Scholar speaks on ‘weapon of antisemitism’
A panel of experts discussed the implications of antisemitism on the global stage
By CAROLINE COLLINS Associate News EditorA panel of experts, including Palestinian-American Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestinian and Israel program and a senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, D.C., met Tuesday afternoon in the Hesburgh Center for International Studies to discuss the historical framework around antisemitism and how it relates to the broader conflict in Gaza.
The event is the second in a two-day series sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, discussing antisemitism and the struggle for justice and
Lecturer considers Catholics in politics
By ANNELISE DEMERS News WriterPolitical science professor Daniel Philpott served as a guest speaker at the Young Americans for Freedom meeting Tuesday night. His topic of discussion was why Catholics should be involved in politics.
Philpott has a specialized focus on the intersection of religion and global politics, particularly emphasizing topics such as religious freedom, reconciliation, the political conduct of religious figures and Christian political theology. His talk reflected the themes central to his course, “Catholicism and Politics.”
“If our command is to love our neighbor, and political authority is ordered to the good, then that means that we should be involved in politics as an extension of love for our neighbor,” Philpott said.
Philpott explored the disjuncture regarding the
involvement of Catholics in politics by discussing two political theories: radical Catholicism and Christian realism.
Radical Catholicism “is the view that there’s a sharp disjuncture between Catholicism and politics, which contains strong pressure for idolatry and violence and that Catholics and Christians in general should accordingly shun politics and choose a radical commitment to living the gospel in community,” Phillpott said.
On the other hand, Christian realism accepts the necessary role of policy, he added.
It “accepts the necessity and even the normalcy of politics but does not think that the gospel or the church has much to say about it,” Philpott said. “For the Christian realist when the two conflicts appear, politics must win out, politics is ruled by a
see CATHOLICS PAGE 3
peace in Israel and Palestine.
Nakba means “the catastrophe” and it refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through displacement, Atalia Omer, professor of religion, conflict and peace studies said in her introductory remarks. “The war didn’t start on October 7, the Nakba started years before Hamas emerged.”
Omer began the conversation by explaining the broader context of antisemitism, including nationalist and imperialist violence. She then introduced Munayyer’s presentation, which focused on the weaponization of antisemitism as part of a transnational repression
see
Boston College professor discusses book on creation
By KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT Associate News EditorTuesday night in Stapleton Lounge, the center for the study of spirituality hosted author and Boston College theology professor Brian Robinette for the second installment of the Ex Libris Visiting Author Lecture Series. Robinette discussed his latest book, “The Difference Nothing Makes: Creation, Christ, Contemplation,” which
was published last year by Notre Dame Press.
Robinette began his discussion of his book by saying he wanted to flesh out some key ideas.
“I would like to speak from the inside of the book, from its beating heart. Its existential guts,” he said. “There are two lines of questioning that animate this book and these lines of questioning have haunted me my entire adult life.”
Robinette’s questions were about creation.
“The first question seems straightforward until you really ask it. Why is there anything at all rather than nothing?” he asked. Robinette continued to pose versions of this question, such as “why does anything exist” and “why is this all just here?”
He said these questions
see THEOLOGY PAGE 3
Have
Toby
Drew
sophomore Keough Hall “Ireland.”
Lindsey Regan sophomore Howard Hall “The pool.”
Sports
Scene Desk (574) 631-4540 scene@ndsmcobserver.com
Photo
Systems
Aidan
freshman O’Neill Family Hall “Greece.”
Lucia Reynoso freshman Welsh Family Hall “Guatemala.”
Professor speaks on religious discrimination case
By AYNSLEE DELLACCA News Writer Stephanie Barclay,faculty director of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative, gave a lecture and led a small discussion about the case Apache Stronghold v. United States on Monday afternoon in the Eck Hall of Law. Barclay and other students and faculty in the Religious Liberty Initiative continue to represent the Apache people amici curiae, which means the group assists the court’s decision by providing expertise, information or insight relating to the case.
Apache Stronghold aims to settle the issue of transferring Oak Flat, a piece of invaluable and sacred land to the Apache and several other tribes, to a foreignowned copper mining company called Resolution Copper.
“Since time and memorial, [Oak Flat] has been sacred to multiple tribes including the Western Apache, and they believe it is the direct corridor to their Creator,” Barclay said. “This is a site where numerous essential religious ceremonies take place, including the ceremony that is important to mark the transition to womanhood for young women in the tribe. So there are a lot of
Catholics
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
logic of necessity such that it cannot realistically be subject to the demands of the gospel.”
Philpott read pieces from “Gaudium et spes,” one of the four constitutions that came about from the Second Vatican Council, highlighting public life and Catholics’ roles within it.
“The Church regards worthy of praise and consideration for the work of those who as a service to others, dedicate themselves to the public good of the state and undertake the burdens of this task,” Philpott said.
“According to modern Catholic social teaching, not only is it permissible for Catholics to participate in public life, but it is noble and praiseworthy,” he said. “The church seems to be rejecting the views that are skeptical of the compatibility of politics and Catholicism.”
Philpott discussed two main reasons why he believes politics should matter and be participated in
things that only can happen in Oak Flat and not in any other places.”
If Resolution Copper earns the right to this piece of land located in Arizona, the company will construct a 2-mile-wide, 1,110-footdeep crater for mining purposes.
According to Barclay, the government’s environmental impact statement about Oak Flat stated, “The physical impacts on tribal sacred sites will be immediate, permanent and large in scale. Once the mining operations commence, the changes will permanently affect the ability of tribal members to access special interest areas for cultural and religious purposes.”
In her lecture, Barclay explained the details and legal definitions of the case, focusing on the research done by the Religious Liberty Initiative in terms of supporting the Apache Stronghold.
One of the most relevant legal rulings the courts consider, according to Barclay, is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). In relation to limitations on religious expression, RFRA states, “[The] Government may substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the
as a Catholic. The first reason is that since God created the world, that includes politics.
“Christians participate in grace, participate in the work of the resurrection by working for this restoration of the world, and participate in God’s redemptive acts. And this includes the various spheres of the world: politics, economics and culture. To deny this would be to say that God’s redemption is limited, that God is not Lord of all but only Lord of something. But if that’s true, that God, at least the God that Catholics believe in, is not God at all,” Philpott said.
The second reason he pointed out is the idea of the common good and the commandment to love your neighbor.
“Politics is fundamentally ordered towards the good. I think that’s the Catholic view towards the common good. The two basic purposes of politics are coordination of the common good and enforcement of the common good,” Philpott said.
According to Philpott,
person is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest [and] is the least restrictive means of furthering that governmental interest.”
A district court originally ruled the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper fit this criteria and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.
Barclay said the use of RFRA, other religious freedom acts and a general disregard for indigenous religion have been used against Native Americans.
“The colonial state and federal governments of our nation have been desecrating and destroying indigenous sacred sites since before the Republic was formed, and it continues today,” Barclay said. “Among all of the Native American cultural and religious issues in America, sacred sites are one area where they have perhaps enjoyed, by far, the least success in protecting this aspect of culture and identity.
“The crux of the problem is as follows: because tribes were divested of so much of their traditional homelands by the government, tribal members are often in this unique position of being beholden on the government in order to access places where they have performed centuries of ceremonies that are
coordination involves the organization and alignment of efforts among individuals or groups towards achieving the common good, while enforcement entails implementing measures to ensure compliance with principles and standards aimed at promoting the well-being of society as a whole and the safety of the community.
Philpott also discussed the virtues of justice and prudence and their importance to political life as well as the mediating principles of the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity and human dignity.
“These values are not going to be upheld unless we have good people in the political realm participating, helping to formulate the kinds of actions and policies for the common good, that safeguard and promote these different principles. So that’s why you should be involved in politics,” Philpott said.
Contact Annelise Demers at ademers@nd.edu
often critical and at higher rates than other religious groups that are in that position of being beholden to government,” Barclay said.
Barclay compared Apache Stronghold to other cases in the past relating to sacred lands and indigenous religious practices. One of the most notable was Slockish v. Department of Transportation, which dealt with the U.S. Department of Transportation clearing a patch of forest in Oregon to make way for a wider highway.
Just like the Apache, the Yakama Nation found the land to be invaluable and sacred, and they used this land for religious ceremonies. The courts ruled against Slockish, which allowed the destruction of their land, an ancient stone altar to be scattered into rubble and removed access to the Yakama Nation.
Barclay pointed out that the court’s argument against Slockish was similar to the Ninth Circuit’s argument against the Apache.
“The court said, ‘There’s no coercion here. There’s no denial of benefits, no penalty, nothing to see here,’” she said.
Barclay hopes the case will reach the Supreme Court, not only for the sake of the Apache people, but for the sanctity of religious
Theology
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
transcend our perception of reality.
