When the University of Notre Dame football team travels to San Antonio for a match-up with Army on Nov. 12 (Saturday), the weekend will include a number of different activities in and around the city. Now in its eighth iteration, the Shamrock Series weekend features various off-the-field events aimed at bringing the full Notre Dame campus fan experience on the road to cities around the country. Presentations by University faculty and researchers, Mass, a service project, a 5K run/walk and marching band performances are planned leading up to kickoff at the Alamodome.
At 1:30 p.m. CST Nov. 11, Notre Dame faculty and elected officials will discuss issues at the forefront of the U.S. presidential election as well as the implications for the incoming president and the future of the country in a panel discussion titled “Turning Points: Election 2016 and Beyond.” Moderated by Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas San Antonio, the panel will include David Campbell, chair of the Notre Dame Department of Political Science and the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy; Luis Fraga, co-director of the Notre Dame Institute for Latino Studies, the Professor in Transformative Latino Leadership and the Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science; Christina Wolbrecht, director of the Notre Dame Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, associate professor of political science and the C. Robert and Margaret Hanley Family Director of the Notre Dame Washington Program; and Rep. Joaquin Castro, U.S. House of Representatives from Texas. The panel will be held in the Republic Room at the Grand Hyatt hotel in San Antonio. This event is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters, Institute for Latino Studies and Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy.
Beginning at 3 p.m. CST, Notre Dame and West Point faculty, along with other academic and military experts, will evaluate the most pressing issues in national security and conflict prevention following the 2016 presidential election. Moderated by Sara Sievers, associate dean for policy and practice in the Keough School of Global Affairs, the panel will also feature David Cortright, director of policy studies in the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; Michael Desch, professor of political science and director of the Notre Dame International Security Center; Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History and professor of history at Southern Methodist University; Col. Gail Yoshitani, professor and deputy head of the department of history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, U.S. Army. This event is presented by the College of Arts and Letters, the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Notre Dame International Security Center.
An important component to the annual Shamrock Series weekend is a service project. This year, volunteers from the Notre Dame Alumni Association will be painting, cleaning and gardening beginning at 10 a.m. CST Nov. 11 at St. Gerard’s High School in San Antonio.
The 350-member University of Notre Dame Marching Band will hold various public performances throughout the weekend, beginning with a public rehearsal at Central Catholic High School at 10:30 a.m. CST Nov. 11. Following the rehearsal, the band will hold a mentoring session with Central Catholic high school students. Later in the day, the band will perform at the Alamo from 6 to 7 p.m., in an event featuring San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer David Robinson; his son Corey Robinson, Notre Dame student government president and student assistant coach with the football team; former Notre Dame women’s basketball player, Olympic medalist and WNBA standout Ruth Riley; and Rocky Bleier, a former Fighting Irish football player, Pittsburgh Steeler and U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam. At 8 p.m., the Marching Band will hold a floating concert on River Walk barges, and at 9:30 p.m. will close out performances for the day with a drummers circle at the Arneson River Theatre.
A Shamrock Series Fiesta, hosted by the Notre Dame Club of San Antonio, will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. CST Nov. 11 at the IBC Bank Plaza. Fans will enjoy guest speakers, live music and food and beverages. More information is available on the Notre Dame Game Day website.
On Nov. 12, as many as 2,000 runners and walkers will compete in a 5-kilometer run through downtown San Antonio beginning at 7:30 a.m. in Mayor Maury Maverick Plaza. Event proceeds will go to fellowships and support for active-duty and veteran graduate students at Notre Dame. To register for the 5K, visit the Game Day website. A military discount is being offered, and online registration is open through Nov. 10 (Thursday) and walk-up registrations will also be available. More information about registration fees and discounts is available by emailing gameday@nd.edu.
Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life will present a Saturdays With the Saints lecture at 8:30 a.m. CST Nov. 12 (Saturday) on “Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Jubilee of Mercy.” Presented by Timothy Matovina, Notre Dame professor of theology and co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies, and Rev. David Garcia, director of the Old Spanish Missions in San Antonio and a Notre Dame graduate, the lecture will be held at the Cathedral Centre Cafe at the San Fernando Cathedral.
At 10 a.m. CST Nov. 12, Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., will preside at Mass in San Fernando Cathedral.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., fans can choose to attend multiple fan experiences. A fan fest will take place at the Alamodome Plaza and will include music, celebrities, games, activities and food and beverages for sale, while the Notre Dame Alumni Association will also host a tailgate at Sunset Station, Depot 4, featuring a Tex-Mex buffet, beverages, special guests, the Notre Dame marching band, cheerleaders, leprechaun and more. For more information about these events, visit the Notre Dame Game Day website.
At 11:15 a.m., the Marching Band will step off and perform on a route beginning at East Commerce Street to Hoefgen Avenue into Sunset Station.
Academic lectures and band performances in San Antonio are free and open to the public.
Originally published at news.nd.edu.
