Print Edition of The Observer for Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Scientists speak up for NIH CARI app delivers food across campus
Researchers voice concerns over Trump admin’s cuts
By HENRY JAGODZINSKI Staff Writer
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a two-part series about proposed NIH funding cuts. The first story, published Monday, focused on the proposed policy changes and how research is funded at Notre Dame. Today’s story highlights the voices of scientists from laboratories across the University that may be impacted by the change.
Over 80 research projects at Notre Dame currently receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to grants administered by the NIH could eliminate $7 million in federal funds from Notre Dame each year by capping facilities and administration costs at 15%, down from the University’s current rate of 56.5%.
If enacted, that change would significantly impact the way in
which the University pays for research building maintenance and operation, shared lab equipment, hazardous waste disposal and utilities for NIH-funded projects.
The policy change, temporarily paused by order of a federal district court judge, has alarmed some scientists at the University. The Observer spoke to eight scientists to understand how their work might be impacted.
Art department launches art conservation track
By GRACE TADAJWESKI Associate News Editor
In response to student interest and a gap in subject matter, the department of art, art history and design launched an art conservation track this fall to accompany the art history major. This track joins other art history offerings, including the major, major with honors, supplementary major and minor. Art history professor of the practice Elyse Speaks directs the department’s undergraduate studies.
According to Speaks, creating the track was about a year-long process and was inspired by the popularity of the cross listed art history and chemistry course titled “Only Connect Chemistry and Art.” The course is taught by chemistry associate teaching professor Bahram Moasser and art history professor Michael Schreffler.
“It is almost always our first
class to fill these days, and students just really enjoy it.
And so I thought, ‘Wow … this is an area that we should encourage,’” Speaks said. “And at the same time, I know how many of our students are interested in working at the museum and thinking about sort of the practical application of arts study … I started talking to people across campus, and the chemistry department was really excited to collaborate.”
The track includes classes across colleges, in both the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science. When asked about difficulty collaborating across colleges, Speaks said there was none, only excitement.
“Everyone was very amenable and excited to think about ways to collaborate across the arts and sciences, and so I think they’re really excited,” Speaks said. “There’s a capstone project that our majors
would do, and we already have our first major signed up, and the professors … in the sciences are really excited to potentially be advisers for these projects and to work more closely with students who are housed in Arts and Letters.”
As opposed to the regular art history major which is 30 credit hours, the major with the track is 45 credit hours. The major and track require students to take eight art history courses, two studio art courses, organic chemistry and the corresponding lab, three other science courses with corresponding labs and a capstone project or internship.
“This is a track that kind of allows you to explore both avenues and potentially might lead to some kind of conservation position, but really is meant to generate a conversation between the arts
By MEGAN CORNELL News Writer
The CARI app was born in April 2024, when founders Patrick McFarland and Davide Thompson, both senior Notre Dame students, decided to create a food delivery app for Notre Dame students. The purpose of the app is threefold. McFarland and Thompson want to make local food more accessible to students, allow students to earn money as delivery drivers and connect students to local businesses.
The app allows students to either pre-order food for pickup or have it delivered by a Notre Dame student using a scooter or bike. Right now, the app is connected with local restaurants such as Taphouse On The Edge, Danny Boys and Tossed ToGo. Additionally, the app allows students to order from dorm kitchens like Alumni Hall’s “Dawg Pizza,” Sorin College’s “Eddy’s Late Night Eats” and Keough Hall’s “House of Protein.”
Many dorms run late-night food services, but previously this food could only be picked up. CARI gives these kitchens a wider consumer base and saves students a cold, late-night walk with its delivery feature.
Students are ideal drivers because they understand Notre Dame’s unique campus layout.
“We’re bringing the jobs back to the students … you don’t have to rely on a third party who will deliver it off at the main circle or the nearest parking lot … We thought, why not use students who you trust, where there’s a level of safety?” McFarland said.
Chefs at the dorm kitchens can track sales, update customers on their delivery status and even show what the busiest hours for orders are. The app has made these businesses more organized and profitable, especially because using the app costs
less than global food delivery services like GrubHub or UberEats.
“It acts as its own POS [point of sale] system, so all of our orders are online through the app … they all get sorted so we can easily see them and so we have ways of tracking the order. We can see that they’re being prepared, in the oven, or that they’ve been delivered. We didn’t have that before,” Dawg Pizza worker Thad Lipinski said.
The founders have been flexible at adapting to users preferences.
“One of the things I like is working closely with Davide and Pat. They’ve helped us see what we want out of this. I told them that we wanted some more buttons to track orders, and they fixed that,” Lipinski said.
McFarland acts as CEO, while Thompson is CTO and focuses on the tech aspect of the business. Their team includes sales employees in charge of promoting the app and around 15 drivers.
“We have a lean team, me and my cofounder, around 15 drivers and then six guys who are in sales. We are funded by the company’s profits,” McFarland said.
Stephan Perenich is a member of the sales team who has enjoyed working for CARI.
“Ever since I started working for CARI, I feel like it grew in the sense of purpose, like I’m making a difference in the lives of students here,” Perenich said.
After their first semester in operation, the app has over 500 users and over 100 orders. McFarland and Thompson have big goals for the app after their initial success.
“We are in talks with other universities and are meeting with Notre Dame to talk about implementing it here. We could have flex points involved,” McFarland said.
Contact Megan Cornell at mcornell@nd.edu
HENRY JAGODZINSKI | The Observer
Dr. Cristian Koepfli , whose research focuses on malaria interventions, stands in his laboratory in the Galvin Life Sciences Center.
Photo Desk (574) 631-8767 photo@ndsmcobserver.com Systems & Web Administrators webmaster@ndsmcobserver.com
Policies The
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Matthew
freshman Dunne
“DeBart
Mark Sago freshman Carroll
“Carroll.”
Eli
JJ Lopez sophomore Keough “DPAC.”
Ari Bond sophomore Lyons Hall
“DeBart Quad.”
Sofia De Lira sophomore Lyons Hall
“Cemetery (If it wasn’t there).”
The leprechaun reads an edition of The Observer during the Notre Dame men’s baskeball game against the
in
(Almost) Man Night
News
Liam Kelly
Henry Jagodzinski
David Murphy
Graphics
Trey Paine
Photo
Mariella Taddonio
Corrections
Sports
The Observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at editor@ndsmcobserver.com so we can correct our error.
Hesburgh Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Come commemorate Fr. Hesburgh.
Israel-Palestine
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Hear Catholic perspectives on Gaza.
Thursday
Notre Dame vs.
Women’s basketball takes on Florida State.
Book Talk C103 Hesburgh Center
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. Attend this book talk hosted by Cheryl Lawther.
Friday
7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Get tickets to see this concert.
Notre
Notre
Notre
MARIELLA TADDONIO
The Observer
Felipe Santiago-Tirado
Felipe Santiago-Tirado, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences, said his work has been funded by NIH since 2021. His team works on invasive fungal infections, specifically on Candida and Cryptoccocus neoformans.
“Not a lot of people know that fungi can kill you, but they can,” he said.
He described fungal diseases as a neglected type of infectious disease.
“We’re trying to figure out how do they cause disease, with the idea that if we now know how they cause disease, we can intervene and block it and then figure ways to either prevent it or treat those infections,” Santiago-Tirado said.
He has been awarded several grants from NIH, and currently has one active NIH grant, totaling $391,250. That includes $250,000 in direct costs and $141,250 in indirect costs.
He said that while the proposed funding changes have not had any practical effect on his work so far, he’s concerned about the ramifications if the change is enacted.
“I use core facilities in here to do my research, and those core facilities are supported by these indirect costs. What would happen to these core facilities? I don’t know if this doesn’t get resolved, you might imagine that the University will have to fire people that run these core facilities, and then at that point, I might get affected, because I need to use those core facilities,” he said.
Notre Dame currently has over 30 core-facilities, including the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility, the Freimann Life Science Center, the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facility and the Zebrafish Core Facility.
Santiago-Tirado explained that core facilities are much more costeffective because they are shared resources. Without core facilities, he explained, each laboratory would need their own equipment, which he said would less efficient. He used plasmid sequencing as an example.
“Everybody sequences plasmids in here. It makes no sense that everybody’s going to buy a sequencer. So [the] University has one, and it will make it available to everybody to use,” He said. “That is paid by, in part, by indirect costs.”
Santiago-Tirado pushed back strongly on the proposed 15% cap on indirect costs.
“I know some places might have very, very high indirects. And there might be ... ways to, like, cut that down. But just doing a flat 15% for everybody, irrespective of the type of institution, makes no sense,” he said.
He confirmed that he had received emails from University administration regarding the funding changes.
“They already told us, you know, document everything if you’re affected in any way, how you’re affected, but you should be able to keep submitting grants,”
he explained.
However, he said news about NIH has been changing rapidly.
“I think the worst thing is this uncertainty,” he said.
Cristian Koepfli
Cristian Koepfli is also an assistant professor of biology at the University. His research focuses on the epidemiology of malaria.
“Malaria still is a major public health problem many countries of the world, roughly 600,000 people, mostly children, die each year from malaria, and about 200 million cases are observed,” Koepfli said.
He explained that while global health efforts made significant progress in the early part of this century, progress has largely stalled since 2015.
Koepfli’s NIH-funded project, which received $150,000 for direct costs and $84,750 for indirect costs, is focused on new interventions in Kenya to determine whether the interventions reduce the number of people with asymptomatic infections.
Koepfli said his team has collected and screened about 9,500 blood samples as part of the project.
“Then we look whether in those clusters or those villages where the intervention was introduced, we see a reduction in the number of people that carry the parasite,” he said.
He said that it is challenging not to know what the final decision on NIH funding will be and that cuts to the indirect rate would be felt throughout the University.
“The next time I should receive funding from the NIH will be in a couple of months, and I think until then we will see what happens,” he said.
Santiago also added that malaria prevention efforts could be complicated by recent policy changes, including the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency which has provided significant humanitarian aid in the past.
“I hope that … somehow, despite these big changes now, we will see [the United States] being a major player in the field of global health,” Koepfli said. “I mean children die that should not die because we have the drugs and the means to prevent them, and I believe, whatever your beliefs or your religion is, that is something good to do to help these populations.”
