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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 40 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Snow Patrol shoveled for seven hours amid cold Classes begin and students return to campus, welcomed by sub-zero temps and clear walkways By PETER BREEN Associate News Editor
With three days to go before the start of the spring semester, 21 Building Services staff members who volunteered for the newly created Snow Patrol team got out their shovels. More than six inches of new snow would blanket campus by the end of the day. The air temperature would drop to 9 degrees below zero before the weekend was out. The “expedition” on Saturday lasted seven hours, according to Building Services senior director Christopher Hatfield. “Battling three-foot drifts, the team shoveled their way through an icy ND landscape, ensuring that students and staff returned to clear entryways,” Hatfield wrote
in a statement to The Observer. When Snow Patrol’s mission was complete, Hatfield wrote, more than 600 entrances and exits from almost all buildings on campus had been cleared. As students traveled back to campus after winter break, the temperature in South Bend reached a five-year low, according to the National Weather Service. The last time the city got this cold was in January 2019, when the mercury dropped to minus 20. Campus remained open despite the weather conditions. Tracy Skibins, who as senior director of emergency management is constantly monitoring for severe weather, wrote in an email that the decision to close campus see SNOW PAGE 3
Rockwell leads prayer service
PETER BREEN | The Observer
Ice freezes on the windows of Hesburgh Library on Sunday, the coldest day in South Bend in nearly five years. The 21 volunteers from the Building Services staff department worked for seven hours Saturday.
Billionaire invited to speak By ISA SHEIKH Notre Dame News Editor
Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor and entrepreneur best known for his role in the “PayPal Mafia,” Palantir and Facebook, is coming to campus on Tuesday evening to speak about diversity and the state of American higher education. Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen is hosting Thiel’s lecture as part of his
seminar on “Liberalism and Its Discontents.” He tweeted that the event is open to all tri-campus community members, and others can email him for tickets. Thiel, a towering figure in Silicon Valley, has supported conservative and libertarian causes throughout his career and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention before ultimately serving on former President Trump’s transition
team. Thiel co-wrote a book called “The Diversity Myth” in 1995 about the “climate on intolerance” on campus at Stanford University. In a speech last year on the book, he ref lected on the idea. “You don’t have diversity when you gather people who look different but talk and think alike. It’s not enough to hire the extras from the space-cantina scene in Star see DIVERSITY PAGE 4
CAROLINE COLLINS | The Observer
Guest panelists speak at Dahnke Wednesday. From left to right: Stephanie Adams, Robert Jones, Slyvia Wilson Thomas and Howard Adams. By CAROLINE COLLINS News Writer
The ninth annual campuswide observance of Walk the Walk Week kicked off on Wednesday night with a candlelight prayer service and a conversation about building a legacy of opportunity held in Duncan Student Center’s Dahnke Ballroom. During the prayer service, Notre Dame volleyball head coach, Salima Rockwell, reflected on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact and how his vision of
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inclusivity can be fostered at the University. “We are here tonight celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because we all have the desire to continue to carry out his mission of equality, justice and peaceful coexistence of mankind,” she said. The guest speakers at the conservation in Dahnke also touched upon the theme of inclusivity and creating a welcoming community. The conversation was moderated by Howard Adams, the
ND to open psychology clinic in South Bend force for good in t he world, Not re Da me has t he oppor tunit y to develop new models for t he prov ision of menta l hea lt h ser v ices a nd under ta ke g roundbrea k ing resea rch on how to t reat menta l i l lnesses, whi le a lso en ha ncing ser v ices for our students a nd helping
see SERVICE PAGE 3
A g if t of a n a nony mous but “t ra nsformat ive” a mount f rom mu lt iple Veldma n fa mi ly foundat ions is set to sig nif ica nt ly increase access to menta l hea lt h ca re for t he Sout h Bend a rea. The benefactor
foundat ions include t hose of Sha ron a nd Matt Edmonds, Connie a nd Mi ke Joines a nd A nita a nd Tom Veldma n. Their g if t, according to a Not re Da me news release, w i l l be used to establish t he Wi lma a nd Peter Veldma n Fa mi ly Psycholog y Clinic, honoring t he benefactors’ pa rents. “Given our mission to be a
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By LIAM PRICE News Writer
see CLINIC PAGE 4