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Volume 56, Issue 46 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com
Students flock to new Chick-fil-A Campus Dining celebrates location’s grand opening following months of anticipation, controversy By EVAN MCKENNA Managing Editor
Among the usual hubbub of Duncan Student Center on Thursday morning were a new crowd, new sights and new smells. Notre Dame Campus Dining celebrated the grand opening of the new on-campus Chick-fil-A location Thursday at 10 a.m., serving the first of many chicken sandwiches and nuggets to students. Campus Dining staff and executives were present to welcome community members and show them how the new location operates. The new restaurant is located on the southern end of the first floor in Duncan Student
Center, in what was formerly the Star Ginger location. Despite the space’s familiar look, the location’s operations differ from standard Chick-fil-A locations in a few ways. To accommodate the schedules of student employees and staff, the location will not open until 10 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Like any other Chick-fil-A location, though, the new on-campus restaurant will be closed on Sundays. Additionally, because the new restaurant is considered more of an “express location” rather than a full, standalone operation, the location has a limited menu, with no breakfast options or mac and
cheese. Despite these current limitations, director of retail dining Sandra Garcia said Campus Dining has plans to implement breakfast offerings and offer longer hours in the future. “I think for now, we wanted to make sure that whatever we do, we do it well,” Garcia said. “We want to focus on that core part of the menu, which is obviously the chicken sandwiches, the nuggets and fries, among some other options. We have the infrastructure to add breakfast items… but we thought we’d start with the core and then eventually consider expanding.” see CHICK-FIL-A PAGE 4
EVAN MCKENNA| The Observer
Located on the first floor of Duncan Student Center, the new Chickfil-A is currently an express-location with a limited menu and hours.
University revises parking lot plans By RYAN PETERS Associate News Editor
The Universit y rev ised its plans to put an entr y gate to proposed parking lots on Palmer Street after residents voiced concerns about increased traffic on the street, Notre Dame announced at a St. Joseph Count y Council meeting Tuesday. In order to move traffic off Palmer — a narrow deadend street on the east side of campus — the Universit y
decided to put access points to the two proposed lots off Leahy Drive and in the Bulla Lot that currently exists, associate v ice president for public affairs Tim Sexton said. The Universit y petitioned to rezone four parcels of land it ow ned around Palmer Street from residential use to Universit y use in order to construct t wo parking lots on the south end of Palmer Street — one on the west side of the street and
one on the east. The count y council approved the rezoning Tuesday night. The lots w ill compensate for lost parking expected in what is now the Librar y Lot as part of plans to build a multidisciplinar y research building adjacent to McCourtney Hall. Initially, the Universit y planned to put an access point off Palmer. Sexton said Leahy Drive contains a significant slope which posed a challenge to constructing an
entr y way. The rev ised plans contain an entrance to the lot west of Palmer Street on the north end of Leahy Drive near Bulla Road, where the slope is not as steep. The east lot’s entrance w ill be connected to the Bulla Lot. Robert Smith, who ow ns a propert y on Palmer Street, was concerned the small street was not going to be
see PALMER PAGE 3
Senate reconvenes after snow day By ALYSA GUFFEY Notre Dame News Editor
The Notre Dame student senate convened Wednesday evening to amend the Constitution’s deadline to approve the nomination of The Shirt Project president and approve the nomination of a new Student Union treasurer. The senate had not met for two weeks due to the University snow day last Wednesday; therefore, the senate approved the
News page 3
minutes from January 26. Student body vice president and senior Matthew Bisner gave an update on issues discussed at the last meeting, when students were having trouble ordering at-home COVID-19 tests to residence hall addresses. Bisner explained how after talking with the University postmaster and the postmaster in Indianapolis, they realized Baumer and Johnson Family Halls were registered as businesses addresses, not residential addresses.
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“That’s being corrected,” Bisner said. “I don’t have a timeline on those corrections but at least the Postal Service is aware.” Moving into general orders, Student Union treasurer Meenu Selvan and parliamentarian Madison Nemeth brought a resolution to the table. The resolution, SO 2122-14, proposed an amendment to move up the deadline for the Financial Management Board (FMB) to nominate and the senate to approve The Shirt Project
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president. The current deadline was prior to November 1, but with the amendment, the deadline would be prior to May 1 of the same year, and the new president would assume the role the day after the unveiling of The Shirt. Selvan said the resolution was created to streamline the process of nominating the president.
see SENATE PAGE 3
M basketball PAGE 15
Panel covers speech, justice By LIAM PRICE Staff Writer
The Saint Mary’s College Faculty Affairs, Inclusion and Retention Committee hosted philosophy professor Andrew Pierce and global studies professor Nell Haynes Wednesday for a virtual panel discussing the role of language in issues of race and immigration.
Chilean Immigration Propaganda Haynes began with an analysis of anti-immigrant memes on social media in northern Chile. Though it is far north from the economic and political centers of Chile, the Tarapaca region draws large numbers of Bolivian
see PANEL PAGE 4
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