April 3, 2019

April 3, 2019

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Volume XCIX

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Est. 1929

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www.sjuhawknews.com

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

ST. JOE'S HISTORY WITH BLACKFACE MINSTRELSY

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJU ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Images of blackface minstrelsy performances by the St. Joe's junior class of 1960 on page 99 of “The Greatonian” 1959 yearbook.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJU ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

DOMINIQUE JOE ’19 Consulting Editor On the second page of the May 27, 1949 issue of The Hawk, a story about the university’s annual Junior Week was published, noting that the “high spot of the week and the surprise of the year was the Junior Minstrel show.” Alongside the story are photos of the week’s events, the last of which is a photo of a student performing in blackface.

The photo features Francis “Ish” Cronin ’50 performing “My Mammy” from Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer.” The caption un-

der this image provides additional details: “Black-faced, white-gloved ‘Ish’ Cronin brought the roof down in the Prep Auditorium during a Jolson routine which would have delighted minstrel veterans.

The blackface ballads were just one section of a polyphasic revue.”

Junior Week, an annual week-long series of events for juniors prior to their senior year, began in 1928, according to a story on page two of the June 10, 1930 issue from The Hawk’s online archive. Each year until about 1962, the event featured a minstrel show which included St. Joe’s students dressed in blackface regalia, performing on stage.

Dubbed the “Junior Minstrel Show,” these productions were performed by members of the junior class during Junior Week. A minstrel show is a type of vaudevillian performance popularized in the early 19th century in the U.S. In these shows, primarily white performers and artists dressed in blackface and portrayed black men as the overall stupid and lazy fool, while black women were simultaneously characterized as the exoticized temptress or the matronly, hardworking “Mammy,” according to sociologist David Pilgrim, Ph.D., the founder and curator of The Jim Crow Museum of Racist

Memorabilia at Ferris State University.

“When you talk about minstrels, you are really just talking about mainly a singer who is also a poet, who is also doing comedy skits and variety acts and dancing,” Pilgrim said. “It looks a little bit like the vaudeville show.”

Pilgrim, an expert on multiculturalism, diversity and race relations, is also vice president for Diversity and Inclusion at Ferris State University and collects and houses racist memorabilia for the purpose of discussing race relations and racism in the U.S. SEE PG. 3

News 2

April 3, 2019

An institutional look at racism To our readers: In these past few months, members of the St. Joe’s community have been forced into difficult conversations about racism on our campus.

These conversations are ones we should have started long before being prompted by the racial slur incident reported last semester. Though some might have hoped that the uproar over that incident would have died down by now in favor of business as usual, The Hawk Staff believes it is our journalistic and civic responsibility to ensure these conversations are the beginning of a longer and more sustained conversation about racism, inequality and privilege.

All semester we have consulted with people of color on campus, including St. Joe’s faculty, staff, students and members of our own staff. These conversations

produced a range of topics that we will address in our stories over the course of the next four issues of The Hawk. They include institutional issues such as the retention of students of color, the use of students of color in promotional material to push a narrative of racial diversity at St. Joe’s, the lack of people of color in administration, faculty and staff, and the experiences of athletes of color and people of color at a predominantly white institution.

We will also take an in-depth look at the roots of racism at St. Joe’s. These stories include an in-depth look at university yearbooks and newspaper coverage from as far back as 1928, uncovering, among other things, our history with blackface and minstrelsy. We will write profiles about some of the first students and student athletes of color. Additionally, our work will examine how people of color are treated on Hawk Hill, exploring the racial experiences of

current students, faculty and staff.

In preparation for this series, we looked inward and acknowledged that as a predominately white staff, it is important that we report these stories alongside and with feedback from people of color. With that in mind, our Consulting Editor, who identifies as black, will assist in the editing of content for the “Confronting Racism” series.

Looking inward has also meant confronting our own racist acts in our role as a media organization on campus. We have in the past used racist language in stories.

We have not always reached out enough to actively recruit students of color. Students of color have criticized the mainly white lens that The Hawk has used to cover the campus, and they have been right.

As we have committed to our leadership role in addressing issues of race on campus, some current students and alumni have commented on our social media

platforms and website that we are spending too much time focusing on race, often remarking that we need to “get over this.” A 2000 opinions piece in The Hawk, written

by Hawk Staff, made the same argument.

There is no “getting over” what it means to be a person of color on Hawk Hill, and The Hawk will not stop covering issues of racism, from our past and in our present. Our future depends on it. We cover these stories with hope for progress.

We believe it is on us, the members of The Hawk community, to acknowledge the systematic racism that exists at St. Joe’s in order to work towards truly creating a more representative and diverse Hawk Hill. We must arm ourselves and our readers with stories and information that will help us all do this.

Sincerely, Ana Faguy ’19 Editor in Chief

How we reported “Confronting Racism” CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Managing Editor The Hawk Staff began research for “Confronting Racism” in mid-February after we decided to continue the conversation that began in November 2018 about racism on campus.

It started with the idea of reporting on blackface after photos were released of Gov. Ralph Northam in blackface in a 1984 Virginia Military Institute yearbook. Those photos prompted numerous institutions to examine their archives for similar racist photos.

Each member of The Hawk Staff was assigned 10 years of either yearbooks or newspapers to review. Old yearbooks and newspapers are located in the Archives and Special Collections in the basement of the Francis A. Drexel Library. Hawks from 1930 to 2015 are also online as part of The Hawk Digital Archive.

The Hawk Staff found seven photos of people in blackface in yearbooks and newspapers from 1929 to 2015. In addition to these photos were articles and editorials that included racist remarks and viewpoints. 90 years’ worth of yearbooks and newspapers also revealed stories about racial bias incidents, calls for curricular changes to include more diversity and uses of racist language, including the N-word.

In one Hawk issue published in January 1992, an article explains that a St. Joe’s employee was a victim of a racial slur. The

article states that the N-word was written on her door that had Christmas decorations on it.

In another opinions piece in October of 2000, a student discusses the racial slurs he found in bathrooms on campus, even after there had been rallies and diversity information sessions on campus following a previous incident.

As a whole, the yearbooks and newspapers reflect the university’s historical lack of diversity, but we did find evidence of cultural clubs on campus—the Black Awareness Society, the Foreign Student Association, the Latino Students Organization and the Interracial Council Club— as far back as 1948.

There are gaps in the university archives that make this search incomplete.

The yearbooks from 1944 to 1946 were missing, for example, because the university did not operate as usual during World War II, according to Chris Dixon, archival research librarian.

The university has also not documented important moments in its history related to black students, like when the first black athlete came to St. Joe’s. According to Don DiJulia, former director of athletics, it is “believed to be” in 1958, but Dixon said it cannot be completely verified.

“Often it’s more or less going in and trying to find material that may or may not exist,” Dixon explained.

The university is not able to confirm when the first black student graduated from St. Joe’s either, Dixon said. Following the inauguration of University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., in 2015, Lawrence W. Pierce ’48 wrote a letter to the president to congratulate him and told Reed he was the university’s first black graduate. Pierce went on to law school at Fordham University and is a former circuit

judge of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a former district judge.

Pierce’s letter to Reed is in the university’s archives, but Dixon said the university has not confirmed Pierce’s claim.

The Hawk will continue to examine archive materials and seek sources to speak to about race and racism in the campus community—both present and past.

LEFT: a white student in blackface poses behind a fence on page 79 of “The Greatonian” 1979 yearbook in the SJU Archives and Special Collections. PHOTO : MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK RIGHT: Lawrence W. Pierce ’48’s letter to University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., in the Archives and Special Collections. PHOTO: EMILY GRAHAM ’20/THE HAWK

News 3

April 3, 2019

St. Joe’s history with blackface minstrelsy FROM PG. 1 “Blackface was not originated in the U.S.,” Pilgrim said. “People were dressing in blackface centuries before in Europe. But it became popular with a specific artist, entertainer, Thomas Rice, [who] dressed in blackface and called himself Jim Crow. He adopted the stage persona Jim Crow and had a little ditty he sang called ‘Jump Jim Crow.’”

According to the University of Southern Florida’s “History of Minstrelsy” digital collection entry on the Jim Crow caricature, while Thomas D. Rice didn’t label his own work as minstrelsy, he did inspire imitators, in particular the Virginia Minstrels, the first professional white minstrel troupe.

“Long story short, it was a success,” Pilgrim said. “People liked and were entertained [by] this black buffoon performer who was also... a little edgy.”

Pilgrim said people soon began imitating Rice, and those imitations eventually were formalized in the identifiable genre of minstrelsy.

“You start getting certain themes, certain patterns, so it developed and in conjunction with the music that accompanied it, became probably the first uniquely or distinctly American form of entertainment,” Pilgrim said.

It was out of this concretization of blackface minstrelsy as one of the first uniquely American forms of entertainment that a long history of blackface continued.

The St. Joe’s student in blackface, featured in the 1949 Hawk photograph, was performing a blackface routine attributed to Jolson from the 1927 movie “The Jazz Singer.”

Jolson was a vaudeville singer and comedian who was known for performing in blackface but also for appropriating black music and making it palatable for white audiences. His most lauded work “The Jazz Singer” heavily featured Jolson’s character doing blackface performances. “‘The Jazz Singer’ shows us that blackface really permeated Hollywood and continued even when the minstrel show was long gone,” said Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D., associate profes-

"Ish" Cronin ’50 performing as the stereotypical character "Mammy" on page 2 of "The Greatonian" yearbook, 1949.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

sor in the music, theater and film department.

Blackface, blackface minstrelsy and racist caricatures of black people continued to proliferate popular American entertainment, sometimes even being performed by black actors, dancers and comedians who had little opportunity for other work in their fields.

“You see [racist caricatures] for a really long time, and I don’t even just mean characters in blackface,” Morgan said. “African American [actors were] clearly being asked in film to perform in a way that is playing into

some of the old ways, old tropes and the old racist caricatures.”

One common caricature that was performed by actors and actresses was “Mammy,” the same “Mammy” that Jolson sings about in “The Jazz Singer” and that was referenced in the university’s 1949 Junior Minstrel Show.

“The word ‘Mammy’ has to do with some of the characters in the minstrel show, [specifically] a character like a middle-aged or older African American woman who would be called Mammy,” Morgan said.

Mammy was “portrayed as an obese, coarse, maternal figure [who] had had great love for her white ‘family,’” according to The Jim Crow Museum website.

Cronin’s performance of Jolson’s song “My Mammy” would have referenced the racially antagonistic caricature of the black woman as a maternal, happy and content slave, within a performance that itself was racially antagonistic towards black people.

Charles Reilly ’50 was a friend of Cronin, who has since died, and watched Cronin perform in 1949. “‘Ish’ Cronin, a classmate of mine, was a multi-talented feller popular across all demos,” Reilly said. “The film ‘The Jolson Story’ was a very big hit. Blackface and singing the show-stopping songs was truly ‘in.’”

Pilgrim said blackface performances in the 1930s through 1950s were smaller scale, put on by college fraternities and sororities and featured at social parties held by businesses.

Throughout its history, St. Joe’s has been a predominantly white institution, and that factors into the acceptance of blackface on campus, according to Pilgrim.

“Whites dressing in blackface to entertain others never disappeared from private spaces, [especially in] safe white spaces,” Pilgrim said.

