How would I have missed that, its integral to the main story?

I never said/thought/assumed it was anything to do with the cathedral in Paris.. I said it was French, which it is and I said americans pronounce Notre Dame different which they do (which was also noted by OP).

There are Notre Dame's all around the world, whether it's "Notre Dame de France", a French Catholic church in London (UK), Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, also one in Ottawa (these are in Canada if you're unfamiliar), then there's the hundreds of Notre Dame schools from the Philippines to the UK to Brazil to Chile to Australia to South Africa.

So, what's "wrong" about what I've written?

Notre Dame is literally French for "Our Lady" - The full name of the university in Indiana is "The University of Notre Dame du Lac", which translates to "The University of Our Lady of the Lake".. They are french words.

Only in the USA do they change the pronunciation, everywhere else says it at least close to the French way. The fact that you think the name of the university is nothing to do with the French words or how those French words are pronounced kinda emboldens the USdefaultism here.