The Hawk March 31, 2021

March 31, 2021

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Volume CII

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Est. 1929

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www.sjuhawknews.com

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

‘Get it right the first time, that was a hate crime’ William Lex Ham (far right) chants with marchers in Dilworth Park after marching from Chinatown. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Hundreds of people gathered on 10th and Vine Street on March 25 to stand and march in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

The march was a grassroots event organized by nine “community advocates and activists” who agreed they had to come together to support the AAPI community in Philadelphia, according to Sharlene Cubelo, special programs event coordinator for the Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance program at Rutgers University.

“This is dedicated to the rise in anti-Asian racism, but marginalized communities are all being oppressed,” Cubelo said in an interview with The Hawk. “This is a united front against that, and we really want people to recognize that their voices really do matter.”

On March 16, a white gunman killed eight people across three spas in Atlanta, Georgia, six of whom were women of Asian descent. A week later on March 24, Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Department (PDD) commissioner, tweeted that the PDD is “actively investigating several incidents of hateful and racist vandalism in Chinatown and South Phila.”

Before marchers set off through the city on March 25, Chinese lion dancers and 11 speakers performed and spoke to the crowd to express solidarity with the AAPI community and encourage those in attendance to go forward and stand together against violence and hate.

“Today is the first time in history Phila-

delphia has held a rally against anti-Asian racism,” Cubelo said in a speech to the marchers.

“Philadelphia is the birthplace of America.

We have the power to rewrite the narrative for the rest of our nation. This is where America started. We will be the change.”

Citing the Atlanta Police Department’s decision not to deem the shooting in Atlanta a hate crime, Cubelo said it is crucial to stand together against all forms of oppression and hate.

“As an Asian American woman, I can speak to my identity in the fact that this hatred with misogyny, the ingrained prejudice against women, and racism in the experiences that we as Asian American women experience is not something new,” Cubelo said.

Dr. Lan Chi (Krysti) Vo, an attending psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said she has been presenting to the American Psychiatric Association about the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes since the pandemic started. Vo said in an interview with The Hawk that she came to support the march because she wants to encourage people to take substantive action to stop these acts of violence and hate.

“I appreciate the rally and solidarity but change only happens if you pressure policymakers. That’s the key,” Vo said. “We need to use our words to write to them, or talk to them or call them.”

Helen Gym, councilmember at-large for the Philadelphia City Council and the first Asian American woman to serve on the council, said the AAPI community in Philadelphia has fought to make the city a sanctuary city for all, and the community will do it again.

“I want us to remember that we have been here,” Gym said in her speech. “ We have withstood patriarchy. We have withstood violence and white supremacy. And we are here and we will rise. We will rise together.”

As the speeches continued, organizers moved the crowd closer to the pergola where the speakers were located as more people continued to arrive in support of the event.

Once the other speakers concluded, William Lex Ham, executive director of Asians in America—a “grassroots organization dedicated to empowering Asian & AAPI voices” according to the organization’s Instagram page—began to lead the crowd in chants as everyone prepared to march.

“Get it right the first time,” Ham yelled into the crowd. “That was a hate crime,” the crowd yelled back.

Along with teaching the marchers other chants like “silence is violence, we are not a virus,” Ham encouraged the crowd to use their voices as they took to the streets.

“We have to take power back for our people, for our community, for our neighbors, for our family and our friends,” Ham said. “As we go out and we march through the streets, when you chant these chants, let it come from the depths of your being, the depths of your soul.”

The crowd then made its way through Chinatown holding their signs denouncing anti-Asian hate and chanting together as store owners and passerbys came out on the street to watch or join in solidarity.

The march ended in Dilworth Park at City Hall. Marchers sat and reflected as Cubelo read the names of the victims killed in the Atlanta shooting.

Following the event, Raquel Villanueva Dang, another event organizer, said in an interview with The Hawk that she hopes those who participated in the march “continue the conversation to commit to change within themselves, and hopefully further into their community.”

Cubelo said she also hopes people who came to march in solidarity move forward from the event feeling empowered to stand up against violence and hate.

“I hope they take away healing and strength in knowing that they are not alone and that their fears and traumas are valid against this rise in violence,” Cubelo said.

“We, as a community, are standing in solidarity against this, and we shouldn’t have to conform to the victimization of others who are trying to be oppressive because we have the right to live free from that.”

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A woman holds a sign with the names of the six Asian Americans killed in the Atlanta shooting.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

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March 31, 2021

The Hawk Newspaper

News

Lynette Medley said The SPOT delivers approximately 275 feminine product packages per week. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Menstrual hub generates awareness on period poverty JACKIE COLLINS ’21 Editor in Chief Lynette Medley, a sexual awareness educator and counselor, opened The SPOT Period, a 2,500-square-foot brick-and-mortar menstrual hub in Germantown this February.

The hub is furthering the mission of Medley’s sexuality awareness organization, No More Secrets: Mind, Body and Spirit, which addresses the citywide deficits in education and awareness on period poverty and menstrual inequality.

Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products, menstrual education, bathrooms and waste management systems for product disposal. The first of its kind, The SPOT (Safety, Programming, Optimal, Transformation) is a space for marginalized female communities that offers period products and menstrual health education.

“It was an extension of the need for the multidisciplinary approach to really dealing with menstrual health and hygiene for underserved populations,” Medley said. “That’s where the hook came from, just creating a more comprehensive approach to dealing with period poverty and menstrual insecurities.”

The SPOT also offers a delivery option to help with accessibility. Before the coronavirus pandemic, The SPOT employees were delivering 75 to 80 feminine product packages per week. Employees are now delivering around 275 packages per week, or approximately 50 to 60 per day, during the pandemic, according to Medley.

Medley said the pandemic showed the overwhelming need for menstrual products in the community.

“The pandemic shed light on the disparities in the haves and have nots,” Medley

said. “Our underserved populations were really struggling because even some of the places where they would be able to get products from had all shut down, from schools and community centers.”

Medley said The SPOT offers “every menstrual product there is,” including pads, tampons, menstrual cups, liners and period underwear. They also provide toiletries such as deodorant, toothpaste and underwear.

However, while The SPOT offers a variety of resources, Medley said there is still a stigma surrounding the conversation about menstrual health nationally. So, The SPOT offers various educational sessions for women on menstrual cycles and maintaining menstrual hygiene.

“We live in a patriarchal society and misogynistic society that doesn’t incorporate women’s health and women’s bodies as a whole,” Medley said. “I can’t understand how in 2021, we’re still fighting for the right to get tampons [covered] when Viagra and Rogaine are covered. But [women] can’t get access to something that they don’t even choose that is just a normal bodily function.”

Kate Barker Swindell, service & operations manager of PERIOD, a global nonprofit organization fighting to end period poverty and stigma, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that education provides a foundation for dispelling that stigma and understanding that periods and menstruators are best supported when not “hidden, shamed or shelved.”

“Education is so important in combating period poverty and menstrual inequities because it breaks down the notion that menstruation is something to be pathologized,” Barker Swindell said. “The first step in education is framing periods as a normal part of human biology, using appropriate terms for what hap-

pens when someone is menstruating—‘vagina,’ ‘blood,’ ‘uterine lining,’ etc.—and the variety of period products there are available.”

Medley said The SPOT takes on a “risk reduction model” to best serve and educate women.

“You have [women] who are using pads and tampons for eight to 10 hours a day, or using anything from newspaper to socks to rags, or engaging in high risk behaviors or selling their body or engaging in human trafficking, just to be able to have access to menstrual products,” Medley said.

Nearly one in five American girls have either left early or skipped school while on their periods because they did not have access to period products, according to research by Regis College.

“When menstruators can’t afford to buy supplies and aren’t able to take care of their periods in a dignified, expedient way, they may not go to work or to school or to places where they may be able to get help,” Barker Swindell said. “This perpetuates feelings of shame, helplessness and hopelessness.”

Additionally, period products are taxed in 30 states and cannot be purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid or health insurance spending accounts because they are considered “luxury items.” With 25 million U.S. women living in poverty, they must choose between buying food or buying period products.

Barker Swindell said there is progress being made with policies towards menstrual equities, as there has been a noticeable uptick in legislation being introduced on all levels of government.

“From removing the tax on period products to providing free period products in public schools and buildings, we hear almost daily of a new menstrual rights bill in

numerous towns, cities and states across the country,” Barker Swindell said. “As of now, there are 20 states who have struck down the tampon tax, with many more states in the wings with similar initiatives.”

On St. Joe’s campus, pads and tampons are provided for free in the Student Health Center and in HawkHUB, a food and basic needs resource center for students, faculty and staff. Maddie DeMarco ’22, president of HawkHUB, said period products are a basic need and thus important to provide in the HUB. “They’re necessary for a woman to function,” DeMarco said. “If you don’t have those feminine products, you aren’t having your basic needs met.”

A study from George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services found that one in 10 female college students experience chronic period poverty. Of this, nearly one in four Latina women and one in five Black women reported experiencing period poverty. The percentage was also higher for college women who were from immigrant backgrounds or first-generation college students.

DeMarco said HawkHUB and Women’s Leadership Initiative, which she is the co-president of, are collaborating to put these menstrual products in some of the bathrooms on campus. They are currently in contact with the Office of Facilities, and hope to have the products in place in the coming weeks.

DeMarco said she hopes there won’t be a stigma with taking a pad or tampon from the bathrooms.

“I do think there’s a tough barrier talking about menstruation in general on campus, and reproductive health too,” DeMarco said.

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March 31, 2021

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New service opportunity is created for sophomores JENNA QUIGLEY ’22 Special to The Hawk The Class of 2024 has missed out on a number of traditional St. Joe’s experiences because of the coronavirus pandemic, including the Philadelphia Service Immersion Program (PSIP), which did not run in 2020.

A new program, SophoMORE PSIP, aims to give them another chance.

PSIP is a four-day, optional early movein experience generally offered to first-year students. Participants spend time at service sites in the Philadelphia area and get a chance to explore various destinations in the city, connect with community members and reflect upon the experience.

“This program gives participants the true taste of what it means to be Jesuit educated and how we really pride ourselves on taking social justice issues seriously and asking the question of how society got to the way it is today and flip the switch,” said Blaise Doyle ’23, student director of SophoMORE PSIP. Doyle said the sophomore program will align closely with the first-year program.

“The core of the program isn’t going to change for sophomores,” Doyle said. “In terms of activities, it’s not going to be too far off of what PSIP for first-year students looks like.”

PSIP was established in 2007 as a partnership between the Office of Mission Programs, the Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Student Leadership & Activities, according to Daniel Joyce, S.J., executive director of Missions Programs. Joyce credited Nancy Fox, Ph.D., associate professor of economics,

with bringing the program to St. Joe’s after she saw a similar early move-in program at Princeton University.

St. Joe’s put a Jesuit stamp on its version of the program, Joyce wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk.

“There is a long history at St. Joe’s of doing local urban immersion experiences that involve reflection and learning from the hundreds of educational partners throughout the city,” Joyce said. “PSIP became a way to jump start the process for students to know that Philadelphia and the many communities within the city are a huge asset to a student’s learning, understanding and growth while studying at St. Joe’s.”

Joyce said that SophoMORE PSIP is a way to prevent the Class of 2024 from getting “short-changed” on their St. Joe’s experience.

“They will have the chance to engage with service partnership organizations that work closely with St. Joe’s and learn from the members of those communities,” Joyce said. “Then they will bring that back to campus and reflect on what they have learned to connect it to what they are studying and how it broadens their perspective.”