Morgan said the university needs to acknowledge these instances in its history in order to move forward.

“In all things, if we want to have an honest conversation about the present, we really have to start by having an honest conversation about the past, where things came from,” Morgan said.

Pilgrim said it is disappointing that for many institutions, it takes a public racial incident on campus to spark such conversations. But once the conversations begin, they need to continue.

“These need to be sustained discussions,” Pilgrim said. “And when I say this it doesn’t please anybody, but I don’t think these are discussions you finish. I don’t think this is work that is ever completed, that is ever perfected.”

Representation in media: language inclusivity CARA SMITH ’21 Assistant Lifestyle Editor The role of language in journalism is critical to ensuring that news stories accurately reflect and represent the issues and people in the stories.

The Associated Press (AP), a news wire service created in 1848, is considered the gold standard for using grammar, journalistic style and keeping the language of journalism consistent with professional standards of ethics and best practices.

AP style has evolved over the years to account for changes in technology and evolving societal norms. In The Hawk series, “Confronting Racism,” we are mindful of how the language of journalism specific to race and culture has changed over time. Reporters no longer use words in news stories that were accepted decades prior, let alone language from a century ago.

For example, Hawk stories from the 1950s used the word “negro” to refer to black people. In the 1970s, the term “the blacks” was used to describe students of African descent.

The news article “BAS proposes awareness drive,” published in The Hawk on April 27, 1973 detailed a proposed plan to increase the retention rate of students of color on campus.

A quote from the story reads: “The meetings were initiated by the blacks out of a feeling that their needs were not being fully met by the college.”

The Hawk referred to students of African descent as “the blacks” three times and “blacks” three times throughout the article.

Best practices now require allowing sources to self-identify.

Cherri Gregg, a multimedia reporter and the host of Flashpoint on KYW Newsradio, said that when covering stories about race, she makes sure to ask groups and individuals how they identify.

“People want to be recognized with respect,” Gregg said. “So I think that it is about empowering people [by] defining themselves, versus us defining them.”

The Diversity Style Guide, an additional online resource for journalists and other media professionals, also provides specific guidelines for language related to race, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others.

Published by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University, the guide also recommends that journalists ask sources how they identify.

The entry for African American/African-American/Black/black states: “People in the United States who share a lineage that can be traced directly or indirectly to Africa.

Black and African American do not necessar-

ily mean the same thing and individuals may prefer one term over the other. It’s best to ask.”

Sarah Glover, President of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), said that the NABJ has been working with other organizations to provide the most effective guidelines for journalists.

“NABJ has also recently contributed to updates to the AP Stylebook, which has released new entries to provide guidance on dealing with issues of race that we are, unfortunately, still facing in this country,” Glover said in a statement to The Hawk.

Professional organizations representing journalists from other marginalized communities, the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and The Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA), have also created style guidelines that provide more inclusive and accurate language about race.

Since 2008, the AP style guidelines have recommended the use of the term black over African American when referring to a person of African descent. The term African American should be used when writing about an American black person of African descent or when it is a source’s preference.

Aisha Lockridge, Ph.D., associate professor of English, said the term black can be interpreted as more inclusive than Af-

rican American.

“I know that sometimes people feel like African American is more politically correct,” Lockridge said, “but I think it closes off a lot of people who might feel like they fit under the umbrella of blackness.”

AP style guidelines also encourage the use of “person-first” language, which further affirms the importance of language when covering complex topics. Gregg said that giving communities control of how they are represented can be empowering.

“I am very sensitive to minority communities that have been persecuted or oppressed,” Gregg said. “Those communities should be able to define themselves. I don’t think it should be me, whose job is to simply observe as a witness, to define them.”

Lockridge added that although it is important for journalists to cover topics concerning race mindfully, it should not be an attempt to diminish the value of differences among individuals.

“That might be interesting to celebrate the differences and use those differences to kind of marshall our way forward,” Lockridge said. “I think too much is done to say that we are all kind of the same and we are all human. It’s like, we got that, right? How are we different, and how are our differences interesting and useful?”

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The Hawk Newspaper

April 3, 2019

News

Using technology to accommodate students

New student disabilities data management system to launch AMANDA ADINOLFI ’19 Hawk Staff The Office of Student Disability Services will launch its new data management system, ACCOMMODATE, on April 16, making the communication process regarding accommodations for students with disabilities completely electronic.

Christine Mecke, Ed.D., director of Student Disability Services, said the change provides electronic accomodation plans to professors, making it easier to create reports and issue extended time requests more efficiently.

Mecke said the benefits of the paperless system will be most felt regarding requests for extended time, in part because that particular accommodation affects 90% of students registered with the Office of Student Disability Services.

“It really will cut down on not only the time it takes to put all this information in and then sort it, but printing out every accommodation plan, all the evaluations that

come in, so now it can all be electronic,” Mecke said.

In the past, students needing extended time had to fill out orange forms to be signed by their professor and returned to the Office of Student Disability Services for approval. This process then had to be repeated every time the student wanted to have extra time for a test.

“There really i sn’t a lot of confidentiality when you are throwing around an orange paper in front of somebody’s face,” Mecke said.

With the new electronic system, students complete the form online, and it is then sent to their professors who can approve the request.

“I really do see this as being very advantageous mostly for the students,” Mecke said. “That’s where my focus is mostly, and I think just the whole convenience and just the protecting of confidentiality by being able to submit their requests fully electronically will be so much better.”

In the beginning of the spring semester, the office launched a pilot version of AC-

COMMODATE with 71 students and their professors participating, according to Mecke.

“Most of the feedback that we have gotten from those students has been very positive,” Mecke said. “We have also been in touch with many of the professors who have students who are in the pilot program, and they have been very receptive, very supportive, and given us some good feedback as well.”

Abbey Piro ’19 said she finds the new system more efficient.

“Going electronic will make requesting extended time 10 times easier, especially for students who are busy and don't have the time to run back and forth to get and return forms,” Piro said. “I personally have a super busy schedule and sometimes find myself running out of time to pick up forms or forgetting and remembering too late and therefore I end up not always utilizing my extended time and as a result my grades on exams drop sometimes.”

Mecke said while she and her staff are hopeful about the success of the program, some students may have trouble adjusting to

a new system that does not give them much leeway about deadlines for form submission.

“The trick is going to be that they have to submit one week before their test and it is to the hour,” Mecke said. “It’s always been that they have had to get the orange paper to their professor a week in advance. That’s not new. It’s just that some of their professors have been very lenient, and we’ve been very lenient about not holding everyone to the three days. Now because it is all just in the system and online, there is not going to be as much wiggle room.”

Alyssa Matanin ’20, vice president of the Green Fund, emphasized another benefit of the system.

"By going paperless, they cut back on the amount of paper they use and the amount of paper thrown out/recycled eventually,” Matanin said. “Efficiency can also possibly be increased because moving everything online can make many resources easier to access faster.”

Erin Breen '19 contributed to this article.

Injustices in classrooms

Talking about sensitive topics ZACH DOBINSON ’22 Special to The Hawk Terrance Furin, Ph.D, professor of educational leadership, challenged teachers and students at a March 26 discussion of his book about current injustices in the U.S. school system.

“It’s something that we cannot ignore and we should not ignore,” Furin said. “I think the classroom is the place to have those conversations that open us to explain our history and our values relative to that.”

One of the topics covered in the event included the ways an educator can bridge the gap between theory and practice, often when speaking about race in the classroom.

Furin’s book stemmed from an incident six years ago at a Coatesville, Pennsylvania high school where the district’s then superintendent and athletics director were involved in a racial text scandal. As a school superintendent himself for 22 years, Furin was angered by the administrators’ actions.

“I always really thought that was a position that required a lot of dignity and empathy and a lot of really caring about students,” said Furin. “When I read those [texts], it was obvious they weren’t.”

In his book, Furin detailed the typical hierarchy of many school districts in the U.S. and how students are usually at the bottom with no input on how their educa-

Terrance Furin speaks to those in attendance in Merion Hall. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

tion is created.

“They totally forget the student is there,” Furin said. “If a school district does anything, it should stand up for the rights of its students, especially its minority students.”

Currently, Furin is the coordinator of the International Education Program at St. Joe’s

and works with the Interdisciplinary Doctor of Education Program for Educational Leaders (IDEPEL) on campus.

Encarnación Rodriguez, Ph.D., chair of the educational leadership department, works with Furin and explained why an event like Furin’s is important.

“We are trying to create those spaces to have dialogues with our students,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t have the spaces where we can actually engage in those conversations with our students.”

Naomi Pereira-Lane, who attended Furin’s event and is also a student in the IDEPEL, said she feels these conversations need to happen. “[Racial] conversations are harder conversations, and no one wants to tackle them,” Pereira-Lane said. “Ironically, we are able to speak openly and freely in many of Dr. Furin’s classes. “It was a hard topic, but it was one that had to be shared.

Josephine Tingba, who attended the event and is also in IDEPEL, said it was nice to hear someone talking about topics considered to be sensitive in the classroom.

“As someone who belongs to the minority society, it was nice to see someone talking about it,” Tingba said. “Sometimes it’s difficult talking about it, but the best way to talk about it is get the common ground and get comfortable before you get into it.”

Furin said that discussions of race in a classroom setting is something that cannot and should not be ignored.

“The classroom is the place to have those conversations that open us to explain our history and our values relative to that,” Furin said.

Department of Public Safety reports (March 22– March 28) March 22 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside the Lafarge Residence Center. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by unknown means. Alarm was reset.

March 23 Public Safety was notified by an area resident of a large party in the 2400 block of N. 52nd Street. Public Safety officers and Philadelphia Police were notified and responded. Community Standards was notified.

March 24 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student in regards to unknown person(s) taking his gold chain from an unsecured gym bag left on Sweeney Field.

No police report at this time. Incident under investigation.

March 28 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside the Ashwood Apartments. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by a sprinkler leak. Sprinkler was fixed.

Alarm was reset.

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding being approached by a male (unknown at this time if they are a St. Joe’s student) in Starbucks who made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature. Incident under investigation.

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

1

On campus

0

Off campus

DRUG RELATED INCIDENTS

0

On campus

0

Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

Opinions

April 3, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

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We are not exempt from scrutiny Confronting The Hawk’s own history Editor in Chief Ana Faguy ’19 Managing Editor Charley Rekstis ’20 Copy Chief Emily Graham ’20 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner Copy Editor Paige Santiago ’19 Copy Editor Kaila Mundell-Hill ’20 News Editor Erin Breen ’19 Assistant News Editor Alex Mark ’20 Assistant News Editor Alysa Bainbridge ’21 Editorial Page Editor Annie Clark ’19 Opinions Editor Dominique Joe ’19 Assistant Opinions Editor Devin Yingling ’22 Lifestyle Editor Alex Hargrave ’20 Assistant Lifestyle Editor Natalie Drum ’20 Assistant Lifestyle Editor Cara Smith ’21

For 90 years, The Hawk has chronicled the history of St. Joe’s. If you want to know how our campus reacted to the end of World War II, the assassination of John F. Kennedy or 9/11, The Hawk has covered it.

Its archives are a practical source of information, but they are also revelatory, sometimes in ways unflattering to both the newspaper and St. Joe’s. As the student newspaper of a university that did not admit women until 1970 and is still close to 80% white, The Hawk has been uniquely positioned to document the prejudices of past eras.

