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ready to not think about school for the upcoming 10week break.” Sierra added that she thinks students thought this semester would be doable w ithout a break. “I think that a lot of us thought that we could make it through the semester w ithout any breaks, but now that we are actually liv ing through the semester and while yes we are so close to the end of the semester, it still seems so far away,” she said. “Especially w ith professors stacking projects and paper, and all these assignments on top of each other.” Sierra also addressed
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“W hen I v isited Notre Dame I said ‘This is the school for me.’ And when I arrived as a first-semester student, I never looked back.” Monk said the book reveals his “love affair” w ith Notre Dame. “I found a home here,” Malloy said. “And I put my whole self into it, and because of that, all kinds of opportunities opened up.” In addition to being a student on campus, Malloy said he also found his vocation through a ser v ice trip to Latin America, which led him to the rest of his journey at Notre Dame. A large part of this journey involved several groups of people. In his book, those
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d isc ussion by add ressi ng t he session’s a i m. “Now more t ha n ever, it is t i me for us to w rest le w it h t hese d i f f ic u lt topics a nd d i f f ic u lt issues, but to do so respect f u l ly a nd w it h a n open m i nd,” You ng sa id. You ng i nt roduced t he t wo spea kers for t he ser ies’ fou r t h session : Ch r ist i na Wolbrecht, professor of pol it ica l science a nd d i rector of t he Rooney Center for t he St udy of A mer ica n Democrac y, a nd Dia n ne P i nderhug hes, president ia l Fac u lt y Fel low a nd professor of pol it ica l science a nd A f r ica na st ud ies. Before d iv i ng i nto moder n-day i mpl icat ions for women’s votes, Wolbrecht gave a br ief h istor y of how t he 19t h A mend ment ha s i ncrea si ng ly i mpacted pol it ica l t u r nout s over t he yea rs. “W hen women f i rst got t he r ig ht to vote i n t he 1920s, t hey were a l most
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concerns for students’ mental state, including her ow n. “I think I can speak for a lot of students that I am burnt out and no longer have the capacit y to deal w ith or think about school-related matters,” she said. “It would have liked there to be like a day or two where all the students could have a day with no class and almost a type of mental health day. I know we have the weekend to rest, but weekends are no longer weekends, rather days to catch up on work you couldn’t complete during the week or were too at capacity and burnt out to finish during the week.” Junior Damariz Olguin echoed the same feeling of needing a long break after the fast-paced semester. “I will be relaxing and
enjoying spending time with family after a packed and stressful semester,” she said. Olguin also commented on the College’s recent announcement of offering a handful of courses during the winter break to lighten the course load for students in the spring. “While Saint Mary’s has given students the option of a winter term, the semester has left me burnt out and I don’t think it is the right move for me,” Olguin said. However, Olguin does have concerns over the long w inter break after an at-home end of spring semester and summer. “Hearing how long our break w ill be gave me f lashbacks to the summer,” Olguin said. “A lthough I
participated in SSLP through ND v irtual experience, I found myself doing nothing after it and hav ing large periods of free time.” As for the spring semester and the way it is set to take place, Olguin said she understands why the College decided to begin so late, but added that another semester w ithout a break w ill be strenuous. “I understand the lateness of the start of the semester due to COV ID,” she said. “However, another semester w ithout a break w ill be ver y rough.” Sierra said she is a bit worried about another semester w ithout the traditional break and hopes for at least one day off to destress. “It has been really hard not
hav ing a break in bet ween the semester [and] it’s always go-go but we just need a time or day specifically free of school-related tasks to let go of ever y thing,” she said. “I honestly do not mind that the semester is beginning Februar y, just because I feel ex hausted and I need as much time as possible to get back to myself because I know this has been a really challenging time not just for me but for ever yone. And I’m sure a lot of have lost a little bit of our motivation and ourselves. Hav ing those 10 weeks w ill ground us a lot more and let us be the people we once were before ever y thing happened.”
who make up the Notre Dame family are highlighted. “Part of the book is historical,” Malloy said. “I trace the role the different presidents have played and what happened during their term of leadership.” Not only does Malloy cover the presidents that have passed through the Universit y, but also members of the staff. “I wanted to get people to think about all the units that prov ide ser v ices,” Malloy said. “We can take all these things for granted, but they’re an integral part of what makes Notre Dame kick.” Malloy’s ow n experience as Universit y President is included in the histor y. “I was really honored to have that role,” Malloy said. W hen asked what he was
proudest of from his time as President, Malloy said it was the fact that “we made progress on multiple things simultaneously.” This progress, Malloy said, spanned several areas of the Universit y, including the qualit y of teaching and the diversit y of the campus. His time in the position also prov ided the highlights of his experience at the Universit y. One was the way the Notre Dame communit y responded to an accident in which t wo members of the women’s sw im team passed away, w ith another seemingly paralyzed. “That was a major moment,” Malloy said. “It revealed, as so often happens when we have the death of a student, that we are never better as a communit y of support than when we deal
w ith tragedy.” Another highlight that stuck out in Malloy’s years was students’ responses in the aftermath of 9/11. “We could have closed a number of times. Many schools closed when they had tough occasions that they were facing,” he said. “You could say COV ID-19, maybe, was another test like that, where we’ve had a sense of what was important, that we’ve rallied together in times of crisis and difficult y.” Malloy said he tied this spirit to the current generation of students, making his book applicable to people at ever y stage of their journey at Notre Dame. “[This] generation is responsible for carr y ing it to the next level,” Malloy said.
In terms of adv ice on how to do this, Malloy referred to his ow n experience. “Not ever y thing went well all the time for me,” he said. “So what I did is when something didn’t go right, I figured out something else to get involved in.” He said he believes ever yone at Notre Dame has access to their ow n version of achievement. “Get a broad education, whatever your major is. Get involved in various activ ities that you enjoy,” Malloy said. “And then I think you’d be a lot better prepared for what life brings, than if you just focus on one thing or let one thing get in your way and discourage you.”
i m med iately descr ibed a s a fa i lu re, a nd w hat t hat mea nt wa s t hat women d id not seem to be ta ki ng up t hei r r ig ht to vote,” Wolbrecht sa id. T he t u r nout gap wa s not i n favor of women a s it is today, Wolbrecht sa id. “Black women have never stopped f ig ht i ng for vot i ng r ig ht s,” she sa id. For Black women, t he 19t h A mend ment is a m i nusc u le pa r t of t hei r f ig ht for vot i ng r ig ht s, Wolbrecht sa id. P i nderhug hes elaborated on resista nce Black women have faced i n pu rsu it of a role i n pol it ics. “T he 19t h A mend ment wa s pa ssed, but w hen va r ious state leg islat u res approved t he a mend ment, t he ag reement wa s t hat t here wou ld n’t be a n ef for t to per m it Black women to vote,” P i nderhug hes sa id. T he poi nt of leg islat ion f rom t he late 1890s, w hen sout her n states bega n to a lter t hei r const it ut ions, wa s to si lence Black women’s voices, P i nderhug hes sa id.
P i nderhug hes t hen t u r ned t he d isc ussion to moder n pol it ics. “Now, w it h t he decision by t he Supreme Cou r t i n Holder v. Shelby Cou nt y, t he protect ion of t he Vot i ng R ig ht s Act is no longer i n place,” P i nderhug hes sa id. P i nderhug hes sa id she sees issues w it h such act ions. “T here is no i nter vent ion on t he pa r t of t he depa r t ment of just ice to mon itor cha nges i n vot i ng law s,” P i nderhug hes sa id. “[ Sout her n states ] have moved ver y qu ick ly to put rest r ict ions on, a nd cha nge t he law, aga i n to ma ke it more d i f f ic u lt a nd d iscou rage Black s f rom vot i ng.” T he d isc ussion t hen pivoted towa rds t he stereot y pes a rou nd women voters. P i nderhug hes noted t here is a w hole ra nge of pol ic y issues t hat a f fect how women f u nct ion — t hey do not just ca re about one sector of pol it ics. She noted ever yday concer ns such a s nut r it ion, t ra nspor tat ion
a nd a i r qua l it y, a l l of wh ich i mpact a woma n’s l i fe. “We tend to na r row t he or ientat ion i n ter ms of w hat it is t hat people t h i n k is i mpor ta nt for women,” P i nderhug hes sa id. Wolbrecht spoke about m isconcept ions a nd a ssu mpt ions made rega rdi ng what act ua l ly concer ns women. “We ca re about t he economy, we ca re about hea lt hca re, we ca re about t he sa me issues t hat a ffect da i ly l i fe t hat men do,” Wolbrecht sa id. “T he rea l it y is t hat women a re placed d i f ferent ly i n t he economy. … T hei r eva luat ions of t he economy, of what ’s best for t hei r fa m i ly, of where t hey wa nt to see gover nment protect ion, is on average, sl ig ht ly d i f ferent f rom men’s.” A f ter ex pla i n i ng t he role gender d i f ferences have on pol it ica l object ives, Wolbrecht t u r ned towa rds spec u lat ions rega rd i ng t he 2020 elect ion. Pol ic y cha nges, to P i nderhug hes, negat ively
Contact Crystal Ramirez at cramire8@nd.edu
Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu
i mpact t he Black voter com mu n it y. “Access to vot i ng r ig ht s is a concer n i n t he sense t hat w it h Holder v. Shelby Cou nt y, protect ion, u nder sect ion fou r of t he r ig ht vot i ng act, is no longer offered,” P i nderhug hes sa id. You ng t hen t u r ned towa rds Wolbrecht, a sk i ng what t hen needed to be done. “We a re nowhere close to bei ng done,” Wolbrecht sa id. She ex pla i ned t hat t he const it ut ion does not i nclude t he a f f i r mat ive r ig ht to vote, wh ich does not requ i re states, cou nt ies or mu n icipa l it ies to ensu re t he r ig ht to vote — accou ntabi l it y she w ishes ex isted. P i nderhug hes sa id t hat i n add it ion to t h is lega l f ra mework, “what needs to happen at present is for t he tensions t hat rema i n bet ween a nd a mong women of color to be add ressed.” Contact Gabrielle Penna at gpenna@nd.edu