“Our minds reach out for some kind of answer but are left in suspense and wonder. A primal sense of wow arises within us as though opening our eyes and seeing everything fresh,” he said. “But admittedly, we don’t normally perceive reality with this degree of freshness. We grow accustomed to things and our eyes dim. We need to be practical and move on with our lives.”
Robinette argued that we don’t address these questions enough.
“And bit by bit, we’ve forgotten how to wonder, how to be surprised, how to be human. Now, I take it that one of theology’s basic tasks is to awaken our sense of wonderment and assist us in unclogging our course of spiritual perception,” he said.
Robinette’s second question was about the origin of human dysfunction.
“Notice that this question is more sharply focused than the broader question ‘why is there evil and suffering in the world?’ I’m interested in those questions too, but they don’t hold my
expression as a whole. Without a limit to the spectrum of what’s considered a “substantial burden,” the government can continue to push limitations of religious expression to suit the government’s needs, she said.
“The government can give you a $5 fine and make it more expensive. It can increasingly make it more and more costly and difficult to exercise your religion. And at some point, the government can make exercise of your religion impossible altogether,” Barclay said.
“It is more consistent with the text of the statute with Congress’s goal of providing heightened, not less, protection directly, then we had with the First Amendment. To say that when you get to the point where we completely make it impossible for someone’s ability to exercise their religion, that’s the most easy way that you satisfy this requirement under RFRA.”
Barclay said if this case makes it to the Supreme Court, the justices may see the potential for religious limitation in RFRA and ultimately put an end to religious discrimination, especially for Native Americans.
Contact Aynslee Dellacca at adellacca01@saintmarys.edu
attention the way human conflict does,” he said. “I want to know why we harm one another. Where does rivalry come from? Why, if creaturely life is so precarious and precious, do we fight one another? Why do we make life hard one each other and ourselves? And how may we become free from these impediments?”
Robinette said that the big questions do not have easy answers. He said formulating the questions was hard enough that there was no way he could produce a succinct answer in his brief talk. However, a large part of the book is dedicated to exploring the question of human dysfunction.
Junior Tess Hayes came away from the speech with ideas on how to further engage with contemplation.
“I came because the title of the book “The Difference Nothing Makes: Creation, Christ, Contemplation” caught my attention,” she said. “The talk was great, I really liked the conversation about contemplation, like how important is is to live a mindful life. And also applying that to our own personal lives. I think that’s really important and valuable.”
Notre Dame’s untold true crime tales
By THOMAS DOBBS, CADE CZARNECKI and LILYANN GARDNERFrom the Archives Researchers
On this edition of “From the Archives” we delve into past campus crimes, stitching together a series of intriguing incidents that reveal a darker side to campus life. First, we encounter students who mysteriously receive letters from distant inmates. A night-time altercation involving a knife throws the tranquility of dorm life into question, spotlighting unexpected dangers in otherwise familiar spaces. The narrative concludes by exploring a baffling extortion case within the North Dining Hall, where the truth remains as elusive as it is compelling.
New Friends From Behind Bars?
Feb. 7, 1992 | Andy Runkle | Researched by Lilyann Gardner
Notre Dame students are known for their ability to foster friendships and build community. Smiling faces and passing pleasantries are exchanged around every corner of campus, and word of this kindness spread beyond campus in 1992 to unlikely ears.
In the early months of the new year, two female Notre Dame students received “penpal type” letters from inmates in the Indiana State Penitentiary in Michigan City and from a prison in New Jersey.
Neither student recognized the inmates or understood how they found their addresses, but assistant director of security Chuck Hurley assured members of the
Israel
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
University that the content of the letters did not include anything obscene or threatening.
Nonetheless, the letter from the Indiana State Penitentiary included a mark on the envelope to “return to sender” that allowed the students to cease all communication. Hurley later contacted officials in Michigan City to investigate how the inmates received their information to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Despite the benign nature of the letters, they served as a reminder of the boundaries Notre Dame students preferred to maintain. While their hearts might be open to forming new friendships, they remained discerning about drawing the line — preferring the comfort of campus connections over correspondences from the penitentiary.
The Keenan-St. Ed’s Knife Incident of 2002 April 24, 2002 | Scott Brudfuehrer | April 25, 2002 | Scott Brudfuehrer | Researched by Cade Czarnecki
On April 20, 2002, at around 1:25 a.m., a St. Edward’s Hall resident was leaving his friends’ dorm room in Keenan Hall. He was headed out of the building to pick up a pizza he and his friends had ordered.
There are contrasting accounts of what happened next. Supposedly instigated by the removal of a basketball from the dorm room that the students were in that night, the alleged victim was stopped in the hallway by one of his friends’ roommates, the
alleged suspect. The alleged suspect reportedly threw a football at the St. Edward’s resident and then proceeded to try to tackle him.
After a brief tussle, the alleged victim held the suspect at bay momentarily before the alleged suspect pulled out a butterfly knife and pointed it at the St. Edward’s resident. The alleged victim immediately backed off.
Once the event concluded, the alleged victim reported it to hall staff who consequently got Notre Dame police involved.
The Keenan resident recounted the events slightly differently, purporting the alleged victim had thrown the football at him first and then pinned him on the ground. Fearing for his health, he pulled out the knife to get the relatively larger Keenan Hall resident off of him.
In the wake of the alleged knife assault, Notre Dame Security/ Police assistant director Charles Hurley said, “This type of conduct [violence] is not tolerated. Most of our students know this. This type of conduct is very rare.”
In the following days, the incident was recounted several times in varying fashions. Two facts remained consistent throughout: no alcohol was involved and a butterfly knife was brandished. The other details exist in a shroud of uncertainty.
Reflecting on the incident, the victim chose not to pursue legal recourse against the suspect. His decision hints at a broader trust in the safety of Notre Dame, aligning with assistant director Hurley’s belief that this unsettling event was an anomaly, not indicative of the campus’s usual tranquility.
Dining Hall Decption:
The Unproven Notre Dame Extortion Case
March 9, 1984 | Jeff Harrington and Paul McGinn | March
16, 1984 | Paul McGinn |
Researched by Thomas Dobbs
In November 1983, the Notre Dame community was shaken by allegations of extortion within North Dining Hall. Five employees, including three managers and two workers, were dismissed without notice, accused of involvement in a scheme to extort money from a fellow employee.
The accusation at the core of the North Dining Hall incident was stark: Ann Harris and Ada Peate were alleged to have harassed a co-worker, demanding money and gifts. They were also accused of embezzling $1,500 from the coworker’s credit union account.
Yet, despite the severity of the charges, an investigation failed to “uncover concrete evidence against” the accused, raising questions about the justness of their termination.
As the University’s investigation unfolded, the complexities of the case emerged. Security investigator William Hedl stated, “We could not pin down … any crime,” a stark contrast to the claims that initially led to the firings. The evidence, including handwriting samples sent to the state police lab, failed to match the accused. Hedl admitted, “There was not enough to substantiate bringing charges.”
The fallout from the incident was palpable. The University, in its termination letters, made its stance clear. William Hickey, Jr., director of university food services, wrote in one letter to
the dismissed managers, “We don’t believe you didn’t know (about the Harris case), and do believe you failed to raise the concern.”
Because of this lack of evidence, an appeals referee approved unemployment benefits for the fired workers, finding no “proven just cause, nor for gross misconduct.”
The University’s procedures, or lack thereof, came under scrutiny as well, with the official employee relations handbook’s stipulated warnings and suspensions seemingly ignored.
The firings sparked a dialogue about the University’s governance and the actions of its leaders. The Observer editorialized on the administration’s silence, criticizing the perceived disconnect between public statements and actions.
“Father knows best” syndrome was cited as a concern, with the paper expressing disillusionment in the leadership’s failure to engage with the issue.
The North Dining Hall incident might read like a far-fetched storyline, yet it serves as a real-world lesson in the importance of due process. It’s a stark reminder that even within the halls of academia, the truth can be as slippery as an overcooked noodle. As Notre Dame continues to refine its policies, this tale of alleged extortion remains a cautionary footnote, prompting a wry acknowledgment that sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
Contact Thomas Dobbs at tdobbs@nd.edu
Contact Cade Czarnecki at cczarne3@nd.edu
Contact Lilyann Gardner at lgardne2@nd.edu strategy.
Omer said Munayyer’s talk would focus on explaining how “activists for Palestinian rights in different countries and states across Europe and North America began to find themselves facing a slew of repressive measures and how accusations of antisemitism are mobilized towards silencing debate.”
