Sept. 11, 2019

Sept. 11, 2019

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Volume C

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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

Health officials urge students to stop using electronic cigarettes

CARA SMITH ’21 News Editor The Student Health Center sent a campus-wide email on Aug. 31 that drew attention to an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warning about pulmonary diseases associated with e-cigarettes.

As of press time, 450 possible cases of lung illness related to the use of e-cigarette products have been reported from 33 states and one U.S. territory, according to the CDC. Five deaths have been confirmed in California, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Oregon, according to the CDC. Eileen Bevilacqua, R.N., director of the Student Health Center, said providers

at the Health Center are urging students to quit smoking e-cigarettes immediately.

Bevilacqua estimated that 40% of the students who are seen in the Health Center admit to using an e-cigarette device.

“If the student is a regular user, a nicotine replacement, the patch or gum, is recommended,” Bevilacqua emailed in response to The Hawk’s request for an interview.

According to the CDC, e-cigarette devices are also called e-cigs, vapes, e-hookahs, vape pens, mods, tanks or electronic nicotine delivery systems.

E-cigarettes are devices that operate by heating a liquid solution to a high enough temperature producing an aerosol that can be inhaled, according to Truth Initiative, an organization that aims

to inform young people about tobacco and the industry behind it.

Most e-cigarette solutions contain nicotine, flavoring and humectant, a substance used to retain moisture. At least 60 chemical compounds are in e-liquids, and there are even more in the aerosol they produce, according to Truth Initiative.

Although the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are exploring vitamin E as one of the possible inflammatory chemicals causing the pulmonary illness, they have not identified any specific substance or e-cigarette product that is linked to all cases.

Respiratory, gastrointestinal and non-specific constitutional symptoms have all been reported by patients suffering from diseases associated with

e-cigarettes, according to the CDC. Many patients with these diseases report using products with liquids that contain cannabinoid products.

Chris Bostic, deputy director for policy at Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), an organization that aims to eradicate cigarettes and decrease tobacco related deaths, said because e-cigarettes use vapor, consumers can be misled about their harmful effects.

“Twelve to 15 years ago, there was not as much nicotine [in e-cigrettes], and now they are trying to make something that is a true replacement to cigarettes,” Bostic said. “Once you try them, you get addicted very, very quickly.”

CONTINUED ON PG. 2

A student uses an e-cigarette device on campus. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

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SEE INSERT FOR SOUTH AFRICA STORIES Women experience gender based violence in South Africa

South African restaurants embrace reusable straws and sustainability

Women empowered through lifeguarding in South Africa

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Sept. 11, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

News

Health officials urge students to stop smoking e-cigs FROM PG. 1 To account for diversity in product design, researchers have classified e-cigarettes into three generations, according to Truth Initiative. First generation e-cigarettes resemble combustible cigarettes and are disposable, second generation e-cigarettes are larger and pen shaped and third generation cigarettes don’t resemble combustible cigarettes. The amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes depends on the brand and generation, but some e-cigarettes deliver nicotine as efficiently as combustible cigarettes.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of 2017, at least 7.4% of college students are current e-cigarette users, and 30.7% have tried e-cigarettes. Additionally, 11.7% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students use e-cigarettes, according to the 2017 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

Maddy Mancino ’23, who uses a third generation e-cigarette with a nicotine solution on a daily basis, said that she started using e-cigarettes on and off around her junior and senior years of high school.

“When I was a senior and I turned 18, I bought my own JUUL,” Mancino said. “That is what I started using more frequently. Then I got a Flair, which just hits better.”

Bostic said even though e-cigarette companies claim they don’t market to minors, some of their products make that difficult to believe.

“When you are marketing gummy bear flavored pods, it’s hard to imagine they are marketing towards 40-year old smokers,” Bostic said.

Brandon Baughler ’21, who uses a Novo, a third generation e-cigarette, with a nicotine solution on a daily basis, said he believes the flavors of the solution affect his cravings.

“The Novo has better flavors,” Baughler said. “It is also really sweet. Sometimes I get a craving for that taste again.”

The Hawk reached out to five e-cigarette companies, Fuma, JUUL, Vapor4Life, Blu, Flair and Mojo, but none responded to questions by press time.

Michigan became the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes on Sept. 4 in an attempt to protect youth and young adults from potentially harmful vaping related illnesses, according to Michigan State Health Department.

Bostic said legislation is the most effective way to simultaneously decrease the percentage of youth and young adults that use e-cigarettes and to limit the economic implications of e-cigarettes on the American healthcare system.

“Regular cigarettes cause about 300 billion dollars in damages and climbing every year,” Bostic said. “Certainly e-cigarettes are not that high yet, but they are going to have an impact we just haven’t calculated that yet. It is going to get worse as more people use them and as people use them for longer.”

Although Baughler said he doesn’t think e-cigarettes are better than combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes are more convenient to use.

“Cigarettes leave that smell on all your clothes forever and you have to go outside to light a cigarette,” Baughler said. “With a vape it is so easy and so accessible.”

Mancino also said she doesn’t believe that e-cigarettes are better than combustible cigarettes, but she doesn’t plan on stopping completely.

“It definitely concerns me and makes me want to slow down my use,” Mancino said.

“Am I ever going to stop? No. But, do I think about those concerns? Yes, on the daily.”

GRAPHIC: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

Baughler said almost no outside information would make him stop using an e-cigarette.

“I am just kind of stubborn in the way,” Baughler said. “It would just have to be my decision. It has to be something I discover on my own.”

Bostic said his organization constantly looks for new solutions in an effort to to

eradicate cigarettes and decrease tobacco related deaths. “[E-cigarettes] are vapor, but people think that means it’s water vapor, and it’s not,” Bostic said. “There is no water in there at all. You can get the same results by holding your head over a grill for several hours a day and sucking in the smoke from that.”

WALK/RUN FOR AUTISM September 21 SJU Student Price: $10 kinneyautism.sju.edu/5k

HAWKFEST ALUMNI & FAMILY WEEKEND

News

The Hawk Newspaper

September 12, 2019

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New St. Joe's safety app launches CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 Editor in Chief St. Joe’s Public Safety launched a new app, “SJU Safe” which makes public safety features accessible to students from their cell phone.

The app was launched at the end of August and has over 1200 downloads as of Sept. 5, according to Art Grover, director of Public Safety & Security.

Grover said what initially drew him to the app is being able to reach students wherever they are.

“It allows them to use technology and devices that are familiar to them in ways that allow them to communicate,” Grover said.

When a user opens the app, they are shown 12 buttons including “Emergency Contacts,” a “Mobile BlueLight,” “Friend Walk”, “Virtual Walkhome,” “Support Resources,” “Emergency Plans,” and many other options.

Grover said that one of the most popular features on the app is the Virtual Walkhome.

“A student can connect with my dispatcher and arrange for a virtual walk home,” Grover said. “[Students] type in what their destination is and we’ll watch them proceed on the screen. When they get to the location they hit finish and they’re done.”

