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University to award Carla Harris with 2021 Laetare Medal
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on March 15.
notre dame will award the 2021 Laetare medal to carla harris — business leader, gospel singer, speaker and author — at the commencement ceremony may 23, according to a march 14 press release.
harris currently serves as the vice chairman of wealth management and senior client adviser at morgan stanley and is on harvard University’s and the Walmart corp’s boards.
“harris began her career at a time when very few of her colleagues were black or women, and her trajectory has been steadily ascendant,” the press release said.
From 2005 to 2014, harris was chair of the morgan stanley Foundation, and in 2013, President barack obama appointed her to chair the national Women’s business council, which serves the president, congress and the U.s small business Administration.
Throughout the course of her career, harris has worked to promote women and
people of color in business. she helped create morgan stanley’s multicultural Innovation Lab and oversees the company’s multicultural client strategy as a whole.
harris is also an accomplished gospel singer. she has her own band called the r hythm company, and she has released multiple albums and produced and performed benefit concerts at carnegie hall and Apollo Theatre. harris began singing when she was nine years old at a fourthgrade talent show.
harris said she lives by the mantra, “never count yourself out,” and coaches others to motivate themselves by what others say is impossible. harris is also committed to helping others in any way she can.
“We are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others,” harris said in the release.
In her books “e xpect to Win” and “strategize to Win,” harris detailed her pathway to career success.
harris was born in Port Arthur, Texas and grew up in Jacksonville, Fla. she graduated from bishop Kenny high school in 1980 with honors and went on to attend harvard University. harris graduated
magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics and received a master of business Administration from harvard business school with second-year honors. harris married v ictor Franklin, her high school sweetheart, at st. charles borromeo church in harlem in 2001. The two have two daughters, dakota and mcKinley. The Laetare medal is an annual award given by the University to recognize an individual who has displayed remarkable service to the catholic church, academics and society.
University President Fr. John Jenkins praised harris as this year’s recipient of the award.
“Throughout her exceptional career, carla harris has exemplified the highest ideals of American enterprise, championed the principle that opportunity should never be denied on the basis of gender or race and generously mentored countless rising leaders,” Jenkins said. “enriched by her gifts as a singer and public speaker, her work in the competitive world of banking is firmly rooted in her commitment to service, developing the next generation of leaders and her catholic faith.”
Former leader to deliver speech
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on March 17.
saint mary’s confirmed the commencement ceremony for the class of 2021 will take place may 22 at noon associate director of public relations Lisa Knox said in an email to students march 16.
The message noted President Katie conboy expects the event will take place in person as long as cov Id-19 trends continue to improve.
“We see glimmers of hope in the trajectory of the pandemic on our campus,” conboy said. “As long as signs point to continued improvement, we feel more comfortable relaxing some of the restrictions we’ve
Today’s Staff
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had in place. If our community continues to maintain this bubble we have created, our seniors will be able to reap the benefits of that hard work by having an in-person ceremony.”
The email also announced the commencement speaker for the class of 2021 will be former interim president nancy nekvasil. conboy expressed her gratitude for nekvasil’s 30 years of experience as a faculty member in saint mary’s biology department.
“dr. nekvasil is a beloved faculty member, leader and friend to our students, faculty and staff,” conboy said. “As a professor, she was instrumental in shaping the lives of countless young women, showing them how the sciences need saint mary’s minds.”
In addition, conboy commended nekvasil during her leadership as interim
president during the pandemic.
“Then, as interim president, she took charge of the college with resounding aptitude,” she said. “her leadership through the early days of the pandemic, when the world was caught off guard, was confident and compassionate. she made sure our students and their families were heard and cared for. I can’t think of a more meaningful person to address our seniors at commencement than dr. n[ekvasil].”
nekvasil will be one of three honorary degree recipients at the event, the email stated. Keith J. egan and sister mary Louise Full ’65, c s c. will also receive honorary degrees. In addition, the President’s medal will be awarded posthumously to William cushwa.
more information about the award recipients can be found on the college’s website.
ND trustee to deliver address
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared online on May 11.
Jimmy dunne, notre dame trustee and a 1978 graduate of the University, will deliver the commencement address to the notre dame class of 2021 and will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree, the University announced in a may 11 press release.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, dunne led the recovery of the investment bank he co-founded, sandler o’neill. back then, he was one of the firm’s senior managing partners, the release said. sixty-eight sandler o’neill employees lost their lives in the attacks, including dunne’s best friend, chris Quackenbush, as well as his mentor, herman sandler.
After 9/11, dunne and the
company created an assistance foundation to care for the families of the employees who died — by providing healthcare to their families, paying their salaries and bonuses and creating scholarships for their children to attend college.
According to the press release, sandler o’neill grew to become the largest independent fullservice investment banking firm focused on the financial service sector under dunne’s leadership. Then, in 2020, the firm was acquired by Piper Jaffray and became Piper sandler, an investment bank in which dunne now serves as vice chairman and senior managing principal.
University President Fr. John Jenkins said dunne will send off the 2021 graduates with a message of commitment, honor, integrity and perseverance.
“At a time when our graduates
have had to show remarkable resilience in the face of the adversity of the cov Id-19 pandemic, Jimmy is someone who personified resilience in the aftermath of the tragic events 20 years ago,” Jenkins said in the release.
named a University trustee in 2010, dunne and his wife susan underwrote the construction of dunne hall, a men’s residence hall that opened in 2016, and were among the benefactors to the construction of the Irish Athletics center and the renovation of rolfs Athletic hall. dunne received an honorary monogram from the athletics department in 2019.
The dunne family also endowed the Ann F. dunne and elizabeth m riley director of notre dame’s harper cancer research Institute, alongside their friends rich and connie riley.
In addition to dunne, Thomas G. burish — who served as the charles and Jill Fischer Provost of notre dame from 2005 to 2020 — will also receive an honorary degree at the commencement ceremony. In this role, burish oversaw many offices and programs, including colleges and schools, institutes and centers, libraries, student advising, admissions, financial aid, the registrar’s office, snite museum of Art and debartolo Performing Arts center. some of burish’s notable achievements during his term include the creation of the Ide A center, the strengthening of international programs through establishing global gateways and the opening of the donald r. Keough school of Global Affairs. burish graduated from notre dame in 1972 with summa cum laude distinction.
University plans for ceremonies
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared online on March 29.
In an email to graduating students march 29, the office of the registrar announced plans for the notre dame class of 2021 commencement ceremony taking place may 23.
The commencement mass will be held in notre dame stadium immediately before the commencement exercises. All undergraduate and graduate students graduating in may and currently residing in the local area are tentatively allowed to bring two guests to the in-person ceremony, according to the class of 2021 commencement website. Information about how to reserve tickets will be made available mid-April.
Graduates studying remotely
will be allowed to attend the commencement ceremonies if they show proof of vaccination or report to a University covId-19 testing site upon arrival. The commencement ceremonies for the graduate school and professional schools are expected to be held outdoors over commencement Weekend.
each college and school is planning on holding an in-person diploma ceremony outdoors over commencement Weekend.
Graduates are also expected to be permitted to bring two guests to the diploma ceremonies. more information about the details of the various ceremonies will be released the week of April 12.
The University strongly recommends all graduates and guests planning on attending the ceremony to receive a vaccination before the ceremony. The commencement events, as well as the diploma and hooding ceremonies, will be
livestreamed for guests who cannot attend them in person.
According to the website, all plans are subject to change. should the commencement ceremony be moved to the Joyce center due to inclement weather on may 23, guests will not be able to attend the ceremony in person.
“should conditions necessitate a move indoors to the Joyce center, our priority will be to seat our graduates,” the website said. “distanced seating in the Joyce center will unfortunately not permit us to accommodate any in-person guests.”
Graduates and guests are expected to follow all of the University’s health guidelines during commencement Weekend. Additionally, all other recognition ceremonies over commencement Weekend are expected to be held virtually due to the health risks of indoor gatherings, the website said.
The website also said a
celebration for the class of 2020 is now planned for the summer of 2022. The graduate school and professional schools will engage in conversations with those who received graduate and professional degrees last year to determine how to best celebrate their achievements within the individual schools.
The class of 2020 commencement ceremony was originally rescheduled for memorial day 2021, but was ultimately deferred until summer of 2022 due to the pandemic.
“We do not expect that by memorial day 2021 we will be able to safely welcome back to campus the members of your class as well as your families and loved ones from across the nation and globe for the kind of joyful celebration you want and deserve,” University President Fr. John Jenkins said in a letter to the class of 2020 in February.
health officer to send off class
Observer Staff Report
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on May 5.
Associate dean and director of the Indiana University (IU) s chool of m edicine- s outh b end and deputy health officer for the s t. Joseph c ounty d epartment of h ealth d r. m ark Fox will deliver the commencement address for h oly c ross c ollege, according to an announcement on the h oly c ross website.
Fox also serves as a professor of m edicine and Pediatrics at the IU s chool of m edicines outh b end and holds appointments as an adjunct professor in the d epartment of h ealth Policy and m anagement at the r ichard m . Fairbanks s chool of Public h ealth at IUPUI and as a distinguished adjunct professor of theology at n otre d ame. Throughout the cov I d -19 pandemic, Fox has served as the cov I d -19 response advisor to n otre d ame.
In addition to Fox, chairman and ceo of 1st s ource b ank c hristopher m urphy III and his wife c armen “ c armi” c armichael m urphy will receive honorary degrees from the c ollege. c armi serves on the boards of the Family and c hildren’s c enter, Inc. and the s nite m useum of Art Advisory c ouncil.
The 54th c ommencement will take place m ay 22 at 2 p.m. on the h oly c ross campus. The ceremony will follow cov I d -19 protocols and families will be allowed to attend upon purchase of a ticket.
“Families are invited, though tickets could be limited depending on public health guidelines,” the announcement said.
ND valedictorian discusses unlikely journey
By BELLA LAUFENBERG news Writer
a lthough m adeline o wen has now become the valedictorian for the class of 2021, n otre d ame was not her childhood dream school. b ut, o wen said, she changed her mind after visiting campus on a whim with her mom on the way back from an event in c hicago.
“[ m y mom and i ] went up to n otre d ame, and we got out of the car and walked around. a nd i really was just taking it all in for the first time, and there was not much conversation between her and i ,” o wen said. “ b ut i was just seeing things i really liked and seemed so unique from other college campuses. i loved it and i knew from that moment that n otre d ame was the school of my dreams.”
a ccording to o wen, n otre d ame stood out because of its family-like atmosphere.
“ i t just really seemed like everyone here was one big family and has such a national and international representation,” o wen said.
“ i t’s a place that students are nurtured to achieve the best
and to achieve more than they envision themselves achieving.”
o wen, a s tamps s cholar, took on numerous endeavors during her four years at n otre d ame. s he majored in neuroscience and behavior, minored in poverty studies and was part of the Glynn family h onors Program.
s he said she was drawn to neuroscience and behavior because it was the cross section of two things she was very interested in: science and humanity.
“What attracted me to neuroscience was the intersection between the science and the inquiry part and, really, the human element,” o wen explained. “ i have known that medicine is the direction that i wanted to go since i was very young, but a huge part of medicine is the human element … m edicine really needs people who have true compassion and true empathy. a nd i think learning how humans think and how we behave is a huge part of that.”
Poverty studies, o wen said, was a topic she sought out because of her unique
childhood.
“Growing up with my family, it was always about the journey and not the destination. We drove everywhere we could, and we stopped at everything that looked interesting along the way,” o wen explained. “ i really learned how to talk to anyone; i learned that everyone has a story. e veryone comes from very different, unique backgrounds. a nd that has been a huge part of my values and of me seeking out a poverty studies minor.”
a mong other activities, o wen was a part of the a merican r ed c ross club and of a quatic r elief for Kids, and she served as the treasurer of b reen-Phillips h all and the Pre-Professional s ociety. s he also played the violin at dorm masses and
was involved in the running and sailing clubs. Likewise, o wen has been involved with research since the spring of her first year, with some of her own research being published.
o wen said becoming valedictorian was never a part of her plan.
“ i try not to have my journey just be means to an end,” o wen said. “ i really tried to focus on the journey and not just the destination and enjoy every step of the way. s o, i think, this whole journey has really been about me learning and growing as a student,
h er advice to other students following in her footsteps is to not be afraid of doing something out of their comfort zone.
“ s ome of my most valuable learning opportunities have come from the times when i was the most nervous or uncertain or uncomfortable before going into that opportunity …” o wen said.
“It just really seemed like everyone here was one big family and has such a national and international representation.”
Madeline Owen
as a scholar, as a citizen, as well. When you embrace that component, other things will fall into place. Your GPa is — or should be — a representation of the learning that you have undertaken and of the commitment that you’ve put in.” i n the future, o wen said she plans to attend the n orthwestern Feinberg s chool of m edicine, as she is interested in pursuing a career within orthopedic and spinal surgery.
“ n otre d ame has such incredible opportunities for growth and for learning, and much of that comes when you stretch your boundaries a little bit.”
Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
Madeline Owen c lass of 2021 valedictorian
Saint Mary’s valedictorians talk future plans
By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN saint mary’s news editor
Three s aint m ary’s seniors will be recognized as valedictorians for the c lass of 2021 at the c ollege’s commencement ceremony m ay 22.
The three honorees are Kelly h arris, Katie Jackson and s tefanie Winnicki.
h arris is a business administration major with concentrations in finance and management. s he noted that her faith was the most important part of her collegiate journey.
“I feel like the biggest thing for me is my faith,” h arris said. “That’s why I came to s aint m ary’s because it was a c atholic institution. They market themselves as a c atholic, women’s liberal arts institution — c atholic is first so I wanted to go somewhere that I could grow in my faith.
h arris believes that being a resident assistant at s aint m ary’s was a formative part of her experience.
“I think, even though it’s been really stressful, and you don’t have a lot of free time, it’s really cool being able to meet so many people that I otherwise wouldn’t have met in the classroom or in friendships or in clubs.”
h arris also considered the effect being a member of b elles for Life and Fiat, a religious fellowship organization had on her and the people she served.
“In b elles for Life, I’m able
to help stand up for people that their voices aren’t always heard [and] in Fiat, I’m a small group leader, so I kind of help lead conversation for people. s o being a voice for people or being even a rock for people is kind of the best thing.”
Following graduation, h arris will be serving as a missionary through the Fellowship of c atholic University s tudent on a U. s . college campus. e ven though some people think this is an unexpected move, h arris believes in the importance of following her calling.
“I kind of chose the thing that made the least sense to some people, but this past year, it’s been crazy and life can change overnight. s o, I wanted to follow the thing that I knew I was called to,” h arris said.
Jackson is a speech-language pathology major with minors in gerontology and social work. s he expressed her positive experiences working with a client in a clinical practicum.
“I think probably my favorite thing that I did more on the academic side of things was I had a clinical practicum,”Jackson said. “ s o, I got to have a client that I worked with in the speech and language clinic.
And so it was really cool to get to ... have the culmination of all the things that I learned in all my speech pathology classes and actually put that into practice.”
While she was majoring in speech-language pathology, Jackson said she discovered her love for gerontology and plans to apply this knowledge when she completes her master’s in speech-language pathology at Ithaca c ollege next fall.
“I was able to — through clubs and coursework through the gerontology department [and] the gerontology minor, realize that I really like to work with older adults,” she said. “And then from there, I started volunteering with hospices, and got that end of life care experience, and I actually found a big passion for that.”
Jackson noted that her time at the c ollege taught her valuable lessons about how to live on her own.
“I would say that I gained a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities,” Jackson said.
“I’m from southern Arizona, so it was the first time I was really at a distance from my family, and so I gained a lot of independence and figured out that
I was able to do well managing everything that goes along with being a college student.”
Winnicki is receiving a global studies major with a concentration in anthropology from the c ollege and a minor in m andarin c hinese from the University of n otre d ame. s he plans to enter a career related to international service after graduation.
Winnicki expressed her gratitude for being named a co-valedictorian.
“I’m so grateful,” Winnicki said. “Truly more than anything, I don’t feel it’s something that I’ve done. I feel it’s just something that I’m just so blessed to have happened in my life.”
d escribing her journey at the c ollege, Winnicki noted she initially struggled to find her place in the c ollege community.
“Interestingly enough when I first started out here, it was really tough for me to fit in and feel this is where I was supposed to be,” Winnicki said. “I really struggled just like with college in general, I think. I didn’t feel like I was ever good enough and I just worried so much about holding myself to like this high standard.”
After attempting to create a student-designed major, Winnicki explained her thought about her decision to major in global studies.
“I just had like this moment where I’m like ‘ o kay, maybe, because like I’ve always known that language is something that’s always fueled my passion,” she said. “It’s something that’s been the most important to me and I knew that I was like, ‘o kay, if this student design major didn’t work out, I guess I can consider global studies.”
Throughout her time in the major, Winnicki studied s panish, Italian and Arabic at s aint m ary’s, in addition to m andarin at n otre d ame, she said.
d uring her senior year, Winnicki was asked by her Arabic professor to be a teaching assistant for the c ollege’s Introductory Arabic class. s ince her professor was teaching remotely, Winnicki came to every class session in person to help the students. s he recounted what she learned during her time in the class.
“There were a couple times when I had to teach the class all by myself. I never had like that kind of responsibility before,” Winnicki said. “It really taught me leadership and it really gave me confidence in my ability to speak in front of others and be a leader.”
Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu
ND salutatorian to pursue teaching, research
By RYAN PETERS Associate news editor
Throughout grade school, Alexis Waldschmidt would often write speeches in braille on note cards so she would not have to look down when presenting. s he started this practice after becoming fascinated with braille and American s ign Language (A s L) following a presentation she gave on h elen Keller in third grade.
“Just to be able to communicate with people, to be able to communicate with an A s L, with people who might be hard of hearing or deaf in that community. I think it’s very important,” Waldschmidt said.
Waldschmidt has continued to follow her passion for language and communication as she is about to graduate with majors in c hinese and biological sciences as the salutatorian of the class of 2021. s he was named the biological sciences class of 2021 valedictorian and holds a 4.0 grade point average. Waldschmidt, a
native of n aperville, Illinois, hopes to merge her passion for biology with her love of communication and one day become a professor of biology. s he initially came to n otre d ame with the intention of entering the medical field, but quickly discovered she wanted to teach.
“I’d always just assumed I would become a doctor,” Waldschmidt said. “It was never really something I thought about, it was just something I had assumed.”
While taking a course at a community college to become a certified nursing assistant ( cn A), Waldschmidt began to discover her love of teaching. o ne of the students in the class was from Iran and had a disrupted educational background which prevented her from knowing some material that was required for the course, so Waldschmidt would stay back with the other student and help her learn the material.
“ s o I just stayed after and just taught her the entire time,” Waldschmidt said.
Alexis Waldschmidt c lass of 2021 salutatorian
“That’s what I mean, that’s stuff I really enjoyed. Just staying after and teaching her and I just love teaching.”
In addition to her passion for teaching, Waldschmidt also greatly enjoys research.
s he has worked in professor Joseph o ’Tousa’s lab studying visual systems of mosquitoes in order to learn how to prevent them from spreading viruses such as dengue. Waldschmidt will work in the lab for the next year after graduation.
b iology, nature and science have been Waldschmidt’s interests since she was a child.
s he cited a love of trying to discover the unknown as fuel for her research.
“I just love what we don’t know and figuring that out
because I love that process of discovery,” she said.
Waldschmidt hopes to combine her studies of biology and c hinese to study or conduct research in c hina or Taiwan one day.
s he continues to study c hinese because she said once people overcome language barriers, rich differences and profound similarities exist between people, and as a result, people can become more connected.
“I’ve naturally started realizing that learning language is one of the most powerful ways that people can learn humanity,” Waldschmidt said.
Throughout her sophomore year, Waldschmidt tutored first-year students in introductory biology. b eginning junior year, she transitioned to tutoring student-athletes. Waldschmidt said she not only likes meeting other students and teaching them through tutoring, but those she tutors also give her a new perspective on the material.
“ e veryone has such diverse backgrounds and different
ways of approaching problems and different questions they ask that I would just never have thought of myself,” she said. “ s o it just gives me a new perspective on the material.”
In addition to being named valedictorian of the biological sciences class of 2021, Waldschmidt received the biology department’s Paul F. Ware, m d., e xcellence in Undergraduate r esearch Award, the Fulbright s cholarship for teaching e nglish in Taiwan and won the c ollege of s cience d ean’s Award. s he is also a member of the d ean’s List and Phi b eta Kappa honor society.
As Waldschmidt graduates from n otre d ame, she said the past four years have fostered her curiosity and showed her the importance of kindness.
“It’s just given me a better understanding of how to embody kindness and just how important that is,” Waldschmidt said.
Contact Ryan Peters at rpeters5@nd.edu
Stefanie
Ingal, Galbenski tackle unprecedented year
By BELLA LAUFENBERG news Writer
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on April 9.
When r achel Ingal and s arah Galbenski first took office as the notre dame student body president and vice president in march 2020, they had no idea what the next year held for them.
Ingal, a senior political science major and business economics minor, said she has always been involved with notre dame student government. When she was a first-year, Ingal served on First Undergraduate e xperience in Leadership (FU e L). Ingal said she enjoyed it so much that she came back and co-directed the FU e L program her sophomore year.
As a junior, Ingal said she took a step back from student government to do her fall semester away from campus in Washington, d c she said it was during that semester away from campus that she decided to run for student body president.
Galbenski is a senior majoring in spanish and global affairs with a concentration in peace studies. Unlike Ingal, Galbenski said she had no previous experience with student government before being asked to join Ingal’s ticket.
Galbenski said she believes
the pair have a good balance since they had different background experiences from before becoming president and vice president.
“I think [Ingal] was looking for someone to balance her out — someone that had experience in other spheres on campus and could bring fresh perspectives to the table, but it also is great to have her institutional experience and knowledge to help bring me into the fold,”
Galbenski explained.
Ingal and Galbenski ran on a platform of striving to “accompany, advocate for and amplify every student on this campus.”
Ingal said she believed the best part of their campaign is that they knew students had a lot to say.
“s omething that I think was the coolest part of our campaign was that we didn’t believe we needed to be a voice for the voiceless,” Ingal said.
“And I think we just had a fundamental belief that nobody here is voiceless; everybody has a voice. They have incredible perspective and have lived experiences to contribute and share … all we wanted to do is just strive to amplify that.”
When students were asked to stay or return home within their first week on the job, Ingal and Galbenski pivoted to set aside their more ambitious campaign promises in order
to prioritize what students needed. Ingal said she was very proud of how they were able to adapt to the new circumstances so quickly.
“We were adapting so much, and you just have to be on your feet in terms of trying to be as attentive as possible to things that we needed, specifically for our cov I d year,” Ingal said.
The main two things Ingal said they focused on, in terms of cov I d -related changes, were increased here dashboard metrics and more testing.
“And that’s something we were big advocates from the beginning and consistently brought up on a weekly basis to all of our advisors and slowly but surely, they started to do that,” Ingal explained. “A lot of the work and accomplishments that we made were in very informal conversations, and it literally was just instances of us being a liaison between the students and the administration.”
According to Galbenski, they were very nervous about the year to come during the turbulent start to their term.
“We were a little bit nervous when that curveball was thrown at us that it would be all cleanup and disaster relief — and it was a lot of that, because that’s just what the community needed and you have
to respond to the community’s needs as a public servant — but we still were able to embark upon our own plans and dreams as well,” Galbenski said.
despite the tumultuous start to Ingal and Galbenski’s term, they said they achieved many of their campaign goals and other initiatives that came up during the year.
Ingal said one of her favorite programs Galbenski and she got started on over the past year was the Women’s Leadership Forum.
“We wanted to create a women’s leadership forum as a way to expose all these great, highachieving women to leaders on campus who have had incredibly successful career paths and who’ve kind of done it all,” Ingal said. “but also, we wanted to create a network of women student union leaders, so that they could kind of lean on each other, and just form those relationships.”
Galbenski said she considered adjusting Title IX regulations one of the most important achievements of her term.
d uring the Trump presidency, Title IX regulations were changed to make the evidentiary standard for both student and faculty sexual assault cases the same. In the past, the notre dame faculty evidentiary standard had been higher
than the student evidentiary standard.
Galbenski said since she was a student liaison for the faculty senate, she played an integral part in changing the Title IX rules so that the student evidentiary standard would not increase from “preponderance of the evidence” to a “clear and convincing” standard as a result of the new Trump-era regulations. she said it was very important for both Ingal and her to stand with sexual assault survivors by making the reporting process easier, not harder.
both Ingal and Galbenski said they are grateful for the opportunity they had to serve as notre dame student body president and vice presidents during this unprecedented year.
Ingal said that she will take the leadership, flexibility and resilience that she’s cultivated during her time here into whatever her future holds. Galbenski said she will always value the lessons she has learned and relationships that she made.
“It’s just been the people that have been the best part of it — that have taught me so much,” Galbenski said. “I’m really grateful.”
Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu
HCC valedictorian reflects on community
By ALYSA GUFFEY notre dame news editor
When he first started looking at colleges, h oly c ross senior d ylan m augel was not sure if he wanted to study theology or chemical engineering — two vastly different subjects.
e ventually, he decided to pursue his interest in theology and ended up at the c ollege because it is one of few schools to offer a theology program in Indiana.
“I ended up studying theology for the discernment for entering the seminary possibly,” m augel said.
n ow on the cusp of graduating, m augel will be celebrated as the h oly c ross class of 2021 valedictorian and give a speech at the commencement ceremony s aturday. m augel grew up in the small town of Wakarusa, Indiana, roughly 24 miles from n otre d ame. h e is graduating with majors in theology and business, and a minor in philosophy.
Writing a theology senior thesis on the baptismal call of the laity served as the culmination of m augel’s undergraduate theology studies. The project studied how God makes the world holy through
humans, m augel said.
m augel credited his advisor, associate professor of theology Louis Albarran, for being a crucial figure in developing his understanding of theology.
“ h e kind of helped point me to see how each ordinary individual does God’s work in the world by doing what they love and doing what they’re called to do, even if it is just an ordinary thing, like being an accountant or being an engineer,” m augel said.
m augel added his business major during his sophomore year, he said, after spending a summer working with local c hurch leaders through a summer service learning program. In his role, m augel worked with parishes to buy run-down apartments and convert them into affordable apartments instead of letting the city demolish the buildings to build higher-income housing.
“I found a need for business-minded people in the c atholic c hurch,” m augel said.
m augel described his wellrounded four-year academic experience as “centered in the common good.”
“We don’t just see
transactions as money exchanging between people, but rather as an encounter between people that helps fulfill the needs of both the buyer and the seller,” m augel said. “And just in general our theology program helps us see the world as a gift, and embody this through a greater understanding of s cripture in the liturgy.”
At h oly c ross, m augel has spent the past academic year serving as a resident assistant in b asil h all. d espite the restrictive protocols the pandemic brought to campus, m augel said he came to appreciate how h oly c ross is like “a really big family.”
“It’s a close-knit community where we strive to really grow in fraternity with one another as we share meals — even under a tent for a dining hall,” m augel said.
m augel also spoke of how he enjoys the nicknames he and his peers share with one another. m augel explained that he became “ s picy d yl” after he brought spicy dill pickles his freshman year.
“It’s just one of those unique things of calling each person by their name and looking into their eyes, and this being intentional and present with
each other,” m augel said. Additionally, m augel has been involved on campus through his roles as co-chair for the student government social concerns committee, a peer mentor, a member of both the n otre d ame and h oly c ross liturgical choirs and member of the Knights of c olumbus club.
n ext year, m augel will attend the Augustine Institute in Greenwood v illage, c olo., to work toward a m aster of Arts in theology. After the two-year program, m augel hopes to serve in the c hurch by being a leader of service learning, director of
stewardship or director of evangelization and discipleship.
In his commencement speech, m augel said he will speak on living a life of gratitude. h e said the c ollege has guided its students to live as both saints and as h oly c ross s aints throughout the rest of their lives.
“We might make a local impact, but the ripple effect will affect the global world and call everyone to embody sainthood in some sort of way,” m augel said.
Contact Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu
Courtesy of Dylan Maugel
Wakarusa, Ind. native and Holy Cross senior Dylan Maugel, a theology and business double major, is the class of 2021 valedictorian.
Seniors receive fellowships, grants with CUSE
By ADRIANA PEREZ editor-in-c hief
A total of 22 graduating seniors have won a variety of fellowships and scholarships to participate in post-graduate programs.
Awardees include 17 Fulbright finalists, two national science Foundation (nsF) Graduate research Fellows, one 2020 Truman scholar, one Luce scholar and one Yenching scholar.
In years past, members of the class of 2021 have won many other prestigious undergraduate study grants, including three Goldwater scholarships, four boren scholarships and 20 Gilman scholarships.
The graduating class of 2021 has seen 22 of its members awarded a variety of fellowships and scholarships. Awardees include 17 Fulbright finalists, two national science Foundation (nsF) research fellows, one Luce scholar and one Yenching scholar.
six other applicants for the Fulbright scholarship were chosen as alternate candidates — if more funding becomes available for them, they can be promoted to finalists. Four other graduating seniors were also finalists for the competitive r hodes and marshall scholarships.
of the Fulbright finalists — students who have received the award, but are only promoted to “Fulbright students” if and when they complete their program — three received a study or research grant, and 14 will partake in a teaching assistantship if they accept the award.
According to elise rudt, national fellowships senior program manager at the Flatley center for Undergraduate engagement (cUse), applications for the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship “exploded” this cycle, in spite of — or perhaps because of — the pandemic. About 60 people applied, instead of the usual 30, she said.
The Fulbright U.s student Program sends recent graduates and graduate students to over 140 countries across the world, where it seeks to facilitate “cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home and in routine tasks.”
senior Jill ruane has accepted a Fulbright english Teaching Assistantship in hessen, Germany, near Frankfurt. she will be part of a diversity program, teaching German to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in a school.
“I’m really, really excited to get involved in that community and help them learn about America, but also learn so much from them and their life stories, all the different, mixing cultures in Germany,” ruane said.
ruane was part of Air Force roTc at notre dame, where she majored in mathematics with a minor in German. she will delay starting active duty until July of next year.
In the past few months, Germany has had a relatively slow
vaccine roll out while the country has seen increased cases of cov Id-19. ruane acknowledged this, as well as the possibility that her placement will be postponed. but she also said she feels hopeful because the european Union recently announced American tourists who are fully vaccinated will be able to travel to europe this summer — after more than a year of banning non-essential travel.
ruane said she felt “blessed and lucky” to be able to take up every opportunity to go abroad through notre dame during her undergraduate career. during her sophomore year, she went on a fall break trip to Poland, and received a grant to visit berlin for three weeks during winter break. she then received a summer Language Abroad (sLA) grant to study German in cologne for eight weeks over the summer before her junior year.
Then, during the fall of her junior year in 2019, she visited england, belgium and France through a nanovic Institute class called “The Great War.” In the spring of 2020, she studied abroad in Jerusalem, where she learned a bit of Arabic, before having to return back home at the onset of the pandemic.