Doyle said he imagines how hard it’s been for first-year students to meet people outside of their residence halls and wants to help them grow closer with other members of the St. Joe’s community.

“Why not start a new program just to ensure that they can have the same meaningful experience that almost every other class has been able to have,” Doyle said.

Maggie Koch ’22, student director of PSIP, said the program will help sophomores build “deeper and more genuine connections” with fellow students on campus.

Members of PSIP at a community garden at Urban Tree Connection in summer 2019.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MAGGIE KOCH ’22

“I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction for sophomores to just start to feel that community that we all love at St. Joe’s,” Koch said. “I feel like they haven’t really gotten a good glimpse of that.”

Planning for the fall program is already underway, Doyle said, but with lingering uncertainties regarding the pandemic, organizers have not yet finalized details.

“Right now we are hoping that by the time August rolls around, everyone will be fully vaccinated and everything will be back to normal,” Doyle said.

Kellie Evanik ’23, a 2019 PSIP participant, said she didn’t know what to expect when she signed up for the program but ended up loving it.

“You just felt welcomed into campus and I just felt very comfortable,” Evanik said.

“Even though it was my first week being there, it kind of opened my door to a love of service.”

Evanik said she hopes sophomores will experience the same welcoming introduction to service that she did.

“I definitely think it’s going to be useful for the sophomores because they haven’t had a normal year,” Evanik said. “They’ll get to meet new people and faces on campus, and they’ll also get to know the campus more and feel out different types of service.”

Applications for SophoMORE PSIP will be available in April. The program is scheduled to run Aug. 17-21.

Women in Haub discuss experience in business world NENAGH SHEEHAN ’21 Assistant Features Editor The Women’s Center and the Haub School of Business hosted a “Women on Campus” virtual panel discussion highlighting women and their experiences in business on March 25.

Morgan M. Bryant, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, moderated the event.

The panel featured Janée Burkhalter, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, Natalie Wood, Ph.D., associate dean and professor of marketing and Storm Wilkins, Esq., executive director of the Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management.

In her remarks to the audience, Wilkins said when women enter the business world, the overall culture fosters an environment where women are frequently hesitant to take on leadership or job roles.

“There have been surveys as far as corporate leadership, and they have proven time and time again that men will feel 50% ready for a job but they’ll take it and learn it while they’re there,” Wilkins said. “Versus women, they have to feel 80% ready for a job before they will take it.”

Although women make up 54% of the currently enrolled St. Joe’s student population, Haub enrolls 832 women out of 2,164 undergraduate students total, Joseph DiAngelo, Ed.D., dean of the Haub School of Business, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk. According to DiAngelo, out of the five deans since Haub was instituted, none have been women.

Nationally, women only lead 167 of the country’s top 3,000 companies, which is less than 6%. Only 1% of company CEOs are women in the U.S. Burkhalter said when she was in the

Women make up 38% of undergraduate members of the Haub School of Business.

PHOTO: NENAGH SHEEHAN ’21/THE HAWK

corporate world, she felt like she got more push back because of her age rather than being female.

“People just didn’t think I was ready for the leadership role because of my age,” Burkhalter said.

Wood said that even though the corporate world may be male-dominated, there are a number of women at St. Joe’s who helped pave the way for other women to step into leadership positions.

“Even if there are individuals within the school who may have questioned our ability, I think the proof is in the quality of the work that you deliver,” Wood said. “Let the work and the quality of your work speak for you.”

Bryant said even in leadership positions, people think that once a person gets to a certain level, they’re supposed to know everything and can’t ask for assistance.

“Good leaders surround themselves with people who are knowledgeable, who can get things done and who are sharp in the spaces that maybe you aren’t great,” Bryant said. “If you focus on your strengths and you surround yourself with people who are strong in the ways that you are not, then you always have that toolkit that’s available to you.”

Samantha Balkir ’23, a marketing and business intelligence double major, said she liked that women on the panel talked about how they go the extra mile to teach and be involved in the administrative side of Haub.

“I got really inspired by how they carry themselves and how confident they are in their workplace, even though it might be a male-dominated workplace,” Balkir said.

“Just being yourself and not backing down and holding your ground.”

Akeem Lyne ’21 attended the event as a sociology major to learn more about the business world from a woman’s perspective, as he will be pursuing an MBA from Haub in the fall.

Lyne said he hopes there are more webinars presented by women in Haub and so that men can see more women in power at St. Joe’s.

“A big thing that I’ll take away and carry on with me is definitely respect and also to stand in solidarity with women,” Lyne said.

Burkhalter offered two pieces of her best advice from her business career experience, the first piece from her father and the second from her undergraduate education at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.

“My dad would always remind me that my logic is not everybody else’s logic, and that’s helpful when having to explain things or trying to find different ways to approach projects,” Burkhalter said. “The second piece would be from the undergrad institution that Dr. Bryant and I attended. In the business school the motto was: no excuse is acceptable, and no amount of effort is adequate until proven effective.”

Wood also offered advice and said that when opportunities present themselves, women should be willing to take them if the time is right.

“You’ll be presented with opportunities,” Wood said. “Embrace them. And if they don’t fall in your lap, don’t be frightened to go after them. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

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March 31, 2021

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Q&A with new interim dean for College of Arts and Sciences ELAINA WALL ’21 Assistant Features Editor

better college and, ideally, a better society and world.

The university appointed James Carter, Ph.D., as the interim dean for the College of Arts and Sciences on March 22. Carter began teaching at St. Joe’s in 1999 as an assistant professor of history, specializing in the history of late imperial and modern China.

Carter also served as the chair of the history department since 2015. For the next two years, Carter will be a full-time administrator and will not be teaching.

The Hawk spoke with Carter to learn more about his plans for the College of Arts and Sciences as he moves into his new role.

What will be among your initial priorities for the College of Arts and Sciences?

We have issues of inclusion and diversity, that’s a big priority for me to work with. And to be concerned with making the undergraduate experience of St. Joe’s something that people are going to continue to seek out and find rewarding.

How has St. Joe’s allowed you to pursue your interests and goals as a history professor?

For me, a really important piece of what I do is teaching undergraduates. There are many different kinds of universities, but at a place like St. Joe’s that focuses on undergraduate education, that’s something I see as being really important. Not because I’m going to make them specialists on the history and society of China, but because I want to make them educated citizens that go out into the world and understand something about it.

How has your work as a professor at St. Joe’s prepared you for this position?

I collaborate a lot with my colleagues and I work closely with my students. What’s essential for a college is the exchange of ideas and the way people start to come together for a common good, where they can exchange and use those ideas to make a

changes, and that’s going to be something that St. Joe’s needs to be in a strong position to navigate. Then merging from the pandemic, that’s going to take a lot of work to figure out what the new normal is. I really

am looking forward to working with the other deans and the university leadership to figure out how to make St. Joe’s the best St. Joe’s it can be.

What are you looking forward to in your new role as the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences?

Fortunately, my whole career has been at St. Joe’s, and I’m looking forward to being part of the decision-making process to try and help it move to the next phase. The merger [with the University of the Sciences] is going to be a historic opportunity with a lot of challenges and I’m looking forward to being a part of that process.

How do you plan to lead the College of Arts and Sciences through the potential merger with USciences?

It’s too early to say, but I’ll be talking with students, other administrators and faculty to find out what it is that’s essential to St. Joe’s and figuring out how we can take that and use the strengths at University of the Sciences to create an institution that’s hopefully more than the sum of its parts.

What other challenges do you anticipate in this role?

We have so many challenges and opportunities coming up. Higher education is facing a lot of challenges with demographic

James Carter, Ph.D., has been teaching history at St. Joe’s for 22 years and will spend the next two years as the interim dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. PHOTO: CARLY CALHOUN ’21/THE HAWK

University alters plans on events as cases spike MARK LESS ’22 Special to The Hawk The university has altered plans to increase in-person, on-campus events hosted by student organizations after a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus in the last two weeks.

As of March 29, St. Joe’s had 107 active cases of COVID-19.

According to a March 25 university announcement from Cary Anderson, Ed.D., associate provost and vice president of Student Life, because of an “upward trend” in cases, all on-campus dining will be grab-and-go, “certain interactive university events” will be postponed and other events will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Following the announcement, University Student Senate’s “Meet The Senate” event was postponed and Campus Minis-

try’s “Connect” was canceled. Connect was a weekend-long service event that was being held in place of the popular spring break Appalachian Experience (APEX), which was canceled this year due to COVID-19.

Connect was set to take place March 26-28.

Anderson wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that the tightened protocols will remain in place for a few days after students return from break.

Beth Hagovsky, Ed.D., director of Student Leadership & Activities, said the steps the university is taking will hopefully reduce the spread of the virus on campus before Easter break.

“We have to be mindful of the situations that increase the opportunity for the virus to spread,” Hagovsky said. “We’re tapping the brakes, we’re not coming to a complete stop.”

Hagovsky said the best way for students to ensure their events are not canceled is to

Students gather outside for Springfest on March 20 before the university adjusted regulations.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

continue to stay vigilant in their safety efforts.

“A lot of people are getting vaccinated and it’s warmer and we’re tired of this, but the virus has not gone away,” Hagovsky said.

“It’s not going to until we all continue to follow the rules and get vaccinated and do whatever else we need to do to mitigate the spread of it.”

On March 11, Anderson wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that the university had been moving to allow more in-person events in compliance with city restrictions.

“We will begin phasing in the ability to hold in-person meetings at 15% occupancy for indoor and 20% occupancy for outdoor meetings,” Anderson said at that time.

“However, all mitigation protocols must be followed such as masking at all times, maintaining six feet distance, and no indoor food or beverages.”

Rising cases in Philadelphia have also impacted plans to further lift restrictions in the city itself. As of March 29, Philadelphia had 129,077 total cases of COVID-19.

On March 23, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley announced the city would not be aligning itself with the state’s relaxed restrictions that are set to go into effect on April 4.

The state is set to increase indoor capacity limits to 25%, and outdoor limits to 50%.

Instead, the city is sticking to 15% indoor capacity and 20% outdoor capacity.

Many St. Joe’s student organizations jumped at the opportunity to hold in-person events. Previously underutilized campus spaces, specifically the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center lawn on the corner of Cardinal and City Avenues, have made it possible for groups to host larger in-person

events outdoors, Hagovsky said.

“You don’t realize just how big it is, and the limit over there at this point is so big that we don’t have to worry about doing an event,” Hagovsky said.

For most student organizations, in-person events this spring would be the first time they could meet in person in over a year.

Sierra Long ’21, president of the African-Caribbean Student Association (ACSA), said ACSA has had to get creative with their events. The ACSA Fashion Show, their largest event of the year, had to be canceled last March. However, this year ACSA was able to pre-record the show at a studio off campus, and then show it on campus on March 26.

“A lot of organizations are held back by COVID,” Long said. “With Zoom, I just didn’t feel a connection personally, so being able to go off campus, it made a big difference.”

Hagovsky said moving forward with the plan that Anderson outlined earlier this month hinges on the results of post-Easter break testing. Upon returning from the break, all residential students are required to be tested on April 7 or April 8 in the tent outside the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center.

“Obviously the testing will have a significant weight on whatever decisions are made,” Hagovsky said. “So when students come back on that Tuesday, when they start doing the tests on Wednesday and Thursday, there is a possibility that on Friday morning Dr. Anderson might have to make that unfortunate call again to say, ‘Look, our numbers are not where they should be.’”

