Curtain falls on a historic season for Irish's Hidalgo

Notre Dame women’s basketball’s 2025-2026 campaign surpassed all expectations with a run to the Elite Eight. Now that it has come to a close, we can reflect on one of the best individual seasons we have seen from an Irish player in a long time. Coming into the season, expectations were high, but so were doubts after the loss of the Irish star guard Olivia Miles to TCU. However, Irish fans did not need to worry; they still had junior guard Hannah Hidalgo. The 5-foot-6 junior has been Notre Dame’s shining light for several seasons now, and despite being small in stature, she is almost always the most influential player every time she steps on the court.

Collins: Love conquers all

View this as you would like, a hot take or perhaps an obvious one: Jeremiyah Love is the best overall player in this year’s NFL draft class. Now, I am not here to argue about whether or not he is the most valuable player on every field. That’s the job of front offices. Of the jersey numbers most likely to be retired in the future, however, my money is on No. 4 — much like it was on No. 14 in 2022 and No. 56 in 2018. Joining former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton and offensive guard Quenton Nelson, Love adds to a growing list of Notre Dame legends who may have been slightly underdrafted in professional scouting circles. And I will take a Hall of Famer over “positional value” every time.

Print edition for Tuesday, March 31

New taxidermy additions underscore expansion plans by Museum of Biodiversity

A polar bear, a 500 pound walrus and avian species from around the globe all went on display last month along the galleria of the Jordan Hall of Science.

No. 1 Irish suffer first defeat in road clash at Virginia

Heading into its ACC opener, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team was 6-0 and ranked as the top team in the country. However, both titles were taken away by the Virginia Cavaliers after the Irish fell 11-9 on March 28. The win propelled Virginia to No. 14 in the country after being previously unranked, and Notre Dame dropped to No. 4 in the country. 

ND students are political — but still uninformed

In September 2024, I wrote a column titled “Notre Dame had political angst. Do we now?” I argued no, that there was little angst in the form of activism. During the 2024 presidential campaign races, we were tuned in, but it felt weird that few demonstrations transpired — especially when our history is steeped with rallies on regional and national issues. Though we weren’t rallying, we were informed.

Student Voices for Palestine organizes ‘No to War’ protest

Student Voices for Palestine (SVP) hosted a ‘No to War’ demonstration on Monday to protest U.S. and Israeli-backed military interventions abroad, including in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. In a statement to The Observer, director of demonstrations senior Linnea Barron, who also helped organize the protest, shared their intent, citing the University’s cooperation with prominent defense manufacturers.

Redeeming ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

Holy Week, the pinnacle of the Catholic calendar, is here, and with Easter nearing comes an increased engagement with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” a rock opera loosely based on Jesus’ life told from Judas’ perspective. Admittedly, while loving its music and vibe, I take issue with its presentation of Christian doctrine. “Superstar” is secular media and not a Christian work; yet, for many, it was their introduction to Christianity and led to conversion. It’s not meant to be taken seriously theologically, but with the Triduum providing opportunities for reflection on Christ’s Paschal Mystery, I want to examine how to “redeem” “Superstar” in a way that aligns with legitimate Catholic teaching while still maintaining its rocking identity. This article will primarily critique the show’s theology as presented in the music, and my solutions will mostly be musical changes and minimal blocking notes. Many know “Superstar” through the 1973 film, but I won’t consider it in this analysis. The film is pure camp and not serious at all, though it’s still a fun watch.

Is business immoral?

I, like many, have often found myself scrolling aimlessly through LinkedIn like it’s Instagram. “I am proud to announce that I will be working for McKinsey this summer.” “It is an honor to say that I will be a 2026 Summer Analyst for Deloitte.” “#LockheedMartinSummer.” Now, these internships are extremely impressive; it is no easy feat catching the attention of these multibillion-dollar companies. However, one can’t help but question the less than optimal conduct of many of these corporations.

Do you really have enough time?

My dad recently sent me this Wall Street Journal Op-Ed by Emil Barr, founder of Flashpass and Step-Up Social, two multi-million-dollar social media marketing firms. In Barr’s provocatively titled piece, “So You Want to Be a Millionaire? Don’t Wait Until You’re 20,” he flips the common advice so many of us hear in high school and even college: “You have plenty of time to figure it out, don’t rush and don’t worry.” The truth is, the best time to figure it out was yesterday, and the second-best time is today.