As such, the current Hawk Staff needed to confront our own history of publishing racist content so that we could understand the impact of our legacy on a campus still struggling to be an inclusive place for people of color.

Attitudes of students from a generation ago are visible in editorials like “On Racial Equality,” published in the Oct. 28, 1954 edition of The Hawk.

“It is patently foolish to argue that every Negro is equal to every white man in all things, just as we cannot say that each man is equal to every other man,” the editorial states. “Differences in talent and development, temperament, and physical characteristics are evident.”

This editorial was not the work of a lone, racist student—it was given prominence on the newspaper’s editorial page, representing a consensus from the entire editorial board.

There have been more than a few shameful moments like these in The Hawk’s publication history, including images of blackface.

In 1949, The Hawk published a blackface photograph alongside a news article about Junior Week, a previous university tradition involving student theater performances, including minstrelsy, the practice of white performers dressing up as racist caricatures of

black people.

The photograph features a student in blackface performing the Al Jolson song “My Mammy,” which derives its name from one of the most infamous examples of historical blackface. The “Mammy” caricature became popularized during slavery and in the Jim Crow South, suggesting that enslaved black women were happy and loyal in their bondage.

The Hawk not only published the photograph of a student singing the song “My Mammy,” but praised it as well, writing in the caption that the minstrel performance “brought the house down.”

Like many examples of historical racism at St. Joe’s examined in this issue, the “On Racial Equality” editorial and the photograph of the “My Mammy” performance are examples of a former time, but perhaps not a very different one. The racial slur incident last semester exemplifies that the attitudes of 70 years ago, while not manifesting themselves in minstrel performances, are still present on this campus.

The Hawk’s mistakes in publishing racist content go beyond the years of segregation and Jim Crow. In a 2000 opinions piece published in The Hawk entitled “Racists remain outside the dialogue and the progress,” which encouraged students to unite against on-campus racism, the N-word was printed uncensored multiple times.

The opinions piece itself may have promoted anti-racism efforts at St. Joe’s, but The Hawk’s decision not to censor an inflammatory racial slur with a centuries-long history of dehumanizing black people was irresponsible and may have led some non-black students at the time to believe it was acceptable for them to say and write the word.

To effectively move forward as a campus dealing with present-day racism at our

school, we need to acknowledge the structures and attitudes that have allowed racism to thrive on this campus for 168 years.

That goes for us, too, as the current Hawk Staff. While we are not directly accountable for what the newspaper published decades ago, there is a responsibility on our part to learn from and acknowledge our own history.

As a media outlet, The Hawk has the potential to reinforce harmful societal attitudes in the content it publishes. Historically, The Hawk has promoted the racist practice of blackface by publishing and praising images of it.

Editorials like “On Racial Equality” had the potential to set a tone for how race was discussed on campus. By affirming rather than challenging racist attitudes of the day, The Hawk was complicit.

To dismiss these previous publications as “products of their time” would be to ignore their present-day ramifications.

Whether it’s a fashion designer creating and selling items resembling blackface, an offhand comment or a racial slur on a dorm room door, the influence of historical racism is visible everyday.

By acknowledging the harm The Hawk’s racist content caused at the time of their printing, we hope to set a precedent for self-evaluation for the entire St. Joe’s community.

—The Hawk Staff

The Hawk welcomes Letters to the Editor, typically no more than 300 words. They can be emailed to hawk.editorial@gmail.com.

Corrections In the March 27 article “Sustainability efforts in bloom” The Hawk mistakenly stated the person in the middle of the photo was Olivia Connolly ’21. The person in the middle of the photo is Rose Morizzo ’21.

Sports Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Sam Britt ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Ryan Mulligan ’21 Creative Director Kelly Smith ’19 Photo Editor Mitchell Shields ’22

LIQUOR AT WAWA Our favorite more-than-a-convenience store just became even more of a necessity. Wawa recently paid over $186,000 for a liquor license at an auction, with plans to open a Philadelphia store legally able to sell liquor. We have a suggested location: 54th and City Avenue.

FALL REGISTRATION Selecting classes for a new year is always stressful, whether you’re a first-year or sophomore trying to balance fulfilling major requirements and making it through the GEP, or a junior deciding which electives to take during your final year. Our advice? Enroll in at least one class you’ve always wanted to take (even if you don’t know anyone else taking it).

TAX DAY If you have been paid on the books for a job in the last year, congratulations: you have paid taxes. And if you file your taxes before April 15, you may get some of that money back in the form of a tax return. If you’re getting one, spend it wisely (not all in one weekend).

HOT COFFEE SEASON IS OVER It’s April, which means it’s time to switch back to iced coffee. While we appreciate caffeine in any form, there’s something to be said for the comforting tradition of drinking hot coffee when the weather outside is frigid. Of course, if you’re one of those people who drinks hot coffee year round, go for it. Your coffee drinking habits need no validation from others.

A NEW COACH ANNOUNCED The university announced last week that our men’s basketball team officially has a new head coach in Billy Lange, former assistant coach to the Philadelphia 76ers. We look forward to welcoming him to Hawk Hill and seeing what he has to offer.

MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM RECRUITS DECOMMITTING Recruits for the 2019 basketball season continue to announce their plans to decommit from the team, the most recent of whom was Jameer Nelson Jr., who announced last week that he was reopening his recruitment. While we understand why these players would want to commit to a new team in the wake of Phil Martelli’s departure, it’s always a shame to lose any Hawk, current or prospective.

Social Media Manager Erin Castellano ’20 Assistant Social Media Manager Angela DiMarco ’22 Business Manager Tom Trullinger ’21 Distribution Manager Addie Guyer ’19 Assistant Distribution Manager Gavin O’Reilly ’20

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April 3, 2019

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Jordan Peele is the next Jordan Peele Comparing Peele to white filmmakers diminishes his art's impact KAILA MUNDELL-HILL ’20 Columnist “Us,” the latest film in the Jordan Peele horror-verse, proved to fans of the genre like myself that horror movies can and should be more than just jump scares.

Peele masterfully combines elements of horror and comedy, creating a sense of uneasiness and subverting that tension with dad jokes or childish quips.

As writer, director and producer, Peele sustains this sense of uneasiness, bringing the audience into this fantastical and deeply terrifying world where tethered souls are trying to gain dominance over their hosts.

Peele is the kind of filmmaker that gives the audience all the clues if they’re willing to work for it. For example, although Lupita Nyong’o’s “Red” seems to deliver a clear villainous speech near the beginning of the movie, as the movie reaches its end you will find yourself rethinking and reframing what she said.

Throughout the movie, I found myself visualizing a bulletin board where I frantically connected the dots to repeated symbols or phrases, mirroring or foreshadowing another scene. Peele injects fun into “Us,” just as he did with his directorial debut “Get Out,” allowing the audience to come along on a carnival ride of horrors.

In its opening weekend, “Us” garnered $70 million, becoming the largest opening weekend for an original horror movie. Peele’s directorial debut premiered only two years ago and in that short span of time, Peele has established himself as a canonical filmmaker in a seemingly oversaturated genre.

Accompanied by the movie’s success and critics’ love of the film, Peele has been com-

pared to the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg. And while these comparisons may seem like compliments, they reduce Peele’s art to that of comparison.

When Peele set out to make “Get Out” and “Us,” I don’t think he was intending to make horror movies that reminded the audi-

own camera techniques and signature music choices that will cause future filmmakers to pay homage to him. Peele is deserving of praise that recognizes him for his art, not how his art is reminiscent of another artist.

Not only have these comparisons bothered me, but also the uproar I observed on

ILLUSTRATION: OLIVIA HEISTERKAMP ’19/THE HAWK

ence of their favorite horror flick. Peele is an artist whose goal is not only to scare us, but to tell a story with subtext, foreshadowing and character development.

While Peele may pay homage to classic films in the horror canon through camera techniques or color schemes, he should be recognized as the one establishing his

social media after Peele said, “I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie. Not that I don’t like white dudes. But I’ve seen that movie.”

While this statement was taken by some to mean Peele is exclusionary when making his movies, critics failed to acknowledge what else Peele said in this interview: “I get to cast

black people in my movies. I feel fortunate to be in this position where I can say to Universal, ‘I want to make a $20 million horror movie with a black family.’”

As a black director infiltrating a genre dominated by stories featuring white families, Peele’s response is valid. I have also seen “that” movie. We all have. By centering black people in his films, especially in a genre where we are virtually nonexistent save the token black character who is killed in the beginning, Peele is creating a new subgenre within horror that includes his greatest love: comedy.

Peele is a skilled comedian, one half of the duo Key & Peele who established themselves in American pop culture as being practically synonymous with the word “comedy.”

In the same way that comedy and comedy sketches are not always viewed as serious art-forms, the horror genre has a reputation of being oversaturated with gore and cheap jump scares.

Peele’s “Get Out” and “Us” prove to hardcore horror fans, and the general public alike, that a horror movie can tell a compelling story. That a master of comedy can also master suspense, traversing the two genres simultaneously and effortlessly.

And because Peele “gets to” cast black people in his movies and push boundaries within a stagnant film genre and film industry as a whole, he has already set himself apart from Hitchcock or Spielberg.

He has only released two movies, yet there are already elements in his films that I perceive to be his signature: the “Peele stare,” a close up shot where the actor stares shocked and longingly down the barrel of the lens; or his lack of fear of using modern songs (especially hip-hop/R&B) as storytelling tools.

With “Us” and any future features he produces, Peele is ushering in a new era of horror films that is long overdue, and that I happily welcome.

What is your cancellation policy?

Discussing the prominence of “canceled culture” DEVIN YINGLING ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor “Nope, that’s it, he’s canceled” or “That’s it, they are officially canceled” are statements I hear in conversations just about everyday on campus.

A boy in a frat hits you up after you left the party where he didn’t talk to you the whole time?

Boom, he’s “canceled.” Your professor put a question on the exam that they insisted you wouldn’t need to study? Done deal, he or she is “canceled.” This phenomena of cancellation has been dubbed by many as “canceled culture.”

So what exactly is “canceled culture?”

According to The New York Times “[canceling] is an act of withdrawing from someone whose expression — whether political, artistic or otherwise — was once welcome or at least tolerated, but no longer is.”

It seems like a straightforward concept.

If an institution or an individual person does something “wrong,” then their music, their movies or the product they are heavily associated with is no longer acceptable to listen to, watch or buy.

But unfortunately, what people deem “right” or “wrong” is too subjective to definitively define. For example, some people might cancel R. Kelly due to his charges of sexual abuse and therefore delete the Ignition Remix off of their phone immediately.

And yet, there are still people who try to separate the artist from the art or the industry from the product. In their minds,

dissent, I can only ask, what is the point in “canceling?”

Though it is a popular saying in today’s culture, I really do feel as though “canceling” something or someone carries a significant amount of weight. It shows that there are people who are noticing the fact that what a person or a corporation does permeates into their product or art just the same.

If you are able to make the conscious choice to “cancel” someone or something in the first place, then you are able to make conscious decisions a good majority of the time to try and support the views you hold to be “positive” or “good.” yes, R. Kelly committed heinous crimes but “I Believe I Can Fly” is just too classic to stop listening to altogether. Or, yes, ChickFil-A is constantly in the news for leaning incredibly conservative by supporting homophobic organizations and policy, but who doesn’t love Chick-Fil-A sauce?

