Print Edition of The Observer for Friday, August 19, 2016
iN W itH tHE NEW
new dorms at notre dame, a new president at saint
By RACHEL O’GRADY
a ssociate news e ditor
The notre dame campus community gained two new homes this year, with the opening of dunne and f laherty halls.
a s these are the first new residence halls built since ryan hall in 2009, “this is an exciting time for the university,” associate vice president for residential life heather rakoczy russell said.
“our undergraduate residential system is such a treasured and distinctive component of a notre dame education — and here we are, adding two new halls to this unique tradition,” rakoczy russell said in an email. “These halls are set to impact generations of notre dame students, and this year will be very formative in the way in which these communities are launched.”
each dorm features a combination of singles, doubles and quads, while dunne hall, the new men’s hall, also contains six-person rooms, rakoczy russell said.
“half of each first floor will be devoted to community spaces, centered around a two-story floor lounge, reading room, study areas and the chapel,” she said. “additional community spaces include pass-through floor lounges on second, third and fourth floors, designed and placed to encourage gathering in community spaces.”
f laherty hall, the new women’s hall, features kitchens on every floor, rakoczy russell said, while dunne houses one full kitchen and three kitchenettes adjoined to the floor lounges, plus food sales in the basement.
additionally, chapels in both halls are visible from the exterior of the building.
“This signals that faith plays a key role in community building here at notre dame. dunne’s chapel is named after blessed basil moreau, c s c and f laherty’s chapel is named for mary, Queen of a ngels,” rakoczy russell said.
a s a result of a pilot program in lyons hall, drs. John and k aren deak will be joining the dunne hall community as the second lay faculty in residence, rakoczy russell said.
“They will be residing in dunne’s first-floor apartment and will continue to work to further refine this new role as it complements our hall staff and our many priests-in-residence,” she said. “we believe these generous faculty members will continue the tradition of ‘bachelor dons,’ [faculty members] who resided in halls at periods in the university’s history, and
see dorms PAGE 11
By NICOLE CARATAS saint mary’s e ditor
saint mary’s welcomed Jan cervelli as the college’s 12th president. cervelli, a south bend native, took office June 1.
“The level of excitement here is amazing,” she said. “my mission is to walk through
every hall, every classroom, to spend time in the dorms, stay overnight — really get to know the place and to get to know all of you.”
a s a new president, cervelli said she feels like a freshman and hopes to become a part of the incoming class of 2020.
see presidenT PAGE 11
MICHAEL YU| The Observer
Construction of Dunne and Flaherty Halls, pictured above, was completed in time for members of the class of 2020 to move in Friday, bringing the number of Notre Dame dorms to 30.
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer Saint Mary’s president Jan Cervelli, left, welcomes first-year Olivia Propheter and her mom as she moves into McCandless Hall.
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Question of the Day:
What is your favorite Olympic sport?
Colleen Scott sophomore howard hall “handball.”
Clare Carmody senior off campus “swimming.”
Monica Allgaier sophomore lyons hall “gymnastics.”
Have a question you want answered? Email photo@ndsmcobserver.com
John Schuele junior off campus “rugby sevens.”
Rosie Wisniewski sophomore walsh hall “gymnastics.”
Katherine Smith sophomore breen-phillips hall “swimming.”
A student moves into Dunne Hall, one of two new dorms, Thursday. Dunne is joined by Flaherty Hall on Mod Quad as the first new dorms since 2009. Both halls feature a two-story floor lounge, reading room, study areas and a chapel.
Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com
Halls Open for Freshmen campus-wide 9 a.m. Welcome Weekend kickoff.
Women’s Soccer vs. Wright State Alumni Stadium
7 p.m.
The Irish take on the Raiders.
Saturday
Domerfest
Rolfs Sports and Recreation Center
10:30 p.m. - 1 a.m. Annual party for freshman.
Folk Choir Auditions Coleman-Morse Center
9 a.m.
Auditions will be held on the third floor.
Sunday
Halls Open for all Undergraduates campus-wide 9 a.m. Move-in for all students.
Women’s Soccer vs. Wisconsin Alumni Stadium
3 p.m.
The Irish take on the Badgers.
Monday
Men’s Soccer vs. Valparaiso Alumni Stadium
5 p.m.
The Irish take on Valapariso.
Choir Auditions DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 10 a.m.
Auditions for the 20162017 school year.
Tuesday
First Day of Classes for ND Undergraduates campus-wide all day Classes start.
Opening Mass and Picnic Joyce Center
5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Annual kickoff activities for the year.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
By JENNA WILSON news writer
New research building set to open
c onstruction on the new m c c ourtney h all of m olecular s ciences and e ngineering was completed over the summer, marking the end of a two-year, $80 million project. s tudents and faculty will occupy the building at the start of the fall semester, according to a u niversity press release.
The building, which is located on the east side of campus near h esburgh l ibrary, “is the first dedicated research building to be constructed in a planned larger e ast c ampus r esearch c omplex,” the release said. a ccording to p eter k ilpatrick, the m c c loskey d ean of e ngineering, parts of the d epartment of c hemical and b iomolecular e ngineering, as well as a portion of the d epartment of c hemistry and b iochemistry, will move into the building, but the space will not be limited to those departments. i nstead, faculty and students from any departments may be placed in the facility if they have large research groups or special laboratory needs.
The research conducted in the new facility will focus on creating new molecules and investigating the role
of molecules in a host of applications: treating cancer, creating renewable biofuels, purifying water, separating gases, catalyzing new reactions, creating energy storage solutions and other applications, k ilpatrick said.
“The students will use a vast array of modern research equipment in their research,” he said. “ ... The collaborative nature of the work environment means that the space will be more flexible and, when additional space is needed for expanded scope of experiments, it should be available. s o that is effectively like having access to larger labs. a lso, the labs should be safer and better equipped.”
k ilpatrick said the faculty members who will be moving into m c c ourtney h all are currently housed within the f itzpatrick h all of e ngineering, the s tepan c hemistry h all and the n ieuwland h all of s cience. i n these buildings, the faculty and students have limited access to large-scale research labs and are unable to conduct experiments requiring fume hoods, which are critical when conducting research.
“ we have many faculty members in these departments who did not have adequate modern laboratories,”
k ilpatrick said.“ m uch modern chemical engineering and chemistry research requires very ventilation-intensive research [and] the buildings that these two departments are in right now simply do not have adequate air flow and utilities capabilities to accommodate this research. The new m c c ourtney h all is much more modern, collaborative, flexible, and co-locates research in the molecular sciences and engineering, all dramatic improvements over the existing spaces.”
k ilpatrick said that the
expanded space — and the equipment housed within it — will greatly benefit the hundreds of undergraduate students who will be using the facility.
“The group meetings and collaborative interactions in mc c ourtney should be of tremendous benefit to these students, enabling them to be even more productive in their work and enabling them to get into the very best graduate programs in the country,” he said.
i n addition to helping both students and faculty expand their research goals, k ilpatrick
said the new facility and updated equipment will allow notre d ame to be more competitive overall in the field of scientific research.
“The addition of mc c ourtney h all and the expanded capabilities that it gives us absolutely enables us to be much more competitive,” he said. “ w hether we are now in the same league as stanford, mi T, ucla and others remains to be seen, but we definitely have aspirations in that regard.”
Contact Jenna Wilson at jwilso35@nd.edu
smashburger debuts in lafortune student center
By RACHEL O’GRADY
a
ssociate news e ditor
a fter 18 years in l a f ortune
s tudent c enter, b urger k ing was replaced this summer by s mashburger, a national fast-food chain specializing in burgers and shakes.
Jim l a b ella, general manager of The h uddle, said sales so far have far exceeded their expectations.
“ we were expecting to sell maybe 50 shakes a day, but we’ve already sold 300 today, so we’re ordering like crazy,”
l a b ella said.
l a b ella is already placing the next food order — the restaurant ran out of ice cream Thursday evening — and he said the restaurant has been busy around the clock. i n addition to the classic burgers, the restaurant serves chicken, salads and sides.
“ i t’s been crazy; we already need more of almost everything,” l a b ella said. “ f ortunately, you know, the supplier can come every day. They’re just in g rand r apids, and they carry everything we need for s mashburger, so that’s great. There’s no guesswork involved.”
f eedback from customers
so far has been positive as well, l a b ella said, and lines have been long at nearly all hours.
“ i t’s going really well so far, so that’s been awesome,” he said.
l a b ella has been with the u niversity dining services for 23 years, and he said he thinks this was a good change for the student center.
“ i t was a long process to change from b urger k ing. we worked on it for about three years,” l a b ella said.
“There was student involvement, as far as the satisfaction with b urger k ing, and all that. a gain, it was a really long process, we were talking about it for a really long time, and we took in a lot of input.”
f ortunately, l a b ella said, the transition has been smooth.
“ i t’s been hectic because it’s been so busy,” he said.
“The one thing i do want to say is that last week, we were in training with the s mashburger corporate people and it was great, just really phenomenal training.
i t was basically a week of training. They just locked us in here and we went on full blast.”
The restauraunt was just one element of a chain of ongoing rennovations and construction projects — both in l a f ortune and at other locations across campus.
The s tarbucks in the student center underwent a major renovation while students were gone for the summer, adding seating and an expanded work space behind the counter. a dditionally, the west entrance and steps into the building were remodeled over the summer. c ampus d ining plans to announce the restaurants in the d uncan s tudent c enter, — part of the ongoing c ampus c rossroads project, which is set to open in the f all 2017 — in the coming months.
l a b ella said the construction is only just now finishing up.
“ we only got fully moved in here [ wednesday],” l a b ella said. “ we were still screwing in some things, so [ wednesday] was the first day we were really open for business.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
Customers line up for burgers and shakes at Smashburger, the latest addition to LaFortune Student Center after a summer of construction.
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
McCourtney Hall of Molecular Sciences and Engineering, the first building in the East Campus Research Complex the University plans to construct over the next several years, will open its doors this fall.
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
Students sit in the newly-renovated Starbucks, which boasts added seating and an expanded workspace in the area behind the counter.
‘A unique kind of student with a unique balance’
By COURTNEY BECKER news writer
w hile college admissions have largely been considered a numbers game in recent years, to don bishop, associate vice president of undergraduate enrollment, the members of notre dame’s incoming class of 2020 represent more than just high test scores and perfect grades; thanks to their unique and valuable personal attributes, he considers them perfect matches with notre dame.
bishop said the 2,050 incoming first-year students distinguished themselves from the record 19,505 applicants because of a very specific set of qualifications unique to notre dame.
“The university has a very distinctive mission, and probably our most audacious statement is that notre dame will be a force for good in the world,” bishop said. “we’re not just looking for the students who have the highest academic credentials. … it’s our job in admissions to find the students that will make the most use of all the resources that are at notre dame: the academic side of notre dame, the social development side of notre dame and, in the external sense, the service and leadership that we expect notre dame graduates to provide throughout their lives.”
The pool of applicants, over 7,000 of which were in the top one percent of the nation, allowed the university to apply what bishop describes as a “thoughtful holistic selection
process that is focused on the nuanced attributes revealed through essays, letters of recommendations and extensive discussions of activities and the student’s motivation for their success” when selecting the class of 2020.
