Proposal passed for new School of Education
Students from the current college would be housed in the College of Arts & Sciences
By Sophia Tiedge sophia.tiedge@marquette.edu
The College of Education could be transitioned to the “School of Education,” after a proposal was presented at a University Academic Senate meeting Monday. The proposal was approved by UAS and will now be sent to Acting Provost Sarah Feldner, University President Kimo Ah Yun and
the Board of Trustees.
The School of Education would fall under the College of Arts & Sciences. Instead of having their own dean, there would be a director of the school, and the director would report to the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.
Currently, the College of Education offers undergraduate majors in elementary education and secondary education, but according to the College of Education’s letter from 2024 in support of the change, they will no longer offer educational studies in the new structure. The letter also detailed that the following graduate programs will be transi-
tioned into the school of education: master's in educational leadership, student affairs in higher education, public service and Ph.D in education.
In December of 2023, when the proposal was still a concept paper, Leigh Van Kieboom, associate dean of the College of Education, gave the following statement to the Marquette Wire about rationale for the change:
“I feel like we’ve been working on this for a long time thinking about our structure, thinking about areas in our programs that are growing and areas like teacher education, it’s in decline across the country. We’ve just been thinking
about ways to be more efficient, and then capitalize on the many relationships that we have across campus. We’ve probably been working at it since 2019.”
The choice to transition into the College of Arts & Sciences was intentional, as all undergraduate education majors are required to double major, and Keiboom said 91% of those second majors are in the College of Arts & Sciences.
This would not be a new structure for Marquette's education programs. From 1971 to 2008, education was a school instead of a college. The school had its own dean at the time, but the students received a bachelor's degree from the
College of Arts & Sciences. According to the proposal, going back to this organization would align with the Marquette 2031: Securing Our Future Plan's goal to reduce Marquette's spending by $31 million by 2031 and reinvest 40% back into the university, but the proposal for the school was in the works before the implementation of any cuts or modifications to programs. The goal for this academic year was to get the proposal reviewed and approved, then during the 2025-26 academic year, if the proposal is approved, the transition will begin so that by 2026-27 the change can be completed.
New MUSG leaders outline future vision
By Sahil Gupta sahil.gupta@marquette.edu
Golden Eagles have officially elected new leadership to Marquette University Student Government. Julianne Browne, a fifthyear senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and Adam Brzezinski, a junior in the College of Communication, were elected president and executive vice president of MUSG respectively. They defeated incumbent President Brennan Wills and running mate Rhoda Akosah. Both Browne and Brzezinski are outsiders to MUSG. They currently serve on the executive board of Marquette’s Trap
and Skeet Club, Browne in the role of outgoing president and Brzezinski as treasurer. Browne said that it was not her original idea to run for office, but rather an idea brought to her by peers on campus.
“I was approached by a number of people involved in different facets on campus,” Browne said, adding
that she hopes to prove that the best leaders are those who don’t want the job, a theory that was told to her several times during the campaign. This sentiment was echoed by Brzezinski, who expressed his confidence in Browne’s ability to serve the Marquette student body.
“I know how committed
she can be and how much she wants to help the campus,” Brzezinski said. Browne and Brzezinski inherit an ambitious MUSG agenda. One of their top priorities is expanding awareness of the Student Organization Fund, which makes up a significant amount of the MUSG budget. The budget saw a sur
See MUSG on page 3
Photo by Jack Belmont. john.belmont@marquette.edu.
The School of Education would also house the graduate programs for educational leadership, public service, student affairs in higher ed and Ph. D. in education.
FARLEY: Tom talks addiction, recovery
By Mia Thurow mia.thurow@marquette.edu
Once identified primarily as the brother of late comedian and Marquette alum Chris Farley, Tom Farley spent years defining himself through loss and hiding pain with humor.
In the years following his brother's death, Farley would constantly see stigmatized news coverage that claimed addiction was merely a day-to-day choice. Now, he's working to end that stigma—for Chris and for everyone else in recovery.
But, when Farley takes the stage at the Weasler Auditorium for “An Evening of Recovery," he won’t just be carrying his brother’s legacy. He'll be sharing his own.
“My full name, I used to say, was ‘Tom Farley, brother of Chris Farley, who died of a drug overdose,’” Farley said. “Now I just get to be ‘Tom Farley.’”
The 6 p.m. event, hosted by Recovery at Marquette and coinciding with National Collegiate Recovery Day on April 15, will offer Farley a platform to speak openly with the campus community about his journey toward authenticity and healing.
Marquette's Collegiate Recovery Program aims to support students in recovery from substance use concerns in order to build community, promote healing and holistic health and help students reach their full potential.
“Chris Farley's legacy can still be felt here on campus, so for someone with such national acclaim to support our program — it really means a lot,” Michael Diaz, a senior in the College of Education and program assistant at the Collegiate Recovery Program, said in an email.
Now, after going through
his own recovery journey, Farley is redefining his legacy.
Farley's journey to recovery
What later turned into a personal exploration of personality and self-worth for Farley first started as an advocacy service. From 1999-2012, he managed The Chris Farley Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to substance abuse prevention.
But what Farley mainly recalls from that time, despite the good work being done by the foundation, is that the persona he was putting out was inauthentic. He explained how he felt a strong desire to control everything around him at all times and hide his true identity in fear of what others would think.
“The attention that was coming from Chris wasn’t enough and didn’t feel right, until I got into recovery myself, telling my own story and getting this natural, authentic connection,” Farley said. “I was being a person that I thought people wanted me to be.”
Once he started on his own recovery journey, Farley learned values like rigorous honesty, gratitude and humility that resonated deeply with him. He began to feel comfortable as his authentic self and got past the fear of people disliking him.
But for Farley, the goal of recovery was not just becoming sober, but also becoming human.
"I'm just honest with myself," Farley said. "That's a whole different way of living."
Family history and Wisconsin drinking culture
Before Farley became his authentic self, he and Chris
were just two brothers growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. Tom said their father, who died less than two years after Chris did, raised them with a deep love for Wisconsin's natural beauty and work ethic.
But there are other cultural aspects of living in the Badger State that can come at a cost. One, being excessive drinking culture.
A joint study by the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 63.1% of Wisconsinites consumed alcohol monthly in comparison to the 52.2% national average.
Additionally, the study found that 20.3% of Wisconsin residents 18 years and older engaged in monthly binge drinking, higher than the 16.9% national average. For men, binge drinking constitutes consuming five or more standard drinks within a few hours, and for women, four or more
standard drinks within a few hours.
“Wisconsin will always be Wisconsin,” Farley said. “But this disease took two people and changed us. I think that’s gonna take a little longer for it to [go away] in the state, but it’s been happening and will continue until we say, ‘No, there’s too much risk. This state is just too important to us.’”
After experiencing Chris' death due to substance use, Tom explained how it is hard for him to see his brother's legacy being remembered and passed on at Wisconsin colleges through excessive drinking and Farley-themed parties, which he considers misrepresentative of who his brother was.
“If Marquette is going to have this love of Chris and his legacy, then I would love to have it filtered through the recovery group,” Farley said. “I think that’s using Chris’ name and his love of Marquette in the best way.”
Talking freely about recovery
Even when the two Farley brothers appeared to be at their happiest and most popular, Tom explained that they were hiding immense pain in the form of comedy. He felt like the people around him and Chris never truly saw them for who they were as caring, regular people.
“We could be in the center of a bar or a room, surrounded by people as the center of attention, making everyone laugh, and yet still feel like we’re standing on the surface of the moon,” Farley said. In the years following his brother's tragic death, Farley mentioned how healing it was for him to open up about addiction, and how it made him feel less alone.
Read the rest of Tom's interview and learn more about the event on MarquetteWire.org.
Marquette graduate student's visa terminated
By Sophia Tiedge sophia.tiedge@marquette.edu
One graduate student from Marquette University had their visa terminated by the Trump administration as of April 11.
The termination is in the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program database, meaning the individual must leave the country or take legal measures to stay.
“The exact reason for the termination is not clear,” a statement in Marquette Today said. “ The Office of International Education is monitoring the situation and is in regular communication with the international student.”
