Print Edition of The Observer for Thursday, April 20, 2017
s chools partner to ‘ take Back the Night’
Gender Relations Center plans speak out at Grotto
By SELENA PONIO Associate News Editor
The Notre d ame community will come together Thursday evening to attempt to start a dialogue on sexual assault and hear stories from survivors.
“Take Back the Night” (TBTN) is an annual event that has been a collaborative effort between Notre d ame and Saint m ary’s for over a decade. This year, h oly Cross College will participate and the event will be sponsored by the g ender r elations Center ( gr C) at Notre d ame and the Belles
PEmCo hosts revue
‘Nothing Without you’
By ANDREW CAMERON News Writer
The Pasquerilla East musical Company (PE mCo) will present “Nothing Without you: A PE mCo revue,” featuring 20 students performing numbers from a wide variety of musicals.
Sophomore Emily Okawara, the director of this year’s show, described the revue as
an annual PE mCo tradition in which students perform a compilation of songs from different musicals, each connected by a common theme that changes each year.
“This year’s theme is ‘Nothing Without you,’ and it’s all about human connection, and how, living on this earth, we are all connected in little, tiny ways in our daily lives, but also on a
bigger scale,” she said. “All of the proceeds go to charity. This year they’re going to a program I’ve worked with all year, called ‘Engaging youth, Engaging Neighborhoods.’”
“Engaging youth, Engaging Neighborhoods” is collaborative project between the university and the Neighborhood resources
ROTC honors seniors in formal ceremony
By CIARA HOPKINSON News Writer
Notre d ame’s r eserve Officers’ Training Corps ( rOTC), held its annual Pass in r eview Ceremony on Wednesday on a rain-shrouded South Quad. rOTC honored its members for a year
of excellence in academics, leadership and service.
“The military Pass in r eview is a formal ceremony rooted in the tradition of a commanding officer inspecting the men and women serving beneath him for their appearance, technique, precision and battle readiness,”
junior Chris r uflin said.
Notre d ame’s full Army, Navy, Air Force and m arine units, in dress uniform, lined up in formation for the inspection of university President Fr. John Jenkins and Colonel James E. Bowen
By KATHRYN MARSHALL News Writer
Students, faculty and staff from Saint m ary’s College, u niversity of Notre d ame and h oly Cross College will break the silence surrounding sexual assault during the annual Take Back the Night event.
“The goal of Take Back the Night is to re-establish that our campuses are safe places to be and that we don’t tolerate sexual assault on our campuses,” Abigail Spica, a junior student advisory committee member for the Belles Against Violence Office
College Student Activities Board organizes Tostal
By GABY JANSEN News Writer
The Saint mary’s Student Activities Board is on the road to success with their united States travel themed Tostal celebration Friday.
Student Activities Board (SAB)
President Emma English said the theme comes in part from inviting The mowgli’s to play at the event.
“We were kind of thinking about all the states [The mowgli’s] had [traveled] to get here,” English said. “A lot of our theme has to do with the fact that Saint mary’s is our home and the Avenue brings you home.”
Junior SAB Vice President Lily Freund said the event will kick off early in the afternoon with lots of activities.
“This year we will have a pre-fest starting at 4 [p.m.] on Alumni green, and we’ll have
a giant slide, tons of food,” she said.
The event will feature a wide variety of foods English said.
“Our food will be themed around the country,” she said. “So we have Chicago hotdogs, Philly pretzels, hawaiian ice … and we have Wafflehouse waffles.”
English said other activities at the pre-fest will include crafts, a dJ and a photo booth that students can pick the image of the background.
“We are gonna have these really cool crafts, were we have the state of Indiana carved out in wood and people can paint on them, maybe draw a heart or a French cross over the city of South Bend.” English said. “We have a really cool photo booth that you can pick the background and be like ‘I’m in Paris with my friends.’”
Observer file photo
Participants in last year’s Take Back the Night event march on Notre Dame’s campus to raise awareness for issues of sexual assault before ending the night with a prayer vigil at the Grotto.
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Ben Dalgarn junior stanford hall
“Larry the cucumber from veggie Tales.”
Thomas Steve junior stanford hall “Ketchup.”
Shannon Meyer junior Pasquerilla east hall “radish.”
Ethan Kovar senior Knott hall “Fried okra.”
Thursday
New Frontiers in Economic Development Hesburgh Center
4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Lecture by Doug Gollin.
Film: “Microbe and Gasoline”
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Tickets available online.
sTudenT senaTe
Friday
Presentation: “Food for Thought” Charles Martin Youth Center
8 a.m. - 10 a.m. Open to the public.
Book Discussion: “A Radical Faith” O’Shaughnessy Hall
10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Author Eileen Markey will lead the discussion.
Saturday
Run Forrest Run 5/10K for the Gary Sinise Foundation Starts on East Quad 8:30 a.m. Register online.
Cardio Bootcamp: Spring 2017 Freebies Rolf’s Sports Recreation Center 11 a.m. - noon Space is limited.
Sunday
Maddy Good senior off campus “roasted red pepper.”
Cameron Moore junior cavanaugh hall “radish because I’m rad-ish.”
Men’s Tennis vs. Wake Forest Courtney Tennis Center noon Attendance is free.
Vespers Basilica of the Sacred Heart
7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. All are welcome to join for evening prayer.
Monday
2017 BFA/MFA Candidates Thesis Exhibition Snite Museum of Art all day Attendance is free.
Workshop: “Theater and Politics in the Early Modern Age” Hesburgh Library
10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. RSVP is requested.
Group discusses Callisto usage
By SOFIA MADDEN news Writer
The notre dame student senate approved new judicial council positions and discussed the implementation of callisto for reporting sexual assaults at its meeting Wednesday. Judicial council president matt ross presented his nominations for the new vice presidents of judicial council. he named freshman student shady Girgis as vice president of peer advocacy and first-year student myrofora Zambas as vice president of elections. With no debate nor objections, both nominees were named as vice presidents.
senate then moved on to its general orders, announcing three resolutions to bestow emeritus status on three past student-body representatives. student body chief of staff for
the past term michael markel, vice president becca blais and student body President corey robinson were all recognized.
Lastly, two students presented two sexual assault awareness and prevention proposals to be instituted in notre dame’s 2017 academic year. Jade martinez, senate’s director of health and wellness described callisto reporting software, which allows students to report assailant information easily and confidentially.
“callisto sends these sexual assault reports directly to the Title IX coordinator for further investigation,” she said. “names of assaulters can be matched using this software, offering the potential of a safer campus by prosecuting violators faster.”
martinez also stated that the committee is working to have this software installed by the fall, after solving its
pricing ambiguity.
Isabel rooper, senate director of gender relations went on to promote aggregate data releases for notre dame’s sexual assault policy.
“This push to release detailed information on sexual assaults would provide increased awareness and intervention in sexual assault occurrences on notre dame’s campus,” she said.
The aggregate data released would include “the number of sexual violence reports filed, number of investigations opened, policy decisions, sanctions imposed and changes in these sanctions and length of each case,” rooper said.
This data would collect the information notre dame chooses to exclude in sexual assault surveys sent to students rooper said.
According to rooper, currently, notre dame’s lack
of standardization in data makes it difficult to compare our school to other universities around the nation.
“releasing aggregate data has the potential to make strides in sexual assault reporting, improving on current methods of both surveying and spreading awareness about the weight of notre dame’s, and every university’s, sexual assault problem,” she said.
Presently, rooper and martinez were unsure if holy cross and st. mary’s would join in notre dame’s movement to install callisto reporting software and release aggregate data.
