Year In Review 2017-2018 by The Ithacan

ITHACA COLLEGE 2017â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18

year in REVIEW

A special publication of THE ITHACAN

Year in

Review

Ithaca College 2017-18

TABLE OF CONTENTS 03

CONTENTS 08

A look back at major national and international news stories from August 2017 to March 2018.

Two narrative accounts that highlight different aspects of the student experience in Ithaca.

Remembering the life of Anthony Nazaire one year later. Nazaire was killed in September 2016.

TIMELINE

Snapshots

CARVING NEW PATHS

SHAKING THINGS UP

20 22 23 24 25

Colladoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inauguration BOLD Scholars Presidential Residence Student Affairs Commencement Changes

Anthony NAZAIRE

28 30 32 34 40 42 43 44 46 48 49 50 52

Board of Trustees Public Safety Report Hiring Faculty of Color Collado Sex Abuse Charge Campus Reactions to Collado News Letters of Support for Collado Ithaca Advocacy Center Commentary Collado Sex Abuse Charge Editorial Barstool Sports Michael Stuprich Lawsuit Swastika Drawing Support Animals South Hill Standoff

TAKING A STAND

56 58 60 62 63 64 66 67 68 69 70 72 73 74 76 78

Hurricane Fundraisers National Anthem Commentaries IC Protestant Community IC Unity Tibet Brothers 4 Brothers and Sister 2 Sister Homelessness in Ithaca Tarana Burke at Cornell Sexism in Film Classes Commentary Active Bystander Commentary Sexual Assault Commentary Mansplaining Mansplaining Editorial Mansplaining and Trans People Commentary Difficulties for Female Professors Larry Pratt Protest March for Our Lives

80 82 83 84 85 86 87

Mahad Olad, Into Identity Evan Popp, Eye On the Media Isabella Grullón Paz, In Other News Sophia Tulp, Tulp’s Travels Danielle Allentuck, The Tuck Rule Olivia Riggio, Exploring the Emerald Isle Elena Piech, Piech in Palermo

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

90 92 94 96 98 100 102

We Are Ithaca Applefest Wizarding Weekend Students Maintain Natural Lands Role-Playing Club “Angels in America” “In the Red & Brown Water”

104 106 108 109 110 112 113 114 116 118 120 121 122 124

126

“Cendrillon” “South Park” “Vagina Monologues” “This is Our Youth” Cayuga Sound Mike Titlebaum Q&A Faculty Band Trio Circle of Fifths Concert Black History Month Concert Aaron Rizzo Band IC Campus Band Collegetown Records Movie and TV Reviews Music Reviews

changing the game 128 Cortaca 130 Will Gladney 132 Wahid Nabi

134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147

Jim Mullins Miles Herman Tim Locastro Denise Ibarra Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos Nickie Griesemer Students at Winter Olympics Athletes at Maccabiah Games Athletes Volunteer Early Morning Practices Training Rugby Rookies Club Soccer Team Goes to Nationals Nutrition Nightmare Funding for Women’s Basketball

06 FROM THE EDITORS

From the | BY AIDAN QUIGLEY

he Class of 2018 has been at Ithaca College during a consequential time in the college’s — and nation’s — history. When our class started our collegiate careers in August 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge was capturing the nation’s attention and Barack Obama was in the middle of his second term as president. At the college, the Integrative Core Curriculum was entering its second year. Since then, the campus has undergone a period of immense activism and change, including the #GetCAPSready campaign, the POC at IC protests, protests following the 2016 election, the part-time faculty union activism and the inauguration of Shirley M. Collado as the college’s ninth president. Much of this activity on campus during the past four years has been led or bolstered by students. Working on The Ithacan during such a tumultuous time has been a challenge and a privilege. When future generations of Ithaca College students learn about their college’s history, there will be no way to ignore the past four years. The Ithacan serves as the community’s paper of record and is the only media outlet that focuses entirely on providing coverage of, by and for the college community. As the editor this academic year, I’ve aimed to continue a high level of quality journalism that I inherited from those who came before me. This academic year will be remembered as Collado’s first year of her presidency, and the college’s 125th anniversary. Collado has taken major strides to rebuild a depleted student affairs division, focusing on improving the student experience. Her decision to add more counselors to CAPS helps address a long-standing problem, and our editorial board praised Collado for the move. But we have criticized her decisions to not hold open searches — and in some cases, searches at all — for key positions as well as her handling of the sexual abuse allegations against her from 2001. As a watchdog on the college’s leadership, I believe The Ithacan makes the campus a better place by questioning its leaders and informing the community. While the news The Ithacan reports may not always be good news for the college and its brand, I firmly believe our independent, often critical coverage of the college enhances the community’s understanding of itself and its leaders. Knowledge is power. The mission of the journalist is to share pertinent information with the community he or she serves in a fair, balanced way. The work included in this book reflects the best of The Ithacan’s work this academic year, and I hope that as an institution, we have lived up to the community’s expectations of us and fulfilled our mission responsibly.

Aidan Quigley

Editor-in-chief, The Ithacan

FROM THE EDITORS 07

Editors I

| BY CELISA CALACAL

get this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I see a breaking news alert pop up on my phone screen. First, there’s the initial reaction, the piqued curiosity when the alert first appears, introduced by those infamous words: “breaking news.” Then, there’s the actual reading of the alert, the ingestion of the meaning behind that short, clipped statement. I can clearly remember where I was and what I was doing when I received certain breaking news alerts this past year. When I first read about the Las Vegas shooting, I had just woken up, and I checked my phone with half-open eyes just like I do every morning. Then I read the alert, and the tiredness seemed to snap right out of me. When I heard about the shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on that Sunday, my stomach felt hollow. I had just come from church. And when I first read about the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, I was on my way to class. I felt distracted the rest of the day. I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if a gunman opened fire at my sister’s high school, thousands of miles away. The news, for the most part, is often filled with sobering headlines and heartbreaking reports that inspire constant anger and terror and fear. But within the tragedy lies a sliver of hope. It may be small or seem inconsequential, but it’s there. And sometimes, when the news is particularly bleak or devastating, those pennies of hope are what I grasp onto, what I cherish. I remember closely following the rise of the #MeToo movement, buoyed by the prospects that maybe, just maybe, this world will begin to show women the respect we deserve. So when I saw that Time Magazine’s Person of the Year was the group of brave women who spoke up about sexual assault in their fields of work, I cried. And when I saw the courageous teen survivors relentlessly advocating for gun control, I felt myself rooting for them. The cover of Year in Review intends to capture that optimism. The photograph of 3-year-old Orion Hanson-Chisolm holding up his light-up necklace at Ithaca College’s 125th Anniversary, combined with the photos behind him, are meant to communicate a sense of promise for the future. Despite the dark stories dominating headlines, there’s still much to celebrate, from winning the year’s most anticipated football game to ushering in a new president after years of unrest. This is what I intended to capture with this magazine — a glimmer of calm amid the chaos and hope amid the heartbreak. Because while we may be tempted to believe that the world is in ruins based on the push notifications we get on our phones, there are always stories lying beneath the surface, shining light into the darkness. We just have to look a little harder.

Celisa Calacal Editor, Year in Review

ALL PHOTOS COUTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

17august

august A Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to clashes between white supremacist groups and hundreds of counter-protesters in one of the largest white supremacist events in U.S. history. Fights frequently broke out between white supremacists and counter-protesters, and more were injured when a car sped through a crowd of people, resulting in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer. The Unite the Right rally was originally formed to respond to the removal of a Confederate statue in the city.

September

The 2017 hurricane season was particularly devastating, as a series of hurricanes between August and September caused immense destruction in parts of the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast and the U.S. The first of the hurricanes to hit the U.S., Hurricane Harvey, was a Category 4 storm that caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage across Texas and Louisiana. Hurricane Irma followed, bringing strong winds and storm surges to parts of the Caribbean, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, becoming one of the strongest Atlantic basin hurricanes ever recorded. Hurricane Maria then became the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in 85 years and caused widespread and lasting damage across the island. Following Maria, 2 million people were without power, and residents as of April 2018 still lack basic amenities.

President Donald Trump ordered the end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was initiated under former President Barack Obama’s administration to protect young undocumented immigrants. As part of the announcement, Trump said the program will be phased out over the course of six months. The president criticized the DACA program, saying it hurt American citizens by taking away job opportunities and repressing their wages. Trump’s announcement sparked widespread protests across the country.

September

August

08 TIMELINE

TIMELINE 09

October

01October

A gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more in one of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The shooter fired more than 1,100 rounds on the crowd from a broken window on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel overlooking the concert. Authorities later found an extensive weapons cache in the gunman’s hotel room, with some guns outfitted with bump stocks to make them fire like fully automatic weapons. Following the shooting, lawmakers, including Trump, showed interest in passing regulation to ban the sale of bump stocks.

05 October

November

The New York Times published a bombshell report in which multiple women, including actress Ashley Judd, accused media mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment stretching back decades. The story sparked a wave of sexual-assault allegations against powerful men in media and politics and led to the birth of the #MeToo movement — a phrase that was originally coined by activist Tarana Burke in 2006 — in which countless women shared their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse across social media platforms. Following Weinstein, other men who were accused of sexual harassment include former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, comedian Louis CK and news anchor Matt Lauer.

01 November The Houston Astros won their first championship after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5–1 in Game 7 of the World Series. The team’s win came four years after losing 111 games in one season, a franchise record, which then led to an extensive rebuilding project to better the team.

05 November A gunman opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people. The victims ranged from ages 5 to 72, with several children killed. The shooter, who was found dead shortly after fleeing the church, had a history of sexual assault against his wife and their child and was court-martialed in 2012 because of these assaults. He was sentenced to 12 months’ confinement and then received a “bad conduct” discharge in 2014.

December

December Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Republican Roy Moore in Alabamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special election, making Jones the first Democrat from Alabama to serve in the U.S. Senate in 21 years. Given the close margins between the two, Moore did not immediately concede to Jones but instead demanded a recount. The months leading up to the special election were especially heated after several women accused Moore of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature when they were teenagers. Despite the accusations, a CBS poll found that 71 percent of Republicans in Alabama believed the allegations against Moore were false.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken announced his intention to resign from the Senate following a number of allegations accusing Franken of sexual harassment which included groping and forcibly kissing women. Franken responded by denying these allegations. A number of Senate Democrats, including most women and a number of men, pushed for Franken to step down from office after these accusations became public. His last day as U.S. senator was Jan. 2.

January A government shutdown ensued after Senate Republicans and Democrats failed to pass a stopgap bill to continue funding the government, leading to the shutdown of federal operations. The shutdown ended Jan. 22 after the parties reached a bipartisan agreement to pass a short-term spending bill that would fund the government until Feb. 8. The bill was also passed with a promise from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

January

December

10 TIMELINE

TIMELINE 11

February

04 March

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking died at age 76. Throughout his life, Hawking was known for groundbreaking discoveries, which were published in his best-selling book “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.” Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1963 while at Cambridge University, Hawking defied expectations by continuing to study the cosmos and explore theories of black holes.

04 February

In Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off a 41–33 upset against five-time champions the New England Patriots to win the team’s first Super Bowl in franchise history. Some decisive plays include Eagles quarterback Nick Foles — who later was crowned Super Bowl MVP — catching a touchdown pass on a fourth down and a diving touchdown catch from Zach Ertz that bumped the Eagles’ score to 38. Super Bowl LII was followed by riots and celebratory marches through the streets of Philadelphia.

14 February

A school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, resulted in the deaths of 17 people, including students and teachers. The gunman was a former student of the school. The mass shooting once again fueled debate on gun control, with a group of Stoneman Douglas survivors leading the charge to enact stronger gun control laws across the country. In the weeks following, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a gun control safety bill that included raising the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21.

An estimated 2 million people crowded busy streets at 763 locations across the country during the March for Our Lives rally, becoming the third-largest day of protest since Trump’s inauguration last year. The March for Our Lives was primarily organized by the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in an effort to rally support for stronger gun control and safer public spaces. Marches in the nation’s capital and around the U.S. drew participants of all ages, from children to seniors, and emphasized the racial dynamics of gun control to highlight the violence faced by children of color in urban areas.

March

24 March

12 SNAPSHOTS ILLUSTRATIONS BY AVA KENDRICK

KARAOKE — THE MUSICAL For many college students, Thursday nights are reserved for drunk renditions of Billy Joel | BY CELISA CALACAL

he walls of Kilpatrick’s are vibrating, as a mess of college students and young adults crowds every inch of hardwood floor from the bar to the stage, sheltered from the constant sheets of wintry rain outside. The air thickens with humidity as more people squeeze into the already-packed bar, with fragments of conversation melding together into a raucous symphony that defies the looming winter storm. But, rising above the chatting and the yelling and the screaming, the voices of two women brazenly belt out Aretha Franklin’s “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” Their off-pitch screeching into the plush microphones sounds nothing like Franklin’s soulful gospel vocals, but they don’t care. This is their concert, their two minutes and twenty-nine seconds of college-bar fame. The crowd below does not seem to mind this group’s blatant inability to cover Aretha Franklin’s hit (aside from one glasses-wearing man in a Christmas-red penguin sweater who says he doesn’t like this song). Nope, they’re grooving and bobbing their heads in appreciation, their hands casually clutching clear plastic cups filled with alcoholic concoctions. During each “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me,” the crowd faithfully fulfills their unspoken duty to sing along with the performers, their voices swelling together in that fleeting yet euphoric karaoke moment when the crowd and the singers singularly turn a packed bar into the world’s drunkest choir. The end of the song is met with claps and

“woohoos,” and the women exit down the stairs, leaving the small stage to await its next performers. The karaoke master, a heavy-set man with a thick mustache who always seems to have the suggestion of a smile on his face, takes charge of the lineup, ensuring that each performance is readily followed by another by announcing who’s up next and who’s on deck with the roller coaster–like intonations of a game show host. A college guy squeezes his way through the throng and makes it somewhat close to the bar,

“

without their exuberant half-singing and half-yelling to fill this bar, the performers would be exposed.”

his gray long sleeve and blue and red puffer vest slightly dampened from the current drizzle. “What is going on?” With widened eyes scanning the room, he seems perplexed at this perfect concert of bodies too immersed in the drunken music fest to neither know nor care about the steady rain awaiting them. Or maybe he’s dumbstruck at the gaggle of ladies bunched near the bar

holding plastic champagne flutes that sorely stick out amid the sea of plastic cups. As he collects himself, lines of traffic push past him without so much as a polite “excuse me.” Some eagerly await to enter the mosh pit near the stage, their heads sticking out like giraffes to get a glimpse of the current performers, who, at this moment, are giving their rendition of “Hooked On a Feeling” 110 percent. Others stand on tiptoes to hopefully catch the attention of a bartender for another $3 rum and coke. And, as a constant, there is that beeline of patrons who rush to the bathrooms as fast as possible, exiting the room during a song they don’t know but rushing so they make it back before the performance ends. They don’t want to miss the next song. A swell now moves herd-like to the stage upon recognizing the soft opening notes to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” over the loudspeakers, their hands tightly clutching their refilled plastic cups to avoid spilling on the hardwood floor. The college guys carrying this song seem to have no difficulty on the verses as they talk-sing — a quality that can be attributed to Neil Diamond’s low-range crooning — which doesn’t require the same vocal strain as Aretha Franklin. Then, the chorus. “SWEEEEET CAR-O-LIIIIINE…” The crowd’s voice booms out once more, drowning out the karaoke singers while at the same time symbolizing their verbal approval of the song choice. These participants take their jobs as karaoke patrons deathly serious. For without their

SNAPSHOTS 13 exuberant half-singing and half-yelling to fill this bar, the performers would be exposed, naked on stage, stripped of the overconfidence that transforms them from mere humans to superstars. “BA BA BAAAA.” In a moment that defies Neil Diamond’s classic hit, the crowd decides to vocalize the crisp trio of successive trumpet blasts. It’s unclear whether this was a conscious decision or whether they truly believe these are actual words in the song, but it doesn’t matter. Anything goes in karaoke. What follows is Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” a song that mandates the patrons to train their eyes on the television screen in the corner displaying the rapid-fire lyrics that turn from yellow to blue in classic sing-along fashion. But these karaokegoers are unfazed, and they belt out “Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again/ Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock,” with an incensed fervor that turns comical when considering that the song’s cultural references predate this generation by about 30 years. There is, however, at least one girl who seems to know all the words to this song — yes, even the verses. To prove her prowess, she deliberately turns her back to the stage and the screen and recites the lyrics with rote, poetic precision. Her friends stare back at her with eyes of incredulity, now more enamored by her memorization skills than the performers themselves. Impressive. The college guys are succeeded by a girl with long and wavy brown hair who takes on Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” a song that demands complete mastery of voice. She knows this and breezes through the song with the casual confidence of a chef crafting her signature entree. She’s done this before. And although the song is not a duet, the crowd makes it so and takes on the responsibility of singing “Turn around, bright eyes” before brown-haired girl belts out “Every now and then I fall apart.” Then, at half past midnight, a break in the drunken din. A man with blonde hair strides onto the stage, a microphone in one hand and a glass half-full in the other. “OH SHIT, OH SHIT, IT’S PIANO MAN, woah woah woah, IT’S PIANO MAN.”

A few karaoke regulars call him by this stage name, his claim to local fame. The opening chords of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” begin to play, and loud cheers erupt from the crowd. Piano Man, so aptly named because this, clearly, is his song, successfully matches every pitch change, from the melodic croon of the verses to the controlled belting of the chorus. The crowd is momentarily snapped out of their karaoke-and-alcohol-induced haze to realize that, wow, this guy is good. A tall glasses-wearing fan abruptly leaves his front row spot to speedwalk to the bar and then returns with two shot glasses filled with that familiar honeyed hue of whiskey. Piano Man graciously accepts the free alcohol and tips the liquid into his mouth without ever missing a word. His smooth vocals reverberate around the entire bar, and the crowd scream-sings along, their arms half-raised and their fingers pointed at the star performer. In the Thursday night concert that is karaoke, Piano Man is the headlining act. “This is all you,” Piano Man instructs to his audience. He holds the microphone out to them as they belt out, “La la la, di da daaa … La la, di da daaaaa da dummmm …” “SING US A SONG, YOU’RE THE PIANO MAN, sing us a song tonight” — the crowd takes particular joy in belting these lyrics toward the stage. It’s their turn to serenade Piano Man. “Well we’re all in the mood for a melody, and you’ve got us feeling alright.” During the final chorus, Piano Man grabs his phone from his pocket and holds it up, taking a video of the sea of patrons shout-singing and stumble-swaying before him. This is his concert, and these are his groupies. The performances that follow are less “Piano Man” and more “Sweet Caroline” — inebriated, impassioned renditions of throwback hits that spark the crowd’s adolescent memories — but they don’t seem to care, and they continue to sing along with drunken rambunctiousness, their voices melding together to create a singularly spectacular Thursday night soundtrack.

14 SNAPSHOTS

drunk bus blues On weekend nights, the TCAT transforms into a vessel of inebriated college students

| BY EVAN POPP

t’s 11 o’clock, and rain is falling softly against the pavement. Pools of moisture gather into puddles indistinguishable from the darkness of the night sky, and the sound of precipitation forms a muffled drip that intermingles with the cadence of a dozen voices. Split into groups of twos and threes, the voices wait, occasionally stealing glances down the sharp curve of the road that leads up the hill toward Garden Apartments. Then, a faint rumble sounds in the distance, followed by a blaze of neon orange lights. “11 — Ithaca College Circle Apts,” the lights read. The students pile onto the bus, dispersing themselves among dozens of rows that house padded seats. As they settle in, a few latecomers sprint toward the bus, and it permits them to clamber aboard. “I don’t like running,” one of the latecomers gasps to his friend. At last, everyone is situated and the bus pulls away with a roar of locomotive power. As it climbs its way up the hill through the dark, quiet campus, rain continues to spatter against elongated windows, covering them with a thin layer of

ILLUSTRATIONS BY AVA KENDRICK

foggy gray. “Where are we?” a guy asks his friend, squinting out a window. “I have no idea, love,” she answers with a sigh. More passengers arrive. As they take their seats, fragments of conversation criss-cross around the bus. “I told Emily before I left, you better not tell my mom,” one girl says. “Are we there yet?” a different girl complains. One dude leans over to greet someone in a seat opposite him and almost falls over in his enthusiasm. A guy hands his business card to a girl he’s been chatting up; she wonders to her friends if it’s his way of trying to get with her. After completing its campus circuit, the bus winds its way down the hill, and the chatter intensifies as the prospect of freedom approaches. When it pulls into the downtown station, the students

quickly stream off, excited about what lies ahead even as the rain dampens skin left exposed by going-out clothes. The bus waits a few beats, looking empty, sad and forlorn, before pulling away into the night. *** It’s after 1 in the morning, and rain is still falling, pattering off the roof of the Seneca Street station. A crowd of students sit in clustered groups, most mired in drunken hazes that make some of them silent and stony-faced and others exuberant and obnoxious. The voices of a group of frat boy types climb above the rest, drowning out even the sound of the rain on the roof. They shout various Hebrew phrases, laughing maniacally. “Shabbat Shalom!” one yells. “It’s okay. He has trouble with English,” one of his friends jokes. But the jab falls flat, and he turns away.

SNAPSHOTS 15 The second to last bus of the night arrives, and the students spring toward it, scrambling on board as if they are lost at sea and have found their lifeboat. “This is route 11,” drones an automated voice as the bus pulls away from the station. The frat boy types take over the back of the bus and loudly discuss football. But one bro, overtaken by fatigue, leans his head on another bro’s shoulder. It’s a surprisingly tender moment, particularly amidst the hullabaloo of masculinity playing out around them. The moment is soon punctured, though, as one of the frat boys yells of someone unknown, “He sucks dick!” The bus approaches the last downtown station. Streams of students emerge from The Commons, racing toward their lifeboat, forming a blob that collectively pushes its way forward. But just as the mass solidifies, a group of girls, oblivious to the bus’s approach, jumps out into the street in front of it. The bus comes to a screeching halt as the driver slams on the brakes, staring in disbelief. The girls pay him no heed, running across the street with reckless abandon — fearing nothing, believing nothing can hurt them. A girl on the bus turns to her friend, shaking her head knowingly. “They’re probably freshmen.” With the bus at a standstill, the blob moves forward, shoving its way on until it seems that every square inch has been filled. Students jostle into each other, creating a sea of bodies pushed together in much the same way they

“

just were on the Moonies dance floor. The driver waits for any semblance of calm. But after a minute or two, a group of guys gets impatient. “MOVE THAT BUS! MOVE THAT BUS! MOVE THAT BUS!” they chant. “SHUT UPPPP!” someone yells back. Finally, the driver — a middle-aged man with dark bags under his eyes — gives up on controlling the situation. The bus pulls away from the stop and begins to climb the hill, its engine straining against gravity like an exercise junkie trying to finish a long series of pull-ups. As it advances, the bus hits a series of bumps, knocking around its passengers — whose alcohol-filled bodies are already having difficulty maintaining a center of gravity — and producing melodramatic yells and screeches as the students tip into one another. The bus continues to move forward, and the voices of its passengers combine to form a cacophony of sound — a din that reverberates around the close confines of the bus. Still, the voices of the frat boys manage to rise above the rest. “It’s fucking Friday,” one hollers. “I love AEPi,” shouts another. Around them, an array of passengers sits (and stands) in sullen silence. Their dilemma is simple: Many are drunk enough to want to be home, but not drunk enough to be amused by the discordant tones of masculine-driven tomfoolery echoing around them. To them, the bus ride feels as if it will never end — like they are stuck in some science-fiction continuum

where time ceases to move forward. As the clamor of voices from the back continues, a girl in the front slumps into her friend’s lap. Her friend reaches forward and hugs her close. The bus stops midway up the hill to let some people off, opening its doors and exposing the continued pitter-patter of rain outside. The noise from inside the bus swells, and the driver leaves for a moment, ostensibly to check that everything is still intact after the bumpy ride up. More likely, though, he just needs a minute of peace away from the horde. Soon, he returns and drives on. When he pulls away from the stop, the lights from inside cast a glow on a figure walking up the hill; he looks dazed, confused and windblown as he’s left behind. Back on the bus, what is a party for some and a nightmare for others continues on. Soon they’ll all clamber or stumble off. But for now, pressed against one another, they yell, chant, slump and roll their eyes as the bus pulls itself up the hill, advancing farther into the night. At long last, for one guy at least, it’s over. The door swings open, and he steps off. The bus rolls on, the only source of light in the dark of the street. Still, for a few seconds, the voices of its babbling passengers are still audible, drunkenly whooping their way up the hill. It’s fleeting, though, and soon the sound of inebriated shouting fades, followed by the roar of the engine. Finally, as the bus turns the corner, all that’s left is silence — a silence only broken by the soft sound of falling rain and the wisp of a gentle, calming wind.

STudents jostle into each other, creating a sea of bodies pushed together in much the same way they just were on the moonies dance floor.”

16 ANTHONY NAZAIRE

Anthony Nazaire: One Year Later

A tree and plaque were erected near Muller Chapel to honor Nazaire’s life. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

Nagee Green Sentenced Over a year later, Nagee Green was found guilty for the murder of Anthony Nazaire

| BY GRACE ELLETSON Nagee Green, the man convicted of killing Ithaca College student Anthony Nazaire, was sentenced to 20 years in jail Nov. 6, 2017. Green was sentenced to 17 years for Nazaire’s murder and three years for second-degree assault for stabbing junior Rahiem Williams, another student at the college, in the same incident. The crimes took place in August 2016, when a large fight broke out as an event at Cornell University’s Willard Straight Hall dispersed

close to 2 a.m. When announcing his decision, County Court Judge John Rowley said that Green “aggressively re-entered the fight” that took place the night Nazaire was killed and Williams was wounded and that Green seemed to be there to cause trouble. However, he also said that Green has had no prior criminal convictions and that the fight happened very fast, which is why he said he was not prepared to give Green a life sentence. Rowley said Nazaire was a student with a bright future. He said he admired Nazaire’s

ANTHONY NAZAIRE 17

The Ithaca College community held a memorial on the one-year anniversary of Anthony Nazaire’s death | BY GRACE ELLETSON It was raining. A crowd of approximately 100 students, faculty and staff were tucked under a white tent; the rest scattered around it with umbrellas. But when Sean Reid, dean of the business school, walked up to the microphone to commemorate the life of Anthony Nazaire, the former Ithaca College student who was killed Aug. 28, 2016, rays of sun began to shine. “It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already since his tragic loss,” Reid said. Reid was the first speaker at the remembrance gathering held Sept. 8, 2017 outside the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise. The gathering was held to commemorate Nazaire, who was stabbed and killed after leaving a party at Cornell University, and to unveil a plaque and pear tree that were erected in his memory. Nagee Green, the man on trial for the murder of Nazaire, was convicted in June for second-degree assault but the jury deadlocked on the murder charge. A retrial was held this fall to settle the murder charge. Jury selection for the retrial was scheduled for Sept. 15, 2017. Before the ceremony began, Nazaire’s sister, mother and grandmother walked up to the plaque under the pear tree and were able to reflect before the ceremony began. President Shirley M. Collado led them over to the memorial and comforted them. The crowd fell silent. Reid said the placement of the plaque and tree was closest to the two classrooms in the Business School where Nazaire spent the most time. One was the student organization room. The other was Business 206, where Nazaire took a class with one of his favorite professors, Don Lifton, who died Dec. 5, 2015. The plaque was also placed near the Muller Chapel, where students of different faiths hold religious ceremonies. “I hope any student, of faith or not of faith, will walk down that path toward the chapel and say a prayer or that they’ll think of Anthony and remember him in their thoughts,” Reid said. RahK Lash, assistant director in the Office of Student Engagement

dedication to the Brothers 4 Brothers organization, a student organization that provides support for marginalized men on college campuses. “There is nothing you can do but admire where he was putting his energy,” Rowley said. GREEN At the sentencing, Nazaire’s sister, Kiara Nazaire, and Nazaire’s father, Reginald Nazaire, also spoke. The prosecution also read a letter from Williams to Rowley in which

and Multicultural Affairs, spoke next. He remembered that the last time he had a conversation with Nazaire, they discussed his leadership role on the executive board of Brothers 4 Brothers, a student organization dedicated to providing a safe space and support system for marginalized men on campus. “Anthony and I had a very, very deep conversation about his goals and his aspirations and his ambitions,” Lash said. “I didn’t know that was the last time I would actually get to see Ant.” Lash said Nazaire was ambitious, inquisitive and projecting for success. “Anthony was that dream of tomorrow,” Lash said. Nazaire’s legacy, Lash said, would live on through other students of color with similar aspirations through the Anthony Nazaire ’19 Endowed Scholarship. Sophomore Christopher Ford, the first recipient of the scholarship, attended the ceremony to accept a plaque given to him in honor of Nazaire’s life. Nathaniel Gonzalez ’17 also spoke at the gathering, reflecting on the day he and his friends became aware of Nazaire’s death. He said he remembered how dedicated the college community was to helping them heal and come to terms with the loss of their friend. “In the past year, this campus has shown how strong it is and what it’s capable of,” Gonzalez said. “This community of color has shown just how strong it is. I can’t put into words how thankful I am for that.” After the remembrance gathering, Ford expressed how grateful he was for receiving the scholarship and said that while he did not know Nazaire personally, he feels connected to him through the award. Ford is a member of the the National Association of Black Accountants and is on the executive board of Brothers 4 Brothers. He said he is trying to be as ambitious as he has heard Nazaire was. “We didn’t know each other, but we were going to have each others’ backs regardless just because we were black men trying to succeed,” Ford said. Ford described himself as a religious man, and when he received the scholarship, he said, he saw it as a blessing. He said that since receiving the award, he prays more, and he also said he plans to visit the plaque honoring Nazaire often, just to talk to him and be thankful. “Just from hearing different stories from people, they explained to me just the kind of person that he was,” Ford said. “And I definitely do wish I was able to meet him because … we would have instantly clicked.”

he discussed the pain he has endured since the death of his friend. In his letter, Williams explained that the trauma he suffered was not only from the physical damage the stab wounds caused, but also the emotional damage that came from losing one of his best friends. He said in the letter that he also still has around $2,000 left in medical bills to pay from the stabbing. This, combined with the trauma Nazaire’s other friends and family have endured, is why he said he wants justice to be found in Green’s sentencing.

“What I found to be so profound is that an event that happened so quickly can result in immense pain,” Williams wrote. Kiara Nazaire told Rowley that her brother had a wide, positive effect on the lives of others. She said her brother was very ambitious and that he wanted to break away from the stereotype that he was just another young man from “the hood.” She said he wanted to change lives. “My family didn’t just lose an amazing young man, so did the Ithaca community,” she said.

C a rv i n g

New Paths

20 CARVING NEW PATHS

New Beginnings The Ithaca College community celebrated the inauguration of Shirley M. Collado as the college’s ninth president | BY MADISON FERNANDEZ AND MEREDITH BURKE

pplause, music and confetti filled the Athletics and Events Center as Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado was inaugurated as the college’s ninth president on Nov. 4, 2017. Collado’s inauguration took place during the weekend of the college’s 125th Anniversary celebration, as well as the annual Family Weekend and Alumni Weekend. Hundreds of staff, faculty, students, parents, alumni and Ithaca community members gathered for the event. During the ceremony, members of these different constituencies stood by to officially welcome Collado to the community. Julia Alvarez, author, poet, writer-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont and a close friend of Collado’s from their time together there, spoke at the ceremony. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland in Baltimore County and a colleague of Collado’s in the higher education community, also addressed the audience. Poet A. Van Jordan, a professor at the University of Michigan and Collado’s husband, read, for the first time at the inauguration, a poem about being good to our neighbors in the country’s current political landscape. Collado was announced as the new president in February 2017 and assumed the position July 1, 2017. Former President Tom Rochon retired from his presidency after protests at the college concerning his administration’s handling of racial bias and campus governance. Tom Grape ’80, chair of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees, introduced and installed Collado as president. For her introduction, Grape gave a speech about Collado’s qualifications, putting an emphasis on her capacity to care and her knowledge of the higher education community. “She is leader who works hard to ensure that higher education can become a catalyst for personal growth, social mobility and community impact,” Grape said. “She cares deeply about students, about their academic and professional development, their personal and social well-being and their ability to thrive in college and in the rest of their lives. She understands today’s complex higher education landscape and anticipates the kind of changes that are on the horizon.” In her inaugural address, Collado talked about how she hopes to form an inclusive, intellectual campus that rejects the current political and social boundaries. “In our country right now, we are seeing what happens when people hide, when they act on their fear, their bias, their rigidity of thought,” Collado said. “When boundaries disappear, we can realize the full potential of a residential campus where everyone is welcome to practice deep intellectual inquiry and everyone is empowered to collaboratively create and consume knowledge.” Hrabowski spoke about Collado’s generosity and integrity. He said

he was eager to see the changes she would make and said she would have a positive impact on the college, especially during the current time of political turmoil in the country. “Ithaca, you have been preparing for years for this moment,” Hrabowski said. “This is the president who listens carefully, who will ask questions, who will do her homework, who will speak with compassion, who will have the hand and heart involved.” Alvarez said she was pleased with what Collado’s presidency as the first Dominican-American college president meant for inclusivity and diversity in the academic community. “We Dominicans, as you can tell, are very proud of our own, and not only of our baseball players,” Alvarez said. “Shirley’s roots might be on a half-island in the Caribbean, but she is not peninsular in her concerns for leadership. She is all about collaboration across borders, about empowering others and building Martin Luther King’s beloved community together.” In addition to those who spoke at the inauguration, members of the community expressed their confidence and excitement for Collado’s presidency. Walter J. Smith, a former member of the board of trustees for 10 years, said Collado’s background and experience is what the college needs to rebuild and improve itself in terms of bringing in more students from various academic and socioeconomic backgrounds. “She’s a natural leader, and she’s got the gifts of both mind and heart,” Smith said. “Many presidents have great gifts of mind but few gifts of heart. I think she’s going to be both a healer and a rebuilder of Ithaca College.” Members of the Ithaca College Alumni Association expressed their excitement for Collado’s inauguration and said they are optimistic about her presidency and the impact she will have on campus in the coming years. Chris Lee ’10 said that Collado has already successfully engaged with faculty, staff, students and alumni, especially with the alumni board. Sophomore Evan Jones, a member of the student greeter group at the inauguration, said he hopes Collado can bring the campus community together. “I really think she’s done a great job so far really invigorating the campus community and getting everyone really hyped up for her inauguration,” Jones said. “Now that she’s official, we’ll see what happens in the years to come. But I’m really excited.” Echoing the hopes of the faculty, staff and students, Collado ended her inauguration address with a call to action for the campus community. “Let’s be daring, let’s be confident, and let’s step arm-and-arm boldly into the future,” Collado said.

CARVING NEW PATHS 21

“

This is the president who listens carefully, who will ask questions, who will do her homework, who will speak with compassion, who will have the hand and heart involved.” – FREEMAN A. HRABOWSKI IIII

Shirley M. Collado, the ninth president of the college, gives a speech during her inauguration Nov. 4 in the Athletics and Events Center. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

22 CARVING NEW PATHS

A BOLD FUTURE

A group of Ithaca College women will have the opportunity to enact change on campus through the BOLD program

| BY FALYN STEMPLER

thaca College will be the fifth institution joining the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network, a program founded by the college’s new president, Shirley M. Collado. The four-semester program will consist of activities with faculty mentorship and networking opportunities to develop leadership skills and community building. Using these skills, the scholars aim to create projects to bring positive change and increased inclusion on their respective college campuses. Rising junior women at the college can apply for the program, according to the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network website. Collado said she is very pleased that the college joined the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network program. “We are very thrilled to bring this program to Ithaca College and look forward to recruiting an outstanding cohort of junior women leaders,” Collado said. The program emphasizes diversity, leadership, critical thinking, community building and facilitation of challenging discourse, according to the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network website. There will also be an annual scholarship of up to $25,000 for BOLD Scholars during their junior and senior years of college. The program plans to accept approximately 10 students from the junior class, according to the college.

Additionally, 15 female freshmen will be selected as BridgeUp Scholars. The program provides a one-year $10,000 scholarship. During their sophomore year, each BridgeUp Scholar will be paired with a BOLD Scholar peer mentor. Sabrina Ahmed, a current BOLD Scholar at Rutgers University–Newark, said the mentorship at the program has helped her improve her leadership and advocacy skills. “BOLD has given me a network of amazing and diverse women leaders that I have learned and will continue to learn so much from,” Ahmed said. This summer, she and some of her fellow BOLD Scholars went on an international immersion trip in Cameroon, India, Laos and Peru, she said. During her time in Peru, she said she learned the importance of self-empowerment as a woman in environments where it is harder for women to excel. The BOLD initiative is funded by The Pussycat Foundation, which is a nonprofit, private foundation that honors Helen Gurley Brown, the former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. Brown’s estate funds the program. In addition, the Pussycat Foundation also awarded Collado the Helen Gurley Brown Genius Grant for her development of the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network program, which she started at Rutgers–Newark, Janet Williams, interim vice president for Finance and Administration, said.

The fund will be used for the betterment of women in education at the college, Collado said. “I want to carefully consider how those funds can best be used to benefit women in education,” Collado said. “We will certainly make sure that the Ithaca College community is kept informed about decisions on the use of the grant money and all aspects of the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network at IC.” The college joined this program as a result of Collado’s personal connection to the program. The four other institutions that belong to the program are Rutgers University–Newark, Middlebury College, Smith College and California State University, Fullerton, according to the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network website. Collado has connections to Rutgers University–Newark and Middlebury. She was formerly the executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer and associate professor in the sociology department at Rutgers. Prior to working at Rutgers, she was vice president for student affairs, dean of the college and associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Middlebury. The inaugural class of BOLD scholars from 2017–2019 are juniors Nabilah Abdalla, Chasia Bambo, Hannah Cayem, Candace Cross, Grace Elletson, Terri Landez, Julissa Martinez, Avery Santiago, Kat Walsh and Laura Waxman.

CARVING NEW PATHS 23

COLLADO ON CAMPUS

President Shirley M. Collado does not live in 2 Fountain Place, pictured above, a mansion that previously housed six presidents of the college since 1938. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

Ithaca College announced that President Shirley M. Collado will soon live in a presidential residence on campus grounds

| BY MADISON FERNANDEZ

thaca College will be constructing a new presidential residence on campus. This building will be the first major construction project on campus since the construction of the Athletics and Events Center, which was completed in 2011. The residence will be located near the Emerson Hall dorm, according to an Intercom announcement. Construction will begin in Fall 2018 and is anticipated to be completed by Fall 2019. Doug Weisman ’78, chair of the board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, said there is not yet a complete budget for the construction project. An ad-hoc committee consisting of members from the board of trustees and leadership from the college has been planning the development of the residence for the past year, according to the Intercom announcement released April 3. Weisman said the ad-hoc committee made the decision to build the residence on campus because Fountain Place is located far from the college. The mansion is approximately 2 miles from campus. “Since the distance of Fountain Place to campus was one of its drawbacks, we decided early on that the new residence should be either on or adjacent to campus,” Weisman said via email. An estimated 72 percent of college presidents are required to live on campus as per their contracts,

according to data from Inside Higher Ed. Ithaca College requires its presidents to live in housing provided by the college. The college is working with Ikon.5 Architects to design the residence. The firm has designed buildings in Ithaca previously, such as the Collegetown Terrace apartment complex on East Hill. “We are honored to have been given the opportunity to design Ithaca College’s new presidential residence, and very much look forward to working with the college on this project,” Arvind Tikku, principal of Ikon.5 Architects, said via email. Weisman said the design will be appropriate not only for college presidents and their families but the rest of the campus community as well. He said this residence differs from 2 Fountain Place because it is being constructed with the specific purpose of presidential housing, whereas the mansion was built in 1892 and was later purchased by the college. Collado said she is excited about the new house and anticipates a strong connection with the campus community as a result of the new residence. “This space will not only enable presidents to maintain strong ties to the pulse of the college community, it will provide a necessary space to connect with and appropriately welcome to campus our friends, partners and visitors from surrounding areas and from other organizations and institutions around the nation and the world,” Collado said via email.

24 CARVING NEW PATHS

CENTERING STUDENTS Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado hired Rosanna Ferro to lead the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life

| BY GRACE ELLETSON AND SOPHIA TULP

thaca College President Shirley M. Collado announced Sept. 21, 2017, the creation of the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life and the appointment of a vice president to head that division. In addition, she added two new counselors at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services and a caseworker in student affairs, among other positions. Rosanna Ferro was directly appointed by Collado without a formal search, which is typically conducted by a search committee. Ferro officially began her role Oct. 30, 2017. She leads the Divsion of Student Affairs and Campus Life. Prior to joining Williams in 2013, Ferro held various positions at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, including serving as assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Engagement and assistant director of learning communities. Collado came to the college from Rutgers University–Newark, although the two did not work together there. Ferro and Collado met three years ago when Collado was leaving Middlebury College and Ferro was at Williams. Ferro said she is looking forward to focusing on the student experience through the newly dedicated division. “From afar the obvious thing that stands out to me is the fact is that there hasn’t been a standalone student affairs division, and so there hasn’t been kind of this intentional focus on the work,” Ferro said. Ferro acknowledged that, given the college’s past, there will be

Rosanna Ferro was appointed to lead the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life. COURTESY OF ROSANNA FERRO

challenges to address in terms of student satisfaction. “Right now, there has been a lack of vision at the senior leadership level because it was kind of impossible for one person at the provost level to take all of this on,” Ferro said. “I think that now going in, it’s really about reassuring students that their experience outside the classroom is just as important as inside, and having a healthy campus life is integral to having a student be happy.” The Division of Student Affairs is independent of the provost’s office, and the provost continues to serve as a chief academic officer and leads the Division of Academic Affairs. Provost Linda Petrosino is slated to remain in that role until the end of the academic year. Carlie McClinsey, president of Student Governance Council, said this is a change the college has needed for a long time. “The real reason they were combined was to create more collaboration between those two departments, but I think it ended up overwhelming that department and hurting both student affairs and academics on campus,” McClinsey said. In addition, Collado announced that she will be adding one case manager in student life and two counselors in CAPS. These are areas where campus constituencies have demanded action in the past. Collado said in her announcement that the demand for counseling has increased both nationwide and at the college and that the college must offer student support to be “truly student-centered.” Assistant News Editors Sierra Guardiola and Sophia Adamucci contributed reporting.

