Sept. 25, 2019

Sept. 25, 2019

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Volume C

CARA SMITH ’21 News Editor The water was shut off in the Science Center by the Office of Facilities Management on Sept. 12 due to reports of the water having a strange taste and odor.

Although the water was tested for contamination by a third-party environmental consultant, Brickhouse Environmental, the results presented a “clean bill of health” according to Kevin Kane, assistant vice president of Facilities Operations.

The discoloration was caused by sediment in the water, Kane said.

“There is always sediment in water mains and water pipes,” Kane said. “There is something called a scouring velocity, so the higher the velocity, the more likely it is to lift up that sediment in the bottom of the pipe.”

A week before Kane said he received complaints about the water from a science faculty member, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) lost one of their water pumps at the Belmont Avenue pumping station, causing a drop in water pressure and a loss of water on campus for about 30 minutes. When the PWD opened fire hydrants to expel the air trapped in the main, Kane explained, the high velocity of the water caused sediment to be picked up and dispersed into the water.

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“It is not harmful,” Kane said. “It is sediment. There is no issue with that, but it could affect the taste of water for sure. Because we did have that failure at the water department prior to these complaints, in an abundance of caution, we shut everything down and tested.”

Lynly Carman ’21, a biology major, said she has been concerned about the piping in the Science Center.

“I know the issue that made students know something was wrong was that there was brown water coming out of the second story water fountain,” Carman said.

“There’s obviously something in there that shouldn’t have even changed the color, so whether it’s just dirt, that’s not ideal.”

Carman, along with other students who major in the sciences and frequent the Science Center, said she was not directly informed by the university that the water would be turned off in the building. Kane confirmed an email was only sent out to Science Center faculty and College of Arts and Sciences administrators.

Three science faculty members contacted by The Hawk acknowledged there had been an issue with the water but said they didn’t know specifics behind the reason for shutting off the water and declined to be interviewed.

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Ashley Russell ’20, a chemistry major, said the lack of communication to science students is typical.

“I feel if this was like Mandeville or something there would have been a whole story immediately, apologies and everything,” Russell said.

Kane said the only way to clear the sediment out of the pipes is to turn the water back on. The water in the Science Center was turned back on the morning of Sept. 19.

Kane also said the water is safe to use for lab experiments and to drink, adding that Facilities changed some filters on bottle filling stations after the water was turned back on.

Since last semester, students have noticed a foul odor and taste in the Science Center water, Carman said, as well as a “sewage swamp” smell from a broken toilet in a first floor women’s bathroom. When Carman worked in the Science Center over the summer, she was warned by other students not to use the water fountains in the building.

“There’s been talk about the water being messed up,” Carman said. “We’d go to other buildings to get water if we needed to.”

Christina DeAngelo ’20, a chemistry and secondary education major, also said she doesn’t like drinking unfiltered water

from the Science Center.

“I always know not to go to the water fountains without the water filters because they always just taste gross,” DeAngelo said.

Kane said the Office of Facilities Management is investigating possible causes of the strange odor and taste from the water fountains. Kane said he believes that the cleaning product used to clean the water fountains, Sparkle, could be causing the unusual smell and taste.

“The number one ingredient is mineral oil, which is completely safe, so it smells bad,” Kane said. “As they are going to bend over and get a drink they get a whiff of something, that is just a smell of cleaning, and smell and taste are closely connected.

We are actually looking at finding something different for housekeeping to use so that this doesn’t happen again.”

Kane said there has only been one other possible contamination scare in the Science Center since he started working at St. Joe’s in 2007. In 2012, one of the domestic water pumps inside the building failed because of a bad circuit breaker.

“That was a time where some faculty thought they noticed an odor in the water fountain again,” Kane said. “We tested it and there was no contamination in that case either.”

SEE INSERT FOR SOUTH AFRICA STORIES Catholic priest embraces South African community

Basketball helps South African youth on and off the court

Book club for black women promotes South African authors

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Sept. 25, 2019

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Search continues for new head of diversity ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Digital Managing Editor St. Joe’s is renewing the search for a chief inclusion and diversity officer—now changed to an associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion—after the search last semester did not result in the hire of any of the three finalists who made campus visits.

The position has been vacant for just over a year, after Monica Nixon, Ed.D., former assistant provost for inclusion and diversity, left the university in July 2018 for a different position. A search for her replacement started in January 2019.

The university made offers to candidates who did not accept the position at the end of spring. The university also increased the operating budget for the position, according to Cheryl McConnell, Ph.D., provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.

“We want to recognize that someone coming in is going to have expertise and initiatives they want to start on their own, so we want to be able to offer that as well,” McConnell said. “We were happy to know that the salary we were offering was good and within the ballpark.”

McConnell said the university decided to elevate the title for the renewed search to clarify the reporting line. The new person in this role will now report to the provost.

“It puts it on an even level with the other key things at our institution,” McConnell said. “The other associate pro-

vosts deal with academics and accreditation for the university.”

Wadell Ridley MBA ’19, assistant vice president of government and community relations, will serve as interim chief inclusion and diversity officer (CIDO) until an associate provost is appointed. Ridley will work with Kim Allen-Stuck, Ph.D., assistant vice president of Student Success, and Janée Burkhalter, associate professor of marketing, both of whom served in this capacity in Nixon’s absence.

Ridley, who is a member of the racial bias task force, started working as interim CIDO on Aug. 1.

“Having [relationships] is part of what I do,” Ridley said. “I’m in touch with elected officials who are concerned about what happens here on this campus. Having those relationships there is working well for us.”

The search advisory committee (SAC), now co-chaired by Allen-Stuck and Burkhalter, will work with the search firm Spelman Johnson to select a candidate.

McConnell will make the final decision.

Luis Nuñez ’21 was a student representative on the SAC during the last search, which was chaired by former Provost Jeanne Brady, Ph.D., and is serving on the current committee as well.

“I have a lot of hope for this upcoming search because of change of [SAC] leadership from administration to staff,” Nuñez said. “The amount of energy that’s being put into it and its organization is going to grow a lot, and that’s going to allow for the search to be effective.”

Ellen Heffernan, president of Spelman

Johnson and consultant for the current search, visited campus on Sept. 20 to meet with the SAC and to hear from students, faculty and staff in an open meeting. Heffernan said the incomplete search from the spring semester will inform the upcoming search.

“It’s an opportunity for us to come back here and gather more information,” Heffernan said. “It is an opportunity to relook at how it was framed.”

Chris Heasley, Ed.D., assistant professor of educational leadership and SAC member, said the open meeting provided input from faculty, staff and students on what the community wants from an associate provost of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“The committee this year is going to try for a lot more transparency and communication with the larger university community on the process,” Heasley said.

“That feels fresh, just in terms of a search process for a high profile position.”

Attendees at the open meeting contributed passionate responses about the state of inclusion and diversity in the university, which Heffernan said will better inform the search.

“There’s a lot of passion for this issue,” Heffernan said. “There are a lot of people who have thought carefully about the incidents that have happened and they’re looking for some change.”

Natalie Walker-Brown, director for Inclusion and Diversity Educational Achievement, said having someone fill this role is necessary to further initiatives in inclusion,

diversity and equity.

“Any one of those candidates could have done the job and brought St. Joe’s to our next stage and pushed and challenged where necessary,” Walker Brown said. “We had a lot of things happen last year and St. Joe’s is still in this place of healing, but needing to grow at the same time.”

Of 27 Jesuit institutions in the U.S., 23 have diversity officers serving under various titles. Hiring diversity officials in visible roles is a result of the complexities of institutional culture in higher education for the past five to seven years, according to Archie Ervin, Ph.D., president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).

“Institutions have begun to turn more to providing an institutional level of leadership in creating cultures that are accepting of diversity, equity and inclusion in campus environments,” said Ervin, whose organization of senior diversity officers has over 300 members.

Taylor Stokes ’22, a member of the SAC and secretary of inclusion and equity for University Student Senate, said she wants whoever comes into the associate provost role to focus on policy and ensuring St. Joe’s is a zero tolerance institution.

“St. Joe’s has a lot of racial issues,” Stokes said. “I want somebody who’s going to be a support system for us, not even just me as a person of color but also women, LGBTQIA+, international students, transfers, commuters, everyone on the aspect of inclusion and equity.”

Bed bugs found in LaFarge Residence Center LUKE MALANGA ’20 Senior Editor Bed bugs were found in LaFarge Residence Center, according to a Sept. 18 email sent to residents from the Office of Residence Life.

The bed bugs were found “in an isolated area within a suite within the building,” according to the email. The students who discovered bed bugs in their suite were relocated to a showroom on the ground floor of the building.

Full chemical treatment, which usually takes seven to ten days, began on Sept. 21, according to Jessica Moran-Buckridge, director of Residence Life.

At St. Joe’s, bed bugs have been found in residence halls more frequently than in the past, which coincides with a regional trend throughout Philadelphia.

Michael Levy, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology and informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted a door-to-door survey of the increasing bed bug infestations in row homes in Philadelphia in 2014.

“We were expecting about 1% of households to be infested,” Levy said.

Instead, Levy found that around 11% of respondents reported having bed bugs recently in their residences.

Moran-Buckridge has worked in Residence Life at St. Joe’s for the past 14 years and said she has “certainly seen an increase in bed bugs” in residence halls on campus.

“This is an issue in urban areas that is increasingly common,” Moran-Buckridge said. “A decade or so ago we weren’t seeing any or very few bed bug situations [at St. Joe’s], and now we have a full protocol.”

That protocol includes checking all residential buildings with bed bug dogs over the summer. Levy said the problem is partly seasonal because bed bugs go through growth in

Residents were notified that bed bugs were found in Lafarge Residence Center on Sept. 18.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

late August, and outbreaks can occur when students move back into residence halls.

Last year in Xavier Hall, residents noticed and reported bed bugs after Easter break. Initially, a single room was treated, but after others noticed bed bugs elsewhere in the building, the entire house was treated.

Bobby Martin ’21, who was living in Xavier at the time, noticed bites that he suspected were from bed bugs.

“Once I noticed, and the health office confirmed that [they] were bed bug bites, I put it in our house group chat so everyone else would notice,” Martin said. “Other people spoke up that their rooms were contaminated.”

Martin said the process was less than ideal. He moved through three different rooms before going back to their house.

“In McShain, the first room they tried giving us they left unlocked, so freshmen that lived in McShain went in there,” Martin said. “There was a bunch of garbage all

over the place. They relocated us to the room across the hall which was all dusty. The next day they moved us to Villiger.”

