Print Edition for The Observer for Monday, October 7, 2024
President Biden attends Basilica wedding
Motorcade arrival draws onlookers and increased security across campus
By LIAM KELLY and ANNELISE DEMERS
Notre Dame News Editor and Associate News Editor
After days of security measures by an advance team, and planes seen flying over campus, President Biden’s motorcade drove down Saint Mary’s Road at 2:54 p.m. before passing the Grotto and pulling into the garage underneath Corby Hall. The Bidens likely entered the Basilica through Corby Hall as they were not seen entering or exiting any of the other doors of the Basilica.
The wedding was between Julia Reed and John Scanlon, both personal friends of the president and first lady, according to a White House pool report by Wall Street
Journal reporter Catherine Lucey. Reed is a special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office communications, and the daughter of longtime Biden aide Bruce Reed. Scanlon works in the first lady’s office.
According to the president’s publicly released schedule, he and the first lady departed Joint Base Andrews for South Bend at 12:55 p.m. and departed from South Bend at 5:25 p.m.
Students lined the sidewalks of Holy Cross Drive and Corby Drive during the Bidens’ arrival and departure. Onlookers were originally allowed near the road but police and secret service
Keough Hall hosts, wins 28th annual chariot race SMC celebrates late president
a horseback riding charity located
By ROSE ANDROWICH News Writer
Cheers echoed across South Quad Saturday morning as teams from Keough, Fisher, McGlinn and Farley Halls raced in Keough Hall’s 28th annual chariot race.
This year marked the first
year women’s residence halls competed in the event. Farley’s team won the women’s division race, and Keough’s 2A section won the chariot race.
Justin Aguiar and Jimmy McHugh, Keough’s president and vice president, decided they wanted to improve the race this year.
The proceeds from the chariot race will go to the local organization Reins of Life. McHugh took a philanthropy class where he learned that the organization was looking for fundraising assistance.
“I think raising money for
By AYNSLEE DELLACCA and KATHRYN MUCHNICK
Saint Mary’s News Editor and Managing Editor
The Center for the Study of Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College hosted a three-day conference over the weekend exploring the legacy of the College’s third president, Sister Madeleva Wolff, for the 60th anniversary of her death.
Director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality Dan Horan and current College President Katie Conboy joined a group of professors from Saint Mary’s and other universities to speak about various aspects of Wolff’s life and tenure as president.
Wolff, who died in 1964, served as president of the College between 1934 and 1961. A graduate of Saint Mary’s herself, she was a prolific poet and established the School of Sacred Theology in 1943, the first Roman Catholic institution to offer graduate degrees in theology to women.
The first session of the
conference highlighted Sister Margaret Guider, a professor at Boston College, and professor Sandra Yocum from the University of Dayton.
The session began with a few words from Horan, which then led into Guider giving a brief overview of Wolff’s life as a sister, professor and president of the College.
Wolff’s influence on women’s education of theology, Gudier argued, “managed to make a way where there was no existing way.” By creating the School of Sacred Theology, Wolff attempted to combat and reconcile the gap of knowledge between men and women religious at the time. Not only did higher education give women religious the needed experience to teach theology in other Catholic schools, but it opened a door for women to study alongside men.
“The School of Sacred Theology served, and continues to this day, as a model that
ROSE ANDROWICH | The Observer
Residents of Keough Hall pose with their trophy and the winning chariot that they built. Fundraising efforts from the annual event benefit Reins of Life,
in South Bend.
GRAY NOCJAR | The Observer
President Biden’s black limousine loops around the drop-off circle near the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon. Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, attended the wedding of two personal friends.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY:
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Theresa Kerker sophomore Howard Hall
“Since
Joshua Johnson sophomore Dillon Hall
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“Two months.” Have
Owen Augustine sophomore Duncan Hall “15 months.”
Jackson Lang senior O’Neill Family Hall “13 months.”
Peyton Nguyen sophomore Breen-Phillips Hall
JONATHAN KARR | The
The Notre Dame men’s cross country team huddles together before competing in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. On Friday, the team ran to victory beating Northern Arizona University that has consistently won 6
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6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
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President
personnel pushed the perimeter line back roughly 20 yards onto Bond Quad before Biden’s departure.
“It was cool because this is a rare occasion and it was also funny,” Olivia Murrin, a junior at Notre Dame said.
As the president’s motorcade arrived at Corby Hall two onlookers were seen holding a Trump flag, adding a political element to the event.
Traffic on and around campus was also limited during Biden’s brief visit. Traffic was closed from Douglas Rd, onto SR 933 and on Holy Cross Drive between the road’s intersections with Dorr Rd. and St. Joseph Rd. Pedestrians, other than residents of Sorin College, were prohibited from the area around the Basilica during the duration of Biden’s visit.
Residents of Sorin College were not permitted to access the building from the rear side entrance that faces towards Bond Hall between noon and 4pm. There were people placed on the front porch of the building to direct people. The president’s arrival also caused the dorm’s signature event, Otterfest, to be pushed back to a later date.
The Bidens left Corby Hall at 4:04 p.m. The first lady could be seen waving out of the window at onlookers.
“It was a very surreal moment. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Wow, that’s the president,’” Peyton Honchar, a freshman at Notre Dame, said about the president and the first lady exiting campus.
Contact Liam Kelly at lkelly8@nd.edu and Annelise Demers at ademers@nd.edu
Chariot
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
a good cause was a fantastic thing that we integrated into the chariot race,” McHugh said. “We’re really glad that Reins of Life has been so good at working with us and that we were able to raise some good money for some equipment that they really need.”
Keough implemented a dormwide competition this week to challenge each section to raise the most money. Teams participating in the chariot race also paid a registration fee to enter the competition.
However, fundraising efforts also extended outside the residents of Keough Hall and the other halls who participated, for the hall asked for donations from parents and alumni.
“We have a fantastic parent group, and we have a fantastic alumni network,” McHugh said. “We reached out to both
Potawatomi artists discuss culture
By AYNSLEE DELLACCA
Saint Mary’s News Editor
The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, in association with the Terra Foundation for American Art, hosted a two-day Indigenous art symposium titled “Indigenizing Museums” last Thursday and Friday.
The museum held artist demonstrations on Thursday and three symposium sessions on Friday, each inviting Indigenous artists and curators to comment on the decolonization of art and museums as well as efforts to celebrate Indigenous voices, stories and artwork.
Artists David Martin, Christine Rapp-Morseau and Jason Wesaw spoke in the second Friday session titled “Reasserting Potawatomi Presence in Michiana through Art.” As members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, the three artists shared their journeys as artists and discussed how their indigenous culture continues to shape their artwork.
David Martin
Martin served as the 20232024 Notre Dame artist-in-residence for the Initiative on Race and Resilience and currently holds a leadership position on the Indigenous Consultation Committee at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art and the board of directors for the South Bend Museum of Art. His artistry ranges from tattooing to oil painting and stems from his love of dancing and drumming.
Martin also shared his struggles with witnessing discrimination against Native Americans in his tattoo practice and how he addressed his clients when they asked for artwork such as “Indian princess tattoos with the big headdresses.”
“It’s just like the mascots. It’s a presenting of something that’s what they think we look like, a
of them, and both were very generous at not only donating but sharing the message of the chariot race.”
Reins of Life serves people with physical and cognitive disabilities using equine-assisted services. The organization’s executive director Dorota Janik said the proceeds from Keough’s fundraising will go towards new equipment the organization needs.
“We are looking to install a mechanical lift, where people who have mobility issues [who] have difficulties getting on a horse … They cannot get on a horse or to the carriage, so the equipment will grab them, lift them up and hoist them into the carriage or onto the horse’s back,” Janik said.
Since the organization does not currently have the equipment, volunteers lift those who have mobility issues onto the horses.
Janik explained the equines are an “auxiliary” mode of
misrepresentation, and it’s carrying on an image of what we are not,” Martin said. “And most of those people, they probably really don’t even care. They just want a cool tattoo.”
About halfway through his tattoo career, Martin opened his own studio, Bicycle Tattoo, and began freely expressing himself as Indigenous. It was around this time Martin decided he was “doing a huge disservice” by continuing to ink people with discriminatory tattoos. Instead of preaching to or refusing his clients, however, Martin began educating and encouraging them to get a tattoo of something “real.”
“If they were dead set that they wanted, like a pin-up, or a Native princess, you know, I pull up pictures from powwows and say, ‘Well, this is actually what we look like. It might not be as fancy as you think it is, but this is real. And wouldn’t you rather have a real one?’” Martin said.
