Football Guide/Sept. 10, 2020

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RIPPLE EFFECT

Having no fans in the Carrier Dome will extend beyond SU and into the local community

D

By Danny Emerman senior staff writer

espite the unknowns of the 2020 season, Syracuse faces one certainty: Almost every game will be held in an empty stadium.

For now, that includes the recently renovated Carrier Dome. There will be no deafening third downs.

No ‘O’ chant in the Star-Spangled Banner. No Dome nachos.

“I think it’s going to be really weird,” said preseason All-American safety Andre Cisco.

“I’ve seen the NBA guys do it, and they haven’t flinched at all. It’s a lot different with football, especially college football, when the fans are on your team, basically. It’s tough, but I guess we’ll have to do it for the sake of the game.”

Syracuse is working on contingency plans should Gov. Andrew Cuomo change course on banning spectators at athletic events, Director of Athletics John Wildhack said. But that seems unlikely given New York state’s cautious reopening process.

43.8 In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, Syracuse football generated $43.8 million of the athletics department’s record $99.8 million total revenue.

Having a fanless Carrier Dome for football, SU Athletics’ biggest source of revenue, will impact Syracuse’s bottom line.

The ripple effects of athletes playing in empty stadiums, likely for the first time in their lives, will extend far beyond the Dome’s concrete walls. An empty Dome will

lead to millions in losses for the university and surrounding areas, experts told The Daily Orange.

SU football generated $43.8 million of the athletics department’s record $99.8 million total revenue as of 2018-19, the most recent data available. Jeremy Losak, a professor of sports economics at Syracuse, estimates that roughly 20-30% of that football money came from ticket sales.

“It’s just going to be eerie,” said Danny Liedka, CEO and president of Visit Syracuse.

“This is a sports town, this is a Syracuse town. I think there’s an emotional component that people are going to suffer, too. You get to go there, get to cheer on your team, enjoy friendships and family together in a great setting.”

Visit Syracuse is a branch of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce focused on growing Onondaga County’s tourism industry. SU sporting events drive millions into the local economy from fans who come from outside central New York and spend see

no fans page 6

IT’S JUST GOING TO BE EERIE. THIS IS A SPORTS TOWN. THIS IS A SYRACUSE TOWN. DANNY LIEDKA ceo and president of visit syracuse

4 football guide 2020

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ANDRE CISCO HAS POSITIONED HIMSELF AS AN NFL DRAFT PROSPECT. ALL HE HAS TO DO IS TAKE

THE NEXT STEP

By Adam Hillman

M staff writer

yriam Cisco had just settled into her seat when the Syracuse parents surrounding her started jumping. It was the first minute of the first Syracuse game she had watched in-person, and her son, Andre Cisco, bullied Wagner receiver Andrew Celis across the field and hauled in an interception. Myriam took a few seconds to react. She was still nervous.

Cisco’s career hadn’t been straightforward.

He decided which high school he wanted to attend in elementary school and insisted on it until his mother paid his tuition, only to leave St. Anthony’s for IMG Academy after two years.

At the time, he was an unheralded 16-year-old without any scholarship offers. But when he returned to New York, he was the starting free safety at an ACC school.

To Myriam, that play in 2018 was cathartic.

“I was so happy for him,” she said. “This is exactly what he’s worked so hard for.”

Cisco entered the national spotlight freshman year, winning ACC defensive rookie of the year and leading the FBS in interceptions. He’s a two-time All-ACC selection, topping the conference in takeaways his sophomore year despite missing three games. He struggled with injuries his second year, but after spending an offseason working out, he’s a 2020 preseason All-American, a 2021 NFL Draft prospect and the Orange’s top defensive back.

Now, he’s looking to build off what he called an underwhelming season.

“A lot more leadership, a lot more plays to be made this season,” Cisco said. “I’m looking to fly around to the ball and lift the energy on this team every game.”

From his first year of football in fifth grade, the Syracuse free safety mapped out his career: St. Anthony’s, college football and then the NFL. Though he took a 1200-mile detour to IMG Academy, Cisco has accomplished exactly what he’s set out to do so far.

••• Cisco realized he wanted to play in the NFL after a trip to MetLife Stadium in middle school.

Barclays, the company Myriam worked for at the time, organized a family day of carnival games at the New York Giants and Jets Stadium.

He went along, unsure of what to expect. When he stepped onto the field, a smile crossed his face, Myriam said. He gazed around the field in awe — this is what he had dreamt of.

“I could see myself playing here,” his mother remembered him saying. She knew then it was his destiny. But she wasn’t as sure when he first told her about his dream.

Cisco’s first season was with the Valley Stream Green Hornets, the local team in Valley Stream, New York. He picked up the game quickly, understanding plays and formations in his first season. When the season ended that fall, he laid out his planned football path.

“I probably didn’t take it as serious back then, when he first said it,” Myriam said.

But he brought it up every season. St. Anthony’s, college football and then the NFL. He continued to impress on the field, enrolling see cisco page 6

ANDRE CISCO HAS 96 CAREER INTERCEPTION RETURN YARDS IN NOVEMBER

IN 22 GAMES, ANDRE CISCO HAS 125 TOTAL TACKLES

2018

2019

football guide 2020 5

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HOMETOWN LEGACY AS A DIVISION I TIGHT END AT SYRACUSE, AARON HACKETT CONTINUES VENICE HIGH SCHOOL’S PRESTIGE

B

By Anthony Dabbundo senior staff writer

eckett Wales describes his relationship with Aaron Hackett as “brotherly.” They text and call each week and Snapchat often.

Wales grew up playing sports with Hackett’s older brother, later coaching Hackett when he was in high school.

When the time came for Aaron Hackett to choose a college to attend, a decision made up of more than 30 Division I schools, Wales, a former Syracuse tight end from 2010-13, wasn’t pushing him toward central New York.

“Nothing against Syracuse, great education, great football program,” Wales said. “But Harvard, who gets to go to Harvard?”

Aaron Hackett is the latest successful tight end to come out of Venice High School in Florida. Trey Burton, his idol, was a quarterback there and has now played six years in the NFL. Wales played alongside Trey at Venice before his career at SU — where he finished fourth all-time in receptions for a tight end — and has been a coach there since leaving college.

As he enters his senior year at Syracuse, Aaron Hackett’s expected to be a key contributor to an offense that struggled in 2019. He’s always been a blocker, but his improvements as a receiver — which began years ago in Venice — will determine his success in 2020.

“The most important thing I learned (at Venice) was how to carry yourself as a football player,” he said. “The hard work and dedication it takes to be a football player and what it takes to succeed at the next level.”

Multiple people described Venice — a small city near Sarasota, Florida with a population of about 20,000 — as a “one school town.” It’s home to the 2017 state champions and 21-year head coach John Peacock, who has consistently produced high-major Division I talent.