Philadelphia is the only major city without laws outlining responsibilities for bed bug infestations. Philadelphia Department of Public Health does not offer public services regarding bed bug infestations because bed bugs are not known to spread disease.

However, Levy said there are absolutely health concerns related to bed bugs. He noted the emotional distress caused from having the insects in one’s home. Levy has also conducted a series of laboratory experiments that concluded that bed bugs are capable of spreading disease.

“Whenever you have an insect biting sucking blood from one person and biting and sucking blood from another, you have to worry,” Levy said. “We know that bed bugs can transmit a number of diseases. We don’t know [what] they are, but they are capable.”

A Philadelphia-based task force called “Philadelphians Against Bed Bugs” (PhABB) is working to create legislation to control bed bugs. That legislation, which will go before City Council on Oct. 22, will require landlords to disclose past bed bug infestations.

Michelle Niedermeier, Ph.D., community IPM and environmental health program coordinator for Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management’s urban outreach office, heads PhABB. She said she hopes this legislation will help to decrease the presence and spread of bed bugs. She described the current situation as the “wild west”—with no protocol for reporting or monitoring bed bugs in the city.

“We don’t really have a good sense of how many bed bugs there are out there and how many infestations, how many introductions, because nobody is in charge of bed bugs,” Niedermeier said.

Currently, Residence Life does not inform the larger university community about bed bug infestations “unless it is an extreme case” according to Moran-Buckridge. She added that Residence Life does not officially track past infestations although she said she thinks they may begin doing so.

Levy emphasizes that the best way anyone, including a university, can limit the problem is to detect and exterminate bed bugs early.

Attacking the problem also comes down to awareness and proactiveness of residents of the building, Levy said.

“It’s so much easier to treat an infestation early,” Levy said. “It’s critical that the tenant, whether they be students in a dorm or tenants in apartments or housing, are aware so they can keep an eye out and make sure bugs don’t come back again.”

Charley Rekstis ’20 contributed to this story.

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 25, 2019

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Importance of voting emphasized during debate MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22 Photo Editor The departments of political science, history and art collaborated on a project that reenacted a debate between historical figures Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass in Barbelin Hall on Sept. 17.

The debate reenactment is the first of a planned series of events aimed at communicating the importance of voting. Brian Yates, Ph.D., associate professor of history, played Douglass, author, abolitionist and social reformer, and Susan Liebell, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, played Stanton, an abolitionist and women’s rights activist.

Liebell said one of the objectives of the reenactment was to demonstrate to students the importance of voting, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote.

“Pre-law, justice, ethics and other departments are going to collaborate on things that highlight citizenship, voting, the importance of voting, and we hope to dovetail it with getting students registered to vote in elections,” Liebell said. “Students have been this voice that everyone has always said has so much potential that is never realized in elections because [college students] don’t show up for elections.”

Liebell said that even though she likes lectures, she thinks it is important to be able to hear the actual words of a historical figure. She also said having her and Yates dressed up in clothing from the late 1800s

was a way to generate interest and to keep the audience engaged.

Hearing the actual words of Douglass through the debate was meant to reinforce the importance of voting and engaging in political activity.

“We see the stakes of black men not voting very clearly in Douglass’ words, and the stakes are very similar today, for not only black men, but also all women,and all members of communities that need protection,” Yates said.

Yates said Douglass was a central figure in the history of the abolitionist movement, and embodied the movement’s key themes of confronting American hypocrisies, utilizing Christian theology and fighting for equality.

“This is because, in my view, Douglass is one of the finest human beings America has [produced],” Yates said. “It’s important that, as historians, people actually get the words and actions of the [historical figures] as opposed to just basing one’s views of what other people think.”

Liebell also invited Jill Allen, M.F.A., visiting assistant professor of ceramics, to contribute to the project on behalf of the art department. Allen said she created a mosaic inspired by a quote from Alice Paul, a leader in the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

The quote reads: “I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end.”

The mosaic was based on an illustration of Alice Paul surrounded by multiple patterns.

Allen said that she speaks most comfort-

Jill Allen, M.F.A., assists students in putting pieces on the mosaic. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

ably through visual arts and thinks it is an effective way to convey the message to students.

“A lot of people respond in a visual way to visual language by seeing things, by seeing art, by seeing sculpture and participating with it,” Allen said.

Allen said her mosaic is a metaphor for how one person can add to the greater good like every person does by adding their vote.

“The more every little person can contribute you’ll have something beautiful in the end,” Allen said.

Allen said she hopes to have the mosaic at future events, and that students will add to the mosaic so that at the end of the series it will be

finished for the community to view.

“Right now, if you were to look at it you wouldn’t see a lot of pieces added,” Allen said.

“You can start to see the color and the form taking shape [as] more people see the piece they’ll add a piece and it’ll start to become more apparent what the image is and what the overall piece is meant to look like.

Liebell wanted to use women’s suffrage as a platform to make students understand the importance of voting.

“It’s using the 100th year of women’s suffrage to integrate voting as an important political activity and a source of political power in the United States and beyond,” Liebell said.

tests in front of Aramark and St. Joe’s executives. Stauffer was given a box of mystery items and told to cook whatever he wanted according to Mark Giardini, general manager of dining.

“He performed really well,” Giardini said. “Overall, in addition to his culinary skills, his leadership skills and personality played a lot into our final decision.”

Hired over the summer, Stauffer had the opportunity to hire his own sous chef for the kitchen, as well as plan different menu options before the students arrived.

Student falls off McShain Bridge

News Briefs CARLY CALHOUN ’21 Assistant News Editor ALEX MARK ’20 Online Editor

Updated meal plan options SJU Dining Services made adjustments to their block plans in an attempt to enhance the value that students get out of their meal plan. Tim McGuriman, associate vice president of Administrative Services, said after they came up with new ideas for potential meal plans, they asked the University Student Senate for their input.

“Before we put those into effect we ran them by the student government,” McGuriman said. “We really do want to reach out and get student support for those changes.”

The new plan includes more “round numbers” on meals, and a new meal plan exchange program that allows students to use 15 of their meal swipes in Campion Food Court at Hawk Wrap, Grille Works or the York Street Market stations.

New Campion Dining Hall head chef Over the summer, SJU Dining Services hired new head chef Donald Stauffer after a vetting process that included two culinary

A student fell from the McShain Bridge the evening of Saturday, Sept. 21. “[The student] accidentally fell from a ledge along the McShain Bridge after climbing a fence to an unauthorized area,” Cary Anderson, Ed.D., vice president for Student Life, said in an email to The Hawk.

Officers from both the Lower Merion Police Department and the Office of Public Safety and Security responded to the incident.

Both declined to comment.

As of Sept. 22, the student is currently in treatment at a local hospital, according to Anderson.

Department of Public Safety reports (Sept. 13 - Sept. 19) Sept 13

Sept 15

Public Safety confiscated a quantity of alcohol from a St. Joe’s student inside the lobby of Villiger Residence Hall. Residence Life was notified. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was contacted in regards to an alcohol confiscation in the 2400 Block of N. 54th Street on the front lawn. Public Safety responded and confiscated the alcohol.

Community Standards was notified.

Sept 14 Public Safety was notified by an area resident regarding students being loud in the 5400 block of Woodcrest Avenue. Public Safety officers, along with Philadelphia Police notified and responded into the area. Community Standards was notified.

Public Safety was notified by an area resident regarding students being loud in the 5400 block of Woodbine Avenue. Public Safety officers, along with Philadelphia Police notified and responded into the area. Community Standards was notified.

Sept 16 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding person(s) unknown removing their television which was left on the third floor hallway of Lannon Hall. No police report at this time. Incident under investigation.

Sept 18 Public Safety was notified by Residence Life regarding person(s) unknown writing inappro-

priate messages on a student’s whiteboard in Villiger Residence Hall. Community Standards was notified. Incident under investigation.

Sept 19 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding person(s) unknown removing their boxes which were left in Post Hall. No police report at this time. Incident under investigation.

Public Safety was notified by an area resident regarding students being loud in the 5700 block of Woodcrest Avenue. Public Safety officers, along with Philadelphia Police notified and responded into the area. Community Standards was notified.

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

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Sept. 25, 2019

Opinions

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Acknowledging the call to action We are not exempt from climate activism 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 Assistant Features Editor Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 Assistant Features Editor Zach Dobinson ’22

Young people took to the streets across 150 countries to protest the lack of political action regarding climate change on Sept.

20. The movement was started and continues to be led by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

According to her website, FridaysForFuture.com, “Greta requests that people strike in front of their closest town hall, every Friday. With a sign, take a picture and post it with the hashtags #Fridaysforfuture and #Climatestrike.”

The goal of these protests is to call the youth to action because, as Thunberg questions, why are students required to go to school to prepare for a future that might not be there for us when we finish?

So this past Friday, Thunberg and other organizers of the protest claimed: “Around the world today about 4 million people have been striking … This is the biggest climate strike ever in history and we all should be so proud of ourselves because we have done this together.”

According to WHYY, in Philadelphia alone, “More than 2,500 young people gathered outside of City Hall” to join in the worldwide protest movement. But it was awfully quiet on Hawk Hill that day.

Plenty of our students are aware of the climate reality that the world faces, and there were some students from our campus who did skip class in order to go to the protest.

However there was minimal talk, action and overall awareness around what was happening at City Hall. Climate change is a problem created by past generations, and it is up to us to solve. As students at St. Joe’s, we are not exempt from this call to action.

There was not nearly enough attention to this movement on this campus, and we must do more. Student organizations on campus like the Green Fund and SJU Net Impact exist, but their membership is small and their scope of influence is currently limited. The University Student Senate has a Green Fund chair and participates in sustainability projects, but their outreach is

also limited.

Even we at The Hawk are at fault. We have the resources and the staff, so we could have covered the protest in Center City on Friday. We are responsible for publishing climate related activism and events both on campus and off, because it is part of our job to bring awareness of these issues into the public eye.

We understand being a student is stressful. Now, we’re expected to be activists and quite literally save the world.

Moreover, we are paying to go to classes, and we are paying to get an education. But that’s exactly the point.

Why are we paying for an education if our governments are going to sit back and let our earth die? Why should we even go to class, if the generations above us are refusing to take responsibility for the dangers they are posing to our future?

