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Volume 56, Issue 14 | WEDNESDAY, sEPTEMBER 22, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Terrence Floyd to speak George Floyd’s brother to lecture during Race Relations Week Observer Staff Report
Terrence Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, w ill speak at an event hosted by the K lau Center for Civ il and Human Right and by student government Oct. 6. The event offers both inperson attendance in the Dahnke Ballroom and v irtual attendance options for members of the Notre Dame communit y. In the wake of his brother’s murder at the hands of Derek Chauv in, Terrence Floyd has dedicated his life to
honoring George’s memor y and using his platform to uplift and empower others. He is the founder of We Are Floyd, a Brook ly nbased nonprofit dedicated to honoring the life of George Floyd through communit y serv ice and leadership. He is also a board member of The George Floyd Memorial Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit committed to ending systemic racism. The K lau Center for Civ il and Human Rights, student government and Multicultural Student
SpectrumX studies waves
Programs and Ser v ices are sponsoring “Speaking for My Brother: Terrence Floyd on the Fight for Racial Justice.” Floyd w ill ref lect upon his brother’s life and participate in a discussion on proactive solutions for ending racial and structural inequalit y. The dicussion w ill be moderated by A llan Njomo, student body president. The free but ticketed event begins at 7 p.m. and registration is required. Inperson seating is limited and reser vations can be made on the K lau Center’s website.
Staff Writer
The process of securing funds from Lilly Endow ment Inc. started a year before pilot communities appeared in selected dorms during the spring 2021 semester. Christine Caron Gebhardt, associate v ice president for student serv ices, said she began developing a grant proposal in Januar y 2020 before the Courtesy of Nicholas Laneman
By CAROLINE COLLINS News Writer
Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies that wireless signals travel over, and humans utilize these frequencies in all aspects of their daily lives: sending a text message, watching television or using the GPS in a car. Radiofrequency spectrum is a vital resource that is in high demand, and Notre Dame is a leading university in the new SpectrumX program specializing in the research. According to spectrum.org, SpectrumX was initiated through a
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five-year $25 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the program is composed of 41 researchers and staff members from 27 universities. The official launch date for the program is Oct. 1. Notre Dame electrical engineering professor Nicholas Laneman serves as the director of SpectrumX and co-director of the Wireless Institute in the College of Engineering. Laneman emphasized the importance of studying spectrum as see WAVES PAGE 4
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Observer Staff Report
College President Katie Conboy addressed reports of anonymous social media posts against Saint Mary’s students in an email to the College community Tuesday. Starting over the weekend, derogatory comments against students have circulated on the social media platform Yik Yak. The comments have largely been in the context of the availability of student tickets for the
football game between Notre Dame and Wisconsin at Solider Fields in Chicago this Saturday, for which students from the tricampus were eligible. Conboy noted that the College has seen the posts and expressed frustration at their content. “Over the past 24 hours, we have heard from several of you about bullying and harassing anonymous posts on social see MEDIA PAGE 4
University utilizes grant to promote mental health By BELLA LAUFENBERG
Faculty and students in the Wireless Institute laboratory in the College of Engineering discuss a radio receiver design.
Saint Mary’s College condems social media post
COVID-19 pandemic struck campus. Before she started working on the project, the Lilly Foundation asked Universit y President Rev. John Jenkins to think about big issues that universities and their student populations face today. “The Lilly Foundation had reached out to Father Jenkins and other presidents across Indiana and across the nation and said, ‘So what keeps you up at
night? ’” Gebhardt said. “[He thought], ’We are seeing a rise in students’ needs related to their mental health. W hat are the ways that we can not only intervene and on those crisis situations, but actually how can we support students, all along the way? ’” Gebhardt said she was asked to help put the grant into action by gathering a working group w ith input see GRANT PAGE 4
Author debuts “Gay, Catholic, and American” By EVAN McKENNA Managing Editor
During his time at Notre Dame from 1978 to 1982, Greg Bourke’s identity as a gay man was something to be discussed only through student-run hotlines and covert off-campus meetings. Now, almost 40 years later, Bourke is in the midst of a book tour for his new memoir “Gay, Catholic, and American: My
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Legal Battle for Marriage Equality and Inclusion” — and one of the most surprising parts, he said, is that the book was published through Notre Dame Press, the University’s official publishing house. “This is really significant for [Notre Dame Press] because I don’t know that they’ve ever had a queer-friendly title before,” Bourke said. And he’s right — “Gay, Catholic,
and American” is the first book about LGBTQ identity to be released through Notre Dame Press, soon to be followed by Darrel Alejandro Holnes’ “Stepmotherland” in February 2022. “Gay, Catholic, and American” follows the history of the American LGBTQ rights movement through the lens of Bourke’s personal
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see BOOK PAGE 5