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Volume 53, Issue 14 | thursday, september 6, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
US Poet Laureate visits SMC Tracy K. Smith asks ‘why do I care?’
Smith embraces Christianity in her work
By JORDAN COCKRUM
By MARIA LEONTARAS & MAEVE FILBIN
Saint Mary’s Editor
Associate St. Mary’s Editor and
In much of her poetry, current Poet Laureate of the United States Tracy K. Smith allows her writing to be driven by her answers to questions such as, “Why do I care about [this topic]?” It is through this journey of sitting with a single question or phase that she finds other feelings and connections coming to the surface, a journey that she discussed Wednesday ahead of her appearance at this year’s Christian Culture Lecture. see POET PAGE 3
News Writer
COLLEEN FISCHER | The Observer
The current United States Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith, delievered a lecture at Saint Mary’s about poetry and faith onWednesday evening.
Karen Johnson resigns Observer Staff Report
Tracy K. Smith, the 22nd Poet Laureate of the U.S., spoke at the annual Saint Mary’s Christian Culture Lecture on Wednesday. The acclaimed writer shared her beliefs on the connections between poetry and faith, read her work and explained the Christian undertones of her writings. Smith said faith and poetry provide an opportunity for spiritual and personal awakening.
College President Jan Cervelli announced the resignation of Karen Johnson, the vice president for student affairs, in an email Wednesday. Johnson’s resignation will be effective Oct. 6. Johnson has served the College since 2006, according to the email. “Karen has played a critical role in the development and success of Saint Mary’s College,” Cervelli said in the email. “W hile we w ill
see LECTURE PAGE 4
see FACULTY PAGE 3
Center for Social Concerns Professor receives goes paperless Mellon grant By MARY DONNELLY News Writer
Across campus — on bulletin boards in dining halls, the library and O’Shaughnessy Hall — one poster read: “The Last Poster (from the Center for Social Concerns)”. James Shortall, director of communications
and advancement for the Center for Social Concerns (CSC) said the organization will no longer be distributing its information for programs and applications by means of posters or any other paperrelated source. Shortall said this decision was based on the papal encyclical “Laudato Si,” which
was published by Pope Francis on May 24, 2015. The encyclical says that the poor are disproportionately affected by climate change, especially in developing countries whose natural resources often drive the economies of more developed
News Writer
Scholars and legal experts spoke on the shortfalls of the “zero tolerance” policy in the U.S. immigration system in a panel on Wednesday called “Immigration and Just Peace: A Discussion on U.S. Family and Child Detention Policies” in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium.
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Fr. Daniel Groody, associate professor of theology and global affairs and director of the Kellogg Global Leadership Program, said he believes the U.S. government misunderstands the nature of the mass migrations sweeping Central America. “Migration is not the main problem but a symptom of more fundamental issues,” he said.
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
Associate News Editor
see PANEL PAGE 4
To help expand and improve the popular introduction philosophy course “God and the Good Life,” philosophy professor Meghan Sullivan has received a grant worth $806,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The three-year grant includes both Notre Dame and national components. On the Notre Dame side, Sullivan said the funding will help offer more sections of the course and complete research on teaching philosophy and creating exciting assignments for students. The grant will also fund the undergraduate teaching assistant program, which has expanded along with the course. The undergraduate teaching assistant program is unusual for an introductory philosophy course, and Sullivan said people were initially surprised that she wanted to use Notre Dame students to prompt better
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
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see CSC PAGE 4
Scholars, experts speak on zero tolerance policies By MARY STEURER
By ALEXANDRA muck
Groody said he advises the U.S. to avoid policies that merely seek to enforce border patrol but instead to enact those that address illegal immigration’s root causes — violence and economic destitution in the countries immigrants leave behind. He added that the government’s treatment of
discussion instead of graduate teaching assistants. “That program has been fantastic,” Sullivan said. “ … We have radically improved and made more personal our discussion sections, but also from a planning perspective, many of those students have been involved semester after semester … and now they provide really great sources of ideas and feedback for improving the class.” Justin Christy serves as the program coordinator for the Philosophy as a Way of Life project, which the God and the Good Life course is a part of, and said the discussion sections are a unique component of the course in terms of their structure as well. “Rather than just reinforce what’s been taught, they’re more aimed at dialoging in a group about concrete issues, about how to live well, concrete social issues that are in the news and not so much in a way that’s directly tied into see GRANT PAGE 3
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