Proceeding these presentations, there was no new business to attend. The senate agreed to adjourn the meeting with no obligations.
of the United s tates a ir Force. The ceremony honors all ro T c members, who will go on to serve in the U. s a rmed Forces after graduation, as well as students who have gone above and beyond their duties.
“ n otre d ame men and women have served and will continue to serve in our country’s battles with honor, courage and integrity, and are proud to reflect the true essence of that powerful motto of our service — g od, c ountry, n otre d ame,” r uflin said.
Following the national a nthem, Fr. Peter r occa, rector of the b asilica of the s acred h eart, gave the ceremony’s invocation. r occa expressed gratitude for the selflessness of the ro T c students and their professors, leaders and administrators.
Jenkins and commanding officers recognized ro T c students from each unit for achieving higher levels of excellence, whether in leadership, academics, character, optimism, piety, compassion, loyalty or for four years of distinction. c adets and midshipmen were presented with officers’ sabers, plaques and a tactical watch.
The awards were followed by a brief speech by Jenkins, in which he expressed his pride in the ro T c members and their commitment to a greater purpose, rooted in n otre d ame’s rich military history dating to the 1850s.
“a t n otre d ame and in the military one finds a commitment to integrity, service and leadership,” he said. “Wherever you go, you will bring that spirit of n otre d ame with you.”
Jenkins finished with a message to the ro T c seniors who will soon assume their positions as active-duty officers or reserve officers.
“a s you go forth into military service and unity, i ask that you remember the values that you learned here, that sense of leadership, of selflessness, of community … you have contemplated the morality of warfare and embraced the virtues of peace,” he said.
Finally, Jenkins presented the President’s c up to the winner of the annual tri-military competition, comprised of a football tournament in the fall, basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring. This year’s winner was the a rmy ro Tc
a fter a closing prayer from r occa, in which he asked for g od’s protection of the ro T c students as they become a force for good in the world, each ro T c unit marched past toward m ain b uilding.
Contact Ciara Hopkinson chopkin1@nd.edu
pEMCo
con T in U ed F rom Page 1
connection, a nonprofit community organization dedicated to providing programs to empower the community and train community leaders in south bend.
“it’s a program that uses the arts to empower youth to make their voices heard,” okawara said. “it’s very humanizing research, and very connected to the revue in the way it’s using the arts in the community. it’s a program that i really care about.”
each performance will run for approximately an hour and a half, including a 10-minute intermission. okawara said like revues in past years, the show was organized, produced and directed entirely by students, and will feature live musical
tostal
give-aways at the event will include t-shirts given at the concert, mini hair brushes and luggage tags, english said.
“We have cute little luggage tags to go along with our travel theme,” she said. “We have really awesome shirts that we’re very excited about for the concert. it’s a postcard of saint mary’s college.”
at 8 p.m. the annual concert will be held, featuring PUbLic as the opening act with The mowgli’s performing at 9 p.m. english said the artists were chosen because they appeal to fans of all music genres.
“both of [the bands’] styles are things that people can relate to no matter what genre of music they prefer,” english said. “so i feel like a lot of country people might like them, but also people who aren’t full out country people will totally
accompaniment also provided by students. Unlike prior years, however, this year’s revue will take place in a new venue.
“For the past few years, it’s been in the LaFun ballroom, but this year it’s going to be in the Washington hall lab, which is different and cool in a lot of ways,” she said. “it’s just a different stage-space. We get to use lights, and it has more of a theater-y feel.”
supporting the arts in your community is very important, okawara said, but coming to the “nothing Without You: a Pemco revue” means more than just supporting your fellow students who are helping produce or performing in the show.
“With this revue, you are supporting the arts directly, but you’re also supporting the arts in that all the proceeds of the revue are going to go towards
like their pop-rock, alternative sound.”
The mowgli’s were also chosen because of their songs about travel and other U.s towns, english said.
“one of their main songs is ‘san Francisco,’ that’s a big song people know from them,” english said. “They have over [a] million followers on spotify. They have two main songs, one of them has been on the radio before. it’s called ‘i’m good.’”
sab has brought other up and coming acts in the past including sean Kingston and colbie callait, english said.
“Last year we had drake White and The big Fire and chase bryant and they’re huge county stars now,” she said.
Freund said she hopes the event is a huge success.
“We’re really excited and we want a lot of people to come,” Freund said.
Contact Gaby Jansen at gjanse01@saintmarys.edu
this program that supports the arts for kids in south bend, so it’s kind of a double-whammy,” she said. “in addition to supporting the arts, it’s just going to be a super fun show. There’s a lot of really popular musical theater in it. We’ve got ‘hamilton,’ ‘mamma mia,’ ‘hairspray,’ ‘Wicked’ — all the well-known titles — but there’s also a lot of new stuff in it that i think people are really going to want to see, that i think gets to the core of the joy and the grief and the gravity and the importance of human connection.”
Junior denise dorotheo, marketing producer for Pemco, elaborated on the theme for this year’s show.
“The idea is that we are nothing without human connection, nothing without being able to have relationships with friends or family or be in romantic relationships, and how
those are essential to being human,” dorotheo said. “We thought it was a really good theme for this year because we are struggling right now, as a society, of being very disconnected, whether it’s our political views or anything like that, or just being on our phones when we’re with one another. We’re just trying to remind the notre dame community how important it is to have relationships with people, to share differing opinions with people and to listen and be respectful of those.”
The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and saturday, as well as 4 p.m. on saturday. Tickets are available for $5 at the LaFortune box office. seating is limited.
Contact Andrew Cameron at acamero2@nd.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
Paid a dverT isemen T
By ERIN McAULIFFE and JACK RIEDY s enior s cene Writer and s cene Writer
Kendrick Lamar has an iconic discography — so iconic that it somehow manages to stay unmarred by his shaky collaboration history. Taylor swift, Adam Levine, robin Thicke and Imagine dragons all successfully recruited him for their tracks — we couldn’t have composed a more unfortunate list if we tried. however, on “dAmn.” Lamar has total creative control of his collaborations and the results are anything but embarrassing as he somehow incorporates U2 into a siren-heavy banger, unknown Zacari into a heartthrob and rihanna into her best self.
rihanna
The best evidence for Kendrick Lamar’s dominance is that his perfect foil is rihanna. not only has she been a bona fide pop star for more than a decade, she followed her best album yet with appearances on the year’s biggest rap projects. her presence on “dAmn.” goes beyond the romantic counterpoint of “selfish” and “Too Good.” she is referenced as a cautionary tale on “FeAr.,” an example of a young black star exploited by accountants. on “LoYALTY.,” she goes bar-for-bar with Kendrick over the thumping beat. The G-funk homage of the “24k magic” talkbox overture is
chopped up, pitched up, and reversed as bedrock for the heir to dr. dre’s legacy. rihanna didn’t write her lyrics, but she sounds amazing spitting knotty brags like “I’m established, hundred carats on my name, run the atlas, I’m a natural.” The two rappers test each other. rihanna was a “bad b---- way before any cash came,” so Kendrick asks if she’s still unconditional when the sports car won’t start. riri only truly sings on the hook in tandem with Lamar, the repetition of the title ascending in pitch and excitement. It’s thrilling like driving too fast in a too nice car, the apex of a hill feeling like the top of the world. With “dAmn.,” Lamar has solidified his stardom alongside rihanna. With any luck, this won’t be their last collaboration.