The individual’s name has not been made public, but Ralph Weber, vice president and general council
at Marquette, and Karlin Webster, director for the Office of International Education, addressed the termination at the University Academic Senate meeting Monday.
“There still is just the one student affected by the SEVIS termination from what has been reported as of this morning, but we are monitoring it regularly and have a procedure in place for notifying students if they are effected,” Webster said.
Marquette said OIE is contacting Marquette Students who are on F-1 and J-1 Visas to give them updates.
Marquette’s policy on outside law enforcement stays the same as Marquette directs non-MUPD officials to MUPD to verify legitimacy to their request.
The Department of
Homeland Security has revoked a policy that considers schools, hospitals and churches to be “sensitive locations” where immigration enforcement actions could not be taken, including college campuses.
“We are in constant communication with the provost office and international education. We are constantly in touch with managing the issue,” Weber said.
There were 13 Visa terminations at UW-Milwaukee, including both students and alumni, and 15 terminations for current students at UW-Madison.
Nationally, more than 600 visas have been revoked from students and recent graduates from over 100 universities around the country.
Photo courtesy of Tom Farley
Chris Farley with his family at his Marquette graduation.
Marquette Wire Stock Photo
The student has not been identified by administration, but they are keeping international students updated on protocols.
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MUSG: Getting students involved
Continued from page 1
plus in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic as student organizations slowed down their activity on campus.
Browne and Brzezinski emphasized the importance of organizations being aware of the SOF considering continuing university budget cuts.
“We know that with Marquette’s Securing Our Future Plan that finances for student [organizations are] going to become increasingly more difficult to access,” Browne said. “As a student body government, we are here for these students, and one of our big One graduate student from Marquette University had their visa terminated by the Trump administration as of April 11.
The termination is in the government's Student and Exchange Visitor Program database, meaning the individual must leave the country or take legal measures to stay.
"The exact reason for the termination is not clear," a statement in Marquette Today said. " The Office of International Education is monitoring the situation and is in regular communication with the international student."
The individual's name has not been made public, but Ralph Weber, vice presi-
dent and general council at Marquette, and Karlin Webster, director for the Office of International Education, addressed the termination at the University Academic Senate meeting Monday.
"There still is just the one student affected by the SEVIS termination from what has been reported as of this morning, but we are monitoring it regularly and have a procedure in place for notifying students if they are effected," Webster said.
Marquette said OIE is contacting Marquette Students who are on F-1 and J-1 Visas to give them updates.
Marquette's policy on outside law enforcement stays the same as Marquette directs non-MUPD officials to MUPD to verify legitimacy to their request.
"We are in constant communication with the provost office and international education. We are constantly in touch with managing the issue," Weber said.
There were 13 Visa terminations at UW-Milwaukee, including both students and alumni, and 15 terminations for current students at UW-Madison. Nationally, more than 600 visas have been revoked from students and recent graduates from over 100 universities around the country.
The Marquette Wire will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
MU faculty voice concerns at forum
By Sahil Gupta sahil.gupta@marquette.edu
"There is no question that free speech is something that we value"
President Donald Trump.
This came after severalinternational students at universities across the nation had their visas revoked by the administration after protesting in support of Palestine.
Ah Yun emphasized the importance of protecting Marquette’s students right to free speech.
Kimo Ah Yun University
President
Dozens of Marquette faculty attended the Spring 2025 Faculty Forum in the Alumni Memorial Union Tuesday, where concerns for international students on college campuses nationwide were top of mind.
Faculty expressed a variety of concerns to Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun, along with Acting Provost Sarah Feldner and Executive Vice President Joel Pogodzinski in a panel-style event.
Free speech on campus Student free speech was one of several political issues brought up at the forum. Faculty expressed concerns about students being targeted for speaking out against the actions of
“There is no question that free speech is something that we value,” Ah Yun said.
“Fortunately, I have, to date, not heard of any impacts on Marquette students or faculty.”
International students and faculty
Concerns were also raised about international students and faculty traveling outside of the United States. Feldner emphasized the work that the Office of International Education is doing to keep in touch with all international students and those studying abroad.
“There are regular communications and updates going out to those students, letting them know what is the current situation, what alerts are in place and making sure they understand their rights,” Feldner said.
Some faculty also ex-
pressed concerns about their Marquette colleagues from around the globe.
Phillip Rocco, professor of political science, said he is worried about losing people who he believes are assets to the university.
“We have colleagues across this campus who here on a [work] visa or are green card holders, and they are being told by their country of origin that if they leave to go see their family, might not get back into the United States,” Rocco said.
Rocco added that he and his colleagues are concerned about the lack of information about how the university intends to support those faculty.
Support from the university Ah Yun conceded that the university may not be able to support every foreign faculty and staff member who is affected by the fallout from recent executive orders from the Trump administration. He said the university will continue to monitor the situations and advise foreign faculty and staff on the best way to proceed.
“We would obviously look at the situation, we would understand through our general counsel about the best opportunities to be able to help anyone who ends up in the situation,” Ah Yun said.
Photo by Amelia Halverson amelia.halverson@marquette.edu
Remembering MU alum Julie Marie Welch
By Ellie Golko elizabeth.golko@marquette.edu
Julie Marie Welch graduated from Marquette University in 1994. On the morning of April 19, 1995, she went to work but would not return home.
Timothy McVeigh felt that the federal government was an enemy, which motivated him to place a bomb inside a car parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The bomb exploded shortly after 9 a.m., killing 168 people and becoming one of the deadliest homegrown terrorist attacks in American history.
“When she graduated from Marquette, the kid was fluent in five languages,”
Bud Welch, Julie’s father, said. “She got a job then as a Spanish translator at the Social Security Administration here in Oklahoma City after she graduated from Marquette. And she worked there only eight months until she was killed. She was 23 years old.”
Welch was at home when the bombing happened. He lives relatively close to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and said he heard it and felt the house shake before he knew what happened. He got a call from his brother who was driving on the freeway telling him to turn on the news because there was black smoke coming from downtown.
“I could see that the building that was hit was the Murrah Building. It was a nine-story building, and the whole north face of the building was totally gone," Welch said. "Julie's office was on the first floor and I saw nothing but a pile of rubble where her office was."
Keeping Julie's legacy alive
Welch said that in the 30 years since the attack the pain has lessened, especially because he travels and spreads messages that his daughter was passionate about.
“Julie's big political thing that she pushed for hard in high school and also in college was she was very anti-death penalty,” Welch said. “I made up my mind about eight or ten months after her death that what I was going to do is start fighting the cause of the death penalty and just take up the thing that she really believed in."
McVeigh, the man who placed the bomb, was executed on June 10, 2001, but that wasn’t the outcome Welch had hoped for. He said he thinks the death penalty is vengeful and this wouldn’t help his healing process, though his opinion was considered controversial.
“I had people that would call me from, literally, from all over the world, wanting me to speak to their groups because here they had this father of this young girl that had been killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, and I did not want Tim McVeigh to be convicted and executed,” Welch said. Welch's travels have been international.
“I went to Taiwan, twice, went to Japan about five times, went to Korea four times and went to Mongolia one time, spent two weeks there. I went to Moscow two times, and other countries in Europe, Italy, Ukraine, many, many times," Welch said. "I traveled somewhere between five and seven million miles telling Julie’s story. And I remember in 2000 to 2001, I was gone 246 out of 365 days."
Julie's achievements and passions Welch said Julie’s motivation for studying Spanish started long before she got to college.
“She had met a Mexican girl at the beginning of her eighth grade year who had come as a foreign exchange student to learn English. Julie became her best friend about within about the first week of school, and she was surprised how some of the other children her age were rude to the Mexican girl because she couldn't speak English very well at all," Welch said. "So Julie took to her side, and they were kinda glued to one another the whole eighth grade year."
Welch said Julie took French and Spanish in high school. She also participated in Youth for Understanding, a foreign exchange program where she lived with a host family in Pontevedra, Spain.