“saTs and acTs are helpful, but they just shouldn’t dominate the entire decision,” bishop said. “part of the reason for that is 10 years ago for the students that were in the top 1 percent of the nation in national testing, now we have a much larger group in that cohort. so once numbers get so high, the variation within that high range becomes less important. … i don’t think that matters enough for that to be the determining factor on saying ‘yes’ to one student and ‘no’ to another. so you look for other attributes.”
bishop said the university developed this evaluation process through extensive research about what determines a student’s success at notre dame, and is confident the incoming first-year students’ success will continue beyond college.
“i often use numbers to evaluate whether we should the use the numbers as much as we have used them, and sometimes the research on numbers show that you should use numbers less,” he said. “we’ve talked to some of the top corporations in the world about how they evaluate people for projecting success after college. we’re trying to predict not only your success as an applicant at notre dame, we’re now increasingly trying to think
through your potential success throughout your career and life.”
bishop said notre dame’s lack of interest in driving up its university ranking encourages him to admit a “unique kind of student with a unique balance” rather than an applicant who simply aims to check boxes.
“notre dame is not interested in being a generic top-15 school and being rated highly within those 15. we are interested in becoming a better version of notre dame every year,” bishop said. “we feel we’re no. 1 at who we are [and] we want to get better at who that is each year. we’re really acting out of a sense of, ‘we’re comfortable in our own skin, but we want to get better every year.’ we have a sense of purpose and mission, and we believe that we’re unique and we’re trying each year to become better at that.”
The class of 2020 not only “sets another record for achievement by the incoming students” with the average student in the top 1 percent of the nation in either high school performance or national testing, bishop said in an email, but also stands out for their service and leadership.
“The admitted students are truly remarkable in their motivation for learning and commitment to service and leadership,” he said. “The enrolling class is comprised of students with compelling achievements and special talents with the potential to become tremendous servant leaders, scholars, researchers, creative artists and entrepreneurs.”
bishop said he is looking for these students to use their talents to seek a greater understanding of themselves and others.
“There’s the intellectual ability, but we’re really trying to push our students toward a greater sense of wisdom, and we’re looking for students that want to seek out wisdom, not just accomplishment,” said bishop. “my understanding of wisdom is not only being very bright, but then integrating it with a sense of knowing who you are, knowing who others are and developing a sense of purpose and fulfillment from that. a nd i don’t think the majority of other colleges talk like that.”
bishop said notre dame has also managed to remain faithful to the university’s catholic identity while admitting increasingly high numbers of top students because “the top catholics are attracted to notre dame.”
“in the last six years we have doubled the number of catholic applicants that are in the top 1 percent of the nation,” he said. “we’ve been intentional about identifying the unique nature of notre dame and we’ve gone out intentionally and found the top catholics and engaged them in that conversation. … about 80 percent of our freshman class is catholic. if you look at the other top-10 catholic universities in a merica by top 10 most selective — and there are over 200 catholic colleges and universities in a merica — they average only around 45 to 70 percent catholic.”
This continued admission of catholic students, as well as students who buy into notre dame’s faith-based values, has also resulted in an increase in diversity, bishop said. This year’s incoming class includes students from 1,362 high schools from 47 countries; 32 percent of the class is made up of u s. students of color and international students.
“one thing we know is that the top catholic students insist on an increasingly diverse institution,” he said. “so they would not have come if notre dame had not proven itself to be open to all students and to provide a socioeconomic and a cultural diversity. so you have to do both at the same time: remain uniquely catholic but also highly diverse.”
additionally, bishop said he is optimistic that students of the class of 2020 are good matches with notre dame due to its record-setting yield rate, which indicates students have embraced the university’s mission.
“notre dame is one of the most sought after universities. This year 56.2 percent of the admitted students enrolled — one of the top 10 yield rates in the nation,” he said. “increasingly what we’re finding are students who can go to other top-15 schools, but view notre dame as not just a top-15 school, but no. 1 at who we are. a nd once you embrace who we are and you feel we’re no. 1, you don’t go anywhere else.
Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu
SUSAN ZHU | The Observer
‘We
know this will be a very strong class’
By STEPHANIE SNYDER news writer
s hortly after s aint m ary’s welcomed first-year c ollege president Jan c ervelli, the c ollege welcomed 435 firstyear b elles into their community Thursday as the class of 2020.
“ s haring their first year with p resident c ervelli — i see this class as the leaders of a new chapter in the history of the c ollege,” m ona b owe, the vice president for enrollment management, said.
“They will fuel the president’s passion for women’s education, they will share their experiences with her and they will give her the unique perspective that only b elles can give,” she said. “This class, in a very unique way, will be her partners as she learns — like them — to be a b elle.”
a total of 1,771 students applied for a spot in the class of 2020. o f the 1,450 students admitted, 56 were admitted e arly d ecision, b owe said.
a ccording to b owe, the class of 2020 is 4 percent larger — 16 more b elles — than last year’s class of 2019.
“ b ased on the essays and letters of recommendation the a dmission c ommittee read through this cycle, we know this will be a very strong class,” b owe said.
a ccording to the admissions office, 287 students were varsity athletes, 63 were varsity captains and 103 students were in the national honor s ociety. w hile the majority of students participated in community service, some traveled on mission trips to destinations such as p eru, mexico, d ominican r epublic, g uatemala, n icaragua and h aiti, as well as areas of the
united s tates such as new o rleans, m iami, i llinois, p ennsylvania, m ichigan and the a ppalachian region.
a long with their diverse interests, incoming students are ethnically diverse, representing h ispanic, a sian, b lack, h awaiian/ p acific i slander, native a merican, w hite and multiracial groups. There are also 9 international students joining the first year class from countries such as c hina, Thailand and v ietnam.
“There are a number of very accomplished leaders, athletes and students who have volunteered hundreds of hours to their community and their church [in the class of 2020],” b owe said. “ i n addition to all of these accomplishments, they have very solid academic profiles.”
Contact Stephanie Snyder at ssnyder02@saintmarys.edu
SUSAN
nd revamps welcome weekend programming
By MEGAN VALLEY news writer
Tuesday, approximately 2,000 people from across the country and around the world will be walking into their first classes as college students at notre dame. but first, the division of student a ffairs and first year of studies is hosting a variety of activities and programming throughout the weekend to help first year students — and their parents — acclimate. “welcome weekend,” previously known as “frosh-o” or “freshman orientation” officially began friday at 9 a.m., when the first round of freshmen started moving into their dorms.
“it’s not orientation anymore — it’s a welcoming,” maryanne fisher, welcome weekend cocaptain for walsh community in pangborn hall, said. “Throughout the whole first year you’re being welcomed into the community. it’s not like you’re on your own after this weekend; it’s a gradual process to get to know notre dame and you’re continually being welcomed.”
last year, an oversight committee redesigned freshman orientation weekend to “streamline” the process of introducing students to notre dame without overwhelming them with long speeches or unnecessary information.
“The things students should take the most out of this [weekend] is their dorm community:
getting to see those faces for the first time, knowing who’s available when you need help,” flaherty hall welcome weekend co-captain a line irihamye said. “it’s just about getting excited for the next four years because it’s a good time and you want it to start off with a blast.”
w hile freshmen are busy getting to know other students and learning their way around campus, information about financial aid, study abroad and the career center will be presented to their parents. The “parent orientation” that runs alongside welcome weekend was first introduced last year.
irihamye said one of the biggest changes to this year’s welcome weekend was extending weekend programming to monday.
“one of the things that’s being added on this year is the day of community, which is on the monday before classes start,” she said. “every dorm has a local community organization that they’re going to visit; flaherty’s is the center for the homeless. so from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the orientation committee has buses arranged to take students there and bring them back so that from the moment they get here they can see how to get involved.”
in addition to encouraging students to become involved in the community, the day is intended to help break what many refer to as the “notre dame bubble.”
“it’s just to get the first years
out in the community,” fisher said. “a lot of people never really go into south bend, so it’s just introducing them to things they can do there.”
other community partners participating in the day of community include the food bank of northern indiana, good shepherd montessori school, la casa de a mistad, the robinson community learning center, riverbend cancer services and south bend parks and recreation, among others.
The mcdonald center for student well-being and recsports are also adding to the weekend’s programming with a wellness run and yoga on south Quad each morning of welcome weekend, irihamye said.
fisher said for the most part, programming hasn’t changed much from last year. according to information provided on the welcome weekend mobile app, like last year, freshmen will have their first class for the moreau first year experience course on saturday, and will attend domerfest — a dance party, festival and notre dame tradition — that night. The first year mass will be held 10 a.m. sunday at purcell pavilion, followed by the first class trip to the grotto on sunday night. university president fr. John Jenkins will also deliver a welcome address to freshmen.
The moreau first-year experience course was introduced for the 2015-2016 academic
year to continue the orientation process after welcome weekend ends.
“i wish we would have had [moreau],” fisher said. “i think the continued welcoming of students into the community throughout the year is really important.”
The welcome weekend mobile app was launched last year and features a schedule of events and self-guided campus tours covering academic buildings, favorite study spots and the “best kept secrets” of notre dame. The app also has a guide to stores and restaurants in the south bend area. in addition to the main events of welcome weekend, a number of optional programming events are available to students, including academic exploration sessions, a multicultural reception, an interfaith welcome and a performing arts showcase. additionally, time is set aside each night for residence hall programming.
“The main thing [of welcome weekend] is welcoming first year students into their dorm community,” irihamye said.
each dorm was required to make a video to introduce freshmen to the building and community. irihamye said the video requirement was useful considering the current residence hall arrangement: flaherty hall is a new women’s hall that will house all of the former residents of pangborn hall, as well as students picked by application.
meanwhile, residents of walsh hall — including incoming freshmen — will be living in pangborn hall while their building is under renovation.
“i know it was confusing for us when we got the email, so i don’t even know what the freshmen think,” fisher said. “we got to explain [with the video] that we’re walsh but we’re living in pangborn for a year. They’re mostly just to show freshmen a little of what they should expect of where they’re living.”
w hile flaherty hall is a brandnew dorm, irihamye said the staff still want to emphasize that first year students are being welcomed into a “strong and close community.”
“we’re trying to use the newness of our dorm to our advantage,” she said. “There’s so many ways we can be involved now in forming new traditions and signature events. people should take advantage of that rather than be wary or concerned.” fisher said the central part of welcome weekend is to make new students feel comfortable in their new community and new home.
“notre dame is a great place, but college can be really scary,” fisher said. “welcome weekend is a really overwhelming experience, but we’re trying to do it in a fun way and get their mind off of leaving home.”
Contact Megan Valley at mvalley@nd.edu
Students participate in Belles Beginnings
By MARTHA REILLY
a ssociate saint mary’s e ditor
The saint mary’s class of 2020 will participate in the annual belles beginnings orientation program this weekend, as the incoming students will engage in bonding opportunities, listen to speeches on campus safety and foster open discussions with peer mentors.
student body president e mma mccarthy said she hopes first-year and transfer students embrace the social aspect of belles beginnings and acquaint themselves with classmates.
“The single most important part of orientation is that our first-year students feel that they are a part of our campus community,” mccarthy said. “w hether it be through their first introductions with their roommates, getting to know the other women in their residence halls or meeting their peer mentor groups, there will be no shortage of opportunities for the class of 2020 to get to know each other and begin to build community.”
according to mccarthy, belles beginnings prepares students to take on the challenges of the upcoming academic year in a new environment.
“[ new students] are about to begin the most amazing journey of their lives, and i hope they know that the saint mary’s community is here to help them every step of the way,”
mccarthy said. “There will be hard days, but my hope is that the amazing days, the days that remind them why they chose to be a belle, will far outnumber the hard ones.”
mccarthy said belles beginnings will help students feel connected to their new home at saint mary’s.
