STEM

Jenny Ross

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately.

The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative “Experiencing Physics” labs—inquiry-based Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) targeted at improving both teaching outcomes and student retention in the physics major.

Current A&S Associate Dean for Creativity, Scholarship and Research Jenny Ross served as department chair when these initiatives were started.

For these notable initiatives, as well as her groundbreaking explorations in biophysics and active matter, Ross was awarded the prestigious 2025 STAR Award from Research Corporation for Science Advancement. The STAR (Science Teaching And Research) Award recognizes outstanding achievements in both research and education.

A 2010 Cottrell Scholar, Ross’s research explores how cells organize themselves using fundamental physics principles, with the goal of designing next-generation materials inspired by biology.

The award includes a $5,000 prize and will be presented at the 2025 Cottrell Scholar Conference in Tucson, Arizona, this July. As a recipient, Ross will provide mentoring to early career Cottrell Scholar colleagues throughout the coming year.

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — We’re back with another excellent group of local students.

NIL is affecting every athletic department in the country. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the co-chair of President Trump’s commission studying college sports, with the hope that the committee can find a solution to the growing problem of NIL in college athletics.

However, NIL continues to rage on, with the price for five-star freshmen going up, and players re-upping contracts every offseason to stay with their current team.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is the latest to warn the college football world about NIL. In a recent interview with Paul Finebaum, Smart sounded off on the current state of college athletics.

“I just want to be able to have freshmen come in and not make more than a senior,” Smart said, “and I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive.”

Smart’s comments come on the heels of five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell choosing the Miami Hurricanes over Georgia. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Cantwell is expected to draw $2.5 million in his first season in Coral Gables.

Smart is cautious about President Trump finding an answer, even with his new committee.

“People have talked about Congress. That’s not easy. Not a lot gets done quickly there.”

Smart also issued a warning about Olympic sports on college campuses.

“You know, we’re probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports.”

Olympic sports are not typically revenue-driving sports, with several losing money on operations. Football and men’s basketball can keep them afloat, but with the growing costs in the two sports, Olympic sports may begin to get cut for schools to remain competitive in the revenue sports.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.

CLOQUET — Before 162 graduates of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College accepted their 219 certificates, diplomas and degrees on Thursday, May 15, two nontraditional students gave advice.

Co-student of the year Kyri Benton recounted her journey “from active drug user and dealer to drug and alcohol counselor in training.” She had just two months of sobriety when she started FDLTCC classes.

“I will have two years clean on June 3 of this year, so if I can make it this far, so can you,” she said.

Benton, who earned a chemical dependency counselor certificate, said she lost friends to overdoses.

“As sad as I get about the ones who are no longer here with me earthside, I choose to stay focused on the gratitude I have for the new relationships that I’ve built and mended,” she said.

Benton encouraged students to prioritize self-care.

“We must be healthy within ourselves — our minds, bodies and spirits — before we can try to help the next person,” she said. “You can’t pour from an empty cup. So as long as you keep yours full you can be of effective service.”

Amy Arntson / For Duluth Media Group

Co-student of the year Katie Gould recalled thinking she was too old to go back to school, and sitting in her car in the FDLTCC parking lot for an hour before working up the resolve to go inside. After studying chemical dependency counseling and human services at FDLTCC, she is going on to the College of St. Scholastica to study nursing.

“If you’re sitting in the audience today and not taking the leap to go back to school, I want you to remember these words I spoke to you today: You can do anything, and I mean it,” she said. “Do it scared. I promise you won’t regret it.”

Gould encouraged graduates to embrace challenges and to “be the change you want to see.”

“We have the knowledge, the skill and passion to make such a huge impact in this world,” she said.

Amy Arntson / For Duluth Media Group

College President Anita Hanson called commencement “more than just a celebration.”

“It’s a recognition of everything it took to get you here: the long nights, the early mornings, the setbacks and restarts, and the decision over and over again to keep going,” she said. “Whether you’re the first in your family to graduate, or continuing a family legacy, please know this: your achievement matters.”

