N • Housing for all
As it faces lost grant funding, CNY Fair Housing continues to support and protect the local community through its advocacy work.
Page 3
C • Round-the-clock eats
Cuse Gourmet Deli & Café is open 24/7, satisfying a craving from the campus community for late-night food.
By Aiden Stepansky digital managing editor
Emma Ward needed time to decide if her college career was over.
After Syracuse’s Final Four loss to Boston College in May 2024 ended her fourth season, Ward felt immense pain physically and mentally.
She’d already torn both of her ACLs and suffered a meniscus tear before joining the Orange in 2021. As a sophomore, a Grade 3 turf toe and complete rupture of the plantar plate — a structure connecting her big toe to her right foot — sidelined her for the 2022 campaign.
At this point in her career, Ward has the knees of an 80-year-old, as described to her
by a doctor in the summer of 2023 following a meniscus scope.
Still, Ward knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to SU for her fifth and final season. Already an all-time great, Ward has further cemented her legacy in 2025 by becoming one of seven Syracuse players to tally 300 or more points. An assist Thursday against BC will make her the program’s top facilitator, passing Katie Rowan Thomson’s 164 assists.
With her name continuing to climb the record books, Ward is a connector of eras at SU, acting as the last women’s player to appear under Gary Gait. She dons Syracuse’s storied No. 44, linking its male-dominated history to women’s sports. Through it all, she’s adapted and revolutionized her game to develop into one of the country’s best players.
“Five years have literally flown by, and early on, it’s, ‘What do you want to be remembered as? What do you want to accomplish?’” Ward said. “When I came here my freshman year, I couldn’t have imagined having the career that I’ve had.”
Following SU’s NCAA Tournament exit last year, Ward went home to Babylon, New York, for the summer and spoke with her closest family and friends to weigh the pros and cons of returning to Syracuse. But a conversation with SU head coach Kayla Treanor helped seal Ward’s decision.
Treanor, one of the top players in Syracuse history, told Ward a job can wait, knowing the graduate student would regret giving up the time she still had.
S • Portal problems
Trebor Peña shockingly entered the transfer portal Tuesday.
er’s departure should be blamed on the NCAA’s incomplete system.
By Duncan Green news editor
Amid an ever-changing landscape in higher education and college athletics, the Syracuse University Senate passed motions extending special committees to advise on free speech and name, image and likeness deals in the body’s final meeting of the academic year.
During the meeting, senators discussed strategies to ensure student, faculty and staff involvement in university decisionmaking as academic institutions face unprecedented direct interference by the federal government. Senators called on SU administrators to maintain communication with the senate and welcome its input.
“There are many, many reasons, having to do with timetables, compliance issues and so on, that administrators work the way they do, but nevertheless, the concerns of students, faculty and staff about having input in the process are valid concerns,” said Crystal Bartolovich, an SU professor and member of the ad hoc committee for free speech and university policy. “We wanted to balance those things out a little bit better.”
Bartolovich proposed 20 recommendations for SU’s “Syracuse Statement,” which offers protections for faculty and student speech on campus. The statement has been a source of concern for many in the senate since it was first introduced last May.
Bartolovich said the committee’s concerns generally revolve around senate involvement in decision-making and advised frequent contributions from senators on issues regarding freedom of speech.
In an October senate meeting, Senator Steven Diaz, a professor in SU’s Mathematics department, said the statement should have been overseen by an elected body, such as the senate, instead of an ad hoc committee formed with unelected members. These concerns extend beyond the statement, with hundreds of faculty members signing a petition in February to protest the administration overriding their proposed changes to SU’s Liberal Arts Core curriculum without further faculty consultation.
By
The 25-year-old Saratoga, New York, native yearned to properly repay his idol when meeting Anthony at a StayMe7o Cannabis launch event inside of Dazed, a New Yorklicensed cannabis store that’s days
away from opening a new Marshall Street location. White, who runs legal dispensary Canna Cure Farms, personally knows Dazed co-founder Keshawn Warner. He said Dazed’s customer service sets it apart from competitors. And considering Monday’s scene, where Anthony strolled by a sea of students who repeatedly chanted “Melo,” White felt Anthony was the perfect figure to serve Dazed’s new audience base.
“That Flowerhouse by Melo, man, that’s the one. It’s a really, really good smoke.
Derrell Black dazed director of leadership development
“It’s a great way to launch your store in Syracuse because obviously Melo played for Syracuse and killed it,” White said, grinning ear-to-ear after successfully handing Anthony the bag of pot. “He’s one of the best of all time. So, it’s huge.” Excitement swirled near Syracuse University’s campus Monday as Dazed introduced its upcoming Marshall Street storefront by hosting a meet and greet with Anthony. Announced the morning of, students
and local residents eagerly stood in line to get their first peek at Dazed’s interior, take pictures with the SU basketball legend and receive StayMe7o cannabis products, which Dazed will sell upon opening. Warner said partnering with Anthony was paramount in catering toward Dazed’s newfound audience, as Anthony remains a key part of SU’s community. His son, Kiyan Anthony, will debut as a freshman with Syra-
see usen page 3 see dazed page 7
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The forecast for this upcoming week, per The Weather Channel.
Noteworthy events this week.
WHAT: Green Innovation Competition
WHEN: Friday, 2-5 p.m.
WHERE: Bird Library, room 114
WHAT: “Unforeseen” 2025 MFA Exhibition Opening Screening
WHEN: Friday, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Nancy Cantor Warehouse, Warehouse Gallery
WHAT: Mr. ASIA 2025
WHEN: Saturday, 7-10 p.m.
WHERE: Schine Student Center, Goldstein Auditorium
By Arabella Klonowski asst. copy editor
Members of Central New York Fair Housing are worried about the future of their housing advocacy efforts as President Donald Trump works to eliminate grants and initiatives for diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility.
CNY Fair Housing is a local nonprofit organization that receives funding through grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. It responds to tenant or renter discrimination cases by conducting investigations and taking legal action when necessary. But it now faces elimination of grant funding for its education and outreach efforts, which Tysha Martin said its legal team is challenging in court.
“We fight discrimination. We stand up for people based on their race, their color, their sexual identity, their national origin,” Martin, the director of community engagement, said. “So we kind of knew we were going to be a target.”
On February 27, CNY Fair Housing was informed one of their grants was “terminated, effective immediately,” without prior notice, Martin said. Following the elimination of the grant — which funded education and outreach — the team took the case to court, where a judge determined the grant’s removal was illegal and ordered it to be reinstated, she said.
Along with CNY Fair Housing, other HUD Fair Housing Initiative Programs throughout the country received notifications regarding the elimination of 78 grants seen as unnecessary by the Trump administration, eliminating tens of millions in funding. On March 27, federal U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns ordered for the funding cut to be overturned.
However, Casey Weissman-Vermeulen, a former attorney for CNY Fair Housing and an associate teaching professor at Syracuse University’s College of Law, said the federal government is now asking for that ruling to be overturned, therefore taking away the grant’s funding again.
With the HUD grant support, CNY Fair Housing works to address systemic issues in Syracuse, including redlining — the discriminatory practice of creating loan distribution maps that rank districts based primarily on the race and ethnicity of residents. Martin said inequality between districts and segregated neighborhoods are apparent in cities like Syracuse, though redlining has been illegal since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968.
While acknowledging senators’ doubts, Bartolovich said she trusts administrators haven’t acted in bad faith, but the expertise of many campus community members would be beneficial in future dialogue.
“There are hundreds of policies that affect absolutely everyone,” Bartolovich said. “Anyone in the university can start the process of putting university policy in motion, which is a great thing to know. Actually, many people did not know that before we started our work.”
Amid conversations about freedom of speech on campus, senators also pressured Provost Lois Agnew to shed insight on SU’s broader strategy for protecting freedoms for marginalized groups and academics. Senator Biko Mandela Gray expressed frustration in the SU administration’s lack of clarity, and called on Agnew to offer clearer plans should the university face pressure from the federal government — as seen at institutions such as Harvard University and Columbia University.
Gray specifically noted illegal deportation schemes occuring at many schools, and said many members of the campus community are fearful multiple SU programs will cease to exist, including African American and LGBTQ Studies.
“I have graduate students who are scared to leave,” Gray said. “(Administrators) don’t have to tell us what it is, but can (they) at least assure us that there is a plan?”
Agnew said the federal government’s activity and policy changes regarding higher education are difficult to plan for, since no one “knows what’s coming.” With constantly changing expectations from the White House, Agnew said the university is doing its best to “stay ahead” and taking extra care in communicating with students, faculty and staff.
She also assured SU’s government relations office is in regular correspondence with politicians and policymakers to best plan for the unknown.
“We have to look not just at individual acts, but these broad patterns that we see in our community, because they go back further than the laws that outlaw these individual acts,” Alex Lawson, housing policy manager at CNY Fair Housing, said.
CNY Fair Housing’s annual “Run the Redline” 5k race is one of the programs at risk of funding cuts. Through the race, participants can learn more about housing discrimination and its current impact on neighborhoods today. The race also offers anti-discrimination workshops for real estate agents and landlords.
Martin said through educational events like “Run the Redline,” people can look into Syracuse’s history. Through images placed around the course, participants can see the similarities between then and now.
“To say yes, ‘We have a plan,’ means everybody pictures that somewhere there’s a big board with a plan on it,” Agnew said. “(Legislators) are sending us to talk to people who need to hear about the importance of what we’re doing, and we are doing the best we can to talk about what’s going on and respond to things as they’re happening, knowing that it’s not appropriate to respond to things that haven’t happened yet.”
Tim Wong, SU’s Student Government Association speaker pro tempore, said student input in changes to higher education is essential in university planning. He noted faculty and staff have found his input valuable since joining the Senate’s free speech committee, and advocated for further undergraduate involvement in conversations.
He also acknowledged administrators face a “double-edged sword” when procuring information for the broader campus community. On one hand, the lack of communication protects the university from funding cuts and potentially impacted community members from persecution, he said. On the other, Wong said he sees his peers struggle daily from anxiety and fear as a result of the many unknowns.
“There’s a lot of misinformation going around,” Wong said. “And I don’t think it’s exclusive to just what’s going on with the federal government, but there’s understandably a lot of pressure on the administration, so I want to give them the benefit of doubt.”
Unprecedented times in higher education also extend to college sports, as the NIL era introduces new funding pressures and changing expectations of college athletes.
Members of the senate ad hoc Committee on the Future of College Athletics at SU outlined four key recommendations; primacy of the academic mission, transparency regarding athletic finances, accountability, equity and opportunity and integration of athletics with the university community.
Senator Jodi Upton, an SU journalism professor and co-chair of the committee, said the committee’s work has felt like “attaching the wings
the public on the uncertainty surrounding fair housing under Trump, she said.
Martin said she realized without the education and advocacy efforts CNY Fair Housing promotes, communities won’t be aware of the harm that comes from housing discrimination and lack of awareness about DEIA issues.
“Whole neighborhoods are being taken apart, because of politics, because of people feeling like this is the right thing to do,” Martin said. “We’re in a unique situation to see history repeat itself if we don’t talk about it.”
