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N • 21st Century skills

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Syracuse Universtiy’s ILTA Community of Practice are looking to implement “informational literacy” and “technology agility” in university classrooms.

Page 3

Flower Skate Shop is providing a missing piece to the Syracuse skating community by offering a variety of skating merch from national and local brands.

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Josiah Gray received one offer to play college baseball as a shortstop. Three years later, he was drafted in the second round as a starting pitcher throwing 95 mph.

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Faculty and staff reflect on COVID-19 protocols and in-person learning

By Emma Folts

senior staff writer

Graphic by Shannon Kirkpatrick presentation director

On the first day of the fall 2021 semester, history professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn taught an in-person lecture to nearly 200 students. She loves her students, and when she’s able to teach in-person, she’s “in bliss.”

But this semester, she’s terrified, too.

Lasch-Quinn, who taught online last academic year, has two children with underlying health conditions and an elderly mother. She doesn’t want to bring COVID-19 home to her family. She wants to be able to visit her mother if her health declines.

She wants to ensure that her students remain healthy and that the virus doesn’t spread from her classroom to vulnerable community members.

Though the university has transitioned to a mostly in-person semester this fall, she would have preferred having the choice to continue teaching online.

“I have been extra good throughout the entire pandemic of just following every single rule and guideline, being very safe. I taught online all last year. I was very grateful to the university to make that possible. I was hoping to be able to continue to see faculty page 3

commencement 2020

Gov. Kathy Hochul shares experiences at SU during speech

By Richard Perrins

asst. news editor

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at Syracuse University’s commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020 on Sunday.

An SU News release on Friday announced Hochul, who graduated from SU in 1980, as the commencement speaker. On

Sunday, she addressed the Class of 2020 a year and four months after the original commencement date, which was postponed due to the pandemic.

Hochul became New York’s 57th governor in August after Andrew Cuomo stepped down from his position.

Hochul said the events of 16 months ago, when the pandemic

got in the way of graduates’ plans to celebrate their careers and launch into the world, gave recent SU alumni the ability to adapt in a world that’s always changing.

“Yes, you’ve heard the words endurance and perseverance, and today they may just be words. But they’re part of your soul now,” she said.

Hochul said her time at SU

had a “profound inf luence” on both her rise to the position of governor and the person she became on that journey.

As a high school senior, Hochul toured college campuses all across New York state with her father. She remembered what her father said to her after they visited the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship.

“Some of those other schools we went to, they’ll probably teach you a lot. That’s probably where the wife of a Congressperson would go. You go to Syracuse, you could be a Congressperson,” Hochul said.

In 2011, Hochul won a seat in Congress for New York’s 26th district.

SU sparked a passion for see hochul page 3

2 sept. 20, 2021

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“Give us the capacity as teachers — the freedom as teachers — to determine, given class size, given whatever the dynamics are, to determine the modality.” - Biko Gray, assistant professor of religion Page 3

OPINION “It’s a modern day minstrelsy where in place of Black face, it’s a Black mannequin in Black fraternity attire.” - Chelsea Brown, columnist Page 5

CULTURE “Obviously a lot of us are doing it and like a different way, but it’s cool to be like, just around a bunch of people that are making stuff.” - Drew Shoup, artist Page 7

SPORTS “You see those actions and you’re like, this kid can move out there … he’s got arm strength to play the left side.” - Scott Cassidy, Le Moyne head coach Page 12

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PAG E 3

sept. 20, 2021

on campus

coronavirus

Indigenous students react to SU initiatives COVID-19 cases at SU drop by 15

By Francis Tang

asst. copy editor

As of Friday evening, the number of active COVID-19 cases at Syracuse University was 148, 15 cases lower than Sept. 13.

A total of 153 positive cases were reported from Sept. 13 to 17, among which 143 were students and 10 were SU employees. There are currently five students in quarantine.

SU relocated Skyhall II residents over the weekend to make room for COVID-19 isolation housing.

Vernetta Kinchen, the executive director of housing and lodging, notified Skyhall II residents on Sept.

9 that residents will be required to move out by 8 p.m. on Sept. 13.

Syracuse University will fly the Haudenosaunee flag at the National Veteran Resource Center and include a greeting in the Onondaga Haudenosaunee language by Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. avery schildhaus contributing photographer

By Danis Cammett

contributing writer

In August, Syracuse University announced a series of commitments relating to the campus’ Indigenous community.

The university said that it would fly the Haudenosaunee flag at the National Veterans Resource Center, add an Onondaga Haudenosaunee language greeting for the Huntington Beard Crouse Hall signage and work on 113 Euclid Ave., which is home to the Native Student Program.

The announcement was a part of SU’s progress report of its “Campus Commitments,” which informed both current and former SU community members of plans underway to improve the quality of diversity and inclusion at the university. `The university also invited

Tadodaho Sidney Hill from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to deliver the Thanksgiving Address at the Class of 2020 commencement ceremony on Sunday.

Some Indigenous students applaud the university for acknowledging the land it sits upon, but many said that the university needs to go further.

Jordan Goodwin, a Junior at SU and a member of the Onöndowa’ga:’ (Seneca) nation, said he was glad to see a Haudenosaunee language on the walls of buildings at the university and see the Haudenosaunee flag flying in multiple places on campus.

“Even small things like that make me so happy because you go places and you see words in German, French, Spanish, Japanese.

But I never get to see my people’s language on things,” Goodwin said. “So it seriously

makes me happy that I get to experience that.”

Kateleen Ellis, a member of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) nation and a senior at SU, said the recent changes are a step in the right direction for the university.

“Especially flying the (Haudenosaunee) flag in front of the veterans building is important as it represents the Indigenous Americans who served in the military,” Ellis said.

Bailey Tlachac, a graduate assistant for the university’s Native Student Program, appreciated the representation on campus.

“It’s really nice to show that the university is trying to take a step in the right direction towards representation for Native students. This shows that the university (realizes that it) stands on the traditional homeland of the Onondaga nation,” Tlachac said.

Syracuse’s mascot before Otto the Orange was the Saltine Warrior, which became the mascot in 1928.

In 1978, after Indigenous students at SU successfully petitioned the university to change the mascot, the Saltine Warrior was discontinued, as it was viewed as unrepresentative and offensive to Indigenous students.

While the university has taken steps away from offensive behavior towards Indigenous populations, some Indigenous students at SU still feel like outsiders.

“There’s no mean intention, but I just don’t feel like there’s any effort to invite Indigenous people specifically,” Goodwin said. “It’s sad, but it’s just the truth. I hope that if the school helps us with our events, people will become more aware, and become more engaged,” dwcammet@syr.edu

on campus

Faculty seek 21st century skills in classrooms

By Kyle Chouinard asst. news editor

A group of faculty and staff from across Syracuse University are working toward making sure SU students graduate with 21st century skills.

The University Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Shared Competencies created the ILTA Community of Practice, said Kelly Delevan, an information literacy librarian and leader of the group, in an email to The Daily Orange.

ILTA stands for information literacy and technological agility, which the community is looking to implement throughout SU. LaVerne Gray, a group member and assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, described information literacy as the ability to locate, find and analyze information in a technological context.

Technological agility, the second part of the group’s title, is slightly different. Jian Qin — a leader in the community and

director for the library and information science master’s program — described it as “the ability to quickly adapt to technology changes and learn new technology rather than be afraid of it.”

ILTA is one of six competencies the university has set out as “institutional learning goals that enhance undergraduate education through an integrated learning approach,” according to the competency policy’s website.

Other skills include “critical and creative thinking” and “communication skills.”

In the university’s initial research, it found that, out of the “182 undergraduate major and stand-alone minor” programs, only 43% effectively taught information literacy and technological agility. It was the lowest rate of the university’s six competencies.

