Print Edition for The Observer for Friday, April 21, 2023

could a move to receiver allow Tyree to unlock his potential? notre dame is hoping so. While it would be unfair to expect him to be a star just a couple of months into his time working with receivers, simply showing his potential on a few reps would be a win for stuckey.

Tight end

Like running back, the tight end position will be heavily understaffed at the spring game. Assumed starter junior m itchell evans will not play s aturday. nor will several depth options occupying various roles on the depth chart, including senior Kevin b auman, sophomore e li r aridon, sophomore Justin Fisher and senior c harlie s elna. As a result, it will be sophomore holden staes as the full-time starter for the blue team and junior davis sherwood in the same position for the Gold. Freeman assigned junior Andrew Yanoshak to the blue team, but mentioned he’d likely be working with both.

SPORTS AuTHORITY

If you only watch one player, it should be: Holden Staes

If evans is the expected starter at tight end, the same is true for staes as deputy. A former fourstar recruit in the class of 2022, staes received 67 snaps last fall, per PFF. Four of the five tight ends who received more than him, however, are either departing or unavailable for action on saturday. he’ll have a major chance to audition himself to the coaching staff with such a high amount of reps to play.

Offensive line

The offensive line is where things, once again, get interesting. due to the de-emphasized physical nature of the blue-Gold game, it will be hard to fully evaluate play in the trenches. but there are some position battles to keep an eye on. The tackle position is locked down, with juniors Joe Alt and blake Fisher split between the two teams. Alt is a projected first-round pick in next year’s draft. With a strong 2023 season, Fisher could very well join him in earning future first-round buzz. on the interior offensive line, however, it’s less clear who the preferred options are. Graduate

student Zeke correll will remain at center, barring change. but the two guard spots remain sources of an open competition. The four primary options for the two guard spots will be split between the two teams. The Gold team will feature senior michael carmody, sophomore billy schrauth and junior rocco spindler, while graduate student Andrew Kristofic will suit up for the blue team.

If you only watch one player, it should be: Billy Schrauth

Any of notre dame’s guard options are fair game here. but schrauth is the youngest and thus gets the nod. The sophomore from Wisconsin has seemingly been building momentum for a starting guard spot in 2023 since he arrived on campus. After being an early spring standout in 2022, he played his way onto the travel roster by the end of the year. he faces a steeper learning curve compared to some of his more veteran competitors, but his upside as an underclassman might be impossible for new offensive line coach Joe rudolph to ignore.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

to go to is awesome. [Former Irish cornerback Tariq bracy] was that for me last year, so it’s nice being that for [Gray].”

While much of that leadership has come off the field, morrison’s dedication to improving his skills provides a blueprint for the Irish’s strong freshman class. his work ethic helped him earn his first collegiate start in just his third career game. It has never waned in the months since.

“he’s a hard worker, that’s the great thing about him. he’s a very humble kid, always been that way. he’s very competitive,” mickens said. “All he wants to do is get better and find ways to get better. his same routine, he’s taking the same approach as he did as a true freshman, and you just see him growing and growing and growing on the field and off the field.”

To second-year defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Al Golden, that competitive spirit is what has led morrison to so much success early in his career. humble off the field, he has full confidence in his abilities and seeks out the most difficult coverage assignments in order to help

his team as much as possible.

“he wants that challenge, he wants the sombrero on him. he’s up to the challenge and it’s been fun being around him,” Golden said. “he’s finding little ways to improve in every aspect of his game, and that’s the sign of a great one.”

Golden is not the only one expecting morrison to be great this season. notre dame’s defense battled through a few tough outings in 2022 to emerge as one of the better units in the country, and they will be counted on to reach even greater heights in the coming year. At the core of those goals is the cornerback group — and morrison.

but don’t expect that to change his approach to the game. don’t expect him to stop pushing himself and his teammates to get better every day.

“never be satisfied,” morrison said of his mindset. “There’s always more you can do.”

In his sophomore season, benjamin morrison is ready to take his game — and the Irish defense — to the next level. he’s not going to stop until he gets there.

Contact Matthew Crow at mcrow@nd.edu

mcGuinness: Irish defense needs strong start for 2023 to be a success

By ANDREW McGUINNESS sports e ditor

For the third straight year, the notre dame football team will likely enter the season with a quarterback who has never started a game for the program. And even if graduate student sam hartman surprisingly does not begin the year behind center, junior Tyler buchner does not exactly bring a wealth of starting experience to the table. In fact, he’s yet to play a full game at notre dame stadium.

While there’s a decent amount of continuity and exciting youth across the rest of the offense, starting (mostly) fresh at quarterback always requires an adjustment period. We saw it two years ago with Jack coan, who came to campus with multiple years of starting experience. We saw it last year in the first few games buchner and junior drew Pyne played in. And we’ll probably see it again this year with hartman. It takes time to develop chemistry with new receivers and learn a new playbook like it’s the back of your hand. That isn’t to say the Wake Forest transfer is going to be brutal early on. but there’s a difference between just not struggling and firing on all cylinders. don’t expect hartman to do the former, but don’t count on him doing the latter right out of the box.

so, how does a football team with college Football Playoff

aspirations handle that? There isn’t just one answer. Fortunately, the Irish run game seems to be in a tremendous place, to the point where senior chris Tyree is moving to wide receiver to make the numbers work. It would certainly be nice if the special teams pick up from the outstanding level they left off on last season, too. but the most obvious unit that needs to step up while hartman gets acclimated is the Irish defense.

notre dame’s first year under Al Golden was similar to marcus Freeman’s first year as head coach: more positive than negative, but still a mixed bag. Go back to notre dame’s first two games last year. The turning point of the ohio state game was undoubtedly the ill-fated double-safety blitz that c.J. stroud picked apart to give the buckeyes a commanding lead late in the third quarter.

And while the Irish offense certainly dropped the ball against marshall, they gave the defense a lead early in the fourth quarter. notre dame responded by allowing a momentum-sapping 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that put the Thundering herd ahead for good.

Things got better against cal, but the Irish still hadn’t found their best form. It took over 14 quarters for them to force their first turnover of the season. From there, though, the Irish stepped up. They didn’t allow more than 24 points in a game from oct. 8 to nov. 5, a stretch that included

a complete shutdown of no. 4 clemson. They shut out boston college two weeks after taking down the Tigers. but just when it seemed like the switch was flipped for good, the Irish allowed 76 points across their final two games. usc’s caleb Williams, in particular, had a field day, picking apart the Irish throughout the regular season finale.

That summary probably paints a picture that is a bit too negative, however. notre dame’s defense was a difference-maker through much of the middle of the season. And they turned things around after a rough start in the Gator bowl, forcing a pair of turnovers in a one-score win against south carolina. There were some incredibly positive individual developments, as well. defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey set the program’s all-time sacks record. Then-freshman benjamin morrison emerged in the second half of the year, showcasing game-changing potential to the tune of six interceptions over notre dame’s final five games. All in all, it was a solid season for the Irish defense.

And once the offense gets rolling, “solid” may be good enough for the Irish in 2023. hartman’s track record is legit — there’s a reason why he’s being compared to legendary Irish quarterbacks like brady Quinn and Jimmy clausen before ever suiting up for a game in blue and gold. but it’s not fair to hartman or first-year

offensive coordinator Gerad Parker to expect the offense to come out of the gate already in full form. And it will be up to the defense to pick up the slack.

At cornerback and linebacker, the Irish should be confident in their ability to do just that. remember, morrison wasn’t the only highly-touted cornerback who suited up as a freshman last year. In fact, some were higher on Jaden mickey heading into 2022 than morrison. The two youngsters have two experienced options to rely on for support in graduate student cam hart and senior clarence Lewis. That quartet should be able to not just fill the void left by Tariq bracy’s departure, but could be notre dame’s best group of corners in a long time. And that’s before accounting for junior Lorenzo styles, Jr. switching to cornerback from wide receiver. styles is an unknown at a new position, but a player with his athleticism is intriguing wherever he plays.

meanwhile, the Irish return each of their three leading tacklers in graduate students Jack Kiser, Jd bertrand and marist Liufau. Liufau in particular has the potential to take a big step forward. he got his legs back under him in 2022 after missing the entire 2021 season due to injury. Kiser and bertrand aren’t the flashiest players, but are solid presences in the middle of the Irish defense who consistently make plays and make the players

around them better.

Things are less settled at defensive line and safety, but there are still reasons for the Irish to feel good. Yes, making up for the loss of Foskey, defensive linemen Jayson and Justin Ademilola and safety brandon Joseph will be difficult. but the Irish brought in experienced transfers at both positions to help ease the transition. Graduate student Javontae Jeanbaptiste notched a career-high four sacks after moving from defensive end to the inside last year at ohio state. Fellow graduate student Thomas harper brings starting experience from oklahoma state to the safety position, as well.

senior safety Xavier Watts enters 2023 looking to build off a strong finish to last year. The position doesn’t have an established star presence like in previous years with Joseph and Kyle hamilton. but between Watts, harper, graduate student dJ brown and senior ramon henderson, there’s a decent amount of depth.

senior defensive linemen rylie mills and Jordan botelho were second and third behind Foskey in sacks last year. The duo combined for eight, a number that each could approach on their own with another step forward. And there’s always the potential for a morrison-level breakout season from a freshman. defensive end brenan vernon is notre dame’s highest-rated 2023 recruit,

Students march for Take Back the Night

The tri-campus community hosts annual event in support of survivors of sexual violence

By MEGHAN LANGE and KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT s aint mary’s news e ditor, a ssociate news e ditor

Editor’s note: This article includes discussions of sexual violence. A list of sexual assault reporting options and on-campus resources can be found on the Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross websites.

d emonstrators chanted and marched with signs during this year’s annual Take b ack the n ight e vent in support of survivors of sexual violence.

l ate wednesday afternoon, students and members

e nglish major undergoes changes

By LIAM KELLY news writer

The notre dame english department’s new curriculum requirements look to put a greater focus on “multiculturalism,” department head laura Knoppers stated during an interview with The observer.

“as a discipline, [english is] very attuned to social issues,” Knoppers said.

recently, the department instituted a number of changes for the required courses for the class of 2025 and beyond. students are no longer required to take at least one course in both british and american literature. instead, students are simply required to take two “cultures” courses, one of which must be focused on “race, ethnicity and indigeneity.”

The requirement to take one course on literature in the period before 1500, one course in the period between 1500 and 1700 and one course in the period between 1700 and 1900 has also been eliminated. now, students only need to take two courses on literature in the period before 1800. The poetry requirement is also a thing of the past.

Knoppers described three

major reasons for the changes to the english curriculum, the first of which being a change in the discipline of english as a whole.

“The discipline of english has changed and continues to change,” Knoppers said. “it’s become much more global, much more diverse.”

Knoppers also pointed to the younger, more diverse faculty that have been brought on board as a motivator for the change.

most importantly, though, Knoppers stressed that the changes were primarily the result of feedback from current english majors and changing student interest.

“we had a meeting with the majors. and one thing that majors said, as a group, was that they wanted [the curriculum] to be less british, american and canonical,” she said. “They wanted it to be more global and more multi-ethnic and more concerned with issues that they felt were very relevant.” hearing student feedback prompted the department to institute changes that it had been hoping to implement for some time, Knoppers said.

of the tri-campus community gathered together on the shores of l ake m arion at s aint m ary’s c ollege to kick off the annual Take b ack the n ight event.

Take b ack the n ight 2023 is part of an international movement dating back to 1976 that aims to end sexual violence in all forms. l iz b aumann, director of student involvement and advocacy at s aint m ary’s, explained the night’s events are “a time for us to just come together as a community and celebrate the time together.”

b aumann added that the events sought to amplify

see TbTn PAGE 3

SMC hosts final RYV panel

By CATHY DOHERTY news writer

The final panel of saint mary’s college’s raise your voice symposium entitled “activism and advocacy” featured four panelists speaking on how their professions and community involvement work toward ending sexual violence.

howard savage, director of preventative and education programs for the indiana coalition to end sexual assault and human Trafficking (icesahT), works with children and families. his specialty lies in encouraging men to be present and serve as positive fathers.

types of enrichment curriculum we have,” savage said. “[The] curriculum is typically geared towards men, athletes, fraternities and young men. That’s my passion of who i want to target.”

Jo’netta neeley and patrice miller-coleman are victim advocates within the victim assistance program at the Fort wayne police department. They said they work with victims of all ages regarding all types of violence.

decisions and empower them to make those decisions concerning their personal futures.”

The final panelist was lane obringer, a junior at notre dame who was the spring 2022 callisto campus champion and just ended her term as director of gender relations, Title i X and women’s initiatives in student government. she shared a few examples of how she has advocated for victims during her time at notre dame.

“one of our really big initiatives is safety after parietals,” obringer explained. “making sure if you feel unsafe in a dorm of the opposite sex, you can leave without concern of

“i am primarily responsible for facilitating the different

“we start educating them, give resources to them, and empowering them, then they become our survivors,” neeley said. “it’s our job to help them walk the criminal justice process… give them information about making knowledgeable

see english PAGE 3 see panel PAGE 3

LEAH PERILA | The Observer

Student and faculty demonstrators march through Notre Dame’s campus making their voices heard, in support of survivors of sexual violence as part of the annual Take Back the Night event on Wednesday.

CATHY DOHERTY | The Observer

Jo’Netta Neely, Patrice Miller-Coleman, Howard Savage and Lane Obringer sit on panel for Raise Your Voice Symposium event, entitled “Activisim and Advocacy” disccusing their work to end sexual violence.

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Students participated in a “Take Back the Night” grotto vigil to show their support for survivors of sexual

survivor voices.

“Then, at our s urvivor s peak o ut, survivors have the opportunity to share their stories in a safe space. Then we use our voices to march and chant around n otre d ame’s campus to raise awareness about this important issue and ending with an opportunity for us to pray for survivors, pray for change in our community and pray for a way forward together,” she said.

c ollege p resident Katie c onboy was one of many campus leaders who attended the kickoff. When The o bserver asked c onboy what portion of the night she was anticipating the most she said, “I really just want to listen and absorb the student testimonials, those experiences when I saw … the What Were You Wearing project on m onday night was so effective, because there were the narratives and the clothing that people had actually worn … it was very moving.”

c onboy went on to discuss her pride for how s aint m ary’s faces the “hard topics” of sexual assault. “I just feel so proud that we are not walking away from or shying away from these really hard topics and that we’re coming together and thinking hard about them and thinking about where we can make a

difference,” c onboy said.

o ne of the student leaders present at the kickoff was Take b ack the n ight planning committee member Lucia h adsell. h adsell, a junior at s aint m ary’s is also a member of the p residential c ommittee Against s exual v iolence, the committee chair for the b elles s upporting b elles, s exual v iolence and h uman Trafficking c ommittee and s aint m ary’s campus’ representative for c allisto, a sexual violence survivor support program.

