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Volume 51, Issue 103 | tuesday, march 21, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Seminar class travels to London Students explore English culture, history on all-expenses-paid trip over break By SELENA PONIO Associate News Editor
For 12 students in a class called “The Life and Times of Henry the VIII,” learning was not restricted to the walls of a classroom. The seminar in the College of Arts and Letters hosted an allexpenses-paid trip to London for its students to help them gain a more in-depth understanding of the culture and history behind their readings. Sophomore Jarod Luedecker was one of the students that went on the trip to London and other cities in England. He said the most moving experience came when he saw the wall graffiti on the stones of the Tower of London. “It was so intricate, and it was hard to imagine that prison was made almost 500 years ago and it still survives today,” Luedecker said. “The fact that they felt the
need to leave behind a memento was really moving.” Luedecker said they also saw the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s Tudor warship that sank along with 300 people on it. He said he learned it sat at the bottom of the sea for 400 years, and the students got to see what was left on the ship. “They had rosaries that men carried on board, and it was moving to think about men holding those rosaries and praying while the ship sunk,” Luedecker said. Sophomore Maggie Behan said she applied to this college seminar not only because the trip to London caught her eye, but also because she had a deep fascination for history. “I think [this trip] really helped because it’s easy to talk about things in class, but they all just kind of run together,” Behan said. see LONDON PAGE 4
Observer Staff Report
Photo courtesy of Jarod Luedecker
Students traveled to London and other English cities over spring break as part of a College of Arts and Letters history seminar.
Family funds new institute Observer Staff Report
The University announced in a press release Friday that it has received a $15 million donation from South Bend residents Rafat and Zoreen Ansari and their family for the creation of a worldwide religious studies institute. According to the press release, the future Rafat and Zoreen Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion will be will be included in the Donald R. Keough
School of Global Affairs. R. Scott Appleby, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School, said in the press release that this addition to the school will provide opportunities for faculty members and students to explore the effect of religion on a global scale. “The various roles of religions in alleviating suffering, accompanying the migrant and the refugee, serving the poor and reducing violent conflict are far less
understood and publicized than the havoc created by a tiny minority of deluded religious extremists on every continent,” Appleby said in the release. “The Ansari Institute intends to change the conversation about religion — not by denying the troubling aspects of religious expression, but by directing attention to the vast good done by religions, and the even greater good they might accomplish in see ANSARI PAGE 3
Class travels to Belize By GABY JANSEN News Writer
A Saint Mary’s marine biology class took learning in depth to a whole new meaning. The class spent spring break in Belize at South Water Caye applying what it learned in the classroom life to the natural world. Saint Mary’s assistant biology professor Laura Kloepper said marine biology had not been
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taught in years, but the department now plans on regularly running the class. She said this trip is part of the lab component for the class. “We’ve resurrected the marine biology class and we plan on teaching this every two years,” Kloepper said. Kloepper said studying Belize was an obvious choice because of its diverse environment. “If you’re teaching marine
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Law student dies
biology in Indiana doing a lab is a little difficult,” Kloepper said. “[Belize] is also one of the few coral reefs that is still fairly unaffected by coral bleaching.” Kloepper said the class went boating in the morning and worked on their individual projects in the afternoon. “As a class we were doing a marine life census,” Kloepper see BIOLOGY PAGE 4
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First-year law student Travis McElmurry, 30, died in his offcampus residence where he was found Sunday night, according to a University press release. St. Joseph County coroner Michael McGann said the cause of McElmurry’s death is unknown at this time, though he saw no signs of foul play or other unnatural causes. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning. “As a university community, we mourn Travis’ passing,” University President Fr. John Jenkins said in the release. “Our prayers are with his family and see McELMURRY PAGE 3
Women’s choir tours over break By MARTHA REILLY Saint Mary’s Editor
Performing at venues in Colorado, Missouri, Kansas and Indiana helped members of Saint Mary’s Women’s Choir ensure their spring break didn’t fall flat. Senior Lauren Zyber said the group stayed with alumnae of the College at various stops on the tour, and seeing them in the crowd added an extra dimension of meaning to the concerts. “A lot of them were very emotional and moved by the music,” Zyber said. “Seeing them tear up in the audience … I had to force myself not to look at them because it would make me really emotional about this experience.” Several of the alumnae who housed choir members achieved professional success after graduation, Zyber said. “We stayed with a music major who is now a pulmonary specialist, a top doctor in her field,” she said. “It was really wonderful to see how successful Saint Mary’s women are.” Sophomore Grace Haase said
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the alumnae she encountered along the way provided her with valuable advice about discerning a career path. “One of the main things I’ve learned through choir is that it’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do after graduation,” Haase said. According to Haase, Women’s Choir maintains such a tight-knit relationship because all members are made to feel indispensable. “Everyone is important. There’s no ‘this person is better than this person.’ You have to make sure that your voice doesn’t stand out,” Haase said. Zyber said belonging to Women’s Choir enforces ideals of commitment and teamwork. “You learn about how you can blend with people and how if one person is gone it affects the whole choir,” Zyber said. “If one person is missing, it’s automatically heard, and we sound weaker. That naturally fosters a strong community.” According to Zyber, the friendships members of Women’s Choir see CHOIR PAGE 4
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