Fighting to serve others before self

In October 2022, Eric Goins, a US Army Signal Corps officer, was in Poland in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The communications officer had been deployed for almost eight months and was looking for his next assignment.

As he discerned whether his future was in the military, he decided to apply to Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business Master of Business Administration program. Upon receiving his acceptance in December, he threw a Hail Mary pass to Notre Dame’s football program: Could he be a walk-on to the team?

Goins had been a record-setting kicker as an undergraduate at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina. He still holds the school record for field goals made. But he was now 30 and not a typical recruit. To further complicate things, because he was deployed, he couldn’t send current film to prove his skills, he said.

Goins turned his attention to the long process required to leave the military, and in July 2023, he was able to officially separate from active-duty service. He was due at Notre Dame just five days later.

Once he arrived for classes, he emailed the special teams assistant coach and asked if he could walk on in the spring. The response was positive.

Football player Eric Goins, number 90, kicks the ball during a game. A referee in black and white stripes runs towards the ball in the foreground. — Eric Goins, a walk-on kicker, has seen the field this season during games against Purdue, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Navy, Florida State, and Virginia.

From Battle Field to Football Field

The rest of the story has played out on the field. Goins used his fifth year of eligibility to walk onto the Notre Dame squad as a graduate student. He has seen the field for kickoffs during games against Purdue, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Navy, Florida State and Virginia. But what he provides the team extends beyond the gridiron.

“An officer’s job is to coach, teach, and mentor, by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to soldiers. I feel like that’s one of my roles on the football team,” he said. “But also I have to learn just as much from everyone else right now, because I’m new to Notre Dame football, so they know more than me about the day-to-day stuff. But I can bring my outside perspective on a lot of things.”

Marcus Freeman, the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach and the son of an Air Force veteran, agreed that Goins brings a unique skill set to the roster. “I think there’s so many lessons that the US military truly develops . . . and number one is discipline, work ethic, a sense of selflessness, and being able to commit to something bigger than yourself.”

Goins is not the only student veteran on campus. While Notre Dame’s strong ROTC programs have long been the heart of campus military involvement, there is a growing cadre of active-duty members and veterans on campus. According to Ken Heckel, the director of the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, Notre Dame currently has just shy of 600 military-affiliated students. More than 130 have served or are currently serving, 33 of whom are in the MBA program, thanks in part to the MBA Military Veterans Club. Around 175 are military dependents whose parents or spouses have granted them education benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The remaining 280 are in the ROTC program and will go on to serve the nation in their respective branches.

Ken Heckel, the director of the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, is also a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Army.

All told, the community is robust, and Heckel is working to formalize mentorship and host family programs to offer layers of support and connection. He noted that because most military members who come to Notre Dame are not the typical 18-year-old student, they may have unique challenges and needs, such as arriving with a family, and need different resources from a typical undergraduate.

“We don’t want them to get here on their own, make that life transition and not have a network of folks who understand their lived experiences to plug into,” Heckel said. “Formalizing that connection is important for us to welcome them to Notre Dame and make sure that they feel comfortable as part of the vibrant community that we have here, not just with other military-connected students, but with the broader student population as well.”

Heckel understands the transition firsthand. He is a 1996 Notre Dame alumnus and a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. In addition to numerous combat deployments, he previously spent 10 years on the faculty and staff at West Point. Heckel acknowledged there are other universities with much larger military communities. But at Notre Dame, he said, the unique strength is the parallel missions.

“I can’t think of an institution that has a stronger connection to military service other than the academies,” he said. “It goes back to this common ethos of servant leadership, that our students here are called to serve others above self. That ethos creates the strongest mission alignment with military service.”

Members of the Notre Dame ROTC stand in formation on a grassy area. They flank flag bearers holding the U.S. flag, the Indiana state flag, and military branch flags.

A U.S. serviceman in a white dress uniform salutes in front of a stone archway at the University of Notre Dame. The arch is adorned with an eagle, a crest, and the inscription "God, Country, Notre Dame." An American flag is positioned to the serviceman's left.

Several individuals in U.S. Army dress uniforms salute with their right hands touching their berets.

While Notre Dame's ROTC programs, pictured here during the annual Pass-in-Review, have long been the heart of campus military involvement, veterans and active-duty members are a growing part of campus's military community.

Because military service members innately understand and live out Notre Dame’s mission to serve the common good, the University can serve as an important and familiar stepping stone for those transitioning out of active-duty service, Heckel said. And, he added, Notre Dame doesn’t just welcome them out of charity—those service members uniquely deepen the community with lived experiences and learned traits such as grit, patience, leadership, determination, and trust.

“I think it’s important for Notre Dame to be a place that they see as welcoming to them and not just accepting of them,” he said. “We want our student veterans to know that Notre Dame is a welcoming place, not simply because we appreciate their service, but because we value how much that service and experience brings to our community.”

That welcome mat has been appealing. Notre Dame has a rare number of active-duty doctoral students who will go on to lead battalions or brigades upon graduation. Heckel believes that, along with an impressive degree, they can also take with them Notre Dame values.

“These are senior military officers who are going to be leading significant organizations in the future that Notre Dame is educating,” he said.

The same applies to those leaving the military entirely. The door is open to those individuals too, Heckel emphasized.

“It’s important for Notre Dame to be a place that veterans can see as a meaningful opportunity for them to transition from a career in the military to whatever path they aspire to pursue upon graduation.”

As for Goins, he is working toward a dual MBA and Master of Global Affairs (MGA) degree. Foreign language proficiency is encouraged in the program, so Goins is, once again, building on his military experience. He learned some German while stationed in Germany and is working toward fluency. Goins is also a Sorin Fellow in Notre Dame’s de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. The fellows are offered mentors and role models, discernment opportunities, and grant funding. In turn, the fellows serve as witnesses to human dignity, freedom, and the common good on campus and beyond. He has spread a wide net with the goal of best discerning what is next for him.

“Ultimately, I want to one day resume serving our country in some capacity — just not in the military anymore,” Goins said.

This summer, Goins will work on a project for an MGA program called iLab. He will travel to cities across North America, South America, and England to promote urban biodiversity. He is looking for what his postgraduate plans will be.