Olaf Wiest
Olaf Wiest, a chemistry and biochemistry professor, researches enzyme mechanisms. He has two NIH grants, one of which is focused on Ebola.
“This is about the biophysics of a certain protein involved in Ebola, which obviously is really bad for you, but it also is this very fascinating mechanism on how this enzyme, or this protein kind of changes over the cycle of the Ebola infection,” he explained.
He said that project has been funded for about six years.
The grant for Wiest’s other project, which focuses on an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, will
expire at the end of July. Wiest said he is concerned about how he will be able to pay students if NIH grant review continues to be paused amid tumult within the medical research agency. He voiced frustration with what he described as the disruptive nature of the changes within NIH.
“I mean, we’re going to do research. But who’s going to pay the students?” he asked.
Wiest said his lab has nine graduate students, two post-doctoral students and a staff member.
He also said that he believes the current indirect cost rate, or overhead rate, is “bare bones.”
“If you would do the same work in industry that overhead, again, physical facilities, administration, just the regulatory things to keep everybody safe, would easily be twice as much, quite probably more,” he said.
Matthew Weber
Matthew Weber is the acting director of the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health at Notre Dame, which has over 70 faculty affiliates.
“Our faculty are among the most active in NIH submissions on campus,” he said, noting that the Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare Diseases and the Harper Cancer Research Institute also receive significant NIH funding.
He expressed the importance of waiting for a court ruling on the NIH funding decision.
“A lot of these issues are still to be adjudicated in courts and things like that, right? So it’s not like a lot of the issues are really touching faculties, budgets yet for research,” he said.
Still, he said that a cut from a 56.5% indirect cost rate to a 15% rate would be “major.”
“It’s going to be big, it’s going to be felt,” Webber said, while acknowledging that Notre Dame is less reliant on NIH funding than universities with larger medical research centers.
Webber voiced support for the current 56.5% indirect cost rate.
“I don’t think these [indirect cost] rates are outrageous. I think the way these rates are calculated is actually quite meticulous, and so I think there would be a decent amount of pain entailed in trying to restructure the way research is administered if cuts were down to 15%,” he said.
He also expressed worry that the 15% indirect cost rate could be expanded to other federal entities which fund research, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Notre Dame received $27 million from the NIH last year, a fraction of the $134 million it received from all federal agencies combined.
“It’s up to the University to decide how to continue to support research efforts in the event that the federal government is no longer willing to fully support the cost of research,” he said.
In the meantime, Webber said that the University’s approach has been to continue operations as
Alumnae host house tours
By BERHAN HAGEZOM Staff Writer
On Monday Feb. 24, the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Mission Committee along with the Alumnae Association at Saint Mary’s College hosted the “Riedinger House Tour” from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Riedinger House for Heritage Week. Students were able to participate by filling out a form provided in an email.
The tour started off with an introduction to Riedinger House by the executive director of alumnae relations and advancement Kara M. O’Leary. Each attendee was able to receive a card slip that contained brief information on both the history of the Riedinger House and the establishment of the Alumnae Association.
In the living room, O’Leary discussed about the first mother and daughter legacy at Saint Mary’s, Adaline Crowley Riedinger (1864) and Mary Adalaide Riedinger (1889), in which the house was named after and was a gift provided by the family. It was built in 1939 for home economics majors and became a practice house where students would spend several weeks to demonstrate their domestic skill. It then became an alumnae house after the home economics major was no longer available in the 1960s.
She also mentioned how the house is now currently used for officially approved college affairs with different advisory boards, previous commencement speakers and remote staff workers who would raise funds for the College. She provided a brief anecdote to president Katie Conboy’s stay at Riedinger House for eight weeks when she began her term in 2020, due to construction delays of her house. The only other president to have fully lived at Riedinger House was Monsignor John McGrath during his eighteen month term.
The house was designed on a seventh-eighth scale in order to save money on materials during its construction. The home consists of a living room, kitchen and upper hallway. The upper hallway includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a current study space that was previously used as a sewing room for home economics majors. Within the living room, yearbooks were present for class years, including from 1926 to 2016.
As part of Heritage Week, the tour serves as a way for Saint Mary’s students to know about the College’s roots and be able to interact with parts of the college’s history that they may not be as familiar with.
Associate director of alumnae relations Grace Maher (‘21) stated more about the purpose of the Reidinger House tour being offered and what it means for students.
“We are hosting this as part of the Heritage Week, which celebrates the College and all of its traditions and our history. Since
Riedinger House is so integral to that history, it’s sort of a little secret, a little gem here on campus, we wanted to open it up and give people the chance to see it,” Maher said.
As mentioned by Maher, the Alumnae Association is the seventh oldest alumnae association globally and the oldest Catholic women’s college alumnae association since its founding in 1879. All graduates of Saint Mary’s are automatically part of the Alumnae Association and currently have more than 18,000 members in the organization. The Association has hosted a variety of events pertaining to alumni and graduation rituals.
“We’ll always host an event for legacy students at welcome week … We also host our champagne brunch every year which is part of senior week, which is where we get to welcome the graduating seniors into the Alumnae Association formally right before their graduation. Possibly, the biggest lift of the Office of Alumnae Relations and the Alumnae Association is reunion which is hosted every year, every summer, first weekend in June, where we welcome back specific class years celebrating milestone reunions anywhere from five to over 50 years since their graduation,” Maher said.
Junior Bethany Berlage, mission co-chair in SGA, explains about the collaboration with the Alumnae Association and being able to bring back a forgotten tradition from the archives into Saint Mary’s.
“We actually talked about just doing Riedinger House for Heritage Week and the Alumnae Association reached out to us and said we’ve offered tours before … and we thought that would be really great. I’m a student rep on the alumnae board, so I’ve worked with a lot of these people before, so it was kind of fun to collaborate with them on something different as well,” Berlage mentioned.
Students who attended the Riedinger House tour were able to learn more about the history of Saint Mary’s, including previous majors that were offered and the context behind the establishment of the house.
“It was really nice as a Saint Mary’s student to learn more about the past and what previous women have done throughout their time here. It makes me feel closer and it’s such a great thing overall to have,” Olivia Coyne, a senior at Saint Mary’s said.
Berlage mentioned further upcoming events that will be hosted by SGA throughout the upcoming week that includes collaborations with other organizations, including the donor challenge on Wednesday and the dining hall on Friday for French-themed dinner services.
Contact Berhan Hagezom at bhagezom01@saintmarys.edu
normal. He said the vice president of research Jeffrey Rhoads has advised researchers to continue submitting grants.
“I know some universities have paused or not allowed their investigators to submit NIH awards … I think Notre Dame is taking a different approach, which is basically, let’s keep doing business as usual until we see how things progress. I think that’s wise,” he said.
Webber said he’s neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but rather in a “wait and see” mindset.
“The initial phase of kind of political posturing and witch hunts and all of these other sorts of things kind of subside and we get to a stage where we can really focus on how to be a global leader in healthcare, research, in basic science and technology and these sorts of things,” he said.
Marya Lieberman
Marya Lieberman is a chemistry professor whose NIHfunded project is focused on developing a tool to detect poor-quality cancer medications in sub-Saharan Africa. She said the project has been funded almost entirely by NIH funds, receiving $448,376 in total project funds for 2024.
She said that while she thinks the proposed indirect rate cut has not affected her work yet, other disruptions have.
She said that a coordinating meeting between scientists at roughly two dozen research groups all working on low-cost techniques for improving cancer care was cancelled.
“We were planning a meeting to exchange information because there’s a lot of potential overlap between projects where a device that one group is developing might be useful for an implementation project that another group is doing. And so that coordinating meeting was just canceled,” she said.
Lieberman also brought up the logistical difficulties of grant administration that could be impacted if the indi rect cost rate is cut.
“There’s a lot of really skilled people who do research admin istration, the keeping track of the budgets and ensuring that the money is being spent in the way that the contract desig nates … that’s kind of my main concern from a selfish perspec tive, because I’m not trained as an accountant.” Lieberman said. “So thinking about how to manage the the grants, they’re big, they’re complicated, and we want to do it right.”
Students at Notre Dame also benefit from NIH research grants, Lieberman said.
“I work with a number of undergraduate researchers ... and that kind of experience is really useful for students who want to go to graduate school to medical school. It’s really good training, and the student wouldn’t have had the opportu nity without the NIH project,” she said.
Hsueh-Chia Chang
Hsueh-Chia Chang is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who works on medical diagnostic devices. He said his research has been funded by the NIH for about a decade. In 2024, his project was funded with $150,000 for direct costs and $84,750 for indirect costs. In total, he said, NIH grants awarded to him and his collaborators have totaled roughly $5 million over the past 10 years, part of which supported PhD and postdoctoral students.
“My PhD and postdoc students have landed high-tech positions at Illumina, Sanofi, Merck, Alcon, Genentech, Mesoscale and many biotech startups. They have also accepted tenure-track faculty positions at NJIT, Rutgers, IU Indianapolis, Utah, Oregon State, UT San Antonio etc,” Chang wrote in a statement.
He said that four companies have licensed technologies his team invented as part of their NIH-funded work, including Aopia Biosciences, a Californiabased biotech startup.
“Aopia Biosciences … is currently commercializing a product ... based on a Notre Dame IP invented during one of my NIH projects. Aopia’s Director of Engineering was a postdoc in my lab and was supported on an NIH grant,” Chang wrote.
The disruption to NIH’s grant process has impacted Chang’s work. He said that he is unable to hire or recruit new researchers with this uncertainty, and is reconsidering whether or not he will write future grant proposals. Additionally, he said that if NIH funding for his research is delayed or terminated, he will move up his retirement.
Editor’s Note: A longer version of this story can be found online at ndsmcobserver.com.
Contact Henry Jagodzinski at hjagodzi@nd.edu
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and sciences at Notre Dame,” Speaks said.
According to Speaks, she designed the track with practical considerations, such as requirements for art conservation master’s programs, in mind.
“We have a student who went through our program, who just finished a master’s in art conservation at NYU, and so I’ve been talking to her quite a bit about what the most useful classes that she took at Notre Dame were, and that’s largely how I designed the coursework,” Speaks said.