“I think having interacted with … different cultures and societies, has really prepared me,” she said, reflecting on the usefulness of these experiences as she prepares to return to Germany in the fall.
ruane said she believes other experiences at notre dame, such as taking a community-based writing and rhetoric class and tutoring at the robinson community Learning center, helped make her application stronger as well.
because they were in their second semester of their junior year when the pandemic started, most senior Fulbright finalists were able to complete a semester abroad, or at least experience part of it, like ruane. however, not all the recipients have had a study abroad experience.
cUse director Jeffrey Thibert explained that there are other ways in which students have gained and displayed qualities characteristic of a Fulbright grantee and a cultural ambassador beyond studying abroad.
“[study abroad] is not a magical key,” he said. “I think that what they’re really looking for is resilience, adaptability, perseverance, people who can get along well with others, who are excited to learn about other people.”
senior Theresa Azemar, who majored in english and American studies, will travel to belgium on a Fulbright english Teaching Assistantship. There, she will teach english at the University of Antwerp.
she did not study abroad during her junior year due to the requirements for her majors, Azemar explained. she planned to go to Ireland for a creative writing program in the summer of 2020, but that was canceled due to cov Id-19.
despite not studying abroad, she said she feels she has had a lot of experiences connecting with people of different cultures. being raised by immigrant parents and growing up in an area with a high immigrant population, she added, has helped her gain the necessary cultural competency and social awareness.
“Though it’s not the same having a full, immersive abroad experience, it is the experience of walking into a new home, accepting traditions, learning to be respectful and managing your own expectations and biases,” Azemar explained.
Throughout a very introspective application process and while writing her personal statement, Azemar learned to verbalize her achievements, accomplishments and skills, she said. And, ultimately, she learned how to advocate for herself.
“I also learned that a lot of Arts and Letters students — maybe particularly Arts and Letter women or non-men — tend to be a bit more on the humble side when it comes to applying for things,” she said. “so, I learned to just really accept and appreciate the things that I know that I’m good at and I know that I’m strong at, and the things that I’m not so strong at, and phrasing it in a way that’s still something positive about myself.”
Azemar, who was vaccinated at notre dame’s vaccination clinic, said she is hopeful her plans will remain in place and she will be able to go to belgium despite the pandemic.
“At this point, I think, if my Fulbright experience has to be a little bit hybrid or kind of warped, I think I’m still open to the weirdness of it all, especially after this past year and then some,” she said. “You’re just wanting to accept that things are just going to be new and different, but that doesn’t mean they’re less valuable.”
For senior elsa barron — a recipient of a Fulbright research grant — her plans to go to bangalore, India, in november feel a bit more uncertain with the current cov Id-19 crisis in the country. barron said when she first heard the news that she was a finalist, she felt surprised but grateful to have been given the opportunity to travel internationally and do research with a Fulbright grant.
“And then my second thought was, ‘oh my gosh, should I accept this in this time of uncertainty? even if I’m able to go, what are the ethical implications of that, when I have access to vaccines that many people in India likely won’t access for many months, if not years?’” she recalled.
Ultimately, barron decided to accept the grant. she will be working at Azim Premji University in bangalore in order to assist a professor and do research into positive environmental peacebuilding as a response to structural forms of environmental violence and oppression.
by engaging with non-governmental organizations, she hopes
to continue her research into environmental peacebuilding at the grassroots level, which she started studying in Jerusalem and which built directly into her Fulbright proposal and the kind of questions she hopes to answer.
barron did an International summer service Learning Program (IssLP) in the summer of 2019 in Jerusalem, where she learned about liberation theology and worked at a refugee community center. she returned to Jerusalem in the fall of that same year and conducted an independent study into peacebuilding and the environment alongside a professor at hebrew University.
before then, during her first year at notre dame, she was part of the s n bose scholars Program, which sponsors research exchange between India and the U.s. Through this, she visited a different university at bangalore, the Indian Institute of science, to do research on yeast and mitochondrial and microbial defects and binary fission.
barron acknowledged the help she received from her professors, fellow students and cUse advisers. she said applying to “these sorts of fellowships [is] really collaborative … That’s certainly important to acknowledge — I’m very grateful for all that support.”
cUse staff echoed that collaborative aspect of the long application process and how advisers react to the good news when a student receives an award.
“It is really exciting to see all of the hard work and energy and effort that they put into the application process because it’s a really personal process,” said emily hunt, student engagement program coordinator at cUse “They’re required to really dig deep and think about what they want and how everything they’ve done in the past has led to this opportunity.”
Learning that a student has been chosen for an award is thrilling, she added. senior program manager emily rudt echoed this sentiment, saying it’s overjoying when students get to engage in these opportunities.
of course, director Jeffrey Thibert added, most of these scholarships and fellowships are very competitive, so not all students who apply receive them.
“but I do think that, what we try to do as advisors and what cUse’s ethos is, is that we want to make sure people are getting something valuable and worthwhile out of this advising process no matter what happens at the end,” he said.
Thibert said he hopes that the skills students learn when working alongside cUse — writing personal essays, asking for letters of recommendation, introspection — will help them pursue their interests and grow personally no matter what they do in the future.
“on a personal note, working with all these students over the years — whether they’ve gotten the fellowship in the end or not — has really made me a better, more
interesting person,” Thibert said. “because we really get to work with some amazing students, and it really is the most gratifying part of the work is getting to know all of you.”
out of over 770 applicants, one member of the class of 2021 was chosen as a Truman scholar from last year’s 62-person cohort. According to Thibert, Truman scholarships are received junior year, but the funding goes toward graduate or professional school. This merit-based award funds graduate studies in preparation for a career in public service. over 2,000 students across the U.s. have been accepted into the nsF Graduate research Fellowship Program (GrFP). The nsF GrFP seeks to recognize “outstanding graduate students in nsF-supported sTem disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited Us institutions.”
The nsF fellowship program includes financial support for three years, an annual stipend and a cost of education allowance to the institution.
notre dame’s graduating Luce scholar was one of 164 semifinalists contending for 18 spots in the 2021-2022 class. each year, the Luce scholarship program provides between 15 to 18 scholars with stipends, language training and professional placement in big cities and small villages throughout northeast, southeast and south Asia.
The Yenching Academy of Peking University has a scholarship program for an interdisciplinary master’s program in china studies. Its participants include young people interested in leadership, innovation and becoming “global citizens with a nuanced understanding of china,” according to the program’s website.
Annually, the Yenching Academy enrolls approximately 120 students from mainland china and abroad in their scholarship program — and this year, one notre dame senior has been accepted. The fellowship for Yenching scholars covers tuition fees, accommodations, a monthly stipend, one round-trip travel fare and field study costs.
some of these opportunities are not only open to graduating seniors, however. many accept applications from graduate students or even young professionals. Thibert said if someone who is graduating wants to apply for a fellowship in the future, they can still do so.
“An important note — especially for seniors looking at this issue, looking at this article — is that they can still apply for these, right now,” he explained. “especially if they’re doing some kind of gap year experience next year, they could then go into a fellowship after that … We are still happy to work with people who are graduating.”
Contact Adriana Perez at aperez8@nd.edu
Seniors enter religious life, discern priesthood
b y cLAI re re I d News Writer
Director of the Office of Vocations for the Congregation of Holy Cross Fr. John DeRiso can often be found in the Duncan or LaFortune Student Centers, where he meets with Notre Dame students interested in discerning their vocation. DeRiso invites students who express interest in the priesthood or in religious life to consider the Congregation of Holy Cross. Each year, about two or three graduating seniors enter formation and so take the next steps toward discerning their vocation to Holy Cross priesthood, according to DeRiso.
This year, three graduating seniors will continue to discern religious life through the Moreau Seminary’s postulant and novitiate programs.
One of these seniors is Jacob Gorman, a joint philosophy and theology major from Evansville, Indiana. Gorman spent his time at Notre Dame as an Old Collegian — three years in the Old College Undergraduate Seminary and this past year in the Moreau Seminary’s one-year postulant program.
Rather than living in a typical dorm community, as an Old Collegian, Gorman lived in Old College by St. Mary’s Lake near the Grotto, alongside other Notre Dame and Holy Cross College undergraduates discerning and preparing for a vocation in the Holy Cross priesthood.
“You’re living in a very intentional community, a group of guys
who are discerning and praying together, who are trying to explore God’s calling in their life,” Gorman explained.
Although the Old Collegians seek to form intentional community through a schedule that includes nights of prayer and formation, Gorman said they get to have a typical Notre Dame experience as well.
“We take classes with all the other undergraduates on campus. We have friends in the dorms. We can go to University events. We can play on intramural teams,” Gorman said. “So, a lot of the aspects of the Notre Dame experience are still things that we go through.”
Gorman said some of his favorite Notre Dame memories include going to football games, late night hangouts and bonfires with the men he has met through the Seminary. Like him, Gorman said, many of these young men felt called to the priesthood from a young age.
“It varies from guy to guy,” Gorman said. “But I’d say the typical experience… at least for the Old Collegians and for me, kind of around high school, you kind of feel a little stirring. You fall in love with something.”
For Gorman, that stirring occurred during his first year of high school.
“I got involved in my youth group. I had a really amazing group of friends,” Gorman recalled. “I was introduced to a strong prayer life, and that’s where I fell in love with Christ.”
As Gorman’s faith continued to
grow throughout his high school years, he realized he wanted to pursue a future path that combined the things he values most.
“I knew that education was really important to me. I knew that family was really important to me. And I knew that the Church was really important to me,” Gorman said. “And when I was kind of looking around, I found Holy Cross. I found this community of priests and brothers who combine education, family, church and mission.”
After graduating, Gorman will advance in his formation journey from postulant to novice. He will enter the Holy Cross novitiate program near Colorado Springs for a year of prayer and discernment, largely removed from the distractions of the world.
“It’s a place where guys go and give up lots of things [such as] phones, and they have periods of silence,” Gorman said. “But it’s a time of really deep prayer and really intentional community, so that you can kind of discern ‘Do I want to take the vows, do I want to enter into this life?’”
If Gorman completes his novitiate year in Colorado, he will return to the Moreau Seminary and take temporary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He will renew these vows every year for four years and then he will have the opportunity to make those vows permanent. If he permanently takes the vows, he will be ordained a Holy Cross priest shortly thereafter.
Eddie Donnelly is another senior discerning the Holy Cross priesthood. Unlike Gorman, Donnelly
did not spend his undergraduate years living in Old College.
A resident of Zahm Hall until this semester, Donnelly is also a joint philosophy and theology major. Additionally, Donnelly — who has been playing the piano since childhood and began taking voice lessons while at Notre Dame — will graduate with a minor in Liturgical Music Ministry. He said his favorite undergraduate experience has been being a member of the Notre Dame Drumline.
Following graduation, Donnelly will enter the Seminary’s one-year postulant program — the program which Gorman is currently taking part in — and begin the formation process.
Donnelly, too, said he felt called to the priesthood from a young age. He recalled an interaction he had when he was 5 years old, in which someone told him he would make a good priest.
“Five is a really strange time to hear that, but ever since then it stuck with me,” Donnelly said.
During his first year of high school, Donnelly said he met young, charismatic priests who made the vocation seem accessible to him for the first time.
“I also saw a group of Benedictines praying the Divine Office, which is the prayer of the Church,” Donnelly recalled. “It was in that moment that I felt like ‘I can see myself doing that.’”
By the end of high school, Donnelly said, he felt called to study theology. When choosing a university, he looked no further than Notre Dame. It was the only school he applied to. However, the
New Jersey native was not initially accepted.
“I was mad for about 10 minutes,” Donnelly said. “And then, I remembered this guy Rudy did this thing where he went to a different school, then ended up at Notre Dame. So, I filled out the Holy Cross College application.”
The next day, Donnelly received a phone call from the College’s president, Fr. David Tyson. Through Tyson and others, Donnelly was introduced to the Congregation of Holy Cross.
“I got the privilege of getting to know the brothers of Holy Cross really well,” Donnelly said. “I lived with them for a summer, and got to discern the priesthood with a group of brothers.”
After his first year at Holy Cross, Donnelly transferred to Notre Dame.
Then, last year, just before the onset of the pandemic, he met with DeRiso to discuss his desire to serve as a priest. With DeRiso’s guidance, Donnelly applied to the Seminary and was accepted into the postulant program.
After graduation, he will move to Moreau Seminary — which he can see from his residence at the Sacred Heart Parish Center.
“I’m most looking forward to the community,” Donnelly said. “Living with a bunch of brothers bound by the Congregation of Holy Cross, praying together, living together and discerning God’s call together.”
contact c laire reid at creid6@nd.edu
Seniors to partake in post-grad opportunities
b y Genev I eve coL em A n Saint Mary’s News Editor
The Career Crossings Office administered its annual Graduate Destination Survey in order to collect data on seniors’ post-graduation plans. Stacie Jeffirs, director of Career Crossings, explained how the Office uses the survey.
“We use the data internally to follow up with graduating seniors who need assistance with their pursuits and also share their pursuits on our social media channels to celebrate their accomplishments with the Saint Mary’s community and beyond,” Jeffirs said.
This year’s survey concluded that 58% of graduating seniors are planning to enter the workforce, 28% are planning to further their education in graduate or professional school, 8% are planning to pursue post-graduate internships/externships, 3.5% are planning to complete volunteer programs, 1.5% are planning to pursue other gap year opportunities and 1% is planning to enter the military.
Jeffirs noted while the percentage of students getting post-baccalaureate degrees has increased compared to previous years, this is not an unexpected trend.
“This is slightly higher than what
we typically see, but over the past five or 10 years, the percentage of graduating seniors immediately pursuing additional education ranges from 20 to 25 percent,“ she said. “Within five years of graduation, we typically see about 55 percent of our graduates who pursue additional education (master’s and doctoral degrees). So, the 28 percent is higher than what we have seen, but not surprising given the strong interest that our graduates have to pursue additional education.“
The Career Crossings Office is also tracking effect of the pandemic on graduating students, Jeffirs said.
“We had a stronger response rate to the survey this year as compared to last year and we are seeing that COVID has not impacted this graduating nearly as much as the last year’s graduating class,“ Jeffirs explained. “For last year’s survey, we added questions to ask how COVID has impacted graduating seniors in terms of their post-grad plans. We kept the questions this year so that we could gauge the
GENEVIEVE COLEMAN | The Observer
Graduates of the Saint Mary’s class of 2021 are planning on participating in a variety of post-graduation options, including employment, further education, gap years, internships and military service.
ongoing impact of COVID with this year’s graduating class.“
In terms of this year’s survey, Jeffirs stated that students were not as affected by the pandemic as the class of 2020.
“There are some graduating seniors who indicated COVID has had an ongoing impact on their job
searches, but not at the same rate that we saw last year at this time.
This is partly due to graduating seniors adjusting to the realities of COVID and starting their searches earlier and being more persistent in their searches, and a larger part is due to industries recovering over this past year.“
Jeffirs emphasized that the Career Crossings Office serves Saint Mary’s students through their time at the College, as well as alumnae throughout the rest of their lives.
contact Genevieve c oleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu
Graduating class prepares to enter job market
By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate news editor
While complete data on career paths for the class of 2021 is not yet available, early responders to the meruelo Family center for career development’s first destination survey indicate trends similar to previous classes.
If the data continues to follow historical patterns, two-thirds of the graduating class will pursue employment, 20 percent will pursue higher education, attending law school, medical school or other graduate programs, seven percent will engage in service, two percent will serve in the military and other students will pursue independent projects such as professional athletics or other opportunities.
ryan Willerton, associate vice president for career and Professional development said in a media report sent to The observer that this year’s graduates reflect notre dame students’ wide range of talents and interests, highlighting how graduates were not bound to their major when seeking employment.
“Graduating from notre dame is more than just recognition of hard work in an academic major,” Willerton said. “many of our students have found their careers through networking conversations, mentorship, and diving deep into their academic minors. notre dame’s holistic approach to education is manifested in the variety of paths are students are taking. many of our most popular career paths, such as financial services, consulting, and data
analytics are pursued by students from all academic colleges, not just a particular major.”
Willerton also noted that many notre dame seniors have secured jobs working for industry leaders like Apple, microsoft, Amazon, Google, spaceX, blue origin, boeing and top consulting, accounting and financial services firms.
In addition to positions at these highly desired companies, Willerton said many notre dame seniors followed strong pipelines to epic systems, carrier Global, Ford, davita, Protiviti and Procter & Gamble.
Those pursuing higher education will study at top institutions, pursuing doctoral degrees from Yale and stanford; law degrees from columbia, duke, Georgetown, new York University (nYU), University of california, Los Angeles (UcLA) and University of chicago and medical degrees from Washington University in st. Louis, Indiana University, Louisiana state University (LsU), Wisconsin, ohio state, northwestern University and University of Pittsburgh.
Finally, seniors planning on completing service work after graduation will complete programs through the Alliance for catholic education (Ace), Americorps, habitat for humanity and Jesuit volunteer corps, Willerton said. despite overall consistency with prior notre dame classes, covId did affect the type of postgraduation work recent graduates will begin.
The data in this graph is based off of historical trends for Notre Dame seniors and first responses to the career survey. First destination data will continue to be collected throughout the week of May 18.
namely, 15 percent of graduates with positions will work hybrid jobs, partially in person and partially remote, and 40 percent will begin work virtually before transitioning to in-person. comparatively, only 10 percent will start their employment in person, according to the center for career development media report.
Adding to the uncertainty, the reported noted that 30 percent of employed graduates have not received finalized plans from their employers regarding whether their positions will be remote, inperson or hybrid.
considering these unknowns, Willerton said career planning has changed due to covId, but career outcomes have remained stable,
in part due to guidance provided by the career center.
“covId-19 has certainly affected student career planning over the last 15 months. The job market is stable for most career paths,” Willerton said. “At the center for career development, our advice for students is to focus on their skills and networking. studies indicated that more than half of jobs (and in some industries, up to 70%) are found through networking.”
Given the difficulties of career planning during covId-19, the center for career development launched a new initiative this year — Talent showcase. Willerton said the online database features graduating seniors and graduate students seeking employment. Already, many students have
received job referrals and job offers from this site, he said.
For current and future graduates, Willerton encourages networking and building a convincing narrative with assistance from the center for career development.
“The vast majority of notre dame’s academic programs will prepare students for success — the key is to find ways to build a professional network and then tell a compelling story of your skills and how you can leverage your experiences over the last few years to benefit prospective employers,” he said. “our career counselors are here to help.“
Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu
Seniors discuss plans for service through ACE
By EVAN McKENNA managing editor
With the help of postgraduate employment resources such as the meruelo c enter for c areer d evelopment, notre d ame boasts one of the highest graduate employability ranks in the country. o ver 60% of graduates from the class of 2019 began full-time jobs following their time at the University.
b ut such a massive commitment to career development makes it difficult to pursue alternative postgraduate plans, senior m aria r itten said.
“At a place like notre d ame, there’s a lot of pressure to go directly into the working world, and I think it’s easy to just follow the pipeline that you’re directed on,” r itten said. “ b ut there is a lot of value in exploring different things.”
r itten is one of 45 graduating seniors who will begin their service with the University’s Alliance for c atholic e ducation (Ace ) program this summer. Ace is a two-year fellowship through which former tri-campus students teach in underresourced c atholic schools
across the country, earning their master’s degree in education after two years of service.
Founded in 1993, the fellowship will begin programming for its 28th cohort this summer.
And although uncertainty still abounds due to the cov I d -19 pandemic, the upcoming year of service will likely look very different than the last: Ace fellows from the class of 2020 completed their summer programming almost completely virtually, and many were faced with nontraditional classrooms in their first year of service.
“All of our Ace teachers have lived in community with one another and served in their respective school communities,” Ace associate director for recruiting m ichael c omuniello said of the fellowship’s 27th cohort. “There has been some flexibility in the mode of teaching — some in-person, some virtual and some hybrid.”
m ajoring in political science with minors in sociology and poverty studies, r itten comes from a family heavily invested in education and service. Like others in her cohort, she will
spend the summer living in a notre d ame residence hall, taking courses to prepare to lead a classroom of her own.
c ome August, the group will scatter across the country to their assigned Ace communities. r itten, for one, will travel to d enver, c olorado, to teach middle school social studies at Guardian Angels c atholic s chool.
The most exciting part of the Ace program is the ability to continue her relationship with notre d ame while expanding her experience, r itten said.
“I’m in a unique spot just because I’m finishing a chapter here for sure, but also I’m starting a new one right after,” she said. “Also, I’m just excited to be in a new place and to actually be in front of a classroom. I’ve never had the opportunity to do that.”
Lia Acri, a graduating senior majoring in psychology and theology and another member of Ace ’s 28th cohort, will be teaching fourth grade at Gesu c atholic s chool in d etroit, m ichigan, in the fall. Placement decisions are made entirely by Ace faculty, and
Acri said she was happy about her assignment and appreciative of the trust and care put into the decision.
“When I heard about what the community of the school is like, and the kind of teacher that they were looking for, in a way it was humbling to think that they had filled me in that spot, or had thought of me to be in that position, in that community,” Acri said.
b ut the impact of Ace extends far beyond the classroom, Acri noted — throughout their two years of service, fellows live in community with each other and are also encouraged to become a part of their schools’ local communities.
“I’m really excited to go from notre d ame to … a scaleddown, smaller community where I feel like I can make a difference and be immersed in a school community where I won’t only be teaching kids in the classroom,” Acri said.
“I’ve been thinking of clubs that I could do with my students and also attending their sports games and connecting with their parents … I’m really excited to immerse myself into
the community of Gesu.” r eflecting upon the discernment process that ultimately led her to Ace , Acri offered advice to current students considering postgraduate service: d on’t be afraid of the “closed doors” of commitment.
“I was afraid of closing doors by saying yes to Ace , but when I did it, I think my experience was the total opposite,” Acri said. “It was so liberating for me to commit to something … there were doors that were hypothetically closed, but once I walked in that door, there were so many other possibilities within that decision.”
r uminating on the fellowship’s cohorts — past, present and future — c omuniello commended the work of the program’s participants.
“All of our Ace teachers have dedicated themselves to serving the students and families entrusted to their care,” he said. “They are, and continue to be, a great sign of hope for our c hurch [and] the world.”
Contact Evan McKenna at emckenn2@nd.edu
MAGGIE EASTLAND | The Observer
ROTC college students to receive commissions
By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate news editor
e very year, several ro T c students in n otre d ame’s graduating class are commissioned as officers in the U. s n avy, Army, m arines and Air Force.
d espite cov I d -19 setbacks, the class of 2021 will be no different, sending many new officers into various branches of the military.
The soon-to-be officers include 16 Army, 14 n avy and nine Air Force cadets from n otre d ame, s aint m ary’s c ollege and valparaiso University, a crosstown partner school.
Army ROTC
Among the 16 graduating Army cadets, 12 will be commissioned into the Army, two will enter the U. s . Army r eserves and two will delay commissioning as they pursue higher education.
Lieutenant c olonel George Lachicotte, department chair and professor of m ilitary s cience for n otre d ame Army ro T c , said this graduating class is different from previous years.
“They’ve had to go their last, essentially year and a half, or last 18 months through the pandemic,” Lachicotte said. “We’ve never had to deal with this. They’re the first class that didn’t go through what we call Advanced c amp … their culminating test in between junior and senior year.”
d uring Advanced c amp, cadets usually spend 30 days together at Fort Knox as a test of different mental, physical, military and leadership skills. After the camp, the cadets receive proficiency scores that play a large role in determining their overall score for their entire time at ro T c , Lachicotte explained. Those
scores help the cadets receive their assignments in one of the 17 different army branches, he said.
The class of 2021 did not have the opportunity to participate in this camp, instead completing an abbreviated version last August.
d espite strict c enter for d isease c ontrol and University guidelines, Lachicotte said the senior class proved themselves as future officers.
“They’ve really had to show a lot of resiliency, a lot of creativity too, on how we can still train the future generations and prepare them,” he said. “From a mental resiliency and mental toughness standpoint, this is probably one of the tougher classes because they’ve had to deal with all that.”
o ne of the graduating Army cadets, s ophie Koeppl, attended s aint m ary’s c ollege to study history and economics and play varsity basketball.
After graduation, Koeppl will commission as a s econd Lieutenant in the U. s . Army and eventually be stationed as a civil officer, working on communications at Patch b arracks in s tuttgart, Germany.
Koeppl said she loved participating in ro T c , where she felt embraced.
d espite the extra distance to travel, Koeppl said she felt empowered as at s aint m ary’s student, especially when fellow cadets would come to cheer for her at basketball games.
“We’re building in number, and I love that for s aint m ary’s because I think s aint m ary’s builds really great and confident women,” Koeppl said. “I’ve seen a really growing acceptance rate of being a s aint m ary’s woman.”
s he even served as b attalion
c ommander last semester, a position Koeppl said a s aint m ary’s student has not held since before her time in ro T c Koeppl and her fellow Army ro T c cadets were commissioned and honored in a combined year-end and award ceremony that took place m ay 11.
Navy ROTC
e ven after over a year of fragmented cov I d lockdowns and guidelines, ro T c graduates e van m uller and Joseph Tanaka value their experience.
A total of 14 n avy ro T c graduates, including m uller and Tanaka, will receive commissions this year. Two will join the m arines and 12 will join the n avy.
m uller is a graduating n aval cadet who studied political science, r ussian and international security at n otre d ame. After graduation, he will commission as a s econd Lieutenant in the m arine c orps and attend b oston c ollege Law s chool, which will eventually enable him to become a judge advocate that prosecutes, defends and advises commanders on the rules of engagement, humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.
m uller said his mentor, c aptain c ody b rockelmeyer, taught him important lessons about humility and service.
“Leadership isn’t about being the loudest or most outgoing person in the room. It’s about one’s ability to listen, learn, stay humble and have a strong sense of empathy,” m uller said in an email. “In the m arine c orps, officers eat last symbolizing putting others above yourself.”
Joseph Tanaka studied mechanical engineering at n otre d ame and will begin flight school at Pensacola to prepare for a future career as a n avy pilot.
Tanaka said witnessing his parents’ sacrifices and service in the n avy inspired him to join the ro T c program and emphasized the lessons of teamwork he learned in last four years.
“ ro T c taught me the importance of a team and how great things are only accomplished through working together and making sure everyone in the team trust and cares for each other,” Tanaka said in an email.
Air Force ROTC
The nine Air Force cadets will commission as a variety of positions. s ome will begin undergraduate pilot training or become Intelligence o fficers, while others will enter weather, civil engineering, logistics readiness and contracting departments.
The Air Force ro T c cadets also conquered pandemic-related challenges.
c olonel c orey r amsby, Air Force ro T c (AF ro T c ) c ommander and professor of Aerospace s tudies, said the graduating class built realworld skills thanks to the pandemic.
“This is a class of adaptation and innovation. They have had to re-adjust the way they view and solve problems,” r amsby said in an email. “AF ro T c training is extremely hands-on and having to adjust to virtual training, social distancing and ensuring everyone’s health and safety … has instilled in them exactly what the Air Force needs in its officers — the ability to assess and mitigate risk with the proper balance between mission and force.”
r amsby also said this graduating class benefited from the period of reflection created by the pandemic.
“In every crisis there is an opportunity, and this class has seized many of them,” he said. “Ultimately, they have built an environment where everyone is valued regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs, sex or any other biased attribute … I’m not sure we could have reached this point as quickly as we did without the forced introspection created by the pandemic.” created by the pandemic.”
Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu
Courtesy of Colonel Corbey Ramsby
Nine Air Force ROTC graduates represent three different schools — Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College and Valparaiso University.
Seniors honored with leadership awards
By ISABELLA VOLMERT a ssistant managing editor
e very spring, the d ivision of s tudent affairs honors exceptional student leaders at the s tudent Leadership a wards banquet. The 35th annual event, held on a pril 13 in the d ahnke b allroom and over Zoom, recognized seven members of the class of 2021 as leaders in the n otre d ame community and beyond.
o dalis Gonzalez r eyes was the recipient of the r ev. Theodore m h esburgh, c s c ., a ward. This award is given to a graduating senior who has significantly contributed to and advanced the climate of inclusion at the University and beyond.
Gonzalez, originally from a merican Falls, i daho, served as a program assistant for F ire s tarter with the Gender r elations c enter, president of the s tudent c oalition for i mmigration a dvocacy and on the leadership board of s how s ome s kin. s he also led retreats for Latinx first-year students with c ampus m inistry and tutored high school students during her time at n otre d ame.
a psychology and Latino studies double-major with a minor in education, schooling and society, Gonzalez was also a senior cohort leader with the a n b ryce s cholars
i nitiative and a member of b allet Folklorico a zul y o ro. Gonzalez said she was tremendously honored and grateful for the award. “a t the end of the day, my goal with everything i have been involved with has been to make it slightly easier and safer for the individuals that come after me,” Gonzalez said. “[To] make it a more welcoming and inclusive community for the next generation.”
r achel i ngal was this year’s recipient of the The r ev. a . Leonard c ollins, c s c ., a ward, which honors a graduating senior who has made great personal efforts to advance the interests of n otre d ame students.
o riginally from Loveland, o hio, i ngal served as the 2020-2021 student body president and previously as director of the First Undergraduate e xperience in Leadership program and vice president of b adin h all. a political science major with minors in business economics and international development, i ngal is also a Kellogg i nternational s cholar and a member of h alftime a c appella.
The John W. Gardner s tudent Leadership a ward was awarded to m olly Link of b rush, c olorado, for exemplifying the ideals of the University through community service
Paid a dverT isemen T
within and beyond the campus community.
Link, a theology major with a minor in c atholic s ocial Tradition, founded the b eLoved Women’s d iscernment c ommunity at n otre d ame and served as a c ampus m inistry a nchor i ntern and a r esident a ssistant in Lewis h all. s he was also involved with the c enter for s ocial c oncerns and completed an i nternational s ummer s ervice Leadership Program with the Franciscan s isters in Tanzania. i n the local community, she is a catechist at a local parish and a regular volunteer with the s outh b end c enter for the h omeless.
“ i am grateful for all of the opportunities and resources the University has provided me over the last four years that have made it possible for me to encounter incredible people who are a gift to serve,” Link said.
a aron b enavides is this year’s recipient of the b lessed b asil m oreau, c s c ., Leadership a ward, given to a graduating senior who embodies Father m oreau’s vision of educating the heart and has exemplified significant effort in advancing the c atholic character of the University. a political science major from c orpus c hristi, Texas, minoring in digital marketing, journalism, ethics and
democracy and theology, b enavides served as the student government 2020-2021 chief of staff in addition to serving through many roles he held prior in student government, such as d irector of Faith s ervice his sophomore year. h e also served as a m ass chair for the 2020 Junior Parents Weekend and a b asilica sacristan. a ppointed by University President Fr. John Jenkins, b enavides was the student representative with the c ampus e ngagement Task Force on clergy abuse.
“a ll my work the past four years here has broadened my understanding of what it means to educate both the mind and the heart,” b enavides said. “ i am so grateful to have had the chance to work with motivated student leaders and with administrators to help build a better n otre d ame for all.”
