Panel discusses 50 years of women at Notre Dame West Lake houses TRIO programs

By KELSEY QUINT news writer

The campus-wide celebration of 50 years of women at n otre d ame came to its close m onday evening with a panel discussion between five women who have both witnessed and enacted change toward women’s empowerment.

e ach panelist was selected for her unique perspective and contribution to the tri-campus community. The panel was broken into four sections that traced the evolution of women on campus.

Women at Notre Dame before 1972

Kathleen s prows c ummings, the r ev. John a o ’ b rien collegiate professor of a merican studies and the director of the c ushwa c enter for a merican c atholicism, remarked that there were women on campus before the famed year of 1972.

“There were women who earned bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and even doctorates from n otre d ame,” c ummings said.

“They would do that in a variety of ways, like summer school. Though the direct admission of women into the undergraduate program is 1972, women were certainly present on campus all along in a particular way.” b liley explained that when the merger between s aint m ary’s and n otre d ame was proposed, she laid out a plan to earn a degree from n otre d ame. b ut when the merger fell through, b liley had already completed all the credits that went towards a bachelor’s in business administration, a degree that was not recognized by s aint m ary’s c ollege.

Father hesburgh’s decision to co-educate m ary b liley reflected on her own unique experience as the first and only woman to receive a bachelor’s degree at commencement in 1972.

“ i n January of 1972, i received a letter from s aint m ary’s stating that i would

By KATIE DOBELHOFF news writer

o n the west side of campus — bordered by s t. m ary’s l ake, p angborn h all and l ake l ot — lies a building with two distinct purposes.

The second floor of west l ake h all holds dynamic classroom spaces, computer labs offices and display areas for design programs in the c ollege of a rts and l etters.

w ithin a rts and l etters, n otre d ame offers industrial design or visual communication design majors for those interested in design. They also offer a collaborative innovation minor. yet, west l ake h all does not just serve as an academic building; it also serves as an integral way of serving the s outh b end community.

The first floor of west l ake hall contains classrooms and offices for the u s d epartment of e ducation’s T rio p rograms, guiding s outh b end students as they progress through middle school, high school and the college application process.

n otre d ame hosts two n otre d ame’s T rio Talent s earch program was established in 1980, originally housed in g race h all. They expanded into west l ake and now serve around 750 students from grades seventh to twelfth. s tudents come from virtually every community school in s outh b end. r edding works mostly with students at John a dams h igh s chool. see wesT laKe PAGE

T rio college access and preparatory programs: Talent s earch and u pward b ound.

Talesha r edding, an advisor for Talent s earch, said the program prepares students for secondary education by offering tutoring and class mentorship. They also instill positive study habits and assist students through the college admissions process by helping them navigate Fa F sa and applications, she said.

“ we prepare workshops each week for each grade level. we also make contact with each student and plan events for all of them,” she said.

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Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com Question of the Day: t he next f ive D ays: Pencil or Pen? Brittney Ferguson senior Pasquerilla West Hall “Pen.” Annemarie Foy senior Cavanaugh Hall “Pen.” Tyrah Taylor sophomore Pasquerilla West Hall “Pen.” Angel Gonzalez sophomore St. Edwards Hall “Pencil.” Matt Heilman senior off-campus “Pen.” Kaitlin Mohlenkamp sophomore Badin Hall “Fine point gel pen.” ndsmcobserver.com P.O. Box 779, Notre Dame, IN 46556 024 South Dining Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 Editor-in-Chief Maggie Eastland Managing Editor Ryan Peters Asst. Managing Editor: Gabrielle Beechert Asst. Managing Editor: Hannah Hebda Asst. Managing Editor: José Sánchez Córdova Notre Dame News Editor: Isa Sheikh Saint Mary’s News Editor: Meghan Lange Viewpoint Editor: Claire Lyons Sports Editor: Andrew McGuinness Scene Editor: Anna Falk Photo Editor: Sofia

Thursday “The Invasion of Iraq in Historical Perspective” Eck Visitors Center

Friday COVID-19 and the Future of Health Care Jordan Auditorium p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Panel discussion.

