thursday, feb. 6, 2025
N • Local takeover
After four decades of family ownership, J. Michael Shoes’ ownership is changing, leaving the city to remember its local charm.
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celebrating 121 years
C • Winter wonderland
Syracuse Winter Fair is an opportunity for locals and out-of-towners to experience summertime fun in the dead of winter.
Haudenosaunee pushes to compete in lacrosse, a sport they invented, at 2028 Olympics
free
S • Devil domination
Syracuse suffered its worst loss of the season Wednesday, falling 83-54 to No. 2 Duke. The Orange turned the ball over 14 times.
Page 16
By Cooper Andrews managing editor
Photos Courtesy of Haudenosaunee Nationals
Boys born in Haudenosaunee country grow to be one of three types of men: a speaker of their clan’s language, a singer of their songs, or a lacrosse player. For someone like 58-yearold Rex Lyons, a member of the Onondaga Nation’s Eel Clan, the sport is a fundamental right. A hickory lacrosse stick was placed into his hands out of the womb, and he will be buried with one in his grasp.
Rex was a part of the first Haudenosaunee Nationals lacrosse team in 1983. His father, Oren Lyons, is a lacrosse legend — formerly an All-American at Syracuse University in the 1950s who’s credited with forming the first official Haude-
By Delia Rangel asst. news editor
In a special faculty meeting in April, 215 faculty members across Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs voted on revisions to a new proposed Liberal Arts Core curriculum. Seventy percent of faculty in attendance voted to adopt the revised version, which included a foreign language requirement for students.
nosaunee team. Lacrosse flows in the Lyons’ blood. It’s why Rex does everything he can to help people today understand the sport’s origins. Because, Rex said, not many people do.
Under current rules, the Haudenosaunee — who invented lacrosse — are not permitted to compete in the sport they consider a sacred tradition under their own flag at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We’re not going to go there as a gesture,” said Rex, a board member of the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Team. “We should be there under our own flag, standing shoulder to shoulder. Not subservient, not playing in an exhibition game and getting a pat on the head. No, no, no. That’s not inclusion. That’s exploitation.”
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an Indigenous group whose territory extends throughout parts of New York, Ontario and Quebec, created lacrosse around 1100 A.D.
On Nov. 4, A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi and Maxwell Dean David Van Slyke informed faculty via email that they would override the vote without further consultation with faculty.
Faculty have expressed significant concern about the deans’ decision and its lack of compliance with the A&S and Maxwell Bylaws. The deans cited financial and other university resources in their decision to override.
“After thoroughly analyzing
the financial feasibility of such a requirement, including required hiring, classroom availability, workload for the faculty, sustainability and ensuring our students graduate on time — the decision has been made to proceed with the new LAC without a language requirement,” Mortazavi and Van Slyke’s email, obtained by The Daily Orange, states.
Eleven faculty members helped create a petition nearly two weeks
It’s the oldest organized sport in North America. In 2023, the International Olympic Committee approved lacrosse’s return to the summer games for the first time since 1908. Yet, the sport’s creators may not be allowed to participate.
The Haudenosaunee are advocating for special approval from the IOC, which would grant them sovereign nation representation and the chance to play lacrosse at the next Olympic Games. On Jan. 17, the United States and Canada submitted a joint statement calling on the IOC to admit the Haudenosaunee.
But, as multiple Haudenosaunee citizens agreed, statements only mean so much. They still face an uphill battle amid a crucial calendar year that could determine their Olympic eligibility — which they say would be a major milestone in securing status as a sovereign nation.
see haudenosaunee page 13
ago urging Mortazavi and Van Slyke to work collaboratively with the CAS/MAX Curriculum Committee to revise and delay the implementation of the LAC by one year. The D.O. obtained the petition, which over 220 faculty members across the university have now signed. Currently, the new LAC is set to launch in the fall 2025 semester. The petition warns of the “dangerous precedent” Mortazavi and Van Slyke’s actions set.
“It really is a disregard of faculty voice and a refusal to collaborate, at a time when it’s absolutely essential that we in higher education unify because we are under assault and that’s going to be getting worse over the next four years,” Harvey Teres, a humanities professor involved in the petition’s creation, said. “We have to work together, and it’s not a time for the administration to be defying the faculty.”
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The forecast for this upcoming week, per The Weather Channel.
Noteworthy events this week.
WHAT: Afropreneurship Celebration & Business Competition
WHEN: Friday, 12-2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Bird Library, Room 114
WHAT: Chinese New Year Celebration
WHEN: Friday, 5:30 - 9:30 p.m.
WHERE: Schine Student Center, Goldstein Auditorium
WHAT: Family Feud Showdown: Battle of the Student Stars
WHEN: Saturday, 5-7 p.m.
WHERE: White Hall, Grant Auditorium
By Tara Binte Sharil staff writer
After more than four decades on Marshall Street, J. Michael Shoes is undergoing an ownership change. In Dec. 2024, StreeTgame, a sneaker store with multiple locations across upstate New York, took over the business, marking the end of generations of local ownership.
The transition has left many longtime customers and staff reminiscing on the cozy, welcoming atmosphere that has defined the store since it opened in the 1980s. Despite the change, J. Michael employees said they’re working to maintain its close-knit identity while catering to a broader community across Syracuse.
Under new management, the store will add new employees to its staff and seek to increase their sales to Gen Z customers, sales associate Ava Bartholomew said.
Despite already offering a wide range of popular brands, the store has always strived to balance offering mainstream items with maintaining the feel of a family business, store manager Colin Smith said. Though the change was expected, it was still disheartening, especially to Smith, who grew up with the store.
“There is a lot of devastation. I’m not going to lie, I did shed a lot of tears with many good customers,” Smith said. “But it was honestly inevitable with Mr. Vavalo getting up there in age.”
John Valvalo opened the shoe store in 1983 as a cornerstone for local style that blended both comfort and vintage styles.
This change in ownership was especially difficult for Smith, as his family has managed the
store for generations. His grandfather, James Hicks, became general manager in the mid1980s shortly after working in Vavalo’s previous storefront, Townsend Shoe Store. In 1998, Hicks’ nephew Erik took over as general manager. In the months following the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith became the latest representative on the Hicks-Smith management line.
They make anyone who enters the store feel like family, and they’ll do anything for you...They’re a staple, and everyone knows them.
Matt Robinson varsity pizza manager
Bartholomew, who has worked at the store for the past year and a half, said her favorite part of working at the store is interacting with customers and alumni from all over the world.
As she witnessed the change in ownership, Bartholomew said the familial feel of the store that attracts many customers has begun to fade and affected the store’s clientele.
“A really difficult part about it was when customers would come in and ask if Erik was in
today, and I have to explain that he’s not coming,” Bartholomew said. “We’ve had a few people say they didn’t know if they’re going to come back because they knew Erik, James and John so well.”
Since its opening, Smith said J. Michael Shoes has always felt like his family’s store. From Vavalo naming the store after his son, John Michael, to the business’s warm customer service, Smith has always felt at home at the store.
Smith also credited Vavalo for teaching his family the trade, and said, although he isn’t technically related, Vavalo’s decades spent working alongside the Hicks-Smith family has made them feel like relatives.
“I would come in here and get paid to do what I love. I still love what I do, don’t get me wrong, but the people that were with me made everything feel so much easier,” Smith said.
The familial atmosphere has extended beyond the store. As the manager of fellow Marshall Street business Varsity Pizza, Matt Robinson has seen how the store has impacted the Syracuse community over the years.
“They make anyone who enters the store feel like family, and they’ll do anything for you,” Robinson said. “If they don’t have what you’re looking for in store, they’ll order it online for you. They’re a staple, and everyone knows them.”
As manager of one of the oldest establishments on the street, Robinson has seen many larger companies take over local businesses. Though J. Michael Shoes is the latest to follow this trend, the decision to keep the store’s name while implementing a new structure has allowed it to retain its identity, Robinson said.
While the ownership shift is pushing the store into unfamiliar territory, Smith said the change is also exciting. StreeTgame’s new ownership will infuse its edgy, streetwear style clothing and shoes into J. Michael Shoes’ current style, he said. By the end of spring, Smith hopes the store will finalize a refined curation of brands.
There is a lot of devastation. I’m not going to lie, I did shed a lot of tears with many good customers.
Colin Smith j. michael store manager
As J. Michael’s original iteration comes to a close, Smith reflected on the countless treasured memories from his time at the store. From his first days at work as a teenager to building lifelong connections with customers as an adult, these memories serve as reminders of the family he’s surrounded himself with over the years.
“I’ve walked through those doors and grew up in this industry ever since I was a little kid, almost 25 years ago,” Smith said. “There is no feeling like stepping on the bricks of M street.” aclevitt@syr.edu
Story by Irene Lekakis asst. culture editor
Four bored Cornell University students
– Leah Simon, Anna Wood, Stephanie Tannen and Alexandria Shumway –spent their Friday traveling to Syracuse’s Winter Fair. The girls were grateful for a break from their studies and the welcoming environment of the fair.
“We wanted to get out of Ithaca and go to somewhere fun,” Shumway said while the other girls laughed.
With a lull of activities in upstate New York’s harsh winter, attendees of Syracuse’s Winter Fair appreciated the few days of the weekend where they got to pretend it was summer. Attendees at the fair sparked conversations with vendors, friends and families, sharing in everything the fair had to offer.
Children dueled with balloon swords and people danced below the stage while a performer played a trumpet. Attendees ate fried foods of all kinds — including a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich — and people lined up for the fair’s famous Pizze Fritte, what organizer Steve Becker called a “highlight” of the event.
Becker is no stranger to event planning. He launched his company, Premier Promo-
tions, in 1977 and produced events in the upstate region, including Binghamton, Rochester and Syracuse, ever since. In Syracuse, he has organized jazz concerts and wine festivals.
In 2018, he thought of the idea for the winter fair and pitched it to the fair director, who needed events to hold in the newly built exposition center. They’ve held it there ever since. Through his work in the area, Becker got in touch with many of the vendors for the fair. Once the fair got bigger, people from other states would call Becker asking to table at the event. Now, he regularly gathers around 120 vendors year after year and the majority of them return.
The four Cornell students noticed the family-friendly atmosphere and appreciated the community in Syracuse, one they aren’t familiar with. Tannen said she was particularly fond of the local booths and the items vendors hand crafted.
“It’s nice that they have a fair that’s indoors in the winter time because usually there isn’t much to do in the winter,” Simon said.
On Sunday, the fair honored the first day of Black History Month with gospel and R&B performers and fashion shows. Van Robinson’s Pan African Village showcased African music and Caribbean food.
“It’s a great melting pot of everyone that comes together for these kinds of events,” Jason Slater, a vendor at the fair, said.
Amanda O’Donnell was one of the fairgoers dancing to the music. Not usually inclined to dance, O’Donnell “was a good sport” when she was pulled onto the dance floor by her friend’s son.
Her first time at the winter fair, O’Donnell was impressed by the variety of food and rides, and the impromptu fun is likely to bring her back in the future. She enjoyed Limp Lizard, a popular barbecue spot, and said the fast rides appealed to the kids she was with.
“We spun really fast and I think I was dizzy for like 10 more minutes,” O’Donnell laughed.