Much like Syracuse, Peacock runs a nohuddle offense. Babers told the Hacketts when they officially visited the school that the Orange’s coaches feel more comfortable recruiting Florida kids because of the longer seasons and the overall competition level.

The transition to SU was ”pretty easy” for Hackett, Peacock said.

“Leaving this program, I was light years ahead of guys that came in with me,” said Clay Burton, Trey Burton’s younger brother, who played tight end at the University of Florida after Venice. He’s now the strength and conditioning coach at Venice. “It’s one of the best schools in Florida, so you’re going to play the best teams, the best players.”

But David Hackett wasn’t sure his son would ever play football. He described them as a basketball-first family. Aaron Hackett’s older brother, Anthony, and sister, Laura, both played basketball growing up. Laura Hackett earned a Division I scholarship and often beat Aaron Hackett one-on-one growing up.

Aaron Hackett was born in Indianapolis, but the family moved to Venice when he was 5. Basketball isn’t the primary sport there. Instead, football is deeply ingrained into the culture, and his parents, David and Kimberly, dropped him off at his first full-contact football practice when he was 6 years old. see hackett page 7

AARON HACKETT GRABBED THE SECOND-MOST RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS IN 2019 BEHIND TRISHTON JACKSON

AFTER BECOMING THE STARTING TIGHT END LAST SEASON, HACKETT HAS 248 CAREER RECEIVING YARDS

6 football guide 2020

from page 3

no fans money at games, hotels and restaurants, Liedka said.

But without fans, that revenue dries up.

“It’s a big hit,” Liedka said.

“Hotel workers, I mean, 86% of all hotel workers in this county are not working right now. They don’t have to clean a room or don’t have to service a guest, they don’t need those people back. So they’re going to stay unemployed.”

The Crowne Plaza on Almond Street reduced its staff by about 70%, from 100 people to between 25 and 30, general manager Kyle Hares said in an email. No fans means fewer transient guests this fall, which will hamper the hotel industry’s comeback, Hares said.

Beyond Syracuse, programs across the country are handling the prospect of no fans in varying ways. Some Atlantic Coast Conference schools are planning to operate stadiums at limited capacity to recover some of the losses. The three times Syracuse could play in front of fans — at between 20% and 30% capacity — are away games at Clemson, Louisville and Notre Dame.

The ACC will reportedly allow home teams to pump in artificial crowd noise to replicate a typical gameday environment. Boston College launched a program where students can pay $25 for a personalized cardboard cutout in the stands.

A team official couldn’t yet provide specific plans for in-stadium accommodations at Syracuse.

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On the field, some players anticipate a scrimmage-like atmosphere, while others worry about not getting an extra boost from fans on key plays. Cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu said players might be more “locked in” since they’ll be able to hear their coaches from the sidelines more clearly.

“That’s definitely going to be weird at first,” defensive end Kingsley Jonathan said. “The main reason you play in the Dome is for the energy that everybody brings from the school and the community.”

But the reality of the fan effect, according to some studies, is that energy — from foam fingers to fight songs — doesn’t actually change player performance that much.

A 2010 study of Italian soccer matches played in empty stadiums found that home field advantage disappeared, and it had almost nothing to do with the players. Performance — shot percentage, passing accuracy and defense — remained the same as before fanless games. Syracuse’s defense probably didn’t get that goal line stop because the student section yelled a little bit louder.

Home field advantage does exist for a different reason, though: the officials. The biggest impact of the absence of fans is that home teams getting more favorable calls effectively disappears.

The same study concluded favorable calls for the home team dropped by 23-70% in empty stadiums. Toby Moskowitz, a Yale economics professor and co-author of “Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won,” said

that conclusion applies to all sports, including college football.

Social influence, a psychology theory stating that humans’ behaviors are affected subconsciously by an environment, explains the difference in officiating, Moskowitz said. In an official’s case, that environment is 49,057 Carrier Dome fans screaming.

“It’s not like we’re seeing referees making bad calls on obvious calls,” Moskowitz said. “They’ll call it against the home team if it’s clear-cut. It’s when they’re not sure.

That’s when they tend to side with the home team.”

Since Babers took over the program in 2016, Syracuse has gone 15-10 (.600) in the Carrier Dome and 7-14 (.333) on the road.

The signature moments of Babers’ teams — upsetting No. 17 Virginia Tech in 2016 and the national defending champions Clemson in 2017 — both came in the Dome and led to

“Whose House?” postgame speeches.

Syracuse also led the ACC in penalty yards per game (73.9), so losing the benefit of the doubt at home won’t help the Orange’s cause either.

The flipside of losing home field advantage is that Syracuse’s opponents do, too.

SU’s road record could potentially improve this year through playing in essentially neutral sites. There will be no fans at either of the Orange’s first two games, at North Carolina and at Pittsburgh.

“I guess we don’t have to deal with no trashy fans,” safety Eric Coley quipped Sept. 1.

Those teams — and their college towns — will be dealing with the same fanless stadium ripple effects as Syracuse. Some strange, some obvious, but all real.

“It’s going to feel different,” Coley added.

“But football’s going to stay football.”

school football players. She showed her son the description: “IMG Academy: an elite training camp taught by former NFL and college players.”

Though Cisco insisted that he attend the California camp, his mother called IMG the next day and booked his flight for two days after his sophomore year ended. When he arrived, he saw the facilities, including the professionalstyle gym and the ornate locker room with nameplates for each player.

During the camp, he had the opportunity to lift weights with IMG’s conditioning trainers twice a day. The staff was impressed not only with his athletic ability but also with how quickly he implemented advice from coaches.

It didn’t hurt that he shut down every receiver he covered either, said Sheldon Bell, former IMG head of recruiting.

“We looked for the guys that not only were talented but also were willing to do whatever it took to get better,” Bell said. “We took one look at this kid and knew we wanted him in the program.”

In the middle of the week-long camp, Myriam received a call from Bell. Cisco, who had never played a minute of varsity football, had an offer from one of the best high school football programs in the nation.

Though there was a bit of deliberation, in reality, the decision was a no-brainer. He was traveling hours round-trip for school and training in New York, but at IMG, he could get to the weight room, practice facility and classroom within minutes. If he wanted to follow through on the final two steps of his plan established five years prior — college football,

then the NFL — he had to move south.

The first few weeks at IMG were strenuous.

The 16-year-old was timid when he arrived, Bell said. He didn’t know anybody else yet and struggled to stay occupied on weekends, as IMG didn’t allow students to leave campus unless a parent or registered adult signed them out.

“He had never been away from home,” Myriam said, “I remember saying to him, ‘Allow yourself to focus.’”

Cisco started lifting weights more, Bell said. He also watched more film, studying physical corners such as Richard Sherman to see how they prevented receivers from breaking into their routes. By the time the season came around, he had settled into a role on special teams — not yet a defensive starter.

