about research,” said Paul Bohn, the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Notre Dame. A recipient of the Dr. Norbert L. Weich Award for undergraduate research, Desnoyers will investigate light-matter interactions at the nanoscale as a doctoral student in chemistry at Northwestern University starting this fall. Read more ›

Mustafa Hess

Hess, a global affairs major in the Keough School of Global Affairs with minors in peace studies and French, has let curiosity and a thirst for knowledge guide his Notre Dame experience. He has explored the myriad events and opportunities offered on campus, all while being deeply invested in his research on genocide and mass atrocities in the Institute for Social Concerns with professor Ernesto Verdeja. Through Notre Dame, he has traversed the United States and Europe, allowing him to connect his investigations with their real-world examples. Read more ›

Eva Romero

Economics major Eva Romero hopes that her work studying the causes, mitigation efforts, and impact of policy surrounding poverty will enable other first-generation, low-income students to pursue — and complete — their college degrees. She believes that getting a good education is one of the best ways to break the generational cycle of poverty; and, in this effort, she hopes to lead by example. Not only is Romero an AnBryce Scholar, a Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle Scholar, and a Poverty Research Fellow through the University’s Poverty Initiative, but she is also an avid performer in several campus dance troupes including TroopND Dance Team, RitmoND, and Ballet Folklórico Azúl y Oro. Read more ›

Read the full article from Notre Dame News ›

When you make a gift to Notre Dame, you help remarkable, mission-aligned students like these five gain access to a transformational education at Our Lady’s University. Through annual gifts, Giving Society members provide need-based financial aid, enrich the student experience, and ensure our Catholic mission animates all we do. Thank you for turning your belief in them into action.