Thousands of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s undergraduate students flooded the Joyce Center Tuesday at the annual Activities Night, sponsored by the Student Activities Office (SAO). “I visited the booths for Student Union Board (SUB), Habitat for Humanity and even the Hawaii Club,” she said. “I love being able to come out and see so many different options.” Teamwork for Tomorrow, a community outreach program designed to improve the literacy and teamwork skills of underprivileged children in South Bend, also sees a huge membership boost because of Activities Night, president and senior Elizabeth Dieckman said. “We had about 4,100 total attendees, which is great for our groups,” Havlick said. “As a business major, I know I’d definitely like to get started with the Student International Business Council (SIBC),” he said. “I’m excited to see all of the other possibilities that exist for involvement on campus.” “I think many new students are surprised to see how large our club is because Notre Dame is often stereotyped as being so conservative,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re hoping to attract all interested freshmen and get our message out there.” Freshman Will Cronin said he thought Activities Night was a great way for first-year students to get involved in the Notre Dame community and see what opportunities are available to them. “We see a big surge during election years, which will be especially important as we campaign for Congressman Joe Donnelly’s reelection in November,” she said. 
Flanagan said the 2009-10 Club of the Year will also continue its service events with the Center for the Homeless. Students visited the booths of over 270 campus clubs and organizations, along with a variety of local groups and agencies, Mary Kate Havlik, Student Programs Coordinator, said. Cronin said he was also hoping to become an active member of the College Republicans. College Democrats co-president Eileen Flanagan said her club is expecting a large increase in membership this year. Dieckman said about 30 students signed up to volunteer as tutors this year. Sophomore Kat Chew said she was looking for a way to get more directly involved in student life, as well as an opportunity to volunteer in the local community. “We have a record number of kids signed up this year and this our most important night to make connections and recruit tutors for them,” she said.
Month: January 2021
Beloved staff member dies
Curry C.L. Montague, principal custodian of Notre Dame’s Main Building for about 30 years, died April 7 at the Sanctuary at Holy Cross, a South Bend senior living community, at the age of 81, according to a University press release.“In a sense, he was almost an icon of the building itself,” University president emeritus Fr. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy said in a statement. “His enthusiasm and upbeat perspective were shown continuously.”A Mississippi native, Montague moved to South Bend in 1947. He worked in the Main Building for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2000, the press release stated.“In 2004, Montague’s name was added to Notre Dame’s Wall of Honor, a display on the Main Building’s ground floor recognizing ‘exceptional men and women whose contributions to Notre Dame are lasting, pervasive and profound,’” the press release stated. “According to his citation, one of 27 on the wall, Montague ‘provided the Notre Dame community and its guests with a congenial, memorable and inspiring example of how hard work, devoted service and charity transform duty into joy.’”Tags: Death
SMC and Notre Dame couple to open pretzel store in South Bend
Students will have an additional food option this spring with the opening of a Philly Pretzel Factory location in South Bend.Maryse Naman, a Saint Mary’s 1996 graduate, said she and her husband decided to open a franchise in South Bend because they wanted to bring a slice of their home in New England back to Notre Dame.“Being from New Jersey, I loved the product because we were around it a lot,” she said. “So we wanted to bring something new, but also something which we consider home … out to the Midwest. Because the company is not this far out west yet.”Mark Naman, Notre Dame class of 1996 and a former member of the office of development, said the low cost for a Philly Pretzel Factory product sets the franchise apart from other pretzel companies.“You go to an Auntie Anne’s or a Ben’s Pretzel, it’s a little bit of a different experience where you’re going to buy a pretzel and pay $3.50, or whatever it is,” he said. “The Philly Pretzel is designed more to be a mass pretzel purchase that you can share with a lot of people. … The idea is, for a very low cost, you get a lot of these high-quality bread pretzels to share with your friends, which is a huge benefit, I think, and it’s great for students.”In addition to products ranging from traditional pretzels to Philly cheesesteak pretzels, Mark Naman said, the Philly Pretzel Factory offers pretzel trays and catering for events such as tailgates.“We expect that, locally, our biggest days of the year are going to be when we have home football games,” he said. “So we do plan to have ways for people to pick up their pretzel trays for their tailgate, as well.”The Namans also plan on getting students from the Notre Dame community involved with distribution, Maryse Naman said.