Golden Threads: The Music and Storytelling of Golden Is Thy Fame – Celebrating 50 Years of Undergraduate Women at the University of Notre Dame

This occasion was commemorated on campus June 1-2, 2022 but the celebration is ongoing. The decision to admit women as undergraduates marked an important milestone in the life of Notre Dame, expanding the intellectual and cultural horizons of the campus community.

Women have made profound contributions to Our Lady’s University since its founding. In 2022, the University turned its attention to the momentous anniversary of the first undergraduate women admitted to Notre Dame in 1972.

Golden Threads: The Story of Women at Notre Dame

The Golden Gala featured a special video experience that included live storytellers and an original musical score telling the story of how women evolved at Notre Dame—from buttressing a fledgling school of the 1800s to comprising half the student body and carrying its mission to the world.

Loyal Sons and Daughters March on to Victory

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the decision by then-President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., to admit undergraduate women, the University of Notre Dame will re-imagine its Main Circle, the ceremonial entrance to campus, to commemorate this historic milestone, and will officially change the chorus of its renowned fight song to include both “sons and daughters,” announced University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on Thursday (June 2) at the conclusion of a gala celebration of the anniversary at the Joyce Center.

“Notre Dame Victory March,” which has been rated America’s No. 1 college fight song, “will now specifically reference both the ‘sons and daughters’ of the University,” Father Jenkins said. Written by Rev. Michael Shea and his brother John in 1908, the Notre Dame Victory March includes the lines:

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.

Wake up the echoes cheering her name.

Send a volley cheer on high.

Shake down the thunder from the sky.

What though the odds be great or small,

Old Notre Dame will win over all.

While her loyal sons are marching

Onward to victory.

Going forward, “Notre Dame Victory March” will be sung as follows:

While her loyal sons and daughters

March on to victory.

Notre Dame, Our Mother

Fr. Ted Said programming at Reunion 2022 centered around Golden Is Thy Fame and the positive impacts of female alumnae on society. The program concluded with a moving slideshow featuring images from the Notre Dame Archives. Experience these images and the music of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart’s own Magnificat Choir, as they raise their voices, 50 women strong, to sing Notre Dame, Our Mother in celebration of 50 Golden Years of Coeducation at Our Lady’s University.