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Volume 54, Issue 90 | tuesday, february 25, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com
ND announces speaker Patriarch Bartholomew to deliver commencement address Observer Staff Report
The Universit y announced in a Monday press release that Patriarch Bartholomew, A rchbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, w ill be the school’s primar y commencement speaker this year. In addition to his commencement address, Patriarch Bartholomew w ill also receive an honorar y degree. According to the release, Bartholomew is the “spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldw ide.” His church can trace its origins to Christianit y’s earliest days, the release said. “Patriarch Bartholomew has been a champion for understanding and
encounter among the world’s religions, as well as for env ironmental initiatives, religious freedom and human rights,” Universit y President Fr. John Jenkins said in the release. “We are honored that on his v isit to the United States in May, the Patriarch w ill take time to offer his ref lections to our graduates and their families.” Bartholomew is the 270th archbishop of Constantinople, according to the release. He has held the post since 1991. He has put a priorit y on interreligious dialogue w ith other Christian denominations, as well as Judaism and Islam. He has also worked on issues related to religious freedom, human rights and the env ironment. Bartholomew earned the moniker the “Green
Keough rector reflects on dorm life, vocation By LAUREN SPENCER News Writer
Wrapping up his third year of living in Keough Hall, Fr. Brogan Ryan has been a rector for two years and a priest for one — ordained last April — during which he was the hall’s assistant rector. Ryan said he had a Catholic upbringing grounded in faith life. “I had a big family, I went to Catholic school, and community life was very important for our family,” he said. A native of Columbus, Ohio, his mother went to Saint Mary’s and his father went to Notre Dame. “We were big Notre Dame fans in the middle of Buckeye Country,” Ryan said. “It was ingrained in us.” Ryan chose Notre Dame, not only because of family
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inf luence, but because of its strong Catholic identity and liberal arts education. “It’s not just an intellectual and academic education, but community feel and residential life, and the education of the whole person,” he said. “W hen I visited other schools, I found I was usually comparing them to the way I felt at Notre Dame. That was it.” After graduating Notre Dame, Ryan participated in the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program, through which he taught religion and math at a middle school in Montgomery, Alabama. “It was two of the most difficult years of my life, but also two of the most rewarding and fulfilling years of my see RECTOR PAGE 4
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Patriarch” for his env ironmental advocacy, the release said. Patriarch Bartholomew was born “Demetrios Arhondonis in 1940 on the island of Imv ros,” which is now a part of Turkey, the release said. He was ordained a priest in 1969, after entering the diaconate in 1961. Hav ing prev iously ser ved as metropolitan — the leader of an archdiocese or diocese — of Philadelphia and Chalcedon, Patriarch Bartholomew has been honored w ith 35 honorar y degrees. In 1997, the United States Congress awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal. The release said other honorar y degree recipients for this year w ill be announced later in the semester.
Students assist fire department
KIMANI KRIENKE | The Observer
Students trained as EMTs assist the Notre Dame Fire Department, housed in the Coleman Firehouse, in various events across campus. By KIMANI KRIENKE News Writer
W hen the Notre Dame Fire Department (NDFD) is called to action, a specially trained group of students is not far behind. Known as Emergency
Medical Technicians (EMTs), these students work with NDFD for on-campus emergency situations and engage in activities ranging from dorm life to greater community involvement. see STUDENT EMT PAGE 3
Artist visits Saint Mary’s to discuss creative process By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN News Writer
Saint Mary’s hosted Tony Award-winning director, play wright and adapter Mary Zimmerman on Monday evening in the Moreau Center for the Arts for a speech about creating metaphors in images. Earlier in the day, Zimmerman conducted events with Saint Mary’s theatre majors and local high school students. The visit was a continuation of the annual visiting artists series, which is made possible through the Margaret Hill Endowment. “Through the generous gift of SMC alumna, the late Margaret Hill, we in the theatre program are able to bring Mary to campus, have her conduct a threehour master class with our theatre students [and] allow [them] to have a private
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lunch with her where [they] can ask questions about her career, her craft or her advice for young actors, directors, play wrights or other theatre practitioners,” theatre professor Katie Sullivan said in an email. The students participated in a range of activities in the masterclass, which was followed by personal feedback from Zimmerman. “Mary [introduced students] to her storytelling techniques, dividing [students] in small groups with some props and instructions and guiding [them] into developing a story,” Sullivan said. Communication studies, dance and theatre department chair Mark Abram-Copenhaver introduced Zimmerman before she came on stage for her speech. “[I] had the hardest job tonight: brief ly introduce
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Mary Zimmerman,” AbramCopenhaver said. In her speech, Zimmerman explained the process she uses in creating adaptations. She likes to work on “adaptations of non-dramatic texts” — texts not originally written for the stage. Usually working with myths or fairy tales, Zimmerman acknowledged the significance of these texts. Even though these texts are older, they have “persistent relevance” to today’s society, she said. W hile these texts will ref lect a great deal about the world, Zimmerman said there is difficulty blocking scenes from fantastical texts because theatre gives a “fixed perspective” to an audience. Her solution is using metaphors to express that of which cannot be easily see THEATER PAGE 4
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