Background

The founding of The University of Notre Dame Du Lac started back in 1842 ("About"). The college was first started and founded by Father Sorin and seven other priests from the congregation of Holy Cross (“About”). The priests were given the land by the Bishop of Vincennes when they were in the Indiana mission fields (“History”). The only inhabitants of this land were two little buildings that had been there a few years before (Sorin 24). On this land, Father Sorin was inspired to create a Catholic University (“History”). Few people in the area wanted a new Catholic college because not many of them were Catholic (Sorin 25). According to Father Sorin, people even said, “ we might go ahead with our college, but as soon as it was completed they would burn it down” (Sorin 25). Even though the people didn’t want the college to be built, Father Sorin continued with his mission (Wack). Then, in 1843, the University of Notre Dame became a frontier in history and opened its doors for the first learning year (Wack).