Delevan is looking to change that.

“Our end result is a clear definition of what skills, attitudes and dispositions students must

develop in order to be information literate and technologically agile,” she said in an email to The D.O. The changes do not necessarily mean freshmen will have to take a new mandatory course, Qin said.

Some faculty will adjust their current course syllabi to fit new standards.

It should “feel like part of the class, part of the course content rather than part of the course evaluation,” she said.

To implement ILTA properly into university classrooms, faculty members are going to have to work to evaluate students’ ability in information technology and ability, Qin said. Part of this evaluation will come through a rubric, but further evaluation of students won’t be one-sided, she added.

“We’ll look at the results and see whether the rubric is a good instrument for assessing the ILTA level of students and how well they can be integrated into the syllabi for individual faculty to implement,” she said.

The group contains librarians, archivists and professors in fields

ranging from the humanities to engineering, which alters how the community looks at ILTA’s implementation across the campus, Gray said.

“When discussing different areas of what the competency should look like, what language should we use? The voice of whatever discipline is represented, what does this look like for them in their school or college?” she said.

This upcoming spr ing semester, 14 faculty members will be in the first round of ILTA teaching at the undergraduate level, Qin said.

The faculty members will have to go through training and debriefing sessions following their course’s completion.

“I want our students to be able to critically evaluate information resources and systems, use information ethically and responsibly, and advocate for information equity for all,” Delevan said. kyleschouin@syr.edu @Kyle_Chouinard

active cases last week: Mon, Sept. 13: 163 Tue, Sept. 14: 160 Wed, Sept. 15: 163 Thu, Sept. 16: 156 Fri, Sept. 17: 148 Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, said in a campuswide email on Friday that no COVID-19 cases at SU have been definitively linked to a specific classroom exposure.

SU is also conducting random surveillance tests for vaccinated people. The positivity rate of the random tests has remained consistent throughout almost three weeks of surveillance testing, Haynie said, with rates of 1.1%, 1.3% and 1% for the first, second and third weeks, respectively.

The university has conducted over 15,500 surveillance tests and is working to conduct more than 10,000 tests per week, Haynie said.

Among the positive tests, 93% are among vaccinated students, many of whom are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

Haynie also said that SU informs all classmates when someone who tested positive attended class during the infectious period — two days before symptoms start or two days before testing positive — even if the classmates have not had close contact with the person who tests positive. This is out of an abundance of caution, Haynie said.

Students may also be notified if they were in close contact outside of a class setting with a person who tested positive, Haynie said. Faculty members, however, may not be contacted regarding a potential exposure in their class if the student was not present during the infectious period.

SU adopted a four-tier COVID19 alert system on Aug. 13. The university is currently under a “RED” level alert, which requires all students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear masks indoors at all times and outside in the presence of others. btang05@syr.edu @francis_towne

4 sept. 20, 2021

from page 1

faculty do that now,” Lasch-Quinn said. “Personally, it feels at-risk.”

The Daily Orange spoke with a dozen faculty and staff members, four of whom requested anonymity, about SU’s return to mostly in-person learning and its current COVID-19 policies. Several expressed concern over themselves or their colleagues bringing the virus home or spreading it to vulnerable people, particularly unvaccinated children.

And some felt that current academic and public health policies are at odds with the discretion of individual faculty members.

On campus, 98% of students are fully vaccinated. Employees self-attested their vaccination status, and 95% have said they are vaccinated. Vaccines reduce one’s risk of contracting the virus, including the highly transmissible delta variant, and are very effective at preventing hospitalization and death.

But since July, pediatric cases of the virus have risen about 240% nationwide, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. People who are vaccinated and have symptomatic breakthrough infections of the delta variant can spread the virus to others, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There were 148 active COVID-19 cases among students, staff and faculty as of Friday.

Between then and the start of the academic year on Aug. 30, SU has reported 25 infections among employees. The majority of infections have been breakthrough cases, and most have been among students.

The health and safety of the campus community and its neighbors will remain SU’s first priority, Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie said in a press conference on Sept. 9. With that in mind, the university is also acknowledging that the country is now in a different stage of the pandemic, and it’s seeking to provide a greater academic, student and community experience than it could last year, he said.

“I get the anxiety,” Haynie said in an interview. “But I also know that there’s a lot of people working each and every day, just like we did all of last year, to ensure we do the very best to keep this campus safe.”

SU offered online, hybrid and in-person courses in the 2020-21 academic year. That year, the university allowed “at-risk” faculty to choose their course modality, and many worked from home out of necessity, according to an April report from SU’s Fall 2021 Academic Planning Group, composed of 24 administrators and faculty members. Interim Provost John Liu led the group.

But for the fall, faculty “were told pointblank, ‘You will not be teaching remotely, all classes will be in-person,’” said Harriet Brown, a professor of magazine, news and digital journalism. “And then, of course, you can file for an accommodation through the (Americans with Disabilities Act).”

SU expects faculty to teach in-person courses and conduct research on campus due to the widespread availability of vaccines, according to the planning group’s report, from page 1

hochul activism within Hochul, she said. When she arrived on campus, Hochul said she took her time at SU as an opportunity to reinvent herself. She ran for what is today the Student Association, becoming the student representative to the Board of Trustees.

While Hochul said she had no courage coming in as a student, she had to build her leadership skills along the way.

One of Hochul’s first initiatives as a student leader revolved around the project to build what is now called the Carrier Dome.

Hochul thought the Dome should be named after Ernie Davis, a Heisman Trophy winner and celebrated athlete at SU, and fought to build support behind the idea.

Although her efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, it taught her a valuable lesson.

“Never underestimate your ability to make a difference,” Hochul told the graduates. “You don’t know until you try.”

Although the Ernie Davis campaign wasn’t as successful as Hochul might have hoped, she did have some successes as a student activist that gave her the seeds for her career in public service.

Hochul helped to organize a six-month-long

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which outlines the university’s guidelines for the fall semester.

The group’s recommendations were crafted with “broad input” from faculty, a university spokesperson said in an email. The University Senate’s Committee on Academic Affairs and the Graduate Faculty Council were among those involved in discussions.

The approval of the provost and appropriate dean is required for on-campus classes offered exclusively online or in a hybrid format, and decisions about course modality for the fall should be based on curricular priorities, per the report.

Those with chronic health conditions or disabilities that affect their ability to carry out essential job functions can request accommodations, as they could before the pandemic. The spokesperson said in an email that faculty who are immunocompromised or have family members who are can request accommodations through the ADA coordinator.

At the start of the semester, there were 106 students across the four in-person classes Brown teaches this fall. She has a medical condition, and she thought she likely could go through the process of receiving an accommodation. But she’s been hesitant to do so, partially because of the university’s emphasis on in-person learning.

“I don’t want to let my students down,” Brown said. However, she’d like to move her classes online if she feels unsafe this semester.

Administrators told her she could do so for only a week or two, she said.

The university spokesperson did not directly respond to a question from The D.O. regarding whether faculty would be able to move their classes online now if they wanted to, instead referring to the planning group’s report.

Having small classes of masked students, Spanish professor Kathy Everly feels comfortable teaching in person. She is concerned, though, about the spread of the virus and for those with unvaccinated children and older people in their lives.

“If (faculty are) comfortable in the classroom — and many people are, and that’s great — then they should be in the classroom with all of the protections,” Brown said. “If they’re not comfortable in the classroom, they should be allowed to take their class online.”

For Biko Gray, an assistant professor of religion, the faculty’s inability to determine their teaching modality without accommodations is an issue of academic freedom. Gray received an accommodation, which he said was in part related to health, to teach online this fall. But many colleagues he deeply cares about have not, he said.