Retiring Dean of Indigenous & Academic Affairs Roxanne DeLille reminded graduates that they didn’t earn their diplomas alone.

“As you acknowledge the dedication and effort that it took for you to get to this point, take a moment to recognize the culmination of dreams — yours and your family’s. Because it isn’t a solitary achievement, even though it’s you who had to study, pass the test, turn in the homework. It’s a collective victory for all those who have walked with you, have supported you, cooked for you, worked with you, laughed with you, cried with you and cheered you along the way,” she said.

Amy Arntson / For Duluth Media Group

As they enter a new chapter, DeLille told students that “sometimes the best opportunities are the ones that you don’t plan for.”

“Remember, purpose doesn’t always come in a package of grandeur. Instead, it resides in the ordinary, waiting to become understood in the larger context,” she said. “Let that larger purpose transcend your individual achievements and intertwine with the dreams of your ancestors and echo like songs through time.”

Amy Arntson / For Duluth Media Group

Kristine Goodrich is community editor at the Superior Telegram and Cloquet Pine Journal. Reach her at kgoodrich@duluthnews.com or 218-720-4102.

A page is turning in the Notre Dame hockey history books.

After 20 years with legendary head coach Jeff Jackson at the helm, a new era arrived last month when the team introduced alumnus and former associate head coach Brock Sheahan as its next head coach. Jackson’s tenure brought unprecedented success for the Fighting Irish, but a disappointing 2024-25 season leaves Sheahan’s group entering the summer with urgent questions to answer.

A legend retires

Jeff Jackson never wanted his final season to be about him. By all accounts, he got his wish until the end of the year, when the Irish rightfully celebrated him at his last home game, where he reached a milestone 600 wins. 

“Jeff, you really, more than anybody, have put Notre Dame hockey on the national map as one of the true powerhouses of hockey,” athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Jackson at a press conference on April 9. “We’ll never be able to thank you appropriately or enough for everything you’ve done for Notre Dame hockey.”

There wasn’t too much else to celebrate during the 2024-25 season, though. The Irish finished with a 12-25-1 record, their worst in Jackson’s 20 years behind the bench. They also failed to make the NCAA tournament for the third straight season. They were out of the running early on after losing seven straight games in November, going on to split a home conference series with No. 54-ranked Lindenwood at home in January and win just four of 24 Big Ten conference games. 

That’s not to say there weren’t any bright spots, though. The team competed at some special venues, including SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, over Thanksgiving and outdoors at Wrigley Field in Chicago just after New Year’s. 

A handful of players also had standout seasons. Sophomore forward Cole Knuble became the first Irish player to average over a point per game since Alex Steeves in 2020-21, tallying 39 points in 34 games, nearly doubling his point total from last year. Senior forward Justin Janicke enjoyed the best season of his career, scoring a career-high 15 goals, including eight on the power-play. Junior netminder Owen Say, a transfer from Mercyhurst, kept the Irish in several games, posting a .929 save percentage. He parlayed his play into an NHL contract with the Calgary Flames at the year’s end. 

Janicke and Say join 11 senior and graduate students departing Notre Dame after this year. Among the departures are graduate students Grant Silianoff and Zach Plucinski, who spent the last five seasons at Notre Dame. Silianoff was a key depth forward, while Plucinski served as a defensive anchor. Five more four-year seniors will graduate as well, including three single-season graduate transfers. In all, Notre Dame will lose 1,295 games of college hockey experience this offseason. 

The Sheahan era begins

Just a week after the end of the 2024-25 season, Sheahan officially took the reins of the Irish hockey program. 

The story of his tenure doesn’t begin there, though. To find that, you’d have to go back to 2012-13, when Sheahan was wrapping up his East Coast Hockey League career with the Ontario Reign. A 2008 Notre Dame graduate, Sheahan discussed with his wife, Ashley, a Saint Mary’s College graduate, what would come next.

“I said, I think I could be the next head coach at the University of Notre Dame, 10 or 12 years from now,” Sheahan recounted in his introductory press conference on April 9.

