Oct. 15, 2020 by The Daily Orange

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N • Left behind

C • Recipe reflections

S • Halting progress

Halfway through the fall semester, some SU students with disabilities said they are still unable to receive accommodations for hybrid or online classes. Page 3

Members of the Latino community share family recipes such as flan and pasteles de yuca, reflecting on the dishes and the memories behind them. Page 7

Beat writer Anthony Dabbundo argues that Syracuse shouldn’t schedule games against Liberty, which routinely insults ideas of racial sensitivity and inclusion. Page 12

on campus

Trolley driver on leave By Chris Hippensteel news editor

Mourning together Students gathered Wednesday evening at a memorial to freshman Trevor Pierce at the intersection of Comstock and Waverly avenues. The memorial included flowers, candles and photos of Pierce spread across the sidewalk. Pierce died Tuesday afternoon when he collided with a Syracuse University trolley while skateboarding. emily steinberger photo editor

su athletics

SU, NCAA improve LGBTQ athlete inclusion By Allie Kaylor

asst. copy editor

Mitchell Harjo had to get something off his chest. After a late March rowing practice his freshman year, he felt distraught and emotional — unable to calm his thoughts. He had come out as gay to some of his close friends, but no one else knew. Harjo walked to the boat bay and saw his coach, Jason Elefant, packing up for the end of the day. Holding back tears, Harjo managed to choke out the words “I’m gay.” “My world had felt so different after that moment,” said Harjo, now a senior. “I started crying and (Elefant) gave me a hug.” In the past decade, the NCAA has expanded its support of LGBTQ athletes, creating a 80-page resource guide in 2010 and partnering with several activist organizations to continue efforts toward inclusion. In 2017, Athlete Ally established the Athlete Equality Index, a scale that measures inclusivity within collegiate athletic departments. But there’s still work to be done nationwide to make all athletes comfortable, said Alyssa Hellrung, who teaches the University of Washington’s gender and sport course. Syracuse’s athletic department scored a 65/100 on that first Athlete Equality Index ranking, though the number rose to 85 on

its latest update in 2019. The index, which rates schools on eight criteria — including non-discrimination policies, LGBTQ resources and open allyship — gave SU a 0/10 for its lack of an LGBTQ athlete group, something Harjo and women’s lacrosse player Lila Nazarian said they would benefit from. “The biggest thing when you’re a young person who’s queer or LGBTQ, is to feel like you have people who are like you, but you are not separated from your community,” Nazarian said. After coming out to his team, Harjo felt like he had something to prove, he said. He didn’t want his teammates to think of him as weaker or less masculine because he was gay, so he started a mental competition between him and his teammates. If he outperformed them, Harjo felt like that proved he was masculine enough to fit in. “I didn’t just want to be the gay guy on the team and not be able to perform well,” Harjo said. At Syracuse, there are no out athletes currently on the football or men’s basketball team, despite these two teams having 120 players combined, Harjo said. A reason for that might be the national spotlight those sports attract, he said, and many of these players have hopes of playing professionally after college and wouldn’t want scouts looking at them differently. “The consequences (of coming

Syracuse University has placed a trolley driver on administrative leave pending an investigation into the collision that killed freshman Trevor Pierce. An SU trolley collided with Pierce, 18, on Tuesday evening while he was riding his skateboard at the intersection of Comstock and Waverly avenues. An ambulance transported Pierce to Upstate University Hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement from the Syracuse Police Department. A university spokesperson confirmed the trolley driver’s employment status in a Wednesday statement to The Daily Orange. Neither the university nor SPD has released the identity of the driver. SPD is reviewing evidence, including camera footage and witness statements, to determine how the crash occurred, SPD spokesperson Sgt. Matthew Malinowski told Syracuse.com. see driver page 4

guest column

Students helped to comfort Pierce

MICHELLE TUMOLO (LEFT), a former SU athlete, started MT35 to promote equality in sports. courtesy of michelle tumolo

out) don’t feel as heavy for me as they would for a football or basketball player to go professionally,” Harjo said. In 2014, All-American Missouri defensive end Michael Sam experienced just that. He came out as gay three months before the NFL draft and two weeks before the scouting combine — becoming the first NFL draftee to do so. Previously projected as a third-round pick, Sam fell to the seventh round and was released by the Rams after playing

in multiple preseason games. Former Syracuse women’s lacrosse player Michelle Tumolo, who is gay, has also noticed intolerance in men’s sports. While some professional men’s lacrosse teams have pride nights or make team statements supporting the LGBTQ community, there is always some pushback — especially on social media. “I don’t know any men’s lacrosse players (that are out),” Tumolo

see lgbtq page 10

On my way home from campus early Tuesday evening, I came upon the scene of Trevor Pierce’s tragic accident. The ambulances screamed up Waverly Avenue behind me, so I did not stop. But I will never forget what I saw: a group of students — probably strangers — carrying Trevor to the side of the road and trying to make him comfortable. To the students who helped Trevor: You were so very brave during a horrific and traumatic situation. You showed care and compassion to another member of our community. You made sure he was not alone at the end of his life. I share sorrow with Trevor’s family, friends and classmates. May the actions of these kind students help bring them comfort. Aileen Gallagher Associate Professor, Magazine, News & Digital Journalism

2 oct. 15, 2020

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oct. 15, 2020

on campus

Students with disabilities feel left behind Volunteer programs serve city virtually By Abby Weiss

asst. digital editor

While disability services and staff have made adjustments to better serve both students who are taking classes remotely and those coming to campus for in-person classes, some students said they have faced pushback when they asked for accommodations. emily steinberger photo editor By Michael Sessa asst. news editor