Lawson said both equitable housing opportunities and resolution of individual housing discrimination cases are critical. The Trump administration has opposed both.
Despite threats to its funding, the nonprofit has fought against Syracuse’s high numbers of discrimination cases since 1991.
When a discrimination case is reported, employees of both different and similar identities — called testers — are sent to the site to assess whether the claim is accurate. For example, if CNY Fair Housing receives a report involving a person with disabilities, it sends in staff members with and without disabilities to take note of potential different treatment. If testers find evidence of unequal treatment, CNY Fair Housing involves its legal team to take further action.
Weissman-Vermeulen said many people who contact the organization suspect they’re being discriminated against, but don’t always have concrete evidence. He said most discrimination tends to be subtle.
Martin said the organization’s current struggle with funding mirrors what it experienced during Trump’s first term.
CNY Fair Housing’s mission, WeissmanVermeulen said, extends beyond legal enforcement. He also said the organization also works to raise awareness about how housing discrimination impacts individual families and the greater community.
“Issues of discrimination, and then sort of isolating folks to areas of concentrated poverty, lead to all kinds of problems that we all sort of collectively pay for in terms of folks not being able to access jobs and being upwardly economically mobile or perhaps engaging in crime or non-legal economic activity,” Weissman-Vermeulen said.
Martin echoed Weissman-Vermeulen. For her, being part of the organization means directly helping the community and educating
“(It’s) one of the most important things that organizations like CNY Fair Housing does,” Weissman-Vermeulen said. “It conducts investigations to uncover evidence that corroborates individual suspicions when there’s not some smoking gun, or someone doesn’t make an overtly bigoted statement.”
The goal of these investigations is to determine whether actions by housing providers, including landlords or real estate agents, are discriminatory. Although some cases go to court, Weissman-Vermeulen said many cases are resolved without legal proceedings, often by securing necessary accommodations.
“If we don’t get our sh*t together and do what’s right for the people of our community, get them the resources, get them the help that they need and support for organizations like us, then I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Martin said.
akklonow@syr.edu
as the plane heads down the runway,” given the unpredictable nature of college sports.
She specifically discussed an ongoing federal class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by college athletes across the country, essentially demanding the direct payment of athletes by their academic institutions. Should the case be approved, schools would be allowed to directly pay athletes a combined $20.5 million across athletic programs.
While the case is expected to be approved by Judge Claudia Wilken by July 1, Upton said the committee’s suggestions will likely change following Wilken’s decision. Regardless, committee members advocated prioritizing aca-
demic scholarships, making opportunities like study abroad more available to student athletes and equity in spending between a diverse group of athletes.
“We had representatives from faculty staff, four students, seven student athletes, athletics and administration,” Upton said. “We didn’t always agree, but we believe these recommendations passed unanimously by the Senate Committee on athletic policy are a good start for guidelines in a very chaotic future.”
Both ad hoc committees were approved to continue operations in the 2025-26 academic year. digreen@syr.edu @duncanigreen
Sandwiched between a few vacant storefronts, Cuse Gourmet Deli and Café is the lone 24-hour food spot on Marshall Street
Story by Ben Butler and Mia Jones
Photos by Joe Zhao design editor
Weekend nights start quietly on Marshall Street. There are bits of music as cars pass. A few students dart by here and there, grabbing grub from Chipotle, Insomnia Cookies or Popeyes, or some drinks from a convenience store. The bar-hopping crowd starts to head to Faegen’s Pub and Orange Crate Brewing Company around 10 p.m., but then, it’s back to quiet.
Around midnight, people start leaving the bars, on the hunt for something to satisfy their appetites. Some head back home. Some hit up another party. But some are set on grabbing a bite to eat.
Sandwiched between vacant storefronts, like an answer from the darkness, a flash of white light peeks out. It isn’t a mirage for the hungry, or a false hope. It’s an oasis of fresh, late night eats.
And it’s never closed. No matter the time, you can walk in for a bite.
This is Cuse Gourmet Deli and Café.
“It’s usually on our minds,” freshman Lexi Cole said. “The bright lights really bring us in. We always look for them.”
The Daily Orange spent 12 hours in the deli, over Friday and Saturday night, to see a typical night shift in Marshall Street’s only 24/7 business.
Cuse Gourmet opened in the fall semester, and has quickly become a hit among the Syracuse University community. It’s a deli just like those found in plenty of big cities — open 24 hours and serving a wide variety of options. For bar-hopping students and locals looking for a late-night bite, Cuse Gourmet stands out on Marshall Street.
It’s bringing back the vibe of what Marshall Street used to be.
Cameron Mollaan su senior
In the past few years, Marshall Street’s composition has changed. Former staples, like Shirt World and Acropolis Pizza, have closed their doors after decades. Others, like J. Michael Shoes, have changed ownership. Restaurants and smoke shops have come and gone. Currently, Cuse Gourmet lies next to three vacant properties — the former locations of Jimmy John’s, Pita Pit and Shirt World.
Other dining options on Marshall Street aren’t open for 24 hours. Most places close before midnight, like Mediterranean Combo, Bleu Monkey Cafe and Poke Fish. Popeyes is the only exception — open until 5 a.m. on weekends — but many Cuse Gourmet customers said they prefer Cuse Gourmet’s sandwiches over the chain.
Kate O’Neal stopped suddenly in front of the deli Friday night. Looking through the window at the mass of people inside, she was confused by what she saw at first. Once she recognized the bright lights, her face lit up and she urged her friends to come inside.
Cuse Gourmet is O’Neal’s favorite food spot on Marshall Street. She always sees the lights first — a sign that her and her friends need to make a pit stop after their night out. Sometimes, a packed crowd at the deli means customers have to get a little creative with where they eat inside. O’Neal and her friends huddled in the corner by the refrigerators to snack on their chicken parm paninis.
Emery Holleran and her boyfriend, Hayden Toporoff-Richman, also tracked down food after a night out. Holleran wanted a healthier option, like a chicken Caesar wrap. The pair liked Cuse Gourmet’s variety of options, including the 24-hour breakfast.
Students aren’t the only ones who need the late night fuel. Patrolling campus at night can’t be done on an empty stomach for Department of Public Safety officer Christopher Donnelly.
When Jimmy John’s closed, he said he couldn’t get a good sandwich after midnight on Marshall Street anymore. But since Cuse Gourmet opened, Donnelly’s late-night sandwich fix has been filled. There’s the added healthy bonus from Cuse Gourmet, like the fresh vegetables he gets on his sandwiches.
“Just because it’s late at night doesn’t mean people don’t need to have good food, especially since the world we work in now is 24 hours,” Donnelly said. “It’s not your normal 9-to-5 anymore.”
Donnelly isn’t the only worker who relies on Cuse Gourmet’s 24-hour reliability. Ryan, an UberEats delivery worker who did not provide his last name, said he needs a round-the-clock option for his job. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to deliver food in the wee hours of the morning once places close for the night.
He picks up orders and then scooters off into the night, like the Paul Revere of nighttime munchies.
For students, Cuse Gourmet isn’t just about food — it’s also a meeting point.
Students spot each other through the glass windows as friends pass by. Upon seeing some buddies outside, one student flung open the door and greeted them with a warm embrace in the doorframe. One group of friends broke open a pack of Oreos and shared them at the counter while they checked out.
At one point in the night, three friends argued over who would pay for their orders. As one put down his card, the others attempted to pay with cash. The cashier laughed and spoke with the men in Arabic before they made amends and wished each other well on their way out.
D Spade AOE, a local gaming YouTuber, turned heads when he entered the deli and shouted to the crowd, “Are you all in line?”
He made his way through the crowd to grab a water, keeping a calm and playful presence with the crowd. He even joked around with students, grabbing hats and cracking jokes. His fuzzy bucket hat and spade sweatshirt kept him warm for the night out, and as a regular of Cuse Gourmet, he appreciated the staff’s attitude.
“They treat people the way we should all be treated, with respect,” D Spade AOE said. “You go to places a lot of times, they’re always miserable.”
Jared Reinhard, a freshman advertising student, showed up to the deli in a Spider-Man jersey and a horned Viking helmet that he chose for his night at Dazed.
“I’m not one to get gussied up often. I wear Crocs every day,” Reinhard said. “(The outfit) was a lot of thought of, ‘This is really dumb, but I know it’s gonna make me have a good time.’”
Reinhard ordered a classic parmigiana sandwich, and when he split it open, he said it was “friggin’ aura.” He went to Cuse Gourmet specifically because it wasn’t a chain, but rather a local, independent business.
Caden Greco, another freshman, said he’s noticed the vacant properties on Marshall Street and the early closing hours for some of the food joints.
“There’s a huge market at night, and it’s unconquered ground,” Greco said. “Students would love some variety at this hour.”
Freshman Jack Levin, whose girlfriend goes to the University of Virginia, has noticed differences between Syracuse and Charlottesville. He said Charlottesville is more oriented toward the university than Syracuse. Late-night restaurants and delis are much more common there, he said, but Syracuse lacks that. Most students don’t venture past Marshall Street to get food in the city, he said.
In addition to the recent business closures, SU has purchased several properties on Marshall Street. In March, the university purchased around $14 million worth of property, including the properties housing Lucy Blu Island Bar and Club, Manny’s and Mediterranean Combo. SU has no plans to make changes to the recently acquired spaces, the university said.
DPS opened an office on Marshall Street in 2024; though, DPS’ jurisdiction only extends to SU properties on Marshall Street, not the independent businesses.
In 2021, the university bought the Marshall apartment complex — eventually converting it into undergraduate housing — then Varsity
Pizza and Faegen’s in 2022 and Hotel Skyler in 2024. The university converted the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center into undergraduate housing in 2024, but has owned the Sheraton since 2000.
Freshman Grayer Richards sees these acquisitions as a matter of “control” amid risk factors like crime or drinking at local bars. Though, Richards said, the acquisitions won’t allow for a lot of character on Marshall Street either.
Cameron Mollaan’s family friend attended SU, and he talked to her about what Marshall Street was like during her years there. Back then, she said, it was filled with bars and late-night eats, and it was the centerpiece of student nightlife. He was excited to check it out, but noted that Marshall Street has “died down” since her days on campus.
Sophomore Matthew O’Callahan agreed. The alumni he spoke with from the late 2000s and early 2010s advertised Marshall Street as the “not-affiliated-with-campus hub of life.” But it’s not what it used to be, he said, because of the university’s acquisitions and other business changes. Right now, Marshall Street is the closest taste of the city’s authenticity to campus, O’Callahan said.
“It feels like Syracuse,” O’Callahan said. “I don’t want it to feel like the university, I just want it to feel like the city.”
Mollaan, a senior, has seen the growth of undergraduate housing on North Campus since coming to SU. He said he’d be sad to see a staple like Faegan’s go, like others have in recent years.
But, Mollaan said, Cuse Gourmet has a taste of the nostalgic Marshall Street culture.
“It’s bringing back the vibe of what Marshall Street used to be,” Mollaan said.
cuse men’s basketball next season. Anthony’s also scheduled to deliver SU’s 2025 commencement address in May.
