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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 49 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Kiser-Miller ticket wins Pair will serve as student body president and vice president Observer Staff Report
Junior Dawson Kiser and sophomore Maeve Miller were elected student body president and vice president Wednesday. Judicial Council announced the election results in an email about two hours after voting closed. The Kiser-Miller ticket received the support of 53% of valid voters. The second place Behn-Bowden ticket gathered about 26% of the vote, while the third-place Baird-Toth collected
about 21% . According to Judicial Council, more than 50% of the undergraduate student body voted. In total, 4,264 valid votes were cast. The turnout beat last year’s election, in which only 30% of undergraduate students voted but did not surpass the 2022 election, which garnered a turnout of about 58% . Students could voice their opinion about who they wanted to lead student government during the 2024Courtesy of Christian Bustillo 2025 term by filling out Junior Dawson Kiser and sophomore Maeve Miller were a form on NDCentral. elected with 53% of votes, with 4,264 valid votes cast.
TAP program helps locals By GRAY NOCJAR News Writer
For over 50 years, the Viv ian Harrington Gray Notre Dame-Saint Mar y’s Ta x Assistance Program (TAP) has prov ided free income ta x return preparation serv ices for low-income residents of the South Bend communit y. TAP’s ser v ices are lega lly available to any U.S. citizen or permanent lega l resident liv ing in Indiana or Michigan who has an indiv idua l income of less than $ 32,000, or
less than $ 64,000 for families. TAP was established in 1972 by accountancy professor Ken Milani, who founded the initiative after just three weeks on the job. “W hen I was in graduate school, I helped fellow students and others w ith their income ta x filing. Given my ‘bluecollar’ background, I was ready, w illing and able to help,” Milani said. Milani ser ved as facult y coordinator of TAP see TAXES PAGE 4
Students discuss College admissions reversal By SALLY BRADSHAW News Writer
Saint Mar y’s College experienced some turbulence over the past year w ith the November news of an admissions policy allow ing those who “consistently live and identif y as women” to apply to the historical women’s college. The change was approved by the Board of Trustees in June, but the
college was back in the headlines when President Katie Conboy met w ith Bishop Kev in Rhoades for a discussion and subsequently reversed the decision during Christmas break. “The desire of Saint Mar y’s College to show hospitalit y to people who identif y as transgender is not the problem,” Rhoades w rote in an open letter to the college. “The problem is a Catholic
woman’s college embracing a definition of woman that is not Catholic.” Rhoades acknowledged the call for a Catholic college to be an inclusive place for higher education, but reminded the school that their Catholic identit y should be their first priorit y. Students at Saint Mar y’s had mixed reactions to the decision to reverse the admissions policy. Some
students stood in opposition w ith the reversal, some agreed w ith this decision and some were unsure what to think. Freshman nursing student Nora Clark said the decision was surprising. “I was a bit surprised that it had been reversed, but I kind of had seen it coming from the phrasing of her prev ious email,” she said. “But honestly after reading
it and after reading the bishop’s letter to the school, I thought it made sense that it had been reversed because it didn’t sound like as much team thought or as many people went in to the initial decision as had the secondar y decision.” Clark said she agrees w ith the school’s standing policy “not because I have things see ADMISSIONS PAGE 3
Laundry causes upheaval in residence halls By CAROLINE COLLINS Associate News Editor
Frustration is mounting among students living on-campus as laundry room troubles persist, with malfunctioning machines causing inconvenience and delays in their daily routines. The residence hall laundry machines are operated through a contract with WASH Laundry, according to Dan Rohmiller, director of residential life: housing operations. As part of the contract, WASH Laundry owns and manages the laundry machines in the
NEWS PAGE 3
residence halls and is responsible for their maintenance and replacement.
This has increased the WASH Laundry response time to work orders,” he said. “Generally, their service technician responds to work orders submitted within one business day and, depending on the issue, resolves the issue the same day.”
In an email, Rohmiller said the University began a five-year contract with WASH Laundry in the summer of 2020. During the fall 2020 semester, laundry service was added to the room and board fee that students pay to live on-campus. Prior to the 2020-21 academic year, laundry machines were coinoperated or students could pay to do laundry with Domer Dollars. If repairs to washing
machines or dryers are required, residents can submit a work order through the online service system provided by WASH or on the WASH mobile app. After the work order is submitted, a service technician from WASH comes to campus to repair the unit. Rohmiller said WASH provides technicians to support the washer and dryer units in the residence halls at Notre Dame. “This past summer, WASH Laundry hired an additional technician for this general service area who is dedicated to the University of Notre Dame.
Despite the increased number of technicians supporting the laundry facilities at Notre Dame, students report that repairs can take weeks, or even an entire semester, to be completed. Freshman Gabrielle Kile said
VIEWPOINT PAGE 5
SCENE PAGE 7
HOCKEY PAGE 10
WASH Laundry contract
Students voice frustration
Howard Hall has six washing machines, but two have been out-of-service since the fall semester. The students living in Howard have to share four machines, and it’s difficult to find a time when the machines are free, Kile said. Many students feel the laundry system in the residence halls can’t support the number of students who share the facilities. The process of doing laundry is “frustrating and timeconsuming,” junior and Pasquerilla East resident see LAUNDRY PAGE 4
SOFTBALL PAGE 12
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Students and families filled Midfield Commons on Saturday to participate in KingDome, an annual event hosted by the Themed Entertainment Association. Participants built Lego structures, including Cinderella’s castle, roller coasters and the Main Building.
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Friday
Saturday
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Tuesday
AI for Good Lecture Jordan Auditorium 10:30 a.m. - Noon A lecture on the uses of AI for social good with Professor Abbasi.
Men’s Basketball Purcell Pavilion 6 p.m. Notre Dame takes on Virginia Tech. Free t-shirts at entry.
Women’s Lacrosse Loftus Center Noon The Irish take on Central Michigan at home.
Citations Workshop Collaboration Hub 2 p.m - 2:50 p.m. Workshop on using the citation manager, RefWorks.
“Colonizing Kashmir” Hesburgh Center 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Kroc Institute book discussion on India and Kashmir.
Interfaith Dialogue Common Good Lounge Noon - 1 p.m. Learn and converse about religious and spiritual beliefs.
“Origin” (2023) DPAC 7 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. Film about the truimph and tragedy of Isabel Wilkerson.
Men’s Tennis Eck Tennis Pavilion 5 p.m. The men’s tennis team will play against the Toledo Rockets.
Mass Howard Hall 9 p.m. Mac and cheese will be served following the mass.
Conversations that Matter Webinar 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Eucharist and Catholic Social teachings.
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Saint Mary’s hosts lecture Rosary vigil held in on reproductive justice midst of lecture By SALLY BRADSHAW News Writer
On Wednesday in the Stapleton Lounge in Le Mans Hall, Saint Mary’s College hosted University of San Diego theologian Emily Reimer-Barry to discuss reproductive justice and the Catholic Church. In her presentation “Structural Changes For Reproductive Justice: Insights From Catholic Feminism,” Reimer-Barry defined Catholic feminism as activism both within the church and the larger world. She defined reproductive justice as “a social movement that advances the human rights agenda, focusing on the right to have a child, the right to not have a child and the right to raise children in safe and healthy conditions.” Throughout her presentation, Reimer-Barry discussed the social conditions contributing to pregnant women’s reproductive decision-making, such as the foster care system and systemic social problems, as well as economic issues such as the prices of food, housing and hospital stays. Reimer-Barry acknowledged the unique role that faith communities such as the Catholic Church have in supporting women who are faced with the difficult choice of whether or not to have an abortion. “The road ahead is anything but easy. It needs to begin with honesty. Faith communities need to be honest about the very real constraints that pregnant women report,” ReimerBarry said. “From there, I
suggest that we need to summon the willpower to work on collective social change rooted in pragmatic solidarity with pregnant women. Pragmatic here means not just words of support but actual help.” Reimer-Barry said “very little progress has been made in achieving structural justice,” since the Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade in 2022. She discussed issues of the carceral state as well, highlighting injustice in the immigration process and the criminal justice system. Other issues she discussed were maternal mortality rates, job loss as a result of taking time off to care for young children, unpaid leave, unaccommodating workplace environments for pregnant or nursing mothers and minimum wage. “To see abortion as a personal choice without giving sustained attention to the structural factors that impact a pregnant woman’s decision making represents a failure of theological and social analysis,” she said. Catherine Whittier, English literature and creative writing major, attended the lecture as part of her religious studies class. “I don’t know exactly what I was expecting it to be about, and so I guess I went in with an open mind, and I knew there was a lot of issues on campus surrounding it, so I guess I was just curious to see what was going to happen,” she said. Whittier said she went into the presentation thinking “it was going to be really political” in taking a divisive stance on a controversial
Admissions CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
against the LGBTQ+ communit y, but because I believe in the identit y of our school as a Catholic women’s college. I think that some of the fundamental beliefs that our college was founded on are important for what we strive to uphold today, and the values that we’re promoting. I think that as a Catholic woman it makes more sense to me to keep [the standing policy].” She said she believes the college’s Catholic identit y and values of inclusion and diversit y “go hand in hand, because Christians, Catholics [and] people in general should be welcoming and lov ing towards ever yone.” She said that as a