“Give us the capacity as teachers — the freedom as teachers — to determine, given class size, given whatever the dynamics are, to determine the modality,” Gray said. “If I’m teaching 200 kids in a lecture situation, I may not want all of those students packed in that space. Not because I’m wanting to deny a student experience, but because that’s just too many people in one space.”

Haynie, who teaches on Mondays and Wednesdays, said he feels anxious about COVID-19 everyday on campus. But he feels strike of SU’s bookstore to protest high prices, she said. Eventually, the bookstore lowered the prices. She also launched the effort for a student union so that people on campus could have an area to collectively gather.

“By bringing people together, we could create a voice, create momentum, building collaboration and consensus. We got things done,” Hochul said.

Hochul said she was most proud of her response to the apartheid crisis in South Africa, which was one of the driving racial and social justice issues of her time as a student. She told the Board of Trustees to stop being complicit in the situation by having investments in companies doing business in South Africa, and they actually took action to divest these holdings, Hochul said.

“Sometimes you feel morally compelled to speak up, even on issues that don’t touch your life directly. You have to call out injustice where you see injustice,” she said.

Hochul ended her speech by recognizing Kevin Richardson, who received an honorary degree as part of the ceremony.

Richardson was wrongly convicted as part of the “Exonerated Five” in 1989 and now serves as a motivational speaker on the flaws of the legal system.

that same anxiety at Wegmans and other public places in central New York.

In terms of public health policy, the university is now in the position of looking at the whole of the campus community — while considering the university’s educational mission, as well as student development, health and wellbeing — to make decisions that are in everyone’s best interest, he said.

“Last year, each of us — faculty, staff, students, everyone on this campus — was at an equal and high risk as it related to COVID, prior to the vaccine,” Haynie said. “That’s not necessarily the case, or the same case, today.”

David Larsen, an associate professor and epidemiologist on SU’s public health team, has four unvaccinated children. He also shares the concerns of faculty who are or who live with someone more vulnerable to COVID-19.

His children, though, aren’t going to contract COVID-19 from him returning from a masked and almost fully vaccinated university, he said.

SU has been at the “RED” level of its four-tier masking framework — the highest level, which coincides with a high risk of transmission on campus — since the start of the semester, requiring masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.

But Matt Huber, an associate professor in the department of geography and the environment, is concerned that faculty aren’t able to independently require masks in their classrooms should the university reduce its COVID-19 alert level to “YELLOW” or “GREEN.” At the “YELLOW” alert, masking is recommended indoors for vaccinated people due to a moderate level of transmission risk.

At the “GREEN” level, masking is optional for vaccinated people due to a low risk level.

Liu, the interim provost, said in an SU News release on Aug. 20 that faculty are not allowed to deviate from the classroom masking guidelines “to reduce confusion and ensure universal observance of our public health policies.”

Huber, who also has an unvaccinated daughter, is the president of SU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an organization that advocates for academic freedom and shared governance.

“One of (the AAUP’s) big things is faculty should have primary control over the classroom, and it’s actually the faculty who know their classroom spaces better than anyone,” said Huber.

Jackie Orr, an associate professor of sociology and a member at-large at SU’s AAUP, also believes faculty should have the ability to require masks in their classrooms. Seven students in her class of 49 have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the semester, she said in an email on Sept. 16. She doesn’t want to bring the virus home or have her students contract and spread it to vulnerable people.

“Looking out on a classroom, with 49 students filling 49 desks, sitting on top of each other, masked, at this point,” Orr said in an interview, “I feel responsible for having the highest protections possible so that no unnecessary risk of COVID transmission is happening to students in

my classroom.”

SU is looking precisely at the amount of transmission in classrooms and whether there could be an outbreak in class — but that hasn’t been seen at this university or others, Larsen said. The university announced Friday that none of its COVID-19 cases can be linked definitively to a specific classroom exposure.

The four-tier masking framework, following CDC guidance, is implemented to appropriately respond to local levels of transmission in a way that maintains the community’s trust in the public health response, Larsen said.

“If a public health response is overly heavyhanded and not tailored to the actual local risk, then that jeopardizes the trust of the community in the public health response,” Larsen said.

Nearly all faculty members who spoke with The D.O. for this story were among the more than 150 signatories of a letter publicized in August that called on SU to implement more stringent COVID-19 protocols for the fall.

Some signed the letter out of direct concern, others out of solidarity.

In response to the letter, Chancellor Kent Syverud said in an email to faculty that “to suggest the university has in any way abandoned our commitment to public health is wrong.” Larsen told The D.O. that the letter “reflects the anxiety of professors on campus, and it reflects their ignorance.”

Gray, who has lost loved ones to COVID-19, found it disconcerting and disheartening to hear that the group’s concerns were “misplaced, or misinformed or wrong.” LaschQuinn viewed the chancellor’s response as a surprising dismissal. Orr felt Larsen’s response was a “symptom” of a lack of respect and understanding from the administration and public health team when communicating about safety concerns.

“I don’t want to dismiss anybody’s concerns,” Larsen said. “You’re all human.

We’re doing the best we can. But at the same time, you have to put faith in people who have dedicated their entire lives to this, and that they might know a little bit more.”

Brown understands that there are many employees at SU, and hearing all of their concerns may be tiring. But for the university to work best, people’s concerns and opinions should be heard and valued, even if they aren’t agreed with.

“The messaging around this needs to change. It can’t subtly and slyly put the onus on faculty and staff anxiety. It has to be a clear acknowledgment that we are still in a pandemic. People are still getting sick,” Brown said. “For some of those people, there are lifelong consequences or long-term consequences. For some of those people, there are immediate negative consequences,” “This is not anxiety, this is reality. We do have to live in the world, and I suspect we are just going to have to find ways to live with COVID. But I think people’s concerns are not negligible.” esfolts@syr.edu @emmafolts

Hochul said her time at SU had a “profound influence” on both her rise to the position of governor and the person she became. courtesy of syracuse university

“When you face a challenge, you feel discouraged, you feel hopeless, I want you to think of Kevin Richardson,” Hochul told the graduates. “Know what this person endured.”

Hochul encouraged the Class of 2020 to accept invitations to reunions in the future to share the stories of their lives and how they

“made a difference”.

“For many of you, the word orange means more than a color or a fruit,” she said. “And that’s something that’s going to bind you together forever.” rcperrin@syr.edu @richardperrins2

OPINION

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PAG E 5

sept. 20, 2021

guest column

SU Campus Store is guilty of engaging in performative activism

By Chelsea Brown guest columnist

C

oming Back Together is a reunion dedicated to bringing Black and Latinx alumni back to Syracuse University’s campus to celebrate their accomplishments. If someone would have told me that SU has been hosting this event every three years since 1983, I would not have believed them. SU and genuine acts of inclusivity don’t seem to go hand in hand, but, when CBT 2021 came around on Sept. 9, I was pleasantly surprised.

I felt the energy of the campus shift completely. Walking into crowds of alumni that look like me on the promenade was almost baptismal. A wave of acceptance and community washed over me. I felt reborn into a space where I can finally hold my head high and not feel threatened by someone trying to bring it down. It was happiness in its truest form.

I didn’t know any of the alumni personally but I smiled from ear to ear whenever they walked past me as if I did. Our connection was familial, tied together by the generations of SU’s promise of a safe space for their students of color. At that moment, that promise felt real.

However, like the previous promises made from SU, this one came with strings attached. The surface level allyship that the uni-

The surface level allyship that the university promotes is not only disheartening but also damaging for the students of color. chelsea brown guest columnist

versity promotes is not only disheartening but also damaging for the students of color that attend this campus. On the second day of CBT, I noticed a new mannequin at the campus store that displayed Kappa Alpha Psi paraphernalia.