This is the primary challenge we need to overcome in order for us at St. Joe’s to incite activism and change. We need to respect our academic integrity and responsibilities, while we are making sure we get the most out of the education we all have the privilege of utilizing on this campus.

We are here to get a holistic education, so we have the opportunity and the resources to be more educated on the issue of climate change than any generation before us.

We know what needs to be done because we are here gaining the information needed to have a basis in our calls for change.

But we need to balance this with the idea that although we may end up with a degree, where are we going to implement what we learned in college if there are no jobs, no resources and no habitable place to live?

We need to start with more mobilization, especially with the focus on student organizations here on campus. Climate change affects all walks of life. And all clubs, from Greek Life to campus ministry, focus on something that is unavoidably affected by climate change.

As just one example, climate change affects the poor before it affects those with higher socioeconomic status, thus creating a larger class of impoverished people. Philadelphia is not immune to this reality, and organizations should thus promote service based projects based on climate change related poverty.

Other student organizations can organize transportation to the city, they can take to social media to promote the Friday protests and they can widen the scope of awareness. They can be in charge of organizing seminars on climate change open to students on campus, and they should use their voice and influence to bring awareness to the issue.

If you cannot attend the protests, there is still action to be taken. You can do something small that day like chose not to use single-use plastic, take shorter showers or walk to class rather than drive.

There are a host of actions we as individuals and we as students at St. Joe’s can do to be a part of something larger than us.

We should approach this as individuals, but real change comes from collective action and group mobilization.

This campus and its students are not exempt from the call to climate action, and we have a responsibility to ourselves and to our peers to do all that we can to ease the devastation that climate change is causing.

—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, Photo 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.

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

HAWKMATES CONFIRMED Congratulations to the pair of St. Joe’s alumni that got engaged at HawkFest this weekend, both confirming the Hawkmate phenomenon and proving there is hope for love on Hawk Hill after all.

ONE STUFFED ANIMAL TOO LITTLE As fun as HawkFest was this year, the Stuff-A-Hawk station ran out of hawks pretty quickly. In this case, I think “The Hawk Will Never Die” is not applicable, so I guess we will have to take to Amazon or the bookstore to get our own plush bird. But it won’t be as fun.

DO YOU REMEMBER? This past Satuday was, in fact, the “21st night of September,” and what better way to get excited for the weekend than with a disco classic? Don’t worry, you can still listen to the song and have a good time, but there are 361 days left until it can be played on repeat without any complaints.

IT'S NOT EVEN OCTOBER The first day of fall was Sept. 23, so people have already started counting down the days until Christmas. Don’t get us wrong, the holiday season is a great time for friends, family and winter break, but Halloween hasn’t even happened yet. So let’s slow down on the preemptive holiday excitement and enjoy the leaves changing and the fun size candy bars while we can.

PATHWAY REVEALED I’m sure some of us have been a little late to our classes in Mandeville Hall or Bellarmine Hall since the construction of the new pathway started. But fear not, because you can now make it to your Intro to Marketing class with ease. Let’s hear it for the quicker commute.

HEAT WAVE IN SEPTEMBER? As stated above, we were under the impression here at The Hawk that it is now officially fall. So why were we absolutely sweating on Monday with the excessive heat? (Read: Editorial on Climate Change, above!) But seriously, when the leaves start falling, we would prefer to wear sweaters around campus rather than tank tops and shorts.

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 25, 2019

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Issues with the English 101 requirement A satire on academic discourse and high expectations DAVID KADYSH ’20 Guest Columnist Freshman year—it’s a time of new sights, sounds, friends and a whirlwind of new opportunities. It can be a confusing and chaotic time for most, but we all embrace that mentality and look back with fond memories of how naive we were.

Therefore, St. Joe’s should do everything in its power to make this hectic transition as seamless as possible for bright-eyed firstyear students.

I propose to St. Joe’s a remedy to some of the first year students’ commotion: cut the mandatory English 101 credit and build students up to that course with a comprehensive pre-requisite English curriculum.

How can we expect first-year students to be prepared for English 101 and to have an understanding of intense academic discourse when we have no idea if these students have completed the first 100 levels of English (English 1 – English 100)?

We expect students to handle the challenges of literary analysis and understand the nuances of rhetoric, but what if a student never learned how to form complete sentences because they failed their English 23 class?

While we are at it, what if they never learned how to form basic phonemic noises with their vocal cords as we all learned in our English 1 class? I propose that there should be a system in place to address that some students may not be ready for the new

Some students may easily breeze through all 100 placement tests in a measly 16 hours if they are confident in their literary abilities.

However, students that are less confident should fear not.

The school system can create 100 new

ILLUSTRATION: KAITLYN PATTERSON ’20/THE HAWK

difficulties of a college-level class.

Similar to already existing placement tests this school has for math and language courses, the school should design a 100 test system in order to test a student’s knowledge of fundamental English concepts from the alphabet to punctuation in order to assess their competence for college level English 101.

courses to teach English curriculum, which would enrich students, as well as create job opportunities for more English professors. A win-win for all.

Some may find this program to be condescending to new first-year students, but I do not think there is anything wrong in innocence until proven guilty regarding their

knowledge of the English language. It is merely a safety measure to ensure that students and educators are on the same page in class (no pun intended).

After all, a professor can be confident in a student’s ability if they see a clear record of their passing of the English 97 placement test, the notorious “Advanced Semicolon and Theoretical Box-Bracket Analysis and Applied Usage” course.

I already hear some of you groaning over having to take English 58’s brutal “Gerund and Participle Quantification in Biblical Astrophysics” course, but do you really want to hand in an English 101 paper without a solid grasp of infinitives?

Love it or hate it, this is something that will ensure the growth and prosperity of students throughout their time here at St. Joe’s.

Who knows, it may even make some students appreciate the English curriculum more if they finally get the proper context they need to understand things they may have missed if they opted out of their high school English 19 “Irony, Subtext, Classical Literature, Poetry, The Human Will to Endure Endless Amounts of Prose, and Shakespeare” class.

This program will just be one more step to ensure St. Joe’s goal of a holistic educational experience for first-year students by giving them the tools they need to succeed.

What does “Justice” mean?

How Justice Kavanaugh continues to maintain his undeserved power ERIN FENZEL ’22 Columnist U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh represents white male privilege in it’s most extreme form, and yet he sits on the Supreme Court. His appointment process in 2018 showed just how deeply divided our country is and the ways in which a woman’s accusation can be quickly disregarded.

But again, he still sits on the Supreme Court.

If you’ve been following the news about Kavanaugh recently, you probably heard about the allegation from Yale University alumna Deborah Ramirez and how Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a Yale party during the 1983-84 school year.

This incident was brought up during his confirmation hearings in October of last year, but was quickly denied by Kavanaugh.

He argued that if he had exposed himself, then it would have been “the talk of campus.” While this may seem like old news, two New York Times reporters, Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, have found that Kavanuagh’s exposition was in fact the talk of campus.

Seven people can corroborate the details of the party as detailed in a New York Times article published on Sept. 14, 2019.

Since this new information shows that Kavanaugh might have lied during his confirmation hearing, multiple democratic Presidential candidates, including ElizabethWarren, Julian Castro and Kamala Harris have called for his impeachment.

Impeachment seems unlikely: if the sitting U.S. president can withstand provable accusations of sexual assault, then a Supreme Court Justice can withstand accusations based solely on personal accounts.

This news might not seem shocking to many people, as Christine Blasey Ford’s, Ph.D. testimony against Kavanaugh was the main story of his confirmation hearing.

Although her story was not corroborated to the same extent as Ramirez’s, it was just as viable. Regardless, these new allegations show a clear pattern of behavior.

er, I do think Supreme Court justices should be held to an even higher standard than that to which we claim to hold our politicians.

They must be eloquent, respectful, and nonpartisan—all things that Kavanaugh is not.

If you think back to his confirmation hearings, he was loud, upset and outright rude. These are not qualities that are at all deemed appropriate in a Supreme Court justice, yet his nomination was confirmed.

When looking at the most recent allegation against him from Ramirez, he exemplifies qualities that again deem him inappropriate

However, I do think Supreme Court Justices should be held to an even higher standard than that to which we claim to hold our politicians. They must be eloquent, respectful, and nonpartisan—all things that Kavanaugh is not.

In the era of #MeToo and the renouncing of rape culture (a “norm” that has prevailed in our country for far too long), I thought Blasey Ford’s testimony would have gone farther and done more damage to Kavanaugh’s judicial career, but it has not. while, some may argue that this recent New York Times article and book that will follow does show that we are not forgetting his accusers, Kavanaugh remains untouchable.

I am under no misconception that politicians are perfect. I do think they should strive to be, but I know they are not. Howev-

to be a justice, yet he remains in one of the greatest positions of power.

This seems unfair, and it absolutely is. We should be better than this. I hate to feed into the cliche “times are changing,” but there’s no denying that they are. We are seeing the end of the cycle of sexual manipulation by men in power, and just when we think we are getting somewhere, progress stops abruptly.

Women are told that we are being heard, that abusers will be stopped, but that is never the case. Not with Kavanaugh, not with Trump.

The way society forgive those who have made

“mistakes,” happens much faster than it does to the survivors of those “mistakes.”

I hope everyone who hears of Ramirez’s allegations are appalled, which I think too few people are. In our partisan way of discussing news, we’ve lost the ability to have real human reactions.

What Ramirez says happened to her is truly awful, and supporters of Kavanaugh don’t even consider it to be true, therefore not worthy of empathy. When looking at Blasey Ford’s case and what she says happened to her, we recognize that it is appalling, and yet she doesn’t and hasn’t received empathy.

In fact, she’s suffered more than Kavanaugh has following her testimony. What Kavanaugh could do to earn a little bit of my respect, and only a little, would be to apologize to these women for the pain that they have endured.

While this most recent reporting has dug up a new allegation for Kavanaugh, it unfortunately will most likely blow over.

While this may anger some people, myself included, we must hold onto that cliche of “times are changing” and hope that when our generation of Supreme Court nominees are up for confirmation hearings, we will hold them to the highest scrutiny, and they will meet the proper standards of what a justice should be.

Until then, I will continue in my abhorrence for Kavanaugh, and hope that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg remains a strong oppositional force to Kavanaugh on the bench until at least January 2023.

6 Sept. 25, 2019

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

When being wrong is actually right How one book protests the idea of perfection LESLIE QUAN ’22 Guest Columnist “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson has been in the top of The New York Times bestseller list for 144 weeks (and counting) in the Advice, How-To, & Miscellaneous section.