“Take b ack the n ight is such an important event for survivors because it’s a chance for them to use their voice that may have been stripped from them,” she told The o bserver. “It’s a chance for the community to show their support and belief in survivors.”

h adsell said the event she was looking forward to being a part of the most was the s peak o ut.

“It’s a heavy portion of the event, but it’s very important,” she said.

s tudent d iversity b oard p resident c rystal r amirez, a senior at s aint m ary’s, said the word she would use to describe the event would be “hopeful.”

Editor’s note: Crystal Ramirez is a former associate news editor for The Observer.

“ h opeful that we can build a better community to support our survivors. h opeful as an ally, that I can come here to the kickoff every year and learn more, grow more as a senior leader, as a student, as a part of the s aint m ary’s community,” r amirez said.

“I’m feeling hopeful for a better community, for better days and coming to the kickoff at s aint m ary’s is always amazing, because you just see all these students come out and enjoy time together but also acknowledge that we’re here for a reason and a cause,” r amirez finished.

Following the kickoff, members of the tri-campus community walked over to

n otre d ame’s campus to take part in the s peak o ut in d ahnke b allroom at d uncan s tudent c enter.

Editor’s note: The Observer will not be reporting on this aspect of the Take Back the Night events out of respect for the survivors.

After the s peak o ut, the gathered tri-campus community members marched around n otre d ame’s campus chanting sayings such as, “ s hatter the silence, shine our light! We stand together, take back the night!” and “ s urvivors unite, take back the night!”

d emonstrators concluded the night with a prayer vigil

at the g rotto of o ur Lady of Lourdes, praying for survivors of sexual assault and for positive changes in the community. They also lit candles in memory of the survivors, both in attendance and those absent.

While the prayer vigil was the closing event of the Take b ack the n ight programming, back at s aint m ary’s, students lit floating lanterns and set them adrift on m arion Lake in front of h aggar h all, officially closing the night.later, about their own safety

Contact Meghan Lange at mlange03@saintmarys.edu and Katelyn Waldschmidt at kwaldschmidt01@saintmarys.edu

a parietals violation.” The four panelists seated at a table preparing to speak about activism and advocacy.

obringer also discussed raise the bar, a curriculum put together by notre dame student government that surveyed bar owners in south bend regarding nightlife. That information was shared with wellness units at notre dame to help keep students safe.

Liz baumann, director of student involvement and advocacy at saint mary’s, facilitated the evening discussion. she asked the panel how individuals can get involved with advocacy work.

miller-coleman discussed an internship program that the victim Assistance office offers in which the Fort Wayne police department partners with purdue Fort Wayne, Indiana University Fort Wayne and other colleges in the Fort Wayne area to allow criminal justice students to experience the practice up close.

miller-coleman’s ultimate advice for those wanting to get involved was to have the eagerness to do so.

“The passion of advocacy, of working and having the heart to work with those individuals is something that has to be in you,” she said.

neeley shared that victim Assistance has a volunteer program that is open to anyone interested in joining. The volunteers organize drives and collect donations to help victims in need.

obringer advised students to get involved by finding a group that aligns with their beliefs and simply reaching out to them.

“most often they’re willing to accept help,” she said.

savage shared that before working at IcesA hT, he got involved with victim advocacy by working for the department of child services (dcs).

“I think that dcs is always hiring, they always need people to do the job,” he said. “It’s a difficult job, and it’s very very personal. It can be very rewarding, but it’s very taxing.”

near the end of the panel, neeley asked if the audience remembered the 2013 song “blurred Lines” by robin Thicke. she then finished by highlighting the importance of having conversations about victim advocacy and discussing the ways we can support victims.

“sowing the seed and having this type of forum where the lines no longer have to be blurred because we’re being very specific about how we’re going to address it is just absolutely splendid,” she said.

Contact Cathy Doherty at cdoherty01@saintmarys.edu

First on this list was making it easier for english majors to concentrate in creative writing.

“We wanted to better integrate creative writing and literature courses,” Knoppers said. “one of the concerns that came up about the old structure was that to be a creative writing concentrator, you had to take all of the english literature requirements, plus extra.”

Under the new curriculum, creative writing concentration requirements overlap with major requirements, thus lightening the course load for students interested in the concentration.

The second change was the diversity requirements for the major.

Knoppers explained that the old diversity requirements had been written about 15 years ago, and she described them as “anemic.”

“It just wasn’t really pushing people into multi-ethnic literature or conversations where they would talk about race,” she stated. “We really needed to make that robust and reflect and lean into the steps of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Knoppers also said that some of the themes of the curriculum are “environmental studies, gender, sexuality and disability.”

Thirdly, Knoppers said the

department changed the literary history requirements in order to make the major more flexible.

“There was a very precise delineation of early literary historical periods. It was hard to navigate for students when their other classes were set, and they had to take specifically a course in medieval, specifically a course in early modern,” Knoppers said. “now they can move around.”

Knoppers stressed that the department still puts a great emphasis on the classical literature of the language despite the changes.

“You can’t lose that earlier period because all the writers that are writing later are reading in that tradition, and that’s always been a strength here. And we definitely want to still help students in those early period courses,” she said.

At the same time though, Knoppers did say the department is focusing more on modern literature as opposed to classics.

“In general, in order to broaden out to more contemporary literature, I think there is a shift,” she said.

Ultimately, Knoppers emphasized that there is still great value in an english major in this day and age and urged students to consider it.

“There are lots of things you can do with an english major, but particularly for students who double major, it teaches them to think clearly, write clearly, use

evidence, analyze texts and communicate clearly. And those are skills that carry across a whole spectrum of careers and everything from any career,” Knoppers said.

Knoppers also made the case that majoring in english can lead to greater understanding of different peoples.

“english allows students to explore other worlds, to inhabit other perspectives and to develop an understanding and empathy of people who are different from themselves or worldviews that are different from their own,” Knoppers said.

While Knoppers touted the benefits of the english major, she clarified that the changes to the curriculum requirements were not part of an attempt to increase the number of english majors.

“This was obviously something that we wanted to do. but we were not primarily motivated by numbers. We were motivated by pedagogical reasons and ethical reasons to change the curriculum,” she said.

Although Knoppers said that she does hope that the number of english majors increases, the changes were primarily an attempt to get students to focus on “the social justice aspect of the mission at notre dame.”

Contact Liam Kelly at lkelly8@nd.edu

MEGHAN LANGE | The Observer

Members of the tri-campus community come together to close the annual Take Back the Night event in prayer. A vigil was held at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where participants prayed for survivors.

Congratulations to Arts & Letters students for completing their senior theses and creative projects!

Lucy Adams

John Adkins

Conrado Alcantara

Sophie Alles

Laurel Ammond

Ariana Arce

Keila Astono

John Babbo

Ian Baker

Aidee Barajas

Camryn Barnett

Maggie Barrett

Michael Barrett

Lucy Barron

Emma Bartley

Angela Betz

Elizabeth Blume

Joonhee Bock

Emilia-Maria Bondarenko

Noah Bongiovanni

Emily Braun

Danny Brennan

Maura Brennan

Annabeth Briley

Annabel Briody

Melissa Brown

Sydney Brown

Timothy Bukata

Isabella Byler

Nicole Campbell

Corrinne Carlson

Nick Carter

Alexander Cattaneo

Alyson Chin

Michelle Cho

Sarah Chong

John Clancy

Nick Clarizio

Sean Cleary

Annika Coberly

Andrew Coffey

Rachel Colligan

Maximilian Cook

Abie Craff

Caroline Crawford

Aidan Creeron

Ben Cuga

Bethany Cummings

Nadine Daboub

Noelle Dana

Charlie Dapp

Alex DeAngelis

William Dieterich

Mary Do

Allison Doctor

Clark Doman

Timothy Dorn

Solomon Duane

Grace Ducat

Ryan Duppler

Quinlan Earley

Luis Elizondo Gracia

Dylan Rose Elledge

Peter Emanuelli

Cristina Escajadillo

Christine Farnberg

Eoghan Fay

Maddy Foley

James Forsen

Grace Franco

Rebecca Fried

Katherine Fynes

Maggie Gallagher

Lingxiao Gao

Nathalie Garcia

Grace Gasper

Dominic Gaziano

MyKayla Geary

William Geoffroy

Marie Gerges

Joshua Gilchrist

Luisana Gonzalez DiTillio

Jonathan Goodloe

Jack Griffiths

Gabriela Gunka

Anna Guzman

Paige Haeflinger

Emily Hannon

Kelly Harris

David Haungs

Julia Hawthorne

Nora Hayes

Corrine Hays

Jack Heatherman

Matt Heilman

Elizabeth Heldt

Kathryn Heyser

Maura Hogaboom

Carolyn Homolka

Tristan Huo

Aaron Jalca

Joey Jegier

Mitchell Johnson

Julia Johnston

Mariko Jurcsak

Emily Kane

Nancy Kane

Alexis Kelly

Spencer Kelly

Emma King

Ronan King

Ethan Kirsch

Alex Klincewicz

John Klym

Lucie Kneip

Kaylan Knott

Branden Kohnle

Caroline Kranick

Henry Langbo

Caroline Lavender

Anna Lee

Love Lee

Maggie Lenhart

Kayle Liao

Jack Ligon

Jack Loesch

Kendall Lubkeman

Emily Lugg

Jordan Lydon

Adler Maher

Ben Malloy

James Mancini

Becca Marino

Liz Maroshick

Annie Marshall

Elizabeth Martin

Anabel Martinez

Beau Martinez

Santiago Martinez

James Masanek

Liz May

Paolo Mazzara

Jane McAvoy

Brendan McFeely

Mannion (Manni) McGinley

Greg McKenna

Jacqueline McKenna

Julia McKenna

Quinn McKenna

Hattie Meehan

Mark Mehochko

Libby Messman

Audrey Miles

Lily Miller

Margaux Miller

Sam Miller

Madison Nemeth

Tessa Newman

Thanh Nguyen

Daniela Obringer

Jack O’Leary

Michael O’Loughlin

Aidan O’Malley

Ese Omoijuanfo

Brian O’Neill

Ese Omoijuanfo

Chloe Onorato

Christina Onorato

Macy Owens

Kenzie Phillips

Renee Pierson

Joseph Queen

Brenden Quirk

Zane Reeb

Sarah Reidy

Trinity Reilly

Lindsey Reina

Sadie Richardson

Gabriela Rivera

Grace Rozembajgier

Eddie Samowitz

Lauren Sanderson

Steve Sayles

Julia Schlueter

Anupriya Seksaria

Natalie Selover

William Shea

Ian Shuman

Gavin Shust

Gabby Siaosi

Sarajane Smith

Maddie Solkey

Luis Sosa Manubes

Ryan Spees

Tess Spesia

Lizzy Steffensmeier

Shand Stephens

Sierra Stinson

Rachel Stockford

Benjamin Sullivan

Anoop Sunkara

Alyssa Sutanto

Drew Sveda

Emily Swiatek

Kayla Swiderski

Madison Syufy

Anthony Tatarka

Joe Tatarka

Willoughby Thom

Elliott Thomazin

Hannah Tonsor

Connor Tsikitas

Elizabeth VanKammen

William Ventura-Chavez

Ryan Vigilante

Brian Walsh

Callie Whelan

Rachel Whitehead

Tia Williams

Jack Wilson

Meredith Wilson

Justin Witt

Bailee Zacovic

Yining Zhang

Zhanqi Zhang

Blake Ziegler

Andrew Zimlich

Ashley Zitnik

al.nd.edu/seniorthesis

Panel speaks on sexual and LGBTQ+ violence

By KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT associate news editor

o n Tuesday, s aint mary’s r ice c ommons was busy all day with various talks and workshops as the r aise

Your voice s ymposium continued. r ight before the lunch break, a panel called “c ause and e ffect: m itigating the i mpact of s exual a ssault & v iolence a gainst the LGb TQ+ c ommunity” was held.

The speakers at this event were meghan buell, s ara s age and Kelly Faust.

meghan buell, s ara s age and Kelly Faust speak on sexual violence in LGb TQ+ community during the r aise Your voice symposium.

buell is the founder and president of Transgender resource, e ducation & e nrichment s ervices (T rees ). buell spent most of the presentation discussing her experiences as a transgender woman and her experiences in running services catered to transgender persons.

“Thinking about trans experiences and how society has set up a lot of barriers, we need to think about the hierarchy of needs,”

she explained. she listed needs in this hierarchy as things such as food, safety and shelter. “ v iolence comes in when you have to trade one of those hierarchies.”

buell also discussed myths about the LGb TQ+ community, especially when it comes to sexual violence.

“i’ve heard a lot of queer people say ‘i deserve this harm because i am different,’” she said.

Faust spoke next about her experience teaching criminology and gender/feminism.

“i teach a class called Gender and Law, where we spend a lot of time looking at violence against LGb TQ+ members,” she said.

Faust discussed how often cases of sexual violence in the LGb TQ+ community go unreported because people feel like they don’t have a support system they can trust.

s age ended the presentation portion of the panel by talking about her experience as a therapist.

“a lot of my clients have experienced sexual violence, harassment and micro-aggression,” she said. “a lot of clients don’t identify what they’ve experienced as sexual abuse

until they’ve talked to someone. i had clients for years before they disclose sexual violence.”

s age also talked about reasons sexual violence may occur.

she said, “i do think one of the root problems is misogyny, which is hate of women and feminization.”

Following the panelists’ presentation, the floor was opened for an audience question and answer session.

With Faust and buell both identifying themselves as survivors of sexual violence, they answered questions about what support and resources they believed to be most beneficial. Faust said her personal support system was helpful and being around other survivors was important for her.

a dditionally, Faust said that when someone comes to you with their story, “d on’t try to fix things, they just want to be heard.”

buell said that it took a long time to come to terms with her assault.

“it took me years after the incident before it dawned on me that it was

an assault,” she said. “i thought it just was this way and it wasn’t until i heard other people’s stories and related it to my own.”

The panelists also answered questions about resources and accessibility, especially related to the healthcare field. s age talked about how things such as patient intake forms, which often have limited boxes for people to check for their gender identity, “are a sign if i’m going to be welcomed.”

s age also shared a story about her experience and struggle as a lesbian

trying to gain healthcare advice.

she said, “i asked my white, cis-gender, female doctor about ways to have safe sex and she said ‘Let me think about that for a minute... i think you’ll be fine’ and i was just like ‘WTF.’”

buell ended the session by answering questions about T rees and the services they provide. The Tree house is a community center in s outh b end run by T rees

Contact Katelyn Waldschmidt at kwaldschmidt01@saintmarys.edu

Paid a dverT isemen T

KATELYN WALDSCSHMIDT | The Observer

Meghan Buell, Sara Sage and Kelley Faust speak on sexual violence in the LGBTQ+ community during the Raise Your Voice Symposium.