Building community through cannabis is Warner’s ultimate goal for all four Dazed locations, he said. In the same way Anthony is a Syracuse icon, Dazed wants to become the talking point of Marshall Street through safe products and unmatched customer experience, its ownership group says.
“It made sense that we would want to do something with (Anthony),” Warner said. “We enjoy impacting the community. Every store that we have, I have to find a way to reach out and connect with the local community. That’s what makes the store.”
Swarms of people exited Dazed’s swanky interior Monday with uncontainable grins and palpable shock upon just meeting Anthony. Many left with free T-shirts signed by Anthony, which consisted of orange tees with blue “Melo” text and mock Dazed No. 15 Anthony jerseys.
Some attendees, like SU sophomores Jaime Burke and Katharine Byrne, came to get a glimpse of Marshall Street’s newest addition. The two both said they’re glad a legal dispensary like Dazed will be an option for students going forward, expressing concern about illegal marijuana distributors. Marshall Street previously housed the New York Exotic Smoke Shop, which closed due to code violations in September 2023.
“It’s very accessible to students who are of age and is more safe, especially with the past stores that were not as safe,” Byrne said. “I feel like they have a great team in there.”
Others flocked to Dazed just to shake Anthony’s hand. SU junior Ian Bishop said the experience made his whole spring semester, as he feels Anthony, a 2003 NCAA champion and recent elect in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2025 class, is the school’s greatest athlete ever.
Bishop walked home with a signed shirt. SU senior Marlon Orellana, however, brought his own souvenir for Anthony to autograph: a parking ticket. He planned to ask Anthony to sign it as a joke, he said, and was stunned once he saw how willingly Anthony played into it.
“I didn’t think he was going to sign it, because it’s a ticket, right? And I was going to make him sign to plead guilty, and he actually signed it,” Orellana said. “It was honestly very wholesome.”
“This signature might not get you a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” Orellana recalled Anthony joking to him.
The store’s fourth location signifies another milestone in Warner’s journey. In 2008, the Harlem native was arrested for trying to buy weed. In 2021, He and co-founders Rich Rainone and Chris Vianello opened their first Dazed storefront in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Once he first stepped adjacent to SU’s campus, Warner saw the “pure college vibe” that Marshall Street exhibited. Yet, he sensed that the area needed some uplifting and didn’t notice many prominent, thriving modern businesses.
He thinks Marshall Street needs to improve by instilling more quality establishments. Dazed can become one, Warner said, as the store’s relaxed environment and authentic marijuana inventory will encourage safe smoking practices among of-age students and local consumers.
Once it opens, Dazed will be the closest legal cannabis store in proximity to SU’s campus.
“We want to cater to the community that we entrench ourselves in,” Warner said. “That way, we become a part of it and not somebody just coming to leech off of it.”
Safe products and fun in-shop experiences are Dazed’s core values, Vianello said. The staff prides themselves on letting customers take their time and figuring out what products best match each consumer’s interest. He mentioned Dazed has a noexceptions return policy for each customer if they don’t like their purchase. White said that Dazed employees show genuine care for their customers, which he thinks will help the store win over the SU community.
Now, spurred by a 2023 store opening in New York City’s Union Square, Dazed has generated millions in revenue.
“I can’t say it’s a dream come true. This is not something you could dream about,” Warner said. “Legalization (of recreational marijuana) coming to New York was something I knew would be great. But you never see something like this in your wildest dreams.”
Derrell Black, director of leadership development at Dazed, said Warner’s New York roots influenced him to push for an expansion to Syracuse. Both Warner and Vianello said they wanted to maximize Marshall Street’s untapped potential. Vianello added that the lack of competing cannabis businesses in proximity and the foot traffic Marshall Street receives made it a project worth pursuing.
Black said SU students will feel welcomed whenever they step into Dazed, as its staff wants to aid in any way they can. For example, Black said students who develop alcohol addictions may turn to cannabis as a relief method, and Dazed can help them through that.
Vianello said Dazed has a lot more work ahead to build trust with the city of Syracuse, besides simply being licensed under New York state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program.
“We still need to do our job and make sure that we get the word out that we’re here for safe (marijuana) consumption,” Vianello said.
As for what Dazed products Syracuse’s cannabis connoisseurs should look out for, Black said look no further than StayMe7o.
“That Flowerhouse by Melo, man, that’s the one,” Black said with utmost praise. “It’s a really, really good smoke.”
Dazed’s co-founder also found common ground with Anthony through marijuana. The company that makes Anthony’s marijuana products, Flowerhouse, also helps produce Dazed’s inventory. Warner said Anthony’s StayMe7o Cannabis line, which launched on April 20, 2024, will be a mainstay brand that Dazed carries in the future.
Warner said Anthony has an innate passion for the legal cannabis industry because of his 19-year NBA career. Anthony found the benefits of using cannabis while he played professionally, Warner said, and emphasizes how marijuana can be used to heal and recover.
Anthony’s mindset, Warner said, made this a perfect relationship.
“Having this space allows us to branch off and be utilized by so many people in various parts and forms,” Warner said of Dazed’s partnership with StayMe7o. “It makes your business more than just selling products.”
Dazed owners say the Syracuse shop will open before 4/20 Day. Warner said he thinks they’ll hit the ground running, and one day, the store will be synonymous with Marshall Street.
“I’m hoping that this place will become a staple of the community,” Warner said. “In the next five years, you have five graduations. So five years from now, people will come back for homecoming and alumni will be saying, ‘Oh, Dazed is still here?’” ccandrew@syr.edu @cooper_andrews
By Charlotte Price asst. digital editor
In 1997, a group of 10 SU students — six Asian and Asian American students, three Black students and one white student — were denied seating at a local Denny’s. Later that evening, the students left the parking lot with concussions, cuts and bruises.
Almost 30 years later, the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month committee hosted its annual exhibit in the Schine Student Center to remember the encounter, now known as the “Denny’s incident.”
Hosted as part of a series of workshops and events in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, the exhibit framed a podium with carefully crafted poster boards to highlight the incident’s aftermath. The exhibit has taken place over many years, and the collages are contributions of past co-chairs.
“The purpose of the exhibit was to look back at the roots of what systemic oppression is,” said
beyond the hill
Ellany Tsin, a committee co-chair of the event. “(The posters) look like broken glass because it’s a broken system.”
The poster boards included a variety of news clips and blog posts referencing the incident. Some expanded the scope to other instances of antiAsian hate, including racist caricatures of Japanese people during World War Two.
A poster-sized version of a 2011 letter to the Syracuse community from five students described the purpose of the exhibit. The exhibit was intended to educate the community about the context of antiAsian hate crimes, the students wrote, emphasizing “the Syracuse community is not immune.”
The group of students felt that white patrons were being seated preferentially as they waited for over 30 minutes, according to a lawsuit filed at the time. The lawsuit alleged the students were denied service based on race, ethnicity or national origin.
After a student confronted a Denny’s employee, the group was asked to leave by two sheriff’s deputies work-
ing as security guards, according to follow-up reporting by The Daily Orange’s in 2007. In the parking lot, some of the students engaged in a physical confrontation with the guards, who were joined by 10 white men who came out of the restaurant, The D.O. reported.
The 10 men beat and verbally assaulted the Asian and Asian American students with slurs, and two Black students left the waiting area of the Denny’s to break up the fight. When the Black students returned to the restaurant, they were also asked to leave, The D.O. reported. Two Denny’s employees involved in the incident were fired, as well as the two security guards.
The students were left with concussions, cuts and bruises, according to reporting by The D.O. The controversy that followed gripped the Syracuse community for years as the students attempted to pursue legal action. The ensuing investigation was eventually dismissed, as the county district attorney found the students could not sufficiently prove their civil rights had been violated. No arrests were made.
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By Cam McGraw staff writer
Shaughnessy’s Irish Pub, nestled inside the Marriott Hotel in downtown Syracuse, is the place for Syracuse sports fans. Either the focal point of a visit or in the background, Syracuse sports are on TV while historic memorabilia surrounds customers.
“There is just that connection that is still growing. We love the sports, we love Syracuse University athletics — there’s a sense of camaraderie,” manager Tom Fiorini said.
Shaughnessy’s embraces all Syracuse athletics, including SU football and lacrosse and Syracuse Crunch Hockey games. In addition to serving burgers and beer, the interior includes the original Syracuse Nationals’ basketball court, which was moved from the Onondaga County War Memorial and now serves as the pub’s floor.
Only eight years after the Syracuse Nationals defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in Game 7 of the 1955 championship series, the team was sold to Irv Kosloff and Ike Richman. Despite making the playoffs every season in Syracuse, the team relocated to Philadelphia in 1963 and became the Philadelphia 76ers. Fiorini said that after the team’s relocation, the court was going to be cut up and sold in pieces. However,
the Marriott purchased the court and decided to preserve it. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Nats’ championship. The team produced multiple Hall of Fame players, including Larry Costello, Hal Greer and Dolph Schayes, who is on a mural inside the pub. Syracuse remains one of the cities to have won an NBA championship, an achievement 10 current NBA teams still haven’t accomplished.
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By Naomi Campbell inclusive journalism fellow
Chefs from the Black diaspora in Syracuse cook flaky chapati, brown stew chicken and baked mac and cheese, fostering a diverse cuisine center in central New York. Diners walk in seeking a taste of home or hoping to expand their palates.
One of these chefs, Riyaq Dukous, heats oil in a stainless steel pan at Somali Restaurant on North Salina Street at 8 a.m.. Muslim prayer calls softly play as Dukous prepares for the morning rush.
“We want to introduce other people like ‘Hey guys, it isn’t only American food in the world, so you should try this also,’” Dukous said.
Before moving to Syracuse in 2023, Dukous raised her family in Somalia, and then lived in Jordan for 12 years. In Somalia, Dukous was a nurse. When she moved to the United States, she said she had to change her profession because of the language barrier and the lack of government benefits. So, she decided she would open a restaurant.
Her son, Abdalla Mohammad, said Dukous loves to help people. She makes efforts to feed people that are homeless, Mohammad said, and always aims to make the people that walk in her restaurant feel happy.
When Somalis come to Somali Restaurant, it’s like a second home, as it’s the only Somali restaurant in Syracuse, Mohammad said. Customers from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan and even Rochester dine at the East African restaurant, which welcomes a diverse crowd.
The most popular dishes at the restaurant are sambusa, fried dough pastry with either meat or vegetables; chapati, crispy flatbread and rice with three different kinds of meat like chicken suqaar, goat or beef. Mohammad’s favorite is his mom’s rice.
“She’s my mom, I know. But if I was a customer, I’d be here everyday,” Mohammad said.
During Ramadan, Dukous wanted the Muslim community to have a place to break their fast. Some people break their fast with dates followed by the sambusa, so she prepares extras during the holy month.
Irvin Hanslip, also known as Bongo, is another chef deeply tied to his cultural roots.
In his Jamaican restaurant, Jerk Hut, Bongo cooks brown stew chicken while Jerome Espree, a consultant, chats with customers in front of a glass refrigerator filled with Jamaican drinks like Kola Champagne as a Bob Marley banner hangs along the wall.