With the success he found in his tattoo education, Martin began to rekindle his love for oil painting, which led to his work on a series of paintings that will recreate artist George Winter’s sketches of the Potawatomi from the 1830s and 1840s.
“Each one is going to be about 12 feet by six feet, and the one that I was originally working [on] here at Notre Dame is going to be the final piece for the whole series. It’s going to be a reinterpretation of the original sketch, but how we are now because we’ve survived,” Martin said. “Here he was documenting all these things that it was like the end … but [dancing was] the thing that brought us back, and it made us stronger.”
Christine Rapp-Morseau
Rapp-Morseau spoke next about her contributions to basket-making, a long-standing tradition within the Potawatomi.
intervention used to complement traditional therapies.
Between the South Bend and Michigan City locations, there are 36 equines including horses, ponies and donkeys.
The organization serves 450 people a month, Janik said, and they need 400 volunteers to help them “carry out their mission.”
Reins of Life partners with several local organizations and universities.
On top of fundraising improvements, Keough also introduced a chariot-building barbeque event this year.
“All of Keough came out last Sunday, and we all built chariots together,” Aguiar said.
McHugh said the event did something rare for a larger dorm like Keough — it brought the entire hall together.
“I think morale is gonna be very high in the dorm. Bigger dorms like Keough and O’Neill, we’re all section based. [So] it’s very hard to get
Placing baskets of various sizes all over the stage, she explained the process of making splints, the thin strips of black ash trees in order to weave the basket.
“You find the best [black ash] tree that you can find that’s nice and straight, and you cut it down. Then, you have to have the process of pounding all the growth rings off of that log, which is really strenuous. You’re taking the back of an ax, a little thin part, and you’re hitting every couple of inches down that log, because then eventually growth rings will pop up … Then you just pull them, and then you start cutting them where they’re still attached,” Rapp-Morseau said.
She told the audience the story of how her great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were among the first to start the “basket co-op” in the town hall when she was a little girl. According to Rapp-Morseau, fond memories of her family and community come to mind when she thinks of how she began basket weaving.
Toward the end of the session, Rapp-Morseau explained she is no longer able to continue making baskets due to a lack of black ash trees, which are endangered by the Japanese beetles that eat through the trunks. The endangerment of the black ash trees also threatens basket weaving as a tradition as the Potawatomi community slowly runs out of splints.
“There are some systems put in place to try and save some trees, but that’s going to take a long time. It’s going to take a long time before we can even harvest those, not I or even my grandkids, probably, but they’re there. As for me, making any more baskets, I’ve kind of stopped because I’m just using what I have,” she said.
Jason Wesaw
Wesaw, whose artwork ranges
to know everyone in the dorm because there’s 270 of us,” he said.
Because Keough is sectionbased, one section of the hall competes in the race. This year, section 2A competed and won the chariot race.
Keough held its first chariot race 28 years ago, despite having a different structure then. McHugh and Aguiar said they wanted to see more involvement from other dorms as they hoped to achieve the same level of involvement the event had before the pandemic.
Within Keough, involvement in the chariot race is voluntary, and the team that competes is selected based on the interest of the residents.
“Everyone in this section is allowed to express interest in racing, but I think everyone also wants to win,” McHugh said. “So it’s very telling of the character of the people in Keough that everyone is able to
widely in mixed media, spoke about how he utilizes his work to decolonize exhibitions in museums and uses his voice for his community.
“There was a time when these institutions, and this time was not very long ago, when institutions weren’t interested in working with us or acknowledging us. They were collecting us and harvesting us,” Wesaw said. “And so, through our artwork and through being able to use our voices, we get to expand that narrative that work continues by trying to bring our ancestors home, and all those objects that tell stories from our communities.”
Wesaw explained his artwork as his way of simultaneously connecting with nature around him and the community he is a part of.
“I try to tell a lot about the culture and community that I come from, but I also really try and encourage people to engage with the land … The land doesn’t really like to speak to you in a way that your ears can hear, but your spirit and your body and your heart, can understand that language of the land,” Wesaw said.
After showing the audience various pieces of his work, from pottery and ceramic plates to blankets and tapestries, Wesaw again emphasized his effort in using his artwork to bring communities together.
“I want to create places where people can consider their place amongst the earth and amongst all of creation, to be proud of their culture, but also to be open and accepting of other people’s cultures, other people’s points of view, other people’s politics, other people’s spirituality and religion. There’s room for all of it. Otherwise, ktthe mnedo [Great Spirit] wouldn’t have made things differently,” Wesaw said.
Contact Aynslee Dellacca at adellacca01@saintmarys.edu
agree on the best team to race.” McHugh said he thought the structure of the chariot made a difference in Keough’s performance.
“Last year, we had a bit of a bulkier chariot,” he said. “So this year when we were designing what we wanted we were thinking maybe less will be more, and it seems to have been a success.”
The simpler chariot was a new design for Keough that was brainstormed and built together during Sunday’s event. Building the chariot is something that requires a couple hours of dedication throughout the week.
“It really takes a lot of imagination to come up with a new design,” McHugh said. “A lot of times it is successful, and it’s a really great part of the freedom to build whatever you want.”
Contact Rose Androwich at randrowich01@saintmarys.edu
Anniversary
gave rise to many institutes throughout the world … setting forth a movement that would challenge relationally and systematically the gender barriers, the cultural biases and the family attitudes so often sustained and exacerbated by ecclesiastical, Episcopal and clerical prerogatives and prejudices,” Guider said.
Yocum followed with greater insight into Wolff’s legacy laid down by the school as she explained the curriculum compared similarly to the rigorous academics men attending seminary would experience, including, “two years of theology, fundamental dogmatic law, spiritual church history, the encyclicals, with three summer sessions of Sacred Scripture; Greek, Hebrew, archeology, hagiography and canon law.”
This was intentional for Wolff, according to Yocum, in order for her to create “a new era in Catholic education.”
While Wolff was met with initial resistance from other top Catholic theology institutions,
her persistence inspired other schools across the world to follow her lead in educating women.
“Madeleva’s dedication to providing what was deemed throughout its existence, the most up to date and rigorous of theological studies, affirmed the significance of women participating in the wider church’s mission,” Yocum said.
Five other sessions were held on Friday and Saturday, inviting notable speakers such as Sister Eva Hooker, Notre Dame professor Katie Bugyis, professor Margaret Gower, professor emeritus of the University of Massachusetts Boston and Avenues editor Thomas O’Grady, professor Susan Mancino and professor Sally Geislar. Each session focused on a particular aspect of Wolff’s life, work and impact on theology.
The seventh and final session of the conference, which focused on Wolff’s educational philosophy, concluded with talks from Conboy and Notre Dame theology professor David Clairmont.
Clairmont described Wolff
as a Holy Cross educator who responded to secular debates circulating in American higher education at the time.
“One of the distinctive, although perhaps not unique, aspects of that educational vision that I’d like to explore briefly today is the life of the mind in a community of persons, where each person travels a unique path toward a shared educational horizon, a horizon variously colored by the sunrises and sunsets of each life of faith,” Clairmont said.
Conboy identified what she sees as two key lessons in academic leadership from Wolff — a relaxed grasp and taking responsibility.
The “relaxed grasp,” Conboy said, allowed Wolff to establish a functioning organizational structure at Saint Mary’s and reimagine the curriculum in an environment of traditionalists.
“The relaxed grasp may help us understand Sister Madeleva’s presidency, but it is also the leadership lesson for today’s Catholic colleges and universities for many of us. Our missions and our founding documents can make change
Award winner, author talks on Crimea, resistance
By LUKA VAICEKAUSKAITE News Writer
On Thursday, Rory Finnin, author of “Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity” visited the University of Notre Dame to receive the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies. Finnin also joined the Nanovic Institute to deliver a public lecture to faculty, students, staff and the general public about his award-winning book and knowledge on the current political situation regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Finnin is a professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge. His primary research interest is the interplay of culture and identity in Ukraine, but his broader research interests include nationalism studies, solidarity studies and cultural memory in the region of the Black Sea. Finnin is a graduate of Georgetown University (B.A.) and Columbia University (Ph.D.).
In his lecture, Finnin explained the profound significance of Crimea and shared untold stories of local resistance to Russian colonialism, past and present.
From 1995-1997, Finnin served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, which sparked his interest in Slavic culture and history, even though the topic was previously foreign to him.
“Back in my childhood, I had a friend named Taras, [and I] tried some borscht earlier on, so I went into the country clueless,” Finnin said.
