14 minute read
junior Pasquerilla West Hall “‘Rick and Morty’ season
DIANE PARK | The Observer Women’s history across the tri-campus
By UYEN LE, ERIN DRUMM and JIM MOSTER
From the Archives researchers
2022 marks 50 years since women were admitted to notre dame. Throughout this half-century, women have made vast strides towards increased visibility and respect with their perseverance and accomplishments.
In this week’s edition of From the Archives, we will examine women’s history at notre dame through the decades. In the ‘70s, notre dame experienced the arrival of women’s varsity sports teams, which culminated in a women’s fencing national championship victory in the 1980s. Then, with 1990 being declared the “Year of the Woman” at notre dame, we will explore the increasing number of women in sTem and the challenges they faced in those fields. Finally, the powerful yet controversial “The vagina monologues” came to the tri-campus community in the 2000s, bringing women’s issues front and center.
‘The dames have truly arrived’: The beginning of women’s sports at Notre Dame
Aug. 28, 1976 | March 24, 1987 | Terry Lynch | Researched by Erin Drumm
In 1972, with the arrival of female students on notre dame’s campus, women began participating in intramural and interhall sports. In 1976, the first women’s varsity sports teams were created at notre dame: fencing and tennis.
Tennis seemed to be the most popular sport among notre dame women in its first years on campus. This interest gave way to the development of a varsity tennis team. When the women’s practice greens were installed, associate athletic director colonel stevens was one of the first to comment: “The dames have truly arrived.”
There were no scholarships for women in their first year of varsity sports as the focus was placed on creating a well-rounded women’s sports program with the limited funds they were given.
The Women’s Athletic Association, however, allowed women to get involved with sports on campus by becoming “hostesses for our visiting teams, officiating corps, equipment managers, athletic trainer aids, publicity corps, statisticians and even public address announcers for our emerging women’s athletic program.” both women’s tennis and women’s fencing worked in conjunction with their male counterparts under the same coaches. Women’s fencing emphasized that women would “have equal status, equipment, travel allowance and coaching.” notre dame had a wellestablished and respected sports program, so it was “not notre dame’s intention to have a separate women’s athletic department, as the women [could] benefit immensely from notre dame’s nationally renowned coaching staff.”
In march 1987, the women’s fencing team became notre dame’s first women’s varsity team to win a national championship.
The national championship title marked the culmination of the women’s fencing team’s road to glory and established them as a force to be reckoned with.
Yves Auriol, who served as the head women’s fencing coach from 1985-1995, said that executive vice president Fr. edmund P. Joyce asked him to start building a women’s varsity fencing team in 1974.
“he did something that very few people give him credit for — he elevated women to varsity status on this campus long before Title IX ever came into vogue,” former men’s fencing head coach mike decicco said. “Title IX forced a lot of schools to add women to varsity sports. he did it because we had enrolled women, and he saw their role carrying over to the athletic field as well.”
The women’s varsity fencing team proved themselves to be great athletes deserving of their varsity status and national championship title.
Today, notre dame’s female athletes continue to contribute to campus athletics, with 13 women’s varsity sports playing at the division I level. Through their successes in and out of their respective sports arenas, these athletes honor notre dame’s tradition of excellence and camaraderie.
Women in STEM persist at Notre Dame
March 6, 1991 | Chris Cooney | Researched by Uyen Le
As the 1990s unfolded — almost 20 years after women were admitted for the first time at notre dame — Fr. edward malloy declared 1990-1991 the “Year of the Woman at notre dame.” chris cooney (‘91) wrote a feature as part of a series celebrating the Year of the Woman on the increasing number of women in sTem at notre dame and the challenges they faced.
In the class of 1992, only seven of the 78 mechanical engineers were women. nancy Greene, one of the seven, experienced isolation, claiming that “any minority is going to feel alone at times.”
Greene’s sentiments echoed what is known as “Fishbowl syndrome.” dr. Kathie newman, a physics professor and member of the Year of the Woman steering committee, explained that women in math and science fields often “feel isolated, with everybody watching them as if they are in a fishbowl.”
Additionally, “the actions of anyone inside the fishbowl are magnified for those outside the bowl, causing them to come under closer scrutiny.” This added pressure leads to women secondguessing themselves in their work. newman pointed out that women in technical careers faced a variety of “microinequities,” problems that seem acute at first, but that can lead to loss of interest over all. These microinequities include “speaking to women on a less intellectual level, calling on male students more often, asking men the more difficult questions and subtly implying that the women must prove themselves.”