Kappa Alpha Psi is a historically

Black fraternity that’s a part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Of my three years being on this campus, I had never seen any display of Black sororities or fraternities inside the campus store. The sight was so out of the ordinary that I had to take a picture of it.

I watched a few alumni flock to the mannequin, presumably reminiscing about their time in Greek life on campus. They seemed to express pride in SU. On Sept.14, two days after CBT weekend, the university robbed them of that pride. The mannequin, like the

spirit of change and inclusivity from SU, disappeared from the storefront.

The actions of the campus store is a clear demonstration of performative activism. Through its actions, SU said that people are only allowed in the university’s space if it receives compensation from their time. It’s a modern day minstrelsy where in place of Black face, it’s a Black mannequin in Black fraternity attire.

Performative allyship is an integral part of SU’s make up. It has been used to meet quotas and provide temporary reliefs. It’s the easiest solution for a complex problem. But it fails at securing the longevity of what it seeks to promote: inclusion.

It would have been a stronger sign of unity if the campus store were to have left up the mannequin past CBT weekend. That would have encouraged me to attend CBT as an alumni. It would have given me the peace of mind that my presence isn’t being used as a gimmick to promote cultural diversity.

What this incident shows to students of color is that, like the mannequin, our time on this campus is only temporary compared to our white counterparts, that we are only fiberglass displays, modeling the university’s counterfeit ideology of cross culturalism. Instead of people, we are replaceable once SU’s ability to produce a profit is complete.

Chelsea Brown, ‘21

column

We need to take COVID-19 precautions more seriously at SU

By Mel Wilder columnist

C

OVID-19 cases are high at Syracuse University. More students are testing positive every day. It’s clear that university’s safety precautions this year are not enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, so the SU community — including students, administration and faculty — must do more.

With maskless students at SU football games, large house parties across campus and jam-packed concerts, many students seem to have forgotten about the severity of COVID-19.

SU contact tracers still email the students if someone in their class has tested positive. But many students disregard those emails and continue attending classes. While SU constantly sends students emails telling us to “keep our community safe” by wearing masks indoors and outdoors whenever around others, an email can only do so much.

Additionally, because SU underestimated the amount of students that would get COVID and need to isolate, some students who live off campus have had to isolate in their off-campus housing for some time.

Realistically, many do not abide

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by SU quarantine requirements and may engage in activities that could get other students sick and put the greater Syracuse community at risk.

There is essentially no accountability for off-campus students who may be inclined to break quarantine. SU must do something about this.

Cases have been high since students arrived on campus in late August. While cases have slightly declined recently, they are still at an alarming number. Personally, I feel more at risk of getting COVID-19 this year than in any semester previously.

With all of this being said, I know most students are tired of staying home and are unhappy that COVID19 is impacting our entire college experience. My entire freshman year social life consisted of my friends and me sitting in our rooms, and many students had similar experiences. Last year, if there were more than five people in the lounge of the dorm, we would be yelled at or written up for a violation.

We missed out on opportunities to meet other students. This entire experience is extremely difficult, but we’re never going to have one normal year without COVID-19 if we all don’t start taking it seriously.

I’m not suggesting we go back to

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Many students who attended the Syracuse vs. Rutgers football game at the Carrier Dome did not follow mask mandates. lucy messineo-witt photo editor

all of the rules and regulations that were in place last year. But SU should require students to get tested one to two times a week, even if the student is vaccinated. The random surveillance testing they do is proving to

not be enough. We need to face the reality that vaccinated students are getting and spreading COVID-19.

The best way that the SU community can help minimize the impact of COVID-19 is to wear a mask, get

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tested and remain vigilant.

Melanie Wilder is a sophomore policy studies and information management double major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at mewilder@syr.edu.

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CULTURE

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PAG E 6

sept. 20, 2021

slice of life

Shifting gears

Alumna selfpublishes book

By Madelyn Geyer

contributing writer

Over 40 artists, including musicians, tattoo artists and photographers live in The Gear Factory’s studios, while others just use the studios as workspace. wiley chen contributing photographer

The Gear Factory founder Rick Destito opened a 60,000-squarefoot space where artists’ work space and living space are all in one location

By Olivia Ciancio staff writer

R

ick Destito, owner and founder of The Gear Factory, wanted to develop a sort of artistic oasis since discovering the building in 2002 and purchasing it in 2005, he said.

A f ter pu rcha sing the 60,000-square-foot old factory for $144,000, Destito — with the assistance of the Near Westside Initiative — received a state grant which he used to turn the building into a hub for artists. The Gear Factory, located at 200 S. Geddes St., has studios where artists can rent both work space and live/work space.

“While other cities are tied to pre-established art communities,” The Gear Factory website reads, “Syracuse has the luxury of being up-and-coming, rife with bubbling opportunity and a wide horizon open to the progressive minds willing to grab hold” Occupying five floors, The Gear Factory contains 18 music studios located in the basement of the building and two floors of live-work spaces on the fourth and fifth floors. The

first floor has more artist studios, with a wood and metal shop on the second floor. The third floor is currently in the process of being turned into 30 more studios for different types of artists.

The Gear Factory houses all kinds of artists, including tattoo artists, musicians and photographers. Approximately 40-45 people live in The Gear Factory on the fourth and fifth residential floors, which are complete with common space, kitchen space and individual bathrooms.

Nick Feeley, who graduated from Syracuse University in 2016, is an abstract artist, director of A Lovely Time music festival and lives at The Gear Factory. Feeley moved into the building after living on the Northside of Syracuse. He had friends in the Factory but had never envisioned it as a possibility for himself.

“He bought a factory building that’s a hundred years old … was in disrepair and turned it into a haven for artists,” Feeley said. “So in a sense, he is an artist. He has developed this building (into) something that never was before.”

Feeley’s music festival, A Lovely see gear page 8

On the first day of third grade in a new school, Cameryn Cortese waded through the stares of fellow classmates, her black plastic Star Wars lunchbox standing out amongst the bubblegum pink Barbie ones. Her parents’ plan of Catholic school had folded, and it was time for public school, where Cameryn remembers getting painfully teased because she didn’t fit in.

Through it all, Cameryn, who graduated from Syracuse University in 2019 with a sports management degree, said she possessed a willingness to alter her worldview.

“You know when you’re a little kid and you try to do a handstand but can’t do one, so you just kind of go down?” she said. “You’re looking at the world upside down. I like how a tree can be upside down. They don’t have to be upright all the time.”

A vast imagination helped Cameryn cope with bullying. She created her own escape in the colorful, pulpy pages of comic books — introduced to her by her dad, Tony — which provided Cameryn the blueprints for her creativity. At 17 years old, Cameryn began developing the story that would become her first published novel, “Brilliant Thief,” she said.

The SU alumna with aspirations to work in the NFL published her fantasy novel last January.

“Brilliant Thief” follows an 18-year-old girl named Violet in the world of Romeca. The protagonist can read minds, but her gift gets her in trouble when others find out she is different, and she is forced to go on the run with a group who call themselves “the brilliant thieves.”

Even within her fantasy world, Cameryn incorporated her love of sports. After running track for five years and playing soccer for 13, she used dialogue inspired by game conversations and infused the steely determination of team sports into her characters. Nicole Battiste, Cameryn’s cousin and a 2018 SU alumna, noticed themes of family in “Brilliant Thief.”

The group of brilliant thieves are very protective and family oriented, like Cameryn, she said. “(Cameryn) is definitely a loyal person, and the friendships and relationships she has matter a lot to her,” Battiste said.

Cameryn’s mother, Meg Cortese, described her daughter as “being born 40,” saying she was born an old soul and tomboy who marched to the beat of her own drum.

