N • Survivor resource
SA renewed support for Callisto, a non-profit supporting sexual assault survivors, after Vera House was found to have hired a registered sex o ender.
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C • Redfest returns
Redfest 2023 will feature student artists from SU and ESF. The event is meant to restore traditions of prepandemic festivals.
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Jenna Caira will be the first Syracuse softball player to have her jersey retired. She led SU to its first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
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Kyle Chouinard senior staff writer
After meeting throughout March and April 2021 to discuss the internal culture of Syracuse University’s marketing department, findings from 21 members were distilled into a 15-page document. Along with allegations of sexism, the document details feelings among employees of being in “survival mode” and being unable to question leadership.
Much of the feedback in the report focuses on Dara Royer, the university’s current chief marketing o cer, and her role in the department’s dysfunction. Through the 10 pages of the report, which record employee feedback from “Directors and Above,” Royer’s name appears 21 times.
“When Dara’s in the room, people shut up,” one person said when asked about the division’s culture.
Today, the vast majority of SU’s marketing division works out of the Nancy Cantor Warehouse in downtown Syracuse. Royer’s o ce sits roughly two miles away on main campus in Crouse-Hinds Hall.
“Team is terrified of having to present something to Dara (Royer) because she’s so far removed from day-today work,” one employee noted.
“(It is) literally di cult to access Dara (Royer),” one person stated. “When in the ‘o ce,’ she is physically removed from (the) team, spending most of her time at her o ce on campus.”
Former employees at SU have written memos and voiced concern to SU human resources, ombuds and leadership regarding the university’s marketing and communications divisions — namely Royer’s mismanagement.
Several employees said they were met with silence after bringing up their concerns with Royer and the department to the university. Those employees, both in internal letters and statements to The Daily Orange, said Royer fostered internal divisions, silenced dissent and created a hostile work environment.
favoritism came with incentives like increased access to Royer and better chances of her supporting employees’ ideas. Those who disagreed or pushed back were met with ridicule.
“On numerous occasions I saw you challenge a person’s ideas/work — even ideas/work that you had previously supported — just because that person had earned your disfavor,” Terwilliger wrote.
Another former employee who worked with SU’s web team said that while people were able to question thirdparty organizations SU was working with on marketing campaigns, any time someone did the same regarding leadership within the department, it was dismissed.
“It’s always Dara’s inner circle versus everybody else,” they said.
Terwilliger said Royer determines her favoritism based on loyalty to her.
Many of the people The D.O. spoke to over the last few months about SU marketing and Royer expressed fear that Royer would retaliate against them if they spoke publicly. In a June 2022 email to Royer obtained by The D.O., former project director for SU Brittany Terwilliger wrote that she was in a “privileged” position to talk without fear after leaving the university.
“When I started my new job last winter, you had done such a number on my self confidence that I was truly amazed that people found me impressive,” wrote Terwilliger, who also CC’d the university’s HR department. “I have heard the same from others who have recently left SU marketing.”
Terwilliger wrote in the email that Royer had micromanaged and relentlessly criticized her and her coworkers. She said during her time at SU, Royer’s
“The way to remain in your favor is to tell you what you want to hear, praise you, never challenge you, and find other people to blame for your mistakes,” Terwilliger wrote to Royer.
A di erent marketing employee, who left the university in the winter of 2021, also said Royer has a pattern of elevating the people in her department who say ‘yes’ to her.
“When you get to these elevated conversations … there is nobody who is going to … basically, respectfully and collaboratively disagree, which would create a healthy workplace,” they said.“There’s none of that.”
In her parting email, Terwilliger also wrote that Royer was “very cliquey” with how she shared information.
“You have your inner circle of people with whom you share information, while others are kept in the dark like Plebeians until you decide to make a formal announcement,” Terwilliger wrote.
‘The
Since she joined SU, employees have voiced grievances to the university regarding Royer to little to no responseillustration by lindy truitt asst. illustration editor see royer page 3
If you conduct your due diligence, you may find that … Dara Royer is not the leader she portrays herself as.
Lisa Thompson FORMER MARKETING LIASON
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The best quotes from sources in today’s paper.
NEWS
“There were women doing the same job who were not being recognized, and it was really frustrating to observe ... it just didn’t feel great for women in the o ce” - Monica Rexach Ortiz, former member of SU marketing’s creative team
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“That’s what Redfest is supposed to be. You’re at the very bitter end of the semester and we’re out there to let loose for a day.” - Scott Scrobin, Redfest attendee
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“Finding a unique community made my year living on South, what I thought to be the most desolate place at SU, comforting in ways beyond belief.” - Haley Thompkins, columnist
Page 8
SPORTS
“I always told her she was the piece of the puzzle that we were missing. We were always good, but we weren’t great until we got Taylor.” — Camille Hayes, head coach of the PA Strikers Fastpitch Softball
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Noteworthy events this week.
WHAT: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion: Open Skate
WHEN: April 27, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
WHERE: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion
WHAT: Class of 2023 Fashion Show
WHEN: April 27, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 7th Floor
WHAT: Pet Therapy
WHEN: April 27, 5:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
WHERE: Barnes Center at The Arch, 103
For Syracuse University sophomore Paeton Harrington, being diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD improved his academic performance. After struggling academically, Harrington was named to SU’s dean’s list the first semester he was medicated.
But now, with an ongoing shortage of Adderall and similar medications across the United States, Harrington said he’s had difficulties obtaining his medication that have affected his schoolwork.
“Being unmedicated, it’s really hard for me to focus and complete work in a timely manner because it takes a lot of focus and I get easily distracted,” Harrington said.
On October 12, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a shortage of the immediate release formulation of amphetamine mixed salts — including Adderall and other stimulants — due to manufacturing delays and insufficient supply to meet demand. Medications like Adderall are commonly prescribed to people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder — a neurobehavioral disorder that can lead to restlessness, difficulties in focusing and inability to organize tasks, among other symptoms.
Beginning this semester, Harrington said he has had to take low doses to a point that he was “virtually unmedicated” at times and even traveled between campus and his hometown to obtain his medication, resulting in class absences.
Over six months after the initial shortage announcement, medications like Adderall are still in limited supply across the U.S., making it difficult for people like Harrington to access their prescriptions as demand continues to rise. Prescriptions for Adderall have increased more than 30% over the past five years, especially following the COVID19 pandemic, according to data reviewed by The Washington Post.
When the shortage first began, Molly Scheuer, a senior studying information
management and technology, thought it wouldn’t affect her since the medication she takes has a different chemical composition than Adderall, she said.
As the shortage continued, Scheuer saw that it would impact her and started to note how much medication she had left. Hearing that a medication she had been on since around third grade would potentially be unavailable to her was “anxiety-provoking,” she said.
While the daily impacts of remaining unmedicated vary, TJ Wickersham, a third-year architecture student, said that not taking his ADHD medication leads to struggles with time management and productivity. On some days, Wickersham said, he has trouble getting out of bed in a timely manner.
“One of the things that’s most difficult to deal with is the fact that there’s no tangible reason that I can’t get assignments done on time,” Wickersham said. “It feels like you have to make excuses, which is really unfortunate because I hold myself to a high standard, but, without my medication, I have to figure out how closely to stick to that standard because it’s really out of my hands to some degree.”
As the shortage persists, SU’s Associate Vice President for Student Health and Wellness Cory Wallack told The Daily Orange in an email statement that the Barnes Center at The Arch is trying to meet medication needs by working with providers to alter prescriptions based on which dosages or alternative treatment options are available.
The Barnes Center is also coordinating with local pharmacies to fill prescriptions, according to the email.
Scheuer, who takes medication for her attention deficit disorder, said she’s experienced delays in having her prescription filled since the shortage began.
“I have at times forgotten to check ahead and get my prescription, and then you go and realize that they can’t fill it for five to six business days,” Scheuer said.
“That ends up being a long time to have your brain chemistry be different. It really
changes your day-to-day, and then there’s been the adjustment period of getting back on your medication.”
As the Barnes Center works to meet student medication needs on campus, some students studying abroad are living without access to their prescriptions overseas. Wickersham and Zaria Kirkland, a junior studying information management, were both planning semesters abroad when the shortage began but were unable to get their needed prescriptions to last while abroad.
Spending the whole semester unmedicated in London, Kirkland said she’s been “barely getting by,” opting to drink coffee and other caffeinated beverages to manage her symptoms.
Some students with ADHD receive accommodations through SU’s Center for Disability Resources in addition to medication. Harrington uses CDR
accommodations but said she thinks the accommodations are “rigid” and that SU is not taking the issue to be as serious as it is.
“I know it’s difficult, especially as a big school to accommodate people so specifically, but it’s a time of emergency for people even though it might not seem like it to most people, and it would be really helpful just to at least be acknowledged,” Harrington said.
Scheuer said that while there’s attention towards the shortage as a current issue, some people view Adderall and other stimulants as different from other medications for health issues.