Zacari
sometimes you see a guy walk across the quad and can’t help but think “Who is he??” Usually it’s based on appearance, confidence or a nice printed shirt, not his vocals — so to feel immediately drawn to a voice based on a chorus without previous exposure, that’s an effective feature at its purest.
sure, Lamar has done a few collaborations that seem solely based on exposure and profits, but Zacari is a spot of pure bliss, similar to Kanye West’s intro to chance the rapper on “Ultralight beam.” Zacari is like a mix between miguel and Justin bieber, his lyrics are saturated and syrupy but
somehow innocent. Zacari’s vocals could almost seem understated, but Lamar’s relentless cadence keeps them elevated. In an interview with Pitchfork, Zacari called “Love.” the beginnings of a “whole new genre,” even if that take is a bit too hot, it definitely introduces us to a new artist to watch.
u2
U2 is featured on “dAmn.” over two-and-a-half minutes into the hard-hitting record-scratch and siren-ridden “XXX.” after Lamar announces it’s time to talk about gun control. no, really. The fact that this works proves Lamar’s knack for tight features when he is in charge. he rapped about tater-tots on Imagine dragon’s “radioactive,” but here he supremely matches croony dad rock to thumping beats and slumping drums.
bono’s chorus raises a few questions about why Lamar chose to feature U2: Are the lyrics “this country is to be a sound of drum and bass” meant to represent U2’s popularity and over-arching, if outdated, discography? Was bono chosen because he sang about violence and “murder in the street” both in the U.s. and Ireland in the 80s? I don’t have the answers, but I do have a new respect for U2 and Lamar’s collaboration tactics.
Contact Erin McAuliffe at emcaulif@nd.edu and Jack Riedy at jriedy@nd.edu
By ADRIAN MARK LORE
Associate s cene e ditor
Admittedly, I had a lingering bad feeling about Will Wiesenfeld’s new record as Geotic. more widely known for his angsty synth-pop project baths, Wiesenfeld occasionally retreats to his Geotic alter-ego as a form of escape. And it’s a retreat indeed: As Wiesenfeld himself describes it, while his music as baths is composed for “active listening,” Geotic prioritizes “passive listening.” In other words, this latest Geotic record, “Abysma,” would be a deliberate step into the shadows for Wiesenfeld.
This sounds all of my alarms. As it is, I’m suspicious about anything that’s described as “background” music — especially if the producer puts it that way her or himself. Listeners use the term to describe insipid or uninspired material (whether the label is warranted or not), while musicians use it to excuse those same qualities. It’s a dangerous term all around, and when Wiesenfeld employed it himself, I couldn’t shake the premonition that “Abysma” would amount to nothing to write home about.
Listening to the record, though, you’ll get the sense that Wiesenfeld was onto something: his focus on “passive listening” is not the cop-out you’d expect. Previous Geotic records have been rather unimpressive; at best, they’ve been interim distractions from Wiesenfeld’s more remarkable music as baths. “Abysma,” however, finally transforms Geotic into the “passive” — yet equally stirring — mirror counterpart to baths, an aim to which the project should have always aspired.
This new polarization seems quite deliberate, and it’s absolutely effective. In fact, “Abysma” picks up right where Wiesenfeld’s most recent baths LP, “obsidian,” leaves off.
“Inter,” the closer to “obsidian,” is a mournfully bittersweet, largely instrumental track in which Wiesenfeld’s evocative hums constitute his only vocal interjections. It’s a perfect segue into “sunspell” — the opener to “Abysma” — which is entirely electronic and thus departs from the vocal-centric pseudo-pop of “obsidian.” While “Abysma” is not wholly devoid of Wiesenfeld’s presence, his voice is not the center of attention, but an instrument that complements the record’s surprisingly moving chillwaveesque arrangements — just as it was on “Inter.”
moreover, while “obsidian” is a thematically dark record — both sonically and lyrically — “Abysma” rearranges elements of the same aural palette into something brightly idyllic. The two are perfect opposites, but in the way of inverted images: You can see one in the other, and they are mutually complementary. even each record’s respective artwork reflects the polarity: the iridescent clarity of “Abysma” acts as a counterpoint to the dark cloud of “obsidian.”
Indeed, “Abysma” is such a strong record that it would be unfair to call it a companion piece to “obsidian.” The production is just as seamless as anything on “obsidian,” and surpasses the creatively inspired but somewhat clumsy instrumental cuts from Wiesenfeld’s breakthrough record, the sunny baths LP “cerulean” — which is compositionally the most similar to “Abysma.” In other words, “Abysma” does not exist in a vacuum, but shines in
the context of Wiesenfeld’s quick and fruitful maturation as a professional musician. besides, leave it to Wiesenfeld to strum your heartstrings without hardly uttering an intelligible word. Perhaps it’s a corny title, but “Actually smiling” will leave you actually smiling with its uplifting synth warbles, and Wiesenfeld’s otherworldly meowing on “billionth remnant” makes it the catchiest track that still qualifies as great music for focusing on work.
Which is to say, in any case, that Wiesenfeld’s latest record is an absolute success. “Abysma” gracefully straddles a fine line, allowing for “passive listening” without sacrificing quality or Wiesenfeld’s musical integrity, and thereby calling for repeated plays. That was his intention to begin with, and he has executed his vision with impressive faithfulness to form. I had no reason to be worried.
Contact Adrian Mark Lore at lore.1@nd.edu
“Abysma”
Geotic
Label: Ghostly International
If you like: Gold Panda, Tycho, Laurel Halo
Tracks: “Actually Smiling,” “Billionth Remnant”
creating men of virtue
Joe Everett sports Writer
I love stanford hall. While its t-shaped, cinderblock stature may look uninviting to the aesthetic eye, as the old cliche goes: “it’s what on the inside that counts.” What’s inside stanford hall is an incredibly welcoming community that prizes each and every one of its members. While other may dorms may rightfully share the same sentiment, the community of stanford is built upon a realization that each member helps every one else grow as a student and as a person, but most overarchingly as a man of virtue. stanford hosted its third annual “men of v irtue d inner” this past Tuesday, and so I wanted to spend some time reflecting upon how every guy at notre dame can take up the task of growing as a man of virtue.
You may be asking yourself, however, “why is this guy even talking about increasing in virtue? c ouldn’t he have something more applicable to talk about?” While these objections may be somewhat valid, I believe that the question of virtue and how to increase in it is especially relevant to notre dame students and the overall mission of this institution.
Fr. moreau saw education as “the art of helping young people to completeness.” v irtue is the main engine of reaching this completeness, mainly because it advocates for and even necessitates the pursuit of excellence. students at notre dame do and should pursue excellence, both inside and outside the classroom, and the success that is achieved stems from one’s acquisition of and commitment to virtue. As Aristotle once said that, “e xcellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. e xcellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
Look, it’s hard to be a virtuous guy on a college campus. Temptations are everywhere, and honestly the general vibe is that it’s “uncool” to be a man of virtue. however, virtue comes from the Latin word vir, meaning man. The word virtue can be equivocated to the word manliness. If you’re not convinced by Latin, its very likely that your own personal hero is in many ways a man of virtue. Guys at notre dame should encourage one another to take on this role.
I believe that the best way to foster an increase of virtue is to promote and absorb the goal into the very fabric of the residence hall community. This dedication to virtue and excellence becomes much easier when your brother’s around you are committed to it as well. When it becomes “cool” to be virtuous — when it becomes epistemic — the task of building virtue becomes much easier. Living within a community such as this allows an individual to build up virtues such as prudence, temperance, and fortitude. These are the types of communities that we ought to be constantly building, day-by-day, action-by-action. When we let our virtue shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same, and we are liberated from the fear that we are powerful beyond measure.
