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Volume 52, Issue 121 | thursday, april 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Fisher Hall prepares for signature event Annual Fisher Regatta fundraises for new computer lab at St. Adalbert Catholic School in South Bend By CIARA HOPKINSON News Writer
As the academic year draws to a close, the men of Fisher Hall are gearing up for their best-known and most anticipated event of the year: the 25th annual Fisher Regatta. While the dorm’s signature event is actually in its 31st year, tradition dictates that the homemade boat race continues to celebrate its 25th anniversary indefinitely. Building up for the event is a year-long process, sophomore Ryan O’Callaghan said. “On Welcome Weekend already, the emails that are sent out are always signed YGR for ‘You Gotta Regatta,’” O’Callaghan, head of the Regatta planning committee, said. “A lot of the RAs on their whiteboards have a countdown to the Regatta so even when it’s 160, 170 days away there’s still
a countdown on the board. It is something you’re constantly hearing about.” This is Fisher Hall’s fourth year partnering with St. Adalbert Catholic School in South Bend, sophomore Owen Harte said in an email. So far, this year’s event has raised approximately $7,000 of its $8,000 goal, O’Callaghan said. “We’ve definitely formed a connection with the students, and the Regatta funds go toward helping the school in some way each year,” he said. “Two years ago was renovating the gym floor, we’ve rebuilt a new office or greeting area with more security, last year was a new science lab and now this year the Regatta is for a new computer lab.” The Regatta, which takes place on St. Mary’s Lake at 1 p.m. see REGATTA PAGE 3
Seniors celebrate legacy with Party on the Field By ALEXANDRA MUCK News Writer
Throughout the year, seniors Sarafina Joseph and Anthony Caputo, chairs of Senior Legacy, have been working with their executive board to organize the giving campaign for the senior class’ first gift to Notre Dame, which will benefit the Fighting Irish Initiative. To celebrate the work they’ve been doing, they are hosting this year’s Party on the Field, an event for the senior class. “Everyone in the senior class has been getting a lot of emails from me, Sarafina, our entire executive team,” Caputo said. “We’ve been relatively — for lack of a better term — very annoying to the class, and to give back to them and thanking them for joining us and being part of that legacy, we throw this event called Party on the Field.” The event will start Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and the group will meet at Door 10 before going to the
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South Club in O’Neill Hall on the south-side of the stadium. Seniors will be able to eat tacos, enjoy the inflatables that will be on the field and listen to a band from Keenan, Joseph said. Caputo said the event typically features a speaker instead of the band, but Caputo and Joseph decided a band would help provide the lighthearted atmosphere they wanted for the event. “It’s [going to be] a good time with my friends to take a breather,” Joseph said of why she was excited about the event. Besides switching the speaker for a band, Caputo said the group has made other changes, including moving the event from the weekend to a Thursday. “It’s kind of completely different, only because we have so many more things to work with now that the new buildings are open,” he said. While there is no set cost for see PARTY PAGE 3
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Observer File Photo
Carroll Hall residents compete in last year’s Fisher Regatta, an annual homemade boat race on St. Mary’s Lake. Fisher Hall’s signature event includes teams from residence halls and campus organizations.
Valedictorian advocates for empowerment By ERIN GRIMES News Writer
Editor’s note: This is the fourth of a five-part series profiling the valedictorians of Saint Mary’s class of 2018. For the first time in Saint Mary’s history, the College will be bestowing the honor of valedictorian onto five graduating seniors, including sociology major Kristie LeBeau, who will be pursuing her PhD in developmental sociology at Cornell University after graduation. LeBeau said her discovery of the news was “a super weird accident,” finding out after emailing senior academic advisor Tracy White a question about her education, schooling and society minor at Notre Dame. “She replied and said, ‘I want to talk to you about the valedictorian speech,’” LeBeau said. “And I emailed back saying, ‘Does this mean I am a valedictorian?’” LeBeau was aware of the possibility that she would become a valedictorian, she said. “I’d always hoped that that
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would be the case, just because I knew where I was at academically,” she said. “I thought it was a definite possibility, but I didn’t really believe it until I received the email from Tracy White.” Even her decision to attend Saint Mary’s was coincidental, LeBeau said. “The original reason I came to Saint Mary’s was crazy how it happened,” she said. “One night I was trying to decide between colleges and I was crying to mom, confused about where I should I go, telling her I just wanted to make a difference in the world. And the next day we got a letter in the mail from Saint Mary’s addressed to my parents saying, ‘Help your daughter make a difference in this world.’ I visited Saint Mary’s and definitely felt like this was an empowering place for women.” This initial indication of empowerment at the College has proven true, LeBeau said. “I really believe Saint Mary’s empowered me to accomplish everything that I want to and follow my dreams and empowered
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me as a women, really,” she said. Allowing for there to be five valedictorians — all of whom will share the valedictory address — also represents the diversity of Saint Mary’s, LeBeau said. “I really love that all of us represent a very diverse background of majors, too,” she said. “I know that some universities, larger colleges, they make people compete based on speeches in terms of who’s going to be valedictorian or who’s going to give the speech, but I think it’s really great that Saint Mary’s doesn’t make us compete and allows all of us to share that title.” LeBeau’s portion of the speech will be the introduction and conclusion, making her “the first thing that you’ll see and the last thing that you’ll see,” she said. LeBeau’s time at Saint Mary’s, she said, is marked by a multitude of small memories. “My favorite memories are the memories that don’t even stand out in my head,” she said. “The memories of hanging out with see LeBEAU PAGE 3
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