John Shuba and his wife sold Monopoly boards for $10 with all proceeds going to the Food Bank of Central New York. Other vendors, like Jacc Shutter, tabled for the first time. Shutter sells a variety of handmade stickers, clothes and surrealist drawings. His mom sat in the corner of his booth, proudly watching customers interacting with her son’s art.
Shutter has unintentionally got into many conversations about birds with interested customers because they frequently appear his drawings. Those conversations, where people show interest in his work, enticed Shutter to come back to the fair.
Slater sold his wife’s novelties at the fair: handmade crochet plushies and towels. He enjoys interacting with the little kids and families that come up to his table, and seeing the varieties of people from the area.
Husni Ibrahim, a kid who attended with his dad and sister, couldn’t pick a favorite ride — all of them were “awesome.” Though, he did decide that one of his favorite things about the fair were the sweet treats.
Scarlett Sen and her cousin Talya Talay walked around the fair and went on the Avengers ride – their favorite — while Sen’s dad worked his Chocolate Treat stand. Chocolate Treat sells chocolate covered waffles and chocolate fondue at the fair.
Sen and Talay are Syracuse locals and go to the fair every year. Sen said it’s a great way to meet people in the area, and the fun activities draw people in and bring a sense of community, Talay said.
The festivities the crowds sought out continued into Saturday. After performances lined up throughout the day, Atlas was last to take the stage. Despite being the final group, the crowd didn’t dwindle as the night went on.
The diversity of age groups reflected the fair’s ability to cater to many audiences. While college students, high schoolers, families and grandparents traversed the fair and its offerings, Becker acknowledged there is nothing quite like it.
“No one is doing what we are doing at this time of year,” Becker said. “People from all over the state and out of state can come and enjoy.”
iclekaki@syr.edu
By Anna Clair Levitt
Syracuse University Senators held an open forum Wednesday to discuss the impact of President Donald Trump’s various executive orders and attempted federal funding freezes on the campus community at SU.
Senate open forum meetings occur annually to provide senators and the public with opportunities to question and comment on external factors affecting SU’s campus. This year, conversations centered around new national policies regarding higher education across the United States, including legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct raids at schools.
With uncertainty over a potential freeze of academic funding from the federal government, many faculty members expressed concern about the university and government continuing to support their research. While Trump’s freezes have thus far been blocked in court, funding from sources such as the National Science Foun-
The current LAC, required for students enrolled in A&S and Maxwell, has students fulfill part of its Liberal Skills Requirement by taking either one to three “language skills” classes or two “quantitative skills” courses. One of the faculty’s major revisions would require all students to gain proficiency in a language up to a 102 level; this aspect was overridden.
In a statement sent to The D.O., a university spokesperson said the new LAC language requirements will remain similar to the current core, allowing students to choose between language or “Global and International Perspectives” courses.
The current curriculum allows students to demonstrate a “university-level competence” in a language other than English or problemsolving through quantitative methods, according to its website. Students must either take enough courses to reach the 201 level in a foreign language or take two quantitative skills courses.
Teres said it’s Mortazavi’s responsibility to convince the CAS/MAX Curriculum Committee that there should be constraints on foreign language requirements.
“He has not succeeded in doing that in the past, and so he just decided that he’s not going to return to the committee, because he’ll be on the losing end of these decisions, and that again is a violation of the bylaws of the university and these larger principles,” Teres said.
Faculty and leaders from A&S and Maxwell began an evaluation of the LAC in 2020. The evaluation was led by Karin Ruhlandt, dean emerita of A&S; Lois Agnew, SU’s interim vice chancellor and provost; and Carol Faulkner, Maxwell’s senior associate dean for academic affairs.
Students dually enrolled in A&S and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications or the School of Education will be required to fulfill the new LAC requirements.
“If we compare Syracuse University with our so-called peer universities and aspiring peer universities and also all universities who have that R1 status, we would become an outlier by not requiring students to study a foreign language,” Albrecht Diem, a professor and director of undergraduate studies in SU’s history department, said. “So this would bring us into another and certainly into a lower category than we are.”
Teres said A&S canceled over 20 foreign language classes this semester after citing low enrollment, as all classes must have at least eight students enrolled. He said nonEuropean languages including Arabic, Mandarin, Hebrew and Japanese were “disproportionately canceled.”
Classes without eight students enrolled one week before the first day of the semester will be canceled, the SU spokesperson said in the statement. The spokesperson also said 29 courses across A&S departments were canceled after failing to meet the requirement this semester. The cancellations are made to manage the university’s resources responsibly, the spokesperson said.
“For a university that supposedly stands for diversity, equity and inclusion and stands for global awareness, this is completely inconsistent with our fundamental values,” Teres said. “This is a value that is part of the university’s mission statement, which is not an especially long statement, but it focuses on global awareness.”
Foreign language classes are key requirements for majors and minors in SU’s Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. Without access to these classes, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, a history professor, said students
dation paused for almost a week following the president’s announcement.
“How will we be preparing to be able to support the activities which maintain Syracuse as an R1 institution?” Marina Artuso, a professor in SU’s Physics Department, asked.
On Tuesday, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud sent out a campus-wide email addressing the recent executive orders. In it, he said the university is actively working to assess potential impacts on students, faculty and their work, including with its government relations team and Office of Research.
Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew reassured speakers that administrators and the Office of Research are making efforts to ensure that any changes in federal funding or policy do not derail research projects.
Other attendees raised concerns about potential ICE raids on campus and throughout the broader Syracuse community. People highlighted questions about protections for SU students when doing research, volunteering and working in spaces not affiliated with the university.
Tere Paniagua, executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community at SU, asked about the implications of removed protections from ICE raids in certain locations — specifically at La Casita, SU’s Hispanic Cultural Center in downtown Syracuse.
“We have a population there in addition to our students that includes minors as young as five, six years old and up, and the idea of having an agent show up there is a little disturbing for some of our communities that we’re working with down there,” Paniagua said.
Many speakers focused on the threat that some Trump policies pose to program support and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ communities on campus.
The White House’s recent efforts include banning transgender women from women’s sports, refusing to recognize any gender other than male and female and repealing “gender ideology” in federally funded programs and organizations.
Syverud responded, asserting the university’s commitment to transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community on campus.
“We are considering carefully how to respond, not off the cuff or to be provoked, but rather to
be thoughtful about our university’s values and our peers’ values …” Syverud said. “I think people understand it, but people need to say it — transgender people are people.”
Many faculty members were disappointed by the lack of aggression in administrative response and communication during the forum, Crystal Bartolovich, a professor in SU’s English Department, said. Another topic that speakers brought up was the reorganization of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and frustration with the way the changes to the college were enacted.
“I appreciate the wagon circling of the administration and the caution, but I also think having public sites for shared discussion on these matters of concern are really important,” Bartolovich said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why people feel fearful, because there’s not a place where you feel like you actually have agency and get to participate.”
As a result, several people called for an additional opportunity to voice concerns through another open forum or another meeting of the campus-wide community.
aclevitt@syr.edu
won’t have the resources to explore their interests and future careers.
“Even if someone is not in favor of the language requirement, at this point the petition is really about who has the role in the university over such matters. Do votes by the faculty, clear majority votes like that, do they matter or can they just be disregarded?” Lasch-Quinn said.
As the former director of SU’s Jewish Studies program, Teres said the lack of Hebrew classes this semester will hinder students’ learning and make it more difficult to fulfill some major or minor requirements.
He also said there is a constant fear in the LLL department that it’ll be “gutted entirely.”
“We’re a small program, but this is not sending out a signal to our Jewish students here at Syracuse University that this place is particularly concerned about their interests or their needs or their traditions,” Teres said. “The same can be said for other languages and other constituencies of this university.”
Three days after the deans’ email, faculty members attended an Open Faculty Council Meeting, Diem said. These meetings are purely informative, Diem said, and faculty cannot make a motion to vote during them.
Diem said that in a regular A&S and Maxwell faculty meeting scheduled for Dec. 9, members planned to vote to delay the curriculum changes by a year, but were unable to do so after Mortazavi canceled the meeting as a result of “lack of agenda items.”
“Our administrators do not behave and do not think and do not act anymore as academics. They started out as our colleagues,” Diem said. “They all went through an academic career, but sometimes I think they have forgotten all about it, and they have priorities that are not guided anymore by our academic responsibilities.”
Lasch-Quinn echoed Teres and Diem, emphasizing that the petition has evolved beyond its initial curricular concerns and is now focused on the fundamentals of shared faculty governance and balancing power between faculty and administrators.
The university spokesperson said shared governance was “at the heart” of the process to update the LAC.
“When a group of faculty members who were charged with mapping courses to the new core model made a unilateral decision to create a new requirement — and further, to disregard the administration’s concerns about financial feasibility — they disregarded the prior fullfaculty vote that approved the new LAC, as well as disregarding the shared responsibility that comes with shared governance,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
“The new core was approved by faculty in 2023, and Dean Mortazavi arrived later that year and assumed the responsibility to map out the implementation of the approved LAC.”
The spokesperson also said the CAS/MAX Curriculum Committee provided no alternatives or evidence that its curriculum proposal could be executed without “significant additional resources.” Mortazavi exercised his fiduciary responsibility to deem the proposal financially impossible, the spokesperson said.
Nick Piato, a signee of the petition and program coordinator for the Studying an Environment that Nurtures Self-Exploration in Students lab, pointed to an address given during a University Senate meeting by SU Chancellor Kent Syverud in September. The address called for stronger shared governance at SU and noted its decline at other universities.
In his speech, Syverud said he hadn’t “lost faith” in the shared governance model at SU,
and that when “tough” decisions are made, they are done so with the necessary information and committees have had an opportunity to provide feedback.
“The fact that administration is now also trying to have a say over the curriculum committee shows, to me, kind of this slow slide of administration trying to take over all aspects of institutional decision making,” Piato said.
Alongside the initial petition, Teres and Diem decided to help lead a second procedural petition effort early last week to request a special faculty meeting. In accordance with the A&S and Maxwell Bylaws, the petition requests a meeting this month to address the larger petition and allow faculty to vote on delaying the LAC’s implementation. The request for such a meeting only requires 30 signatures; it has received 48 as of Tuesday.
Teres said the actions taken without faculty approval reflect a “larger attack” on the humanities across the country. Since returning to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump has begun targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and has called for the elimination of such initiatives nationwide.
Diem said in the current political climate, more people are becoming “narrow-minded” and hyper-focused on their own country and culture. Through the absence of a foreign language requirement, he said students may be less inclined to have a wider, more global perspective.
“We are the teachers, we are the researchers, we are the ones who know best about which courses should be taught and the content of those courses,” Teres said. “When you take that power out of the hands of faculty, you have a very dangerous situation that is subject to all kinds of manipulation.”
dsrangel@syr.edu
By Nate Lechner senior staff writer
Uber driver Troy Boyer, known as “Candyman,” chauffeurs Syracuse University students across campus in his candy-stocked SUV
By Mia Jones asst. culture editor
Uber driver Troy Boyer started carrying Dum-Dums and Lifesavers in his car, he didn’t expect to become known for his sweet treats.
Syracuse University students now call his SUV, loaded up with pouches of fruit snacks, Airheads and Rice Krispies Treats, the “Candymachine.”