Anderson said based on the results of those tests, “the hope is to resume activity” the weekend of April 9.

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Back to Class: Student’s and faculty’s thoughts on in-person instruction GABRIELLE GUZZARDO ’23 Special to The Hawk Once a week Audrey Cole ’22 heads to Boland Hall for what has become a rarity at St. Joe’s amid the coronavirus pandemic: an in-person class.

Cole’s class, Darkroom Photography, is the only one out of her five classes this spring that is face to face. She and nine other students in the course are split into two groups, one group attending on Tuesday and one on Thursday. Cole said while social distancing and mask requirements make it difficult to take photos, she is happy to not be fully online.

“It’s not completely normal, but it does feel better because at least I can go see people and have some sort of interaction for the week,” Cole said.

That is how CJ Donofry ’22 said he feels about his two fully face-to-face courses. Donofry said he struggles to stay focused in his online classes, but in person he pays better attention.

“Mentally, you don’t even realize it, but you can just get caught up in a fog when you are just inside,” Donofry said.

“Having in-person classes means there’s a reason to go to campus. It works wonders, mentally, to feel better, even regardless of classes, getting up and getting out.”

Last fall, 17% of all classes at St. Joe’s were what the university designated as face to face, as reported in the Sept. 2 issue of The Hawk. This spring approximately 19% of all classes are face to face, according to Gabrielle Lacherza, public relations manager. The rest are a combination of online, hyflex and hybrid. Online classes do not meet in person. Hybrid classes include a combination of in-person and online meetings. Hyflex classes allow some students to be in person and some to be online.

The university granted permission to teach online to professors who provided documentation that they or their family members were at higher risk for contracting COVID-19. Other professors teach in a hybrid or hyflex model, in part because of classroom space considerations. And some professors like Catherine Hughes, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of music, theatre

and film, are able to teach on campus.

Hughes, who is teaching four music classes in person this semester, said she loves being on campus to teach and doing so offers a sense of normalcy.

But Hughes acknowledged it is a privilege for her to be able to make this choice.

“I don’t have children at home, and I’m not taking care of my parents,” Hughes said. “So, I had the freedom to say ‘Yes, I want to be back in person.’”

Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D., associate professor of music, theatre and film, said she was grateful to return to in-person teaching in the fall after juggling online classes and caring for two small children at home last spring when the university shifted to fully virtual instruction.

“From the perspective of my own mental health, when September rolled around and I got to put on heels and adult clothes to go to campus and interact with other humans, I was happy, and it was nice to do it,” Morgan said.

This semester, Morgan is teaching in-studio piano lessons in person and two sections of Music History in a hybrid format.

Morgan said modalities that offer a mixture of face-to-face and online learning can be challenging.

“I think it’s hard for faculty in general when we have students who are Zooming in and we have face-to-face students,” Morgan said. “We’ve lost all our spontaneity, and I have to stand straight in front of a computer [during class].”

Some of Morgan’s students are online because they are in quarantine and isolation, and that has been the reality for many professors who teach in-person classes. It can be rare for an entire class to be in person at any point in the semester given the number of students quarantining or isolating.

As her students have moved in and out of quarantine and isolation throughout the semester, Catalina Arango Pinedo, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, said she has had trouble adjusting to what she calls a “revolving door” and making sure students get the accommodations they need.

“It’s like juggling a million things in the air,” Arango Pinedo said. “It is difficult when

you’re juggling the technology and the people in the classroom.”

Tisha Douglas, Ph.D., adjunct professor of teacher education, is also teaching in person this semester. Douglas said she likes to put students into groups and walk around the room engaging in conversations but with physical-distancing requirements and other COVID-19 restrictions, that is not possible. Masks can also be a barrier, she said. “‘Please be patient with me to get to know you because I don’t really know what you look like behind the mask,’” Douglas said she told her students in the beginning of the semester. “‘It might take longer to get to know your name than it would if we didn’t have to mask.’”

Hughes said she has similarly struggled with small group discussions in person, perhaps even more so than on Zoom where she can put students into breakout rooms.

“Small group discussion in a COVID classroom can be really difficult because you guys are so far apart and you have to yell at each other,” Hughes said. “That is definitely a challenge, and I think I do a little bit less of that in class now just because yelling six feet away to the next student isn’t the most productive.”

Looking toward the fall 2021 semester, Cole said she hopes for more face-toface classes.

“After a year of this, I need my normalness back,” Cole said. “I hope they’re going to offer more hybrid or in-person classes, and a lot less online.”

Whether that happens will likely depend on vaccine availability for faculty whose access to vaccines thus far has been inconsistent, as reported in in the March 24 issue of The Hawk. Arango Pinedo said she is “willing to do one more semester of this” if that means keeping everyone safe until the majority of the campus is vaccinated.

As for Hughes, she plans to teach in person again in the fall if that remains possible.

“Just having that interaction with students in person in real time is so valuable to me that as long as I can teach in person or in a hyflex setting, that’s what I’ll choose,” Hughes said.

March 31, 2021

Public Safety reports

(March 12 - March 25) March 12 Public Safety confiscated a quantity of alcohol from a St. Joe’s student inside the lobby of Rashford Hall. Residence Life was notified. Community Standards was notified.

March 13 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm at the Campion Student Center. Public Safety officers along with the Philadelphia Fire Department responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated by smoke coming from a grill. The alarm was reset.

March 14 No incidents to report.

March 15 No incidents to report.

March 16 No incidents to report March 17 No incidents to report.

March 19 No incidents to report.

March 20 No incidents to report.

March 21 No incidents to report.

March 22 No incidents to report.

March 23 No incidents to report March 24 No incidents to report.

March 25 No incidents to report.

Alcohol Related Incidents

6

On campus

0 Off campus

Drug Related Incidents

0

On campus

0

Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

Elizabeth Morgan, Ph.D., teaches a class of socially-distant students in the Campion North Lounge. PHOTO: DANNY REMISHEVSKY ’23/THE HAWK

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March 31, 2021

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Preparing for Easter break

Taking care of ourselves and our communities Editor in Chief

Jackie Collins ’21 Managing Editor Ryan Mulligan ’21 Copy Chief Cara Smith ’21 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner

Copy Editor Celia Hegarty ’21 Copy Editor Carly Calhoun ’21 Multimedia Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 News Editor Devin Yingling ’22

As we prepare for our first break of the semester, it is important for us to make our physical, mental and emotional health a priority during this time of rest.

This past year has been exhausting to say the least. This time last year, the coronavirus pandemic hit and we were about to learn that we would not be returning to campus for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester.

While it seems as though we are nearing the end of the pandemic with about 47 million Americans being vaccinated within the first four months of vaccine rollouts, cases are rising again on campus and nationally. The pandemic is not over, as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fears that we may face a fourth wave as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. We must be diligent in continuing to follow CDC and university health and safety protocols.

On March 25, the university announced that due to the upward trend in COVID-19 cases in the campus community, the university postponed all interactive on-campus activities on a case-by-case basis and restricted campus dining to grab-and-go.

While these guidelines are targeted at on-campus interactions, we must continue to limit our off-campus interactions as well.

This includes wearing a mask whenever around others outside of your residence and limiting gatherings. Similarly, getting tested before going home and once arriving home for break will help avoid transmitting the virus to household members. If possible, isolate or quarantine a few days before going home.

“We encourage all students to take advantage of this time off responsibly by upholding COVID-19 health and safety protocols, while also recharging to finish out the semester strong.”

Upholding our physical health during this time is extremely important, but since this is our first and only break of the semester, we should try to use this time to work on our mental and emotional health as well.

Without spring break, Easter break feels like the first time we can truly take a

moment to not worry about what’s coming next as far as school goes, even if it is only a four-day break. Take this time to practice self-care. In order to finish out the semester strong, we have to be in a good place mentally and emotionally.

St. Joe’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides resources for how to practice self-care and prioritize mental health that can be useful over Easter break.

CAPS also offers online counseling for students struggling with their mental and emotional health, and has an emergency line that’s available 24 hours, as well as on holidays and weekends (610-660-1090, Option 2).

We encourage all students to take advantage of this time off responsibly by upholding COVID-19 health and safety protocols, while also recharging to finish out the semester strong.

-The Editorial Board

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

Assistant News Editor Eddie Daou ’22 Assistant News Editor Christine DiSanti ’21 Opinions Editor Tayler Washington ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor Sehar Macan-Markar ’22

Correction: In the March 24 issue of The Hawk, the News piece titled “Expectations for students’ behavior after COVID-19 recovery” incorrectly stated that “As of March 19, 832 members of the St. Joe’s community tested positive for COVID-19, according to the SJU COVID-19 Dashboard, which began releasing information on Aug. 20, 2020.” The cumulative cases was a total of 814.

Correction: In the March 17 issue of The Hawk, the Features piece titled “Student leader spotlight: president of SJU Naturals” incorrectly stated that Jala Cosley ’22 is from North Philadelphia. Cosley is from upper North Philadelphia.

Assistant Opinions Editor Maggie Brennen ’22 Features Editor Giana Longo ’22 Assistant Features Editor Nenagh Sheehan ’21 Assistant Features Editor Elaina Wall ’21 Sports Editor Riley Frain ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Nice ’23 Graphics/Illustrations Editor Casey Wood ’23 Photo Editor Mitchell Shields ’22 Social Media Manager Sam Jenkins ’21 Business Manager Angela DiMarco ’22 Assistant Business Manager Colin Messenger ’22 Assistant Business Manager Danny Remishevsky ’23 Assistant Business Manager Jillian Bodemer ’23 Distribution Manager Alec Mettin ’24 Distribution Manager Deborah Duong ’24

IT’S FLOATING, FINALLY We’re sure everyone has seen it: the container ship stuck in the Suez Canal. After six days, they finally got it floating again. (I wonder how much that little digger helped.) Now we won’t have a global shipping disaster on our hands to add to the craziness that is 2021. What was your idea to get it unstuck?

WHEN FACE ID FORGETS WHO YOU ARE Okay, we can’t be the only ones having this problem. We put our masks on, and suddenly it’s like our phones have no idea who we are.

It’s still us, we promise, we’re just being safe and abiding by COVID-19 guidelines.

EASTER BREAK, FINALLY After having one Health and Wellness Day, I’m sure everyone is ready for a real break. Even if you do not celebrate it, use it as a time to unwind and catch up, mentally and physically.

NOT ENOUGH OUTDOOR SEATING ON CAMPUS Now that the weather is getting nicer, many of us like to hang outside on campus. The weather is definitely a “hot,” but doing a scavenger hunt to find a seat is a “not.” We just want to enjoy the weather while still social distancing, please.

NICK JONAS’S COMEBACK If you’ve been a loyal fan of the Jonas Brothers since the beginning, you’ve probably been around for all of their different comebacks and solo careers (only real ones remember Nick Jonas & the Administration).Well, Nick is back yet again with his new album “Spaceman,” and so is our love for him.

POLLEN PARANOIA If you’re one of the many unlucky souls who have their life consumed every March and April by a pollen allergy, we’re sorry. I know it’s terrible. On top of COVID-19 anxiety, this is just another thing to make you wonder if you have the virus.

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

March 31, 2021

7

Hong Kong in crisis

‘Democracy’ in the People's Republic of China PATRICK ADAMS ’23 Columnist Protests are back in Hong Kong as the struggle to maintain democracy in the former British colony turned Chinese special administrative region intensifies once again.