“IMG helped me in a lot of different ways,” Cisco said, “Being on my own and having to take care of business by myself. That was a big part of it.”

Cisco observed future Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit and mastered the intricacies of man-coverage from the sidelines his junior year. He tried to emulate Delpit, who was built similarly, former IMG defensive backs coach Antonio Banks said. Banks, who coached Cisco during his senior year in 2017, moved him to safety soon after watching him in practice that summer.

“This guy is tall, he’s lanky and he’s physical.

He can play safety,” Banks said of his decision.

“Once he got it in his mind that he was going to play safety, he just took it and ran with it.”

Shortly after Delpit departed for LSU, Cisco stepped into the starting role. Banks

wanted him to improve his range or ability to get from his role as a deep-lying safety to the sides of the field. He spent hours after practice on the agility ladder, catching balls on the JUGS machine and working on explosive running.

Cisco matured to the point where he was correcting his teammates and coaching staff.

In walkthroughs and film breakdowns, he would speak up and tell Banks what he thought was right.

“It was a joy to see a player willing to do that,” Banks said.

Even with his rapid improvements, Cisco didn’t receive many offers until the final month of his senior season. An academic advisor sent his tape to a few schools, and offers from Vanderbilt and Syracuse trickled in.

He visited SU, met head coach Dino Babers and saw the facilities at Manley Field House.

The proximity to home was a bonus, and an open spot at free safety and potential for immediate playing time was appealing. Step two was complete.

In the years since, Cisco has emerged as the Orange’s defensive leader. Even though he tallied five interceptions in nine games last season — best in the ACC — he traveled down to Atlanta in the spring to rebound from a somewhat disappointing sophomore year. He worked with Oliver Davis II, a defensive backs specialist who’s trained numerous NFL players.

If all goes as planned, and if those workouts with Davis pay off, step three will be complete.

St. Anthony’s, college football and now the NFL.

adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman

dremerma@syr.edu @DannyEmerman

from page 4

cisco in St. Anthony’s one year later. Step one was complete.

With the Friars, he played junior varsity his first two years because underclassmen were rarely promoted to varsity, former head varsity coach Rich Reichert said. When he showed up to practice before freshman year, Cisco, who at that point had only played quarterback and running back, switched to defense. He knew he needed to earn game time, and there was an open spot at cornerback.

He woke up at 5:30 a.m. every day to catch the 6:29 a.m. bus out of Valley Stream for school.

By the end of his second season, he was already one of the best corners at St. Anthony’s, Reichert said. In their annual spring season, a 16-yearold Cisco clamped down other teams’ best receivers, jumping a curl route one time and making a diving interception.

“I could tell by the spring season of his sophomore year that this kid was going to be special,” Reichert said. “He’s really everything you want in a defensive back.”

For the next season, Cisco was set to play a key role for the varsity team, so he started looking for summer training camps to improve skills. He found a camp online in California, one where he could stay with Myriam ’s cousin nearby.

I COULD TELL BY THE SPRING SEASON OF HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR THAT THIS KID WAS GOING TO BE SPECIAL. HE’S REALLY EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN A DEFENSIVE BACK. RICH REICHERT former st. anthony ’s high school football head coach

“When I Googled it, I was like ‘that’s not a camp,’” Myriam said. “This is a group of people getting together on a beach and working out.”

Instead, she found a school in Bradenton, Florida that offered positional training for high

football guide 2020 7

dailyorange.com sports@dailyorange.com

from page 5

hackett “They’ll probably put him at backup guard or something,” David Hackett remembered telling Kimberly Hackett.

When the Hacketts returned to watch the practice, David Hackett spotted his son running down the sideline with the ball.

“Aaron is a running back?” David asked the coach.

“He’s the best player on the team,” the coach responded.

Aaron Hackett played running back until his sophomore year of high school, when Peacock switched him to tight end — his plan all along. The next season, Wales joined Venice’s staff. As a young coach recently removed from a D-I program, he became one of Aaron Hackett’s closest mentors. He knew right away where his biggest weakness was as a tight end: route running and making catches.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNED (AT VENICE) WAS HOW TO CARRY YOURSELF AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER. AARON HACKETT syracuse tight end

One practice, the tight end group attempted ‘stick up’ routes where Hackett was supposed to run a five-yard out route, then make a double move straight up the field without crossing his feet up.

Repeatedly, he failed. Wales quipped that he looked like a “baby deer falling all over the ground.” One time, right before Aaron Hackett was about to throw his helmet in frustration, the tight end coach called him over to the sideline.

“It was a really intimate type of conversation, player to coach,” Wales said. “He really shut his mind down and listened to what I suggested. Aaron is the kind of person who can from page 8

dabbundo He then took a step forward, joining Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference, his first head gig at an FBS school. In two years at Bowling Green, he had two winning seasons — culminating in a 10-4 season and a MAC Championship.

The Orange made positive strides in Babers’ first two seasons, even if they weren’t reflected in the win column. Wins against Virginia Tech in 2016 and a historic upset of defending national champions Clemson in 2017 laid down a marker. Babers no longer needed to ask for “belief without evidence.”

He’d proven that he could bring Syracuse into the national landscape again, even if only for one night.

It wasn’t only one night, though. Syracuse was a penalty away from beating Clemson again in 2018, who eventually won the National Championship. SU rolled to a 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference record, 10 wins, a bowl victory and a preseason national ranking in 2019, the first in more than 20 years.

Babers’ success gained him attention on the national stage, where some of the nations’ largest programs, including Florida State and USC, were rumored to be interested in the Orange’s head coach. He’s since signed an extension with SU and has received consistent praise from Syracuse Athletics.

“I’m proud to work with Dino,” Director of Athletics John Wildhack said. “I’m thankful he’s the leader of our football program. I love having him as our coach, I love him more as a person and a friend.”

The unbridled optimism entering 2019 led to plenty of excessive hype among the players, the city and the local media. Syra-

really understand the message you’re trying to get across.”

A few tries later, he properly rotated his hips and ran the route correctly without stumbling over his feet.

The tight ends that Aaron Hackett closely watched while growing up had become his coaches, mentors and friends at Venice. Burton and Wales were impressed by the changes they’d seen in his ability to generate separation from faster defensive backs.

“Young people are really impressionable,” David said. “The expectations were that, this is what being a good high school player at Venice High School looks like, and if you want to be one, you better be like this.”

“The bar is set pretty high,” he said.

When he arrived at SU, Aaron Hackett was expected to block first. It’s always come much easier to him than route running. He played behind Ravian Pierce his first two seasons before starting in 2019 and catching 23 passes and six touchdowns cuse Mayor Ben Walsh hosted a preseason celebration for the Orange at City Hall.

Many believed the Orange Bowl was a realistic goal. But by the second week, that was out of reach.