“This is where I need to be, I found my place,” Boyer said. “I want to be here and hang with the students, and I love their energy.”
With a total of around 50,000 rides since he began driving for Uber in 2017, Boyer, a lifelong Syracuse resident, has become a staple for SU students. But in November, Boyer posted on Instagram to tell students he’d be in the hospital and unable to give them rides. He had a heart attack, and was later diagnosed with chronic heart and kidney failure.
For 36 years, Boyer’s day job has been working for the Onondaga County Water Department. In 2017, he started driving for Uber and has since spent his Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights driving SU students around campus. Part of why he does it is to help keep students safe.
Before becoming an Uber driver, Boyer drove limos for weddings and other events and also worked
Wally Feresten has been making people laugh his entire life.
Growing up in Fall River, Massachusetts, his father would show him and his brother comedy tapes, which made them fall in love with the artform. One night, when Wally was 10, he and his brother ran downstairs as the television flipped to NBC.
as a disc jockey. When he started doing Uber rides, he decided to combine the idea of a fun ride with music and lights to create a “party-in-the-car” atmosphere. His SUV is now filled with all kinds of sweets, from Blow Pops to Jolly Ranchers, and students have the
It’s so comforting seeing him around campus. I could be having the worst day, but if he drives by I automatically can’t help but smile.
Maggie Shanahan su senior
option to play whatever music they like.
Boyer noticed the immediate excitement over the candy as soon as he started driving students around the University Hill neighborhood. Students started calling him “Candyman,” and it stuck.
After eight years of driving SU students around campus, the community’s love and respect for him
“We always were listening to Cheech and Chong and George Carlin albums way too early, like 7, 8 years old, and when SNL started, (Feresten’s father) woke us up and said, ‘You guys need to watch,’” Feresten said. “I watched SNL from when it started; it was our favorite show.”
For 35 years, Feresten has been a cue card holder on Saturday Night Live, going by the nickname “Cue Card Wally.” The job allows him to remain close to the comedy world he
grew up loving, giving him an in-depth perspective on comedic art.
Feresten came to Syracuse University in 1983 to study television, radio and film, specializing in writing. While on campus, he wrote for the humor magazine Panache, constantly working on his craft.
Feresten’s comedic ability was evident to those around him during his time on campus. He was a member of the Phi Lambda Pi fraternity, where he met people who are still his close
“means the world.” The mutual admiration has allowed him and the students to “just gel together,” in Boyer’s words.
Brittany Gillette, Boyer’s eldest child, started a GoFundMe to alleviate finances while he recovers. The fundraiser has now reached $10,000 of its initial $12,000 goal. The SU community has played a significant part in helping Boyer since he began treatments, she said.
“I’m so thankful he found Ubering so many years ago, because he has the love and support from (SU students),” Gillette said.
Boyer was shocked and touched by the amount of money raised. He said he’s never felt like anyone owes him anything over the years.
Seniors Gia Armenia and Sophia Fusilli see the fundraiser as a way for students to give back to Boyer after years of endless rides around town. Boyer deemed the two seniors and their friends the “Sweet Tarts” during their freshman year. When they found out he couldn’t drive for a while, the “Sweet Tarts” said Boyer’s main concern was missing out on driving them during the last half of their senior year.
“It’s really nice seeing the SU community come together for him after he’s done so much for us,” Armenia said.
Boyer said part of the reason he cares so much for the students is because he’s watched his four kids grow
friends. Although all his friends had a strong sense of humor, Feresten said he was the only one to enter the entertainment business.
Being around the same group of friends for four years helped prepare Feresten for comedy work. His time at SU built the large personality and connections he needed to succeed at SNL. He learned the importance of teamwork and how to keep up with the speed required to be a part of the SNL machine. I JUST THINK HE’S SO ADAPTABLE.
By Savannah Stewart asst. copy editor
Before the 2024 presidential election, Nolan Williams Jr. saw the need to increase voting among young people. With the support of his company, the NEWorks Production CEO produced “Rise Up and Fight,” an animated film commemorating the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer. He said the piece reminds viewers that younger generations should be recognized for their contributions to many American social movements.
“Their bravery still reminds us that it’s important for us to be engaged,” Williams Jr. said. “For us to put our convictions into action and to recognize that we do have the power to have impact.”
“Rise Up and Fight” was featured Tuesday at the Syracuse International Film Festival’s second annual Honoring Outstanding Black Filmmakers event in Le Moyne College’s W. Carroll Performing Arts Center. The evening, which amplified Black culture, creativity and talent in filmmaking, was part of SIFF’s 22nd anniversary celebrations.
When Michelle DiBernardo, SIFF’s executive director and president, took on her roles two years ago, she and her team began evaluating ways to incorporate diversity programs into the organization. The team inaugurated Honoring Outstanding Black Filmmakers last year, and after receiving positive feedback from the community, established it as an annual event.
The night was organized into two categories — Best Animation and Best Short Films — with three selections for each category. SIFF also honored guest speakers Sharif Anael-Bey, a local filmmaker, actor, stuntman, action director and alumnus of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts alumnus, and Tyrone Jackson, a filmmaker.
“Tonight was amazing,” Charles A. Honeywood, a writer-director and one of the night’s short film awardees, said. “I’ve been to quite a few festivals, but this one felt warm. It felt like home. It felt close-knit.”
SIFF presented filmmaker Derek Ham with one of the three Best Animation awards for his film “The War Torn Drum.” He said HOBF was special because it was his last time to show the film in a public setting — Syracuse was the last visit of his festival run.
His film, inspired by the Western genre, follows the journey of a drummer boy and U.S. Marshal on their quest to find an outlaw during the late 1860s. Ham said Westerns featuring Black main characters are a small percentage of the genre. When he took animation into account, he was shocked to find there were no such films.
“All the depictions I’ve ever seen of a cowboy, either in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, or anything, they’re always white men,” Ham said. “This was a challenge for me to say, ‘It’s about time someone sees this genre of a Black man.’”
The event concluded with a Q&A session for friends, film fanatics and supporters. One audience member asked, “How do you get the guts to go from a screenwriter to a filmmaker?” In Honeywood’s response, he discussed uplifting women filmmakers and creatives in the industry, specifically through his upcoming project.
As the son of a Black woman, he said he admires his mother and feels valued by her. Black women,
especially, are often marginalized and disenfranchised, particularly in the film and entertainment industry. With his career, he said he wants to help “break open the door” for women in a white, maledominated field.
“I want a woman to direct a feature on a larger scale to really show the talent that a lot of Black women have,” Honeywood said. “To show, to tell stories that need to be told, to uplift women, and a woman would be the best person to do that.”
Bey said events like Honoring Outstanding Black Filmmakers are important now, not only because of Black History Month, but because highlighting Black creativity is never-ending.
“The times we live in makes it that much more important that we tell our own story,” Bey said. “We can’t depend on anyone else to tell our story. We can’t depend on anyone else to create space for us to do it either. We have to do it ourselves.”
sfstewar@syr.edu
By Spencer Howard asst. culture editor
Over 20 years ago, Derek Wallace sat in a crowded PST 101: Introduction to Public Policy Analysis lecture taught by Professor Bill Coplin. Wallace, who was a broadcast and digital journalism major at the time, found the lessons in the class to be inspiring and influential, now calling it “the most important class I took during my four years at Syracuse University.”
Now, he’s returned to that same class each semester with a presentation that’s inspired current students like Sarah Wallen, a sophomore double majoring in sociology and law, society and policy.
“I cried,” Wallen said. “I think it sparked something in my heart.”
Wallace is the co-founder of Kalamata’s Kitchen, an organization that uses different incentives and events to get children excited about exploring the world through food. Through a published book series, digital content, live events and a chef ambassador program, the kitchen aims to expand the palate of today’s youth.
While at SU, Wallace eventually changed his major to public relations and got involved with policy studies as well. The experiential learning aspect of the policy studies program complimented his desire to do good for the community. He also volunteered with the SU Literacy Corps and joined the Interfraternity Council. Coplin said Wallace always had a drive to make the world a better place.
“A lot of freshmen have that drive, but, whether they have it or not, you won’t know until they actually do something,” Coplin said. “He did something right away.”
That something, a program called Shooting for A’s, gave fifth- and sixth-grade students in the area opportunities for athletic and educational development. Wallace founded the program during his sophomore year at SU, and it informed much of the philanthropic work he would continue throughout his career, including Kalamata’s Kitchen.
“He takes it very seriously and he tries to help,” Coplin said. “He’s a helper, he wants to help everybody,”
After graduating from SU in 2000, Wallace worked in sales at a textile manufacturing corporation for 17 years. There, he experienced a work environment full of misogyny, racism and homophobia brought on by senior leadership, he said.
It was this culture and his whistleblowing that resulted in his departure from the company
in May 2017, Wallace said. Two months later, he co-founded Kalamata’s Kitchen with his friend Sarah Thomas, who’s a former sommelier.
Originally inspired by an episode of Chef’s Table, Wallace had noticed a gap between his and his son’s understanding of food, and wanted to get his son excited about exploring the world. As an avid traveler, Wallace understood the importance of food in sharing cultures, traditions and stories.
“Kids love adventures. Kids love being treated the way that adults love being treated. So that’s what we do,” Wallace said.
The central focus of the organization’s messaging is a cartoon character named Kalamata, joined by a stuffed alligator named Al Dente. Illustrated by Jo Kosmides Edwards, Kalamata encourages kids to be courageous with their food choices, with a goal to try each new food at least twice.
The sentiment is echoed in Kalamata’s Taste Bud Pledge, which reads, “I promise to keep my mind open and my fork ready, to try each new food at least two times and share what’s on my plate when someone doesn’t have enough.”
Wallace said Thomas brings the voice of the character together. As a child of two South
Living Stories
Watch Syracuse youth from the Narratio Fellowship program tell their stories through poetry set to music and performed by ballet dancers. The fellowship brings together resettled refugee youth to discuss displacement and cultural production. The event is part of the Humanities Center’s 2024-2025 Syracuse Symposium series on “Community.”
WHEN : Friday, 6-7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Palace Theater
PRICE: Free
Indian immigrants with a lifelong passion for food, Thomas used her lived experiences to guide Kalamata’s character while she authored the book.
Her efforts don’t go unnoticed by the readers of her two children’s books. Wallace remembered a time after the book’s initial release, when Thomas had the opportunity to read to his son’s preschool class. Halfway through the reading, a young Indian girl noted that Kalamata looks just like Thomas, to which Thomas pointed back and replied, “No, she looks like you.”
The moment was heartwarming to Wallace because the girl got to identify with a character whose identity is sometimes underrepresented.
“It wasn’t just a pride that she had, it was a pride that the other kids in the classroom had that was celebrating her,” Wallace said. “So it’s just as beneficial to my son as it is to this little girl.”
This message quickly resonated with Wallen during Wallace’s presentation about the organization. As a third-generation Portuguese immigrant, Wallen remembered several stories from her and her mother’s childhood in which food was an isolating factor.
Join absolute silence, a self described “piano-rock trio,” on their “Before You Met Us” North American Tour. The Nashville Band includes a rock drummer, EDM-jazz bassist and pianist. The show will also include a performance from The Croaks, a folk rock band from Boston. You must be 18 or older to attend.