Editor’s Note: A fencing story printed Monday, March 27 was corrected Tuesday, March 28 to clarify the outcomes and records of some of the individual fencers and Notre Dame’s overall score. The Observer regrets these errors.

Notre a.m. - noon Lecture by Bernard Nahlen on health care. Notre Dame Baseball Frank Eck Stadium

The Irish face the University of Illinois Chicago.

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f r. John Jenkins — did so. c onboy has still not made a public statement on the r oe or d obbs decision on behalf of herself or the c ollege.

When asked at a panel Tuesday night why she thought the reversal of r oe was not something for the c ollege to release a statement on, c onboy said it “was very hard to think about how to respond in a meaningful way that would reflect all of [ s aint m ary’s] identity.” s he explained that leaders at s aint m ary’s knew that some students would feel a triumphant victory for a cause they believed in, while others might feel the loss of a legal right. d aniel h oran, chair of the a cademic Program c ommittee that presented the series, said the purpose was “to offer students, staff and faculty the opportunity to learn about a range of issues related to the us s upreme c ourt decision last summer to overturn the r oe v. Wade decision.” church teachings frame abortion conversations on campus v ice president for mission Julianne Wallace clarified the c atholic c hurch’s teaching on abortion at the beginning of the panel. a ccording to a 2022 Pew r esearch survey, 56% of c atholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, Wallace said. a nd what we have learned from media and from public discourse is that it seems like a very simple issue,” she said. “ s o our responsibility as a c atholic institution is to expand beyond a very binary understanding of life and abortion.” i n response to a question on how effective dialogue can happen at an institution that is also focused on maintaining its c atholic identity, c onboy explained that the s aint m ary’s community has a unique opportunity to discuss moral and theological issues through a c atholic lens, without infringing on open dialogue.

Yet her team talked internally about how to best approach the divisive subject of abortion once students returned.

“ e ven though we didn’t make that statement, we did begin planning even last summer and having conversations about what it would mean for our students to return to our campus in what is a changed a merica,” c onboy said.

“We knew that we would have to find spaces for dialogue on campus and that careful planning for that dialogue would be more important than any lofty kind of public statement might be,” she said.

Tuesday’s panel served as the final event in the Post- d obbs Program s eries, featuring members of c onboy’s executive leadership team.

“The c atholic tradition asserts that from conception, new human life is sacred. a ll new human life is sacred and the life and the well-being of the woman who is carrying that life is also sacred,” Wallace said.

“What this [statistic] tells me is this is a complex issue.

Later on, panelists added that roughly 62% of the c ollege’s student body reports being c atholic — down from 80% a decade ago.

“a ll of the pieces of your student experience i think are infused with something that is coming from the c atholic identity as a college,” c onboy said.

Quoting former n otre d ame President f r. Theodore h esburgh, c onboy stressed that the c ollege’s c atholic identity does not inhibit but rather enhances debates on moral issues.

“[ f r. h esburgh said] ‘the c atholic university is where the c atholic c hurch goes to do its thinking,’” c onboy said. “That is a place where we can do that kind of thinking.”

‘It’s not a single issue’ r edgina h ill, vice president for inclusion and equity, referenced a quote by a udrey Lorde that “there is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” h ill elaborated that discussions about abortion should address health disparities such as access to healthcare and historical discrimination.

“ i t’s important for us to interrogate how this decision has an impact on the disparities that exist within healthcare, especially for people of color within this community,” h ill said.

Provost b arb m ay spoke after h ill, saying that academic freedom at the c ollege means faculty “are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects.”

While this allows faculty to have certain conversations in their classrooms, m ay added that the academic freedom clause also states that faculty “should be careful not to introduce their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to the subject.”

“a s you think about our policy, take that broadness into account,” m ay said. “ i f a student asks about it, and it’s not relevant, you don’t have to talk about it. i f you’re not prepared to talk about it, you don’t have to talk about it.” resources for students i n addition, Title i X protects all students at the c ollege who find themselves pregnant or a parent, vice president for student enrollment and engagement Lori Johnson said.

Panelists offered several resources for students during the discussion, including consultations at the h ealth and c ounseling c enter — which operates with patient confidentiality — and c ampus m inistry pastoral care.

Contact

Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu