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University to award Carla Harris with 2021 Laetare Medal Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on March 15. Notre Dame will award the 2021 Laetare Medal to Carla Harris — business leader, gospel singer, speaker and author — at the commencement ceremony May 23, according to a March 14 press release. Harris currently serves as the vice chairman of wealth management and senior client adviser at Morgan Stanley and is on Harvard University’s and the Walmart Corp’s boards. “Harris began her career at a time when very few of her colleagues were Black or women, and her trajectory has been steadily ascendant,” the press release said. From 2005 to 2014, Harris was chair of the Morgan Stanley Foundation, and in 2013, President Barack Obama appointed her to chair the National Women’s Business Council, which serves the president, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Throughout the course of her career, Harris has worked to promote women and

people of color in business. She helped create Morgan Stanley’s Multicultural Innovation Lab and oversees the company’s multicultural client strategy as a whole. Harris is also an accomplished gospel singer. She has her own band called the Rhythm Company, and she has released multiple albums and produced and performed benefit concerts at Carnegie Hall and Apollo Theatre. Harris began singing when she was nine years old at a fourthgrade talent show. Harris said she lives by the mantra, “never count yourself out,” and coaches others to motivate themselves by what others say is impossible. Harris is also committed to helping others in any way she can. “We are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others,” Harris said in the release. In her books “Expect to Win” and “Strategize to Win,” Harris detailed her pathway to career success. Harris was born in Port Arthur, Texas and grew up in Jacksonville, Fla. She graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in 1980 with honors and went on to attend Harvard University. Harris graduated

magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics and received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School with second-year honors. Harris married Victor Franklin, her high school sweetheart, at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Harlem in 2001. The two have two daughters, Dakota and McKinley. The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University to recognize an individual who has displayed remarkable service to the Catholic Church, academics and society. University President Fr. John Jenkins praised Harris as this year’s recipient of the award. “Throughout her exceptional career, Carla Harris has exemplified the highest ideals of American enterprise, championed the principle that opportunity should never be denied on the basis of gender or race and generously mentored countless rising leaders,” Jenkins said. “Enriched by her gifts as a singer and public speaker, her work in the competitive world of banking is firmly rooted in her commitment to service, developing the next generation of leaders and her Catholic faith.”

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Former leader to deliver speech Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on March 17. Saint Mary’s confirmed the commencement ceremony for the class of 2021 will take place May 22 at noon associate director of public relations Lisa Knox said in an email to students March 16. The message noted President Katie Conboy expects the event will take place in person as long as COVID-19 trends continue to improve. “We see glimmers of hope in the trajectory of the pandemic on our campus,” Conboy said. “As long as signs point to continued improvement, we feel more comfortable relaxing some of the restrictions we’ve

had in place. If our community continues to maintain this bubble we have created, our seniors will be able to reap the benefits of that hard work by having an in-person ceremony.” The email also announced the commencement speaker for the class of 2021 will be former interim president Nancy Nekvasil. Conboy expressed her gratitude for Nekvasil’s 30 years of experience as a faculty member in Saint Mary’s biology department. “Dr. Nekvasil is a beloved faculty member, leader and friend to our students, faculty and staff,” Conboy said. “As a professor, she was instrumental in shaping the lives of countless young women, showing them how the sciences need Saint Mary’s minds.” In addition, Conboy commended Nekvasil during her leadership as interim

president during the pandemic. “Then, as interim president, she took charge of the College with resounding aptitude,” she said. “Her leadership through the early days of the pandemic, when the world was caught off guard, was confident and compassionate. She made sure our students and their families were heard and cared for. I can’t think of a more meaningful person to address our seniors at commencement than Dr. N[ekvasil].” Nekvasil will be one of three honorary degree recipients at the event, the email stated. Keith J. Egan and Sister Mary Louise Full ’65, C.S.C. will also receive honorary degrees. In addition, the President’s medal will be awarded posthumously to William Cushwa. More information about the award recipients can be found on the College’s website.

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ND trustee to deliver address Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared online on May 11. Jimmy Dunne, Notre Dame trustee and a 1978 graduate of the University, will deliver the commencement address to the Notre Dame class of 2021 and will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree, the University announced in a May 11 press release. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dunne led the recovery of the investment bank he co-founded, Sandler O’Neill. Back then, he was one of the firm’s senior managing partners, the release said. Sixty-eight Sandler O’Neill employees lost their lives in the attacks, including Dunne’s best friend, Chris Quackenbush, as well as his mentor, Herman Sandler. After 9/11, Dunne and the

company created an assistance foundation to care for the families of the employees who died — by providing healthcare to their families, paying their salaries and bonuses and creating scholarships for their children to attend college. According to the press release, Sandler O’Neill grew to become the largest independent fullservice investment banking firm focused on the financial service sector under Dunne’s leadership. Then, in 2020, the firm was acquired by Piper Jaffray and became Piper Sandler, an investment bank in which Dunne now serves as vice chairman and senior managing principal. University President Fr. John Jenkins said Dunne will send off the 2021 graduates with a message of commitment, honor, integrity and perseverance. “At a time when our graduates

have had to show remarkable resilience in the face of the adversity of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jimmy is someone who personified resilience in the aftermath of the tragic events 20 years ago,” Jenkins said in the release.

Named a University trustee in 2010, Dunne and his wife Susan underwrote the construction of Dunne Hall, a men’s residence hall that opened in 2016, and were among the benefactors to the construction of the Irish Athletics Center and the renovation of Rolfs Athletic Hall. Dunne received an honorary monogram from the athletics department in 2019. The Dunne family also endowed the Ann F. Dunne and Elizabeth M. Riley Director of Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute, alongside their friends Rich and Connie Riley.

In addition to Dunne, Thomas G. Burish — who served as the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of Notre Dame from 2005 to 2020 — will also receive an honorary degree at the commencement ceremony. In this role, Burish oversaw many offices and programs, including colleges and schools, institutes and centers, libraries, student advising, admissions, financial aid, the Registrar’s Office, Snite Museum of Art and DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Some of Burish’s notable achievements during his term include the creation of the IDEA Center, the strengthening of international programs through establishing global gateways and the opening of the Donald R. Keough School of Global Affairs. Burish graduated from Notre Dame in 1972 with summa cum laude distinction.

University plans for ceremonies Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared online on March 29. In an email to graduating students March 29, the Office of the Registrar announced plans for the Notre Dame class of 2021 commencement ceremony taking place May 23. The Commencement Mass will be held in Notre Dame Stadium immediately before the commencement exercises. All undergraduate and graduate students graduating in May and currently residing in the local area are tentatively allowed to bring two guests to the in-person ceremony, according to the class of 2021 commencement website. Information about how to reserve tickets will be made available mid-April. Graduates studying remotely

will be allowed to attend the commencement ceremonies if they show proof of vaccination or report to a University COVID-19 testing site upon arrival. The commencement ceremonies for the graduate school and professional schools are expected to be held outdoors over Commencement Weekend. Each college and school is planning on holding an in-person diploma ceremony outdoors over Commencement Weekend. Graduates are also expected to be permitted to bring two guests to the diploma ceremonies. More information about the details of the various ceremonies will be released the week of April 12. The University strongly recommends all graduates and guests planning on attending the ceremony to receive a vaccination before the ceremony. The commencement events, as well as the diploma and hooding ceremonies, will be

livestreamed for guests who cannot attend them in person. According to the website, all plans are subject to change. Should the commencement ceremony be moved to the Joyce Center due to inclement weather on May 23, guests will not be able to attend the ceremony in person. “Should conditions necessitate a move indoors to the Joyce Center, our priority will be to seat our graduates,” the website said. “Distanced seating in the Joyce Center will unfortunately not permit us to accommodate any in-person guests.” Graduates and guests are expected to follow all of the University’s health guidelines during Commencement Weekend. Additionally, all other recognition ceremonies over Commencement Weekend are expected to be held virtually due to the health risks of indoor gatherings, the website said. The website also said a

celebration for the class of 2020 is now planned for the summer of 2022. The graduate school and professional schools will engage in conversations with those who received graduate and professional degrees last year to determine how to best celebrate their achievements within the individual schools. The class of 2020 commencement ceremony was originally rescheduled for Memorial Day 2021, but was ultimately deferred until summer of 2022 due to the pandemic. “We do not expect that by Memorial Day 2021 we will be able to safely welcome back to campus the members of your class as well as your families and loved ones from across the nation and globe for the kind of joyful celebration you want and deserve,” University President Fr. John Jenkins said in a letter to the class of 2020 in February.

Health officer to send off class Observer Staff Report Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on May 5. Associate dean and director of the Indiana Universit y (IU) School of Medicine-South Bend and deput y hea lth officer for the St. Joseph Count y Department of Hea lth Dr. Mark Fox w ill deliver the commencement address for Holy Cross College, according to an announcement on the Holy Cross website. Fox a lso ser ves as a professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the IU School of MedicineSouth Bend and holds appointments as an adjunct professor in the Department of Hea lth Policy and Management at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Hea lth at IUPUI and as a distinguished adjunct professor of theolog y at Notre Dame. Throughout the COV ID-19 pandemic, Fox has ser ved as the COV ID-19 response adv isor to Notre Dame. In addition to Fox, chairman and CEO of 1st Source Bank Christopher Murphy III and his w ife Carmen “Carmi” Carmichael Murphy w ill receive honorar y degrees from the College. Carmi ser ves on the boards of the Family and Children’s Center, Inc. and the Snite Museum of A rt Adv isor y Council. The 54th Commencement w ill ta ke place May 22 at 2 p.m. on the Holy Cross campus. The ceremony w ill follow COV ID-19 protocols and families w ill be a llowed to attend upon purchase of a ticket. “Families are inv ited, though tickets could be limited depending on public hea lth guidelines,” the announcement said.

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News Writer

A lthough Madeline Owen has now become the valedictorian for the class of 2021, Notre Dame was not her childhood dream school. But, Owen said, she changed her mind after visiting campus on a whim with her mom on the way back from an event in Chicago.

“[My mom and I] went up to Notre Dame, and we got out of the car and walked around. And I really was just taking it all in for the first time, and there was not much conversation between her and I,” Owen said. “But I was just seeing things I really liked and seemed so unique from other college campuses. I loved it and I knew from that moment that Notre Dame was the school of my dreams.” According to Owen, Notre Dame stood out because of its family-like atmosphere. “It just really seemed like ever yone here was one big family and has such a national and international representation,” Owen said. “It’s a place that students are nurtured to achieve the best

and to achieve more than they envision themselves achieving.” Owen, a Stamps Scholar, took on numerous endeavors during her four years at Notre Dame. She majored in neuroscience and behavior, minored in poverty studies and was part of the Glynn family Honors Program. She said she was drawn to neuroscience and behavior because it was the cross section of two things she was ver y interested in: science and humanity. “W hat attracted me to neuroscience was the intersection between the science and the inquir y part and, really, the human element,” Owen explained. “I have known that medicine is the direction that I wanted to go since I was ver y young, but a huge part of medicine is the human element … Medicine really needs people who have true compassion and true empathy. And I think learning how humans think and how we behave is a huge part of that.” Poverty studies, Owen said, was a topic she sought out because of her unique

Madeline Owen

By BELLA LAUFENBERG

Class of 2021 valedictorian

ND valedictorian discusses unlikely journey

childhood. “Growing up with my family, it was always about the journey and not the destination. We drove ever y where we could, and we stopped at ever ything that looked interesting along the way,” Owen explained. “I really learned how to talk to anyone; I learned that ever yone has a stor y. Ever yone comes from ver y different, unique backgrounds. And that has been a huge part of my values and of me seeking out a poverty studies minor.” Among other activities, Owen was a part of the American Red Cross club and of Aquatic Relief for Kids, and she ser ved as the treasurer of Breen-Phillips Hall and the Pre-Professional Society. She also played the violin at dorm masses and Paid Advertisement

was involved in the running and sailing clubs. Likewise, Owen has been involved with research since the spring of her first year, with some of her own research being published. Owen said becoming valedictorian was never a part of her plan. “I tr y not to have my journey just be means to an end,” Owen said. “I really tried to focus on the journey and not just the destination and enjoy ever y step of the way. So, I think, this whole journey has really been about me learning and growing as a student,

In the future, Owen said she plans to attend the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, as she is interested in pursuing a career within orthopedic and spinal surger y. Her advice to other students following in her footsteps is to not be afraid of doing something out of their comfort zone. “Some of my most valuable learning opportunities have come from the times when I was the most ner vous or uncertain or uncomfortable before going into that opportunity …” Owen said.

“It just really seemed like everyone here was one big family and has such a national and international representation.” Madeline Owen

as a scholar, as a citizen, as well. W hen you embrace that component, other things will fall into place. Your GPA is — or should be — a representation of the learning that you have undertaken and of the commitment that you’ve put in.”

“Notre Dame has such incredible opportunities for grow th and for learning, and much of that comes when you stretch your boundaries a little bit.” Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu

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to help stand up for people that their voices aren’t always heard [and] in Fiat, I’m a small group leader, so I kind of help lead conversation for people. So being a voice for people or being even a rock for people is kind of the best thing.” Following graduation, Harris will be serving as a missionar y through the Fellowship of Catholic University Student on a U.S. college campus. Even though some people think this is an unexpected move, Harris believes in the importance of following her calling. “I kind of chose the thing that made the least sense to some people, but this past year, it’s been crazy and life can change overnight. So, I wanted to follow the thing that I knew I was called to,” Harris said. Jackson is a speech-language patholog y major with minors in gerontolog y and social work. She expressed her positive experiences working with a client in a clinical practicum. “I think probably my favorite thing that I did more on the academic side of things was I had a clinical practicum,”Jackson said. “So, I got to have a client that I worked with in the speech and language clinic.

And so it was really cool to get to ... have the culmination of all the things that I learned in all my speech patholog y classes and actually put that into practice.” W hile she was majoring in speech-language patholog y, Jackson said she discovered her love for gerontolog y and plans to apply this knowledge when she completes her master’s in speech-language patholog y at Ithaca College next fall. “I was able to — through clubs and coursework through the gerontolog y department [and] the gerontolog y minor, realize that I really like to work with older adults,” she said. “And then from there, I started volunteering with hospices, and got that end of life care experience, and I actually found a big passion for that.” Jackson noted that her time at the College taught her valuable lessons about how to live on her own. “I would say that I gained a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities,” Jackson said. “I’m from southern Arizona, so it was the first time I was really at a distance from my family, and so I gained a lot of independence and figured out that

Saint Mary’s valedictorian

Stefanie Winnicki

Katie Jackson

Three Saint Mar y’s seniors will be recognized as valedictorians for the Class of 2021 at the College’s commencement ceremony May 22. The three honorees are Kelly Harris, Katie Jackson and Stefanie Winnicki. Harris is a business administration major with concentrations in finance and management. She noted that her faith was the most important part of her collegiate journey. “I feel like the biggest thing for me is my faith,” Harris said. “That’s why I came to Saint Mar y’s because it was a Catholic institution. They market themselves as a Catholic, women’s liberal arts institution — Catholic is first so I wanted to go somewhere that I could grow in my faith. Harris believes that being a resident assistant at Saint Mar y’s was a formative part of her experience. “I think, even though it’s been really stressful, and you don’t have a lot of free time, it’s really cool being able to meet so many people that I otherwise wouldn’t have met in the classroom or in friendships or in clubs.” Harris also considered the effect being a member of Belles for Life and Fiat, a religious fellowship organization had on her and the people she served. “In Belles for Life, I’m able

Saint Mary’s valedictorian

Saint Mary’s News Editor

Kelly Harris

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN

Saint Mary’s valedictorian

Saint Mary’s valedictorians talk future plans

I was able to do well managing ever ything that goes along with being a college student.” Winnicki is receiving a global studies major with a concentration in anthropolog y from the College and a minor in Mandarin Chinese from the University of Notre Dame. She plans to enter a career related to international service after graduation. Winnicki expressed her gratitude for being named a co-valedictorian. “I’m so grateful,” Winnicki said. “Truly more than anything, I don’t feel it’s something that I’ve done. I feel it’s just something that I’m just so blessed to have happened in my life.” Describing her journey at the College, Winnicki noted she initially struggled to find her place in the College community. “Interestingly enough when I first started out here, it was really tough for me to fit in and feel this is where I was supposed to be,” Winnicki said. “I really struggled just like with college in general, I think. I didn’t feel like I was ever good enough and I just worried so much about holding myself to like this high standard.”

After attempting to create a student-designed major, Winnicki explained her thought about her decision to major in global studies. “I just had like this moment where I’m like ‘Okay, maybe, because like I’ve always known that language is something that’s always fueled my passion,” she said. “It’s something that’s been the most important to me and I knew that I was like, ‘Okay, if this student design major didn’t work out, I guess I can consider global studies.” Throughout her time in the major, Winnicki studied Spanish, Italian and Arabic at Saint Mar y’s, in addition to Mandarin at Notre Dame, she said. During her senior year, Winnicki was asked by her Arabic professor to be a teaching assistant for the College’s Introductor y Arabic class. Since her professor was teaching remotely, Winnicki came to ever y class session in person to help the students. She recounted what she learned during her time in the class. “There were a couple times when I had to teach the class all by myself. I never had like that kind of responsibility before,” Winnicki said. “It really taught me leadership and it really gave me confidence in my ability to speak in front of others and be a leader.” Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

Associate News Editor

Throughout grade school, A lex is Wa ldschmidt would often w rite speeches in braille on note cards so she would not have to look dow n when presenting. She started this practice after becoming fascinated w ith braille and A merican Sign Language (ASL) follow ing a presentation she gave on Helen Keller in third grade. “Just to be able to communicate w ith people, to be able to communicate w ith an ASL, w ith people who might be hard of hearing or deaf in that communit y. I think it’s ver y important,” Wa ldschmidt said. Wa ldschmidt has continued to follow her passion for language and communication as she is about to graduate w ith majors in Chinese and biologica l sciences as the sa lutatorian of the class of 2021. She was named the biologica l sciences class of 2021 va ledictorian and holds a 4.0 grade point average. Wa ldschmidt, a

native of Naper v ille, Illinois, hopes to merge her passion for biolog y w ith her love of communication and one day become a professor of biolog y. She initia lly came to Notre Dame w ith the intention of entering the medica l field, but quick ly discovered she wanted to teach. “I’d a lways just assumed I would become a doctor,” Wa ldschmidt said. “It was never rea lly something I thought about, it was just something I had assumed.” W hile ta k ing a course at a communit y college to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA), Wa ldschmidt began to discover her love of teaching. One of the students in the class was from Iran and had a disrupted educationa l background which prevented her from k now ing some materia l that was required for the course, so Wa ldschmidt would stay back w ith the other student and help her learn the materia l. “So I just stayed after and just taught her the entire time,” Wa ldschmidt said.

Class of 2021 salutatorian

By RYAN PETERS

Alexis Waldschmidt

ND salutatorian to pursue teaching, research

“That’s what I mean, that’s stuff I rea lly enjoyed. Just stay ing after and teaching her and I just love teaching.” In addition to her passion for teaching, Wa ldschmidt a lso greatly enjoys research. She has worked in professor Joseph O’Tousa’s lab studying v isua l systems of mosquitoes in order to learn how to prevent them from spreading v iruses such as dengue. Wa ldschmidt w ill work in the lab for the next year after graduation. Biolog y, nature and science have been Wa ldschmidt’s interests since she was a child. She cited a love of tr y ing to discover the unk now n as fuel for her research. “I just love what we don’t k now and figuring that out

because I love that process of discover y,” she said. Wa ldschmidt hopes to combine her studies of biolog y and Chinese to study or conduct research in China or Taiwan one day. She continues to study Chinese because she said once people overcome language barriers, rich differences and profound similarities ex ist bet ween people, and as a result, people can become more connected. “I’ve natura lly started rea lizing that learning language is one of the most powerful ways that people can learn humanit y,” Wa ldschmidt said. Throughout her sophomore year, Wa ldschmidt tutored first-year students in introductor y biolog y. Beginning junior year, she transitioned to tutoring student-athletes. Wa ldschmidt said she not only likes meeting other students and teaching them through tutoring, but those she tutors a lso give her a new perspective on the materia l. “Ever yone has such diverse backgrounds and different

ways of approaching problems and different questions they ask that I would just never have thought of myself,” she said. “So it just gives me a new perspective on the materia l.” In addition to being named va ledictorian of the biologica l sciences class of 2021, Wa ldschmidt received the biolog y department’s Paul F. Ware, M.D., Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award, the Fulbright Scholarship for teaching English in Taiwan and won the College of Science Dean’s Award. She is a lso a member of the Dean’s List and Phi Beta Kappa honor societ y. As Wa ldschmidt graduates from Notre Dame, she said the past four years have fostered her curiosit y and showed her the importance of k indness. “It’s just given me a better understanding of how to embody k indness and just how important that is,” Wa ldschmidt said. Contact Ryan Peters at rpeters5@nd.edu

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Ingal, Galbenski tackle unprecedented year By BELLA LAUFENBERG News Writer

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on April 9. When Rachel Ingal and Sarah Galbenski first took office as the Notre Dame student body president and vice president in March 2020, they had no idea what the next year held for them. Ingal, a senior political science major and business economics minor, said she has always been involved with Notre Dame student government. When she was a first-year, Ingal served on First Undergraduate Experience in Leadership (FUEL). Ingal said she enjoyed it so much that she came back and co-directed the FUEL program her sophomore year. As a junior, Ingal said she took a step back from student government to do her fall semester away from campus in Washington, D.C. She said it was during that semester away from campus that she decided to run for student body president. Galbenski is a senior majoring in Spanish and global affairs with a concentration in peace studies. Unlike Ingal, Galbenski said she had no previous experience with student government before being asked to join Ingal’s ticket. Galbenski said she believes

the pair have a good balance since they had different background experiences from before becoming president and vice president. “I think [Ingal] was looking for someone to balance her out — someone that had experience in other spheres on campus and could bring fresh perspectives to the table, but it also is great to have her institutional experience and knowledge to help bring me into the fold,” Galbenski explained. Ingal and Galbenski ran on a platform of striving to “accompany, advocate for and amplify every student on this campus.”

Ingal said she believed the best part of their campaign is that they knew students had a lot to say. “Something that I think was the coolest part of our campaign was that we didn’t believe we needed to be a voice for the voiceless,” Ingal said. “And I think we just had a fundamental belief that nobody here is voiceless; everybody has a voice. They have incredible perspective and have lived experiences to contribute and share … all we wanted to do is just strive to amplify that.” When students were asked to stay or return home within their first week on the job, Ingal and Galbenski pivoted to set aside their more ambitious campaign promises in order

to prioritize what students needed. Ingal said she was very proud of how they were able to adapt to the new circumstances so quickly. “We were adapting so much, and you just have to be on your feet in terms of trying to be as attentive as possible to things that we needed, specifically for our COVID year,” Ingal said. The main two things Ingal said they focused on, in terms of COVID-related changes, were increased HERE dashboard metrics and more testing. “And that’s something we were big advocates from the beginning and consistently brought up on a weekly basis to all of our advisors and slowly but surely, they started to do that,” Ingal explained. “A lot of the work and accomplishments that we made were in very informal conversations, and it literally was just instances of us being a liaison between the students and the administration.” According to Galbenski, they were very nervous about the year to come during the turbulent start to their term. “We were a little bit nervous when that curveball was thrown at us that it would be all cleanup and disaster relief — and it was a lot of that, because that’s just what the community needed and you have

to respond to the community’s needs as a public servant — but we still were able to embark upon our own plans and dreams as well,” Galbenski said. Despite the tumultuous start to Ingal and Galbenski’s term, they said they achieved many of their campaign goals and other initiatives that came up during the year. Ingal said one of her favorite programs Galbenski and she got started on over the past year was the Women’s Leadership Forum. “We wanted to create a women’s leadership forum as a way to expose all these great, highachieving women to leaders on campus who have had incredibly successful career paths and who’ve kind of done it all,” Ingal said. “But also, we wanted to create a network of women student union leaders, so that they could kind of lean on each other, and just form those relationships.” Galbenski said she considered adjusting Title IX regulations one of the most important achievements of her term. During the Trump presidency, Title IX regulations were changed to make the evidentiary standard for both student and faculty sexual assault cases the same. In the past, the Notre Dame faculty evidentiary standard had been higher

than the student evidentiary standard. Galbenski said since she was a student liaison for the faculty senate, she played an integral part in changing the Title IX rules so that the student evidentiary standard would not increase from “preponderance of the evidence” to a “clear and convincing” standard as a result of the new Trump-era regulations. She said it was very important for both Ingal and her to stand with sexual assault survivors by making the reporting process easier, not harder. Both Ingal and Galbenski said they are grateful for the opportunity they had to serve as Notre Dame student body president and vice presidents during this unprecedented year. Ingal said that she will take the leadership, flexibility and resilience that she’s cultivated during her time here into whatever her future holds. Galbenski said she will always value the lessons she has learned and relationships that she made. “It’s just been the people that have been the best part of it — that have taught me so much,” Galbenski said. “I’m really grateful.” Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu

HCC valedictorian reflects on community By ALYSA GUFFEY Notre Dame News Editor

W hen he f irst sta rted looking at colleges, Holy Cross senior Dyla n Maugel was not sure if he wa nted to study t heolog y or chemica l engineering — t wo vast ly dif ferent subjects. Eventua lly, he decided to pursue his interest in t heolog y a nd ended up at t he College because it is one of few schools to of fer a t heolog y progra m in India na. “I ended up study ing t heolog y for t he discernment for entering t he semina r y possibly,” Maugel sa id. Now on t he cusp of graduating, Maugel w ill be celebrated as t he Holy Cross class of 2021 va ledictoria n a nd give a speech at t he commencement ceremony Saturday. Maugel grew up in t he sma ll tow n of Wa ka r usa, India na, roughly 24 miles from Notre Da me. He is graduating w it h majors in t heolog y a nd business, a nd a minor in philosophy. Writing a t heolog y senior t hesis on t he baptisma l ca ll of t he la it y ser ved as t he culmination of Maugel’s undergraduate t heolog y studies. The project studied how God ma kes t he world holy t hrough

huma ns, Maugel sa id. Maugel credited his adv isor, associate professor of t heolog y Louis A lba rra n, for being a cr ucia l f ig ure in developing his understa nding of t heolog y. “He k ind of helped point me to see how each ordina r y indiv idua l does God’s work in t he world by doing what t hey love a nd doing what t hey’re ca lled to do, even if it is just a n ordina r y t hing, like being a n accounta nt or being a n engineer,” Maugel sa id. Maugel added his business major during his sophomore yea r, he sa id, a f ter spending a summer work ing w it h loca l Church leaders t hrough a summer ser v ice lea rning progra m. In his role, Maugel worked w it h pa rishes to buy r un-dow n apa rtments a nd convert t hem into a f fordable apa rtments instead of letting t he cit y demolish t he buildings to build higher-income housing. “I found a need for business-minded people in t he Cat holic Church,” Maugel sa id. Maugel described his wellrounded four-yea r academic experience as “centered in t he common good.” “We don’t just see

tra nsactions as money excha nging bet ween people, but rat her as a n encounter bet ween people t hat helps f ulf ill t he needs of bot h t he buyer a nd t he seller,” Maugel sa id. “A nd just in genera l our t heolog y progra m helps us see t he world as a gif t, a nd embody t his t hrough a greater understa nding of Scripture in t he liturg y.” At Holy Cross, Maugel has spent t he past academic yea r ser v ing as a resident assista nt in Basil Ha ll. Despite t he restrictive protocols t he pa ndemic brought to ca mpus, Maugel sa id he ca me to appreciate how Holy Cross is like “a rea lly big fa mily.” “It’s a close-k nit communit y where we strive to rea lly grow in fraternit y w it h one a not her as we sha re mea ls — even under a tent for a dining ha ll,” Maugel sa id. Maugel a lso spoke of how he enjoys t he nick na mes he a nd his peers sha re w it h one a not her. Maugel expla ined t hat he beca me “Spicy Dyl” a f ter he brought spicy dill pick les his freshma n yea r. “It’s just one of t hose unique t hings of ca lling each person by t heir na me a nd look ing into t heir eyes, a nd t his being intentiona l a nd present w it h

Courtesy of Dylan Maugel

Wakarusa, Ind. native and Holy Cross senior Dylan Maugel, a theology and business double major, is the class of 2021 valedictorian. each ot her,” Maugel sa id. Additiona lly, Maugel has been involved on ca mpus t hrough his roles as co-cha ir for t he student government socia l concerns committee, a peer mentor, a member of bot h t he Notre Da me a nd Holy Cross liturgica l choirs a nd member of t he K nights of Columbus club. Next yea r, Maugel w ill attend t he Aug ustine Institute in Greenwood Village, Colo., to work towa rd a Master of A rts in t heolog y. A f ter t he t wo-yea r progra m, Maugel hopes to ser ve in t he Church by being a leader of ser v ice lea rning, director of

stewa rdship or director of eva ngelization a nd discipleship. In his commencement speech, Maugel sa id he w ill spea k on liv ing a life of gratitude. He sa id t he College has g uided its students to live as bot h sa ints a nd as Holy Cross Sa ints t hroughout t he rest of t heir lives. “We might ma ke a loca l impact, but t he ripple ef fect w ill a f fect t he globa l world a nd ca ll ever yone to embody sa int hood in some sort of way,” Maugel sa id. Contact Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu

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Seniors receive fellowships, grants with CUSE By ADRIANA PEREZ Editor-in-Chief

A total of 22 graduating seniors have won a variety of fellowships and scholarships to participate in post-graduate programs. Awardees include 17 Fulbright finalists, two National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows, one 2020 Truman Scholar, one Luce Scholar and one Yenching Scholar. In years past, members of the class of 2021 have won many other prestigious undergraduate study grants, including three Goldwater Scholarships, four Boren Scholarships and 20 Gilman Scholarships. The graduating class of 2021 has seen 22 of its members awarded a variety of fellowships and scholarships. Awardees include 17 Fulbright finalists, two National Science Foundation (NSF) research fellows, one Luce scholar and one Yenching scholar. Six other applicants for the Fulbright scholarship were chosen as alternate candidates — if more funding becomes available for them, they can be promoted to finalists. Four other graduating seniors were also finalists for the competitive Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. Of the Fulbright finalists — students who have received the award, but are only promoted to “Fulbright students” if and when they complete their program — three received a study or research grant, and 14 will partake in a teaching assistantship if they accept the award. According to Elise Rudt, national fellowships senior program manager at the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Engagement (CUSE), applications for the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship “exploded” this cycle, in spite of — or perhaps because of — the pandemic. About 60 people applied, instead of the usual 30, she said. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program sends recent graduates and graduate students to over 140 countries across the world, where it seeks to facilitate “cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home and in routine tasks.” Senior Jill Ruane has accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Hessen, Germany, near Frankfurt. She will be part of a diversity program, teaching German to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in a school. “I’m really, really excited to get involved in that community and help them learn about America, but also learn so much from them and their life stories, all the different, mixing cultures in Germany,” Ruane said. Ruane was part of Air Force ROTC at Notre Dame, where she majored in mathematics with a minor in German. She will delay starting active duty until July of next year. In the past few months, Germany has had a relatively slow

vaccine roll out while the country has seen increased cases of COVID-19. Ruane acknowledged this, as well as the possibility that her placement will be postponed. But she also said she feels hopeful because the European Union recently announced American tourists who are fully vaccinated will be able to travel to Europe this summer — after more than a year of banning non-essential travel. Ruane said she felt “blessed and lucky” to be able to take up every opportunity to go abroad through Notre Dame during her undergraduate career. During her sophomore year, she went on a fall break trip to Poland, and received a grant to visit Berlin for three weeks during winter break. She then received a Summer Language Abroad (SLA) grant to study German in Cologne for eight weeks over the summer before her junior year. Then, during the fall of her junior year in 2019, she visited England, Belgium and France through a Nanovic Institute class called “The Great War.” In the spring of 2020, she studied abroad in Jerusalem, where she learned a bit of Arabic, before having to return back home at the onset of the pandemic. “I think having interacted with … different cultures and societies, has really prepared me,” she said, reflecting on the usefulness of these experiences as she prepares to return to Germany in the fall. Ruane said she believes other experiences at Notre Dame, such as taking a community-based writing and rhetoric class and tutoring at the Robinson Community Learning Center, helped make her application stronger as well. Because they were in their second semester of their junior year when the pandemic started, most senior Fulbright finalists were able to complete a semester abroad, or at least experience part of it, like Ruane. However, not all the recipients have had a study abroad experience. CUSE director Jeffrey Thibert explained that there are other ways in which students have gained and displayed qualities characteristic of a Fulbright grantee and a cultural ambassador beyond studying abroad. “[Study abroad] is not a magical key,” he said. “I think that what they’re really looking for is resilience, adaptability, perseverance, people who can get along well with others, who are excited to learn about other people.” Senior Theresa Azemar, who majored in English and American Studies, will travel to Belgium on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. There, she will teach English at the University of Antwerp. She did not study abroad during her junior year due to the requirements for her majors, Azemar explained. She planned to go to Ireland for a creative writing program in the summer of 2020, but that was canceled due to COVID-19.

