Admit it! You know you do it! Whenever you see Roman Numerals, you think of the Super Bowl or the year a building was erected. Of course, this headline has absolutely nothing to do with football or the construction industry. No, the numbers of which I am speaking are MCMLXVII and MMXVI. Of course you have translated these numbers to read: ____________ and _____________. The headline numbers are five and forty-nine.
Your next problem is what do 5 and 49 have to do with Notre Dame. For the non-historians, to the best of my knowledge, there have been five Deans of Students in the forty-nine year history of Notre Dame, i.e., there have been five until February 6, 2016. On February 6th, Mr. Noel Labenberg officially resigned his position as Dean of Students after being at Notre Dame for 18 years. With no sense of irony, Mr. Labenberg ended his career after the Athletic Hall of Fame inductions in which one of his tennis players, Dan Drago, was added to our inductees.
Mr. Labenberg (Noel) came to Notre Dame also in the middle of an academic year. The year was MCMXCVIII. During his tenure at Notre Dame, Mr. Labenberg served as a Social Studies Teacher, Varsity Boys’ and Varsity Girls’ Tennis Coach, Varsity Girls’ Head Basketball Coach, Varsity Boys’ Assistant Basketball Coach, Senior Class Trip Advisor, Backstage Monitor for musicals, and Dean of Students. That’s quite a few hours of time per day, per week, per month, and per year. He also helped in scheduling students for classes and chaperoning any number of after school activities. He, when not involved in any of the above activities, dealt with the discipline issues of our school. On top of this dedicated service, Mr. Labenberg lived one hour away in the Lehigh Valley. What a tremendous service to the students and families of Notre Dame.
Mr. Labenberg told the students at an assembly on February 5th that he was leaving his Notre Dame Family to join his Labenberg Family in North Carolina. Noel and wife, Megan, recently became the grandparents of Olivia Labenberg and the new grandparents decided to join their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter at a home close to the shore of North Carolina. Who can argue with anyone who puts family first?
Today, on behalf of the entire Notre Dame Family, I would like to thank Mr. Labenberg for his dedication to all of the students and families he served in his eighteen years at Notre Dame. His final words to our Notre Dame family were (and are):
“WE ARE __ __!” No one said it better.
Your next problem is what do 5 and 49 have to do with Notre Dame. For the non-historians, to the best of my knowledge, there have been five Deans of Students in the forty-nine year history of Notre Dame, i.e., there have been five until February 6, 2016. On February 6th, Mr. Noel Labenberg officially resigned his position as Dean of Students after being at Notre Dame for 18 years. With no sense of irony, Mr. Labenberg ended his career after the Athletic Hall of Fame inductions in which one of his tennis players, Dan Drago, was added to our inductees.
Mr. Labenberg (Noel) came to Notre Dame also in the middle of an academic year. The year was MCMXCVIII. During his tenure at Notre Dame, Mr. Labenberg served as a Social Studies Teacher, Varsity Boys’ and Varsity Girls’ Tennis Coach, Varsity Girls’ Head Basketball Coach, Varsity Boys’ Assistant Basketball Coach, Senior Class Trip Advisor, Backstage Monitor for musicals, and Dean of Students. That’s quite a few hours of time per day, per week, per month, and per year. He also helped in scheduling students for classes and chaperoning any number of after school activities. He, when not involved in any of the above activities, dealt with the discipline issues of our school. On top of this dedicated service, Mr. Labenberg lived one hour away in the Lehigh Valley. What a tremendous service to the students and families of Notre Dame.
Mr. Labenberg told the students at an assembly on February 5th that he was leaving his Notre Dame Family to join his Labenberg Family in North Carolina. Noel and wife, Megan, recently became the grandparents of Olivia Labenberg and the new grandparents decided to join their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter at a home close to the shore of North Carolina. Who can argue with anyone who puts family first?
Today, on behalf of the entire Notre Dame Family, I would like to thank Mr. Labenberg for his dedication to all of the students and families he served in his eighteen years at Notre Dame. His final words to our Notre Dame family were (and are):
“WE ARE __ __!” No one said it better.