“To be honest, you are sitting in my living room,” Bongo said with a smile.
Born in St. Mary Parish, Jamaica, Bongo moved to Syracuse in the early 1970s. Before Bongo got to cooking and seasoning, he worked as a mason and did apprentice work.
In 1996, Bongo opened Jerk Hut, which was named to remind people of outdoor cooking in Jamaica. He raised his children at the restaurant — his first home, he said. His late wife’s photo
is framed above the vase of flowers near the counter in the shop. He says she would review the paperwork for the restaurant while Bongo would focus on kitchen duties.
Customers tend to order oxtail at Jerk Hut. Bongo offers jerk fish for pescatarian diets, which was his son Jose’s idea. A jerk salad option is on the menu for vegetarians.
But what diners enjoy the most is his jerk sauce. Bongo said people love it and he has created a flavor that can’t be found outside of Jerk Hut.
“My sauce that I fix, you won’t find it nowhere else,” Bongo said.
While Bongo said he focuses on kitchen duties, Espree helps with the business side of the restaurant. Bongo is looking to add an outdoor deck in the back of his shop, as he said outdoor cooking gives his food a good flavor.
The Great New York State Fair isn’t just a time to listen to music and enjoy rides, but also to explore cultural cuisines. Bongo has been participating and performing at the fair since the ‘80s. His restaurant is a spot for generations of customers to come and he wants to give them the best experience possible, he said.
Sleyrow Mason also prioritizes the happiness of his customers at his soul food spot, SOULutions, in Salt City Market. The 49-yearold Brooklyn native started the business in 2021 with a mission to satisfy southern comfort cravings for meals like baked mac and cheese and candy yams.
“We want to be the answer to soul food,” Mason said.
His menu includes ribs, berbere mustard fried chicken and fried catfish, which is only served on Fridays. Mason said traditional soul food includes black-eyed peas, fried chicken and collard greens.
But his signature dish is oven-roasted ribs.
“Nobody really does ‘em like that. We season
them up, oven roast them off and then we slow cook them until they are nice and tender,” Mason said.
Mason took one culinary class for six months, but the rest of his skills were developed on his own by practicing different meals. Once you learn how to apply different techniques to different food, he said, you can basically cook anything.
He learned how to cook from his mother, but his oven-roasted ribs recipe is his own. He perfected the ribs over the years from his experience working at restaurants and memories from cooking with his mom. Mason said that he makes traditional soul food and fuses it with other food to take it to the “next level.”
His inspirations include Marcus Samuelsson, an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay and Tyler Florence. Mason likes the simplicity yet elegance of Ramsay’s cooking and Samuelsson’s traditional East African dishes fused with Swedish style.
Running a business can be challenging, he said. He has to order the food, restock his supplies, food prep, create recipes and consider profits on new dishes. Challenges like staffing issues might arise, but it doesn’t stop Mason from interacting with new customers.
Syracuse natives Troy and Zeruiah Jones, grabbed a cheddar burger, macaroni and cheese, chicken sandwich and potatoes for take out at SOULutions. Jones calls it “the best.”
“Soul food is more like a labor of love, so we take time to slow roast things,” Mason said. “It’s not just all thrown together.”
Mason said soul food is good because it’s flavorful. But really, he said soul food is cooked with a lot of love. When people visit his restaurant, Mason wants people to feel comfortable and amazed by the food.
“We have a lot of different people from different walks of life that actually congregate here, so they get to try things that they might not have tried anyplace else,” Mason said. ncampb03@syr.edu
By April Stelle contributing writer
Some students sit together, while others sit alone in a room of 12 separate tables in Schine Student Center.
As soon as Jia Man walks into the room, that quickly changes. She gestures for the tables and groups to move together. Everyone gets up from their seats and works together to create three long tables. Only then did Jia begin her Ikebana workshop.
“Ikebana should make you feel good or your experience should make you feel good, or both,” Jia said.
Jia, an adjunct professor at Le Moyne College and member of Ikebana International, led an Ikebana flower workshop at Syracuse University Wednesday. The workshop is one of the many events celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in April.
Founded in 1956, Ikebana International has 140 chapters in over 40 countries. Jia is a member of the New York chapter, of which she attends an event once a year to practice a variety of Ikebana methods.
Ikebana is rooted in Japanese culture, and focuses on both the natural and spiritual world. Jia quickly creates a demonstration with three different lengths of yellow and white flowers. She pointed to the tallest one and said it represents God, the middle one represents Earth and the shortest represents humans.
Jia explained that Western flower art is more for decoration, but Ikebana is different.
“Japanese Ikebana is not just beauty, it is more zen, thought, philosophy,” Jia said. “Not just like it looks beautiful or is for decoration.”
Jia has taught at Le Moyne for the past seven years and led many Ikebana workshops at SU and in surrounding areas. On top of leading the Ikebana creations, she emphasizes a deeper connection with nature through working with the flowers. Jia has previously led workshops at Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Elise Christopher is an anthropology major working in SU’s Office of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Student Success. She and her friend, Annie Xu, both attended the workshop. Xu learned that, when it comes to Ikebana, less is more. The simplicity of the arrangements is what makes them beautiful, she said.
The attendees also learned about the connection between Ikebana and Buddhist practices. Some aspects of the history surprised them.
“I didn’t know only men could do it up to a certain point, so it’s nice to be introduced to a new cultural form,” Christopher said.
Xu said the Ikebana workshop is a nice way to gather people together on campus. She was specifically intrigued by this event because it was an opportunity to do hands-on arts and crafts.
Many students came in groups and, though the event focused on meditation, the room was constantly filled with chatter as students built their flower arrangements. They started by selecting spring flowers and branches, and then positioned the flowers exactly how they wanted.
Yarn
Based in North Carolina, Yarn is bringing their country flair to Syracuse this weekend. Since their formation in 2007, the band has released 10 albums and gained millions of streams.
WHEN : Thursday, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Funk ‘n Waffles PRICE: $23.63
Students created multiple arrangements focusing on simplistic designs. Jia said overcrowding arrangements with too many colors was distracting, so many students chose one flower as their focus color, and then surrounded it with smaller white or pink flowers in vases of various sizes and colors.
Bettina Talento, an advertising and marketing major, brought her roommate, Rosemary McNulty, to the workshop. They’re graduating soon, so any time they can spend together is valuable, they said.
McNulty is the president of the Filipino Student Association and has been working with the team planning these events. She said the event is important because representation of Asian Americans is still an uphill battle. They spent the event taking pictures of each other’s Ikebana creations.
Jia encourages photography, and combines the art of Ikebana with photography in her work. She designs and arranges the Ikebana art, takes pictures of her creations and then takes them apart. She said the photos allow her to make the fleeting and fragile nature of flowers last forever, since the nature of life itself is imperfect.
“I’m so touched by the beauty, and it’s hard to explain in any language,” Jia said. “I have a conversation at that moment with the flowers or the works I design.”
Jia hoped the workshop would force students to focus on the present and accept these imperfections in life. As a soon-to-be graduating senior, Talento reflected on this sentiment.
“(Jia) said something about how it captures a moment in your life, about how it’s very impermanent, and I think that’s beautiful,” Talento said. ajstelle@syr.edu
Need to let loose before finals season? Get rowdy at Dazed this weekend with Nykara and Katie Lee’s beats.
WHEN : Friday, doors at 10 p.m. and music at 10:30 p.m.
WHERE: DM @dazedcuse on IG for the address PRICE: $7 presale, $10 at the door
Anvil
Looking to get into the headbanging mindset before Metallica? Stop by The Song & Dance for an afternoon with Anvil, a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1978. Known as the “demigods of Canadian metal,” the band is one of the pioneers of the genre.
WHEN : Saturday, doors at 12:30 p.m. and show at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Song & Dance PRICE: $26.44
Metallica
For the first time since 1996, Metallica is returning to Syracuse for one night only. Performing at the JMA Wireless Dome, attendees will experience an in-the-round stage setup, offering a unique 360º view of the band’s performance. With additional performances from bands Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies, the night is guaranteed to bring its nonstop energy to the Dome.
WHEN : Saturday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: JMA Wireless Dome PRICE: $102 - $1,380
Masta Killa: 420 Party
As a trailblazer to the hip-hop genre, Masta Killa from the Wu-Tang Clan will be performing at Syracuse as part of his “Balance” tour. Masta Killa will be “bringing the raw energy to life” with old-school rap this weekend.
WHEN : Sunday, doors at 4 p.m. and show at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Westcott Theater PRICE: $41.98
William J. Fitzpatrick — the Onondaga County District Attorney at the time, who is still in the position — accused the students of orchestrating the event, according to The D.O. Fitzpatrick said the denial of service and brawl weren’t racially motivated, because slurs were only uttered during the fighting and not before, The D.O. reported.
When the DA’s office dismissed the case after a five-month investigation, SU students were enraged. Days after the decision was announced, around 100 students protested at the Schine Student Center. Half took their grievances to Fitzpatrick’s office, accusing him of bias and corruption, The D.O. reported.
In 2002, a friend of the Asian students involved in the Denny’s incident hosted a workshop at SU titled “The ‘Denny’s Incident’ and Other Hate Crimes,” attended by 45 students. The workshop criticized the lack of support for the students involved, focusing on the broader ignorance of racism against Asian Americans.
The exhibit reminded the campus community of the incident and its significance as time has gone by. However, just 15 students attended its opening.
returned to Syracuse over the years. A number of them went to Shaughnessy’s to sign and take pictures with a basketball, which is seen among the pub’s decor.
Sarah Jackson, a server at Shaughnessy’s and Syracuse native, often reflects on the items around her. One day, she was eyeing a landscape photo that looked familiar. Moments later, it clicked: it was a trail through what is now South Campus, where she walks her dogs. Jackson said it’s nice to know the area still maintains a similar look, even way back from its infancy.
But it’s more than just a plot of grass, a basketball or a team photo. The memorabilia serves as a living history for the people and places that have changed with the city. Jackson said customers see not only vaguely familiar items, but deeply personal ones.
“I’ve had moments where some people recognize their grandparents from photos,” Jackson said. “They would pause and say ‘That’s my grandfather!’ and show me a picture.” Jackson said the pub’s success correlates with SU athletics’; when Syracuse’s teams do better, the pub is more active. Given the hotel’s proximity to the Syracuse campus, the pub welcomes both SU and rival fans alike.
While many visit Shaughnessy’s for its rich history of Syracuse athletics, others come simply to unwind after a long day. Chuck Musante, a customer at the pub, appreciates the pub for its food and atmosphere.
Musante lived in Syracuse from 2020 to 2023, working in microelectronics. After he revisited the city in 2025, the first place he visited after his 11 hour drive was Shaughnessy’s. He cited the high-quality food and bartenders as reasons for his return.
“I feel like having more people here really would have had (the exhibit) hit home,” Tsin said.
Jasmine Kim, an SU graduate from the class of 2019, created “April 11, 1997,” the short film shown annually at the event. The film presented the incident through the perspective of a victim’s close friend.