Very few universities offer undergraduate art conservation programs, with the University of Delaware being one of them. Junior Rocío Colón-Cotto, who is majoring in art history and Chinese with a minor in studio art, was considerate of this when applying to undergraduate schools. Ultimately, ColónCotto decided to attend Notre Dame because she was unsure if she would like art conservation and wanted to attend a school where other programs were “well-known” as well.
Colón-Cotto received an email about the track opening this past fall after discussing art conservation graduate school requirements the prior school year with Speaks. While Colón-Cotto is on the track, she noted she is still not entirely sure about her future in art conservation.
“I think my interest in it stems from the fact that I love museum work. I’m passionate about museums. I love studio art. I love making art. And I kind of am curious about how I can put those two together,” Colón Cotto said. “And in my head, the best way to kind of contribute to preservation of cultural patrimony
and museum work is through my studio art skills, and then through art conservation, I can bridge those two things together.”
Although Colón-Cotto’s prior art history and studio art courses made switching into the track easier, she will not take the track’s four required science courses and labs until next school year. ColónCotto was abroad in London in the fall, so she was unable to take any science courses this spring because of the sequencing that accompanies the courses.
“It is daunting in the sense that I’m in my junior year, and I haven’t taken a hardcore science course since … junior year of high school. So, it’s starting up again,” ColónCotto said. “I need to learn how to learn science, and I can only do that my senior year.”
Colón-Cotto has not, however, taken her University science and technology requirements, so two of the track’s science courses will count towards the core curriculum.
“It’s just daunting in the sense that I have to fit in four science courses with labs my senior year of Notre Dame,” Colón-Cotto said. “But since it’s a career I’m genuinely interested in, it’s something I’m willing to sacrifice.”
Freshman Francie Surdyke arrived at Notre Dame with a plan to double major in physics and art history. However, this semester, Surdyke switched out of the College of Science and into the College of Arts and Letters as just an art history major.
Surdyke discovered the art conservation track on the department’s website when she was considering switching majors.
“It’s a good sort of midway point, and having that first semester in College of Science has kind of helped because
I’ve got a head start on some of those science courses that you need to take in a specific order,” Surdyke said.
Surdyke plans to attend graduate school for a degree in art conservation. Most art conservatorships require individuals to have received their master’s degrees.
“I’ve always found the idea interesting, and I always liked the idea of getting into art conservation and working in a museum, maybe,” Surdyke said. “So this seemed like the best way to do that. And I’ve always loved art, and this is more practical … My parents feel better about an art history degree than a studio.”
With all that talk of the future however, the art conservation track is only in its first year and has only a few students actually on it.
“It’s a bit nerve wracking, but I think it’s also going to be cool, just because we’ll get to build it out to see what works best,” Surdyke said, “It’s just gonna be an interesting experience to figure it out alongside Rocío and professor Speaks and everything.”
Colón-Cotto also expressed optimism about the new academic track.
“I just hope it’s a program that continues to develop over time and that it’s something that Notre Dame keeps and something they can be proud of in the future because I think it’s a very important field that doesn’t get enough attention,” Colón-Cotto said. “And there’s not a lot of places in the US that offer undergraduate opportunities to delve into art conservation, so it’s really cool that we get to be one of those first, or some of the only institutions that are kind of like making paths for people interested.”
Contact Grace Tadajweski at gtadajwe@nd.edu
FEBRUARY 26, 2025 5:15 P.M. basilica of the sacred heart
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of University President Emeritus Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., a Memorial Mass will be celebrated in his memory.
INSIDE COLUMN
Caroline Collins Assistant Managing Editor
This inside column is inspired by author and influencer Eli Rallo whose “rules” have helped me though the last four years. Between her rules for surviving a breakup, Tuesdays and hosting a pregame, these lists by a fellow journalist and Jersey girl have helped me reframe how I think about life and time at college.
I’ve learned a lot at Notre Dame. As a second semester senior, I can confidently say I have finally figured out how to do college, and just in time with only three months to go. Now that I am an expert, here are the rules I swear by.
1) Sleep, fun, high GPA
You can never have all three at the same time. You can have two of the three, but at some point, you will have to choose which two. Between late back shifts at The Observer Thursday nights and rallying for Newfs on Friday, I tend to favor fun over sleep. My physics II grade is proof that my GPA was never going to recover from the sophomore slump, so ideally you choose two, but sometimes you can only have one.
2) Break up with your high school boyfriend, girlfriend, situationship, whatever you want to call it
This may be a controversial take, but please, I’m begging you to break up with them. My college experience has improved immensely, and I guarantee yours will too. If not, you could probably “tis the damn season” your way back into their life when you go home for Christmas break.
3) Figure out your caffeine intake
If you take away anything from this list, let it be this. People
Rules of college
who don’t drink caffeine amaze me (shoutout Shannon) because I literally can’t function without my morning iced latte or supply of diet coke to keep me going at The Observer. There are many options for caffeine on campus, but not all are created equally. Bottom tier: dining hall coffee, ABP coffee and grab and go Starbucks. Top tier: Starbucks iced shaken oat milk espresso, dining hall diet coke with the good ice and Keurigs in random lounges across campus.
4) Establish a go-to karaoke song
I was recently asked what my personal hell would be. Without a doubt: it’s karaoke. My biggest fear is everyone staring at me and feeling my face turn bright red and then even worse having to sing in front of them. That being said, everyone always wants to do karaoke, so I have to lean on my always trusted “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (see rule number two).
5) Have a friend you can sit in silence with
You need that person who you can spend hours with just existing and not speaking, but it’s not awkward.
6) The third location is never the move
I love a good pregame. Honestly, sometimes the pregame with your closest friends is the move. I’m down to go out to the bars and love to dance, but once it hits 2 a.m. and someone starts inquiring “what’s the move?” that is your sign to start winding down the night.
The third location is never the move. Someone will either be crying, throwing up or sleeping. All should be avoided.
7) Have a rotation of study spots
We are creatures of habit, but you should not study for hours every night freshman year on the 10th floor of Hes to hide from your roommate. You will never be able to step foot in the library again without thinking of the orgo molecule kit and calc
practice tests. Writing that sent a shudder down my spine. Instead, find a few different spots and change it up. I’m partial to the Geddes coffeehouse because it was close to my dorm and because free coffee (see rule number three). My other favorites are the second floor of LaFun, if you can get a table, and the reading room in Jordan Hall because it has nice windows.
8) Be intentional about choosing a borg partner
Borging can make or break a friendship. That’s all I have to say on this.
9) Make a routine for getting out of a funk
Write in a journal, take a shower, listen to your favorite playlist or podcast and go for a walk. Sometimes all you need is some fresh air and space to change your perspective.
10) It’s never too early to start thinking about Halloween costumes
Halloweekend will always sneak up on you and you only have four years to perfect your niche pop culture reference costume. There is nothing worse than a haphazard costume thrown together at the last minute. A costume that will leave people talking takes a perfectly curated Pinterest board, multiple Amazon orders and some classic DIY.
11) Find something you are passionate about
To quote the College of Arts & Letters, “Study everything. Do anything.” Try everything you can — join a sports team, sign up to be a commissioner for your dorm, work an on-campus job, add your name to all the club email lists, join The Observer — you might just find something you love.
You can contact Caroline at ccolli23@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Don’t read this letter, pt. I
To the one burdened by a guilt they dare not speak of, Do not read this letter. It will only leave you feeling confused and upset. I’m serious, by the way — this stuff is not fun. But if you must, then picture this: a bitter night in February. Raw gusts shriek down otherwise quiet streets. The breath of a bundled pedestrian leaves behind thick, lingering clouds of vapor. You and two friends are shoulder to shoulder in the backseat of a taxi, on your way to a bar downtown. It’s Friday, and better yet, Valentine’s Day — cause enough for celebration. Moreover, you’re a college student, and this week has been exhausting — exams, social anxiety and the stress of finding a job have taken their respective tolls on your mental health. Tonight, you deserve to have fun.
The taxi begins to slow as the light goes from yellow to red. Your friend calls to mind something that happened at this same bar last weekend, and you laugh. In the midst of your laughter, you glance out the window and notice a gathering of people — about a dozen or so — outside an unremarkable brick building. These people are homeless, you surmise, awaiting entry into a shelter for the night.
You look away. The light is still red. the laughter has died down. You look back.
There’s something off-putting about this scene, but what exactly? Homelessness is inevitable, after all. Unfortunate, especially on a night like tonight, but inevitable nonetheless. Then you realize: these people do not look cold. They simply stand there, blank expressions pasted across their worn-out faces, ostensibly apathetic to the bitterness of the winter wind. “Why don’t they look cold?” you think to yourself. “They must not be human enough to recognize their own discomfort.”
One woman in particular catches your eye — she’s older, wheelchair-bound and has no legs.
You look away again — disturbed — as the light turns green. The taxi drives off, and the amputee — along with the rest of the group — fade from sight in the side view mirror. Soon, they will fade from memory. Alas, the party must go on, and the night is still young. A few minutes later, the taxi drops you off — about half a block from the bar. You curse the driver silently
while hurrying to escape the cold. But worry not, because soon enough you’re buying a round of drinks and catching up with friends.
And remember, you deserve this. The lights dim. The noise rises. “Shut Up and Dance” plays, and you oblige, losing yourself in the music; in the letting go; in the forgetting.
And just like that, it’s time to go. You stand outside on the sidewalk — shivering, teeth chattering — awaiting the taxi. You check your phone: it’s running late. “Just my luck. I swear this always happens to me. And tonight of all nights? In this weather?”
The taxi arrives, finally. The driver takes the same route as before, and you again notice that rather unremarkable brick building. This time, however, the group of homeless people aren’t outside — they’ve likely found shelter for the night, and you’re glad for that. Then, a few blocks down, something catches your eye. More like someone. It’s the same woman — the amputee — asleep, her wheelchair resting in the doorway of an old building.
Now, you might expect that, upon seeing this poor woman stranded out in the cold, you felt deeply sympathetic — moved to tears, even. But no. You felt nothing. You gazed out the window at this woman, unable to believe that she possessed a sliver of dignity. Who can blame you? Does a person like that even have dignity? Does a person like that even exist? Surely, God designed this person to suffer; to be lesser than the rest, and surely this person has embraced their unfortunate fate with open arms.
