Dec 5, 2018

Dec. 5, 2018

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Volume XCVIII

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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

Taylor Stokes ’22 listens to her peers speak at a BSU forum responding to racism on campus. Alyvia Benson ’22 (left) and Camille Lodugnon ’22 (right) sit behind her. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

Official responses disappoint ANA FAGUY ’19 Editor in Chief Two months after a white student rearranged letters on the felt board on their Villiger Residence Center room door, spelling a racial slur, Alyvia Benson ’22 and Camille Lodugnon ’22 remain disappointed with how the university handled the incident.

On Nov. 28, The Hawk published a story entitled “Racial slur left on students’ dorm room door,” detailing Benson and Lodugnon’s discovery of the word “coons” on their door. As reported, the women and their families were unhappy with the Community Standards process and the apparent lack of punishment for the student.

“For the administration to not take the right action and deal with it the correct way is what frustrates me the most,” Benson said.

On Nov. 29, University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., sent students, faculty, staff and alumni an email entitled “A Message of Tolerance.” The email did not directly address the incident in Villiger.

Reed said in the email, “While I may not address our community each time there is the report of an incident, I am always

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aware, involved, and feel many of the emotions so many of you express: disappointment, confusion, frustration and a desire to make immediate change.”

The Hawk reached out to Reed for further comment on the incident itself, but he did not respond.

While the email was sent to the entire St. Joe’s community, Benson and Lodugnon were angry the email did not explicitly mention what happened to them.

Lodugnon said she would have rather Reed not said anything at all than what he did.

“I thought it was bullshit,” Lodugnon said. “The fact that the whole email was about tolerance was pretty stupid to me, because why should I have to tolerate someone putting a racial slur on my door? Why should anyone have to tolerate anything offensive on their door?”

According to both Benson and Lodugnon, Reed has not reached out to them, or their families, at any point in the process.

Benson’s mother, Alysia Benson, said she repeatedly emailed and called the president’s office to discuss the incident.

SEE PG. 2

OPINIONS

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Vague policy allows administration to diminish incident

Black students detail racism LUKE MALANGA ’20 Managing Editor More than 350 students, faculty, staff and alumni packed the North Doyle Banquet hall on Dec. 4 for an emotional discussion about racism on campus. They stood along the walls and spilled into the Campion Student Center hallway as black students shared their experiences.

The event was prompted by an incident that occured Sept. 28 when a white student left a racial slur on the residence hall door of two black students. The incident and the university’s response led to an uproar among students.

Shaily Menon, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the event marked a critical moment for the institution.

“This has galvanized the campus,” Menon said. “This is a powerful moment for us to take the next step.”

The student-organized forum on racism titled “When will it stop?” was organized by Black Student Union (BSU) members, who encouraged the St. Joe’s community to join in an open discussion about racism on campus.

The forum was preceded by a silent

LIFESTYLE

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Students reflect on their musical journies

march around campus, organized by other students, that ended at the university’s annual Christmas tree lighting in front of Villiger Residence Hall.

Student Senate President Jason D’Antonio ’19 gave a few remarks at the lighting before telling attendees, which included President Mark C. Reed, to instead turn and join the protestors, who were standing silently, signs raised, and follow them to the forum in Campion Student Center.

Some members of the crowd seemed surprised by D’Antonio’s announcement, but most of them, including Reed, joined behind the protestors.

When organizers opened the floor to attendees at the forum, Camille Lodugnon ’22 was the first to stand and take the microphone, identifying herself as one of the victims of the Sept. 28 incident.

“The way administration handled it was disgusting,” Lodugnon said. “It was kind of a slap in the face.”

Alyvia Benson ’22, the other victim, spoke later in the event.

“This isn’t about just me and her [Lodugnon],” Benson said. “It’s about everything that happens on this campus and what people of color experience.”

SEE PG. 2 SPORTS

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Chris DiJulia: an inspiration on Hawk Hill

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The Hawk Newspaper

Dec. 5, 2018

News

ST. JOE'S STUDENTS IGNITE FROM PG. 1

Black students detail racism Black students at the forum expressed their frustration with repeated incidents of racism on campus and a lack of serious institutional response.

“The more and more I open my eyes on campus, I see more crap,” Alim-Karim Kamara ’20 said. “It’s happening a lot, and it’s all something we really need to be aware of as a school.”

Brianna Holloway ’17 said she came back to campus to let the administration know that how the situation was handled is “unacceptable.” She said she experienced instances of racism at St. Joe’s multiple times starting from her freshman year.

“This is not new to Saint Joseph’s,” Holloway told the audience. “Everything at this university is a cycle of mishandling and not understanding how people of color on this campus feel. It is a gross negligence of everybody on this campus from the higher-ups.”

Benson’s mother also criticized how administrators handled her daughter’s case. As she stood in front of the crowd, she directed her attention to Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president for Student Life, who leaned against the back wall.

“I could have let you cover it up, Cary Anderson, but I didn’t,” Alysia Benson, Al-

yvia’s mother said. “Your smirk right now is because you’re uncomfortable, and you should be as uncomfortable as my daughter is every day.”

As Alysia Benson spoke, the room erupted with passionate support.

“If someone says something racist, it is our responsibility to utilize the privilege we have and say something,” Katie Sellars ’21 said.

Many students directed their frustrations toward administrators, some of whom were in attendance, including Reed, who left about halfway through the event.

The two deans of the university’s colleges, Menon and Joe DiAngelo, Ed.D., dean of the Haub School of Business, also attended the event.

“If I was that mother, I would be just as mad,” DiAngelo told The Hawk after the forum. “If it was my kid, I would have acted a lot worse than that mother, I’ll tell you that.”

Menon said she was humbled by the support from the students.

“I think this is a critical moment for the institution,” Menon said. “It should be a teachable moment for everyone. I hope that we will have many conversations working together to live up to the ideals of this institution.”

Students hold signs at a silent march on Dec. 3. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20 / THE HAWK

Timeline of racial slur incident

SEPT. 28 Racial slur appears on door of black students, Benson and Lodugnon

SEPTEMBER 2018

FROM PG. 1

Asia Whittenerger '22 speaks at a forum. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20 / THE HAWK

Official responses disappoint “I thought that this warranted some kind of phone call from the university president,” said Benson’s mother, Alysia Benson. “I’m disappointed in how the university handled this.”

Benson’s mother said she was disappointed with the Community Standards process as well as Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president for Student Life, for his conduct in a Nov. 12 meeting.

According to both Benson and Lodugnon, who also attended that Nov. 12 meeting, Anderson used the n-word twice, once using the ending “a” and once using the ending “er.”

“He could have explained it without saying the n-word,” Lodugnon said. “He could have just said the n-word with the ‘er’ and the n-word with the ‘a.’ He didn’t actually have to say the word."

Anderson released a written statement to The Hawk regarding his use of the word.

“In a broader discussion about campus culture, in an attempted of express [sic] my disappointment with the use of racist language around campus, I described student use of the N-word ending in R being replaced with the N-word ending in A,” Anderson wrote. “The actual words were described, and I have apologized for doing so.”

The Nov. 12 meeting was the only meeting Benson’s mother had with university officials.

“When he was saying how he’s uncomfortable with that word, it was just funny to me because he used it to tell us how uncomfortable he was,” Benson’s mother said.

Benson said she was shocked.

“I was also annoyed because I know he’s a grown man who should know not to

OCT. 4 Community Standards (Bordak) meets with Benson and Lodugnon individually

say this in front of two African-American students that are going through that situation,” Benson said.

In the days that followed the publication of The Hawk article, both women said they were surprised by the support from fellow students and some faculty.

“I thought there was going to be a lot of people saying that it wasn’t the school’s fault,” Lodugnon said. “It was really nice to have a lot of people as upset about what happened as we were.”

The women also heard from other students of color who had experienced racism on campus.

“There’s so many incidents like ours,” Lodugnon said. “The only difference is that ours was in the newspaper. It’s not the first time it’s happened. It’s not the first time the school has pushed it under the rug.”

As previously reported by The Hawk, Benson and Lodugnon both asked Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president of Student Life, for the student in question not to be allowed on their floor in Villiger.

On Nov. 27, Anderson notified the women that their request was granted and that they should notify Public Safety, Residence Life or Anderson if the student is on their floor.

That hasn’t helped Benson’s overall sense of security.

“This was my number one school coming in,” Benson said. “To me everything that’s happened from then until now, it definitely makes me feel like I would want to transfer in the future. I feel like if this happened to me, what worse could have happened and the school would have tried to cover it up?”

OCT. 23 White male student apologizes to Benson

OCTOBER

SEPT. 30 Slur reported to Public Safety

NOVEM OCT. 19 Benson and Lodugnon notified of apology meeting

The Hawk Newspaper

News

Dec. 5, 2018

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RESPONSE TO CAMPUS RACISM University response frustrates St. Joe’s black community KAILA MUNDELL-HILL ’20 Copy Editor NATALIE DRUM ’20 News Editor Black students, faculty and staff were both unsurprised and frustrated at the university’s response to The Hawk’s story on Nov. 28 about two black students’ dorm room door being vandalized with a racial slur.

After the article was published, Jaulie Cantave ’22 took to social media in an effort to get people to push the university to “do the right thing.” Cantave posted a three-minute Instagram video in which she expressed disappointment at how the university handled the incident. “[The university] didn't do anything,” Cantave told The Hawk. “They weren’t going to do anything.”

University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., sent a lengthy email to the St. Joe’s community on Nov. 29 with the subject: “A Message of Tolerance.”

Isis Gill-Reid ’19, vice president of St. Joe’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), said she was disappointed with Reed’s email to the university community.

“The fact that [Reed] has the nerve to send out an email about tolerance and not even address the situation was ridiculous,” Gill-Reid said.

As a student athlete, Gill-Reid said she hopes to use her platform as vice president of SAAC to lead and facilitate discussion about racism on campus.

“Athletics does play a separate part in this because we can use the athletic plat-

Maurice Davis displays The Hawk's Nov. 28 article on the glass of his campion station PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA/THE HAWK ’20

form to shine a light on it,” Gill-Reid said.

“And, going forward, see how we can improve diversity on this campus.”

Faculty of color also said they were not surprised by how the university handled the incident.

Aisha Lockridge, Ph.D., associate professor of English, said over the years she has heard many stories from students of

color about racist incidents that regularly happen in residence halls. “[I hear] that they don’t tell other faculty members, that they don’t tell administration because they don't think anything is going to happen,” Lockridge said. “I think those racist incidents are going to grow and get worse.”

Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate pro-

vost and vice president for Student Life, sent a follow-up email to the university community on Nov. 30 with the subject: “Resources and Action Steps Addressing Bias.” In the email, Anderson said the university was examining how it handles “issues of bias and incivility.”

“I think that, very much like Cary Anderson’s email, St. Joe’s really believes in this idea of civility, kind of the St. Joe’s way, that privileges niceness, or pretending to be nice, over justice, regularly and routinely, ” Lockridge said.

Lockridge said she is well aware of the lack of receptiveness to discussions of racial differences.

“I regularly teach classes on African-American literature, and there’s lots and lots and lots of pushback in those classes,” Lockridge said. “That says to me that the campus is not nearly as liberal as the upper administration would like us to believe.”

Maurice Davis, a St. Joe’s staff member who has worked the Campion Dining Hall for two years, was so appalled by news of the incident that he taped the Nov. 28 Hawk article on the glass of his food station inside the dining hall.

“I put it up there to let the students know that there are those of us that work here that understand and support their plight,” Davis said. “It was wrong, no matter how you look at it, and I really feel bad for those girls. Somebody has to be on the students’ side, and I am one of them.”

Alex Mark ’20 contributed to this story.

Hate crimes on the rise in the United States CARA SMITH ’21 Hawk Staff Hate crimes and bias incidents are on the rise nationally, and in some cases, are outpacing national numbers on college campuses.

In 2017, more than 7,000 hate crimes were reported nationally, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Racial and ethnic prejudice motivated the most hate crimes in 2017, according to the FBI, with African-Americans being targeted for nearly half of the crimes reported.

Religion and sexual orientation were the two other primary motivators reported, with over half of the religious attacks targeting Jewish-Americans.

On college campuses, anti-Semitic incidents doubled, outpacing anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, according to Jeremy Bannett, associate regional director of the Philadelphia Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international Jewish organiza-

tion based in the United States that specifically addresses anti-Semitism.

“It does seem to be increasing faster on college campuses, but the increase is happening really in all areas of life,” Bannett said.

The U.S. Department of Education reported that hate crimes increased 25 percent from 2015 to 2016 on college campuses. Colleges and universities reported a total of 1,250 hate crimes for 2016, up from 970 the previous year.

There are a number of reasons for that increase, Bannett said, including political rhetoric and increased anonymity in cyberspace.

Chad Dion Lassiter, executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commision, also attributes the increase to divisive politicians, and to President Donald Trump, in particular.

“What Donald Trump does is he emboldens individuals on the heels of the first African American president,” Lassiter said.

“Some people have called this a white lash.

We have an emboldened president who is disrespecting black and brown bodies. He disrespects black women in particular.”

Both Bannett and Lassiter said more people are also reporting hate incidents even as such incidents remain underreported overall.

“People know this is a problem now, and they’re calling the ADL and the FBI and law enforcement and other authorities more regularly to report what has happened,” Bannett said.

Currently, there are no official national statistics for bias incidents, which do not involve criminal acts, according to Bannett.

But bias incidents can still cause great harm to a community, he said.

“For example, what happened on the dorm door of the two African-American students at St. Joe’s would not count as a crime,” Bannett said. “But still, that was a very painful and terrible bias incident that needed to be reported somewhere.”

Bannett said once an incident is reported, it is “vitally important” for administrators to communicate.

“If you don’t tell people you’re on it, then people are going to assume that you are not on it, even if you are,” he said. “You got to get in front of it. You got to say, ‘Yes, we know it’s happening. Yes, we are on top of it, and we will keep you posted as the investigation goes through.’”

For Lassiter, next steps should address racism at its core.

“We need to do a deeper dive into our policies, to really find out if we are going to continue this trend of bias versus hate,” Lassiter said. “We need to continue to make sure our classrooms are diverse, our curriculums are diverse and our cultural centers are actually dealing with issues of power differential. It would be corrective action and restorative justice.”

NOV. 27 Student Life (Anderson) notifies Benson and Lodugnon the white male student will no longer be allowed on their floor

NOV. 12 Benson’s mother, Benson and Lodugnon meet with Public Safety (Grover) and Student Life (Perry, Anderson)

NOV. 29 University President (Reed) emails the university community “A DEC. 3 Student leaders organize a Message of Tolerance” silent march with 120 participants

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER NOV. 19 Student Life (Anderson) meets individually with Benson and Lodugnon, who each request the white male student not be allowed on their floor

NOV. 30 Student Life (Anderson) emails the university community “Resources and Action Steps NOV. 28 The Hawk publishes an article about the slur

DEC. 3 Black Student Union hosts “When will it stop?” forum with 350 attendees

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Dec. 5, 2018

The Hawk Newspaper

News

Acknowledging racism and advocating for change Restorative justice offers new approach

ERIN BREEN ’19 Copy Chief Faculty members with experience in restorative justice see a need for a new approach in handling bias-related incidents on campus.

Restorative justice involves mediated conversation between a victim, an offender and, often times, representatives of the larger community. The goal is to negotiate a resolution and provide education to prevent the offender from causing future harm.

In the bias incident reported in the Nov. 28 issue of The Hawk, where a white student rearranged letters on the door of two black students, spelling a racial slur, restorative justice would be less about punishment and more about conversation, said Don Haldeman, J.D., adjunct professor of sociology and restorative justice coordinator.

“In the context of a college campus, restorative justice is about getting students together, having them hear each other,” Haldeman said. “In the process of telling their story, in the process of other people supporting them by telling them their story, you come to a place of healing.

People feel better about what happened and their response to it.”

For Haldeman, who said he would still advocate for community service or some sort of sanction against the student offender, restorative justice is not just a reactionary measure, but a way to proactively affect the campus climate.

“Once you really know each other, it becomes much harder to harm each other,” Haldeman said. “So the whole idea about restorative justice is to bring stu-

dents closer together and have a healthy response when incidents do arise.”

Haldeman said the complicated nature of the restorative justice process may be one reason why St. Joe’s hasn’t adopted its practices.

“There’s nothing easy about it,” Handleman said. “And St. Joe’s has dodged

in a racist context,” Clampet-Lundquist said. “I’m not saying their families are racist. I’m saying our society is racist. If you’re not conscious about it and you’re not conscious about white privilege, you’re going to be reproducing hateful interactions, and that doesn’t make our community here a welcoming community.”

Alyvia Benson ’22 and her mother hold hands. PHOTO: ROSE BARRETT ’20 / THE HAWK

that process for a long time. They always look for easy solutions. But I think maybe they’ve missed the real solution.”

The solution most needed is one that shifts the perspective of students to avoid the biases that structural racism can enforce, said Susan Clampet-Lundquist, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology and director of the Faith-Justice Institute.

“You have students that may be coming to campus who have been been raised

These racially-driven perspectives, if unchecked, have been found to impact classroom dynamics.

“It is very hard to discuss race in a classroom where most of the students are white, because minority members have to be especially brave to speak out,” said Betsy Linehan, RSM, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy. “Many white students become defensive when things like privilege come up. This is not a matter of ill

will, just of very different experiences.”

Melissa Logue, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and member of the President’s Council on Inclusion and Diversity, said students of color have told her about professors being discriminatory and acting from a place of bias.

“I think a lot of times, we think [discrimination] is just from other students,” Logue said, “But as the Climate Study showed, it’s from faculty too. If they were sitting there with some of those blinders on, then how do we educate our students?”

The result of the campus Climate Study, released in October, revealed many students of color feel excluded on campus.

In fact, before educational and restorative practices can happen, the problem of racism needs to be acknowledged, Logue said.

“I think the fundamental thing that needs to happen, even for restorative justice to be effective, is the university’s culture itself has to change,” Logue said.

That means acknowledging there is an issue at all, Clampet-Lundquist said.

“Stop denying that there is an issue going on here,” Clampet-Lundquist said.

“When we try to keep privilege invisible, we’re not going to deal with it.”

If the process of handling these instances, and the overall climate towards race doesn’t change, Clampet-Lundquist, Haldeman and Logue all pointed out that these kinds of incidents will keep happening.

“You and I both know that next December, we’ll be having the same conversation about a new incident,” Haldeman said. “Is there a way we can not have this conversation a year from now?”

University Student Senate expands representation At-large seat added for commuter students SAM HENRY ’19 Editor Emeritus The University Student Senate (USS) passed a constitutional amendment on Nov. 5 that added an at-large senator seat specifically for a commuter student.

Marharyta Mashliakevich ’22 was appointed to the position on Dec. 2.

“I think it is a really great idea to have the commuter seat because other students who live on campus aren’t even aware of how hard it is sometimes for commuter students,” Mashliakevich said.

Currently about four percent of St. Joe’s students are registered as commuters, according to Mashliakevich.

“There has been a widely-held concern for their representation for quite some time, especially after years of what I would call general erosion of their voice and interests,” said Student Senate President Jason D’Antonio ’19.

Mashliakevich addressed challenges for commuter students such as attending events or meetings, like as Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions, that are held in the evenings or on the weekends, working off-campus jobs, the price of parking and getting involved on campus, especially for freshmen.

“I just think it is important for someone to have a voice and address those issues and try to solve them to make commuter students lives easier on campus,”

Mashliakevich said.

Mashliakevich added that one of the most frequently discussed challenges for commuter students is parking on campus.

One of her first plans as a senator is to look more into the issues surrounding parking, such as price and space, and take action to lighten the burden for students who drive to campus every day.

D’Antonio also noted that St. Joe’s started as a commuter school, and students who commute to campus continue to make up a significant portion of the constituency.

“Our goal is to become more aware of commuter-specific issues, but also incorporate them in general matters that involve the entire undergraduate body,” D’Antonio said. “Issues such as the state of the commuters' lounge, community outreach and persistent parking difficulties are great items the senator would be able to spearhead or collaborate on.”

Ryan Nicholas ’20, a commuter student, feels that he is included in the campus community and is able to be involved on campus.

“My biggest struggle as a commuter student is trying to manage my time effectively,” Nicholas said. “Travel time tends to add up over the course of a week and can take away from time that could have been spent studying or getting more involved on campus.”

Nicholas said that he thinks it will be good to have a representative on USS for

Marharyta Mashliakevich ’22 in the Commuter Lounge. PHOTO: ROSE BARRETT ’20 / THE HAWK

commuters as they will be able to provide a new perspective.

Mashliakevich expresses similar feelings about a representative on senate providing a new outlook and support for the challenges presented to commuter students.

“There are so many issues that commuter students have to face and I just

think that neither faculty or students that live on campus are aware of all those things,” Mashliakevich said.

Erin Breen ’19 contributed to this story.