WHEN : Friday, doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Funk ‘n Waffles PRICE: $13.07
Good Kid, M.A.A.D. PartyA Kendrick Lamar Night
Celebrate Kendrick Lamar ahead of his Super Bowl 59 halftime performance. Enjoy a night of hip-hop, R&B and rap with DJ @ biancaindelicato. The event will include songs from Lamar and other artists like SZA, Travis Scott, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and more. Lamar himself will not be performing. You must be 18 or older to attend.
WHEN : Saturday, 10 p.m.
WHERE: The Westcott Theater PRICE: $29.48
Lana Del Rey Night
Club 90’s and After Dark at The Song & Dance invite you to celebrate Lana Del Rey on Saturday. Listen and sing along to your favorite hits from Del Rey’s discography, such as “Summertime Sadness” and “Brooklyn Baby.” You must be 18 years or older to attend.
WHEN : Saturday, 9:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Song & Dance PRICE: $20.55
Daft Punk Night
Are you a fan of French house music? Show up to Daft Punk Night at the Song & Dance. Classics from their albums, “Discovery” and “Random Access Memories” will be played, and you’re certain to bust a move.
WHEN : Friday, doors at 9 p.m., show begins at 9:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Song & Dance PRICE: $17.46 to $20.55
courtesy of troy boyer
When Feresten joined Phi Lambda Pi, fraternity brother Mike Finnerty immediately knew he would fit in. Finnerty said Feresten’s creative gene was evident, and his success in comedy was not surprising.
“I just think he’s so adaptable. He can walk into a room and just become your friend with any kind of personality,” Finnerty said.
Finnerty said Feresten’s sense of humor hasn’t changed since their college years. They still try to get together once a year, and according to Finnerty, Feresten always comes up with the best jokes and stories to tell.
Feresten has also used his SNL cachet to give his college friends once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like when Finnerty and his friends wrote a joke that Norm MacDonald read on Weekend Update.
“I just decided to go to the bar around the corner from 30 Rock and watch the show. When our jokes got read, we just flipped out in the bar,” Finnerty said.
While Fereseten’s comedic ability was evident from his first days on campus, his biggest step as a writer came toward the end of his time at SU.
During his senior year, Feresten worked with writer Ernest Kinoy, picking his brain on television writing. The process opened his eyes to the intense rewrite process.
“You might think it’s perfect, but it’s not even close to being perfect. You have to work on it, rewrite and think about what you’re writing,” Feresten said he learned from Kinoy.
None of the writing classes at SU focused on cue cards, and Feresten said he had no idea what
up through their own college years. With three daughters and a son, he knows the importance of helping students by making sure they’re safe.
Especially as a dad with daughters of his own, seeing young women walk alone at night drives him “out of his mind,” he said. Boyer leaves his Instagram direct messages open in case any students need a ride at night.
On some busy nights, Boyer closes his Uber app and focuses on providing rides for students who request one through Instagram. He calls these “rescue rides,” in case someone is in a bad situation and just needs a ride home. The “Sweet Tarts” said he doesn’t stop driving until every one of his messages is answered.
Boyer also keeps his Venmo QR code handy in his car, in case students want to contribute to the overall vibes and candy supply in the car. But he never asks for it.
During her sophomore year, Fusilli found out her dog went into emergency surgery while she was at a party. Boyer was there to pick her up and drive her back to her South Campus apartment. She remembers the ride because of how Boyer comforted her and instantly made her feel better.
“He will drop everything to help someone, he’ll drop anything to save the day,” Fusilli said. “It’s his whole world (at SU).”
Gillette said even though Boyer may not make a substantial amount of money from Uber driving — since much of it goes back into buying candy for his car — it’s never been about the
he was getting into when he first started. The job was open, and it was a way to get a start at SNL, so he jumped at the opportunity.
Although his writing was messy and he struggled with the timing of live cue cards, hard work and dedication led to quick improvement. His personality and comedic experience made for an easy transition into SNL, and cue cards soon became his life.
“Don’t turn down a job because you don’t know what it is, you don’t think you’d be good at it or you don’t know where it leads because you never know where it will lead,” Feresten said.
When a new host enters 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Feresten is assigned to help them get comfortable working with cue cards. Most people don’t have experience reading off cue cards, Feresten said, so he needs to ensure the process is smooth. He’s open to anything a host needs and can deal with any personality on the show, allowing the host to focus purely on acting.
Within three years of being at SNL, Feresten was promoted to run the cue card department, which he said was mainly due to his calmness when dealing with the pressure of being on live television.
“All different personalities come in (to SNL), and I’m there to help them out,” Feresten said.
“For some reason, I’m good, I have patience, and I don’t make a face if they ask me something crazy.”
SNL stage director Chris Kelly said strong people skills are key to success in the entertainment industry, but they are rarer than one may think. He said Feresten balances his job on the show well and understands what each person needs to succeed.
For Kelly, working at SNL is a foxhole mentality. An entire show is written, designed and produced in a week, and Kelly said every cast
money for him. Boyer does it because he loves having fun with students while making sure they stay safe (and satisfying their sweet tooth).
Maggie Shanahan, a senior psychology major, remembers all the times Boyer would play Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” for her and her friends during their rides home. She’s already anticipating crying when she has to say goodbye to Boyer at her graduation this spring.
“It’s so comforting seeing him around campus,” Shanahan said. “I could be having the worst day, but if he drives by I automatically can’t help but smile.”
Boyer credits SU students for the additions to his “Candymachine” over the years, from its colorful interior lights to the “Candyman” sticker a marketing student convinced him to put on the side of his car in 2018.
The support he’s received from students is why Boyer continues to drive for Uber. He believes the students were an integral part in building his name.
“That means so much to me, it means more than money, it means more than anything in the world just knowing all these people care about me and care about what’s happening with me,” Boyer said.
Boyer misses being at SU, especially during the winter weather conditions when students need rides the most. But he knows he’s not done driving anytime soon, and hopes to be back making his usual rounds on campus this spring.
“Everything that I do, and that I’ve done, has been built between (the students) and (I) together,” Boyer said. “This is our deal, we built this.” mjones58@syr.edu
Wallen, who grew up eating traditional dishes like bacalhau, experienced judgement from peers who were unwilling to try the dish made with cod and potatoes.
Wallen says the work of Kalamata’s Kitchen is important in combating close mindedness and bigotry. She said it’s up to those with any level of privilege to make a difference.
“I think we need to do work ourselves to spread non-biased beliefs to our younger generations,” Wallen said.
Kalamata’s Kitchen is far from finished, Wallace said. The co-founder said he’s currently working on a project with SU to tell the stories of campus athletes through food.
Children in the Syracuse community will get to interact with SU student athletes, learning through the food those athletes grew up eating, Wallace said. Along with expanding the publishing program, Kalamata’s Kitchen is also looking to introduce similar educational programming around the country.
Wallace hopes Kalamata’s Kitchen is helping make the world a more accepting place, one plate at a time. From smoked trout paté to dhal, Wallace wants kids to understand that the next flavor they try might be their favorite flavor ever.
“If they understand that, then they’ll also know that the next person they meet may be their best friend,” Wallace said.
sphoward@syr.edu
and crew member needs to give their all for an episode to succeed. Not every episode is perfect, especially on live television, he said. It takes a certain type of person to keep up with the intensity of SNL.
“You can’t coast. It’s impossible. It’s just the show literally won’t get on if anybody is not giving it their all,” Kelly said. “You have to be wired for it, and Wally’s got it.”
On Feb. 16, SNL will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a three-hour live show. As the show reaches this milestone, Feresten said he’s grateful to be a part of SNL’s magical legacy.
Although he never dreamed of holding cue cards, Wally Feresten said the job had given him a lifetime of incredible memories and relationships, allowing him to play a significant role in the comedy world he grew up loving. From Steve Martin to Christopher Walken to Tom Hanks, a young Feresten would never have believed he would work so close to so many legendary people.
“Knowing I’ve been there 35 out of the 50 years, it’s been pretty special,” Feresten said. “Working on one show for 35 years is not supposed to happen; I got pretty lucky.” nrlechne@syr.edu
By Anonymous SU Student
President Donald Trump signed more executive orders in his first week than any of the last 15 presidents combined. By the end of his second week in office, he overhauled the government and uprooted all of former president Joe Biden’s progressive initiatives.
He signed more than 66 executive actions, including initiatives ranging from immediate mass deportations and extensive DEI dissolutions to infringements on free speech for noncitizen student activists. Trump now aims to dismantle the Department of Education, which oversees public K-12 education and college financial aid.
An executive order, a direct instruction included under the catch-all term of executive action, allows a president to enact his unchecked vision of how the federal government should be run. Although there are limits and ways to prevent these orders from going into effect, as seen with the blocking of the unconstitutional order limiting birthright citizenship, the concept of executive orders go beyond rules. For Trump, they’re overt political messaging.
His message strengthens the dangerously misdirected, populist ideas of anti-immigrant rhetoric. This affronts us with the ever-growing power of the oligarchy as it detaches itself further from the working class’s struggle.
It’s convenient for some to push the polarizing yet false narrative that undocumented immigrants are somehow “leeches” of the government.
They don’t even have access to welfare resources despite paying $96 billion in federal taxes. Meanwhile, the wealth of Earth’s 10 richest people increased by $64 billion the day after Trump’s win. Four of these men — Elon Musk,
Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg — sat front-row at his inauguration and share a combined net worth comparable to that of the entire lower half of the American population.
It only took 10 days for Trump to revert us backward in time to 20th-century domestic concentration camps, similar to those in “Operation Wetback” and the Japanese Internment Camp era, with the memorandum Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity.
SU has the power to be more than a bystander — it can be a true sanctuary for its students.
This is a dehumanizing tactic meant to demonize migrants in the minds of common Americans by strategically associating them with terror suspects.
This narrative clearly feeds on his fasciststyle regime’s reliance on American people being chained to jobs to make ends meet. The working class is afforded even less time to research his backward policies, which work against their best interests and divert attention from the drastic wealth disparity that is ripping the expanding middle class apart.
During his second inaugural address, I watched Trump’s plea to “bring back free speech to America.” I then watched his close ally, Elon Musk, who spent a reported $200 million securing Trump’s return to the White
House, perform Nazi-adjacent salutes at an inauguration rally amid growing condemnation for support of global far-right parties.
Michel Friedman, a prominent GermanFrench publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, labeled Musk’s actions a disgrace and said they proved a “dangerous point for the entire free world” has been reached.
An insolent indifference echoed through executive chambers and mass media as Musk’s blatantly antisemitic salute was essentially shrugged off by the officials representing and informing us.
Nine days later, Exec. Order No. 14188, 90 FR 8847 (2025) was enacted, setting forth measures to “curb or combat antisemitism” on college campuses. This directs federal agencies to identify and deport non-citizen participants — including college students — who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.
Ironically, there remains no recognition of the harm and foreshadowing of Musk’s inherently racist salute from a federal position, especially considering his immense influence.
The biased infringement on constitutional free speech here couldn’t be more evident, and beside the moral standings of non-citizen, pro-Palestine student activists, the only thing separating them from fellow immigrant Musk is his white privilege and power.
