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Volume 53, Issue 1 | friday, august 17, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Serving all three schools Since its inception, The Observer has served two campus communities just north of South Bend. Over the last 51 years, student journalists from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s have helped tell their classmates’ stories and report from their campuses as they have undergone changes. But over that time, The Observer’s coverage of the tricampus community has been incomplete. Starting this school year, Holy Cross College, home to around 500 students just south of Saint Mary’s, will be joining The Observer. From this point forward, we will be “The independent newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross.” We are so excited to offer a more broad and encompassing perspective on the issues which affect students in our community and share their accomplishments. With this addition, we also would like to extend an invitation. If you are a Holy Cross student with a passion for journalism and storytelling, photography and design, please consider joining The Observer. While past Holy Cross students have helped cover events at Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s, none have ever reported from their own campus. If you are interested, please stop by our office in the warm and welcoming basement of South Dining Hall at Notre Dame; visit us at the Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s or Notre Dame activities nights; or send us an email. We look forward to reading your work, sharing your voices and getting to better know the Holy Cross community. Courtney Becker Editor-in-Chief Tobias Hoonhout Managing Editor Elizabeth Greason Assistant Managing Editor Lucas Masin-Moyer Assistant Managing Editor
NEWS PAGE 2
Campuses welcome students Welcome Weekend starts at University
SMC orientation offers new events for class
By NICOLE SIMON
By GINA TWARDOSZ
News Writer
News Writer
Before classes begin next week, students from across campus are preparing to welcome the approximately 2,000 first-year students who make up the class of 2022 during Welcome Weekend. The four-day event for firstyear students and their parents is hosted by the Division of Student Affairs and the First Year of Studies. A large part of the weekend is directed by students themselves, as part of either the Orientation Steering Committee (OSC) or Welcome
Observer File Photo
Saint Mary’s student body president and vice president — seniors Madeleine Corcoran and Kathy Ogden — have been tasked with planning an informational yet entertaining first year orientation. Corcoran and Ogden said they hope this orientation is even better than those in previous years. This year’s first year orientation has “some new components and changes,” Corcoran said in an email. “One of the biggest additions is adding early orientations for
see WELCOME PAGE 3
Notre Dame’s Cavanaugh Hall welcomes new students during 2017’s Welcome Weekend, which helps freshmen integrate into communities.
see SGA PAGE 5
ND changes core requirements By KELLI SMITH Associate News Editor
The most significant changes to Notre Dame’s core curriculum in over 40 years are officially in place for the class of 2022 and all future classes. These changes alter the number of courses required, grant students more academic flexibility and introduce integrative courses. According to the 2016 core curriculum report, the University reviews its curriculum every 10 years. Following more than 50 meetings, open forums, information sessions and surveys, the Core Curriculum Review Committee came up with a proposal of changes that received unanimous approval from the Academic Council in 2016. Michael Hildreth, co-chair of the Core Curriculum Review Committee, said the new core is centered on three themes: a ‘focus’ on broadening everyone’s perspective, increased ‘flexibility’ in student control over core courses and ‘innovation’ with the introduction of new courses. “I think we can all agree that
viewpoint PAGE 6
the world has moved on since the 1970’s so I think it was time for an update,” Hildreth said. “[Students] wanted integration in what we call a general education requirement and we also think that the new wrinkles that we added really do deepen the engagement of the core curriculum with the Catholic mission of the University.” The new requirements now correspond to one of nine “ways of knowing” — quantitative reasoning, science and technology, art, literature, advanced language and culture, history, social science, theology and philosophy. ”At any university, the things that students are required to take are an indication of that university’s values — what sorts of things do we expect students to know, what areas of inquiry do we expect them to investigate to be citizens of democracy and the United States?” John McGreevy, co-chair of the Core Curriculum Review Committee, said. By minimizing the amount of University requirements, see CURRICULUM PAGE 4
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SMC enrollment jumps in 2018 By MAEVE FILBIN News Writer
In the fall semester of 2018, the circle will open once again as Saint Mary’s welcomes an incoming first-year class of 406 students. These newest Belles were chosen from a record number of 1,861 applications. The Saint Mary’s Office of Admission has seen a 12
percent increase in enrollment for the class of 2022 compared to last year, director of admission Sarah Gallagher Dvorak said in an email. The number of early decision applicants nearly doubled from the class of 2017, and approximately 86 percent of these students were accepted. Gallagher Dvorak said the see ENROLLMENT PAGE 3
Notre Dame sees high yield rate By NATALIE WEBER News Editor
With the class of 2022, Notre Dame has seen its highest yield rate since 2002, in the pre-Common Application days: of the 3,608 students admitted, 2,070 will enroll this fall, associate vice president of student enrollment Don Bishop said. The incoming first-year class
football PAGE 16
will be about 20 students larger than previous years, an increase Bishop attributes to the University’s financial aid, additional recruitment and growing academic reputation. “With 2,070 students they don’t have to be alike at all,” he said. “So it’s not just socioeconomic [status], how many low income, see ADMISSIONS PAGE 5
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