Notre Dame Names First Black Valedictorian

Notre Dame will honor its first African-American valedictorian at Sunday's graduation ceremony, Dawn Turner Trice writes for the Chicago Tribune: 21-year-old Katie Washington. The biological sciences major beat out two other candidates with her stellar CV, which includes a 4.0 GPA and co-authorship of a major research paper. "I'm so humbled by it," Washington says of her selection.

She had no idea she would reach such heights when she arrived on the campus of the 168-year-old school. "I just wanted to do well on every assignment and every exam. I wanted to be the best I could be every day because I'd been given a great opportunity to be here." Washington will move on to Johns Hopkins in the fall, attending an MD-PhD program on full scholarship.