But what if that was you?
No, forget it. You shouldn’t be burdened by the misfortunes of others. You have a life to live, after all — a life you’ve worked hard for, a life you deserve and you’d be damned to let guilt stand in the way of your goals. Sure, this woman might’ve been dealt a bad hand, but she must’ve done something to deserve it. You never would’ve ended up like her — crippled, homeless and dare I say worthless — because you’re smart: you make the right choices. You work hard.
One week later:
You lie awake in bed. Finding sleep a futile effort, you walk over to the window and peer out through the blinds. It’s still snowing, harder now than before, and a few inches have already accumulated, with the storm not expected to let up until
morning. You enjoy the snow, so this forecast doesn’t trouble you. Gazing out the window, your thoughts begin to wander. “A snowstorm is quite poetic, actually. It really encapsulates the deep winter aesthetic ...”
“… IT WAS YOU. You were the amputee in the wheelchair.”
“What? No.”
“IT WAS YOU. When your gaze fell upon that poor, suffering woman, it fell upon yourself.”
“Impossible. But I’m … I’m ME! And that woman, she was … she was wretched.”
“But what makes you ‘you’ in the first place? Did your soul choose to be born into the able body and mind that you possess currently? Did you choose to have loving parents? Strong role models? Caring teachers? Did your soul do anything to deserve these gifts?”
“Well, I don’t know … I guess … I guess not.”
“What about that woman? Did her soul choose to be born into a less able body and mind? Did she choose unloving parents? Non-existent role models? Uncaring teachers? Did her soul do anything to deserve this unjust deal?”
“No, it couldn’t have.”
“So what then differentiates you from her? If your soul did nothing to deserve privilege, and hers nothing to deserve pain, why then do you think yourself superior to her? The only reason you aren’t out there in this raging snowstorm, sleeping under the entryway of an old building, wondering why life had nothing but pain and suffering in store for you, yet no longer able to shed even a single tear over this fact, is because — by virtue of a happy cosmic accident — you got lucky.”
A long silence passes as the snow continues to fall softly. Then, it occurs to you: “I … I have to go.”
“Where?”
“To keep her warm and safe … if she isn’t, then neither am I.” Hastily, you throw on your warmest jacket and slip into winter boots, then step out into the night…
This letter will be continued at a later date.
T.W.
Jackson is currently wandering through an alpine meadow somewhere in Kashmir, pondering the meaning of life. You can contact Jackson at jlang2@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Jackson Lang Letters from the Wanderer
Make President Trump listen to the valedictorian
My Notre Dame roommate sent me a link to your recent article discussing the dispute on campus between the respective organizations of Democratic and Republican students regarding the issue of inviting President Trump to deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2025, as well as your editorial supporting such invitation, regardless of your editorial board’s concerns about the president.
You cogently, and in detail, described the long history of Notre Dame promoting civil discourse with many of our presidents and other important national figures, and the public role taken by Notre Dame’s presidents, faculty and students throughout it’s history at times of crisis in our country.
I agree with your conclusion that the president should be invited to give the 2025 commencement address, though I too am not a supporter of him.
I have been a lifelong registered Democrat. I have dealt with him personally as a lawyer successfully representing a major oil company he sued. I believe he poses a serious and unique danger to our constitutional order, our democracy, our economy, our shared values and the world that will be passed on to my eight grandchildren. But I have a suggestion and rationale that I did not see in what I have read in the Observer. You are right about civil discourse — but that is a two way street.
To explain it, I would like to first give you the perspective from my era, that of the class of 1968, and the involvement of our class in the turmoil of that year. Much of this was covered then in the Observer, and I was a regular columnist.
Many historians have written that 1968 — with the country split over the war in Vietnam, civil rights, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and all the resulting riots in inner city ghettos, student protests, the killing of students at Kent State and the horror of the Democratic Convention in Chicago — was an important turning point in the history of our country. It seemed as if suddenly faith in our major institutions was upended and the country was in chaos.
My classmates had many conflicting views about the war, but we were civil. And as always has been the tradition at Notre Dame, in prior wars and subsequent wars, regardless of their personal views, a large number of my classmates went off to fight for their country in Vietnam, and many died, were wounded physically or mentally, and returned to a country that at that time often showed them no thanks for their sacrifice.
Unfortunately, I believe historians in the future will be writing, that like 1968, the year 2025 will mark an historic and terrible turning point in our nation’s history, which has radically improved to better the world order, the global economy and the lives of people here and elsewhere. That is why we should invite the president to Notre Dame.
The year 1968 and the involvement of students in what happened was a major story. At the time of graduation, both Time and Newsweek magazines (which
were major publications at that time) did cover stories on “The class of 1968.” They each picked a handful of universities to focus on. As could be expected, Notre Dame was one as the top Catholic university covered. I was the valedictorian of the class of 1968. That was a unique year for figuring out what to say to your classmates about the importance of what we had learned at Notre Dame and what we faced going out into the world. The New York Times wrote an article discussing the valedictory addresses at a handful of major universities. Of course, one which they wanted to cover was the one from Notre Dame, the representative Catholic school. So the administration approved the address I had written and we sent a copy to the Times. They discussed it and quoted from it in the article.
When I read the editorial and story about the issue of inviting President Trump to give the 2025 commencement address, all that happened at ND that year came back to me, especially all the arguments and discussions about the war and other political issues tearing our country apart like a cancer, with effects that took decades to heal — just like we face in 2025.
And I remembered my valedictory address. And I thought: let Trump come to Notre Dame and speak whatever he wants to a captive audience of thousands of students, faculty, administrators, parents, siblings and friends. But then the civil discourse starts and he is part of the captive audience. And someone he has to listen to should then speak.
I don’t know how Notre Dame handles its valedictory addresses at graduation now, but I would hope that a student, the Notre Dame valedictorian of the class of 2025, could explain to him what he or she had learned at Notre Dame with its Christian message.
How to live one’s life. The joy of living your life giving to others. The reasons why Americans are willing to die for their country. The generations of people from all over the world that have immigrated to the United States throughout its history and worked hard, and built businesses giving us great new products and technologies and found cures to terrible diseases, and struggled to create a better life and great opportunities for their children and grandchildren. And how satisfying that is to them.
How this mix of people from many countries, of different races and religions and cultures, through all its troubled history, has built a unique country that effectively leads the world and can make life better for all of humanity. And that is what we learn at Notre Dame and it is at the core of Christian faith and our national history and our duty to humanity. Maybe, just maybe, that message, that day might get through and change the course of history.
Thomas D. Brislin
class of 1968 Feb. 24
Do not invite Trump to speak in May
Dear Editor,
The Editorial Board deserves credit for a nifty end run around reality for endorsing a commencement invitation for President Trump to speak. Team Trump couldn’t have executed the play better. Disingenuously adopting a facially reasonable position, while the true intent was to exploit the weakness of good willed people to enter into dialogue, confident that truth, facts and reason will prevail. After all, a plurality of the American electorate fell for this ruse.
For the most part, our souls are not lost in some grand Faustian bargain for wealth or power, although there seems to be a lot of that in the air. Rather, our souls erode over time, bit by bit.
The University has already capitulated on DEI. Perhaps it has over 154,039,000 good reasons to (federal grant dollars in fiscal year 2024). You can say, “We just changed a few words.” Diversity, equity and inclusion are among the bedrock foundation of our Christianity. “But look what we can get in return,” you might reason.
By giving in, even just a little, we are complicit in diminishing our own souls. Trump was able to buy compliance and complacency.
On a good day, Trump is amoral — lacking empathy, compassion and reason. He is the closest embodiment of an anti-Christ to ascend to the world stage in my lifetime. Pretending he is some variation of “normal” diminishes us all and shrinks our souls.
Notre Dame may have a commencement speech tradition, but traditions shouldn’t endure “just because.” A tradition without value is just silliness, something we just do because we just do. To be lasting and meaningful, our tradition should only be extended to the worthy. Our great University should send a message to Trump: “President or not, you are not worthy.”
If allowed to ascend to the commencement stage, Trump would bellow: “Oh shut up, silly people! You knew damn well I was a snake before you invited me in!”
Our community should not invite him in.
Kevin F. Smith class of
By HARRY PENNE Scene Writer
Live from New York, it’s … Sunday night? On Sunday, Feb. 16, classic sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 50th anniversary with a star-studded three-hour special that was an absolute blast to watch. The “Avengers: Endgame” for “SNL” fans, the night was a homecoming for cast members and former hosts as they returned to Studio 8H and bridged the generational gap, sharing the stage.
Before giving my thoughts on the special, I thought I would provide some background on “SNL.” Under the supervision of producer Lorne Michaels, every episode follows the same format: a celebrity guest host delivers an opening monologue followed by many sketches, digital shorts, “Weekend Update” and a guest musical act. The structure has remained mainly unchanged since the first episode premiered on Oct. 11, 1975 (hosted by George Carlin).
Over the years, cast members have come and gone, giving “SNL” various “eras,” each with its own distinct feel and style of comedy. People have different ideas of which is the best, but part of the joy of the 50th special was seeing the generations of casts come together, including members of the first season (Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman), and the return of fan-favorite bits.
Kristen Wiig reprised her role of Dooneese in a “Lawrence Welk” sketch where she finally finds a match (played by Will Ferrell), despite her eccentricities. Pete Davidson appeared as Chad in a sketch with Laraine Newman where she reminisces of her past at “SNL.” Kate McKinnon returned as Colleen Rafferty in a new “Close Encounter” installment, this time with her mother, Colleen, played by Meryl Streep in her “SNL” debut. Rachel Dratch reprised Debbie Downer, and frequent host Steve Martin gave the opening monologue. Even recent characters made comebacks, such as Marcello Hernández returning as Season 50’s Domingo for the third time in “Domingo: Vow Renewal.”
Personally, four sketches stood out. The first was a new Andy Samberg digital short: “Anxiety.” Samberg pioneered the digital short when he released “Lazy Sunday” (a rap about “Narnia”) in 2005 with Chris Parnell. “Anxiety” parodies being an “SNL” cast member, positing that “every single person who ever worked at ‘SNL’ had anxiety.” The song pays homage to the show’s history, referencing Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal. Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon reprise their “Delicious Dish” roles, and Parnell, à la “Lazy Sunday,” raps a few bars.
