Above and Beyond

Notre Dame cadet Nicole Butler named ROTC student of the year

Surrounded by her fellow ROTC battalion mates, Nicole Butler was shocked to see her own face projected by ESPN2 on the huge TV in the Duncan Student Center in December.

It took several seconds to register that the national broadcast was announcing the Notre Dame senior as the Army ROTC student of the year, an award sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union to honor ROTC seniors from across the country who best demonstrate leadership, scholarship, service and military excellence. The cadets broke into applause. Butler blushed.

“Being the center of attention isn’t normally my thing,” she said. “But it was a great moment to know that I had the support of my peers that had helped me along through this process. It’s a close-knit culture. The award and the attention is important because I think a lot of the work people do in ROTC goes unnoticed.”