The ramifications of a controversial national security law, passed by China’s National People’s Congress in June, has effectively eliminated any “special” status in Hong Kong by giving mainland authorities the ability to crack down on protests arbitrarily deemed as a threat to national security.

Yet, many were hopeful Hong Kong’s partially-democratically elected legislative council might be able to lessen the damage, but now, even Hong Kong’s local government is under pressure. Instead, the National People’s Congress has been hard at work with new plans for Hong Kong. The new “patriots governing Hong Kong” law was just passed and goes even farther than the national security bill by unashamedly destroying democracy in Hong Kong.

As BBC explains, “The proposed new law will give Hong Kong’s heavily pro-Beijing electoral vetting committee the power to vet all LegCo candidates and elect many of its members.” In addition, the law has prompted a series of new political regulations from Hong Kong’s government itself, like a new bill requiring patriotic oaths of allegiance from every member of Hong Kong’s district council.

Calling this a breach of the “Sino-British Joint Declaration,” which initiated Hong Kong’s transfer to China, the British government has extended a citizenship offer to three million Hong Kong residents, treating them as political refugees from China.

pro-democracy faction that has spurred protesters back out from COVID-19 lockdown. Over 600,000 Hong Kong residents voted in defiance of Beijing, choosing some of the strongest pro-democracy voices as the next opposition leaders. In response, Chi-

ILLUSTRATION: CASEY WOOD ’23/ THE HAWK

These events alone would be enough for protests, but the new national security law has meant that most protesters risk arrest and prison time due to accusations that the protests are really separatists movements. The common rally cry “liberate Hong Kong” has now become illegal and many protesters have been arrested for proclaiming separtist sentiments.

However, it was the arrests of 47 activists and local leaders for organizing an “illegal primary election” for Hong Kong’s

na used the national security law to arrest pro-democracy leaders and now has taken it upon itself to determine who gets to run for office in Hong Kong.

It’s clear why China is so afraid of democracy in Hong Kong. Leaders of the inaccurately named “People’s Republic of China” are well aware that the people in Hong Kong do not support the destruction of their freedom.

Last November, things were looking hopeful for the opposition as more than sev-

en in 10 eligible voters cast ballots, smashing the previous record of 47%. This gave the pro-democracy candidates a landslide victory in the district council with them winning 86% of the seats. Hoping to use this district council win as momentum for sweeping the more powerful Legislative Council, Hong Kongers seemed poised to actually liberate Hong Kong.

Out of fear of what Hong Kongers might do if they actually had a choice, Beijing has imposed its own will by arresting pro-democracy leaders and forcing allegiance oaths onto Hong Kong.

From shutting down protests with riot police to jailing candidates, and even declaring political primaries illegal, the central government of China has shown time and time again that it is unwilling to leave Hong Kong alone. Instead, it has broken its own commitments to Britain and the international community towards maintaining autonomy for the city.

China likes to act tough internationally and pretend like criticism against its actions in Hong Kong are unfounded. Its top diplomats did just that at its first meeting between itself and the Biden administration in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18.

China’s head of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechi warned the U.S. diplomats to stop criticizing China and that, “One can only cause damage to himself if he tries to strangle or suppress the Chinese people.” Maybe he should listen to his own advice.

‘New Normal?’

The end of a pandemic sparks the return of an epidemic CARLY CALHOUN ’21 Copy Editor After living through a yearlong pandemic which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, millions of people are getting vaccinated and able to do things which they haven’t been able to for over a year. Finally, it seems as though we are approaching a return to “normal life.”

But with two mass shootings within a six-day time span, one on March 16 in Georgia and the other on March 22 in Colorado, the question begs to be asked: are mass shootings the trade off to be made at the end of this pandemic?

According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nonprofit research group that has cataloged every incident of gun violence in the U.S. since 2013, in 2019 there were 15,208 willful, malicious and accidental deaths from gun violence and 417 mass shootings. This was the first time since 2013 that mass shootings, defined by GVA as any incident where at least four people are shot, have exceeded the number of days in the year.

Stay-at-home orders were issued across the U.S. beginning on March 15, keeping Americans inside their homes for the foreseeable future. Students transitioned to on-

line learning and therefore did not attend school in person, and people stopped frequenting highly populated places, leaving their homes only for necessary grocery store trips. As a result, according to the GVA, there were 21 mass murders in 2020.

mask to protect the rest of the population is reminiscent of the decades long fight for gun control. Those who fight against simple background checks and stricter gun purchasing regulations are only thinking of how rights are supposedly being violated and not

“Between exposure to a deadly virus and fear of dying in a mass shooting, places such as grocery stores, schools, nail salons and movie theaters feel more unsafe than ever.”

However, just as vaccinations are being provided to the public as successful deterrents to COVID-19 with the potential to save millions of lives, the shootings in Georgia and Colorado signal a return to fearing for our lives for an unfortunately familiar reason.

Since the emergence of anti-maskers at the beginning of the pandemic, the question of individual rights versus public health and safety has once again come into play. People claiming that their rights were being violated because they were being asked to wear a

how many lives gun control laws could save.

The willingness to replace one preposterous claim for individual rights with another at the constant expense of the lives of thousands of Americans is deplorable. Just one week before the shooting in Boulder, the state district court of Colorado ruled against a proposed ban of certain shotguns, pistols and semi-automatic rifles, and Judge Andrew Hartman claimed “only Colorado state (or federal) law can prohibit the possession, sale and transfer of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.”

The U.S. government has made little to no progress passing gun control bills, and both Democrats and Republicans are consistently standing in the way of successfully passing more regulations and background checks for potential gun owners. Two bills have passed through the U.S. House of Representatives which would expand background checks to those buying guns through the internet, at gun shows and through private vendors, as well as expand the ability of authorities to wait 10 days for federal background checks to be completed before a gun sale can be completed.

I, like many Americans, am feeling frightened. Between exposure to a deadly virus and fear of dying in a mass shooting, places such as grocery stores, schools, nail salons and movie theaters feel more unsafe than ever.

The solutions to both the coronavirus pandemic and the threat of gun violence are both action from the U.S. government, as well as from each other. Vocally supporting the passage of gun control laws and pressuring congresspeople to vote for safer regulations is the only way change will happen.

The inability of Congress to pass sufficient gun control laws over the past decades inspires little faith, but so long as people are still dying, we must still fight for reform.

8

March 31, 2021

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

SNAP, COVID-19 and the need for reform

Addressing the stigma around nutrition assistance programs FAITH COWELL ’22 Columnist The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is a social safety net program that “provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency.”

At the start of the pandemic, SNAP increased monthly benefits to families with children. The updated COVID-19 benefits are known as Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), and aid families with “children who would have received free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Act if their schools were not closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance,” according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). SNAP has also been modified to include online e-commerce grocery purchases during the pandemic, and works with multiple different retailers that have allowed the modifications across the U.S. According to data from the USDA, SNAP benefits were granted to about 40 million people, with an average of $155 per person each month in 2020. Applying for SNAP has to be done online, meaning people who are eligible need to have access to both WiFi and a computer or smartphone.

It requires submitting documents, making phone calls and having all income information, identification, social security and proof of citizenship, making eligibility for

ILLUSTRATION: CASEY WOOD ’23/THE HAWK

applying as an undocumented individual or family more difficult.

Immigrant children under 18 are eligible, but their parents are not. Certain refugees admitted into the U.S. under certain qualifications of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) can apply, but other refugees who don’t fit the specific outlines of the INA cannot.

SNAP addresses food insecurity for millions of households and is intended to supplement part of a family’s grocery budget, but it rarely covers all of a family’s food needs. SNAP cannot be used for anything that is not food, including, but not limited to, diapers, toothbrushes, soap and shampoo

or pads and tampons. These items are often costly, and have to be paid for out of pocket, which is a challenge for struggling families.

Often, families combine SNAP with out-of-pocket purchases and what is available at food pantries in their area. I have volunteered at Arm in Arm, a food pantry in Trenton, New Jersey, where the poverty rate in 2019 was 28.7%, compared to New Jersey’s 9.2%. According to pre-pandemic data from Arm in Arm, about 50% of pantry users used the SNAP program, yet had to rely on the pantry to supplement food and a limited selection of personal care products.

SNAP and other social service programs also have a long-standing stigma surround-

ing them that needs to be dispelled. The myth of the “welfare queen” has developed as a way to degrade and demonize SNAP recipients. It refers to a mother (almost always a Black mother) who lives “comfortably” off of government benefits alone and has no plans to seek out employment and is basically “growing rich” off of the government.

It’s been used as a racial dog whistle starting in the 1980s.

Actual fraud, known as “payment errors” within SNAP and other benefit programs, is very low (around 3-4%), and mostly is due to government error of money being sent in wrong amounts or to the wrong people. It’s also very difficult to get by on government benefits alone.

SNAP is an essential program that provides access for eligible individuals and families all over the U.S. to get access to food they need each month. But like the few social safety nets the U.S. government has in place, it is in real need of improvements to keep up with the changing and evolving needs of low-income families in the U.S. U.S. President Joe Biden’s changes during the pandemic have been a good start, but what SNAP could really use is a revamp that extends to personal care products, as well as an increased monthly budget. Families receiving SNAP and other benefits shouldn’t have to outsource to a food pantry for food each month because the government doesn’t provide them with the resources they need to get through the month.

As a country, we need to decide: is healthy food for all families a right or a privilege?

‘Ginny & Georgia’ and biracial representation Microaggressions in entertainment TAYLER WASHINGTON ’22 Opinions Editor “Ginny & Georgia” has been in the Top 10 on Netflix since its release on Feb. 24. It follows 15-year-old Virginia (Ginny) Miller and her mother, Georgia, as they settle down in a wealthy New England town following the death of Georgia’s husband.

The show is addicting, giving off modern-day, more diverse “Gilmore Girls” vibes.

The storylines surround topics such as selfharm, eating disorders, sexual identity and relationships, all in a very realistic way, sending the message that you don’t know what someone has gone through in their past or behind closed doors.

Originally, I had no idea what the show was about and had no interest in watching it.

What eventually drew me in was that Ginny is a biracial teenager growing up with a single, white mom.

As a biracial, Black-identifying woman, any storyline following a biracial main character grabs my attention. While I was growing up, this plotline wasn’t common.

I’m excited to see more representation in entertainment on what it feels like to grow

up in, what I call, “the grey space” where you don’t truly fit into one racialized box.

Some parts of the plot reinforced stereotypes that biracial people often feel, such as the “tragic mulatto” storyline, often used in Black literature to describe a mixedrace woman who doesn’t belong anywhere.

down in her new school with a group of mainly white friends, she faces a lot of microaggressions that are never addressed.

One of her “friends,” Maxine, asks her if it is okay to touch her hair and then says something along the lines of “Oh wait, can I totally not do that because you’re Black?”

“I know firsthand that it is extremely difficult to respond to microaggressions as a Black person, but no one on the show ever overtly addresses the issue with what some of the characters say regarding race.”

While this is a very real feeling for a lot of mixed-race people, the show took it a little too far with the very first episode making it clear that Ginny always had been an outsider, and seemingly would always be one. The writers seemed to make her biracial identity the reason why she couldn’t fit in rather than her introverted personality and constant moving of schools, both of which have nothing to do with her race.