Manson talks about how there are too many things in life that we stress over that really don’t require a ton of built up anxiety.

Take for example, studying for a test.

We can stress over whether we’ve studied enough, if we’ve taken good notes, or if we should have asked more questions in class.

But in all that panic, we then realize that we have a paper due at midnight and we have to get up the next morning for an 8 a.m. class.

This is what Manson calls the “Feedback Loop from Hell”; when we become anxious about what we have to do, then become more anxious about what we haven’t done yet, then we end up anxious about being anxious.

Anxiety stems from a place of desiring perfection. Whether we would like to admit it or not, we all want a perfect score on our test and a “Great Work!” written at the end of our papers. But that just can’t possibly be attainable, especially in college.

As many college students know, there is a huge amount of academic pressure to do well, and it can be extremely stressful. We may not all get eight hours of sleep every night, exercise regularly or eat enough regularly, all because we are so focused on doing everything perfectly.

During my first year here, I had so much anxiety about writing the most perfect paper that I procrastinated writing it

believe in, there is an innate fear of failure, so we try to avoid failure at all costs.

When we stop wanting to be perfect and stop fearing failure, we are finally liberated to function as we normally would without this idea that there is a better way of doing things.

No one can be perfect and chances arewe’re already trying our best.

At one point in the book, Manson says,

“The truth is that when we stop wanting to be perfect and stop fearing failure, we are finally liberated to function as we normally would without this idea that there is a better way of doing things.” until it was almost too late, and that’s when I suddenly seemed to have the right words to write.

Even studying for biology stressed me out because I felt like I needed to be in the perfect setting and right mindset to get the most out of my studying time.

All of this is an illusion in our minds because we feel as if we’re not good enough at that point in time to start something.

Whether it be something as small as writing a paper or as big as advocating for what you

“Notice how sometimes when you stop giving a f---, everything seems to fall into place?” When we stress less about something, we’re actually more focused on doing it our unique way rather than obsessing over how others might think it should be done.

Even when we mess up or go in the wrong direction, we are able to learn from that experience by looking at what we did and questioning why our situation ended up the way it did.

One of my favorite quotes from Manson

is, “Even when you think you do, do you really know what the f--- you’re doing. So really, what is there to lose?” It doesn’t matter whether you got a C on your English paper or flunked your biology test, what matters is what you do about it.

At that point, you have to be willing to admit to yourself that you were wrong, that what you thought was a perfect paper turned out to be quite imperfect.

Trying to consistently be perfect not only builds up anxiety and stress, but causes us to think that there is a point of perfection that can be reached. In this mindset, we are restricted from thinking that we have any problems at all. While not having problems sounds amazing, it’s when we’re able to overcome our problems that we “birth our happiness.”

Manson points out, “it’s worth remembering that for any change to happen in your life, you must be wrong about something.” If you think you’re already good enough, then you’re probably missing out on growing from your mistakes.

So to all of my fellow college students, I would highly recommend reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” It invites you to think about what is most important to you, and challenges you to do something rather than wait around for the “perfect time.”

Playing follow the (youth) leader How Greta Thunberg inspires climate change activism REGINA SCHLIEP ’23 Guest Columnist If you name a recent political movement, chances are it’s been led by young people.

In 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her resistance against the Taliban; she demanded that all girls should receive an education.

In 2018, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School revamped the fight for gun reform and constructed one of the biggest rallies for gun control in the United States.

Twelve-year-old Naomi Wadler participated in the event by speaking about intersectionality within gun violence, bringing to light how news stories of young black girls impacted by the epidemic are not expressed through headlines like those of their white counterparts.

The most recent figure in youth activism, but certainly not unfamiliar to the media, is 16-year-old Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg. Last year, Thunberg began taking action in the fight for climate change by skipping school and protesting outside of the Swedish parliament.

Her protests became known as “Fridays for Future,” and they have inspired young people around the world to take part and urge their governments to address the climate crisis.

On Sept. 20, thousands of young people participated in what was one of the biggest climate strikes ever seen. Thunberg explains, “The symbolism of the climate strike is that if you adults don’t give a damn about my future, I won’t either.”

Thunberg is also receiving much attention from her Aug. 28 arrival in New York

City after a 15 day trip across the Atlantic Ocean on an emissions free sailboat. There, she was greeted enthusiastically by young activists anticipating her arrival at United Nations Climate Action Summit. Moreover, on Sept. 23, Thunberg gave another powerful speech to the United Nations receiving global attention.

For too long, young people have been told that they are not wise enough, not old

soever to save that future?”

Thunberg has paved the way for the youth in this fight, as our young people are doing more than our elected officials, showing that passion and change are not hindered by age. The young activists in the U.S. are critical to this country’s democracy, as well as to the global movement for climate justice.

We need to take action by demanding

ILLUSTRATION: ANISSA WILSON ’20/THE HAWK

enough or not informed enough to have a valuable impact, particularly when it comes to advocacy.

Even Thunberg has received condemnation for her outspoken leadership: being told to stay in school and become a scientist so that she can solve the problem, to which she eloquently responds, “Why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more when no one is doing anything what-

that our voices are incorporated into our government’s legislative process. We must vote for politicians whose political agenda makes tackling climate change a priority.

The current elected officials do not take counsel from the people who are going to be faced with the direct consequences of climate change. The Global Climate Strike is a huge step in the process of demanding action and vocalizing the youth’s voices.

Older generations had fears unique to their time, like Y2K, the “Red Scare” and so forth. One thing at the top of my list of fears is the fact that the planet is becoming inhabitable in my lifetime.

This fear is unique to my time and it’s continually acknowledged by our politicians, yet their promise for change is never followed through. This is why young people are leading so many movements: we are tired of watching people fail us, over and over.

Temperatures are getting hotter. Sea levels are rising. Storms are stronger and more frequent. Species are going extinct, and people are dying. We’ve seen the science. We’ve seen the graphs, the two degrees. We’ve heard the warnings.

We see posts on social media, asking to be shared in order to raise awareness. We are aware because we have to be. What we need is action before it’s too late.

All these facts are indicative of one thing—our future is at stake. We must fix the errors that past generations did not fix.

We need to hold our leaders accountable.

As influential as Thunberg is for the global climate movement, she emphasizes that this movement is not for her.

She told a congressional subcommittee,“I don’t want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists.” Thunberg is simply modeling what she wants us all to do: to take action and listen to the facts.

We cannot rely on hope, for hope can only come as a result of action.

We have no choice but to act. It is our responsibility to undo the destruction we’ve caused to our planet, because if we don’t take serious action now, it will no longer just be a threat to our future, but one to our current existence. In the words of Thunberg, “Once we start to act, hope is everywhere.”

PART III

Father Peter Joseph Cassidy, M. Afr., celebrates mass with a focus on youth, on June 16 at Saint Kizito Chuch in Lenasia, South Africa. PHOTO: THE HAWK

Priest returns to country he loves that’s now grappling with ‘economic apartheid’ CARA SMITH ’21 News Editor LENASIA, SOUTH AFRICA — When Peter Joseph Cassidy, M. Afr., returned to South Africa last September after a 15-year absence from the country he had grown to love, he was hoping to see real change in the post-apartheid era.

Instead, Cassidy found himself frustrated by the lack of progress eliminating the effects of apartheid policies, which officially ended in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela as president of a democratic South Africa.

“It seems to me that we have created a society of economic apartheid,” said Cassidy, an Irish priest with The Missionaires of Africa, a Roman Catholic apostolic society that follows the Ignatian tradition of spirituality.

“The poor, if anything, are even poorer today than what they were in ’94.”

As the pastor of two parishes in the Johannesburg township of Lenasia, created in the 1950s by the apartheid government when it began enforcing racial segregation, Cassidy has a front seat to the lingering effects of apartheid. St. Thomas Catholic Church is located in extension one, a middle class part of the township originally built to house people classified under apartheid laws as “Indian.” Saint Kizito Catholic Church is on the opposite side of the township, in extension 11, a community that developed and became more diverse in the post-apartheid era, now populated by mixed race people as well as “Indians” and “Africans.” Many of the parishioners at Saint Kizito also live in informal housing in the area.

On June 15, Cassidy, whose parishioners

affectionately refer to him as “Father PJ,” led an all-night retreat for the Saint Kizito youth to commemorate the June 16, 1976, student uprisings. At least 23 students were killed by the apartheid police and military during those uprisings, and hundreds were arrested in the ensuing violence and government crackdown on the youth.

At a Youth Day Mass the next morning, members of the youth group shared performances and other projects created during the retreat. During an emotional speech about the significance of Youth Day, Jennifer Khati, a senior youth group member, said her generation is responsible for the future of South Africa “It is the youth of South Africa that can only sing freedom is coming tomorrow,” Khati told the congregation.

For now, at least in church, Khati said Cassidy succeeds in fostering a safe community where parishioners can overcome their problems, “Everyone who leaves the church at the end of mass goes back home with a lively spirit,” Khati said. “They have left their problems at the church and go with a new spirit that is stronger than the one that came in.”

Some of the challenges Cassidy faces in his role as pastor are not much different from when he first arrived in Africa in 1990. Cassidy said he is unsure what exactly drew him to serve in Africa, but he knew other experiences during his discernment to become a priest had not felt right for him.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Soweto

(South Western Townships), is South Africa’s largest township with over 1.5 million residents. It’s located about 16 miles south of Johannesburg.

Township

A residential area created by the apartheid government to separate Black South Africans from white South Africans. The Group Areas Act of 1950 restricted black South Africans to townships, and set aside suburbs and cities for whites.

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.

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 w FACULTY Shenid Bhayroo Jenny Spinner

Sept. 25, 2019

Youth parishioner Simphiwe Ntini said Father PJ “puts his heart out there” when he interacts with people in the church.

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Cassidy completed his theology degree in London and was ordained as a priest in his “I remember going on a vacation week- hometown of Donegal. Multiple African end with my local diocese in Donegal, Ire- students whom Cassidy had studied with in land, and it was not for me, it didn’t feel London came to his ordination. They were right for me,” Cassidy said. “I went to Zam- the first Africans Donegal’s citizens had bia for a year. That was the year of prayer. I ever seen, he said. During his ordination, lived with South Africans as well, so I got a Cassidy’s African friends wanted to sing lot of exposure to their way of life and how and dance in a typical vibrant African procession regularly performed during church they think about life.”

In 1991, Cassidy, then 23, began work in services. It was a stark contrast to the more Mozambique with The Missionaries of Afri- somber Irish-Catholic processions.