political issue, but she instead noticed the speaker focused more on systemic adversities pregnant women face in their reproductive decision making. Whittier said she wasn’t expecting that aspect to be considered in the talk. “I feel better having heard that talk because I feel like it discussed a lot of issues in our society not just regarding pregnant women but just society in general,” she said. “Things should not cost this much, and it shouldn’t be so hard to get food stamps and get this, so I think that was really, really interesting.” Responding to the rosary organized outside in response to Reimer-Barry’s presentation, Whittier said, “I think it’s great to stand up for what you believe in absolutely as long as you’re not disruptive or disrupting other people’s learning, so I didn’t have a problem with it. If they strongly believe that they should have protested, then I’m happy they did that because I was still able to go and learn and they could go and learn, and it was a mutual, harmonious thing.” For events like this in the future, Whittier said she thinks students should go with an open mind. “I don’t know what I was expecting, so it was nice to just go and do that and support people with their different beliefs,” she said. “We have to talk about this stuff if we want change to happen, and you can’t attack people, you have to be open to listening and making changes.” Contact Sally Bradshaw at sbradshaw01@saintmarys. edu
Catholic, she has been taught to be inclusive and supportive of others even when she disagrees w ith decisions. Clark said she believes Saint Mar y’s is first and foremost a Catholic school, and said she feels that the campus is already an inclusive and welcoming place. Other students argue that the college should have stuck w ith the admissions policy that allowed those identif y ing as female to apply. Freshman humanistic studies and creative w riting major Daisy Marley said that upon learning of the policy’s reversal, she was disappointed but understood why it had happened. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Marley said of the reversal. “I know actually a lot of trans indiv iduals on campus, they just don’t happen
By ALLISON BOWMAN News Writer
On Wednesday evening, a group of students across the tri-campus gathered to pray the rosary in front of Le Mans Hall, in protest of a guest speaker at Saint Mary’s College. As the praying of the rosary began, Catholic theologian Emily Reimer-Barry delivered a lecture entitled “Structural Change for Reproductive Justice: Insights from Catholic Feminism.” Students at the vigil believed that Dr. Reimer-Barry’s writings and research contradict Catholic teachings in regards to the Church’s stance on abortion. Kathryn Schneider, a sophomore at Saint Mary’s and the president of Belles for Life, said she organized this peaceful protest as a way to pray for the speaker inside and for the students that will be listening to the talk. “This event is not meant to interrupt anything or go against anything, the point of this event is to pray to the speaker inside who has written for ‘Catholics for Choice,’ which is concerning for the Catholic identity,” she said. Schneider argued the prayer vigil would help Reimer-Barry and the Saint Mary’s administration hold true to Catholic doctrine. She also referenced the College’s recent controversies regarding admission of transgender applicants. “I think it is very concerning after the event last year, when they brought in another pair of pro-choice speakers. I was very concerned based on some of their writings that they had already published. I did attend that event and some of the things they said were clearly against Catholic teaching and very concerning,” Schneider said. “So when I heard they were going to do another event this year it made me very concerned, especially with what’s been going on with everything here, and questioning if Saint Mary’s istrying to stay true to Catholic values.” Schneider said her goal is to
to be trans-femme. And so I think by excluding it, we’re narrow ing what the definition of a woman is a little bit.” She continued that she feels the definition of a woman in the standing policy “isn’t what being a woman is about at all, and we shouldn’t be reduced to our genitals.” Marley said she believes the definition of a woman “is kind of up to ever yone to decide.” She added that one thing she admires about the transgender and drag communities is their embracement of womanhood and femininit y. “As women we’re kind of supposed to be ashamed of who we are, and then to have these people come in and choose to be women and choose to dress this
maintain the College’s Catholic identity. “We’re named after Our Lady, it is a Catholic school. Based on what some administrators and other people have been doing, they sometimes lose track of that,” Schneider continued. “Personally for me and some of the other concerned students, that’s our goal while we are here, to do our part, and make sure they maintain the Catholic identity that we were founded on.” Helen Rothfus, a senior at Notre Dame, was among those at the protest outside the event. “I came out here because I thought it was very sad to see [that] a [college] named after Our Lady would be promoting something so against what the Catholic Church teaches,” she said. “I think if [these are] the steps that the tri-campus is going to take, I think the Catholic identity will definitely be smeared and not mean much here anymore.” Mataya Watson, a freshman at Holy Cross College, said she attended the protest because she believes Catholic institutions should fulfill their obligations to students, and to not only preach the Catholic faith but be proud of it. “I think this talk in particular does no justice to the babies, much less the students that came here searching for a Catholic institution. I think it’s important to speak out in grace and speak out respectfully not through aggressive protest but through prayer,” Watson said. “I know Saint Mary’s has been in the news a lot recently, for different things that kind of contradict the faith and I know our bishop has been doing a lovely job handling that,” Watson added. “As far as Saint Mary’s, I encourage any administration just to remember the faith, and come back to the faith. You’re never too far gone, and there are always points of failure and struggle, but I think it’s important to remember your core values.” Contact Allison Bowman at abowman01@saintmarys.edu
femininely I think is really cool,” Marley said. Junior business administration major Claire Bettag, the president of Saint Mar y’s unofficial Turning Point USA, responded to those sentiments. “W hat is a woman? An adult human female. That’s it,” she said. Bettag continued that she was “instantly relieved” upon hearing of the policy reversal, say ing that when the initial policy came out she was “astonished … to think that President Conboy didn’t consider the safet y of women in this decision is truly frightening. A true feminist would keep biological women’s spaces protected.” In a broader scope, Bettag said, “I can’t comprehend that societ y has gotten to the
point of empowering men to take away opportunities for success among women.” Bettag said that in the future she hopes the college “steers away from their woke agenda. Its tox icit y has div ided the campus and left alumni and parents enraged. By going to Saint Mar y’s, ever y student is well aware that they are attending a Catholic institution. This is Our Mother’s College.” She called for Saint Mar y’s to “turn to the Catholic teaching and restore its messaging and values… the catechism of the Catholic Church needs to be followed and respected among administration, facult y and students.” Contact Sally Bradshaw at sbradshaw01@saintmarys. edu
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Laundry CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Lauren White said. “It’s time consuming having to wait for washers and dryers and then having to move people’s stuff,” she said. “The whole process of doing laundry can take up to two and half hours which I just don’t have.” Katherine Cox, a freshman in Walsh Family Hall, agreed that the washing machines are always occupied. She explained that the best times to do laundry are obscure hours of the day when it isn’t as busy. “You have to time it to where you get the specific time of day when they’re not as occupied, which is kind of hard,” she said. Another problem students have encountered is that the spin-cycle stops working and the washer breaks down with clothes locked inside. “I tried to wash my clothes and the washer had been fixed that morning, but it obviously wasn’t actually fixed because it locked my clothes and didn’t drain out any of the water,” Marissa Pagano, a freshman in Pasquerilla East Hall, said. White said her clothes have also been soaked. “I opened the washer and my clothes were just floating in water. They were sopping wet,” she said. In addition to unavailable washing machines and wet clothes, some students have had laundry stolen from the laundry rooms. Students who don’t come down in time to take their clothes out of the
Taxes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
for nearly 40 years, overseeing the program’s grow th from one location in 1972 to a dozen at the end of his tenure. He a lso helped integrate TAP w ith a similar program offered by the Interna l Revenue Ser v ice. “W hen the IRS began its V ITA ( Volunteer Income Ta x Assistance) effort, Notre Dame was one of the first universities to become involved,” Milani said. He would go on to specif y that he was even part of an effort to prepare training materia ls for other institutions that partnered w ith the V ITA program. TAP is currently run by accountancy professor Colleen Creighton, who took over the position in 2018. According to Creighton, one major change during her tenure was incorporating ta x software supplied by the IRS into the return process. “The use of the soft ware reduced the number of clerica l errors and a lso shortened the time for refunds,” Creighton explained. “As a genera l rule, returns that are e-filed receive refunds in t wo to three weeks. The time frame for refunds on paper
History of Laundry Notre Dame
Many students are most familiar with the laundry rooms in their respective residence halls, but campus’s largest laundry facility is St. Michael’s Laundry, which has been in operation since 1934 and is located on the north end of campus. St. Michael’s Laundry is an industrial-sized laundry facility. Shannen McKaskle, director of laundry, said there are four 250-pound washing machines and eight smaller washers between 40 and 100 pounds. According to their website, the laundry staff washes between 30,000 and 40,000 pieces of clothing every week and the facility does more than two million pounds of laundry a year. McKaskle said the facility provides services for 18 athletic teams, religious houses in the area, dining hall employees and three local hotels, including the Morris Inn. In addition to these services, St.
Michael’s Laundry is open to the public. St. Michael’s Laundry used to offer a bundle service where they would pick up students’ laundry, wash, dry and fold it, and then return it to the residence halls. “We used to do the bundle service, but then when the dorms went to the free laundry machines, we stopped that service as far as picking up and dropping off,” McKaskle said. “Now if students want to drop off a bundle — which is a laundry bag that will hold about 20 pounds of laundry — and drop it off for a wash, dry, fold and they’re picking it up and dropping it off, then we’re happy to provide that service.” She said the wash, dry and fold service costs $25 and they currently only have about a dozen students that use the service. “Not a lot [of people] do it because it’s hard to get here and pick it up and drop it off now,” McKaskle said. “We knew it would decline when those free washers and dryers came into existence. And so that’s why we decided to provide it as an as-needed [service].” Most students chose to do their own laundry in their residence hall, but this wasn’t always the case. “When I started here in 2016, we had hundreds of students who used us for the bundle service. I want to say we were at about 800 [students] prior to discontinuing that service,” McKaskle said.