The friend explained that bias was present from the moment the students arrived at the hospital, as police used racially charged language when describing the students over police scanners. The film emphasized how isolating the incident felt for Asian and Asian American SU students.
Though the Anti-Asian Hate Crime exhibit reuses much of the same material annually, this year’s installation featured three new posters reflecting this year’s AAPI Heritage Month theme, Mosaic of Memories.
Tsin, who designed the posters, said she used the motif of broken glass shards to symbolize a broken system or an incomplete picture. She designed the posters in a series of three, representing the roots of discrimination, words used to perpetuate hate and the effects of hate.
Among the sharp shapes of the third poster were pictures and words depicting examples of moments of anti-Asian hate in history, like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The second post-
“I came in last night, and the bartender remembered me from two years ago,” Musante said.
The memorabilia is secondary for Musante, who admitted he had no clue what anything was. For him, the pub was simply a place to get away from work, have a few beers and unwind.
Whether the customer is there to reflect on the city’s rich history or simply stop by for a drink, Musante said the pub remains a welcoming space that proudly supports Syracuse athletics. Seventy years after the Nationals’ championship, Shaughnessy’s continues to serve as a hub for fans cheering on their favorite teams.
“It’s inspiring to see how much memorabilia the pub really has, and how they’ve kept true to the heritage after 70 years,” Jackson said.
crmcgraw@syr.edu
er represented the experience of Asian Americans as “forever foreigners.” This references Asian Americans not being truly recognized or understood; even the word “Asian” overgeneralizes the nuanced cultures of an entire continent, Tsin said.
“They were designed to represent the different fragments of the Asian American experience, both the good and the bad and how that shapes our Asian identities,” Zhou Benson, a member of the AAPI Heritage Month planning committee, said.
Tsin is a member of the Syracuse chapter of Sigma Psi Zeta, an Asian-interest sorority and fraternity, as were a majority of the students in attendance. However, despite the organization’s focus on Asian and Asian American issues and culture, member Kiara Reyes was unaware of the Denny’s incident before Monday. As a sophomore, Reyes found it surprising this was her first time hearing about the incident.
“I could really feel the emotions through the video as I was watching (the short film),” Reyes said. “I’m surprised we only speak about it this month instead of the whole year.”
A lack of awareness about hate crimes towards Asians is a wider pattern, Tsin said. When people think of anti-Asian hate, Tsin said they often default to the discrimination the
Asian and Asian American community experienced during COVID-19, disregarding other issues. The lack of attendance at AAPI heritage month events reflects this ignorance, Tsin said. She said another factor contributing to the erasure of anti-Asian hate crimes is the “model minority” stereotype. Some people may view Asians as generally more educated or more “white-adjacent” than other minorities, leading them to believe Asian people don’t face oppression or challenges, Tsin said.
“We’re never truly Asian, we’re never truly American, we’re never truly anything,” Tsin said.
Though the event didn’t attract a large number of students, Benson felt that it was still successful in spreading awareness to those who were there.
Benson’s experience organizing the event was rewarding because she said it helps her to stay close to her Asian roots, a goal she had set coming into college. For Benson, the month’s theme had a personal significance, reflecting the complexity of her identity as an Asian American.
“We have multiple aspects that make us who we are, not just as Asians, but just as people,” she said. “The fragments and pieces coming all together are what a mosaic is.”
cprice04@syr.edu
denis contributing illustrator
By Layla Poli columnist
On June 24, 2022, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi addressed the House to criticize the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
This day was also my 17th birthday. Just an hour before I was supposed to take my driver’s test and experience one of the defining freedoms of adulthood, a more personal freedom was taken from me: my right to make decisions about my own body.
Today, almost three years later, women still don’t have the constitutional right to access safe and legal abortions and reproductive healthcare. The fight for gender equality is forced to a stalemate due to the extreme agenda of the super-majority, radically Republican Supreme Court justices appointed by President Donald Trump.
Every day, we as women wait for the current administration to push us further into the past while our president spews misogynistic comments.
Trump’s continued disregard for abortion rights is only the beginning of his complete dismantling of our democracy. Although it’s been almost three years since the overturning of Roe, these rights remain incessantly in jeopardy due to his influence over the Supreme Court.
In 1973, Roe v. Wade was the landmark Supreme Court decision that granted the constitutional right to have an abortion, setting the precedent for all women to have the right to choose what happens to their bodies.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 case that overturned Roe, stripped women of their bodily autonomy almost entirely.
Anti-abortion politicians have been trying to remove the right to an abortion for years, directly
contesting the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. This dream became a reality once Trump appointed three new justices during his first presidency: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Swaying the Supreme Court in one foul swoop displays the danger of power in the hands of Trump and the threat this poses to the state of checks and balances.
The Supreme Court is meant to rule solely based on the Constitution. The tone of today’s justice system completely disregards that principle.
The Constitution is ambiguous, leading to several different interpretations. This once gave it the power to expand for the benefit of underrepresented Amercians, but now produces biased, controversial rulings under the current right-leaning court.
This isn’t just present in the Supreme Court but in every other branch of government, creating a faulty justice system.
Without checks and balances, our country faces a complete erosion of democracy.
This isn’t a threat to be taken lightly, especially when the fate of a just America rests in the hands of a man who craves superiority.
Despite former President Joe Biden’s Catholic background, which is typically aligned with pro-life rhetoric, his administration worked hard to protect the fundamental rights of women from the beginning.
Over the past 10 years, he’s shifted his stance to more prominently show support and enact government reform. He’s been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, signed countless healthcare executive orders and has called on Congress to codify abortion rights.
The current administration can’t say the same about its own president.
Although Trump’s stance on abortion has been inconclusive in the past, his views stayed evasive during his campaign, and for a reason — to manipulate the American people, even though the truth was unfolding right before their eyes.
Time and time again, Trump dismissed questions surrounding abortion, most likely due to his opponent being in strong support of abortion rights. When asked how he voted in Florida’s abortion amendment, Trump told the reporter to “Just stop talking about that.”
But he dropped this neutral act as soon as his vision came to fruition. Trump was victorious when Roe was overturned, returning jurisdiction over abortion to the states. He bragged that he was the “guy” who ended Roe v. Wade, and continues to wear it as a symbol of pride.
He isn’t only a threat to women’s rights, but to women themselves.
Failure to address his disparaging behavior toward women continues to enable his misogynistic influence to the Supreme Court. This will pose a greater threat extending beyond bodily autonomy for years to come.
During the later days of his campaign, Trump pledged to the American people via Truth Social that he’d be great for women and their reproductive rights, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
In his celebrity past, Trump has made several obscene comments objectifying women, boasting about groping and nonconsensually kissing them. Even more terrifyingly, he’s been accused of sexual assault by at least 27 women and has appointed cabinet members facing sexual misconduct allegations.
As the face of our country, this is utterly disgusting and detestable behavior. It isn’t a shock that he’s trying to evade the law, as he
was still allowed to run for president after being convicted on 34 counts of felony.
Nancy Northup, the president and executive officer of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said Trump’s administration is the most anti-abortion we’ve ever seen in United States history.
In March of 2024, Trump insinuated his support for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks, which he described as something that everyone agrees on.
Once in office, Trump to no surprise wasted zero time in attacking reproductive freedoms, signing an executive order enforcing the Hyde Amendment to eliminate federal funding toward abortion. Even more troubling, the federal website was wiped from the internet the same week Trump was sworn in.
The frightening reality of Trump’s second term is the shameless intention to eradicate reproductive protections, highlighting our dwindling democracy. It’s imperative to emphasize that banning abortion doesn’t mean abortions will end. Only safe abortions will.
The stripping of abortion is only the beginning of women’s rights being taken away. Just because Roe v. Wade happened three years ago doesn’t mean the war on women has ended, and acting as such only threatens our rights further.
The fact that allowing a woman to choose what to do with her own body is even a question shows the deeply rooted sexism in our society. Allowing people to make decisions about their own reproductive health should be the precedent everywhere — at all times.
Layla Poli is a sophomore majoring in public relations. She can be reached at lcpoli@syr.edu.
Ward agreed.
The seasoned veteran entered 2025 among a cast of underclassmen. Dubbed “Mama Bear” by first-year midfielder Mileena Cotter, Ward says the freshmen group keeps her young. She constantly tests them, which has turned out to be crucial for the Orange with Ward’s expected co-star Olivia Adamson out with a season-ending injury.
After almost every practice and often during pregame warmups, Ward sits in her usual position behind the cage and flings passes at Cotter. High, low, off-target — each one is designed to test the freshman’s hands and focus. The recipe’s already reaped benefits, as Cotter took a low pass from Ward to push the Orange past Stanford in overtime on March 7.
Former teammate Emma Tyrrell said if she doesn’t see Ward talking in the huddle, she knows something’s wrong. Guiding her teammates after every score, which she’s done most of her career, Ward points out what she saw on the play, dissecting the defense and connecting the dots for better execution in the future. As the freshmen continue to find their way, they cherish the lacrosse education they’ve received from Ward.
“The older girls always talk about girls that were here before and talk so fondly of them. That’s what we’re all going to do when (Ward) is gone,” Cotter said. “When we’re talking to the freshmen, we’ll say how awesome it was to play with her.”
Older players helping younger teammates is a recurring formula Ward knows well.
She played sparingly across the first few games of the 2021 season. Then, when AllAmerican Emily Hawryschuk tore her ACL in practice, Ward became a pivotal piece.
Former SU assistant coach Sydney Pirreca said Syracuse’s core of elite, experienced players, including Hawryschuk, Megan Carney, Meaghan Tyrrell, Sam Swart and Sierra Cockerille, took Ward under their wings. When Carney went down with an ACL injury later in the season, Ward became even more vital. And she thrived.
And it’s all the NCAA’s fault.
While the NCAA has allowed athletes to be compensated through NIL since July 2021, it’s refused to admit they’re employees. It’s to keep the “student-athlete” mantra alive, when in reality, they’re increasingly becoming professionals. The main thing preventing college athletes from earning that title is the lack of a collective bargaining agreement, which could come to fruition depending on how the ongoing House vs. NCAA settlement — a $2.8 billion federal class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by athletes against the NCAA and power conferences — shakes out.
If the settlement is approved, programs can directly pay its players up to roughly $20.5 million per year. Hence, athletes could become employees. But that’s not the case right now. Instead, it’s collectives, like Syracuse’s SU Football NIL and Orange United, funded by prominent
when she could barely walk. It allowed her to put more velocity and accuracy on shots and passes with her stronger right hand on the bottom of her stick.
Her awareness on the field always stood out, Monster Elite’s Director of Recruiting and Player Development Craig Chamberlain said, likening it to legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky. She could see plays developing two or three steps before anybody else.
Davis was never the most athletic player on her teams before high school, Ronnie said. But she broke out as a sophomore.
Ronnie remembers watching Davis shine at a tournament in Albany that winter. He admittedly wasn’t sure what level she’d reach, whether Division I or Division III. By Davis’ junior year of high school, though, she became a top-20 prospect in the 2021 class, per Inside Lacrosse.
When collegiate offers came flowing in, she set her sights beyond upstate New York.