A decade later – after stops at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Chicago Steel and the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves – that day finally arrived. 

“The opportunity to lead Notre Dame hockey is a dream come true for me and our entire family,” he said.

Sheahan very clearly holds Notre Dame close to his heart. As a player with the Irish from 2004 to 2008, he helped Notre Dame to its first Frozen Four in 2008. He also met his future wife while at Notre Dame and returned to start his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach in the 2013-14 season. Sheahan came back to Notre Dame as an associate head coach prior to the 2023-24 season.

“I believe Notre Dame is the best of everything,” Sheahan said. “There’s one place, one place I want to coach in college,” he said.

Teams that Sheahan previously coached found success when he held the head coaching job. Promoted midseason to head coach of the Chicago Steel in the 2019-20 season, his team won the regular season title the next two seasons and the league championship in 2021. Sheahan reached 100 wins in just over two seasons with the Steel and compiled a 35-29-5 record in his lone season with the Wolves. 

Irish face offseason questions

Sheahan assumes the top job at an Irish hockey program that has not finished above .500 since the 2021-22 season, their longest stretch without a winning season since between 1999 and 2003. The new bench boss did not shy away from recognizing that the Irish program has faced some recent adversity and is likely face some more.

“I actually believe this is one of our biggest strengths going into the future, is we have, and I’ve been here for this, is we’ve faced some real adversity the past two years,” Sheahan said. “And if we lean into that next season, this spring, this summer, I believe that’s going to lead to success for the program, in short order.” 

Still, given the relative lack of results in recent years, it is understandable to ask whether the Irish may be in need of a rebuild. The players that are leaving this summer scored 45% of the team’s goals in the last season, and the Irish are ranked a middling No. 37 nationally with 2.7 goals-per-game. The Irish also lost their best netminder in Say, who made 35 or more saves in six games this year. Those losses, coupled with the overall downward trend in the standings, seem to indicate that it’s time to rethink some things. Yet, Sheahan remains optimistic.

“This is not a rebuild,” Sheahan asserted. “I believe we have the right people. [The returning players] give me a ton of confidence moving into the future.”

Perhaps rightfully so. Notre Dame’s top two centers for the last two seasons, Danny Nelson and Knuble, will be juniors next year with a deeper breadth of experience. The cupboard is not empty in goal either, where Washington Capitals draft pick Nick Kempf will return after playing 13 games in his freshman season. Succeeding as a freshman goaltender in college hockey is difficult, but Kempf will benefit from the added experience from his rookie season. Four experienced defensemen – junior Michael Mastrodomenico, junior Axel Kumlin, sophomore Paul Fischer and sophomore Henry Nelson – will lead Notre Dame’s defense.

“We have way more talent than people think in our locker room,” Sheahan said. 

Still, with just 17 players on their roster, an influx of talent will be necessary. According to reports from the team’s social media accounts, the Irish have inked at least seven signees for next season, not including one confirmed transfer portal addition and another that has been reliably reported but not confirmed. 

Of the signees, all seven come from two top-tier junior leagues in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and USHL. By getting three players from the OHL, Notre Dame took advantage of new rules allowing players from the three Canadian major junior leagues to join NCAA teams. How players from those leagues impact college hockey for the first time will be one of the major storylines of next season. 

“A year ago, that wasn’t even a possibility,” Sheahan said. “There’s guys that can run numbers that it’ll be interesting to see how that translates to a much tighter, harder, older college hockey, right?”

Notre Dame, for one, has to hope that their three OHL signees can contribute right away. Forwards Cole Brown and Pano Fimis both totaled over 30 goals last season and will need to bring some added scoring juice to South Bend. Brown, a New Jersey Devils prospect, spent the last four years with the Brantford Bulldogs franchise. He enjoyed the best season of his career this past season, totaling 33 goals and 70 points while playing on a line with league scoring leader Nick Lardis. The undrafted Fimis also posted the best numbers of his career this season with the Erie Otters, lighting the lamp 33 times. He also broke the OHL single-season record for faceoffs won. 

