Malvern Celebrates the Brotherhood Ceremony

Malvern Prep Welcomes the Class of 2024 with Brotherhood Ceremony

On Wednesday, May 26, each member of Malvern Prep’s Class of 2024, as well as new members of the classes of 2022 and 2023, were formally welcomed into the Malvern Community during the Brotherhood Ceremony in the O’Neill Sports Center. Traditionally held in the fall, the ceremony was postponed to the spring, which allowed families to attend.

Each student was presented with a medal of St. Augustine, which was placed around his neck by his parents or guardian. These medals depict the image of St. Augustine, the founder of the Augustinian Order of priests who established and support Malvern Prep. Each student and his family were then blessed by one of the four Augustinian Friars participating in the ceremony. The new Malvern brothers then signed their names in a Class of 2024 ledger, symbolizing their acceptance into the Malvern community. The entire Class of 2024 and new students were present for the ceremony, which brought together Malvern’s two groups of freshman students -- those who had attended Malvern for Middle School and those who were entering in the ninth grade. mp

Sean McCarthy ‘21 Earns Malvern’s First Advanced Credential

Senior Sean McCarthy was presented with Malvern Prep’s first-ever Advanced Credential on May 5. “An Advanced Credential is the highest form of currency we can offer a student,” explains Patrick Sillup, Assistant Head of School for Academics.

During his time at Malvern Prep, McCarthy has been involved with the creation and execution of several environmental and social justice clubs on campus. He formed the Environmental Club as well as the He for She Club, which later became the Human Rights Club. Along with several students, he helped lead the school’s annual Diversity Conference, st@MP’ND (Speaking Truth at Malvern Prep and Notre Dame), which took place virtually on May 8. The Advanced Credential at Malvern Prep allows students to use the skills they learn in the classroom, the leadership they learn in activities or athletics, and take that mastery of skills and leadership to solve problems and leave a lasting impact at Malvern Prep. “I liken it [Advanced Credential] to an Athletic Hall of Fame – where a Hall of Fame athlete lives on for their athletic talents — this award recognizes the academic and social impact a student has left on our school,” says Sillup. Sean’s Advanced Credit presentation was a surprise and began with the showing of this video tribute. To watch, open the camera app on your phone or mobile device, position your phone or device so the QR code appears in the digital viewfinder, and finally, tap the pop-up notification. mp

Malvern Joins Sustainable Development Goals Dashboard, Showcases Student Work

By: Joe Lister ‘21 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, The Friar’s Lantern This story originally appeared in the April 2021 issue of The Friar’s Lantern

Malvern’s newest project, the Sustainable Development Goals Dashboard, is a way for the school to listen to the advice of the United Nations as the school, along with the world, looks to move forward into a brighter future. The Dashboard allows Malvern and other groups to track its progress as it tries to follow United Nations goals.

The Dashboard is aptly named, taking its name from a set of ideals set by the United Nations in 2015, and creates a task list of the 17 goals set by the council. “What this Dashboard seeks to do is illustrate the work that’s being done with respect to these goals. So for instance, if a project within a school context was working on the goal of improvement of Life Below Water. You could document that, put an abstract together for your work, and then list it so that in this learning community, others can see what’s happening within your project perhaps attached to it, and expand upon it,” Assistant Head of School for Academics Mr. Pat Sillup said.

“By 2030, [the] United Nations wants to see improvement in all these areas and think of these areas as like the most universal problem set we could possibly imagine,” Sillup continued. Sillup, who’s currently leading the push on the Dashboard from inside Malvern, sees the Dashboard as a great way to showcase students’ work as they try to push the pen on each of the 17 goals. “This is searchable on Google, you can check things out and see that. We think that’s a really nice feature from a platform perspective, to be able to share and then learn from other schools and what they’re doing within these categories as well, to push our work,” he said.

Malvern’s Dashboard is based on St. Joseph’s University’s website, where several other Universities also house their own Dashboards. However, Malvern is currently the only high school attached, something Sillup hopes changes.

“I’m expecting that to grow and that’s a great thing. What I would love to see is it can be expanded to all Augustinian schools; we can create that kind of a Dashboard with a subcategory,” he said. “Can we think about Philadelphia region schools, do we start to activate Inter-Ac and the Philadelphia region, because I think the more people think about these, the better.”

Vijay Ramakrishnan ‘22 is one of the students working on the Dashboard, who first came on board after Sillup and another student, Daniel Balmer ‘22. “I first got involved when Mr. Sillup brought me into the project alongside Daniel Balmer,” he said. “I was interested in participating in this because I thought it would

be a great way for Malvern to show other schools about our impactful work within Malvern and within the local community.”

Right now, Ramakrishnan is working on creating ideas that can be added to Malvern’s Dashboard. “I have been brainstorming potential projects that could be added to the SDG Dashboard. I then reach out to the leaders of those projects/groups and ask them if they would be interested in being a part of the Malvern SDG Dashboard. They then write a short abstract about their projects and their impacts on the community, and we submit these abstracts to St. Joe’s,” he said.

So far, Ramakrishnan has found the Dashboard to be productive, and like Sillup, has hopes for growing to other schools. “So far, we have gathered a number of projects and submitted them to St. Joe’s. They have approved of the projects and the Malvern SDG dashboard is being put together. In the future, we would like to continue to find other projects and branch out to other schools,” he said. Ramakrishnan’s partner, Balmer, has done work similar to Ramakrishnan in reaching out to people whose work is eligible to be published on the Dashboard. “My role in the Dashboard group is to find suitable candidates whose work can be published on the Dashboard. I am responsible for reaching out to them to have a discussion about what they are doing, and how they are contributing to one of the 17 sustainable development goals. After that has been completed, I provide them with the necessary instructions to record and summarize their work. Once we have all the information we need, we compile it into a concise document to get ready for publication,” he said.