Halfway through the fall semester, some Syracuse University students with disabilities are still facing challenges taking online classes and accessing course accommodations. While the coronavirus pandemic has created its own set of complications for students with disabilities, it has also brought to the foreground accessibility issues at SU that predate the health crisis, students said. Disability services and staff have made adjustments to better serve both students who are taking classes remotely and those coming to campus for in-person classes. But some students said they have faced pushback when they asked for accommodations. Eli Blodgett, a senior stage management and theatrical design major, is taking almost all of their classes online this semester. Blodgett has received support from the Center for Disability Services

and the Disability Cultural Center, but some individual professors are slow to provide accommodations, they said. “The way that professors are handling learning in a virtual environment actually creates more inequity, which means that disabled students automatically get left behind,” Blodgett said. While professors Blodgett had built relationships with before classes shifted online in March have found ways to accommodate their physical and neurological disabilities, others have been reluctant, they said. “When I was in class with them, I felt like they could at least see that I was engaged in class, but now that’s not a factor,” Blodgett said. “People with disabilities want to be active learners. That’s why they’re asking for accommodations — not the opposite.” Judy Kopp, assistant director of the Center for Disability Services, said professors have overwhelmingly been sensitive to students’ needs amid the pan-

demic. The office is still providing instructors with support and has also adjusted its counseling and tutoring programs to help students with disabilities while complying with public health guidelines, she said. CDR staff are meeting with students almost exclusively online but have also met outside with students who feel burned out after virtual learning, Kopp said. The shift to online classes has also broadened the office’s knowledge about online accessibility measures, such as audio captioning tools, that work best for students, she said. Kopp said the office is seeing its normal number of students, even after fall enrollment dropped by more than 1,500 students. Stephanie Hilliard, a doctoral student in the composition and cultural rhetoric program, has adjusted course guidelines in the writing class they teach so students with disabilities aren’t overloaded, they said. Hilliard has eliminated

penalties for late assignments in the class, which is taught asynchronously. Students can choose whether they would like to receive written feedback on assignments or schedule a virtual conference instead. “There’s a lot of wiggle room to just not be OK in my class,” Hilliard said. “That’s important because we don’t always know what’s going on with our students — we don’t always recognize how much work they’re doing or what kind of stress they’re under.” Hilliard, who has anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, said instructors should proactively think of ways to make their courses accessible –– not just respond to specific accommodations. Rowan Oliver, who studies film, decided in August to take the year off due to concerns about managing their disabilities. “It was a really, really difficult decision for me to not go back to school,” Oliver said. “It takes a lot see disabilities page 6

coronavirus

SU faculty assess coronavirus testing policy By Adriana Rozas Rivera contributing writer

Syracuse University will allow faculty and staff to participate in the university’s on-campus coronavirus testing after restricting the testing largely to students for weeks. As of Sept. 30, faculty and staff can participate in SU’s pooled saliva surveillance testing. The university said at the beginning of the fall semester that it would not require pre-arrival testing for faculty and staff because 91% live in the central New York region, where the infection rate has been low. The university still doesn’t require faculty and staff to receive testing. Several SU faculty and staff members told The Daily Orange that they don’t have a problem with the university’s optional COVID-19 testing policy for employees, while

others expressed concern at the lack of stricter guidelines. Meheli Basu, an assistant professor of marketing, doesn’t think the lack of mandatory faculty testing is concerning because fewer people are in academic buildings and faculty have access to protective equipment. “The classrooms have been amazingly set up so there’s a lot of space between students,” Basu said. “Personally, I don’t feel threatened myself.” But for some faculty members who have wanted to get tested, they’ve spent the last several weeks resorting to off-campus testing sites. For weeks, the closest testing site professor Rawiya Kameir could go to was a 45-minute drive away. This made it virtually impossible for her to access the

site, which was the nearest one that would accept her insurance. “I don’t drive. I don’t have access to a car,” said Kameir, an assistant teaching professor of magazine, news and digital journalism. Jennifer Stromer-Galley, senior associate dean for academic and faculty affairs and a professor at the School of Information Studies, was recently in quarantine after experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. But when she filled out SU’s Daily Health Screening Questionnaire for faculty and staff, the system instructed her not to come to campus because she was feeling ill, leaving Stromer-Galley to seek testing elsewhere. Stromer-Galley turned to the Syracuse Community Health Center to receive testing, with her results coming back negative almost a week later. The university has not

asked Stromer-Galley to provide proof of her negative result as of Wednesday, she said. “Unlike with students, where I think there’s actually a very clear set of protocols in place, for faculty and staff I think the protocols are much less clear,” Stromer-Galley said. SU has only confirmed a handful of cases among faculty and staff since the start of the semester, but the university saw a rapid increase in infections among students last week connected to a party held on Walnut Avenue. No new employee cases have been reported since the cluster emerged. Jasmina Tacheva, an assistant professor in the iSchool, is working on a project to map testing trends at universities across the country. The map aggregates COVID-19 data from 109 private and public see faculty page 6

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Erin Thalacker would travel to schools in Syracuse to teach financial literacy. Now, the SU student-led tutoring program Thalacker is a part of, Balancing the Books, has paused in-person lessons to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The transition online has made it harder for Thalacker to make connections with the students, she said. “It’s frustrating because I feel like we can’t really reach this community in the way we want to and have the interactions between Syracuse students and local Syracuse city students, the way that we would like,” said Thalacker, a senior finance, marketing, and supply chain management major and the program coordinator for Balancing the Books. Several community service programs at SU have transitioned online this semester. Although they can’t interact with Syracuse residents in person, student volunteers have found alternatives in an effort to remain engaged with the community without leaving University Hill. Since they cannot visit schools in person, Balancing the Books, a partnership between the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public Community Service –– now posts material online for local students to access. Other SU volunteer programs have also opted to try and reach the Syracuse community virtually. During a regular semester, SU Literacy Corps would hire 80 to 100 SU students to tutor local children at 40 different sites within the Syracuse City School District, said Carla Ramírez, the program coordinator at the Shaw Center. Now, the program has shifted to remote tutoring and only employs 20 students in total. Ramírez said she has reached out to the North Side Learning Center and different schools and colleges within SU to find projects and tutoring opportunities for students in the program. “We’re also focusing on the positives of the situation because it has let us explore new possibilities,” she said. Students involved in the Shaw Center community service programs are also looking for ways to host socially distanced events on campus, said Pamela Heintz, associate vice president for engagement and director for the Shaw Center. The Shaw Center doesn’t want to create more work for faculty in the local school districts, who are already dealing with a difficult semester due to see volunteers page 6

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on campus

LGBTQ, Latino rights advocate speaks at virtual seminar By Hannah Gonzalez contributing writer