returns can be as long as si x weeks.” TAP is controlled by the department of accountancy w ithin the Mendoza College of Business and is headed by Universit y facult y. However, students have played a pivota l role w ithin the organization from its inception. The program is staffed a lmost exclusively by undergraduate and graduate volunteers. Per Creighton, there are currently 59 volunteers, including 24 who are pursuing their masters in accountancy, 25 Notre Dame undergraduates and 10 students from Saint Mar y’s. The students ta ke a Universit y class which trains them for filing ta x returns, and must then pass a test to become certified by the IRS. “Students have four weeks of classroom instruction and spend the rest of the semester in the communit y preparing ta x returns and assisting indiv idua ls and families. It’s a w in-w in for our students and the communit y,” Creighton said. One current student volunteer is senior Zach Uhl, who is in his second year w ith TAP. “I was interested in the Ta x Assistance Program
from the moment I became aware of it. It prov ides a unique opportunit y for accounting students to use the sk ills they have learned to ser ve those who are less fortunate,” Uhl said. “W hile the experience is t y pica lly financia lly rewarding to our ta xpayers, it is equa lly rewarding for the preparers.” Hailan Qian, a masters of accounting student who is a lso in her second year w ith TAP, highlighted both the practica l and the personable applications of the job. “It is prett y cool to see how I can directly apply what I learned in my major to ma ke a tangible impact for ta xpayers, such as helping them ta ke advantage of ta x credits they didn’t k now about,” she said. “I a lso thought the TAP would be a terrific way to build my communication sk ills and gain familiarit y w ith ta x returns.” A lumni of the program have entered careers as certified public accountants and universit y facult y, and others have established other free ta x return organizations in their loca l area, Milani said. Frank Agostino, an attorney for South Bend firm A AK Law, ref lected on his experiences w ith TAP as a
teaching assistant for Milani in 1991. “You meet a diverse group of people at the ta x assistance centers. Some are in financia l need and sur v ive on the refunds. Some are elderly and just need help w ith the complex forms,”
washers and dryers are likely to find their clothes in a pile on the floor or missing entirely. Tara Henry, a resident assistant in Pasquerilla East Hall, said hall staff has received complaints from students about clothes being taken from the laundry room. In the hall’s GroupMe chat, there are regularly messages of people moving other student’s laundry from washers to dryers and people pleading for their missing leggings to be returned to them, she said.
St. Michael’s Laundry
at
February 18, 1975 | Christine A. Herlihy | September 29, 1976 | Jack D. Silhavy | February 1, 1984 | Patricia Carroll | October 9, 1997 | Tim Logan | September 28, 2000 | Helena Payne There have been a lot of changes to laundry over the years at Notre Dame. In Notre Dame’s first years as a co-ed institution, women’s residence halls were equipped with washing machines and they were expected to do their own laundry, while laundry from men’s residence halls was bundled and sent off to be washed and folded at St. Michael’s Laundry facility. A proposal to put washers and dryers in men’s residence halls was first mentioned in The Observer on Feb. 18, 1975. In a survey, 58% of men said they would prefer to do their own laundry rather than sending it out to the laundry service. However, Br. Kieran Ryan, assistant vice-president of business affairs, shot down the proposal saying it would cause economic problems. In 1976, female students living in the residence halls became frustrated as male students began using their washing machines. Three women’s dorms — Farley Hall, Lewis Hall and Breen-Phillips Hall — said they would impose a $5 fine on men found using the machines. Students said they hoped by keeping the men out, they would be more willing to fight to get machines in their own residence halls.
By 1984, a rotation schedule was set for men to do laundry in women’s residence halls on North Quad, and that same year a coin-operated laundromat was installed in the basement of LaFortune Student Center for all students to use. In 1985, the student senate again discussed providing laundry facilities in male residence halls. In November 1989, St. Michael’s Laundry burned down, causing a laundry crisis on campus. There were too few coin-operated machines for students. Since male students could no longer send their laundry out to be done for them, everyone was vying for a machine in the LaFortune laundry room. Saint Michael’s Laundry reopened in December 1991 and began offering services for both male and female students, in addition to the dry cleaning service, but students were still fighting to install laundry facilities in all of the male residence halls on campus. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that male residence halls began to get their own laundry rooms. Knott Hall and St. Edwards Hall were the first to have washing machines installed, followed by Zahm Hall and the dorms on West and Mod Quads in 2000. At this same time, the University started an initiative with the installation of laundry machines that would accept Domer Dollars rather than being coin-operated. Contact Caroline Collins at ccolli23@nd.edu
Agostino said. “I would say that TAP was being Catholic: help others in their time of need because you would want to be helped too in your time of need.” Contact Gray Nocjar at gnocjar@nd.edu
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LETTER Blackface at ND
I recently went to a comedy show performed in Washington Hall with rakish jokes and sardonic impersonations. In 1924, other white, male students went to the same building to watch a similar comedy show. I could lift a review from the April 1924 edition of Scholastic and apply it to the show I saw: “Nothing but foolishness from beginning to end, of course; but such hilarious, idiotic, downright funny foolishness as it was!” What was the difference between these shows performed 100 years apart? Notre Dame students used to put on blackface minstrel shows. Minstrelsy has been an influential force on American culture. Popularized by Thomas “Daddy” Rice, inventor of the Jim Crow character, minstrelsy took off in the first half of the 1800s and reached its peak between 1850 and 1870. After 1870, minstrel shows moved from professional theatres to amateur performances. Around the same time, the existence of blackface at Notre Dame is first recorded. Besides the presiding interlocutor, it was standard for the (white) performers to artificially darken their faces, portraying African Americans with exaggerated features. Later, African Americans were made to play caricatures of themselves while in blackface. Minstrel shows and blackface’s foothold in American culture persisted into film and cartoon. One can look up clips of Judy Garland as a minstrel performer in ”Babes on Broadway” or Bugs Bunny in blackface in ”Merrie Melodies.” As Ava Rawson writes, “the history of blackface is as American as cherry pie but twice as bad for the heart.” Blackface is a degrading caricature of Black people that spawned from white fear of equality. Its widespread popularity demonstrated a cultural belief of Black inferiority that justified control during slavery and separation after slavery. For some, typically in the North, this was the only perception of African Americans available. Founded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame has naturally reflected American culture. Notre Dame, like the country, has a forgotten legacy of blackface and minstrel performance. The first recorded instance of blackface on campus was in 1870. A performance of ”The Upstart,” a rendition of Molière’s ”Le Bourgeois gentilhomme,” saw the addition of what one viewer describes as two “’cullud pussuns ...’ personified ugliness ... hideous as sin.” They were said to have been greeted with “merry shouts.” These Black characters were especially out of place in this 1600s play. In fact, they had replaced female roles. As professor emeritus Mark Pilkinton has noted in his book ”Washington Hall at Notre Dame,” this instance evidences “the notion that it was more acceptable for a young white man at Notre Dame to portray an ethnic male than it was to portray a white woman” since the early University
either did not include female theatrical roles or changed them to male characters of color. This can be seen on other occasions, like in 1898 when, in a production of ”A Night Off,” the professor’s servant (a woman named Susan) was changed to “Sambo, a colored boy.” The role was clearly a mockery. Sambo was a pejorative term for an African American. It was written in Scholastic that the performer’s “dialect was faultless” and “well deserved the applause that was so freely given him.” The first solid record of a full-blown minstrel show (not just blackface) at Notre Dame comes from an advertisement in Scholastic in 1907. The Corby Hall Glee Club was preparing to put on a “black-face minstrel” which was called “something new at Notre Dame” that would “be looked forward to with much interest and satisfaction.” It was not long before things like “May Day Minstrel” shows were a reality. In the 1914 yearbook, one photograph shows twenty-six of thirty-two performers in blackface onstage. Knute Rockne was said to have performed in blackface but was incapable of holding his dialect. In the mid-1920s, notable figures like Jim Crowley, one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, and Clarence Manion, later dean of the law school, performed in blackface. In 1928, Father John Devers’s return from Pennsylvania was met with a blackface comedy show along with academic talks and orchestral music in an event put on by the East-Penn Club and Badin Hall, where he was rector. Such performances were not considered edgy undergraduate provocations. They were commonplace. As the 1930s came to a close, minstrelsy began to lose its appeal at Notre Dame. The Monogram Club replaced its racist minstrels with sexist, parodic drag routines according to Pilkinton’s book. In the 1940s, blackface was no longer a performance advertised for the whole campus, it was reserved for things like the 1948 Rebels Club’s Mardi Gras celebration ... but that was a club celebrating the Confederate States of America. Still, as late as fall in 1957, the band’s halftime show theme for the Iowa game was ”Minstrel Show.” The show almost certainly eschewed blackface. A Scholastic article speaks of ”featuring songs of the minstrel show days in the South” that seem to have concluded. Why point all of this out? A considerable reason we learn history at all is to avoid replicating the unsavory parts of the past. The same applies here. We must recognize that sordid stereotypes and jokes echo a racist past. It is not controversial to condemn louche actions that lead us away from social progress. It takes vigilance to avoid slippery slopes. Vincent Micheli Class of 2027 Jan. 16
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EDITOR
Racism in medicine Several years ago I was explaining to an African American patient the importance of adequate blood pressure control. I specified the greater prevalence of hypertension in the Black American population, as well as the increased rate of kidney failure in Black patients. Before I could begin to elucidate the why, he promptly opined an answer. He said, “Doc, I’m not at all surprised. Do you know how hard it is to grow up, stay alive and live as a Black man? Do you? That’s got to affect your body in a lot of bad ways.” I recall that moment vividly. In essence, he was politely telling me about the myriad unfair social practices he had to endure on a daily basis to ensure simple survival. That is something most of us take for granted. Well, after catching my breath, I went on to explain that Black patients not only have a hypertension prevalence disparity, a blood pressure control disparity and finally, a disproportionate complication rate that leads to more end stage renal disease (dialysis) as well as strokes. The primary reasons that account for these facts are almost all socio-economic. In fact, when referencing most disease states, the recognized differences in the “hard” outcomes of death and hospitalization relate not to disparate physiology between races, but rather to socio-economic conditions. A glaring example is the rate of contracting COVID-19 and the subsequent higher death rates in Black people, neither of which are related to a genetic predisposition. Age and comorbidities remain the primary determinants of contracting this novel infectious disease and both persist in predicting a poorer outcome. But, comorbidities are significantly more prevalent in the Black community because of underlying social conditions leading to more diabetes (which also has no definite genetic transmission), hypertension, obesity and chronic kidney disease. Inequitable economic factors lead to more commonly found segregated, crowded and polluted neighborhoods that lack adequate healthcare facilities and transportation. Food deserts, lack of insurance coverage in red states and poor eating habits, all map the route directing Black Americans toward more dismal health related outcomes. Finally, a well documented phenomena in the Black community is vaccine hesitancy, which stems from deepseated mistrust in the medical system. Thus, the precise group of patients at higher risk, and those most likely to benefit, did not receive the vaccine. Taken in total, the medical evidence strongly supports that this devastating pandemic adversely affected Blacks disproportionately, not because they were Black, but because of living conditions related to being a Black person in America today.