Defenseman Caeden Carlisle is another four-year OHL veteran, arriving from the Soo Greyhounds, where he served as captain last season. How all three stack up against college hockey talent remains to be seen.

“We’re hoping they’ll be translatable as far as their compete level, their skating and their skill set,” Sheahan said.

Notre Dame will also add three players from the USHL – defensemen Cameron Aucoin and Danny Klaers along with forward Owen Tylec. Goaltender Patrick Quinlan from the National Team Development Program will also join.

In addition, the Irish announced on May 1 that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute forward Sutter Muzzatti had joined the team out of the transfer portal. The former Nashville Predators prospect has one year of eligibility remaining, but was limited to just 10 games last year.

Between new recruiting rules, the transfer portal and the impending NCAA vs. House settlement that may limit the number of athletes allowed on team rosters, college hockey is an ever-changing world. Notre Dame’s roster outlook in May reflects that, and there may be more to come.

“We’re still working through the roster,” Sheahan said. “We don’t know where that’s going anyways, with roster limits or not.”

For now, though, it’s enough to say that next year will be full of new things for Notre Dame hockey. It’s appropriate, too, because a new chapter in the program’s history books is waiting to be written.

“What’s next for the Class of 2025” is a series that features Lafayette grads—where they’re headed, and the mentors, resources, and experiences that inspired their future path. Stay tuned for more stories throughout May.

(Photo Courtesy Lexington Sporting Club)

By: Kelly Huth

Major/minor: Economics

Destination/future plans: Offered opportunity to play soccer for Lexington Sporting Club in the United Soccer League Championship.

Three days before winter break 2024, Griffin Huff ’25 got a call from Lexington Sporting Club offering the goalkeeper the chance to train with the team. Huff packed up his room, talked to his professors about finishing his remaining classes online, and headed to Kentucky. 

Since then he’s been getting plugged into the environment and is learning so much.

He’ll be back on campus in May to join his classmates as they walk across the stage at Commencement.

Involvement on campus: In addition to his role on the men’s soccer team, Huff was a member of Pard PAC (Presidential Advisory Committee) in fall 2024, where he and other students met with President Nicole Hurd and her staff.

He joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and was asked to be a leader his sophomore year. His senior year he started a weekly men’s Bible study group with fellow soccer players.

He also enjoyed volunteering alongside teammates in the Earn Your Spots Book Club and reading to elementary students at Cheston and Paxinosa Elementary Schools.

The experiences and mentors that mattered most: In the soccer realm, Huff says the game where he and his teammates beat American University at home in the 2023 semifinals is one of his top memories. 

But at Lafayette it’s the people he’s most thankful for.

He’s grateful to the coaches, and especially the athletic trainers in Kirby Sports Center—Dawn Comp, Alex Sobelman, Hiram Bonilla, and Celie Quintero Casanova. 

In the classroom it was David Stifel, Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics, who offered immense support during Huff’s time at Lafayette. 

Hongxing Liu, associate professor of economics, also had a large role in his success, and Huff took four of Liu’s classes. “She was fantastic—she has such a unique way of teaching and breaking down complex concepts.”

Huff says he valued being on campus, talking with people, and finding great friends at Lafayette.

On day one he was paired to room with James Macchia ’25, who became one of his closest friends and roommate all four years. “That guy’s my brother,” Huff says. 

FCA introduced him to fellow student-athletes Halee Smith ’25 and Chris Yoler ’24 who were “genuine and real and helped me get through tough times.”

“Don’t be afraid to talk to people—everyone wants someone to talk to,” he adds. “Everyone can get so inside their head. But you could help make someone’s day just by saying something.”

Huff says he’s also thankful for his family and his girlfriend, Irelynd Lorenzen, for their support and the time and effort they sacrificed to help him get through that phase of life.

Advice for fellow and future students: 

“College goes too fast—a cliche, I know,” Huff says. “Enjoy every moment. The good is great, but the bad … well, that makes the good even better.

Don’t dwell on the negative. Look at those moments and know more positive things are coming.”