CARVING NEW PATHS 25

Gracing the Stage

The Class of 2017 celebrates during Ithaca College’s 122nd Commencement on May 21. The 2018 Commencement speaker is Daniel Weiss, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

During the 2018 Commencement, graduates will walk across the stage and have their names read | BY RYAN KING

uring Ithaca College’s Commencement on May 20, the Class of 2018 will become the first class in over two decades to walk and have their names read during the ceremony. David Prunty, executive director of auxiliary services, who co-chairs the Commencement committee, said that the committee is still working out some of the logistical changes that will have to be made to ensure that everyone’s names are read without adding too much additional time to the ceremony. Some of those logistical issues include whether the names will be read as the entire class body or names will be called broken up by the individual schools, but Prunty said that he anticipates that students will have their names read by school. “As soon as we made the decision to go in this direction, the committee’s been meeting not every day, but close, to figure out all the implications of that decision,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that need to be figured out, both from a purely logistical perspective and from a symbolism perspective.” This change is a result of months of deliberations by the Ithaca College Commencement Committee. At the beginning of the fall semester, President Shirley M. Collado tasked the committee with developing logistical options for having names read during Commencement. During the fall semester, a group of parents created a petition on Change.org asking the college to let students walk and have their names read during graduation. The petition garnered over 2,150 signatures and prompted the Commencement committee to host a forum to get feedback on the issue. In addition to the forum, the Commencement committee conducted a survey of over 2,600 parents, students, alumni and faculty. A majority of participants supported the decision to read names and let students

walk during Commencement. Prunty also said he anticipates that there will be an opt-out mechanism in place for students who do not want to have their names called or to walk during graduation, but he said nothing has been finalized. The Commencement committee does not have an estimate for how much time this change will add to the ceremony, but Prunty said they are looking into cutting different components of Commencement to save time. One thing in particular that he said could be tweaked is the procession and seating, which currently takes about an hour. Lisa Kleeman, a parent and one of the creators of the petition, said that she was really excited about the change. While her eldest daughter was not allowed to walk during her Commencement at the college in 2015, her youngest daughter, who is currently a freshman, will walk. “It was great that it went through so quickly,” she said. “It just shows you that you can really make change. … I am just really pleased that [Collado] wants to make changes to the school.” Fatoumata Jallow, Class of 2018 president, has been on the committee since Collado asked it to explore the possibility of having students walk during Commencement. She said that she tried to remain neutral during the process in order to better represent her class but said that since the decision has been announced, she is excited. “It does set a tone and definitely says that Ithaca College is trying to be more student-focused,” Jallow said. “For me, it will definitely be an uplifting moment, even if it is a mere 10 seconds, and I think that’s how it is for a lot of students.” Senior Karielle Williams said she was initially not planning on attending Commencement but changed her mind after the college announced the decision to read names during the ceremony. “I have family coming from out of the country … and the whole purpose is to have 10 seconds of walking across the stage,” Williams said.

Shaking

Things up

28 SHAKING THINGS UP

WHITEWASHED

The Ithaca College Board of Trustees is predominantly made up of white men

19 Men 6 Women

WHITe

21 WHITe NonWHITe

4 African-American 0 Other

| BY GRACE ELLETSON

s Ithaca College welcomed President Shirley M. Collado, the first woman of color to hold the position, it also welcomed seven new Ithaca College Board of Trustee members. Six of the seven new board members were white men — an identity that is already predominantly represented on the board. Out of the seven new board members — Michael Conover ’81, Jack Dembow ’77, Dave Fleisher ’91, Gary Gross ’81, William Nelligan ’83, Jeff Selingo ’95 and James Taylor ’00 — only one is a man of color. Out of the 25 members on the board, 16 are white men, five are white women, three are men of color, and there is one woman of color. That means approximately 64 percent of the board is made up of white men and 84 percent of the board is white. The college’s lack of diversity on its board is reflective of other institutions across

the country that face the same issue. Trustee members are elected for an initial term of four years and can be re-elected for up to two additional three-year terms. Following the completion of their first three terms, members have to rotate off the board for at least one year until they can be re-elected for another term. The new members began their appointments in May. And while the board is lacking in gender and racial diversity, some are members of the LGBTQ community. Trustees are expected to strengthen the college financially through investment planning and expected to donate personally to the college. They are also charged with managing the overall long-term stability and growth for the college, according to the college’s website. James Nolan ’77, chair of the Governance Committee on the board of trustees, is charged with finding, vetting and interviewing potential new members. He said that this process takes time and that it often takes years to

develop relationships with candidates before inviting them to join the board. “We go through a process to find individuals who have both the qualifications, the desire, the interest to participate with us on the board,” Nolan said. “It could take upwards of one to three years to cultivate a relationship with an individual to ask them to become a trustee.” This is why, Nolan said, it is taking the board longer to diversify its membership. “We’re confident that [diversity] will continue to be top of mind for us,” Nolan said. “And I feel confident that we’ll continue to make progress on it.” In a paper titled “Diversifying the Board — A Step Toward Better Governance,” Eric Leung, lecturer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School, outlines why homogenous boards can be problematic. It highlights “groupthink,” the practice of minimizing conflicts and reaching a consensus decision

SHAKING THINGS UP 29

17 Men WHITe

NonWHITe

without evaluating alternative ideas, as a major issue among boards lacking diversity. “Combining contributions of a group of people with different skills, backgrounds and experiences is assumed to be able to approach problems from a greater range of perspectives, to raise challenging questions and to debate more vigorously within top management groups,” the report states. The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges found in a 2010 survey that about 71.6 percent of all public board members and 69.8 percent of all board members from independent institutions were male. The survey also found that 74.3 percent of public institution boards and 87.5 percent of boards at independent colleges were white. Some faculty do not believe that it could have been difficult to find at least one woman, or woman of color, to join the new membership. Vivian Conger, associate professor in the Department of History, said she thought it was

7.5 Women 7.4% African-American 2.4% Hispanic/Latino 1.6% Asian/Pacific 0.4% American Indian 0.7% Other

horrible that the board could not manage to diversify more. “I think it sends a bad signal and … frankly, I just can’t imagine they could not find qualified women to serve on the board of trustees,” Conger said. Nolan said the selection process for potential board members depends on the college’s needs at a given point in its history. He said that during this past selection process, the board was looking for people with backgrounds in investing and those who have extensive knowledge about higher education. For example, Conover, Fleisher and Nelligan all have backgrounds in finance, and Selingo used to be the top editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education and has written three books focusing on major topics in higher education. Alvin Schexnider is a senior fellow for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, an organization focused on governance in higher education. He said that

while it is a lengthy process to find the right trustee who is dedicated enough to fill the position, diversifying a college’s board needs to be an intentional goal for trustee leadership. “There is a general understanding that if we are diverse and inclusive, it helps to better inform policy, it helps to better inform decisions, it helps to raise the level of awareness about issues that sometimes boards, while well-intentioned, may not be aware of,” he said. Ellen Chaffee, also a senior fellow for the Association of Governing Boards, said there are multiple ways for boards to be more intentional in finding diverse board members. She recommended that boards go outside of their ordinary networking zones to find more diverse candidates. “Network beyond your traditional sources,” Chaffee said. “They can go to places they haven’t been before, whether it be service clubs or hospitals or nonprofits and organizations that help people in the area … to network.”

30 SHAKING THINGS UP

A TARNISHED REPUTATION

An assessment of the Office of Public Safety outlines 40 recommendations to consider | BY MAX DENNING

n external assessment of the Ithaca College Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management conducted in November 2016 found that the office’s credibility and legitimacy are “deeply tarnished” among campus community members, specifically students. The assessment made more than 40 recommendations for Public Safety, some of which the college has already addressed. The assessment outlined six priority areas, in which it made 47 recommendations for the office. In order of urgency,

the priority areas include a comprehensive program for producing unbiased policing; selection, staffing and retention; branding the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management; bias incident response protocols; cultural competency training; and crisis intervention training. The college released the external assessment of Public Safety on Feb. 22. Margolis Healy, a campus safety and security consulting firm, conducted the assessment for the college. The assessment consisted of 21 group interviews, 138 individual interviews and answers to an anonymous feedback Google forum

from students, faculty and staff. On Sept. 15, 2015, then-Provost Benjamin Rifkin announced that then-President Tom Rochon requested that an external party review of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management. The request followed a protest by resident assistants because of what they called racial profiling and harassment by Public Safety officers. Two campus police officers made comments that RAs called “racially insensitive,” during a training session with RAs. Sergeant Terry O’Pray dismissed the RAs’ concerns about racial profiling, saying it does not happen at the college.

SHAKING THINGS UP 31

While talking about weapons on campus, Master Patrol Officer John Elmore held up a black BB gun and allegedly said, “If I saw someone with this, I would shoot them.” One RA related this to the police’s killing of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot while carrying a black BB gun in November 2014. A number of students of color came forward during the Fall 2015 semester with their stories accusing campus police officers of racial profiling. Steven J. Healy, CEO of Margolis Healy, presented the report at an information session Feb. 22. The information session was attended by students, faculty, staff and a large contingent of staff from Public Safety. He said the report represents the college at a snapshot in time, November 2016. “Anytime we do an assessment or a review, it is a point-in-time assessment,” Healy said at the session. “We can only look at what we are hearing when we were here.” Healy said he thought Public Safety had made a number of positive changes since the assessment. Bill Kerry, director of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, said his office takes the report earnestly. “The study itself is something we take very seriously, and we will continue to take very seriously in looking at those recommendations,” Kerry said. “But nothing will be more valuable than our community doing what that study did, which is tell us what you need. Tell us what you want, and work with us to make our campus more safe and cohesive.” At the information session, Kerry presented on how his office has addressed some of the recommendations, as well as how they have tried to engage with the community. Unbiased policing The most robust area of recommendations comes in the report’s Comprehensive Program for Producing Unbiased Policing section. The executive summary states Public Safety has taken some steps to “address the challenges of bias-based policing,” such as providing cultural competency training for Public Safety staff members and developing drafts of written directives to address bias-based policing. However, the report states that these steps suffer from two “significant pitfalls” — a lack of an overall strategy and a lack of momentum. To manage addressing these changes, the report recommends the college develop a comprehensive strategic plan to address bias-based policing policy. The report makes 17 recommendations under the comprehensive program for unbiased policing priorities. Some of these recommendations have already been implemented, such as moving forward with a body-worn camera program, which was rolled out in April 2017. Public Safety has attended a series of trainings

with Student Accessibility Services about “invisible disabilities” and another with Sean Eversley Bradwell, director of Programs and Outreach, regarding “inclusive excellence,” according to Kerry’s presentation on the office’s campus engagement activities. Kerry said that in April, the office will be starting “eat and greet” events in the campus dining halls. “A Perfect Storm” The findings mention a “perfect storm” that created an oppositional relationship between the campus community and Public Safety. This includes the office’s being unable to adopt many progressive approaches it tried to adopt due to a sense of inertia, the report states. The report goes on to state other contributing factors as to why it was unable to adopt other approaches, such as the national dialogue about the police and their relationship with people of color, partly because of high-profile police killings of African-American men. “In our view, these factors created a perfect storm that erupted shortly after a tense interaction between an Ithaca College police officer and a resident advisor at a training session,” the report states. “This situation, and the resulting public discourse, virtually paralyzed the department and its leadership, halting progress and creating an oppositional relationship.” Since the assessment was conducted, the office has changed leadership, with Terri Stewart leaving the position of director of Public Safety in January 2017 to become director of Campus Safety at Nazareth College. Kerry, who was an operations lieutenant for Public Safety for 14 years before leaving in June 2016 to become associate director of Campus Police at Tompkins Cortland Community College, took over in February 2017. Junior Carlie McClinsey, Student Governance Council president and member of the Public Safety Student Engagement Working Group, said she read the report. She said she thinks Kerry has enhanced the reputation of Public Safety. “Reading over it, I was skeptical just because I think Bill [Kerry] has ushered in a new era for Public Safety and community policing at IC,” McClinsey said. “When reading the report, I have very much taken it with a grain of salt just because of all the things that have happened. That being said, the recommendations put forward and a lot of the things that are in that report we do need to take seriously.” Kerry said Public Safety will continue to listen to the campus community and attempt to build trust. “It takes time,” he said. “These things don’t change overnight, and it takes time to get to where we want to get to. Today was another step in the right direction as far as getting to where we want to be.”

32 SHAKING THINGS UP

| BY MADISON MOORE

ith only 11 percent of faculty at Ithaca College identifying as African, Latino, Asian or Native American, the college has identified issues in the hiring process and launched new initiatives which include outreach and better-trained search committees to identify biases. The college is a predominately white institution, with 72.9 percent of its students and 84.4 percent of its faculty identifying as white. There are only 17 African-Americans, 25 Asians and 30 Hispanics out of the 732 faculty that work on campus. One of the initial problems the college has in trying to recruit faculty of color is broadening where departments post job search ads and how they

are communicating the position, said Donathan Brown, associate professor and director of humanities and sciences faculty diversity and development. Brown is working on finding ways to communicate ads differently to reach a wider audience in job searches. Instead of relying heavily on outlets such as The Chronicle of Higher Education to post job descriptions, Brown said in an email that the college should look at other academic, graduate student and minority-serving organizations that could provide the college with greater exposure. Brown and his team are also conducting audits to find out why faculty of color leave the college, and Brown’s team is engaging in small focus groups with faculty of color to find out what their needs and wants are.

Brown said there are multiple reasons why faculty of color are not staying at the college, including the feeling of lacking institutional support. “That’s the million-dollar question,” Brown said. “I see it as a series of issues. One, for any group of individuals, having a strong cohort that already exists is helpful. … Two, institutional culture and climate.” Aside from working on the way that the college reaches wider audiences, Brian Dickens, vice president of human resources, is partnering with Cornell University and the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce to create a Recruit to Ithaca campaign in an effort to better advertise to academics and the social and professional opportunities in Ithaca. This campaign includes trying to recruit people

who grew up in Ithaca to come back and work here, but also trying to recruit people from diverse populations. Dickens said he believes that it is hard to recruit minority faculty to the Ithaca region. Faculty may not want to stay in Ithaca because they don’t feel supported or they feel their needs aren’t met within the community, Dickens said. The college recently started a new initiative to better train the search committees that hire faculty across the campus. Danette Johnson, vice provost for academic programs, was part of this committee alongside Belisa Gonzalez, director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity and Michelle Rios-Dominguez, associate director of Provost and Educational Affairs. Johnson is also tasked with

SHAKING THINGS UP 33

Looking to hire Ithaca College explores new initiatives to recruit and retain faculty of color

ILLUSTRATION BY ADRIANNA DEL GROSSO

reviewing finalists and semifinalists in faculty searches to make sure that diversity is appropriately taken into account by the search committee and that there are no candidates who, while they appear to be comparable with candidates who moved forward, they have been excluded based on race. One way that the college recruits potential faculty is through the Dissertation Diversity Fellowship Program, also known as the Diversity Scholar Program, that was started by the School of Humanities and Sciences during the 2010–11 academic year. This program hires scholars who are in their final year of writing their dissertations or who have just completed their dissertation and supports them in their research for the academic year. These scholars teach one course

per semester. Of the 26 full-time diversity scholars who have been a part of this program over the years, nine have been hired on as full-time faculty once the fellowship was over. The hope with this program is that the diversity scholars will be hired as faculty members to their departments after the year is up, Carla Golden, professor and Women’s and Gender Studies program coordinator, said. She said she believes that the program is not big enough and that there should be more scholars in the program. Golden said she believes expanding this program will help with recruitment of faculty of color in the long run. Getting faculty in the door is only half of the battle. The college also must create a safe, welcoming and supportive atmosphere for faculty of color to

ensure that they stay here. Johnson, along with Gonzalez; Wade Pickren, director of the Center for Faculty Excellence; and Roger Richardson, associate provost for Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement, worked together on a retention committee to address the needs of the pretenured faculty of color at the college. Johnson said mentoring and support for scholarly work are the two biggest areas that need to be focused on based on feedback. Cynthia Henderson, associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, has participated in a few of the ALANA faculty meetings, as well as other faculty luncheons and talk circles when she can. In 2007, Henderson became the first African-American woman to be tenured in the history of the college.

“I think it was a little more difficult for me because there are aspects of my background, my upbringing, who I am as a woman of color, that were not understood or taken into account … not because necessarily a mean-spirited nature, but not understanding or not taking the time to find out who I am as a cultural being,” Henderson said. Henderson said her cultural differences factored into her having a difficult time going through the tenure process. Aside from the tenure process, Henderson said, because the college is such a white institution, it has been harder for her to feel supported in some aspects of her career. Henderson also said there have been moments of sincere support from her colleagues during her time at the college.

34 SHAKING THINGS UP

Collado has sex abuse conviction, denies wrongdoing

SHAKING THINGS UP 35

| BY AIDAN QUIGLEY

thaca College President Shirley M. Collado was accused of sexually abusing a female patient while working as a psychologist in Washington, D.C., in 2000 and was convicted of sexual abuse in 2001. Prosecutors argued Collado took advantage of a vulnerable, sexual-abuse survivor with mental illness by entering into a monthslong sexual relationship that started when Collado was the patient’s therapist. Collado denies having any sexual contact with the patient. Collado admits to living with the patient after the latter was discharged from The Center at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington. This violated her employment contract at The Center — a program specializing in post-traumatic and dissociative conditions at a private psychiatric hospital — as it was considered to be an unethical outside relationship and grounds for immediate termination. Collado said she was trying to help her by providing her a place to stay. Collado pleaded nolo contendere — no contest — to one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in August 2001 for a sole charge of placing her hand on the patient’s clothed breast with sexual intent while Collado was her therapist. Collado knew, or had reason to know, that the sexual contact was against the patient’s permission, as the patient was an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital, according to the charge against Collado. “The laws and ethical rules prohibiting sexual and outside relationships with former or current patients are designed to prevent the very activity that occurred in this case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Marcus-Kurn, the case’s prosecutor, wrote in the Government’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing. “The law recognizes that individuals that are wards of psychiatric institutions are extremely vulnerable to being abused and taken advantage of. The laws are

Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado speaks at the All-College Gathering Jan. 26. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

36 SHAKING THINGS UP designed to protect them and punish anyone who violates the therapist/ patient relationship.” By pleading nolo contendere, Collado did not admit guilt but accepted a conviction. After a defendant enters a nolo contendere plea, the case moves forward as though the defendant pleaded guilty. With this plea, there is no trial. Collado maintains her innocence and said she never had any sexual contact with the patient. “I didn’t have the legal resources; I didn’t have the financial resources to, and I didn’t have the emotional wherewithal to really take this on the way I would have preferred,” Collado told The Ithacan. “So I took a different route. And like many people in this country, young people in this country, people of color, people who don’t have networks, that was me. This happens all the time, where you make this really difficult choice, even if it goes completely against the truth of who you are.” The patient affirmed that she stands by the account of the case she gave the prosecution in 2001. Collado was one of the the patient’s treating therapists when the patient was an inpatient ward between May 12, 2000, and June 9, at The Center, Marcus-Kurn wrote. Collado, who graduated from Duke University with a Ph.D. in 1999, was 28 years old when she was treating the patient. She did not have a therapist’s license and was practicing under the supervision of a licensed therapist who was also employed at The Center, Marcus-Kurn wrote. Marcus-Kurn wrote that the patient’s two therapists and The Center’s director — it is unclear whether Marcus-Kurn is referring to Joan Turkus, The Center’s medical director, or Christine Courtois, The Center’s clinical director — all believed the patient’s allegations. Marcus-Kurn wrote that the two therapists had known the patient for a long time through numerous hospitalizations. “They both find her to be an extremely truthful person, and although she may have flashbacks of prior abuse or may relive traumatic experiences, her therapists have stated that she does not fabricate or hallucinate things that simply did not happen,” Marcus-Kurn wrote. “In other words, she has not experienced psychotic episodes and has never been diagnosed as psychotic.” One of Collado’s co-workers at The Center, who was familiar with the situation and wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the story, told The Ithacan they believe the patient’s allegation that she and Collado had a sexual relationship. “She had no reason to lie about them,” the co-worker said. “She had no reason to lie.” Collado was sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence, 18 months of supervised probation, an order to stay away from the patient, and 80

Timeline Of events

hours of community service. The court recommended that the community service should “not directly involve vulnerable people.” She was also ordered to pay $250 under the Victims of Violent Crime Compensation Act of 1981. Chronology The patient was receiving therapy for post-traumatic stress at The Center, as she had previously been sexually abused by a doctor — who was convicted for the abuse — and as a child, according to the prosecution. The patient, who was 30 years old at the time of the court case, was diagnosed with having bipolar disorder and a dissociative identity disorder and had experienced lengthy periods of deep depression and suicidal thoughts, Marcus-Kurn wrote. The patient alleged that she began a sexual relationship with Collado on May 20, 2000, which lasted until October 2000, according to the prosecution. Marcus-Kurn wrote that the patient recorded encounters with Collado in a journal that was submitted to the court but is not included in the case file. Collado told her that their sexual contact would be “therapeutic” and would “bring her out of her shell,” the patient said. Collado denies this allegation. Collado said she was working in the trauma unit at The Center when her first husband committed suicide on July 9, 2000, starting a very difficult time in her life. She said she resigned from The Center, as she was grieving her husband’s death. “I, at that point, was sought out by a patient who I had treated before on the unit who really needed my help and was in crisis and didn’t have a place to stay,” she said. The patient moved into Collado’s house “shortly after” her discharge from The Center, according to the prosecution. Collado supported the patient with a place to live after she was discharged from the hospital, Collado’s attorney, William Hickey, wrote in the defendant’s memorandum in aid of sentencing. Marcus-Kurn declined to comment, and Hickey did not respond to a request for comment. The patient alleged that she had participated in a three-way sexual encounter with Collado and an adult male on Sept. 9, 2000, according to the prosecution. The patient alleged Collado told her it “would be psychologically helpful for her.” The man and Collado denied that the interaction had taken place. Collado said the patient moved in either in the late summer or fall of 2000 and moved out by November after Collado asked her to move out. “I learned, and it came to me, that that was probably not a good idea, that I needed to really focus on myself and that I was not in the position to help someone who I knew had a pretty troubled past,” she said.

Late Summer 2000 The patient moves into Collado’s home following the suicide of Collado’s husband on July 9, 2000. The patient alleges she and Collado continued a sexual relationship during this time.

August 29, 2001 Collado pleads no contest — nolo contendere — to one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for placing her hand on the patient’s clothed breast with sexual intent while she was the patient’s therapist.

May 12–June 9, 2000

November 2000

Collado is one of the patient’s therapists at The Center at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington in Washington, D.C. The patient alleged that she and Collado entered into a sexual relationship when Collado was one of her treating therapists. Collado denies the allegation.

Collado tells the patient to move out. The patient calls Nora Rowny, The Center’s social services director, and tells Rowny that she had been having a sexual relationship with Collado, according to an email sent by Rowny and acquired by The Ithacan. Collado said she resigned around this time to focus on grieving her husband’s death, while the prosecutors said she was terminated.

SHAKING THINGS UP 37 The patient notified Nora Rowny, The Center’s social services director, about her relationship with Collado in early November, according to an email message Rowny sent to Turkus. The email was obtained and verified by The Ithacan. Turkus forwarded the message to Courtois. Rowny wrote in the email that on Oct. 30, 2000, the patient called her and told her she had “lost her housing, felt betrayed and frightened and wasn’t sure where to go” and that she needed to move out in two weeks. Rowny wrote that the patient told her on Nov. 4, 2000, that the patient had a relationship with Collado, saying she had been living with Collado and they had been having a “‘sort of’ relationship” that began when she was a patient at The Center. She told Rowny she and Collado had “expressed a mutual attraction and that Dr. Collado had kissed her” two weeks before her last discharge from The Center. The patient told Rowny she continued to call and see Collado after leaving the unit. Rowny wrote in the email that she called one of the patient’s other therapists, Amelie Zurn, on Nov. 4, 2000. Zurn said the patient “had told her about the involvement with Dr. Collado only recently.” Zurn told Rowny she was not sure what to do as “the story unfolded slowly concerning the extent and timing of the relationship.” By the time the patient told her about it, Zurn said, the patient had not been at The Center for a few months and Collado was on leave. Rowny wrote that Zurn said she had decided not to immediately disclose the relationship because the patient said she was invested in her relationship with Collado and had told Zurn not to get Collado in any trouble. Zurn said that alerting others would be a breach in her therapeutic relationship with the patient and that the patient may “decompensate lethally” if Zurn alerted leadership at The Center too quickly. The patient had

told Zurn she had ruled out returning to The Center in case of decompensation because of her relationship with Collado and would not “easily accept hospitalization elsewhere.” Zurn said she was afraid the decompensation without the patient’s regular hospital could be lethal. Zurn and Rowny discussed the matter and decided it would be best for The Center to be aware of the situation, as the patient had told both of them about the situation. Courtois, Turkus, Zurn and Rowny all declined to comment. The patient also did not want to discuss the case. Collado’s employment agreement with The Center stated that “any personal/friendship, intimate/sexual, or business (apart from clinical referral and services) relationships with a current or former patients constitutes a dual relationship and is an ethic violation. Any such relationship is grounds for immediate termination of employment,” according to the prosecution. Collado said the patient needed her help. “One of the things that is really hard when you are doing work, especially around trauma, is I think all good therapists see people as whole people, and I thought that I was making a thoughtful decision, and then I quickly learned that I wasn’t,” she said. “I put myself at risk by allowing her to live in my home.” She added that she was on leave, not working at the clinic, when the patient moved in. “I treated this person with integrity as a psychologist, I treated her on the unit appropriately and professionally,” she said. “And then I took a leave, and again, I tried to help and make a decision, and then these allegations were made.” The co-worker said that The Center had approximately 15 to 20 patients and 10 staff members, who were caught off-guard by the allegations. “People were very shocked and very betrayed because it struck at the heart of what

we were trying to do with the patients who suffered trauma,” the co-worker said. “They need to have very strict boundaries and relearn what normal separation is between people. We tried to build up those boundaries — internal boundaries and external boundaries — so they can get through the world.” Legal Case In her interview with The Ithacan, Collado said that shortly after she asked the former patient to move out, she became aware of the claims the patient made against her. She said she did not have the resources to fight the allegations and wanted to take care of herself and figure out a way forward. Collado pleaded nolo contendere on Aug. 29, 2001. By entering this plea, Collado waived her right to a trial by jury or the court and gave up her right to appeal the conviction in the Court of Appeals. The three conditions of the plea were that the government would allow the no contest plea, the government would recommend suspension of all jail time if the judge considered incarceration, and the government would not pursue any other charges based on the allegations to date. Marcus-Kurn wrote Collado had met the patient when the patient was emotionally vulnerable, had encouraged the patient to open up to her and knew the patient had been sexually abused in the past. After Collado realized she did not want to continue the relationship, she ended it abruptly, Marcus-Kurn wrote. “The defendant had to have known that, in the long run, her relationship with the victim would cause great emotional damage to the victim,” Marcus-Kurn wrote. The patient told Marcus-Kurn that she was emotionally unable to write a formal letter to the court. While she said she really wanted the court to know how she felt, she was concerned reliving the painful experiences could lead to suicidal thoughts she was unsure she had the strength to fight.

February 22, 2017 Collado is named the ninth president of Ithaca College after working in administrative roles at Middlebury College, Lafayette College, Rutgers University–Newark and the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes college access and youth leadership development. The Ithaca College Board of Trustees examined the full case file and provided the Presidential Search Committee a summary of the case during Collado’s search process.

November 20, 2001

December 2017

Collado is sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence, 18 months of supervised probation, 80 hours of community service and ordered to stay away from the patient.

The Ithacan and other media outlets receive anonymous packages containing court documents and other relevant records.

January 16, 2018 Collado releases a statement describing her version of events. Within an hour, The Ithacan publishes an investigation into the case.

38 SHAKING THINGS UP

Clockwise from left, Shirley M. Collado, Madeline Thomas, Paul Arguelles, Veronica Rivera and Nenee Gomez were the inaugural Posse group at Vanderbilt University. COURTESY OF THE POSSE FOUNDATION, INC.

The patient did express her feelings to Marcus-Kurn over the telephone. Marcus-Kurn wrote that the patient said the following: “It brings on such immense pain and it is very, very intense feelings of confusion. I start hearing her calling her name, I start smelling her, I start remembering her telling me that it would be good for me to sleep with (name redacted), and I remember being raped, and I have blocked that all out and I’m afraid that it would kill me if I start dealing with it right now. She has hurt me beyond belief and it’s like so bad that I can hardly touch it because it hurts so bad. I have to take it really slow. I know that I feel a lot inside but I’m not really sure what all of those feelings are because I try really hard not to feel them but I know that they are painful as hell. I literally feel that I will fall apart every time I think I’ll deal with it. And it hurts too much. And I’m really angry that she slept with me and that she convinced me to sleep with her boyfriend and I feel that I was raped and that there is nothing I can do

with it because I believe it isn’t against the law in D.C.” Collado’s lawyer made a motion to strike the victim impact statement from the case, arguing that victim impact statements were intended to be used for crimes of violence, not misdemeanor assault charges, and that the prosecution did not follow the correct procedures to attain it. The judge struck the patient’s statement from consideration. The patient sent Courtois and Turkus emails she alleged were from Collado and photographs from a trip to New York she had taken with Collado, Marcus-Kurn wrote. Collado would not discuss the alleged trip to New York with The Ithacan and said she did not want to go through every claim the patient made, as she had already gone through a court case. “Just to generally say, when she lived in my home and when I was trying to help, I tried to be a normal roommate and a kind person and be able to be helpful like I did with my other

roommate living in the home and, you know, my friends and family,” she said. Marcus-Kurn wrote that when Collado was confronted by “The Center Director,” she admitted she had been living with the patient and that she and the patient had been in the area of The Center where the patient alleged some of the sexual contact had occurred. But she denied any sexual relationship, Marcus-Kurn wrote. Collado denies speaking with either of the two directors of The Center. “When I learned about the allegations, I attempted to contact them and talk to them, and I never had a conversation with them,” she said. “They never talked to me.” The defense maintained that Collado had encouraged the patient to work with her multiple personalities by doing artwork and keeping a journal. “Dr. Collado attributes [the patient’s] belief of ongoing sexual encounters as fantasies and aberrations,” Hickey wrote in the memorandum. “At no time ever did Ms. Collado tell [the patient] that acting out sexual fantasies with others would be therapeutic.” The prosecution submitted a letter from Courtois and Turkus to Judge Frederick Dorsey as a supplemental submission in aid of sentencing. Though the document introducing this letter to the case is included in the case file, the letter itself is not. The letter was obtained and verified by The Ithacan. Entering into a sexual relationship with a patient is against the American Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics, Courtois and Turkus wrote. “Her conduct, in terms of entering into a personal relationship with a patient, is not only a violation of the ethical code of her chosen profession and her contract with her employer, but a betrayal of those who trained her and of all of us in the field,” Courtois and Turkus said. “She neither sought supervision nor support from her colleagues when she violated the code; instead she kept it hidden.” In the letter, Courtois and Turkus wrote they encouraged “due consideration of restricting Shirley Collado from employment involving patient contact” and wrote they had “grave concerns in this area.” “It has been a shock to us to discover this months later and has shaken us to our professional core,” Courtois and Turkus wrote. “The damage to the hospital program, in which she worked, is inestimable. Many hours have been spent by us and our staff in processing these issues. We will undoubtedly continue to do so for some time to come. What Shirley Collado did is the antithesis of all of our beliefs, values, and responsibility to patients.” In the defendant’s Memorandum in Aid of

SHAKING THINGS UP 39 Sentencing, Hickey wrote the patient’s allegations were “reckless and spurious.” Hickey wrote that the patient was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had hallucinatory episodes. On “several occasions,” the patient thought someone else was in the room with her and Collado and confused Collado with other people, Hickey wrote. He wrote that Collado’s accuser “suffers from psychoses and is highly unstable and unreliable” — although he cites no source for that diagnosis. The claim contradicts what those who treated the patient told the prosecution. The patient was not psychotic, the co-worker said. Collado said she fully stands by what her lawyer submitted in her defense and could not talk about the patient’s medical history. “I can’t speculate why the therapists reported what they did,” she said. “What I can tell you, in a very general way, without disclosing her whole medical profile… this is someone who was treated multiple times — not just by me, by multiple hospitalizations and therapists — had a very serious psychiatric disorders that have lasted years upon years in a pretty serious profile when you look at dissociative disorders, psychotic disorders, things like that.” Hickey argued that the patient did not register any complaints about Collado until after she was asked to move out in November 2000. Hickey wrote that the fact the patient was unwilling to provide a written statement “should give serious pause to any credence attributed to her” and that “the fact that she never complained to anyone until she had to move out of the Collado residence should question her motivations.” He also noted there had never been any other allegations made against Collado. Collado told The Ithacan there has never been another allegation of sexual misconduct against her. Hickey wrote that the unit in which the patient was located was highly visible. He wrote that there were windows in therapy rooms, nurses noted where each patient was at all times and there were no places off-limits in The Center. Rotschaefer told Hickey that the patient “was extremely unstable, unreliable and had a crazy lifestyle.” Rotschaefer said she never knew or observed an inappropriate relationship between Collado and the patient. Collado was sentenced on Nov. 20, 2001. The prosecution requested she be sentenced to go to counseling for mental health providers who sexually assault their patients, perform 120 hours of community service, and write the victim a letter of apology. Dorsey sentenced her to a 30-day suspended sentence, 18 months of supervised

probation, an order to stay away from the patient, and 80 hours of community service. The probation was transferred to New York, as Collado had moved to New York City by the time she was sentenced. Ethical Issues Eric Harris, a licensed psychologist and attorney who is currently the legal counsel for the Massachusetts Psychological Association, had approximately 60,000 consultations with psychologists while he worked for the American Psychological Association Insurance Trust. Though unfamiliar with the specifics of this case, he spoke with The Ithacan about the

“

In the opinion of the profession, there is no way a current client, given the power differential in the relationship, can meaningfully consent to a sexual relationship.” – ERIC HARRIS

wider ethical issues involved. Harris said living with a former patient is an ethical violation due to the power differential between the therapist and patient. “If you have sex with an existing patient, in psychology there is only one mortal sin, and that’s it,” he said. “The whole issue of sexual harassment, and #MeToo now … involves the question of consent. And in the opinion of the profession, there is no way a current client, given the power differential in the relationship, can meaningfully consent to a sexual relationship. The reason it is such as serious violation is we know the amount of serious

harm that clients have suffered as a result of being abused in this way.” The patient would have understood that engaging in a sexual relationship with a therapist would be a violation of The Center’s rules, the co-worker said. The patient was unable to consent to sexual contact because of her status as a trauma patient, the co-worker said. “It would be like seducing a child, honestly — that’s how vulnerable… you just don’t do that,” the co-worker said. “I would not say that she would be capable of giving consent.” Presidential Search Despite the conviction, Collado rose through the ranks of higher education. She left D.C. and moved back to New York, taking a job at the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes college access and youth leadership development. After leaving the Posse Foundation in 2006, she held administrative roles at Middlebury College, Lafayette College, Rutgers University–Newark and, now, as president of Ithaca College. Collado began her tenure as president on July 1, 2017. Tom Grape, chair of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees, and Jim Nolan, trustee and chair of the search committee, said the case was thoroughly vetted during the search process. “My own perspective about it is this is something of almost 20 years ago that was adjudicated in court and has been settled,” Grape said. “And we’ve done very thorough reference-checking for her professional activity since, and we did talk to some folks from that era, and we’re satisfied.” The Ithacan received an anonymous package in early December including the prosecution’s memorandum and some additional documents not included in the case file. The patient said she did not send the anonymous packages that were circulating with information about the case and does not know who did. Collado said her office also received an anonymous package with information from the case, which was reviewed by Grape and others. “From the beginning, with the the board and the search committee, this is not news, this is not something that was unknown, this is not something that is a big surprise,” she said. Grape and Nolan said they both absolutely stand by their decision to hire Collado. “In any situation, you have to look at the entirety of the individual and the work that they have done,” Nolan said. “And there are challenges in people’s lives. So you take the whole body into consideration, and when we take the whole body of work, of her life experiences, into consideration, she is an exceptional individual … who we believe is absolutely the right fit for the institution.”

40 SHAKING THINGS UP

mixed REACTIONS

Members of the campus community react to the news of Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado’s 2001 sexual-abuse charge | BY SOPHIA ADAMUCCI AND CELISA CALACAL

ollowing Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado’s statement about a 2001 sexual-abuse charge and The Ithacan’s in-depth article about the case, members of the college community are expressing mixed reactions to the information. Collado was accused of sexually abusing a female patient while working as a psychologist in Washington, D.C., in 2000, and pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge. Collado denies that any sexual contact occurred and said she pleaded no contest because she didn’t have the resources to fight the claims. She said she allowed the patient to move into her home — considered an ethical violation by Collado’s employers and professional guidelines — because the patient had nowhere to go. The Ithaca College Board of Trustees and the campus members of the Presidential Search Committee both released statements expressing confidence in Collado and standing by their decision to hire her. An open letter in support of Collado with 275 signatures from faculty and staff was published online by The Ithacan on Jan. 23. The letter states Collado did not hide this information during the hiring process, that the case was settled in court and that Collado has unified the campus in the five and a half months she has held office. The letter was primarily crafted by Claire Gleitman, professor in the Department of English; Carla Golden, professor in the Department of Psychology; Jennifer Tennant, associate professor in the Department of Economics; and Julia Lapp, associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education. Gleitman was a member of the presidential search committee, and she said she was not taken by surprise by Collado’s statement because the search committee was aware of the information during the hiring process. Gleitman said one of the central points in the letter is that the court case was resolved approximately 20 years ago. Tom Swensen, professor and chair of the

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences and chair of the Faculty Council, was also on the search committee. He said that the search committee did not see the court documents for the case during the search process but that he does not think it was necessary for the committee to see the documents. “The board thoroughly went through everything,” Swensen said. “We made the best choice.” Title IX Coordinator Linda Koenig said her initial reaction to the news was to identify how to continue supporting a campus culture in which students feel they can come forward with reports of sex offenses. “This does not change the direction or approach we take institutionally to respond to sexual misconduct,” Koenig said. “Reports will continue to be taken seriously, and education efforts for prevention will continue.” She also said she encourages people to vocalize their feelings regarding this issue and to seek resources if they needed, either from the Title IX Office or the Advocacy Center. Koenig’s phone number is 607-274-7761, and the Advocacy Center’s hotline phone number is 607-277-5000. Rosanna Ferro, vice president for student affairs and campus life, released a statement on Intercom encouraging students to find safe spaces on campus to discuss their reactions and feelings regarding the news. Asma Barlas, professor in the Department of Politics, said that it is a disorienting time for the campus and that the animosity towards Collado is sexist. She said that Collado completed the punishment given to her by the court and that the issue has been concluded. “For me, it is bringing out the racism and sexism and just the hatred that people have,” Barlas said. Junior Carlie McClinsey, president of the Student Governance Council, released a statement to The Ithacan, saying that the SGC executive board is taking time to listen to the student body. “Having just returned to Ithaca College for the semester, we’d like the opportunity to have

conversations and listen to students before speaking to the greater student response to this news,” McClinsey said. Sophomore Aisha Mughal said the information laid out in The Ithacan article should not be ignored by the community and must be considered in coming to conclusions about the allegations. “It’s just important for people to read the Ithacan piece and not automatically assume that the truth is something just because that’s easier for them to accept, but be open to different perspectives,” she said. Senior Emma Enav said students should think critically and not blindly take sides when considering the allegations. “I think it’s important to understand the point of view of the person who has pressed charges against President Collado, but also to be empathetic and understand both sides,” she said. Senior Jonathan Shea said he was impressed by the transparency in the statement Collado sent to the campus community. “She was kind of being very clear about everything in telling her side of the story,” he said. “I was surprised, but I was impressed that she had the integrity to talk about it herself.” Elizabeth Bleicher, associate professor in the Department of English and Exploratory Program director, said Collado responded to the publicity of this issue with dignity. “I admire how she’s handled it,” Bleicher said. “I could not believe the first message I got about this was from her and not from her handlers.” Senior Roswell Ecker, who is a survivor of sexual assault, said a number of people are unwilling to consider the allegations against Collado because she is a woman, adding that sexual assault committed by people who are not men is conceptualized very differently. “The idea that because she’s a woman of color she’s incapable of also doing bad things is just unrealistic,” Ecker said. “And it’s, I think, something people are using to justify their own discomfort with the news. And they don’t want it to be true.”

“ “ “

SHAKING THINGS UP 41

I think it’s important to understand the point of view of the person who has pressed charges against president cOllado, but also to be empathetic and understand both sides.”

– EMMA ENAV

IT’S JUST IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO READ THE ITHACAN PIECE AND NOT AUTOMATICALLY ASSUME THE TRUTH IS SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE THAT’S EASIER FOR THEM TO ACCEPT.”

– AISHA MUGHAL

THE IDEA THAT BECAUSE SHE’S A WOMAN OF COLOR SHE’S INCAPABLE OF ALSO DOING BAD THINGS IS JUST UNREALISTIC.”

President Shirley M. Collado pled nolo contendre to a sexual abuse charge in 2001. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

– ROSWELL ECKER

42 SHAKING THINGS UP

statements of support Colleagues of Shirley M. Collado and constituencies on campus voice their support for the Ithaca College president after news of a 2001 sex abuse charge | BY JEFFREY SELINGO It’s important to remember that President Collado is among the youngest leaders in higher education. Unlike the average president in his 60s, where something that happened nearly 20 years ago would have taken place in his 40s, this legally resolved case happened at a time in the life of President Collado when we have all made decisions we might question years later through the lens of experience. … The best presidents come to the job with a record of accomplishments, but failures as well. I have met many presidents who made personal mistakes and had professional failures early in their careers only to have those experiences help shape their academic lives and later presidencies. It’s clear from reading President Collado’s statement and her interview with The Ithacan that this episode in her life helped do that for her.

| BY 271 ITHACA COLLEGE FACULTY AND STAFF Indeed, in just five and a half short months, President Collado has unified our campus in a manner that contrasts strikingly with the discord, conflict, and suspicion that prevailed at Ithaca College for some time before her arrival. She has rapidly gained our affection, our admiration and our trust, and these recent disclosures have not altered that, though they will no doubt spark productive and nuanced conversations on our campus about how people move forward after terrible events, recover and learn from their own failings and those of others, and need not be defined by the worst thing that ever happened to them. In short, we hereby affirm our faith and confidence in President Collado and in the process that brought her to our campus, as well as our optimism about the future toward which we trust she will ably steer our college.

| BY SUSAN ROTH I do not believe President Collado had sexual contact of any kind with her patient, as accused. I say this with the authority owing to my academic credentials (Professor of Psychology and past Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, retired as of 7/2017), and the respect I have in the area of sexual abuse and traumatic stress (for example, I am past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies). And I say this with the authority owing to my knowledge of President Collado, whom I mentored as a graduate student and whose career I have followed with great interest. Dr. Collado is a professional with an impeccable moral compass; a pioneer in regard to cultural issues in clinical, educational, and community settings; and a leader of great thoughtfulness,

, | BY CLAIRE GLEITMAN ON BEHALF OF PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE The information provided to us on the allegations did not alter our assessment of Shirley’s qualifications, nor did it diminish our firm confidence in her ability to be a remarkably effective, deeply humane, and engaged president of Ithaca College. On the contrary, we understood this occurrence to be — as she described it in an interview published by the college on March 1st, 2017 — a “formative” experience in her life, one that contributed to enriching her understanding of and empathy for the struggles of troubled and vulnerable people.

kindness, transparency, and integrity. She has devoted her career to helping those individuals who are relatively powerless owing to social position. If I had read the article in The Ithacan as a student of the College, I would be disturbed about the accusations. But knowing what I do, I am convinced that what might otherwise be believable is in fact not so. I have knowledge of President Collado’s character as lived out over many years. ...What I am disturbed about in the end is an understanding of how the revivification of this event initiated by an anonymous package can lead to a conclusion that is utterly false and severely damaging to a wonderful institution who has put an extraordinary person at its helm.

| BY PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM We have come to know President Collado as a strong, capable, inclusive and inspiring leader of our community. Throughout her tenure here, and in particular in this moment, she has demonstrated honesty, integrity and courage as she has shared stories of her successes and her sufferings. We feel fortunate to be working with someone who embodies such professional and personal authenticity. We now move forward, with full confidence in her ability to successfully lead Ithaca College, and with full confidence in the Ithaca College community to share in these values of integrity, responsibility and compassion in a difficult time.

