Each year Notre Dame’s Rene Lepiane Leadership Award is presented to an incoming freshman student who exemplifies the qualities of a good leader.  The recipient is chosen, in part, based on her written essay.  Holly Petermann, this year’s recipient, shared her ideas of what makes a good leader.  “A quality that I think a good leaders should have is the ability to do what is right even if they are doing it by themselves and it is not the popular thing to do,” shared Holly. “I think that leaders should always put their faith in God to help them make the right decisions.” Holly, who attended Resurrection School, was an excellent student throughout middle school and served on student council. Holly was recognized at Notre Dame’s opening assembly and her name added to the plaque that hangs in the Alumnae Room in Manley Hall.

The Rene Lepiane Leadership Award was created in honor of Rene Lepiane, director of student leadership and activities at Notre Dame High School from 2006 until her passing in August of 2010. The Rene Lepiane Scholarship Fund was established to recognize exceptional young women who exemplify the same characteristics Rene taught her students. Her extraordinary warmth and compassion were gifts she bestowed on the Notre Dame students, faculty/staff, community, and many others.

In the past seven years, award recipients have gone on to serve in significant leadership positions at Notre Dame. Four have served as ASB president of their class. Three have graduated from Notre Dame and gone on to attend Santa Clara, University of Oregon and Stanford.