Notre Dame has announced that student Kylee Kazenski will wear the iconic Leprechaun mascot's uniform for The Fighting Irish football game against Pittsburgh this Saturday, October 28.
"This weekend, we’re making history in the House that Rockne Built," Notre Dame said on Instagram.
"For the first time ever, a female student will portray @nd_theleprechaun at a Notre Dame Football game in the team’s upcoming matchup against Pittsburgh."
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A senior computer science major from Illinois, Kazenski is one of two female students to be selected in the Notre Dame Leprechaun line-up for the 2023/24 season, according to the Observer, Notre Dame's student-run newspaper.
Kazenski has spent six weeks studying in Ireland over the summer and is currently taking an Irish language class at Notre Dame. She also plays the banjo in the Notre Dame céilí band.
"You don’t have to be delved into Irish culture, obviously, to be way into the Fighting Irish," Kazenski told the Observer.
"But I think it did really help propel me into really wanting to portray the Leprechaun."
Kazenski described her role as the Fighting Irish leprechaun as a "unique opportunity" to show younger women and girls that they can make their dreams happen, "no matter what's typical" of the role they're applying for.
McKenna Englhardt, a first-year mechanical engineering student from Palo Alto in California, will also don the green suit during the 2023/24 season.
Englhardt has previously competed in Irish dance competitions and told the Observer that she was nicknamed the "Little Leprechaun" by her friends back home.
"I grew up doing the whole Notre Dame thing," she told the Observer.
In August 2019, Lynnette Wukie became the first female student in Notre Dame history to don the green suit, but she never performed at a football game.
The University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Leprechaun history
According to the University of Notre Dame, university president Rev. Matthew Walsh, C.S.C., officially adopted “Fighting Irish” as the Notre Dame nickname in 1927.
The University acknowledges that there are several theories about the origination of the Fighting Irish nickname, but says that "the term likely began as an abusive expression tauntingly directed toward the athletes from the small, private, Catholic institution. Notre Dame alumnus Francis Wallace popularized it in his New York Daily News columns in the 1920s."
In 1965, the Leprechaun became the official mascot of the University of Notre Dame. Prior to then, Irish terriers served as the university's mascots.
The University says: “In keeping with the nickname Fighting Irish and the Irish folklore, the Leprechaun serves as the Notre Dame mascot.
“The Notre Dame logo features a side view of the figure with his dukes up, ready to battle anyone that comes his way. The live version is a student, chosen annually at tryouts, dressed in a cutaway green suit and Irish country hat.
“The Leprechaun brandishes a shillelagh and aggressively leads cheers and interacts with the crowd, supposedly bringing magical powers and good luck to the Notre Dame team.”
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