The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association recently unveiled an online engagement center with social-networking capabilities fit to engage — and elicit gifts from — even the feistiest of the Fighting Irish alums.

By Abny Santicola

Clubs connect alumni with each other and the university, and they offer a variety of programs and events, including the Hesburgh Lecture Program — named after the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, president emeritus and former president of Notre Dame for 35 years — where some of Notre Dame’s most noted faculty travel around the country to alumni clubs to deliver lectures on their topic of expertise. Lou Nanni, vice president for university relations at Notre Dame, says this year the program will feature somewhere between 75 and 80 lectures. Clubs also give scholarships to current students and organize community service, continuing education and career networking.