Issue 10, Spring 2022- The Quadrangle

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Volume CV, Issue 10

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Military Friendly Names Manhattan College a Top Ten College for Student Veterans Karen Flores

Asst. Features Editor

Accepted Students Day at MC

Last week, the campus was flooded with potential students and their families deciding whether or not MC is the right place for them. @MANHATTANEDU / COURTESY

One Manhattan Announces Updated Mask and Vaccine Policy Anna Woods

Managing Editor One Manhattan announced updated COVID-19 policies and guidance regarding masks and booster vaccines as of Thursday, March 31 after undergoing revalution.

The college’s indoor mask requirement is being extended for another week until April 9.

“Beginning on Saturday, April 9, and through the end of the spring semester, masks will be recommended and required only when requested in classes or offices,” wrote OneManhattan.

Students who prefer to wear a mask will be encouraged to keep wearing them,

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and faculty will be able to require masks in the classroom at their own discretion.

“Individuals who prefer to wear a mask are encouraged to continue to do so,” wrote One Manhattan. “Faculty may require students to wear masks in their classrooms by communicating via email or on their Moodle page. Supervisors may also require visitors to wear a mask in their office by displaying appropriate signage. It is expected that everyone will abide by those requests.”

Health Services and college-issued vehicles, such as vans and shuttles, will still require masks. Additionally, they may be required when attending large indoor events.

The email also states the

IN FEATURES:

Spring Fest Artist International WomAnnounced on pg. 1 en’s Day Takes Over the Quad on pg. 6

protocols in place for when an individual receives a positive COVID-19 despite the lifting of the mask mandate.

“Masks should also be worn for the full 10 days after a positive test or after an exposure,” wrote One Manhattan.

Students are recommended to wear masks in other indoor areas such as common areas and recreational facilities.

Aside from the new mask guidelines, the email outlined a new vaccine requirement for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The new policy includes instructions for vaccine eligibility and obtaining booster doses.

“Manhattan College will re__________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Manhattan College has received the Military Friendly School’s highest designation, earning a top ten college ranking of number eight due to the efficiency of the Veterans Success Programs on campus.

This designation is given based on an institution’s ability to successfully meet criterias in graduation, job placement, student retention, degree advancement or transfer and loan repayment and default rates for student veterans.

These criteria are determined by Viqtory, a data-driven military marketing company, with the input of the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and the military recruitment community. The ratings are determined by the survey response set from the institution, government public data sources which are then combined in a logic based scoring assessment.

According to the MC website, this marks the eighth consecutive year that Manhattan College is recognized as a Military Friendly school. Last year, the college was one of 52 colleges nationwide to receive a gold level designation for its Veterans Success programs.

This year is the first time that MC is included within the Military Friendly School’s Top Ten institutions.

Tiana Sloan, director of the Veterans Success Programs, says that these programs put an emphasis on aiding the veterans during their transition from military to civilian life as these are two very distinct environments with different structures.

IN A&E:

MC Players Production Sells Out on pg. 9

“They [veterans] lead a very structured life in the military,” Sloan said. “They are told when to wake up, they’re told what to wear, they’re told ‘This is your job. This is what you eat.’ And when they leave the military, and come out into civilian life, especially into college life, it’s chaotic for them, and that causes a lot of stress.

I think even as civilians we can understand that like, every time we have a major life change, just going from high school then to college life, that transition causes stress but for veterans, it can cause more stress.”

The veteran programs aim to connect veterans with each other and create a sense of community during their transition into civilian life. While the shift from in person to remote during the pandemic made keeping the sense of community a bit harder for veterans, Sloan says that they were able to keep the interconnectedness steady despite the isolation period we all experienced.

“They really like each other, they like to get together and relax and talk. It really was tough [during COVID pandemic]. What we did to pivot during that, which was hard, was we had weekly gatherings online,” Sloan said . “So we used to meet in person once a week. Now we met on Zoom once a week and some of our Zoom calls would go from 4pm to 1am because like nobody was getting out of the house and it was like let’s just all connect. We did online trivia contests. We had moderated discussions. We just did as much as possible online.”