But SU didn’t actively recruit her. Gary Gait, then the head coach of the women’s team, grew close with Ronnie during their playing days. He sat down with Ronnie and said Syracuse wouldn’t pursue Davis since the Orange already had three left-handed attacks in her class.
So, Davis explored other options. When the recruiting window opened on September 1, Treanor, then an assistant coach at BC, quickly texted Davis. Within minutes, another followed from Eagles head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein. Davis scheduled a visit to Boston that weekend. BC quickly shot to the top of her list, and she committed that fall.
In the ACC Tournament Semifinals, she scored six points to help the Orange secure a win. Against Florida a few weeks later, Ward tallied a careerhigh six goals to push SU into the Final Four.
“Ever since she stepped foot on campus, she’s made a name for herself,” Cockerille said of Ward. “From the start, she never played like a freshman.”
Before instantly becoming a focal point of the squad, Ward’s interest in the Orange began while in middle school, training with SU star Nicole Levy. Ward played club lacrosse for Long Island Top Guns and was coached by Levy’s father, Steve, allowing the two to connect. She’d often pick Levy’s brain on what practices at Syracuse looked like and worked in frequent crossbar competitions to practice pinpoint accuracy.
Despite her ACL tears, Ward received continued interest from Gait and the Orange upon validating herself as a top recruit. According to her father, Maurice, Ward saw a lot of herself in Gait’s game, honing in on creative freedom and quick ball movement to showcase her talents.
That ingenuity has remained throughout Ward’s Syracuse tenure. Initially, Ward was largely a dodger and outside shooter but has developed into a deadly facilitator. After the Orange breezed through the 2023 regular season with a 15-0 start, Ward’s 49 assists ranked second in the country.
One of just three players in SU history to have over 150 goals and assists, Ward’s added flair makes her even harder to stop. Like a bull in a china shop, she blends power and creativity to wreck games.
As SU’s primary threat in 2025, defenses have keyed on attacking Ward’s hands. Her left hand, gripping the bottom of her stick, receives nonstop stick checks. The constant contact reached its boiling point after Syracuse’s win over Pitt on March 15. As Ward walked off the field postgame to greet her mother, Jaqui, and brother, Jalen, her hand was swollen from her knuckles to her forearm.
Jaqui said Ward feared there was a fracture. She went for an X-ray the next day, and it came back negative. Though Ward knew if she didn’t want to miss time in her final season, she’d need to adjust. So, she worked with SU athletic trainer
alumni and boosters, that are paying athletes. And there’s no way to contain the madness that comes with them, which has been put on full blast from the start of quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s tenure at Tennessee to his recent abrupt ending.
Unlike professional sports leagues, the NCAA doesn’t have a commissioner overseeing Division I athletics. Each conference has a commissioner responsible for its select teams; the ACC’s is Jim Phillips. These commissioners aim to do what’s best for their leagues but don’t have the power to govern the NCAA as a whole.
Without a collective bargaining agreement or commissioner, which would solidify its professionalization, college football’s marketplace doesn’t have rules besides when a player can enter the portal and when it closes. Negotiations are forever ongoing, no matter a player’s enrollment status.
In cases like former UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka, that doesn’t even guarantee a player receives what they agreed to be compensated for. In other cases like Peña’s, it means outside
Kat Chaney to find a solution to protect her hand and allow swelling to go down.
At first, they tried a women’s lacrosse glove, but it didn’t provide enough padding. They tried a field hockey glove, though it didn’t allow Ward to firmly grasp her stick. Chaney created a custom pad, yet it obstructed Ward’s palm.
They landed on Ward using a men’s lacrosse glove.
According to Jaqui and Treanor, the Orange applied for a waiver to the IWLCA to get the glove approved for four games, giving Ward’s left hand time to heal while still leading Syracuse on the field. Chaney cut out the palm of the glove to give Ward flexibility. She never missed a beat, helping SU knock off Loyola and then Notre Dame.
“She does what she has to for the team, and she’s been playing through any injuries,” Cotter said. “When you’ve been playing for that long and you’re that much older than everybody else, your body has just been through so much.”
Though the biggest weight on Ward’s shoulders has come from wearing No. 44. Maurice wore the number in high school in honor of SU legends Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little. With her high school No. 24 already taken by Emma Tyrrell, Ward’s father suggested a legendary alternative: 44.
Ward didn’t know about the symbolic history of the number at first. Though with her former ties to football and a history lesson from her father, the family agreed she could add to the number’s reputation by bringing it to the women’s side.
In donning the number, she’s added a whole new audience. Jaqui said when a young fan sees Ward’s jersey, they’ll learn the history behind it, keeping the conversation alive. The graduate student acknowledges the added responsibility of wearing the number. The excellence. The trailblazing achievements. The toughness. She’s embodied it all, while building upon the number’s footprint.
“Being able to leave my own legacy and create my own story for the number, I hope that in the future there are players that want to wear 44 because I did,” Ward said.
When Ward mulled over her decision this summer, Jalen said other options
schools can tamper despite a player already having an agreement.
It’s madness. But it’s a madness Brown showed he was built for in his first year as the Orange’s head coach. Despite not being in elite NIL standing, which SU Director of Athletics John Wildhack said on Saturday has since “made progress” but isn’t “where we want to be yet,” Brown brought in star transfers Kyle McCord and Fadil Diggs to help set a new standard at SU.
Brown didn’t experience the portal’s downside until Peña’s surprise exit. The program gave its all to Peña, handing him his only Power Four offer out of high school. Throughout his first three years with the program, he was a gadget offensive player and primarily made a name for himself as a punt and kick returner.
After emerging as a receiving option in 2022, tallying 203 yards, Peña couldn’t build off that in 2023 due to suffering an injury in the season opener. But with a new coaching staff, quarterback and a clean bill of health, everything clicked in 2024.
“Everybody wanted a left-hander with the IQ of Mckenna, and the change of direction and the stick skills,” Chamberlain said. “Everybody knew she was going to step in and be a player.”
In her freshman season at BC, she was that.
An injury to senior Courtney Weeks launched Davis into a significant role as a freshman, although she was pushed to the left side rather than her traditional position in the pocket. Davis notched 19 goals and 12 assists to earn All-ACC Freshman-Team honors.
But her role changed in her next three seasons. She became BC’s primary facilitator, resulting in a 62-assist sophomore season, which
were discussed around the house. Boston College was on the table, but she made it very clear to her parents she wouldn’t play for the Orange’s nemesis. Maurice added Northwestern and Maryland were also part of the conversation.
However, Ward said she was deciding whether or not to continue playing lacrosse, and her loyalty to Syracuse didn’t waver.
The dedication to the Orange has made her fifth year more rewarding, even in a down year for the program. She entered the year at 248 points, knowing a return with a healthy season could result in joining elite company in Syracuse history.
In SU’s 12th game against Virginia, likely her last at the JMA Wireless Dome, Ward assisted freshman Molly Guzik, which marked Ward’s 300th career point.
“These are her flowers she’s getting,” Meaghan Tyrrell, SU’s all-time points leader, said of Ward’s latest accomplishment. “She absolutely deserves this.”
All around Long Island, Ward is now a household name beloved by its youth lacrosse community. Pirreca said this past summer, when the two watched Ward’s cousin’s tournament, Ward was swarmed by fans asking for photographs.
She became a bridge between coaching staffs at Syracuse, described by Swart as the program’s “backbone” to the Gait era and pipeline to the future under Treanor.
“She is a legend at Syracuse already, and she’s not even gone yet,” Cotter said.
And through it all, when there was doubt, Ward ate it up and spit it out. She did it her way. So, how would Ward answer herself five years later about how she’d be remembered?
“I hope that people remember me as a hard worker, loving, genuine, funny, all those things. The last thing I want people to remember me as is a lacrosse player, because it’s so much more than that,” Ward said.
amstepan@syr.edu
@AidenStepansky
It’s why, at an SU Football NIL event in December, Brown named him a 2025 team captain in front of boosters. The distinction was likely to garner support for Peña and his teammates to earn better compensation from donors and help Brown solidify SU as a perennial nationally ranked program after a season it proved it was back.
It was the ultimate feel-good story, and it should’ve set the stage for Peña’s continued success at Syracuse. He was supposed to become the top guy on SU’s offense and help lead it to another bowl game win.
Instead, his last time donning a Syracuse jersey came during its final spring practice on Monday. And it ended with a nearly hour-long discussion with members of its leadership council after practice ended.
It shouldn’t have ended like that. It’s unfair for everyone. But because college football has no rules or governance, it’s a reality Syracuse will face head-on. justingirshon@gmail.com @JustinGirshon
to give the ball to. I think that the first year was a great learning year. But I believe that her home is in that pocket, feeding the ball and being the quarterback.”
When Davis orchestrated the Eagles’ offense with a nation-leading 69 assists, they won the 2024 national title. En route to winning the title, Davis registered five points in the ACC Championship Game to defeat Syracuse 15-8 and tallied another five points as the Eagles downed the Orange in the NCAA Semifinals.
Davis has continued her success into her final collegiate season, as her 55 assists through 15 games are the second-most nationally. Meanwhile, she tied BC’s record for assists in a single game with nine against then-No. 10 Virginia on April 12.
Whether she’s facing her childhood team or a top-10 powerhouse, Davis has helped BC to a 14-1 record.
“When you go out and play against Syracuse or Carolina, you once worshiped those schools,” Ronnie said. “But when that clock starts, it’s a game. (Davis) wants to go out and play her best every game.”
ranked second in the country.
In her first game back in Syracuse, albeit at SU Soccer Stadium, Davis helped the Eagles snap then-No. 1 SU’s hopes of a perfect season. With a minute and a half left, she received a pass in traffic, dodged a defender, kept her stick high and fired a shot past Delaney Sweitzer. It proved to be the difference in the 17-16 upset.
She continued to punish SU by adding two assists when the squads met again a month later, an 8-7 NCAA Semifinals win for BC.
“She loves that position of being arguably the most unselfish player on the field,” Ronnie said. “All she’s doing is looking for people
So, in a top-20 battle an hour from where she grew up against a team she once idolized, with a coach who recruited her to BC on the other sideline, there will be extra emotion. But Davis looks at it like any other contest. Syracuse is just another stop on the road to her second title.
“The (Syracuse) game is definitely circled. It’s gonna be a big moment for me,” Davis said. “But at the end of the day, we want to make a run to the Final Four, and we want to be playing in May.”
harrispemberton@gmail.com
By Timmy Wilcox senior staff writer
Zaid Lott’s plan to start his collegiate career with North Carolina got foiled when the Tar Heels fired former head coach Mack Brown on Nov. 26, 2024. Eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick replaced Brown, so it seemed Lott would remain in good hands at UNC.
But Lott changed his mind when Syracuse head coach Fran Brown reached out about the 2026 quarterback recruit.
“(Fran Brown) said, ‘Look, if (Lott) was ever going to change his mind, I really want him to take a hard look at us,’” said Chad Grier, Lott’s coach at Providence Day School.
Lott listened. Fran Brown scheduled a Zoom with Lott, which included SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile.
