DePaulia
The
2017 Pacemaker Award Winner/Best Weekly College Newspaper-SPJ
Volume #102 | Issue #15 | Feb.12, 2018 | depauliaonline.com
HARD FEELINGS JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA
Alumni embark on ad campaign looking to oust athletic director By Shane René, Jonathan Ballew & Connor McEleney Sports Editor, Asst. News Editor & Contributing Writer
As DePaul’s men’s basketball team continues to dwell in the basement of the Big East standings, students and alumni are banning together to call for a change of leadership in the athletic department, taking aim at DePaul’s athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto. Last Tuesday, the same day prized recruit Tyger Campbell announced his decision to attend UCLA over DePaul, Purdue and Maryland, a GoFundMe account titled “Remove DePaul’s Athletic Director” was registered with the goal of raising $800 to purchase ad space in the DePaulia. In just over 2 hours, they surpassed their goal with donations ranging from $10 to $200. As of noon on Sunday Feb. 11, the fundraiser has collected over $1,700 in donations. Matt Martinez, a 2012 graduate of the College of Communication in PR and Advertising who started the GoFundMe page, said the goal of the fundraiser is to capture the attention of DePaul’s administration and shine a light on what they believe is a series of mismanaged and “confusing” head coaching decisions. “We wanted to do this in a way that would get the best attention of the University,” Martinez said. “And we felt like (the) first move as part of our process should be to start on campus.” Carol Hughes, from DePaul’s Office of Public Relations and Communications, issued an official response on behalf of the university when asked for President A.
Gabriel Esteban’s comment. After repeated requests by the DePaulia, Esteban — who replaced the athletic director at Seton Hall less than a month into his role as President — declined to comment himself. “Under Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto’s leadership,” Hughes said, “our student athletes continue to make us proud.” Hughes’ statement continued with a list of the athletic department’s accomplishments under Ponsetto, which highlighted student athletes’ successes in the classroom and in non-revenue generating sports. Hughes said 14 of 15 Blue Demon athletic programs have represented the university at NCAA championships under Ponsetto’s command, including 15 straight NCAA tournament appearances from DePaul’s women’s basketball team. DePaul has also become a powerhouse in the Big East for racking up academic awards for their student athletes, she said. However, since Ponsetto took over as athletic director in 2002, DePaul’s men’s basketball team — the school’s biggest-budget and flagship program — has earned an NCAA tournament berth just once in 2003. Ponsetto then guided efforts to move DePaul into the Big East, where stiff competition has made life difficult for the Blue Demons over the last decade. Now 16 years into the job and three coaching hires later, DePaul has three 20-win seasons and four postseason runs, including their 2003 NCAA tournament run. Ponsetto denied The DePaulia’s request for interview, but issued a statement in
See GOFUNDME, page 27
Amiwala encounters reality of politics as primary nears By Benjamin Conboy News Editor
Bushra Amiwala is getting down in the political muck that is Chicago politics ahead of the Cook County Board of Commissioners primary. Since she announced her campaign in June, she’s encountered fiery opposition and establishment roadblocks. But the 20-year-old DePaul student has also encountered the good in politics. She’s been treated with respect by her primary opponent, incumbent commissioner Larry Suffredin, who called her “an honorable opponent.” “She’s been raising issues, she’s been visible throughout the district. I think she’s a good candidate,” Suffredin said. She was even approached by members of gubernatorial hopeful J.B. Pritzker’s campaign who were offering her team help with phone banking and doorto-door canvassing. But because most of her supporters
PHOTO COURTESY OF BUSHRA AMIWALA Bushra Amiwala speaks to an auditorium full of students at Roosevelt High School in December 2017.
favor the more progressive Daniel Biss for governor, she turned the offer down. But Biss told her earlier in the race that Suffredin is a friend of his, so there wouldn’t be any help there (Suffredin has donated $7,250 to the Biss campaign, according to Illinois Sunshine). She did get a much-needed win when she got her name to appear first on the ballot, which she said could provide as much as a 10 percent boost in votes just by being the first choice. Traditionally, the candidate who turns in their filing signatures first also gets the top spot, but both her and Suffredin both got to the county clerk’s office at the same time, so the top spot came down whose name got pulled out of a hat. Amiwala and Suffredin both got thrown a curveball, which came in the form of a late-announcing firebrand of a candidate named Daniel Foster. When all three candidates were at the Democratic Party of Evanston’s office for an endorsement meeting, Foster threw the first punches in an otherwise
See AMIWALA, page 4