Is there implicit racial bias in how medical care is delivered? I would like to be able to state that it does not exist, but it does, and I believe the bias is bidirectional. Some providers see their Black patients as poor and uneducated and therefore unable to fully comprehend their disease or its proper treatment. This may be inherent to some physicians given their particular cultural backgrounds, but in my experience, it is most often related to subliminal bias. The bias regrettably often points in the opposite direction too, and I believe the “why” is buried in decades of a well-deserved distrust. It is rooted in images of ancestors dying during the Middle Passage, vivid memories of grandparents suffering under the whip of dehumanizing slave labor and more recently, internet photographs chronicling murder by strangulation at the hands of those sworn to protect the innocent. Am I then surprised when I am met with skepticism? I am not. Am I insulted when a person of color is suspicious of my intentions before I even enter the room? I am not. I am saddened. I am frustrated. And I am most angry at the history of racism that impedes my ability to connect with my patient. The answer to the stalemate is readily obvious. A firm handshake, a reassuring touch on the shoulder, a warm smile, making direct visual contact, a funny story about family or sports are all effective measures that can break the ice. It means spending more time on a busy day with someone who has a deep-seated wound just as painful as any cutaneous laceration from physical trauma. I have been extremely fortunate to benefit from mentorship during my medical fellowship years under a Black professor, and subsequently by practicing cardiology with two African American physicians who emigrated from Ghana. I learned and grew as a person and as a professional through my friendships with them, and I became a more seasoned and effective healthcare provider because of their collective examples. My patients, especially those classified as minorities, directly benefited by my relationship with these gentlemen. We need more of them. As posited in ”The 1619 Project” by Linda Villarosa, “It’s never been race that predicts the disease and disability that disproportionately afflict Black Americans, but racism … that is how Black people get killed.” I agree, and until we face these inequalities head on, one patient at a time, one doctor at a time, we will never begin to heal a system suffused with an indolent disease we should all be eager to conquer and simultaneously be ashamed of. James A. Longo, MD ND ILI Cohort 5 Feb. 6
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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
The do’s and don’ts of complaining Allison Abplanalp Under Further Scrutiny
I have many hobbies. After all, you have to in order to get into Notre Dame. But the hobby I love above all others is complaining. Everyone does. Even at Notre Dame, a campus filled with privileged 18 to 22-year-olds as far as the eye can see, complaining is a popular pastime. However, one should be cognizant of some limitations and guidelines for complaining. I absolutely hate when people complain wrong. It’s so annoying. And to ensure everyone complains correctly, I have compiled a list of my “do’s and don’ts“ for complaining. Do complain — if your problem will make other people feel better about themselves. We all know that person whose life is such a mess that it makes us realize that we’re more on top of things than we thought. And if you don’t know that person, then you are that person, and it is an honorable service that you do for others to complain. Don’t complain — if you have already complained to your mom, and even she didn’t care. Mom sympathy is the easiest sympathy to get. That is why moms are so great. But if your own mom doesn’t care about what happened to her precious little girl or
boy, don’t even bother complaining to your peers. Do complain — if the problem collectively applies to your peers as well. Collective complaining creates camaraderie. Despite our differences, we can all come together to grumble about the dining hall, permacloud or DeBartolo Hall water. Don’t complain — if it is a problem a stupid person could solve. Then you look stupid. Do complain — if you’re bored. The days are bleak and the hours long. Complaining fills, at least temporarily, that gaping dark hole inside us all. Don’t complain — if you have already complained twice in the past thirty minutes, or three times in the past hour. Otherwise, people might complain about how much you complain. Don’t be obnoxious. Do complain — if it involves drama. Everyone loves drama. Fair warning, the attention you get may come at the risk of your friendships, so just weigh the options. No judgment from me either way. Don’t complain — about a problem that does not interest your audience. I get it, STEM classes are hard. But as a finance major, I really don’t care about the specifics of why Gen Chem is making you cry. Do complain — if you can get any sympathy for it. Even if you aren’t that
bothered by the problem, just complain anyway. Let’s say your fish died. Now you never really cared about that fish and let’s be honest, it probably died because you never cleaned its tank. Even so, you might as well get some sympathy. It’s the least that fish could do for you. Don’t complain — if something actually bad just happened to one of your friends. The time you should wait before complaining again depends on the tragic-ness of your friend’s problem. If it’s just a bad test score, maybe wait an hour. If their favorite cousin was kidnapped by the mafia, wait a couple of days. Do complain — if you can casually slip the complaint into the conversation in a way that makes you seem both impressive and humble. If you’re looking for a way to do this, go run 20 miles. Then, find a way to casually bring it up. Maybe ask to take the elevator instead of the stairs. When your friend asks why, respond that your muscles are sore. The key is to not immediately offer the fact that you ran 20 miles. Make them inquire further. Only then should you mention how far you ran. Once they are impressed, you are free to start complaining about how sore your legs are. But don’t overdo it. With this tactic, less is more. Complain enough so that you get attention, but not so much that
you lose your “cool as a cucumber” persona. Don’t complain — if there’s a potential that someone can one-up you. Say you did run those 20 miles. Complaining about it is all fun and games until someone runs 30 miles. Suddenly you’ve lost complaining rights and given someone else a chance to hog the attention. It’s important to know your audience. As a resident of Flaherty Hall, I loved complaining to other Flaherty girls about how hot our room was in August, but I knew better than to bring it up in front of my friends residing on the non-air-conditioned fourth f loor of St. Edward’s Hall. So there are my do’s and don’ts. If you disagree with my guidelines, feel free to complain about them. I hope my list has enlightened you or, if not, at least given you something to complain about. Allison Abplanalp is a sophomore finance and accounting major. If she could change one thing about the English language, she would make “a lot” one word. Her least favorite month is March because every year she is devastated when she fails to pick the perfect march madness bracket. The views expressed in this Inside column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Adding insult to injury Matt Baird Are You Paying Attention?