“Adderall, I think, gets a reputation of being a drug that people don’t really need because it’s for ADD, and I think a lot of people in college, sometimes abuse it or just see it as not entirely necessary and that changes their attitude towards the lack of it,” Scheuer said. charri39@syr.edu @claireison99
Student Association renewed its support for Callisto – a third-party, non-profit and survivorfounded organization – through a bill passed in March to promote the private off-campus resource for survivors of sexual assault on Syracuse University’s campus.
anonymous matching system to find repeat offenders from other users’ reports in the Callisto Vault system, Guariglia explained. Through the bill, and support from Vice President-Elect Yasmin Nayrouz, Callisto has continued to expand its relationships with student organizations on campus.
“These tools are critical because they allow survivors to learn about their options in
“The Student Association unequivocally stands with survivors of sexual assault and we are committed to supporting and advocating for them,” Hastings said in September 2020.
Guariglia suggested renewing Callisto’s collaboration with SA, which she said was met with strong support. Through the bill, SA hopes to increase awareness of the resource as an alternative to a formal reporting process.
“It’s not available at every campus across the nation at the moment, so I think it’s important for students to know that we have it available, even if they’re not interested in using it just so that they know that it’s there if they want it,” said Guariglia, whose organization is now called Be With Survivors SU.
Nayrouz wrote in a statement to The D.O. that SA members hope to continue promoting Callisto for students while also learning how to better support sexual assault survivors on campus.
“It’s important that Student Association supports tools like Callisto, so survivors have several resources that they know about to give them more choice in choosing a resource that fits with their needs best,” Nayrouz wrote.
Guariglia said she feels lucky to have avenues for open communication about Callisto with various campus organizations and university administrators because of her on-campus positions. She’s also part of the Chancellor’s Task Force of Sexual and Relationship Violence, which allows her to collaborate with university leaders, the Barnes Center at The Arch and Vera House.
told The D.O. in an email that it will not be making a comment on Callisto at this time.
SU currently offers Vera House – an organization in the city of Syracuse that provides support, crisis intervention and victim advocacy – as its only off-campus resource for survivors of sexual and relationship violence. In August 2022, CNYCentral published an investigation into Vera House’s hiring of Marcus Jackson, a registered level 2 sex offender who worked as a “victim advocate” in the organization from 2020 to 2022.
Despite the organization’s employment of a sex offender, SU issued various requests that Vera House complete in order to maintain its relationship with Vera House in December 2o22.
Guariglia said Callisto is similar to the Vera House in that it is a third-party organization that can remove the victim from the place where the trauma has occurred.
“Callisto offers survivors tools, resources, and services that allow them to maintain full autonomy and agency over what happens next, if anything, and that is empowering for survivors as they get to chart their own path toward healing and justice,” Bolling wrote.
Guariglia, who is graduating in May, said she hopes the next Callisto campus representative will work to build administrative support for the organization. She said she’s also working to continue the relationship between Callisto and BWSSU, as well as expand collaborations to other student organizations.
“(SA support) makes a huge difference in students being able to use those resources and understand them,” said Carla Guariglia, Callisto’s SU Campus Ambassador and SA’s Director of Mental Health Advocacy, Callisto provides users the opportunity to privately fill out a detailed, time-stamped recollection of a sexual assault through a data encrypted form. The app uses an
a way that does not require a survivor to out themselves publicly and/or limits them to the Title IX process,” Sarayfah Bolling, Callisto’s director of programs and strategic engagement, told The Daily Orange in an email statement.
SU alumna Justine Hastings started a chapter of the national Callisto organization on campus in 2020 and received support for the resource through an SA bill.
But Guariglia said Callisto has struggled to receive sufficient administrative support from SU and the Barnes Center despite the significant amount of student support on campus. She said that the lack of support from administration does not threaten its presence on campus, but Callisto would benefit from further support and promotion.
She added that the university is open to revisiting Callisto’s presence on SU’s campus.
The Barnes Center’s Health Promotion team
The Callisto chapter is currently accepting applications for the campus ambassador position.
“Having done work with survivors the year before I started working with Callisto and continuing doing work with survivors now, I still am very confident in sharing it as a resource and very comfortable promoting it to other students as a survivor myself,” Guariglia said.
Young Women’s Christian Association Syracuse held its fifth annual “Walk to End Racism” on Wednesday afternoon as a call to action against systemic racism in the city and Onondaga County.
“We know that all this systematic racism was created by somebody else that doesn’t exist anymore, but we are here,” said Fanny Villarreal, the executive director of the YWCA chapter. “So we … are ready to work together to make sure changes are going to be done.”
The chapter organized the walk to give Syracuse community members an opportunity to collectively demonstrate local efforts to combat racism and injustice through conversation and action, Villarreal said.
YWCA organizers and participants walked over a mile from YWCA’s main office building on Douglas Street and finished at the Onondaga County Courthouse.
At the courthouse, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon declared April 26 “YWCA Stand Against Racism” day. The pair also announced the week of April 29 is “YWCA Stand Against Racism” week for both the city and county.
McMahon and Walsh both denounced institutional and structural racism, encouraging residents to work toward embracing diversity and eliminating racism through dialogue, reflection and action.
Precious Gerald, a board member of the local YWCA, said in her opening address that this year’s theme for the walk — “Until Justice Just Is” — was partly inspired by the death of Brexialee TorresOrtiz. The 11-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting on Jan. 16 outside Dr. King Elementary School in Syracuse.
Gerald said participants should educate themselves on how inequities in health education, nutrition and employment contribute to creating an environment of poverty, which in turn leads to increased violence.
Approximately 30% of all Syracuse residents live below the poverty line, according to July 2022 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In March 2022, syracuse.com reported that Syracuse had the highest child poverty rate of any U.S. city with at least 100,000 people at over 48%.
Overall, Syracuse has the highest poverty rate for Hispanic people and the sixthhighest poverty rate for Black people in the
to Royer, despite their having decades of experience in higher education marketing. Royer had none before coming to SU.
nation, according to syracuse.com.
YWCA will also host its 25th annual “Day of Commitment” event Thursday morning, where members of different organizations including Jubilee Homes, Liberty Resources and Vera House will host diversity and inclusion workshops. Topics will include health equity, barriers to justice in the local community and trauma-informed care for Syracuse youth.
“We believe in the work that the YWCA is doing to stand against racism,” Gerald said. “It is part of our mission as an organization to help people in our communities live healthier and more secure lives. We are committed to making upstate New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.” dcchiapp@syr.edu
@DominicChiappo2
One note in the 2021 internal “Directors and Above” report also said that those who Royer favors have better access to leadership and are promoted faster. Terwilliger, who participated in the review, wrote in a message to The D.O. that the report’s notes were a “generally agreed upon” consensus with those participating.
On Feb. 17, The D.O. wrote a series of questions to SU as well as to Royer individually. Royer never directly responded. The university initially responded to the six questions with a single sentence.
“The University carefully reviewed these allegations and, following the review, determined them to be without merit,” a university spokesperson said.
Upon receiving the questions a second time, the university wrote in another email that “change can be hard” within organizations.
“Dara Royer was hired more than five years ago to bring needed transformational change and a new strategic vision to the University’s marketing efforts, and she has accomplished those goals,” a university spokesperson wrote.
Lisa Thompson previously worked as the liaison between SU Central Marketing and the division of Advancement and External Affairs, which has the express goal of creating relationships with alumni and donors. In September 2021, Royer asked Thompson to “rip the band-aid off” between Central Marketing and AEA, according to a memo Thompson addressed to SU’s Board of Trustees and “Syracuse University Leadership.”
Ripping the band-aid off, to Royer, meant dropping marketing support to AEA unless Royer and her team directed the strategies. Thompson wrote in the memo that she felt compelled to listen — she had an understanding that from Royer’s perspective, it was her job to carry out a directive without question.
After she protested some of Royer’s directives, Thompson wrote that Royer met with her and proposed without any clear definition that Thompson “transition.” Thompson said she was asked to resign after the meeting and then was let go when she refused to do so.
“If you conduct your due diligence,” Thompson wrote to SU leadership, “you may find that … Dara Royer is not the leader she portrays herself as.” Thompson said she never received a response from SU.
One former senior staffer within marketing, who asked not to be named, said they were continually admonished for offering observations
“I concluded that my role was to support Dara’s vision and to never question her direction,” they wrote in a letter to colleagues after they left the university, “even when that direction was internally contradictory, vague, conflicting over time or ill-advised given the potential reaction of university constituents.”
The same former staffer wrote in the letter that they had, on “hundreds” of occasions, seen Royer speak “vitriolically, unfairly and sometimes untruthfully about peers and colleagues.”
“She has unprofessionally referred to her direct peers as ‘stupid,’ ‘unable to manage,’, ‘unreasonable and wrong’, ‘a mess’ and completely not strategic,’” they wrote.
In one example, the former senior staffer said they observed Royer impose “unreasonable” expectations on an employee placed on medical leave. They said Royer repeatedly bullied and targeted the employee throughout the employee’s tenure at SU, calling them “unreliable, incompetent and overly dramatic.”
Also in their final message to colleagues, they said the AEA team was one of Royer’s most frequent targets.
The university defined “psychological safety”as a person’s feeling that they can speak up without punishment or embarrassment within the 15-page report. One person included in the report said they didn’t feel psychological safety in the department under Royer. Those in the “Directors and Above” meetings noted at the time that it “doesn’t always feel safe to disagree.”
