February 22, 2024

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C • Higher health

Since its peak in 2011, the percentage of undergraduate Pell recipients at SU has decreased by 10 percentage points

By Julia Boehning asst. news editor

In June 2012, a Syracuse University news release emphasized the success of its “aggressive” strategy to increase affordability and economic diversity, highlighting the unprecedented 27% of federal Pell grant-eligible undergraduates that year.

Over a decade later, SU has fallen from being ranked No. 4 among private universities with large endowments in the proportion of undergraduate Pell grant recipients to now sitting below average in the New York Times’s College-Access Index report published in November 2023.

In the College-Access Index — which compiled Pell grant information from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System — NYT reported that SU had tied for 166th in economic diversity across “the 286 most-selective colleges in the country.”

From its 27% peak in 2011, the percentage of undergraduate Pell recipients at SU has decreased by 10 points, according to IPEDS data compiled and

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S • Spallina’s summer

Joey Spallina spent the previous summer in Canada, where he strongly developed as a passer by playing in the country’s premier box lacrosse league.

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Falling behind

Out of the five schools analyzed in central New York, SU was the only institution whose percentage of Pell Grant recipients has repeatedly decreased over the past 10 years

examined by The Daily Orange. National Pell grant data has also reflected a decline, from 40% in 2011 to 32% in 2021, according to NCES.

SU was an “outlier” compared to other private institutions with similar endowments during its early 2010s peak, said Dr. Sandy Baum, a higher education economist and nonresident senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Center on Education Data and Policy.

“One of (SU’s) previous presidents made a huge project of increasing the share of low-

Drop-off

income students, so the share of Pell grant recipients shot way up very quickly,” Baum said. “Syracuse is really unusual in having made an extreme effort to have socio-economic diversity in the past.”

Throughout her nine-year tenure as SU’s chancellor, Nancy Cantor was a proponent of increasing the affordability of the university and connecting it with the broader city. In 2012,

see pell grants page 4 26 24 22 18 16 14 12 10 8 36 34 32 30 28 20 % of Pell Grant eligable SU undergraduate s 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 $ $ $ $ $ $ $

% change in undergrad Pell Grants since 2011

bridget overby presentation director on campus

By Griffin Uribe Brown asst. digital editor

Provost Gretchen Ritter provided an update on the university’s response to recent swatting incidents targeting the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs during Wednesday’s University Senate meeting.

Ritter said that the Department of Public Safety is working with local and federal law enforcement to find who is responsible for Friday’s false bomb threat. DPS has also connected with local colleges, universities and hospitals to discuss protocols for swatting — which she called a “hoax report of a serious criminal incident” — and to guide the university’s response moving forward, she said.

“Thanks to some productive conversations with DPS and other campus stakeholders, this week the university is reviewing and appropriately revising our protocols to align with best practices in law enforcement and communications,” Ritter said.

This semester, there have been three false reports of incidents targeting Maxwell and Eggers Halls: false active shooter threats on Feb. 11 and 12 and a false bomb threat Friday.

At the meeting, the Senate also passed a resolution to merge or rename multiple committees as part of its ongoing “committee reimagining” process. The Agenda Committee discussed expanding its own committee with hopes of adding three more senators and filling all of its remaining student and staff positions.

Following the Agenda Committee’s proposal to expand the committee, meeting attendees raised concerns about the representation of students and university staff within the Senate. They suggested changes to eliminate Senate bylaws that make it “harder” for the Senate to fill its seats. Samuel Gorovitz, a senator on the Academic Affairs Committee, proposed removing the requirement that senators cannot run for a seat unopposed.

“The staff don’t have quite as much discretion over their time (as faculty),” Gorovitz said. “It might be easier to interest staff (in the Senate) if it were a matter of university policy that the supervisors of staff were required to let staff participate and count that during their work time.”

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INSIDE

The best quotes from sources in today’s paper.

NEWS

“The presidents (of universities) are pretty smart people. They’re good at a lot of things, but they don’t know how to print money.”Stephen Katsinas, director of the Educational Policy Center Page 1

CULTURE

“Psychedelic is an adjective, not a noun.” - Megan Nugent, a licensed mental health counselor Page 6

OPINION

“An academic institution should stand for many things. It should be a place to share ideas and conflicting viewpoints.” - The Daily Orange Editorial Board Page 10

SPORTS

“Syracuse already has their brand and recognition, and Le Moyne is trying to get to one of those teams you see routinely in March Madness.” - Nate Champion, Le Moyne men’s basketball head coach Page 12

COMING UP

Noteworthy events this week.

WHAT: Hindu Storytelling through Song and Dance

WHEN: Feb. 23, 5:30 - 7 p.m.

WHERE: Hendricks Chapel

WHAT: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion: Open Skate

WHEN: Feb. 25, 12 - 2 p.m.

WHERE: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion

WHAT: Indigenous Community Climb Night

WHEN: Feb. 26, 8:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

WHERE: Barnes Center at The Arch, 023 Climbing Wall

National California Day

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SULC receives $700,000 to hire more undergraduate tutors

By Faith Bolduc asst. digital editor

Literacy and education have always been important for Syracuse University senior Katie McPeak, who attended school in the Syracuse City School District. Giving back to the community as a student seemed like a “no-brainer” when she started at SU four years ago, which inspired her to become an SU Literacy Corps tutor.

“I’ve benefited (from becoming a tutor) because I have a job that I love and I’m passionate about,” she said. “I go to work excited, and I’m really proud of the work we do as SULC tutors.”

Since September 2021, McPeak has worked as an undergraduate tutor for SULC, a program that connects SU students to the Syracuse community by assigning tutors to the area. SULC tutors primarily work with elementary school students, but also middle and high school students in the SCSD and the greater Syracuse area, according to SU’s website.

The Shaw Center received a $700,000 grant in January from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation — an organization that provides grants to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable New Yorkers — to hire new undergraduate tutors for the SULC.

“This is the largest of the Foundation’s 32 grants to Onondaga County, and we know this program will continue to have a positive impact on students across Syracuse-area schools and improve education and outcomes throughout the region,” MCHF Managing Director of Programs Liza Primeau wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange.

Carla Ramírez, the Shaw Center’s assistant director and the SULC program coordinator, wrote in a statement to the D.O. that the grant will enable SULC to recruit and hire around 100 SU

undergraduate students as tutors in the SCSD and other Syracuse area community organizations.

McPeak said the new grant has allowed the Shaw Center to expand. As of February 2024, the center now has 91 tutors, whereas in the past the center has only had about 30 to 40, she said. The tutors spend nearly 30,000 hours every year giving literacy support, according to SU’s website.

“I’m sure this grant will be beneficial for the community because we now have the capacity to hire and train more tutors. Every school we work with seems to really enjoy having the tutors present in the classroom,” she said. “I’m just so happy that we have it.”

Ramírez wrote she is “confident” that the center will “achieve and exceed” SULC’s threshold of 100 tutors next fall.

Before receiving the grant, Ramírez wrote that SULC could only hire SU undergraduate students with a federal work-study — a federally funded program in the United States that helps students pay for college — which is now no longer a restriction.

With the grant, SULC can now assign tutors to new community organizations the center has wanted to partner with, but never could due to a lack of tutors, Ramírez wrote.

“The more SULC tutors we have, the more school-age youth we can impact in our community. To put it into perspective, last semester we had 17 SULC community partners, this semester we have 22 community partners,” she said.

The grant would also support the tutoring program in hiring 100 new community engagement

service positions, MCHF wrote in the statement.

Ramírez wrote that the SULC program hopes to “impact” as many school-age youth as possible. She said their goal is to help “enhance literacy skills” and close the achievement gap for 1,000 community students in classrooms and afterschool programs.

The Shaw Center is “always looking” to expand, especially by identifying what to improve to adhere best to community needs and goals, she said.

“Being on the lookout for other grants and having access to external funding is something we will work more intentionally moving on,” she said. “As for the research piece, we want to work more intentionally with our partners on and off campus and develop a more accurate data gathering and analysis method of our impact in the community.”

While the SULC wants to create a “large, robust” program, the center also wants it to be effective, Ramírez wrote. She said SULC is a “reciprocal partnership,” meaning they have to be conscious of taking into account the needs and objectives of the organizations they partner with.

“Now that our program has grown, it is important to maintain open communication and collaboration with our partners to ensure our SULC tutors are an aid and not a burden to our community,” Ramírez wrote. “Our goal is maintaining healthy relationships with our partners based on quality and not quantity.”

McPeak said her time as a tutor has been positive, adding that there’s never a day she doesn’t look forward to her shift as a tutor.

“I’m honestly sad that, because I am a senior, this chapter of being a tutor is coming to an end for me,” McPeak said. “I loved having this experience as an undergraduate.”

flbolduc@syr.edu

Peer leaders emphasize mental health for Black students

By Ahna Fleming asst. news editor

Around 15 Black students gathered at 119 Euclid — now the Barner-McDuffie House — Wednesday night for a mental health talk titled “Mind your Matter.” Attendees shared and listened to each others’ stories, participated in activities and learned strategies to live stress-free lives.

The talk was co-hosted by Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and Barnes Center at the Arch. Two Barnes peer educators, Kelvin Boakye and Kayla Turner, led the event, which was specifically intended for Black students.

“It’s really important … to talk about the intersections that come with being a Black student on a college campus; those kinds of stresses within ourselves,” Turner said. “So I think it’s really important for students to have places like this to be able to pour into themselves.”

According to the presentation, about 50% of Black students report they have never received any mental health education prior to college, which is why Turner and Boakye said they held this talk.

Turner and Boakye began their talk with a discussion of intersectionality. When asked, one student attendee defined her understanding of the term as “being a woman, then being a Black woman,” noting that this can apply to any aspect of a person’s identity.

The speakers engaged attendees in an interactive activity to highlight different aspects of their identities. Attendees stood under various posters — which read “race,” “sexual orientation,” “religion,” “education” and more — on the walls of 119 Euclid’s main hall.

Turner and Boakye asked attendees questions related to the various posters like “Which of these identities do you think about on a day-to-day basis?” and “What part of your identity do you believe is the most misunderstood?” Attendees organized

themselves under posters accordingly, explained why they chose to stand under their respective posters and expressed their struggles — or lack thereof — with certain aspects of their identities.

Turner and Boakye wanted students to know the amount of resources available to them at SU, and sought to normalize discussions about mental health. Compared to 61% of white students, 75% of Black students reported that they keep their feelings about the difficulties of college to themselves, according to Turner and Boakye’s presentation.

Turner said peer education presentations are typically “just disseminating information to all students.” Turner and Boakye modified their typical approach, emphasizing their presentation was targeted to Black students specifically.

“Talking about intersectionality and really honing in on points that indicate the stressors that Black students experience differently from other students is really important to be aware of,”

Turner said.

One struggle Boakye and Turner said Black students face is intergenerational trauma and centered the middle of their presentation around this topic.

“When we’re talking about intergenerational trauma, let’s talk about resilience as well. The same way that some of the negative qualities of our parents’ upbringings can be passed on to us, so can positive things like resilience,” Turner said. “I like to think about it like recipes — recipes for being resilient — and being buoyant, especially as Black people … how we bounce back.”

Student attendees shared their experience with intergenerational trauma and how they seek to break its “curses.” In light of the students’ responses, Turner shared a quote she had heard herself once: “Where your parents finished off is your starting point.”

“I feel like … bad habits that were passed down from your parents or effects of your trauma show up in your relationships or friendships, and (in going to therapy or getting professional help) you

work on those issues and it makes you a better person,” one student attendee said.

Boakye and Turner engaged attendees in another activity where they had the opportunity to write down coping, or “thriving,” strategies to keep in mind when they are stressed or feeling down.

“Not everyone responds to those ‘here are the statistics, here are the coping strategies, have a good day’ presentations,” Turner said. “We always try to make these events interactive.”

Each student wrote down five “thriving strategies” and shared a few with the group. Strategies included meditation, exercising and having a good cry. Turner and Boakye intended for students to take home their list of strategies and

look to them in times of need.

Attendees flipped their pieces of paper over and took about 10 minutes to write a letter to comfort their future stressed or depressed selves. When students shared their letters, they received snaps from the group.

Turner and Boakye concluded their presentation by handing out small mirrors and canvases to attendees. Attendees glued mirrors onto the canvases and wrote self-love affirmations. Boakye said he hopes students will look at their crafts every day.

“Having (students) be honest and open, really transparent about the experience that they’re having, is really special,” Turner said. “It makes

Biden-Harris administration cancels $1.2 billion in student loans

By Kendall Luther news editor

Over 150,000 student-loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan will have their debt forgiven, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday.

The Biden-Harris administration will automatically discharge a total of $1.2 billion in loans, according to the White House release. This is the first group of borrowers to

be approved for relief under the SAVE plan’s shortened repayment period, according to the United States Department of Education.

The administration has now approved loan forgiveness for nearly 3.9 million borrowers in its “historic fight” to cancel student debt, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the department’s press release.

“With today’s announcement, we are once again sending a clear message to borrowers who had low balances: if you’ve been paying for a

decade, you’ve done your part, and you deserve relief,” Cardona said.

Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, which replaced the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan in August, received an email from Biden Wednesday stating they are “approved for forgiveness and will not need to take any further action to receive relief,” the department’s release reads. The department wrote that student loan servicers will begin discharging the debt in the coming days.

To receive the relief, borrowers must be enrolled in the SAVE plan, have been in repayment for at least 10 years and have taken out $12,000 or less in loans. Next week, the Department of Education will be contacting borrowers who are eligible for early relief but are not yet enrolled, according to the release.

“As of today, we have approved loan relief for nearly 3.9 million borrowers who were counting see student loans page 4

With the grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the Shaw Center can assign tutors to new community organizations. maxine brackbill photo editor

kayla turner, peer educator at the Barnes Center, discusses strategies with participants of the event. lars jendruschewitz asst. photo editor

she was one of 10 representatives to promote legislation aiming to improve “clarity in student financial aid packages and college costs” at the White House.

Baum said she believes the decrease over the last decade may be the result of a priority shift in SU’s administration. If the university still maintained its 2011 undergraduate Pell grant recipient percentage of 27%, it would have placed within the top quarter in the country, she said.

“I would expect that since they stopped making that top priority, the share of Pell grants would have gone down,” Baum said.

While the Pell percentage is not an infallible method of describing the economic diversity of a school — as international students and some low-income students do not qualify — it is one of the “only true ways” to estimate the “economic conditions” of a given university, Florida Gulf Coast University Professor Dr. F. King Alexander wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange.

Alexander, who has also served as the president of multiple higher education institutions, wrote the decrease in Pell percentage at SU reflects a “lack of commitment” from the university to prioritize economic diversity over institutional prestige.

“(Syracuse should) recommit to their education and forget US News-type rankings,” Alexander wrote in the statement, referencing the US News and World Report’s “Best National University” list.

“The University works tirelessly to assist all incoming students, not only to meet their financial needs but to also ensure they have the tools and resources they need to be successful in obtaining the appropriate financial support,” an SU spokesperson wrote in a statement to The D.O.

Using IPEDS, The D.O. has compiled SU’s undergraduate Pell grant data from 2009 to 2022 to see how the university compares to both similarly-sized private institutions — Boston University, University of Southern California, Loyola University Chicago, Baylor University and University of Miami — and its central New York neighbors — SUNY Cortland, Le Moyne College, SUNY ESF and Ithaca College.

Explaining Pell

Pell grants are a form of federal financial aid provided by the U.S. Department of Education to students who demonstrate “exceptional financial need,” according to the Federal Student Aid website.

To qualify for Pell, students also must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

While the Pell grant program aims to support low-income students, Alexander said the FAFSA form can be a barrier, as only 45% of high school seniors fill it out. In 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act, which goes into effect for the 2024-2o25 application cycle, aims to increase the number of students who will qualify for the aid.

Dr. Stephen Katsinas, director of the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center and professor in its College of Education, said the Pell grant has generally been “on the decline” since 2012 — coinciding with reduction to the federal Pell budget.

In order to accurately measure the economic diversity of schools with high endowments, Katsinas said people must consider any gaps between “endowment, any raising of tuition and percentage of students with Pell grants.”

The Student Life Committee, however, is undergoing an update as part of the committee reimagining process. A tentative new name, “The Student Thriving, Engagement, and Resources Committee,” is part of an effort to better report on different student groups and “not treat students as a monolith,” Reed said.

The Race, Ethnicity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

on the Biden-Harris administration to fix the broken student loan system and provide the forgiveness they earned and have been waiting for,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in the department’s release.

In January, the Biden-Harris administration announced the plan’s “shortened time to forgiveness” component would be accelerated, surpassing its selfimposed deadline by almost six months.

“This action will particularly help community college borrowers, low-income borrowers, and those struggling to repay their loans,” Biden said in a January statement. “It’s part of our ongoing efforts to act as quickly as possible to give more borrowers breathing room

Reversed progress

Out of all the schools analyzed, SU had the greatest negative percent change from 2009-2022

Katsinas said that in contrast with public institutions, private universities like SU rely significantly more heavily on endowments — funds compiled from financial donations to a university — to offer financial aid to lower-income students. The NYT did not classify SU as one of its top “highly-endowed” institutions. For the 2023 fiscal year, SU had a $1.85 billion endowment.

“No one makes the decision to go to Harvard based on getting a Pell grant. They make a decision to go to Harvard based on the financial aid package,” Katsinas said.

