The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s
and report
and holy cross
it accurately
Volume 53, Issue 90 | friday, february 22, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
YAF speaker defends Columbus Michael Knowles lambasts Jenkins, argues in favor of leaving murals uncovered By THOMAS MURPHY Associate News Editor
The Notre Dame chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) hosted conser vative political commentator Michael Knowles for a lecture titled “Columbus: Hero not Heathen” on Thursday night in the ballroom of LaFortune Student Center. The lecture was part of YAF’s Robert and Patricia Herbold Lecture Series. The lecture came several weeks after the announcement by Universit y President Fr. John Jenkins that the murals depicting see COLUMBUS PAGE 4
Observer Staff Report
THOMAS MURPHY | The Observer
For their Robert and Patricia Herbold Lecture Series, Young Americans for Freedom invited Michael Knowles to speak on Thursday night. The pundit condemned the covering of the Main Building’s murals.
SMC lecture explores prayer and its usefulness By COLLEEN FISCHER News Writer
In a world full of genocide, hunger, pain and suffering, it is sometimes hard for Christians to turn to prayer. However, Boston College assistant professor of theolog y Dr. Andrew Prevot spoke about the usefulness of prayer in the face of v iolence in his lecture, “Christian Prayer in a Violent World,” on Thursday. Prevot used examples such as the stor y of Job, Christian compliance w ith the Holocaust and congressmen’s responses to the Park land shootings as failures of prayer — and the prayers of refugees, slaves and leaders of righteous movements as successes. Testimony, music and poetr y demonstrate the usefulness of prayer in the face of great v iolence and tragedy, he said. The lecture mainly focused
NEWS PAGE 2
NDSP to be renamed
on one simple question. “W hat good might Christian prayer do in such a contest in such a world? ” Prevot asked. Prevot started by advocating the counterpoint to his argument — listing ways that Christian prayer seems to fail in a v iolent world. “Given the v iolence of the world, it might seem to us that Christian prayer is not a ver y promising way to respond,” he said. One of the ways Prevot described prayer’s futilit y against v iolence was the feeling of rejection from God that comes from unanswered prayers. “Pray ing to response to v iolence only adds insult to injur y,” Prevot said. The second way that he described prayer as escalating v iolence was through the belief that God is on the side of the perpetrators. see PRAYER PAGE 3
SCENE PAGE 5
Effective March 1, the Notre Dame Security Police Department will be renamed the Notre Dame Police Department, the University announced in a press release Thursday. With the name change, the department aims “to bring clarity for both the campus community and partners in law enforcement, more accurately portray the enforcement duties of the department and reinforce the department as a sworn police force,” according to the release. see NDSP PAGE 4
Scotty McCreery to perform at IDEA Week Observer Staff Report
Award-winning country musician Scotty McCreery will perform April 10 at Elkhart’s Lerner Theater as part of the 2019 IDEA Week festivities, the University announced in a press release Thursday. McCreery is scheduled to perform three days prior to fellow country musician Tim McGraw’s concert
in Purcell Pavilion on April 13. McCreery and McGraw’s visits follow country music legend Garth Brooks, who performed before 84,000 on Oct. 20 at Notre Dame Stadium. McCreery made his breakthrough in music in 2011 when he won “American Idol.” Since then, McCreery has released four albums that have reached No. 1 on a Billboard
albums chart, the release said. He has also done work as an author. IDEA Week, which will take place April 8-13 this year, will include over 50 events divided into the categories of Learn, Play, Meet and Compete. The week, sponsored by Notre Dame, the South BendElkhart Regional Partnership see McCREERY PAGE 4
Rita Moreno speaks on experiences in industry By MAX LANDER News Writer
Legendar y actress and political activ ist Rita Moreno gave a talk at Leighton Concert Hall on Thursday, discussing the obstacles faced and joys experienced in her more than 70 years in the entertainment industr y. Moreno said when her
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
career first began at the age of 17, she was plagued by stereot y pes and was often t y pecast into a range of narrow, repetitive and degrading roles. “I was play ing a lot of roles in films that I didn’t especially like,” Moreno said. “We were constantly play ing oversexed girls who were ignorant, who couldn’t
ND W BASKETBALL PAGE 12
read.” Moreno quick ly grew frustrated by the lack of diversit y in show business at the time and that the fact that she was a Puerto Rican drastically limited the number and kind of roles that were available to her. “It was ver y depressing to see MORENO PAGE 3
Men’s Lacrosse PAGE 12