April 1, 2022

Volume 90 • Issue 20

FSUgatepost.com

April 1, 2022

M.I.S.S. Madness returns with a mission

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST

(Left) M.I.S.S. Vice President Selena Sheehy, President Mariah Farris, and freshmen Tiffany Jerome and Aisha Sainristil at the M.I.S.S. Madness “Cirque de M.I.S.S.” event March 25.

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief Music, laughter, and a sense of purpose flooded the New Gym as students gathered to attend Motivation. Intersectionality. Solidarity.

Sisterhood.’s (M.I.S.S.) fourth annual “Cirque De M.I.S.S.” March 25.

Canceled because of COVID-19 for the last two years, M.I.S.S. President Mariah Farris said her organization decided to bring back the carnival to demonstrate to freshmen and sophomores what campus life was like prior to the pandemic.

“Campus culture used to be a lot more uplifting and upbeat,” Farris said.

She highlighted the lack of retention student organizations have had due to the pandemic, adding she has been working to rebuild M.I.S.S.’s membership.

The mission of the organization is to empower, uplift, and support women, especially women of color, Farris said.

She added the organization acts as a “safe place for women of color to to come and speak and voice their opinions and just be heard” on a campus that is predominantly white.

Farris said the mission has “died out” since she first came to FSU, adding before she graduates this semester, she wants to ensure people know about it and will secure its legacy.

Freshman Aisha Sainristil said she is a member of M.I.S.S. and hopes to win the position of co-president in the upcoming club election.

NEWMAN CIVIC FELLOW pg. 3 She said as president, she will work to “rebuild the club from the ground REGISTRATION CHANGES pg. 5 up.”

Sainristil said despite its name, anyone of any gender can join.

“It’s really all inclusive,” she added. “We encourage everybody to come to our meetings.”

She said the organization allows people to develop an understanding of one another and what it is like to be “a woman in America, specifically a Black woman in America.

“We’re only stronger together,” Sainristil added.

CLASS REGISTRATION CHANGES pg. 8

News

Opinions

Board of Trustees meeting focuses on student retention, COVID-19 mitigation

By Haley Hadge News Editor

By Sophia Harris Asst. News Editor The Board of Trustees discussed recent events on campus and efforts to improve student engagement and retention during its March 22 meeting.

Cevallos addressed the “visitor” on campus who was an anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrator. He said the visitor came to campus to “incite students intentionally.”

He said the person who came to FSU was “well-versed in the law” and “knew exactly what he could do and couldn’t do in terms of not crossing the line and trying to get a reaction.”

Cevallos said it was important to defend the First Amendment and the individual had a right to say “whatever he wants to say.”

He added after the demonstration took place, Eric Nguyen, director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence, held a meeting in the CIE for students to communicate their concerns and said the conversation went in a “positive way.”

Cevallos gave an update on the searches for provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and vice president for diversity, inclusion, and community engagement (DICE).

He said the provost search is “right on track and moving ahead.” He added the search committee has found candidates and will be reviewing credentials.

Cevallos said during the month of

HALEY’S COMIC pg. 9

Sports

April, the committee is planning to “interview semi-finalists between April 8 and 18” and will bring the finalists to campus in May. He said the vice president of DICE search was delayed because “the timing was too complicated” to have the searches occurring simultaneously. He said the search will resume, at the earliest, in the fall.

Cevallos said the Richard “Dick” C. The Gatepost Archives Logan Gymnasium-naming ceremony will take place on April 9 at 5:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL pg. 10 He said he hopes the Trustees will attend in order to honor “the memory of our friend, trustee, former chair, benefactor, and distinguished alum.”

Arts & Features

See BOARD OF TRUSTEES page 6

MILLIE GONÁZLEZ pg. 11 SY STOKES pg. 12

INSIDE: OP/ED 8 • SPORTS 10 • ARTS & FEATURES 11

NEWS

2 | APRIL 1, 2022

Gatepost Interview

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil

David Baldwin

Associate Editors Donald Halsing Kathleen Moore

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief

News Editors Steven Bonini Haley Hadge Ashlyn Kelly Asst. News Editor Sophia Harris Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward Sports Editors Danielle Achin Tyler Wahl Arts & Features Editors Caroline Gordon Emily Rosenberg Asst. Arts & Features Editor Ryan O’Connell Design Editors Maddison Behringer Emma Lyons

Staff Writers James Barraford Jackson Clyde Dan Fuentes Dallas Gagnon Mark Haskell Stefano Hernandez Branden LaCroix Abby Petrucci Lydia Staber Multimedia Critics Sean Cabot Jack McLaughlin Ryan Schreiber Advisor Desmond McCarthy Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks

TH E GA T

Why did you choose to get involved in higher education?

Well, that’s a very interesting story.

When I was a grad RD, when I was getting my graduate degree in accounting, my bosses were always like, “You’re so good at this. You’re so good with the students. We don’t understand why you’re going to be in accounting.” And I literally said - and I remember it very clearly - I said, “I see what you drive and I know what I want to drive and they do not match.” But they persisted and kept going and I guess it kind of wore me down and so when I was graduating, I applied to a few higher-ed jobs, and lo and behold, Bridgewater, they sucked me in. And that’s the story right there, and I never looked back. But I was going to accounting. That was my focus - what I was going to do. Being the grad RD was just to pay for my master’s degree.

@T HEGATEPOST

E

O

What is your professional and educational background?

I have both my master’s and my bachelor’s in accounting from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. And there, I started as a graduate residence director (RD), and then I was coordinator of campus events. I think that’s what it was called. Then I got my degree and I went to Bridgewater as a full-time residence director, and got promoted after my first year to assistant director of residence life. And then I came here after a few years, to Framingham, as the associate director of residence life, and I was here for four years. … I left and went to Worcester State as a director of residence life for a year. And then I came back here and was the director of multicultural affairs. Then I became the assistant dean and director of multicultural affairs, then the associate dean and director of multicultural affairs. And then we got the Multicultural Center and the chief diversity officer and I just became the associate dean of students, and now the director of human resources.

What does your job entail?

Well, it oversees the recruitment, onboarding, benefits of the full- and parttime employees here on campus, and works closely with payroll, obviously, of course, and the like to make the humans around here operate.

Copy Editor Patrick Brady

N PE

Director of Human Resources

Do you have any personal hobbies?

Courtesy of Framingham State Outside of work, I like to read. Anything that has someone dying in it, I’m in - murder, psychological thriller - I’m there. I will read it front to back. I like TV, of course. I’m a TV junkie. Since I was a child, that was my babysitter. My mother would say, “Go watch TV.” So TV, I love TV. Again, if someone dies, I’m in. Other than that, hanging out with my friends.

I have four Godchildren that I adore and do anything for. So they take up a lot of time and money. And so that’s really how I spend most of my time - lounging around, reading about murder, watching murder.

What is something students may be surprised to know about you?

I was Jimmy Fallon’s RA when he was a student at St. Rose. And he was just as funny then as he is now and did impressions of everyone he could find. He did an impression of me. There was an impression of the dean, the president - no one was spared from his impressions.

What advice do you have for FSU students?

My advice is to take advantage of what’s here. So many students pay the tuition and fees and don’t take advantage of everything that the University has to offer. And I’m not just talking about CASA and things of that nature and SILD and stuff like that. But there are so many other things to be a part of and be involved in - other clubs, organizations, getting a job just in an office on campus somewhere, and getting to

know those folks and making those connections. It’s really about making the connection to the University because when you’re connected to the University in some way, whether it be through a job or a club or just getting help in CASA or something like that, you are more connected. You are more apt to stay and succeed and do well at the University. If you’re just using the University as you did in like middle school or high school, where you just got up in the morning, came to school and then went home - and that means whether you’re a commuter or resident … if you’re just doing that, you’re not getting the full experience and you’re not really connecting to the University that way. …

[When] you become connected to the University, your grades will improve and your joy at being at the University will improve. I am proof positive of that as I didn’t really engage my first year in college. When I was a freshman, I didn’t know what to do as a first generation. I didn’t know who to ask or to turn to. …

If I hadn’t chosen the College of Saint Rose and done all the things that I’ve done there, well, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now. Whether it be in accounting or whatever it be, I don’t know what I would be. It changed my life - for the better that is.

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

Correction

In the March 25 issue of The Gatepost, the continuation headlines for the article, “Mayor Charlie Sisitsky’s door is always open,” mispelled Mayor Sisitsky’s name. We apologize for this error.

In the photo spread “Presidents of Framingham State,” the end date of former President Timothy Flanagan’s term was listed as 2015 instead of 2013 and the start of President F. Javier Cevallos’ term was listed as 2015 instead of 2014. We apologize for this error.

@

T TH EGATEPOS

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NEWS

APRIL 1, 2022 | 3

Leighah Beausoleil selected for Newman Civic Fellowship

By Branden LaCroix Staff Writer Framingham State student Leighah Beausoleil has been selected for the Newman Civic Fellowship for 2022-23.

She will be one of 173 students from across 38 states, Washington D.C. and Mexico to be part of the fellowship.

Campus Compact, a national membership organization of universities and colleges based in Boston, created the Newman Civic Fellowship, which “is a one-year fellowship experience for community-committed students from Campus Compact member institutions that supports students’ personal, professional, and civic development,” according to the Campus Compact website.

Only one student per institution is selected by that school’s president or chancellor for the fellowship.

Beausoleil is a junior English major with a concentration in journalism and double minors in political science and Chinese who is enrolled in the Commonwealth Honors Program.