In the report’s conclusions, which listed what the group wanted to discuss further, participants noted that men get many more positive comments than women in the office, making women feel “less than.”
One person remarked that “male and female representation isn’t equally distributed across leadership within creative teams.” Monica Rexach Ortiz, a former member of SU marketing’s creative team, said she saw the imbalance while working for the university.
“There were women doing the same job who were not being recognized, and it was really frustrating to observe,” Rexach said. “It just didn’t feel great for women in the office. And it’s weird because Dara is a woman and you would expect that to help, but I think that that workplace has a long way to go.”
Soon after Royer joined the university, SU reorganized what was then the marketing and communications division. On June 12, 2018, Royer and SU leadership brought the entirety of
the department into a single room in the Schine Student Center. Behind the employees was a stack of white envelopes, each with an employee’s name on it and a meeting assignment.
For some, the assignment meant their jobs were eliminated. SU gave those employees a courtesy interview for an open position, for which they had three days to prepare. Many ended up leaving the university or retiring early.
At the time of the meeting, Royer was the university’s chief communications officer. In an audio recording of the meeting, she told the group she knew the timeline was fast.
“We recognize that this creates a lot of anxiety,” Royer said. “And we want to help people know and have clarity on what this means for them personally and professionally.”
The D.O. reported in 2018 that SU eliminated the jobs of nearly 30 people during the reorganization. At the end of the rehiring process, 13 no longer worked for the marketing and communications division. More recent documentation shows that six people who went through the process had worked for the university for at least 30 years.
The reorganization prompted SU professors Tula Goenka and Coran Klaver to start a petition to express concern over the restructuring process.
“This may be the most expedient way of changing job titles and job descriptions,” Goenka told The D.O. in 2018. “But the toll it takes on people’s lives and the anxiety people had for that one week is just not acceptable.
Rexach called the whole process “a shock.”
“It was a feeling of disbelief and you’re trying not to freak out, but you’re freaking out,” she said.
While many employees were disappointed with their experience at SU, some did speak positively of Royer and the marketing division as a whole.
SU brought in Alex DeRosa, the executive director of multimedia, in April 2019, a year after the reorganization. In his time at the university, he said he’s grown as a leader and that his current role is more fulfilling than others he had before coming to SU.
“Marketing was kind of formed quickly and I think as you grow into these roles and you bring new people in I think the culture is always evolving and switching,” DeRosa said. “We’ve come a long way in that and I personally feel like I work with some great people.”
Another employee also spoke positively of SU marketing and of Royer. Robin Wade, a member of SU’s University Leadership Team as well as the university’s executive director of digital marketing, said it’s one of the greatest organizations she’s ever worked in.
“I’m so proud to be an employee here,” Wade said. “We’re educating the future of our world … it’s something that just feels like an honor.”
Some comments in the internal review also rationalized some of Royer’s actions, citing pressures above her.
“This University is behind in modern marketing,” one review participant wrote. “Dara (Royer) was tasked with squeezing 10 years’ worth of marketing growth into 3 years and it’s taxing everyone to death. It’s suffocating.”
When discussing the department’s creative review process, one person attending the meetings noted that even considering some people’s criticisms, Royer is in a tough spot.
“Dara (Royer) tries her best to stay positive and constructive,” they said. “No matter what form a creative review takes, we all have to have thick skins.”
Royer has also participated in women’s empowerment events on campus, including moderating a conversation with Provost Gretchen Ritter in February 2022 for the university’s Women in Leadership initiative. Royer herself is also on the steering committee of SU’s WiL initiative.
Still, multiple employees, including Rexach and Thompson, said the division’s toxic environment has led people to leave SU marketing “in droves.” Rexach and Terwilliger both said they left the university voluntarily. SU did not directly answer questions from The D.O. regarding the department’s turnover.
For those who stayed during the turnover, it meant a constant responsibility to train new hires.
“If you constantly have to train people, it really puts more on your plate to do as somebody who has been there for a while and as somebody who knows what they’re doing,” Rexach said. “You’re the person that is turned to to help people who are new with their job.”
The employee who left in winter 2021 also said that while training was constant, so were interviews. The “revolving door” of employees completely disrupted the division’s ability to work, the former employee said.
Terwilliger said in a message to The D.O. that her thoughts on her time at SU have not changed since she sent her June email to Royer and SU HR. She said the university never responded to the email as of April 18.
“SU marketing is the Dara Royer Show — it’s all about your ideas, what you like, what you want, what you approve,” Terwilliger wrote to Royer. “After being there for a few months, all of your benevolent words start to ring false.”
kschouin@syr.edu
@Kyle_Chouinard
Last year, Mike Boccuzzi remembers looking over the Redfest crowd and being astonished by what he saw; the typical SUNY ESF stereotype that danced shoeless and free, fraternity brothers and sorority sisters, graduate students, older Syracuse residents and one person with a yellow and white boa constrictor.
He marveled at the sight of a diverse crowd who collected in one backyard
to experience joy through great music.
“It was really an environment where anyone could feel comfortable in because there was no sort of niche crowd that was there,” Boccuzzi said. “It was everyone there all at once.”
Redfest, a music festival run by ESF students at a house on Redfield Place, had been an ESF annual tradition since before 2012 until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Foster Valle, a current ESF student, helped to bring it back in 2022 with the help of alumni and his fellow current students.
Valle and Boccuzzi restarted the event with the help of house resident Tucker Couch as well as Sam Stehle and Will Harrington, who previously ran their own music venue. With their experience playing in their band Pop Culture and presence within the ESF Music Society, they felt confident they could bring Redfest back in a different and better way, Valle said.
While Redfest had primarily been an event for ESF students in the past, Valle said that they want to make it more inclusive of Syracuse University students, as well as the broader community.
“It had really been an ESF thing before and now we’re trying to make it a community thing,” Valle said.
Tommy Romano bounces between emailing professors and emailing stars like Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding. While sitting in lecture, sometimes he has to leave early to shoot videos, some of which reach over 900,000 people. He said he felt like Hannah Montana, living the double life of the Disney star.
“I feel like I’ve always just been into pop culture ever since like Disney Channel and Camp Rock and all those movies,” Romano said. “I want to show people good music, that’s as simple as I can put it.”
Romano, a senior in the Bandier program at Syracuse University, runs a TikTok account with 92,700 followers called “For Your Rotation” where he highlights new musicians and recommends music to followers. As a self-proclaimed
media expert, he spends his time DJing at SU venues like Babylon and Oz, and running the TikTok account, now using it for his Bandier capstone project. Through his TikTok, DJing experience and working with friends, Romano is prepared to turn his account into a business and enter the music industry.
“I’ll read comments (on the account) and I’ll get one from someone who says that I showed them their favorite song, and that’s really cool to me,” Romano said.
The account consists of recommendation videos highlighting a specific artist and recommending those with a similar sound. With graphics from music videos and live performances, the videos are dynamic and visually appealing, he said.
He has a big media diet of pop culture news and new music, so staying in the know doesn’t
feel like homework, he said. The account is a music outlet for Romano to get out of his comfort zone and share his recommendations and engage with the music world.
Laurel Matsui, a friend of Romano’s and codirector of the University Union Concerts Board, said that Romano is an amazing researcher with a unique skill to understand music culture and keep track of current releases.
“His TikTok account is so in tune with the current musical landscape,” Matsui said. “We (University Union) really trusted him as a tastemaker on this campus … so it was the perfect opportunity for him and us.”
In Romano’s sophomore year, he was a member of the a cappella group OttoTunes with his friend Andy Torres-Lopez. The pair met through the group and both felt like they had too much free time, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic.
They created a music news channel on TikTok that they ran for a year and accumulated 50 followers. “When we started out, we were uploading twice a day, and really building an audience from the ground up,” Romano said.
Later on, they decided to rework the account and change their approach. Rather than doing music news, they decided to “show it rather than say it” in regards to the music and highlight artists through music videos and live performances, which kickstarted the large following that the account has today. Torres-Lopez graduated from SU in 2020, but Romano keeps it going and is using it for his Bandier capstone assignment to make it a business.
The class allows students to focus on their business ventures for the entirety of the spring semester. Being put into groups, such as themedia
see festival page 7 see dj page 7
festival Redfest unites SU and ESF students for a day of music and fun, creating a fun and relaxing show to end the semester.Students enjoy the sunlight, festival ambience and decorations at Redfest this past weekend. Organizers, both graduates and current students, aimed to unite SU and ESF with the event. CASSANDRA ROSHU asst. photo editor from the studio
When Freddy Toglia signed up to perform in the 2023 Pride Union Drag Show, they were blown away by the performance quality and overall energy of the crowd. They performed at the preliminaries as a drag duo and while they didn’t make it to the finals, they still wanted to come to the show and support their fellow performers.
“They all pulled out the stops, but everyone’s (drag) was very different and everyone was absolutely playing to their strengths and they killed it,” Toglia said.