Another highlight was “Adam Sandler’s Song.” While he was a cast member, Adam Sandler sang many iconic tunes, but his song for the 50th (introduced by Jack Nicholson) was surprisingly touching. At times self-parodying,
Sandler sang about the show’s history, quirks and what makes it special. Arguably, the most heartfelt moment was when he paid respect to the late Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted an audience Q&A session that featured many celebrity cameos (including Nate Bargatze, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Ryan Reynolds) and lots of clever writing. My top sketch of the night was the new John Mulaney musical (it has become tradition to write a musical whenever he hosts) which parodied a wide variety of shows, including “Fame,” “Les Mis,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Hamilton” and “The Lion King” (Lin Manuel-Miranda appeared as Hamilton and Nathan Lane sang a parody of “Hakuna Matata”). This is one of the cleverest musical sketches, both mocking and paying tribute to New York City and pop culture over the past 50 years.
For decades, “SNL” has been a staple of American pop culture. Some have argued that “SNL” hasn’t been funny in recent years, but I think the 50th special proves this wrong. Overall, the energy of the cast and audience was infectious, and I excitedly watched familiar faces and characters return. The episode, in tone, felt like the “SNL” golden age returned, and I hope it is indicative of the future. Regardless, the series’ impact cannot be understated. Here’s to 50 years of making us laugh, “SNL,” and 50 more! Contact Harry Penne at hpenne@nd.edu
By ANDY OTTONE Scene Writer
My friends are tired of me talking about the new musical biopic “Better Man.” They no longer want to discuss the film’s portrayal of the life of British popstar Robbie Williams, or the reasons he decided the film should portray him as a photorealistic animated monkey. But they should care about this movie; I feel everyone should.
I’ll be completely honest: I had never heard of Robbie Williams before the first time I saw the movie’s trailer, but I was familiar with his music. I’m sure you are, too, if you’ve ever watched the “Bridget Jones” films, “Cars 2” or “X-Men: First Class” Williams and his former band Take That, with which he still collaborates on occasion, were pretty big in Britain and greater Europe. If you are a fan of “Derry Girls,” recall the episode where the gang tries to find their way to a British pop concert; they were going to see Robbie Williams. Well, his whole band was playing, but he was always the main character.
That’s the narrative “Better Man” is trying to sell you, and one that the screenplay simultaneously upholds and tries to dispel. At the very least, Williams
does not view himself as someone aspirational; that’s why he and director Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) decided to depict the musician as an animal. Williams, as revealed by Gracey, often felt like a caged animal performing for crowds, claiming the pop star called it “playing monkey,” driving the duo to pursue the creative medium to tell his life story.
I’ll be frank; I would never have watched the movie if the film didn’t make Williams a monkey. But now, I find that the monkey thing is at best unnecessary, and at worst an active hindrance on the film’s quality. The film is so much more than a monkey singing and dancing.
The film is what every good biopic should be: honest, critical and a showcase for the best of his work. In conversation, I once called the film “Rocketman, but everything is turned up 500%,” and I stand by that assessment. But the issue lies in the ape of it all. Robbie Williams’ choice to portray himself as a monkey works thematically, at moments, but throughout the whole film it becomes actively distracting. If the point is to show the lifestyle Williams led was unglamorous, Gracey’s direction and the supporting performances of Raechelle Banno as Nicole Appleton and Frazer Hadfield as childhood best-friend Nate
(no last name) demonstrate this enough. I sincerely feel there is nothing in the film that I would think “Oh, this would be cool if a human was doing it.” A human doing heroin in a dingy bathroom just to feel good enough to perform is tragic; a monkey doing the same is insanely disturbing, and sadly kind of hilarious.
That is ultimately the crux of my issue with the film. The monkey thing is an interesting angle, and it’s what gave me the push to care enough about the film to watch it. Now that I got past that point, I think the movie — already great on its own — would have been even better if they played it earnestly. The editing, writing, direction and energy Williams brings to the project is already so full of personality and unique style that the film could have stood out on its own. Adding a CGI monkey felt like a step too far. I highly recommend this film. It is a great examination of a real world case of fame’s corruptive power and a victorious comeback from that brink of darkness. I just suggest it with the forewarning that you really have to look past the monkey mask Williams is wearing.
Contact Andy Ottone at aottone@nd.edu
Irish begin challenging week at No. 13 Clemson
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
Looking to build on Saturday’s 76-72 defeat of Pittsburgh in South Bend, Notre Dame men’s basketball is hitting the road for the first time in two weeks. The Irish (12-15, 6-10 ACC) will take on No. 13 Clemson (22-5, 14-2 ACC), a lock for the NCAA Tournament, on Wednesday night in South Carolina.
Notre Dame breathed some life back into its previously downtrodden home stretch, finishing what had been a dismal homestand. The Irish had lost by a combined 39 points to Louisville and SMU to start last week, extending their disappointing February record to 1-5. However, their takedown of Pitt was their first all season against a team positioned in the upper half of the ACC standings.
A big reason for Notre Dame’s success on Saturday was its mix of high-end talent and depth. Sophomore guard Markus Burton and junior Tae Davis did what Irish fans expect them to do, combining for 41 points. However, with graduate guard Matt Allocco and sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry both out, senior J.R. Konieczny (10 points on 6-for-6 free throw shooting) and freshman Cole Certa (12 points on three made 3-pointers) each stepped up in the backcourt.
After Saturday’s win, head coach Micah Shrewsberry spoke on the development of Certa, who has played 22 combined minutes in the last two games.
“It’s hard to make shots in inconsistent minutes. No matter who you are — like, you can [have] guys in the NBA that don’t play a whole lot — it’s hard to be a knockdown shooter in inconsistent minutes,” Shrewsberry said. “He’s now starting to sniff it and play a little bit more. He’s getting on the court a little bit more, and he’s missed some of
BASEBALL
his open 3’s, but you just knew at some point in time he’s gonna start knocking them down. That’s what he does.”
With two of his usual five starters simultaneously unavailable for the first time all season, coach Shrewsberry had to throw a number of previously untested combinations of players on the floor. But that might not have been the worst thing in the world for the Irish.
“Kind of adjusting on the fly, just based on what they [the opponents] are doing, I think is something that’s really good for us and key for us,” Shrewsberry pointed out.
He also mentioned that Notre Dame’s ability to play consistent basketball and keep pace with Pittsburgh early on helped him keep the team in sync down the stretch.
“I needed every single one of those timeouts at the end, and that’s what you save them for, mostly, if you don’t have to use them throughout the game — if you don’t have to stop a run, if you don’t have to do certain things,” Shrewsberry said. “You use them for those moments, because in my mind, I’m like, ‘This is gonna be a close game. It’s gonna come down the stretch. We’re gonna have some lineups that have never played before. We’ve gotta make sure we’re organized.’ And for those guys to kind of adjust and do it on the fly was big for them.”
It’s worth noting that Notre Dame will visit another NCAA Tournament contender, Wake Forest, three days after the Clemson game. Last year, during this same late-season week, the Irish beat both the Tigers and the Demon Deacons, who were both jockeying for seats at the March Madness table then, at Purcell Pavilion. If the Irish are to accomplish the same feat this season, coach Shrewsberry believes his team must pay off its preparation by battling when the lights turn on.
“We spend so much time walking through, we spend so much time breaking down — we do offensive reviews to make sure we’re running our sets the right way,” Shrewsberry described. “But if you don’t compete on Wednesday, nothing matters. That stuff doesn’t matter. Details don’t matter.”
“When you have the right effort, you have the right focus, you have the right energy, all the details kick in, right? We want the details to matter, so that involves us coming in and just giving our all and fighting, and I know we’re gonna prepare the right way. Now let’s go fight the right way.”
Heading into Wednesday’s game, Markus Burton needs just 17 points to reach 1,000 for his career. If he can get there by the end of the regular season, he’d become the seventhfastest player in Notre Dame men’s basketball to reach four digits. Only Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg is averaging more points per game (21.8) within ACC play than Burton (21.2) this season.
Clemson primed for another deep run
Last season, the Tigers came out of nowhere to turn only their third NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 into an Elite Eight run. Clemson had limped into the big dance, suffering a blowout loss to Boston College in its first game of the ACC Tournament, but it did not matter. As a No. 6 seed, the Tigers rode balanced and effective scoring to upsets of Baylor and Arizona before eventually succumbing to Alabama.
The 2024-25 iteration of Clemson has proven last year’s surge to be anything but a fluke. Picked fourth in the ACC Preseason Poll, the Tigers currently occupy second in the conference, only a game back of Duke. Speaking of the Duke, that’s one of two top-five teams Clemson has
slayed this season. The Tigers knocked off No. 4 Kentucky on Dec. 3 and beat the secondranked Blue Devils on Feb. 8, winning both games at home.
Altogether, Clemson has won 10 of its last 11 games, losing only to Georgia Tech in the game that preceded Duke on Feb. 8. This past Saturday, the Tigers handled business against the same SMU team that destroyed the Irish in South Bend, winning 79-69 in Dallas.
“Terrific win for our team … I thought we played with great energy and pretty good attention to detail,” 15th-year head coach Brad Brownell said after the game. “... Our ability to to shoot the ball and share the ball — obviously 24 assisted baskets is terrific. I just thought we played a very clean game and beat a very good team today.”
Many of Clemson’s assists set up 3-pointers, as the Tigers connected on 14 of their 29 shots from distance against SMU. Jaeden Zackery, an inleague transfer from Boston College, made five of them for 19 points. He had knocked down only four triples on 16 attempts in the previous month.
Chase Hunter, a sixth-year Tiger and one of two returning starters from last year’s postseason march, hit from beyond the arc three times on Saturday, posting 17 points. He leads Clemson with 17.1 points per contest and has scored as many as 30 in a single game this year.
Against SMU, Hunter drilled two triples in the second half’s opening minute, helping the Tigers stretch a 35-32 halftime lead into a 45-32 advantage with 17 minutes to play.
“I thought our defensive activity was good,” Brownell said about Clemson’s start to the second half. “We knocked a couple of balls loose, got into some transition situations where we were fairly opportunistic there. And then I just think we kept executing.