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Dec. 5, 2018

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Senior business students celebrate despite policy LUKE MALANGA ’20 Managing Editor Some Business Policy students ignored an email addressing a ban on the longstanding, and illegal, tradition of popping champagne outside of Mandeville Hall’s main entrance after their final presentations — and found other places to do their celebratory toasts.

Some students made their way to the top floor of the Hawks Landing parking garage to pop their bottles of champagne.

Ryan Good ’19 posed with his group in front of Mandeville, champagne bottles in hand, before heading to the top of the parking garage to open the bottles.

“We still get to celebrate one way or the other,” Good said. “It just means you can’t really pop a bottle in front of a famous building on campus.”

Joseph DiAngelo, Ed.D., dean of the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, and Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president for Student Life, initiated a working group to create a letter that was sent to current Business Policy students on Nov. 29. The action was prompted by a number of concerns raised by members of the St. Joe’s community, according to DiAngelo and Anderson.

“There is no revised policy but an effort to inform students of existing policies and the disruption that has been caused in the past,” Anderson said in an email to The Hawk.

According to the university’s Student Handbook, alcohol violations include having open containers of alcohol in public areas such as outdoor spaces, campus parking lots, walkways and athletic fields.

Despite specific violations of the alcohol policy, students have not been reprimanded for their engagement in the celebration in the past. According to Anderson, the letter was meant to reinforce these guidelines.

“This conduct is a violation of Pennsylvania law, Philadelphia law, and the university's Community Standards,” the letter stated. “It also had a negative impact on the image of the Haub School of Business and SJU.” With final presentations in Business Policy beginning Dec. 3, Public Safety officers were on site to enforce open-container and public consumption rules, at least in front of Mandeville.

Students expressed their disappointment with the new enforcement.

“I remember hearing about the celebration as a freshman joining the business school, and I was excited to know that I would be able to do that one day,” Alex Gaydos ’19 said in an email to The Hawk. “I was really disappointed because we have worked so hard on this project the whole semester, and I think that the idea of being able to pop champagne after presenting gave us more motivation and excitement to complete the project itself.”

Some students said they were con-

Business Policy students pop champagne on Hawks Landing.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DYLAN EDDINGER ’19

fused about the ban because they thought St. Joe’s was a wet campus.

“We’re not a wet campus,” said Eric Patton, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of management. “If you have alcohol at an event, you need permission.”

Patton, who has served on the Advisory Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Student Health for nearly 10 years, said he has re-

ceived comments from other individuals at the university that it “smelled like a bar” outside Mandeville Hall following previous celebrations.

“I think it’s a bad look for students,” Patton said. “I think it’s a bad look for the university.”

What goes up, must come down

Global helium shortage affects student organizations CARA SMITH ’21 Hawk Staff GAVIN O' REILLY ’20 Assistant Distribution Manager Due to a global helium shortage, the Office of Student Leadership & Activities is experiencing difficulties maintaining a sufficient supply of helium for St. Joe’s student organizations.

Beth Hagovsky, Ed.D., the director of Student Leadership & Activities, was first notified of the helium shortage through St. Joe’s helium supplier, Airgas, who had previously warned Hagovsky about late deliv-

eries due to the shortage.

“We just never believed the stuff about the helium shortage,” Hagovsky said. “This has been happening for probably the better part of the last two years.”

Student Leadership & Activities never received a late order until mid-October, when Hagovsky was told that her order could not be delivered until mid-November.

After having had a consistent supply of helium over the years, the effects of the shortage were felt by student organizations.

Students who wanted balloons at their events had to purchase their own helium.

“I think for everybody else, [other student organizations] probably just didn’t

[use] balloons,” Hagovsky said. “Which is a little bit of a bummer because I think that the balloon drop is a great way of advertising. It definitely had an impact.”

Usha Rao, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental chemistry and geochemistry, said that helium is highly abundant, but struggles to stay in Earth’s atmosphere because it is so light. She said helium can only be actively produced through the decaying of the elements uranium and thorium, or through natural gas deposits, both of which are highly time-consuming.

“This takes tens of thousands of years to build up helium from the decay in the rocks,” Rao said. “It is not easily replen-

ished. For all practical purposes, it is a nonrenewable resource.”

In addition to inflating party decorations, helium is also widely used in airplanes, medical technology and other electronics. The shortage has already caused prices to increase in order to reserve helium for these purposes.

“We have known for about 20 years that we have been running low on helium," Rao said. "The management of the problem has not been great. Most likely what will happen is that helium will become very, very expensive, a precious commodity. And we will be more careful in terms of using any new helium deposits that we find.”

Department of Public Safety reports (Nov. 22– Nov. 29) Nov. 23 Public Safety responded to a fire alarm at 195 City Avenue. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by unknown means.

Alarm was reset.

Nov. 25 Public Safety was notified by an SJU student regarding person(s) unknown removing property from her personal vehicle which was parked in the 5600 block of Wynnefield Ave. Philadelphia Police were notified. Incident under investigation.

Nov. 28 Public Safety responded to a fire alarm at the Barbelin/Lonergan Building. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by unknown means. Alarm was reset.

Nov. 29 Public Safety responded to a fire alarm at Gabriel Hall. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by contract working.

Alarm was reset.

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

0

On campus

0

Off campus

DRUG RELATED INCIDENTS

0

On campus

0

Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

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Dec. 5, 2018

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Speaking up and speaking out Administration needs to make a change Editor in Chief Ana Faguy ’19 Managing Editor Luke Malanga ’20 Copy Chief Erin Breen ’19 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner Copy Editor Paige Santiago ’19 Copy Editor Kaila Mundell-Hill ’20 Online Copy Editor Leslie Briggs ’17, M.A. ’18 News Editor Natalie Drum ’20 Assistant News Editor Alex Mark ’20 Editorial Page Editor Annie Clark ’19 Opinions Editor Dominique Joe ’19 Assistant Opinions Editor Taicha Morin ’20 Lifestyle Editor Emily Graham ’20 Sports Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Sam Britt ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Ryan Mulligan ’21 Creative Director Kelly Smith ’19 Page Designer Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 Staff Photographer Rose Barrett ’20 Staff Photographer Matt Barrett ’21 Social Media Manager Erin Castellano ’20 Assistant Social Media Manager Alyssa Lamont ’19 Business Manager Jordan Grossbaum ’21 Distribution Manager Addie Guyer ’19 Assistant Distribution Manager Gavin O'Reilly ’20

In the week since the Nov. 28 issue of The Hawk published the “Racial slur left on students’ dorm room door” article, we have seen students, faculty and staff stand up and display their outrage at the racial incident that occurred the night of Sept. 28.

That outrage towards the act itself then morphed into a sense of frustration, disappointment and concern at the lack of clear and effective communication for upper-administrative people.

What we as a community have noticed is a negligent display on the part of the administration to respond to the Sept. 28 incident in ways that reflect and acknowledge the anger and frustration that much of the campus community is feeling.

It is incredibly damaging that the administration refuses to acknowledge the incident explicitly within their correspondence to the students, faculty and staff.

The messages that came from both University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. , and Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president of Student Life, used vague and evasive language to stymied the administration’s culpability in the wake of the Nov. 28 issue of The Hawk.

While the search for a new chief diversity officer and resources that we can turn to are important and necessary, the administration seems to not understand exactly how to respond to the outrage from the St. Joe’s community or really the initial incident itself.

The administration seems remarkably out of touch to the concerns of the community, if the correspondence from Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 is any indication.

This is especially concerning in the wake of what seems to be a tide of bias incidents and hate crimes on college campuses. According to the FBI, hate crimes on colleges campuses increased 38 percent in 2016 alone.

The appropriate level of scrutiny needs to be taken in response to these incidents regardless of whether they are deemed “bias incidents” or hate crimes.

The university’s standards for what is a bias incident and what is considered a hate crime needs to communicated and understood as well. The Student Handbook says that a bias incident “[refers] to conduct, speech, images, or expression that demonstrate conscious or implicit bias which targets individuals or groups based on, but not limited to, the protected statuses.”

The handbook also says,“Hate crimes... are any crimes that manifest evidence that a victim or group was selected because of actual or perceived race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, or disability”. There is a way in which these two terms can be confused for the other and incidents can be met with a lack of prosecution by or inaction on the part of the administration.

One way that the St. Joe’s community can call for this reforming of how the prosecution of bias incidents on campus is to speak up.

The Black Student Union’s forum, which was held on Dec. 3, was a step in the right direction. All of the community coming together to talk about how this incident has made them feel and how we can move forward as a university is important. But we

need to push for continuous efforts to keep this at the forefront of the community’s mind.

If we do not continue to fight what we see as egregious negligence and ignorance on the part of the university, incidents like the ones that happened to those two women will continue on this campus and justice will not be served.

A message of tolerance is not what the St. Joe’s community wants or needs. A message of unequivocal condemnation of racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, etc. behavior is what our community wants and needs. The administration needs to wake up to the clearly articulated frustration of the St. Joe’s community and apologize for their part in the diminishing of a racial incident on this campus. They then have to move forward with the safety and the protection of St. Joe’s students in mind.

—The Editorial Board This week’s Editorial Board is comprised of the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Opinions Editor, Editorial Page Editor, Copy Chief and Copy Editors. This editorial reflects the views of the Board and not the entire Hawk staff.

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

Letter to the Editor An open letter to St. Joe’s students and colleagues: We are writing on behalf of the Faculty Senate in response to The Hawk’s coverage last week of the racist incident that took place on our campus in September. We are deeply disturbed at the fact that a member of our St. Joe’s community chose to use a slur against two other community members and that they have experienced discomfort and fear as a result. We recognize, from the

results of the campus Climate Survey of last year, that this is not just one isolated incident. Instead, it highlights the work we have in front of us to make our campus a safe and welcoming space for all individuals. We commend The Hawk’s editorial staff for their decision to bring this story to light and renewing what we hope will be an open and frank conversation about what we can all do to ensure everyone on our campus feels welcomed, respected and included. Above all, we as the Faculty Sen-

ate affirm an ongoing commitment to carrying out the St. Joe’s mission of “striving to be an inclusive and diverse community that educates and cares for the whole person.”

In solidarity, Ron Dufresne, Catalina Arango, Brian Yates, Jing Lin, and Elaine Shenk Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Letter to the Editor To the Editor: We members of the Department of History wish to express solidarity with the students who have been made to feel marginalized by actions taken by their peers and the university, as reported by The Hawk.

Such experiences require us to reexamine our commitment to the “inclusive and diverse community” defined in the Saint Joseph’s University Mission Statement.

As historians, we document and assess the costs of racial bigotry. In The Hawk article, “Racial slur left on students' dorm room door,” photographs reveal that on the vandalized felt board, most words are nonsense except for “Coons,” which the perpetrator carefully arranged.

The word is a slur meant to dehuman-

ize African-Americans. We betray the basic principles of our institution when we turn a blind eye to such language, or dismiss it as a joke of misunderstanding.

Historically, words of prejudice have been used to motivate destructive and despicable actions. Colonized peoples were framed as “savages” to justify their exploitation, religious others depicted as “demonic” to justify their murder, people were labeled “asocial” to justify their extermination.

In American history, this specific slur has been intended to instill fear in black minorities from the time of slavery to segregationists’ use of “Martin Luther Coon.”

Use of this slur is a hostile act.

The Ignatian value cura personalis “affirms the goodness, the worth and the dignity of every human being.” All St. Joe’s

students must know that the community standards that govern our behavior are real and meaningful; they must define a safe and inviting environment for all our members.

It is furthermore jarring to learn that we allow those who commit racist acts to live next to those they victimize while we isolate innocent transgender students. All our students deserve to feel welcome and safe here. May the awareness of these issues lead us to stand together as a community against all racial and social injustices.

Sincerely, The History Department

Dec. 5, 2018

The Hawk Newspaper

Opinions

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Letter to the Editor To the Editor: We are proud to be Hawks. It means that we strive to be greater, serve our communities and maintain the value and humanity of each other. When our fellow Hawks are targeted by people in our community with racial slurs and bigoted statements, we fail because St. Joe’s becomes a

place where inclusion is optional. This is unacceptable, and we will not stand for it.

The incident reported in last week’s edition of The Hawk is inexcusable and highlights the larger problem of perpetuated systemic oppression at St. Joe’s.

The resolution does not solely lie with any particular student, but the university must commit itself to reviewing and

reforming its institution-wide policies to make significant change and to protect our students and St. Joe’s. Additionally, we as students understand our integral role in shifting the campus climate in conjunction with our entire community. We must ensure the respect and dignity of every Hawk.

We, the entire St. Joe’s community, need to think of creative ways to ad-

dress this complex problem. We need to talk and listen to one another about our experiences. We need to recognize that the person next to us is a human being, regardless of our differences. We need to engage in dialogue, express empathy and support each other. This is our responsibility. This is our duty as Hawks.

Sincerely,

The University Student Senate

Sigma Phi Epsilon

SJU Women’s Rugby

The University Greek Council

Sigma Tau Delta

SJU Women’s Club Soccer

Adventure Club

SJU Orientation Leaders

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee

Sigma Sigma Sigma

SJU Women’s Tennis

Lambda Chi Alpha

Hawks for Just Employment

Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT)

Women’s Leadership Initiative

Delta Sigma Pi

Saint Joseph’s University Accounting Society

Radio 1851

Saint Joseph’s University Make-A-Wish

The Squared Circle

SJU Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter

Molloy Chemical Society

Bridging The Gap

Economics Society

Student Pennsylvania State Education Association (S-PSEA)

Latino Student Association

Alpha Omicron Pi

Hand in Hand

SJU Club Tennis

Hawk Hosts

SJU Pride

54th & City A Cappella

Alpha Kappa Psi

Ignatian Family Teach In for Justice

SJU Dance Marathon

SJU Women’s Rowing

Alpha Phi Omega

Weekly Service

SJU Hawks vs. Cancer

SJU Love Your Melon Campus Crew

Followed By a Bear Student Theatre Company

Phi Sigma Pi

SJU Sports Marketing Club

SJU Men’s Tennis

Alpha Phi

Alpha Gamma Delta

1851 Entertainment

Appalachian Experience

The Flock: Allies of Recovery

Business Intelligence and Technology Society (BITS)

Sigma Iota Rho

SJU Men’s Rugby

Pi Sigma Alpha

54th & City A Cappella

Black Student Union

Alpha Sigma Nu

SJU Improv

Agape Christian Fellowship

Hawks in Flight

SJU Club Field Hockey

Caribbean Students Association

Philadelphia Service Immersion Program

SJU Theatre Company

Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society

SJU Hearts of Hope

SJU Irish Dance Club

The French Club/Le Cercle Fraçais

SJU Baseball

Food Marketing Association

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Dec. 5 , 2018

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Letter to the Editor To the Editor, On Nov. 28, The Hawk reported a racist incident that had occurred in the Villiger Residence Center in September and the university’s response. A white male student had rearranged the letters of the names of two African-American female students to spell “coons” on the door to their room.

The perpetrator was identified and the university asked him to apologize to the two women, but no serious disciplinary action was taken.

The term “coon” has a long and ugly history in America, one that is intertwined with the history of popular music in this country. It was used in reference to a nineteenth-century caricature of African-Amer-

icans as lazy, untrustworthy, and intellectually inferior. An entire genre of sheet music called “coon songs” flourished at the turn of the twentieth century, which used the tenants of the derogatory stereotype.

The caricature had gained prominence in American culture through the minstrel show, which was the single most popular form of public musical entertainment in this country in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Two of the most prominent players in the minstrel show were the buffoon-like characters of Jim Crow and Zip Coon, both performed in blackface. Minstrel shows were popular in the North as well as in the South, and they bolstered the latter’s pro-slavery arguments in the years leading

up to the Civil War. For instance, the songs and skits from the show—including many songs, such as “Old Folks at Home,” that are still prevalent in our culture today—romanticized slavery, telling apocryphal tales of former slaves who longed to return to the plantation.

It is no coincidence that the racist laws enacted after the Civil War were called Jim Crow laws; they took their name from a caricature who, like Zip Coon, embodied the white supremacist attitudes of many American citizens.

The history and legacy of the term “coon” attest to the seriousness of what occurred in Villiger Residence Center this fall, a history that many of our undergraduate students have learned about in their

coursework in music and other disciplines.

The university’s response fails to acknowledge the reality of what this hateful word signifies in our culture.

versity called security on another professor who was eating while black. The faculty caller no longer teaches there.

Swastikas have appeared in the last month at Columbia University, Cornell University and Duke University. Duke has deployed extra cameras and security near the graffiti. Columbia has invited the NYPD to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

Racism is not new, but its public and violent display at this moment requires us as a Catholic, Jesuit university to do more than our secular counterparts.

To refuse to accept that racism is built into the fabric of higher education–and our country–perpetuates a narrative of white racial innocence and ignores structur-

al racism. These myths oppress us all. We must do better.

Sincerely, Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D., Music, Theatre & Film Department

Letter to the Editor To the Editor, Naming racism when you see it is crucial for St. Joe’s to begin effectively countering it on our campus. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King writes, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and certainly a racist event on our campus affects us all.

Working for justice is not easy, but dismantling white supremacy involves much more than calling for “tolerance.” Jesus did not ask us to tolerate one another.

As a white professor of English, each time I teach “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” I encourage a focus on King’s less familiar suggestion that “We are caught in an

inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” King’s position holds significant relevance for our own time because racism adversely affects every member of our community.

The administration’s response to racism is disappointing because it reveals a refusal to uphold the basic tenets of diversity and inclusion.

This response privileges civility, but masking racism never diminishes its effects.

Ultimately, minimizing language subverts any legitimate call for “tolerance” and “civility.”

Of course, St. Joe’s is not alone in attempting to address racist incidents. A professor at Virginia Commonwealth Uni-

Sincerely, Ann Green, Ph.D., English Department

We can both be right A Tale of Two Experiences at St. Joe's ALIM YOUNG ’19 Columnist As a senior at St. Joe’s, I’ve been through my fair share of experiences. Each of which has made me stronger, more resilient and more apt to advocate on behalf of those who feel like they are not being heard. But all of those experiences weren’t good. They did not make me feel good. Many of them broke me.

Last week on Nov. 28, The Hawk published an article titled "Racial slur left on students' dorm room door" about a racially-bias incident that occurred where two freshmen were targeted. The letters on their felt board were vandalized and formed the racial slur “coons.”

After a long and arduous process of filing a report, not being informed about the process, these student were unsatisfied and turned to their friends and to social media.

The other day a member of our senior level administration walked up to me at work, picked up the newspaper and said, “This is shocking. Can you believe something like this happened?” I was tempted

to pacify the belief of many white people who think we are living in a post-racial society, but I couldn’t. Not this time.

The incident published in the Nov. 28 issue of The Hawk was in no way surprising to me. I told him that it was actually more common than most people desired to acknowledge, even at our beloved institution.

The system in this country has been rigged to work against black and brown

clearly attacked them with malicious intent. We are expected to just roll over and take it.

Earlier this week, a recently graduated St. Joe’s alum commented on the post of the article saying the two students’ board was doctored and said “this did not happen at SJU, we accept all.” He implied that his experience was great and completely erased the possibility of anything other

We’re not looking to be pacified or even comforted... we are looking for validation, looking for someone to tell us that we are not going crazy people for centuries. Is it that hard to believe that it has trickled down into the institutions? The comments made by people in positions of leadership, who should be unbiased and help to navigate us through policies and procedures, are often gross and insensitive.

Students are told their backgrounds give them different perceptions of what the result of something is or is not; students who have been victimized are often told that they need to be more understanding and should forgive people who

than greatness.

The acknowledgement of an act of hate where a racial slur was written on the door of the only two women of color in a residence hall floor does not erase another person’s positive experience.

However, the denial of a racially-biased experience not only invalidates members of marginalized groups at St. Joe’s who continue to face discrimination daily, but it also absolves the institution from any progress toward making St. Joe’s more inclusive and not just diverse.

Because let’s be honest, you can invite all the people of color, all of the women, all of the low-socioeconomic individuals and all of the members of the LGBTQIA, but with experiences like these and no justice, how many of them are going to actually stay?

With all of the chaos around campus, there are very few people that have been advocates in more than just word but in deed.

We’re not looking to be pacified or even comforted. We are looking for validation, looking for someone to tell us that we are not going crazy. Someone that is not going to say, “Wow, that’s weird because I never had an experienced like that, I’ve only had good ones.” Someone that will not only affirms our experience but present us with a plan of action.

I am reminded of what Jennifer Dessus, Ed.D., director for Inclusion and Diversity Access Programs, once said to me, “You can’t tell me that lemon in water is lemonade.”

It’s like someone telling you about your experience. How can you say that something that is bitter for me is actually sweet? This forced singular view is doing just that. It places the St. Joe’s experience into a narrow box and if you’re not getting this unified outcome, then there is something wrong with you, not with the place.