Along with this, when Ginny settles

When I first heard this, I was stunned and assumed that it would eventually be addressed. But the episodes droned on, and more microaggressions came and went regarding Ginny’s racial identity. She continued to be friends with Maxine, as these microaggressions were a part of her “ditzy” trope.

I know firsthand that it is extremely difficult to respond to microaggressions as a Black person, but no one on the show ever overtly addresses the issue with what

some of the characters say regarding race.

Maybe the point was to show how this is a big part of everyday life as a biracial person in a predominantly white space, but not using it as a learning tool was a deficit on the writers’ end.

While I appreciated the biracial representation and related to Ginny more than I have to most TV characters, I felt the show would’ve been much better had it used Ginny’s biracial identity as a learning tool the way it did with the other serious topics. Instead, her race was often used as a joke or an attempted learning tool without the context needed to make it resourceful.

Part of this could be due to the executive producer and writer being a white woman, who wouldn’t be able to understand the biracial and Black experience. “Ginny & Georgia” is an enjoyable show, but having so much of the content surrounding Ginny’s life as a biracial, Black teenager yet being written by a white woman is problematic.

If the show is renewed for a second season, I’ll definitely watch it because I’m kneedeep in the drama of the show at this point.

But, I hope to see more biracial representation and less stereotyping and microaggressions.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

March 31, 2021 9

In case you missed it: ACSA’s ‘Watch the Throne’ Usually the St. Joe’s African-Caribbean Students Association (ACSA) holds their annual fashion show in The Perch with a live audience. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, ACSA decided to create a virtual fashion show for the St. Joe’s community.

Titled “Watch the Throne,” the virtual show included St. Joe’s students donning their best dress in six different themes. Before being released in a three-part series on Instagram, ACSA held a limited viewing under the tent on the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center Lawn on March 26. Attendees heard from members of the ACSA executive board before the show started and were given bags with snacks.

“Watch the Throne” can be found on ACSA’s Insagram:

Students pose in “Watch the Throne” for the “Don’t F****ing Touch Me or I’m Suing” segment of the show. SCREENSHOT: SJU ACSA INSTAGRAM

Students watch “Watch the Throne” on the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center Lawn on March 26.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Fatmata Sakho ’21, vice president of ACSA, speaks before the show.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Students make the most of their first year amid pandemic NICK DETULLEO ’23 Special to the Hawk When George Worthington ’24 thought about what his first year of college would be like, he knew, because of the coronavirus pandemic, that it would be challenging.

Worthington had made some connections before he arrived on campus, mainly through social media. But he was still caught off guard by all of the rules that made meeting new people so difficult. According to the Hawk Hill Ready Health and Safety Plan, masks are mandatory in residence halls any time a resident steps out of their room. The only guests permitted in rooms are those who live in the same residence halls.

“Over the summer I knew COVID was going to be a factor in my transition to college, but I never would have guessed that the lockdown and restrictions would be this strict,” Worthington said.

Still, Worthington did his best. He got to know the people on his floor. His RA Connor Thomson ’22 helped, too.

For Thomson, helping his first-year residents—who are stuck in a social limbo created by the pandemic—to make connections is one of the most important parts of his job.

“I made it my mission as an RA to provide them with opportunities to grow close with each other, both on the floor and then with programs outside, like outdoor social distance programs,” Thomson said.

For many first-year students, the connections they have made with the people in their residence halls have taken on an outsized importance. Because so many classes are online and opportunities for in-person interactions outside of class are

fairly limited, they spend a lot of time in their halls and in their rooms.

“The kids on your floor are some of your best friends and that’s what I’m taking advantage of,” Sean Dougherty ’24 said.

“They’re pretty much the only kids I hang out with. We can’t go in other rooms, technically, so it is kind of hard but you got to take advantage of what you can.”

Cristina Flores ’24 has also made friends with the women on her floor and does activities with them on the weekend.

“It’s been hard, but you just have to make the best out of it,” Flores said. “Everyone’s in the same pain, so everyone’s willing to be friendly and get to know you, [whether] you’re in the common room or in the bathroom or anything.”

Jayden Greene ’24 said he was not very social in high school, so he has had to force himself to be more outgoing in college.

“I talk to people in the elevator and make a friendship right there,” Greene said.

As a member of the St. Joe’s men’s track and field team, Greene said he also benefits from friendships with his teammates, whom he called a “second family.”

“We watch a lot of fights and sports games,” Greene said. “We just go out. This weekend I went to King of Prussia, stuff like that, just to keep busy and stay out of trouble. They’re great guys.”

Even though many clubs and organizations have not been able to host in-person meetings or events, many first-year students have joined organizations to make connections online.

Worthington joined the Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT).

Flores and Laura van der Sluys ’24 both joined the sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma.

Cristina Flores ’24 sits in front of her on-campus residence, Villiger Hall.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

“My sorority has helped me socially,” van der Sluys said. “We haven’t had any official in-person things, but I’ve still been able to go to dinner with a couple of the girls and meet people.”

Worthington said he met people on campus after he had established connections with them on social media before getting to St. Joe’s. Flores and van der Sluys also said they rely heavily on social media apps like Snapchat to get to know people.

“Social media helps get that friendship going,” Flores said. “It’s a big asset because when you meet someone on the elevator or in your class and you get along, it’s like, ‘What’s your Snapchat?’ and then you can take them through that.”

Still, Thomson said he has noticed the frustration of his residents as pandemic

college life takes hold, and he tries to keep them going.

“I have been giving them that encouragement and motivation that there’s going to be a light at the end of the tunnel,” Thomson said. “Whether it’s at the end of the semester or the start of fall 2021, there will be an end to all this and they will be able to enjoy themselves in college.”

In the meantime, van der Sluys said she is just grateful to be on campus as some of her friends are not yet able to attend college in person.

“The people here make all the difference,” van der Sluys said. “We can’t do too many things with COVID, but we make the best out of it.”

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

10 March 31, 2021

In case you missed it: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ On March 26 and 27, the SJU Theatre Company presented live, outdoor drive-in performances of “Jesus Christ Superstar” to soldout audiences in the parking lot of Claver House. “Jesus Christ Superstar,” a rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics

by Tim Rice, depicts the last week

of Jesus’s life, starting with his arrival in Jerusalem and ending with the crucifixion. The performance was directed by Renee Dobson, M.F.A., associate professor of music, theatre and film and artistic director of Bluett Theatre, and featured a cast of 16 students.

The performance was planned outside to ensure it could be done live.

Actors wore masks at all times during the performances.

Staging was coordinated to mazimize distance between actors. PHOTOS: MELISSA KELLY PHOTOGRAPHY

BlackStar Film Festival celebrates 10th anniversary CHRISTIAN PEENEY ’22 Special to the Hawk The Philly-based BlackStar Film Festival, dubbed “Black Sundance” for its focus on Black, brown and Indigenous filmmakers and artists, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and will be from Aug. 19-26.

Each year, the Oscar-qualifying festival accepts around 100 films from around the world, all from filmmakers of color, according to filmmaker and writer Maori Karmael Holmes, CEO and artistic director of the festival.

Since Holmes founded it in 2012, the BlackStar Film Festival has expanded beyond its original focus on Black filmmakers, Holmes said.

“I was interested in, specifically the first year, showing the work of African descendant filmmakers that hadn’t shown in Philadelphia,” Holmes said. “We now have expanded our mission to focus on the work of other filmmakers of color.”

BlackStar has also expanded its programming beyond the festival itself, which will take place in August. This year, BlackStar will offer various initiatives throughout the year. They include a journal, morning talk show and seminars for filmmakers.

“We’ve been responding to our constituents over the years, and we’ve been slowly experimenting with different formats and wanting to engage with audiences beyond the festival,” Holmes said.

One of the new projects introduced this year is “Many Lumens,” a podcast that Holmes hosts and that premiered on Jan. 4.

In each episode, Holmes interviews a different artist. In the latest episode, she interviewed Blitz Bazawule, a Ghanaian filmmaker now based in New York. All five episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other streaming services.

BlackStar is also reintroducing past pro-

grams for new audiences this year. “Blackstar Live!,” a morning talk show, made its return in February. “Seen,” a biannual film journal introduced last winter, will have its second issue released in May. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s festival, like last year’s, will be held virtually. Traditionally, the festival has been held in person at the Lightbox Film Center—originally housed at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to the University of the Arts in 2020. Last year’s festi-

creased because you didn’t have to be here in person to go.”

Last year, the festival used Facebook and Twitch, giving audiences the ability to comment live during different events.

About 3.5 million people were able to view the festival’s panels via Facebook, according to Siddiquee.

Jaylen Dotson ’21, film critic for The Hawk, said he thinks the festival is doing important work to give creators of color a place in the film industry.

GRAPHIC: CASEY WOOD ’23/THE HAWK

val, while mostly virtual, provided drive-in screenings of its films, which organizers said they hope to offer again this year.

Imran Siddiquee, BlackStar’s communications director, said while the pandemic posed many challenges, it has also presented new opportunities for the festival.

“People from all over the world are able to participate on the user end but also on the panels,” Siddiquee said. “The reach in-

“It is important to provide spaces for marginalized artists to express their visions outside of the restrictive Hollywood system,” Dotson said. “While much progress has been made, people of color still face hurdles in getting their stories told on the big screen.”

Dotson said the works the festival showcases are just what Hollywood needs right now.

“This is the kind of innovative and visionary work that the industry desperately needs if the theatrical distribution model is to recover,” Dotson said.

There is definitely a monetary incentive to diversifying the industry, according to Michael Wellenreiter, M.F.A., associate professor of music, theatre and film. Wellenreiter was the featured speaker at a March 22 talk titled “By All Means Necessary: Black Film Directors in the USA,” which was part of the university’s Diversity Lecture Series and hosted by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity.

In his talk, Wellenreiter pointed to a report on Black representation in film released March 11 by McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm.

“They stress in the opening of the report on how movies and television often provide an escape from and a reflection of life unfolding that can play an outsized role in shaping and reinforcing cultural beliefs and attitudes about race, both in the United States and internationally,” Wellenreiter said to the audience. “Yet there’s still a great deal of inequity. They make a note that Hollywood, in not addressing these types of persistent racial inequities, is actually losing out on $10 billion per year in annual revenues.

This is money Hollywood could earn that is out there, but they’re choosing not to largely because there’s still too many gatekeepers about who gets to make films, what stories are told and how are those stories marketed.”

After 10 years, BlackStar has found itself in the position of gate lifter, rather than keeper, and that is a role Holmes said she did not imagine when she started the festival.

“We’ve become a force in the field,” Holmes said. “We see ourselves nipping at the heels of the industry. I think there was no expectation of that whatsoever.”

Robert Whitney ’23 contributed to this story.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

March 31, 2021

11

Local high schooler creates organization to fight climate change RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Managing Editor The summer before their junior year of high school, Lily Mandel took a trip to New Mexico to volunteer on an indigenous permaculture farm. That trip proved to be life-changing.

Before their plane touched down back home in Philadelphia, Mandel had founded Bucks Students for Climate Action and Protection of the Environment (BSCAPE), complete with a website they created and designed from 35,000 feet in the air.

Mandel, now a senior at Central Bucks High School South, said their experience on the farm, which utilizes holistic approaches to create an eco-friendly sustainable agricultural environment, kick-started their idea for BSCAPE and acted as a catalyst for their climate activism that followed. BSCAPE is a nonprofit organization that provides students and other youth, as well as Bucks County community members, with a platform to fight against climate change.