“my biggest hope for [new students] is that they know how much their fellow belles love them and how excited we all are that they are here,” mccarthy said. “i hope first-year students learn that they have been given all of the tools that they need to have a successful first year at saint mary’s. now it is their turn to use their gifts and abilities to make their saint mary’s experience what they want it to be.”
student body vice president mary Joy dingler said orientation weekend will help students grow in appreciation for the saint mary’s community.
“i hope the new students learn that they can always count on their fellow belles and that they really will be okay during
their first year at saint mary’s,” dingler said. “saint mary’s is such an amazing place, and it fosters such an amazing community and sisterhood.”
belles beginnings will prepare students for the transformative college experience that lies ahead, according to dingler.
“college is a time to explore and discover more about yourself, and i hope when they take that last walk down the avenue in 2020 that they’ve grown, learned, loved and most importantly, that they are happy with who they’ve become,” dingler
said. “first years and transfers alike should be welcomed by saint mary’s and welcome it back with open arms.”
mccarthy said incoming students should become involved in clubs, sports or other extracurricular activities to take advantage of all saint mary’s has to offer.
“i f [students] do not want to stay at saint mary’s, then they will not fully engage in the campus community, which is a tragedy for both themselves and the college,” mccarthy said. “we want these women to stay with us throughout their
college experience, so welcoming them is our utmost priority.” dingler said students will feel embraced by a supportive community the second they set foot on campus, so belles beginnings will merely strengthen their initial impression of the college.
“i hope as [students] move in and get to know the campus, they’ll realize that they have made one of the best decisions of their lives,” dingler said. “o nce a belle, always a b elle.”
Contact Martha Reilly at mreilly01@saintmarys.edu
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
Members of the Student Government Association welcome the class of 2020 during move in Thursday. The weekend orientation focuses on connecting the first years to the Saint Mary’s community.
Notre Dame welcomes transfer students
By RACHEL O’GRADY
a ssociate news e ditor
hearing “i have always wanted to go to notre dame” is not unusual on campus, but for senior liz hynes, who transferred to notre dame the fall of her sophomore year, this phrase has an entirely new meaning.
“coming to campus as a student for the first time is completely surreal,” hynes said. “among transfers, you’ve got a lot of lifelong dreamers who’ve had to wait for a second chance, so we’re doubly grateful.”
hynes said unlike typical undergraduate students, transfer students do not have the luxury of enjoying a full four years at notre dame.
“get out of bed every day. There will be days when you’re sick or exhausted, and you’ll be tempted to stay in bed for 12 to 24 hours,” she said. “don’t do it.” instead, hynes said, she would advise new transfers to make the most of their time on campus.
“we will never be this rich in time and opportunity again, where we can write for a newspaper and join student government and create art with our friends and study things we’ve always been curious about,” she said. “life won’t always let us do all of these things at once. life will make us
choose. don’t do that one second before you have to. do everything. get out of bed.”
Junior emily schneider transferred last fall from kansas state university, a school she said “could not have been more different than notre dame.”
“i did not know what to expect from such a transition, but i immediately felt as if i belonged at notre dame and felt like a member of the notre dame family,” schneider said.
This year, schneider, along with 24 other transfer students from previous years, will be leading the new transfers through their orientation process.
“Transfer orientation helps so much and really helped me to feel like a second-year student, instead of like a freshman again,” schneider said. “it really helps students make strong friendships and bonds with other transfers in the same situation. i met some of my best friends during transfer orientation and could not be more grateful for the experience.”
instead of going through orientation with their respective dorms, transfers are divided up into small groups called “transfer families,” according to junior and transfer orientation leader nick olmanson.
“The thing that i am most excited about is meeting all the new
students in my transfer family. leaders are grouped in twos and are combined with about six or seven new students to create a family,” olmanson said.
olmanson said he hopes to be a good resource to his transfer family, even beyond orientation.
“last year my transfer family was pretty close. we organized dinners throughout the year and i hope to be able to build friendships like those,” he said.
Transfer families tend to stay close, and olmanson said several students from his transfer family went on to be co-rec flag football champions that year.
“my transfer family was very influential for me and everyone i met got along great,” he said. “i remained close friends with them as the year went on. The leaders last year did a great job and my transfer parents specifically made me want to be a leader to give that great experience to the next transfer class.”
olmanson also said he encourages transfers to reach out to people in their dorms.
“i am lucky to have a bunch of great guys living in my dorm as well. i was able to meet them pretty early on in the year, so that made the transition easy,” olmanson said.
hynes said the separation between the incoming freshmen
and the transfer class is key.
“w hile some other schools lump transfers in with incoming freshmen, notre dame keeps in mind that these students have already spent time in college and don’t need to start from square one,” hynes said. “They’re already aces at college, otherwise they wouldn’t have been accepted as transfers. so we make sure they get an experience that assists specifically with their transition to notre dame.”
hynes described the welcome luncheon of transfer orientation as “the happiest room in the world.”
“The energy that everyone’s sharing — the excitement, the anxiety, the relief at finally being
here — it’s incredibly special,” hynes said.
senior Jake wagner, who transferred to notre dame for the 2014-2015 academic year, said he advises new transfer students not to get overwhelmed by the process.
“i know i was very overwhelmed, and thought i wasn’t cut out for notre dame,” wagner said. “Transferring to notre dame can be a very difficult transition for a lot of people, but things get better. don’t forget that you have the transfer network here to help you.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer Transfer students attend a welcome luncheon in South Dining Hall on Thursday as part of Notre Dame’s transfer orientation.
International students attend orientation
College welcomes nine students from three countries to class of 2020
By MEGAN UEKERT news writer
saint mary’s welcomed nine international students into the class of 2020 during orientation weekend. The international students, who come from three countries, participated in belles beginnings – the college’s orientation program – as well as an orientation designed specifically for international students.
adriana petty, assistant director of international student and scholar services, said her job is to aid international students with the process of coming to the united states.
“my main job is to help students with any visa questions,” she said. “i run programs that are about getting acclimated with saint mary’s life and united states culture. ... i encourage them to take part in clubs ... because most of the students tend to focus only on their academics. w hether they’re here for a semester, a year or four years, it’s really to try and help them get into the saint mary’s community.”
according to petty, students have different options in regards to the orientation process.
“There is the belles connect programming, where incoming freshmen are partnered with a counselor who is a student who knows saint mary’s well and can serve as a mentor,” she said. “There are four incoming international students in belles connect. Then there is belles beginnings, which is the normal orientation that all new students go through.”
petty said the students participated in the international orientation to help them transition not only to college, but also to college in a different country.
“at the international student orientation, we teach them how to maintain their international student status, what programs they can do on campus, [how to work] on campus as an international student [and about] internships and life after graduating,” she said.“we talk about campus life because it’s a whole new way of life for some of them. some of the things they have to become used to, it helps to have repetition.
“The nice option is that if
they come early, they have a chance to become acclimated to the time change and hearing english all the time.”
petty said international students participate in an international education week in november.
“They come and display their culture and countries in different ways, such as teaching a dance or wearing their traditional clothing and describing it,” she said.
petty said in addition to the nine international students joining the class of 2020, there are also other students on campus from different countries.
“seven are from china, one from Thailand and one from vietnam,” she said. “There is a student from Tunisia here for one year through an exchange program, a south korean exchange student here for a semester and a faculty Teaching and learning scholar from china [who] will be teaching conversational chinese. all but one of the first year students have spent at least one year of high school in the united states.”
suchaya wanasathop, an international first year student, said she has had previous experience traveling abroad.
“i was born in bangkok, Thailand,” wanasathop said.“my siblings were born in switzerland and france because my parents worked as business ambassadors. my family likes to travel a lot. w hen i was little i went cambodia and singapore and when i was 10 we took a trip to france and drove to switzerland and stayed with my parents’ friends. ... w hen i was 12, my parents sent me to costa rica, where i attended camp with two boys and two girls from Thailand and met students from 12 different countries.”
wanasathop said she chose saint mary’s because she wanted to travel to a new destination.
“i knew an old professor at notre dame who said that saint mary’s is a really good college and i should come, and i would be happy there,” she said. “i wanted to explore another part of the united states ... ”
Contact Megan Uekert at muekert01@saintmarys.edu
University programming aims to provide support for
students as they transition to college life in new country
By ANDREA VALE news writer
Just a few days before the rest of the student body pours onto campus every august, incoming firstyear students begin one of notre dame’s most renowned traditions: freshman orientation. for a few days, students participate in small-group bonding experiences and larger community events to welcome them to their dorm and the notre dame community at large. even before this program takes place, however, another orientation is held: international student orientation.
according to rosemary max, director of international programs for international student and scholar affairs (issa), 380 international undergraduate and graduate students will be attending international student orientation this year, which is consistent with numbers in previous years.
max said international student orientation differs from regular orientation in more than a few ways.
“not only are we welcoming students to notre dame for the first time but often to the united states for the first time,” max said. “students are very far from home and in need of extra support. a lso, international students learn about all of the immigration rules and regulations that are a part of their stay in the united states. it is a lot to take in for students who are new to the u s.”
events including workshops on maintaining one’s immigration status, the american healthcare system and adjusting to american culture and classrooms took place aug. 17 and 18.
max said that above all, she hopes that international student orientation will allow students to “feel welcome, to help them to make friends and to have them understand the great resources that are available to them on campus and in our community.” she said she considers it a valuable perspective for faculty, staff and fellow notre dame students to “appreciate the long journey these students have undertaken to come here both logistically and culturally and to give them a warm welcome to our campus.”
“certainly being in a place very far from home where everything is new — the language, climate, country, food — is a challenge,” max said, “but international students are courageous and talented and they will be successful here at notre dame.”
max has also acted as a host mother to international students, including fatou Thioune.
Thioune, originally from senegal, had dreamed of coming to the united states for her undergraduate education since she was a child. she said she wanted to “broaden [her] perspective beyond the french education system
and to get a very good higher education in one of the world’s most renowned institutions.”
“it became possible when i got the opportunity to study in an international school in south africa where i got the opportunity to get into the english system and be fluent in the language,” Thioune said in an email. “i did not know much about notre dame before coming, because i couldn’t visit the school, and i didn’t know it growing up. but i chose it mainly because it is a catholic institution and i attended three catholic schools in senegal and like the quality of education and their dedication to social service. i also decided to come because there are a few students from my high school here, so i already had a small community and a support system.”
now a junior, Thioune is able to look back and recall the anxiety max described.
“coming to notre dame was my first time coming to the u s., and my first time attending such a big school where i would be a minority,” Thioune said. “so i was anxious about every single aspect of my new life: social, academic, cultural. i was afraid i would not fit, that i would not make friends, that the new academic system would fail me, that i would face a severe culture shock, that i would be homesick for the next four years of my life and so on. i was afraid i would not be able to cope with all these challenges.”
Thioune found that international student orientation helped assuage her fears when she arrived on campus.
“international student orientation was a moment for me to let go of my anxiety by seeing so many people with whom i shared the same fears and confusion,” Thioune said. “getting lost with other people, sharing the same thoughts, questions and concerns as other people, and most importantly, getting help and support from the international ambassadors and the notre dame international office at large showed me that i wasn’t alone, that there were people i could relate to and people who would be there for me.”
Thioune said international student orientation was her introduction into the community spirit of notre dame.
“i particularly enjoyed meeting ... the few students in our smaller group because that’s when i started knowing people on a personal level,” she said. “we did some icebreakers and from there, it was easy to just approach people and ramble about anything. That’s when i met my closest friend at notre dame now.”