Despite not studying abroad, she said she feels she has had a lot of experiences connecting with people of different cultures. Being raised by immigrant parents and growing up in an area with a high immigrant population, she added, has helped her gain the necessary cultural competency and social awareness. “Though it’s not the same having a full, immersive abroad experience, it is the experience of walking into a new home, accepting traditions, learning to be respectful and managing your own expectations and biases,” Azemar explained. Throughout a very introspective application process and while writing her personal statement, Azemar learned to verbalize her achievements, accomplishments and skills, she said. And, ultimately, she learned how to advocate for herself. “I also learned that a lot of Arts and Letters students — maybe particularly Arts and Letter women or non-men — tend to be a bit more on the humble side when it comes to applying for things,” she said. “So, I learned to just really accept and appreciate the things that I know that I’m good at and I know that I’m strong at, and the things that I’m not so strong at, and phrasing it in a way that’s still something positive about myself.” Azemar, who was vaccinated at Notre Dame’s vaccination clinic, said she is hopeful her plans will remain in place and she will be able to go to Belgium despite the pandemic. “At this point, I think, if my Fulbright experience has to be a little bit hybrid or kind of warped, I think I’m still open to the weirdness of it all, especially after this past year and then some,” she said. “You’re just wanting to accept that things are just going to be new and different, but that doesn’t mean they’re less valuable.” For senior Elsa Barron — a recipient of a Fulbright research grant — her plans to go to Bangalore, India, in November feel a bit more uncertain with the current COVID-19 crisis in the country. Barron said when she first heard the news that she was a finalist, she felt surprised but grateful to have been given the opportunity to travel internationally and do research with a Fulbright grant. “And then my second thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, should I accept this in this time of uncertainty? Even if I’m able to go, what are the ethical implications of that, when I have access to vaccines that many people in India likely won’t access for many months, if not years?’” she recalled. Ultimately, Barron decided to accept the grant. She will be working at Azim Premji University in Bangalore in order to assist a professor and do research into positive environmental peacebuilding as a response to structural forms of environmental violence and oppression. By engaging with non-governmental organizations, she hopes

to continue her research into environmental peacebuilding at the grassroots level, which she started studying in Jerusalem and which built directly into her Fulbright proposal and the kind of questions she hopes to answer. Barron did an International Summer Service Learning Program (ISSLP) in the summer of 2019 in Jerusalem, where she learned about liberation theology and worked at a refugee community center. She returned to Jerusalem in the fall of that same year and conducted an independent study into peacebuilding and the environment alongside a professor at Hebrew University. Before then, during her first year at Notre Dame, she was part of the S.N. Bose Scholars Program, which sponsors research exchange between India and the U.S. Through this, she visited a different university at Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Science, to do research on yeast and mitochondrial and microbial defects and binary fission. Barron acknowledged the help she received from her professors, fellow students and CUSE advisers. She said applying to “these sorts of fellowships [is] really collaborative … That’s certainly important to acknowledge — I’m very grateful for all that support.” CUSE staff echoed that collaborative aspect of the long application process and how advisers react to the good news when a student receives an award. “It is really exciting to see all of the hard work and energy and effort that they put into the application process because it’s a really personal process,” said Emily Hunt, student engagement program coordinator at CUSE. “They’re required to really dig deep and think about what they want and how everything they’ve done in the past has led to this opportunity.” Learning that a student has been chosen for an award is thrilling, she added. Senior program manager Emily Rudt echoed this sentiment, saying it’s overjoying when students get to engage in these opportunities. Of course, director Jeffrey Thibert added, most of these scholarships and fellowships are very competitive, so not all students who apply receive them. “But I do think that, what we try to do as advisors and what CUSE’s ethos is, is that we want to make sure people are getting something valuable and worthwhile out of this advising process no matter what happens at the end,” he said. Thibert said he hopes that the skills students learn when working alongside CUSE — writing personal essays, asking for letters of recommendation, introspection — will help them pursue their interests and grow personally no matter what they do in the future. “On a personal note, working with all these students over the years — whether they’ve gotten the fellowship in the end or not — has really made me a better, more

interesting person,” Thibert said. “Because we really get to work with some amazing students, and it really is the most gratifying part of the work is getting to know all of you.” Out of over 770 applicants, one member of the class of 2021 was chosen as a Truman Scholar from last year’s 62-person cohort. According to Thibert, Truman Scholarships are received junior year, but the funding goes toward graduate or professional school. This merit-based award funds graduate studies in preparation for a career in public service. Over 2,000 students across the U.S. have been accepted into the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The NSF GRFP seeks to recognize “outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.” The NSF fellowship program includes financial support for three years, an annual stipend and a cost of education allowance to the institution. Notre Dame’s graduating Luce Scholar was one of 164 semifinalists contending for 18 spots in the 2021-2022 class. Each year, the Luce Scholarship program provides between 15 to 18 scholars with stipends, language training and professional placement in big cities and small villages throughout Northeast, Southeast and South Asia. The Yenching Academy of Peking University has a scholarship program for an interdisciplinary master’s program in China Studies. Its participants include young people interested in leadership, innovation and becoming “global citizens with a nuanced understanding of China,” according to the program’s website. Annually, the Yenching Academy enrolls approximately 120 students from mainland China and abroad in their scholarship program — and this year, one Notre Dame senior has been accepted. The fellowship for Yenching Scholars covers tuition fees, accommodations, a monthly stipend, one round-trip travel fare and field study costs. Some of these opportunities are not only open to graduating seniors, however. Many accept applications from graduate students or even young professionals. Thibert said if someone who is graduating wants to apply for a fellowship in the future, they can still do so. “An important note — especially for seniors looking at this issue, looking at this article — is that they can still apply for these, right now,” he explained. “Especially if they’re doing some kind of gap year experience next year, they could then go into a fellowship after that … We are still happy to work with people who are graduating.” Contact Adriana Perez at aperez8@nd.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

Seniors enter religious life, discern priesthood By CLAIRE REID News Writer

Director of the Office of Vocations for the Congregation of Holy Cross Fr. John DeRiso can often be found in the Duncan or LaFortune Student Centers, where he meets with Notre Dame students interested in discerning their vocation. DeRiso invites students who express interest in the priesthood or in religious life to consider the Congregation of Holy Cross. Each year, about two or three graduating seniors enter formation and so take the next steps toward discerning their vocation to Holy Cross priesthood, according to DeRiso. This year, three graduating seniors will continue to discern religious life through the Moreau Seminary’s postulant and novitiate programs. One of these seniors is Jacob Gorman, a joint philosophy and theology major from Evansville, Indiana. Gorman spent his time at Notre Dame as an Old Collegian — three years in the Old College Undergraduate Seminary and this past year in the Moreau Seminary’s one-year postulant program. Rather than living in a typical dorm community, as an Old Collegian, Gorman lived in Old College by St. Mary’s Lake near the Grotto, alongside other Notre Dame and Holy Cross College undergraduates discerning and preparing for a vocation in the Holy Cross priesthood. “You’re living in a very intentional community, a group of guys

who are discerning and praying together, who are trying to explore God’s calling in their life,” Gorman explained. Although the Old Collegians seek to form intentional community through a schedule that includes nights of prayer and formation, Gorman said they get to have a typical Notre Dame experience as well. “We take classes with all the other undergraduates on campus. We have friends in the dorms. We can go to University events. We can play on intramural teams,” Gorman said. “So, a lot of the aspects of the Notre Dame experience are still things that we go through.” Gorman said some of his favorite Notre Dame memories include going to football games, late night hangouts and bonfires with the men he has met through the Seminary. Like him, Gorman said, many of these young men felt called to the priesthood from a young age. “It varies from guy to guy,” Gorman said. “But I’d say the typical experience… at least for the Old Collegians and for me, kind of around high school, you kind of feel a little stirring. You fall in love with something.” For Gorman, that stirring occurred during his first year of high school. “I got involved in my youth group. I had a really amazing group of friends,” Gorman recalled. “I was introduced to a strong prayer life, and that’s where I fell in love with Christ.” As Gorman’s faith continued to

grow throughout his high school years, he realized he wanted to pursue a future path that combined the things he values most. “I knew that education was really important to me. I knew that family was really important to me. And I knew that the Church was really important to me,” Gorman said. “And when I was kind of looking around, I found Holy Cross. I found this community of priests and brothers who combine education, family, church and mission.” After graduating, Gorman will advance in his formation journey from postulant to novice. He will enter the Holy Cross novitiate program near Colorado Springs for a year of prayer and discernment, largely removed from the distractions of the world. “It’s a place where guys go and give up lots of things [such as] phones, and they have periods of silence,” Gorman said. “But it’s a time of really deep prayer and really intentional community, so that you can kind of discern ‘Do I want to take the vows, do I want to enter into this life?’” If Gorman completes his novitiate year in Colorado, he will return to the Moreau Seminary and take temporary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He will renew these vows every year for four years and then he will have the opportunity to make those vows permanent. If he permanently takes the vows, he will be ordained a Holy Cross priest shortly thereafter. Eddie Donnelly is another senior discerning the Holy Cross priesthood. Unlike Gorman, Donnelly

did not spend his undergraduate years living in Old College. A resident of Zahm Hall until this semester, Donnelly is also a joint philosophy and theology major. Additionally, Donnelly — who has been playing the piano since childhood and began taking voice lessons while at Notre Dame — will graduate with a minor in Liturgical Music Ministry. He said his favorite undergraduate experience has been being a member of the Notre Dame Drumline. Following graduation, Donnelly will enter the Seminary’s one-year postulant program — the program which Gorman is currently taking part in — and begin the formation process. Donnelly, too, said he felt called to the priesthood from a young age. He recalled an interaction he had when he was 5 years old, in which someone told him he would make a good priest. “Five is a really strange time to hear that, but ever since then it stuck with me,” Donnelly said. During his first year of high school, Donnelly said he met young, charismatic priests who made the vocation seem accessible to him for the first time. “I also saw a group of Benedictines praying the Divine Office, which is the prayer of the Church,” Donnelly recalled. “It was in that moment that I felt like ‘I can see myself doing that.’” By the end of high school, Donnelly said, he felt called to study theology. When choosing a university, he looked no further than Notre Dame. It was the only school he applied to. However, the

New Jersey native was not initially accepted. “I was mad for about 10 minutes,” Donnelly said. “And then, I remembered this guy Rudy did this thing where he went to a different school, then ended up at Notre Dame. So, I filled out the Holy Cross College application.” The next day, Donnelly received a phone call from the College’s president, Fr. David Tyson. Through Tyson and others, Donnelly was introduced to the Congregation of Holy Cross. “I got the privilege of getting to know the brothers of Holy Cross really well,” Donnelly said. “I lived with them for a summer, and got to discern the priesthood with a group of brothers.” After his first year at Holy Cross, Donnelly transferred to Notre Dame. Then, last year, just before the onset of the pandemic, he met with DeRiso to discuss his desire to serve as a priest. With DeRiso’s guidance, Donnelly applied to the Seminary and was accepted into the postulant program. After graduation, he will move to Moreau Seminary — which he can see from his residence at the Sacred Heart Parish Center. “I’m most looking forward to the community,” Donnelly said. “Living with a bunch of brothers bound by the Congregation of Holy Cross, praying together, living together and discerning God’s call together.” Contact Claire Reid at creid6@nd.edu

Seniors to partake in post-grad opportunities By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN Saint Mary’s News Editor

The Career Crossings Office administered its annual Graduate Destination Survey in order to collect data on seniors’ post-graduation plans. Stacie Jeffirs, director of Career Crossings, explained how the Office uses the survey. “We use the data internally to follow up with graduating seniors who need assistance with their pursuits and also share their pursuits on our social media channels to celebrate their accomplishments with the Saint Mary’s community and beyond,” Jeffirs said. This year’s survey concluded that 58% of graduating seniors are planning to enter the workforce, 28% are planning to further their education in graduate or professional school, 8% are planning to pursue post-graduate internships/externships, 3.5% are planning to complete volunteer programs, 1.5% are planning to pursue other gap year opportunities and 1% is planning to enter the military.

Jeffirs noted while the percentage of students getting post-baccalaureate degrees has increased compared to previous years, this is not an unexpected trend. “This is slightly higher than what

we typically see, but over the past five or 10 years, the percentage of graduating seniors immediately pursuing additional education ranges from 20 to 25 percent,“ she said. “Within five years of graduation, we typically see about 55 percent of our graduates who pursue additional education (master’s and doctoral degrees). So, the 28 percent is higher than what we have seen, but not surprising given the strong interest that our graduates have to pursue additional education.“ The Career Crossings Office is also tracking effect of the pandemic on graduating students, Jeffirs said. “We had a stronger response rate to the survey this year as compared to last year and we are seeing that COVID has not impacted this graduating nearly as much as the last year’s graduating class,“ Jeffirs explained. “For last year’s survey, we added questions to ask how COVID has impacted graduating seniors in terms of their post-grad plans. We kept the questions this year so that we could gauge the

GENEVIEVE COLEMAN | The Observer

Graduates of the Saint Mary’s class of 2021 are planning on participating in a variety of post-graduation options, including employment, further education, gap years, internships and military service.

ongoing impact of COVID with this year’s graduating class.“ In terms of this year’s survey, Jeffirs stated that students were not as affected by the pandemic as the class of 2020. “There are some graduating seniors who indicated COVID has had an ongoing impact on their job

searches, but not at the same rate that we saw last year at this time. This is partly due to graduating seniors adjusting to the realities of COVID and starting their searches earlier and being more persistent in their searches, and a larger part is due to industries recovering over this past year.“

Jeffirs emphasized that the Career Crossings Office serves Saint Mary’s students through their time at the College, as well as alumnae throughout the rest of their lives. Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

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Graduating class prepares to enter job market By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate News Editor

While complete data on career paths for the Class of 2021 is not yet available, early responders to the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development’s first destination survey indicate trends similar to previous classes. If the data continues to follow historical patterns, two-thirds of the graduating class will pursue employment, 20 percent will pursue higher education, attending law school, medical school or other graduate programs, seven percent will engage in service, two percent will serve in the military and other students will pursue independent projects such as professional athletics or other opportunities.

Ryan Willerton, associate vice president for Career and Professional Development said in a media report sent to The Observer that this year’s graduates reflect Notre Dame students’ wide range of talents and interests, highlighting how graduates were not bound to their major when seeking employment. “Graduating from Notre Dame is more than just recognition of hard work in an academic major,” Willerton said. “Many of our students have found their careers through networking conversations, mentorship, and diving deep into their academic minors. Notre Dame’s holistic approach to education is manifested in the variety of paths are students are taking. Many of our most popular career paths, such as financial services, consulting, and data

analytics are pursued by students from all academic colleges, not just a particular major.” Willerton also noted that many Notre Dame seniors have secured jobs working for industry leaders like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing and top consulting, accounting and financial services firms. In addition to positions at these highly desired companies, Willerton said many Notre Dame seniors followed strong pipelines to Epic Systems, Carrier Global, Ford, DaVita, Protiviti and Procter & Gamble. Those pursuing higher education will study at top institutions, pursuing doctoral degrees from Yale and Stanford; law degrees from Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, New York University (NYU), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Chicago and medical degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University, Louisiana State University (LSU), Wisconsin, Ohio State, Northwestern University and University of Pittsburgh. Finally, seniors planning on completing service work after graduation will complete programs through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Willerton said. Despite overall consistency with prior Notre Dame classes, COVID did affect the type of postgraduation work recent graduates will begin.

MAGGIE EASTLAND | The Observer

The data in this graph is based off of historical trends for Notre Dame seniors and first responses to the career survey. First destination data will continue to be collected throughout the week of May 18.

Namely, 15 percent of graduates with positions will work hybrid jobs, partially in person and partially remote, and 40 percent will begin work virtually before transitioning to in-person. Comparatively, only 10 percent will start their employment in person, according to the Center for Career Development media report. Adding to the uncertainty, the reported noted that 30 percent of employed graduates have not received finalized plans from their employers regarding whether their positions will be remote, inperson or hybrid. Considering these unknowns, Willerton said career planning has changed due to COVID, but career outcomes have remained stable,

in part due to guidance provided by the Career Center. “COVID-19 has certainly affected student career planning over the last 15 months. The job market is stable for most career paths,” Willerton said. “At the Center for Career Development, our advice for students is to focus on their skills and networking. Studies indicated that more than half of jobs (and in some industries, up to 70%) are found through networking.” Given the difficulties of career planning during COVID-19, the Center for Career Development launched a new initiative this year — Talent Showcase. Willerton said the online database features graduating seniors and graduate students seeking employment. Already, many students have

received job referrals and job offers from this site, he said. For current and future graduates, Willerton encourages networking and building a convincing narrative with assistance from the Center for Career Development. “The vast majority of Notre Dame’s academic programs will prepare students for success — the key is to find ways to build a professional network and then tell a compelling story of your skills and how you can leverage your experiences over the last few years to benefit prospective employers,” he said. “Our career counselors are here to help.“ Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu

Seniors discuss plans for service through ACE By EVAN McKENNA Managing Editor

With the help of postgraduate employment resources such as the Meruelo Center for Career Development, Notre Dame boasts one of the highest graduate employability ranks in the country. Over 60% of graduates from the class of 2019 began full-time jobs following their time at the University. But such a massive commitment to career development makes it difficult to pursue alternative postgraduate plans, senior Maria Ritten said. “At a place like Notre Dame, there’s a lot of pressure to go directly into the working world, and I think it’s easy to just follow the pipeline that you’re directed on,” Ritten said. “But there is a lot of value in exploring different things.” Ritten is one of 45 graduating seniors who will begin their service with the University’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program this summer. ACE is a two-year fellowship through which former tri-campus students teach in underresourced Catholic schools

across the country, earning their master’s degree in education after two years of service. Founded in 1993, the fellowship will begin programming for its 28th cohort this summer. And although uncertainty still abounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming year of service will likely look very different than the last: ACE fellows from the class of 2020 completed their summer programming almost completely virtually, and many were faced with nontraditional classrooms in their first year of service. “All of our ACE teachers have lived in community with one another and served in their respective school communities,” ACE associate director for recruiting Michael Comuniello said of the fellowship’s 27th cohort. “There has been some f lexibility in the mode of teaching — some in-person, some virtual and some hybrid.” Majoring in political science with minors in sociology and poverty studies, Ritten comes from a family heavily invested in education and service. Like others in her cohort, she will

spend the summer living in a Notre Dame residence hall, taking courses to prepare to lead a classroom of her own. Come August, the group will scatter across the country to their assigned ACE communities. Ritten, for one, will travel to Denver, Colorado, to teach middle school social studies at Guardian Angels Catholic School. The most exciting part of the ACE program is the ability to continue her relationship with Notre Dame while expanding her experience, Ritten said. “I’m in a unique spot just because I’m finishing a chapter here for sure, but also I’m starting a new one right after,” she said. “Also, I’m just excited to be in a new place and to actually be in front of a classroom. I’ve never had the opportunity to do that.” Lia Acri, a graduating senior majoring in psychology and theology and another member of ACE’s 28th cohort, will be teaching fourth grade at Gesu Catholic School in Detroit, Michigan, in the fall. Placement decisions are made entirely by ACE faculty, and

Acri said she was happy about her assignment and appreciative of the trust and care put into the decision. “When I heard about what the community of the school is like, and the kind of teacher that they were looking for, in a way it was humbling to think that they had filled me in that spot, or had thought of me to be in that position, in that community,” Acri said. But the impact of ACE extends far beyond the classroom, Acri noted — throughout their two years of service, fellows live in community with each other and are also encouraged to become a part of their schools’ local communities. “I’m really excited to go from Notre Dame to … a scaleddown, smaller community where I feel like I can make a difference and be immersed in a school community where I won’t only be teaching kids in the classroom,” Acri said. “I’ve been thinking of clubs that I could do with my students and also attending their sports games and connecting with their parents … I’m really excited to immerse myself into

the community of Gesu.” Ref lecting upon the discernment process that ultimately led her to ACE, Acri offered advice to current students considering postgraduate service: Don’t be afraid of the “closed doors” of commitment. “I was afraid of closing doors by saying yes to ACE, but when I did it, I think my experience was the total opposite,” Acri said. “It was so liberating for me to commit to something … there were doors that were hypothetically closed, but once I walked in that door, there were so many other possibilities within that decision.” Ruminating on the fellowship’s cohorts — past, present and future — Comuniello commended the work of the program’s participants. “All of our ACE teachers have dedicated themselves to serving the students and families entrusted to their care,” he said. “They are, and continue to be, a great sign of hope for our Church [and] the world.” Contact Evan McKenna at emckenn2@nd.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

ROTC college students to receive commissions By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate News Editor

Ever y year, severa l ROTC students in Notre Dame’s graduating class are commissioned as officers in the U.S. Nav y, A rmy, Marines and A ir Force. Despite COV ID-19 setbacks, the class of 2021 w ill be no different, sending many new officers into various branches of the militar y. The soon-to-be officers include 16 A rmy, 14 Nav y and nine A ir Force cadets from Notre Dame, Saint Mar y’s College and Va lparaiso Universit y, a crosstow n partner school.

Army ROTC A mong the 16 graduating A rmy cadets, 12 w ill be commissioned into the A rmy, t wo w ill enter the U.S. A rmy Reser ves and t wo w ill delay commissioning as they pursue higher education. Lieutenant Colonel George Lachicotte, department chair and professor of Militar y Science for Notre Dame A rmy ROTC, said this graduating class is different from prev ious years. “They’ve had to go their last, essentia lly year and a ha lf, or last 18 months through the pandemic,” Lachicotte said. “We’ve never had to dea l w ith this. They’re the first class that didn’t go through what we ca ll Advanced Camp … their culminating test in bet ween junior and senior year.” During Advanced Camp, cadets usua lly spend 30 days together at Fort Knox as a test of different menta l, physica l, militar y and leadership sk ills. A fter the camp, the cadets receive proficiency scores that play a large role in determining their overa ll score for their entire time at ROTC, Lachicotte explained. Those

scores help the cadets receive their assignments in one of the 17 different army branches, he said. The class of 2021 did not have the opportunit y to participate in this camp, instead completing an abbrev iated version last August. Despite strict Center for Disease Control and Universit y guidelines, Lachicotte said the senior class proved themselves as future officers. “They’ve rea lly had to show a lot of resiliency, a lot of creativ it y too, on how we can still train the future generations and prepare them,” he said. “From a menta l resiliency and menta l toughness standpoint, this is probably one of the tougher classes because they’ve had to dea l w ith a ll that.” One of the graduating A rmy cadets, Sophie Koeppl, attended Saint Mar y’s College to study histor y and economics and play varsit y basketba ll. A fter graduation, Koeppl w ill commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. A rmy and eventua lly be stationed as a civ il officer, working on communications at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany. Koeppl said she loved participating in ROTC, where she felt embraced. Despite the extra distance to travel, Koeppl said she felt empowered as at Saint Mar y’s student, especia lly when fellow cadets would come to cheer for her at basketba ll games. “We’re building in number, and I love that for Saint Mar y’s because I think Saint Mar y’s builds rea lly great and confident women,” Koeppl said. “I’ve seen a rea lly growing acceptance rate of being a Saint Mar y’s woman.” She even ser ved as Batta lion

Commander last semester, a position Koeppl said a Saint Mar y’s student has not held since before her time in ROTC. Koeppl and her fellow A rmy ROTC cadets were commissioned and honored in a combined year-end and award ceremony that took place May 11.

Navy ROTC Even after over a year of fragmented COV ID lockdow ns and guidelines, ROTC graduates Evan Muller and Joseph Tana ka va lue their experience. A tota l of 14 Nav y ROTC graduates, including Muller and Tana ka, w ill receive commissions this year. Two w ill join the Marines and 12 w ill join the Nav y. Muller is a graduating Nava l cadet who studied politica l science, Russian and internationa l securit y at Notre Dame. A fter graduation, he w ill commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and attend Boston College Law School, which w ill eventua lly enable him to become a judge advocate that prosecutes, defends and adv ises commanders on the rules of engagement, humanitarian law and the law of armed conf lict. Muller said his mentor, Captain Cody Brockelmeyer, taught him important lessons about humilit y and ser v ice. “Leadership isn’t about being the loudest or most outgoing person in the room. It’s about one’s abilit y to listen, learn, stay humble and have a strong sense of empathy,” Muller said in an email. “In the Marine Corps, officers eat last sy mbolizing putting others above yourself.” Joseph Tana ka studied mechanica l engineering at Notre Dame and w ill begin f light school at Pensacola to prepare for a future career as a Nav y

Courtesy of Colonel Corbey Ramsby

Nine Air Force ROTC graduates represent three different schools — Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College and Valparaiso University. pilot. Tana ka said w itnessing his parents’ sacrifices and serv ice in the Nav y inspired him to join the ROTC program and emphasized the lessons of teamwork he learned in last four years. “ROTC taught me the importance of a team and how great things are only accomplished through work ing together and ma k ing sure ever yone in the team trust and cares for each other,” Tana ka said in an email.

Air Force ROTC The nine A ir Force cadets w ill commission as a variet y of positions. Some w ill begin undergraduate pilot training or become Intelligence Officers, while others w ill enter weather, civ il engineering, logistics readiness and contracting departments. The A ir Force ROTC cadets a lso conquered pandemic-related cha llenges. Colonel Corey Ramsby, A ir Force ROTC (AFROTC) Commander and professor of Aerospace Studies, said the graduating class built rea lworld sk ills thanks to the pandemic.

“This is a class of adaptation and innovation. They have had to re-adjust the way they v iew and solve problems,” Ramsby said in an email. “AFROTC training is extremely hands-on and hav ing to adjust to v irtua l training, socia l distancing and ensuring ever yone’s hea lth and safet y … has instilled in them exactly what the A ir Force needs in its officers — the abilit y to assess and mitigate risk w ith the proper ba lance bet ween mission and force.” Ramsby a lso said this graduating class benefited from the period of ref lection created by the pandemic. “In ever y crisis there is an opportunit y, and this class has seized many of them,” he said. “Ultimately, they have built an env ironment where ever yone is va lued regardless of ethnicit y, religious beliefs, sex or any other biased attribute … I’m not sure we could have reached this point as quick ly as we did w ithout the forced introspection created by the pandemic.” created by the pandemic.” Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

Seniors honored with leadership awards By ISABELLA VOLMERT Assistant Managing Editor

Ever y spring, the Div ision of Student affairs honors exceptiona l student leaders at the Student Leadership Awards banquet. The 35th annua l event, held on April 13 in the Da hnke Ba llroom and over Zoom, recognized seven members of the class of 2021 as leaders in the Notre Dame communit y and beyond. Oda lis Gonza lez Reyes was the recipient of the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Award. This award is given to a graduating senior who has significantly contributed to and advanced the climate of inclusion at the Universit y and beyond. Gonza lez, origina lly from A merican Fa lls, Ida ho, ser ved as a program assistant for FIRE Starter w ith the Gender Relations Center, president of the Student Coa lition for Immigration Advocacy and on the leadership board of Show Some Sk in. She a lso led retreats for Latin x first-year students w ith Campus Ministr y and tutored high school students during her time at Notre Dame. A psycholog y and Latino studies double-major w ith a minor in education, schooling and societ y, Gonza lez was a lso a senior cohort leader w ith the A nBr yce Scholars

Initiative and a member of Ba llet Folk lorico A zul y Oro. Gonza lez said she was tremendously honored and grateful for the award. “At the end of the day, my goa l w ith ever y thing I have been involved w ith has been to ma ke it slightly easier and safer for the indiv idua ls that come after me,” Gonza lez said. “[To] ma ke it a more welcoming and inclusive communit y for the next generation.” Rachel Inga l was this year’s recipient of the The Rev. A. Leonard Collins, C.S.C., Award, which honors a graduating senior who has made great persona l efforts to advance the interests of Notre Dame students. Origina lly from Loveland, Ohio, Inga l ser ved as the 2020-2021 student body president and prev iously as director of the First Undergraduate Experience in Leadership program and v ice president of Badin Ha ll. A politica l science major w ith minors in business economics and internationa l development, Inga l is a lso a Kellogg Internationa l Scholar and a member of Ha lftime A Cappella. The John W. Gardner Student Leadership Award was awarded to Molly Link of Brush, Colorado, for exemplif y ing the idea ls of the Universit y through communit y ser v ice Paid Advertisement

w ithin and beyond the campus communit y. Link, a theolog y major w ith a minor in Catholic Socia l Tradition, founded the BeLoved Women’s Discernment Communit y at Notre Dame and ser ved as a Campus Ministr y A nchor Intern and a Resident Assistant in Lew is Ha ll. She was a lso involved w ith the Center for Socia l Concerns and completed an Internationa l Summer Ser v ice Leadership Program w ith the Franciscan Sisters in Tanzania. In the loca l communit y, she is a catechist at a loca l parish and a regular volunteer w ith the South Bend Center for the Homeless. “I am grateful for a ll of the opportunities and resources the Universit y has prov ided me over the last four years that have made it possible for me to encounter incredible people who are a gift to ser ve,” Link said. Aaron Benav ides is this year’s recipient of the Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., Leadership Award, given to a graduating senior who embodies Father Moreau’s v ision of educating the heart and has exemplified significant effort in advancing the Catholic character of the Universit y. A politica l science major from Corpus Christi, Texas, minoring in digita l marketing, journa lism, ethics and

democracy and theolog y, Benav ides ser ved as the student government 2020-2021 chief of staff in addition to ser v ing through many roles he held prior in student government, such as Director of Faith Ser v ice his sophomore year. He a lso ser ved as a Mass chair for the 2020 Junior Parents Weekend and a Basilica sacristan. Appointed by Universit y President Fr. John Jenk ins, Benav ides was the student representative w ith the Campus Engagement Task Force on clerg y abuse. “A ll my work the past four years here has broadened my understanding of what it means to educate both the mind and the heart,” Benav ides said. “I am so grateful to have had the chance to work w ith motivated student leaders and w ith administrators to help build a better Notre Dame for a ll.” This year’s recipient of the Ray Siegfried Award for Leadership Excellence is Cona l Fagan, a politica l science and peace studies major from Derr y, Northern Ireland. This award is given to a graduating senior who embodies former trustee Ray Siegfried’s leadership, generosit y, devotion to the Catholic faith and affinit y for athletics. Fagan ser ved as the first Irish-born Notre Dame Leprechaun mascot his junior and senior year, as well as a varsit y cheerleader and a sports broadcaster for Fighting Irish Media. He was a lso an active leader in the Center for Socia l Concerns, co-chair of the Kroc Institute for Internationa l Peace Studies conference and ser ved as a coach and mentor to students w ith disabilities. Sara h Ga lbensk i is this year’s recipient of the Mike Russo Spirit Award, given to an undergraduate student who models Mike Russo’s affinit y for ser v ice and strives to bring out the best in others and themselves. Ga lbensk i, an honors Spanish and globa l affairs major w ith a concentration in internationa l peace studies from Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, ser ved as the 2020-2021 student body v ice president her senior year and held multiple leadership

roles in Wa lsh Ha ll. She was a Spanish interpreter, bilingua l tutor and English Language instructor in the South Bend communit y as well as abroad in Ecuador and Chile. Ga lbensk i is a lso a Kellogg Internationa l Scholar and member of the Notre Dame Folk Choir. “I was immensely honored to receive the Mike Russo Spirit Award, and I am so grateful to both the Div ision of Student A ffairs and the Student Activ ities Office for putting on such a meaningful Student Leadership Awards Banquet,” Ga lbensk i said. “It was wonderful to be able to connect w ith other student leaders in person and celebrate our f lex ibilit y and resiliency in leading through this difficult year.” Dessi Gomez, from San Clemente, Ca lifornia, was awarded the Denny Moore Award for Excellence in Journa lism. This honor is given to a graduating senior who exemplifies the integrit y, character, commitment to N otre Dame and w riting abilit y of former Notre Dame associate v ice president Denny Moore. (Editor’s Note: Dessi Gomez is a Scene writer for The Observer.) Gomez said it was rewarding “to be recognized for one of [her] true and most prioritized passions at Notre Dame which is journa lism and stor y telling.” Gomez, an A merican studies major w ith minors in journa lism, ethics and democracy and gender studies, ser ved as a w riter w ith The Obser ver and editor of Scholastic magazine. She a lso held t wo professiona l internships at the South Bend Tribune and Los A ngeles Times. Gomez covered brea king news at Notre Dame for the student publications and reported on arts, culture and entertainment. Gomez traveled to Puerto Rico as a sophomore to report on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in the class “Covering A merica.” “That trip was a ver y formative experience in my desire to continue journa lism,” she said. Contact Isabella Volmert at ivolmert@nd.edu

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The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

SGA president, vice president reflect on term By CRYSTAL RAMIREZ Associate News Editor

At the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year, Student Government Association (SGA) president Giavanna Paradiso and vice president Kelsey O’Connor reflected on leading the College through a pandemic-riddled year. About two week after their election, in-person classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As student body president and vice president, Paradiso and O’Connor faced a plethora of new challenges this year. From a global pandemic, to a tense political climate filled with protests of racial injustice, to a modified semester with no breaks and restrictions on social gatherings, they said they faced obstacles when trying to plan more traditional programming and events. The summer involved constant communication

via FaceTime calls to plan out the year, O’Connor said. “Over the summer we FaceTimed every day — not just once a day but multiple times a day. I mean, we still talk every day, but not to that extent,” O’Connor said. Despite her initial disappointment when the campus was shut down last spring, Paradiso said this news actually gave her and O’Connor an opportunity to prepare. “In a way, at the time I was like ‘This is terrible,’ but I actually feel like it gave us time to prepare that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, and the capacity to meet with more people on campus than we probably would have,” Paradiso said. Even with the limitations on capacity, event planning, food and social gatherings due to COVID-19, Paradiso and O’Connor said they believe they were able to accomplish everything they hoped and

planned for at the start of their term. “There were things we wanted to do pre-COVID, and we were able to do it,” Paradiso said. “I can safely say we’ve accomplished everything that we wanted and then we’ve added in things, but the difficulties of the year — I think that’s what actually drove us to plan more things, collaborate more than ever before with other big boards and clubs on campus.” Paradiso said they used the struggles and challenges they faced to their advantage, in order to create programming that may have not occurred without the limitations imposed by the school. “I think in a weird way we let our struggle aid us, you know,” she said. “We are going to push through our struggles so that we can continue for the students because nothing breaks your heart more than seeing everyone else struggling too.”