“We have a lot of aspirations in terms of expanding and involving [students] all throughout the course of the year,” she said. “But, specifically, I would say the highest volume you get on campus in one day would be football season. And we do have some ideas in our heads as to how to get the student body involved on a football Saturday, early in the morning.”Mark Naman said the franchise could also provide fundraising opportunities for students.“Part of the appeal of the product for us is it’s not just going to be sold in our store,” he said. “We do wholesale deals and other things where, for example, we could sell them at a pretty deep discount to the dorms for their ability to sell them and make money off them. So if a dorm wants to buy … a couple hundred pretzels for a given day and sell them, they get to keep the profits for their dorm.”Mark Naman said he and his wife will reach out to various student groups in the Notre Dame community to contribute to any fundraising efforts.“We will plan to do some outreach from that perspective,” he said. “Hopefully to the … Hall Presidents Council [and] hopefully some other groups on campus. Even just student groups who want to do fundraising — if they want to sell pretzels to make money, that’s a possibility and that’s definitely part of what we do with the product.”Mark Naman said, as of now, students can expect the location to open before the end of the spring semester.“Early to mid-April is the target right now,” he said. “Maybe a little bit before, a little bit after, [but] we’d love to be open before the Blue and Gold game, and before the students leave campus in early May.”The Namans are also hoping to allow students to use Domer Dollars at their location, which will be across from The Linebacker Lounge in Edison Plaza, Mark Naman said.“I’ve started the conversation to figure out what it would take to get Domer Dollars,” he said. “We’re not all the way in yet on an answer on it, but we want to accept Domer Dollars and I’m pretty certain it’s going to be fairly easy to do.”The Namans’ ultimate goal, Maryse Naman said, is to provide quality products for the Notre Dame and South Bend communities.“Being that we both went to Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame … the biggest relationship that we can have with Notre Dame and the students, the better,” she said. “We were both students there, so we want them to be very happy with the product.”Tags: Naman, Philly Pretzel Factor, Pretzels
WRAP week event examines sexuality in the age of birth control, pornography
Kathryne Robinson | The Observer Jessica Keating and Brett Robinson discuss the effect of pornography and birth control on sex culture.Robinson began the talk with an explanation of humanity’s relationship with nature.“Plato subscribed to the view that the work of the craftsman when making an artifact is, in fact, to imitate nature’s craftsmanship,” Robinson said. “From this starting point of imitation, human sexuality, in the modern age, has been rendered somewhat broken, fragmented and disconnected from nature.”Keating described how “the pill” — hormonal birth control — represented one such way that our social understanding of sex has been radically changed.“We usually talk about hormonal birth control, not in terms of technology, but in terms of women’s health, social health and environmental effects,” she said. “But we’d like to suggest that the pill is part of our technological ecology. … We might not think the pill is a mind-altering drug like LSD, but it is mind-altering in that it changes social consciousness. It gives us a new consciousness about sex, both on the individual level and socially.“The pill promised this kind of freedom — the freedom to have sex based solely on choice and pleasure without the risk of pregnancy. This is the first time in history that sex is systematically disassociated from human reproduction.”The experience of sex, Keating said, has become increasingly “episodic” in modern culture.“The episodic nature of sex is facilitated by the pill — you can move from partner to partner with ease, without commitment,” she said.Keating shifted her focus to the technological paradigm of our current culture, which, she said, cultivates forgetfulness of the self and fetishization of the body.“Pornography exists within this ecology of depersonalization and fragmentation,” she said. “It’s an immersion or merging of the self into technology. … It’s not just a question of eliminating porn — which we should — but it’s also a question of critiquing the social environment and this virtual ecology that allows pornography to flourish as a billion-dollar industry.”Robinson elaborated on the effects of the technological paradigm we now face. The rise of social media and digital communication, he said, has led to a removal of “all the parts of human communication that make it human.”“This environment that we’ve lived in for now two decades has become increasingly discarnate or disembodied,” Robinson said. “The body in one sense is fetishized, and in another sense forgotten, because we can literally immerse ourselves in environments that don’t actually require our bodies to be there.”Tags: pornography, Students for Child Oriented Policy, White Ribbon Against Pornography Week, WRAP As White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) week wraps up, the Students for Child-Oriented Policy (SCOP) hosted an event exploring modern-day relationship culture. The lecture, delivered by Brett Robinson and Jessica Keating — director of communications and director of the Office of Human Dignity and Life Initiatives, respectively — focused on the ways that porn, birth control pills and changing views on sex have “fragmented” popular notions of relationships, love and identity.