Trump’s control-starved flood of bigoted executive orders are gutting immigrant communities like mine, leaving me feeling alienated and impotent.
The helplessness in listening to my friends tell me their parents don’t want them speaking Spanish in public anymore and the powerlessness of seeing innocent undocumented families praying there’s not a knock at the door are real experiences not to be discredited. Having to remind my family
thousands of miles away to carry their green-card and identification consumes me.
But as ICE is racially profiling suspects of being “illegal” and people like my mom, who doesn’t speak English, can’t defend themselves, this reality is one I feel I must meet with complete responsibility despite only being a college student.
It crushed me to agree to my parents’ pleas to strip my social media accounts of anything mentioning my legal status or progressive, headstrong stances as a student — hindering the fierce passion in my heart to speak out on critical social issues, yet preserving my time here to keep advocating.
Stitched together, these moments unveil not random mishaps, but a calculated campaign to erase our footprint in America and silence our collective voice.
It’s the shared despair of knowing that even as we suffer, our expression is suppressed. Our stories are reduced to hushed whispers that echo the dark legacy of McCarthyism.
This isn’t just about free speech; it’s about our basic right to exist and speak our truth without fear of backlash or deportation. It’s not simply personal pain; it’s a systematic assault on humanity, a new breed of fascism dehumanizing us all.
If Syracuse University truly values its students, it can’t stand by while some of us are targeted, silenced and forced into fear. SU has the power to do more than the bare minimum — it can be a true sanctuary for its students. We need to demand real institutional protections from legal support to clear policies that shield immigrant students like me from these escalating attacks.
Due to concerns regarding immigration status, the author of this article has chosen to remain anonymous.
By Gray Reed columnist
Most nights of the week, you’ll find my roommate and me staying up late in our living room; she’s wrapped in a blanket on the couch while I’m curled into a ball in our orange disk chair.
We’ve been at a loss recently. It’s perplexing that President Donald Trump successfully won the popular vote and many seem to lack a basic understanding of civics. We keep noticing how research and facts we share consistently get swept under the rug, making room for discriminatory rhetoric and hate speech.
A solid understanding of media literacy is necessary in order to make educated decisions on current events. Just as you wouldn’t buy an apple at the grocery store without inspecting it for bruises, you can’t choose the right affiliations without first learning their elements.
The Marketplace of Ideas is a theory of free speech built on the belief that if people can access a wide variety of information, the most truthful and accurate ideas will emerge as the most widely accepted. It refutes censorship and instead relies on the general public to determine what information to accept as fact.
But my roommate and I have realized this isn’t the case right now. There’s a dangerous lack of understanding on what true media literacy is, and further, how being literate online applies to our constantly evolving media landscape.
While 72% of all Americans say media literacy skills are needed to properly identify inaccurate information, a survey by the News Literacy Project found less than 20% of teenagers could accurately identify different types of informa-
tion — opinion, news, education, advertisement — without any errors.
For many students in the United States, this lack of access to proper media literacy education stems from not having access to it in the first place. Many marginalized groups don’t have certain educational opportunities due to intrinsically discriminatory systems. But for those of us privileged enough to go to a university with access to a wealth of resources, there’s no excuse to neglect teaching yourself these necessary skills.
We’ve reached a point where people completely disregard other points of view — and properly researched factual content — in order to remain safe in their own thought-bubble.
It’s easy to say media literacy is important without actually understanding and applying the skills that accompany it. Part of this issue comes from online echo chambers, where algorithms feed media consumers enough opinions in alignment with their preexisting views to the point where users believe them as fact.
Echo chambers are also reinforced by media outlets that market themselves as valid news sources, when in reality they exert overwhelm-
ing political bias. Textbook examples are CNN and Fox News, leaning almost exclusively left and right-wing, respectively. This hegemony trickles into less traditional forms of media, like the Joe Rogan Experience podcast available on your streaming apps.
A lack of exposure to other points of view, or properly-sourced reporting for that matter, ultimately contributes to increased political polarization. We’ve reached a point where people completely disregard other points of view — and thoroughly-researched factual content — in order to remain sheltered in their own thought-bubble.
The dismal reality depicting opinion or science as propaganda is not only incorrect but dangerous, especially when our president is encouraging it.
The laundry list of executive orders released from the White House since Trump’s second inauguration has repeatedly been built upon misinformation and complete ignorance to research. For example, a recent order released on Jan. 20 outlines the new government policy of only recognizing two sexes, male and female, and how it will no longer recognize people changing their birthassigned sex.
But this order completely overshadows the scientifically proven existence of people born as intersex and the transgender community. Recent research in areas including sociology, biology and psychology continuously reflect and support the experiences and presence of these communities.
Trump’s actions reinforce the idea that media literacy is unnecessary, and encourage the general public to not question the information around them or think for themselves. It’s
vital to act and consume mindfully when so much is uncertain.
Media literacy education in schools is necessary if we want to mold new generations of sensible adults who make educated, not easy, decisions regarding the future of our democracy — choices based on the betterment of all Americans, not lies designed to benefit a select few.
For those of us already at the university level or beyond, it’s not too late to gain these skills. Taking the time to understand where your information is coming from and how it’s presented is crucial to properly understanding our collective options over the next four years and beyond, and to foster a wellinformed society.
Scrutinize your news sources for implicit biases, research who funds certain outlets and examine which perspectives they choose to omit.
Without properly analyzing the media we consume, we risk the likelihood of perpetuating misinformation that can lead to poor decisions in critical upcoming elections. Many of us students have just voted for the first time, and becoming more politically aware is essential to making sure each of our future votes is a direct reflection of our beliefs and needs.
Now isn’t the time to sit back and see what happens. It’s crucial we take the time to properly educate ourselves on the realities unfolding around us before it’s too late to reverse any further harm.
Grace “Gray” Reed is a senior majoring in magazine, news and digital journalism. Their column appears bi-weekly. They can be reached at greed04@syr.edu.
According to an IOC statement sent to The Daily Orange, the committee’s current stance remains that the Haudenosaunee will not be allowed to compete as their own team in 2028.
“Only National Olympic Committees (NOCs) recognised by the IOC can enter teams for the Olympic Games in accordance with the Olympic Charter,” an IOC spokesperson stated. “This means it is up to the two NOCs concerned (USA and Canada) - in coordination with World Lacrosse and the National Federations concerned - to decide if they include athletes from Haudenosaunee in their respective teams depending on the passport they hold.”
At the same time, according to Rex, the LA28 Organising Committee has expressed its support for the Haudenosaunee players to compete under their own flag.
The IOC’s position follows the U.S. government’s justification for centuries of land theft from Indigenous peoples across the country. On the global stage, Haudenosaunee lacrosse players are typically only allowed to play for the U.S. and Canada. Though a sovereign people, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is not a federally recognized country. The IOC, thus far, won’t automatically grant them Olympic competitor status.
“It’s our sport, it’s our gift to the world, and this is not like we’re looking for charity either. We’re third in the world in international competition, and we’re a full-fledged member of World Lacrosse as an independent, sovereign nation,” Rex said. “The challenge is that the IOC is its own entity. They don’t really answer to anybody.”
After the IOC confirmed lacrosse as an Olympic sport in 2028, Rex said he and the Haudenosaunee Nationals’ board had multiple productive meetings at the White House this past summer where they pushed for their inclusion. Former President Joe Biden supported the Haudenosaunee’s mission throughout his term, including in a speech at the White House Tribal Nations Summit on Dec. 6, 2023.
In January’s joint statement, the Haudenosaunee National Lacrosse Organization also thanked Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for coming together, signifying an improved relationship.
HNLO Executive Director Leo Nolan said much of their outreach to the U.S. and Canada has consisted of re-educating policymakers about who the Haudenosaunee are and how lacrosse is ingrained in their culture and history. But, as Rex and Nolan both said, the process has become more difficult with a new administration in the White House; they feel they must start over again with President Donald Trump now in office.
Considering Trump’s attempt to ban birthright citizenship in the U.S., a concern for Indigenous people in America, Rex said he’s less confident in the Haudenosaunee’s ability to work with the new president.
“It was getting better. Now we’re back to square one … It’s so tiresome,” Rex said.
This pattern of oppression is a repeating one for Indigenous people across North America, according to Neal Powless, head of SU’s Ombuds Office and a former Haudenosaunee Nationals lacrosse player. He said the U.S. government backtracks every time Indigenous peoples make progress in their pursuit of peace and sovereignty.
Upon winning independence from England, delegates at the U.S. Constitutional Convention used the Haudenosaunee’s Great Law of Peace to help draft the Constitution in 1787. The Great Law of Peace helped form many American democratic principles. Then, seven years later, the U.S. and Haudenosaunee signed the Treaty of Canandaigua, creating domestic peace between the Haudenosaunee’s Six Nations who lived in the land between the American-British Canadian border.
Despite progress, former President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, displacing Indigenous tribes located east of the Mississippi River. The U.S. government used various methods of ethnic cleansing in the lead-up to the act’s passage, employing violence and legally binding treaties that falsely promised peace. It led to the forced displacement of approximately 60,000 Indigenous people in what’s known as the “Trail of Tears.”
Powless said while the Haudenosaunee have always emphasized remaining an independent nation, the government breaks treaties every day. This history of Indigenous devastation isn’t taught as it should be in U.S. schools, he said.
“It’s a constant battle over sovereign expression as a country,” Powless said of the Haudenosaunee’s history. “The U.S. and Canada don’t acknowledge the Haudenosaunee as a country within a country.” Lacrosse is among the modern-day examples of this sentiment.
Haudenosaunee citizens say earning representation under their own flag in the 2028 Olympics would be a small but necessary inflection point for mending domestic relations with the Indigenous community.
“I can’t imagine seeing a young Indigenous person, certainly Haudenosaunee, not dreaming of being in the Olympics at some point in their lifetime and seeing that it’s actually a reality,” Powless said. “That is the power of hope, and that’s also the power of sovereign expression.”
The infants of the Onondaga Nation are given miniature lacrosse sticks, referred to as “cradle sticks,” Rex said. The Haudenosaunee invented the sport to give thanks to The Creator, who loved nothing more than a good lacrosse game, Rex said.
For the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse is a harbinger of peace; the sport stopped conflict between the five warring nations at Onondaga Lake 1,000 years ago. But once you step on the grass field, Powless said, tranquility evaporates.
“It’s like a replacement for war,” Powless, a former three-time All-American at Nazareth College and 2002 All-World Lacrosse Team member, said of the sport. “I exerted as much pressure and push as I could when I played. I was channeling all of those who came before me and those that come after me to make a point to play for them.”
Lacrosse in the Onondaga language is Deyhontsigwa’ehs, which Rex said means it’s a rough sport. You bump hips. You experience peaks and valleys with every win and loss. It’s not all smooth sailing, Rex said, but it creates character to absorb what life throws at you.
For the Haudenosaunee, a game of lacrosse is a small way to honor the suffering of their ancestors.
It isn’t just a game for Haudenosaunee people: it’s a spiritual journey. Its deeply-rooted meaning makes Nolan believe lacrosse stands alone in comparison to other games that have simpler origins.
