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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 37 | MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Raclin museum opens doors to public By LIAM KELLY Associate News Editor
This weekend, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, located just north of Eddy Street, opened its doors to the public for the first time after more than two years of construction and 16 years of planning. Students were the first ones to be able to enjoy the museum’s art galleries, with a student preview night being held on Thursday. A DJ played live music and free Raclin Murphy Museum of Art T-shirts were printed and given out to students in the Learning Commons. “It feels nice that there is such a wide variety of art so close to where I spend my everyday life,” sophomore James Thompson said about the museum. “It’s such a vibrant space with so much to see, and I overall really enjoyed it.” From the atrium on the first floor, visitors can access the gallery
SOFIA CRIMIVAROLI | The Observer
The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opened to the public on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 in its new location north of Eddy Street Commons. The Museum houses art from Notre Dame’s approximately 31,000 piece collection.
Church members protest gun violence in silence By KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT Associate News Editor
Sisters of the Holy Cross, members of the Church of Our Lady of Loretto and other community members gather outside of Saint Mary’s for a silent demonstration against gun violence on the first Saturday of every month. This Saturday was no different — sisters and the community rallied at the corner of State Road 933 and Brother Andre Drive. Sr. Joy O’Grady is one of the original organizers of the demonstration and she explained the origin of it. “Anne Luther was the instigator and she got with me and we talked and just started inviting people,” O’Grady said. O’Grady said the first demonstration ever took place on Good Friday. “We had the walk and then we went to church, so it was like taking action into our prayer,” she said. “We had about 130 people that time and so we decided we would do it the first Saturday of every
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month going forward.” O’Grady explained the purpose of being silent during the demonstration. “It’s a contemplative walk,” she said. “We walk in silence in support of banning assault weapons and try to do all we can to prevent gun violence.” Tess Hayes, a Saint Mary’s student who has previously attended the demonstrations, expanded on the meaning of the silence. “We learn in communications that everything is communication. Silence is a form of communication,” Hayes said. “This is to show that some protests really are peaceful. I think it’s advertised as a silent protest and that’s a form of prayer almost. It’s a reflective practice that is happening as they are walking down 933 and that’s actually really beautiful.” Sr. Judith Hallock was also in attendance this previous Saturday and talked about her motivations for demonstrating. “I’m very concerned about the see PROTEST PAGE 4
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holding European and American art from 1700 to 1900, the gallery holding African art and the Teaching Gallery — which holds a variety of works of arts related to classes being taught at Notre Dame. Also on the first floor are the coffee shop, Ivan’s Cafe, and the Learning Commons. Emily Shetterly, a marketing assistant and social media manager at the museum, described her experience walking into the completed building. “Walking into the Raclin Murphy is an incredible experience,” Shetterly said. “After seeing the behind-the-scenes of it all the past few years, it is my favorite part to be greeted by those large doors and to be aware of the intentionality and the work that went into every detail of the space.” see RACLIN PAGE 3
Nicaraguan politician recounts imprisonment By MAGGIE EASTLAND Editor-in-Chief
Like most incoming freshmen, Victoria Chamorro, a student from Nicaragua, envisioned moving into Notre Dame with her parents. That dream shattered in June 2021, when dozens of armed guards and eight police patrol cars pulled up to her home to arrest her father, a pre-candidate in the Nicaraguan presidential election. “They broke into the neighborhood,” Victoria recalled. “They were coming to take my dad.” Victoria’s father, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, handed her his phone and asked her to delete its information. Her mother and father surrendered to police while Victoria stayed next door with her grandmother. Police ransacked the home for four hours. “They took everything they wanted,” Chamorro’s wife, Victoria Cárdenas, said. “It was a violation of my family.” Three days later, Chamorro’s wife and daughter fled to Florida. His family did not know his whereabouts for three months. Torn apart by Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua, the Chamorro
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family spent nearly two years isolated. While Chamorro was confined to a Nicaraguan prison, his daughter was an underclassman at Notre Dame and his wife was traveling across the globe to advocate for her husband and other political prisoners. The family finally reunited in February of this year, after political pressure from the U.S. freed more than 200 prisoners.
Chamorro family kept apart for 611 days When Victoria began her freshman year at Notre Dame in August, she still had not heard from her father. Although she was hesitant about starting school, she wanted to follow through on a promise she made to her father. “He told me, ‘Promise me, you’ll go,’” Victoria said. In a Nicaraguan prison thousands of miles away, Chamorro said he was glad that his daughter continued her studies in architecture. He received this news from his sister, three months after his imprisonment. While in prison, Chamorro was not allowed to speak on the phone with his family for more than a
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year. “Even convicted criminals have the right to see families,” Chamorro said. “I was denied a phone call.” Deprived of food, he lost nearly 30 pounds. He said he was interrogated every day, placed in solitary confinement for a month and forbidden from reading or writing. On Feb. 23, 2022, Chamorro’s birthday, Ortega’s government sentenced him to 13 years in prison as a “traitor to the homeland” for attempting to run for president in the country’s election. Chamorro had no option to speak to a lawyer, and he called the trial a “farce” characteristic of dictators who seek to jail political opponents. The trial was “an attempt to break our souls and our families,” he said. When his daughter finally had a chance to speak to him on a phone call in January 2023, she said she noticed both the toll of prison and her father’s courageous attitude. “I don’t know if it’s a virtue or a defect, but I have a low level of fear,” Chamorro said, explaining that he could not stand by and see NICARAGUA PAGE 3
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