THE INDEPENDENT
TO UNCOVER
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THE TRUTH
NOTRE DAME, SAINT MARY’S
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IT ACCURATELY
VOLUME 58, ISSUE 32 | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Trustees to elect ND president By LIAM KELLY Associate News Editor
On Oct. 13, University President Fr. Jenkins announced he would step down from his role at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, leaving the Board of Trustees to select his successor. Jenkins was elected the 17th president of the University in 2005, succeeding Fr. Edward Malloy. Jenkins was reelected as president by the board of trustees for four five-year terms, the most recent one beginning in July, 2020. Jenkins
is stepping down a year before the end of his fourth term. In his 2005 inaugural address, Jenkins vowed “to build a Notre Dame that is bigger and better than ever — a great Catholic university for the 21st century.” He said Notre Dame must be “one of the pre-eminent research institutions in the world, a center for learning whose intellectual and religious traditions converge to make it a healing, unifying, enlightening force for a world deeply in see PRESIDENCY PAGE 3
Death Penalty Abolition Society convenes By AVA WA RFORD News Wr iter
The Notre Dame Law School Death Penalty Abolition Society (DPAS) held its first general meeting Friday in the Eck Hall of Law after recently being approved by the University. Rita Lake, an ND Law student and co-founder of DPAS, explained she wanted the club to be a space for people of different beliefs and backgrounds to work together for a common cause. In the meeting, Lake said the
Notre Dame hosts Robotic Football fall combine
GRAY NOCJAR | The Observer
tea ms. Robot footba l l bea rs ma ny simi la rit ies to t he more t radit iona l iterat ions of t he ga me, w it h posit ionspecif ic bots, of fensive a nd defensive play schemes, a nd referees who must oversee a n ex tensive r u le book on not on ly in-ga me pena lt ies, but a lso specific const ra ints on each bot desig n. The fa l l combine is a n ea rly cha nce for tea ms to display t heir prowess in speed, ma neuverabi lit y a nd qua r terback accuracy, a long w it h ot her categories. Ma ria Schudt, president of t he Not re Da me robot ic footba l l club, was ecstat ic about her tea m’s per forma nce in t he combine as wel l as t he per forma nce of some of t he newer indiv idua l bots. “Our QB did rea l ly wel l. I’d have to double check but I t hin k we got t he new QB accuracy record a nd t hen we won t he QB posit iona l t rophy, which is rea l ly nice,” Schudt bea med.
An example of a wide receiver robot created for the Notre Dame team of the Collegiate Robotic Football Conference (CRFC).
see ROBOTICS PAGE 4
By GRAY NOCJAR News Writer
The Col leg iate Robot ic Footba l l Conference (CRFC) held t heir 2023 fa l l combine at Not re Da me on Saturday. The event was conducted in t he Stepa n Center f rom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a nd
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featured tea ms f rom four ot her Midwestern universit ies : Va lpra iso Universit y, Trine Universit y, Ca lv in Universit y a nd Ohio Nor t hern Universit y. The CRFC ma nages a n a nnua l footba l l tournament played by remotely driven robots desig ned indiv idua l ly by col leg iate
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club has a twofold mission: to educate students in the club and to make a positive impact on the lives of death row inmates. Even before the official formation of the club, Lake and others worked to achieve these goals. Recently, Lake and a group of her fellow law students wrote letters and emails to Idaho’s Commission of Pardons and Parole to prevent the execution of Thomas Creech, a death row inmate whose execution was scheduled for Nov. 8. Creech eventually received a stay of execution
on jurisdictional grounds. During the meeting, Lake emphasized she wants the Notre Dame community to “understand how much young people can make an impact.” The club will focus on three different forms of outreach: judicial, legislative and prison outreach. The judicial outreach portion of the Society will focus on involvement in case law about the death penalty. In legislative outreach, the club will seek to create a relationship with the Indiana General see ABOLITION PAGE 4
Sorin presents ‘Otterfest’ festival By ANNELISE DEMERS News Writer
Two day s of ja m med packed mu sic a nd food f looded Sor i n Col lege’s cou r t y a rd a nd t he su rrou nd i ng a rea t h i s pa st Fr iday a nd Sat u rday. T h i s w a s Sor i n’s second yea r host i ng “Ot ter fest,” a play on Ok tober fest . Ev a n Joh n son a nd Joe Dicola a re sophomores w ho orga n i z ed t h i s yea r’s event . Joh n son, a c iv i l eng ineer i ng major, sa id, “We d id it la st yea r ju st bec au se we had a lot of mu sic ia n s here a nd we, you k now, loved get t i ng t he dor m toget her a rou nd somet h i ng l i ke t hat, so we t houg ht we’d ma ke it a cha r it y event t h i s yea r.” Joh n son i s a l so a member of t wo of t he g roups t hat per for med : “Mor n i ng Dose” a nd “Pa ssion.” A l l proceed s were donated to T he Mu sic V i l lage, a n orga n i z at ion i n Sout h Bend w hose m i ssion i s to promote t he d iver se c u lt u r a l her it age of t he g reater Sout h Bend a rea v ia t he
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mu sic a l a r t s. “We rea l ly w a nted to expa nd it f rom la st yea r,” Dicola, a mecha n ic a l eng ineer, sa id. “It w a s most ly a mu sic a l per for ma nce la st yea r, a nd it ’s st i l l t he ma i n at t r ac t ion but we w a nted to sor t of ex pa nd it to be food foc u sed a s wel l a nd we have t h i ngs l i ke br atw u r st a nd pu mpk i n pie a nd sof t pret z el s.” Sor i n resident s cooked up up br at w u r st on t he g r i l l a nd sold a v a r iet y of food s a nd ref resh ment s for a $ 6 t icket w it h a l l of t he proceed s goi ng to T he Mu sic V i l lage. “Ot ter fest ” t-sh i r t s were a l so av a i lable to pu rcha se. Fr iday n ig ht ’s l i ne up w a s a l l acou st ic mu sic w h i le Sat u rday w a s reser ved for rock . Some of t he ba nd s a nd per for mer s i ncluded Luc y Bu l lock, Two Men i n K i lt s, Boy s i n t he Tub a nd Pa ngdemon iu m. “It ’s been g reat g uy s have ju st been com i ng i n a nd goi ng out a nd it ’s been you k now ; it ’s been t remendou s suppor t f rom ever yone. It ’s see OTTERFEST PAGE 3
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