This year’s recipient of the r ay s iegfried a ward for Leadership e xcellence is c onal Fagan, a political science and peace studies major from d erry, n orthern i reland. This award is given to a graduating senior who embodies former trustee r ay s iegfried’s leadership, generosity, devotion to the c atholic faith and affinity for athletics.
Fagan served as the first i rish-born n otre d ame Leprechaun mascot his junior and senior year, as well as a varsity cheerleader and a sports broadcaster for Fighting i rish m edia. h e was also an active leader in the c enter for s ocial c oncerns, co-chair of the Kroc i nstitute for i nternational Peace s tudies conference and served as a coach and mentor to students with disabilities.
s arah Galbenski is this year’s recipient of the m ike r usso s pirit a ward, given to an undergraduate student who models m ike r usso’s affinity for service and strives to bring out the best in others and themselves.
Galbenski, an honors s panish and global affairs major with a concentration in international peace studies from Grosse Pointe s hores, m ichigan, served as the 2020-2021 student body vice president her senior year and held multiple leadership
roles in Walsh h all. s he was a s panish interpreter, bilingual tutor and e nglish Language instructor in the s outh b end community as well as abroad in e cuador and c hile. Galbenski is also a Kellogg i nternational s cholar and member of the n otre d ame Folk c hoir.
“ i was immensely honored to receive the m ike r usso s pirit a ward, and i am so grateful to both the d ivision of s tudent a ffairs and the s tudent a ctivities o ffice for putting on such a meaningful s tudent Leadership a wards b anquet,” Galbenski said. “ i t was wonderful to be able to connect with other student leaders in person and celebrate our flexibility and resiliency in leading through this difficult year.”
d essi Gomez, from s an c lemente, c alifornia, was awarded the d enny m oore a ward for e xcellence in Journalism. This honor is given to a graduating senior who exemplifies the integrity, character, commitment to n otre d ame and writing ability of former n otre d ame associate vice president d enny m oore.
(Editor’s Note: Dessi Gomez is a Scene writer for The Observer.)
Gomez said it was rewarding “to be recognized for one of [her] true and most prioritized passions at n otre d ame which is journalism and storytelling.”
Gomez, an a merican studies major with minors in journalism, ethics and democracy and gender studies, served as a writer with The o bserver and editor of s cholastic magazine. s he also held two professional internships at the s outh b end Tribune and Los a ngeles Times. Gomez covered breaking news at n otre d ame for the student publications and reported on arts, culture and entertainment. Gomez traveled to Puerto r ico as a sophomore to report on the aftermath of h urricane m aria in the class “ c overing a merica.”
“That trip was a very formative experience in my desire to continue journalism,” she said.
Contact Isabella Volmert at ivolmert@nd.edu
SGA president, vice president reflect on term
By CRYSTAL RAMIREZ
Associate News Editor
At the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year, Student Government Association (SGA) president Giavanna Paradiso and vice president Kelsey O’Connor reflected on leading the College through a pandemic-riddled year. About two week after their election, in-person classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As student body president and vice president, Paradiso and O’Connor faced a plethora of new challenges this year. From a global pandemic, to a tense political climate filled with protests of racial injustice, to a modified semester with no breaks and restrictions on social gatherings, they said they faced obstacles when trying to plan more traditional programming and events. The summer involved constant communication
via FaceTime calls to plan out the year, O’Connor said.
“Over the summer we FaceTimed every day — not just once a day but multiple times a day. I mean, we still talk every day, but not to that extent,” O’Connor said.
Despite her initial disappointment when the campus was shut down last spring, Paradiso said this news actually gave her and O’Connor an opportunity to prepare.
“In a way, at the time I was like ‘This is terrible,’ but I actually feel like it gave us time to prepare that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, and the capacity to meet with more people on campus than we probably would have,” Paradiso said.
Even with the limitations on capacity, event planning, food and social gatherings due to COVID-19, Paradiso and O’Connor said they believe they were able to accomplish everything they hoped and
planned for at the start of their term.
“There were things we wanted to do pre-COVID, and we were able to do it,” Paradiso said. “I can safely say we’ve accomplished everything that we wanted and then we’ve added in things, but the difficulties of the year — I think that’s what actually drove us to plan more things, collaborate more than ever before with other big boards and clubs on campus.”
Paradiso said they used the struggles and challenges they faced to their advantage, in order to create programming that may have not occurred without the limitations imposed by the school.
“I think in a weird way we let our struggle aid us, you know,” she said. “We are going to push through our struggles so that we can continue for the students because nothing breaks your heart more than seeing everyone else struggling too.”
When reflecting on their accomplishments, O’Connor highlighted the creation of the Blinkie tracker as one of their fulfillments of a campaign promise.
“I also do want to say, we did get the Blinkie tracker up and running,” O’Connor said. ”I recall getting asked about this all the time as this has been something up in the air for the past five years … this was supposed to be one of the hardest things to accomplish on campus.”
As for Paradiso, she reflected on the difficulties that have arisen from the end of the term and school year.
“I think the thing that is hard for me … is knowing we are leaving and all these projects that we are just starting, like the Dalloway’s Initiative and the call to action with the ‘smick’ movement … I know it is in good hands, but it is sad to know you aren’t going to be here to see the fullest expression
of these things we have started,” Paradiso said.
Paradiso said she is grateful for the opportunity to serve the student body. And although she is experiencing burnout, she said, she believes this is a sign that they have done their job well.
“I’ve learned more about this school than I’ve probably ever needed to know, and I’m actually really grateful for that, because I’ve met people I didn’t know worked here … we were able to accomplish so much, and I can look back at and say ‘That was cool, we did that…,’” Paradiso said.
Paradiso reflected on her relationship with O’Connor. She said she believes their dynamic allowed them to effectively communicate with the administration and advocate on behalf of the student body.
“People knew we were going to fight for Saint Mary’s students, at the end of the day, and I think that’s what we have done or at least tried to — because in the end all we can do is try,” Paradiso said.
O’Connor said achieving anything during their term while simultaneously dealing with the pandemic was an accomplishment on its own.
“Giavanna and I put so much time and effort into being able to get things done, and the fact that we were able to do so is an accomplishment in itself,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor said she feels accomplished because they did everything they had set out to do during their term.
“I really think we have crossed all our T’s and dotted all our I’s,” she added said.
O’Connor also said she was impressed at how the Saint Mary’s community united and came together during such a turbulent year. The community has left a lasting impact on her, she said, which she will carry with her into the future.
“Being able to witness how the Saint Mary’s community comes together is something I will never forget, not just now in light of the Smick Rally but in all different aspects … being able to witness and experience how great this community is and also knowing I won’t be leaving this community even if I won’t be here [physically] has been an honor,” O’Connor said.
Paradiso encouraged students to continue building community within the campus and striving to improve Saint Mary’s and beyond.
“I want to encourage students to continue ‘knocking on the door’… because this wouldn’t be Saint Mary’s without the students, it would be nothing without the students,” Paradiso said. “… It has been a pleasure for Kelsey and me to serve the students any way we can. It is all so minuscule in the world, with everything going on — so many bigger things — but if we can do anything on our small campus to put a smile on a fellow Belle’s face, then we’ve done our job.”
College president reviews her first year in office, considers plans for the future
By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN saint mary’s news editor
When Katie c onboy was appointed s aint m ary’s president in February 2020, she spoke about her hopes for the upcoming year. d espite many uncertainties due to the pandemic, c onboy noted that the three priorities she entered her term with guided her throughout the year — the first being unity among the campus, all of whom were brought together by their choice to be at the c ollege.
“ i continue to believe that we all chose s aint m ary’s,” she said. “You know, i chose it, students chose it, faculty members chose it, people who have come to work in other areas of the c ollege made a choice. s o, we have to acknowledge we all belong here, and we need to work on making that matter.”
c onboy also expressed a wish for the c ollege to be connected to the greater local community.
“ s o, yes, we are the community of s aint m ary’s, but we want to have a permeable border with our outside community,” c onboy said. “a nd that’s not just the tri-campus community, but also the community of s outh b end. i really hope for those kinds of connections, but i think one of the challenges of reality versus my hope was that in this period of covid, it’s just hard to build or sustain connections when you’re having to distance all the time.”
i n addition, c onboy sought to “ r evere and r evise” during her time at the c ollege — values highlighted in her strategic plan.
“ i think we want to revere those things about our past that are really important and that we wouldn’t be s aint m ary’s without,” c onboy said. “ b ut we also want to revise and continue to grow and to change to meet the needs of the times.”
While she said she is proud of the c ollege’s response to the pandemic, c onboy also expressed hopes that during a more normal semester, she can continue to learn about what the c ollege needs.
“ i ’m really proud of our covid response,” she said. “ i think that that’s something that we’ve done better than a lot of other colleges and universities, but it probably won’t surprise you to hear that i am most excited about having much less emphasis on covid response. n ext year, there’s just a lot that i want to learn and that i want to help accomplish at the c ollege,
and it’s hard to do that when you’re faced with immediate and pressing demands and responses on a daily or weekly basis.”
“I just want to send a message to the world — through who we are and how we comport ourselves — that being Saint Mary’s is a proud thing.”
Katie Conboy
Saint Mary’s College President
o ne of the moments during the year in which c onboy said she felt the most excited to take part was the c ollege’s c hristian c ulture Lecture with author Tara Westover,
which she said was viewed by over 40,000 people due to its new virtual format.
“ i t wasn’t just a thrill for me because i got to interview Tara Westover, which was wonderful, but i was so proud of the creativity that the organizers showed, how we capitalized on what we’re learning about how to run virtual events,” c onboy said. “a nd if we had had that event on campus as we usually do, and we will return to doing that, maybe we’ll find a way to do something with a virtual piece of it.”
d espite her hopes to hold more virtual events at the c ollege, c onboy noted that she is also looking forward to traveling to more in-person events in the future.
“We’ve sometimes found more ways to be virtually together than we probably found in a regular year,” she said. “a lthough i ’m really ready to go out and visit people in
different parts of the country who are sustaining and supporting s aint m ary’s, and i ’m ready to be at more events that happen on campus and to really be there for students and faculty and staff.”
This semester, c onboy sang in the c ollege’s spring musical cabaret. s he explained how she meant for it to show the campus community a different side of herself.
“ i t’s the kind of thing that, if a president goes and does that with students, you don’t ever forget it, it’s just important … to show people that you can be a little vulnerable and playful and not just be a person of authority,” c onboy said.
s he also directed words of wisdom to graduating seniors, telling them to enjoy the things they do in their lives.
“ b e willing to be reasonably good at lots of things and to enjoy them and don’t get caught up in needing to be the best of these things,” she said. “Live your life with a lot of fullness.”
i n terms of tri-campus relations — especially in light of a series of emails sent among members of Zahm h all in the 2019-2020 academic year, in which vulgar language was used to refer to s aint m ary’s students — c onboy said she feels encouraged by the work that must be done.
“ i think the tri-campus relationship is actually very strong,” she said. “a nd while we all agree that we have ongoing work that we need to do in many areas, i believe there’s a commitment to taking on that work.”
c onboy also commented on meeting the ideals of the tricampus in order to improve the community.
“ e ach of our campuses needs to find its own healing,” she said. “ s o, things have been happening for the s aint m ary’s students — we need to find those things, and we need simultaneously to recommit to our tri-campus ideals. i deals are ideals and we’re all trying to live up to them. b ut when things happen, [we] fall short. Then we recommit and we say ‘Let’s do better,’ and we try to find ways to do better.”
c onboy said she hopes both the tri-campus and the outside world can understand the pride that comes with being a part of the s aint m ary’s community.
“ i just want to send a message to the world — through who we are and how we comport ourselves — that being s aint m ary’s is a proud thing,” she said.
Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
Courtesy of Saint Mary’s College
College President Katie Conboy took office June 1, 2020. She has led Saint Mary’s through social unrest and an ongoing pandemic, and she hopes to connect in-person with students in the next academic year.
The philosophy of a broken laptop
editor-in-c
one day about two months ago, my life changed dramatically. no, it wasn’t retiring as editor-in-chief. The top half of my laptop popped open, and a few tiny screws clattered to the ground. I didn’t think much of it. If anything, I accepted the fact that art (an almost broken computer) imitates life (an almost broken mental state), and I carried on. Things got a little more difficult, though, when the screen started cracking near one of the hinges that was already hanging on by a thread.
This happened during one of my last nights in The observer office. I was having a sentimental moment post-retirement, working on my last news story in the corner near the mysterious wall stain. If you know, you know. I teared up as I wrote about the memories of an observer alum, sipped on some “last-shift” beveragino and turned to share a portion of my story with my almost-retired colleagues.
A jostle, a crunch and boom, the bottom right corner of the screen began to crack where the screen popped open. soon, the spider web of cracks grew. In a panic, I found the nearest roll of brandless (scotch) tape and performed one of the most intricate procedures the office had seen to date. From that moment on, my laptop added a new sticker to its collection, an adhesive cast that has yet to be removed. ever since that day, my computer has been a vaguely mobile desktop. Always open, it only calls two places home — my dorm room’s desk and dining table. It’s always hit-or-miss if it works; these days it’s more miss than anything else. but as the madea sticker near its trackpad says, nevertheless she persisted.
While I begin my move-out triaging, I’m not sure where to place this computer. It’s not an automatic toss like the essays of semesters past and the receipts from my recent online shopping addiction. It’s not an automatic keep like the baby Jesus light and pictures of shirtless men in kilts hanging on the wall. It’s not questionably garbage like the single-serving Keurig that gives life to everyone who enters my room and the stolen here™ decals on my closet door. oops! Is it a little broken? Yes. Is it completely useless? sometimes. You know what they (the unreleased one direction song) say, “she’s so mean, but I gotta love it, and I just can’t let her go.” even now, I sit writing the first draft of this column in a notebook, dark laptop open behind me. I’ve returned to the writer’s roots — pen and paper — and the action takes me back to roots of my own. Writing was my first love. seven-year-old me put her woes into a picture book about a red balloon lost in space. It floated past planets and stars, fearing eternal loneliness. Time passed and eventually, the balloon stopped floating freely. It got tangled with other balloons that were taken by the wind. The red balloon was still a little lost but no longer alone.
Perhaps it was a bit much for a child, but it somehow prophesied my college experience. I picked saint mary’s because it felt like home. In making that choice, I forfeit the comfort of knowing I’d have high school friends nearby to rely on if I couldn’t bond with anyone new. The nerves were endless upon my arrival to campus, my anxiety doing a little dance as I waited silently for my one-and-only smc Id. I sat and forced a smile for the card, cheeks puffing like a chipmunk’s. The smile slipped away as my Id slipped into my wallet and I floated across the unfamiliar space that is campus.
There was some downtime during orientation, so I opened my then-new laptop, wasting time as I tried to figure out how to connect to belleAire (The pre-bellenet times…). As Welcome Weekend went on, the string of my balloon got tangled with others’, forming the beginning of some of the most meaningful friendships I’ve made to date.
many of my favorite memories with these friends were made while we sat around my laptop. We spent hours in our dorm’s lounge finishing group projects and final exams, binge-watching anime after Italian class and showing off how great we (I) look next to Jimmy buffett. We worked in each other’s rooms, random places on campus and the best spot of all, noble Family dining hall. People forget the magic of a precovId dining hall! There’s nothing like the rush of snagging one of the few booths, snacking on the endless supply of cereal and frantically completing an assignment before class. There’s always more than meets the eye when it comes to dining halls and the tri-campus.
The saint mary’s and notre dame observer offices reside in sacred locations — the basements of the student center and south dining hall, respectively. It was in these spaces that I met some of the people whose balloon strings will stay tied with mine the longest. Whether they were my elders who welcomed me to the paper or my colleagues who have come and gone, I will always cherish the memories we made.
I’d be remiss to not mention the true hero of my time at the paper: my basically broken laptop. When the world went virtual, I was able to stay connected with those who mattered most, and keep the paper afloat, because of this computer. even though I’ll get a new laptop before I take the first steps into post-grad life, I’ll always keep this almost-defunct mvP in the back of my closet at home.
Maria Leontaras is graduating with a self-designed degree in interactive journalism with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. This summer, she’ll be interning with the Dallas Morning News. She can be contacted at mleontaras@gmail.com
The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
embracing the unexpected
Assistant managing editor e meritus
during the first week of my freshman year, amid what felt like endless Welcome Weekend events and “notre dame introductions,” I called my mom sobbing. I hated college, I told her. everything felt strange and lonely, and I wanted nothing more than to go home, already mentally filling out my transfer application. After making me promise that I’d stick it out at least longer than a week, my mom told me that in four years, she expected that I’d be crying because I didn’t want to leave college. At the time, I brushed off her suggestion, but that conversation has always stuck with me. based on the amount of tears I’ve already shed about graduation, it looks like my mom was right after all. but looking back to that phone conversation, I don’t think either of us could have known what these next four years would look like. clearly, I didn’t foresee the pandemic would alter both the world and my senior year, but beyond the obvious, I would be remiss to say that my experience has been without unexpected hurdles. Just like life, college contains a complicated collage of emotions and experiences. however, in the moments that have made up these past few years, there are so many people and communities who have made south bend my home over these last four years, and having to say goodbye to them is the reason I’ll be so sad to leave.
my college career was rooted in uncertainty from the start — doing my freshman year through the holy cross-notre dame Gateway Program necessitated this. caught in this unique place in the tri-campus, Gateway asked my flexibility, open-mindedness and a certain acceptance that questions about which dorm I lived in would require more than a two-word answer. While this new experience was outside of my comfort zone, this unconventional freshman year proved to be better than I could have ever imagined. holy cross will always be the place where I met some of my best friends and became part of a community that has lasted through four years of college. To my friends and fellow Gateways, thank you for helping me embrace all the tricampus has to offer, and for our community that extends far beyond the confines of holy cross and notre dame.
Transferring into notre dame full time as a sophomore, I didn’t know what to expect from dorm life at this university. I felt like there was a possibility I had missed my chance to be a part of a hall community by not living there my freshman year, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Thank you to all the people who welcomed me into the Farley hall community, especially section 3A and the finest seniors for helping me make the best of what was undoubtedly a challenging year to live on campus. I’m so grateful for the laughs, love and support that have filled these beige-tiled halls.
And, of course, there’s The observer. When I started writing for the notre dame news department as a freshman, I could never have imagined that I would be writing this goodbye column as an outgoing member of Top Five. When I got the Assistant managing editor position over a year ago, I also never expected that our paper would garner national attention for holding our administrations accountable, nor that most of our editorial
board meetings would be over Zoom and that I would spend a lot of the year guessing what people’s faces looked like under their masks.
This year has been one of the most turbulent in observer history, and leading the paper in this time presented a gaggle of challenges none of us signed up for. Luckily, I was given the best company with which to weather the storm: Thank you to the outgoing editorial board and especially the little women — maria, mariah, maeve and sara — for your endless friendship and support. Who else but the march family would parse through racks and racks of clothes at Goodwill looking for my missing purse (which happened to be behind the register all along) while I had a full-on emotional breakdown? Working at The observer has been so much more than a job for me, and it’s impossible to imagine where I would be right now without the hours spent in the basement of south dining hall. right now, my future is more nebulous than it’s ever looked. I have the next few months planned out, to an extent — and after that, it’s truly anyone’s guess. In a different era of my life, I think this concrete lack of clarity might have sent me into a tailspin. I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t panicked about this wide-open space that charts the rest of my life. but if there’s anything the last four years have taught me, it’s that if things had gone just as I’d wanted or anticipated, I would have missed out on some of the most meaningful relationships, experiences and moments of my life — chatting into the early morning hours at section socials, wandering the streets of rome during fall break junior year, deliriously dancing to “Whistle” at 4 a.m. while laying out The observer’s election edition, sprinting onto the field with my friends after notre dame beat clemson. At notre dame, I found community and a sense of belonging, and that’s what I’ll take with me after I leave this place, more even than my anxiety about what the future might bring.
As I near the end of my last-ever byline for The observer, I’m tempted to draw out the conclusion with another sentence, another story, another “thank you.” While there are scores of people I want to thank by name, there will never be enough words for me to feel truly done. I’ve been struggling to find the perfect way to pay tribute to all the moments, the communities, the places and the people that have made these last four years beyond what I ever could have expected. but right now, I have to accept that I’ve said all I can, hoping that I can fill in the gaps with the love I have for my friends and the people that have shaped me during my time here.
so, with that, thank you to anyone and everyone who has made my college experience one to remember. The unexpected joys of these past four years have been the greatest ones of all.
Claire Rafford is graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in English and minors in journalism, ethics and democracy and business-economics. She will be spending this summer reporting for the Indianapolis Star as a Pulliam Fellow. You can send comments, coffee shop recommendations and critical analyses of the “Twilight” baseball scene to clairerafford@gmail.com
The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Maria Leontaras
hief e meritus
Claire Rafford
Ryan Israel scene editor e meritus
The summer after I graduated high school, people asked me if I was nervous about starting college. I wasn’t really, but only because I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. What was there to think about? I had no idea what it would actually be like day-to-day, so I couldn’t visualize myself being there, being nervous.
b ut I will admit, there were two things I was worried about:
c lasses. In the parking lot of a grocery store in my hometown, I ran into a rather old notre d ame alumni. h is advice was this: “They’ll try to weed you out the first semester with very hard classes and assignments, so stay strong and persevere.” A very fun thing to look forward to.
Finding friends.
In the end, those two things really are 80% of the college experience.
The worst part of Welcome Weekend, besides the intense heat and the walk from the s tepan c enter to s tanford h all after saying goodbye to my parents, was being alone with nothing to do. s ocializing and meeting new people and trying to find where I fit in took all my energy, but when I was alone with nothing to do, I had time to worry, time to think about the unknown that was now staring me in the face, time to fear. s o, on that very first weekend, I went to the basement of s outh d ining h all. d own there, a few seniors were escaping the heat. They had that energy among themselves that I envied — they were friends, comfortable with one another. In the only
Used to be lonely
conversation I ever had with him, then e ditor-inc hief b en Padanilam gave me the email address of then s cene e ditor Adam r amos.
I used to be lonely.
It didn’t happen right away. In some cases, it took just about my entire college career. b ut the people I met in my dorm and the ones who lived across the quad became the people I was comfortable with, the people I would eat dinner with at 5:50 p.m., north d ining h all, every night.
The people who inhabited the s outh d ining h all basement with me became my friends too, the ones who would see the passionate side of me, the side that cared about music, notre d ame and everything else.
The lads I explored London with became my friends as well, the ones I would run across Amsterdam with in an effort to get into a sold out show at the city’s best venue.
And the people of s cene and the scene headbanged, rocked and reveled alongside me in basements, backyards and most recently, howard Park. These friends: s ome are here — they’ll graduate with me. s ome are gone — they are already off on bigger and better adventures. s ome are weird, but I like them that way. s ome are one trick ponies, but I’ve always had a soft spot for repetition.
There’s a lot that can be said about notre d ame. I’ve already said my fair share. It is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, noble and flawed. b ut you don’t get to hate notre d ame unless you love it. That’s the way I see it.
The weirdest part about writing for The o bserver is realizing that people actually read the things you write. most of my time here, I’ve told myself that no one cares to read the articles I put out into
the world, the ones on niche albums or obscure movies.
o ver the past year and semester in particular, I started to put my voice into my writing, indulging whatever whim or obsession came in the moment and doing my best to stir the pot. And people actually read it — I like to believe they read the earlier stuff too.
This first thank you is to everyone who ever read something I’ve written for The o bserver. I don’t do it for you — I do it for me — but it’s nice to know that when you see my name, for some reason, you click.
e very other thank you goes to the people who got me here (my parents) and the people who’ve been with me:
Professors — especially the ones who read my articles.
s tanford h all staff — especially J m ac, the best rector this campus has ever seen.
The people I met once and then never saw again — especially those s Y r dates and backyard party drinkers.
And more than anything, all my friends — you know who you are.
Ryan Israel, senior, is expected to graduate from the University of Notre Dame du Lac with a degree in sociology and film, television and theater. He will migrate to some great city and conquer the world — whether or not someone gives him a job. Compliments, job offers and funny tweets can be sent to risrael1@alumni.nd.edu. Insults, rejection letters and TikToks can be sent to hell.
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
The opposite of loneliness, revisited
Maeve Filbin Assistant managing editor e meritus
At the end of my first year at s aint m ary’s, I wrote about a feeling so indefinably special that it could only be explained as the opposite of something else. I borrowed the term from m arina Keegan, whose 2012 Yale c ommencement address filled me with a sense of intention and immediacy even before this pandemic taught me to seize the day every day (because nothing more is promised).
For m arina, the opposite of loneliness was “this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table. When it’s 4 a.m. and no one goes to bed. That night with the guitar. That night we can’t remember. That time we did, we went, we saw, we laughed, we felt.”
I felt the opposite of loneliness every time I drove down the Avenue. When someone called my name as we passed each other on Library Green. With every shot “for good luck” before we headed out to the bar. Working page production in the basement of s outh d ining h all. o n a rushed football field, under the synthetic fog of n ewfs and in Party c ity wigs.
At the start of senior year, my friends and I began to do things simply because we could still do them together. We sat in front of Le m ans beneath a star-filled sky, drank wine from coffee mugs and remembered how we first met. We roasted marshmallows beside the s t. Joe r iver and bought lavender from the s outh b end farmer’s market. We danced away the night and slowly brunched through late morning and afternoon. We watched scary movies, fell asleep on futons and wore wedding dresses to o lfs.
I grew up with three younger brothers, but have found myself surrounded by sisters. To m eg, h annah, s arah c atherine, Giavanna, s arah, s ophie, m cKenna, m egan, c olleen and m aria — thank you for everything, especially for walking into my life when you did. We left the door to mc c andless room 209 open for a reason, and were rewarded with the best friends.
I owe my liberal arts education to four years of good books and class discussions, as well as a handful of individuals who especially impacted my academic journey. Professors m arc b elanger, Pat Pierce, Phil h icks, Ari Farshbaf, s ianne v ijay and r ich Jones — thank you, thank you, thank you for being my teachers.
e verything I know about hard work, I learned from the four years I spent writing, editing and managing The o bserver. The hours in our office often stretched well into the early morning, but were spent doing important work with remarkable people. We were offered the singular opportunity to uncover the truth and report it accurately — a responsibility we didn’t take lightly. This year especially made it clear that the world is watching the tri-campus, and for good reason. I feel so lucky to have played my part as a student journalist, and look forward to watching new o bserver staff continue the work that started in 1966.
To the outgoing general board, especially the seniors — you continue to impress me with your ability to persevere under the most extreme conditions. The word “unprecedented” is overused, but it certainly applies. To the underclassmen and new leadership, and I mean this sincerely — good luck. Working with you was a pleasure in more ways than one, and I am so excited to see what else you can achieve. Please keep the b ill b rink memorial bP Tournament h alloween-themed.
Genevieve, c rystal and the s aint m ary’s news d epartment — keep asking the tough questions,
and don’t be afraid to raise your voice. m artha, n icole, Gina and Jordan — like muses or mentors, I turned to you whenever I needed guidance. I want to be you when I grow up.
o f course, I have to mention a few more of my surrogate sisters. m aria, m ariah, c laire and s ara — thank you for letting me be your Jo. much like the m arches, we’ve been through a lot. And yet, we managed to steer this student paper through uncertain waters with grace and humor. It was truly a privilege.
There are a lot of people who, over the course of the past four years, have made me feel a part of something bigger — something vital and alive. I am humbled by the s aint m ary’s women who have come before me, and so excited for the ones who will follow. Without dwelling on the circumstances of this past year, to the class of 2021: I am so proud of us. We were handed a sh-t deck, but we dealt with the cards beautifully.
The list of thanks owed to everyone who has made me feel the opposite of loneliness is long, longer than could fit within my word count. s aint m ary’s is made special by its ability to create community. We were promised discovery — discovery of ourselves, the world and our place in it. When we walk across the commencement stage and inevitably leave this beautiful campus as alumnae, our place will always here at s aint m ary’s c ollege.
To quote m arina one last time — and to her, a million thanks are owed — we’re in this together, 2021. Let’s make something happen to this world.
Maeve Filbin is graduating from Saint Mary’s with a degree in political science and economics. She is moving to Washington, D.C. to become a market transactions analyst for Fannie Mae, and can be contacted at mfilbin01@saintmarys.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
“don’t blink,” — my mom, circa move-in weekend in 2017.
may 22, 2021 — graduation day may 23, 2021 — moving day may 24, 2021 — first day of work
These three dates have been marked on every calendar and a countdown has been etched into my brain for months, and now they’re here. Against my mom’s advice, I blinked and the past four years have flown by. despite everything that has happened in the past year, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
I’ve been putting off writing this column for the longest time, probably because I still haven’t fully acknowledged that this chapter of my life is coming to an end. I’ll be honest, I never really loved college. now don’t get me wrong — I’ve loved the sisterhood I’ve joined, the thought-provoking classroom discussions, the walks down The Avenue and sunday brunch in noble Family dining hall, but I’ve never really loved college.
I’m lucky to have found my communities at s aint mary’s, whether it be with the girls from my section in mc c andless hall during first-year, the rag-tag group of passionate student journalists in the basement of s outh d ining hall or struggling through communication theory with fellow majors in Trumper until 2 a.m.
but I still felt like something was missing. It wasn’t until I finished my senior year remotely from my physical home that I realized that this missing piece
Don’t blink
I was searching for was not tangible. but rather it was the summative experiences and emotions that turned s aint mary’s into my home during the past four years. It was the exchange of smiles walking across campus with a fellow belle from your firstyear seminar, the way the dining hall workers would tell you to have a “blessed day” on your way out the door and so much more that made s aint mary’s feel like home. And much like my parent’s home, I’m confident that no matter how much time passes it will always feel (and smell) like a safe place.
I realized that loving college meant loving every moment no matter how mundane or challenging. All of these collective moments are what form this chapter that cannot be rewritten. o nce I stopped comparing my college experience to “normal” or “good,” was supposed to be I fully allowed myself to fall in love with the life I was living in s outh bend, spain, c hicago and everywhere in between.
my friends and I recently made a collaborative playlist on spotify called “smc rewind” where we have compiled nearly three hours worth of music reflective of our last four years. The playlist is somewhat of a mosaic of our time here whether that be driving down the Avenue with the sunroof down singing “All Too Well” at the top of our lungs or walking to notre dame football games singing “I’m shipping Up to boston”. e ach song if played alone is just another fun tune, but the memories associated with them have turned them into my favorite sounds.
d uring my senior year of high school whenever someone asked me where I was going in the fall I always responded with, “a small women’s college in Indiana,” rather than saying s aint mary’s and being
met with blank stares and polite smiles.
Four years later I’ve grown to recognize that s aint mary’s is far more than just a small women’s college in Indiana. It is a place of growth, of discovery, a lot of tears and priceless memories.
It’s where I met my best friends — the ones I’ve watched grow from timid, cheap vodka drinking girls and guys to strong, motivated articulate men and women.
It’s where I gained the confidence to move to a spanish speaking country for a semester despite never having taken a spanish class in my life. studying abroad allowed me to travel to countries and cities that I’ve only ever dreamed of, alone.
