10/12/15

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OUTSIDE THE LINES Coloring books aren’t just for kids Arts & Life, page 17

MOVIE MAGIC

DePaulia

The

The coolest theaters in the city Focus, page 14

The No. 1 Weekly College Newspaper in Illinois

Volume #100 | Issue #5 | Oct. 12, 2015 | depauliaonline.com

‘This is the year it all fell apart’ A student’s journey to find housing By Jessica Villagomez News Editor

L

ast spring, 28-year-old DePaul senior Tony Romero sat on a bench outside the Loop Campus DePaul Center and wondered where he was going to sleep that night. He had lost his U-Pass and had just gotten into a fight with his aunt that morning. With nowhere to go and no way to get there, Romero fell asleep on the cold, hard, wooden benches. A campus public safety officer told him he had to get off DePaul’s campus, so he got up and thought of another plan for the night. He asked a stranger at the train station if they would pay for his fare so he could have a spot to sleep. After some convincing, Romero was able to travel on the trains throughout the night, riding from station to station, waiting until the next day came. Romero is one of thousands of college students suffering from housing insecurity, the lack of a stable and healthy housing arrangement. Prior to this year, he had lived in a family-owned home all of his life. He never thought that one day he would be sleeping on trains, benches and couches. Today, Romero is the first DePaul

JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA

After losing secure housing, DePaul senior Tony Romero became the first student to use the Dax Host-Home Program. student to utilize the Dax Host-Home program for DePaul University students, a temporary housing program that houses students for up to 12 weeks. Before reaching out to DePaul, Romero struggled to support his family. Eventually circumstances made it so that he needed a stable place to live. The oldest of his three siblings, Romero worked after high school for five years, trying to support himself and his family until deciding to go back to school. Romero attended Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges of Chicago and after two years he received his associate’s degree in

business administration. During his time at Wilbur Wright, Romero realized his educational aspirations spanned larger than what the institution could offer him. He wanted to major in accounting at a university, but he wasn’t sure which school he wanted to attend. It took another year before he applied and was admitted to DePaul in the fall of 2013. Romero said DePaul gave him an opportunity to succeed and prosper more than he thought possible. “It was definitely a different scenery from what I’ve seen before,” Romero said. “I knew that if I ever completed there, and

if I ever got through it, I would be further in my life than where I am now.” As Romero was pursuing his education, his housing situation took a drastic turn. “This year is when it all fell apart,” Romero said. “We lost the family and the home, and the owner of the house, which is my uncle, the brother of my grandparents, basically said that we all had to leave.” For about five months, Romero resided with an aunt. He slept on a couch in the basement, leaving early in the morning and staying at school late into the night.

Hats off: Wyatt breaks soccer scoring record By Zachary Holden Staff Writer

It’s hard to tell what Elise Wyatt is better at — scoring goals or being humble about it. When the senior forward tied, broke and then extended the DePaul women’s soccer alltime scoring record to 34 goals against Butler Thursday in a 3-2 victory, she remained modest and focused on the team. “I’m very proud that I accomplished it, but I’m more proud that this team grinded out a win,” Wyatt said. “I’m more excited to get the three points.” It’s not uncommon for a striker, and program’s leading scorer, to be a bit selfish. How else is she going to score all of those goals over a four-year span?

Wyatt is different, though. While Wyatt has helped transform DePaul into a winning program, Wyatt hasn’t let the success go to her head. Regardless of the situation, it’s always about the team, and her teammates thrive because of it. “She’s a great leader, she pushes all of us to be our best on the field,” sophomore Alexa Ben said. “She will motivate everyone on the field to do their best and we really feed off her.” Ben is only in her second year with the Blue Demons and has loved every moment of playing with someone of Wyatt’s caliber. It makes Ben’s job as the creative midfielder a little bit easier knowing there’s a pure striker ahead of her at all times who can

See WYATT, page 27

See HOUSING, page 4

Students excluded from Dean Koocher town hall By Brenden Moore News Editor

MATTHEW PARAS | THE DEPAULIA

Elise Wyatt celebrates her 11th goal this season and the No. 33 in her collegiate career Thursday, breaking DePaul’s all time mark. DePaul beat Butler, 3-2.

Provost Marten denBoer and Dean Gerald Koocher will host a town hall-style meeting with faculty and staff on Monday to discuss the Hoffman Report and the dean’s alleged role in the events discussed, but the meeting will be held without students or other members of the DePaul community. The discussion was billed in an email to faculty and staff as an open meeting “so that the community can have a conversation with (the provost) about these issues.”

See KOOCHER , page 6


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