During our Memorial Mass on Monday, September 25th, we lit two candles, one for our beloved dead and the other for those loved one who are grieving. These two candles were placed at the Grotto this morning as a sign of our faith in the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ.

-Fr Ralph

I’m excited to announce that Valerie Plinovich has been promoted into the Digital Marketing Specialist role within the Marketing Operations Team, effective Monday, October 9, 2023. We are excited that Val’s marketing experience, creativity, and can-do attitude will be utilized in a greater capacity within the Annual Giving team.

Val joined the Annual Giving team last year as our Development Coordinator, Member Experiences. In this prior role, she primarily fielded Giving Society donor inquiries, and has assisted in our membership experiences. This role has made her an extremely knowledgeable resource within our team.

Formerly, Val graduated from Purdue Northwest with a BA in Communications and was later a HR Program Manager at Luke Family of Brands. She led employee and community engagement initiatives and created training content for business divisions.

If you were working with Sydney Kuhn (formerly in this role) recently on crowdfunding or other digital marketing campaign needs, please direct those to me in the next couple of weeks until Val is onboarded in October.

Congrats, Val!

-Lauren

Please join me in congratulating Rachel Schaefer (formerly Parks) on her wedding to Greg Schaefer! We wish them a happy future together.

-Patty

Please join me in congratulating Emily and Chandler Naff on the birth of their first child, Blake Oliver Naff. Blake entered the world on Friday, September 22, 2023 at 2:54 pm, weighing 8lbs and measuring 21 inches. Both mom and baby (and dad) are well.

-Anita

Looking to hit your step goal? Craving some sunshine? Want face time with our department’s senior leaders? If you answered yes to any of these, please consider signing up for an upcoming UR Walks!

These informal walks take place over the lunch hour, and all you need is a pair of comfortable shoes. For your convenience, we have upcoming walks starting from both ESC and Grace Hall. Please sign up for one or both of the walks using the links below:

UR Walks with Lou Nanni – Thursday, September 28 at 12:00PM (ESC)
Sign up here

UR Walks with Brian Diss – Tuesday, October 3 at 12:00PM (Grace Hall)
Sign up here

Hello UR Team! If you are interested in joining us for our next UR Walks, please fill out this form. Lou Nanni will be leading the walk from ESC at 12:00PM. As there may be some non-pavement, trail walking, we advise that appropriate footwear be considered. Signing up also helps us to contact those who are interested just in case we need to cancel at the last minute due to inclement weather. We look forward to catching up with you while getting in our steps. Happy trails!

Do you have old bank statements, checks, copies of bills or other non-business related confidential papers piling up at home?

We can help!

The University’s shred provider, Shred-it, in conjunction with the University Archives, is offering a free, secure and confidential document shredding event for Notre Dame faculty, staff and retirees.

The event will be held on Wednesday, October 18th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. A Shred-it truck will be parked in the parking lot of the Mason Support Center, which is located off of St. Joseph Drive behind the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. The truck accepts paper only, so please be sure to remove any binders, binder clips or non-paper items before the event (staples and paper clips are acceptable). For the courtesy of others, we ask that you limit your shred material to no more than five file-size boxes. We also ask that you remain with your material until it is in the shred truck as Notre Dame cannot be responsible for papers left unattended. We will be
happy to recycle your empty boxes after the event so feel free to leave these behind.

Contact Sarah Joswick, Archivist for Records Management, with any questions at:sjoswick@nd.edu or 574-631-4028

*this event will be held rain or shine

I’m writing to share the bittersweet news that our dear colleague and friend RaeLee Rea will be retiring from her role as Senior Director of Gift Planning Strategic Operations in the coming months in order to spend more time with her family.

As all who know and have worked with RaeLee can attest, her practical wisdom, work-ethic, care and attention to detail, and compassionate service to colleagues and benefactors is second-to-none. The value of her contributions to Notre Dame, especially in the building and oversight of the Donor Advised Fund program (among many, many other responsibilities) over the past several years is immeasurable.

RaeLee is committed to enabling a smooth transition, therefore the precise timing of her departure is not yet determined and will be communicated in the coming weeks. A posting for the Senior Director of Gift Planning Strategic Operations will be live in the coming days, and interested candidates are encouraged to apply or reach out to Beth Graybill.

TJ Pillari

I am thrilled to share that Indi Jackson will be stepping into the position of Director, Leadership Annual Giving, effective September 25th. We are thrilled that her creativity, leadership, and immense dedication to the mission of Notre Dame will be expressed in new ways!

Indi is a 2017 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor’s in Film, Theatre, and Television and a Minor in Computer Digital Technologies. Indi first started working at the University with Fighting Irish Media, creating award-winning content for 26 sports, developing the first black student-athlete podcast, and managing 50 student workers. She began working with the Annual Giving team in May of 2021 where she surpassed her fiscal year goal by 14%, driving $3M in unrestricted revenue. Most recently, Indi has served as Regional Director. We’re thrilled that Indi’s prior experience in other University departments, within Annual Giving, and with Regional Development will elevate the work of our Leadership Annual Giving team.

Please direct all questions related to the Leadership Annual Giving team to Indi moving forward. Congratulations, Indi!

-Katie Kerby & Tim Kelly

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of Bill Doyle and the East team, we wanted to share the Obituary and service information for Bill’s father, William Joseph Doyle.

For those who may not have known, Bill’s father sadly passed away September 7, 2023.

Please take a moment to share your condolences and keep Bill, Mary Lynn and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.

With gratitude,
Nadia