In New Mexico, Mandel had listened to a Hopi farmer speak about the urgency of climate change as well as the interconnectedness of humans and the planet they call home.

“It just helped me come to the conclusion that the environment is really the mother of all issues because it’s the one thing that really combines everything together,” Mandel said. “Racial justice, social justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, everything has a place in the environmental movement. The environment is really the issue that ties every other issue together.”

Mandel said the conversations with the Hopi farmer were a sign that amidst the chaos of their AP-filled high school schedule and the other social justice movements they invested their time in, they had to “drop everything” and start BSCAPE. Mandel knew of other environmental organizations in the area but none that addressed and encompassed all of the systemic problems they are hoping to deconstruct.

Mandel and other members of BSCAPE march near City Hall in a December 2019 rally for climate justice. PHOTOS COURTESY OF LILY MANDEL

“I thought of tackling political and social justice issues, which I believe are the root cause of that environmental destruction,” Mandel said. “So that was a slightly different narrative from other environmental organizations out there. That’s why I wanted to start my own [organization], so that we have young people really focusing on putting enough pressure on people in power to inspire change and get more people involved.”

Members of BSCAPE, mainly students at Central Bucks High School South, have led marches about climate justice with other organizations in the area, hosted speakers on different topics including plant-based diets, held an educational summit in which they screened Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and hosted a panel to celebrate American Indigenous people by speaking with chiefs of tribes in the area.

In a 2019 Amnesty International survey of over 10,000 Gen Z members across six continents, respondents ranked climate

Mandel founded BSCAPE in summer 2019.

change as the most important issue facing the world. Gen Z generally refers to the demographic born between the mid- to late1990s and the early 2010s.

Saving the planet is no small task, and Mandel works to squeeze it into an already busy schedule. Like so many members of Gen Z, Mandel is juggling work, school and a global pandemic, all while on their own quest to fight for the issues they care about.

“We have AP finals and we have college applications and we’re doing all this while trying to make sure that our children have air to breathe,” Mandel said.

Clint Springer, Ph.D., director of environmental science and sustainability studies at St. Joe’s, said young people’s attention to environmental problems is due to their experiencing firsthand the effects of global warming and to seeing these problems permeating throughout so many other parts of society.

“It’s the largest scale social justice issue that the world has ever faced,” Springer said. “If you look at climate justice as a problem, all of those other areas of social justice are impacted in a either a direct or an indirect way.”

Mandel said in many ways, change has to start with young people because they not only have the most to lose from a deteriorating planet, but they also will have to suffer the climate consequences brought on by past generations.

“We’re already seeing apocalyptic events happening all over the world, which is only going to get worse if we don’t change fundamentally right now,” Mandel said.

“There is a sense of urgency. Older generations have already experienced a majority of their lives and had kids and all that. We are not certain that we’re going to have the same experiences if we don’t fundamentally get this figured out.”

Mandel recognizes the existential dread regarding climate change that can take a toll on the mental health of their generation, but has found that surrounding themself with like-minded individuals, friends and other members of BSCAPE has helped them cope with these feelings of distress.

“Pessimism around the climate issue can be very emotionally taxing, but I think that having that community and having that way of advocating can definitely help out with that,” Mandel said. “When I’m surrounded by people who care, I feel hopeful because I see a better future in them, and not necessarily in the people that we’re demanding it from.”

Mandel said they see a certain level of futility in asking those in positions of power in outdated systems to be the ones to create change, so the members of BSCAPE know they have to take it upon themselves.

“You’re not going to achieve new and radical change, positive change, with old systems and old people,” Mandel said. “We stopped relying on these people to make change. We started creating it for ourselves.

We’re not seeing hope for the future, necessarily, but we’re seeing hope for each other.

We’re seeing that people care, which in and of itself means that it is possible.”

Marlene Pray, director and founder of the Rainbow Room, Bucks County’s LGBTQ+ Youth Center, and Mandel’s mentor, said that today’s young activists are some of the most “engaged, resilient, energized, courageous, creative, dynamic and caring” changemakers Pray’s ever worked with. Pray said Mandel exemplifies these characteristics.

“Lily came in with a fire and passion about equity and justice and that has grown, deepened, evolved and become more effective, patient, fierce and strategic since I’ve known [them],” Pray said. “Lily has also broadened Lily’s understanding of racial justice in relation to social change in meaningful and transformative ways.”

Mandel said what fuels the activism they exemplify is not just personal but also the hope of ensuring that future generations are able to call Earth home.

“I would say it’s as much of a personal thing, and a generational relief to do activism as much as [it is] self preservation for the future and making sure that we have a planet to live on and so do our kids,” Mandel said.

12 March 31, 2021

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

CineHawk Review: ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ JAYLEN DOTSON ’21 Columnist The culmination of a three-year fan campaign, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Justice is Gray” is the unimaginably epic reimagining of 2017’s “Justice League” that finally brings the true vision of Zack Snyder’s DC Universe to life. The four-hour film stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Porter and Ciarán Hinds. It is currently available to stream on HBO Max. On a general basis, the plot is structurally identical to its Joss Whedon-directed counterpart. Several months after the events of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Bruce Wayne, played by Affleck, fears that Earth is defenseless due to the death of Superman. He teams up with Diana Prince, played by Gadot, to put together a team of superbeings that can take the place of the fallen Man of Steel.

His suspicions are soon proven correct, as Earth comes to face its biggest threat yet in the form of Steppenwolf, a mighty world conqueror from the planet Apokolips. The alien warlord’s mission is to gather three ancient and powerful artifacts called the Mother Boxes, which will generate enough power to terraform the planet and destroy the human race when combined. The only thing standing in his way is the Justice League, whose only chance at victory may require them all to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Though both films may share a plot, they differ wildly in their execution. Whedon has many acclaimed action films to his credit, such as “The Avengers,” but his vision of the film fell far short of fan expectations. This was in large part due to the stark contrast between his and Snyder’s directorial styles. Exacerbating this dilemma was the studio’s insistence that runtime not exceed two hours, a mistake not repeated here as “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” clocks in at just over four hours. The result was a tonally confused and superficially plotted experience with inconsistent special effects and thin characters. As much as the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) may have needed a course correction, 2017’s “Justice League” felt utterly disconnected from what had come before and failed to endear audiences to its titular characters.

On the other hand, Snyder’s vision is a far more organic evolution of the ongoing story he began with his previous two films.

For example, while Steppenwolf simply showed up on Earth in the original, here his arrival is an explicit consequence of Superman’s death. While tonally lighter than “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman,” it still employs the darker, more serious atmosphere that Snyder is known for and therefore feels like less of a departure. Superman’s character had previously been revised in Whedon’s take to be closer to his comic book counterpart, but here his personality is consistent with his prior DCEU appearances.

The opening scene, recreating the climax of the battle against Doomsday, is a magnificent sight to behold and a perfect introduction to the visual storytelling of Snyder. No other director has been able to capture the sheer grandeur of superheroes the way Snyder has. He infuses all of the action scenes with not only dazzling effects and fight choreography but also a distinctive sense of scale, as if the audience is witnessing the unfolding of a modern Greek epic.

Compared to the theatrical version, there is far more creativity and teamwork between the League members in the fight scenes, correcting a long-term criticism of DCEU films. While many have complained of Snyder’s overuse of slow motion, there’s no denying that slowing down some of these grander moments allows their scope and beauty to sink into the viewer. The highlight of the film is easily the final battle, culminating in a show-stopping, instantly iconic climax that will fully redeem Snyder in the eyes of even his harshest critics.

However, even the best action scenes would be empty of an impact without compelling characters to care about. Luckily for us, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” brings far more depth and humanity to its main cast than its theatrical counterpart.

The character that benefits the most from this is Cyborg, played by Fisher. Due to the extensive cuts made to the original movie, the character was seen as one-dimensional and boring, failing to stand out from his more iconic teammates. His powerset was also vaguely defined and seemed to change at the convenience of the plot. With the advantage of a four-hour run time, Cyborg instead becomes the heart of the film, finally giving Fisher the chance to bring the character to life with all the depth and vulnerability that Snyder had envisioned.

Rather than simply being told his backstory, we are actually shown his previous life, including his relationship with his mother and the football career he was forced to leave behind. Cyborg’s abilities are clearly laid out in

ILLUSTRATION: CASEY WOOD ’23/THE HAWK

a visually inspired sequence that establishes him as one of the most powerful superheroes in the DCEU. With expanded screen time, the rest of the League is similarly fleshed out. Miller’s Barry Allen is thankfully excised of most of the cringe-worthy “humor” that plagued his last appearance and is able to shine as a far more interesting character than before.

Like Cyborg, the full extent of his powers is expanded upon and ultimately plays a critical role in the climax. Momoa’s Aquaman is given the chance to have deeper interactions with other characters and form a more rounded personality, even though a great deal of his new scenes do not exactly serve a purpose outside of looking cool.

The characters least changed from the theatrical cut are Batman and Wonder Woman. While it was a wise decision for the film to focus on exploring the newly introduced characters, and Gadot and Affleck do deliver great performances, it does leave something to be desired in regards to the character development of two of DC’s biggest superheroes.

For Wonder Woman, she is mostly relegated to giving exposition and showing up in admittedly entertaining fight sequences.

Though Batman shows some growth from his cynical and ruthless attitude from “Batman v Superman,” his shift from a cold and rational pragmatist who was willing to kill Superman, to a wide-eyed idealist who cannot stop singing the Man of Steel’s praises does feel a little forced. Not helping is that

because this version of Batman was introduced so late into his career, large portions of his backstory are missing that could have given a better context to his actions and personality.

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” was more than worth the three-year wait. It is a resounding victory for both fans and director Snyder, who dedicates the film to his late daughter Autumn. Though some may be intimidated by its lengthy run time, it more than justifies it by providing a bombastic action, complex characters and an impactful, emotionally resonant story.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Hawks

Quarantine Kitchen: Whipped coffee RAEGAN DAVIES ’21 Hawk Staff When stay-at-home orders were put in place last spring because of the worsening coronavirus pandemic, many people turned to cooking for themselves out of entertainment or necessity or both. Home cooking is now hotter than a cookie fresh out of the oven. Quarantine Kitchen features some of our favorite recipes from members of the St. Joe’s community, who used their home confinement to nurture their sourdough starters, or perfect Teta’s stuffed grape leaves or make bread (so much bread) or contribute to feta shortages (thanks a lot, TikTok). Got a quarantine recipe you’d like to share? Email us at [thehawkfeatures@gmail.com] Like many college students who lived at home during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, I fell down a rabbit hole of Instagram Story challenges and TikTok trends

when I wasn’t in online classes. One of my favorite fads to circle the web was this recipe for whipped, or dalgona, coffee. Dalgona coffee gets its name from a Korean sweet called dalgona, which is a honeycomb sponge or toffee treat. The drink often resembles the candy in both color and taste.

Videos of people making homemade dalgona coffee, under the hashtag “#dalgonacoffeechallenge,” spread like wildfire throughout South Korean social media in the beginning of last year’s lockdown before making its way to the U.S. Dalgona coffee requires only three core ingredients and takes less than five minutes to make. It deserves to make a comeback.

WHIPPED COFFEE Start to finish: 5 minutes Servings: 1 Ingredients: 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 tablespoons instant coffee

GRAPHIC: CASEY WOOD ’23/THE HAWK

2 tablespoons hot water ¾ to 1 cup milk (add to your taste) Ice cubes (optional) Directions: Heat water in a microwave or on a stove top to the point of just before boiling.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine coffee,

sugar and water. Using a hand mixer, stand mixer or whisk, whip the mixture for 2 minutes. Once the mixture is thoroughly whipped, taste it and add more sugar if necessary.