__________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

IN SPORTS:

Women’s Basketball Face Loss in MAAC Tournament on pg. 12

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Opinions & Editorials

2 Volume CV, Issue 10 April 5, 2022

The Editorial Board

THE QUADRANGLE

LETTER from The Editor

Dear Readers, Happy Triangle Week! We’re very glad to be able to bring our Triangle Edition back this semester. We hope these stories and memes can bring a little happiness and relaxation to a very Jilleen Barrett Managing Editor stressful and difficult time.

This week we also have some fantastic articles in our stanAngelina Persaud dard issue, with updates on the new masking policy on campus, Asst. News Editor plus event coverage from the first half of the 2022 Peace Week on campus.

Zoe DeFazio As we move along towards the end of the semester, please Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor make sure to seek any support that you may need, and look out for your friends and classmates. We are all in this together, JasKaren Flores pers, and The Quadrangle is here to help in whatever way we can.

Asst. Features Editor If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to share your own thoughts on anything going on on campus, please send them Lauren Raziano our way at mcquad@manhattan.edu.

Isaiah Rosario Asst. Sports Editor This week we are also preparing for Spring Fest, which will take place on Saturday, April 9. This will be a mask-optional event, Josh Grewal Asst. Social Media Editor and there will be a barbeque and carnival on the quad following Two Friends’ performance. Read more about the festivities in our Adrianne Hutto article on page 4.

Production Editor Happy spring, Jaspers. Let’s finish this semester off strong with love, support and encouragement for each other.

Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief Anna Woods Managing Editor Nicole Fitzsimmons News Editor Megan LaCreta Arts & Entertainment Editor Jilleen Barrett Features Editor Caroline McCarthy Sports Editor Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor Mars Ross Photography Editor Jocelyn Visnov Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editors

Jocelyn Visnov Lauren Raziano Web Editors

Nicholas Gilewicz Faculty Advisor About The Quadrangle A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news organization run by the students of Manhattan College. We strive to cover news around campus and the greater community, publishing weekly in print and daily online. Our goal is always accuracy, relevancy and professionalism.

The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the College or the student body.

Join The Quadrangle

The Quadrangle’s staff holds weekly open meetings on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. in Kelly Commons Room 412. All are welcome to come and join the club.

Connect with The Quadrangle

mcquad.org @mcquad @mcquad mcquad

Sincerely,

Kyla Guilfoil

Editor-in-Chief

News

APRIL 5, 2022

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Military Friendly Names Manhattan College a Top Ten College for Student Veterans CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

One of the many offerings that MC has for student veterans is the Veterans at Ease program created by Stephan Kaplan, Ph.D, professor of religious studies. This program, which officially became a program in the spring of 2016, is centered around the first year religious studies course “The Nature and Experience of Religion - Stress Reduction,” or RELS 161, which includes a retreat to a yoga center in the Bahamas for veterans to get to know each other and to practice ways to relieve stress in good ways.

Kaplan said that the creation of the Veterans at Ease program was not planned. He was teaching a senior level religious studies seminar which included taking the students to a yoga retreat center in the Bahamas in the spring of 2015. His idea stemmed from a student veteran who came to him and asked to partake in the retreat.

“He [the student] is a veteran,” Kaplan said. “And he

didn’t have the money to go. So I approached a bunch of vice presidents and asked if they would pay something for this kid, this young man to go. They said they would but he got redeployed, so he dropped out of the issue. But the thought of inviting veterans to a retreat for stress reduction struck me; it was a good idea.”

Kaplan recalled that he had originally thought of this from the perspective of the research he had conducted in areas of religious groups, philosophy and neuroscience. Oftentimes, student veterans may feel a sense of disconnect from traditional undergraduate students due to having served for many years in the military, the experiences they have been through and possible age gaps.

“Most of our [traditional] students are graduating high school seniors,” Kaplan said.

“You know, leaving home for the first time, in the vast majority. It’s not true of all but you have a natural peer group. But the veteran students, they’ve been in the military for four years, six years, eight years,

12 years, 20 years. Some are immigrants or children of immigrants. So they’re coming to America or are first generation students but are not traditional college students. They have no natural peer group.”

He believes that allowing the veteran students to meet in a classroom, create a community and help them feel supported is essential to their success in college and civilian life.

“I think all the veterans on this campus realize if you are isolated like so many of us were during COVID, it makes the transition harder. Isolation breeds problems. Community and friends make life better,” Kaplan said .