This week, I dislocated my shoulder playing interhall basketball. Somehow, even though the regular season for the Interhall B-team is 3 games, I could not even make it through half of the season. In that sense, I compare myself to players like Dwayne Wade. I would like to say that a player on the other team dislocated my shoulder, but the referee did not think it was foul. I was going for a reverse layup, and when I was under the hoop, I put up an armbar against the defender who pulled a “football move” by pushing against my arm to try and get me out of bounds. In doing so, my arm bent backward and pushed my shoulder forward out of the socket. Luckily, one of the kind rugby trainers who happened to be in Purcell rolled it back into place. I do not mean to bore you with the details of the injury, but my explanation is relevant to the purpose of this column. Since this is the second time I have dislocated the shoulder, I have to go through a few months of physical
training and may need orthopedic surgery, which would further extend the recovery period. It is hard to be at the start of the road to recovery, dreading the physical therapy I will have to do and missing out on the Alumni snow football on the South quad. Besides the annoyance of recovery and the inhibitions that come along with resting my shoulder, it is a rather inconsequential injury. Although I cannot go to Duncan eight days a week to lift anymore, the greatest tragedy resulting from this injury has been my interactions ever since. Every time I see someone I know, I get asked what happened to my arm since I am still wearing a sling. Alone, I am slightly annoyed because I have been telling the same story without ceasing this week. When I am with someone who already knows what happened, I cringe when explaining the situation because it feels like I am milking the injury for attention. It has been an inconvenience for me this week, but knowing that I will take off the sling in a few days reminds me that this is all only temporary. What if it was not? Imagine my story was slightly more
glorious: I am going up for a dunk and hook my arm in the rim like Vince Carter. Then, with some terrible luck, I did irreversible nerve damage to my arm and it was amputated. Could you imagine the torture of having to tell everyone you interact with the same story? Every new friend, professor, employer and insensitive little cousin would be asking what happened to your arm. Losing the arm is painful enough, but having to explain what happened for the rest of your life is a horrifying thought. From my limited experience, I have also found it annoying when people are pitiful towards me when I explain what happened during that fateful game. Even though they are coming from a place of empathy, it feels like I am being coddled by people my age when I walk around campus. Although I do not have anything close to an understanding of what life with a life-altering injury or illness is like, I can assuredly say that as an outsider, I have not considered the mental impact that these kinds of things can have on people. Particularly with chronic illnesses, treating a patient is not only about providing remedies to reduce harmful symptoms but
also involves providing psychological care. I have personally witnessed how serious health scares, such as strokes or heart attacks, have derailed family and friends. Sometimes, when I am sick, I look at other people and think, “they are so ungrateful for their health today. When I get better, I am going to be grateful every day that I am not ill.” I think this is one of those times. It feels a little weird being prompted to write about amputees or people with chronic illnesses from a shoulder dislocation, but I think that we could all use a little bit of injury here and there to remind us to be grateful for our regular conditions. It is also good for ref lecting on how we would like to be treated in our conditions. It is not necessarily rude to ask someone about their condition, but it might be more welcoming to not immediately broach their injury or illness during an interaction. Matt Baird, proud native of Danville, California, is a sophomore majoring in English and Finance. He enjoys walking, listening to music and humming. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
By JAYDEN ESPINOZA Scene Writer
Fans of music across the United States eagerly sat by their televisions this past Sunday watching their favorite artists walk the red carpet, take the stage and ideally, win coveted awards. While performing, artists embraced their individuality (Miley Cyrus with the self-love anthem, “Flowers”), took us deeper into new eras (Dua Lipa with her unreleased track “Training Season”), reminded us of some of the year’s biggest hits (SZA with “Snooze” and “Kill Bill”) and brought us to tears (Tracy Chapman singing alongside Luke Combs with his cover of her 1988 hit, “Fast Car”). Jay-Z also took the stage, becoming the second recipient of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. After thanking the Recording Academy, he reflected upon his career and upbringing in Brooklyn. He then took a pause and shifted the tone of the night as he said, “You know, some of you gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in a category. No, when I get nervous I tell the truth.” Beyond the obvious nod towards his wife, Beyoncé, who holds the most wins in Grammys history (32) and is tied for the most nominations in Grammys history (88), fans could not ignore a topic that has loomed over nearly every award show recently: race. It’s one that
the Recording Academy has desperately tried to resolve: renaming “Best Urban Contemporary Album” to “Best Progressive R&B Album” and creating the highly anticipated implementation of “Best African Music Performance”. In these and many other categories, the Grammys saw themselves inviting many Black artists to Crypto.com Arena, though they were noticeably absent from mainstage coverage, with the night’s biggest awards (Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year) all going to white artists. Even SZA, who led the pack this year with nine nominations, only received one award during the three and a half hour broadcast, running to receive it after performing and seemingly almost missing her chance to thank those involved in the making of the Best R&B Song, “Snooze”. For the past five Grammys cycles, each year’s most nominated artist has been Black: Lizzo in 2020 with eight nominations, Beyoncé in 2021 with nine, Jon Batiste in 2022 with eleven, Beyoncé again in 2023 with nine and most recently, SZA in 2024, also with nine nominations to her name. And in every year, excluding Jon Batiste in 2022, these artists fail to receive any major category trophies, but thrive in categories such as R&B, Pop and Dance/Electronic. This phenomenon is observable going back to 2012, with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Jay-Z being highly advertised for their high nomination totals, given prominent performance
spots in the show, only to get shut out of the big awards. Seemingly fed up by this, Jay-Z reminded us again of his wife who in an almost 30-year career has never won any main category Grammys. “She has more Grammys than everyone, and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work,” Jay-Z said. That’s not to ignore the wins of artists like Victoria Monét who won big at the 66th Grammy Awards, becoming the 10th Black woman ever to win Best New Artist. She shows that there is a glimmer of hope for Black artists, and especially Black women, being able to win big during music’s biggest night. Her speech offered a glimmer of hope for diversity at the award show. “I moved to LA in 2009 and I like to liken myself to a plant who was planted, and you can look at the music industry as soil. It can be looked at as dirty or it can be looked at as a source of nutrients and water. My roots have been growing underneath ground, unseen for so long. I feel like today, I’m sprouting, finally above ground,” Monét said. Here’s to hoping for more room for artists to shine, to acknowledge their hard work and contributions to the industry and for an abundance of sprouts to emerge on music’s biggest night. Contact Jayden Espinoza at jespino4@nd.edu
‘THE BACHELOR’ RETURNS By NATALIA RODRIGUEZ Scene Writer
Much to my anticipation, “The Bachelor” is back. As of the last three episodes, and for the first time since I have joined Bachelor Nation, I am truly rooting for the Bachelor in question. Joey Graziadei first appeared in the latest season of “The Bachelorette”, since then becoming the newest trending sweetheart. Admittedly, I had a hard time keeping up with Charity Lawson’s season, though audience reactions, especially that of my family’s, indicated that Joey’s reception was quite positive. Thus, he, the much-loved runner-up, quite naturally secured his spot as the next Bachelor. If you are not caught up with the first three episodes of this season, beware of the spoilers ahead. I vowed to make time for “The Bachelor” this semester. As the first frame shows Joey in tears, crying as a van — with what we can infer must have held one of the women — drives away, I was reminded of why these weekly moments are so sacred. Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over” sounds, and he, seemingly heartbroken, walks away from the beautifully staged seaside proposal toward the producers and camera crew off-screen. Again, they pan back
to the van then to the rose, where Eilish’s soft, somber voice made the season’s first few minutes feel especially gripping. However, this may just be my routine falling for the producers’ predictable tactics, even as I laughed at how ridiculously they had framed the introduction. This season, we had sisters Lauren and Allison Hollinger both vying for Joey’s heart, a strange and inarguably uncomfortable scenario. As of Monday, Lauren expressed growing frustrations about the challenge of getting time with Joey and voluntary self-eliminated, leaving him to her sister and sparing us of any further discomfort. Most recently, we have witnessed the emergence of this season’s first — and hopefully only — villain. Toward the end of the second episode, contestant Madina Alam expressed a concern over her age, where Maria Georgas jumped to her defense in solidarity as she too is older than the Bachelor, trying to empower Madina to “own it” because “Joey probably loves it!” Yet, it seemed like her comments, ones that many of the girls simply thought of as honest and straightforward, were actually interpreted by another contestant as badmouthing Madina. Sydney Gordon began to spearhead an anti-Maria campaign, claiming that she “could not let the mean girl win” long after Maria and Madina
cleared the air. Sydney ran to Joey with her side of the story, arguably playing the victim, while Maria was left to plead her case, which many of the other women’s conversations seem to support. As of the next episodes’ previews, it seems like the “dumbest fight in Bachelor history”, as Maria puts it, rages on, with a dreadful twoon-one date on the horizon. Maria’s lovable authenticity and charm shall prevail. Usual drama aside, this season seems to spotlight a lot of important, and necessary, representation. We are finally seeing the special moments where Joey’s connections are growing, shown as genuine, touching conversations where the women share real, human experiences that are not often depicted on screen. For example, Daisy Kent has shared her experiences with a cochlear implant as she began to lose her hearing in her late teens (though, I must note that in this context, her one-on-one date on a helicopter to a music festival felt a bit problematic), and Edwina Dorbor described her hardships as a first girl child growing up in an African household in Liberia. While the drama does keep us around, these are the moments and the stories that I want to see and hear more. Contact Natalia Rodriguez at nrodrig8@nd.edu ETHAN CHIANG | The Observer
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SPORTS
THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
SPORTS COLUMN
Miller: Can Notre Dame make a star? Recently, Fox has been airing a lot of women’s basketball in its FOX Primetime Hoops slot on Saturday nights. As a women’s basketball fan and supporter, I love this, and I think it’s a pivotal step for the sport. At the same time, FOX’s coverage has been a bit frustrating - especially evident during last week’s IowaMaryland matchup. Obviously, the story in any Iowa game is Caitlin Clark. Clark is the star of all of college basketball right now. She’s an amazing player, and soon, she will look to break the all-time scoring record in women’s college basketball. She’s only 66 points away. The sports world seems to be on a trend towards focusing on star players, almost demonizing successful players (i.e. Brock Purdy) who don’t demonstrate consistent flash in their play. FOX’s coverage was overwhelmingly focused on Clark. For almost the entire game, on the scorebug above the team’s
points, Clark’s scoreline was prominently featured. The problem is that there was much more to the game than Clark. Iowa pulled away at the end of the game, but in the fourth quarter, Clark’s teammates helped as much as she did. It makes me wonder: is FOX interested in the game of women’s basketball? Or are they solely interested in reaping the benefits of Clark’s virality? Next year, Clark looks to head to the WNBA. Technically, she could return to college basketball, and she could get paid well via NIL. Yet most signs point that she’ll be drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever. Women’s college basketball won’t have a clear star at the beginning of the year. Probably the closest player to one is Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame’s breakout rookie guard. Hidalgo is having a monster season, averaging 24.8 points per game. She was recently named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20. Hidalgo plays like a star, flashy on defense with the ability to drive and make shots from deep. The
question is, could she become America’s player … the new face of American women’s athletics? My answer is yes; she has every resource to be the best player in women’s college basketball and the best player in team history. Although, I don’t think Notre Dame will play a significant role in that. Let me explain. Notre Dame is still very much a premier brand in college athletics. The independent status in football, Big Ten status in hockey and ACC status in all other sports allow teams and players to have sufficient — if not good — national exposure. Yet, recently, several random programs have become a home to stars. Jayden Daniels had a wildly good season at LSU — even though the team mightily struggled on defense. LSU is an SEC team, sure, but it’s not the largest of markets. It’s not Los Angeles or New York. On the other hand, location can hurt a star. Michael Penix Jr., my vote for last season’s Heisman trophy, struggled to receive media attention; it didn’t help that most of Washington’s games were late at night on cable television.
Iowa is smaller than both Washington State and Louisiana. Iowa’s women’s basketball program was adequate before Clark’s arrival, but the team never advanced past the Sweet Sixteen in the five years before she joined the team (2015-2019). Lisa Bluder has coached at Iowa since 2000. She didn’t make a Final Four until last year. Clark is the foundation of Iowa’s success. Iowa’s fanbase — along with Clark’s stellar performance which naturally attracted viewers — helped make Clark into the star she is. Clark took Iowa to the promised land (Final Four) last year. This year, she has a chance to win it. Notre Dame on the other hand, has seen that success. Muffet McGraw won two national championships in women’s basketball, the last in 2018. For fans, it’d be nice to win another — Coach Ivey’s first — but it wouldn’t be revolutionary. Notre Dame is flashy like South Carolina or LSU. They focus on the game, and the focus will always be on the court. Notre Dame can help aid a star, especially for women’s basketball. But Notre Dame won’t make a
Roster
reps over the last two seasons.