It’s where I’ve continually been amazed at the passion our faculty and staff hold for their positions and our students — whether it be in holding students to a caliber of work they know they’re capable of, or reaching out with kind and supportive words in a time of illness.
s o finally — thank you. To my parents who made this dream possible and instilled in me the values of a c atholic education and stepping out of my comfort zone four years ago, and everyone I have crossed paths with along the way.
And always go smicks, go sisterhood.
Mia Marroquin is graduating with a degree in communication studies and minors in public relations and Spanish. Following graduation Mia is packing her bags and moving to Chicago to work for The Bozzuto Group as a sales and marketing associate. You can contact her at mia.marroquin17@gmail.com
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer
by the grace of God
“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
-Aeschylus
This has gone through far too many iterations in my head, but it’s very difficult to decide what to write about in my final piece for The observer. It feels like it should hold some philosophy for the reader and display some overall grandeur that accurately encapsulates my undergraduate years. That seems like a big ask given my unoriginal notre dame origin story: straight, white, upper middle-class, c atholic dude from a small private high school finds himself, for the first time in his life, away from home for an extended period. however, he finds a new community waiting to welcome him into the notre dame family. spoiler alert: that new community was Zahm house.
I had originally intended to write this piece about Zahm, even before the university’s decision to dissolve the community. I had a (somewhat narcissistic) vision of my final farewell being one of the most read stories on the observer website every year when dorm assignments would come out and eager freshmen-to-be would look up any information they could find on their new homes.
not to get waist deep in the big muddy of the Zahm controversy, but when I look back at my years in s outh b end, Zahm has been the common thread, and that seemed to be what the university was going for with their dorm policy. I mean, the first question you’re supposed to ask your fellow alumni when you meet them is what dorm they lived in. Part of me understands why the university made the decision, but it’s really just addressing the
symptoms of a larger issue. And it hurts me personally — despite having been able to experience it all four years of undergrad — because of what it does to the underclassmen I call my brothers. I’m not ashamed to say that, regardless of the way Zahm has been painted in the court of public opinion. As trite as it may seem, we proudly subscribe to the mantra: “notre dame by choice; Zahm by the grace of God.”
It’s a testament to the Zahm community that despite the dorm being removed from notre dame day’s list of causes, we made the robinson c ommunity Learning c enter our de facto cause and raised over $32,000. (There’s a “star Wars” joke in there somewhere about striking us down and becoming more powerful than the university could possibly imagine).
The Zahm decision was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me when it comes to my relationship with notre dame. It’s a broken kind of love, to use the words of former editor-in-chief Kelli smith in her own farewell message. o f course, Kelli meant it in a different way.
I would never deign to compare what I’ve experienced to those members of the class of 2020 who saw their last two months at notre dame and their graduation snatched away from them. At least I was able to come back to campus to see my friends once more — and even forge some new bonds. At least I had the chance to make the most of a year at notre dame unlike any other. That’s something for which I’m eternally grateful, but I’m also ready to move on.
my time at notre dame has been wonderful — if not occasionally extremely stressful. That seems pretty par for the course at a top-20 institution and by all accounts notre dame strikes an ideal balance between working hard and playing hard. It’s also a place with a lot of flaws, most of which aren’t unique but are nonetheless problematic.
A lack of diversity and scholarships, archaic
policies and rather incompetent leadership have dimmed the glint of the sun off that golden dome.
more than anything, these last nine-and-a-half months have eroded what one of my J ed professors dubbed “notre dame exceptionalism.” sure, I’ll be proud to say I graduated from notre dame, but I’m not going to peddle the tired trope that college was the best four years of my life. (I pray that Aug. 2017–may 2021 isn’t as good as it gets for me considering I’ve been single the entire time).
but while I no longer hold the same rose-colored impression of notre dame I once did, I’m going to miss the people that made the experience so enjoyable. To parody o din’s words from “Thor: r agnarok:” notre dame isn’t a place, it’s a people. It’s the men of Zahm, the aspiring journalists of The observer, the brilliant members of the physics department, the hilarious cast and crew of the nots o-royal shakespeare c ompany and those weirdos in the Gold Gang. Those are the people who have gotten me through the last four years.
I’ve said “Thank you” in a hundred different ways by this point, but I’m compelled to do it again. s o many people have been pillars for me to lean on the last four years, and I can’t help but feel I didn’t deserve their support. b ut that’s the beautiful thing about notre dame, I suppose.
You may choose it for the prestige, the tradition, family legacy or otherwise. e verything else you get through the grace of God.
Hayden Adams is graduating with degrees in physics and film, television and theatre with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. He will be attending law school in the fall, most likely in Washington D.C. where he will finally have some professional sports teams to wholeheartedly identify with. He can be contacted at hadams3@alumni.nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Mia Marroquin saint mary’s news editor e meritus
Hayden Adams sports editor e meritus
Mariah Rush managing editor e meritus
A not-so Irish goodbye
I like to think, like s am s mith, I’m pretty good at goodbyes. Let me clarify — I’m good because I can maneuver out of them easily, and I don’t feel bad about it. You can count on me to disappear before I get cornered into an emotional goodbye. Jim from “The o ffice” did it best — pop in, make a memorable joke and force yourself into a photo before slipping out the door, never to be heard from again.
It’s very tempting for me to Irish goodbye the rest of this year, and to Irish goodbye The o bserver. I won’t lie and say I’ve changed, because I’m certainly going to Irish goodbye some aspects of college. b ut I do think I have to say a real goodbye to The o bserver, and where better to do it than in h er own pages?
The truth is, I’m notoriously a hothead and passionate to a fault. I sometimes do not give the benefit of the doubt, and I am often too direct. You can only imagine how difficult it must be to work with me.
b ut somehow, by some miracle, I found the four women at The o bserver who never asked me to change. I found the people who embraced me and everything I thought were my faults, and helped me see some of them as strengths. In the month or so since we have stepped down from Top Five, I’ve discovered that the relationship we share is not a normal one — others would not enjoy my openness, criticize where I find my love and happiness and not respect my opinions.
The love I found in The o bserver this year is one that is so intrinsically simple. The kind of love forged in the most anxiety-inducing years,
the kind of love where you see each other at your worst and still choose to love in spite of the chaos.
m y forever e ditor-in- c hief, m aria Leontaras, once said, “Pictures will last longer than me.” s he is actually saying this right now, as I type this, as a justification for writing captions on the back of the disposable camera photos we recently got printed. When I questioned why she needed to write the names of people like myself, along with captions — “Won’t you remember me forever?” — she said something along these lines: “I may not remember all of this forever, but these captions will tell the stories.”
I’m starting to think she’s right. Those captions on those photos, some of which she gave to me — “2/3 of throuple,” “luvrs with drunk [redacted]” — will tell the story of why we were at c orby’s Irish Pub on April 21, and will hopefully explain why I have a hot pink b I c lighter with the words “Amy m arch” and “The smallest feet in the family” scrawled on it in faded silver marker. I am a writer, after all. I want to remember exactly what this felt like when my memory fails.
I want to remember what it felt like to finally find my place at The o bserver — to enjoy s unday news meetings, and to look forward to those late production nights when I could be out on the town with friends.
I want to remember the uncertainty of deciding what my next step should be at the paper, and how I made my decision on applying for m anaging e ditor at the encouragement of friends. I want to remember finding our way through editorial board meetings on Zoom. I even want to remember the first time I realized that I was going to be bonded in trauma with this editorial board for the rest of my life.
I want to remember shopping for a 19th-century getup to LA r P with my Little Women. For some reason I also want to remember frantically searching endless stacks of clothes at Goodwill for a certain m eg’s purse.
I want to remember the joy of going into s outh d ining h all every s unday night and the relationships I built with every single unsuspecting person forced under my regime. I’ll carry our laughs and the borderline harassment I inflicted on you all forever.
I will remember our themed Little Women gatherings in my apartment, filled with wine, cheese and light. I will remember the way I never had a sister before, and now I have four.
I fall in and out of love with journalism. s ometimes I don’t know how long journalism and I will last — I might say goodbye to it one day. The o bserver isn’t journalism for me anymore. Uncover the truth and report it accurately, sure. b ut really, The o bserver is c laire’s peace signs, m aria’s m armee-esque involvement in her friend’s lives, m aeve’s love of a good costume, s ara’s evasive answers to prying questions and my unhinged attempts to be a private investigator. The o bserver is all of us, and I want to remember h er forever.
s o these are some of my captions. It won’t completely fill in the blanks in 20 years, but it’s a start.
Mariah Rush is graduating with a degree in American studies and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. After graduation she will be working at the Chicago Tribune doing a reporting fellowship. She can be contacted at mrush@alumni.nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer
Four years, according to the Talking heads
Sara Schlecht Assistant managing editor e meritus
When I first got to s aint m ary’s, I had a sticky note list of classes I needed to take over the next few semesters and a mental list of graduate programs I wanted to attend. m y plan was to do everything as efficiently as possible, and I thought nothing of the way I used my schoolwork and ambition to keep from stepping out of my comfort zone. Then I found myself at my first o bserver meeting. The smiles that greeted me on that first Friday afternoon remain some of my favorites to this day. n ot long after, I actually listened to the lyrics of “This must b e the Place” for the first time.
d avid b yrne’s voice accompanied me as freshman year continued, and my Friday afternoons began to revolve around s aint m ary’s n ews department meetings, signing up for stories and laughing with the people who were quickly becoming some of my closest friends. I realized, “I must be having fun.”
The song followed me, becoming an important fixture on my playlists as I began to feel at home. b yrne sang “ h ome is where I want to be / but I guess I’m already there,” and I found the words more than just poetic — they were true. h ome is the quad in h oly c ross h all where the only child in me learned to live with the chaos of my three extroverted roommates. Its hallowed walls have seen my breakdowns, all-nighters and insomniac streaks, and its inhabitants have made me smile through it all. To the other residents of our section, I’m sorry for that week when we wouldn’t stop playing “ d --ked d own In d allas.”
I’ll take some of the blame for that.
h ome is a table in d anny b oy’s, sardined between more people than should fit or quietly talking with just one or two. It’s the place I celebrated submitting major projects and enjoyed reunions after the long winter break. The hugs, jokes and beers shared here helped this pandemic year feel closer to normal than I ever thought possible.
h ome is the history department at s aint m ary’s, where I took one class out of sheer curiosity and have been presented with welcome questions and challenges ever since. m y history classes helped me see a beautiful but flawed world and gave me the confidence to believe I can make it better.
h ome is the basement of s outh d ining h all where I’ve laughed, cried and lost so many nights of sleep. The basement saw me at my most creative, absurd and miserable (my cov I d vaccine side effects were much stronger than anticipated). s ome of my most meaningful friendships were born this way. m y love for m aria, m ariah, m aeve and c laire transcends the confines of the basement, though its questionable sounds and smells are undeniably significant in our memories together.
When b yrne sings “You got a face with a view,” several people come to mind. From my first friend at s aint m ary’s to my favorite professors, I’ve received nothing but incredible support that I didn’t always notice at the time. To those faces with a view, thank you for staying within sight.
Four years have introduced me to people and places that make me ponder, “ d id I find you or you find me?” I don’t have an answer to that. I don’t know if I found The o bserver, my roommates or my best friend from my semester abroad, or if they found me. e ither way, I’m grateful for their presence.
The words “sing into my mouth” had little
significance until recently, but someone singing Jimmy b uffett songs to me like that deserves a mention. Far be it from me to complain about this lyric becoming real for a moment.
As my final days as an undergraduate unfold, I can’t say “I love the passing of time.” Part of me would love to stay here — perpetually 22 years old and surrounded by the people I love — forever. These four years, as told by the Talking h eads, have been better than my freshman-year self would have ever believed possible. Yet I can’t deny my excitement about what will come next — for my friends, myself and even The o bserver. We’ll all “make it up as we go along.”
I’m forever grateful for the Talking h eads, who continue to give me the language to reflect on these past four years. I’ve had my “feet on the ground” and “head in the sky.” m y ambition and anxiety often worked against each other, but the Talking h eads were always there to remind me, “It’s oK, I know nothing’s wrong.” Time and again, it’s proven true.
When I leave after commencement, I know I’ll think of s aint m ary’s, The o bserver office and so many other spots in s outh b end when I hear the song’s opening lines — “ h ome is where I want to be / pick me up and turn me round.” b ut like the homes I’ve found here, I’m sure I’ll find myself elsewhere, thinking “this must be the place.”
Sara Schlecht is graduating with a degree in history and English writing and a minor in humanistic studies. Following a summer at home on her family’s farm, she will be escaping for a year of service in Chicago. She loves taking book recommendations from strangers and will accept them at sarajschlecht@gmail.com
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
After the year we’ve had, I should have more than enough content to fill this column. b ut oddly enough, I don’t really know what to say.
h iding in the news department, I’m not really used to writing my own opinions and allowing other people to judge my thoughts. I’ve always dreaded Inside c olumns, and I tended to stop typing the second I hit 500 words. h onestly, sometimes I couldn’t even make it to 500 words, and I hoped the v iewpoint e ditor just wouldn’t notice. I have always preferred listening over speaking myself.
b ut I wanted to force myself to write one last column in honor of my time at The o bserver. I never intended on becoming so involved with the paper. I distinctly remember meeting the n otre d ame n ews e ditor my freshman year and wondering why anyone would want to do so much work in addition to attending classes.
Yet somehow, I found myself in that position three years later.
While I won’t be pursuing journalism in my
A little over five hundred words
career, I have developed a profound respect for reporters. Journalists work around the clock to deliver timely and accurate news to readers and viewers. In the digital age, reporting never ceases, and I do not know how full-time journalists function. I’m not going into journalism, which is good, because I could not do it.
I have never doubted my own capabilities more than the last year as n otre d ame n ews e ditor. To those who criticized or complained about our news department content in the last year over email or social media, I read all your messages. I know you were disappointed at times.
I’m still incredibly grateful for the opportunity though, and I thank the people who thought I was qualified enough for this position. I genuinely loved speaking to people involved in different departments and activities across campus and hearing their stories. I loved seeing students, faculty and staff light up while telling me about a research project they’re working on, a show they had been rehearsing for months or an initiative they created with their friends. I also loved meeting with the news department every s unday and getting to know my staff.
Although my heart rate still picks up a little when I see a text or email notification, fearing a complaint or an emergency, I am grateful I served a year as n otre d ame n ews e ditor.
I definitely got off to a rocky start as a freshman at n otre d ame, and I will say that I was not always happy here. In fact, I was probably sad and frustrated far more than I was content.
b ut I appreciate the friends I made and the professors I had who were passionate about their fields of study. I did not expect my n otre d ame experience to be quite like it was, but I think I ended up in the right place to learn the things I needed to.
I’m almost at 500 words, so it’s time for me to wrap things up. Goodbye o bserver. Goodbye n otre d ame. Thanks for a good four years.
Serena Zacharias is graduating with a degree in neuroscience and behavior and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. In the fall, she will be attending the Medical College of Wisconsin. She can be contacted at szachari@alumni.nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer
hey, pitcher. I’m ready for the curveballs
I’m not a sports person.
This year, I based my m arch m adness bracket on the teams’ colors and predicted that Garbanzo c ollege (what I thought Gonzaga University was called) would win. If you’d ask me to explain football, I’d say it’s a bunch of guys running behind a ball. b ut then again, that’s how most sports go.
I’m not a sports person, but I know this: e very batter fears a pitcher’s curveball. Though slower than a fastball, its spin and drop confuse the eye. A curveball’s optical illusion tricks our evolutionary trait of darting out of harm’s way, which is why most of them end up with a strike. They’re unpredictable and inevitable. A batter can try to prepare, but they tend to come out of the blue. In this way, they’re the perfect metaphor for my life and my time at n otre d ame.
In 2017, I broke both my ankles while riding a stationary bike — don’t ask me how, but it’s possible — and I had to relearn how to walk, barely making it to my high school graduation without crutches. Throughout these past four years, I’ve broken five fingers and my big toe, sprained my ankle multiple times and gotten whiplash after a night of sleeping on my friend’s futon — also something possible. b y now, I know s t. Liam’s X-ray person by name (shoutout to s hannon), and I never imagined I would hold the record for most broken bones, but that’s life: You never know what cards you’re dealt.
The curveballs I’ve been pitched don’t all pertain to my bones, and, thankfully, aren’t always nearly as painful. m any have even led to the best decisions in my life and the memories I’ll cherish the most.
For starters, I never planned to end up in s outh b end, Indiana. e ver since I was a 10-yearold, my dream was to study international relations at Georgetown and later land a job in the United n ations. n ow look at me, about to graduate from n otre d ame absolutely convinced that journalism is the only career for me.
I never wanted to become a journalist. I only ended up in J ed because a friend asked me to accompany him to the information session back in freshman year. I begrudgingly went because there was going to be free food, but I ended up applying to the program because professors r ich Jones and v ictoria s t. m artin convinced me to — thank you, thank you, thank you for changing my life forever.
I never looked to work at The o bserver — I had already filled up my schedule with other clubs and extracurriculars. n ow, I’ve had the honor and privilege of being part of the paper for the past three years. m y time at The o bserver taught me more about resiliency and passion than any class could’ve ever. e very day, I had the immense pleasure of working with some of the most dedicated people I’ve ever met. d espite the leggings article that haunts me ‘til this day, the occasional angry email and the many long nights, I wouldn’t change a single second. In fact, I would give it all for the chance to go back in time and relive it once more — talk about hitting a home run.
While those have been some of the best things that’ve happened to me, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. In the midst of it all, I went through multiple identity crises; I got my heart broken; I made a bunch of mistakes; I dealt with seasonal affective disorder; I felt more homesick than I ever imagined I could and, yes, broke one too many bones. b ut even when I shattered and felt like I was
falling into an abyss, I was able to pick up the broken pieces and put them back together — not because I have some superhuman strength, but because I had the support of so many friends, family members, mentors, bosses and professors.
When I felt like my world was crumbling down, they motivated me to keep going. When I needed a good cry, they were there with endless pints of c herry Garcia ice cream. When I pined for venezuela, they showed me that home is more than just four walls. When I thought I could never hit a curveball, they inspired me to batter up.
n ever in a million years could I have predicted how my time at n otre d ame would eventually wind up. n ever could I have imagined the incredible opportunities and friendships that have come my way. n ever could I have foretold how much I’d look forward to life’s craziness and unpredictability.
Throughout these past four years, I’ve been dealt with more curveballs than any m L b player, and, yes, I can safely say I’ve hit more than one home run. h ow’s that for someone who’s not a sports person?
As I finish running through the bases of the place I’ve been so blessed to call home, I can only say this: Pitcher, bring it on. I’m ready to play ball.
Maria Luisa Paul is graduating with degrees in political science and economics and a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. After leaving Notre Dame, she will be interning at the Washington Post’s General Assignment desk. You can always send her tips and coffee place recommendations at mpaulrangel@gmail.com
The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Serena Zacharias notre dame news editor e meritus
Maria Luisa Paul Talent and Inclusion manager e meritus
LETTERs TO THE EDITOR: FoUr YeArs In revIeW
The iced coffee manifesto
Those unacquainted with o’shag likely don’t know of the tiny cafe nestled by the building’s debart-side entrance. It’s called Waddick’s, and its carpeted interior and rustic oak furniture give off an aura befitting the lovechild of a library and a hunting lodge. At any given point there are probably a handful of Arts and Letters students with their noses in books and their hands on coffees. speaking of, it is undoubtedly the best coffee spot for your buck on campus, and pairing one with their famous bacon, egg and cheese croissant is a breakfast fit for a king — or at the very least a history major looking to burn some flex points. It is also in danger of being disgracefully stripped down from a full cafe to a one-machine, one-cashier operation.
Waddick’s is much more than a coffee shop; it is the embodiment of Arts and Letters. You are bound to bump into one of your friends, classmates or professors there, and the genial atmosphere ensures the type of banter that builds genuine investment in each other’s academic endeavors and personal lives. Intellectually stimulating or not, the face time Waddick’s fosters as an Arts and Letters hub deepens both the college’s and notre dame’s senses of community. of course, people can (and do) gather at other
establishments. however, when the time comes for all of us to sit our kids down and indoctrinate them into the cult of notre dame, I doubt any of us will recount fondly our time spent at modern market or starbucks. certainly we enjoy these places, but subconsciously we understand that they are transactional, merely a means to an end.
The things that really imbue our notre dame experiences with color and meaning are our local, homey hangouts, from nick’s Patio to the backer. Waddick’s is no different. You’re greeted and served by one of your fellow students or the amiable vicky. If you’re there as often as I am (unlikely), they might even assign you a title (Iced coffee Guy over here). With familiar faces behind the counter, folky-pop playing over the radio and quirky decor, Waddick’s just feels like a slice of home. sure, I’m biased because living in carroll means it’s usually not worth trekking back between classes. but I’m willing to bet that the 451 people who have signed the “save Waddick’s!” petition thus far feel that same bit of home as well.
The proposed changes ultimately amount to reducing Waddick’s to something like the cold, impersonal a la descartes stand in Jordan because decio and duncan make it redundant. With the petition’s hundreds of
signatures and an ungodly line into the Great hall between every class period, it is hard to believe that Waddick’s has suffered much from the alleged competition. I do think everyone agrees that putting additional seating where the art gallery is would be a welcome change, but eliminating most of the offerings and staff save for the absolute bare minimum is an unnecessary degradation of an adored hole-in-the-wall.
With another tuition hike this week, it seems that our Lady’s University is cash-strapped yet again. It would be shameful for the administration to dismantle a cherished student haunt while simultaneously asking for even more from us. every year, our campus plays witness to the establishment of a new, palatial institute bearing the name of one of our dynastic families. In light of such prolific development, that funky cafe in o’shag stands as a poignant testament to late Assistant dean Waddick’s dedication to his students and as a tiny reminder that notre dame is a school, not a corporation.
The legging problem
I’ve thought about writing this letter for a long time. I waited, hoping that fashions would change and such a letter would be unnecessary — but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I’m not trying to insult anyone or infringe upon anyone’s rights. I’m just a catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings.
The emergence of leggings as pants some years ago baffled me. They’re such an unforgiving garment. Last fall, they obtruded painfully on my landscape. I was at mass at the basilica with my family. In front of us was a group of young women, all wearing very snug-fitting leggings and all wearing short-waisted tops (so that the lower body was uncovered except for the leggings). some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them.
A world in which women continue to be depicted as “babes” by movies, video games, music videos, etc. makes it hard on catholic mothers to teach their sons that women are someone’s daughters and sisters. That women should be viewed first as people — and all people should be considered with respect.
I talk to my sons about Princess Leia and how Jabba the
hutt tried to steal her personhood by putting her into a slave girl outfit in which her body became the focus. (That’s the only scene in the whole franchise in which Leia appears in such a way — and it’s forced upon her.)
Leggings are hardly slave girl outfits. And no one is forcing them on the countless young women who wear them. but I wonder why no one thinks it’s strange that the fashion industry has caused women to voluntarily expose their nether regions in this way. I was ashamed for the young women at mass. I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldn’t help but see their behinds. my sons know better than to ogle a woman’s body — certainly when I’m around (and hopefully, also when I’m not). They didn’t stare, and they didn’t comment afterwards. but you couldn’t help but see those blackly naked rear ends. I didn’t want to see them — but they were unavoidable. how much more difficult for young guys to ignore them.
I’ve heard women say that they like leggings because they’re “comfortable.” so are pajamas. so is nakedness. And the human body is a beautiful thing. but we don’t go around naked because we respect ourselves — we want to be seen
as a person, not a body (like slave-girl Leia). We don’t go naked because we respect the other people who must see us, whether they would or not. These are not just my sons — they’re the fathers and brothers of your friends, the male students in your classes, the men of every variety who visit campus. I’m fretting both because of unsavory guys who are looking at you creepily and nice guys who are doing everything to avoid looking at you. For the catholic mothers who want to find a blanket to lovingly cover your nakedness and protect you — and to find scarves to tie over the eyes of their sons to protect them from you!
Leggings are so naked, so form fitting, so exposing. could you think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead? Let notre dame girls be the first to turn their backs(ides) on leggings. You have every right to wear them. but you have every right to choose not to. Thanks for listening to the lecture. catholic moms are good at those!
something wrong with “the new normal”
on march 16 my friends and I showed up six to seven hours early at the dublin airport for our return flight home from our study abroad program. The airport was packed with U.s. citizens scrambling to return to America after President Trump announced vague travel bans from europe that eventually included the U.K. and Ireland.
After waiting in customs lines for close to four hours, we finally talked to U.s. officials who asked us a few quick questions about our health, reported what we said to the cdc and eventually cleared us to board the plane for our flights back to the U.s even though we were saying final goodbyes to new friends and to a country that enthralled and enchanted us, there was an immediate sense of relief that I felt just sitting down in my seat knowing I would be home that day. however, when I boarded my connecting flight from chicago to my hometown of seattle, I quickly realized going home would not be the same. There were about 60 to 70 people on that boeing 737-800, which can normally hold up to 190 passengers and crew members. Apparently, seattle was not a popular travel destination at the moment.
Upon returning and in the week since, the once bustling and ever-growing city with notorious traffic problems has been pretty quiet. The area that started as one of America’s
epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak has become shuttered with almost everyone I know electing to work from home (now mandatory since Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order). The streets are essentially empty, except for the scattering of dog walkers and people out for a stroll or a run. Gyms have closed and any passerby on the sidewalk will go out of their way to maintain social distancing. Trips to the grocery store are the only times my family and I will drive anywhere.
Just a few weeks ago, our own community was impacted when the owner of our neighborhood market fell down a set of stairs and was taken to the hospital. There, doctors noticed a spot on his lungs that they found to be covId-19. In just a matter of days, he died without his loved ones by his side. stories like this one have been commonplace in the seattle area ever since the coronavirus tragically hit the Life care nursing facility in the neighboring Kirkland, Washington, where at least 35 deaths have been recorded. If these stories and sentiments aren’t your new normal and you think the few cases in your area will stay that way, you don’t have to look much further than new York to see how fast this virus can move and bring life to a sudden halt.
except I hate the term “new normal” because nothing about this is normal. Watching professors struggle with
online teaching or students forget to mute their microphone — while often hilarious — is not how things should be going. seniors should be living up their last two months on campus, and all students should be wearing their chacos at the first sight of spring, and then complaining when they have to bring out their L.L. bean boots again the next day when it snows. We should be looking forward to southwest salads on Thursdays instead of once again ordering takeout from local restaurants. If we want any of these things that resemble a sense of normalcy to return, we have to remain vigilant in our social distancing, quarantining and, in some cases, isolation if we become sick. That’s why it is so irritating when I see fellow people in seattle not get the message and fill Alki beach, Green Lake and rattlesnake Ledge on a sunny day. They are only extending the problem (and the eventual conclusion) of this terrible pandemic.
Just like other crises, this too will pass, but it will pass a lot faster if we stay home, wash our hands and listen to our public health officials (looking at you dr. Fauci).
Francis Hagan junior Feb. 28, 2018
Maryann White march 22, 2019
Daniel Moran junior mar.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: FoUr YeArs In revIeW
If I were a student who stormed the field
A messAGe From A sTUdenT Who sTormed The FIeLd: I regret my error of judgement in not social distancing.
dear Fellow students, Faculty and staff,
I know many of you have read about the clemson fieldstorming I recently attended. I write to express my regret for certain choices I made that day and for failing to lead, as I should have.
Last saturday evening, I received, on very short notice, an invitation to attend the field-storming following notre dame’s double-overtime victory over no. 1 clemson. It was important, I believed, that I represent the University at this historic event to support the notre dame Fighting Irish Football Team, which is greatly respected by its collegiate and athletic peers, revered by nd students and cheered for
by friends and fans across the country.
before I arrived at notre dame stadium, a medical professional took me to an exam room to obtain a nasal swab for a rapid covId-19 test. I was then directed to a room with others, all fully masked, until we were notified that we had all tested negative, as required by our president, Fr. John Jenkins. We never took our masks off. on saturday, we were then escorted into the stadium, where we were seated with others who had just been tested, received negative results and were wearing masks.
I regret my error in judgment in not socially distancing on the field following the upset win over no. 1 clemson and for celebrating like a champion with my closest friends after our Fighting Irish’s takedown of the Tigers. I especially regret my mistake in light of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by many, excluding our president, Fr. John Jenkins, in adjusting
his life to observe our health protocols.
After returning to campus, I was chastised by my unbelievably hypocritical university president for my actions on saturday night, who informed me that I could not leave the campus and that there would be zero tolerance for any gatherings that “do not comport with the University’s health and safety guidelines,” which means I can’t even visit the White house rose Garden.
Thank you for your continued efforts during this semester, for your forgiveness and for your understanding.
In notre dame,
A Field-stormer
how to go into quarantine eight times — and make it out in one piece
I have written three different versions of this piece. All three were written in what I thought at the time was my last stay in quarantine. now, I can say confidently this is my last time in quarantine (because I actually have covId). In this piece, which I have put more effort into than any submission of work during my time at notre dame, I will give a power ranking of the locations I quarantined at, my 10 tips for success and if I have any leftover space, some general life thoughts that I was able to realize during my time. For reference, these are my quarantine stays: october 14-18 at The Foundry south: contact traced, negative, alone. october 25-30 at University edge: contact traced, negative, in an apartment with 5 roommates. november 14-16 at embassy suites: symptoms, negative, alone. February 25-march 4 at hampton Inn: contact traced, negative, alone. march 10-march 16 at Fairfield suites: contact traced, negative, alone. march 24-march 31 at embassy suites: contact traced, negative, alone. April 9-April 16 at holiday Inn express: contact traced, negative, alone. April 20-April 29 at embassy suites: Tested positive for covId, alone. That makes for a total of more than 50 days in quarantine during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Power Rankings:
Number 6: Hampton Inn
my fourth time in quarantine was for a week in the hampton Inn. The reason this is at the bottom of my list is for two big reasons. The first is that the A/c unit by the window would not shut off from blasting cold air out, for seven days straight. I even tried covering it up with my comforter, but then something started to smell weird and the comforter got really warm, so I took it off. The second reason was that the faucet in the bath leaked, nonstop. It had good views of the mcdonald’s drive thru, though.
Number 5: Holiday Inn Express
The holiday Inn was a weird stay, and I heard even stranger stories from friends here. I had two big beds which is nice; my view is not great, but I can hear music and liveliness from cheers during the weekend evenings. supposedly someone escaped from here, so one night security had to come and check that I was both in my room and that nobody else was in there. The holiday Inn lacks the certain x-factor that other places have.
Number 4: Fairfield Inn & Suites
The Fairfield Inn & suites was a nice stay, but I got lucky with my room. some of my friends got much worse and smaller rooms. In room 512, I had two Tvs, and a separated living space. The window opened to a nice view of campus and the sculpture Park and the A/c unit worked well. The interior designer knocked it out of the park here, because even the bathroom had a cute little framed photograph of a bunch of doorways across the nd campus (it’s the little things that count).