Anna Kalafatis ’22 lives in Pennbrook Hall on 63rd Street and uses the Friend Walk feature when she is walking to and from campus anytime after 3 p.m.

“I like how you can send your location to somebody and they can track where you are,” Kalafatis said. “There’s a lot of robberies and weird situations that go on since we are in a city.”

Another feature allows users to send a tip to the Public Safety office either in the app, over the phone or by text. There is also a button to access school emergency plans, which include the active shooter

Within each of the 12 buttons, more features are available to users. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

plan, terrorist attack plan, severe weather plan and others.

Grover’s favorite feature on the app is the Mobile BlueLight. Anyone with the app can press the BlueLight which shares their location with Public Safety within the geofence of 63rd Street to Monument Street and four blocks east to west.

“With this app, I have 1200 more BlueLight phones out there, and people can get help, support and assistance when they need it,” Grover said.

Whitney Jones ’20, former public safety chair of University Student Senate (USS), was part of the initial discussion

about the creation of the app during her sophomore year. Jones continued working with Grover and David Hudak ’21, the new public safety chair for USS, to find the best app for St. Joe’s campus.

“Especially after last year’s incidents, I feel this app is exactly what this campus needs,” Jones said. “It also connects Public Safety more to the students and there is less of this disconnect and miscommunication.”

Hudak said the Mobile BlueLight feature on the app is especially important since students don’t always know how the Blue Lights work.

“I think the [Mobile BlueLight] is a great

feature," Hudak said. "Everyone has their phone on them. It’s always about preventing the worst from happening.”

Grover said downloading the app is simple and only takes a minute.

“I would like [students] to download it and use it, leverage it to its fullest capacity because it really is an important safety initiative,” Grover said. “ It has a potential to change the way people interact with Public Safety, and we welcome it.”

Zach Dobinson ’22 contributed to this article.

Department of Public Safety reports (Aug. 30 - Sept. 5) Aug. 30 Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the lobby of the Villiger Residence Center. Public Safety responded and confiscated the alcohol.

Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the lobby of McShain Residence Center. Public Safety responded and confiscated the alcohol.

Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Villiger Residence Center. Public Safety officers responded.

Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by a student cooking. Alarm was reset.

Aug. 31

and confiscated the alcohol. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding person(s) unknown taking their personal iPhone while attending the Made in America Music Festival. No police report at this time.

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding person(s) unknown removing items from their personal vehicle which was parked in the 2200 block of N. 56th Street. No police report at this time.

Sept. 1 Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the lobby of Rashford Hall. Public Safety responded and confiscated the alcohol. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the lobby of Villiger Residence Center. Public Safety responded and confiscated the alcohol.

Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Ashwood Apartments. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by a student cooking. Alarm was reset.

Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the lobby of Rashford Hall. Public Safety responded

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding being approached by a male suspect wearing a mask, armed with a

handgun in the 5700 block of Drexel Road.

The suspect ordered the complainant to put his wallet and phone on the ground and walk away. The complainant complied. The suspect fled in an unknown direction. No injury to the student. Philadelphia Police notified and responded. Incident under investigation by the Philadelphia Police.

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

18 0 On campus

Off campus

Sept. 2 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding person(s) unknown removing their backpack from the area of Sweeney Field. No police report at this time. Incident under investigation.

Sept. 5 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Villiger Residence Center. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by a student cooking. Alarm was reset.

Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside Lannon Hall. Public Safety officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by a person(s) unknown activating the station.

Alarm was reset.

DRUG RELATED INCIDENTS

2

0

On campus

Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

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Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 11, 2019

Global Perspectives: Gun violence and mass shootings TAICHA MORIN ’20 Columnist

On March 15, a 28-year-old white man entered a mosque and an Islamic center in Christchurch, New Zealand, with two semi-automatic rifles and two handguns. By the end of the day, 51 people total were dead. At Al Noor Mosque, 42 people were killed; at the Linwood Islamic Centre, seven. Two people died later at Christchurch Hospital.

Then, on Aug. 3, a 21-year-old white man entered a WalMart in El Paso, Texas, with a semi-automatic rifle. He killed 22 people and injured 26.

DEVIN YINGLING ’22 Opinions Editor

Both shooters espoused a similar racist and xenophobic doctrine, and the gunman in El Paso directly opened his manifesto with, “In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto. This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

The two tragedies link in this sense, but this was New Zealand’s first mass shooting since 1997. This was America’s first for that day. Less than 24 hours later in Dayton, Ohio, nine people were killed and 27 were injured when a gunman opened fire in Dayton’s historic Oregon District.

New Zealand

In both New Zealand and the United States, people are talking about gun violence. We wanted to put those conversations together, highlighting the voices of college students. Former Assistant Op-Editor for The Hawk, Taicha Morin ’20, is studying abroad in New Zealand this semester.

She interviewed students from the University of Auckland. The Hawk interviewed students at St. Joe’s. While these students will likely never meet, their voices do on these pages.

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

United States

Sept. 11, 2019

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Sept. 11, 2019

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

The reality of gun violence Discussing the lack of U.S. policy change Editor in Chief Charley Rekstis ’20 Managing Editor Emily Graham ’20 Copy Chief Kaila Mundell-Hill ’20 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner Senior Editor Luke Malanga ’20 Digital Managing Editor Alex Hargrave ’20 Copy Editor Angelique Frazier ’20 Copy Editor Jackie Collins ’21 News Editor Cara Smith ’21 Assistant News Editor Carly Calhoun ’21 Opinions Editor Devin Yingling ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor Hadassah Colbert ’20

It’s been 18 years today since the 9/11 attack. Now that school has started back up with the class of 2023, it’s become apparent that the oldest students here at St. Joe’s were only about three when the events of that day transpired. As for this new group of first year students? They were either one year olds, or were not yet born.

Therefore, what this generation knows when it comes to defining terrorism consists almost solely of internal threats. And more specifically, much of what we truly know is gun violence.

We read about the deaths on Twitter.

We see live stories on Snapchat taking us through mass shootings as if they were just another video that can be posted to YouTube. Politicians and talking heads bring up the partisan debate on all major news networks. And then we forget about it.

Sure, gun violence in the U.S. is brought up in political debates or as a hot topic on Twitter for one day when the National Rifle Association (NRA) ticked off somebody else. But nothing changes.

After the shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, the country “proposed buyback of semi-automatic firearms could cost as much as $300 million NZD ($200 million),” Winston Peters, the country ’s deputy prime minister, said.

After the shooting in Tasmania, Australia in 1996, the lawmakers pushed “changes to gun laws that included lengthy background and identification checks for would-be gun buyers, and a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons.”

But after the most recent shooting in El Paso, all the U.S. got was, “Walmart announced it would stop selling ammunition for military-style assault rifles and no longer allow customers to openly carry fire-

arms in their stores.”

