Nine department heads will complete The Observer’s 2025-2026 Editorial Board, incoming Editor-in-Chief Liam Kelly announced Tuesday.
“The members of the incoming Editorial Board have proven themselves during their tenure at The Observer thus far, and I’m sure they will continue to do excellent work to ensure the paper’s success,” Kelly said.
The nine department editors will join Kelly as well as Managing Editor Gray Nocjar and Assistant Managing Editors Aynslee Dellacca, Grace Tadajweski and Henry Jagodzinski in handling the editorial responsibilities of the paper.
Freshman Sophie Hanawalt will take over as Notre Dame News Editor. Hanawalt, a global affairs major, is from Birmingham, Michigan, and lives in Welsh Family Hall. She previously served as a staff writer and associate news editor, covering student protests, housing issues, the impact of federal policies on the Notre Dame community and more.
Sophomore Noah Cahill, a Fisher Hall resident from Farmington Hills, Michigan, will serve as Sports Editor. Cahill joined The Observer in August 2023 and has covered soccer, football and lacrosse. He is a double major in psychology and American studies and served as associate sports editor on the football beat last semster.
Berhan Hagezom, a freshman neuroscience and chemistry double major at Saint Mary’s from Las Vegas, will serve as Saint Mary’s News Editor. Hagezom has worked as a staff writer under the Saint Mary’s news department this semester and has written a dozen articles covering events, lectures and new developments at Saint Mary’s.
Sophomore Peter Mikulski will continue as Scene Editor after serving in the same position for the 2024-2025 term. Mikulski is a resident of Siegfried Hall from Chicagoland as well as a medieval studies major interested in poetry.
Sophomore Abby Hernan will serve as Viewpoint Editor for the spring 2025 semester while junior Redmond Bernhold will serve as Viewpoint Editor for fall 2025 and spring 2026. A political science and applied and computational mathematics and statistics major from Orlando, Florida, living in Lewis Hall, Hernan joined in fall 2023 and has worked as a Viewpoint copyeditor since, occasionally writing inside columns.
Bernhold is a resident of Siegfried Hall from Minster, Ohio, studying biochemistry. He started at The Observer in August 2022 as a news writer and currently serves on the social media team in addition to writing a Viewpoint column on media, culture and politics. He worked last summer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and will work this summer for The Wall Street Journal as a Real Estate Reporter in New York.
Freshman Alumni Hall resident Duncan Stangel will take over as Social Media Editor. Originally from Cumberland, Maryland, Stangel is a global affairs major. He joined the Viewpoint department as a columnist in September 2024, aiming to provide a small-town perspective on family, politics and campus life. He is also a former podcaster and current radio host.
Mariella Taddonio, a freshman at Saint Mary’s from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, and a double major in communication studies and social work, will serve as Photo Editor. Joining the paper this fall, Taddonio worked as a staff photographer, taking photos for multiple events and games including the Orange Bowl, as well as writing for the Saint Mary’s news department.
Isabelle Rutland, a freshman in Walsh Hall, will take over as Graphics Editor. Rutland is from Fairhope, Alabama, and is majoring in architecture. She joined the graphics department last August and has been working weekly shifts since.
Hanawalt will begin her term as Notre Dame News Editor March 2, while the rest of the Editorial Board will assume their new positions March 7.