Big bads of the big screen

Sofia CrimiVaroli Photo e ditor

You know who they are: the big bads, the villains, the ne’er-do-wells. This character is a quintessential role in storytelling, the antithesis of everything the protagonist stands for. ranging from devious masterminds to deranged sociopaths, the movies have fabricated some of the greatest villains of all time. I invite you to join me as I count down my list of the top-five “big bads” of the big screen.

5. Hans Gruber

“die hard” was a breakthrough film in the action genre, thanks in no small part to Alan rickman. The antagonist of an action movie has to have a palpable energy that captures the audience. rickman manages to make us love his presence on the screen, even as a murderous terrorist. hans Gruber is a dapper, greedy sociopath... really, what more can we ask for from a heist movie?

4. The shark from “Jaws”

I think this pick goes without saying. The shark from “Jaws” is the star of the original summer blockbuster. “Jaws” plays with the innate fear the human brain has for these vicious aquatic creatures.

What makes this character so scary when compared to the others on this list is that it’s not a person. The shark doesn’t have feelings or a backstory or any redeeming qualities. It is just a murderous, soulless beast.

The entire film builds tension around just the mere idea of entering the water for fear of being mauled by a man-eating shark. The creature is so intimidating, in fact, that as much as you remember the shark and how scary and vicious it was, the actual shark only has about four minutes of screen time. The idea of something being so terrifying that it carries fear throughout the entire movie, but actually only being seen in the final scenes, speaks volumes to the weight that this movie villain has.

3. darth Vader

I would wager this role is among the most recognizable bad guys in all of cinema. From the moment he is introduced, this character brings a commanding, foreboding, fear-inspiring presence to the movie, as suits his reputation.

Anakin skywalker could have single-handedly ended the separatist movement, but instead opted to topple the Galactic empire’s entire government, commit innumerable murders and war crimes and attempt to murder his own son. Above that, throughout the movies and series, Anakin has been shown to be an incredible strategist, pilot and

Jedi, making him all that more terrifying as a sith Lord. darth vader has the highest kill count of any of these villains by an astronomical amount, going so far as to destroy an entire planet.

2. Colonel Hans landa now, I think we can all agree that you can’t get much more evil than a nazi.

but christoph Waltz takes evil to a whole new level, becoming the true big bad in “Inglourious basterds,” a movie that has hitler as a character. Landa’s intelligence and strategy make him a formidable opponent. What is scarier to me is that he is “the Jew hunter” because he is ”good at it” — not even because of twisted morals or beliefs, but for sport. he views others as insects and plays games with them, a master of psychological warfare.

The unsettlingly calm tone Waltz brings to the character shows that Landa is always three steps ahead. The first scene alone sets him up as a remorseless genius who enjoys watching people squirm when caught in his net. I would argue this makes him despicable in a way no others on this list are. he doesn’t seem to want anything more, just pure sociopathic primal competition.

Honorable mentions

before I reveal the greatest movie villain of all time, I’d like to give a shoutout to a few other incredible movie villains that didn’t quite make the list. my honorable mentions, in no particular order, are: the Wicked Witch (“The Wizard of oz”), Keyser söze (“The Usual suspects”), blofeld (nine “James bond” movies), the Terminator, sauron (“The Lord of the rings”) and Amon Goeth (“schindler’s List”).

1. The Joker

And finally, coming in at number one (to no one’s surprise) is heath Ledger’s absolutely legendary Joker. Ledger was absolutely phenomenal, bringing to life one of the most infamous comic book characters of all time. The Joker is purely psychopathic.

he doesn’t want money or power.

All he wants is fear, to “watch the world burn.”

There is something so strangely charming and attention-grabbing about the Joker. he is devious and likes testing people’s characters, trying to prove the inherent evil in the world. The Joker is the quintessential movie villain. he wants nothing. he loves nothing. he is simply chaos.

You can contact Sofia at scrimiva@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

bud Light, ‘buycotts’ and our vicious consumerism

Stephen Viz Poor stephen’s s crapbook

First of all, let the record show that I am a miller Lite man, as I only drink bud Light if it’s free. secondly, I want to make it clear from the get-go that this piece will avoid political pseudoscience, jargon, bigotry and opinion in addressing the obvious: bud Light, Anheuser-busch’s flagship alcoholic beverage, just entered stage left into the heat of American division and anger. rather, I would like to address the facts regarding issues that continue to divide Americans continuously as yet another election cycle fast approaches.

Introduced in 1982 by Anheuser-busch as the budweiser Light, bud Light has exploded in the past 40 years to become America’s darling beverage of choice at frat parties, tailgates and get togethers alike. but in the past month, the reputation of this parent company’s golden goose took a nosedive, as backlash from the conservative right has translated into a full-blown boycott. This boycott is a result of a bud Light advertising campaign that partnered the beer with transgender social media personality dylan mulvaney. In the ad that dylan posted on her socials, she received personalized cans of bud Light, celebrating the 365-day anniversary of her public transition. The advertisement quickly exploded across the internet and caused a huge stir from dozens of prominent conservative figures such as Kid rock, who made it quite clear that his relationship with bud Light was over. Anheuser-busch ceo brendan Whitworth released a statement on April 14 saying, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” Followed by that was a nostalgic clydesdale horse ad for budweiser, attempting to cement the company back to its “all-American” roots. but it appears to be too little, too late, as perception around the brand continues to drop amongst Anheuser-busch’s primary stakeholders.

This lack of confidence in the brand has been quickly demonstrated in the coordinated conservative boycott of Anheuser-busch and belgian parent Inbev, who acquired busch in a 2008 hostile takeover (fascinating stuff to an mbA student like me). This boycott and backlash has caused the company’s market value to drop by $5 billion, as many bars even across the country have flat out refused to restock bud Light. For a company once lauded for the patriotism that created the iconic clydesdale super bowl Ad on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, things aren’t great for bud Light. but the truth is, for an international beverage conglomerate that operates 630 beer brands in 150 different countries, this really won’t make a dent. The company actually has seen worse fiscal quarters. And many experts also predict that the backlash that comes from the advertising won’t last long, as social media firestorms that generate such momentum are often forgotten about several months later. That’s nothing new. And while conservative leaders such as donald Trump Jr. call for an end to the Anheuser-busch boycott, hundreds of disgusting memes and TikToks now circle the internet, belittling drinkers of bud Light to a supposed inferior sexuality. And if all this outrage is really over come June, what the hell was anyone in these intersecting parties even trying to accomplish in the first place? I don’t really know, but to me, I really believe that this identity-focused consumerism is killing us. And every time an

instance arises, it drives us further and further apart.

While these instances continue to drive us apart, the economics go to show that behind the scenes, immense amounts of strategy and capital go into pitting the American people against each other. since reading “Freakonomics” for the first time in high school, it has always stuck with me that economics could always be aligned to incentives. economies of scale only work if incentives exist, and for companies and political players alike, they certainly do. so while conservatives hold the line with this boycott, liberals have issued a call to “buycott” bud Light and other Ab Inbev products. A buycott refers to consumers purchasing something they wouldn’t necessarily buy as a show of solidarity and support in a response to a boycott. And while the social media impact of boycotts is more favorable, the sales impact is more positive on the buycott side. nike and colin Kaepernick and Goya Foods and donald Trump are two recent examples of buycotts favoring political purchasing power. so while the gripes and dissent continue to mount, maybe this was premeditated. In another life, maybe I could be an investigative journalist charged with associating bud Light’s diminishing American sales in the Inbev portfolio to advertising strategies that would end up retaining original customers after a social media firestorm.

but for now, as I write one of my last articles for notre dame’s legendary newspaper, The observer, I am tired. Tired of our political landscape, tired of the cruelty and the sheer viciousness of our consumerism. This is a viciousness that has encompassed the best of both stupidity and loyalty, and has come to define our century. michael J. o’Loughlin of America magazine had this to say about this viciousness: “consumerism can be downright soul crushing. companies spent more than $140 billion in U.s advertising in 2016. They aim to convince us that their products will make us happier, wealthier, thinner, smarter, sexier, cleaner and, perhaps most dubiously, more fulfilled.”

I don’t know if a truer statement has ever been uttered. From as far back as I can remember, kids on the playground were always defined by the shoes we wore, and the iPhones we either did or didn’t have (I didn’t have one, it sucked). And our consumerism doesn’t stop in seventh grade like it should, as middle-aged folks all across the country constantly keep score by brand upgrading and defining themselves by what they support and purchase. For middle- and upper-class America, this trend only further compounds and complicates year after year, and the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ads of today become the bud Light buycotts of tomorrow. so my question is, what does it matter? And when will it end? As a consumer, I have certainly come to enjoy the things I enjoy, but do these brands and goods define me? no. do I associate my victories and successes with starbucks, bud Light and nike? no. but for the thousands of folks that do, this will not be the last time we see our public landscape torn about over a product so commonplace as beer.

Stephen Viz is a one-year MBA candidate and graduate of Holy Cross College. Hailing from Orland Park, Illinois, his columns are all trains of thoughts, and he can be found at either Decio Cafe or in Mendoza. He can be reached at sviz@nd.edu or on Twitter at @StephenViz.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Joey Jegier Discerning Your Best Self

If humans were programmed like artificial intelligence, our code would be based on love. We are built for love.

As I was deciding what to write for this column, I knew it had to be something I could write quickly and easily, because it’s due soon and I’m busy. I decided to write about love because love is the best thing. Who wouldn’t want more love in their life?

First of all, what is love?

I like to follow St. Thomas Aquinas’ definition: to love is to will the good of another person for their own sake. In other words, when we love someone, we want them to be happy and healthy. Love is not merely an emotion or a passion, but a decision we make to will the good of the other.

Love is good, beautiful, and true. I agree with St. John the Apostle that God is love. God created the world and each of us out of love. That means God loves us. How great is that! God, the almighty creator, desires our goodness.

God calls us to love one another as He loves us. That means following His

LetteR to the eDItoR

model of mercy, forgiveness and selfsacrifice. I’ll admit, this can sometimes be challenging. But it is also rewarding.

Love can be challenging for several reasons. First, love requires a degree of vulnerability and uncertainty. When we love other people, whether that be family members, friends, romantic partners or our neighbors, we open ourselves up to the possibility that our love will not turn out as planned. m aybe our love and our acts of kindness will go unnoticed, unreturned and unrequited.

Secondly, love leads to our transformation, and we cannot control how love will change our lives. This should not be a cause for fear but rather for hope, because if we strive to love with authenticity, we can trust that God is with us and will form us into the good and beautiful people we are destined to be.

Finally, when we love other people, our goodness becomes inextricably linked with the goodness of the other. That is, when the friend we love is happy, we are also happy. But when the friend we love is sad, we are also sad.

So, why should we open ourselves to the emotional roller coaster that is love? Personally, I enjoy roller

coasters. They’re exciting and exhilarating. And so is love. Once we start loving, truly loving every person unconditionally, our lives become an awesome adventure. And along this journey of love, we will also discover peace, joy and hope. e verything we could ever hope for and more flows from the fountain of love.

To be honest, I think our culture has the wrong idea of love. I asked ChatGPT (an unbiased reflection of our culture), “What is love?” and the answer was lacking.

“In general, love can be described as a strong feeling of affection and connection that we have for others, whether it be romantic partners, family members, friends, or even pets,” the artificial intelligence said.

But love is not just a feeling! Feelings come and go; love is eternal. Feelings are self-centered; love is other-centered. Love is more than a feeling. It’s an act of kindness, of compassion.

m any times, when we love other people, we will indeed experience strong feelings of affection or connection. But we are called to love every person, even people we may not like. Furthermore, if we are in relationships of love, in our friendships or in our families, we must learn to love

even when doing so may be difficult.

Anything that is worth doing will be difficult. So too with love. Once we begin to love unconditionally, as God loves us, we enter into a divine journey. We give up some control, yes, but we allow ourselves to be shaped according to the perfect principles of love, so we will become kind, compassionate, and forgiving. moreover, as we learn to love, we will discover the peace, joy, and hope that stems from love, and love will grant us the strength to withstand any hardship.

I love you for reading this. I hope that this column helps you to uncover this hidden treasure, this great pearl. Love has no price. It is worth it. You are worth it.

Joey Jegier is a senior at Notre Dame studying philosophy, ESS and German. He enjoys coffee, conversation and taking time to be still (when possible). Areas of interests include mysticism, education and discernment. Joey loves the city of South Bend and regularly visits the farmers market, his only source of milk and eggs. He would love to chat about anything and can be reached at jjegier2@nd.edu.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Some would call it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Others, an event unlike any other. And still, others may find the only appropriate descriptor to be “lucky.”

Tryouts to be one of the next students to portray the Notre Dame leprechaun are in full swing here on campus, with the festivities of the final round taking place this weekend. Here’s what goes into the rigorous and extensive process by which the next guys and/or gals in green will be chosen.

First thing first: Any Notre Dame student enrolled at the University can try out to be a leprechaun.

The role itself often calls for a specific subset of skills that span across many different and unique backgrounds, meaning that the individuals who audition to portray it should do so as well. This initial written application consists of two tryout forms, five short essays, a one-page personal statement, a one to two minute audition video and a general resume with background information. To say the least, this first step in the process is quite an undertaking in and of itself, perhaps suggesting that only those willing to devote that much effort and energy into submitting it might be able to do the same if offered the job.

Following this first round of written applications, the applicant pool

is narrowed to between seven to 10 finalists who are invited to try out in person. These in-person tryouts comprise the “meat” of the formal process and take place over the course of two to three days. On day one, each finalist is invited to portray the mascot at an athletic event for a certain amount of time. This stage of the process is designed to give each person a feel for in-game experiences and fan engagement firsthand and marks the kickoff to the tryout weekend.

Night two of the final auditions tends to be the most involved piece of the puzzle, seeing how this night is evaluated by a panel of coaches, former leprechauns and staff from the athletics department. In this phase, each of the finalists will give a four-minute pep rally, engage in a two-minute improv scene, answer hypothetical media interview questions and conclude by formally interviewing with the aforementioned panel.

As for the pep rally and improv skits, contestants are handed unique scenarios they will need to cater their performances to minutes before they take the floor. Should the panel fail to select the top four candidates for the position by the end of the night, a tie-breaking round would take place during the Blue and Gold spring football game.

Sound stressful?

Good, it’s supposed to.

students that make it out to support. If you want to be one of these students, be sure to arrive by 5:45 p.m. for an experience you are sure to remember.