Louie Ortiz-Fonseca discussed the importance of building community through individual experiences during a lecture Wednesday evening. Ortiz-Fonseca, an advocate for LGBTQ rights, is best known for his project, The Gran Varones, which uses multiple social media platforms to allow members of the LGBTQ community to share their personal coming out stories and other experifrom page 3

driver Pierce, who is from Jaffrey, New Hampshire, was studying political philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences and was a memfrom page 3

disabilities of willpower and a lot of determination, and it’s not that I don’t have that, it’s just that my disabilities make it harder to mentally deal with that.” Oliver said they’ve faced pushback from professors when requesting accommodations in the past and weren’t sure they would be able to manage that stress this semester. They plan to return to SU in the future. The steady rate of students accessing CDR services amid decreased enrollment could be an indication that registrations with the office are up, but it’s not certain, Kopp said. The pandemic has drawn attention to anxiety about school and other conditions students might not have otherwise realized they experience. “Students that may not have identified as having a disability may now recognize

ences. Ortiz-Fonseca spoke over Zoom as part Syracuse University’s celebration of Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month. The goal of the project is to elevate the voices of Latino and Afro-Latino gay, queer, transgender and bisexual men and boys, Ortiz-Fonseca said. During the lecture, he emphasized the importance of celebrating voices that aren’t typically heard. “We have to go find people — particularly those who don’t get invited to tell their stories — to tell their stories,” Ortiz-Fonseca said. “We have to immerse ourselves in the

community and do the work to build trust so they can trust the project.” Ortiz-Fonseca also recounted his experiences with a childhood friend, which inspired the name of the lecture: “Our Bones Glow in the Dark: The Power of Storytelling in a Digital Space.” “One of my favorite things to do with (my friend) was for us to turn off all the lights and talk,” Ortiz-Fonseca said. “There was something intimate about the stories we would share — that we had already shared in some other form — but the way that we shared them, and how they came to light in the dark.”

When discussing “The Gran Varones,” Ortiz-Fonseca explained its connection to “El Gran Varón,” a salsa song released in 1988 that tells the story of a Puerto Rican father who rejects his son, Simón, for being queer. Ortiz-Fonseca said he hopes his project will allow LGBTQ individuals to tell their stories in their own unique ways. “We are a platform but the people who are in control and who make the project work are those who tell their stories,” Ortiz-Fonseca said.

ber of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. He lived in Sadler Hall. Since Pierce’s death, students and other SU community members have placed flowers, candles and photos of Pierce at the intersection. Around 100 students gathered Wednes-

day night at the Comstock and Waverly intersection for a memorial. “Even though he had just joined us as a freshman, he was already deeply engaged with his studies and interests,” College of Arts and Sciences Dean Karen Ruhlandt said in an

email to students on Wednesday. “Trevor’s untimely passing has shaken our community, and he will be greatly missed. I ask you to please take care of yourselves and each other as we work through our grief together.”

that they have trouble in particular areas,” Kopp said. Courses at SU this year have relied more heavily on weekly assignments than normal and spanned a variety of online streaming and testing platforms, Kopp said, which can be a challenge for students with certain mental health challenges. “When you look at the expectations for one class and how different they are from the expectations for the other four classes the student is taking, it creates a little chaos, and that can be really challenging for all students but particularly with students with disabilities,” Kopp said. Brianna Shults, the internship and employment coordinator for InclusiveU and the Taishoff Center, said students in the InclusiveU program have struggled most with the social and mental health obstacles the semester has presented. InclusiveU provides individualized aca-

demic support for students with disabilities at SU. The program’s peer trainers have worked to find opportunities to engage with students on campus, even with social distancing guidelines in effect. Mentors have also received broader access to Blackboard so they can view students’ assignments and help facilitate discussions with classmates online, she said. “Socially, our students love to be together, so that has definitely been a challenge for many of them,” Shults said. Blodgett said they appreciate the work some SU staff have done to make the unusual semester feasible for students with disabilities. At the same time, they wish the university could embrace a culture that would center accessibility and make it easier for professors to provide accommodations. “Accommodations are work — that’s why we have multiple offices on this campus

that are doing that work,” Blodgett said. “But the university system in general is not set up to accommodate — they’re set up to restrict, and that puts professors in a place where they have to be harder than maybe they want to be.” All professors have an obligation to provide accommodations to students with disabilities, Hilliard said. Professors should respond to accommodations requests with empathy and compassion, even if they’re not familiar with a specific disability or aren’t sure how to accommodate it, they said. Professors and university staff should be working with students and developing relationships, they said. “Be human with each other,” Hilliard said. “We can stumble through this together or we can be angry at each other and stumble through it alone.”

hngonzal@syr.edu

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OPINION

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oct. 15, 2020

finance

Smart Money: How to invest your money during a pandemic By Andrea Lan columnist

For students looking to invest in the stock market, it’s important to remember to be patient, stay in the game and refrain from letting the short-term volatility of the market cloud your vision. The stock market is a “collection of markets and exchanges,” where shares of publicly-held companies are bought, sold and issued, according to Investopedia. The market is typically used as an indicator of the economy’s health, in addition to measures such as unemployment and interest rates. I view the stock market as a living thing that moves and reacts with news, as well as people’s fears and outlook of the future, as a large part of the stock market’s movements depend on levels of uncertainty. A perfect example of this is the stock market’s reaction to the coronavirus. There was a dramatic dip in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in mid-March. As a consequence of the future’s uncertainty, many investors began pulling money out of the market and holding their funds in banks. There was concern that pulling money out would cause a rapid drop in the market’s price, and it did, but fortunately not to the extent that some anticipated. Recently, however, the market has been on the rise. Single-stock options are now on the rise to incentivize people to put money back into the stock market. Stock options are contracts that allow the investor to buy (call option) or sell (put option) a stock at a specified price within a certain time period. This allows slightly more certainty for the investor rath-

er than simply purchasing a stock, however, there is still risk. It’s important to remember that the performance of the stock market right now is hardly indicative of the health of the economy and the economic performance of companies. More often than not, stocks can be undervalued or overvalued based on investors’ expectations and perception. Successfully investing in the stock market, a ‘machine’ based largely on investors’ emotions, requires you to put your emotions aside. When the stock market begins to decline, investors panic and begin to sell shares, potentially at a loss, causing further decline in the stock. You have to outsmart yourself and your own desires to pull out. Unless you are Warren Buffet and spend your days reading financial statements of publicly-traded companies and following financial news closely, play the long game. Purchase shares in a fund — which is a portfolio of stocks managed by a fund manager — or a company you believe will be able to “weather the storm,” and leave it for 10 or 15 years. If you zoom out to a 10-year trend of the Dow, you will see a steady increase over the years. Those who invested in Dow in 2010 will have seen an almost 150% return, more than doubling their initial investment. Same goes for those who invested in funds tracking the S&P 500, a similar grouping of major companies. Andrea Lan is a junior finance major. She is a Smart Money coach in the Office of Financial Literacy. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at alan01@g.syr.edu.