Kanye proves you can never count him out with 'Bully'

The self-destructive death spiral of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, this past decade has been a horrifying spectacle. To see a man who once had the entire culture in a chokehold throw it all away for obsessive antisemitism has been like watching a Shakespearean tragedy. While Ye ostensibly cleaned up his act and mounted a comeback with 2024’s “Vultures 1” (a project I still quite enjoy, even though it pales in comparison to his best works), things quickly regressed thereafter. “Vultures 2” was a half-baked mess, and beginning in early 2025, Ye entered probably the worst manic episode of his career. Not only did he relapse into Nazism and all sorts of bigotry, but he also relentlessly insulted all of his family, friends and industry peers on Twitter. This second aspect made it much more difficult to watch than his late 2022 antisemitic stint: it felt like he was irrevocably destroying both his public and personal life.

Hicks: Notre Dame was outclassed Sunday, but next year is a different story

Notre Dame’s magical run in the 2026 NCAA Tournament ended Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena. The Irish were thoroughly beaten in every aspect of the game by a dominant UConn squad that hasn’t lost in its last 54 outings. But if you were told back on Feb. 1, following a rough month of January that saw the Irish win just three of nine games, that Notre Dame’s season would end in the Elite Eight after a competitive game with the almighty Huskies, you would have been pleasantly surprised.

A look inside Windmoor, an Opus Dei affiliated men’s residence

Windmoor Study Center, an off-campus residence, offers Notre Dame senior men a housing option focused on Catholic formation, academic development and community life. The residence operates independently and is not affiliated with the University itself.

SCIA’s Immigration Week highlights ongoing immigration issues in the US

The Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy of Notre Dame (SCIA) hosted an Immigration Week from March 23 to March 28 featuring daily events centered on the role of immigrants in communities and recent immigration enforcement. 

Belles softball sweeps Goshen in home series

This Sunday, the Saint Mary’s softball team hosted Goshen for a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m., games which had been rescheduled from earlier this month. The Belles swept the Goshen Maple Leafs, winning the first game 13-5 and the second game 6-2. With these two wins, the Belles improved their season record to 9-11.

This is the life: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of ‘Hannah Montana’

On Tuesday, Disney+ released the “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special,” or as Miley Cyrus calls it, the “Hannahversary.” This special has been long-awaited as Cyrus has been teasing it since last summer. The special ran for only an hour, but it was still something quite special. If I had to describe the special in one word, it would be “healing.”

’Rooster' delivers a weak crow

“Rooster,” starring Steve Carell, is the latest project from “Ted Lasso” creator Bill Lawrence. The show follows popular fiction author Greg Russo (Steve Carell) as he moves in with his daughter Katie Russo (Charly Clive), a professor at a small liberal arts college, after her husband, a history professor Archie (Phil Dunster), leaves her for a graduate student (Lauren Tsa). Russo, still reeling from his own divorce, tries to get the couple back together by taking a writer’s residency at the same university. The title comes from Greg’s lead character in his action novels, a half-action star, half self-insert. Carell makes a very interesting straight man. For most of his career, he has been the comedic character, but in “Rooster,” he takes on the role of the least crazy one, between the health nut president of the university (John C. McGinley) and the walking HR nightmare dean of students (Alan Ruck).

Back on track: Irish women’s tennis wins big in back to back matches

After starting the season 12-2, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team traveled down to Clemson, S.C., where it lost 1-4 to a strong Tigers squad. The team would then go winless for a full month; the streak finally snapped in Friday’s gutsy 4-3 home victory over Stanford. The Irish followed up with a 4-1 win against Berkeley, improving to 14-7 on the year and possibly salvaging the season.

You need to grow up, not in the way you think

At some point in everyone’s life, they’ve heard the phrase, “you need to grow up.” Usually, this phrase is not meant to be said as words of encouragement, rather, criticism for your behavior or your choices. It can often mean you are being too immature, too unrealistic, too imaginative, too emotional, too irresponsible or too sensitive.

The Democratic party’s identity crisis

This past Saturday, I found myself at breakfast with a close friend of mine. The conversation started normally enough — what’s in store for the weekend, how’s the family doing, anything interesting happen in class this week? It didn’t take long for my friend — who happens to be a conservative Republican — to bring up politics. Of course, being the firebrand debater I am, I was able to retort his arguments with a quick succession of ad hominem attacks and straw man fallacies with a few facts sprinkled in from time to time. Eventually, however, he criticized my Democratic party, claiming that we don’t stand for anything — that we are solely the party of anti-Trump.