SHAKING THINGS UP 43

SUPPORTING VICTIMS “What would it look like to hold support for a trusted colleague alongside uplifting the voices of survivors?” When we center the conversation around the impacts on those who have done harm we silence the voices of those who n the last few weeks the Ithaca College community has en- have been harmed. We have heard the victim’s voice in her origgaged in difficult conversations around issues of sexual abuse, inal allegations, in court documents sent to The Ithacan and professional boundaries, intersectionality and accountabil- in her recent reaffirmation of her initial report. We have also ity after allegations of President Collado’s heard that voice discredited again and again by allegations that sexual misconduct toward a former patient her reported mental health diagnosis situates her as an unrelisurfaced. This conversation has centered able reporter. We have felt the survivor’s voice silenced in the around President Collado and the imopen letter of support signed by several hundred members of pact of these allegations on her position IC’s faculty and staff. And at the same time, our staff is hearing at Ithaca College which, while important from survivors on the IC campus who feel the chilling effects of and relevant, has had the consequence this rhetoric. of obscuring the voice and experience So we ask, what would it look like to hold support for a trusted of survivors. colleague alongside uplifting the voices of survivors? What would The Advocacy Center strives to provide it take for this to be possible in the Ithaca College community? CAMPBELL compassionate and trauma-informed supIthaca College is a campus that has learned to listen to what port for survivors of sexual and domestic violence and to build students need and to better prioritize the voices of the mara community where all are free from violence in their homes, ginalized, which was reflected in the selection of President relationships and life. We unequivocally stand with survivors Collado. However, the climate of unwavering declarations of supand acknowledge that conversations port for President Collado fails to recognize around domestic and sexual violence are the nuance of the harm that was done. When often challenging and uncomfortable and strong statements of unconditional support require a capacity for holding nuance for President Collado appeared in campus and complexity. publications and on office doors, survivors in To move toward a more nuanced conthe IC community felt the chill of disbelief and versation, we must acknowledge that harm silencing from the very people they would othcan be done through a number of interpererwise trust with their vulnerability. Campus sonal and structural means. In our criminal leaders who proudly support their president justice system, those impacted by oppresbut do not likewise state their belief of sursion often do not get justice; rather, they vivors risk losing valuable relationships with are scapegoated by racism, classism and their students, further isolating survivors of sexism. We must also be able to acknowlsexual violence, and perpetuating stereotypes edge that people can be harmed and can about survivors. The silencing and marginalso do harm. And that having experienced alizing of survivors makes the IC climate less trauma and adversity does not release one safe and survivors more vulnerable. from accountability. We are concerned To move forward we must all hold ourselves that in President Collado’s statements, to a higher standard and push ourselves to and the statements of many on campus acknowledge the full complexity of these supporting her, there has not been an ac– HEATHER CAMPBELL difficult situations. The Ithaca College comceptance of responsibility for her role in munity has shown itself willing to begin this the harm that was caused to the patient, and a minimizing of the conversation but must acknowledge the voices of survivors and boundary violation that occurred. The boundary violation that the harm that has been done. President Collado admitted to, inviting a former patient to live in her home, was a significant, damaging and frankly shocking Sincerely, action for a trauma therapist. The allegations of sexual abuse she Heather Campbell, MSW pled no contest to are deeply troubling and reflect a complete be- Executive Director trayal of a therapist’s professional responsibility. The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County

| BY HEATHER CAMPBELL

“

The silencing and marginalizing of survivors makes the IC climate less safe and survivors more vulnerable.”

44 SHAKING THINGS UP ILLUSTRATION BY AVA KENDRICK

DIFFICULT DISCUSSIONS

The Ithaca College community must be willing to address the complexities surrounding the news of President Shirley M. Collado’s uncontested sexual-abuse charge | BY THE ITHACAN

he revelation of Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado’s blatant professional ethics violations and uncontested misdemeanor conviction for sexual abuse in 2001 have caught the campus’ attention. While the nature of this incident from Collado’s past may be difficult to grapple with, it demands the Ithaca College community discuss and critically engage with the serious questions raised by the surfacing of this story on our campus. Much of the initial public conversation surrounding the story had revolved primarily around the anonymous package that alerted The Ithacan to the case. Some questioned the motives behind the package and its influence on The Ithacan’s article. However, it is important to understand that The Ithacan’s determination of the newsworthiness of the case, as well as its reporting, was derived from the full public court file. Journalists receive anonymous tips often, and although the original source’s motivations can figure into the story, they are secondary in determining the story’s news value. The information itself, not

the source, should be the focus of discussion. The community should consider the following crucial matters: • As the #MeToo movement has swept the nation, many on campus have been stressing the importance of believing individuals who make accusations of sexual harassment and abuse, without any exceptions. Why is the community treating this case differently? While this is easy to say when those accused are distant public figures, sexual abuse allegations are much harder to come to terms with when the person accused is a popular leader in our own community. But is the proximity and painful nature of this case an acceptable excuse for immediately dismissing the allegations of the patient without devoting more time and consideration to both sides of the story? • It is essential to note that Collado has always denied that she had any sexual contact with the patient. In explaining her no contest plea, she points to her lack of resources, her own emotional pain following the suicide of her first husband and her lack of a strong support network. Given the fact that Collado was a young woman of color with limited funds and support, the case raises questions about race

and the legal system. How might racial and class discrimination have played a part in how Collado was treated in this case? At the same time, how might existing stigma surrounding mental illness have played a part in how the patient was viewed in the case, as well as by our own community? • Some are arguing that since this case was adjudicated in court 17 years ago, Collado deserves privacy from public scrutiny. But since she is the president of our college, shouldn’t the community know about such a consequential incident in her life? Does the amount of time that has passed since the allegations really lessen their severity? • Transparency is another important topic of conversation, especially considering administrative transparency was a prominent concern under former President Tom Rochon. Many — including the 280 faculty and staff members who signed a letter that was circulated — argue that Collado has been sufficiently transparent. They point to her vague comments in IC View about “claims” made against her and “steps” she took to “end legal action.” Now, during the first real period of adversity in her presidency, is the time for our community to

SHAKING THINGS UP 45 show Collado our expectations for administrative transparency. Are we as a community really going to the set the bar for transparency so low that we are willing to accept the comments in IC View as an adequate explanation of this case? Does releasing an additional statement under the pressure of the impending publication of The Ithacan’s story qualify as transparency? • Some say the fact that the trustees and the search committee were aware of the case during the search process is enough for them. However, the campus community was widely suspicious of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees just two years ago. What has changed now, that people are so willing to accept the board’s judgment on this without knowing the information themselves? There are many ambiguities surrounding what happened 17 years ago, but there are aspects that are more clear. Even if one decides to not believe the patient’s accusations of sexual abuse against Collado, the ethical issues involved in this case must be taken more seriously. The unit where Collado worked had extremely strict rules to protect patients from being hurt by their therapists. While she portrays her decision to allow the patient to live with her as a compassionate choice, Collado, as a 28-year-old Ph.D. with specialized training in trauma therapy, certainly knew she was putting the patient at risk. After Collado asked the patient to move out, the patient’s therapists were worried that Collado’s actions had literally put the patient’s life in danger. But Collado says she regrets the decision because it put herself at risk. She has not, in any public statement, expressed regret about the harm her reckless decision caused the patient. What does that say about her? At this year’s MLK Week keynote speech, a question was asked about how to respond to well-liked public figures guilty of past wrongdoings. In his response, the speaker, Marlon Peterson, asked, “Are these people sincerely acknowledging the wrong that they’ve committed? Are they trying to reduce it as just something that happened back in the day? Are they trying to place some blame on the person that was harmed?” The 280 faculty and staff who signed the letter take the position that the conversations on campus should be about “how people move forward after terrible events, recover and learn from their own failings and those of others, and need not be defined by the worst thing that ever happened to them.” Frankly, they are missing the point. These conversations should focus on sexual abuse, mental health stigmas, legal representation for people of color, our community’s expectations of transparency and other critical issues that arise in the story. The case is undoubtedly complex, meaning our response must be complex and nuanced as well. Anything less would be a moral failure on the part of the campus community.

COMMITTING TO LEADERSHIP At the All-College Gathering, Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado discussed the news of her 2001 sexual-abuse conviction and her goals for the upcoming semester

| BY FALYN STEMPLER AND SOPHIA ADAMUCCI

Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado reflected on her first semester as president, addressed the recent revelation of her 2001 sexual abuse conviction and discussed her goals for the spring semester at the Jan. 26 All-College Gathering, which was attended by students, faculty and staff. Collado started her approximately 27-minute speech by addressing the news that in 2001 she pleaded no contest to a sex abuse charge after a former patient of hers claimed she and Collado had entered into a monthslong sexual relationship that started when Collado was the patient’s therapist. Collado said that she acknowledges the campus community is having difficult conversations about her past and that she is open to having honest and respectful dialogue about the topic. “You may be questioning my commitment to supporting and respecting individuals with mental illness or survivors of abuse,” Collado said. “You may be questioning my ability to empathize with those in crisis. I’d like to reiterate today my complete commitment to ensuring the respect and understanding for all individuals, without reducing them to their most visible labels, diagnoses or social markers.” Stickers that said “President Collado has my full support” were handed out at the entrance of the Athletics and Events Center by Sybil Conrad, assistant director of Campus Center and Events Services, and others. Collado said she understands that critics may think that individuals with complicated pasts do not deserve leadership roles, but she said she is aiming to be a leader who is a whole person. “I stand here with you, continuing to have the courage to share with you

who I am as a person and certainly as your leader,” she said. “I’m asking all of you to be courageous with me. To understand and embrace not only my complexities, but those of our colleagues, those of our students, those of our community members.” Collado also recapped the initiatives she launched during her first semester as president. She mentioned her creation of two administrative positions and the subsequent hiring of Paula Younger as executive director for government and community relations and Rosanna Ferro as vice president of the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life. The All-College Gathering ended with a panel held by Chris Biehn, vice president of College Relations and Advancement, which included Ferro; Elizabeth Bleicher, associate professor in the Department of English and director of the Ithaca College Exploratory Program; junior Joe Anthony Cruz; and Anne Woodard, associate director of Student Financial Services. The panel discussed what its members saw as accomplishments from the previous semester and their goals for the future of the college. Sarah Grunberg, lecturer in the Department of Sociology and member of the Leadership Committee of the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty Union, said she came to the meeting to be a part of the inclusive event and to hear the vision for the college. Junior Lindsey Davis said she was abroad during the fall semester and attended the meeting to be introduced to Collado and get an update on the college’s initiatives. “I trust that her intentions and motivations are completely where they should be for the president of a college that is in an unique place in advancement,” Davis said.

46 SHAKING THINGS UP

Sexism is for the Boys The social media account Barstool Ithaca has drawn criticism for posting content that degrades and objectifies women | BY GRACE ELLETSON

social media account is raising questions about sexism in sports culture at Ithaca College. In a video posted to Barstool Ithaca on Instagram, junior TJ Horgan is sitting on a sofa he calls his “casting couch” to talk about who made the best plays in an Ithaca College football game. In the video, posted Oct. 5, 2017 he gives players awards: Horgan described how the “two in the pink, none in the stink” award went to a player “because he f----- some kid’s day up on the kickoff … but also structurally damaged his pinky in the process, so sorry, ladies, no butt stuff for now.” This is one example of the type of content used to reference athletes posted to Barstool Ithaca, social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter run by Riley Ludwig ’18. She said the account is a college affiliate of Barstool Sports, a popular and controversial sports media blog that posts content about sports culture and pictures of attractive women dubbed “smokeshows.” Its social media accounts often post pictures and videos of party outtakes and other viral videos. Barstool Sports was founded by entrepreneur Dave Portnoy in Boston and began as a small print publication that featured gambling adverts and fantasy sports projections but began rising in popularity among sports fans, particularly those in the young male demographic. In 2016, the Chernin Group bought a majority stake of the company and it moved its headquarters to New York City. As of Oct. 25, 2017, Barstool Sports has 3 million followers on Instagram and 950,000 followers on Twitter. Ludwig said the purpose of the accounts is for laughing at college student “shenanigans.” But many have criticized Barstool

Sports for promoting content that they believe is derogatory toward women and perpetuates sexism in sports culture. Ludwig said she does not think the content of Barstool Ithaca or Barstool Sports is sexist, and said that while there are smokeshow picture submissions, that is not the main message Barstool Sports and Barstool Ithaca promote. “I think you have to look at Barstool as a whole and all the different types of content that it produces,” Ludwig said. On Oct. 3, 2017 the Barstool Ithaca Instagram account posted an image joking about rape, which has since been deleted. It published a picture of a “South Park” character called the PC Principal holding up a piece of paper. The caption on the photo said, “Hey Hobart, Consent forms BRO?” The caption underneath the photo stated, “Keep an eye out for this beaut on South Aurora this weekend #RapeScandals #ConsentFormsBro.” The Ithaca football team played the Hobart team a week earlier. The caption referred to a rape scandal at Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges where a freshman student alleged that she was raped by Hobart football players in 2013. The athletes were cleared of all charges by the college in a process that many criticized as being deeply flawed. Ludwig said the post joking about rape was not in alignment with Barstool Ithaca or Barstool Sports’ values. Ludwig said that while she is not the only student moderator on the social media accounts, she does review all the accounts’ content before it is published. When a student showed her the PC Principal image, she said that she thought it was a joke referencing “South Park” and that she did not review the caption for the photo. “It was uncalled for,” Ludwig said. “And frankly, that’s not the type of humor that I’m trying to distribute on the platform.”

According to the Barstool Sports website, when any video or picture is submitted to them, or posted with the hashtag #VivaLaStool or other Barstool brand hashtags, it has the rights to use the content on its social media accounts. Also, when content is submitted, Barstool has the rights to edit the content and also post the submitter’s username, real name and location with the video or image. Rape jokes are nothing new to Barstool Sports President Portnoy. In a May 2010 post that has since been deleted, Portnoy said, “[E] ven though I never condone rape, if you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?” The Barstool Sports Instagram is also filled with posts mocking women who cannot shotgun beers correctly, but it is also filled with posts hailing women who can throw a football or pack tobacco — traditionally masculine activities. Also in the video Horgan created and posted Oct. 5, 2017 he bestowed the “speak softly but carry a big dick” award to a player on the football team. In the video, his “casting couch” is an allusion to styles of pornography videos. He then refers to two football players as “Eskimo brothers,” a term for two men who have had sex with the same woman. Horgan, who regularly creates content for the Barstool Ithaca social media accounts, said his commentary was only humorous. “Humor unites and heals,” Horgan said in an email. “In my opinion, Barstool Ithaca is satirical in nature and exists to make you laugh.” He said that he does not officially work for Barstool Ithaca. Two players referenced in the video said it was a joke and that it was not intended to offend anybody. In addition to the student-created content

SHAKING THINGS UP 47 that is posted on the accounts, students are also able to submit content to be posted on the sites. On Oct. 17, 2017 a video was submitted and posted to Barstool Ithaca’s Instagram of a club soccer player running off of the field, taking a shot from a Fireball whiskey bottle and running back on to keep playing. On Oct. 18, 2017 a video was posted of a woman straddling a man’s face on a party bus. The video pans to another woman passed out on a bus seat. The caption said that those featured in the videos are alumni of the college. Ludwig said that if a video is submitted to Barstool Ithaca, she can post it without having to get consent from those featured in the video. Junior Anna Gardner, president of Feminists United, is one student at the college who said she objects to Barstool Ithaca’s content. She said the messaging that Barstool Sports promotes, specifically through its well-known slogan, “Saturdays are for the boys,” is subliminally sexist. “It reinstates a hierarchy in the patriarchy,” Gardner said. “Women prepare the home for the week … and then on the weekends, men get to celebrate and kick off their shoes.” Ludwig said she disagrees. She said that the slogan is a brand of

Barstool Sports and that it does not represent anything more than a phrase celebrating fun times. “While ‘Saturday’s are for the boys’ is their primary [phrase], it’s not a misogynistic mantra,” Ludwig said. “If anything … this phrase is about getting together with your friends.” Gardner said that while she is not against college students partying and unwinding, the effects of praising unruly behavior and speech that is derogatory toward women on social media can be harmful. “For me, it’s hard to see how any of this is advancing the culture around how we treat each other, especially in regard to gender,” Gardner said. “I feel like it’s a step backward, totally.” Junior Emily Chavez has submitted videos to Barstool Ithaca in the past. She said that she normally does not take issue with their content and that most of the content on Barstool Sports is funny and lighthearted. However, she said, she thinks the jokes targeting women on the Barstool Sports’ social media accounts, because of the frequency, are harmful. “Women are starting now to break those stereotypes, break those stigmas, and the satire is bringing us back down,” Chavez said.

“

For me, it’s hard to see how any of this is advancing the culture around how we treat each other, especially in regard to gender.” – ANNA GARDNER

48 SHAKING THINGS UP Michael Stuprich, a former English professor, is pictured 10th from the left with other English department faculty. ITHACA COLLEGE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT WEBSITE

PROFESSOR SUES COLLEGE Former professor Michael Stuprich filed a lawsuit against Ithaca College | BY ANA BORRUTO, CELISA CALACAL AND EVAN POPP

ichael Stuprich, a former professor in the Department of English at Ithaca College, is suing the college, claiming that he was wrongfully terminated. A tenured professor who had been teaching for 30 years, Stuprich filed a lawsuit against the college Oct. 3, 2017, seeking damages in the amount of $1 million as a result of his dismissal from the college. The reason for Stuprich’s termination is unclear. However, according to the lawsuit, Stuprich’s wife received a call from Brian Dickens, vice president of human resources, who allegedly told her that Stuprich had been fired due to “email threats to a student and to a faculty colleague.” Stuprich said in the lawsuit he was alerted of his dismissal from the college by James Swafford, associate professor in the Department of English. The lawsuit states that Swafford called Stuprich on July 14 to tell him that, according to a letter from Rochon dated June 20, Stuprich had been fired — effective

immediately. The lawsuit also states that Swafford also told Stuprich that he had attempted to call him a day before about a July 14 meeting with Dickens and to tell him that Stuprich’s office and possessions had been packed up. However, Swafford told The Ithacan he was calling Stuprich as a friend and that it was his understanding that Stuprich had already been alerted of his dismissal. He declined to comment further on the lawsuit. In addition, the lawsuit describes an incident that occurred between Stuprich and an unidentified student and that student’s adviser, Warren Schlesinger, an associate professor in the Department of Accounting. Ahad Rauf, a sophomore legal studies major, said he believes he is the student mentioned in the lawsuit. Stuprich’s lawyer, Nino Lama, declined to comment and did not make Stuprich available for an interview. When The Ithacan reached Stuprich via phone, he declined to comment. Schlesinger and Dan Breen, associate professor and chair of the English department, declined multiple requests for comment, and David Maley, senior associate director of media relations,

said the college does not comment on ongoing litigation. Rauf was enrolled in Stuprich’s Introduction to Poetry course during Fall 2016, when he was a freshman. The incident cited in the lawsuit revolves around an email exchange between Rauf and Stuprich during Spring 2017. Rauf said he wanted to discuss why Stuprich gave him a low final grade for the course. Rauf is from Pakistan, and his first language is not English. He said Stuprich’s course was difficult for him — for his midterm grade, he received a C+, and his final grade dropped to a D. He said the low grade was concerning because it threatened his ability to continue receiving an academic scholarship from the college. During the spring semester, Rauf met with Schlesinger, his adviser at the time, to discuss options to retain his academic scholarship. Rauf said Schlesinger advised him to email Stuprich — not to ask if his grade could be changed, but so the two could discuss how and why he received the grade. Rauf made this email exchange between him and Stuprich available to The Ithacan. “My advisor wanted me to

come and sit down with you to discuss and review my final grade in ENGL 11300 in Fall 2016,” he wrote in the April 3 email. “Is it possible if i could come to your office any time soon to sit down and go through my whole grade?” In his reply to the student, sent April 4, Stuprich said he would not change the grade and thought a meeting would be pointless. “I’m pretty sure we both know why I gave you the grade I gave you, and that it, to be frank, was a gift,” Stuprich wrote in the message. “To be frank, with your problems with the language, you had no business being in a poetry class, and your advisor–if he/she had anything to do with it–should certainly have known better.” After receiving the email, he said, he shared the emails with his adviser and immediately reported the incident to the Office of Human Resources at the college. “It was completely wrong,” Rauf said. “It was discriminatory, in my personal opinion, because it was saying that I could not speak English … and saying that all the work that I put into your class was just so you can tell me that it was a gift, giving me a D in that class? That was why I felt really hurt.”

SHAKING THINGS UP 49

SWASTIKA DRAWING

An Ithaca College student was judicially referred for drawing a swastika on a whiteboard on another student’s door | BY ASHLEY STEINECKER

he Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management judicially referred a student for drawing a swastika on the door of another student’s dorm in East Tower Nov. 17, 2017. An unknown thirdhand source reported the swastika Nov. 17, 2017. The incident was confirmed through interviews conducted by Public Safety, Thomas Dunn, administrative lieutenant of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, said. The student responsible cannot be identified because of reasons designated under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The incident report was sent to the Office of Judicial Affairs to find if there is enough evidence to sanction the student responsible within the college’s judicial system, Dunn said. The case is classified as aggravated harassment, Dunn said. A person who etches, paints, draws upon or otherwise places a swastika, an emblem of Nazi Germany, on any public or private building or other

real property, without express permission of the owner, is guilty of aggravated harassment in the first degree, according to The New York State Penal Law 240.31. Dunn said the swastika was drawn on a whiteboard on a student’s dorm door but could not further specify which door without identifying the student. The swastika on the whiteboard has since been erased. Of over a dozen students interviewed in East Tower, not one knew that the situation had occurred. Freshman Micaela Snow said she had not heard anything about the incident but said that she thought what happened was horrible. Three resident assistants interviewed had also not heard about the incident. Sophomore RA Diana Castillo said that she was not aware of the occurrence and that it had not been brought up in staff meetings. She said the RAs usually inform one another of incidents in East Tower. Michelangelo Misseri, East Tower residence director, said he could not comment on the incident because he did not want to reveal any information about the student involved.

A student was judicially referred for drawing a swastika in East Tower on Nov. 17, 2017. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

“

A person who etches, paints, draws upon or otherwise places a swastika, an emblem of nazi germany, on any public or private building or other real property, without express permission of the owner, is guilty of aggravated harasssment in the first degree.”

50 SHAKING THINGS UP

Fond of furry friends More Ithaca College students are looking to emotional support animals to help them cope with their mental health | BY BRIDGET BRIGHT

thaca College sophomore Eliot Willenborg has anxiety and depression. One night, while sitting in his dorm, overwhelmed by stress, he looked over at his emotional support pet cat, Ron, who was sitting on a shelf in his room, trying to nibble on a bag of food. When Ron lost his footing, he somersaulted off the shelf — a ridiculous but adorable mistake that instantly improved Willenborg’s mood. “That was so funny,” Willenborg said. “I just decided to put my work away and say, ‘Alright, I’m done for the day.’” For Willenborg and other students, emotional support animals are becoming more popular companions to help with mental health symptoms. He is one of 31 students on campus who have brought emotional support pets to the college this year to combat anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Support pets have been rising substantially on college campuses throughout the country and at the college since 2012. Sophomore Grace Joyce said that without her on-campus support pet, Susie, who is a West Highland Terrier and Toy Poodle mix, living at the college would be a lot harder. “When she looks at me, I just really don’t get as stressed,” Joyce said. “She just makes everything easier.” During the 2012–13 academic year, four support pets were registered on campus. In 2013–14, the number grew to 15 service animals. The biggest leap came between the 2014–15 school year and

2016–17, when the number of health issues among college service animals grew from 21 students and the rise of support to 43. Bonnie Prunty, director pets. In the last decade, mental of Residential Life and Judicial health issues have risen substanAffairs, said more emotional tially among college students, support animals are expected to according to the American Psybe registered in addition to the chological Association. Experts 31 already on campus for the have contested exactly why the 2017 academic year. rise in mental health issues is ocDeborah Harper, director of curring. Some say increased use the Center for Counseling and of technology to increased acaWellness, said via email that demic pressure has caused the the increase of service animals spikes in mental health issues. is occurring because many proAnxiety was found to be the fessionals are top presenting beginning to sugmental illness gest emotional among college support animals students, affectmore often. ing 41.6 percent She said that of students, acwhile there is cording to the not scientific Association for evidence that University and animals improve College Counsomeone’s menseling Center tal health, they Directors Ancan have other nual Survey. benefits deDepression, pending on the which affects personality of the 36.4 percent of person they are college students, matched with. is the second– She said that in most common some cases, the mental illness. added expense Willenborg of animals can be said he too feels more stressful. – GRACE JOYCE more at home on Therefore, CAPS campus now that does not officially recommend he has Ron with him. He said support animals to students, he grew up surrounded by anibut counselors can let students mals, so having one on campus know that they are an option. reminds him of that aspect of his “Emotional support animals home life. Willenborg said Ron have become very popular and helps him feel a sense of responare sometimes prescribed as sibility. He said that taking care one kind of accommodation of a pet helps him get out of bed for a disabling condition,” in the morning to do what needs Harper said. to be done. Harper said she does not Jean Celeste-Astorina, stuknow if there is a direct correla- dent accessibility specialist from tion between the rise of mental Student Accessibility Services,

“

When she looks at me, i really don’t get as stressed. she just makes everything easier.”

said via email that emotional support animals cannot cure mental health symptoms, but they can provide support. “Many health professionals recommend support animals for the therapeutic benefits they may be able to provide for their owners, alleviating symptoms of a disability,” Celeste-Astorina said. Student Accessibility Services approves the requests to have emotional support animals, Celeste-Astorina said. She said students must first apply and prove that they have a disability that would benefit from having an emotional support animal. Celeste-Astorina said the process is the same as applying for a housing accommodation, which is done by filling out a request form. The student must have written proof of a disability by a certified health professional to confirm the request, Celeste-Astorina said. That health provider must be familiar with the patient and recommend that this would be the best option for their health. Following that step, she said, the requests go to the SAS housing committee, which gives the final say on if the student is approved to have an animal on campus. Michael Masinter is a law professor at Nova Southeastern University who has studied laws relating to emotional support animals. Masinter said students have the right to have a support animal on campus under the Fair Housing Act. Mental health issues are considered a disability, and the college has to be courteous to those who request animal assistance, he said. Masinter said the benefit of these animals is that they can

SHAKING THINGS UP 51 help alleviate pain that could result in, for example, a panic attack or cutting episode were the animal not there. Therefore, their presence can help prevent serious symptoms. However, the addition of support pets to college campuses, especially since their numbers are rising, can cause additional damage to dorms and apartments. He said that under the Fair Housing Act, a college cannot charge the student any additional costs for having an animal, but they can charge a student for any damage they make. Prunty said that dorms occupied by support animals create an increase in maintenance costs. The owner is responsible if an animal does damage to a room. Prunty said that it is unlikely for an animal to do serious damage to a room, as animals have done only minor damage in two rooms that the college had to address.

As for Willenborg’s cat, Ron, adjusting to living in a closed space took some time. Now that Ron is adjusted, Willenborg said that he is doing well with the dorm lifestyle and has not damaged any property in the process of adjusting. “He is just living his best life,” Willenborg said. Joyce said the only expenses are registering the pet in the city of Ithaca and for necessities like food, Joyce said. She said that she does spend a good amount of time caring for her dog, taking Susie out at least three times a day, doing her homework in her room to be with her and taking her to the dog park every weekend. Despite the time commitment, Joyce said she wouldn’t have her life on campus any other way. “I don’t know what I would do without her,” Joyce said. “She’s always there, and it really helps having her.”

Sophomore Grace Joyce brought her dog, Susie, to campus for mental health support. JULIA CHERRUAULT/THE ITHACAN

GETTING CAPS READY After students voiced concern for more mental health servies, President Shirley M. Collado announced the search for new counselors | BY ANA BORRUTO AND GRACE ELLETSON

ince 2015, Ithaca College students have been asking for more services in Ithaca College’s Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, also known as CAPS. On Sept. 21, 2017, they got what they were asking for from President Shirley M. Collado: two new counselors and a case manager. Collado announced the college will fill these positions because of the increase in students visiting CAPS over the last few years. Collado said in her announcement sent out to the college community via email that for the college to be “student-centered,” the institution must provide the help and support to all students so they can thrive. In addition to the counselors, Collado recreated the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life, a division that has not existed at the college since 2012. CAPS counselors see 17 to 18 percent of the student population, and in November 2016, there was a 15 percent increase in demand for counseling services, as previously reported by The Ithacan. In Spring 2015, students created an online movement called Get CAPS Ready to bring attention to the services needed for more funding and express their frustration with the increased wait times. Former President Tom Rochon responded in a commentary that the college would not fund the increase, as the college was “lacking infinite resources to continually add more staff.” At the time, Faculty Council and Student Governance Council also requested the administration increase the number of counselors. Since then, Rochon approved funding to hire as a postdoctoral resident for CAPS. Deborah Harper, director of CAPS, said she was thrilled when she heard CAPS was receiving two more counselors. She said she thinks Collado’s administration is able to add these positions because the college is in a different financial state than it was under Rochon’s administration. She said that because he was hired just after the 2008 financial crisis, he was more concerned about the financial stability of the college. Junior Alaina Richey said she hopes that with the addition of these two counselors and social worker, more people will pay attention to CAPS and mental health awareness on campus. She said she thinks that sometimes students feel uncomfortable asking for the help, and with this new change, she said that she hopes mental health issues are less stigmatized on campus.

52 SHAKING THINGS UP

South Hill Standoff During the academic year, Ithaca residents face the issue of living close to loud and rambunctious college students

SHAKING THINGS UP 53

| BY LAURA O’BRIEN

n South Hill, where many Ithaca College upperclassmen rent homes, a local movement among frustrated residents is gaining momentum. Many have expressed exasperation at the rowdiness of students, given that more and more are moving into family neighborhoods. For many students at the college, the side streets between the campus and The Commons are often only traveled by foot at night to find parties, or when events like Kendall Day bring hordes of students marching through these neighborhoods for hours. For local residents, however, these neighborhoods are where they are trying to raise families, run businesses or simply sleep undisturbed on weekend nights. Although the grievances against noisy college students in these South Hill neighborhoods are far from a new phenomenon, a proposed housing project behind an already existing duplex at 217 Columbia Street has prompted many permanent residents to declare that enough is enough when it comes to college student rental expansions. According to data collected by the South Hill Civic Association, this expansion of student housing has been slowly growing for decades. For example, on Pleasant Street, of 22 properties surveyed in 1989, six were rentals and 16 were owner-occupied. In 2013, 14 of those properties were rentals and only eight were owner-occupied. Charlie O’Connor, executive for Modern Living Rentals, owns the contested 217 Columbia Street housing plot. O’Connor said he was planning to add a duplex with eight bedrooms in the backyard of the pre-existing six-bedroom duplex on Columbia Street. According to Kenn Young, owner of the Inn on Columbia and an architect, the original design for the new unit left no opportunity for a family to arrange furniture for any sort of general living space, which he felt was necessary to attract permanent resident families. These initial designs critiqued by Young have been altered slightly, O’Connor said, after discussing the issues with residents. Young said the student disruption also affects his business when the noise of his student neighbors surpasses a tolerable level. On several occasions, Young said, he has been forced to give his guests full refunds on their stays because of the ruckus created by college parties and student passersby. John Graves, resident of Pleasant Street and leader of the South Hill Civic Association, said he was especially exasperated by one recent disturbance that occurred on his street.

“This weekend, the house across the street shot off, at about 11 o’clock at night, some fireworks, and the house next to them has a premature baby that was just born,” Graves said. “The baby is just tiny. So this bang that just happened, these fireworks, you’ve got to wonder, did they even think about it?” As president of the South Hill Civic Association, Graves said, he works closely with the college’s IC Community Work Group to attempt to resolve issues involving rowdy students. Recently, their combined efforts resulted in the creation of late-night TCAT bus routes that take students back up to the college from The Commons, rather than allowing these often-intoxicated students to stumble through neighborhoods late at night, Graves said. The college and neighborhood have also been working with local police forces. Rory Rothman, associate provost for student life, said the college’s Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management and the Student Governance Council have been working with the Ithaca Police Department, as well as the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, to distribute educational resources, such as door hangers that include information on the details of noise ordinance regulations, to students living off campus. The college has also distributed lawn signs that welcome students back to the area and remind them to be mindful of their neighbors. Ironically, Graves said, most of these signs have already been stolen, causing some to bring the signs in at night to prevent students’ carrying them off. Senior Ryan Gravley, who lived on Pleasant Street last year, said that the unruly behavior is orchestrated by a small sample of the off-campus student body. Gravley said that the police were often called on students throwing parties on nearby streets but that she did not have any personal experiences angering neighbors. Williamson said conflicts between students and permanent residents living on South Hill have always existed in the city. He said that usually officers are called to South Hill neighborhoods about 10 times a weekend for what they call “quality-of-life issues,” which would include noise complaints, open containers violations or public urination violations. “Its very important for homeowners and students to be able to coexist,” Williamson said. “There does seem to be an adversarial relationship between year-round residents and students, and I think both parties would bode well with each other if they were able to find common ground and some respect for each other.” Ithaca residents have complained about rowdy behavior from students during the weekends. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR LANGE

Ta k i n g

a stand

56 TAKING A STAND

Aid After the Storm Ithaca College students hosted fundraisers to raise money to help those affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma in September

Junior Sam Fuller and senior Yana Mazurkevich took headshots to raise money for a hurricane relief organization. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

TAKING A STAND 57

| BY PHOEBE HARMS

housands of people in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean have been displaced by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and Ithaca College students are among those affected. Students at the college are raising money by hosting fundraisers to help their classmates. Hurricanes Irma and Harvey have caused a predicted $290 billion in damage, according to AccuWeather. There are about a dozen students from the Houston area at the college, said David Maley, senior associate director of media and community relations. However, he said he did not know how many are from the affected areas in Florida and the Caribbean. These students were on campus during the time of the storm, so while they were not present for the storm, their families and homes have suffered. Students have organized and hosted open mic nights, benefit concerts and photo shoots and successfully raised money that will be donated to relief organizations. A group of theater students hosted Hearts for Harvey, an open-mic fundraiser on Sept. 17, 2017, in the Dillingham Center. The group had participants sign up online and asked everyone who attended to donate what they could. Nearly $200 was raised that night, and donations are still being received, sophomore Isobel Duncan, one of the hosts, said. Freshmen Samkit Siyal and Amanda Erickson, sophomores Kayla Owen and Audrey Lang and junior Ashley Karolys also hosted the event. Duncan said the money will be donated to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund for Hurricane Harvey. Duncan said Karolys, who was from the affected Houston area, shared photos of her home after it was hit by Harvey, which made the event more meaningful. “She had family affected by Hurricane Harvey and put together a slideshow of before and after pictures of Houston,” Duncan said. “She also told us some stories of people she knew who were affected. It was a really cool thing to add to the event.” Duncan and the group also hosted a Hearts for Irma concert at 7 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2017, in Studio One in the Dillingham Center. Sophomore Andrew Hallenberg is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and said being away from home during this time was nerve-wracking. “This is the first time I’ve been away for a major hurricane, so I get really nervous seeing news headlines that say things like ‘catastrophic,’” Hallenberg said. “Then I see Twitter, and it’s filled with information that isn’t even true. I just don’t know what to believe.”

Hallenberg said he was impressed with the efforts students had been taking to help those affected by the storms. “These natural disasters aren’t necessarily events that affect everyone, but to see people who weren’t really affected at all coming together to provide relief to those who were really impacted in a horrible way is a great thing to see,” Hallenberg said. The college has made efforts to extend its support toward students affected by the hurricanes and the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Mexico on Sept. 19, 2017. Bonnie Prunty, director of Residential Life and Judicial Affairs and assistant dean for first-year experiences, sent out a message via email and Intercom to all students to inform them the college will assist them by offering resources of support like counseling services. Junior Sam Fuller and senior Yana Mazurkevich hosted a Hurricane Irma headshot fundraiser. The two set up an event on Facebook and had people sign up to get their headshots taken for $5. The event lasted over the span of a few days and raised $270, which will all be donated to GlobalGiving, a nonprofit which is hosting a Harvey and Irma relief fund. Fuller said she was excited she could find a way to help with relief by doing something she loved. “I was thinking that I wanted to help, but I couldn’t go there and volunteer, and I can’t just donate a bunch of money,” Fuller said. “So I thought of what skills I had and realized I could use my photography to help raise money.” Harrison Lindsay, a graduate student at the college, performed at the Houston Benefit Concert at The Range on Sept. 13, 2017. Under his performing name, Hal Guitarist, Lindsay performed a set of folk tunes at the show and said that he changed some of the lyrics in the songs to be about Houston. The event was organized by Vee Da Bee, a Houston native and local performing artist, who gathered local musicians together for a show and asked attendees for donations. More than $800 was raised for the JJ Watts Foundation, an organization that helps youth in the affected Houston area, Lindsay said. A second concert was held Sept. 27, 2017 at The Haunt for the same benefit. Junior Joe Cruz also orchestrated a relief initiative Oct. 2–6, 2017, by collecting donations to support those affected by Hurricane Maria. Cruz collaborated with other student organizations, students in the Park Scholar program, and Cornell University’s Puerto Rican Students’ Association. Fuller and Mazurkevich are both photographers for The Ithacan.

58 TAKING A STAND

SILENT silent protest SILENT PROTEST PROTEST “Kneeling, sitting, standing with head bowed and fist in the air are all acceptable ways to ‘honor America.’” | BY STEPHEN MOSHER

he very first PowerPoint slide my History of Sports students see is Thucydides: “History is the philosophy learned from examples.” It usually takes me an entire semester, if that, to help students understand and appreciate this statement. This semester, over the past two weeks, President Donald Trump has given us all we can endure to recognize that Thucydides was right. Trump’s attacks on ESPN’s Jemele Hill for expressing her own views via her personal Twitter, reveals a leader whose skin is paper thin. Fifty years ago, I began my undergraduate education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, aspiring to be a sport journalist. Within three years, so-called race riots, political assassinations, Olympic protests and the disastrous Vietnam experience had altered my philosophy about the role sport plays in our society. By 1970, when the ancient Curry Hicks basketball arena was overflowing to capacity to watch the awesome skills of Julius Erving, the routine playing of the national anthem had become a veritable showdown of students and athletes — more than half of them — standing and turning their backs to the U.S. flag to confront the paying customers hurling insults and physical objects at those below their seats. It was not unusual to have the police escort the most violent fans from the premises. Strangely, the university never considered NOT playing the national anthem. I was hardly a radical, but as I learned through these “lived examples” I began to question the lessons from school and church and the Boy Scouts. To address the present assault the president is directing at athletes utilizing their right to free speech to shine a light on social injustices in our society, I thank the Boy Scouts for teaching me the ACTUAL U.S. Flag Code and the ways to treat it with RESPECT: • Never use the flag as advertisement — Trump should take off all those MAGA hats that use the flag • Never display the flag horizontally except to cover a service person’s coffin — all sports organizations that display those flags on the field should cease and desist

• Never apply the flag to clothing or apparel — see example above • Never apply the flag to athletic uniforms — the only organizations permitted to do so are the military, police officers and firefighters, the Boy and Girls Scouts of America and Little League of America Most of the present additions to our pregame patriotic rituals arose in 1991 to 1992 during the first Gulf War. The nation was about to engage in its first serious shooting war since Vietnam. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, the expressions of hyper-patriotism took hold. Irving Berlin’s warmongering song “God Bless America” became our second, unofficial national anthem at the ballpark. All of these events changed our “philosophy” about what it means to be an “American.” In his tweetstorm, President Trump retweeted a completely false narrative about Pat Tillman, former NFL player, who was killed by friendly fire in 2004 in Afghanistan after he had very publicly came out in opposition to the U.S. involvement in Iraq. And don’t mistake the NFL owners standing with their players as an endorsement of their views. These men are the oligarchs — many are Trump contributors — who are simply protecting their investments. One would think that the Department of Defense’s statement about the respectful posture during the playing of the national anthem would be the final word. They stated explicitly that there is no requirement to stand or to place one’s hand over one’s heart. Kneeling, sitting, standing with head bowed and fist in the air are all acceptable ways to “honor America.” Of course, the most effective way to expose the jingoists spreading lies is to call their bluff that sports and politics shouldn’t mix. To that end, why not simply abandon the practice? We don’t play the anthem before most church services or movies or concerts. The jingoists would have to find something else to be upset about, and those athletes who are concerned about issues of social justice could find alternative ways to bring those concerns to light. Imagine an Ithaca College athletic event without the national anthem. Coaches could focus on their job and politically active student-athletes would be spared the worry of their activism being punished.

TAKING A STAND 59

Sophomore Will Gladney does not put his hand over his heart during the national anthem at a football game on Sept. 30, 2017. Gladney told The Ithacan he planned on protesting the anthem before the game began. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

“Taking away the national anthem would be saying that athletes and sports fans are not capable of discussing racial issues in this country, which is not true.” | BY JACK MORELLO

s an athlete and a fan, my obsession with sports and sports culture has consumed me in the best way for most of my life. For anyone who religiously follows baseball, basketball, football or soccer, there’s a certain sense of happiness and comfort that comes with the time spent following your teams through fantasy, social and live on a daily basis. The same can be said for playing sports — when I’m on the mound, gripping a fastball, I feel the familiarity of having thrown that pitch so many times, which puts me in a position of control. I have a certain sense that if I just relax, everything will be fine. This is why I bear the awkwardness of the national anthem at sporting events now; I never really liked having it played before my sporting events, and it would be strange to say you are looking forward to the different players either standing for the flag in what could be considered a “counterprotest” to all of the players either in locked arms, or sitting down while the national anthem plays and the American flag is being held by service members before a game starts on T.V. It’s difficult for many sports fans to think critically about the socio-political motivations of the United States before watching a bunch of athletes — many of whom are black — make millions of dollars playing a game. As a fan, you can’t avoid this away from the television screen, either. My Twitter feed was clogged with controversy around the players and what it meant to #TakeAKnee or explanations for why #IStand. I enjoyed reading the discourse that followed because people began asking many important questions: What does saluting the flag mean during the national anthem? Is there a standard that we hold for the flag? Can people demand more from what the American flag is supposed to represent by not saluting? And most importantly, where do I stand on the core issue that Colin Kaepernick first sat down for — ending police brutality against people of color? It’s easy to get lost in the crossfire of commotion and media coverage over NFL athletes and forget the core cause. It is not intended to be a protest against Trump, despite Trump’s tweets. It is a late attempt

to honor the intent behind Colin Kaepernick’s protest after he was blackballed by the league, and to increase national attention on an important issue, which is that people of color are killed by the police at a disproportionately higher rate than white people are. Taking away the national anthem would be saying that athletes and sports fans are not capable of discussing racial issues in this country, which is not true. An organic discussion has taken place about whether the U.S. government’s arm of force amongst citizens has systematically killed people of color at a higher rate. Even if you think it’s disrespectful to not salute the flag, the conversation has progressed. Alejandro Villanueva, a veteran who served three tours before becoming a lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2014, stood outside of the tunnel before their game at Chicago on Sept. 24 while the rest of the team was in the locker room in order to avoid any political involvement. Villanueva had previously made comments that criticized Colin Kaepernick’s initial protest a year ago, so it was safe to say this was a strong counterprotest. The next day, Villanueva held remorse for going against the unity of his team. While his jersey spiked in popularity amongst those who support standing for the flag, Villanueva explained that the American flag has a different meaning for many vets — he said that the picture of him standing outside of the tunnel makes him feel “embarrassed.” Villanueva has since said that he respects all of his NFL peers and that it’s not acceptable to use his counterprotest as a tool in the anthem debate. It’s about being an ally for your peers, being a bigger man and uniting behind those who are fighting for equality. For these protests to be effective, U.S. citizens on both ends of the political spectrum must carry out civilized discourse about both what the flag ceremony means to them as well as where you stand on police brutality against people of color. Will the protests end when police brutality goes down? I hope that is the end effect; however, these protests are only the beginning of a discussion to bring police brutality to an end. I’m trying to do my part and contribute. Let us all ask our flag: Are we doing enough?

