Distinguished Alumnus Award - 2019: Joe Newman ’36 & Peter Schivarelli ’71
2019: Joe Newman ’36 & Peter Schivarelli ’71
For a lifetime of service, Joe Newman ’36 was honored with the 2019 Distinguished Alumnus Award.
As a parent of a child with special needs, Newman, a South Bend native, helped to found Logan Center in 1950. The center supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities so that they, and their families, can achieve their desired quality of life.
Decades later, Newman ran for Congress as a write-in candidate at age 101, calling attention to issues he felt were important and merited public debate.
Throughout his life, Newman has focused on promoting the common good and helping to build a better world that empowers others and expands opportunity.
2019: Peter Schivarelli ’71
In recognition of his exemplary service to both Notre Dame and his hometown of Chicago, the Alumni Association was pleased to honor Peter Schivarelli ’71 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in October 2019.
Mr. Schivarelli graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep High School in 1963 and went on to work for the city of Chicago and open his own successful hot dog stand, despite acquiring football scholarship offers from both Purdue and Indiana. For Schivarelli, he either wanted to go to Notre Dame or nowhere at all.
It was only after speaking personally with legendary Irish head football coach Ara Parseghian that Mr. Schivarelli was convinced to apply to Notre Dame and walk onto the football team.
Since graduating in 1971, Schivarelli has contributed generously to the football team, marching band, and Notre Dame athletics in general via scholarships, among other areas of the University. The Ara Parseghian statue that stands outside of Notre Dame Stadium is inspired by a moment that came after Notre Dame defeated Texas in the 1971 Cotton Bowl, when Schivarelli and his Irish teammates carried Parseghian off the field.
Mr. Schivarelli is best known for his more than 50 years spent as manager of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Chicago. Yet, he also has served as the city of Chicago’s chief of snow command, and is the former sanitation superintendent of Chicago’s 43rd ward.
Further, Mr. Schivarelli has been a supporter of the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, the Hannah & Friends charity for children and adults with special needs, and has even founded a residential community for people with special needs and disabilities.
Schivarelli has dedicated his life to giving back both to the city of Chicago and the university that he loves.