The Daily Orange’s beat writers picked the Orange to go 9-3, 9-3 and 10-2. College GameDay was poised to come to Syracuse when defending national champions Clemson returned to the Carrier Dome to face ranked SU. But the week prior, the Orange lost to Maryland by 43, woefully underprepared for a Terrapins team that also failed to qualify for a bowl game.

Instead of College GameDay and the most highly anticipated Syracuse home football game of the decade, SU fans were treated to a 41-6 drubbing on national television by the Tigers.

“A lot of guys didn’t like how last season went, we expected to do much better,” linebacker Mikel Jones said. “I don’t think we overlooked anybody, I feel like we didn’t prepare a lot. Some games we just weren’t fully prepared.”

The Orange replaced the boring, slow offense under Scott Shafer and had a faster pace than ever. Babers landed four-star quarterback Tommy DeVito to be Dungey’s successor. In a way, Babers’ success is tied to DeVito’s development. Multiple ACC coaches believe they’ve started to catch up to the pace of the SU offense after initially struggling to keep up.

Babers proved in 2018 that he can take Syracuse to levels it probably shouldn’t be at.

He needs to restore belief in a fanbase that’s still wondering what went wrong in the 2019 season that had so much promise.

Until that happens, Syracuse’s progress has stalled. @AnthonyDabbundo | amdabbun@syr.edu

for 205 yards.

He sent his dad videos — most notably with his improved route running — of Syracuse’s three spring ball practices before the coronavirus pandemic forced players home.

“It was like watching a different player,” David Hackett said. “It was quite eye-opening to me to see the real sophistication and level of science they are bringing into this.”

Even though the Hackett family’s workout studio was closed to the public due to the pandemic, Aaron Hackett went there to work out by himself. He did TRX and yoga at the studio and used the family stairmaster in the garage.

Once some restrictions eased, he went to Fort Lauderdale to train at XPE Sports.

A daily morning strength workout was followed by an afternoon speed workout.

Hackett often hit the beaches for sand workouts and received lessons on routerunning and timing from 14-year NFL receiver Anquan Boldin. He was often around NFL pros Travis Kelce and Mark

Ingram. They focused on route running, timing, patience and how to move most efficiently and generate separation.

“When you’re making a break, don’t misstep here, don’t step outside your body, don’t lose separation,” Aaron Hackett said.

“If you can position your body and move the right way, you can gain leverage and gain steps on them.”

He’s maintained contact with his former Venice coaches, and they’re checking up on him, too. Burton has Syracuse score alerts on his phone so he can track his progress. Peacock hosted the SU senior in his office a few months ago to talk about the upcoming season.

And last winter, when Aaron Hackett returned home, he worked out and threw the football around with Burton at the Venice facilities.

“He was trying to pick my brain and ask how he looked,” Burton said. “He looked the best I’ve ever seen him.” @AnthonyDabbundo | amdabbun@syr.edu

PROGRESS PAUS

8 football guide 2020

By Anthony Dabbundo

D

senior staff writer

ino Babers is known for his passionate speeches. His countless movie references, his lightning fast offense and his devout belief in his faith.

When he was hired to coach Syracuse in 2015, his track record of success generated enthusiasm for a flailing program.

Regardless of what happens in the 2020 season, Babers has already made his imprint at Syracuse. He provided DA B ON the best Orange season ‘ EM in more than 15 years in 2018, reenergizing the SU community about a football team that’s often seen as an afterthought to the basketball program.

Babers is the first coach to last five years at SU since Paul Pasqualoni in 2004. But through four years, 2018’s 10-win season has emerged as the exception, not the norm. To

use one of Babers’ favorite measuring sticks, he’s been occasionally great but not consistently good. He needs to prove 2019’s failure wasn’t a sign that the Orange have peaked under him.

Last year, for the first time in his head coaching career, Babers’ program didn’t at least match the win total from the previous season. Replacing quarterback Eric Dungey and most of the offensive line could explain a step back. But 2019 wasn’t a step back. It was a never-ending backpedal consisting of stuffed runs, sacks and long touchdowns allowed.

“I would say I’m not as bad as 4-8, and probably not as good as 10-3,” Babers said. “I’m probably somewhere in between.”

The underlying numbers suggest that Babers wasn’t wrong. Syracuse wasn’t as bad as 4-8 indicated his first two seasons, as injuries to Dungey led to consecutive winless Novembers. With an opportunistic defense and an efficient offense, SU won 10 games, despite a second-order wins metric of 8.5 that suggests they overperformed. Second order wins combines a myriad of statistics and suggests how many games a team should’ve won

given those numbers.

Replacing both his offensive and defensive coordinators in a truncated offseason, in which players are opting-out and practices have been dramatically restructured, makes it difficult to fairly assess the Orange when they take the field at No. 18 North Carolina on Sept. 12. Babers deserves patience from the fanbase. Maybe even a few games of patience.

“Last year, we let that 10-3 season get to our head,” senior Chris Elmore said. “Obviously we didn’t have a good season like we wanted to last year. So I feel like a lot more guys are humble this year.”

Babers has admitted that the SU team in the season-opener may be vastly different from the team later in the season.

Positions haven’t been solidified yet, schemes are still being implemented and Babers hinted at multiple injuries impacting the team’s starting lineup.

Syracuse is the third Division I team Babers has coached. There was clear progress at the first two. He took over at Eastern Illinois in 2012 after the Panthers finished 2-9 in 2011.

see dabbundo page 7

BABERS FINISHES THE SEASON 4-8, THE SAME RECORD AS HIS INAUGURAL SEASON

DINO BABERS BECOMES HEAD COACH AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

2016 2017

2015 FIRST GAME WITH THE ORANGE VERSUS COLGATE AT THE DOME

WHAT COMES NEXT DINO BABERS MUST PROVE THAT THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM HASN’T STALLED

23-26 WINS

LOSSES

BOWL BONANZA

IN FOUR SEASONS AT SYRACUSE DINO BABERS HAS PRODUCED O BOWL WIN. PAUL PASQUALONI, WHO LEADS SYRACUSE COACHE WITH SIX BOWL WINS, WAS THE LAST SU HEAD COACH TO STAY MORE THAN FOUR SEASONS

SED

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ES E

football guide 2020 9

AFTER A 10-WIN SEASON IN 2018, DINO BABERS AND SU TOOK A STEP BACK RECORD SCRATCH PRIOR TO COACHING AT SYRACUSE, DINO BABERS HAD A PROMISING RECORD WITH SEVERAL WINNING SEASONS. BUT HE’S PRODUCED ONLY ONE WINNING SEASON IN FOUR YEARS WITH THE ORANGE. 8

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1 2005

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SECURES HIS FIRST BOWL WIN WITH SYRACUSE AGAINST WEST VIRGINIA IN THE CAMPING WORLD BOWL

2016

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2018

BABERS BEGINS HIS FIFTH SEASON WITH THE ORANGE ON SATURDAY AGAINST UNC

2019 2018

2020 BABERS SIGNS A LONG-TERM CONTRACT EXTENSION

5TH TIME’S THE CHARM

WINS

DINO BABERS’ OVERALL RECORD AT SYRACUSE SETTLES UNDER .500 AT 23-26. IN AN ABBREVIATED SEASON, BABERS WILL HAVE 11 GAMES TO IMPROVE HIS RECORD

2016 2017 2018 2019

LOSSES

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dailyorange.com news@dailyorange.com

PAG E 10

sept. 10, 2020

coronavirus

SU Drama students criticize department’s progress in addressing racism

Grads’ startup company expands

By Chris Hippensteel news editor

The Density company began with a router stuck beneath the register at Café Kubal. The device — a weekend project, the company’s co-founders called it — was supposed to count the number of people in the shop to determine when the line for coffee would be shortest.

