St. André Committee

The Committee

St. André Committee Members will welcome all new students and support their transition to Notre Dame by partnering with Hall Staff and Committee Co-Chairs to execute all in-hall initiatives during Welcome Weekend. Each hall’s St. André Committee plays a critical role in supporting new students’ transition to Notre Dame by fostering an environment where all students can belong, grow, and flourish.

As recognized student leaders on campus, Committee Members will assist with the implementation of large-scale University Welcome Weekend programs, such as the University Official Welcome, Class Photo, and Domerfest. 

Brother André

Blessed Brother André was a brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious order which founded the University of Notre Dame, and the founder of St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal. When he was he was a 25-year old novice, he was put to work as a porter, or doorman, at Montreal’s College of Notre Dame, an assignment which he continued for the next 40 years.

In addition to welcoming visitors, he served as janitor, launderer, and sacristan, ran errands and provided the students with cheap haircuts. Throughout these years his reputation for humility and kindness grew, as did the numbers of visitors he received. Most of these were poor and sick people, to whom he offered not only his compassion and what material assistance he could provide, but also moral and spiritual advice. Many of his visitors attributed miraculous cures to him, but he would insist, sometimes with annoyance, that any such cures were attributable to the prayers of Saint Joseph.

Br. André Bessette, C.S.C. was canonized on October 27, 2010. St. André is the namesake of the Welcome Weekend students leaders and the patron of Welcome Weekend as we seek to offer the same sense of radical hospitality to new students and their families and guests.