Number 3: The Foundry South
The Foundry south was my rookie season in quarantine. I remember texting my family group chat telling them I was going into quarantine as if it was a big deal (by the seventh or eighth time I don’t even think I told them, they just kind of assume I am always in it now). This quarantine was filled with netflix binge watching, drive-bys from my friends, Zoom calls with new quarantine friends and even a virtual game watch of the nd football game. Looking back now, it is kind of like when you are a senior in high school remembering freshmen year. Little did I know what was to come.
Number 2: University Edge
back in november I spent five days in University edge. The best part about this was that I was actually in a fourroom unit with two of my closest friends, so their company made this exponentially more bearable. however, edge had by far the worst interior design, as it lacked any type of personality. The bed was like sleeping on an oversized piece of toast, with a blanket that was more like a rug. The wall-towall carpeting was a nice touch. The weirdest moment happened when I looked out my window one night and there was a stranger with a light saber. I also watched an entire season of “The Great british baking show” during my stint here, so I do have some happy memories.
Number 1: Embassy Suites
The embassy suites was luxury. Two out of the three times I was there, I was given a two-room suite, with two big beds and a living space. I had two Tvs, a desk, a couch, a chair and a big bathroom. I can only imagine how much this room would cost per night on a football weekend. one of my roommates had to spend his 21st birthday in quarantine in the embassy suites, but at least we were in a nice hotel. even though they didn’t open, the floor-to-ceiling windows let in a lot of natural light. If I could spend every quarantine in one place, it would be in the embassy suites. so, there it is, my power rankings.
From my approximately 1,272 hours, or roughly 14% of the past year, that I have spent in nd quarantine this year, I have learned many lessons. here are my top 10 tips that I have made for you, in case you ever find yourself in quarantine.
1. When someone is pounding at your door at 8 a.m. on your first morning of quarantine, don’t panic, it is just breakfast. no one is trying to break in or kick down your door.
2. If you ever try to use your hotel phone to call your friend’s room, make sure you know their room number. There have been a few times I called the wrong person.
3. If you are looking for some more interaction, try using Airdrop or bluetooth to send stuff to the people in the rooms around you. out of my eight times in quarantine, only three people ever accepted and had conversations with me. shout out to nate, carissa and Patricia.
4. If you want to go even further than Airdrop, try doing morse code with your flashlight out your window. I did this in my final stay, and I was able to exchange room numbers
with a random person entirely through morse code. We called each other on the hotel phone, and we became quarantine friends. shout out to caroline.
5. make/watch TikToks in quarantine.
6. This is one tip that I learned the hard way, twice. If you are thinking of getting haircut, get one!!! You never know when you are going to go away for a week, and by the time you find out, it is too late to get a trim. Just cut it.
7. spend time working on your get-out-of-quarantine playlist. When you walk out of the Q a free person, you need some good music to listen to.
8. drink the absurd amounts of dasani water bottles they give you. once you are free, you will never want one again, but staying hydrated is key when you’re locked up.
9. bring food into quarantine with you. You save a lot of Flex Points when you’re Q’d up, so the last few times I have brought some modern market pizza in with me. The people in the Testing center think it’s fun.
10. do not try and steal the coat hangers from the hotels. not that I would know, but when you get back to your dorm room, you will realize that the metal rungs on the hotel hangers are designed to be a different size than the typical ones, so they will not work on the wardrobe in your room, and you will be left with useless coat hangers. You will feel stupid, or so I have heard.
now you have seen my power rankings and my top 10 tips. I hope you enjoyed them. I will finish off my guide with some wisdom on quarantine. before the year ends, and we go back to a more normal year next year, take some time to realize how much effort has gone into this year. The hotel employees at the quarantine sites, the security teams, the drivers of the quarantine vans, everyone at the Testing center and the covid response Unit and everyone on campus who has adjusted this year. They aren’t doing this to piss anyone off or “ruin your time at nd,” they’re doing it for the exact opposite reason. so, if you can, even if you don’t say it out loud, thank all of them for making this possible. Without them, you would have been in your room at home all year, and I think this year would have been much worse that way. For each moment I have spent locked up in quarantine, I have started to appreciate my time outside of quarantine even more. Pretty soon, for all of us, we will graduate, and we won’t be able to spend days as a notre dame student anymore. If there is one thing that quarantine has taught me the most, it’s to appreciate being a student at notre dame, and to realize how lucky we are! There are so many people that would give so much just to be in our place right now, even if that place is alone in a hotel room for 53 days.
P.s. I am going to meet Fr. Jenkins.
John Sebastian “Jazz” Thörn junior April 27, 2021
Liam Finn c lass of 2020 nov. 9, 2020
Irish playoff hopes dashed by eventual national champion and powerhouse Alabama
By NATE MOLLER sports Writer
The 2020 n otre d ame football season was truly like no other. In the midst of the cov I d -19 pandemic, the Irish were forced to temporarily join a conference for the first time in their tenured history.
As a member of the A cc , the Irish finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 conference record and 10-0 record overall.
The Irish ultimately ended up losing to the c lemson Tigers in the A cc c hampionship game and the Alabama c rimson Tide in the c ollege Football Playoff s emifinal at the r ose b owl.
The Irish opened their season against the d uke b lue d evils.
Although they struggled at times, the Irish were able to win 27-13 and record their first ever conference victory.
In that game, it was apparent that running back Kyren Williams was going to be a huge part of the Irish offense going forward.
Williams finished with over 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, and he would build off of that performance all season and prove to be one of the most prolific running backs in the country.
c ameron e kanayake, who was a senior on the 2020-21 team and a 2020 r hodes s cholarship Finalist, discussed what it meant to play in a conference for a season.
“It’s just another way that the season was so unique compared to other seasons with n otre d ame in the A cc ,” e kanayake said.
“It was very interesting … for the past three years, we played as an independent school. b ut then we get
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ND ready for No. 4 BC in NCAA Quarterfinals
By OLIVIA SCHATZ sports Writer
Graduate student
s amantha Lynch said before the nc AA tournament that for the n otre d ame Women’s Lacrosse team, the key to their game was to play with “shocking” effort.
“We work so hard so that the other team is just shocked by how much effort we can give on all parts of the field” Lynch said. This was surely the case for the Irish in a first round shutout against r obert m orrison, the first in the tournament’s history, and then another outstanding win against v irginia to push the Irish forward into the quarterfinals.
It wasn’t an easy season for the Irish, and they fought through tough games to end with an 11-6 record and the fifth seed in the tournament. This season was unlike any prior. With cov I d shutting down last year’s season and significantly altering this one, the team has been unable to bond the way they normally would, as Lynch said they “haven’t been able to have the same
level of communication and regular interaction with our teammates that we usually do in the locker room and dinners.”
Lynch reminisced on this past season. “ o ne of the best games for us was that first one against vanderbilt” she said. “We hadn’t played in over a year and it was just a lot of fun to get back on the field.” n otre d ame won that game 19-5, with Lynch herself scoring five goals. s ophomore Kasey c homa and graduate student Jessi m asinko scored five and four goals respectively. b ut this was not the end of their high-scoring season. c homa led the team with 38 goals and 42 points, while graduate student s avannah b uchanan caused 27 turnovers. In addition, six players earned All-A cc accolades for the 2021 season. s enior b ridget d eehan and Lynch earned First Team honors while sophomore m adison Ahern, senior m addie h owe and c homa earned s econd Team honors. Freshman Keelin s chlageter
Photo Courtesy of ND Athletics
Former Irish quarterback Ian Book scrambles during Notre Dame’s 45-31 victory over Boston College on
Alumni Stadium. The win was Irish head coach Brian Kelly’s 100th win with the team.
ND WOMEN’s LACROssE | 9-6, 5-5 Acc
EMILY DeFAZIO | The Observer
Irish sophomore attack Jackie Wolak runs with the ball during Notre Dame’s 15-11 win over No. 19 ranked Louisville at Arlotta Stadium on Apr. 24. Wolak had four points in the game with three assists
After disappointing end, Irish hungry for more
By ANDREW McGUINNESS sports Writer
Perseverance has been the name of the game across the world over the last year, and the n otre d ame men’s hockey team is no exception. In head coach Jeff Jackson’s 16th season behind the Irish bench, n otre d ame battled cov I d protocols and a deep b ig 10 conference en route to a fifth straight nc AA tournament appearance (the 2020 nc AA Tournament was canceled due to cov I d -19). b ut unforeseen circumstances out of their control ended n otre d ame’s season before they were able to participate in this year’s tournament, which was ultimately won by U m ass.
n avigating this unique season was a challenge, and it made an already difficult conference and schedule even more difficult. It made consistency almost impossible to find. For the Irish, it was win three straight, lose three straight. Win the last four of the regular season, only to bow out in the first round of the b ig 10 Tournament to a Penn s tate club the Irish had swept a two-game series from eight days prior by a combined margin of 12-3.
The lack of home-ice advantage caused by an empty c ompton Family Ice Arena had a clear impact on the season; look no further than the Irish’s home/road splits.
At c ompton, the Irish were only 5-11-1 and lost their only b ig 10 tournament game on that ice as well. Away from s outh b end, the club was outstanding, posting a stellar 9-2-1 record. n otre d ame wasn’t swept in a single road series in 2020-21; they were swept at home three times.
“Without fans, it was definitely something to get used to. e specially (without) the n otre d ame fans. We have an awesome fanbase, awesome student section, and band, so it’s something we really miss” said junior defenseman s pencer s tastney, who was named the team’s top defensive player m ay 13. d espite the early exit in the b ig 10 championship, the Irish were poised for a postseason appearance. The club was hungry to face the b oston c ollege e agles in the nc AA tournament in hopes of making a deep run. b ut n otre d ame’s season ended in the blink of an eye when the team was forced to bow out of the tournament due to cov I d issues before playing a single game. “We were all holding our breath in that announcement ceremony. We were extremely excited for the opportunity, and we rightfully earned that spot. Traveling out there and really getting cov I d right away, that, that was pretty brutal,” s tastney said. “It was pretty disheartening to make it seven months and then at the end have it come
crashing down.”
n otre d ame’s first line, including junior Alex s teeves and centering brothers wingers junior Graham and freshman and c hicago b lackhawks prospect Landon s laggert, tore opponents apart. s teeves-n otre d ame’s season mv P with 15 goals and 17 assists-finished tied for 10th with n orth d akota center s hane Pinto in the nc AA in scoring with 32 points. Graham s laggert was tied for 34th in the nation at 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists). And Landon s laggert won a gold medal with Team U s A at the World Junior c hampionships in e dmonton Jan. 5.
“ s omething that separates them from others is their creativity and their freedom on the ice,” s tastney said. I think we play a very structured game but those guys found a way to play a structured game but also use their individual skill set to really complement each other. They were such an important part of our offense. All three of them are extremely talented, have a bright future in hockey, and brought a lot to our team last year.”
Long-time hockey coach and broadcaster h arry n eale once said, “Goaltending is 75 percent of your hockey team, unless you don’t have it. Then it’s 100 percent”
The Irish had tremendous goaltending this season, with senior d ylan s t. c yr easy to mistake for a brick wall on several nights. s t. c yr’s .921 save percentage
ranked top-twenty across the entire nc AA in 202021. “ h e was great, not only on the ice but off the ice,” s tastney said. “ h e’s grinding and working hard every day. And it was nice to see him have a great season this year. As a defenseman myself, it’s nice knowing you have a guy back there that you trust and is going to make the big saves.”
o verall, the Irish ranked fourth in the b ig Ten with a solid 2.69 goals against per game and 80.8% penalty kill.
s t. c yr and the Irish defense, which finished third in the b ig 10 with 29.76 shots allowed per game, held down the fort all season. The backend was led by their top pair of s tastney and fellow junior defenseman n ate c lurman, the team’s captain. Junior n ick Leivermann led nd defensemen with 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists).
s uch a dissatisfying ending to their season no doubt leaves the Irish hungry for more in the 2021-22 season.
“We had a good journey, we had a good run, and we just tried to stay positive and stick together,” s tastney said in reflecting on the season that was. d espite the challenges the Irish faced, they certainly had some memorable moments. They swept a two-game series against top-ranked m innesota in mid-January. The Irish were undefeated in shootouts. s t. c yr pitched consecutive shutouts on Feb. 26 and 27 against the m ichigan s tate
s partans. And a 7-1 thumping of Penn s tate to end the regular season made for an epic s enior n ight sendoff for nd h ockey’s class of 2021.
This was then followed by an announcement that senior m att h ellickson signed a contract with the b inghamton d evils for the remainder of the 20202021 season and that he and 2020 Irish graduate c al Petersen would join the U s m en’s n ational Team for the upcoming World c hampionship. The 2021 International Ice h ockey Federation m en’s World c hampionship will take place m ay 21 - June 6 in r iga, Latvia.
The hopeful return of Irish fans to c ompton would certainly help the team take another step forward next season.
“With the fans next year hopefully coming back, we should be able to feed off their energy and really try and bounce back at home,” s tatsney said. And for rising seniors like s tastney, that energy and urgency are amplified ten-fold. “I’m looking forward to having a better season, not just for the fans, but our coaching staff, my fellow seniors, and the team that we’ll be playing with,” he said. “I think it’s one last chance to represent n otre d ame and we’re gonna do our best to have a great season.”
Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu
Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
Irish first-year foward Landon Slaggert handles the puck during Notre Dame’s 1-3 loss to Michigan on Jan. 22 at Compton Family Ice Arena. Slaggert recorded one penalty in the game against the Wolverines.
Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
Irish junior defenseman Nick Leivermann fires a pass to a teammate during Notre Dame’s 5-4 home win over Arizona State on Jan. 9.
ND hopes to rebound after poor season
ND MeN’s L ACRosse | 8-3, 3-3 Acc
By JIMMY WARD Associate sports editor
The notre d ame men’s basketball team fought through a tough season posting a lackluster 11-15 overall record on the year and a 7-11 Acc record. This is the third consecutive year that m ike b rey’s Irish have missed the big dance.
The team finished in the bottom half of the Acc but picked up some solid wins along the way, including a road win over d uke, albeit it was a different d uke team and a different c ameron Indoor than we are used to seeing.
It was such a grueling season in fact that secondyear athletic trainer n ixon d orvilien was named team mv P for his outstanding work shouldering cov I d testing and protocols. It was a move that b rey called “unorthodox,” but in a season unlike any other and with an award dubbed the “Tougher than the Year mv P,” it is definitely warranted.
notre d ame did see eight of their scheduled games affected by cov I d -19 safety
protocols enacted by the opposing team this season, but the Irish and d orvilien made sure they were eligible for every game.
The Irish got off to a rough start straight from the jump, dropping their opener to m ichigan state on nov. 28. They responded with a win over d etroit mercy a little over a week later and edged out a 64-63 win over Kentucky in r upp Arena in the Acc /b ig Ten c hallenge. b ut as they approached the new year, struggles began to settle in. They dropped games to d uke and Purdue, then claimed an 81-70 win over b ellarmine, a team in the process of transitioning to d ivision I hoops. b ut after suffering 57-66 defeat to v irginia at home on d ec. 30, they would not find another win until mid January as they dropped four straight to conference opponents.
The loss to v irginia was followed by a narrow loss to U nc , 66-65.
Then, the Irish had their first interruption of the season after their matchup against Georgia Tech was cancelled thanks to positive tests and
contact tracing in the Yellow Jackets locker room. The Irish simply put, were just never able to find their groove. Though they weren’t able to string together wins as much as they would have liked, the group still accomplished much on the court this season. Junior guard and team captain Prentiss hubb passed the 1,000 point mark in notre d ame’s win over Florida s tate, becoming the 65th notre d ame player to reach the mark in program history.
hubb is the 24th player of the m ike b rey era to score 1,000 points and the sixth to do so in three years or less. he also dished it out in conference play, finishing with 120 assists, second among all major conference players in league action. Fellow captain Juwan d urham finished the season ranked third on the program’s career all-time blocked shots list with 178. The graduate student forward sits behind LaPhonso e llis and Jordan c ornette on the list with 200 and 201 respectively.
Irish looking to make noise in postseason
By LUKE THOMPSON sports Writer
The notre d ame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team will begin its postseason on s aturday, m ay 15 with a firstround matchup against the d rexel d ragons and will be looking to close out another successful season by capturing the program’s elusive first national championship. The sixth-seeded Irish completed the regular season at 7-3 (3-3 Acc ) and were outright dominant at home, winning six of seven games at Arlotta s tadium — including a thrilling upset of the then number one ranked d uke b lue d evils in early April.
The team — led by c oach Kevin c orrigan for an astounding thirty-third consecutive season — started out the season very strong, winning their first four games before conference play. Within the Acc , the Fighting Irish held their own at .500, finishing third out of the five teams in the incredibly competitive league. After mostly breezing through the non-conference schedule, the Irish dropped their first game against a conference opponent in a home date with the defending national champion
v irginia c avaliers. The Irish rebounded from the tight 1112 loss with an impressive 1811 win over the then number four s yracuse o range in the c arrier d ome. s ophomore Pat Kavanaugh (younger brother of former Irish standout m att) tied the program single-game record (once again) with nine points against the o range, putting the ball in the back of the net himself four times and assisting in an additional four goals.
The game in s yracuse provided c oach c orrigan with his 310th win at notre d ame, tying the record for the most wins at a single program in college lacrosse history. h is first chance to break the record came at home against the number-one ranked d uke b lue d evils. In an exciting atmosphere at Arlotta s tadium, the Irish upset the nation’s top team and delivered their coach an enormous milestone with a dominant 13-8 win. The then-undefeated b lue d evils could only muster 8 goals in what was a strong demonstration of the Irish’s defensive prowess. c oach c orrigan, having achieved his landmark 311th victory at notre d ame, characteristically focused more on how his team had pulled off this
impressive upset than his own outstanding individual achievement, emphasizing that his primary concern was that his team “continues to improve” after this exciting win. e ven after pulling off what was easily the biggest win of the season and one of the most momentous of his decades-spanning career, c orrigan acknowledged that a concentration on the team’s “continued development” is the only way the team could get “where [they] want to be, which most importantly … is in the tournament and playing our best lacrosse then.”
c orrigan noted “the results will take care of themselves,” if the Irish maintained focus on their training and continual improvement rather than dwelling on their great success against the b lue d evils.
The now-fourth ranked Irish faced off against the b lue d evils again in d urham immediately after a twelveday break in their unmerciful Acc schedule after their win over d uke. The Irish failed to replicate their success on the road, falling 12-13 in an overtime thriller. The Irish continued their skid a few days later, losing 10-12 to the north c arolina Tar heels in c hapel h ill. The Irish were able to
rebound from their losses on their southern road trip in their final game of the season against s yracuse. The Irish repeated their earlier success against the o range, this time at home, blowing out the visitors 22-8. Kavanaugh again stood tall for the Irish, breaking the same program record he had tied earlier in the season for points in a single game with a whopping ten. Kavanaugh’s monumental effort — which included a balanced five goals and assists — was a fitting end to a remarkable regular season for the sophomore attackman. Kavanaugh also broke his own brother’s record for the most assists in a single season in program history after recording his 33rd on the year against the o range. Kavanaugh racked up a teamleading 59 points this season and was named as one of only five finalists for the 2021 men’s Tewaaraton Award, which is given annually to the top player in men’s college lacrosse.
Following their second victory over s yracuse, the Irish surged up to fourth in the national rankings and earned the sixth seed in the nc AA tournament. The Irish opened up with a 10-8 win in
d enver on s aturday over the c olonial Athletic Association champion d rexel d ragons. The Irish held off a late rally by the d ragons to secure their spot in the second round of the c hampionships, wielding a home field advantage over the m aryland Terrapins who come into town on s aturday. This is the sixteenth straight season the Irish have made a trip to the nc AA tournament, a testament to the powerhouse c orrigan has created at notre d ame in his thirty-three years at the program. The Irish will be looking to finally capture the national championship that they have long pursued and narrowly missed a few times. c orrigan led the Irish to two runner-up finishes and five final fours in the last two decades, but the national championship has barely eluded the Irish for awhile now. With three top-ten victories on the year and a young superstar in Kavanaugh, c orrigan will look to shepherd this clearlyoutstanding team throughout the gauntlet of the nc AA tournament and finally come away with his first national title.
Contact Luke Thompson at lthomps7@nd.edu
Photo Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics Irish junior guard Cormac Ryan drives into the lane during Notre Dame’s 79-58 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 2 at Purcell Pavilion.
Westbeld, ACC rookie of the Year, reflects on first season with the Irish
By GREG McKENNA Sports Writer
Playing during a college basketball season during a pandemic presents enough uncertainty in itself.
o ne might think replacing a hall-of-fame coach without summer practice as well would be an overwhelming experience for any player.
Freshman forward Maddy Westbeld, however, admits she didn’t know anything different heading into her first collegiate season.
“I mean, definitely going through it, it was really challenging and definitely really frustrating,” she said. “But there were also a lot of great things that came out of it. So I think for my first year at Notre Dame, I wouldn’t have wanted anything else.”
Westbeld wouldn’t have hoped for anyone else to be patrolling the sideline, either. She said playing for first-year head coach Niele Ivey, who replaced Muffet McGraw after the two-time national champion retired last April after 33 seasons leading the Irish, was a “dream come true.”
“I’ve known her since I was little,” Westbeld said. “And she has just always been somebody that I could talk to about anything. And just to have her as my head coach and be able to look on the sideline and see her wanting great things for me and wanting great things for the team, it was just so amazing.”
Westbeld also could not have hoped for a better freshman campaign, individually. After leading Notre Dame with 15.2 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game, as well as shooting a team-high 39% from three, Westbeld was named FirstTeam All-ACC and conference r ookie of the Year.
Westbeld was the only freshman in the country to average at least 15 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, but she said she was surprised to be a consistent starter, never mind the team’s star.
“I think the first couple games, that was when I was still trying to figure it out, and I was getting in some
foul trouble,” she said. Westbeld said good communication with the coaching staff allowed her to figure things out, paving the way for her meteoric rise.
She said one of the most critical things was, “sitting down with my coaches, and really being transparent with them, knowing what they need me to do to come out on top.”
Irish sophomore forward Maddyy Westbled goes up for an uncontested lay up during Notre Dame’s 59-48 win over Pitt.
Though ranked No. 22 in the preseason AP Poll, the Irish (10-10, 8-7 ACC) faced a learning curve of their own. The Irish dropped 4 of their first nine games before suffering a heartbreaking loss at Boston College in early January.
The Irish led by 12 in with 3:29 to go, but the e agles, who only won two games in the ACC all season, closed the game on a 16-1 run to snatch the victory.
Westbeld said the game in Chestnut h ill began a frustrating trend of fourthquarter collapses, which included a late January loss at North Carolina and first-round exit in the ACC Tournament against Clemson. She said the relatively young Irish know their play late in games will need to improve next season.
“It’s definitely fixable stuff,” Westbeld said. “But we just as a unit needed to figure out how to get over that hump of holding a lead. And that comes with leadership.”
Following the loss at BC, however, the Irish rebounded with a three game winstreak, their longest of the season. The Irish would obtain revenge against the e agles in the second of those games, winning by 10 back home at Purcell Pavilion.
A three-game losing streak followed, but Notre Dame won two of its last three regular season games to seemingly put the Irish on the good side of the bubble heading into the ACC Tournament. After the fivepoint loss to Clemson in Greensboro, however, Notre Dame’s NCAA Tournament appearance streak ended at
Irish first-year foward Maddy
59-48 in the Petersen
24.
Westbeld, whose sister Kathryn averaged 7.7 points per game on the 2017-2018 national title-winning squad, knows Notre Dame’s typical standard is much higher. She said this is not something the team needs to harp during offseason workouts, however.
“We all were on the same page without it needing to be said,” Westbeld said.
In terms of departures, the Irish graduate senior guard Nicole Benz, and senior center Mikayla Vaughn and graduate student guard Destinee Walker are also moving on.
Vaughn, who averaged 7.6 ppg and led the Irish with 1.4 blocks per game this season, saw preseason action with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA before being waived prior to the regular season. Westbeld
said Vaughn, despite playing down low, was unafraid to take on leadership duties typically attributed to a team’s point guard.
“A lot of times during practice and things it was Mik being the vocal leader,” she said.
Westbeld said Walker, whose 11.4 ppg this season was good for second on the team, led by being a friend to anyone who needed her.
“For me, personally, I know that Destinee always had my back,” she said.
Westbeld said Benz, a former walk-on who, like Vaughn, was a member of the 2017-2018 title-winning squad, was a tremendous best friend, part-time roommate and mentor.
Westbeld said Benz “knew everything,” including, “the right words to say when things were getting frustrating.”
Westbeld will headline a strong group of returnees that includes early-enrollee o livia Miles, who averaged nearly 10 points per game after joining the Irish in late January. Notre Dame also adds Stanford graduate transfer Maya Dodson at forward and incoming freshman guard Sonia Citron, e SPN’s 16th-ranked point guard in the 2021 class and a McDonald’s All-American.
Westbeld has absolute faith in Ivey to lead this talented Irish squad forward.
“I can never question her heart and never question anything negative about her because I know that all she wants is positive things for the program and for us,” she said. “I love playing for her and I’m so excited to keep that journey going.”.
Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu
Graduate Student forward and team captain
Nikola Djogo made his first start in two years against Virginia Tech and led the Irish to victory against No. 11 ranked FSU, dropping 11 points on Senior Day.
The Irish may have underperformed this season but they are ready to get back at it again next year. When Mike Brey was asked to evaluate where his team was at the end of his 20th season with the Irish and right after a 101-59 loss to UNC, he ended his long response by saying, “I told them a year
from this Selection Sunday our goal should be to see our name flash up.”
Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu
ARI DENNING | The Observer
Westbeld lays the ball in during Notre Dame’s away win over Pittsburgh
Events Center. Westbeld was named a 2021 WBCA All-America Regional Finalist.
Team finds stride after rough start to season
By DOMINIC GIBSON sports Writer
d espite a bogged down start to their spring campaign, the n otre d ame men’s tennis team found their stride going down the home stretch of the regular season.
The Irish (15-11, 7-5 A cc ) finished fifth in the A cc and earned their way into another nc AA tournament appearance including a first-round win against Western m ichigan (22-2, 9-0 m A c ). Irish head coach r yan s achire was extremely proud of the way his team overcame challenges throughout the season, especially with many new restrictions and guidelines in place due to the cov I d -19 pandemic.
“We got off to a bit of a rocky start early in the
CHEERLEADING
season, but our guys stuck together,” s achire said. “We came together as a group, as a program and really finished pretty darn strong —A cc tournament notwithstanding — and played our best tennis of the whole season coming down the stretch of the regular season.”
s achire said the team did a good job of respecting health protocols and making good choices to keep the group healthy and allow the team to play a relatively full season.
The challenge of not having a fall season was something of a surprise for coach s achire and the rest of the squad, especially with many of his players not having played competitive matches in nine months leading into the regular season.
“It’s the first time obviously that any of us have ever
dealt with not competing in the fall, just practicing in the fall, and then obviously all the challenges that cov I d brought from how we had to structure our practices,” he said. “We figured it out as we went along and figured it out on the fly and did a pretty darn good job I think as the season went along.”
h elping to lead the charge for the Irish this season was junior Axel n efve who will be representing the team in both singles and doubles along with partner Tristan m c c ormick in the nc AA championships on m ay 22nd.
n efve racked up an 18-3 record at the number one singles position and a 10-4 record at the number one doubles position. s achire highlighted n efve’s work ethic as the big reason for his growth this season.
“It started with what he did on his own during the first part of the pandemic when school wasn’t in session yet,” s achire said. “Throughout the summer he worked his tail off, made himself a better athlete, made himself a better tennis player, and throughout the fall, even though we weren’t competing in tournaments his level pretty much every single day in practice was really really high. h e’s really emerged as one of the best players in college tennis and had a great year.”
The season as a whole including communication with his players is something s achire is looking to learn from and take into next year’s season.
“I do think the pandemic brought some changes to our program out of necessity
and some of which will continue to carry on,” he said. “I think one of the things that I’ll learn the most from came from a lot of the conversations we had with our guys early in the year.”
The team was not able to do much team-building in the fall, but was able to communicate well as a group when the season started.
“That was something, maybe that freshness, not having been able to do as many team meetings in the fall but bringing that to light in the spring. I think that will serve all of us well moving forward throughout the rest of my career, in the short term at least, and something we’ll take into next season with us,” s achire said.
Contact Dominic Gibson at dgibson@hcc-nd.edu
Irish cheer head coach reflects on unique year
By JIMMY WARD Associate sports editor
When the world came to a screeching halt just over a year ago, sports were one of the first things people were worried about. The main concern for many was the upcoming m arch m adness tournament. A vast majority of people were remiss to remember what made sports so fun pre- cov I d and were just pushing the athletes to get out onto barren courts in empty arenas, all socially distanced so that their games could go on. s ports fans everywhere knew something was off though. The atmosphere created inside of a stadium during a game simply cannot be replicated without the people who make up that atmosphere. n o two stadiums are alike, no two games are alike. b ut one facet of sports that people began to appreciate a little bit more once it was gone was that missing atmosphere. A big part of that atmosphere at
W Lax
was named to the Acc AllFreshman Team. These are the most honorees that the women’s lacrosse team has earned since 2014. This team is not ready to stop now and on may 22 they will face fourth seeded boston c ollege with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
While the Irish did not make
any sporting event is the cheerleaders.
Like everyone, n otre d ame’s cheer squad experienced some difficult changes in the midst of the pandemic, but they seemed to have arrived on the other side of it stronger than ever.
A cc s pirit c oach of the year, d elayna h erndon said that one immediate change she saw was the vast amount of male participation in the sport.
“ m ost of our male cheerleaders were not cheerleaders before, they were high school athletes who really just miss being on a team, and we recruited them to be a part of our team because we need really athletic individuals,” h erndon said. h erndon explained how since most male cheerleaders didn’t have the skillset of crowd leading, it was an emphasis for the entire team.
“ s omething I think that came up this year was [that] all of our students, males and females became better crowd leaders and better
it far in the Acc tournament, they hope for better luck in the quarterfinals. The e agles won the first two match-ups between the two teams 19-11 and 18-12. To win this game the Irish must continue with their tournament strategy and come out with “shocking” effort as Lynch put it. This winning streak can not be lost as they go into the quarter-finals and they must use this momentum through
cheerleaders because it’s all they could do to be engaged in the game and engaged with the crowd.”
The typical routines and game day customs for cheerleaders were thrown off quite a bit this past season thanks to the pandemic. The most noticeable change was their lack of field presence. People still craved the atmosphere that sports provided, so the show had to go on: bands and cheerleaders at schools across the nation were placed in bleachers and were provided with ample screen time throughout the season. This also included mascots.
The iconic n otre d ame Leprechaun had a historymaking roster last season.
In addition to c onal Fagan, the first native Irishman to wear the suit, Lynette Wukie made history becoming the third African American to hold the role. Wukie is also the first woman to serve in the role of the leprechaun.
Wukie came to n otre d ame already breaking through
the summer and into the next season. Astonishing effort for a full 60 minutes is the only way the Irish can keep this winning streak. boston c ollege, and future teams, will make sure to take advantage of any opportunity that the Irish allow.