“I believe this is probably the only sport in the Olympics that comes from this kind of background, from a very spiritual, cultural background,” Nolan said. “It’s not like basketball or baseball or any of these other sports.”
Lacrosse’s indelible imprint on Haudenosaunee spirituality makes their push for Olympic qualification even stronger. Yet the Haudenosaunee, at times, feel that’s something only they know.
“That’s part of some of the challenges of contemporary society. I would say the general public is oblivious to this, this understanding, this notion,” Rex said of lacrosse’s Indigenous origin.
It wasn’t until 1983 that the Haudenosaunee formed their first organized, sanctioned men’s national team. The objective, Rex said, was to instill sovereignty. But ahead of the 1986 World Lacrosse Championship in Canada, the team was denied entry to the tournament by the Federation of International Lacrosse.
The FIL, now known as World Lacrosse, admitted the Haudenosaunee in 1988. They’re the only Indigenous team with international recognition as a sovereign people. And in 2008, the Haudenosaunee’s women’s national team became FIL members.
The Haudenosaunee Nationals have made seven appearances in the World Championships since 1990, finishing third three times in 2014, 2018 and 2022. They’ve also competed at the
“It goes back to the colonial and post-colonial perspective of the world,” Powless said. “Colonial perspective assumes ownership based on things like discovery. Those agreements were made based on access to resources. And the reason that America is one of the richest countries in the world is because of the land to which they lay claim that they owned.”
Despite political challenges, many Haudenosaunee people believe the global lacrosse community supports their efforts for Olympic inclusion. Powless, who coaches the Dutch box lacrosse national team, said most other lacrosseplaying countries he has connections with want the Haudenosaunee to play in 2028.
Rex and Nolan said that whenever the national team is invited to an international competition, like the World Lacrosse Championship, the Haudenosaunee is the main attraction. Nolan added that the Haudenosaunee have formed strong relationships with opposing countries when at world events. He mentioned Japan and Taiwan as other countries that understand and support the Haudenosaunee’s goals.
Rex also said the bonds he’s formed with non-Indigenous players, such as Paul Gait, run deep and the wider lacrosse community understands the sport’s roots. Paul’s twin brother Gary Gait, head coach of Syracuse men’s lacrosse, agreed.
“It’s a very complicated situation, and I think everybody in the lacrosse world is hoping that it can happen and they’re supporting the Haudenosaunee,” Gait said. “I do as well.”
Terry Foy, CEO of Inside Lacrosse, said the modern lacrosse community has embraced the Indigenous community and wants Haudenosaunee players to feel welcome. Foy feels the sport of lacrosse owes a great deal to the Haudenosaunee for the “mistreatment” it has given them ever since William George Beers — known as the “father of lacrosse” — wrote the lacrosse rulebook in 1869.
World Lacrosse Box Championships in the past, including in 2024 in Utica — about an hour from Syracuse — where both the women’s and men’s squads earned Bronze medals.
“Anytime we represent our people, it’s a huge honor,” said Trey Deere, sophomore attack for SU and the Haudenosaunee Nationals. “It’s hard to describe because there’s so many people before that had the honor of representing us and they did it with pride and they represented what we stand for.”
Rex said the Haudenosaunee have more than earned their right to compete on the global lacrosse stage. But freedom, in the same way their human rights were stripped by European colonists, is continuously taken from them, he said.
He noted that less than three years ago, the Haudenosaunee were initially excluded from the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. Even on Haudenosaunee land, the team’s nonNOC status resulted in their exclusion from the competition. Ireland eventually dropped out to allow the Haudenosaunee to compete, and they finished in fifth place.
“What kind of competition would you have in lacrosse if the first nation to ever play, and still one of the best, isn’t represented?” Peter Milliman, then-head coach of the Haudenosaunee men’s team, told The New York Times of the team’s initial snub.
The United Kingdom prevented the Haudenosaunee from traveling to Manchester, England, in 2010 for the World Lacrosse Championship. The U.K. wouldn’t take their Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports, which the European Union doesn’t recognize. To enter, the Haudenosaunee needed to show Canadian or American passports.
Powless said, at the time, there were four men’s players on the team who were born on the Onondaga Nation reservation and therefore only had Haudenosaunee passports. Instead of leaving some of their teammates behind, the team chose to skip the World Championship. To travel with another nation’s passport would have gone against their sovereign ideals, he said.
If the Haudenosaunee were to use American or Canadian passports, it would play right into the two governments’ hands, Powless said. He added that it’s no surprise the countries voted no on the United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. The Haudenosaunee helped shape North America, yet Powless believes these countries’ governments are afraid to acknowledge the eminent domain of Indigenous peoples.
He used a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case, City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York, to illustrate his point. The case questioned if a sovereign Indigenous nation in the U.S. could exercise its sovereignty over land it purchased from non-Indigenous landholders. But in an opinion authored by former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court ruled against Indigenous peoples regaining sovereignty over their ancestral, treaty-guaranteed land.
“I think that people are not intimately familiar with the sport, and even still many who are intimately familiar with the sport of lacrosse don’t understand the sport’s relationship with the Native community,” Foy said.
Speaking on the potential responses to rejection from the IOC, Foy floated the possibility of a U.S.-Canadian boycott if the Haudenosaunee aren’t allowed to compete in 2028; not to mention that Haudenosaunee players wouldn’t suit up for another country.
Foy sees 2025 as a key year for the Haudenosaunee to advance their platform. He said the Haudenosaunee need to lobby for an exemption from the IOC by demonstrating the benefits of their Olympic inclusion and arguing on behalf of their historical place in developing The Creator’s Game. It’s unclear what the Olympic qualification process is for lacrosse — parameters are set to be released in “early 2025,” per World Lacrosse — but the Haudenosaunee would presumably need an exception soon to have a chance at playing in qualifiers.
Rex said the Haudenosaunee are putting together files of information to present to the IOC and government officials to further inform relevant parties of their unique circumstances. Rex saw the American-Canadian joint statement as a step in the right direction and is cautiously optimistic, as the Haudenosaunee “haven’t had much to cheer about.”
As for Nolan, the HNLO’s executive director is confident in the Haudenosaunee’s chances at playing under their own flag, again noting the joint statement’s value to their cause. The Haudenosaunee’s history in creating lacrosse is undeniable, and he believes they have enough support for the IOC to make a landmark decision. Nolan doesn’t see any argument against it.
“Why would you exclude some of the best players in the world because politically, you don’t care for them?” Nolan said. “It doesn’t make any sense.” Neither does Deere.
“Lacrosse is our game,” Deere said. “For us to not be there, it’s a bad representation for the game.”
It’s not just about the right to play, Haudenosaunee lacrosse players say; it’s a small but necessary step to improving worldwide Indigenous recognition. The Haudenosaunee feel they can be a champion for Indigenous people all around the globe by taking the field in LA.
While he appreciates the support, Rex called it “misappropriation on steroids” if the Haudenosaunee can’t compete in 2028. The LA Olympic Committee wants them in. The lacrosse world wants them in. The Haudenosaunee feel most groups they talk to want them in.
Now, they have to wait and see if the IOC wants them in, too.
“Once the IOC sees and understands who we are, this is going to be a win-win-win for everybody,” Rex said. “How can they argue with that?”
Senior Staff Writer Zak Wolf contributed reporting to this article.
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Against SU, which is fighting for a spot in the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils didn’t need Flagg to do much. By the time the 6-foot-9 forward attempted his first shot of a tied-for-season low seven field goal attempts, Duke already controlled a lead it never relinquished.
For good measure, the freshman canned his only 3-point attempt of the game, giving the Blue Devils an 11-7 lead six-and-a-half minutes into the contest.
“He’s great with it. I’m not great with it,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said of Flagg’s seven shots. “I want him to take more but he’s great with it because he loves the fact he won.”
While it took nearly five more minutes for Flagg to attempt his second shot — a mid-range miss — he had a defensive highlight sandwiched in between. As Petar Majstorovic set a screen on Proctor, Flagg stepped up to guard Starling at the top of the key.
Starling maneuvered to the right wing and attempted a pull-up 3, but Flagg’s 7-foot wingspan deflected the ball before Proctor corralled it. That led to a James triple midway through the half, extending the Blue Devils’ lead to 20-9.
Duke finished with Proctor (16), Kon Knueppel (12), Flagg (11), Isaiah Evans (10) and James (10) all scoring in double figures. Starling (12), Davis (12) and McLeod (10) were the Orange’s only players to score 10 or more points.
Despite Flagg entering halftime with seven points, well off-pace from his season average of 20.0 entering the contest, SU trailed 37-23. The forward made 2-of-4 first-half field goals while adding two points from the charity stripe.
“Honestly, I think we did a really good job on him tonight, he’s not as aggressive as I thought he
bridge between the seasons was Boeheim. But it all started with Danforth.
Danforth still thinks about his Final Four team every day, even now at 89 years old. While Boeheim eventually found his own success over a much larger span, who says he reached those spots without that initial experience under Danforth?
Lee said Boeheim rarely talks about that team today. When he does, Lee recalls him saying he was just glad to be there. Boeheim isn’t alone in his recollection of the run.
The Orange went 17-7 in the regular season, only losing by double digits once. In the Eastern College Athletic Conference regional tournament, they steamrolled Niagara and St. Bonaventure to claim an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Still, Syracuse was largely characterized as a Cinderella in the Big Dance.
“We didn’t think of ourselves as Cinderella. We just thought of ourselves as a team on a mission,” Hackett said.
Throughout the season, Danforth said he put a sign on a bulletin board saying, “It’s awfully nice in San Diego.” America’s finest city hosted that year’s Final Four.
The first step toward California came in Philadelphia. The First Round practically was an away game, as the Orange battled La Salle at The Palestra. SU squeaked by the Explorers in overtime, setting the stage for a match with North Carolina.
Lee remembers the headlines entering the game: UNC will face the winner of Boston College and Kansas State. Syracuse wasn’t even mentioned, assuming Phil Ford and the Tar Heels would run straight through it.
The Orange trailed by one with under 30 seconds left. Then came the greatest shot in
was, but I think he plays the game really well. He plays it the right way. He’s unselfish,” Chris Bell said of Flagg. “I think we did a good job of just containing him and then making him be a passer for sure.”
Though the second half was much like the first, with Flagg taking only three shots, the Blue Devils ran away with the game.
One of the freshman’s best sequences of the night came four minutes into the second half. With Duke leading 42-27, Flagg corralled the ball on the right wing guarded by Davis. Upon receiving a pass from James, he penetrated the lane before faking a spin to create space. With just enough separation, he drained a contested jumper over Davis in the paint.
“He’s obviously a generational talent. He had his own game plan, and I feel like for the most part, we did a good job of limiting what he did,” Starling said of Flagg. “But at the end of the day, with players like that, they’re gonna get theirs regardless.”
After the Blue Devils forced a Lampkin turnover on the ensuing possession, Flagg waited in transition for Brown to get down the court so they’d have a three-on-two. As Brown caught up, Flagg bounced a no-look pass to the forward, who was fouled on his shot attempt.
“Tonight, he just had some great passes that didn’t even lead to assists, I thought, but it just led to somebody else getting the shot,” Scheyer said.