“She took the hard road growing up,” she said. “I mean, it wasn’t a conscious decision.”

Meg sees her daughter in the main character of “Brilliant Thief,” Violet, in her refusal to conform. With her initial manuscript complete by the end of 2019, Cameryn had achieved a goal she set for herself: write a book by the end of the decade.

Then pandemic-related stayat-home orders started last year, which allowed the SU alumna time to refine the manuscript and search for an editor. She see book page 8

Beyond the

hill dailyorange.com @dailyorange sept. 20, 2021

After opening in 2020, Flower Skate Shop has hosted events and sells merchandise from big and small brands in an effort to fill a void and build community amongst skaters in Syracuse. chenze chen staff photographer

‘Part of the scene’ Flower Skate Shop provides the missing link to the Syracuse skate community as a place to purchase skating merch

By Anthony Bailey

contributing writer

Since Pierce Brothers started skateboarding in Syracuse at 11 years old, he’s watched skate shops open and close over and over again. He’s now one of five co-owners of Flower Skate Shop, which will celebrate its one-year anniversary next month.

“There have been skate shops in Syracuse in the past — mall stores, that kind of thing. But we really wanted to start something that would kind of come from people that have grown up in Syracuse,” Brothers said. “So having a store, it’s our way of involving ourselves in a more substantial way in the community.”

Flower Skate Shop opened its doors on Oct. 17, 2020, to a skate scene that had a handful of skateparks, a DIY park at Ormand Spencer Park and an indoor park at Black Mamba skatepark. But a major piece of that scene that the skaters of Syracuse were missing was a consistent skate store, and Flower Skate Shop fills that missing piece.

The shop hosts a variety of events in the community such as rail jams — skating and snowboarding events paired with art and music shows at Snow Ridge Ski Resort. The shop also sponsored A Lovely Time, a music and arts festival, this summer. For co-owner Drew Shoup, the store has been a perfect place to base events around.

“Even when we didn’t have the shop, we would kind of do events or fundraisers for the DIY spot (Ormand Spencer Park),” Shoup said. “But it’s just a lot easier when you have a home base to set all of that stuff off from.”

All the owners of the store have been in or around the skate scene in Syracuse for years.

John Moore, another co-owner, used to work in a skateshop before Flower Skate Shop. While that

skateshop ultimately wasn’t successful, it turned out to be the foundation for Flower.

When the store Moore previously worked at closed about two years ago, he got in touch with Shoup to buy the leftover display and skateboard equipment, which ended up being the first step in opening Flower, Moore said.

“We closed around 2018, 2019,” Moore said. “I got the opportunity to take all the display stuff out of there and actually hit (Shoup) up. I’m like ‘Yo, you want to buy all this sh*t?’ Then two years later, we tossed ideas around, and this is step one.”

What came next was purchasing a quaint space in the McCarthy Building on South Salina Street.

Similar to many start-ups, Flower started with a small inventory, including a handful of decks and its own branded merchandise, Moore said.

Now the store is filled with boards from a number of businesses and racks of clothing from both national and local brands. Shoup, who designs most of Flower’s brand merchandise, said the shop sells products by both wellknown and smaller brands, and he appreciates that the shop provides a platform for the lessknown brands.

“Pretty much every brand that we carry, there’s like some relationship there,” Shoup said.

“Because we have some brands that are very well known, and then we have some brands that are super sick that people might not have heard of yet.

And it’s cool to be able to bring those homies in and have people buy it.”

But clothes and boards are not all Flower brings to the community. Brothers, Moore and Shoup, along with the other co-owners Charlie Giancola and Eli Carey, bring a sense of community to the skate scene, Syracuse skater Thomas Ward III said.

“They’re building something … that’s beyond profit,” Ward III said. “They’re building their own community.”

When it comes to fashion, the shop is also making an impact around the Syracuse skate scene.

At skateparks around the city, people are wearing Flower brand clothing.

“On the fashion side of things, what’s really cool is we make our own gear to add,” Shoup said.

“I’ve seen a ton of people that’ve been repping that super hard.”

Ward, who works as both a chef and an artist, has his T-shirt designs sold at the shop. He has been in the skate scene for 30 years so he was able to watch the shop blossom before his eyes.

The owners being a part of the Syracuse skate scene was a big deal for Ward and other skaters, who have yet to have a local store around for a long time, he said.

“There is no other shop in Syracuse to go to … because they actually skateboard,” Ward said.

“And you can go out and see them skateboarding in the street. You can go skating with them, you get to talk to them. They’re part of the scene.”

Flower Skate doesn’t want to stop growing now, though. It plans on adding both an art marketplace and a mini-bowl to skate on to the next store that it opens. This would capitalize on the relationship between skaters and artists, Shoup said.

The shop will also continue its local involvement with a skate jam at Snow Ridge on Oct. 2 and an event partnering with Forum Barber shop on Oct. 16 as it continues its involvement with the skate scene and people of Syracuse who supported the shop from the start.

“It’s more rewarding,” Moore said, “seeing it from nothing to how we are now.” anbailey@syr.edu

•

PAGE 7

8 sept. 20, 2021

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C

beyond the hill

Cultural fair returns to Westcott Street after hiatus

By Louis Platt culture editor

The Westcott Street Cultural Fair will return Sunday, Sept. 26, after taking a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

The festival, hosted on Westcott Street and several nearby side streets, kicks off at noon with a parade that starts at the Westcott Community Center.

The festivities, which include a used book sale, magicians and more than 120 vendors, are meant to promote a strong sense of community among the diverse Westcott neighborhood, according to a press release.

“This is my favorite city festival of all,” neighborhood resident Paul Otteson said in the press release. “It’s rich with color, energy and cool people, and there are amazing performances wherever you turn.”

There will be a variety of products available from the many vendors tabling at the festival. Items for sale will include jewelry, soaps from page 6

gear

Time, is held in July in Turin, New York, located in the Adirondacks. Past music acts have included the bands The Black River and BadHand. There’s skateboarding at the festival, as well as different workshops such as glassblowing, for attendees to participate in. But, due to the pandemic, Feeley canceled year three of the festival scheduled in June 2020. But during that time, he and his team added to their venue at Snow Ridge Ski Resort.

Feeley used his space at The Gear Factory to create pieces for his music festival venue, such as a modular stage, and bring them out to the venue in a truck.

Andy Padula, founder of the Boho Hobo lifestyle brand, the podcast Bindlism Podcast and Bindle Tea, moved into The Gear Factory in December of 2019. The freedom of living there and the collaborative nature

and clothing, the press release reads. Some of the vendors for the WSCF are Maed by Mini, Syracuse Cooperative Market and Upcycling4ACause. A full list of vendors is available on the festival’s website.

There will also be six stages for various performances and classes, such as belly dancing, zumba and salsa. At the Kids Corner on Victoria Place, children can begin registering for the Kids Races at 12:30 p.m., and the competition will start at 2:30 p.m.

Pets are allowed at the event, but they must be leashed at all times. The used book sale will be at Petit Branch Library, also located on Victoria Place.

The festivities will run from noon to 6:30 p.m., and the streets used during the fair will be closed to motorized vehicles from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. No bicycles or skateboards will be allowed on the participating streets during these times.

louis@dailyorange.com @jbl__98

of the space is what makes it so special, Padula said.

“If you’re working on a woodworking project today, you can go talk to someone who lives there, who’s a carpenter and pick their brain and maybe use some of their tools,” Padula said. “The idea behind it was that it is kind of like a commune now.”

The Boho founder added that he likes the resourcefulness of The Gear Factory, as being surrounded by hundreds of artists lends itself to being very useful.

Artist Drew Shoup, a co-owner of Flower Skate Shop, said the communal aspect is what makes it the best place to live as an artist.

