Former g eorgian president discusses politics smc highlights discovery

By KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT news writer

Thursday afternoon, s aint m ary’s d ivision of m ission hosted the second installment of a talk series called “ l andscapes of the s pirit: p rofiles in m ission”. These talks feature different faculty members speaking on their experiences of different topics pertaining

By KATE KIRWAN news writer

w ednesday, the n anovic i nstitute for e uropean s tudies hosted g iorgi m argvelashvili, the former president of the r epublic of g eorgia, to deliver the annual Forum l ecture titled “ r ussian a ggression in u kraine and e astern e urope: p ost- s oviet b loc p olitics and c onsequences” in the h esburgh c enter a uditorium.

Fr. r obert d owd, vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at n otre d ame, introduced m argvelashvili, prefacing that “there is no introduction that will do justice to his life and accomplishments.” m argvelashvili served as the fourth president of g eorgia from n ov. 2013 to d ec. 2018. b orn in Tbilisi in 1969, he attended Tbilisi s tate u niversity in 1998 and earned a doctorate in philosophy. d uring his term, he was active in grassroots youth initiatives and supported the protection and expansion of minority and lgb TQ+ rights, d owd said. m argvelashvili opened the lecture with his appreciation of the peaceful, open-hearted nature of his country. g eorgia is one of the most tolerant nations and a “place of freedom for all regardless of religious, ideological or other differences,” he said. to the s aint m ary’s mission. v ice president of mission Julianne w allace opened the lunch with a prayer based on reflections from see smc PaGE 3

Thursday’s talk featured philosophy professor p atti s ayre and associate director of student equity c hristin Kloski who spoke on s tories of d iscovery.

Editor-in-Chief announces staff

Observer Staff Report

Juniors r yan p eters, g abrielle b eechert, h annah h ebda and José s ánchez c órdova will help oversee

The o bserver’s e ditorial b oard next term, incom - ing e ditor-in- c hief m aggie e astland announced Feb. 9. p eters will become the m anaging e ditor, while b eechert, h ebda and as a ssistant m anaging e ditors. The four students will begin their new roles m arch 19. r yan p eters is a junior majoring in business analytics with a minor in constitutional studies. h e previously served as n otre d ame n ews e ditor and has written for the news department since his

3 see FuTure PaGE 4 s ánchez c órdova will serve

Advertising (574) 631-6900 advertising@ndsmcobserver.com

Editor-in-Chief (574) 631-4542 aguffey@nd.edu

Managing Editor (574) 631-4542 aomalle2@nd.edu

Assistant Managing Editors (574) 631-4541 mmcginl3@nd.edu, gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu, meastlan@nd.edu

Business Office (574) 631-5313

Notre Dame News Desk (574) 631-5323 news@ndsmcobserver.com

Saint Mary’s News Desk (574) 631-5323 smcnews@ndsmcobserver.com

Viewpoint Desk (574) 631-5303 viewpoint@ndsmcobserver.om

Sports Desk (574) 631-4543 sports@ndsmcobserver.com

Scene Desk (574) 631-4540 scene@ndsmcobserver.com

Photo Desk (574) 631-8767 photo@ndsmcobserver.com

Systems & Web Administrators webmaster@ndsmcobserver.com

Policies

The Observer is the independent, daily newspaper published in print and online by the students of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. Editorial content, including advertisements, is not governed by policies of the administration of any institution. The Observer reserves the right to refuse advertisements based on content.

The news is reported as accurately and objectively as possible. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the majority of the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Assistant Managing Editors and department editors. Commentaries, letters and columns present the views of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer. Viewpoint space is available to all readers. The free expression of all opinions through letters is encouraged. Letters to the Editor must be signed and must include contact information.

Questions regarding Observer policies should be directed to Editor-in-Chief Alysa Guffey.

Post Office Information The Observer (USPS 599 2-4000) is published Monday through Friday except during exam and vacation periods. A subscription to The Observer is $130 for one academic year; $75 for one semester.