Ryan Coury junior April 19

Courtesy

of JEFFERY MYERS Notre Dame Leprechaun candidates pose in Joyce Center for a photo during tryouts.

The sentences I’ll never forget

Reyna Lim

In seemingly trivial exchanges, some words are etched into my mind and stick around for far longer than their speaker would ever expect. It’s more than just memorable milestones. It’s different from the way you’ll remember the words of a stinging insult behind your back getting back to you, or the first time you and a romantic partner said “love.” It’s about the delivery, the context, the happy accident of all the elements of the conversation that bring you some kind of relief or clarity or anticipation.

These sentences have a whole world inside of them and spark moments of electrifying contact with another person’s depths. everyone has them. These are four of mine.

“Go show the world.”

I waited forever for high school graduation. on the day of the ceremony, I was handed my diploma and walked across the stage to greet members of administration. When it was time to shake hands with one particular figure who had been an integral part of my four years, I decided to give him a hug instead. The short, firm, embrace was concluded with a nod and a smile — “go show the world.”

my eyes teared up and I didn’t stop crying until I walked out of the ceremony. It was after years of his name commanding immediate order in classrooms and hallways, hours spent in his office discussing strategies and ideas for the student council and more hours spent getting in trouble in the same office for laughable acts of rebellion. not all great hours, but hours that I know in retrospect were his dedication as a teacher to student, to my growing-up, my learning curve.

“Spilled water might as well be celebrated.”

on a night out with some friends in a small bar back home, I was having a grand time celebrating the end of a semester and a month away from south bend and deadlines. A little carefree and very much clumsy, I managed to knock over a whole bottle of water onto the bar.

When someone tapped me on the shoulder to update me on this catastrophe I had inflicted, I was struck with embarrassment and tore through a dozen napkins to clean it up. he turned out to be one of the managers and offered us a toast, since spilled water is something that “might as well be celebrated.” The champagne was ice cold and sweet, and we made both a friend and a go-to pregame place that night.

“Karma gets you the aisle seat.”

Last summer, in the peak of europe’s historic heat stroke, my friend and I decided to board the Amsterdam tour cruise. It was more of me twisting his arm because I knew the boat would be air conditioned, and I adore the sunsets over the canals more than anything.

After half an hour of waiting in the sweltering heat to board the boat, a man decided to skip us in line. our agitated confrontation came to no fruition, and he snarkily and hastily rushed onto the boat. In a twist of fate, we ended up getting our seats upgraded to the large table with a stunning window view outside. he was asked by the staff to give up his seat to an elderly woman and sat in an aisle seat, far away from any kind of view.

As the safety announcements began, my friend turned and added a protocol to the list — “karma gets you the aisle seat.” I couldn’t hold in my laughter.

“Get a grip, girl.”

In an episode of unnecessary theatrics, I was crying on the floor of a friend’s dorm — over a grade, over a boy, over spilled water perhaps. I wailed over how unfair it all was, and how come I’m always so unlucky?

she joined me on the floor, cross-legged on her fluffy pink rug, and snapped me into reality. I really did need to “get a grip.” my melodrama evaporated, at least for the night, we put on a rom-com on Tv and I counted all the ways in which I was in fact, absolutely lucky.

Reyna Lim is a sophomore double majoring in finance and English. She enjoys writing about her unsolicited opinions, assessing celebrity homes in Architectural Digest videos and collecting lip gloss. Reach out with coffee bean recommendations and ‘80s playlists at slim6@nd.edu.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

In a recent statement on freedom of expression, University President Fr. John Jenkins outlined an admirable approach to issues of debate and dialogue on campus. he favorably cited the commitments outlined by the University of c hicago, which support “the principle that debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the University community to be offensive, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed.”

however, when The o bserver’s news writers reach out to professors, there’s an increasing reluctance to speak out on controversial issues, even if said topic is within their expertise.

s everal faculty members on campus have mentioned concerns including their standing on campus, their consideration for tenure and their personal safety.

Faculty should not feel as though they are being put at risk by wading into debates. Whether they comment or do not comment, their decision should not be made out of fear for their job.

The tri-campus community has a particularly vibrant political climate among its student body, allowing a true diversity of perspectives across the spectrum to come together and find points of agreement and debate.

There’s an old saying that shows why academic freedom and allowing viewpoints to be expressed is so important: let a thousand flowers bloom. b y encouraging a plethora of opinions to rise, new ideas and arguments can properly develop, cross-pollinating in each other’s shadow.

It’s easy to dismiss faculty concerns as baseless paranoia, but there have been complications facilitating academic discourse on campus.

Faculty freedom of expression

In a recent story in The o bserver, the University commented on the controversy surrounding sociology and global affairs professor Tamara Kay, seeming to impose new boundaries on academic freedom. Unlike Fr. Jenkins’ expansive statement, these comments suggest that a professor’s speech should be relegated to a limited area of expertise.

“Professor Kay’s area of expertise, which earned her appointment at notre d ame, relates to global trade and, in particular, the north American Free Trade Agreement,” spokeswoman s ue r yan wrote.

“e ven now, her page on the d epartment of s ociology website lists her research expertise in a wide range of sociological topics — none involving reproductive rights. Like any citizen, all notre d ame faculty are of course free to discuss their personal opinions so long as they distinguish those opinions from their position at the University, a policy that is common in higher education.”

While the affirmation of free speech is encouraging, why is there a need to delineate between personal and academic speech, suggesting that one is more protected than the other? This arbitrary division makes even less sense when one sees that Kay has written an award-winning journal article on abortion, as heralded on the Keough s chool’s website. most professors in the social sciences and humanities naturally go from one topic to another as their research interests progress – they can’t be limited to one of those areas.

e ven if you think that Kay is wrong — ethically, morally, scientifically, perhaps to the very core of her argument — it is in your best interest to let

her speak freely.

Academic freedom is not about one professor. It’s about the essentialness of discourse that characterizes a university. b y allowing voices to fully share their arguments and expertise — in research, in the classroom and in the opinion pages of media outlets — you are able to understand how and why the other side might be wrong. Furthermore, by protecting the speech of professors you find objectionable, you ensure protection for the opinions you align with.

A recent piece in The c ut noted that notre d ame did not specifically condemn — or distance the University from — a notre d ame professor’s blog posts about race and crime cited by the b uffalo shooter. o n the other hand, The c ut alleges that despite likely being aware of Kay’s ongoing harassment, Jenkins wrote a public letter to the c hicago Tribune, distancing the University from the op-ed advocating for abortion rights co-authored by Kay. While it’s natural for a c atholic university to have an anti-abortion commitment, the University should equally consider its commitment to consistently protecting its professors.

A more productive example of how open debate can occur was political scientist d an Philpott’s opposing piece responding to Kay’s op-eds.

Student freedom of expression

Although tri-campus institutions tend to say the right things about open discourse and academic freedom, some actions suggest otherwise.

Last semester, the University forbade student groups from purchasing tickets to a benefit where conservative pundit b en s hapiro was speaking. The University refused to fund the event as they have in the past, deeming the event and speaker “problematic,” according to a report by the Irish r over. more recently, a club participating in mendoza’s d iversity and heritage b all was denied its choice of speaker because the University claimed the speaker, a drag queen, did not “align with the group’s mission.”

This regulation of clubs extends to which groups gain official recognition. Irish 4 r eproductive health, a “reproductive justice” advocacy group at notre d ame, has long been denied recognition. In a similar thread, the s aint m ary’s pro-life group b elles for Life recently alleged marginalization by c ollege administration. In 2014, leading campus free speech advocates, the Foundation for Individual r ights and e xpression (FI re ), intervened when the University “betrayed notre d ame’s promises of free expression” by refusing to recognize s tudents for c hild- o riented Policy.

notre d ame has a long and complicated history with freedom of expression. In 1969, President n ixon celebrated notre d ame’s introduction of the 15-minute rule, which suppresses student participation in “violent or nonviolent” protests. That rule still stands.

Perhaps this may be a moment to reconsider whether we as a community are living up to our mission statement’s ideals of “insist[ing] upon academic freedom” and “provid[ing] a forum where through free inquiry and open discussion the various lines of c atholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions and every other area of human scholarship and creativity.”

When the University takes steps to redefine what academic freedom means, we should all be concerned about the future of discourse on campus. Allowing our academics to participate in intellectual debate and dialogue with one another and on the national stage is essential to the role notre d ame seeks to play in the world. We should never forget that.

‘Let a thousand flowers bloom’: A defense of academic freedom

By NICOLE BILYAK

s cene Writer

on Apr. 14, the lead guitarist of Irish rock band The script, mark sheehan, passed away at the young age of 42 after a brief, undisclosed illness. This came as a sudden shock, since we haven’t heard much about The script since last year. so, in honor of sheehan’s tragic passing, let us look back on The script, their successes and history.

sheehan and lead singer danny o’donoghue were best friends in dublin, Ireland, where they were part of a boy band named mytown in 1996. The two were invited to canada to collaborate with many of their musical heroes, including montell Jordan of “This Is how We do It” fame. The pair went on to sign with an unnamed record label, but the company unfortunately split and dropped them. After, o’donoghue and sheehan went to Los Angeles to work as producers, but then went back to dublin, where they met drummer Glen Power. The band, now named The script, signed with Phonogenic in 2005 and released an eP on Last.fm, a music website based in the U.K.

The band released their debut album, titled “The script,” in 2008, and the album received mixed reviews.

however, there was no denial that the album had several great singles that topped the Irish charts in the aftermath. The lead single, “We cry,” was said to be about the people that o’donoghue had met while in d ublin, where it hit no. 13. Following the lead single was “The man Who can’t be moved.” This song was the highestcharted single to hit the charts in Ireland. but that was about to change in just four years.

on sept. 7, 2012, after the success of the band’s second album, “science and Faith,” The script released their third album, called “3.” surprisingly, the album received generally negative reviews upon release; however, its saving grace was the lead single, titled “hall of Fame.”

c ollaborating with black eyed Peas member will.i.am, o’donoghue wrote the song in an hour and a half in the studio. The single focuses on perseverance and making a difference. It was released on Aug. 20, 2012 and was considered a massive success in Ireland, taking “The man Who can’t be moved” off the top spot on the Irish charts. The single was what brought The script to the spotlight in the Irish music world, as well as the music world in general The script then kicked off

the postseason of major League baseball by performing a free concert and then went on tour to promote their album.

After their fourth studio album, “no sound Without silence,” was released in 2014, the band went on hiatus. There were conflicting reasons as to why. one reason was o’donoghue and the band needed time to “chill” after releasing four albums and going on five world tours. but an announcement stated that o’donoghue needed throat surgery.

The band returned in late 2016 and made new music. They went on to release two more albums: “Freedom child” in 2017 and “sunsets and Full moons” in 2019. The band also released a compilation album in 2021 of their greatest hits from all of their albums since 2008.

The script went on to win several awards as a group, including several from the bmI Pop Awards in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

overall, The script is one of the most popular bands to come out of Ireland. hopefully the band will find another guitarist to replace sheehan. may he rest in peace. Contact Nicole Bilyak at nbilyak01@saintmarys.edu

By ANDREW McGUINNESS sports e ditor

There is nothing more exciting — or agonizing — in sports than watching a beautiful through ball head into the box. Anticipation rises as each second passes till the ball comes to earth, and its fate is revealed. It can be exhilarating if finished off, but equally (if not more) devastating if it misses the target.

The same applies to many Americans’ most prominent exposure to football/soccer (myself included): “Ted Lasso.” The unique-but-undeniably-a-hit Apple Tv+ show is back for its third and likely final season. In truth, even if rumors of the show weren’t suggesting it would end after this season before it began, its arc is angling toward a finale. seemingly every moment of the first six episodes is either a display of how its beloved characters have grown since the show first aired in August 2020, how far they have to go or both. We see Jamie Tartt (Phil dunster), defined by his ego in season 1, putting it aside to not just be a leader on the pitch for AFc richmond, but off of it, as well. roy Kent (brett Goldstein), his teammate in the first season, does the same with his former rival in his second season as an assistant coach with the club. most of the other returning players have largely been the same as they were in the first two seasons. however, they figure to feature more prominently over the next six episodes because of hints that we have more to learn about them, which carry both intriguing and terrifying potential as to how they could come to the surface.

The show has always been about much, much more than what happens off the pitch. however, results are what ultimately matter in the Premier League. so far, richmond has endured an up-and-down season. This hasn’t phased Ted

(Jason sudeikis), whose improved support systems have allowed him to handle both football and personal problems better than ever. This is done through several unique, developed and impressively shot ways.

but team owner rebecca Welton (hannah Waddingham) isn’t handling things as calmly. her ex-husband and former richmond co-owner rupert mannion (Anthony head) is back in the Premiership, owning West ham United and employing disgruntled former Greyhounds assistant coach nathan shelley (nick mohammed) as his manager. The rivalry between the two sides is intense, though there are signs that the lovable, innocent nate who audiences fell in love with during season 1 still remains somewhere deep inside him.

The show’s episodes are longer than ever this season. All but one lasts longer than a full half of the game it portrays. but that length is necessary, and the show hardly feels like it’s dragging things out unnecessarily. The writing is as sharp as ever, both from a humor, plot and realism standpoint. The little details have always been the strong suit of “Ted Lasso,” and season 3 is no different. no matter your experience with football or sports in general, the writers do a tremendous job of making the football jargon understandable and translatable to “real life” experiences. And I’m not the only one with a notre dame connection who agrees.

What makes this season so ambitious is the sheer amount of places where the action takes place. most of the major events of the first two seasons took place at either nelson road stadium, the Greyhounds’ practice facility or a local pub. Things are more spread out in season 3. Ted’s ex-wife michelle (Andrea Anders) and son henry (Gus Turner) — who Ted left behind in Kansas to accept the job in the first place — are a bigger part of the story this season. Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), a love interest of both Jamie and roy at

different points during the first two seasons and rebecca’s best friend, is on her own running a Pr firm. she’s still a part of richmond, albeit from a distance now. but the new role gives us more space to truly explore her authentic self. every storyline is well scripted, acted and thought out. The rushed arc of superstar talent Zava’s (maximilian osinski) role and rebecca’s awkward stand-alone adventure in episode six are exceptions, but could not be farther from the rule of thumb. The only problem “Ted Lasso” could really run into is trying to find time for a satisfying finish for all of them. That may sound like a good problem to have, and it is. but it’s still a problem and one the show needs to nail to go out on a high note.