Julie's language achievements in high school earned her a foreign language scholarship to Marquette. The scholarship covered roughly a quarter of her college expenses, which included studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, the second semester of her sophomore year.
“The year that she studied in Spain, she studied four languages,” Welch said. “Once she learned Spanish, it helped her so much more in the other languages, French, and Italian and Gallego.”
Welch said he still remembers dropping Julie off at Marquette for the first time where she lived in McCormick Hall, otherwise known as “the beer can.”
“In August of 1990 about 2,000 incoming freshmen [were moving in] that morning, and people were lined up trying to get things
for their kids unloaded out of the vehicles,” Welch said.
As Welch and his daughter unpacked his truck, he recalled that she had this teddy bear she slept with every night called “Dan bear,” which she brought to school with her and hid in a towel when she was carrying her items upstairs to her new dorm. She didn't want her peers to see she still slept with a teddy bear.
“When Julie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, we put Dan bear in Julie's casket. That's where Dan bear is today,” Welch said.
Memorials for victims
The Oklahoma City Memorial Museum has a series of events and displays to honor the victims of this attack on its 30th anniversary.
A number of members of the Oklahoma City community were affected by this attack, so the museum is
doing its best to give them a space to grieve and remember their loved ones.
In the 168 days leading up to April 19, they are taking a day to remember each of the victims individually in alphabetical order by last name. Julie Welch’s day was April 8.
The Oklahoma City Memorial Museum’s layout is made up of indoor and outdoor experiences. Outdoors, there is a section dedicated to the victims of the attack called the Field of Empty Chairs, where one chair representing every victim is placed in front of the Reflection Pool in rows representing the story of the building they were on. 30 years later, the effects of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building are still felt by some nationally. Those whose lives were lost are not forgotten.
Students reflect on their Lent and Holy Week
By Ellie Golko elizabeth.golko@marquette.edu
Holy Week is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, or the last week of Lent.
Marquette’s Campus Ministry hosts Ignite on Wednesdays, where students are invited to a dinner and an opportunity to learn about the Catholic faith from speakers and community engagement. These dinners are open to people of any faith. In addition to Ignite, Campus Ministry has a variety of events and groups for students to connect to their faith.
On April 9, the Ignite theme was “Leaning into Holy Week,” where students were invited to reflect on their experience throughout Lent and how to finish
strong. Lent is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter and is typically a time of reflection and sacrifice. Since Holy Week is the final stretch of this season, those at Marquette who participate in it may need support to finish strong or share their journey.
Stephen Blaha, director of Campus Ministry, was the speaker at this week’s Ignite and he spoke about the different days of Holy Week and what Catholic Mass celebrations go along with them.
Blaha said that on Palm Sunday Catholic Masses have a processional and pass out palm leaves. On Holy Thursday, there will sometimes be washing of the feet at Mass. On Good
Friday, there is no consecration of the Eucharist and at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, there is often an outdoor fire at the church and new Catholics are initiated into the church.
At a university level, Marquette interviews students, faculty and staff on their Lenten experiences. The university has been publishing a daily series called “Lenten Reflections,” where real people share their stories and offer advice based on different Bible verses.
On April 2, Sarah Feldner, acting provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, was featured in a Lenten reflection on John 5:30.
"As I reflect on this in a time of Lent, it is a good,
gentle yet tough reminder that it's not always about me and what I want to do," Feldner said.
During Lent, a number of Marquette students gave something up as a sacrifice, or tried to form new habits that connected them deeper to their faith.
"I've been looking closer into what's most important to me in my life. Some things I have found not so important include caffeine and hanging out with people at unnecessary times," Ayanna Singh, a first-year student in the College of Communication, said. Some Christians chose to pray more, and Marquette offers Sacred Spaces for individuals of any faith to have a place to go and practice prayer or meditation.
Another Lenten practice is abstaining from meat on Fridays. Marquette Dining offered meatless options at all of their locations during Lent so students who practice giving up meat, regardless of the season, are accommodated.
As Easter Sunday approaches, some students may reflect on the impact of Lent this year if they engage in certain practices. Regardless of religious affiliation, the Marquette community can soon enjoy their Easter break.
Photo by Shannyn Donahue
Julie Welch graduated from Marquette with a degree in Spanish.
Photo courtesy of the OKC National Memorial & Museum
Stoking the fire during a tough year
MTEN roster consists of only firstyears and juniors
By Mikey Severson michael.severson@marquette.edu
Beyond the wins and losses of an up-anddown season, Marquette men's tennis is focusing on growth.
Additionally, due to previous budget cuts with the program phasing out scholarships, the team has changed its approach, recruiting within North America instead of internationally.
Out of the program’s six player first-year class, five are from the United States, while Remi St. Laurent hails from north of the border in Montreal, Canada.
Three senior players from the 2023-24 team — Jan Jauch (Switzerland), Tin Krstulovic (Slovenia), and Jasper Schaadt (Germany) — were European natives, but that senior class as a whole, helped lay a foundation for this year's continually developing youthful roster, according to junior Puerto Rican native Ivan Vazquez. who is from Puerto Rico.
"Last year, it was my first year, I came in as a sophomore but technically my first year on the team, and a bunch of older guys, all seniors, very mature," Vazquez said. "They knew
how to get things over, they've been through it, and the other factor is that (Jauch, Krstulovic and Schaadt) were internationals, and then Nathan Balthazor, he's from here, but a lot of guidance.
"Coming in from last year compared to this, it's a big, big difference. You can just tell about this group of guys, really good group, but still young, fresh, and lots to learn."
Director of men's and women's tennis programs Jud Shaufler likened adjusting to the speed, stamina and mental fortitude of Division I college tennis to keeping a wood-burning fireplace going in one's living room.
"Recently, what we've talked about is that competitive fire within you, that you have to know how to regulate it for a long period of time," Schaufler said. "It's no different than burning a fire in your fireplace, if it starts to go out, you've got to know how to stoke it and add wood; or do whatever you have to do to get the fire burning hot again."
"That's part of stamina is to be able to do things for a long period of time, and we're not there yet. I think they're starting to understand it, I think they're pretty motivated to get there, but it's going to take some time."
First-year Kristian Blagoev was born and raised a
stone's throw away, down Interstate 94 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a family connection to Marquette tennis helped him gain an interest in the sport itself.
"The reason why I got into tennis was because my dad's best friend, his son actually played for Marquette ten years ago," Blagoev said. "He was a part of the team (around 2014, 2015), and so since I was in elementary school, I went to watch him when we had the old courts. I knew Coach (Shaufler) and the past coach (Steve Rodecap), and I was always a Marquette fan.”
"It's a college I knew since I was a kid, so playing for that, I feel like it's different than playing for a school you've never heard of, and it's a sense of pride. Since I was a kid, I was watching, and now as a college player, I'm playing and representing."
Starting at the No. 6 singles position in the season opener at Western Michigan, Blagoev climbed the ladder to the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the singles lineup and has illustrated a theme of continuous growth throughout his first season in Milwaukee.
His highest appearance has been at the No. 2 singles spot against North Dakota Feb. 22 in a tight match (4-6, 5-7), against Leandro Zgraggen of the Fighting Hawks, who would later be named the
MLAX stumbles
Richard's squad suffers 12-goal loss
By Raquel Ruiz raquel.ruiz@marquette.edu
Marquette men's lacrosse (6-5, 1-2 Big East) struggled to maintain its stamina on Saturday, falling 14-2 to Providence (57, 1-2 Big East). The loss marks just the second time in program history that the Golden Eagles have been held to two goals or fewer in a game. The first came earlier this season in MU's 14-1 loss at Michigan.
Establishing control within the first few minutes, the Friars would not let up, overwhelming Marquette from the start.
Summit League's Peak Performer of the Month. Blagoev reiterated his focus on continued growth from advancing in the Golden Eagles' lineup as a firstyear athlete.
"I feel like I'm playing some of my best tennis yet, and I'm making every single match close or within reach," Blagoev said. "It's just that some of the guys that I've been playing are super good. I've never been at this level of tennis before, it's just a great experience, I've had so many matches that I've been right there, and I feel like getting that experience has been huge."
