Shirt promotes unity, raises funds
By ELIZABETH LEE
News Writer
For the 12th straight year, Notre Dame students, alumni, faculty, staff and football fans nationwide will don what has come to be known simply as "The Shirt."
A proud display of school spirit at football games, The Shirt aims to unite Irish fans while also raising funds for worthy causes.
The tradition of The Shirt began in 1989, when graduate student Zheng de Wang was injured in a car crash on Notre Dame Avenue. Wang's parents made the journey from Tianjin, China to be with their son but soon found his medical expenses overwhelming.
Sister Jean Lenz, sensing the family's hardship, made and sold T-shirts to students in order to raise money for his medical bills. Students took to the idea quickly and raised more than $100,000 for the Wang family.
The idea of a shirt that both helped students and unified the community was so popular that it became a tradition to sell a shirt every football season.
Stemming from Lenz's initiative, half the proceeds from The Shirt's sales go into an account set up to assist students faced with unexpected costs associated with accidents or tragedies. The other half of the money goes to Student Activities to help fund student groups and clubs on campus.
About 40,000 shirts are sold each year, raising an average of $250,000 per year.
The design for each year's shirt comes from a contest open to all students. This year's design came from senior Michael de la Rosa, with the help of the Shirt committee president, junior Scott Palko. The University must also approve the final design.
This year's shirt is navy blue and features an interlocking ND framed by the lyric "What Tho the Odds Be Great or Small." Inside the ND is an Irish ball carrier striding toward an excerpt from George Gipp's famous plea to Knute Rockne: "When the team is up against it. When things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys. Tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one..."
This year, in addition to the usual extra larges, 1,000 medium shirts were offered. Next year, the committee plans to make more shirts in different sizes.
"We found that the smaller size was definitely a demand the students had, and with the success of the [medium shirts] this year, I am certain that no longer will XL be the only available size," said Palko.
Palko, a management and theology major from Ontario, Canada, is very excited about The Shirt this year and hopes to eventually have the entire stadium sporting The Shirt to make the stands one solid color.
"After the Nebraska game last year, I realized that something needed to be done to restore the legend and lore to Notre Dame Stadium, and I am hoping that The Shirt 2001 will help to accomplish this goal," he said.
This year's shirt sells for $15 and is available at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore, Irish Express, the information desk at LaFortune Student Center, the Varsity Shop in the Joyce Center and the Athletic Department at www.fansonly.com.
All News Stories for Friday, September 14, 2001