On Tuesday, Pride Union hosted its annual Drag Show Finale in Goldstein Auditorium. The event was hosted by former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Mo Heart and Crystal Methyd. The competition was between four drag performers who were chosen by the crowd at the preliminaries, which were hosted on March 23.
The event was themed goths versus bimbos, and audience members did not disappoint. From fishnet stockings to bright pink crop tops, they showed up in their personal version of the themes.
Mo Heart started the show off by performing to the Glee version of “Hate on Me.” Both Mo Heart and Crystal Methyd were dressed to a tee in elaborate and colorful costumes. Methyd performed later in the show and shocked the crowd with a striptease.
The audience loved Mo Heart and Crystal Method as they cheered them on whenever they hit the stage. Toglia said they appreciated being able to have events to this production degree. They said they know that their friends who go to other schools usually only have events like drag brunch, which made them appreciate the efforts that go into the show.
After their introduction, Heart and Methyd explained how the rest of the night would run. All four finalists would perform their number, then the audience would choose the top two to move on.
Drag king Sir Gabriel Googlygoo, a persona created by Olivia Dalfino, strutted on stage to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, wearing a gold vest and a gold-painted robot head made out of cardboard. Her over-the-top performance ended with her removing the strap-on from her pants and putting it on display for the audience.
Next, Dirty Lucciano took the stage in ripped jeans, a black crop top and a slicked-back high ponytail. She started her performance to “Treat Me,” by Chloe Bailey. Lucciano used props
as well — midway through her performance, Lucciano had someone bring out a pink puffer jacket, sunglasses and a microphone as her music transitioned to a rap song. She ended her performance with a third song “I’m a Slave 4 U” by Britney Spears, giving some audience members lap dances as people waved dollar bills.
Following Lucciano, Austin Rose took the stage as Vera Kewl. Kewl shocked the audience as she started singing “Sweet Transvestite” from the musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” She threw off her jacket to reveal a black corset, cheeky panties and a bedazzled face. Although he has performed online, the Pride Union Drag Shows were the first time he’d performed drag live.
Senior Hunter Kusak is behind drag king Quirt Taylor, who finished the night with horrorinspired drag. Taylor took the stage with a face painted with black makeup, a baseball jersey and jeans with a performance that brought an old-school R&B energy to the show. Keeping to the horror theme, Taylor killed his partner in a sexual act at one point in the number, bringing them back to life at the end.
Their music choices did not go unnoticed, especially by Mo Heart, who made it a point to note the Little Kim songs Kusak used in their performance. After all of the performances, the audience decided Dirty Lucciano and Vera Kewl
should advance. The two were sent to prepare for a lip-sync battle.
Lucciano and Kewl came out to lip sync to “Telephone,” by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé.
Dirty Lucciano came out with a complete costume change, donning black pants and a sequined off-the-shoulder black crop top. While Kew didn’t have a costume change, she came out with what looked like a red cake on a silver platter.
The minute the music started the two were off dancing and strutting up and down the stage. As the song came to an end, Kewl picked up her cake-like prop and ripped it in half as it sprayed red liquid on the crowd. Both performers went out into the audience and danced with screaming audience members.
In the end, Lucciano was crowned the ultimate queen. After being crowned, Allen thanked his team, his co-workers and his fraternity brothers in Sigma Alpha Mu. He said he was happy to see everything come together in just the right way. While he enjoyed participating for the first time last year, he’s glad his hard work got him the crown this time around.
“I feel grateful. I feel like this is my year. This is my Jordan year, ‘23, so it’s all about abundance and it’s all about snatching these girls and getting them in check,” Allen said. ofentse.moipone.mokoka@gmail.com
In 1998, basketball’s biggest fan, Spike Lee, embarked to capture his favorite sport on film. To pull off the most daunting task of his career, he had to follow the title of his third feature film and “Do the Right Thing.”
Twenty-five years later, “He Got Game” still stands out like a flawless championship run (think San Antonio Spurs in 2007). Lee’s film follows the ascension of the best high school basketball player in the country, five years before Lebron James became a nationwide phenom, and intertwines his narrative with a broken father-son relationship. Parts of it are shot like a documentary, other sections like a classic ‘90s family drama. Overall, Lee’s “shooter’s touch” puts this in the pantheon of sports films and the narrative itself still rings true in today’s Name, Image and Likeness world.
“He Got Game” opens with a montage of kids playing basketball around the country, set to the tune of Aaron Copland’s “John Henry.” Lee allows cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed to showcase the beauty of the sport through slow motion shots of different player’s dribbles, dunks or 3-point attempts. Every court, basket and ball looks different, but Sayeed captures the musicality behind each movement within the white lines.
After the opening credits come to a close, the audience is transported through a methodical aerial shot of Coney Island, where Jesus Shuttlesworth, played by Ray Allen, is heaving up shots from the left wing. Then, a hard cut takes us more than 300 miles west to Attica Correctional Facility, where Denzel Washington’s Jake Shuttlesworth is throwing up attempts from the right elbow. Both Shuttlesworths, father and son, hit nothing but net.
The driving conflict of the film is quickly revealed. Jake is in prison for murdering his wife and can reduce his sentence if he’s able to convince his son to attend the fictional “Big State” college. In simpler terms pertaining to today’s world, Jake is awarded a get-out-of-jail-
The Hockey House
Student band Rhodes Corduroy, well known in the SU music scene, will perform this Thursday night. Spice up your weekend and see them perform their latest hits at the Hockey House.
WHEN: April 27 at 10 p.m.
PRICE: : $5 at the door
Block Party
One of the biggest events for Syracuse University students all year is University Union’s annual Block Party. This year the event has a new twist. Before attendees see Aminé, Faye Webster and Surfaces in the JMA Wireless Dome, they can head to the SU Quad for free to see The Aces, Ella Jane and Sarah Kinsley at the first-ever Block Darty.
WHEN: April 28 from 2-6 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.
PRICE: $20 GA, $25 Ground Floor and Free
Funk ‘n Waffles
Come down to Funk ‘n Waffles this weekend for a Friday night show. This event will showcase Worldtown Soundsystem, a live house music band, and Transient Kicks, a rock band. Find tickets at the Funk ‘n Waffles website.
WHEN: April 28 at 8 p.m.
PRICE: $10 at the door
Redgate
Head over to Redgate, a studentrun music venue, for one of their last shows of the semester. This Friday will feature Over the Counter, a funky band based in New Jersey, Be-ez, a Maryland-based artist and SU student band Luna and the Carpets.
WHEN: April 28 at 10:30 p.m.
ARTIST: $8 at the door
Funk ‘n Waffles
Check out Funk ‘n Waffles this Saturday night. Performers will be Annie in the Water, a rock group, and The Orange Constant, a rock/jam band. Find tickets online at the Funk ‘n Waffles website.
WHEN: April 29 at 8 p.m.
WHEN: $15/$20 at the door
PRICE: $14.92
The 443 Social Club and Lounge
This Saturday, come to The 443 Social Club to see Robinson Treacher, a country artist who recently dropped a new album, called “Hermitage Cafe.” On Sunday, the fun continues with Professor Louie & the Crowmatix, a rock band that focuses on blues rock and roll.
WHEN: April 29 at 7 p.m. (Robinson Treacher) and April 30 at 6 p.m. (Professor Louie & the Crowmatix)
PRICE: From $17.98
free card if he’s able to get Jesus to sign an NIL deal with “Big State.”
But let’s talk more about how Allen ended up portraying Jesus. Lee originally slated Kobe Bryant for the role but in classic “mamba mentality” fashion, Bryant wanted to spend his 1997 summer training after a disappointing loss to the Utah Jazz in the playoffs. Kevin Garnett didn’t want to audition. Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady did, but Lee felt they weren’t right for the part. So Allen became the obvious choice and 25 years later, it still feels like the right one.
Allen had just finished his rookie season before filming, still years away from winning a championship with the Boston Celtics and later hitting arguably the greatest shot of all time. As an actor, he sells the fact that he’s an 18-year-old picking which college to attend mostly because he went through the process himself just a few years earlier.
It’s hard for professional athletes to act. The most successful performances of all time
are probably Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in “Airplane” and Michael Jordan in “Space Jam.” But they’re playing themselves. The only aspect about Allen which resembles his actual life is his jump shot. Otherwise, he embodies the innocence, confusion and arrogance of a high school phenom to perfection.
Jesus is properly introduced through a pick-up basketball game with the orchestral score making its return. Then, the audience meets the rest of Abraham Lincoln High School’s starting five via Sunday-Night-Football-esque introductions, including former Syracuse star John Wallace.
The “assembling the team” montage is crucial to any sports film, but Lee’s documentary twist, introducing the players like they’re on a television broadcast, foreshadows a part later in the film when Jesus is featured on SportsCenter.
The mini-doc on Jesus only lasts for about
Check out the Bunker’s Backyard Bash this weekend. They will feature local bands Sacred Fruit and DM.Toni & the Hippo Christ. Direct Message them on Instagram for information about the artists and ticket information.
WHEN: April 29, doors open at 8 p.m., music starts at 8:30 p.m.
PRICE: unknown, tickets at the door
For some strange reason, Syracuse was recently named Barstool Sports’ “Best Bar Town.”
