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Volume 52, Issue 17 | wednesday, september 13, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
University revises housing requirements Office of Student Affairs explains impact, intended direction with new residence life policy By RACHEL O’GRADY Assistant Managing Editor
Starting with the Notre Dame class of 2022, students will be required to live on campus for six semesters. Erin Hoffmann Harding, vice president of student affairs, said the changes came after gathering student feedback as to why there was a trend for upperclassmen to move off campus. “Student feedback was crucial to several things, I would say,” Hoffmann Harding said. “One is why students choose to move off campus, which would apply to anything in terms of the new strategies moving forward. And secondly, certainly and specifically, in terms of the incentives. We looked, as well, at external benchmarking in peer
institutions.” Brown, Duke and Georgetown all have three-year requirements, and Vanderbilt has four, Heather Rakoczy Russell, associate vice president for residential life, said. These institutions have seen high rates of student retainment as far as on-campus living, which Notre Dame hopes to replicate with establishing a six-semester requirement, Hoffmann Harding said. The requirement is not a major adjustment to the current status quo, as only 2 to 3 percent of sophomores and 15 percent of juniors live off campus, Hoffmann Harding said. Rakoczy Russell said she believes in carrying out this change because of “the formation that see HOUSING PAGE 4
ANDREA SAVAGE | The Observer
Professors discuss impact, Club looks to outcome of DACA repeal define ‘American’ By NATALIE WEBER Associate News Editor
On Sept. 5, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — an executive order signed by former President Barack Obama — would be rescinded. DACA delayed the deportation of undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children, allowing them to work or pursue an education in the United States, American studies professor Jason Ruiz said. Ruiz said the order freed DACA recipients from a kind of “legal limbo.” “They were brought here as children without documentation and, therefore, are undocumented people, immigrants living in the United States but by and large see themselves as Americans,” he said. “[They] speak English, went to a U.S. high school [and] maybe culturally and socially consider themselves Americans.” Associate professor of
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Spanish and faculty senate president Ben Heller said although the effects of the DACA repeal will be delayed for six months, the time period “will pass very quickly.” “[DACA recipients] may lose protection as early as next March,” he said. “This creates an anxiety among students who are able to study, thanks to the provision, and that anxiety is something the faculty senate feels is detrimental to their education.” Heller said faculty senate supports the sentiments Fr. Jenkins expressed in a statement condemning the repeal of DACA. “The response of the University at this point has been very appropriate,” he said. “We were heartened to see Fr. Jenkins come out with his statement the day DACA was repealed.” Faculty senate has discussed the possibility of drafting a letter to Indiana representatives, asking them to pass a law to reinstate the DACA provisions, Heller said. “I would simply say the
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faculty senate supports [DACA students] as members of the Notre Dame family,” he said. “We are concerned for their welfare and safety. We are doing what we can to send a clear message of support.” Heller said he does not know whether the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act will pass. The legislation would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. “I can’t predict the behavior of Congress at this point — I’m not sure anyone can,” he said. “[Faculty senate] will urge the congressmen of Indiana to promote protection of the students. I would say it’s quite important going forward that DACA not be tied to other kinds of political initiatives — for example, a border wall. … I think that’s going to be the greatest obstacle to getting a remedy through.” Ruiz said he also thinks the DACA repeal could be used by see DACA PAGE 3
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MARTHA REILLY | The Observer
Members of Define American hold signs on Sept. 6 to protest U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski’s support of President Donald Trump’s DACA repeal. By MARTHA REILLY Saint Mary’s Editor
At 10 p.m. on Sept. 4, dozens of Saint Mary’s students were crammed into a dorm room on the second floor of Holy Cross Hall. In response to the presidential administration’s threats to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — which had been officially confirmed that morning
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— impassioned members of the College community assembled to leave messages urging their representatives to protect those who benefit from DACA. With phones in their hands, individuals from one of the campus’ newest clubs, Define American, showed they are always on call to stand up for vulnerable populations. “We are a nation of so many see CLUB PAGE 3
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