illustration by sarah allam illustration editor

column

Syracuse University is making progress toward sustainability By Rachel Pierce columnist

ew York state’s ban on plastic bags will resume Monday. The law is a pretty big step forward, as New Yorkers use 23 billion plastic bags a year, and the state is one of only eight to ban plastic bags. Syracuse University’s dining halls are not subject to the state’s ban, but the university has implemented its own sustainability measures. The university is working to find a way to compost the dining hall’s disposable containers and utensils. SU will also establish the New York State Center for Sustainable Materials Management, funded by a five-year, $5.75 million grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conser vation. The investment will fund the research and development of sustainable alternatives for disposing of nonrecyclable materials, such as composting. But sustainability is an issue that extends beyond the Hill, said Robert Wilson, associate professor of geography and the environment at SU. “The best way the university could be more environmentally conscious is not from the university, like from top-down, but from students getting more involved in environmental politics and climate politics,” he said. Over the next 30 years, the United States and most of the world must shift away from using fossil

fuels, Wilson said. SU should focus on engaging students and learning about the sustainable change the student body can enact over the next three decades. The university seems to have adopted that focus, as the university is offering a relatively new major: environment, sustainability and policy. Wilson is an associate professor in the program. “Right now, we have 100 students, and it’s only been around for probably two years. I think it’s grown so quickly because students have had a real interest in sustainability,” Wilson said. Beyond the major, there are other options for learning about sustainability, including groups such as Students of Sustainability. The organization aims to “increase sustainability and environmental consciousness” at SU. For SU senior Helena O’Donnell, sustainability is not a regimented course or club — it’s making a conscious effort three times a day, during breakfast, lunch and dinner. After O’Donnell watched “Cowspiracy,” a documentary on Netflix, her “eyes were open to the environmental impacts of eating meat, consuming dairy and eggs,” she said. Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. For comparison, transportation is responsible for 13%. In addition to greenhouse gases, consuming meat uses a lot of water — producing one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water. Land is not immune to the devastation caused by animal agriculture,

SU is making strides toward being a more environmentally friendly university, and facilitating education to ensure the environment’s future. emily steinberger photo editor

either. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution and habitat destruction. “I just thought, I can’t consume these foods (and) buy these foods and products while still preaching to save the environment. That’s just hypocritical,” O’Donnell said. Plant proteins such as lentils, beans and tofu are inexpensive sources of

protein that are more sustainable. After learning that the state’s ban on plastic bags was back, my concerns surrounding SU’s sustainability efforts were legitimate. But they quickly felt inadequate. I have a responsibility to act sustainably, and so do you. Whether it’s studying environmental policy, joining sustainability groups or simply trying oat milk

instead of cow milk, the responsibility to help the environment belongs to each of us, not just the university.

Rachel Pierce is a senior broadcast and digital journalism and political science major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at repierce@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @rpiercesyr

6 oct. 15, 2018

from page 3

faculty universities, including SU. SU has an average total coronavirus positivity rate of 0.11% as of Oct. 11, according to the COVID-19 University Testing Trends map. This is lower than many other universities in the state, Tacheva said, including Ithaca College and Binghamton University, whose average total positivity rates are 0.15% and 0.83%, respectively. It would be better if COVID-19 testing was mandatory for faculty, but data shows SU’s response to the virus has been relatively successful compared to other universities, Tacheva said. “Based on data that I was just looking at, out of these 109 universities, only 17 have consistently maintained positivity rates under 0.15%, and we’re one of them,” Tacheva said. Ken Harper, associate professor of visual communications and director of the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement, said SU should consider reversing its policy regarding faculty and staff testing if the number of cases on campus continues to rise. The university is more concerned with testing the student body than its faculty and staff, said David Larsen, an associate profesfrom page 3

volunteers the pandemic, Heintz said. Also, some students in city schools may not have the resources to engage with SU students virtually, she said. “We have to be really careful to make sure we’re being equitable and not burdening the community,” she said. Volunteers with Engineering Ambassadors, another SU community service program active in city schools, have made instructional videos for the students as an alternative to their typical in-person lessons, said Eric Lee, a senior computer science

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sor of public health and environmental epidemiologist who has advised SU’s COVID-19 response. “The big risk is among the student body for transmissions,” Larsen said. SU has benefitted from Onondaga County having the virus under control before students returned to campus, Larsen said. In recent days, though, the positive test rate in central New York has jumped to 2.3%. SU’s decision to open up on-campus pooled saliva testing to faculty and staff comes with an overall shift in its testing strategy. Moving forward, SU has said it will prioritize randomized testing of students under a “freedom from disease” sampling model. The university still has at least two mandatory rounds of student testing slated for October and November. Faculty and staff have the choice to participate in those testing rounds, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications. Flu shots will also be mandatory for faculty and staff. If infections spike in the surrounding areas, SU may have to reassess its approach to faculty and staff testing, Larsen said. “If the trend continues to go up, which hopefully it won’t, then we’ll have to assess how things are,” Larsen said. asrozas@syr.edu

major and site coordinator for the program. Despite not being able to recruit new SU student volunteers in person, Lee said he has seen a 20% to 30% increase in attendance rate at meetings and training sessions. SU students, he said, are more willing to get involved this semester now that the program’s meetings are virtual. “I feel like now that COVID happened, more people want to volunteer and help out,” he said. Other community service programs have also seen increased involvement from students despite having to move content online. Syeisha Byrd, the director of the Office of Engagement Programs at Hendricks

SU’s decision to open on-campus pooled testing to faculty and staff comes with a shift in its testing strategy. emily steinberger photo editor

Chapel, said more students have contacted her this semester about volunteer opportunities than in past years. Organizations, such as Greek life, that can’t hold their usual community service events have collaborated with Byrd on alternative initiatives. “Folks still want to help,” Byrd said. “They still want to give back. They still want to learn from the community. It’s just about finding creative ways to continue to do that.” Byrd said Greek councils including the Interfraternity Council and National Association for Latino Fraternities are doing a food drive for on-campus and local food pantries.

SU’s effort to continue community service efforts during the pandemic comes after the university announced it would allocate $600,000 for volunteer programming last semester in response to the #NotAgainSU demands. Byrd said she has seen “steady” attendance for programs she oversees that have moved online, such as Young Scholars, a program where SU students tutor children from the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse. “I don’t want the momentum to stop. Life is so changing right now. I just think for our mental health, giving back and continuing to serve is a positive,” she said. akweiss@syr.edu

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CULTURE

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oct. 15, 2020

beyond the hill

LATINO/HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

Making memories

Black-led initiatives receive grants By Linh Le

contributing writer

The Central New York Community Foundation introduced the Black Equity & Excellence Fund in June in light of the current social climate. “How we decided to do this was to really look at the climate of the society,” said Dashiell Elliott, program officer at the foundation. “And so after the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, we knew we needed to do something and really take a stand on lifting the voices of people that typically aren’t heard.”

After the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, we knew we needed to do something and really take a stand on lifting the voices of people that typically aren’t heard. Dashiell Elliott community foundation program officer

Latino community members share family recipes and the memories behind them By Mandy Kraynak culture editor

Photo by Corey Henry

senior staff photographer

ugo Acosta misses the Venezuelan flan that his mother would make as an incentive to finish meals, a celebratory treat or a comfort after an injury. Acosta enjoys the flavor of the custard dessert, which is made with eggs, milk, sweetened condensed milk and sugar. But he misses flan for another reason — it connects to his family and evokes memories of growing up in Venezuela. For Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month, Latino community members shared family recipes and their memories of these dishes with The Daily Orange. Acosta recalls eating with members of his family at the dinner table and talking with them about political issues and what happened at school. For Acosta, these family dinners fostered unity within his family. And flan was a dessert that Acosta would look forward to enjoying after a meal. “Flan is like the jewel, the special moment thing,” he said. “We don’t have flan every night.” Though he has not made the dessert himself in the United States, Acosta still eats flan during special moments when he gets the opportunity. When Acosta, who is the founder, owner and publisher of CNY Latino

newspaper, had an office in Syracuse, he would get flan from Las Delicias restaurant on Westcott Street to decompress during times of stress. In addition to connecting to Acosta’s own family experience, flan is significant to Venezuelan culture, he said. “There are particular dishes and particular types of plates or foods that identify that country. So flan would be one with a few that might identify Venezuela,” Acosta said. Arepas, a type of bread, is another example of a traditional food in Venezuela, as well as other countries such as Colombia. Mary Cullipher learned how to make papa a la huancaína, a popular Peruvian dish of potatoes in a huancaína cheese sauce, from her mother. The dish gets its name from the town Huancayo, Peru. Cullipher explained the story behind the dish, saying that during the construction of a railroad, a woman from Huancayo prepared a cheese sauce to accompany potatoes and topped the dish with hard-boiled eggs. Workers on the train then started calling the sauce “La Huancaína” in honor of the woman. In Peru, Cullipher would eat huancaína sauce with meals about once a week. Now in the U.S., she eats papa a la huancaína at family gatherings. Cullipher said papa a la huancaína is perfect because it is balanced. The dish’s base layers are followed by potatoes covered in sauce and then finished with a hardboiled egg and olives. The Peruvian meal is important to Cullipher because it is a representation of her home country and because her family taught her how to make the dish. In Peru, mothers traditionally pass along recipes to their daughters and teach them how to cook. Cullipher learned all her recipes from her mother. The dish shows that Peruvian people make delicious food that

see recipes page 8

To achieve this goal, the foundation has awarded several Blackled initiatives grants through a streamlined application process. All initiatives had to focus on bettering the lives of the Black community in Onondaga and Madison counties. Some of the organizations chosen include Sankofa North East Sector Transformation and Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment. The Black Equity & Excellence Fund has several funding categories, including the Black LGBTQ community and Black mental wellness. The foundation is also open to new categories of community development proposed by nonprofits, Elliott said. The nonprofit organization Focusing Our Resources on Community Enlightenment requested the grant for its community preparedness and organizational capacity work. Brenda Muhammad, the executive director of FORCE, said the project focuses on CPR training and disaster response, which is important during a pandemic. Muhammad said the process through which FORCE acquired the grants from the Community Foundation has also reinforced the foundation’s work toward making grants more accessible. This is different from some other philanthropic organizations, which require financial audits over several years as prerequisites for funding nonprofits, which can be a challenge for smaller organizations. “On a small grant like this, where they’ve made it accessible, we don’t have to have all these years of financial see grants page 8

8 oct. 15, 2020

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slice of life

Cartoonist celebrates 30th anniversary with virtual event By Julia Walker

contributing writer

Robb Armstrong is the first Black cartoonist to have a comic strip run for 30 consecutive years. To honor the 30th anniversary of his comic “Jumpstart,” Armstrong held a virtual book signing discussion for Syracuse University, where he created some of his first cartoons. Armstrong discussed the history of “JumpStart” on Wednesday during the Zoom event. The comic tells the story of a Black family that is balancing their careers and raising children. The comic began in 40 newspapers with a “small cast” of characters. Now, it appears in over 300 newspapers and, with over 30 characters, has one of largest casts for a comic strip. Since launching in 1989, Armstrong has created around 10,000 comics. He is currently working on a possible live action comedy television show based on “JumpStart.” Before his success with “JumpStart,” Armstrong studied advertising at the Newhouse

School of Public Communications and began his comic “Hector” for The Daily Orange his freshman year. “Hector” reflected Armstrong’s personal experiences as a college student such as his interactions with professors, a messy roommate and expensive textbooks.

If you have a talent, and you have a passion, you are going to encounter rejection Robb Armstrong cartoonist and su alumnus

Armstrong later became the art director for The Daily Orange, which paid $56 a week. To make extra money, he began a paste up job, which included gluing newspaper content to a

large piece of paper and sending it through a printing press. Being a cartoonist gave Armstrong an extra responsibility as a paste up worker. Whenever a reporter didn’t fill their word count for an article and there was a gap on the page, Armstrong had to draw a cartoon to fill the gap in only 10 minutes. “Without my experience of working for The Daily Orange, there is absolutely no chance that I would be a nationally syndicated cartoon artist today,” Armstrong said. “I watched people realize their dreams … I was able to tap into that energy.” While on campus, Armstrong was inspired to get “Hector” syndicated. He found the contact for United Features Syndicate, a syndication service that has worked with the Charlie Brown and Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. When he sent in his work, it was rejected. He later went to New York City to meet with Bill Yates, one of the biggest cartoonists at the time. Although “Hector” was rejected many times, Armstrong left college knowing he was

going to be a successful comic artist. Armstrong said something inside him was nagging at him until he found his success. “If you have a talent, and you have a passion, you are going to encounter rejection,” Armstrong said. Armstrong also said that “JumpStart” includes racial discussion, and he is now exploring how the characters would react to the police reform following the killing of George Floyd. Throughout the creative process, he has grown very connected to the characters he created, two of which are based on his own children. But Armstrong finds it important that his characters do not merely reflect his own opinions. His goal is that, if there were no pictures involved in the comics, readers would still be able to tell which character is which based on the dialogue alone. “I have to be disciplined enough to let my characters evolve and develop a life that is different than mine,” he said. juwalker@syr.edu

from the stage

Grammy-nominated classical guitarist performs in Syracuse By Matthew Nerber staff writer

