The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s
and report
and holy cross
it accurately
Volume 54, Issue 31 | thursday, october 10, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
Attorney General to speak Barr to deliver lecture on religious freedom for Law School, Ethics and Culture Observer Staff Report
U.S. Attorney General William Barr will deliver a closed lecture to the Notre Dame Law School and de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at 4 p.m. Friday in the McCartan Courtroom. Barr will discuss “religious freedom,” University spokesperson Dennis Brown told the South Bend Tribune. The U.S. Department of Justice has yet to give the University further information about the talk, Brown said. The ticketed event is reserved for students, staff and faculty of the law school. Brown told the Tribune the
talk was not publicized because it is private. Barr’s visit was first announced to the law school community via email Monday. “Please do not circulate this invitation outside of the law school community, as space is extremely limited,” the University said in the email. University vice president for public affairs and communication Paul Browne said tickets were extended to Law and de Nicola students and faculty. “It was open to Law School and de Nicola Center students and faculty, who will fill the courtroom where it
Author reflects on migration
is taking place, and adjoining spaces for overf low invitees,” Browne said in an email. “There’s a waiting list in the event original ticket holders cancel.” Browne said the invitation to Barr was extended in June. “This event is co-sponsored by Notre Dame Law School and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. Invitations from either or both carry considerable weight,” he said. “Both the school and center invite a wide variety of speakers to campus each year. In this case, the attorney general was invited and accepted in June to speak on the subject
of religious liberty.” Barr has recently become a central figure in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry. A Sept. 25 report from the New York Times found Trump offered to have Barr assist Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in investigating a Ukrainian company involved in the FBI’s inquiry of Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to the Department of Justice, Barr never discussed the investigation with Ukrainian officials and didn’t learn until months afterward that Trump offered his help to
News Writer
As Saint Mary’s students walked around campus Wednesday they may have seen sporting violet t-shirts. On Monday, one fourth of the Saint Mary’s student body were handed t-shirts that read “One in Four” — representing the statistic
SERENA ZACHARIAS | The Observer
By SERENA ZACHARIAS
News Writer
In a lecture titled “Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration and Homelands Security,” award-winning journalist and author Todd Miller discussed the current environmental crisis, highlighting its impact on poorer communities across the globe and the increase in border fortification in developed
NEWS PAGE 3
countries as a result. W hile investigating the causes of widespread displacement in Central America, Miller met a number of farmers from Honduras journeying to America because they were unable to support themselves or feed their families because of a severe drought. “I found out that it was see MIGRATION PAGE 4
SCENE PAGE 5
Observer Staff Report
Former College President Jan Cervelli will return to Saint Mary’s to teach courses in art and environmental studies in the spring of 2020. The announcement comes several months after Cervelli filed a civil lawsuit against Saint Mary’s, alleging members of the College’s Board of Trustees pressured her to resign and did not honor her settlement agreement Donna Fischman, director of see CERVELLI PAGE 4
BAVO, Campus Ministry host vigil against violence By JOHANNAH WARD
Journalist Todd Miller discusses the potential impacts of the environmental crisis on poorer communities throughout the world.
see BARR PAGE 4
Cervelli to teach at SMC
that one in four college women have been or will be effected by sexual violence in their lifetime. On Wednesday, Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) and Saint Mary’s Campus Ministry held a Belles for Healing Vigil in support of survivors of sexual violence. The prayer service featured reflections, music and prayer. As students gathered on Alumnae
Green, the director of Campus Ministry, Regina Wilson, and BAVO student representatives invited students to stand, gave opening remarks and led the group in song. Wilson said it was important for the Saint Mary’s community to gather in support of those effected by sexual see VIGIL PAGE 4
Lecturer discusses filtering pornography By AARON PARK News Writer
Donna Rice Hughes, founder of non-profit organization Enough is Enough, identified pornography as a public health crisis during a lecture to members of the Notre Dame community Wednesday night as part of White Ribbon Against Pornography Week. Hughes’ presentation was co-sponsored by Students for ChildOriented Policy (SCOP), the
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
Mendoza College of Business, the Gender Relations Center, Campus Ministry, the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women and the Knights of Columbus. It also covered child pornography and her organization’s efforts to convince Starbucks and McDonald’s to implement pornography filters on company Wi-Fi networks. Hughes focused on both the individual and societal
ND W SOCCER PAGE 12
implications of porn use. She said, individually, porn is an addictive product that could create symptoms such as erectile dysfunction and an unhealthy perception of sex. Societally, Hughes said pornography promoted violence toward and the objectification of women. She also said an increase in demand for fetish pornography was driving an increase in human trafficking to meet that demand. see FILTER PAGE 3
ND HOCKEY PAGE 12