Thioune said she believes the success of international student orientation lies in its ability to create a “support system” comprised exclusively of international students who are all experiencing the same challenges and new encounters at the same time.
“as much as freshman orientation offers the support as well, it doesn’t give much room for international students to ask questions and get answers about the simplest ways of life in the u s., like why the bathroom doors are not closed off or how to get a phone plan,” Thioune said.
as far as advice for incoming international students, Thioune said she simply encourages them to “seek help.”
“people here are always willing to help, so you just have to go get that help,” she said. “don’t be afraid to ask those questions about the simplest things ever, those simple things matter a lot to get adapted to the new way of life.”
Thioune also recalled a piece of advice her host mother imparted on her upon her initial arrival to notre dame.
“she told me that the key to having a great time in college is finding the right people for you,” Thioune said. “if you surround yourselves with the right people, you will feel comfortable, be inspired, have fun your own ways, resist peer pressure and, most importantly, make unforgettable memories. international orientation is an opportunity to find those right people for you. so [sieze] that opportunity and the many others coming.”
Contact Andrea Vale at avale@nd.edu
paid a dverT isemen T
new rectors take charge in seven dorms
By LUCAS MASIN-MOYER
news writer
The new academic year brings with it many changes in dorm life. in addition to the opening of dunne and flaherty halls, seven residence halls are welcoming new
rectors this year.
The seven new rectors, who will oversee and guide residential life, are allyse gruslin of ryan hall, fr. matthew hovde of Zahm house, Zachary imfeld of morrissey manor, Justin mcdevitt of stanford hall, fr. christopher rehagen of of o’neill
hall, rachelle simon of lewis hall and eric styles of carroll hall.
gruslin, a native of rhode island and the recipient of a master of divinity from notre dame, said her desire to become a rector came from her experiences as an assistant rector (ar) in lyons hall last year.
“i moved in lyons, and i realized it was a wonderful experience, spending time with the women, getting to know them, just hanging out with them,” gruslin said. “i knew there was something special about this ministry.”
This desire to serve as a rector grew throughout gruslin’s time at lyons, she said.
“it became this thing i felt like i had to try,” gruslin said. “i knew this was something god was calling me to do.”
hovde, a holy cross priest who holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from notre dame, has previously served as an ar for sorin college and has worked in campus
ministry and at the center for social concerns (csc). he was recently ordained a holy cross priest in april.
imfeld said becoming a rector was a long-term goal.
“being a rector has been a dream of mine since i was a freshman [at the university of portland],” imfeld said. “i just saw what the rector position was and thought it’d be a really cool opportunity for me to serve a great place like notre dame.”
imfeld said he hopes to help foster personal growth among the residents of morrissey hall.
“i think [being a rector] is about getting to know the guys and spend time with them and help them to grow into the men that god is calling them to be,” imfeld said.
mcdevitt, who recently graduated with a master’s degree in political science from notre dame, worked in places from mexico, where he served on mission trips,
to iraq, where he served as a government contractor. in his time studying at notre dame, mcdevitt was involved heavily with chorale. in an email, he said he felt a calling to be a rector after teaching political science at the university and wants to help stanford hall men become role models for living a good life.
“working with the incredible students here changed my life and made me understand that my calling is to serve and love and live for students,” he said. “i think a lot of other people knew i was meant to be a rector before i did because i had such a heart for teaching, but instead of politics i’ll just be teaching life. i constantly refer to being a rector as ‘my new life’ because that’s exactly what it is for me.” rehagen, a 2009 graduate of notre dame and a holy cross priest, most recently served as a deacon and parochial vicar at christ the king parish in south bend. he said his own experience in alumni hall made him want to “pay it forward”, and that he looked forward to working with the men of o’neill hall.
“i know the guys are full of good ideas and hopefully we’ll put some of those in practice,” he said. styles has a background in both church service and the arts, graduating from the university of cincinnati’s college-conservatory of music. he has served as the parish liturgy coordinator at saint benedict the african east catholic church in chicago. he said he was excited to be part of carroll hall’s tight-knit community; when he arrived over the summer, he fielded a steady stream of hall residents and alumni visiting to welcome him. “i was greeted by a student from carroll the first day i got here,” he said. “The rumor mill worked, they found out i was working on campus, and a current student came by looking for me. They continued to come by over the first two weeks and just continued to show up.”
simon spent many years serving in a variety of organizations, including the Jesuit volunteer corps, campus ministry at boston college and the st. louis arc, which helps those with developmental disabilities. simon did not attend notre dame, and said being a newcomer provides unique new challenges.
simon said she is excited to become a part of the notre dame community.
“it just seemed like a great fit,” she said. “i prayed about it a lot, and what it means, in terms of building christian community, and get[ting] to be a pastoral presence, i’m really excited about it. i think it’s just a really important time in people’s lives, in students lives, it’s a great time to be figuring out who you are and who god is, and about the world and what you’re going to do to contribute.”
Associate news editor Emily McConville contributed to this report.
“i have many of the same feelings as a freshman,” she said. “i’m coming from a previous experience kind of like a senior in high school. i’m very confident in my former position, and i knew what i was doing, but now i’m in new territory. i have many of the same emotions and anxiousness about learning a new place. am i going to fit in? am i not going to flunk out? how do i learn the territory and the expectations?”
To gain fully the saint mary’s experience, cervelli plans on going through orientation with the incoming class.
“i want the first years to know that they’re not alone,” she said. “The best way i can learn … is to actually walk the walk. i am putting into place some opportunities where i can interact with the freshman class informally, to talk about what they’re experiencing, what it’s like, what are their concerns, and what is working.”
cervelli’s goals for her presidency are twofold. she said she wants to preserve the “special nature” of saint mary’s, and to blend liberal arts and career-focused education.
“i believe strongly that in today’s world, the world needs saint mary’s college more and more,”
dorms
that the presence of faculty, both
she said. “i say that around all women’s education and catholic education. i think there’s a value added to being here at saint mary’s beyond other institutions. The spiritual dimension that one gains here brings a depth of an education that you don’t get elsewhere.”
cervelli said she wants to combine the liberal arts education with the need for a career-based education to accommodate the changing world and the demand for higher education.
“someone can come to saint mary’s college and have the strength of the critical thinking skills and the creativity one gets out of the liberal arts and sciences, but then can complement that with a really strong career base,” she said. “having both of those is really going to propel someone for a lifetime.”
additionally, cervelli plans to increase the effort for sustainability. she said she hopes to increase recycling, reduce pesticides, source more locally grown foods and create more bike paths on campus.
“i ultimately see where a student can come study environmental sustainability and the potential for environmental sciences to connect to the business degrees,” she said. “how can you make environmental sustainability profitable? we’re seeing that in different parts of the country, but saint mary’s students can be
lay and ordained, will help our students thoughtfully integrate their academic lives with the formation that occurs in our residence halls.”
according to karen kennedy,
paid a dverT isemen T
leaders in that respect.”
cervelli said because sustainability efforts can positively impact the health of community members, and considering the college’s long tradition with health sciences and particularly nursing, incorporating sustainability into the saint mary’s curriculum is the natural course.
The school plans to expand its graduate program opportunities in the coming years, according to cervelli. she said the world has demonstrated a need for more people in the health sciences fields and the environmental studies fields, and she plans to include more opportunities in those fields for saint mary’s women.
“we’ll be launching a new strategic planning process where we look at what are those areas we are already really strong at that could launch additional opportunities,” she said.
college president emeritus carol ann mooney created a task force during the 2015-2016 academic year to evaluate the college’s processes and responses to issues regarding sexual assault. The task force published a report at the end of the year outlining a number of recommendations, all of which will be implemented in the coming years, cervelli said.
“w hat you’re going to see is an increased effort to provide information on the campus about
director of housing, both halls received typical proportions of new transfer students and first-year residents.
“To fill flaherty hall, residents
what happens if an incident occurs, how do you report, how do you gain help from that,” she said. “There will also be a lot of activities around how to prevent.
“That’s really where we need to be, the prevention dimension of this. bavo [belles against violence office] has done great work, and we will be looking for their leadership continuously. we’re also looking to have our Title iX coordinator in a very objective position, to serve as the best advocate for students that have complaints. so that has been moved to the director of [human resources].”
cervelli said university president fr. John Jenkins is planning on working closely with her to address the issue of sexual assault on both campuses.
“we could create some kind of a coalition where we share our best practices,” she said. “my goal is to be a leader in the country, as is fr. Jenkins’. we should be leaders.
“my commitment is 100 percent. i have no tolerance. saint mary’s will not have tolerance of this kind of behavior and we’re going to do whatever we possible can to address the issues.”
To help her talk to the saint mary’s community and have a sense of what she needs to do as president, cervelli said she is launching a “listening tour,” a series of formal and informal events and interactions with the saint
who were living in pangborn, or who had lived in pangborn before going abroad, were automatically eligible for room picks in flaherty hall, and other undergraduate women were able to apply to transfer to flaherty through the interhall application process, which coincides with the typical housing renewal process in february and march,” kennedy said.
undergraduate men were able to apply to transfer to dunne through the interhall application process as well, kennedy said.
“it is our hope that these processes, which were designed to ensure diverse communities in the new halls across a variety of demographics and to assist with remedying overcrowding in other halls across campus, have dunne and flaherty well-poised for the task of building community and establishing identity and culture in their first year and beyond,” she said.
fr. matthew kuczora will assume the rector role in dunne hall.
“i’m most excited about the chance to build a brand new community from the ground up,” he said. “one of the most distinct things about residential life at notre dame is our dorm system. The bonds formed there last a lifetime.”
kuczora previously served as rector of carroll hall and as a priest-inresidence of st. edward’s hall.
“i’m really looking forward to creating our own traditions that will last for generations of students to come,” kuczora said. “a major challenge we’ll face right away is that we’re really starting without much of a base. i don’t see that lasting long though.”
fifth year Tom nye will serve as a resident assistant in dunne hall this coming year.
mary’s community in which she will seek insight into the state of the college from different perspectives.
“it is my objective to meet as many people as possible, go to as many different venues, to listen to what people have to say about saint mary’s, what they think of it today, what does it mean to them, how has it changed their lives, what works really well, what could we be doing better,” she said. “i’ve learned a great deal by asking more questions than i’ve been talking, so i want to continue that through the year. i want to share what i’m hearing.”
cervelli said the people at saint mary’s have already made her experience as president great.
“i’ve been part of many campuses,” she said. “great places, great scholars and teachers, but i have never been in a place where there has been more deep commitment to the missions of the institution, without comparison. people here believe in the mission of saint mary’s. They believe in the charism of the sisters. … They believe in women’s education. They don’t just say they do. They live it. and it’s infectious.
“The reason i’m here, the reason i just couldn’t resist coming here is the people.”
Contact Nicole Caratas at ncaratas01@saintmarys.edu
“a new residence hall offers a huge opportunity to establish new traditions, plan unique events and shape a welcoming community,” nye said. “i am most looking forward to turning this new building into a home. i have greatly enjoyed my time in nd residence halls and i am hoping to make sure dunne hall contributes to the great legacy of residence halls here on campus.” nye said the dunne hall mascot, dorm colors and dorm government will be chosen sometime in the fall by a dorm-wide vote.