That was the story of the night for Flagg. He didn’t do much, but he made winning plays. One wouldn’t have known he was possibly the best American-born prospect since LeBron James if this was the only time you’d seen him play. But for a team as talented as Duke, it doesn’t need Flagg to be Superman every game to hand teams like Syracuse its worst loss of the season.
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program history. Yes, the late great Pearl Washington’s legendary half-court heave in 1984 was one of SU’s top moments ever. But that shot came in January. This one was in late March.
As Hackett received the ball down low, he was instantly surrounded by UNC defenders. He kicked it out to Lee, his roommate of three years, who sank the 18-footer to claim a lead Syracuse never relinquished. The win remains the biggest tournament upset in program history.
SU’s 1974-75 team didn’t have a superstar freshman like Carmelo Anthony. There weren’t any highly touted prospects like Washington or Derrick Coleman. The absence of a recognizable name is likely why it’s often glossed over.
Unlike the modern college sports landscape, Hackett and Lee began their careers on SU’s junior varsity team. They’d often go to the third floor of the Archbold Gymnasium and shoot together. Lee remembers the two battling oneon-one. Hackett said they often ran through Syracuse’s offense, perfecting it to know exactly where each other would be in crunch time — just like the shot against North Carolina.
That year, their last in college, Hackett averaged 22.2 points and 12.7 rebounds. Lee was close behind at 17.2 points. Over their careers, Hackett averaged 17.2 points and 11.4 boards per game while Lee posted 13.4 points per contest. Both still rank in the top 10 in program history. Still, neither have been honored among the 17 others to have their number retired.
“The fact that (Hackett) hasn’t been acknowledged, or (Lee) hasn’t been acknowledged, I think that’s an oversight,” Steve Shaw, a forward on the team, said.
While Lee had his big moment against the Tar Heels, Hackett’s came versus Kansas State with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Down two with five seconds to play, guard Jimmy Williams went the length of the court and dumped the ball off to Hackett.
The closest Syracuse got was when J.J. Starling opened the game with a flurry. He scored Syracuse’s first seven points, including a 3-pointer, which cut Duke’s lead to one six minutes in. Eventually, Duke got into a rhythm, with Sion James knocking down a triple to make it 20-9. Syracuse answered with five straight points, but that was the closest the Orange got.
Defensively, Duke presented problems with its length. Nobody in the Blue Devils starting five was under 6-foot-6, and the Orange struggled. Starling had just five points after his opening flurry, and SU went 6-of-23 from beyond the arc.
“They’re a good defensive team, they make you work hard,” Autry said. “They can switch. They make everything tough.”
Syracuse was within a respectable margin for much of the first half, but Duke finished with five straight points following a Tyrese Proctor 3. The point guard scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the first half as Duke went into the break up 37-23.
In the second half, Duke put its foot on the gas pedal. Syracuse’s defense provided little resistance, and the Blue Devils went 18-of-26 (69.2%) in the final 20 minutes. It allowed Flagg to take a backseat. Just eight minutes into the second half, Syracuse trailed by 24 points and the game was all but decided.
Despite the nature of the result and Duke’s recent dominance over Syracuse, Scheyer holds the program in high regard. He said his respect level for SU is “as high as it’s ever been,” despite what its record might say.
“Syracuse has one of the best brands in college basketball, and (Autry’s) a great coach … so for us, we have a ton of respect
Hackett flushed a left-handed jump hook at the buzzer to tie it. In overtime, Syracuse clinched its first-ever Final Four appearance as Lee and Hackett combined for 53 points in the victory.
While SU’s run came up short, falling to Kentucky, it instantly set up its future. A then-junior in high school, Roosevelt Bouie wasn’t even thinking about coming to Syracuse, according to Lee. That was until he saw the Orange play in the Final Four and became one of Boeheim’s top recruits when he took over for Danforth.
When Syracuse’s 1974-75 team comes out at halftime Saturday, many fans won’t know who they are. They won’t know of Lee’s clutch jumper. They won’t know of Hackett’s consistency. But they will know of the teams that came after them.
Lee confirmed that at least 13 team members will be in attendance Saturday. Danforth
for them and what they can do as we go forward,” Scheyer said.
The third-year head coach’s response was flowery. Though Syracuse’s results in the past four seasons, especially against Duke, show the two programs are in completely different spots. SU hasn’t been ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll since 2018 and has missed the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons. Duke, on the other hand, has won at least 25 games in 10 out of the last 11 campaigns.
When asked about how Syracuse could get back to competing on the same level as Duke, Autry pointed to how college basketball has changed a lot since the programs’ first ACC meeting in 2013.
“It’s not what it used to be. That’s the reality,” Autry said. “For us, we’re not any different. Not everybody, but most programs, you gotta kind of reshape this and get things going. And we will.”
When talking about what needs to change, Starling gave a blunt response.
“Win games, it’s that simple, just win games,” he said.
It sounds straightforward, but the bottom line is Syracuse hasn’t won a lot of games as of late. The Orange used to be concerned with beating high-level teams like Duke to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume. Now SU is more concerned if it’ll beat Boston College Saturday to make sure it doesn’t increase its chances of missing the ACC Tournament.
Though Autry doesn’t seem too concerned.
“I know we’re heading in the right direction, and we’ll be fine,” Autry said. Based on that response, it’s hard to tell if Autry believes what he’s saying. Looking at the results, it’s hard to agree with Autry’s claim. All one had to do was watch Wednesday’s blowout.
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is expected to come from his home in Cape Cod barring poor weather conditions.
To understand the history of a program, you have to understand its origins. Syracuse had legends before that team like Dave Bing. They’ve had superstars and future NBA All-Stars come after it. But through the program’s 125 years, only three teams have made it further than its 1974-75 team.
“If nobody ever says a word, you’ve got a whole team who knows what we did, and nobody can take that away from us,” Lee said. “I think we helped change the trajectory of Syracuse basketball. But nobody ever gives us credit for that.”
The squad must be acknowledged as one of the best to ever play at Syracuse simply because they were. There have been better teams, better finishes, better talent. But all success in SU lore begins with Roy and his Runts.
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By Harris Pemberton asst. digital editor
On the first day of 2021 preseason camp, Dallas Christian head coach Mike Wheeler knew his staff had a gem in Luke Carney.
Coming off a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Division II Championship appearance, Wheeler and his staff weren’t expecting to shake things up too much. But they didn’t know who’d fill their starting quarterback void.
As Wheeler worked with a group in training camp, a ball zipped past him. He recalls being stunned by the sheer noise it made as it whizzed through the air. When Wheeler turned around to see who fired the pass, his eyes landed on Carney, an incoming freshman quarterback.
“You start watching (Carney) throw the ball, and you’re going, ‘That’s the kid right there,’” Wheeler said. “He’s just a special talent, and you could see real quick that he was going to be that guy.”
Wheeler was right. After Carney became the starter as a freshman, he rewrote Texas high school records in his four years with the Chargers. He tallied 10,787 passing yards and 111 touchdowns while rushing for over 3,000 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Rated a three-star recruit in the 2025 class by 247Sports, Carney committed to Syracuse in March 2024, joining the likes of LSU transfer Rickie Collins Jr. and Jakhari Williams in SU’s quarterback room. Nine months after his commitment, he became the only quarterback in Texas high school football history to start for four seasons and win a state title in each, amassing a 50-5 career record.
“I think he’s got to be recognized as one of the all-time greats in the state of Texas,” Wheeler said.
10,787
Five years before Carney set foot in Texas, DC assistant coach David Grubbs noticed his potential at a youth All-American game in White Plains, New York. Carney, then a fourth-grader from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was assigned to his team. While Grubbs worked sparingly with his squad, he was sold on Carney’s potential.
“He could sling the ball in fourth grade,” Grubbs said. “He was very good with giving directions to kids he didn’t know. He wasn’t afraid to step on the field and compete.”
After the event, Grubbs stayed in touch with Carney’s family. Though it seemed unlikely they’d pair up again, as Grubbs was coaching a
youth team in Rockwall, Texas.
Following Carney’s eighth-grade year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, he pondered his next step. His father, Brian, kept in touch with Grubbs, who had become an assistant at DC. The private school was a pristine opportunity for Carney to reunite with a familiar face and potentially play early. He transferred to Dallas Christian the summer after eighth grade.
DC had many options under center, including a returning senior and a few highcaliber transfers interested. But as DC’s staff watched Carney battle through preseason, it became increasingly clear the job was his.
“There are some kids, you watch them throw it, and they’re just different,” DC offensive coordinator Brian Coughlin said. “He was one of those kids. You can hear the ball come off his hands.”
Grubbs admitted they were nervous when Carney took his first preseason snap. But by the end of the first scrimmage, the coaches breathed a sigh of relief; Carney put on a show, running for a 64-yard touchdown. They knew they’d made the right decision.
Carney finished the season with 2,020 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He added another 282 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground as the Chargers won their first championship since 2008.
“It was pretty unbelievable to see that from a freshman,” Grubbs said. “To have that kind of poise on the field, understanding of the game from the very first scrimmage.”
His sophomore season brought more of the same, with Carney continuing to impress through the air. But his biggest development came in his rushing. Carney ran for 918 yards, averaging 76.5 per game.
He said week two of his sophomore year was one of his fondest memories at DC. Against a Fort Bend Christian Academy defense with several Division I commits, Carney rumbled for 200 yards and a touchdown. He capped the season with another state title, beating Cypress Christian 24-0.
“I think (the DC staff) had a lot of belief in me coming in,” Carney said. “It was just a matter of proving myself and showing what I knew I was capable of. And I think I did a pretty good job of that.”
Carney put on nearly 30 pounds in the offseason and developed his throwing mechanics. He lit up the stat sheet, throwing for 3,723 yards and 38 touchdowns at an 80.2% completion rate, all career-highs.
He again led the Chargers through the playoffs but injured his ankle in a semifinal win over Trinity Christian. He fought through the pain in the state title game, though, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns to beat Holy Cross 28-13.
Following his best season through the air, Carney’s offers began flowing in. Syracuse was among the teams interested. SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon flew down to watch Carney
throw in January 2024. The Orange offered him at the end of the month.
While Syracuse, 1,500 miles from home, may not have seemed a likely contender, Carney fell in love with the program. In March, he committed to Fran Brown’s squad.
“A lot of schools come in and say, ‘You’re on our list,’ or ‘You’re way up there on our list.’
The Syracuse coaches came in and said, ‘You’re our guy,’” Coughlin said. “I think hearing that helped him a lot.”
Carney’s senior year was a chance to prove himself even more. One of just two returning starters, the Chargers relied on Carney to capture a fourth straight title. Despite a slight dip in his passing stats, he set new career highs in rushing yards (1,076) and rushing touchdowns (21).
“We knew going into (the playoffs), if we were going to be successful, he was going to have to play really well,” Wheeler said. “Not only that, we knew defensively we were going to have to use him.”
Carney played safety in both the semifinal win over Lubbock Christian and the state title game against Holy Cross.
In the latter, he made his mark. Carney threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns, adding 77 rushing yards. He also made three tackles and snagged a key interception in the fourth quarter. Carney won MVP on both sides of the ball as the Chargers held off the undefeated Knights for a fourth straight title.