“They said, ‘We need drums,’ and I said, ca. He was stationed in South Africa on the ‘There is no way you are going to get African border of Mozambique to assist the United drums around here, but the Irish bodhrán,’” Nations with a feeding scheme for refugees.

Cassidy remembered. “They sang their hearts “We had a project for over a million out.

It was really beautiful and full of color.” refugees that were in South Africa,” CassiIn 1997, Cassidy was sent back to South dy said. “We resided in South Africa, but we Africa through Mission Africa, an evangelwould cross the border at least three to four ical organization that does mission work in times a week.”

Africa.

The first few years of democratic rule Although Cassidy left South Africa in under Nelson Mandela’s presidency were 1993, before the 1994 elections, he helped challenging for the new government and refugees who struggled with illiteracy to learn for South Africans who were celebrating the the names and letters of terms that would be end of apartheid rule. on the ballot, including the African National “That passion you saw in [service] on Congress (ANC), the liberation movement of Sunday, that passion was on the street,” said Nelson Mandela and now a political party in Cassidy, referring to the emotional perforthe new democratic government. mances at the Youth Day mass at Saint Kizito.

“It wasn’t democratic [before], so it In 2004, Cassidy was called back to wasn’t a part of their life,” Cassidy said. “The Ireland.

What he thought might be a threefear being that the white government would or four-year absence from South Africa use any excuse to disregard their votes, we became 16 years.

While back in Ireland, realized we had to go back to the beginning.” he served as a chaplain in a hospital and Eventually Cassidy, along with othworked on a committee to stop child abuse er members of The Missionaries of Africa, in the Catholic Church. pressured the government and electoral When Cassidy finally returned to South commission to include symbols along with Africa in September 2018, his first priority words on the ballots to ensure that illiteracy was to relearn Zulu, one of the 11 official lanwould not prevent citizens from voting. guages of South Africa and the language spoAfter he left South Africa in 1993, ken by many of the Saint Kizito parishioners.

Cassidy said relearning Zulu was critical to helping him form deep connections with his parishioners.

“The people, they don’t see you as a white priest, they see you as their priest,” Cassidy said. “The big difference is that you make a big effort with the language and then you make an effort to be with them.”

While the Catholic Church is growing faster in Africa than in any other place in the world, the Catholic population in South Africa is relatively small. Only about 7.1% of the South African population identifies as Catholic, according to GCatholic, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive information about the Catholic Church. The number of African-born priests is on the rise, too. In fact, African-born priests, known as “reverse missionaries,” are increasingly moving to the United States to assist U.S. congregations as the number of American-born priests has declined in the last 50 years.

In the predominantly nonwhite townships in South Africa, there are still white priests, Cassidy said. But people seem less interested in the color of his skin, he said, and more in what he can do to help.

“What the people of South Africa want is priests who are there for them in their hour of need and with them on their journey of life,” Cassidy said. “Be it a white or local African priest, they don’t particularly mind as long as you are there wholeheartedly. What is important is our attitude. An attitude of love will always replace race and our differences.”

Cassidy also said a priest’s willingness to learn the local language is important.

Mathieu Van Vlierden, M. Afr., Cassidy’s housemate who works with Cassidy at the two churches in Lenasia, also speaks Sotho,

another official language of South Africa.

“They are quite proud of us as there are not too many South Africa white people who speak their language,” Cassidy said.

Simphiwe Ntini, the leader of the youth group at Saint Kizito, said Cassidy’s willingness to learn and speak Zulu proves he is invested in the community.

“He really puts his heart out there when he works with people,” Simphiwe said. “He is a person who finds the best in everyone, basically that one person who holds the group.”

Despite the Catholic Church’s involvement in challenging the abuses by the apartheid government, Cassidy said he is dissapointed church leaders seem to be “taking a back seat” to combating the lasting effects of the regime.

“You can pray all day every day, yesterday, the night before, but we have to be more than that as well,” Cassidy said. “It has to be a real social platform for people to voice their frustrations in South Africa. Collectively, we could do a lot more to be a voice for the voiceless.”

Van Vlierden said he admires Cassidy’s honesty and straightforwardness.

“He is genuine and very generous but he doesn’t take nonsense,” Vilerden said.

“He is certainly not afraid to work. He takes care of the poor and the sick, [which are] his priorities.”

Cassidy said his most important role as a priest is to spend time listening to parishioners and building trusting relationships with them.

“If you visit them, see them, listen to their lives, listen to their journey of life, they then have a lot of trust in us,” Cassidy said.

“It is it is a lifetime moment for us, not just for a year or two.”

Sept. 25, 2019

Basketball academy aims to support Soweto youth

Masonwabe Mene, a 14-year-old point guard, attempts a shot at the Soweto Basketball Academy, where he said he has learned to balance school work with practices and games.

PHOTOS: SARAH HARWICK ’21/THE HAWK

NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Special Projects Editor SOWETO, South Africa— On a cool winter afternoon in the Jabavu section of Soweto, the famous township southwest of Johannesburg, the air is filled with the sound of basketballs pounding against the multicolored surface of two open-air courts. Little kids and big kids run back and forth, defending, driving to the hoop and yelling for the ball.

Masonwabe Mene, who attends nearby Morris Isaacson High School, is a 14-year-old point guard for the Soweto Basketball Academy and one of over 200 players between the ages of 8 and 18 who shows up at the academy every day after school to compete and play basketball with friends.

“I started playing basketball because I wanted to avoid staying in the township and doing bad [things],” Mene said. “This program grows the community. We start working together, and we try to fix it by showing [younger] children a good example. And Coach helps with what anyone may be facing at home or at school.”

Coach Mo — Monwabisi Dlamini — the Soweto Basketball Academy’s co-found-

er said the organization aims to improve both school performance and school attendance through the sport of basketball.

“We have kids who are now doing great things both at school and on the court,” Dlamini said. “They’ve come so far. There’s a lot of positivity happening, getting kids here and away from the streets.”

Dlamini initiated the Soweto Basketball Academy in 2013. Jacob Tsiane, Dlamini’s co-founder, joined a year later in 2014. In the six years of the academy’s existence, it has grown from three kids and one basketball to over 350 kids playing on five different Jr. NBA teams.

The colorful courts were donated by the U.S.-based Carmelo Anthony Foundation in 2018 and have become a popular after-school place for elementary and high school students from the surrounding area.

The academy adopted the Philadelphia 76ers as its designated NBA organization, something every Jr. NBA team is required to do. Dlamini said the inspiration for adopting the 76ers comes from the historic student uprisings in June 1976 in South Africa. Tens of thousands of students across the country protested against the apartheid government’s attempt to impose the Afrikaans language as a medium of instruction in schools in black townships.

Monwabisi Dlamini, known as Coach Mo to his players, co-founded the Soweto Basketball Academy as a way to improve school performance and attendance through the sport of basketball.

“It’s something that links with who we are,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini and Tsiane were both born in Soweto, never playing or following basketball until the academy began. After watching a series of Youtube basketball tutorial videos, the two felt ready to move forward.

They saw basketball as a way to give kids opportunities outside of traditional extracurricular activities. Basketball is not as popular a sport in South Africa as it is in the United States.

“All we have is soccer,” Dlamini said.

“If you don’t play soccer, then you find yourself in the streets doing whatever else you can. [Basketball] was more like a calling. It’s a medium that we had to use to implement change in our community.”

Prior to 2013, the academy’s court space was a hangout spot for people using drugs and alcohol. Dlamini hired a contractor to clean the space in 2014. Tsiane worked as a part of the renovation and cleanup crew. When the job was done, he learned more about the academy’s mission, then decided to stay for the long haul.

“I saw [the kids] come here every day with the limited resources that we have,” Tsiane said. “I believed that we could develop and create future basketball stars.

The way they were showing love for the

game, I thought to myself, ‘I’ll dedicate time because I believe in it so much.”

Mene wants to be a future start in the NBA. Imitating his favorite player, Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry, Mene calls plays and runs the court as a floor general.

“I want to help my teammates go further and not stay in the township,” Mene said. “I want to grow the community, play basketball in the United States and represent South Africa.”

Mene’s goal of playing in the NBA falls into place with the academy’s overarching vision. Over the next 10 years, Dlamini said he plans to get a minimum of two boys and girls into the NBA and WNBA respectively.

“We’ve done a lot, but our vision is so much bigger,” Dlamini said. “We’re trying our best to make sure we identify talent as young as possible so that we can build onto that. What we have power over is making sure that our kids are as good as any other kid that wants to play in the NBA.” Khanyisile Shange, a 16-year-old academy player who attends the German International School in Johannesburg and plans on attending university to study politics, said she agrees there is much more to the academy than basketball. “[Basketball] teaches you more than just playing with a team but also working with the team as a person,” Shange said.

“It’s about discipline, being able to share with people and working together.”

But the academy’s goal to use basketball as an outlet to improve the kids’ school performance remains its primary objective.

This year, the academy partnered with Diakonia Aid Ministry (DAM), an after-school program, to enhance its extracurricular school work assistance program. As a result, the students’ mid-year test results improved by an average of 20%, according to Dlamini.

To Tsiane, these type of academic results are what’s important for the kids and their future.

“When they come here, it helps them work on their schoolwork,” Tsiane said.

“That’s what I care about most. I can see the improvement, I can see that these kids will have a bright future. It doesn’t just have to be about them becoming big basketball stars.”

Thabang Ndlovu, a 14-year-old academy player who attends University of Johannesburg Metropolitan Academy, said the Soweto Basketball Academy has shown him a new path.

“Every person here is like family to me,” Ndlovu said. “The unconditional love that they give to me, it’s something that I can’t explain. Basketball has given me many chances and opportunities in life. It has helped and inspired many of us in the community.”

Sixteen-year-old Khanyisile Shange said basketball has taught her how to play as part of a team.

Sept. 25, 2019

Book club for black women promotes reading culture, supports community

Sthembile Buthelezi (left), Lorraine Sithole (center) and Zanele Nodladla (right) hold some of their favorite books their club has read together. PHOTOS: ROSE BARRETT ’20/THE HAWK

GABBY GUTIERREZ ’21 Special to The Hawk JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — After years of informal conversations and meetings with friends to discuss books, Lorraine Sithole decided to make things official.

In April 2011, while picnicking under a tree at the Zoo Lake playground in Johannesburg, Sithole kicked off The BookWorms book club with two other women.

