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Volume 56, Issue 57 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com
Notre Dame releases regular decisions University sets record-low acceptance rate of 12.6% after receiving 26,506 applicants By CLAIRE REID Associate News Editor
On Thursday, the University announced it admitted 1,737 students to the class of 2026 in the regular decision process. In December, 1,675 students were admitted in the restrictive early action (REA) cycle. In total, 3,412 students were admitted out of 26,506 applicants. The University set a record-low acceptance rate of 12.9% this year, replacing last year’s record-low of 14.6%. Of the 1,598 students deferred in the REA process this year, 145 were ultimately admitted in the regular decision process. The University received a record number of applications and 12% more applicants than last year.
Associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment Don Bishop said in the past two years, applications have increased by 25%. “That is an enormous gain, but at the same time, we’re looking for the same attributes,” he said. “We consider ourselves to be different than the other top 15 schools, and our admissions approach embraces that difference … we certainly are going after the most intellectually driven, academically talented students, but we really look at their creativity and motivation for learning, not just their ability to create academic results.” This year, 3,046 students were see ADMISSIONS PAGE 3
Professor publishes Ukraine op-ed By CLAIRE LYONS News Writer
Professor Ian Johnson, Notre Dame’s current P. J. Moran Family Assistant Professor of Military History, recently published an opinion article in the Chicago Tribune detailing Germany’s shift in foreign policy in response to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. By studying the previous causes of war, Johnson believes history can help people understand how to
maintain peace today. “I believe that it is part of the public duty of a historian to help contextualize the present through an understanding of the past,” Johnson said. He says that this mission is the reason why he became a professor. “That’s what [teachers] aspire to do in our classrooms — understand how we got here, to the world we live in.” As an expert on Russian-German see OP-ED PAGE 5
MAKAYLA HERNANDEZ | The Observer
Notre Dame released admissions decisions for the class of 2026 Thursday. In the past two years, applications have increased 25%. A total of 3,412 applicants were admitted in the REA and regular decison pools.
Masks become fully optional on campus Observer Staff Report
Notre Dame announced masks are now optional on campus for all students, faculty, staff and visitors effective today. The announcement came in an email from interim provost Chris Maziar. The lifting of the mask policy includes indoor events. Surveillance testing will no longer be required for any campus community members, including those exempt from the vaccination
requirement, the email said. The testing center will remain open for diagnostic testing and for exempt students who want to continue with surveillance testing. Additionally, Universitysponsored domestic travel will no longer be required to receive preapproval from a vice president or dean. But, the email maintained that University-sponsored internationaltravelwillcontinuetorequire pre-approval. The announcement comes in
light of just two positive COVID-19 cases last week. Exceptions to the masking policy remain in place in instructional or research spaces where the instructor or faculty member requires masks. Also, masks remain required at the University Testing Center, University Health Services and the Wellness Center according to the email. Those who test positive are required to mask for five days following isolation, the email read as well.
‘21 Hallow Oak Road’ to premier Wednesday In the summer of 2020, Saint Mary’s senior Abigail Pinnow found inspiration when she went skydiving with her grandmother. By the next spring, she channeled that inspiration and her pandemic fatigue by writing a play. Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., Pinnow’s play, “21 Hallow Oak Road” will premiere in the Little Theater of the Moreau Center. With
limited seating, the event will be free to attend. Pinnow first wrote the play as an independent study but directed the show as part of her senior composition project for her theater major at Saint Mary’s. The play features a woman celebrating her 21st birthday alone during the pandemic with her roommate out of town. “And she starts being visited by these women who lived in her house at different periods of time,” Pinnow said.
The first woman who visits the room is from the 1940s, followed by a visitor from the 1880s. Pinnow, who is a triple major studying gender and women’s studies and humanistic studies along with theater, enjoyed using the influence of her studies to write her play. “It was really nice to tie together history and literature. There’s a huge influence of literature in this,” Pinnow said. “And then with gender and women’s studies, it’s all about women, and women’s
relationships with each other.” The main character’s isolation is directly inspired by Pinnow’s pandemic experience. “It was just so bizarre, and this play was such a good way for me to channel those feelings and like get them out and process them to myself,” she said. The contrast of community and isolation is a major theme in Pinnow’s play. “I think it’s really speaking to my belief that community is found and community is built,” she said. “And that just
through basic human connection, you’re able to find that sort of community and kind of step away from isolation.” Pinnow said the play is a combination of multiple ideas and identities that are important to her life. “I explore concepts of isolation, womanhood and this idea of storytelling in a part of Southern culture because I’m from Mississippi,” she said.
NEWS PAGE 3
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
SCENE PAGE 10
FENCING PAGE 16
W BASKETBALL PAGE 16
By LIAM PRICE Associate News Editor
see THEATER PAGE 5