“It’s mad corny to say, but it’s dope to just be around other people that are doing similar things,” Shoup said. “Obviously a lot of us are doing it and like a different way, but it’s cool to be like, just around a bunch of people that are making stuff.”

ojcianci@syr.edu

The WSCF returns after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The fair promises over 100 vendors and six stages for performances. courtesy of sharon sherman

The Gear Factory facilitates creative freedom and spurs collaboration among the artists that live there. wiley chen contributing photographer

from page 6

book

researched narratives and use of color in films, comic books, cartography, weapons and combat terms, Cameryn said.

Cameryn’s friend David Capatch, whom she met during her 2019 internship at Bucknell University, volunteered to edit her book. Capatch said he understood the level of confidence a writer needs to have in an editor, and as an avid reader of fantasy novels, he felt prepared.

“I could at least give (Cameryn) the feeling that she could trust someone to look at it and give honest and critical feedback, at least in the capacity that I was giving,” Capatch said.

At times, Cameryn would lose momentum in her writing, and during those writing breaks, self-doubt swirled around her, she said. Though she questioned her talent and choices, Cameryn used the mentality she learned from her background in soccer to push through.

“You have to remind yourself how you got back up from being completely flattened on the field and say, ‘OK, I’ve got to get up and keep going. There’s still 30 minutes left in this game,’” Cameryn said.

When Cameryn was unable to find a publisher for her book, she self-published, proving to herself and others that not only could she write a full length novel, she could release it to the public.

But when the first physical copy arrived, Cameryn said she feared even touching it with sweaty hands. Meg, however, felt differently.

“She tackled me,” Cameryn said of her mother’s reaction. “She was more excited than I was.”

In her promotion for the novel, Cameryn positioned herself on her website as a resource for people with depression and anxiety. Battiste said she fully supported her cousin.

“I’m somebody who struggles with anxiety and stress a lot,” Battiste said. “So I’m all about advocating for it, talking to people about it and encouraging people to get help for it.”

Cameryn’s ultimate goal lies in event management within the NFL, hopefully for

CAMERYN CORTESE’S “Brilliant Thief” reflects the imagination and strength in differences that helped the author and SU alumna throughout her life.

courtesy of cameryn cortese

the Buffalo Bills. She’s taking a break from writing, but her notebooks are still stuffed with ideas waiting to be of use to a “Bril-

liant Thief” sequel, she said.

“The thing that made me different was always what made me, me,” Cameryn said.

“It was a power where I saw myself as being on the outside.” mggeyer@syr.edu

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sept. 20, 2021 9

The Sackler School of Medicine-New York State/ American Program offers an outstanding four year medical school curriculum, taught in English, leading to the M.D. degree. The Program is chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York and is accredited by the State of Israel.

Students do their clerkships and electives in the hospitals in Israel, the U.S. and Canada. One of these hospitals, Sheba Medical Center, was selected by Newsweek magazine as one of the top 10 hospitals around the world.

Graduates participate in the National Resident Matching Program and return to the United States for their residency training. Since its commencement in 1976, over 2,000 alumni have completed their residency training at the most distinguished hospitals in the United States and Canada.

Applications for the class of 2026 are available on our website. www.sacklerschool.org provides extensive information about Sackler SOM For further information, e-mail sacklermed@sacklermed.org

10 sept. 20, 2021

from page 12

gray

recruiting process. The next week, Cassidy drove down to see Gray play in a doubleheader against New Rochelle High School. Despite only seeing one play in the infield — a high chopping, slow rolling ground ball up the middle — Cassidy liked his athletic first step and the “whippy action” he had on his throw.

“You see those actions and you’re like, this kid can move out there … he’s got arm strength to play the left side,” Cassidy said.

Gray didn’t produce from the plate in either game Cassidy attended. He remembered Gray popping out but also that he liked the swing he put on the ball. Cassidy wanted Gray to play on the left side of the infield, pitch periodically and continue on a path to become the starting shortstop at Le Moyne. Cassidy didn’t see much room for him on the mound despite Gray shutting down hitters in his starts at New Rochelle.

So Gray spent his freshman year at Le Moyne backing up at shortstop, hitting well, but not blowing anyone away, and he ended up starting several at shortstop, Cassidy recalled. The “twoway” player he recruited Gray to be wasn’t going to work long term. He knew his arm strength was there to become a pitcher, the way he could throw the ball across the diamond with velocity and that “free and easy and athletic throwing motion.” He just didn’t know if Gray could succeed on the mound at the college level.

“Even after his freshman year going into the summer, our intent was for him to be the starting shortstop,” Cassidy said. “But when he came back in the fall, his arm strength was just lightning at that point.”

Gray spent the summer after his freshman year in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League. He pitched most of the time, hardly from page 12

mcintyre each season.

“The soccer sense with the class that he brought in was just a lot better,” Perea said.

“Coach Mac, coach Jukka (Masalin) and coach (Mike) Miller at the time were just an amazing staff, and to this day, where the program is, it is there because of them.”

In 2014, Syracuse’s roster was composed of “bold” players McIntyre recruited who were willing to impose his high pressing, direct style of play. It was a deep roster that McIntyre was prepared to structure the team’s new identity around.

So in 2014, McIntyre changed to a 3-5-2 formation.

It was arguably the only formation that would allow McIntyre the ability to get his optimal starting 11 on the field together, Thomas and Perea said. The two went on to lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance under McIntyre, making a run all the way to the Sweet 16.

That season, Perea was given more freedom to move around the turf than he had been in a four-man midfield setup, he said. Although he was lined up as one of the defensive midfielders of the center-midfield trio, the 3-5-2 gave them enough space and freedom to move from page 12

quarterback when DeVito went down after a big hit in the first quarter. The two put up similar stat lines: DeVito went 6-of-9 for 147 yards, Shrader went 11-of-15 for 190. Both had a touchdown and an interception, though DeVito’s flew through the hands of his wide receiver.

Babers’ hope was that one would “win it on the field” thus “removing all doubt.” He said he didn’t want to make the decision himself unless he had to. But Saturday, despite Syracuse’s 62-24 win that featured five Sean Tucker touchdowns, neither quarterback resoundingly prevailed.

“We got two good ones,” Babers said after the game. “We got two that got some skill, and we’ll go back and check the tape and we’ll make some decisions.”

When asked whether he knew who the starter should be after the game, Babers said the contest was close enough that he wasn’t sure. It’s a decision he said he needs to “take the emotion completely out of.”

DeVito was the more accurate passer on Saturday, despite a lower completion percentage.

The redshirt junior is known for his arm; Shrader even admitted after the game that “Tommy

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seeing the infield. But through his general maturation and weight increase, Gray’s fastball touched as high as 94 mph. It quickly turned into his main pitch, one that he showed the most confidence in and one that skyrocketed from the mid-80s fastball he entered Le Moyne with.

He returned in the fall as a two-way player, but Cassidy and Gray’s teammates knew his pitching skills had improved. His fastball was “heavy,” as former teammate Ben Walsh described it, a quick, effortless motion that gave it the illusion of rising as it reached the top of the zone. The Dolphins train at Sport Center 481 in Syracuse, a facility marked with a white backdrop behind pitchers that makes it difficult for hitters to see the ball out of the pitcher’s hands.

That winter, former teammate Alex Kubera watched Gray during a bullpen session. Kubera noticed he was trying to throw his slider too much during a live batting session.

“Dude, you throw 94-96 mph, just throw it at the top of the zone and you’re going to strike the guy out,” Kubera said to Gray in the echoing building. Gray struck out the batter on the next pitch, a high fastball just like Kubera told him.