University throws 100 Days Dance to celebrate class of 2018’s remaining time as students
Senior Class Council hosted its second annual “100 Days Dance” in the Dahnke Ballroom in Duncan Student Center on Thursday night. The dance marks the final 100 days of school at Notre Dame for the class of 2018, and seniors were invited to join in reminiscing on their 3 1/2 years together. Chris Collins | The Observer The class of 2018 gathered in the Duncan Student Center on Thursday to celebrate the last 100 days of their time as Notre Dame students.Senior Class Council secretary Matthew Peters said he was excited for the class of 2018 to have access to the newly-completed Duncan Student Center for the second installment of this dance.“The space is unbelievably classy and the facilities are top-notch, so moving to Duncan seemed like the right move — it was a no brainer,” Peters said. “Furthermore, we believe that an on-campus venue would continue to bridge the gap between the senior off-campus community and those still on campus.”The dance, which overlooked Notre Dame Stadium, featured a DJ, professional photographer, photo booth and hors d’oeuvres such as chocolate-covered strawberries, mini tacos, pot stickers and cupcakes.In addition to the prime location, Peters said he hoped the free shuttle service offered for the dance would attract off-campus seniors to the event.“We decided to provide a free shuttle service to safely and effectively draw off-campus seniors to Duncan the night of,” Peters said. “Our bus service makes a loop between Duncan, Irish Row to the east of campus, Eddy Street Commons to the south of campus and Dublin Village to the west of campus.”The main purpose of this event, Peters said, was for classmates to reflect on the memories made throughout their time at Notre Dame as their senior year begins to wind down.“More than anything, our goal with this event was to celebrate our last 3 1/2 years together at the greatest university in the world, all while remembering that our days here are numbered,” Peters said. “It is our hope that through this event, our classmates truly recognize and cherish every last day, every last experience and every last encounter at Our Lady’s University.”Senior Olivia Mikkelsen said the dance was a welcome burst of camaraderie in a nerve-wracking time for many members of the class of 2018.“I think it’s a scary, but exciting, time,” she said. “I feel like that’s a common theme around most seniors, but having a 100 Days Dance is a great way to bring everyone together and really have a collective experience of being seniors and being together and having this.”Senior Shane Ryan said the dance was the perfect opportunity to bring together students from many different groups in the senior class.“It’s great to celebrate getting through Notre Dame for four years with all these people,” he said. “People have different groups along the ways and it’s beautiful to see everything converge when you’re seniors and people all kind of finally get to know each other and all of a sudden you just have all these friends coming out of the woodworks and having a really great time.”Peters said the event took a considerable deal of planning, a duty made easier by the help of his Class Council task force — made up of seniors Sarah Ritten, Kelly Smith, Thomas Walsh, Alexandra Snyder, Andrea Bae and John Ahn — whose dedication he said helped make this dance possible.More important than the details of the dance, however, were the members of the class of 2018 and their memories of Notre Dame, Peters said.“Our measure of success does not come through ticket sales or the number of chocolate covered strawberries eaten,” he said. “Our measure of success will be the memories made among classmates — memories that we hope will last a lifetime.”Tags: 100 Days Dance, class of 2018, senior class council
Saints and Scholars Theology program restricted to St. Joseph County residents
Holy Cross announced in a tweet that its Saints and Scholars pre-college program will take place July 20-24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with restricted enrollment to only St. Joseph County residents due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The theology-based program “provides an exciting opportunity for high school students to live on a college campus, have seminar discussions guided by great faculty and share community-building experiences with other students from around the country,” according to the program’s website.The enrollment cost for the program has been reduced to $100 and covers classroom materials and daily lunch.Tags: COVID-19, Holy Cross College, saints and scholars, summer program, Theology
Ryan Newman In ‘Serious Condition’ After Daytona 500 Crash
Photo: NASCAR on FOX / YouTubeDAYTONA – NASCAR veteran Ryan Newman was seriously injured in an explosive crash on the final lap of Monday’s Daytona 500.Newman’s car went sideways, head-first into the wall, was hit at full speed by another car, went into the air, flipping twice and landed upside down in a cascade of sparks and dripping fuel.Newman was removed from the crash scene by emergency crews and NASCAR reportedly kept media away while the car was taken back to the garage area.Newman was taken to Halifax Hospital, where he was being treated by a trauma team. In a statement to the media, Newman’s family said he is in “serious condition but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening.”No other details were available as of 10 p.m.Share:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
The Country House Wins Big at the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards
View Comments Other companies honored were Pacific Resident Theatre, Chance Theater, Fugitive Kind Theater, 3-D Theatricals, Musical Theatre West, IAMA Theatre Company, A Noise Within, Actors Co-op, Actors’ Gang, MainStreet Theatre Company and Center Theatre Group. The Fountain Theatre received the Best Season Award. The Country House, currently playing on Broadway headlined by Blythe Danner, was one of the big winners at the 2014 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. The ceremony, hosted by Kate Burton and Katie Lowes, took place at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse on November 2. Related Shows 35 awards were bestowed on 18 different Southern California theater companies. Geffen Playhouse garnered three awards for The Country House and one for Slowgirl; Skylight Theatre Company won four for The Wrong Man; Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts picked up two for Parfumerie and two for Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life; La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts won two for Floyd Collins and one for Broadway fave’s James Barbour’s performance in Les Misérables; Echo Theater Company garnered two for Backyard and one for Firemen; The Theatre @ Boston Court won three for Everything You Touch. The Country House Show Closed This production ended its run on Nov. 23, 2014
Exclusive! Ariana Grande Cheers on Her Brother Frankie in Rock of Ages
Show Closed This production ended its run on Jan. 18, 2015 Related Shows View Comments Rock of Ages The cast of Rock of Ages had a very special guest join the ’80s party on November 15—pop superstar Ariana Grande! The Broadway vet, who made her debut on the Great White Way in 13 when she was 15 years old, headed back to Times Square to cheer on her half-brother Frankie J. Grande, who is currently playing Franz in the hit rock musical. Check out this adorable shot of Frankie, Ariana and the cast hanging out backstage, then see Rock of Ages at the Helen Hayes Theatre!
Kelli O’Hara & Christian Borle Know You Want Something to Go Wrong During Peter Pan Live!
Whatever happens, O’Hara says she’ll love it. “We come from that world of the show will go on and we’ll make it work. It’ll be fun,” she says. View Comments O’Hara quickly interjects, “Little things! Nothing big! These people know what they’re doing.” “I think people want to see a couple of little things go wrong to see what happens,” Borle adds. Peter Pan Live!, starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, airs on December 4 at 8PM EST.
“I am a live theater person,” says five-time Tony nominee O’Hara, who plays Mrs. Darling. “There is no contingency plan; you will see anything that happens. You will go through it with us.” Tony winner Christian Borle, who plays both Smee and Mr. Darling notes that the biggest question marks in the show are the dog playing Nana and the children. “There’s no live audience, so there’s no audience to react and throw [the dog] off. We’re going to be in an enclosed space, and he’ll know the drill. It’s going to feel for him—unless he feels our nervous energy—just like any other day. And then the children,” he laughs. “Well, that’s a whole other thing. Are the Broadway vets in NBC’s live broadcast of Peter Pan Live! nervous something will go wrong during the performance? There is a lot at stake: last year the network’s telecast of The Sound of Music drew 22 million viewers, while the 1955 live Peter Pan broadcast garnered a whopping 65 million viewers. Nevertheless, Broadway alums Kelli O’Hara and Christian Borle are cool and confident about the possibility of an on-air mishap.