We just kept getting pretty good quality shots.”
The Tigers also benefitted from getting Russian center Viktor Lakhin, a Cincinnati transfer, back in the fold after early foul trouble. He finished with 16 points and six rebounds after scoring a teamhigh 22 in the upset of Duke.
“Lakhin makes a difference,” Brownell said. “He’s a 6 [foot] 10 [inch] guy that can guard pick-and-roll a couple of different ways, he can make a 3, stretch the defense. Obviously him playing a lot was a big factor in the second half.”
Currently projected to claim the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region and start the NCAA Tournament in Seattle, Clemson’s playing as well as anyone in the ACC right now. With a Duke loss against Wake Forest or North Carolina in the regular season’s final week, the Tigers could very well capture the top spot in the conference tournament.
“I think our pieces fit,” Brownell stated. “I think that’s a big part of all this is you’ve gotta have buy-in, your pieces [have] gotta fit, guys have been coachable and because we’re older, we’ve been able to withstand the length of the season and all the trials and tribulations that go with that.”
In last year’s 69-62 defeat of Clemson, the Irish held the Tigers to a dismal 5-for28 line from 3-point land. Hunter and Ian Schieffelin, Clemson’s returning starters from that game, had very different nights, as the former totaled only 4 points while the latter double-doubled with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Burton and Davis combined for an efficient 39 points on the Notre Dame side.
For this year’s matchup, the Irish and Tigers will square at 7 p.m. on Wednesday inside Littlejohn Coliseum.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
Irish win three games at Stetson Tournament
By BEN HICKS Sports Writer
Notre Dame baseball kept its hot start to 2025 rolling this past weekend in Florida, compiling three wins in three days at the Stetson Tournament. It was the Irish’s second straight weekend in the Sunshine State to open head coach Shawn Stiffler’s third year at the helm, after the group started the campaign with a 2-1 series win at North
Florida.
The tournament began with a hard-fought, 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday afternoon. The retooled Irish pitching staff flexed its arms against a Hawkeye offense projected to finish in the top half of the Big Ten, recording nine strikeouts while walking just two. The effort on the mound was spearheaded by sophomore right-hander Jack Radel, who has now turned in two successful
starts after his five-inning masterclass on Friday.
The bats remained quiet though for the Irish throughout much of the afternoon, until graduate infielder Connor Hincks blasted the go-ahead home run off the scoreboard at Melching Field in DeLand, Florida, during the top of the 11th inning to
push the Irish ahead for the first time all day. Graduate reliever Tobey McDonough would retire the side in the bottom half of the frame to nail it down for the Irish, while also giving Coach Stiffler the 400th win of his storied career between VCU and Notre Dame.
Facing an undermatched
UMBC side, the Irish offense exploded on Saturday as Notre Dame ran all over the Retrievers en route to a 12-2 run-rule triumph. Notre Dame had runners all over the basepaths for the first four innings but couldn’t muster anything to see BASEBALL PAGE 11
wisely. Don’t waste time on impossible situations you cannot change or negative individuals trying to rattle your nerves. Focus on using your energy to promote positive gain and to recognize and eliminate what causes you grief. Rise above, be kind, and know when to distance yourself from unhealthy situations.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Say no to toxic situations. Move toward peace of mind, even if your journey necessitates difficult choices. Put your time and effort into what’s uplifting and brings you joy. Adjust your skills and experience to fit a venue or position that allows growth, not inhibitions.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Broaden your scope of understanding. It’s easier to navigate life’s landmines if you know what’s detrimental to achieving what’s important to you. Distance yourself from users and abusers, and be kinder to your body, mind, and soul. Choose to change over temptations that mask, not eliminate problems.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Be the light everyone looks to for guidance. Your wisdom, experience, and gratitude will offer strength to loved ones and help you recognize what’s possible. Push forward and achieve. Life is about being true to yourself. Choose what makes you happy and infect those you love with positive support and wisdom.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Pay attention to your appearance and feelings. Address health issues or bad habits. Be a leader, not a follower. The one to make things happen instead of sitting on the sidelines observing and criticizing others. Choose to join forces with heartfelt people and find meaning and purpose in making positive changes.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): An unfamiliar environment will set your mind adrift. Bask in the anomaly of what’s possible if you stretch your mind and embrace new and exciting people and pastimes. Use your experience to enrich what’s new and exciting, and you’ll discover the power of positive change. Today is about growth..
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Spread the love. Compliment, lift those around you, and see what happens. Choose a jubilant approach to life; doors will open, and opportunities will manifest. Choose to be the light in the room and the one everybody wants to associate with, and you’ll discover the secret to success and happiness.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Share ideas, lend a helping hand, expand your circle of friends, and choose peace of mind and personal happiness over enticement, excess, and putting yourself in a vulnerable position. Make choices based on facts, figures, and the ability to compromise. Simple choices come easy when choosing right over wrong.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Observe, listen, and summarize situations carefully. Stick to the rules and take the path that bypasses indulgent behavior and temptation. Put health, diet, lifestyle, and intelligence first. There are opportunities available to you. Choose wisely, and you’ll be proud of your achievements. Personal gain and home improvements are heading your way.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take your time. Reve up your engine and head in a direction that honors your integrity, common sense, and dignity. Refuse to bend or let someone take advantage of you. Speak up, and stand up for what’s best for you. Protect your physical and emotional well-being and your reputation.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look on the bright side of life, and you’ll attract positive people and input to help you decipher how to navigate your way forward. Make your home your sanctuary where you feel safe and sound, spending time doing the things that make you happy with those who bring you joy.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Love makes the world go round. Pick up the pieces you left behind, the people, pastimes, and pleasures you miss, and fill your day with positivity and desire to see the good in others and manifest what matters most to you. Life is about choices; do what’s best for you.
Birthday Baby: You are giving, supportive, and appreciative. You are energetic and understanding.
BENGAL BOUTS
Bengal Bouts semifinal results from Ring A
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
On Monday night, Dahnke Ballroom at the University of Notre Dame’s Duncan Student Center hosted the semifinal round of the 95th annual Bengal Bouts. Here’s how each of the fights in Ring A played out.
139.5 LB: Ryan “Rango” Lally def. Kacper “Polish Power” Szyller
The night’s first bout opened in a frenetic pace, as Szyller chased Lally around the ring in pursuit of body blows. Lally was disciplined though, responding with a few successful shots over the top. Both fighters backed off in round two, but the action picked up again in round three, with Szyller twice losing his mouthguard. With or without his protective equipment, he didn’t have enough to overcome Lally, who won by unanimous decision.
164 LB: Erick “Wutang Warrior” Valdez def. Yanni “Quadzilla” Vu Valdez seemingly couldn’t miss to start the fight, peppering his opponent with effective combination after effective combination in the first round. Early in the second round, he forced a count by landing a loud right hook. His long reach continued to give Vu trouble into the third round, resulting in a Valdez victory by unanimous decision.
Once again, almost all of the aggression came from the blue corner, as Mistichelli went after Rivadeneira. The latter defended well for the most part, save for a couple of potent left jabs from Mistichelli. However, Mistichelli’s tenacity was eventually rewarded, as he forced a count in the final round and won the bout by unanimous decision.
149 LB: Emiliano Gomez def. Thomas Etchart
Etchart became the first gold-cornered fighter to have some success, drawing blood from Gomez very early on in the fight’s first round. The latter had the fight stopped for cleanup during the second round but refused to give in, yelling with each swing as he battled back into the fight. Forcing a count on Etchart in the final seconds of round three, Gomez captured the win by unanimous decision.
165 LB: Michael “Crispy Chicken” Rauch def. Matt “Double Tap” Flowers
This flat-footed fight between seniors saw Rauch eventually take the upper hand in the war of attrition. Flowers couldn’t muster much against his opponent’s right hooks and shots to the midsection, which increased in accuracy down the stretch. In the end, Rauch took the victory by unanimous decision.
170 LB: Owen “ChamiMan” Serkes def. John “Sugar J” Christoforetti
These two East Coast-based boxers fought spiritedly to start, crashing so hard into the ropes that one of the corners lost its padding midway through round one. They would continue trading surges of momentum until the middle part of the bout, setting up a decisive final round. Serkes put forth the stronger finish, firing up his coaches and earning the win by split decision.
In a senior-against-senior battle, McGinn overcame Mattheos’ home-state advantage by catching him with a handful of early right hooks against the ropes. McGinn kept his foot on the gas into the second and third rounds, consistently taking Mattheos back to the ropes. In the end, he’d win by unanimous decision.
This all-sophomore bout went the way of Loughran, who used a steady dose of right jabs to land shots on Ejike. The Texan’s responses were short-lived at first but began to have a greater impact as the third round arrived, but they were not enough. Loughran finished the job with a couple of massive crosses and hooks, winning the bout by
unanimous decision.
175 LB: Matthew “Two Cup” Turzai def. Andrew “Molotov” Molinsky
One of the strongest fighters from the quarterfinal round, Turzai opened patiently, absorbing a quality left hook from Molinsky in round one. However, the Pittsburgh senior spilled the downriver Cincy native only seconds later, setting the tone for a competitive fight. Turzai would force a second count against Molinsky in round two, eventually prevailing by unanimous decision.
164 LB: Charles “Pride of the Palisades” Collins def. Gavin “The Getaway” Carr
Though Collins was all over Carr from the jump, his success waned in the second round. That’s when Carr came alive, delivering several stout left jabs and crosses that forced his opponent into a count. Collins didn’t waver, though, returning fire in the final round and capturing the narrow victory by split decision.
194 LB: Michael “Honeybadger” Heffernan def. Charlie “Chili” Schmidt With Heffernan’s supporters simultaneously cheering for both him and a fighter in the adjacent ring, noise drowned out any sound within the ring. Schmidt started well with a successful left jab and right hook in the first round, but Heffernan
powered back down the stretch. Especially dominant in the second round, Heffernan secured the win by split decision.
Zachary “Obi” Egan def. Matthew “Moo Moo Meadows” Kirkham
Egan found success out of the gold corner in round one, landing a couple of left-handed shots over the top on Kirkham. He didn’t offer a ton of pushback in the second round, but changed in a big way as the final round arrived. After the two fighters backed off midway through the round, they locked up and Kirkham freed his hands to catch Egan with a couple of big shots. However, Egan held his own and earned the win by split decision.
