The University of Notre Dame's

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 Main Administration Building (known as the Main Building or the "Golden Dome") houses various administrative offices, including the Office of the President. Construction of the Main Building began in 1864 and was completed in 1865. The building stood for 14 years before being destroyed by fire in the spring of 1879.

Father Edward Sorin

Edward Sorin

The Very Rev. Edward Frederick Sorin, C.S.C. , a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross was the founder of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and of St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.-Youth:...

’s indomitable will was best demonstrated in 1879 when a disastrous fire destroyed the Main Building, which housed virtually the entire University. Father Sorin willed Notre Dame to rebuild and continue its growth. "I came here as a young man and dreamed of building a great university in honor of Our Lady," he said. "But I built it too small, and she had to burn it to the ground to make the point. So, tomorrow, as soon as the bricks cool, we will rebuild it, bigger and better than ever."

Immediately after the fire, the University took action, selecting a new design by Willoughby J. Edbrooke

Willoughby J. Edbrooke

Willoughby James Edbrooke was an American architect and a bureaucrat who remained faithful to a Richardsonian Romanesque style into the era of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States, supported by commissions from conservative federal and state governments that were spurred by his stint in...

 and commencing construction. The current Main Building was completed before the fall semester of 1879. The Golden Dome that caps the Main Building was a gift from the sisters of adjacent Saint Mary's College

Saint Mary's College (Indiana)

Saint Mary's College is a private Catholic liberal arts college founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. It is located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community northeast of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States — as are the University of Notre Dame and Holy...

, Notre Dame's sister school.

Steps Tradition and Superstition

In campus lore, if a student ascended the front steps of the Main Building before graduation, that student was doomed never to graduate. This legend stems from traditionalist smoking rituals. Students were not deemed worthy to climb the steps and smoke with their professors until they received their degrees and were educational equals.