Thus far, Balmer has been impressed with the work that he’s reviewed and those behind it. “So far it has been amazing to see the wide array of projects that are underway within our school community,” he said. “We have so many community members participating in meaningful activities with the sole intention of aiding others. In the future, I expect to see even more projects that contribute to one of the SDGs.” Balmer expects the Dashboard to transform into a “focal point” at Malvern in the near future, as more and more projects are added. “I think that many students will be inspired and will want to have their work shown on a public platform like this. We will absolutely encourage any students/faculty that are engaged in interesting projects to speak to us as we want everyone to get the recognition they deserve,” he said. mp

Malvern Student Finds Success as Music Producer

Writer and producer Aidan Cullen ‘22, known professionally as “Crunch,” has been honing his craft of music production since he was in 6th grade. In July of 2020, Aidan saw the release of “Convertible Burt” (performed by Tory Lanez and Kevin Gates) from the “Road to Fast 9 Mixtape” which he wrote and produced in collaboration with Chaz Jackson and Orlando Williamson. Since its release, the song has over 30 million streams worldwide and was featured in the official soundtrack of the movie “Fast and Furious 9” (“F9”) which was released worldwide on June 25, 2021. F9 is the ninth chapter in the Fast & Furious Saga, which has endured for two decades and has earned more than $5 billion around the world.

Aidan’s total streams worldwide across all platforms like Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube are close to 100 million. The popularity of the Fast and Furious movies will certainly help those numbers to grow even more.

While Aidan’s focus is increasingly on Pop and Latin music, his current published songs and initial success has come in Rap/Hip-Hop. He has successfully collaborated with Tory Lanez and fellow producers Jackson and Williamson to release the album “Loner.” He produced three songs on that album, “Motorboat,” “1 Hitter (featuring VV$ Ken),” and “My Time to Shine (featuring 42 Doug).” Each of these songs has millions of streams worldwide and was promoted at the start of 2021 with a “Loner” billboard in the middle of Times Square. “While the initial success has come in Rap/Hip-Hop, Aidan’s musical interests are really broad and Aidan found support to pursue his passion at Malvern in Mr. LeRoi Leviston. “Aidan knew that I was also a hip-hop artist and asked me if he could send some beats my way. Every so often he would send more beats, and you could tell that he was passionate and getting better. I just continued to encourage him to keep going and never quit. I couldn’t be more proud of him,” shares Leviston.

The feeling is mutual. Aidan’s dad recognizes and sees the support and flexibility that Aidan has received from his counselors and Mr. Levistion; “We cannot say enough about the support Aidan has received from Mr. Lev since he was a freshman. He has always been encouraging to him and telling him he can achieve his dreams no matter how big.”

Aidan does not take his success for granted and is always working on his craft. In the past year he has sent music to, or produced songs for, a diverse group of artists like Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Kevin Gates, and Saweetie. “I see Aidan as being one of the biggest producers in music. Not just hip-hop but R&B, Latin, and Pop. I believe he will be signed to a major label and work with more major artists in the upcoming months to a year. Every single goal he has set for himself is attainable. It sounds cliched, but the sky is the limit for him and even beyond that,” says Mr. Leviston.

Q&A with Crunch

We reached out to Aidan Cullen to dig deeper into how his love of music and early success has become a career path for him.

What inspired your interest in music production?

Since I was a kid, music has always been my forte. By the time I hit sixth grade, I had already taught myself how to play six instruments. Over time, I started to explore different aspects of making music. In eighth grade, I came across a video of someone making a beat on YouTube. I instantly became addicted and begged my parents to buy music production software. From then on, I worked five hours a night, trying my best to perfect my craft.

How has Malvern helped motivate you to continue with your passion?

I genuinely believe that there is no better school to foster my craft than Malvern. From the time of freshman year, I was allowed full access to the music studio during any free period. Instead of going to talk with friends during my breaks, I would head straight to the studio to work and improve. On top of this, I was offered the chance to take an independent study class in music production. This gave me an hour every day of studio time at school, in which I would get graded on performance. It truly helped me foster my love for music, and only furthered my career.

Describe your relationship with Mr. Leviston and how he has helped you navigate the industry?

From the moment I met Mr. Lev, I knew we were going to be close. We quickly discovered each other’s love for music, as well as the fact that we both had stutters. I began to send him some of my stuff freshman year as we began to learn more about each other’s journey with music. Over time, he became a mentor to me. Whether it was music feedback or tips to help me deal with my stutter, he was always my number one supporter. I genuinely believe that he is the purest and most loyal person I have met at Malvern.

What are your plans after Malvern?

After I graduate, I plan to move to Los Angeles and work on music fulltime. Over time, I have built up a plethora of industry connections out in the LA area, so it is the best place for me to be as I look to pursue my career further.

What have you done so far of which you are most proud?

Over the past year, my released tracks have generated about 87 million streams worldwide, along with one of the songs I worked on being placed on the soundtrack for the Fast and Furious movie. Noticing this success and my hard work, I was recently offered a writing and publishing deal from Universal Music and Arthouse Entertainment. This means I will be put on their roster of writers and producers, and given opportunities and access with big artists. It is also really nice that I have finally started to get paid for all my work and writing credits, which can really help to support me as I get started in this industry. After some negotiations and tremendous help from my legal team and management, we are close to the execution of this deal. I could not be more excited and grateful for the opportunities I have been given so far, as well as all the people that have helped me along the way, especially my Mom and Dad who have been so supportive since I first started in music. mp