The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame and
and report
Saint Mary’s
it accurately
Volume 50, Issue 125 | monday, april 18, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com
University releases survey results Service Report shows greater awareness of sexual assault policy, available resources responds to award decision
By MARGARET HYNDS Editor-in-Chief
The University released the results from the 2015 Campus Climate Survey on Monday in an email to the student body, shedding light on the status of student perception and understanding of sexual violence on campus and related University policy. The email, sent from University President Fr. John Jenkins, included a 28-page survey report as well as the Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention’s (CSAP) recommendations moving forward and a one-page results overview. The questionnaire, conducted last January and February, asked questions about sexual assault and the campus atmosphere as it pertains to sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. Vice President for Student Affairs Erin Hoffmann Harding said this was the second administration of the Campus Climate Survey — the first occurred in the fall of 2012. “We do a survey every other year, and we do focus groups in the intervening years to be able to learn more information in conversations with students to compliment this overall assessment that we have of the entire student body,” she said. According to the report, the survey, which was administered to all enrolled Notre Dame
By COURTNEY BECKER News Writer
Responding to the University’s controversial decision to honor Vice President Joe Biden and former Speaker of the House John Boehner with the 2016 Laetare Medal, students held a pro-life prayer service outside the Main Building on Sunday. In his opening remarks, senior Timothy Bradley said the gathering served as an opportunity for members of the community to come together in prayer, not a protest. “We’re gathered here to join together in prayer for a greater respect for human life, and especially for Notre Dame’s commitment to its Catholic identity and to protecting the sanctity of life at all stages,” Bradley said. “I want to stress that this is a gathering for prayer, and not for protest. … I hope that in coming together here today, we may pray to Our Lady and to her son, both for our University and for all of us gathered here, asking for forgiveness for our own failure
see SURVEY PAGE 4
LAUREN WELDON | The Observer
see LAETARE PAGE 5
‘The best thing to do is stop ‘other-ing’ people’
The 650 students registered with the Sara Bea Center for Students with Disabilities have the same abilities, interests, motivations and desires as the rest of the student body, Scott Howland,
coordinator at Disability Services, said. “You might have certain barriers that need to be overcome to reach the same goals,” he said. “I think sometimes with disability we tend to talk about it more as kind of patronizing — that we see someone with a disability as someone who would be the recipient of our service, of our goodwill, type of thing. So more of an approach of, ‘We’re providing these services and accommodations more for equality, giving them equal access.’”
Grace Agolia, a junior at Notre Dame who is deaf and uses a cochlear implant, said she thinks “disability” is “the best possible term we could use.” “It’s not pejorative, in my opinion. If you’re talking about words like ‘differentlyabled,’ ‘special,’ ‘abnormality,’ ‘defective’ — those are pejorative terms,” she said. “I especially don’t like ‘differently-abled’ because it just avoids the fact that the person has a disability. Yes, people with disabilities have a differing perspective on life,
and I think that’s something that people should enter into conversation about, ask them about, but that doesn’t mean they are ‘differently-abled.’” Agolia said she dislikes when people say “we all have disabilities.” “That’s just bad. Because it demeans the experience of people who have a physical disability,” she said. “I would agree that we all have things that set us back, but disability is a very specific type of setback, and I don’t think that’s something that can be applied to everyone. You
have to respect the experiences of people with disabilities. I try to say ‘people with disabilities’ instead of ‘disabled persons’ because of the ontological connotations.” Agolia said she does not believe there should be a binary opposition between “disabled” and “non-disabled,” “deaf” and “not-deaf.” “Yes, we have those different experiences, but there doesn’t have to be a dichotomy — the experiences can be integrated, in order
NEWS PAGE 3
Viewpoint PAGE 6
Scene PAGE 9
ND women’s lacrosse PAGE 16
football PAGE 16
By CATHERINE OWERS and HALEIGH EHMSEN Senior News Writers
Editor’s note: This article is the first in a series on disability at Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s. Today’s story examines the language surrounding disability.
see DISABILITY PAGE 5