The SU spokesperson wrote that the university’s current budget invests a “historic $350 million investment in supporting students” through financial aid, regardless of their “economic means.” This was a 9% increase from the previous budget, they wrote.

“Currently, we meet 96% of demonstrated need with financial aid awards that include Syracuse University scholarships and grants, Federal and State grants, private scholarships and grants, Federal student loans and Federal Work Study,” the spokesperson wrote.

SU and other similarly-sized private institutions

Out of the schools The D.O. analyzed, SU had the third lowest percentage of Pell grant recipients in 2022, the first being Baylor University in Waco, Texas. However, SU has experienced a much sharper decrease within the past ten years than Baylor.

Both Baylor and SU peaked around 2011 to 2012, which was before the federal government’s decreased spending on the Pell program.

UMiami and Baylor had a lower percentage of undergraduate Pell grant recipients than SU, having 16% and 14%, respectively. However, UMiami and Baylor had a much less significant decrease from their respective peaks in the undergraduate proportion of Pell recipients.

Out of all the schools The D.O. analyzed, SU and Baylor were the only schools that have continued to trend downward over the past five to seven years.

Transgender, Queer, and Asexual Justice and Advocacy Committee will also merge as the “Intersectional Equity for Race, Ethnicity, Sexuality, Gender Identity, and Disability Committee” following the earlier resolution, according to the Senate’s slideshow.

Some of the Race, Ethnicity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee’s work so far this semester included hosting conversations around the Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College Supreme Court decision, the renaming of 119 Euclid to “The

“Syracuse University just completed an historic admissions cycle in which the University received more applications than ever before,” the university spokesperson wrote. “Despite the headwinds that face us, such as the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the use of race and ethnicity in admissions and the looming demographic cliff, Syracuse University maintains a commitment to access.”

SU and its neighboring central New York schools

SU’s decrease in Pell recipients also did not reflect its central New York neighbors. All of the schools but SU experienced a relatively consistent Pell grant percentage over the past decade.

In 2022, SU had the lowest percentage of students with a Pell grant out of the five schools The D.O. analyzed. Just under 20% of undergraduates have a Pell grant at Ithaca College, the second lowest percentage among central New York schools The D.O. analyzed.

Typically, public universities like SUNY ESF and Cortland have a greater percentage of Pell granteligible undergraduates than private institutions like SU and Ithaca due to several external factors — such as differences in average endowment amounts and state incentive programs, Katsinas said.

Solutions

Several education economics and policy experts — including Baum, Alexander and Katsinas — highlighted several methods to increase economic diversity and equity of admissions. For public universities, Baum and Katsinas recommended state matching programs that incentivize state universities to offer more aid.

The university spokesperson also wrote that the university is working to help students navigate the changes to FAFSA which went into effect during the 2024-2025 application cycle.

This includes helping students navigate the FAFSA Simplification Act, which seeks to streamline the FAFSA process. The implementation of its sweeping changes have brought challenges such as technical glitches and a delay to the rollout of financial aid.

Barner-McDuffie House” and making members aware of informational sessions regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, said Suzette Meléndez, a senator in the committee.

“We continue to address these challenging topics and how they manifest in our classrooms and across our campus,” Meléndez said.

PJ DiPietro, a senator in the LGBTQA Justice and Advocacy Committee, said merging the two committees will help bring an “intersectional approach to equity.”

Reed later said that the Agenda Committee

“At Syracuse, we’ve proactively addressed these challenges head-on by working to adopt the required changes and mitigate any adverse impacts on our student body,” the university spokesperson wrote.

The spokesperson wrote the university is leveraging data from the College Scholarship Service Profile to provide incoming students with estimated financial aid awards to better ensure transparency and clarity throughout the FAFSA application process. They wrote that the university has prioritized communication with current and prospective students regarding financial aid packages and “impending” changes that may affect the packages.

“By taking these proactive measures, we’re confident that our timeline for returning students will remain largely unaffected, allowing them to focus on their academic pursuits without undue financial stress,” the university spokesperson wrote.

Baum said another method for increasing access to higher education is improving assistance programs for lower-income K-12 students, which in turn better prepares lowincome students for college.

Baum lauded New York state’s Higher Education Opportunity Program, which offers “academic support and financial assistance” programs to students within a certain income bracket, according to SU’s website.

Katsinas said since the country does not fund Pell appropriately, universities need to dedicate more of their budget to promoting equity in admissions.

“The presidents (of universities) are pretty smart people. They’re good at a lot of things, but they don’t know how to print money,” Katsinas said. “If the institution is investing more of its scholarship dollars and need-based aid, they’re probably going to have better results in enrolling low-income students.”

Note: In the dataset, the “year” listed refers to the second half of a given academic year. For example, data from “2009” refers to the 20082009 academic year. jmboehni@syr.edu

intends to vote on a motion for the Women’s Concerns Committee to join the newly merged committee in its March meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the Senate held an “executive session,” which only senators can attend, for the previously re-scheduled Honorary Degree Committee report. The Academic Affairs, Curricula, Honorary Degrees and Student Life committees are on the agenda for the Senate’s next meeting on March 20.

gbrown19@syr.edu

@GriffinUriBrown

so they can get out from under the burden of student loan debt, move on with their lives and pursue their dreams.”

The Biden-Harris Administration plans to hold a session to discuss a proposal to provide loan forgiveness for borrowers experiencing hardship later this week, the release states. The administration is also writing proposed regulations that would increase eligibility for loan forgiveness.

“For too long the system did not work for borrowers, even when they were eligible for loan forgiveness,” Kvaal said. “Today’s announcement shows that President Biden’s commitment to student debt cancellation continues to deliver.”

kaluther@syr.edu @kendallaluther

Trippy Treatment

miranda fournier and lucía santoro-vélez design editor

Psychedelic therapy is slowly growing in popularity and research has skyrocketed. A Syracuse health counselor is looking to utilize it.

By Ahna Fleming asst. news editor

Megan Nugent, a licensed mental health counselor offering traumainformed therapy, has found ketamine to be a helpful tool for her patients to release burdens, find inner peace and live more harmonious lives.

“Pharmaceutical drugs tend to be more like you’re a passive participant … whereas (ketamine-assisted therapy) is very active … It’s much more intentional, where you’re taking it and you have an intention around it, hopefully,” Nugent said. “So it’s helping you to kind of open up and get to the core of what’s causing the stuff.”

While clinical trials and scientific

proliferate across the world, accessible treatments have emerged in Syracuse. Nugent is one of Syracuse’s first to offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy — a practice she began in 2022.

Psychedelics are listed as Schedule I substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration with “no currently accepted medical use.” There are potential dangers, according to The New York Times, as frequent psychedelic use may lead to seizures, hemorrhages or overdependence.

But research shows that psychedelics are useful in treating depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and more. In 2023, psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms,” was legalized in Oregon and Colorado. Australia became the first country in the world to legalize psychedelic drugs to treat mental health conditions.

Psychedelics — besides ketamine — are illegal in New York. Research has increased “drastically” in recent years, said Louis Plourde, who authored a Jan. 22 study on Canada’s social acceptability of psilocybin-assisted therapy. He said Johns Hopkins “propelled” this renaissance in psychedelic research with Roland R. Griffiths’ 2006 study on psilocybin.

“The U.S. is really well-funded. We have a big footprint in the world in terms of mass media consumption,” said Brandon Weiss, a research associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. “We talk about the Psychedelic Renaissance starting with (Griffiths’) paper, but scientists like Franz

see therapy page 7

Art Museum allows attendees to experience art from home

By Sydney Brockington asst.

digital editor

With a digital passport, e-museum attendees can visit different art periods, each unique in style and technique. One may find a print of a multi-toned city skyline, a watercolor portrait resembling the feminine energy of a Hindu goddess or two black and white photographs featuring logging laborers on display in “The Anthropocene” at the Syracuse University Art Museum.

“Greater awareness (and) greater attunement to the ways that we are part of the ecological world we occupy will help us start to better reckon with the ecological change we see around us every single day,” said Kate Holohan, SU Art Museum’s curator of education and academic outreach.

SU Art Museum’s e-museum collection is housed within “The Art, Ecology, and Climate Project” and displays a series of ecological and climatological prints and objects. It’s the most extensive exhibit of

its kind to launch on the museum’s website, leaving viewers with interdisciplinary knowledge about ecology’s various facets.

The e-museums for the project are online galleries on the SU Art Museum’s website that feature nearly 1,000 objects and images.

The e-museums’ sources can be refined by an artist, classification, collection, date and department, making it easy for viewers to explore the digital gallery.

Along with the virtual exhibits, the museum created teaching

guides. The teaching guides feature 15 curated tutorials that demonstrate how to teach ecology and climate through art by focusing on a series of subtopics. The guides include teaching strategies, topic histories, recommended assignments and bibliographies. They were concurrently created with the new e-museums.