Contact Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Race, gender and sexuality?
Matt Williams v ieology: c ritical reflections on Life
When I was a child, I loved brownies. my parents used to bake them on the weekend, and I still remember the sweet smell of melted chocolate and roasted almonds that would remove me from whatever I was doing, and escort me swiftly to the kitchen. Arriving with a cavernous stomach and an insatiable appetite, I was always politely greeted by a delicious tray of my favorite treat. At a certain age, I decided I was ready to make them myself. Wandering into the pantry without my parent’s permission, I selected a box of Ghirardelli Triple c hocolate brownie m ix. on the cardboard container was a photograph of the luxury item I longed to create, but to my dismay, the box produced nothing more than a bland bag of brown powder. Learning that it also took eggs, oil, and tedious preparation to produce the full-flavored treat I so adored was a valuable lesson on the complexity of most things in life. People are similar to brownies in many ways. both are the result of a complicated recipe made from a broad set of ingredients. different than brownies, however, each person is made from a slightly different recipe, and the process by which they are produced continues throughout their life. From conception to death, the many factors that collaborate to make a human continuously thread together like fingers forming an organic string figure. sex, gender, race and religion make up one hand. education, family, location and class compose the other. Through brilliantly coordinated conflict and cooperation they combine to create a whole person; and with a slight shift in any one of these conditions, all the others can change in reply. This un-orchestrated performance is the complexity described and potentially captured in the concept of intersectionality.
originally proposed by legal scholar Kimberle crenshaw, “because the court believed that black women should not be permitted to combine their race and gender claims into one,” the concept of intersectionality has since “broadened to encompass a number of additional social factors — sexual orientation, nationality, class, disability and others.” due to its usefulness in revealing the complex reality of ‘privilege,’ intersectionality has been championed by social activists as both“a rallying cry for more expansive progressive movements and a chastisement for their limitations,” but is the concept of intersectionality itself free of limitations?
Inherent in its approach are the labels that society uses to control each ingredient in the human recipe; the fundamentally inequitable categories that we use to characterize “race,” “gender” or “sexual orientation.” This is problematic, because these categories don’t capture the specific, complex realities of individuals, but they can inversely create realities. For example, describing someone as “homosexual” won’t represent the dynamic, variable nature of their sexuality, but it can cause them to experience the reality that society decides for “homosexuals.”
Put another way, intersectional approaches are limited, because they must work with words, labels and
divisions that already exist; that have the power to shape our bodies and feelings in real ways; and that ignore individual variation and dynamicity. To nail in the importance of this point, it is essential to note that biology and anthropology have shown us that every person’s experience of sex, gender, race, religion, education, family, location, class, et cetera is a moving point on a massive spectrum; not a type A, b, or c that can be neatly organized in a kitchen cupboard. Furthermore, these components of the human recipe are constantly changing, and as the cat’s cradle metaphor demonstrates, shifts in any one of them can cause changes in the rest. but there is still a way to keep this string figure from becoming a tangled ball of yarn. While intersectionality isn’t perfect, it does provide us with a tactical toolkit for diagnosing and dissecting difficult issues of inequity. This tactic may fail to fully represent each issues’ complexity, but by using an intersectional approach to, at the least, expose them, we can begin to deconstruct the inequalities that are deeply engrained in our society. This on its own is valuable, because treating any sickness begins with knowing its symptoms, and intersectionality makes injustice visible to us. It does so by giving everybody a voice, and therefore validating all claims; not by making them equal, but by ensuring that they are heard. Then, once we have empowered everybody, and put away our microphones to ensure that we aren’t granting any particular context preference over the others, we can work towards solutions that benefit everybody.
This may sound standard, and if it does, that’s good, but even then the battle still lies ahead. To know about intersectionality is one thing; to fully understand, accept, and embody it is another. The other day, a c hristian friend told me he understood that some people want dogs, but he will never be able to understand what it’s like to be someone who does. seizing this rare opportunity, I turned his question around, and asked him whether he understood that some people are muslims, or what it’s like to be a muslim? h is initial response was the latter, because he is a well-educated notre dame student. he has seen statistics about the other, read articles on the other, and perhaps even engaged in conversations with the other. Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that he knows what it’s like to be the other.
After discussing intersectionality, we came to agree that neither of us will ever understand what it’s like to be anyone aside from ourselves, but the challenge remains in the fact that this wasn’t our innate reaction. That is the difference between knowing how important intersectionality is, and fully accepting it to the point that it becomes automatic. To realize the full potential of an intersectional approach, we must completely embody it. Fortunately for us, this is more achievable now than ever, and by actively accepting that race, gender and sexuality all matter, I believe that we can make the world safe for everybody who shares it.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Matt is a junior studying Anthropology. Please feel free to contact him at mwilli41@nd.edu with any questions or comments about this article.
Three dinner guests
For e aster break this year, a couple of friends and I decided to drive up to c anada for a few days to experience a new city. Leaving campus at 5:30 p.m. for an eight hour road trip meant we had to take creative measures to make sure we all stayed awake for the duration of the drive. blasting loud music and singing at the top of our longs got old about four hours in, so we decided to go another direction and just ask each other extremely personal and deep questions, because what else is a road trip for, really? Questions ranged from goofy to absurd, but one stood out to me more than any other: if you could invite three people, dead or alive, to a dinner party, who would you invite and why? Given my tendency towards over thinking and indecision, this was a tough one. After all, there have been a lot of people who have walked this earth and made a difference. should I go personal, i.e. dead family members, or more big picture? In the end, I came up with my three. s ome or all might seem pretty obvious or generic, but I don’t really care, because it’s my dinner party, and I’ll invite anyone I want. my first guest would definitely be the type to show up an hour early just to make sure they were able to help me set up and cook, and that would be Jesus. believer or not, you cannot deny what an amazing experience it would be to sit down and share a meal with the very man to whom billions have dedicated their lives. I honestly don’t know what type of things
I’d talk to him about. Would I fact-check, or is that what faith is for? I think I’d definitely just unload everything on my plate about life — my worries, guilt, aspirations, etc. Perhaps I’d merely ask him what he thinks of the present, whether he is satisfied, disappointed or hopeful. o verall, I would be perfectly happy to sit and listen to his stories and lessons for hours upon hours (I guess I would need to get a translator, though, because Traditional hebrew isn’t on my schedule until next semester). o ne thing is for certain — we wouldn’t run out of any wine.
For the next guest, I knew I wanted someone from American history, and it didn’t take me long to settle upon Abraham Lincoln. I considered some of the founding fathers, but chose honest Abe because of his experience. he had to hold the nation together as it quite literally fell apart, and try to heal the wounds of a horrific civil war. Given today’s less than hospitable political climate, it’d be pretty interesting to hear the perspective of a man who has seen it all. I am always curious about what these great historical figures would think about our country’s present situation, if they would think we have moved in the right direction since their time as leaders. I’m not positive what Lincoln would say, but I’m fairly confident that he’d be optimistic. If nothing else, he’d be great company for all the funny anecdotes and stories he’d share.