Working as a teacher and a social worker in a village in central Ukraine for two and a half years, Finnin quickly adapted to his new surroundings. During that period, he traveled throughout much of Ukraine and to other neighboring Slavic countries, which led to his passion for learning more about the region and its culture.
“Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity,” Finnin’s second book is a study of the cultural and historical dynamics surrounding Joseph Stalin’s 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars.
“In different courses, libraries, reserves, I would learn more and more subterranean knowledge about this event that no one spoke of. This is like a lot of Stalinist trauma. You don’t see the text in the surface of a Stalinist traumatic event. Instead, it is often encoded. I wanted to understand those codes, and I would see them in Russian, Ukrainian and also the Turkish language. I would spend time learning Turkish and the Ukranian Tartar. So, the synopsis is — this is a book about all these different codes and one that hopefully gives a new form of cultural knowledge,” Finnin said.
The book explores how literature, poetry and the arts across
difficult rather than enable it,” Conboy said. “We get so attached to fixed notions of our institutional identity that we’re unable to ask whether our curriculum and our supporting co-curriculum speak to the longings and aspirations of a new generation.”
Wolff, she argued, did not fall into that trap.
Conboy also described a moment early in her presidency in 2020, during the widespread protests that followed the death of George Floyd. Seeking guidance while crafting a statement to the Saint Mary’s community, Conboy recalled walking to Wolff’s grave and asking aloud: “Well what would you do?”
Conboy then returned to her office, thumbed through a copy of Wolff’s book “My First Seventy Years” and landed on a page where Wolff was reflecting on her own decision to integrate the College in 1941.
“She was willing to take the blame, because when she was asked if she would admit Black students, she said, ‘I knew only one answer, the right one,’” Conboy said.
Relating to her more recent
experience as college president, Conboy recognized the hardship that comes along with following such a philosophy.
“I more recently discovered in painful ways that the environment that we live in today produces a much different speed and force of reaction to a leader’s decision than Madeleva had to deal with in her era. But the result is the same: you take the blame,” Conboy said.
Since reading Wolff’s memoir, Conboy said she has tried to take the advice to heart in her own leadership decisions and applied them to the College’s modern-day success.
“[Wolff] understood that everything must evolve if it is to survive, and she was unafraid to help the Catholic college change its mind. It’s no wonder, I think, that Saint Mary’s remains one of the eight Catholic women’s colleges still alive in America today,” Conboy said.
Contact Aynslee Dellacca at adellacca01@saintmarys.edu a nd Kathryn Muchnick at kmuchnic@nd.edu
CFAM celebrates St. Francis week
multiple cultures — Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish — played a crucial role in breaking the silence around the deportation. By examining various works of art, Finnin shows how these representations fostered empathy and solidarity for the displaced Crimean Tatars, despite Soviet efforts to suppress the truth.
Crimea is the ground zero of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and again occupied it in 2022.
Russia’s occupation of Ukraine is the bloodiest armed conflict in Europe since the second World War. This acted as a sense of inspiration for Finnin.
“This Russian war against Ukraine and against all of free Europe began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea — with its liberation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a public hearing.
In his lecture in Jenkins Hall, Finnin aimed to give an unfiltered view of what Crimea is and share his optimism about the war itself, emphasizing how Russian aggression can be defeated.
“I think Russian aggression should be talked about and not Russia,” Finnin said. “I think there is a certain string of sentiment in Russian federation that needs to be defeated.”
Contact Luka Vaicekauskaite at lvaiceka@nd.edu
By SOLEDAD CASTELLANOS Staff Writer
As Saint Francis of Assisi week came to a close, the Saint Mary’s sustainable farm, alongside the Center for Faith, Action and Ministry (CFAM), held its third annual Saint Francis Fest.
The community came together to commemorate the closing of the harvest season with a celebratory picnic, hot pepper eating contest and blessing of the Saint Mary’s chickens. The festivities were led by junior farmer Mary O’Connell and senior farmer Abby Kawalec as well as staff and volunteers at the sustainable farm.
The attendees joined together in praise as they gathered for a shortened service and blessing of the chickens and farm’s tools. The service promoted the protection and admiration of God’s creation through the Saint Mary’s community, chickens and work of cultivating God’s land.
O’Connell first got involved with the farm as a volunteer during her freshman year.
“I’ve been to all three Saint Francis Fests that we have ever had, and it has been really fun for me to see the event grow every year, especially because it is usually the end of our growing season,” O’Connell said. “It’s a great way to celebrate all the hard work our volunteers and staff have done.”
Students relished in everything the farm had to offer
as flower picking, pumpkin painting, s’mores making and hot pepper eating filled up the event’s itinerary. When she was not in charge of running the flaming hot pepper contest, Kawalec emphasized the true celebration at hand.
“The farm is housed under the mission division emphasis of sustainability, so I think what this means to CFAM and the farm is just bringing these values and Catholic teachings into real life and applying them to directly help people of our community,” Kawalec said.
As the event’s leaders credited the people that made the harvest season and celebration possible, students mingled, took selfies with chickens and observed the fierce competition of the pepper contest in which the winner was awarded a surprise shirt.
Senior Ruby Meza expressed her excitement and gratitude for the event.
“I always look forward to celebrating the work that my friends and my coworkers do, and you know really seeing the fruits of their labor,” Meza said. “They’re really amazing people who work really hard to protect the earth and help the people in our community who are in need. I was also really excited for the s’mores and hot dogs.”
The farm will host a service from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday to mark the end of the growing season.
Contact Soledad Castellanos at scastellanos@saintmarys.edu
The helpless feeling of being human
this endeavor into which I’ve staked so much of my being.
— how can we ever again be trusted to formulate accurate perceptions of reality?
To myself, for myself, for the world, As I tediously attempt to will into existence the thousand odd words necessary for this article — and fail time after time — I begin to wonder why I write in the first place. Sure, I’m talented enough — my ego won’t deny that. Moreover, I often derive a deep sense of fulfillment from the act of stringing together words into coherent, compelling and resonant thoughts.
But who am I, in the midst of this oft-fruitless process of stringing together words, to stumble upon some particular thought that has yet been expressed by another writer? And if I do happen to stumble upon this particular and unique thought, chances are, someone else did too, and possessed the ability to convey it with far more rhetorical brilliance than ever could I. I’m not Dostoevsky, nor Kierkegaard, nor Camus, and so if I can’t level with the mastery of the greats, then why even bother?
This doubt in my abilities as a writer, and in my seemingly-rash desire to pursue the discipline further, gives rise to insecurities pertaining to my own self-worth. Not in a self-loathing kind of way, but in the way that comes about when one feels absolutely certain of some particular thing, then comes to question not only that thing, but their once-foolish certainty in said thing. It’s a deeply humbling experience — is it not?
I tell people I want to be a writer. I tell others I am a writer. I tell myself I’m the best f*cking writer on the planet. But then, on a night like tonight, I can’t write. I seek out the requisite words, I call upon the faculties that typically produce the most eloquent of syntax, and yet I find only lacking fragments of worthwhile thoughts and am left to wrestle with the proposition that I am sub-par excellence at
Marissa Panethiere Graphics Editor INSIDE COLUMN
This, I think, is the humbling part: to stake a significant portion of your being into some particular pursuit, only to be proven less-than masterful — if even good — at said pursuit. This unexpected imposition of humility calls into question the whole of our worldviews — in one moment, we think ourselves to be deeply efficacious at some particular undertaking; then, in a completely separate moment, we are unable to comprehend how we ever thought ourselves competent in said undertaking, which we now flounder at most spectacularly.
This is the plight of the artist, sure, but really, it is the plight of the human being. If one ever dares to think themselves good at anything, then fails at that thing, they will be made to grapple not only with their ineptitude at such a thing, but also with their inability to make truthful approximations of reality. A helpful example to clarify what I mean: I give a presentation and speak without a trace of self-doubt to such an extent that I think of myself as possessing unshakable confidence. Then, I run into my crush, and am wrought with nerves — my voice shakes (oh, how tragic an occurrence! Is there any feeling more vulnerable than to be the victim of a trembling voice?!) — not only that, but my reddened face does little to conceal my now-flustered state.
Moments earlier, I had coronated myself with the crown of eternal confidence, but now, that self-assuredness has been irreparably lost, and so I dawn only a flimsy paper tiara, which glimmers the most foolish of golds. Is this not what it feels like to be confronted with the humbling realization that we are not who we once thought we were? Worse yet, we come to believe with such immovable certainty that we are indeed this great person so that when circumstances are such that we can no longer believe this untruth, our worldviews are annihilated
So here I sit, substantive words finally emanating from my fingertips, yet now unable to think up a satisfactory conclusion to this “exposé”. The inclination is to moralize, or to force upon this piece some unsupported, yet edifying takeaway that gives us all reason to celebrate shared hardships. But instead, I’ll call upon the plight of Sisyphus, the Greek mythological figure condemned to roll a large boulder uphill for eternity, only for that boulder to come barreling back down upon nearing the summit.