And while “Ted Lasso” has done a fantastic job of balancing triumph with adversity, in the end, it has to pick a side. Yes, you can win, lose or draw. We learned at Ted’s introductory press conference back in the show’s inaugural episode. but there’s only one champion, and it will either be richmond or someone else. The show can finish on top regardless. In the end, though, it needs to make sure its wonderful characters are all in the right position, or else this golden chance to dazzle could go unfinished.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcquinn@nd.edu

“Ted Lasso” Season 3, Episodes 1-6”

Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein

Favorite Episdoes: “Smells Like Spirit,” “Big Week”

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

By ANNA FALK s cene e ditor

As a regular concert goer, I would like to say that I have some authority on proper concert etiquette. At nine years old, I went to my first concert — Interpol and U2 at Acrisure stadium (formerly heinz Field). since then, I’ve been to over 30 concerts, ranging from artists with barely 1,000 monthly listeners to worldwide superstars, from venues in the backroom of a bar to giant football stadiums and from ticket prices of $20 to over $200. If you’re considering going to a concert or music festival anytime soon, be sure to keep these tips in mind:

Don’t: Wait until last minute to make preparations

There are so many little details that must be taken into consideration before even getting to the concert. how much are tickets worth? What are the fees? Are you free on that day? Where is the venue? how will you get there? If you’re driving, what will parking look like? do you need to buy parking ahead? Are you staying near the concert afterwards, or are you going back home?

Don’t: Go alone concerts are fun, and they are definitely more fun with the right people! It’s crucial to have a buddy to be with you. not only can you share that memorable experience, but they can help you be accountable, and you can keep each other safe.

Don’t: Bring unnecessary items

The more you bring, the more there is to lose and the

more there is for security to pat you down for. Try to keep to the essentials — phone, keys, wallet, tickets (if they’re physical), your Id and any essential items (e.g., masks, vaccination card).

Don’t: Camp camping culture at big-name concerts like harry styles, billie eilish and bTs has been a big issue recently. If you’re not familiar with this concept, there are some fans who find the need to put up tents outside of concert venues days before their concert in order to guarantee a spot at the front of the pit. not only is this exhausting and a waste of time and resources, but it shows a deep misunderstanding of one’s privilege in light of the homelessness crisis in many major cities. seeing your favorite artist up close is really not that serious. There are some festivals that have campgrounds, but this is not free from critique regarding cleanliness and hygiene practices.

Don’t: Forget to be vigilant about the people around you concerts are a collection of people from all over. You never know who could be there. It’s important to watch for any suspicious characters. Also, it’s important for you to be aware of yourself around others. make sure you’re not being a jerk (height-wise or dancing-wise).

Don’t: Become dehydrated

I can’t tell you how many people have fainted due to heat and dehydration at the concerts I’ve been to. I think the record is seven people at an hour-long set. Any food and drinks at concert venues are bound to be expensive, so either prepare yourself for the high prices or drink lots

of water before you get to the venue.

Don’t: Mosh irresponsibly

If you’re going to mosh, know the rules. People (you included) can get seriously hurt when moshing rules aren’t followed. It’s not just a bunch of people throwing themselves violently without a care in the world. You’ve got to be safe.

Don’t: Have your phone out the entire time no one wants to watch their favorite artist through another person’s phone screen. If you take photos or videos, be conscientious and quick. enjoy the concert real-time.

Don’t: Lose track of your items even if you have very few items, make sure that you leave with what you arrived with. concerts can cause sensory overload, and it can be really easy to lose track of everything while everyone is constantly moving around you.

Don’t: Lose track of your friends

c oncert venues often have terrible Wi-Fi, and it can be anxiety-inducing to lose your friend in a crowd of thousands. s hare your location with your friends, and make a plan if you get split up.

o verall, just know that it’s important to be smart, be safe and be aware of the people and things around you. c oncerts are an absolute blast, but your experience can turn sour if you make it so.

Contact Anna Falk at afalk@nd.edu

By CECELIA SWARTZ

s cene Writer

situated in a gorgeous theater on navy Pier, the chicago shakespeare Theater’s current run of “The comedy of errors,” directed by barbara Gaines, is one not to be missed. The play is one of shakespeare’s earlier comedies and features two sets of twin brothers, Antipholus and Antipholus and their servants dromio and dromio, who are separated at birth by a shipwreck and eventually end up in ephesus at the same time. Antipholus and dromio of ephesus live there while Antipholus and dromio of syracuse travel there. A series of instances of mistaken identity is born from this, and hijinks ensue.

In Gaines’s take on the play, she turns “The comedy of errors” into a play-within-the-play, a trope that appears in several of shakespeare’s other works including “A midsummer night’s dream” and “hamlet.” In her version, “The comedy of errors” is a movie being filmed in London during the World War II blitz in 1940. For this production, ron West wrote the studio scenes, which function as a frame to present shakespeare’s comedy. This creates a layering of the two comedies when the “real life” problems of the actors from 1940 influence how they play their shakespearian characters, adding new dimensions to the humor already present in shakespeare’s play.

For example, in “The comedy of errors” Antipholus of syracuse (robert Petkoff) falls in love with Luciana (melanie

brezill), the sister of Antipholus of ephesus’s wife, and there is a scene where he tries to woo her before she rebuffs him, thinking that he is her brother-in-law. While this is funny when played straight, in this production, the 1940 actor who plays Antipholus of syracuse — emerson Furbelow — has terrible breath. This results in Alice boggs, the 1940 actress who plays Luciana, trying to get as far away from him as physically possible; he stinks while chasing her around the stage as she rebuffs him for cheating on her sister. The play was rife with this type of layered comedy. There are also periodic air raids, a food fight and the 1940 cast having only 36 hours to film the movie because the government wants to shut it down.

The frame and each actor playing two characters only added to “The comedy of errors.” While it did remove the focus of the play from shakespeare a bit, it helped turn the play into a completely new production featuring both shakespeare’s classic jokes born of the mistaken identity plot and word play as well as more modern forms like slapstick and physical comedy side-by-side. At the same time, the new scenes written by ron West were a whole new, bonus play. This layering made the play even funnier while the use of the play-within-aplay trope added a little extra shakespearian to the production. All the actors navigated the challenge of playing two characters beautifully, and the way their 1940 characters transformed into their shakespearian characters enriched the comedy by creating even more

errors within “The comedy of errors” because of their personal drama.

The sets and costuming were also phenomenal. The stage transformed the chicago theater into a London soundstage equipped to film a shakespeare play facing the horrors of the blitz. At one point, during an air raid, one of the lights of the chicago theater dropped from the ceiling, fully integrating the chicago theater and London soundstage into one, which created a triple layering effect where the audience was in c hicago, London and ephesus at the same time. combining this with a beautiful array of 1940s-style costumes in a vibrant color palette made for a visually stunning production.

o verall, this production of “The comedy of errors” succeeds in transforming shakespeare’s play into something new while expertly delivering multiple layers of humor that will keep you laughing out loud.

Contact Cecelia Swartz at cswartz@nd.edu

“The Comedy of Errors”

Director: Barbara Gaines

Prodcued by: Chicago Shakespeare Theater

If you like: “Much Ado About Nothing”

Happy Birthday: Declutter your home and turn it into a relaxing space. feeling comfortable will improve your overall performance this year. reconnect with people, projects and pastimes, and revive what you miss. It’s up to you to build your world to your specifications and to give others the right to do the same. Strive for balance, integrity and being at your best. your numbers are 4, 10, 19, 23, 34, 39, 47. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anger is a waste of time. Size up a situation, change what you don’t like and move on to something more entertaining than aggravating. updating your image may sound inviting, but before you begin, consider your motives.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): you’ll be eager to take charge and do things your way. Set standards, call on people you trust to do things according to your instructions and don’t subject yourself to situations that can cause physical or financial limitations. get sufficient rest.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): rely on what and who you know to carry you through turbulent times. keep your thoughts and intentions to yourself and avoid a superior who gives you a hard time. Sign up for a course that will broaden your awareness and your skills.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Offer your expertise to those in need, and the rewards will surpass your expectations. your drive, attention to detail and creative input will make others greedy for more. Put yourself first and know when to leave the mindless tasks to others.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take a close look at what others are doing and how they react. A reserved approach when discussing money matters will encourage good results. Offer incentives, but don’t leave yourself footing the bill or running short on cash due to generosity.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): you’ll be open to fresh concepts and ready to learn something new. Talk to an expert if something perplexes you. Taking on too much too fast will be costly and stressful. Protect your reputation; promise only what’s possible.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t lose sight of your budget. Monitor your money, health and contracts closely to minimize mistakes, confusion and loss. An offer will not be as good as someone leads you to believe. Ask questions if you have doubts.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Size up your situation and follow your plans. Don’t hesitate to let someone slow you down. Stay focused on what you want, and adjust swiftly to the changes you make. A shift in your living arrangements will add to your security.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t let pride put you in a vulnerable position. listen and only agree to what’s feasible. focus on self-improvement and matters you can handle by yourself. Don’t commit to something or someone, or promise to avoid conflict; say no.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Maintaining a simple lifestyle will make it easy for you to live up to your expectations. The keys to happiness are to earn your living doing something you enjoy and using your downtime to do more with the ones you love.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sharing too much information will cause friction with someone you least expect. Don’t present your plans until you have worked out all the kinks and have something hard to refuse to submit to those you need to complete your plans.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you’ve got the wheel and the go-ahead to take the lead. Entertain others with your vision and see who wants to tag along. Make no allowances for those waffling over whether to join your team; take those ready to commit.

Birthday Baby: you are ambitious, persistent and energetic. you are tightfisted and focused.

observer on the ground: 2023 boston marathon

I got some lasagna to carboload for the race and headed to bed early to get some good sleep before the big day.

bASebALL

Irish top Western m ichigan

The b oston marathon is the oldest and arguably most prestigious marathon in the world. I had the incredible opportunity to run the marathon this weekend and participate in the many festivities the event has to offer.

I arrived in b oston mid-day s aturday, two days ahead of the marathon. There were plenty of runners on my flight from o’hare, and my excitement for monday started to grow. my dad and I went to the hotel, and I got in a nice, easy jog in around the b oston harbor.

I then made my way to Fenway Park for a red s ox game. I have been to roughly half of the m L b stadiums, and Fenway has always been a bucket-list stadium of mine. That s aturday was the 10-year anniversary of the horrific b oston marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, that killed and injured many. It was incredible and moving to see some of the survivors and heroes from that day be honored on the field. I knew that remembering that day 10 years ago would be additional motivation for me come monday.

The next day, I did my final pre-race jog around the b oston harbor and then headed down towards the b oston marathon e xpo with my parents. I was astonished at the scale of the e xpo itself. There were runners from all over the United states and the world picking up their race bibs and looking at the booths at the e xpo. I picked up some b oston marathon gear, took some cool pictures in front of some of the displays and even sampled the famous s am Adams 26.2 brew.

my high school friend from harvard met up with my family, and we walked from the e xpo towards the finish line. It was amazing to see the groups of runners analyzing the last part of the route and preparing for the next day’s journey. We also passed by the two memorials at the locations of the bombs that went off in 2013, which was very moving. We finally made our way to the finish line, and I was astonished at the size of the whole finish line area. I knew this marathon would be a completely different experience from Grandma’s marathon in d uluth, which I ran last June to qualify for b oston.

I didn’t sleep well because I was both nervous and excited for the race, but I woke up feeling ready to go. After getting up at about 5:15 a.m., I made my way to the finish line where I checked my gear bag and hopped on a shuttle to the start in hopkinton. The bus ride lasted about an hour, but it was fun to talk to other runners and discuss our plans for the day ahead. I arrived in the athletes’ village where I hung out for awhile and met up with two of my teammates on the notre dame running c lub. We talked for a while, and then I made my way to the start line around 9:20 a.m. After the mile walk to the start, it was finally time to start at 10 a.m.

The first mile was a blur. There were so many people, and I could feel the energy in the air. I couldn’t believe that I was actually running the b oston marathon. I started a little slow because of the big crowds, but I settled into my pace near the start of mile two. The first six miles felt like they went by in less than 10 minutes. I had so much adrenaline, and the streets were already lined with people cheering the runners on.

The b oston m arathon is unique in that it is a pointto-point race where you run through seven towns before reaching downtown b oston. e ach town along the course had a different feel, and it was fun to see the scenic new e ngland suburbs around the route.

I don’t remember much about miles six to 12, but I continued to settle into my pace and felt pretty good. Then, just before the halfway point, I reached the famous Wellesley c ollege scream tunnel. The noise was so loud that I could barely hear myself think. I saw my parents just after the scream tunnel as well, and I started to gain a lot of confidence. I began to feed off the crowd’s energy and gain more confidence.

d espite the confidence, I held myself back a bit because I knew a series of hills from miles 15 to 21 were going to be a defining point in the race. When I reached the first hill just after mile 15, my legs still felt pretty good. I focused on maintaining effort on the uphill and then used the downhills to pick up some time. I weathered the first three hills

well before reaching the infamous heartbreak h ill, which is a three-quarter mile hill that starts at mile 20. It didn’t feel good, but I saw my parents again and let the rowdy crowds from b oston c ollege carry me up the hill.

o nce I crested that hill, I knew I had the chance for a massive personal best. I was averaging about 6:15 per mile at this point, and my previous personal best was about 6:29 per mile. At this point, I ignored my pace largely and just gave it all I had for the last five miles.

I was amazed at how the crowds continued to grow as I ran through the brookline neighborhood into downtown b oston. I was wearing my notre dame running c lub singlet, and I heard some Irish fans cheering for me which helped me even more. With a mile to go, I ran by Fenway and the crowd grew even larger. I even started to tear up at this point because I was so thankful to be running this prestigious event, and it was such a surreal experience.

With just under a half mile to go, I made the final turn onto b oylston street and picked up the pace even more. At this point, I was moving at a subsix minute mile pace, and I was passing people left and right. As I crossed the finish line, it all hit me. I had completed the b oston marathon and recorded a seven-minute personal best from my previous marathon. There was no better feeling in the world.

After getting my medal and picking up my bag, I met up with my family and friends to grab lunch. b oth my parents, two high school friends and one friend from notre dame came to watch me, and it was so special to have them there for the race.

Later that night, I headed back to Fenway for the m ile 27 after-party, which was a great way to celebrate the race with friends, beer and food and cap-off an incredible marathon weekend.

This weekend proved to me that the b oston marathon is one of the greatest athletic events in the world, and I am so thankful I had the chance to be a part of it.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu

By RYAN MURPHY sports Writer

notre dame baseball edged out a midweek win over Western michigan, 2-1, on Wednesday evening at Frank eck stadium. In the low-scoring game, both teams tallied five hits. sophomore right-handed pitcher ricky reeth picked up the win with four innings in relief. his fifth appearance of the season, it was reeth’s best — he shut out the broncos in the game’s back four innings, allowed no hits and struck out five.