Eliot Fisk, a Grammy-nominated guitarist from Syracuse, performed a concert for the Society for New Music on Sunday. The Society for New Music is a nonprofit in Syracuse that features performances from composers in central New York. Part of the nonprofit’s 49th season, Fisk’s performance was the first of seven concerts scheduled until May. Ken Meyer, an instructor at Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music, also interviewed Fisk. An educator and the founder of Yale University’s guitar program, Fisk guided audiences through samplings of composer George Rochberg’s Caprice Variations, a series of violin pieces that Fisk arranged for guitar with Rochberg’s blessing. “What he has done in adapting this work to the guitar … is nothing short of recomposition,” Rochberg said in a press release. “No composer I can think of could have imagined these possibilities.” Fisk performed the “Sound-Legends I” concert with musicians and crew, and audience members watched online. Before playing, Fisk said the Society for New Music is “a heroic organization” for producing work during “a from page 7

recipes doesn’t cost a lot of money. “In Peru, the food is cheap. It’s very natural,” Cullipher said. “You don’t need to go to the supermarket to buy the food. You can buy potatoes in the farmers markets very cheap, and the people save the potatoes.” Rafael Seguinot’s favorite type of pasteles are pasteles de yuca, a traditional Puerto Rican dish made with yucca root. Some people like to put ketchup on pasteles, while others like Seguinot do not. Instead, he adds Puerto Rican hot sauce. from page 7

grants status,” Muhammad said. “These are the things in some things that just make it so hard for small organizations like us who just basically want to do good for the community.” Nuriyah Boné-Owens, founder of Sankofa N.E.S.T., said the organization’s mission is to “energize urbanites, so that they survive and thrive in urban poor neighborhoods.” The organization has gained about $11,000 for its Griot Guide Project, according to Boné-Owens. The project focuses on giving young people a specific “cultural learning experience” by teaching global and local history and skills such as public speaking, Boné-Owens said. “(It’s) then going through the creative process of what it takes to develop those

time of national challenge and crisis.” The music, which Fisk described as variations inspired by Bach, Beethoven and other well-known classical composers, is meant to demonstrate a “wild stylistic contrast.” Fisk breezed through the dynamic material, pausing to offer academic insight before diving back into the music. Throughout the performance, he demonstrated various picking and strumming styles, with some rousing pieces giving way to lighter, more somber fare. In anticipation of the concert, Meyer conducted an interview over Zoom with Fisk, which Meyer later edited into a video to share with SU and Onondaga Community College students. Meyer and Fisk discussed politics, COVID-19 and the importance of the arts today. Fisk said he views the guitar as a “great ambassador for classical music,” because of its popularity. Meyer and Fisk also talked about conducting music education over video. Fisk said he’s not doing any in-person instruction, but instead teaching entirely online. Fisk noted many advantages to teaching over Zoom, including the ability to record students’ performances so they can hear it back and send notes and suggestions through the chat function. Online instruction has also forced him to pay closer attention to students, Pasteles de yuca are typically made for Christmas, specifically on four days of the year: Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. Seguinot’s family prepares the pasteles de yuca in a different way than others. Instead of mixing the ingredients together, they keep the ingredients, including chickpeas, red pepper and the olives on separate plates. Other parts of the process include putting plantain leaves into fire to soften them and then assembling the pasteles by folding them with the pork filling inside. “My greatest memory of the pasteles is not eating it; the even better part is making them,” Seguinot said. “And then you see the faces of the people enjoying the pasteles.” histories and heritage experiences, to develop them into stories that a man can turn around and perform and deliver,” Boné-Owens said. The funds from the Community Foundation have played a significant role in BonéOwens’ initiative by supporting the programmatic initiatives, including the setup of events. The Griot Guide Project has also been raising awareness of racial inequity in society by emphasizing the need to look back at many historical and cultural moments, Boné-Owens said. “We really need to rise to meet this moment,” Boné-Owens said. “We’re thankful that the Community Foundation looked around and said, ‘You know, we need to do something more.’ And they created the Black Equity & Excellence fund.” lle103@syr.edu

ELIOT FISK performed George Rochberg’s Caprice Variations, a series of violin pieces that Fisk arranged for guitar with Rochberg’s blessing. screenshot by mandy kraynak

even though he can’t accompany them on guitar like he would in person. Performing music is something best done live, Fisk said.

Flan is like the jewel, the special moment thing. We don’t have flan every night. Hugo Acosta owner, founder and publisher of cny latino

“God bless this technology,” Fisk said. “We wouldn’t be anywhere without it.” mjnerber@syr.edu

To Seguinot, the dish is about family, Puerto Rico and his culture. The recipe for pasteles is over 500 years old and comes from the Taíno people, he said. Seguinot’s family makes about 150 or 160 pasteles at once, which takes about eight hours, and it is a team effort, with each of the family members helping out with a part of the pasteles. Seguinot has helped with making pasteles as long as he can remember and said that making them was the first time that he worked on a team. “A pastel is like tasting Puerto Rico. That’s the main thing of a pastel,” Seguinot said. “When you have a pastel, you taste Puerto Rico.” ackrayna@syr.edu

BRENDA MUHAMMAD, the executive director of FORCE, practices CPR on Otto as a part of its training in community preparedness work. courtesy of force

oct. 15, 2020 9

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volleyball

Syracuse drops to No. 14 in most recent AVCA rankings By Anish Vasudevan staff writer

Syracuse fell to No. 14 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s rankings on Wednesday, dropping six spots from last week after losing both games in a doubleheader against Louisville on Friday and Saturday. from page 1

lgbtq said. “There needs to be a platform where lacrosse is for everyone.” Earlier this year, Tumolo — a U.S. National team player and one of the most decorated women’s lacrosse players in Syracuse history — created her own brand called MT35 to promote LGBTQ openness and inclusion. A percent of proceeds from shirts sold goes toward the U.S. Lacrosse LGBTQ+ inclusion scholarship. “It’s so important to be authentic because of how much it might help someone else,” Tumolo said. After coming out during her senior year of high school, Tumolo decided she’d never hide her sexuality. She was very open at Syracuse from 2010-13, and said that her teammates and coaches were always very accepting. That comfort allowed her to be the best athlete she could be, she said, though she recognizes that not everyone on her team had that same experience. from page 12

