BALTIMORE — For the first time in its 128 year history, Notre Dame of Maryland University welcomed men in its undergraduate class.
Nearly 50 young men moved on to campus today.
We spoke with some of the players on move-in day and what the change means.
"It's great to make history. I love being with my teammates. We're all gonna be freshmen and we're all going to make an impact on this great community," Hector Alvarez said.
"Honestly, it's an honor to be able to enroll in such a prestigious university that has been women's only for quite a long time. And I feel like it'll be something that we'll be able to take for the rest of our lives. And like our captain mentioned before, it's another opportunity to make history and make everyone that we know proud," Jefferson Da Silva, freshman soccer player from London, England said.
With the addition of men, comes men's athletics, including soccer and basketball teams.
And the allure of starting the record books for a university team has drawn students from all over the world.
"It's an honor to be able to enroll in such a prestigious university that has been women's only for quite a long time. And I feel like it'll be something that we'll be able to take for the rest of our lives. And like our captain mentioned before, it's another opportunity to make history and make everyone that we know proud," Da Silva said.
In all, there are 50 men in the 200 student class.
While Hector and Jefferson are two of the first traditional undergrad students here, Notre Dame has been teaching men since 1975.
That's when the university opened up post-grad classes to men, as well as opening a weekend college for undergrad courses.