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Dec. 5, 2018

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Vague and confusing policy does damage DOMINQUE JOE ’19 Opinions Editor The decision made regarding what the university believes to be a “bias incident,” reported by The Hawk in the Nov. 28 article “Racist slur left on students’ dorm room door,” has affirmed threatening and dehumanizing language on campus. The safety of black students, along with the safety of other marginalized and minoritized student on campus, has also been compromised.

As a black student at St. Joe’s, the story of the racial slur that was written in Villiger Residence Center was absolutely disheartening, but not a surprise. I hear about incidents like these all the time.

Even more upsetting is the administration’s response after The Hawk reported on this incident. Very little was done to support these women, to protect them, or to provide them with more information about the investigation.

I truly feel horrible for these two women because even after reporting their experience according to the university’s community standards process, I feel they haven’t been given the justice they deserve.

The Student Handbook defines a bias incident as “[referring] to conduct, speech, images, or expression that demonstrate conscious or implicit bias which targets individuals or groups based on, but not limited to, the protected statuses.”

Also in the Student Handbook, a hate crime is defined as “any crimes that manifest evidence that a victim or group was selected because of actual or perceived race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, or disability.”

It seems that the only difference between a bias incident and a hate crime is the distinction that “crimes [must] manifest evidence.”

The explanation for bias incidents does not specify that criteria for defining an act as a bias

incident. And the definition of a hate crime offers a convoluted explanation that a person must be first found guilty of a criminal offense before a crime can be labelled as a hate crime.

Based on the administration’s actions in response to the Sept. 28 incident, intent is supposedly derived from knowledge. If the perpetrator apparently did not have knowledge of the racist meaning of the word coons, then is this implicit? And, if it’s implicit, then is there no intent?

There is no written and clear understanding of what the policy is for bias incidents.

There are though, clearly communicated poli-

cies for harassment, discrimination and sexual offenses. The policy regarding bias incidents, is vague and confusing, especially if we are only deriving it from what seems to be a case by case basis.

So, not only do we not know what bias incidents are and how severe or not severe they are, we also don’t have an explicit understanding of what intent is.

So, perhaps it is because of the vagueness of the policy and definitions, that the administration has responded in the way that it has.

This was an act of vandalism on the door of two students of color, and it is a historical-

ILLUSTRATION: OLIVIA HEISTERKAMP ’19/THE HAWK

ly racially derogatory word that is threatening and dehumanizing. The word “coon” has a direct connection to the history of minstrelsy.

“Coon” was used to caricature black people as shiftless, lazy and ignorant. There is no way that the university should be able to square this language with an outdated reference to a Nickelodeon TV show.

Diminishing this incident as a simple “bias incident” speaks volumes to the ways in which the university has decided to try and sweep this incident - sweep this racist sentiment and antagonism, under the rug.

And with all due respect to university leaders, a promotion of Jesuit values and a spiel about how St. Joe’s is a university dedicated to inclusion and diversity means nothing and is incredibly hollow when the action of the administration and its policies downplay this situation.

This plug about the search to hire a new diversity officer, for example, that will work with administration to promote inclusion and diversity on this campus is a band-aid for a much more pressing problem and is an attempt to square the actions that the administration has taken.

I am profoundly disappointed in St. Joe’s.

I am profoundly disappointed in the cowardice that the administration displayed in the face of a situation that should have been communicated to the St. Joe’s community moments after administrators were made aware of it.

I am profoundly disappointed in the policy that was seemingly written to remain vague and protect the institution over the student body it is supposed to be housing and educating.

Going forward, the administration should listen to the student body and act in ways that reflect the student body’s very clearly communicated anger around situations like these. The administration should not prioritize the image of the university over the safety of its students.

The Jesuit value is cura personalis, care for the whole person, not care for the institution.

Where do we go from here?

Sorting out feelings of frustration, uncertainty and solidarity JULIAN LUTZ ’19 Columnist Since the Nov. 28 issue of The Hawk spread across campus, the cover story has dominated discussion. On social media, alumni have done more than share the article—they’ve vented, complained that this is a reminder of a fundamental and frustrating blind spot at St. Joe’s. Some say that St. Joe’s, or at least the university administration, doesn’t care.

That frustration more than makes sense for current students. The fear and sadness that have poured out in class discussions, in group chats, and over meals have been boiling for a long time, and not just because of just this one incident.

For example, the recently launched #MeTooAtSJU movement gave us all an important reminder that for survivors of sexual assault, kind old St. Joe’s can be an imperfect, unresponsive, and even hostile place.

Even among those who were not directly affected by these scandals, frustration exists because our fellow Hawks are going through this, and St. Joe’s is supposed to be better than

this. We are students who care about what this university stands for and how it treats its students at these critical moments.

Lately, many Hawks have felt marginalized, as if all the rhetoric about dignity and diversity and inclusion is yet another slick marketing label, as if the Jesuit values that drive us stop mattering behind closed administrative doors.

Without indicting or blaming any one person or office at St. Joe’s, I want to say that we do need transparency and action from administration, more than has been done, time and again. I know that running a university

for action. We have a vibrant network of students working for inclusion and diversity. We have professors who will delay a lecture to create a supportive space for reflection. We have a newspaper that invites open discussion and fights for full answers. And more than anything else, we have students who care.

To turn all of that into successful action, we need to be clear and conscious about our goals. We need to keep demanding answers after our passions have settled. We need to pay attention to the specific actions and perceived failures we see in the school. We need to ask

There is no consolation, no quick or permanent fix, and no warm feelings to soothe us...Making St. Joe's live up to its ideals is the continuous project we all face. means moving through a maze of policies and legal risks. But vagueness and opacity are disappointing us, and there is room to improve right away.

In the meantime, we can make a difference. St. Joe’s has all the will and all the power we need.

We have a University Student Senate (USS) that is buzzing with concern and plans

ourselves why these failures are happening, and how to change the institutions we see as being responsible.

On USS, I’ve personally seen how tricky acting within a university bureaucracy can be. I’ve seen how a change in policy that looks simple can take ten times longer and be ten times more subtle than anyone ever thought.

I’ve seen great ideas die off because people

weren’t willing to see them through.

But I’ve also seen how people can change institutions if they make clear goals and stick to them come hell or high water. We can do it, but we have to be clear about what we stand for, what we want, and where we go from here.

Barbelin Hall is a building that mimics the shape of a medieval monastery. These monasteries were warm places of refuge, where strangers from a dark world would be welcomed into a close-knit community of faith and learning. At its best, St. Joe’s is that kind of community. But we need to make sure it stays that way.

The world in 2018 is angry, surreal, and splintered. It is disorienting to be reminded that that world can break through our gates-or that it already exists within them. There is no consolation, no quick or permanent fix, and no warm feeling to soothe us. Making St. Joe’s live up to its ideals is the continuous project we all face.

So let’s work consciously, consistently on that project the way we work on our study guides. Let’s make clear goals. And let’s support each other. Because St. Joe’s is a good place, a place full of people that inspire me every single day. As John 1:5 reminds us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

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Dec. 5 , 2018

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

A Time for Compassion and Care Coming together as a community through love JACK CONVERY ’20 Columnist In reading and learning of the disgusting event that took place on Sept. 28, I was troubled and overwhelmed with anger and disgust. Anger towards the students who silently condone this kind of behavior, the student who committed the act and the university in its supposed silencing of it.

Yet, as I looked around at many of my peers, I was met with the same feelings, those of anger and disgust. The community was echoing the same feelings I had. It was great to see everyone standing up to this problem, but at the same time, I became worried.

I was worried about how our community would respond and whether or not it would create more problems or more solutions.

It was after seeing this that I took the time to read and listen to previous speakers and personal heroes of mine, among the likes of James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy and Carl Jung.

These men showed me through their own actions and words that hatred and anger was not the answer but the establishment of a strong dialogue and communication – love for our fellow man.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said “…Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” These fundamental changes in our own minds cannot happen without the personal connection from our fellow human beings.

The problems seem to multiply not from the main issue itself but from the attempts to solve the problem. We all believe

States from Irish and German Catholics in the 1820s to the continued persecution of African-Americans. Along with rac-

ILLUSTRATION: KELLY SMITH’19/ THE HAWK

that our system and/or solution would work if we were the ones implementing it.

Yet unlike other problems, racism and bigotry have continued to plague the United

ism’s long history comes its newfound silence and evasiveness. It’s a problem that hides within many and at times without us knowing it.

This problem has impacted the community, meaning we must listen to everyone in the community and find a common ground for all of us to stand on. From that work, we can move towards a solution.

Invalidating others voices or views only will lead to more anger and more problems, and in the end generate a larger rift in the community than what has already been created.

Now is the time for us to come together in friendship and care for our fellow community members as well as looking into our own circle of friends and community and speaking out against the seeds to this horrible idea of racism.

It is up to us to put the problem of race at the center of America, allowing us to have the problem and not the problem having us like it’s had for so long.

This is why I urge my fellow students to take part in open discussions, like the one on Dec. 3, coming not in anger or disgust but in love and willingness to create a better community. We cannot just leave the discussion in Doyle Banquet Hall North.

We must take it home with us and continue the discussion wherever we go.

This is a problem that cannot be solved overnight and one that needs constant discussion and dialogue. Our future depends on our willingness to work together, and to call each other out in refusal to do so.

I, just as anyone else, am not above this issue since this issue is one that impacts the community and because of that impacts all of us.

Re: Message of Justice Dear Mr. President, what are we tolerating?

TAICHA MORIN ’20 Assitant Opinions Editor On Nov. 29 at 6:07 p.m., I was backstage getting ready to sing my heart out at The Perch with my gospel choir, as I and the rest of our institution received an email notification of a university announcement from University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. The email appeared to be Reed’s response to the Nov. 28 story as reported in The Hawk, in which a white male student rearranged words on the letter board of two students of color to spell “coons.”

I was not only taken back by Reed’s choice of a title of his message “A Message of Tolerance,” but also by the issues he addressed in his announcement.

By definition, tolerance is “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.”

My question is, what are we tolerating?

This is not a matter of difference of opinions or disagreement. This about the facts.

We have a student body that is 80 percent white, seven percent Latino/Hispanic, four percent black and three percent Asian. This lack of representation is also mirrored among staff and faculty. Everyday we are reminded how we are othered by the lack of representation on this campus. The university’s actions towards

We should remember that institutionalized values, from the Constitution of the United States of America, to Jesuit ideals were not conceptualized to include people of color, and have, on multiple occasions failed us in this country and at St. Joe’s.

The reality is cura personalis and the magis won’t stop someone from writing “coons” on my door nor make me feel like I am equally valued and belong here.