With the unique dynamic of only having first-years and juniors on the squad this season, Vazquez said it's been a productive learning process for the entire team.
"It's a lot of learning from both sides, because as upperclassmen, we learn a lot," Vasquez said. "Basically, last year, we were in the first-years' shoes, it's like a whole new jump. So, it's been a process, there's been rough times, really good times, but as a team we always go through it, and I wouldn't change it."
"We learn from our mistakes, and that's been a really big thing, at some point failure will occur, but eventually, everything's for the best and the greater good."
Senior midfielder attacker Ryan Bell had started it off for Providence just under three minutes into game play. Marquette tried to respond to the goal with four consecutive shots but was unable to come away with anything. Throughout the remainder of the first quarter, everything was black and white as the Golden Eagles fell behind 4-0. Junior attacker Richie Joseph sealed the deal for Providence in the first quarter and continued to lead the team, finishing with five goals.
Senior attacker Nolan Rappis attempted to ignite a spark for Marquette in the second quarter, but the trend continued with Providence responding even louder and more aggressively.
Junior goalie Lucas Lawas recorded 16 saves, while the Friars had four.
Pressure from all angles of the field put the Golden Eagles in a difficult scoring position, and it wasn't until 8:36 in the fourth quarter that senior attacker Bobby O'Grady posted the second and final goal for Marquette, marking his 24th of the season.
The Friars outperformed the Golden Eagles in nearly every aspect of the stat sheet. For a team that averaged 42.6 shots per game before Saturday, the Golden Eagles only managed 20 against Providence's 53.
Dominating the possession battle, the Friars secured 39 ground balls compared to Marquette’s 20, successfully converting 2-of-5 extra man opportunities, while Marquette failed to capitalize on both of its opportunities.
Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics
Junior Ivan Vazquez hails from Puerto Rico and is one of only two international players on the roster this season .
SPORTS
COLUMN THIS WEEK: PEACOCK ON College Sports
College athletics have been increasingly toeing the line between amateur and professional programming in recent years. With the rise of NIL and increased commodification of student athletes, the line is only getting thinner.
As the landscape of collegiate sports evolves, industry focus has seemingly shifted towards generating revenue rather than maintaining an image of amateurism, mirroring the larger narratives that make sports and athletes so marketable.
The emergence of NIL, which allows student athletes to profit off their personal brand, has made it so more collegiate programs operate with dynamics similar to those seen in professional leagues.
As policies continue to shift, new conversations about athlete compensation are taking place. House vs NCAA is a current legal settlement looking at the possibility of allowing universities to directly pay their student athletes. The case is also discussing roster limits and the existence of a third party tasked with the management of marketing deals for athletes and programs.
Broadcast deals, combined with ticket sales, merchandise and donations have provided athletic programs around the country with millions of dollars, a reason that backs the decision to potentially give athletes a cut. This crosses the line into professionalism, straying away from the amateur model that has defined college sports as what they are today.
Commodification of college athletes is also rising consistently, with more big-name brands such as Nike and Gatorade providing brand deals to student athletes. NIL has provided some college athletes with upwards of $1 million in brand deals; Arch Manning, a quarterback at Texas, has an estimated NIL valuation of $6.5 million as a first-year, making him the highest paid college athlete. This practice has greatly changed sentiments surrounding college sports culture, essentially warping student-athletes into mini celebrities, ele -
vating their fame and painting them in a similar light as professional athletes. They’re no longer recognized just for their skill, but for their personal brand and narratives.
The transfer portal has redesigned the dynamic of college sports as well, with athletes seeking out opportunities for better NIL deals and leaving programs with gaps to fill. Alongside athletes who enter the portal for more media exposure and branding, university athletic programs are allegedly promising lucrative NIL deals to athletes in the portal, making it more appealing to commit.
The transfer portal has become a student athlete's version of free agency.
Athletes are no longer only seeking a transfer for more playing opportunities or a chance at a trophy, but more access to revenue and compensation for their abilities. Professional sports have an incredibly transactional nature, one that puts business over anything else. Allowing college sports to adopt similar practices will push them completely away from their amateur status.
The drive away from amateurism was probably inevitable once NIL became a thing. However, a report from Forbes claims that this shift has done nothing to drive fans away from college sports. If anything, it’s grown college athletes’ platforms and allowed them to develop notoriety before entering the league.
The continued evolution of college sports is leaving behind the narrative of amateurism and adopting a new model that follows business practices found in professional leagues. This raises the question of how far universities, especially those in the power five, will allow their programs to go before functioning like a pro franchise.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kolek returns home
The rookie guard posts five points and five assists
By Matthew Baltz matthew.baltz@marquette.edu
There was an unusually loud roar from the Fiserv Forum crowd when No. 13 scored his first points of the night two weeks ago during the Knicks at Bucks game in Milwaukee.
And no, it wasn't Ryan Rollins in the black and white No. 13 from the home team that caused the noise, it was somebody else. Somebody who has quite the history in the home arena of the Bucks.
That somebody was former Marquette All-American Tyler Kolek.
The kid from Cumberland, Rhode Island made his return to Fiserv Forum in New York's 116-107 win over Milwaukee on March 28. Kolek finished with five points and five assists in 17 minutes of action.
"It felt good," Kolek said after the game about being back at Fiserv Forum for the first time. "We walked in earlier for shoot around, I just looked up at the championship banner, all the numbers we got retired, it's pretty special.
"Got a lot of wins in this building, so to come back and get another one is pretty fun."
It was a homecoming over a year in the making for Kolek, who had not played in a game at Fiserv Forum since Feb. 28, 2024, when he
left Marquette's 91-69 win over Providence early with an oblique injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season and Big East Tournament.
Kolek captured the hearts of many MU fans with plenty of memorable moments — like when he scored his and-one basket to seal the deal in 2021 against thenNo. 10 Illinois, or his infamous "F*** 'em" quote at Big East media day in 2022, just to name a few.
And now, the Marquette star has just finished his first full regular season in the NBA after being selected 34th overall last summer by the Portland Trail Blazers and then traded on draft night to the Knicks.
Injuries and an increasingly better play lead to more opportunities late in the year
After averaging 9.6 rebounds and seven assists across five strong games at the Summer League in Las Vegas last summer, Kolek did enough to make the Knicks' opening night roster when the season started. The rookie guard scored his first points in NY's first game against the Boston Celtics Oct. 22 with a 3-pointer late in the game.
Kolek didn't see much time at the beginning of the season, but injuries to other members of the Knicks' backcourt in late March opened the door for the 6-foot-3 guard to see some extended minutes on the floor.
"There’s things he does ex-
tremely well," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Other things that he learns each game. So, the more he does it, the better he’s going to get.”
Kolek made the most of his opportunities, averaging three points per contest, 5.7 assists and just 1.1 turnovers in 17 minutes over his last eight games of the season. That included a stretch from March 22 to March 28 where his assist-to-turnover ratio was 29-1 across 73 minutes of play.
"I feel good just going out there running the team, getting us organized," Kolek said. "I think that's the biggest thing. If I'm out there just running to the corner or not calling plays and we look stagnant, that's on me, because I'm a point guard and I've got to command the team while I'm out there."
Kolek has had quite a group of guys to learn from this season, including former All-NBA players like Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and all-defensive caliber players like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
"Last year in college, I was the veteran who the guys looked to with how things were done in our whole program," Kolek said. "But now it's completely different. I was buried on the bench, three injuries, four injuries happened and now, I'm out there playing every single night.
Lilly Peacock is a sports columnist. She can be reached at lilly.peacock@ marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @LillyPeacockMU.
"All these guys get me prepared for, staying ready, because they always tell me, 'You never know when your moments come,' and it's true. 70 games in and just like that, it happens."
How Kolek's time at MU helped prepare him for the pro game
Among those present for Kolek's return to Fiserv Forum was his former head coach Shaka Smart, front and center. Kolek was one of the first (and only) transfers that Smart has brought in during his coaching career at Marquette, and it's safe to say the move worked out pretty well for everybody.