We let the discussions surrounding mass shootings and tragedy only scratch the surface level of where the issue lies. The issue lies primarily in the Constitution, and yet that remains a meager fragment of what the nation discusses after witnessing such an awful amount of death.

According to Foreign Policy, “there are only three countries that have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms: Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.” So, It’s no wonder that in the U.S. in 2019 alone since Sept. 9, there have been 39,000 gun related incidents, 10,305 gun-related deaths and 20,588 gun-related injuries. If those numbers aren’t enough for you, take a look at the special 12-page print from Aug. 11 in the Washington Post, where they list off all 1,196 mass shooting victims since 1996.

This cycle will just keep continuing.

Right now in Congress, “Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House need to approve spending bills to avoid another government shutdown...A string of mass shootings in August that left more than 50 dead also added a contentious debate about gun control measures to the fall agenda.”

Gun control is a talking point. Mass shootings are a campaign highlight for politicians. But nothing is going to change. It takes over 10,000 deaths in just one year (not even the year in full), in order for politicians to start talking again about how they can make the country safer. Maybe.

It’s disheartening that we are to put faith into our government to make these changes and to codify policy that will keep citizens safe. As of now according to Everytown data, “95% of Americans nationwide backed universal background checks and 85% favored the passage of so-called

‘red flag’ laws, which are designed to prohibit individuals from purchasing firearms if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. A 61% majority of Americans blamed gun violence on easy access to firearms.” Yet nothing has changed.

Since 9/11, all this generation really knows is violence from the inside because nothing is being done to stop this violence at the core of the problem.

From Sandy Hook, to Parkland, to Las Vegas, to Charleston. From Texas to Orlando, and Virginia Beach to Dayton, this list continues.

We only know acts of violence within our borders. As long as we keep avoiding the discussion, and refuse to acknowledge that gun violence is a true epidemic in this country, we will continue to live in the status quo where the right to a gun is more important than the right to live.

—The Editorial Board This week’s Editorial Board is comprised of the Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Digital Managing Editor, News Editor, Assistant News Editor,Assistant Features Editor, Online Editor, Opinions Editor and Assistant Opinions Editor. 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.

Assistant Features Editor Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 Assistant Features Editor Zach Dobinson ’22 Sports Editor Sam Britt ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Ryan Mulligan ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Matt DeLeo ’20 Special Projects Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 Photo Editor Mitchell Shields ’22 Online Editor Alex Mark ’20 Social Media Manager Natalie Drum ’20 Assistant Social Media Manager Julia Koerwer ’23

PHILLY PHILLY! Let’s hear it for the Eagles win on Sunday against the Redskins (3227) because it’s hopefully the first of many. Do we smell another Super Bowl LII? Here’s to hoping. Go Birds!

MOURNING SUMMER ‘19 The first week back at school, the notorious “sylly week” has ended, as has the Labor Day four day week. Now that we have been eased into the year, it’s our first full week and time we get back to business. We’re sad to see summer go, but we can do this.

VINE REINCARNATED? We have to agree that Tik Tok is the new Vine. Dare we say it’s better? If you haven’t already downloaded the app as a way to distract you from your homework this semester, we recommend you do so ASAP.

WHAT IS THE HUMAN CUBE? One of the most recent Twitter trends is the "human cube." The picture reads: “a cubic building (side of 1.07km) that could hold all 7.3 billion humans on the planet” while depicting a graphic cube in New York city. It's odd and honestly quite confusing.

FIELD HOCKEY GOES UNDEFEATED What’s better than an Eagles win? Another Saint Joe's Field Hockey win. Give it up for the 2018 A-10 champs as they continue doing great things on and off the field. They currently stand at 3-0. Go Hawks!

DINING HALL WATERFALLS When we said we didn’t want summer to end, that didn’t mean we wanted watersports in Campion Dining Hall. It seems the leak this week is trying to keep us all cool in the warm weather, but we think we would prefer the beach or a nice pool as opposed to ceiling water.

Business Manager Angela DiMarco ’22 Assistant Business Manager Collin Messenger ’22 Distribution Manager Gavin O'Reilly ’20

Social justice voices connections

SOUTH AFRICA STORIES Reporting on the legacy of colonialism and institutional racism

A view of the Johannesburg skyline looking towards Ellis Park Stadium. PHOTO: THE HAWK

INTRODUCTION

Nick Karpinski ’21, Special Projects Editor A group of 12 reporters for The Hawk Newspaper traveled to South Africa over the summer as part of St. Joe’s summer study abroad program, Media and Culture in South Africa, led by Shenid Bhayroo, Ph.D., assistant professor of journalism, and Jenny Spinner, Ph.D., associate professor of English. Reporters wrote stories about the country’s culture, politics and economy, focusing on social justice issues and examining topics through a pre- and post-apartheid lens. Much of The Hawk’s reporting investigated issues from the perspectives of voices that often go unheard.

The system of apartheid, or “separateness” in the Afrikaans language, was an ideology of segregation enacted into law in 1948 by the National Party government.

Racial segregation and white supremacy in South Africa were practiced many years ealier, beginning with the first European colonization of the region in the early 1800s and the many laws that dispossessed and controlled the African population. Apartheid was simply an extreme formalization of settler colonialism, and in 1948, a complex system of segregationist laws and policies were implemented to control the population and the economy.

The pillars of the apartheid system included the 1950 Population Registration Act, which classified South Africans into racial groups: white, Bantu (African), colored (mixed race) and Asian. The Group Areas Act of 1950 enforced the physical separation of the racial groups by forcibly displacing and moving thousands of people to designated racial areas. The legacy of colonialism and the apartheid laws continue to impact and affect people of color in South Africa today.

The reporters wrote stories in three of South Africa’s nine provinces, primarily in and around the cities of Johannesburg and Durban, and Rosendal, a small farming community in the Free State province. South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, is a large urban metropolis and located in the Gauteng province. It is the provincial capital and home to the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Durban is on the east coast of South Africa, located in the Kwazulu-Natal province. It’s one of South Africa’s tourism centers, as it looks out onto the Indian Ocean with expansive subtropical beaches. Rosendal is home to many artists, while Mautse is the black township across the highway from Rosendal.

In all of these cities, towns and townships, the legacy of colonialism and apartheid endures. White people lived in the towns while black people were forced to live in commuter townships located on the periphery of the towns, and outside the bigger cities. Townships are still underdeveloped, racially segregated and densely populated with high levels of unemployment and a lack of basic services.

The Hawk hopes that publishing these stories will bring awareness of South Africa’s culture, politics, economics and social issues, and dispel stereotypes. Many of the stories focus on the enduring impact of South Africa’s history of colonial exploitation and racism. That history is reminiscent of the United States’ enslavement of Africans that began four centuries ago in 1619. The U.S. continues to grapple with its own history of racism and colonialism. The South Africa stories are intended to provide a lens for our readers to reflect on their understanding of race in the United States.

