Volume 90 • Issue 14
FSUgatepost.com
February 4, 2022
University COVID-19 positive rate drops significantly
By Leighah Beausoleil Associate Editor
Students and faculty members returned to the classroom this week after beginning the Spring 2022 Semester with two weeks of remote learning. Initially, only one week of virtual classes was to be held at the start of the semester to allow Residence Life to stagger move in and to provide more time for onboard testing, according to a Dec. 27 email from President F. Javier Cevallos. According to a Jan. 13 email, this was extended to allow for more onboarding testing and time for students to isolate themselves before returning to in-person classes. During the first week of onboard testing, FSU saw a 6.1% positive rate. According to a Feb. 2 community-wide email from Cevallos, last week saw a positive test rate of 1.6%, while this week, the rate was only 0.7%. Resident students are required to
See COVID-19 UPDATE page 4
News COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS pg. 3
Opinions
PARKING ON CAMPUS pg. 9 VACCINES pg. 9
Sports
Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST (Left) Nurse Practicitioner Nancy Kunkel and sophomore Olivia Copeland help students at FSU’s testing site Jan. 31.
Board of Trustees extends tuition freeze another year By Steven Bonini News Editor By Sophia Harris Asst. News Editor The Board of Trustees discussed a freeze on student tuition, the governor’s budget, and phase 2 of the perception study for strategic student enrollment at its Jan. 26 meeting. Trustee Michael Grilli discussed the Board’s decision to freeze tuition for the 2022-23 Academic Year during the finance committee report. Grilli said, “I think any student listening should be encouraged. The trustees continue to lead in the circles that we compete for, and have frozen our fees.” He added this pause will include a freeze on fees for housing as well. Grilli proposed a motion on behalf of the finance committee to recom-
mend to the Board of Trustees the tuition freeze and the motion was passed with unanimous consent. Chair of the Board of Trustees Kevin Foley said following the motion that he believes this decision speaks volumes about the “fiscal management” of the Board of Trustees, adding it shows they recognize the “difficulties that the students still have as far as in the current economic conditions.” He said he is pleased with this decision. Dale Hamel, executive vice president, discussed the governor’s budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), which he said came out the afternoon of Jan. 26. Hamel highlighted collective bargaining costs and said the “state portion” of those costs are “included” in the governor’s budget “both in terms of FY21 retroactive payments, FY22
increases, and because this is actually the FY23 budget submittal, includes the incremental costs of that.” According to Hamel, the governor’s budget recommends an increase in the formula funding line of 1%. “We had assumed a 2% increase in that line item,” he said. “We’ll work through with the legislature to hopefully get that back up to 2%.” Accompanying the governor’s budget is a new bond bill, said Hamel. “A bond bill would provide authorizations for DCAMM (Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance) spending on critical repair programs that we’ve been fortunate to receive annual funding from and would capitalize it for the next five years,” he said. In an email, Hamel said the bond bill would “provide the Administration with ability to provide
See BOARD OF TRUSTEES page 7
One student’s reign as Queen Vivian Delamour HOCKEY pg. 12
Gatepost Archives
Arts & Features ‘CRUELTY SQUAD’ pg. 13 ‘GOLDEN KAMUY’ pg. 13 QUEEN VIVIAN pg. 14
By Caroline Gordon Arts & Features Editor As a child, Angel Muriel gazed in awe at the different kinds of makeup his older brother laid out in front of him - concealer, foundation, highlighter, and eyeshadow pallets with dozens of colors. Once his makeup was complete, it was time for the outfit. Muriel rifled through his mother’s closet in search of perfect pairings. Once dressed, he became another
person. He was no longer the young boy struggling with mental health issues and figuring out his sexuailty. He was a queen. This was just the beginning of his reign. Fast forward 17 years, and Angel Muriel is a professional drag queen. During the weekdays, he studies and sews his way toward the end of senior year as he completes his degree in fashion merchandising. On a recent snowy evening, Muriel wore a mustard yellow FSU Residence Life shirt as he worked the late-night
shift as a Student Desk Attendant. He twirled his curly hair as he pondered his identities. He is quieter than his drag persona, not as bold as her, and not dressed like her when he is Angel. “I’m more of a casual and fierce individual. She is just overloaded on fierceness. She is the life of the party. When she walks into a room, automatically she gets stared at. She is beautiful,” he said. Muriel added, “It’s really about
See QUEEN VIVIAN page 14
INSIDE: OP/ED 9 • SPORTS 12 • ARTS & FEATURES 13
NEWS
2 | FEBRUARY 4, 2022
Gatepost Interview
Editorial Board
Robin Kolnicki
Editor-in-Chief Donald Halsing
Biology Professor
Associate Editors Leighah Beausoleil Kathleen Moore
By Steven Bonini News Editor
News Editors Steven Bonini Haley Hadge Ashlyn Kelly Asst. News Editor Sophia Harris Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward Sports Editor Danielle Achin Tyler Wahl Arts & Features Editors Caroline Gordon Emily Rosenberg Asst. Arts & Features Editor Ryan O’Connell Design Editors Maddison Behringer Emma Lyons
How did you end up working at FSU? My husband was working in Cambridge, we needed to live nearby, and this was as close as we could get to Cambridge and still be within driving distance to the University of Massachusetts. So, when first started working here, I was working here in the day and then commuting to the university and taking courses at night.
Copy Editor Patrick Brady Staff Writers James Barraford Jackson Clyde Dan Fuentes Dallas Gagnon Mark Haskell Stefano Hernandez Branden LaCroix Sage Lorenzo Johan Perez Nathan Rogers
What would you say are your goals as one of the visiting lecturers in the Biology Department? My number one goal currently is to have all of my students succeed. We’re in a difficult time right now, and see there’s a lot of stress on campus. And I’m doing as much as I can to help elevate the students and help them to stay on track and to do well in this course.
Multimedia Critics Sean Cabot Jack McLaughlin Ryan Schreiber Advisor Desmond McCarthy
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Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks
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What is your role at FSU and what does your job entail? I’m a visiting lecturer in the Biology Department and I teach courses in Human Biology, Intro to Biology, Intro to Genetics, and labs. What is your professional and educational background? My educational background includes a master’s degree in education, a master’s degree in biology, and a Ph.D. in geosciences. My research is on chromosomal evolution in lemurs and bats. My undergraduate studies were at American International College in Springfield. And there received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s degree in education. And then I went on to the University of Massachusetts, where I received a master’s degree in Biology and a Ph.D. in geosciences. But I spent quite a bit of time in biotechnology, and also in organismic, and evolutionary biology. I worked on my Ph.D. for a long time because I switched departments.
What would you say is the best part of your job? The best part of my job is having access to these wonderful students. I enjoy being here. I live nearby. I’m never in a hurry to go anywhere. And my daughter goes to school here and I enjoy her friends and just the environment of the energy that young people have of aspi@T ration and Hvitality. OST being around EGATEIPenjoy young people - I think that keeps me young. I enjoy the academic environment as well. I like the events that happen on campus. I go to a lot of events, but what I most loved above all were the trips. I miss all the FSU trips, because I would go on the winter, something over January, winter trip, and I would go on the spring break trips, or in the summer.