As a frequent Syracuse bar attendee, I was a bit bewildered by this news. I want to be clear, it’s not like I didn’t want us to win. I just didn’t think we would win, not in a world where Penn State exists. It was sort of like finding out you’re on the Dean’s List. You’re happy you got it, but you know you didn’t exactly earn it.
The title “Best Bar Town” came with a prize — a visit from internet personalities Dave Portnoy, Brianna Chickenfry, Josh Richards and Grace O’Malley. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about their arrival. It felt like we had just invited the hottest girls in high school to our lame basement party and promised them we would supply all the booze.
But I gotta admit, ‘Cuse showed out for our guests (we always do, don’t we?) with a successful two-stop bar crawl. Although, I do have questions for whoever decided to exclude Faegan’s Pub from the experience. Faegan’s has everything Mr. Portnoy likes — alcohol, darts and a chair for when his old brittle bones collapse from standing for over twenty minutes.
Although I didn’t go to the bar crawl, I lived
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Unlike previous years, this year’s band lineup consists of both SU and ESF artists. The group has advertised with tabling, flyers and ticket selling on both campus grounds. They also put flyers up and down Wescott and downtown, planning to bring in vendors that do not attend SU or ESF. Valle said that they want to make the space one that welcomes not just college students, but people of all ages who want to enjoy good music.
Along with the goal of creating a lasting memory for students as the semester concludes, an annual Redfest mission is to fundraise for the chosen charity of the year. The organizers selected UNICEF due to the war in Ukraine last year, donating $5,000. This year, Valle and Boccuzzi went local, choosing the Food Bank of Central New York.
Siddharth Motwani graduated from ESF in 2018 and attended five consecutive Redfests. During his third and fourth years, he was inspired to play with a band and became one of the lead organizers for the event in 2018. During that year, there were 12 people who were a part of the organizing group.
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group for Romano, helps them to work together and give feedback to their peers.
Romano has highlighted some Syracuse artists, such as Sarah Gross, NONEWFRIENDS. and Lauren Juzang. Besides local artists, he has worked with high-profile stars such as Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran and major music labels like Universal, Warner and Sony. He aims to use his large following to bring attention to new artists.
“I like to bring all those eyes to Syracuse because we got a pretty banging music scene here,” Romano said.
Sydney Panzer, a peer of Romano’s in Bandier, said she goes to him for recommendations and ideas about new music to listen to.
“He’s incredibly knowledgeable of the space that he’s working in. There’s no one who knows more about pop culture and music than Tommy,” Panzer said. “It’s a really cool community that he’s built on TikTok.”
After he established his TikTok, Romano said he started feeling burnt out spending all of his time both in school and professionally working on music. He wanted to find a way to remind himself why he loves music and
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four minutes, but Lee flexes his filmmaking chops throughout it. He perfectly summarizes the magnitude of hype around the nation’s best high school basketball player. He used his connections at the time to pack in as many basketball personas as possible, including Jim Boeheim and Michael Jordan. Still, being the best means dealing with constant pressure, a tension which Lee properly displays by increasing the pace of the film as it goes on. In the first meeting between father and son, Jake is shown behind the fence of the basketball
vicariously through the hours of Snapchat videos I saw that day. I saw Dave Portnoy standing and drinking a watermelon High Noon from about every possible angle and even got to see videos of Josh Richards flirting with several girls who weren’t me. Isn’t technology incredible?
From what I saw it seemed like everyone had a grand ol’ time. Well, apart from the Orange Crate bartenders who must have developed carpal tunnel from the thousands of Coronas they had to open that night. Add security to the list of people who probably didn’t have a blast. I’m not sure the team of beefy men who had to protect Dave Portnoy from swarms of former lacrosse players had the best of times.
I did develop a severe, crippling case of FOMO from seeing everything online. Every single tendency in my body was screaming for me to run, jump and skip on my merry way to Orange Crate. And, like everyone else, I wanted to see Brianna Chickenfry’s new nose job. I need to know how it looks that good one week post-op.
Although my body was screaming yes, my wallet was unfortunately screaming, “God, no! Please. Anything but that.” And like mom always says, “Don’t go out, there’s plenty of vodka at home.” ahunt04@syr.edu
“Redfest planning starts as soon as you come back from winter break,” Botwani said. “You identify a team before then and it just happens naturally.”
Since its beginning, Redfest was created to act as a spring semester finale and be a stress reliever before finals, Botwani said. The event became an inherent part of the student culture.
“It was just a big way for us to celebrate the end of the year, get together, say our hellos and goodbyes to people that we may not see again,” Botwani said.
Although five years have passed since Botwani graduated, he still sees many people that he attended Redfest with in New York City and continues to make music with ESF and SU graduates who he either played with at Redfest or knew through another band.
“The people that lived at the house did organize it and then they had some other folks that they worked with, but when the pandemic hit, we lost all of those connections and had to start from scratch,” Boccuzzi said.
Scott Scrobin, an ESF alumnus who has attended six Redfests, has been Boccuzzi, Valle and the other organizers’ bridge between the past and present. They’ve used his advice, as well as sifting through old archives and YouTube vid-
started DJing in his room.
He spent time perfecting his DJ skills alone before transitioning to bigger venues. He used mixing experience and inspiration from other DJs to create his personal sound with a variety of genres. With all his experiences, UU asked him to DJ Block Party.
Matsui said it was an easy decision to choose Romano to DJ at Block Party. She said he’ll be playing before and in between artists, keeping the energy up throughout the night.
In Romano and Panzer’s freshman year, their first Bandier class talked about TikTok. The professor asked how many students in the class had been on TikTok in the past week, and he was one of three to raise his hand. Romano had no idea how big a part of his life it would become.
This semester, artist Shygirl invited Romano to New York City to collaborate and see their show at Webster Hall. Traveling to NYC for business while still in college was an incredible experience, he said, and helped with his TikTok and DJ pursuits.
He doesn’t have plans of slowing down anytime soon.
“The big labels and big artists… they see the power that (TikTok) has to create,” Romano said. “I’m super excited to keep it going past graduation.”
kellymatlock@dailyorange.com
court, repeating what everyone around him has been telling him, that this is “the most important decision of his life.”
Pressure is shown in another way through flashbacks from when Jake trained Jesus. Lee dives into the common relationship between a father trying to make their son be as good as them in their favorite sport. The audience is shown both sides of that narrative, the compliments keeping Jesus’ drive alive and later how the badgering forced a young Jesus to say he wanted to quit basketball.
All of this culminates in a one-on-one game between Jake and Jesus near the end of the film. Jake holds a letter of intent to “Big State” like a
eos of previous Redfests, in order to understand how the event is supposed to run, Valle said.
“This year is really well organized back to the basics of what it used to be,” Scrobin said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Redfest was noticeable based on the number of people on their roofs and porches playing games, Scrobin said. Rather than being an event at one particular house, Redfest was intended to be a block party. The organizers want to bring that back this year.
“That’s what Redfest is supposed to be. You’re at the very bitter end of the semester, and we’re out there to let loose for a day,” Scrobin said.
The Redfield house was a perfect place for this event because it had gained popularity through its prominence in the party and music scene. Those who rented the house knew to pass it down to others who wanted the responsibility year after year, Scrobin said.
While pre-pandemic Redfests consisted primarily of heavy metal, punk and hard rock bands, Valle said the pair brought in more variety, including rappers, folk artists, jam and folk indie bands.
At the same time, they have brought back previous bands to play some new stuff. This year, Boccuzzi said they want to provide an opportu-
nity for younger acts to play to a large outdoor audience and bands that have played for a while.
“The community fostered us and grew us as we started out,” Valle said. “We’re the older guys now, it’s time for us to help out some of these younger acts.”
Valle and Boccuzzi are excited to highlight younger bands like the Shwegs, Dogs Playing Poker and Rhodes Corduroy, while also bringing back bands like Pop Culture, OTC and Backhouse.
They are also bringing new elements, such as vendors like Pit’s Vintage and Selfloved, food vendors and porta-potties. While investing in these differences, Valle and Boccuzzi are also aiming to restore traditions of pre-pandemic Redfests. Valle said their plan is to make the event just as large as it was before. They’ve notified the entire block and are aiming to revitalize the block party sensation of Redfest.
“Once you leave college you don’t really get to do this kind of stuff anymore, it’s just not the same,” Valle said. “ So when you can be there in the moment enjoying yourself and loving what you’re doing and who you’re with, that’s really what stuff like this is about.” cmroshu@syr.edu
golden ticket, betting that if he beats Jesus, his son would attend “Big State.” Jake knows he’s going to lose but he gives Jesus the chance to get his revenge. He reminds Jesus after the game to get the “anger out of his heart,” and he does, choosing “Big State.”
It’s not rare for the emotional climax of a sports film to take place on the court or field. But the difference with “He Got Game” is that the majority of the movie takes place off the basketball court, making it similar to movies like “Jerry Maguire.” The stakes are higher too since the game quite literally decided the length of a prison sentence.