“His numbers are just unreal,” DC wide receiver Jaylen Gray said. “If you talk about the best quarterbacks in Texas in general, Luke’s definitely up there.”
The final title was a perfect ending to a nearly spotless career. Carney had shown he could win as a freshman, but his senior year proved he could do it without the same supporting cast. He’d evolved into a quarterback who could completely take over a game — something he hopes to do one day at SU.
“(Syracuse is) really getting a diamond in the rough with this kid,” Grubbs said. “I hope it pans out to where the coaching staff sees what they have, they know what they have and they appreciate it.”
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By Timmy Wilcox Senior Staff Writer
Fran Brown and SU’s coaching staff didn’t take much time off in January.
In the month after winning the Holiday Bowl and signing the largest 2025 recruiting class in the nation, Syracuse offered over 140 recruits and landed five verbal commitments. It carved new paths on the recruiting trail, dishing out offers in 17 states, two countries and Washington, D.C.
The Orange searched for players close to home in New York and in Brown’s home state of New Jersey, and even as far as California. And the staff didn’t just focus on 2025 — they made key additions to the 2026 class as well.
Here’s a breakdown of the different areas and players Syracuse targeted and landed commitments from during January:
Staying close to home
It’s no surprise Syracuse continued its recruiting efforts in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In SU’s 2024 class, 16-of-26 recruits came from the three states, followed by 14-of35 in its 2025 class.
Three of SU’s 2025 recruits came from Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse. On Jan. 8, the Orange were the first to extend an offer to 2027 running back Austin Ariola. That same day, SU offered Ariola’s teammate, Jhadon Gary, a two-way athlete who stands
at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds as a sophomore. Both Ariola and Gary helped CBA defend the New York State Class AA State title this season.
On Jan. 13, Pittsburgh native Gabriel Jenkins announced Syracuse made his top eight schools. Jenkins is a four-star prospect, per Rivals, and ranks 133rd in the class of 2027. He’s also listed as the third best prospect in Pennsylvania.
Later in January, Syracuse was among the earliest schools to reach out to recruits Josiah Jones and Anthony Lopez Jr. On Jan. 22, the Orange offered twins Adrian and Amiir Woodward. The pair of cornerbacks have each received seven offers, including Rutgers and Boston College, per Rivals.
Prioritizing Florida
In 2024, Syracuse landed just one commit from the Sunshine State. In December, Syracuse signed six prospects from Florida. SU’s coaching staff, led by quality control coach Thomas Caporale’s high school coaching background in Miami, has made Florida a priority.
In the middle of the month, Syracuse dished out a number of offers in Florida. Among them was four-star defensive back Ayden Pouncey. Hailing from Winter Park, Florida, Pouncey is ranked 142nd on the 2026 ESPN Junior 300 list. He announced on Jan. 23 that Syracuse was among his top-10 schools. Syracuse was also among the first Power Four schools to offer 2027 edge rusher and Miami
native Duane Johnson. Rivals ranks Johnson as a three-star prospect with offers from Maryland and Pittsburgh, each competing with the Orange to draw East Coast talent.
SU stayed focused on adding defenders in Florida by offering Rivals four-star linebacker Karon Maycock in the class of 2026. On the other side of the ball, SU re-offered interior lineman Da’Ron Parks, a top-300 prospect , per 247Sports. The Orange are looking to stand out among Parks’ 24 offers.
Uncharted territory
Later in the month, after covering its usual recruiting territories, Syracuse’s coaching staff expanded its reach even further. The Orange made offers to players in Tennessee and North Carolina and as far as California.
One of Syracuse’s top freshmen in 2024, Marcellus Barnes Jr., was its only commit from Tennessee in the last two years. On Jan. 16, SU quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile offered 2028 recruit Antonio Dion Edwards, who, like Barnes, is also from Chattanooga.
SU didn’t receive a single recruit from North Carolina in 2025. The Orange pushed to change that by extending offers to many recruits from the Tar Heel State. On Jan. 30, SU defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson offered 2026 fourstar edge rusher Keysaun Eleazer.
On the West Coast, Syracuse dished out a plethora of offers, too. On Jan. 15, Brown offered 2026 quarterback Santino Garcia. On
Jan. 27, SU was 2026 two-way athlete Terion Mathis’ initial offer.
SU’s 5 commits
Syracuse entered January with four 2026 recruits. By the end of the month, it more than doubled its class with nine verbal recruits. First, SU landed its first of five January verbal commitments on Jan. 10 with an announcement by BJ Garrett. Two days later, 2026 offensive lineman Jojo White, a Camden, New Jersey, native, chose the Orange. On Jan. 15, Brown’s staff reeled in their third recruit of the month and seventh in the class with wide receiver Phoenix Henriquez. Later in January, Syracuse made another splash, receiving commitments from two more recruits, 2026ers Steven Pickard Jr. and Jarius Rodgers. Pickard Jr., an offensive lineman from IMG Academy (Fla.) committed to SU on Jan. 25 during one of Syracuse’s biggest recruiting weekends. Syracuse men’s basketball hosted Pitt, and Brown invited many recruits. Pickard joined Javeion Cooper and White as offensive-line commits. Syracuse’s highest-rated recruit of the month, Rodgers, announced on Jan. 27. The fourstar from Florida became SU’s ninth recruit in the 2026 class and joined Maurice Medley as its highest-rated defensive commits. After its efforts in January, SU’s 2026 recruiting class is ranked 13th nationally, per 247Sports.
tswilcox@syr.edu @TimmyWilcox32
Syracuse gets demolished by No. 2 Duke 83-54 in largest loss of season
By Zak Wolf senior staff writer
Few games elicit more hype around central New York than when Duke comes to town. It’s a tradition stemming from Syracuse’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. Due to each program’s status in the upper echelon of college basketball, it instantly becomes the most anticipated matchup on the schedule each year.
Now, it’s just an ordinary basketball game. The hype remains among the student body, with the lower level filling 45 minutes before tip-off — something that hasn’t been the case this season.
Though, when it comes to the product on the floor, expectations couldn’t be lower. Duke has remained an elite program, putting together one of the most talented rosters in the country in 2025. Meanwhile, Syracuse’s
standing in the college basketball world has plummeted.
Look no further than Wednesday’s contest where No. 2 Duke (20-2, 12-0 Atlantic Coast) completely outclassed Syracuse (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast) 83-54. SU offered little resistance to the Blue Devils, turning the ball over 14 times and shooting just 38% from the field, in what finished as the Orange’s largest margin of defeat this season.
“The biggest thing is, we have to do a better job of playing longer consistently,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said postgame.
Blowouts have become a common theme for Syracuse against Duke in recent memory. Wednesday’s defeat was the fifth time in six games that SU fell by at least 20 points against the Blue Devils, including the past three. It’s part of a 10-game losing streak against Duke.
Armstrong, someone has to lead the way.
There’s often no proven formula or blueprint for initial success. But once it’s done, it sets a precedent — a foundation for the next generation to follow in hopes of repeating and building on that triumph.
For Syracuse men’s basketball, that team was Roy Danforth’s 197475 squad. Led by senior point guard
Just look at the first-ever meeting, when Syracuse joined the ACC as then-No. 2 SU outlasted then-No. 17 Duke in overtime, despite a buzzerbeater from Rasheed Sulaimon at the end of regulation.
The second act that season had even more drama. It’s a game Duke head coach Jon Scheyer remembers fondly. He called it the “Rodney Hood Game,” where Hood drew a controversial last-second charge on SU forward CJ Fair. The call caused Jim Boeheim to rush onto the court and rip off his jacket before getting ejected.
The early meetings were must-see TV. The most recent rendition was certainly not.
Duke’s collection of talent was too much. Led by projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Cooper Flagg, and likely lottery picks Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, the Blue Devils cruised to a win.
Jim Lee and center Rudy Hackett, that year’s team went 23-9 and made the program’s first Final Four. The run set up a future filled with 36 NCAA Tournament appearances, five more Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 2003.
Despite an illustrious resume and being the first to set a new standard for the program, SU’s 1974-75 team often gets overlooked in history. “Roy’s
By Justin Girshon sports editor
Cooper Flagg is box office. Even if it’s against perennial NBA All-Stars, the 18-year-old freshman is the main attraction anytime he plays basketball.
It’s why Syracuse, which has consistently struggled to fill the JMA Wireless Dome amid a disappointing second year under Adrian Autry, had 23,313 fans in attendance Wednesday night — the largest in the country this season.
Highlight-oozing dunks, as he had midway through the second half after evading Naheem McLeod before driving ferociously down the baseline, are typical. Three-point makes are expected. And stout defense is the standard.
Though Flagg was held to 11 points (4-of-7 from the field), five rebounds and two assists versus SU (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast), No. 2 Duke (20-2, 12-0 Atlantic Coast) cruised to an 83-54 win over it. It was the fourth time the projected No. 1 2025 NBA Draft pick, who entered the game as the odds-on favorite to win the Wooden Award, was held under a dozen points this season; the Blue Devils have won all four of those games. Unlike Syracuse, Duke is built to win even when its best player doesn’t dominate.
“We wanted to kind of make him work, push him out,” Autry said postgame. “And when he caught the ball, he didn’t see a lot of driving lanes, kind of get him to settle and make some pull-up 2s and some things like that. He did. He made some, that was kind of what we wanted to do.”
Following an upset loss to NC State in the Elite Eight last season, the Blue Devils underwent a significant roster shakeup. Seven players entered the transfer portal while leading scorers Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski were selected in the NBA Draft.
Despite having the incoming top recruiting class in the nation, led by top-ranked Flagg, the Blue Devils hit the portal hard, something they’d yet to do since its emergence. That started by bringing in SU transfer Maliq Brownalongside Mason Gillis and Sion James.
Brown leaving the Orange was a domino effect of changing dynamics throughout his two-year stint. He became one of eight players to depart from Syracuse following last season. To fill its voids, SU acquired Eddie Lampkin Jr., Jaquan Carlos and Jyáre Davis from the portal while it added freshmen Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore.
Yet that hasn’t been enough to support J.J. Starling. In games where Starling scores 12 or fewer points, SU is 2-4. Meanwhile, the Orange went 2-5 when Starling missed time with a broken left hand.
Simply put, Syracuse can’t win without Starling’s scoring. Against the Blue Devils, he was held to 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Duke, on the other hand, has a perfect supporting cast around Flagg and it can, at times, easily win without him dominating.
“Coop’s not just a scorer,” Duke guard Tyrese Proctor, who scored a game-high 16 points, said. “He plays however he needs to and however we need him to. And, we have such a good team. It’s not just on one guy to come out and drop 40 every game.” see flagg page 14
Runts” will be honored at halftime of the Orange’s game against Boston College Saturday to celebrate their 50th anniversary. But it feels like checking a box on a list, honoring the team just to get the job done.
“The first is supposed to be a team that gets honored and is appreciated for laying the path for everyone else,” Hackett said. “I don’t think this team is understood that way.”
On Danforth’s staff was none other than his successor. The legendary Jim Boeheim was hired in 1969 as an assistant coach, just three years after his college career ended. A 12-12 record in Danforth’s second season at the helm in the 1969-70 campaign began a 52-year streak of SU finishing .500 or better, which ended in 2021-22. The obvious