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When reflecting on their accomplishments, O’Connor highlighted the creation of the Blinkie tracker as one of their fulfillments of a campaign promise. “I also do want to say, we did get the Blinkie tracker up and running,” O’Connor said. ”I recall getting asked about this all the time as this has been something up in the air for the past five years … this was supposed to be one of the hardest things to accomplish on campus.” As for Paradiso, she reflected on the difficulties that have arisen from the end of the term and school year. “I think the thing that is hard for me … is knowing we are leaving and all these projects that we are just starting, like the Dalloway’s Initiative and the call to action with the ‘smick’ movement … I know it is in good hands, but it is sad to know you aren’t going to be here to see the fullest expression

of these things we have started,” Paradiso said. Paradiso said she is grateful for the opportunity to serve the student body. And although she is experiencing burnout, she said, she believes this is a sign that they have done their job well. “I’ve learned more about this school than I’ve probably ever needed to know, and I’m actually really grateful for that, because I’ve met people I didn’t know worked here … we were able to accomplish so much, and I can look back at and say ‘That was cool, we did that…,’” Paradiso said. Paradiso reflected on her relationship with O’Connor. She said she believes their dynamic allowed them to effectively communicate with the administration and advocate on behalf of the student body. “People knew we were going to fight for Saint Mary’s students, at the end of the day, and I think that’s what we have done or at least tried to — because in the end all we can do is try,” Paradiso said. O’Connor said achieving anything during their term while simultaneously dealing with the pandemic was an accomplishment on its own. “Giavanna and I put so much time and effort into being able to get things done, and the fact that we were able to do so is an accomplishment in itself,” O’Connor said. O’Connor said she feels accomplished because they did everything they had set out to do during their term. “I really think we have crossed all our T’s and dotted all our I’s,” she added said. O’Connor also said she was impressed at how the Saint Mary’s community united and came together during such a turbulent year. The community has left a lasting impact on her, she said, which she will carry with her into the future. “Being able to witness how the Saint Mary’s community comes together is something I will never forget, not just now in light of the Smick Rally but in all different aspects … being able to witness and experience how great this community is and also knowing I won’t be leaving this community even if I won’t be here [physically] has been an honor,” O’Connor said. Paradiso encouraged students to continue building community within the campus and striving to improve Saint Mary’s and beyond. “I want to encourage students to continue ‘knocking on the door’… because this wouldn’t be Saint Mary’s without the students, it would be nothing without the students,” Paradiso said. “… It has been a pleasure for Kelsey and me to serve the students any way we can. It is all so minuscule in the world, with everything going on — so many bigger things — but if we can do anything on our small campus to put a smile on a fellow Belle’s face, then we’ve done our job.” Contact Crystal Ramirez at cramirez01@saintmarys.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

College president reviews her first year in office, considers plans for the future By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN Saint Mary’s News Editor

W hen Katie Conboy was appointed Saint Mar y’s president in Februar y 2020, she spoke about her hopes for the upcoming year. Despite many uncertainties due to the pandemic, Conboy noted that the three priorities she entered her term w ith guided her throughout the year — the first being unity among the campus, all of whom were brought together by their choice to be at the College. “I continue to believe that we all chose Saint Mar y’s,” she said. “You know, I chose it, students chose it, faculty members chose it, people who have come to work in other areas of the College made a choice. So, we have to acknowledge we all belong here, and we need to work on making that matter.” Conboy also expressed a wish for the College to be connected to the greater local community. “So, yes, we are the community of Saint Mar y’s, but we want to have a permeable border w ith our outside community,” Conboy said. “And that’s not just the tri-campus community, but also the community of South Bend. I really hope for those kinds of connections, but I think one of the challenges of reality versus my hope was that in this period of COVID, it’s just hard to build or sustain connections when you’re having to distance all the time.” In addition, Conboy sought to “Revere and Revise” during her time at the College — values highlighted in her strategic plan.

Courtesy of Saint Mary’s College

College President Katie Conboy took office June 1, 2020. She has led Saint Mary’s through social unrest and an ongoing pandemic, and she hopes to connect in-person with students in the next academic year. “I think we want to revere those things about our past that are really important and that we wouldn’t be Saint Mar y’s w ithout,” Conboy said. “But we also want to revise and continue to grow and to change to meet the needs of the times.” W hile she said she is proud of the College’s response to the pandemic, Conboy also expressed hopes that during a more normal semester, she can continue to learn about what the College needs. “I’m really proud of our COVID response,” she said. “I think that that’s something that we’ve done better than a lot of other colleges and universities, but it probably won’t surprise you to hear that I am most excited about having much less emphasis on COVID response. Next year, there’s just a lot that I want to learn and that I want to help accomplish at the College,

and it’s hard to do that when you’re faced w ith immediate and pressing demands and responses on a daily or week ly basis.”

“I just want to send a message to the world — through who we are and how we comport ourselves — that being Saint Mary’s is a proud thing.” Katie Conboy Saint Mary’s College President

One of the moments during the year in which Conboy said she felt the most excited to take part was the College’s Christian Culture Lecture w ith author Tara Westover,

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which she said was viewed by over 40,000 people due to its new virtual format. “It wasn’t just a thrill for me because I got to inter view Tara Westover, which was wonderful, but I was so proud of the creativity that the organizers showed, how we capitalized on what we’re learning about how to run virtual events,” Conboy said. “And if we had had that event on campus as we usually do, and we will return to doing that, maybe we’ll find a way to do something with a virtual piece of it.” Despite her hopes to hold more virtual events at the College, Conboy noted that she is also looking for ward to traveling to more in-person events in the future. “We’ve sometimes found more ways to be virtually together than we probably found in a regular year,” she said. “A lthough I’m really ready to go out and visit people in

different parts of the countr y who are sustaining and supporting Saint Mar y’s, and I’m ready to be at more events that happen on campus and to really be there for students and faculty and staff.” This semester, Conboy sang in the College’s spring musical cabaret. She explained how she meant for it to show the campus community a different side of herself. “It’s the kind of thing that, if a president goes and does that with students, you don’t ever forget it, it’s just important … to show people that you can be a little v ulnerable and play ful and not just be a person of authority,” Conboy said. She also directed words of wisdom to graduating seniors, telling them to enjoy the things they do in their lives. “Be willing to be reasonably good at lots of things and to enjoy them and don’t get caught up in needing to be the best of these things,” she said. “Live your life with a lot of fullness.” In terms of tri-campus relations — especially in light of a series of emails sent among members of Zahm Hall in the 2019-2020 academic year, in which v ulgar language was used to refer to Saint Mar y’s students — Conboy said she feels encouraged by the work that must be done. “I think the tri-campus relationship is actually ver y strong,” she said. “And while we all agree that we have ongoing work that we need to do in many areas, I believe there’s a commitment to taking on that work.” Conboy also commented on meeting the ideals of the tricampus in order to improve the community. “Each of our campuses needs to find its own healing,” she said. “So, things have been happening for the Saint Mar y’s students — we need to find those things, and we need simultaneously to recommit to our tri-campus ideals. Ideals are ideals and we’re all tr ying to live up to them. But when things happen, [we] fall short. Then we recommit and we say ‘Let’s do better,’ and we tr y to find ways to do better.” Conboy said she hopes both the tri-campus and the outside world can understand the pride that comes with being a part of the Saint Mar y’s community. “I just want to send a message to the world — through who we are and how we comport ourselves — that being Saint Mar y’s is a proud thing,” she said. Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

The philosophy of a broken laptop

Embracing the unexpected

Maria Leontaras

Claire Rafford

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

Assistant Managing Editor Emeritus

One day about two months ago, my life changed dramatically. No, it wasn’t retiring as Editor-in-Chief. The top half of my laptop popped open, and a few tiny screws clattered to the ground. I didn’t think much of it. If anything, I accepted the fact that art (an almost broken computer) imitates life (an almost broken mental state), and I carried on. Things got a little more difficult, though, when the screen started cracking near one of the hinges that was already hanging on by a thread. This happened during one of my last nights in The Observer office. I was having a sentimental moment post-retirement, working on my last news story in the corner near the mysterious wall stain. If you know, you know. I teared up as I wrote about the memories of an Observer alum, sipped on some “last-shift” beveragino and turned to share a portion of my story with my almost-retired colleagues. A jostle, a crunch and boom, the bottom right corner of the screen began to crack where the screen popped open. Soon, the spider web of cracks grew. In a panic, I found the nearest roll of brandless (Scotch) tape and performed one of the most intricate procedures the office had seen to date. From that moment on, my laptop added a new sticker to its collection, an adhesive cast that has yet to be removed. Ever since that day, my computer has been a vaguely mobile desktop. Always open, it only calls two places home — my dorm room’s desk and dining table. It’s always hit-or-miss if it works; these days it’s more miss than anything else. But as the Madea sticker near its trackpad says, nevertheless she persisted. While I begin my move-out triaging, I’m not sure where to place this computer. It’s not an automatic toss like the essays of semesters past and the receipts from my recent online shopping addiction. It’s not an automatic keep like the baby Jesus light and pictures of shirtless men in kilts hanging on the wall. It’s not questionably garbage like the single-serving Keurig that gives life to everyone who enters my room and the stolen HERE™ decals on my closet door. Oops! Is it a little broken? Yes. Is it completely useless? Sometimes. You know what they (the unreleased One Direction song) say, “She’s so mean, but I gotta love it, and I just can’t let her go.” Even now, I sit writing the first draft of this column in a notebook, dark laptop open behind me. I’ve returned to the writer’s roots — pen and paper — and the action takes me back to roots of my own. Writing was my first love. Seven-year-old me put her woes into a picture book about a red balloon lost in space. It floated past planets and stars, fearing eternal loneliness. Time passed and eventually, the balloon stopped floating freely. It got tangled with other balloons that were taken by the wind. The red balloon was still a little lost but no longer alone. Perhaps it was a bit much for a child, but it somehow prophesied my college experience. I picked Saint Mary’s because it felt like home. In making that choice, I forfeit the comfort of knowing I’d have high school friends nearby to rely on if I couldn’t bond with anyone new. The nerves were endless upon my arrival to campus, my anxiety doing a little dance as I waited silently for my one-and-only SMC ID. I sat and forced a smile for the card, cheeks puffing like a chipmunk’s. The smile slipped away as my ID slipped into my wallet and I floated across the unfamiliar space that is campus. There was some downtime during orientation, so I opened my then-new laptop, wasting time as I tried to figure out how to connect to BelleAire (The pre-BelleNet times…). As Welcome Weekend went on, the string of my balloon got tangled with others’, forming the beginning of some of the most meaningful friendships I’ve made to date. Many of my favorite memories with these friends were made while we sat around my laptop. We spent hours in our dorm’s lounge finishing group projects and final exams, binge-watching anime after Italian class and showing off how great we (I) look next to Jimmy Buffett. We worked in each other’s rooms, random places on campus and the best spot of all, Noble Family Dining Hall. People forget the magic of a preCOVID dining hall! There’s nothing like the rush of snagging one of the few booths, snacking on the endless supply of cereal and frantically completing an assignment before class. There’s always more than meets the eye when it comes to dining halls and the tri-campus. The Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame Observer offices reside in sacred locations — the basements of the Student Center and South Dining Hall, respectively. It was in these spaces that I met some of the people whose balloon strings will stay tied with mine the longest. Whether they were my elders who welcomed me to the paper or my colleagues who have come and gone, I will always cherish the memories we made. I’d be remiss to not mention the true hero of my time at the paper: my basically broken laptop. When the world went virtual, I was able to stay connected with those who mattered most, and keep the paper afloat, because of this computer. Even though I’ll get a new laptop before I take the first steps into post-grad life, I’ll always keep this almost-defunct MVP in the back of my closet at home. Maria Leontaras is graduating with a self-designed degree in interactive journalism with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. This summer, she’ll be interning with the Dallas Morning News. She can be contacted at mleontaras@gmail.com The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

During the first week of my freshman year, amid what felt like endless Welcome Weekend events and “Notre Dame introductions,” I called my mom sobbing. I hated college, I told her. Everything felt strange and lonely, and I wanted nothing more than to go home, already mentally filling out my transfer application. After making me promise that I’d stick it out at least longer than a week, my mom told me that in four years, she expected that I’d be crying because I didn’t want to leave college. At the time, I brushed off her suggestion, but that conversation has always stuck with me. Based on the amount of tears I’ve already shed about graduation, it looks like my mom was right after all. But looking back to that phone conversation, I don’t think either of us could have known what these next four years would look like. Clearly, I didn’t foresee the pandemic would alter both the world and my senior year, but beyond the obvious, I would be remiss to say that my experience has been without unexpected hurdles. Just like life, college contains a complicated collage of emotions and experiences. However, in the moments that have made up these past few years, there are so many people and communities who have made South Bend my home over these last four years, and having to say goodbye to them is the reason I’ll be so sad to leave. My college career was rooted in uncertainty from the start — doing my freshman year through the Holy Cross-Notre Dame Gateway Program necessitated this. Caught in this unique place in the tri-campus, Gateway asked my flexibility, open-mindedness and a certain acceptance that questions about which dorm I lived in would require more than a two-word answer. While this new experience was outside of my comfort zone, this unconventional freshman year proved to be better than I could have ever imagined. Holy Cross will always be the place where I met some of my best friends and became part of a community that has lasted through four years of college. To my friends and fellow Gateways, thank you for helping me embrace all the tricampus has to offer, and for our community that extends far beyond the confines of Holy Cross and Notre Dame. Transferring into Notre Dame full time as a sophomore, I didn’t know what to expect from dorm life at this university. I felt like there was a possibility I had missed my chance to be a part of a hall community by not living there my freshman year, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Thank you to all the people who welcomed me into the Farley Hall community, especially section 3A and the finest seniors for helping me make the best of what was undoubtedly a challenging year to live on campus. I’m so grateful for the laughs, love and support that have filled these beige-tiled halls. And, of course, there’s The Observer. When I started writing for the Notre Dame news department as a freshman, I could never have imagined that I would be writing this goodbye column as an outgoing member of Top Five. When I got the Assistant Managing Editor position over a year ago, I also never expected that our paper would garner national attention for holding our administrations accountable, nor that most of our editorial

board meetings would be over Zoom and that I would spend a lot of the year guessing what people’s faces looked like under their masks. This year has been one of the most turbulent in Observer history, and leading the paper in this time presented a gaggle of challenges none of us signed up for. Luckily, I was given the best company with which to weather the storm: Thank you to the outgoing editorial board and especially the little women — Maria, Mariah, Maeve and Sara — for your endless friendship and support. Who else but the March family would parse through racks and racks of clothes at Goodwill looking for my missing purse (which happened to be behind the register all along) while I had a full-on emotional breakdown? Working at The Observer has been so much more than a job for me, and it’s impossible to imagine where I would be right now without the hours spent in the basement of South Dining Hall. Right now, my future is more nebulous than it’s ever looked. I have the next few months planned out, to an extent — and after that, it’s truly anyone’s guess. In a different era of my life, I think this concrete lack of clarity might have sent me into a tailspin. I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t panicked about this wide-open space that charts the rest of my life. But if there’s anything the last four years have taught me, it’s that if things had gone just as I’d wanted or anticipated, I would have missed out on some of the most meaningful relationships, experiences and moments of my life — chatting into the early morning hours at section socials, wandering the streets of Rome during fall break junior year, deliriously dancing to “Whistle” at 4 a.m. while laying out The Observer’s election edition, sprinting onto the field with my friends after Notre Dame beat Clemson. At Notre Dame, I found community and a sense of belonging, and that’s what I’ll take with me after I leave this place, more even than my anxiety about what the future might bring. As I near the end of my last-ever byline for The Observer, I’m tempted to draw out the conclusion with another sentence, another story, another “thank you.” While there are scores of people I want to thank by name, there will never be enough words for me to feel truly done. I’ve been struggling to find the perfect way to pay tribute to all the moments, the communities, the places and the people that have made these last four years beyond what I ever could have expected. But right now, I have to accept that I’ve said all I can, hoping that I can fill in the gaps with the love I have for my friends and the people that have shaped me during my time here. So, with that, thank you to anyone and everyone who has made my college experience one to remember. The unexpected joys of these past four years have been the greatest ones of all. Claire Rafford is graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in English and minors in journalism, ethics and democracy and business-economics. She will be spending this summer reporting for the Indianapolis Star as a Pulliam Fellow. You can send comments, coffee shop recommendations and critical analyses of the “Twilight” baseball scene to clairerafford@gmail.com The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Used to be lonely Ryan Israel Scene Editor Emeritus

The summer after I graduated high school, people asked me if I was nervous about starting college. I wasn’t really, but only because I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. What was there to think about? I had no idea what it would actually be like day-to-day, so I couldn’t visualize myself being there, being nervous. But I will admit, there were two things I was worried about: Classes. In the parking lot of a grocery store in my hometown, I ran into a rather old Notre Dame alumni. His advice was this: “They’ll try to weed you out the first semester with very hard classes and assignments, so stay strong and persevere.” A very fun thing to look forward to. Finding friends. In the end, those two things really are 80% of the college experience. The worst part of Welcome Weekend, besides the intense heat and the walk from the Stepan Center to Stanford Hall after saying goodbye to my parents, was being alone with nothing to do. Socializing and meeting new people and trying to find where I fit in took all my energy, but when I was alone with nothing to do, I had time to worry, time to think about the unknown that was now staring me in the face, time to fear. So, on that very first weekend, I went to the basement of South Dining Hall. Down there, a few seniors were escaping the heat. They had that energy among themselves that I envied — they were friends, comfortable with one another. In the only

conversation I ever had with him, then Editor-inChief Ben Padanilam gave me the email address of then Scene Editor Adam Ramos. I used to be lonely. It didn’t happen right away. In some cases, it took just about my entire college career. But the people I met in my dorm and the ones who lived across the quad became the people I was comfortable with, the people I would eat dinner with at 5:50 p.m., North Dining Hall, every night. The people who inhabited the South Dining Hall basement with me became my friends too, the ones who would see the passionate side of me, the side that cared about music, Notre Dame and everything else. The lads I explored London with became my friends as well, the ones I would run across Amsterdam with in an effort to get into a sold out show at the city’s best venue. And the people of Scene and the scene headbanged, rocked and reveled alongside me in basements, backyards and most recently, Howard Park. These friends: Some are here — they’ll graduate with me. Some are gone — they are already off on bigger and better adventures. Some are weird, but I like them that way. Some are one trick ponies, but I’ve always had a soft spot for repetition. There’s a lot that can be said about Notre Dame. I’ve already said my fair share. It is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, noble and f lawed. But you don’t get to hate Notre Dame unless you love it. That’s the way I see it. The weirdest part about writing for The Observer is realizing that people actually read the things you write. Most of my time here, I’ve told myself that no one cares to read the articles I put out into

the world, the ones on niche albums or obscure movies. Over the past year and semester in particular, I started to put my voice into my writing, indulging whatever whim or obsession came in the moment and doing my best to stir the pot. And people actually read it — I like to believe they read the earlier stuff too. This first thank you is to everyone who ever read something I’ve written for The Observer. I don’t do it for you — I do it for me — but it’s nice to know that when you see my name, for some reason, you click. Every other thank you goes to the people who got me here (my parents) and the people who’ve been with me: Professors — especially the ones who read my articles. Stanford Hall staff — especially JMac, the best rector this campus has ever seen. The people I met once and then never saw again — especially those SYR dates and backyard party drinkers. And more than anything, all my friends — you know who you are. Ryan Israel, senior, is expected to graduate from the University of Notre Dame du Lac with a degree in sociology and film, television and theater. He will migrate to some great city and conquer the world — whether or not someone gives him a job. Compliments, job offers and funny tweets can be sent to risrael1@alumni.nd.edu. Insults, rejection letters and TikToks can be sent to hell. The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The opposite of loneliness, revisited Maeve Filbin Assistant Managing Editor Emeritus

At the end of my first year at Saint Mary’s, I wrote about a feeling so indefinably special that it could only be explained as the opposite of something else. I borrowed the term from Marina Keegan, whose 2012 Yale Commencement address filled me with a sense of intention and immediacy even before this pandemic taught me to seize the day every day (because nothing more is promised). For Marina, the opposite of loneliness was “this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table. When it’s 4 a.m. and no one goes to bed. That night with the guitar. That night we can’t remember. That time we did, we went, we saw, we laughed, we felt.” I felt the opposite of loneliness every time I drove down the Avenue. When someone called my name as we passed each other on Library Green. With every shot “for good luck” before we headed out to the bar. Working page production in the basement of South Dining Hall. On a rushed football field, under the synthetic fog of Newfs and in Party City wigs. At the start of senior year, my friends and I began to do things simply because we could still do them together. We sat in front of Le Mans beneath a star-filled sky, drank wine from coffee mugs and remembered how we first met. We roasted marshmallows beside the St. Joe River and bought lavender from the South Bend farmer’s market. We danced away the night and slowly brunched through late morning and afternoon. We watched scary movies, fell asleep on futons and wore wedding dresses to Olfs.

I grew up with three younger brothers, but have found myself surrounded by sisters. To Meg, Hannah, Sarah Catherine, Giavanna, Sarah, Sophie, McKenna, Megan, Colleen and Maria — thank you for everything, especially for walking into my life when you did. We left the door to McCandless room 209 open for a reason, and were rewarded with the best friends. I owe my liberal arts education to four years of good books and class discussions, as well as a handful of individuals who especially impacted my academic journey. Professors Marc Belanger, Pat Pierce, Phil Hicks, Ari Farshbaf, Sianne Vijay and Rich Jones — thank you, thank you, thank you for being my teachers. Everything I know about hard work, I learned from the four years I spent writing, editing and managing The Observer. The hours in our office often stretched well into the early morning, but were spent doing important work with remarkable people. We were offered the singular opportunity to uncover the truth and report it accurately — a responsibility we didn’t take lightly. This year especially made it clear that the world is watching the tri-campus, and for good reason. I feel so lucky to have played my part as a student journalist, and look forward to watching new Observer staff continue the work that started in 1966. To the outgoing general board, especially the seniors — you continue to impress me with your ability to persevere under the most extreme conditions. The word “unprecedented” is overused, but it certainly applies. To the underclassmen and new leadership, and I mean this sincerely — good luck. Working with you was a pleasure in more ways than one, and I am so excited to see what else you can achieve. Please keep the Bill Brink Memorial BP Tournament Halloween-themed. Genevieve, Crystal and the Saint Mary’s News Department — keep asking the tough questions,

and don’t be afraid to raise your voice. Martha, Nicole, Gina and Jordan — like muses or mentors, I turned to you whenever I needed guidance. I want to be you when I grow up. Of course, I have to mention a few more of my surrogate sisters. Maria, Mariah, Claire and Sara — thank you for letting me be your Jo. Much like the Marches, we’ve been through a lot. And yet, we managed to steer this student paper through uncertain waters with grace and humor. It was truly a privilege. There are a lot of people who, over the course of the past four years, have made me feel a part of something bigger — something vital and alive. I am humbled by the Saint Mary’s women who have come before me, and so excited for the ones who will follow. Without dwelling on the circumstances of this past year, to the class of 2021: I am so proud of us. We were handed a sh-t deck, but we dealt with the cards beautifully. The list of thanks owed to everyone who has made me feel the opposite of loneliness is long, longer than could fit within my word count. Saint Mary’s is made special by its ability to create community. We were promised discovery — discovery of ourselves, the world and our place in it. When we walk across the commencement stage and inevitably leave this beautiful campus as alumnae, our place will always here at Saint Mary’s College. To quote Marina one last time — and to her, a million thanks are owed — we’re in this together, 2021. Let’s make something happen to this world. Maeve Filbin is graduating from Saint Mary’s with a degree in political science and economics. She is moving to Washington, D.C. to become a market transactions analyst for Fannie Mae, and can be contacted at mfilbin01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Don’t blink Mia Marroquin Saint Mary’s News Editor Emeritus

“Don’t blink,” — my mom, circa move-in weekend in 2017. May 22, 2021 — graduation day May 23, 2021 — moving day May 24, 2021 — first day of work These three dates have been marked on every calendar and a countdown has been etched into my brain for months, and now they’re here. Against my mom’s advice, I blinked and the past four years have flown by. Despite everything that has happened in the past year, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I’ve been putting off writing this column for the longest time, probably because I still haven’t fully acknowledged that this chapter of my life is coming to an end. I’ll be honest, I never really loved college. Now don’t get me wrong — I’ve loved the sisterhood I’ve joined, the thought-provoking classroom discussions, the walks down The Avenue and Sunday brunch in Noble Family Dining Hall, but I’ve never really loved college. I’m lucky to have found my communities at Saint Mary’s, whether it be with the girls from my section in McCandless Hall during first-year, the rag-tag group of passionate student journalists in the basement of South Dining Hall or struggling through communication theory with fellow majors in Trumper until 2 a.m. But I still felt like something was missing. It wasn’t until I finished my senior year remotely from my physical home that I realized that this missing piece

I was searching for was not tangible. But rather it was the summative experiences and emotions that turned Saint Mary’s into my home during the past four years. It was the exchange of smiles walking across campus with a fellow Belle from your firstyear seminar, the way the dining hall workers would tell you to have a “blessed day” on your way out the door and so much more that made Saint Mary’s feel like home. And much like my parent’s home, I’m confident that no matter how much time passes it will always feel (and smell) like a safe place. I realized that loving college meant loving every moment no matter how mundane or challenging. All of these collective moments are what form this chapter that cannot be rewritten. Once I stopped comparing my college experience to “normal” or “good,” was supposed to be I fully allowed myself to fall in love with the life I was living in South Bend, Spain, Chicago and everywhere in between. My friends and I recently made a collaborative playlist on Spotify called “SMC Rewind” where we have compiled nearly three hours worth of music reflective of our last four years. The playlist is somewhat of a mosaic of our time here whether that be driving down the Avenue with the sunroof down singing “All Too Well” at the top of our lungs or walking to Notre Dame football games singing “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”. Each song if played alone is just another fun tune, but the memories associated with them have turned them into my favorite sounds. During my senior year of high school whenever someone asked me where I was going in the fall I always responded with, “a small women’s college in Indiana,” rather than saying Saint Mary’s and being

met with blank stares and polite smiles. Four years later I’ve grown to recognize that Saint Mary’s is far more than just a small women’s college in Indiana. It is a place of growth, of discovery, a lot of tears and priceless memories. It’s where I met my best friends — the ones I’ve watched grow from timid, cheap vodka drinking girls and guys to strong, motivated articulate men and women. It’s where I gained the confidence to move to a Spanish speaking country for a semester despite never having taken a Spanish class in my life. Studying abroad allowed me to travel to countries and cities that I’ve only ever dreamed of, alone. It’s where I’ve continually been amazed at the passion our faculty and staff hold for their positions and our students — whether it be in holding students to a caliber of work they know they’re capable of, or reaching out with kind and supportive words in a time of illness. So finally — thank you. To my parents who made this dream possible and instilled in me the values of a Catholic education and stepping out of my comfort zone four years ago, and everyone I have crossed paths with along the way. And always go Smicks, go sisterhood. Mia Marroquin is graduating with a degree in communication studies and minors in public relations and Spanish. Following graduation Mia is packing her bags and moving to Chicago to work for The Bozzuto Group as a sales and marketing associate. You can contact her at mia.marroquin17@gmail.com The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

By the grace of God Hayden Adams Sports Editor Emeritus

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” -Aeschylus This has gone through far too many iterations in my head, but it’s very difficult to decide what to write about in my final piece for The Observer. It feels like it should hold some philosophy for the reader and display some overall grandeur that accurately encapsulates my undergraduate years. That seems like a big ask given my unoriginal Notre Dame origin story: Straight, white, upper middle-class, Catholic dude from a small private high school finds himself, for the first time in his life, away from home for an extended period. However, he finds a new community waiting to welcome him into the Notre Dame family. Spoiler alert: that new community was Zahm House. I had originally intended to write this piece about Zahm, even before the university’s decision to dissolve the community. I had a (somewhat narcissistic) vision of my final farewell being one of the most read stories on the Observer website every year when dorm assignments would come out and eager freshmen-to-be would look up any information they could find on their new homes. Not to get waist deep in the big muddy of the Zahm controversy, but when I look back at my years in South Bend, Zahm has been the common thread, and that seemed to be what the university was going for with their dorm policy. I mean, the first question you’re supposed to ask your fellow alumni when you meet them is what dorm they lived in. Part of me understands why the university made the decision, but it’s really just addressing the

symptoms of a larger issue. And it hurts me personally — despite having been able to experience it all four years of undergrad — because of what it does to the underclassmen I call my brothers. I’m not ashamed to say that, regardless of the way Zahm has been painted in the court of public opinion. As trite as it may seem, we proudly subscribe to the mantra: “Notre Dame by choice; Zahm by the grace of God.” It’s a testament to the Zahm community that despite the dorm being removed from Notre Dame Day’s list of causes, we made the Robinson Community Learning Center our de facto cause and raised over $32,000. (There’s a “Star Wars” joke in there somewhere about striking us down and becoming more powerful than the university could possibly imagine). The Zahm decision was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me when it comes to my relationship with Notre Dame. It’s a broken kind of love, to use the words of former editor-in-chief Kelli Smith in her own farewell message. Of course, Kelli meant it in a different way. I would never deign to compare what I’ve experienced to those members of the class of 2020 who saw their last two months at Notre Dame and their graduation snatched away from them. At least I was able to come back to campus to see my friends once more — and even forge some new bonds. At least I had the chance to make the most of a year at Notre Dame unlike any other. That’s something for which I’m eternally grateful, but I’m also ready to move on. My time at Notre Dame has been wonderful — if not occasionally extremely stressful. That seems pretty par for the course at a top-20 institution and by all accounts Notre Dame strikes an ideal balance between working hard and playing hard. It’s also a place with a lot of flaws, most of which aren’t unique but are nonetheless problematic. A lack of diversity and scholarships, archaic

policies and rather incompetent leadership have dimmed the glint of the sun off that golden dome. More than anything, these last nine-and-a-half months have eroded what one of my JED professors dubbed “Notre Dame exceptionalism.” Sure, I’ll be proud to say I graduated from Notre Dame, but I’m not going to peddle the tired trope that college was the best four years of my life. (I pray that Aug. 2017– May 2021 isn’t as good as it gets for me considering I’ve been single the entire time). But while I no longer hold the same rose-colored impression of Notre Dame I once did, I’m going to miss the people that made the experience so enjoyable. To parody Odin’s words from “Thor: Ragnarok:” Notre Dame isn’t a place, it’s a people. It’s the men of Zahm, the aspiring journalists of The Observer, the brilliant members of the physics department, the hilarious cast and crew of the NotSo-Royal Shakespeare Company and those weirdos in the Gold Gang. Those are the people who have gotten me through the last four years. I’ve said “Thank you” in a hundred different ways by this point, but I’m compelled to do it again. So many people have been pillars for me to lean on the last four years, and I can’t help but feel I didn’t deserve their support. But that’s the beautiful thing about Notre Dame, I suppose. You may choose it for the prestige, the tradition, family legacy or otherwise. Everything else you get through the grace of God. Hayden Adams is graduating with degrees in physics and film, television and theatre with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. He will be attending law school in the fall, most likely in Washington D.C. where he will finally have some professional sports teams to wholeheartedly identify with. He can be contacted at hadams3@alumni.nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

A not-so Irish goodbye Mariah Rush Managing Editor Emeritus

I like to think, like Sam Smith, I’m pretty good at goodbyes. Let me clarif y — I’m good because I can maneuver out of them easily, and I don’t feel bad about it. You can count on me to disappear before I get cornered into an emotional goodbye. Jim from “The Office” did it best — pop in, make a memorable joke and force yourself into a photo before slipping out the door, never to be heard from again. It’s ver y tempting for me to Irish goodbye the rest of this year, and to Irish goodbye The Observer. I won’t lie and say I’ve changed, because I’m certainly going to Irish goodbye some aspects of college. But I do think I have to say a real goodbye to The Observer, and where better to do it than in Her own pages? The truth is, I’m notoriously a hothead and passionate to a fault. I sometimes do not give the benefit of the doubt, and I am often too direct. You can only imagine how difficult it must be to work with me. But somehow, by some miracle, I found the four women at The Observer who never asked me to change. I found the people who embraced me and ever ything I thought were my faults, and helped me see some of them as strengths. In the month or so since we have stepped down from Top Five, I’ve discovered that the relationship we share is not a normal one — others would not enjoy my openness, criticize where I find my love and happiness and not respect my opinions. The love I found in The Observer this year is one that is so intrinsically simple. The kind of love forged in the most anxiety-inducing years,

the kind of love where you see each other at your worst and still choose to love in spite of the chaos. My forever Editor-in-Chief, Maria Leontaras, once said, “Pictures will last longer than me.” She is actually saying this right now, as I type this, as a justification for writing captions on the back of the disposable camera photos we recently got printed. W hen I questioned why she needed to write the names of people like myself, along with captions — “Won’t you remember me forever? ” — she said something along these lines: “I may not remember all of this forever, but these captions will tell the stories.” I’m starting to think she’s right. Those captions on those photos, some of which she gave to me — “2/3 of throuple,” “luvrs with drunk [redacted]” — will tell the stor y of why we were at Corby’s Irish Pub on April 21, and will hopefully explain why I have a hot pink BIC lighter with the words “Amy March” and “The smallest feet in the family” scrawled on it in faded silver marker. I am a writer, after all. I want to remember exactly what this felt like when my memor y fails. I want to remember what it felt like to finally find my place at The Observer — to enjoy Sunday news meetings, and to look for ward to those late production nights when I could be out on the town with friends. I want to remember the uncertainty of deciding what my next step should be at the paper, and how I made my decision on applying for Managing Editor at the encouragement of friends. I want to remember finding our way through editorial board meetings on Zoom. I even want to remember the first time I realized that I was going to be bonded in trauma with this editorial board for the rest of my life.