While this is many on the team’s final few games, with the new cov I d eligibility rules many who were supposed to graduate are able to return.
the glass ceiling in golf. s he worked as the only female golf caddie in her hometown near c leveland while in high school. s he earned the c hick e vans s cholarship through the job, a four-year tuition and housing college scholarship offered to students who have caddied at their local courses. In her video application, Wukie begged the question, “Who said the Fighting Irish can’t fight like a girl?” And by filling the role, she has inspired and encouraged young female athletes everywhere.
b oth Wukie and Fagan will graduate in 2021, leaving the iconic role in the hands of returning graduate student Pat Johnson, senior Gabe r amos, senior Alex s ampson and junior s ophie b ouldoukin, the second female leprechaun.
The leprechauns will have their hands full in 2021. The one thing that separates these athletes from others is that their season is truly year-round. As such c oach h erndon describes their training approach as more of
Although yet to be official, many seniors are applying through the mb A and msbA program to continue to play for the Irish and make up for memories and time lost due to the pandemic.
Although this season was both physically and mentally challenging, s amantha Lynch was the first one to say how much cov I d has changed her perspective on the game.
“I think it just has reminded
a slow and steady wins the race.
“I think more people need to know that we don’t have an offseason, that’s something that is huge,” c oach h erndon. “ s o it’s huge on time management and [it just involves] a lot of communication between staff and our students.”
b esides the communication, h erndon emphasized the importance of rest. A couple of days off when school starts to ramp up can really go a long way not just for an athlete’s mental health but also for their physical performance.
o ne thing is for certain though: When Fall rolls around and anticipation builds around campus for the football season, everyone will be hoping to see the cheerleaders and our old flag-wielding leprechaun friends make their return to the turf to lead the Fighting Irish out of their tunnel.
Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu
us to be really grateful for all the time we have together and on the field playing lacrosse because of how quickly it was taken away from us,” Lynch said. After over a year of pandemic, enjoying the little things is not something that anyone — especially the notre dame women’s lacrosse team — will let slip by.
Contact Olivia Schatz at oschatz@nd.edu
Irish fight through grueling nine-month campaign complete with cov Id pause
By GREG McKENNA sports Writer
Though the Irish played only 13 games, n otre d ame’s women’s soccer 2020-2021 season was anything but condensed.
e ven though the nc AA tournament was postponed to the spring, the A cc still held a fall season that determined qualification for n ovember’s A cc Tournament, which meant each game in a nine-month slog had critical postseason implications. The traditional structure of a competitive fall campaign followed by a spring season of friendlies was thrown out the window.
Irish head coach n ate n orman said this made for an unusually grueling year.
“That’s kind of a mental marathon,” he said, “just to kind of keep going without having an extended developmental season — the chance to take a deep breath and do more of the developmental part instead of always playing every game having such meaning to it.”
After dropping their season opener 5-0 at eventual A cc and national runner-up Florida s tate in s eptember, the Irish (6-7, 4-4 A cc ) rattled off three straight wins, vanquishing m iami, b oston c ollege and s yracuse by a combined score of 10-0. After backto-back one-goal defeats at home against Wake Forest and c lemson, respectively, the Irish would grab a key victory over then- n o. 13 Louisville to help secure the eighth and final qualifying spot in the conference tournament, where they fell to the n o. 1-seeded s eminoles 2-0.
Aiming to earn an nc AA Tournament bid for a second consecutive season, n otre d ame began its spring campaign with back-to-back 2-0 wins at c incinnati and on s enior d ay vs. m issouri, respectively.
h owever, road matchups against Kansas and m issouri were canceled after positive tests for cov I d and subsequent contract tracing within the n otre d ame program. The Irish ended up narrowly missing out on the 48-team tournament field, condensed from the normal field of 64 due to cov I d -19 concerns, after closing the season with consecutive 2-1 losses in b ig-12 road matchups. The Irish lost to then- n o. 18 o klahoma s tate in overtime before having
a comeback bid fall short against then- n o. 7 T c U in Fort Worth.
n orman admitted the coronavirus-induced pause came at an inopportune time and said “the wear and tear of that whole spring” made trying to get a result in those final two matches very difficult.
“ b ut when I do look back on it, I’m proud of the resiliency that we had,” he said.
n orman also said he was i mpressed with how his captains and seniors were able to facilitate communication and keep the squad motivated in a year where most team activities outside of practice were held over Zoom.
All three of n orman’s captains this year, midfielders s ammi Fisher, b rianna m artinez and c amryn d yke, return next season.
Fisher, a senior who will take advantage of the nc AA’s blanket year of eligibility, was second on the team with seven points (3G, 1A) in 2020 and led the Irish in goals, assists and points in 2019.
m artinez, a rising senior, has been a consistent starter since her freshman year.
d yke, a senior who did not play her freshman year due to injury, appeared in all 13 games this season, tallying one goal and two assists.
n orman noted that senior forward e rin o speck, who appeared in four matches in 2020-21, will also return.
n orman had plenty of praise for all his departing seniors, especially goalkeeper Jaina e ckert. After four fall seasons without a single appearance, the Georgia native started all four spring matches for the Irish, making 15 saves and recording two clean sheets.
“I’ll be telling her story for the rest of my coaching career,” n orman said.
n orman added that a lot of student athletes quickly look to transfer if things don’t go their way. b ut e ckert, he said, just kept “pushing.”
“Whether it was injuries or whatever she had to deal with her first couple years [or] other players playing ahead of her, she just kept working, and when she got her shot, she took it,” he said.
n orman cited senior defender Jenna Winebrenner as another player who kept working after initially not receiving much playing time in s outh b end. After making just three appearances as a freshman, Winebrenner became a consistent stalwart at the back for n otre d ame
from her sophomore year onwards.
“The last couple years, we would rarely take her off the field,” n orman said.
h e also said he was proud of the Kansas c ity native’s development not just as a leader in defense, but also as a distributor who could present an attacking threat. Winebrenner notched two goals and three assists during her career.
“We’re definitely sad to see [her leave] because she’s not only a great player on the field, but just a great piece of our culture,” n orman said.
The Irish will also look to replace the attacking output of forward e va h urm, who scored 10 goals and provided 13 assists during her collegiate career. n orman said h urm’s status as a mainstay on the Irish attack for four years was not just attributable to her talent, but also her work ethic.
“I think just watching her grow as a player and person for four years has been really rewarding as a coach because she’s certainly been a heck of a player, but [she] became a really good leader in the process,” he said.
n orman also took the time to praise his seniors who did not see many opportunities
on the field but still managed to have a tremendous impact on the program, especially forward b ailey c artwright.
c artwright only made seven appearances during her collegiate career due to injuries caused by chronic exertional compartment syndrome in both legs, and n orman said she could have quit a long time ago.
“ b ut she made a commitment to this team and just said, ‘ h ey, I’m going to be there,’” he said of c artwright’s mindset.
“‘ r egardless of my injury journey, I’m going to be there to serve and I’m gonna love my teammates.’”
c artwright founded s tronger s cars, a podcast and platform for athletes to share their stories struggling with injury or mental illness. h er guests have included s an d iego c hargers and former n otre d ame linebacker d rue Tranquill and former U. s m en’s n ational s occer Team goalkeeper Tim h oward.
n orman said c artwright’s project epitomizes the essence of the program and University.
“I know it’s impacted a ton of people in our program and a lot of programs right now,” he said.
n orman had similar praise for defender Kate o ’ c onnor, who only made five appearances in 2020-21 after playing in at least 11 games or more in each of her first three seasons.
“Kate is really the ultimate genuine teammate,” he said. “ s he is not someone who tries to put the spotlight on herself and is someone who was like, ‘What can I do for the team?’”
Looking towards the fall, n orman said he expects an extremely talented incoming class and group of returners to create intense competition for places. As the three-time national champions look to make it back to the nc AA Tournament, n orman said the Irish will focus on converting n otre d ame’s four one-goal defeats this past season into wins.
“It’s about figuring out how to make those one or two percent gains to make sure that in those games you could win, you take all sense of chance or luck out of it,” he said. “You just make sure that you’re forcing the ball into the back of the net.”
Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu
Ryan Vigilante | the Observer
Irish senior forward Eva Hurm approaches the ball, prepping to kick during the close Irish loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 2-3 on Sept. 15, 2019. Hurm’s teammates Sammi Fisher and Luisa Delgado scored on the day.
Irish cap season with 14-game win streak
By JAMISON COOK sports Writer
d uring a year overshadowed by cov I d restrictions, not many college sports teams have been able to play anywhere near a full slate of games. The same cannot be said for the notre d ame softball team, who have taken to the field over 40 times this season.
The discipline and resilience her team has shown in the face of the pandemic –paired with its on-field success this season (31-12, 20-10 Acc ) – have made softball coach d eanna Gumpf incredibly proud of her team.
“I’m so proud of how they handled this whole thing because it could have gone in 20 different directions, but we’ve been on the field,” she says. “I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young women than I am of this group because of what they’ve had to endure and what they’ve had to handle isn’t easy, and it is probably one of the most challenging things they’re ever going to deal with in their lives.”
The resilience of the Irish has been evident on the field itself as well. Following a midseason sweep at the hands of no. 6 Florida s tate in which notre d ame was shut out in three of four games, the team has rattled off 11 straight wins. While many fans may have been discouraged by the tough losses to Florida s tate, Gumpf saw it as a major turning point in notre d ame’s season.
“We played really bad softball that weekend, but since that time, we’ve figured out how to play really good softball,” she says. “To me, because that happened, I think it’s worth it because it’s made us better and it made us who we’ve become. s o, I appreciate that weekend probably more than most do, because a lot of good has come out of something bad.”
nothing has been able to stop the Irish since that series in early April, and their winning streak has put them on the edge of the top 25 teams in the nation. notre d ame has improved on both sides of the ball as the season has progressed, most notably on the defensive side. The point of attack on defense is the mound, and c oach Gumpf is very pleased with the development of her pitching staff – namely seniors Alexis holloway and morgan r yan, and junior Payton Tidd – over the course of the season.
“They’ve been so fun to coach because they work so well together and they appreciate each other and they truly care about each other, and I think that that reflects in the way that they’re pitching together,” she said. “It starts right there on the mound; they’ve done a great job.” o n top of the exemplary pitching, notre d ame’s defense behind the pitcher has also been a bright spot. The Irish have given up more than three runs just twice since the winning streak began, evidence of how they have developed into an elite defensive team. notre d ame has also been very effective on offense in the latter part of the season. They have generated runs with ease, scoring five or more runs in five of the 11 games that have made up the current winning streak. much of this success has been due to the leadership of notre d ame’s upperclassmen. Four seniors and two graduate students have led the way for the Irish, but none have stood out quite like senior Abby s weet. s weet’s success on the diamond earned her the honor of notre d ame’s Female Athlete of the Year, and she was also named one of 25 finalists for the national
ND keeps legacy of dominance
By SAM OUHAJ sports Writer
The notre d ame fencing team was dominant this season. The men’s and women’s teams won their 11th national Title in program history this year on m arch 28th, 2021 and had four individual champions along with two runner-ups.
c oach Loiseau spoke about what this team was able to accomplish this season.
“It was an exceptional year with so many things going on, especially with cov I d having a major impact when it came to training and conditioning,” Loiseau said.
“however, as a team, the job has been done well, with our student-athletes understanding what was at stake and what opportunities were present to them by being allowed back on campus last August.”
he had excitement for what this entire team did, going so as far as to say that when facing other teams this year, “o ur team was much more prepared than the other teams we faced this season, and this is because of our athletes’ dedication and hard work.”
Player of the Year. her statistics jump off the page, but it is the intangibles, Gumpf says, that really make sweet stand out.
“If you see her on paper, what she’s accomplished speaks for itself. her numbers are incredible, and they just don’t happen, and she’s making it happen. It’s been all season, she’s been like this,” Gumpf says. “The difference is if you see her play the game, then you know why she is who she is, and you know why she is notre d ame’s female athlete of the year and a top 25 nominee for the nation because the way she plays the game is second to none. I just can’t say enough of the player and the person she is; she gives everything she has every moment of every day to this team, and I am so proud of what she’s done and what she continues to do every day.”
s weet and the Irish finished off the regular season with a three-game series sweep against b oston c ollege and had a quick turnaround for the Acc Tournament, which began on m ay 12. The team lost in the quarterfinals to v irginia Tech 1-4 on m ay 13.
Contact Jamison Cook at jcook22@nd.edu
his time here, a fantastic feature that very few have accomplished.
“he was a student we highly recruited who originally chose UPenn, but he took a year off and fortunately, he decided to reconsider and come to us, which we are extremely thankful for,” Loiseau said. “he is a big part of the team, very loud, charismatic and is a big departure for us along with s tefani. These two are a backbone to our team; they set the way for those younger on the team to follow their lead.”
Loiseau also gaive praise to seniors epee d asha Yefremenko, foil Isabelle e lizondo, foil Joseph m arino and sabre r eghan Ward.
After discussing the teams’ achievements this season, Loiseau discussed what it means to watch the seniors leave.
“It is hard to move on after being around them for the last four years,” he said. “You take it for granted when you coach them every day and almost forget they will be gone eventually, but the memories are there forever.”
When asked about individual seniors, he had high praise for all of them, but mentioned nc AA c hampion and foil s tefani d eschner and her accomplishments this season.
“ s he is going to med school; she was an nc AA s cholar and worked hard consistently, always being a great teammate along the way,” he said. “It makes us happy she won because she was always doing everything possible to make sure she was on top of her game; she is what notre d ame is all about.”
Loiseau added afterwards that “this does not diminish what others have accomplished this season, but s tefani is the mv P this season.”
he also went on to give praise to senior epee Ariel s immons, who won three titles with notre d ame during
“They contributed so much to this team, and we want to mention them because they were starters who qualified to nc AA,” Loiseau said. “While we had to make decisions and send others over them, we were fortunate to have them be here because of everything they did for us. They made us so much better, and while they could have gone to other schools, they chose us. They are incredible students and people, and we will be in contact for the years to come.”
Loiseau spoke about his favorite memory this season as well.
“If I played the game fair, it would have to be those six in the morning runs during the first semester,” he said. “We had to condition differently this year, and while it was rough during the cold months, we came out much more prepared and ready … c oaches came to the run as well, and while it was hard to get up at six at first, the more we ran together, the closer we became and the more we enjoyed it.”
Finally, when asked about advice that he would give to the seniors, Loiseau stated that “we all have different personal relationships with our graduating seniors, with each one having different things that will motivate them and help them. however, I would say all of these students have grown up so much in front of us, and I am really proud to see how they have evolved. not trying to sound cheesy, but I would say to keep that up and be proud of who you have become.”
Contact Sam Ouhaj at souhaj@nd.edu
ARI DENNING | The Observer
Irish sophomore outfielder Leea Hanks preps to bunt on an incoming pitch during Notre Dame’s March 26 home win over NC State, 6-5.
Team makes round of 32 to cap off season
By GRANT DelVECCHIO sports Writer
After dominating its regular-season schedule en route to a 14-3 record, the 2020-2021 notre dame volleyball team advanced to the nc AA tournament for the second year in a row, the third time in the past four seasons, and twenty-first time overall in program history. In o maha, notre dame won its first-round tournament matchup against West Point in four sets to advance to the team’s twelfth ever round of 32 appearance before falling in straight sets (17-25, 2225, 13-25) to no. 10 o regon to finish the season 15-4 overall.
After the season-ending loss to o regon, Irish head coach m ike Johnson was confident this season was merely a taste of what’s to come.
“I think we can play better. I think there’s more out there for us,” coach Johnson said. “This was a team that had three freshmen on the floor all year, we lose two really great seniors, but for me, I’m always motivated … For us, we’re going to learn from this. We’re going to improve. We’re going to be back and we’re going to be better.”
In the first-round win over Army, the Irish racked up 10 service aces and 17 total blocks, good enough for second and third-most, respectively, in program history at the tournament. With the win, notre dame moved to 12-9 alltime in first-round matches in the tournament.
The Irish went 13-3 in conference play during the regular season, missing out on the conference championship by only one game to Louisville,
SwIMMINg AND DIVINg
a team the Irish swept on the road in the two teams lone matchup of the season. The second-place finish in the Acc is notre dame’s best since joining the conference in 2014. In what was the first-ever combined fall-and-spring volleyball season, the Irish won the first four matches of the season and carried that momentum throughout the entire season, finishing 6-1 in the fall portion of games and 8-2 in the spring after the three-month pause. e ight of notre dame’s 15 wins came via straight-set sweeps. In fact, the Irish swept all three of the other Acc teams that advanced to the nc AA tournament in Georgia Tech, Louisville and Pittsburgh during the regular season.
Juniors c harley niego and Zoe nunez led the way for the Irish for the third consecutive season. niego put up 244 kills and 179 digs in 62 sets played, and nunez dished out 753 assists to go along with 224 digs in all 71 sets. b oth were named First Team All-Acc selections for their efforts for the second straight year. The First Team nod for niego and nunez means they’ve earned AllAcc accolades in every season with the Irish, since as freshmen in 2018 the pair also acquired Acc All-Freshman and s econd Team All-Acc honors together.
niego finished with nine double-doubles on the season, eight of which came in just twelve spring matches, while nunez added 14 of her own. niego’s 4.07 kills per set ranked third in the Acc , while nunez’s mark of 10.92 assists was good enough for second in the Acc . This season, nunez
became just the eighth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists.
notre dame got more veteran help from senior hannah Thompson, the Irish defensive stalwart who put up 102 kills and a team-leading 80 total blocks in what was her most productive career season with the team. Thompson put up a dominant eight-block performance against Army in the first-round win alongside junior Lauren Wenzel, who also added eight blocks in the game.
The team also found much success thanks to excellent play from a talented unit of underclassmen. s ophomore c aroline meuth earned s econd Team All-Acc honors for the second straight season after putting up 189 kills, 114 digs, 61 total blocks and five double-double performances. Joining meuth on the s econd Team was freshman Lindsey m iller, who added 119 kills of her own with a .442 hitting percentage, the fourth-best percentage in the Acc and eleventh-best in the nation. m iller made the All-Acc Freshman Team alongside teammates Aubrey hamilton and hattie monson. hamilton collected 179 kills for the season, posting double-digit kills in ten matches, while monson led the team with 278 digs, a number that ranked third in the Acc b oth hamilton and monson appeared in every set of the regular season for the team.
According to coach Johnson, these three freshmen, in particular, were crucial to the team’s success.
“There were a number of matches that it was really
easy to forget that they were freshmen. o ur team leaned on them heavily, I can’t say that enough. but that said, I think all three of them have a lot more in them. The ceiling for all of them is very high. I’m really excited for what they’ll do going forward as they continue to improve.”
In total, the Irish earned six All-Acc awards. It was the second time in coach Johnson’s three seasons that three freshmen earned All-Freshman honors (2018: niego, nunez, s ydney b ent).
As coach Johnson points out, this is a testament to the environment that has been built in the program.
“I think the energy and the vibe that you see when you watch us play, that’s somewhat just in the nature of the kids that we’ve got. We want to recruit players who love to play the game of volleyball, and feel a passion and a pride to represent notre dame and I think you really see that within this team.”
Yet, coach Johnson also was quick to mention the impact that the notre dame fans, especially the students, have on the way his team performs. For the majority of the season, no fans were allowed at games, though that changed toward the end of the season.
“It was really awesome to see the students be able to come out at the very end of the year, and I can’t put into words the impact that those guys have on our team,” Johnson said. “o ur team thrives off the energy that students are capable of bringing … so it was great for the students to be able to come out and be a part of it.”
Thus, in the three years
since m ike Johnson took over from the legendary Jim mcLaughlin as head coach of the program, notre dame volleyball has compiled an overall record of 50-26 and advanced to back-to-back nc AA tournament appearances. This is especially notable given prior to the 2017 season, Johnson’s last as an assistant to mcLaughlin, notre dame had not reached the nc AA tournament since 2012. In fact, the Irish had even failed to post a winning record or double-digit wins in the two seasons leading up to 2017.
In spite of this season’s undeniable success, coach Johnson anticipates a brighter future for the program.
“For us, it’s about constant growth and continual improvement. When you come to nd you have the opportunity to try to become the very best, and so the standard for us is the pursuit of a national championship,” Johnson said. “s o while I’m really proud of this team, and we took a number of really good steps forward, I still think each of our players can get better, and I think me as a coach can get better. What I look forward to more than just kind of adding up the record or the rankings are: Am I a better player and a coach today than I was yesterday? If we can do that, a cumulative effect can be staggered.”
notre dame will be without seniors hannah Thompson and monroe olsen next season, but the Irish also welcome two 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year selections in Paris Thompson from Florida and Phyona s chrader out of Iowa.
Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu
Coach Litzinger recaps season highlights
By SEAN KELLEY sports Writer
For the 2020-21 swimming and diving season, nothing was promised for c oach m ike Litzinger and the notre d ame swimming and diving team.
d uring this pandemic, Litzinger said that “the achievement of actually being able to compete” is one of the highest accomplishments of the seasons.
After the cancellation of nc AA’s last year, it has been a year of uncertainty, but for the team, Litzinger said, “They handled this particular challenge well,” Litzinger said, “And, we still achieved a lot of the goals that we set out for ourselves.”
When speaking to the challenges that ensued this year,
Litzinger was sure to praise the University, “notre d ame prepares you for things and moments like this,” he said.
The preparation that the school provided each student-athlete truly allowed the team to persevere. With the team rising to the occasion, the biggest thing for Litzinger was the team’s optin mentality.
“In speaking about what they’ve really learned about who they really are, because at the end of the day, it was easy to pack it up and to optout,” coach Litzinger said.
With the season being shortened because of the pandemic, each meet held a lot more meaning for the team With the shorter season in mind, Litzinger spoke to the gems that stood out to
him in particular.
When speaking about the women’s team, Litzinger said, “I think beating the University of Louisville, who is a traditional rival for us, and always ranked incredibly high in the nc AA, you know, to beat them in a dual meet. o f course, also to have our highest nc AA finish since 2014.”
For the men’s team, he said, “I think we had some disappointment at the Acc championship, but we rallied at the nc AA meet … I applaud the guys every time they stepped up, and how they had to try to do it as a team. I think the victory in the standout for our guy’s team was learning how to perform as a team.”
he also mentioned that for sophomore Jack hoagland,
“Jack getting the Acc swimmer of the year is no small feat, especially in the most competitive league in the country.”
All of this season, however, would not have been possible without the contribution of the seniors. The c lass of 2021 consisted of JP b ecker, William c umberland, s adler, mcKeen, b rendan s antana, s klar Fore, c ailey Grunhard, Kate mc c ahan, c arly Quast, Lindsay s tone, Kelly s traub and r achel Wittmer. e ach of the seniors contributing a positive influence on the rest of the team.
c ontinuing, in a nostalgic tone, Litzinger went on, “This is going to be a tough class to see go out the door. I remember where I was for every one of them when they
committed.”
Litzinger said that the most important thing about his job is building a rapport with his student-athletes. s eeing them succeed in and out of the pool is one of the biggest thrills for him.
he concluded by saying, “I think the biggest memories that I’m going to have of these young men and women are watching them grow, and knowing that they’re going to leave this university and our program as successful people. That is that’s my biggest thrill and that is going to be my biggest memory. The thing I look forward to most is seeing them in the fall when they come back to visit.”
Contact Sean Kelley at skelley5@nd.edu
ND CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD
Program raises the bar in distance running
By NATE MOLLER sports Writer
It was a bizarre year for cross country in the midst of the cov I d -19 pandemic with the national meet taking place at the beginning of m arch rather than its usual n ovember date.
d espite this, the men’s cross country team managed to finish second in the country, which was good for their best finish since 1957.
The Irish had six AllAmericans at the national meet and five runners in the top 25.
The All-Americans were junior d anny Kilrea, senior Yared n uguse, senior Andrew Alexander, junior Jake r enfree and freshman Josh m ethner.
With all six of these runners returning for the Irish next year, the Irish are primed for success going forward, and head coach s ean c arlson is excited for the upcoming years.
“I think we have the recruiting classes and the pieces to continue to have our men podium well into the future. I think we’ve created a system where our
ND MEN’S GOLF
talent and our success can be sustainable, which is just not usually the case at the nc AA level,” c arlson said. “I really think we have put ourselves in a position to make the podium and continue to do that moving forward.”
The top finisher for the Irish at the national meet was d anny Kilrea, who finished the 8K race in 30:11.5 which was good for tenth place in the country.
c arlson discussed how much Kilrea has matured as a runner and person since his freshman year.
“I’m just really proud of d anny for how he’s grown and matured over the last couple of years. I think that’s the thing I’m more proud of than his tenth place. It’s just how much he’s matured from freshman year until now as a person,” c arlson said.
c arlson discussed what it meant for his program to take second at the national meet.
“It’s a huge step for our program. If you look at the blue bloods across the country or teams that have been on the podium in the past 10 years in cross country nationals, you can count them on one hand basically. It’s a
pretty small group,” c arlson said. “I think the thing that it means for us in the future is now we know that we’e certainly capable of it.”
The women’s team also had a successful year with some new runners stepping up and improving over the course of the season. Although head coach m att s parks decided not to take his team to nationals this year, he was still proud of his team’s performance over the course of the year.
“I would call [the season] respectable,” s parks said. “We were still in the top half of the conference meet and were only 15 points out of second place.”
s parks believes that this year was a great learning experience for his runners as well.
“I think a lot of the women learned that everyone counts,” s parks said. “You can’t count on someone else to pick up the slack if you don’t perform.”
Although s parks “pulled the plug” on the cross country season by deciding not to bring his team to nationals, he believes this was the right choice and that it helped his women get ready for the
track season.
“They didn’t want to go out and perform if they knew that they weren’t going to be ready for something. And as a result of taking that reset to the season, right now we’ve got ten women already qualified for the regional [track] meet where traditionally we only qualified five or six for the regional meet,” s parks said. “There’s a newfound confidence amongst the group that just wasn’t there in February when we were running that awkward winter cross country season.”
s parks mentioned sophomore o livia m arkezich as a runner who has really developed over the course of the cross country season and into the track season.
“ s he had an okay [cross country] season but since some of those struggles in cross country, she qualified in indoor nationals as an individual and she’s one of the favorites in the conference going into the steeplechase and one of the top eight to ten marks in the country in track and field now,” s parks said. “ s he had a respectable cross country season, which led to an elite indoor and outdoor track season.”
s ince the end of the cross country season, track and field has been in action as well.
s ome of the highlights for the Irish in the indoor season included senior r achel Tanczos taking second in the weight throw and freshman Jadin o ’ b rien finishing fourth in the country in the heptathlon.
The highlight of the outdoor season so far was arguably this past weekend in the o regon Twilight m eet at historic h ayward Field where Yared n uguse recorded the fastest outdoor 1500m time by an American in 2021. n uguse used his signature kick to win the race by 0.01 seconds in a time of 3:35.96.
The outdoor season is starting to really ramp up with the A cc c hampionships slated to take place this weekend in r aleigh, n orth c arolina.
The Irish will look to qualify as many runners as possible for the regional and national meets scheduled to take place at the end of m ay and middle of June.and middle of June.
Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu
Irish looking to make noise in postseason
By ANDREW McGUINNESS sports Wr iter
even though it is a socially distanced sport by nature, playing a full season of golf during a pandemic was as different and difficult as any other sport for the Irish.
“I think challenging is an understatement,” head coach John handrigan said when asked about the challenges of the season. “It was a difficult year just because you didn’t know what was gonna happen next.”
Like most sports teams, the Irish men’s golf team dealt with cov Id protocols and contact tracing all-season long. They dealt with missing players for tournaments. Ten months separated their final event before cov Id (march 3, 2020) to their first tournament this season (Jan. 17-19, 2021). “As a team, we just made a goal to embrace everything that comes our way, and accept it, and do our best to move on from it,” handrigan said. handrigan spoke very highly of his team, and with good reason. After a couple of middle-of-thepack finishes to start the year, the Irish caught fire. notre dame strung together a trio of consecutive top-three finishes from march 9 to April 10, topping out
with second-place finishes in the michigan state Invite and stitch Intercollegiate at n c state. They also placed third in the Augusta haskins Award Invitational.
Asked about how the team improved this year, handrigan said, “our team is not afraid to (shoot) low. sometimes in golf, people are content with scores around par. some of our guys shot some really low numbers this year.”
The stats certainly back that up. Five nd golfers — senior davis chatfield, sophomore Palmer Jackson, freshman Tucker clark, junior Taichi Kho, and junior Andrew o’Leary — had season lows of 67 or better. chatfield (-4), Jackson (-1), and clark (-1) ended the regular season averaging below par. by its nature, golf is an individual sport. Yet the Irish came together on and off the links all season long, pushing each other to do their best. “The mental toughness and handling adversity on our team has improved dramatically this year. We have a team now that push each other every single day. They just don’t take days off,” handrigan said.
The Irish have made consistent progress since handrigan arrived from the University of Florida in July 2017, and it’s that
dedication to hard work and consistency that has been a huge why. “I know that’s kind of a cliche, but I don’t think people really know what hard work is until you really apply it and enforce it” handrigan said. The Irish have done that in spades all season.
of course, notre dame’s season is far from over if they have anything to say about it. The Irish will play in the nc AA regionals from may 17-19, entering as the number five seed out of thirteen teams playing at oklahoma state’s Karsten creek Golf club in stillwater, oklahoma. They will hope to make a run to the nc AA championships, which will be played in scottsdale, Arizona from may 28-31.
The future certainly looks bright for the notre dame men’s golf program. The Irish have a very young roster; chatfield and Alex Jamieson are their only seniors, and more than half of the golfers on this year’s team are freshmen or sophomores. With increased mental fortitude and decreasing scores, the Irish plan to continue their upward trend for the rest of 2021 and in the years to come.
Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu
Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
Irish sophomore Palmer Jackson recorded second lowest season stroke average in program history with 70.79 strokes/round for19 rounds.
After COVID roster problems, Irish look ahead
By MANNION McGINLEY sports editor
It was a difficult season in a difficult year for the notre dame women’s tennis team, who finished the season 11-13 (5-9 Acc) due to cov Id-19 roster gaps and cancelations. however, despite the adversity, Irish head coach Allison silverio was proud of how her team handled the situation and discussed her favorite aspects of the season.
“I would say for this year, just knowing all of the adversity and challenges that we faced, as a team and as individuals, with pandemic and the social justice issues as well; it was really neat to see our team come together for the betterment of our community and keeping one another safe, and keeping everyone healthy,” silverio said. “And the highlight we had was just us being able to come together, being able to
compete, and being grateful to all that helped us achieve that this year in the season.”
In order to make it to matches and games, Irish teams across the board had to pass cov Id tests within a certain number of days of gameplay or travel. The tennis team had a different experience than most, though, because the sport itself is naturally socially distanced.
“We were fortunate our training didn’t change too much,” silverio said. “We did not have to make too many modifications, since we were a less at risk sport, since we’re pretty socially distanced, just from a tennis component.”
because of that space on the court, if one person tested positive on the team, that was much less likely to implicate the rest of the roster. Individual players could miss matches, but the match could still go on.
Ultimately, that was a major factor in the way the year rounded out for the Irish record.
“We relied on the attitude of ‘hey, next one up, next player in,’” silverio said. “And everyone took on that role and fought their hardest out there. I think from a result standpoint, yes, we certainly wanted to be putting more wins in the winning column. but that was not in the cards this season. And so the areas that we did have control over from our effort, our attitude, again, our resilience was excellent. It just came a bit short, where we weren’t able to have those marquee wins, which would push us as a team into the nc AA tournament and into the postseason. but overall, just the strength and the resilience of our team that we had throughout a pandemic season is really going to push our program forward as we move into next year.”
The one thing they will look forward to is fall competition, which really couldn’t happen on the scale they would have liked it to this year.
“That will be the piece for us, that’s going to be a positive transition and change,” she said. “because we are going to have that opportunity early on in the fall when we start back to compete and be in the premier events of college tennis in division one.”
The team will return to play with the entire roster except seniors cameron corse and Ally bojczuk, who will be graduating. corse will be starting a position in June at sandler o’neill in manhattan, new York and bojczuk will be attending law school at belmont University in nashville, Tennessee. on top of the existing roster, the Irish will be adding four new freshmen into the program, or
“new blood,” as silverio jokingly called them. she expects to build off of this season with a new strength.
“I just have gratitude to our student athletes for committing to our health and safety and committing to being on the right side of the equation through this pandemic and unprecedented time,” silverio said. “For next year, I expect to see the resilience again and the way we responded to the adversity and the challenges of this season ... And of course, we’re very grateful for that opportunity. With the adversity in the challenges that we went through this year, I believe our toughness is going to be leveled up even more from what we had this year. That is really going to differentiate us from the pack.”
Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu
Irish ride ‘remarkable’ year into postseason
By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate sports editor
To say it has been a monumental year for the notre dame baseball team would be an understatement. The Irish posted their highest ranking for the program since 2001, eventually reaching no. 2 in baseball America’s Top 25 after methodically rising in the polls throughout the season. They did so with a stacked schedule; the Irish battled every team in the Acc except m iami, all of whom have been ranked at one time or another, according to head coach Link Jarrett.
“every time we step on the field, it’s a challenge,” Jarrett said. “And the stakes have gotten higher each week ... every time you step on the field this time of year, it’s a tribute to the toughness and the consistency of the players.”
so far, the Irish have met that challenge. despite being picked to finish last in the Acc’s Atlantic division in the preseason poll, the Irish clinched the division saturday night following losses by Louisville and Florida state. It was the first time notre dame had picked up a regular season conference title since the Irish won the big e ast in 2006.
To date, Jarrett said, the team has travelled over 8,000 miles. before their first game against Wake Forest, the team had not practiced outside, and had to ease back into playing after a long year of obstacles.
“What these guys have done has been remarkable,” Jarrett said. “It is remarkable: the consistency, the toughness, what we’ve done. It’s been a joy.”
c oming back from having their season cut short due to cov I d -19, Jarrett has come to notice both strengths and weaknesses among his team members. he named the defense as being one of the highlights of the team, with only some of the success being shown in statistics.
“The above-average play doesn’t really show up in your stats, and we’ve made countless of those,” Jarrett said.
Though the team effort was effective, the pitching staff is an area Jarrett identified as needing some improvement in the future. he named their development as being an important undertaking for the team, with injuries causing major setbacks to the progression. however, this does not diminish the efforts of the pitchers that saw the mound.
“We had guys really step up and develop,” Jarrett said. “John m ichael bertrand has been an exceptional starter, and Tanner Kohlhepp has been, if not the best reliever in the Acc or the country, it’s right up there. And those guys have helped us, but we need to continue to develop and evolve starting pitching so that we’re not relying on the bullpen quite as much as we have this year.”
In terms of offense, Jarrett noted the importance of keeping themselves in the games and finding ways to win. senior first baseman niko Kavadas, sophomore infielder and pitcher Jack brannigan and senior outfielder r yan c ole were some of the players who were helpful in this respect.
Though there were
inconsistencies, the team was able to make remarkable stands against formidable opponents this season. A highlight-reel moment occurred against notre dame rival bc , when the Irish scored 12 runs in the eighth inning to erase a nine-run deficit.
The Irish performed a similar comeback against Georgia Tech when they scored eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings en route to a 10-9 lead. Though these events certainly stick out, Jarrett said acknowledging the lesser-known plays is important as well.
“I cannot tell you how many moments and defining plays — probably some of which I have forgotten about — that have been pivotal in helping us be so consistent,” Jarrett said. “but man, the boston c ollege and the Georgia Tech, just those were ... those were amazing. You just don’t see that in our sport often, if ever.”
Looking ahead, the team will be aided by young talent that did not get much time on the field this season. Freshman pitcher r yan Lynch, freshman outfielder brady Gumpf, freshman outfielder TJ Williams and freshman catcher danny neri were some of the players named by Jarrett that were stuck behind older players.
“They’ll step in there and impact the program,” Jarrett said.
As the regular season draws to a close, the team looks ahead to the postseason and the possibility of hosting a regional. Jarrett said that he believes his team has earned the right to do so, but he is not sure whether state
guidelines would comply with such an event.
on may 14, the nc AA division 1 s election c ommittee named notre dame one of 20 potential regional host sites. regardless of the outcome, Jarrett said his team has been preparing for the postseason with every game played this spring.
“There’s not another sport that has 14 teams in the Acc that have all been ranked, and we’ve had to play all but
one,” Jarrett said. “This is national championship caliber, every single weekend. s o we’ve kind of modeled it after ‘These are what the super regionals are going to be like.’ ... All of this is a credit to the guys and what they’ve been able to accomplish, and to have these conversations is special.”
Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu
RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer
Irish junior left-handed pitcher Aiden Tyrell throws a pitch during Notre Dame’s 0-2 loss to Duke on March 21 at Frank Eck Stadium.
s weet said that she has had a “blast” this year in being a part of the group.
“i think this is definitely one of the most fun teams we’ve had,” she affirmed. “We all just get along so great. We’re a total family on this team — we have fun together, we laugh
Football
the chance to play in the acc , and we kind of beat up on the acc o bviously we would have loved to win the acc c hampionship, but just given the chance to play in an acc c hampionship game as a n otre d ame player is something that no one got to experience before, and that’s very unique.”
a fter cruising to a 52-0 win over s outh f lorida in the second game of the year, the season was placed on hold, and a game against Wake f orest was cancelled due to positive covid -19 cases within the i rish program. e kanayake discussed the difficulty of the shutdown midseason.
“ o ur program is kind of built to deal with adversity, and our coaches and strength staff kind of prepared us inadvertently for this moment throughout my four years,” e kanayake said. “We were able to really deal with covid and then hunker down and when we got back to it, we were very dedicated, and we were very focused on what we had to do.”
The i rish returned to action after a lengthy delay for a night game in n otre d ame s tadium against f lorida s tate.
d espite being close early, the i rish were able to pull away towards the end of the second half and secure a comfortable 42-26 victory over the s eminoles.
a fter the f lorida s tate game, the i rish secured another victory against Louisville. h owever, the offense struggled mightily throughout, putting up only 12 points en route to a 12-7 victory. e kanayake discussed the team’s response to the sluggish victory.
“We knew that that wasn’t indicative of our ability, but it didn’t really get us down,” e kanayake said. “We were confident … we knew what we were capable of as an offense. i don’t think anyone lost faith in any position group or group of guys. We knew what we’re capable of. a nd we knew we had to show that, and that’s what we did.”
The i rish offense showed
with each other — and that’s definitely contributed to our success this year: just playing loose, having fun and ultimately just playing together every single game.”
a ll of these qualities contributed to The observer’s decision to name s weet Women’s a thlete of the Year. b etween her team mentality and her impressive athletic abilities, s weet has exhibited her talent
their capability on the road over the next two weeks in victories over p ittsburgh and g eorgia Tech, winning by scores of 45-3 and 31-13, respectively.
i n both of those games, the offense put up over 400 yards and looked to be clicking on all cylinders.
a fter winning both of those games, the stage was set for the biggest moment of the season with undefeated, top-ranked c lemson coming to n otre d ame s tadium to face the fourth-ranked, undefeated i rish.
The game could not have been more entertaining.
d espite the i rish jumping out to an early lead in the first half, c lemson battled back and was able to take a seven point lead with only minutes left in the fourth quarter.
a lthough it looked bleak for the i rish, quarterback i an b ook and the i rish offense were able to tie the game after a legendary 91 yard touchdown drive that was capped by an avery d avis touchdown with 22 seconds remaining. The game would go to double overtime, where the i rish scored on offense first before sacking c lemson quarterback d J u iagalelei twice to force the Tigers to turn the ball over on downs and secure the victory.
e kanayake said that seeing the fans rush the field after the c lemson victory was the highlight of the year for him.
“ i t was one of the most memorable moments,” e kanayake said. “ i t was kind of a reward per se for enduring all the tribulations that covid had put on us all summer. a ll spring, we were forced to have meetings with spring ball over Zoom and we were forced to work out with masks. i t is needless to say it put a lot of stress on the season, and beating c lemson made it all worth it.”
The following week, the i rish took care of business on the road against b oston c ollege (45-31), which set up a top-25 matchup two weeks later against the n orth c arolina Tar h eels.
a lthough the i rish defense gave up touchdowns on the first two Tar h eels’ drives, the i rish defense
as a player and a leader.
“i’m very grateful,” she said. “i’m so grateful to be here and to just have spent four years at the university, and especially this year, i’m just so proud of our team for handling, obviously, all things covid it’s never easy to, one, go through a normal season but, two, especially to go through a season with covid involved. a nd we’ve handled
stiffened after that and only allowed three more points over the remainder of the game.
a Kyren Williams touchdown with just over a minute remaining secured the 31-17 road victory for the i rish. The final game of the regular season came against s yracuse on s enior d ay, and the i rish rolled to a 45-21 victory. With the victory, i an b ook secured his 30th career win at n otre d ame, which is good for the most in school history.
e kanayake talked about what s enior d ay was like this year in the midst of the pandemic.
“ i t looked a little different than normal s enior d ays, but it kind of gave it a very intimate feel to the whole night, more so than a normal s enior d ay night,” e kanayake said. “You had your family and your best friends up there watching you … b eing a walk-on, it was really awesome to get some more carries on s enior d ay, and sharing that with a lot of my walk-on buddies and just sharing that with my senior buddies — scholarship or walk-on — it was really special.”
a fter securing the victory, the i rish were set up for a rematch against c lemson in the acc c hampionship game.
everything very well. We didn’t let any setback impact us. i think we did a great job and i’m just so, so grateful and so proud of this team on how we’ve handled this year so far.”
reflecting upon her time at notre dame, s weet named her teammates and the university as being incredibly important to her. nearly 180 games as an i rish player have allowed
u nfortunately for the i rish, this game was much different from n ovember’s game in s outh b end, and Trevor Lawrence and the c lemson offense were able to roll against the i rish and secure a convincing 34-10 victory.
d espite the loss, the i rish were still selected for the c ollege f ootball p layoff, setting up a matchup against top-ranked a labama in the r ose b owl. The game would be played in a T&T s tadium in a rlington, Texas, due to covid -19 concerns in p asadena.
e kanayake discussed what it meant to him to play in the r ose b owl.
“ i t was very special,”
e kanayake said. “ i ’ve dreamt of it. i think half my teammates had dreamt of playing in the r ose b owl.
g ranted, it was in d allas and not p asadena, but it was still the r ose b owl nonetheless, and everyone could feel that p laying against the best in the country in a labama is something that, as a n otre d ame student, you don’t really know if you’re going to get an opportunity to play a labama, but it was really special.”
i t was apparent from the start that the c rimson Tide was the better of the two teams, and a labama cruised to a comfortable 31-17
her to define a legacy on the team and on campus, and it is an experience s weet said she is extremely grateful to have had.
“This is a dream come true being here,” she said. “i couldn’t have drawn up a better plan. s o overall, i’m just grateful.”
Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu
victory over the i rish. d espite the loss, e kanayake was very fortunate to experience the r ose b owl with his teammates.
“ d espite the outcome, our team is such a tight knit group and it’s really a brotherhood,” e kanayake said. “Win or lose, we have each other’s back and we stick together and that’s no different in the r ose b owl against a labama … i was just fortunate to be out there with my best friends and my brothers for life and to be able to play on the biggest stage and support those guys.” a lthough e kanayake’s time as a part of the n otre d ame football team is over, he has big academic and career plans for himself going forward.
“ m y plan is to go to medical school, and then i want to go into surgery … some sort of special surgery like cardiothoracic surgery,” e kanayake said. “ i want to get my master’s in policy too, and try to figure out a way to implement a new and innovative system to look at healthcare policy to try to increase healthcare accessibility for people in developing countries.”
Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu
Photo Courtesy of ND Athletics
Irish sophomore tight end Michael Meyer hauls in a pass and readies to run during Notre Dame’s 14-31 loss to No. 1 ranked Alabama in Rose Bowl College Football Playoff at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 1.
collegiate career off to a hot start, as the Irish visited No. 9 LSU.
“LSU set an attendance record with 13,700” Kavadas recalled. “My first ever hit was an RBI double off an All-American in Zach Hess, so that’s something I can always hang my hat on.”
Hess was an All-American and future 7th-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers, and Kavadas not only drilled the double, but also finished the game 2-4 with 3 RBI as the Irish went on to take two of three from the Tigers.
However, the on-field success was not always consistent for the Irish. Kavadas hit .299 his freshman season with ten extra-base hits, but Notre Dame finished 24-30. They matched that record the following season while Kavadas’ average dipped a little to .274, but his power numbers went up as he notched 12 bombs and 13 doubles, driving in 43 runs.
Kavadas’s junior season started off promising, both individually and for the team, but after blasting seven home runs in 13 games, Kavadas and his teammates saw their season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were 11-2 when the season got canceled,” Kavadas said. “My previous two years, we severely underperformed, but when Coach [Link] Jarrett got hired, he transformed the culture...We stepped on the field against UNC, at their place, in a series that nobody expected us to win, and we swept them. It was really cool, and that was the confidence we needed... that was our coming-out party, and now we are here to stay.”
Ari Denning | The Observer Irish senior left-fielder Niko Kavadas steps up in the box during Notre Dame’s 10-9 win over Georgia Tech at Frank Eck Stadium on Apr. 9.
The Irish stunned the ACC with their opening sweep of the Tar Heels, and they followed that up with a gritty non-conference win against Radford, pushing the record to 11-2.
The next day, the Irish got on the bus for Louisville, who had swept the Irish the previous two seasons-and whom Notre Dame had not beaten since 2011--before they joined the ACC.
“My [now-senior] class had had Louisville circled on the schedule forever,” Kavadas remembered. “We hadn’t beat them my first two years...We got on the
bus to get to Louisville for a lift, and we got Twitter notifications that the NCAA was suspending spring sports, and the bus just pulled a U-Turn. It was devastating.”
The sudden end to the season was difficult to deal with, but ultimately, Notre Dame’s hot stretch to the season they never saw play out led them to what was been a wildly successful 2021. Kavadas has been at the heart of the turnaround, after setting lofty individual goals for himself ahead of the season.
“My two big goals were to have a 1-to-1 strikeoutto-walk ratio, and a 3:1 strikeout-to-home run ratio,” Kavadas said. “In order to make that happen, my goal was to put the ball in play early in counts, not miss hittable pitches - not only working on two-strike hitting but not getting myself into as many two-strike counts.”
The preparation has translated to the field, where Kavadas is a staple in the middle of the Irish order, ranking fourth in the nation in home runs per game with 15 in 36 contests.
As for those goals?
Kavadas currently has 34 strikeouts, 38 walks, and 15 home runs, reaching both of his statistical goals and marks which he had not hit in any of his prior three seasons. His OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) ranks 11th in the nation and second among Power-5 hitters.
And defensively, although it doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet, Kavadas has been nothing short of fantastic at first base for Notre Dame after switching from third base, where he started his career.
“I’ve improved my leftto-right range, my lateral mobility, and I’ve also improved my stretch,” Kavadas said of his defensive ability, “I think I’ve saved some errors and saved some big runs for our team making some picks and some difficult plays.”
Over the last two seasons, Kavadas has made just a single error. He’s also a vacuum on balls in the dirt, helping the Irish to the second-best fielding percentage in the nation.
One of the best parts of enjoying a career year in a senior season is playing in front of the student body, and Kavadas has noted a significantly improved atmosphere at Frank Eck Stadium this season as the Irish have fought their way from being picked to 13th out of 14 teams in the ACC to ranked as high as No. 2 in the country.
“It’s been really cool. My freshman and sophomore
year, we didn’t have many students come to the games” Kavadas noted, also recalling the fact that the Irish didn’t play at home in his abbreviated junior campaign, “This year, that’s been the most fun part. You can hear the students that are here - they make it loud, and they make it fun. It’s a lot more fun to play when the students are engaged.”
The Irish have performed well this year at home, racking up a 14-6 record, and they’ve accumulated some fantastic moments throughout the season.
They made their triumphant return to South Bend March 19 with a 13-inning victory over Duke, a game in which Kavadas blasted a game-tying home run and fellow senior Ryan Cole walked it off with his first career home run. The next weekend, Notre Dame finally got their matchup with Louisville.
After dropping the first
game of the series, Cole did the honors in the victory the next night, blasting a two-run home run to win the contest.
The Irish grabbed the college baseball world’s attention by splitting the series with the No. 6 Cardinals, ending a 20-game losing streak against Louisville.
“My favorite memory has to be the walk-off home run against Louisville,” Kavadas said, “That sparked the interest in college baseball, and seeing a fellow senior in Ryan Cole walk it off was really cool”.
Kavadas also notched a home run in the Louisville series, but now, the goal has become a lot bigger than snapping a losing streak. Kavadas noted the goal at the beginning of the season was to host one of the 16 four-team regionals that start the NCAA Tournament, but also
stated “The ultimate goal is to make it to Omaha.”
While the Irish already had their Senior day, their top-10 ranking gives them a probable chance at hosting an NCAA regional, and potentially a best-of-three Super Regional series, should they advance through the first round.
It would be a storybook ending to a fantastic career for Kavadas and the senior class, which together have brought the Irish program from an ACC afterthought to championship contenders.
“I think we are one of the best teams in the country, so putting ourselves in position to host a regional and make that Omaha run is something that we know we can do,” Kavadas said.
Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu
ARI DENNING | The Observer
Irish senior Niko Kavadas readies for a pitch during Notre Dame’s 3-2 victory over NC State on April 16 at Frank Eck Stadium. Kavadas recorded a game-high of 8 putouts in the game against the Wolfpack.
Men’s soccer falls short of NCAA tournament but take positives from season
By LIAM COOLICAN sports Writer
n otre d ame’s season began with an exhibition match against Louisville in a park just outside of Indianapolis. It ended “probably one game away” from being selected to the nc AA tournament, according to head coach c had r iley.
The Irish had an up and down year, playing competitive matches in the spring and the fall due to multiple conferences canceling fall sports due to the pandemic.
“ o ne of the positives of having those two seasons is you do feel you got what we would think of as two years of growth in this one year,” r iley said.
The Irish played one of the toughest schedules in the country, including five games against eventual final four teams n orth c arolina and Pittsburgh.
“Their ability to handle the academic [rigor], the cov I d protocols, and then to still play arguably the toughest schedule in the country and perform decently well I think says a lot about the group,” r iley said. “It says a lot about the character of the individuals as well as the team that we were able to persevere through this
most unusual year.”
Irish junior forward Tyler s hea dribbles the ball during n otre d ame’s 2-0 loss to v irginia Tech on s enior n ight on Apr. 9 at Alumni s tadium.
The Irish started the fall portion of the campaign 3-3 and needed a win in an early n ovember contest against Louisville in order to qualify for the conference tournament, a moment r iley said defined the season.
The Irish quickly went up 3-0 in the opening twenty minutes, thanks to a firsthalf hat trick from junior forward Jack Lynn, and held on for a 4-1 win.
In the A cc quarterfinals the following week, senior midfielder Aidan m cFadden scored a 100th-minute free-kick to give the Irish a 1-0 victory over n orth c arolina. h owever, the fall portion of the season came to an end when n otre d ame fell 3-1 to top-seeded Pittsburgh.
The Irish could have secured an automatic bid to the nc AA tournament by winning the conference tournament but were instead forced to attempt to qualify as an at-large team in the spring.
The Irish started the spring schedule strong, winning three out of
recommit to those principals and values and work that it takes to be where we want to be, and with that, knowing that there’s so many good performances that we actually feel quite confident going into the year.”
All nine of n otre d ame’s losses were by a goal or fewer, and the nc AA tournament shrunk from 64 teams to just 36. Prior to this year, n otre d ame had made eight consecutive tournaments.
Lynn was named to the All-A cc first team after the conclusion of the season, while m cFadden was named to the second team.
“Jack’s continued to build on some great early seasons, and I know he’ll have his best year yet his senior year,” r iley said.
granted at n otre d ame, but they were just a really great group of guys,” r iley said. r iley replaced legendary head coach b obby c larke, who had led the Irish for 33 seasons, in the spring of 2018.
“When a new coach comes in it’s disruptive no matter what,” r iley said. “I think they just did such a wonderful job of making sure the core identity of our programs stayed intact as we evolved forward and I thought they did a wonderful job of being great teammates…. Above all, we try to have a group of guys that are great teammates to one another and I think this senior class did a great job of living that example.”
their first four contests, but dropped the final four matches of the season and ultimately missed out on the nc AA tournament.
“The captains and the team are looking at it as [we are] really disappointed,” r iley said, “ b ut how do we
Lynn led the squad with eight goals, while m cFadden finished with four goals and a team-high four assists. “Aidan has his best year in a n otre d ame uniform,” r iley said. “[ h e] hit a new level of confidence this year.”
m cFadden recently signed with Atlanta United’s reserve team, and the Irish also graduate starting goalkeeper Keagen m cLaughlin and the majority of his classmates.
“You sort of take it for
The Irish still return a strong core, led by Lynn and returning captains m ohammed o mar and Phillip Quinton, and will be vying for a return to the nc AA tournament, and potentially even more.
“At n otre d ame, the standard is always winning the championship,” r iley said. “ o ne of the things we need to do with some of these bigger games is turn them from ties or close losses to wins.”
Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu
Alex ChilikinA-Brown | The observer
Irish sophomores, midfielder Ethan O’Brien (left) and defender Mohammad Abualnadi (right), protect a loose ball from a Virgina Tech player during Notre Dame’s home loss 0-2 on April 9 in Alumni Stadium.
SofiA CrimiVAroli | The observer
Irish senior midfielder Aiden McFadden plants his foot before kicking the ball to a teammate cutting towards goal during Notre Dame’s 0-2 loss to Virginia Tech on Senior Day at Alumni Stadium on April 9.
saint mary’s sports: 2020-2021 in review
Belles faced COVID challenges head on, built team spirit around canceled seasons, rallied in spring
Basketball By JOHN STOLMEIER sports Writer
The saint mary’s basketball program looked forward to the 2021 season as an opportunity to compete at a high level and return to the m ichigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
but the team received bad news in the winter: the season they were looking forward to was never going to happen due to the cov Id-19 pandemic.
The belles head coach melissa makielski and her team were disappointed by the news, which was delivered over Zoom while the team was at home over the extended break saint mary’s winter break this year.
All the team’s preseason goals were immediately thrown out the window after hearing the news of their canceled season.
“It was a huge shock for them when it initially happened,” makielski said. “The hardest part was not having everybody together.”
competition was out of the equation, and practice was complicated by the pandemic. The belles stuck together and looked towards their seniors to lead the team through what essentially became an extended offseason. regardless, the saint mary’s basketball squad stayed focused and continued to work together to improve.
“There was disappointment at the beginning… as an athlete, the sport you play is an outlet,” makielski said. “every team wants to get better throughout the season, and that remained our goal.”
saint mary’s basketball will have a tough time going into next season with star senior forward Giavanna Paradiso, a 1000-point scorer who led the team with more than 16 points and almost 7.5 rebounds per game, graduating this year. The belles will also be losing two other seniors this year in guards carin Kaminski and sophie Koeppl.
makielski spoke at length about all three of her graduating seniors: “I mean, statistically, [Paradiso] has been a driving force for our team… she changed the outlook of the program when she came in and really pushed everyone around her to get better. carin has a passion for basketball and loves playing the game. she set an example for the younger players by practicing with the team this year when she didn’t have to. sophie Koeppl one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. set the example for the rest of the team, especially our returners for next year.”
“All three of our seniors have left a mark on our program,” makielski affirmed. she was
adamant that the seniors were a key factor in keeping the team together this year.
The belles will look to start strong coming back next year and continue to improve the program.
Contact John Stolmeier at jstolmei@nd.edu
Softball
By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate sports editor
The belles’ softball team wrapped up their spring season on Friday after playing a schedule consisting entirely of conference opponents. They finished with a final record of 13-17, playing a 30-game season as opposed to the standard 40game lineup. head coach Kelli martin said the record does not necessarily do the team justice, however.
“I really do think that we played better than what our record speaks for,” martin said.
The team’s 2021 graduates are graduate student third baseman Alyssa Gutierrez, senior outfielder sydney swartz and senior infielder JoAnna Keilman. All three players hail from south bend, bringing competition and camaraderie with them to saint mary’s.
“They’re the local group,” martin said. “They were rivals a little bit, and sometimes teammates, in high school.”
The team is set apart by its overall cohesiveness. Though they are losing a decent amount of leadership this year, the group largely consists of underclassmen who have already formed bonds with each other.
martin hopes to develop the group during their first couple of years in order to have their hard work eventually pay off, hopefully leading to a regional bid in the near future.
“We already have freshmen that are naturally leaders, and they’re kind of coming out,” martin said. “That’s cool to see.”
cov Id-19 proved to be a challenge, even as the team’s practice schedule remained relatively stable. martin mentioned that the players had a large workload in the fall, with some struggling to readjust to the quantity of assignments after being virtual for the previous spring. This unexpected challenge led to several students dropping from the team in order to focus on their studies. After speaking to coaches in the nc AA, martin said this has been a trend among other teams as well.
despite the struggles of adjusting back to in-person classes and responsibilities, martin hopes to build off of the connections made among the players this year.
“I guess my plan is just really trying to cultivate [the friendships between one another],” martin said. “I think that that’s gonna really help these girls grow because athletically, they have the skills, and then this is just going to set them apart of just trying to constantly cultivate that culture that we want to have.”
Contact Emily DeFazio at edefazio@nd.edu
Volleyball
By MANNION McGINLEY sports editor
After the m id-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association ( mIAA) postponed fall competitions to the spring, saint mary’s announced in early February that they would be cancelled due to the cov Id-19 pandemic. As a decision specific to st. mary’s and not to the rest of the conference, the belles’ volleyball team did not see it coming. head coach denise van de Walle explained the team’s immediate reactions. “When we first found out we were crushed,” said van de Walle. “We were so excited to start practices later in February. We got together and talked the night we found out and cried, talked and came up with a list of questions we wanted to ask the administration.” before the decision, the belles had spent a good portion of quarantine planning for the season and how they were going to bounce back from a 1316 season the year before.
“We were really excited and looking forward to the season,” coach van de Walle said.
“We had spent the past several months on zoom calls talking about how committed we were to strive for a championship culture. We were all in!” not only had they gotten the energy where it needed to be, but the results were shifting in their favor as well. The last two months of the 2019-2020 season saw more wins than the first half of the campaign. “We had several seniors [then juniors] who were peaking at the right time,” she said, “And several new players who were very good, too, and we were excited to see how good we could be!”
This year, they will say goodbye to those seniors though. despite the extra year of eligibility, setter morgan vanderWey and middle hitter Lindsay Pelletier will be graduating. vanderWey led the team in assists with 830 in her junior season. she had a total of 2853 assists in her career, as well as 163 kills and 737 digs. Pelletier played in all
107 sets of her junior season, and had 507 kills and 123 digs throughout her three years with the belles.
With everyone else returning, including sophomore Kathryn barnes and freshmen colleen mccarthy, molly Pooler and Karla r igan — all of whom have yet to see the court in a belles uniform — coach van de Walle is ready to get the team back into high gear.
“our main goals will be to be in the best shape possible and be top 4 in the conference.”
van de Walle said. “We want to gel as a team and play hard for each other.”
Gelling on the court should be easy for them, as van de Walle said they already have off the court and part of that is due to the disappointment of not playing this year.
“We are a close-knit team with excellent team chemistry.”
van de Walle said. “Losing our seniors will be hard but I’m looking forward to seeing what our leaders will look like.
I’m very optimistic!””
Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu
Soccer
By GREG McKENNA sports Writer
In August of 2020, head coach Jesse Urquhart said that while his team was obviously disappointed about the postponement of their fall season, he was excited about the prospect of using the fall as an extended offseason to prepare for a spring campaign. so when the belles found out saint mary’s would postpone fall sports entirely, even though the mIAA would resume play, Urquhart said it “certainly wasn’t easy” for his players.
Urquhart was not allowed to take part in any athletic-related activities either, but he said his student-athletes organized training themselves to prepare for this coming fall.
“And we saw not only some great leadership from our upperclasswomen, but we also had a number of freshmen who took it upon themselves to step up and take the opportunity to lead, to help inspire and to motivate the team to get together and be together on the field and continue to train and develop,” he said.
both of the belles’ seniors, defenders megan saunders and Kelsey matyi, will be moving on after graduation. saunders was accepted into duke’s physical therapy graduate program, and matyi, an elementary education major, is currently considering a number of teaching offers.
Urquhart said saunders, a three-year captain who
started all but one of saint mary’s games since her arrival, is a fearless competitor.
“she plays with that reckless abandon that coaches love and teammates love and that makes parents and athletic trainers cringe,” he said.
matyi played nine games her freshman year before a recurring foot injury kept her off the field during her sophomore and junior years. According to Urquhart, doctors said the injury would never fully heal, but matyi was primed to return for her senior campaign anyway.
“she said ‘the hell with it,’” Urquhart said. “And she found a way to train through the pain. And that’s an understatement for what she was going through.”
Urquhart said his “heart breaks” that the season was taken from matyi, but he said that her selflessness allowed her to have just as big of an impact on the program as saunders.
“she routinely put on a brave face for her teammates — often neglecting her own feelings — to help her teammates,” he said.
The season-opener in the fall will be the first time all the belles will have donned a saint mary’s uniform in at least a year-and-a-half. Urquhart said he knows his players will be incredibly hungry to take the field, so it will be his job to manage their excitement.
“We want them to hit the ground running,” he said. “And we have to make sure that we do it in a way that is healthy and that allows them to acclimate to the college game quickly. but it’s a good problem to have, for sure.”
