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Volume 52, Issue 19 | friday, september 15, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Affected students open up about DACA Undocumented Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s students discuss benefits of DACA status, fears for future By COURTNEY BECKER and MARTHA REILLY News Editor and Saint Mary’s Editor
Since Sept. 5, when President Donald Trump and his administration announced plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a group of students at Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s have been unsure of their futures in the United States. Trump gave the House and Senate a six-month deadline to pass legislation to replace DACA — a program that allows children of undocumented migrants in the United States to work and study. If the March deadline arrives and there is no plan in place to provide
for those protected under former President Obama’s executive order, however, the over 800,000 DACA recipients in the United States will lose their legal status. Among these 800,000 people are members of both the University and College communities. The Observer spoke with four such students about living in America as an undocumented immigrant, their fears about DACA being rescinded without a replacement and the responses from both campus communities.
Would if I could Saint
Mary’s
sophomore
see DACA PAGE 4
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Notre Dame students showed support for DACA students last fall at a sit-in. These DACA students are at risk of being deported if Congress cannot come up with a replacement for the program within six months.
Institute for Latino Studies Guest lecturer plans heritage celebration speaks on ethics and activism
By KELLI SMITH News Writer
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) will be hosting six celebratory events on campus beginning Sept. 21. National Hispanic Heritage Month is a 30-day period starting Sept. 15 that is dedicated to recognizing contributions made by Hispanic and Latino American citizens. Though the ILS hosted
unofficial celebrations for it in the past, this year the organization is formally acknowledging the dedication through a variety of official events. Luis Ricardo Fraga, the director of ILS, said the Institute’s formal acknowledgment is intended to help everyone at Notre Dame better appreciate and understand the presence of Latinos in local and national communities. “[The month] is very
important given how much misunderstanding there often is of Latino communities and what their growing presence means in the United States,” Fraga said. “Hispanic Heritage Month is one way to try to focus on all of the positive contributions that Latinos and Latino communities can bring to Notre Dame.” According the ILS’s website, the recognition will begin
see HERITAGE PAGE 3
By NICOLE CARATAS News Writer
Sonalini Sapra, associate professor of political science and director of gender and women’s studies at Saint Martin’s University in Washington, spoke Thursday at Saint Mary’s about ethics, pedagogy and activism in the age of Donald Trump.
“This talk is essentially my attempt to make sense of some of the ethical and pedagogical challenges that I’ve had since the Trump election,” she said. “I thought this would be a good space to converse about these challenges with students and faculty and maybe elicit some see SONALINI PAGE 3
Football managers help team in practice, games The student football equipment managers may not have their names on the back of a jersey, but without them the magic of game day would never come to fruition. Since 1920, equipment managers have been working behind the scenes to ensure that football practices and games go as planned. The 24 students currently in the program set up drills for practice, ready the stadium for the games and make the team’s golden helmets shine. Ryan Grooms, head football
equipment manager who oversees the student equipment manager program, began working for the University in 2010. In 2012, he adjusted the program — which employs around 12 sophomores, nine juniors and three senior managers each year — to the structure it uses today. “We want it to be a smooth operation where coaches and players don’t have to think about anything … so they can focus on the task at hand — winning football games,” Grooms said. The program is highly competitive and the only equipment managing program that makes cuts,
Grooms said. “We’ve got a really great team, a great group of guys and coaches who really appreciate what [student football equipment managers] do,” he said. Interested students start freshman year with a “tryout period,” where they are assigned shadow shifts with experienced returners and learn how the job is done. This year, Grooms said, over 100 freshmen signed up at activities night. From that pool, Grooms chooses around 14 students to continue on as sophomores. The juniors and seniors are chosen partly through a peer evaluation process by the
student managers, who take each person’s trustworthiness, honesty, care for Notre Dame football and work ethic into account. Only three are selected to continue on their senior year, Grooms said. The students are paid a scholarship stipend for their work, which increases each year with the time commitment, Grooms said. The three senior managers receive 85 percent of their tuition through the program. Saint Mary’s senior Ashley DeJonge, one of the three senior student managers, described the equipment managers as the people behind the scenes that keep the
football program running. “Anything behind the scenes that you would expect to go into a practice or a game day production, we’re doing it,” DeJonge said. “It’s pretty amazing hands-on experience, especially if you love the game and love the atmosphere.” During a regular practice, the equipment managers’ duties might include setting up drills — two managers are assigned to each position — cleaning shoulder pads and helmets, helping out in the equipment room or heat pressing locker numbers into issued gear.
NEWS PAGE 3
SCENE PAGE 5
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
MEN’S SOCCER PAGE 12
CROSS COUNTRY PAGE 12
By MARIE FAZIO News Writer
see FOOTBALL PAGE 4