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Volume 56, Issue 34 | MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
DIANE PARK | The Observer
Holiday traditions, scandals and sentiments By UYEN LE, SPENCER KELLY and CHRIS RUSSO From the Archives Researchers
The holiday season is always a special time on the tri-campus, as we ring in the first snow w ith a snowball fight on South Quad, string up festive lights in our dorms or eat a delicious Christmas dinner in the dining halls right before finals. Dorms, clubs and organizations host inventive holiday
programming to spread the Christmas cheer, including Carroll Christmas’ horsedraw n carriage. In this holiday edition of From the Archives, we w ill look at the events and sentiments that have characterized the tri-campus communit y’s celebration of our w inter wonderland. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Christmastime at Saint Mar y’s College featured festiv ities, feasts, singing …
Talk discusses social injustice By GRACIE EPPLER
News Writer
Professor Anna Haskins has come to many conclusions during her extensive research on social inequalit y — primarily that “stigma is stick y.” “An indiv idual can be stigmatized, but this stigma doesn’t stay in one place,” Haskins said. “Stigma spreads.” Haskins is an Andrew V. Tackes associate professor of sociolog y and co-editor of “W hen Parents Are Incarcerated: Interdisciplinar y Research and Inter ventions to Support Children.” She shared her research on racism, the effects of incarceration on the education system and families in the final lecture of the K lau Center’s “Building an Anti-Racist Vocabular y” series. The series featured many scholars, leaders and professors who gave different insights into social
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inequalities and what we can do to combat racism. It was led by Dor y Mitros Durham, associate director of the K lau Center and leader of the Racial Justice Initiative at the Keough School of Global A ffairs. Lectures occurred over Zoom ever y Friday of the semester and can be found online through the K lau Center’s website. On Friday, Haskins closed out the lecture series by div ing into the intersection between school, families and the criminal legal system. She began by analyzing the rate at which people are imprisoned in the United States, and more specifically, in Indiana. “Here in Indiana, we have an incarceration rate of 765 per 100,000 people,” Haskins said. “This means that Indiana locks up indiv iduals at a higher rate than any other democracy on Earth.” see HASKINS PAGE 3
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and stuffed animals. On Dec. 8, 1976, Saint Mar y’s junior students conducted the “Christmas Animal Walk,” held annually since 1935. The junior girls dressed in nightgow ns, robes and slippers and walked around to each of the dorms singing carols. Follow ing tradition, students of other classes placed stuffed animals outside their dorm room doors, facing away from the Church
of Loretto. As the carolers walked by, they turned each stuffed animal to face the church. Stev ie Wernig, then-assistant dean of student affairs, said the stuffed animals had sy mbolic significance. “The turning of the stuffed animal toward the Church of Loretto is a remembrance of the coming of the animals to the stable when Christ was born,” Wernig said. “The caroling procession is sy mbolic
of the angels announcing the birth of the Christ child.” Another beloved Saint Mar y’s Christmas tradition was the Madrigal Dinner, an event featuring food and music from the Elizabethan era. The 12th-annual edition, held on both Dec. 4 and 5, starred 20 performers and 14 servers dressed in periodcorrect costumes. The evening see ARCHIVES PAGE 4
ND alum bakes cookies for students during finals By ISA SHEIKH
News Writer
Four t imes a yea r, t he K lee fa mily’s Sout h Bend k itchen turns into a sma ll cook iema k ing factor y. Rick K lee, a Double Domer a nd t he Universit y’s former ta x director for 21 yea rs, has long ca red about Not re Da me. K lee was a resident in Keena n Ha ll as a n underg raduate study ing accounting. He returned to ser ve t he K nights as a n assista nt rector while study ing t heolog y, a t ime during which he fond ly reca lls being involved in t he f irst-ever Keena n Rev ue held in 1976. Born to a couple who went to Not re Da me a nd Sa int Ma r y’s, K lee is t he fat her of four children, a ll of whom attended eit her of t he t wo schools. K lee’s son Da nny, a Not re Da me class of ’08 g raduate, sa id t hat his fat her is one of his heroes. Da nny, now a midd le school teacher at Christ t he K ing Cat holic School, remembers dif f icu lt weeks during f ina ls a nd
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midterms during his t ime as a t heolog y student liv ing in Di l lon Ha l l. His fat her “wou ld come a nd drop cook ies of f in what ca n be a tough week — a nice litt le lif t during t hat t ime,” Da nny sa id. At t hat point, K lee had children a nd nephews in ot her dorms at Not re Da me, a nd he wou ld ba ke close to si x dozen cook ies for his fa mi ly a nd t heir f riends. But over t he course of 17 yea rs, K lee has ex pa nded his operat ion. “Work ing in t he ta x depa r t ment for 21 yea rs, you don’t have a lot of interact ion w it h students,” K lee sa id. “A nd so, t his was k ind of a way to feel more a pa r t of t he students’ communit y.” So, each yea r, including t he t wo yea rs since he has ret ired, K lee has come close to ba k ing 150 cook ies. “W hen I f irst sta r ted out, it was rea l ly simple,” K lee reca l led. “I bought one of t hose round conta iners of Qua ker Oats a nd I wou ld ma ke ha lf oat mea l ra isin cook ies a nd ha lf chocolate
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chip oat mea l cook ies.” Since t hen, t he select ion cook ies has evolved. K lee ba kes f lavors including Texas sheet ca ke, chocolate iced, coconut joy a nd specia li zed Christ mas ba rk cook ies t hat his w ife Dia ne ma kes. He’s consta nt ly listening to feedback a nd adapt ing; for exa mple, he eliminated t he pea nut butter cook ies a few yea rs back. He has a lso upg raded t he chocolate chip cook ie recipe. They’re rea l ly good because t hey have lots more butter in t hem t ha n t he orig ina l recipe did,” K lee added. W hi le his chi ldren a re no longer cra mming for f ina ls in t he libra r y, K lee has found ot her ways to ident if y which students w i l l be t he luck y recipients of his ba ked goods. “Three out of my four k ids beca me teachers,” K lee sa id. As t ime goes by, t hey “wou ld ident if y people here.” see COOKIES PAGE 4
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