Aug. 16, 2012

Notre Dame, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame’s Oct. 6 football game against Miami (Fla.) at Soldier Field in Chicago also will include a series of events throughout the weekend at various locations in the Chicago area. This Shamrock Series presented by Sprint event includes not only a football game but also a variety of other activities for Notre Dame alumni and fans. Here are some of the featured events during the weekend:

• A Friday kickoff luncheon at Navy Pier (Grand Ballroom) featuring a variety of Notre Dame guests (noon CDT, open to the public; tickets available at ndchicago.org)
• A Friday night pep rally at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park featuring Irish head coach Brian Kelly, the Band of the Fighting Irish, the Notre Dame cheerleaders and leprechaun and other special guests (free and open to the public; the Chicago band Maggie Speaks will play from 5-6 p.m. CDT; rally begins at 6:15 p.m. CDT)
• A Saturday morning Mass at Holy Name Cathedral (735 N. State Street, at Superior) with Father John Jenkins as celebrant and homilist (10 a.m. CDT; free and open to the public; Notre Dame Folk Choir also will perform)
• A Saturday Drummers’ Circle performance at Pioneer Court (noon CDT at 401 N. Michigan Avenue)
• A Saturday concert at Stadium Green (adjacent to Soldier Field) featuring the Band of the Fighting Irish (3:30-4:15 p.m. CDT; free and open to the public), followed by a second performance (5-5:15 p.m. CDT) inside Gate 0 at the south entrance of the stadium
• Two Thursday academic programs, at the J.W. Marriott (free and open to the public):
  • 2-4 p.m. CDT–“Notre Dame Faculty in the Media,” a panel discussion
  • 5-7:30 p.m. CDT–“Global Development and U.S. National Interest,” a program and reception, sponsored by the Ford Family Program and the Initiative for Global Development (speakers include Professor Paul Collier, director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
• Two Friday academic programs, at the J.W. Marriott (free and open to the public):
• • 9:30-11:30 a.m. CDT–“The Economy Now: A Roundtable of Notre Dame Economics,” presented by the College of Arts and Letters
  • 2-4 p.m. CDT–“Religion in the Public Square,” presented by the Office of Public Affairs and Communications, co-sponsored by Jim Rohr and PNC Bank (moderated by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman, with panelists including Gerald Seib, Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal; Martha Minow, Dean of the Harvard Law School; Notre Dame professor David Campbell; Notre Dame associate professor John Cardinal O’Hara, C.S.C., and University of Chicago professor of political science Julie Cooper)
• The Notre Dame-Miami football game that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CDT, and will be televised live by NBC Sports
• Alumni headquarters for the weekend will be the J.W. Marriott at 151 W. Adams in Chicago (312-660-8200). The Chicago Marathon route will send runners past the hotel (corner of Adams and LaSalle) at the 2.5-mile mark Sunday morning.

Go to gameday.nd.edu for complete listing of all the weekend’s events. This marks the fourth straight year Notre Dame has taken one of its football games “off-site” – after playing in San Antonio in 2009 (versus Washington State at the Alamodome), in New York City in 2010 (versus Army at Yankee Stadium) and in Washington, D.C., in 2011 (versus Maryland at FedEx Field). The Irish in 2013 will play Arizona State in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (Cowboys Stadium at Arlington).