Irish starter david Lally Jr. looked to be cruising early, as he set down the first two batters of the game in short succession. but Lally quickly got himself in trouble, allowing hits to freshman second-baseman Grady mee and junior first-baseman cade sullivan. he then loaded the bases by hitting senior thirdbaseman Gavin doyle with a pitch in the next at-bat.

Lally was able to work himself out of the jam without allowing a run by striking out shortstop Jimmy Allen. he was not so fortunate in the second inning, though, when Western michigan scored the game’s first run. Just like the first frame, Lally made two quick outs before getting into some difficulty. nine-hitter Greg budig doubled on a line drive to right, turning the line up over for Jackson Kitchen. Kitchen followed budig’s lead, singling on a hard ground ball up the middle. budig came around from second base to score, and the broncos were on the board.

Lally would work through the third inning, ending his day with five hits allowed, one walk and four strikeouts. It was his fourth start of the season.

Western michigan’s starting pitcher Luke Thelen had a strong outing, throwing 111 pitches across six innings. he benefited from an Irish offense that struggled with runners in scoring position this afternoon.

As much was evident in the first inning, when the Irish had the bases loaded but were unable to score a run. Thelen’s night did not start as strongly as it finished, and he issued three free-passes

in order to load the bases. In the second inning, he hit Irish rightfielder brady Gumpf and walked second-baseman nick demarco, but struck out the other three batters he faced to again hold the Irish scoreless. notre dame was able to tie the score in the third, benefiting from another base-loaded situation. With one out, Irish sophomore Jack Penney hit a hard ground ball to bronco second-baseman mee. The ball shorthopped, and mee was unable to handle it as it caromed into center field. With Penney aboard, designated hitter vincent martinez dropped a perfectly placed single to right field. sophomore dm Jefferson flew out, but junior danny neri was hit by a pitch, and the bases were again loaded. Gumpf stepped into the box with a chance to plate the first notre dame run — but he never got the opportunity. Thelen sent a wild pitch to the backstop, and Penney scurried home from third to tie the game.

With the game tied, Thelen was able to settle in and work through the sixth without allowing another run despite traffic on the bases in each inning. Thelen struck out nine and only allowed one extra base hit, but he hit four Irish batsmen.

In relief for notre dame, Justin moore worked the fourth and fifth innings before giving way to reeth. moore faced eight batters, striking out three and walking two.

The Irish plated the game’s winning run in the eighth inning. martinez walked and was substituted out for pinch runner brooks coetzee, who came around the score. coetzee advanced to second on a walk to Jefferson and to third on another walk to neri. Gumpf delivered the winning run, with a long sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field.

The Irish return home Friday evening for game three of a five-game week. notre dame hosts no. 8 virginia at Frank eck stadium for three games, with Friday’s game starting at 6 p.m.

Contact Ryan Murphy at rmurph22@nd.edu

Nate Moller s enior sports Writer

i rish set to continue strong play at boston college

By J.J. POST a ssociate sports e ditor

n otre d ame softball will look to continue their recent momentum this weekend in a road series against b oston c ollege.

a fter an up-and-down start to conference play, the i rish have hit their stride in the last month. s eries wins over Louisville and v irginia Tech have shown that n otre d ame can compete with the top half of the acc

The v irginia Tech series, in particular, was an important moment for the i rish. n otre d ame entered the series with one ranked win on the season. They finished the weekend with two more.

The i rish offense was excellent in n otre d ame’s dispatching of the h okies. r acking up 24 runs in three games, they buried v irginia Tech in an avalanche of hitting. This outburst came to a head in game three of the series, when n otre d ame racked up 11 runs and forced an early ending to the game.

it’s not the first series in which the i rish offense has played a major role in the team’s success. n otre d ame

currently leads the acc in total runs scored in conference play, with 109 in 18 games. This marks an uptick in production from the start of the season, as evidenced by the fact that they are only fourth in the conference in total runs scored.

a gainst b oston c ollege, the i rish will face a team whose offense has trended in the opposite direction since the start of conference play. The e agles have managed just 34 runs in their 15 conference games — good for last in the acc

i n spite of their offensive struggles, the e agles have remained competitive in conference play. b oston c ollege fell to third place d uke last weekend in a sweep, but the b lue d evils were anything but dominant. a ll three games saw a final score margin of three runs or fewer.

s uch score lines have been a common theme for e agles games in acc play this spring.

b oston c ollege doesn’t score much, but they do excel at limiting opposing offenses. b oth of the e agles’ conference wins have come in games where their opponent scored three runs or fewer. While b oston

saints end sixth in ccac final

c ollege currently sits at the bottom of the acc standings, they’re only fourth-worst in the conference in terms of runs allowed. notably, the e agles’ 85 runs allowed in conference play are only three more than notre d ame’s 82. i n the circle, the i rish will all but certainly lean on Payton Tidd. The graduate student has been the starting pitcher for four of the teams’ last six wins. a veteran leader who has a remarkable knack for getting out of jams and through innings, Tidd ranks fifth in the acc in total innings pitched and sixth in complete games. h er ability to work her way through games has proven essential in allowing underclassmen pitchers s hannon b ecker and m icaela Kastor to rest, a marked improvement to the consistent bullpen rotation the staff had to utilize earlier in the season.

n otre d ame softball will be back in action against b oston c ollege on Friday in c hestnut h ill. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on acc n etwork.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

By TOM ZWILLER s enior sports Writer

The h oly c ross c ollege

women’s golf team finished its season Tuesday afternoon as it participated in the ccac c onference c hampionship.

The ccac c hampionship was played in s ilvis, i llinois, at the TP c d eere r un course, which will host the PG a Tour’s John d eere c lassic this July. h ere, the s aints would try to win the conference and an automatic bid to the naia c hampionships.

The s aints had strong play from both sophomore s ierra b enge and junior a nnika Johnson on day one. b enge finished the day in fourth with 89 strokes, putting her 18 above the courses par of 71. Johnson ended the first day in 11th, shooting a 94 (+23).

Freshman Kianna s harp finished in triple digits, ending the day with a score of 106 (+35). Freshman s ummer b onnar finished with a 114 (+43), which put her in 32nd in the field of 37.

Junior n eva Longhofer did not have a reported score and was listed with a “W.” h er score was also not listed on the h oly c ross a thletics website. h er official finish on day one was tied for 36th.

o verall, the s aints finished with a combined score of 403, which put them in seventh overall, two shots behind o livet n azarene University.

o n day two, b enge improved her game by three strokes (+15), though she fell from fourth to sixth despite the improvement. i t

was Johnson who had the most significant improvement, as she shot an 87 (+16), knocking off seven strokes. h er day two performance was good enough to move her into a threeway tie for eighth overall.

b oth s harp and b onnar improved by two strokes, finishing with totals of 104 (+33) and 112 (+41), respectively. The improvement did not impact their final place in the standings, however.

Longhofer, who again did not have a reported score on the second day, moved into a tie for 35th when one of the Trinity c hristian players had a dn F.

o verall, the team improved by a total of 14 strokes, finishing the second outing with a score of 389 for a team two-day total of 792.

The s aints did move up a spot when s aint Francis University was unable to finish its second day and, as a result, received a dn F for the tournament, which dropped it five spots into seventh.

The champion, finishing with a total score of 731, was s aint Xavier University.

The sixth-place finish ends s aint’s tumultuous season, which was unexpectedly and permanently altered by the sudden and unexpected resignation of head coach T.J. m annen. The team will look to improve next year after athletic director Tom r obbins pledged to support the team more following m annen’s departure.

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu

smC LACRosse belles best calvin

By MADELINE LADD associate sports editor

it was a successful weekend in Grand rapids, michigan for the saint mary’s lacrosse team as they captured a 12-9 win over the calvin Knights. This win brings the belles to 8-5 on the season. The belles were off to a quick start in gameplay, scoring the first three goals in the first five minutes. sophomore midfielder valentina rubio, senior midfielder erin dotson and sophomore attack christiana singler found

the net early. calvin countered with a goal, but dotson and senior midfield molly mullett were right behind them to make it 5-1. calvin scored twice to make it 5-3. however, mullett put away a goal off an assist from junior attack Julia Gorski for 6-3 at the end of the first.

dotson started things off in the second quarter with another goal before calvin used a playerup opportunity to make it 7-4.

Freshman alyssa Grant found

Paid a dverT isemen T

HCC womeN’s goLF

the chant — even the slot machine sound effect at the end is just *chef’s kiss.* it doesn’t quite have the iconic history of the two teams right ahead of them, but maybe another deep playoff run changes that.

4. Boston Bruins — “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation

This isn’t the best goal song, although it’s close. but it’s undeniably the most intimidating. if you cheer for a team that has been victimized by the bruins (which includes me), this song haunts your nightmares. it’s powerful enough to change the momentum of a game on its own.

Belles

the net for the belles shortly after. building on their momentum from before, the Knights notched a three-goal spurt to bring it to 8-7, closing it to a one-goal game. calvin played hard this period, saving shots from the belles and racking up the points. The onegoal difference remained into the third quarter. nevertheless, the belles never lost their lead and instead turned on the pressure. in the third, a strong

SMC TENNIS

3. New York Rangers — “Slapshot” by Ray Castoldi

it may not quite be as impressive as boston’s, or even some of the other teams below them, at first listen. but there’s something timeless about the rangers’ goal song. hearing it in the background of one of the many iconic playoff goals the rangers have scored over the last decade amplifies their specialness, even if you’re not a blueshirts fan.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs — “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” by Dary Hall & John Oates

You’re either going to really like this or really hate this — just like the maple Leafs as a whole. This song will never reach its potential until the maple Leafs actually

performance by sophomore goalie emma Zmudzinski contributed to the belles’ defensive lockdown on the Knights. a yellow card against the Knights allowed the belles to get back into action with goals by dotson and grant.

Zmudzinski kept up the saves, and the belles lengthened the lead with a 10-7 advantage into the final quarter.

With just 22 seconds into the final quarter, gorski scored backto-back and chipped in an assist. calvin snuck in two more goals but the offense was ultimately shut down by Zmudzinski to cap

make their fans’ dreams come true by winning the cup — or at least a round. if they do, even Leafs fans who are the biggest detractors of this song will be belting it out.

1. Minnesota Wild — “Shout” by The Isley Brothers

i’m a Flyers fan, and i can safely say if we ever chose this as our goal song and scored a big goal in the playoffs, i’d actually run through a wall. The energy and crowd participation are unmatched. now all the Wild need is a deep run to solidify its legacy.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

off the 12-9 win for the belles. dotson led the belles with four goals, three draw controls, a ground ball and a caused turnover. mullett, gorski and grant all had two goals apiece. rubio and singler each notched a goal as well. Zmudzinski had a careerhigh of 13 saves in goal and eight ground balls.

The belles travel to Kalamazoo on Wednesday, april 19 for a 7 p.m. matchup against the hornets.

Contact Madeline Ladd at mladd2@nd.edu

belles rally against bethel

By TOM ZWILLER sports Writer

a fter a solid win against the Trine tennis team on Wednesday, the s aint mary’s b elles took a cross-town trip to play local rival b ethel. Though the game was a nonconference matchup, both teams came into the match with something to prove.

The last two times s aint mary’s had played b ethel, they had lost 5-4 and 7-2. s aint mary’s most recent victory was in 2018 when they blew out the Pilots 8-1.

a struggling b ethel squad had just made it back to the .500 mark. a fter back-toback trouncings at the hands of grace c ollege (1-6) and oakland c ity university (07), the Pilots were steering towards disaster. Then they earned a 7-0 win against manchester university. a win against the b elles would put the Pilots at 6-5 and guarantee them a .500 season with one opponent left on the schedule. a fter Friday, however, b ethel will still be in search of its sixth win and a .500 record.

Doubles

The doubles portion of the match opened quite favorably for the visiting b elles. s enior a layna c ampbell and

ND WOMEN’S GOLF Ferreira leads i rish in finals

By ANDREW McGUINNESS sports e ditor

This weekend, the notre dame women’s golf team completed the final event on its 2022-23 schedule. after a 10-match regular season, the irish traveled to sedgefield country club in greensboro, north carolina for the 2023 acc championship.

The irish were looking to show progress from last year when they came in last place out of the 12 competing schools.

and in that respect, notre dame certainly succeeded. Finishing in a tie for ninth place with north carolina is not a result that will jump off the page.

but it’s the highest the irish have finished in the acc championship over the last five years. achieving that under a first-year head coach in caroline Powers ellis is certainly impressive.

notre dame has received some strong individual performances from a few different sources throughout this season.

over the weekend, sophomore montgomery Ferreira was the one leading the charge for the irish.

The Tacoma, Washington native turned in one of the best individual rounds of the entire field with a 69 in the second round. Ferreira finished the competition two over par,

good enough for a 12th-place tie.

senior Lauren beaudreau also had a solid weekend. beaudreau finished at par or under in her first and third rounds, shooting 221 (five over par) overall, good enough for a top-25 finish.

Junior chloe schiavone did not let a disappointing first-round performance deter her, finishing one under par combined across the final two rounds.

as a team, the irish improved as the tournament progressed. The irish were in last place after the first round, which they finished with a score of 308. it was the 10th straight acc championship round the irish failed to finish under 300, a streak dating back to 2019. notre dame would break that threshold in each of the next two rounds. Their 291 score in round two was fifth-best among the entire field. and a 295 score in the final round tied for seventh and placed just a few strokes back of the top half of the field.

The ncaa Women’s golf championship takes place at grayhawk golf club in scottsdale, arizona, from may 19 to 24. it remains to be seen whether the irish will have any representation there or not. Contact

freshman e mma Kealy were on the first court, earning an 8-4 victory. a t no. 2 doubles, freshman Leah hosang and senior Kalyn b orger also secured a win, albeit by a closer score of 8-6.

Trouble began for the b elles in the third doubles set, however; s enior Kathleen mcLeod and freshman hannah g erner fell to the Pilots’ third duo of s aige r inkenberger and a nna story 5-8.

Singles

With a slight lead of 2-1, the b elles moved into the six singles competitions, looking to lock up their advantage. The Pilots, however, would not go down with their ship quite so easily.

b orger fell in rapid succession to r inkenberg, losing 2-6 and 1-6, tying the overall match at two all. hosang put the b elles back on top, needing three sets to do so.

s he won her first, 6-1, before losing her second, 3-6. i n the closely contested third, tie-breaking set, hosang emerged victorious 11-9.