After senior guard Kam Jones was announced as a consensus All-American back in the middle of March, Smart made it a point to mention that Jones was his second All-American guard in a row, giving proper shine to Kolek — who earned such honors twice.
"Did we know Tyler was going to be as good as he ended up being? I had a sense he was going to be really good, you know playing for the New York Knicks, ah," Smart said with a grin. But it did happen. 75
Tyler Kolek just finished his first regular season with the Knicks.
Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics
TRACK & FIELD
Putting his faith first
Nathan Hirsch's religion is his guiding force
By Brian Wilson b.c.wilson@marquette.edu
Senior track & field athlete and Brookfield, Wisconsin native Nathan Hirsch's faith has guided him through his entire life.
He said he grew up with the Christian faith, and his parents were missionaries at one point and raised him in the faith. It was not till high school that he realized there is a lot of truth in this and that this is the truth.
"It was not until college, though, that I grew the most in my faith," Hirsch said. "I read the bible by myself from front to back, and God revealed so much to me and my understanding. This is the priority of my life from here on out."
"First and foremost, it is not about me," Hirsch said. "Just like many things in life, everything is for a bigger picture, everything is for Christ. I am just a tool in the shed, and I am just a vessel. I am being used for something that is greater than myself, which made me realize the importance of servitude."
Track & field is an individual sport, but it has a team aspect to it.
"What people do not see is the hours upon hours that we put in as a team," Hirsch said. "Some workouts are grueling and push us to our limits. In those moments, that is where the idea of team and selflessness comes into play. There is a bigger purpose than myself, which translates perfectly to athletics.
"I can not predict the fu-
ture, and I can not know if I will win or lose. I can put myself in the best position to get the result I want. It is up to God, and I will do everything in my power to get the time I want, but it is all up to the grace of God.
Surrendering the results to God has enabled me to be better, and I am not worrying so much about what the result is going to be.
"All I know is that if I give my best effort to what God allows me to do, that will be good enough." Hirsch said. Hirsch talked about a couple of bible verses that help with his mentality towards track and life. One of his favorites is from John 16:33 when Jesus is talking to his apostles during the Last Supper. It reads this:
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
"It has two guarantees: there will be hardships in life, and the other guarantee is that Jesus has overcome it," Hirsch said about the verse.
During his first year at Marquette, Hirsch said he struggled to adjust to collegiate track & field and not running as well as he did in high school. But he leaned on this verse to get him through.
"It just hit me in the face, running in college is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Hirsch said. "My freshman year was also the biggest year of spiritual growth for me. But, leaning on the Lord and recognizing that nothing that comes my way, he is there for me, and even if I do not do as good as I want to."
The other one is from 1 Timothy 4:8: "For, while
physical training is for some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
"Both are related to my faith and my athletic life," Hirsch said. "I put in training to run as best as I can, but I should also be putting in time and effort to walk in the path of righteousness. That is ultimately going to be more valuable than anything.
"I can find that assurance in any tough area of my life. There are always highs and lows, and if I have a low in running, I can lean on the training I have with Godliness. I have the perspective that it is just one race."
Hirsch ran his final home meet on Friday at the Marquette Invitational, finishing in first place in the 1500 meter with a time of 4:02:64 and earning 10th in the 800 meter with a time of 2:03:54. These are very different results, which speaks exactly to what Hirsch was talking about with perspective towards just one race. Just because you win your first race does not mean you will win your second.
"Surrendering the results, the ability I have is a God given talent," Hirsch said. "I am using it to the best of my ability to glorify God, but ultimately, what it looks like is up to him. Being ok if some race does not go as planned, but be joyful if the race does go well.
"Take the lows as a learning experience and the highs as a blessing, and accept them with grace, but you also have to shrug off the highs because the next day, there will be more work to be done. Being ok with the result God gives you."
Senior Day dub
WLAX clinches
their ninth victory
By Max Mullin maxwell.mullin@marquette.edu
Senior attacker Meg Bireley scored her fourth goal of the day, which ended up being the decider, to give Marquette a 16-13 lead with 5:38 to go. Marquette (9-5, 3-2 Big East) took care of UConn (9-5, 2-2 Big East) 16-15 in the final game of Bireley’s and six other seniors’ careers at Valley Fields.
Marquette holds on
The Golden Eagles came out of the gates firing. They dominated the first period in every aspect of the game, outscoring the Huskies 6-1, outshooting them 13-3, grabbing eight ground balls and forcing six turnovers.
“We needed that week off to prepare,” MU head coach Meredith Black said. “We knew we were ready to set the tone.”
After a back-and-forth last 10 minutes of the second quarter, Marquette took an 11-7 lead into halftime.
The defense dominated in the third period. UConn inched closer to the Golden Eagles, winning the quarter 3-2.
In the final period, UConn cut the deficit to one twice. Both times, senior midfielder Hanna Bodner had the answer. She scored a pair of goals with 12 and 10 minutes remaining to give Marquette a two-goal edge. Bireley made it 1613 with 5:38 to go. Again, the Huskies cut it to one with 2:17 remaining.
After the UConn goal, sophomore midfielder Lauren Grady won a draw with 1:47 remaining. Then, another sophomore midfielder, Sara Beth Burns, who had a career-high four goals Saturday, fired at the end of the shot clock. UConn goalkeeper Sofia Oximana made a terrific save, but
Grady grabbed the loose ball rebound. Marquette was able to withstand the Huskie pressure and run out the clock.
“UConn has come back from being down five or six goals all season, so we knew an 8-2 lead was nothing,” Black said. “We kept saying it was 0-0 to keep our team at a place where if they start coming back, which they did, we didn’t get worried. We just kept playing th+e way we were playing.”
Seniors' lasting impact Bireley scored another four goals against UConn. In her storied career at Marquette, she eclipsed the 250-point mark with over 200 goals and 50 assists. She has the all-time points and goals scored record at Marquette.
Bodner was the star of the day. She scored five goals on seven shots, grabbed three draw controls and forced two turnovers. Bodner made a massive jump in her senior season, scoring 42 goals.
“Senior day this morning was awesome,” Bodner said. “We went into this game knowing we had to win it and celebrate it. We are all just so excited and happy.”
Other seniors also played a huge role in the win. Senior midfielder Lorelai VanGuilder won eight draw controls. Senior defender Lily Dietrich grabbed a ground ball and caused a turnover. Senior goalie Bryanna Nixon made four saves. Senior attacker Campbell Brown and defender Molly Powers contributed to Marquette’s success.
“I talked to this group of seniors last summer, and I told them it was their time,” Black said. “They took that and have been amazing. Their leadership has been amazing, and what they are putting on the field has been amazing as well.”
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics
Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics Players celebrate after their final home game of the season.
HOME: Preparing for opportunities to
Continued from page 6
wins, thousands of points and hundreds of assists later, Kolek was on his way to the NBA, but none of it would've been possible without Smart and Marquette. However, the NBA is a different ballgame than college, and Kolek went from being one of the best players on the court every single night, to a rookie that is just trying to carve out any type of role he can on a playoff team with a roster full of stars.
"You just have a lot of great players around you up here," Kolek said. "Obviously, I had Oso (Ighodaro), Kam, and Stevie (Mitchell and (David) Joplin, but now I've got Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, all these guys around you who are great players. You've got to look to get them going
because that's what gets the team going, whereas maybe, if I'm in college, I gotta get going to get the team going."
Another Marquette connection that is currently in the NBA is MU basketball alum and Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers. Rivers, who has remained close to the program over the years and has gotten an even closer look since becoming Milwaukee's head coach last season, said that he wasn't surprised one bit to see his fellow Golden Eagle succeeding at the highest level.
"He’s just one of those guys that’s just going to keep beating the odds," Rivers said. "Keep playing. Ten years from now, he’ll still be in the league. It’s just who he is."
And of course, after
the win over the Bucks, Kolek had to poke some fun at the hometown Milwaukee crowd, saying that Marquette has them beat for now.
"I said to Coach [Smart] right before the game started, 'It looks like a bye game in here.' The crowd wasn't packed like our normal games."
