Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, March 1, 2021

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Volume 55, Issue 46 | Monday, March 1, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Njomo-Bisner ticket wins race Juniors to become president, VP with over 50% of votes, petition referendum fails

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associate News Editor

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Friday.

The 2021 Notre Dame student body election concluded Thursday night as juniors Allan Njomo and Matthew Bisner were declared the winners, receiving 51.18% of votes.

The proposed referendum, which attempted to raise the number of signatures required to bring petitions to the student senate, failed.

A total 4,030 valid votes were cast in Wednesday’s election, equivalent to 45.63% of the student body. Junior Thomas Davis, judicial council president, said during the livestream Thursday night this was the highest voter turnout in three years.

“The judicial council commends the candidates and the election committee for their outreach efforts, which facilitated this increase in turnout, despite a small number of tickets this year and University restrictions on in-person student activities due to community health concerns,” Davis said.

Juniors Mabry Webb and Jacob Calpey ticket received 757 or

20.60% of votes, while juniors Max Siegel and Zachary Holland received 1,037 votes or 28.22% of votes.

The winning Njomo-Bisner ticket received 1,881 votes. This year, 355 voters abstained.

“I’m so honored,” Njomo said.

“I never saw myself in this position. I’m really grateful the student body trusts Matty and I in this role.”

Traditionally, candidates gather in the LaFortune Student Center to hear the results, but the announcement was held virtually this year due to COVID-19 concerns. Njomo said he was in a quad “with [his] fellow Stanford brothers” when he received the news. All of the candidates were told the results of the election prior to the livestream.

The future president said he’s looking forward to the beginning of his and Bisner’s term and coordinating with the community to bridge the relationship between the student body, student government and the administration.

“I’m certainly looking forward to getting into office and ensuring the students get the support they deserve,” he said.

Njomo thanked all of the other candidates by name for a great

Observer Sports Staff

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Saturday.

The mother of Louis Nix III has announced that the former Notre Dame defensive lineman has passed away at the age of 29.

Louis Nix III Former defensive lineman

ELAINE PARK | The Observer

race and commended them all on their platforms.

“Wow, we had a great race, and that’s great to celebrate,” he said.

Bisner was also impressed by the cordiality of their fellow candidates. He was in his dorm room in Baumer Hall when he heard the news.

“I’m at a loss for words,” he said.

Bisner said he and Njomo are excited to work on specific legislative actions at the start of their term, including taking steps towards green programming and working to promote and support the Native American Student Association of Notre Dame. In see RESULTS PAGE 2

Letter garners over 1,500 signatures

By ALYSA GUFFEY Associate News Editor

In response to the University’s restrictive on-campus COVID-19 policies, a letter has been circulating around the Notre Dame community asking University officials to reevaluate the policies in order to protect students’ mental health.

The letter had 1,576 signatures as of Thursday afternoon, including 964 students — roughly 11% of the undergraduate student body.

The letter requested University officials relax the dorm guest policies, allow student organizations to hold in-person events and revise the lack of due process in the Campus Compact. Signatories also asked for communications to be reviewed by mental health professionals to increase messages of hope on campus among a number of other requests.

While the letter and the push to the administration have been largely student-run, parents and community members have also backed up the pleas, stressing that students’ mental health is being negatively harmed with rules on campus.

“The policies have created a culture of distrust and toxicity which is the antithesis of what had been the Notre Dame ethos – that of community and love. As parents, we fear that the damage the school’s policies are inflicting on our student’s well-being will remain long after Covid is gone,” the letter said.

One concerned parent, Kati Spaniak, said she believes students should be having conversations with the administration.

However, she backed the letter when she saw the students were not having any luck getting

Former player dies

through to the administration.

“The communication was poor, and then the restrictions just kept getting more and more and more, and I don’t feel like they were listening to the community or the students,” Spaniak said.

The letter had been circulated through Facebook groups and a dedicated Instagram page — @standup_nd — that is meant to be a safe space for students to make friends and express concerns, Spaniak said.

On Sunday, the Instagram page published anonymous concerns shared via submissions by students and parents to a google form.

Spaniak said the stories from students and parents were devastating.

“We’ve received over 100 comments, not just signatures, comments, devastating comments

VIEWPOINT PAGE 3

[about] people we feel who might be at risk,” Spaniak said.

Vice president of student affairs Erin Hoffmann Harding responded to the petition Saturday morning on behalf of University officials. In the email obtained by The Observer, Hoffman Harding said the University shares the petitioners’ concerns about mental health for students, and the University offers an array of mental health services to support students during this difficult time.

“We are hopeful that a slowing of activity on campus will help reduce case counts and enable us to return to the activities and visitation rules we all want to offer our students,” the email said.

Other members of the Notre Dame community have responded to the letter as well, including see LETTER PAGE 2

A missing persons report had been filed stating that Nix had not been seen or heard from since departing his father’s house in Jacksonville on Tuesday. Nix was the victim of a shooting when he was robbed while putting air into his tires in December. He was released from the hospital on Dec. 19 and had been attending physical therapy.

Shortly after 8 p.m.

Saturday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced via Twitter that he had been found. His condition was not immediately made available, but shortly before the announcement, police pulled a car matching the description of Nix’s 2014 Hyundai Azera from a pond at an apartment complex where Nix was believed to have lived.

Nix was a member of the Irish from 2010-2013 and was drafted by the Houston Texans before injuries derailed any NFL momentum.

“Irish Chocolate,” as he was known, recorded 122 total tackles, 14.0 for loss and 2.5 sacks in three seasons of action in South Bend, with his best year coming as a junior member of the Notre Dame defense that carried the Irish to the 2013 BCS national championship game.

HOCKEY PAGE 4

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Results Continued from page 1

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addition to the president and vice president tickets, Wednesday’s ballot also included a referendum on raising the number of signatures needed to qualify a petition to be brought to the Senate floor.

The referendum asked voters a yes or no question: “Raise the standard of valid signatures required of petitioners to the Student Senate from 200 to a number between 5-8% of the undergraduate student body (442-707) to be determined by the Student Senate?”

Currently, 200 signatures, or less than 3% of the student population, are needed.

The referendum proposed raising the number to 5 to 8%.

The referendum failed in the election by a 23% to 77% margin, with 794 voting “yes” and 2,698 voting “no.”

Webb said she was excited about the results of the election and was happy with the process, noting how all three candidates ran on similar platforms.

“I’m just really excited, I think Allan and Matty are going to do great,” she said.

“I’m really proud of them. They ran a really good platform and a clean race.”

Siegel commended the Njomo-Bisner ticket as wel.

“Allan and Matt ran a great campaign,” he said. “They are great guys … I’m looking forward to seeing what they are going to do.”

Siegel also thanked his campaign team.

“I’m super proud of my team and Zach,” he said. “We couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”

The election results were originally scheduled to be announced Thursday at

Letter Continued from page 1

political science professor Jim McAdams.

In the response obtained by the Observer, McAdams described the requests in the petition as “disturbing and disappointing.”

A professor since 1992, McAdams explained how he chose to teach in the classroom this academic year, despite being 66.

He said he has seen some of his students become very sick from catching the virus and that the current restrictions are in place to protect students.

McAdams added that students are doing “not well” at observing CDC guidelines on mask-wearing and social distancing and that while numbers are down nationally, numbers on campus are still very high.

“They still attend large off-campus parties. This semester, they are also engaging in similarly worrisome on-campus events.

12:15 a.m., but after an allegation of election misconduct was submitted to the judicial council at 11:58 p.m. Wednesday night, the results were delayed until Thursday evening’s livestream.

“While unfortunate in timing, the judicial council considers each instance of an allegation of election misconduct seriously,” Davis said during the livestream.

“Regardless of the time they are reported, the judicial council diligently entertains the evidence provided and makes a decision on the issue independently from the rest of the election process.”

Davis said the council reviewed the allegation for its merit, to determine whether it warranted a hearing of the election committee, as outlined by the Student Union Constitution Article XII Section 4(b).

“In doing so, we presumed the allegation to merit a hearing unless there is simply no plausible constitutional argument under which a violation of election regulations occurred,” Davis said.

Eventually, the council concluded no such argument existed, therefore the last minute allegation lacked merit and was resolved this morning.

In a press release, the judicial council said this year it has begun releasing its advisory opinions to the public to increase transparency. Advisory Opinion 2021-08 details the consideration of the misconduct allegation and its conclusions.

According to the advisory opinion, the allegation was in regards to an Instagram story that shared a post and added the line, “One of the best minds of stu gov ([former president]) just backed [alleged party.] I know how I’m voting tomorrow!”

Parts of the language added to the Instagram story were redacted by the

judicial council in line with confidentiality restrictions in Article XII Section 4(b) of the constitution.

The council considered if this communication violated Article XV, Section 1(g)(6) — “Candidates may not seek an endorsement from or communicate an endorsement such that it can be construed to represent that of a Residence Hall, Student Union Organization, University department, office, or official” — and if the communication violated Article XV, Section 1 (g)(4), which says candidates holding the office of student body president, among other Student Union Positions, many not endorse any candidate/ticket.

The advisory opinion said the story was posted by a member of a campaign team, not a candidate, and said the story posted did not clearly communicate a representation of the Student Union, but rather used the broad term of “stu gov.”

Additionally, the “former president” in question graduated in 2020, the advisory opinion said, and thus their term of service has past and the individual is no longer a current member of or in service to the Student Union.

The advisory concluded that since no candidate sought or made an endorsement, and since past student body presidents no longer hold office and are not prohibited from making endorsements, the allegation held no merit.

“The judicial council congratulates juniors Allan Njomo and Matthew Bisner on their victory and congratulates the other tickets on a fair, well-fought race,” Davis said.

Anyone who has seen the infamous video of the snowball and saber-fight in which scores of students converged into an unprotected scrum knows what I mean,” McAdams said.

First-year Matt Fischer said he signed the letter because he was concerned that the Notre Dame community was losing its identity. “[I] kind of had this vision of what Notre Dame would be like in terms of community because that was kind of one the main reasons why I came here just because it’s unique and special [but] once I got here, it was just a very different scene,” Fischer said.

Fischer and one of his current roommates, first-year James DeMaria, said they struggled last semester to hang out with friends and meet new people in the pandemic climate. Over winter break, Fischer and DeMaria asked their rector if they could become roommates this semester so it would be easier to hang out. DeMaria said their rector was very accommodating on

the request.

“He said like anything I can say yes to, I’m going to because I want you guys to still enjoy some normalcy and be able to have fun,” DeMaria said.

Still, DeMaria said he feels isolated in some ways and sees the same amongst his peers.

“I think a lot of what people are struggling with is like feeling confined and feeling isolated and not being able to make new friends,” DeMaria said.

Fischer agreed, adding that he feels the communication is off between the administration and student body, especially in regard to what the future looks like.

“There’s no consistency among the rules, there’s no sense of, is this going to get better or is this what we’re looking at for the next four years?” Fischer said.

Contact Isabella Volmert at ivolmert@nd.edu

Contact Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu

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The observer | monday, MARCH 1, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Notre Dame should be more political Vince Mallett Independent Idealist

Editor’s Note: A version of this column was published online Friday.

For Notre Dame, or any Catholic institution, to express unqualified support for President Biden’s agenda would be unconscionable. In just his first 37 days, the President has taken the dangerously unjust actions of breaking promises on immigration and expanding taxpayer support for abortion. Fr. Jenkins described the latter as “deeply disappointing.” In my opinion, the University and her president should call out political injustice more frequently, and in much stronger terms.

For example, let’s consider a recent political event to which the University responded in a terrifyingly mild manner. A ‘God, Country, Notre Dame’ flag was flown at last month’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Fr. Jenkins’ statement condemned the assault on our democracy but failed to mention the flag. I, for one, will never forget the horror I felt when I saw the same flag that I have in my bedroom flying at a terrorist event. For Fr. Jenkins to refrain from explicitly denying the association between Notre Dame and anti-democratic white-supremacist violence only deepened that horror.

InsideHigherEd.com ran a column decrying the lukewarm tone of Fr. Jenkins’ and other university presidents seen by the author as allies of then-President Trump; Paul Browne, Notre Dame’s Vice President of Communications, replied to point out the various times Fr. Jenkins has criticized thenPresident Trump, but still failed to mention the presence of a Notre Dame flag at the event in question.

The University of Notre Dame constantly tells its students to be a force for good in the world while refusing to use its massive influence to do anything beyond applying gentle pressure and releasing weak public statements. The institution acts as little as possible so as to please as many as

possible.

I’m reminded of when I used to go to water parks growing up. The parks always had some sort of cliff that one simply jumped off of to fall in a pool twenty feet below. Wanting to look cool for my older brothers and cousins, I would talk myself up about how brave I was going to be and how many times I was going to jump off that cliff, even though I was, and still am, severely terrified of heights. Yet, every time I would get to the front of the line at the top, I would end up paralyzed by fear and refuse to jump in.

Sometimes, Notre Dame seems to me like that scared little boy afraid to take a leap, even after bragging about how many times he would jump. We talk a big game about bravery and standing up for what is right, but do we actually do so, or do we back away from every opportunity to get involved? I certainly believe that it is too often the latter. The first step to changing that pattern is to invite President Biden to speak at the 2021 commencement ceremony.

To see why, one first must recognize Notre Dame’s long history of inviting U.S. presidents to speak at our commencement in their first year of office. Six presidents have done so: Presidents Carter, Reagan, G.W. Bush and Obama spoke in their first year in office, and Presidents Eisenhower and G.H.W. Bush spoke in their last year in office. For those keeping track, that’s two Democrats and four Republicans.

Those speeches involved our institution in the highest levels of American political life and encouraged our graduates to aspire to tackling injustice at the largest scales imaginable. When a president gives the commencement address at a graduation ceremony, the graduates recognize that powerful positions, which provide opportunities for profoundly positive change, are within their reach.

Notre Dame should invite every U.S. president to deliver the commencement address at its graduation ceremony in their first year of office, regardless of the president’s political positions. This is not because the University should be politically neutral, but precisely because the University has an obligation to be political, and that obligation demands that

we do not cut ourselves off from the world simply because of its sin.

In a Nov. 2016 interview, Fr. Jenkins questioned the tradition of inviting presidents to graduation and referred to the controversy surrounding President Obama’s 2009 speech as a “political circus.” In my opinion, that is exactly the wrong idea. Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony is not an apolitical event. Our University’s graduates are going out into the world to fight for good, and the celebration of that transition should recognize that fight, not simply revel in empty pomp and circumstance.

I hope that President Biden is invited to be our commencement speaker this year, and I hope he accepts the invitation. I know that this means we will have countless protests, counter-protests and speeches, annoying media coverage, disappointed alumni and vitriolic comments on the Observer website. All of these are good things; an increase in open political discussion on our campus should be welcomed.

The University can, and should, make itself clear that it strongly opposes significant parts of President Biden’s agenda. The student body can, and should, maintain a constructive discourse about that agenda, our political condition overall and the actions we must take to advance the cause of justice. That is all perfectly compatible with, and even would be supported by, our invitation to the president. Notre Dame talks a lot of talk, but constantly shirks away from genuine political involvement so as not to seem offensive or divisive.

Talk is not adequate to tackle the injustices of our day. Let’s walk the walk.

Vince Mallett is a senior majoring in philosophy, with a minor in constitutional studies. He currently lives off-campus, though he calls both New Jersey and Carroll Hall home. He can be reached at vmallett@nd.edu or @vince_mallett on Twitter.

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

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HOCKEY | nd 2, Michigan state 0; nd 2, Michigan state 0

Irish remain hot on road, sweep Spartans

By NATE MOLLER Sports Writer

Irish hockey continued their success on the road with a series sweep of the Michigan State Spartans at Munn Arena in East Lansing this past weekend.

The Irish (12-12-2, 9-10-2 Big Ten) dominated both games in the series, winning both games against the last-place Spartans (7-15-2, 5-14-1 Big Ten) by a score of 2-0.

In Friday night’s game, Irish senior goalkeeper Dylan St. Cyr was outstanding his team.

St. Cyr stopped all 27 shots that he faced and recorded his second shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.

Both teams skated to a scoreless first period on Friday night with relatively few chances for either team to score early on.

The Irish were able to get on the board a few minutes

into the second period, however, off a goal from freshman Landon Slaggert, which was good for his sixth goal of the season. Senior defenseman Matt Hellickson and Slaggert had a two-on-one chance, and after Hellickson’s shot was saved, Slaggert cleaned up the rebound and gave the Irish the one-goal advantage.

It looked like the Spartans had tied the Irish up mid-way through the third period, but the Irish challenged the offside call and the goal was overturned.

The Irish were able to put the game away late with a goal from junior forward Alex Steeves with just under nine minutes remaining, for his 14th goal of the season. Matt Hellickson also recorded his second assist of the game on the play.

Head coach Jeff Jackson was pleased with how his team,

particularly St. Cyr, played Friday night.

“I thought we played a patient game,” Jackson said.

“They’re a tough team to play against and they are good defensively and don’t give you a lot, so you have to play a patient game. We waited for our chances and scored a couple timely goals and Dylan played well in goal and gave us a chance to win.”

The Irish secured the series sweep against the Spartans on Saturday afternoon behind another clean sheet from St. Cyr, who made 29 saves in Saturday’s contest. Once again, Jackson was pleased with the calm demeanor of St. Cyr in front of the net.

“I thought [St. Cyr] played a quiet, calm game, and when we needed him he was there,” Jackson said. “I thought he did an outstanding job handling and moving the puck Paid Advertisement

— he made the saves he needed to and made a few that were above the norm.”

Special teams proved to be the difference for the Irish on Saturday, with both of their goals coming on the power play and the Irish defense recording three penalty kills.

Jackson praised the improvement of his team’s special team play over the last month.

“Our special teams have gotten better over the last month, credit to our guys on the PK for doing an outstanding job and then the power play as well, scoring a couple critical goals,” he said.

The Irish were able to grab the lead early on Saturday afternoon after a five minute major penalty on the Spartans.

After a couple of good looks, senior forward Colin Theisen put the Irish on the board off of a one-timer shot.

Both teams were held

scoreless in the second period, but the Irish recorded a five minute major penalty at the end of the period that carried over to the third period.

After killing the remainder of the power play, the Irish were able to double their lead a few minutes later off of a Slaggert goal, which was his second of the series.

With this series sweep this weekend, the Irish improve their road record to 9-2-1 on the season, a sharp contrast to their 3-10-1 record at home.

The Irish will hope to play better at home the next two weekends, however, with Penn State coming to Compton Family Ice Arena next weekend and then the Big Ten Tournament being played at Compton the following weekend.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu