What does it mean to live a good life?
“What Does It Mean to Live a Good Life?” University President Father Robert Dowd, C.S.C. announced this classic question as the theme for the 2026-27 Notre Dame Forum in an email to students and faculty on Thursday, January 15.
Established in 2005, the Notre Dame Forum “invites campus-wide dialogue about issues of importance to the University, the nation, and the larger world.” Events for this year’s theme, “Cultivating Hope,” have included public discussions on the power of hope in leadership, bridging divides through compassion, and the joy of service.
Fr. Dowd chose this year’s theme in light of the 2025 Jubilee Year, which Pope Francis themed “Pilgrims of Hope.” The forum website also points to the theme’s resonance with the Congregation of Holy Cross’ motto, Ave Crux, Spes Unica: “Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope.”
Notably, this year’s forum hosted controversial Cardinal Robert McElroy, who has faced national criticism for his progressive stances on LGBTQ issues. Card. McElroy joined Fr. Dowd on October 17 for a conversation titled, “Healing Our National Dialogue and Political Life.” The forum has also featured former President Obama’s Joint Chief of Staff, Ret. General Martin Dempsey, among others.
In an interview with the Rover, Professor of Political Science Daniel Philpott commended Fr. Dowd’s announcement and emphasized Notre Dame’s unique answer to the question of what it means to live a good life, saying, “Most other universities teach that life is to be spent eternally asking this question and that each person’s answer is equally important. Here at Notre Dame, though, it is the answer, not the question, that is eternal. The good life is found in friendship with God.”
He added, “The forum can engage in conversation with brothers and sisters of a different faith and no faith. … Still, if the forum is to be a Notre Dame one, we will want to share our answer with others. We have a duty to do that.”
Father Gregory Haake, C.S.C., who serves as the superior of the priests and brothers of Holy Cross at Notre Dame, described the personal value of engaging with next year’s forum theme amidst the challenges of today’s world. He told the Rover, “At a time when the culture (or the algorithm) is sending you a thousand messages every day about what it means to live the good life, one [of] the best ways to resist is by defining that for yourself according to the principles of our Catholic faith.”
Fr. Haake continued, “If you have a concrete idea of what constitutes the good life, both in general and in your particular case and according to your particular vocation, then your engagement with the question on the day-to-day will be much less fraught.”
Regarding next year’s theme, junior Jack Keller told the Rover, “I think that’s a great question we should be asking, especially as young adults going into many facets of life.” Keller said he hopes the forum will address the communal aspect of the good life—specifically, “What does it mean to live a good life in relation to one another, with our neighbors?”
In his announcement email, Fr. Dowd wrote that he looks forward to the dialogue that will occur within and across various disciplines at Notre Dame through the 2026-27 forum. He also encouraged students to recommit to respectful attentiveness as well as constructive and robust engagement: “In so doing, we will become the seekers of truth, sustainers of hope, and builders of bridges we hope to be.”
Gabe Hockstra is a freshman from Aldie, VA studying economics. He can be reached at ghockstr@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Forum 2025-26
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