The reality is cura personalis and the magis won’t stop someone from writing “coons” on my door nor make me feel like I am equally valued and belong here. bias-related incidents like these, or lack thereof, only reaffirms what we already know and feel.

We don’t matter.

In his message, Reed challenges us to uphold and defend our values as a Jesuit institution. I find that wherever a controversial issue arises, conversations about values are offered as the as the solution.

In addition, Reed took it upon himself to make an early announcement of the university’s search for a chief diversity officer. I’m curious to know what exactly he thought mentioning this would achieve. If it was to prove St. Joe’s dedication to diversity, he missed the mark completely.

Hiring one person to singlehandedly promote diversity at St. Joe’s is not the

solution. Diversity and inclusion should not just be words we throw around during campus tours to get people to come to our university.

Diversity should not be housed solely within the walls of the Center for Inclusion and Diversity. Nor should it only matter to those who staff the center and the members of our community that are directly impacted by the lack of it.

What I desire, or more so what we as people of color deserve from the senior administration and the members of the St. Joe’s community, is not to be “tolerated.”

We want to be respected, valued and protected just like all other members of the St. Joe’s community. Most importantly, we want justice.

We didn’t need a long-winded, aimless email from the president, nor a list of resources and contacts that we already know exist from Cary Anderson, Ed.D., vice president for Student Life. These responses did nothing to address the fundamental problems of racism on our campus.

That is what we won’t tolerate.

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

Dec. 5, 2018

11

Pursuing musical dreams Two students reflect on their musical journeys Jared Filer ’20 plays his electric guitar with his band. PHOTO COURTESY OF JARED FILER ’20

EMILY GRAHAM ’20 Lifestyle Editor Twice a semester, the department of music, theatre and film hosts a Music @ 11 event showcasing students studying music at St. Joe’s.

Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D., associate professor of music, theatre and film, said that the event gives students an opportunity to perform outside of the classroom.

“The idea of Music @ 11 was something that the chair of our department, Dr. Sorkin, and I came up with as a way that our students could perform in something of a low-key setting, but not without pressure,” Morgan said.

During the event, music majors and minors perform pieces they have been practicing in their lessons.

The Nov. 29 performance featured seven students from a variety of musical backgrounds: Joseph Trudo ’21 on guitar, Angelique Frazier ’20 on piano, Olivia Centonza ’20 with vocals, Jared Filer ’20 on guitar, Brendan McGill ’21 with vocals, Ryan Moran ’22 on saxophone and Alex Manduca ’22 on piano.

Centonza, a singer from a young age, said she is not exactly sure why she began singing.

“I feel like I just always started singing,

growing up with music around me ever since I was a little girl,” Centonza said. “I was always singing in the house. It was like my thing in life.”

She joined her elementary school’s choir when she was young and continued with chorus through middle and high school. In eighth grade, she took up piano after watching her choir instructor play everything from classical to modern songs.

She currently studies voice and piano as a music major at St. Joe’s, but that was not her original plan when she came to college.

“I feel like it’s always a dream, ‘I want to be a popstar,’” Centonza said. “Everyone always tells you that’s not realistic and you have to have a plan B.” Centonza said her plan B was to major in actuarial science. That plan lasted around two months into her freshman year.

“I was kind of just sick of it,” Centonza said. “I was like, ‘You know what, I don’t want to do this. It doesn’t make me happy.’”

She had taken some music classes that semester to work towards a minor, so changing to a music major was not a hard decision.

After a conversation with her advisor in the department of music, theatre and film, Centonza said she not only figured out what major would be best for her, but also what her career path should be.

“I always wanted to help little kids, but I also loved music,” Centonza said. “I didn’t want to teach, so I didn’t know how to combine those two together. Then when I talked to my advisor here, she was like, ‘there are so many different jobs you can do with music,’ and she brought up music therapy.”

Centonza said that music therapy is the perfect way to combine her love for music and desire to help children.

In addition to her music studies, Centonza is a member of Hawkapella, an a cappella group at St. Joe’s. She is a member of the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma, where she is a member of the chapter’s choir.

“Music is always involved in everything I do,” Centonza said.

In addition to her studies and extracurricular activities, Centonza works on personal music endeavors.

“I also record at home and still have that popstar dream in the back,” Centonza said.

“But I’ll always be doing music now with my occupation, so I love that.”

Centonza is not alone in her musical ambition. Music is also a passion for Filer, who has been practicing music in some way for 12 or 13 years.

“My grandma got me a First Act electric guitar in like third grade,” Filer said. “I’m not sure why I kept with it, but I’m glad that

Olivia Centonza ’20 (second from right) performs with Hawkapella. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20 /THE HAWK

I did.”

Like Centonza, Filer also had a dream to make it big in the music industry, inspired by the rock and metal music he listened to as a child.

“I think it was really initially the persona of a rockstar,” Filer said. “I was really enamored with that.”

At some point, Filer said he moved on from those genres and began taking lessons in classical music.

He said his first music instructor made a significant impact on him, as the instructor was able to make learning fun.

“Instruction in music is a great catalyst for someone wanting to learn,” Filer said.

From that instructor, Filer learned how to play the electric guitar, bass, saxophone and cello. In addition, he later taught himself how to play the piano.

When Filer came to college, there was no question about whether he would continue to practice music.

“I was encouraged by anyone I knew to continue my music career,” Filer said.

However, Filer said there has been some difficulty in balancing music and school work.

“I do have to make a lot of time for my musical things,” Filer said. “I was double majoring in biology and music for the time being for the past two years. I just felt the workload was a little too much with all that I’m doing.”

Filer is a member of the Big Band Jazz Ensemble and the pit orchestra for the SJU Theatre Company performances.

He also has a band, Brick Nova, with some friends from high school and does some work booking house shows for other bands.

He is now considering becoming a music major with a minor in biology. “[Music] is something at the current time, I get more out of in my life,” Filer said.

“I think it is something that I’m more passionate about. I would just like to do anything with it if I could possibly.”

Filer said he is now interested in pursuing a career in either professional performance or music education.

“I always wanted to be a rockstar, I guess,” Filer said. “A rockstar or a scientist. I think at this point in my life I’m like, ‘Okay maybe I’m leaning a little more towards a rockstar.’”

12

Lifestyle

The Hawk Newspaper

Dec. 5, 2018

Modern Christmas carols SOPHIA RICHETTI ’22 Hawk Staff

Christmas Village is located in Love Park, across the street from City Hall. PHOTOS: EMILY GRAHAM ’20/THE HAWK

It’s Christmastime in the city Celebrate the season in Philly

ELAINA WALL ’21 Special to The Hawk The holiday season is officially upon us, and that means it’s time to soak in all of the holiday spirit around Philadelphia.

Here are a few ways to enjoy this magical season: Winter at Dilworth Park The winter celebration at Dilworth Park, located outside of City Hall, is filled with different activities that will get you into the holiday spirit.

This includes watching the Deck the Hall Light Show, which is projected onto the front of City Hall, ice skating or enjoying hot chocolate around the fire pits at the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink & Cabin and buying gifts for loved ones (or yourself) at the Made In Philadelphia Holiday Market.

Admission for ice skating is $5 with skate rentals available for $10, making a combined total of $15.

Most attractions at Winter at Dilworth Park run through Jan. 1, 2019 or Feb. 24, 2019, so there is still plenty of time to enjoy them.

Christmas Village Christmas Village is another famous seasonal attraction in Center City.

In Love Park, a variety of vendors set up shop in wooden booths like traditional German markets.

Vendors include Christmas ornaments, jewelry, clothing, food and more.

Christmas Village is free to stroll through, and the price of products varies.

The market will be open through Dec. 24.

Miracle on South 13th Street Light Show The entire 1600 block of row houses on South 13th Street in South Philly showcases that the holiday spirit is merry and very bright.

Each house is decorated with unique lights, signs and small details that capture the true spirit of the holidays.

It will be like walking through a winter wonderland, so grab your friends, enjoy a meal at a restaurant in South Philly and head on over to enjoy the lights.

The Miracle on South 13th Street Light Show is open through Jan. 1, 2019.

Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest The Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest, located right off the Delaware River Waterfront, is another popular holiday attraction in Philadelphia.

Visitors can indulge in great food offered in the Lodge Restaurant and Bar from Garces Group and Chickie’s and Pete’s and desserts from Franklin Fountain.

There are options for visitors to play yard games like corn hole and ladderball, arcade games, sit around a cozy fire pit or skate around the Olympic-size ice rink, all with a

view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

There is free admission to the Winterfest, but skating admission costs $4 with skate rentals available for $10, for a combined total of $14.

Discounted skating admission is available for college students with a valid student ID Monday through Thursday.

The Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest is open to the public through March 3, 2019 so visitors can enjoy this holiday attraction well into the winter season.

A Longwood Christmas A gorgeous celebration of Christmas, the Longwood Gardens features thousands of poinsettias, Christmas trees and more.

They have over half a million lights and ornaments outside to brighten up the trees, and the fountain shows are set to holiday music.

Longwood Gardens is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and tickets for admission range from $20 to $27 with a valid student ID, depending on which day of week you attend.

Longwood Gardens is located in Kennett Square, about one hour away from St. Joe’s and is open through the new year until Jan. 6, 2019.

These attractions and more are great ways to celebrate the holidays and enjoy the upcoming winter season.

Ice skaters circle the rink in Dillworth Park.

Here’s a fun Christmas playlist to get you through this last week of classes and the upcoming finals week. Try your best and remember that the semester is almost over and Christmas is nearly here.

“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses This song is fun because it combines two of the best types of music: Christmas songs and ’80s pop. The title is a pun on ‘rapping’ which was becoming a popular style of music during the ’80s.

“Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande This is a recently released Christmas song that has already become a new classic. You can never go wrong with Ari, even at Christmastime. Because of their similar themes, this song could be considered a more modern take on this next one.

“Last Christmas” by Wham!

You can’t help but sing along when you hear this song. Even though it is about past heartbreak, it’s upbeat and hopeful. The Christmas season is a time to forgive and forget, so never let bad memories of the past spoil the fun and festivity of the holidays.

“Believe” by Josh Groban “The Polar Express” is one of the best Christmas movies and it’s only fitting that it features one of the best Christmas songs.

Even though we’re a little old to believe in Santa Claus, we can still believe in the Christmas spirit. This song is also a great one to dramatically lip sync to.

“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” by *NSYNC This song is a great throwback and an inclusive bop. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other holiday, this season is exciting and something we’ve all been looking forward to this whole year. Having a nearly month long break doesn’t hurt either.

“This Christmas” by Christina Aguilera This song has been covered many times and this particular version is one of the best.

The combination of Christina Aguilera’s beautifully soulful voice and this awesome song that was originally released in 1970 is one that can’t be beat.

“Please Come Home for Christmas”

by Aaron Neville This is a slower, more melancholy Christmas song. The singer is begging his loved one to come home and spend Christmas with him. This Christmas, don’t forget to spend time with your family and friends.

“All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey Of course, we have to end one of the most famous Christmas song, one that everyone can recognize from the first few notes. Sung by the fantastic Mariah Carey, the modern Christmas classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a seasonal staple.

Some say it’s overplayed, but if it is, it’s for good reason.

Although there is still a lot of time and schoolwork left until Christmas, listening to this playlist can help you make it through to winter break.

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

Dec. 5, 2018

The Hawk Newspaper

Lifestyle

13

Finding a meatless meal

Vegan students struggle with campus dining options CHRISTINA PHOTIADES ’20 Hawk Staff After watching a video about the meat industry shown to her by a third-grade classmate, Alyssa McDougall ’22 decided to stop eating meat.

“I remember being super grossed out,” McDougall said. “My love for animals definitely added to my feelings of disgust.”

McDougall said she became a vegetarian 10 years ago, but as her passion for animals grew, she decided to cut out animal by-products too and become a vegan.

McDougall is not alone.

In 2017, there was a 600 percent increase in people in the U.S. identifying as vegans over the last three years, according to a study from GlobalData. According to the report, in 2014, one percent of U.S. consumers claimed to be vegan. By 2017, it jumped to six percent.

But it’s not easy being vegan for St. Joe’s students who eat in Campion Dining Hall, despite new efforts by SJU Dining Services to include more menu options.

Ken Goldbach, general manager of SJU Dining Services, said the university and Aramark, the university’s food-service provider, recognize there is a shift in the growing number of students desiring plant-based menus.

Last year, SJU Dining introduced a vegetarian stir-fry station, which Goldbach said is also a vegan station. This year, SJU Dining implemented changes to include different lunch and dinner options at the vegan station.

Sophia Albano ’21, who is vegan, said last year she would regularly call her parents and tell them she was starving and didn’t know what to eat.

“Walking into Campion was definitely really disheartening because I would see my

Campion Dining Hall serving vegetarian stir fry. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK.

friends easily going for pizza, hamburgers or whatever the hot meal of the day was, but I was stuck with the same few options, stir-fry twice a day,” Albano said.

Liz Sweeney ’21, who has been eating a vegan diet for three years, said her difficulties in finding something to eat were compounded by inaccurate information.

“On the online menu, it would say that something was vegan, and then, in person there would be bacon bits or there would be butter in the vegetables,” Sweeney said. “I would often have to ask the workers what’s in the food, and they would have to leave and ask someone in the kitchen. Sometimes, I just didn’t have time to wait between my classes.”

Sweeney said she relied on the kindness of one of those workers.

“Last year, there was one woman in particular who was so sweet, and she knew I was vegan, so she would always give me an extra scoop of food and say, ‘Oh, honey, I know that you need this. You need to eat.’”

Goldbach said SJU Dining tries to work with students on a one-on-one basis to ensure that their needs are being met.

“We engage and invite the students to work with us early on in the process to understand how we can help them best navigate the dining hall,” Goldbach said.

Tim McGuriman, associate vice president of Administrative Services, confirmed

Crossword: 2018 pop culture edition Across

Down

5. Despite facing a difficult year, this artist (last name only) put out multiple hit songs, including the recent single “thank u, next.”

6. “In My Feelings” by this rapper finished first on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart.

11. Black ___ grossed over $700 million in the U.S. box office, making it the highest grossing movie of 2018.

12. This rapper’s song “I Like It” won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Song of the Summer.

13. Baldwin secretly married this famous pop star.

17. “The Shape of Water,” by this director, won Best Picture at the 2018 Academy Awards.

18. This popular musical featuring a soundtrack from the band ABBA received a sequel this summer.

22. Anyone who watched the popular Netflix original “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is sure to remember this love interest’s last name.

23. 14 years later, this popular Disney film returned with a sequel.

24. The name of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s third child, born Jan. 15, 2018.

25. A biopic titled “Bohemian Rhapsody” celebrates this 70’s rock band.

26. This actress became the first female doctor in the series “Dr. Who.” 27. Prince Harry finally tied the knot by marrying this American actress (last name only).

1. Kylie Jenner gave her daughter this unique name.

2. This former Disney actress recently starred in the Netflix Original “The Princess Switch.”

3. With songs like “Better Now” and “Psycho,” this artist rose to popularity this year.

4. The band Weezer released a rendition of this distinctive song by Toto.

7. This song from the film “A Star is Born” made it to number five on the Billboard Top 100 chart.

8. This famous HGTV family decided to take a break from television this year.

9. Taylor Swift’s tour for this album took place this summer.

10. Michelle Obama published her memoir in November, entitled ___.

14. The Avengers returned in the latest installation to the franchise, “Avengers: ___ War.” 15. This young yodeller has moved on from Walmart with the release of his EP Famous (last name only).

16. This singer performed at the Super Bowl LII halftime show.

19. This member of the Jonas Brothers recently married actress Priyanka Chopra.

20. Netflix successfully rebooted this reality show starring the Fab Five style experts of Atlanta.

21. This young witch was granted a Netflix original remake just in time for Halloween.

the best way for students to take advantage of many of the offerings in the dining hall is to reach out to SJU Dining staff.

“Special dietary needs are addressed through consultation between the student and our management team and, as needed, our Student Health Service,” McGuriman said.

For many vegans, having to pay the same price for a meal plan that has so few options for them is hard to swallow.

Albano said she was wasting her money last year because, like all freshmen, she was required to pay $5,416 for the unlimited access meal plan.

“I felt really guilty because I wasn’t enjoying what I was eating,” Albano said. “It’s just so much money for so few options. And I definitely wasn’t getting the right amount of nutrients that I needed for a vegan diet.”

McGuriman said meal plan pricing is reviewed annually along with tuition and other fees.

Golbach said ultimately Dining Services has the task of meeting the dietary needs of nearly 2,800 students.

“We’re not only dealing with students who choose a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, we also handle numerous students with a multitude of dietary and allergen restrictions,” Goldbach said.

Goldbach said the best way for students’ dietary needs to be met is through communication.

“We have an open policy where someone can stop in and simply ask for a manager or the executive chef,” Goldbach said.

While Sweeney recognizes SJU Dining’s efforts to be accessible, she is unsure of if changes will come about because of it.

“It’s really hard to tell if they’re actually doing anything,” Sweeney said. “I feel like I have a voice, but I don’t necessarily feel like it’s listened to.”

14

Dec. 5, 2018

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Men's rugby loses to Bowling Green University in championship MICHAEL DROOGAN ’21 Hawk Staff The St. Joe’s men’s rugby team capped off their fall season with a 26-7 loss to Bowling Green State University in the Fall D1AA National Championship in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 2.

After knocking off Western Michigan University in the semifinals, St. Joe’s entered the game as the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. This is the second year in a row the team has fallen in the championship, as they lost to the University of Mary Washington last year.

“Credit to Bowling Green, they played a phenomenal defensive game that stymied our high flying offense,” Head Coach Dan Yarusso said. “But at the end of the day we have got to

dig deep and play tough and bring that Philly grittiness into these games and I’m really proud of them, they really stepped up against these bigger boys. Just didn’t go our way."

The team was marred by turnovers and penalties, including a red card that sent junior captain and fly-half Noah Niumataiwalu off the pitch and reduced the team to 14 men.

Niumataiwalu scored the team’s only try off an interception before leaving the game.

Senior Lock Mickey Chapple said it was an incredibly physical game.

“You work all year to get to that moment and to have it taken away and the team’s talking back, it’s tough to keep yourself together,” Chapple said.

Senior captain and Number 8 George Harris said he was impressed that the team didn’t stop fighting, despite their deficit The Hawks make a play on the ball during the National Championship against Bowling Green State University.

PHOTOS: SJU Recreation

Fifth year senior captain and outside center Aram Keshgegian runs downfield in the National Championship.

throughout the game.

“That’s something we pride ourselves on: we don’t quit no matter what,” Harris said.

Harris said the program has come a long way since he started playing and he was really proud of how the team did this year.

Prior to the championship game, the team had gone undefeated through the regular season and conference play, winning their conference championship.

“It’s really inspirational, it’s an honor to see the program develop the way it has over the years,” Harris said. “When it started off we were struggling to compete for the conference championship then we got over that hump and then last year we lost in the championship and then this year to lose again [is] another hump we have to get over to excel in the future. It’s really inspirational.”

Despite playing over eight hours away, St. Joe’s had a large number of fans, parents

and students come down to show support for the team. Yarusso said the parents took the team out for two dinners and fed them all weekend.

Fifth-year senior and outside center Aram Keshgegian said the team has formed a tight-knit community.

“We’re as close as can be,” Keshgegian said. “We’re in each other’s rooms all day, we’re always hanging out. No one’s alone so it’s really just like a brotherhood we have.”

The team will get a chance to redeem themselves in the spring when the 7s season comes around, highlighted by the USA Rugby 7s in Las Vegas, the Jesuit 7s in Santa Clara and the CRCs in Philadelphia.

"We all came closer together this year and it has really lit a fire under our bellies to go out and do something special in 7s this year,” Keshgegian said. “It’s something that will keep us grinding.”

PRINT SERVICES

SAINT JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY ON-CAMPUS PRINTING FACILITY CONTACT US FOR:

course packets posters flyers stationery

lawn signs pop up banners scanning and more.

Our services are alsoavailab le for personal projects and for commercial b usinesses.

Copies - color or black and white sizes up to 1 3 x 1 9 • course packets for classes • term papers • invitations, posters, brochures Wide format printing • large presentation posters • pop up & hanging banners, lawn signs Offset printing - 2 and 4 -color presses Binding - stapling, collating, folding SJU stationery orders • business cards • letterhead and envelopes • notepads

Print Services

Variable data printing and mail fulfillment Specialty items • pocket folders • calendars • die cut cards and novelty items • and more Hard Cover Year Books INFORMATION AND E STIMATE S Phone:

61 0 -660 -2622

Email:

printservices@sju.edu

Online:

sju.edu/printservices

Location:

225 W. City Ave. (next to Wendy’s)

sju.edu/printservices

The Hawk Newspaper

Sports

Dec. 5, 2018

15

St. Joe's loses to Villanova in Big 5 battle COLLIN MESSENGER ’22 Hawk Staff St. Joe’s women’s basketball team faced off against Villanova University on Dec. 2 in a Big 5 battle for Philadelphia, losing 47-35 in Hagan Arena.