South Africa stories will be published in upcoming issues of The Hawk.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Apartheid

The system of apartheid, or “separateness” in the Afrikaans language, was a white nationalist ideology of segregation formally enacted into law in 1948 by the National Party government.

Group Areas Act

Shortly after coming into power in 1948, the apartheid government passed the Group Areas Act of 1950, restricting black South Africans to townships far from white suburbs and big cities.

Thousands of people were dispossessed of land and forcibly removed to areas assigned for their apartheid-designated racial group.

Township

Racially segregated residential areas created by the apartheid government for black South Africans. Many townships still lack basic services, infrastructure and other amenities enjoyed by residents of former white suburbs.

PARTICIPANTS

Rose Barrett ’20 Carly Calhoun ’21 Jackie Collins ’21 Ana Faguy ’19 Gabby Gutierrez ’21 Alex Hargrave ’20 Sarah Harwick ’21 Nick Karpinski ’21 Ryan Mulligan ’21 Kaila Mundell-Hill ’20 Cara Smith ’21 Alex Vadaketh ’22

FACULTY

Shenid Bhayroo Jenny Spinner

Sept. 11, 2019

Women work to support each other after rape

Orange Farm residents Sphiwe Ramaphuma (left), Nokuthula Mabongo (center) and Nokuthula Zwane (right) said they feel South Africa's justice system has failed women who are victims of rape, particularly black women. PHOTO: ROSE BARRETT ’20/THE HAWK

ANA FAGUY ’19 Editor Emeritus ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor ORANGE FARM, South Africa — Two months ago Nokuthula Zwane, 24, was raped for the third time.

She decided there was no point in reporting the crime–a gang rape by six men– to police.

Zwane was 18 years old when she was raped the first time. She said she reported the crime to police, but after they took evidence, nothing was done. The second time she was raped, she said the police refused to take evidence because she was not penetrated by genitalia. According to South African Criminal Law, sexual penetration of any kind is considered rape.

“I said, ‘I’m not going there ’cause I know what’s going to happen,” Zwane said.

“The very same thing that happened [the] two times back is going to happen, so what’s the point? Let me just cry, and then I’m fine.

Life goes on.”

Zwane found support in the women who are part of The Sunrise Campaign, the latest project of the organization Let Us Grow. One of the aims of The Sunrise Campaign is to address the gender-based violence issues that plague Orange Farm, a large township about 45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Johannesburg.

Rose Thamae, 66, best known as Mum Rose, created Let Us Grow in 1996 as a home-based care support organization for HIV positive people living in Orange Farm.

Thamae, a two-time rape survivor who has been HIV positive for 29 years, was driven by her own experiences. She was raped for the first time by her father’s friend when she was nine years old. She told no one. Ten years later, she was gang raped.

After Thamae was diagnosed with HIV, she moved to Orange Farm to escape the stigma and discrimination that came from her diagnosis.

“In the 1990s, when they say you are HIV positive, the doctor will tell you look after yourself until you die because there was no treatment,” Thamae said. “When I

was still staying here, I saw it was good for me to attend a separate group. That’s when it started shaping this project. I trained as a counselor to counsel people when they’re diagnosed with HIV.” Thamae called The Sunrise Campaign her “new baby.”

“When I introduced it, I said, everything that is happening in this center is something that you are seeing from the community,” Thamae said.

For women in the Orange Farm community, gender-based violence is all too familiar.

In the 2017-18 year, there were 40,035 rapes reported across South Africa, according to statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS). Those statistics do not address the many women like Zwane who do not go to police after they have been raped.

In fact, according to Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust, an organization that guides victims of sexual violence through the criminal justice system, nearly 650,000 sexual offenses are committed in South Africa every year. Of those, only one in 13 is reported to police. That means almost 90% of sexual offenses go unreported.

“In the last 10 years we have seen a great decrease in reports of sexual violence,” said Aisha Hamdulay, the media and communications liaison at the Women’s Legal Centre in Cape Town, in an email to The Hawk.

“However, the decrease in reports is not indicative of a decrease in sexual violence but rather distrust and a loss of faith in the legal system. This loss of faith has averted many women from reporting sexual violence.”

One of the initiatives within The Sunrise Campaign is a support group for survivors of gender-based violence. Zwane leads that group.

“We talk about everything and anything, even if could just be clothes, perfumes, anything to get over whatever we are feeling,” Zwane said. “I think it helps. The majority of people are doing well.”

Nokuthula Mabongo, 26, another Orange Farm resident, is not convinced that Zwane is doing as well as she says she is.

“How can she just get over it?” Mabongo said. Mabongo tried to convince Zwane to report her third rape to the police, but Zwane refused.

What Mabongo thinks women like Zwane need is justice. But Mabongo acknowledges the system is broken, and black women, who are at “the bottom of the hierarchy,” are the ones most likely to experience gender-based violence.

“This is what I’m saying,” Mabongo said.

“Justice comes into play. It’s failing women.

How do I make you believe you’ll receive the justice that you deserve? We know how the statistics are standing in the country as a whole. We know how many women are raped in South Africa every day, how many people are prosecuted because of rape.”

Sphiwe Ramaphuma, 29, another survivor and member of the support group, is familiar with the broken justice system.

When Ramaphuma was raped at 19 years old, she said she faced the same indifference as Zwane when she reported the crime to police.

“When we got there, the policemen didn’t want to hear our stories,” Ramaphuma said. “We were asked, ‘What did you wear? What were you doing? How did it happen?’ You can’t even explain how did you get raped.”

Thamae said little has changed since her own rapes.

“If 20 years down the line, women and children are being gang raped like me, and we are losing the cases, to me, it’s not getting better,” Thamae said. “We are still losing our sisters. To me, the systems are failing.”

The lack of justice means Zwane and Ramaphuma are still forced to see their attackers in Orange Farm.

Mabongo said the current justice system favors people who have money and resources.

“The justice [system] is not something that an ordinary black woman can tackle,” Mabongo said. “The justice system, it’s not for people like us, it’s for people with money and status and power and resources. People here don’t have those things.”

The women are not convinced they can do anything to change the justice system, so they focus instead on each other.

“We need to do it ourselves in our communities in the way that we can,” Mabongo said. “We know that the issue here is that women get raped. We need to tackle that in our own way, in a way that’s going to help our women.”

That means changing deeply rooted cultural attitudes and the entitlement that many men feel they have over women.

“There’s this culture issue of us as black people,” Thamae said. “Your father is a man, your mother is obeying your father, and your mother has no voice. This boy is growing looking at what the father is doing, and he’s coming to do it to you as a young woman. Many boys say, ‘My father told me I am a man. No woman can tell you.’ We started this program to say, ‘Hey, wake up guys. You are not going to live like your father.’”

Another aspect of The Sunrise Campaign is its focus on educating young boys in order to reduce gender-based violence in the next generation. “[If] boys can be groomed from that age when we were groomed from, then maybe the next generation of men will be different kind of men,” Mabongo said.

The campaign also seeks to give women a voice, Thamae said.

“It’s not to say this gender-based violence is starting now,” Thamae said. “It’s been here a long time. It’s only that those women never talked about it. They were told not to. You can see coming into the house that your mother and father were fighting.

They were always pretending they were ok.

Gone are the days of pretending. We are losing so many sisters, so many mothers, so many young girls.”

Rose Thamae, founder of Let Us Grow and The Sunrise Campaign, said her own experiences as a two-time rape survivor living with a diagnosis of HIV, helped her understand the need for a support group for women who are victims of gender-based violence. PHOTO: SARAH HARWICK ’21/THE HAWK

Sept. 11, 2019

Pulling at straws in South African restaurants

Alecia Bernett, a server at Spilt Milk, brings a smoothie and biodegradable straw to a customer. PHOTOS: ROSE BARRETT ’20/THE HAWK

JACKIE COLLINS ’21 Copy Editor JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — As South Africa considers a nationwide ban on single-use plastic straws, some restaurants are already moving forward, handing out compostable straws to their customers.

South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs plans to enact an import ban on single-use plastic straws by the end of 2019 in an attempt to reduce the country’s over 15 million tons of plastic waste per year. In the meantime, “No to Plastic Straw Movement” has been trending on social media, with the restaurant industry jumping on board.

Jack Landon, owner of Spilt Milk, a café in the Melville neighborhood of Johannesburg, supplies his customers with Bio Straws. These straws, according to the company’s website, are 100% biodegradable and produced from PLA plastic, which is made from the reusable plantbased resource of cornstarch.

Landon acknowledged his decision to use biodegradable straws is part of a larger trend right now.

“I think in South Africa at the moment, truth be told, it’s more trendy to drink

from plastic-free straws than there is a benefit,” Landon said. “In South Africa, it’s cool to say no to plastic and use biodegradable.”

Biodegradable straws are not necessarily the answer to creating a more eco-friendly South Africa, according to Mark Gordon, deputy director general of the chemical and waste management in South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs.

“I don’t necessarily believe in the story of biodegradability,” Gordon said. “I like to talk more about the notion of compostability.”

According to Recycling Partnership, a U.S.-based nonprofit, compostable straws will not break down faster than plastic straws unless they are disposed of in a commercial compost facility.

“South Africa doesn’t have those commercial facilities,” Gordon said.

Gordon said South African consumers need more education on this issue.

“Sometimes it seems like everyone gets onto this bandwagon of compostable without fully understanding what the value chain and what the full process truly is,” Gordon said.

Kate Wittstock, founder of Restraw, an online company based in South Africa that sells reusable glass, metal and bamboo straws, agreed it is a misconception

At Spilt Milk cafe in Johannesburg, owner Jack Landon said he offers customers biodegradable straws rather than plastic as part of a growing movement against plastic straws in South Africa.

that biodegradable straws are a better alternative to plastic. In the case of straws made from cornstarch, for example, more and more corn fields must be plowed down to meet production needs.

“Once you plow down corn fields, that area becomes completely unaidable,” Wittstock said. “You cannot use it for anything else. It is such a negative thing.”

Wittstock said the biggest problem in South Africa is the single-use aspect of products, no matter what they are made of.

She said metal straws are superior because they eliminate the single-use problem.

“It’s not even about the straw,” Wittstock said. “It’s about the single-use aspect.

It is very hard because everything these days has become single use for convenience.”

Landon admits his Spilt Milk customers lack awareness on the negative effects of single-use straws. He said he believes his customers enjoy the café’s biodegradable cornstarch straws because of the trending “No to Plastic Straw Movement,” without fully understanding sustainability factors.

“When you compare the plastic straw problem in the ocean, it’s a small percent compared to the overall plastic that goes into the ocean,” Landon said. “So why are South Africans all patting themselves on the back for saying no to a plastic straw

when there’s far more severe problems?”

Peer Guetton, a customer at Spilt Milk, said he appreciates that Spilt Milk and other businesses offer biodegradable straws.

For environmental reasons, he prefers them–as a customer. But in his own restaurant, he uses plastic. The reason? Cost.

“The problem with business owners like me is the price of switching from plastic straws,” Gueeton said. “I’m honest with you, we are obviously going to wait until the ban is passed to switch from plastic straws because of the cost. I’m sure biodegradable straws cost much more than plastic straws, and it is going to affect our business. I would have to up some prices of food items to cover the cost.”

Landon acknowledged the economic aspect of using biodegradable straws. Spilt Milk spends up to three times as much on biodegradable straws as plastic ones, according to Alan Prentice, Spilt Milk’s executive chef.

“If you go to the shacks in the townships of South Africa and tell them that they have to take care of their planet when they’ve been hungry for three days, they won’t really care,” Landon said. “It’s almost a luxury. It’s marketed at the rich, white people because that’s where the money is and that’s where people are jumping onto it.”

Wittstock agreed biodegradable or reusable straws are a tough sell in a country with so much poverty and is not convinced the ban will pass.

“I think it is something incredibly difficult to do in our country just because of the different sectors we have,” Wittstock said. “For example, in our informal sector, you can’t expect people who are earning so little to spend more on something that is so unimportant to them, especially to people whose number one issue is to put food on the table.”

Instead, Wittstock said the “No to Plastic Straw Movement” should serve as an entryway to eliminating all plastic consumption, not just straws. Her company’s mission is to have consumers rethink the way they do things, reuse everything they can, and reset their mindset about the environmental crisis.

“For me. the main thing with the straws, they’re stupid, pointless, frivolous items that one actually doesn’t really need,” Wittstock said. “If we can get people to understand or to change their behavior about the straw, that will filter down to into other things. It’s obviously about the straw to a degree, but it’s more about changing the behavior.”

Kate Wittstock is founder of Restraw, an online company based in South Africa that sells reusable straws.

Sept. 11, 2019

Xolani Jobe, senior lifeguard and a lifeguard trainer talks to new recruits during a lifeguard training session at the Rachel Finlayson Swimming Pool on the Duran beachfront. PHOTOS: ALEX HARGRAVE ’20/THE HAWK

Black, female lifeguards challenge stereotypes on Durban’s beaches RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Assistant Sports Editor DURBAN, South Africa — In a profession long dominated by white males, the new recruits in lifeguarding classes at Rachel Finlayson Swimming Pool in Durban stand out: They’re mostly black and female.

On a winter day in the offseason, training was in full swing at the pool, located on the North Beach promenade. In the background, waves crashed against the beach, which is one of the world's busiest, crowded with nearly one million people on summer days.

Along the pool deck strode Xolani Jobe, switching back and forth between Zulu and English, as a line of recruits sat listening to him describe various emergencies they might encounter.

“Never ever try to play dead for a shark,” Jobe told them. “Only when you see a lion can you play dead.”

