Kayla Wood: Stepping Into a Legacy

Kayla Wood graduated in 2021 from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Environmental Science and Anthropology. Wood, a native of Olney, Maryland, earned her Monogram serving as a three-year student manager for the women’s basketball program. She is the great-niece of Frazier Thompson ‘53, the first Black student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame. 

This installment of Signed, the Irish is part of a yearlong celebration in honor of Thompson’s legacy and the extraordinary contributions by our Black student-athletes.

Everyone has a Notre Dame story.

You know, the one about how they ended up a Domer, ended up under the glistening gold, ended up humming the Victory March in their sleep.

Mine started on a predictable path – like countless others, my first exposure to Notre Dame was football. My junior year of high school, family friends invited my parents and me to attend a game at the House that Rockne Built.

And then came the call that changed everything, that changed my Notre Dame story forever.

My grandfather was on the other end of the line, asking “did you know?”

Did you know that Frazier Thompson — my grandfather’s uncle – was the first Black student-athlete at Notre Dame?

Did you know that he was being honored with a plaque on the Wall of Honor inside the Main Building? 

Did you know the ceremony was going to be the same weekend as that football game I was already going to?                                                                                                        

And not knowing any of the history of my family, I was ready to learn.

I walked up the steps to the Dome, the center of campus, not knowing that weekend would be the one that changed my life forever, that redirected my Notre Dame story from being a common one to an uncommon one.     

I remember the packed halls of the Dome. I remember the emotion in the room as my grandfather gave a speech honoring his uncle, surrounded by the families of Notre Dame’s Black trailblazers. I remember how many people came up to my grandfather afterward, wanting to talk about his uncle.

That night, one of the coolest moments was having dinner with Frazier’s brother, sons, and nephew about how Frazier came to Notre Dame and about just how smart he was. 

We learned that as valedictorian of Bartram High School in Philadelphia, Frazier should have earned a full, four-year scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. Solely because of the color of his skin, that award went to a white classmate… and Frazier joined the Navy. When he finished his service to our country, Notre Dame gave him a home.

At Notre Dame, he joined the track team and would compete as the school’s first Black student-athlete. Frazier’s brothers would talk about how much adversity he faced, how only one white teammate was comfortable sharing a room with him at road meets.

As they spoke, they talked of Frazier, the man, not of Frazier’s accomplishments, not of Frazier, the “first.”

After that night, it was clear that Notre Dame was a special place and I couldn’t wait to put in my application. I knew that even if I didn’t end up being accepted, I wanted to apply just to honor him – it meant something more now.

My application was accepted and my own Notre Dame journey was about to begin.

As a manager for the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team, nearly every day for three years, I climbed the steps to the catwalk of the Joyce Center to film each practice.

As I climbed those steps every day, I passed a plaque, a plaque of the man who bore my family name, whose strife paved the way for so many of us, a plaque of Frazier.

While I didn’t get into being a manager because of him, it was always in the back of my mind that I was able to do what I was able to do… because he was there first.

Working with women like Niele Ivey, Carol Owens, and Coquese Washington, I was able to learn from some great, Black, female leaders – the complete 180 of Frazier’s experience. His experience was full of all men, all white, and how cool to reflect on how far Notre Dame has come in the 75 years since Frazier competed on the track.

Our community is strengthened by these stories, by this diversity, and we have so many more steps to climb. The more diverse our student body, the stronger Notre Dame becomes. Frazier proved that and we continue to prove that every day. 

My experience was important to my grandfather, who was filled with pride that in some small way, my presence at Notre Dame, my involvement in Athletics, was made possible by the path his uncle forged.

I was able to sit courtside and learn mere feet from hall of famer Muffet McGraw. I traveled to the 2019 Final Four, soaking in the electricity of the atmosphere as the Irish competed for a national title. I was by the side of Coach Ivey, the first Black female coach in Notre Dame history, throughout her inaugural season.

And it’s always in the back of my mind just to be grateful, to be thankful for Frazier’s perseverance.

As Notre Dame tradition dictates, my final climb up steps on this campus should have been at the foot of the Golden Dome.

But, on Commencement, I had one more set to climb.

My final climb at Notre Dame was in my cap and stole, at the Joyce Center, up the steps I walked every day for years, and right to Frazier’s plaque.

To honor his legacy one last time, to honor my great uncle.