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Dear Reader,

During the production of this issue, my mom brought up an interesting question: Can someone read this issue in 40 years and find that it still holds value? Often in Scholastic, including this issue (see the TBT, Page 7), we search through our own archives. Articles from long before we were born are analyzed and taken as the truth of the time. Pondering my mom’s advice, I decided the No. 1 goal for this issue is to accurately reflect our snapshot in time amidst a technological revolution.

The feature story of this edition (pages 14-19) covers how the Notre Dame student body uses AI. My predecessor, Tess Reinhart, created a survey and, with the help of Student Government, sent it to all students. Managing Editor Anna Mayer does a wonderful job sharing the most interesting findings from this survey; furthermore, she frames the results around the current climate of AI — from Pope Leo XIV’s message to the world to the role of the Notre Dame administration.

Excitingly, this topic sparked interest throughout the Scholastic staff. Writers wanted to cover various aspects of AI and technology — from its controversial infiltration into the arts (pages 10-13) to the viewpoints of professors from a variety of disciplines (pages 6, 12 and 20-21). Continuing Claire Early’s (ND ’25) legacy, the staff and I decided to resurrect the themed issues — framing each monthly edition of Scholastic (and all of its stories) around one topic.

So, please enjoy our content-packed issue on AI and technology. Though I don’t think it’s possible to exhaustively discuss every aspect of the newest technology or report on its feature in this morning’s headlines, this October edition includes a variety of perspectives on and encounters with AI that our student writers have investigated. Additionally, I recognize the lack of motivation to read in this age, but if you’ve made it this far on page one, I encourage you to keep reading for your own benefit. In one of my classes, “Write for Your Life,” my professor, Nathaniel Myers, emphasizes how reading and writing are not supposed to be a chore but rather a practice to deepen one’s self-understanding and mental growth.

With authentically written (non-AI-generated) love,

Ellen (Elle) Brouillette