“(The) guides prompt people to think more about how the significance of an artwork changes when we consider the ecological histories bound up with the

materials from which it is made,”

Mike Goode, one of the curators of “The Art, Ecology, and Climate Project,” said.

The ecological e-museums are not the first time SU Art Museum has turned to digital art forms. It has conducted e-museums on different prints and paintings, but these e-museums are the first to contain scholarly and interdisciplinary research, Holohan said.

Goode, professor of English and William P. Tolley Distinguished

Trivia event ‘builds family,’ emphasizes inclusion

By Olivia Boyer asst. digital editor

In Slocum Hall’s Marble Room Wednesday, SU students gathered to answer trivia questions about Black architecture. One question asked the percentage of Black designers in the architecture industry. After a series of guesses, the answer was revealed: they make up 2.8% of the architecture industry, a staggeringly low number compared to most answers.

“It’s really important to me as a minority studying architecture that we have organizations like this so that we’re able to gather together and really connect in ways that aren’t always possible because of the way the field is,” said architecture student and trivia winner Alana Mitchell.

Syracuse University students gathered in Slocum Hall’s Marble Room to learn more about Black architecture through a game of trivia, which aimed to educate students about inequalities in the industry. SU’s King + King Architecture Library joined with the SU chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architect Students (NOMAS) to host the event.

The current vice president of NOMAS, Sterling Fitzgerald, joined the club as an apprentice in his first semester at SU. Over the past year, he has earned a leadership position in the club, allowing him to continue building the organization’s future.

“I’ve been able to see droves of different people and interact with all these great and fascinating people with great ideas that don’t get represented in such a big university,” Fitzgerald said.

Nathan Williams, a professor of Architecture and Design at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, founded a chapter of NOMAS while he was a student in the 1990s at Cornell University. Now, he’s a faculty advisor in the SU chapter of the same organization.

“For me, it’s amazing to see generations and the continuance and the growth of the organization, right here,” Williams said.

NOMAS regularly puts on events celebrating multicultural history in architecture. In the field, there’s very little representation of minorities, given the cost of architecture school and overall environment of the field, Mitchell said. Some students don’t even know the minority professionals who excelled in the field, said Barbara Opar, the architectural librarian at SU.

“I think one of my concerns for students is whether it’s NOMAS or Women in Design that people aren’t aware of their history. They’re in the here and now,” Opar said. “A lot came before that, a lot of people played important roles, which made it easier for the people 20, 30 years later because of these pioneers.”

Ana Karen Ahumada, a sophomore architecture student from Mexico City, Mexico, and an organizer for NOMAS, said the event is a fun change of pace from their typical lecture series, allowing students to kick back and relax after a long studio class.

“It reminds me of home,” Ahmuada said. “I love the club because of that, and I also like that we mix architecture into it. I’m not only celebrating my culture but also gaining architecture knowledge.”

In addition to supporting architecture students at SU, NOMAS works to give back to the community. Their outreach events span from design projects to volunteering alongside JMA Wireless Dome, specifically with the South Side Earth Day Cleanup.

NOMAS has a design competition to redesign a large façade in Syracuse that’s been neglected over the years, TK said. The competition also allows

NOMAS members to highlight their skills and prove themselves as architects and community leaders, shedding lights on the organization.

“The biggest thing with having NOMAS is the community. It brings together a lot of great people, especially those who are passionate about the same thing that you are,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s really good to just find that connection, and it builds a family.”

As one of the largest organizations in architecture, the members of NOMAS use the group to uplift each other and highlight the ability of their members, especially at SU, a primarily white institution.

“Black History Month as a whole is very important for educating people. Trivia is just a fun medium to do it through. It brings people together,” Fitzgerald said. “The biggest thing is education.” ogboyer@syr.edu

Our humor columnist on how to survive SU Winter

By Sarah Wells humor columnist

One thing I’ve been focusing on a lot lately is taking care of myself.

I started going to therapy about a month ago and my therapist has totally changed my perspective on the meaning of self-care. For example, I thought it meant falling asleep on the couch while eating handfuls of Goldfish crackers.

Apparently, it does not.

So, if you’re feeling particularly burned out or stressed, here are some self-care methods I’ve come up with!

If I’m feeling angry or perhaps vengeful (we’ve all been there), I like to journal. Not the typical “Oh, I’m so sad,” kind of journaling, though. I like to tap into my inner Megan Thee Stallion and write diss tracks about my enemies in my butterfly notebook.

I mean, what’s stopping me from calling the guy in my psychology class a “broke fool?” Absolutely nothing, that’s what. The best thing about journaling is that it’s for your eyes only, so be as profane as you want.

As anyone will tell you, exercise is a great form of self-care. However, who on earth has time to actually go to the gym? What are you, on vacation? That doesn’t mean you can’t work around your busy schedule, though.

I’ve come up with a couple of different ways to beat the time restrictions that stop us from working out. The first? Running to and from each class. Sure, it may be a little embarrassing at first, but you also gain a sense of mystery. I’m sure people look at me and say, “Why is she running? Is she late for a fancy interview? Or maybe she’s a very young doctor going to the hospital to deliver a baby!” They say being mysterious burns twice as many calories. I’m pretty sure I read that in “Women’s Health.”

Another perk of running to every single place? No one will stop you to ask if you’ll join their bible study.

One of my other favorite forms of exercise is “Just Dance.” Sure, some may say it’s sad for an adult woman to play “Just Dance” alone in her apartment, but I actually think it’s quite empower-

ing. I do only have “Just Dance 2018,” so I’m pretty limited to song selections. But when I get Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” blasting, let’s just say it’s a pretty awesome workout!

A lot of people will tell you that meditation is also a great self-care tool. I hate to break it to you, but I find meditation boring! And hard! Just like my classes! So, like I dropped all of my classes, I’ve decided to also drop meditating. (You can still be a full-time student while taking two credits, right?)

Instead of meditating, I personally like to lay down on my back, take a few deep breaths and then just fantasize about how a first date with all of my celebrity crushes would go. Screw “silencing your thoughts,” I want to imagine how it would go if I

ran into Jeremy Allen White at an airport and he automatically fell in love with me. He would approach me, obviously dressed like he is in his Calvin Klein advertisement, and say, “Wow. You are so beautiful. Tell me, would you like to come to the set of “The Bear” and let me cook you dinner? You look like the kind of girl that would enjoy a hearty Reuben sandwich.”

Naturally, I’d giggle and say, “Only if it comes with a side of you, Jeremy!”

We would then elope.

Believe me, this is not only easier than meditating, but it’s also much more fun. More than anything, self-care should be enjoyable. If you’ll excuse me, I now have to run to my next class (literally). sswells@syr.edu

CONCERTS THIS WEEKEND

The Dollhouse

Oldsoul, Bird Week and Mt. Goose are performing this Saturday at The Dollhouse. Hailing from Boston, Oldsoul has been traveling throughout the northeast playing their expressive rock hits. Local New York band Bird Week released their self-titled debut album “Bird Week” in 2022. Direct message Dollhouse on Instagram for the location and tickets can be purchased at the door.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.

PRICE: $7

Funk ‘n Waffles

Kids That Fly will take center stage this weekend at Funk ‘n Waffles. Created at the University of Connecticut, the band’s four members take inspiration from Connecticut legends such as Rivers Cuomo and MGMT. Tickets for this show are available online.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.

PRICE: $13.07

Middle Ages Brewing Company

Killah Priest, a member of Sunz of Man and an affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan, is set to perform this Saturday at the Middle Ages Brewing Company. The Brooklyn native is also known for his features on Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version” and GZA’s “Liquid Swords.” Tickets for the show are available online.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.

PRICE: $24.90

Westcott Theater

Smells Like Nirvana is set to perform at Westcott Theater Saturday night. The Nirvana tribute band travels nationally playing songs like “Bleach,” “Nevermind” and “In Utero.” The Chicago-based band is made up of self-proclaimed “dire-hard” Nirvana fans. Tickets for the show are available online.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.

PRICE: $25 to $99

The Song & Dance

Metal band Gainer will perform this Friday at The Song & Dance. Gainer released its most recent single, “Let it Bleed,” in October 2023. Don’t miss out on this headbanging performance! Tickets are available for purchase online.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.

PRICE: $19.26

The 443

Simplelife, Corey Paige and Stephen Douglas Wolfe are set to perform at the 443 Social Club this Saturday. Based out of Syracuse, Simplelife is a staple of the social club. Corey Paige is known for songs like “Finishing Touches” and “The Evening News.” Wolfe’s sound is a blend of indie rock and Americana as demonstrated on his album, “Renascent.” Tickets for this trio of performances can be purchased online.

WHEN: Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.