Munayyer gave an overview of how the Israeli government has attempted to counter the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement advocated by Palestinian activists. This movement was organized to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the barrier in the West Bank and ensure equality for
Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel. He described BDS as a “call for civil society” to boycott corporations and institutions, including those in the U.S. and other countries, seen as supporting Israel’s stance toward Palestinians
Munayyer argued the Israeli government has used a threepronged “mutually reinforcing cycle of smear campaigns, legislative action and lawfare … to associate BDS with terrorism and antisemitism.” This strategy included anti-BDS laws designed to discourage boycotts against Israel.
He explained that following a series of U.S. court rulings that found that anti-BDS laws violated First Amendment rights in 2019, they began to see “quite a deliberate shift in messaging and strategy from this network away from a focus on anti-BDS laws towards a focus
on antisemitism.”
“Anti-BDS laws became the center of a battle around freedom in a different way. And it started to bring together not just people who support the rights of Palestinians, but also people who support the right of free expression, even if they don’t necessarily care about Palestinians,” Munayyer continued.
In his presentation, Munayyer highlighted evidence of how Israel began to move away from anti-BDS laws towards using antisemitism allegations as a primary tactic to attack BDS following the first amendment rulings. He cited the “Money Trail” report from the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs (MSA) in May 2018 where there were zero mentions of antisemitism, but by September of 2019, there were 286 mentions in a similar
report, “Behind the Mask.”
He then talked about how the Israeli Ministry felt an important part of their newly-developed strategy against BDS was to define anti-Zionism as antisemitism and that zionism should be seen as part of the Jewish identity. He showed a video in which a speaker for the anti-BDS network said these policies were the “most important weapons in their arsenal.”
At the end of the talk, following comments and insights from guest professors, Munayyer touched on the political nature of the ongoing Israel-Palestine debate in a polarized political climate like the U.S.
“We’re seeing support for Palestine often on the left side of the political spectrum,” Munayyer said. “And that means opposition to Palestine often has friends on the right
side, where you will also find a lot of white supremacists, a lot of European nationalists, a lot of antisemites.”
Munayyer argued the political situation around Israel and Palestine was being utilized by right-wing voices to distract from other policies.
“One of the dangerous ways in which this has operated is by creating … marriages of mutual political interests between people who want to attack Palestinian rights activists, people who are ethnic nationalists and people who are white supremacists here in the United States, who are antisemitic and are happy to use the validation of pro-Israel voices as a cover for their own right-wing policies, their own antisemitism.”
Contact Caroline Collins at ccolli23@nd.eduH-E-A-V-E-N You’re Fighting Irish?
Sometimes, when I’m with my dad, he calls it heaven: “H-E-A-V-E-N.” He spells it out, sits with every letter, tells me “This right here is heaven” — heaven in our drives home from church, heaven in the mundane walks with our dog, heaven in the times we sit and chat about life.
I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s like — this heaven which occasionally lingers between us, this heaven which we seldom call by name.
Somehow, the worst days can become the most “heaven.” Perhaps there’s heaven in the contrast, heaven on the other side of something horrible. There’s heaven in the warmth of a friend’s embrace when we’re crying hot tears. Heaven in perfect weather the day after someone passes. Heaven in the bunnies we occasionally spot on the quad, at the beach, in someone’s front yard — my mom always says bunnies are a sign that Barbara’s still with us.
But heaven also happens in the small moments, often when you least expect it.
Heaven is the brightest day during the cruelest month.
Heaven is sending the girls off to CJ’s — they’re pregaming with Angry Orchard Hard Cider. I hope my friend sees that boy she likes.
Heaven is candles and coasters and mugs, these adult objects we never thought we’d own.
Heaven is “I’ll get whatever she’s getting.”
Heaven is pocket candy and pocket tissues, stuffed into pockets of grandmas and grandpas.
Heaven is shivering on a park bench next to someone who feels like love. Maybe they hurt you; maybe you hurt them; maybe you love them with the fullness of your heart.
Heaven is a cracked-open window.
Heaven is the barista who tells you all about his trip to Barcelona (he shows you pictures of his kids, pictures of the buildings, tells you “look how beautiful”).
Heaven is a “thinking of you” text after months of not speaking.
Heaven is your brother’s hand-me-down boots — I said they were cool once. I don’t think you remember, but maybe you don’t have to.
Heaven is calling and they always pick up.
Heaven is sleeping in jeans.
Heaven is a freshman girl on her first date. She talks for 10 minutes about her theology class, then the boy asks her if she likes David Goggins.
Heaven is a really good apology.
Heaven is the sound of boys playing basketball — the way the basketball smacks on the parking lot and hits the rim of the hoop.
Heaven is watching your formal date in his element.
Heaven is sitting with your girlfriends in a circle in the grass and letting the tears fall. You cry together, then laugh together, then cry some more.
Heaven is falling asleep with “27 Dresses” playing in the background.
Heaven is the post-run chafe between your thighs, which hurts, but also reminds you of the long run from Sunday when the air was so soft (and the shadows danced in full sunset).
Heaven is lipstick on your coffee cup.
Heaven is the boys throwing around the football.
Heaven is the sound of trumpets, which might tell you that football season isn’t so far away.
Heaven is a wave at the gym or a walk around the lakes with a friend.
Heaven is a bike ride in a short skirt.
Heaven is a short skirt.
Heaven is leaning in really close to someone at the bar or a party because it’s too loud to hear them. You lean so close you might feel their smile or stubble on your cheek.
Heaven is the way that boy eats his grilled cheese in O’Shag, squeezing mustard on with every bite.
Heaven is the click-clack of your friend’s heels on cobblestones.
Heaven is a tall glass of cold water.
Heaven is the Keenan boys bringing their futons and rolling chairs outside, so they can bask in the warmest day yet.
Heaven is your eyes, which occasionally glow like Jamie Coakley’s.
Heaven is your smile, which sometimes feels other-wordly.
Heaven is the sound of your roommate drawing the blinds every Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
Heaven is the smell of coffee on someone’s breath.
Heaven is a friend loving you enough to tell you the truth — even when it hurts, even when it isn’t pretty, even when it isn’t what you want to hear (but what you need to hear).
Heaven is your favorite song.
Heaven is the smell of bonfire which lingers on your skin, your clothes, your hair after s’mores.
Heaven is spilling red wine on your favorite shirt and your friend soaking it in the sink and chucking it in the washer at her own birthday party.
Heaven is the violet hour, the orange hour, the orange moon which creeps up on us maybe a couple times a year.
Heaven is laying in the grass, underneath the stars, staring into a vastness we don’t know yet.
Heaven is the small squeeze of hands after the “Our Father” or the hug from a stranger during the sign of peace.
Heaven is packing into a friend’s car and squishing in their trunk.
Heaven is being glossed, being glazed with sunshine — I swear, you’ve never looked more beautiful to me.
Heaven is a wordless “I love you,” and you know from just a look.
Heaven is filling a friend’s water bottle.
Heaven is this burden of freedom, this beautiful epic horrible burden. This burden, which we carry around in our hearts like a locket. We kiss, we cry, we hush and make clean.
Heaven is something we don’t know yet, something we might find and catch in glimpses of fleeting beauty, moments of cosmic goodness.
Heaven is something we might dream of, for our friends, our family, those people we love and miss dearly. Heaven is a place your friend’s dad knows; Heaven is a place your friend knows; Heaven is a place we will come to know in time.
But for now, perhaps there’s “H-E-A-V-E-N” in just a deep breath, or the way our hearts sometimes beat in sync.
Kate Casper (aka, Casper, Underdog or Jasmine) is from Northern Virginia, currently residing in Rome. She strives to be the best waste of your time. You can contact her at kcasper@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
What do you know about the Irish?
you?” in Notre Dame speak? When you say “Go Irish,” do you know who the “Irish” are?
Every autumn weekend, it is a near certainty you spend much of your time shouting “GO IRISH! BEAT TROJANS!” or some other iteration of our familiar chant. At least that’s how I spend fall semester Saturdays. You are probably looking forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at the University with a self-proclaimed Irish identity, or did so this past weekend. Maybe you’ve noticed every Irish Catholic on campus wearing a Claddagh ring, or maybe you are, like myself, one of the Irish Catholics wearing a Claddagh ring.
You may consider yourself to be one of the Fighting Irish. And if you do, you should learn something about Ireland while you’re here.
In 2006, Ireland’s president Mary McAleese said at Notre Dame, “For the Irish in America, well, as like the Irish everywhere in the world, that language that you use here, the Fighting Irish, we don’t mean fighting in the sense of argumentative . . . but what we actually mean mostly when we talk about it is an indomitable spirit, a commitment, never tentative, always fully committed . . . total commitment to life itself.”
To be Fighting Irish, you should be committed to being the Fighting Irish and to knowing what that means.
When people ask you why Notre Dame is known as the Fighting Irish, you want to know why, or at least I hope you do. Knowing the culture and history of the campus is important and helps us to understand who we are as Notre Dame students, and what shaped the history of the University. The zeitgeist and traditions of the campus today have been shaped by the past. Classes like the popular “Notre Dame and America,” which I highly recommend, teach us about this.
If you are a STEM major, you might ask, “Why would I take an Irish history or literature class?”
In my experience, taking Irish language and literature classes is fun. I am almost guaranteed to learn or read texts I have never engaged with before and talk about them in a small group. While I may be biased because of my Irish heritage and my Irish language and literature minor, learning about Irish literature and history has great value, especially on a campus where we call ourselves the Fighting Irish.
When you say “Go Irish,” do you know why you’re saying it, besides the fact that it practically means “hello,” “goodbye,” and “how are
If you are Irish American like myself, or you studied abroad in Ireland, you might think you know what there is to know about Irish culture. But there is always more to learn, and you have a writing-intensive and history requirement that can be fulfilled through Irish classes. With all the “Irish” merch you’ll collect over four years at Notre Dame, stopping to think about who the Irish are is certainly not a waste of time.
I would argue that going to Notre Dame in itself exposes you to IrishAmerican culture almost everyday if you’re paying attention. But, if you do not know anything about Ireland or Irish culture by the end of your four years at Notre Dame besides the words to “The Wild Rover” (No Nay Never), you’ll be missing out. And if you don’t care to know anything about Irish and Irish-American culture by the end of your four years here, where’s your curiosity?
Taking an Irish history or literature class or the well-known “Notre Dame and America” class will allow you to learn about the history of the Irish and of Notre Dame.
There are other ways to engage with Irish and Irish American history and culture on campus, like attending céilís or the many events of the Keough-Naughton Institute, or even by simply paying attention.
In the 2017 film, “Lady Bird,” Sister Sarah Joan tells the main character, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, played by Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, that she clearly loves her hometown, Sacramento. Lady Bird says she just pays attention. Sister Sarah Joan replies, “Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing, love and attention?”
You might love Notre Dame or the Fighting Irish, but are you paying attention? Taking an Irish class is a good place to start.
Erin Drumm is a senior at Notre Dame studying American studies, journalism and history. She is from Philadelphia and spends her summers (and every weekend possible) at the shore in Cape May County, New Jersey. Outside of The Observer, Erin can be found cheering on the Fighting Irish and the Phillies, reading and talking about pop culture and history. She can be reached at edrumm@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
It’s time for President Conboy and Board Chair Smith to resign
Ryan Peters Managing EditorIn November, this newspaper reported that Saint Mary’s Board of Trustees approved a policy in June to consider transgender applicants for admission. One month later, the College reversed course and nixed the new admissions policy after backlash. Now, just over a week ago, a Wall Street Journal column about the College’s admissions saga trended on the Journal’s opinion page.
Debates over the content of the actual policy itself have been hashed out enough, so I won’t get into that. In fact, I don’t need to get into the actual policy. Saint Mary’s attempt to hide the admissions change is a worse reflection on the administration and board than just about any policy they could have come up with. By trying to kick the policy approval under the rug, the College embarrassed itself and disrespected its students and alumnae.
Time has passed, and College leadership does not seem to be regaining trust from the community. People are still reading and talking about the saga. Just a couple of weeks ago, women’s sports activist Riley Gaines spoke to tri-campus students about it. In early February, a group of alumnae formed a trust in response to the formerly updated policy.
At this point, it’s clear. College President Katie Conboy and Board Chair Maureen Karantz Smith’s handling of the policy change irreparably damaged Saint Mary’s reputation. It’s time for them to resign.
Currently, there are two pertinent questions to ask. First, does College leadership actually prioritize promoting the best
interests of students? Second, is there anything those involved with approving the policy can do to rebuild their relationship with the community? After watching the past three months unfold, the answer to both of these questions is no.
The board and administration breached their sense of trust with their constituents and are paying the price. Getting national publicity two months after backtracking following backlash is not good.
It’s OK to make a decision that people don’t agree with. It is not OK to make a decision that people don’t agree with — especially a significant one — without being upfront and transparent about it.
Conboy said she announced the decision at a forum in August. But based on the reaction to the November social media posts and articles, students and alumnae clearly didn’t know about it. If you’re going to make a decision that changes the character and makeup of the college where students live, then students have a right to be made aware of that decision.
There appears to have been no campus-wide communication about the policy change until November — after social media uproar and The Observer article reporting on it. Different divisions of the College issue press releases and communications for all sorts of campus news and events. Yet, as of the writing of this column, none of Conboy and Smith’s communications regarding the policy were posted on the College’s website, where press releases and communications are stored.
The situation only got more precarious after Fort WayneSouth Bend Bishop Kevin Rhoades’ response. Rhoades, whose diocese is home to Saint Mary’s, said he was not made aware of the decision until Conboy’s email after The Observer article.
There is no good reason why the College would not have
made a good-faith attempt to inform students and the bishop of the decision at the time of approval (or before). The policy directly affects the makeup and living conditions of the College and clearly was going to conflict with people’s views of Catholic teaching.
In the November email, Conboy billed the policy change as being “inclusive” of all women. However, the College was anything but inclusive when it came to adopting and announcing the policy.
In the email announcing the reversal, Conboy and Smith apologized because they “underestimated our community’s genuine desire to be engaged in the process of shaping a policy of such significance.” Conboy and Smith chose the word “underestimate.” How about “ignore?” Even after the process of shaping the policy was complete, they didn’t make a legitimate attempt to tell the community about it.
Whether or not you agree with the decision, Conboy and Smith committed two of the most egregious offenses an administration can: It breached its trust with its students and alumnae and embarrassed the greater institution.
A college’s leadership is supposed to make decisions in the best interest of the campus and institution. If leadership is unwilling to communicate important campus life decisions to students, it’s a sign that they don’t prioritize the best interests of its community members.
To President Conboy and Board Chair Smith, your work here is done.
You can contact Ryan at rpeters5@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this Inside column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
30,000 and counting
Carlos Basurto Eudaemonic BanterOver 30,000 corpses.
That’s it. That’s the tagline, the trigger warning, the conclusion. It most certainly is not complete nor close to accurate, nor will it ever be, and it also does not consider the additional 70,000 injured. But if you must take something away from this column, let it be that over 30,000 Palestinians have senselessly been slaughtered like cattle at the hands of Israel and the United States.
Naturally, this is an uncomfortable thing to discuss. It has been going on for so long, can’t we just shut up about it already? God, we must fear for our discomfort! How terrible to hear about these atrocities. Now, imagine experiencing them.
For the sake of avoiding the censorship of this article, I will restrain from explicit violent descriptions. Though know that, even if I didn’t, my words would never depict the true scale or horrors of this barbarity we call Israel’s “right to defend itself.” What a laughably disingenuous descriptor some of us have used for the Palestinian Genocide.
Nevertheless, permit yourself to imagine even a fraction of it. Imagine experiencing over five months of relentless bombardment on the open-air prison you call home whose essential resources have repeatedly been illegally seized, whose schools, hospitals, reporting agencies and religious sites have been indiscriminately brutalized without the slightest care of civilians inside. Quite the opposite, they very eagerly have targeted civilians, even going as far as flaunting it on video online.
Imagine that on top of all of that, you are blamed for it.
Imagine that people treat you like a fool, pretending Zionism does not violate the most fundamental pillars of Judaism, pretending these murderers, perpetrators and abusers are, in fact, the true victims. Imagine witnessing the International Criminal Court, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and various human rights advocacy groups all clamor against the obvious, against your evident abuse, only for them to be vilified and economically punished with no evidence.
Imagine being told that genocide is anything but simple, as if there was a hidden nuance in the execution of your son, of your mother, of your husband.
Imagine waiting and hoping for humanitarian aid in the middle of the night of February 29th, for scraps handed to you by your very violators, only for Israeli troops to open fire and massacre over a hundred people searching for nothing but food to survive. Imagine having multiple reporters present on this event detailing what happened, only for Israel to repeatedly change its story from denial to technicisms to pathetic excuses, as it has done many times before on its countless bloodbaths. Imagine seeing how this genocidal regime openly demonstrates its crimes to the international community over and over without restraint, knowing it has got the United States, leaders of the free world, lovers of democracy, to cover its back at every murder.
Of course, you can’t imagine that. No one but them can.
What were you doing on February 29th? Leap Day! My greatest worry that day was my Linear Algebra exam and my Duolingo streak. And to think the taxes I am shortly to pay for the first time will go straight into purchasing bullets to shred civilian Palestinians.
God, how could any of us ever imagine such a world?
“Oh rascal children of Gaza. You who constantly disturbed me with your screams under my window. You who filled every morning with rush and chaos. You who broke my vase and stole the lonely flower on my balcony. Come back, and scream as you want and break all the vases. Steal all the flowers. Come back…Just come back.”
— Khaled Juma, a Palestinian poet from Gaza.
And thus, I write two open letters.
To the ironically named Israeli Defense Force, to all assisting United States government branches, to homicidal Netanyahu, genocide Biden and their respective callous, lying cabinets, to Republicans and Democrats alike who greenlit the multiple blank checks for Israel, to the American and Israeli United Nations ambassadors impeding justice, to warmongering lobbyists and every agent in the military industrial complex, to the greedy and inhumane profiteering companies, to every Zionist apologist and cognitively
dissonant propagandist, to every complicit genocidal supporter, silent or idiotically loud on Twitter alike,
May the children’s blood on your hands never wash away. May the screams of the innocent haunt your every day, choke your every breath, overwhelm your every thought. I know you will not go to bed remorseful, for I know you have no conscience. Frankly, you may never face the guilt you deserve. Nevertheless, if there is a hell, you have reserved your place in it. You will most certainly never meet your God, however twisted your depictions of them may be. History will always remember you for the miserable, bloodthirsty, soulless, monstrous creature you were, whose actions made the world a worse place than what it could have been had you never existed.
To those who remain human, I say rage.
Rage, rage against this madness.
Rage, rage against the dying of humanity, against the apathy disguised as ignorance, against this broken country led by broken people.
This world is not cruel, these people are. Do not believe them when they speak of ceasefires and peace talks, for this is the language of abusers who have had the ability to stop at any moment. Do not believe them when they speak of human rights, for they only believe in them when convenient. Do not believe them when they speak of humanity, for they have none.
You can read the rest of this column at ndsmcobserver.com.
Carlos A. Basurto is a sophomore at Notre Dame studying philosophy, computer science and even some German on the side. When not busy you can find him consuming yet another 3+ hour-long analysis video of a show he has yet to watch or masochistically completing every achievement from a variety of video games. Now, with the power to channel his least insane ideas, feel free to talk about them via email at cbasurto@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
By CLAIRE LYONS Viewpoint Editor
“Well, there’s chocolate, and there’s chocolate,” Timothée Chalamet sings in 2023’s “Wonka” musical based on the Ronald Dahl book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” These lyrics become strangely prophetic when considering what happened Feb. 24 in Glasgow.
Well, there’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and there’s Willy’s Chocolate Experience — an unlicensed immersive experience based on the same chocolate-covered concept. Don’t confuse the two. Only one will empty your “pock-a-lets.”
At £35 a ticket, families were promised a magical day in a paradise of sweet treats, with live performances by Oompa-Loompas and Willy Wonka himself. The event website promised an enchanted garden, a twilight tunnel and an imagination lab as parts of a “journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn!”
Instead, families got a sparsely decorated warehouse with standalone lollipop props and underwhelming tapestry backgrounds. The sweet treats promised were a couple of jellybeans and half a glass of lemonade. The actors were handed an AI-generated gibberish script the night before, which introduced a villain to the unaffiliated Wonka franchise
— an evil chocolate maker living in the walls of the factory called The Unknown.
The Unknown was played by a 16-year-old girl from Scotland who claimed it was her “first ever paid acting job.” She dressed in a long dark cloak and wore a silver mask — and hid behind a mirror until Willy Wonka gave her the cue for her grand reveal. Many children present were reduced to tears.
The event was shut down halfway into the day, and the Scottish police told The New York Times they arrived on the scene shortly after. Unfortunately, you can’t arrest anybody for disappointing you.
“You can’t just phone the police because you’ve had a s*** time,” Glasgow resident Paul Black said on TikTok. “I would love to know what they said to [the police].”
Paul Connell, one of the actors who played Willy Wonka, claimed he was not paid, as of a week ago. However, the event organizers have promised to pay the actors and provide a full refund to attendees.
The House of Illuminati, a London-based event company founded in Nov. 2023, was the mastermind behind the failed event — and its unique advertising campaign. None of the promotional materials included actual photos of the event. Instead, they opted to use AI-generated illustrations to capture the magic of Willy’s Chocolate Experience.
How can I tell they’re artificially generated? Well, if you take a closer look at the posters on the website, they
promote “encherining entertainment” and “pasadise of sweet teats.” A professional graphic designer wouldn’t make those kinds of spelling mistakes.
Bystanders are unsympathetic to those who attended the event. Who would be fooled by these ads?
“All I’m saying is that, at its core, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is a story about children going to have what they think will be a fun experience and being terrorized,” TikTok user Rebecca said. “So I think that the Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow actually lived up to the energy of the book.”
But, truly, Willy’s Chocolate Experience is alarming.
I would say it sets a precedent for underwhelming events, but that isn’t necessarily true. It is, in some ways, a tot-sized version of 2017’s Fyre Fest failure or 2014’s Tumblr Dashcon disaster. However, Willy’s Chocolate Experience is unique because it uses AI to fool everybody.
Artificial Intelligence will only get smarter. Media literacy and common sense will only become harder to find. Scams like Willy’s Chocolate Experience will only become more common. Born anew into the era of AI, we’re exploring uncharted waters in a world of pure imagination. Be sure not to get taken advantage of. It’s as easy as stealing candy from a baby — in the truest sense of the phrase.
Contact Claire Lyons at clyons3@nd.edu
By ANDY OTTONE Scene Writer
In 1990, The New Yorker published an essay titled “Coyote v. Acme,” stylized as a court report covering a trial in which the villainous Wile E. Coyote sued the fictional Acme corporation over the failure of the company’s products in Coyote’s various schemes to catch the elusive Road Runner. The essay was a satire of court proceedings, while managing to adapt the classic “Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote” cartoon format into a lawsuit. Twentyeight years later, Warner Bros. announced a feature adaptation of this essay. Promised to be a courtroom drama, the film was to star John Cena as Acme’s defense attorney, former “Saturday Night Live” star Will Forte as Coyote’s representative, and “To All the Boy’s” franchise star Lana Condor in an undisclosed role. The film was meant to come out in the summer of 2023, but Warner Bros. pushed the release date back to allow “Barbie” to dominate the summer releases.
So, “Coyote vs. Acme” wasn’t released in the summer. Or in the fall. In fact, Warner Bros. never made their actual release plans known for the film beyond “not quite yet.” It wasn’t until November 2023 that Warner Bros. acknowledged the film’s release: It wasn’t going to happen. The corporation in charge of the studio, Warner Brothers Discovery, released a statement that despite the film being fully complete, the movie would be more profitable as a written off tax-loss than as a theatrical release. Produced on an estimated budget of $70 million USD, the write-off
of this singular film is estimated to be around $30 million.
This announcement brought Warner Bros’. artistic intentions into question. This is not the first time the studio has shelved a film permanently in order to claim a tax benefit. “Batgirl” and “Scoob: Holiday Haunt” were both films far into development before the corporation announced the films would be canceled instead. In both cases, the artists working on the film were not given advanced notice and were informed at the same time that the general public had been. “Coyote” was no different. This is not the only method Warner Bros. employs to claim these financial gains. Streaming originals produced by the studio such as “An American Pickle” or the popular animated series “Infinity Train” have previously been removed from online services permanently for the same reasons as the aforementioned films.
Warner Bros., sensing the fact that their decisions might be unpopular, announced that they would release the film if another studio or streaming service shows interest (and bids within the $75-$80 million range). Netflix, Sony, Amazon, Apple and Paramount all demonstrated interest in the film, with Paramount even offering a theatrical release, the original intention for the film’s distribution. None of the studios were offering quite enough to satiate Warner Bros’. needs, and in February the studio announced that they had received a $115 million writedown. The film’s status is unknown, and with the attention the film received in the last months of 2023, the studio’s silence is speaking volumes.
This is not the end of the story, because we don’t know
how this story will end. Artists involved with the film such as voice actor Eric Bauza, live-action star Will Forte and screenwriter James Gunn have shown support for the film’s release. Gunn is also notably the CEO of Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Studios. If a film written by a CEO of a subsidiary company can be thrown away, what does that mean for lesser known writers? Producers who had seen the film in advanced screenings for the studios interested in bidding on the project have spoken out in favor of the film’s quality, with Phil Lord (writer of the critically acclaimed “Spider-Verse” films) speaking on the troubling implications of the film’s cancellation as well as the excellence of the work itself.
Another written-off Warner Bros. production was “Scooby-Doo and Krypto Too,” a crossover between the Scooby-Doo and Superman franchises. The film was meant to be straight to video, and was finished at the time of its cancellation. The film was never intended to be seen, but a week after its cancellation in March of last year, it was leaked online to the website archive.org. This motivated Warner Bros. to release the film on the digital markets. On Monday of this week, a credible leak appeared online containing a detailed beat-for-beat account of the plot for “Coyote vs. Acme.” Maybe Warner Bros. is holding a proverbial stick of dynamite, and like the cartoon Coyote they’ve currently canceled, the pursuit of their goal might may lead to everything blowing up in their face instead.
Contact Andy Ottone at aottone@nd.edu
McGuinness: It matters to make it
Andrew McGuinness Sports EditorThe first thing that stands out to me when I think about the start of my college experience is the Philadelphia Flyers. Believe me, I wish it was making great friends, or being truly moved by one of my classes or just not living in a pandemic at the time. All of those things came eventually, but they required extra time and patience.
So the first month of my college experience was about something I was all too familiar with. I’d only been a Flyers fan since 2014, a passion started by, of all things, one of their players renting the house across the street from me. You see, when the 201920 season began, the Flyers hadn’t so much as won a playoff series since 2012. For my formative years of Flyers fandom, they were objectively and painfully mid. And of course, the one time they were actually playing at an elite level, COVID-19 came in and wiped out the season for a while.
Instead of watching the first round of the playoffs during spring break of my senior year of high school at home with my friends and family (or perhaps a soldout Wells Fargo Center), I saw the Flyers come out flat in the first round of the 2020 playoffs in August playing in front of zero fans in “the bubble.” Though the team looked good in a round robin set-up for the top teams in each
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
take the mound throwing for more than three innings. Bennett Flynn, who handled the sixth, seventh and eighth frames, put in the best shift of the quartet, striking out four of the 10 batters he faced. All told, Flynn allowed just one baserunner across his outing.
“He’s been great,” said Stiffler of the graduate student. “He’s different. He’s got that breaking ball, the ball splits in two. His stuff is big league, he throws strikes with it. He’s confident.”
The win sets the Irish up nicely for their fourth road series of the season and first conference series of the young spring.
Notre Dame will travel to Blacksburg over the
conference, allowing them to claim the No. 1 seed in the league, that good form left them once the playoffs truly began for them against the Montreal Canadiens. Their once-strong special teams were in the toilet. The Canadiens outshot the Flyers 178-148 and even outscored them 13-11 across the six-game series.
Somehow, when the dust settled, it was the Flyers who emerged from the round victorious. My laptop’s stream gave out with 10 seconds left in the final game, preventing me from actually seeing the end in real-time. But once I realized they had advanced, I still pumped my fist and blasted our win song out of my miniature speaker.
Getting there was ugly. It certainly didn’t play out anything like I’d imagined it would for the prior six years. But they did it, and there was some level of joy that hitting that threshold instantly triggered, no matter the countless sub-optimal circumstances surrounding it.
That feeling is back on my mind as my last few days as Sports Editor slowly slip into the rearview mirror. It’s been a dizzying year just within The Observer for me, let alone everything else that goes into the life of a college senior trying to find a future in an industry that is both highly competitive and seeing jobs cut at a consistent and terrifying rate. I learned how to design the actual pages you may be reading right now and wound up spending way more time doing that than I initially anticipated.
weekend, where they’ll take on a solid Virginia Tech squad. Like the Irish, the Hokies haven’t faced much in the way of top-25 opposition this season, but they have won every series they’ve played en route to an 8-3 record.
Offense should play a major role in deciding the three-game series. Virginia Tech boasts an explosive lineup, and have scored 10+ runs in six of their eleven games. Notre Dame will also have to contend with playing in a tough environment, with the Hokies record at home over the past three seasons (2022-24) standing at an impressive 59-18.
Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu
There were articles celebrating great triumph and memorializing agonizing defeat, stories written with tremendous detail and, admittedly, some rushed ones thrown together at the last minute. Former Sports Editor Mannion McGinley really wasn’t kidding about juggling all those spreadsheets.
Yeah, there have been a lot of late nights since last March. And yet, here we are. After racking up over 100 bylines (a fancy word for my name at the top of articles, something I didn’t know until I was several years into my time at this paper) as Sports Editor and over 200 overall (with the first individual one being about those 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs), the end is closing in.
Like so many seniors, I moved into some leadership roles, both at the paper and also as an RA in my dorm, Siegfried Hall. There are some similarities between the two positions and also a lot of differences. The hardest part about both, though, is trying to self-evaluate. Sure, you can look at readership metrics or count the number of people who come by your room as ways to measure success, but there’s no end-all, be-all metric to definitively call my time in either role (or any other) an objective success or failure.
That hasn’t stopped me from thinking a lot about it, though. I really admired my past Sports Editors and RAs. They were people I looked up to and asked for help. I wanted to be that for others, but those are things you can’t force.
It’s been a blast to work with the talented, kind people on the sports staff and our editorial board. Sunday afternoon meetings and Thursday night production shifts had the default “work” color assigned to them on my calendar, but they were when I had some of my most fun. The stress of initially stepping into the role quickly eased into laughter and excitement as the year progressed.
Notre Dame won two national championships almost immediately after I started in the role, cementing its fencing dynasty and men’s lacrosse found its long-awaited breakthrough. Football season started with the highest of highs and still had a hopeful ending despite some really rough patches in the middle. It quickly gave way to Baraka Bouts and men’s soccer’s national title run and basketball seasons that have also had their lows but are trending in the right direction, even if their final records couldn’t look more different.
Xavier Watts was named the nation’s top defensive player. The Cavanagh brothers and the big three of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse have made dominance look routine. Ryan Bischel stopped everything that moved -- again. Hannah Hidalgo transcended every expectation for a freshman. And countless other faces stepped into the spotlight and carved out their illustrious Irish legacies. It was great to tell and/or oversee the telling of these great stories and so many more. I’d love to keep doing
so indefinitely, but sports are all about growth. I want to stay, but I also know that it’s time to start moving on. I definitely didn’t transcend what it meant to be Sports Editor, which was never the expectation. I just wanted to do a good job, have fun and foster an environment where others could do the same. Mistakes have definitely been made, though I think I’ve at least done that. But that’s a subjective evaluation.
Here’s what isn’t: I made it. The end of my 366 days (thanks, leap year!) or so as Sports Editor is about to arrive, with the conclusion of my four-year journey at The Observer not far behind. It started with Zoom meetings and the fear of writing about anything other than hockey and baseball, transitioned into the thrill of writing feature stories and previewing not one but two championship appearances for my Philadelphia teams (don’t ask what happened in them) and has contained just about everything during my time on staff.
Did I succeed? Those here and around me seem to think I have, which is good enough for me. That’s still subjective, though. Objectively, though, I made it. That isn’t everything, but it matters to me. And nothing that happens after this would be possible without reaching that step.
Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.eduThe views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Happy Birthday: Test your ideas and move forward with confidence. Change begins with you this year, so don’t procrastinate or wait for someone else to steal your idea. Dig in and work toward your goal. You’ll face fear of failure and jealous competitors, but if you rise above and give yourself a chance to flourish, the outcome will exceed your expectations. It’s time to live life your way. Your numbers are 9, 17, 22, 28, 34, 40, 47.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Refuse to let emotions stand in your way. Actions speak louder than words, and what you do will positively impact what you achieve. When in doubt, start small. Don’t let outsiders talk you into something you don’t require to reach your goal.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Evaluate situations, offers, and questions before agreeing to participate. Be honest about your feelings and the outcome you expect to achieve before you break ground. Refuse to let conflict turn into anger. Be prepared to go it alone if necessary.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Tiptoe through sensitive situations. Gathering and verifying information before you get into a debate is best. Know your objective and prepare meticulously, and you will conquer any challenge that comes your way. Personal improvements, fitness, diet, and a trendy new look are favored.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Stick to a budget, and you’ll have nothing to lose. Turn your ideas into a reality. Go to the experts for advice, and it will encourage you to expand your skills to meet your needs. Think outside the box and choose to create your desired lifestyle.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Having choices will confuse you. Do the legwork required to understand the ramifications before making a decision that can alter your life. Reach out to someone you can rely on to tell you the truth, and you will get a broader perspective regarding the possibilities.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Stop procrastinating. Be the one to make the first move, embrace life, and take responsibility for your happiness. Don’t fear the unknown or change when learning something new is an option. Let go of anger and regret and head in a direction that offers growth.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Make changes at home that add to your comfort and convenience. Liven up your routine by incorporating healthy, fun activities that get you up and moving and encourage improved health and fitness. Personal gain, love, and a trendy new look are favored.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Let your imagination run wild and put your energy into something you feel passionate about, and positive change will transpire. Opportunity is available, but you must let go of the past to take advantage of what’s ahead. Embrace the future with optimism and enthusiasm.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your outgoing nature will work against you if you are too generous with your time and suggestions. Someone will quickly take advantage of you by using your ideas to beat you at your own game. Don’t trust anyone who strokes your ego.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Listen to reason, but don’t give up on your dreams. Adjust what’s out of reach and replace it with something else. Adaptability is where the magic begins, and the mind engages in new possibilities and an outcome worth waiting for. Trust your instincts.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be secretive and carefully plot your next move. You’ll accomplish the most if you are lowkey and focus on finishing what you start. The element of surprise will give you the edge you need to beat anyone who wants to compete with you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’ve got what it takes to forge ahead. Don’t stop or doubt your ability to maneuver your way to victory. Trust and believe in yourself no matter what or who you take on. Hard work, dedication, and confidence will get you where you want to go. Birthday Baby: You are unwavering, genuine, and influential. You are commanding and fortunate.
ND Sports
most recently beat No. 19 Delaware 13-8 and will face No. 10 Harvard on Mar. 10 before making the trip to South Bend.
Women’s Lacrosse
The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse season has gotten off to a historic start, and the No. 4 Irish will look to keep rolling as they gear up for three top-25 matchups during Spring Break.
In February, Notre Dame knocked off defending national champion No. 1 Northwestern at home, marking the first time in program history that the Irish have defeated the nation’s top-ranked team. And after suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of Syracuse, the Irish bounced back in a big way last Saturday, traveling to Chapel Hill and defeating North Carolina on the road for the first time ever. That win pushed the
Irish’s record to an impressive 5-1 and gave them their first ACC victory of the year as they enter a three-game stretch that includes two crucial conference matchups this week.
On Saturday, Notre Dame will play host to No. 13 Virginia. The Irish and Cavaliers each currently sit at 1-1 in ACC play, and both teams will aim to move into the upper tier of the conference standings with a win. From there, the Irish will head to the northeast for the second half of the week to play a pair of road games.
Next Wednesday afternoon, they will face off with No. 25 Brown in a midweek non-conference duel. Three days later, they will travel to Massachusetts for one of the most anticipated matchups of the season: a rematch with rival No. 3 Boston College, who knocked the Irish out of both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments last season. Notre Dame has lost to the Eagles in each of the teams’ last seven meetings,
and a talented Irish team will be highly motivated to snap that streak and continue to establish themselves as national title contenders this spring.
Tennis
The women’s tennis team dropped their last two matches, both against ACC rivals, No. 10 NC State and No. 35 Wake Forest. The No. 43 Irish team is 1-3 in conference play but they will look to turn this trend around with three matches before the end of Spring Break. First up is a match against Louisville this Sunday, who is currently last place in the ACC.
The men’s tennis team has also struggled so far this year. While they are currently 8-6 overall and No. 49 in the country, they have struggled against better teams throughout the season. Currently in a five way tie for 4th place in the ACC, the Irish will host No. 49 Northwestern before
Belles gear up for busy spring break schedule
By CLAIRE WATSON and ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports Writer and Sports EditorThe Saint Mary’s tennis, softball and lacrosse teams are looking forward to a busy sports schedule over spring break. They will be traveling to many different places around the United States to compete in their respective tournaments over spring break.
The Saint Mary’s lacrosse team, 1-3 on the season, will face Rhodes over the break.
After a tough 16-5 loss to Carthage, the Belles lacrosse team will look to bounce back against the Lynx. Rhodes has one more game before the match-up with Saint Mary’s.
Rhodes is 1-2 coming into the weekend. Avery Burke and Chloe Parker lead the Lynx in total points so far this season- both have seven goals and two assists. Parker also leads the team in shots with a total of 14 shot attempts. As a team, the Lynx have a negative turnover ratio, losing the ball 22 times, whiling only stealing it from their opponents 18 times.
The Belles tennis team is on its way to Hilton Head, NC where they will face four different teams: Illinois Tech (3-10), Messiah (1-2), Carroll (6-7), and Lynchburg (2-1).
Most of these teams have struggled so far this season. Illinois Tech is on a six game losing streak but has some
success. Ashley Dame and Sofia Martinez both lead the team in the singles competition with a 6-5 record on the season. In the doubles competition, Martinez and her partner Hannah Markiewicz lead the team with a record of 6-4.
Next, the Belles will play Messiah. Rebekah Sheaffer, 2-1 overall on the season, leads her team in singles. Sheaffer and her partner Kylie Walker lead the team 2-1 overall in the doubles competition.
Coming off of a 1-8 loss against Roosevelt University, Caroll will be Saint Mary’s third competitor. Kaitlin Brandi leads the team with a 6-6 record on the season so far in the singles competition. Behind her, Maya Gaedtke has a record of 5-6 in the singles competition. Gaedtke and her partner Katherine Trifilio lead the team in the doubles, boasting an impressive 7-1 record on the season so far.
Finally, the Belles will play Lynchburg, the only team on their schedule with a winning record. They are coming off a 2-7 loss against Randolph. There is no clear top scorer in singles, with a four way tie for first place for Lynchburg. Two sets of partners are perfect across their first three games.
The Saint Mary’s softball team will begin its season with a six-day trip to Florida.
traveling to Virginia Tech and Virginia. The Irish recently hosted No. 17 Florida State, and while they lost, they showed strong competitiveness that will give them confidence against other top opponents.
Golf
On the men’s side, the Irish enter break feeling good after a strong third-place finish at The Invitational at the Ford. It will be a busy time for the team, though, with competitions on back-toback weekends after having last weekend off. The Irish will compete in the Johnnie-O at Sea Island event, hosted by Rutgers, at Sea Island Sea Side Golf Club in St. Simons, Georgia, from March 11-12. A week later, they’ll return to Georgia, heading to Statesboro for the Shenkel Invitational, hosted by Georgia Southern. These will be the team’s third and fourth out of five spring regular season events, respectively.
The women’s team is
in need of a bounceback, though. The Irish placed 10th in the Florida Gators Invitational, shooting a spring-worst 40-over par. For reference, the team shot 27 over par in its first two competitions of the semester combined. Their fourth of five spring tournaments will be the Tulane Classic, played at the English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans from March 10-12.
Rowing
Irish rowing kicks off its 2024 season at the end of spring break, starting off with the Cardinal Invitational, hosted by Louisville in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Notre Dame returns a pair of All-ACCers from last season. Juniors Natalie Hoefer and Maggie Newell were named to the conference’s first and second teams, respectively. Hoefer was also one of nine rowers bestowed with ACC Rowing Preseason Watch List honors.
BASEBALL Moreno stars in home opener
The Belles will face Juniata and Albertus on Sunday, Montclair State and PittGreensburg on Monday, Curry and McMurry on Tuesday, Farmingdale State and Edgewood on Thursday and Juniata and Susquehana on Friday.
The Belles began last season with a similar seasonstarting stretch, going 5-5, with most of the wins coming during the second half of the trip. Overall, St. Mary’s posted an 11-25 record in 2023, with a 4-12 mark in conference play. The Belles did finish last season strong, though, posting a 4-2 record in May.
Saint Mary’s returns each of its five leaders in hits from a year ago. Senior second baseman and pitcher Caitlin Traxler was a Second Team All-MIAA selection, leading the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs. Senior shortstop McKenna Myers was also a key contributor, trailing only Traxler in batting average, home runs and RBIs.
Senior Libby Bierbaum is the team’s top returning pitcher, recording a 4.77 ERA. Traxler also tallied 41.1 innings in the circle as one of three Belles to pitch last season.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu and Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu
By J.J. POST Associate Sports EditorNotre Dame baseball won their home opener on Tuesday afternoon, dispatching Purdue 11-2 to move to a 9-2 record on the season.
A red-hot Estevan Moreno led the way for the Irish offense, launching a trio of home runs in the third, sixth and eighth innings. Moreno, who also went yard three times on Saturday against Tennessee Tech, became the first player in program history to hit three home runs in a single game three different times. His six home runs, all of which have come in the last three games, now lead the Notre Dame roster on the year. The blasts were the Irish’s 30th, 31st and 32nd of the year as a team, placing the team in first place nationally.
Though the 11-run effort – Notre Dame’s fourth straight game scoring double digit runs – was headlined by Moreno’s firepower, contributions were aplenty from across the lineup card. Eight of the ten batters to step to the plate for the Irish recorded at least one hit, and seven different players drove in runs.
The Irish were efficient with their hitting, stranding just three players on base in the game. Purdue, in contrast, left 10 runners on base.
Infielder Connor Hincks in particular continued a breakout senior campaign, going 3-4 at the plate to boost his season batting average to .351. Hincks came just a home run away from hitting for the cycle, with the highlight of his efforts being an RBI triple in the seventh inning. After the game, head coach Shawn Stiffler praised Hincks’ resiliency and consistency in improving after a junior year in which the infielder played in just seven games.
“He came in day one.” Stiffler said. “Wasn’t ready to play a big role on last year’s team, but he just did the routine every day. And then went out and played summer ball and did the routine everyday and everyday. So now he’s looking up, and he’s several thousand swings into a routine that’s got him feeling really good… he’s such a hard worker.”