60 TAKING A STAND

FEELING EXCLUDED I

| BY GRACE ELLETSON

t was the fall of 2014 when then-senior Jarvis Lu walked into Muller Chapel on Ithaca College’s campus one night. He was struggling with his mental health and wanted help from the Protestant Community at Ithaca College, an organization he was once a part of. He walked up to a whiteboard outside of the Protestant chaplain’s office. He wrote, “Is this a safe space?” and walked out of the chapel. His concern would go unanswered — a few days later, he came back to the chapel to find that the question had been erased. No one in the community addressed it publicly in the following weeks, including the Rev. James Touchton, Protestant chaplain at the college, after it was written on the whiteboard. But to Lu, the silence itself was an answer to his inquiry. Lu and other students at the college have shared that they have felt excluded or ostracized from the Protestant Community, also known as the PC, for being part of the LGBTQ community. Others have come forward to detail that the religious organization at the college has not been accepting of varying ideologies and is exclusionary. Touchton acknowledges that problems of exclusion or judgement have persisted in the PC. However, he said the PC is taking steps to change the culture to make space for varying beliefs. The chaplains at the college and the religious organizations they represent are all independent. This means that while they receive funding from the college, the chaplains are not employed by the college, but by the organization for which they work. This has allowed for a lack of communication and accountability between the religious organizations and the college, which the administration is attempting to address with a newly created interfaith leader position, Rosanna Ferro, vice president of the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life, said. Homosexuality has been a contested subject among Christians — both Protestant and Catholic — for decades. There are references in the Bible to same-sex sexual behavior, all of which are negative, which has led to the belief among some Christians that homosexuality is a sin. However, other Christians believe that interpreting homosexuality as a sin is produced by culturally biases rather than scripture. As of June 2017, about 68 percent of white mainline Protestants and 67 percent of Catholics viewed same-sex marriage positively. However, only 35 percent of white evangelicals — a denomination that falls under Protestantism — support same-sex marriage, all according to the Pew Research Center. All of these statistics show a substantial rise in support of gay marriage compared to a decade ago. However, three of the largest Protestant churches — the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and American Baptist Churches USA — view homosexual behavior as sinful. As views are changing, the Ithaca College Protestant Community, as well as many other religious communities across the country, is left to deal with a difficult question to answer: Can the religious beliefs of Christians who view homosexuality as a sin be respected while also respecting the identities of Christians who are gay? Lu came out to his friends at the college at the beginning of his senior year. He knew it would be difficult — many of his closest friends were PC members. Lu said he remembered a male student in the PC once talking about his personal struggle with homosexuality and how he was “fighting the sin.” Lu said the idea that you can be gay but remain celibate was viewed positively and talked about openly by many members in the PC. This is a sentiment taught in many Protestant churches across the country. When he told his PC friends that he was gay, Lu did so by sending them his “coming-out letter” over Facebook Messenger. Some responded positively, but many did not respond at all.

TAKING A STAND 61

LGBTQ students in the Ithaca College Protestant Community say the group has made them feel ostracized because of their sexual orientation

Juniors Annalise Haldeman and Vanessa Zimmerman said the IC Protestant Community discriminated against them for being gay. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

“A community of people that I spent the majority of my college career engaging with didn’t want anything to do with me whatsoever,” Lu said. Lu said he stopped going to community events and worship services, which is known as Evensong in the PC. He struggled with depression during this time because, on top of his other stresses, he was not accepted by his friends after coming out as gay. Because of this, Lu said he failed most of his classes his senior year and was not able to graduate. Junior Vanessa Zimmerman had an experience similar to Lu’s. During her freshman and sophomore years being involved with the PC, the idea that being gay was a sin was frequently discussed by upperclassmen and other peers. At the end of her sophomore year, Zimmerman was elected to the position of chair for the PC student-led council beginning her junior year. However, she was struggling with the idea because during this time, she realized she was gay. For a while, she said, she tried to suppress her identity to be comfortable with the idea of taking on the job. “I started coming out to my closest friends,” Zimmerman said. “And so I decided to step down from the chair position right before school started. I really didn’t want to be the face of this organization when I knew deep down that it wasn’t really inclusive.” Zimmerman said she planned to stay involved with the PC, which meant attending sermons and continuing her position as a student worker in the chapel. At the beginning of Fall 2017, Zimmerman posted on Facebook that she was dating junior Annalise Haldeman, who was also a member of the PC. She said she received a flood of messages from people connected with the PC, most of them negatively reacting to her relationship. “They thought … I was acting out of lustfulness and sin and that I was portraying this negative image on the entirety of the community,” she said. Zimmerman said she felt judged by some PC members after going public with her relationship. When she would attend Evensong, people would not talk to her. But she knew she was being talked about because she received messages from alumni — whom she has never met — telling her they were concerned with her salvation because she was in a gay relationship. Touchton said he has been grappling with how to unify the PC membership over its conflicting religious ideologies for almost a decade. He said that because Protestants come from all different types of denominations, the PC has always had a diverse membership with both conservative and liberal interpretations of Christianity. He said his goal is to find a way to help students with different ideas coexist with one another. “We strive to be a welcoming home for all students identifying as Protestant,” Touchton said. “Something I have said often in my role as chaplain is, ‘I care more about how you believe than what you believe.’ And I say that because I don’t think it’s my role to force my particular beliefs on you. I don’t think it’s my role to get people to change their beliefs.” Touchton said there are ways in which the PC is actively addressing the concerns, starting with reevaluating its mission statement. As of right now, it starts with the statement, “We are a diverse community.” Touchton said he hopes to amend it to say, “We strive to always be a diverse community,” given that it may not always be a reality, but he hopes it will express a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Zimmerman and Haldeman said they are hesitant to trust that the administration’s promised actions will create change. Both want the removal of Touchton as chaplain. “I think I’m disappointed in the sense that I think I know that if I don’t push them, they’re going to do just enough, what is sufficient and not what is maybe necessary to truly grow,” Haldeman said. “Because they don’t want to shake the boat too much. They want to do it just enough.”

62 TAKING A STAND

Speaking Out A group of Ithaca College students worked to raise awareness about the issues facing Tibet Members of IC Unity Tibet hold up the Tibetan flag during their club meeting. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

| BY SILAS WHITE

ibet sits on the lofty Tibetan Plateau, on the northern side of the Himalayan mountain range. It shares Mount Everest with Nepal and is home to the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, one of the deepest and largest canyons in the world. But its beauty masks the more tumultuous events of its past and present. “There is self-immolation happening in Tibet, and a lot of people don’t know about it,” junior Tsering Lama, event manager for IC Unity Tibet, said. “There is a lot of pressure on the press. No photos, no videos. Nothing is being released, and people are being tortured over freedom of religion and freedom of speech.” Unity Tibet started in Spring 2017 and was founded with the goal of spreading awareness and education about events happening in Tibet. Tibet was invaded by the People’s Republic of China in 1950 and has been under Chinese occupation since. It is illegal to fly a Tibetan flag, all political activity outside the Chinese Communist Party is illegal, and Chinese authorities tightly restrict Tibetan news media, according to Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization. This July, UNESCO approved China’s

request for special recognition for a vast, traditionally Tibetan region known as Hoh Xil or Kekexili, which is a part of the high-altitude plateau in Qinghai Province roamed by nomads. The International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group for the freedom of Tibetans, argues this “special recognition” will allow China to resettle tens of thousands of these nomads and upset the ecosystem. Junior Tashi Choezom, the club’s vice president of communication, said she and her fellow club members noticed a lack of diversity upon coming to Ithaca. So they started the club to connect and collaborate with other clubs promoting similar messages as well as to spread awareness of conditions in Tibet. The club has previously collaborated with the International Club, Choezom said, and wants to work with the Ithaca College Asian American Alliance. Unity Tibet participated in the International Club’s International Week One World Concert and Interfashional events. The club’s main focus, however, remains promoting education about what is going on in Tibet and spreading awareness. Choezom said Tibet does not receive coverage in international news and that many people are unaware of the conditions Tibetans face. Choezom was born in Tibet and raised there until she was 9. She said one of the

major issues facing Tibet is a lack of education, since the Chinese government controls Tibet’s information flow. “When I was back there, I never went to school,” she said. “The first time I went to school in the United States, I started in sixth grade, and it was hard for me to catch up.” Lama, who grew up in Nepal, said that she was more connected to Nepalese culture but that when she was 10 or 11, she went to go see the Dalai Lama make a speech in India. Soon after, she started to realize how much the Dalai Lama did on behalf of Tibet. After that, she said, she started to become more interested in Tibetan culture and its continued existence. Senior Ngawang Chime, the club’s president, said her goal for the club is to preserve Tibetan culture for posterity and let the outside world know what is happening because reporters in Tibet are silenced. Lama compared living in Tibet to living in a cage because, she said, Tibetans are only fed the information that the Chinese government wants them to know. “Each and every human being has the right … to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression,” she said. “Tibetans should receive those kind of rights.”

TAKING A STAND 63

BROTHERS AND SISTERS Audrianna Evelyn, secretary of Sister 2 Sister, and idea coordinator Aryanna Myles organized events to celebrate Black History Month. JULIA CHERRUAULT/THE ITHACAN

| BY BIANCA MESTIZA

he club Sister 2 Sister presented a showcase about agency and liberation at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 in Emerson Suites, and the club Brothers 4 Brothers held a FAFSA Night with Student Financial Services on Feb. 22. Both Sister 2 Sister and Brothers 4 Brothers are clubs in the African, Latino, Asian and Native American community at Ithaca College. Both clubs celebrated Black History Month by hosting events throughout the month that are open to the college community. Black History Month is celebrated in February to represent and recognize students of color in organizations that promote academic, social and political progression of racial and ethnic groups. The ALANA community works with the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs to strengthen the community, collaborate on initiatives and engage in meaningful dialogue about the campus climate and current events. Brothers 4 Brothers and Sister 2 Sister are ALANA clubs that hold events for students of color to have dialogues about issues that affect them. Both of the clubs aim to empower fellow students of color through social and political means, according to both club’s constitutions.

Aryanna Myles, idea coordinator for Sister 2 Sister, said the goal of the organization is to empower women of color. “We try to create a sisterhood and learn from one another,” Myles said. “Stuff that you can’t really learn in the classroom: bonding, friendships, growing into your identity.” Brandon Tate, co-president of Brothers 4 Brothers, said Brothers 4 Brothers does not have events planned specifically for Black History Month. Tate said their focus is to support and provide a space for minority men to discuss issues that affect them on campus. Tate said the club is also focused on bringing the community together. “It’s a way for us to bridge the gaps of any tension or just to have the ability for people who obviously are not always in our spaces to have a chance to be able to discuss these topics,” Tate said. Every semester, Brothers 4 Brothers conducts one or two open general body meetings where the organization invites the entire campus to have a discussion about the issues that are affecting them. Tate said the club’s main event for the semester is their upcoming biannual banquet. At the banquet, the club will be giving out scholarships to two students who are involved in the community. “This year, the theme is leadership,”

The ALANA organizations Brothers 4 Brothers and Sister 2 Sister held events in celebration of Black History Month

Tate said. “It’s all about involvement in the community, academic success and involvement in the organization.” After winning the Most Outstanding Student Organization of the Year award in 2016, Brothers 4 Brothers has collaborated with other organizations and offices on campus, Tate said. He said the executive board has recruited students from different schools and majors on campus. Brothers 4 Brothers said the organization hopes to hold a fundraiser with the club basketball team to be able to plan for more events because the group is low on funds. Tate said he thinks the reason Brothers 4 Brothers has received so many invitations to collaborate with other clubs on campus is because many other clubs have similar goals to strengthen the community. “I also have good connections with the other club presidents,” Tate said. “We are trying to be a positive force in the Ithaca College community.” Both organizations said they want to have a space to communicate with people to grow with one another. Senior Gabriella Malave, community chairs liaison for Sister 2 Sister, said black history shouldn’t only be recognized one month a year. “Pay attention to the ALANA organizations regardless of Black History Month,” Malave said. “It should be a celebration yearlong, lifelong, not just now.”

64 TAKING A STAND

| BY EMILY SNYDER

SEEKING SHELTER Ithaca’s homeless population is increasing, in part because of the lack of affordable housing in the area

thaca College junior Chris Biehn spent a Tuesday morning visiting his friend, Eddie Dejesus Rodriguez, who goes by the name Sinbad. Rodriguez lives in “The Jungle,” a series of makeshift shelters spread along the railroad tracks off of Elmira Road in Ithaca. Rodriguez showed Biehn additions to his home, made out of plywood, tarps and a repurposed tent. A noticeable increase in homelessness, primarily due to the absence of affordable housing, is putting stress on local shelters and organizations as temperatures drop in Ithaca. As homelessness increases both nationally and locally, Biehn is leading a student effort to raise awareness of homelessness in the Ithaca area and to raise funds for those affected. Biehn said the campaign will initially distribute supplies to people living outdoors and ultimately expand emergency housing. Homelessness in the United States has increased for the first time in seven years, according to the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is predominantly due to the 9 percent increase in the number of

Ozzy stands in his makeshift home in “The Jungle,” a homeless encampment on Elmira Road in Ithaca. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

people experiencing homelessness in unsheltered locations. Between 2016 and 2017, homelessness in New York state increased by 3.6 percent, the second-largest rate among 20 other states that increased. “I recognize the homeless crisis in Ithaca is probably the worst it’s ever been, and I realize with winter rapidly approaching, there’s something that needs to be done,” Biehn said. The increase in homelessness in Ithaca is a result of the lack of affordable housing, Mike Foster, program manager of the Ithaca Rescue Mission, said. The Ithaca Rescue Mission, located on West State Street, is a nonprofit organization that provides emergency shelter to people without homes and prepares meals for families and individuals in impoverished situations as well as services to encourage people to find employment. With a 1 percent housing availability rate in Ithaca and a high cost of living, many families resort to the Rescue Mission. “If someone has a car break down or they have a medical bill, all of a sudden they can’t pay rent anymore,” Foster said. Ithaca ranks eighth in the Market Watch list of the most expensive places in which to raise a family, according

TAKING A STAND 65 to data collected by the think tank of the Economic Policy Institute. High tax rates, high rent rates and costs of childcare in New York state contribute to Ithaca’s high ranking. The annual cost to raise a family of four in Ithaca is $92,603. Richard Bennett, director of the Rescue Mission, said he noticed a significant increase in the demand for beds at the Rescue Mission within the past few years. Bennett said that two summers ago, no more than five of the 12 beds were occupied but said that this summer, the shelter filled the 12 beds and sought housing for 25 additional people through local hotels and homes. The Rescue Mission established permanent supportive housing units on the third floor of the Rescue Mission and at a house located on Court Street to manage the overflow of people seeking shelter. The supportive housing units ease the transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Foster said the Rescue Mission provided shelter to 45 people Dec. 10, 2017, and said he is aware of at least 45 additional people outdoors in Ithaca. Fourteen people who received

About 50 people live in a homeless community behind the Walmart in Ithaca, nicknamed The Jungle. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

services from the Rescue Mission have died in the past year alone, Foster said. Layton said documenting homeless people’s deaths can be difficult because they do not have permanent housing. Staying in a shelter can be challenging for people with mental illnesses because the confined environment can increase anxieties and discomfort, Foster said. People with addictions also resort to living in improvised shelters within The Jungle for more freedom to use, Foster said. Rodriguez and an estimated 50 people live in tents and plywood shelters throughout The Jungle. Rodriguez said he estimated 45 out of 50 residents in The Jungle are addicted to drugs. Rodriguez said receiving assistance from the government is not easy. The requirements for Section Eight Housing, Medicaid and even food stamps are too unrealistic to obtain, Rodriguez said. As stated by the New York City Housing Authority, Section 8 Housing assists eligible lower-income families to rent housing in the private market based on a family’s size and income. Rodriguez said he has to wait four more years — until he is

62 — to qualify for Medicaid. He said his neighbor Ozzy earns $7 too much to receive food stamps. Rodriguez said he occasionally visits the food pantry at the Rescue Mission. Junior Joe Cruz said college students need to be aware of the economical effects they bring to locals within the city of Ithaca because they play a role in driving up prices in the area. It is far more difficult picking up side jobs in the winter to pay for food, child support and savings than it is in the summer, Rodriguez said. “Work is the hardest thing,” Rodriguez said. “The students take everything.” Biehn’s campaign, called the The Let’s Help End Homelessness & Hunger in Tompkins County, NY campaign, aims to address the lack of awareness college students and Ithaca residents have toward the extent of homelessness in Ithaca by holding fundraisers and making a public service announcement. Biehn, who is currently on a leave of absence from the college, launched a Venmo account and a Givebutter campaign to raise money for the Ithaca Rescue Mission.

The Venmo account accumulated over $300 within 24 hours. Biehn is still exploring fundraising options like clothing and food drives to provide basic needs to homeless people. Half of the proceeds from the fundraisers will go to the Rescue Mission’s food pantry and “save a life” packages. The packages are filled with supplies such as blankets and unsustainable propane tanks that can be placed inside plywood and tarp shelters to prevent frostbite and hypothermia. The remaining money raised will go to Second Wind Cottages, an organization that offers 16’ by 20’ housing on Route 13 in Newfield, New York, to homeless men. The campaign is segmented into three phases: photoblog, public service announcement and fundraising, Cruz said. The goal of documenting these individuals is to address the issue in a humanizing and dignifying way, Cruz said. He said he will focus on branding and spreading awareness through social media outlets. “I think it has to be a group effort for sure,” Cruz said. “It’s so much more when you can bring in the strengths of other people.”

The increase in Ithaca’s homeless population has caused a strain on local shelters and organizations in the area. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

66 TAKING A STAND

THE MEANING OF #METOO While the #MeToo hastag recently catalyzed the cultural movement spotlighting sexual assault, the phrase was originally coined by Tarana Burke 12 years ago | BY BRONTË COOK

arana Burke, community organizer and founder of the #MeToo movement, elicited praise, laughter and tears Feb. 4 as she spoke on courage and empathy at Cornell University. “#MeToo is not just a movement for famous white cisgendered women,” Burke said.

Tarana Burke, community organizer and founder of the #MeToo movement, spoke at Cornell University on Feb. 4. ELIAS OLSEN/THE ITHACAN

“What we are is a global community of survivors committed to healing as individuals and as a community.” The speech was sponsored by Cornell University’s Program Board, a student organization responsible for organizing lecture and entertainment events for the Cornell community. It was held in the university’s Bailey Hall and drew an audience of approximately 1,100 people. The lecture is one of six events the Program Board hosts annually. During her speech, Burke reflected on the impact of the #MeToo movement and on her experience as a community organizer mobilizing community members to combat injustice. Burke said she first envisioned the phrase “me too” in 1997 while working at the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement in Selma, Alabama. During her speech, she described a situation in which one of the youths in the program opened up to her about her own experience with sexual abuse. “The thing that bothered me about that so deeply is that I kept thinking about all the things I should have said to her,” Burke said. “I couldn’t bring myself to say, ‘Me too.’” Burke officially coined the #MeToo hashtag in 2006 as a way

to help women and girls who had survived sexual violence. The hashtag gained widespread public attention in October 2017 after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged survivors of sexual assault to tweet the hashtag following sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Now the hashtag is used on social media to give a voice to survivors. Ithaca College freshman Cara Pomerantz said she knew about the #MeToo movement through Twitter and other social media but knew very little about Burke herself before attending the speech. “It was so amazing to hear about the work that she has been doing for the last decade or so, and it gave me so much context for the history of the movement,” Pomerantz said. “She was amazingly moving.” Burke said that when the #MeToo hashtag first took to Twitter, she didn’t immediately realize the monumental impact the hashtag would have on survivors of sexual assault. “It was just mass disclosure,” Burke said. “Everything shifted in that moment.” Burke is now the senior director of Girls for Gender Equity, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities by creating opportunities for girls and women. Burke said one of her main focuses regarding the #MeToo movement is to give young girls power by teaching them how to have conversations about sexual assault. Cornell sophomore Raven Schwam-Curtis said that as someone who identifies as biracial, she believes Burke’s emphasis on individual complex identities within the #MeToo movement is a crucial aspect of conversations surrounding sexual assault. “The fact that intersectionality is now a part of the conversation surrounding sexual assault and violence is really important and empowering for me, personally, as someone who is #MeToo,” Schwam-Curtis said. Cornell sophomore Lexi Johnson said the event was not only inspirational, but also provided a safe space for survivors of sexual assault to heal. “I think this was a very powerful event,” Johnson said. “It’s giving me ways to heal myself and heal other people who have experienced sexual abuse.”

From left, sophomores Miranda Prise, Libby O’Neill and Alex Coburn pose on set. COURTESY OF ALEX COBURN

TAKING A STAND 67

FIGHTING SEXISM IN FILM “Why uphold the norm when you can try to subvert that norm to create a more diverse film industry?” | BY ALEX COBURN

bout a week before Thanksgiving break, I experienced what I would consider to be my first run-in with blatant misogyny in the Park School. In one of my film production classes we shot test footage together, with all of the students playing a different role on a film set. We were each required to make our own edit using the footage — with basically no parameters for content. One of the men in my class used that opportunity to take footage of me talking and interrupt it with a voice shouting, “Shut up, bitch.” I was not in class that day. When I heard about the incident from one of my friends, I was stunned. This was not simply a friend jokingly calling me a bitch. This man thought it out. It was calculated. He specifically chose footage of me — one of the more outspoken students in class — and used his project as a silencing tactic without my consent. Not only is ‘bitch’ never okay for a man to use against a woman, but he connected it with ‘shut up’— a directive used all too often against women in the film industry. Sadly, this is definitely not the first misogynistic incident that has gone down in one of the Park School film classes. I was lucky that my professor was supportive; he took the misogyny seriously and held a discussion in class about language and intent. But I know other women in Park have not been so “lucky.” Almost every woman film major I know has a story like this one, and oftentimes, there was no attempt at resolution or punishment. This systemic silencing of not only women, but people of color, people in the LGBTQ+ community and basically any marginalized group, has persisted unpunished for too long here at Park. The Park School — and specifically the film major — prides itself in teaching the “industry standard.” And while we might have

industry-standard equipment and professors, that doesn’t mean we should have industry-standard sexism. It’s as if Park is modeling itself after the toxic, mainstream film industry that so many of its students are trying to enter. Rather than use Park’s immense power as one of the top film schools in the country to perpetuate the hierarchal structure of the professional industry, it should be using its power to combat that toxic dynamic right when its students walk in the door. College is where you go to have your mind changed, so why uphold the norm when you can try to subvert that norm to create a more diverse film industry? With every new sexual assault allegation, I become more wary of the career path I have chosen. I love film, but apparently, film doesn’t love me. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to quietly quit. Because that’s exactly what the misogynistic, abusive men of the industry — from Weinstein to Allen to Polanski to Ratner — would want women to do. We can’t succumb to them. So instead, I’m calling on the educators — especially the straight, cisgender, white male educators — to combat this at the classroom level. Education is not industry. Sure, let’s imitate the equipment Hollywood uses, but let’s maybe skip the rampant sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia. Professors in the film major need to be integrating discussions about inclusion into the curriculum. The burden is not on women to tell men that they are being misogynists — although I’ll never stop doing that when I have to. The burden is on men to recognize their misogyny and actively work to change it. Park has the power to create a new generation of filmmakers who leave the toxic conventions of the past behind. Straight, white men: Use your privilege to uplift voices that have been historically ignored. Listen, don’t talk over. And don’t forget, this is your problem, too, and now is the time to solve it. Because I’m a bitch, and I won’t shut up until it’s solved.

68 TAKING A STAND

STAYING ALERT

Sophia Tulp is a junior journalism major who wrote about the importance of bystander intervention.

“Every day we serve as bystanders to the world around us — not just in the smaller situations, but to larger social, political and environmental problems that affect us all, but which we feel powerless to change on our own.”

COURTESY OF SOPHIA TULP

| BY SOPHIA TULP

y dad is the kind of guy who loves his catchphrases. When I was growing up, he would make these sweeping statements about what it meant to be a Tulp. One of these such phrases he would use whenever we got injured. If I fell off my bike and got a bloody knee, he’d look at me and say, “What do Tulps hate?” and I knew to respond, in my bravest voice: “Infection!” He would proceed to wash out my wound with isopropyl alcohol, even though it was painful. There was another one he used to repeat to me and my three siblings. He’d look us in the eye and say, “Repeat after me: Tulps don’t run away from trouble. We run towards it.” Looking back, this is kind of a terrible thing to tell children. To run toward danger. But I knew what he meant. He meant that we should never turn our back on a scary situation — we should run toward it at full force and do what we could to mitigate it and help those involved. I thank him every day for these wise — albeit slightly misguided — words of wisdom. It’s this mentality that has driven me to be a journalist, a social advocate and above all, an active bystander. Bystander intervention is a philosophy often taught in conjunction with sexual assault and harassment prevention, but it can extend to all aspects of our lives. Active bystanders learn how to recognize and safely intervene in potentially dangerous situations. Active bystanders support the person who is being targeted without engaging the aggressor and escalating conflict. Sometimes this means distracting someone who appears to be targeting someone who is too drunk to consent. Other

times, it means reaching out to campus staff or the police for help. In a culture that increasingly places value on looking out for yourself, we’ve all found ourselves in similar situations. Maybe we’ve seen someone being catcalled on the street and didn’t speak up; maybe it was that time we drove past a car stranded by the side of the road assuming someone else would pull over to help; maybe it was something as simple as walking by trash in the street and leaving it for someone else to pick up. We witness a problem or injustice, consider taking some kind of action, then ultimately respond by… not doing anything. We continue to be onlookers or bystanders. Why don’t we help? Why do we silence our instincts? These are questions that can haunt us. Every day we serve as bystanders to the world around us — not just in the smaller situations, but to larger social, political and environmental problems that affect us all, but which we feel powerless to change on our own. Being an active bystander doesn’t take some morally superior person. It’s not about being a savior, either. It can be as simple as seeing a potentially volatile situation and pretending you know one of the people involved in order to give them an opportunity for a way out. This is the strategy I use the most, and oftentimes, the potential victim takes the cue and uses my awkwardness as an escape mechanism. I’ve also “accidentally” spilled drinks or asked people to help me find something that I haven’t even lost in the first place. Last year on the infamous day that is Cortaca, I, along with hundreds of other students, opted to go to party on Prospect Street. As more and more solo cups lined the lawn and the crowd merged into neighboring yards,

I escaped farther into the backyard for some space. Looking around for a place to sit, I saw instead a girl who was hunched over, sitting on a tree stump. Her eyes barely open and her limbs loose, a guy was standing over her, attempting to prop her up enough to make out with her as she feebly protested. Assessing the gravity of the situation, I walked over to the girl and pretended like we’d been friends for years. “Hey, girl! There you are!” I said, extending my hand to pull her up. She looked at me with a blank stare but stuck her hand out anyway. I helped her over to my friends, who slung their arms around her and walked her back toward the house to find help. This is active bystandership, and when cultivated, it’s a mindset that can become a lifestyle. It breaks the norm and forces you to constantly be looking out for those around you — even if they’re strangers. Active bystandership reminds us that we all have a human responsibility to care for others and rely on our instincts to protect our peers. So as we approach Halloweekend, Cortaca and even just typical weekends at bars and house parties, I urge you not to be an onlooker or a passive bystander. Next time you see a situation that triggers your instinct to intervene, don’t talk yourself down. Don’t make excuses, and don’t be afraid to be “that person.” Don’t forfeit doing what is right in order to prevent making a fool out of yourself or the fear of inserting yourself into things that aren’t any of your business. Wear the label of a being a “cock-block” and a “buzzkill” with pride — you could have just saved a life. In the words of my father, don’t run away from trouble. Run toward it.

TAKING A STAND 69

FACING THE ISSUE “Ithaca has always seen itself as ‘10 square miles surrounded by reality’ — the Ithaca College community views itself as part of this bubble. This view can cause us to ignore the issues festering in our own backyard.”

Charlotte Robertson is a senior communication management and design major who wrote about the need to directly address issues like sexual assault. COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON

| BY CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON

ince sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein first broke on Oct. 5, survivors have continued to expose prominent men in media for sexual misconduct. It’s led people to ask: how could Hollywood hide such a nasty issue for so long? Rape culture hides so easily because it is the norm; it is all around us. This was made painfully obvious to me as I scrolled down my social media newsfeed two weeks ago to see #MeToo repeated over and over again. The hashtag was used by survivors of sexual assault to show solidarity and to share their stories. These were women I went to high school with, interned alongside and had gone to summer camp with. They were also women who go to Ithaca College. Ithaca has always seen itself as “10 square miles surrounded by reality” — the Ithaca College community views itself as part of that bubble. This view can cause us to ignore the issues festering in our own backyard. In 2015, we saw the campus burst after ignoring decades of racial tension.

“

Similarly, the campus tends to ignore issues of rape culture outside of feminist spaces; it is a conversation left to survivors and their allies. Last December, the Office of Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation to look at how Ithaca College handles instances of sexual assault. In the midst of the investigation, former Title IX coordinator Tiffani Ziemann left to take a position with Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. These events have largely gone unnoticed. I understand why. It’s uncomfortable. Talking about rape culture means acknowledging that our friends, our romantic partners, our classmates (and even we) are part of a traumatizing system. Instead, we pick people we can blame. Two weeks ago The Ithacan released an article on Barstool Ithaca and students reacted. How can members of the community act like this? I had the same gut reaction, but upon reflection, I realized that pointing to Barstool Ithaca as the problem is a deflection from examining the everyday misogyny that takes place on our campus. It acts as a mechanism to “other” the problem.

If we condemn the two students tied to Barstool Ithaca, then we don’t need to examine the people closest to us. When we focus on vilifying one person or group, we miss the bigger picture. One campus survivor expressed to me their desire for abusers to not be seen as purely bad. It sets an inaccurate dichotomy: good men don’t rape, only bad men do. It makes it impossible for us to see our well-spoken classmates or our caring friends as perpetrators. If we are blind to this, then how can we hold the people we like and love accountable? We don’t need a Weinstein to have a rape culture problem. We are all part of this unjust system. That means that we are all part of the problem, but that we can also all be part of the solution. Note: I chose to focus on women as survivors because of the disproportionate rate at which they are assaulted. The Center for Disease Control says that 1 in 5 women, compared to 1 in 71 men, report experiencing rape. This is not to say that men and gender nonbinary folks do not experience rape or are not an important part of the conversation on rape culture.

When we focus on vilifying one person or group, we miss the bigger picture.” – CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON

70 TAKING A STAND

WELL, ACTUALLY, MANSPLAINING IS...

DESIGN BY NICOLE PETER

Women at Ithaca College voice frustration at the way male students tend to silence and talk over them in the classroom | BY FALYN STEMPLER

unior Gillian Friebis said that she usually does not speak in class but that when she decided to raise her hand one day in her politics course, she was shut down by a man in the class. It was an experience she feared would occur after seeing other women being interrupted in the same fashion by other men. During a class discussion about the political relationship between Catalonia and Spain, Friebis spoke only to be immediately and repeatedly interrupted by a man who said he was trying to play the devil’s advocate to her point. “After he kept talking over me, I didn’t keep trying, because I knew it was going to happen again, and it reminded me, ‘Oh yeah, this is why I don’t talk in this class,’” Friebis said. Women at Ithaca College like Friebis said they have experienced and witnessed similar scenarios in their classrooms where women’s thoughts are disregarded, shut down, re-explained and interrupted by men and, in some cases, male professors. Friebis’ experience is an example of sexist behavior in the classroom, which is commonly dubbed as “mansplaining”: when a man comments on or explains something to a woman

in a condescending, overconfident and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner, according to Dictionary.com. While mansplaining is one form of sexist behavior in the classroom, men interrupting women and re-explaining their thoughts also reinforces societal gender hierarchies. Student experience Men in sophomore Brooke Maybee’s politics class, Food and Water: Challenges to Sustainability Politics, taught by Juan Arroyo, assistant professor in the Department of Politics, would aggressively argue with her in the class, she said. Maybee said this made her question her intelligence and her willingness to participate. “The way they dominated the conversation made me feel like I was excluded,” Maybee said. “It was hard to get a word in, and in that way, I felt that I couldn’t be part of that conversation.” Her experiences discouraged her from taking any more politics courses, she said. “I know I’ll never be comfortable taking a politics class again, even though in high school I loved politics,” Maybee said. “It was just horrible because I didn’t feel comfortable and I didn’t feel like I knew anything even though I definitely did. I felt invalidated.”

“

I know I’ll never be comfortable taking a politics Class again, Even though in High School I loved Politics... It was just Horrible because I didn’t feel comfortable. ... I felt Violated.” – BROOKE MAYBEE

TAKING A STAND 71

“

I feel like men struggle with giving constructive criticism, Especially to women, and A lot of the times when men speak, they speak as if they are right.” – EVE MAHANEY

Arroyo said he notices that most students, in general, are not very active participants in class and that men are usually more willing to talk than women. Additionally, he said that if he sees women making facial expressions that show they are engaged in the conversation or knows a woman has intelligent things to say from papers and assignments, he will call on them to include more voices. Junior Sam Castonguay said she also experienced mansplaining while participating in the college’s DANA Student Internship Program during the summer of 2016. For the program, Castonguay, a sociology major, was paired with a faculty member on campus to do a paid, long-term research project where, she said, she developed a thesis about female fanaticism with boy bands like One Direction. She said she and another woman psychology student were paired up with two mathematics students, who are men, to critique one another’s research, but rather than critiquing, she said, the two men mansplained why they believed her research was unimportant. She said the men told her things like “I don’t really understand the point of this study at all” and “You should look at this instead,” which she said frustrated and degraded her. “I spent four months doing preliminary research into this topic, and I didn’t even get to defend myself in that moment because I was so taken back,” Castonguay said. She said this experience still affects her ability to participate and give research presentations. “I still remember that experience vividly, and I was deterred from doing any of those events,” Castonguay said. “It really put a damper on the opportunities I felt comfortable taking advantage of.” The origin of mansplaining and surrounding research Rebecca Solnit, a writer, is credited with coining the term “mansplain” in an anecdotal and research-based essay she wrote in 2008 called “Men Explain Things to Me.” Shortly after, dictionaries such as Oxford, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com made it an official term. Solnit said in an article for The Washington Post that she wanted the term to be a concrete way to describe a woman’s experience in a way that is more powerful than the terminology typically used to describe sexist behavior, such as “patronizing.” Her work emphasizes the effects of silencing people, particularly women, as a form of oppression. A study by David Dunning, retired professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University, and Joyce Ehrlinger, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Washington State University, analyzes the relationship between female confidence and competence and found that women are less assured in their abilities than men, who tend to overestimate their abilities. In the study, men and women who are college

students were asked to rate their abilities and were quizzed on their scientific abilities. On average, women scored a 7.5 out of 10 but rated themselves at 5.8, and men scored 7.9 but rated themselves at 7.1. Their actual performances were almost the same. The research suggests the scoring disparities occur because men are more confident in their abilities than women. Correcting mansplaining at Ithaca College Students say professors could handle mansplaining by identifying and shutting it down when it occurs. Senior Sloane Kazim said Hadley Smith, retired assistant professor in the Department of Writing, helped to defuse a situation of mansplaining that arose in their argument class in Fall 2015. During a classwide critique of their thesis paper, Kazim said a man told them that their argument — that the gender binary is harmful — was invalid and rooted in “Tumblr logic.” “Tumblr logic” is a condescending term used to describe millennial bloggers who use the social media app Tumblr and are viewed as being nonsensically liberal. Kazim said the professor rebutted the man, which prevented him from discrediting their argument. Senior Eve Mahaney said that in her Large Format Photography class with Rhonda Vanover, assistant professor from the Department of Media Arts, Sciences and Studies, men often would critique her, and other women’s, photos in unconstructive and demeaning manners. “I feel like men struggle with giving constructive criticism, especially to women, and a lot of the times when men speak, they speak as if they are right,” Mahaney said. She said Vanover handled these situations well and would call men, and women, out when they were not speaking constructively. Vanover said via email she notices men dominating her classroom discussions and critiques, which she said tends to silence women. She said that photography is subjective and that it is challenging to critique one another, but she said students miss out when only vocal students talk and others feel silenced. “I think it’s important that men and women participate equally in the classroom because each have something unique to contribute,” Vanover said. “From time to time, however, I notice men dominating classroom discussion and critique. When this happens, women tend to become very quiet, and it’s difficult to maintain representative points of view.” Castonguay said she wants more awareness and training, particularly for professors, surrounding mansplaining, so they can defuse situations that arise in class. “I would really just like these individuals to be aware of it,” Castonguay said. “Especially for educators, so they know how and when to intervene.”

72 TAKING A STAND ILLUSTRATION BY JILL PARKER

STOPPING stopping MANSPLAINING mansplaining

Professors should take initiative to ensure class discussions are not dominated by male voices | BY THE ITHACAN

iscussions are the pinnacle of the liberal arts college experience, where students come together to hash out ideas. Each student should have the right to a classroom environment where they feel they can share their thoughts. But when class discussions are completely male-dominated, this welcoming environment that encourages productive discussion is lost. Other than the issue of male students dominating discussions, there is also the issue of mansplaining — male students commenting, explaining or interrupting their female counterparts to re-explain their point. When female students say they no longer want to speak in class for fear of being interrupted or being

talked down to, there is obviously a larger issue. While it may seem like a minor issue, it devalues a female student’s voice in the classroom, and the continuous restating of previous comments takes away from valuable class time. And whether the interrupting, domineering or restating is intentional or not, it still is sexist and disrespectful. Research has shown that people who speak confidently will often be perceived better, regardless of whether or not they’re competent, and that men are more confident in themselves than women. In the classroom, this means that male students are often given more speaking time simply because they feel the need to speak, not because they always have things to say. As a result, class discussions fall flat. There are, of course, male students who are

respectful of their female colleagues. But there are others that need to be more conscious of their participation in class. And it is not solely an issue with students. Often, professors fail to address the problem, and when male students speak too much or interrupt their female counterparts, nothing is done. Not all professors are guilty of this — some make a conscious effort to call on female students or to shut down students who interrupt others. But male students are often allowed to talk over their female counterparts, as no one is stopping them from doing so. It is the responsibility of the professor to curb these behaviors. Though a class discussion may be student-led or student-facilitated, faculty should feel comfortable enough to intervene when necessary.

Each student should have the right to a classroom environment where they feel they can share their thoughts.”

TAKING A STAND 73

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAXINE HANSFORD

MANSPLAINING HURTS TRANS PEOPLE

“When our very identities are being mansplained to us, it once again reminds us that the world will be openly hostile to us for merely existing.” | BY SLOANE KAZIM

hen I saw the call for interviews from The Ithacan on the topic of mansplaining, I was quick to volunteer. Only a few hours earlier I listened to a colleague ranting about how mansplaining was sexist to men. Yep, I had been thoroughly mansplained about mansplaining. It was another moment at this school where a man refused to think critically about the way power structures are formed through gender. Instead, he tried to shut down conversation by painting me as the insensitive one. High off the frustration of this conversation, I decided talking about my experiences and having them in the school paper would be necessary, but it wasn’t merely the fury of mansplaining itself that had me so ready to talk. I thought my experiences could help broaden understanding of mansplaining, since I am a nonbinary trans person. We tend to understand most feminist issues as man versus woman, or at least the patriarchy versus woman. What is then left out of the conversation is

nonbinary people. Of course, the conversation becomes more complex here: if a nonbinary person is still viewed by the outside world as either feminine or masculine, their gendered oppression may vary. Having them in the conversation and expanding it to include them is still necessary, though. Mansplaining especially will hit us constantly. With every nonbinary person I speak to, I hear anecdotes of some gender studies–hating man (sometimes online, sometimes in the grocery aisle, and sometimes in the classroom) refusing to acknowledge that gender is more complex than “what is between your legs” and “limited to two options. “ When our very identities are being mansplained to us, it once again reminds us that the world will be openly hostile to us for merely existing. Because here’s the thing. When we talk about the patriarchy hating women, that’s just one facet of the conversation. Really what the patriarchy hates is deviation from the norm. The patriarchy loves women when women stay subordinate, unquestioning, and continue to uphold men as the standard of our

society. The patriarchy also loves everybody staying in these defined boxes, boxes that nonbinary folks are breaking down. Many of us are even trying to light the boxes on fire. So when I saw that the article I’d been quoted in had specifically referenced women in the title, I already felt a bit uneasy. Sure enough, as I was quoted, the fact that I had once upon a time identified as female was used to bolster the argument that I had been mansplained to. Seeing those words frustrated me not only because my gender was being invalidated but also because my initial goal had been unsuccessful. No awareness of mansplaining affecting nonbinary had been highlighted. Rather than getting angry at The Ithacan or feeling hopeless, however, I decided to double down on my cause. If being quoted in an article hadn’t broken any barriers, perhaps some writing of my own would. In my women’s and gender studies classes, questions and conversations are constantly posed of how women are oppressed. It often comes down

to me and my fellow trans classmates to raise our hands and say, “Here’s how it affects trans people too.” Responses will range from “Oh, that’s interesting” to “Oh, that’s complexing the issue too much,” yet nonbinary and binary trans people make up a high population percentage on Ithaca College’s campus. So in gender studies classrooms, how can trans experiences not be inherently included? Nonbinary people have existed all throughout history; we are nothing new, and it is time we are included in feminist conversations. As the words for how we identify finally become common vernacular, we are only going to grow louder and more prideful in our identities. That unabashed presence is important too. It’ll help to stop seeing the issue of feminism as men versus women, or even patriarchy versus women. The real tenets of feminism should be patriarchy versus justice, patriarchy versus humanity, and patriarchy versus liberation. Nonbinary people existing loudly and proudly inherently works within those tenants.

74 TAKING A STAND

GENDERED EXPECTATIONS Female professors at Ithaca College face distinct demands as a result of gender biases against women | BY MAGGIE MCADEN

tudents had been in and out of professor Elizabeth Bergman’s office all morning Feb. 14 to discuss everything from assignments to mental health issues, and she was feeling overwhelmed. She had not prepared for her class the next day and had no idea how she was going to get her 6-year-old to his piano lesson that afternoon. Bergman, associate professor and chair in the Department of Gerontology, said that although she enjoys giving support to her students, it can be difficult to manage all of her responsibilities in her personal and professional life, including child care, research, teaching and requests for service to the college. “I’m at a stage of my life where I have young kids, and it’s a time where I have a very heavy commitment to what happens in the context of my family life,” Bergman said. “And so to juggle both of those things, even with a very supportive partner, which not everyone has, is really hard to do. So how do we do that? How do we support women?” Female faculty at Ithaca College have stories similar to Bergman’s: stories of students opening up about their personal lives, coming to them for special favors and pushing boundaries on assignments. These experiences can contribute to an unacknowledged workload that becomes an issue of gender equity, which affects student evaluations and the potential for promotion. Trends in female faculty service load and gender bias in student evaluations are also reflected in national research. Surrounding research and female faculty experiences Amani El-Alayli, an associate professor of psychology at Eastern Washington University, along with two other researchers, conducted two studies that found female faculty members are more likely to be the recipients of special favor requests and friendship behaviors. These demands lead to a higher amount of self-reported emotional labor. Special favor requests included requests that extended beyond a faculty member’s normal workload. Examples include students’ dropping by their office without an appointment and expecting to speak right away. Friendship behaviors include students discussing their personal lives with faculty, according to the first study. El-Alayli said she first became interested in conducting research on gender equity in terms of service load when she began to notice that she was receiving repeated requests from students that extended beyond her standard work duties. “I just wondered if maybe my gender had something to do with it, that they didn’t do that with my male colleagues, and I think that all faculty have stories about getting a lot of special favor requests,” El-Alayli said. The study found that when female faculty members declined special favor requests, students were more likely to perceive them negatively than when male faculty declined their requests and were more inclined to believe the female faculty member disliked them than their male counterparts. PHOTOS BY CAITIE IHRIG

TAKING A STAND 75 Julie Dorsey, associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, said she experiences students opening up to her about issues in their personal lives. “I have had students crying and students sharing really personal things that have happened to them and asking for my support,” Dorsey said. Dorsey also said that in her department, which is composed almost entirely of female faculty, experiences like these are common. She said she believes the load she takes on outside of the classroom is important. Amy Quan, instructor in the Department of Writing, said she often has students open up to her about their personal lives and ask for help outside of class, and she attributes these behaviors to the emotional nature and demands of her discipline rather than as a gendered phenomenon. “The faculty who teach writing, male and female alike, are so invested in their students because writing, even academic writing, you’re so emotionally invested in the work you do, as students and as faculty, and so I think we all get a lot,” Quan said. Gender and student evaluations Quan said she has experienced students verbally commenting on her clothing and appearance to a larger extent than male faculty members, who she said have never spoken to her about receiving such comments. She said she also sees this pattern surface in student evaluations. “Even in evaluations that I have read, when I’ve been on personnel committees, I’ve read evaluations of female faculty where the students actively comment on the faculty members’ clothes, and I’ve never seen that for male faculty,” Quan said. Research also suggests that students tend to rate female faculty members lower than male faculty members during evaluations. In a study which utilized data from nearly 20,000 student evaluations, female faculty members were ranked an average of 37 slots below male faculty members when ranked out of 100. Students also gave lower rankings to universally used course materials when the course was taught by a woman. Stewart Auyash, associate professor and chair in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education, said this is his seventh year reviewing syllabi, student comments and qualitative evaluations. He said he has observed gendered trends in the student evaluations he has read. Auyash also said he noticed that female professors known to teach rigorous courses are perceived more negatively in student evaluations than men. He said he has also seen gendered language, such as the word “bitch,” used to describe female faculty in student evaluations. Providing a network of support at the college Dorsey is also the leader of Advancing Mid-Career Women’s Leadership, a project that won just over $7,000 in funding from one of President Shirley M. Collado’s seed grants. Dorsey said she has been a faculty member at the college for over 11 years and was promoted to associate professor four years ago. She said that after being promoted to associate professor, a long-time career goal, she became unsure of what her career path was supposed to look like. There is a large support network for early-career faculty but no established network for mid-career faculty, she said. “It kind of got to be a difficult time in my career about thinking of all that,” Dorsey said. “And I found that I was trying to reach out on campus to other women, other people, and I found that there wasn’t really a network. There was no way to really find other people and connect.” Dorsey said mid-career issues for female faculty involve being asked to chair departments or large committees with no formal leadership training or mentoring network. She said it is more difficult for female faculty to say no to requests to do service for the college they do not have time for, which can lead to burnout. “If women are showing up, we have needs,” she said. “We have concerns, and we have a need for forming this community, and it was so fascinating to hear my story kind of told over and over again from all of these women.”

76 TAKING TAKING AASTAND 76 STAND

STANDING up to guns When gun rights advocate Larry Pratt came to campus, Ithaca College students countered his talk with a protest and conversation of their own Students in Textor Hall hold signs of the names of people who were killed in a mass shooting. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

| BY BEN KAPLAN AND SOPHIA TULP

ust over 50 Ithaca College students lined the halls of Textor Hall on Nov. 9, 2017, silently holding signs displaying names of gun violence victims outside of an event featuring Larry Pratt, a right-wing gun-rights advocate. Pratt gave a speech titled Firearms are a Human Right. The event was co-sponsored by the Ithaca College Republicans and the Ithaca College chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, a national organization that supports libertarian activism. The Leadership Institute, a conservative nonprofit, funded the event. Pratt has been criticized in the past for statements he has made on guns. Following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Pratt said, “The only thing accomplished by gun-free zones is to ensure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun.” Pratt is also the founder of English First, a lobbying organization attempting to make English the official language of the United States. Pratt said he thought the mass shooting at the screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado, was an inside job, according to a press release by Pratt’s publicist in 2012. Firearms are a Human Right event Senior Caleb Slater, president of the Ithaca College Republicans, introduced Pratt. Slater said the group values personal freedoms, which is why they wanted to have a discussion about gun rights. “Mr. Pratt comes in with over 40 years of experience working in the gun lobby in our nation’s capital,” Slater said. “While our organizations do not necessarily agree with all of Mr. Pratt’s positions, we do see the value in maintaining space for healthy debate and discussion in a place

of higher education.” Pratt began by giving a brief historical and contextual background on the issue of the Second Amendment. He said the right to bear arms is rooted in history and ideology that goes back to before the U.S. was founded. He posed the issue of gun ownership as not only an inalienable right, but as a logical and bipartisan necessity to control government overreach. “Nowhere else, of my knowledge, is the Second Amendment embedded in the fundamental documents of the country,” Pratt said. Pratt, executive director emeritus of pro-gun group Gun Owners of America, discussed the weaknesses he sees in modern gun laws. He said background checks and gun-free zones are not only ineffective in keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals, but serve no purpose other than to limit the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. Pratt cited background checks, in particular, as an unnecessary invasion of privacy due to what he considers the extensive amount of personal information that the government requires from prospective gun owners. “I don’t think it is a big stretch to think that maybe government officials misuse their power with the information they have in their control,” Pratt said. “Gun Owners of America has felt all along that it is a serious mistake to give the very employees of ‘we the people’ the power to tell to us what are the terms of how we can exercise these fundamental liberties that are recognized and protected in our Bill of Rights.” Pratt also said that he thinks that gun violence is caused by insufficient social structures in families, not the availability of guns. Pratt alleged that there has been a dismantling of family dynamics over the last few decades and said this, as well as the presence of a mental health crisis, has given way to today’s violence. “I honestly don’t think you can say that the crime problem we have

TAKINGAASTAND STAND 77 77 TAKING

Senior Natalie Shanklin and junior Anna Gardner lead a silent protest against Larry Pratt before his talk begins. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

in this country is related to the availability of firearms,” said Pratt. “It is more so these other social factors.” Most of the event was dedicated to a question-and-answer forum. Topics ranged from questions about gun laws, background checks and gun violence in America. Junior Lucas Veca, president of the Ithaca College Young Americans for Liberty, said he thought the questions asked were thought-provoking, which is exactly what the group was looking to get out of the event, and he said he hopes this will stem further opportunities for debate. “I’m very happy with the way the event went,” Veca said. “The protesters were respectful and did not try to stop the event, which was greatly appreciated. … I hope people learned something from the event and that they are more willing to participate in more healthy conversations in the future.” Student protest Approximately 55 students and faculty members gathered first at the Textor Ball, then in the Textor building hallway, to protest Pratt’s event. Student protesters silently held signs with the names of shooting victims and handed out fact sheets about gun violence outside of the entrance to the event to attendees and passersby. They held a subsequent teach-in in Williams 323. Pratt’s speech comes four days after a mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when a shooter killed 26 people. Junior Anna Gardner and senior Natalie Shanklin organized the teach-in with faculty members Jonathan Ablard, associated professor in the Department of History, and Chris Holmes, associate professor in Department of English. Holmes introduced himself by saying he has conducted research on gun violence and gun culture in America and

teaches a freshman seminar on the topic. Students, faculty members and members of the administration were present. “It has been four days since the last mass shooting in the United States, and I don’t think there has been enough time to respect those that have died in Las Vegas, let alone more mass shootings,” Gardner said. “I just wanted people going into this event to see these and really think for a second about what guns have the capacity to do in this country.” The teach-in was predominantly student-led with the faculty members and organizers acting as moderators. A seven-minute video from vox.com was played at the opening, giving statistics about gun violence in America. Following the video, participants started a dialogue about gun violence and the solutions to ending it. The organizers established three rules: first, that each speaker could talk for two minutes; second, that there was no interrupting; and third, that all comments were to be respectful. Other students gave opinions on solutions to gun violence. Gun regulations were a large topic of discussion. Other participants talked about the need for greater dialogue inclusive of all views, the need to curb gun lobbies like the National Rifle Association and its intervention in politics, and the need to have greater accountability for elected officials. Senior Liz Alexander spoke about her background coming from a rural community in Vermont and said she owns a hunting rifle herself, but is pro-gun control. Alexander said she was pleased the event took place separate from Pratt’s speech. “I’m glad that we were in this space,” Alexander said. “I think it produced a better, more balanced conversation in that we got to be in charge of speaking time and making sure things stayed respectful rather than having a sort of fiery, impassioned debate, which is what I imagine would have happened in Textor.” Senior Natalie Shanklin is the managing editor of The Ithacan.

TAKING A STAND 78

From left, seniors Allison Salzman and Sydney Brenner, junior Layah Adler and sophomore Unagh Frank march in the rally. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

KRISTEN HARRISON/THE ITHACAN

TAKING A STAND 79

THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT Children and adults of all ages in Ithaca advocated for stronger gun control laws during the March for Our Lives rally

Freshman Reisha Grant holds a sign at Textor Hall before the group marched downtown to join the rally at the Bernie Milton Pavilion. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

| BY SOPHIA ADAMUCCI AND FALYN STEMPLER

he crowd at the March for Our Lives rally in Ithaca listened in silence as a musician sang, “Now is the time to make justice real for all our children.” The rally was held on March 24 in conjunction with the national movement calling for stricter gun control in response to the mass shootings that have occurred in schools throughout the United States. Ithaca’s rally was held at the Bernie Milton Pavilion, was planned by Tompkins County Legislator Amanda Champion and was attended by hundreds of people from the community. Separate marches at Cornell University and Ithaca College were planned by students, and participants marched from both campuses to The Commons. Ithaca’s March for Our Lives event was one of 846 marches to protest gun violence and promote legislative gun control. Marches were held in every state in the U.S. and on every continent, besides Antarctica, according to the March for Our Lives website. These marches were planned in reaction to a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14 in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead. As of March, there have been 17 school shootings in the United States, according to CNN. So far in 2018, 598 teenagers have been injured or killed by gun violence in the United States, according to Gun Violence Archive. The Ithaca College Democrats, the Futures Club and Ithaca College Hillel led a march from Textor Hall down to The Commons, where students chanted: “Ho, ho, hey, hey, f--- the NRA,” “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go,” “What do we want? Gun control. When do we want it? Now!” and “No more silence! End the violence.” Sophomore Clare Nowalk planned the college’s march by reaching out to Champion and student organizations on campus. Nowalk said she personally connects with the cause because she was raised by educators and hopes to become a teacher. “We really wanted to get student voices heard, since it is a student-run movement,” Nowalk said. “I thought it would be really good to make sure students were involved and heard.” At the event, speakers and musicians performed, including members of Students United Ithaca and their parents; Michelle Courtney Berry, human rights activist and former Tompkins County

poet laureate; and musician Vee da Bee, who sang an original song about the Parkland shooting. People of all ages stood in the audience holding signs that said “I go to school to better my future not end it,” “The second amendment unchecked is a tool of white supremacy” and “Keep me safe,” which was taped to the back of a little boy. Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, deputy director of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, introduced the speakers and performers at the rally. She said she is frustrated that politicians, including Tom Reed, Republican Congressmen of the 32nd district of New York, which includes Tompkins County, and President Donald Trump are not taking legislative action. “This year will be the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who we marched with and who marched and marched to try and change something,” she said. “Today we are still marching. What is wrong with this picture? Who is not listening?” Nia Nunn, assistant professor in the Department of Education, president of the board of directors of the Southside Community Center and mother of Eamon Nunn-Makepeace, also spoke at the rally and said students in the Ithaca community and in the country are organizing to make change. Nunn said although national attention around the most recent shootings is important, it ignores the daily gun violence experienced in communities that predominantly consist of people of color. “Gun violence and tragedy is a strikingly new phenomenon in predominantly white and other privileged communities,” Nunn said. “On the other hand, gun violence is painfully expected in many black communities and other marginalized spaces.” In America, black people are more than twice as likely to die from gun violence compared to white people, according to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nunn said she wants this movement to be an inclusive space that acknowledges people of color and marginalized communities because they are often ignored in progressive movements. Junior Madeline Lester said she is frustrated that the NRA holds so much power in the country and she wants politicians to act. “A lot of people and politicians say it’s not time, but now is the time for change,” Lester said. “It’s enraging that the NRA runs this country.

80 TAKING A STAND

INTO IDENTITY | BY MAHAD OLAD

Mahad olad

y interest in opinion journalism developed in my senior year of high school. I wrote an article about freedom of speech on campus for The College Fix, a news site that reports on issues relating to higher education. My piece was subsequently picked up by the Wall Street Journal and other major news outlets. I received tons of messages, both pleasant and extremely critical. Besides getting my views out there, I was most interested in the way people — especially those who disagree with my viewpoint — seriously engaged my work. I was able to see beyond my own limited perspective and constructively disagree, which are features that are completely missing from our polarized public discourse. Upon entering Ithaca College, I wanted to get involved with my campus newspaper, The Ithacan, in hopes of becoming a columnist. I applied and, to my delight, was accepted. Now that I secured this position, I didn’t quite know what to focus my writings on. Higher education? Race relations? Global issues? Domestic politics? I was interested in writing about so many different topics. Eventually, I settled on the overarching theme of “identity.” Given the role identity plays in shaping world politics, I figured this would be the best fit. It gave me the flexibility to write about a range of issues instead of being pigeonholed into one specific issue. Even though I was glad to have this space, I encountered a few problems. How do I talk about my identity as a gay and atheist man from a conservative Muslim background? What if nobody understands me? What if nobody listens? Worse, what if my family somehow discovers my writings? I feared this because I knew this process of revealing myself was going to take me to some painful places. In terms of family, it would be an act of insurmountable transgression to come out as gay and atheist. Here at Ithaca, I might face resistance and hostility for dismissing liberal righteousness on race matters. I told myself that there was going to be a personal cost. Was I willing to accept it? This fear was so paralyzing that I kept my first few columns as noncontroversial as possible. Finally, I wrote about my lifelong struggle of negotiating my identity as a gay and ex-Muslim man and a member of a devout, disapproving family. At first, I used to believe that I wasn’t doing anything more than just rambling every week or so. Now, I fully understand that there is a lot at stake. Oftentimes, it’s painful to write about issues relating to identity because it is particularly and understandably fraught. Not only is it painful to discuss identities, it’s also practically difficult, especially when I’m writing about an identity that I don’t share. Am I using the right language to talk about these people? Is it even my place to comment on issues that don’t affect me whatsoever? These are issues that I have to constantly negotiate as a columnist focusing on identity. Despite all of these difficulties, I still feel it is my duty to share my experiences and speak out. Being a columnist allows me to accomplish exactly this.

SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

TAKING A STAND 81

SEEKING SECURITY

Mahad Olad writes about his experience escaping gay conversion therapy in Kenya | BY MAHAD OLAD

fter moving hundreds of miles away from home for college, I was looking forward to taking a vacation with my family the summer after my first year. My freshman year of college had been especially hard due to both being far from my family and all the stress that typically comes with starting college. My decision to pursue postsecondary education in New York came with the price of leaving my family behind in Minnesota. It was emotional and tumultuous. I, like many first-generation students from an immigrant background, struggled to reconcile two frequently opposing desires: devotion to family and educational mobility. So when my mother invited me to come on a vacation to Kenya to visit our relatives, I thought it would be a good chance to spend some time together, reunite with family we hadn’t seen in a while and explore East Africa. Little did I know that my mother had other plans in store for me. I hail from an extremely conservative Muslim background, but over the past years, I have come to realize that I don’t consider myself Muslim anymore. Not only did I have to hide from my family that I am an atheist, but also that I am gay. My family is Somali by ethnicity. We fled to Kenya to escape the civil war in Somalia around 1991. This wouldn’t be my first time going back to Kenya, since I have visited the country a few times before, but I was looking forward to seeing my relatives and spending some time there. We arrived in Kenya in late May 2017. The very first night there, my mother told me this would not be a summer vacation. She told me that I would not be returning to the U.S. at the end of the summer as planned. She asked me to withdraw from college so that I could be placed under the control of a group of sheiks whose goal would be to reform my religious beliefs and reorient my sexuality. Somehow, my family had found out my secret and had prepared

this elaborate ruse to get me to Kenya. Similar to the practice of gay conversion therapy in the United States, there are those within the Muslim community who utilize abusive tactics as a way of policing what they consider to be “deviant” behavior. Even though my mother “asked” me to go, I knew that it wasn’t really a choice. A few sheiks were at our hotel that night. They briefly spoke to me about how being gay and atheist is unequivocally against my Islamic upbringing and African heritage. I knew that when they came back to get me the following morning, I would be forced to go with them. I was quite aware of the horrors of these gay and religious conversion camps. The leaders operate the camps around grim parts of Somalia and Kenya. They subject their captives to severe beatings, shackling, food deprivation and other cruel practices. It usually involves a rigorous Islamic curriculum. Those who fail to cooperate, make adequate progress or try to escape could possibly be killed. I knew I had to get out immediately. I was without access to money or even my passport, so I needed assistance. To buy myself some time, I told my mother that I was willing to go along with her plans. I told her I was going for a walk, and then I made a call to Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA), an organization that supports people who have chosen to leave Islam. They quickly put me in touch with Executive Director Muhammad Syed, based in Washington, D.C. Syed reached out to the United States Embassy in Kenya to see if they could help me escape. I was told that if I could take a cab to the embassy they could shelter me and help me figure out how I could get back to the U.S. In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, I escaped from the hotel and made it to the embassy. Thankfully, the consul general welcomed me into his home until we could formulate a plan. The next problem was that I had no place to go and

no money to get back to the U.S. I couldn’t go back home to Minnesota, and Ithaca College was closed for the summer. The consul general reached out to the college to see if they could help. Luckily, they were able to find a place for me on campus and EXMNA was generous enough to pay for my airfare back to the U.S. Once back on U.S. soil, I felt a measure of relief. Both the FBI and campus police are keeping an eye on me and, while I have begun to feel physically safe, emotionally the nightmare isn’t over. At 19, I now have no family. Even family members who weren’t a part of this scheme aren’t talking to me. Their rejection and treatment of me has been devastating. As I work through all of this on a personal level, I know that I want to do everything I can to prevent this from happening to others like me. Gay conversion therapy is exceedingly abhorrent. While it can’t alter someone’s sexual orientation, it certainly can scar them for life. Suicide rates are extremely high for people forced into these conversion camps. Unlike conversion therapy in the U.S., the religious conversion camps in Africa aren’t commonly reported on; they operate in secrecy. The fact that homosexuality is still illegal in most of Africa makes these conversion camps even crueler. We don’t have exact numbers of how many young people are forced to go to these camps, but we know the numbers are growing. I am lucky enough to be over 18 and a U.S. citizen and to have a large support network — all of which made it easier for me to get out of Kenya. Not everyone is so lucky, however. That is why I’m sharing my story: so the U.S. and other governments can do more to protect the vulnerable youth of Muslim backgrounds whose parents abuse them in the name of religion and culture. After everything they put me through, I don’t know if I will ever be able to have a relationship with my family, but I am thankful that I am alive. For now, I am taking it one day at a time.

Evan Popp

82 TAKING A STAND

SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

EYE ON THE MEDIA | BY EVAN POPP

hen I was a freshman in high school, I decided sports journalism would be my future career. There was no reason to think it would last; there had been periods during the years prior when I wanted to become a psychologist, a novelist and a sociologist. But it did last. I began interning for a local newspaper, and while I eventually decided that I wanted to do news-based political coverage, I fell in love with journalism and how it constantly forced me to explore new ideas and subjects. Hydroponics and art exhibits one day, the debate over labeling GMOs and the intricacies of pharmaceutical policy another. For someone with many different interests, journalism became the perfect conduit for my generalist tendencies. The casual reader of my column on the media might find this hard to believe. Given my largely negative tone and consistent criticism of journalism, it would be reasonable to conclude that I hate the media. But that’s not the case. If I hated the media and felt it was irredeemable, I wouldn’t bother analyzing it. The real reason I write this column is because I love journalism, and I believe it can and must be better. Journalists — especially those in the mainstream media who have, in large part, been the target of my criticism — have an enormous collective platform, particularly in the age of social media in which journalism is more accessible than ever. And whether we know it or not, the way the media reports the news has a significant impact on how the public thinks about important issues. Journalism has the power to guide the contemporary debate, to push issues into the conversation or let them fade away. Because of its impact on society, it’s important that the media gets it right and that journalists do responsible reporting. And the basis of my column is that too often, this is not the case. Wedded to an objectivity-obsessed style that doesn’t challenge government power enough and is obsessed with horse-race reporting, the media has failed on the big issues time and time again. Journalistic blunders allowed George W. Bush to sell the Iraq War, and the free media many outlets gave to Donald Trump helped elevate his noxious, conspiratorial message to millions. Of course, the media has done effective, important reporting over the years. But there are countless other examples of journalism that has hurt rather than helped. The reason I write this column is that I’m trying to imagine and propose a world in which the media is driven not by complete objectivity, but by holding the powerful accountable. A media landscape in which reporters don’t splash the latest poll numbers or rumors about who’s running for what on the front page but instead consistently elevate and discuss issues of importance to everyday people, such as access to health care or the battle against climate change. Journalistic ethics in which skepticism and rigorous reporting are prized while groupthink and sensationalism are discouraged. To criticize something and demand that it be better is a form of flattery. I believe in journalism and its power to tell evocative stories that create shifts in public policy and help society understand the world more completely. It has potential. It just hasn’t reached it yet.

TAKING A STAND 83

IN OTHER NEWS | BY ISABELLA GRULLÓN PAZ

Isabella Grullón PAZ

ou know what I hate? U.S. exceptionalism. Ithaca College is an incubator for believing that the United States is unique, even with its self-deprecating rhetoric taught across all departments. But being socially conscious of inequality and social issues does not make you a down-to-earth grassroots activist, it means you have the terminology to discuss realities as abstract theories. Students who say “the U.S. ain’t shit” still practice the exceptionalism ingrained in them since childhood. They think they are better than those who are blindly patriotic — they intrinsically believe that they are special because they’re “woke.” You’re not special; you’re aware. Within this exceptionalism is the idea that U.S. news is the only news that matters, leaving behind the idea that most international events will affect the United States, be it through migration flows or the country’s military affairs. “In Other News” was a way to sprinkle a little reality into the theoretical bubble that is a liberal arts institution. It was an effort to take the U.S. out of the spotlight at least once a week. If the rest of the world must know what is happening in the U.S. at all times, should the U.S not be at least aware of the situation of others? For some, “In Other News” served as a palette-cleanser for the craziness of the 2016 election. To others, it was 400 words of recognition. To me, it was a space to subtly weave a web of stories linked by the commonality that they are not written from the point of view of the U.S. looking out, but are trying to contextualize these issues through the country’s own frame of reference. The need to write this column not only came from a place of wanting to bring in different perspectives or highlight issues happening elsewhere, but it also came from my need to get away from the never-ending political commentary in the U.S. It was a way to explore my boredom with the country I had so actively decided to become a part of four years ago without having to leave the safety of its borders — you can say I’ve become susceptible to its exceptionalism while being here too. This column came from a place of teaching others about being more aware of the bubble outside the U.S., but also from a place of learning both about other countries and myself. You see, I’m the type of writer who likes to see myself in every piece I write, even if I’m writing about tension in the Saudi Arabian peninsula or humanitarian crises in Myanmar. All my columns talk about myself, about my identity within power politics, about being in constant limbo when it comes to nationally and race. On the surface, my columns are 400-word wake-up calls to students at Ithaca about the fact that there is life outside the U.S. that has mostly nothing to do with the U.S. Between the lines and topic choices are little clues as to how I was feeling during the week and where I was in my thought process about defining place and the home I happen to be in. Sometimes I digress three steps back — those weeks I harped on U.S. foreign policy decisions, too tired to contextualize and too guilty to face my role in the digression of my continent. Other weeks, I felt more confident, addressing migration around the world to cope with my lack of a base and the role privilege holds elsewhere. For two years, “In Other News” was not just home to my intellectual desire to learn about other countries, but a safe space to be myself under my favorite mask: politics.

SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

84 TAKING A STAND

TULP’S TRAVELS | BY SOPHIA TULP

sophia Tulp

f you ask me why I chose to study abroad in the Western Balkans, my answer is usually more or less the same. I first heard about this area of the world during my Global Political Thought class sophomore year while reading the famous Balkan author Ivo Andrić’s “The Bridge on the Drina.” Now that I am here, I split my time between Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo studying peace and conflict with an emphasis on journalism, looking at the ways the wars of the 1990s still affect the present. In April, I spent a month traveling around Bosnia to produce a longer-form feature story on postwar concepts of masculinity, the culmination of my time here abroad. *** You know when you leave the house thinking you look amazing, then you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror and think, “Do I really look like that?” That’s what being an American abroad can feel like sometimes. When I chose to study abroad in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, I knew that I was stepping into postconflict societies, with wounds still open and new ones being made from the aftermath of war in the 1990s — wounds that I, as an American, had a complicated history in. But my knee-jerk self-awareness started even before I landed in Belgrade, Serbia. My travels were first marked by scrutiny from local citizens while living in Nicaragua for three months in 2013. The legacy of President Ronald Reagan’s Iran-Contra affair still haunted the rural village I lived in. A friend of my host father had been killed in that very community in the ’80s. In Serbia, this idea of who Americans are takes a different form but still has ties to violence. It looks like the bombed-out remnants of a military building in the city center. An eyesore — or just a true sore — that remains a passive-aggressive reminder of U.S.-backed NATO bombings that killed up to thousands (data is still widely disputed) of innocent civilians in 1999. It comes in the form of hushed conversations with my host dad, when he takes long drags of a hand-rolled cigarette and answers my probing questions with devastating truths. He worked for Radio Television of Serbia, once used by totalitarian leader Slobodan Milosevic as a propagandistic machine to fuel ethnic hatred against Albanians in Kosovo. Sixteen colleagues of my host father died when a NATO missile hit their building. Sixteen people that worked in the same building as him: technicians, security guards, makeup artists. All the while, the government officials actually responsible for the atrocities walked free. The assumption that Americans have much better things to do than be in their transitional country is common. And I can’t help but believe most of that comes from their perception of us as feeling superior to them, or not thinking of their daily lives at all. Lives that we have made more challenging from our legacy of aggression and a perceived tendency to classify all Serbs by the actions of manipulative politicians.Being a traveler in a postconflict society comes with many challenges, but it also comes with a silver lining — the possibility to represent a different face of America than what they may currently see.

COURTESY OF SOPHIA TULP

TAKING A STAND 85

The Tuck Rule

DANIELLE ALLENTUCK

SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

| BY DANIELLE ALLENTUCK

was born and bred in sports, so much so that I consider them part of my blood. My parents acquired their love of sports from their fathers, and they made sure that they passed this love down to my two sisters and me. In the fall, Saturdays were reserved for college football, Sundays for professional football and the days in between for playoff baseball and early-season hockey and basketball. Our conversations at the dinner table revolved around who won and who lost, depth charts, injury reports and just about anything related to our beloved NC State Wolfpack and Washington, D.C., sports teams. While most girls my age asked for clothes or makeup for their birthdays growing up, I always asked for a subscription to Sports Illustrated. It was only natural for me to pursue a career in sports journalism, and I never considered doing anything else. In fifth grade, I announced to my class that I was going to cover the Super Bowl one day, only to be met by laughter and smirking from my classmates who declared that a girl could never cover football. This thought has followed me throughout my entire career, but it doesn’t stop me from doing what I love. As I’ve gotten older, my understanding of sports beyond just the X’s and O’s has expanded, and my view has broadened. I cringe at the lack of coverage of women’s sports, despise athletes, coaches and doctors who are allowed to continue working despite serious allegations against them and shake my head at the exploitation of college athletes. My column, The Tuck Rule, is a place where I can vent my frustrations, praise the athletes who do right and hope for a better future for all athletes. Take women’s sports teams, for example. With names like Dream, Miracle, Spark, Pride, etc., it’s no wonder some people don’t take them seriously. A name such as Dream or Pride suggests they need to dream or have pride to be successful, as if they aren’t worthy of representing a team that has a name or mascot that shows off power and portrays fear. Same thing goes with “Lady Bombs,” which many Ithaca College women’s sports teams use instead of just plain “Bombers” when cheering. Although it may seem innocent, they are claiming that the term “Bomber” isn’t an adequate way to describe their team and that “Lady Bombs” is a better way to classify them. They are separating themselves from men’s teams, which can be good, but in this case, they are doing themselves a disservice. It’s insinuating that they aren’t worthy of competing underneath the Bombers’ threshold, so they must compete under the feminine version. After noticing the lack of Paralympic coverage, I let out my frustration in a column examining the lack of coverage these athletes received. While it felt like one couldn’t get away from Olympic coverage, Paralympic action was mainly shown on the Olympic Channel, which requires a special cable package, or on NBC during odd hours of the weekend, usually during the middle of the day when most people are out and about running errands or at work. The New York Times was the only notable media outlet to send a reporter to cover the Paralympics, compared to dozens that sent full teams to the Olympics. Other topics I’ve explored include the lack of respect for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, Ithaca College’s sending a record number of divers to nationals and the exploitation of athletes during March Madness. My goal is to give people a look into the reality of sports and to see that things aren’t as great as they may seem on television. I want to make people aware of the social implications of sports and that the intersection of sports and politics is inevitable and has been going on since sports began. Most importantly, I want to open people’s eyes to the real issues beyond the competitions.

Olivia riggio

86 TAKING A STAND

COURTESY OF OLIVIA RIGGIO

EXPLORING THE EMERALD ISLE | BY OLIVIA RIGGIO

efore I left for Ireland, my cousin gave me a journal to record my thoughts and experiences in while I was abroad. Having studied abroad when he was in college, he told me that one day I’d want to look back on my adventures and read what I had written. Well, I journaled on the plane, and that was about it. Though journaling may not be my forte, writing this column has been a great way for me to not only record but analyze the amazing experiences I’ve had here and be able to share them with others. I was happy to be able to contribute to The Ithacan even from thousands of miles away. Writing my column gave me a chance to reflect on my experiences critically and realize the privileges of being able to experience a new culture in a worldwide context. *** When I chose to study abroad, I did so knowing the drastic changes and challenges it would present would be good for me. I was not afraid of the intimidating cultural adjustment graph shown at information sessions. The steep slope from the “honeymoon phase” I would allegedly experience down to the pit of “culture shock” made me roll my eyes. I was ready. The truth is, not everyone experiences that menacing bell-curve outlined at every study abroad meeting. For me, the adjustment was subtle. I experienced placid contentment instead of intense euphoria, and I would have slight spells of frustration or loneliness in place of the “crisis” I was guaranteed to endure. But my time here has not been perfect. I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder during my sophomore year of college and attended therapy and took medication to help regulate it. When I initially sought help, I felt like a shell of myself. But thanks to the resources and support available to me, I learned to better manage my mind. Though infrequent, these episodes can be intense, and one of them occurred while I was here. Before I went to Ireland, I decided to wean myself off of my medication so that I was not bothered with filling my prescription abroad. However, I made an appointment with a psychiatrist on campus just in case. The excitement of living in a new country had made me believe that perhaps I had left my anxiety and depression at home. However, it was not that simple. I found myself struggling again, but this time, feared reaching out. I did not want to worry my loved ones at home or impose on my new friends here. I was nervous because I did not know how people here viewed mental health or if therapy and psychiatry would be different. I tried to convince myself that ignoring the problem would make it go away, which of course, only made it worse. I began reaching out to some family and friends from home, but still felt isolated. Moving to a new place did not mean my brain would magically change its chemical composition, and feeling anxiety and depression here does not define my otherwise amazing abroad experience. Isolation is never the answer, and even 3,000 miles away from home, there are people there to help.

TAKING A STAND 87

PIECH IN PALERMO | BY ELENA PIECH

elena piech

uggy, smelly and tired. Sweating from the heat of the Argentine summer sun, I was cramped in a tiny classroom with 20 other Americans. We all said hello and gave the usual introductions: our names, hometowns, colleges and majors. Given that we signed up for a semesterlong Spanish-language immersion in Buenos Aires, Argentina, half of the students in the room confidently announced that they were Spanish majors or minors. Judging by their slight eyerolls and suppressed snickers, the Spanish majors and minors placed those not studying Spanish at their home university into a lost-cause category. At first, some students assumed I belonged to that group. Being an emerging media major with minors in journalism and international politics, my Spanish-studying peers assumed that I lacked foreign language experience. What they did not realize is that I have a background in Spanish: I am half-Hispanic, but I am not a fluent speaker. My mother is a first-generation Mexican-American, but she never taught her language to my brother and me. My father is a white Midwesterner who only speaks English. From watching Blockbuster movies to playing with my neighbors, I grew up immersed in America’s unofficially official language. I do not think my mother’s decision to raise us in an English-speaking household reflects a conscious attempt to assimilate us into American culture. Rather, English made communicating easier for my father. Aside from at home, my mother never stopped speaking Spanish. My mother spoke in her native tongue any time she purchased meat from a butcher, went to see my abuelos or visited family in Mexico. These experiences trained my ear to hear certain words and phrases. Unfortunately, hearing a language and fully understanding it are two different skills. From a young age, my Spanish skills were elementary at best. I could say my name and ask someone about the weather, but I felt uncomfortable moving beyond these introductory topics. Although I participated in the same customs and traditions as other Mexican families, my inability to fluently speak made me feel like an imposter. As a method of reclaiming my identity, I made the conscious decision to dedicate a semester to improving my Spanish. Prior to arriving here, I believed I was a horrible Spanish speaker. I took Spanish in high school, but I always felt embarrassed to be the Mexican kid in a Spanish class. Even if I spoke Spanish in the classroom, I rarely used it with my family because of my heavy American accent. I am now understanding that learning a language is a gradual process. Although I might not necessarily observe myself learning, every week I notice that my skills are improving. Just last week, I had a conversation, in Spanish, with a friend about the importance of Marvel’s “Black Panther” and the significance of media representation. So far, this semester has not brought me closer to my culture. Instead, this semester is building my confidence. Even back in the States, when I would go to a Mexican restaurant with my mother and abuelos, I would get nervous when ordering. Fixated on enunciating something wrong, I would end up saying my meal in English. Instead of allowing fear to inhibit me, I should have used every opportunity as a form to practice and improve. I am going to use my next two months in Buenos Aires to make grammar mistakes, to speak slowly and to Google vocabulary translations. I am going to own up to the fact that I am learning. And when I return to the United States, I am going to talk to my abuelos in Spanish. My accent and slow speaking ability don’t push me further away from my culture; what does is my fear of trying.

COURTESY OF ELENA PIECH

Stepping

to a

Different Beat

90 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

HUMANS OF ITHACA Ithaca College professor Robyn Wishna started the “We Are Ithaca” photo project to showcase the personalities of Ithaca residents and the diversity of the community

| BY SKYLAR EAGLE

thaca College Professor Robyn Wishna showcased the diversity of the Ithaca community through portraits and videos in a multimedia project called “We Are Ithaca.” Wishna, lecturer in the Department of Media Arts, Sciences and Studies, collaborated on “We Are Ithaca” with John Spence, executive director of the Community Arts Partnership, and Jon Jensen, executive director of the Park Foundation. The project shed light on the people who make up the Ithaca community and presented a place where their stories can be shared both within the community and online, Wishna said. The project consisted of 20 portrait sessions in locations around Ithaca, and anyone in the community could have gotten their portrait taken. Participants were encouraged to bring an object that is important to them to include in their portrait. There was also a video component, for which participants told personal anecdotes or explained the object they brought, Wishna said. Portrait sessions began Sept. 16 and ran until mid-November. All of the portraits are posted on the website weareithaca.org. The final product will be showcased in the summer of 2018 in a yet-to-be-decided location. Wishna said that people in the community are taking time out of their own lives to be a part of the project. “This project really brings out one of the best parts of being a photojournalist — getting to meet all sorts of people and getting to talk to them and hear and see a little bit of them,” Wishna said. One of her inspirations for beginning the project was the idea that all people need to be seen, heard and acknowledged, Wishna said. “Everybody has a story, and everybody’s story is as important as the next person’s story,” she said. “It’s about all of us. It doesn’t matter what socioeconomic status you have, what part of town you are from or how old you are.” Juniors Anna Gardner and Elena Piech are working with Wishna on the project as community coordinators. Gardner said that the project is a great way to showcase the people who make Ithaca a unique community. “The energy was really great,” she said. “People were smiling and feeling happy to share their story and feel validated in having someone listen to the stories that they want to tell.”

Five-year-old Owen Wallace was one of the participants photographed in the project. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 91

Professor Robyn Wishna founded the “We Are Ithaca” photo project to showcase members of the community. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

92 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

Ithaca celebrated the 35th Applefest with large crowds and plentiful food

Apples, Donuts and Cider, Oh My!

A number of Ithaca vendors sold apples during the 35th annual Apple Harvest Festival. ELIAS OLSEN/THE ITHACAN

| BY KARA BOWEN

thaca’s 35th Annual Apple Harvest Festival ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, 2017. with crowds of hungry people, music in the air and stands piled high with fresh apples, ciders and baked goods. A downtown Ithaca staple, Applefest is a three-day event offering food, entertainment and games. Local cideries and farms are featured as vendors, with emphasis placed on apple-related products. Tatiana Sy ’09, director of events for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, said the event is both a treasured tradition for the existing community and an introduction to Ithaca for newcomers. “Since students have just gotten here, it’s basically their introduction to downtown if they’re first-year students,” she said. “If they’re not first-year students, it’s usually the one that everyone makes it to from both hills.” Applefest appeals to families in the area as well as students, offering a Family Fun Zone within Center Ithaca with crafts, giveaways, games and other kid-friendly activities. Since its beginning in 1982, Applefest has grown from a small gathering of local farmers into a major event. Applefest was first created as a place for farmers to sell their goods during harvest season. In the 35 years since, it has grown to include performances from local musical and theatrical groups and a wider variety of vendors, bringing in larger crowds. “It’s all just kind of a large spectacle, so it depends on what you’re coming down for — whether it’s the food or whether it’s the music on The Commons or the games,” Sy said. Littletree Orchards manager Amara Steinkraus has seen this growth in her many years at Applefest. Her mother opened the

orchard in 1973, and Littletree has been an annual vendor since the first festival. “We have been there since the very beginning, when me and my sister were both toddlers at the festival with my mom,” Steinkraus said. “It’s interesting to watch this festival grow over the years from a kind of ‘kid’ fair to now an ‘adult’ fair. When it started, it was really mostly local farmers, and in the past five to seven years, it’s grown into more of a carnival, with rides and a lot more people.” Bill Barton of Bellwether Hard Cider, a vendor at Applefest for over 10 years, also recognizes this change. “It seems like it’s always been popular, but it’s gotten more and more popular,” he said. “There’s bigger crowds and certainly a lot of attention on the cider.” The Finger Lakes climate is ideal for growing apples. Littletree Orchards’ apple cider donuts are popular and attract lines of people stretching down The Commons. The orchard stands also offer a variety of apples, fresh apple cider, applesauce, apple butter, apple chips and raw apple cider vinegar. Applefest is one of Littletree Orchards’ biggest weekends of the year, Steinkraus said. Interest in Bellwether Hard Cider’s variety of ciders has also grown over the years, Barton said. When Bellwether began making cider 20 years ago, the industry was not as popular as it is now. “When we first started out, there were many people who didn’t have a clue to what [cider] is,” he said. “As time has gone on, there’s been more and more people come to check us out who know quite a bit about cider. Part of that is because a lot of the audience is college students, and the younger drinkers seem to catch onto things quicker.”

Applefest attendants purchase freshly baked goods from a local vendor. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

A vendor sells apple cider, a popular drink at Applefest. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

A local vendor sells varieties of apples and cider at the Ithaca Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

Ithaca farmeres sell corn and many types of squash at Applefest. ELIAS OLSEN/THE ITHACAN

94 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

Tiffany Grygus is dressed as a potted plant, called a Mandrake in the “Harry Potter” universe. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

Kimberly Bailey is dressed as Cerebrus, the three-headed dog from “Harry Potter.” ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

A local vendor sells handmade wooden wands during Wizarding Weekend. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

Dressed as Harry Potter, Sam Buck rides around Wizarding Weekend in a dragon wagon. ELENA CHANG/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 95

Casting Spells Magic descended on the Muggles of Ithaca during the third annual Wizarding Weekend

| BY ANTONIO FERME

or the past two years, Press Bay Alley on the Ithaca Commons has transformed into Diagon Alley during Halloween weekend, when fans of the wizarding world of “Harry Potter” have been able to immerse themselves in a magical experience. From Oct. 26–29, 2017, the third annual Wizarding Weekend took over The Commons in all of its mythical glory. In 2015, Darlynne Overbaugh, the owner of Life’s So Sweet Chocolates, volunteered to take charge. She said that she never truly expected this event to reach the level of popularity it has achieved. “The original idea was created by two teenagers to simply take Press Bay Alley and make it feel like Diagon Alley,” Overbaugh said. “When I said, ‘Hey, I’ll manage. I’ll run it,’ I really only intended it to be a five-hour, simple trick-or-treat event with maybe a few games.” When Overbaugh announced that the event was happening, Wizarding Weekend went viral after national news outlets reported on it. With the flick of a wand, thousands of people RSVP’d for the event, bringing in over 8,000 attendees from across the country. Local business owners participated by selling products like wands and brooms. The Downtown Ithaca Alliance volunteers helped set up wizarding duels, wizard chess

and an inflatable dragon. Visitors received Hogwarts acceptance letters, found their Houses and watched their favorite Quidditch teams. Wizarding Weekend is staying consistent at its core. Overbaugh and her team still cover the expenses of the festival, then donate the proceeds to the Blue Sky Center for Learning. She said that even though there are many places for people to spend their money, it is still a free event to attend. “We have additional vendors and performers,” Overbaugh said. “We put a lot of emphasis on the fact that this is continuing to be a free festival.” On Oct. 26, the weekend kicked off with the Half-Blood Prince blood drive in honor of the late Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the franchise and died in 2016. The team behind Wizarding Weekend is working with the Red Cross of the Southern Tier and taking blood donations at the Tompkins County Public Library. Overbaugh said the festival has something for everyone. “It’s interesting because there’s little games, crafts and activities at the festival,” Overbaugh said. “It’s a … festival where you can enjoy some wizard rock, see some street performers or visit the vendors that we’ve brought in.”