PRICE: $12.45

humor

The National Organization of Minority Architect Students (NOMAS) hosted a trivia event as part of their Black History Month celebrations. lars jendruschewitz asst. photo editor

leah bowman contributing illlustrator

UU to host comedian Joe Gatto this March

By Daily Orange Culture Staff

Joe Gatto will perform in Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium on March 4 at 8:30 p.m., Syracuse University’s University Union announced Wednesday.

After years on the hit television show “Impractical Jokers,” Gatto left the program in 2022 and has performed as a solo artist. On his national tour, “Joe Gatto’s Night of Comedy,” he played at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse on Oct. 5.

Gatto told The Daily Orange in October that he enjoys performing in college towns because he gets to connect with people who watched “Impractical Jokers” growing up. As he adapts to solo performances, he said he wants to emphasize being honest and engaging with the audience.

Gatto also hosts the “Two Cool Moms” podcast and has worked with nonprofit organizations dedicated to anti-bullying and pet adoption.

from page 5

work with psychedelics from the 1980s.”

Weiss is currently part of the leadership team on a trial examining the effect of psilocybin therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. He said more research is happening in 2024 as opposed to 10 or 20 years ago because “the results have been so compelling,” and the subject has recently been “highly publicized” and “invited into the pages of the highest-tier medical journals,” such as Nature Medicine.

“During the psychedelic experience, all these rigidified structures in the brain are lifted for a while. People have a very direct experience of what they are, how they feel, how they relate to the world,” Plourde said. “It’s a very revelatory state of consciousness where you may have lots of ‘eurekas’ and many new perceptions. It’s like a reset in the brain.”

Weiss, Plourde and Nugent all said are necessary.

With 20% of Canadians having a favorable view of legalization of psilocybin for non-medical use, Plourde said his study shows that “people have a positive view of this, but still when it’s within the confines of medical practice.”

assisted therapy for PTSD,” Weiss said. Because Nugent specializes in complex trauma, she said she wants to administer MDMA to clients but can’t because it’s illegal.

from page 5 e-museum

Teaching Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse University, played a major role in curating several aspects of “The Art, Ecology, and Climate Project” and “Assembly” exhibits. Goode’s experiences as a humanities professor sparked his interest in ecology.

“The capacity to think critically about the stories we tell ourselves about ‘nature’ and about humanity’s place in the world can help with this,” Goode said. “And that capacity for critical thinking is what artworks — and what humanities courses — help deliver.”

Edward Morris, artist, co-founder and director of The Canary Lab at SU, and his wife, Susannah Sayler, a professor at SU in the Department of Film and Media Arts, were in charge of artistically directing “Assembly,” one of the virtual exhibits. The two incorporated their work alongside other SU community members into the exhibition.

Louis Plourde author

Eighty-five percent of Canadians believe the public health system should cover the costs of these therapies, Plourde said, because they can become expensive with two therapists and “preparation” and “integration” sessions — which

They took a more “ecological” approach in their artistic expression.

“We thought it would be far more interesting and far more ecological to bring together a number of voices that are not often heard together,” Morris said. “This is more ecological because ecology is all about relations — seeing the world as a function of those relations.”

Goode and Holohan worked together to create the ecological project. The main goal of the teaching guides was to “create resources to help university instructors use art in how they teach ecological and climatological concepts and issues,” Goode said. They hope this project will enlighten viewers about the impact of ecology on the world.

“I hope that is what we can help bring awareness to this idea that we as humans and all of the things that we make, all of the artwork that we make, all of the objects that we make, are part of the ecology of the world that we inhabit,” Holohan said.

sabrocki@syr.edu

Weiss was previously a postdoctoral neuropsychopharmacology fellow at Imperial College London, which he said is “a big research hub for psychedelic study.” He now works in David Yaden’s lab and is involved with a professorship Yaden oversees, which is funded to examine the study of secular spirituality through a scientific lens.” Weiss uses psychedelics as a tool to study that, he said.

Johns Hopkins is also starting a clinic that “may very well be the first to administer MDMA-

Nugent said she knows that anyone who has had a psychedelic experience knows how powerful these “tools” can be. She considers ketamine a psychedelic, though she said this fact is up for debate because it — unlike psilocybin and LSD — is not plant-based or natural.

“The word psychedelic means soul or mindmanifesting. So really, I think really good therapy could be psychedelic,” Nugent said. “Anything that helps you to get to a different level of consciousness or open your awareness. Psychedelic is an adjective, not a noun.”

SU Museum exhibit “Assembly: Syracuse University Voices on Art and Ecology” is being put online as an e-museum. courtesy of syracuse university art museum

cole

It’s a very revelatory state of consciousness where you may have lots of ‘eurekas’ and many new perceptions. It’s like a reset in the brain.

As outside groups look to limit conversations regarding Palestine, academic freedom needs to be prioritized at Syracuse University

The Daily Orange Editorial Board

Earlier this month, The Daily Orange reported on a document sent to the United States House of Representatives that was created by Syracuse University students and parents alleging the university administration is turning “a blind eye to antisemitism.”

The document demonstrated a lack of care necessary for campus conversations surrounding antisemitism both in its inaccuracies and how it defines antisemitic actions.

For this reason, The D.O. didn’t attach the report to its original article. After further consideration, The D.O. decided it is important for the public to have access to this document. It is embedded below with names redacted for safety purposes.

The D.O. reached out to the group who wrote the letter and was directed to a member of The Lawfare Project. After first emailing questions on Feb. 13, they did not respond.

Foremost among The D.O.’s concerns was the misidentification of Renée de Nevers as a professor who described the Israeli Defense Force as “terrorists.” While the document hedges its claim by writing that de Nevers was “believed to be” the professor, documents alleging antisemitism should not be sent to the federal government without complete assurance of their accuracy.

Both The D.O. and an SU spokesperson confirmed de Nevers was not the professor who made the statement.

Within the report itself, there were also several claims that inflated and distorted the magnitude of situations on campus.

In one example, the report refers to students at the School of Architecture writing to Dean Michael Speaks asking him to release a statement “condemning the genocide occurring in Palestine.” The report calls out Speaks’ response to the letter stating his “approval and encouragement of the letter is hostile, discriminatory and antisemitic.”

While the letter did criticize the Israeli government and its military’s actions, The D.O. believes that neither the letter, nor Speaks’ response, was antisemitic. The conflation of antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government is dangerous to academic freedom at SU.

Another example given in the report references a teaching assistant “prominently” displaying a poster and encouraging students to attend a “Protest to End the Gaza Occupation.” The report describes this as an “abuse of power” and an “unwarranted and hostile insistence on adherence to antisemitic views.”

Both assertions are made without an understanding of the dynamic between students and instructors on a college campus. Political posters are often displayed in classrooms and on bulletin boards, and it is not rare for a professor or a teaching assistant to encourage students to attend events.

An academic institution should stand for many things. It should be a place to share ideas and conflicting viewpoints. It should foster conversation and encourage discussion on difficult topics, not hide from them. It should be a space where educators can teach and opine without the fear of being shunned, fired or named in a report sent to the federal government. In order to maintain this, educators must be protected.

The university administration itself has also fostered an environment not conducive to academic freedom. At a University Senate meeting in November, Chancellor Kent Syverud said the administration is placing student safety “over academic freedom and free speech.” These are not mutually exclusive goals. The assertion that one should be placed above the other displays a lack of regard for academic freedom more than anything else.

Concern was also expressed in the report with the university’s offer of a visiting scholar faculty position to Palestinian poet and SU graduate Mosab Abu Toha, who was

previously detained in Israel. Abu Toha wrote in The New Yorker that he was beaten by the Israeli military while detained.

Abu Toha’s offer was through the Scholars at Risk Network, which, according to its mission statement, is “committed to protecting threatened scholars, preventing attacks on higher education, and promoting academic freedom and related values.” It is not a political statement.

The report questioned his hiring, stating that its writers were “curious about the record timing of the poet’s employment offer.” They also wrote that “coupled with the seemingly growing collection of Palestinian-viewpoint faculty, parents and alumni (have become) concerned about the dearth of viewpoint diversity issues and other issues this new hire presented.”

Abu Toha is not the first to be offered a position through the program. SU currently employs Ukrainian visiting professor Tetiana Hranchak, a hiring the report notably does not take issue with.

Part of ensuring academic freedom is maintaining accessibility to diverse worldviews and perspectives. By participating in networks such as Scholars at Risk, academic institutions such as SU develop these viewpoints. It shouldn’t matter what country or region a scholar is coming from.

While saying this, it’s crucial to recognize that there is undoubtedly antisemitism on SU’s campus. Since Oct. 7, there have been three antisemitic bias incidents that were made public, according to the university’s Bias Incident Tracker and Archive report.

