Frank E. Hering, a Past Grand Worthy President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in South Bend, Indiana, campaigned for "a national day to honor our mothers", nearly 35 years after social activist Ann Jarvis first proposed a similar U.S. holiday. The idea of advocating for Mother's Day came to Hering when he was a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame. Walking into the classroom of a fellow instructor, Hering found his colleague distributing penny postcards to students. Each student addressed his or her card and scribbled a message on it. Hering was informed the students could write anything, as long as it was addressed to the students' mothers.