Kathy Burnette, owner and founder of The Brain Lair Bookstore, used to be a tax accountant. “I’ve always wanted to open a bookstore. About 25 years ago —I have a 25-year-old daughter — and when she was born, that was one of the jobs I thought I would like to do because I thought it’d be fun to raise a baby in a bookstore.”
Spread amongst the northwest bleachers, the Band of the Fighting Irish was still an indelible part of the game day experience. But the pandemic has challenged some of the group’s longest-running traditions, many of which were thought to be integral to the ensemble’s identity.
Laurel Daen is an Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University. She works with the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values and specializes in disability, sickness, medicine, and health in early America. She is currently writing a book about disability and civil rights, and has been published in the Journal of Social History, Journal of the Early Republic, Early American Literature, History Compass, and Rethinking Modern Prostheses in Anglo-American Commodity Cultures, 1820-1939. This semester she is teaching “Epidemics in America,” a course which looks at the history of health and disease in American history and its influence on the longlasting culture of the country.
The beginning of the semester has been an absolute whirlwind. As leaders, we are learning that one of the most important things we can do in this time is listen. Every day, the situation ahead of us takes shape in a new way, and there is no way to predict the course of the semester. However, we will do our best to actively seek out student voices, critically monitor our systems and respond with empathy.
There’s no denying that the Notre Dame community is constantly adjusting to new norms and rules brought about by COVID-19, but there’s one group of students who have an additional adjustment to make: the first years. Being a freshman in college is always an experience, so what does it look like to be a freshman during a pandemic?
Most students will groan and complain at the thought of writing a five-page essay for a class, let alone an entire novel. But for Ashley Cavuto, writing and storytelling have become a creative outlet to supplement her already daunting load of schoolwork.
Upon hearing the announcement that Notre Dame would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2020 football season, Scholastic reached out to students from several ACC institutions to get their take. Boston College fans were particularly angered by the news, as most of them remained secretly embittered by being denied admission to Notre Dame as high school seniors.
Who says that COVID means we can no longer date? It’s my honor to introduce you to (drum roll please) — Notre Dame Quarantine Dating. Here is a survival guide for you to make your date count:
Faced with the possibility of another online semester, an unbelievably tense national political climate and a crushing sense of uncertainty surrounding everything she cares about, Notre Dame sophomore Katherine Davis has come to the somber realization that the results of her recent COVID-19 test constitute the only shred of positivity in her life right now.
In the summer of 2015, rising college freshman Jack Savage and rising sophomore Nick Savage consumed oxycodone and alcohol at a grad party, and then went home and went to bed. When their mom woke up the next day, both were dead.
525 – The jersey numbers of Jack (5) and Nick (25). The name was inspired by a photo of the two in their jerseys displaying these numbers.
Hugh Campbell is perfectly happy living a quiet, unassuming life. He works his boring job, lives with his awkward, deadbeat dad, and, of course, cheers on the superheroes protecting the city. But when his girlfriend dies at the hands of one of those very same “heroes,” Hughie finds himself pulled into a dark web of secrets, corruption and revenge.
New to NDTOGO’s Grubhub app this year, the Morris Inn’s Rohr’s restaurant is an imaginative take on steakhouse dining, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner options 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday. Exciting to note, students can now use their Flex Points or Domer Dollars at the establishment, with orders currently available for pick up at the northside entrance of the hotel.
Combining Messages, GroupMe, Snapchat and Facetime all in one, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular text and voice messaging apps around the world. In fact, it wasn’t until I came to the United States that I realized WhatsApp wasn’t the standard texting app everywhere. Its easy-to-use interface has appealing text bubbles that make apps like Messages widely appreciated and the ability to create large groups, which reduces the need for additional applications like GroupMe. Plus, its sticker-sending feature grants the perfect response to that daring text your friend sent.
As a young girl growing up in West Chester, Pa. during the 1960s, Ann “Muffett” O’Brien was constantly reminded of what she couldn’t do, especially when it came to athletics and playing basketball with the boys.
Take a second to put yourself in a pandemic-free world, and the Notre Dame football team would have just returned from Dublin, hopefully after a victory against Navy. With a win, all would be right in the world.
While many people probably envisioned that a return to Notre Dame would entail difficulties surrounding health and safety, the campus community has also had to grapple with another hurdle: division. Though the Fighting Irish pride ourselves on the unity of our community, COVID-19 has positioned students, faculty and administration at odds with one another.
Throughout the summer, questions about the state of college athletics popped up around the country. Although NCAA President Mark Emmert stated, “We cannot, at this point, have fall NCAA championships,” the NCAA is hoping to host fall championships in the spring. Notably, this statement does not apply to college football, as the NCAA does not have oversight of the Football Bowl Subdivision championship, the College Football Playoff. While details surrounding various fall sports seasons and championship formats remain unclear, Notre Dame fall sports athletes have begun to practice.
I was lucky enough to retain my on-campus job from last semester for this fall. On my first day back, my boss and I had the conversation that just about everyone was having with each other, the questions we’ve all been asking like, “We’re back, now what or we’re back, but how long will it last,” but also, “should we have come back at all?” Now, as a selfish college student who missed her friends, her dorm and just being on campus, my immediate response to that last question is a strong yes. But as someone with a sister that is immunocompromised and family members in the medical field who risk their lives daily helping treat patients, I see the other, more responsible answer, that no, we should not have come back.
When Fr. Jenkins announced in May the university’s plan to reopen for classes for the Fall Semester 2020, I was happy. Notre Dame, one of the nation’s top universities, was one of the first schools to come out in favor of reopening, shortly after some major state systems had begun to announce that they would go online in the fall. My peers had reached a nearly unanimous agreement that online learning was subpar, and we were happy to return to class. I looked forward to once again being able to be with my friends, rather than just seeing their faces on a phone screen. Planning for this semester would be a formidable challenge, but I believed Notre Dame would pull this off.