Contact Greg McKenna at gmckenn2@nd.edu
Tennis
By DOMINIC GIBSON s ports Writer
It was a season full of unpredictability for the s aint m ary’s c ollege tennis team. Through it all, the b elles finished with a 6-6 record on the season and 4-3 in m IAA c onference play, ultimately falling 4-0 in the conference tournament semifinals to h ope c ollege (12-3, 7-0 m IAA).
Finding a balance between schoolwork and athletics is always a challenge but it was especially so this season with a shortened year both on the court and academically. s t. m ary’s head coach d ale c ampbell was very pleased with the way his team handled their business in the classroom.
“ b asically, I am proud of our team for managing academics, in a compressed year and in a compressed
season,” c ampbell said. “They handled it all as best I could. c ollege students and student-athletes did not get to enjoy a typical year, but they adapted well.”
Although the squad did not quite meet overall team expectations, the season was still full of growth and improvement for the b elles, something that was not a shock for coach c ampbell.
“We didn’t quite meet our expectations, yeah it was going to be an unpredictable season. You weren’t sure who was playing each week for your opponent or your own team,” he said. “It wasn’t a big surprise, but we had a lot of individual improvement from a number of players.”
When asked about standout players, coach c ampbell had high praise for two of his seniors, Lilly c hamberlin and m egan d avy, the latter of which secured two prestigious end-of-season awards to cap off the year. d avy picked up three conference singles wins and a 6-1 record in doubles to earn her second career All- m IAA firstteam honors as well as the s ue Little s portsmanship Award which is given to the athlete that best exemplifies sportsmanship both on and off the court.
“ s enior Lilly c hamberlin had her best season and had a lot of big wins for us,” c ampbell said. “ m egan d avy definitely led our team, earning first-team All- m IAA and also won the m IAA c onference s ue Little s portsmanship Award for the second time in her career.”
d espite the shortened season and a very condensed academic year, coach c ampbell was able to learn how adaptable and flexible his team was in the face of adversity, something that he hopes will carry over into next season and for many more after.
“ s tudent-athletes manage the situations well, and they were fortunate to have some activity in this year,” c ampbell said. “They are resilient.”
Contact Dominic Gibson at dgibson@hcc-nd.edu
Golf
By GRANT DelVECCHIO s ports Writer
The 2020-2021 s aint m ary’s golf team captured an m IAA championship and advanced to its tenth d III nc AA tournament in program history under first-year head coach Jordan Koehler. At the tournament, the b elles posted a team score of 1008 after three rounds of competition which put them in seventeenth place overall.
Though the team was unable to advance to the fourth
round as one of the top fifteen teams remaining in the field, senior h unter Kehoe’s exceptional spring continued. Kehoe shot 7678-79-75 over the entire four rounds to post a total score of 308 (+20), a performance that earned her a tie for sixth place individually. Kehoe’s efforts earned her All-American recognition for the second consecutive season.
A few weeks prior, the Traverse c ity, m ichigan native captured the m IAA m ost valuable Golfer award in the final m IAA Jamboree of the season after shooting an event-best even-par 72 at Thornapple Pointe. Kehoe became the first-ever s aint m ary’s golfer to be awarded league mv P for the third time, and she also garnered First Team All- m IAA honors for the fourth time in her career.
This season, in particular, Kehoe posted a team-leading average score of 76 and had the best individual score in three of seven regularseason tournaments. Junior s ydney h ruskoci, who was second on the team for the season with an average score of 80, also earned First Team All- m IAA recognition for the third time in her career after a fifth-place finish at the final event with a score of 80.
Freshmen h aley Angel and Ashley b rewster and sophomore e rin b ennett were the other three b elles who appeared in every match of the season with Kehoe and h ruskoci.
o verall, the b elles won five out of the seven tournaments they played in during the spring season and came in second place in the other two. In other words, coach Koehler had one heck of a first season as head coach, especially considering she was hired in January and the first tournament was played in m arch.
Koehler, a 2019 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, came to s aint m ary’s from the University of d ubuque, where she served as a graduate assistant to the men’s and women’s golf program for two seasons. The women’s program won its first-ever American r ivers c onference championships in 2019 and 2020 with the help of Koehler’s leadership, and d ubuque was set to make its first nc AA d III tournament in the spring of 2020 prior to the cancellations.
In her own career at Illinois Wesleyan, Koehler was awarded c ollege c onference of Illinois & Wisconsin all-conference all four of her seasons and is the Titans’ all-time leader in career birdies. Koehler also owns two of the top ten lowest season scoring averages in Illinois Wesleyan history
and was a team captain in her final three seasons.
If this season proved anything, it was that the future is bright for the b elles.
Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu
Cross Country
By Sean Kelley sports Writer
With the cov I d -19 pandemic, c oach Jackie b auters and the s aint m ary’s cross country team faced a challenge that no amount of training could have prepared them for, a season cancellation. The team was able to have a few practices in the fall, but after the season was ended, the focus switched to finding opportunities for team building.
“We did study tables once a week as a team,” c oach b auters said. “After, we had a team dinner in the dining hall. We tried to do a fun weekly activity, so we did scavenger hunts and team trivia. We really tried to keep the group together as much as we could.”
b eyond missing time for the team to be together, there is still uncertainty about the next season. b auters went on to discuss how her team has embraced the uncertainty.
“I think that’s one of the biggest lessons of the pandemic is flexibility and being adaptable. It’s not always fun, but I feel like that’s one of the greatest things that I’ve seen is that everybody is in the mentality of ‘okay we can pivot, we can do something different.’”
Adaptability has become a major theme for the b elles c ross c ountry team this season, and going into next, they will have to keep fighting and adapting. Assuming that next season will be on,
b auters believes there is much to look forward to.
“I think some of my girls are just so ready to just compete, that missing this season will not be an issue. I think we’re going to have some great seasons. o n the other hand, I’m sure there will be others that will struggle with getting back into it, so I think it will be a mixed bag.”
e ven with the unknowns that come with every season, b auters has been “chomping at the bit hoping that we can have as much of a normal season as possible.”
With this year behind them, the team will look to build on the lessons they learned and attack the summer workouts with anticipation.
o verall, after a season of trials and tribulation, the hardest part for b auters has been saying goodbye to her seniors.
s he said of her three seniors, Katie Glenn, s hanan h amilton and m aura h onan, “I wish we would have had that time together this season, and I wish them all the best as they continue their athletic careers. I know they’re going to keep running, biking and competing in triathlons. I love them and wish them the best!”
Contact Sean Kelley at skelley5@nd.edu
Lacrosse
By OLIVIA SCHATZ sports Writer
After an abrupt end to the 2020 season, the s t. m ary’s lacrosse team came back this year to win 13 out of 19 games. s ophomore e rin d oyle and Juniors Kathleen s oller and Isabella Thompson- d avoli, and all of them agreed that this season’s highlight was,
as d oyle put it “winning the conference tournament and going to the nc AA tournament. This was a first for us in program history and was a great experience.”
It took time and effort for the team to get to where it did. With last spring’s season ending without warning and many restrictions this season, d oyle said that “it was really important for everyone to be putting in individual work in the off-season.”
This wasn’t the only extra work the team had to put in. When I spoke to Thompsond avoli she remembered how specifically cov I d has impacted the game: “We had to play games in masks for the first half of our season. We always had to be masked during practice, on the sidelines, and on the bus. In addition, we got tested 3 times a week, a couple of us ended up in quarantine, and we were constantly reminded to distance ourselves while not engaged in active play.” b ut s t. m ary’s still had the best season in program history and were still able to overcome all of these challenges to form a close-knit team.
To keep their momentum heading into the next season, the team must continue to work as they did this past year. As d oyle leaves, her advice to the returning players coming back is to continue to work on the great bond the team has formed. m eanwhile, s oller and Thompson- d avoli both pin their future success on working on more technical skills, such as stick work and conditioning. s oller is confident that if they continue to work hard in the off-season they will return “stronger than ever.”
Contact Olivia Schatz at oschaz@nd.edu
ALLISON THORNTON | The Observer
Belles defensive midfielder Bridget Kane protects the ball as she runs down field during St. Mary’s 14-13 win over Hope. The Belles took home their first MIAA Championship and earned a NCAA Tournament spot.
holy cross sports: 2020-2021 in review
Saints establish varsity programs, men’s golf heads to National Championship for sixth time
Women’s Soccer
By LIAM COOLICAN sports Writer
When o mar Gallo took over the holy c ross women’s soccer team in 2018, he inherited a two-win program. After a tough first year, in which the team won just three games, Gallo elected to keep just six players from the 2018 roster for the next year.
d espite the lack of experience, Gallo guided the s aints to their first conference tournament appearance in program history in 2019. After the pandemic forced this year’s season to move to the spring, the s aints pushed through the adversity and finished 9-4-1, the winningest record in program history. They also advanced to the c hicagoland c ollegiate Athletic c onference ( cc Ac ) tournament semifinals for the first time.
After defeating Trinity International University in the quarterfinals, the s aints battled c ardinal s tritch University for 110 minutes. The contest finished 0-0 after two overtimes, and the s aints fell in a shootout.
d espite the youth of the team — this year’s squad is only Gallo’s second recruiting class — he said that the experience of the team was important.
“The experience definitely plays a key part in our success,” Gallo said. “They were quite prepared for [the conference tournament] this time. They knew what the atmosphere was going to consist of.”
The s aints were led by sophomore midfielder o livia s haw, who was named to the cc Ac first team for the second year in a row. s haw paced the team with five goals and nine assists.
“[It is] something special for our program,” Gallo said. “It just shows the kind of caliber of girls we’re bringing in.”
s enior defender b ella c uevas, who anchored the s aints back line and scored two game winning goals, was named to the all-conference second team for the second year in a row. s he helped the s aints give up a program-low 19 goals this year.
“ s he’s the anchor of the team,” Gallo said.
Junior midfielder Lauren c ernak was also named to the second team. s he scored four goals and assisted on seven more.
Gallo was also named cc Ac co-coach of the year.
“From a recruiting standpoint, it definitely opens up many people’s eyes,” Gallo said of the honors.
The s aints return most of
their production next year, with s haw and c ernak returning, and senior defender Audrey Fillipo being granted an additional year of eligibility to finish her degree. Gallo also singled out sophomore midfielder n icole c ook as someone who doesn’t get as much recognition as she deserves.
“If we scored 40 goals this season, she had the assist before the assist on at least 35 of them,” Gallo said.
Gallo wants his team to continue their success, on and off the field.
“We want to maintain a 3.2 team GPA,” he said. “As a team, we set our goals to be involved in at least four to five events in the community, or on campus to be a part of the student body. From a playing standpoint, we want to be able to finish top three and give ourselves an opportunity to get to the national championship.”
Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu
Women’s Golf
By JOHN STOLMEIER sports Writer
In his eighth year of coaching for the s aints, T.J. m annen and the holy c ross 2020 s pring golf season were brought to a sudden halt by the c ovid-19 pandemic. The unusual circumstances surrounding the young team’s canceled season placed the squad in an awkward spot coming into the fall.
c oming into the 2020-2021 season, m annen knew his team would face a new set of challenges.
“We had a rough year; we started two juniors and three freshmen… they got thrown right into the fire… It was a real five-person effort this year,” said m annen, whose team was only able to compete twice in the fall because of the pandemic. b ut the s aints picked up momentum heading into the spring and the c hicagoland c ollegiate Athletic c onference c hampionship.
“When they came back in February, we got to go right into a full schedule,” m annen added. “[And freshman] Annika Johnson was kind of leading the charge. e ach event Annika got better, especially when it came to the conference championship… she was able to achieve allconference by hitting 80 in the last round.”
Along with Johnson, the s aints were led by junior m adison Pool, from s urprise, Arizona, who has consistently filled out the second slot on the scorecard. Pool played
her best in homewood, Illinois in the cc Ac championship, where she shot for a two-day total of 182 to tie for sixteenth in the conference.
“m adison was a very outspoken individual who led by example this year. s he was always practicing and trying to get better,” m annen mentioned.
The combined efforts of the five starters showed on April 23 in their final competition at the cc Ac c hampionship.
The women’s team took third place in the tournament, with Johnson and Pool placing fifth and 16th, respectively, and r achel s cherer, Tori Langen, and s ofia mcGuiness rounding out positions 30 to 32.
The holy c ross women’s golf team will be returning all five starters next season.
“We have two freshmen coming in that will definitely help us improve,” m annen said. “The nucleus of the team is young, and we are looking to do better next season.”
The team will be working hard in the off-season, where m annen has posed a challenge for the team to achieve an average of below 84 strokes.
hopefully clear of the pandemic, the s aints are looking to enter competition next fall at the top of their game.
Contact John Stolmeier at jstolmei@nd.edu
Women’s Basketball
By AIDAN THOMAS sports Writer
d espite two pandemicaffected seasons as head coach, h oly c ross women’s basketball coach Tom r obbins has the s aints on the rise, after his young roster took some big steps forward in a strong conference.
The s aints had a tough draw, as they took on the top five teams in the conference a combined eight times, tough sledding for a squad with no seniors and five freshmen. Ahead of the brutal conference slate, h oly c ross started their season 4-4, buoyed by an impressive record on their home court, as the s aints went 4-2 in a six-game home stretch, including a thoroughly impressive 76-51 beatdown of Governors s tate, who ended up finishing fifth in the c hicagoland c ollegiate Athletic c onference ( cc A c ).
“ e ven though we didn’t have a home court advantage in terms of fans, we did have a home court advantage in that gym” r obbins said of his team’s success at home.
“That’s where we were grinding it out in practice every
day with that mentality — that they’re coming into this sweatbox of a gym that we got, that we’ve been putting blood and sweat into, so how are you going to experience us in our environment.”
The s aints flirted with a .500 record for much of the season, but road struggles and a brutal schedule to end their season saw them matched up against the #1, #3, #4 and #5 seeds in their final five games. That stretch coincided with losing their second leading scorer, junior guard Arielle Thatcher (13.9 ppg), to a season-ending injury, resulting in a regular-season-ending five-game skid for r obbins’ squad.
“ d espite the fact that we lost those games, we were playing some of our best basketball in terms of our defense, our ball movement and our rebounding,” r obbins said, noting that a low shooting percentage was frequently the s aints’ undoing.
d espite the skid, h oly c ross snuck into the conference tournament as the 11th-seed and gave 6thseeded s aint Ambrose a serious upset scare, before dropping the first-round contest by four points.
“To have that experience is invaluable,” r obbins said of the tournament, “This year, we were in it to win it, but it’s new, everything’s new. You’ve got to get past the hurdle, and we were able to get past that this year. The expectation going forward is that we win the thing.”
r eflecting on the season, r obbins praised the invaluable leadership from his junior class on his younger roster.
“The chemistry of our team is really good — it’s great for recruiting. A lot of that is because of [junior center] s ara White — her leadership has been tremendous. Ariel Thatcher was very good in communicating the work ethic and the culture that we expect.”
r obbins also praised his on-court leader in sophomore Jayda m iller, who earned all-conference honorable mention, averaging 16.9 points per game.
“It’s not uncommon to walk into the gym and see Jayda getting shots up, working out early in the day,” r obbins said. “ s he really developed her game from year one to year two.”
m iller will be back with the s aints next season, who lose junior s idney Taylor to her early graduation. The team adds four freshmen, as h oly c ross looks to continue
their upward trend in the cc A c under r obbins.
Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu
Men’s Tennis
By JIMMY WARD Associate sports editor
It was a tremendously successful year for the h oly c ross tennis program as a whole. For the first time in school history, the h oly c ross men’s tennis team found a win at the c hicagoland c ollegiate Athletic c onference ( cc A c ) Tournament. s aints head coach e ric m ahone was named the cc A c m en’s and Women’s Tennis c oach of the Year.
Although the team was forced to spend a considerable amount of time apart, getting back onto the court together was something that felt almost nostalgic at first. “ o h yeah, obviously it [getting back on the courts] was a total reprieve from everything else going on around us. e specially with the lack of social activities compared to normal years, it allowed for our kids to definitely have a somewhat normal college experience, which was good,” m ahone said.
The team was littered with talent from top to bottom, starting with the senior class of m ac Flannery, d ylan e uzarraga and b en b eekman, all the way down to Isaac c han and Will Page, who earned All- c onference honors in their first season with the squad.
The s aints would conclude their season with the winningest record in program history, finishing with a record of 9-8 (4-2 cc A c ). Their season ended at the hands of Judson University but their 7-0 onslaught over the s t. Ambrose Fighting b ees propelled them to the semifinal showdown against Judson. The s aints are making their presence felt in the cc A c and are bound and determined to bring that same intensity into next season. r eturning c han and Page will certainly help as they will have one more year to flourish alongside team captain d ominic Gibson who will be in his senior season next year. m artin Fajardo will return as a junior. The s aints have also nabbed a top recruit from the n etherlands, o laf de Lange is a commit from m assland, n etherlands who will surely contribute to the rapidly rising roster.
(Editor’s Note: Gibson is also a sportswriter for the Observer.)
The s aints are primed to make a good run in the cc A c in the next coming years under c oach m ahone, and they continue to grow as a team as they begin to pave a new legacy for those who will follow in their path.
Contact Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu
Men’s Basketball
By JAMISON COOK sports Writer
The holy c ross men’s basketball had a successful 202021 season, finishing with a 13-7 record. This year, the s aints made their second straight appearance in the national Association of Intercollegiate ( n AIA) men’s b asketball national Tournament. The s aints earned an automatic bid to the tournament after finishing in second place of the c hicagoland c ollegiate Athletic c onference ( cc Ac ) with an 8-3 conference record.
“o verall, I think it was very successful. We finished second in our league, which is always a very good accomplishment,” head coach m ike mc b ride said. “We wish we could’ve done more, we think we could’ve done more, but at the end of the day we weren’t able to get that done, but we did achieve at a high level. We had some great wins throughout, and we were able to get back to the national Tournament for a second consecutive year, which was huge.”
holy c ross was led by a stellar class of seniors, which included s torm c ook, Jordan Gaines, Trey s habazz and Jason d ockery. c ook, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer this season (1,581 points), led the team with 17.4 points per game. he was named to the Allc onference s econd Team for the 2020-21 season. Gaines also contributed in a big way for the s aints, scoring 13.4 points per game and leading the team with 3.3 assists per game. The prolific defender was named to the Allc onference first team and was also recognized as an honorable mention for the n AIA All-American teams. c oach mc b ride expressed his gratitude for this senior class and what has made them, especially Gaines and s torm, so successful at holy c ross.
“Those two — as well as our two other seniors — were the backbone of our team. They were responsible, to a great degree, for our success,” he said. “Jordan and s torm in particular had tremendously productive years. They’re both four-year starting guards, so they had tremendous winning experience so they knew what it would take to compete at a high level. And then they assumed
a leadership role within the team.”
r eplacing this class will be difficult, but mc b ride is confident in the group he is bringing back next year. holy c ross will look to make a run at its third consecutive appearance in the national Tournament next season and to take the next step by advancing deeper into the tournament.
“o ur returners have the experience, they know what it takes to get to the national Tournament and to win,” he says. “now, because the blueprint is there, the feeling of having accomplished it is there, hopefully, the new guys we add will be able to contribute in that same manner.”
Contact Jamison Cook at jcook22@nd.edu
Men’s Golf
By LUKE THOMPSON sports Writer
The holy cross saints men’s golf team concluded its season on April 27 with a second place finish out of a field of 10 in the chicagoland collegiate Athletic conference men’s golf championships, played at TPc deere run. The strong last performance came at the end of a long season that spanned between the fall of 2020 to this spring.
Junior carter silva led the saints with a third place finish individually, posting an overall score of 150 (eight over par for the tworound tournament).
The saints’ overall team score of 622 provided the team with its best finish in a tournament all season, but still left them short of the conference champions (roosevelt University) by thirteen strokes. The saints did post the lowest score for the final day of the tournament with a 304. holy cross coach T.J. mannen found that impressive last day as an encouraging sign for the saints going forward, but nonetheless was disappointed that the first-round score of 318 put them out of position to win the tournament.
“We go out there and shoot two rounds at 304, and we’re going to be in position to win a lot of these tournaments,” mannen observed, expressing his hope that his team can maintain this level of golf consistently.
The saints’ struggle to consistently produce enough good scores throughout lineup contributed to the team’s middling performance in tournaments for most of the season before the successful season finale. coach mannen highlighted the need to consistently “get a third or fourth good score out of one or two more guys” to support the particularly strong performances from silva and fellow junior camden dal corrobo.
The overwhelming good news for the saints is that their finish to this season has them trending in the right direction, and they are returning their entire lineup for next season — in addition
to bringing in several “readymade” newcomers, according to mannen.
“We expect to have eight, maybe nine, guys competing for those five spots each tournament next season,” mannen said, highlighting why he has such high expectations for next year’s team. “I like to set the bar real high to give us something to reach for. our ultimate goal is always a national championship.”
With the experience they have returning, that is an admirable — if high — goal for the saints, who will certainly be looking to at least capture the conference championship for next season to build upon their second place finish this year.
holy cross advanced to the nAIA national championships in the 2018-19 season (the last full one before this year) after winning the cc Ac. The saints will be looking to repeat that season’s success next year behind a very exciting crop of experienced returners.
Contact Luke Thompson at lthomps7@nd.edu
Men’s Soccer
By LIAM COOLICAN sports Writer
They started the season 1-5 in conference play. They battled a cov I d -related shutdown of the program. They had more than 20 positional changes. but the holy c ross men’s soccer team still found a way to finish with a winning record and make the conference tournament for the third year in a row.
“It [was] one of those cometogether moments,” head coach o mar Gallo said of the turnaround. “We had one of our team meetings, we just had a couple of upperclassmen speak up, even some underclassmen speak up, and we asked the question, ‘Why do you think we’re still being granted this opportunity to play after going 1-5?’”
Whatever question was posed at that team meeting, it had an effect on the team. They immediately rattled off five consecutive victories and surged up the conference standings.
The s aints ultimately finished the year 8-7-1, with a 6-6 conference record. They entered the conference tournament as an eight seed, where their season came to an end by way of a 3-1 defeat to top-seeded c ardinal stritch University.
“We’re still trying to get over that hump of getting to [the] national championships,” Gallo said. “but we’re giving ourselves a chance to compete every year.”
s enior center back Jeff r after was also named to the cc Ac all-conference first team. “Jeff is definitely one of the best center backs we’ve ever brought in this program,” Gallo said.
When r ather arrived at holy
c ross, he requested the number 5. The coaching staff had reserved that number for a player who could not only succeed on the field but off it as well.
“That reason was because the last two players that wore that number were spectacular players and just human beings,” Gallo said. “Jeff made that promise that if he got that number five, that he would go above and beyond and set an even higher standard than those individuals.”
holy c ross graduates some key players, including goalkeeper Lewis Tomlinson and midfielder r aymond Giang, but Gallo still has high expectations for next season. “We’re a very young team, which excites the coaching staff,” he said.
s enior defenders c liff brown and Laith Zaibal will return, as the n AIA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility. r after may return as well, although at holy c ross, which does not have graduate programs, players can only return if they have the credits they need to complete for their degree.
The coaching staff recently named brown the captain for the upcoming season, and Gallo is also excited about the continued growth of freshman defender v ictor s ellu, freshman forward Gabe n yenka, and sophomore midfielder Jeffrey harper.
he hopes the team can carry their momentum from the second half of last season into the fall.
“o ur backs were against the wall the last six games of the season,” Gallo said. “It’s just creating that mentality, not when you’re put into that position, but from game number one.”
Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu
Women’s Tennis
By GEHRIG SMALSTIG sports Writer
“If I would have told you ‘Yea, we’re gonna finish second place,’ I would’ve been a liar.”
head coach eric mahone seemed to be in shock just looking back at how far the holy cross saints women’s tennis team had come.
“We didn’t win a match our first two years,” he said. “every match we went into, we were playing a team we had never beat.”
mahone said he knew the talent they had coming into this year, citing the newcomers as the biggest difference maker. They had one of the nation’s top recruiting classes in Jabeen Urbanek, helga Lopez and Anna beer, alongside “pseudo-freshman” clara ruedinger — who only got to play in two matches during last year’s season, shortened due to cov Id still, the team’s goals were modest. “First goal was just to make
the conference tournament, to finish above .500 record,” mahone said. “We eclipsed all of those goals.”
The team would, in fact, go on to finish the season 13-6 and 6-1 in conference play. They even made it to the conference tournament finals, eventually losing to top-10 ranked cardinal stritch University to close out the season.
When asked if there seemed to be a turning point in the season, mahone recalled a matchup with saint Francis (Illinois).
“They were picked to finish second [in the conference], I was just hoping, at that moment, that we would finish 6th,” he said. “We ended up pulling out a 4-3 win with one of our freshmen, Jabeen, winning in the third set, and from there we just got on a roll.”
mahone also noted the difference in confidence levels following this match as a catalyst for success throughout the remainder of the year.
“They beat everyone they were supposed to, and then some,” he said.
Turning around a program is hard enough in and of itself, but the pandemic certainly complicated it further. mahone said staying physically healthy was a big concern for the team.
“With how small our team was this year … we had no margin for error. If we lost one of our starters, we were playing short,” he said.
The team’s chemistry helped navigating this challenge.
“our team chemistry is phenomenal, the girls are all really good friends … our team GPA is 3.5, so we just emphasized staying healthy,” he said.
This turnaround did not go unnoticed. helga Lopez and Jabeen Urbanek were both voted first-team All chicagoland collegiate Athletic conference in both singles and doubles. Lopez was even voted cc Ac Freshman of the Year. The orchestrator of the success also got some recognition: mahone earned coach of the Year honors in the cc Ac
Looking ahead to next year, expectations are higher than ever, but mahone is still focused on the improvements that need to be made. Addressing inexperience, for instance, is at the top of his list.
“hopefully cov Id will allow us to play quite a few matches next year,” he said. “We’re hoping to have one of the biggest schedules in the country next year, in terms of number of matches, to kind of make up for what we missed out on this year.”
While it is great to bask in this year’s success, the team knows it’s not at the pinnacle of its potential yet. They have their sights set on a conference championship and a bid to nationals in the near future.
“It’s a good year, we’re on our way up,” mahone said.
Contact Gehrig Smalstig at esmalsti@nd.edu
ND is ‘Sweet spot’ for one of nation’s best
By EMILY DeFAZIO Associate sports editor
When senior outfielder Abby sweet first donned an Irish uniform, she was well on her way to creating a lasting legacy in the notre dame softball program.
The four-year starter came out swinging her freshman season, rising in the ranks to lead the team in runs (38) while maintaining a .333 batting average, which was good for second on the team.
by the time she was a junior, sweet was named captain for a season filled with promise. she had already established herself as the hardest Acc player to strike out and led the team in batting average (.368), posing as a formidable threat for any opponent until the season abruptly skidded to a halt. With the pandemic pressing pause on all division I competitions, sweet and her teammates lost the opportunity to bring the Irish to the nc AA Tournament for their 22nd straight year.
however, a year later, sweet has rebounded in exceptional fashion. sweet believes that the greatest improvements have taken place in her offensive play. she proudly holds a .463 batting average, continuing to lead the Acc in the category two months after taking the top spot.
“I really stepped it up just from my previous three seasons,” sweet said. “I think I’ve
been a consistent hitter overall for all four years, but this year I really just took it to the next level ... I think I’ve been very productive offensively, and that’s definitely shown in the scores of our games, and just the amount of baserunners we’ve had overall throughout the season.”
sweets’ capability as a batter has been noticed by others in the conference as well; she’s been hit by 18 pitches this season, the 10th-highest mark in the nation. she was hit on each of her four at-bats during the second game of a march doubleheader against nc state, which tied the nc AA record for the most in a single game by a division I player. These hbPs have become more frequent as the season concludes, limiting her ability to perform at bat. sweet spoke on how this has impacted her play and her mentality in games.
“recognizing that as one of the top hitters, they’re probably not going to throw me a lot of great pitches, so when they do, obviously just capitalizing on that,” sweet said. “but lately just understanding that I might walk a little bit more, and I definitely need to be patient up there and really just look for the pitch that I want and not chase any pitcher’s pitches ... so just recognizing that as the season has gone on, I wasn’t going to get great pitches at the plate all the time, so just kind of being patient and
staying within myself up there.”
despite this, as one of the top 25 finalists for UsA softball’s 2021 collegiate Player of the Year, sweet has demonstrated her outstanding capabilities as an athlete this season. This is the most prestigious honor in division I softball, and sweet becomes the third Irish player to receive the nomination.
“It was cool to see my picture up there with a bunch of amazing other players that I’ve looked up to throughout my college career,” sweet said. “It’s not an individual sport. It’s definitely a team sport, and I couldn’t have done it without help from my teammates, they helped me. They just pushed me to get better and I pushed them and, overall, it was just really cool. And I’m very grateful for it.”
It is sweet’s aggression as a player that made her a standout for the award. she aims to keep this mentality with her the entire game, whether she is at the plate or in the field.
“really just staying in that attack mode all the time helps me stay confident in myself,” she said.
Additionally, sweet emphasized the importance of team camaraderie. she seeks to encourage the assertive dynamic that she holds for herself, pushing her teammates as they encourage her as well. Put plainly,
Slugging Kavadas leads Irish eyeing Omaha run
By AIDAN THOMAS sports Writer
When making his college decision, n otre d ame senior first baseman n iko Kavadas--a somewhat lightly recruited prospect at the time--chose the Irish over Purdue and d artmouth. h e felt it was the ‘best blend’ of academics and athletics, particularly given n otre d ame’s A cc schedule.
Kavadas, who grew up about fifteen minutes from campus and frequently attended n otre d ame games as a kid, remembers that first semester in s outh b end as a tough
“I think I got, like, one hit the entire fall, and the academics were really tough,” he said.
b ut that semester did not foreshadow Kavadas’s career with the Irish, as the freshman worked his way into the o pening d ay lineup that spring and started 38 games that season.
s ince that freshman season, Kavadas has started every single game for the Irish--54 in 2019, 13 in the
abbreviated 2020 campaign, and 36 thus far in 2021. This year has been a career season for Kavadas, as he has hit his way to a .314 batting average, a .479 on-base percentage, and a .752 slugging percentage and has totaled 23 extra-base hits (15 home runs) and 45 rb I, all careerhighs. h e did this while setting himself up to graduate from the m endoza c ollege of b usiness this spring.
Four years after being that lightly-recruited corner infielder, Kavadas has elevated himself into the discussion to be a top-100 draft pick in the upcoming 2021 m L b d raft while being named to the watch list for the Golden s pikes (top college baseball player) and a midseason All-American by d1 b aseball and Perfect Game. For these reasons, among others, Kavadas was named The o bserver’s m ale Athlete of the Year.
After grinding through that opening semester, Kavadas got his official
Men’s senIoR Athlete oF the YeAR
ARI DENNING | The Observer Irish senior outfielder Abby Sweet swings at a pitch during Notre Dame’s 6-5 win on March 26 at Melissa Cook Stadium.
WoMen’s
ARI DENNING | The Observer
Irish senior Niko Kavadas preps to swing at a pitch during Notre Dame’s close home win over Georgia Tech,10-9, on April 9 in the Eck Baseball Stadium. Kavadas had one run and two RBIs on the game.