“This year we will be forming a new dorm identity with contributions from the many upperclassmen joining from other residence halls, as well as a large group of first year and transfer students. each resident will have to bring fresh ideas and the best of their respective former halls,” nye said.
flaherty hall chose their dorm colors last spring, but will chose their mascot sometime this fall, according to hall president Jessica Zlaket.
“i’m looking forward to the huge sense of excitement i know all of the girls are going to have — that goes for returners, newbies and freshmen alike,” Zlaket said. “i know that the dorm is going to be buzzing with energy and that makes everything easier.”
Zlaket said she hopes to create a community focused on spirit and sisterhood.
“i know that sounds really cliche, but when it comes down to it, my main goal is that flaherty hall becomes a family within a family and a home within a home here on campus,” Zlaket said.
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
This year, do less
The class of 2020 is indisputably one of the best and brightest in the histories of the u niversity and c ollege. w e seem to say that every year, and yet every year it remains the truth.
g etting here required a perfectly curated resume of community service, sports and a slew of after-school activities — on top of a competitive gpa and sky-high test scores. i n short, there was a lot to do and, for most of you, someone hovering nearby to make sure you did it.
n ow, you will have more free time than you ever had before, and while a fair amount of it will be spent studying and occasionally sleeping, you’ll still have plenty of hours left in the day. a nd as you navigate the newfound freedom from the watchful eyes of your parents, the biggest decision you’ll make this year is how you’ll spend them.
The activities fair is 11 days away. i t’s certainly tempting to repeat what you did in high school, jamming as many different clubs, sports and activities into your schedule and resume as you possibly can. a nd if you do, your resume will certainly seem impressive on first glance.
b ut my challenge for you is two-fold: f irst, settle on a few things instead of a dozen and really immerse yourself in them. i promise you’ll be better for it.
i signed up for The o bserver the second week of my freshman year at the activities fair, along with about 45 other clubs. i didn’t think i would stick around very long, but i had written for my paper in high school, and they gave me free candy, so in exchange i offered up my email address. w hen i got the first post-fair email, i went to a meeting on something of a whim.
a s a former editor once put it, The o bserver quickly went from a hobby, to a job, to an obsession, and has fairly heavily shaped what i want to do with my life after graduation. m y list of other activities at school is limited, but i wouldn’t trade the experience and friendships i ’ve picked up along the way for anything.
The second challenge is to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves, to go to things you don’t know anything about, and to listen. l ectures, shows and local excursions might not show up on a cv, but you may find yourself pleasantly surprised if you take the time to go. These campuses have access to world-class guest lectures, productions and professors, and it would be a shame to spend four (or more) years here without taking advantage.
s o do less. d on’t do things for the sake of doing them, and take advantage of what you have in front of you. a nd, of course, welcome home.
Contact Margaret Hynds at mhynds@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
LEttErs to tHE Editor
Mind, body and spirit
d ear s tudents,
This comes with my very best wishes to all new and returning n otre d ame students. w hether you are arriving on campus for the first time or returning after a summer away, we are very glad you are part of the n otre d ame community.
a s we celebrate the new academic year, i invite you to attend the campus-wide o pening of the a cademic year m ass on Tuesday, a ug. 23, at 5:30 p.m. in the Joyce c enter’s p urcell p avilion. p lease join me on this important occasion, as we gather to welcome new members and ask g od’s blessing on our endeavors this year. f ollowing m ass, there will be a picnic on s outh Quad, where music and entertainment are planned. a ll are welcome.
The u niversity of n otre d ame’s mission is distinctive. we strive to offer an undergraduate education of the whole — mind, body and spirit — that is second to none. we cultivate scholarly excellence, and we advance human understanding through top-tier research and post-baccalaureate programs. i n all that we do, we ensure that the c atholic
identity of n otre d ame informs our efforts.
a s you know, the u niversity has a rich history. g enerations of n otre d ame graduates have been shaped by their experiences here, and they, in turn, have left their mark on the u niversity. we invite you to do the same, to be part of n otre d ame’s present as well as its future. i ndividually and collectively, you have tremendous talents and gifts to share. a t a time when the world’s need for compassionate and creative leaders is great, i hope you will take every day, every place on this campus and every conversation with those you encounter here as an opportunity to engage, learn and grow. you are n otre d ame, and we are better because you are here.
o nce again, welcome. i wish you every grace and blessing, and my prayers are with you.
our doors are open
welcome to campus, class of 2020! i t’s an exciting, nerve-wracking and transformative time filled with new faces and experiences that will shape the beginning of your incredible four years here at n otre d ame. r ight about now you’re getting to know that bittersweet feeling of leaving for a whole new journey, one without the familiarities of home. The good news is: you’re not alone. a bout two thousand of your new peers are going through the same transition as you, and many more have been through it before (ourselves included).
c ollege is a remarkable place that emboldens selfdiscovery, pushes you to your limits and challenges you intellectually. o ur best advice? c herish every single moment. The sleepless nights in the library studying for g en- c hem, the crushing defeat of a flag football game, the deep talks about the meaning of life with your roommates in the residence hall: these are the types of moments that will define your time at n otre d ame and lead you to some of the most fulfilling friendships and exciting adventures in your
life. i t may seem vast and intimidating now, but soon you’ll be accomplishing feats you never thought possible and begin to find your place both at n otre d ame as well as in the world. k now that we are here for you during this new transition. o ur doors are open. we hope to see you on campus, and feel free to come visit us in 203 l a f ortune whenever you want to talk about anything.
g o i rish.
Corey Robinson student body president university of notre dame
Becca Blais student body vice president university of notre dame
Michael Markel student body chief of staff university of notre dame a ug. 18
Fr. John Jenkins president university of notre dame a ug. 18
Margaret Hynds e ditor-in- c hief
iNsidE CoLumN
LEttErs to tHE Editor
The saint mary’s we have inherited
i feel like i’m starting college all over again. The anticipation, the enthusiasm — and the nerves — associated with that milestone have resurfaced as i prepare to join the incoming class of 2020 on an exciting new adventure at s aint mary’s.
i n a few short months since being appointed president, i’ve been the beneficiary of the community spirit that infuses the tri-campus — s aint mary’s, notre dame and holy c ross. i’m excited to build upon the good and strong partnerships between our schools. my predecessor, c arol a nn mooney, has been generous with her support, while colleagues, alumnae and students have welcomed me into the family, exhibiting the inclusive character that defines the c ollege. e veryone has made my s outh b end homecoming warm and wonderful.
i welcome our incoming and returning students to
a new academic year with the same open arms. a nd i issue a challenge to us all: l et us be worthy of the s aint mary’s we have inherited, striving every day to live up to the founding spirit of the sisters of the holy c ross, who continue to lead us by example, and to the standard set by all those who have come before us. pope francis recently articulated, in his inimitable way, what a wounded world needs from its young people. d uring his visit to poland for world youth day, the pope issued a call to lace up your boots and confront global problems with action.
suffering viewed on a screen might seem distant, he said, lulling young people into becoming “couch potatoes.” Those fortunate enough to be the beneficiaries of s aint mary’s extraordinary educational and spiritual experience should be the first on their feet.
Throughout its history, s aint mary’s leaders, students and alumnae have risen to the challenges of their time. The start of a new academic year is an ideal moment to reflect on their example and consider how we can follow in their footsteps. we are witnessing human suffering resulting from social injustice, religious intolerance, and environmental degradation. The world needs s aint mary’s inspired leaders, perhaps now more than ever.
l et’s rise to meet that need. a s pope francis reminds us, “l ife is always beautiful when we choose to live it fully, when we choose to leave a mark.”
Jan Cervelli president saint mary’s college aug. 18
Writing the next chapter
d ear new students, l ike generations who came before, you are embarking on a journey at the university of n otre d ame where you will have an opportunity to advance your knowledge, develop your leadership skills, deepen your faith, learn from others and form lifelong friendships. w hether you are a first-year undergraduate, transfer, professional or graduate student, we are delighted that you have chosen to join our community; and i extend a warm welcome to you as you begin this formative time in your life.
i hope that n otre d ame challenges you in many ways. your professors, your rector, your advisors and your classmates will encourage you to stretch yourself intellectually and develop on a spiritual and personal level. Take these opportunities to find a passion that matches your talents and allows you to lead a purposeful life. d are to be different, yet be respectful and welcoming to all. h ave a wonderful time, without engaging in behavior that would place you or others at risk.
e xpect much of yourself, care for those in the community around you and reach out for support when needed. e xplore new things, while cherishing the people and traditions that matter. e mbrace n otre d ame’s distinctive c atholic mission and enrich your understanding of it through study and reflection. c ontribute your own talents to improve the lives of others.
much of your development at the university can and should occur on your own. a t the same time, know that the d ivision of s tudent a ffairs is available to support you through our residential communities and a variety of student service departments. r ectors and members of our hall staffs across 30 undergraduate communities and two graduate and family residences are dedicated to building c hristian communities that are rooted in the holy c ross tradition. The professionals who serve in c ampus m inistry, the c areer c enter, the m c d onald c enter for s tudent well-b eing, the o ffice of c ommunity s tandards, the g ender r elations c enter, g raduate c areer s ervices,
g raduate s tudent l ife, multicultural s tudent p rograms and s ervices, r ec s ports, s ara b ea d isability s ervices, the s tudent a ctivities o ffice, the o ffice of h ousing, the university c ounseling c enter, university health s ervices and beyond are trained to provide specialized services and programming that will complement your development. a ll of us are eager to smooth and enhance the road that you will travel during your time at n otre d ame, and i encourage you to seek our help along the way. i look forward to watching how your presence, energy, and ideas renew and enhance our university. you will lead n otre d ame in new directions based on the paths that you pursue. m ay we all form a strong community and write the next chapter of this beloved institution together. b est wishes and prayers for a successful year.
Erin Hoffmann Harding v ice p resident of student a ffairs university of notre dame aug. 18
The best journey of your life
welcome, b elles of 2020!
i am so excited that you have finally arrived here on campus. i t is a long journey getting to move-in day and it’s a huge milestone to celebrate. your fellow b elles are so thrilled that you are here and are anxious to get to know each and every one of you. b elles b eginnings will be an incredible experience; there will be highs and there will be lows. you will meet new friends, you will learn new things, but many of you will be living away from home for the very first time and will have to say goodbye to your families. f rom someone who cried the moment i walked in to closing m ass, trust me when i tell you things will get better and you will be okay. c ollege is an adjustment for everyone, and you most certainly are not alone.
The most important part of the weekend is to trust the process. s low down, take it all in and be sure to thank your family for helping get you
to this point. e njoy every moment that you have this weekend and every memory you will make throughout your first year. you will never be a first-year s aint m ary’s student again, so cherish it. you are entering into a community that is so much bigger than yourself. The support you will receive from your fellow b elles will be incredible, but you also are now part of a community that spans across the world. a ny time you come into contact with a s aint m ary’s woman, you will feel this connection. i t is the most special place, and four years will never be enough.
i encourage you to over the next few weeks to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. g o into your neighbor’s room and introduce yourself, get involved in some way on campus and get to know your professors. e ach experience will enrich your life in ways you never thought possible. i n four years you will look back
and be so thankful that you made the decision to attend s aint m ary’s. you may even be the woman writing this letter, i certainly never would have thought it would be me my first year.
you are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. s aint m ary’s will not let you down in this journey. There will be challenges, but they are simply bumps along your path. b e yourself, be confident and just enjoy it. i f you ever need a break, a simple walk down the avenue will cure any problems you may face.
The most important thing to remember is that The avenue will always lead you home. welcome to the best journey of your life!
