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Volume 52, Issue 33 | thursday, october 12, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Center educates students, local residents Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture uses art, culture, engagement to connect with community By SELENA PONIO Associate News Editor
The Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture, located in South Bend, seeks to educate people through art, culture and community engagement. Associate director of community relations Jackie Rucker said the center emerged as an idea from the South Bend community. “We conducted surveys in the community to find out if Notre Dame had a facility in the west side of town what they would like us to do,” Rucker said. “Overwhelmingly the community expressed an interest in exposure to art and culture and, in particular, art and culture in underrepresented groups.” The center was inaugurated in March 2013 when Gilberto
Cardenas, founding director of the Institute for Latino Studies, was looking for a new location in the community for the institute. Rucker said Cardenas established the Crossroads Gallery, which showcases contemporary art. The center also has the Segura Arts Studio, which showcases the work of underrepresented artists. “The Segura Arts Studio works with world class artists whose work has a social justice message,” she said. “The mission of the studio is to get the works of those artists into major collections.” In addition to displaying works of art, the center also offers educational programs, Rucker said. Programs include an after school see ART CENTER PAGE 4
Photo courtesy of Jackie Rucker
Artist Steve Prince leads children in the Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture’s (NDCAC) after school program in a monotype print workshop. The NDCAC offers a variety of educational programs.
Notre Dame Handbell Choir to tour in China By CIARA HOPKINSON News Writer
Five years ago, Jonathan Noble, director of Notre Dame’s Beijing Global Gateway, heard the Notre Dame Handbell Choir perform before a group of senior Chinese education officials. With plans underway to open a new location, Noble decided the handbells would play at its dedication, Karen
Schneider-Kirner, director of the Handbell Choir, said. This weekend, 14 members of the Handbell Choir will travel to Beijing to play for the long-anticipated dedication, followed by a week of concerts before Chinese audiences. “For the staff that works there, it’s a big deal to highlight why they’re there,” SchneiderKirner said. “They want to introduce more Chinese students
to Notre Dame, but also provide a space where American students can go and learn more about Chinese business practices or get involved in other universities over China.” The new center is located in Genesis Beijing, a state-of-theart building offering filtered air and access to cultural events, lectures and an art museum. see CHOIR PAGE 3
SMC Writing Center helps students via collaboration The Saint Mary’s Writing Center offers students the opportunity to discuss their writing within the comfort of a student-led, tutoringbased environment. Aaron Bremyer, director of the Writing Center, said the objective of the Writing Center is to have the student become a better writer by sharing their work.
“Good writers share their work,” he said. “It is truly what animates us. It’s not just, only good writers share their work; it’s, people who aspire to be good writers share their work.” Bremyer said the Writing Center values the collaboration between writing tutors and students. “The Writing Center is a great space for anyone who’s working on writing to come talk about ideas,” he said. “A better name for
it could the ‘collaboration center.’ It’s a place where we engage in ethical collaboration with people who are at work on writing. We work with writers at every stage of the process, from prewriting and brainstorming to working with people who’ve had their professors evaluate their work.” Senior Kathleen Melei, a tutor at the center, said the goal of the
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By GINA TWARDOSZ Associate Saint Mary’s Editor
see WRITING PAGE 4
Jenkins to serve on NCAA commission Observer Staff Report
University President Fr. John Jenkins will serve on the newly formed Commission on College Basketball, the University announced in a press release Wednesday. He will be one of 14 members on the commission. “[The commission] will examine critical aspects of Division I men’s basketball in the wake of recent investigations into the sport by the FBI,” the press release said. The commission was created by decision of the NCAA Board of Governors, Division I Board of Directors and NCAA president Mark Emmert, according to the release. According to the release, main issues the commission will focus on are: “the relations of the NCAA national office, member institutions, student-athletes and coaches with outside entities, including apparel companies, agents and non-scholastic
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basketball; the NCAA’s relationship with the NBA, including the league’s socalled ‘one-and-done’ rule; [and] creating the right relationship between NCAA member universities and colleges and the national office to promote transparency and accountability.” Five other commission members have connections to the University, according to the press release. Former Secretary of State and Notre Dame alumna Condoleezza Rice will chair it. Two honorary degree recipients — Mary Sue Coleman, president of the Association of American Universities, and Martin Dempsey, retired army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — will serve on the commission, as will Notre Dame parent and member of the NBA Hall of Fame David Robinson and Ohio State University athletic director and Notre Dame alumnus Gene Smith.
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