With this dichotomous opinion forming towards anything open to support or

It is quite difficult to separate the creator from its creation, and by giving your support to something that is made by an entity espousing views you don’t like or is inherently “wrong,” then you are inadvertently supporting those views or actions you don’t hold in high regard.

However, this gets hazy. People and organizations aren’t always transparent.

Living in a fast-paced and interconnected world makes it increasingly more difficult to avoid these entities that you disagree with. And if everything is being nullified, then what’s left?

Well, I have to say that quite a bit is left. There are thousands of artists who are free of serious criminal charges and plenty more places to grab lunch on the way to class other than Chick-Fil-A. So I believe it is possible to separate art from the artist or a product from the corporation. If you are able to make the conscious choice to “cancel” someone or something in the first place, then you are able to make conscious decisions a good majority of the time to try and support the views you hold to be “positive” or “good.”

That part is on you, and it’s absolutely possible to do. Pop culture is always rife for new and interesting things that people can concern themselves with. And even better, those things aren’t being accused of sexual abuse or denying people their fundamental rights.

So, I know that Chick-Fil-A sandwiches are good, but I also hold that LGBTQ rights are human rights, and thus outweigh the value of a sandwich at an insurmountable level. Boom, canceled.

Opinions 7

April 3, 2019

Black or African American?

A perspective of how to address black people and why CAMILLE LODUGNON ’22 Guest Columnist Black or African American? Some people prefer to be called African American, others prefer to be called black, and some people don’t mind at all. To other people of color and white people, there isn’t much of a difference. To them, both descriptors seem to be the same, but to black and African American people, there’s a huge difference.

Before writing this article, I didn’t mind being called either, but there was a reason for that. My parents are from the Ivory Coast, which is in West Africa. I’ve been grateful enough to be able to visit at least once a year, and many of my family members still live there.

I know my roots in Africa. I’ve been there, and I’m part of the first generation in my family that was born in the U.S. Many black people don’t know their roots in Africa because they might not be able to trace their ancestry back that far.

I asked many of my friends how they felt about being called black or African American.

A friend of mine, Khyla Jackson, who goes to Temple University, recently explained to me that her blackness stems from Africa, but not everyone else’s does.

Most of my friends preferred to be called black over African American because they, like many others, believe that being called black is more inclusive of the places that blackness can stem from.

Like Khyla said, not everyone’s blackness stems from Africa, meaning because of colo-

nization not everyone has the opportunity to know their origins in Africa. When you say black, that includes all black people, including Haitians, Afro-Caribbeans and Afro-Latinx people. It is not exclusive of just people with origins in Africa who are also American; it is

And though many people were taken from Africa, the term African American doesn’t take into account that not all black and African American people were brought to America, they were also brought to countries all over the world.

ILLUSTRATION: OLIVIA HEISTERKAMP ’19/THE HAWK

open to all people.

When I asked another friend, Jala Cosley, a first-year student here at St. Joe’s, about her thoughts about the term “African American,” she explained that when she thinks of the term she believes people are insinuating that black or African American people immigrated here. Jala explained that in the same way that someone says Irish American, Spanish American or even Italian American, there is the assumption that these were people who came to the U.S. willingly.

For Jala, it’s not right for someone to call black people African American if their family endured slavery in the U.S. There was no willing choice there.

During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, there were so many enslaved people brought to many different countries, so there is no way to trace back to see exactly where in Africa they came from.

People who were taken from Africa and were brought to other countries don’t identify as African American because that isn’t their identity. They identify as Haitian American or Caribbean American, because that’s where their ancestors were taken as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This shows that black and African American people are still feeling the effects of the slave trade today, in more ways than one.

Black and African American people were kidnapped and taken all over the world. Many people aren’t able to trace their family history back to a time before slavery. And even if they could, many of them can’t just get up and go to their native country if they don’t know anyone there. Jala is right. When you say African American, it’s almost like forgetting the history of slavery or ignoring it.

While I formerly didn’t mind being called African American, the more I looked into the history behind it, the more I didn’t want to be called African American, despite my African heritage.

The term African American is another way to divide black people. It’s another way to differentiate some black people from other black people. It’s an excuse to say that African American people are more authentic than black people.

In reality, we are all black, we were all colonized, and at the end of the day, racist people won’t look at us thinking that one type of black or African American person is better than the other. We were are all viewed as inferior, and we are still viewed that way today.

For years, though, black and African American people were forcibly taken from their countries and sent to the U.S. and many other countries. They were never looked at as Americans. They were looked down upon, the lowest of the low.

And in many ways we are still looked down upon and still the lowest of the low. The term African American was coined from a long history of systematic racism. Being called black is more inclusive for all people, unlike African American which is exclusive to people with African ancestry.

Boutiquing diversity A case study in normalizing ignorance AISHA D. LOCKRIDGE, Ph.D. Guest Columnist Narratives about campus racism, almost exclusively, rest in tales of individual injustice.

Like clockwork, campuses experience a racist incident too difficult to recast: some students protest, some staff and faculty support from the sidelines, and on occasion, upper administration performs a public discourse about improving campus culture.

Then, it happens again. It is easy to get discouraged—to think hope is for chumps.

The failure of anti-racist progress at St. Joe’s rests on willful ignorance: an insistence that individual acts of racism exist apart from the structural racism the institution perpetuates. St. Joe’s has created safe spaces but has not done enough to question who it keeps safe or why. This is a narrative about structure or how to make learning about diversity a boutique experience.

Relegating sustained engagement on race and inequality to segregated, compulsory diversity courses, taught largely by underrepresented bodies, directly contributes to individual racism. That is, refusing to acknowledge the existence of institutional racism leads to racial epithets being scribbled on black girls’ doors. The refusal perpetuates the problem.

The university has an idea about what makes a well-rounded student and structured the General Education Program (GEP) to ac-

complish this. It consists of about 15 courses across a variety of fields, including a signature core, a set of courses that particularly captures the St. Joe’s mission.

Part of that mission states that the university “striv[es] to be an inclusive and diverse community that educates and cares for the whole person [...] encourag[ing] and model[ing] lifelong commitment to thinking critically, making ethical decisions, pursuing social justice.” To accomplish this, there is a diversity requirement. Rather than a specific course or set of courses, this requirement exists as an

choose a theology elective from a predetermined list. Students are required to gain basic information on the subject before they are able to choose advanced electives.

There is no assumption about students’ theological pre-knowledge and no concern about enforcing too much constriction on what, when and how a student should best gain a rudimentary understanding of theology. This example is not about theology; it is a portrait of an institutional structure which supports an ideological investment.

Juxtapose the kind of scaffolding seen in

The failure of anti-racist progress at St. Joe’s rests on willful ignorance: an insistence that individual acts of racism exist apart from the structural racism the institution perpetuates. overlay (along with writing and ethics).

This means students gain knowledge about race, inequality and social justice through another subject. It is a laissez-faire approach that assumes a knowledge that the racist incidents on campus.

When ideas are important we do not only say that they are, we create and sustain structures that secure their existence. Consider the intentionality with which theological instruction is approached at St. Joe’s. The GEP outlines that a specific course be taken first, Theology 154: Faith, Reason, and the Catholic Tradition before students are allowed to

theology to the total lack thereof in the university’s diversity requirement.

First, there are no standalone diversity courses. Students are always required to learn about diversity through the lens of another subject. Little diversity information is provided about these courses beyond the title. There are no prerequisites other than those that may exist for the broader course subject. There is no expectation of or pre-preparation for the diversity component of the course.

Collectively, there is no structure for informed or sustained engagement with diverse learning in the St. Joe’s curriculum. It

may be present and it may occur, but there is little institutional infrastructure to ensure that it happens in any meaningful way. The institution says that diversity is important, but it has not created a structure that reflects its stated significance.

And then there is how we define diversity at St. Joe’s—ask a student here and you are likely to get any variety of answers. An informal survey in one of my diversity classes resulted in a range of answers centering on black/white American racism. It is how public discourse around diversity happens at St. Joe’s.

Racist acts sometimes lead to outcry, sometimes lead to public progress narratives. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Taking the university’s lead, how easy might it be for a student to question the necessity, validity, value of diverse instruction?

Our institution’s documents say we value diversity. On paper the institution provides detailed descriptions of what it is, offers an array of courses never taught, in programs that exist only in its imagination and memory. With little prior engagement, exposure, experience, practice and information, it is easy to imagine how the relevance of a diverse literature/history/music/marketing/etc. course might seem nice if one has the time or the inclination, but utterly unnecessary.

By compelling students to conform to a structure that they have not been taught how to question, St. Joe’s is complicit in fostering ignorance. This ignorance is not happenstance.

It is structural.

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April 3, 2019

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Elizabeth Warren has authenticity Look to the Massachusetts Senator as a serious 2020 candidate JULIAN LUTZ ’19 Columnist We’re 20 months away from the 2020 presidential election, and five months away from the first Democratic Party debate, but news and Twitter junkies have been working overtime to lock in first impressions of candidates: Beto is the shallow, privileged cool dad; Biden is the old man who once caped for systemic racism; Kamala Harris is the phony, former problematic prosecutor; Bernie is either perfect or terrible and so on.

But when we let ourselves think like this, we miss out on promising candidates with promising platforms. So far, few are as underrated as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Warren became a household name for her work strengthening consumer protection law, but lately she’s seen other candidates rack up greater Google searches and news coverage. She’s seen herself written off as a scolding “Lisa Simpson” figure who can’t cut it in the world of politics-as-pro-wrestling.

Nevertheless, she persists, and if we open our minds just a bit, we see real policy promise conveyed with authenticity—maybe the perfect antidote to President Donald Trump.

To understand why Warren and her platform are promising, consider Bernie Sanders. Although a recent poll found that the two least desirable traits in a candidate were “over 75” and “a socialist,” Sanders sits at the front of most polls.

Name recognition and vague frustrations with “the system” are a part of Sanders’ strength, but most people who know of him also know that he (constantly) talks about free public college, higher taxes on the richest few and Medicare for all.

Sanders’ platform is popular because in

poll after poll, Americans want a stronger social safety net, even when they quibble over the details. They want that safety net because so many Americans have felt the visceral grind of inequality.

People are surviving by working multiple shifts with inconsistent hours, dealing with wage theft, age, gender and racial harassment, all for less money and to still live

Recognizing that pain, Warren has laid down a platform that addresses these specific needs step-by-step. Her housing plan encourages the market to build more housing and lower rents, but it also protects poorer renters and people of color from predatory practices.

In the workplace, Warren would mandate that 40% of the boards of America’s largest companies are elected by workers.

gans aren’t enough, and a good candidate needs a clear plan.

The end result is a platform that recognizes both the free market’s power and the government’s responsibility to make corrections when millions play by the rules and barely survive.

Warren’s plans are more than a slogan.

They are smarter than socialism and a breath of fresh air to millions of disconnected Americans trapped between overly incremental Democrats and rich, cynical, inept Republicans.

If the lazy joke is that socialists need to retake Econ 101, Warren’s platform is rooted in Econ 102—correcting market failures.

It’s popular, it’s paid for, and, in the words of Vox’s Matthew Yglesias, it “saves capitalism” instead of neutering it.

All of this comes from Warren’s own experiences. Her family barely scraped by, and was further debilitated when her father had a heart attack. Warren started working at the age of thirteen, and made her way through college balancing scholarships and family obligations.

She then spent her career becoming an expert in bankruptcy and the finances of working class life and ran for office to fight for consumer financial protection.

A grounded, vivid tone is needed in a noisy world where Trump holds the loudest bullhorn. Trump’s solutions are shallow, fake and contradictory, but he succeeded with them because they spoke to people’s fears and prejudices in a way that felt realer than any other politicians’. The New York Times and former BBC editor Mark Thompson gives this phony realness the name “authenticism.”

In 2020, the best cure for Trump's "authenticism" is true authenticity, because you can’t fake real solutions and real experience.

And Warren doesn’t have to.

WARREN WARREN WARREN RREN WARREN WARREN WARREN N WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN ARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN RREN WARREN WARREN WARREN EN WARREN WARREN WARREN REN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARREN WARR N WARREN WARREN WA WARREN WARREN WARRE ILLUSTRATION: OLIVIA HEISTERKAMP ’19/THE HAWK

in fear of eviction, medical emergencies or a loved one’s violent death.

It’s hard to express how this feels if you’ve never felt it—the moment that your sick days, financial aid and your faith that America will find you an answer, all run out.

This will stop the short-term thinking that leads to overworking and shipping jobs overseas. Even her controversial “wealth tax” and proposal to break up monopolies speak to her underlying ethic: that the government needs to level the playing field. Slo-

Moving forward from the Mueller report Rehashing 2016 will benefit neither party BRENDAN KILEY ’19 Columnist The Mueller investigation has culminated into a dark cloud long hovering over American politics. Whether you see it as a witch hunt or a noble crusade for justice, it has always

been lurking.

The investigation had the capacity to change everything for the Trump presidency, and many hoped it would.

Now, as the initial letter from Attorney General William Barr has surfaced, and a full redacted version of the report is set to be released in mid-April, it is clear that nothing has changed.

For almost two years, former FBI Director Robert Mueller and his team have been investigating the Trump 2016 campaign team for evidence of election collusion with Russia.

Even after the perp walks of a few crooks and cranks that Trump kept in his circle, the special counsel found that “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

Lest the MAGA world jump for joy, there was also another important passage taken from the Mueller report in Barr’s letter stating “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not

exonerate him.” This quote gives a lot of room for doubt, and the president has his fair share of doubters.

Run with whichever quote you want, but the cloud of collusion and investigation still hovers above us regardless. According to a poll from the Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, 83% of Americans want the report in its entirety. Much of the report will be redacted for national security concerns, but it will still be the length of a great Russian novel.

in 10 Democrats do not accept the findings of the special counsel.

The question of collusion should not be polarizing all the way down. The truth really does matter, and the truth might be complicated. It is true that President Trump’s behavior with regards to Russian interference in American elections and how he has overseen the Mueller investigation has been nothing short of convoluted.

During the 2016 presidential race, Trump proclaimed, “Russia, if you're listening, I hope

There is still the odd chance that the Mueller Report really does have some sort of bombshell that leads to a reckoning. However, don’t hold your breath. The Mueller report will likely not solve anything.

The 83% of Americans have work, the NBA playoffs to watch and homework to do.

Not to mention that most of the report in its entirety will be mind numbingly boring. Very few people will actually read the full report, and what people get out of it is likely to reaffirm the mindset they had before reading.

This sort of calcifying of mindsets is already in full swing. Now that the Mueller report points to no collusion, the Post-Schar poll says that nearly eight in 10 Republicans are satisfied with a report that many detested a month ago. Not to be outdone, more than six

you’ll be able to find the 30,000 emails [Hillary Clinton’s emails] that are missing.” In any sort of decent form of public discourse this statement is disqualifying, and with every “witch hunt” tweet, he undermined the investigation in the eyes of millions of Americans.

Even if Trump did not collude with Russian authorities, there will likely be passages in the Mueller report that are embarrassing and reflect poorly on Trump and his administration.

Provided Barr does not redact all of the parts that reflect poorly on the Trump cam-

paign and administration, the releasing of the Mueller report will not be a complete political victory for Trump and his administration.

If Democrats are really relying on the Mueller report as a key cog in the impeachment machine, they will surely be disappointed. With an eye toward 2020, it would be in the best interest of Democrats not to focus on impeachment and the never ending 2016 election speculations.

Running against a president you hope is impeached before you actually have to run against him sends a strange message.

Running against a supposed-populist who is more satisfied with traditional Republican client politics with the corporate class is a much more powerful one.

If Republicans use the “move on” argument that Democrats used during the Clinton administration and Democrats with presidential aspirations move away from the politics of Russia-gate, both parties might actually be better off.

Congressional Democrats can and should continue to investigate the Trump family’s extensive conflicts of interest in their business dealings. There is still the odd chance that the Mueller Report really does have some sort of bombshell that leads to a reckoning.

However, don’t hold your breath. The Mueller report will likely not solve anything.

The Trump show will go on through 2020 at the very least, and the 2016 election may keep spiraling.

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

April 3, 2019

Spring Concert 2019 Featuring DJ Pauly D & Sean Kingston Wednesday, April 10th Doors will OPEN at 7:45pm and CLOSE at 9:30pm - No Exceptions

The following items will not be permitted in Hagan Arena: o Bags bigger than a 5x7 inch clutch o Audio or video recording devices o Alcohol o Drugs o Smoking including the use of cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and the like

o Containers or liquids of any kind o Weapons of any kind o Fireworks o Large chains or spiked bracelets o Silly string o Laser pens

All guests must show printed e-ticket (phones will not work) Only people with backstage passes are permitted backstage.

NO RE-ENTRY | NO ONE UNDER 18 ALLOWED IN THE VENUE STUDENTS AND/OR GUESTS WHO ARE VISIBLY UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND/OR DISRUPTIVE WILL BE ESCORTED OUT OF THE VENUE

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April 3, 2019

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

Spring Concert 2019

LiMM BALANCES BEING A STUDENT AND MUSICIAN EMILY BENDOCK ’21 Hawk Staff ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Lifestyle Editor With over 1,500 monthly Spotify listeners and thousands of streams, rapper AlimKarim Kamara ’20, better known by his stage name “LiMM,” has made a name for himself at St. Joe’s.

LiMM will be a student opener along with the Sweeney Sisters for the 2019 Spring Concert on April 10, featuring Sean Kingston and DJ Pauly D as headliners. He was also a student opener for the 2017 Spring Concert that featured Mac Miller.

“The first time I opened up in 2017 was actually one of my very first shows,” LiMM said. “Looking back at it now, I don’t feel like I was ready to take on the stage. This year feels different.”

Three years into his career, LiMM said he has performed over 40 times.

In his first year at St. Joe’s, LiMM released the album “The Hawk Tape Vol. 1” with his friend Noah Gansallo ’21, better known as NxG. The album includes songs like “Anthem,” “Come Up” and “No Luv.” LiMM was born in Africa, growing up in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

“I was born into the civil war,” LiMM said. “My mom and I ended up in Canada, and my dad ended up in Philly. We split up.”

After about 10 years in Canada, LiMM moved to Philadelphia when he was 12 years old. His classmates at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School came up with the nickname “Limmy,” which is the source of his stage name.

“When I started making music, I found the name to be kind of childish, or not what I wanted it to be,” LiMM said. “I shortened it I guess so people could take it more seriously.”

Managing a music career as a student keeps LiMM busy. He heads to studios in South Philly and Manayunk to record his music and work with producers one to four times per week, depending on his schedule.

“It’s almost like having two jobs,” LiMM said. “The morning and day time that is school time, but when your done with that and it’s after hours, that’s studio and music time. It’s a lot of sleepless nights.”

John Grady ’21 met LiMM last year through mutual friends and started hanging out with the rapper. That friendship comes

LiMM dropped a new album called “The Statement” on March 29. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

with some fringe benefits, like being able to preview music before LiMM releases it.

“It’s cool being friends with him, because I get a behind-the-scenes look of what goes into what he does, like his practicing, his work that goes into his music,” Grady said.

Grady also appeared in a few of Limm’s music videos such as “Who Run It (Freestyle),” “Shout to Win,” and “Come Up” which was released in December 2018. “[My experience in ‘Who Run It (Freestyle)’] was actually really fun,” Grady said.

“He had this whole idea from the start, and we just followed his lead. We got to film it in a local convenience store, blasting music around, going crazy in the dorm room and Drexel Arms.”

LiMM said he is inspired by Drake and other artists who are able to make a living off of music without being mainstream. He described his composing process as “freestyle.”

“I will play the beat over and over and catch a vibe, and I’ll voice record it, then go back and write it down,” LiMM said.

LiMM also said he writes his music from personal experience as well as others’ experiences. His most popular song on Spotify with over 111,000 streams is “Come Up,”

which is based on personal experience.

“It was just the fact that I had been working so hard in school and in my music, I was just overwhelmed with the feeling that as crazy as it seemed, no matter how bad I wanted to stop, I knew it was going to pay off,” LiMM said.

LiMM said he hasn’t experienced any criticism for explicit language, but Grady said otherwise.

“People have questioned him about it,” Grady said. “But, I think it’s just kind of a form of expression in a way, it’s not meant with any malicious intent. I don’t have a problem with it, but I know some people may.”

On LiMM’s Spotify account, there are 11 songs that are flagged as explicit content. On their website, Spotify notes, “Our explicit content tags are applied based on information we receive from rights-holders. We can’t guarantee all explicit content is marked as such.”

Beth Hagovsky, director of Student Leadership and Activities, oversees the Spring Concert. Hagovsky said that all performers, both headliners and student openers, agree not to sing songs that contain any sort of offensive language.

“They also are not supposed to play a song that bleeps those words out, because then it still encourages people in the crowd to sing along and say those words which we’re trying to avoid,” Hagovsky said.

“LiMM agreed to that. That was the only way he got through the contest.”

Performers who auditioned for a spot as a student opener for the 2019 Spring Concert had to follow these guidelines in their audition videos and the audition in The Perch as well. Hagovsky said that LiMM did not adhere to these guidelines in his initial audition tape to get into the contest. “[LiMM] re-submitted a tape and it was considered appropriate, so he was able to be in the contest, and then he won, so that’s great,” Hagovsky said.

LiMM said he created music that fit Hagovsky’s guidelines specifically for the concert on April 10.

“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue for me,” LiMM said. “I’ve actually had performance tracks made specifically for SJU’s Spring Concert for a while now, honestly before the contest that decided the Spring Concert opener.”

SPRING CONCERT 2019 PLAYLIST CARA SMITH ’21 Assistant Lifestyle Editor The 2019 Spring Concert, headlined

by Sean Kingston and DJ Pauly D, is on the horizon. Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena will be bumping with their tunes along with student opener, LiMM. Here is a playlist that highlights the best hits from Kingston, Pauly D and LiMM. Be ready to sing along to these hits.

“Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston No song can take you back to 2007 like this one. Kingston’s upbeat rhythm and lyrics will have you chanting the words along with him. If this song doesn’t boost your mood immediately, I don’t know what will.

“Back To Love” by DJ Pauly D With Pauly D’s fast-paced techno

rhythm, it isn’t hard to understand why the song has more than three million plays on Spotify. Jay Sean is featured on the track, adding his own unique voice to the song. In addition to being Pauly D’s most popular song, there have been multiple remixes made from the original single.