Emma McCarthy student body president saint mary’s college aug. 18
Tebow tries his hand at baseball
Marek Mazurek sports e ditor
well this summer didn’t disappoint in sporting happenings.
we saw c leveland win the nba championship while d raymond g reen couldn’t keep himself out of trouble.
a nd then we saw superstar k evin d urant abandon the Thunder and form a super team at g olden s tate.
we saw s idney c rosby lead the p enguins to the second s tanley c up of his career.
we saw an epic duel between p hil m ickelson and h enrik s tenson for the c laret Jug at r oyal Troon.
we saw m ichael p helps blow the competition away yet again in r io and we are seeing the c ubs make what could be a historic run.
yet despite all these memorable events, the real story of the summer is none other than Tim Tebow.
a nd if you’re thinking, “ g eez, what stupid nfl team signed him this time?” you are in for a treat.
b ecause Tim Tebow announced his foray into … baseball.
o f course, Tebow is 29 years old and has not played baseball full time since he was in high school. There’s no real chance that any mlb team would sign him, even though some teams will come to see him workout.
b ut the point here isn’t about whether or not Tebow will make a pro roster, the point is that we get more Tebowmania. i always liked Timmy. h e was fun to watch at f lorida and was robbed of a second h eisman Trophy. h is speech after the o le m iss loss is one of the greatest sports speeches of alltime and regardless of your faith, the fact that he lives his publicly is a bit refreshing in an age of athletes being protective of their private lives.
i will acknowledge his
stint in the nfl shows he simply wasn’t talented enough to be an nfl starter, but he did win a playoff game and that’s nothing to scoff at. a nd there’s a certain level of respect that must be given to someone who pursues their dreams to the utmost of their ability. h e could have settled for a high-paying reporting job with espn h e could have settled and been a quarterback in the c anadian f ootball l eague, the a rena f ootball l eague or even played for a r ussian team.
b ut he didn’t. h e kept trying and i think the sports world is better off for his efforts, even if he didn’t win a championship or make the p ro b owl.
a nd so like the nfl , the mlb won’t pan out for Tim, but the media attention he gets can fuel the dreams of wannabe pros for years to come. w ith his most recent announcement, Tebow has started selling autographed baseballs and bats on his website, not to mention his new book “ s haken” and, of course, feel free to book him to speak at your next convention.
you can see Tebow as someone who chased his dreams as hard as he could, but came up short. o r you could view Tebow as sticking it to the ncaa for not letting him rack up the money he would have during his time in college. Tebow was one of the few players who could generate massive amounts of revenue before he turned pro and it’s good to see him taking back the success and fame he deserves.
you may not like him as much as i do, or you may not like him at all, but Tebow is here to stay.
Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
notre dame hires two new assistant coaches
Observer Sports Staff
n otre d ame hired alumni r obert ayers and r yan h umphrey as assistant men’s basketball coaches over the summer to replace the departed m artin i ngelsby, who left for the head coaching position at d elaware.
h umphrey graduated from n otre d ame in 2002 and was an a ll- a merican forward from 2000-2002. h e was the 19th overall pick in the 2002 nba draft by the u tah Jazz and spent the next 12 years as a professional in the nba and e urope. h umphrey was most recently the director of player development at n orthwestern before joining the i rish and currently has the third most blocks in n otre d ame history at 166.
“ i ’m elated about the opportunity to return to my alma mater and coach alongside my friends, former coaches and mentor,” h umphrey said in a press release. “ c oach b rey and his staff have done an exceptional job of mapping n otre d ame as a national basketball powerhouse. r euniting with the n otre
d ame basketball family is definitely a privilege and an honor.”
“ i ’m so thrilled to have r yan h umphrey back home with us,” b rey said in the release. “ i ’ve had my eye on him the last couple years as he was paying his dues to get into coaching and i am so excited to get him working with our front-line guys. o ur big guys don’t know how lucky they are to have a guy like r yan h umphrey, someone who developed into a first-round pick out of our system, working with them on a daily basis. h e is a class act, a winner and he adds great energy to the program.”
Joining h umphrey on n otre d ame’s coaching staff is r yan ayers, a 2009 graduate of n otre d ame and captain during the 2008-2009 season. ayers spent the last two seasons as an assistant at b ucknell and helped lead the b ison to two consecutive ni T berths. ayers has also seen time in e urope playing in f rance and f inland.
“ i am extremely excited to rejoin the n otre d ame basketball family,” ayers said in a press release. “ s ome of the fondest memories of my
life have been wearing that i rish jersey and playing for c oach b rey. i am humbled and honored for this opportunity and ready to give back to the student-athletes and this u niversity that has given so much to me.”
“ we are going back to the well of former players, `getting the band back together’ so to speak,” b rey said in a press release. “ r yan ayers was one of those players that took time to develop. h e got older, he got stronger then as the light bulb went on he had two great years as a junior and senior. we get a lot of young men who develop like that and to have r yan here as an example, to talk them through those developmental stages, will be very important.
“ h e is another former player i have had an eye on. h e comes from great bloodline with his d ad being a former college and nba coach. h e is a natural for this position and paid his dues at b ucknell. i am thrilled to have a class act and a winner back in our program.” h umphrey and ayers will join a program that has made two consecutive e lite e ight appearances.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
The Notre Dame coaching staff watches intently as the Irish take on Duke at Purcell Pavilion on Jan. 8, 2015. This season, the staff will be joined by new assistant coaches Ryan Humphrey and Robert Ayers.
biggio, hunter Jr. sign pro contracts
Observer Sports Staff
a pair of n otre d ame players with mlb ties could be headed there themselves, as junior second baseman c avan b iggio and junior outfielder Torii h unter Jr. heard their names called in June’s mlb d raft.
b iggio, the son of a h all of f ame inductee, c raig b iggio, was taken in the fifth round June 10 by the Toronto b lue Jays. The second baseman, who led the i rish in a number of statistical categories in 2016 including on-base percentage (.473), hits (61), runs (43) and stolen bases (14), follows in brother c onor’s footsteps, who was a 34th-round a stros draft pick in 2015. i t was also the second time c avan b iggio was selected in the mlb d raft; coming out of high school, he was selected in the 29th round by the p hiladelphia p hillies, but elected to attend n otre d ame instead of signing a professional contract.
This time, however, b iggio signed a deal, and was assigned to the c lass a vancouver c anadians, of the n orthwest l eague, on
June 20. b iggio has had a successful season north of the border: h e was named to the league’s team for the n orthwest/ p ioneer l eague a ll- s tar g ame and is hitting .298 with 20 rbi s through 47 games.
h unter Jr., who spends the fall season on the gridiron as a key receiver for the i rish football team, was selected in the 23rd round by the l os a ngeles a ngels. The outfielder saw limited action in 2016 on the diamond, making 13 plate appearances in 19 outings, and like b iggio, follows in the footsteps of his father, five-time a ll- s tar Torii h unter. h unter Jr. was also previously selected in the mlb d raft, in the 36th round by the d etroit Tigers in 2013.
l ike b iggio, h unter Jr. signed a professional contract this summer, though he is not currently playing; instead he is prepping for the upcoming i rish football season.
The duo mark the 14th and 15th i rish players to be selected in the mlb d raft during head coach m ik a oki’s tenure at f rank e ck s tadium.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Former Irish second baseman Cavan Biggio reacts after flying out to center field during Notre Dame’s 9-5 win over UIC on March 22.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Former Irish second baseman Cavan Biggio slides into third base during Notre Dame’s 10-2 win over Wake Forest on April 3.
Robinson retires from football
Observer Sports Staff
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously published online June 15.
irish senior receiver corey robinson announced June 15 he will retire from football and will not play in notre dame’s 2016 season.
robinson cited multiple concussions as the reason he chose to retire from the game.
“a fter much consideration and prayer, i have decided not to continue playing football due to multiple concussions,” he said. “i couldn’t have come to this difficult personal decision without the incredible support from so many within the notre dame football program — i am extremely grateful to coach kelly and his staff for the life-changing
opportunity to play football at the greatest university in the world.”
robinson also said that he would continue to stay with the team as a student assistant in 2016.
“This was an extremely tough decision for corey,” irish head coach brian kelly said in a press release. “he’s such a committed kid to everything he does — whether it be academics, football, community service or campus leadership initiatives — that he wanted to finish his four-year career on the field. he was so excited to lead a group of young receivers this fall.”
robinson was elected student body president in february and began his term in april. robinson retires with 896 receiving yards on 65 receptions and seven touchdowns.
notre dame ranked ninth in first coaches poll
Notre Dame takes the field prior to its
will once again open their season against
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously published online Aug. 4.
w hen notre dame kicks off its season sept. 4 in austin, Texas, it will do so as a top-10 team — at least in the coaches poll.
The irish are ranked no. 9 in the preseason edition of the usa Today and a mway-sponsored poll, slotting just behind no. 8 michigan and ahead of no. 10 Tennessee.
Three notre dame opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25: no. 7 stanford, no. 11 michigan state and no. 17 usc
The irish get the luxury of playing two of those teams at home, with michigan state visiting sept. 17 and stanford coming to town oct. 15. as is tradition, notre dame will conclude its season in california, this year at usc, on nov. 26.
in addition to the trio of ranked opponents, the irish will run across four schools that also received votes in the first major
poll of the season. miami (fla.), who was the first team out of the poll after receiving 120 points, visits south bend on oct. 29, while Texas, navy and duke all received votes as well.
That matchup with the longhorns, set uncharacteristically for the sunday of labor day weekend, will be the curtain-raiser on notre dame’s season, with the irish looking to duplicate their triumph from a year ago, where they ran out 38-3 winners at notre dame stadium.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
38-3 win over Texas on Sept. 5 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish
Texas, this time at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
nd announces new media partnerships
Observer Sports Staff
notre d ame welcomed two new collaborators to media coverage of its athletics in 2016, as the university
reached deals with b leacher r eport and espn c hicago 1000 to make them exclusive social media and radio partners, respectively. b leacher r eport will now
be embedded with the football program throughout the season to create custom content for the program’s fan base, a notre d ame press release announced on a ug. 4. The company will have full behind-the-scenes access to the notre d ame football team, including practices, the locker room, game day activities, games, travel and the classroom.
“b leacher r eport is thrilled to partner with notre d ame for the 2016 football season,” d ave f inocchio, ceo and founder of b leacher r eport and a notre d ame alum, said in a press release a ug. 4. “ we’re very proud of the work we’ve done in the young a thletes space to date, and this partnership provides us with a next-level opportunity to showcase how millennial
players and fans see the game. notre d ame is an exceptional program filled with talented players and outstanding people. we can’t wait to work with them.”
i n his season-opening press conference a ug. 5, i rish head coach b rian k elly said he is also excited for notre d ame’s partnership with b leacher r eport. a s much exposure as the team received through s howtime, k elly said he believes this new partnership could be even better and help with recruiting.
“The penetration into a targeted audience, right, and the social media piece is huge for us through the recruiting medium, who they can reach, the millions of people that they can reach,” k elly said. “p ick up your phone and you can be on b leacher r eport.
“ … This gives us a unique relationship that nobody else has in college football. i think the uniqueness of that where they are partnering with notre d ame; the ability to penetrate a targeted audience that we’re looking for, not only in our alumni base and those that follow notre d ame football, but that recruiting base, as well.”