The next singles match also required three sets; however, the b elles came up short this time. Kealy won her first set by a score of 6-2 and then lost to b ethel’s a lexia Pena by the reverse score. The two would need a third set to determine

a winner. The third set was played as a tiebreaker to ten points, requiring the victor to win by two. The winner took 22 points to find. u ltimately, Pena snagged a 12-10 win, tying the overall competition at three each.

mcLeod quickly lost her two matches by scores of 1-6 and 4-6, giving b ethel a 4-3 lead. With the b elles now trailing, senior a nnika s mith knotted up the contest on the sixth court, winning back-toback sets 6-3.

The match came down to c ampbell and her singles opponent, e lizaveta m ikhailova at no. 1 singles. The pair needed an extra game in the first set, where c ampbell won 7-5. c ampbell then beat her a second time, 6-4, securing a narrow win for the b elles.

With the win, the b elles improved to an overall record of 15-2, though they remain 4-2 in conference play. The team now looks toward its final miaa conference match of the season when they take on the a lbion britons on Tuesday. Then, it is onto e arlham, who the b elles host on s aturday, a pril 22 for senior day.

The b elles match against a lbion is slated for a 4 p.m. start.

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu

carolina, it kept the irish from back-to-back ranked home series wins. Though notre dame has proven consistent arms at the top of its staff, they can only take the mound so often. Furthermore, the status of star sophomore pitcher Jack Findlay remains up in the air. he exited saturday’s loss to clemson with discomfort in his arm.

The good news? notre dame’s bullpen dominated this week’s non-conference opposition, twirling 13 scoreless innings between two games. in Tuesday’s 7-3 defeat of valparaiso, irish relievers put out the fire of what had been a shootout through two innings. Junior sammy cooper escaped a bases-loaded jam and tossed three innings, then graduate student carter bosch and junior ryan Lynch pitched on cruise control in their four combined frames.

on Wednesday, a slow notre dame offense put even more pressure on the bullpen. even so, the positive results continued and carried the irish to a 2-1 defeat of Western michigan. Though the broncos knocked freshman starter david Lally, Jr. around for five hits in three innings, they were no match for graduate student Justin moore and sophomore r icky reeth. The two no-hit Western michigan over six innings, striking out eight. That allowed notre dame to take the lead in the seventh and survive a zero-for-10 effort with runners in scoring position.

Virginia primed for success down the stretch

The cavaliers reached the college World series just two years ago, and this year’s team has the pieces to do it again. only one acc team is hitting north of .300 in conference games at this point. That would be virginia with a .311 mark. at the same time, U va holds a 4.40 team era

in acc play, good for third-best in the league.

Five virginia players have 150 or more at-bats to their name this year. a ll of them carry batting averages of .367 or better, and each has a .990-plus oPs Jake Gelof headlines them, as his 15 doubles, three triples and 17 home runs add up to a ridiculous .860 slugging percentage. a nd he leads division i college baseball with 67 rbi for good measure. beyond him, ethan a nderson is the man of the hour after a fivehit, two-homer performance in Tuesday’s 19-6 beatdown of vcU. rounding out the pack, Kyle Teel leads the team with 16 doubles, while Griffin o’Ferrall and ethan o’donnell have combined to swipe 21 bags.

This weekend, expect the Wahoos to throw two tough starting pitchers in brian edgington and Jack o’connor. The two have both thrown 45plus innings and have respective era s of 2.36 and 3.18. notre dame did not see either of them in last year’s lone matchup with virginia.

Standings check

b oth teams have plenty on the line heading into this weekend. v irginia holds a twogame lead on north c arolina and m iami in the acc c oastal d ivision. meanwhile, notre d ame sits on the low end of a bunched-up middle of the a tlantic d ivision. The i rish are just a game and a half out of second place but must leapfrog three teams to get there.

This weekend’s Fridays aturday- s unday series will have start times of 6 p.m., 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. o n Friday, notre d ame football alum and c hicago b ears tight end c ole Kmet will throw out the first pitch for the annual i rish Wear Green game. acc network e xtra will air all three contests.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu

mcGuinness: ranking nh L goal songs

doesn’t change my feelings about it. it’s as generic as they come.

different songs.

march madness is just as notorious for its randomness on the court as it is for the randomness of filling out brackets. every year, experts and people who know the game are beaten by people who pick teams based on mascots, where their neighbor’s cousinin-law’s nephews go to school or which team has the hottest point guard (a strategy someone at The observer rode to a runner-up finish in our 2022 bracket challenge). however, hockey is just as random. among professional sports, no tournament is more chaotic than the stanley cup Playoffs. making a bracket for them isn’t as fun as march madness, but it’s still enjoyable in its own right. having hockey knowledge helps, but it’s definitely not a prerequisite for doing well. You could choose any factor to base picks on and have at least a puncher’s chance of succeeding. so i’ll go to bat by ranking teams based on one of my favorite traits and one of hockey’s greatest quirks: goal songs.

16. Florida Panthers — Individual Player Goal Songs

if they kept ”sweetness” by Jimmy eat World from last year, they’d be in the top half. Florida is one of the few teams that allows each player pick their own song, which sounds cool until you have no idea what to play when a point shot changes directions three times on the way in.

15. Los Angeles Kings — “LA Kings Goal Song (hey hey)” by twilight trio

i’ve never really liked King’s goal song, but it went from oK to just bad when they dropped the signature “i Love L.a.” line at the beginning. They slightly changed it this season, but the new edit

Golf

con T in U ed F rom PaGe 16

tallied an impressive 71 in the middle round, which was tied for the lowest single-round score of any i rish golfer outside of Jackson.

The competition lasts

Lacrosse

con T in U ed F rom PaGe 16

on the other hand, ranked second to last.

The win gives the i rish a nice boost as they prepare for acc Tournament play next week. The conference is stacked with top talent this year, with no less than five teams ranked in the

14. Seattle Kraken — “Lithium” by Nirvana it’s just not my genre. i’ll move it up a few spots because of the local tie-in with nirvana, but otherwise, it’s just not my vibe. it also feels like they copied vegas with the “Let’s Go Kraken” chant.

13. Dallas Stars — “Puck off” by Pantera a lot of people really like this song, but it’s just too obvious for my taste. The beat is good, but a song where the only two words are your team’s city and name? even i could (probably) be more creative than that.

12. Edmonton oilers — “Fluxland” by Gaby D. Galstaun bonus points for picking a song my Flyers used to use. Fewer bonus points for it being the one we stole from the Lightning in 2016-17. it’s not bad, but the one the oilers had that season was better. The same goes for their jerseys, too.

11. Colorado Avalanche — “Chase the Sun” by Planet Funk i like the beat of this better than i think a lot of people do. That being said, when your goal song isn’t even the song most associated with your team, it means you aren’t doing super well on this list.

10. Winnipeg Jets — “Gonna Celebrate” by t he Phantoms

a nice upbeat choice that the Jets have made their own for a while now. my only gripe is that they also use it as their win song. scoring and winning are two very different feelings that deserve two very

from a pril 21-24. Friday and s aturday will consist of three rounds of stroke play — two rounds Friday, and one s aturday. The match-play semifinal will take place s unday, with the championship (also a match-play format) held m onday. s unday’s

top-15 nationally. n ow riding a four-game winning steak, n otre d ame should head to c harlotte with momentum as they prepare to square off against some of the nation’s best.

The location of the acc Tournament comes as a welcome sight for the i rish, as well. n otre d ame has already played in c harlotte once this year in a neutral

9. New Jersey Devils — “howl” by the Gaslight Anthem

With nashville just missing, the devils officially secure the title of best goal song containing the words “you suck” in it. Fun taunt aside, howl is a pretty good song, especially when it plays long and you get to hear the little fade out at the end.

8. tampa Bay Lightning — “Goons” by Moana

The Lightning responded pretty well to the Flyers stealing their song with this choice. it’s also anaheim’s win song, which moderately annoys me, but the three-time defending eastern conference champions get the benefit of the doubt.

7. New York Islanders — “Crowd Chant” by Joe Satriani

crowd involvement is a key if not underrated part of goal songs. and the islanders do it better than almost any one. crowd chant isn’t going to win any creativity points for song choice, but it’s a tried and true choice.

6. Carolina hurricanes — “Raise up” by Petey Pablo i love a song with local tie-ins, and carolina’s is boisterous but not quite dallas levels of obnoxious. i miss the ric Flair “woo” at the beginning and the John Forslund “That’s hockey, baby!” catchphrase that used to conclude it. but the song itself is an outstanding choice, and easy for the crowd to get hyped to.

5. Vegas Golden Knights — “Vegas Lights” by Panic! At the Disco it’s been a perfect choice since their inaugural season, and that’s still the case here. The local tie-in, see mcGUinness PAGE 14

action can be seen on acc n etwork e xtra from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. m onday’s action is also available on acc n etwork e xtra from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

site matchup with d uke. The i rish won that contest decisively, notching a 14-6 victory.

n otre d ame women’s lacrosse will be back in action next week in the acc Tournament. The i rish’s first opponent has yet to be determined.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

Paid a dverT isemen T

Andrew McGuinness sports e ditor

ND womeN’s LAcRosse

notre dame women’s lacrosse wraps up regular season with win over Louisville

By J.J. POST

Associate sports e ditor

n otre d ame women’s lacrosse wrapped up its regular season Thursday, dispatching Louisville 15-9.

A dominant first quarter set the tone for the Irish. It took n otre d ame all of 14 seconds to jump out into the lead after the opening whistle. s enior midfielder Kasey c homa raced in on net and gave the Irish an early 1-0 lead.

n otre d ame would keep building on that lead as the quarter continued. c homa, senior attacker Jane m cAvoy, junior midfielder m ary Kelly d oherty, senior attacker m adison Ahern and junior midfielder Kristen s hanahan all found the back of the net in the first frame. s enior attacker Jackie Wolak was also involved, notching four assists in the first quarter alone. In the second and third quarters, however, Louisville slowly battled their way back into the contest. The

c ardinals outscored the Irish 4-2 in each of the two middle frames. Kokoro n akazawa was a force for Louisville, tallying up a hat trick by the end of the third quarter. h eading into the fourth, the c ardinals had reduced their deficit to four.

Louisville kept the pressure up in the fourth quarter. A h annah m orris goal brought the c ardinals within three. Louisville’s defense was excellent throughout the second half, holding the Irish without a goal for a nearly 20-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters.

e ventually, though, n otre d ame broke through. Jackie Wolak added a second goal to her four assists with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Irish once again had breathing room.

The Wolak goal seemed to open the floodgates for a n otre d ame offense that had misfired in the second half. Two minutes later, Wolak would take a feed from Ahern

Irish return to Acc Finals

By ANDREW McGUININESS sports e ditor

Last year, the A cc c hampionships represented one of the high points for the n otre d ame men’s golf team. After a regular season full of top-five finishes, the Irish registered another one at the 2022 A cc c hampionship. It was the best finish in the history of the program, which has reached some impressive heights in the first five years of head coach John h andrigan’s tenure.

h owever, the 2022-23 season has represented a bit of a step back. After finishing outside of the top five just once last season, n otre d ame finished inside the top five in just three of their 10 events in 2022-23 regular season. They have failed to notch a top-five result in each of their last six competitions, a drought that dates back to mid- o ctober.

While the regular season may have been a bit

of a disappointment, the Irish have a chance to put it behind them this weekend. The Irish will travel to iconic Pinehurst, n orth c arolina, to compete in the 2023 A cc c hampionship on the d ogwood c ourse at the c ountry c lub of n orth c arolina.

The Irish return three of their five golfers from last year’s competition, including their top finish. s enior

and rifle a shot into the roof of the net to force a Louisville timeout. Graduate student midfielder h annah d orney would add on further in the final minutes, notching an insurance goal to put the Irish up six.

Though n otre d ame’s offense struggled to find firepower in the second half, Wolak’s late brace that sealed the Irish victory wasn’t difficult to see coming. n otre d ame outshot Louisville 4023 in the game, including a 32-16 margin in shots on goal.

s hots weren’t the only metric where the Irish dominated the c ardinals. n otre d ame was all but unstoppable in draw controls, winning 24 to Louisville’s four. That excellence in draw controls came as no surprise, however. n otre d ame entered the game leading the A cc in draw-control victories, with 264 in 15 games. Louisville,

Irish continue homestand against Virginia

By TYLER REIDY Associate sports e ditor

After a 2-0 start to the week, notre dame baseball is in for another test at home this weekend. no. 8 virginia (32-6, 12-6 Acc) will come to town for a chilly series in south bend. The Irish have already faced three ranked conference opponents this year and took two of three from thenno. 6 Louisville at home in late march.

For the first time since 2019, the virginia-notre dame matchup will shift back to Frank eck stadium. The teams have met five times in the last two years, with the Irish winning four. That included a three-game sweep in 2021 in charlottesville and a 3-0 victory in the 2022 Acc Tournament.

Improving Irish bullpen ready for the next step

o ’Leary

Palmer Jackson dominated last year’s competition, shooting under 70 in all three rounds to set a program record for the lowest score in the A cc c hampionship at 205. h e finished tied for third place, which was also the best finish an Irish golfer had notched at the tournament. Junior Angelo m arcon also turned in a solid showing, going 71-72-74 across the three rounds and placing in a tie for 32nd. Graduate student Andrew

see GoLF PAge 15

All season, notre dame’s bullpen depth has raised questions. Three weeks ago against north

MAX PETROSKY | The Observer

During the Irish’s contest against Western Michigan on April 19, starting freshman pitcher David Lally Jr. throws a changeup pitch. see bAsebALL PAge

MAX PETROSKY | The Observer

On April 20, Irish junior midfielder Mary Kelly Doherty drives through Louisville sticks. The Irish had a 15-9 victory over Louisville. see LAcrosse PAge 15

moRRIson FeATuRe

benjamin morrison ready to level up in sophomore season

By MATTHEW CROW Associate sports e ditor

You probably didn’t know benjamin morrison’s name this time last year.

After all, he was still in high school, finishing his senior year at brophy Prep in Phoenix. but after a standout true freshman season that saw morrison record a teamhigh six interceptions and earn freshman All-American honors, you probably know it now.

As notre dame football wraps up spring practice and prepares for saturday’s blue-Gold Game, the soon-to-be sophomore cornerback hasn’t been phased by the extra attention that followed his star turn last fall.

“I wouldn’t say there’s any hype or pressure,” morrison said about expectations for him this season. “I feel like this is the position I’ve been blessed to be in.” morrison did not enroll early and was not widely expected to carve out a significant role in the secondary rotation as a freshman, much less become an All-American. This meant he couldn’t rely on any outside pressure to inspire his rapid rise from a talented, but unheralded,

cornerback into one of the nation’s best defensive backs. he was instead fueled by an internal desire to grow into the best player he could be. Last year’s success did nothing to change that.

“I just know that I want to become the best db I can be and player I can be,” morrison said. “[reading] too much into the hype, you just can’t do that.”

