Presidential candidates spar in public debate

With elections for student body president looming, the two tickets battled it out in a Feb. 1 debate held in Midfield Commons in Duncan Student Center. 

Ivey needs to answer for roster construction

After a very successful career as a player with Notre Dame women’s basketball, and a handful of years with the Indiana Fever, Phoenix Mercury and Detroit Shock, Niele Ivey stepped into the coaching ranks as administrative assistant at Xavier in 2005. Ivey returned to her alma mater two years later, when she began her tenure as an assistant coach, before climbing her way to the head coaching position prior to the 2020-2021 season. Her ascendancy made her the first Black woman to lead a varsity program at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame NFL rookie season recap

This past season, the Notre Dame football team sent off six players to the NFL Draft, including cornerback Benjamin Morrison, safety Xavier Watts, linebacker Jack Kiser, defensive end Rylie Mills, tight end Mitchell Evans and quarterback Riley Leonard, all of whom found success with their new teams in the league. With these six players, Notre Dame now has 538 all-time NFL selections, making the Irish the program with the most NFL drafts in history.

Banning AI sacrifices accessibility

When the majority speaks only of its own needs and perspectives, accepting these as the norm, it also states to the world that the minority is invisible, that they do not belong, that their concerns are not as relevant.

Checking your New Year’s fitness resolution

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when gyms closed for fear of spreading the virus and home fitness was all the rage, I bought a pair of 60-pound dumbbells at a sporting goods store in Mishawaka. At the time, it felt like a coup to land two large dumbbells. During the first weeks of quarantine, there was a mad scramble for exercise equipment as retailers struggled to keep up with consumer demands amid faltering supply chains. If I couldn’t go to the gym, I would make the gym come to me, I thought. New dumbbells, new me. 

Print Edition for Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Notre Dame outdoor ice chapel Mass brings thousands together

Thousands of members of the tri-campus and South Bend community braved 19-degree weather and gathered for Candlemas Mass at an unexpected location: an ice chapel.

Grojean Hall selects Penguins as mascot in shark-tank pitch night, forming new identity

The incoming residents of brand-new Therese Mary Grojean Hall will call themselves the Penguins next academic year after concluding with 20 ”Shark Tank“-inspired pitches for prospective mascots in a two-hour hall government meeting last Tuesday.

Editorial: Jones-Evers is the right choice for ND

With this endorsement, The Observer returns to its decades-long history of endorsing a ticket. Each year, we interview candidates and carefully deliberate who would best serve the interests of the University and its students. Two years ago, this paper made a carefully weighed decision not to issue an endorsement, citing the gross inefficacy of student government. Last year, we made an even bolder announcement when a sole ticket ran unopposed: Abstain, then abolish student government.

Holy Cross reports student accosted near campus

Over the weekend, Holy Cross College reported an incident in which one of their students was approached by two masked individuals, a situation necessitating investigation by the South Bend Police Department, according to an email sent to Saint Mary’s students by Campus Safety. As of Monday evening, no email regarding the incident had been sent to students at Notre Dame. 

Transfer students describe unavailability of University housing

At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, at least 55 transfer students were unable to receive a housing placement through the University. The opening of Graham Family Hall meant that male transfers could fill newly-opened slots, leaving female transfer students disproportionately affected by the shortage of housing for all transfers. This year, 15 new female transfer students were in the same position. The opening of Grojean Hall next fall means this will likely be the last class of transfers to lack adequate housing. 

Notre Dame women’s tennis delivers clean weekend sweep

The Notre Dame women’s tennis program closed out a busy January by hosting Navy, Ball State and Xavier at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. After starting out the season 3-1, the Irish doubled its total in the wins column, defeating Navy and Ball State 7-0 on Saturday, before tying a bow on the weekend with a 6-1 performance against Xavier. The women’s team only lost three matches over all three duels, continuing their dominant form since the start of the year.

Notre Dame men’s basketball faces Louisville in crucial ACC game

Ups, downs and everything in between. That’s been the story for Notre Dame men’s basketball’s 2025-26 season thus far. On Thursday night, the road doesn’t get any easier for the Irish as head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s team travels to No. 24 Louisville for a 7 p.m. clash. 

A college kid’s first Sundance experience

“I’m 82 percent sure I just saw Ethan Hawke walk by me in the Salt Lake airport,” I muttered to my mom over the phone as I hopped on an airport moving walkway. It wouldn’t have been surprising since Hawke’s newest film, “The Weight”, was premiering at Sundance later that week. Needless to say, this encounter made me even more excited to be in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. While others complained about Utah’s chilly temperature, it paled in comparison to the coldest South Bend winter I can remember. Additionally, this would be my first time attending any film festival, let alone Sundance! I hopped off the walkway and headed toward my mom’s gate, preparing to meet her for a weekend of films. 

The Notre Dame Ballet Club presents its inaugural showcase

On January 31, the Notre Dame Ballet Club put on their first showcase in the club’s history. Founded in 2021, the Ballet Club practices twice a week and has occasionally performed with the Notre Dame Dance Company in larger performances. However, this past weekend marked the first time they organized and performed a show independently. The club is entirely student-run, meaning it was up to just a few undergraduate ballerinas to coordinate with Washington Hall to set up performance and practice dates as well as schedule with various rehearsal spaces around campus to accommodate their modest troupe.

Is it appropriate for a Notre Dame student to …

… Give your Notre Dame intro?

Stop obsessing over deadlines: Life is made in the margins

With 364 days left until next Christmas, I sit cross-legged on my bedroom floor, which is strewn with Christmas presents, books and scattered pieces of laundry. The time has come to clean out my backpack for the spring semester, a task I enjoy because it feels like I’ve reached a milestone; I’m turning the page on the past and looking forward to something new. To start, I unzip the main pouch of my backpack and slide out the five-subject notebook I used for my fall classes. Flipping through the pages, I notice that toward the end of each subject, bright colors flash out at me.  I pause, stop flipping and land on a page of philosophy notes dated early December. Emblazoned across the top of the page is a highlighter-yellow declaration covered in curlicues: 17 days ’til Christmas break!  I turn the page, amused, and find myself staring at a veritable art piece of pen-illustrated Christmas paraphernalia sprawling across the header. Wedged between a gingerbread house and a criminally neon-green Christmas wreath is a pink drawing of a calendar that triumphantly reads, 15 days ’til Christmas break!

Irish fan cycles across the country in remembrance of 9/11

After the 1993 terror attack on the World Trade Center, lifelong Notre Dame fan Pat McGarry vowed he would never work there again. Eight years later during the Sept. 11th attacks, his biggest fear of another attack came to fruition. This time, there was no escaping the grief. 

Saint Mary's, Sisters celebrate Holy Cross Heritage Month

In honor of the founder of the Congregations of Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s College and the Sisters of the Holy Cross celebrated Blessed Basil Moreau and his legacy with the recently-established Holy Cross Heritage Month.

Black Excellence Dinner awards campus leaders in fourth year

Notre Dame's student government hosted the fourth annual Black Excellence Dinner on Thursday evening, honoring students, faculty and staff whose leadership, service and scholarship have shaped the Black community on campus.