Opinion

What’s the cost? Banned Books and Free Little Libraries

This summer, I became fascinated with Free Little Libraries. For those unfamiliar, this is the official organization that encourages residential neighborhoods to create and install community libraries. They operate under the implicit regulation of taking a book and leaving one in return.

All roads lead to the Grotto

When I returned to my hometown in Northern Virginia for summer break, I felt a kind of dissonance almost immediately. My first few days were spent taking strolls and drives with friends, meandering streets that once felt so familiar, but now felt so different. My elementary school had been torn down, replaced with the bare bones of some new monstrosity, and the lookout spot that was the centerpiece of my youth was no longer open past sundown. Needless to say, it took a few weeks to feel like myself again—it took many trips to my favorite coffee shop, many late-night catch-ups and many journal entries. Of course, I missed my school friends and the daily stimulation of college life, but, perhaps more than that, I came to realize that I missed the Grotto. 

You’ve never been to a football game?

As the school year is quickly ramping up, so is the Fighting Irish football season. However, one thing that is painful to admit to many of my friends this weekend, and now to you, the reader of this column, is that I have never been to a Notre Dame football game before. I know, I know. How does a super-senior manage to never have gone to a football game, especially being just across the street from Notre Dame? The answer: I just wasn’t ever able to. I am a student who has at least two jobs at a time when on campus, way too many friends to keep track of and assignments that flood way over my head. So, excuse me if I haven’t carved out some time for game days before. The thing is, I knew that this year was going to be different. I am still unsure of how much time I have left here as a student in the 46556 ZIP code, so it was important for me to jump on any opportunity this year to be able to see a bunch of sweaty young adults revel in the magic that Notre Dame Stadium has to offer. But, to begin such a massive undertaking, there had to be a plan, and like most of my plans it did not go all too well. 

Everything I know about love in college 

Recently, I read “Everything I Know About Love” by Dolly Alderton, which I highly recommend reading before entering your twenties. I can’t say I have many experiences dabbling with love; however, I’ve always had this idea that I’ll meet this boy who would fix everything. It felt like finding this love would make life brighter. Romantic love seemed like the most exciting and worthwhile thing on this earth. However, the reality of dating in college is that you are on a completely different page than boys, and let me tell you that it is heartbreaking when you become aware of this. 

Christ alone

In his first letter, the apostle John makes a startling remark: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 ESV).  John is saying that we can know that we are saved, that we have been regenerated by the Spirit, that all our sins have been forgiven, and that, when we die, we will pass through Heaven’s gates. How can a Christian make such an audacious claim and not be arrogant and self-righteous? After all, those of other religions would blush to make such a boastful proclamation.  The answer: because Christianity is utterly unique from every other religion. All other religions say your righteousness — your good works, your piety, the deepness of your spirituality — is what saves you.  Sure, God is gracious, but if you do not do enough, pray enough, read enough or participate in spiritual activities enough, there is no hope for you. Christianity, on the other hand, says that we are not saved by our works at all but wholly of grace.

Pick up a newspaper

Even though I’m from the Class of 2020, I’m going to propose something to you that’s so old-fashioned and outlandish that you might mistake me for a member of the Class of 1920. You should read a physical newspaper. 

The language of music

I started college in the fall of 2020, attending socially distanced classes and football games. As I ate dining hall meals out of disposable containers in my room while it got colder outside, I was determined to swallow my homesickness. One day that semester, I walked by Au Bon Pain in the library and was stopped in my tracks when I heard a vaguely familiar sound in the cafe. I realized that it was a Hindi song, which I later found out was the wistful, bossa nova sound of the song “Kyon” (Why) from “Barfi,” a whimsical Hindi film.

Dancing to my inner rhythm

Autism isn’t just an abstract condition that hides in the recesses of my mind. It animates me. It makes me move, sway and dance in unusual patterns. It makes me “stim.”

Yes to more intentional living

This past summer, I had the chance to live in Washington, D.C. as I completed my internship. And while there is so much to learn from living alone in a big city in your twenties, one lesson that really stuck with me was undertaking living with more intention. This lifestyle entails practicing deliberate intention every day; it starts with a calculated, conscious choice to pursue a specific course of action or direction.

The effect of disinformation on religious freedom

When the truth is as flexible as rubber, the stability of democracy isn’t far behind. Disinformation is a fundamental threat to the democratic world. Hallmarks of democracy, such as the free and open exchange of ideas and our institutions, rest on the assumption that our society is committed to the pursuit of truth.

Her Loyal Daughters: Celebrating 50 Years of Coeducation

You are enough

In 2016, 15-time Grammy award-winning singer Alicia Keys gave up wearing makeup. 

Claiming an Education

The year 2022 marks 50 years of undergraduate women enrollment at Notre Dame (although female students such as religious sisters have earned degrees at the university before this time). While it’s something worth commemorating, at the same time, it’s an occurrence that warrants great reflection. On one hand, the inclusion of women in the Notre Dame curriculum made large strides in encouraging women’s right to education. But at the same time, 50 years wasn’t that long ago and have we truly made coed universities a place of equal opportunity?

To the women who make Notre Dame my home

When you hand a little kid a piece of paper and a crayon and tell them to draw “home,” it’s pretty likely that they will draw a triangle stacked on top of a square. Maybe they will add a chimney, a door, a tree and some windows. 

Coeducation 50 years in the making

Fifty years ago I was a senior in high school beginning my college application process. One of the applications was to the University. Little did I know that I was going to be a “pioneer.” Campus was about half the size it is today. I wanted to go to the best university to give me the best future. The process was “snail” mail and computers were not part of our lives. The wait period seemed to take forever — no universal notification or class celebration. Four hundred new students joined the 375 women from the 1972-73 year. We made up about 10 percent of the student body — about 6600 total in the late ‘70s.

Women saints of Notre Dame

The closest people to saints I’ve ever met are my two sassy loudmouth lesbian grandmas from rural Washington. Known as Moo and Ne, they represent the best and most thoughtful Christians I know. 

Ladies, bring your folding chairs. We’re getting a seat at this table.

Duncan Student Center replaced the Senate Chambers of the Michigan State Capitol for Senator Mallory McMorrow this past March. Returning to her Alma Mater, the 2008 graduate joined a panel of eight Notre Dame alumnae to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the admission of undergraduate women at the University of Notre Dame.

In defense of the Grand Empress Dowager

When one thinks of powerful and influential women in the second half of the 19th century, it would not be surprising for the list to come up rather short, as the circumstances most women around the world found themselves in prevented them from foraying into society beyond a limited set of roles. Over the past week, I asked some of my friends who they thought could potentially top out a list of the century’s most influential women. Beyond “I have no idea” and “Why are you asking me this?” the only name which consistently came about was that of Queen Victoria, who reigned over the United Kingdom and its vast global empire for over six decades. If she can manage to remain a household name well into the 21st century and have an era named after her, then she probably is without a doubt not only the most important woman from the 19th century but also one of the greatest figures to have lived back then, irrespective of gender. However, there is another, who in my opinion beats out Queen Victoria, consigned to obscurity in the West and maligned by most in the East. 

Soggy dog kibble Saints

Editor's note: This column includes discussions of suicide and drug addiction.

On the banning of books

A Virginia court case brought against Barnes & Noble attempted to restrict the sale of Maia Kobabe’s "Gender Queer" and Sarah Maas’ "A Court of Mist and Fury." Local legislators argued based on a poorly-worded Virginia law that the books would be “obscene” for readers under the age of 18. The case was recently dismissed. This comes at a time of much political discussion centered around which books are appropriate to read in the classroom.