There are parts of this film that feel unnecessary, mainly the romance between
Jake and prostitute Dakota Burns, played by Milla Jovovich. But overall, Lee foreshadowed the atmosphere of basketball today, how 17-year-olds can turn into nationwide celebrities. At one point in the film, Jesus is handed $10,000 by his head coach to give him an insight into where he’s going. Today, it’s common to see $1 million promised to a player for just attending a college.
“He Got Game” will always be universal in this way. Jesus made the right choice but the film’s ultimate purpose is to show how temptations could get the best of a young player. anish.sujeet@gmail.com @anish_vasu
When Syracuse University assigned me to live on South Campus, I spent the summer with a pit in my stomach. I saw people cringe when I told them where I would be sophomore year. South seemed like the most avoided, desolate place to live on Syracuse University’s campus.
Before room selection, I heard about all of South’s negatives: its distance from campus, the lack of solidarity without living in shared spaces and burglaries.
I had the same thoughts rushing through my head. And unfortunately, with SU’s lack of main campus student housing for sophomores coupled with a 2-year on campus living requirement, I was stuck on South.
When I first moved into my apartment, it didn’t feel like home. The space was so large that the items from my previous dorm couldn’t fill the emptiness. I felt disconnected from my friends on main campus, and isolated from the university as a whole. But as the bonds with the people who lived around me began to strengthen and memories were made, there is no place else that feels more like home.
As my time on South comes to a close, I’ve realized that living here has taught me about who I am not only as a student, but as a person. So here’s what I’ve learned this year.
Transportation began as one of my most pressing concerns. Being from Los Angeles, I don’t have the luxury of having a car on-campus. But by taking the bus multiple times a week, I quickly learned to effectively manage my time. There’s no
room for procrastination in the mornings when buses arrive every fifteen minutes. The rides themselves gave me time alone with my thoughts to reflect on either the day ahead or the day past.
I never felt alone though; I always had a sense of community on the bus because there were other people who were in the same situation as me.
The biggest surprise that came with living on South Campus was the calm. I’ve learned to appreciate the quiet and beauty on South, as well as Syracuse in general and learned independence along the way.
My roommate and I shared our own kitchen, bathroom and living room, and each had our own bedrooms. At the end of the busy days we’ve had, it’s been a blessing to have our own space to decompress. But our apartment is our little oasis from the outside world. We became best friends and truly became each other’s family. By living on the bottom unit, we also had easy access to the outside which has come in handy with the recent gorgeous weather. Our space has become entirely ours. It’s our home.
Given the structure of South Campus, — with the majority of residents living in two or three
person apartments instead of thirty people to a floor — I knew I could be losing the sense of community I loved freshman year. But, South forced me to connect with the people around me in ways I never expected.
Ella Johns, a current resident of South Campus, has a “no knock policy” with her friend group, which keeps them close even without living on the same floor.
“Our doors are always open and our friends are always coming in and out. This happens so often that when someone knocks it stresses us out,” she said.
Johns joked about how living on South turned her friend group into a sitcom, with a revolving door of the same people. After already being close from freshman year, they were able to deepen their friendships by living with each other in a new setting.
I became best friends with the people that I met here. We made dinners and recapped our days in each other’s living rooms. We held gettogethers with all of our friends to throw housewarming parties and decorated our apartments for the holidays. I found a homeyness here that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. Finding a unique community made my year living on South, what I thought to be the most desolate place at SU, comforting in ways beyond belief.
So if you’re like me, and you’re nervous about where you’re living as a sophomore, remember that life is what you make it. As I look back on the year, I have learned to stretch my limits of comfort. I’ve found my home on South.
Haley Thompkins is a sophomore acting major. Her column appears bi-weekly, She can be reached at hkthompk@syr.edu.
Finding a home on South Campus is possible, even with its isolating reputationDespite a lack of physical closeness, South Campus offers new opportunities for community. Our columnist reflects on her past year, and the love she developed for the place she least wanted to end up. madeline foreman staff photographer By Timmy Wilcox staff writer
Locked at five in double overtime against Electric City, Syracuse club lacrosse got a much needed stop. In transition, Christian Margita moved down the alley, dodging defenders. Margita approached the crease before slotting a shot past the goalie. The sophomore’s goal in double overtime gave the team a dramatic win.
“That was an awesome moment,” team president Mack Wolschina said.
This season, SU’s club men’s lacrosse has made big strides. After playing an in-state schedule last season, the team expanded, scheduling games against teams outside of New York. Despite having a young roster, the Orange want to play better competition..
“Hopefully, as we grow our team, and increase our funding, we’ll enter more tournaments with bigger teams like Maryland, Ohio State and Penn State,” Wolschina said.
With the team growing in size, Wolschina wants to get the Syracuse community involved using fundraising so the team can travel around the northeast. The sophomore’s goals are to work with local charities and students to raise awareness about the team.
“I think that’ll be huge in terms of our recognition on campus, not only in terms of funding but people coming to our games as fans,” Wolschina said. “Maybe people who didn’t even realize that we had a club team (could come out). People saying ‘oh I kind of want to play lacrosse, I’ll come out (to play).’”
Next semester, Wolschina hopes to implement a philanthropy chair to organize fundraising for the team.
Previously, the awareness of the team was low, but Wolschina said he noticed a change. Friends and family traveled on the road to Fairfield and Albany, along with more students attending home games.
With word spreading, students like freshman Brendan McNama are choosing to join. McNama didn’t know SU had a club lacrosse team so he didn’t bring his equipment to school. He brought his equipment this semester after hearing his friends talk about how much they enjoyed playing.
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boosted the Orange past No. 4 Villanova in the quarterfinals. Then, an upset win over No. 1 DePaul sent SU to the conference championship.
Against No. 3 Louisville, Caira held the Cardinals to one run in a 2-1 victory, clinching the program’s first-ever Big East Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. Caira was named the Big East Championship Most Outstanding Player and made the All-Tournament Team.
“It was the best. Period. It was an awesome, awesome tournament that gives me goosebumps every time I think about it,” Caira said.
Throughout the summer of 2010, Caira trained with Team Canada, inheriting valuable experience before returning to SU for her junior year. She felt much cleaner dotting the corners of the strike zone, getting ahead in the count,
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throughout the first half, blocking half of the 10 shots taken wat her. The Hokies’ Maura O’Malley would tie it 2-2 to start the second. But, shortly after, Megan Carney scored a textbook catch-and-score off a feed from Meaghan on the right. Sprinting laterally Carney collected and fired across her body in one fluid motion.
A few minutes later, Ward collected at her patented X position, finding Emma on the left of the crease. Emma faked once and then ducked under a defender. Maneuvering to the tip of the crease, she scored on a shot to the bottom right.
Wolschina and co-captain Mike Lupton invited McNama to a practice, using it as a tryout. McNama, a goalie, impressed in net and continued to practice with the team ahead of the spring season.
“It was super easy to transition in and they played a fairly familiar formation to what I was used to,” said Junior attack Will Manning.
McNama and Manning have been key additions to the team. Manning has been a solid contributor in the attack while McNama stepped up as the starting goalie when Jamie Horton went down. McNama is seen as one of the leaders on the young squad.
“He motivates everyone. He comes up with some great saves in times when we really need it,” Wolschina said.
Off the field, Wolschina and Lupton control the logistics of the team. As co-captains, the duo schedules games and practices.
“I really think they did a great job of pulling everyone together and pulling off a great season,” McNama said.
This season, Syracuse finished 3-6 while competing in the National College Lacrosse League Division-II. It lost its last three games, including a last second defeat against Cornell. Despite the below .500 record, the Orange lost five games by two goals or less. With its captains coming back next season, the team feels it will bounce back, Manning said.
Even though the team has struggled at times, they’ve found ways to bond. At the end of practices, he likes playing six-on-six or touch football. To increase competitiveness the losing team has to do a punishment.
“I feel like those six-on-six times, you’re not afraid to check a little harder, push a little bit more and find that competitiveness,” Manning said. “Even though you do love the defense, it’s your job to make them better and in some ways, I will open up to say I talk my fair share of smack talk.”
These experiences enhance the team’s culture, bringing them closer together.
“(It’s a) really great team culture. It’s a great group of guys,” Lupton said. tswilcox@syr.edu
forcing ground balls and playing with more patience — all minor improvements that led to major results.
In her third season, Caira earned Big East Pitcher of the Year honors, posting career bests in appearances (53), wins (35), innings pitched (283.1) and strikeouts (321). The Orange breezed to a 41-11 regular season record and allowed just one run throughout the Big East Tournament. Caira fired a complete game shutout against Louisville in the championship game to secure back-to-back conference titles. In Syracuse’s first NCAA Tournament game, Caira tossed her second straight shutout against LSU, recording the program’s first-ever tournament win.
Caira stayed dominant in her final season. Sitting at 39-13, Syracuse played South Florida in its final regular season home game. Starting in the circle, Caira expected Bulls head coach Ken Eriksen to have an in-depth scouting report on her.
The two faced off during international play when Team USA took on Canada. But whatever Erikson told his players had no effect on the senior, who no-hit the Bulls to earn SU’s 40th win.
“I just felt so calm and comfortable. I really just wanted to make this the best last day ever,” Caira said.
In 2012, Syracuse earned an auto-bid to its third straight NCAA tournament. Caira captured a win and a save as the Orange beat Long Beach State. In the regional finals against No. 2 Arizona State, SU needed to win two straight games to advance. Caira threw a four-hit shutout in game one against the nation’s second-best team, but the Orange fell just short in game two.
“It was a full team effort. It was an amazing opportunity to bring Syracuse on a big stage, and I think we held ourselves with such poise and composure,” Caira said.
When her playing career ended, Caira returned to the Orange as a pitching coach. For
the next two seasons, she helped develop players like Stacy Kuwik. Caira improved Kuwik’s change-up to mimic her’s.
“She was always very focused on how I could grow as a pitcher. Honestly, her academic mind being both an athlete but also a student of the game helped me see another way to play,” Kuwik said.
Caira’s impact on the Syracuse softball program and young girls playing the sport is immeasurable. Martin’s daughter, Jenna Martin, was named after Caira, whose father says the Syracuse standout has served as the No. 1 role model for girls’ softball in Ontario for the last 20 years.
Sweitzer’s impact was felt again. She saved an inside shot on a man-up possession for the Hokies, negating the yellow card’s impact. Caroline Little shot down hard but Sweitzer blocked it with her knees. The save would set up Carney’s goal to give SU’s its biggest lead of the game to that point.
But then, Ella Rishko then scored twice in a row to make it 9-7 Syracuse.
With 2:49 remaining in the third, Ward muscled past a defender inside to shoot sidearm across her body, then fell with the momentum. When she got up, it was 10-7 Syracuse. But with 40 seconds until the final period, the Hokies had drawn within one.
Smith ensured SU’s multi-goal lead entering the fourth with a catch and shoot from the outside, making it 11-9 Syracuse entering the fourth. Syracuse attacked in the final period, but Torres kept consistent, blocking multiple shots in the first few minutes.
Three minutes in, Ward put one past Torres from a tough angle. Just in front of the 12-meter base, Ward whipped a sidearm shot into the top left corner of the goal to make it 12-10.
Sweitzer made two straight free-position saves inside of a minute to keep the score at 4-2. Olivia Vergano crashed from the right and the top statistical goalie in the nation went low to meet her. 53 seconds later, she made another save, this time thrusting her stick high at the last second to block another shot from O’Malley.
But, Sweitzer struggled in the third, allowing Blair Guy to complete her hat trick with a freeposition shot at 3:28 remaining in the first half. The back-and-forth affair continued as the score was tied for the fourth time in the half, 5-5.
With 6:13 left in the first half, Vergano tied the game up 4-4 with an unassisted score.
Sierra Cockerille answered for Syracuse, making it 5-4 less than a minute later. Cockerille rolled around the crease to get in front of the goal before spinning back to shake Emma Monte. From right
in front of the cage, she placed the ball through the armpit of Torres for an immediate response.
Syracuse extended its advantage when Meaghan found Cockerille for her second goal on as many shots. She finished with a hat trick for the second straight game.
Shortly after, Carney finished a running shot after Smith hit her in stride coming across the zone with 8:50 left in the third. Her second goal of the game gave SU an 8-5 lead.
Between those two third quarter goals,
The Hokies then pulled within one. But, in the clutch, Meaghan answered the goal in just 32 seconds to make it 13-11. And after just 49 seconds, Meaghan had scored again on an unassisted dodge from the top of the 12, making it 14-11.
When SU needed it most, its star player stepped up. And although the final period continued the back-and-forth nature, Syracuse never relinquished its lead. wbmiller@syr.edu @wymill07
Jatius Geer, who started 12 games at defensive end last season for Syracuse, entered the transfer portal Wednesday. He has four years of eligibility remaining.
After appearing in just one game in 2021, Geer became one of SU’s most reliable defensive players last year, recording 33 tackles and 3.5 sacks — the fi fth-most sacks by an SU freshman in program history. Against NC State, Geer totaled a career-high five tackles, with 1.5 for loss, and his first career sack.
Geer didn’t participate in Friday’s spring game, along with several other defensive lineman.
In spring practice periods open to the media, he appeared to be one of the Orange’s top defensive players, routinely getting into the backfield during scrimmages. He’s the first Syracuse player to enter the portal since spring practice ended.
A 3-star recruit out of Belton-Honea Path (S.C.) High School, Geer collected 19 Division-I o ers, and ultimately chose Syracuse over Georgia Tech, Kansas State and others. His physical development over his four-year high school career helped lead to his breakout season last year. As a high school freshman, Geer was just 6-foot-2, 150 pounds, and struggled in the weight room — only bench pressing 95 pounds at the time. But he filled out his frame, and
hit over 275 pounds on the bench by his senior year.
“He’s growing up right in front of our eyes,” head coach Dino Babers said midway through last season. “I see him as someone that’s going to go from a baby bear to a grizzly.”
Geer was a part of a SU defensive unit that finished 21st nationally in total defense last year. The unit’s coordinator, Tony White, departed for Nebraska after the conclusion of the regular season. Syracuse also fired Vince Reynolds, Geer’s position coach, after the 2021 season. While recruiting Geer, White always said once the defensive end realized the frame he had, he could become something special.
“I can’t lie, I was a bit hurt,” Geer said of
White’s departure during spring practice. “I did feel some type of way about it.”
Last November, Geer said he was hoping to gain 20-30 pounds during the o season. After weighing 227 pounds last year, Geer said he added roughly 25-30 before spring practice, something he was hoping to maintain while working with first-year team nutritionist Tori Brown.
“The best is still yet to come for Jatius,” said Rusell Blackston, Geer’s high school coach. “He’s going to keep growing and keep developing. I don’t think anybody’s seen his cap potential yet.”
csmith49@syr.edu @csmith17_
Isabela Emerling blasted a fly ball deep to left field, aiming to start another Tar Heels rally with a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. Syracuse’s left fielder, Taylor Posner, dashed on an angle for an attempted catch.
While running full speed to the warning track, the sophomore reached out her glove and snagged the ball out of the air. The left fielder robbed UNC’s catcher of extra bases in a game Syracuse would come back to win.
In her second season with Syracuse, Posner utilizes her speed and athleticism in the corner outfield positions. After switching from third base to the outfield following her high school career, Posner has recorded 17 putouts through 31 games this season. Combining her improved power with her fiery competitiveness, the sophomore provides a spark for SU.
After years of playing tee-ball with boys, Posner picked up softball before she turned 10. She joined the Lionville Youth Association, a travel softball team based out of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. While no longer playing baseball, Posner assured the boys in her class she could take them down anytime.
“She even had bets against kids from the baseball team that would tell her they could easily hit a softball and she couldn’t touch them. She always came out on top,” said Steve Posner, Taylor’s father.
A few years later, Posner’s team joined the PA Strikers Fastpitch Softball Organization, based out of Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Camillle Hayes, head coach of the national travel team, wanted Posner to play for her.
“I watched her from afar and I thought, I’d love this kid, I’d love this player, she’s exactly the kind of player that should be on a national team,” Hayes said.
In the summer of 2017, Hayes received a text
from Posner’s mother, Tammy, saying Taylor wanted to join the Strikers. Hayes was ecstatic and had Posner on the team by August.
“We were always good, but we weren’t great until we got Taylor,” Hayes said.
Posner traveled the country with Hayes and the Strikers for the next five years. At first, the team carried itself as quiet and humble. Posner was the outlier, singing, dancing, high-fiving and creating special handshakes with her teammates. Eventually, many girls broke out of their soft shells and began to feed o their new third baseman’s dynamic personality, Hayes said. Posner even took time to work with younger players during practice while blasting her playlist for the team to enjoy.
“She’s a leader, she’s loud, and that’s not even athletic talent,” Steve said. “That’s just who she is. She has a lot of swag.”
O ensively, Posner earned the leado position with her uncanny ability to make contact. Incredibly fearless at the hot corner, Hayes remembers Posner charging on the infield when facing a bunter or slap hitter. She knew how to sneak up on a ground ball better than anyone.
“I felt like I could’ve put Taylor anywhere on the
field and she could’ve got the job done,” Hayes said.
Posner continued her strong play at Downingtown West High School in the spring. In three years, she batted .446 and finished with 90 career hits. She led Downingtown to a 20-2 record her senior year, making it to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 1-6A quarterfinals.
After visiting Syracuse, Posner said she recognized players from previous softball camps and immediately formed a connection.
“It was just the perfect fit. She loved the coaches and loved everything about [SU],” Steve said.
Soon after committing to play for the Orange, head coach Shannon Doepking wanted Posner in the outfield because of her speed. Despite third base being her favorite position, Posner accepted the challenge and quickly acclimated to her new role.
“Honestly, I think it was a great transition. It was fun to learn a new position,” Posner said.
Posner finished out her career with Downingtown West at third base, then played outfield for the Strikers in the summer of 2021. Serving primarily as a designated player in her first year, Posner has been strong in the corner outfield spots this season, posting a .947 fielding percentage.
In addition to her fielding skills, Posner’s power at the plate has also improved. During the o season, she said she spent more hours in the weight room than ever before. She also worked with her coaches on pitch selection and discipline. As a result, all three of her collegiate home runs have come this year, increasing her slugging percentage from .319 in 2022 to .410 in 2023.