Heavyweight: Seth “D” Pickford def. Ryan “The Gentleman” Davey Mere seconds into the night’s final bout, Pickford went crashing into the ropes right in front of the media table. However, despite Davey’s early ambush, the gold-cornered fighter responded well, ending the first round with momentum on his side. Davey took over again in the final two rounds, connecting on four or five consecutive jabs early in round three and securing the win by split decision.
The Bengal Bouts finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at Purcell Pavilion.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
Becker spins no-hitter at Mardi Gras Classic
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
Notre Dame softball spent its third weekend of the 2025 season at the Mardi Gras Classic in Mobile, Alabama. Matching up against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, South Alabama, Maine and Lipscomb, the Irish went 3-2, moving to 8-7 on the year.
Notre Dame’s weekend opener against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Friday began with four runs across the first three innings.
Sophomore infielder Addison Amaral started the scoring with a double that brought home senior outfielder Mickey Winchell. Senior infielder Anna Holloway doubled the lead with a second-inning single that scored senior utility player Jane Kronenberger. Though the Islander briefly tied the game with a two-run top of the third, Notre Dame pulled back ahead on a 2-run Kronenberger double in the bottom half.
Up 4-2, the Irish settled into the game behind right-hander Shannon Becker. Sophomore righthander Kami Kamzik started in the circle for the Irish, striking out
five but conceding two 2 runs in two innings. Her successor, Becker, worked four solid innings, navigating five hits to keep the Irish ahead 4-3 midway through the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, the Irish put the game on ice with four runs, as senior catcher Rachel Allen capped off the surge with another 2-run double. Winchell, who scored 3 runs in the game, came home again on the two-bagger.
Freshman left-hander Brianne Weiss closed the 8-3 win out for the Irish, striking out two in a perfect seventh inning.
In a game against South Alabama that featured three lead changes, the Irish jumped ahead first on a single by sophomore infielder Olivia Levitt. The 1-0 edge would hold up through the midway point of the game, as junior righthander Micaela Kastor opened the night with four scoreless frames. However, the Jaguars got to her in the fifth, drawing three walks and moving ahead on a 2-run Amity White double.
The Irish reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth, as a South Alabama throwing error evened the score before junior utility Paige
Cowley singled for the lead. The Jaguars answered right back in the bottom of the sixth, plating 3 runs against the combination of Weiss and graduate right-hander Alexis Laudenslager. Though Notre Dame pulled back within a run on senior outfielder Emily Tran’s laststand RBI double, South Alabama starter Ryley Harrison closed out her complete game with an Amaral groundout, and the Jaguars won 5-4.
Becker led off Saturday’s Irish doubleheader by throwing the 40th solo no-hitter in program history against Maine. On 85 pitches, the junior posted six hitless innings, walking one and punching out six.
The Irish gave her an early lead in the second inning, as Winchell smacked a 2-run single that scored Kronenberger and Allen. Notre Dame added on another run in the fifth, as Kronenberger produced a run by hitting into the fielder’s choice.
Becker finished off her sixth hitless inning expecting to need three more outs, as the Irish led 3-0 midway through the sixth. However, Notre Dame’s offense wiped those
three outs off her checklist, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game on the run rule. Levitt and freshman infielder Caitlyn Early each drove in a pair of runs before Allen sealed the nohitter and 8-0 win on a bases-loaded walk.
The Jaguars had Notre Dame’s number again in game two on Saturday. Although the Irish outhit South Alabama 7-6, the host capitalized on three Notre Dame errors to win in six innings. Kamzik started in the circle for the Irish, conceding 4 runs (3 earned) in four innings, including a solo home run by Gabby Stagner. Though the Irish closed within a 2-1 deficit in the fourth on one of senior outfielder Emily Tran’s two hits, the Jaguars pulled away with 6 runs across the fifth and sixth innings. Tagging Kastor for 5 runs on four walks, South Alabama blew the game open with a 3-run blast off the bench from Brooklynn Bockhaus and won 9-1.
Notre Dame’s offense cleared 10 runs for the first time this season in the Sunday finale against Lipscomb, scoring 4 in the third inning, 7 in the fourth and 4 more
in the seventh. Meanwhile, Kastor bounced back in the circle with five shutout innings, allowing only three hits and walking one while striking out five.
The Irish ambushed Lipscomb starter Ryleigh Sapp for 8 runs on 11 hits in three innings, beginning with a 2-run Allen single in the third. Kronenberger finished the frame with a solo home run, her team-leading second of the season. Notre Dame really broke out in the fourth, as Winchell, Levitt and sophomore utility player Sydny Poeck each singled to plate 2 runs. Though a Tori Womack grand slam kept the Bisons out of runrule territory, Notre Dame moved back into an 11-run lead in the seventh. Poeck finished the scoring with her third hit of the day, tying Winchell for the game high in base knocks as the Irish won 15-4. Next weekend, the Irish will head to Fullerton, California, to play five games at the Judi Garman Classic. They’ll start with a Thursday doubleheader against UCLA and Cal State Fullerton.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
show for it before three consecutive two-outs hits from sophomore catcher Davis Johnson, senior infielder Nick DeMarco and graduate outfielder Brady Gumpf made it 4-0 Irish in the fifth.
The offense continued to mash, pushing multiple runs across in each of the next two innings before a de facto walk-off hit by
BENGAL BOUTS
pitch for senior outfielder DM Jefferson ended matters. It was also a banner day for graduate right-hander Jackson Dennies, who picked up just his third career win on the hill throughout his five seasons in South Bend. The New Orleans native turned in 5 1/3 innings on one-run baseball, topped off by eight punchouts.
The Irish completed the perfect weekend by dominating the hosts on Sunday
with a 8-2 victory. The offense continued to rally with two outs, as Notre Dame plated four in the second behind big hits from graduate outfielder Jared Zimbardo and freshman infielder Bino Watters. After the Hatters of Stetson trimmed the lead in half during the fourth, the Irish responded by scoring the game’s final four tallies to close out a complete weekend.
The Irish used five
pitchers to record the win, including freshman Kellan Klosterman, who worked out of a jam in the seventh by inducing a key 6-4-3 double play. McDonough slammed it shut again, picking up the six-out save for his second of the season.
Notre Dame continues the barnstorming trip next weekend, traveling to Nashville for a three-game set with the Belmont Bruins. Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bruins are off to a rough 0-7 start this season but will have one more chance with crosstown rival Lipscomb during the midweek before next weekend’s series. The home slate finally opens up next Wednesday, March 5th, when the Irish welcome Eastern Michigan to Frank Eck Stadium.
Contact Ben Hicks at bhicks2@nd.edu
Bengal Bouts semifinal results from Ring B
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
On Monday night, Dahnke Ballroom at the University of Notre Dame’s Duncan Student Center hosted the semifinal round of the 95th annual Bengal Bouts. Here’s how each of the fights in Ring B played out.
172 LB: Henry “Goldilocks” Phillips def. Jack “Reacher” Helzner
Phillips was the dominant fighter early, feeding Helzner a steady diet of rear uppercuts with the right hand. However, his energy level waned late in the second round, and Helzner capitalized to start the third. The first-year Los Angeles native nailed Phillips with a series of powerful right jabs, but the latter’s impeccable start held him up as the winner by unanimous decision.
149 LB: Will “Socal” Brady def. Patrick “The Farmer” Fitzgerald Brady had his way from the opening bell, using a well-timed and forceful delivery to overwhelm Fitzgerald. The two seniors evened out the fight as it progressed, with Brady recognizing his need to make up points. Nevertheless, Brady’s wild right
hooks and crosses were too effective, leading him to a victory by unanimous decision.
158 LB: Brooks “BMC” McConnell def. Ben “Thimbus” Werner
Both boxers, McConnell in particular, were patient to start, and the fight took on the rare characteristic of taking on more action with time. The younger Werner struggled to land much, while McConnell hit on a couple key combinations of right hooks and left uppercuts. He’d go on to claim victory by unanimous decision.
172 LB: Apollo “Creed” Leathers def. Jack “Addy” Regan
In a bout between a first-year and the men’s boxing club president, the far more experienced Leathers got the job done. The Nebraskan senior came out of the gate fast, pummeling Regan with a series of big-time crosses early in the second round. Though Regan settled in down the stretch, Leathers held on to win by split decision.
Nwaezeapu, a junior captain and often an overwhelmingly
quick swinger, let it all out on Culp in the opening 30 seconds. He then backed off before unleashing another barrage of uppercuts and japs to end round one. Nwaezeapu didn’t have to do much in the final two rounds, but he uncorked another relentless sequence in the bout’s final seconds anyway, firing up his deep pool of supporters and sealing a win by unanimous decision.
194 LB: Max “Soyster” Soyster Heinz def. Will “Sleepy Time” Robbins
With another large supporter section positioned behind the gold corner, Soyster Heinz controlled the fight, landing a couple of heavy hooks and crosses in the second round. He kept after his gassed opponent in round three, putting him away with ease and taking the victory by unanimous decision.
167 LB: Jackson “Amo” Amorosa def. Luke “The Longhorn” Williams
In an incredibly intense first round, both fighters had their moments. However, Williams made a big statement, popping Amorosa with a series of crosses late in the round to draw a count. He’d earn the same outcome in the second round, putting the fight firmly in his favor. Another corner lost its
padding early in the final round, but Amorosa didn’t lose his edge, winning by unanimous decision.
139.5 LB: Edward “Pi Hard” Couri def. Eddie “The Broad Street Bullet” Donovan
This feisty and physical bout between shorter fighters went the way of Couri, who absorbed a solid start from Donovan and wore him down in the later rounds. Making a few critical connections in tight quarters, he claimed the victory by unanimous decision.
175 LB: Tommy “T-Rex” Santarelli def. Ryan “The Prophet” Moses
Matched up against a senior, Santarelli more than held his own as a first-year fighter, taking the upper hand on Moses with a powerful left jab. Though Moses would keep the contest fairly competitive throughout, Santarelli came away with the victory by unanimous decision.