dabbundo athletic department and on its campus doesn’t match its action of scheduling a school that routinely insults the ideas of racial sensitivity and inclusion. Herman Frazier, SU’s assistant athletic director, said the university didn’t consider any of Liberty’s history when scheduling the game. “When we first scheduled them, no, we didn’t think about some of the things you just mentioned,” Frazier said in June. “As we looked at the dates they had available, versus the dates we had available, it was going to be a perfect marriage for us, and we decided to go ahead and do it. We’ll look at somewhere different going forward.” In August, then-Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. criticized Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s mask requirement by tweeting a photo of a person in Ku Klux Klan hood and another in blackface from Northam’s college yearbook. More than 30 Black alumni called for his resignation. Even though Falwell Jr. later resigned over a different scandal, the campus culture is still an issue, said Dustin Wahl, a 2018 graduate. Wahl is one of Save 71’s founders, a nonprofit group of Liberty alumni who are pleased that Falwell Jr. is no longer the president of LU but are concerned that’s not from page 12

mack

him and have asked about Mack’s background on and off the field. One of Mack’s most memorable games, according to Molinich, was a record-breaking performance in which he rushed for 353 yards and five touchdowns against Orchard Park — all with a cast on his hand. Mack broke his hand a week prior after it got it stuck in a helmet. But by the next game, he showed up with a cast and was ready to play. His mother, Essie Spann-Cox, didn’t want Mack to play that game. “Mom it’s football,” Mack told her. “I got this.” Mack remembers feeling a bit apprehensive about using his broken hand, but just a few plays in, he hit a hole and saw that he could create a big play if he threw a stiff arm with his bad hand. In a split-second decision, Mack did just that, breaking off a long run where the defense dragged him down with his bad hand. With adrenaline pumping, he ignored any pain he might’ve felt otherwise, got up and clapped in celebration. All the while, Spann-Cox sat in the stands, praying he didn’t injure his hand even more.

The Orange (2-4, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) are currently on a four-game losing streak, having dropped their last three games in straight sets. In its last four matches, SU has only won one set, which was a 25-20 win in the third set against Notre Dame on Oct. 2. The undefeated Fighting Irish now rank No. 5 and No. 6 Louisville climbed three spots

in the latest rankings. After getting swept by SU, Pittsburgh swept Boston College two weekends later. Syracuse is currently ranked 10th in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But defensively, it’s third in average blocks per set, at 2.36. Freshman libero Lauren Hogan is also first in the ACC in digs, recording 102 this season.

SU hasn’t lost a home game yet this season after sweeping defending ACC champions Pittsburgh (2-2, 2-2 ACC) in its opening weekend. The Orange are looking for their first win of October in its last two games of the fall season, a doubleheader at home against unranked Boston College (0-4, 0-4 ACC) on Friday.

In recent years, Tumolo’s noticed an increase in the number of people in collegiate and professional lacrosse who are out or a vocal ally. Syracuse Athletics has added new guidelines and initiatives to increase inclusivity, including a pro-LGBTQ equality statement — one of the Athlete Equality Index’s criteria. “We’ve made huge strides, even in the four-and-a-half years I’ve been here,” Nazarian said. Since Nazarian’s freshman year, the Syracuse Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has added an equity committee and has more LGBTQ representation, she said. She also hears other athletes talking about the gay and trans rights movements more frequently, and has never been rejected by her teammates because of her sexuality. No topics are “off limits” with her teammates, and she knows she can talk about her relationships and personal life. Former University of Washington soccer player Anna Miller didn’t have the same experience, though. When she arrived on campus,

she noticed that despite UW being overall progressive, she couldn’t be open about her sexuality. Hellrung, the UW professor, said many other athletes and coaches have told her the same thing. “No one was being openly bullied or openly harassed or anything,” Hellrung said. ”But there was definitely secrecy around all of that.” Collegiate athletics departments tend to have more geographic diversity than the rest of the school because teams recruit students from around the country and world, Hellrung said. A school with a “progressive” student body may comparatively have a more conservative and less inclusive athletics department as a result. Although Syracuse Athletics does not publish statistics on where their athletes are from, or their sexual orientation, Harjo agreed that Hellrung’s assessment seems like it applies to SU as well. Multiple athletes agreed SU could benefit from a LGBTQ athlete group, but Hellrung said those student-led efforts often fail to

make lasting change in athletics departments. While the students may agree with the cause, if they don’t have administrative support, it tends to die out. “There’s an attitude of, this student is making noise. They’re trying to do a thing,” Hellrung said. “(But) there’s a lot of bureaucracy, and they’re going to be gone in a few years anyway.” Hellrung said many gay people are pushed away from sports before college because they feel like they don’t belong. A coach’s attitude toward the community can affect how comfortable student-athletes are. Coaches that are out or vocal allies show members of the team that they have a support system. After that practice in March 2018, Harjo admitted that Elefant’s acceptance of him after he came out was one of the most important factors. Standing next to the water, hugging his coach, Elefant told him that everything would be okay. “The boathouse is a safe place for you.”

enough. Their mission is to restore the parts of the school that “used to be healthy” at its founding in 1971. Liberty’s administration has frequently stopped freedom of speech demonstrations, Wahl and Fitzpatrick said. Falwell Jr. went on television to call students “irreverent” for pushing for campus change. He also had campus police remove a visiting pastor and threaten him with arrest for planning a small prayer session in front of the school’s library after the pastor was critical of the university, Fitzpatrick said. Falwell Jr. said in a statement that the pastor threatened on Twitter to organize a protest disguised as a prayer session, according to WSET-TV. Falwell Jr. would censor the school’s student run newspaper, The Liberty Champion by editing or censoring students’ articles, Wahl said. Protests and petitions critical of university policies or views weren’t allowed. Falwell’s son, Jerry Falwell III, is still the university’s vice president. At Syracuse, though, left guard Chris Elmore said the game against Liberty was not a reason that the Orange’s players sat out multiple practices during preseason training camp. This is the first time I’ve heard about (Liberty’s issues),” Elmore said Tuesday night. Elmore said the Orange are treating the Flames like any other opponent, and he’s right to do so. The players don’t make the schedule. That decision comes from above, and Wild-

hack invoked other schools’ decision to play LU as an excuse. “There are a number of ACC teams who have scheduled series with Liberty, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, SEC schools,” Wildhack said. “We are in no conversations to play beyond the current contractual arrangement with Liberty.”

ity have plagued both the university and its athletic department, leading to campus-wide protests from students. SU Athletics deserves some credit for facilitating multiple student-led initiatives, such as Project 444, whose goal was to get all eligible SU athletes registered to vote. Another group, featuring athletes from every sports team, launched this summer and is trying to promote more diversity and inclusion within the department, women’s lacrosse player Lila Nazarian said. But this game in the Carrier Dome on Saturday is a black eye on that progress. It’s a blemish that serves as a constant reminder of how far SU still has to go. If SU Athletics really wanted to make a step toward real and systemic change, the school would condemn the controversies at Liberty, apologize for the scheduling of the game or ensure that its players were aware of the controversies at LU. None of that has happened. It’s good that Wildhack said Syracuse doesn’t plan to have any more conversations with LU about future matchups after 2021. But those initial conversations should’ve never happened in the first place.