The Observer is published at: 024 South Dining Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556-0779 Periodical postage paid at Notre Dame and additional mailing regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at editor@ndsmcobserver.com so we can correct our error.

Pope Francis, before introducing the two speakers.

Kloski spoke first, opening her speech with a quote from Pablo n eruda. “ s omeday, somewhere –anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.” s he then went on to talk about how she wants to look at discovery as ongoing, rather than “something found or completed.” s he then recounted her memories of her time as a s aint m ary’s student and in the s outh b end community through three categories: discovery of herself, the universe and her place in it. s he commented that her first memory of discovery came from receiving letters from student affairs and campus ministries after her grandfather passed away during her first semester.

Kloski began her recount by laying out her situation when she first came to s aint m ary’s as a first year. s he was a first generation student from a low income salary.

“What I didn’t know was even when you are away from home, you can never separate your college experience from your family,” she said.

“The discovery that I wasn’t just another student in the system, I was a person. A person who was seen and supported without any hesitation.”

In addition, Kloski volunteered for what is now known as the o ffice for the c ommon Good.

“In my first year, I volunteered in the college academy of tutoring program, though now known as the o ffice for the c ommon Good.”

Kloski discussed the program that gave her another moment of discovery and ignited her passion for giving back to her native s outh b end community.

“I was reminded of my love for education, but also reminded how often we do not allow for communities to find and explore this love,” Kloski said.

Kloski spoke about how she thought that she had to go somewhere else to effectively help communities, but when a professor offered her an internship locally, she stayed. s he began working at the c enter for the h omeless.

“ b efore I knew it, I discovered another ‘aha’ moment; that even if I hadn’t left my hometown, I didn’t have to leave my community to find some where else and to serve somewhere else,” she said. “When I think about my slice of the universe, I think about my local community.”

Kloski talked about how she was questioned as to why she wanted to stay in s outh b end.

“Instead of engaging in talks about moving or ideas to leave the city, I’d often bring up ideas that our city were starting,” she continued by saying, “It took me a while to celebrate my own hometown,” Kloski said.

Kloski stayed in s outh b end and continued working on community projects. s he talked about having hope for change when meeting with other community members with similar interests and ideas for improvements.

“I finally opened myself up to the idea that I could continue to call this place home,” she said. “For decades the west side has been seen as a bad neighborhood and was overlooked by those who even bothered to see it.”

Kloski then discussed her involvement in community outreach, especially focusing on the west side with West s ide Lunches, a program dedicated to highlighting what the west side has to offer. In 2016, the first West s ide Festival was hosted, which is now an annual event that continues to grow.

“In my discovery on the universe, I truly learned how to embrace my hometown and how to commit my livelihood to its betterment,” she said.

Kloski commented on how this led her to know that she is in the right place in life with her role in s aint m ary’s c ollege, helping students as she wanted help when she attended college.

“I understand some of their experiences. I understand that the weight from family pressures and academic stress is heavy to take on alone,” Kloski said.

Kloski then asked that as everyone walked away today, to think about their place in s aint m ary’s and the universe. s ayre followed with a slightly different approach to the idea of discovery. s he started by talking about how most philosophers agree that there is no logic of discovery. s ayre says that it is probably closer to the idea of promising the spirit of discovery and space for it to be honored. s he then went on to discuss how she doesn’t understand why learning outcomes are so heavily focused upon in our curriculum as they guarantee learning things but also give boxes to check off which eliminate discovery.

“There is no algorithm to discovery, there is no rubric or list of boxes that you can check off and if you check them all off properly and move through the sequence of things to do will guarantee you discovery,” she said.

“It’s sort of magical.” s ayre remarked. s he then joked that she would probably disagree with s ister m adeleva’s famous quote “I promise you discovery”, as discovery can not be promised or guaranteed to happen.

“ m adeleva is a poet so that means we probably shouldn’t read her all that literally,” s ayer commented.