This last guest took me the longest amount of time to settle upon. After all, I only had one more choice and thousands of options running through my head. After going pretty big-picture for the first two guests,
I allowed myself a sort of “guilty pleasure” guest. being very into film and comedy, I figured I wanted to invite one of the greats, but that didn’t narrow it down much for me. After agonizing meditation, I settled on robin Williams. I remember exactly where I was when I found out he died, and still tear up any time he’s on screen. “Good Will hunting” is one of my top-five favorite movies of all time, and “dead Poet’s s ociety” was pretty much my mantra in middle school. Aside from his more serious roles, however, the man was a comedic genius. h is ability to improvise was something I could only dream of attaining someday, and his physicality and wit were equally stupendous. I think we’d have almost too much to discuss and laugh about, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what life is all about?
s o there you have it. o ne girl’s dream dinner party guest list. I’m sure If you were to ask me again next week, I’d have a completely different line-up, but as for right now, this is what stands as true. next time you’re stuck in a car for hours, or just bored in a lecture, give it a shot and try to select the three people you’d invite to dinner.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Aside from incessantly quoting “Hamilton” and other perfect works of theater/film, Lucy Collins majors in economics and history, is a sophomore at Notre Dame and is often found trying to balance her hopeless romanticism and nearly constant cynicism. Please direct comments to lcollin8@nd.edu
stand up, show up
As a white, female, middle class student, I’m a part of every majority at notre dame, except one: I’m not c atholic. While this sometimes causes some minor “inconveniences” (to dramatize) like having to notify my Foundations Theology professor that I had a different version of the nicene c reed memorized for our exam or missing out on jokes about awkward encounters at dorm masses while exchanging the sign of the peace, it has not done much to directly interfere with my experience here. I wish I could say that other students who are part of various minorities on campus have had similarly inconsequential problems here, but unfortunately I cannot.
For spring break the past two years, I went on a c enter for s ocial c oncerns immersion trip to c hicago and st. Louis with the realities of r ace seminar. on these trips and throughout the preceding classes, we spoke frankly and openly about race in our country. We heard directly from people who were a part of the unrest Ferguson. We were confronted by the systemic nature of racism. We were sometimes overwhelmed with hopelessness, and other times with hope. It was intense to say the least.
I would have hoped that at least notre dame provided a safe place from this strife. s ome naive part of me wishes that my friends and fellow students weren’t suffering in the bubble of this campus. however, personal testimony from people of color on this campus forced me to confront the truth: notre dame has a race problem, just like the rest of the nation. many of my friends told me that they seriously
considered transferring after their first year, or even their first semester. s ome told me they are frustrated that they are automatically placed on the multicultural student programming services email List s erv, but no white students are, furthering barriers for expanded cultural conversations and understanding. s ome feel cheated by spring v is, an admitted student weekend specifically for racial minorities, where a few of my friends say they were given an unrealistic and idyllic idea of racial relations on campus. s ome feel singled out by their classmates, often assumed to be athletes whether they are or not. I was told stories of microaggressions many are confronted with every day. They reference the blatant racist comments on Yik Yak the year before I was here. As a person coming from a place of privilege, it is my duty to not only listen to these stories, but also to believe them. o ur student body jokes about our racial diversity, or lack thereof, all of the time. but for those of us who don’t actually belong to these minority groups on campus, it’s not really seen as a big deal, just a joke. These are members of our supposed notre dame family. We have no right to reduce their situation to a joke, particularly when we go on to not recognize the struggles they might have or work to make it better. If nothing else, our school’s c atholic mission should draw us to action, to fight for the life and dignity of all human persons, and all of the other tenets of c atholic s ocial Tradition.
obviously, I can’t assume to speak for everyone, particularly not for those I do not know, and
particularly as a white person. I sincerely hope that these have not been the experiences of all of our students of color. I hope that many of them have thrived and enjoyed their time on this campus, as I wish for every student. but I have been confronted with too much to ignore our problems. If there is one thing I learned from my discussions over spring break, it is that the most important thing is to not remain silent, but to stand up and show up for people and movements that need your support.
I chose to start acting by writing this letter, but there are a number of ways to act, even while here on our campus. Go to the events of cultural clubs. Take classes in Africana studies or Latino studies or Poverty studies or Gender studies (the list goes on). read something like “White Like me” by Tim Wise or “between the World and me” by Ta-nehisi c oates or “The new Jim c row” by m ichelle Alexander. Watch documentaries like “13th,” which is on netflix. mostly, just try to have discussions about it. If reading this article leads you to have even one conversation about race either on our campus or more broadly, it has done what I intended. o ur campus, our University, is an amazing place and we have all worked hard to get here. It’s time to start making sure everyone can experience it to the fullest extent possible.
Abby Ferguson sophomore April 18
Lucy Collins stuck in
lETTEr TO ThE EdiTOr
Happy Birthday: A steady pace and a thoughtful attitude will help you avoid being pressured by someone using emotional tactics this year. Work out any trivial matters in your own head before sharing with people who are likely to oppose you. focus on making personal growth and achieving physical wellness. keep your goals reasonable and your plans doable. c hoose peace and love over discord and despair. your numbers are 8, 19, 23, 26, 33, 41, 49.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): g ood fortune will be the result of hard work and showing the determination to reach your goals. d on’t let what others do influence you. make choices based on what will encourage you to stay healthy, knowledgeable and in control.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Proceed with caution when dealing with professional matters or situations that could affect your reputation. It’s best to listen carefully and play it safe when dealing with people who tend to be unpredictable. Physical health and fitness are important.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Put more thought behind your actions. It’s in your best interest to consider how your decisions will influence others. set an example and refuse to give in to anyone who is trying to pressure you to spend money or make a donation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): money and emotions will lead to mistakes. d on’t let anyone guilt you into paying for something that you don’t want or aren’t responsible for. concentrate on matters that will improve your position and your reputation, not someone else’s.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): stay cool when faced with opposition. Take responsibility for your actions and follow through with your plans. your strength, courage and determination will make a difference when dealing with others.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): g ood fortune is within your reach. d on’t let the demands of others hold you back. Take care of your responsibilities quickly and get back on track. If you want to get ahead, dedication, belief and hard work will be required.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): emotions will be difficult to tame. Take your time and don’t let anyone push you into something you aren’t ready to face. d on’t say something you’ll regret. l ook inward and you’ll find the right way to approach a big decision.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): keep a tight rein on emotional situations. Protect your reputation by offering honest answers that will not jeopardize your position. only state facts or you will be accused of spreading rumors. c hoose creative outlets over unnecessary conversations.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you’ll have to be realistic if you want to avoid discord. d on’t pick a fight or lead someone on when you should be looking inward and working on bringing about the positive changes that will enhance your life.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Trouble could occur if you disagree with a friend, relative or neighbor. l ook for a diplomatic way to solve your differences to avoid being shunned. compromise will help you build good relationships that will lead to positive sharing.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): your emotional drive and passion will see you through, even if you are physically depleted. The changes you bring about will be well worth your time and effort and could open up the door to a new beginning.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): v isit someone who grounds you or helps you see the bright side of whatever situation you face. An opportunity to travel or learn something new will influence a decision you need to make. A partnership will leave you feeling confused.
Birthday Baby: you are emotional, expressive and passionate. you are curious and adventuresome.
Jumble | dAvId hoyT And Jeff knurek
sudoku | The mePhAm grouP Just
| erIc cArlson & John roddy
wiNGiN’ it | bAIlee egAn & olIvIA WAng
Monaco’s youth leads UCL run
With Wednesday marking the conclusion of the c hampions League quarterfinals, four teams booked their ticket to the semifinals of soccer’s most prestigious club competition. While three of the four teams are traditional powerhouses in Italian club Juventus and last year’s rival s panish finalists r eal m adrid and Atletico m adrid, the final team may come as a shock to many.