“On my arrival home, I googled how successful book clubs were run and added a pay-it-forward element,” Sithole said, “I drafted the constitution, which went back and forth amongst the three of us till we were satisfied with its elements, we chose a title, and three weeks later we had our first official book discussion.”

Eight years later, the club is thriving.

Once a month, a group of 20 black women meet in a member’s home to discuss primarily books by South African authors.

Members are required to buy the chosen book each month, read it, make a monthly financial contribution to the club for community-based projects and serve as a host for the club when it’s their turn.

The books the club has read constitute a who’s who in contemporary South African literature, including Zakes Mda, Nthikeng Mohlele, Angela Makholwa, Judy Dlamini, Niq Mhlongo, Dudu Busani-Dube, Mzi Khumalo, Mamphele Ramphele, Siya Khumalo and Sindiwe Magona, among others. In July, the group read “The Gold Diggers” by Sue Nyathi, a native Zimbabwean who now lives in Johannesburg. The “Gold Diggers” is about eight Zimbabwean immigrants who embark on a treacherous journey into South Africa.

Over all, the club’s aim is to support a

culture of reading for pleasure.

“We are all about getting everybody to read,” agreed Zanele Nodladla, a member of the book club for the past seven years.

“If you take the initiative to read, it will instill that culture to the young ones.”

Sthembile Buthelezi, a member of the BookWorms for five years, said she has been a witness to four generations

“It is specifically for black women of a certain age, or a certain means,” Sithole said, “black women because we have the same issues, and I find that whenever we are in the company of, especially white women, we tend to censor ourselves. But if it is a group of 16 black women, we’ve all grown up in the townships. It is easier for us to talk about issues that bother us.”

Lorraine Sithole formed The Bookworms Book Club in 2011 to give black authors, and readers, a voice.

of reading in her home, beginning with her great-grandmother and continuing through to her own daughter. “[Reading] is actually a ripple effect,” Buthelezi said. “If one person does it, a lot of other people actually start doing it as well.”

Sithole said the focus on black women in the club is deliberate.

The club also supports community-based organizations, with the help of monthly donations from members. Last year, BookWorms members collected and donated over 100 books to the Ekujabuleni KwaBadala Recreation Center for senior citizens in Orlando East, in Soweto, in addition to a monetary donation of 53,000 Rands

($3,559 now). This year, they are working to raise money for New BeginningZ, an organization that takes in and supports abandoned children.

South Africa struggles with low literacy rates in many townships and rural areas.

According to the University of Pretoria’s Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, in 2016, eight out of 10 fourth graders could not read at an appropriate level.

Sithole said when she came across this statistic, she should have been shocked, but wasn’t.

“Although our kids speak a lot of English, they don’t know how to write it,” said Sithole, who grew up speaking Sepedi, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa.

“They don’t know how to read it.

While The BookWorms Club reads books in English because that is a language all members share, Sithole said she is happy that an increasing number of books are being published in or translated into African languages. She said she believes this has led to an increase in the actively reading population.

“As hard as it is, what has been happening now is that we are taking back the languages because language is more than talking,” Sithole said. “It is also spiritual.

It is about the ancestors. It is cultural. So now there is a huge movement in the reclamation of our languages.”

In the past three years, 20-30 new book clubs have emerged around Joburg, Sithole said. For Buthelezi, the number of black people who are connected to these clubs and the growth of reading is encouraging.

“A lot of black people are reading now and also having a voice,” Buthelezi said.

“People have grown, and reading is not just a culture but a lifestyle.”

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 25, 2019

7

artists of color highlighted in new center city gallery ZACH DOBINSON ’22 Assistant Features Editor Philadelphia became a little more colorful over the weekend with the opening of the Streets Dept Walls gallery. The gallery featured 10 murals created by 11 Philadelphia artists in the newly unveiled Fashion District in Center City.

Streets Dept, a blog and podcast, was created in 2011 by Conrad Benner to discuss street art in Philadelphia. Benner currated the gallery, located along Market Street to mark the opening of Philadelphia’s Fashion District. The district is a redesign of the space formerly known as The Gallery.

Most of the artists featured are LGBTQIA+ and women of color. According to census.gov, 52.7% of Philadelphia's population identify as women and 42.6% that identify as black. Benner, who curated the gallery, said that he knows many of the murals done in Philadelphia are not created by LGBT artists or artists of color.

“We’re in a public space and our public space should reflect us and the communities that live here,” Benner said. “I’m just trying to use my role as a curator and use that to better reflect our city.”

Benner contacted many of the artists featured in the gallery after seeing their work on Instagram. Through Instagram, Benner was able to find some of the artists’ websites and further contact them.

Marian Bailey was one of those artists.

Bailey, the creator of “Self-Assured,” said she was amazed with Benner for discovering her, even more so after being offered a spot in Streets Dept Walls.

“He told me that some of my pieces really resonated with him so he reached out to me,” Bailey said. “After I stopped crying, I said I would love to participate.”

“Self-Assured” is “a bold declaration of confidence” that was years in the making for Bailey. Fighting against insecurities and societal perceptions, Bailey used bright and vibrant colors to fill her 8 feet by 8 feet blank canvas with a self-portrait.

“I said what would be really iconic would be if my first and biggest piece was myself,” Bailey said.

For other artists, they decided to fill their blank canvases with more abstract

This piece, titled “Self-Assured,”was crafted using a combination of bright colors and patterns. PHOTOS: ZACH DOBINSON ’22/THE HAWK

murals. For A’Driane Nieves, creator of an untitled piece, her mural was born out of the combination of her Philadelphia heritage and her Southwestern upbringing. While both her parents are originally from Philadelphia, Nieves was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas.

“It’s very representative of that shifting landscape that’s out there in the South West, that’s in the desert,” Nieves said. “It’s very representative of the city and the urban environment.”

Nieves explained that the color palette of her piece is directly influenced by the colors of the landscapes of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and other Southwestern states her family would drive through on road trips.

“If you go up to it you can touch it and you’ll see that there’s different textures,” Nieves said. “It’s kind of gritty, kind of tough, it’s got a lot of scratches and things of that nature.”

Dora Cuenca, creator of “Beneath

Dora Cuenca uses art as a form of meditation to cope with her struggles with mental health.

Our Feet,” feels that there’s something about abstract that no other art style can offer. Cuenca said that creating the curved lines and blends of colors was meditative for her.

“Since it’s abstract, I can tell you exactly what I was thinking when I made it, but when you see it you’re gonna feel whatever you’re gonna feel,” Cuenca said.

“That’s what I’m going for here.”

Another element that makes Streets Dept Walls unique is that its artists are a blend of up-and-coming as well established. Nieves said she began teaching herself how to paint in 2012 on advice from a therapist. It wasn’t until 2015 that she began pursuing art professionally.

“To have this kind of opportunity at this point in my career feels really special and it’s very exciting,” Nieves said.

For someone like Cuenca and Bailey, art has been always been present just in different ways. Cuenca said she always used watercolors for their simplicity and easy clean

up when painting with her kids. It wasn’t until completing mural work for a friend that she felt murals were her new obsession.

Having been the fourth of eight children, Bailey found herself left to her own devices and subjected to her own creativity.

“I feel like I’ve always been an artist,” Bailey said. “Ever since I was a little kid I was tucked away in my room creating something.”

Streets Dept Walls was a full circle experience for Benner. After being fired from an Old Navy that was in the Fashion District when it was called The Gallery, Benner created Streets Dept. Now he has curated a 10 mural gallery in the Fashion District, the same building he previously worked.

“I think the day to day can be so humdrum and you can just sort of toil away, go to your job, go to school, come back,” Benner said. “Art just always pushes you further, open parts of yourself, parts of your community, parts of the world to you.”

A'Driane Nieves lets her artwork, like this untitled piece, speak for itself.

8

Sept. 25, 2019

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Author offers untapped solutions on climate change KAITLYN PATTERSON ’20 Assistant Features Editor Students and faculty gathered in the Forum Theatre on Sept. 18 to hear Seamus McGraw, author of “A Thirsty Land: The Making of an American Water Crisis” share his collection of stories from across the U.S. and his unique perspective on how to approach the issue of climate change.

“I’m of the belief that we are facing an existential crisis, and that is our changing climate,” McGraw said. “That is the second most critical existential crisis, only to our inability to talk to each other.”

The beginning of the solution to climate change is quite simple, according to McGraw: listen to people, their stories and their experiences.

“If you want to talk about these issues, you have to listen to the people who are touched by them,” McGraw said. “I’ve talked to fishermen from New Jersey, farmers in Iowa, hunters in Montana, and I came away from that with a tremendous amount of hope.”

McGraw spoke about his experiences with talking to people from all across the U.S., many of whom stood on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of politics as him. McGraw’s idea is that listening to the stories of people and having these conversations is the most important part of reclaiming the debate about climate change.

Gia Picknally ’21 said she left McGraw’s presentation feeling empowered, but she agreed that our inability to talk

McGraw said his book is “not just a climate story, but a human story.” PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

about these issues is a major problem in our country.

“I think that all of these labels we have for each other—the left and the right— puts us in a place where we can’t talk about the important issues,” Picknally said.

Liam Majewski ’22, another student who attended the presentation, said that McGraw’s perspective can help us learn how to have these important conversations.

“We all feel like we know what’s important, but before we address that, we have to know how to bring it up,” Majewski said.

As he told the tales of his travels to

farms and cities around the country, McGraw described his process for starting these conversations. When traveling, he often stops at a gas station to fill up his motorcycle, and end up in a 45 minute conversation with a stranger.

“You can start with [a conversation about] the weather, and next thing you know you’re talking about the climate,” McGraw said. “It’s just a question of engaging people and recognizing that there’s something you can learn from everybody you meet.”

Ann Green, Ph.D., professor of En-

glish, explained that the conversations that McGraw started are necessary for St. Joe’s students.

“I think we live in a bubble, we have a St. Joe’s bubble,” Green said. “It’s important for us to expand our thinking and to think about what people who we might not agree with on the surface think about climate change.”

Betsy Rich, a former professor of environmental science at St. Joe’s, said that she enjoyed the optimism that McGraw used to talk about these issues. She expressed that there are ways that the younger generations can participate in the ongoing battle against climate change.

“Personal actions are important in your daily lives.” Rich said. “But what’s really important is becoming activists and writing and demonstrating and starting new initiatives.”