New radio flagship n otre d ame football and men’s basketball will have a new radio home in the nation’s third-largest market this year, as the i rish have reached a deal with espn c hicago 1000 that makes the station the programs’ new flagship home starting this year, an espn press release announced June 21. a ll games for both teams will be broadcast as part of the deal. espn c hicago 1000 was previously host to i rish athletics from 1999 through 2005, and station general manager Jim p astor said n otre d ame sports is one of the biggest deals a broadcaster can land.
“ i n the world of college sports, there is nothing more prestigious to a broadcaster than teaming with n otre d ame,” p astor said in the press release. “ r eturning n otre d ame football and basketball to our airwaves is great news for their legion of fans in c hicago.”
Thurs. 8/25
-
Thurs. 9/1
9 PM - Best of LaFortune LaFortune Student Center
8/26 10 PM - UCB Comedy
PM - Dueling Pianos 12 AM - Legends Welcome Back Backfield Party
9/1 9 PM - Student Standups/ Humor Artists
Tailgate Fri. 9/2 10 PM - Concert: Jana Kramer w/ Drew Hale
- Legends
n otre d ame has a long history with the nearby c hicago market; the football team has played 12 times at s oldier f ield, most recently in 2012 against m iami ( f la.), while the men’s basketball team’s second-most-played opponent through history is d e p aul.
espn 1000 will produce men’s basketball broadcasts for the 2016-17 season replaces n otre d ame’s most recent home in c hicago, 89 wls (890 am ). f ootball broadcasts will continue to be produced by img r adio n etwork.
d an s kendzel, senior associate athletics director for media operations and branding, said in addition to games espn 1000 will also pick up the radio shows featuring director of athletics Jack s warbrick, football head coach b rian k elly and men’s basketball head coach m ike b rey.
paid a dverT isemen T
ND, Michigan to renew rivalry in 2018
Observer Sports Staff
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously published online July 7.
four years after their last meeting, college football’s two winningest programs are set to resume their rivalry in 2018.
b oth the notre d ame and m ichigan athletic departments announced a resumption of the football series between the schools July 7, with two meetings scheduled. The two teams will open the 2018 season at notre d ame stadium on s ept. 1, 2018, before a return game the next year at m ichigan stadium, set for o ct. 26, 2019.
notre d ame d irector of a thletics Jack s warbrick noted the return isn’t a return to an annual series, though the two schools will look to schedule future contests where possible.
“Today is a great day for notre d ame, m ichigan and college football fans across the country,” s warbrick said in a press release. “s hortly after warde m anuel was hired as m ichigan’s athletic director, he and i began working to make this renewal of the series possible. That we could get games on the schedule as soon as ’18 and ’19 required a lot of work by our staffs and some great cooperation by the big Ten, acc and other schools that were on our future schedules.
“ w hile the schedule commitments of both notre d ame and m ichigan make an annual series impractical, we’re optimistic that additional games can be scheduled in the future.”
The series between the i rish and wolverines is one that’s often hard to contextualize, unique among college football rivalries. m ichigan is credited with “teaching the game” to notre d ame, visiting in november 1887 for notre d ame’s first intercollegiate football game, and dominated the early days of the series, winning the first eight contests.
however, notre d ame took the 1909 game 11-3 in a nn a rbor, m ichigan, in a game that changed the face of the rivalry for more than a generation. a fter the loss, amidst a dispute over player eligibility at notre d ame, m ichigan head coach f ielding yost refused to play notre d ame. yost also worked to keep notre d ame out of the then-western c onference (now the big Ten) and led an attempt at a conference-wide boycott of notre d ame. The move led notre d ame to begin series with a rmy, navy and usc , contests that allowed the program to
become a national football powerhouse, rather than a regional team.
l egend has it that the 1909 win inspired notre d ame’s “f ighting i rish” moniker, too, with the d etroit f ree p ress writing, “e leven f ighting i rishmen wrecked the yost machine this afternoon.”
The i rish and wolverines met once again in 1942 and 1943 — no. 1 notre d ame downing no. 2 m ichigan 35-12 in that second meeting — before being embroiled in a national title debate in 1947: The i rish were voted champions by the a ssociated p ress at the close of the regular season, but an unofficial post-bowl vote had the wolverines top. b ut after that 1943 meeting, it took another 35 years for the rivalry to finally return on a semi-permanent schedule. f rom 1978 — the “reunion” game — through 2014, the series only skipped four years — 1983, 1984, 2000 and 2001 — before s warbrick cancelled the series in 2012. The university’s move to the acc , and agreement to play five football games each season against members of the conference, is often cited as a key reason for the cancellation.
Though notre d ame lost its last four trips to a nn a rbor, the i rish exited the series in 2014 on a high note, downing m ichigan 31-0 at notre d ame stadium. a nd while m ichigan leads the all-time series, with 24 wins against notre d ame’s 17 (the teams tied in 1992), the series has been even since its resumption in 1978, with each side claiming 15 wins.
i rish head coach brian k elly has spoken out repeatedly about a desire to resume
the series — doing so most recently last month — while wolverines head coach Jim h arbaugh did this June as well. The game in 2018 will be the first time the i rish have faced a h arbaugh-coached team since 2010, when the former s an f rancisco 49ers head coach was at stanford.
“i’m excited to see notre d ame and m ichigan, two brand-name programs, get back together on the football field,” k elly said in the press release. “b oth programs have
a long and storied history of success. we’re talking about the two winningest programs in all of college football.”
i n d ecember, The o bserver sat down with s warbrick, asking him about a potential resumption of the m ichigan series.
“There’s no question that we would welcome the opportunity to play m ichigan again. brian has been clear about that, and m ichigan is as well,” s warbrick said d ec. 16.
The resumption follows the
m arch announcement that notre d ame’s hockey program is set to leave hockey e ast for the big Ten, starting in 2017, a move that publicly signaled the ongoing détente between the two schools. a dditionally, fans got to see a minor resumption of the rivalry this m arch, when notre d ame beat m ichigan 70-63 in the first round of the men’s basketball ncaa tournament before the wolverines downed the i rish in overtime, 3-2, to open the ncaa hockey tournament.
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AMY ACKERMANN | The Observer
Players ready at the line of scrimmage during Notre Dame’s 31-0 win over Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 6, 2014. On July 7, the two programs announced they will renew their football series.
LaFortune Center, Notre Dame Student Center, Saint Mary’s
FootbALL
Jones suspended for 2016 season
Observer Sports Staff
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously published online Aug. 3.
n otre d ame sophomore tight end a lizé Jones, who was likely to be a key piece of n otre d ame’s receiving game this year, has been suspended for the 2016 season.
i rish head coach b rian k elly announced the suspension in a statement a ug. 3, but said Jones will continue to practice with the team and stay on n otre d ame’s roster.
The u niversity gave no official reason for Jones’ suspension; however, Jones indicated on Twitter that the suspension is rooted in an academic issue.
“ n otre d ame is a special place and playing football
for the i rish is a privilege,” Jones said in a tweet. “ w ith this opportunity comes academic responsibility, and unfortunately, i didn’t meet that responsibility. i love n otre d ame and everything about it. o bviously i ’m disappointed at myself, but i ’m going to make the best of this situation.”
a fter a maiden season where he caught 13 passes for 190 receiving yards, Jones was expected to either be n otre d ame’s starting tight end or to join the receiving corps this fall, especially after the departure of senior c orey r obinson from the team.
i n Jones’ absence, senior d urham s mythe and junior n ic weishar are now expected to lead the race for the starting job at tight end.
paid a dverT isemen T
ZACH LLORENS | The Observer
Irish sophomore tight end Alizé Jones stiff arms a defensive back during Notre Dame’s 24-20 win over Temple on Oct. 31 at Lincoln Financial Field. Jones will remain on the roster while serving his suspension.
Jackson
con T inued from page 28
who was selected sixth overall in 1976, and Troy m urphy, the 14th pick in 2001, as i rish players to be selected following their junior seasons.
w hen Jackson, a m ishawaka native, arrived at n otre d ame in 2013, the program hadn’t advanced to the s weet 16 in 10 seasons.
b ut as he leaves n otre d ame, he does so with back-to-back e lite e ight appearances under his belt, including a 2016 trip as a team captain.
“ i think that we really changed the culture of the postseason play,” Jackson said m arch 30 at a press conference announcing his departure.
“ w hen i was in high school, people would talk about how n otre d ame would lose in the first round every year and things like that, but people don’t say that about us anymore. i just feel like we’ve really been able to accomplish some great things and make history.”
The 6-foot-2 guard heads to the nba after a season where he led n otre d ame in scoring average (15.8 points per game), assists (164 in 35 games) and steals (43), signing off with his late-game
Former Irish guard Demetrius Jackson dribbles past a defender during Notre Dame’s 88-74 loss to North Carolina on March 27 at Wells Fargo Center in the Elite Eight. Jackson was drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics and signed a four-year contract this summer.
heroics in the s weet 16 win over w isconsin and a 26-point performance in the e lite e ight loss to n orth c arolina.
a fter he announced his intention to enter the nba d raft, Jackson said he intended on completing his degree at n otre d ame,
paid a dverT isemen T
saying he would talk with his academic advisor to work on a plan. Jackson signed his first nba contract July 28
inking what was reported by the b oston g lobe’s a dam h immelsbach as a four-year, $5.5 million deal, with the final year a team option.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Linebackers
con T inued from page 28
things like that. s o our relationship has definitely changed.” both van g order and linebackers’ coach m ike e lston praised morgan’s development.
“h is freshman year he got thrown in there and he wasn’t ready to manage our defense,” van g order said. “i respect him greatly as a player. he’s tough, he’s persevered, and he’s worked hard at it, and he’s done an admirable job at managing it all.
c oach van g order’s done this for so many years. i think just being a vet and understanding it, i can relay the message in players’ terms, so i think that’s the biggest thing that i can do to help them.”
e lston said o nwualu’s leadership has been important for the growth of the position.
and the cards are dealt the way they’re deal and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Though both quarterbacks seemed to indicate disappointment over the decision, irish offensive coordinator mike sanford said both quarterbacks need to exhibit a team-first mentality as camp progresses.
“it’s my job as the quarterback coach, and in that role of coaching that group of players, to make sure everything we do is putting this team first,” sanford said. “and i’ll continue to preach that message and demand it out of our players. if we don’t want to put our team first in everything we do ... then we’re not doing our jobs as quarterbacks ... with that said, there’s certainly going to be an emotional side. These are not 29, 30 year old savvy nfl veterans. They’re still working through being a 21, 22 year old college student. That’s part of the ongoing process of educating and helping these young men grow.”
kelly did not say whether or not the dual-quarterback system will remain in place beyond the Texas game, or what would necessitate change.
w hoever lines up behind center, they will have a largely new array of players to work with. senior Tarean folston returns to the irish backfield after suffering a season-ending acl injury in the Texas game last year. along with folston, sophomores Josh adams and dexter williams round out the backfield after impressive freshman campaigns. adams rushed for 835 yards after he took over for folston and stanford said the depth at running back is one of the best parts of the offense.
“i absolutely love the depth of our running backs,” sanford said. “you got a dexter williams that’s progressed so incredibly well. Josh adams, who from the very beginning of camp last year, he’s special to say the least. you got Tarean folston, who when not having to put the entire workload on him, can be an unbelievable hammer for you and a very
very intuitive, great instinctual runner with zone schemes and power schemes.”
“we got a lot of talented backs,” folston said. “from me being a senior all the way down to Tony [Jones Jr.] being a freshman, we can all flat out play. … i’m very comfortable with our backfield.”
w hile the irish running backs are a known quantity, the 2016 receivers are not.