“We got on that call, and (Fran Brown) met me with a great smile on his face,” Lott said. “That’s when I realized that I really felt like I was needed over here at my new home.”
I realized that I should probably start looking at other places, and Syracuse was right there on my doorstep.
Zaid Lott
su football commit
After visiting Syracuse this spring, Lott flipped his commitment to the Orange on March 25. The three-star recruit, ranked the 68th quarterback in his class, according to 247Sports, said SU coaches built a relationship with him and pushed hard to earn his commitment. Lott — a junior at Providence Day School (North Carolina), where he racked up 2,869 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns in 2024 — feels comfortable with Syracuse’s staff while eliciting excitement for SU’s 10th-ranked 2026 recruiting class.
“With the coaching changes and the staff changes, it just didn’t feel like the same fit for me anymore. It just wasn’t the school that I committed to before,” Lott said. “Going to Syracuse, it feels great to be wanted.”
Lott committed to North Carolina in summer 2024, having started just one varsity game after playing in a 7on7 tournament in Chapel Hill. Mack Brown helmed UNC at the time, and Lott developed a relationship with then-offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.
But North Carolina moved on from Mack Brown after it finished the 2024 regular season
men’s lacrosse
6-6. Lott initially stayed committed to UNC after Belichick was hired in December 2024. He even visited the campus to meet the new coaching staff.
“I took the visit to Chapel Hill and noticed that it just wasn’t the same school that I committed to,” Lott said. “So, I realized that I should probably start looking at other places, and Syracuse was right there on my doorstep.”
A couple days later, Lott joined Nixon, Campanile and offensive assistant Manny Harris on a call to analyze Lott’s junior season film. They compared it to some of Syracuse’s plays from 2024. Lott’s father, Keenan, said Lott can throw from the opposite hash marks to the sideline, which Nixon mentioned he hadn’t seen in many high school recruits before.
Further into the spring, Lott and SU’s coaches stayed in close contact. Nixon, who served as an assistant head coach and filled in as an offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers from 2020-22, had worked with Grier’s son, Will, who was a Panthers quarterback in 2020. When Lott realized the connection, the bond strengthened between him and SU’s staff.
On March 21-23, Lott, his mother Ericka and Keenan visited Syracuse. Lott said he was welcomed to Syracuse with “open arms,” and everyone knew his name. He met SU’s coaches in person, who showed Lott continued support.
“Whenever we got to meet them in person, it just solidified everything from the prior conversations,” Keenan said.
Lott also met with an academic advisor and toured SU’s campus. Ericka and Keenan learned about the Syracuse 60 plan, which Fran Brown recently implemented to find players employment within 60 days after they graduate. This helped Lott decide to commit to Syracuse two days after his visit, Keenan said.
On March 25, Lott informed UNC he’d be decommitting and announced his decision on X. An hour later, he posted his verbal commitment to the Orange.
“I didn’t know that (Lott) would ever flip,” Grier said. “But I think coach Brown is just such a great coach, great guy, great recruiter. I think (Lott) responded to him really well and ( Campanile), ( Nixon), I think all those guys do a really good job.”
Lott will play one more season at Providence Day before enrolling at SU in January 2026. But he wouldn’t be heading to Syracuse if it wasn’t for Fran Brown and his staff making him a priority recruit in its 2026 haul.
“My plan is to give Syracuse a quarterback that loves to win, a quarterback that brings great leadership and is the heartbeat of the offense and the heartbeat of the team and just a great person in the community,” Lott said. tswilcox@syr.edu @TimmyWilcox32
By Daily Orange Sports Staff
Syracuse’s six-game win streak came to an end on Saturday when it fell 17-12 to No. 1 Cornell. The Orange hadn’t lost in nearly two months, but the Big Red ended their run. CJ Kirst completely took over, recording five goals and three assists, cementing himself as the Tewaaraton Award favorite. Despite turning the ball over 19 times, Cornell’s offense remained explosive, exceeding its season average by one goal.
COOPER ANDREWS (9-3)
DURHAM DUB SYRACUSE 14, DUKE 8
My brain was in a blender after seeing Syracuse’s three-spot drop in the Inside Lacrosse top-20 rankings. Yes, No. 1 Cornell ravaged the Orange at times in last Saturday’s five-goal loss. But SU’s offensive runs kept things competitive. Syracuse, which let Kirst pick it apart as if he was playing a flawless game of Operation, didn’t play that poorly. It simply ran into a juggernaut.
ZAK WOLF (9-3) IN NEED OF O’NEILL SYRACUSE 11, DUKE 9
Saturday will not be a walk in the park by any means. Yes, Duke isn’t as strong as in years past, but the Blue Devils are still desperate to make the NCAA Tournament. A win over Syracuse would majorly boost their resume. Despite Duke’s recent struggles, the Orange still have to be careful in Durham. I do think Syracuse will escape with a win, but it’ll have to work for it.
Cornell led by as many as six goals in the second and third quarters, but Syracuse cut that down to two both times. The Orange didn’t make enough plays to defeat the Big Red for the first time since 2019.
Syracuse looks to get back on track against Duke in its final road game of the season. The Blue Devils have been up and down all season after losing Brennan O’Neill, who recorded 307 career points. Without O’Neill, the Blue Devils’ offense isn’t nearly as explosive, averaging just seven goals per game in their two Atlantic Coast Conference games.
Here’s how our beat writers think No. 7 Syracuse (9-3, 2-0 ACC) will fare versus No. 12 Duke (9-4, 0-2 ACC): sports@dailyorange.com
@DOsports
Falling three notches in the national rankings was undeserved. Especially while North Carolina simultaneously rose from No. 7 to No. 5 after barely beating No. 12 Duke 8-7. UNC’s win wasn’t impressive. I’d even argue Syracuse showed more in defeat than the Tar Heels did in victory.
That’s why I think the Orange will resoundingly respond to their Long Island loss with a much better performance against the Blue Devils than UNC could.
Riley Figueiras and Billy Dwan III will rebound from last week, where Cornell rapidly slithered the ball around and found open cutters for easy goals. An O’Neill-less Duke is a lot less scary than a Kirst-led group. Eric Malever, who leads the Blue Devils with 51 points, poses a major threat, but other than Max Sloat and Andrew McAdorey, the rest of Duke’s offense features one-dimensional goal scorers. It’ll struggle to move the ball against Syracuse, while the Orange’s offense will stay the course in a convincing win.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Duke’s offense isn’t nearly as potent without O’Neill. The Blue Devils also lost Josh Zawada and Dyson Williams — who combined for 143 points in 2024 — which resulted in an average of two fewer goals. Still, Duke’s defense is stout. For the seventh time this season, they kept their opponent under 10 goals, by allowing seven to a potent North Carolina attack last week.
To unlock Duke’s defense, I expect Syracuse to use Joey Spallina at X much more than it did last week. The junior had success against Notre Dame, scoring four goals but was held to just one last week. SU offensive coordinator Pat March will ensure the ball is in Spallina’s hands often Saturday, and SU’s offense will benefit as a result. This likely won’t be the prettiest game due to Duke’s physicality, but SU’s attacking quality will do just enough.
15, DUKE 10
So, here I am, bringing up the rear of our beat writer predictions. I’m not going to break ranks and look for an upset to potentially pull ahead, because this Duke team isn’t on the level it’s been at before. Syracuse will remain undefeated in ACC play with a victory in Durham Saturday. O’Neill, the Blue Devils’ former top option is gone, and their offense has gone from slicing through defenses like a hot knife through butter to poking and prodding like a fencer with a pool noodle. The Orange can halt quality offenses. Don’t let their loss to Cornell make you forget they held Notre Dame, which has the sixth-best scoring offense in the nation, scoreless for 40 minutes. Stopping Kirst is like trying to wrestle with a ghost — it’s nearly impossible. He’s the Tewaaraton frontrunner for a reason, and Duke has no one close to his level.
One obstacle the Orange may have to overcome is at the faceoff X. SU’s faceoff man John Mullen has been lighting it up all season, except the one game he played on grass at Virginia’s Klöckner Stadium, where he posted a 40.9% winning percentage. Bad news for Mullen: Duke’s Koskinen Stadium is also grass, so we’ll see if his outing at UVA was an anomaly or if he struggles against Duke’s Luke Engelke, who has the 23rd-best winning percentage in Division I. Still, SU should have enough to defeat a diminished Duke with its offensive pyrotechnics and defensive tenacity.
By Aiden Stepansky digital managing editor
For Syracuse, late-season success often comes down to defeating Boston College. In recent years, SU’s come up short. The Orange have dropped their last seven matchups against the Eagles, dating back to the national title game in 2021 under then-head coach Gary Gait.
In its fourth season under head coach Kayla Treanor, Syracuse is amid its worst year since 2018. A No. 16 ranking in the recent Inside Lacrosse Poll is its worst in seven years, and an upset loss to unranked Virginia Tech was its latest blunder in a season of close losses.
To cap their regular season, the Orange face off BC, looking to right the ship before postseason play. Syracuse currently sits in the No. 6 spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. A loss would keep it in the spot, while a win and a Clemson loss to Pitt would move it to No. 5. While SU has posted a historically poor season, Boston College — the reigning national champions — is having another stellar one, falling only to No. 1 UNC.
Here’s everything to know about the No. 2 Eagles (14-1, 7-1 ACC) ahead of their matchup with No. 16 Syracuse (9-6, 5-3 ACC) Thursday in the regular-season finale:
All-time series Syracuse leads 17-14.
Last time they played …
On May 24, 2024, SU and BC matched up for the third time in 36 days, this time with both of its seasons on the line. Syracuse was stifled in the Final Four, scoring a season-low seven goals, falling to the Eagles for the third time in three tries.
The Orange’s attack failed to score across 17 minutes in the first half and 24 in the second, allowing Boston College to build a five-goal lead entering the fourth quarter. SU attempted a comeback with a 3-1 fourth quarter, but it wasn’t nearly enough to survive. In her final college game, star attacker Emma Tyrrell was limited to just one point and no goals, leading Syracuse to its second consecutive semifinal exit at the claws of the Eagles.
The Eagles report
At this point, it feels like the Orange know the Eagles all too well. Boston College is off to another impressive year, holding the No. 1 slot in the first nine Inside Lacrosse Poll rankings and falling 12-11 to then-No. 2 North Carolina — the only undefeated team in the nation.
BC’s success derives largely from its explosive attack, which averages the most goals per game in the country at 18.27. With continued success comes similar weaponry. The Eagles’ top three scorers from a year ago remain their top three in 2025. Seniors Rachel Clark, Emma LoPinto and Mckenna Davis each rank in the ACC’s top five in points, notching 72 or more each.
On the defensive end, junior goalie Shea Dolce leads the charge once again on a historic campaign. The reigning ACC Goalkeeper of the Year has a career-high .536 save percentage, keeping BC’s defensive unit strong alongside top defender Shea Baker, who ranks third in the conference in caused turnovers per game.
To round out its dominance across the roster, Boston College’s draw unit ranks first in the ACC with 17.6 draws per game. Abbey Herod leads the way with 84, Baker added 72 and Lydia Colasante has 53. Choose a statistic, and the Eagles are likely proficient.