T TH EGATEPOS
100 State Street McCarthy Center Room 410 Framingham, MA 01701-9101 Phone: (508) 626-4605 Fax: (508) 626-4097 gatepost@framingham.edu @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com
Police Logs Friday, Jan. 28 11:55 Well being check Larned Hall Advised
Courtesy of Robin Kolnicki Sometimes in May, there were trips to the Middle East when Yaser Najjar was here as a geography professor. … Those opportunities were only available to me through Framingham State University. Those are the high points of my career here - spending time with the students in the middle of the Sahara Desert. What are some hobbies of yours? I’m an artist - I do acrylic painting, and I make jewelry out of crystals and semi-precious stones. And I play drums. And I’m a gardener. That’s the big thing for me - my plants. Over these past couple years, I’ve had a lot more time to focus on artwork. I’ve been making montages of some of my photographs from the trips that I’ve been on, along with acrylic painting, and making a montage or a collection of pictures. I was inspired by Megan Maxfield here at Framingham State. She’s an administrative secretary on the first floor of Hemenway, and she has these pictures in her office and taught me the skill. And so, I’ve been making many of those pictures with a focus on time travel and a kind of science fiction element to it. made a painting of a three-dimensional collage of the antikythera device. It’s an ancient clock that’s thousands of years old - found off the island of antikythera in the Mediterranean near Greece. It’s a famous ancient cosmic clock that is very
Monday, Jan. 31 11:05 Motor Vehicle Accident Maynard Rd Parking Lot Unfounded
interesting. So, I’ve been making a lot of montages, but also doing laser-cut puzzles. Do you have any advice for campus students? ig advice is to relax. Try to just find space to relax and not get overwhelmed. I feel that a lot of students have too much pressure right now with everything that’s going on, and that sometimes, they just need a little space to take a breath, and stay focused, and not get overwhelmed. Also, to reach out to your professors if you are. Those students who come to me and explain that there’s a lot going on in their life - I’m very sympathetic to that. I appreciate when they come to me, and I don’t have to go track them down to find out why they’re not showing up or what’s going on in their life because I don’t like them to just disappear. Contact them if they’re not around. It’s important for the students to reach out to their professors and let them know what’s going on. I don’t think I’m alone in that. I think that most - if not all professors - do care about their students.
CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI sbonini@student.framingham.edu
Monday, Jan. 31 12:36 Found Property FSU Police Department Report Taken
Wednesday, Feb. 2 04:59 Well being check Corinne Hall Towers Checks OK
NEWS
COVID-19 by the numbers
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | 3
By Kathleen Moore Associate Editor
Data collected Jan. 29
Data collected Feb. 3
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau, CDC COVID-19 Data Tracker, Johns Hopkins
[Editor’s Note: The Framingham Public Health Department is no longer reporting the number of COVID-19 cases in the city as of Feb. 2, 2022.]
[Editor’s Note: The number of tests administered does not indicate an outbreak of COVID-19.]
Weather Sunday night Feb. 06 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14.
Monday Feb. 07 Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Wind around 5 mph.
Data source: Framingham State
Data collected Feb. 3
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Worldometer, City of Framingham
Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov Monday night Feb. 07 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Light wind.
Tuesday night Feb. 08 Partly cloudy, with a low around 20. Wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday night Feb. 09 Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. Wind around 6 mph.
Tuesday Feb. 08 Partly sunny, with a high near 40. Wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Feb. 09 Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Wind around 5 mph.
Thursday Feb. 10 Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Wind around 5 mph.
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COVID-19 update Continued from page 1 test bi-weekly, while commuter students will be subject to random-sample testing. Health Center Director Ilene Hofrenning said the University’s testing rate is doing well in comparison to Massachusetts as a whole. Massachusetts’ average positive test rate hit its peak for the month of January on the 13th at 22.2%, according to the Mayo Clinic. Since then, the positive test rate has been steadily decreasing and now sits at 10.4% as of Feb. 1. Hofrenning said the decreased positive test rate is “not surprising.” She explained this is because scientists test the wastewater several times a week to assess for COVID-19. She said, “That’s kind of a leading indicator because the virus in wastewater shot way up before the number of cases increased,” adding now “that is coming down almost as fast as it went up.” Cevallos said if these results continue and more students upload their COVID-19 booster information to Medicat, “we may be able to start easing our mitigation efforts sooner than we had planned.” In a Dec. 22 community-wide email, Cevallos announced the decision to require all students, faculty, and staff to get the booster shot within 30 days of eligibility.
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Nowak Borrego, only 40% of students have indicated through Medicat they have received the booster vaccine. McDonald said one difficulty in getting students to get their booster is that many got COVID-19 over the
adding the classroom is a more “controlled” environment where there is masking and social distancing. Ellen Zimmerman, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, said, “We’ve had very little
something in the vaccine. Hofrenning said though she is not too concerned about classrooms, she is worried about transmission in social settings such as the Dining Commons.
Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST (Left) Sophomore English major Olivia Copeland checking in a student at FSU’s testing site Jan. 31. break and different physicians are recommending different wait times between getting the virus and getting boosted. “So we’re trying to give folks a
classroom transmission and last fall, we had no evidence of classroom transmission. All the cases where we did contact tracing proved to be not from a classroom.”
“I hate to say this because it’s fun hanging out with your friends - but I think that the dining hall should not be thought of as a social event,” she said. “People should just go in there,
“We limited the enrollments in classes in order to enable the lower numbers and have added sections where we needed them because of that.” -Ellen Zimmerman, Interim Provost and Vice President Ann McDonald, chief of staff and general counsel, said the mandate for booster shots had already been negotiated in each of the four employee union contracts when the initial vaccine mandate was negotiated. McDonald said among the nine sister institutions, boosters for students hadn’t been initially addressed, but said based on those discussions, the Council of Presidents “augmented that decision to extend it to students.” The Health Center will be holding a COVID-19 booster clinic Monday, Feb. 7 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Old Gymnasium in the Athletic Center, according to Hofrenning. The first two hours are for scheduled appointments, while the last two hours will be for walk-ins, according to the clinic’s flyer. According to a Feb. 2 email to students from Dean of Students Meg
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little bit of leeway who are getting those kinds of recommendations,” she said. Hofrenning said the University knows some students have received boosters, but have just not inputted their information. She added this conclusion was able to be drawn through the use of a Department of Public Health website called the Massachusetts Immunization Inventory System. Those who administer immunizations will input the information in this system and the University is able to search for students, she said. Hofrenning added the task is a “huge undertaking,” but said the University is trying to curate an accurate record of boosted students to avoid unenrolling them from their courses. She said data from last semester showed no indication of classrooms being a place for transmissibility,
Zimmerman said Facilities has “amped up air flows in the classrooms to the maximum” to allow more fresh air to be circulated by the HVAC system. She added another change to the classrooms is “we aren’t filling the classrooms as full. “We limited the enrollments in classes in order to enable the lower numbers and have added sections where we needed them because of that,” she said. Zimmerman added everyone in the classrooms are either vaccinated or exempt and tested weekly. Hofrenning said approximately 100 to 120 students have vaccine exemptions, adding the majority is for religious reasons. She added there are “very few” medical conditions that restrict people from the vaccine and said it is mainly those who have an allergy to
get their food, eat, leave, and not be spending a lot of time talking without their masks on.” The Dining Commons underwent changes for the Spring 2022 Semester, including required reservations for eating in, limited seating time, and the option to take food to go. Aretha Phillips, director of Dining Services, said the reservations are meant to limit the number of students in the Dining Commons at one time to allow for more social distancing. She said there are approximately 400 seats in the Dining Commons and the reservations are restricted to fewer than that. “I know they were making some changes because we had less seats available [in the system] than we actually had,” she added. “So it needed
See COVID-19 UPDATE page 5
COVID-19 update
NEWS
Continued from page 4
to be adjusted.” Philips said seating time is limited to 30 minutes per person, adding this is regulated by staff “just walking around and just noticing how long people are there for.” She added if a staff member notices someone is there longer than the regulated time, they will remind the person of the time restrictions. She said that has not happened this semester, but has happened in the past. Dining Services has implemented the use of their green reusable container program to allow students to take meals to go. Philips said using the mobile ordering system from previous semesters would not have been feasible because “there’s more students. That would not have been logistically possible to actually support that program and provide all the meal options that we were providing previously.”
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vices does not have to take away resources and staff from other services to put toward mobile ordering. She said she believes these new protocols have been “good” so far. “I’ve always said students have been doing a great job with actually keeping the COVID cases really low on campus compared to other universities that I’m familiar with in my district,” Philips said. “I feel so fortunate.” [Editor’s Note: James Barraford and Stefano Hernandez contributed to this article.]
Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST Junior health and wellness major Angela Vilgrain helps students through the testing process at FSU’s testing site Jan. 31. She added the use of the green
containers also means Dining Ser-
CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu
Ten students tested positive for COVID-19 Seven isolate at home; three students isolating on campus By James Barraford Staff Writer By Stefano Hernandez Staff Writer As of Feb. 3, 10 resident students have tested positive for COVID-19 and were required to go into isolation three of them are isolating on campus at West Hall. According to Glenn Cochran, associate dean of students and student life, 131 resident students were in isolation and quarantine between fall 2020 and Jan. 27, 2021. He said there were 133 between fall 2021 and Jan 27, 2022. Cochran said this is a difference of “only a 1.5% change.” He said the reason for the numbers being so close was because the resident population for this past semester was “more than 80% larger than the number on campus last year.” Therefore, because there were so many more students than last fall, he said residential isolation and quarantine cases for fall 2021 are “nearly 55%” lower in comparison. Cochran added, “FSU moved to remote classes and a staggered return to residence halls during the weeks following the peak of the omicron surge.” Cochran said last year, there were some reported incidents of students breaking isolation and quarantine and “some were even sent to the conduct system.” He said for this year, incidents have been “really limited.” Cochran said there were “isolated reports” involving students under isolation and quarantine, and that none of those incidents involved students “going into crowds.” He said this year’s reports were more like someone getting something, like food, through a window. Cochran added students’ IDs are deactivated during their isolation and quarantine period.
Ellen Zimmerman, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, said, “It’s important to recognize that this virus doesn’t know any boundaries between campus and the rest of the world.” She said, “The more COVID cases there are, in general, the more people will need to have hospital beds.” Zimmerman said when hospitals reach capacity treating those with COVID-19, patients with other medical problems may be “at risk of not getting the care they need. “I’ve read stories of people who were denied surgery because they just didn’t have room in the hospital for another patient,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman added students this year only have to be in isolation five days instead of ten days, which was the protocol last year. On the sixth day, they are given a take home rapid test, and if they test negative, they can leave isolation. She said, “It’s a shorter period, which I think makes it feel a little more manageable.” Ilene Hofrenning, director of the Health Center, said it is important that the FSU community remain “vigilant.” She said while omicron may be “less severe,” it still could be spread to someone who is vulnerable, such as children under 5, older people, and those who are immunocompromised. Hofrenning said with omicron being so infectious, there are some people who are going to get “really sick.” She said those with comorbidities and those who declined preventative care were more at risk. Hofrenning added hospitals are overwhelmed and long COVID-19 was still a risk. “It’s probably not as likely as it is with delta, but there are some people with long COVID, who weeks or months later, still have symptoms of fatigue or palpitations or cough or shortness of breath,” she said. She added, “It is a real thing.”
Hofrenning said the campus is purchasing KN95 masks for community members. She added, “It’s really important to get a mask that is good fitting and can really form around the nose.” Hofrenning said many people use the terms isolation and quarantine “interchangeably.” She said isolation refers to students who have been diagnosed and sick and need to be separated from others. She said quarantine is when someone has been exposed to the virus but has not been diagnosed. Paulina Mensah, a junior biology major and RA, said she does not have much interaction with students in isolation and quarantine, except for dropping off food when the students request it. She said she initially didn’t think students would return to in-person classes this semester due to omicron. She added, “But we’re in person now, so that’s great.” Xavier Martinez, a senior business management major, said he had friends who were sent to isolation and that COVID-19 had made campus life “boring.” Patricia Hardaker, a senior criminology major, said she believes the school administrators are “trying their best to prevent an outbreak,” with testing every other week for resident students. However, she said she works on campus and “constantly” sees students without masks or wearing them incorrectly. She said when her roommate caught COVID-19, she was “upset” they would have to move to a different building for five days. While Hardaker “wasn’t too worried” because she was fully vaccinated, she said she FaceTimed every day with her roommate and played online games. Harry Thompson, a sophomore political science major, said he thought the two-week period of online lectures
were unnecessary and “pointless.” “Either keep us home or let us go to class,” Thompson said. “It’s almost like mixed messaging. Are cases up or is it not that bad?” Kathleen Oliver, an undecided freshman, said she felt safe on campus and did not worry about catching COVID-19 in the residence halls. “It sounds like everyone is really trying to keep us OK,” Oliver said. “I think other schools should definitely try to do what Framingham did and show that they’re really trying to keep people safe.” Ryan Fecteau, a senior communication, media, and performance major, said, “One of my roommates actually tested positive at the beginning of this semester and was sent to live in West Hall for his quarantine period.” He said he does not hear much about the isolation and quarantine process except what his roommate told him about West Hall. Fecteau said he feels safe with the COVID-19 safety measures in place. However, he said some of the new regulations “seem unnecessary.” Fecteau added that having to make a reservation for the dining hall was “tedious” and “just about every time I have gone to eat, I was not asked whether or not I have made a reservation.” He said that with the changing nature of the pandemic, it is understandable “that there will be some errors and fixes to be made. “I think, overall, the University is handling campus life during the pandemic very well, as seen through the low numbers in positive cases through weekly testing,” Fecteau said.
CONNECT WITH JAMES BARRAFORD jbarraford@student.framingham.edu CONNECT WITH STEFANO HERNANDEZ shernandez3@student.framingham.edu
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Board of Trustees
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matching funds that are required for some ARPA-funded (American Rescue Plan Act) capital projects,” as well as “provide ability to continue existing capital programs, including funding for public higher education capital programs.” One of the programs Hamel said this would help fund is renovations to the McAuliffe Center. During the Trustee meeting, Grilli and Hamel asked the Board to ask DCAMM to approve funding for the Christa McAuliffe Center renovation project. Hamel said the project would receive $2 million in funding from ARPA funds, contingent on the state supplying “$5.8 million through their major project finance program.” Trustee Beth Casavant asked what the situation would be if the state didn’t supply the needed funding. Hamel said, “Well, we can’t do the whole project, obviously. We’ll probably still want to do the planetarium project and we’ll have to come back and decide how much of it from this source of funding we will do for the planetarium.” The motion was carried out and passed unanimously by the Trustees. Lorretta Holloway, vice president of Enrollment and Student Development, discussed the perception study and the decision by the Board to invest $1 million in what she said are “strategic enrollment” strategies, ultimately leading to the “RFP (Request for Proposal) process” of the development of a new University
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“Recruitment, accreditation, and community presence. “Anything that currently we have on the website that doesn’t do that, really needs to be put elsewhere,” she added. Holloway said the website currently contains pages that take up several slots of space that aren’t necessarily beneficial to students and it’s really thinking about “how we’re going to move some of those pages.” Grilli raised a concern to Holloway about the use of the word “branding” and said, “In the past year, this website development was spurred by a discussion among the trustees” that they want to “brand” Framingham State. “We haven’t heard the word branding once,” he said, adding, “I want to make sure, that from my end of things, that you understand how important that is.” Holloway agreed, saying, “That’s an essential part of the RFP process for the website.” During President F. Javier Cevallos’ report, he said the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate is “going in the right direction.” He added the number of cases at Framingham State is heading in an “even better direction.” According to Cevallos, the week preceding Jan. 22, FSU’s positivity rate was at 6%. Cevallos said this was “very high” compared to positivity rates in the past. The state’s positivity rate at this time was higher - at 11%, he said. In an email on Wednesday, Feb. 3, Cevallos provided an update on
ed, according to Cevallos. He asked for the endorsement of the Trustees for the renaming of the FSU gymnasium as the Richard “Dick” Logan ’70 Gymnasium, after the late Richard C. Logan, who graduated from Framingham State College in 1970 and served on the Board
the most recent COVID-19 testing numbers, saying, “Our most recent COVID-19 test results are showing great improvement.” FSU’s positivity rate for the week ending Jan. 29 dropped to 1.6% among the 559 people who were test-
searches. Cevallos said he expects her to make the final hiring decision for the positions. Eric Gustafson, vice president of Development and Alumni Relations, said in the fundraising report that the University raised about $1.27
The Gatepost Archives The late Richard Logan at a Board of Trustees meeting in April 2019. of Trustees between 2012 and 2021. Logan was also a member of the “first men’s basketball team at Framingham State,” according to Cevallos. Foley said it is a “well-deserved honor.” Cevallos said the University is in
The Gatepost Archives
A previous Board of Trustees meeting. website. “This is really going to be a whole University endeavor for this website migration, because there’s so many pages and so many things on the website,” she said. Holloway said the new website is going to focus on three key areas:
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the process of starting the searches for the vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost and for the vice president for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. He said that he met with incoming President Nancy Niemi to discuss the
million so far this year, adding they are doing “very well. He said they are expecting to reach their target by June 30. Gustafson said FSU has received “quite a few new gifts,” one being a five-year $250,000 commitment for a scholarship for incoming students in education. He said there is a “good possibility” the funding will last longer than five years. Gustafson added they have multiple new endowed scholarships. He said, “We have two for students and education, one focused on students who are doing their student teaching,” and “one that is for students in food and nutrition.” Gustafson said new exhibits at the Danforth Art Museum will be on display through March. He said he “highly recommends” the current exhibits such as Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s, who’s a “renowned artist but also an FSU alumna.” He said the Danforth will be continuing the Drop into Art Program - a free program for families in the MetroWest area to come to the Danforth Art Museum on the second Saturday of every month - as well as “hands-on art activities.” Gustafson added the University recently received a gift to the art school to set up a scholarship program for students and adults who otherwise could not afford to take classes. The scholarship was offered by Nan Hass Feldman, who is a “renowned artist as well as a longtime faculty member at the Danforth Art School,” he said. Gustafson said the registration has opened for Summer Arts, a program at the art school which consists
See BOARD OF TRUSTEES page 8
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Board of Trustees
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Continued from page 5 of week-long classes for youth over the summer. He said, “If you know anyone who’s interested, interested in a really enriching program for their kids for summer, direct them to the art school and there’s still time to register.” During the Compliance, Audit, and Risk (CAR) report, Trustee Anthony Hubbard said FSU’s “biggest threat to the University from an information security perspective” is phishing. Hubbard reported there was “55% participation” during the fall awareness training for students, faculty, and staff regarding phishing emails. He said of the members of the community who received the training, only one person clicked on a test phishing email. “No one provided any credentials in response to any of the emails that came in,” he added. Hubbard said the Executive Office of Education is running an “assessment of all state community colleges and universities that will continue into this spring.” He said this assessment is being conducted in order for the state to “approach how it will upgrade the
Courtesy of Framingham State Brian Herr, who is retiring from the Board of Trustees. systems, the protection of those systems in a unified manner across all institutions.” Trustee Brian Herr announced his resignation from the Board of Trustees. He said, “It’s been a great honor and a privilege to serve over the years.”
Herr added his life has been more “complicated” with other work commitments and it’s time for him to step aside to let others give their “time and energy” to the University. “I think the University is in great hands from the Board of Trustees’ perspective, and I think it’s in great hands from the administrative per-
spective,” said Herr. In Cevallos’ report, he introduced the Student-in-the-Spotlight - Ericka Maurer, a graduate student in the Master of Human Resources Program, nominated by Robert J. Awkward. Awkward said Maurer was nominated because from her first time in his class, she was “very inquisitive” and engaged. He said, “She’s just a remarkable person.” Maurer said she is the first woman in her family to graduate from college. She added, “The tools Framingham State University provided has allowed me to advance in my career.” She said, “The success of the Framingham State University master’s program is a result of a well-designed curriculum and a highly capable faculty teaching ambitious, hard-working students that are eager to learn.”
CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI sbonini@student.framingham.edu CONNECT WITH SOPHIA HARRIS sharris9@student.framingham.edu
“It’s been a great honor and a privilege to serve over the years. ... I think the University is in great hands from the Board of Trustees’ perspective, and I think it’s in great hands from the administrative perspective.” -Brian Herr,
T H E G A T E P OTrustee ST
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THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL
Snowed in without a shovel Because we live in New England, clearing away snow is a part of everyone’s life. So why is it such a challenging part of the resident student’s experience? A nor’easter came and went this past weekend. Resident students were informed of a parking ban beforehand to allow Facilities to plow, shovel, and salt the University’s paths, roads, and parking lots. All of this was done in a thorough and timely manner. We thank Facilities for their diligent work during the worst of weather. Students did their part to help with the snow cleanup by moving their cars to designated lots. Clearing out certain parking lots allows Facilities staff to efficiently plow the snow without worrying about sideswiping students’ sedans. However, there’s one part of the snow removal process that’s being neglected by our campus leadership. After large storms pass, students looking for their cars in the designated parking lots must distinguish one mound of snow from another. Once they determine which mountain of snow their car is buried beneath, students have to trudge through the drifts between cars and hope they can open their doors wide enough to get in. There isn’t much space between parked cars to begin with, and that space fills with door-stopping snow when it gets plowed in. Our peers have told stories about digging their cars out with nothing but their bare hands because they didn’t have the right tools. Furthermore, banks of snow form along the edges of parking lot aisles from plows circulating to keep them clear. Even if students clear off their cars, it’s sometimes difficult to drive over the frozen banks without getting stuck. These difficulties confirm that “a shovel” belongs on everyone’s college essentials list. How can we better equip our campus residential community to dig out their cars after the storm? One solution FSU should implement to alleviate our snow day struggles is supplying shovels for students to borrow. Students could sign out shovels from Facilities, FSUPD, or Residence Life, just as they can sign out carts from their residence halls on move-in days.
If students could borrow shovels, they would be able to dig out their cars and move them back to their assigned parking lots much faster than is happening now. Even students who didn’t need to move their cars for the snow emergency will benefit from easily accessible shovels because they need to dig out their cars, too. Even if they don’t need to move their cars immediately, they will be able to check out a shovel when they do decide to leave. Keeping a supply of shovels is more than a convenience. Students may have their own snow brushes in their cars, but those are of no use if they can’t get to their car doors. We also need to establish an on-call volunteer group of students to help shovel out cars, similar to the teams formed on move-in days. Forming a snow-clearing group could be especially helpful for students who may not be physically able to shovel snow themselves. Snow clearing could even be a community-building event. With incentives such as hot chocolate and pizza for their efforts, a snow-shoveling event would unite students from across campus to help their peers dig out their wheels. Both loaner shovels and a snow-clearing group would help the FSU community respond more quickly and effectively to snow storms. Giving students shovels makes it easier for Facilities to clean up the parking lots. Students will be able to move their cars to freshly cleared lots and allow staff to finish clearing the snow sooner. Ice scrapers and snow brushes should also be made available for students. It’s dangerous to drive with an icy windshield and illegal to drive without removing snow from the roof of a vehicle. The University hands out branded merchandise to new students every year, including frisbees and drawstring bags. New Student and Family Programs should give out Black and Gold ice scrapers to prepare students for winter and promote the University. Other colleges have community-building days during which they all climb a mountain together. Framingham State residents face their own kind of mountain - a mountain of snow that needs to be shoveled. Let’s make moving this mountain easier.
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | 9
Stop the excuses and get vaccinated By McKenzie Ward Opinions Editor On Jan. 2, 2021, I got a text saying that I had been exposed to COVID-19. I waited until Jan. 5 and got tested. And after having a swab stuck up my nose, I got an email later that night saying that I had tested negative. To say I was elated would be an understatement - I felt like I had just won the lottery. Even though I tested negative, I decided to continue to quarantine for at least another two days just to be safe. I went to bed feeling fine. But by the next morning, I had a fever of almost 104 degrees and my head felt as if someone was beating it with a hammer. The pain was unimaginable, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. After spending the day in bed and being unable to move, I got retested and to no one’s surprise my results came back positive. During my 10-day isolation, I spent it lying in bed, exhausted, and constantly feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest because of how painfully difficult it was to breathe. While my symptoms did get better over time, for the three months following I had to use a steroid inhaler because the virus damaged my lungs. So, when I was eligible for the vaccine in April, I drove all the way to Fenway Park to get my first dose of Pfizer. And for a while I felt invincible and didn’t get reinfected. But then during finals week last semester, I was craving a coffee and it just so happened that FSU was giving out coupons for a free Dunkin’ Donuts medium coffee if you got tested. So, I threw on my coat and made my way to the gym to get tested with the plan to get my free coffee, finish my last final, and start enjoying my winter break. But within less than 24 hours, I got a phone call, and the caller ID was “FRAMINGHAM STATE.” My stomach dropped. Despite being vaccinated, I had tested positive for COVID-19 again. My symptoms? A cough and a craving for Dunkin’s coffee. I drove home, masked up, and stayed in my room for yet another 10 days, but this time with no fever, no headache, and no intense chest pains for days on end. Just a slight cough and extreme fatigue that could be remedied with a nap. While the vaccine may not have protected me from becoming reinfected with COVID-19, I credit it for lessening my symptoms and if I could go back to last April, I would still choose to get vaccinated. I am so incredibly thankful that a month later, I don’t continue to experience any lasting symptoms of the virus like I had last year at this time. No vaccine is perfect. But ones like the COVID-19 vaccine do an amazing job at lessening the symptoms of those who test positive and can help prevent death caused by the virus. According to the American Medical Association, around 25% of breakthrough COVID-19 cases are completely asymptomatic and about 50% to 60% of patients may experience symptoms, but they are mild and less likely need hospitalization. According to the CDC, in a study done using data from Los Angeles County, an unvaccinated person infected with COVID-19 is 23 times more likely to be hospitalized than a person who is vaccinated and boosted. While I may have felt discouraged and isolated when I tested positive again in December despite being vaccinated, I have continued to advocate for getting vaccinated. It protected me from experiencing the debilitating symptoms that I had in January 2021, and I will forever be thankful for that. Please do your part in ending the COVID-19 pandemic and get vaccinated and boosted.
Have an opinion? Feel free to email it to: gatepost@framingham.edu Opinions should be about 500 words. Anyone can submit. We look forward to hearing from you! FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM
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10 | FEBRUARY 4, 2022
Campus Conversations What are your thoughts on the parking situation with the snow? By Maddison Behringer and Emma Lyons, Editorial Staff
“I park in Maple, so there’s usually spots open when I come in the morning.” - Stacey Domingo, freshman
“I think they should clear it like normal. It’s so hard to park down there. It gets us all dirty and stuff. They should do more clearing.” -Nichols Tendo, sophomore
“I think they did a pretty good job with clearing everything, but I wish that resident students could park on the actual campus instead of having to move our cars and then move them all the way back. It’s kind of a hassle because a lot of us have classes and they set deadlines for us to move our cars. I think it’s a really big thing that they need to work on.” -Madison Skehan, freshman
“I was able to find spots just fine, but I don’t live here. ... I don’t know what the protocol is … but by the time I got to campus on Monday, the majority of the lots had been plowed by then so I didn’t have an issue with it.” -Emily Gray, senior
“I ended up going home that weekend, but I do have my car on campus and when I came back that Sunday, it was frustrating because there was no parking and everyone was parked everywhere. We all had to shovel each other out, which I think was crazy because the parking lot was so big. I know they worked and plowed Monday night. … They seemed to be ticketing people who were still there when they closed the lot, but it was frustrating because they completely closed the lot and I’m sure commuters were frustrated.” -Bridget Conceison, sophomore
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“I take online classes here, but we did come in on Monday. I got here at 8 a.m. and I parked down in the bottom lot and it wasn’t great. There were like two spots available, so, personally, [I think it] could be better.” -Victoria Rutigliano, graduate
“It looks pretty nice, looks pretty good. ... I found one today, which is good.”