I want to remember shopping for a 19th-centur y getup to L ARP with my Little Women. For some reason I also want to remember frantically searching endless stacks of clothes at Goodwill for a certain Meg’s purse. I want to remember the joy of going into South Dining Hall ever y Sunday night and the relationships I built with ever y single unsuspecting person forced under my regime. I’ll carr y our laughs and the borderline harassment I inf licted on you all forever. I will remember our themed Little Women gatherings in my apartment, filled with wine, cheese and light. I will remember the way I never had a sister before, and now I have four. I fall in and out of love with journalism. Sometimes I don’t know how long journalism and I will last — I might say goodbye to it one day. The Observer isn’t journalism for me anymore. Uncover the truth and report it accurately, sure. But really, The Observer is Claire’s peace signs, Maria’s Marmee-esque involvement in her friend’s lives, Maeve’s love of a good costume, Sara’s evasive answers to pr ying questions and my unhinged attempts to be a private investigator. The Observer is all of us, and I want to remember Her forever. So these are some of my captions. It won’t completely fill in the blanks in 20 years, but it’s a start. Mariah Rush is graduating with a degree in American studies and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. After graduation she will be working at the Chicago Tribune doing a reporting fellowship. She can be contacted at mrush@alumni.nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Four years, according to the Talking Heads Sara Schlecht Assistant Managing Editor Emeritus

When I first got to Saint Mary’s, I had a sticky note list of classes I needed to take over the next few semesters and a mental list of graduate programs I wanted to attend. My plan was to do everything as efficiently as possible, and I thought nothing of the way I used my schoolwork and ambition to keep from stepping out of my comfort zone. Then I found myself at my first Observer meeting. The smiles that greeted me on that first Friday afternoon remain some of my favorites to this day. Not long after, I actually listened to the lyrics of “This Must Be the Place” for the first time. David Byrne’s voice accompanied me as freshman year continued, and my Friday afternoons began to revolve around Saint Mary’s News department meetings, signing up for stories and laughing with the people who were quickly becoming some of my closest friends. I realized, “I must be having fun.” The song followed me, becoming an important fixture on my playlists as I began to feel at home. Byrne sang “Home is where I want to be / but I guess I’m already there,” and I found the words more than just poetic — they were true. Home is the quad in Holy Cross Hall where the only child in me learned to live with the chaos of my three extroverted roommates. Its hallowed walls have seen my breakdowns, all-nighters and insomniac streaks, and its inhabitants have made me smile through it all. To the other residents of our section, I’m sorry for that week when we wouldn’t stop playing “D--ked Down In Dallas.” I’ll take some of the blame for that.

Home is a table in Danny Boy’s, sardined between more people than should fit or quietly talking with just one or two. It’s the place I celebrated submitting major projects and enjoyed reunions after the long winter break. The hugs, jokes and beers shared here helped this pandemic year feel closer to normal than I ever thought possible. Home is the history department at Saint Mary’s, where I took one class out of sheer curiosity and have been presented with welcome questions and challenges ever since. My history classes helped me see a beautiful but f lawed world and gave me the confidence to believe I can make it better. Home is the basement of South Dining Hall where I’ve laughed, cried and lost so many nights of sleep. The basement saw me at my most creative, absurd and miserable (my COVID vaccine side effects were much stronger than anticipated). Some of my most meaningful friendships were born this way. My love for Maria, Mariah, Maeve and Claire transcends the confines of the basement, though its questionable sounds and smells are undeniably significant in our memories together. When Byrne sings “You got a face with a view,” several people come to mind. From my first friend at Saint Mary’s to my favorite professors, I’ve received nothing but incredible support that I didn’t always notice at the time. To those faces with a view, thank you for staying within sight. Four years have introduced me to people and places that make me ponder, “Did I find you or you find me?” I don’t have an answer to that. I don’t know if I found The Observer, my roommates or my best friend from my semester abroad, or if they found me. Either way, I’m grateful for their presence. The words “sing into my mouth” had little

significance until recently, but someone singing Jimmy Buffett songs to me like that deserves a mention. Far be it from me to complain about this lyric becoming real for a moment. As my final days as an undergraduate unfold, I can’t say “I love the passing of time.” Part of me would love to stay here — perpetually 22 years old and surrounded by the people I love — forever. These four years, as told by the Talking Heads, have been better than my freshman-year self would have ever believed possible. Yet I can’t deny my excitement about what will come next — for my friends, myself and even The Observer. We’ll all “make it up as we go along.” I’m forever grateful for the Talking Heads, who continue to give me the language to ref lect on these past four years. I’ve had my “feet on the ground” and “head in the sky.” My ambition and anxiety often worked against each other, but the Talking Heads were always there to remind me, “It’s OK, I know nothing’s wrong.” Time and again, it’s proven true. When I leave after commencement, I know I’ll think of Saint Mary’s, The Observer office and so many other spots in South Bend when I hear the song’s opening lines — “Home is where I want to be / pick me up and turn me round.” But like the homes I’ve found here, I’m sure I’ll find myself elsewhere, thinking “this must be the place.” Sara Schlecht is graduating with a degree in history and English writing and a minor in humanistic studies. Following a summer at home on her family’s farm, she will be escaping for a year of service in Chicago. She loves taking book recommendations from strangers and will accept them at sarajschlecht@gmail.com The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

A little over five hundred words Serena Zacharias Notre Dame News Editor Emeritus

A f ter t he yea r we’ve had, I shou ld have more t ha n enough content to f ill t his column. But odd ly enough, I don’t rea lly k now what to say. Hiding in t he news depa r t ment, I’m not rea lly used to w rit ing my ow n opinions a nd a llow ing ot her people to judge my t houghts. I’ve a lways dreaded Inside Columns, a nd I tended to stop t y ping t he second I hit 500 words. Honest ly, somet imes I cou ldn’t even ma ke it to 500 words, a nd I hoped t he View point Editor just wou ldn’t not ice. I have a lways preferred listening over spea k ing myself. But I wa nted to force myself to w rite one last column in honor of my t ime at The Obser ver. I never intended on becoming so involved w it h t he paper. I dist inct ly remember meet ing t he Not re Da me News Editor my f reshma n yea r a nd wondering why a nyone wou ld wa nt to do so much work in addit ion to attending classes. Yet somehow, I found myself in t hat posit ion t hree yea rs later. W hile I won’t be pursuing journa lism in my

ca reer, I have developed a profound respect for repor ters. Journa lists work a round t he clock to deliver t imely a nd accurate news to readers a nd v iewers. In t he dig ita l age, repor t ing never ceases, a nd I do not k now how f u ll-t ime journa lists f unct ion. I’m not going into journa lism, which is good, because I cou ld not do it. I have never doubted my ow n capabilit ies more t ha n t he last yea r as Not re Da me News Editor. To t hose who crit ici zed or compla ined about our news depa r t ment content in t he last yea r over ema il or socia l media, I read a ll your messages. I k now you were disappointed at t imes. I’m st ill incredibly g ratef u l for t he oppor tunit y t hough, a nd I t ha n k t he people who t hought I was qua lif ied enough for t his posit ion. I genuinely loved spea k ing to people involved in dif ferent depa r t ments a nd act iv it ies across ca mpus a nd hea ring t heir stories. I loved seeing students, facu lt y a nd sta f f light up while telling me about a resea rch project t hey’re work ing on, a show t hey had been rehea rsing for mont hs or a n init iat ive t hey created w it h t heir f riends. I a lso loved meet ing w it h t he news depa r t ment ever y Sunday a nd gett ing to k now my sta f f.

A lt hough my hea r t rate st i l l picks up a litt le when I see a tex t or ema i l not if icat ion, fea ring a compla int or a n emergency, I a m g ratef u l I ser ved a yea r as Not re Da me News Editor. I def initely got of f to a rock y sta r t as a f reshma n at Not re Da me, a nd I w i l l say t hat I was not a lways happy here. In fact, I was probably sad a nd f r ust rated fa r more t ha n I was content. But I appreciate t he f riends I made a nd t he professors I had who were passionate about t heir f ields of study. I did not ex pect my Not re Da me ex perience to be quite li ke it was, but I t hin k I ended up in t he right place to lea rn t he t hings I needed to. I’m a lmost at 500 words, so it’s t ime for me to w rap t hings up. Goodbye Obser ver. Goodbye Not re Da me. Tha n ks for a good four yea rs. Serena Zacharias is graduating with a degree in neuroscience and behavior and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. In the fall, she will be attending the Medical College of Wisconsin. She can be contacted at szachari@alumni.nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Hey, pitcher. I’m ready for the curveballs Maria Luisa Paul Talent and Inclusion Manager Emeritus

I’m not a spor ts person. This yea r, I based my Ma rch Madness bracket on t he tea ms’ colors a nd predicted t hat Ga rba n zo Col lege (what I t hought Gon zaga Universit y was ca l led) wou ld w in. If you’d ask me to ex pla in footba ll, I’d say it’s a bunch of g uys r unning behind a ba ll. But t hen aga in, t hat’s how most spor ts go. I’m not a spor ts person, but I k now t his: Ever y batter fea rs a pitcher’s cur veba ll. Though slower t ha n a fastba ll, its spin a nd drop conf use t he eye. A cur veba ll’s opt ica l illusion t ricks our evolut iona r y t ra it of da r t ing out of ha rm’s way, which is why most of t hem end up w it h a st rike. They’re unpredictable a nd inev itable. A batter ca n t r y to prepa re, but t hey tend to come out of t he blue. In t his way, t hey’re t he per fect metaphor for my life a nd my t ime at Not re Da me. In 2017, I broke bot h my a n k les while riding a stat iona r y bi ke — don’t ask me how, but it’s possible — a nd I had to relea rn how to wa lk, ba rely ma k ing it to my high school g raduat ion w it hout cr utches. Throughout t hese past four yea rs, I’ve broken f ive f ingers a nd my big toe, spra ined my a n k le mu lt iple t imes a nd gotten whiplash a f ter a night of sleeping on my f riend’s f uton — a lso somet hing possible. By now, I k now St. Lia m’s X-ray person by na me (shoutout to Sha nnon), a nd I never imag ined I wou ld hold t he record for most broken bones, but t hat’s life : You never k now what ca rds you’re dea lt. The cur veba l ls I’ve been pitched don’t a ll perta in to my bones, a nd, t ha n k f u lly, a ren’t a lways nea rly as pa inf u l. Ma ny have even led to t he best decisions in my life a nd t he memories I’ll cherish t he most.

For sta r ters, I never pla nned to end up in Sout h Bend, India na. Ever since I was a 10-yea rold, my drea m was to study internat iona l relat ions at Georgetow n a nd later la nd a job in t he United Nat ions. Now look at me, about to g raduate f rom Not re Da me absolutely conv inced t hat journa lism is t he on ly ca reer for me. I never wa nted to become a journa list. I on ly ended up in JED because a f riend asked me to accompa ny him to t he informat ion session back in f reshma n yea r. I beg r udg ingly went because t here was going to be f ree food, but I ended up apply ing to t he prog ra m because professors Rich Jones a nd Victoria St. Ma r t in conv inced me to — t ha n k you, t ha n k you, t ha n k you for cha ng ing my life forever. I never looked to work at The Obser ver — I had a lready f illed up my schedu le w it h ot her clubs a nd ex t racurricu la rs. Now, I’ve had t he honor a nd priv ilege of being pa r t of t he paper for t he past t hree yea rs. My t ime at The Obser ver taught me more about resiliency a nd passion t ha n a ny class cou ld’ve ever. Ever y day, I had t he immense pleasure of work ing w it h some of t he most dedicated people I’ve ever met. Despite t he legg ings a r t icle t hat haunts me ‘t il t his day, t he occasiona l a ng r y ema il a nd t he ma ny long nights, I wou ldn’t cha nge a single second. In fact, I wou ld g ive it a ll for t he cha nce to go back in t ime a nd relive it once more — ta l k about hitt ing a home r un. W hile t hose have been some of t he best t hings t hat’ve happened to me, it wasn’t a ll ra inbows a nd butter f lies. In t he midst of it a ll, I went t hrough mu lt iple ident it y crises ; I got my hea r t broken; I made a bunch of mista kes ; I dea lt w it h seasona l a f fect ive disorder; I felt more homesick t ha n I ever imag ined I cou ld a nd, yes, broke one too ma ny bones. But even when I shattered a nd felt like I was

fa l ling into a n abyss, I was able to pick up t he broken pieces a nd put t hem back toget her — not because I have some superhuma n st reng t h, but because I had t he suppor t of so ma ny f riends, fa mi ly members, mentors, bosses a nd professors. W hen I felt li ke my world was cr umbling dow n, t hey mot ivated me to keep going. W hen I needed a good cr y, t hey were t here w it h endless pints of Cherr y Ga rcia ice crea m. W hen I pined for Venezuela, t hey showed me t hat home is more t ha n just four wa l ls. W hen I t hought I cou ld never hit a cur veba l l, t hey inspired me to batter up. Never in a mi l lion yea rs cou ld I have predicted how my t ime at Not re Da me wou ld eventua l ly w ind up. Never cou ld I have imag ined t he incredible oppor tunit ies a nd f riendships t hat have come my way. Never cou ld I have foretold how much I’d look for wa rd to life’s cra ziness a nd unpredictabi lit y. Throughout t hese past four yea rs, I’ve been dea lt w it h more cur veba l ls t ha n a ny MLB player, a nd, yes, I ca n sa fely say I’ve hit more t ha n one home r un. How’s t hat for someone who’s not a spor ts person? As I f inish r unning t hrough t he bases of t he place I’ve been so blessed to ca l l home, I ca n on ly say t his: Pitcher, bring it on. I’m ready to play ba l l. Maria Luisa Paul is graduating with degrees in political science and economics and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. After leaving Notre Dame, she will be interning at the Washington Post’s General Assignment desk. You can always send her tips and coffee place recommendations at mpaulrangel@gmail.com The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

LETTERs TO THE EDITOR: four years in review

The iced coffee manifesto Those unacquainted with O’Shag likely don’t know of the tiny cafe nestled by the building’s DeBart-side entrance. It’s called Waddick’s, and its carpeted interior and rustic oak furniture give off an aura befitting the lovechild of a library and a hunting lodge. At any given point there are probably a handful of Arts and Letters students with their noses in books and their hands on coffees. Speaking of, it is undoubtedly the best coffee spot for your buck on campus, and pairing one with their famous bacon, egg and cheese croissant is a breakfast fit for a king — or at the very least a history major looking to burn some flex points. It is also in danger of being disgracefully stripped down from a full cafe to a one-machine, one-cashier operation. Waddick’s is much more than a coffee shop; it is the embodiment of Arts and Letters. You are bound to bump into one of your friends, classmates or professors there, and the genial atmosphere ensures the type of banter that builds genuine investment in each other’s academic endeavors and personal lives. Intellectually stimulating or not, the face time Waddick’s fosters as an Arts and Letters hub deepens both the college’s and Notre Dame’s senses of community. Of course, people can (and do) gather at other

establishments. However, when the time comes for all of us to sit our kids down and indoctrinate them into the cult of Notre Dame, I doubt any of us will recount fondly our time spent at Modern Market or Starbucks. Certainly we enjoy these places, but subconsciously we understand that they are transactional, merely a means to an end. The things that really imbue our Notre Dame experiences with color and meaning are our local, homey hangouts, from Nick’s Patio to the Backer. Waddick’s is no different. You’re greeted and served by one of your fellow students or the amiable Vicky. If you’re there as often as I am (unlikely), they might even assign you a title (Iced Coffee Guy over here). With familiar faces behind the counter, folky-pop playing over the radio and quirky decor, Waddick’s just feels like a slice of home. Sure, I’m biased because living in Carroll means it’s usually not worth trekking back between classes. But I’m willing to bet that the 451 people who have signed the “Save Waddick’s!” petition thus far feel that same bit of home as well. The proposed changes ultimately amount to reducing Waddick’s to something like the cold, impersonal a la Descartes stand in Jordan because Decio and Duncan make it redundant. With the petition’s hundreds of

signatures and an ungodly line into the Great Hall between every class period, it is hard to believe that Waddick’s has suffered much from the alleged competition. I do think everyone agrees that putting additional seating where the art gallery is would be a welcome change, but eliminating most of the offerings and staff save for the absolute bare minimum is an unnecessary degradation of an adored hole-in-the-wall. With another tuition hike this week, it seems that Our Lady’s University is cash-strapped yet again. It would be shameful for the administration to dismantle a cherished student haunt while simultaneously asking for even more from us. Every year, our campus plays witness to the establishment of a new, palatial institute bearing the name of one of our dynastic families. In light of such prolific development, that funky cafe in O’Shag stands as a poignant testament to late Assistant Dean Waddick’s dedication to his students and as a tiny reminder that Notre Dame is a school, not a corporation. Francis Hagan junior Feb. 28, 2018

The legging problem I’ve thought about writing this letter for a long time. I waited, hoping that fashions would change and such a letter would be unnecessary — but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I’m not trying to insult anyone or infringe upon anyone’s rights. I’m just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings. The emergence of leggings as pants some years ago baffled me. They’re such an unforgiving garment. Last fall, they obtruded painfully on my landscape. I was at Mass at the Basilica with my family. In front of us was a group of young women, all wearing very snug-fitting leggings and all wearing short-waisted tops (so that the lower body was uncovered except for the leggings). Some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them. A world in which women continue to be depicted as “babes” by movies, video games, music videos, etc. makes it hard on Catholic mothers to teach their sons that women are someone’s daughters and sisters. That women should be viewed first as people — and all people should be considered with respect. I talk to my sons about Princess Leia and how Jabba the

Hutt tried to steal her personhood by putting her into a slave girl outfit in which her body became the focus. (That’s the only scene in the whole franchise in which Leia appears in such a way — and it’s forced upon her.) Leggings are hardly slave girl outfits. And no one is forcing them on the countless young women who wear them. But I wonder why no one thinks it’s strange that the fashion industry has caused women to voluntarily expose their nether regions in this way. I was ashamed for the young women at Mass. I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldn’t help but see their behinds. My sons know better than to ogle a woman’s body — certainly when I’m around (and hopefully, also when I’m not). They didn’t stare, and they didn’t comment afterwards. But you couldn’t help but see those blackly naked rear ends. I didn’t want to see them — but they were unavoidable. How much more difficult for young guys to ignore them. I’ve heard women say that they like leggings because they’re “comfortable.” So are pajamas. So is nakedness. And the human body is a beautiful thing. But we don’t go around naked because we respect ourselves — we want to be seen

as a person, not a body (like slave-girl Leia). We don’t go naked because we respect the other people who must see us, whether they would or not. These are not just my sons — they’re the fathers and brothers of your friends, the male students in your classes, the men of every variety who visit campus. I’m fretting both because of unsavory guys who are looking at you creepily and nice guys who are doing everything to avoid looking at you. For the Catholic mothers who want to find a blanket to lovingly cover your nakedness and protect you — and to find scarves to tie over the eyes of their sons to protect them from you! Leggings are so naked, so form fitting, so exposing. Could you think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead? Let Notre Dame girls be the first to turn their backs(ides) on leggings. You have every right to wear them. But you have every right to choose not to. Thanks for listening to the lecture. Catholic moms are good at those! Maryann White March 22, 2019

Something wrong with “the new normal” On March 16 my friends and I showed up six to seven hours early at the Dublin airport for our return flight home from our study abroad program. The airport was packed with U.S. citizens scrambling to return to America after President Trump announced vague travel bans from Europe that eventually included the U.K. and Ireland. After waiting in Customs lines for close to four hours, we finally talked to U.S. officials who asked us a few quick questions about our health, reported what we said to the CDC and eventually cleared us to board the plane for our flights back to the U.S. Even though we were saying final goodbyes to new friends and to a country that enthralled and enchanted us, there was an immediate sense of relief that I felt just sitting down in my seat knowing I would be home that day. However, when I boarded my connecting flight from Chicago to my hometown of Seattle, I quickly realized going home would not be the same. There were about 60 to 70 people on that Boeing 737-800, which can normally hold up to 190 passengers and crew members. Apparently, Seattle was not a popular travel destination at the moment. Upon returning and in the week since, the once bustling and ever-growing city with notorious traffic problems has been pretty quiet. The area that started as one of America’s

epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak has become shuttered with almost everyone I know electing to work from home (now mandatory since Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order). The streets are essentially empty, except for the scattering of dog walkers and people out for a stroll or a run. Gyms have closed and any passerby on the sidewalk will go out of their way to maintain social distancing. Trips to the grocery store are the only times my family and I will drive anywhere. Just a few weeks ago, our own community was impacted when the owner of our neighborhood market fell down a set of stairs and was taken to the hospital. There, doctors noticed a spot on his lungs that they found to be COVID-19. In just a matter of days, he died without his loved ones by his side. Stories like this one have been commonplace in the Seattle area ever since the coronavirus tragically hit the Life Care nursing facility in the neighboring Kirkland, Washington, where at least 35 deaths have been recorded. If these stories and sentiments aren’t your new normal and you think the few cases in your area will stay that way, you don’t have to look much further than New York to see how fast this virus can move and bring life to a sudden halt. Except I hate the term “new normal” because nothing about this is normal. Watching professors struggle with

online teaching or students forget to mute their microphone — while often hilarious — is not how things should be going. Seniors should be living up their last two months on campus, and all students should be wearing their Chacos at the first sight of spring, and then complaining when they have to bring out their L.L. Bean boots again the next day when it snows. We should be looking forward to Southwest salads on Thursdays instead of once again ordering takeout from local restaurants. If we want any of these things that resemble a sense of normalcy to return, we have to remain vigilant in our social distancing, quarantining and, in some cases, isolation if we become sick. That’s why it is so irritating when I see fellow people in Seattle not get the message and fill Alki Beach, Green Lake and Rattlesnake Ledge on a sunny day. They are only extending the problem (and the eventual conclusion) of this terrible pandemic. Just like other crises, this too will pass, but it will pass a lot faster if we stay home, wash our hands and listen to our public health officials (looking at you Dr. Fauci). Daniel Moran junior Mar. 24, 2020

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

LETTERs TO THE EDITOR: four years in review

If I were a student who stormed the field A MESSAGE FROM A STUDENT WHO STORMED THE FIELD: I regret my error of judgement in not social distancing. Dear Fellow Students, Faculty and Staff, I know many of you have read about the Clemson fieldstorming I recently attended. I write to express my regret for certain choices I made that day and for failing to lead, as I should have. Last Saturday evening, I received, on very short notice, an invitation to attend the field-storming following Notre Dame’s double-overtime victory over No. 1 Clemson. It was important, I believed, that I represent the University at this historic event to support the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Team, which is greatly respected by its collegiate and athletic peers, revered by ND students and cheered for

by friends and fans across the country. Before I arrived at Notre Dame Stadium, a medical professional took me to an exam room to obtain a nasal swab for a rapid COVID-19 test. I was then directed to a room with others, all fully masked, until we were notified that we had all tested negative, as required by our president, Fr. John Jenkins. We never took our masks off. On Saturday, we were then escorted into the stadium, where we were seated with others who had just been tested, received negative results and were wearing masks. I regret my error in judgment in not socially distancing on the field following the upset win over No. 1 Clemson and for celebrating like a champion with my closest friends after our Fighting Irish’s takedown of the Tigers. I especially regret my mistake in light of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by many, excluding our president, Fr. John Jenkins, in adjusting

his life to observe our health protocols. After returning to campus, I was chastised by my unbelievably hypocritical university president for my actions on Saturday night, who informed me that I could not leave the campus and that there would be zero tolerance for any gatherings that “do not comport with the University’s health and safety guidelines,” which means I can’t even visit the White House Rose Garden. Thank you for your continued efforts during this semester, for your forgiveness and for your understanding. In Notre Dame, A Field-Stormer Liam Finn Class of 2020 Nov. 9, 2020

How to go into quarantine eight times — and make it out in one piece I have written three different versions of this piece. All three were written in what I thought at the time was my last stay in quarantine. Now, I can say confidently this is my last time in quarantine (because I actually have COVID). In this piece, which I have put more effort into than any submission of work during my time at Notre Dame, I will give a power ranking of the locations I quarantined at, my 10 tips for success and if I have any leftover space, some general life thoughts that I was able to realize during my time. For reference, these are my quarantine stays: October 14-18 at The Foundry South: Contact traced, negative, alone. October 25-30 at University Edge: Contact traced, negative, in an apartment with 5 roommates. November 14-16 at Embassy Suites: Symptoms, negative, alone. February 25-March 4 at Hampton Inn: Contact traced, negative, alone. March 10-March 16 at Fairfield Suites: Contact traced, negative, alone. March 24-March 31 at Embassy Suites: Contact traced, negative, alone. April 9-April 16 at Holiday Inn Express: Contact traced, negative, alone. April 20-April 29 at Embassy Suites: Tested positive for COVID, alone. That makes for a total of more than 50 days in quarantine during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Power Rankings: Number 6: Hampton Inn My fourth time in quarantine was for a week in the Hampton Inn. The reason this is at the bottom of my list is for two big reasons. The first is that the A/C unit by the window would not shut off from blasting cold air out, for seven days straight. I even tried covering it up with my comforter, but then something started to smell weird and the comforter got really warm, so I took it off. The second reason was that the faucet in the bath leaked, nonstop. It had good views of the McDonald’s drive thru, though. Number 5: Holiday Inn Express The Holiday Inn was a weird stay, and I heard even stranger stories from friends here. I had two big beds which is nice; my view is not great, but I can hear music and liveliness from Cheers during the weekend evenings. Supposedly someone escaped from here, so one night security had to come and check that I was both in my room and that nobody else was in there. The Holiday Inn lacks the certain x-factor that other places have. Number 4: Fairfield Inn & Suites The Fairfield Inn & Suites was a nice stay, but I got lucky with my room. Some of my friends got much worse and smaller rooms. In room 512, I had two TVs, and a separated living space. The window opened to a nice view of campus and the Sculpture Park and the A/C unit worked well. The interior designer knocked it out of the park here, because even the bathroom had a cute little framed photograph of a bunch of doorways across the ND campus (it’s the little things that count). Number 3: The Foundry South

The Foundry South was my rookie season in quarantine. I remember texting my family group chat telling them I was going into quarantine as if it was a big deal (by the seventh or eighth time I don’t even think I told them, they just kind of assume I am always in it now). This quarantine was filled with Netflix binge watching, drive-bys from my friends, Zoom calls with new quarantine friends and even a virtual game watch of the ND football game. Looking back now, it is kind of like when you are a senior in high school remembering freshmen year. Little did I know what was to come. Number 2: University Edge Back in November I spent five days in University Edge. The best part about this was that I was actually in a fourroom unit with two of my closest friends, so their company made this exponentially more bearable. However, Edge had by far the worst interior design, as it lacked any type of personality. The bed was like sleeping on an oversized piece of toast, with a blanket that was more like a rug. The wall-towall carpeting was a nice touch. The weirdest moment happened when I looked out my window one night and there was a stranger with a light saber. I also watched an entire season of “The Great British Baking Show” during my stint here, so I do have some happy memories. Number 1: Embassy Suites The Embassy Suites was luxury. Two out of the three times I was there, I was given a two-room suite, with two big beds and a living space. I had two TVs, a desk, a couch, a chair and a big bathroom. I can only imagine how much this room would cost per night on a football weekend. One of my roommates had to spend his 21st birthday in quarantine in the Embassy Suites, but at least we were in a nice hotel. Even though they didn’t open, the floor-to-ceiling windows let in a lot of natural light. If I could spend every quarantine in one place, it would be in the Embassy Suites. So, there it is, my power rankings. From my approximately 1,272 hours, or roughly 14% of the past year, that I have spent in ND quarantine this year, I have learned many lessons. Here are my top 10 tips that I have made for you, in case you ever find yourself in quarantine. 1. When someone is pounding at your door at 8 a.m. on your first morning of quarantine, don’t panic, it is just breakfast. No one is trying to break in or kick down your door. 2. If you ever try to use your hotel phone to call your friend’s room, make sure you know their room number. There have been a few times I called the wrong person. 3. If you are looking for some more interaction, try using Airdrop or Bluetooth to send stuff to the people in the rooms around you. Out of my eight times in quarantine, only three people ever accepted and had conversations with me. Shout out to Nate, Carissa and Patricia. 4. If you want to go even further than AirDrop, try doing morse code with your flashlight out your window. I did this in my final stay, and I was able to exchange room numbers

with a random person entirely through morse code. We called each other on the hotel phone, and we became quarantine friends. Shout out to Caroline. 5. Make/watch TikToks in quarantine. 6. This is one tip that I learned the hard way, twice. If you are thinking of getting haircut, get one!!! You never know when you are going to go away for a week, and by the time you find out, it is too late to get a trim. Just cut it. 7. Spend time working on your get-out-of-quarantine playlist. When you walk out of the Q a free person, you need some good music to listen to. 8. Drink the absurd amounts of Dasani water bottles they give you. Once you are free, you will never want one again, but staying hydrated is key when you’re locked up. 9. Bring food into quarantine with you. You save a lot of Flex Points when you’re Q’d up, so the last few times I have brought some Modern Market pizza in with me. The people in the Testing Center think it’s fun. 10. Do not try and steal the coat hangers from the hotels. Not that I would know, but when you get back to your dorm room, you will realize that the metal rungs on the hotel hangers are designed to be a different size than the typical ones, so they will not work on the wardrobe in your room, and you will be left with useless coat hangers. You will feel stupid, or so I have heard. Now you have seen my power rankings and my top 10 tips. I hope you enjoyed them. I will finish off my guide with some wisdom on quarantine. Before the year ends, and we go back to a more normal year next year, take some time to realize how much effort has gone into this year. The hotel employees at the quarantine sites, the security teams, the drivers of the quarantine vans, everyone at the Testing Center and the Covid Response Unit and everyone on campus who has adjusted this year. They aren’t doing this to piss anyone off or “ruin your time at ND,” they’re doing it for the exact opposite reason. So, if you can, even if you don’t say it out loud, thank all of them for making this possible. Without them, you would have been in your room at home all year, and I think this year would have been much worse that way. For each moment I have spent locked up in quarantine, I have started to appreciate my time outside of quarantine even more. Pretty soon, for all of us, we will graduate, and we won’t be able to spend days as a Notre Dame student anymore. If there is one thing that quarantine has taught me the most, it’s to appreciate being a student at Notre Dame, and to realize how lucky we are! There are so many people that would give so much just to be in our place right now, even if that place is alone in a hotel room for 53 days. P.S. I am going to meet Fr. Jenkins. John Sebastian “Jazz” Thörn junior April 27, 2021

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

FOOTBALL | 10-2, 9-0 ACC

Irish playoff hopes dashed by eventual national champion and powerhouse Alabama By NATE MOLLER Sports Writer

The 2020 Notre Dame football season was truly like no other. In the midst of the COV ID-19 pandemic, the Irish were forced to temporarily join a conference for the first time in their tenured histor y. As a member of the ACC, the Irish finished the regular season w ith a perfect 9-0 conference record and 10-0 record overall. The Irish ultimately ended up losing to the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Championship game and the A labama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl. The Irish opened their season against the Duke Blue Dev ils. A lthough they struggled at times, the Irish were able to w in 27-13 and record their first ever conference v ictor y.

