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Volume 56, Issue 25 | Monday, november 1 | ndsmcobserver.com
Professor questions donations Notre Dame professor discusses recent sizeable donation to University By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate News Editor
When Notre Dame English professor John Duffy learned last August that the University received donations from The Napa Institute and the Koch brothers, he raised concerns to fellow faculty members and later to the Arts and Letters College Council. “My view is that faculty shouldn’t discover these things, for example these particular donations, in a press release after this has already been decided,” Duffy said. According to an internal press release, the Napa Institute and the Charles Koch Foundation, along with others, provided funds to support the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Studies, a
new program that defines itself as a “hub of scholarship and education that strives to be a national focal point on Catholicism, constitutional government, and liberal democracy.” Specifically, the Charles Koch Foundation donated $1.5 million to the Center, and according to the National Catholic Reporter, the Napa Institute will donate $500,000 over the next five years. The money will fund a range of the center’s activities, including research, academic fellowships and efforts to bring leading thinkers and politicians to Notre Dame. In its first year, the Center helped bring Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to speak at Notre Dame for the Tocqueville Lecture.
Professor speaks on race relations By CLAIRE LYONS News Writer
The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights hosted American political scientist Claire Jean Kim, who spoke about the Asian American race relations for its online lecture series, “Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary” on Friday. The series is led by Dory Mitros Durham, associate director of the Klau Center and leader of the Keough School of Global Affairs’s Racial Justice Initiative, as a response to the acts of police brutality against George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor in 2020. Friday’s lecture was held in partnership with the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. The program’s goal is to provide “students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University of Notre Dame with sustained, critical engagement on interdisciplinary topics related to understanding systematic racism, and committing to the daily work of anti-racism.” Kim is a professor of political science and Asian American studies at the University of California Irvine. She holds a BA from Havard
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and her MPhil and PhD from Yale. She’s written two award-winning books including “Bitter Fruit: the Politics of Black-Korean Conflict in New York City,” and “Dangerous Crossings: Race, Species and Nature in a Multicultural Age.” Her writing also includes her peerreviewed publications in the Los Angeles Times and other journals. Currently, she is finishing a book called “Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World” which was the focus of the lecture. Kim discussed the current cultural context that informs and compounds racial tensions today. She mentioned the Jan. 6 insurrection, the pressures of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities and the Black Lives Matter movement as a result of George Floyd’s murder. The pandemic has highlighted the ways Asian Americans “may have the most precarious belonging in the category of people of color,” Kim noted. COVID has brought to the surface the “undercurrent of anti-Asian animus in US culture” with a surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans. see LECTURE PAGE 4
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University spokesperson Dennis Brown said a benefactor cannot be involved in the administration of a gift or dictate use of a gift beyond its original agreed upon intent. According to this policy, the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Studies has the final say over how the money is used, not the Napa Institute or the Charles Koch Foundation. Brown also said gifts must be directed toward a University priority, and benefactors may not promote a political or ideological agenda through a gift. “A gift must be consonant with Notre Dame’s mission. We have turned down many gifts that did not meet this criterion,” Brown said. “If the purpose of a gift has the potential to compromise Notre Dame’s integrity, we will not
Sexual assault reported
accept it.” Still, Duffy said the University should not associate itself with these two organizations, citing concerns over the “science denialism” of the Koch brothers and efforts by Napa Institute and its leaders to “undermine democracy.” “With these organizations, when we take their money, we are aligning ourselves with those organizations, and saying that our values are consistent with their values. We’re giving them legitimacy, and I think we’re giving them cover,” Duffy said. Duffy questioned how the values of the Koch Foundation and the Napa Institute align with Notre Dame’s values.
An incident of sexual assault occurred near campus in the early hours of Sunday, the Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD) announced in an email to the campus community Sunday morning. The email reported that the female victim was sexually assaulted by three men in a parked vehicle near a commercial development in the 1600 block of South Bend Avenue, southeast of campus. NDPD said she had visited campus earlier in the evening. NDPD has been in contact with their partners in South Bend
see DONATIONS PAGE 4
see ASSAULT PAGE 3
Observer Staff Report
ND uplifts survivors of relationship violence By REYNA LIM News Writer
As October draws to a close, Notre Dame wraps up its annual programming honoring Relationship Violence Awareness Month (RVMA), led by the University’s Gender Relations Center (GRC). Throughout the past month, the GRC collaborated with students in planning and staffing a variety of events. The programming addressed numerous aspects of relationship violence. On Oct. 4, 5 and 6, the GRC invited the community to visit Duncan Student Center to view an art installation entitled “What Were You Wearing?” Based upon the poem “What I Was Wearing” by Mary Simmerling, the installation showcases stories of sexual violence on various college campuses along with what each victim was wearing at the time. The exhibit invited visitors to reflect upon wrongful victim blaming, addressing the loaded question “What were you wearing?” and its implication that survivors could
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have prevented their assault if they had dressed in a different manner. The Japanese art exhibit “Broken is Beautiful: Kintsugi” was held in LaFortune Student Center on Oct. 12. The annual event begins with a showing of a BBC video, explaining Kintsugi as the “art of fixing broken pottery,” a symbol for strength and perseverance as individuals overcome challenges and trauma. It is used by survivors as a restorative process. Kaitlyn Stankiewicz, the GRC’s program coordinator for healthy relationships and community outreach, cites the Kintsugi event as one of the most memorable during the month. “For me I always enjoy this event because it creates a relaxing space where students can break something, which can be therapeutic in itself, and put it back together,” she said. “Lunch & Learn: Let’s Talk Title IX” was held in the LaFortune Student Center on Oct. 7, where participants were invited to lunch with Amber Monroe, the Student
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Title IX Program Manager. The lunch encouraged dialogue surrounding Title IX, the U.S federal civil rights law which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. On Oct. 27, the GRC hosted “A Pandemic within a Pandemic — Relationship Violence during COVID-19,” a discussion with Amelia Thomas, SOS Coordinator for the St. Joseph County Family Justice Center. The event highlighted the recent spike in domestic abuse amidst the pandemic. For many of the events, the GRC was supported by various on-campus organizations and residence halls. The cosponsors for the month were Farley Hall, Ryan Hall, Lewis Hall, Sorin Hall, the University Counseling Center (UCC), McWell, Family Justice Center, greeNDot and the Japan Club. Sorin Hall, Lewis Hall and the Japan Club were new campus partners this year. Stankiewicz said these new partnerships were an effort “to connect with students who may see SURVIVORS PAGE 3
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