The vast majority of Jobe’s students are young adults from Durban’s neighboring black townships, many of whom have been recruited by outreach programs that teach children from the townships to swim. The recruits are selected based on their swimming ability.

One of the classes Jobe teaches is comprised entirely of women. A recent citywide push has focused on recruiting more women to train as lifeguards. Jobe has high expectations for his all-female class, which was meeting that day.

“These ladies are actually going to change the entire perspective that lifeguarding is only for men,” Jobe said. “We are now trying to change all of that perspective. It is supposed to be 50/50. We are actively bringing females in and there will be a different picture by September.”

The women are already seeing the obstacles they may face. Khanyisile Mgushelo, 21, said her biggest worry when she becomes a certified lifeguard has nothing to do with sharks, towering waves or the other dire situations that Jobe described.

“The other guys, the older people that I come across while I’m working, how will they treat me?” she said. “It’s something we all have to think about, but it wasn’t enough to push me back from being a lifeguard.”

Olwethu Zungu, 21, faced a similar strug-

additional challenge. Gnenhlanhla Zwane is deaf. She relies on her classmates, who know only basic sign language, to relay what Jobe is instructing.

Zwane’s reasons for training to be a lifeguard are no different than her classmates’,

Sbahle Ndlela studies for a test as part of the advanced coed lifeguard group. It usually takes about 6-8 months of daily mental and physical training before trainees can take a test to become certified lifeguards.

gle, and a similar determination.

“I love swimming, and I love helping people,” Zungu said. “I always wanted to do it. It was just that people didn’t take me seriously.”

Jobe is aware of the possible mistreatment the women may face and addresses it in his training, which he said needs to be all encompassing in order to prepare the women for the discrimination they may face.

“They are getting emotionally prepared,” Jobe said. “Because they are females, I have to teach them all of the bad things that they may encounter if they want to pursue being lifeguards. They must know that they will be harassed, they will be touched, and all kinds of vulgar language will be used at them. It is one of the things they must know that they will experience especially on these beaches.”

One of Jobe’s new recruits faces an

though. The allure of the sea, combined with a passion for helping others, especially those who have similar physical challenges, is what made her want to be a lifeguard. “[I] wanted to be a lifeguard because [I] like to help people, especially deaf people,” Zwane signed. “It will be easier for [me] to tell them what to do and what not to do, in signs.”

Jobe is currently taking a sign language class so he can better communicate with Zwane.

“It is very, very, challenging especially for someone like me,” Jobe said. ‘I don’t know how to use sign language. When we’re out at sea and I have to tell her to go that direction, it is difficult because we both can’t understand each other.”

In addition to gender bias, the new recruits may encounter racial bias as well in

their jobs. During the years of apartheid, beaches in South Africa were segregated by race, now anyone can go to any of the public beaches. Although Jobe said the beauty of Durban’s beaches is that all races and ethnicities flock to them, there are still stereotypes the prospective lifeguards must overcome.

“That’s why we go to townships and public swimming pools, because we are trying to change the perspective that swimming is only for this group, not for this group,” Jobe said. “They say swimming is obviously for white people. Black man can run, white man can swim. So we are trying to swim to change that mentality.”

Jobe said it took him almost drowning as a teenager to learn to swim, and he immediately devoted his life to teaching others to swim. He is also part of a township outreach program that teaches young children how to swim. This, he said, makes the jobs of his lifeguards that much easier.

"The people come from the townships, and they come to our beaches,” Jobe said. “It helps us to know that half of them can swim.”

Sizwesisha Mpanza, 24, is part of an advanced coed program that studies alongside the all-female group.

“What brought me here?” Mpanza asked. “The ocean is a lovely place. It’s also a scary place.”

Jobe’s job is to equip the recruits with knowledge so the ocean is less scary for the lifeguards and its visitors.

“Normally, when they arrive, the first thing I say to them is, ‘I’m your guardian angel, so whenever you see me, you must know that you’re safe’,” Jobe said.

The responsibility is not solely on Jobe, as he sees his trainees as men and women who can shift how people view lifeguards. However, to the students themselves, it’s simple: They love Durban, they love the beach, and they will jump at the opportunity to help people.

“I think Durban is the home of surfers in South Africa and I grew up here, I love this place, what better job can you ask for?” Mpanza said.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 11, 2019

7

Updates on Hawk Hill ZACH DOBINSON ’22 Assistant Features Editor The start of every new school year always comes with potential changes; changes in dorms, changes in classes, perhaps even changes in majors.

As students return to Hawk Hill for the start of the fall semester, St. Joe’s campus has received some new additions, some major and some minor. These changes range from construction on campus, new selections in Campion Student Center’s dining halls, to a new Campus Ministry associate.

Construction

Throughout the summer, St. Joe’s began various construction projects on campus.

It started with the demolition of Jordan Hall on Lapsley Lane, whose components have been partially reutilized in the on-going construction near Sweeney Field. Previously, Jordan Hall housed upper-level students, but will eventually be replaced with a new residence for Jesuits.

The construction near the field intends both to increase accessibility in that part of campus as well as to improve the flow of pedestrians. The construction is planned to be completed by mid-Sepember.

Additionally, portions of the sidewalk along City Avenue between Cardinal Avenue and 54th Street have been redone.

Campion

Campion Dining Hall and Campion Food Court have also seen recent changes not only to food selections, but also dining services.

In the dining hall, students found a newly installed soft serve ice cream machine, currently offering vanilla and chocolate.

The DB side received multiple upgrades, including expanded menus and a new grab-and-go station.

Located near the registers, this station features healthier drink and snack alternatives for students looking for a quick bite to eat.

The Hawk Wrap and Grille Works stations feature an expanded menu, including Hawk Fries and a limited meal exchange program, respectively.

Grille Works’ new meal exchange program allows students to trade a meal swipe in exchange for a combo meal up to 15 times per semester.

Hawk Hill Productions

Previously known as the Student Union Board, the organization has renamed to Hawk Hill Productions. Sporting a new name and logo, the rebranded student-run organization plans events for undergradute students for free or a reduced cost. Events include Welcome Week festivites and off-campus trips.

Daiki Hibachi & Sushi

(215)-877-1888

Best Cake Bakery

(215)-878-1127

New York Bagels

(215)-878-8080

City Line Diner and Deli

(215)-473-6952

Shalom Pizza (Kosher)

(215)-878-1500

#1 China Take Out

(215)-878-8983

Stacy’s Pizza

(215)-473-6200

Queens Chinese

(215)-879-8868

Rainbow Crab House

(215)-877-2100

Natures Nutrition

(215)-871-0111

T/O & Delivery

Vitamins & Health Food

The soft serve machine is just one of the changes on campus. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Campus Ministry

Along with infrastructure improvements, Campus Ministry welcomed Sharon Nicol, the new Campus Ministry associate.

Before coming to St. Joe’s, Nicol spent two years in the West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago with Mission Year, a religious volunteer corps.

