Mulch Madness
Students participate in Back the Bend service project.
Just a Thought: Brooke Ammerman
Brooke Ammerman is an assistant psychology professor at Notre Dame who focuses her clinical research on self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.
News
Remembering Zahm: A Complicated Legacy
Over the past two months, new details have emerged about the issues at Zahm that formed a backdrop for the university’s decision.
Letter from the Editor
When I wrote my first letter from the editor, I was sitting at the desk of my childhood bedroom, a space I hadn’t done any serious work from since I had graduated from high school — until the pandemic sent me home.
Notre Dame Pushes Students to Get Vaccinated
After a year marked by viral outbreaks and uncertainty, the university finally obtained approval from the Indiana Department of Health to open a vaccination center on campus...
From the desks of Allan and Matthew
As spring blooms and the vaccine rollout continues successfully, we are more grateful than ever to begin our term in office...
ND Marriage Pact
So long, Hinge and Tinder! The Marriage Pact is the new matchmaking application taking the Notre Dame campus by storm.
Antisemitism Awareness Week
This year, the Jewish Club of Notre Dame hosted the first annual Antisemitism Awareness Week to raise awareness about Jewish traditions, beliefs, history and Zionism.
The Silent Struggle
Therapy through video calls, dining hall anxiety and restrictions on exercise — for those with eating disorders, routine moments of college life can bring people like Russo face to face with their illness
#TBT: Caught the Desire to Live Off-Campus
The lure of freedom and independence has pulled at college students for decades.
Traditions: Old and New
For many, Notre Dame traditions are ingrained in their childhood as much as their own family traditions.
Turn in Your Scantron, if You Want To
As the admissions process seems to grow more selective, it has evoked a national dialogue about the utility of evaluating candidates based on a singular day’s performance, especially when it might be impacted by factors that not all students have equitable access to, such as test prep courses or specialized tutors.
More Than a Theme
After talking with David Krashna, the student body president from 2016 to 2017 and editor of “Black Domers” — a book of essays about the African American experience at Notre Dame — freshman Dane Sherman recognized that the LGBTQ+ community needed to be represented in the same way.
#TBT: Dodge the Bad Hair Bullet and Get Your Mullet (and Mustache)
Since 2013, the men of St. Edward’s Hall have partnered with the Nothing But Nets charity to create the fundraiser “Mullets Against Malaria,” raising thousands of dollars to purchase mosquito netting to prevent malaria in global communities affected by the disease.
Vaccine Efforts On and Around Campus
For most, the past year has consisted of masks, hand sanitizer, six feet of separation and endless references to these “unprecedented times.” But many health officials seem to think that the end may be in sight.
Letter from the Editor
While the pandemic has required us to be increasingly attuned to the negative, let’s also remember to step back and appreciate some of the goodness that exists here in our own backyard.
Just a Thought: Rev. Edward “Monk” Malloy
A particularly recognizable figurehead throughout the Notre Dame community, Rev. Edward “Monk” Malloy has many distinguishing titles.
The Unsung Heroes of Notre Dame
Amidst all the turbulence and all the disappointments of the pandemic, it would be easy to overlook the good.
Working for the White House from Home
At about 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Rachel Palermo can be found beelining from the Notre Dame Law School to her parking spot in order to join a very important phone call.
A COVID-Safe South Bend Bucket List
As a senior, I have many regrets. One of the biggest ones is not having explored more of South Bend when I had the chance. Now that I’m about to graduate, there’s nothing I love more than getting out of the classroom, off of Zoom and away from campus with my friends. I’ve compiled a list of all things worth doing and checking out around town that comply with CDC and school standards. So take a beat from burying your nose in the books and peel your eyeballs away from that screen for an afternoon or night on the town.
Supporting South Bend Restaurants During the Pandemic
Dreams for a bigger kitchen and redecorated interior dining space still exist but have been put on the back burner. People comment on the work the restaurant needs, and Dont’e Shaw simply takes it in stride. He’s aware of the necessary renovations, he even had them planned out, but when you open your restaurant in the middle of a global pandemic, most plans have to be changed. Pandemic living has made so many things impossible and other things so anxiety-ridden that other alternatives have to be sought out instead.
Was the Mini-Break Really a Break?
When campus isn’t filled with students over winter and summer break sessions, the library echoes with a unique quiet and has an eerily empty feel, like an airport at 2:00 a.m. or the grocery store late at night. Chairs sit uninhabited and a sense of restfulness hums in the air. It’s no surprise Hesburgh Library didn’t look or feel quite that empty Tuesday, March 2. Amidst the advice to slow down and take a moment for yourself, Notre Dame students still populated this well-loved study spot. At 8:50 p.m. in the evening, the library seemed just as full as it always is on the university’s scheduled “mini-break” day.
Trying to Stay GreeND
It’s no secret that one year ago campus looked a lot different. You could recognize your friends and passers-by since no one was wearing masks. There weren’t as many hand sanitizer stations let alone any “HERE” signs or posters indicating the full force of the pandemic we now find ourselves in. The only texts you’d get from Notre Dame were Weather and Emergency Alerts.
Freshmen Highs and Lows: Excerpts from Freshman Across Campus
My freshman year experience looked a lot different than what freshmen are experiencing today. Everyone in the Class of 2021 arrived to campus the same weekend. We were always allowed in each other’s rooms and in other dorms. Classes were held in person. The dining halls were a place for friends to sit, dine and catch up for hours on end. Brother and sister dorms often commingled. And we weren’t trying to navigate our first year at Notre Dame in the midst of a pandemic.
The Office of Student Enrichment is Helping Students Take Part in the Notre Dame Experience
The Notre Dame experience is all anyone hears or talks about during their time here. But just like tuition, participating in those experiences isn’t always the cheapest. The office of student enrichment enables students to maximize their Notre Dame experience to ensure no one is excluded for personal or financial limitations.
The Meet, Greet, and Eat Initiative
You grab your boxed dinner from North Dining Hall and tote it back to the dorm. You forgot to bring a bag again so your bare fingers are stiff and numb around the container by the time you enter your room. You shut the door behind you and go to your desk where you’ll sit facing a wall, eating another meal alone. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You could jump onto a Zoom call instead to share stimulating conversation and make new friends — all from the comfort of your own room.
Professor Sophie White Amplifies the ‘Voices of the Enslaved’
Professor Sophie White’s book, “Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Labor and Longing in French Louisiana” gives voice to individuals in colonial Louisiana, who otherwise had no outlet or representation during their lives. Most recently, White’s book won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize for the year’s best non-fiction book about slavery or abolition, which includes an award of $25,000.
The HERE Campaign Student Board and The Effort To Keep Us Here
“Please help us reduce case rates,” Erin Hoffmann Harding and Mike Seamon asked near the conclusion of their Feb. 17 announcement on heightened COVID-19 regulations on campus. The new restrictions were the result of a spike in cases in the days prior, which saw case numbers jump from 17 to 48, a 182% increase, within the 24-hour period of Sunday, Feb. 14.
#tbt: What about Spring Break?
It’s officially that time of the semester when students typically begin counting down the days until spring break. In past years, spring break would consist of a one-week interlude in our busy spring schedules to ignore homework, catch up on sleep and escape the snow-covered campus for a restful trip back home or an exciting vacation.
From the Desks of Rachel and Sarah
2020 taught us lessons that we can continue to carry with us, but the opportunity to start a new chapter gives us a chance to reflect, reinvent and rise to the occasion.
Campus Plans for a Semester of Student Wellness
McWell has found that managing stress and mood, staying socially connected and meeting academic demands are the biggest concerns for undergraduate and graduate students.