Christopher Norberto, president of the Student Veterans Organization (SVO) and a junior sociology major with a concentration in criminology and philosophy minor, reflects on his transition from the military lifestyle to a civilian and academic lifestyle. “[The transition from the military to civilian life], it’s one of the hardest things you could go through,” Noberto said.

“When I got out [of the military] in 2019, I stayed in the reserves for two years because I thought it would help with the transition. It did not and I couldn’t get a job. I got rejected from some other schools. Manhattan College really helped put me back on a path that I needed to be on.”

One of the goals of the SVO is to bring the veteran students and the traditional students together so they can share their experiences and be able to get to know each other.

“We’re trying to bridge the gap between the veteran students who are typically older,” Noberto said. “I’m 31. And with the general students there’s a disconnect there. And I personally, as the president right now, would like to blur the lines between the students and the veterans. There should be no difference between us.”

Sloan, Noberto, Kaplan and other faculty members have expressed great delight at the designation given to Manhattan College for their work with veterans, and encourage students to interact and talk to the

veterans on campus and to not be intimidated by them.

“I’m so excited about that.

We’ve done a lot of hard work in the last couple of years. And it’s nice to see the recognition,”said Noberto. “And that older person in the classroom?

They’re not as scary as they look. I know we look a little intimidating but we’re all friendly and are open to talking to and meeting everyone.”

“A lot of times they’re going through a lot of the same things that our traditional students are going through,” Sloan said. “So I would say like if you have a veteran in your class, say hi get to know them and you know, if you’re walking by the Veterans Center feel free to say hi and stop by.”

The Veterans Center is located on the first floor of Thomas Hall next to Cafe 1853.

For more information on the programs, feel free to contact Tiana Sloan, tiana.sloan@manhattan.edu.

those remaining on campus. It is also the deadline for current employees to obtain their vaccines. Aug. 1 is the vaccine deadline for students who are enrolled in classes for the fall 2022 semester.

To accommodate those who have not yet received their booster, the college is hosting a booster clinic on campus on Monday, April 11. The clinic will be held from 1-3 in Smith Auditorium. Registration is required prior to attending the

clinic. A link to register can be found in the email sent out by One Manhattan.

On-campus testing requirements will also be changed in the coming weeks with these changes. The changes include retracting surveillance testing specifically for individuals who have been vaccinated.

“Regular COVID-19 testing for individuals who have been vaccinated will conclude on Thursday, April 7. Individuals who have an approved vaccine

exemption are required to continue obtaining a COVID-19 test every 7 days,” wrote One Manhattan.

The college community has been provided with updated health data from the email as well. Currently, there are 35 active cases of COVID-19.

The testing schedule for this week is as follows: Monday, April 4, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Smith Auditorium Tuesday, April 5, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kelly Commons parking

lot

One Manhattan Announces Updated Mask and Vaccine Policy

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 quire all on-campus students, faculty, administrators and staff to be fully up-to-date on vaccinations for the 2022-23 academic year. This means that each individual has received a full series of COVID-19 vaccines, and a booster shot, when eligible.”

June 15 is the deadline to obtain a booster vaccine for students taking summer classes or

Thursday, April 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Smith Auditorium Regardless of the updated guidance, students must continue to complete the daily symptom tracker while on campus and follow the necessary protocols. The Quadrangle will continue to monitor and report on all updated COVID-19 policies.

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News

Spring Fest 2022: Bringing Back the Bull

THE QUADRANGLE

Zoe DeFazio

Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Manhattan College’s Spring Fest is back in person after the past two years of virtual events.

This year Spring Fest will take place on Saturday, April 9, headlined by TwoFriends, a Los Angeles based duo known for their popular remixes.

Before the pandemic, students were able to bring personal guests for a fee. However, due to all the COVID regulations, this year’s Spring Fest will only be available to current students.

In order to maintain safety for students and staff, MC will be following guidelines from the CDC for Spring Fest and keeping consistent with the college’s own protocols.

Beginning Saturday, April 9, masks will be recommended on campus but only required when told to do so.

Carmella Liscio, a student engagement worker, wrote in an email to The Quadrangle on what students can be expecting this year.

“The concert is from 1- 2 pm in Draddy Gymnasium,” Liscio said. “The barbeque and

An image from an in-person Spring Fest from 2016.