Is this myth not deeply analogous to the condition I have described above — that perpetual cycle of immense self-belief, soon and invariably followed by crushing self-doubt? The action which shatters that self-belief, the action which prohibits us from continuing to believe an untruth about ourselves, that action is Sisyphus’s boulder rolling back down to the foot of the hill. And we, much like Sisyphus, are fated to look on helplessly, before gathering together the pieces of a now-fractured self-identity and acknowledging that we must always strive upwards on this eternal hill, if only for the sake of not going down.
In Camus’ own unmatched brilliance: “The struggle towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Yours defiantly,
T.W.
Jackson is an aspiring philosopher and nomadic freespirit. He is currently wandering through an alpine meadow somewhere in Kashmir, pondering the meaning of life. If you would like to contact him, please send a carrier pigeon with a hand-written note, addressed to “The Abyss.” He won’t respond. (Editor’s Note: you can contact Jackson at jlang2@nd.edu).
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
The universal nature of themed outfits
A themed function hates to see me coming. Any excuse to get creative and plan an outfit, follow a color scheme or — if I’m feeling particularly zany — procure props elicits an incomparable joy only rivaled by the actual debut of the given outfit. From freshman year SYRs (thank you Lyons Hall for some quirky themes during my tenure as an undergraduate) to the oft-lauded festival that is Halloweekend on a college campus.
The one downside of thematically-specific affairs, however, is a side effect of its perfect character: What do you wear? How is it possible to stand out in a crowd of people thinking the exact same thing? Perhaps the largest question for me looks to the future: When will I ever wear something this specific ever again?
The answer to this final question is surprisingly easy. I would like to think there are no rules when it comes to personal wardrobes, and a college campus is the perfect place to stop giving a second’s notice to your outfit or any other person’s garb. I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to incorporate costumed pieces formerly reserved for party regalia into my weekly wardrobe, amplifying my academic capabilities with a swatch of … unique … fabric.
Enter: the USA fit. Acquired September of 2022 for Duncan Hall’s USA-themed SYR, this robe set has walked with me throughout the remainder of my college experience. Situated comfortably in my 13-gallon bin for all my costumes, this robe
particularly makes many appearances outside of the theme it was once utilized for — hall council, the Paris Olympics and sometimes when I’m simply a little chilly. Its beauty comes in its versatility, and I’m sure there are a million more uses for it that I am neglecting to mention or have yet to discover.
As an amateur referee, proper attire for a job well done cannot be neglected. Settling quarrels between friends over things that definitely do not matter requires a dedicated mediator, and the referee shirt I snagged from someone random in my dorm’s GroupMe and forgot about until I unpacked all my boxes safely at home is integral to standing as the glue binding my friends to each other eternally. To whoever I got that shirt from, thank you for your generosity; it has not gone to waste. While it’s underutilized compared to my beloved aforementioned USA costume, the utility my referee uniform has shown outside of its original purpose (Halloween 2022) has cemented its place as a wardrobe staple.
One of my particular vices is my affinity for losing quality sunglasses. RayBan? Dream on. Aviator? I barely know her! This unfortunate shortcoming, despite its inconvenience, opens up a world of opportunity for the sunglasses I have obtained for various reasons across the past four years. The current
sunglasses I use for driving under the blinding light of South Bend sunsets are a deeply regrettable shape and color: pink clout goggles. Do I think they accomplish any level of UV protection? Absolutely not — if anything, they are making the situation worse. But without these pink sunglasses, I would seem underprepared for the strong rays of the sun at any hour of the day (except after sundown, naturally).
Having somewhere to be that requires the acquisition of a costume opens up a world of future opportunities. It may be important to have the most shock-inducing, awe-inspiring outfit under the flashing lights and cloud of humidity present at any given dorm’s SYR or a house party somewhere you do not foresee returning, but the utilization of these pieces outside of their original purpose provides a different level of forward thinking. Not just sticking to the function’s theme, but to the theme of life — or rather of sustainability — will benefit generations to come. The future depends on your ingenuity. Recycle your costumes. They don’t have to stay as costume pieces forever. See you at a lecture clad in a zebra onesie and fairy wings!
The views expressed in this inside column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Jackson Lang Letters from The Wanderer
The sovereign student
little time there is to do it.
We students spend most of our time in class or working on assignments. We adorn our schedules with activities and rest and meals and exercise, as we look forward to the weekend and to the next long break. But our primary task is schoolwork, and our primary occupation is student. Do we enjoy this work?
A few weeks ago, I listened to a freshman tell me about a 2016 Notre Dame Magazine article — ”What’s Best for Them,” written by Kerry Temple ’74 — which he had to read for Moreau. Temple details the side effects of our celestial expectations and unending ambitions on our psyches. Eight years have passed, and now few are unfamiliar with the dismal statistics on students’ mental health and the experts’ warnings to take care of ourselves and take time to rest. In my experience, if the class does poorly on an exam, professors are more likely to console us that ‘we are worth more than our grades,’ than to rebuke us for our lackluster preparation. And I think many of us desire a healthy ‘work-life balance.’ (Whether we have one or not is another story.) We encourage each other, especially on weekends, to lay down the heavy burden of our backpacks and let loose a little. It is college, after all.
Through these encouragements, though, do we help carry each other’s crosses, or do we merely distract each other so that, when we return to our work, our crosses have only gotten heavier? We all know that feeling of dread on a Sunday morning following a care-free Saturday. It is really too bad that, for us students, Sundays often become days for plowing through grueling assignments. What has been intended as a day of leisure has become a day of toil. But the work must be done, and Lord knows how
On the day back from winter break, at the beginning of my first class, my professor asked us to go around and say what we were most looking forward to about the spring semester. A good threefourths of us said, “spring break.” That cannot be healthy.
Many of us were probably antsy to move into college so that we could finally enjoy more freedom. But, now that we are here — at Notre Dame, a place we love — do we really feel free? By all objective metrics, excepting parietals and other du Lac policies, we could hardly be more free. We can do what we want, when we want, with whom we want. But do we feel in charge of our lives? More specifically, do we feel in charge of our work, of our studies?
I frequently do not. My professors assign; I turn in. They schedule exams; I study. And if I do not … well, the consequences are unthinkable. My hand is forced. The work must be done.
It is no mystery why we might not always enjoy our work or why we do not always feel free doing it: the work is difficult, and doing difficult things is difficult. To learn and to grow, we must struggle. But there is a healthy struggle, which we trust will bear fruit, and there is that desolate struggle, for which we cannot see the point or the end. It is the latter, rather than the former, which must be responsible for the mental health issues discussed by Temple, and for spring break being the highlight of the spring semester.
Surely, we have all felt that paradoxical joy that accompanies the former kind of struggle and that makes our work so fulfilling, but we also inevitably have to face the latter kind of struggle. We should not seek to avoid the struggles of being a student — though sometimes we really do need a weekend or a long break — but rather we should seek to find
joy amidst our studies. There is nothing wrong with encouraging our friend who picks up his backpack on a Saturday night to have some fun instead, but I wonder if it would be better to ask him, “Hey what are you working on? Do you like that class? What are you learning about? Has it changed the way you see things at all?”
I sometimes think of the Mark Twain quote: “Do not let schooling interfere with your education.” I have always thought Twain must have had a bad experience in schools, but maybe that is not so. We can learn a great deal from our classes, but we can also let them keep us from learning what we really want to know. I find that sometimes an academic treatment of a subject spoils my interest in it, or that a structured class robs me of the joy of unguided, independent learning. Of course, required assignments and long readings and class discussions and expert professors have taught me much more than I could I have hoped to learn on my own — for that, I am grateful. But I am equally grateful for the books I’ve read and the ideas I’ve had and the things I’ve written on my own. I used to learn on my own time so that I could be a better student; now, I try to be a better student so that, when I graduate, I can learn anything I want.
Maybe I am not yet free to learn entirely on my own, but I trust that the classes I am forced to take, with all their required assignments and exams and papers, will train me to see the world not as my professor sees it, but as my own eyes see it — as the sovereign student of God’s creation.
