Yared Nuguse ’21 finished second in the race, but first in United States history: His time of 3:43.97 in the mile run at the Prefontaine Classic in September shaved almost three seconds off the 16-year-old American record. Meanwhile, Norwegian distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s winning time of 3:43.73 was the third-fastest mile ever. Recounting Nuguse’s record-setting race, Runner’s World described him as “one of the more popular American athletes, who comes off as a goofy nerd happy to poke fun at himself.” . . .
After reports of lavish trips and other gifts that U.S. Supreme Court justices had failed to disclose, Justice Amy Coney Barrett ’97J.D. said the high court should adopt an ethics code. “It would be a good idea for us to do it, particularly so that we can communicate to the public exactly what it is that we are doing in a clearer way,” she said during an October appearance at the University of Minnesota. Barrett’s colleague Elena Kagan made a similar statement during an event at Notre Dame in September. All nine current justices signed the court’s first-ever ethics code, issued in November amid concerns about external influences compromising impartiality, but legal experts said it lacked enforcement mechanisms and procedures beyond individual judgment to determine when justices should recuse themselves. . . .
If the work of Tim Russell ’69 strikes a chord, you’re probably more familiar with his voice than his face (that’s him in that illustration to the left). A longtime radio host in Minnesota, Russell also displayed his versatile vocal skills for many years on A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor, performing political and celebrity impressions and portraying Dusty in recurring “Lives of the Cowboys” sketches. In October, Russell was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame. . . .
Theresa Rebeck ’80 is a prolific playwright, but this fall has been especially busy, even for her. As The Associated Press put it, “New York City has become Rebeck’s playwriting playground.” Summer 2023 ended with Rebeck directing an off-Broadway production of her 2019 play Dig, in which a grieving mother suffers over the accidental death of her child, whom she left in a hot car. Her new play, I Need That, starring Danny DeVito as a recluse and hoarder who has to clean up his apartment or face eviction, opened in November. The show, Rebeck’s 21st overall production and fifth on Broadway, established her as “easily the most-produced female playwright of her generation on Broadway,” the AP reported. A few dozen Notre Dame graduates planned a gathering at a performance in December. . . .
Brandon Aubrey ’17, a 28-year-old rookie for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, emerged this season as one of the league’s best placekickers. Such professional success would not be especially noteworthy among Notre Dame graduates, given the University’s iconic football program, except for one thing: Aubrey never played football until after college. A soccer standout, Aubrey contributed to Notre Dame’s 2013 national championship and went on to become a first-round draft pick in Major League Soccer. After a couple years, the former computer science major’s soccer career ended and he pursued software engineering. Watching an NFL game one day, a missed field goal attempt prompted Aubrey’s wife, Jenn ‘17, to say, “You could do that.” After training with a kicking coach, Aubrey garnered a personal recommendation from former Notre Dame and NFL star John Carney ’87 to Skip Holtz ’87, head coach of the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions. Holtz drafted Aubrey in 2022. After a league-leading season, he signed with the Cowboys in 2023 and set an NFL record by making his first 26 field goal attempts as of press time. . . .
The connection between Notre Dame football and NBC has been central to the life of Lindsay Schanzer ‘11. Her father, Ken, a former NBC Sports president, signed the deal that brought Fighting Irish home games to the network in 1991. This fall, Lindsay Schanzer produced pregame and halftime shows for her alma mater’s games against Ohio State and USC. She’s a trailblazer in her profession, becoming the first woman to oversee the Kentucky Derby television production in 2022. For NBC’s first season covering Big Ten football this past fall, Schanzer served as senior producer of the pregame and halftime shows, which brought her back to Notre Dame for a couple big games. “Being able to spearhead my own show that’s a part of the coverage has been beyond the realm of what I imagined I’d be doing in this business,” she told the South Bend Tribune. “I love being able to do that at Notre Dame’s campus. It’s been a real joy, and I hope I get to do it for years to come.”