How Syracuse beats Boston College
A logical answer to how the Orange comes out on top would be to burn sage, knock on wood and
pray to whatever spiritual being you worship. Though realistically looking into Syracuse’s odds, it needs to play close to perfect.
Syracuse has shown signs of a talented team with Emma Ward’s elite facilitating, a draw unit that has won its last two matchups and Daniella Guyette impressing in the cage.
If the Orange lean into these three keys and their young core can help Ward, they stand a chance at a season-defining upset bid. This is a test SU often flunks, resulting in a bursting of championship hopes and aspirations year after year. But maybe, just maybe, a lack of pressure due to consistent failures this season results in a change of fortunes in the year’s biggest game.
Stat to know: 29%
Through Treanor’s first 79 games as Syracuse’s head coach, the Orange have lost 21 games. Of those 21 losses, 29% have been to Boston College.
SU fell in all six outings against the Eagles since Treanor took over in 2022, with two coming in the Final Four, one in the ACC
Tournament Championship and three in the regular season. Before Treanor took over, Syracuse held a 17-8 record over BC in the head-to-head series. Since, the Orange fail to add to their advantage.
Player to watch: Rachel Clark, attack, No. 1
After an impressive 2024 campaign to help lead the Eagles to a national title, Clark continues her production in her second season at BC. The senior is tied with Northwestern attack Madison Taylor at 71 goals for the most in the country and ranks first in the ACC at 89 points.
Clark combined for 13 points across Boston College’s three games against SU last season, including a five-goal display in the Final Four. The Devon, Pennsylvania, native has tallied a hat trick or more in all but one of the Eagles’ games in 2025. Even if the Orange finds a way to slow her down, Clark is still likely to have an impact on the outcome.
amstepan@syr.edu
@AidenStepansky
By Spencer Brod staff writer
This season is a tale of two sides for Syracuse. On one hand, SU, led by newcomers Monika Wojcik and Nelly Knezkova, is undefeated in nonconference play for the first time since it joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. However, the Orange won just two regular season ACC contests, the second-fewest in the conference behind just Boston College.
Coming into the ACC Tournament as the No. 16 seed, SU looked to break two negative trends: early tournament exits and poor doubles play. It did so Tuesday by defeating No. 17 seed Boston College 4-2, winning its first ACC Tournament game since 2019 and doubles point in over a month.
On Wednesday, the Orange faced No. 9 seed Clemson, a more formidable opponent, which they’d lost to on March 23. Despite a late singles scare, Syracuse (11-10, 2-10 ACC) downed Clemson (14-11, 4-8 ACC) 4-3 to advance to the third round of the ACC Tournament for the first time ever to face No. 8 seed Georgia Tech Thursday. SU won the doubles point for the second straight day before winning three singles matches en route to victory.
When Shiori Ito and Knezkova battled Clemson’s Gaia Parravicini and Amelie Smejkalova in the two squads’ regular-season matchup, the Tigers’ No. 1 doubles duo cruised to a 6-3 victory. Despite Syracuse jumping out to an early 1-0 lead Wednesday, Clemson tallied four straight points, taking a 4-1 lead and never relinquishing it for another 6-3 win.
Looking for a pulse, No. 3 doubles, Syracuse’s Serafima Shastova and Wojcik paired up against Clemson’s Sophia Hatton and Annabelle Davis. With SU up 3-2, Shastova slammed a return over Clemson and out of play.
With SU up 5-4, a Clemson sideways shot hit the left end of the net, giving Syracuse the point. The doubles outcome then relied on a decisive No. 2 match between SU’s Miyuka Kimoto and Anastasia Sysoeva and Clemson’s Romana Cisovska and Candela Yecora.
With a 4-2 advantage, Kimoto alternated between backhands and forehands before a weak return by Clemson led to Sysoeva hammering down the ball to capture the point. As Sysoeva’s well-placed forehand narrowly stayed inbounds, Clemson stood close to the net before slowly penetrating backward. However, it couldn’t recover quickly enough, and SU captured the doubles point.
After going winless at the No. 2 doubles spot from March 7 to April 15, Sysoeva picked up her second consecutive win.
Against Boston College on Tuesday, SU faltered in two of its first three singles matches. Shastova fell to BC’s Tola Glowacka in two sets, and Knezkova lost to Boston College’s Olivia Benton in similar fashion.
Shastova got off to a faster start in the No. 3 singles Wednesday and never looked back. The junior soared to a 4-1 lead, and despite Davis fighting back, Shastova claimed the first set. The second set continued Shastova’s dominance, culminating in a 16-shot rally ending with Davis’ shot hitting the middle of the net. She claimed the point, boosting SU’s lead to 2-0.
While Sysoeva got a brief taste of Clemson during her No. 4 singles battle earlier this season, the match went unfinished. But her struggles at both the No. 3 and 4 singles spots have been noticeable in conference play.
Those woes continued on Wednesday, as Artemis Aslanisvili outmatched Sysoeva in a two-set defeat. Strong footwork and ball placement catapulted Clemson to a 6-2 firstset victory. Not much changed in another 6-2 win in the second set, as a perfectly executed serve fazed Sysoeva.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead, Ito battled Yecora in the No. 6 singles. The senior took a quick 3-0 lead after watching an ill-advised Clemson serve airmailed. However, Yecora quickly took command, taking the first-set victory.
Ito held a 4-1 lead after reeling off two straight points in the second set, as Yecora’s late-set adjustments weren’t enough to take a lead.
After beating Clemson Wednesday, Syracuse will play in the third round of the ACC Tournament for the first time since joining the ACC in 2013. courtesy of su athletics
With the overall match knotted at two and momentum shifting toward the Tigers, Knezkova aimed to rebound from Tuesday’s loss to Benton at the No. 2 singles spot.
With a convincing 5-2 lead against Hatton in the first set, Knezkova’s backhand barely stayed in play for the victory.
Despite falling behind 3-1 in the following set, Knezkova watched a bullet off Hatton’s racket crash into the net to put her up 5-3. Soon after, Knezkova’s well-timed serve led to winning the set.
One win away from advancing to the third round, SU only needed one more singles match to fall its way.
The fate of Syracuse’s season then came down to the No. 1 singles, where SU Kimoto squared off against Clemson’s Smejkalova. Although Kimoto defeated Smejkalova 6-3 in the first set, Clemson battled back and won an intense second set 7-6.
With the Orange up 6-5 in a back-and-forth third set, Clemson was left perplexed as Kimoto aced a ball over the net following a 10-shot rally to clinch the match for SU. The rally win advanced Syracuse to the third round.
In the tournament’s next round on Thursday, the Orange take on No. 8 Georgia Tech, who they lost 4-2 to on March 22. sabrod@syr.edu
Trebor Peña bailing on Syracuse, presumably for an increase in name, image and likeness money, is the epitome of “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” For better and worse, NIL and the transfer portal’s emergence have led to college football becoming the Wild West. While they play a large role in college football’s problems, they aren’t the root cause.
Instead, it’s an unregulated marketplace.
In the NFL, a team’s representatives can’t negotiate with players and coaches under contract or their representatives because of tampering penalties. In 2019, the Miami Dolphins notoriously tampered with Tom Brady and then-New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. Owner Stephen Ross was issued a $1.5 million fine and a suspension, a $500,000 fine was handed to vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal and the organization lost its 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick.
While tampering penalties deter NFL teams, nothing stops college programs. Whoever lures
Peña to their program, with Miami an early frontrunner, will be the latest example of why. The wide receiver totaled a career-high 84 receptions, 941 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns in 2024, resulting in a Second Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.
Outside of NIL, where he reportedly was going to be well-compensated by SU, Peña had no reason to enter the portal. He would’ve been newly anointed starting quarterback Rickie Collins’ go-to option after Oronde Gadsden II and Jackson Meeks’ departures. Head coach Fran Brown named him a captain. Syracuse stuck with him through numerous injuries since his freshman season in 2020 before his breakout 2024 campaign. And he participated in the Orange’s entire spring training camp and game.
But in college football’s current state, the name on the front of the jersey means nothing. It’s all about the name on the back. And despite how much SU has given to Peña, he can’t forgo a possibly life-changing financial opportunity in potentially his last year of eligibility. It’s why his transfer makes sense, even if it was surprising.
Nonetheless, the situation sucks for everyone. Syracuse loses arguably its most important offensive threat and locker room piece, while Peña was forced to make a life-changing decision that entailed leaving the program that got him where he is.
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By Harris Pemberton asst. digital editor
Mckenna Davis sat in the first row of the then-Carrier Dome’s bleachers, often donning an orange wig almost every time Syracuse women’s lacrosse was home in the early 2010s. She dreamed of one day playing for SU.
The Pittsford, New York, native attentively watched players like Kayla Treanor, Kailah Kempney and Katie Webster, hoping she’d one day star on the same field as her idols. Additionally, she always sported a pen for postgame autographs. After every game, Davis perched on the railing to greet her favorite players and get their signatures.
“I was at every single home game,” Davis said. “I was always a big fan of (Syracuse’s) program.”
But instead of attending Syracuse, Davis has since produced a legendary four-year career at rival Boston College after SU didn’t recruit her. The former five-star recruit committed to BC in 2019, becoming the Eagles’ all-time leader in assists (198) to pair with 88 career goals. Davis is also Syracuse’s Kryptonite, racking up 20 career points against the Orange and helping Boston College win all six head-to-head matchups of her tenure, including two in the Final Four. Though the senior won’t complete her childhood dream of playing
in the JMA Wireless Dome due to scheduling conflicts, Davis and No. 2 BC look to continue their dominance against No. 16 SU at Christian Brothers Academy Thursday.
“I always like to take the (Syracuse) game a little more personally,” Davis said. “I take a lot of pride in having this upstate competitiveness. There’s definitely a little extra emotion from my side.”
Thanks to her father, Ronnie, a 1992 national champion and AllAmerican at Division III Nazareth College before playing professional field and box lacrosse, Davis quickly had a lacrosse stick in her hand as a toddler. Soon after, Ronnie encour -
aged Davis to play organized lacrosse just before kindergarten.
The family started making the hour-long drive from Pittsford to Syracuse every few weekends to watch the Orange. In Davis’ elementary and middle school years, SU won two conference tournaments and made six Final Fours.
In fifth grade, Davis attended one of SU’s overnight lacrosse camps. There, Syracuse’s players took Davis under their wings, notably Kempney, who Davis liked because they each sported No. 3. Tori Wehner and Carly Randall, players for SU who also hailed from the Rochester area, grew close enough with Davis to babysit
her. She still stays in touch with the former players from time to time.
“She had a great relationship that she’ll probably cherish forever,” Ronnie said. “That kept her playing and kept her wanting what Kailah Kempney had and what Kayla Treanor had.”
Davis continued to perfect her craft with Monster Elite Lacrosse, an organization founded by Ronnie that produced current SU players Ashlee Volpe, Molly Guzik, Bri Peters and Ava Peers. Growing up, developing Davis’ left hand was a main priority.
While she’s a natural righty, Ronnie placed the stick in her left hand