A s m onaco, from France’s Ligue 1, has never been a traditional powerhouse on the continent. b ut despite its unheralded pedigree and recent rocky past, the club has ridden a remarkable surge of money and talent, beating German powerhouse b orussia d ortmund 6-3 on aggregate to mark an improbable run to the highest reaches of e urope.
The club has a proud history, historically being one of the best in France, but was floundering in the second division of French soccer before being rescued by r ussian billionaire d mitry r ybolovlev, who purchased a majority share of the club in 2011.
Flush with cash, A s m onaco marked its return to the top flight of French soccer in 2013 with a brazen spending spree of 154 million pounds in one transfer window on stars such as c olombians r adamel Falcao and James r odriguez and Portuguese midfielder João m outinho. b ecause of its location in the Principality of m onaco, the club was exempt from being forced to pay French taxes, and r ybolovlev intended to use his money to establish a cup winner overnight.
b ut after a season in which the team failed to overcome perennial French heavyweight P s G, and facing sanctions from U e FA’s Financial Fair Play r egulations, m onaco rethought its strategy. Instead of spending piles of cash on international stars, the club decided to focus on developing an elite academy and raising homegrown talent to both lead the team to success and sustain the system through big sales. And initially, the focus was on sales. r odriguez left for r eal m adrid after a hefty sum in 2014, and homegrown star striker Anthony m artial was sold to Premier League giants m anchester United
for over 30 million pounds in 2015. m eanwhile, the academy and scouting of young talent flourished, and while m onaco didn’t challenge for the title, the team remained competitive enough in League 1 to qualify for the c hampions League for this season.
b ut this year, the team has emerged with a wealth of young talent, and has taken both France and e urope by storm. As one of the highest scoring offenses in e urope, m onaco has bagged dozens of goals en route to leading Ligue 1 and reaching the c hampions League semifinals, and while veterans like m outinho and a recently resurgent Falcao have provided much needed experience, the backbone of the team is built on future stars.
s tarting in the middle of the field is 22-year-old holding midfielder Tiemoue b akayoko, whose ability to protect the back line and win back the ball are way beyond his age, and call to mind the talents of his mentor and c helsea legend c laude m akelele.
The team also has talented wide players in diminutive Portuguese midfielder b ernardo s ilva and 21-yearold French winger Thomas Lemar, but the team’s greatest jewel lies up front. Partnering with Falcao is teenager Kylian m bappe, whose prodigious talent surpasses his age by miles.
The 18-year-old is the youngest player ever to score five c hampions League goals, and his dominance against d ortmund over both legs has caused many to wonder at how much he can be worth. While fellow Frenchman Paul Pogba was sold for a world-record 89 million pounds last summer, the young striker, who has been compared to French legend Thierry h enry, may soon surpass that. While m onaco still faces a daunting task to win the c hampions League, its unprecedented run this season has been a testament to the benefits of clubs investing for the future. With today’s game dominated by established stars like r onaldo and m essi, the band of young talents from France have been a bright spot in the soccer world this year.
Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
harden, rockets hold off Thunder to take 2-0 lead
Associated Press
hoUsTon — James harden scored 35 points and the houston rockets overcame 51 points from russell Westbrook in the highest-scoring tripledouble in playoff history, beating the oklahoma city Thunder 115-111 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the firstround Western conference playoff series.
Westbrook set a franchise playoff scoring record and added 13 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the sixth career playoff triple-double for Westbrook, who had an nbA-record 42 in the regular season.
but he shot just 4 for 18 in the fourth quarter as the rockets clawed back from a doubledigit deficit to surge ahead before holding on.
Game 3 is Friday night in oklahoma city.
The game was tied before houston scored 10 straight points with 3-pointers from harden, Patrick beverley
and eric Gordon to make it 114-104 with 1:22 remaining. Westbrook had four straight points to start a 7-1 run after that, but the Thunder wouldn’t get any closer.
This was a much different game than the series opener, when houston routed the Thunder 118-87. on Wednesday night, houston trailed by as many as 15 and didn’t take a lead until the fourth quarter.
The rockets benefited from a balanced scoring attack, with Lou Williams adding 21, Gordon scoring 22 off the bench and Game 1 star beverley chipping in 15.
The rockets used a big run early in the fourth quarter to go on top for the first time in the game with about eight minutes remaining. harden’s 3 about three minutes later made it 104-100.
Andre roberson added a tip-in layup for the Thunder before two free throws by Westbrook tied it at 104-all with about 3 minutes left.
Nhl | cAPITALs 5, mAPLe LeAFs 4
The Thunder led by three entering the fourth quarter and scored the first five points of the period, highlighted by a 3-pointer from doug mcdermott, to make it 94-86. oklahoma c ity went more than three minutes without scoring to allow houston to take the lead. The Thunder had missed seven straight shots when Westbrook got them back on track with a layup with about eight minutes left.
The Thunder led by seven with about nine minutes left in the third quarter before Westbrook made four quick points to extend the lead to 7968. houston scored the next six points, but oklahoma c ity answered with seven points in a row after that, with five from Westbrook, to extend the lead to 86-74 with about 3 minutes left in the quarter.
The Thunder led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but houston had cut the lead to 68-62 at halftime.
Caps survive late scare to even series
Associated Press
T oron T o — Tom Wilson and T.J. o shie each scored two goals, and the Washington c apitals beat the Toronto maple Leafs 5-4 on Wednesday night to tie their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Alex o vechkin added his third goal of the playoffs as the top-seeded c apitals regained momentum with the series shifting back to Washington for Game 5 on Friday night. braden holtby made 30 saves.
Zach hyman, James van r iemsdyk, Auston matthews and Tyler b ozak scored for Toronto, which was coming off a 4-3 overtime win on monday night. Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots.
The maple Leafs rallied after the c apitals scored four times in the first for a 4-1 lead. bozak, who had the winning goal in Game 3, got Toronto within one with 26 seconds
at two
left, but Washington held on from there.
The tight finish came after a dominant start for the c apitals.
o shie got Washington on the board when he capitalized on a nate s chmidt point shot sent purposefully wide of the net. o vechkin then was left wide open for a one-time drive on a power play, making it 2-0 at 4:34 of the first.
It was similar to Game 3 when Toronto also went down 2-0 in the first five minutes, but the club was unable to recover this time around. The c apitals added two more goals in the first in a span of less than three minutes — both by Wilson, a Toronto native.
moved up in the lineup for Game 4 as coach b arry Trotz looked for a spark, Wilson first pulled back a morgan r ielly shot from the goal line after it snuck through the pads of holtby. he then
raced the other way and deflected Lars e ller’s harmless shot from the sideboards past Andersen.
o n his next shift, Wilson barreled over r ielly near the Washington blue line and then finished off a 2-on-1 sequence with Andre b urakovsky for a 4-1 lead at 16:04.
van r iemsdyk scored early in the second on a power play, but Toronto wasted nearly two full minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage.
Washington appeared to go up 5-2 with just under 12 minutes to go, but the goal by s chmidt was waved off on goalie interference. The c aps challenged the play, which saw n icklas b ackstrom get tangled up with Andersen, but the initial call was confirmed.
m atthews scored his second at 12 minutes, but o shie restored Washington’s twogoal lead 59 seconds later.
JACKSON HOLE, WY:
Tobias Hoonhout
Associate sports e ditor
i want to see a great attitude from them and a great energy across the board. it’s more about the process; that’s really important at this point compared to what [junior quarterback brandon] Wimbush’s numbers are or how many carries a guy gets and his yardage. i’m not interested in the production per se, what’s important is that they stay on course.”
u limately, for Kelly the game will simply be a extension of the work in progress that the program has been in all spring.
“This is a continuation of what we’ve been doing since January and what i hope for at the end of the game is that we continue to work on the things that are really important to me,” Kelly said. “ i don’t think that the average fan is looking for that. i f i had them with me for the last three months, they’d be able to look for that, but instead they’re going to be tuned in to some individual players. a nd i expect they’ll see some of what i want as well, but they may not and leave thinking, ‘i don’t see much of a difference.’ That’s not important to me. What’s important right now are the things that i’ve talked about, and when we get to Temple we’ll see everything coming together.”
improvements
Kelly spoke about some of the players who he felt had improved the most over the spring period. a mong the breakout players was sophomore defensive end d aelin h ayes, who Kelly said had adjusted very well to a new role.
“i think he’s a great example of someone taking his level of focus and understanding of the position up a couple of levels.” Kelly said. “The position is new to him this spring, he dabbled at it a little but it’s essentially a new position for him. Playing defense, he doesn’t have a big resume, but this was really a great spring for him and for us to lay down a great base of learning. i think he did a terrific job as a player of really buying into that and not getting too far ahead of himself — taking on blocks, dropping into coverage, paying attention to those details that go with the position. s o when he gets to that first game, you’re going to see a player that’s improved dramatically because he’s paid attention to those kind of things.”
Kelly also had praise for role players in all units of the game, including sophomore long snapper John s hannon.
“i think that the developmental process for [sophomore defensive end] Julian o kwara has been very good,” Kelly said. “i think the process
for looking at the offensive line, guys like [sophomore offensive tackle Liam] e ichenberg, those guys are continuously making process. Those guys get better every day and put us in a better position. They’re really important players to us. a guy who has made really great progress for us that maybe not everyone cares much about is John s hannon, our long snapper. We’re asking him to do a lot more, and he’s made significant progress.
“i don’t think anybody’s taken a step back, nobody’s going in the wrong direction. We haven’t looked at anyone and said, ‘he’s thrown in the towel.’ We had meetings with our guys and said, ‘here’s where you are, here’s how you’re progressing, let’s continue the process.’”
The blue- g old g ame will take place s aturday at 12:30 p.m. at notre d ame stadium.
Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu
t rack
dash, junior Jordan s head ran a third-place time of 53.41, setting a personal record, while sophomore a lla merican Kelly h art ran the 800-meters with a time of 2:11.02 to set her own personal record. With n otre d ame’s stars performing well, Turner says he needs to shift his energy towards developing the next tier of up-and-coming athletes for the i rish.
“ m y top athletes are clicking on all cylinders as far as where they need to be,” Turner said. “The thing for us as a coaching staff is how to get athletes who are not necessarily these first-team a ll- a mericans, but people who are definitely finalists in the acc conference, up to top-level performances. This meet at Louisville was an opportunity to work
through the kinks and get a lot of things accomplished for us.”
The team will be split up this upcoming weekend, as the distance runners will head to c harlottesville to compete in the v irginia c hallenge, while the rest of the team will compete in the m ichael Johnson i nvitational held in Waco, Texas. Turner views both of these meets as critical opportunities for individuals for shine.
“ b oth of these meets are going to be tough for us,” Turner said. “ b oth of the fields are stacked, but that’s what i want for us — the opportunity to compete at good venues with hopefully good conditions. f or a lot of my athletes, this is the last time they may run an individual event before the acc championship, because next weekend we have the Penn r elays, so this weekend is very critical in the whole
game plan for this season. We’re looking for some top performances from everyone that’s entered to carry towards peaking at the acc championships.”
Contact Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
s oftball
sophomore designated player caitlyn brooks said.
notre dame hoped to continue that success when it hosted Western michigan in its penultimate home midweek contest of the season. but it was the broncos who started off the game’s scoring, as broncos senior center fielder ivy schaaf doubled to left center field to lead off the top of the first inning before coming around to
score two batters later on a single by senior third baseman Kelsea cichocki. but irish senior pitcher rachel nasland stranded two runners to limit the early deficit to 1-0.
The irish responded quickly in the bottom half of the frame, however, as senior center fielder Karley Wester reached first via walk to start things off. after stealing second base, she came around to score two batters later on an rbi single by shortstop morgan reed.
The junior followed up her runscoring base hit by stealing second and eventually coming around to
Paid a dverT isemen T
Paid a dverT isemen T
score on a base hit by rochford. and though they would strand the sophomore third baseman on base, the irish held a 2-1 lead after the opening frame.
after a scoreless second inning, notre dame found itself in trouble again in the top of the third, as two hits and a sacrifice fly by Western michigan tied the game at 2-2. however, nasland once again limited the damage by stranding a runner in scoring position with an inning-ending groundout to maintain the tie. and in the bottom of the frame, rochford once again led an irish response, as she connected on a three-run homer to left center with two outs in the third to give notre dame a 5-2 lead.
“i saw the defense moving towards an inside pitch, so i just turned on it. i saw it coming,” rochford said of the pitch she hit the home run on.
“i think that was a big momentum changer for us, too,” reed said. “That’s what got the rally started and kept us going throughout the game.”
after jumping out to that lead, however, the irish bats went silent, notching only one hit over the next three innings. The broncos, on the other hand, found their grove at the plate, as they got to irish junior pitcher Katie beriont — who pitched the game’s last three innings in relief — for seven hits and three runs, including two in the top of the seventh to tie the game. brooks said the irish bats went cold largely because of they started to force things at the plate in the later innings.
“i think we were just anxious to hit the ball, and we just didn’t wait for our pitches as much,” she said.
but notre dame did not allow the blown lead to keep it down long, as it managed to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. brooks stepped up to the plate — having gone hitless in her first three plate appearances — and worked a 2-0 count before the lights at melissa cook stadium went out. The game was delayed 15 minutes before her at-bat would be resumed. brooks remained poised, however, and worked a full count before hitting the payoff pitch into right center to send the irish off with the 6-5 victory.
“it was nice that i had two balls, so i could just focus on hitting my pitch,” brooks said. “i knew what she was going to throw at me — the whole time she threw the same pitch, i think, every single pitch — so i just waited for one that was a lot closer in the zone because i knew she didn’t want to walk [me], so it was a good mindset i was in during the second half of that at-bat.” next up on the schedule for notre dame is virginia, who will travel up to melissa cook stadium for a three-game set this weekend starting saturday at 1 p.m.
“We need to [have the mindset of] play the whole game, finish it and don’t take an inning off,” reed said.
Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu
Baseball
con T inued from Page 12 for eight innings of four-hit ball.
“That was what we think of when we think of c harlie at his best,” i rish head coach m ik aoki said. “commanding the fastball to both sides of the plate and getting the breaking ball over. it’s enough of a difference to keep hitters off of the fastball a little bit.
“a nd Patrick did a good job with his fastball, and his breaking ball is a little more dynamic than c harlie’s, but those two guys did a really good job.”
notre dame then survived a challenge from i llinois state (10-25, 0-6 mvc ) on Wednesday at frank eck stadium, hanging on for a 7-6 win.
a fter spotting the redbirds three runs in the top of the first, i rish senior catcher r yan Lidge tied the game with one swing, turning on a 3-1 pitch that barely nicked the rightfield foul pole — his first home run of the season.
“honestly i didn’t hit it completely on the barrel, but i hit it well enough with just the right trajectory,” Lidge said.