One incident reported antisemitic language that was discovered on a desk in Bird Library. Another incident was “reported by residents on the third floor (of Day Hall) who discovered the word ‘Jew’ carved into a door,” according to the Oct. 12 incident report. Concerns over the university’s handling of antisemitism were also one of the driving issues of #NotAgainSU.

While people can disagree regarding the Israel-Hamas war, a difference in ideas should not be labeled as antisemitic as it will only dilute the gravity that legitimate claims of antisemitism deserve.

Instead of sending concerns to the House of Representatives, students and parents alike should engage with the campus community regarding the Israel-Hamas war and concerns of antisemitism, or any other act of hate, at the university.

Academic institutions should be fostering communication within the university culture. These conversations should be happening in the classroom, through public lectures, teach-ins and through the news.

The D.O. hopes to use this Editorial Board as a means to encourage others to contribute to this conversation by sending in Letters to the Editor regarding their thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war and its impact on the Syracuse community.

The Daily Orange Editorial Board serves as the voice of the organization and aims to contribute the perspectives of students to discussions that concern Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse community. The editorial board’s stances are determined by a majority of its members. You can read more about the editorial board here. Are you interested in pitching a topic for the editorial board to discuss? Email opinion@dailyorange.com.

The Daily Orange Editorial Board serves as the voice of the organization and aims to contribute the perspectives of students to discussions that concern Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse community. The editorial board’s stances are determined by a majority of its members. You can read more about the editorial board here. Are you interested in pitching a topic for the editorial board to discuss?

Email opinion@dailyorange.com.

In response to a report sent to the House of Representatives and written by SU parents and students, The Daily Orange believes disagreement should not be defined as antisemitism. The classroom needs to remain a safe place to have difficult discussions. cassandra roshu photo editor

Opponent Preview: Everything to know ahead of Duke

By Cooper Andrews sports editor

Felisha Legette-Jack’s Syracuse squad is riding high. Currently on a five-game winning streak, its trajectory has seen a persistent, steady climb as the campaign has waned on. SU was recently ranked No. 17 in the latest AP Poll — the highest the program has ever been under Legette-Jack.

Now sitting at second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a projected No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Orange enter a crucial late-season stretch which could determine their postseason fate.

SU’s final three regular-season contests begin at home against Duke, a current No. 8 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology. Holding HerHoopStats’ No. 5 defensive rating and No. 17 overall rating in the country, the Blue Devils present a formidable matchup for the Orange.

Here’s everything to know about Duke (16-9, 8-6 ACC) before it battles No. 17 Syracuse (22-4, 12-3 ACC) at the JMA Wireless Dome Thursday:

All-time series

Duke leads 8-3.

Last time they played…

The Orange had an outing to forget on Jan. 22, 2023, when they fell to the then-No. 13 Blue Devils 62-50. An abysmal 23.1% clip from the field in the fourth quarter and a 4-for-18 performance for Dyaisha Fair proved to be the main lowlights behind the loss.

From the end of the second through a large portion of the third, SU went on a 10-minute scoreless drought. It got out to an early lead and sported strong defense, but last year’s group simply lacked enough firepower to deliver consistent upset victories.

“I was like alright, I guess you gotta play tough here,” Spallina said. He returned to the bench, collected himself and scored on his next shift. Spallina then used the next few games to get a feel for the league and its intricacies. Outside of shooting on smaller nets with bigger goalies, Spallina said figuring out how to pick-and-roll in a congested space proved difficult.

But Spallina rarely displayed any growing pains, according to Orangeville head coach Rusty Kruger. Kruger said Spallina’s skillset “speaks for itself,” whether it was his vision or his ability to shoot in small windows. Kruger used to play box with Americans like Casey Powell, Syracuse’s second-all-time leading scorer, yet he said Spallina was at a different level.

“He’s a dynamic player who can get to the net but he can also feed the ball real well and see some floors so it just made the guys around him better,” Kruger said.

Penn State freshman and Orangeville player

the ball into tight windows instead of taking their time.

But as Utah failed to take advantage of a stagnant SU offense, it allowed the Orange to get going. Another Bradbury turnover created a Syracuse break the other way. Billy Dwan fed the ball to Olexo, who fed a streaking Jake Spallina in the middle of the field. Jake proceeded to score his first-ever collegiate goal to put SU up 13-3 in the third.

Though the Utes held the Orange relatively quiet in the third, they struggled to score on their own end. Gait detailed that SU kept Utah to the outside, which gave Mark time to see shots coming from distance. Mark thwarted all 11 of Utah’s shots on goal across the second and third quarters.

“By limiting the quality of shots it really helped. And just playing good team defense,” Gait said. “We clicked there for two quarters.”

forced two UNC turnovers on the perimeter in the set with less than a minute remaining.

“Our numbers are down a little bit,” Autry said postgame. “We can’t afford for Maliq (Brown) and these guys to get into foul trouble. Typically, we play man-to-man and we try to be aggressive. Against Carolina,

The Blue Devils report

This year’s Duke squad — helmed by fourthyear head coach Kara Lawson — is on the doorstep of being in the upper-echelon of an uber-talented ACC. It lacks a true star, yet displays some of the best all-around basketball in the conference.

Four Blue Devils average at least nine points per game, meshing together for a team that scores 69.8 points a contest (94th in Division I) and shoots a lethal 45.1% from the field (37th in D-I). They’re even better defensively, allowing the fewest points per game in the ACC at just 58.3. Duke’s defense holds opponents to 37.7% from 2-point range — the second-worst mark in the country.

Though, the Blue Devils lack signature wins to show for it. Other than a 42-point drubbing of then-No. 23 Florida State in January, Duke has gone winless against the remainder of ranked teams it’s faced in 2023-24.

How Syracuse beats Duke

An elite offense versus an elite defense. Something has to give. SU will need to utilize its floor spacing — which gave Virginia trouble in the Orange’s previous victory — to set itself apart from Duke.

Syracuse can’t rely on penetrating the lane against a team that stuffs its opponents inside the arc. Though, it can take advantage of the Blue Devils from behind the arc. Duke lets its opponents make 3s at a 33.2% rate, one of the worst marks in the country, according to HerHoopStats. Fair may draw double teams often, yet if she can spread the ball to a red-hot Georgia Woolley (who has scored 50 points through her last two games) it could make all the difference to defeating Duke.

This matchup warrants an opportunity for SU to get its bigs involved along the

Liam Matthews said Spallina got more comfortable as each game passed. Beyond scoring, Spallina’s vision became noticeably better. Matthews said Spallina can see people before they even know they’re open and often found players on cuts to the middle of the field.

But the most impressive thing to Matthews was that Spallina embraced the “box culture.”

As opponents tried to get in his head, it often ended with Spallina putting “three goals down their throat,” promptly ending the shenanigans, Matthews said.

In game two of Orangeville’s series against Burlington Blaze in the Ontario Provincial final, Matthews remembered a defender who chirped Spallina all game. Later on, Spallina got the best of him on a goal and proceeded to talk back in his direction.

“It was really refreshing that he just shows how much passion he has, even if it’s box lacrosse,” Matthews said.

There was a clear difference when Spallina returned to the field game for fall ball. Joe said he became “immune to contact” because of the difference in physicality. Spallina said the game slowed down for him.

Jordan Hyde finally broke Utah’s 34-minute drought early in the fourth with back-toback goals to get Utah within eight. But just as the Utes tried sneaking back, SU answered. Kohn won the ensuing faceoff and dished to Spallina for his third goal of the day to put Syracuse up 14-5.

To put the icing on the cake, Mulé corralled a rebound after Sam English’s shot was deflected. Mulé quickly whipped a behind-the-back finish for his second of the game and SU’s final goal.

Even with the lethargic display throughout portions of the game, Syracuse once again flexed its muscle. Each game of SU’s wins have been straight forward against teams it should beat. Now, it comes down to whether the Orange can win the big game.

“We know we have the scores to win the game, we have a defense to win games and we’re just you know, getting out of our mind as fast as possible,” Mark said.

zakwolf784254@gmail.com

@ZakWolf22

obviously their size inside the first game, they really took it to us the first time. So I thought the zone was the best way to go this second time.”

Against Georgia Tech, an opponent that Syracuse used zone significantly against, Brown fouled out, forcing Hima to check in for less than a minute. Similarly, Copeland fouled out but the Yellow Jackets had sealed the win by then.

Following a 12-point loss to the Blue Devils last season, No. 17 Syracuse looks to defeat Duke for the first time under Felisha Legette-Jack. arnav pokhrel staff photographer

perimeter, namely Alyssa Latham and Izabel Varejão, who both have ability to shoot from range. Effectively spacing the floor and draining 3s will be key for Syracuse to avoid an upset loss.

Stat to know: 6.4 blocks per game

Rarely have the Orange faced a side that poses a greater threat at rejecting shots than the Blue Devils do. Duke ranks No. 2 in the nation in blocks with 6.4 per game as a team, according to HerHoopStats. Jadyn Donovan, Camilla Emsbo and Kennedy Brown all have swatted 30 shots or more this season, while only one SU player (Latham) has more than 30.

Teammates started to take note of Spallina’s growth. Deere said guys joked about how Spallina “finally learned how to pass.” In response, Spallina cracked a smile and said they’re just busting his chops — quick to point out that most seasons he’s played lacrosse he’s had more assists than goals.

“Box has only helped my passing game, being able to throw skips and find open guys within the zone that defenses are running and so it’s helped me in just so many different ways,” Spallina said.

But it was one thing for Spallina to say his passing improved. He needed to prove it.

In Syracuse’s season opener in 2023 against Vermont, Spallina’s 1-for-15 shooting performance left much to be desired. In the 2024 opener, Spallina got another crack at the Catamounts. Before the game, he took a deep breath to calm himself and loosened the grip on his stick. He told himself to do what he does best and play his game.

The result was a four-assist performance — something Spallina accomplished just twice as a freshman — in a dominant 20-7 victory.

When Vermont head coach Chris Feifs was

Player to watch: Oluchi Okananwa, guard, No. 5

One of the best players on the court Thursday will come off the bench. Duke freshman guard Oluchi Okananwa has been key to its success thus far in her debut season, dropping more than 10 points per game while leading the Blue Devils in rebounds per game (6.6).

The 5-foot-10 Okananwa has a deep skill set, as she’s garnered the most steals for Duke this season (1.6 per game) and touts a 37.3% clip from 3-point range. She plays aggressive defense and shoots 3s nearly as accurately as Fair does. Okananwa could be a grave challenge for SU’s depth to contend with. ccandrew@syr.edu

asked postgame about the difference between Spallina in year two his answer was simple: he moved the ball. Feifs said Spallina was more of a “ball-dominant dodger” in 2023 who tried to beat defenders one-on-one. In 2024, the ball wasn’t glued to Spallina’s stick and it garnered instant offensive results.

“That shows just how playing box over the summer and going through a full season of Division I lacrosse starting as a freshman has developed is his game,” Feifs said.

Two days later, Spallina tied his careerhigh with five assists in a win over Colgate. The same week against Manhattan, Spallina set his new career-high with seven assists and was the first SU player to hit the 10-point mark since Ryan Powell in 2000.

Spallina’s success has been no secret in 2024. His natural skill combined with his added box intangibles from this summer have transformed him into one of the best allaround attacks in the country.

“If I have anything to say to young kids, it’s go play box lacrosse,” Spallina said.

zakwolf784254@gmail.com @ZakWolf22

GT head coach Damon Stoudamire said his team didn’t do “a great job at times” against the zone. They were limited to 65 points, while Syracuse notched 12 steals and forced 17 turnovers, but failed to back it up offensively. Autry said he chose to use zone to avoid players picking up too many fouls, but noted the Yellow Jackets’ spacing and ability to attack the gaps. It’s an adjustment he knows

his team has to make approaching the final stretch of the regular season.

“Zone is just something we’re going to have to play just because of our numbers,” Autry said following the game against Georgia Tech. “Our man-to-man, we can’t be as aggressive as we were in the beginning of the year with our numbers down.”

colebambini@gmail.com

@ColeBambini

Despite committing 18 turnovers against Utah, No. 6 Syracuse held the Utes scoreless for 35 minutes in an 18-7 victory. courtesy of su athletics

Le Moyne exceeding expectations in 1st-ever D-I season

By Adam McCaffery staff writer

When the idea to play Le Moyne College’s men’s basketball was brought up to Villanova, Robert Depersia, who has two sons on the Wildcats coaching staff, said players initially thought it was scheduling a French professional team.

Le Moyne is not located in France, but the school located five miles from Syracuse’s campus is foreign to Division I athletics. In May 2023, it was announced the Dolphins were making the jump to college sports’ top division as part of the Northeast Conference.

Mike Depersia, a fifth-year senior at Le Moyne and Robert Depersia’s third son, helped connect the two schools to set up the game. Le Moyne hung around for the first 10 minutes of the contest but struggled to keep pace with one of the most historic programs in college basketball, losing 83-57.

Despite the loss, it was a beneficial experience for Le Moyne, Head Coach Nate Champion said. Playing Villanova helped fund the basketball program at a sum it couldn’t find in Division II. It also was nationally broadcasted on FS1.

Heading into their first-ever season in D-I, the Dolphins were predicted to finish last in the NEC, but have thrived in unique circumstances under Champion, 32, the second youngest head coach in D-I men’s basketball. Le Moyne is tied for third place in the conference and is positioned to make a run in the NEC Tournament.

“Come check us out,” Champion said. “We play a fun brand of basketball and we play hard. Coming here to Ted Grant Court, there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

A 12-minute drive from the JMA Wireless Dome sits a much smaller, personable basketball arena. Henninger Athletic Center holds approximately 2,300 people and has seats on 3-of-4 sides of the court. Draping the walls behind each basket are all of Le Moyne’s past NCAA championship banners and tournament appearances.

The only difference from last year, though, is the NEC logo layered across the gym. On the walls, above the free throw line and on the basket padding sits the black and blue conference logo. Nine banners for each team in the NEC are raised in the back corner of the gym.

Prior to May 2023, there had been whispers of Le Moyne preparing to move to D-I. The process was extensive, and both the NEC and Le Moyne needed to make sure it was the right fit. Le

men’s basketball

Moyne wasn’t just sending its men’s basketball program up a level, it was upgrading all 21 of its sports teams.

“They’ve certainly shown that they can compete at this level,” said NEC commissioner Noreen Morris. “It’s just a matter of putting it together day in and day out and that’s the hard part.”

With Name, Image and Likeness and a modern recruiting landscape, the transition was already going to prove to be a challenge. But because the announcement was made so late, the men’s basketball roster was cemented before the switch to D-I.

Champion had never coached a D-1 game until this year. Much of his staff — made up of Ben Swank, Ben Marrello, Antwan Ballinger, and Anton Vrebac — are all younger and less experienced than he is. Yet, Champion appeared calm and collected on the sidelines during the team’s win over Central Connecticut State on Feb. 15 — masking his intensity and focus that has helped steer his team toward an NEC Tournament berth.

To help his staff, Champion added assistant coach Jamie Young, who has over 20 years of experience coaching in the NBA with the Celtics. Champion also solidified his roster with eight new players, a mix of high school recruits and transfers. In total, only four players had some level of Division I experience before the season, and seven of the 15 players are coming straight off a season playing in D-II.

Regardless of where each player came from, the camaraderie at the team’s practice Monday was evident. The players relentlessly competed in live drills, each with their own chip on their shoulder to help propel Le Moyne.

“A lot of these guys were overlooked by schools that we’re playing,” Champion said. “Our guys have really embraced the challenges that have come along with the year.”

After beating Central Connecticut State — which was tied for first place in the conference at the time — on Feb. 15, the Dolphins sit fifth in the NEC with four games left on their schedule.

To start against the Blue Devils, the gym was about a third full. The room was quiet outside of the game being played and incoming fans’ shoes squeaking on the court as they walked to their seats. Yet, as the game progressed, the Le Moyne spectators began to show more passion as the Dolphins began to overtake the Blue Devils.

After the victory, the public address announcer informed the crowd that Le Moyne was eligible for the NEC Tournament.

Excitement for Le Moyne men’s basketball is slowly growing. Quality opponents that Le Moyne played on the road this year, such as Army and Binghamton, will come to Henninger next season. While the Orange and the Dolphins have previously played in exhibition games, there

have been talks about the two meeting for an official in-season game, according to Le Moyne assistant athletics director Craig Lane.

“It could be a really cool rivalry,” Champion said. “For us, we have to continue to build Le Moyne. Syracuse already has their brand and recognition, and Le Moyne is trying to get to one of those teams you see routinely in March Madness.”

amccaffe@syr.edu

Syracuse’s depth issues have warranted increased use of 2-3 zone

By Cole Bambini senior staff writer

During Syracuse’s media day in October, head coach Adrian Autry preached his team’s depth. He knew SU — at the time — had versatility on both ends of the ball, and Autry said he would play more than six or seven guys, a trend away from his predecessor, Jim Boeheim.

Months later, Autry’s now facing the situation he once hoped to avoid. Season-ending injuries to Chance Westry and Naheem McLeod, the dismissal of Benny Williams and the day-to-day status of Peter Carey following his concussion have stripped the Orange of their depth. Now, Syracuse (17-10, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) is seeing the effects of its limited lineup with more use of the 2-3 zone and adjusting to foul trouble.

“It’s different,” Justin Taylor said of playing six or seven players after SU’s loss to Clemson on Feb. 10. “Losing Naheem (McLeod) definitely hurt. It’s our job just to be better conditioned. Be ready to go all 40 minutes and try not to get tired obviously. It’s hard when you’re going up and down like that.”

In three consecutive games versus Louisville, Clemson and UNC from Feb. 7-13, Syracuse only played seven players — Mounir Hima and Carey, who’s been out since the Clemson game, played less than six minutes in each game. In SU’s most recent two games versus Georgia Tech and NC State, Autry played eight and similarly, Hima played six minutes or less.

The last time Syracuse played with nine players or more was against Wake Forest on Feb. 3, when it lost by 29. It marked Williams’ final game and Kyle Cuffe Jr. ‘s last appearance before returning two weeks later in SU’s loss at Georgia Tech on Feb. 17.

Autry said on Feb. 10 that it was a “coach’s decision” not to play Williams versus Louisville and Clemson. At the weekly ACC coaches call on Feb. 12, Autry said it was “always the plan” to get Cuffe Jr. back on the floor. The decision not to play him put more responsibility on the backcourt duo of Judah Mintz and J.J. Starling.

“We need it,” Autry said of playing Cuffe Jr. “We’re down on bodies and these guys are logging a lot of minutes. As we get toward this final stretch, I want guys as fresh as possible, so I will definitely have to get him in there.”

As for the frontcourt, Autry wants to stick with Carey and McLeod, while maintaining Will Patterson’s redshirt and trusting Hima. It puts more faith in Maliq Brown to stay out of foul trouble, subsequently changing the Orange’s defensive scheme in recent outings.

More noticeably in SU’s down to the wire win over Louisville and upset over then-No. 7

UNC, Syracuse deployed the zone, playing just seven players.

Autry said the Louisville game on Feb. 7 was the first time the Orange played that much zone, and felt it wasn’t as up to “par” as it could’ve been. Autry said the Cardinals were a strong team inside, and he, Quadir Copeland and Starling said they wanted them to shoot from the perimeter.

It was similar to the win over the Tar Heels six days later, when Syracuse used zone often and Autry said it was the factor that pulled off the upset. UNC often tried to get Armando Bacot

in the post against Brown, but would elect to kick it out for 3 because of strong post defense. UNC made 12 3-pointers, but forcing the ball out reduced inside

potential fouls and allowed Syracuse to play with both Brown and Copeland on the floor.

In the Jan. 13 meeting, when UNC handed Syracuse — using mostly man defense — its worst-ever ACC loss, the Tar Heels scored a season-high 58 points in the paint. In the rematch, Autry elected to keep Syracuse in the zone and UNC scored just 32 points in the paint. Copeland see depth page 10

Le Moyne men’s basketball was picked to finish last in the NEC in its first D-I season, but have since clinched a spot in the conference tournament. jacob halsema staff photographer

shots,

In recent outings, Adrian Autry has utilized a six- or seven-man lineup because of limited depth with injuries to Naheem McLeod and Peter Carey, among others. ryan jermyn staff photographer

CANADIAN

men’s lacrosse

CRAFT

Joey Spallina’s summer playing box lacrosse made him a more complete attack

By Zak Wolf asst. sports editor

The first thing Trey Deere taught Joey Spallina this summer was how to fight. Playing for the Orangeville Northmen as one of a few American players in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League — Canada’s premier box lacrosse league — and a highly touted college prospect, Spallina had a target on his back.

In a league known for its physicality, Spallina desperately needed the lesson as opposing players cross checked him, tugging his jersey off the ball and grabbing his facemask to get under his skin. But whatever they tried didn’t work. He racked up 148 points — the most ever by an American in the OJLL — earning league-wide respect by the end of the summer.

“Not many guys put up 100 points this year and for him playing in the OJLL for the first time putting up 100 points, it was definitely something special,” Deere said.

After winning Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year, Spallina took his talents up north to play in the OJLL. He honed in on his skills by playing in tight spaces and gained a deeper understanding of his Syracuse teammates, many of whom have box lacrosse backgrounds. Spallina’s already seen the benefits in 2024, recording 22 assists through five games after dishing 32 across 15 games in 2023.

Box lacrosse’s physicality sparked Spallina’s interest from a young age, leading him to play on Long Island and across the tri-state area growing up, his father Joe — who played box growing up — said.

When Nick Rose, the General Manager of the Northmen, approached Spallina in 2022 about an opportunity to play for Oran -

geville, he chomped at the bit. Spallina decided not to play before his freshman season at Syracuse, but he kept the idea in the back of his mind.

While at SU, Spallina’s teammates, including Finn Thomson and Owen Hiltz, grew up around box lacrosse. Spallina wanted to put himself in their shoes. His decision to play in Canada was a no-brainer once he reconnected with Rose at the start of 2023.

“That was part of my reason for going up there,” Spallina said. “Just to kind of get a little bit of a better idea of what they see on the field.”

Rather than field lacrosse, box is played in a much smaller area. The tight quarters with smaller goals call for quicker decisions and more precise shots, along with an increased physi-

148

Joey Spallina’s summer point total with the Orangeville Northmen

cality due to less restrictive rules.

Spallina’s experienced pressure before. He came into Syracuse as the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class and SU’s new No. 22. But nothing could’ve prepared Spallina for the OJLL. He swapped the turf at the JMA Wireless Dome for 100-degree barns filled to the brim with passionate fans. When Joe visited Spallina this summer, he described the atmosphere as “wild” and said the “whole town shuts down for games.”

Similar to his dad, Spallina quickly found out what box was all about. In his first-ever shift against the Toronto Beaches, Spallina said he “got laid out” trying to cross the crease. No flag came his way.

see spallina page 10

No. 6 Syracuse’s staunch defense leads to 18-7 win over Utah

By Zak Wolf asst. sports editor

A controversial ending against No. 4 Maryland left Syracuse wondering what could’ve been. It had a chance for a marquee win to spark a program stuck in mediocrity the past two seasons. But the Orange fell short.

The question was, how would the Orange respond?

The answer was a sloppy albeit comfortable 18-7 win over Utah (0-3, Atlantic Sun). As it did in the first three games, No. 6 Syracuse (4-1, Atlantic Coast Conference) took care of business without much of a challenge. Led by a 14-of-18 effort at the faceoff X from Mason Kohn, SU’s offense put up at least 17 goals for the fourth time this season. And despite 18 turnovers,

the Orange held Utah scoreless for 34 minutes while Will Mark registered a season-high 14 saves.

Syracuse’s defense propped up its offense as it went through droughts. SU went five minutes without a goal across the first and second quarters as well as an over 10-minute scoreless streak in the second half.

When making his opening statement at the postgame press conference, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait was less than thrilled. He said Syracuse “got the job done.” Nothing more, nothing less.

And even though the defense held an opponent to single digits for the fourth time this season, Mark was quick to point out SU’S lethargic start.

Tyler Bradbury put Utah ahead three minutes in and though the Orange

responded with two quick goals, Cody Hart tied the game at 2-2 with 8:32 left in the first.

Mark said Syracuse has all the tools to be great, especially on defense, but it needs to stick to the game plan from the start.

“Sometimes it takes a little slap in the face to kind of get going,” Mark said. “What we need to do defensively is come out a little bit harder and stronger and stick to the game plan a little bit earlier instead of waiting for something to happen.”

After a tough start, Syracuse found its rhythm. First, Christian Mulé cut around from X to finish off the post as SU led 3-2. Then, Joey Spallina found Owen Hiltz cutting in front of the net before Saam Olexo ripped one past Colin Lenskold in transition.

Then, the Orange used some trickery to cap off the first. Finn Thomson controlled the ball along the near sideline and acted as if he handed the ball off to Hiltz, who then wandered toward the net. But Utah didn’t realize Thomson still had the ball at the top of the defensive zone before scoring to put Syracuse up 7-3. Turnovers, combined with illadvised shots, culminated in a sixminute scoring drought for SU. But the Orange held Utah scoreless for the final 18 minutes of the first half and eventually Syracuse capitalized. An errant pass from Lenskold — one of 12 first-half turnovers for the Utes — was picked up by Thomson. He found Spallina wide-open in the middle of the field for an easy finish. Thomson returned the favor two min-

utes later as Spallina flashed to the middle for SU’s fourth straight goal.

But Syracuse’s bad habits started to creep back in. Each time down the field, it was one and done. Four consecutive shots on separate possessions were denied before Spallina took matters into his own hands. He patiently waited at X for players to get free, but nobody did. Instead, Spallina cut around the cage, initiated contact with his defender and scored low to break a nearly sevenminute scoring drought.

For Syracuse’s offense to click, Spallina said everyone needs to be on the same page. He was quick to point out his game-high four turnovers and said sometimes SU likes to take the “rat poison” by forcing see utah page 10

To hone in on his skills, Joey Spallina spent the offseason playing in the OJLL, the premier junior box lacrosse league in Canada. joe zhao asst. photo editor