The Robert H. Gore, Sr. Stein Collection, a collection of colorful and historic steins and tankards, is the focal point of the University Club. These treasures are housed in two specially-built, open-arch glass cases. One divides the Club's entrance and its sunken rathskeller dining room. The other divides the dining room and the lounge. Both are lighted and visible from either side. The building as well as the stein collection was donated by Robert H. Gore, Sr. The collection contains 122 steins dating from 1860. A pictorial brochure describing this unique and very valuable collection may be obtained in the manager's office of the club.

Donor of the University Club building as well as the Stein Collection was Robert H. Gore, Sr., whose career was as engrossing as his steins. Starting out as a janitor in Owensboro, Kentucky, Mr. Gore made his initial fortune by incorporating life insurance with newspaper subscriptions in Chicago and soon enlarged his business span and area from San Francisco to London. With business acumen and financial wizardry he eventually parlayed this investment into an empire of real estate, newspapers, construction, banking, industry, and horticulture. A benefactor of many religious, medical and welfare institutions, Gore donated the University Club as a memorial to his deceased wife, Lorena Caroline Haury Gore, who during earlier years resided in Evansville and Terre Haute, Indiana. Six of their nine children graduated from Notre Dame, and for many years Gore serviced on the Advisory Council for the College of Business Administration while his wife was a member of the Women's Advisory Council.