96 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT | BY KATE NALEPINSKI

ellow leaves fall from trees and crunch beneath a hiker’s boots. A student crouches next to a bush, studies the leaves and takes a picture with a camera. Another student wipes a layer of sweat from his forehead, shifting his pace as he runs on the trail. Another gazes across the woods, binoculars in hand, and watches a deer gallop through a thick layer of silence. Behind the manmade Ithaca College campus lie 6.91 miles of natural woods: the Ithaca College Natural Lands. This area, open from dawn to dusk year-round, is home to over 20,000 species and several trails. But these woods don’t take care of themselves. Erosion, animal and human engagement and natural weather patterns lead to inevitable decay. It takes a great deal of effort to keep this land safe and beneficial for the public. That’s where the Ithaca College Natural Lands staff and volunteers come in. Jake Brenner, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, has served as the faculty manager of the ICNL staff since 2012. Brenner said this position makes him responsible for Ithaca College programs that educate students, such as managing trail boundaries and access, directing research projects, managing threats from invasive species, and reaching out to the public and working with volunteers. Brenner’s staff of two paid student interns and five to 15 credit-bearing trainees per semester work together on individual projects. While most of the projects within the ICNL are long-term assignments, some are short-term projects catered to student’s interests, Brenner said. The Boothroyd Woods Trail One of the major projects the ICNL staff is aiming to complete this semester is the Boothroyd Woods Trail, an updated trail behind Boothroyd Hall, a freshman residence hall on the east side of campus. The trail modifications began in 2016 when ICNL members dug trenches in preparation. After installing 8-inch diameter pipes in the ground, they place two pieces of 6-by-6 lumber on top. After laying down fabric, they dump stone on top so water can flow through

the pipes and produce a structurally sound walkway. “This raised-gravel bed helps to manage drainage, control erosion, reduce impact from hiking and bikes and improve accessibility for people with mobility impairments,” Brenner said. The updates to the Boothroyd trail are intended to withstand heavier foot traffic than was supported before, and which ICNL members have seen increase in recent years, Brenner said. Brenner said the Natural Lands receive a sizeable but unquantifiable amount from the Office of Facilities in the form of staff wages for work to be done. This student-designed project has been led by different students over the past three years. This year, the

“

It’s great to get out there in the woods with people you have classes with.” – ADRIANA DEL GROSSO

project is under the leadership of senior Sarah Stuart-Sikowitz, outdoor adventure leadership major, who works as a paid intern within the environmental studies department. “There are a lot of projects that the Natural Lands crew is working on, but this is definitely the big kahuna of a project that we’re trying to focus on, trying to get done this semester,” Stuart-Sikowitz said. Stuart-Sikowitz said that accessibility is one of the main reasons for implementing the trail. She said that she feels that the changes being made to the trail are essential because of the frequency of students, faculty and others utilizing the trail behind Boothroyd Hall. “The trail is just muddy all the time,” she said. “People use the trail to commute to work and to their houses. They’ve used it as a recreation satellite, and when they are unable to walk the entirety of the trail without getting their boots muddy, it puts a damper on

their experience out in the woods. … Honestly, this is the most popular trail in the woods, I think, and it really needs some improvement.” The updated trail will also allow for ecological improvement. As foot traffic along the trail increases, the soil is compacted. When rainwater reaches the trail, it is unable to drain, which can potentially lead to erosion and tree uprooting. Adriana Del Grosso, a senior environmental science major, has occasionally worked on the Boothroyd trail this semester. She said that working outdoors with fellow ICNL members has allowed her to form relationships with others. “Especially with things like the trail work we’ve been doing, it’s great to get out there in the woods with people you have classes with,” she said. “It’s a good bonding thing.” Passing down a project Del Grosso said that she was able to dip her feet into projects because the ICNL courses are catered to student’s interests. The ICNL courses she took, she said, are not required for her major, but they have offered a good supplement to what she’s learned in classes. “It’s kind of nice having a smaller commitment, for me, instead of a full-blown research project,” she said. “I’ve had a good experience sampling different projects.” In addition to the Boothroyd trail project, Del Grosso is currently working on a deer enclosure project, which tracks the animals and keeps them safe within certain perimeters, and the Big Tree project, where ICNL members map out tree growth, width and canopy area of the trees within the Natural Lands. Linking students and nature Junior Oscar Mayer, who has been involved with the Natural Lands since summer 2015, said the ICNL was a draw for him when he applied to the college. Mayer said the Natural Lands create an intimate connection between humans and nature. “Not many other colleges can boast something like that,” he said. “I immediately jumped at the opportunity to help out, and I had a really good time.” Stuart-Sikowitz said that while people often associate this kind of work with dull experiences, she feels very stimulated during work.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 97

Protectors of the forest

A group of Ithaca College students and staff members maintain the Natural Lands

Sophomore Sam Hillman works in the Ithaca College Natural Lands. TED ZERIVITZ/THE ITHACAN

98 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

A group of Ithaca College students founded the IC Role-Playing Game Club to bring people together and play popular tabletop role-playing games | BY SILAS WHITE

thief prowls in the darkened alleyways of a fantasy city. Government agents lose their sanity upon discovering the eldritch secrets of the universe. A heist goes wrong when the getaway driver shows up drunk. A character’s life hangs in the balance, her fate decided by the roll of a 20-sided dice. In tabletop role-playing games, a player’s imagination is the limit. IC Role-Playing Game Club was started at the beginning of the Fall

2017 semester by sophomore Logan Trembow and junior Isaak Hill as a way to bring people together to play tabletop RPG games. The club is open to both experienced players and newcomers. “I like to run games oriented to new players,” Hill said. “It’s always fun to teach new players the rules because usually, they don’t have preconceptions about other systems. I feel like people that aren’t familiar with the rules are more creative with what they do in the game.” In tabletop role-playing games,

Pen-and-paper role-playing games are a popular way for people to gather together and tell stories in their favorite fantasy or science fiction worlds. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

which are also referred to as pen-and-paper role-playing games, players describe their characters’ actions through speech. The games can be thought of as a form of group storytelling, Hill said. One player, typically referred to as the game master, acts as the storyteller and referee. The rest of the players control characters within the world the game master describes, and usually have to accomplish an objective, such as defeating a villain or investigating a crime. Participants choose their actions in the game based on the character they

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 99

are playing, and actions succeed or fail based on established rules, dice rolls or at the game master’s discretion. Tabletop RPGs in their most recognizable form started with “Dungeons and Dragons” in 1974. Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, “Dungeons and Dragons” allows players to control characters of different races and skill sets in a fantasy setting. Recently, the game appeared in the Netflix original series “Stranger Things.” Trembow said he was surprised a similar club did not exist already, so he and Hill decided to start their own. Since the club’s conception, interest has been relatively high, with 63 members on the club’s Facebook page and about 20 people attending regular sessions and the club’s Thursday meetings. Trembow said curiosity in tabletop games has been on the rise the past few years, partly due to the “Dungeons and Dragons” web series “Critical Role.” Tabletop RPGs are a social activity by nature, Trembow said, so he was looking for more people to play with. Rather than have one large game, the club plays as a group. The club uses Facebook to set up several small games that players sign up for individually. While some campaigns feature larger stories that unfold over several sessions, others are only one session long. Trembow said shorter games are offered because it is hard for college students to find time to commit

to weekly games. “The basic problem of college students is that we’re really busy, and we’re really busy in a super annoying way, which is we’re really busy spread out throughout the entire week,” Trembow said. “It’s really hard to find a good four- or five-hour chunk of time to steal someone’s afternoon away, and it’s even harder to find a group of people open for the same hours on the same day.” While “Dungeons and Dragons” remains popular within the club, other games the club plays include “Delta Green,” a game set in a modern world that takes inspiration from the H.P. Lovecraft mythos; “Fiasco,” a game master–less game designed to simulate a heist gone wrong; and “Paranoia,” a game where players’ characters live in an underground dystopia ruled by a computer. Hill said that one of the advantages to tabletop games over video games is group storytelling and freedom of expression. “In tabletop games, you can really have a face-to-face connection with people,” Hill said. “They allow for really great storytelling, which is neat. I’ve always had a problem with the term RPG when it comes to video games because to me a role-playing game is a game where you can do literally anything. In a video game, you’re limited by the game’s programming.” Freshman Elizabeth Zenteno joined IC RPG Club at the

organization fair. She said that she had an interest in RPGs in high school but did not know anyone she could play with. Zenteno said she enjoys the social element of tabletop RPGs. “If you don’t want to be too serious, you don’t have to be,” she said. “I’ve always liked fantasy stuff, so that’s another thing.” Zenteno said her favorite moment in a recent campaign was foiling her game master’s plans by instantly killing a difficult enemy. In the game, Zenteno had rolled a 20 on the 20-sided die, which caused her character to score an extra-deadly attack. “There’s this one campaign I’m doing where I play a Halfling assassin … which basically means I’m overpowered,” she said. “There was this moment where we were having trouble finding a switch to get to the next room, and meanwhile, we were fighting these people that were supposed to be difficult and take more time, but me and two other people killed them on our first move.” The best part of the club, Trembow said, is telling a story together with friends. “Everyone sits down at a table and writes a story together, and the players have real influence on the story’s outcome,” he said. “The fact that there are many players working together and it’s your shared vision is what’s interesting. Also, I don’t know... it’s a good way to get out of the house, get some pizza and chill out.”

100 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

From left, seniors Jake Nusbaum, Will Thames and Nick Byron rehearse for “Angels in America.” CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

SOARING ON THE COLLEGE STAGE Ithaca College students tackle the 1980s AIDS crisis in “Angels in America”

| BY KATE NALEPINSKI

fter ingesting Valium, Harper Pitt, a middle-aged woman, is transported into a mystical alternate reality. Drifting across the stage, she meets Prior Walter, who, having a fever dream, is trapped in the same alternative universe she is. Dressed in drag, Prior reveals to Harper that her husband is gay. When the duo awake from their alternate realities, they continue to struggle through the 1980s AIDS crisis. This year, Ithaca College students will embody these individuals in Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play “Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches.” It was performed Oct. 3, 5–8 and 10–13, 2017, in the Dillingham Center’s Richard M. Clark Theatre. “These two people who would never have met in their ordinary lives meet in this impossible and magical space, and they find

that they have an extraordinary and unexpected connection,” Claire Gleitman, professor in the Department of English, said. “It’s one of the most remarkable scenes in all of the contemporary drama, I think.” Gleitman utilized Kushner’s “Angels in America” in her courses “Anxious Masculinity on the American Stage” and “Modern and Contemporary American Drama.” The play was performed on an arena stage, where the audience was seated on all sides of the performers. Senior Sam Hurley, assistant director for the performance, said this setup allows the work to be more engaging and active for the audience. She said that following the script closely also allows the play to be more engaging for viewers. “We’re keeping this very clear and close to the text,” Hurley said. “This is a three-hour play, and we’re not cutting any of it because we feel everything said is

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 101

From left, freshman Jahmar Ortiz and junior Joshua Wilde star as Belize and Louis in “Angels in America.” CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

so vital to every aspect of the story and to understanding these characters. It’s a story about humans and human relationships, so keeping the structure as pure and simple is the best.” Junior Joshua Wilde, who plays Louis, said connecting with Louis has been difficult because of the bleak situations the character must grapple with. “What I see in Louis is this moral difficulty,” he said. “He’s trying so hard to do the right thing, but he doesn’t want to see the person he loves the very most go through one of the very most horrific and unknown diseases that’s ever hit America.” While the play is mostly realistic, it contains elements of fantasy and magic. For this reason, Gleitman said, the play is hard to categorize by genre. “[‘Angels’] has elements of realism,” Gleitman said. “But its realistically drawn characters have regular encounters with ghosts: A woman having a Valium-induced hallucination wanders into a total stranger’s dream, and an angel suddenly bursts through a sick man’s ceiling. ‘Angels’ is

hypertheatrical, and it refuses to conform to any rules.” Gleitman said the complexities of Kushner’s characters tap into the themes within the play. “A central theme in ‘Angels’ is the very American impulse to move, to migrate, to pick oneself up and go somewhere else,” she said. “All Americans who are not Native Americans journeyed to get here, by choice or by force, and the play suggests that that journey is deep in the American DNA. To underscore this, Kushner fills his play with characters who are on epic journeys.” While the play takes place in the ’80s, Wilde said the themes and characters within “Angels in America” are still as relevant as ever, specifically to the LGBTQ community. “They’re very human, as cliché as that is to say,” Wilde said. “Their struggles are very, very tangible. Especially in our country right now. The AIDs epidemic was only 30 years ago, so it’s very fresh in our nation’s history, so a lot of people who come to the show can think, like, ‘I remember this time. I’ve lived

through this time.’” Robert Moss, who has directed and produced works at the Hangar Theatre and Syracuse Stage, directed the main stage performance. Senior Ryan Dickson, who works for the Ithaca College Theater Marketing Team, said that working alongside Moss was an honor for him and other students. “It’s really amazing that the students at our college... we get to work with someone like Rob Moss on and off the stage,” Dickson said. “Just to work with someone with the breadth of knowledge he does about the theater world. … A lot of us students are training to become the next Rob Moss.” Dickson said that when he first read Kushner’s play in one of Gleitman’s classes, he instantly was entranced by the story. “When I read it last semester … there’s a lot of stuff present that you see relevant to today,” Dickson said. “I think [the play is] pertinent now because history is cyclical. I think it’s interesting that you can take a step back and think, ‘Oh, these concepts and themes are relevant to today’s society.’”

102 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

FINDING GODS IN THEMSELVES Yoruba culture and religion inspired Ithaca College’s Mainstage production of “In the Red and Brown Water”

Sophomore Kellik Dawson plays Elegba, a Yoruban deity named after the Crossroads. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHERYL SINKOW PHOTOGRAPHY

| BY KATE NALEPINSKI

he stage is dark. A bright light glows upon a young black woman, Oya, who lies silently in the center. A gargantuan, dangling tree sits on one side of the stage, a comforting log cabin on the other. Gods appear on the stage, and as their angelic vocals fill the room, Oya rises to her feet, smiling bright. For once, she isn’t thinking about her struggles. She feels free. “Not many people are able to hear stories about women of color who are fighting to make a better life for themselves,” Kellik Dawson, sophomore acting major at Ithaca College, said. “Especially within the Ithaca community, this is something that our audience really needs to witness.” Dawson is one of many students who had been working to bring the latest Main Stage performance, “In the Red and Brown Water,” to life at the college. The play was performed Dec. 5–10,

2017, in the Clarke Theatre in Dillingham Center. The play is written by Tarrell Alvin McCraney, who also wrote the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” which inspired the Academy Award–winning film “Moonlight.” The play is set in the fictional town of San Pere, Louisiana. The protagonist is Oya, a young black woman with a passion for running, who faces a dilemma when she doesn’t know whether to care for her ill mother or follow her interests at a state university. As Oya is faced with numerous pitfalls and the desire to care for a child, the play shows her transition into womanhood. Senior acting major Sandra Sackey, who plays Oya, said her character’s independent and empowered nature motivated her to enter Oya’s mind. “I think one of the things that excites me the most about this play is that Oya is such a strong-willed fighter,” she said. “Knowing that alone really amps

me up to play her. So even though she goes through those struggles and losses, she doesn’t back down from anything.” Sackey said director Cynthia Henderson, associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, used an analogy to help Sackey understand Oya’s difficulties. “She asked me to think of all the losses Oya encounters to be like a brick, layering one on top of the other,” Sackey said. “I think for me, allowing that analogy … was really helpful for me in terms of justifying the ending moment of the play.” During the play, Oya falls into a love triangle of sorts — caught between “bad boy” Shango and the caring, concerned Ogun. The play itself is influenced by Yoruba religion, which is primarily practiced by Yoruba peoples from West Africa. Dawson said the characters in the play are based on Orishas, Yoruba deities. Dawson played Elegba, the deity who represents the Crossroads —

a symbolic gatekeeper of change and life decisions. “Yoruba religion is the oldest human religion,” they said. “I know Elegba is the owner of the Crossroads, so I’ve been doing research and understanding how he interacts within the world of play — sort of opening doors for people to face the future, for people to address their past.” In January 2016, Henderson traveled to Cameroon, a primarily Yoruban area, to complete research in preparation for the play. She said that by that time, she knew she was going to direct “In the Red and Brown Water.” “I was talking to the Yoruba chief, and he was telling me one of the things that happens is when his people come to the U.S., they leave behind who they are as Yorubans because they want to assimilate and become more like Americans,” she said. “But the thing is that if you spend time in an African community, a lot of the dances, a lot of the dress — you

Senior Sandra Sackey plays Oya in the play “In the Red and Brown Water.’

The cast highlights aspects of black culture throughout the play..

Freshman Jahmar Ortiz plays Shango alongside Sackey and sophomore Sushma Saha, who plays Aunt Elegua.

carry it in you.” Henderson said she was able to relate this back to the play, as keeping heritage is a prominent theme. “This is a lot of what’s going on in this neighborhood [of the play],” she said. “They may leave it behind when they assimilate — and as the generations become more and more American — but it’s still there. It never leaves them.” Henderson said the fictional town in the play shares many similarities with a town where her grandmother lived: Prichard, Alabama. She said she approached the play as if someone came to live in her neighborhood in Alabama, near where her grandmother grew up. “In my research, I found so many similarities between the neighborhood Tarrell based this fictional town on — the neighborhood he grew up in — and a town … just outside of Mobile that my grandmother lived in,” she said. “It had all these little houses. It

was like a housing project very close to the bayou. There’s a bayou feel to the neighborhood because I did bring a little of the bayou I know into San Pere. They melded beautifully.” Dawson said they can easily relate to the character of Elegba, as they both identify as queer black men. Dawson said they used their minor in African Diaspora Studies to further understand the concepts and ideals in “In the Red and Brown Water.” “When we started with the show process, our director told us … these people are black people in America who aren’t aware of their past because it was taken away from them in the slave trade,” they said. “I immediately thought, ‘Well, it’s good that I have this minor — because to show these characters reconnecting with their pasts, I have to start doing that on my own.’” Outside of the show, Dawson drew parallels between the Yoruba deities and the way African

Sophomore Andrew Nauden, who plays Egungun, rehearses a scene with Sackey.

Americans are portrayed in American cinema. They said that in the play, the deities mirror black stereotypes, and that the play works to reclaim and redefine these labels and stereotypes that white people have created for black people. “The play works to find a sort of god in these stereotypes,” Dawson said. “Not only saying they’re stereotypes, but saying these stereotypes are humane, godly and divine.” To prepare the actors for their roles as deities, Henderson said, she leads exercises that help the actors move and think differently. “One of the warm-ups had to do with them walking the space, and I’d tell them what percentage of god was walking the space so they could find their center and understand how their gods move differently than they do and how that mix moves together,” Henderson said. Dawson said they are interested in exploring the gray areas of

Sophomore Erin Lockett plays The Woman That Reminds You.

blackness without a white gaze. “I don’t like thinking about my community through the eyes of white people,” they said. “I don’t think it’s our job to care how white people take us when we have problems to work on ourselves. So this play is the place to view ourselves.” Henderson said her actors and that they met and exceeded her expectations by allowing the audience to see parts of their culture. She said that the beauty of culture is spotlighted in the play and that viewers would have enjoyed it if they watched it with open minds. “They have put in so much effort to open themselves up and allow a sometimes hostile world some insight into their culture, honestly,” Henderson said. “And they trusted me, and I trust them, and we put on stage the culture. Here’s an honest aspect of the culture. And if you look at it with an open heart and an open mind and you don’t look it at like statistics or othering, you’ll see how beautiful it is.”

104 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

CINDERELLA AT THE OPERA

Junior Nicolette Nordmark is one of the actresses who plays Cendrillon. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

Senior Marshall Pokrentowski is one of the performers who plays Pandolfe, Cinderella’s father.

Senior Magdalyn Chauby stars as La Fée, the fairy godmother in the play.

CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 105

Ithaca College’s Main Stage Theater retold the classic fairy-tale through music in the spring opera “Cendrillon” | BY KATE NALEPINSKI

fairy godmother, La Fée, draped in metallic teal robes, stands center stage. “Bring to me all your tricks and graces!” she sings in French, her voice reaching across the Hoerner Theatre. Beyond her, furry forest nymphs sneak out of the shadows like smog. The creatures surround a sleeping woman, Cendrillon, who rests in a chair to the right of the stage. “She will be the loveliest and the most admired! Oh, my little Cendrillon!” As Cendrillon awakens, the nymphs greet her with smiles and song. As the nymphs sing along with the fairy godmother, they begin to transform the tattered woman into a proper princess, with plenty of classic “Cinderella” blue. Red and pink flower petals are scattered on her dress, and behind her, a wooden carriage is constructed. This scene, which may sound familiar to those who know Disney’s “Cinderella,” is featured in “Cendrillon,” the spring opera at Ithaca College’s Main Stage Theater. This French opera, composed by Jules Massenet, is based on Charles Perrault’s 1698 version of the classic “Cinderella” fairy tale. While names, language and many other visual elements have been modified, the opera rings true to the classic fairy tale. The leads in the opera are double-cast, meaning there are two performers playing the same role, depending on the date of the performance. Cendrillon was played by graduate student Rebecca Guderian and junior Nicolette Nordmark. The prince was played by seniors Catherine Barr and Bergen Price. The traditional story of “Cinderella” addresses abusive and nonsupportive home environments, but “Cendrillon” digs deeper, Guest Stage Director Erik Pearson said via email. Pearson said the opera has undertones that shatter the stigma of a “nuclear family,” specifically between Cendrillon and her father, Pandolfe. “Pandolfe and Cendrillon begin the show with a clear lack of power in their current situation,” Pearson said. “They come from a less prosperous background both socially and economically. The moments where the two regain footing and have self-realization are critical representation for those who suffer from these environments in real life.” This version of the “Cinderella” story focuses on the contrast between city life with societal pressures and rural life associated with freedom, Pearson said. “The stepsisters are forced to dress up to woo a husband, the prince must conform to his father’s expectations, and Cendrillon yearns for the happier life she once lived on the farm,” Pearson said. “I think many of us today can relate to the struggle to balance pressures of modern urban living with a desire for time spent in nature.” The opera was performed in French, but English subtitles were provided for viewers above the stage. Senior Samantha Hurley was the opera’s dramaturge, an individual in charge of conducting background research for plays

and operas. She said in an email that because “Cendrillon” is an adaptation of Perrault’s adaptation, there are certain aspects of the story that can be explored or expanded on. “Perrault wrote ‘The Little Glass Slipper’ in 1697,” Hurley said. “He was the first one to introduce elements like the pumpkin, the glass shoe and the fairy godmother to the story of “Cinderella.” Unlike the Disney version, a huge character in “Cendrillon” is Cinderella’s father, Pandolfe.” Senior Marshall Pokrentowski, one of the performers of Pandolfe, said over email that his character struggles to navigate between the two worlds he lives in — his old life with Cendrillon, and the newer, oppressive atmosphere he married into. Pokrentowski said his favorite part of the opera is when Pandolfe and Cendrillon sing a duet in the second half of the show. “When Pandolfe finally stands up to his wife and her nasty stepdaughters … Pandolfe and Cendrillon share a very poignant duet,” he said via email. “The beautiful music complements the simplicity of the staging and creates a very emotional scene.” Senior Magdalyn Chauby, who played fairy godmother La Fée, said via email that the opera offers a positive message compared to the frequency of negative media. “There are many movies and shows that want to be taken seriously and attempt to do that through gritty, dark themes,” Chauby said. “I just think that it is refreshing to revisit an old fairy tale that is full of hope and positivity.” Christopher Zemliauskas, assistant professor in the Department of Performance Studies, was the music director of “Cendrillon.” In opera, the music director is responsible for all musical elements, like familiarizing the performers with the music and conducting the orchestra. Since the opera premiered in 1899, it contains musical characteristics of late French romanticism, like shifting vocal melodies and tempos. For some student performers who worked closely with Zemliauskas, including Pokrentowski, this was a challenge. “There is also a large amount of very fast language both in solo and ensemble singing,” Pokrentowski said. “There are several places in the score where I have needed to get a metronome and speak through the text at a slow tempo, gradually increasing until I could perform it spoken at the correct speed.” In addition to the stylistic challenges, Pearson said there are technical struggles built into the libretto, the text used in opera. Because the chorus is constantly transforming between various groups — household servants, ball guests and magical forest spirits — the design and production students had to put a lot of work into the visual elements in the opera. “Everyone has done a wonderful job, and I think audiences are going to find the results thrilling,” Pearson said. Chauby said she recognizes that theater can have an impact on its viewers. The themes present in the show are applicable to many college students, she said. “I aspire that ‘Cendrillon’ serves as a source of hope to this campus and that those who need a beacon of positivity can find it in the world we are creating,” Chauby said.

106 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

SOUTH PARK ON SOUTH HILL 106

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

| BY AIDAN LENTZ

ophomore Jeremy Werner had a vision. He spent eight years wondering what a stage show adaptation of the “South Park” movie would be like. And on Oct. 28 and 29, 2017, Werner finally got his answer after over a half a year of writing, composing, casting and directing. The film “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” was released in June 1999, less than

two years after the show’s initial airdate. It received positive reviews from critics and became the highest-grossing R-rated animated comedy until “Sausage Party” in 2016. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song, and while “Blame Canada” didn’t win, Robin Williams sang the song at the ceremony. “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” received praise from Stephen Sondheim, a famed musical composer, who said he loved the

Ithaca College students brought the “South Park” movie to life through a theatrical production

film and called the musical numbers “wonderful.” Despite all the praise and success surrounding the film, the creators of “South Park,” Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have never adapted it for the stage, although it was performed live by theater group See ‘Em On Stage in New Orleans in 2016. Werner and sophomore Joshua Isaac are two longtime fans of “South Park” who have watched the show for over six years. “I can’t remember when I first

started watching it,” Werner said. “I think it was a little before high school. My brother started watching it, so I did, too, and I fell in love with it. I thought it was really funny.” For Werner, there was one version of “South Park” in particular that he gravitated toward soon after discovering the show. “I saw the movie, and it instantly became one of my favorite movies,” Werner said. “When I first saw it, I was in one of my big

Sophomores Lucas Hickman and Josh Isaac perform in the “South Park” play. KRISTEN HARRISON/THE ITHACAN

A group of Ithaca College students adapted the movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut” for the stage. KRISTEN HARRISON/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 107

theater phases. Seeing it … was a musical, I had this first thought like, ‘What if I put this on stage?’ because I wanted to be in it. Ever since then, I’ve always had it in the back on my mind.” After working on the independent production “Tick Tick Boom” directed by then-freshman Mykai Eastman last year, Werner felt inspired to direct a show of his own. He said that soon after the production, Isaac asked him if he ever thought the “South Park” movie could work on stage. Werner said the process started in Spring 2017, but work began in earnest over the summer. Isaac adapted the script to work as a stage show, and Werner composed the songs for a full pit orchestra based on the vocal and piano scores available online. Werner has an extensive music and theater background. However, Werner and Isaac had zero experience directing their own show. To help remedy this, they brought on Jaime Rockafellow, sophomore theater studies major, as stage manager. Rockafellow was the stage manager for a play featured in a New York City festival called FreshPlay Festival run by the MCC Youth Theater Company this summer. She also co-produced and co-directed a stage adaptation of the movie “Clue” her senior year of high school. Even so, Werner said he felt he was up against a wall. Werner and company only had two months to put on a full two-hour show. Werner spent around $400 on sound equipment, props and costumes.

“I put a lot into this production, which as a director, isn’t in the contract,” Werner said. “It did a lot to cause me to be super stressed out.” On top of being director, Werner also became the de facto music director. This involved composing the music as well as assembling a full pit orchestra to perform for the show. Werner said juggling these jobs caused other issues. Junior Kelsey Beyer, the pit orchestra conductor, asked backstage during intermission if the pit sounded good. They did. However, Beyer was nervous for one big reason: She had only been approached three weeks before the show premiered. “I didn’t get the music until the Tuesday before fall break,” she said. “I never had a rehearsal on my own with the pit. We only had five rehearsals. They were stressful. As of yesterday, I didn’t think this was going to come together.” There were 19 actors in total of the 22 who had auditioned. Senior Mia Fairman said she wanted to be in the show because of the source material and the character of Sheila Broflovski. “I really like musicals that are nonconventional,” Fairman said. “The vocals. I’m a belter. And I’m a mom-friend.” On opening night, Werner walked onstage in a full suit. He told the audience how much the show meant to him and how he hoped they would enjoy it. Soon after he exited, a projector displayed the town of South Park over the stage. For the next two hours, actors in movie-accurate costumes pranced around, singing, dancing and swearing. All the swearing really highlighted Werner’s

effort to closely adapt the movie. They even used three separate risers and light tricks to represent the movie’s various cutaway gags and quick scene transitions. As the show came to a close, Werner got up on stage and gave one last speech to the audience of about 70 people, passing around a top hat and asking for donations. Once the audience left, Rockafellow and Werner were shocked by the amount that people had donated. The hat was full of tens and twenties. Werner declined to disclose how much the show made in donations. The audience grew the next night, with a crowd of around 90 people. But Werner’s vision didn’t end with this show. Werner, Rockafellow and Isaac plan to create a production company in the wake of the show called Theatrice Theatrics. “We want to increase the types of performances here at Ithaca College,” Werner said. “Yeah, we’ve got comedy, but no one here’s done a full show. Yeah, you can go to an open mic and perform music with some friends, but what if we had a full concert for a student band?” Werner also mentioned he would like to organize a short plays festival made up of original works from the college. He said he was relieved the show went well. “I had a vision,” Werner said. “I’ve been thinking of this since I saw the movie, which must’ve been in six or seventh grade. I’ve always been developing a vision for how you would do this. I never knew if I was able to pull it off.”

This student-led production of the “South Park” play was produced by sophomore Jeremy Werner. KRISTEN HARRISON/THE ITHACAN

108 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

RISE, RESIST, UNITE Students highlighted the #MeToo movement in this year’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” | BY ADRIANA DARCY

group of people marches around the stage. They wear dresses, jeans, leather jackets and colorful lipstick. As they walk, they shout out the different things that they wear on their vaginas. This was one of the scenes performed in this year’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues” at Ithaca College. “The Vagina Monologues,” written by Eve Ensler in 1996, is a series of monologues based on interviews Ensler conducted with hundreds of women talking about their sexuality and embracing their bodies and themselves. The women interviewed included children, young adults, elderly women and transgender women, each from different backgrounds. IC Second Stage hosted the show at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Feb. 18 in Emerson Suites. The club hosted the show through the global V-Day organization. The organization is dedicated to ending violence against women and girls worldwide. Approximately 100 people came to the show, and almost $270 was raised. Proceeds from the show went to the Advocacy Center, which provides domestic and sexual assault prevention services in Tompkins County. This was the first year that IC Second Stage put on the show. In past years, IC Players has put on the performance, but the group’s executive board disbanded, and IC Second Stage took over. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the show. As part of this, the directors at the college chose to write this year’s spotlight monologue through the cast’s personal stories. Each member shared their stories, which were then

compiled together to form the Stand Up monologue. The spotlight highlighted sexual assault and this year’s theme of “rise, resist, unite.” The group was inspired to write the monologue following the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements that have included sexual-assault allegations against celebrities and public figures. Sophomore Reagan Black, the assistant director of the show, said they chose to use personal testimonies in the spotlight to be more inclusive. “We’re really trying to bring peoples’ personal experiences into this because we want this to be a community for all vagina-havers, not just cis-women,” Black said. Black said the Stand Up monologue embodies this year’s “resist” theme, with the actors standing together against sexual assault. “It’s our entire ensemble on stage saying it’s time to stand up against injustice,” Black said. “It’s time to stand up against a world that’s often ignored our problems. And it’s time to stand up and try to create a new world order.” Before the spotlight monologue, a student film titled “Me Too” by junior Hannah Crisafulli and freshman Kate Dotten was shown. The film documents stories of sexual assault experienced by students at the college. Actors stood on-screen in their place for anonymity. Senior Courtney Ravelo, an actress in the show, said that she liked the collaborative effort of the show and that the show has helped her grow. “We’re kind of working through our own traumas by telling these monologues to each other, and I feel like I’ve grown, even though it’s only been a month of rehearsals,” Ravelo said.

Seniors Courtney Ravelo and Laura Bergen perform “My Angry Vagina.” OLIVIA WEISE/THE ITHACAN

From left, junior Jaclyn Scheiner and freshman Alyssa Memmott perform in “The Vagina Monologues.” OLIVIA WEISE/THE ITHACAN

Sophomore Renee Comings performs in “The Vagina Monologues,” which highlighted the #MeToo movement. OLIVIA WEISE/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 109

EIGHTIES BABIES The Ithaca College student-run production “This is Our Youth” explores a coming-of-age story set in the Reagan-era 1980s | BY EMILY LUSSIER

t is March of 1982. The United States is in the second year of the Reagan Era. The president, who is about to be re-elected, is leading a conservative movement in national policy-making, and Warren, Dennis and Jessica are struggling to become adults in this tumultuous political time. Two days of their journey will be brought to Ithaca College in IC Second Stage’s production of Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth.” IC Second Stage, a student-run theater group that encourages its directors to pursue creative routes for performances, is currently working on its production of “This Is Our Youth.” Sophomore Annabel Randolph proposed the show through the organization and is now working as the director. The play is a coming-of-age story about three privileged teenagers — Warren, Dennis and Jessica — living in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is set in Dennis’ one-bedroom apartment, where Warren brings the $15,000 he stole from his father after being kicked out of his house. “‘This Is Our Youth’ is about the time in between being young enough to get away with things and having to turn into what we would view as a full-fledged adult,” Randolph said. Randolph said she proposed “This Is Our Youth” to Second Stage because she thought the college community could relate to it, for it is about a group of young adults. She pitched the play at the group’s pitch meeting, at which anyone who has formed a proposal and filled out the proper forms can propose a production they wish to direct. After she pitched the idea, club members approved the show and began the process of putting the production together. “I think this show is very interesting because … it’s conversations you could hear in the pub or in the library

or in the dorms,” Randolph said. “All of the themes in the show are so universal to what it means to be a college student.” Freshman Katie Nevils plays Jessica in the production. She said that the characters in the play are trying to act like they are not scared of growing up, which she said she believes is reflective of youth today. The characters are grappling with both personal and societal issues, which many college-age people also experience. Nevils said that she first read “This Is Our Youth” in her scene study class. She said that she fell in love with it because every scene is packed with themes like materialism and finding one’s identity. She said that she was excited when she saw Second Stage was putting on the production and knew she wanted to audition. “It’s something that I really wanted to work on right away,” Nevils said. Freshman Dhruv Iyengar plays Warren in the show. He said that when he auditioned for the acting program at the college before his freshman year, he used a monologue that the character Warren performs in “This is Our Youth.” Since the play has a small cast with only three people, Randolph said the role of director is different from its usual responsibilities. There are only six people at each rehearsal — Randolph, the actors and two stage managers — so everyone can have input about the choices being made in the production. Randolph said “This Is Our Youth” is also relevant because of its political setting. The Reagan Era is known for being conservative in terms of government policy, and President Trump’s presidency marks the transition back to a conservative leader after the Obama administration. “A lot of the things happening in the historical context of the play are things that are similar to what’s happening now,” she said.

Freshman Katherine Nevils practices her lines for “This is Our Youth.” CAROLINE BROPHY/THE ITHACAN

Freshmen Dhruv Iyengar and Nevils rehearse a scene from the play. CAROLINE BROPHY/THE ITHACAN

110 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

X Ambassadors, led by lead vocalist Sam Harris, performs its headlining set Sept. 23, 2017. MATT MALONEY/THE ITHACAN

HOMETOWN SOUND Ithacans descended on Stewart Park to attend the first-ever Cayuga Sound music festival | BY SOPHIA TULP

n an era when music festivals call to mind images of DJs behind soundboards and EDM synth, one thing X Ambassadors frontman Sam Harris wants people to take away from the inaugural Cayuga Sound Festival in Ithaca is eclecticism. “I wanted it to be a diverse … lineup,” Harris said. “That was very, very, very important to me. Just because we are an alternative-rock band, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to make a festival that leans towards one genre or the other.’ That’s not part of our ethos as a band.” Cayuga Sound is a music and arts festival that spanned two days, three venues and over 15 performers, both big-name and locally grown. Curated by X Ambassadors, an alt-rock band and Ithaca hometown hero, the fest is amplified an already-robust music scene and put Ithaca on the map as a cultural hub, Harris said. With Cayuga Lake and Stewart Park as its stage, the event kicked off in Ithaca on Sept. 22, 2017,and the main fest was Sept. 23, 2017. “With Ithaca Underground and the DIY movement that has emerged, there has been some incredible music coming out of Ithaca, and it’s just brought such great energy — so different, so out there, so we wanted to include acts from that world on our bill,” Harris said. Among the acts were Sammus, who went to Ithaca High School with Harris and is a rapper and self-identified “nerdcore” artist; Stone Cold Miracle, a soul band that describes itself as “deep grooves, funky beats, and gospel-inspired vocals”; and Izzy True, a rock band featuring Ithaca College sophomore Kyra Skye on bass. Underscoring it all, Harris said, is a desire to highlight Ithaca’s

market for the arts to a larger audience. “There is more of a market for music and the arts in Ithaca than most people know,” he said. “I always felt like, as a kid, artists and bands would overlook coming to Ithaca. … It should be a destination.” Junior Rae Harris is a festival frequenter. With a passport that boasts shows like Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee; Panorama and The Meadows in New York City; and Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, she said she thought it was about time that Ithaca got a festival of its own. “If there’s anywhere that I think can really embrace that whole culture of a festival, it would be Ithaca,” she said. “Ithaca is really open, really accepting, really just free. I feel like there’s a place for everyone in Ithaca, and that’s kind of how I feel at a festival.” Music aside, Ithaca is embracing its widely quoted tour group fact that it has more restaurants per capita than New York City. Local food trucks, restaurants and roasteries brought their best to feed the crowds. And a festival wouldn’t be a festival without booze. Ithaca Beer Co. debuted an exclusive “Cayuga Sounder” IPA in honor of the event. Another panel hosted by the X Ambassadors chronicled its rise to fame from the band’s local roots. “My experience growing up, I always felt like my artistic endeavors were strongly encouraged by my community,” Harris said. “That is the best place to make music, to put on shows, to put on a festival. An environment like that where people are open to you being weird and being yourself, that’s it. That’s everything.” For Harris, this city is not just any up-and-comer from which a festival could be a launching point — it’s home.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 111

Ithaca native Sammus was one of the Cayuga Sound performers. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

Savoir Adore member Lauren Zettler sings on stage during the festival. ELIAS OLSEN/THE ITHACAN

Black Thought performs with The Roots. MATT MALONEY/THE ITHACAN

K. Flay sings to the crowd during the Cayuga Sound Festival. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

TC Milan, frontman of Crush Club, falls to his knees during the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

Many students and locals spent the day watching live music performances. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

112 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

BRING THE BAND TOGETHER Mike Titlebaum is the director of jazz studies and the leader of the group Music Because Music | BY JAKE LEARY Mike Titlebaum is the director of jazz studies in the Ithaca College School of Music. Born in Rochester, New York, Titlebaum has a lifelong love of music. He taught music at Florida A&M University in the 1990s before working as a freelance musician in New York City. After Steve Brown, the previous director of jazz studies at Ithaca College, retired in 2008, Titlebaum took over the role. Titlebaum also leads Music Because Music, a band that brings together students, professors and off-campus talent. Music Because Music’s first performance of the semester took place Sept. 11, 2017 in the Hockett Family Recital Hall the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Life and Culture Editor Jake Leary talked to Titlebaum about his love of music, the reasons music matters in daily life, and his performance group, Music Because Music. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Jake Leary: I wanted to talk to you today about your band, Music Because Music. Could you tell me a little about the group? Mike Titlebaum: Music Because Music is a project I started a couple of years ago as a means of playing music with my friends. And my friends are a combination of colleagues here at Ithaca College, local professionals, local music teachers, some students here at the school — basically, anyone who likes playing my music. JL: Do you remember the moment you fell in love with music?

Mike Titlebaum directs the Ithaca College jazz ensemble’s “What is Jazz?” children’s concert. DEVIN KASPARIAN/THE ITHACAN

MT: I always loved music. Growing up in Rochester, there was a tremendous amount of fantastic music coming through town. My mom would take me to see the Eastman Jazz Ensemble when I was very young, and

I just remember being overwhelmed by it: the beauty and the brightness and the quality and the swingingness. And I just thought this is perfect music. … I can’t remember a time when I didn’t think music was an amazing thing I needed to have in my life. … I knew I loved playing records and tapes, and I knew I loved everything about music but didn’t know anything about it at that point. … As hard-working and as diligent a study music requires at the end of the day, we still call it “playing music” because we’re supposed to have fun doing it with our friends. JL: Jumping back to now, jumping back to Music Because Music, could you talk about how the current group came together? MT: So I’ve been on sabbatical for the past year, and the first half of my sabbatical … I started booking gigs with Music Because Music. We would play at the Rongovian Embassy up in Trumansburg, which has since closed. But they let me bring the band there every couple weeks, and so I just started writing music because I was on sabbatical, so I wrote as many arrangements as I could, as many new compositions as I could for this band. … I don’t know if I could put together a long tour with nine or 10 musicians, but I’ve gone and played this music in other places. I went to Arizona for a couple days. … We did it all out there with a slightly different instrumentation. That was part of the idea of the music was, “Well, what if instead of a trombone, I had a tenor saxophone?” … So I wrote the music in a way that it would be fairly easy to change instruments and slot other people in depending on who was available. JL: What can people expect from a typical Music Because Music performance? MT: Sheer joy.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 113

three’s a band

A trio of Ithaca College professors came together to spend Wednesday nights performing jazz music at a local bar

From left, lecturer Greg Evans, then–Ithaca College professor Nick Weiser and associate professor Nicholas Walker formed a jazz trio in 2014 called i3°. COURTESY OF NICHOLAS WALKER

| BY SILAS WHITE

t began with rejection. Three Ithaca College faculty members in the Department of Music founded a jazz trio in 2014 and wanted an outlet to play at regularly in town to escape from their academic setting. Associate professor Nicholas Walker said the trio was drawn to the Argos Inn, located on East State Street. “We liked the vibe in the room,” Walker said. “It’s a classy, relaxed place with a beautiful environment. It’s sort of a grown-up place in a college town. So we approached them and asked if they wanted some live music, and they said no.” Walker said the inn did not want to draw a large and noisy crowd, but the trio, called i3°, offered to play for free. “We wanted to see who would come if we just started telling people, and immediately a bunch of people started coming,” Walker said. “So they started to pay us, and pretty soon it took on a life of its own.” The band, which features Walker on bass, lecturer Greg Evans on drums and then–Ithaca College professor Nick Weiser on piano, started playing nearly every Wednesday night at Argos from 5 to 7 p.m.

Walker said their name, pronounced “13 Degrees,” was based on creating a fun way to write “Ithaca trio” — “i” for Ithaca, and the “3” combined with a degree symbol for trio. The trio’s Wednesday night performances at the Argos looked like they might be coming to an end when Weiser was offered a full-time position at SUNY Fredonia as the head of jazz studies in 2017. Weiser said taking the job was one of the hardest decisions of his life. “I felt plugged in and connected in Ithaca,” Weiser said. “I felt established there.” After Weiser decided to take the job, the trio was uncertain how often they would be able to play together. A few of the band’s fans, including local musician and Argos regular Jim Scarpulla, decided to help the band record a live album to preserve the memory of Wednesday nights at Argos. The album, which is called “Meet Me at the Argos,” was completely funded by the trio’s fans. Weiser said he felt honored when Scarpulla and others came up to the trio and offered to record a live album and pay for it themselves. “It’s always been a dream of mine to record a live album specifically with a jazz trio,” Weiser said. “I think there’s a certain honesty you get in a live album because nothing is ever edited.”

Argos regular William Benson originally had the idea to record the trio live when he heard Weiser was leaving Ithaca, and he approached Scarpulla to help finance it. Scarpulla, Benson, some other investors and local recording artist Al Grunwell recorded the band live at the Argos from May to July of 2017. Over this time, they recorded over 10 hours of live music that Scarpulla, Benson and the trio sifted through to place in the album. Evans said that because the album is a live recording, the band’s playing and the background noise are spontaneous. The band changes in response to the atmosphere, glasses clink and audience members cough, and not all songs are played perfectly. Benson said that this is part of the album’s appeal. Even though Wednesday nights with i3° are over, the original trio still gets together about once a month. Evans and Walker continue to play on Wednesday nights in a different trio called Argos Grove with Gabe Condon, lecturer in the School of Music, on guitar. Evans and Walker had already known Condon, since they are all college faculty, and knew he would be a good fit. “We’re still there every Wednesday,” Walker said. “The same energy is happening. … It’s a little different, but it’s beautiful.”

114 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

THE ART OF MUSIC Writers and musicians came together at the Circle of Fifths concert to celebrate Ithaca College’s 125th anniversary | BY OLIVIA RIGGIO

Junior Malachi Brown plays the cello during the Circle of Fifths concert. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

riters’ voices echoed through Ithaca College’s Ford Hall as they told personal stories of celebration and triumph through the pieces they chose to read Nov. 4, 2017. A small student ensemble used instruments and vocals to help tell the stories through vibrant, ambient sound. Renowned writers took the stage to present poetry and prose accented by music composed, arranged and performed by music students and recent alumni of the college to celebrate Shirley M. Collado’s inauguration as the college’s ninth president, along with the college’s 125th anniversary. The event, titled Circle of Fifths after the tool musicians use to understand the relationships among musical keys, focused on the theme of celebration using the power and dominance of the interval of the fifth as a motif. In Western music theory, intervals five notes apart are considered the most powerful sounding. The Circle of Fifths showcase was the brainchild of A. Van Jordan, Collado’s husband. Jordan is a distinguished visiting professor at the college, a professor at the University of Michigan and renowned poet. To help bring his idea to life, Jordan invited five prominent writers and friends of his to read their work as part of the performance: Julia Alvarez, poet, novelist and essayist; poet Michael Collier; novelist Mitchell S. Jackson; Akhil Sharma, novelist and short-story writer; and poet Crystal Williams. Jordan said that in addition to being a poet, he is also a musician. He said he wanted to bring the two art forms together to celebrate those who have had positive influences on his and Collado’s lives. “I’m also a struggling trombonist, and so I’m constantly working through the circle of fifths as a practice,” Jordan said. “Thinking about bringing these writers to campus with the musicians, it seemed like a great fit. Particularly thinking about five people who have been dominant in my life and thinking about that dominant fifth and how important it is.”

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 115 Jordan said that though all of these writers are often incredibly busy traveling and sharing their work around the world, they prioritized making it to the celebration. Additionally, he said, they were open-minded about the idea of collaborating with musicians. The small group of musicians included alumni Virginia Maddock ’17 and Hannah Martin ’17, seniors Sherley-Ann Belleus and Tristan Jarvis, juniors Jonah Bobo and Malachi Brown and sophomore Dan Yapp. Six School of Music faculty members and Karl Paulnack, dean of the School of Music, contacted creative students in the music program at the end of September asking them to be part of the event and shared the works the writers planned to read. The students spent the weeks preceding the concert studying each of the writers’ pieces and brainstorming ideas for compositions. They played their compositions under the readers’ voices, complementing each piece of poetry and prose with ambient music. Belleus, a vocalist, said the work of interpreting the writing into music was challenging but valuable. “To get a piece of text and then be like, ‘What is this poem evoking in me?’ and then, ‘How can I use music the way that I like it to bolster that?’ is helpful in our own personal studies to make a storyline for the music we create,” Belleus said. After faculty contacted the students to take part in the event, they got together, shared ideas and delegated certain pieces to those who felt the strongest about them. The musicians and writers did not come together until the day of the event, quickly running through the pieces just minutes before the doors opened. However, because a lot of the interaction between the musicians and readers was improvisational, the pieces came together in their entirety on the stage as the performance took place. Jordan said that he experienced much of the program for the first time during the performance, along with the audience. “I didn’t really hear it all come together before the actual performance because so much of it is improvisational,” he said. “We did partial run-throughs, but we never ran through the entire thing until we did it for the audience.” The writers had very few guidelines on what pieces to present. The only criteria were that they somehow related to the act of celebration, with the idea that celebration means something different to everyone. Jordan said that though the rainbow of cultures represented on the stage was not necessarily intentional, such diversity is a celebration in and of itself. “I think that celebration is a part of how I live my life in general,” Jordan said. “What you find is that when you do say, ‘I’m going out to find the best,’ you can’t help but have a diverse group. … We were just thinking about friends of ours and sort of casting that net and trying to find people that we thought of in that light who were strong, dominant figures in our relationship that we wanted to bring to campus.”

Senior Sherley-Ann Belleus was one of the student performers at the Nov. 4, 2017, concert. CONNOR LANGE/THE ITHACAN

116 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

RAISING A

The Ithaca College community came together to celebrate

The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee singers perform at the Black History Month Concert on Feb. 23. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 117

Sophomore Darius Elmore performs “If I Can Help Somebody,” written by Alma Androzzo.

Ginny Maddock performs a solo with the Jazz Vocal Ensemble to the song “Spread Love.”

Senior Josiah Spellman performs “Peace Be Still” with the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers.

MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

CAROLINE BROPHY/THE ITHACAN

MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

JOYFUL NOISE Black History Month with song and dance

The West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble dances during the concert. CAROLINE BROPHY/THE ITHACAN

118 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

Junior Aaron Rizzo is the guitarist and lead vocalist and writes the band’s music. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

BAND’S BIG BREAK

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 119

Ithaca College students in The Aaron Rizzo Band performed for their biggest crowd yet at a music convention in California | BY SIERRA GUARDIOLA

hen junior Aaron Rizzo found out that his band was selected to play at the 2018 National Association of Music Merchants convention in Anaheim, California, he was shocked — especially since he forgot that he had applied. The Aaron Rizzo Band was one of 160 artists selected to perform between Jan. 25 and 28. They performed Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. The band consists of Rizzo on guitar and lead vocals, sophomore Eric Myers on drums and senior Tristen Jarvis on bass. Rizzo said he wanted the band to be a trio because everyone has to pull their own weight, which makes for better musicians. “Not only are we excited to play, but to meet and make a lot of connections,” Rizzo said. The band’s music is influenced by blues, rock, R&B, pop and hip-hop. Rizzo said that because of the many influences, he does not like to confine the band’s music to one genre. Myers said he likes playing with the band because he and his bandmates work together to find the sound they want. “What we have been doing is kind of putting the whole package together, trying to find the sound that matches the feeling we are trying to evoke with people when we are playing shows,” he said. NAMM is a global trade show convention that takes place in January of each year in Anaheim, California. Global music product companies, such as Fender and Gibson, attend this convention each year to showcase their new equipment. In addition, artists from around the globe perform at the convention, and big-name artists come to demo the latest equipment. Last year, Joe Perry, Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp performed for the public. Although all concerts are public, the convention itself is private, with over 100,000 registered guests attending. When he was still in high school, Rizzo said, he decided to focus on producing original content by creating a band if his own. “I loved the stuff I was writing and wanted to have my own name on it,” he said. Now a sound recording technology major at Ithaca College, he writes his own music for the band. In the fall of his sophomore year, he used the facilities in the School of Music to record his first album, “Blck Tee Shrt.” This has enabled Rizzo to realize that pursuing a music career could be possible, he said. “You see all these solo artists and people who are big, and you go, ‘Oh, that can’t happen to me, that’s impossible,’ but they were where you were at one point,” he said. When Rizzo told Jarvis and Myers that they had been selected to perform at NAMM, Jarvis said he knew it was a big deal. However, he said that after doing his own research, he realized it was

much larger than what he had anticipated. “There’s hundreds and hundreds of booths and brands and gear and guest artists and connections and noise — it’s crazy,” Jarvis said. Jarvis said that although the trio is a band, he is there to support Rizzo’s brand, name and music. He said he is happy for Rizzo to receive this opportunity and also happy that Rizzo wants him to play for him. “It opens up a million opportunities for the two of us that Aaron didn’t have to do,” Jarvis said. “He could’ve done it solo. … We get to go on the ride with him, and that means a lot.” In addition to performing, the trio will be networking at the convention, which offers the opportunity for artists to walk away from the convention with endorsements from companies. The trio has been playing together for four months, and NAMM will be its biggest show yet. Rizzo said local shows, like Porchfest and Funk N’ Waffles in Rizzo’s hometown of Rochester, have been a great way to test out what works for the group when they are playing live. “I love playing local shows because you start to see the same faces at every show,” Rizzo said. “They start to grow in numbers, and pretty soon, you are making a name for yourself locally.” Although the group rehearses the set list before a show, playing live is the best rehearsal it can have, Rizzo said. Through live shows, the trio works on its chemistry and style. Rizzo said preparation for the NAMM show was professional. “We want to go out there and have a great time playing,” Rizzo said. “We don’t want to plan it down to every beat, but it does need to be planned out very well.” Rizzo decided to apply for NAMM after his friend Natalie Morrison ’17 encouraged him to. Morrison had seen the band perform at a local show before and had met them through friends. As an intern for NAMM, Morrison was familiar with the types of artists that went to NAMM and thought Rizzo’s band would be a good fit, she said. Morrison helped prepare the trio for its first NAMM experience, since it is such a large convention. She has given them advice about navigating the convention and networking to help them ease their way in. “It is intimidating to walk into a huge convention center with all these products … and just to be immersed in this total music everywhere,” Morrison said. With the trio stepping up to a bigger stage, Myers said, it is important to remember to enjoy the fact that the three get to play together. “Whether it’s us with 20 people in front of us or 200 people in front of us, it’s really mostly about the fact that we are having fun and that we are enjoying the music that we are putting out because that kind of sincerity is really what’s most important about it all,” Myers said.

120 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

Ithaca College graduate student Aaron BurGess leads the IC Campus band during practice. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT The Ithaca College Campus Band offers student, faculty and staff musicians the opportunity to perform music ranging from 19th-century pieces to Broadway numbers | BY AIDAN LENTZ

low hum of conversation envelops the room as the conductor steps up to the podium. He tells the group to take out sheet music for Gustav Holst’s “Second Suite in F.” The sound of paper crinkling fills the space before a line of eight trumpets rises, followed by four trombones, seven clarinets and many other instruments ascending to meet them. The Ithaca College Campus Band is a performance band that doubles as a one-credit class and is open to all students, faculty and staff. This spring semester is the first time the band has decided to allow faculty and staff to join. The band currently has three faculty and staff members and approximately 50 student members. It is led by graduate students Aaron Burgess and Greg Harris. Both Burgess and Harris were public school music teachers who are now working toward their master’s degrees. The band provides musicians the chance

to perform in a variety of musical styles. This year’s repertoire runs the gamut from a piece from 19th-century composer Gustav Holst to selections from “Chicago” and even a tango piece. The selection allows more experienced players to remain interested with a few complex songs, while at the same time not overwhelming less-experienced members of the band. Two graduate students, one of whom graduates at the end of the year, conduct the band each year. Harris said having one graduate student stay each year is key to maintaining the cohesion and camaraderie that was built over time. Art Carichner, lecturer in the Department of Music Education, used to conduct the band. The band switched to being conducted by graduate students to give students more opportunities and to lighten the load on Carichner. Student musicians outside of the School of Music and within it are all part of the band. The students in the school who are in the band use it to practice their secondary instruments.

“It occurred to me that the band was originally the All-Campus Band, and ‘all-campus’ should mean all-campus,” Burgess said. “Anybody that has an instrument that is a Bomber has a place in the ensemble.” The Campus Band will also be sharing performances with the Concert Band for the first time. The Concert Band consists mostly of music majors and holds six concerts a semester, both on and off campus. Senior trumpet player Justin Albinder said this was a positive change for the campus band. “For us, it’s incredible because we’re getting the opportunity to play with the upper-level groups,” Albinder said. “We’re getting more exposure, and it’s a real concert.” Albinder said the sense of community is something that keeps him coming back to the band year after year. “While I love being in the theater department and the community there, this is a completely different one,” Albinder said.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 121

CollegeTown Records, a student-run media production organization founded in Spring 2017, helps artists in Ithaca record their music and produce music videos | BY KARA BOWEN

new student-run media production company allows students to have a hand in every step of the music production process, from writing sheet music to recording sound to shooting a music video. CollegeTown Records was founded in Spring 2017 by sophomore Shanel Gray. The self-funded company works with local artists to write and record original music. The company also helps film and edit promotional videos and music videos. All 12 members involved are current or former students at the college. Gray came up with the idea for CollegeTown Records when she was working at Park Productions in April 2017. She said she was interested in the idea of students producing their own original work but thought the emphasis on short films and television shows limited the experience for herself and other students.

“I wanted them to have a different perspective, especially when it comes to finding jobs and finding internships,” Gray said. “Anyone could do a music video, but to make the best music video ... you need to learn the video aspect of it. The cinematic aspect of it.” Gray said she originally planned to make performance-based music videos for local artists, rather than expand into other areas of music production like recording. She pitched the idea to Carol Jennings, director of the Park Media Lab, who gave her the inspiration to expand the company’s mission to include producing original music and music videos. In May 2017, Gray posted applications on Facebook looking for students to get involved. After applying to join the company, freshmen James Giordano and Vincent Streech were hired as co-producers. Gray also sent an application to students in the sound recording technology major at the

college. Sophomore Alex Dempsey was the first to respond. Dempsey said he wanted to work with other students who had experience with songwriting and who were on the artistic side of the music production process because people interested in recording may not have the skills to write and perform their own music. Streech said the company will encourage students from the college to express themselves at every step in the process. He said the label wants to broadcast student content to the rest of the school, similar to how the WICB and VIC radio stations let students go on air and address their peers. “In a perfect world, CollegeTown Records is something like the radio station here,” Streech said. “It’s just something that allows people to go in there and show their passions and who they are as artists and have all the help they need to either get their name out or just enjoy and produce content.”

SUPPORTING LOCAL MUSIC CollegeTown Records works with artists to write and record original music. MAXINE HANSFORD/THE ITHACAN

REVIEWS

122 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

‘STRANGER THINGS’ Season 2 | BY ANTONIO FERME

movie and TV

he sophomore season of “Stranger Things” expands on the storyline established in season one in unpredictable ways that really keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. The second season does not waste time reintroducing the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, and instead jumps into the action. In season two, the narrative has completely changed. The goals become clear after the first few episodes — to defeat the Shadow Monster and the “demodogs,” as Dustin likes to call them, and close the Gate to the Upside Down. This direct approach does not take away from the suspense or drama, but rather sets up the stakes immediately. Creating a sequel to a beloved property such as “Stranger Things” is risky. In this case, “Stranger Things 2” is a home run. It does everything a sequel should do — preserve what the fans loved about the first season and introduce new and fascinating elements into the mix. Season two brilliantly balanced the humor, drama and scares of season one. Most importantly, the storyline finishes off with a satisfying ending that wraps up most of the story’s loose ends, unlike season one’s cliffhanger. At the same time, the conclusion leaves some room for interpretation. The season, as a whole, takes everything that was great in the first season and did the unimaginable: made it better, making this one of the most flawless and entertaining seasons of television available right now.

‘LADY BIRD’ | BY LIZA GILLESPIE

ady Bird” renders every previous coming-of-age film shallow, insincere and outdated. “Lady Bird” shines the brightest with its multidimensional and refreshingly honest portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship. The conversations between the two can switch from casual to confrontational, and vice-versa, at a moment’s notice, which never feels too flippant or arbitrary. Lady Bird’s feelings toward her mother are contradictory; she treats her mom like she is a villain, but defends her when others do the same. The film’s emphasis on these shades of gray within their dynamic helps it feel more mature than others in its genre. At its heart, “Lady Bird” is a film about reflection. It is director Greta Gerwig’s love letter to Sacramento and her own adolescence. It is Lady Bird’s discovery that only in reflection can she truly understand the meaning of home. With this sincere portrayal of the often-oversimplified American adolescence, Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan invite audiences to reflect alongside them and leave viewers feeling nostalgia, gratitude and the urge to apologize to their moms.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 123

‘THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD’ | BY JAKE LEARY

ames (Alex Lawther) is pretty sure he’s a psychopath. He wants to commit a murder. Alyssa (Jessica Barden) is angry, repulsed by normalcy, cliché and other people. She wants companionship. James would be the perfect weirdo boyfriend. Alyssa would be the perfect victim. “The End of the F***ing World” is a road trip story, an adolescent “Odyssey” replete with strange side characters and oddball hijinks that, while outlandish, reinforce James and Alyssa’s bond. The two become closer by skirting disaster after disaster. At first, they gleefully fight their way through creepy strangers and crazed store clerks. It’s a romp through rural England. The premise of the show is “Moonrise Kingdom” with a serial killer bent, and how well that fusion works depends on how willing you are to accept an aspiring murderer as a protagonist. “The End of the F***ing World” plays tricks on the viewer. At first, director Jonathan Entwistle presents it as an absurdist romantic comedy, but eventually he reveals a darker, sweeter story — a story about two weirdos finding each other, falling for each other and failing each other.

‘I, TONYA’ ‘black panther’ | BY JAKE LEARY

Tonya” is an anti-sports movie. Yes, technically, director Craig Gillespie made a movie about a sport. Yes, it features a training montage and Olympic aspirations. But rather than trying to spin Tonya Harding’s (Margot Robbie) life into something positive or motivational, Gillespie crafts a nuanced tale of idiocy, failure and anger. A lot of anger. The film details Harding’s disastrous childhood and inexplicably more disastrous adulthood; it treats Harding with a pathos that was notably absent from the media coverage surrounding her fall from grace. “I, Tonya” doesn’t try to redeem Harding. It doesn’t make her into a hero, but it doesn’t demonize her either. Gillespie collected the contradictory stories surrounding the incident and mashed them together into something resembling the truth. But for every deliberate joke and well-choreographed skating scene, there are poorly implemented musical moments and questionable character diversions. On more than one occasion, viewers are left wondering, “What’s the point?” “I, Tonya” skates by on its performances and vitality, but as is often the case with top-tier films, is held back by several seemingly inconsequential flaws. That said, it’s a film about character, and Gillespie harnesses the talents of his cast to produce a stylish and sincere skating drama.

| BY AIDAN LENTZ

lack Panther” was released last week, and Hollywood will never be the same. After years of studios refusing to fund big-budget movies led by black actors, writers or directors, Marvel has funded “Black Panther” — the first, and possibly biggest, critical and commercial success of the year. “Black Panther” is not only the most important superhero movie since “The Avengers” — it’s also the best-executed Marvel movie yet. It runs at a breakneck pace but still manages to develop a detailed, one-of-a-kind setting populated with fully realized characters and a rich mythology. “Black Panther” also distinguishes itself by leaning directly into the socio-political implications of the film’s main setting: Wakanda. “Black Panther” is a breath of fresh air in a franchise of films that have long felt too similar to one another. It further affirms that one of Marvel’s greatest strengths is taking chances on properties that seem risky to Hollywood executives. These films are smash hits — not only because they’re quality movies, but precisely because they provide experiences that no one else was willing to offer in the first place.

REVIEWS

124 STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

‘REPUTATION’ — TAYLOR SWIFT | BY CHARLIE MUSANTE

Music

rom the second “Look What You Made Me Do” was released, it was clear Taylor Swift’s next album was going to be vastly different from anything she’s previously produced. It seemed like a chance for Swift to remake her artistic persona and create something honest and raw. The expectations for this album couldn’t be higher — unfortunately, “Reputation” feels more like a betrayal of Swift’s legacy than a revitalization of her career. Musically, this is a huge departure for Swift: a hard right turn that leads straight off a cliff. This album feels the need to swap between the country style of her early work, the indie-pop vibes of “1989” and the confrontational pop diva attitude of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” So many head-scratching choices were made here. Ed Sheeran guest-features on “End Game” and delivers a rap verse, which is something that should not exist. It’s like Sheeran is trying way too hard to imitate Lil Uzi Vert. It’s about as unfortunate as it sounds. The whole album is full of standard pop music that far too closely resembles Katy Perry or the myriad of her clones. Every choice made on the album is downright wrong. Ultimately, Swift needs to turn her career around. Otherwise, she will end up as another bland pop diva. If this is the only album in her career that is a total miss, she’ll be fine in the long run. “Reputation” is a bold attempt at a bad idea — no one was asking for a new Taylor Swift.

‘MAN OF THE WOODS’ — JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE | BY NOA COVELL

fter reaching fame in the ’90s while in NSYNC, and then proving to be a triple threat later in his career by singing, dancing and acting, Justin Timberlake has once again applied his talents to a new album. Five years after the release of “The 20/20 Experience,” Timberlake has returned to the music scene with “Man of the Woods.” Although the album features collaborations with Alicia Keys and Chris Stapleton and creates many promising hits, “Man of the Woods” still falls short of greatness. Timberlake makes few smart choices on “Man of the Woods.” The good decisions he makes with “Filthy,” and “Breeze Off the Pond” are not enough to outweigh the rest of the unexciting tracks. There are no shockers in “Man of the Woods” as Timberlake keeps the same expected sound he has relied on for years. Timberlake quickly throws away any promise “Man of the Woods” had 20 seconds into each song. Throughout the years, he has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry; however, this new album takes him a step back with the lack of original, captivating tracks.

STEPPING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT 125

‘BLACK PANTHER: THE ALBUM’ — KENDRICK LAMAR, THE WEEKND, SZA

| BY AIDAN LENTZ

n anticipation of the release of Marvel’s new blockbuster “Black Panther,” Kendrick Lamar, along with a bona fide army of musicians, has released a shockingly good soundtrack for the upcoming film. “Black Panther: The Album” could have been a blatant cash grab like many soundtracks before it, collecting as many trendy artists as possible under the same roof to create pop-friendly hits. Fortunately, Lamar assembled a project that both feels in line with the spirit of the movie and functions as its own cohesive creation. While Lamar is only credited as a performer on five of the 14 songs, his voice is present throughout the album in hooks and background vocals, giving the album a sense of artistic direction. Given that this is a promotional album with a large number of artists, it’s surprising just how adventurous and consistent this project turned out. With the exception of a few tracks, nothing feels made just to fit into the movie. Featuring a myriad of different artists and sounds ranging from hip-hop to R&B to traditional African music, “Black Panther: The Album” comes off as a bold celebration of black culture.

‘little dark age’ — ‘EXPECTATIONS’ — HAYLEY KIYOKO mgmt | BY HANNAH FITZPATRICK

he music project of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, otherwise known as MGMT, was a huge hit back in the mid-2000s. However, its last two albums — “Congratulations” in 2010 and its self-titled release in 2013 — experimented with the space rock genre, which caused a significant dwindling in the group’s fanbase. However, MGMT returns to its psychedelic electropop roots with its new album “Little Dark Age,” making its five-year hiatus worth the wait. However, the lyrics prove to be the real star of this album. Despite their dark undertones, they describe the highs and lows that MGMT has experienced throughout its five-year hiatus and stay in touch with the group’s lyrical roots that were established in “Oracular Spectacular.” “Welcome to the s---show/ Grab a comfortable seat” is one of the lines from “She Works Out Too Much” — and in a way, it describes the album itself. Though the experimentation of new synthesizers and instruments may make the songs seem over the top, the lyrics and the danceable choruses make it a chaotic and entertaining “ s---show” in the best way. Overall, “Little Dark Age” shows that though MGMT is not as popular as it was in 2008, the band is not the one-hit wonder it was thought to be. “Little Dark Age” proves that though MGMT is not as currently popular as other well-known indie artists, the group is back — and it’s here to stay.

| BY KARA BOWEN

ailing from Disney Channel roots and of “Scooby Doo” fame, actress and singer Hayley Kiyoko has already garnered a cult internet following — the music video for her self-released single “Girls Like Girls” reached over 86 million views on YouTube. Despite her recent musical success, Kiyoko hit the mark on her first go and created a pop masterpiece that’s mature beyond her years. “Expectations” is an album that is meant to be played in order. Each song transitions fluidly to the next with few breaks. It helps that each song sticks to similar essential building blocks — every song works with some form of synth, clapping beat, bouncing bass and delicate vocals. Instead of becoming stale, this limited palette is executed so well that it makes the entire album feel cohesive and complete. Each track stands strong on its own, but even more impressively, is even more powerful as a collection. No single song is weaker than the others. Kiyoko walks the line between carefree dance-pop and passionate ballads, using her vocal ability to keep each genre’s influence sounding genuine and mature rather than overdone.

CHanging

The game

128 CHANGING THE GAME | BY MATT HORNICK

Junior linebacker Pat Minouge intercepts a pass during the 59th Cortaca Jug game on Nov. 15, 2017, at Butterfield Stadium. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

VICTORY AT LAST The Cortaca Jugs returned to South Hill for the first time since 2009 after a record-breaking game

he three Cortaca Jugs have returned to Ithaca College as the Bombers defeated SUNY Cortland 48–20 on Nov. 11, 2017, in front of 11,000 fans at Butterfield Stadium. Freshman quarterback Wahid Nabi set a school record with six passing touchdowns in one game. On Nov. 15, 2017, Nabi was named Liberty League rookie of the year. With the win, the South Hill squad snapped the Red Dragons’ seven-year win streak, and sophomore wide receiver Will Gladney became the third Bomber to record more than 1,000 yards in one season. With 11,000 people attending the game and with increased security, many fans missed the start of the game, waiting in long lines outside of the stadium. Once fans were able to get into the stadium, they were excited to see the Blue and Gold win. “It’s something we’ll always remember,” senior Corey Ewanow said. “We don’t get to be another graduating class that never got to see a win against Cortland.” Senior Matt Dilorenzo said it was great to see his first win as a senior but wished the score was closer. “Seeing them get that win was great, but they got up so early in the game,” he said. “I never got that strong feeling of victory at the end of the game because they ran away with it so early.” President Shirley M. Collado participated in the pre-game coin toss and returned to the field for the end of the game. In the stands, Collado interacted with students, who cheered when she walked past. The Bombers got off to an incredibly quick

CHANGING THE GAME 129 start, scoring just one minute and 17 seconds into the game when, on the fourth play of their first drive, Nabi connected with Gladney for a 27-yard touchdown. Nabi found Gladney in the end zone for a second time on the Bombers’ next drive from 3 yards out for Gladney’s fourth touchdown in two Cortaca Jug games. Cortland head coach Dan MacNeill said his team’s inability to stop Gladney was a large factor in the loss. With less than 11 minutes left in the first quarter, Max Jean, a junior defensive back for the Red Dragons, was ejected from the game for targeting. Players are called for targeting when they hit defenseless opponents with the crown of their helmet or above the other athlete’s shoulders. “The player who was supposed to be covering him was the young man who got ejected from the game,” MacNeill said. “Things went awry for us early in the game, and we didn’t recover very well.” Gladney said he loves playing in the Cortaca environment. “It’s an awesome game to be a part of,” Gladney said. “My energy level is a little bit higher, especially because we were home.” With less than five minutes left in the first quarter, the Red Dragons scored for the first time when sophomore running back Zach

Tripodi ran for 2 yards. Tripodi’s 2-yard run was set up when Cortland received the ball at the 50-yard line and their senior quarterback Steven Ferreira made to two passes, totaling 41 yards. With three minutes and 25 seconds left in the first quarter, Nabi threw an 18-yard pass to senior tight end Jack Yule for the third Bombers touchdown. After junior kicker David Prudhomme missed the extra point kick for the first two touchdowns, the Blue and Gold decided to go for a two-point conversion. Nabi’s pass to freshman wide receiver Andrew Vito was good, bringing the score to 20–6. Nabi continued his strong play into the second quarter when he linked up with Vito from 12 yards away for his fourth touchdown of the game on the first play of the quarter. Nabi finished off the first half with his fifth touchdown pass. He found junior wide receiver JR Zazzara for a 17-yard touchdown with 22 seconds remaining in the second quarter to make the score 34–6. Nabi said his success was a product of how the defense played him. “We were just executing the best we could based on what we saw,” Nabi said. “The receivers

did a great job making plays for me, and the offensive linemen blocked their tails off.” Head coach Dan Swanstrom said Nabi’s strong performance early in the game allowed him to confidently call a variety of plays for Nabi later. Ferreira kicked off the second half looking to bring the Red Dragons back, as he ran in two touchdowns of 13 and 9 yards, respectively, on the Red Dragons’ first two drives of the half. The Red Dragons did not score again in the game and Mike Toerper, the Bombers’ defensive coordinator, said he was very impressed with the defense’s effort. “I liked the way we fought,” Toerper said. “We weren’t perfect in our execution, but I loved our poise when things started to go wrong. We stayed even-keeled and continued to play, and the result was good enough.” Nabi responded to Ferreira’s touchdowns by throwing his sixth touchdown of the game, this one to senior wide receiver Jared Bauer for 10 yards. Junior defensive lineman Marc Barbieri said that he was motivated by the former players and students who had been longing for a Cortaca victory. Barbieri’s brother, Rob Barbieri ’17, is a former defensive lineman on the Blue and Gold and never

beat Cortland. “It was really important to a lot of guys, especially me, who have history with this team, to come out and play our best to represent all these alumni that come out and give us endless amounts of support throughout all the years,” Barbieri said. “They always believed in us, and we just wanted to give back to them.” Coaching his first Cortaca Jug game, Swanstrom said he relished the opportunity to coach in this setting. “I played high school football in Texas,” he said. “I grew up playing in these environments. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around something like this, but I enjoyed the environment, the excitement, the electricity and how loud it was, and I’m excited our players get an experience like this.” The Red Dragons’ win streak in the rivalry ends at seven, which was two wins away from tying the longest winning streak in the match-up’s history. The Bombers won nine straight Cortaca games between 1973 and ’81. MacNeill said he’s already looking ahead with the streak finished. “The win streak was fun,” MacNeill said. “It’s a tribute to the players who played in those games. This was, without question, a disappointment, so all you can do now is look forward.”

Bombers fans filled Butterfield Stadium to watch the Ithaca College football team best the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

130 CHANGING THE GAME

STANDOUT SOPHOMORE

Sophomore wide receiver Will Gladney amassed more than 1,000 receiving yards in his second season on the Ithaca College football team

| BY MAX DENNING

t is about 20 minutes past the end of the Ithaca College football team’s practice Oct. 4, 2017, and there are only two players left on the field. Wide receivers sophomore Will Gladney and freshman Andrew Vito are working on their hands, throwing the ball to each other in uncomfortable positions. Gladney is lying on his back, then on his stomach, then sitting down with his legs straight in front of him. Vito is throwing the football at Gladney in each of the positions. Eventually, they get up and throw lob balls to each other, where the receiver has to look behind them and find the ball. This routine happens at the end of almost every practice. The post-practice sessions seem to be working for Gladney, as he is leading the Liberty League in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns. Gladney’s spectacular start to the season may not come as a surprise to the Division I football coaches who sent him recruitment letters in high school, nor to his wide receivers coach Reece Petty, who called Gladney a special wide receiver. However, it might be a surprise to those who know that Gladney bounced around to over 25 foster and group homes during his childhood before finally being adopted late in his sophomore year of high school. Starting at the age of 7, Gladney began living in group homes in the Binghamton, New York, area. He bounced around quite a bit, which can be common in foster care, unable to land somewhere permanent. According to data from the Administration of Children and Families, at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, children have, on average, three different foster Sophomore wide receiver Will Gladney celebrates a touchdown. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

care placements. In ninth grade, Gladney was moved to an independent living group home, which he said was not good for him. He said he would often not attend class due to the independence he was given. “[It] gave me way too much freedom,” Gladney said. Even though Gladney was having some athletic success as a freshman at Binghamton High School playing varsity football, academically, he said, he was struggling. He said that he would often skip class, which caused him to get in trouble at the group home. “It was either go to a group home in Owego or go to a juvenile detention center and basically age out,” Gladney said. “Because that’s what New York state does to kids. They just don’t care about them. They throw them in there, and they’re basically done for life.” He chose the group home in Owego. There Gladney met Marc Brainard, the assistant manager of the group home. Brainard said that when he first met Gladney during his intake, he knew he was different from other kids who had been in the system for as long as he had been. “I say ‘different’ because usually when we would get kids in similar situations, personality and character were much different,” Brainard said. “I could tell somebody did something right with Will along the way — he was a good kid, and you could tell that within 15 minutes of having a conversation with him.” But it was not just Gladney’s demeanor that set him apart — it was his athletic ability. Soon after the intake, Gladney, 15 at the time, and Brainard went outside to play basketball. Brainard said Gladney was able to move him around the court. Within two hours, Brainard had called his friend, who was an Amateur Athletic Union basketball coach in the area, and Gladney had joined the team. Soon after, that coach would become Gladney’s foster father for about eight months. Brainard and Gladney would still spend time together by going out to eat, working out and spending time with Brainard’s son, Kingston. The situation with the AAU coach stopped working out for both Gladney and the coach, causing Gladney to be moved into a group home in Elmira, a 35-minute drive from his school in Owego. When he heard, Brainard said he was sitting in his room, visibly upset, when his fiance Jennifer Gates walked in. “We sat there in silence for a minute, and then she broke the silence by saying, ‘Why don’t we just take him?’” Brainard said. Brainard said Gates made it clear that if anyone could help Gladney, it was Brainard. Brainard then called Gladney and asked him if

CHANGING THE GAME 131

From left, Marc Brainard, sophomore wide receiver Will Gladney, Jennifer Gates and her son, Kingston Brainard, attended Gladney’s game Sept. 30, 2017. COURTESY OF WILL GLADNEY

he wanted to stay with them. Gladney immediately replied yes. From there, Gladney’s athletic and academic careers took off. Brainard said Gladney’s junior year is when it all started to come together for him. In his junior year at Owego Free Academy, Gladney had almost 700 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, netting him a third-team all-state honor. During his senior year, he led his team to the first round of the playoffs and earned a first-team all-state honor. Brainard and Gladney both said that Gladney was receiving scholarship consideration from Division I football programs; however, they were worried he would not academically qualify to play at the Division I level, mainly due to Gladney’s grades in ninth grade. When Gladney did finally qualify for the NCAA’s Clearinghouse standards, it was weeks after signing day. Gladney ended up at Division III Ithaca College, and Brainard said that it has become the perfect place for him.

“I can’t think of a better place for him to be right now,” Brainard said. “Everything has worked out — Coach Swanny coming in, and pretty much, his offense caters to Will and his skillset. He’s putting up huge numbers right now. Everything is falling into place for him. It’s a wonderful thing.” Gladney’s success comes after a summer in Ithaca when he worked with other football players and recalls staying up until 2 a.m. some nights to run. Halfway through the season, that summer of work has paid off. Gladney has more than 140 receiving yards in three games and at least one touchdown in five of the six games the team has played so far this season. Gladney said he knew going into this season that he would have more success because the game became easier for him. “The game slowed down for me,” he said. An exemplification of Gladney’s love for the game came on a fourth-down quarterback punt near midfield at the end of the second quarter against Hobart. Freshman quarterback Wahid Nabi punted the ball, and

it bounced near the goal-line, and Gladney sprinted from his position nearly 50 yards down the field to down the ball at the 1-yard line. Earlier in the day, Gladney protested during the national anthem by not placing his hand over his heart. Gladney told The Ithacan he didn’t want to talk about the protest for this article. Gladney has stayed close with his adopted family, especially Kingston. Brainard said Kingston and Gladney have a special bond. “We don’t get to see Will often, but when we do, I still don’t see Will because he spends every second in this house with Kingston,” Brainard said. Kingston, like his older brother, is a successful athlete, scoring 33 goals in his first five youth soccer games. He also wears the number two, just like Gladney. Gladney is only a sophomore, and Petty said that it is exciting Gladney has two more years. “It’s something to look forward to,” Petty said. “Will would be the first person to say he’s got a lot to work on still.”

132 CHANGING THE GAME

A FRESH NEW FACE Freshman Wahid Nabi excels as the Ithaca College football teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s starting quarterback

Quarterback Wahid Nabi scans the field during a football game. SAM FULLER/THE ITHACAN

CHANGING THE GAME 133 | BY MATT HORNICK

ess than halfway through its second game of the 2017 season, the Ithaca College football team looked like it was headed in the wrong direction. After losing their first game of the year, the Bombers found themselves down 17–0 in the second quarter against SUNY Brockport, having only gained a total of 18 yards on offense. Searching for anything to bring his team to life, head coach Dan Swanstrom decided to replace senior starting quarterback Adam Fron with freshman Wahid Nabi. Nabi brought some life to the Bombers’ offense, finishing the game with 153 passing yards and two interceptions. The first interception came on his very first pass, but he was unable to contribute to his team’s side of the scoreboard, and they lost to Brockport 31–0. Nabi said he was not expecting to hear his name get called against Brockport and had to calm his nerves after his first pass. “When I was told to start warming up, I was surprised,” Nabi said. “After I threw the pick on my first pass, I knew unless I threw a pick-six on my next pass that I could only get better from there. Once I started to adjust to the speed of the game, I started to feel more comfortable.” Swanstrom said he decided to put Nabi into the game to see if the freshman could ignite an offense that was averaging 3.6 yards per possession through five drives. “We just wanted to see if the kid could give us a spark,” Swanstrom said. “First pass he throws, he hits Will Gladney right in the chest and it’s intercepted. We put him back out there, and we called the game like he wasn’t a freshman to see what he would be like. While he still made some freshman mistakes, he started to move the ball, and we got to see a glimpse of his talent.” A native of Latham, New York, Nabi originally played soccer as a kid until he started playing football in seventh grade. However, looking back, he said he was not sure if football would be a part of his future going forward. When he first started playing Pop-Warner-Youth Football, he said, he was a wide receiver and hated it because he wanted to play quarterback. “I was thinking about going back to soccer,” Nabi said. “But one day, one of our coaches asked me if I still wanted to play quarterback and told me I should start going to quarterback training with our high school’s varsity coach … and I fell in love with it.” Greg Sheeler ’02, Nabi’s high school coach at Shaker High School in Latham near Albany, said Nabi’s dedication to these early morning workouts showed how serious he was about becoming a good quarterback. “From the time he started coming to the workouts, I don’t think he missed a single one through when he graduated,” Sheeler said. “This was a really strong indicator that he had a strong passion for the game.” Swanstrom said he was attracted to Nabi as a quarterback during the recruitment process because of Nabi’s strong fundamentals. Since Swanstrom was hired in December 2016, Nabi was one of Swanstrom’s first recruits. “The way he stands in the pocket and the technical aspects of his release are exactly what I look for in quarterbacks,”

Swanstrom said. “It was very obvious on film that the ball spun very well out of his hand even though I never got the chance to see him throw in person. He was everything I was looking for when I was at Penn, but he didn’t have size those guys look for.” Nabi was named the Bombers’ starting quarterback going forward after the loss to Brockport and has since led the team to a 8–1 record in nine starts. In his first start against St. Lawrence University, he completed 16 of 27 passes for 357 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions as the Bombers earned their first win of the season 24–13. Nabi said he was more nervous before the game against Brockport than he was before the St. Lawrence game and that being able to get a win in his first start set a good precedent going forward. “Before the Brockport game, I was still the backup, so I have to be ready at all times in case my number got called, while against St. Lawrence, I was more comfortable because I knew I was starting,” Nabi said. Swanstrom said he chose to make Nabi his starting quarterback against St. Lawrence because changes needed to be made after being shut out by Brockport, but he said he was concerned with how a poor performance would affect Nabi going forward. “I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Swanstrom said. “I knew I didn’t want to lose the kid or shatter his confidence in any way, so I was prepared for many different scenarios. I felt good about his performance, and I felt good that his mistakes were correctable and that if we fostered his talent, he would continue to progress. Nabi said being named the starter as a freshman was one of the many lofty goals he set for himself at the beginning of the season. “My main goal was just to get on the field in some way as a freshman, and if it happened to be as the starting quarterback, that would be awesome,” Nabi said. “I was excited to be named the starter because I set really high goals for myself, but once I was the starter, I started telling myself not be satisfied because there is still more work to do.” Since entering the game against Brockport, Nabi has completed 63.58 percent of his passes for 2,552 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Four of those interceptions came in Nabi’s one loss as a starter against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 14, 2017. The Blue and Gold lost 27–14. Junior wide receiver JR Zazzara said he has been impressed with Nabi’s command of the position throughout the season. “It’s very hard to play quarterback in an offense like this,” Zazzara said. “He’s a great football player and a great leader, and that’s all you need to get a team to follow you, and when a team follows you, it leads to wins.” His strongest performance so far came on Nov. 11, 2017, against SUNY Cortland when he completed 27 of 37 passes for 329 yards and six touchdowns, a school record, to lead the Bombers to a 48–20 win. Nabi said he is not as interested in the statistics as he is in leaving a positive impact. “It’s always been a part of my personality that I want to be someone who is remembered for being a good influence,” Nabi said. “If I am given the opportunity to start for four years, I hope what I am able to leave is something positive.”