The Knicks finished the regular season with a 5131 record, good enough to earn the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They will take on the Detroit Pistons in a best-of-seven series that is set to begin Saturday in New York.
With Brunson, Miles McBride and Cameron Payne all being back from injury now, the chances of Kolek seeing meaningful minutes in the playoffs are low.
TRACK & FIELD
However, the late-season minutes that he was able to garner could mutually benefit himself and the Knicks if a situation arises in the playoffs where his number is called.
"Yeah, absolutely," Kolek said in response to being asked if his experience could help come play-
off time. "Just getting that real game experience, I was in there the last five minutes of the fourth quarter (against the Bucks), that's pressure time and it was able to give me game reps of that live on the defensive end and offensive end."
Marquette honors 18 seniors at MU Invite
The MKE community comes to support track & field
By Brian Wilson b.c.wilson@marquette.edu
Friday was a special day for Marquette track & field, as it hosted the Marquette Invitational. The event included Milwaukee, Wisconsin Lutheran, Bryant & Stratton and Marian.
The only home meet of the season for the Marquette Golden Eagles resulted in a cross-town battle with the local Milwaukee schools at the Melvin "Bus" Shimek Track & Field Facility.
"The Marquette Invitational is a good way for friends, family, and the Marquette Community to come out and support us."
senior jumper Annika Bynum said. "It is also good to show them what we do and to perform in front of our
friends and family."
Senior hurdler Julia Beck, who is from Pewaukee, Wisconsin — a mere 20 minutes from Marquette — said that being able to have an event at home allows everyone a rare opportunity to come together. "It is all about community," Beck said. "I love having the whole team here to support, even the ones who are hurt and cannot travel with us."
All sports deal with injuries, and the Marquette Invitational provides a great opportunity for injured athletes to attend and support their teammates. Marquette is very community-based, especially in athletics. At the track & field meet, both communities showed up.
Various Marquette athletes showed support, like men's basketball players Stevie Mitchell and Ben
Gold, along with women's basketball player Lee Volker and the entire women's soccer team.
After the event concluded, Marquette honored the 18 seniors that will graduate this spring. Among those seniors was school-record holder Aaron Hughes. The senior sprinter won gold in 200m with a program record
"It means a lot, and everybody showing out, it makes me want to do the best for me and my teammates."
Aaron Hughes
Marquette track & field senior
sprinter
21.37 second race at the 2025 Big East Indoor Championships and was the first Golden Eagle to win two medals at conference indoors since 2016.
"It means a lot, and everybody showing out, it makes me want to do the best for me and my teammates," Hughes said. "It means a lot to have a home meet and have support, that is my biggest thing."
Bynum is another notable loss that the track & field program will suffer this spring. She competed in the high jump in the 2024 Outdoor NCAA West First Round and is a three-time medalist at the Big East Indoor Championships.
"This group of seniors have been great leaders throughout their whole careers, and honestly, it is going to be tough to replace them," director of track & field and cross country Bert Rogers said.
Athletes were cheering each other on throughout the meet, even throughout the cold and windy weather. Even though track & field is an individual sport, it has a team aspect to it, and that was on display Friday night.
Not only is a hometown meet beneficial for Marquette, but it was also great for the other schools participating in the meet on Friday. Each visiting school is within an hour drive or less from the meet.
"It is fun to get a home meet and nice to get our cross-town rivals together," Rogers said. "It is a good opportunity to pump up track & field in the city and raise awareness."
Marquette will now travel to Lawrence, Kansas, for the Kansas Relays. The meet is a three-day event starting Thursday, April 17 and going through Saturday, April 19.
Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics
Rookie guard Kolek was a two-time All-American at Marquette.
Opinions
Tragic earthquake in Myanmar
By Rachel Lopera rachel.lopera@marquette.edu
Myanmar’s tragic earthquake has caused devastations for the already struggling third-world country. The powerful 7.7 magnitude quake hit on March 28 and has induced major damages.
Multiple buildings collapsed and the death toll, currently over 3,000, continues to rise. Rescue workers try to find and save as many people as they can from the rubble, but the chances of finding survivors decrease after 72 hours. Many people died immediately on impact or due to a lack of oxygen, food and water.
A Chinese rescue team was able to save four people on April 1 after they were trapped inside a collapsed building for over 60 hours: three women, one of whom is pregnant, and a five-year-old child. Others were not so lucky.
Two hundred Buddhist monks died in a collapsed monastery, fifty children were killed by a crumbling preschool classroom and seven hundred Muslims were crushed by fallen mosques while worshipping.
The country has pleaded for international help, as they do not have the necessary resources or funding to provide disaster relief. One of the hospital entrances in Naypyidaw,
Myanmar’s capital, collapsed, forcing the staff to treat patients outside.
Neighboring countries have also suffered damages due to the aftershocks of the earthquake. A high-rise under construction in Bangkok, Thailand collapsed and killed at least six people. Neighboring Chinese provinces Yunnan and Sichuan have also suffered damages and injuries.
The U.S. has sent a team to Myanmar to assist with aid and recovery along with other countries, such as Russia and China. Aid is essential to a country like Myanmar where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line.
Additionally, the earthquake has contributed to the political turmoil in the country and worsened its humanitarian crisis. Since its independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar has experienced war and unrest. The country has been in civil war since 2021 after the army seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi, a politician and diplomat, and her elected government of the National League for Democracy.
The military jailed the leaders of the National League for Democracy party, but pro-democracy fighters and ethnic minority groups have been fighting back, seeking autonomy. The resistance has formed the National Unity
Government with an additional branch called the People’s Defense Force.
However, due to the severe impacts of the earthquake, the NUG announced a two-week pause in offensive military operations in earthquake-affected areas, which started March 30, with the group retaining the right to self-defense.
The ceasefire allows NUG to focus on working with the U.N. and international nongovernmental organizations “to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps.”
The physical, political and emotional damage
from the earthquake has greatly harmed Myanmar and requires international attention. These third-world countries do not have the resources to recover from major natural disasters, which results in further implications.
From an outside perspective, the Myanmar earthquake may only look like another environmental tragedy, but from the eyes of a victim, it is the determinant between life and death.
The corporate Thai tea epidemic
By Joseph Schamber joseph.schamber@marquette.edu
Thai tea, a delicious blend of Assam black tea, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk and Yellow #6 popular in Thai restaurants and boba shops, is one of my favorite drinks in the world, but the creamy, vibrant orange beverage is in danger.
Corporate chains, quick to capitalize on the growing popularity of the drink, have rolled out various Thai tea products of their own but fail to deliver a quality product. Now, consumers eager to try Thai tea for the first time at these restaurants do not get the proper, authentic experience and could be turned off from the drink forever.
When Shake Shack announced its Thai tea milkshake, I was excited to try it but upon the first sip I was immediately disappointed. It tasted fine, kind of like vanilla and caramel, but it barely tasted like tea at all. I also
expected a beautiful bright orange, instead of the muted peach color I was served.
Colectivo has its own Thai tea iteration that may just be more disappointing than Shake Shack’s. Its Thai tea is simply not Thai tea at all; it’s just a black tea latte with sweetened condensed milk. They use no yellow food dye and no vanilla, two ingredients that are crucial parts of Thai tea’s identity. Colectivo calling this $6 abomination a “Thai tea latte” is an insult to the beverage.
My outrage is not an overreaction, because the bastardization of Thai tea closely mirrors other tea products that have been ruined by corporate chains.
Chai has a place on café menus across the country at varying degrees of quality. For every decent cup you can find, there exists a watered down, under-spiced version called a “chai tea latte” that’s at best a poor drinking experience and at worst a potential microaggression.
Matcha has also been victimized by this corporate tea epidemic. Gritty, grassy and overly sweet green tea powder has been on Starbucks' menu since 2005. They revamped the product this year, now selling a barely passable beverage that took almost 20 years to perfect.
Matcha is also ubiquitous in Milwaukee, with almost every café in the city having a version of it on their menu. Unfortunately, most of them use Rishi’s sweetened matcha powder, a poorer quality, muddy green version of the delicious drink.