“I think it was handled well, but they could have done more to talk about resident parking - like the Union parking lot - because they mentioned the Athletic parking lot, but the majority of students are in Union. They neglected to mention what students should do there. So, I feel like that could have been handled a little better. Other than that, I think they did well with the parking.”
“I’m not here that often. I just kind of parked down the street.”
-Ainslee Caton, freshman
-Roland Kehdy, sophomore
-Emily Florio, senior
OP/ED
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | 11
Sam the Ram the Snow Shovelling Blizzard
Haley Hadge / THE GATEPOST
COVID-19 BOOSTER CLINIC Monday, February 7, 2022 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Athletic Center, Old Gymnasium
Get your booster shot at FSU! Framingham State University will host a vaccination clinic on Monday, Feb. 7th for anyone who still needs a COVID-19 booster shot. FSU has mandated that all students, faculty and staff without approved exemptions must get their booster shot within 30 days of becoming eligible. The clinic will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Athletic Center’s old gymnasium. Prescheduled appointments will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The final two hours – 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – will be reserved for walk-ins. The clinic will be operated by Cataldo Ambulance. To make an appointment scan the QR code.
FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM
12 | FEBRUARY 4, 2021
SPORTS
SP O RTS
ams defeated by Westfield wls -
Rams Basketball triumphs over Fitchburg State 68-60
By Danielle Achin Sports Editor
By Tyler Wahl Sports Editor
The Rams Ice Hockey team suffered another loss on home ice against Westfield State eb. . Westfield immediately opened the game with a goal against S just over a minute into the game for the early - lead. ams goalie Trevor Stenburg fought back to block the shots made at the net. Stenburg saved four other shots from Westfield in just over two minutes. With the wls still holding the - lead, sophomore Matthew aiotti came in for the assist from freshman lijah Slagter and snuck in a goal to knot the score - . After a flurry of shots from both teams, the first period ended with a standstill going into the second. Starting in the second period, both teams were met with an incredible amount of power play opportunities. With both teams struggling to find an opening in the net and with just over three minutes left in the period, the - tie finally broke with the wls scoring against the ams for the - lead. Third period began with a power play opportunity for the wls just three minutes in. Westfield scored their third of the night when ustin ollins came in for the shot off a pass from oseph arbone. With just under five minutes to play, the ams converted on a double power play - advantage and answered with a back of the net shot by freshman atrick oglan, advancing the score - . The ams gained another opportunity to tie the score after another power play penalty was called against Westfield, but soon after an infraction was called against S , ruining the power play advantage. n the final seconds of the game, Stenburg was pulled from the net, allowing the wls to make the final goal of the game for the - loss for S . reshman Ashton olla o spoke on his team’s performance. He said dealing with bad days is just a part of life and it will not discourage the team’s confidence. “ ad days are only as bad as you make them and only last as long as you let them. As a team, am happy with how far we have come. We understand our jobs and we don’t make it an easy game or roll over by any means, olla o said. “We have at least freshmen and sophomores, most likely more than that and it’s exciting We have a lot of young guys in the lineup each night gaining valuable experience that we will need in the coming years, he added. olla o said scoring “dirty goals in front of the net is going to be one area to improve on for the upcoming games. The ams are playing on home ice eb. for more MAS A action against itchburg State.
The ams Men’s asketball team pulled out a much-needed - win an. when they traveled to itchburg to face off against the alcons. This game was a must win for both teams - as neither team’s record is proving worthy of a MAS A playoff run. The winner of the conference battle will end up in a much better position come postseason. ramingham State started the game off strong by drawing fouls and applying pressure down low. They led the game - five minutes into the first half thanks to a hot start from sophomore forward oshua- aniel kafor. kafor played a large scoring role throughout the game and also pitched in with seven rebounds to help slow the pace of the game. espite the ams pulling out to an early lead, itchburg State was able to keep the game close throughout the first half. The ams were able to keep up with itchburg’s pace due to their great defense and limitation of turnovers on offense. ramingham State finished the half with a total of seven steals and only turned the ball over twice throughout the first minutes of the match. uard rett kundaye also helped the ams stay consistent on offense, contributing seven points in the half and two rebounds as well. The bu er sounded to end the first half with the alcons leading - . Although the ams went into the locker room down on the scoreboard, it was clear that S had a game plan for itchburg’s offense and defense. t was a hard fought contest through the first minutes of the second half. oth teams were converting on hard fought layups and clean jumpers. The ams were given a huge confidence boost by kafor once again throughout the second half. With nine minutes left in the quarter, kafor was able to slam it in for two - giving the ams momentum to close off the game. With just under seven minutes to play, the ams were holding strong on defense and taking good care of the ball on offense. espite valiant effort from the alcons to bring it back, a layup scored by kafor at the two-minute mark and a three from sophomore guard van yantenji put the game out of reach. The ams won the conference battle against itchburg State - . Although both itchburg and S are having their struggles this season, this game was an incredible display of team basketball on both sides. The game’s top scorer, kafor, praised his teammates after the game despite his monstrous night on the stat sheet. “This was our first game having our full team together again and we executed well tonight, said kafor. The team has struggled staying healthy whether it be due to illness or injury, but a full roster undoubtedly helped the ams in this win. kafor also added, “ was glad my teammates were looking for me, so could help out a lot with the win. The ball movement from the ams offense helped open up scoring opportunities for kafor throughout the game. The Rams unfortunately fell in their most recent match vs. Westfield State eb. , - . The men’s basketball team looks to capitali e in their remaining games starting with itchburg once again Saturday afternoon eb. .
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WESTFIELD STATE FRAMINGHAM STATE
4 2 CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ACHIN dachin@student.framingham.edu
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FRAMINGHAM STATE FITCHBURG STATE
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ARTS & FEATURES
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | 13
ARTS & FEATURES
‘Cruelty Squad’ is more fun than it looks By Ryan O’Connell Asst. Arts & Features Editor Sometimes, all you want to do after a hard day’s work is jump into a world where you can build your investment portfolio with human organs and assassinate high-ranking businessmen you know nothing about. “Cruelty Squad” can help with both. Developed and published by Consumer Softproducts in June 2021, “Cruelty Squad” is an immersive sim best known for its surreal, almost nauseating visual style - but it’s so much more than that. You play as a hitman in a hyper-capitalist cyberpunk future, fulfilling orders to assassinate anyone who your high-paying clients mark for death. Whether they be political rivals, rogue CEOs, or underperforming business partners, the player is the one who ultimately does the dirty work. But it’s hard to appreciate or even critique the game when it’s difficult to get past the store page. The first impressions of “Cruelty Squad” are negative at worst and intriguing at best. These intense feelings are mostly due to the creative art direction, painting the world with wide swathes
of repeating textures, harsh limes and magentas, and unintelligible designs. It’s mesmerizing in a fresh and ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of way, and definitely something to see for yourself. Despite these bizarre choices, “Cruelty Squad” distracts from the visuals of the “sewage infused garbage world” it takes place in through a surprising number of ways. From the solid core gameplay to the deep lore, there’s so much more going on than you’d gather from the visual style. The level design follows a sandbox structure, meaning individuals can explore the area at their own pace toward a goal - usually a target or two - which needs to be killed before locating an exit and escaping. Not only does this allow each player to develop their own unique approach to the missions, but it also happens in a natural and engaging way, something becoming increasingly rare in first-person shooters. Complementing this freedom of movement is the expansive catalog of weaponry and body augments, which the player can obtain in several ways. Sometimes through simple purchases with in-game currency, and other times only accessible by secret passages intermittently buried in the 19 levels.
Some of my favorite options include a handgun that turns people into mounds of flesh, a rifle that gains power with your liquid asset value, and a body augmentation that turns your left arm into a grappling hook. And despite the engaging gameplay and creative selection of options, “Cruelty Squad” is more than an incredibly fun, solid cyberpunk shooter - it’s a critique. The disturbingly colorful world, the seemingly odd dialogue, and even the general plot all serve to mock capitalist society. The game consistently builds off this as you hunt down a wealth of absurd targets, many of whom the player might recognize as better people than the ones you work for. A favorite target is a CEO who is doing “too good of a job trying to increase the survival rate of our [the company’s] mission to Mercury,” as the project “is first and foremost a sacrificial mission designed to satiate the appetites of some of our higher ups.” I could not make that up if I tried. “Cruelty Squad” is a type of avant garde approach to video games that uses an offensive visual style and a nihilistic world to tell a story of human suffering and how corporations came
to rule. And I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a peek into a future not too dissimilar from ours, and pokes fun at a direction we may be headed - toward an environment where business goals are worth more consideration than civilians, corruption is rampant and obvious, a consumer culture consumes us all, and where a hyper-militarized police is a normality. “Cruelty Squad” is constantly walking the line between self-aware and too far into the joke, consistently reminding players of harsh realities they’re probably trying to ignore, and actually puts the “punk” into cyberpunk as a genre.
Grade: A+ Videogames are art. At least this one is.
CONNECT WITH RYAN O’CONNELL
roconnell1@student.framingham.edu
‘Golden Kamuy’: a mouth-watering motherlode of a manga By Sean Cabot Multimedia Critic Satoru Noda’s award-winning “Golden Kamuy,” is an odd type of learning experience. What at first appears to be a historical action-drama comic quickly gives way to cooking tips and impromptu anthropology lessons. Despite its strange presentation, it has found a dedicated fanbase, and dedication is absolutely warranted. It’s a series that is at once focused and all over the place. And that’s its secret sauce. The series follows Saichi Sugimoto, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War whose prowess and survivability on the battlefield earned him the title, “Sugimoto the Immortal.” Despite this reputation, he finds himself reduced to fruitless gold panning in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. One day, a drunken man tells him a story about an inhumanly large stash of gold stolen from a massacred group of Ainu, Hokkaido’s indigenous people. He elaborates that it was hidden away by a faceless convict who tattooed pieces of a map to its location on the skin of several escaped prisoners.
Despite Sugimoto’s skepticism, the man’s attempt at fatally silencing him that night and subsequent death reveals tattoos that mark him as one of the escapees. Convinced of the gold’s existence, Sugimoto decides to pursue the other convicts to complete the map. Joining him is Asirpa, whose father was among those murdered in the gold’s theft. She agrees to help him claim the gold under the pretense that the faceless man’s execution is being held off to wring out the gold’s location, and thus finding it would lead to justice for her father. However, they soon find that a rogue unit of Japanese soldiers is seeking the gold to fund a coup. As is Toshizo Hijikata - a historically disgraced samurai who seeks to stage his own coup. And this is only scratching the surface of all of the bizarre characters they encounter. Despite being a Japanese comic, “Golden Kamuy,” feels very much like a Western, and has been described as such both by commentators in both its home country and abroad. There’s an abundance of tense encounters, an emphasis on hunting and tracking, and a major focus on the land being traversed. In fact, surviving the elements is
one of the story’s major struggles. An early chapter sees Sugimoto trying to survive hypothermia after falling into a river. Respect, fear, and awe of nature are some of the series’ most important themes, and this is inexorably tied with its portrayal of Ainu culture. Much like Native Americans, the Ainu were an indigenous group with largely animistic religious beliefs who were met with explicit discrimination and outright genocide – in this case by the colonizing forces of the Japanese mainland. But “Golden Kamuy” does not treat the Ainu as a superficial element – their culture and religion are both explained at length and major components of the story. The series not only has an Ainu language consultant and cooperation from the Hokkaido Ainu Association, but also extensively lists its reference material at the back of each volume. This dedication to cultural and linguistic accuracy – especially for a language isolate that is critically endangered, is especially commendable. The result is a gripping story that explores the Ainu’s struggles with being caught between Japan and Russia’s territory disputes. There are some parts that drag – oftentimes chapters wherein Sugimoto
and Asirpa are simply trying to hunt their next meal feel like filler, though the obscure cooking facts are a nice touch. Thankfully, the cast makes it all worth it - bringing together a variety of strange characters who can longingly salivate over a hot meal moments before engaging in horrific violence. And topping it off, the artwork is gorgeous – representing snow-swept landscapes, ferocious brawls, and the various culinary marvels the cast partakes with incredible care. To be frank, the food is probably the best-looking part. “Golden Kamuy” is all over the place, but aside from some minor pacing issues, it’s one of the best comics on sale today.
Grade: A
Satoru Noda has struck gold
CONNECT WITH SEAN CABOT scabot@student.framingham.edu
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14 | FEBRUARY 4, 2022
ARTS & FEATURES
Queen Vivian Continued from page 1
finding that character. She’s just another person I get to know. I pull inspiration and confidence from her as well as from myself.” Muriel’s drag name is Vivian Delamour. He said the designer Vivian Westwood is the inspiration for her name. He added he is Latino and Delamour means “of love” in Spanish. Despite having two identities, Muriel said he is androgynous. He said he is OK with lingo from the gay community, such as his friends saying, “Hey, girl” to him. “I don’t like falling into the category of a man or a woman. I’m free. I’m just human,” he said. Muriel recalled a memory of walking down 42nd Street in New York City when people stared at Vivian in amazement. Vivian showcased Angel’s sewing talents as she proudly strutted through her kingdom. With a smirk, Muriel said he identifies as a queen. “Especially when I’m performing, I’m the queen,” he said. Muriel said as a boy, he would feel attracted to the other boys he played with in his neighborhood. He added, at the age of 5, he knew he was gay, but came out when he was 20. He is now 27. The closet was Angel’s choice of hiding because he was transitioning from not seeing his father for years to then forming a relationship with him. One day while driving with his mother, he busted down the closet door.
