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Volume 56, Issue 43 | Friday, FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com
Lee-Stitt ticket wins 2022 election Patrick Lee and Sofie Stitt defeated the Stinston-Sherman ticket after earning 54.61% of votes By BELLA LAUFENBERG Staff Writer
Patrick Lee and Sofie Stitt have been elected Notre Dame student body president and vice president, respectively, for the 2022-2023 term, earning 54.61% of the valid votes. Voting took place Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election results were released Wednesday at 11 p.m. in an email to the student body from the Notre Dame judicial council. Lee and Stitt will begin their term as student body leaders on April 1. The judicial council reported that Lee-Stitt won with a vote of 2656 over 2208 votes for the Stinson-Sherman ticket. There were 239 abstentions. The
voter turnout was 57.82% — the highest turnout of the past five years. Lee said he wanted to thank the student body for the support they’ve been shown over the course of the campaign. “Thank you for believing in us. We want to give a huge thank you to everybody who worked on the campaign,” Lee said. Stitt echoed Lee’s sentiment, thanking their team for “keeping them together.” Lee and Stitt, both current hall presidents for Stanford and Pasquerilla West Halls, respectively, ran on a platform of bringing the power back to
Courtesy of Joe Hunt
see ELECTION PAGE 3
Junior Patrick Lee and sophomore Sofie Stitt were elected student body president and vice president Wednesday. The 2022 election had the highest voter turnout in five years, according to the judicial council.
Rezoning plans upset neighbors
University rolls back COVID-19 protocols Observer Staff Report
The University campus will return to many protocols effective during the 2021 fall semester — including changes on masking, gatherings and travel — after consulting with public health experts, the University wrote in an email Thursday evening. All protocols will go into effect Friday at 5 p.m. Masks will not be required
Courtesy of Area Plan Commission
The University is attempting to rezone four vacant lots around Palmer Street to add parking. The proposal soon goes to the county council. By RYAN PETERS Associate News Editor
The University’s plans to rezone four vacant lots on the eastern part of campus between the Library and Bulla lots have sparked pushback from a family whose relatives have owned property on Palmer Street for almost a century. Current plans to eventually build a multidisciplinary research building adjacent to McCourtney Hall will result in the loss of parking in
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Library Lot. As a result of this expected reduction in parking, the University is proposing to rezone some of its land around Palmer Street — a dead-end road west of Bulla Lot — for University use in order to add parking areas, University spokesperson Dennis Brown said in an email. The University cleared out the land on its lots around Palmer Street in November to prepare for the rezoning. see PARKING PAGE 5
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
indoors on campus except in public areas where visitors are commonly present, instructional spaces where professors require masks and for all individuals who are not vaccinated or boosted. A full list of campus buildings requiring masks can be found online. The email stated that members of the campus community are expected to carry a mask with them at all times. Gatherings for members of
the campus community can now include food and beverages. Visitors are still required to wear masks in most cases. The University’s updated travel policy is similar to that of last fall. All University-sponsored travel must be approved in advance by an administrator, including for University-sponsored group travel. see COVID-19 PAGE 4
Incoming Editor-in-Chief names supporting staff Observer Staff Report
Juniors Aidan O’Malley, Mannion McGinley and Genevieve Coleman and sophomore Maggie Eastland will help oversee The Observer’s Editorial Board next term, incoming Editorin-Chief Alysa Guffey announced Thursday. O’Malley will become the Managing Editor,
SCENE PAGE 9
while McGinley, Coleman and Eastland will serve as Assistant Managing Editors. The four students will begin their new roles March 13. O’Malley is a junior majoring in film, television and theatre with a concentration in film at Notre Dame. He is also pursuing minors in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy and digital marketing. He currently serves
M BASKETBALL PAGE 16
as the Scene Editor and has written for the department since his first year, reporting on student and professional film festivals and reviewing a wide array of music, movies and television. He has also served as a news writer covering campus events and lectures. Although he hails from Wheaton, Illinois, he calls see STAFF PAGE 4
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