Tran, who’s been a productive pinch runner for Notre Dame over the last two years but has never gotten an extended run out as a full member of the lineup.
to her name. The ACC will offer a different quality of hitter than the Ivy League. But Laudenslager’s resume stands with some of the best in the business entering her fifth season of college ball. Rounding out the likely trio of starters the Irish will utilize in three-game series is junior Shannon Becker. Much like Kronenberger, Becker enjoyed a strong freshman campaign in 2022 (earning a remarkable 1.72 ERA, fourth in the ACC) before dealing with an up-and-down sophomore campaign (falling to a 4.06 ERA). Gumpf has expressed confidence that Becker’s 2024 will look more like her debut season. If such a prediction comes through, Notre Dame should be set with an extremely formidable set of starters for conference play. Completing the staff are a pair of underclassmen who will likely work their way into games by means of relief work and spot starts. Sophomore Paige Cowley didn’t see a ton of game action last spring but now has a year of collegiate experience under her belt, and freshman Kami Kamzik enters with an impressive high school resume. Each of the last two seasons the Irish have had a rookie pitcher crack the rotation — could Kamzik make it three in three?
Jake Miller Senior Sports Writer
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her senior season with 38 career home runs and 142 career RBIs to her name. She’ll be chasing the Irish program records for home runs this season, needing 13 to become Notre Dame’s all-time leader (she had 15 last year). Just about everything else in the infield should be a new look from 2023, though. Among the offseason departures: Joley Mitchell, who rarely left the lineup at third base, Lexi Orozco, who took a sizable amount of reps at shortstop, and both members of the Irish’s second base platoon in Miranda Johnson and Brooke Marquez. The impact of Mitchell and Orozco leaving the batting order will be significant — Mitchell hit .462 during conference play last season and led the Irish in almost every offensive category over the season’s final month, and Orozco tallied 14 home runs and 45 RBIs from the cleanup spot. The new-look Notre Dame infield will likely feature a number of names over the first month of the season as the squad figures out a core rotation. Senior Cassidy Grimm (third base) and junior Anna Holloway (shortstop/second base) — both of whom rotated into the lineup throughout 2023 — can be expected to slide into starting roles full-time. Freshman Addison Amaral was name-checked by Gumpf as a player who could make an immediate impact as well. Senior Mac Vasquez could be a dark horse option to find a role, with the veteran consistently producing in occasional
The Outfield The Irish’s lineup overhaul continues in the outfield, where two of the team’s usual three starters graduated last spring. Sophomore Mickey Winchell enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign in 2023 and it would be a shock for her to not move up the batting order from the nine-hole spot she previously occupied. Additional defensive responsibilities could be on the cards as well with the centerfield position vacated by the now-graduated Leea Hanks. Both of the two remaining outfield slots will remain unknown until Friday morning, though it seems all but a certainty that junior Jane Kronenberger will be in right field for game one against Central Arkansas. Kronenberger excelled as a freshman in 2022 — hitting .389 and adding 31 RBIs across 106 plate appearances en route to ACC all-freshman honors — but struggled to find her groove as a sophomore. Her output fell across the board offensively, though she did finish second on the roster in defensive runs saved with 1.88. The tools are clearly there for Kronenberger. Gumpf no doubt hopes an expanded role will help her return to — or even expand on — the promise shown in her rookie campaign. The final outfield slot, though, is far more up in the air. Christina Willemssen and Tenley Sweet are both freshmen who could potentially make a move for an early starting role, without a clear veteran favorite to win the position. The upperclassmen name to watch is junior Emily
In the Circle Pitching figures to be a major strength for this year’s Irish squad. With a high amount of lineup turnover, some offensive growing pains are to be expected. Notre Dame will likely need to lean on steadfast production in the circle at times. The Irish staff features a combination of proven names and young guns, with the trappings of a very solid rotation very much in place. Sophomore Micaela Kastor showed tremendous poise and promise in her freshman campaign, leading the Irish staff in essentially every advanced pitching metric, including xFIP and SIERA. Kastor particularly shined in Notre Dame’s ill-fated regional outing, first grinding her way through 4.1 scoreless innings in relief of Payton Tidd against Oregon, and then allowing just six hits in a complete game while working with little run support against Arkansas. The new addition to the staff could very well be Notre Dame’s ace this season, ex-Princeton star Alexis Laudenslager. Laudenslager captured backto-back Ivy League pitcher of the year awards in 2022 and 2023, and has 12 career double-digit strikeout games
Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu
star. No institution can. Not LSU. Not Iowa. Not USC. Not Michigan. Not Alabama. Stars shine because of their play. Any collegiate institution has a role in that, but not a primary one. In any sport — whether it be basketball, hockey, football, softball — any player at any major institution can shine to the exact level they play. Unfortunately, recently Notre Dame just hasn’t seen that level of on-field performance. Blame it on recruiting, coaches, or just player talent. I’d argue that Hannah Hidalgo is the first player in a while to become a true, national star: one of the top five athletes in the world. She could attract Clark status if she keeps up her performance. It’s a magnificent gift to Notre Dame fans. Notre Dame would aid her status. But Notre Dame can’t make a star just because of its brand. It starts with the player. Contact Jake Miller at jmille89@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Golf CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
the event. Junior Montgomer y Ferreira, the lone member of the Irish team who isn’t a freshman or a senior/graduate student, also earned a top-20 spot. Ferreira started the tournament incredibly strong w ith a 72 and a 71 in the first t wo rounds before slipping a little bit near the end. Her score of -1 on par threes was tied for fourth-best of the competition Notre Dame’s next t wo finishers were both freshmen, w ith Mimi Burton placing in a tie for 45th and A lex Lapple one stroke behind her. Burton had t wo rounds w ith a score of 73 or lower, show ing her potential. Overall, the Irish finished w ith a score of 16 over par. South Florida brought home the v ictor y w ith a score of seven-under par. As a team, only the Bulls and Denver (-3) finished under par. The Irish w ill return to action in t wo weeks for the Spartan Suncoast Inv itational, hosted by Michigan State at Palm Aire Countr y Club. The event lasts from Feb. 18-19 in Sarasota, Florida. Contact Henry Lytle at hlytle@nd.edu
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DAILY
NDSMCOBSERVER.COM | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | THE OBSERVER
CROSSWORD | WILL SHORTZ
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HOROSCOPE | EUGENIA LAST Happy Birthday: Keep the momentum flowing. Take the initiative to stick to your original pattern and budget. Trust and believe in yourself. Outside influences will tempt you to overstep your means, expand too quickly, or take on too much. Grow with each step, and the pieces will fall into place. Positive change is within reach if you nurture and protect what you deserve. Your numbers are 6, 13, 20, 27, 32, 37, 44. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your eagerness will allow someone to take advantage of you. Don’t commit to taking on unfair responsibilities without getting what you want in return. Negotiate with as much passion as you put into a job well done. Protect against insult and injury.. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Overthinking a situation will send mixed messages to others and cause you to make poor choices. Let your instincts take over and put your energy into actions, not analysis. A change of heart will encourage you to plan something special for someone you love. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t make changes without researching or getting permission. The fallout from acting in haste will set you back. Be smart and approach projects by asking questions and preparing for the best outcome. Showing interest will help you gain respect and encourage enthusiasm. CANCER (June 21-July 22): A creative project will turn out better than anticipated. Don’t feel you have to overspend to make a statement. Say no to joint ventures and risky investments. Show how much you care about something through your actions. Romance is in the stars. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Gravitate toward people, places, and pastimes that inspire you to look and do your best. Partnerships will be complicated, and recognizing who makes you shine brightly will make it easier to accomplish your goals. Walk away from temptation and indulgent behavior. Put yourself first. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Choose to do things differently. Allow yourself the freedom to experience something new. A change will spark your imagination and offer insight into how you can use your skills and talents to benefit you physically. Put your energy into fitness, health, and romance. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Expand your horizons and try something new and exciting. Challenge your intellect and share feelings and plans with someone you love. Consider the possibilities and create a financial plan to help you achieve your goals. Don’t risk injury; respect your physical capabilities. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Put a plan in place and act. What you do will impact your life and relationships more than what you say. Make changes that add to your comfort and allow you to spend more time doing things you enjoy with people you love. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t join forces with someone who doesn’t play fairly, exaggerates, or misleads you. Reorganize your plans and eliminate what you can to lower your overhead and ease stress. A minimalist attitude will give you the freedom to live life your way. A makeover will boost your confidence. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Send a clear message to anyone in your way. Please don’t wait until it’s too late to make a move. It’s up to you to initiate your plans. Actions will stand out and give those around you a fair warning that things are about to change. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Direct your energy where it will have the greatest impact. Imagine the possibilities and create a blueprint in. your mind that will encourage you to take the necessary steps to reach your objective. Listen to your inner voice and protect yourself from temptation and criticism. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pay attention to detail and stay on top of where your money goes. Check your balances, look for bargains, and only buy what’s necessary. Revisit how you feel about someone, attend a reunion, or let someone special know how you feel. Romance is favored. Birthday Baby: You are profound, optimistic and patient. You are conceptual and groundbreaking.