Despite the enormous issue of climate change that threatens our way of life on Earth, McGraw remains optimistic. He said that the solution starts with something as simple as saying hello and finding common ground.

Talking to a room full of mostly college students, McGraw emphasized the importance of action.

“We are wasting in our country the most precious resource we have,” McGraw said.

“The wisdom and good will of each other.”

Addressing the audience directly, McGraw left with a message.

“I’m 61-years-old,” McGraw said. “It’s not my job anymore. It’s yours.”

Class of 2020 reflects on their final HawkFest ZACH DOBINSON ’22 Assistant Features Editor HawkFest, an annual weekend event that invites alumni and families to campus, signifies the beginning of college careers for the Class of 2023, but also the beginning of the end of the Class of 2020’s journey at Hawk Hill.

Beth Hagovksy, director of Student Leadership and Activities, said there is pressure to make everyone feel welcome at St. Joe’s first public event of the school year.

“We’re trying to provide a time and a place where families can come to campus and be with their students,” Hagovsky said. “It’s not your home, but we want it to feel like your home.”

Over the course of the weekend, St. Joe’s welcomed back alumni and held undergraduate and alumni athletic events, the Kinney 5K and a picnic on Curran Field.

Throughout the picnic, families and alumni were able to enjoy live music and activities such as Stuff-A-Hawk and Quizzo.

While first-year students have three more HawkFests to look forward to, for seniors this year’s HawkFest is their last.

Nathan King ’20, music director of Hawkapella, said he was excited for his group’s performance, but there was also the “bittersweet” realization that this is his last HawkFest.

“It’s crazy that time has passed so quickly,” King said. “I know that everyone

says that, but it’s so true that you blink your eyes and it all goes by.”

Having attended HawkFest all four years, King said he has seen it change from going to Curran Field, to Villiger Lawn and back to Curran Field.

“I think it says a lot about our school and how much it values not only the community of students here but also their families and the people who have allowed them to be here,” King said.

Rob Young ’20 has attended HawkFest twice, his first and his senior years. Looking back on both experiences, Young said he noticed the stark differences between the two.

“When I was there my first year it was kind of awkward,” Young said. “I didn’t know anybody because it was so early in being at school. This year was the opposite. A lot of my friends were there so my parents were meeting my friends and their parents.”

Young also realized that not only is this his last year at St. Joe’s, this is also the last year his family can visit him while he’s in college. He said HawkFest was a time for his parents to cherish and enjoy as well.

“Knowing that this is the last year, I definitely put in the effort to make sure I was at it and have a special time with my parents,” Young said.

Amanda Haggerty ’20 also only attended her first and senior years. She said knowing this HawkFest was her last added a bittersweet element to her senior year.

“Hawk Hill has been my life,” Hag-

54th and City performs at HawkFest on Sept. 21. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

gerty said. “I call it my second home. It’s gonna be hard knowing that I’m not going to be on Hawk Hill and be able to see my friends every day.”

Haggerty spent her last HawkFest with her family, something else she realized she will no longer be able to do after graduation.

“I want to make sure we just have that last family outing at Hawk Hill,” Haggerty said.“This year compared to freshman year was just more sentimental knowing that I won’t be here next year.”

HawkFest allowed for people like Young to think about his time at St. Joe’s

as well. While his time at Hawk Hill is almost up, Young said he feels that shouldn’t mean letting his senior year pass by.

“There’s just so much here that I’ve done since I started that coming in I had no idea I would be a part of,” Young said.

“I’ve met so many great people that I know I’m gonna be friends with for life. The last year is something people should take advantage of and I’m definitely trying to.”

Kylie Williams ’23 and Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 contributed to this story.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 25, 2019

9

Student turns craft into custom shoe business EMILY GRAHAM ’20 Managing Editor One night in LaFarge Residence Center, Marie Giacobbe ’22 and her suitemates broke out some acrylic paint and started painting random items around their suite. Giacobbe found an old pair of Birkenstock sandals and decided to spruce them up with a new design.

After wearing the pair of painted Birkenstocks around campus, Giacobbe said other students began asking her to design their shoes. Following a few months of spreading the word and establishing an online presence, Giacobbe turned that spur-of-the-moment craft into a small business.

“All of a sudden, it just blew up and I started making different types of shoes,” Giacobbe said. “I’m continuously going out shopping, and it’s very time consuming, but it just makes me so happy to create and cater to specific people.”

Giacobbe has developed a custom shoe business called Caged Butterfly Shoes, which has expanded to include jewelry, hats and other clothing items and accessories.

Giacobbe said customers can message her on Instagram, @cagedbutterflyshoes, or order products on her website. The shoes range in price from $30-$50 depending on the style of shoe and amount of labor that went into the design. To keep production costs low, Giacobbe buys the shoes in bulk and searches online for sales and coupons to use for paint, patches and jewelry supplies.

During the summer, Giacobbe said she spent most of her time working to build up the business.

“I made business cards and started handing them out,” Giacobbe said. “I started hanging up flyers in places. I made an Instagram page and a website and sent it to people. And a lot of it is just word of mouth because people will wear the shoes, and then people will be like, ‘Oh those are so cool. Where did you get those?’”

Her efforts also included an open

Marie Giacobbe ’22 incorporates her designs into her wardrobe. PHOTOS: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

house at her home in New Jersey. Giacobbe said she bought shoes of all different sizes in bulk, painted various designs and put them on display in her house.

“People came in and shopped and bought shoes from the specific size tables,” Giacobbe said. “They also placed orders, so in that one day I made $1200 from just having my neighbors and friends come and buy shoes and make orders.”

Giacobbe said when she was first starting out, she got help from her parents and friends, including Haley Flake, a sophomore at Montclair State University who has known Giacobbe since middle school. Flake has modeled for Giacobbe, and she was one of the first people to see Giacobbe’s work in action.

“All of her designs have improved, and

her own unique style has really evolved just in the few months that she’s been putting out her shoes,” Flake said. “She gets really creative with it, and she really makes something simple, like flowers, a design that’s really her own.”

Giacobbe’s business has spread beyond friends, family and classmates, and she has created products specifically for nurses, veterinarians, children and anyone else who has requested a particular design for their lifestyle.

Because of Giacobbe’s success, she said she hopes to continue the business in the future. Although she is a psychology major, she recently declared a minor in family business/entrepreneurship.

“My mom is a clinical psychologist, so my whole life I grew up wanting to be a

Giacobbe uses differents styles of shoes as well as a variety of materials when creating custom orders.

clinical psychologist,” Giacobbe said. “But once I started the business, I feel like I’ve found my passion. Now I possibly want to open up my own private practice as a psychologist and work there a couple days a week, but then also have a little boutique or open my own shop.”

In addition to her career path, Giacobbe said the business was also influenced by her mother, as the name “Caged Butterfly Shoes” has ties to her family.

“My great grandma always said to my grandma, ‘Whenever you see a butterfly, think of me,’” Giacobbe said. “When she passed away, she passed that down to my grandma, and then when my grandma passed away she said it to my mom. My mom actually was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, and when she was two years breast cancer free, we got matching butterfly tattoos.”

Jayne Baran ’22 owns one of Giacobbe’s classic butterfly designs on a pair of white platforms. Baran said she was drawn not only to Giacobbe’s designs, but also to her work in general “I like the whole butterfly motif she has going on, and I always want to support my friends and people who are doing local art,” Baran said.

Giacobbe said she tries to incorporate butterflies into many of her designs, but she has also done florals, animal prints, cherry patterns and other ideas that customers request.

In addition to promoting her work through social media, flyers and business cards, Giacobbe also utilizes the products themselves to spread the word.

“Usually every day I try to wear something,” Giacobbe said. “That way if anybody ever asks, and I always carry my business cards on me, because it’s such a great conversation topic.”

Giacobbe said the business is not all about making money, because she genuinely enjoys the creative outlet.

“I’ve always enjoyed appreciating other people’s art, so it’s so nice to finally have other people being able to appreciate my art,” Giacobbe said.

10

The Hawk Newspaper

Sept. 25, 2019

Sports

Martelli adjusts to life in Michigan without family NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Special Projects Editor Phil Martelli is living alone for the first time in his life.

Martelli’s new condo is a 15 minute drive from the Crisler Center, the site of the basketball arena at the University of Michigan, where Martelli is the assistant coach for the men’s basketball team.

In March 2019, Martelli was fired from

his position as head coach for the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team, a position he held for 24 years. Three months later, on June 3, Martelli accepted the position at Michigan.

“It would appear from the outside that coach landed on his feet, he’s okay,’” Martelli said. “While I have a great opportunity with great people, I’m away from my family. There are personal challenges, and when I’m alone, those things go through me. I’ve talked to a lot of people, including spiritual people, who

This season will be the first since 1985 without Martelli on the sideline.

PHOTO COURTESTY OF ELIZABETH JEFFERIES

said it’s going to take a while. It’s going to take a long while.”

When Martelli moved to Michigan, his wife of 43 years, Judy, stayed behind in the couple’s home in Media, Pennsylvania.

“It wouldn’t be fair to take her world and turn it upside down,” Phil Martelli said.

When he’s alone, Martelli said questions run through his head: “Am I being selfish?” or, “Am I just thinking about myself?” Martelli has mulled over these questions for months now. He doesn’t know the answers.

What Martelli does know is that he misses life in Philadelphia, and all that came with it. While he keeps his mind busy and 100% focused on basketball while at work, when he opens the door to an empty condo every night, he just can’t shake his emotions.

“We had a certain way of life,” Martelli said. “It wasn’t just me. It was my family’s way of life. It was built around doing things in Philadelphia above and beyond basketball.”

Martelli copes by talking daily to family and friends, including newly-appointed Delaware Valley University Director of Athletics David Duda, Martelli’s friend and former right-hand man and assistant coach at St. Joe’s. They talk daily about each other’s highs, lows, struggles and anything in between.

Duda said he can’t help but notice the difficulties that Martelli is going through, being so far from home.

“I think you can clearly hear the struggle in his voice from being away from his family,” Duda said.

Elizabeth Jefferies ’09, Martelli’s daughter and youngest child, said her father works to keep his spirits up for his family.

“He would never let any of us hear in his voice or see him being down,” Jefferies said.

But Jefferies said she is aware of the difficulty of her father’s transition.

“I pain for him because I do think he’s lonely,” Jefferies said. “He will come back to the fact that this is all great and wonderful, but at 65 years of age, he is away from his family.”