“All Day (feat. Itzel)” by LiMM St. Joe’s junior LiMM combines his typical style of rapping with some softer singing on this track. LiMM collaborated with another artist, Itzel, to add additional voice to the song. With catchy lyrics and amazing vocals, it is difficult to get this song out of your head.

“Fire Burning” by Sean Kingston While listening to this hit record from Kingston, it is nearly impossible not to get up and dance. Released in 2009, this track has stood the test of time while still being

a fan favorite today with over 70 million listens on Spotify. Play this song and have a vivid flashback to your uncomfortable middle school dance days.

“Back To Love (Candle Light Mix)” by DJ Pauly D (feat. Jay Sean) With a slower beat and isolated vocals, this song brings a more relaxed element to the playlist. Although the lyrics are the same as the original “Back To Love,” it sounds like a completely different song. Sit back, unwind and put on music from everybody’s favorite Jersey Shore cast member.

“Smoke Signals” by Sean Kingston “Smoke Signals” is a song that was included in Kingston’s most recent album “Back 2 Life.” Although not one of his most popular songs, it is an underrated find that pairs nicely with his other hits

from the early 2000s.

“Patience” by LiMM This song is on LiMM’s album “Lessons You Should Learn” that was released in 2017. This track’s lyrics detail the complexity of navigating new relationships.

With a beat that will remind you of summer, it is the perfect song for escaping a gloomy day on campus.

Scan this QR code to listen to the playlist on Spotify.

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

April 3, 2019

11

Opening Acts

Jordan Sweeney ’21 and Taylor Sweeney ’19 will perform at the Spring Concert for the second year in a row. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

SWEENEY SISTERS SHARE THEIR PASSION FOR DANCE ANNIE MACKERT ’21 Special to The Hawk Taylor Sweeney ’19 and Jordan Sweeney ’21 started dancing when they were just 3 years old. Their mother signed them up without giving them much of a choice in the matter.

According to Taylor, when children start taking dance classes, they have to start off with the basics, tap and ballet.

This often causes young dancers to lose interest, because they do not want to practice the intricate dances they learn in class.

Taylor and Jordan’s mom kept them motivated by inspiring them to be like their favorite actress.

“Our mom would say, ‘Miley Cyrus would not be Hannah Montana if she did not practice or she didn’t stick with it and really work on her singing and dancing, you should practice,’” Taylor said. “We started to like it more and more once we stuck with it.”

Taylor and Jordan’s mother, Jeanette Sweeney, said she first wanted them to be involved in dance for the social aspect.

“I signed up Taylor for dance, because she was being cared for by her grandmother at home as an infant while I worked full time,” Jeanette said. “I felt

she needed social interaction outside my home, because it was just Taylor and my mom day in and day out.”

Jordan and Taylor decided to switch dance studios when they were in high school to focus on a new style they loved: hip-hop.

“It is the one style of dance in which I find all things that I’ve taken from learning various styles of dance combined: power, emotion, texture, precision, energy, technique, lyrical expression, storytelling,” Taylor said.

They spent most of their dance career at a small studio in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which was more focused on tap and ballet, so they said they were a little behind in hiphop when they arrived at Morton’s Dance Center in Landisville, Pennsylvania.

Jordan and Taylor were members of the studio’s hip-hop competition team.

Their goal was to be as advanced in hiphop as the other members of their new studio. Taylor said it took four or five months before they started to blend in with the rest of the team.

“We had our own sort of flair that differed from the other dancers, who had only trained with [our new coach] and had not had the extensive technical training that we had,” Taylor said. “We wanted

to continue to transition into that ideal hip-hop dancer that we were constantly looking up to, which meant we wanted to be hard-hitting, clean and precise.”

Now, Taylor and Jordan, known around campus as the Sweeney Sisters, are performing before the headliners at the 2019 Spring Concert for the second year in a row. The 2018 Spring Concert was the duo’s first performance in front of their peers at St. Joe’s.

“People knew we danced from our Instagram videos, and we had received positive feedback from that, but it was overwhelming how much love and support we received before, during and after spring concert last year,” Taylor said.

After the buzz from their performance at the Spring Concert in 2018, they created a club on campus called Hip-Hop Hawks, where they choreograph for dancers with varying skill sets, from beginner to advanced.

They said they created Hip-Hop Hawks to provide a welcoming and judgement-free environment for people who want to dance. For the duo, dancing is about self-expression, so the club allows Taylor and Jordan to pass the opportunity to be creative and expressive on to others.

“We are providing [the ability to ex-

press yourself] for other people and learning from other people, like we did our whole lives” Jordan said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are. If you love it you can be good at it.”

Every Friday, Taylor and Jordan stand at the front of O’Pake Recreation Center’s multipurpose room to teach dancers a new combination set to popular music.

Donald Morris ’19 is a member of Hip-Hop Hawks, and he said he loves the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere of the club. He said he always wanted to take dance classes, but never brought himself to do it until now.

“It’s flexible and allows people to come and go when they want,” Morris said.

“They are also so open. You don’t even have to have experience dancing. You could go and freestyle the entire time if you wanted to. It really is a judgment free zone.”

The Sweeney Sisters will have three to four minutes on stage to perform before headliners Sean Kingston and DJ Pauly D at the 2019 Spring Concert on April 10.

“I love performing and the hype and adrenaline rush that comes with it, but the bottom line is we really just love being on stage together and showcasing something that we put our time and effort into creating, practicing and growing in,” Taylor said.

12

April 3, 2019

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

Watch out for First Watch CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Managing Editor Let me egg-splain the next place in this brunch series to you very simply: delicious. First Watch in Wynnewood has one philosophy: serving fresh food that doesn’t follow the typical time restrictions of when breakfast should end and where lunch should start.

I went to First Watch on a whim with a few friends, one of which loves the restaurant so much that she has the app.

Apparently, there’s always a long wait.

It’s not so much of a problem, because right inside the entrance, there’s free coffee for you while you wait and newspapers for you to read in the meantime.

First Watch is a breakfast/lunch place, no dinner allowed. It was made for the morning and therefore is a place for you to get brunch every day of the week. It opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 2:30 p.m.

The atmosphere of the place is very welcoming and comfortable. It’s a bright setting with lighter colors, allowing you to start your early morning or afternoon with something positive.

There’s plenty of seating with both booths and small tables. You could go there on a date or with 10 of your friends and they could accommodate you. I appreciated this variety, because some places don’t seem to think of party size as much.

Another great thing about First Watch

is the menu. It’s very large and mindful of food allergies. I was confident I wouldn't accidentally eat a tree nut, which is a win.

There’s both an egg and an omelet section, as well as a griddle section with multiple sweet breakfast foods if that’s what you’re looking for.

They also have a healthy selection with items like avocado toast and granola bowls.

However, don’t confuse that with the power bowl section they also have.

If you are more of a lunch food person when you go to brunch, then go to the other side of the menu where there are salads and sandwiches waiting for you.

When you are finally seated, they offer you a pot of coffee. They take pride in their Project Sunrise Coffee from Huila, Columbia, and I agree it is an excellent cup of coffee.

However, I regret getting the hot coffee instead of the iced coffee. My friends ordered the iced and it was creamy and sweet, reminding me of the iced coffee I had in Italy that I still dream about.

After perusing the vast menu, I ordered the Farmhouse Hash which was two eggs cooked however I wanted (over easy) with potatoes. Though there are three types of skillet hash, the specific farmhouse one came with bacon, avocado, onions and cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.

This meal is pretty much all I ask for when I want a savory breakfast.

All of the foods in this dish fit really

A healthy breakfast selection of avocado toast and an acai bowl at First Watch. PHOTO: GAIL PODLESNEY ’20

well together. I could tell the food was fresh and made right then and there, yet it did not take too long for it to come out despite how busy the restaurant was. It was very filling for only $12.

I call finding First Watch a win. It was not too expensive if you don’t have a lot of money to spend. The wait wasn’t horrible, especially if you have the app and reserve a spot beforehand.

First Watch is a good place to go to with friends and family because there is

something there for everyone. It has an interesting brand that is directed more towards the college generation, but it was also voted “Top Family Dining Restaurant” in 2016, so if you’re looking for a place to take your mom when she comes to visit, this is the place.

They currently have 14 locations ranging from New York to Maryland, but the closest to St. Joe’s is the one in Wynnewood.

Other nearby locations include Villanova and Newtown Square.

A woman with and for others Sister Mary Scullion ’76 visits St. Joe’s ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Lifestyle Editor Sister Mary Scullion ’76 delivered a lecture in honor of women’s history month on March 27 in the Cardinal Foley Campus Center.

Throughout the lecture, she spoke about numerous women who contributed to the Catholic Church, scarcely mentioning her own accomplishments within the Philadelphia community in the past 30 years.

During the question and answer portion of her talk, one community member acknowledged the omission and asked her if she considers herself a visionary. Scullion responded in referencing her work with the nationally recognized organization she co-founded in 1989, Project HOME. “What I’ve learned with Project HOME is that I’ve been transformed by the people involved,” Scullion said. “As part of a community, hearing each others’ stories and working toward a common vision, and I think the common vision is that none of us are home until all of us are home. Working together, that vision has been realized to some extent.”

According to Project HOME’s website, the non-profit combats individuals experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia through affordable housing, employment, health care and education.

Scullion’s visit was funded by the Joseph William and Madeline Eberle Klein Fund, which supports programming that advocates for marginalized groups in the Catholic Church, which in this case is women.

Anne Bole, MSW, lectures and programming assistant for the Faith-Justice Institute, organized the lecture. Bole said that

Sister Mary Scullion speaks about women in the Church. PHOTO: MITCHEL SHIELDS ’22 /THE HAWK

Scullion’s hands-on work in the community makes her a visionary.

“What makes [Scullion] remarkable is that she walks with folks living on the margins of society,” Bole said.

Scullion said that women work at the margins of the institutionalized church, which gives them the ability to help other marginalized groups.

“Marginalization, however painful that it is, has also been a gift,” Scullion said.

“Many of the greatest woman saints have experienced God’s truth and God’s love by operating outside many of the institutional challenges and systems.”

In the beginning of her lecture, Scullion acknowledged the upcoming 100 year anniversary of women gaining the right to vote

and was met with applause from the audience. Scullion said that it’s sometimes hard to understand how women go through what they go through and do the things they do.

“All these women that I’ve talked about tonight, all the women in our lives, our mothers, our friends, our sisters, have just gone through amazing things and come out the other side,” Scullion said.

Despite the accomplishments of women in the church, Scullion said the institution is modeled on the patriarchy and continues to operate that way, and she does not see that changing anytime soon.

“My goal is not to get there,” Scullion said in an interview with The Hawk. “My goal is to live as best I can as a faithful follower of Christ. I think that as people live

their lives truthfully, the institutional church is either going to change or it’s going to die.”

Despite graduating from St. Joe's 43 years ago, Scullion’s experiences at the university are channeled into her work today.

She said she specifically remembers her work with Ed Brady, S.J., founder of the Faith-Justice Institute.

“The experience of working with Father Brady on the Eucharistic Congress for two years, the preparation and the actual implementation, that was just such a powerful experience of faith, of inspiration,” Scullion said. “We had the opportunity to do so many service learning projects in soup kitchens, in shelters and other places, and it just changed my life forever.”

