Unveiling of "The Shirt" at Notre Dame

"The Shirt" will be unveiled Sunday on the campus of Notre Dame.

The shirt program has been going on since 1990 and this year will be the 27th shirt because there were two shirts in 1990.

This is something fans look forward to each year according to The Shirt Committee President Abbey Dankoff.
"Notre Dame fans are amazing. Besides the students who are buying the shirt to be unified with the rest of the student section, the fans and alumni of Notre Dame have such a strong connection to this place," said Dankoff.

Since the beginning, these shirts, that represent the start to a new season of Irish football have been a hot seller.

“We like to think of ourselves as the single largest piece of collegiate apparel sold annually. So last year we sold almost 170,000," said Dankoff.

The shirt represents more than Irish pride though. They give back and help others.
 
"Each year all of our proceeds are split half and half. So half goes to our charities which are students who can't afford medical expenses, and students who can't afford certain things on campus and the other half goes to funding student activities so more than 400 clubs and student organizations get their funding from the shirt proceeds," said Dankoff.

However, the shirt proceeds are not limited to campus only. The committee is partnered with Alta Gracia, a living wage factory in the Dominican Republic.

"We're partnering for the fourth year in a row with Alta Gracia. They pay their workers over 300-percent the legal minimum so they actually have money to support their families and send their kids to school," Dankoff said.

The shirt will be unveiled at exactly 6:57 p.m. and there will be student groups, entertainment and free food starting at 5:30 p.m.

If bought today, shirts are $15 for students and $18 for non-students.

"We're really excited for people to see it. I think people are really going to love it," she said.