When Pam Flusche (‘90) graduated and went on to work at commonwealth edison Power company in chicago, she was only one of three women at the workplace.
Flusche quickly noticed she was treated differently than her fellow male newcomers. her colleagues were “reluctant to teach her some of the more physical tasks” because of assumptions about her gender. however, Flusche gained respect by taking initiative and going out on jobs by herself. despite the inequities, newman claimed that in comparison to other universities, notre dame did better to help women succeed in science and math subjects. The physics department, where newman worked, was dedicated to “discussing the problems female scientists face.”
The Year of the Woman also helped to raise awareness on the problems women face in these fields. various departments invited acclaimed female scientists to speak at notre dame, providing female students with role models who have made accomplishments in their fields. dr. Kimberly Gray, hired in 1989 by the college of engineering, described how notre dame wanted to fill her spot with a woman to make the college more appealing to female students. however, Gray expressed some concern over this quota-driven hiring system.
“no one wants to be hired for a position just because of chromosomal makeup,” Gray said, “but because they’re the best for the job.” however, Linda-margaret hunt, assistant chair of the biological sciences department, recognized the necessity of quotas.
“If there’s an equally qualified male and female, they’re going to take the female because of the emphasis on Affirmative Action hiring,” hunt said.
Though men continue to dominate sTem fields today, at notre dame there are many more female students in the college of science and the college of engineering than there were 30 years ago. Female professors, like newman and hunt, and female students, like Greene and Flusche, paved the way for women in sTem to pursue the subjects they love.
‘The Vagina Monologues’ canceled at Saint Mary’s, backlash ensues
Jan. 23, 2001 | Molly McVoy | Jan. 25, 2001 | Coleen McCarthy | Researched by Jim Moster
In 2000, saint mary’s college hosted a public performance of “The vagina monologues,” an off-broadway play on women’s sexuality. The play, written in 1994, aimed to open dialogue on the issues of sex, rape and celebration of the female body.
A year after the controversial performance at saint mary’s, college president marilou eldred abruptly and unilaterally banned the play from making a reappearance in 2001. eldred cited the alleged anti-catholic themes of the show, including open discussion of premarital heterosexual and lesbian sex. some students agreed, like mary dugan (‘03), who decried the show’s “vulgar” tone and disagreed that the vagina needed to be a central focus of rape discussions. others were comfortable with the play’s themes but thought the “shock value” would overshadow any practical discussion and turn away conservative women.
The previous saint mary’s performance, sponsored by the campus Alliance for rape elimination (cAre), had offered counseling services for women following the show and raised money for the sex offense services and campus rape Alliance. eldred’s decision caused immediate backlash amongst students, faculty and alumnae. cAre wrote a letter on the play’s importance to the Alumnae board, Parents council and the board of Trustees, which eldred blocked, leading to accusations of censorship. eventually, the college decided to hold a student forum in place of the play to discuss the issue. eldred did not attend the forum due to “prior commitments.”
Forum attendees debated the merits and drawbacks of holding “The vagina monologues” on campus. While the play never made another official appearance at saint mary’s, students organized an underground reading in 2004, unsponsored by the college. There were 80 students in attendance, reflecting the play’s powerful legacy which continues to this day.
development on such large compressors, cameron said, they needed to expand their testing capability.
“They didn’t have that scale available at any of the labs that they have at their engineering centers,” cameron said.
The ndTL had a prior relationship with a senior vice president of engineering at carrier who facilitated the establishment of the new test cell. carrier engineers asked for more testing capabilities and they were eventually directed to the ndTL — leading to the establishment of the new carrier test cell.
The new compressor lab at the Ignition Park ndTL facility is a unique hands-on educational opportunity for students, cameron said.
“They will get to operate a world-class facility,” he said. “It’s the biggest centrifugal compressor test cell that carrier has globally, so they get literally hands on. They get to touch it. They get to change it.”
The maximum power capability at the Ignition Park facility is 10 megawatts, vice president for research at notre dame robert bernhard said. meanwhile, the maximum capability at the University’s original turbomachinery facility on campus at the White Field research Laboratory is 500 kilowatts — a large capability for a university, bernhard said — yet just one-twentieth the capability of the Ignition Park facility.
In addition to having access to a world-class facility, cameron said the opportunity to work alongside both notre dame and carrier engineers and scientists is beneficial for students.
“They get to work sideby-side with our engineers, our scientists, carrier’s engineers and scientists, and so they will be participating in the technology development programs, the research programs that carrier is conducting throughout the year,” cameron said. carrier also established the carrier center of excellence along with the new test cell. The designation of the center of excellence signals the close collaboration between the University and carrier and sets up an internship pipeline, cameron said.