“it’s nice to get that first one. i was pumped about it because i knew it was a good answer to their first inning.”
freshman designated hitter nick neville led off the second with a triple and scored on a sac fly by sophomore second baseman nick Podkul, then sophomore center fielder matt v ierling found the game for his own three-bagger with one out in the third. Lidge followed with a double to notch his fourth rbi on the day.
i rish starter r yan smoyer calmed down after giving up three runs in the top of the first inning. The senior righty allowed four earned runs off six hits over five innings of work to move to 2-2 on the season. aoki said it was an important outing for smoyer, who entered the contest with an era of 13.00 in just nine innings of work.
“he’s made some progress,” aoki said. “Tonight was pretty good. That was as good as
we’ve seen r yan in a while. i know that he gives up the three runs in the first inning, but he was in the strike zone. That has been an achilles heel for him in the past.”
The redbirds closed within one in the sixth inning, but junior lefty sean guenther struck out five of the six batters he faced to earn the twoinning save, his fourth of the season.
“not only is he a strike thrower, but he really commands it.” aoki said of guenther. “he can move that fastball in and out. he’s been able to add a slider that, when he throws it right, is a swingand-miss pitch, and he hasn’t really had that in the past.
“he’s exactly what we need at the back end.”
The midweek wins were a big turnaround for the i rish after they were swept by the demon deacons (28-11, 12-6 acc ) in Winston-salem, north carolina. notre dame dropped a tight 4-3 contest friday before falling 13-7 and 5-1 on saturday and sunday.
“We had our opportunities [on friday and saturday],” aoki said. “[ friday night] one more swing of the bat, and we could have won that one.
“a nd then honestly, i felt very much the same way about game 2. it got away from us late. … i n spite of the sweep, i felt we played really good baseball.”
notre dame hits the road again this weekend for acc action in a friday-sunday series against no. 19 v irginia in c harlottesville, v irginia. The cavaliers (31-9, 10-8) swept the i rish in the regular season in 2015, but notre dame bounced back to down v irginia during that season’s acc championships.
“it’s an atmosphere our kids haven’t been to before, and it’s a good one,” aoki said. “They love their baseball. They’re avid about their hoos.
“They’re a little more offensively oriented than they have been in years past … but i like our matchups. i like our pitching, i like the way we’ve played.”
Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish senior catcher Ryan Lidge eyes a pitch during Notre Dame’s 8-3 win over Toledo on April 12 at Frank Eck Stadium.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish sophomore infielder Melissa Rochford waits for a pitch during Notre Dame’s 1-0 win over Eastern Michigan on March 29.
baseball | nd 8, cenTral michigan 3 ; nd 7, illinois sTaTe 6
Irish right ship with back-to-back wins
By ZACH KLONSINSKI
s enior sports Writer
notre dame downed c entral m ichigan and i llinois state in midweek non-conference action to rebound after being swept by no. 18 Wake Forest over the e aster weekend.
The i rish (17-20, 7-11 acc ) jumped all over the c hippewas (19-17, 8-1 mac ) on Tuesday at c omerica Park in d etroit, scoring the game’s first eight runs en route to an 8-3 victory.
it was offense-by-committee for the i rish at the plate — six players combined to knock in the eight notre dame runs. s enior third baseman Kyle Fiala and junior left fielder Jake Johnson had a pair of rbi s each as the i rish scored five runs in the third and tacked on another three in the fourth to jump to the big lead.
Junior right-hander c harlie vorsheck and freshman righty Patrick mcdonald combined
see baseball paGe 11
squad sets several school records
By JOE EVERETT sports Writer
The i rish competed in the acc / b ig 10 c hallenge last s aturday in l ouisville, Kentucky at c ardinal Park, with the men’s squad ultimately placing fifth overall and the women placing sixth.
While neither team finished particularly high, i rish head coach a lan Turner explained that a high team score was not the objective coming into the meet. r ather, he said he wanted to give his athletes experience, potentially in events they don’t normally run.
“ o ur goal was not to try to win the l ouisville i nvitational,” Turner said. “We were more concerned with some of the individuals we had competing. s ome of our top athletes were running in a lot of off-events. For example [sophomore] a nna r ohrer was running the 1500-meters. For someone who normally runs the 5K and 10K that race feels like a 50-yard dash for her — but she needs to work on her
Irish maintain win streak thanks to walk-off hit nd ready for blue-g old game
By DANIEL O’BOYLE sports Writer
With saturday’s blue-g old game approaching, i rish head coach brian Kelly announced the game will feature his first team offense and defense squaring off against each other as complete units after practice at l a bar Practice Facility on Wednesday. Kelly also discussed his team’s preparedness for the game, the progression of his players over the spring and ncaa recruiting rules after the practice.
blue-Gold Game
“We’ll have the first-team offense in blue, and they’re going to go against the first team defense, who’ll be in white,” Kelly said, explaining the setup of this year’s spring game. “a nd then the other two units will follow. it’ll be regular game, there’s no live special teams and quarterbacks won’t be live, but everything else is going to be a regular
game. What i wanted to do a few weeks ago was set up competitive situations and this will be extremely competitive. a nd then our twos will compete on a level playing field.” however, Kelly stressed that the important takeaways from the b lue- g old g ame would not be statistics, but instead would be the team’s overall progress and commitment.
“We started well three months ago, and now i want to finish strong,” Kelly said. “a nd when i say finish strong, it’s not about production so much as it’s about process. i want to make sure that there’s attention to detail with all of the position groups. now that they’re in a competitive situation, i want them to raise their level of focus. [We] need to make sure that they’re a gritty team, that they keep fighting no matter what the circumstances are, even in a blueg old g ame.
speed and was able to do that — so we had a lot of people doing off events. We were working on specific things with specific athletes, so it really wasn’t about the team score.”
With that being said, the i rish still had several strong performances in l ouisville, setting several school records along the way. s enior a nthony s hivers, participating in the hammer throw for the fourth time this season, set a school record with 65.60-meter throw – recording a first-place finish. Fellow senior n athan r ichartz followed up the performance with his own school record, grabbing first-place with a 5.51m vault in the pole vault, good enough for eighth in the country this year. r ichartz earned acc field performer of the week honors.
o n the women’s side, sophomore a lexa c oubal set a personal record for the second straight week, throwing 45.02 meters in the women’s discus. i n the 400-meter
By BEN PADANILAM
e ditor-in- c hief
notre dame took its sixth straight victory Wednesday night at melissa cook stadium, as sophomore third baseman melissa rochford drove in four runs and sophomore designated player caitlyn brooks hit a walk-off single to help the irish escape with a midweek win over Western michigan.
The irish (27-15, 11-7 acc) entered Wednesday night’s contest with the broncos (16-24, 4-11 mac) coming off of a threegame sweep of acc rival north carolina state, which gave the irish a lot of momentum as it enters the final stretch of its regular season and fights for a postseason ncaa berth.
“i think our pitchers stepped up,” rochford said. “They were throwing well the whole weekend, and it helped us a lot. a nd we had their back when they needed us.”
“We definitely battled through the n c state sweep, and every game we just kept getting better, so it was a great [weekend],”
see soFTball paGe 11
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish sophomore infielder Caitlyn Brooks knocks a base hit during Notre Dame’s 13-4 win over IUPI on April 12.
track and Field | big 10/acc challenge
nd soFtball | nd 6, WesTern michigan 5
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Senior third baseman Kyle Fiala throws to first base during Notre Dame’s 8-3 win over Toledo on April 12 at Frank Eck Stadium.
