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Volume 51, Issue 73 | thursday, january 26, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Panelists discuss election, King’s legacy Professors reflect on King’s ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ and racial tensions in the Trump Era By LUCY LYNCH News Writer
Paying tribute to the Martin Luther King Jr. speech of the same title, the Walk the Walk week panel event, “Where Do We Go From Here?” examined the 2016 election results and the future of American politics Wednesday night. The event was led by panelists Timothy Matovina, co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies and professor of theology; Christina Wolbrecht, director of the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy and associate professor of political science; Dianne Pinderhughes, chair of the Department of Africana Studies; and Luis Fraga, co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies. Following the question of racial
tensions prompted by President Trump’s election, the event was “inspired by [voting results] but was also appropriate to document in the Walk the Walk week,” Pinderhughes said. Pinderhughes opened the discussion by reading an excerpt from King’s “Where Do We Go From Here?” speech. Pinderhughes said “where we go from here” must involve a notion of understanding power, love and the ways in which these two concepts correspond. “The concepts of love and power have been contrasted as polar opposites, so that love is identified as a resignation of power, and power as a denial of love,” Pinderhughes said. “Power is best as love, implementing the demands of justice.” see PANEL PAGE 3
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Professors discuss the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oak Room of South Dining Hall Wednesday night as part of Walk the Walk Week. The panelists discussed contemporary racial tensions.
Center for Social Concerns emphasizes service By NATALIE WEBER News Writer
The Center for Social Concerns (CSC) hosted a fair Wednesday night to connect students with over 30 South Bend service organizations and student-led volunteer groups. The fair allows students to find
ways to interact with the South Bend community, Annie Cahill Kelly, director of community partnerships and service learning for the Center for Social Concerns, said. “The Social Concerns fair is an opportunity for students to meet directly with community partners … to become more engaged
in the local community through service, through community based learning [and] through research,” Cahill Kelly said. Cahill Kelly said the fair ties into the Walk the Walk Week theme of service and allows students to integrate it into their everyday lives. see CSC PAGE 4
SMC hosts mixer for current students, alumnae By GABY JANSEN News Writer
Heritage Week at Saint Mary’s added a new asset to its week of events: an alumnae and student mixer. After the plans for the annual poetry reading event at Reidinger House fell through, the mission committee created the new event for students to meet with alumnae and talk with them one-on-one in the historical house. Junior biology major Lydia
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Lorenc planned the new event with the goal to get alumnae involved in Heritage Week. “It’s exciting to see how excited alumnae are to see us,” Lorenc said. “You learn another perspective.” Shay Jolly, a 2005 graduate and assistant director of alumnae relations, said the event was a good opportunity to engage in Heritage Week. “[Alumnae are] a good part of our heritage,” Jolly said, “If it wasn’t for them we couldn’t go
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forward.” Some alumnae wanted to reach out to current students and see what the campus is like today. Maureen Parsons, a 2013 alumna, came to the event because she wanted to meet the current students. “I always enjoy coming back to campus and engaging with students,” Parsons said. Mary Ellen Koepfle, a 1978 marketing and finance graduate, see MIXER PAGE 3
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Ambassador weighs in on US foreign policy By TOM NAATZ News Writer
In a lecture at the Eck Hall of Law, Ambassador David Robinson, assistant secretary and coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization at the Bureau of Conf lict and Stabilization Operations the United States Department of State, discussed American foreign policy and the country’s role in the world under newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. “About two months ago, I was traveling through East Africa and I got the same question everywhere I went. It was put best by the chief of the military in Uganda: ‘What the heck is happening in the U.S. with the election?’” Robinson said. Robinson used this story to emphasize that the rest of the world is still deeply interested in political happenings in the United States, also citing the Women’s Marches that
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took place on all seven continents last weekend in response to President Trump’s inauguration. “Theories about U.S. losing primacy of position are overblown,” he said. “We are going through the most divisive and difficult election season since the 1820s,” Robinson said. “But what you’ll end up seeing is the U.S. institutions pull through like always. This is a country that runs on its institutions. People are saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s the end of the world!’ No, it’s not.” Robinson said he believes American institutions are, and will continue to be the backbone of the government. Noting the turbulent state of affairs the President has inherited, Robinson repeatedly said the “muscle memory” of government institutions are going to be critical to help the new administration in see POLICY PAGE 3
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