Head Coach Cindy Griffin said the game environment yielded a great atmosphere. “[It was] a great women’s basketball game, and we wanted to continue that tradition,” Griffin said. “I think the players really enjoy seeing people in the stands and they get excited about it.”

Griffin said that it is these historic games that attract players to play under her at St. Joe’s. She added that the Big 5 combined with the Atlantic 10 Conference is also a contributing factor.

“When you choose to come to St. Joe’s, you choose to play for a team with a lot of tradition and success," Griffin said.

Griffin also said that these Big 5 games inspire a sense of Philadelphian pride in the community, as they showcase Philadelphia’s best.

“These are always great games, well attended, and I think it’s great for the community to be able to see two great teams in the city of Philadelphia compete against each other,” Griffin said.

From the grandstands, William Legg

’20, Sam Robinson ’20 and Kevin Duncan ’20, presidents of 54th Airborne, led the St. Joe’s student section.

Duncan said that this Big 5 rivalry game means a lot because of the local bragging rights at stake.

“The proximity between [St. Joe’s and Villanova], and the long history of this rivalry, brings a lot of spirit to these games,” Duncan said.

Robinson said that the historic tradition of these games creates a polarizing energy both on and off the court.

“The tradition of Big Five basketball and city competition has been a very competitive league,” Robinson said. “The city’s got a lot of talent and I think that every year it brings out an extra bit of spirit to see who is going to be the best out of these really great teams around the city.”

This particular Big 5 battle proved to be unique, as St. Joe’s redshirt freshman guard Katie Jekot faced off against her sister, Villanova junior guard Kelly Jekot, for the first time. Griffin said this added dimension of competition to the game while also creating a story that attracts attention.

“You’re always competing against your brothers or sisters, and I think that’s healthy, that’s what makes [Katie and Kelly Jekot] the great players that they are,” Griffin said. Griffin said shewas happy with the

Redshirt freshman guard Katie Jeckot drives for a layup against Villanova PHOTO: SJU Athletics

defensive energy her team demonstrated.

“I was proud of our team,” Griffin said.

“It’s a grind or grit type of team that we

have this year and I think our kids did a nice job defensively.”

St. Joe's athletes share their personal mantras DEMI SIMMS ’20 Special to the Hawk When the going gets tough on St. Joe’s playing fields, the tough get--a mantra.

For St. Joe’s athletes and coaches, mantras, which have their roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, offer a way to focus by repeating a word or phrase.

Senior guard Chris Clover has been using the same mantra for a while, a Bible quote, Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ.”

“I put that on my sneakers,” Clover said,

pointing to his shoes.

Greg Nicholls, Ph.D., director of St. Joe’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), said mantras can help people respond rather than react when they are anxious.

“Combined with a focus on the breath, a mantra, such as ‘calm and cool’ or ‘relaxed and strong’, said internally and repeatedly on the outbreath can serve to reset the mind away from negative and self-critical thoughts,” Nicholls said.

Taking a deep breath helps Clover when he’s about to shoot, it’s all riding on him and fans are yelling.

“I don’t really say too much,” Clover said.

Jill Bodensteiner J.D., director of athletics

'Let it go.' Whether it was a mistake in an athletic game, or something I screw up at work, learn from it, move on and let it go.”

Sara Rankin, senior, Women'sTrack and Field

“In my head, I’m just like, ‘This ball has to go in.’ I just do a method of breathing to calm my nerves down.”

Junior guard Greg Smith said when he’s on the free-throw line and the pressure is mounting, he tells himself, “Remember, it’s still a game.”

“At the end of it, it’s still a sport, like we are supposed to have fun playing and everything like that,” Smith said.

Missed shots, lost games and big falls can chip away at an athlete's confidence. Mantras can help reset that negative thinking.

Sophomore forward Taylor Funk said he responds to missed shots with the simple man-

tra: “Next shot’s going in.”

Funk said he got another mantra from his father.

“Every time you shoot the ball, just think, ‘It’s going in, no matter what,’” Funk said his father told him.

When faced with doubt, junior forward Lorenzo Edwards said he tells himself, “God doesn’t give me anything I can’t handle.”

“I went through a couple injuries, and it was tough, but that saying, and that mantra right there, kept me pushing through and kept me going,” Edwards said.

Here are some of the other mantras guiding athletes and coaches at St. Joe’s:

Elaine Estes, senior captain, Women's Track and Field “Stay bold and be brave.”

Anna Willocks, senior, Field Hockey "When the going gets tough, relax.”

"Inhale confidence, exhale doubt."

Hannah Prince, assistant coach, Field Hockey, Captain of the U.S. Indoor National Team

Caroline Duffy, junior captain, Women'sTrack and Field

Joely Helder, senior, Field Hockey

“Fight the fight, keep the faith, finish the race.”

"1. Win this moment. 2. Head in the fridge, heart in the fire. 3.

Control the controllable."

“Just play your game."

16

Dec. 5, 2018

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Chris DiJulia inspires the St. Joe's community RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Assistant Sports Editor There is perhaps no greater embodiment of the motto "The Hawk Will Never Die" than Chris DiJulia, son of former Director of Athletics Don DiJulia, whose loyalty and magnetic personality have made him as entrenched in St. Joe’s tradition as the motto itself, according to men’s basketball Head Coach Phil Martelli.

“It’s not a building, it’s not a program, it’s a spirit where every person that comes in contact with you, you want to make them feel a little bit better about themselves," Martelli said. "That’s what [Chris] does, he makes you feel better just by having the chance to talk to him.”

The relationship that Chris DiJulia has with Martelli is not rare at St. Joe’s. The impact of his constant presence and eternal optimism radiates throughout St. Joe’s athletics, according to Martelli.

These relationships, however, are reciprocal, according to Chris DiJulia, outlining what makes St. Joe’s so special.

"I’m a little biased, but all the coaches, they’re great," Chris DiJulia said. The people we have here, they’re great to me, all of them.”

Chris DiJulia, the son of a Hawk legend, has created a legacy of his own at St. Joe’s. In Don DiJulia's first year of retirement, his basketball game days became busier. He now sits next to his son, who has a constant flow of visitors that come to joke and talk sports with him.

“It’s just fun to be here,” Chris DiJulia said, looking out at Hagan Arena. “I can’t miss a game.”

In many ways, he is the consummate St. Joe’s basketball fan. He reminisces about the undefeated 2004 team, loves Jameer Nelson and is a critic of one of his closest friends, Martelli. When asked if he voices his opinions to the head coach, he laughed.

“I do,” Chris DiJulia said. “But it goes in one ear and out the other.”

Chris DiJulia has the experience to validate his claims. He has been around St. Joe’s basketball since before Martelli was introduced as an assistant coach in 1985.

“He’s always got something to say,” Martelli said.

Chris DiJulia also has a close relationship with women’s basketball Head Coach Cindy Griffin. He was a named a member of the

Chris DiJulia watches a men's basketball game against Temple University on Dec. 1, alongside his father, Don DiJulia. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20

women's basketball coaching staff by then women's basketball Head Coach Jim Foster in the 1980's. He watched Griffin during her time as a player at St. Joe's from his spot on the bench and has been around the program ever since.

“Cindy allowed me to be around the team and help how I could,” Chris DiJulia said. “That was really, really fun when that was going on. I still help a little bit, not on game day, but at practice.”

Last year, he was inducted into the St. Joe’s women’s basketball Hall of Fame.

“That was really special,” Chris DiJulia said.

The connections he has established have stretched past the confines of Hawk Hill. He is close friends with Temple University men’s basketball Head Coach Fran Dunphy, and has even found himself in the middle of the Holy War. When Villanova students stole the Hawk mascot costume days before a St. Joe’s Villa-

nova rivalry game, legendary Villanova men’s basketball Head Coach Rollie Massimino, who coached the Wildcats from 1973-1992, found the students who had stolen it and instructed that they personally return it to Chris DiJulia.

He hardly ever misses a basketball game, men’s or women’s, and remembers every detail about his beloved Hawks.

Two games however, stand out to him.

The first is St. Joe’s victory over number one ranked DePaul University in the 1981 NCAA Tournament and the second was the Hawks loss to Oklahoma State University in the 2004 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, which he grimaced at the thought of.

“I’m still thinking about it,” Chris DiJulia said about Nelson’s last second shot. “I’m going to take that one to my grave.”

According to him, the upset of DePaul in 1981 was his favorite experience as a Hawk fan because of one deciding factor.

“The ball went in,” he said with a laugh. “In

Chris DiJulia, who has cerebral palsy, trains with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ben Steenrod to improve his dexterity. PHOTO: MATT BARRETT ’21

2004, the ball came out. That’s the difference.”

Chris DiJulia's loyalty to St. Joe’s is boundless and is not confined to basketball. He followed the field hockey team closely and attended many of their games. Chris DiJulia and his father had plans to drive to Chapel Hill, N.C. had the Hawks advanced in the NCAA tournament and still shows frustration about their defeat. He also shares a connection with the softball team who badger him whenever he chooses a basketball game instead of one of their games.

His dedication extends past his fandom.

He trains to improve the strength in his back and his dexterity three times a week and fittingly, he refused to train anywhere other than at St. Joe’s. He works out in the weight room of Hagan Arena with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ben Steenrod.

“Everyone knows him,” Steenrod said. “And he’s always positive for all the teams. He takes an interest in everyone and he really cares.”

Steenrod and Chris DiJulia have forged a special bond in the time they spend together. According to Steenrod, they have “Chris DiJulia hour” in the weight room, where he only wants country music to be played.

“We talk about everything in there,” Steenrod said. “But I’d say about 50 percent of it is just trash talk.”

Steenrod has seen firsthand the impact that Chris DiJulia has on the people he encounters. In four years together he said their relationship has “grown exponentially,” and Chris DiJulia often comes in just to talk and hangout. The two text back and forth regularly, but Steenrod is on a long list of people that Chris DiJulia keeps in touch with.

“All the people that have come and gone I still talk to even now,” he said.

Chris DiJulia is not exaggerating. He keeps a handle on just about everyone that he has crossed paths with, including current and former players, coaches and administrators who all have one thing in common: they’ve been drawn to his unique mix of banter and inspiration.

“He has a tremendous spirit,” Martelli said. “And he really never has a down day, except if the Eagles lose or the Phillies lose or the Hawks lose. He’s a real inspiration and he’s a Philadelphia treasure and we’re lucky at Saint Joseph’s to be able to call him ours.”