184 LB: Michael “Deagle” Nilsen def. Samuel “Sam I Am” Hatch
After an even start, Nilsen took control in the second round, pummeling Hatch with a combination of left straight and right hooks. Hatch got right back in it though, leaning Nilsen back on the ropes
late in round two and carrying his momentum over into the early part of round three. Nevertheless, with his supporters waving a flag picturing him in a tank top, Nilsen put forth a dominant final round and won by unanimous decision.
Kotsen got after his opponent early on, taking a handful of wild uppercut swings but connecting only sparingly. As a result, Mackey settled in and took over the later rounds, wearing down his opponent. Mackey went on to win the bout by split decision.
Heavyweight: “Suga” Sean O’Gara def. Brandon “Bear” Byrne
In this battle of big-bodied Phoenix natives, O’Gara went to work early, attacking Byrne with crosses and hooks. Byrne never had a great chance to respond, as O’Gara kept his stamina and success rate high throughout the bout. He’d go on to win by unanimous decision.
The Bengal Bouts finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at Purcell Pavilion.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
sworn off by the nifty Nitu. Nitu’s gold medal is the fourth straight for Notre Dame in the ACC. The sophomore follows a two-peat from Irish legend Luke Linder and Jared Smith’s title in 2022.
Teams
To no one’s surprise, both the men and women programs won team gold as well. For the men’s side, it’s their eighth ACC team championship in the last eleven years. The team won all four of their dual meets on their way to gold. Meanwhile, the women’s side was much of the same story as they went undefeated on their way to their ninth ACC team championship in the same timeframe and fourth consecutively. Next up for both sides is the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 8 at Denison University.
Chris Dailey at cdailey2@nd.edu
ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Irish host fellow offensive fireball Florida State
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
On Sunday, Notre Dame women’s basketball came out on the wrong end of the game of the year in the ACC. The Irish dropped a 104-95 result in double overtime at No. 13 NC State, simultaneously losing their 19game win streak, their bid for a perfect ACC record and their No. 1 national ranking.
More than a few fans out there believe that Notre Dame’s marathon loss might be just what it needed – a wake-up call – for the upcoming postseason.
Whether or not that’s true, the Irish have an immediate chance to respond at home this week against two more ranked opponents. Now ranked third in the country, Notre Dame (243, 15-1 ACC) will host No. 24 Florida State (22-6, 12-4 ACC) on Thursday and No. 25 Louisville (19-8, 12-4 ACC) on Sunday to end the regular season.
As the Irish look to learn from Sunday’s outcome, it’s easy to start on the defensive end of the floor. Notre Dame conceded a season-high 84 regulation points to the Wolfpack, plus 20 more across the two overtimes. For context, the Irish had not allowed more than 57 points to any of their previous five opponents.
“I thought their [the Wolfpack’s] guard play was tremendous,” head coach Niele Ivey said after Sunday’s game. “Something that we were really focused on trying to
FENCING
contain [was] their big three, and I thought they came out on fire and fed off the energy of the crowd. [There’s] just a lot of lessons for us as far as wanting to be better defensively. That’s where my focus is – being better defensively.”
The aforementioned big three of Zoe Brooks, Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers combined for 67 points, with two of them going for double-doubles and Brooks pouring in a career-high 33 points. Notre Dame’s defense did have some splendid moments, though, forcing 13 steals and drawing 17 total turnovers from NC State.
Nevertheless, if Notre Dame’s defensive focus isn’t on point Thursday night, Florida State could cause serious trouble. Only three teams in America average more points per game on offense than the Irish and their 86.8. Florida State, at 89.4, is one of them.
However, the Seminoles may be without at least one of their top scorers in South Bend. Junior guard Ta’Niya Latson, the nation’s leader in points per game (26.2), has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury. If she cannot go on Thursday, not only will the quality of the game’s competitiveness likely suffer, but the women’s college hoops world will be robbed of a duel between Latson and sophomore Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo, the two highest scorers in the nation. O’Mariah Gordon, a senior guard who complements Latson
with 16.7 points per contest, has missed the last two games in injury protocol.
Regardless of Florida State’s personnel, Ivey identified shot decisions and paint presence as means for more offensive success based on Sunday’s Irish showing. Her team, which leads the sport in three-point percentage, made only seven of its 27 attempts from distance in Raleigh.
“I thought our shot selection could have been a lot better,” Ivey pointed out. “I thought we kind of settled, and I think if we could have mixed it up more –kind of getting to the rim, getting downhill, getting some more paint touches – maybe that number wouldn’t have been as low as it was.”
Of individual note for Notre Dame, senior guard Sonia Citron has rediscovered herself offensively in recent weeks. The wing has produced at least 15 points or more in five consecutive games, tallying 23 at NC State. She sent the game into overtime with a heroic 3-pointer that beat the buzzer by less than a second. Beyond that, Citron totaled seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal, extending her do-it-all abilities to one of the regular season’s biggest stages.
Florida State finding a way without its stars
Aiming for its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth (though its hasn’t advanced since 2019), Florida State picked
up a major road win on Sunday. The Seminoles went into Atlanta and beat a top-20 team on the road for a second time this season, handing No. 20 Georgia Tech a 73-70 loss. As a result, they’re back in the top 25 and looking to do more damage against No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 16 Duke this week.
Florida State, which as a reminder won Sunday’s game without Latson and Gordon, followed the lead of another duo that combined for 69.9% of the team’s points, 60.6% of its rebounds and 69.2% of its assists.
Junior guard Sydney Bowles, a Texas A&M transfer, set Seminole career highs in points (32), assists (six), field goals made (11), free throws made (eight) and minutes played (39). Senior forward Makayla Timpson, the team’s top scorer with Latson sidelined, totaled 19 points and 16 rebounds for her 14th double-double this season.
For her career, Timpson has 1,612 points and 1,041 rebounds in four seasons.
“My leadership does have to step up even more,” Timpson said after last Thursday’s win against Pittsburgh. “We have two captains out, two leaders out besides me, but I just led my team the best way I could, and they [my teammates] followed right behind me. They gave me a lot of touches, and I gave them a lot of confidence in scoring the ball, getting blocked shots and rebounding.”
While Florida State cannot catch the Irish for an ACC
regular-season title, it still has both NCAA Tournament positioning and a double bye in the ACC Tournament to play for. The top four teams in the conference get the first two days off and need to win only three games for the title, and Florida State is currently tied for fourth with Louisville and Duke.
In terms of the big dance, the Seminoles are projected as the No. 7 seed in the Birmingham Region 3. That would send them to Storrs for a potential date with Paige Bueckers and UConn in the round of 32.
With this week’s ranked matchups and the ACC Tournament to follow, Florida State has a significant opportunity to fatten up its postseason stock, but its leader isn’t worried about that as February winds down.
“Just taking it one game at a time,” Timpson said simply. “We know what’s ahead of us, but we’ve just gotta be in the moment, just prepare for tomorrow. That’s all I can say… we want to keep continuing to play great as we’ve been and just being consistent and being productive.”
Overall, the Seminoles are 9-2 in their last 11 games with road wins at North Carolina and Georgia Tech offsetting home losses to NC State and Louisville. They’ll take on the Irish at 8 p.m. on Thursday inside Purcell Pavilion.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
Irish dominate again at ACC Championships
By CHRIS DAILEY Sports Writer
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and the Notre Dame fencing program dismantling any opponent who dares to stand in its way.
The latter of these certainties was on wide-display this past weekend at the ACC Fencing Championships in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The women’s team swept the competition with Eszter Muhari, Rebeca Candescu and Magda Skarbonkiewicz all obtaining gold. On the men’s side of action, Liam Bas and Radu Nitu followed suit for the Irish.
The women competed individually on Saturday while the men’s team squared off in team play and vice versa on Sunday.
Women’s epee
Muhari kicked off the women’s
rampant success with a gold medal finish in epee. She bested Duke’s Rachel Kowalsky 15-11 before taking down teammates Kyle Fallon 15-10 and reigning ACC Individual champion Kaylin Hsieh in the championship match 14-11. The title marks Muhari’s first conference championship. She won the 2023 NCAA Championship despite falling short in the ACC Championships, which was claimed by Hsieh. The match was a strategic affair with both fencers knowing their teammates’ style - the key reason why time expired before 15 touches was reached. After the bout came to a close, the pair embraced in a mutual sign of respect.
Women’s foil
In women’s foil, Candescu outlasted teammate Ariadna Tucker 15-13 in an instant classic. The
senior got off to an early 6-0 lead on Tucker, but Tucker showed no signs of quit, going on an 8-2 run to tie the match at 8-8. However, Candescu regained her stride and was able to chip away via strong defense en route to her first ACC Individual Championship since her freshman year.
The result is an enormous confidence booster for Candescu as she seeks to rise in the national rankings and win her first Individual National Championship after a third place finish just a year ago, falling short to eventual champion Jessica Guo.
Women’s saber
While Muhari and Candescu were quite reserved after claiming ACC glory, largely due to facing their teammates, Notre Dame’s saber specialist, Skarbonkiewicz, was anything
but. Her victory cheer echoed around Chapel Hill after taking down Duke’s Kunling Tong 15-9 in the final.
The freshman, who arrived to South Bend as one of the top recruits in the country, has lived up to all of the hype and delivered yet again, outscoring her opponents 45-16. She heads into the NCAA Championships as the person to beat in saber and one of the best overall fencers in the country.
Men’s epee
Men’s epee was the only event of the tournament where the Irish didn’t obtain a gold medal or in fact, any medal at all. James Sennewald was the highest place finisher on the day for Notre Dame with his 6th place position. Eli Lippan of UNC Chapel Hill won gold and Stanford’s Alexander Jeon trailed just behind him.
Men’s foil
Notre Dame got back on track in the men’s foil competition. Freshman Liam Bas defeated teammate Dominic Joseph. After an early 3-3 tie between the two, Bas exploded for a 10-0 run. That stretch of dominance proved to be enough for his first ACC Championship.
Men’s saber
The Irish collected all three medals in the men’s saber competition thanks to the performances of Nitu, Ahmed Hesham and Grant Dodrill. Nitu prevailed over Hesham in the gold medal contest 15-13. The tightly contested match was back and forth throughout. Tied at 13, Hesham went to attack but was
