Buckeye Reporter

The Ohio Department of Higher Education formally has recognized Notre Dame College for a century of impact on the state as well as its students.

Higher Education Chancellor Randy Gardner presented Notre Dame President J. Michael Pressimone, Ed.D., and the College with a proclamation hailing Notre Dame for its history of advancement, education and influence. Gardner’s visit to the College campus has been featured in one of the department’s “Higher Education Highlights” videos on YouTube.

“Wherefore be it proclaimed that the Ohio Department of Higher Education commends Notre Dame College for 100 years of service to its community and its students and for its efforts to prepare those students to be successful and make valuable contributions to the state, the region and the world,” the declaration states.

The pronouncement cites several important College milestones in celebrating Notre Dame’s centennial, including more than a few that have involved the state Department of Higher Education.

The decree avows that the College’s articles of incorporation were signed and filed with the State of Ohio on March 30, 1923. The Department of Higher Education also pronounces that Notre Dame honored the first graduates of its two-year teacher training program in 1925 and its first graduating class of four-year degree students in 1926.

Gardner, himself a former high school history and government teacher as well as a longtime legislative representative in Ohio, acknowledged that the College was approved by the state for teacher certification in biology, chemistry, English, foreign languages, physics, social sciences, history, government and physical sciences for grades 7 through 12 in 1926.

In the proclamation, the state touts the College for its initial purchase of land along South Green Road in June 1923 and adding acreage a year later.

The chancellor heralds the growth of Notre Dame in its enrollment and educational offerings over its 100 years, as well. The edict notes that the College became co-ed in 2001 and now enrolls approximately 1,500 students in more than 30 undergraduate majors and numerous graduate degree programs.

With the statement, Ohio asserts the value of Notre Dame’s holistic approach to instruction, which features cocurricular development through nearly 20 NCAA Division II sports, multiple performing arts programs, and several student organizations. The state commends the edification of the College, too, in welcoming Mother Teresa, now Saint Teresa, of Calcutta to its South Euclid campus in 1978.

Gardner awarded the proclamation to Pressimone prior to the College’s centennial opening Mass and reception on the evening of September 17. The decree identifies that Notre Dame opened on September 18, 1922, known as Founders’ Day.

On Founders’ Day 2022, following the delivery of the proclamation, the College commemorated its 100th birthday with a community-wide celebration.

Original source can be found here.