Several years later, that weekend project in Café Kubal has spawned a multi-million dollar company that’s now helping businesses reduce the spread of coronavirus as employees return to work.

The pandemic hit, and all those use cases collided into just two SU Drama students and alumni have signed a call to action alleging racism in the department. Department officials have begun to implement changes. photo by alex malanoski | photo illustration by emily steinberger

Students and alumni call for transparency

By Michael Sessa asst. news editor

T

hree months after hundreds of Syracuse University drama students and alumni signed a call to action alleging “pervasive institutional racism” within the department, faculty and staff have begun to implement changes. But some students and alumni remain disappointed.

Organizers sent the call to action, which includes pages-long accounts of racist incidents students have allegedly experienced or witnessed during their time at SU, to the Department of Drama on June 15. At least 684 people have now signed the document.

Though the call to action’s organizers have met with SU Drama faculty at least five times since June to discuss their demands, some current students and alumni told The Daily Orange that the department hasn’t been transparent about its efforts to improve conditions for students of color and seems to lack urgency in enacting changes.

“We heard from the Black students directly and they said nothing has changed, and it seems like a lot of

the faculty are treating the changes like bandaids and umbrellas,” said Courtney Rikki Green, one of the call to action’s organizers.

Ralph Zito, chair of the department and a professor of acting, has spearheaded the university’s response to student and alumni concerns.

In addition to meetings with organizers, current students and Visual and Performing Arts Dean Michael Tick, the department has also rolled out extensive diversity and inclusion training for faculty, Zito said. Discussions with alumni organizers and Black students have been difficult but positive, he said.

“They are giving up their time and energy in situations that are painful and challenging,” he said. “That’s an extraordinarily generous act, and I am doing my best to honor that commitment by doing everything I can to keep this conversation moving.”

SU Drama faculty participated in training over the summer to address body shaming, syllabus reform and the ways students of color are treated in the classroom, Zito said. Representatives and guests from SU’s Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion led

see drama page 11

on campus

University adds multicultural dorm spaces

By Madison Tyler asst. copy editor

Syracuse University has launched its expansion of first-year and upperclassmen Multicultural Living Learning Communities this fall.

The Office of Learning Communities announced the expansion February in response to demands from #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students protesting SU’s response to racist, antiSemitic and homophobic incidents reported on or near campus.

“Compared to years prior, the Multicultural Living Learning Community has seen an increase

in enrollment with the expansion of another first-year MLLC and the creation of the Upperclass MLLC,” said Rob Hradsky, vice president for the student experience, in an email to The Daily Orange.

The expansion includes adding MLLCs to the fifth and sixth floors of Ernie Davis Hall for sophomores, juniors and seniors. SU also added a first-year MLLC floor to Day Hall and expanded the existing Lawrinson Hall first-year MLLC. There are currently 17 first-year students residing in the Day Hall MLLC, 14 first-year students in Lawrinson, and 43 upperclassmen students in Ernie Davis, Hradksy said.

The Office of Learning Communities led the MLLC expansions, working with a variety of campus partners to secure space on the residence hall floors, Hradsky said. The office also worked to do the following: expand marketing to recruit students, provide a budget for events and programs, hire resident advisers and train and serve faculty on the living learning community team.

A team, including a staff member who is also an adjunct faculty member in the College of Arts and Science, works with the MLLC and the students. Hradsky said this faculty member teaches a course that the first-year MLLC residents are

enrolled in.

Ana Cristina Baez Gotay, a senior majoring in environmental engineering, said her position as a resident adviser for Ernie’s sixthfloor MLLC is a “full circle” for her since she lived in Lawrinson’s multicultural living learning community during her freshman year.

“It’s super needed to have a space like this right now,” said Baez Gotay. She said she’s grateful to be an RA for the upperclassmen MLLC because people often forget that upperclassmen, not just first-year students, need these spaces. Baez Gotay has 14 residents on her floor. see communities page 11

Andrew Farah

density co-founder and ceo

“Corporations spend millions and millions of dollars on real estate, but ultimately don’t know how they’re being used. It’s a series of guesses,” said Ben Redfield, Density’s co-founder. “We use that data to both enhance the experience with the space, but more importantly, to make better decisions about the space in terms of safety.”

Redfield is one of four SU graduates who are part of a group that cofounded Density in 2014. The company produces anonymous, realtime infrared sensors that track the number of people occupying a room or building, which businesses can use to make decisions about how to use their space.

When the pandemic struck the United States, the company’s primary appeal shifted from efficiency to safety. Density has now become a key part of companies’ efforts to promote social distancing in their newly-reopened workplaces.

“The pandemic hit, and all those use cases collided into just two,” said Andrew Farah, co-founder and CEO of Density and another SU graduate.

“Keeping people safe, number one, and number two, consolidating real estate to preserve payroll.”

Before the pandemic, Density largely appealed to commercial realestate. Companies used the device to track how many people were using different rooms or spaces in their buildings. The companies could then make decisions about how to maintain those spaces, from scheduling cleaning to restocking food or supplies.

In the long term, companies could also use the information to decide whether they should sell, repurpose or buy more space to maximize efficiency.

“People count is this really simple data point,” said Brian Weinreich, Density co-founder. “But as you apply it to new industries — if you apply it to retail, if you apply it to corporate real estate, if you apply it to the grocery store — that peoplecount data point transforms and becomes really valuable.” see business page 11

sept. 10, 2020 11

dailyorange.com news@dailyorange.com

city

Homeless shelters continue to provide for community

By Ryan Spivey

contributing writer

Homeless shelters in Syracuse are continuing to serve the community despite the pandemic.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a stay-at-home order in March that closed all nonessential businesses but allowed essential services, such as homeless shelters, to remain open. Although they served fewer people in the early days of the pandemic, several homeless shelters and organizations in Syracuse said they have successfully adapted to operate under new health and safety precautions.

Many homeless people avoided shelters at first out of fear of catching the virus, said Gina from page 10

drama the training sessions, he said.

The department’s first two faculty meetings of the year will also be devoted entirely to addressing concerns expressed in the call to action, Zito said.

Zito and other SU officials have been receptive, alumni organizer Barbara Woodall said. But she was disheartened to learn that some SU Drama students were not seeing much progress.

“It didn’t seem like all of the professors were on the same page with it,” Woodall said.

Amaan Khan, a sophomore studying theater design and technology, said he hasn’t heard anything from department officials besides statements that meetings are happening. The department could be handling the situation much better, he said.

He hopes SU officials will make it clear in their communications that Black students and students of color are leading change in the department.

Sophomore Soumya Tadepalli has noticed changes in some of her classes. Her introductory theater class now features more plays from playwrights who are people of color, she said.

But the department has to be careful to ensure its diversity efforts rise above tokenism, said Tadepalli, who’s studying theatre management.

“The responsibility to educate others about racial issues in the theater shouldn’t always fall on the professors of color,” Tadepalli said. “If a season includes a play with a diverse cast, it should be for the purpose of valuing those student voices, not for checking from page 10

business Density, which is headquartered in San Francisco but has a production space in Syracuse’s Tech Garden, grew by almost 500% after the pandemic struck, Farah said.

Around 80% of its sales over the last 60 days have been related to Safe by Density, a system that tracks the number of occupants in a space to prevent crowding.

Even before COVID-19 forced companies to reconsider how and where they work, Density was already on track to grow as much as 380%, Farah said. The pandemic just accelerated that growth, he said.

In July, the company scored a $51 million investment from a group of investors that included former New York Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

“Not a lot has changed in our business,” Farah said. “We just happen to now support companies that we didn’t expect to be part of our market.”

Density counts multiple household-name companies among its clients, including Uber, Deutsche Bank, Exxon Mobil, Verizon and Pepsi, to name a few. Several universities, including New York University, Arizona State University and the University of Alabama, have also employed the product.

But the first business to use the device that would become the base of Farah, Redfield and Weinreich’s startup was Syracuse coffee staple Café Kubal.

The company’s founders included a team of SU graduates and Syracuse natives who had met through classes and different networks in the city. Before launching Density, the group

Lazara, the special events and public relations manager for Salvation Army Syracuse Area Services. Lazara and her team worked to explain to community members that their organizations would keep them safe.

Syracuse has also taken steps to provide for shelters during the pandemic, said Michael Collins, commissioner of the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development.

The city formed a budget council to allocate funds toward homelessness prevention initiatives, such as the Homeless Housing Coalition of Central New York, an organization that addresses homelessness and housing vulnerability, Collins said.

Collins said the city is “still moving forward” to provide affordable housing despite

the pandemic.

The Salvation Army Women’s Shelter in Syracuse started seeing fewer people as a statewide moratorium on evictions went into effect, said Stephani Klumpp, the director of the shelter.

The Women’s Shelter continues to operate with the bottom floor acting as a temporary, short-term shelter, while the three upper floors are for women staying for an extended period of time.

The Onondaga County Department of Social Services helped provide the shelter with personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and an on-site doctor, Klumpp said.

Booth House, a runaway shelter for 12 to17-year-olds, saw a similar issue, noticing a

decline in youth coming into the shelter at the start of the pandemic, said Mithila Hasan, director of Booth House.

Those numbers slowly began to rise after Booth House provided additional resources and family outreach, with August setting a record for the number of people seeking help at the shelter, Hasan said.

The Booth House team also developed new ways to keep their residents active during the pandemic, such as backyard movies, beach trips and walks in the city, Hasan said. “(We’re) very blessed that (we) did not experience a deficiency during the pandemic,” Hasan said.

the diverse play box.”

Faculty seem more open now to admitting wrongdoing when presented with grievances from students than they have in the past, said Candice Hatakeyama, a senior studying musical theater. But some professors have been more active in responding to the call to action than others, she said.

“I perceive no unwillingness on the part of the faculty to make changes,” Zito said. Making sure faculty have the information and tools to make necessary and impactful changes will take work, he said.

The department has agreed to and begun progress toward nearly all of the demands students and alumni made in the call to action, Zito said.

Faculty and department officials are still working to craft an apology from the department to students who are people of color, he said. Demands that required little procedure or group approval have moved forward.

Effective this fall, the department’s senior showcase will be open to all graduating senior performance majors. Faculty will also remove “colorblind casting,” a term for casting without considering an actor’s ethnicity, skin color, body shape, sex or gender, from the department’s vernacular, fulfilling another one of the organizers’ demands, Zito said.

The department will also require that the majority of visiting guests be artists who are people of color. Zito will only approve requests for one guest if the guest is a person of color, and if faculty want to bring more than one guest to campus, the majority of the group must identify as people of color.

Zito has approved 32 guest artists, guest instructors and class visitors for the fall semester. Thirty of whom identify as people of

color, he said.

The department has also stopped referring to itself as a “safe space” for students on its course materials, replacing it instead with “brave space.” The change is intended to more accurately portray the department’s culture, Zito said. In the past, students disagreed with that language because they felt that the department wasn’t actually safe and supportive.

Demands related to curriculum changes, new hires and disciplinary action for faculty could take considerably longer to enact, Zito said.

Alyssa Smith, another alumni organizer, understands why some changes might take longer to implement, but SU’s protocols still frustrate her. Organizers were surprised to learn how long the hiring process can take, she said.

The call to action demanded that any faculty member who is removed for racist behavior be replaced by a hire who is a person of color, and that faculty of color make up 50% of the department by 2025.

“It wasn’t met with resistance, but it’s certainly closer to impossible than possible,” Smith said.

The time-consuming procedural requirements surrounding hiring and curriculum development can make it seem like SU officials are not moving with urgency, said Casey Boykins, who also helped organize the call to action.

“I think a lot of students were upset and then wanted to see changes immediately, and I think we were all disheartened to learn how long we might be waiting for some of these changes to happen,” Boykins said.

Figuring out how to best help current stu-

dents and navigate complicated university policies and procedures has been challenging, Green said.

“It is kind of like pulling teeth sometimes to get information and figure out the avenues we need to go through to help out and create change and advocate for the students more,” she said.

One of the fundamental ways faculty can immediately communicate a new culture in the department is through their day-to-day interactions with students, Zito said. Some faculty will be quicker to adapt than others, he said.

“I have received feedback that some attempts at that interpersonal change and communication in the initial go around have not gone well,” Zito said. “I think making those interpersonal changes is more challenging long-term but obviously equally necessary and equally prioritized.”

Going forward, students and alumni said they hope the department will be more transparent about the progress it’s making and the resources that are available for current students.

Tadepalli would appreciate email updates about actions the department is taking to address the call to action. Hatakeyama hopes the department will provide more concrete information and timelines about the hiring process and other procedural obstacles to enacting demands.

Green hopes the call to action’s organizers will eventually no longer be needed — that drama faculty and staff will listen to students’ concerns and advocate for them.

“The ultimate goal for the work we’re doing is that we be deemed obsolete,” she said.

ran a small software agency with office space near a Café Kubal location, where they often went to get coffee.

Too many times, though, they would go to the café and find a long line. Eventually, they began to wonder why there was no way to know how many people were at the coffeeshop before they arrived, so they could anticipate the wait. That’s how the router came to be.

“Café Kubal did it as a favor, letting us stick this janky thing under the cash register, but then they started asking us about the data,” Redfield said. “And that, kind of, is where we started to get ideas.”

The first iteration of Density — the version that sat beneath Café Kubal’s register — didn’t count people, but phones. In the years that followed, the team continued to refine the technology into what it is today: an anonymous infrared sensor that can detect the number of occupants in a room without identifying them.

Years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust Density to the forefront of an emerging industry. But Farah doesn’t believe the product will become any less useful if, or when, the outbreak subsides.

Many of Density’s recent sales were fiveyear contracts, Farah said. While the client’s immediate use of the technology had to do with pandemic management, they also have plans to apply the device for different uses in the long term.

“I don’t think there’s a future where buildings continue to get built but don’t measure their usage, and don’t become aware of the humans in them,” Farah said. cjhippen@syr.edu

from page 10

communities The initial announcement from the Office of Learning Communities said the upperclassmen MLLCs in Ernie will focus on multicultural education, cross-cultural dialogue and community building.

The upperclassmen MLLC can engage in Conversations About Race and Ethnicity, or CARE Speaks. The Office of Multicultural Affairs offers six-week dialogues, where SU community members engage in conversations about diversity.

It’s super needed to have a space like this right now Ana Cristina Baez Gotay

senior environmental engineering

For the Ernie MLLC, CARE dialogues take place every week on Tuesday and Wednesday, Baez Gotay said. She sends out a form each week to get residents’ input on discussion topics.

Maya Benjamin, a sophomore policy studies major, is a multicultural living learning community RA on Ernie Davis’s fifth floor. Benjamin said OMA has been very involved with the upperclassmen MLLC. “All new RAs are required to complete the CARE Speaks workshops, and I feel this year during RA training there was more of an emphasis on diversity and inclusion train-

rspivey@syr.edu

msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3

ing,” Benjamin said.

An eight-week CARE Speaks workshop that OMA runs for the MLLC kicked off Tuesday night, Benjamin said.

Although social distancing regulations have made it harder for students to connect with each other in their residence halls, both Baez Gotay and Benjamin said the RAs are finding safe ways to build community.

During the learning community palooza a couple of weeks ago, students were able to meet up, have ice cream outside and get to learn about other cultures, Baez Gotay said.

Benjamin has planned several events her residents can do safely, such as apple picking.

Expanding ML LCs is a good start, but Baez Gotay said she and the other upperclassmen MLLC RAs want to collaborate with the multicultural living learning communities in Day and Lawrinson halls.

They hope to create mentorship opportunities between upperclassmen and freshmen so that they can get support from other students, not just faculty and staff, Baez Gotay said.

The Office of Learning Communities is currently finalizing the recruitment of a faculty member to serve on the MLLC team and expect to have someone in place by mid-September.

“For the Upperclass MLLC, the faculty member would be bringing academic expertise and a passion for multicultural education, social justice and cross-cultural dialogue to the LLC,” said Hradsky. mntyler@syr.edu

12 sept. 10, 2020

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PAG E 13

sept. 10, 2020

Music memories

LAKISHA HARRIS is continuing the legacy her father, Elijah Harris, left behind through a Syracuse University scholarship. The scholarship will alleviate financial burdens for part-time commuter students by covering common expenses. elizabeth billman senior staff photographer

A scholarship for part-time SU students will memorialize local street musician Elijah Harris

By Kate Brennan

contributing writer

F

or years, Elijah Harris Jr. would be outside the Carrier Dome, the Landmark Theatre or Marshall Street greeting people with a smile and a serenade. Even on the coldest days, he would strum his guitar and sing.

Elijah, a Syracuse native, was killed in April while riding his bicycle in a double hit-andrun crash. In mourning his death, community members have also come together in reflecting on his life.

Many people remember his voice carrying over Marshall Street, as he would tell students, “You stay in school, get some college knowledge.” And now, his family is helping to fulfill this request by starting the Eli Harris Scholarship in his honor.

Beginning in fall 2021, the scholarship will support a part-time music student with $1,000 each fall for the next 10 years, said Lakisha Harris, Elijah’s daughter.

The Harris family is also planning a community event in April to honor his legacy. The free event will include music, food and a raffle for a portrait of Elijah and one of his guitars.

The scholarship, which will be awarded to part-time music students, is the Harris family’s way of memorializing their father and giving back to Syracuse University, which was like a second home to him, Lakisha said.

“He gave what he had inside of him, so he could teach everyone else how to love through music. He used music to communicate that,” Lakisha said. “They embraced my dad with open arms from day one.”

Elijah lived in Syracuse his whole life, Lakisha said, apart from the time he spent in the military when he was stationed in South Carolina. With a passion for music that dates back to his childhood, he

see scholarship page 14

slice of life

SU senior sells art of women of color to dispel stereotypes

By Gavi Azoff

asst. copy editor

Olivia Zimmerman has been creating digital art since December 2019, but during quarantine, she began to expand her business to a new Etsy site, ArtByLivZim, which she launched on August 16. Her work portrays Black women and other women of color in a positive light and can be purchased as prints, stickers or on mugs.

Zimmerman describes her drawing style as “a mix between Bratz dolls and an anime cartoonish style.”

She mostly draws Black women because society often sees them in terms of negative stereotypes and doesn’t allow them to be soft or pretty, she said. So she draws fun images

of Black women not attached to any stereotypes or struggles that they are associated with.

Zimmerman has transitioned from sketching on paper to digital drawings. Before publicly releasing her drawings, Zimmerman would practice by drawing her friends.

Now, she is sharing her art on her Instagram and selling it on Etsy.

“I want to show Black women being carefree or being just regular without it having to be attached to any kind of struggle,” Zimmerman said. “I really want to create positive and just really fun images of Black women versus the majority of stereotypes about Black women.”

Zimmerman mostly draws Black girls in modern fashions, such as

“e-girls” and other popular aesthetics, she said.

In her art, Zimmerman aims to represent different communities of color. SU alumna Abigail Covington, who Zimmerman met through her roommate, said that Zimmerman incorporates diversity in her art by using different skin tones and representing different ethnicities.

Zimmerman also works people of color into spaces where they have been erased and puts Black women in places where they usually aren’t seen, Covington said. One way she does this is by remaking anime characters as Black women.

While her art does have a deeper meaning behind it, Zimmerman hopes that other Black women and

girls can simply see themselves in her drawings.

Senior Chandler Plante, a classmate of Zimmerman, said that before she started selling her artwork, Zimmerman would bring it to class. Last year, Zimmerman brought in little badges with drawings on them. Plante still has hers attached to her backpack strap.

Plante has loved watching Zimmerman grow as an artist. She sees Zimmerman as “an intensely creative person who is creating these pieces for Black women to feel and see themselves look beautiful and look stunning.”

Covington describes watching Zimmerman and her art flourish as “enriching.” She believes creat-

ing artwork is a form of self-care for Zimmerman, as it allows her to express herself in a creative way.

Since producing her art for the public, Zimmerman is developing her own style within her work, she said.

Plante said Zimmerman is creating a space on the SU campus to celebrate Black women and Black beauty, which is something that has been missing.

As for ArtByLivZim’s future, Zimmerman wants to start another series and continue her business.

“I hope she’s able to grow the business and hope she’s able to gain recognition,” Plante said. “The recognition she deserves.” gfazoff@syr.edu @gavi_azoff

14 sept. 10, 2020

dailyorange.com culture@dailyorange.com

from the studio

C

Student releases debut single recorded in quarantine For their one-year anniversary, Rachel Bershad wrote then-boyfriend Ben Palumbo a song and made an accompanying music video.

But because the thumbnail was titled “Steve Buscemi Impersonates Guy Fieri,” Palumbo thought it was a dumb joke.

Upon opening it, though, Palumbo discovered a heartfelt song about Bershad’s love for him. Two years later, as juniors at Syracuse University, the song is the debut single of Bershad’s music career, despite the couple breaking up.

Bershad on Friday released the track, rerecorded during quarantine and titled “Warmer,” under their alias Broca Ray. Bershad sings and plays piano on the song, which they described as “close to lo-fi” but with “some jazzier influences.” from page 13

scholarship grew up to pursue a career as a musician and played his guitar on the streets, eventually becoming well known by locals for his friendliness and love of storytelling, she added.

Syracuse Common Councilor and musician Jos Driscoll said Elijah would talk to people as they walked by, using lines like “‘Hey you, in the red dress.” He’d sing about what bars were having specials, what bands were playing and what was going on in the neighborhood.

“Yeah, he was a riot,” Driscoll said.

When Driscoll was 12, he would ride his bike down to Marshall Street, and Elijah was always on the corners. Driscoll liked to watch him play every day.

Driscoll and Elijah developed a friendship throughout the years. Elijah showed him guitar chords as well as tips and tricks he’d learned during his time playing music for the

Production on the song began in May when Bershad was recording vocals for another song at a friend’s apartment in Pennsylvania and met producer Evan Delp, a senior at the University of South Carolina. Bershad’s talent instantly captivated Delp — they sounded different than anything else he’d heard.

“My jaw was on the floor when they were singing,” Delp said.

Then, Delp asked Bershad, who had just been playing covers, if they had any originals.

Bershad had always been shy about sharing their music. The local performing arts talent overwhelmed them when they grew up in Philadelphia. Bershad began singing and playing at a young age and dove into theater after a chronic autoimmune disorder disease ended their athletic career in fifth grade.

“I never really thought my music had any weight or worth other than just dissipating into the drywall whenever I used my keyboard

in my dorm,” Bershad said.

Regardless, Bershad played the earlier version of “Warmer” for Delp. He instantly started thinking of the different directions that the song could go and what he could add onto it.

For five days, Bershad and Delp did nothing but “eat food and make music” from 1 p.m. until 3 a.m. at their mutual friend’s apartment.

In their whole life, Bershad had never felt more focused on one task. The vocals for “Warmer” were recorded by the end of the week, with the piano portion finished on that first day. Delp and Bershad also added more instrumentation to the song.

Bershad has written about six more songs and plans to release their EP, “New Jade,” this winter. Aside from an additional in-person session in July, Bershad and Dep have worked remotely for the past several months.

Over Thanksgiving and winter break, the two plan to spend as much time together as

they can recording all of the remaining vocals and fine-tuning “New Jade.”

The whole project ranges from experimental pieces with sound effects to songs with horns, drums and jazzier, upbeat influences, Bershad said. The lyrics, they said, are very specific and intimate.

Once the pandemic is over, Bershad dreams of playing original music live for the first time.

Although Bershad is open to a career in music in the future, it’s not something they are counting on. Rather, they are driven to make music because it’s a personal outlet for them.

“My life is full of things that are really inconsistent,” Bershad said. “I’ve learned to treat things with a good degree of meaning but also with a really fading sense of permanence, because I know that any moment, everything could change.”

people of Syracuse. Driscoll ended up pursuing a career in music with Elijah’s guidance.

After Elijah’s death, Driscoll created a GoFundMe page for the Harris family that raised about $23,600.

“I saw the outpouring of love online for him, and my mind went there right away — that his family would have to pay for the funeral soon, and we should organize around this and make sure everyone’s chipping in while they’re showing love,” he said.

Everything Elijah did was based on love, said Lakisha, calling him a man of God. Her fondest memory of him is when he visited her at work on her birthday. He came to the physician’s office where she worked and played her “Happy Birthday.”

Her father’s biggest accomplishment in music was winning the Founder’s Award at the 2019 Syracuse Area Music Awards. Lakisha still remembers how excited he was when he called and asked her to come with him to the awards.

“It was, for him, a piece of heaven,” she said.

“It was like all his work had finally paid off and the world was acknowledging it.”

Lakisha wants the recipients of the Eli Harris Scholarship to know that her father had a very real passion for music and he had the ability to touch countless people with it, despite having had many obstacles in his life.

Out of all the qualities that made him so wellloved in the community, the quality that Lakisha admired most about him was his determination.

“Even in all the craziness he went through, he kept his spirit and kept a smile on his face,” she said. “The love he had and the passion he had for life was contagious.”

The Eli Harris scholarship will relieve a lot of financial burdens for part-time commuter students, according to Michael Frasciello, dean of University College. The most common expenses are daycare, travel and parking.

Part-time students regularly “stop out” for a semester if their finances will not permit them

to cover additional expenses such as these. The scholarship, Frasciello said, will allow these students to persist and stay on track.

Although Frasciello did not know Elijah personally beyond seeing him perform, he said that Elijah always seemed to remember everyone. Every time he would see Elijah outside the university, Frasciello said he would give a knowing smile and nod.

Driscoll would often bring Elijah onstage with him during his own musical performances in venues such as The Westcott Theater and The Palace Theater. Although Elijah had a lot of challenges in his life, he spent every day just trying to make people smile and brighten their day with a melody, a joke and a laugh.

“He was a people person. He was someone who just had that open heart energy and was such a resource and treasure for the community,” Driscoll said. “It’s a life well lived.”

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