Gray continued to bat and play shortstop during his sophomore year, all while putting on nearly 30 pounds of muscle. His mother, Monica, said she remembers keeping “jars and jars” of peanut butter around the house. She raised three boys and never once saw that much peanut butter in her home, she said. At Le Moyne, Gray frequented the Dolphin Den dining hall, located next to the athletic training facility.

He said he’d eat everything that was offered.

Gray knew he needed to put on more weight in order to find the force he needed behind his newfound fastball. Mac and cheese and chicken patty sandwiches were staples, he said.

He finished his sophomore season hitting

.226, striking out nearly 30% of the time. So Gray understood when Cassidy invited him into his office at the end of the year to tell him hitting wasn’t in his future. Gray grew up wanting to be a shortstop in the major leagues and emphasized that to his coach, but he finally sighed and agreed to transition to a pitcher.

“You have a chance to make money on the mound, that’s where your bread and butter is,” Cassidy told Gray.

Gray spent his senior year of high school as the second ace on Annunziata’s staff. He had great command, and his “fluid” motion allowed him to throw a plethora of different pitches for strikes, Annunziata said. But when Cassidy called Gray to offer him a scholarship to play at Le Moyne, that wasn’t in the cards. Gray received a call from Cassidy late one night while the then-high school senior played at a Perfect Game tournament in Georgia. He’d been talking with Gray for the past week and had seen him play a few games in New Rochelle.

Gray was shocked and excited at the opportunity to play shortstop in college. So he immediately called his mother to tell her Cassidy had offered a $25,000 scholarship for him to play baseball. She called the coach to set up an official meeting in person. When they visited Le Moyne for Cassidy’s presentation, Gray and his parents instantly fell in love with the campus.

Former Le Moyne player Brian Cox led an overnight trip with Gray and a few of his future teammates. He said Gray was quiet, but one of the nicest people he’s ever met. Gray was just trying to “get a vibe” of the academics and the surrounding Syracuse area. Division II Le Moyne ended up being his only offer to play college baseball. Cox and several other recruits went out to a few places, including Clinton Street Pub, and let him sleep in their suite-style dorm room. That night they all watched Derek

Jeter hit his final walk-off single against the Baltimore Orioles, something Gray said he’ll always remember.

Gray verbally committed the next day.

“Having (Cassidy) ahead of him to kind of show him the ropes,” Cox said. “Knowing that he knows what it takes to be in the show, I think that really resonated between those two.”

At the end of Gray’s junior year with Le Moyne, the Dolphins made a run to the DII NCAA Tournament. He started two straight games against Pace. After throwing eight shutout innings, Gray jogged out to the mound to seal the game. On his final pitch, he threw a 96 mph fastball that caught the outside corner of the zone. His final pitch left teammates stunned. Nine scoreless innings capped off by a high 90s fastball on the black.

Two starts later the Dolphins faced Merrimack, looking for their first NCAA Regional win in seven years. Cassidy said Gray had been talking with MLB scouts all week, and Gray said classmates were telling him the whole time that these would be his final moments as a student at Le Moyne. Gray didn’t care. He settled in on the mound, emotionless like always.

Annunziata said Gray will “never show up” a batter by celebrating on the field. He waits until after the game to pour out his heart.

In the final inning, he was still throwing his upper-90s fastball, the one he said has “pure backspin” that doesn’t fall off at the top of the zone. It didn’t exist four years ago when Gray first walked on to Le Moyne’s campus, but it would carry him to pitch alongside Clayton Kershaw with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Having an inkling that that was my last college pitch made that moment even more special,” Gray said.

easily and not be fixed in their assigned positions. It also allowed Perea to become more offensive, which he would not have been able to do in any other formation, he said.

Thomas, who was selected 11th overall

by Toronto FC in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, believed learning the 3-5-2 made the transition to the pros easier. Orchestrating a three-center back system improved his tactical awareness for when he reverted back to a four-man back line — the common defensive formation he’s used for the entirety of his professional career.

“The style of play and the formation we used contributed a lot to our success,” Thomas said. “It’s not an easy formation to play. It’s not an easy formation to coach. I know we had the right personnel, and I know we had the right leadership.”

In the 2015 season, Syracuse won its first ACC Championship and advanced to the College Cup semifinals. It finally put Syracuse on “the big boy table” — something Perea remembered McIntyre saying in reference to finally being among the nation’s elite programs.

Syracuse’s 2015 run was led by center backs Miles Robinson and Kamal Miller, along with midfielder Julian Büscher, who was drafted after that season.

Robinson, Miller and Louis Cross scored 10 combined goals while anchoring the back line

in 2015. The offensive instincts were something McIntyre passed on to his defenders since he was a former center back, Robinson said. Robinson’s scoring and physical skills as a defender led to him to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and the second overall draft pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.

In 2018, McIntyre introduced the 4-3-3.

McIntyre had another young squad, consisting of 15 true freshmen and sophomore players.

Ryan Raposo, a freshman who had a teamhigh seven assists that season, played in McIntyre’s front three. Despite the team’s overload of wingers, Raposo still managed to start 16 games his freshman season, scoring four goals and assisting seven.

The 4-3-3 allowed Syracuse to play with six wingers who constantly overlapped each other, giving the team plenty of options out wide to send crosses into the box. With the 3-5-2, the team’s wide players — wingbacks in that system — play just as much offense as they do defense. In the 4-3-3, however, the outside players generated the team’s offense, especially since their fullbacks weren’t very offensiveminded, Raposo said.

Having options such as Raposo, Massimo Ferrin and Tajon Buchanan out wide led to a more offensive-minded Syracuse squad. The Orange scored 34 goals despite finishing 7-7-4

overall and winning only one ACC game.

After Buchanan was drafted No. 9 by the New England Revolution, Raposo replaced Buchanan as the team’s leading goal scorer, nearly doubling Buchanan’s scoring total with 15 goals and earning all-ACC first team honors. He was selected fourth overall in the 2020 SuperDraft.

“I knew going into that second year that was a massive year for myself,” Raposo said. “I remember having that kind of hunger, getting on a lot of balls and just helping the team on the attacking side.”

This season, McIntyre has reverted back to the 3-5-2. With size and speed out wide and two target strikers, McIntyre defines Syracuse’s playing style as always being on the front foot and getting players like Deandre Kerr up the field as much as possible.

McIntyre’s ability to change his systems to fit his team has allowed nearly 20 players to play in the MLS and made Syracuse one of the more competitive teams in the ACC. “I think that the program is top notch,” Thomas said. “You kind of just look at those guys that are playing professionally right now, and you can’t help but to support Syracuse and support those guys.”

has a lot of arm talent.” Shrader called his counterpart a good game manager who can “do things in the run game,” but Shrader added that he feels he fits a lot of systems well.

The Mississippi State transfer said he felt a lot more comfortable against UAlbany compared to a week ago against Rutgers, particularly in making the necessary adjustments each time SU switched between quarterbacks.

He said he’s gained a strong grasp of the offense already. Shrader scrambled successfully on multiple occasions, eluding defenders and cutting upfield for 42 rushing yards on nine carries, albeit against a lower-tier defensive unit. On one third-quarter play, he made a good read to keep the ball and dart up the middle for a gain of 13.

In a game where Babers said “we needed to take a good look at two cats” — a reference to his two quarterbacks — the Orange ran the ball 42 times compared to just 24 passing attempts. Granted, 14 of those rushes were from Shrader and DeVito, but Syracuse still ran its offense through Tucker. The running back said he liked the workload and the opportunity to get more yards.

“What Sean did today kind of throws things off, so you can’t actually tell what you did,” Shrader said postgame, adding that he needed

to see the film before he could properly assess his performance.