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JUMBLE | DAVID HOYT AND JEFF KNUREK
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SPORTS
THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
HOCKEY
Irish hockey travels to face No. 4 Wisconsin About a month ago, Notre Dame hockey played perhaps its most frustrating series of the season. Wisconsin had entered South Bend and became the first team to cleanly sweep the Irish at a full-capacity Compton Family Ice Arena in four years. The weekend, which ended with a 7-4 loss, left the Irish on a fivegame Big Ten losing skid. Since that point on Jan. 6, Notre Dame (14-12-2, 8-8-2 Big Ten) has stabilized winning four of its last six games. Now, the Irish travel to Madison for another crack at the fourth-ranked Badgers (20-6-2, 114-1 Big Ten). Whether they look at the aforementioned home sweep or last weekend’s dichotomous split with No. 9 Michigan State, the Irish know there’s work to do this weekend at the Kohl Center.
tournament. Currently, MSU leads with 40 points to the Badgers’ 35, but Wisconsin holds two games in hand. The two frontrunners will meet again in Madison during the regular season’s final weekend. Behind them, a group of three surrounds the cutoff point for home ice in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Minnesota, whom the Irish will face at home next weekend, paces it with 29 points. Next is Notre Dame with 27 and Michigan with 25 (plus two games in hand). Finally, Penn State and Ohio State, the two Big Ten teams Notre Dame has swept this season, bottom out the conference with 17 and 7 points, respectively. One glance at the Irish schedule, which concludes with a trip to Ann Arbor, tells you that Notre Dame will wrap up with the three closest teams to it in the standings. February always carries more weight, but years like this one take it to another level.
Conference context: Big Ten interior tightens up
Saturday night’s not alright for sweeping
Barring significant changes down the stretch, the Big Ten standings seem to have molded into three tiers. At the top, Michigan State and Wisconsin vie for the elusive first-round bye in the conference
This season, whenever Notre Dame matches up with the nation’s best teams, one of two things tends to happen. The Irish either fail to
By TYLER REIDY Associate Sports Editor
MEGHAN LANGE | The Observer
Irish senior forward Grant Silianoff makes a deke during Notre Dame’s 2-1 loss to Wisconsin at Compton Family Ice Arena on Jan. 5. The Irish are 0-2 against the Badgers this season and fourth in the Big Ten.
see HOCKEY PAGE 11
ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Mental lapses cost Irish in loss to Louisville By JAKE MILLER Senior Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In recent years, after every Notre Dame women’s basketball leap, there seems to be a corresponding dip. Thursday night added to the program’s history with an embarrassing seven-point loss to No. 15 Louisville. Coming off a tough Monday loss at North Carolina State, the Cardinals bounced back to beat a Notre Dame team that ended up defeating itself. The Irish started 0-8 from the field with three turnovers. Ultimately, head coach Niele Ivey called a timeout after an 11-0 Louisville run. Notre Dame had a miraculous comeback, ending the half down just one point due to impressive forced turnovers and solid involvement by Notre Dame’s supporting cast. Sophomore guard KK Bransford added six first-quarter points, including two jumpers. Senior forward Natalija Marshall camped out under the baseline and grabbed a clutch first-quarter layup to help the Irish cut down the deficit. Notre Dame scored 57.5% of its points in the paint, an unusually high mark that was due to a poor day from beyond the arc. The Irish went 2-18 on threepoint attempts. Freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo and junior guard Sonia Citron each missed four attempts.
Conversely, the Cardinals had a much better night from distance, shooting 38.9%, with three of their makes coming in a 2-minute span in the middle of the fourth quarter. Notre Dame stayed close, mostly due to Louisville’s abysmal lategame shooting from the charity stripe, as the Cardinals missed five free throws in the final two minutes. Down seven with 36 seconds left on the clock, senior forward Maddy Westbeld threw an inbound pass directly to a Louisville defender, removing any last-second chance the Irish had at salvaging the game. “Kind of a frustrating loss,” Irish head coach Niele Ivey said after the game. “We didn’t start very poised. 13-2 run. Credit to them. We had a bunch of mental lapses, defensively and offensively. And they capitalized on it.” Ivey, however, was complimentary of Hannah Hidalgo’s play. “She did a great job, carrying the team on her back offensively,” Ivey said. Hidalgo dropped 30 points off of 12-25 shooting from the field. Twelve of her points came off of layups. Twelve came from jumpers. She also made all six of her free throw attempts. While disappointed, Ivey continued to express confidence in her team. “Mental lapses allowed them
to gain confidence and capitalize against our mistakes,” Ivey said. Notre Dame has now shot under 35% in four of its five losses. Coach Ivey expressed confidence in her team’s ability to shoot from deep going forward. “Those are great three point shooters. I thought they had the right looks. They just didn’t drop for us tonight,” Ivey said. The Irish will host Louisville at Purcell Pavilion to close the regular season. Unfortunately, Notre Dame doesn’t catch a break anytime soon with its next two against Florida State and No. 3 North Carolina State. Although unranked, Florida State also beat Tennessee and has league wins against North Carolina and No. 16 Virginia Tech. For the Irish, fortunately, no single loss kills the season or derails the program. However, the team needs to step up in big moments and demonstrate its potential if it wants to host games in the NCAA tournament. Four seeds (and better) host games for the first two rounds. Notre Dame has a strong NET ranking, however, coming in eighth at the start of the week. The Irish take on Florida State on Sunday at noon on ACC Network. Contact Jake Miller at jmille89@nd.edu
INDIA DOERR | The Observer
Irish freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo puts up a shot during Notre Dame’s 79-65 defeat to No. 23 Syracuse at Purcell Pavilion on Jan. 25.
SPORTS
NDSMCOBSERVER.COM | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | THE OBSERVER
Hockey CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
find positive results (see the Boston College game, Michigan State road series or Wisconsin home series) or dominate the series opener. Adding to the latter, every time Notre Dame has defeated a top-15 team this year, it has done so on Friday night. And the scoring margin in those four games sees the underdog Irish ahead 18-5. Last Friday’s battle with then-No. 8 Michigan State added to that total. Notre Dame pulled away from a game that remained tied for 51 of the first 52 minutes, downing the Spartans by a 4-1 count. “I liked our game Friday. We played the way we need to play in these types of games,” Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said. “It’s like a playoff game — it was 1-1 into the third period, and scoring that second goal was a huge thing for us. So we have to continue to try to do that when we’re in those tight games, try to get that next goal.” But, as has been the case all season, Notre Dame missed out on a statement sweep. Michigan State blanked the Irish, 4-0, in game two, prolonging the Saturday setbacks in South Bend. In series finales following the four top-15 wins mentioned, Notre Dame has given up 18 goals while scoring just 4. It’s a hump that the Irish must traverse in the season’s dying weeks, and it’s a trend to watch for if they get after the Badgers this coming Friday.
Irish and Badgers visited both extremes
have
During the first weekend of January, Notre Dame hosted Wisconsin in a standalone Big Ten series. With both teams built around defense and missing a freshman forward due to the World Juniors, the weekend figured to see minimal offensive output. That’s exactly what transpired in Friday’s game. Wisconsin scored the first goal midway through the second period before Notre Dame answered with a shorthanded tally just before intermission. After the Badgers took the lead early in period three, the Irish received a golden opportunity to steal the series opener. They earned a five-minute power play that covered the third quarter of the final period but never cashed in, losing the game 2-1. Those power-play problems, the deciding factor in
that contest, appeared again in the Michigan State series. After showing positive signs in the preceding Penn State series, the Notre Dame man advantage went 0-for-8 against the Spartans, missing six opportunities on a scoreless Saturday night. “We just need to find a way to get more consistent in every aspect of our game offensively. But power play’s the most important one at this point,” Jackson said. “It’s the one that, [when] you get two or three opportunities you need to score on one of them. For me, it’s about doing a better job of getting control of the puck as we enter the offensive zone, getting to control the puck off of faceoffs and getting control of the puck off of puck recoveries. And then from there, it’s finding a way to make the right play.” Turning back to the Wisconsin series, Saturday’s game took Friday’s outstanding defense and flushed it down the drain. The Badgers, with two power-play goals, raced out to a 5-1 lead just 24 minutes in. But Notre Dame zoomed back, scoring 3 goals in the span of 3:19 in the second period. Still, Wisconsin flatlined the game with an underrated performance from backup netminder William Gramme. The freshman relieved superstar goalie Kyle McClellan after the fourth Irish goal, denying all 23 shots he faced to secure his team’s sweep. The final score of that game featured 11 combined goals. Jackson understands that, with Wisconsin being its defensive self and McCllelan back in net, the entirety of this weekend’s series might not see 11 goals. “It’s gonna be tough to score this weekend, so we’ve gotta be satisfied with making plays, being patient and trying to capitalize when we get the opportunities off of transition,” Jackson said. “It’s gonna be about a game of patience f or us, so we just have to make sure that we’re focused on not trying to do too much to score because we’ll give up chances against. That’s not how you beat a Mike Hastings type of team. You have to out-patient them, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
The Beanpot, the Mitten and the PairWise
The sport is deep, its stars are performing and the championship trophy’s final destination remains anyone’s guess. “There seems to be more elite teams, and I think it goes deep enough to where you’re talking about 10 to 15 teams that all conceivably could win the national championship at the end of the year,” Jackson considered. “There’s probably another 10 teams after that that could be in the hunt.” Two of those elite teams, No. 1 Boston College and No. 3 Boston University, met in the annual Beanpot tournament Monday, Feb. 5. The Terriers avenged a recent Eagle sweep, advancing to the championship game on a 4-3 win at TD Garden. Another pair of elites will square off inside the Big Ten this weekend when No. 9 Michigan State encounters No. 11 Michigan. Three weekends ago, the two split a home-and-away with final scores of 7-1 (Michigan) and 7-5 (Michigan State). As always, their season series will close Saturday in Detroit after a Friday stop in Ann Arbor. While home ice-seeking Notre Dame fans will back MSU in that series, national tournament hopefuls have their eyes on the PairWise rankings. Right now, the Irish sit at No. 21, only 4 points from the top 16 that make the NCAA tournament. Among teams positioned within reach of the Irish, New Hampshire and Omaha face tough draws this weekend. The former visits Boston College for a single game, while the latter spends the weekend at No. 14 Western Michigan’s place. “You can’t afford to be where we’re at right now playing just above .500 hockey because there’s too many teams that are doing much better than that,” Jackson said. “There’s gonna be teams left out of the tournament that are probably as good as some of the teams that’ll be in it, for sure.” Notre Dame looks to improve both its Big Ten and national positioning beginning at 8 p.m. Friday in Madison. Saturday’s puck drop will follow at 7 p.m.
