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NOTRE DAME, SAINT MARY’S
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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 46 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
University leaders meet Pope Francis The pontiff praised Notre Dame and encouraged service during a meeting at the Vatican Observer Staff Report
University President Fr. John Jenkins and the Board of Trustees met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday. The pope referenced Notre Dame’s founder, Fr. Edward Sorin, while giving the University’s current leaders his blessing to continue to enhance the University’s Catholic identity. “It is likewise my hope that your contributions to the life of this institution will continue to enhance its legacy of a solid Catholic education and enable the University to be, as your founder Father Edward Sorin desired, ‘a powerful means
for good’ in society,” the Pope said, according to a University press release. Francis emphasized that the basis of Christian education is educating the head, heart and hands. By educating the head, or mind, Catholic universities should tap into the “intrinsic harmony” of faith and reason, the pontiff told the audience, which included Presidentelect Fr. Robert Dowd. “Indeed, these educational endeavors undertaken by Catholic institutions are grounded in the firm conviction of the intrinsic harmony of faith and reason, from which flows the relevance of the Christian message for all areas of personal
and social life,” Francis said. He added that religion plays an essential role in educating young people’s hearts. “It also means promoting dialogue and a culture of encounter, so that all can learn to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person as a brother or sister, and most fundamentally, as a beloved child of God,” Francis said. The pope also said he was pleased with the University’s atmosphere. “Consequently, I am pleased that the University of Notre Dame is marked by an atmosphere that enables students, faculty and staff to see POPE PAGE 4
BUSINESS
Trio launches menstrual product subscription By JENNA ABU-LUGHOD News Writer
Aiming to make an impact on period poverty, three members of the tri-campus community came together to start a period product subscription service called “Monthlies.” Launched in September by Jenny DeMarco, Jonathan DeMarco and Katie Cole, the small business offers 16 different products that are shipped
to their customers on a monthly basis. “Last summer, my brother Jonathan was set on the idea of creating a startup. Jonathan, Katie and myself had been brainstorming most of the summer and writing down various ideas,” Notre Dame alum Jenny DeMarco ’21 said. “Then I believe one day Katie was on her period when the thought occurred to her about how inconvenient the entire process was and
that a subscription service would be much more convenient.” Customers can subscribe or place a one-time order by visiting the Monthlies website which can be found on their Instagram page. Subscribers have the option to choose both the mix of products and the frequency of delivery. “Each customer is able to choose whatever amount of each product see MONTHLIES PAGE 3
BAVO paints for stalking awareness event The Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) hosted “Stones of Strength: Painting Together for Stalker Awareness” on Thursday night. Honoring the end of Stalking Awareness Month, BAVO invited students to decorate glow-in-thedark stones with acrylic paint. BAVO coordinator Shannon Warfield said the event was
designed to highlight the importance of showing students facing violence that they are not alone. “We just wanted to bring awareness to stalking by shedding some light on it. In order to do that, we’ve got some glowin-the-dark rocks that we are painting inspirational words on or drawing or coloring,” Warfield said. “We are just bringing beauty into this unfortunate situation.” “I think that’s really great that Saint Mary’s has events like this
through BAVO because not a lot of schools and people talk about it. It’s a very taboo topic,” Kayli Zelinkse-Mader, BAVO student assistant, said. Warfield shared a similar sentiment and touched on what it means to have BAVO on the campus of a historically women’s college. “To me, it’s amazing. College campuses that are larger don’t
FR. HESBURGH
GUN VIOLENCE
BARBIE SNUBS
By SARAH CATE WHITE News Writer
NEWS PAGE 4
VIEWPOINT PAGE 5
see STALKING PAGE 4
SCENE PAGE 7
Courtesy of Vatican Media
Fr. Robert Dowd (left) and University President Fr. John Jenkins applaud Pope Francis at a meeting at the Vatican on Thursday morning.
ND announces $100 million poverty initiative By KAELEIGH PICCO News Writer
In a historic move, an alumni couple donated $100 million toward the University’s new Notre Dame Poverty Initiative, the largest single donation toward an academic priority in the University’s history. The University announced the gift in a press release last Wednesday. Led by economist and professor Jim Sullivan, the poverty initiative aims to position Notre Dame as a global leader in poverty research, empower students across all three campuses for impactful service and translate research into realworld solutions to fight poverty. The gift comes from two anonymous benefactors who both attended the University. Sullivan shared that their generosity is a clear indication of a “deep love for Notre Dame, and what Notre Dame can do to be a force for good.” Sullivan said that benefactors choose Notre Dame over institutions like Harvard, MIT and Stanford because Notre Dame has strong relationships with nonprofit service providers across the U.S. and the globe.
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“You know, I found that not to be an unusual trait, benefactors that come back to the University,” he said. “It’s a core belief that the work that Notre Dame is doing has a tremendous positive impact.” The new initiative is not the first working toward researching and developing solutions to global poverty. The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) in the College of Arts and Letters and the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the Keough School of Global Affairs have completed countless projects and worked with partners across the country in the last 12 years. These organizations have successfully partnered with entities like Goodwill Industries, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The poverty initiative aims to enhance the efforts of LEO and Pulte and stoke collaboration on future projects. The initiative will also dedicate resources to the Center for Social Concerns and the Building Inclusive Growth Lab. see POVERTY PAGE 3
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