Richard Taylor is a junior from St. Louis living in Keenan Hall. He studies physics and also has an interest in theology. He encourages all readers to send reactions, reflections or refutations to rtaylo23@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Small but definite
Things can get overwhelming here. Most mornings during the school year, the moment my alarm goes off, my brain immediately jumps into a rapid-fire assessment of my to-do list for that day, reviewing the detailed timetable I had assigned myself the night prior. I am not quite a Type A person, and strict schedules and airtight plans are not my preference, but a maxed out agenda gives me little choice.
Every week is different, though. Asides from the theory (read: indisputable fact) that professors most definitely work in cahoots to condense a dozen tests and assignments into a span of four days, there are fluctuations in the academic workload, extracurricular functions and of course the rarely in-sync availabilities of friends to coordinate plans.
It’s nice to have a constant. A constant relief to look forward to, a constant solace for when RStudio decides to wipe out your entire assignment when an hour ago it was perfectly ready for submission.
One of the several words in my mother tongue that I consistently wish I could express in English is sohwak-haeng. This one is not my grandmother’s proper Korean. It’s one of the myriad of modern-day, abbreviated expressions that derive from my dear country. Slang, colloquial, call it what you want. I won’t dive into the linguistic technicalities of it.
The phrase essentially means “a small but definite happiness”. It’s a singular thing, a singular happiness, that is uncomplicated but certain. A small treat you can rely on that will sprinkle joy into even one of the professors-in-cahoots weeks.
I have the privilege of living with The Observer’s distinguished social media editor Emma Duffy – while
this is her tagline of choice, sometimes I’ll refer to her as my beloved friend and roommate.
We’ve settled into something of a set of traditions. Our weekly movie nights, watching our favorite classics like “Sabrina” and “Pretty Woman,” have been an allocated time for us to decompress on a Sunday evening and take a break from everything else. Since we are in agreement that none of the best movies are free, we budget the few dollars’ expense of renting these movies as a vital expense. Our second small treat, complementary to these movie nights, is a refreshed box of Insomnia cookies for each week, also solidified into the household budget. And every week, we opt for a disproportionately large amount of chocolate chip cookies and very few of any other flavor. And that’s just the way we like it, the way we look forward to it.
It may all sound a little self-indulgent. To that, I say I write a viewpoint column for a college newspaper, so you already knew I was self-indulgent. These “small but definite happinesses” motivate me, uplift my mood and help me cope with the schedules of it all.
There are countless things that you’ve probably fixed upon as your own so-hwak-haeng perhaps without even realizing it. I like to spontaneously curl or blow out my hair for no particular reason other than because I swear I feel more productive when my hair is done. I like to pace myself when the book I’m reading is getting to its good parts because I like to savor it one chapter at a time, to-do list complete and cozied up in bed. These should always be a bit odd.
I also find it endlessly interesting to hear what everyone else’s small treats are. I’ve asked a few of my friends to share theirs, and received an assorted set of responses.
For Kate, it’s a Trader Joe’s sheet cake. “Coming home each day and being able to cut myself a sliver of the TJ’s vanilla bean sheet cake — though the seasonal
pumpkin one is off the charts too — is the best feeling in the world. What a treat. What a time to be alive.”
For Sarah, it’s taking walks. “Taking a walk always helps me think, and I like taking the time to reflect and clear my head, even if I don’t have a specific destination.”
For Cleveland, it’s trying new places for dinner. “I’m always running around but a nice dinner on a free evening gives me a chance to just sit down and unwind.”
For Corinne, it’s working on puzzles with her roommates. “Sitting around our puzzle table gives us a nice, mental break from our day-to-day, and it’s nice to do creative activity since we don’t get to do too much of that at school. I love the gratification and satisfaction of creating something.”
For John, it’s a Culver’s Reese’s Concrete, as a “go-to pick me up”, while he will “never reveal how often he goes to Culver’s”.
For Claire, it’s buying herself some boba, because “a fun drink can always give some fun to my day, even if it’s been very mundane.”
Gathering these responses has swelled my appreciation for the way everyone seems to have their clear and fond answers. It’s an attestation of our nature, the small treat. It’s our daily, subconscious commitment to dedicate some effort to refresh and rejuvenate. The investment of these small but definite luxuries nourishes our peace of mind, and gives us a sense of balance. The return on this investment, of your so-hwak-haeng, is priceless.
Reyna Lim is a senior studying Business Analytics. Occasionally coherent and sometimes insightful, she enjoys sharing her unsolicited opinions. You can contact her at slim6@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Richard Taylor
Just Glad To Be Here
Reyna Lim
The Overshare
By MARGUERITE C. J. MARLEY Scene Writer
Last Friday, the Notre Dame Glee Club hosted a unique and heartwarming gathering of over 200 alumni at their triennial alumni reunion show in the Leighton Concert Hall of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. This oneof-a-kind event was a beautiful display of unity, where past and present members came together to reminisce and perform alongside each other, creating a truly memorable evening for their friends and family.
The evening began with a Glee Club classic, “Tonight” from West Side Story, a performance that never fails to impress. The club’s current director, Daniel Stowe, introduced the emotionally charged “Crux fidelis” by composer Giovanni Bonato, a modern twist on a Gregorian chant, with a note that it was still a work in progress. If the workin-progress version of a song can stir such deep emotions, the final version promises to be truly breathtaking, evoking a profound connection with the audience.
After a few more Glee Club staples, the audience,
including the alumni, stood up and joined the club in a rendition of “Ave Maria,” arranged by Franz Biebl. Then, alumni joined the club on stage for the rest of the concert, becoming an integral part of the performance, fostering a sense of unity and community engagement that is at the heart of the Glee Club’s mission.
It’s a testament to the training the men receive in the Glee Club that over 200 alumni can join the choir on stage and blend together incredibly, a true reflection of the club’s legacy and the unwavering dedication of its members. After a short intermission, the Glee Club and the alumni came back on stage to perform the rest of the concert together.
There were several touching tributes to Glee Club members who have died, as well as classic Notre Dame numbers. Matt McDonald (‘01) was a standout soloist in “The Water is Wide,” arranged by fellow classmate and Glee Club member Patrick Quigley.
It wouldn’t be a Notre Dame event without a bit of pandering to the Irish, so there was an incredible rendition of “Danny Boy” which was so full of emotion that I found
myself tearing up.
They ended the night with a series of songs of Notre Dame, including “Hike Notre Dame,” “Irish Blacks/ Down the Line” and the “Notre Dame Victory March.” The audience stood up for the alma mater and sang along with the club.
As always, the Notre Dame Glee Club performance was incredible and only heightened by the inclusion of the alumni.
If you missed this concert, don’t worry — the club has more in store for you. They will perform again in December at their annual Christmas show and are planning an exciting tour in the Pacific Northwest, Ontario, Canada and Spain. They will also be performing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 with the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra later this year, promising a series of thrilling performances. Personally, I can’t wait to see more of them.
Contact Marguerite C. J. Marley at mmarley01@saintmarys.edu
By PETER MIKULSKI Scene Editor
“Another
world, another time — in the age of wonder. A thousand years ago, this land was green, until the crystal cracked. Then strife began, and two new races appeared — the cruel Skeksis, the gentle Mystics.”
Prologue from “The Dark Crystal”
This Sunday, the Browning Cinema at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center screened Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal” as part of its “Professor Pfinkelfunder’s $1 Films” series.
People talk about the movie like it was a fluke, a happy accident. They say stuff like “How did they let them make this?” and “It’s too dark for children!”
I hate this way of reading “The Dark Crystal.” The tendency to ascribe to coincidence what should be ascribed to genius is an awful one. We have to give Henson some credit — every choice that went into the making of “The Dark Crystal” was 100% deliberate. For those who’ve never seen it, you have to. You know it’s going to be good because you can stream it for free on all the second-rate platforms: Tubi, PLEX, Pluto TV, Sling TV and The Roku Channel (as well as all the normal ones
like Hulu, Peacock, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video). It’s from the man who made “The Muppets,” but it’s set in a bizarro fantasy/sci-fi world that prefigures all the darkest parts of the “The Lord of the Rings” movies and all the creepiest sets from the “Star Wars” prequels.
A big factor in the off-putting vibe of “The Dark Crystal” is the influence of mid-twentieth century New Age spirituality. One of the sources Henson cited for “The Dark Crystal” was “The Seth Material,” an occult work dictated via ouija board to a woman named Jane Roberts by an entity called Seth beginning in 1963.
Consequently, the narrative of “The Dark Crystal” is essentially Jungian. The cosmic (and genocidal) battle between the Mystics and the Skeksis isn’t merely a battle between good and evil. In fact, the monumental prologue rejects this framework. The Mystics aren’t heroes, merely “a dying race, numbly rehearsing the ancient ways in a blur of forgetfulness — but today, the ritual gives no comfort.” The Mystics need the Skeksis, the Skeksis need the Mystics — one is always incomplete without the other. The quest of Jen, the “gelfling” protagonist, is to reintegrate the two in much the same way psychoanalysts talk about reintegrating fractious pieces of our personas.
All the Mystics and Skeksis come in pairs with awesome names like the Master and the Emperor, the Chanter and the Chamberlain, the Alchemist and the Scientist, the Numerologist and the Treasurer, the Scribe and the Scroll-Keeper, the Cook and the Gourmand, the Weaver and the Ornamentalist, the Storyteller and the Satirist, etc. The scenes are packed with dozens of curious characters, brilliantly characterized by the puppet-makers
and puppeteers — some scheming and effeminate, some violent and cruel, some kind and wise, some old and indifferent.
“The Dark Crystal” is mercifully withholding when it comes to lore, however. It drops tidbits in the names and the costumes and the props and the sets — just enough to tantalize you, to tempt you to browse the wikis and fan blogs, but not so much that it wears you out.
People act like “The Dark Crystal” was a fluke, but really, it’s the sum total of smart decisions like that. It’s the product of a Hollywood in which gonzo visionary geniuses like Henson worked side-by-side with prudent businessmen like Gary Kurtz, making movies that were both good and watchable. In our Hollywood, movies either insist on quality but fail to be watchable (e.g. “Megalopolis”) or insist on watchability but fail to be good (there’s too many to list here). Consider that before Kurtz intervened, Henson planned on doing all of the dialogue in fantasy languages with only partial subtitles.
“The Dark Crystal” was not an accident, not a case of a mad director miraculously getting everything he wanted. Henson was a man with a concept — the bright idea that children these days aren’t scared enough, that the twentieth century needed its own “Grimms’ Fairy Tales” — and a highly competent, level-headed team around him.
The result? “The Dark Crystal” is a masterpiece that’s just dark enough, no doubt still enchanting and terrifying the kids who caught it at the Browning this Sunday.
Contact Peter Mikulski at pmikulsk@nd.edu
MARISSA PANETHIERE | The Observer
ND MEN’S SOCCER
Roou scores again in close loss to the Orange
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
With both teams hungry for a statement men’s soccer win Saturday night in central New York, Syracuse got the better of Notre Dame. The Orange, despite sizable Irish advantages in the shot and corner kick columns, struck twice in a second-half flurry of goals en route to a 2-1 victory. Syracuse now has its first win in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, while Notre Dame is 5-2-3 overall and 2-2 in ACC action.
As the two recent College Cup finalists got underway in front of a strong crowd at SU Soccer Stadium, neither side gained much of an upper hand early.
Notre Dame’s best chance arrived in the 20th minute when junior midfielder KK Baffour accelerated to the right corner of the 6-yard box and pumped a shot high. Syracuse offered up a threat in the 30th minute, as Michael Acquah split Notre Dame defenders and rolled a shot just wide of the left post from atop the 18-yard box. The pressure remained on goalkeepers Tomas Hut and Irish freshman Blake Kelly throughout the first half,
but the match went to its halftime break without a score.
Hardly more than eight minutes into the second half, Syracuse changed that score. An Orange cross from near the left corner flag trickled through a mass of bodies atop the 6-yard area and picked out Ben Rosenblatt alone at the far post. Just 12 yards from goal, Rosenblatt strode into a leftfooted strike that blew past Kelly into the net’s upper left corner. Acquah, who deflected the Gabe Threadgold cross, registered an assist as Syracuse broke through and into a 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame, however, would equalize a mere five minutes later. After Nathan Scott nearly doubled the Syracuse lead with a bending shot from 20 yards away, the Irish set up a free kick on the attacking end’s left side. Jostling in the box left two Syracuse players on the deck as the ball arrived, leaving the Irish with a two-man advantage inside the 6-yard area.
Junior defender Mitch Ferguson sent a right-to-left header across the goalmouth that freshman forward Stevie Dunphy couldn’t quite reach underneath the crossbar. Still, senior Matthew Roou waited patiently at the far post and loaded up a header of his
own. The attempt barely cleared the reaching right leg of Scott before squeezing in between the bar and Hut’s skyward right hand. Roou’s nation-leading 11th goal of the season not only tied the match for Notre Dame, but it propelled Roou into outright 13th place in program history for career goals (32) and a 16th-place tie for career points (74). The talisman now needs just three more goals to crack the all-time top 10. Syracuse didn’t care to hear any of that in the moments after Roou’s tally. The Orange reclaimed their lead less than two minutes after the Irish had disbanded it, as Acquah rolled a right-to-left cross that leaked out into no man’s land on the weak side. Notre Dame lost sight of Threadgold, the left-most man for Syracuse, who sprinted onto the ball as it settled near the 6-yard area’s left corner. His low-line drive split the legs of both senior defender Kyle Genenbacher and Kelly on its way into the back of the net. As Threadgold ran off to strum the corner flag in
celebration, Notre Dame faced another second-half deficit.
This one, unlike the first, would stand up. Hut made a huge save on Baffour in the 69th minute, as the creative midfielder opened up a lane to fire away with his left foot from the left corner of the 6-yard box. He then stopped another sharp-angle shot from senior midfielder Bryce Boneau on the right side, holding the ball against the right post. Notre Dame would press on in the final 15 minutes, sending Kelly all the way forward into the attacking third, but Syracuse hung up. Despite the 13-6 Irish shooting advantage and 6-1 corner-kick edge in the second half, all three points went to the Orange.
The Irish now look ahead and await another lengthy homestand of four games in duration.
Notre Dame will host Michigan on Tuesday before facing No. 3 North Carolina in a huge match on Friday. Boston College and UIC will then visit after an eightday break for the Irish.
Notre Dame and Michigan
have faced off in every full season of men’s soccer dating back to 2006. Overall, the Irish are 16-3-4 against the Wolverines with three consecutive victories after a 3-0 win in Ann Arbor last year. The series’ last visit to South Bend in 2022 produced a thriller, as Daniel Russo delivered a hat trick to lead a come-from-behind Notre Dame victory.
This year, Michigan is 5-1-4 overall with a 1-1-3 record in Big Ten play. After receiving three votes in last week’s United Soccer Coaches poll, the Wolverines had a tough go at home on Friday, dropping a 6-3 result to No. 4 Ohio State. Michigan has not won a match since Sept. 13 against Penn State with three consecutive draws against Washington, UCLA and Rutgers preceding the loss to the Buckeyes.
Notre Dame’s match with Michigan on Tuesday will begin at 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium and air on the ACC Network.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
DECLAN HUGGINS | The Observer
Sophomore forward Jack Flanagan makes a play on the ball during Notre Dame’s 7-1 defeat of Trine at Alumni Stadium on Oct. 1, 2024. Flanagan and the Irish snapped their fourmatch win streak in Saturday’s loss to Syracuse and now prepare for a crucial homestand of four games in length that starts with tests against Michigan and No. 3 North Carolina.
Happy Birthday: Turn the tables, spotlight who you are and what you can do, bask in the glory, and display and promote what you offer. Stop propping others up when it’s your turn to shine. Define your cause and beliefs, follow your heart, and victory will be yours. An open mind will recognize the best route forward and the path that propagates positive change. Your numbers are 5, 13, 23, 26, 34, 39, 42.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Let your intuition guide you regarding purchases, health, or legal matters. Watch and listen for signs that indicate to sit tight. Stay within your budget; wait for something better. Choose peace of mind over stress and anxiety. Only trust what’s tangible. Focus on comfort and convenience.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take a moment to reconfigure your next move and implement the necessary change to improve your life. Reach out to those you love and enlist help and approval. Combining talents will ensure you get the desired results and please everyone you care about. Romance is in the stars.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Take notes, be aware of what’s happening around you, don’t make promises you’ll regret, and be prepared to go the distance once you commit. An intelligent approach will be necessary to avoid scrutiny. Pick a path that allows you to do as you please, not what others demand.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Establish what you want before you make demands. Put more energy into doing for yourself instead of depending on others, and it will boost your morale and confidence and make you feel proud of your accomplishments. New beginnings are within reach. Replace what is no longer working for you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Clear stipulations when someone demands too much. Use your intelligence and charm, and you can talk circles around anyone trying to take advantage of you. Reach out to groups or individuals who share your concerns and have as much to contribute as you. Be innovative, and doors will open.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Follow your plans regardless of what others do. Channel your energy into making a difference and bringing about change. Stand up for your beliefs and designate time and skills strategically. Join forces with like-minded people, and your connections will be fulfilling. Romance is featured.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Chisel your way to victory. Map out a plan and use your skills, intelligence, and ingenuity to propel you to your comfort zone. Think big, but designate enough time to detail to ensure your projections are accurate. A unique touch will cinch an opportunity you long for.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Make a distinct mark, act quickly and with reverence, and the results will exceed your expectations. Be honest regarding how you feel, what you want, and the plans you intend to initiate. Travel, reunions, and educational pursuits will be telltale and paint the path to peace of mind.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Keep everything you want to do a secret until you are ready to launch. Giving anyone insight into your plans will invite negativity and criticism that will slow you down. Take advantage of an opportunity, plan your actions precisely, and execute your plans passionately.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What you do will make a difference. Don’t air your thoughts when you can display your next move before anyone can interfere. Change begins with you; determine the most convenient and comfortable way to live and positively adjust your surroundings and lifestyle. The results will lead to enchantment.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sign up and sign in; participating in something that broadens your perspective regarding money, life choices, and prospects will point you in an exciting direction. Let go of what’s holding you back and move in a direction that offers promise, excitement, and the pursuit of happiness.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Be careful who you trust. When in doubt, do your own thing and forego sharing your plans. Pay attention to how you look and feel, and put a routine in place that will give you the courage, discipline, and cash to help you pursue your dreams.
Birthday Baby: You are avant-garde, popular, and empathetic. You are persistent and innovative.
Saints teams play to a win and draw at Viterbo
By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer
This past weekend, both Holy Cross soccer teams played with the women’s team taking a 1-0 win over the Viterbo V-Hawks and the men’s team tying 1-1 against the V-Hawks.
Women’s game
Advancing to 5-6 on the season so far and 3-1 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
SMC SOCCER
play, the Saints women’s soccer team took a 1-0 win over Viterbo on Saturday.
The Saints jumped ahead in the first half, scoring their first and only goal of the game at the 35:24 time mark thanks to senior forward Jennifer Requeno and an assist from junior midfielder Neyda Macias. While the V-Hawks outshot the Saints (18-6) and had more shots on goal (8-3), the Saints showed a strong defense and managed to keep the score
1-0 over the V-Hawks. Freshman goalkeeper Madeleine Agee led defensively for the Saints with eight saves to help Holy Cross stay ahead.
With this win, the Saints prepare to face St. Ambrose on Oct. 12 with kickoff set for noon.
Men’s game
Now 3-5-4 on the season so far and 0-1-3 in conference play, the men’s soccer team rounded out its game against the V-Hawks in a 1-1
tie.
Both teams scored during the first half of the game. Holy Cross made the first goal at the 4:18 time mark thanks to sophomore defender Fabian Velazquez and an assist from senior defender Martin Von Thun to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. However, the V-Hawks made a quick comeback, putting their own goal up on the board at the 9:05 time mark to tie the game at 1-1. With neither team scoring during the second half, the game
finished in a 1-1 draw.
The V-Hawks out shot the Saints (19-3) and totaled more shots on goal (4-1), but thanks to the Saints’ strong defense, the Saints were able to hold the V-Hawks at one goal.
With this result, the Saints get ready to host Olivet Nazarene on Tuesday, Oct. 8 with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu
Belles fall to Calvin in second MIAA contest
By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer
After a successful win over Kalamazoo College, the Saint Mary’s soccer team fell to 6-4 on the season so far and 1-1 in the MIAA as it took a 5-0 loss against the Calvin University Knights. Calvin jumped ahead scoring three goals during the first half.
ND MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Knights’ first goal was made at the 2:29 mark by Liz Williams with an assist from Sophie Mueller, the second goal was made by Shay Norden with an assist from Williams at the 27:24 mark and the third goal was put up by Mia Judd with assists from Carley Curry and Mueller at the 35:09 time mark.
The Knights kept the
momentum going into the second half as they scored the final two goals for a 5-0 shutout of the Belles. The first goal of the second half was made by Mueller with an assist from Williams in the 68th minute, and the Knights scored their final goal at the 73:37 mark.
Calvin dominated over the Belles, outshooting them 19-5
and having more shots on goal by a 6-2 margin. Saint Mary’s and Calvin tied defensively, both having two saves.
Sophomore midfielder Margaret Slove led the Belles with four shots and had both of the team’s shots on goal, freshman defender Isabella Kreydich put up one shot and senior goalkeeper Riley Lindsey finished
with two saves on the day while facing a total of 19 shots from the Knights.
The Saint Mary’s soccer team will remain on the road as they head to face the Adrian College Bulldogs on Oct. 12 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu
Irish score top-rated quartet of 2025 prospects
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
With still a month remaining between now and hoops season inside Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame men’s basketball has captured the attention of Irish fans over the last two weeks. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry and company have landed three four-star players and a five-star player (according to 247Sports) from the 2025 recruiting class. As a result, the Irish currently carry the top-ranked class in the 247Sports 2025 Recruit Basketball Team Rankings.
The headliner prospect, fivestar guard Jalen Haralson, selected Notre Dame over Indiana and Michigan State on Sept. 25. Hailing from La Lumiere School, the same northwest Indiana powerhouse that produced 2022 Irish five-star recruit JJ Starling, Haralson checks in at No. 10 in the ESPN 100 for 2025. At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Haralson appeared at the FIBA U17 World Cup over the summer, contributing averages of 11.1 points and 4.0 rebounds en route to a gold medal with Team USA.
In a July evaluation of Haralson, 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein described him as “a playmaking big wing, and maybe even a jumbo initiator, who combined terrific perimeter size, strength and measurables along with the ability to create for himself and others.” Finkelstein also noted Hatalson as “increasingly powerful and seeing correlated gains with both his athleticism and physicality” while identifying his inconsistent shooting as a key to his development.
Four-star power forward Brady Koehler committed to Notre Dame two days earlier, bypassing solid programs like Iowa, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Northwestern. Koehler stands at 6-foot-8 and slots in as the No. 114 prospect in the 247Sports class of 2025 rankings. He is another in-state get from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. There, Koehler took a big step forward last year, averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest as a junior.
Fellow four-star Ryder Frost
made his move to Notre Dame on Sept. 27 with additional offers from Iowa, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. Known best as an elite shooter, the small forward ranks at No. 97 on the 247Sports class of 2025 prospect list. He stands at 6-foot-6 and attends Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.
Finkelstein also assessed Frost in July, identifying him simply as “one of the best shooters in high school basketball.” As he eventually makes the transition to South Bend, Shrewsberry and the Irish
coaching staff will look to expand his modes of impact on the game even further.
Notre Dame most recently picked up a third four-star, Tommy Ahneman, a center from Cretin Derham Hall in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Nebraska, Iowa, DePaul and Furman also offered Ahneman, but the 6-foot-10, 235-pounder committed to Notre Dame on Sept. 30. Haralson, Koehler, Frost and Ahneman will next year join an upand-coming Notre Dame program
already full of youth. With sophomores Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry returning in the backcourt, the Irish hold one of the ACC’s highest-potential guard tandems. According to 247Sports, the Irish also enter the 2024-25 season with the 26th-best freshman class, consisting of four-star small forward Sir Mohammed, four-star shooting guard Cole Certa and three-star power forward Garrett Sundra.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
ND VOLLEYBALL
Irish impress again, getting to 2-2 in ACC play
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
The impressive weekends just continue to pile up for Notre Dame volleyball. To start October, the Irish hosted No. 19 Georgia Tech on Friday and Clemson on Sunday, playing about as well as they could have. Notre Dame came within only three points of beating the highly-touted Yellow Jackets in a five-set loss before turning around and sweeping the Tigers to reach an overall record of 9-4.
With Georgia Tech coming off consecutive 3-0 losses to end September and begin ACC play, Notre Dame might have caught the Yellow Jackets at the right time. Still, the Irish needed to bring their A-game to have a competitive night against a program essentially locked into the national top 25.
Notre Dame’s big performances started with freshman outside hitter Morgan Gaerte, who posted a careerhigh 18 kills at a comfortable hitting percentage of .260. Senior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo and senior setter Phyona Schrader also delivered their usual numbers, with the former totaling 15 kills and 14 digs and the latter combining eight kills with 27 assists and 10 digs.
In set one, Notre Dame played with consistency en route to a 25-22 victory that set the tone inside Purcell Pavilion. The Irish essentially held a two to four-point lead across the entire set, overcoming Georgia Tech’s advantages in service and reception with a .333 hitting percentage. After the Yellow Jackets tied the score at 18-18 late in the set, back-to-back Schrader kills gave the Irish a lead they would not surrender. A block split between Gaerte and freshman middle blocker Anna Bjork, who ended set one with four kills on five attempts, earned Notre Dame its 25th point.
Georgia Tech used a similar formula to claim set two by a 25-21 count, getting timely kills from Bianca Bertolino and Tamara Otene to break out of a 10-10 deadlock. The Yellow Jackets also limited Schrader and Gaerte to a combined negative hitting percentage, leaving Palazzolo and her four kills without much help.
In set three, Notre Dame pulled back ahead with a 2520 win fueled by a .325 hitting percentage and largely error-free volleyball. The Irish marched out to a hefty lead early, forcing a Georgia Tech timeout with the score at 1710. The Yellow Jackets began to pull back and eventually trimmed the deficit to 20-17,
but a big finish from junior outside hitter Lucy Trump denied the comeback bid. Trump, who matched Gaerte with five kills in the third set, registered three of Notre Dame’s final four points with swings.
Unsurprisingly, the Yellow Jackets did not panic down two sets to one. Instead, they played a balanced and complete brand of volleyball in set four, scoring a 25-17 victory to force a fifth set. Five different Yellow Jackets recorded multiple kills for a Georgia Tech squad that hit .346 and finished on a 7-2 run in the fourth set.
The decisive fifth set featured six ties and three lead changes as the Irish and Yellow Jackets battled it out. Notre Dame took the upper hand first at 5-3, only for Georgia Tech to swing momentum and gather a 7-5 lead. Still, the Irish remained focused and built a 12-9 advantage to close in on a huge victory. Georgia Tech wouldn’t have it, going on a 4-0 run with Luanna Emiliano at the service line. Trump tied
the score at 13-13 with a kill before the Yellow Jackets answered and ended the match somewhat controversially. As Otene went up for the night’s final swing, Bjork and Trump set a block but made contact with the net. The violation and ensuing review went in Georgia Tech’s favor, allowing the Yellow Jackets to survive on a 3-2 win in South Bend.
Returning to action on Sunday against Clemson, the Irish experienced no letdown from Friday’s disappointing finish. Notre Dame opened the afternoon with back-to-back Palazzolo aces, rapidly constructing a 5-1 lead that would easily hold up. Set one went the way of the Irish by a 2517 score, as Palazzolo added five efficient kills to her pair of aces. Schrader and Bjork also notched service aces for Notre Dame in the first set.
In the second set, Clemson hung around a bit more but still never led. This time, the Irish built a 9-4 lead before the Tigers stormed back and leveled the score at 13-13. After
a timeout, Notre Dame’s offense found a gear, carrying the weight of a 12-4 run to clinch a second straight 25-17 set win. The Irish attacked at a whopping .483 percentage in set two, as all six Notre Dame players who registered a kill hit .500 or better.
Clemson started set three by taking its first lead of the day at 1-0. It would later stake claim to its second and final edge at 7-6, as Notre Dame embarked on an 11-3 march to turn momentum around. However, the Irish crawled to the finish line after going up 22-14. The Tigers tallied six consecutive points, ultimately slashing Notre Dame’s lead down to 24-23. Still, the Irish needed only one more point to sweep and got it on an Audrey
Armbruster service error. Both offenses performed poorly in the third set, hitting below .040, but Notre Dame’s block stepped up as the difference maker with five rejections.
Palazzolo finished her Sunday with a team-high 10 kills, while Gaerte followed up her massive night with nine kills at a .292 hitting percentage. Graduate setter Ella Sandt also factored in nicely for Notre Dame, adding three kills to a 10-dig, 11-assist double-double.
This coming weekend, the Irish will hit the road for the first time in ACC play, visiting Miami (Florida) on Friday and No. 16 Florida State on Sunday.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
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WENNY WANG | The Observer
Senior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo (12) highpoints the volleyball for an attack during Notre Dame’s 3-1 defeat of Cal at Purcell Pavilion on Sept. 29, 2024. Palazzolo posted a total of 25 kills in her two games this weekend, earning a double-double against Georgia Tech on Friday.
ND WOMEN’S SOCCER
Irish unload 38 shots, earn 3-0 win at Syracuse
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
The Notre Dame women’s soccer team improved to 8-1-2 overall and 2-0-2 in ACC play on Saturday afternoon, defeating Syracuse by a 3-0 score on the road. The 17th-ranked Irish are now unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches dating back to their season opener on Aug. 15. Only No. 18 Cal has a longer active, undefeated streak among ACC teams than Notre Dame.
Notre Dame, which historically has dominated Syracuse on the women’s soccer pitch, completely owned Saturday’s match. The Irish attempted a season-high 38 shots, ringing four off the crossbar while limiting the Orange to just nine shot attempts. Freshman midfielder Grace Restovich offered up the first dangerous look less than two minutes in, pounding a left-footed strike that caught both goalkeeper Shea Vanderbosch’s hand and the crossbar. Four minutes
later, junior midfielder Leah Klenke tagged another distant shot that sent Vanderbosch airborne for another spectacular save.
As the first half reached its midway point, Notre Dame remained within an eyelash of the opening goal. Freshman forward Annabelle Chukwu made a magnificent, stepoverfilled run into the 18-yard box before hammering a shot that nailed the bar. Soon after, sophomore forward Charlie Codd took aim from distance and struck the top of the crossbar. Another rocket from sophomore midfielder Morgan Roy appeared that it would drop in below the bar until Vanderbosch reached high to deflect it away from goal.
Finally, in the 29th minute, Notre Dame’s relentless efforts paid off. Klenke carved into the left edge of the 6-yard area, sending a short cross back to the top of the 6. Freshman midfielder Lily Joseph, who had just substituted into the game moments earlier, positioned
herself there and redirected the ball into the back of the net.
Only 91 more seconds passed before Joseph delivered again. The second scoring play began with another quality move from Klenke who picked out Restovich on a diagonal run near the left corner of the 6-yard box. With her back to goal, Restovich moved the ball back to Joseph, who paralleled the top of the 18-yard box from left to right. On one mighty swing of her right foot, Joseph sent a screaming drive beyond the reach of Vanderbosch and into the goal’s upper right corner for a marvelous finish. The freshman’s first career brace, which brought her up to five goals on the season, had Notre Dame in full control with a 2-0 lead just 30 minutes in.
Another prolific Irish freshman nearly made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute, but forward and leading scorer Izzy Engle rolled a sitter wide right from the top of the 6-yard box on senior forward and midfielder Ellie Ospeck’s setup. Notre Dame’s
attack slowed down a bit from there, as freshman goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica made an excellent save on Gabby Wisbeck less than a minute before halftime.
Coming out of the break, Notre Dame returned to the hunt for goal number three and quickly found it. Codd smashed a left-footed shot from 20 yards out that met the underside of the bar and dove straight down. As the ball danced precariously on the goal line and toward the left post, Vanderbosch went into scramble mode but couldn’t beat freshman forward Ellie Hodsden, who tapped in the third Irish goal. Since returning from an injury on Sept. 8 against Marquette, Hodsden leads Notre Dame with four goals in five matches played.
With the Irish still looking for more, Chukwu rang the crossbar again in the 50th minute on the redirection of Vanderbosch’s save. Codd later intercepted a heavy Syracuse touch and shot from the same
place as she did on Hosdsen’s goal, forcing a diving denial from Vanderbosch near the right post. Chukwu, who finished tied for a game-high with three shots on goal, barely missed wide with a header off of a 59th-minute free kick. Notre Dame would apply several more chances down the stretch, finishing the second half with 22 shot attempts. As the final whistle sounded, the Irish had earned three points on the road with a three-goal performance. With two saves on the day, Kasica clinched her fourth clean sheet of the season, matching sophomore keeper Atlee Olofson. Up next, the Irish will head to Louisville for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 12. That match precedes a crucial stretch during which the Irish will face No. 18 Cal, No. 9 Stanford and No. 2 Duke in three consecutive mid-October matchups.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
JONATHAN KARR | The Observer
Freshman forward Izzy Engle swings her right leg to strike the ball during Notre Dame’s 1-1 draw against NC State at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 26, 2024. Engle and the Notre Dame offense attempted a season-high 38 shots in Saturday’s 3-0 shutout of Syracuse, leading the Irish to their 10th consecutive match played without a loss and an 8-1-2 overall record.