“i’m concerned. They are all young,” kelly said. “i mean, i’m concerned with every one of them. so i mean, they are all suspects to me, you know. so they all have to go out and prove themselves. having said that, it does me no good to worry about it; but to coach it and develop it during practice and get them ready. They are all capable of doing it, but i’m concerned about all of them, because none of them have really had a full year of production yet.”
Though the receiving corps, led by senior Torii hunter Jr., is less experienced than in years past, many in the program are seeing signs of improvement, especially from miles boykin
“chase claypool has completely developed in the last two weeks,” kizer said. “he has literally taken huge strides. miles boykin, a guy who’s already experienced a year here has been able to take the things he learned from those older guys last year and apply them.”
similarly, hunter Jr. also signaled out sophomore miles boykin as a receiver who’s shown improvement coming into fall camp.
“miles boykin,” hunter Jr. said. “he’s really stepped up a lot these last couple days, trying to make a lot more plays. i’m really proud of the growth that he’s made cause we’re going to need him this year for sure.”
on defense, the irish are much younger than last year and without proven veterans like Jaylon smith, Joe schmidt and sheldon day. in the secondary especially, the irish will start a couple of fresh faces after the departures of keivarae russell and elijah shumate.
one upperclassmen who has bolstered the secondary after
coming back from injury is junior safety drue Tranquill. kelly and defensive backs coach Todd lyght have praised Tranquill’s drive to return to the field as well as his leadership.
“leadership is about developing a relationship with guys on the team,” Tranquill said. “i think if you can’t bring out the best in the guy next to you, you’re not leading the best you can. as i continue to get to know my teammates more, understanding their strengths, their weaknesses and how they can best help our team is the biggest thing moving forward.”
one of those relationships Tranquill built was with sophomore defensive back shaun crawford who also suffered an torn acl last summer.
“i told him, ‘shaun, you’re only going to turn this thing around when you turn your mindset around,’” Tranquill said. “‘you can lull and you can hang your head on what could have been, or you can attack each day with this injury doesn’t define me, this isn’t who i am, i’m going to attack this day with what i’ve been given.’ and that’s the opportunity to come back. i said ‘shaun, sometimes in life people are afforded the opportunity to come back, sometimes they’re paralyzed or they come down with cancer. we have the opportunity to come back, let’s come back and attack it each and every day.”
crawford is nearing full health and is one of many irish defensive backs who will have to prove themselves on the field.
“They gotta get out there and they gotta get after it,” lyght said. “Training against our offensive is tremendous because we do so many thing offensively in regards to scheme, they’re going to see a ton. and i think that when they get in games against other opponents, they’ll be well prepared. but how will they react under the bright lights on the big stage, that’s another thing. but these are big time high school football players, they came to notre dame to play in big time situations.”
Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu
“… s o his ability to persevere, he’s mentally tough. a nd part of his mental toughness and commitment to the game is to realize where he was, where he is, and where he can go, what is still out there for him. s o he’s doing a good job. h is last two practices have been his best practices in training camp. he’s on it.”
“The last four or five practices nyles has been very impressive,” e lston added. “he’s very physical, very confident, communicating very well and he’s doing his job. he’s doing a great job. he knows the defense. he knows what guys around him are supposed to be doing. he’s doing a real nice job.”
van g order said he met with morgan before spring practice started to hand him the defense.
“he worked hard and he knew it. he knows the defense, and i wanted to let him know that’s the next step,” van g order said. “That’s your next step. you’ve got to take charge. it’s yours, and a lot of guys are depending on your communication and how you call it.”
morgan said that meeting was “like someone gave you the keys to a mansion.”
“l ike ‘here you go. it’s yours.’ you’re just like, ‘a ll this? This is my bathroom? wow.’ That’s how [being named the middle linebacker] feels.”
morgan was also quick to point out the extra responsibilities the middle linebacker position carries.
“i mean you’ve got a mansion. you’ve gotta pay the bills now, you’ve gotta do this, do that,” morgan said. “but it’s something that you want to have, though. it’s not something that you want to shy away from. it’s definitely something that you want to have. d efinitely something that you look forward to doing.”
s enior James o nwualu is slated to start at the strongside linebacker position, but he said his most important assignments so far this season have come in the film room while helping teach van g order’s systems.
“a lot of times when you’re in the film room [the installs go] by so fast,” o nwualu said. “ … you’re putting in 10 things in a day, and it’s just ‘bop, bop, bop, bop’ all thrown in because
“James is a champion. he does everything right,” e lston said. “he works his butt off. he took charge this summer, and i think that was a big piece to it with all the guys. i think we’re going to have a very good linebacking corps, and i think James has done a nice job of getting the guys working very hard. a nd that’s the key piece is that they’re working hard.”
w hile o nwualu and morgan have firm holds on their starting spots, the starter at weakside linebacker is far from settled. Junior greer martini and sophomores a smar bilal and Te’von c oney have all taken first-team reps during fall camp.
“it’s a very fluid situation like any depth chart,” e lston said of the weakside linebacker spot. “a smar has a tremendous amount of ability so we’re trying to — you know he’s behind in his development and greer’s taking a ton of reps, and greer’s bouncing around from other positions also. he takes s am reps, he takes m ike reps, he takes w ill reps, he takes d ive reps, so greer’s bouncing all over the place and it allows us to train a smar, and Te’von’s doing a nice job as well. s o trotting a smar out there with the ones, it’s not 100 percent. we do it with each one of the guys, like Te’von took some [first-team] reps today, greer takes [first-team] reps, so we just bounce it around.”
martini’s versatility has allowed notre dame to train him at all three starting positions where he is “a legitimate contender to start at all three spots,” according to van g order.
a s the i rish prepare for a 2016 season that kicks off against Texas on s ept. 4, o nwualu said the linebackers and defense as a whole will be ready thanks to the high-level competition they face in practice.
“i think that it’s important for these guys to continue to compete because we have an unbelievable offense,” o nwualu said. “ we’re playing a great team every single day and we need to take advantage of that. i have [senior receiver] Torii hunter Jr. in the slot every single day, like i could ask for more, you know what i mean? i’ve got [senior running back Tarean folston] in the backfield as a running back. he’s going to work me every single day, so they need to continue to take advantage of those opportunities to play an unbelievable offense and get those reps against the actual speed.”
Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Irish senior quarterback Malik Zaire prepares to run downfield during Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold Game on April 17. Zaire was the starting quarterback last year before injuring his ankle Sept. 12 at Virginia.
‘both of them will play at texas’
Kelly says two-quarterback system best option for team; Folston to lead deep Irish backfield
By MAREK MAZUREK sports e ditor
it seems the quarterback competition will continue into the season as irish head coach brian kelly announced today that both senior malik Zaire and junior deshone k izer will play in notre dame’s opening game against Texas.
“They have both have been outstanding,” kelly said. “They both make plays. They both are playmakers. we would just continue to practice and continue to see both of these guys make plays. so we’re going to play both of them at Texas. both of them will play at Texas and both of them have been instructed to keep doing what they are doing. it doesn’t bother me playing two going into the Texas game, and we’ll see what happens the next week against nevada. i’m focused strictly on Texas and we are best prepared to beat Texas by playing both deshone and malik.”
in addition the desire to have playmakers on the field, kelly said he hopes his decision will take pressure off of his quarterbacks.
“i did it for a reason,” kelly said. “i think now they can just settle into getting better every day. They don’t have to worry about a competition for the Texas game. They can just focus on getting better. you know, whatever the by-product of that is, i thought would be a positive, and that’s why i made the decision at this time.”
playing a two quarterback system is unorthodox but not unheard of, and the irish made it work in 2012 with both Tommy rees and everett golson seeing playing time in important games.
kelly emphasized the decision was the best one for the program as a whole, but both quarterbacks appeared to have reservations about the situation.
“i never really saw it happening the way it [did],” k izer said.
“There’s a lot of good and bad. you don’t come here to play with two quarterbacks. w hen you commit to playing at the division i level, you expect yourself to be the only guy, cause that’s the traditional way of playing football. so for me, the initial reaction was to have those selfish thoughts and to go back to the ideas i had
before coming here.
“but quickly i learned that this is about something a lot bigger than me. This is about the university of notre dame coming out and trying to win another national championship and in order to do that, both of are going to be on the field. a nd it’s under the direction of coach kelly,
he’s been doing it for 26 years and been doing it very well, so whatever he says, i’m going to commit to and make sure i can do my best,” k izer said.
“There’s always things you can’t control,” Zaire said. “i continue to take each i treat my job like a professional, i always feel like i’m ready. The situation
being how it is, i don’t make the decisions, i just continue to do what i need to do to help this team win football games.
“ … coach kelly never really made it easy on me, but i just continue to treat my job like a professional and do what is asked of me
Morgan leads linebacker corps Jackson drafted by celtics, signs four-year contract
By ZACH KLONSINSKI
a ssistant managing e ditor
a fter losing two of notre dame’s most prominent faces from 2015 in team captains Jaylon smith and Joe schmidt, the irish linebacker corps enters the new season with the largest holes to fill on the defensive side of the football.
Junior nyles morgan is chief among those embracing an expanded role, taking over schmidt’s old role in the middle of the defense. a fter tackling a steep learning curve during his first two seasons while learning defensive coordinator brian van gorder’s schemes, morgan said he feels like the “whirlwind” has finally settled down.
“like you have all the pieces there, and then it’s like someone just took it and just threw it in like a blender and scrambled it up for you,” morgan said. “you have to figure out what goes where, where’s this, where’s that? a nd now it’s like the blender has settled. you understand what’s
going on now, you can see how it is. stuff isn’t moving as fast, and like now it’s just like i can put the whole piece together.”
morgan said this spring was a turning point for him, starting with a change in his relationship with van gorder.
“i noticed that beginning of spring,” morgan said. “we have spring evaluations. he told me, ‘This is your show. run it how you want it. This is yours to lose.’ from that point on our relationship definitely changed because it went from being — i don’t want to say a [veteran] because i haven’t played yet, so i’ll say younger player to an older player. a younger player you know, van gorder’s on you. There’s no say so, there’s no, ‘because i saw that…’ no. it’s ‘you didn’t do it right’ and that’s it.
“now it’s just like, ‘ok, what’d you see? w hat happened this play?’ he’ll ask about different players on the team: the d-lineman, the safeties and
Observer Sports Staff
Editor’s Note: Versions of this story were published online June 23 and July 28.
a fter a slide into the middle of the second round, former n otre d ame guard d emetrius Jackson is headed to the nba after being selected with the 45th overall pick by the b oston c eltics.
Jackson’s selection marks the second straight year notre d ame has had a player taken in the draft — guard Jerian g rant, who now plays for the c hicago b ulls, was selected 19th overall last year by the washington w izards, while p ortland Trail b lazers guard/ forward p at c onnaughton was a second-round b rooklyn n ets selection in 2015.
Jackson’s early departure from n otre d ame to the nba is rare in the program’s history; he joins a drian d antley, see Jackson PAGE 26 see linebackers PAGE 27
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Irish junior quarterback DeShone Kizer carries the ball during the Blue-Gold Game on April 17 at Notre Dame Stadium. Irish head coach Brian Kelly said both Kizer and senior Malik Zaire will play at Texas.
FootbALL
mEN’s bAskEtbALL
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Former Irish guard Demetrius Jackson jumps for a layup in an 88-74 loss to North Carolina on March 27 at Wells Fargo Center.