But aside from a 72-yard touchdown pass from Shrader to Tucker and a 73-yard touchdown pass from DeVito to Damien Alford, the offense didn’t produce much else through the air. Without No. 1 receiver Taj Harris, who was sidelined for unspecified reasons and seen wearing a sleeve or brace of some sorts along his left leg,Babers said Shrader and DeVito were evaluated based on their abilities to spread the ball to younger playmakers.

When asked whether there were concerns that Shrader would transfer once again if he didn’t start, Babers said that won’t factor into his quarterback decision. He’ll play the better player, like any other position, Babers said.

“I want the job,” Shrader told syracuse.com postgame. “I should be out there.”

“They should be good,” Babers said when asked about the status of Harris and cornerback Garrett Williams. “Taj, we have to see. I think Garrett will be good.”

Williams didn’t play on Saturday either after leaving the Rutgers game early. Babers said that Williams had been at every practice this week, and Babers repeatedly called him a “tough guy.”

Final points

Taj Harris, Garrett Williams absences: Taj Harris was seen on the sideline during warmups wearing his jersey but no pads, and he didn’t suit up for Saturday’s game. Harris tweeted that minutes before kickoff that he’d be back for next week’s game, but later deleted the tweet.

anthonyalandt29@yahoo.com @anthonyalandt

ahcirino@syr.edu @ alexcirino19

Managing injury risk vs. fine-tuning: Babers used the analogy of a pencil to explain the offense: “You can write with a dull point but you write a lot better with a fine point … we needed to fine-tune some things.” His decision to pull Tucker in the third quarter wasn’t predetermined, for instance, but it was important to leave him in until then so the offensive line — and the offense as a whole — could work on timing.

Babers said they were “really rolling the dice” because those players could’ve gotten hurt. The game wasn’t about the points, and normally, Babers said he would’ve approached a FCS game like this in a “different way.” The need to evaluate his two quarterbacks and adjust an offensive unit that managed just seven points the week prior changed those plans. rferna04@syr.edu @roshan_f16

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SPORTS

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CHANGING COURSE How an under-recruited Le Moyne shortstop became a top MLB prospect

JOSIAH GRAY hit .226 as a shortstop in 2017. In 2018, Gray had an ERA of 1.74 as a pitcher and was drafted with 72nd pick in the MLB Draft. On July 20, 2021, he made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. courtesy of josiah gray

By Anthony Alandt asst. digital editor

T

he day Josiah Gray became an MLB draft pick is still a blur. More than three years after he heard his name called on the draft’s livestream, he first remembered that the day was calm, a regular couple of hours before a “hectic” night. He went out to dinner with his girlfriend — nothing special for Gray, who had just posted a 1.25 ERA, one of the best in college baseball.

Around 6:30 p.m. he, his girlfriend, his parents and one of his brothers sat down in the living room of his childhood home in New Rochelle, New York. No one knew when Gray would be drafted except his high school coach, Pete Annunziata. Roy Krasik worked in the MLB Commissioner’s Office, and his son played baseball with Gray in high school. Krasik called Annunziata from his office in Manhattan and said that Gray would likely go in one of the first few rounds.

Gray’s father hooked up a computer to their television.

The first round is televised, but the next few rounds —

where some scouts projected Gray to be drafted — are streamed on MLB Network’s website. As the 65th pick was announced, Gray got a call from his agent.

“The (Cincinnati) Reds are interested in selecting you at pick 72, what do you think?” his agent said.

Gray asked if he could think about it. He was surprised since the Reds hadn’t spoken to him much, only reaching out early in the draft process.His mind ran through the teams he’d been speaking with — the Blue Jays and the Braves — but the Reds didn’t ring a bell. But then the “surreal” feeling that someone was that interested in him set in, Gray said. A culmination of the emotions, conversations and experiences he’d had over the last year hit him in the minutes between when he hung up with his agent and when Gray called him back.

Memories of his final game against Merrimack and from his junior year when friends and classmates at Le Moyne told him he definitely would leave school early to turn professional resurfaced in Gray’s mind. It was finally setting in that he would wake up the next morning as a see gray page 10

men’s soccer

professional baseball player.

The realization settled in during the early moments of the second round when Gray heard his name. The broadcast followed the announcement with a video of Gray pitching in his Le Moyne uniform. At home, everyone screamed in excitement. His father, a Reds fan, ran into the other room to grab Cincinnati shirts, handing them out to each member of the viewing party.

But Gray wasn’t always the 6-foot, 205-pound, hard thrower from central New York who was projected as a top major league pick. That wasn’t even a thought when Le Moyne head coach Scott Cassidy first heard of Gray’s name from another area scout. In fact, the first video Cassidy saw of Gray didn’t even feature pitching. It was of a skinny shortstop, unrecruited by any other college, fielding balls and showing off his bat speed. Gray impressed Cassidy with his agility at short and his ability to zip the ball over to first — something former teammates would later say eased his transition to pitcher.

After reviewing the film, he called Gray to begin the

football

Behind McIntyre’s 3-5-2 scheme Syracuse’s QB battle continues after UAlbany

By Alex Cirino

asst. copy editor

Throughout Ian McIntyre’s first two years at Syracuse, the Orange had just five wins. SU was quickly becoming one of the worst teams in the Big East, and McIntyre had to make his program competitive.

In 2012, Syracuse won 14 games and was on track toward making the transition to college soccer’s most competitive conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Prior to that transition, McIntyre would let the opponent dictate how he would change Syracuse’s tactics and style of play. But SU was almost entirely built upon players McIntyre and his coaching staff had recruited, and it was time for the Orange to establish their

own on-field identity.

“You can go down to a place like Virginia, concede space and allow them time on the ball. That’s not really who we are,” McIntyre said. “(No) matter who we play … can we make life uncomfortable for them?

And then with the quality that we have, try and dominate periods of the game.”

It’s an identity that has given Syracuse the reputation of being a consistent pathway to the pros.

Syracuse has had at least one player drafted in each MLS SuperDraft since 2015 — 17 total during that span. McIntyre has adapted to the wide range of personnel he’s coached, altering his system and toying with different formations according to the skill set of the team.

“You pick your formation based

on the quality of the players you have,” McIntyre said. “Sometimes you can pick a formation, and (it’s like) you’re trying to fit square pegs in round holes.”

McIntyre began his coaching at Syracuse using a 4-4-2 formation, working with players inherited from the previous coach. The Orange finished the 2009 season 3-15 — SU’s worst record since 1971.

So when center back Skylar Thomas was recruited as a member of McIntyre’s eight-man 2011 recruiting class, he was sold on the coach’s vision of improving the program. Nico Perea, a defensive midfielder, was also a member of that inaugural recruiting class and quickly noticed a pattern with the recruits that succeeded him see mcintyre page 10

By Roshan Fernandez senior staff writer

Ahead of Syracuse’s matchup with UAlbany, quarterback Tommy DeVito said he’s done “exactly what he needed to do on this field” in order to earn the starting job. Head coach Dino Babers said he wanted to use the game to “make some decisions” regarding who should be SU’s main quarterback moving forward.

The two-quarterback system isn’t ideal — Babers said he doesn’t like splitting the repetitions between two people, as it disrupts the quarterbacks’ flow and ability to get into a rhythm. DeVito said continuously being ready to go in and out of the

game is “rough, but doable.” Babers said he doesn’t like having to stick to a predetermined plan and pull one quarterback at a certain point “no matter what,” like he’s done over the last two games. It requires a commitment to give both players an opportunity, but he says it’s necessary.

“I don’t enjoy doing this at all, I really don’t like doing this,” Babers said on ESPN Radio Syracuse of making the quarterback decision.

Before Saturday’s game, Babers said it was time to make a decision.

He once again had a predetermined plan that he informed his quarterbacks about, though Garrett Shrader appeared earlier than anticipated see quarterback page 10