Women officially began filling the Notre Dame classrooms in 1972; however, it wasn’t until 1976 the addition of women’s varsity sports was established. For four years, women joined club sports such as tennis, rowing, fencing and basketball, which laid the foundation for the formation of the first varsity teams. The Unviersity introduced tennis and fencing as the first two women’s varsity sports, with basketball following in 1977; over the next two decades, volleyball, swimming, soccer, softball and rowing were given varsity status.
As Donna Losurdo Beaudet ’76 recalled during the 2022 reunion, she helped propel the Notre Dame field hockey team despite the difficulties that came with creating a team of such stature. With the team varying in experience level, they practiced on a grass field that was used as a parking lot during football games and utilized donated uniforms and equipment. With no funding from the University, players were responsible for travel arrangements and all the costs associated with it. But with an earned club status the following year, the team received greater support through improvements in equipment and facilities. However, the lack of athletic trainers and financial aid still burdened the team.
“It wasn’t easy building a program from scratch. Everything was a first: the first team, first game, first victory, et cetera.,” Beaudet explained. “But the challenges we faced were far outweighed by the camaraderie and commitment we all felt and that indescribable feeling of pride of having played for Notre Dame. Fifty years later, it still seems like yesterday.”
Jane Lammers ‘77 always loved competing in sports, and the desire to join the tennis team outweighed the lack of a women’s team. The women did not have a varsity team and were told there were many steps like forming an interest group and then a club team, which was a process that could take at least five years. Lammers would be graduating in four and didn’t want to miss out on her chance to play tennis. Sophomore Betsy Fallon ’76 had tried out for the men’s tennis team, but both desired a team of their own.
“Soon Betsy and I met and advertised tennis tryouts and scheduled matches with the coaches at the other Indiana, Ohio and Michigan universities,” Jane explained. With history professor Carole Moore as the volunteer coach, the two petitioned every year until their team earned varsity status.
With this athletic season marking the 50th anniversary of women’s varsity athletics, director of athletics Pete Bevacqua announced there would be a university-wide, year-long celebration, coined “Cheer Her Name.”
“I am looking forward to meeting and celebrating many of our past student-athletes from the past five decades over the next year and hope that this provides increased growth and exposure to our women’s programs at Notre Dame,” Bevacqua said.
Although each women’s varsity program hosts a “Cheer Her Name” game throughout their season, the main celebration took place over the weekend of Sept. 19, 2025, where both past and present female student-athletes were united back on campus. The celebration also included those who have consistently contributed to the success of the Cheer Her Name campaign. Over 300 former athletes returned for various moments of recognition, including at a reception that took place before the women’s volleyball game against Michigan, a soccer game against No. 2 Duke and the distribution on multiple honors during the. Sept. 20 football game against Purdue. At the game, former women’s basketball standout Ruth Riley Hunter (1997-2001) presented the flag.
Throughout the past 50 years, women’s varsity athletics at Notre Dame have earned 18 national championships across many sports including basketball, fencing and soccer. Notre Dame’s Monogram Club also presented 350 honorary monograms to not only athletes from 1972 to 1977, but also for founders of the Women’s Athletic Association — Ellen Hughes ‘77, Lammers and others — in appreciation for their constant support.