The pipeline will allow students to intern with the ndTL earlier on in their academic careers before eventually interning at carrier.
The University and carrier recently started a three-year collaboration. In addition to the internship pipeline, carrier and notre dame will work closely on daily testing and research in the new test cell.
“What carrier is going to do is identify certain studies they want notre dame to do for the research part side of it, so they might give a new configuration, or they might want to test for the efficiency of a new model that they’re developing or something like that,” bernhard said. “And so the graduate students and the staff will be taking those measurements and giving that information back to carrier.”
While notre dame protects the intellectual property of carrier, students and researchers will be able to publish more fundamental research results that come from work in the test cell, cameron said. cameron said the collaboration between carrier and the University will provide students with a unique preview of the jobs they will have after graduation.
“I know firsthand that when students get to come and work on real scale, real world problems and interact with my engineers and carrier’s engineers that they’re getting just an education that’s unmatched,” cameron said. “You just can’t learn that stuff in a textbook.”
Courtesy of Matt Cashore / University of Notre Dame
From left to right: Joshua Cameron, Chris Kmetz and Bob Bernhard cut the ribbon on the Willis Carrier Centrifugal Compressor Technology Laboratory at the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Lab in South Bend.
Contact Ryan Peters at rpeters5@nd.edu
Panel
conTInUed From PAge 1
The discussion revolved around specific policies — past and present — in the south bend community.
“Local politics rules your life,” Williams-Preston said. “I want you to understand that this is personal.”
Williams-Preston next moved to a call for action.
“south bend is a small town, and we can really do something here if we have the will.”
Jones began the presentation by discussing education and policing in south bend schools, an area where she has experience. she traced the roots of modern day discriminatory policies in south bend schools beginning with the supreme court’s mandate to desegregate following the brown v. board of education decision. despite ongoing efforts to rectify educational inequality in south bend, she said problems persist to this day.
Jones cited a letter that the school board received in August of 2021 from the department of Justice that called on them to put a stop to discriminatory policies.
“our review of this data exposed both long-standing issues and new inconsistencies that severely compromise the corporation’s ability to uniformly implement its calling,” the letter said. recently, Jones said she witnessed the “school-to-prison pipeline” after officers were placed in schools.
“When armed uniformed police officers were placed in schools on a regular basis, we went from a threat of citations being given, to intimidation, to now possible abuse,” Jones said.
Jorden giger followed Jones, speaking about environmental racism in south bend. specifically, giger discussed the lead poisoning crisis that was exposed in a 2016 article published by the south bend Tribune. From 2005 to 2015, 25% of children under the age of five tested had elevated levels of lead in their blood in census Tract 6, a neighborhood on the northwest side of south bend. About 44% of tested children from neighboring census Tract 19 and about 10% from census Tract 4 also had elevated bloodlead levels.
“These are census tracts with high concentrations of black residents,” giger said. citing notre dame professor heidi burnett, giger said it is “unequivocally clear that lead poisoning is a racial justice issue in south bend.” elevated levels of lead in the blood have been linked to increased violent behavior, hyperactivity in youth, damage to the brain and nervous system, slow growth and development, behavioral challenges and underperformance in schools.
“If you’ve worked with black parents who have black students in south bend schools, this sounds a lot like how black children and youth are described when being pushed out of classrooms and thrusted into the school to prison pipeline,” giger said. “We should ask ourselves if our city is criminalizing folks for being poor, black and exposed to lead and other harmful contaminants.”
Finally, Williams-Preston discussed discriminatory housing policies in south bend, including the demolition of thousands of units of affordable housing for the city’s “revitalization” efforts.
“since the great migration of black families from the south, current residents of south bend have amassed story after story of families struggling to acquire and hold on to the American dream of homeownership,” Williams-Preston said. specifically, she said the neighborhood around notre dame was 99% black residents at one time before the community undertook efforts to revitalize.
“And guess what? Today, it’s 99% white,” she said. “They’ll tell you that everyone who was displaced moved to a beautiful home in other parts of the city. but what we have done is separated neighbors and dispersed a rich community of people to the far corners of the city.”
Williams-Preston emphasized the urgency and nearness of the described oppression and racism.
“racism and institutional oppression is alive and well in our city government and our education system,” WilliamsPreston said. “real lives are being impacted by these injustices — not 400 years ago, but right now, today.”
Williams-Preston called on notre dame students and faculty to vote in their local elections to enact change.
“You have to vote for people who are going to make the decisions that align with our values,” she said.
KATHRYN MUCHNICK | The Observer