134 CHANGING THE GAME

COACH’S VICTORY Basketball coach Jim Mullins became the winningest coach in program history | BY MAX O’NEILL

hen Tom Baker resigned from his role as Ithaca College men’s basketball head coach in 1997, he had totaled 307 wins. His assistant coach, Jim Mullins, was named the interim head coach for the 1997–98 season. On Jan. 12, Mullins secured the 308th win of his career, making him the winningest coach in program history. He said the record is a reflection of time and his ability to surround himself with good people. “It means I’ve been around for a while,” Mullins said “I’ve had a lot of good players and a lot of great assistant coaches to help me, you know, who played a big role, and I guess, more than anything else, it’s indicative of longevity, really.” Senior guard Marc Chasin said the record is a testament to Mullins’ lasting impact on the program. “It makes me appreciate having a coach with so much experience,” Chasin said. “Having so many wins, it just gives me a reason to trust him even further. I’m really proud of him, and I’m happy for his accomplishment.” Mullins took the helm of the men’s basketball team in 1997 after five years as

Jim Mullins watches his team play against Skidmore College on Jan. 20. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

assistant coach. During Mullins’ time assisting Baker, the Bombers went 86–46 and had back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history from 1992–94. Mullins said his familiarity with the team made taking over as head coach easy. “It was a very smooth transition,” Mullins said. “I had recruited a bunch of the guys who were already on the team, and I was running our offensive schemes at that point, so I didn’t have many changes to make.” Ryan Bamford ’00, the University of Massachusetts athletic director who was a sophomore when Mullins took over as head coach, said the whole team was excited when Mullins was promoted. “When he was our assistant, he was the guy that a lot of our guys went to because he is a great relationship guy,” Bamford said. “When they made him full-time, it was like, ‘This is great. Let’s go build a winning program. Let’s do it together.’ I’ve felt that way for the last 20-plus years with him as a mentor.” Mullins’ best season was 2008–09, when the Bombers went 24–3 and lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. In the 2012–13 season, he led the Blue and Gold to a 17–8 record. They went on to win an Empire 8 Conference Championship, which gave the

Bombers a berth to the NCAA Tournament, where they went to the round of 16. Sean Rossi ’13, a graduate assistant coach at Misericordia University who set the career-assist record for Division III under Mullins, said Mullins’ achievement is rare. “One of the most difficult challenges in college basketball is to achieve sustainable success,” Rossi said. “To be a part of those 308 wins makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be part of Coach Mullins’ legacy.” Mullins said breaking the wins record is nice but does not affect the goals he sets for his team every season. “Every year, our expectation is to win our league and go deep into the postseason,” Mullins said. “That doesn’t change whether you’re in the first year of your career or the last year. I don’t think anybody sets out to accomplish milestones — I never looked at Coach Baker’s record looking to break it. The thing about any milestone is that it involves lots of people; it’s not an individual accomplishment.” Senior guard Carroll Rich said the record is representative of the impact Mullins has had at the college. “I think it’s a great testament to Coach Mullins,” Rich said. “He deserves every one he’s got.”

CHANGING THE GAME 135

FEELING AT HOME

Junior Miles Herman transferred schools twice before joining Bombers basketball

| BY MAX O’NEILL

n 2011, high school junior Miles Herman and his family returned to their hometown of Ithaca after spending the previous eight years living in Japan. Their abrupt return to the United States came after a 9.1 magnitude earthquake devastated Japan and caused many to flee the country out of fear of radiation leaks from nearby power plants. After finishing high school in Ithaca and transferring colleges twice, Herman is

Junior forward Miles Herman prepares to hand off the ball during a game against SUNY Cortland on Nov. 28, 2017. JULIA CHERRAULT/THE ITHACAN

now an integral member of the Ithaca College men’s basketball team. “We came back thinking it would only be a year and that we would go back to Japan once everything had settled down, and that never happened,” Herman said. Herman went to Japan with his family due to his mother’s job at the Corning Glass Company. He said he was surprised by the basketball culture he discovered there. “I went over there not knowing if people would even play, and when I got to my school, I found out they had a team and they were pretty good,” Herman said. “I made all of my first friends over there through basketball and playing on the team. The competition was as good as it was when I got back here. The kids were really into it.” Beyond basketball, Herman said his time in Japan greatly contributed to his personal growth and gave him a better sense of self. “I learned more about who I am and where I fit in,” he said. Herman said basketball was an escape for him during a difficult transition back to Ithaca from Japan for his junior year of high school. “It was definitely hard initially making friends, hard initially adjusting to a new school and a new setting and new people, and my parents weren’t living together at the time,” Herman said. “I found that basketball was really cathartic for me. I had a team to come back to who were all super welcoming and kind of introduced me to the school.” After graduating from Ithaca High School in 2013, Herman enrolled at the University at Buffalo, where he played on the club basketball team for two years. He decided he wanted to be close to home, so he transferred to Tompkins-Cortland Community College before transferring to Ithaca College. “I wanted to be close to a strong support network, and having my mom, dad and

grandma around helped with that,” he said. Early in the 2017 fall semester, prior to basketball tryouts, Herman was playing basketball at the college’s Fitness Center, and a professor, who played on Cornell University’s men’s basketball team when he was a student, told him to try out for the Bombers. Herman went to the Hill Center at Ithaca College before a team workout and played a pickup game with the team. After that game, a few of the players, including Carroll Rich senior guard and captain, walked into head coach Jim Mullins’ office and told him about Herman. “I immediately saw where he could fit in because of our offense and how he could be a big help on defense with his length and size in the paint,” Rich said. “With our offense, the big man’s job is to run the floor well. He’s not really one of these doughy bigs that you see sometimes. He’s pretty athletic, gets up and down the floor really well, so I always found that something to take note of right away.” The addition of Herman as a post presence has positively impacted the Bombers on both offense and defense. Last year, the Bombers gave up 184 points in the paint through the Bombers’ first five games of the season, while this year, they have only given up 132 points in the paint. Herman also makes a big impact on the offensive end, with the Bombers’ scoring 192 points in the paint through five games compared to last year’s 162 points in the paint. Herman is the tallest player on the team at 6 feet and 8 inches, and he is also the tallest player the Bombers have had on the team since the 2014–15 season, when 6-foot-8-inch center Keefe Gitto was a senior. He is also the first player during Mullins’ stint as head coach to come from Ithaca High School. One of Herman’s biggest contributions to the Bombers so far has been his ability on the glass, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, including 12 in the team’s 82–79 loss against Union College on Jan. 27. He also put up 16 points against the Dutchmen for one of his three double-doubles this season. Mullins said Herman has put in as much effort as anyone else on the team. “I think he’s been one of our hardest workers,” he said. “He’s been all in for us, you know — he spends extra time in the gym working on his game, and he’s been great in practice. Very attentive and always ready to go.”

136 CHANGING THE GAME

MAKING THE BIG LEAGUES Former Ithaca College student was called to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Former Ithaca College student Tim Locastro played on the baseball team as a shortstop. FILE PHOTO/THE ITHACAN

| BY ANDREW SULLIVAN AND CAITIE IHRIG

he Los Angeles Dodgers called up Tim Locastro, a former Ithaca College student, Sept. 29, 2017, from the Los Angeles’ Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers. Since the baseball program started in 1931, 92 athletes have advanced to professional baseball, but only four athletes have made it to the major leagues. Before Locastro, the most recent player to make it to the MLB was Glen Cook ’86, who played on the Texas Rangers in 1985. Around 11 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2017, Locastro received a phone call from Gabe Kapler, the director of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, asking if Locastro had any plans for the upcoming weekend. After Locastro said he did not, Kapler asked if he could meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in Colorado on Sept. 29, 2017. “A few of my buddies started jumping up and down,” Locastro said. “And then, after that, I called my parents, and I told them, ‘I got to tell you something, but I don’t want to tell you over the phone. I’ll be home in about five minutes.’” Once he arrived home, Locastro’s mother, Colleen, said he told her and her husband the news. Locastro is from Auburn, New York, and was home because the Triple-A season ended mid-September. “He came home and said, ‘I have bad news, and I have good news — the bad news is that I’m not finishing painting the basement. The good news is that I’m going to the big leagues,’” Colleen said. “We didn’t know what to do. We were just shocked.” The next morning while waiting for his flight out of the Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Locastro called baseball head coach George Valesente to tell him the news. “I thought it was about time,” Valesente said. “He had such a great season, and we were hoping that he was going to get called up a little earlier than it happened. I was very excited. I’m very happy for him. He has worked very hard and has dedicated himself to trying to do what he can do, and it’s a wonderful reward for all his work.”

Locastro was supposed to arrive in Denver by 11:30 a.m., but due to delays, he did not arrive until 4 p.m. He made it to the field in time for batting practice, but he was unable to receive his jersey until 6:01 p.m. Locastro said he did not want to be late for the national anthem, so he buttoned up his uniform as he ran to the field. Locastro sat in the dugout with the rest of his teammates until the eighth inning, when he was called into the game. He was put in as a pinch-runner at first base for Los Angeles Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager. On the next play, Locastro advanced to second base when first baseman Cody Bellinger grounded out for the third out. He played the bottom of the eighth as a left-fielder, but no balls came his way. “As soon as they put him in, we were sick to our stomachs,” Colleen said. “We had our phones out, our cameras out. One person was videotaping. One person was taking pictures. It was just amazing.” During the ninth inning on Sept. 30, the Los Angles Dodgers put Locastro in as a pinch runner for second baseman Chase Utley, who hit a double. After being put in, Locastro stole third base, but left fielder Chris Taylor hit a pop-fly for the third out. Locastro said he was nervous playing the first night, but was able to relax for the second night. He started his baseball career after being picked in the 13th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, which was the highest draft pick in the college’s history. In four years in the minor leagues, Locastro hit .293 with 24 home runs, 91 doubles, 330 runs scored, 171 RBI and 143 stolen bases. In 2015, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers promoted Locastro to Oklahoma City on Aug. 1, 2017, after he spent the majority of the 2017 season in Double-A with the Tulsa Drillers. In 31 games with Oklahoma City, Locastro hit .388 and recorded 10 doubles, 12 stolen bases and 18 runs scored in 115 plate appearances. In 96 games with Tulsa, he hit .285 and tallied eight home runs, 21 doubles, 22 stolen bases, 69 runs scored and 31 runs batted in 420 plate appearances. Bill Hasselman, manager of the Oklahoma City Dodgers, said Locastro’s energy and speed will be a big plus that he can bring to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “His talent and the speed he has is elite, and he puts that together with his smarts,” Hasselman said. “He does a really good job of knowing when to run, when not to run. He knows the game.”

CHANGING THE GAME 137

MAKING STRIDES Senior Denise Ibarra has seen improvements with changes to her training regimen

Senior Denise Ibarra runs the 3,000-meter race Feb. 17 at the Marc Deneualt Invitation at Cornell University. ELIAS OLSEN/THE ITHACAN

| BY DANI PLUCHINSKY

hen Denise Ibarra was in high school, she envisioned herself being a collegiate soccer player. It wasn’t until her junior year in high school that her track and field coach at the time convinced her to try cross-country and she learned she loved distance running. “I ended up falling in love with cross-country,” Ibarra said. “The following year, I cut out all of the other sports in my life and I said, ‘I really like running.’ And then from there, I stuck to that.” Ibarra said she was unsure if she wanted to run in college. She was not recruited heavily out of high school and did not consider running in college until she decided to attend Ithaca College. When she reached out to Erin Dinan, head coach of the women’s cross-country team, she was so late to the recruiting process that an extra tryout had to be held for her and one other person, who ended up not joining the team. Four years later, Ibarra is having the best season of her career. She set a personal record in the 1-mile this season with a time of 5:12.44 on Jan. 20, and she broke her personal record in the 5,000-meter with a time of 17:29.78 on Feb. 10. “It’s really rewarding to see all of your hard work from freshman year to now come together,” Ibarra said. “Not only physically, but mentally as well. Running is so mental that the victory in the times are not just physical victories, but mental victories as well.” In high school, Ibarra ran the 2,000-meter steeplechase. When she first began running at the college, she tried new events because of the wide variety in collegiate track and field. She started running the 800-meter to work on her speed and at most would run 7 miles when training for longer distances. Since she currently only runs long-distance events, she now runs up to 13 miles during a workout and rotates between running the 1-mile, 3,000-meter and the 5,000-meter when competing in meets. This season, Ibarra said she has tweaked her workouts to let her body become more accustomed to the long-distance training. Over the summer, she said, she set very high goals for herself. She always pushed herself to run 50 miles every week instead of her normal 40 and to complete more reps of the harder workouts, leading her to injure herself. She developed iliotibial band syndrome, a very common injury for runners where connective tissue rubs against the thigh bone, leading her to cross-train in the pool for about a month at the beginning of the cross-country season. “I learned to listen to my body, and that has made a huge difference,” Ibarra said. “Sometimes your body is just tired and you have to make the right call and say, ‘Today, I’m going to have to train in the pool.’ And that has been a really big thing — giving my body the rest that it needs when it needs it. I realized that more doesn’t necessarily mean better.” During her college career, Ibarra has had success in both cross-country and track and field. She has raced in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships for three consecutive years. Ibarra said the steeplechase is her favorite event to run in college. “I have a very special relationship with that event because in high school, the 2,000-meter steeplechase was what really made me fall in love with track,” Ibarra said. “To be able to come into college and still run that event, but being able to run it longer, made it better for me.”

138 CHANGING THE GAME

KING OF THE COURT Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos leads men’s tennis this season as the only senior on the team | BY CAITIE IHRIG

hen senior Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos visits his grandparents at their beach house in Bethany Beach, Delaware, he reminisces while looking at the pictures of himself and his grandfather Rudy Viguie playing tennis near the beach. “My grandfather had his old-fashioned Adidas T-shirt on, his sun hat, high socks and a bathing suit, and I’m like this 2-foot-4 kid holding the racquet like a baseball bat and my swim trunks on with no shirt and just swinging at the ball,” he said. Since the age of 4, Viguie-Ramos played tennis every day after school with Rudy. The two of them no longer play together due to Rudy’s age, but he comes to Viguie-Ramos’ matches in Delaware. After a major injury in high school and transferring colleges after one semester, Viguie-Ramos found Ithaca College and its tennis program. He is now the sole senior and captain of the team. Growing up, Viguie-Ramos also played football, basketball and Little League baseball. His goal was to play football in college, but he was told he was not big enough to play at the college level, and during his senior high school season, he tore his rotator cuff. “That was a huge setback for me,” Viguie-Ramos said. “Let alone the surgery part of it — I don’t like surgery. I don’t like blood. I don’t like any of that stuff — but I was recuperating for seven months. So during that time, I wasn’t doing anything. I missed my senior year tennis season. I missed my basketball season.” After recovering from his surgery, Viguie-Ramos started his freshman tennis season at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, where he was in the predentistry program. His interest in dentistry came from his dad, who was a dentist. “I would visit him at work, and I would enjoy the atmosphere, and I liked the people he worked with,” Viguie-Ramos said. “It just seemed like a fun job and a homey place.” He soon discovered that dentistry was not for him. Viguie-Ramos decided to transfer to Ithaca and major in business administration with a marketing concentration. After deciding to transfer, he reached out to Bill Austin, head coach of men’s tennis, in November 2014. At the beginning of the spring semester, Viguie-Ramos went to a practice to have an informal tryout where he hit balls with the team. “I wasn’t intimidated,” he said. “I was nervous, but nervous about meshing with the other guys and making sure my

presence would be appreciated.” Viguie-Ramos said the team helped him in his first few weeks on campus by showing him where classes were and where to eat on campus, on The Commons and at local restaurants. During his freshman year, he played his doubles matches with Chris Hayes ’16, who is now the assistant coach. “He always brought a lot of energy to the team,” Hayes said. “He is a really good person to have on the team because he will always have your back no matter what. It’s more than tennis for him — it’s brothers and sisters.” Now that Viguie-Ramos is the only senior and captain on the team, he said that he is figuring out his own leadership style but is also drawing from what Hayes did with the team when he was the only senior. “If you are getting beat up bad, I would rather see you smile and cheer on your teammates and being upbeat and not getting down on yourself or your teammates because it brings the morale down,” Viguie-Ramos said. “I try to tell the guys every practice to stay positive, stay consistent and just be happy.” Viguie-Ramos went 10–6 in doubles and 5–10 in singles play during his freshman year. During his sophomore year, he went 9–10 in doubles and 13–5 in singles, and in his junior year, he went 10–10 in doubles and 3–3 in singles. This season, Viguie-Ramos will be playing doubles with junior Sam McGrath. “Playing alongside of him, he’s just a fighter,” McGrath said. “When he is put in tough situations, he is able to come out of it.” Viguie-Ramos said his favorite part about playing tennis is the amount of energy the team brings to each match. “We really know how to show that we want to win,” he said. “That is my favorite thing. I love that my team is able to scream for my teammates.” Senior Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos serves as team captain.

CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

CHANGING THE GAME 139

DIVING INTO SUCCESS

Graduate student Nickie Griesemer won big at the NCAA Division III Championships | BY DANI PLUCHINSKY

hen graduate student Nickie Griesemer was in her freshman year at Ithaca College, she walked to the Athletics and Events Center to see the pool. Since she had been a diver on her high school team, she wanted to see what the pool looked like compared to her one at home. As she was looking at the pool, then–graduate student Heather Markus saw her and said, “Are you lost?” When Griesemer said that she was just looking at the pool because she was a former diver, Markus took her to meet the diving coach at the time, Mike Wantuck. Fast-forward five years and Griesemer is finishing out her collegiate diving career as a two-time national champion, winning the 1- and 3-meter dives at the 2018 NCAA Diving Championships. Griesemer was a gymnast from the age of 2 until eighth grade, when a stress fracture in her wrist led her to stop competing. Once in high school, she tried out for her school’s diving team and said she loved it. She qualified for states her senior year and credits much of her early success to her being a former gymnast. “It helped me tremendously,” she said. “I already had the experience flipping and the twisting, so it was a pretty good transition.” During her freshman season at the college, Griesemer clinched the Empire 8 Conference Diver of the Year award.

She went on to the NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. At the meet, she finished 15th in the 1-meter dive and followed it up with a seventh-place finish in the 3-meter dive. In her sophomore campaign, she was a conference and state champion in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. She finished eighth overall at the NCAA Championships in the 3-meter dive while earning Empire 8 Diver of the Year for a second consecutive season. After finishing her sophomore season, Griesemer quit the team. “It was a rough year for all of us, and we went through coaching changes,” Griesemer said. “[Anna Belson] and I went to nationals, but we did really poorly on the 1-meter, so I was going abroad junior year, and I was using that as a transition out, and I wasn’t going to come back to diving.” Besides studying abroad in Barcelona

during her junior year, Griesemer said, she was staring the club Unite for Her, which helps individuals with breast cancer, during her senior year. She said she wasn’t sure if she could handle diving and being the president of the club. During the finals, Griesemer secured the first-place finish with a score of 467.60 points while edging out Centre College senior Sarah Hayhurst, who finished with 466.55 points. Griesemer said that her initial reaction when she won the 1-meter was complete shock. “I thought that I was a solid fourth place because I had been watching the other divers and they were all nailing their dives,” Griesemer said. “I had no idea it was going to happen at all, and it was really exciting.” After her performance on March 22, Griesemer still had to compete in the 3-meter finals two days later. She finished with a score of 516.30, beating Blake Zhou, a sophomore from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by nearly eight points. Griesemer said that it feels great to end on such a high note at the end of her collegiate career. “I’ve trained a lot in the past few years, and it’s awesome that I was able to do the best I could actually do,” Griesemer said. “I was able to experience my last Nationals with my teammates who have been through it all with me, so it was an incredible feeling. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to finally end my diving career.”

Griesemer holds her trophy after taking home the 1- and 3-meter titles at the NCAA Division III Diving Championships. COURTESY OF ITHACA COLLEGE ATHLETICS

140 CHANGING THE GAME

The sport management students spent the day at Lotte World in Seoul, South Korea, before they started interning at the Olympics.

From left, junior Devin Nunez, professor WonyuL Bae and senior Keon Broadnax participate at the Winter Olympics.

COURTESY OF THE ITHACAN

COURTESY OF /THE ITHACAN

BEHIND THE SCENES

Several Ithaca College students worked as interns during the 2018 Winter Olympics | BY MATT HORNICK

t the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Ithaca College was represented by rowers Emily Morley ’16 and Meghan Musnicki ’05. No Bombers athletes suited up in 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but the college’s presence was still felt in the form of interns. Eight students from the Roy H. Park School of Communications spent much of January and February in South Korea working for NBC on its broadcast of the games, and 21 students worked during the games at NBC’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. While students from the college have been interning for NBC at the Olympics since 2006, a new program allowed 20 sport management students to participate in internships in Pyeongchang. The students engaged in a program created by Wonyul Bae, associate professor in the Department of Sport Management and Media, in which they worked closely with the Korean Olympic Committee at seven Olympic venues. Bae said he created the program for sport management students because it would serve as a good work experience and an even better life experience. “I believed that attending the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our sport management students,” Bae said. Bae said he spent a year and a half working with the Korean Olympic Committee to organize the program. The committee and the college signed a memorandum of

understanding in January 2017. Students in Bae’s program were split among the Kwandong Hockey Centre, Gangeung Ice Arena, Gangeung Curling Centre, Alpensia Sliding Centre, Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre, Phoenix Snow Park and Yongpyong Alpine Centre. The work included crowd control, assisting English-speaking fans and working at athlete and media checkpoints. Kyle O’Brien, senior sport management major, said being at the Olympics provided him with rare opportunities. “One of the highlights of the trip was the opportunity to work a couple of hockey games featuring the Unified Women’s Korean Hockey Team, which consisted of athletes from both North and South Korea,” O’Brien said. “It’s not every day that you get to work an event featuring North Korean athletes, never mind an Olympic hockey game.” A native of South Korea, Bae viewed his home country hosting the Olympics as an opportunity to not only to provide his students with strong career experience, but also to expose the students to his culture. “The reason that I wanted to create this program for our students was because the games were being held in my home country, providing me with the opportunity to assist in their education of Korean sport and culture,” Bae said. “This was not only a great opportunity for our students to volunteer at the world’s biggest sporting event, but to also introduce themselves to a culture that they were unfamiliar to.” O’Brien said having the opportunity to work at the Olympics will greatly impact him going forward. “I think working the Olympic Games

speaks for itself,” O’Brien said. “It will obviously stick out at the top of a resume, but what we were able to experience goes much beyond that. The things we were able to learn from both working and watching will be extremely valuable resources for all of us in our future professions.” While Bae’s program was new this year, the communication students from the college were the seventh batch the college has sent to work for NBC. The interns who were in Pyeongchang for NBC were split among the venues and worked on the live broadcasts of the events. Junior television-radio major Emma Beltrandi spent her time as a tape logger and runner at the hockey center and made team rosters for the broadcast. She said NBC broadcasted 26 hockey games in 12 days and said she was shocked by how fine-tuned the operation was. “Everything was very organized, and it’s mind-blowing to see all of the moving parts that goes into putting on a live broadcast of that magnitude,” Beltrandi said. “I’m still amazed at how much planning and organization goes into it, and the level of coordination and execution was very impressive.” Beltrandi said getting to work on-site at the Olympics is an opportunity she will always cherish. “This internship has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember,” Beltrandi said. “Getting to experience the Olympics on the ground is something not many people get to do, and how lucky I am to have had such an opportunity is not lost on me. I am truly grateful for this internship and know I’ll carry it with me forever.”

CHANGING THE GAME 141

PLAYING FOR USA

Two Ithaca College athletes competed in the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel | BY ANNETTE HOGAN

hile senior basketball player Marc Chasin and sophomore swimmer Josie Berman have represented Ithaca College athletics during their careers on South Hill, the pair decided to embark on a greater challenge this summer. Swapping out the Bombers’ blue and gold, Chasin and Berman suited up in red, white and blue to represent their Jewish heritage and compete in the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Chasin and the United States’ basketball team won gold, and Berman’s water polo team took home a silver medal. The Maccabiah Games, known to many as “the Jewish Olympics,” takes place every four years. This year was the 20th Games since beginning in 1932. According to its website, the Maccabi World Union is composed of over 60 countries and 400,000 members, making it the largest and longest-standing Jewish sports organization. Marc Chasin In Fall 2016, Chasin and assistant basketball coach Sean Burton traveled to New York City for tryouts. Chasin decided to try out for the team because, he said, he felt that if he didn’t go now, he probably never would. When he received the news in April that he made the team, he continued his off-season workouts until the games began. He said that being in Israel, the holiest land for Jewish people, enabled him to realize how special the country was. “It was an awesome feeling, being over there,” Chasin said.

“Getting to experience all the different things that comprise Judaism was really cool.” Chasin said the final game against France was the toughest of them all. Despite the tough matchup, the U.S. defeated France 75–67, clinching the gold medal. “It was extremely exciting, and I think we were all so relieved,” Chasin said. Josie Berman Due to the lack of participation for women’s water polo compared to swimming, Berman decided to join the water polo team. No official tryouts were held because of the low participation. “Even though I wasn’t competing in my sport, I was still competing and representing America in this amazing competition,” Berman said. Her primary role on the Maccabiah team was to be the team’s swimmer. In water polo, there must be someone to sprint and get the ball at the beginning of the game, and it was her job to outswim the athletes on the opposing team. In the final game for Berman and the U.S. team, they faced Israel and were defeated 8–5. Berman competed in five games while at the tournament, facing the other two competitors, Israel and Hungary, twice in the preliminaries. Berman’s U.S. team defeated Hungary in both games, 17–10 and 12–7, but fell short to Israel each time with scores of 7–3, 13–5 and 8–5. Although Berman did not clinch the gold medal, she said she was happy with the end results. “I was really proud of myself,” Berman said.

Sophomore Josie Berman poses with members of the USA water polo team after winning silver. COURTESY OF DOV HOLICKMAN

Senior Mac Chasin won the gold medal playing with the USA basketball team. COURTESY OF DOV HOLICKMAN

Berman competed in five games while at the tournament in Israel. COURTESY OF DOV HOLICKMAN

142 CHANGING THE GAME

HELPING HANDS

From left, junior Matt Eiel, senior Nick Skerpon, senior Tyler Hill and junior Jackson Smith participated in the Dave Clark Foundation Dream and Do Day on Sept. 9, 2017. COURTESY OF JACKSON SMITH

Student athletes at the college spend some time off the field to volunteer at and host community service events

| BY TYLER EVANS

n Sept. 9, 2017, four members of the Ithaca College baseball team volunteered with the Dave Clark Foundation, an organization for children with physical and mental disabilities in Corning, New York. After arriving at the fields and not knowing what to expect, the players soon found themselves being hit with foam balls thrown by the children. “We stood around home plate while the kids threw foam balls at us to practice their aim, and they loved every second of it,” junior first baseman Jackson Smith said. Many teams participate in events with community organizations, including the Special Olympics and a handful of organizations that address cancer. Although the Office of Intercollegiate Athletics created the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to help organize service events for teams to participate in, many teams have found service to do on their own. The committee oversees the community service events every team participates in. They partner with service organizations such as Amazing Grace, Polar Plunge and the Ronald McDonald challenge. These three organizations help families and children that have medical needs. Maddie Keppel, junior back for the field hockey team and co-chair of the service committee on SAAC, said it is important for athletes to feel a personal

connection to their community service. “We can help them find organizations and provide assistance for coordinating events, but most service ideas come directly from personal issues to members of the team,” she said. The baseball team is not the only sports team making an impact off the field. The volleyball team has participated in service events during the Fall 2017 season. The Blue and Gold partnered with Unite for Her, an organization that focuses on funding services that support the physical and emotional needs of those with breast cancer, and participated in a Breast Cancer Awareness game Sept. 15, 2017, to raise awareness for those diagnosed with breast cancer. Senior defensive specialist Marlee Wierda helps organize and lead the events relating to cancer. As the college’s branch’s president of Colleges Against Cancer, Wierda brings her passion of spreading cancer awareness to her team. “Many players on our team have been personally affected by cancer, so we all feel connected to the service that we do,” she said. “Our whole team loves to help the community, and it is something we take pride in.” Senior Joelle Goldstein on the volleyball team said the community service work done by the volleyball is more than just another team activity. “It is really important that we are seen not only as athletes, but members of the IC community,” she said. “Doing service helps us realize there is more to our team than just the games.”

Senior freestyle swimmer Nilza Costa uses weights during conditioning practice at 6:20 a.m. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

RISE AND GRIND Early morning practices can make it difficult for some athletes to balance sports and student life | BY ALYSSA CURTIS

enior freestyle swimmer Nilza Costa walks into the Athletics and Events Center at approximately 6 a.m. It’s a Monday morning, and while most students are still listening to the voices in their dreams, Costa is listening to the voice of her coach. Her ears ring from the sound of barbells dropping loudly on the floor. Student-athletes start their days even before the sun rises, which can lead to exhaustion, both mentally and physically. Will Rothermel, associate athletic director for compliance, facilities and events, said that almost every team has early morning practices before class is in session at some point during the year. Rothermel said that most of the teams that have early practices are not in season and that during the season, they usually have conditioning in the morning. It can be lift, conditioning or a full practice, but either way, they are up with the sun, whether or not they got enough sleep the night before. Early morning practices are held because many teams need to use the fields and the weight room. Though there are 10 athletic facilities and a weight room in the Hill Center and the Athletics and Events Center, there are 27 varsity sports and 40 club sports. It is easier to schedule practices in the morning than at night because some athletes take night classes. It is recommended that younger adults, including individuals aged 18 to 25, get eight to nine hours of sleep per night, according to

Michael Grandner, assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology and director of the Sleep and Health Research Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson. Most student-athletes get four nights of insufficient sleep per week on average, according to a study done by the American College Health Association. A study done by the NCAA found that one third of student-athletes get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Poor sleep, Grandner said, can have negative effects both physically and mentally. “Lack of sleep can lead athletes to be more prone to illness and injury,” he said. “It can also lead them to be physically and mentally slowed down and unable to maintain focus. It can even lead to slower recovery and difficulty managing weight.” Mornings can sometimes be the worst time to hold practices, Grandner said. “Early morning practices are particularly difficult, especially for student-athletes whose circadian rhythms are more in line with adolescents than adults,” he said. “This means that early morning is about the worst time to need to be mentally alert, and waking up early can lead to sleep deprivation because of an inability to go to bed early or have enough time for sleep.” Student-athletes often head straight to class or prepare for a full day of academics. Some teams, including the swimming and diving team, have practice both before and after classes. Hectic practice schedules can affect

student-athletes’ academics — the most important part of college. Costa said the early morning practices affect her grades. “My GPA for spring semester has always been better than the fall semester,” Costa said. “I am not a morning person, and I love to sleep.” While morning practices have an effect on Costa and her academics, not all student-athletes feel that morning practices are that dreadful. The coaches for the crew team also take initiative when it comes to making sure their athletes are in good academic standing, Lawson said. The team holds study hall every Sunday, and athletes who are in danger of any negative academic situation, such as probation, are required to go. The coaches also monitor who is attending these study halls. While senior fullback Tom Garris said he does not enjoy waking up early, he said that morning practice is sometimes necessary. Because club sport athletes are not able to pick their schedules around their practice times as much as varsity sports, it can be hard scheduling practices that fit into everyone’s schedule. Varsity sports have a set practice schedule throughout the semester, so varsity athletes pick their class schedules around practice times, ensuring they will be at practice. “If anything, it’s better, ” Garris said. “We know that nobody has anything else going on at 6 a.m. We know we can get everyone there at our practice, and we can really work on the things that are most important.”

144 CHANGING THE GAME

rugby for rookies The Ithaca College rugby team welcomes newcomers with or without experience | BY KAITLIN MANISCALO

ow in her sophomore year, Emilia Hull was looking for a change of pace from playing on the Ultimate Frisbee team. She turned to rugby, a sport she had never played before. Throughout the years at Ithaca College, men’s and women’s rugby have become two of the most popular club sports teams the school has to offer. The men’s team started in 1976 and ran through 1994. It was re-established in 2010. The women’s team started 25 years ago. Since then, the rugby teams have grown tremendously. This fast-paced, high-intensity sport normally draws 45 to 55 students for the men’s team and 35 for the women’s team to the sign-up table in the fall each year. Because of how competitive and challenging rugby is, there is a wide range of training that goes into learning and mastering the sport. This includes physical fitness training as well as drills that help the rookies understand the rules. Senior women’s rugby president Ashley Cohen, said the team does a lot of tackling drills to ensure the rookies do not get hurt. “We teach them how to tackle

separately step-by-step,” Cohen said. “Approach the girl, get low, back straight and shoulders locked to keep your neck strong so you don’t get a concussion. Things like that. Specifically, things they can catch onto right away — muscle memory — and we will never put them in a game if we don’t think they are comfortable.” There are a lot of misconceptions about rugby. Cohen said this comes from the belief that women should not hit or be aggressive. This has led to the women’s sport’s being less popular, in general, as only two women on the team have previous experience playing the sport. Since the majority of the rookies have no experience prior to playing rugby at the college, they must go through a process of learning specifically how to tackle and be aggressive on the field. “I had zero knowledge of rugby before I started,” Hull said. “The hardest part would be just getting a good grasp of the game because I am a new player starting from scratch. It isn’t necessarily the physical part. It is the mental. You have to say, ‘OK, I am going to hit this person as hard as I can,’ so it is a different mindset.” Although the rookies are gaining confidence and experience, it is a time-consuming

process. Women’s head coach Libi Demarest said the hardest part of training the rookies is getting them used to being aggressive. “The rookies will apologize up and down over every little thing they do it,” Demarest said. “It is really hard to get them into the habit of feeling comfortable in using their bodies in a different way and to know they can be aggressive and physical and that it’s actually awarded in rugby.” The main focus of all three sports is to get the ball to the other side of the field while passing, throwing or kicking the ball. Being comfortable tackling other members by previously playing football correlates to tackling in rugby. The athleticism and foot skills that are developed in soccer help when kicking the ball down the field or kicking a field goal. Getting on-the-field experience, junior captain Drew Mele said, is the most important part of learning the game. Part of this is playing as many games as possible at full pace with tackling. “The hardest part about rugby is knowing what to do in the chaos of the game,” Mele said. “You can study formations and the ins and outs of the game as much as you like, but to truly learn the game, you have to play it as much as possible.”

Senior fullback Tom Garris tries to break a tackle from freshman outside center Cohl Johnston of Hobart College.

Senior Jenna Iannacci plays as a wing on the women’s rubgy team.

CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

Senior Mackenzie Lozano plays midfielder on the club soccer team.

CHANGING THE GAME 145

MAKING HISTORY

The women’s club soccer team qualified for National Championship for the first time

| BY JASON HANNIGAN

or the first time in its history, the Ithaca College women’s club soccer team qualified for the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association National Championships, which was held Nov. 16–18, 2017, in Phoenix. The women finished their season atop the New York Southern Tier table with a record of 8–1–2. The Wombats edged both neighboring Cornell University and perennial power Binghamton University, taking 46 points out of a possible 50. After a strong showing in the league, the Wombats were invited to the Region 1 tournament held Oct. 28–29, 2017, at the Kirkwood Soccer Complex in New Castle, Delaware. The women advanced from the group stage after defeating club teams from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Messiah College, The College of New Jersey and the University of Maryland. The Wombats were eliminated from the tournament after falling 2–0 in the semifinal of the tournament to Northeastern. They were the only Division III team to advance past the group stage. Despite bowing out in the semifinal, the Wombats were

awarded an atlarge bid to the NIRSA National Championships, based on the team’s accumulated power points. Founded in 2002, the Wombats are managed by coach Andy Baker, who is currently in his 14th season with the team. Baker, director of sales at local catering company Serendipity Catering, said he has directed much of his free time and energy over the years trying to get his team to the highest level of competitive club soccer. “Every year, it’s what has kept me in this town,” Baker said. “This is my 14th season. We’ve been trying to get here every year, and now we’re finally here.” Under Baker, the Wombats have been consistently ranked in the top 10 of NIRSA’s Region 1 Women’s Club Soccer Rankings. On Oct. 28, 2017 the women were ranked fourth in Region 1. Senior forward Athena Manzino credits much of the team’s success this season to

the man at the Wombats’ helm. “He’s the one who founded the team, and he’s the reason we do so well,” Manzino said. “It’s 14 years of Andy working so hard to get us to where we are today.” Baker said the alumni have been another source of inspiration for the team. “There are a lot more people than just the 24 who are going to Phoenix,” Baker said. “To win Nationals would not only mean everything to this team and myself, but also to all of the alumni who have supported us all season long.” Senior Mackenzie Lozano has been a member of the Wombats since her freshman year. Lozano said she and her teammates are playing for their longtime coach. “For us as a team to be able to do this for him, it really means a lot,” Lozano said. “He’s so important to us.” Lozano said she also credits her team’s strong on-field chemistry with its chemistry off the field. “On, and off, the field, we mesh well as friends,” Lozano said. “I think we are always there to pick each other up if anything happens.”

In Phoenix, the Wombats was pitted against the very best across the country, including several Division I teams. Manzino said she has been confident in the team all year. “I said it at the beginning of the season: I could just feel it was our year,” Manzino said.

Senior Carley Strachan is a goalkeeper on the team. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

Junior rugby player Mark Hassett, a vegan, has a hard time finding nutritious meal options during Late Night.

146 CHANGING THE GAME

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TED ZERIVITZ

snack attack Student athletes face difficulties finding nutritious options after nighttime practices

| BY JEB BIGGART

enior offensive lineman Ben Kumph dedicates many hours to football and training, so his body is always in top shape. After football practices that can last into the night, he heads to the dining hall to refuel, only to find little variety of healthy options. When practice is held on the turf field instead of the practice fields, it gets out at 8 p.m. By this time of night, the only dining hall open is Terrace Dining Hall, which is open for Late Night. Jeff Scott, director of dining services on campus, said the dining hall switches to comfort food at this time because that is what college students want. Scott also said that creating more Late Night offerings would generate more waste. Kumph said he is not able to refuel his body with the foods he needs. “It is tough getting out of practice hungry and only one dining hall is open and all that is left is a few cheeseburgers and half a salad bar,” Kumph said. “I think there should be more of a variety of protein and nourishment at all hours of the day.” Kumph is not the only athlete who has had issues with Late Night meals from the dining halls. Junior rower Greta O’Hara will get back to campus as late as 7:30 p.m. from a regatta, or 7 p.m. if the team is coming back from practice. This leaves Late Night as the only dining option. “Instead of nutritious options, we are left with themed meals that lack good recovery

foods,” O’Hara said. Campus Center Dining Hall is open from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday but is only open until 6:30 p.m. on Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Towers Dining Hall is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 2 p.m. on Friday and not at all on the weekend. Terrace Dining Hall is open Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and then again from 5 p.m. until midnight. At 8 p.m., Terrace Dining Hall makes the shift from dinner food to Late Night. Each night for Late Night is a theme. Monday includes pancakes, waffles, home-fried potatoes, sausage links and scrambled eggs. Tuesday night is Taco Tuesday, which includes a taco bar. Wednesday offers pasta and pizza. Thursday is Southern Comfort Night and includes pulled pork, fried chicken, coleslaw and macaroni and cheese. Every night offers pizza and chicken patty sandwiches. The options for athletes that missed regular dinner hours become far less healthy as Late Night begins. One healthy meal served during dinner hours consists of vegetable stir-fry and contains 80 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 280 milligrams of sodium and 2 grams of protein. In comparison, one serving of banana pancakes contains 210 calories, 6 grams of total fat, 5 grams of protein, 10 milligrams of cholesterol and 410 milligrams of sodium. “They have healthy options, but they tend to be hard to come by, are in limited amounts and

don’t taste too great,” O’Hara said. “Sodexo’s food, in general, contains high amounts of sodium, and I wouldn’t even go as far to say that it’s healthy, but rather students just have to try and pick the healthier option.” Scott said he believes that the dining halls have the correct food that athletes should be eating and that it is up to the athlete to make the right choices. “These options have always been available, but I think part of it is just helping or encouraging people to eat well,” he said. “If they’re training and working with a coach or dietician or nutritionist, then they probably have a pretty good sense as to what they should be doing. I think if you’re not informed, you can create some bad habits.” Scott said he meets with student-athletes throughout the year to get their feedback on the dining halls. “Last year, a number of students said our service hours on the weekend were obstructive to their practice schedules, so we adjusted them,” he said. Instead of opening at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, Campus Center Dining Hall now opens at 8:30 a.m. to help with athlete’s practice schedules. Kumph said his intake of certain foods helps shape his play and how he performs on the field. “If I don’t eat good meal, I won’t play to my best ability,” he said. “Proper foods fuel your energy, and my energy will be low, making it much harder for me to play at a high level.”

CHANGING THE GAME 147

A SECURE FUTURE

Women’s basketball became the first women’s athletic program endowed at Ithaca College | BY DANI PLUCHINSKY

hile attending a wedding in June 2017, the last thing Susan Bassett, director of intercollegiate athletics at Ithaca College, expected to hear was that her long-time best friend, Dee Relph ’78, wanted to donate $100,000 to endow the college’s women’s basketball program. “We were at a wedding for a former classmate of Dee’s, and Dee got up and left the table, and her husband leaned over and said, ‘We would like to make a contribution in Dee’s honor,’” Basset, who graduated from the college a year after Relph, said. “What she did in her time at Ithaca and for her to give back is just tremendous.” Relph’s contribution makes the women’s basketball program the first-ever women’s athletic program to be exclusively endowed at the college. An endowment is a donation of money to an organization for the ongoing financial support of that group. For the college, a minimum of $100,000 is needed to endow an athletic program. The only other teams to be endowed are football, wrestling, cross-country and crew. Bassett said creating the Dee Mayes Relph ’78 and Bob Relph Women’s Basketball Fund, will provide opportunities for athletes for many years in the future. Relph said the money could allow the team to take more trips and attend camps or clinics. Relph, who played basketball, field hockey and softball at the college, said she decided to donate to the basketball program because of her ongoing love of basketball. “Basketball has almost always been my favorite sport,” Relph said.

Ithaca College alum Dee Relph stands with the women’s basketball team. CAITIE IHRIG/THE ITHACAN

“When it was time to make a decision, I really wanted to give a little extra to the basketball program.” Relph said she hopes the endowment will create new experiences for the team. “It’s going to give the head coach an opportunity to give these kids something they wouldn’t be able to do or experience,” Relph said. “Resources that he has that might give Ithaca an edge on some of the schools they are competing with.” Relph said that her long-time friendship with Bassett caused her to take an interest in the college again. When Bassett was hired as the athletic director, Relph said she wanted to donate. “When Susan got hired, it really peaked my interest again in Ithaca, and it was a real turning point for us,” Relph said. “I saw what she was doing at Ithaca, and I wanted to support her and give back to the school that did so much for me.” Bassett said she hopes this endowment will help with the athletes’ financial situations. “Many of our students are on financial aid, and to take some of the pressure off of fundraising for special events is really great,” Bassett said. “What we want is to be able to compete at the highest level and provide a first-class experience, so that’s what these opportunities create for our program.” Sophomore forward Cassidy O’Malley said that Relph’s commitment to the program is very important to her. “This endowment means a lot to me because seeing the level of commitment from alumni is something so great to see as an athlete, and it really fulfills the reason that I came here,” O’Malley said.

Year in Review Printed by Vanguard Printing, LLC, in Ithaca, New York This is a green publication . Read it and recycle it. Or better yet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; share it with a friend!

YEAR IN REVIEW 2017â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18