Notre Dame

WILMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — A group conducting an archaeological dig in northern Illinois has found pieces of broken pottery, projectile points and other artifacts dating to the 1600s.

Two University of Notre Dame professors have been leading summer volunteers on an exploration at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The project at the Middle Grant Creek Site is revealing how people of the Oneota culture lived in the area four centuries ago.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies have hired former Notre Dame women's associate head coach Niele Ivey among the new assistants on Taylor Jenkins' staff. There are now nine women coaches in the NBA. The Grizzlies also announced the hiring of Brad Jones, David McClure, James "Scoonie" Penn, Vitaly Potapenko and Neven Spahija. Ivey spent the past 12 seasons at her alma mater with the last four as Notre Dame's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame Stadium is getting a layer of natural turf in preparation for a professional soccer match.

Crews began unrolling large rolls of turf at the stadium Monday ahead of Friday's scheduled friendly matchup between Liverpool F.C. and Borussia Dortmund.

Fenway Sports Group is the owner of the Liverpool team and the Boston Red Sox. It's leasing the stadium as part of a three-city tour that will include preseason friendly matches at the stadium, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.

WVPE is proud to be a media sponsor of the 2019 Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. 

This year's festival features three different event experiences. 

Shakespeare After Hours is Friday, July 19 at LangLab in South Bend at 7 and 9:30pm.

ShakeScenes is at Washinton Hall on the Notre Dame campus  Saturday, July 20 at 2pm. 

Shakespeare in Fremont Park is Thursday, July 25 and Friday, July 26 at 7pm in South Bend's Fremont Park. 

More information is available at: 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Steve Stricker made his U.S. Senior Open debut one for the record book by closing with a 1-under 69 to set the 72-hole record and win by six shots.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Construction work at the University of Notre Dame's famed prayer grotto is expected to last throughout the summer months.

The university says the work will include closing the main staircase to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes so it can be completely replaced with wider, more accessible steps.

Crews will also replace the pavement in the gathering area facing the grotto with natural stone pavers. Other work involves installing new memorial benches at the grotto near Sacred Heart Basilica on the South Bend campus.

Commencement at Notre Dame was held earlier on Sunday and moved indoors due to weather.  Here is the university's recap of the event:

UPDATE:  

From Notre Dame:

Due to the high probability of heavy rain and lightning, the University of Notre Dame has moved its 174th University Commencement Ceremony on Sunday (May 19) to Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, beginning two hours earlier than scheduled, at 8 a.m. Individual diploma ceremonies also will start earlier than scheduled, at noon Sunday.

The University of Notre Dame issued the following release of information about this weekend's graduation ceremonies:  

The University of Notre Dame will confer 3,147 degrees during Commencement Weekend Saturday and Sunday (May 18 and 19) on campus.