ND Jack - thanks for sharing that. I always thought the shirt started to raise money for a student injured in a hit and run accident, and since went to special causes like that. Looking into this, I saw this was in year 2 and they created a second shirt that year for that cause:
Proceeds from 1990 ‘T-shirt for the Cause’ donated to injured student
Oct. 10, 1990 | Scott Brutocao | Researched by Rebecca Fried
Following the success of the first “Shirt” in 1990, a second was made the same year, but for a different purpose — proceeds would be donated to Zheng-de Wang, a sociology graduate student who had been severely injured in a car accident. Wang, originally from Tianjin, China, had been struck by a car in a hit-and-run while walking to his off-campus housing in October 1989.
Wang was left in a coma for several months, and stayed at the South Bend hospital for 11 months in total. At the time of the article’s publication on Oct. 10, 1990, he had not yet regained his mobility and speech. Wang was also uninsured.
In support of Wang, a group of Notre Dame students designed a T-shirt to raise money for his recovery. Daily advertisements in The Observer asked students to “Buy It For ‘The Cause.’”