Charter
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME Du Lac AT SOUTH BEND IN ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, INDIANA
Enacted January 15, 1844, Amended January 13, 1845, March 8, 1873, and March 11, 1937.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF INDIANA, That Edward Frederick Sorin, Francis Lewis Cointet, Theophilus Jerome Marivault, Francis Gouesse, and their associates and successors in office, be, and are hereby constituted and declared to be a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, and by that name they shall have perpetual succession, with full power and authority to confer and grant, or cause to be conferred and granted, such degrees and diplomas in the liberal arts and sciences, and in law and medicine, as are usually conferred and granted in other universities of the United States: Provided, however, that no degrees shall be conferred or diplomas granted except to students who have acquired the same proficiency in the liberal arts and sciences, and in law and medicine, as is customary in other universities in the United States; to elect a president and all such other officers, professors, instructors, and agents as they may think necessary for the benefit of said university; to contract and be contracted with; to borrow money; to acquire, hold, enjoy, and transfer property, real or personal, in their corporate capacity; to make, have and use a common seal, and the same to alter at pleasure; to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity; to receive and accept of any grants, gifts, donations, bequests, or conveyance by any person, company, or corporation, of any property, real or personal, and to hold and convey, and dispose of the same as may by them be deemed best for the interest of said institution; to make, ordain, establish, and execute such bylaws, rules, and ordinances not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or of this State, as they shall deem necessary for the welfare of said university, and to do all other acts in pursuance thereof necessary for the promotion of the arts and sciences, and the prosperity of said university; provided that said corporation shall be known as and be a charitable, religious, educational and eleemosynary, nonstock corporation and one not organized for profit.