She is editor-in-chief of The Gatepost.

She is also center assistant for the Chris Walsh Center, a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honors society, an intern for the Digital Humanities Center, and a peer mentor for FSU Foundations - a seminar class for first-year students.

As a Newman Civic Fellow, she is a board member with MetroWest Nonprofit Network (MWNN), an organization that helps nonprofits in the MetroWest area connect to one another and provides them resources and opportunities for collaboration.

Beausoleil said it was “very exciting” to be named a Newman Civic Fellow.

During the summer of 2021, she was hired as a freelance journalist for The Woonsocket Call and The Pawtucket Times.

One of her focuses as a journalist is covering stories about people facing food and housing insecurity.

She said she has always been a “big proponent of helping people who are food and housing insecure,” adding, she wants to use her experience as a journalist to give a “voice” to “people who have those kinds of struggles.

“Civic engagement and journalism go hand-in-hand in that respect.”

She said when she sees complaints on social media about people struggling with homelessness, “They don’t ask themselves, ‘What is the city doing for those people?’

“It kind of shows how inhumanly these people are treated, and I think the articles I write can show that they are people, too, and they deserve to be treated with humanity,” she said.

As a Newman Civic Fellow, Beausoleil said she will be working to “establish stronger communications” for MWNN. She said she hopes to “promote the work that the MetroWest Nonprofit Network does in supporting people who need help, and to promote ways that others can help out and volunteer their time.”

President F. Javier Cevallos selected Beausoleil for the fellowship because she “is a perfect example of what a Newman Fellow should be.

“I think it’s also good for the campus to have a student like Leighah engaged with organizations in our Framingham area,” he said. “It’s a win-win. It’s good for her in terms of her own learning and it’s good for us as a university to have such a nice student representing us in this organization.”

Cevallos added FSU’s previous experience with MWNN has been “very positive.”

He said students selected in the past “have done a great job” and “represented the University really well and have helped us build bridges and ties with our local organizations.”

Desmond McCarthy, English professor and advisor to The Gatepost, said, “[Beausoleil] is brilliant. She’s conscientious. She’s dedicated.

“She’s one of the most impressive student leaders I’ve worked with in my three decades at Framingham State and I know that she’ll serve as a Newman Fellow with integrity and commitment.”

Chris Latimer, political science professor and coordinator of the Civic Engagement and Service Learning Center, works with MWNN to decide which FSU students are nominated for the Fellowship.

He said he nominated Beausoleil because of her “stellar” GPA and the service she provides as a journalist.

“Sometimes we don’t hear things that are happening on campus and she’s able to provide the information not only for FSU students, but the FSU community,” he said, “and I think that’s one of the key points of civic engagement.”

He added her reporting as a journalist for The Woonsocket Call and The Pawtucket Times was “admirable” because during “the worst times of COVID-19,” she was able to “inform people that there were housing and food shortages for people who really, really needed them.”

Latimer said he hopes Beausoleil will be a “bridge” between the Framingham community and FSU. “Why that is so helpful, is that many of the things that are actually going on in the community aren’t known by a lot of students at the campus.”

Weather

Newman Civic Fellow Leighah Beausoleil.

Anna Cross, executive director of MWNN, nominated Beausoleil along with Latimer.

Cross said MWNN created a student-representative seat on its board three years ago as one way to help strengthen its connection to FSU. Cross said the organization looks for students who are “interested in and curious about the world around them and trying to figure out how to improve it, which we have seen with every Newman Fellow who has been through the program.”

She added, “[Beausoleil] has already been a really important voice on our board in terms of really bringing perspective and insight and working to help us create visibility for the organization.”

Cross said she also hopes Beausoleil raises the “visibility” of the certificate program MWNN created at FSU. The certificate program is a 12-week course MWNN established with the Office of Continuing Education centered around nonprofit management and creating a “leadership pipeline” for students who want to learn about nonprofit work and how to form their own nonprofits, and to teach nonprofit leaders how to better manage their organizations, according to Cross.

She said the response to the program has been “very enthusiastic,” and “the instructors and mentors in the program have also been very enthusiastic about the opportunity to share …

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST some of what they learned with some of the folks coming in.”

McKenzie Ward, a junior English and history major, SGA president, and opinions editor of The Gatepost, was selected to be a Newman Civic Fellow for 2021-22.

Ward said when she began working with MWNN, restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still in effect, which “threw everything into a blender and made it a bit of a mess.”

However, she added she enjoys working with MWNN. “I really learned so much about nonprofit work and how nonprofits can support each other to do even greater work to support the community.”

She said when she was selected for the Newman Civic Fellowship, she worked with the MWNN board about how the organization’s certificate course could better serve FSU students as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted courses from in-person to online.

Ward said when Latimer reached out to her for recommendations for the next Newman Civic Fellowship award, Beausoleil was her “top choice.

“I was really excited that they’d pick someone like Leighah who has this experience of being a dedicated student to any of the work that she does,” she said.

CONNECT WITH BRANDEN LACROIX blacroix@student.framingham.edu

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov

Sunday night April 03 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Wind around 5 mph.

Monday night April 04 Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday night April 05 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Wednesday night April 06 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Monday April 04 Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday April 05 Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday April 06 Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. Wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Thursday April 07 Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

4 | APRIL 1, 2022

NEWS

Rams Rising returns

First in-person Admissions weekends since 2019

By Steven Bonini News Editor

FSU’s “Rams Rising” event, also known as “Accepted Students Day,” will be taking place over the course of two upcoming weekends - April 2 and April 9.

These are the first in-person admissions acceptance days since 2019, with events the past two years taking place virtually.

The two-weekend event is used to give prospective students and their parents the opportunity to learn about the college experience at FSU, said Associate Dean of Admissions and Director of Undergraduate Admissions Shayna Eddy.

She said her office sponsors the event and highlighted some of the key aspects of the day students and their families will get to experience, including meeting with faculty, familiarizing themselves with clubs and organizations, touring the residence halls, and eating brunch.

Eddy said something new they’re trying this year is two concurrent sessions during the day - one for students and one for parents.

The student session will be led by Assistant Director and Orientation Coordinator of New Student and Family Programs Leah Mudd, and the parent session will be led by Director of New Student and Family Programs Ben Trapanick, she said.

It’s important for students’ parents to understand what their experience will be like at FSU, said Eddy, adding, “We want their families to come and to join and really be part of our campus community.”

She said other new features that will be offered for students and their families are the opportunity to visit the Danforth Art Museum and attend shows in the McAuliffe Center Planetarium - among other options.

No new safety protocols will be put in place for the event, said Eddy, adding, “We’re following the University guidelines.”

She said something they have taken into consideration is the fact that some students and families may not want to attend the brunch as it would require the removal of their masks, so a “to-go cart” option will be available.

Eddy said her office has accepted approximately 80% of students who have applied to attend FSU for the upcoming academic year - 3,739 students as of March 31.

According to Eddy, the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on admissions over the last couple of years, but said that’s been an issue across the Northeast.

“This is not something just unique to Framingham State,” she said. “My colleagues at other institutions are experiencing the same with a decline in applications.”

She said her office does expect to be accepting applications through the summertime - hoping to “garner another 200 applications between now and the end of August.”

Eddy said an important part of the Rams Rising event is the academic sessions when students get to meet with faculty members and learn about the different majors the University offers.

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

During the academic sessions, she said, “Students are really getting the ins and outs of the programs.

“When they walk away from that session after an hour, they know what it’s like to be an English major. They know what it’s like to be a political science major,” she added.

Overall, Eddy said she hopes prospective students get the opportunity to hear from the community about how exciting FSU is and what the college has to offer.

She said it’s important incoming students are able to compare FSU to other colleges and walk away thinking, “Wow, this is great. They’re welcoming!

They’re friendly! I know I’m going to get a great education!”

Rachel Lucking, assistant dean for Campus Engagement, said she plays an important role in planning Rams Rising as a member of the planning committee and specifically plays a central role in the resource fair, which is called State Street 101.

She said she hopes incoming students who attend the resource fair experience a sense of the FSU community, adding, “That’s one of our biggest selling points.

“I think it’s certainly a critical piece of making a decision to go somewhere - that there are good people there who can help you,” she said. “Meeting the people in the community is a top priority.”

Lucking said another focus she’s had in planning the fair is creating a social media presence for clubs and organiza-

She said because of the COVID-19 pandemic, engagement has been low both at colleges and high schools, so it’s important to keep students involved.

SGA will be having an information table, said Ward, adding if incoming students “are interested in joining student government, they can reach out to me to find out more of what being part of student government entails and the responsibilities that go along with that.

“I know other student organizations are doing the same,” she said.

Ward said she hopes incoming students see that even though FSU is a small school, there’s still a strong community presence, adding, it’s important for them to feel there’s more to do than simply go to class, eat in the dining hall, and then return to their dorms.

Given the small class sizes FSU offers, Ward said the faculty is one of the University’s greatest assets.

“Students really should look forward to the faculty that we have here,” she said. “We have some of the most dedicated faculty members who really make sure that students feel heard and listened to, but also make sure that our education is top-tier.”

She said at other colleges, students may just be “a number” to their professors because of the large class sizes, but at FSU, “you can really create those one-on-one connections with professors that can lead you to a job or to an internship or anything after you graduate.”

Lisa Eck, chair of the English depart-

“We have some of the most dedicated faculty members who really make sure that students feel heard and listened to, but also make sure that our education is top-tier.”

-McKenzie Ward, SGA President tions - ensuring prospective students leave the event knowing the Instagram handles of the organizations so they can see “first-hand” what Framingham State has to offer.

