#97 – Facing the Fact That Bethel Will Always Be Eclipsed by the Shadow of Notre Dame

Bethel College likes to take pride in the fact that they are the only college in the city of Mishawaka (unless you would count Penn High School, which has nearly twice the enrollment that Bethel has). Unfortunately, Mishawaka’s neighbor, South Bend, is attached to Mishawaka like a Siamese twin, and South Bend is known for being the college town of college towns. Residing in South Bend are colleges and universities such as IUSB, Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s, National College, Ivy Tech, and Brown Mackie, to name a few.

Of course, there is one other university located in South Bend. You’ve probably never heard of it though. It’s just a puny, insignificant school called Notre Dame. What’s that? You have heard of Notre Dame? Well great! Let’s continue…

Since Notre Dame is such a nationally-renowned university, it tends to hog some of the collegiate spotlight from the surrounding colleges in the area, and Bethel is no exception. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Notre Dame is superior to Bethel, but Bethel students have to deal with the fact that they’re not the biggest hot-shot school around town. But I suppose a little humility is good for the ego.

Here are some observations I’ve made about Notre Dame and its relationship with Bethel:

Notre Dame students don’t know we exist

If you approached a random Notre Dame student and asked them where Bethel College is, chances are they’ll give you a look of confusion, cross themselves, and run the other direction. That’s because the average Notre Dame student has no idea what a Bethel College is. Even though Bethel is less than two miles down the road from Notre Dame’s campus, the Fighting Irish like to pretend that we’re not even here.

Bethel students like to use Notre Dame as a point of reference

Whenever I try to talk to someone who lives outside the state of Indiana about where Bethel College is, this is usually the conversation that ensues:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

ME: “Yeah, I go to Bethel College.”

STRANGER: “Oh, is that the one in Minnesota, or the one in Kansas?”

ME: “Actually we’re located in Indiana.”

STRANGER: “Oh, I’ve heard of that state. Where at in Indiana?”

ME: “It’s in Mishawaka.”

STRANGER: “Gesundheit.”

ME: “No, Mishawaka. That’s the name of the city.”

STRANGER: “Never heard of it.”

ME: “It’s right next to South Bend.”

STRANGER: “Never heard of that either.”

ME: (Sigh) “Ever heard of Notre Dame?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notre Dame has football 

Ah yes, the cornerstone of Notre Dame legacy. Without getting into an internet debacle over college football, you can’t deny that the tradition of Notre Dame football runs deep. Not only that, but during football season, Notre Dame gets nationwide coverage on networks such as ABC, CBS, and NBC. What does Bethel get? We get basketball coverage on the local WHME station, stuck right in between the Harvest Show, Joyce Meyer, and infomercials for expeditions to Israel.

Notre Dame is huge

How huge is Notre Dame? Way bigger than Bethel, that’s for sure. Notre Dame lies on 1,250 acres of land, about two square miles, whereas Bethel takes up about 80 acres of land. If you do the math, it’s pretty astounding:

1250 acres ÷ 80 acres = 15.625

Over 15 Bethels can fit inside Notre Dame

Kind of reminds me in elementary science when we learned how many Earths could fit inside Jupiter.

Maybe if Bethel had two lakes, two golf courses, a stadium, and a cemetery on campus, we could be just as cool and have 1250 acres like Notre Dame does.

I know that Notre Dame and Bethel seem like quite the contrast. I know that we appear to have zero in common. But when you do a little more analysis, you come to find out that Bethel and Notre Dame really aren’t that much different from each other. Think about it. Both Notre Dame and Bethel are private religious institutions dedicated to higher learning. Both of them hold worship services during the week, require their students to take theology classes, and both take pride in their spirituality. Oh, and you thought Bethel students were the only ones who lived in a bubble? Notre Dame is like its own self-sufficient city. Bethel has the Bethel Bubble, but Notre Dame has something I like to call “The Notre Dome”. Same as a bubble, different than the “Golden Dome” that you’re thinking of.

Notre Dame students also have their own social norms and unique idiosyncrasies just like Bethel students do. You know how I know? Notre Dame has its own satirical blog written by one of its students called “Things Notre Dame Students Like“.

I guess we’re not that different after all.