“I was like, ‘Mom, I like men.’ I’m surprised she didn’t stop on the side of the road, but she was more accepting because my brother already came out of the closet,” he said. Muriel said his coming out was “a new experience for her,” having her two oldest kids identify as gay. He explained his uncle was gay, which exposed his mother to the LGBTQIA+ community. Unlike his mother’s acceptance of his sexuality, when he came out to his father in church, his father referred to the Bible. Muriel said the notions of masculinity in the Latin community influ-
“I don’t like falling into the category of a man or a woman. I’m free. I’m just human.” - Angel Muriel Senior Fashion Merchandising Major enced his father’s reaction. “I’m not going to force myself to love someone of a different sex that I don’t feel comfortable with. I knew from a young age. I was unapologetic, and I still am,” he said. Muriel added Vivian has helped him embrace his sexuality. He said performing has helped him develop a sense of style. It brings him to the “forefront” of who he is. Muriel explained that society’s
@queenvivvy on Instagram
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definition of a drag queen is a “man who dresses up in women’s clothing for the purpose of entertainment.” In Muriel’s eyes, the art of drag means more. He said drag “pushes boundaries,” especially recently as there is a straight, cis male queen on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” this season. “When you think it can’t happen, us drag queens make it happen,” he said. Muriel said we must see diverse queens to normalize drag in society. “Drag is an artistry such as singing or painting is,” he added. Muriel said most people assume acceptance from society is the most
difficult part of being a drag queen. However, Muriel said the time it takes to get ready is stressful, despite being passionate about makeup and fashion. “The paddings, the stockings, the outfits, the hair, the heels - it’s a lot. For me, I don’t care about what society thinks. That doesn’t pertain to me,” he said. He added, “If you don’t appreciate the artistry, that’s OK. You’re not entitled to. If you do, I appreciate it.” In addition to drag helping Muriel through his struggles with his sexual identity, drag was also an outlet for him to cope with the aftermath of a traumatic accident he suffered. In October 2019, Muriel said while he was biking his way to work, a 17-year-old girl without a license or permit struck him in a school zone. Muriel suffered a broken collarbone, a concussion, and bleeding on the left side of his brain. Due to the brain injuries, Muriel said he sometimes forgets information, making it difficult to converse with others. He said the doctor told him he would be concussed for months to years. Muriel said he struggles every day to motivate himself to keep going. “I’m not one to give up. I succeed in everything I put my mind to. I am always proving myself wrong,” he said. “I’m alive and that is something to be blessed for. I am here living the dream. I got three months to get my degree and that is the best thing I can give thanks for in life,” he said. Muriel said drag and sewing saved him from the trauma of the accident. He touched on his experience performing on campus. He noted FSU students were a “supportive crowd,”
Caroline Gordon/THE GATEPOST but he was nervous. “I knew within my body, when that beat came on and I had to perform that song, all that went away. It’s just the world of fantasy that I get into,” he said. Muriel added, “I like to leave my audience in awe. I love to see the reaction of people captivated.” Muriel added he is humble while in drag, but people stereotype him as self-centered. He said interacting with his audience is a priority for him while on stage. “They make the show,” Muriel said. He explained the different categories of queens: comedic queens, look queens, performer queens, and singing queens. Muriel said he identifies as a look queen and a performer queen, because he lip syncs with his own choreographed moves, and a “slightly comedic queen.” Muriel explained how studying fashion has influenced his drag persona. He said his FSU coursework has helped him become a “stronger designer,” while also allowing him to know his “aesthetic as a drag performer.” Muriel said he is striving toward being a haute couture designer. Haute couture is exclusive, custom-fitting, high-end fashion, which is completely hand made. He said his purpose is to influence a younger generation who are interested in fashion and drag. Muriel said drag has taught him to become a more innovative designer and that after graduation, he plans on furthering his inclusion of drag into the fashion world. “I would like to be a fashion model, but as a drag icon in magazines. I want to be known for my artistry and who I am - the beautiful person I bring to every aspect of my life.” Angel Muriel and Vivian Delamourcan be found on Instagram @ queeenvivy.
CONNECT WITH CAROLINE GORDON cgordon4@student.framingham.edu
Puzzles
ARTS & FEATURES
ACROSS 1. Microwaves 5. Astonished reaction 9. Old fishing tool 14. Light beige 15. Plot line in a math book 16. String instrument that’s lower than a 32-Down 17. Special barbecued beef entree for comedian Martin? 19. Speaks hoarsely 20. President pro ___ 21. Freudian focus 22. Name that anagrams to “ash tree” 24. Settles down 26. Slippery swimmer 27. Plaza 30. Gridiron gaffe 35. Adjusts the pitch of 36. Benevolent 37. Prime-time hour 38. “Darn!” 39. Pub pastime 40. Teeny amount 41. Largest continent 42. The scoop 43. Sank, as a golf ball 44. In any place 46. Number system with only zeros and ones 47. Federal retirement org. 48. Knitter’s supplies 50. Designer Paloma 54. Foyer covering 55. Quick punch 58. Writer ___ Rogers St. Johns 59. Special starchy staple for comedian Betty? 62. NBC morning show 63. Word before “face” or “heart” 64. Green Gables girl 65. Snow coasters 66. Gets the picture 67. Past partners
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 | 15
DOWN 1. Gusto 2. Tummy trouble 3. Senior dance 4. Big ___, California 5. Use mouthwash Puzzle solutions are now 6. Truism exclusively online. 7. Bro or sis 8. (Hey, listen up!) 9. It’s associated with windows and Windows 10. Special pickled garnishes for comedian Minnie? 11. Otherwise 12. Swiss range 13. Civil rights activist Parks 18. Rips 23. Bison bunches 24. Special leafy side dish for comedian Sid? 25. Cook in a wok 27. Material for some sun hats 28. Suppress 29. Loosen, as shoelaces 31. “For ___ us a child is born ...” 32. See 16-Across 33. Cross the threshold 34. All set 36. “Citizen ___” (1941 movie) 39. Temperamental types 43. Feature of an open and-shut case? 45. College application parts 46. Beastly sorts 49. Come up 50. Touches lightly 51. Fan favorite 52. Give up 53. “Wise” birds 55. Bringer of bad luck 56. Teen’s breakout 57. Spelling competitions 60. Garden implement 61. Issa of “Insecure”
FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM
16 | DECEMBER 3, 2021
Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST (Left) Freshmen Justin Fritz and Michael Zelay getting Dunkin’ Feb. 2.
PHOTOS
Snowy Scenery Caroline Gordon/ THE GATEPOST Junior Alex Ngyuen outside the McCarthy Center Feb 2.
Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST Sam the Ram statue outside of Dwight Hall Jan. 30.
Ryan O’Connell / THE GATEPOST Snow-covered bench in front of the Athletic Center Jan. 30.
Maddison Behringer/ THE GATEPOST Senior Emily LaFountain shoveling snow Jan. 30.
Spread by Maddison Behringer and Emma Lyons, Design Editors / THE GATEPOST
Emma Lyons / THE GATEPOST Cars in Maynard Parking Lot after the blizzard Jan. 30.
@The Gatepost | FSUgatepost.com
Emma Lyons / THE GATEPOST Freshman Steven Burbank shoveling snow Jan. 30.