Part of not getting swept up in expectations means always being locked in on the present, on getting better every day, even while fans and media rehash his 96-yard pick-six against clemson or his three-interception effort against boston college two weeks later. This is no problem for morrison, who is proud of how he played as a true freshman but is eager to get back on the field to prove that he is capable of even more.

“If I’m still focused on the past, I won’t be benefitting my team in any way,” he said. “I just feel like last year was scratching the surface for me... It’s cool, because in many eyes, I did a lot [last season], but I feel like there’s still a lot more I can do.”

reaching those new heights will be made possible by hard

work in the offseason. The message of maintaining a continuous drive to improve, regardless of results, is one that has reverberated throughout notre dame’s practice facility all spring.

“You can’t be complacent at this level. on any day, your job can be taken, or you can mess up,” morrison said. “That’s just a ‘no’ in the building. We don’t strive just to be complacent. We strive to become the best version of ourselves.”

The Irish have high hopes for what the best version of their cornerback group could look like. The unit played at a high level in 2022, holding opponents to under 200 passing yards per game on the year. but they really hit their stride during a fourgame stretch toward the end of the regular season in which they intercepted eight passes (five of them morrison’s) after recording just one in their first seven games combined.

The cornerbacks will look to build on their strong conclusion to last season and boast an impressive group of returnees who should help them do so. morrison is joined by fellow sophomore Jaden mickey and

senior clarence Lewis. The Irish also bring back graduate student cam hart, whose decision to return to school announced to college football that the unit would be a force to be reckoned with.

“our room, it’s growing. Just the people in the room, the players in the room, the leadership in the room. having cam hart coming back has been just awesome,” morrison said. “We have depth, and that’s the best thing about a db room, having depth and people you can trust to go out there and execute what they’re asked to do.”

despite the competitive atmosphere that comes from having several experienced returnees grappling for playing time, the cornerbacks are a tight-knit group. Their shared trust is built on the knowledge that pushing each other to succeed is what will lead to better results in the fall.

“It’s just been all love and helping each other get better,” mickey said. “really helping the team instead of just trying to beat somebody out.”

That team-first mentality comes from strong leadership within the group. While morrison considers the more veteran hart

2023 blue-Gold Game offensive position preview

By J.J. POST Associate sports e ditor

For the first time since 2020, notre dame’s offense will be led by someone new this fall. Fresh off a promotion from tight ends coach, new offensive coordinator Gerad Parker will lead his unit out in front of fans for the first time in the blue-Gold game. here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the offensive players and storylines to watch out for on saturday.

Quarterback

At quarterback, it’s unclear precisely how much of a competition Irish fans should be tuning in for. conventional wisdom figures that graduate transfer sam hartman, with 48 games and 127 collegiate touchdowns under his belt, would be all but assured to be notre dame’s starter under center against navy. but buzz throughout spring camp has indicated that junior Tyler buchner has outperformed hartman.

such buzz is not entirely unexpected. For all of hartman’s general experience, buchner has a substantial head start in

regard to his knowledge of notre dame’s playbook and system. The spring game could offer hartman the chance to assert himself as the unquestioned no. 1 or buchner the chance to further make his own upstart case for the starting job. marcus Freeman will no doubt be hoping for both.

If you only watch one player, it should be: Tyler Buchner both quarterbacks have an interesting case for this slot, for different reasons. but the pick is buchner. not many would have faulted buchner if he looked at other options when notre dame opted to bring in a 48-game veteran at quarterback, even after he posted a career performance in the Gator bowl. however, buchner opted to try and give hartman a run for his money. Thus far, he’s done just that. A strong spring game would only add more wind to his sails as he looks to pull the upset. And an improved buchner is undeniably good news for notre dame, both this year and beyond.

Running back running back is likely the

position with the least interesting storylines to follow on saturday. one incumbent co-starter, junior Audric estime, will start for the blue team. The other, junior Logan diggs, will be unavailable due to injury. Also unavailable is last year’s spring game standout, sophomore Jadarian Price, as he recovers from a summer injury. sophomore Gi’bran Payne figures to be a reserve in the fall, but he’ll get the chance to show he can be more than that for the Gold team.

If you only watch one player, it should be: Gi’Bran Payne notre d ame already knows what they have in e stime. s o the nod here goes to Payne, the no. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s b lue-Gold Game draft. Payne faces a steep uphill climb for reps this year. The Irish return a pair of strong starters, a recovering standout from last spring and add a highly ranked freshman in Jeremiyah Love. b ut Payne will have the Gold teams’ reps all to himself on s aturday. If there was a time for him to make his move,

and Lewis the primary leaders in the room, the Irish coaching staff has praised his and mickey’s willingness to step up and set an example for their teammates during their second year in south bend.

“You get a ben morrison and a Jaden mickey,” Irish cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator mike mickens said. “[They’re] younger, but they’ve grown and become mature and [are] speaking up, as well.”

morrison’s leadership has extended specifically to freshman christian Gray, a highly-touted recruit who joined the cornerbacks this spring. morrison described Gray as like a “little brother” and a “great player.” he has helped ease Gray’s transition to notre dame in the same way that last year’s veterans helped him.

“I see a lot of myself in him, so it’s cool being able to walk him through things that I had to go through last year,” morrison said. “When you get on campus, there’s going to be things that you don’t know what to do or understand, so just having that person

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it’s now.

w ide receiver

Wide receiver is all but certainly the most fascinating offensive position to evaluate on saturday. severely short on returning production, the blueGold game should prove an important benchmark for determining the next steps taken by coach chansi stuckey’s unit. With graduate transfer Kaleb smith medically retired and junior Lorenzo styles seemingly in transition to an “athlete” role with responsibilities on both offense and defense, notre dame is down to just two receivers who made consistent contributions at the position in 2022. but that’s part of what makes saturday so intriguing. The fact that stuckey was fine with smith retiring and styles moving seems to indicate that he’s comfortable with what notre dame has at receiver. so what is he expecting from the rest of his unit? have juniors deion colzie or Jayden Thomas taken steps forward? Is sophomore Tobias merriweather set for an injurydelayed breakout campaign?

Will any of the three early-enrollee 2023 recruits at the position flash? can senior chris Tyree be a difference-maker in the slot after switching from running back? We’ll get some much-anticipated answers on saturday.

If you only watch one player, it should be: Chris Tyree

Tyree is the biggest wild card on the Irish offense this spring. everyone knows about his topend speed once he gets downhill. Former offensive coordinator Tommy rees spent the better part of his final two years in south bend trying to figure out ways to get Tyree the ball in space. The senior has flashed the ability to be a “home-run play” weapon. At his best, he’s the team’s most dynamic player.

but all too often last year, Tyree’s best was merely a hypothetical. After he was unable to break off many big plays in a solid amount of opportunities early in the year, rees and Freeman eventually opted to switch to more of a two-deep in the running back room with estime and diggs.

Freeman enters blue-Gold Game with high expectations, again

By TOM ZWILLER sports Writer

notre dame head football coach marcus Freeman began the 2022 season with high expectations placed upon him. Though the newly-minted head coach had lost his first game to oklahoma state in the Fiesta bowl, the Irish had all the momentum in the world. The team had just been ranked fifth in the preseason AP Poll and had a chance to upend ohio state in columbus, potentially eliminating a fellow college Football Playoff hopeful and giving Freeman his first signature win.

And as some of the notre dame student body gathered on south Quad, squinting through the light of the early september sun, Freeman’s effect on the student body was apparent. Anytime he appeared on the broadcast, those present gave a deafening cheer, even louder than when thensophomore quarterback Tyler buchner completed a 54-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Lorenzo styles, Jr.

As Freeman prowled the sideline, the Irish built a narrow 10-7 lead in the first half, seemingly on their way to doing the impossible. Then ohio state came roaring back to life, scoring 14 unanswered points and earning a comeback victory.

Defense

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according to rivals. The Irish also signed a pair of highly-regarded safeties in ben minich and early enrollee Adon shuler.

notre dame’s defense won’t be a finished product in Week 1. And that’s ok. by the time notre dame’s first major test of the year arrives — a Week 5 rematch with ohio state — the offense should be up to speed. but the defense may be more important to ensuring the hype around the buckeyes’ arrival does not dissipate over the season’s first four weeks. The old saying “offense wins games, defense wins championships” still largely remains true. but the Irish will need their defense to step up early to keep their loftiest ambitions alive and well. Their play in the blue-Gold Game saturday should give an indication of how well-equipped Golden and company are for that challenge.

The next week, however, promised to be different. The no. 8 Irish played host to marshall, a sun belt team they were favored to beat by more than 20. Instead, the Irish lost by five as buchner injured his shoulder.

notre dame seemingly turned their season around when they strung together three wins, but that was followed by a 14-16 loss to stanford at home. After that, notre dame went on a winning streak that included Freeman’s first signature win when the Irish shocked no. 4 clemson (again).

And though notre dame lost to Usc on the road as Trojans quarterback caleb Williams removed all doubt that he was worthy of winning the heisman, a Gator bowl victory allowed Freeman to end an up-and-down year on a high note.

now, as Freeman begins his second season as head coach of the Irish, he again finds himself up against high expectations. The arrival of graduate student quarterback sam hartman has elevated notre dame’s ceiling, and at this weekend’s blue-Gold game, all eyes will be on the duel between hartman and buchner.

And while Freeman might be in a similar situation as last year, much has changed around the head coach. For one, he will be without last year’s play-caller, Tommy rees. The former notre

EstImE FEAtuRE

dame offensive coordinator left for the same position at Alabama in February. now, Freeman will lean on the newly-promoted Gerad Parker, who previously served as tight ends coach. meanwhile, Gino Guidugli replaces rees as quarterbacks coach. veteran offensive line coach harry hiestand also parted ways with the program, retiring after 40 years of coaching. he was replaced by Joe rudolph, who was the offensive line coach at virginia Tech last year.

The significant turnover has caused some concerns outside of the program, especially with rees departing and quarterback drew Pyne transferring to Arizona state. Freeman, however, is not worried about the changes at all.

“most of [the coaching changes] are on the offensive side of the ball, and so really, I am trying to stay out of the way. They have been together a lot and met a lot. And really, you got to meet to get everybody on the same page, but a lot of it is that cohesion, is that ability to view these guys as teammates,” Freeman said. “It’s been really good, and I’ve been in there a little bit. And then we have our staff meetings to make sure everyone understands our culture, understands our expectations.”

now that Freeman has spent a full year as the head coach of the Irish, he is beginning to

leave his mark on the program, starting with how the team conducts its spring practices. “For me, it’s more looking at ways to enhance the practice structure,” Freeman said. “This year, I kind of said, ‘Let’s look back at last year’s practice one and look at the progression.’ I am looking at the structure of how we practice and really looking for ways to enhance it, ultimately, so they can perform better on saturdays.” however Freeman changes the structure of his practices, the ultimate goal of the team’s spring sessions remains the same. “We have to find ways to practice at a high level, but also develop our depth and be able to roll guys in there and get them really good reps,” Freeman said. “It is a process to get to where we want to go.”

Freeman does note that spring practices have a different feel to them than those of the regular season, as the Irish are primarily focused on improvement and self-scouting. “That’s what’s the beauty of this thing,” he said. “We are not really preparing to win a game on April 22, but really, you’re saying, ‘okay, where can you look at your roster and positions?’ and say, ‘hey, we need an addition here, and we need it at some spot to have some depth.’”

The spring practices have

allowed the Irish to look inward and focus on team improvement. And Freeman would not have it any other way. “That’s what we all need to focus on, marcus Freeman, too,” he said. “Focus on improvement, not praise, not criticism.”

This season, the Irish will face a schedule equally as daunting as last year’s. The team will face the three-headed monster of ohio state, Usc and clemson, three squads with strong chances of winning their conference and making the college Football Playoff. And the team begins its season in dublin when they take on a storied rival in navy.

despite all the external noise about the quarterback competition, the coaching changes and the general noise that comes from being the head coach of notre dame football, Freeman is growing more comfortable in his role. but he knows that there is still work to be done, from his incoming freshman to his potential starting quarterback, to his coaches and of course, himself.

“Yeah, I am a lot more comfortable in my position,” he said. “but at the same time, I have a tremendous amount of work to do, like everyone else in the program.”

estime prepares for fresh offense

By MADELINE LADD Associate sports e ditor

Junior running back Audric estime was a force in the notre dame offense this past season, but still has yet to reach his full potential. In what was a somewhat rough start to 2022, estime’s performance trajectory paralleled that of the entire team. A goal line fumble in the north carolina game was followed by a critical fumble that ended a possible comeback in the stanford loss. Finally, a firsthalf fumble in the UnLv game led to estime getting benched.

nevertheless, the 5-foot-11inch, 227-pound nyack, new York native regrouped in the syracuse game by rushing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. his punishing running style helped him end the season leading the Irish with 920 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. most

importantly, he did not fumble a single time over the rest of the year. similarly, the Irish as a team seemed to get back on track after the syracuse game, winning their next four, including a prime-time dismantling of then-no. 4 clemson.

estime played in all 13 games, making two starts. his 11 rushing touchdowns rank 10th-most all-time in a single season for notre dame. hungry to surpass 1,000 yards in 2023, estime enters his junior season with another year of experience under his belt. he has honed in on fat loss and muscle maintenance through his diet and workout regimen. estime’s focus on developing speed and refining his pass-blocking technique in the offseason will help him contribute to a more up-tempo offense come fall.

“I feel like I can get better at it,” estime said regarding pass protection. “Just be more detailed,

bringing my feet with me more, using my hands instead of my forearms, just being more detailed and block recognition. I feel like [running backs] coach deland [mccullough] emphasizes that every day. And that’s something that we’re all getting better at as a whole group.”

The 2022 offense was laser-focused on repeatedly running the ball behind the team’s talented offensive line. however, the scheme of new offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, the addition of a potential heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback sam hartman and a fresh group of talented wide receivers will open up more running room for estime. returning senior running back chris Tyree has been seen in practice as a passcatching back out of the slot, which will cause opponents to spread their defense. The powerful tandem of estime

and junior Logan diggs will be joined by Tyree, sophomores Jadarian Price and Gi’bran Payne and incoming freshman Jeremiyah Love in what is a very talented and deep running back room.

A new-look estime has high expectations this year to build on his accomplishments of last. The similarly new-look notre dame offense will rely on him to lead them to a potential berth in the college Football Playoff.

saturday’s blue-Gold Game provides estime an opportunity to return to the field and get back in action as a member of the blue team. he will join junior quarterback Tyler buchner and sophomore wide receiver Tobias merriweather. The game is set for 2 p.m. and will air on Peacock.

Contact Madeline Ladd at mladd2@nd.edu

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.