In that game, it was apparent that running back Ky ren Williams was going to be a huge part of the Irish offense going for ward. Williams finished w ith over 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdow ns, and he would build off of that performance all season and prove to be one of the most prolific running backs in the countr y. Cameron Ekanayake, who was a senior on the 2020-21 team and a 2020 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist, discussed what it meant to play in a conference for a season. “It’s just another way that the season was so unique compared to other seasons w ith Notre Dame in the ACC,” Ekanayake said. “It was ver y interesting … for the past three years, we played as an independent school. But then we get see FOOTBALL PAGE 43

Photo Courtesy of ND Athletics

Former Irish quarterback Ian Book scrambles during Notre Dame’s 45-31 victory over Boston College on Nov. 14 at Alumni Stadium. The win was Irish head coach Brian Kelly’s 100th win with the team.

ND WoMen’s LACROSSE | 9-6, 5-5 ACC

ND ready for No. 4 BC in NCAA Quarterfinals By OLIVIA SCHATZ Sports Writer

EMILY DeFAZIO | The Observer

Irish sophomore attack Jackie Wolak runs with the ball during Notre Dame’s 15-11 win over No. 19 ranked Louisville at Arlotta Stadium on Apr. 24. Wolak had four points in the game with three assists and a goal.

Graduate student Samantha Ly nch said before the NCA A tournament that for the Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse team, the key to their game was to play w ith “shocking” effort. “We work so hard so that the other team is just shocked by how much effort we can give on all parts of the field” Ly nch said. This was surely the case for the Irish in a first round shutout against Robert Morrison, the first in the tournament’s histor y, and then another outstanding w in against Virginia to push the Irish for ward into the quarterfinals. It wasn’t an easy season for the Irish, and they fought through tough games to end w ith an 11-6 record and the fifth seed in the tournament. This season was unlike any prior. With COV ID shutting dow n last year’s season and significantly altering this one, the team has been unable to bond the way they normally would, as Ly nch said they “haven’t been able to have the same

level of communication and regular interaction w ith our teammates that we usually do in the locker room and dinners.” Ly nch reminisced on this past season. “One of the best games for us was that first one against Vanderbilt” she said. “We hadn’t played in over a year and it was just a lot of fun to get back on the field.” Notre Dame won that game 19-5, w ith Ly nch herself scoring five goals. Sophomore Kasey Choma and graduate student Jessi Masinko scored five and four goals respectively. But this was not the end of their high-scoring season. Choma led the team w ith 38 goals and 42 points, while graduate student Savannah Buchanan caused 27 turnovers. In addition, six players earned A ll-ACC accolades for the 2021 season. Senior Bridget Deehan and Ly nch earned First Team honors while sophomore Madison A hern, senior Maddie Howe and Choma earned Second Team honors. Freshman Keelin Schlageter see W LAX PAGE 33

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

HOCKEY | 14-13-2, 12-10-2 BIG TEN

After disappointing end, Irish hungry for more By ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports Writer

Perseverance has been the name of the game across the world over the last year, and the Notre Dame men’s hockey team is no exception. In head coach Jeff Jackson’s 16th season behind the Irish bench, Notre Dame battled COV ID protocols and a deep Big 10 conference en route to a fifth straight NCA A tournament appearance (the 2020 NCA A Tournament was canceled due to COV ID-19). But unforeseen circumstances out of their control ended Notre Dame’s season before they were able to participate in this year’s tournament, which was ultimately won by UMass. Navigating this unique season was a challenge, and it made an already difficult conference and schedule even more difficult. It made consistency almost impossible to find. For the Irish, it was w in three straight, lose three straight. Win the last four of the regular season, only to bow out in the first round of the Big 10 Tournament to a Penn State club the Irish had swept a two-game series from eight days prior by a combined margin of 12-3. The lack of home-ice advantage caused by an empty Compton Family Ice Arena had a clear impact on the season; look no further than the Irish’s home/road splits.

At Compton, the Irish were only 5-11-1 and lost their only Big 10 tournament game on that ice as well. Away from South Bend, the club was outstanding, posting a stellar 9-2-1 record. Notre Dame wasn’t swept in a single road series in 2020-21; they were swept at home three times. “Without fans, it was definitely something to get used to. Especially (without) the Notre Dame fans. We have an awesome fanbase, awesome student section, and band, so it’s something we really miss” said junior defenseman Spencer Stastney, who was named the team’s top defensive player May 13. Despite the early ex it in the Big 10 championship, the Irish were poised for a postseason appearance. The club was hungr y to face the Boston College Eagles in the NCA A tournament in hopes of making a deep run. But Notre Dame’s season ended in the blink of an eye when the team was forced to bow out of the tournament due to COV ID issues before playing a single game. “We were all holding our breath in that announcement ceremony. We were extremely excited for the opportunity, and we rightfully earned that spot. Traveling out there and really getting COV ID right away, that, that was pretty brutal,” Stastney said. “It was pretty disheartening to make it seven months and then at the end have it come

Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

Irish junior defenseman Nick Leivermann fires a pass to a teammate during Notre Dame’s 5-4 home win over Arizona State on Jan. 9.

Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

Irish first-year foward Landon Slaggert handles the puck during Notre Dame’s 1-3 loss to Michigan on Jan. 22 at Compton Family Ice Arena. Slaggert recorded one penalty in the game against the Wolverines.

crashing down.” Notre Dame’s first line, including junior A lex Steeves and centering brothers wingers junior Graham and freshman and Chicago Black hawks prospect Landon Slaggert, tore opponents apart. Steeves-Notre Dame’s season MV P with 15 goals and 17 assists-finished tied for 10th with North Dakota center Shane Pinto in the NCA A in scoring with 32 points. Graham Slaggert was tied for 34th in the nation at 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists). And Landon Slaggert won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Edmonton Jan. 5. “Something that separates them from others is their creativity and their freedom on the ice,” Stastney said. I think we play a ver y structured game but those guys found a way to play a structured game but also use their individual skill set to really complement each other. They were such an important part of our offense. A ll three of them are extremely talented, have a bright future in hockey, and brought a lot to our team last year.” Long-time hockey coach and broadcaster Harr y Neale once said, “Goaltending is 75 percent of your hockey team, unless you don’t have it. Then it’s 100 percent” The Irish had tremendous goaltending this season, with senior Dylan St. Cyr easy to mistake for a brick wall on several nights. St. Cyr’s .921 save percentage

ranked top-twenty across the entire NCA A in 202021. “He was great, not only on the ice but off the ice,” Stastney said. “He’s grinding and working hard ever y day. And it was nice to see him have a great season this year. As a defenseman myself, it’s nice knowing you have a guy back there that you trust and is going to make the big saves.” Overall, the Irish ranked fourth in the Big Ten with a solid 2.69 goals against per game and 80.8% penalty kill. St. Cyr and the Irish defense, which finished third in the Big 10 with 29.76 shots allowed per game, held down the fort all season. The backend was led by their top pair of Stastney and fellow junior defenseman Nate Clurman, the team’s captain. Junior Nick Leivermann led ND defensemen with 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists). Such a dissatisf ying ending to their season no doubt leaves the Irish hungr y for more in the 2021-22 season. “We had a good journey, we had a good run, and we just tried to stay positive and stick together,” Stastney said in ref lecting on the season that was. Despite the challenges the Irish faced, they certainly had some memorable moments. They swept a two-game series against top-ranked Minnesota in mid-Januar y. The Irish were undefeated in shootouts. St. Cyr pitched consecutive shutouts on Feb. 26 and 27 against the Michigan State

Spartans. And a 7-1 thumping of Penn State to end the regular season made for an epic Senior Night sendoff for ND Hockey’s class of 2021. This was then followed by an announcement that senior Matt Hellickson signed a contract with the Binghamton Devils for the remainder of the 20202021 season and that he and 2020 Irish graduate Cal Petersen would join the US Men’s National Team for the upcoming World Championship. The 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship will take place May 21 - June 6 in Riga, Latvia. The hopeful return of Irish fans to Compton would certainly help the team take another step for ward next season. “With the fans next year hopefully coming back, we should be able to feed off their energ y and really tr y and bounce back at home,” Statsney said. And for rising seniors like Stastney, that energ y and urgency are amplified ten-fold. “I’m looking for ward to having a better season, not just for the fans, but our coaching staff, my fellow seniors, and the team that we’ll be playing with,” he said. “I think it’s one last chance to represent Notre Dame and we’re gonna do our best to have a great season.” Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

ND Men’s BASKETBALL | 11-15, 7-11 ACC

ND hopes to rebound after poor season By JIMMY WARD Associate Sports Editor

Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

Irish junior guard Cormac Ryan drives into the lane during Notre Dame’s 79-58 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 2 at Purcell Pavilion.

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team fought through a tough season posting a lackluster 11-15 overall record on the year and a 7-11 ACC record. This is the third consecutive year that Mike Brey’s Irish have missed the big dance. The team finished in the bottom half of the ACC but picked up some solid wins along the way, including a road win over Duke, albeit it was a different Duke team and a different Cameron Indoor than we are used to seeing. It was such a grueling season in fact that secondyear athletic trainer Nixon Dorvilien was named team MVP for his outstanding work shouldering COVID testing and protocols. It was a move that Brey called “unorthodox,” but in a season unlike any other and with an award dubbed the “Tougher than the Year MVP,” it is definitely warranted. Notre Dame did see eight of their scheduled games affected by COVID-19 safety

protocols enacted by the opposing team this season, but the Irish and Dorvilien made sure they were eligible for every game. The Irish got off to a rough start straight from the jump, dropping their opener to Michigan State on Nov. 28. They responded with a win over Detroit Mercy a little over a week later and edged out a 64-63 win over Kentucky in Rupp Arena in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But as they approached the new year, struggles began to settle in. They dropped games to Duke and Purdue, then claimed an 81-70 win over Bellarmine, a team in the process of transitioning to Division I hoops. But after suffering 57-66 defeat to Virginia at home on Dec. 30, they would not find another win until mid January as they dropped four straight to conference opponents. The loss to Virginia was followed by a narrow loss to UNC, 66-65. Then, the Irish had their first interruption of the season after their matchup against Georgia Tech was cancelled thanks to positive tests and

contact tracing in the Yellow Jackets locker room. The Irish simply put, were just never able to find their groove. Though they weren’t able to string together wins as much as they would have liked, the group still accomplished much on the court this season. Junior guard and team captain Prentiss Hubb passed the 1,000 point mark in Notre Dame’s win over Florida State, becoming the 65th Notre Dame player to reach the mark in program history. Hubb is the 24th player of the Mike Brey era to score 1,000 points and the sixth to do so in three years or less. He also dished it out in conference play, finishing with 120 assists, second among all major conference players in league action. Fellow captain Juwan Durham finished the season ranked third on the program’s career all-time blocked shots list with 178. The graduate student forward sits behind LaPhonso Ellis and Jordan Cornette on the list with 200 and 201 respectively. see M BBALL PAGE 32

ND MEN’s LaCrosse | 8-3, 3-3 ACC

Irish looking to make noise in postseason By LUKE THOMPSON Sports Writer

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team will begin its postseason on Saturday, May 15 with a firstround matchup against the Drexel Dragons and will be looking to close out another successful season by capturing the program’s elusive first national championship. The sixth-seeded Irish completed the regular season at 7-3 (3-3 ACC) and were outright dominant at home, winning six of seven games at Arlotta Stadium — including a thrilling upset of the then number one ranked Duke Blue Devils in early April. The team — led by Coach Kevin Corrigan for an astounding thirty-third consecutive season — started out the season very strong, winning their first four games before conference play. Within the ACC, the Fighting Irish held their own at .500, finishing third out of the five teams in the incredibly competitive league. After mostly breezing through the non-conference schedule, the Irish dropped their first game against a conference opponent in a home date with the defending national champion

Virginia Cavaliers. The Irish rebounded from the tight 1112 loss with an impressive 1811 win over the then number four Syracuse Orange in the Carrier Dome. Sophomore Pat Kavanaugh (younger brother of former Irish standout Matt) tied the program single-game record (once again) with nine points against the Orange, putting the ball in the back of the net himself four times and assisting in an additional four goals. The game in Syracuse provided Coach Corrigan with his 310th win at Notre Dame, tying the record for the most wins at a single program in college lacrosse history. His first chance to break the record came at home against the number-one ranked Duke Blue Devils. In an exciting atmosphere at Arlotta Stadium, the Irish upset the nation’s top team and delivered their coach an enormous milestone with a dominant 13-8 win. The then-undefeated Blue Devils could only muster 8 goals in what was a strong demonstration of the Irish’s defensive prowess. Coach Corrigan, having achieved his landmark 311th victory at Notre Dame, characteristically focused more on how his team had pulled off this

impressive upset than his own outstanding individual achievement, emphasizing that his primary concern was that his team “continues to improve” after this exciting win. Even after pulling off what was easily the biggest win of the season and one of the most momentous of his decades-spanning career, Corrigan acknowledged that a concentration on the team’s “continued development” is the only way the team could get “where [they] want to be, which most importantly … is in the tournament and playing our best lacrosse then.” Corrigan noted “the results will take care of themselves,” if the Irish maintained focus on their training and continual improvement rather than dwelling on their great success against the Blue Devils. The now-fourth ranked Irish faced off against the Blue Devils again in Durham immediately after a twelveday break in their unmerciful ACC schedule after their win over Duke. The Irish failed to replicate their success on the road, falling 12-13 in an overtime thriller. The Irish continued their skid a few days later, losing 10-12 to the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. The Irish were able to

rebound from their losses on their southern road trip in their final game of the season against Syracuse. The Irish repeated their earlier success against the Orange, this time at home, blowing out the visitors 22-8. Kavanaugh again stood tall for the Irish, breaking the same program record he had tied earlier in the season for points in a single game with a whopping ten. Kavanaugh’s monumental effort — which included a balanced five goals and assists — was a fitting end to a remarkable regular season for the sophomore attackman. Kavanaugh also broke his own brother’s record for the most assists in a single season in program history after recording his 33rd on the year against the Orange. Kavanaugh racked up a teamleading 59 points this season and was named as one of only five finalists for the 2021 men’s Tewaaraton Award, which is given annually to the top player in men’s college lacrosse. Following their second victory over Syracuse, the Irish surged up to fourth in the national rankings and earned the sixth seed in the NCA A tournament. The Irish opened up with a 10-8 win in

Denver on Saturday over the Colonial Athletic Association champion Drexel Dragons. The Irish held off a late rally by the Dragons to secure their spot in the second round of the Championships, wielding a home field advantage over the Maryland Terrapins who come into town on Saturday. This is the sixteenth straight season the Irish have made a trip to the NCA A tournament, a testament to the powerhouse Corrigan has created at Notre Dame in his thirty-three years at the program. The Irish will be looking to finally capture the national championship that they have long pursued and narrowly missed a few times. Corrigan led the Irish to two runner-up finishes and five final fours in the last two decades, but the national championship has barely eluded the Irish for awhile now. With three top-ten victories on the year and a young superstar in Kavanaugh, Corrigan will look to shepherd this clearlyoutstanding team throughout the gauntlet of the NCA A tournament and finally come away with his first national title. Contact Luke Thompson at lthomps7@nd.edu

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

ND Women’s basketball | 10-10, 8-7

Westbeld, ACC Rookie of the Year, reflects on first season with the Irish By GREG McKENNA Sports Writer

Play ing during a college basketba l l season during a pa ndemic presents enough uncer ta int y in itself. One might t hin k replacing a ha l l-of-fa me coach w it hout summer pract ice as wel l wou ld be a n overwhelming ex perience for a ny player. Freshma n for wa rd Maddy Westbeld, however, admits she didn’t k now a ny t hing dif ferent heading into her f irst col leg iate season. “I mea n, def initely going t hrough it, it was rea lly cha l leng ing a nd def initely rea l ly f r ust rat ing,” she sa id. “But t here were a lso a lot of g reat t hings t hat ca me out of it. So I t hin k for my f irst yea r at Not re Da me, I wou ldn’t have wa nted a nyt hing else.” Westbeld wou ldn’t have hoped for a nyone else to be pat rol ling t he sideline, eit her. She sa id play ing for f irst-yea r head coach Niele Ivey, who replaced Muf fet McGraw a f ter t he t wo-t ime nat iona l cha mpion ret ired last Apri l a f ter 33 seasons leading t he Irish, was a “drea m come t r ue.” “I’ve k now n her since I was litt le,” Westbeld sa id. “A nd she has just a lways been somebody t hat I cou ld ta l k to about a ny t hing. A nd just to have her as my head coach a nd be able to look on t he sideline a nd see her wa nt ing g reat t hings for me a nd wa nt ing g reat t hings for t he tea m, it was just so a ma zing.” Westbeld a lso cou ld not have hoped for a better f reshma n ca mpa ig n, indiv idua l ly. A f ter leading Not re Da me w it h 15.2 points per ga me a nd 7.9 rebounds per ga me, as wel l as shoot ing a tea m-high 39% f rom t hree, Westbeld was na med FirstTea m A l l-ACC a nd conference Rook ie of t he Yea r. Westbeld was t he on ly f reshma n in t he count r y to average at least 15 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists a nd 1.4 stea ls per ga me, but she sa id she was sur prised to be a consistent sta r ter, never mind t he tea m’s sta r. “I t hin k t he f irst couple ga mes, t hat was when I was st i l l t r y ing to f ig ure it out, a nd I was gett ing in some

M Bball Continued from page 31

Graduate ward and

Student forteam captain

fou l t rouble,” she sa id. Westbeld sa id good communicat ion w it h t he coaching sta f f a llowed her to f ig ure t hings out, pav ing t he way for her meteoric rise. She sa id one of t he most crit ica l t hings was, “sitt ing dow n w it h my coaches, a nd rea l ly being t ra nspa rent w it h t hem, k now ing what t hey need me to do to come out on top.” Irish sophomore for wa rd Maddy y Westbled goes up for a n uncontested lay up during Not re Da me’s 59-48 w in over Pitt. Though ra n ked No. 22 in t he preseason A P Poll, t he Irish (10-10, 8-7 ACC) faced a lea rning cur ve of t heir ow n. The Irish dropped 4 of t heir f irst nine ga mes before suffering a hea r tbrea k ing loss at Boston College in ea rly Ja nua r y. The Irish led by 12 in w it h 3:29 to go, but t he Eagles, who on ly won t wo ga mes in t he ACC a ll season, closed t he ga me on a 16-1 r un to snatch t he v ictor y. Westbeld sa id t he ga me in Chest nut Hill bega n a f r ust rat ing t rend of four t hqua r ter collapses, which included a late Ja nua r y loss at Nor t h Ca rolina a nd f irst-round ex it in t he ACC Tourna ment aga inst Clemson. She sa id t he relat ively young Irish k now t heir play late in ga mes w ill need to improve nex t season. “It’s def initely f i xable stuf f,” Westbeld sa id. “But we just as a unit needed to f ig ure out how to get over t hat hump of holding a lead. A nd t hat comes w it h leadership.” Follow ing t he loss at BC, however, t he Irish rebounded w it h a t hree ga me w inst rea k, t heir longest of t he season. The Irish wou ld obta in revenge aga inst t he Eagles in t he second of t hose ga mes, w inning by 10 back home at Purcell Pav i lion. A t hree-ga me losing st rea k followed, but Not re Da me won t wo of its last t hree reg u la r season ga mes to seemingly put t he Irish on t he good side of t he bubble heading into t he ACC Tourna ment. A f ter t he f ivepoint loss to Clemson in Greensboro, however, Not re Da me’s NC A A Tourna ment appea ra nce st rea k ended at

24. Westbeld, whose sister Kat hr y n averaged 7.7 points per ga me on t he 2017-2018 nat iona l t it le-w inning squad, k nows Not re Da me’s t y pica l sta nda rd is much higher. She sa id t his is not somet hing t he tea m needs to ha r p during of fseason workouts, however. “We a ll were on t he sa me page w it hout it needing to be sa id,” Westbeld sa id. In terms of depa r tures, t he Irish g raduate senior g ua rd Nicole Ben z, a nd senior center Mikayla Vaughn a nd g raduate student g ua rd Dest inee Wa lker a re a lso mov ing on. Vaughn, who averaged 7.6 ppg a nd led t he Irish w it h 1.4 blocks per ga me t his season, saw preseason act ion w it h t he Minnesota Ly n x of t he W NBA before being wa ived prior to t he reg u la r season. Westbeld

sa id Vaughn, despite playing dow n low, was una f ra id to ta ke on leadership dut ies t y pica l ly att ributed to a tea m’s point g ua rd. “A lot of t imes during pract ice a nd t hings it was Mik being t he voca l leader,” she sa id. Westbeld sa id Wa l ker, whose 11.4 ppg t his season was good for second on t he tea m, led by being a f riend to a nyone who needed her. “For me, persona l ly, I k now t hat Dest inee a lways had my back,” she sa id. Westbeld sa id Ben z, a former wa l k-on who, li ke Vaughn, was a member of t he 2017-2018 t it le-w inning squad, was a t remendous best f riend, pa r t-t ime roommate a nd mentor. Westbeld sa id Ben z “k new ever y t hing,” including, “t he right words to say when t hings were gett ing f r ust rat ing.”

Westbeld w i l l head line a st rong g roup of returnees t hat includes ea rly-enrol lee Oliv ia Mi les, who averaged nea rly 10 points per ga me a f ter joining t he Irish in late Ja nua r y. Not re Da me a lso adds Sta nford g raduate t ra nsfer Maya Dodson at forwa rd a nd incoming f reshma n g ua rd Sonia Cit ron, ESPN’s 16t h-ra n ked point g ua rd in t he 2021 class a nd a McDona ld’s A l l-A merica n. Westbeld has absolute fa it h in Ivey to lead t his ta lented Irish squad for wa rd. “I ca n never quest ion her hea r t a nd never quest ion a ny t hing negat ive about her because I k now t hat a l l she wa nts is posit ive t hings for t he prog ra m a nd for us,” she sa id. “I love play ing for her a nd I’m so excited to keep t hat journey going.”.

Nikola Djogo made his first start in two years against Virginia Tech and led the Irish to victory against No. 11 ranked FSU, dropping 11 points on Senior Day.

The Irish may have underperformed this season but they are ready to get back at it again next year. When Mike Brey was asked to evaluate where

his team was at the end of his 20th season with the Irish and right after a 101-59 loss to UNC, he ended his long response by saying, “I told them a year

from this Selection Sunday our goal should be to see our name f lash up.”

ARI DENNING | The Observer

Irish first-year foward Maddy Westbeld lays the ball in during Notre Dame’s away win over Pittsburgh 59-48 in the Petersen Events Center. Westbeld was named a 2021 WBCA All-America Regional Finalist.

Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu

Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

ND MEN’s Tennis

Team finds stride after rough start to season By DOMINIC GIBSON Sports Writer

Despite a bogged dow n start to their spring campaign, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team found their stride going dow n the home stretch of the regular season. The Irish (15-11, 7-5 ACC) finished fifth in the ACC and earned their way into another NCA A tournament appearance including a first-round w in against Western Michigan (22-2, 9-0 M AC). Irish head coach Ryan Sachire was extremely proud of the way his team overcame challenges throughout the season, especially w ith many new restrictions and guidelines in place due to the COV ID-19 pandemic. “We got off to a bit of a rock y start early in the

season, but our guys stuck together,” Sachire said. “We came together as a group, as a program and really finished prett y darn strong —ACC tournament not w ithstanding — and played our best tennis of the whole season coming dow n the stretch of the regular season.” Sachire said the team did a good job of respecting health protocols and making good choices to keep the group healthy and allow the team to play a relatively full season. The challenge of not having a fall season was something of a surprise for coach Sachire and the rest of the squad, especially w ith many of his players not hav ing played competitive matches in nine months leading into the regular season. “It’s the first time obv iously that any of us have ever

dealt w ith not competing in the fall, just practicing in the fall, and then obv iously all the challenges that COV ID brought from how we had to structure our practices,” he said. “We figured it out as we went along and figured it out on the f ly and did a prett y darn good job I think as the season went along.” Helping to lead the charge for the Irish this season was junior A xel Nef ve who w ill be representing the team in both singles and doubles along w ith partner Tristan McCormick in the NCA A championships on May 22nd. Nef ve racked up an 18-3 record at the number one singles position and a 10-4 record at the number one doubles position. Sachire highlighted Nef ve’s work ethic as the big reason for his grow th this season.

“It started w ith what he did on his ow n during the first part of the pandemic when school wasn’t in session yet,” Sachire said. “Throughout the summer he worked his tail off, made himself a better athlete, made himself a better tennis player, and throughout the fall, even though we weren’t competing in tournaments his level prett y much ever y single day in practice was really really high. He’s really emerged as one of the best players in college tennis and had a great year.” The season as a whole including communication w ith his players is something Sachire is looking to learn from and take into next year’s season. “I do think the pandemic brought some changes to our program out of necessit y

and some of which w ill continue to carr y on,” he said. “I think one of the things that I’ll learn the most from came from a lot of the conversations we had w ith our guys early in the year.” The team was not able to do much team-building in the fall, but was able to communicate well as a group when the season started. “That was something, maybe that freshness, not hav ing been able to do as many team meetings in the fall but bringing that to light in the spring. I think that w ill ser ve all of us well mov ing for ward throughout the rest of my career, in the short term at least, and something we’ll take into next season w ith us,” Sachire said. Contact Dominic Gibson at dgibson@hcc-nd.edu

CHEERLEADING

Irish cheer head coach reflects on unique year By JIMMY WARD Associate Sports Editor

W hen the world came to a screeching halt just over a year ago, sports were one of the first things people were worried about. The main concern for many was the upcoming March Madness tournament. A vast majorit y of people were remiss to remember what made sports so fun pre-COV ID and were just pushing the athletes to get out onto barren courts in empt y arenas, all socially distanced so that their games could go on. Sports fans ever y where knew something was off though. The atmosphere created inside of a stadium during a game simply cannot be replicated w ithout the people who make up that atmosphere. No two stadiums are alike, no two games are alike. But one facet of sports that people began to appreciate a little bit more once it was gone was that missing atmosphere. A big part of that atmosphere at

W Lax Continued from page 29

was named to the ACC AllFreshman Team. These are the most honorees that the women’s lacrosse team has earned since 2014. This team is not ready to stop now and on May 22 they will face fourth seeded Boston College with a spot in the semifinals on the line. While the Irish did not make

any sporting event is the cheerleaders. Like ever yone, Notre Dame’s cheer squad experienced some difficult changes in the midst of the pandemic, but they seemed to have arrived on the other side of it stronger than ever. ACC Spirit Coach of the year, Delay na Herndon said that one immediate change she saw was the vast amount of male participation in the sport. “Most of our male cheerleaders were not cheerleaders before, they were high school athletes who really just miss being on a team, and we recruited them to be a part of our team because we need really athletic indiv iduals,” Herndon said. Herndon explained how since most male cheerleaders didn’t have the skillset of crowd leading, it was an emphasis for the entire team. “Something I think that came up this year was [that] all of our students, males and females became better crowd leaders and better

cheerleaders because it’s all they could do to be engaged in the game and engaged w ith the crowd.” The t y pical routines and game day customs for cheerleaders were throw n off quite a bit this past season thanks to the pandemic. The most noticeable change was their lack of field presence. People still craved the atmosphere that sports prov ided, so the show had to go on: bands and cheerleaders at schools across the nation were placed in bleachers and were prov ided w ith ample screen time throughout the season. This also included mascots. The iconic Notre Dame Leprechaun had a histor ymaking roster last season. In addition to Conal Fagan, the first native Irishman to wear the suit, Ly nette Wukie made histor y becoming the third African American to hold the role. Wukie is also the first woman to ser ve in the role of the leprechaun. Wukie came to Notre Dame already breaking through

the glass ceiling in golf. She worked as the only female golf caddie in her hometow n near Cleveland while in high school. She earned the Chick Evans Scholarship through the job, a four-year tuition and housing college scholarship offered to students who have caddied at their local courses. In her v ideo application, Wukie begged the question, “W ho said the Fighting Irish can’t fight like a girl? ” And by filling the role, she has inspired and encouraged young female athletes every where. Both Wukie and Fagan will graduate in 2021, leaving the iconic role in the hands of returning graduate student Pat Johnson, senior Gabe Ramos, senior Alex Sampson and junior Sophie Bouldoukin, the second female leprechaun. The leprechauns will have their hands full in 2021. The one thing that separates these athletes from others is that their season is truly year-round. As such Coach Herndon describes their training approach as more of

a slow and steady w ins the race. “I think more people need to know that we don’t have an offseason, that’s something that is huge,” Coach Herndon. “So it’s huge on time management and [it just involves] a lot of communication bet ween staff and our students.” Besides the communication, Herndon emphasized the importance of rest. A couple of days off when school starts to ramp up can really go a long way not just for an athlete’s mental health but also for their physical performance. One thing is for certain though: W hen Fall rolls around and anticipation builds around campus for the football season, ever yone w ill be hoping to see the cheerleaders and our old f lag-w ielding leprechaun friends make their return to the turf to lead the Fighting Irish out of their tunnel.

it far in the ACC tournament, they hope for better luck in the quarterfinals. The Eagles won the first two match-ups between the two teams 19-11 and 18-12. To win this game the Irish must continue with their tournament strategy and come out with “shocking” effort as Lynch put it. This winning streak can not be lost as they go into the quarter-finals and they must use this momentum through

the summer and into the next season. Astonishing effort for a full 60 minutes is the only way the Irish can keep this winning streak. Boston College, and future teams, will make sure to take advantage of any opportunity that the Irish allow. While this is many on the team’s final few games, with the new COVID eligibility rules many who were supposed to graduate are able to return.

Although yet to be official, many seniors are applying through the MBA and MSBA program to continue to play for the Irish and make up for memories and time lost due to the pandemic. Although this season was both physically and mentally challenging, Samantha Lynch was the first one to say how much COVID has changed her perspective on the game. “I think it just has reminded

us to be really grateful for all the time we have together and on the field playing lacrosse because of how quickly it was taken away from us,” Lynch said. After over a year of pandemic, enjoying the little things is not something that anyone — especially the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team — will let slip by.

Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu

Contact Olivia Schatz at oschatz@nd.edu

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The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

ND Women’s Soccer | 11-8-2

Irish fight through grueling nine-month campaign complete with COVID pause By GREG McKENNA Sports Writer

Though the Irish played only 13 games, Notre Dame’s women’s soccer 2020-2021 season was any thing but condensed. Even though the NCA A tournament was postponed to the spring, the ACC still held a fall season that determined qualification for November’s ACC Tournament, which meant each game in a nine-month slog had critical postseason implications. The traditional structure of a competitive fall campaign followed by a spring season of friendlies was throw n out the w indow. Irish head coach Nate Norman said this made for an unusually grueling year. “That’s kind of a mental marathon,” he said, “just to kind of keep going w ithout hav ing an extended developmental season — the chance to take a deep breath and do more of the developmental part instead of always playing ever y game hav ing such meaning to it.” After dropping their season opener 5-0 at eventual ACC and national runner-up Florida State in September, the Irish (6-7, 4-4 ACC) rattled off three straight w ins, vanquishing Miami, Boston College and Sy racuse by a combined score of 10-0. After backto-back one-goal defeats at home against Wake Forest and Clemson, respectively, the Irish would grab a key v ictor y over then-No. 13 Louisv ille to help secure the eighth and final qualif y ing spot in the conference tournament, where they fell to the No. 1-seeded Seminoles 2-0. Aiming to earn an NCA A Tournament bid for a second consecutive season, Notre Dame began its spring campaign w ith back-to-back 2-0 w ins at Cincinnati and on Senior Day vs. Missouri, respectively. However, road matchups against Kansas and Missouri were canceled after positive tests for COV ID and subsequent contract tracing w ithin the Notre Dame program. The Irish ended up narrowly missing out on the 48-team tournament field, condensed from the normal field of 64 due to COV ID-19 concerns, after closing the season w ith consecutive 2-1 losses in Big-12 road matchups. The Irish lost to then-No. 18 Ok lahoma State in overtime before hav ing

a comeback bid fall short against then-No. 7 TCU in Fort Worth. Norman admitted the coronav irus-induced pause came at an inopportune time and said “the wear and tear of that whole spring” made tr y ing to get a result in those final two matches ver y difficult. “But when I do look back on it, I’m proud of the resiliency that we had,” he said. Norman also said he was i mpressed w ith how his captains and seniors were able to facilitate communication and keep the squad motivated in a year where most team activ ities outside of practice were held over Zoom. A ll three of Norman’s captains this year, midfielders Sammi Fisher, Brianna Martinez and Camr y n Dyke, return next season. Fisher, a senior who w ill take advantage of the NCA A’s blanket year of eligibilit y, was second on the team w ith seven points (3G, 1A) in 2020 and led the Irish in goals, assists and points in 2019. Martinez, a rising senior, has been a consistent starter since her freshman year. Dyke, a senior who did not play her freshman year due to injur y, appeared in all 13 games this season, tally ing one goal and two assists. Norman noted that senior for ward Erin Ospeck, who appeared in four matches in 2020-21, w ill also return. Norman had plent y of praise for all his departing seniors, especially goalkeeper Jaina Eckert. After four fall seasons w ithout a single appearance, the Georgia native started all four spring matches for the Irish, making 15 saves and recording two clean sheets. “I’ll be telling her stor y for the rest of my coaching career,” Norman said. Norman added that a lot of student athletes quick ly look to transfer if things don’t go their way. But Eckert, he said, just kept “pushing.” “W hether it was injuries or whatever she had to deal w ith her first couple years [or] other players play ing ahead of her, she just kept working, and when she got her shot, she took it,” he said. Norman cited senior defender Jenna Winebrenner as another player who kept working after initially not receiv ing much play ing time in South Bend. After making just three appearances as a freshman, Winebrenner became a consistent stalwart at the back for Notre Dame

Ryan Vigilante | The Observer

Irish senior forward Eva Hurm approaches the ball, prepping to kick during the close Irish loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 2-3 on Sept. 15, 2019. Hurm’s teammates Sammi Fisher and Luisa Delgado scored on the day.

from her sophomore year onwards. “The last couple years, we would rarely take her off the field,” Norman said. He also said he was proud of the Kansas Cit y native’s development not just as a leader in defense, but also as a distributor who could present an attacking threat. Winebrenner notched t wo goals and three assists during her career. “We’re definitely sad to see [her leave] because she’s not only a great player on the field, but just a great piece of our culture,” Norman said. The Irish w ill also look to replace the attacking output of for ward Eva Hurm, who scored 10 goals and prov ided 13 assists during her collegiate career. Norman said Hurm’s status as a mainstay on the Irish attack for four years was not just attributable to her talent, but also her work ethic. “I think just watching her grow as a player and person for four years has been really rewarding as a coach because she’s certainly been a heck of a player, but [she] became a really good leader in the process,” he said. Norman also took the time to praise his seniors who did not see many opportunities

on the field but still managed to have a tremendous impact on the program, especially for ward Bailey Cart w right. Cart w right only made seven appearances during her collegiate career due to injuries caused by chronic exertional compartment sy ndrome in both legs, and Norman said she could have quit a long time ago. “But she made a commitment to this team and just said, ‘Hey, I’m going to be there,’” he said of Cart w right’s mindset. “‘Regardless of my injur y journey, I’m going to be there to ser ve and I’m gonna love my teammates.’” Cartw right founded Stronger Scars, a podcast and platform for athletes to share their stories struggling w ith injur y or mental illness. Her guests have included San Diego Chargers and former Notre Dame linebacker Drue Tranquill and former U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team goalkeeper Tim Howard. Norman said Cart w right’s project epitomizes the essence of the program and Universit y. “I know it’s impacted a ton of people in our program and a lot of programs right now,” he said.

Norman had similar praise for defender Kate O’Connor, who only made five appearances in 2020-21 after playing in at least 11 games or more in each of her first three seasons. “Kate is really the ultimate genuine teammate,” he said. “She is not someone who tries to put the spotlight on herself and is someone who was like, ‘W hat can I do for the team? ’” Looking towards the fall, Norman said he expects an extremely talented incoming class and group of returners to create intense competition for places. As the three-time national champions look to make it back to the NCA A Tournament, Norman said the Irish w ill focus on converting Notre Dame’s four one-goal defeats this past season into w ins. “It’s about figuring out how to make those one or t wo percent gains to make sure that in those games you could w in, you take all sense of chance or luck out of it,” he said. “You just make sure that you’re forcing the ball into the back of the net.” Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu

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The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Fencing

ND Softball | 31-13

Irish cap season with 14-game win streak

ND keeps legacy of dominance

By JAMISON COOK

By SAM OUHAJ

Sports Writer

During a year overshadowed by COVID restrictions, not many college sports teams have been able to play anywhere near a full slate of games. The same cannot be said for the Notre Dame softball team, who have taken to the field over 40 times this season. The discipline and resilience her team has shown in the face of the pandemic – paired with its on-field success this season (31-12, 20-10 ACC) – have made softball coach Deanna Gumpf incredibly proud of her team. “I’m so proud of how they handled this whole thing because it could have gone in 20 different directions, but we’ve been on the field,” she says. “I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young women than I am of this group because of what they’ve had to endure and what they’ve had to handle isn’t easy, and it is probably one of the most challenging things they’re ever going to deal with in their lives.” The resilience of the Irish has been evident on the field itself as well. Following a midseason sweep at the hands of No. 6 Florida State in which Notre Dame was shut out in three of four games, the team has rattled off 11 straight wins. While many fans may have been discouraged by the tough losses to Florida State, Gumpf saw it as a major turning point in Notre Dame’s season. “We played really bad softball that weekend, but since that time, we’ve figured out how to play really good softball,” she says. “To me, because that happened, I think it’s worth it because it’s made us better and it made us who we’ve become. So, I appreciate that weekend probably more than most do, because a lot of good has come out of something bad.” Nothing has been able to stop the Irish since that series in early April, and their winning streak has put them on the edge of the top 25 teams in the nation. Notre Dame has improved on both sides of the ball as the season has progressed, most notably on the defensive side. The point of attack on defense is the mound, and Coach Gumpf is very pleased with the development of her pitching staff – namely seniors Alexis Holloway and Morgan Ryan, and junior Payton Tidd – over the course of the season.

The Notre Dame fencing team was dominant this season. The men’s and women’s teams won their 11th National Title in program history this year on March 28th, 2021 and had four individual champions along with two runner-ups. Coach Loiseau spoke about what this team was able to accomplish this season. “It was an exceptional year with so many things going on, especially with COVID having a major impact when it came to training and conditioning,” Loiseau said. “However, as a team, the job has been done well, with our student-athletes understanding what was at stake and what opportunities were present to them by being allowed back on campus last August.” He had excitement for what this entire team did, going so as far as to say that when facing other teams this year, “Our team was much more prepared than the other teams we faced this season, and this is because of our athletes’ dedication and hard work.” After discussing the teams’ achievements this season, Loiseau discussed what it means to watch the seniors leave. “It is hard to move on after being around them for the last four years,” he said. “You take it for granted when you coach them every day and almost forget they will be gone eventually, but the memories are there forever.” When asked about individual seniors, he had high praise for all of them, but mentioned NCA A Champion and foil Stefani Deschner and her accomplishments this season. “She is going to med school; she was an NCA A Scholar and worked hard consistently, always being a great teammate along the way,” he said. “It makes us happy she won because she was always doing everything possible to make sure she was on top of her game; she is what Notre Dame is all about.” Loiseau added afterwards that “this does not diminish what others have accomplished this season, but Stefani is the MVP this season.” He also went on to give praise to senior epee Ariel Simmons, who won three titles with Notre Dame during

ARI DENNING | The Observer

Irish sophomore outfielder Leea Hanks preps to bunt on an incoming pitch during Notre Dame’s March 26 home win over NC State, 6-5.

“They’ve been so fun to coach because they work so well together and they appreciate each other and they truly care about each other, and I think that that ref lects in the way that they’re pitching together,” she said. “It starts right there on the mound; they’ve done a great job.” On top of the exemplary pitching, Notre Dame’s defense behind the pitcher has also been a bright spot. The Irish have given up more than three runs just twice since the winning streak began, evidence of how they have developed into an elite defensive team. Notre Dame has also been very effective on offense in the latter part of the season. They have generated runs with ease, scoring five or more runs in five of the 11 games that have made up the current winning streak. Much of this success has been due to the leadership of Notre Dame’s upperclassmen. Four seniors and two graduate students have led the way for the Irish, but none have stood out quite like senior Abby Sweet. Sweet’s success on the diamond earned her the honor of Notre Dame’s Female Athlete of the Year, and she was also named one of 25 finalists for the National

Player of the Year. Her statistics jump off the page, but it is the intangibles, Gumpf says, that really make Sweet stand out. “If you see her on paper, what she’s accomplished speaks for itself. Her numbers are incredible, and they just don’t happen, and she’s making it happen. It’s been all season, she’s been like this,” Gumpf says. “The difference is if you see her play the game, then you know why she is who she is, and you know why she is Notre Dame’s female athlete of the year and a top 25 nominee for the nation because the way she plays the game is second to none. I just can’t say enough of the player and the person she is; she gives everything she has every moment of every day to this team, and I am so proud of what she’s done and what she continues to do every day.” Sweet and the Irish finished off the regular season with a three-game series sweep against Boston College and had a quick turnaround for the ACC Tournament, which began on May 12. The team lost in the quarterfinals to Virginia Tech 1-4 on May 13. Contact Jamison Cook at jcook22@nd.edu

his time here, a fantastic feature that very few have accomplished. “He was a student we highly recruited who originally chose UPenn, but he took a year off and fortunately, he decided to reconsider and come to us, which we are extremely thankful for,” Loiseau said. “He is a big part of the team, very loud, charismatic and is a big departure for us along with Stefani. These two are a backbone to our team; they set the way for those younger on the team to follow their lead.” Loiseau also gaive praise to seniors epee Dasha Yefremenko, foil Isabelle Elizondo, foil Joseph Marino and sabre Reghan Ward. “They contributed so much to this team, and we want to mention them because they were starters who qualified to NCA A,” Loiseau said. “While we had to make decisions and send others over them, we were fortunate to have them be here because of everything they did for us. They made us so much better, and while they could have gone to other schools, they chose us. They are incredible students and people, and we will be in contact for the years to come.” Loiseau spoke about his favorite memory this season as well. “If I played the game fair, it would have to be those six in the morning runs during the first semester,” he said. “We had to condition differently this year, and while it was rough during the cold months, we came out much more prepared and ready … Coaches came to the run as well, and while it was hard to get up at six at first, the more we ran together, the closer we became and the more we enjoyed it.” Finally, when asked about advice that he would give to the seniors, Loiseau stated that “we all have different personal relationships with our graduating seniors, with each one having different things that will motivate them and help them. However, I would say all of these students have grown up so much in front of us, and I am really proud to see how they have evolved. Not trying to sound cheesy, but I would say to keep that up and be proud of who you have become.” Contact Sam Ouhaj at souhaj@nd.edu

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The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

ND Volleyball | 15-4

Team makes round of 32 to cap off season By GRANT DelVECCHIO Sports Writer

After dominating its regular-season schedule en route to a 14-3 record, the 2020-2021 Notre Dame volleyball team advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row, the third time in the past four seasons, and twenty-first time overall in program history. In Omaha, Notre Dame won its first-round tournament matchup against West Point in four sets to advance to the team’s twelfth ever Round of 32 appearance before falling in straight sets (17-25, 2225, 13-25) to No. 10 Oregon to finish the season 15-4 overall. After the season-ending loss to Oregon, Irish head coach Mike Johnson was confident this season was merely a taste of what’s to come. “I think we can play better. I think there’s more out there for us,” coach Johnson said. “This was a team that had three freshmen on the floor all year, we lose two really great seniors, but for me, I’m always motivated … For us, we’re going to learn from this. We’re going to improve. We’re going to be back and we’re going to be better.” In the first-round win over Army, the Irish racked up 10 service aces and 17 total blocks, good enough for second and third-most, respectively, in program history at the tournament. With the win, Notre Dame moved to 12-9 alltime in first-round matches in the tournament. The Irish went 13-3 in conference play during the regular season, missing out on the conference championship by only one game to Louisville,

a team the Irish swept on the road in the two teams lone matchup of the season. The second-place finish in the ACC is Notre Dame’s best since joining the conference in 2014. In what was the first-ever combined fall-and-spring volleyball season, the Irish won the first four matches of the season and carried that momentum throughout the entire season, finishing 6-1 in the fall portion of games and 8-2 in the spring after the three-month pause. Eight of Notre Dame’s 15 wins came via straight-set sweeps. In fact, the Irish swept all three of the other ACC teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament in Georgia Tech, Louisville and Pittsburgh during the regular season. Juniors Charley Niego and Zoe Nunez led the way for the Irish for the third consecutive season. Niego put up 244 kills and 179 digs in 62 sets played, and Nunez dished out 753 assists to go along with 224 digs in all 71 sets. Both were named First Team All-ACC selections for their efforts for the second straight year. The First Team nod for Niego and Nunez means they’ve earned AllACC accolades in every season with the Irish, since as freshmen in 2018 the pair also acquired ACC All-Freshman and Second Team All-ACC honors together. Niego finished with nine double-doubles on the season, eight of which came in just twelve spring matches, while Nunez added 14 of her own. Niego’s 4.07 kills per set ranked third in the ACC, while Nunez’s mark of 10.92 assists was good enough for second in the ACC. This season, Nunez

became just the eighth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists. Notre Dame got more veteran help from senior Hannah Thompson, the Irish defensive stalwart who put up 102 kills and a team-leading 80 total blocks in what was her most productive career season with the team. Thompson put up a dominant eight-block performance against Army in the first-round win alongside junior Lauren Wenzel, who also added eight blocks in the game. The team also found much success thanks to excellent play from a talented unit of underclassmen. Sophomore Caroline Meuth earned Second Team All-ACC honors for the second straight season after putting up 189 kills, 114 digs, 61 total blocks and five double-double performances. Joining Meuth on the Second Team was freshman Lindsey Miller, who added 119 kills of her own with a .442 hitting percentage, the fourth-best percentage in the ACC and eleventh-best in the nation. Miller made the All-ACC Freshman Team alongside teammates Aubrey Hamilton and Hattie Monson. Hamilton collected 179 kills for the season, posting double-digit kills in ten matches, while Monson led the team with 278 digs, a number that ranked third in the ACC. Both Hamilton and Monson appeared in every set of the regular season for the team. According to coach Johnson, these three freshmen, in particular, were crucial to the team’s success. “There were a number of matches that it was really

easy to forget that they were freshmen. Our team leaned on them heavily, I can’t say that enough. But that said, I think all three of them have a lot more in them. The ceiling for all of them is very high. I’m really excited for what they’ll do going forward as they continue to improve.” In total, the Irish earned six All-ACC awards. It was the second time in coach Johnson’s three seasons that three freshmen earned All-Freshman honors (2018: Niego, Nunez, Sydney Bent). As coach Johnson points out, this is a testament to the environment that has been built in the program. “I think the energy and the vibe that you see when you watch us play, that’s somewhat just in the nature of the kids that we’ve got. We want to recruit players who love to play the game of volleyball, and feel a passion and a pride to represent Notre Dame and I think you really see that within this team.” Yet, coach Johnson also was quick to mention the impact that the Notre Dame fans, especially the students, have on the way his team performs. For the majority of the season, no fans were allowed at games, though that changed toward the end of the season. “It was really awesome to see the students be able to come out at the very end of the year, and I can’t put into words the impact that those guys have on our team,” Johnson said. “Our team thrives off the energy that students are capable of bringing … so it was great for the students to be able to come out and be a part of it.” Thus, in the three years

since Mike Johnson took over from the legendary Jim McLaughlin as head coach of the program, Notre Dame volleyball has compiled an overall record of 50-26 and advanced to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. This is especially notable given prior to the 2017 season, Johnson’s last as an assistant to McLaughlin, Notre Dame had not reached the NCAA tournament since 2012. In fact, the Irish had even failed to post a winning record or double-digit wins in the two seasons leading up to 2017. In spite of this season’s undeniable success, coach Johnson anticipates a brighter future for the program. “For us, it’s about constant growth and continual improvement. When you come to ND you have the opportunity to try to become the very best, and so the standard for us is the pursuit of a national championship,” Johnson said. “So while I’m really proud of this team, and we took a number of really good steps forward, I still think each of our players can get better, and I think me as a coach can get better. What I look forward to more than just kind of adding up the record or the rankings are: Am I a better player and a coach today than I was yesterday? If we can do that, a cumulative effect can be staggered.” Notre Dame will be without seniors Hannah Thompson and Monroe Olsen next season, but the Irish also welcome two 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year selections in Paris Thompson from Florida and Phyona Schrader out of Iowa. Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu

Swimming and DIVINg

Coach Litzinger recaps season highlights By SEAN KELLEY Sports Writer

For the 2020-21 swimming and diving season, nothing was promised for Coach Mike Litzinger and the Notre Dame swimming and diving team. During this pandemic, Litzinger said that “the achievement of actually being able to compete” is one of the highest accomplishments of the seasons. After the cancellation of NCA A’s last year, it has been a year of uncertainty, but for the team, Litzinger said, “They handled this particular challenge well,” Litzinger said, “And, we still achieved a lot of the goals that we set out for ourselves.” When speaking to the challenges that ensued this year,

Litzinger was sure to praise the University, “Notre Dame prepares you for things and moments like this,” he said. The preparation that the school provided each student-athlete truly allowed the team to persevere. With the team rising to the occasion, the biggest thing for Litzinger was the team’s optin mentality. “In speaking about what they’ve really learned about who they really are, because at the end of the day, it was easy to pack it up and to optout,” coach Litzinger said. With the season being shortened because of the pandemic, each meet held a lot more meaning for the team With the shorter season in mind, Litzinger spoke to the gems that stood out to

him in particular. When speaking about the women’s team, Litzinger said, “I think beating the University of Louisville, who is a traditional rival for us, and always ranked incredibly high in the NCA A, you know, to beat them in a dual meet. Of course, also to have our highest NCA A finish since 2014.” For the men’s team, he said, “I think we had some disappointment at the ACC championship, but we rallied at the NCA A Meet … I applaud the guys every time they stepped up, and how they had to try to do it as a team. I think the victory in the standout for our guy’s team was learning how to perform as a team.” He also mentioned that for sophomore Jack Hoagland,

“Jack getting the ACC swimmer of the year is no small feat, especially in the most competitive league in the country.” All of this season, however, would not have been possible without the contribution of the seniors. The Class of 2021 consisted of JP Becker, William Cumberland, Sadler, McKeen, Brendan Santana, Sklar Fore, Cailey Grunhard, Kate McCahan, Carly Quast, Lindsay Stone, Kelly Straub and Rachel Wittmer. Each of the seniors contributing a positive inf luence on the rest of the team. Continuing, in a nostalgic tone, Litzinger went on, “This is going to be a tough class to see go out the door. I remember where I was for every one of them when they

committed.” Litzinger said that the most important thing about his job is building a rapport with his student-athletes. Seeing them succeed in and out of the pool is one of the biggest thrills for him. He concluded by saying, “I think the biggest memories that I’m going to have of these young men and women are watching them grow, and knowing that they’re going to leave this university and our program as successful people. That is that’s my biggest thrill and that is going to be my biggest memory. The thing I look forward to most is seeing them in the fall when they come back to visit.” Contact Sean Kelley at skelley5@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

ND CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD

Program raises the bar in distance running By NATE MOLLER Sports Writer

It was a bizarre year for cross countr y in the midst of the COV ID-19 pandemic w ith the national meet taking place at the beginning of March rather than its usual November date. Despite this, the men’s cross countr y team managed to finish second in the countr y, which was good for their best finish since 1957. The Irish had six A llAmericans at the national meet and five runners in the top 25. The A ll-Americans were junior Danny Kilrea, senior Yared Nuguse, senior Andrew A lexander, junior Jake Renfree and freshman Josh Methner. With all six of these runners returning for the Irish next year, the Irish are primed for success going for ward, and head coach Sean Carlson is excited for the upcoming years. “I think we have the recruiting classes and the pieces to continue to have our men podium well into the future. I think we’ve created a system where our

talent and our success can be sustainable, which is just not usually the case at the NCA A level,” Carlson said. “I really think we have put ourselves in a position to make the podium and continue to do that mov ing for ward.” The top finisher for the Irish at the national meet was Danny Kilrea, who finished the 8K race in 30 :11.5 which was good for tenth place in the countr y. Carlson discussed how much Kilrea has matured as a runner and person since his freshman year. “I’m just really proud of Danny for how he’s grow n and matured over the last couple of years. I think that’s the thing I’m more proud of than his tenth place. It’s just how much he’s matured from freshman year until now as a person,” Carlson said. Carlson discussed what it meant for his program to take second at the national meet. “It’s a huge step for our program. If you look at the blue bloods across the countr y or teams that have been on the podium in the past 10 years in cross countr y nationals, you can count them on one hand basically. It’s a

prett y small group,” Carlson said. “I think the thing that it means for us in the future is now we know that we’e certainly capable of it.” The women’s team also had a successful year w ith some new runners stepping up and improv ing over the course of the season. A lthough head coach Matt Sparks decided not to take his team to nationals this year, he was still proud of his team’s performance over the course of the year. “I would call [the season] respectable,” Sparks said. “We were still in the top half of the conference meet and were only 15 points out of second place.” Sparks believes that this year was a great learning experience for his runners as well. “I think a lot of the women learned that ever yone counts,” Sparks said. “You can’t count on someone else to pick up the slack if you don’t perform.” A lthough Sparks “pulled the plug” on the cross countr y season by deciding not to bring his team to nationals, he believes this was the right choice and that it helped his women get ready for the

track season. “They didn’t want to go out and perform if they knew that they weren’t going to be ready for something. And as a result of taking that reset to the season, right now we’ve got ten women already qualified for the regional [track] meet where traditionally we only qualified five or six for the regional meet,” Sparks said. “There’s a new found confidence amongst the group that just wasn’t there in Februar y when we were running that awk ward w inter cross countr y season.” Sparks mentioned sophomore Oliv ia Markezich as a runner who has really developed over the course of the cross countr y season and into the track season. “She had an okay [cross countr y] season but since some of those struggles in cross countr y, she qualified in indoor nationals as an indiv idual and she’s one of the favorites in the conference going into the steeplechase and one of the top eight to ten marks in the countr y in track and field now,” Sparks said. “She had a respectable cross countr y season, which led to an elite indoor and outdoor track season.”

Since the end of the cross countr y season, track and field has been in action as well. Some of the highlights for the Irish in the indoor season included senior Rachel Tanczos taking second in the weight throw and freshman Jadin O’Brien finishing fourth in the countr y in the heptathlon. The highlight of the outdoor season so far was arguably this past weekend in the Oregon Tw ilight Meet at historic Hay ward Field where Yared Nuguse recorded the fastest outdoor 1500m time by an American in 2021. Nuguse used his signature kick to w in the race by 0.01 seconds in a time of 3:35.96. The outdoor season is starting to really ramp up w ith the ACC Championships slated to take place this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Irish w ill look to qualif y as many runners as possible for the regional and national meets scheduled to take place at the end of May and middle of June.and middle of June. Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu

ND MEN’s GOLF

Irish looking to make noise in postseason By ANDREW McGUINNESS Sports Wr iter

Even though it is a socially distanced sport by nature, playing a full season of golf during a pandemic was as different and difficult as any other sport for the Irish. “I think challenging is an understatement,” head coach John Handrigan said when asked about the challenges of the season. “It was a difficult year just because you didn’t know what was gonna happen next.” Like most sports teams, the Irish men’s golf team dealt with COVID protocols and contact tracing all-season long. They dealt with missing players for tournaments. Ten months separated their final event before COVID (March 3, 2020) to their first tournament this season (Jan. 17-19, 2021). “As a team, we just made a goal to embrace everything that comes our way, and accept it, and do our best to move on from it,” Handrigan said. Handrigan spoke very highly of his team, and with good reason. After a couple of middle-of-thepack finishes to start the year, the Irish caught fire. Notre Dame strung together a trio of consecutive top-three finishes from March 9 to April 10, topping out

with second-place finishes in the Michigan State Invite and Stitch Intercollegiate at N.C. State. They also placed third in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational. Asked about how the team improved this year, Handrigan said, “Our team is not afraid to (shoot) low. Sometimes in golf, people are content with scores around par. Some of our guys shot some really low numbers this year.” The stats certainly back that up. Five ND golfers — senior Davis Chatfield, sophomore Palmer Jackson, freshman Tucker Clark, junior Taichi Kho, and junior Andrew O’Leary — had season lows of 67 or better. Chatfield (-4), Jackson (-1), and Clark (-1) ended the regular season averaging below par. By its nature, golf is an individual sport. Yet the Irish came together on and off the links all season long, pushing each other to do their best. “The mental toughness and handling adversity on our team has improved dramatically this year. We have a team now that push each other every single day. They just don’t take days off,” Handrigan said. The Irish have made consistent progress since Handrigan arrived from the University of Florida in July 2017, and it’s that

dedication to hard work and consistency that has been a huge why. “I know that’s kind of a cliche, but I don’t think people really know what hard work is until you really apply it and enforce it” Handrigan said. The Irish have done that in spades all season. Of course, Notre Dame’s season is far from over if they have anything to say about it. The Irish will play in the NCAA Regionals from May 17-19, entering as the number five seed out of thirteen teams playing at Oklahoma State’s Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They will hope to make a run to the NCAA Championships, which will be played in Scottsdale, Arizona from May 28-31. The future certainly looks bright for the Notre Dame men’s golf program. The Irish have a very young roster; Chatfield and Alex Jamieson are their only seniors, and more than half of the golfers on this year’s team are freshmen or sophomores. With increased mental fortitude and decreasing scores, the Irish plan to continue their upward trend for the rest of 2021 and in the years to come. Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

Irish sophomore Palmer Jackson recorded second lowest season stroke average in program history with 70.79 strokes/round for19 rounds.

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

ND WOMEN’s Tennis

After COVID roster problems, Irish look ahead By MANNION McGINLEY Sports Editor

It was a difficult season in a difficult year for the Notre Dame women’s tennis team, who finished the season 11-13 (5-9 ACC) due to COVID-19 roster gaps and cancelations. However, despite the adversity, Irish head coach Allison Silverio was proud of how her team handled the situation and discussed her favorite aspects of the season. “I would say for this year, just knowing all of the adversity and challenges that we faced, as a team and as individuals, with pandemic and the social justice issues as well; it was really neat to see our team come together for the betterment of our community and keeping one another safe, and keeping everyone healthy,” Silverio said. “And the highlight we had was just us being able to come together, being able to

compete, and being grateful to all that helped us achieve that this year in the season.” In order to make it to matches and games, Irish teams across the board had to pass COVID tests within a certain number of days of gameplay or travel. The tennis team had a different experience than most, though, because the sport itself is naturally socially distanced. “We were fortunate our training didn’t change too much,” Silverio said. “We did not have to make too many modifications, since we were a less at risk sport, since we’re pretty socially distanced, just from a tennis component.” Because of that space on the court, if one person tested positive on the team, that was much less likely to implicate the rest of the roster. Individual players could miss matches, but the match could still go on.

Ultimately, that was a major factor in the way the year rounded out for the Irish record. “We relied on the attitude of ‘Hey, next one up, next player in,’” Silverio said. “And everyone took on that role and fought their hardest out there. I think from a result standpoint, yes, we certainly wanted to be putting more wins in the winning column. But that was not in the cards this season. And so the areas that we did have control over from our effort, our attitude, again, our resilience was excellent. It just came a bit short, where we weren’t able to have those marquee wins, which would push us as a team into the NCAA tournament and into the postseason. But overall, just the strength and the resilience of our team that we had throughout a pandemic season is really going to push our program forward as we move into next year.”

The one thing they will look forward to is fall competition, which really couldn’t happen on the scale they would have liked it to this year. “That will be the piece for us, that’s going to be a positive transition and change,” she said. “Because we are going to have that opportunity early on in the fall when we start back to compete and be in the premier events of college tennis in Division One.” The team will return to play with the entire roster except seniors Cameron Corse and Ally Bojczuk, who will be graduating. Corse will be starting a position in June at Sandler O’Neill in Manhattan, New York and Bojczuk will be attending law school at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. On top of the existing roster, the Irish will be adding four new freshmen into the program, or

“new blood,” as Silverio jokingly called them. She expects to build off of this season with a new strength. “I just have gratitude to our student athletes for committing to our health and safety and committing to being on the right side of the equation through this pandemic and unprecedented time,” Silverio said. “For next year, I expect to see the resilience again and the way we responded to the adversity and the challenges of this season ... And of course, we’re very grateful for that opportunity. With the adversity in the challenges that we went through this year, I believe our toughness is going to be leveled up even more from what we had this year. That is really going to differentiate us from the pack.” Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu

ND Baseball

Irish ride ‘remarkable’ year into postseason By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate Sports Editor

To say it has been a monumental year for the Notre Dame baseball team would be an understatement. The Irish posted their highest ranking for the program since 2001, eventually reaching No. 2 in Baseball America’s Top 25 after methodically rising in the polls throughout the season. They did so with a stacked schedule; the Irish battled every team in the ACC except Miami, all of whom have been ranked at one time or another, according to head coach Link Jarrett. “Every time we step on the field, it’s a challenge,” Jarrett said. “And the stakes have gotten higher each week ... every time you step on the field this time of year, it’s a tribute to the toughness and the consistency of the players.” So far, the Irish have met that challenge. Despite being picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic division in the preseason poll, the Irish clinched the division Saturday night following losses by Louisville and Florida State. It was the first time Notre Dame had picked up a regular season conference title since the Irish won the Big East in 2006. To date, Jarrett said, the team has travelled over 8,000 miles. Before their first game against Wake Forest, the team had not practiced outside, and had to ease back into playing after a long year of obstacles. “What these guys have done has been remarkable,” Jarrett said. “It is remarkable: the consistency, the toughness, what we’ve done. It’s been a joy.”

Coming back from having their season cut short due to COVID-19, Jarrett has come to notice both strengths and weaknesses among his team members. He named the defense as being one of the highlights of the team, with only some of the success being shown in statistics. “The above-average play doesn’t really show up in your stats, and we’ve made countless of those,” Jarrett said. Though the team effort was effective, the pitching staff is an area Jarrett identified as needing some improvement in the future. He named their development as being an important undertaking for the team, with injuries causing major setbacks to the progression. However, this does not diminish the efforts of the pitchers that saw the mound. “We had guys really step up and develop,” Jarrett said. “John Michael Bertrand has been an exceptional starter, and Tanner Kohlhepp has been, if not the best reliever in the ACC or the country, it’s right up there. And those guys have helped us, but we need to continue to develop and evolve starting pitching so that we’re not relying on the bullpen quite as much as we have this year.” In terms of offense, Jarrett noted the importance of keeping themselves in the games and finding ways to win. Senior first baseman Niko Kavadas, sophomore infielder and pitcher Jack Brannigan and senior outfielder Ryan Cole were some of the players who were helpful in this respect. Though there were

inconsistencies, the team was able to make remarkable stands against formidable opponents this season. A highlight-reel moment occurred against Notre Dame rival BC, when the Irish scored 12 runs in the eighth inning to erase a nine-run deficit. The Irish performed a similar comeback against Georgia Tech when they scored eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings en route to a 10-9 lead. Though these events certainly stick out, Jarrett said acknowledging the lesser-known plays is important as well. “I cannot tell you how many moments and defining plays — probably some of which I have forgotten about — that have been pivotal in helping us be so consistent,” Jarrett said. “But man, the Boston College and the Georgia Tech, just those were ... those were amazing. You just don’t see that in our sport often, if ever.” Looking ahead, the team will be aided by young talent that did not get much time on the field this season. Freshman pitcher Ryan Lynch, freshman outfielder Brady Gumpf, freshman outfielder TJ Williams and freshman catcher Danny Neri were some of the players named by Jarrett that were stuck behind older players. “They’ll step in there and impact the program,” Jarrett said. As the regular season draws to a close, the team looks ahead to the postseason and the possibility of hosting a regional. Jarrett said that he believes his team has earned the right to do so, but he is not sure whether state COVID-19

guidelines would comply with such an event. On May 14, the NCAA Division 1 Selection Committee named Notre Dame one of 20 potential regional host sites. Regardless of the outcome, Jarrett said his team has been preparing for the postseason with every game played this spring. “There’s not another sport that has 14 teams in the ACC that have all been ranked, and we’ve had to play all but

one,” Jarrett said. “This is national championship caliber, every single weekend. So we’ve kind of modeled it after ‘These are what the Super Regionals are going to be like.’ ... All of this is a credit to the guys and what they’ve been able to accomplish, and to have these conversations is special.” Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu

RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer

Irish junior left-handed pitcher Aiden Tyrell throws a pitch during Notre Dame’s 0-2 loss to Duke on March 21 at Frank Eck Stadium.

Sports

Sweet Continued from page 52

Sweet said that she has had a “blast” this year in being a part of the group. “I think this is definitely one of the most fun teams we’ve had,” she affirmed. “We all just get along so great. We’re a total family on this team — we have fun together, we laugh

Football Continued from page 29

the chance to play in the ACC, and we kind of beat up on the ACC. Obv iously we would have loved to w in the ACC Championship, but just given the chance to play in an ACC Championship game as a Notre Dame player is something that no one got to experience before, and that’s ver y unique.” After cruising to a 52-0 w in over South Florida in the second game of the year, the season was placed on hold, and a game against Wake Forest was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 cases w ithin the Irish program. Ekanayake discussed the difficult y of the shutdow n midseason. “Our program is kind of built to deal w ith adversit y, and our coaches and strength staff kind of prepared us inadvertently for this moment throughout my four years,” Ekanayake said. “We were able to really deal w ith COVID and then hunker dow n and when we got back to it, we were ver y dedicated, and we were ver y focused on what we had to do.” The Irish returned to action after a lengthy delay for a night game in Notre Dame Stadium against Florida State. Despite being close early, the Irish were able to pull away towards the end of the second half and secure a comfortable 42-26 v ictor y over the Seminoles. After the Florida State game, the Irish secured another v ictor y against Louisv ille. However, the offense struggled mightily throughout, putting up only 12 points en route to a 12-7 v ictor y. Ekanayake discussed the team’s response to the sluggish v ictor y. “We knew that that wasn’t indicative of our abilit y, but it didn’t really get us dow n,” Ekanayake said. “We were confident … we knew what we were capable of as an offense. I don’t think anyone lost faith in any position group or group of guys. We knew what we’re capable of. A nd we knew we had to show that, and that’s what we did.” The Irish offense showed

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

with each other — and that’s definitely contributed to our success this year: just playing loose, having fun and ultimately just playing together every single game.” All of these qualities contributed to The Observer’s decision to name Sweet Women’s Athlete of the Year. Between her team mentality and her impressive athletic abilities, Sweet has exhibited her talent

as a player and a leader. “I’m very grateful,” she said. “I’m so grateful to be here and to just have spent four years at the University, and especially this year, I’m just so proud of our team for handling, obviously, all things COVID. It’s never easy to, one, go through a normal season but, two, especially to go through a season with COVID involved. And we’ve handled

everything very well. We didn’t let any setback impact us. I think we did a great job and I’m just so, so grateful and so proud of this team on how we’ve handled this year so far.” Reflecting upon her time at Notre Dame, Sweet named her teammates and the University as being incredibly important to her. Nearly 180 games as an Irish player have allowed

her to define a legacy on the team and on campus, and it is an experience Sweet said she is extremely grateful to have had. “This is a dream come true being here,” she said. “I couldn’t have drawn up a better plan. So overall, I’m just grateful.”

their capabilit y on the road over the next t wo weeks in v ictories over Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech, w inning by scores of 45-3 and 31-13, respectively. In both of those games, the offense put up over 400 yards and looked to be clicking on all cylinders. After w inning both of those games, the stage was set for the biggest moment of the season w ith undefeated, top-ranked Clemson coming to Notre Dame Stadium to face the fourth-ranked, undefeated Irish. The game could not have been more entertaining. Despite the Irish jumping out to an early lead in the first half, Clemson battled back and was able to take a seven point lead w ith only minutes left in the fourth quarter. A lthough it looked bleak for the Irish, quarterback Ian Book and the Irish offense were able to tie the game after a legendar y 91 yard touchdow n drive that was capped by an Aver y Dav is touchdow n w ith 22 seconds remaining. The game would go to double overtime, where the Irish scored on offense first before sacking Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei tw ice to force the Tigers to turn the ball over on dow ns and secure the v ictor y. Ekanayake said that seeing the fans rush the field after the Clemson v ictor y was the highlight of the year for him. “It was one of the most memorable moments,” Ekanayake said. “It was kind of a reward per se for enduring all the tribulations that COVID had put on us all summer. A ll spring, we were forced to have meetings w ith spring ball over Zoom and we were forced to work out w ith masks. It is needless to say it put a lot of stress on the season, and beating Clemson made it all worth it.” The follow ing week, the Irish took care of business on the road against Boston College (45-31), which set up a top-25 matchup t wo weeks later against the North Carolina Tar Heels. A lthough the Irish defense gave up touchdow ns on the first two Tar Heels’ drives, the Irish defense

stiffened after that and only allowed three more points over the remainder of the game. A Ky ren Williams touchdow n w ith just over a minute remaining secured the 31-17 road v ictor y for the Irish. The final game of the regular season came against Sy racuse on Senior Day, and the Irish rolled to a 45-21 v ictor y. With the v ictor y, Ian Book secured his 30th career w in at Notre Dame, which is good for the most in school histor y. Ekanayake talked about what Senior Day was like this year in the midst of the pandemic. “It looked a little different than normal Senior Days, but it kind of gave it a ver y intimate feel to the whole night, more so than a normal Senior Day night,” Ekanayake said. “You had your family and your best friends up there watching you … Being a walk-on, it was really awesome to get some more carries on Senior Day, and sharing that w ith a lot of my walk-on buddies and just sharing that w ith my senior buddies — scholarship or walk-on — it was really special.” After securing the v ictor y, the Irish were set up for a rematch against Clemson in the ACC Championship game.

Unfortunately for the Irish, this game was much different from November’s game in South Bend, and Trevor Law rence and the Clemson offense were able to roll against the Irish and secure a conv incing 34-10 v ictor y. Despite the loss, the Irish were still selected for the College Football Playoff, setting up a matchup against top-ranked A labama in the Rose Bowl. The game would be played in AT&T Stadium in A rlington, Texas, due to COVID-19 concerns in Pasadena. Ekanayake discussed what it meant to him to play in the Rose Bowl. “It was ver y special,” Ekanayake said. “I’ve dreamt of it. I think half my teammates had dreamt of play ing in the Rose Bowl. Granted, it was in Dallas and not Pasadena, but it was still the Rose Bowl nonetheless, and ever yone could feel that … Play ing against the best in the countr y in A labama is something that, as a Notre Dame student, you don’t really know if you’re going to get an opportunit y to play A labama, but it was really special.” It was apparent from the start that the Crimson Tide was the better of the t wo teams, and A labama cruised to a comfortable 31-17

v ictor y over the Irish. Despite the loss, Ekanayake was ver y fortunate to experience the Rose Bowl w ith his teammates. “Despite the outcome, our team is such a tight knit group and it’s really a brotherhood,” Ekanayake said. “Win or lose, we have each other’s back and we stick together and that’s no different in the Rose Bowl against A labama … I was just fortunate to be out there w ith my best friends and my brothers for life and to be able to play on the biggest stage and support those guys.” A lthough Ekanayake’s time as a part of the Notre Dame football team is over, he has big academic and career plans for himself going for ward. “My plan is to go to medical school, and then I want to go into surger y … some sort of special surger y like cardiothoracic surger y,” Ekanayake said. “I want to get my master’s in policy too, and tr y to figure out a way to implement a new and innovative system to look at healthcare policy to tr y to increase healthcare accessibilit y for people in developing countries.”

Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu

Photo Courtesy of ND Athletics

Irish sophomore tight end Michael Meyer hauls in a pass and readies to run during Notre Dame’s 14-31 loss to No. 1 ranked Alabama in Rose Bowl College Football Playoff at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 1.

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Kavadas Continued from page 52

col leg iate ca reer of f to a hot sta r t, as t he Irish v isited No. 9 LSU. “LSU set a n attenda nce record w it h 13,700” Kavadas reca l led. “My f irst ever hit was a n RBI double of f a n A l l-A merica n in Zach Hess, so t hat’s somet hing I ca n a lways ha ng my hat on.” Hess was a n A l l-A merica n a nd f uture 7t h-round dra f t pick of t he Det roit Tigers, a nd Kavadas not on ly dri l led t he double, but a lso f inished t he ga me 2-4 w it h 3 RBI as t he Irish went on to ta ke t wo of t hree f rom t he Tigers. However, t he on-f ield success was not a lways consistent for t he Irish. Kavadas hit .299 his f reshma n season w it h ten ex t ra-base hits, but Not re Da me f inished 24-30. They matched t hat record t he follow ing season whi le Kavadas’ average dipped a litt le to .274, but his power numbers went up as he notched 12 bombs a nd 13 doubles, driv ing in 43 r uns. Kavadas’s junior season sta r ted of f promising, bot h indiv idua l ly a nd for t he tea m, but a f ter blast ing seven home r uns in 13 ga mes, Kavadas a nd his tea mmates saw t heir season ca nceled due to t he COV ID-19 pa ndemic. “We were 11-2 when t he season got ca nceled,” Kavadas sa id. “My prev ious t wo yea rs, we severely under per formed, but when Coach [Lin k] Ja rrett got hired, he t ra nsformed t he cu lture...We stepped on t he f ield aga inst UNC, at t heir place, in a series t hat nobody ex pected us to w in, a nd we swept t hem. It was rea l ly cool, a nd t hat was t he conf idence we needed... t hat was our coming-out pa r t y, a nd now we a re here to stay.” A ri Denning | The Obser ver Irish senior lef t-f ielder Ni ko Kavadas steps up in t he box during Not re Da me’s 10-9 w in over Georg ia Tech at Fra n k Eck Stadium on Apr. 9. The Irish stunned t he ACC w it h t heir opening sweep of t he Ta r Heels, a nd t hey followed t hat up w it h a g ritt y non-conference w in aga inst Radford, pushing t he record to 11-2. The nex t day, t he Irish got on t he bus for Louisv ille, who had swept t he Irish t he prev ious t wo seasons-a nd whom Not re Da me had not beaten since 2011--before t hey joined t he ACC. “My [now-senior] class had had Louisv i l le circled on t he schedu le forever,” Kavadas remembered. “We hadn’t beat t hem my f irst t wo yea rs...We got on t he

bus to get to Louisv ille for a lif t, a nd we got Tw itter not if icat ions t hat t he NC A A was suspending spring spor ts, a nd t he bus just pu lled a U-Turn. It was devastat ing.” The sudden end to t he season was dif f icu lt to dea l w it h, but u lt imately, Not re Da me’s hot st retch to t he season t hey never saw play out led t hem to what was been a w ild ly successf u l 2021. Kavadas has been at t he hea r t of t he turna round, a f ter sett ing lof t y indiv idua l goa ls for himself a head of t he season. “My t wo big goa ls were to have a 1-to-1 st rikeoutto-wa lk rat io, a nd a 3:1 st rikeout-to-home r un rat io,” Kavadas sa id. “In order to ma ke t hat happen, my goa l was to put t he ba ll in play ea rly in counts, not miss hittable pitches - not on ly work ing on t wo-st rike hitt ing but not gett ing myself into as ma ny t wo-st rike counts.” The prepa rat ion has t ra nslated to t he f ield, where Kavadas is a staple in t he midd le of t he Irish order, ra n k ing four t h in t he nat ion in home r uns per ga me w it h 15 in 36 contests. As for t hose goa ls? Kavadas current ly has 34 st rikeouts, 38 wa lks, a nd 15 home r uns, reaching bot h of his stat ist ica l goa ls a nd ma rks which he had not hit in a ny of his prior t hree seasons. His OPS (on-base percentage + slugg ing percentage) ra n ks 11t h in t he nat ion a nd second a mong Power-5 hitters. A nd defensively, a lt hough it doesn’t a lways show up in t he stat sheet, Kavadas has been not hing shor t of fa ntast ic at f irst base for Not re Da me a f ter sw itching f rom t hird base, where he sta r ted his ca reer. “I’ve improved my lef tto-right ra nge, my latera l mobilit y, a nd I’ve a lso improved my st retch,” Kavadas sa id of his defensive abilit y, “I t hin k I’ve saved some errors a nd saved some big r uns for our tea m ma k ing some picks a nd some dif f icu lt plays.” Over t he last t wo seasons, Kavadas has made just a single error. He’s a lso a vacuum on ba lls in t he dir t, helping t he Irish to t he second-best f ielding percentage in t he nat ion. One of t he best pa r ts of enjoy ing a ca reer yea r in a senior season is play ing in f ront of t he student body, a nd Kavadas has noted a sig nif ica nt ly improved atmosphere at Fra n k Eck Stadium t his season as t he Irish have fought t heir way f rom being picked to 13t h out of 14 tea ms in t he ACC to ra n ked as high as No. 2 in t he count r y. “It’s been rea lly cool. My f reshma n a nd sophomore

yea r, we didn’t have ma ny students come to t he ga mes” Kavadas noted, a lso reca lling t he fact t hat t he Irish didn’t play at home in his abbrev iated junior ca mpa ig n, “This yea r, t hat’s been t he most f un pa r t. You ca n hea r t he students t hat a re here - t hey ma ke it loud, a nd t hey ma ke it f un. It’s a lot more f un to play when t he students a re engaged.” The Irish have per formed well t his yea r at home, racking up a 14-6 record, a nd t hey’ve accumu lated some fa ntast ic moments t hroughout t he season. They made t heir t riumpha nt return to Sout h Bend Ma rch 19 w it h a 13-inning v ictor y over Du ke, a ga me in which Kavadas blasted a ga me-t y ing home r un a nd fellow senior Rya n Cole wa lked it of f w it h his f irst ca reer home r un. The nex t weekend, Not re Da me f ina lly got t heir matchup w it h Louisv ille. A f ter dropping t he f irst

ga me of t he series, Cole did t he honors in t he v ictor y t he nex t night, blast ing a t wo-r un home r un to w in t he contest. The Irish g rabbed t he college baseba l l world’s attent ion by splitt ing t he series w it h t he No. 6 Ca rdina ls, ending a 20-ga me losing st rea k aga inst Louisv i l le. “My favorite memor y has to be t he wa l k-of f home r un aga inst Louisv i l le,” Kavadas sa id, “That spa rked t he interest in college baseba l l, a nd seeing a fel low senior in Rya n Cole wa l k it of f was rea l ly cool”. Kavadas a lso notched a home r un in t he Louisv i l le series, but now, t he goa l has become a lot bigger t ha n snapping a losing st rea k. Kavadas noted t he goa l at t he beg inning of t he season was to host one of t he 16 four-tea m reg iona ls t hat sta r t t he NC A A Tourna ment, but a lso

stated “The u lt imate goa l is to ma ke it to Oma ha.” W hi le t he Irish a lready had t heir Senior day, t heir top-10 ra n k ing g ives t hem a probable cha nce at host ing an NC A A reg iona l, a nd potent ia l ly a best-of-t hree Super Reg iona l series, shou ld t hey adva nce t hrough t he f irst round. It wou ld be a stor ybook ending to a fa ntast ic ca reer for Kavadas a nd t he senior class, which toget her have brought t he Irish prog ra m f rom an ACC a f tert hought to cha mpionship contenders. “I t hin k we a re one of t he best tea ms in t he count r y, so putt ing ourselves in posit ion to host a reg iona l a nd ma ke t hat Oma ha r un is somet hing t hat we k now we ca n do,” Kavadas sa id. Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

ARI DENNING | The Observer

Irish senior Niko Kavadas readies for a pitch during Notre Dame’s 3-2 victory over NC State on April 16 at Frank Eck Stadium. Kavadas recorded a game-high of 8 putouts in the game against the Wolfpack. The Observer accepts classifieds every business day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame office, 024 South Dining Hall. Deadline for next-day classifieds is 3 p.m. All classifieds must be prepaid. The charge is 5 cents per character per day, including all spaces. The Observer reserves the right to edit all classifieds for content without issuing refunds.

WANTEd Fiddler’s Hearth hiring experienced full & part time servers. $25+/hr We’re no strangers to love / You know the rules and so do I / A full

commitment’s what I’m thinking of / You wouldn’t get this from any other guy / I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling / Gotta make you understand / Never gonna give you up / Never gonna let you down / Never gonna run around and desert you / Never gonna make you cry / Never gonna say

goodbye / Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you / We’ve known each other for so long / Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it / Inside, we both know what’s been going on / We know the game, and we’re gonna play it / And if you ask me how I’m feeling / Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

ND Men’s SOCCER

Men’s soccer falls short of NCAA tournament but take positives from season

Sofia CrimiVaroli | The Observer

Irish senior midfielder Aiden McFadden plants his foot before kicking the ball to a teammate cutting towards goal during Notre Dame’s 0-2 loss to Virginia Tech on Senior Day at Alumni Stadium on April 9. By LIAM COOLICAN Sports Writer

Not re Da me’s season bega n w it h a n ex hibit ion match aga inst Louisv ille in a pa rk just outside of India napolis. It ended “probably one ga me away” f rom being selected to t he NC A A tourna ment, according to head coach Chad Ri ley. The Irish had a n up a nd dow n yea r, play ing compet it ive matches in t he spring and t he fa ll due to mult iple conferences ca nceling fa l l spor ts due to t he pa ndemic. “One of t he posit ives of hav ing t hose t wo seasons is you do feel you got what we wou ld t hin k of as t wo yea rs of g row t h in t his one yea r,” Ri ley sa id. The Irish played one of t he toughest schedu les in t he count r y, including f ive ga mes aga inst eventua l f ina l four tea ms Nor t h Ca rolina a nd Pittsburgh. “Their abi lit y to ha nd le t he academic [rigor], t he COV ID protocols, a nd t hen to st ill play a rg uably t he toughest schedu le in t he count r y a nd per form decent ly wel l I t hin k says a lot about t he g roup,” Ri ley sa id. “It says a lot about t he cha racter of t he indiv idua ls as wel l as t he tea m t hat we were able to persevere t hrough t his

most unusua l yea r.” Irish junior for wa rd Tyler Shea dribbles t he ba ll during Not re Da me’s 2-0 loss to Virg inia Tech on Senior Night on Apr. 9 at A lumni Stadium. The Irish sta r ted t he fa ll por t ion of t he ca mpa ig n 3-3 a nd needed a w in in a n ea rly November contest aga inst Louisv ille in order to qua lif y for t he conference tourna ment, a moment Riley sa id def ined t he season. The Irish quick ly went up 3-0 in t he opening t went y minutes, t ha n ks to a f irstha lf hat t rick f rom junior for wa rd Jack Ly nn, a nd held on for a 4-1 w in. In t he ACC qua r ter f ina ls t he follow ing week, senior midf ielder A ida n McFadden scored a 100t h-minute f ree-k ick to g ive t he Irish a 1-0 v ictor y over Nor t h Ca rolina. However, t he fa ll port ion of t he season ca me to a n end when Not re Da me fell 3-1 to top-seeded Pittsburgh. The Irish cou ld have secured an automat ic bid to t he NC A A tourna ment by w inning t he conference tourna ment but were instead forced to attempt to qua lif y as a n at-la rge tea m in t he spring. The Irish sta r ted t he spring schedu le st rong, w inning t hree out of

t heir f irst four contests, but dropped t he f ina l four matches of t he season a nd u lt imately missed out on t he NC A A tourna ment. “The capta ins a nd t he tea m a re look ing at it as [we a re] rea lly disappointed,” Riley sa id, “But how do we

recommit to t hose principa ls a nd va lues a nd work t hat it ta kes to be where we wa nt to be, a nd w it h t hat, k now ing t hat t here’s so ma ny good per forma nces t hat we actua l ly feel quite conf ident going into t he yea r.” A ll nine of Not re Da me’s losses were by a goa l or fewer, a nd t he NC A A tourna ment shr un k f rom 64 tea ms to just 36. Prior to t his yea r, Not re Da me had made eight consecut ive tourna ments. Ly nn was na med to t he A l l-ACC f irst tea m a fter t he conclusion of t he season, whi le McFadden was na med to t he second tea m. “Jack’s cont inued to build on some g reat ea rly seasons, a nd I k now he’ll have his best yea r yet his senior yea r,” Ri ley sa id. Ly nn led t he squad w it h eight goa ls, whi le McFadden f inished w it h four goa ls a nd a tea m-high four assists. “A ida n has his best yea r in a Not re Da me uniform,” Ri ley sa id. “[He] hit a new level of conf idence t his yea r.” McFadden recent ly sig ned w it h At la nta United’s reser ve tea m, a nd t he Irish a lso g raduate sta r t ing goa lkeeper Keagen McLaugh lin a nd t he majorit y of his classmates. “You sor t of ta ke it for

g ra nted at Not re Da me, but t hey were just a rea l ly g reat g roup of g uys,” R i ley sa id. Ri ley replaced legenda r y head coach Bobby Cla rke, who had led t he Irish for 33 seasons, in t he spring of 2018. “W hen a new coach comes in it’s disr upt ive no matter what,” Ri ley sa id. “I t hin k t hey just did such a wonder f u l job of ma k ing sure t he core ident it y of our prog ra ms stayed intact as we evolved for wa rd a nd I t hought t hey did a wonder f u l job of being g reat tea mmates…. Above a l l, we t r y to have a g roup of g uys t hat a re g reat tea mmates to one a not her a nd I t hin k t his senior class did a g reat job of liv ing t hat exa mple.” The Irish st i l l return a st rong core, led by Ly nn a nd returning capta ins Moha mmed Oma r a nd Phi l lip Quinton, a nd w i l l be v y ing for a return to t he NC A A tournament, a nd potent ia l ly even more. “At Not re Da me, t he sta nda rd is a lways w inning t he cha mpionship,” Ri ley sa id. “One of t he t hings we need to do w it h some of t hese bigger ga mes is turn t hem f rom t ies or close losses to w ins.” Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu

Alex Chilikina-Brown | The Observer

Irish sophomores, midfielder Ethan O’Brien (left) and defender Mohammad Abualnadi (right), protect a loose ball from a Virgina Tech player during Notre Dame’s home loss 0-2 on April 9 in Alumni Stadium.

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Sports

MAGGIE KlAERS | The Observer

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | The Observer

MAGGIE KlAERS | The Observer

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Saint Mary’s sports: 2020-2021 in review Belles faced COVID challenges head on, built team spirit around canceled seasons, rallied in spring Basketball By JOHN STOLMEIER Sports Writer

The Saint Mary’s basketball program looked forward to the 2021 season as an opportunity to compete at a high level and return to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. But the team received bad news in the winter: the season they were looking forward to was never going to happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Belles head coach Melissa Makielski and her team were disappointed by the news, which was delivered over Zoom while the team was at home over the extended break Saint Mary’s winter break this year. All the team’s preseason goals were immediately thrown out the window after hearing the news of their canceled season. “It was a huge shock for them when it initially happened,” Makielski said. “The hardest part was not having everybody together.” Competition was out of the equation, and practice was complicated by the pandemic. The Belles stuck together and looked towards their seniors to lead the team through what essentially became an extended offseason. Regardless, the Saint Mary’s basketball squad stayed focused and continued to work together to improve. “There was disappointment at the beginning… as an athlete, the sport you play is an outlet,” Makielski said. “Every team wants to get better throughout the season, and that remained our goal.” Saint Mary’s basketball will have a tough time going into next season with star senior forward Giavanna Paradiso, a 1000-point scorer who led the team with more than 16 points and almost 7.5 rebounds per game, graduating this year. The Belles will also be losing two other seniors this year in guards Carin Kaminski and Sophie Koeppl. Makielski spoke at length about all three of her graduating seniors: “I mean, statistically, [Paradiso] has been a driving force for our team… She changed the outlook of the program when she came in and really pushed everyone around her to get better. Carin has a passion for basketball and loves playing the game. She set an example for the younger players by practicing with the team this year when she didn’t have to. Sophie Koeppl one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. Set the example for the rest of the team, especially our returners for next year.” “All three of our seniors have left a mark on our program,” Makielski affirmed. She was

adamant that the seniors were a key factor in keeping the team together this year. The Belles will look to start strong coming back next year and continue to improve the program. Contact John Stolmeier at jstolmei@nd.edu

“I guess my plan is just really trying to cultivate [the friendships between one another],” Martin said. “I think that that’s gonna really help these girls grow because athletically, they have the skills, and then this is just going to set them apart of just trying to constantly cultivate that culture that we want to have.”

Softball By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate Sports Editor

The Belles’ softball team wrapped up their spring season on Friday after playing a schedule consisting entirely of conference opponents. They finished with a final record of 13-17, playing a 30-game season as opposed to the standard 40game lineup. Head coach Kelli Martin said the record does not necessarily do the team justice, however. “I really do think that we played better than what our record speaks for,” Martin said. The team’s 2021 graduates are graduate student third baseman Alyssa Gutierrez, senior outfielder Sydney Swartz and senior infielder JoAnna Keilman. All three players hail from South Bend, bringing competition and camaraderie with them to Saint Mary’s. “They’re the local group,” Martin said. “They were rivals a little bit, and sometimes teammates, in high school.” The team is set apart by its overall cohesiveness. Though they are losing a decent amount of leadership this year, the group largely consists of underclassmen who have already formed bonds with each other. Martin hopes to develop the group during their first couple of years in order to have their hard work eventually pay off, hopefully leading to a regional bid in the near future. “We already have freshmen that are naturally leaders, and they’re kind of coming out,” Martin said. “That’s cool to see.” COVID-19 proved to be a challenge, even as the team’s practice schedule remained relatively stable. Martin mentioned that the players had a large workload in the fall, with some struggling to readjust to the quantity of assignments after being virtual for the previous spring. This unexpected challenge led to several students dropping from the team in order to focus on their studies. After speaking to coaches in the NCAA, Martin said this has been a trend among other teams as well. Despite the struggles of adjusting back to in-person classes and responsibilities, Martin hopes to build off of the connections made among the players this year.

Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu

Volleyball By MANNION McGINLEY Sports Editor

After the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) postponed fall competitions to the spring, Saint Mary’s announced in early February that they would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a decision specific to St. Mary’s and not to the rest of the conference, the Belles’ Volleyball team did not see it coming. Head Coach Denise Van De Walle explained the team’s immediate reactions. “When we first found out we were crushed,” said Van De Walle. “We were so excited to start practices later in February. We got together and talked the night we found out and cried, talked and came up with a list of questions we wanted to ask the administration.” Before the decision, the Belles had spent a good portion of quarantine planning for the season and how they were going to bounce back from a 1316 season the year before. “We were really excited and looking forward to the season,” coach Van de Walle said. “We had spent the past several months on zoom calls talking about how committed we were to strive for a championship culture. We were all in!” Not only had they gotten the energy where it needed to be, but the results were shifting in their favor as well. The last two months of the 2019-2020 season saw more wins than the first half of the campaign. “We had several seniors [then juniors] who were peaking at the right time,” she said, “And several new players who were very good, too, and we were excited to see how good we could be!” This year, they will say goodbye to those seniors though. Despite the extra year of eligibility, setter Morgan VanderWey and middle hitter Lindsay Pelletier will be graduating. VanderWey led the team in assists with 830 in her junior season. She had a total of 2853 assists in her career, as well as 163 kills and 737 digs. Pelletier played in all

107 sets of her junior season, and had 507 kills and 123 digs throughout her three years with the Belles. With everyone else returning, including sophomore Kathryn Barnes and freshmen Colleen McCarthy, Molly Pooler and Karla Rigan — all of whom have yet to see the court in a Belles uniform — Coach Van De Walle is ready to get the team back into high gear. “Our main goals will be to be in the best shape possible and be top 4 in the conference.” Van de Walle said. “We want to gel as a team and play hard for each other.” Gelling on the court should be easy for them, as Van De Walle said they already have off the court and part of that is due to the disappointment of not playing this year. “We are a close-knit team with excellent team chemistry.” Van de Walle said. “Losing our seniors will be hard but I’m looking forward to seeing what our leaders will look like. I’m very optimistic!”” Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu

Soccer By GREG McKENNA Sports Writer

In August of 2020, head coach Jesse Urquhart said that while his team was obviously disappointed about the postponement of their fall season, he was excited about the prospect of using the fall as an extended offseason to prepare for a spring campaign. So when the Belles found out Saint Mary’s would postpone fall sports entirely, even though the MIAA would resume play, Urquhart said it “certainly wasn’t easy” for his players. Urquhart was not allowed to take part in any athletic-related activities either, but he said his student-athletes organized training themselves to prepare for this coming fall. “And we saw not only some great leadership from our upperclasswomen, but we also had a number of freshmen who took it upon themselves to step up and take the opportunity to lead, to help inspire and to motivate the team to get together and be together on the field and continue to train and develop,” he said. Both of the Belles’ seniors, defenders Megan Saunders and Kelsey Matyi, will be moving on after graduation. Saunders was accepted into Duke’s physical therapy graduate program, and Matyi, an elementary education major, is currently considering a number of teaching offers. Urquhart said Saunders, a three-year captain who

started all but one of Saint Mary’s games since her arrival, is a fearless competitor. “She plays with that reckless abandon that coaches love and teammates love and that makes parents and athletic trainers cringe,” he said. Matyi played nine games her freshman year before a recurring foot injury kept her off the field during her sophomore and junior years. According to Urquhart, doctors said the injury would never fully heal, but Matyi was primed to return for her senior campaign anyway. “She said ‘the hell with it,’” Urquhart said. “And she found a way to train through the pain. And that’s an understatement for what she was going through.” Urquhart said his “heart breaks” that the season was taken from Matyi, but he said that her selflessness allowed her to have just as big of an impact on the program as Saunders. “She routinely put on a brave face for her teammates — often neglecting her own feelings — to help her teammates,” he said. The season-opener in the fall will be the first time all the Belles will have donned a Saint Mary’s uniform in at least a year-and-a-half. Urquhart said he knows his players will be incredibly hungry to take the field, so it will be his job to manage their excitement. “We want them to hit the ground running,” he said. “And we have to make sure that we do it in a way that is healthy and that allows them to acclimate to the college game quickly. But it’s a good problem to have, for sure.” Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu

Tennis By DOMINIC GIBSON Spor ts Writer

It was a season full of unpredictabilit y for the Saint Mar y’s College tennis team. Through it all, the Belles finished w ith a 6-6 record on the season and 4-3 in MI A A Conference play, ultimately falling 4-0 in the conference tournament semifinals to Hope College (12-3, 7-0 MI A A). Finding a balance bet ween schoolwork and athletics is always a challenge but it was especially so this season w ith a shortened year both on the court and academically. St. Mar y’s head coach Dale Campbell was ver y pleased w ith the way his team handled their business in the classroom. “Basically, I am proud of our team for managing academics, in a compressed year and in a compressed

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season,” Campbell said. “They handled it all as best I could. College students and student-athletes did not get to enjoy a t y pical year, but they adapted well.” A lthough the squad did not quite meet overall team expectations, the season was still full of grow th and improvement for the Belles, something that was not a shock for coach Campbell. “We didn’t quite meet our expectations, yeah it was going to be an unpredictable season. You weren’t sure who was play ing each week for your opponent or your ow n team,” he said. “It wasn’t a big surprise, but we had a lot of indiv idual improvement from a number of players.” W hen asked about standout players, coach Campbell had high praise for two of his seniors, Lilly Chamberlin and Megan Dav y, the latter of which secured two prestigious end-of-season awards to cap off the year. Dav y picked up three conference singles w ins and a 6-1 record in doubles to earn her second career A ll-MI A A firstteam honors as well as the Sue Little Sportsmanship Award which is given to the athlete that best exemplifies sportsmanship both on and off the court. “Senior Lilly Chamberlin had her best season and had a lot of big w ins for us,” Campbell said. “Megan Dav y definitely led our team, earning first-team A ll-MI A A and also won the MI A A Conference Sue Little Sportsmanship Award for the second time in her career.” Despite the shortened season and a ver y condensed academic year, coach Campbell was able to learn how adaptable and f lex ible his team was in the face of adversit y, something that he hopes w ill carr y over into next season and for many more after. “Student-athletes manage the situations well, and they were fortunate to have some activ it y in this year,” Campbell said. “They are resilient.” Contact Dominic Gibson at dgibson@hcc-nd.edu

Golf By GR ANT DelV ECCHIO Spor ts Writer

The 2020-2021 Saint Mar y’s golf team captured an MI A A championship and advanced to its tenth DIII NCA A tournament in program histor y under first-year head coach Jordan Koehler. At the tournament, the Belles posted a team score of 1008 after three rounds of competition which put them in seventeenth place overall. Though the team was unable to advance to the fourth

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round as one of the top fifteen teams remaining in the field, senior Hunter Kehoe’s exceptional spring continued. Kehoe shot 7678-79-75 over the entire four rounds to post a total score of 308 (+20), a performance that earned her a tie for sixth place indiv idually. Kehoe’s efforts earned her A ll-American recognition for the second consecutive season. A few weeks prior, the Traverse Cit y, Michigan native captured the MI A A Most Valuable Golfer award in the final MI A A Jamboree of the season after shooting an event-best even-par 72 at Thornapple Pointe. Kehoe became the first-ever Saint Mar y’s golfer to be awarded league MV P for the third time, and she also garnered First Team A ll-MI A A honors for the fourth time in her career. This season, in particular, Kehoe posted a team-leading average score of 76 and had the best indiv idual score in three of seven regularseason tournaments. Junior Sydney Hruskoci, who was second on the team for the season w ith an average score of 80, also earned First Team A ll-MI A A recognition for the third time in her career after a fifth-place finish at the final event w ith a score of 80. Freshmen Haley Angel and Ashley Brewster and sophomore Erin Bennett were the other three Belles who appeared in ever y match of the season w ith Kehoe and Hruskoci. Overall, the Belles won five out of the seven tournaments they played in during the spring season and came in second place in the other two. In other words, coach Koehler had one heck of a first season as head coach, especially considering she was hired in Januar y and the first tournament was played in March. Koehler, a 2019 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan Universit y, came to Saint Mar y’s from the Universit y of Dubuque, where she ser ved as a graduate assistant to the men’s and women’s golf program for two seasons. The women’s program won its first-ever American Rivers Conference championships in 2019 and 2020 w ith the help of Koehler’s leadership, and Dubuque was set to make its first NCA A DIII tournament in the spring of 2020 prior to the cancellations. In her ow n career at Illinois Wesleyan, Koehler was awarded College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin all-conference all four of her seasons and is the Titans’ all-time leader in career birdies. Koehler also ow ns two of the top ten lowest season scoring averages in Illinois Wesleyan histor y

ALLISON THORNTON | The Observer

Belles defensive midfielder Bridget Kane protects the ball as she runs down field during St. Mary’s 14-13 win over Hope. The Belles took home their first MIAA Championship and earned a NCAA Tournament spot.

and was a team captain in her final three seasons. If this season proved anything, it was that the future is bright for the Belles. Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu

Cross Country By Sean Kelley Sports Writer

With the COV ID-19 pandemic, Coach Jackie Bauters and the Saint Mar y’s cross countr y team faced a challenge that no amount of training could have prepared them for, a season cancellation. The team was able to have a few practices in the fall, but after the season was ended, the focus sw itched to finding opportunities for team building. “We did study tables once a week as a team,” Coach Bauters said. “After, we had a team dinner in the dining hall. We tried to do a fun week ly activ it y, so we did scavenger hunts and team triv ia. We really tried to keep the group together as much as we could.” Beyond missing time for the team to be together, there is still uncertaint y about the next season. Bauters went on to discuss how her team has embraced the uncertaint y. “I think that’s one of the biggest lessons of the pandemic is f lex ibilit y and being adaptable. It’s not always fun, but I feel like that’s one of the greatest things that I’ve seen is that ever ybody is in the mentalit y of ‘okay we can pivot, we can do something different.’” Adaptabilit y has become a major theme for the Belles Cross Countr y team this season, and going into next, they w ill have to keep fighting and adapting. Assuming that next season w ill be on,

Bauters believes there is much to look for ward to. “I think some of my girls are just so ready to just compete, that missing this season w ill not be an issue. I think we’re going to have some great seasons. On the other hand, I’m sure there w ill be others that w ill struggle w ith getting back into it, so I think it w ill be a mixed bag.” Even w ith the unknow ns that come w ith ever y season, Bauters has been “chomping at the bit hoping that we can have as much of a normal season as possible.” With this year behind them, the team w ill look to build on the lessons they learned and attack the summer workouts w ith anticipation. Overall, after a season of trials and tribulation, the hardest part for Bauters has been say ing goodbye to her seniors. She said of her three seniors, Katie Glenn, Shanan Hamilton and Maura Honan, “I w ish we would have had that time together this season, and I w ish them all the best as they continue their athletic careers. I know they’re going to keep running, biking and competing in triathlons. I love them and w ish them the best!” Contact Sean Kelley at skelley5@nd.edu

Lacrosse By OLIVIA SCHATZ Sports Writer

After an abrupt end to the 2020 season, the St. Mary’s lacrosse team came back this year to win 13 out of 19 games. Sophomore Erin Doyle and Juniors Kathleen Soller and Isabella Thompson-Davoli, and all of them agreed that this season’s highlight was,

as Doyle put it “winning the conference tournament and going to the NCA A tournament. This was a first for us in program history and was a great experience.” It took time and effort for the team to get to where it did. With last spring’s season ending without warning and many restrictions this season, Doyle said that “it was really important for everyone to be putting in individual work in the off-season.” This wasn’t the only extra work the team had to put in. W hen I spoke to ThompsonDavoli she remembered how specifically COV ID has impacted the game: “We had to play games in masks for the first half of our season. We always had to be masked during practice, on the sidelines, and on the bus. In addition, we got tested 3 times a week, a couple of us ended up in quarantine, and we were constantly reminded to distance ourselves while not engaged in active play.” But St.Mary’s still had the best season in program history and were still able to overcome all of these challenges to form a close-knit team. To keep their momentum heading into the next season, the team must continue to work as they did this past year. As Doyle leaves, her advice to the returning players coming back is to continue to work on the great bond the team has formed. Meanwhile, Soller and Thompson-Davoli both pin their future success on working on more technical skills, such as stick work and conditioning. Soller is confident that if they continue to work hard in the off-season they will return “stronger than ever.” Contact Olivia Schatz at oschaz@nd.edu

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Holy Cross sports: 2020-2021 in review Saints establish varsity programs, men’s golf heads to National Championship for sixth time Women’s Soccer By LIAM COOLICAN Sports Writer

When Omar Gallo took over the Holy Cross women’s soccer team in 2018, he inherited a two-win program. After a tough first year, in which the team won just three games, Gallo elected to keep just six players from the 2018 roster for the next year. Despite the lack of experience, Gallo guided the Saints to their first conference tournament appearance in program history in 2019. After the pandemic forced this year’s season to move to the spring, the Saints pushed through the adversity and finished 9-4-1, the winningest record in program history. They also advanced to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) tournament semifinals for the first time. After defeating Trinity International University in the quarterfinals, the Saints battled Cardinal Stritch University for 110 minutes. The contest finished 0-0 after two overtimes, and the Saints fell in a shootout. Despite the youth of the team — this year’s squad is only Gallo’s second recruiting class — he said that the experience of the team was important. “The experience definitely plays a key part in our success,” Gallo said. “They were quite prepared for [the conference tournament] this time. They knew what the atmosphere was going to consist of.” The Saints were led by sophomore midfielder Olivia Shaw, who was named to the CCAC first team for the second year in a row. Shaw paced the team with five goals and nine assists. “[It is] something special for our program,” Gallo said. “It just shows the kind of caliber of girls we’re bringing in.” Senior defender Bella Cuevas, who anchored the Saints back line and scored two game winning goals, was named to the all-conference second team for the second year in a row. She helped the Saints give up a program-low 19 goals this year. “She’s the anchor of the team,” Gallo said. Junior midfielder Lauren Cernak was also named to the second team. She scored four goals and assisted on seven more. Gallo was also named CCAC co-coach of the year. “From a recruiting standpoint, it definitely opens up many people’s eyes,” Gallo said of the honors. The Saints return most of

their production next year, with Shaw and Cernak returning, and senior defender Audrey Fillipo being granted an additional year of eligibility to finish her degree. Gallo also singled out sophomore midfielder Nicole Cook as someone who doesn’t get as much recognition as she deserves. “If we scored 40 goals this season, she had the assist before the assist on at least 35 of them,” Gallo said. Gallo wants his team to continue their success, on and off the field. “We want to maintain a 3.2 team GPA,” he said. “As a team, we set our goals to be involved in at least four to five events in the community, or on campus to be a part of the student body. From a playing standpoint, we want to be able to finish top three and give ourselves an opportunity to get to the national championship.” Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu

Women’s Golf By JOHN STOLMEIER Sports Writer

In his eighth year of coaching for the Saints, T.J. Mannen and the Holy Cross 2020 Spring golf season were brought to a sudden halt by the Covid-19 pandemic. The unusual circumstances surrounding the young team’s canceled season placed the squad in an awkward spot coming into the fall. Coming into the 2020-2021 season, Mannen knew his team would face a new set of challenges. “We had a rough year; we started two juniors and three freshmen… they got thrown right into the fire… It was a real five-person effort this year,” said Mannen, whose team was only able to compete twice in the fall because of the pandemic. But the Saints picked up momentum heading into the spring and the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. “When they came back in February, we got to go right into a full schedule,” Mannen added. “[And freshman] Annika Johnson was kind of leading the charge. Each event Annika got better, especially when it came to the conference championship… she was able to achieve allconference by hitting 80 in the last round.” Along with Johnson, the Saints were led by junior Madison Pool, from Surprise, Arizona, who has consistently filled out the second slot on the scorecard. Pool played

her best in Homewood, Illinois in the CCAC championship, where she shot for a two-day total of 182 to tie for sixteenth in the conference. “Madison was a very outspoken individual who led by example this year. She was always practicing and trying to get better,” Mannen mentioned. The combined efforts of the five starters showed on April 23 in their final competition at the CCAC Championship. The women’s team took third place in the tournament, with Johnson and Pool placing fifth and 16th, respectively, and Rachel Scherer, Tori Langen, and Sofia McGuiness rounding out positions 30 to 32. The Holy Cross women’s golf team will be returning all five starters next season. “We have two freshmen coming in that will definitely help us improve,” Mannen said. “The nucleus of the team is young, and we are looking to do better next season.” The team will be working hard in the off-season, where Mannen has posed a challenge for the team to achieve an average of below 84 strokes. Hopefully clear of the pandemic, the Saints are looking to enter competition next fall at the top of their game. Contact John Stolmeier at jstolmei@nd.edu

Women’s Basketball By AIDAN THOMAS Sports Writer

Despite t wo pandemicaffected seasons as head coach, Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Tom Robbins has the Saints on the rise, after his young roster took some big steps forward in a strong conference. The Saints had a tough draw, as they took on the top five teams in the conference a combined eight times, tough sledding for a squad w ith no seniors and five freshmen. A head of the brutal conference slate, Holy Cross started their season 4-4, buoyed by an impressive record on their home court, as the Saints went 4-2 in a six-game home stretch, including a thoroughly impressive 76-51 beatdow n of Governors State, who ended up finishing fifth in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). “Even though we didn’t have a home court advantage in terms of fans, we did have a home court advantage in that g y m” Robbins said of his team’s success at home. “That’s where we were grinding it out in practice ever y

day w ith that mentalit y — that they’re coming into this sweatbox of a g y m that we got, that we’ve been putting blood and sweat into, so how are you going to experience us in our env ironment.” The Saints f lirted w ith a .500 record for much of the season, but road struggles and a brutal schedule to end their season saw them matched up against the #1, #3, #4 and #5 seeds in their final five games. That stretch coincided w ith losing their second leading scorer, junior guard Arielle Thatcher (13.9 ppg), to a season-ending injur y, resulting in a regular-season-ending five-game skid for Robbins’ squad. “Despite the fact that we lost those games, we were play ing some of our best basketball in terms of our defense, our ball movement and our rebounding,” Robbins said, noting that a low shooting percentage was frequently the Saints’ undoing. Despite the skid, Holy Cross snuck into the conference tournament as the 11th-seed and gave 6thseeded Saint Ambrose a serious upset scare, before dropping the first-round contest by four points. “To have that experience is invaluable,” Robbins said of the tournament, “This year, we were in it to w in it, but it’s new, ever y thing’s new. You’ve got to get past the hurdle, and we were able to get past that this year. The expectation going for ward is that we w in the thing.” Ref lecting on the season, Robbins praised the invaluable leadership from his junior class on his younger roster. “The chemistr y of our team is really good — it’s great for recruiting. A lot of that is because of [junior center] Sara W hite — her leadership has been tremendous. Ariel Thatcher was ver y good in communicating the work ethic and the culture that we expect.” Robbins also praised his on-court leader in sophomore Jayda Miller, who earned all-conference honorable mention, averaging 16.9 points per game. “It’s not uncommon to walk into the g y m and see Jayda getting shots up, working out early in the day,” Robbins said. “She really developed her game from year one to year t wo.” Miller w ill be back w ith the Saints next season, who lose junior Sidney Taylor to her early graduation. The team adds four freshmen, as Holy Cross looks to continue

their upward trend in the CCAC under Robbins. Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

Men’s Tennis By JIMMY WARD Associate Sports Editor

It was a tremendously successful year for the Holy Cross tennis program as a whole. For the first time in school histor y, the Holy Cross men’s tennis team found a w in at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament. Saints head coach Eric Mahone was named the CCAC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. A lthough the team was forced to spend a considerable amount of time apart, getting back onto the court together was something that felt almost nostalgic at first. “Oh yeah, obv iously it [getting back on the courts] was a total reprieve from ever ything else going on around us. Especially w ith the lack of social activ ities compared to normal years, it allowed for our kids to definitely have a somewhat normal college experience, which was good,” Mahone said. The team was littered w ith talent from top to bottom, starting w ith the senior class of Mac Flanner y, Dylan Euzarraga and Ben Beekman, all the way dow n to Isaac Chan and Will Page, who earned A ll-Conference honors in their first season w ith the squad. The Saints would conclude their season w ith the w inningest record in program histor y, finishing w ith a record of 9-8 (4-2 CCAC). Their season ended at the hands of Judson Universit y but their 7-0 onslaught over the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees propelled them to the semifinal showdow n against Judson. The Saints are making their presence felt in the CCAC and are bound and determined to bring that same intensit y into next season. Returning Chan and Page w ill certainly help as they w ill have one more year to f lourish alongside team captain Dominic Gibson who w ill be in his senior season next year. Martin Fajardo w ill return as a junior. The Saints have also nabbed a top recruit from the Netherlands, Olaf de Lange is a commit from Massland, Netherlands who w ill surely contribute to the rapidly rising roster. (Editor’s Note: Gibson is also a sportswriter for the Observer.)

Sports The Saints are primed to make a good run in the CCAC in the next coming years under Coach Mahone, and they continue to grow as a team as they begin to pave a new legacy for those who w ill follow in their path. Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu

Men’s Basketball By JAMISON COOK Sports Writer

The Holy Cross men’s basketball had a successful 202021 season, finishing with a 13-7 record. This year, the Saints made their second straight appearance in the National Association of Intercollegiate (NAIA) Men’s Basketball National Tournament. The Saints earned an automatic bid to the tournament after finishing in second place of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) with an 8-3 conference record. “Overall, I think it was very successful. We finished second in our league, which is always a very good accomplishment,” head coach Mike McBride said. “We wish we could’ve done more, we think we could’ve done more, but at the end of the day we weren’t able to get that done, but we did achieve at a high level. We had some great wins throughout, and we were able to get back to the National Tournament for a second consecutive year, which was huge.” Holy Cross was led by a stellar class of seniors, which included Storm Cook, Jordan Gaines, Trey Shabazz and Jason Dockery. Cook, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer this season (1,581 points), led the team with 17.4 points per game. He was named to the AllConference Second Team for the 2020-21 season. Gaines also contributed in a big way for the Saints, scoring 13.4 points per game and leading the team with 3.3 assists per game. The prolific defender was named to the AllConference first team and was also recognized as an honorable mention for the NAIA All-American teams. Coach McBride expressed his gratitude for this senior class and what has made them, especially Gaines and Storm, so successful at Holy Cross. “Those two — as well as our two other seniors — were the backbone of our team. They were responsible, to a great degree, for our success,” he said. “Jordan and Storm in particular had tremendously productive years. They’re both four-year starting guards, so they had tremendous winning experience so they knew what it would take to compete at a high level. And then they assumed

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a leadership role within the team.” Replacing this class will be difficult, but McBride is confident in the group he is bringing back next year. Holy Cross will look to make a run at its third consecutive appearance in the National Tournament next season and to take the next step by advancing deeper into the tournament. “Our returners have the experience, they know what it takes to get to the National Tournament and to win,” he says. “Now, because the blueprint is there, the feeling of having accomplished it is there, hopefully, the new guys we add will be able to contribute in that same manner.” Contact Jamison Cook at jcook22@nd.edu

Men’s Golf By LUKE THOMPSON Sports Writer

The Holy Cross Saints men’s golf team concluded its season on April 27 with a second place finish out of a field of 10 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s golf championships, played at TPC Deere Run. The strong last performance came at the end of a long season that spanned between the fall of 2020 to this spring. Junior Carter Silva led the Saints with a third place finish individually, posting an overall score of 150 (eight over par for the tworound tournament). The Saints’ overall team score of 622 provided the team with its best finish in a tournament all season, but still left them short of the conference champions (Roosevelt University) by thirteen strokes. The Saints did post the lowest score for the final day of the tournament with a 304. Holy Cross coach T.J. Mannen found that impressive last day as an encouraging sign for the Saints going forward, but nonetheless was disappointed that the first-round score of 318 put them out of position to win the tournament. “We go out there and shoot two rounds at 304, and we’re going to be in position to win a lot of these tournaments,” Mannen observed, expressing his hope that his team can maintain this level of golf consistently. The Saints’ struggle to consistently produce enough good scores throughout lineup contributed to the team’s middling performance in tournaments for most of the season before the successful season finale. Coach Mannen highlighted the need to consistently “get a third or fourth good score out of one or two more guys” to support the particularly strong performances from Silva and fellow junior Camden Dal Corrobo. The overwhelming good news for the Saints is that their finish to this season has them trending in the right direction, and they are returning their entire lineup for next season — in addition

to bringing in several “readymade” newcomers, according to Mannen. “We expect to have eight, maybe nine, guys competing for those five spots each tournament next season,” Mannen said, highlighting why he has such high expectations for next year’s team. “I like to set the bar real high to give us something to reach for. Our ultimate goal is always a national championship.” With the experience they have returning, that is an admirable — if high — goal for the Saints, who will certainly be looking to at least capture the conference championship for next season to build upon their second place finish this year. Holy Cross advanced to the NAIA national championships in the 2018-19 season (the last full one before this year) after winning the CCAC. The Saints will be looking to repeat that season’s success next year behind a very exciting crop of experienced returners. Contact Luke Thompson at lthomps7@nd.edu

Men’s Soccer By LIAM COOLICAN Sports Writer

They started the season 1-5 in conference play. They battled a COVID-related shutdown of the program. They had more than 20 positional changes. But the Holy Cross men’s soccer team still found a way to finish with a winning record and make the conference tournament for the third year in a row. “It [was] one of those cometogether moments,” head coach Omar Gallo said of the turnaround. “We had one of our team meetings, we just had a couple of upperclassmen speak up, even some underclassmen speak up, and we asked the question, ‘Why do you think we’re still being granted this opportunity to play after going 1-5?’” Whatever question was posed at that team meeting, it had an effect on the team. They immediately rattled off five consecutive victories and surged up the conference standings. The Saints ultimately finished the year 8-7-1, with a 6-6 conference record. They entered the conference tournament as an eight seed, where their season came to an end by way of a 3-1 defeat to top-seeded Cardinal Stritch University. “We’re still trying to get over that hump of getting to [the] national championships,” Gallo said. “But we’re giving ourselves a chance to compete every year.” Senior center back Jeff Rafter was also named to the CCAC all-conference first team. “Jeff is definitely one of the best center backs we’ve ever brought in this program,” Gallo said. When Rather arrived at Holy

Cross, he requested the number 5. The coaching staff had reserved that number for a player who could not only succeed on the field but off it as well. “That reason was because the last two players that wore that number were spectacular players and just human beings,” Gallo said. “Jeff made that promise that if he got that number five, that he would go above and beyond and set an even higher standard than those individuals.” Holy Cross graduates some key players, including goalkeeper Lewis Tomlinson and midfielder Raymond Giang, but Gallo still has high expectations for next season. “We’re a very young team, which excites the coaching staff,” he said. Senior defenders Cliff Brown and Laith Zaibal will return, as the NAIA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility. Rafter may return as well, although at Holy Cross, which does not have graduate programs, players can only return if they have the credits they need to complete for their degree. The coaching staff recently named Brown the captain for the upcoming season, and Gallo is also excited about the continued growth of freshman defender Victor Sellu, freshman forward Gabe Nyenka, and sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Harper. He hopes the team can carry their momentum from the second half of last season into the fall. “Our backs were against the wall the last six games of the season,” Gallo said. “It’s just creating that mentality, not when you’re put into that position, but from game number one.” Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu

Women’s Tennis By GEHRIG SMALSTIG Sports Writer

“If I would have told you ‘Yea, we’re gonna finish second place,’ I would’ve been a liar.” Head coach Eric Mahone seemed to be in shock just looking back at how far the Holy Cross Saints women’s tennis team had come. “We didn’t win a match our first two years,” he said. “Every match we went into, we were playing a team we had never beat.” Mahone said he knew the talent they had coming into this year, citing the newcomers as the biggest difference maker. They had one of the nation’s top recruiting classes in Jabeen Urbanek, Helga Lopez and Anna Beer, alongside “pseudo-freshman” Clara Ruedinger — who only got to play in two matches during last year’s season, shortened due to COVID. Still, the team’s goals were modest. “First goal was just to make

the conference tournament, to finish above .500 record,” Mahone said. “We eclipsed all of those goals.” The team would, in fact, go on to finish the season 13-6 and 6-1 in conference play. They even made it to the conference tournament finals, eventually losing to top-10 ranked Cardinal Stritch University to close out the season. When asked if there seemed to be a turning point in the season, Mahone recalled a matchup with Saint Francis (Illinois). “They were picked to finish second [in the conference], I was just hoping, at that moment, that we would finish 6th,” he said. “We ended up pulling out a 4-3 win with one of our freshmen, Jabeen, winning in the third set, and from there we just got on a roll.” Mahone also noted the difference in confidence levels following this match as a catalyst for success throughout the remainder of the year. “They beat everyone they were supposed to, and then some,” he said. Turning around a program is hard enough in and of itself, but the pandemic certainly complicated it further. Mahone said staying physically healthy was a big concern for the team. “With how small our team was this year … we had no margin for error. If we lost one of our starters, we were playing short,” he said. The team’s chemistry helped navigating this challenge. “Our team chemistry is phenomenal, the girls are all really good friends … our team GPA is 3.5, so we just emphasized staying healthy,” he said. This turnaround did not go unnoticed. Helga Lopez and Jabeen Urbanek were both voted first-team All Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference in both singles and doubles. Lopez was even voted CCAC Freshman of the Year. The orchestrator of the success also got some recognition: Mahone earned Coach of the Year honors in the CCAC. Looking ahead to next year, expectations are higher than ever, but Mahone is still focused on the improvements that need to be made. Addressing inexperience, for instance, is at the top of his list. “Hopefully COVID will allow us to play quite a few matches next year,” he said. “We’re hoping to have one of the biggest schedules in the country next year, in terms of number of matches, to kind of make up for what we missed out on this year.” While it is great to bask in this year’s success, the team knows it’s not at the pinnacle of its potential yet. They have their sights set on a conference championship and a bid to nationals in the near future. “It’s a good year, we’re on our way up,” Mahone said. Contact Gehrig Smalstig at esmalsti@nd.edu

Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Women’s Senior Athlete of the Year

ND is ‘Sweet spot’ for one of nation’s best By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate Sports Editor

When senior outfielder Abby Sweet first donned an Irish uniform, she was well on her way to creating a lasting legacy in the Notre Dame softball program. The four-year starter came out swinging her freshman season, rising in the ranks to lead the team in runs (38) while maintaining a .333 batting average, which was good for second on the team. By the time she was a junior, Sweet was named captain for a season filled with promise. She had already established herself as the hardest ACC player to strike out and led the team in batting average (.368), posing as a formidable threat for any opponent until the season abruptly skidded to a halt. With the pandemic pressing pause on all Division I competitions, Sweet and her teammates lost the opportunity to bring the Irish to the NCAA Tournament for their 22nd straight year. However, a year later, Sweet has rebounded in exceptional fashion. Sweet believes that the greatest improvements have taken place in her offensive play. She proudly holds a .463 batting average, continuing to lead the ACC in the category two months after taking the top spot. “I really stepped it up just from my previous three seasons,” Sweet said. “I think I’ve

been a consistent hitter overall for all four years, but this year I really just took it to the next level ... I think I’ve been very productive offensively, and that’s definitely shown in the scores of our games, and just the amount of baserunners we’ve had overall throughout the season.” Sweets’ capability as a batter has been noticed by others in the conference as well; she’s been hit by 18 pitches this season, the 10th-highest mark in the nation. She was hit on each of her four at-bats during the second game of a March doubleheader against NC State, which tied the NCAA record for the most in a single game by a Division I player. These HBPs have become more frequent as the season concludes, limiting her ability to perform at bat. Sweet spoke on how this has impacted her play and her mentality in games. “Recognizing that as one of the top hitters, they’re probably not going to throw me a lot of great pitches, so when they do, obviously just capitalizing on that,” Sweet said. “But lately just understanding that I might walk a little bit more, and I definitely need to be patient up there and really just look for the pitch that I want and not chase any pitcher’s pitches ... so just recognizing that as the season has gone on, I wasn’t going to get great pitches at the plate all the time, so just kind of being patient and

staying within myself up there.” Despite this, as one of the top 25 finalists for USA Softball’s 2021 Collegiate Player of the Year, Sweet has demonstrated her outstanding capabilities as an athlete this season. This is the most prestigious honor in Division I softball, and Sweet becomes the third Irish player to receive the nomination. “It was cool to see my picture up there with a bunch of amazing other players that I’ve looked up to throughout my college career,” Sweet said. “It’s not an individual sport. It’s definitely a team sport, and I couldn’t have done it without help from my teammates, they helped me. They just pushed me to get better and I pushed them and, overall, it was just really cool. And I’m very grateful for it.” It is Sweet’s aggression as a player that made her a standout for the award. She aims to keep this mentality with her the entire game, whether she is at the plate or in the field. “Really just staying in that attack mode all the time helps me stay confident in myself,” she said. Additionally, Sweet emphasized the importance of team camaraderie. She seeks to encourage the assertive dynamic that she holds for herself, pushing her teammates as they encourage her as well. Put plainly, see SWEET PAGE 43

ARI DENNING | The Observer

Irish senior outfielder Abby Sweet swings at a pitch during Notre Dame’s 6-5 win on March 26 at Melissa Cook Stadium.

Men’s Senior Athlete of the year

Slugging Kavadas leads Irish eyeing Omaha run By AIDAN THOMAS Sports Writer

ARI DENNING | The Observer

Irish senior Niko Kavadas preps to swing at a pitch during Notre Dame’s close home win over Georgia Tech,10-9, on April 9 in the Eck Baseball Stadium. Kavadas had one run and two RBIs on the game.

W hen ma k ing his college decision, Not re Da me senior f irst basema n Ni ko Kavadas--a somewhat lightly recr uited prospect at t he t ime--chose t he Irish over Purdue a nd Da r t mout h. He felt it was t he ‘best blend’ of academics a nd at h letics, pa r t icu la rly g iven Not re Da me’s ACC schedu le. Kavadas, who g rew up about f if teen minutes f rom ca mpus a nd f requent ly attended Not re Da me ga mes as a k id, remembers t hat f irst semester in Sout h Bend as a tough “I t hin k I got, li ke, one hit t he ent ire fa l l, a nd t he academics were rea l ly tough,” he sa id. But t hat semester did not foreshadow Kavadas’s career w it h t he Irish, as t he f reshma n worked his way into t he Opening Day lineup t hat spring a nd sta r ted 38 ga mes t hat season. Since t hat f reshma n season, Kavadas has sta r ted ever y single ga me for t he Irish--54 in 2019, 13 in t he

abbrev iated 2020 ca mpa ig n, a nd 36 t hus fa r in 2021. This yea r has been a ca reer season for Kavadas, as he has hit his way to a .314 batt ing average, a .479 on-base percentage, a nd a .752 slugg ing percentage a nd has tota led 23 ex t ra-base hits (15 home r uns) a nd 45 RBI, a l l ca reerhighs. He did t his whi le sett ing himself up to g raduate f rom t he Mendoza Col lege of Business t his spring. Four yea rs a f ter being t hat light ly-recr uited corner inf ielder, Kavadas has elevated himself into t he discussion to be a top-100 dra f t pick in t he upcoming 2021 MLB Dra f t whi le being na med to t he watch list for t he Golden Spi kes (top college baseba l l player) a nd a midseason A l l-A merica n by D1 Baseba l l a nd Per fect Ga me. For t hese reasons, a mong ot hers, Kavadas was na med The Obser ver’s Ma le At h lete of t he Yea r. A f ter g rinding t hrough t hat opening semester, Kavadas got his of f icia l see KAVADAS PAGE 44