As the game wore on, Mack continued to rack up yards. In that game, he never had a problem rushing left while carrying the ball in his right hand, something running backs wouldn’t normally do. Usually, an assistant on the sidelines will tell Molinich when players hit certain increments, like a running back hitting 25 or 35 carries. But Molinich didn’t hear anything that game until Mack hit 40 carries, so he pulled Mack to the sideline to check on his condition. “Josh just smiled, he laughed and he goes ‘I’m fine,’” Molinich said. “It was unbelievable. He just took over the football game and never was tired. It was ridiculous.” Growing up, Mack played six sports — football, basketball, baseball and volleyball, as well as wrestling and running track. That was largely because he tried to outplay his brothers and cousins, his mom said. Mack played AAU basketball for one of the best teams in New York state and faced future NBA players, such as Dennis Smith Jr. and Josh Jackson, at national tournaments. But his mom thinks his best sport is baseball, citing his pitching and fielding abilities. He only wrestled briefly, and though he

lacked experience, Mack beat the best wrestlers on rival teams. Spann-Cox played volleyball in high school, and now her family meets every Sunday for a game. It’s a tradition that’s lasted for the past nine years, and it’s one that brings out the family’s — and Mack’s — competitiveness.

Sports is at the center of the toxic culture at Liberty, and athletes are becoming more and more aware of that Caleb Fitzpatrick former student government member and 2019 Liberty graduate

Wildhack has spoken about SU becoming a positive influence on diversity and inclusion. Between the Theta Tau videos controversy, the #NotAgainSU movement and the acceptance and second chance given to Charlotte de Vries, SU has been mired in controversy and moments of intolerance. Racism and inequal-

He was just stronger and quicker, and that burst of speed was just so much greater than everybody else on the field Keith Molinich pittsford mendon high school head coach

Mack brought that mindset over to chess as he competed for his elementary school. The game enhanced his mental strength and patience on the football field, he said. “We preach dirty runs, so three, four yards,

asvasude@syr.edu

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie

Anthony Dabbundo is a senior staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at amdabbun@syr.edu or on Twitter @AnthonyDabbundo

that’s good. That’s like moving your pawn or setting up to capture a piece,” Mack said. “Because maybe the next play you’re gonna pop out and you break for a 40 or 50-yard run.” In high school, Mack was the lead back. He was named the 2015 Rochester Co-Player of the year and two-time All-Greater Rochester while setting single-game Section V rushing records in the regular season and playoffs. “The strengths were just his physical gifts. He was just stronger and quicker, and that burst of speed was just so much greater than everybody else on the field,” Molinich said. “(His) lateral movement was elite, and just the vision to find holes where they weren’t sometimes.” While he may be inching closer toward his NFL dream, this weekend, Mack will go up against a Syracuse run defense that just gave up 363 yards on the ground to Duke. However, despite the contrasting fortunes of undefeated Liberty and 1-3 Syracuse, Mack is not allowing himself to get cocky. “I expect that I’ll go over there (Syracuse) and play 60 minutes of football,” Mack said. “Then I expect to see what the scoreboard says after that.” gshetty@syr.edu

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SPORTS

dailyorange.com sports@dailyorange.com

PAG E 12

oct. 15, 2020

Dabbundo: Syracuse shouldn’t be playing Liberty

Several Black athletes at Liberty have left the program due to racial insensitivities at the school. Syracuse scheduled three future football games against the Flames in 2017. courtesy of liberty athletics

Keeping Liberty as nonconference opponent was mistake for SU given history of racial insensitivity

yracuse claims it’s fighting against systemic injustice. After Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, SU Director of Athletics John Wildhack released on June 11 a powerful statement about systemic racism that said, “I commit to being better, I commit to our Athletics Family being better.” One month later, SU Athletics hired Salatha Willis, the first associate athletic director for diversity, climate and culture. But Syracuse has also scheduled ANTHONY DABBUNDO and maintained its matchup with DA B ON ‘ EM Liberty on Saturday. It’s the second of three scheduled meetings between the two teams, a series that

shouldn’t have originated to begin with. Two Liberty football players announced in June that they were transferring from the program due to racial insensitivity and “cultural incompetence” they felt at the school. One player, Kei’Trel Clark, said the decision was “bigger than football.” Asia Todd, a women’s basketball player, also transferred. “Sports is at the center of the toxic culture at Liberty, and athletes are becoming more and more aware of that,” said Caleb Fitzpatrick, a former member of student government and a 2019 LU graduate. Syracuse shouldn’t be playing games against Liberty, and the optics of doing so are even worse in a year that has featured athlete activism across the country. SU’s rhetoric about creating an accepting culture within its see dabbundo page 12

football

su athletics

Winter athletes get extra eligibilty Mack leads Liberty at running back By Skyler Rivera

asst. digital editor

The NCAA Division I Council has voted to give winter sport athletes an additional year of eligibility. The additional year will be granted regardless of if an athlete plays this winter, according to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach. Athletes who opt out of the winter season will still be awarded an additional year of eligibility. Auerbach later explained in a tweet that the NCAA determined although athletes might play a certain amount of games this year, the

experience will not be the same as it would be during a normal season. She noted that team schedules will most likely include a decrease in games played.

Number of Syracuse basketball seniors who can return next season with an extra year of eligibility

Last month, the NCAA announced that the college basketball season would be delayed. The 2020 season will begin on Nov. 25 with teams scheduling up to 25 games this season; 13 games are needed to be eligible for the NCAA Tournament. For Syracuse, the announcement will affect men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s ice hockey. The decision to grant an additional year of eligibility extends comes after the NCAA granted an extra year for spring and fall sport athletes due to the impact and risk of COVID-19. skrivera@syr.edu @skylerriveraa

By Gaurav Shetty staff writer

Growing up in Rochester, Josh Mack always knew he wanted to make it to the NFL. Now the leading rusher for the undefeated Liberty Flames, Mack has begun to turn a few heads in the NFL for his strong play at LU and in high school. Halfway through his college career, he transferred to Liberty

from Maine. Even without starting a game last year — his first eligible season with the Flames — Mack put together 1006 all-purpose yards and tacked on seven touchdowns. Now the starting running back in his redshirt senior year, Mack has piled up 59 rushes for 359 yards and one touchdown in the first four games of the season. Keith Molinich, Mack’s coach at Pittsford Mendon High School, said that NFL teams have contacted

see mack page 10