Transfer the coffee mixture to a glass, then add milk and ice to taste. Using a spoon or straw, stir the mixture and enjoy.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

March 31, 2021

13

RAs lean on ‘passive programs’ amid COVID-19 SOPHIA RICHETTI ’22 Special to The Hawk Like many St. Joe’s RAs, Gabby Huber ’21 has had to get creative this year.

COVID-19 restrictions in residence halls means a no-guest policy, mask requirements for all residents when outside of their rooms and maximum occupancy restrictions for common spaces within buildings.

Most recently, Huber, head RA of West Campus, which includes Merion Gardens and Pennbrook Apartments, is trying to connect with her residents through Spotify.

“Right now I have a Spotify playlist out in my hallway for the residents,” Huber said.

“When they’re walking by, they get to write their favorite study songs. I made it into an actual playlist to send to them.”

Huber called it a “passive program,” the kind of program RAs can safely pull off during a pandemic when their usual tools—in-person group events and communal food—are not as readily available to them. Instead, passive programming has become a staple of the three to four events RAs are required to plan for their residents each semester.

Michele Bilotta ’22, RA in McShain Hall, said she has embraced the challenge of programming during a pandemic. She posts questions in the hallway for her residents—pancakes versus waffles, pineapple on pizza or not, coffee or tea—and after they have voted, they meet on Zoom to debate their preferences.

“It’s allowed me to think outside of the box,” Bilotta said. “Programming last year, I really just thought about getting people together in person. But [the passive program] is fun. It has really worked well, and it is something I’ll take from thinking about programming in a different way, in a safer way.”

Bilotta has also pulled off “De-Stress Fests,” where residents pick up materials to make stress balls, then make them together on Zoom. Residents have made their own

Gabby Huber ’21, the head RA of West Campus, tries to connect with her residents through Spotify.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

glitter jars as well. When the weather was nice last fall, Bilotta collaborated with other female RAs in McShain to host a cornhole event for their residents to meet other people. She also hosted a bingo night that turned out well.

“I gave them all bingo cards, and some of the people were on Zoom, some of the people were in the hallway, sitting outside their door, and I would call the bingo numbers,” Bilotta said. “When they yelled, ‘Bingo!,’ I gave them a little prize. They really liked the bingo night program because there was an option for it to be virtual and in person.”

Nic Schoppe ’22, head RA of LaFarge Hall, said planning programs with COVID-19 restrictions and a smaller budget has been difficult. While in the past Schoppe said he had about $200 to work with each semester, he estimated that he has about half of that this year.

“It makes it hard to think of things that are fun and feasible at the same time,” Schoppe said.

Because there are fewer residential students on campus this year-in part because of a smaller first-year class and in part because a number of returning students chose to live at home because of the pandemic-the university has made less revenue from housing, according to Jessica Moran-Buckridge, Ed.D., director of Residence Life.

In February 2021, residential occupancy on campus was 1,595 students. That is down from 2,250 in February 2020, Buckridge wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk.

Even with a reduced residential population and budget for programming, Schoppe has been busy. He projected an Eagles game on a screen outside LaFarge and served individually wrapped snacks. He hosted a trivia night with three other RAs, a campuswide scavenger hunt and a professional planning event where residents dressed up in suits and ties for professional headshots they could use for LinkedIn or other opportunities. He is currently running a March Madness bracket.

Schoppe said it has been difficult to get feedback from his first-year residents on how well he is doing because they have never experienced anything other than pandemic college life.

“They don’t know what the normal program is like in a normal year,” Schoppe said. “But I guess the piece of advice that I got from them is try to stay away from the virtual program as much as possible. All the Zoom stuff going on now, the virtual things that they have to be a part of, it’s kind of like student fatigue at this point. [I try] to get more creative and innovative in the ways that I plan programs and what I can do with the current restrictions.”

Huber said her residents are feeling that fatigue too, which has affected attendance at her programs.

“It’s been more difficult to engage the residents and get them to come,” Huber said. “The mental burnout is real, especially if you didn’t have a fall break and don’t get a true spring break this year.”

Overall, Schoppe said it has been an instructive year.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is that it’s hard to build relationships, especially when you’re doing it over Zoom,” Schoppe said. “With check-ins with residents, I do offer an in-person option just because I have my own room and I’m able to distance with masks on with my residents if it’s a small group or one person. But I think just really using different relationship-building techniques has helped a lot this year, especially because everybody seems so physically distanced from each other.”

Moran-Buckridge said she is grateful to the RAs who managed these challenges.

“Our RAs have done extraordinary work this year,” Moran-Buckridge said.

“They have handled constantly changing expectations and needs of the SJU community with grace, care and thoughtfulness. They are a huge part of SJU’s success in staying ‘on-ground’ this year.”

Search retreat allows for much needed in-person experience ELISE WELSH ’22 Special to The Hawk Participants in Campus Ministry’s popular Search Retreat took a break from the busyness of college life from March 19-21— and were able to do it together in person.

Search, a retreat for sophomores, juniors and seniors, has been hosted by Campus Ministry since 1977.

“College has just been so fast,” said Alex Weitman ’21, the retreat’s student coordinator. “Everything is just go go go. No one ever sits down and gets to have a quality conversation, and when you do, it’s very rare or very far in between. Search gives you that time and the space to sit down and be with people, authentically, to be yourself, but also to find something that maybe you didn’t know about yourself before.”

Unlike a lot of other activities and events this year, Search was held in person. Twenty-six students and campus ministers gathered at the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford for the retreat.

“We’re very grateful to be able to have an in-person retreat,” said Sister Jessica Kerber, A.C.J., campus minister and retreat coordinator. “We’re one of the few universities doing in-person retreats.”

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, capacity for the retreat was capped and participants had to take a rapid COVID-19 test before the weekend. Masks were also required for the duration of the retreat.

Weitman and Kerber organized a team

Students participated in the Search Retreat together in person at the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARISSA ABEL ’21

of student leaders who facilitated small group discussions and gave talks related to their personal experiences.

Pat Taddei ’22, one of the retreat leaders, said he appreciates the community that Search creates.

“There is a great community of people you get to meet through conversations about faith and whatever they’re passionate about,” Taddei said. “That’s what I think makes it really special.”

Jason Greenwood ’23 said he signed up

for the retreat because it was offered in person.

“I really appreciated that I was able to actually meet new people and talk to them face to face,” Greenwood said. “It was pretty much a normal retreat. Regardless of COVID, I still got a lot out of it, and it was definitely still very impactful.”

Kerber said the pandemic has been challenging, and the retreat helped participants sort out questions and feelings.

“We’re living in this space of, ‘Who am

I and what is this all about and what does it mean to have the world living in a pandemic?

And what does it mean that my school experience has been interrupted?’” Kerber said.

“So with all of those questions, I find that there’s a pretty significant internal preparation that’s been happening for our students that they bring into Search with the possibility of being able to share that with others.”

The next and last Search Retreat of the semester is scheduled for April 9-11 and currently has a waitlist for interested students.

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March 31, 2021

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Basketball teams reflect on their seasons without fans GABRIELLA BEKOKA ’23 Special to the Hawk The St. Joe’s men’s and women’s basketball teams ended memorable seasons earlier this month, not because of wins and losses but because of the challenges they faced due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than anything, it was a year without fans, without cheering, T-shirt tosses, halftime performances and the pep band providing a musical backdrop.

For men’s sophomore guard Cameron Brown, not having fans affected the “energy” in the arena.

“Playing with fans just makes the game more fun,” Brown said. “When somebody makes a big play or something happens in the game, you can run off that roar.”

Prior to the start of the season, SJU Athletics announced they would not have fans at basketball games this year because of state and city COVID-19 restrictions on indoor capacity. Instead, home games, and some road games, were streamed on ESPN+.

Junior guard Katie Jekot, co-captain for the women’s team, said she missed interactions with friends and family after games the most.

“I have three sisters who all play basketball,” Jekot said. “We really enjoy watching each other and going to each other’s games, getting to see them after and going to get food and stuff. We haven’t been able to do it with COVID this year.”

Rob Sullivan, senior associate athletic director for external affairs, said his department worked with members of both teams to come up with ways to liven up the games, including placing cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands and piping in fan noise.

“It was really a way for us to stay connected and engaged and very communicative

with our fan base,” Sullivan said. “It was an opportunity in a year where we knew there wouldn’t be in-person fans in Hagan. We were just looking for different ideas to stay connected with our fan base and also create an atmosphere for the student athletes that was game like.”

Sullivan said reception to the cutouts was positive. Fans were able to purchase the cutouts for $45. About 500 cutouts were placed in the end zones, he said.

“The cutouts themselves showed very well both on TV and if you were watching the game on stream or remotely,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the athletics staff also took photos of the cutouts with the Hawk mascot and sent them to the fans who had purchased them to show the staff ’s appreciation.

“The cutouts were used as an additional touchpoint to stay connected, stay engaged, stay communicative with all our supporters,” Sullivan said.

Senior guard Mary Sheehan, co-captain for the women’s team along with Jekot, said she appreciated the steps athletics took.

“It was still a fun game atmosphere with the cardboard cutouts and some fan noise as well,” Sheehan said. “That definitely was helpful in making it seem as normal as possible.”

In fact, Sheehan said there are actually some perks to playing without fans.

“It’s easier to hear each other, so that’s actually a positive, like calling out plays and talking on defense,” Sheehan said.

Andrea Wieland, Ph.D., associate athletic director of sports performance at the University of Pennsylvania, said that it’s important for athletes to mentally prepare and to find what works for them.

“The athletes know if fans can’t be there because of this pandemic environment, then I’m not going to focus on that,” Wieland said.

“I’m going to focus on competing and getting myself mentally and physically ready to perform, and I’ll do my best considering the circumstances, as opposed to relying on circumstances to drive the performance.”

Women’s Assistant Coach Katie Kuester ’12 said that is what the Hawks did.

“I give a lot of credit to our players, and obviously to our staff, that we were sort of forced to create our own energy in terms of having each other’s back vocally and really verbalizing our support by cheering for each other and being very active on the sidelines,” Kuester said.

Brown said he and his teammates found their focus on the court as well.

“Once you start playing, you don’t even realize there’s no fans there until you come out the game,” Brown said. “You’re on the bench so you can hear every single thing on the floor and every single thing your coaches are saying.”

While COVID-19 made for a challenging season, Kuester said the team was just happy to play.

“I think they were so thankful and appreciative that we were actually playing basketball games that not having fans in the stands didn’t really affect them that much,” Kuester said.

“I gave a ton of credit to them, to just being thankful for the moment rather than being upset that their friends and families couldn’t see them play.”

At the teams’ last home games, which were also the senior days for each team, players were allowed to have two family members in the stands.

The women’s game was against Duquesne University on Feb. 28 in which the Hawks beat the Dukes 60-52.

“It did result in a win,” Kuester said. “I don’t know if that’s because parents were there or not, but it definitely gave our girls an opportunity to realize they should never take for granted having loved ones and the fans in the stands being able to cheer for us.”

Both men’s and women’s basketball played the 2020-21 season without fans in attendance at games.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Softball team fights through challenges of a pandemic-ridden season DREW DESSEN ’21 Special to the Hawk The St. Joe’s softball team has had an unpredictable season amid canceled and postponed matchups due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the team is still near the top of the Atlantic 10 (A-10) standings.