Rishi’s tea is certainly not bad, but for cafes to charge $7-$8 for an iced latte, I think we should demand higher quality.
This is exactly the case for Thai tea. I was excited to see chains selling Thai tea because it is a beautifully simple and delicious drink that I seriously doubted they could screw up, but this overpriced, inauthentic garbage is so far removed from
Editorial Board
Joey Schamber Executive Opinions Editor
Izzy Fonfara Drewel, Executive Director
Clara Lebrón, Print Production Manager
Trinity Zapotocky, Assistant Print Production Manager
Shannyn Donohue, General Manager of Marquette University Radio
Mia Thurow, Executive News Editor
Sophie Goldstein, Executive A&E Editor
Matt Baltz, Executive Sports Editor
Emma Fishback, Copy Chief
Online Exclusives
Find more Marquette Wire opinion columns online by going to www.marquettewire.org or scanning this QR code!
Statement of Opinion Policy
the beverage I love. Leave the Thai tea to the people who know what they are doing. Thai-namite on the East Side and Public Market has a wonderful Thai tea that exemplifies what makes the beverage so great. It is creamy, sweet, fragrant and best of all: bright orange.
Xankia, a Vietnamese restaurant in Westown, also serves a surprisingly good version of the beverage that is a little closer to Marquette.
SereniTea, Marquette’s on-campus boba shop is another spot that serves a far superior version than these corporate chains.
With plenty of better local options available, we can put a stop to the corporate tea epidemic before it claims this delicious drink.
Joseph Schamber is an opinions columnist. He is a sophomore studying journalism.
The opinions expressed on the Opinions page reflect the opinions of the Opinions staff. The editorials do not represent the opinions of Marquette University nor its administrators, but those of the editorial board.
The Marquette Tribune prints guest submissions at its discretion. The Tribune strives to give all sides of an issue an equal voice over the course of a reasonable time period. An author’s contribution will not be published more than once in a fourweek period. Submissions with obvious relevance to the Marquette community will be given priority consideration. Full Opinions submissions should be limited to 600 words. Letters to the editor should be between 150 to 300 words. The Tribune reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content. Please e-mail submissions to: joseph.schamber@ marquette.edu. If you are a current student, include the college in which you are enrolled and your year in school. If not, please note any affliations to Marquette or your current city of residence.
Photo by REUTERS/via SNO Sites/CHINA DAILY
Members of the Chinese Red Cross aid affected residents
Rachel Lopera is the assistant opinions editor. She is a first-year studying journalism.
Fun & Games
By Adriana Vazquez Herrero adriana.vazquezherrero@marquette.edu
CROSSWORD
Easter
Across
2. Over 2 billions of this Easter candy is made every year
5. Over 78% of people eat this part of the chocolate bunny first
8. Instead of Easter bunnies, Swedish kids dress up as _____
10. This brand is known for their chocolate creme eggs
11. This flower signifies the meaning of the Catholic holiday
Down
1. This color group is the most popular for Easter attire
3. Something you can eat for breakfast and hunt during Easter
4. Many families go out for _____ where they enjoy an Easter feast
6. The Easter Bunny legend began in this country
7. A certain animal that may come and leave baskets on Easter morning if you're lucky
9. In Australia, Easter takes place in this season _____
answers:
Submit finished puzzles to clara.lebron@marquette.edu by May 6. Most accurate crossword submissions wins the grand prize.
This is the final crossword of the year! Answers for this crossword will be in the final Tribune on April 29!
Last Tribune’s
1. (Down) Sofia, 2. (Across) Noon, 3. (Down) Hilaria, 4. (Across) Digital, 5. (Across) France, 6. (Down) Tacobell, 7. (Across) Calendar, 8. (Across) Huntigowk, 9. (Across) All, 10. (Down) Lions, 11. (Across) Goodluck.
Arts & Entertainment
Theatre concludes 'Truth Be Told' season
"Bright Star" marked the final performance
By Annie Goode annie.goode@marquette.edu
The final installment of Marquette Theatre’s 20242025 “Truth Be Told” season opened this weekend with the contemporary musical, “Bright Star.” The musical is written and created by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, and this production was directed by Karen M. Estrada.
After its original opening on Broadway in March 2016, “Bright Star,” was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and the Grammy for Best Musical Theater album. After seeing the Marquette production, it’s no surprise why this original is so beloved.
The musical begins with an adult Alice Murphy, played by Erin Fricker, a junior in the College of Communication,
singing the twangy “If You Knew My Story,” where she prepares the audience for the next 2.5 hours.
Fricker’s performance as Alice was nothing short of phenomenal. As soon as the first song began, I suspected I would enjoy the entire musical because of how astonishing her voice was. I was glad to have my suspicions confirmed throughout the show, and as the other cast members and ensemble joined in to sing, “If you knew my story / My heaven and my hell / If you knew my story / You’d have a good story to tell.”
Next, we meet young Billy Cane, played by junior in the College of Communications Nate Rodriguez, who has just returned home from war to find that his mother has passed away. He joins his father, Daddy Cane, played by sophomore in the College of Communication Draylin Pickett, in singing the touching, “She’s Gone.”
Alice returns to the stage to reflect on her youth in the entrancing, “Way Back in the Day.” At this point in the musical, we meet a second version of Alice – her 16-year-old self. This Alice is much less reserved and considers herself to be “life of the party,” which is a drastic switch from the introverted, intimidating 38-year-old Alice.
We learn of young Alice’s party-girl tendencies, her strict family (specifically seen in her father, played by sophomore in the College of Communication Grayson Buesing) and her budding romance with Jimmy Ray Dobbs, played by Michael Kratzer, who is also a sophomore in the College of Communication.
Kratzer and Fricker’s chemistry on stage felt like the perfect levels of natural and innocent for this musical’s tone. “If you said this was heaven / I would not disagree / What could be better / Than
holding you close to me like this?” the two sing in, “What Could Be Better?”
The switches in time were just one aspect of many that made “Bright Star” so engaging. While we see young Alice and Jimmy Ray learning from each other and growing up together, we see Billy doing some of the same growing up as he moves from his small town to the city of Asheville, North Carolina to pursue his dreams of writing.
Upon entering his stories in the Asheville Southern Journal, where Alice works, Billy meets Lucy (played by junior in the College of Communications Kynkade McLachlan) and Daryl (played by senior in the College of Communication and College of Arts & Sciences Will Reames), whose comedic timing was another highlight of the show for me.
Basically, every line out of these two made me laugh, and “Another Round,” which shows Lucy and Daryl show-
ing Billy the ways of a night out in the city, was one of my favorite songs in the show.
The plot of the whole show wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, though. Without giving away any spoilers, Alice and Jimmy Ray run into trouble when they’re romance butts up against their futures, or at least that’s what they’re parents think. Both Fricker and Kratzer play these darker moments masterfully, while still showing the innocence of the character’s youth.
“Bright Star” was the perfect end to the MU theater 2024-2025 year. Between the incredible performances, the musical theater-ified country songs and the gripping plot, this show is everything you could possibly need from a musical.
If you have yet to see a Marquette Theatre production this year, don’t miss performances on April 10, 11 and 12 at 7:30pm, and April 13 at 2:30pm.
What just happened in 'The White Lotus'
The season three finale premiered April 6
By Annie Goode annie.goode@marquette.edu
If you’ve been anywhere near the internet for the past eight weeks, it’s a safe assumption to say you’ve heard the theories, reactions and analysis of the third installment of the HBO Max comedy/drama, “The White Lotus.” Each season of the show welcomes characters (mostly new, but some returning) to the beautiful resort chain known as the White Lotus. Season three welcomed us to the lush, picturesque White Lotus in Thailand.
Creator Mike White is a master of character building that revolves around social dynamics we can’t always quite name. This season was certainly no exception.
There’s Rick (Walton Goggins), who we learn is in Thailand on a mission to avenge the murder of his father, and his young girlfriend Chelsea
(Aimee Lou Wood), merely there to spend a nice, relaxing vacation with her boyfriend.
Next, we have the Ratliffs, who are practically North Carolinian royalty, with parents Victoria (Parker Posey) and Timothy (Jason Isaacs).
Timothy has made it big in the business world through means we and the rest of the world find out to be illegal, causing him to spend the rest of his vacation spiraling and abusing his wife’s sleep medication. Oh, the lorazepam. Their kids include postgrad frat boy Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), attempted voice of reason Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and finally Lochlan (Sam Nivola), the seemingly innocent youngest child, caught between his siblings’ fight over who he should take after.
Childhood friends Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) are on a girl’s trip. These three take turns talking about each other behind the other’s back, or sometimes even right to their
faces, with snide jabs at the respective city they chose to live in, their failing (or already failed) marriages and even voting habits.
Fans recognized Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) from season one, where she was the spa manager at the White Lotus in Maui, and returned this season to learn about the company’s location in Thailand.
Each season also begins with the premise that by the end of the vacation, a murder will take place. Many of the theories around the show revolve around looking for clues about which character will face their demise by the end of the season.
So, who was the dead body we saw floating in the water in episode one?
Fans were shocked to find this season had not one, but three — almost four — unlucky victims. After Rick returns from Bangkok, where he went to kill his father’s killer but decides to back out, he changes his mind again. We watch Rick shoot Jim
(Scott Glenn) in a fit of fury in front of Jim’s wife, where she then proclaims, “He is your father!”
Completely shocked by this, Rick panics, making a run for it with Chelsea. After a shootout with hotel security in which Chelsea gets caught in the crossfire, Rick is shot down, carrying his love in his arms. Truly living out when Chelsea said, “If you go down, I go too.”
His death is at the hands of Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), the hotel security worker who has struggled with his manhood the entire season. He has now “won” that manhood, but at the cost of his gentleness and peaceful attitude — not to mention his Buddhist religion.
The Ratliff’s avoid death by the skin of their teeth two separate times. After seeing almost everyone in his family say they could never live poor, Timothy decides he cannot stand to see what awaits his family in terms of legal trouble when they arrive home. He makes them poisonous
piña coladas with the deadly fruit from outside their hotel suite, just to slap them out of his family’s hands, for what he says is on account of “bad coconut milk.”
*Que Victoria’s accent.*
The next morning, Lochlan uses the leftover piña colada in the blender for his morning protein shake. He throws up, and practically sees the light with his dad tearfully holding him in his arms, just to wake up completely fine? Still confused about that one. While the shootout was a bit much, and a few plotlines a little less resolved than I’d like them to be, this finale kept me hooked the whole time. Goggins’ performance was second to none, and I’m heartbroken to say goodbye to Chelsea — who is maybe this show’s only redeemable character. I dread the fact that I have to wait two years to experience another “The White Lotus” season. Until then, maybe no piña coladas for a while.
The final installment of the "Truth Be Told" Marquette Theatre season concluded April 13 with the last performance of the Broadway musical "Bright Star."
Photos by Annie Goode annie.goode@marquette.edu
april
MU hosts second Multicultural Showcase
12 organizations and clubs collaborated
By Sophie Goldstein sophie.goldstein@marquette.edu
As music, lights, food and colorful costumes filled the Weasler Auditorium on Friday, April 11, 12 different cultural organizations and clubs across Marquette’s campus came together to host the second-ever Multicultural Showcase.
Estef Ubac Villa, junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, and co-organizer of the Multicultural Showcase — alongside Aixa Rodriguez, senior in the College of Arts & Sciences — shared that preparations for this showcase began last April, immediately after the 2024 showcase.
Marquette Dreamers, Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority, Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity, Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity, Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, No Sé Latino Dance Club, Ballet Folklorico of Marquette University, Celebrating Puerto Rican Culture Club, Marquette University’s LASO, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee all took part in creating the showcase.
Villa sat down with the Marquette Wire to share a little bit more about what went into creating such a large showcase, the different dances performed and what this showcase means to her.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Talk a little bit about what the Multicultural Showcase is.
The showcase started last year. We did it to showcase our Hispanic and Latino communities, but we opened it for everyone — no matter what, you could be in the show. We did it because we wanted something for our community.
What made you want to create the Multicultural Showcase?
I remember going to the Indian Student Association performance my freshman year and I remember thinking, “Oh my God, wow. This is something I want to do.” But I wanted to have something unique for my culture. I wanted to show Marquette, “Hey, here is our culture. We are here to stay.”
I remember thinking I want my family, friends and other students feeling the same way I did.
What club are you involved in within the showcase?
I am the founder and president of No Sé Latino Dance club. I wanted to create this club because I felt like we had a lot of cultural organizations on campus but none for my community. I wanted to show Marquette more of the culture that we have on campus. I am from Venezuela, and I felt like we didn’t have a lot of representation on campus for our community — and I know other people may have felt like that with their culture. My goal was just to bring in new perspectives to our campus. I feel like that all comes together with our show too. I wanted to expand on
the amount of dances we have — so it is not just from one specific culture.
What kind of preparations went into making this showcase?
We prepare a year in advance — so, right after last year’s show we started. We have more than 60 people in the show, have to choreograph seven dances, come up with the costumes and then also organize the dances together.
We always do tryouts for every single dance. But these tryouts are more to see how many people want to dance in the show and how many people want to be involved in that specific dance. It is more just for numbers rather than to see if you’re “good” or not. We don’t focus on that because we are going to teach you — starting with the basics and then getting into the choreography.
Then, right away after we finish the tryouts, we start with the practices. Last semester, we practiced every other week, but — since the show was getting closer — we had practices every single week this semester.
Talk about the seven dances audience members got to see.
Before the intermission, audience members got to see tropical dances. Tropical means all the Caribbean dances — like Bachata and Cumbia. But this year was really exciting because we mixed it up a bit.
Last year, we had Merengue, but this year, we had Salsa. Last year, we had Tambor, but this year, we had Cumbia Colombiana and Cumbia. We also had Baile Folklorico, Hip Hop and Reggaeton.
Who choreographed these dances?
I choreographed for Bachata, Hip-Hop and Reggaeton. For Baile Folklorico, we are collaborating with the Ballet Folklorico club here at Marquette University. Then for Cumbia Colombiana and Cumbia they each have their own choreographers — one is from Colombia and the other is from Mexico. Salsa is choreographed by the other co-organizer [Rodriguez].
[The time it takes to choreograph] For me, it definitely depends on my mood and the feel of the songs. That comes with how we pick the songs, too. We sit and start mixing the songs together, so each mix equals five minutes. How those five minutes are used varies. We could pick five songs, or we could pick more than that and have each clip be different in length.
Bad Bunny [a Puerto Rican rapper] dropped his biggest album ever after we had already choreographed some dances, but I went in and changed the mix because I wanted to use that culture.
In order to get the choreography to work, we started [last semester] each practice by teaching a new song. So, if a dance has five songs in the five minutes, we would take each dance minute-by-minute for a total of about five days of learning for each dance.
[For the costumes] We are sponsored by Marquette’s Campus Activities Board, and they are really easy to work with. We just explained the different dresses and shows we needed,
and they were able to help us with our order to make sure that we could respect each culture in the best way.
How did it feel having all these organizations come together?
This was the part that was really exciting for me. I feel like the multicultural organizations and clubs never get together — sometimes they’ll collaborate, but never to support a big thing.
I reached out to every single organization and club to be a part of this — and I wanted to see if they would be ushers, volunteers, serve the food, welcome the guests and check-in people, that all comes from the organizations and clubs.
I am really excited because this feels like something different, and something unique that the whole community can come together to pull off a show like this.
What was your favorite part of creating this showcase?
I feel like my favorite part was definitely making the choreography and working with so many new people. This year, we have more first-year students than upperclassmen, whereas, last year, we had more upperclassmen than first-year students. Everyone was so outgoing and interested in trying new things, which was so exciting to work with.
To learn more about the different organizations involved in the showcase, check out the Multicultural Showcase Instagram.
The second annual Multicultural Showcase took place in Weasler Auditorium on April 11 and featured seven different dances with 12 organizations participating.
Photos by Jack Belmont john.belmont@marquette.edu