“ d espite the talk of learning outcomes, I think there is plenty of room here at s aint m ary’s still for the spirit of discovery,” she said. “I’ve noticed a change that it is harder for students to do creative, out of the box work.” s ayre discussed how students are now able to move through rubrics well, but have done so for so long that they are dependent on learning outcomes to guide them in their thinking, instead of creative free thinking. s ayre reflected on how she still sees students have discoveries in introductory courses through senior theses. s he told stories of different classes that she had at all levels that all discovered something different, sometimes even discovering different things about the same text. s ayre’s son is a ballet dancer and she compared the look of ballet dancers leaping and seemingly floating in the air to the same feeling of discovery. b ut just like ballet dancers spend hours training, academics spend hours thinking, discussing, writing “and you hope one day you fly,” she said.

The event wrapped up with a question and answer session, along with some small group discussions to have the audience reflect on the speaker’s stories and other opinions of discovery.

The next installment of the Landscapes of the s pirit series is m arch 29 and will focus on s tories of Women. s peakers will include director of athletics Julie s chroder- b iek and maintenance coordinator and assistant cross country coach Jess b iek.

Contact Katelyn Waldschmidt at kwaldschmidt01@saintmarys.edu h e describes that Japan and Germany arose from World War II as two of the most democratic countries with effective protection of human rights, while r ussia emerged from the c old War as a totalitarian regime with an aggressive nuclear arsenal. r egarding the aftermath of the c old War, m argvelashvili asked the audience to consider the critical question: “What went wrong?” m argvelashvili describes that in 2008, 2014 and

Following these remarks, he set the scene for his discussion on post- s oviet bloc conflict by comparing the political aftermath of World War II and the aftermath of the c old War.

In his eyes, there is no clear answer. h e believes one consistent barrier to decreasing r ussian aggression is the unknown actions Putin would take in the event of losing power.

2022, there was little to no international response to r ussian aggression. h e said that Zelenskyy, the current President of u kraine, is leading the fight to change that narrative.

“This comes from just an individual who decided that he’s going to fight and die for his nation, an individual who didn’t experience the kind of international support we are witnessing right now. h e united his efforts for the nation,” m argvelashvili said.

Western countries and free nations are demonstrating an unprecedented amount of support against r ussian aggression because of the courage of Zelenskyy, m argvelashvili said. h e stated that countries worldwide understand the severity of r ussian violence in u kraine and that u kraine needs to win this fight — but still fear the unknown consequences of u kraine winning.

“ e veryone agrees that u kraine has to win, but no one knows how r ussia can lose because the same questions about the process have been there since the c old War. What will happen with all the nuclear resources as soon as u kraine wins?” m argvelashvili said. m argvelashvili emphasized that the global political sphere faces the same conflicts right now as it did at the end of the c old War.

“There was, and currently is, no clear vision from the u nited s tates or Western countries of how the s oviet u nion or r ussia should be reformed,” m argvelashvili said.

According to m argvelashivuli, there is no simple next step to take toward a more peaceful, democratic world in e astern e urope with the influence of Putin’s totalitarian regime. h owever, m argvelashivuli states he has not lost hope in the democratization of r ussia, pointing to a historical example of the fight for democracy in r ussia. After the dissolution of the s oviet u nion in 1991, m argvelashvili recalled how a coup attempt to rebuild the s oviet u nion was unsuccessful because of the efforts of m oscow citizens in protest. d uring a conversation over coffee the following day, m argvelashvili told The o bserver, “In these kinds of efforts, you need international participation.” h e emphasized that participation from the international community, specifically youth participation in politics, will be critical to building a more just and peaceful world.

“ m oscow citizens felt that it was a democratic country and that they had the right to fight for their democracy,” he said.

These efforts to fight for democracy leave a glimmer of hope in m argvelashvili in the ability for power to be returned to the people. h e also called on the international community to continue engaging in bold efforts to support u kraine.

“I love to motivate young people to go into politics in any kind of form,” he said. “And I believe this is necessary for their own security.”