“She’s a fighter. She won’t give up,” Tammy said. “If she has a bad day, she takes it in, shakes it o , and moves on to the next day and does well.” max.tomaiuolo@gmail.com @max_tomaiuolo
Matthew Bergeron lined up at left tackle against NC State defensive end Travali Prince with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter. Sean Tucker stood four yards behind him and took o after Garrett Shrader handed him the ball. With Bergeron sealing the edge, Tucker turned the corner and waltzed into the end zone.
The score sealed a TK-TK victory and clinched the program’s first bowl appearance since 2018. Now, Bergeron and Tucker are expected to be selected in this year’s NFL draft, according to multiple draft experts.
Here’s a breakdown of the Syracuse football players who could be drafted this weekend:
Matthew Bergeron
In 2019, Bergeron started five games as right tackle, becoming the first Syracuse freshman in 20 years to start at tackle. In 2020, he switched to the left side, turning into a strong run blocker. Bergeron could switch to guard once he gets drafted, as he lacks attributes for a pro tackle, according to Sports Illustrated scout Jack Borowsky.
“Bergeron’s a great athlete, but he’s not someone special athletically as a tackle,” Borowsky said. “When you kick him inside to guard, technical issues somewhat go away.”
After a strong showing at the NFL combine, scouts predict Bergeron will be picked between the late first round and the early third. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has the Patriots selecting Bergeron in the second round but said he could go in the first. Borowsky said the farthest he could see Bergeron falling is No. 51 to the Dolphins as
many teams in the middle of the second round need a tackle. Todd McShay has Bergeron going 60th to the Bengals, while Matt Miller has him going 69th to the Rams.
Sean Tucker
After missing the NFL combine and Syracuse’s pro day due to injuries, there are questions surrounding Tucker.
Tucker was an All-American as a freshman in 2021. He holds SU records for most single-season rushing yards and is third all-time in rushing.
On April 24, Tucker hosted his own pro day at
Syracuse. His 29 bench press reps would’ve been the most from any running back at the combine.
Kiper described Tucker as “a home run hitter” and someone who makes people miss with his change of direction. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein questions Tucker’s ability to run in between the tackles.
With Tucker’s outside speed, Borowsky sees him succeeding in a zone scheme. He said he could fit with the 49ers, Jets, Rams and Dolphins. But, Tucker’s health and inconsistency between the tackles means he will likely be a day three selection.
Garrett Williams
Garrett Williams also dealt with health problems, tearing his ACL in October. Williams was an All-ACC performer in three of four seasons at Syracuse.
Williams is a disciplined outside corner who didn’t commit a single penalty the past two seasons. Borowsky said he relies on his technique and footwork to defend receivers. Williams is also a strong tackler, recording five tackles for loss in 2021.
Williams is projected to go anywhere from the second to the fi fth round. Jordan Reid has Williams getting picked in the beginning of the fi fth round. Kiper has Williams going 83rd in his mock draft with McShay.
Williams gives teams a chance to get a starting cornerback in the middle rounds, according to Ryan Roberts from RiseNDraftscouting.com.
“He’s a big gamble with the injury, but is one of the most gifted cover-men in the draft,” Roberts said. Williams has already started recovering from his torn ACL just six months later.
Mikel Jones and Andre Szmyt are two prospects that could be selected in the final two rounds or picked up as undrafted free agents.
Jones, a team captain in 2022, is an athletic linebacker, but undersized for the position in the NFL, standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 224 pounds. If Jones made a roster, he’d likely play special teams. Szmyt, Syracuse’s all-time leader in points, won the Lou Groza award in 2018 for the best kicker in the nation. amstepan@syr.edu
I always told her she was the piece of the puzzle that we were missing. We were always good, but we weren’t great until we got Taylor.
CamilleHayes HEAD COACH OF THE PA STRIKERS FASTPITCH SOFTBALL ORGANIZATION
On Senior Day, in 2012, Jenna Caira started in the circle. The Toronto native kept South Florida’s hitters offbalance all afternoon and the Bulls had zero hits going into the final inning. In the seventh, Kenshyra Jackson grounded out to third base for the game’s final out and Caira made history, tossing her fourth career nohitter in her last-ever start at Skytop Softball Stadium.
“It was a really wonderful celebration to end it that way,” Caira said. “It was an extra highlight that I take into my memory that makes Syracuse so special to me.”
It was a fitting end for Syracuse softball’s greatest player of all time. Known for her signature change-up, Caira made a living by mixing the pitch with her fastball and drop ball. The right-hander stands atop almost every pitching category in program history, including wins (97), complete games (82), shutouts (28), strikeouts (1,051), ERA (1.87) and opponent batting average (.190). One year after graduating, Caira returned to SU softball as a pitching coach for two seasons. This Saturday, her No. 29 will be Syracuse’s first jersey retiree.
Caira attributes much of her success to her longtime
On Saturday, Jenna Caira’s No. 29 jersey will be retired for the first time in Syracuse softball history. In the circle, Caira notched a program-best 28 shutouts and 1,501 strikeouts.
trainer and mentor, Todd Martin, a decorated softball pitcher who played 12 years for Team Canada and won a 1999 Pan Am gold medal. Martin and Caira first trained together in Caira’s driveway when she was 15. Martin taught Caira the deceptive nature of the change-up.
“She figured it out in one day in her parent’s driveway,” Martin said. “She had unbelievable movement on it, and she was able to fool people consistently for her entire career. Anyone who knows the name Jenna Caira, they associate a change-up with it.”
While Caira weighed her recruiting options, then-Syracuse head coach, Leigh Ross, made a lasting impression. SU was not the strongest softball team, but its desire to be great drew Caira in.
“I could just hear it in [Ross’s] voice that she really wanted to build a strong program,” Caira said.
Caira switched jersey numbers upon arriving on campus. She had worn No. 4 all her life, but decided to honor Martin by donning his No. 29.
“I’m going to wear No. 29 for Todd and represent him. I think that in itself says a lot for how I feel about him as a coach and as a mentor,” Caira said.
Caira had little success throughout February and early March of her freshman campaign. She referred back to Martin, who advised her to incorporate the change-up more. By mid-March, Caira began to dominate and led the Orange with 16 wins. Her first
signature moment came after tossing her first collegiate no-hitter against Villanova on April 5. Caira finished with a 2.33 ERA and earned 2009 Big East Rookie of the Year honors.
Caira continued to improve in her second year, posting a 2.31 ERA over 36 appearances. Entering the Big East tournament as the No. 5 seed, she
see caira page 9
Maddy Baxter leapt up to cause a turnover with just over 20 seconds left in the half and blazed down the length of the field. Once she reached the 12-meter peak, she dumped off to Ward on her right who juked inside, and, with 2.2 seconds remaining, scored over a VT defender to give Syracuse a 6-5 lead entering the half.
The stagnant offense, which SU exhibited in the final period against Boston College last time out, transferred over. The opening 30 minutes were slow for Syracuse, and it led by just
one after securing three more shots on goal than the Hokies in the half.
On Wednesday, Syracuse started slow. It was the Orange’s second straight quarter with only two goals, and the sluggishness persisted until the second half. After pummeling Virginia Tech 16-5 in the regular season, the Hokies (10-8, 3-6 ACC) stayed with Syracuse (16-1, 8-1 ACC) in the second round matchup, but eventually fell 14-11. SU advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, where they will play UNC on Friday. Syracuse faced an early 1-0 deficit
when Delaney Sweitzer made a huge save. VT’s Ella Rishko received a pass in the middle of the zone and sent a hard shot off the turf to short-hop Sweitzer. The SU goalie got a piece of it, just enough to slow the ball to a roll. But it kept going, inching toward the goal line. Right before the ball crossed the white line, Sweitzer dove on it, smothering the ball just in time. The shot was originally ruled a goal, but was overturned on review.
After Sweitzer’s save, Emma Tyrrell got Syracuse on the board two minutes later to tie it 1-1 with 4:37
remaining in the first.
On a free position from Olivia Adamson, the Hokies left early, allowing her space. On the second attempt, she took a few steps forward before passing off to Emma at the top of the zone. Emma crashed the cage hard and scored into the top right, unmarked.
But, apart from man-up or free position opportunities, Syracuse didn’t score once in the first period.
Just before Emma’s score, Meaghan Tyrrell was blocked from point-blank range. Flanking the cage on the right, Meaghan looked for
cutters across the middle. Finding nobody, she took it herself, fighting through contact to the middle of the 8, where the shot was blocked by Virginia Tech’s goalkeeper, Jocelyn Torres.
To start off the second, Torres made another impressive save. Natalie Smith cradled the ball after spinning to collect, throwing her slightly offbalance. Her resulting shot lacked power, and Torres was ready for it, snatching the ball out of the air with her stick raised high. Torres remained efficient
see virginia tech page
As a human role model, there’s nobody better that I’ve ever come across in the girls’ game that represents what you want your daughter to be like more than Jenna Caira.
Todd Martin caira s trainer and mentor
