2025 March 26 The Hawk by The Hawk

Tracing the history of women at St. Joe’s

BIELAWSKI ’27,

GALANTE ’26 AND GRACE O’MEARA ’27 / THE HAWK GRAPHIC: STEPHANIE SAVELA ’25/THE HAWK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LESLEY CAREY, ST. JOE’S ARCHIVIST | PHOTO OF CHERYL MCCONNELL: MADELINE WILLIAMS ’26/THE HAWK

Catherine Nash, 1956

First women’s basketball team, 1970

Dollyne Wayman, 1981

First volleyball team, 1977

A player on the first women’s tennis team, 1972.

Women students from 1974

Cheryl McConnell, 2023

First field hockey team, 1974

Future of federally funded study abroad uncertain amid freezes

LUKE

Gabby O’Brien ’25 didn’t initially put the pieces together when she heard that the Trump administration had frozen funding to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

But O’Brien soon realized that the Feb. 15 freeze might impact her application to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

“It was one of those, ‘This is something that feels so far away from me, but, oh no, this actually could affect the program I’ve been applying for,’” said O’Brien, who is a 2025-2026 Fulbright semi-finalist to be an English teaching assistant in Italy.

The Fulbright Program was founded in 1946 with the purpose of encouraging positive international relations by sending students and professionals to over 140 nations to continue academic work, to complete research or to teach English abroad. It receives funding from Congress, which is distributed to the program by the State Department. The Fulbright Program also receives funding from other countries, higher education institutions, the private sector and more.

The Feb. 15 pause was only supposed to last 15 days, but it is still ongoing, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators. NAFSA Deputy Executive Director of Public Policy Jill Allen, MPA, announced in a March 12 update that only 15% of funding to grant recipients has been supplied by the State Department, affecting “programs, participants, and implementing partners,” including those involved with Fulbright.

In part due to the funding pause, the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit that administers study abroad opportunities, including Fulbright, announced March 13 that employees working on programs reliant on the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funding would be furloughed.

“Numerous factors have limited our ability to retain full staffing levels, including

delays and consistency in agreement modifications and payment processing delays,” the statement read. “However, we remain hopeful that this is temporary and that we will be able to resume full staffing levels soon.”

While St. Joe’s does not have Fulbright fellows abroad this year, scholars currently abroad with the Fulbright program have reported paused stipends as a result of the funding freeze. Funding for the Fulbright Program is used to pay a stipend for Fulbright recipients, which is meant to cover the basic costs of living in another country.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs named St. Joe’s a Fulbright Top Producing Institution in 2023, a prestigious designation due to the significant number of grants St. Joe’s students were awarded. This year, four St. Joe’s students were named semi-finalists. While decisions are usually made by mid-March, said Enrique TéllezEspiga, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and director of the Office of Fellowships, students were still awaiting final decisions as of press time.

Téllez-Espiga said in his nearly eight years of helping students with Fulbright applications, the program’s viability has never come into question until now.

“As of right now, there is no certainty that the program is going to happen next year,” Téllez-Espiga said.

Judith Walker ’25, a 2025-2026 Fulbright semi-finalist to Honduras, was attracted to the program as a way to improve her proficiency in Spanish. Walker said being a better Spanish speaker will help her communicate with the U.S.’s growing Hispanic population in her future career in medicine.

Walker said the funding freeze hasn’t changed her opinions of the program, but it has made her concerned.

“It definitely worries me, as a possible Fulbright Scholar, to know that there’s some instability right now within the government and funding for these programs,” Walker said.

Colin Cooper ’25, a Fulbright semifinalist to Spain, stressed the importance

of being global citizens and said without federal programs, it may not be possible for students to experience other cultures.

“You can spend your whole life traveling around the country that you’ve been born in or have grown up in or live in now without fully ever experiencing another culture internationally” Cooper said. “So, I think that it’s important that everybody does that to some extent.”

Allie Miller ’24 said they applied to Fulbright as an English teaching assistant in Spain late in the process relative to other applicants. While the funding freeze has left Miller anxious and upset, Miller considers themself lucky compared to other Fulbright applicants because they’ve also been applying to other programs.

“People are talking about how if Fulbright is suspended, they don’t have anything next for them,” Miller said.

Another federally-funded opportunity, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program, founded in 2001, offers up to $5,000 for those who are Pell Grant-eligible to encourage students from low-income backgrounds to study abroad.

St. Joe’s remembers Burt Douglas

Téllez-Espiga said Gilman’s current

insecurity mostly affects students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds whose parents cannot afford to pay for them to study abroad; a group that is already underrepresented in study abroad.

“As it usually happens, the groups that have been underrepresented are going to continue being underrepresented,” TéllezEspiga said.

As a political science major with aspirations to work in international public policy, O’Brien said the instability surrounding Fulbright has only emboldened her desire to take part in the program.

“It’s definitely scary when the government is seeming like they really want to hold those things back,” O’Brien said. “But I feel more motivated now than I was before to be a really small part in allowing that cultural exchange.”

Alex Andahazy ’25 contributed to this story.

Dozens of students, faculty and Aramark employees joined together March 20 for a memorial ceremony in honor of Burt Douglas.

Douglas, who died suddenly at age 55 on Feb. 25, was an Aramark employee at St. Joe’s who lived in West Philadelphia his entire life. Douglas left behind a community of friends, family, coworkers, faculty and students who remember him for his great humor and the relationships he built, both around Philly and at St. Joe’s.

Lester Small still remembers growing up in a close-knit community in West Philadelphia where he met Douglas. He was a little boy, six or seven years younger than Small, who loved to joke and watch cartoons and clung around the older kids in the neighborhood.

Small said some of his best memories with Douglas came from that time, pushing go-karts down his driveway at the corner of 58th Street and Woodcrest Avenue.

“He was the fixture. We expected him to be there,” Small said. “And if he wasn’t there, there was something wrong.”

The March 20 memorial was a balloon releasing ceremony, during which members of the community could let Douglas’ spirit free as a final goodbye.

Before releasing the red balloons, community members shared their memories of Douglas, from the way he joked with students to how easy he was to talk to when

he worked in the former coffee shop in Bellarmine Hall.

Lianna Long ’25 and Meadow Monticello ’26 shared a prepared statement to honor Douglas. Long said Douglas knew her by name after the two of them introduced themselves at Moe’s Southwest Grill at The Drop last year.

“Anytime I walked into Campion, he would always be like, ‘Lianna, what’s up?’ And he was always so sweet. Put a smile on my face,” Long said.

Gena Carroll, an Aramark retail supervisor at St. Joe’s, said Douglas got along well with the other Aramark staff, and that he was always good to St. Joe’s students. She remembers Douglas’ laugh and the way students clustered around his register in The Kettle every Sunday when the Eagles played, eager to talk football with the diehard Birds fans.

“It’s hard walking by that register,” Carroll said. “The first week or so, it was very difficult walking by and not seeing him there. He was like our work brother.”

Dorothy Pollard, Aramark superintendent and cook, said she knew Douglas for over 20 years and remembers him as someone who could always make her laugh or talk about current events.

“He was a beautiful person,” Pollard said. “Oh, gosh, he kept me laughing.”

Douglas’ sudden death was a shock to the entire St. Joe’s community. After not coming into work for several days, friends and family contacted police for a health and wellness check, who subsequently found

that Douglas had passed away in his home.

Allen Kerkeslager, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of theology and religious studies, attended the balloon releasing ceremony and spoke about his memories of Douglas.

Kerkeslager considered Douglas one of the closest friends he had on campus for over a decade. He remembers seeing Douglas in the Bellarmine coffee shop and being able to talk to him about politics and social issues with honesty.

“Somebody you can’t replace,” Kerkeslager said of Douglas.

Carroll, who also attended the balloon ceremony, said Douglas’ death caught his Aramark coworkers off guard.

“If heaven had visiting hours, he would

be one of the people I would go visit,” Carroll said.

Small didn’t want to go to the funeral at first but attended the viewing after much deliberation.

“I wanted to remember the last time I saw him,” Small said. “I didn’t want that picture of him laying in the casket, and I really didn’t want to go, but I had to pay my respects. It was a real tug-of-war.”

Small said if he could say one more thing to Douglas, it would be that he loved him.

“He was different from a lot of people that you see and meet nowadays, he had his own way about him, and he stuck to it no matter what,” Small said. “We’re really missing something. A guy like him, they don’t come often.”

GRAPHIC: LUKE SANELLI ’26/THE HAWK

GRAPHIC: CARA HALLIGAN ’25/THE HAWK

SANELLI ’26 News Editor

LUKE SANELLI ’26 News Editor

Meet Jeff Wasch: St. Joe’s Gompers partnership coordinator

‘I really consider myself an advocate for Gompers’

LUKE SANELLI ’26 News Editor

Jeff Wasch, Ed.D. ’28, navigates through the dimly-lit cinder block hallways of Samuel Gompers School. It’s 3:15 p.m. on a mid-December Friday, so as students clad in their red uniform polos eagerly inch toward the weekend in buzzing lines, Wasch weaves through the crowd deeper into the building, guiding St. Joe’s students through the chaotic maze toward the library for a service event.

One Gompers student lets out a shout of excitement. Wasch, matching their energy, yells back.

“I’m like a big kid,” Wasch said. Wasch uses his childlike glee to help build relationships with students in his position as St. Joe’s assistant director of clinical experiences and Gompers partnership coordinator.

As he passes by a student, a first-grade boy barely half of Wasch’s 6-foot frame, Wasch reaches out his hand to meet him with a custom handshake the two of them had devised.

Though the handshake is unique to that one student, Wasch’s ability to build rapport with the students at Gompers isn’t.

“They see me in the hallway,” Wasch said. “They call me Mr. Jeff.”

Aimee Terosky, Ed.D, associate dean of the School of Education and Human Development and professor of educational leadership, counseling and social work, likens Wasch to an onion.

“I just find more depth to him. I find more skills that he has. I find more interesting aspects of his personality, of his own backstory,” Terosky said. “And every time you get through another layer, you’re like, ‘Wow, he’s even more incredible.’”

Wasch, who’s heard the onion comment before, isn’t totally sold on the analogy.

“I think they’re making me deeper than I actually am,” Wasch said. “I’m like an onion in the sense that it’s simple.”

From kitchen to coordinator

Wasch had an unorthodox journey to his current position in higher education. Before making his way to St. Joe’s in 2022, Wasch was busy working in the kitchen.

He began working in restaurants at 16, starting in a pizza shop, where he may or may not have been a fully legal employee. A few years later, while living in Philadelphia’s Fishtown, Wasch worked at a variety of noodle bars in Chinatown, bouncing from restaurant to restaurant.

“I would get a new job every three, four

weeks and get two paychecks and just quit, go somewhere else,” Wasch said. “I just learned so much.”

Wasch worked in restaurants while studying as an undergraduate and graduate student in philosophy at West Chester University in order to pay for school, eventually making his way to a sous-chef position at an upscale restaurant in 2020. After two years as a sous, Wasch decided to step away from the kitchen and focus on other career goals.

“I love the restaurant industry, and I love cooking for people,” Wasch said. “But at the end of the day, it’s 60-hour weeks, you’re working over a weekend night. You don’t get to see your loved ones.”

Wasch said he “fell into” his role in higher education, having no prior experience. In 2022, he was scrolling through Handshake, an online job application platform, and saw positions with AmeriCorps VISTA, a federal anti-poverty program that sends people to assist communities in need.

One of those positions was the Gompers coordinator at St. Joe’s, and Wasch applied.

Terosky immediately liked Wasch’s educational background and prior social justice work but was ultimately sold on his belief that the Gompers partnership with St. Joe’s was a two-way street: Both parties had something to gain, a relationship where one wasn’t “saving” the other.

“Jeff came in with that understanding and knowledge, which just made him stand out right from the start, because that’s something that you don’t just acquire overnight,” Terosky said. “It’s a philosophy, it’s an understanding, it’s a lifelong experience for some to get to that point.”

The coordinator job also fit within Wasch’s personal education philosophy, as it stressed an approach to education that didn’t simply rely on test scores.

“I’m passionate about educational equality,” Wasch said.

St. Joe’s Gompers coordinator

After two years of working as an AmeriCorps VISTA Gompers partnership coordinator between St. Joe’s and Gompers, Wasch was officially hired by St. Joe’s in July 2024.

Two years in, Terosky considers Wasch’s ability to build relationships with both people in St. Joe’s and people in the School District of Philadelphia to be one of his strongest assets.

“He is also now showing, time and time again, his ability to build relationships and find people who want to do the kind of work that Gompers is in need of, and he can find

people that also want to learn from Gompers,” Terosky said.

Wasch credits humility and transparency as key to maintaining a successful community partnership and finding solutions when problems arise, as well as his care for Gompers.

“I really consider myself an advocate for Gompers more than St. Joe’s in a lot of ways,” Wasch said. “I don’t care if that puts me in a weird position. That’s how I see my role.”

Kelly Anatol-Castelli, a Gompers school-based teacher leader — someone who helps coach teachers — said Wasch always tries to do what’s best for students.

“Jeff just really understands what our needs are,” Anatol-Castelli said. “He takes it upon himself to really be a part of our meetings and a part of our leadership team, and forges the relationships by finding the right set of students, kids who will be good for certain events.”

Wasch said being at Gompers as often as he can is also key to building relationships with the school. In addition to organizing academic programs, like high-impact tutoring, Wasch helps set up holiday events like the annual trunk-or-treat.

“I’m present. I do my best to make sure whatever programs we’re doing go well.

Department of Public Safety reports (March 15-21)

March 15

Public Safety notified of a liquor law violation outside of Mandeville Hall. Public Safety responded and a report was taken. Community Standards notified.

Public Safety notified of a liquor law violation at Morris Quad Townhouses. Public Safety responded and a report was taken. Community Standards notified.

Public Safety notified of a liquor law violation off campus. Public Safety generated a report. Community Standards notified.

March 16

Public Safety notified of a liquor law violation at LaFarge Residence Center. Public Safety responded and a report was taken. Community Standards notified.

March 17

Public Safety notified of a vandalism incident in Mandeville Hall. Public Safety responded and the incident is being investigated.

March 18

Public Safety notified of a vandalism incident at Quinn Hall parking lot. Public Safety responded and a report was taken. Community Standards notified.

Public Safety notified of a trespassing

incident in the Campion Student Center parking lot. Public Safety responded and escorted the individual off the campus.

Public Safety notified of a terroristic threat in Villiger Residence Center. Public Safety responded and a report was taken.

Public Safety notified of an off-campus robbery. Public Safety responded and a report was taken. Philadelphia Police are investigating.

March 19 No incidents to report.

March 20

Sometimes things don’t work out, but I’m honest about when they’re not working out,” Wasch said.

Anatol-Castelli praised Wasch’s character and work ethic. Some days, he checks in on her just to make sure she’s doing okay.

“I’m really thankful for Jeff,” Anatol-Castelli said. “I think we have a great partnership. It goes both ways. I can come to him or he can come to me.”

In addition to his role as Gompers coordinator, Wasch teaches philosophy at St. Joe’s as an adjunct professor, and is in the process of obtaining a doctorate of education in educational leadership and administration from St. Joe’s. Wasch said he finally gets to put his love of philosophy and his “extremely unmarketable” degree to use.

“I took a philosophy class, and it really changed the way I thought,” Wasch said. “I wanted to do that for someone, and if I could change the way someone thought about themselves and thought about themselves in the world, then I could have done my job.”

Public Safety notified of a vandalism incident in LaFarge Residence Center. Public Safety responded and the incident is being investigated.

Public Safety notified of an assault incident off campus. Public Safety responded and the incident is being investigated.

March 21 No incidents to report.

Jeff Wasch, Ed.D. ’28, coordinator for the St. Joe’s-Gompers partnership, on the playground at Samuel Gompers School. PHOTO: LUKE SANELLI ’26/THE HAWK

Editor-in-Chief

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Editorial: The fight for women’s rights is ongoing and necessary

With Women’s History Month drawing to a close, it is essential to reflect on the achievements and progress made by women of the past. From the suffragettes of the 1920s to the advocates for women’s healthcare of the 1970s, pioneers for women’s rights have made great progress toward gender equality in the United States.

Importantly, Women’s History Month is not only about acknowledging the women of the past. All women, past and present, create women’s history. This month is about amplifying diverse female voices, challenging the traditional expectations of women and celebrating the achievements of women in all aspects of society. From politics to science, athletics to art, women from the past and present have broken through structural barriers designed to prevent their success and advancement.

Women’s History Month also provides

the opportunity to recognize the diversity among women. The contributions of marginalized women are often overlooked both presently and historically, including those from women of color, women with disabilities and all people who identify with womanhood, regardless of gender or sex. Often overlooked is the difference in the progress for equality between white and marginalized women — for example, Black women were only granted the right to vote in 1965, over 45 years after white women. Embracing and celebrating the diversity of women’s experiences fosters an inclusive and just society for all, continuing the progress toward full equality for women.

Women’s History Month serves as a stark reminder that the fight for gender equality remains ongoing. Although progress has been made, women are still

underrepresented in leadership positions, face barriers to receiving healthcare and undercompensated due to the gender pay gap. By recognizing and addressing these persisting issues, we can ensure future generations of women live in a more equitable society.

The recognition and support for women’s accomplishments should not end with Women’s History Month. The commitment to gender equality must extend beyond one month; uplifting women’s voices and advocating for just policies must be a daily endeavor in order to create a future where all women have equal opportunities to succeed.

Zeldin pollutes the EPA

NICOLE BOWEN ’26 Guest Columnist

On Jan. 29, Lee Zeldin was sworn in as the 17th administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After being inaugurated, Zeldin stated, “Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we will take great strides to defend every American’s access to clean air, clean water, and clean land. We will maintain and expand the gold standard of environmental stewardship and conservation that President Trump set forth in his first administration while also prioritizing economic prosperity.” These words purposefully convey a pure message but contain little detail or specifics.

These words also seem to have been quickly disregarded. Zeldin wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) March 15 that “President Trump often speaks

about his strong support for clean, beautiful coal. Our decisive actions will save the coal industry and its MANY jobs.” Coal mining is not only a health and safety risk for humans, but it ultimately leads to the warming of the planet through greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these health risks, the Trump administration is determined to revive the coal industry. In fact, Trump’s slogan regarding energy production in America is infamously known as “Drill, baby, drill.”

This disregard for the health of our environment reminds us of why the EPA was created in the first place. On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire due to industrial pollution, as it had multiple times before. In response to this and other environmental disasters, then-President Richard Nixon created the EPA in 1970 and, two years later, the Clean Water Act was passed. Time has proven these landmark reactions

have guided America’s environmental policies in an upward direction for decades. Now, in 2025, Zeldin plans to take us back to a time when the government did the opposite of protecting American safety and the natural environment.

Trump’s second try at 100 days

Attacks on democracy and rights

The United States has reverted to its favorite pastime of hating other country’s politicians, especially those who can’t find it in themselves to wear a suit in the Oval Office. Do we expect Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to say, “I’m sorry I’m not wearing a suit in the White House. I’ve been on the front lines in Ukraine watching my people die and starve for the past couple of years, but I’ll make sure to dress in costume next time?” No.

It’s been 65 days since President Donald Trump’s inauguration kicked off his second term, and it seems that not everyone in the United States was prepared, since his approval ratings have fallen from +6.2% Jan. 27 to -0.9% as of March 21. The list of what he’s done thus far is exhaustive: renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, terminating DEI in the federal government, working to dismantle the

United States Agency for International Development and, more infamously, humiliating Ukraine’s president in the Oval Office.

There are more questions hanging in the air about what President Trump has promised to accomplish, involving the closure of the Department of Education that will affect college students and students who struggle with disability, as well as deportation

of undocumented immigrants. The future holds uncertainty for the United States as we find ourselves becoming increasingly more isolated from our allies and each other. The divide between liberals and conservatives is at a breaking point. As we’re more than halfway through the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, when will Americans begin pushing back against the direction of the country?

ANASTASIA KUNICKA ’28 Columnist

GRAPHIC: CARA HALLIGAN 25/THE HAWK

GRAPHIC: CARA HALLIGAN ’25/THE HAWK

Baseball is boring

CARTER KARPINSKI ’25

Columnist

With baseball season almost upon us, I need to ask: Can we stop pretending it’ll ever be as entertaining as football? I’ve met far too many people who say baseball is their favorite sport. Are we watching the same game? Baseball is so boring.

I get it. It’s tradition. During the 1800s, when we had nothing better to do than get tuberculosis, I would’ve loved spending six hours watching baseball. But nowadays, this is the only sport where there’s enough time for John Kruk to yell at a child, get a cheesesteak, eat it and not miss anything.

Baseball takes hours, and for most of the game, players just stand around. Plus, if the sport’s unofficial anthem asks you to buy Cracker Jack, there’s a problem.

To put baseball into perspective, Shohei Ohtani won his third MVP award last season and is regarded as one of greatest baseball players ever. His 2024 batting average was .310. This means the best player in the world doesn’t hit the baseball almost 70% of the time. That’s not a knock to Ohtani, that’s a knock to the game. If Jalen Hurts missed 70% of the time, he would be the most hated man in Philadelphia since Ben Simmons, but in baseball, this rate makes you the MVP. It makes no sense.

Here’s how we can fix baseball: Shorten the season. I don’t want to

watch anything 162 times a year. I barely want to leave my house 162 days a year. Basketball plays 80 fewer games and is fine, so baseball can, too. There’s no reason to hear about Opening Day a few months after the World Series ended.

Let them fight. Football players can hit each other as much as they want, hockey players get a slap on the wrist for a fist to the face, but baseball players can’t even charge the mound anymore. Ridiculous. Bring back dollar dog night. If your sport is boring, you could at least bribe us with cheap mystery-meat tubes. The people demand justice and dollar dogs.

Sports gambling is getting a little out of hand

Media promotion needs to yield

PRESTON THOMAS ’28 Columnist

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been around and seen more people participating in sports gambling and betting. While I don’t think betting is an inherently bad thing, I see how incredibly damaging and addictive it has become in recent times.

First, it’s important to know that gambling triggers the brain’s reward system, similar to the way substances do. Like substances, gambling can cause feelings of euphoria, dependence or other mental effects, which can lead to addiction.

The constant promotion of gambling in our media doesn’t help the situation either. No matter what sport you’re watching, you are likely to see an ad for a sports betting service, such as FanDuel or BetMGM, during a commercial break.

Even when the commercials are off, you are constantly bombarded with sports gambling company partnerships and see their logos plastered everywhere.

This constant bombardment from sports broadcasting only increases the number of people who see gambling content. It also increases the amount of children exposed to gambling, possibly inspiring them to partake. This could lead to an increase in the already high number of illegal gamblers. This eventually extends to school campuses, highlighting a reason why 60% of students have gambled illegally and one in five students have gambled using financial aid support.

The close ties between sports leagues and betting companies have also led to fans harassing athletes and their families. Athletes like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Danny Green have all spoken out against sports betting. Not only have professional athletes been affected, but semi-professionals, like

student-athletes, have also been victims of insensitive gamblers. North Carolina men’s basketball player Armando Bacot also spoke up about betting-related harassment via direct messages on social media.

Besides an extremely low chance to “hit big,” sports gambling doesn’t have many benefits and shouldn’t be as heavily advertised as it is now. Sports companies should seek to use their influence to promote more healthy outlets for their consumers to express their love for the sport rather than an addictive habit.

Members of the St. Joe’s community seeking support are encouraged to contact the following resources:

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), 610-660-1090

Campus Ministry, 610-660-1030

The Office of Student Outreach & Support, 610-660-1149

The Jesuit community, 610-660-1400

Employee Assistance Program, 866-799-2728

Gamblers Anonymous, 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537)

Classrooms are more than just a room

The benefits of learning outside the classroom

THOMAS

VAN FOSSEN ’27 Guest Columnist

What is a classroom to you? I’m sure you’ve read the title, so you know what I’m about to say. However, I’ll say it anyway: Classrooms can be more than just a room in a school.

Learning outside the classroom is an important part of any educational experience. I don’t mean studying or late-night assignment sprints; I mean experiences. As an education major, my peers and I have built-in experiential learning. Sure, we have the typical in-class time. But on top of this, our curriculum includes the chance to go into schools and unite what we see in the field with what we’ve learned in our own classes.

In my experience, having this time in the “real world” has benefited me as both a student and a person overall. I’m seeing environments, people and perspectives I never would’ve seen if I hadn’t been doing these field experiences. Without this out-of-class learning attached to my courses, I would’ve simply been thrown into an unfamiliar environment after graduating. That’s not how to prepare us for the future!

Learning outside the classroom doesn’t just apply to education majors. Math majors, science majors, business majors and more — all of them have their own opportunities. In fact, some majors even require experiential learning. Learning outside the classroom is a prime opportunity to get a feel for what you want to do after college and get used to potential future workplaces. I know I wouldn’t want to be dropped into an environment after college I

have never previously stepped foot in. Traditional classrooms play an important role and have their strengths, but it’s crucial

to step out of the classroom and (at times) your comfort zone to experience the world outside of St. Joe’s campus.

GRAPHIC: CARA HALLIGAN ’25/THE HAWK

GRAPHIC: STEPHANIE SAVELA ’25/THE HAWK

Talent show a ‘last hurrah’ for UCity community

International Society hosted its last talent show on the University City campus in the Athletic/Recreation Center March 21.

The annual event featured 11 different acts, with performances from dance groups, singers and a band, all organized by International Society, a multicultural organization on the UCity campus that celebrates the diversity of different cultures.

Jessica Sautter, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology; Beatrice Bolger, International Society’s founder and former advisor; and Tyler Tillinghast ’24, former president of International Society, served as judges.

Serena Liao ’25 and Lina Basheir ’25, president and vice president of International Society, respectively, were in charge of putting on the show. Liao said she is unsure exactly how many years the club has put on the show, but she estimated it has been running over 10 years.

Due to St. Joe’s plans to sell multiple buildings on the UCity campus, International Society expects spring 2025 to be their last talent show in UCity.

“We wanted to have it as kind of a last hurrah for the UCity campus because they are trying to sell it,” Liao said.

Liao said she hopes International Society can expand to Hawk Hill in the fall 2025 semester, but transferring the club and recruiting on a new campus will take time.

“I think [having the talent show on Hawk Hill] would be a great opportunity to expand our outreach to that campus with those students,” Liao said. “We wanted to expand onto that campus this year. It was

just really hard with interest, and because we were still at our campus, we had to finalize everything here and then branch over. It’s obviously not going to happen overnight.”

When planning, International Society reached out to groups on campus who may be interested and asked people if they knew anyone who might want to participate. These groups included UCity-based dance groups and a UCity rock band called Dose of Harmony.

“It’s so amazing to see how much talent we have here,” Basheir said. “I feel like we focus on academics and school so much that we don’t recognize the talent that we have on campus.”

Birding with AI ears

The furious sound of something smashing into a tree pounded in my ears as soon as I stepped out of my car at Valley Forge National Historic Park just after dawn in early March.

It was a woodpecker — I knew that much — but when I glanced down at my phone, an app identified the source specifically as a pileated woodpecker. Gazing up into the trees, I found the massive, red-crested bird slamming its head into the bark and confirmed the app was right.

When I became a birder, or a birdwatcher, in 2014, I learned the songs and calls of birds with a field guide, help from my father — an avid birder — and hours of hiking. However, since 2021, birdwatchers have gained a new birding companion to teach them: Merlin Bird ID.

Merlin Bird ID is a free mobile app developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It records its surroundings and suggests identifications for any birds it hears. Observed species are organized into a list, and clicking a listed bird takes the user to the exact point in the recording where the bird sang or called.

I had avoided Merlin for years after hearing about mistakes it made. My father once told me that the app mistook the sound of his coat zipper for a gull.

Now, I hiked through the woods and fields of Valley Forge to see how the app compared to my trained human ears. As cardinals, blackbirds and various sparrows chirped and sang, I was impressed to see their names popping up on my phone screen.

The white-crowned sparrow, a rarity for Montgomery County in early March, made me pause. I scanned through tangles of weeds and bushes, which I knew to be the

correct habitat for this species, but all I found were the somewhat similar white-throated sparrows. Close, but not quite right.

Sean Bradley, a senior at La Salle, and Meghan Cehlar, a junior, are president and vice president of the La Salle Birding Club, respectively. They affirmed that, in spite of its limitations, Merlin is a useful tool for learning.

“Merlin can at least make some suggestions,” Cehlar said. “It’s not always right, but it’s good to have a direction.”

After leaving the sparrows behind and trekking through the gravel trails of Mount Joy, I strolled down the mountain and discovered a flock of European starlings at the edge of the extensive fields surrounding the National Memorial Arch. Above me, one opened its lemon-yellow beak and squeaked out a high-pitched “kill-deer, kill-deer.” Returning my gaze to my phone screen, I saw that the bird fooled the app, which listed killdeer as the vocalist.

Starlings are talented mimics, and this one chose to adopt the voice of a shorebird that would never be found perched in a tree. Fortunately, Merlin provides images of each bird it believes it hears, and since starlings and killdeer look nothing alike, users should be able to realize when they and the app are being tricked.

Getting eyes on a bird to check the app’s accuracy is a crucial final step when using Merlin, and identifying birds correctly is vital if the user submits their sightings online. This task is best completed through eBird, an online database managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and used for research and conservation. Submissions are reviewed by regional volunteers whose responsibilities include setting which species should be flagged as rare and contacting any observers who submit incorrect or questionable data.

Holger Pflicke, one of the eBird

Along with Dose of Harmony, six dance groups and five singers performed. Sejin Kim ’26 is a member of Z-Nith, a K-pop dance group that performed in the first half of the show. Kim, who is from Korea, started dancing as a hobby and wanted to continue that into college.

“I used to dance in Korea, so I wanted to dance again,” Kim said.

Aastha Morker ’24, PharmD ’28, another member of Z-Nith, also joined the team after picking up dance as a hobby. Morker said her favorite part of being in the group is the friendships she’s developed with the other dancers.

‘We’re all in a big friend group,” Morker

said. “When we correct each other, we all make sense. We all know that it’s for the best of the group, so it’s fun to do that.”

Sautter, who had most of the performers as students, was asked by Basheir to be a judge. Sautter said she loves seeing the performers share talents that aren’t shown in the classroom.

“Everybody here is exceptionally smart, exceptionally driven,” Sautter said. “They’re all doing fantastic things in science and healthcare, but then seeing them dance and sing and have fun together is amazing.”

After the show concluded, the judges tallied up their scores and crowned first, second and third-place winners. Dose of Harmony, who performed covers of “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes and “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne, placed third. Dhadkan, a Bollywood fusion dance team, placed second. Guangdong Tigers, a hip hop/R&B group who performed a cover of “Worth It” by YK Osiris, took first.

Guangdong Tigers, who got their name from a line on “Inside the NBA,” a popular basketball talk show, started rehearsing about a week before the talent show. Eli Gan-Dy ’25, a member of the group, said the choreography was a collaborative effort between all five members.

Gan-Dy said the talent show was an opportunity for the UCity campus to “have everyone together,” even though the campus “has gone through a lot of changes.”

“We didn’t really have winning on our minds. We just wanted to spread positivity and joy to the University City campus, and that was our main goal,” Gan-Dy said.

reviewers for Philadelphia County, said most observers record audio when they know that a bird is rare but otherwise do not post many recordings, making Merlin’s mistakes a minor issue.

“In the grand scheme of things, relative to all the other flag reports that come in, Merlin Sound ID is really a small burden,” Pflicke said.

According to Pflicke, reports or recordings of common, widespread birds do not receive extensive scrutiny.

“If there wasn’t a cardinal, it’s not going to blow up the eBird database,” Pflicke added.

Fortunately, I confirmed that there were a ton of cardinals singing in Valley Forge that morning. However, even though “northern cardinal” seemed perpetually present on my phone, it occurred to me that Merlin could not determine an amount of vocal cardinals.

While typing “X” to indicate an unknown number of birds is an option in an eBird checklist, giving exact counts or estimates of the quantities of different species is preferred. Since Merlin cannot tally species on its own, it is up to the user to provide counts when reporting data.

Scientists performing ecological studies have methods that take into account the fact that some observations can be missed. John Braverman, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and director of the Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies Program at St. Joe’s, said even though absolute numbers of reported species might not always be entirely accurate, relative changes can be, making the data still valuable.

“Let’s suppose everybody’s underreporting the number of individuals of a species in a location year after year, but that underreported number keeps on going down,” said Braverman. “That is an observation in itself.”

Overall, Merlin proved its worth. As the birdsong died down at about 9 a.m., I walked back to my car, and upon checking my notes, I saw that Merlin had correctly identified 21 of the 24 birds I had heard vocalizing during the morning while fabricating only five additional species. Of the three it missed, all were likely too distant for the app to hear.

With my mission completed, I unzipped my coat at the end of the morning, producing a soft “z-z-z-z-ipp.” I shot a glance down at my phone to see what the app said, but the screen was blank. Not bad, Merlin. Not bad.

The Guangdong Tigers placed first in International Society’s talent show, March 21. PHOTO COURTESY OF MASSAMBA DORSEY ’26

EDDIE DOLAN ’25 Special to the Hawk

Eddie Dolan ’25 gazes at a tree searching for birds.

PHOTO: ZACH PODOLNICK ’26/THE HAWK

TESS MARGIS ’26

Features Reporter

OLIVIA GASPARRO ’27

Features Columnist

Donatella Versace has been the creative director of the fashion house Versace for decades, taking on the role after the murder of her brother Gianni Versace in 1997. Over the years, Versace has taken what her brother made and expanded it into an empire of her own. Although this is the end of the road for Versace as the creative eyes behind the iconic brand, she will still have a place as chief brand ambassador. The Versace brand will continue to share with the fashion community its iconic designs and innovations, further transforming what fashion is. Here are four of her most iconic moments.

Jennifer Lopez pivotal green dress moment

In 2000, Versace tailored a green dress to A-List celebrity Jennifer Lopez that became an instant cultural phenomenon and set the fashion world ablaze. The dress is said to have led to the creation of Google image search as demand to see photos of the dress online surged. This look was so iconic that Versace and Lopez recreated it with a more modern twist at the Versace Women’s Spring-Summer 2020 Collection fashion show.

A class reunion

Versace is known for its timeless, unique and masterful looks, which are amplified by the supermodels who showcase these looks to the world on and off the runways. At the 2017 Milan Fashion Week, Versace honored her brother with a

Donatella Versace

tribute show involving five of the brand’s original models, like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, whose faces will forever hold meaning to the legacy of Versace.

Met Gala moments

The runways and fashion campaigns are not where Versace’s creative craft stops. One of her biggest moments is the first Monday in May every year: the Met Gala. At the Met Gala, Versace gets to showcase her brand’s extravagant, powerful creativity through jaw-dropping outfits. From Kim Kardashian’s 2019 rain-drop look to Blake Lively’s 2018 gold and ruby gown masterpiece to Kendall and Kylie Jenner’s 2019 vibrant purple and orange feather

looks, Versace’s creative vision has been shown in so many ways.

Inclusivity and diversity

A big part of Versace’s leadership role was the importance she placed on inclusivity and diversity in her work. Versace wanted the brand to amplify all body types, cultural backgrounds and gender identities. She has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights, especially in Italy, and her 2021 Spring-Summer Collection show marked the first time Versace cast plus-sized models.

Starting April 1, a new face will take over as creative director for Versace,

continuing the legacy of Gianni and Donatella Versace while also making it something of his own. Dario Vitale, former design director of Miu Miu, will be the first outside the Versace family to take over the creative vision of the fashion brand. Born in Naples, Italy, Vitale began his career working at Bottega Veneta after graduating from Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Italy. Vitale later began a path at Miu Miu, where he worked his way up to design director. Now, at 42 years old, he is the creative eyes and ears of Versace.

Shut eyes and shut mouths

Mouth taping trends on TikTok

JEFF SMITH ’26

Special to the Hawk

Every night before he went to bed this past summer, Frank Felix ’26 put a piece of tape over his mouth.

Felix had watched videos on TikTok that suggested mouth taping, which prevents mouth breathing, can have health benefits.

“I heard about it being better for your sleep and muscle recovery, and apparently it’s really bad to breathe through your mouth when you sleep,” Felix said.

Felix eventually had to give up on the trend because it wasn’t working and made it harder for him to sleep.

“I was always tired,” Felix said. “I just couldn’t fall asleep [with it on]. If I would fall asleep, I would wake up with it off my mouth in the morning.”

Mouth taping became a trend in the early 2020s to force nose breathing. It supposedly treats issues such as snoring and improves sleep quality. It took off on TikTok, with many users advocating for the practice and even selling mouth tape on their TikTok shops.

But Jodi Mindell, Ph.D., professor of psychology and associate director of the Sleep Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said blocking the airway while sleeping is dangerous.

“If we stop breathing, the consequences are horrible,” Mindell said. “What happens if you get congested? What happens if you roll over?”

Mindell said people usually mouth

breathe at night only when their nasal cavities are blocked, and doctors will usually restrict mouth breathing only in severe cases of sleep apnea.

Little research exists on the efficacy of mouth taping. One study by researchers at the University of Nottingham in 2009 found it did not affect asthma control among 50 randomized participants. A 2022 study by researchers in Taiwan included 10 patients with obstructive sleep apnea and found that it managed to prevent patients from inhaling through the mouth but could not stop them from exhaling.

“When people have sleep apnea, we use what’s called a nasal CPAP,” Mindell said. “It’s a kind of mask that goes over the face. Sometimes it’s a little nasal pillow, sometimes it’s a mask on the face, whatever is most comfortable to stay on. Sometimes, if somebody is mouth breathing while doing that, we add a chin strap. It keeps the mouth closed so all of your breathing happens through your nose.”

Colin Monnes ’25, a successful mouth taper, is not too concerned about any possible health consequences. Monnes discovered mouth-taping on TikTok and ordered a package from TikTok Shop to try it himself.

“It was $3 in the TikTok Shop, so I said, ‘Why not try it?’” Monnes said. “It’s a little uncomfortable the first time putting it on, but I definitely woke up feeling a lot better. It definitely helped my sleep.”

the mouth tape was the cause or just a mental placebo effect, but he was sure that after he picked up the practice, his productivity and awareness in the morning had improved.

For those struggling with sleep issues or who want to address some of the problems that mouth-taping promises, experts advise

ILLUSTRATION:

Mindell said the best way to make sure you’re at your best in the morning is to have a set sleep schedule with a bedtime and wake time that ensures enough time to get the sleep you need. She also recommended exercising frequently, avoiding alcohol and avoiding caffeine past noon.

GRAPHIC: STEPHANIE SAVELA ’25/THE HAWK

LEXI KAIN ’27/THE HAWK

Hear me, see me

Big headphones are back

TESS MARGIS ’26 Features Reporter

Before Maddie Blair ’26 walks out of the door every morning, she makes sure to grab her black Skullcandy Crushers.

Blair is one of many people swapping out earbuds for over-ear headphones, preferring the comfort and secure feeling her headphones give her.

“If I go to the gym, when I would lift weights, the AirPods would fall out,” Blair said.

The headphones industry reached $18.4 billion in revenue in 2025, a number that is projected to increase by 2.4% annually. This includes over-ear headphones, which surround the entire ear; on-ear headphones, which rest on top of the ear; and in-ear headphones, also known as earbuds. Apple is the most popular brand of headphones in the U.S., according to Statista Market Insights.

Like most trends, the use of headphones as an accessory is nothing new.

Since the popularization of the Walkman in the 1970s, headphones have been a notable addition to many outfits. Despite decreasing in popularity in the early 2010s, headphones have recently experienced a resurgence. Wireless headphones, especially from brands like Apple and Bose, can be seen everywhere on college campuses.

Jordan Sharer ’26 said she chose to get Apple’s AirPods Max for their noise-canceling feature and was influenced by their sleek, simple “clean-cut look.”

“I didn’t really like some of the other ones, like Sony and Bose,” Sharer said.

“They’re kind of boring. I like that the Apple ones are clean and techie-ish.”

Like many fashion accessories, you pay for style. A good quality pair of headphones can cost $200-$500, a notably higher price than earbuds. However, refurbished and second-hand products are available for a more affordable price, often under $100, from third-party websites like Amazon and Best Buy. Bose also sells its own refurbished headphones.

Sharer said AirPods Max appeal to younger people because of the customization. The plain look of the headphones inspires people to decorate them.

“People will tie bows on them or they’ll get different covers for the Apple ones that are more their aesthetic,” Sharer said.

Apple sells protective shells that can be attached to the earcups of headphones. Users looking for a more creative case can check out sites like Etsy and Casely.

Diana Harrington ’26 said she was against wearing headphones until she received a pair of Bose QuietComfort headphones as a gift from her stepmother.

“I thought they looked silly before,” Harrington said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, if I ever got headphones, I wouldn’t wear them.’ But they were these really nice Bose headphones with noise-canceling, and they were Bluetooth, whereas the headphones I had used in the past were wired.”

Harrington said she also incorporates her blue headphones into her outfit, matching them with the color of the clothes she’s wearing.

“I literally incorporated them into my

first day of school outfit,” Harrington said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to do a blue and white theme,’ and they were part of the outfit.”

Harrington added headphones look more mature than AirPods and earbuds, which were more commonplace in high school. “I think that having over-the-ear headphones is more ‘college,’” Harrington said. “It’s more adult.”

CineHawk: ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’

BEN VANELLI ’25 Photographer

“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” released in 1974, is Martin Scorsese’s fourth feature-length and first Hollywood project, sandwiched between “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver,” two films known for their violence and grittiness. “Alice” is a feminist feature that has both.

The film stars Ellen Burstyn as Alice, a stay-at-home mother in a small town in New Mexico who is in an abusive marriage where her husband Don, played by Billy Bush, verbally and physically torments Alice and their preteen son, Tommy, played by Alfred Lutter. When Don unexpectedly dies, Alice decides to take Tommy back to her hometown of Monterey, California. However, money and relationship problems

strand the two in Arizona, where she takes up waitressing at a diner and finds the prospect of love with regular customer, David, played by Kris Kristofferson.

Slowly, Alice discovers that perhaps being married and settling down wasn’t her dream after all, that maybe that “dream” was what prevented her from following her true ambitions: becoming a singer. The film captures the pursuit of the American Dream

through a feminist lens, and it does so with nuance, without sacrificing the complexity or vices of its titular character.

“Alice” is about how expectations can prevent people from chasing their dreams. In one scene, Alice confesses to her colleague, Flo, in the bathroom at work that she loved Don but that maybe she only needed him to feel safe because that’s what American society was telling her: Just get married, and you’ll be alright. However, being on her own is still a gigantic challenge for Alice. The moments she shares with Tommy are sweet, fun and hilarious, but she also doesn’t know how to fight him the proper amount — nor will she accept when David over-disciplines him by using physical force. She is in a constant state of chaos, learning how to be a parent and how to be independent all over again.

Overall, this message is where the heart of the film lies. “Alice” shows that feminism isn’t necessarily about being the toughest or the bravest or the strongest. It’s about perseverance, and the idea that sometimes, you do need help — but never at the cost of your voice.

GRAPHIC: STEPHANIE SAVELA ’25/THE HAWK

ILLUSTRATION: LEXI KAIN ’27/THE HAWK

CROSSWORD: March Mayhem

KILEY O’BRIEN ’25 Assistant Features Editor

Across

3. A last-second shot just before a game ends that determines the outcome of the game.

7. A player who is drafted into the NBA after playing only one season of college basketball.

8. A team’s ranking in the tournament that dictates matchups.

9. The fourth round in the NCAA Tournament.

10. A title that embodies the chaos of the tournament.

Down

1. A lower-seeded team that makes an unexpectedly deep run.

2. A tournament chart mapping the advancement of teams used during March Madness.

4. A lesser-used nickname for the NCAA Tournament.

5. The day the NCAA announces the teams invited to the tournament and the bracket matchups.

6. A term referring to when too many predictions in a person’s bracket go wrong.

Next chapter in the Book

Pitcher dominates early in the season after transferring to St. Joe’s

MIA MESSINA ’25

Sports Editor

The St. Joe’s baseball coaching staff wanted left-handed pitcher Colton Book to be a Hawk out of high school in 2021. It just took him a few years to get there.

“It was great to get him, great to have him,” said head coach Fritz Hamburg. “He’s done a terrific job, and we’re happy he’s circled back to be a Hawk.”

The redshirt junior transferred to St. Joe’s this year from Stony Brook. “Needing a change,” Book said he was drawn to the school’s proximity to his home in Manheim, Pennsylvania, the quality of the education and the coaching staff.

He’s been dominant for the Hawks, with a 2.17 ERA in his 37.1 innings pitched

this season, as of March 24. His average of .80 walks plus hits per innings pitched and record of 4-1 has quickly made Book an ace for the Hawks, who lost a number of arms in the off-season to graduation, the MLB draft and the transfer portal.

“Every outing, he’s given us great starts,” Hamburg said. “[We’re] just being super cautious with him because we don’t have a lot of length in our pitching staff, so we need him healthy.”

Book currently leads the Atlantic 10 conference overall in strikeouts with 55, is third in ERA and has the second most innings pitched. But last season with the Seawolves, he was putting up much different numbers, finishing the season with a 10.52 ERA across 25.2 innings. He credited the work he did in the fall with former St. Joe’s pitching coach Jeremy Hileman as a big part of his growth from last season.

“That development piece was really big for me,” Book said. “And getting my confidence back on the mound was also very important.”

Fifth-year catcher Aidan Duda has played baseball with Book since they were around 13, playing for Pennsylvania travel team the Keystone State Bombers, and has recognized Book’s command on the mound from back then.

“Growing up with him, he’s always just been in the zone attacking. He has an amazing pick off move,” Duda said. “His fastball’s got so much life on it and speed that he’s just able to dominate.”

One of Book’s most dominant appearances came at the expense of his younger brother, Nolan Book, a first-year at Mount St. Mary’s. Book threw a no-hitter through the first six innings but gave up one on the second batter of the seventh inning. Whenever Book’s brother came up to the plate, Duda said “it was the only at bats [Book was] showing emotion.”

With his brother knowing everything he was throwing, Book said he “tried to level it up” against his brother. And he did, securing a shutout win after a ground out from his brother.

“My hardest fastballs of the day were to him,” Book said. “It was more like I didn’t want him to beat me, out of anybody.”

Already a two-time A-10 pitcher of the week and named College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Week Feb. 25, Book gave credit to his teammates behind him on the diamond.

“When I’m out there throwing, I have all the confidence in the world that the people behind me are going to make the plays and they’re going to do what they can to help me out,” Book said.

Described as a quiet guy by both Duda and Hamburg, his coach said that even though he keeps to himself, Book is still a huge part of things for the Hawks.

“He’s a super conscientious guy, really diligent about his work,” Hamburg said. “He fits great, fits right in, and we’re super glad he’s here.”

Runners chase new shoe trend

KIERA DONOHUE ’25

Special to the Hawk

At first glance, carbon-plated running shoes may seem like the average running shoe, but when you try them out, you might feel like you’re running on trampolines.

Carbon-plated running shoes are the new it-shoes in the running community. These new sneakers are foam shoes with a thin sheet of carbon fiber that is incredibly strong and stiff. This material adds durability, stability and even propulsion.

Since the market release of the first carbon-plated shoe in 2017, most elite runners have never looked back on regular running shoes. Dylan Zuch ’22, PharmD ’24, a runner for the Philadelphia Runner Track Club, is a fan and prefers them over his running spikes.

“Since I have been introduced to them,

even if you’re doing 200s on the track, I still would wear them over putting on spikes because it is slightly less aggressive,” Zuch said.

By wearing carbon-plated running shoes during a workout or race, you are increasing your speed and efficiency. The science behind the shoes is that when your foot strikes the ground, the carbon fiber plate bends slightly before snapping back into place, which helps push the foot forward. When you run, you lose energy every time you hit the ground.

The combination of the foam in the shoes and the carbon causes the shoes to feel like springs, helps you store energy and almost literally pushes you back into the air.

Carbon-plated shoes are scientifically proven to shave seconds and even minutes off your running times. As the shoes develop, running companies are looking for more ways to include carbon fiber into

their products.

“They have a carbon fiber plate embedded in the sole, and that keeps the shoe rigid,” explained Justin Bennett, who works as a keyholder at Philadelphia Runner at the Manayunk location. “As you run, it propels you forward and gives you a competitive advantage.”

But the shoes are not without controversy. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nike’s first carbon-plated shoe, the Vaporfly 4%, just barely avoided a ban due to the advantageous 4% performance increase over regular running shoes. Since Nike was the first to create the shoe and released it shortly before the Olympics, other shoe companies didn’t have the chance to keep up with the new technology.

While he doesn’t own a pair of carbon-plated shoes, runner Eddie Dolan ’25

said he understands the appeal.

“For a runner, your shoes are your equipment,” Dolan said. “So, if you have good shoes, then that’s good for you. Obviously, there’s a disparity between who can afford nice shoes but ... if you have good shoes, then that helps you out.”

Cost is definitely a factor with carbon-plated shoes. A pair of Nike Vaporflys are on the market for about $260. Now that other companies have their own versions of carbon-plated shoes, they can ultimately be found at any running shoe company or available online for purchase, and often fall in the $100-200 range.

“Not everyone can afford them, which is tough,” Zuch said. “But I think they’re fair game.”

GRAPHIC: CARA HALLIGAN ’25/THE HAWK

Book went for seven innings against Richmond, giving up three runs and seven hits while recording eight strikeouts, March 22.

PHOTOS: MIA MESSINA ’25/THE HAWK

Junior pitcher Colton Book s is currently one of the most dominant pitchers in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

‘We ’ re made from our history’

A look back at the first St. Joe’s women’s basketball team

Kathy Garvin ’75 recalled a sign on a St. Joe’s campus bathroom with the letters “WO” taped in front of the word “men.”

Garvin, who enrolled at St. Joe’s in 1971, one year after the university first opened its doors to women, played on the first varsity women’s basketball team at the school. She has other memories of the bumpy welcome that women, especially women athletes, experienced in those early days of coeducation.

A commuter, Garvin remembered the late-night drives on Roosevelt Boulevard along with her teammate Cathy Cosgrove ’75, the two of them exhausted. St. Joe’s men’s varsity, junior varsity and first-year teams took priority when it came to practice space and times. So, Garvin and Cosgrove often drove home as late as 10 p.m., their team only getting one to two late practice slots a week.

“We didn’t really get much priority,” Cosgrove said.

Over 50 years later, women’s college basketball is in a transformational period nationally. A viral video of women’s weight rooms at the NCAA Tournament in 2021 exposed the lack of equipment and resources offered to the teams, sparking conversations about equity. The NCAA added $6.1 million to the women’s tournament budget the following year in 2022. That same year, the term “March Madness” was expanded to apply to the women’s tournament as well.

In 2024, the women’s NCAA title game drew 18.7 million viewers, nearly four million more than the men’s championship. 2025 marks the first tournament for which women’s teams will be paid for playing in the tournament, operating under the same

format the men’s teams have for years. The teams will receive payment for this year’s tournament starting in 2026.

The NCAA did not start governing women’s sports until 1981, so in 1974, the year Kathy Langley ’78 joined the St. Joe’s team, the national women’s basketball scene was far different than it is today. And life at St. Joe’s for the women players remained a challenge throughout those early decades. Oftentimes, the St. Joe’s men’s teams would go over their allotted times, leaving the women’s team no choice but to wait.

“We were definitely third-class citizens,” Langley said. “[The men] weren’t against us. They just weren’t doing anything to help us.”

Women’s basketball officially became a varsity sport for the 1973-74 season, after being designated as a club sport starting in 1970. During that time, most of the club members were Evening College students. Their coaches at the time were two male students. When it became a varsity program, Ellen Ryan became the coach, and night students were no longer allowed to participate.

“There was nothing that really made it seem all that different,” Cosgrove said. “We still didn’t get much in the way of transportation and things like that. I think we were still driving ourselves to half the games. Every now and then, I think we got some kind of a minivan or something to take us to games.”

The uniforms were T-shirts with their names and numbers on the back. Langley compared their lockers in the locker room to those found in a high school hallway, noting that none of them ever used the showers there. But still, they wanted to play.

“If you weren’t serious, you weren’t playing because there was nothing to be gained from it,” Langley said. “We weren’t getting sneakers. We weren’t going on airplane flights anywhere. We were playing because we love to play basketball, because we love basketball.”

Still, their love of the game didn’t always fully block out the outside noise. Garvin still remembers an article in the Philadelphia Bulletin, a daily evening newspaper, that discussed a teammate’s “supple legs” during her foul shots.

“I wrote to the [Bulletin] and said, ‘You never say, “Dave Schultz’s broad shoulders.” How dare you talk about someone’s legs?’” Garvin said.

When local media coverage veered away from physical appearance and toward the game, there still wasn’t much of it. Usually, the extent of their coverage was a brief mention in the “People in Sports” column by Herm Rogul, a sportswriter for the Bulletin.

“It would be all little blurbs about all the games that happened last night,” Garvin said. “He used to do it every day, and that was the biggest coverage that we had. That’s how we would get in the paper most of the time when we were playing.”

Attendance was a separate issue. Cosgrove said most of the fans watching them play came from their immediate circle of family and friends, other than when the Hawks played an occasional game against the then nationally recognized Immaculata women’s team. In comparison to the “bedlam” of a men’s game at The Palestra, Cosgrove said the women never had anything similar.

“We were pretty much doing it for ourselves,” Cosgrove said.

What they didn’t know then was that their struggles and experiences were building the legacy of St. Joe’s women’s basketball.

“They paved the way,” said current basketball head coach Cindy Griffin ’91, MBA ’93. “They did so much with so little, whether it be lack of scholarships, transportation, equipment, but they just love basketball. And I think that’s the theme that has been carried over from [the] program, from years to years. When you play at St. Joe’s, you have a deep love for basketball.”

By the time Mary Sue Simon ’78 was a sophomore, scholarships were offered, thanks to Title IX, which passed in 1972 as a federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in any educational program or activity.

In fall 1974, Theresa Grentz, a former Immaculata women’s basketball player, was hired as the head coach for St. Joe’s 1975 women’s basketball season. It was during these years, the latter half of Simon’s four years with the program, that things truly began to change.

“Obviously, the coaches pushed for everything, uniforms, sneakers, we pretty much did a bus everywhere,” Simon said. “We were lucky to have some good athletes and a good team, but [the coaches] really were behind us, pushing to get the things that we needed to succeed.”

And they did succeed, competing

in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women’s tournament in 1977, a national tournament with 16 teams at the time. It was an early variation of what the NCAA Tournament is today. Simon credits the team’s success with helping get the word out about the program a few years after it was established. She also recalled articles each weekend in the Daily News or the Philadelphia Inquirer on the team and reporters consistently at their games.

“For example, St. Joe’s women playing Immaculata would have been a strong interest in this area,” Simon said. “So, it would probably sell out. If we were at the field house, the attendance was pretty strong.”

All these years later, even with some significant changes within the NCAA, Garvin doesn’t think women are being treated as equals in college basketball yet.

“I still don’t think it’s changed enough. I find that very irritating,” Garvin said. “It’s just got to get better.”

Attendance at women’s games still lags behind men. Men’s basketball also dominates most media coverage.

But the women who played in St. Joe’s early years continue to show up because they still love the game, and they want to support today’s players. Cosgrove and Langley are season ticket holders. The two of them, along with Garvin and Simon, attend alumni games, including in 2024 when St. Joe’s women’s basketball was honored during a game for its 50th anniversary.

Griffin said she and the team acknowledge what, and who, it took to get them where they are today.

“We’re made from our history. You always look back and you see the accomplishments of the teams before us… Learning those life lessons have been very valuable for me and for our present-day program,” Griffin said.

This article is the third story in a series focused on women in college sports media and the issues they are facing.

MIA MESSINA ’25 Sports Editor

GRAPHIC: MIA MESSINA ’25/THE HAWK

The women’s basketball club team practicing in 1971.

The women’s basketball team photo from 1975, when Cathy Cosgrove ’75, Kathy Garvin ’75, Kathy Langley ’78 and Mary Sue Simon ’78 were on the team.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LESLEY CAREY, ST. JOE’S ARCHIVST