Phil Martelli Jr. ’03, the Martelli’s second-oldest son who is assistant men’s basketball coach at Bryant University, said technology has been critical in maintaining consistent communication with his father.

“It’s certainly going to be an adjustment period, [but] in this day in age, through cell phones and Facetime, we can all stay connected,” Martelli Jr. said. “That’s the way we go about it.”

Jefferies said her three kids miss their grandfather terribly, but video chats help.

“He calls all the time,” Jefferies said. “We probably communicate now more than before because you’re trying to fill that void.”

That void has certainly been swirling through Martelli’s mind over the past few months as he thinks back to a familiar way of life in Philadelphia, the daily interactions he had and what he would have done differently.

“Sometimes there’s regret because you think about the days that you wasted, days that you let get away,” Martelli said. “That’s not going to be the case moving forward. I want to not just reciprocate the love that my family is giving me, but I want to go over the top with the love that they’ve been giving me.

That’s what they’ll get as we go through this together.”

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Sports

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Sept. 25, 2019

11

Love of the game brings club field hockey together SAM BRITT ’20 Sports Editor The St. Joe’s club field hockey team is coming off of a fall season which saw them travel to Virginia Beach for the National Field Hockey League’s Fall Championship.

As the club’s season starts again, there are plenty of new faces on the roster.

According to junior goalkeeper and captain Isabelle Boles, the new crop of players will have to play a big role for the team to remain successful.

“We have picked up a lot of really good freshmen this year,” Boles said. “We have a lot of younger faces with the same core of older players. We did lose a lot of key seniors but I think our freshmen and sophomores can fill their spots.”

After losing their first game to The College of New Jersey the Hawk’s picked up a win over the University of Pennsylvania on Sept. 23. Boles said she thinks the added practice time over the last week helped cre-

ate some chemistry.

“We definitely had more confidence playing with each other,” Boles said. “We really only had a week and a half of practice before our first game. This week we focused on working together."

Senior forward and captain Lydia Bariteau thinks that just getting used to playing together is the key to another successful season.

“After we get a chance to practice more and play together as a team we should be pretty good,” Bariteau said. “I think that we could make it back to nationals. We just need to keep working on getting everyone to mesh.”

According to Bariteau, the goal of the team is to keep it light and fun while also continuing to be competitive. It is a chance for people of all skill levels to come together and have fun while also not losing sight of the main goal, winning.

“In years prior to last year it hadn’t been as competitive,” Bariteau said. “We are trying to make it more structured. It should be fun.

The team plays a round robin tournament Sept. 29 against Thomas Jefferson University and Messiah College.

Boles is one of a number of playes that joined the club field hockey team from the Division I team in past years.

PHOTOS: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/ THE HAWK

It is not a Division I sport. We aren’t trying to have a professional career after."

Bariteau said it was this atmosphere that drew her in last year. After leaving the Division I program, Bariteau thought about quitting field hockey altogether. Through some friends she was convinced to come try out for the club team.

“It really sparked my love for the game again,” Bariteau said “It is really the environment that makes it so much better. Everyone just likes to play and have fun.”

Boles was in a similar situation. She left the Division I team last year and said she was immediately drawn to the atmosphere around the club team.

“A lot of us loved the intensity of it but there is an emphasis on winning over fun,” Boles said. “Club holds the fun and a relaxed environment with the same competitive edge.”

Senior forward Alaina Boccino is in her second year as captain. Boccino said

that having players from the Division I program adds some talent but initially she was worried about how they would become acclimated to the club team’s dynamic.

“When we got the Division I girls last year as a captain I was kind of nervous that they would expect more,” Boccino said.

“That we would be focused on the game at all times. But then they came in and were like, ‘This is so much fun. We are having a great time.’ Having them mix in with the newer girls wasn’t a problem at all.”

As the team moves forward this season with a combination of veterans and newcomers alike, Boccino said they still have a single goal in mind.

“Last year we went to nationals and it was one of the best experiences I have had in college,” Boccino said. “I just want to get back there this year so everyone and all the freshman can experience it. It’s also my last year so it’d be nice to go out with a bang.”

Captain John Walker shows energetic leadership style MATT DELEO ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Men’s cross country senior runner and captain John Walker has made an impression on his teammates with his leadership approach early in the season.

Walker said his mentality has played a major role in his leadership and success thus far.

“Your mind is a much bigger player in terms of performance,” Walker said. “I think anyone can fight through any bodily feeling.

Illness is one thing but soreness, fatigue, whatever I think you can battle through if your mind is in the right place.”

This no-nonsense approach carries on to practice where Walker acts as one of the team’s captains. Walker’s teammates describe his presence at their training sessions as “intensive” and “loud.”

“If you were to describe the way he talks in text format, it is all caps and there is an explanation point after every sentence,” junior runner Matt Scarpill said.

Head Coach Mike Glavin said that while Walker’s leadership style and personality can seem abrasive, it helps get the message across.

“John is one of those people that is upfront,” Glavin said. “[He is] in your face, not meaning he is getting in guys faces, but ‘I am here and out in front of you.’ I do not think it can ever be unclear what John

Walker was part of the 4xMile relay team that holds the school record with a time of 16:51.23 PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

wants from you.”

Walker played football until his junior year of high school and then decided to transition to cross country for his senior year. Glavin said he thinks that Walker’s demeanor is the result of playing a team sport for most of his life.

“There are 60 guys on a football team,” Glavin said. “Dozens trying to orchestrate one play at a time as everyone has to be on the same page at all times. I think that may show

up in John’s leadership. He has a good sense of humor, so he is not ‘in your face’ negatively.”

Senior runner Zach Michon said he appreciates having somebody like Walker at practice everyday.

“A lot of that energy he carries into practice every day,” Michon said. “He is one of the big personalities on the team. A lot of the guys have grown to love it and we live by it.

He has always been John.”

Scarpill said he is most impressed with

Walker’s work ethic.

“It is unlike anyone else I have ever met in my life,” Scarpill said. “He is one of the hardest workers, the first one in and last one out. He always will try to hype you and other people up.”

When Walker first started running for St. Joe’s, he said he did not see the results right away, but his hard work has paid off this year.

“It was a grind freshman and sophomore year as I was working very hard,” Walker said. “That was showing in workouts, but not translating to course of the track. I think my mental state has certainly grown and I have matured as a racer and a person, which has definitely steered me into success.”

Despite his boisterous personality, Walker said he tries to remain as relaxed as possible during the moments leading up to the gun firing off.

“I am definitely more of a nervous runner so it’s a constant battle with my mind,” Walker said. “To stay relaxed and to remember what the goal is and keying to execute to the best of my abilities.”

Walker said his goal this year is fairly simple. He wants to lead the team to an Atlantic 10 Championship.

“To take this group of guys as far as we can possibly go,” Walker said. “To be the very best teammate I could be, and to lead them like a captain should and like I know I can.”

12

Sept. 25, 2019

The Hawk Newspaper

BECOMING THE HAWK

Sports

Alec Kerr had to adjust the costume to fit his 6 foot 7 inch frame. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

SAM BRITT ’20 Sports Editor For senior golfer Alec Kerr, becoming the Hawk for the men's basketball team has been a dream for almost three years. Ever since he saw a promotional video during his Accepted Students Day, from the then current Hawk, Ian Klinger ’14, discussing the journey to becoming the nationally renowned mascot, he knew it was something he had to do.

“I always thought about it,” Kerr said.

“It was last Easter break I saw something on Twitter and I was like ‘no way.’ I actually have the opportunity to literally be the face of the university.”

The process of becoming a Hawk involves a paper application, a recommendation letter from a faculty member, multiple interviews and the creation of a promotional video that captures a candidate’s “flaptitude.”

“I didn’t really have a good idea of what they wanted,” Kerr said. “I went to all the fields, all the notable places on campus with eye black on and all St. Joe’s gear and just started flapping with Gonna Fly Now, the Rocky theme song in the background.”

During the application process, Kerr said he made sure to ready not only his mind, but his body for the role. He said he would often do sets of flaps during his morning routine in order to get the motion down. However, Kerr said he thinks the difference came in the interview room.

“One thing I told them is that I am a social butterfly,” Kerr said. “You can ask anyone.

They sometimes hate me for it. They think I stop and talk with people too much. Within the interview they seemed to like that.”

Kerr is the 40th student to don the beak and wings of the St. Joe’s Hawk - a position he said he holds with the utmost respect.

“I think being the Hawk is more than just being a mascot,” Kerr said. “You are representing the core values of the university and being able to do that, I couldn’t be more grateful.”

According to Kerr’s friend Matt Ferry ’20, it was no surprise that Kerr became the new Hawk.

“It is just because of the way he is,” Ferry said. “Out of all my friends he is the one who

I would have thought had a legit chance at this. I could see it right away.”

The role of the Hawk can be time consuming. Kerr said that he occasionally has to travel to three separate events in the same day. Juggling the constant demand for the Hawk with golf and academic requirements requires Kerr to put a lot of effort into scheduling his time.

“Freshman year I wasn’t the greatest at time management,” Kerr said. “It was tough for me to handle academics and athletics. As much as I hated that time, I am thankful for it because now I have a great grasp on time management. I am able to handle all three and still have a social life.”

This year the Hawk will play a different role than usual. Up until this year it was tradition for the Hawk to be the manager of the men’s basketball team. This year Kerr won’t assume that role, but will instead work with the athletic department's marketing team to find new ways to get students out to games.

“I’ve talked about using the Hawk as a marketing tool,” Kerr said. “We need people in seats. The Hawk is more than a suit.

You can use it as a way to engage with the student body. That is something I have been just loving.”

Director of Athletics Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., knows how important the Hawk is as a symbol of St. Joe’s. She said she is hoping that this year she can get student input on how to improve our beloved mascot going forward.

“Is there something we can do to add a little pizzazz?” Bodensteiner said. “We know we want the Hawk to have a social media presence. To me this is a student driven question so this fall we are going to have student forum, whether it’s the sports marketing club or others, to get some input.”

As Kerr continues with his role, forging his own path as the Hawk, he looks ahead to the events he has scheduled in the coming weeks. One in particular stands out, a wedding with a familiar face at the altar.

“Coming up I have Ian Klinger’s wedding,” Kerr said. “The guy I saw my senior year of high school telling his story as the Hawk, I’ll be working his wedding. That’s pretty neat.”

Kerr meets Jim Brennan ’58, the first student to be the Hawk. PHOTO: LUKE MALANGA ’20/THE HAWK

A young HawkFest attendee high fives Kerr. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK