“I said I could and I would. And I did.� -Nellie Bly
The Digital Media and Communication program at Villa Maria College and The Daily Public partner to promote journalism and storytelling in education.
Vol. 1
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> VIBE WITH US! By Alexandra Snow, Vibe Editor Welcome to the Villa Vibe -- the resurrection of the school tradition of a student newspaper. That tradition ended sometime in the late 1990s according to the memory of Joyce Kessel, chair of the liberal arts department at Villa Maria College. When asked about the resurrection, she said, “It’s about time.” Past the cemeteries and nestled between the convent and a convenience store students are studying every aspect of the arts --from digital to healing and beyond. Our campus of just over 600 students was founded to educate nuns in 196. It is now co-ed and offers aspiring professionals a place to hone their skills.
COLORED MUSICIAN’S CLUB: A HISTORIC PLACE COMES ALIVE FOR A MILLENNIAL By LaCherie Reid, Villa Vibe Correspondent When I walked into the Colored Musicians Club, it instantly reminded me of my childhood—from the East side neighborhood where most of my family lives to the beautifully aged brown faces on the mural painted across the front of the building.
This paper is a project created by the school’s new Digital Media and Communication program. It’s students are studying professional communication and focus on getting the word out about all things important and interesting around the campus and its surrounding community. Join us on our journey as we build the Vibe from the ground up. Skim through our pages. Send us feedback. We’re curious to know what you think.
A two-story brick building at the corner of Broadway and Michigan Avenue, the CMC looked comfortable, like it had been there for a while.
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THE VILLA VIBE: Alexandra Snow, Editor and Designer
Peace, love, and good vibes!
Nina Cray, Staff Writer and Reporter
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LaCharie Reid, Correspondent
Cover: “POWER” Photo by Paige Berkheiser
Michelle Kearns, Faculty Advisor
Kalvin Booker, Photographer Jessica Stoddard, Creative Director
In fact, it had. The club opened in 1935, when Buffalo nightclubs were segregated and black performers like Billie Holiday weren’t allowed to stay for a drink when they finished their sets. This is where performers, their friends and fans came to unwind, hang out and play after their performances at the segregated clubs. As I approached, I wished I was walking toward the building as a music-loving carefree millennial whose only mission was to hang out and have fun. Instead, I was a student with homework to do: write a story. I had a notebook, a mini iPad and a mission. This was my excuse to finally go inside a place I’d heard about. It turned out to be so much more fun and relaxing than I expected. As I stepped through the doorway, I could feel the charming history of the CMC come alive. It was a chilly evening in March. I remember it was a Monday or a Thursday, those are the nights of the week when different bands practice and play old-school jazz with no cover!
George Scott, Colored Musicians Club president, outside the building at 145 Broadway in Buffalo, which opened at this location in 1935. Photo by Michelle Kearns
Founding staff, Fall semester 2017: Left to right: Nina Cray, Alexandra Snow, Erica Elberts. Photo by Kalvin Booker
Faded carpet covered the creaky staircase. With each step, I could feel the history. I imagined lines of people stretching all the way outside as black people from across segregated old Buffalo anticipated a good night. More than half a century later, I was stepping through the very same entrance. The club’s upstairs bar holds abstract paintings of jazz legends like Aretha Franklin and Count Basie. I took a seat and ran my hands along the soft, worn wood bar top and ordered a beer. As I sipped from cool bottle of Stella Artois, I met the vivacious bartender: an older woman with auburn
hair pulled back in a low ponytail. She welcomed me and all the guests with a gentle touch on the hand. When I asked how long she had been working, she smiled. “Probably too long,” she said. “I used to just come to hang out and then they put me to work. One, two... now it’s three days a week. I meet a lot of nice people here.” Toward one end of the building was the stage where a 12-piece big band played. A few saxophones, trombone, piano. Powerful sax solos led the even more powerful sound of the band played as one. They were in such harmony, I couldn’t tell each instrument apart. The longer I sat at the bar, the more I understood why people still go to the CMC. It had to be the same reason I found myself back there a couple weeks later. It didn’t take much to enjoy myself. The people were fantastic, full of fun and youthful. The cliché was right on: age was nothing but a number. Old folks, like my grandmother and older, were dancing and drinking more than I was. Before I left, the tall man at the end of the bar left his perch to say goodbye. He was George Scott, the club president. He seemed to be the glue that holds the place together. He’s the first one to greet almost anyone who walks in. He invited me back the next night to listen to his band play. He said he’d order pizza. We would have a great time. I wished I could, but I had to say no. I had homework to do. I had to get home and write this story.
TERWILLIGER’S TEAM’S TRIBECA TRIUMPH By Nina Cray, Vibe Reporter Two years of hard work on an animated short film paid off for Lee Terwilliger: The 34-year-old Villa Maria College animation professor and his team of a dozen will have their film—one of seven other animated films—presented by the end of this month at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan.
drinks one summer while they were teaching classes at the Harvard University campus. Terwilliger says that Pietri, a live-action filmmaker, picked his brain about technique and then asked him to animate the story. “I was overwhelmed,” Terwilliger said. “I was working full time at FisherPrice and teaching.” Even so, he accepted the challenge and Terwilliger, a Villa graduate, reached out to Villa students and a former professor for help.
“It’s important for animators because it’s not an animation festival,” said Terwilliger. “It’s a film festival.”
Just over seven minutes long, “The Velvet Underground Played at My High School” is an animated documentary about Lou Reed’s band playing its first paid gig at a high school prom in 1965. The band, known for its pessimistic views and provocative songs about drug abuse like “Heroin,” was not popular at first. Especially not on the night of that Summit High School prom at in New Jersey. According to the memory of Tony Jannelli—one of the film’s directors who was there—people booed “The Velvet Underground” and walked out. The project started when Robert Pietri—directing the film with Jannelli—invited Terwilliger for
PUT VILLACON ON YOUR LIST OF VILLA PROS By Alexandra Snow, Vibe Editor When a campus full of students stressed about finals turns into a campus full of superheroes, French maids and Mario Kart competitions, it can only mean one thing: It’s May, school is almost over and VillaCon is here.
Lee in his office. Photo by Nina Cray.
Two years later, the movie was finished and ready to send out to film festivals this past September. Winning a spot in the lineup at Tribeca is a big deal: It is an Oscar qualifying event. The festival, from April 18 to 29, presents feature length films and live-action and animated shorts.
Reeves and McCabe founded the convention after tossing around the idea for two years. To make it happen for the first time last year, they had to overcome obstacles. They didn’t have any money. Reeves charged $300 on his Visa to pay for the popcorn machine, bubble tea ingredients and French maids costumes. This was their logic: Why not have men dress up like maids and replicate the costume quirks of the real cafés in Japan?
“We want to have more artists display their artwork in Artist Alley and have more people attend the con,” McCabe said. The event drew in one of the biggest crowds since Spring Fest, according to Student Life Director D.J. Schier.
He hopes his efforts will inspire students to take on unexpected, unconventional projects like this. “Just put yourself out there,” Terwilliger said. “You never know who you’ll meet, you never know what you’ll do or what will come out of it.”
President Jocelyn Torres gave a speech about body positivity in the cosplay community. Skinny characters don’t have to be played by skinny people! Photo and animation students showed off their portfolios at bunch of reserved cafeteria tables – “Artist Alley.” A day of gaming, cosplay – people try to talk, act and look like their favorite characters – contests and bubble tea is also intended as a finals antidote. This year, VillaCon will remain loyal to the things that brought it success the first time. There will be a self-serve popcorn machine and a maid café serving bubble tea once again. What’s new? An expanded Artist Alley.
“The maid cafe is coming back with food, popcorn, cotton candy, cake balls to dip in chocolate,” said Jay Reeves, who co-founded the festival with fellow Gamer Guild member Kat McCabe and funded the debut of VillaCon last year. “I have a credit card and it has no limits,” he laughed. The name may sound like VillaCon aims to be the typical comic convention with grown ups dressed as their favorite comic book characters – walking around in clingy Captain America outfits – but it’s not. Organizers Reeves and McCabe say it’s more of festival. It’s held in the cafeteria for comic book fans, animation majors and anyone who needs a break from finals. This year, as the Gamers’ Guild founders plan their second con for May 1, they hope for a bigger turnout.
When he started drawing the movie frames in black and white in the summer of 2015, Terwilliger never imagined the project would go this far. “My goal as lead animator was just to finish the film,” he said.
Apply for a table by sending Reeves an email at reevesjt@villa.edu. Set up just about anything! Show off artwork. Or, put up a petition to add Japanese language course since the one they tried last year went missing. Jay Reeves, co-founder of VillaCon. Photo by Molly Sheehan
Their inspiration for VillaCon did come from comic-cons – short for comic book convention – held in convention centers all over the U.S. since 1964, according to Wikipedia. Yet, VillaCon is unique. While it is a nod to comic culture, the founders’ ambition is to bring together the college’s community of artists and clubs.
This year, there’s potential for even greater things. They hope for lots of people thirsty for cups of iced Japanese tea with tapioca pearls served by young men in maids costumes. Reeves had a blast last year wearing his. It was the best part in his opinion, along with the crowd that filled the cafeteria: “People come from the other buildings all day asking for bubble tea.” His plan worked. The tea was irresistible.
The clubs joined in just as McCabe and Reeves hoped. The environmental club gave out potted plants in Mason jars. The Love Revolution’s 3
BUFFALO’S MONUMENTAL TRIBUTE TO VETERANS OF COLOR By Nina Cray, Vibe Reporter As the city, its architecture and waterfront make a comeback and Buffalo lands on more and more travel lists—like the No. 37 spot on the NY Times’ “52 Places to go in 2018” – one county legislator would like the renaissance to include a new monument on the downtown shoreline and a reminder of more serious history: If Crystal Peoples-Stokes can raise an estimated $1.2 million as she hopes, a monument honoring African-American veterans from the Revolution to modern times will join other sculptures that stretch along the walking path to the lookout tower and by the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park. “This monument will honor those who are with us and those who are no longer with us,” PeoplesStokes said in a phone interview after announcing her plan last year. There’s no timeline yet, but she’s optimistic that everything will come together in the year ahead.
IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK By Alexandra Snow, Vibe Editor Right after a joke about how people think a bunny’s anxiety is cute, Adam Grabowski hopped around stage wiggling his imaginary tail. His point? Anxiety is a natural part of life. We like it in little rabbits, so why can’t we accept it without stigma in humans? Grabowski would like us to! That was his message to a crowd in the Villa auditorium last fall as his comedy routine took a sober turn. “There are many sides to everyone,” he said, “I’m going to try to be serious for a moment.” Just before, students were laughing. As the comedian jumped around, they snapped phone photos for Snapchat. They didn’t take him seriously at first. Sincerity in the middle of a comedy routine? It seemed out of place. What he said next could’ve resonated with any student. “I’m somebody that struggles with depression and anxiety,” he said. Many in college struggle with some kind of mental health issue. In fact, research backs this up. A third consider suicide. That’s according to Penn State’s website, which highlights a study done in 2013-2014.
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She proposed the idea almost two years ago after she saw a plaque listing the names of every local African-American veteran at a cultural African-American exhibit on the East Side’s Frank E. Merriweather Library. It made her think everyone should be able to see those names in a prominent place alongside the other veteran tributes at the park by the USS Croaker—a submarine—and the USS Little Rock, a guided missile cruiser ship. She hopes the monument will help heal some of the trauma and racism people in the military endured. Alex Washington thinks the monument might help. The retired Buffalonian knows all too well the difficulties and prejudice servicemen and women of color faced in the military. The monument won’t change his experience as an African-American in the Navy in the ‘60s, but it will make people more aware. He imagines what it might feel like to look at a sculptured tribute for veterans like him. “I will be very pleased and proud to have served,” said Washington, 70. As he reflected on his years of service from 1965 to 1969, one memory stood out: the time he let his natural hair get long. “I let my hair grow out about three inches. It
was still within regulation, but my captain didn’t like it. He ordered me to cut it, but I wouldn’t,” Washington said. Then came the punishment: Nothing but bread and water for three days. After that, shipmates held him down and cut his hair. “I felt abused,” he said. “It made me not stay in the Navy, even though I liked my job.” As plans develop, Peoples-Stokes and her staff must figure out how to get the land and money. Mark Boyd, Chief of Staff for Peoples-Stokes, expects construction of the Canalside monument could start in the fall of 2018, if state and federal funding come through. “There is nothing of its kind in the country,” said Boyd. He and Peoples-Stokes believe the carved stone will do more than pay tribute. It will teach. “Not much African-American history is taught,” said Boyd. “This monument provides an opportunity for teaching.” Recognition will also build empathy and smooth over the city’s history of racism and segregation. “If we understood each other better,” said PeoplesStokes, “there wouldn’t be so much division between us.”
Mental health needs on campus are a serious issue, reported a 2015 CNN story that included the Penn State results. As Grabowski spoke, students seemed rapt. They put their phones in their pockets. Smiles faded. He captured everyone’s attention. Grabowski, an “America’s Got Talent” alumnus named Comic of the Year by the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities, now makes his living touring colleges. He mixes his observational comedy with motivational speaking. His mission: persuading students to open up about mental health issues of any kind. Things improve, he said, when you say something to someone. Talking to anyone is better than keeping quiet about troubles. In 2017, Grabowski visited Villa twice – in the fall and spring semesters. It was part of his 150-stop nationwide tour of colleges and universities. “I thought his show would just be comedy, you know? Stand-up comedy or whatever,” said Markisha Harris, a sophomore. Not all college students are willing to share their feelings, which is part of the problem, Grabowski said. To prove his point, he asked students who struggled with talking about their feelings to raise their hands. Three hesitantly went up.
Photo courtesey of AdamGrabowski.com
To Grabowski, it seemed like too few. “You guys don’t want to speak up,” he said. To encourage honesty and life-saving conversations, he created a campaign called #SAYITANYWAY. The phrase is stamped on the outside of muted, low-key grey wristbands he handed out at the end of his show. Grabowski said he designed them that way on purpose. The wristband and a reminder stamped on the inside – “you’re not alone” – are intended to blend in and go unnoticed, he said. Just the way people’s stress, anxiety and mental illness sometimes do. As he ended his show, he encouraged his audience to keep in touch: He gave out his Snapchat and Instagram handles – @adamgrabowski. Write whenever you need someone to listen, he said. Student Jessica Czechowicz has held onto her Grabowski souvenier. “I still wear his wristband every day,” said the third year psychology student. “I saw him almost a year ago now but it still helps me get through those rough days.”