The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s
and report
and holy cross
it accurately
Volume 55, Issue 40 | MONDAY, February 8, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
University admits 1,673 to class of 2025 Notre Dame accepts record number of students in early action application round, focuses on diversity By ALYSA GUFFEY Associate News Editor
The Universit y released decisions for its restrictive early action (REA) process Dec. 16, admitting 1,673 students to the class of 2025. With 7,744 total applicants, this year’s REA pool was the largest ever, w ith about a 21.6 percent acceptance rate. The total number of applications across REA and regular decision also hit an all-time high w ith 23,637 applications.
Don Bishop, associate v ice president for undergraduate enrollment, said the Universit y is up a total of 11 percent for all applications. Ninet y percent of this increase in admits are students of diversit y, he said, w ith 115 more admits for U.S. students of color and international students. “We’re tr y ing to become each year more diverse, more representative of the entire characteristics of see ADMISSIONS PAGE 4
LIYA BLITZER | The Observer
International students return to campus By ISABELLA LAUFENBERG News Writer
Due to w idespread COVID-19 restrictions and concerns, many Notre Dame internationa l students were unable to come to campus for the fa ll 2020 semester. According to Notre Dame Internationa l, 138 incoming internationa l students were affected by various COVID-19 complications that didn’t a llow them to arrive on campus in the fa ll. First-year chemistr y major Cecilia Ignacio was one of the students unable to come to campus due to v isa processing concerns. Ignacio, who hails from Manila, Philippines, said she was concerned about applying for a v isa and not receiving one due to COVID-19. “My embassy opened three days before I could leave, so we didn’t want to waste a ll that money apply ing for the v isa and then not get it,” Ignacio said. Fellow internationa l student Elysa Ng May May said her embassy continuously cancelled her inter v iew to apply for her student v isa. Ng May May, a first-year biolog y major, said doing her online classes was
NEWS PAGE 3
complicated by the extreme time difference bet ween South Bend and Ja karta, Indonesia, her hometow n. She said ba lancing her work w ith her part-time job was a lso difficult. “The timings are a little bit off. For example, my chemistr y course was at 1 a.m., but then daylight sav ings time caused it to be at 2 a.m. So, it was ver y ex hausting for me because I a lso have a part-time job,” Ng May May said. Ignacio said she a lso struggled w ith her time zone difference. “The time difference is completely opposite, so if it’s like 3 p.m. there, it’s 3 a.m. here,” Ignacio said. “I slept a ll day, and I was awa ke a ll night.” Many of the incoming internationa l students were able to continue their studies and were part of a group coined the “ND explorers.” A nother incoming internationa l student from South Korea, Sandy Nam, explained that the ND explorers had their ow n sections of oncampus classes they took remotely w ith others in their same situation. “One class I took had approx imately 12 students in it,
SCENE PAGE 5
and there were about seven classes open for us,” Nam said. “We had no interaction w ith the other students on campus, but sometimes when I went to office hours, I got to see them because the professors were interacting w ith other students on campus.” Ng May May said she a lso felt ver y isolated from the campus communit y, and it was hard to ma ke friends remotely. “I felt ver y disconnected w ith people who are on campus,” Ng May May said. “It was a lso initia lly hard to ma ke friends w ith the other indiv idua ls because they were on Zoom. It wasn’t as organic as say ing hi to someone in class.” The ND explorers were only a llowed to ta ke three classes last semester because they were classified as non-degree students. Ng May May said this fact made the adjustment period more difficult. “I honestly feel that so far, the requirements in online school were a little bit lighter. The grading criteria was less complicated than my current courses,” Ng May see RETURN PAGE 4
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
SMC cancels 2020 in-person commencement Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Feb. 5. The in-person commencement ceremony for the class of 2020, origina lly re-scheduled to ta ke place in May, has been cancelled in light of the ongoing pandemic, President Katie Conboy announced in a Friday email. In addition, a ll a lumnae reunions scheduled for June
have been cancelled. “W hile we a ll desperately w ish to gather together in person, it would be extremely cha llenging to host these live events safely,“ Conboy said. “Bringing people to campus from a ll across the nation and the world is just too risk y given the current public hea lth projections.“ The College is preparing for an in-person commencement ceremony for the class of 2021.
Next EIC picks support staff Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Feb. 5. Juniors Evan McKenna, Isabella Volmert, Nelisha Silva and Colin Capece w ill help oversee The Obser ver’s Editoria l Board next term, incoming Editor-in-Chief Adriana Perez announced Thursday.
ND M BASKETBALL PAGE 12
McKenna w ill become the Managing Editor, while Volmert, Silva and Capece w ill ser ve as Assistant Managing Editors. The four students w ill begin their new roles March 21. McKenna, origina lly from Morristow n, Tennessee, is a junior study ing English and psycholog y at Notre Dame. see BOARD PAGE 4
ND W BASKETBALL PAGE 12