Nicol said that the reason she came to St. Joe’s was sparked by one of her favorite quotes by Ella Baker, a 20th century human rights activist. Nicol admires Baker’s call to be radical when getting down to the root

causes of systematic injustice.

To Nicol, the Campus Ministry associate position seemed like an ideal way to perform the “radical work” Baker’s quote called on her to do. Nicol feels that the best way to go about this work is to follow her own advice.

“My advice to students is my advice to myself: be courageous, cultivate compassion, model integrity, and take care of yourself,” Nicol said.

8

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 11, 2019

Fresh Faces

Meet the class of 2023

Cece Petruconis ’23 Minneapolis, Minn.

What is one thing you brought from home that you can’t live without?

This is sentimental, but I have this bracelet that says “Nothing is Impossible” on it. It is a personal inspiration thing for me that my dance coach gave to me when I was training for nationals competition. It is just a daily reminder that if you really believe you can do something and you work hard enough for it, nothing is impossible.

Interview conducted by: Cecilia Cianci ’20

3

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Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 11, 2019

9

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Jackson Morrow ’23 Springfield, Va.

Why did you choose St. Joe’s over an HBCU [Historically Black College and University]?

No specific reason. I thought about applying to Howard, but I ended up not doing that. I thought St. Joe’s would put me in a better position to where I want to be.

Interview conducted by: Isis Gill-Reid ’20

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GRAPHIC: KAITLYN PATTERSON ’20/THE HAWK

10

Sept. 11, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

Sports

Field hockey looks to live up to high expectations MATT DELEO ’20 Assistant Sports Editor The St. Joe’s field hockey team faces new expectations as they enter the 2019 campaign ranked No. 17 in the nation.

These expectations are the result of their recent string of success which includes two consecutive Atlantic 10 Championships and appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior goalkeeper Victoria Kammerinke explains how she tries to spin the idea of everyone gunning for St. Joe's as a positive.

“I think there are two ways to look at it, you can see it as a target on our back or you could enjoy the pressure in a positive way.”

Kammerinke said. “Seeing [a target on your back] as a threat is something else that is going to push us to repeat that again.”

St. Joe’s returns key members from last year’s team such as four Hawks who were voted onto the 2019 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey

Preseason Poll, sophomore forward Tonya Botherway and seniors midfielder Pepe Serrano, midfielder/back Kathrin Bentz and goalkeeper Victoria Kammerinke.

Junior forward Jordan Olenginski said along with new expectations, the team also realizes they need to improve from last year.

“Our main goal is to come out strong,” Olenginski said. “Keep that high intensity and control the tempo for the whole game.”

Senior midfielder Kathrin Bentz said the team has worked on being resilient.

“One thing we have worked on is recovering in the moment,” Bentz said. “If we have a set back we do not want to stay down but to push right back, we talk about resilience a lot. Being able to get right up after we were scored on for example.”

Resiliency comes from a strong team chemistry which Olenginski states is possibly due to only graduating three play-

Kammerinke holds the record for most goalie wins in school history. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/ THE HAWK

Sophomore Tonya Botherway scored 56 points in 21 games last season. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/ THE HAWK

ers in the past two years.

“It helps keeping the same amount of girls together because we know each other very well off the field,” Olenginski said. “Off the field translates to on the field, so when we know each other better on the field like where we want the ball and that has helped.”

They have left off right where they finished last season, as St. Joe’s has won their first two games against Hofstra University and Drexel University.

The Hawks have six ranked opponents on the schedule this season but Kammerinke said they are focused on their conference regular season right now.

“We really worked on getting everyone on the same page and going from there”,

Kammerinke said. “Expectations are high, obviously to exceed the goals of last season.

Our first focus will be the regular season, and then toward A-10s and then winning A-10s.”

Even though the Hawk's are set to face a tougher schedule than last season, they will remain true to the system put in place

by Farquhar.

“One thing coach Lynn has done very well is teaching us the basics and sticking to the basics,” Bentz said. “Our whole game is grounded in basic skills. We say we want to have two seconds on the ball and have two options and that makes it very easy. Everything is made up of those principles and that is what makes our play work.”

Goalkeepers step up for women's soccer MICHAEL DROOGAN ’20 Hawk Staff Following the graduation of all time wins leader, Grace Bendon ’19, the women’s soccer team has found not one, but two keepers to take her place. Senior Cameron Perrott and freshman Emily Cuccio have both stepped up to fill the void left behind in the Hawk's net.

Head Coach Jess Mannella said she hasn’t decided who she will settle on as the starter but will evaluate it one game at a time based on the matchups and who has the hot hand.

“It’s going to be a game-to-game decision, so when someone’s hot they’re hot,”

Mannella said. “So Em has played two in a row and got two wins but Cam’s right there and is a senior and a leader. It doesn’t make my job easier.”

Perrott and Cuccio have complementary styles on the field where, according to Mannella. Perrott’s leadership and experience allow her to be more in sync with the defense, while Cuccio’s length allows her to attack crosses and corner more.

Although Bendon has left her spot as keeper, she has not moved far away and she is now working as an assistant coach on the team, helping Perrott and Cuccio transition into their new roles.

“Grace was a captain and a leader from the beginning so the transition was pretty

easy,” Mannella said. “Cam and Grace were training partners so they were already close friends.”

A similar bond has formed between Cuccio and Perrott as both have embraced the competition and have found ways to push each other.

“We never have a bad day at practice,” Cuccio said. “If someone’s having a bad day we stop and get our composure and we most of all try to have a good time.”

As goalies, both Perrot and Cuccio have to be the vocal leaders on the field, not only ensuring everyone is in the right spot physically, but also in the right place mentally.

“We talk a lot about how we have to play in the now,” Perrott said. “If you let up

Cuccio (left) and Perrott (right) have held opponents to 0.83 goals against per game this season. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/ THE HAWK

a goal you can’t dwell on it. You can’t change anything that’s passed. You just have to keep going forward.”

Cuccio received the Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Week after earning her first collegiate victory in a 1-0 win over Stony Brook University. Mannella said this has served as a confidence booster for the young keeper.

Cuccio initially had committed to James Madison University while playing for Morris County School of Technology in New Jersey. After, the coach at JMU left and St. Joe’s lost sophomore goalie Asia Whittenberger to concussions, Hawk Hill became a natural fit.

“I had done a camp here and it just kind of felt like a good vibe and I said if anything ever fell through with JMU I would give it another look,” Cuccio said. “When it did, I called [Associate Head Coach] Fred [King] and everything fell into place.”

Those good vibes were similar to what Perrott felt when she first visited Hawk Hill and were one of the reasons why she came.

“We focus more on being a family than just a team,” Perrott said. “And it makes the atmosphere so much better. You get to come out every day, and we’re with our 28 best friends.”

This family atmosphere is one that Mannella said she works on fostering and has allowed for an easier transition between goalkeepers. Both of the goalies try to stay locked into the games regardless of who is in the net.

“We focus a lot on the bench being in the game,” Mannella said “We’re one whole team, it’s not like one team on the field and one on the bench. We try to stay engaged and cheer each other on.”

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 11, 2019

11

12 Sept. 11, 2019

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Athletics reveals new court design in Hagan Arena RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Assistant Sports Editor When the St. Joe’s basketball teams take the court this fall, they will do so on a brand new floor design.

The court features a two toned silhouette of a hawk, that stretches the width of the court. The east baseline reads ‘The Hawk Will Never Die’, while ‘Hawk Hill - Philadelphia’ is written on the west baseline, two expressions that the team in charge of the redesign wanted to emphasize as a representation of the St. Joe’s brand.

The team behind the redesign was a collaboration of the president’s office, Jill Bodensteiner J.D., director of athletics, Amanda Hall, the associate athletics director for business operations and facilities, and the Office of Marketing Communications, specifically Ryan Starr, creative services director, who came up with the design for the court.

“I just wanted it to be impactful,” Starr said. “If we’re going to go big, let’s go big. Let’s do something that people are going to notice and that people are going to appreciate. We want people, when they come in here to have that sense of pride and see this as Hawk Hill and the home of the Hawks. What better way to do that than looking down on the court and seeing it?”

Starr was given free reign to test new designs, saying that he had about six or seven options before the team settled on this one. However, there was one part that Bodensteiner and Reed wanted to be included.

“I do think there was at some point a conscious, ‘we want to rebrand this as Hawk Hill,'” Starr said. “Everyone that’s on campus already does, but we want it to be broader. Being intrinsically part of Philadelphia was important to us.”

For Starr, who is in his second year at the position, and Hall, who is in her first year, the overhaul was no small task. The Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team called Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena home for the summer and finished their season Aug. 3, and the redesign began

The new court design uses the same wood flooring as the old court, but the design has changed. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

on Aug. 5. The new court was finished 11 days later. However, the time crunch wasn’t the only pressure Hall said.

“Knowing the student athletes, this is what they’re going to see when they get on campus and it can make or break," Hall said.

"That’s a massive weight on your shoulders.

Just wanting to pour all of our effort into something that they’d be proud and excited to play on was important.”

Although Hall said the summer was admittedly tedious at times, she recognizes that despite her effort, it will be difficult to please everyone.

“I’m fully acknowledging that it’s polarizing,” Hall said. “Some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it, but

everybody’s going to notice it, and everybody’s going to know it's St. Joe’s.”

As the faces of St. Joe’s athletics are changing, so too are the facilities.

“From an athletics standpoint I think it was pretty intentional in knowing that a fresh look was important,” Hall said. “We’re known as a basketball school and we wanted to own and embrace that in light of the transition.”

While the reveal was met with many positive reactions according to Jack Jumper, Associate Director for Athletic Communication, the team knows that the true test will be when the Hawks take the court against Bradley University on Nov. 5.

“It got a really good reception by and large on Instagram and social media,” Jumper said.

“It started to get out a little bit, but we wanted to make sure the timing was right so everybody could see it.”

Basketball is an integral part of St. Joe’s according to Hall, and has become an optimal way to market the university itself to a larger audience.

“That first game of the season when it’s being broadcast to thousands and thousands of people, they are going to get a visual symbol of the new momentum at St. Joe’s,” Gail Benner, public relations director, said. “Internally everybody knew it as Hawk Hill, but this is kind of a way to bridge that externally to Philadelphia and own our location and our neighborhood.”

New faces signal changes in the athletics department SAM BRITT ’21 Sports Editor Jill Bodensteiner J.D., director of athletics, put the goal of the extensive changes that took place within the athletics department this summer into one word: integration.

Over the course of the last academic year, Bodensteiner said she assessed the department’s goals and planned out how to align the personnel to meet those goals. This involved bringing in new faces, and in some cases, creating new positions.

“Think of the overlap between marketing and communications.” Bodensteiner said.

“Here comes Rob Sullivan, one person overseeing both marketing and communications so we can make sure they are integrated."

Sullivan ’06, was brought back to Hawk Hill as senior associate athletic director of external affairs. Sullivan is a former St. Joe’s basketball player who was a member of the 2004 perfect season team. After graduating he went on to take the role as director of basketball operations for the Hawks for 10 seasons. Sullivan returns from a three year hiatus from his alma mater to take on his new role.

Sullivan was one of the first people Bodensteiner met when she took the position as director of athletics. She stated that she immediately appreciated the knowledge and passion Sullivan brought for St. Joe’s athletics.

“Rob always brought the energy and the ideas and wasn’t afraid to push back when he did disagree with me,” Bodensteiner said. “I need that.”

Sullivan's main focus is crafting engaging content that displays the stories behind the student athletes on campus. A heightened social media presence and a preference toward

versity women’s basketball standout feels, the same way. “[As former student-athletes] we’ve done 5 a.m. workouts, we have done study hall and

Sullivan went to the Elite Eight as a basketball player at St. Joe’s. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

athlete-driven content—much like articles in the “Players’ Tribune”—are areas the athletic department is hoping to expand on.

“For me, it is all about the student athletes and how they can tell their story,” Sullivan said. “I can be a resource or an asset for them to brand their own image and tell their own story about their experience on Hawk Hill.

That will be a major initiative.”

Sullivan said his background as a student athlete helps him relate to the stories he is trying to tell. Christina Foggie, the new director of special projects and former Vanderbilt Uni-

academics with athletics,” Foggie said. “I think it is great to have some representation in athletic administration for athletes to say ‘Hey, that person did what I did.’”

After Foggie played basketball at Vanderbilt, she played professionally, being drafted by the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. She has spent the past four years working with the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team as a video coordinator while getting her masters in organizational development and leadership.

Over the summer Foggie was promoted to her new role as director of special

projects and special assistant to the athletic director. Now she works closely with Bodensteiner preparing data and reports for upcoming projects.

“I am her right-hand woman if you will,” Foggie said. “It is just helping her with managing projects within the athletic department.

It is nice to see what is going on on Hawk Hill and help move those things forward.”

With new projects being completed, like the new basketball court installed in Michael J. ’85 Hagan Arena, Foggie said she can feel an energy building within the athletic department.

“There is just a buzz in the air,” Foggie said. “We are really on our way to doing some great things here.”

Bodensteiner is hoping that these new projects and changes to the fan experience can generate more interest among Hawks fans.

“We have waived ticket fees for the students but we know that doesn’t automatically mean they are going to show up,” Bodensteiner said. “We have to do a better job finding out what their interests are and how we can meet those.”

With the help of her new staff, Bodensteiner is attempting to continue to improve upon the athletics experience while also staying true to the history of St. Joe’s.

“Are people still able to appreciate seeing the St. Joe’s that we know and love while also seeing some innovation?” Bodensteiner said.

“We want to keep people on their toes and show some innovation. We are playing sports so let’s have some fun with it.”