Rachel Pardoe ’19 is a service learning placement liaison who works with Project HOME. Pardoe said that Scullion is a figure who embodies the mission of St. Joe’s.

“What she talked about tonight is that a saint isn’t just someone who’s canonized for a specific reason, it’s the people she encounters everyday and the people who inspire her,” Pardoe said. “That speaks to what a community is and she said that the foundation of a lot of her beliefs is that community, and to me, St. Joe’s is a solid community.”

Project HOME created the Hub of Hope, a safe haven for people experiencing homelessness in Suburban Station. Students involved in the weekly service program on campus can volunteer at this site, bringing Scullion’s work full circle. Marginalized groups and St. Joe’s students alike can see the work she has done for the city.

“Where would Philadelphia be without Sister Mary?” Bole said.

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

April 3, 2019

13

With Lange in, who will stay and who will leave?

JAMES MCCLOSKEY JR. ’20 Hawk Staff With the hiring of Billy Lange, former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach, the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team has officially begun a new era.

Lange brings different energy and excitement, and most importantly, a different coaching style.

But what does this mean for the current Hawk players and recruits?

All three St. Joe’s recruits, Hakim Hart, Kenan Sarvan and Jameer Nelson, Jr., have reopened their recruitment process. It's unlikely these players reconsider St. Joe’s with the new hire, but it’s unlikely because they made a commitment to a Martelli-led St. Joe’s team, not Lange’s team.

As far as I can see, the Hawks' roster should remain mostly the same next season, except the graduating class. However, certain players may, and already have, look to transfer.

In fact, on March 31, freshman guard Jared Bynum announced via Twitter his intent to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

This potential loss is a blow to the St. Joe’s roster and fanbase. The versatile guard, who at one time was in the top-five of the NCAA for assist-to-turnover ratio, is going to be difficult to replace.

That won’t be the case for junior guard Ryan Daly, who is almost guaranteed to return for the 2019-2020 season. After transferring from the University of Delaware last season, in order to transfer again, Daly would likely have to sit out the entirety of the 2019-2020 season at another school unless he is granted a waiver by the NCAA. As for redshirt junior guard Lamarr Kimble, I expect him to stay with the Hawks and finish out his collegiate career largely due to his ties to the Philadelphia area.

Redshirt sophomore forward Lorenzo Edwards, it’s a different story.

Players like Edwards, who bring size and shooting ability to the floor, are what Division

I programs look for. Like Bynum, his opportunities outside of St. Joe’s will be vast if he enters the transfer portal.

Graduate transfer Troy Holston and sophomore Anthony Longpre should be here for the 2019-2020 season. Longpre’s lack of offensive and defensive efficiency will likely yield minimal interest from other schools.

The chance of Holston playing his final year at another new school with a completely new team is slim especially with a new coach in the mix for the Hawks. With Lange as head coach, Holston has a fresh start to make his mark with the Hawks.

Redshirt sophomore Charlie Brown will likely declare for the 2019 NBA draft, playing in the NBA or playing internationally next year.

However, with the recent hire of Lange, Brown may have a change of heart. Still, I believe that he will declare for the 2019 NBA Draft, but not hire an agent and withdraw his name from the draft prior to the deadline.

Brown now has an NBA insider on the sideline. Lange has insight into what

is needed to be an NBA player, experience developing NBA players and connections throughout the NBA. All of this adds up to the perfect reason for Brown to return the Hawks next season.

By staying with the Hawks for one more season, Brown can become the player the NBA wants and needs, a two-way, versatile player who can move the ball and make plays.

With two to three graduate transfer or junior college additions to the roster for next season, the Hawks have a chance to compete. Will they win the Atlantic 10 Conference? Highly unlikely, but they have a chance to compete.

No matter who stays and who leaves, it will be up to Lange to pull together a team who is willing to compete each day and night for the sake of the name on their chest. Next season will be the start of a new legacy on Hawk Hill.

Billy Lange is the best fit for St. Joe's men's basketball SAM BRITT ’20 Assistant Sports Editor For the first time in 24 years, there will be a new head coach on the St. Joe’s sideline in Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena.

Phil Martelli’s firing is a wound still fresh among a large contingent of St. Joe’s fans. However, the Hawks’ new leader, former Philadelphia 76ers Assistant Coach Billy Lange, has an opportunity to quickly heal that wound.

Lange has Philadelphia basketball ties, working as an assistant at both La Salle University and Villanova University. He is exactly what St. Joe’s was looking for.

One aspect that Lange can have an immediate impact on is recruitment. This will be especially helpful for the Hawks because as of right now, all three of their commits have reopened their recruiting process. This came in the wake of the Martelli’s departure.

Having a coach who is not only coming

from an NBA team, but from a playoff-bound NBA team, will add credibility to the St. Joe’s men’s basketball program.

Lange knows what it takes for players to be successful at the next level. He also knows how to get them there, as he was the Sixers' player development coach, helping players like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and J.J. Redick reach their potential.

Lange should be able to leverage this experience and his connections with the NBA in trying to convince recruits to come to St. Joe’s. He knows how to take the next step, he has been there and understands how NBA teams function. Not many Atlantic 10 coaches can say that.

The next key area that Lange can improve on is St. Joe’s overall playing style.

Lange’s previous Division I head coaching experience came at the United States Naval Academy. His record there was 92-115, but considering all of the challenges he faced as far as recruiting goes (Navy has both a height minimum and maximum requirement), one has to look past the wins and losses to gauge Lange’s ability.

When he took over as head coach, the Midshipmen were coming off of a 5-23 season. It only took Lange four years to turn the program around, bringing them to 1911 in 2008. He clearly has the ability to take a program, one with far less talent to choose from than St. Joe’s, and flip it in a short period of time.

During his tenure in Annapolis, Lange’s team led the Patriot league in scoring for five seasons. One of the Hawks’ weaknesses last season was a lack of consistency on offense.

This was derived from a lack of direction as far as game planning and poor shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Lange clearly knows how to implement a high octane offensive system, so hopefully gone are the days where St. Joe’s only scores 12 points in a half.

The most common criticism surrounding Lange’s ability to coach is on the defensive end. Many Sixers fans dislike the sets Lange implemented due to how often the opposing guards are able to tear right through the defense.

In this respect, Lange has been unfairly

scapegoated. The reason the Sixers struggle to contain guards is purely based on lack of talented personnel. T.J. McConnell and Redick are both liabilities on defense and are routinely blown by in defensive sets.

At St. Joe’s, Lange will have autonomy over the roster and what systems he wants to put in place. He won’t be needlessly hamstrung by poor roster construction or by a head coach with differing philosophies.

For a lot of people, Lange will never be Martelli. That’s fine, but those people are just going to have to deal with the fact Martelli is gone.

As far as finding a suitable replacement, St. Joe’s succeeded. There aren’t many schools of our size who would be able to get an NBA assistant to come lead their program. Especially one who already has ties to the area and is coming from one of the most talented teams in the NBA. It is time to welcome Lange to Hawk Hill with open arms because he has the ability to turn this program around.

The cost of not hiring Jameer Nelson: losing Hawk familiarity ALEX KARPINSKI ’20 Hawk Staff I stood by Jill Bodensteiner J.D., director of athletics and university president Mark C. Reed’s, Ed.D., decision to fire Phil Martelli, regardless of the fact that they mishandled the announcement, calling the Hawk legend a “strategic asset” on the Day of Giving, St. Joe’s largest annual marketing campaign.

Bodensteiner made a necessary business decision, an unpopular one, but one that needed to be made. But now, she has managed to irritate the greatest “strategic asset” that St. Joe’s has: Jameer Nelson.

“The best math you can learn is how to calculate the future cost of current decisions,” Nelson tweeted on March 28, the day Bodensteiner announced St. Joe’s new head coach, former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Billy Lange.

In a span of two days, Nelson angrily

subtweeted her hiring decision, while soon after announcing that his son, Jameer Nelson Jr., will be reopening his recruitment process, citing a lack of familiarity within the program.

Nelson interviewed for the head coaching vacancy, and Bodensteiner told him no. And in doing so, she has succeeded in shredding the core athletic fabric of the university I love.

Nelson was not owed anything, but I do believe based on the candidate selected to fill the vacancy, Nelson was the right choice.

Spurning him will be an unwanted ripple effect throughout the university as a whole.

Nelson was an excellent basketball mind with 14 years of NBA experience, including an All-Star appearance. More significantly, Nelson was at the forefront of the Hawks’ greatest season of all time. He averaged 19.3 points per game in the 2003-04 season and led St. Joe’s to an undefeated regular season.

Nelson knows what it takes to win at the highest level. He has played in multiple systems at the NBA level and has garnered respect amongst the basketball community.

Again, Bodensteiner made it about business, and now through his tweet, Nelson has done the same.

But let's be real, because she’s right, basketball is an integral strategic asset for this university. I thought Bodensteiner fully understood the importance of basketball, but I’m unsure of that now.

Let me explain: St. Joe’s has many recognizable alumni, but very few have any significance when it actually comes to attracting students to the university. Basketball is one of the few strategic resources that the university can leverage to market the school on a national level.

When applying to St. Joe’s, I cared about Phil Martelli, Delonte West, Jameer Nelson, Deandre Bembry and Langston Galloway. Basketball has, and will for the foreseeable future, move the needle more than any prominent alumni can.

Bodensteiner has decided to risk it all. If she hired Nelson, donations would have flooded in, student attendance during games would have shot up, and the pro-

gram would get national recognition, providing a priceless level of marketing exposure for St. Joe’s.

Instead, we have Lange, who does not move the needle. Martelli made seven NCAA tournament appearances, while Lange’s most successful head coaching college campaign was leading the Merchant Marine Academy to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 in his second of two seasons coaching there.

With Nelson, Bodensteiner had the opportunity to employ a local icon who would have upheaved the status quo of the program, but she wants to put her own stamp on the program.

However, our program identity does not have to be completely dismantled in the name of change. By isolating St. Joe’s strategic assets, Nelson and Martelli, we are entering a new era in St. Joe’s basketball, one of business over loyalty, and uncertainty over familiarity.

Sports 14 April 3, 2019

LEFT: Dick Adams ’59 was a long jumper who occasionally ran in relays for the St. Joe's track team. RIGHT: John Tiller ’64 made three NCAA Tournament appearances with the Hawks. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SJU ATHLETICS

Athletes who broke the color barrier RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Assistant Sports Editor While St. Joe’s has fielded athletic teams since at least the early 20th century, not until the 1950s did the first athlete of color represent the university in an athletic competition.

Dick Adams ’59, a long jumper, competed as a member of the St. Joe’s track and field team. Several years later, John Tiller ’64 became the first black basketball player on Hawk Hill, according to Don DiJulia ’67, former director of athletics and a teammate of Tiller.

Adams and Tiller played for St. Joe’s during two turbulent decades in U.S. history, according to Jamal Ratchford, Ph.D., an assistant professor of history at Colorado College who studies the role of black athletes in sports.

Those decades also saw more interracial sports teams on college campuses.

“There was scientific racism nationwide during that era,” Ratchford said. “You need to put the role of the black athletes, at least intercollegiately, in that broader national context that was happening all over the country.”

The same year that Tiller graduated from St. Joe’s, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, with the intention of prohibiting segregation in public places and banning employment discrimination.

“Just because a law was passed didn’t mean people abided by that law,” Ratchford said. “This imaginary of the North that we think of as inclusive isn’t always true. You have to think in terms of lived experiences. Yes, you might have had X, Y, Z black athletes at St. Joe’s, but what were their lived experiences?”

Tiller and Adams are unable to share their firsthand accounts, however. Tiller died of cancer in 2012. Teammates and friends of Adams haven’t seen or heard from him since a team reunion about 10 years ago, according to Jim Gavaghan ’58, a track and field teammate

who has kept in touch with a network of fellow classmates.

But Tiller and Adams’ teammates said they don’t remember any overt discrimination at St. Joe’s, at least from fellow teammates.

Tiller was looked at with the same respect as other players on the team, according to DiJulia, partially because the vast majority of athletes and students at St. Joe’s were from the Philadelphia area. Many of Tiller’s basketball teammates were already familiar with him from his time at La Salle College High School, DiJulia said.

“Philadelphia being so neighborhoodish, everybody knew each other, so people who came here in the freshman class, they knew who John Tiller was,” DiJulia said. “We never felt any tension here.”

Adams also hailed from Philadelphia and attended West Catholic High School, which produced three other athletes on the St. Joe’s track and field team during Adams’ tenure.

Road games were a different story, though, according to DiJulia. The team once had to switch hotels when playing Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina because of the hostility still present in the South towards black people.

Kevin Quinn ’62, who coached the men’s and women’s track and field teams for a total of 49 years and was a teammate of Adams, said he doesn’t recall any discrimination or controversy towards Adams.

“I don’t think anyone else on the team saw him as any different than any of our other teammates,” Quinn said. “He was just a member of the team.”

Quinn acknowledged, though, that the team didn’t discuss Adams’ experiences as a person of color.

“It wasn’t something really that we talked about particularly,” he said.

Adams also was one of only a handful

of black athletes on the track and field team during the 1970s.

“It was for no particular reason other than we just didn’t have them,” Quinn said.

“It certainly wasn’t a conscious attempt not to have them.”

Gavaghan also recalled a welcoming atmosphere within the track and field team.

However, he remembered Adams recounting a discriminatory incident away from the track during his senior year at West Catholic.

“The only controversy he had [was] when he was in high school at a track meet,” Gavaghan said. “The guys went to play miniature golf, and the guy that was there would not let him play because he was African American.”

Quinn and Gavaghan, two Philadelphia area natives themselves, also echoed DiJulia’s sentiment about the tight-knit Philadelphia high school athletic community factoring into the two athletes’ general acceptance at St. Joe’s.

Adams was also known on campus for more than his contributions to the track team.

“He was just a congenial, wonderful fellow, quite an athlete and a great teammate,” Gavaghan said. “Dick was a number of other things other than just track. He was involved in a lot of activities on campus and was respected by everyone that was in them. He was a talented young man.”

Not only were Adams and Tiller both Philadelphia-area natives before college, but their paths after St. Joe’s were similar as well, both serving their country in different ways.

Adams was a member of the Air Force ROTC in college. Tiller became a close aide to former President Ronald Reagan as a deputy special assistant to the president and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison.

“He was a salt of the earth guy,” DiJulia said of Tiller. “Quiet demeanor, really sharp and just a wonderful man.”

There is no mention of Adams and Tiller’s

status as two of the university’s first black athletes in the university archives, according to Chris Dixon, archival research librarian. One reason for this, he suggested, may be due in part to the lack of controversy surrounding interracial teams at St. Joe’s, as Adams and Tiller’s teammates alluded to.

“It may not necessarily have been recognized as a big deal at the time,” Dixon said.

“We have to look at it in terms of what was captured, not necessarily what was actually happening at the time. There have been team photos, but it’s not necessarily something that has been researched, and it’s not part of something that we’ve traditionally seen.”

That was the experience for Mike Thomas ’78, a black athlete on the basketball team between 1974 and 1978. Thomas said he wasn’t subjected to any race-based prejudice during his time at St. Joe’s.

“During my college years at Saint Joseph’s, I didn’t experience any form of racism in the dorms, in class or on the court,” Thomas said.

For Ratchford, though, discrimination in sports is an ongoing issue. He is hesitant to use the term integration because he does not think sports are completely integrated to this day.

“I’m hesitant to use a word that I don’t think we understand,” Ratchford said. “We like these assumptions, and we like these neat packaged stories as Americans, and I don’t think we investigate the ugly side of the story.”

Ratchford said he holds out hope that the actions of men like Tiller and Adams will ultimately be looked at the beginnings of true integration.

“I’m an optimist, and I have some of that American optimism too, and I think we can still be better than what we are,” Ratchford said.

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

April 3, 2019

15

Billy Lange named St. Joe’s men’s basketball head coach NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Sports Editor Billy Lange, former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach, was named head coach for the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team on March 28.

Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., director of athletics, told The Hawk that she made her final decision early that morning on March 28.

A University Announcement officially went out at 1 p.m. notifying the St. Joe’s community of the new hire.

Prior to coaching the 76ers, Lange, a graduate of Rowan University, was the assistant coach at La Salle University (1998-99), and Villanova University (2001-04). He was also the head coach for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (1999-2001) and the United States Naval Academy (2004-11).

While the role of St. Joe’s men’s basketball head coach is a new one for Lange, it isn’t the first time a member of his family stepped foot on Hawk Hill. Both of Lange’s parents and brother attended St. Joe’s.

In a statement through the St. Joe’s twitter account on March 28, Lange wrote about his new opportunity.

“St. Joe’s is legendary in collegiate and Philadelphia basketball,” Lange said via the Saint Joseph's University Twitter. “This is an epic opportunity for me. I am honored and humbled to stand among the greats who are associated with Hawk basketball, and I’m ready and eager to lead this storied program into its next era.”

Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Brett Brown also issued a statement on March 28.

“As a Philly native, Billy’s basketball experience as head coach at Navy, an assistant at Villanova and six NBA seasons on our

Billy Lange confers with Jimmy Butler on the Philadelphia 76ers' sideline during his time as an assistant coach. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

bench, provides a great base to develop, recruit and stamp his vision on a storied basketball program,” Brown said in a statement.

Bodensteiner said she wants Lange to develop the Hawk players’ young NBA talent, an area Lange has experience in. His initial title with the 76ers was director of player development.

“These young men, who are our student athletes, are maximizing and reaching their potential on and off the court,” Bodensteiner told The Hawk in a March 28 interview.

“With a person who at his core is a player de-

velopment coach, it is really exciting to me.”

Star forward Joel Embiid was at the forefront of Lange’s player development with the 76ers. During a press conference after the 76ers’ 123-110 win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 28, Lange’s final game with the team, Embiid said Lange is like family to him.

“He’s been here since I got here and we’ve built a special relationship,” Embiid said. “I’m so happy for him.”

Embiid also said he will visit Lange in Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena whenever he can.

Lange expressed his gratitude for the 76ers organization in the locker room after that same game. While players celebrated and poured water on him, Lange rang the 76ers bell one last time, calling his experience on the team a “true blessing.”

“I grew up in the city and to be here and be any sort of part, whether it was the process, or this championship run, you guys are capable of doing anything,” Lange said.

“Take advantage of what you got. It won’t always be here. Thank you Philadelphia 76ers.”

16

April 3, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

Sports

FREE MEN'S BASKETBALL STUDENT TICKETS ANNOUNCED

St. Joe's is the last Big 5 school to offer free tickets to men's basketball home games. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Sports Editor Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., director of athletics, told The Hawk on March 27 that St. Joe’s men’s basketball student season tickets will be free of charge starting next season.

With this decision, every Big 5 school now offers free men's basketball season tickets to their students.

Bodensteiner said she thought about her decision throughout last season and conducted an analysis of barriers to student attendance, the cost of purchasing tickets being one of them.

“Students are paying a good deal in tuition to attend St. Joe’s, and you should be able to come watch your classmates compete and not have to pay,” Bodensteiner said.

Sam Robinson ’20, co-president of the 54th Airborne, the Hawks’ student section, said paying for season tickets was a huge barrier for students. Fellow co-president Kevin Duncan ’20 agreed, saying that by eliminating that financial hurdle, it will greatly increase student attendance.

While attending field hockey and soccer games in the fall, Robinson interacted with fans to get a sense of student interest, the extent to which fans want to attend athletic events.

“I ran into a lot of kids in the fall that would show up to [other] games, but when they started to talk about basketball, an overwhelming response, especially from upperclassmen, was that they want to go to games but don’t want to pay $85 for tickets,” Robinson said.

Chuck Scalies ’20, who didn’t buy season tickets last season largely due to price, said he will most likely be at every home game in the 2019-20 season now that student admission is free.

“Students that like basketball, regardless of how the team looks, will go to the games now that they are free,” Scalies said.

“It’s easy and convenient to swipe in and watch. It will also influence the social aspect as well because people want to be with their friends.”

Bodensteiner said she realizes that St. Joe’s will lose a certain amount of revenue by

not selling tickets to students, but the upside associated with that loss is worth it in the end.

“It is the right philosophical approach to say we are building community, and I am not going to charge you to do so,” Bodensteiner said.

Duncan said that same sense of community surrounding the team is what enhances the watching experience for fans, and by eliminating cost, students will make more personal connections within that community.

“That personal connection we have with the players, this is a relatively small school,” Duncan said. “Walking around, we have classes with them, we know their names and faces. When [redshirt sophomore forward] Charlie Brown hits a big three, it’s my classmate from sociology that hit a big three. You always have more fun watching your friends than you do strangers.”

Making that first personal connection with the team is critical for repeat fan attendance, according to Duncan.

“Removing cost will be the biggest way

to open that door to those experiences,” Duncan said. “Because if you’re not going to games, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on one game to just try it out. When it’s free, that’s not the case. You might have an amazing experience and decide that it’s something you want to keep doing.”

While getting fans to attend games is a large part of the process to create an improved experience, Bodensteiner is also going enhance in-game engagement in Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena.

“The in-game, whether it is the playing of music, the role of band, cheer, dance, the way we implement and execute a T-shirt toss,” Bodensteiner said. “We are going to break it down from the beginning and start over. I am going to ask my staff to spend a lot of time this summer going to other games, NBA, WNBA. I had one year to look, observe and listen. Now is the time for action.”

Bodensteiner said she has also drawn inspiration for improving the St. Joe’s fan experience from both local and Atlantic 10

Conference programs.

“Whether I was at a Villanova game, or Davidson, at Saint Louis, I take all of those opportunities to steal notes,” Bodensteiner said. “We won’t be able to get to any basketball games between now and when I have to roll out the new plan. I did a video study of Dayton’s student section, VCU’s student section and really learned a lot about what works and what might not.”

Bodensteiner said she hopes that by applying her notes, students will provide an added amount of energy for all St. Joe’s sports.

Both Robinson and Duncan have an increased expectations for fan attendance next season. They both believe that with stronger fan support, the Hawks’ student section will be able to overpower a certain local rival.

“If we can get more students out there, we can make the Villanova student section look like church mice in terms of how quiet they are,” Robinson said.

Fans in the student section cheer at a men's basketball game against St. Bonaventure. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22 /THE HAWK