Expanding to the national picture, college hockey continues to have a strong year.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
ND MEN’S BASKETBALL
Irish lose seventh straight to Duke By HENRY LYTLE Sports Writer
Notre Dame fell to No. 9 Duke 71-53 in the team’s seventh in a row Wednesday night. Following Duke’s 93-84 loss to North Carolina, the Blue Devil’s had something to prove at home. The Irish stood in their way and did not put up much of a fight. Notre Dame faced Duke back on Jan. 6 and lost a close 67-59 game that was within four points in the final three minutes. This time however, the game looked completely different from the start. Freshman guard Markus Burton led the Irish with 19 points on 8-17 shooting, while fellow freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry added 13 points on a 4-10 shooting night. But it wasn’t nearly enough to compete with Duke. The Irish fall to 2-10 in conference play, and they are tied with Louisville for last place. To open the game, Shrewsberry knocked in an early three-pointer for the Irish. Otherwise, Notre Dame once again started extremely flat. Sean Stewart capitalized on a turnover by the Irish with a monstrous dunk that had Cameron Indoor Stadium rocking. After a Caleb Foster three-pointer from Duke, the Irish trailed 20-5 with 10 minutes left in the first half. Once again turnovers plagued the Irish, as they struggled to take care of the ball and find quality looks. But keyed by sophomore forward Kebba Njie and another Shrewsberry three, the Irish would go on to outscore Duke 20-13 to end the first half down
Leadership CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
team is a leader and can be a leader. Just being able to believe in and support each other was our main goal this year.” Gaskins isn’t the only senior that spoke about the importance of switching gears and developing a collaborative, bought-in locker room. Kloss led Notre Dame in at-bats last season and was a constant presence at catcher. For her, the offseason’s leadership exercises helped her and the other upperclassmen effectively welcome the team’s younger players into the fold. “I think we tried to take a little bit
Notre Dame will start 2024 with a combination of returning talent and new faces in the lineup card. The Irish have ‘run it back’ before, repeatedly reaching the same destination as the year prior. This time, they’ll try an update. Not a top-to-bottom roster clean-out, but rather a reset of how the team approaches things in the locker room. This spring will be a blank slate for Notre Dame. No doubt, the program’s new group of leaders will hope their changed offseason approach will prove the difference in finally taking the Irish over the top. Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu
just eight points, 33-25. Trailing by only single-digits seemed like a huge victory for Notre Dame after keeping the last game against Duke close. The Irish trailed by two points at halftime in their last Duke matchup, but played much better on defense and found opportunities to score outside of Burton in that contest. To open the second half, the Irish once again seemed flustered. After a three-point shot by Jared McCain, who had 11 points on the night, Duke never looked back and dominated the rest of the game. A Burton three-pointer brought the score back to 4233 with 16:19 left in the half, but that was the closest the Irish would keep the game in the second half. Ending on a 19-12 run over the last 10 minutes, the Blue Devils controlled this bounce back victory after the crushing loss to North Carolina. As emotional as the win seemed for Duke, Notre Dame had 15 turnovers and shot extremely poorly from three-point range (25.9%). The Irish offense began stagnant and never picked up. Notre Dame has lost every game where they score under 60 points and has not won a conference game scoring less than 75. Notre Dame needs to find ways to help Shrewsberry and Burton find open looks, as they are the only two players that are scoring threats on a night-to-night basis for the Irish. Looking to earn the first win in over a month, the Irish will take on Virginia Tech on Feb. 10. Contact Henry Lytle at hlytle@nd.edu
ND WOMEN’S GOLF
Irish start season at FAU Invite By ANDREW McGUINNESS
of a different route this year,” Kloss said. “Just to try and be a little bit more of a cohesive unit and move more as one … I think we’ve done a really good job of providing a good example to our underclassmen and I think they’ve latched on and bought into the program immediately.” Buy-in will be a critical factor for an Irish team that will enter this season, as they have for a decade now, carrying baggage. Notre Dame softball’s streak is well-acknowledged. 24 consecutive regional qualifications. 24 consecutive regional eliminations. Is a refresh — both on the field and off — what the Irish need to finally advance to a first Super Regional in program history?
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Sports Editor
After over t wo months of work in preparation, Notre Dame women’s golf returned to competition this week. The Irish left the surprisingly mild temperatures of this early Februar y in South Bend behind to travel to the FAU Paradise Inv itational at the Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton, Florida. The Irish earned a seventh-place finish in the event, their second-best result of the season and their highest placing since their first event of the season, a fifth-place result at
the Boilermaker Classic from Sept. 4-5. The team received the message from coach Caroline Powers Ellis to improve their abilit y to recover from mistakes, helping them to a solid finish. Senior Chloe Schiavone led the way for the Irish. Of Notre Dame’s five rounds w ith a score of even par or better in the tournament, Schiavone posted t wo of them, going 73-71-72 to come in 11th overall. Schiavone was particularly strong on par fours, finishing just outside the top 10 among indiv iduals in see GOLF PAGE 8
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THE OBSERVER | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
CHRISTINA SAYUT | The Observer
ND SOFTBALL
ND SOFTBALL
Notre Dame enters 2024 with rebuilt locker room By J.J. POST Associate Sports Editor
For much of Notre Dame softball’s 2023 campaign, things felt off. The Irish had talent, and plenty of it. One of the ACC’s most wellrounded players in senior catcher Carlli Kloss started off the lineup every game. Senior infielder Karina Gaskins remained the offensive juggernaut she developed a reputation for being over her first two seasons. Transfer addition Lexi Orozco added 14 home runs and Joley Mitchell hit for an average of nearly .500 in conference play. Yet still, Notre Dame never seemed to be able to harness momentum despite having a number of talented pieces. The team’s longest winning streak was seven games — which came in the middle of March and included several wins over mid-major opposition. The Irish didn’t sweep a single series in conference play, despite several opportunities. Notre Dame barely managed a winning
recordathome,wheretheyhadlost just three games in the previous three seasons. They finished just 4-10 in games decided by three runs or less against Power Five opposition. They went a dismal 2-5 in one-run games against such opponents. Head coach Deanna Gumpf knew change was coming over the offseason. New faces on the lineup card would be inevitable for a team that often started as many as six seniors and graduate students. But a changing of the guard was also coming in the team’s leadership structure, with all three of the team’s captains graduating. Gumpf took it upon herself to help guide the 2024 roster’s upperclassmen, now the unquestioned leaders of the Irish squad, into their new roles. “It doesn’t necessarily come in your face [when] things aren’t exactly the way you want them,” Gumpf said. “But I think at the end of the season when it’s all said and done we had individual player meetings and it
was awesome that [players] opened up and talked about what they wanted different … We met once every two weeks on Zoom, the entire junior and senior class. We read a book together, we talked about leadership, we talked about goals. We talked about commitment. They have stuck to those goals and commitment.” A major point of emphasis in this preparation was an openness in who would be leading come time for fall practice. Notre Dame’s roster has just five true seniors. It looks likely that less than a third of the team’s Opening Day starting lineup will be seniors. The Irish cultivating a locker room where anybody could speak up and be a leader was a logical step for a new-look roster. “The upperclassmen as a whole just worked really hard on being able to approach leadership differently this year,” said senior first baseman Karina Gaskins. “Know[ing] that everyone on this see LEADERSHIP PAGE 10
Breaking down Irish roster By J.J. POST Associate Sports Editor
There are few days like Opening Day in college baseball and softball. The birds aren’t chirping and the sun is not shining — its South Bend in Feburary after all — but there is a buzz in the air as the softball team heads down to Clearwater, Florida, to kick off their 2024 campaign. Notre Dame softball, once again, will enter the season carrying two streaks: one they’ll look to extend (24 consecutive regional appearances) and one they’ll look to break (24 consecutive regional eliminations). The lineup the Irish roll out on Friday will feature a few notable staples and a number of new faces. Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the names to know for the team’s opening game against Central Arkansas.
Behind the Plate At catcher will be the lynchpin of Notre Dame’s 2024 lineup, Carlli Kloss. Kloss captured ACC’s Defensive Player of the
Year award last spring and head coach Deanna Gumpf said ahead of the season that she never wants to take the senior off the field. There’s good reason for that — Kloss is a two way force, the type of player who can be consistently relied on both in the field and at the plate. Kloss finished with a whopping 7.79 defensive runs saved last year, good for first on the team by nearly six runs. She also served as the Irish’s leadoff hitter, notching 14 doubles and 23 RBIs on a .341 batting average. The senior will likely lead Notre Dame in plate appearances for a second consecutive year this spring.
The Infield Notre Dame’s lineup for opening day 2024 will be quite different from a year prior. The infield is where such changes start. Karina Gaskins has been a staple at first base since arriving on campus as a freshman, and this spring will be no different. An offensive powerhouse, Gaskins will enter see ROSTER PAGE 8