Trapanick said his office has a large presence at the event as well, including a spot at the resource fair.

He said the fair will act as a “centralized location” for students and their families to not only speak to members of clubs and organizations, but also with Residence Life, CASA, and other offices.

Regarding his role with the separate parent and student sessions, he said his goal is to help parents understand what their role is in the acceptance process as well as what they can expect their students to experience at FSU. He said there will be a final session during the day at which he and Mudd will meet with students who have submitted their deposits to discuss next steps.

McKenzie Ward, president of SGA, said student-run clubs and organizations were highly encouraged to host a table at the day’s events so prospective students can get a good grasp of what’s being offered.

ment, said at the academic sessions, faculty from each department will pitch what makes their discipline unique and interesting to incoming students.

“It’s a glimpse of the curriculum, but you’re not going through it like you would during advising or registration,” she said. “It’s much more about what makes us passionate about our discipline.”

She said there is also a meet-andgreet with students from each of the majors, so prospective students can hear from those who have experienced first-hand what a particular major is like.

As important as it is to hear from the faculty who teach the courses, she said there’s more “authenticity” when students respond to questions from incoming freshmen.

Eck said something she believes will make a difference is having the event in person because students will now have the opportunity to physically participate in the academic sessions as well as see what the campus is all about.

She highlighted the importance of meeting with families, making eye contact, and sharing a laugh with individuals.

None of that happened over Zoom, said Eck, adding some families wouldn’t even turn their cameras on.

Over the course of the day, Eck said she hopes to begin developing bonds with accepted students, adding, “I want to start a relationship that will continue in the fall. And sure enough, when students come back in September, I remember their names, I can quote them, I remember what they were interested in.”

Ultimately, Eck said she hopes students see that FSU is a “rigorous, amazing liberal arts college with small classes” of “incredible value.

“It’s a small place where you’re not a number,” she said. “You’ll be known.

You’ll find your voice here.”

Eck said she believes people often think there’s a measurable difference between a private institution and a public institution when it comes to education, adding, there really is none.

“I think the only difference is that we are focused on teaching first and research second,” she said. “If anything, it’s an even better value because we all identify as teachers first and then teacher-scholars second.”

David Smailes, interim chair of the Political Science Department, said in his experience, participating in the Rams Rising event via Zoom had its advantages, but being back in person will give incoming students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the community.

“I think traveling to campus is an important part of what goes on with Rams Rising,” he said, adding when prospective students see the community, they get a good sense of what campus life is like.

“Just the physical surroundings are important for making people feel at home,” he added. “I think that comes through at events like this.”

Smailes said he hopes to give students a good feeling about the Political Science Department after meeting with them, adding they should be able to understand the possibilities of a career in political science as well as other opportunities studying political science can achieve.

“This is more than just politics,” he said.

“This is all about administration.

It’s about communication. … It’s about a half a dozen things that you would never even think of as being related to political science that people do with political science degrees,” Smailes added.

“I hope that comes through,” he said.

Above all, Smailes said he enjoys participating in the event.

“I always have fun at these events,” he said. “I like meeting people. I like being able to answer questions that people have, and I especially like showing off what we’re all about. I think that’s a really nice part of the day.”

Smailes said he always finds it “rewarding” to go in and talk about something he’s “proud of.”

[Editor’s Note: McKenzie Ward is Opinions Editor for The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI sbonini@student.framingham.edu

NEWS

APRIL 1, 2022 | 5

FSU announces changes to advising and registration

By Ashlyn Kelly News Editor Christopher Gregory, associate dean of Academic Affairs and director of The Advising Center, announced changes to the advising and registration schedule in an email to the Framingham State community March 22.

Previously, all students in the honors program registered first on the Friday before the Sunday when seniors registered. In-season athletes could register starting at 1 p.m. before other members of their class standing did at 5 p.m.

Now, honors program students register at 7:30 a.m., in-season athletes register at 7:45 a.m., and all other class members register at 8 a.m. on consecutive Monday mornings.

Gregory said he heard from students over the years who have “questioned how honors students are afforded early registration but want even more of a perk of honors status by skipping the entire student-body line.”

According to Ellen Zimmerman, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, the change was made “to create more fairness for all of the students.

“It still preserves an advantage for honor students and athletes, which is important,” she said, “but it reduces the advantage over other students … because they now register ahead of the other members of their own class, but not ahead of everybody in the entire University.”

Zimmerman added it also “increases fairness” for the faculty and staff members who have had to “work eight Sunday evenings a year for the past 15 years.”

The change would affect “a small minority,” she said, because “residential students and students who don’t have an 8:30 class … don’t have to race to campus to be there at 7:30.”

Gregory said the 7:30 a.m. start time was chosen to “keep us out of the 8:304:30 class time blocks,” and added more faculty and staff would be available to assist students on a Monday morning, though “the new time was not chosen with that in mind.”

He added the time is “consistent with many schools across the country, between both residential campuses and those dominated by commuters.”

Paul Bruno, faculty director of the Commonwealth Honors Program at Framingham State University, said in an email that he “did not support the changes.”

He said he thinks “priority registration was an important tool” that helped contribute to having “a higher rate of honors students completing all of the requirements of the program,” which are taking “five honors courses and [writing] an honors thesis” as well as completing “the course work for their majors (and often minors).”

According to the Honors Program website, most classes are 100- or 200-level classes that fulfill a general education requirement, but students may make one of their upper-level classes into an honors course by creating an extra project with the professor.

Bruno said, “Honors students have to be thinking ahead to both their honors thesis and the capstones in their major, so the ability to register for a course in their major in, say, their sophomore year can have consequences for them

in their senior year. Indeed, it can have consequences for them completing the program.”

He added, “That being said, I recognize that the new policy has potential benefits for honors students. For example, it does happen that honors students get shut out of an honors class in their senior year. The greatest competition among honors students is for honors classes because there are so few of them - only six per semester.

“Honors classes can fill up in literal-

she thinks the changes are “helpful and streamline the process” as well as “create more equitable solutions.

“The biggest challenge I have heard from advisees is the new Monday morning registration,” Cole added.

“It’s early in the morning, so it can be hard to get up for, but I am also thinking about those students who work on the weekends and how this can create more equity for them to sign up with peers.”

McKenzie Ward, SGA president, said

“It doesn’t make sense to me as to why they changed it, it seemed like a pretty good system beforehand.”

-Elizabeth Walker, Junior English Major ly two minutes, so a senior who needs a I-A Gen Ed can log in two minutes after registration starts and find that the I-A class is already full of honors students who have four or five semesters remaining at FSU. That is a difficult circumstance that happens, so I recognize that the new system should help alle-

“one of the biggest perks” of being in the honors program was having priority registration.

“Now that you have to just write a 50-page paper - and that is really the only part of the Honors Program besides the honors classes - it doesn’t make it worth it,” she said.

istration was “a benefit that I really appreciated and needed to keep on schedule to graduate in four years.”

Elizabeth Walker, a junior English major, said, “It doesn’t make sense to me as to why they changed it - it seemed like a pretty good system beforehand,” adding she had “never heard anyone complain about it or have issues with it.”

She said the new day and time means she will have to register for classes while at work, which “wasn’t an issue in years past.”

Owen Thornton, a sophomore honors history major, said the change deducts “one of the few real benefits to being an honors student and hinder[s] my drive to continue in the program.”

He added the changes “may create problems” for him when registering for classes because his minor in secondary education “requires very popular courses.”

Matthew Donahoe, a junior computer science major, said he thinks the change is “weird,” “unnecessary,” and came “out of nowhere.

“I don’t want to wake up at 8 a.m.,” he added.

Mandy Taylor, a sophomore elementary education major, said, “I think that it’s going to be particularly overwhelming for the freshmen because they just got used to the process, and now the

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Courtesy of Framingham State viate that. There are competing interests on campus; sometimes, decisions are made that take a broader view of things,” Bruno said.

Lori Lavigne, Accounting, Economics, and Finance Department chair, said she thinks “it is better to have registration on a weekday where faculty and staff will be more available to help when issues arise.”

She added she has not heard any opinions from students “either positive or negative. I hope students - especially honors and athletes - set their alarms on registration day.”

David Smailes, interim chair of the Political Science Department, said he thinks it is important for faculty and staff to be “as available as possible” to students during advising, and the changes make it “a little easier” to be so.

Sarah Cole, a communication, media, and performance professor, said

Ward added the day and time change is “absolutely ridiculous because we are a fairly large commuter population” and “we are just completely neglecting those who have an 8:30 class and now have to wake up even earlier in order to avoid traffic and make sure that they’re registering on time.”

Kelsey Milinazzo, a junior honors psychology major, said the changes are a “nuisance.”

She said because she student-teaches on Mondays, she will be driving at the time she would be registering. “So I have to go out of my way to give my roommate Eli my registration information and have them do it for me so that I can get the classes that I need, and if Eli has any difficulty registering, then I won’t be able to get in contact with my advisor until later in the day when I’m done teaching and get that figured out.”

Milinazzo added the priority reg-

time and process changed.”

Olivia Copeland, a sophomore honors English major, said she is not “super thrilled” about the changes. “We were promised early registration as an incentive to join the honors program and now that benefit is only partial.”

She added the “stress” of getting into classes is “now added” to the “unique academic challenges” of the Honors Program.w It may have been more “convenient” if the change was “announced earlier or put into effect starting next semester,” said Copeland.

[Editor’s Note: McKenzie Ward is Opinions Editor for The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH ASHLYN KELLY akelly8@student.framingham.edu

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Board of Trustees Continued from page 1 Cevallos addressed the plan for COVID-19 protocols and said, “As we get the test results from this weekend and next week, we will know if we can relax, even more, some of the COVID mandates.”

He said they plan to keep the classroom mask mandate in effect until the end of the semester.

He added, “Hopefully, by the summertime and by next fall, we will not have to do so.”

Cevallos said COVID-19 testing will be reduced and it will not be mandated for asymptomatic individuals.

He added symptomatic individuals will not be able to test in the gym - “They will have to test in different places.”

Cevallos said voluntary testing will still be available to any individual who would like to for the rest of the semester.

Lorretta Holloway, vice president for Enrollment and Student Development, said in her Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement Report that the directors of the CIE, student involvement, athletics, as well as several faculty members asked executive staff to review the University’s regalia policy in order to be more inclusive.

They passed a motion that would give students an option to choose from more than one identity when ordering stoles and pins.

Holloway said, “Graduation and commencement are really for the students - they should be able to celebrate every aspect of themselves.”

She said Nguyen served on a panel for the Rotary District 7910 Inaugural, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit.

“What that says about not only him but also Framingham State is that Framingham State is becoming known for being a place for other people to get resources about diversity issues and diversity training,” Holloway said.

Eric Gustafson, vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, presented his report next.

He said at the time the report was submitted, $1.49 million was raised, and in the week between when he submitted the report and the time of the Board of Trustees meeting, the number jumped to $1.53 million.

He said, “A number of notable larger gifts” were donated.

Gustafson said a $50,000 and $10,000 gift has been given to support the operations of the Danforth Art Museum and a $25,000 gift to support operations at the Danforth Art School.

Two pre-existing endowed scholarship funds received additional gifts of $20,000 and $10,000, he said.

He said they received gifts for a scholarship program within the art school for “community members, adults, and children who don’t have the means to pay the fees to take art school classes.”

He said they can apply now for scholarships to cover those costs.

During his Administration, Finance, and Information Technology Committee Report, Trustee Michael Grilli said the committee has refinanced some of FSU’s debt service.

He added they have allocated $5 million to student enrollment enhancement.

He said $3 million of the “$6 million of federal money that falls out of the

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NEWS

sky into our lap” was used to balance the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget.

The remaining $3 million was saved in anticipation of balancing the FY23 budget, he said.

The money that was approved to be invested “dipped” with the market, but Grilli said it has “rebounded” and the board is “in black ink.”

He said he “appreciate[s] everybody’s efforts but can’t confuse efforts with results,” referring to the drop in enrollment.

Grilli said, “The Finance Committee is going to be worn out this time next year” if the projections for future enrollment fall short.

Dale Hamel, executive vice president, said the Board is “fortunate” to have been able to store enough funds with the debt services reserves to relieve “a large portion” of the deficit projected for FY23.

He added, “We will have an overall deficit even with supplemental funding.”

Kevin Foley, Board of Trustees chair, said they have “pulled a lot of levers” regarding debt restructuring and they are fortunate to have federal funds.

The combination of declining enrollment and the “out years” is “worrisome,” said Foley.

When asked what the next key steps toward developing the capital budget would be, Hamel said they will be undertaking a utilization study for the first time in 18 years.

He said the study will “inform allocations of the next five-year critical repair program of the Commonwealth.”

They have “left room” in year five and out to either use the savings toward the budget or to fund new capital programs depending on whether projections are met, said Hamel.

Trustee Nancy Budwig responded to Grilli’s report by saying she wanted to be “really clear” on behalf of Academic Affairs that University programs are functioning the best they can with the resources they have.

She added, “That’s not an easy task.”

Regarding Grilli’s concern of “efforts versus results,” Budwig said she thinks they are “aligned,” but also wanted to “underscore” that she feels “very confident” the efforts made and steps taken will lead to success.

She added she is “confused” about the dropping enrollment numbers.

During Budwig’s Academic Affairs Committee Report, she said the committee is reporting on five areas they have recently studied.

She said these pillars are student engagement and retention, faculty and student research, academic advising, civic engagement and service learning, and anti-racist initiatives.

In addition to increasing student engagement and retention, Budwig said they expanded their focus to include the MetroWest community as a form of “public-facing engagement.”

They are aiming for a “win-win on both sides,” she said.

Regarding faculty and student research, Budwig credited Ellen Zimmerman, interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, with supporting “faculty research for student success.”

She said the research faculty conducts and gets published in higher-ed journals is “not separate from the student experience.”

Budwig said there will be new academic initiatives, including an advis-

ing model that will “guarantee from the get-go first-year students immediate faculty advising,” new general education programming, and “an advising system that works.”

She added that a center for civic engagement and service learning is “in progress.”

Budwig said there were “exciting” visuals of the planetarium plans that are “reimagining” how it will be used outside of its original public purpose.

It will continue to be a public service space, but it will also be able to accommodate new classrooms and facilities and project-based learning and teamwork, she said.

Budwig added this will provide increased accessibility to this information.

The McAuliffe Center “is the only space of its kind in Massachusetts,” and they want it to be used fully, she said.

Academic Affairs is in the process of implementing two main anti-racist programs, she said.

Budwig said they are the Fellow Search Program, which “stands to move the needle” in terms of increasing recruitment of diverse faculty in fellow positions, and the Faculty of Color Mentoring Program.

She said Framingham State is becoming known as an example institution for equity practice and “there is a lot of institutional pride.”

She added these programs are not “one-and-done.”

They “represent a deepening of the strategic framework by looking at the structures, the processes, the facilities, and importantly to the Board, the dissemination of all the good work that is going on that makes ‘fRAMily’ and some of the initiatives function,” she said.

“You can have the ideas on paper, but now, what we’re really beginning to see is the building,” she said.

Budwig asked Marc Cote, dean of arts and humanities, to explain the proposed changes for the fashion design and retailing major.

Cote said the fashion design and retailing major currently offers two concentrations that they want to change to majors. One in apparel design and the other in fashion merchandising.

This change will be sent to the Board of Higher Education for final approval.

Cote said the department has recorded “fairly even [student] interest in both apparel design and fashion merchandising through the years,” and this will allow “targeted marketing to prospective students.

“Anytime when you can elevate concentrations to majors, it becomes much more marketable and much more visible,” he added.

Budwig said the Academic Affairs Committee received a “very thorough report” on this and “voted unanimously” to bring this proposal to the Board of Trustees.

The motion to bring this proposal to the Board of Higher Education was approved unanimously.

During the Enrollment and Student Development Committee Report, Holloway discussed the University’s COVID-19 plan and response to the governor’s “imploring” for higher education institutions to “roll back” COVID-19 mitigations.

Holloway said they “scaled back” COVID-19 regulations in line with recommendations made by the state’s

health department, and ensured their approach was organized and allowed them to “pivot back based upon the needs.”

Holloway said this approach was proven successful when it was necessary to pivot back to temporary COVID-19 testing for student onboarding post-spring break.

She said in their meeting, they highlighted that the University is a “mask-friendly” campus in an effort to make all students feel welcome and comfortable no matter their decision to wear or not wear a mask when in mask-optional spaces.

She said the committee held a meeting with University Chief of Police John Santoro to outline what it means to practice 21st-century policing on a college campus.

They also discussed increasing the University’s police staff, which has been “a continuous struggle to get qualified candidates,” said Holloway.

She said strategic enrollment initiatives, such as a “website redesign” and “branding initiative,” were discussed and their timelines were cut down while maintaining the needed “nimbleness.”

Trustee Diane Finch asked Holloway what the demographics are of the accepted students and if the University is “doing anything different” for the upcoming student receptions based on demographics.

Holloway responded that faculty and staff “strive” to focus on inclusion and presenting a “wide variety” of academic programming and student leader representatives.

During her Governance Committee report, Trustee Beth Casavant said with the passing of Trustee Logan, the position of vice chair needed to be filled, and Trustee Anthony Hubbard “graciously” agreed to serve for the remainder of the term through June 30, 2022.

The motion for Hubbard to serve as vice chair passed with Hubbard abstaining.

Casavant requested a motion to extend Foley’s time as chair beyond the usual four-year period in light of Cevallos’ retirement and the need for “stability” as the University brings on a new president.

The extension would not exceed an additional 12-month period, Casavant said.

The motion passed with one abstention - Trustee Foley abstained due to his vested interest in the vote.

Casavant requested a motion to vote on the position of vice chair for the July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023 term.

The motion passed to enstate Casavant as vice chair with one abstention - Casavant.

Trustee Hope Bielat announced her retirement from her position. Her term expired and she said her career path is “taking [her] in a different direction.”

She said, “It has been an honor” to serve in this position.

CONNECT WITH HALEY HADGE hhadge@student.framingham.edu CONNECT WITH SOPHIA HARRIS sharris9@student.framingham.edu

NEWS

COVID-19 by the numbers

APRIL 1, 2022 | 7

By Kathleen Moore Associate Editor

Data collected March 26

­ ­

­ ­

Data collected March 31

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.]

­ ­

Data source: Framingham State

Data collected March 31

Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Worldometer, City of Framingham

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O P / ED

OP/ED

THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

These changes don’t register Twelve weeks into the semester, students and faculty alike have begun to anticipate course registration.

However, if you haven’t checked your email, you’ll be surprised to know the class registration and advising process was unexpectedly restructured for this spring’s registration season.

Announced in a March 22 community-wide email from Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Christopher Gregory, students will now be registering on Monday mornings over the span of four weeks.

Each week, registration will open to a “registration group” that is determined based on the number of credits a student has earned.

Group One students will have an expected completion of 22 credits, Group Two is 14 to 21 credits, Group Three is six to 13 credits, and Group Four is zero to five credits.

Registration will begin on Monday mornings at the unholy hour of 7:30 a.m.

Honors students will no longer be allowed to register days ahead of other students.

Rather, they will go 30 minutes before their respective registration group at 7:30 a.m.

In-season athletes will be allowed to begin registering 15 minutes before other members of their registration group.

All other students in each registration group will gain access to registration at 8 a.m.

Registering for classes has never been an easy task, and many systems have been put in place to assist students in completing it.

For example, Foundations peer mentors have taught first-year students how to register and provided guidance - meeting with them during registration to ensure everything goes smoothly.

But who will be available to students at 7:30 a.m.?

Student Services doesn’t open until 8:00 a.m.

If an honors student or athlete has problems registering, they miss their advantage in registration time and will be at risk of losing a seat in a class they need prior to resolving their issues.

Commuters either have to stay home to register for courses and risk being late to class or come to school early, where they will have to put their trust in an unreliable WiFi connection in order to secure the classes they need to graduate We have a large commuter population.

With these registration changes, the University moves further away from being a commuter-friendly campus.

We were only informed of the changes a week ago.

Course registration is hard in the best of circumstances, and the University’s last-minute changes are not only a nuisance, but are part of a pattern.

Last semester, right before class registration, the entire layout of the Course Search and Registration page was redesigned. No one was informed and no one received proper communication and guidance on how to navigate the new system.

Here we are again with more changes with no answers as to why.

The University also introduced a financial contract last semester which students must sign in order to register for classes.

Students still don’t understand this contract.

A simple communication from the administration would inform students that it is nothing new, and only a reminder that they have an obligation to pay for the classes for which they register.

The University claims to be progressing toward a “student-ready” campus, which provides all the resources and services needed to ensure students can succeed.

However, a main component of that should be communication - an area in which the University finds itself lacking when it comes to registration.

At the recent SGA Administrators’ Forum, students shared concerns about the lack of communication from the Registrar’s Office.

Additionally, because of this lack of communication, students don’t know whom to turn to when problems with course registration arise.

Administrators have identified staffing issues as the main reason for the problems that fuel student frustrations when registering for classes.

If the University is too understaffed to communicate quickly and effectively as well as provide basic registration assistance, why are changes being made right now to aspects of registration that students did not consider problematic in the first place?

Money and time would be better devoted to providing resources and channels of communication to make the registration process more straightforward and manageable.

It’s unfortunate how many students might completely miss course registration because of how late these changes were communicated to us.

Registration was already a flawed system, and administrators have only further fostered confusion and frustration.

These changes don’t register.

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! @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Can we say thank you, please?

By James Barraford Staff Writer

It grates me that when I hold the door open for others, I am not met with a thank you, but deafening silence.

Perhaps I am being too Type A about what might be an innocuous faux pas. Decorum - and the disregard of it - isn’t a de facto representation of who a person is.

And besides, from the looks of things, the world seems to be on fire.

But the question lingered on anyway, and I decided this semester to go on with the article.

As I walked toward the ancient and ruddy bricked exterior of May Hall, its nearly countless windows staring down like eyes, I saw a student just a few paces away from me.

My intensity and conviction were that of a race walker in the summer Olympics. Anyone from the sidelines could see from my exaggerated gait that I was a man on a mission.

Soon, I was in front of the student. I grasped the door knob and opened it With my arm awkwardly extended backwards, I held it for the student behind me. The student then walked through. The door slipped from my grasp.

Without a single word spoken, we both went our separate ways on the second floor.

Now, let’s be clear, the intention of this article is not to castigate or condemn. The intention is to simply address a pet peeve with larger implications.

In FSU’s defense, this is a behavior that extends far beyond these brick walls. Just the other day, I walked into Planet Fitness and held open the door for another guest and was met with silence.

As I began my workout, and watched gym-goers move through their routines, their bodies moving in a mechanistic rhythm, it left me wondering - as situations like these always did - why are we acting this way?

Am I being fussy that I find this issue bothersome?

Maybe I am just getting older and more crotchety, but I can’t help but feel this basic element of manners is slipping from our grasp.

It is almost as if when someone acts courteously, there is an implicit expectation that the act will not be acknowledged. It is just a matter of cause and effect.

Our bodies are like the metallic balls of Newton’s cradle that clack together moving back and forth - mindlessly fulfilling our obligations.

Yet, I have met many FSU students on campus, and know they are more than just that. They are people with dreams and aspirations, fears and hopes, and by virtue of being on campus, aiming to enrich their lives and others.

Maybe, just maybe, we could ask ourselves, “Would it hurt to say thank you?”

It wouldn’t.

However, it would require being more present. Our distractions, responsibilities, and notifications would have to be put on pause for a moment.

I know that in today’s day and age, that is no small order. However, steps taken incrementally can make a seemingly Herculean task possible.

Small steps can have a large impact on the world.

We live in a world on the precipice as global alliances shift and modulate. Things we have taken for granted no longer seem certain. Our age is one of discontent and anxiety.

It can seem like a lot. But change can start with us.

It is fostered by the individual.

But what is small in our existence affects the large, and vice versa. The massive movement of nations can be impacted by the actions of a small group of people.

Saying ‘thank you’ recognizes the kind act of a stranger. It shows we value someone we may never see again.

There is no reason anyone should hold the door open for anyone. Really, it is a miracle human beings can create complex social systems that allow us to effectively coexist.

These are the small acts of awareness - the glue which reminds us, life is more than just me, my desires, and my problems - that keep our world functioning.

When we acknowledge others, we acknowledge ourselves.

By being intentional with others, we honor our humanity.

So please, say thank you.

OP/ED

APRIL 1, 2022 | 8

Campus Conversations “What are your thoughts on the new advising schedule?”

By Maddison Behringer and Emma Lyons, Editorial Staff

“I kind of don’t really like it. It’s too early in my opinion. I feel like for a lot of people, it’s kind of out of the way timewise. I feel like the one on Sunday didn’t really affect too many students. So, I feel like having it so early on Mondays is just not fixing any issues. If anything, it’s creating more.”

“The credits part I understand, having certain credits. I feel like it is more specific and will help students understand when they’re registering. Monday at 8 a.m. I feel like that’s not really the best thing to do because people have 8:30s and it’s not fair to commuters especially, as they’re like 45 minutes away.”

-Maeve Walsh, senior

-Alexandra Hebert, junior

- Christie Jean, junior

“It doesn’t really impact me all that much, but I have always found that advising hasn’t been talked about enough. … It’s still a little bit confusing - but other than that - I feel like there hasn’t been too much of a change from last semester.”

-Leticia Rita Santos, freshman

“I think it’s a bad choice to have it set up that way. It doesn’t affect my schedule, personally, but I definitely feel for the students it does affect.”

“I didn’t understand it at first. I scheduled an appointment with my advisor like three weeks early, because I didn’t really understand it. …

I think the email was helpful. The table they gave was helpful, but I just didn’t understand it.”

-Molly Rezendes, freshman

“I think it’s absurd. I think it’s really unfortunate, because a lot of students may have work and stuff like that. It’s also the fact that it’s based on credits, it’s going to affect a lot of students and what classes they’re going to take.”

-Brandon Adams, junior

April Fools?

Haley Hadge / THE GATEPOST

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10 | APRIL 1, 2022

SPORTS

SP O RTS

Softball ends regular season Women’s Lacrosse loses on with back-to-back wins over the road to Babson 18-11 Wentworth

By Danielle Achin Sports Editor

By Tyler Wahl Sports Editor

Framingham State’s Softball team faced off against Wentworth in an intense double-header home game claiming both victories over the Leopards on March 30.

After winning their first game against Wentworth with a close 10-9 score, the Rams didn’t lose steam as they charged the field for the second game.

In the first inning, Wentworth took the 1-0 lead after a triple to left center sending a runner home. The Rams then capitalized on a fielding error and freshman Shelby Roode responded with a one-run double to left center sending junior Gwendolyn Carpenter home for the 1-1 tie.

Wentworth opened the inning with a Sabrina Haarstick double and two singles from Kayla Richard and Katelin Howe followed by a Briana Beverly triple adding three runs for the 4-1 score while the Rams went a scoreless inning.

After a few scoreless innings, the Rams came back strong in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good.

Carpenter sent Camille Desrochers home with a single down the leftfield line and Kelsey McGuill followed with a two-run single of her own but they didn’t stop there.

With bases loaded, the Rams plated four more runs in the inning when Abby Clark cracked the ball up the middle for a two-run hit followed by McGuill scoring on a wild pitch advancing their lead 7-5.

In the sixth, Wentworth was unable to push another run across in the inning and the Rams pulled away with four more runs after a Desrocher home run and a three-run double from McGuill for the 11-5 score.

Wentworth was able to get a pair of runs back in the seventh and final inning after scoring on a wild pitch and groundout from Ceilidh Higgins, but the Leopards couldn’t make up for the lost runs and fell 11- against the Rams.

Continuing into the season with a - record, Grace Swanson praised her team for defending the home turf against the opposing teams aggression.

“Once the game started, all the puzzle pieces came together and we worked well as a team and our pitchers - sophomore Caroline Hughs and freshman Emily Strzegowski - really pulled through with their pitching,” she said.

“This year we definitely have our work cut out for us, but I have complete faith that we will win and go far with the group of girls we have. Our goal this year is to win the MASCAC Championship and win the regular season just like last year,” she added.

As the team closes their regular season the women look to play in the MASCAC conference games for the remainder of their season starting April 2, where they will face off against Gatepost Archives Mass Maritime in another double header.

The Rams Women’s Lacrosse team fell to Babson College in a heated high-scoring away game March 30.

Initially, the first quarter didn’t advertise the scoring to come. The teams were knotted up at 0-0 and the defense on both sides seemed solid.

Junior goalie Alexis Burleigh made a few great saves to start the game, but the offensive pressure from Babson eventually resulted in unfavorable situations for the Rams.

Babson was able to put two on the board in under a minute, which gave the Beavers a boost of momentum at the start of the match.

FSU was able to strike back with six minutes left in the first quarter off an unassisted shot from Junior attacker Madison Skiff.

The Beavers continued to find cracks in the Rams’ defense, however were able to put three more points on the board before the quarter concluded.

Framingham State had a better start in the second quarter when sophomore attacker Hannah Guerin slid one by the Babson goalie to make the score 5-3.

Two more goals came in rapid succession for the Beavers after Guerin’s comeback shot. The Rams’ struggle to get solid clears on defense were leading to scoring opportunities for Babson.

Babson continued to dominate through the rest of the second quarter, as the score read 11-3 in their favor heading into halftime.

Although FSU failed to bring the game back within reach in the second half the determination within their team still shined.

The Rams were able to hold off Babson relatively well in the third quarter compared to the previous two, and their offensive efficiency saw improvement.

FSU let up four goals in the third quarter, but matched their opponent by putting four of their own in. They also prevented turnovers and converted more high-quality clears on defense after the half.

Not only is this bounce-back a sign of resilience within the team, it’s also a sign of outstanding coaching.

The fourth quarter practically mirrored the third, as both teams did well offensively and typically struggled on defense.

Freshman attacker Hailey Baker put in two goals of her own in the fourth quarter.

Her teammate attacker Leah Green, freshman, also put one in during the tailend of the game.

The final buzzer sounded and the score Gatepost Archives read 18-11 in favor of Babson. Despite the large margin in which the Rams lost, the team still showed determination through the entire game.

After the game, sophomore midfielder Regan Fein said, “Going forward, our team’s biggest goal is to set the tone of our game.”

Setting the tone early is something the Rams have struggled with and look to focus on for their future matchups.

Fein added, “We need to continue to capitalize on the scoring opportunities, transition smoothly downfield, and come up with every 50 50 ball.”

The Rams Women’s Lacrosse team looks to rebound off the loss against Salem State at home in a heated conference match April 1.

FRAMINGHAM STATE WENTWORTH

11 7

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@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

BABSON COLLEGE FRAMINGHAM STATE

18 11

CONNECT WITH TYLER WAHL twahl1@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

APRIL 1, 2022 | 11

ARTS & FEATURES

A love by chance, a career by choice

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief

Millie González recalls, as a little girl, roaming the aisles of her neighborhood’s public library.

Soaking in the building’s atmosphere, González relished in the feeling of all the literature available at her fingertips as she made her way through the maze of towering shelves.

Once she made it to the end of the library, González said she would start all over again, guided only by the driving forces of her imagination and curiosity.

“Libraries are a sacred place,” she said. “When I was younger, information was sort of behind a paywall. But for me, I can enter a library and I can access anything on my own.”

González said libraries granted her “the serendipity of discovery. And I loved it. I really did.”

However, now the dean of the Henry Whittemore Library, González admits not all libraries were as welcoming for her as she wished they were.

“I love libraries, but libraries didn’t necessarily love me,” she said.

González described the intimidation she felt in some libraries.

“I didn’t feel like there was any material that sort of spoke to me,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t necessarily approach librarians, and when I did, they weren’t warm and fuzzy.”

Acknowledging the value of a library’s atmosphere, González said she has made it her mission to ensure students feel welcome at the Whittemore Library and that she creates an environment that is warm and inclusive.

She said when someone first enters a library, “you can tell - it’s in the air, it’s in the spirit - if it is a welcoming space.

“There was one particular library,” she added. “It wasn’t well resourced.

It was a small library, but everywhere you turned, it was like the little things that sent out a message that it is a welcoming space. I’ll never forget that feeling of walking into that library. And that’s kind of the library I want to replicate here.”

González said she earned her bachelor’s in comparative literature from Hamilton College and then went to Simmons College to pursue her master’s in business administration.

“I had all the intention of being this high-power consultant and traveling all over the place, but then I ended up starting a family,” she said.

As a result, González said she wanted a career that would not take too much time away from her family and in this new search, she noticed many jobs she was interested in required a master’s in library science.

“The funny thing was that while I was getting my MBA, I would spend so much time in the library, so much so

that the librarian was like, ‘I’ve never met anybody who is more interested in the library than you. You should be a librarian,’” she said.

“I was so surprised that my first reaction was visceral,” she added. “I was like, ‘Why would I want to be a librarian?’”

However, González said she did some research into the career and decided to explore it a bit more, which led to her enrolling in a reference course.

Upon taking that first class, “I was hooked,” she said.

She then completed her M.L.S. at Simmons College.

Originally from New York, González said she’s “Nuyorican.”

“I was born in New York. My parents are from Puerto Rico. And I lived right above the Cloisters - right above

Library dean Millie González.

Washington Heights, so a very diverse neighborhood,” she said.

González added she and her husband moved to Framingham when he got a job in Massachusetts.

All she knew she wanted when they moved to Massachusetts was a diverse population and a mall, she said.

She added being from the city, it was difficult adjusting to driving everywhere when she was so used to just taking the train, but “Framingham is just such an amazing place. It’s large enough, very diverse, with wonderful families.

“It’s really a great place to raise your kids,” she said. Framingham is where González and her husband raised their two children - Sophia, 25, who works as a clinician, and Ben, 21, who is a sophomore in college.

González reflected on the times she shared with her family in attending Ben’s baseball games, adding they met a lot of their good friends that way.

Prior to working at Framingham State, González said she worked at various libraries, including a pharmaceutical library, Harvard, a consortium (where she traveled to different libraries), and Framingham Public Library.

But in 2006, González started part time at Framingham State as a refer-

ence and electronic resources librarian. She held this position for four years until a full-time position opened up. She has been working at FSU as a full-time employee for 14 years.

González has accumulated a range of job titles throughout those 14 years, but in August 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she became interim dean of the library.

Upon accepting the position, González said she knew the library had “a really terrific staff,” adding they “felt that it was really important to stay open and have those doors open” during the pandemic.

Along with being open, she said the library already had many of the structures in place in order to pivot to a more online-focused support for students.

“We’re very service oriented,” she

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST added, explaining how they developed the chat feature for students to easily seek help online.

González said recently, the library was able to hire five new librarians two of whom are brand-new positions.

The first position is a librarian of scholarly communications, whose role it is to help faculty develop open education resources (OERs), according to González.

She said she recently co-wrote a grant that earned the library $500,000 toward supporting OERs. The second is the student engagement coordinator, whose role is to develop activities and aspects of the library that are student focused.

Another grant González obtained for the library was for the “Big Read,” for which Native American Poet Joy Harjo presented her work. González developed other activities for the community to participate in during Native American Heritage Month.

She said the library has been planning for National Library Week April 4 to 8, during which they will host a number of events, including Reiki in the Rams Renew Room, a cake decorating contest, and student workers’ appreciation day.

González said it’s getting to the difficult part of the semester and “I think it’s wonderful for us to lift up

the community.”

González highlighted the library’s new Rams Renew Room that is aimed at promoting wellness for students on campus. The room is packed full of activities for those seeking a way to de-stress.

She said the library is also working on getting more “poofs” for students to put their feet up on so they do not have to use the tables as well as adding menstrual hygiene products to the bathrooms.

She said as interim dean, she was limited in how much strategic planning she can do, but now that she has named library dean, she is able to start thinking more broadly about the library’s future.

González was announced dean of the library in a March 29 community-wide email from the Dean of Students Office.

Librarians shared their excitement for what is to come now that González is officially in the position.

Suzanne Meunier, head of technology services, said, “I think it’s nice that we finally have a decision and a sense of permanence here and it’s great.

Meunier added, “I think we need some continuity because everything has been in upheaval for the last couple years with COVID, and I trust she will do a good job.”

Kathleen Barnard, student engagement coordinator, said, “I’m very happy for her. I think that she will do very well in this position. She’s really very enthusiastic about the library and has a deep love for the library. And I think that really comes through with everything she does.”

Kate Burt, the library dean administrative assistant, said, “I think it’s very good. She had a lot of great ideas and programs that she wanted to work on, so it’s nice to know that they can continue.

Burt added with González as library dean, “All these ideas will come to fruition.”

González is constantly looking at ways to improve the library experience for students.

She said she is “always looking through the eyes of the people that enter the library, and then making sure that they have a good time.”

Just as she did as a little girl, González still walks throughout the library on a regular basis, and as she soaks in the atmosphere, she is asking herself, “Is there that buzz?

“I’m always excited about pushing the limits or the stereotypes away and really customizing the services and the space that we provide to the community that we serve,” she said.

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL

lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

12 | APRIL 1, 2022

ARTS & FEATURES

How to support students in the face of hate speech on college campuses

By Emily Rosenberg Arts & Features Editor Sy Stokes gave a keynote address for the annual Olivia A. Davidson Voices of Color program and highlighted ways to support marginalized students when hate speech appears on campus on March 30 via Zoom and in The Forum.

The event was organized by the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Arts & Ideas.

Stokes is currently the vice president at Coqual, a non-profit think tank focused on advancing equity in the workplace. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow for the National Center for Institutional Diversity and a lecturer at the College of Education at the University of Michigan.

He began by discussing the history of freedom of speech in the United States. He said particularly in recent years during Donald Trump’s presidency, people have used the First Amendment to protect themselves while spewing hate.

Stokes referenced the “danger test,” a practice courts use when determining legality in free speech cas-

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

es. He gave the examples of Schenck v. United States and Doe v. University of Michigan, where the Supreme Court ruled on the basis of whether the speech was intended to harm or endanger.

He said due to the history, campus speech codes regulating racist speech were struck down by the court because a public university cannot constitutionally prohibit the expression of racist ideas.

Stokes added “free speech purists” believe giving the government the power to punish people for their racist speech will lead to a subjective form of censorship.

“If we regulate hate speech to protect the minority, it will inevitably end up as the weapon for the majority,” Stokes said. “The cure has arguably become worse than the disease.”

He cited the censorship of anti-slavery pamphlets during the Civil War, and censorship of NAACP newspapers during the Civil Rights Movement as examples of how the government cannot be trusted to regulate free speech.

Stokes said while the consequences of hate speech are not a topic for debate when he has to worry about

whether his grandmother will be “safe coming home from the store every day,” and students worry for their safety, it is important to recognize that surrendering the right to all speech may have the opposite effect.

He provided a quote from Charles R. Lawrence III, “Freedom of speech is the life blood of our democratic system. It is a freedom that enables us to persuade others to our point of view.

Free speech is especially important for minorities because often it is their only vehicle for rallying support for redress of their grievances.”

Stokes then emphasized the power imbalance in discussions about hate speech in free speech.

“There is an asymmetrical relationship between racially minoritized students on one hand and the perpetrators of racist hate speech on the other,” he said.

Citing Mari Matsuda, a prominent critical race theorist, he said victims of hate speech experience physiological symptoms and emotional stress including post traumatic stress disorder, difficulty breathing, hypertension, and suicide among other serious issues.

“Not everyone has known the experience of being victimized by racist, misogynist, and homophobic speech and we do not share equally the societal harm it inflicts,” Stokes said.

This is the reason why it is convenient for racists, homophobes, misogynists, and others who share close-minded opinions to stand behind the free speech purist beliefs and engage in their behavior without consequence, he said.

“How do you account for power when the First Amendment does not?” he asked.

He emphasized the importance of protecting intellectual safety which he defined as the “necessary intellectual risks that students must take to learn about different opinions.”

He said the current generation of higher education students are more concerned with protecting their peers than any generation before which has increased student activism.

Therefore, while invited speakers and differing opinions should be welcomed to protect intellectual safety, any speech sponsored by such speakers that is an “affront to one’s dignity and humanity” should not be legitimized by an institution, Stokes said.

He said in the context of higher education, predominantly white institutions with white staff and administrations unconsciously and consciously protect free speech codes without ever having experienced the personal effects of hate speech themselves.

Stokes referenced Charles Murray, the author of “The Bell Curve,” which uses pseudo-scientific evidence to prove that African Americans, His-

panics, indigenous people, and women are not among that wealthy elite because their IQs are lower due to genetic differences which make them “inferior.”

He said although these claims are racist and do not have any basis, Murray is still being invited to college campuses to speak to students. He added speakers who embody racist ideas signal to students of color that institutions would “rather defend free speech than their own students’ lives.”

Stokes shared a quote from a study he did involving students from anonymous California colleges about how inviting speakers to campus affects students of color.

“There is no reason why we should allow either explicitly or implicitly racist speakers to come here. But we do because campus officials believe it’s valuable to have that view point because they think we don’t hear enough of it.”

Stokes transitioned to discuss incidents on the Framingham State campus and the different roles faculty, administrators, and students can take to support their students when hate speech is expressed on campus.

He said responding to hate speech incidents with “all students matter” or broad language such as phrases like “inclusivity” signals to the specific marginalized groups that they do not understand their history and thus the statements become about “everyone and no one at once.”

Stokes added another effective way to respond is to involve those who are victimized when deciding the next step.

“It is simple. If you want to know how to most effectively support your students, ask your students,” he said.

He said the final most effective response is to hire more staff of color.

Students of color are less likely to use counseling resources when they do not feel represented, he said.

However, while this response is on an organizational level and it takes time, a more immediate approach would be to reach out to the affected groups and organize a space for collective healing.

He ended his keynote speech by returning to the dilemma of free speech.

“What do you want the future generations of students to see when they look back on this historical moment?

What do you want potential staff, faculty, and administrative hires of color to see when they question whether their lives were protected by this institution when they get here?” he asked.

“If you have the freedom of speech, you must be willing to spring freedom into existence.”

CONNECT WITH EMILY ROSENBERG

erosenberg@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

APRIL 1, 2022 | 13

Authors and artists resumes in person

By Ryan O’Connell Asst. Arts & Features Editor The Linda Vaden Goad Authors and Artists series, hosted by Arts & Ideas, gave two FSU professors an opportunity to talk about their most recent projects March 29.

The first speaker was English Professor Rachel Trousdale who gave an overview of her newest book, “Humor, Empathy, & Community in Twentieth-Century American Poetry,” describing its origin and content.

Trousdale began by explaining when she finished writing her first book on two European authors, she felt like she “never wanted to see either one of them again” by the end of it, and wanted her next project to be different.

“What I really wanted was to have a project where when I was done with it, I wasn’t going to be ready to wash my hands of the people I was writing about,” she said.

Trousdale went on to say she developed the idea to research humor while reading W. H. Auden, and how his use of humor made her curious to learn more about what makes it “a very efficient mode of communication.”

She briefly explained some of the concepts core to the book, such as several competing theories of why people laugh, as well as how humor interacts with empathy and community.

Trousdale then spoke more about the central argument in her book, ex-

(Left) Audrey Kali and Rachel Trousdale answering audience questions, March 29. plaining how poetry has been used as a vessel for humor in the past to reshape feelings of belonging.

“American poets over the last hundred years or so are extremely interested in the ways humor can broaden and narrow and redefine our sense of community,” she said.

Trousdale then briefly mentioned W. H. Auden and Marianne Moore, two poets she discussed in her book, and how they handled poetic humor. She then moved on to a modern poet she personally knows, Cathy Park Hong.

She spoke about the playful poetry present in Park Hong’s book “Dance Dance Revolution,” dissecting the

comedy and criticism present in its fictional language, and how it was used to break barriers in the world it’s present in.

Trousdale ended her presentation by reinforcing the link between humor and the individual, and what it can do for reshaping interpretations.

“Laughter can make us reassess the boundaries between high and low, between self and other, and thereby offer us a new way to understand and demarcate our own communities, whether those communities are social or poetic,” she said.

The next speaker, Audrey Kali, teaches in the Department of Communication, Media, and Performance, and discussed the journey of both her documentary and development as a vegan.

Kali began by explaining how she started the project almost 10 years ago, when she felt like she was losing direction in her life.

“I have no idea what I want to do,” she said. “And so my daughter, she said [...] ‘Mom, why don’t you do something that you care about or you’re really interested in?’And I said, ‘Oh, animals!’”

She said she began reading in the field of animal studies shortly after, and it was “learning something all over again.” She then started studying the rhetoric of animal rights.

“I went off the deep end. I went off the end where I became a vegan. I watched PETA videos, and I thought, ‘I can’t participate in this any longer,’” she said.

Kali said she became myopic afterward, and had developed an orientation of self-righteousness, also becoming reviewer of the Journal of Critical Animal Studies.

She described a paper she wrote after joining the journal, “The Factory Formed Animal as Cartoon: Animal Advocacy Campaigns and Animated Anthropomorphism,” and how it analyzed whether the use of cartoon depictions of animals in animal rights’ pleas were undermining the message.

Kali explained when presenting her paper at a conference, she was among other academics who taught

Ryan O’Connell / THE GATEPOST in animal studies programs and had hands-on experiences with the treatment and slaughter of animals, and it helped her recognize restrictions on her views.

“At this conference, my eyes were opened to how closed off I was being because at this conference, there were people who taught in animal studies programs. They worked with research on cattle,” she said.

She said this conference helped her understand there was more to learn.

She specifically wanted to know more about the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses in their final moments.

“I began to understand that the exploration of this topic involves asking a lot of questions that are unpleasant,” she said.

Kali said she began to learn more about all the conflicts on the subject of humane slaughter, and began to discover she wanted to create a documentary about the inner workings of slaughterhouses, and how the farmers fit into the system.

She then explained as the project grew, the answer she expected began to dissolve and the production team grew, making the documentary a bigger undertaking.

Kali said as the movie became larger in scope, it required more funding.

While some of it came in grants, she was told the project would need to be restructured almost entirely.

“In order to get more money, the film had to change. And the LEF Moving Image Foundation said, ‘Nobody wants to see an investigative piece.

People want to see a personal journey film,’” she said.

Kali said she initially didn’t want to be in front of the camera, but eventually relented and became more integral to the documentary, before sharing some clips from the final version.

She added the film will be screened for the first time ever April 21 in the Dwight Performing Arts Center.

CONNECT WITH RYAN O’CONNELL

roconnell1@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

ARTS & FEATURES SEAN’S MEDIA MAYHEM

14 | APRIL 1, 2022

Tyler, The Creator dazzled ‘The Batman’ - darker the DCU Center than black, somehow

By Jack McLaughlin Multimedia Critic

By Sean Cabot Multimedia Critic

Tyler, the Creator made a stop at the DCU Center on March 3 with Teezo Touchdown, Vince Staples, and Kali Uchis as part of the “Call Me If You Get Lost” Tour. The tour has been ongoing since February and was the first concert I had ever attended.

It felt surreal to see the long lines to get in the stadium and the large crowds surrounding the small tables selling merchandise. After the last couple years, it almost felt like I would never be able to experience something like a concert at this scale.

We got settled in after an eternity standing in the cold. The opening acts lasted almost three hours, which was an excruciating wait to see the main act.

Teezo and Vince Staples’ acts really couldn’t compare to the latter half of the show. And you could tell that the audience wasn’t as engrossed in these first two artists compared to Tyler and Kali.

Suddenly, all the lights in the stadium went out and a Rolls Royce appeared on stage. I couldn’t hear anything except the screaming and the long anticipated music that everyone waited all night to hear.

Tyler finally emerged from the Royce and began what would be the most exciting performance that I could have ever witnessed.

During his first song, “CORSO,” loud and shining explosives were set off to go with certain sections. This only made the audience even more excited, screaming even louder at each booming pop he set off.

Between him making fun of how “Worcester” is pronounced or using his interactions with the crowd in front of him to transition into fan favorites, these parts of the show added a personal touch that made it more than just listening to his songs being performed.

The set design for this show was unique, and something I hadn’t heard of before.

After only playing a few songs, he proceeded to the front of the stage where he exited via a boat that took him across the stadium

“The Batman” is a difficult movie to discuss. There have been so many iterations of the character that any attempts to leave one’s mark on him will inevitably attract the most outspoken kinds of critics. For better or worse.

Personally, Matt Reeves’ take on the character doesn’t break new thematic or aesthetic ground for Batman cinema, and part of me wishes that it made more effort to do so. But while novelty can provide an immediate sense of elation, it’s important to sort it out from a film’s actual qualities.

And with all those qualities in consideration, “The Batman” is still a very satisfying interpretation.

The film follows Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) early in his career as Batman. He is pitted against the Riddler (Paul Dano), a serial killer who is targeting Gotham’s elite and exposing their corruption.

Bruce is aided in this endeavor by detective James Gordon (Jeffery Wright) and cat burglar Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), the latter of whom has her own grievances with Riddler’s targets.

Stylistically the film draws from comic storylines like “The Long Halloween,” and directors like David Fincher. It’s quite dark, not just in terms of tone, but in its aesthetic, even compared to Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, or Zack Snyder’s work on the character.

That’s not to say it looks bad though - there are a lot of impressive shots on display. But what I found most interesting about the film were the characters, their arcs, and the themes they build to.

The performances are quite reserved - save for an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin, and if not for a few standout moments they would probably have been far too reticent to land properly.

Thankfully, they all end up in a good place, particularly Pattinson, Wright, and Dano.

This is most visible in the film’s lead. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is a recluse with little interest in running his family’s business - seemingly more interested in using the criminals he fights as an outlet for his rage.

The film almost feels like it’s acknowledging the position that Batman as a rich idiot who makes no effort toward improving the state of Gotham City outside of vigilantism. Given that this idea can be debunked simply by reading almost any “Batman” comic, I was a bit wary of its presence, but the way Reeves handles it is actually rather intriguing.

The ultimate thematic statement of the movie is that Batman, for all his inner darkness, should be a symbol of hope rather than a lone avenger. Despite popular misunderstandings to the contrary, this is actually very much in line with many beloved interpretations of the character throughout his rich history.

It evokes Darwyn Cooke’s “The New Frontier,” wherein Batman remarks that he’s changed his costume because he intends to “scare criminals, not children.” For the most part, this is a great angle to take.

That being said, the film isn’t all-great all the time - the pacing is quite odd, partially due to a long runtime. And while there’s some surprisingly well-written levity, the film’s self-serious tenebrosity borders on excessive.

And just personally speaking, after “The Lego Batman Movie,” made the importance of Bat-Family members like Robin or Batgirl its thesis statement, I’d like to see a live-action movie acknowledge not just them, but some of the more obscure members like Kate Kane.

While there is a Batgirl movie coming out later this year, I’d have preferred that Cassandra Cain were the main character instead of Barbara Gordon. But alas, I’m still suffering for the mistakes of “Birds of Prey.”

Thankfully, Pattinson has expressed interest in featuring Robin in future films, and I’m excited at the prospect.

Ultimately, while “The Batman” hasn’t usurped “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker,” as my favorite Batman film, it’s nonetheless a solid translation of the character to screen, Grade: B+ and its optimism for the characa twilight tour-de-force ter is very much welcome.

CONNECT WITH SEAN CABOT

scabot@student.framingham.edu

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

to a smaller stage that was made to look like a field.

Following some time on the smaller stage, his iconic single “See You Again” began, and he didn’t even have to sing it as the lyrics were perfectly audible from the entire stadium singing it.

Afwter pleasing longtime fans of his with a few older songs, he returned to the boat to conclude the show on the main stage with just a few more songs.

Before starting “NEW MAGIC WAND,” he asked the crowd to start chanting with him. It was at this moment my friend and I knew what was coming - the one song we were both dying to hear live.

The entire crowd got into it, and when the song started it sent the audience into a wild frenzy. You could look down into the horde of people near the stage and see them crowd surfing or pushing each other around a circle they formed.

This was the best part of the show. Everyone at this point was completely invested in the song and their energy matched that perfectly.

The biggest missed opportunity of the show was the lack of collaborations on stage with Tyler. Two of the opening acts featured on some of the songs he performed, and their absence on stage was felt considerably and could have added a lot to the show.

The overabundance of opening acts was also an issue I had with this show. I had to wait almost three hours to see the artist I came for, and two-thirds of the opening artists were not worth getting to the performance on time to see.

Despite that, this concert further cemented my love for Tyler and will certainly go down as a night I won’t forget for a long time.

Grade: A An unforgettable experience with one of my favorite artists CONNECT WITH JACK MCLAUGHLIN

jmclaughlin7@student.framingham.edu

Jack McLaughlin / THE GATEPOST Tyler, The Creator performing at the DCU Center in Worcester, March 3.

Puzzles

ARTS & FEATURES

ACROSS 1. You see one at a rugby match 6. Old PC maker 9. Unharmed figure in a crash test 14. Hold the floor 15. Ascot, e.g.

16. Villagers of the Great Plains 17. ___ Estrada Chavez 18. Large vase 19. Of pitch 20. Confidential sources spotted her eyeing relics at Boudhanath in ___ 23. Alternative to reggae 24. Top card, typically 25. Ex-Giant Manning 26. Detectives for Interpol saw her skulking around Independence Square in ___ 32. Hangout for a pinball fan 35. Express approval 36. Reverential poem 37. Hay bundles 38. It’s not many 39. Devilish being 41. “I” problem?

42. Neighbor of Wash.

43. Gofer’s task 44. Witnesses heard her discussing the high altitude at the Plaza Murillo in ___ 48. It follows “Scooby” 49. Term between names 50 Hiker’s diagram 53. International thief hiding in either 20-, 26- or 44-Across (Follow her trail by reading all the clues’ starts!)

58. Novelist Carr 59. Awkward sort 60. Stranger 61. Animal with striped legs 62. Follow a snowy trail 63. Epeeist’s ploy

APRIL 1, 2022 | 15

64. Heavily populated 65. One is cast by a sorcerer 66. Ugly things to face, at times DOWN 1. Some puppets 2. Eerie floor noise 3. Afrocentric believer Puzzle solutions are now 4. The Beehive State exclusively online.

5. Ariel and others 6. Library on a Mac, once 7. Macaw, e.g.

8. Options list 9. “Spill it!”

10. The perfect place 11. “The Simpsons” grandma 12. What corn can be ground into 13. Expensive bag monogram 21. Little outbreak 22. Van, e.g., for a mover 26. Ending for “Fannie” 27. Take a stand without standing 28. Hair adornment 29. Oblong tomato type 30. Usukuchitopped noodles, perhaps 31. Ship out 32. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” brother 33. Notes from a sitar 34. Draft horse’s footfall 38. “Foxy Brown” ’do 39. Energetically toweled, say 40. End of an ___ 42. Treble woodwind 43. All tied up 45. Big sellers of airtime 46. One is undead 47. Very stuck 50. Emergency responder 51. Spy 52. Embarkation places 53. Angel food ___ 54. Logician Turing 55. Eat a snack 56. Vat filler at a Japanese brewery 57. Entrepreneur’s spark 58. Liver oil source

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PHOTOS

16 | APRIL 1, 2022

(Left) Juniors Liv Renda and Brooke Fenton playing basketball at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

ASL Club President Kayla Barboza throwing darts at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

Sophomore Olivia Heafey playing Ping-Pong at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

Cirque De M.I.S.S.

(Left) Junior Libby Niemiec and senior Grace Pushor playing a race car game at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

(Left) Chavannes Pamphile and Rodane Gordon throwing darts at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

Spread by Design Editors Maddison Behringer and Emma Lyons Photos by Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil

(Left) Freshmen Michael Gardner, Ainslee Caton, and Leticia Rita Santos playing a game at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.

@The Gatepost | FSUgatepost.com

(Left) Senior Elisabeth Philippe, junior Dan Prefontaine, and seniors Selena Sheehy, Marty Brown, Efrain Vega, and Mariah Farris at the M.I.S.S. Carnival March 25.