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Volume 54, Issue 82 | TUESDAY, february 12, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
University addresses inclusivity survey Student government, adminstration discuss ways to respond to results of campus questionnaire By CLAIRE RAFFORD Associate News Editor
Student government leadership met with members of the Notre Dame administration and Board of Trustees to discuss the results of the Inclusive Campus Climate Survey released in October. Student body president Gates McGavick, student body vice president Corey Gayheart and chief of staff Briana Tucker, all seniors, discussed the problems the survey presented and potential solutions with vice president for student affairs Erin Hoffman Harding and chair of student affairs subcommittee on the board of trustees Anne Thompson. The main survey result
that McGavick, Gayheart and Tucker discussed with the administration was that the majority of discrimination that Notre Dame students faced was classified as student-to-student. “It’s a very intangible problem, and we’re trying to come at it with tangible solutions, which is obviously a good thing but we want to do it in an organic way,” Gayheart said. One of the areas that the students want to address is the structure and attributes of the Moreau class, McGavick said. “We talked about some tangible ways that we felt we could improve on the results of the inclusive campus climate survey,” McGavick
said. “One idea that we were discussing in senate, then brought to Erin, was having student leaders interact with Moreau in some capacity, maybe not fully teaching but leading some lessons and kind of trying to build more student-to-student connections in important places like Moreau, as opposed to teacher-to-student.” Gayheart added that some of the specific changes they suggested making to the Moreau class include adding a student mentor program to the class, making the class pass/fail, adding bystander training to the class and making sure the class makeup is diverse. “One of the issues that we heard about when we were
College offers free 90s-themed escape room
discussing Moreau with different people was, second semester, there was a university staff member teaching a class with 13 males and one female,” he said. “It’s extremely difficult to have a conversation on gender relations at Notre Dame if you have a class makeup of that. And also we need to be sure that we’re not tokenizing certain people within these classrooms as well and tokenizing their experience, but it still brings up an important point that the classes need to be representative of the student body as a whole.” Gayheart said making Moreau a pass/fail course could help take some of the pressure off students and promotes dialogue between
Associate News Editor
Even if one attends the best university with the best professors and the best resources, it is rare to receive the opportunity to spend time with someone who has in-depth knowledge in the chosen subject to go with first-hand experience. Fortunately for students
By REBECCA STELLA News Writer
Saint Mary’s students have been challenged to bring out their inner creativity and best detective skills throughout the month of February in order to learn more about the Career Crossing office through their 90’s themed escape
NEWS INSIDE
room. There are two sessions of the escape room taking place in the Holy Cross parlor on both Feb. 12 and Feb. 21. The rooms were announced in an email on the morning of Feb. 6, and quickly filled to capacity by the end of the day. The escape room concept was thought of by the
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assistant director of the Career Crossings Office Sarah Enck. Enck said she wanted an interesting way to get students to focus on career readiness and to encourage more student engagement in the Office’s programs. “The escape room event see ESCAPE PAGE 4
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see SURVEY PAGE 3
Former Senator teaches course By THOMAS MURPHY
CRISTINA INTERIANO | The Observer
students. “We feel that the grade actually hinders high-quality conversation,” he said. Another issue student government hopes to address in response to the survey is diversity in leadership roles on campus, specifically in regards to residence hall staff. “We also focused a lot on residence life, so diversif ying hall staff and working to form more inclusive financial policies that allow students to take advantage of opportunities within the residence hall and not be financially exclusive,” Gayheart said. McGavick said that the time commitment involved with leadership combined
majoring in political science, that opportunity is being offered this semester, as former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly is teaching a course in the Department of Political Science and the Keough School of Global Affairs. The one-credit course for undergraduates, entitled “Facing America’s “For see DONNELLY PAGE 4
Couple donates $10 million to ND Observer Staff Report
A $10 million donation from New Jersey couple Anthony and Christie de Nicola will help develop Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, the University announced in a Jan. 8 press release. Renamed the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture in the family’s honor, the
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Center was originally founded in 1999 by professor David Solomon and then-provost Nathan Hatch. The Center focuses on student formation, academic research, programming and publishing, “Culture of Life” — or pro-life — programming and mission hiring. see DONATION PAGE 4
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