This team’s 2021 season record currently sits at 10-8, with 13 additional contests either canceled or postponed so far this year.

Their last game on March 25 resulted in a 6-2 victory over Drexel University.

Senior outfielder Kirstin Cox said she is excited to be able to play this year after the cancellation of last year’s season due to the pandemic.

“We just try and remind each other that last year at this time we weren’t even playing, so it helps to sit back and just be happy that we are at least playing this year,” Cox said.

COVID-19 restrictions have still made for some challenges. Before the weather warmed and the team could practice outside together, they practiced in pods. Freshmen were grouped in one pod, on-campus students in a second and off-campus students in a third. Even when they are not practicing, graduate student shortstop Molly Kapala said they try to stay in their pods as much as possible.

“We still need to make sure that we are socially distancing and staying in our respective pods outside of training, but being

The Hawks are currently undefeated in A-10 league play with a record of 4-0.

PHOTO: LUKAS VAN SANT ’21/THE HAWK

back with the whole team outside definitely feels good,” Kapala said.

The entire team also meets up on Zoom, which Kapala said is good for “team chemistry.”

Head Coach Erin Brooks said the pandemic creates a lot of uncertainty for the team.

“There are a lot of unknowns this season,” Brooks said. “For example, you just don’t know when you are going to have

some kids quarantine and be unable to play because of COVID.” Cox said those unknowns can make it hard for players to stay motivated.

“We know this season is not normal and people can be placed into quarantine out of nowhere,” Cox said.

Part of the “not normal” of the 2021 season is also the new conference format,

with the A-10 being split up into two, fiveteam pods instead of the normal 10 teams.

St. Joe’s grouping includes La Salle University, Fordham University, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Rhode Island. The other half includes Saint Louis University, George Washington University, George Mason University, University of Dayton and St. Bonaventure University. Instead of the A-10 Championship’s normal six-team, double-elimination tournament, the top two teams from each pod will move onto a fourteam, double-elimination tournament.

“In a perfect world, we should still be one of the top two teams coming out of our pod,” Brooks said.

The team currently sits at second in their pod. Brooks said the team is focusing on what it can control: practicing to get better. That is the same focus they would have any year, she said.

As Head Coach, Brooks said she tries to serve as a role model for the players.

“You can only do so much as a coach, but the message is clear,” Brooks said.

“Masking, social distancing and being responsible is brought up consistently. Besides reminding them, I have to show them.”

The Hawks next scheduled matchup is on April 3, a double header against Big 5 rival University of Pennsylvania.

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The Hawk Newspaper

March 31, 2021

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Q&A with Muffet McGraw ’77 on women in sports RILEY FRAIN ’21 Sports Editor Muffet McGraw ’77 led the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team to a 23-5 record her senior year, earning the Hawks a No. 3 national ranking in the final AP Poll of the 1977 season. McGraw would go on to have one of the most illustrious coaching careers in college basketball history.

Following one season playing for the California Dreams of the Women’s Professional Basketball League, in 1980 McGraw accepted an assistant coaching job at her alma mater where she coached for two seasons before earning a head coaching position with Lehigh University.

Six successful seasons at Lehigh led to McGraw being offered the head coaching job at the University of Notre Dame. In 33 seasons with the Fighting Irish, McGraw would earn two national championships, making nine Final Four appearances on her way to being one of five coaches in men’s and women’s college basketball history to exceed 930 wins. In 2017, McGraw was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, becoming just the 32nd women ever to do so and the 13th female coach.

The Hawk spoke with McGraw about the importance of women in sports, gender disparities in coaching and the differences in amenities that have made headlines during this year’s men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments.

How do gender disparities within the NCAA impact student athletes?

It’s time to take a hard look at how the NCAA is treating their female athletes as opposed to their male student athletes. I think that the pandemic, if nothing else positive comes out of it, showed how our seasons were exactly the same in every way.

Then we get to the postseason and now suddenly there’s a stark contrast between how [men] are treated and how the women are treated.

Muffet McGraw ’77 is a two-time NCAA National Champion with nine Final Four appearances.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

It’s great that they pull back the curtain and everybody gets to see this is how the NCAA operates. This is an institution that’s supposed to be about college athletics and college athletes, and they clearly value their male student athletes more than they value the female student athletes.

I think seeing all these disparities and inequities, and some of them seem small. For the outside observer they’re looking to say, “Why don’t you just buy a court if you don’t like playing [the NCAA Tournament] on a college campus?” and “Why don’t you use the March Madness logo?” But we find out that we’re not allowed to use the March Madness logo because that is expressly for the men and that’s a decision the NCAA made.

So there’s just so many differences in this particular situation where you can see the comparisons should be even more equal and they’re not. The underlying message that they’re sending to women is we don’t value you, you don’t deserve better.

With the recent inequities that we’ve seen between the NCAA men’s and wom-

en’s basketball tournament amenities, how can the NCAA ensure equality between men’s and women’s athletics?

The first thing you need is leadership.

You need a leader who values both properties, both the men’s and the women’s tournament. You need some oversight, you need somebody whose job it is to look into both tournaments and say, “Here’s what we’re doing for the men, here’s what we’re doing for the women.”

Those should be joint meetings because we’re talking about postseason basketball when we’re talking about courts and how they’re going to look and what they’re going to say and what we’re going to be giving these student athletes. We’re talking about how we are feeding them. We’re in a pandemic, let’s brainstorm some ideas for what is the best way to give them the food that they need. People think women don’t eat as much as men, which is just an incredible stereotype and a huge fallacy as far as basketball is concerned. The [men’s and women’s tournaments] work independently and that doesn’t work, so they need

somebody to bring them together and to have some real oversight.

Only about 13-14% of NCAA head coaches are racial minorities. Why is it important to have adequate racial representation in coaching?

I think the more diverse our staff is the better we are. The more that we work together with people who have a different way of looking at things, have different backgrounds, they can relate to the players differently. I want everybody on my team to have somebody on the staff that they can relate to in terms of what they’ve been through in their life experience, and I think that’s important.

It’s important for women to be able to look up and see women leading. I mean, my teams were always more than 50% African American women so I need to have that representation on my staff. The staff needs to look like the team so that they can see their path to someday being a leader and use them [as] role models, so I think that that is a real problem in both men’s and women’s athletics.

How can the NCAA recruit more female coaches?

We have to make a conscious effort to hire them and that’s not happening. Obviously sport is a very male dominated place, but women are breaking in. You’re seeing that in pro sports, you see it in the NBA. Major League Baseball has the first female [general manager], even hockey hired a skating coach who’s a woman. Every sport now is looking to say “Why haven’t we been hiring women? Let’s take a look at that.”

Every corporation across the country is looking at how they can hire and promote more diversity, how can we get more women, more people of color. Where everybody else is looking in that direction it seems like athletics is the perfect place to start because we have so many more people who play the game.

Women’s track and field returns after extended offseason TYLER NICE ’23 Assistant Sports Editor The St. Joe’s women’s track and field team returned to action on Saturday, March 27 for the first time since March 2020 at the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Indoor Track & Field Championship. The team competed in the Penn Challenge at University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field.

Graduate student Aliyah Stokes (100m), graduate student Tamar Bourdeau (400m), junior Briana Baier (1500m) and graduate student Bridget McNierney (400m hurdles) all earned top five finishes at the unscored meet.

Before Saturday, May 2019 was the last time that the team competed in an outdoor track meet.

For Baier, the return to action induces excitement, anticipation and uncertainty. She said that Head Coach Melody O’Reilly gave the team advice on how to approach the upcoming season. “[Coach O’Reilly] talked about how you just have to rip the band-aid off,” Baier said. “It’s been a year since we’ve raced, and racing takes a different type of physical and mental headspace.”

According to sophomore sprinter Darynn Minus-Vincent, the yearlong offseason without competitive races was a challenge. To remain motivated, she relied on her teammates.

“We really stuck by each other,” Minus-Vincent said. “We realized we were all in the same boat. That’s been a really big part of training for the last few months.”

Similarly, senior Abigail Silva, who competes in middle distance and distance races, said that the extended offseason made her realize the role that competition plays in the team’s atmosphere.

“When we’re competing, you can feel the positive energy and the intensity and the motivation in the locker room and on the track,” Silva said.

Silva’s offseason was shorter than many of her teammates’ offseasons. In February and March, Silva raced in an abbreviated cross country season that consisted of only two meets, one of which was the A-10 Championship at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia. There, Silva posted a time of 18:54 in the 5k, a career best, and was St. Joe’s top finisher in the race. Still, she said that the switch from cross country to track is one she is eager for.

“I was definitely excited when we saw the end of cross country and turned to track,” said Silva, who did not race Saturday. “It was tough over the winter when I used to be training for the 800m or the mile, but I was still preparing to compete in 5k races.”

Silva is not the only student athlete to have her training regimen altered. Baier, who competed in the pentathlon and heptathlon in her freshman and sophomore years, will focus solely on middle distance races this season due to the flexible nature of the team’s schedule.

She said that it’s best for her to focus on track events during a season full of uncertainty.

“It’s kind of a relief,” Baier said. “Obviously I’ll miss it, but at the same time I don’t have to stress about when I’m going to do [the

Four Hawks earned top five finishes at the Penn Challange, including junior Briana Baier in the 1500 meter.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

pentathlon] and how I’m going to do it.”

Baier said that the entire middle distance training group has worked hard during practices. She said that she is excited to see Maggie Maguire compete for a final season.

Maguire is a graduate student who is taking advantage of the NCAA Division I Council’s ruling to grant an additional year of outdoor eligibility for all spring sport student athletes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“She came back just for this season,” Baier said. “I’m so excited to see what [Maguire] does because I know it’s in her true spirit to give it her all in every race.”

The sprinter group is headlined by Stokes and Bourdeau, who are both graduate students. Minus-Vincent said that the freshmen

and sophomore sprinters will look to make strides this season to fill the shoes of the departing upperclassmen in the coming years.

“It’s nice to see that the future of the track and field team is bright, especially since a lot of seniors are graduating,” Minus-Vincent said.

Those seniors and graduate students, according to Silva, are determined to make the most of one final go around.

“This is really the end for us,” Silva said.

“Everyone has some unfinished business given that we didn’t have our season last year.”

The team, scheduled to compete in five races over the next five weeks, will return to Franklin Field on Saturday, April 3 for the Penn Big 5 Meet.

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March 31, 2021

News

The Hawk Newspaper

A MARCH, IN SOLIDARITY

PHOTOS: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Mei Wang (center) and her boyfriend, Wesley Kitagawa (right) listen to a speaker during the rally.

Marchers walk through Chinatown on their way to City Hall for the first demonstration against Asian hate in Philadelphia history, according to many speakers at the rally.

Samantha Rise, program director of Girls Rock Philly, spoke at the rally about how America needs to collectively rise up against injustices. “If you think that it’s not who we are to objectify, fetishize, murder, isolate, oppress, marginalize Asian people, especially gender minorities, you are not paying attention. That is business as usual. This is exactly who we are in this country. And that’s why we’re here,” Rise said.

Before the rally, organizers passed out markers and cardboard for marchers to create signs.

Following the lion dance, performers present a scroll reading “Stop Asian Hate” at the rally.

PHOTO: DANNY REMISHEVSKY ’23/THE HAWK