Notre Dame leaned on a battery of arms to work their way through the contest, with none of the four pitchers to see
The rest of the quarter was defined by a matchup between the two best goalies in the country. Graduate student Liam Entenmann made seven of his 13 saves in the quarter, allowing only one goal, while Maryland graduate student Logan McNaney made three saves including an unbelievable stop on the doorstep against Chris Kavanagh. McNaney kept the Terrapins in the game as they opened the fourth quarter with a couple of goals to cut the lead to three. After Chris Kavanagh scored a big goal to slow Maryland’s momentum, their senior attackman Eric Malever scored his third goal of the day. However, Maryland couldn’t get any closer. Ricciardelli dispatched another perfectly executed Irish manup attack and Faison put on the exclamation mark, completing his hat trick into an open net.
The performance in the resounding win helped the Irish claim the No. 4 spot in the new set of rankings. They hope to build momentum as they travel to Columbus and take on Ohio State on Saturday at noon. Big Ten Plus will provide the broadcast.
Contact Noah Cahill at ncahill2@nd.edu
Irish tennis has mixed results amid busy weekend action
By ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports EditorBoth Notre Dame men’s and women’s tennis were in action this weekend. The No. 28 women’s team made its way to North Carolina to take on No. 10 NC State and Wake Forest. The No. 63 men’s team was a little bit busier, but also got to enjoy the comforts of playing on their home court, hosting No. 61 Miami on Friday before a Sunday doubleheader against No. 17 Florida State and Cleveland State.
Women’s team drops road contests
Notre Dame women’s tennis has been a tale of two teams this year. At Eck Tennis Pavilion, they have been close to unstoppable. Only one team — No. 6 Virginia — out of the nine that have challenged the Irish on their home court has emerged victorious. But just as home court advantage giveth, it also taketh away. The Irish are still in search of their first road victory of the season, falling to 0-4 away from
Notre Dame with two defeats in the Tar Heel State.
The weekend didn’t start strong for the Irish, who were swept in doubles play to NC State. Amelia Rajecki, the No. 3 singles player in the country, quickly got another point for the Wolfpack. Senior Julia Andreach and sophomore Bojana Pozder both took down top-40 opponents to get the Irish back in the match. But no one else for Notre Dame was able to win in singles play, as NC State kept its perfect home record intact with a 5-2 win.
Doubles play treated the Irish more kindly in Winston-Salem. The combinations of senior Yashna Yellayi with junior Nibi Ghosh and sophomore Akari Matsuno and junior Carrie Beckman emerged to secure the doubles point for Notre Dame. Andreach and Pozder both took victories in singles play, but the Irish couldn’t secure the extra point necessary for victory.
After starting 8-2, the Irish find themselves in a bit of a rut, having lost three of their last
four. The Irish head back south for their next match, a meeting with Louisville at noon on March 10.
Men go 2-1, splitting ACC matchups
The first two games of the weekend were the biggest ones for the men, pitting them against prominent ACC foes Miami and Florida State. The Irish took care of business against the Hurricanes, starting with a doubles sweep secured by the duos of sophomore Sebastian Dominko and senior Jean-Marc Malkowski and graduate student Nil Giraldez and freshman Chase Thompson. Dominko, the No. 28 singles player, Malkowski and junior Jameson Corsillo all secured two-set victories in singles play to clinch the victory. Only Martin Katz in the No. 2 slot saved Miami from being shut out.
Once again, Notre Dame ruled doubles action against the top-20 Seminoles, with the same Dominko-Malkowski pairing getting the Irish the
match’s first point. Malkowski even made it 2-0 Notre Dame by winning the first singles match. But Florida State rattled off four straight victories, including the nation’s No. 13 competitor in Antoine Cornut-Chauv out-dueling Dominko in the top singles match.
But the Irish didn’t let that defeat get them down. Notre Dame closed out the weekend with a clean sweep of non-conference Cleveland State. Junior Yu Zhang replaced Malkowski alongside Dominko in the top doubles tandem, which clinched yet another doubles win for the Irish. Each of Notre Dame’s top three singles players — Thompson (No. 2), Malkowski (No. 3) and Dominko (No. 1) — bested their opponents to clinch the team’s fourth 4-0 win of the season, and eighth overall in 14 tries.
Another non-conference test awaits the Irish next as they welcome in Northwestern on Friday at 5 p.m.
Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu
MEN’S LACROSSE
Notre Dame men’s lacrosse responds after early season slip-up, handles No. 3 Maryland
ND SPORTS
By NOAH CAHILL Sports WriterComing into the season returning their core nucleus of stars and being handed the No. 1 spot in the national rankings after winning last year’s national championship, the build-up of excitement around this year’s Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team was monumental. The loss to Georgetown early in the season was a healthy wake-up call.
It was a reminder for the Irish that this season will be far from a cakewalk, with a gauntlet of both ACC and non-conference teams all hungry to take down the reigning champs. That’s exactly what No. 3 Maryland hoped to do in Arlotta Stadium on Sunday. This time, the Irish were up to the challenge.
On a picturesque day in South Bend with the Notre Dame football team in attendance, the Irish put on a show. Maryland’s opening goal from senior attackman Daniel Maltz gave the Terrapins what would be their only lead
of the entire game. Graduate student Jake Taylor, one of the stars of the game, responded quickly to open the scoring for the Irish. Graduate attacker Pat Kavanagh followed up with an over-the-shoulder finish that left Maryland senior defenseman Ajax Zappitello, arguably the best defenseman in the country, helpless. Taylor would score again, taking a catch straight into a spin before dispatching from an impossible angle.
Notre Dame then took a 4-1 lead through another perfectly executed man-up attack ending in another Taylor goal, giving him a hat trick in just the first quarter. This brilliant Irish manup unit came into the day 5 for 7 and would continue its dominance, going 3 for 4 in the game.
The key to the group’s success comes from the threats Notre Dame has all over the field. Defenses have to deal with the Kavanaghs, two of the best passers in the country, Eric Dobson at the top of the key prepared to unleash a 100-mph
shot at any moment and two of the best inside scorers in the country in Taylor and Jeffrey Ricciardelli, both possessing surgical hands off the catch in tight areas. Opponents are left with no good decision to make. From the second quarter onward, Maryland hung around but never threatened the Irish, who maintained a lead of two or greater for the remainder of the game. Graduate student midfielder Devon McLane took over the second quarter, scoring a hat trick of his own that contributed to Notre Dame’s 9-5 lead at the half. McLane, who transferred from Brown, has proven to be a wonderful addition to the Irish and is currently the leading point-scorer in the midfield. In the third quarter, freshman attack Jordan Faison scored a pair of goals in front of his football teammates, the first a behind-the-back beauty followed by a point to the sideline during the celebration.
Previewing Notre Dame sports over break
By Observer Sports StaffHockey
Starting Friday, Notre Dame hockey will begin the postseason where it finished the regular season — Ann Arbor. Two weeks after receiving a sweep from the Wolverines, the Irish will return to Yost Ice Arena and face Michigan in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. Notre Dame enters the best-of-three series as the fifth seed in the conference, having ended the regular season at 15-17-2 overall and 9-13-2 in league play.
Women’s Basketball
After an up-and-down February, Notre Dame women’s basketball has found its stride down the stretch. Back-to-back top-25 victories, including a convincing win over then-No. 5 Virginia Tech, have propelled the Irish into double-bye status in the ACC Tournament. Barring a second round upset from the winner of a first-round matchup between No. 12 Clemson and No. 13 Boston College, they
will likely receive Louisville in the quarterfinal, a team they lost to earlier in the season.
Even more importantly, Notre Dame is now in a solid position to host its first two games of March Madness, an honor only bestowed on the top 16 teams in the field. The Irish should once again be a force to be reckoned with in the postseason, and it will be exciting to see how their sensational freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo handles her first March run.
Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame men’s basketball will round out their regular season with an away matchup against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Mar. 9. Next up will be the ACC Tournament, with play beginning on Mar. 12 in Washington D.C. The Irish will look to freshmen guards and scoring leaders, Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry, to light up the court. It will be head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first postseason with Notre
Dame as he guides a young Irish squad looking to continue building momentum and make a name for themselves.
Men’s Lacrosse
Coming off an impressive bounce-back victory over a top-tier team in Maryland, the Irish enter a lighter portion of their schedule. The team only plays twice between now and Mar. 30, with both of their games coming against non-conference foes. First up is Ohio State on the road on Mar. 9 at noon. The Buckeyes started the year 4-0 but have dropped their last two contests to Virginia and Cornell, outscored by a combined margin of 29-19.
Following that, the Irish return home for their Irish Wear Green game against Michigan on Mar. 16 at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers also boast a win over the Wolverines, knocking them off 19-11 in Michigan’s season opener. Since then, the Wolverines are 5-0. They