MANHATTAN COLLEGE / THE QUADRANGLE carnival are going to be on the quad from 2-5 pm. All free, no

tickets required, green passes are needed to get into the gym.”

While on the hunt for this year’s headliners, MC’s student body president, Kevin Rojas, explained the many factors that took place in the decision-making process.

“We looked into a lot of artists, we had a bunch of different ranges from a bunch of different genres. We looked into rap, we looked into pop and EDM house,” said Rojas.

Rojas also explained that finding a headliner consisted of financial matters while tuning into what music students would want to hear.

“We had a bunch of names on a list, the only thing is, we had to figure out just due to budget constraints..who were the best artists we could get for the money that we have,” Rojas said.

Various activities will be held on the Quad, including a carnival and a mechanical bull.

“We will have a mechanical bull! It was a big hit my freshman year and I really wanted to bring it back for this year,” Rojas said.

The last in-person Spring

Fest was held in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. The headliners of that year’s Spring Fest consisted of Jeremih, 3OH!3, and Skylar Grey.

Margaret Taylor, the vice president of social life, discussed the differences between the old Spring Fest and the new Spring Fest.

“I think this year will be really special for all students,” Taylor said. “Only the graduating seniors have experienced an in-person Springfest so it will be nice for them to finally get that back and celebrate their final year here. As for the underclassmen and juniors, I’m hoping everyone has a really great time and enjoys getting back to the tradition of Springfest.”

The college is hoping this event will unite the community after a tough few years.

“We haven’t had a social event like Spring Fest in the past two years so I think Two Friends and the whole day of activities will bring everyone together and continue in the years to come,” Taylor said.

News

APRIL 5, 2022

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Manhattan College’s Road To Re-Accreditation Mack Olmsted

Asst. Production Editor Manhattan College is undergoing evaluation on its status, legitimacy and appropriateness of policies by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) to attain re-accreditation.

MC will be evaluated on seven standards, namely Missions and Goals, Ethics and integrity, Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience, Support of the Student Experience, Educational Effectiveness Assessment, Planning Resources and Institutional Improvement and also Governance, Leadership and Administration.

The Middle States evaluation team visit is the peer reviewed component of the self study. This year it will be held virtually via Google Meet.

The evaluation and self study is about gaining different angles and perspectives of MC that will eventually help the college reach the goal of becoming the best possible version of itself. If the results of the self study are satisfactory and the college receives re-accreditation then it would lead the school into continued institutional improvement.

President Brennan O’Donnell emphasized how important the self study is for the re-accreditation process and for the success of the college in general.

“The scope of the Self-Study is college-wide, touching on pretty much every aspect of the organization, with a strong emphasis on student outcomes and the student experience,” O’Donnell said. “The accreditor is looking for evidence that the college regularly assesses itself in a process of continuous improvement. The spirit of the process is to affirm where we’re doing well while offering advice where we can become better.”

The MSCHE evaluation team visit will take place from April 3 to 6 for the peer review component of the self-study.

The evaluation is being overseen by Kelly Marin, Ph.D, professor of psychology; Rani Roy, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health and associate provost and Bruce Liby, Ph.D., professor of physics.

The evaluation team is made up of seven individuals

who are from other colleges and universities. The main point of the evaluation team is to interview the Manhattan College community members and make sure that the school has appropriate missions and goals that are consistent with being a successful and accomplished institution.

“Accreditation assures the public and governmental entities that the institution is providing what it says it provides, and what is required for public funding. Beyond that, it encourages and assists institutions in building a culture of continuous improvement,” O’Donnell said.

Roy shared her thoughts on the re-accreditation system and why it is important to have the evaluation annually.

“I like how the re-accreditation gives us a chance to look at how we do things as a college, and the idea of continuous im-

provement. It’s about ensuring quality in our facilities and making sure that we can all work together appropriately,” Roy said.

The outcome of the evaluation and re-accreditation is essential and will have a big impact on the college and its community members going forward.

“A successful self-study will lead to our MSCHE re-accreditation. If we are not successful in getting re-accredited, we will face serious disadvantages … such as a loss of federal funding for financial aid, which many of our students depend on,” according to manhattan.edu.

The Middle States evaluation needs all the community support it can get. To participate and witness the Middle States evaluation, participants can join virtually through the Google Meet provided in email from Kelly Marin.

Roy and Marin want to en-

courage the Manhattan College community to participate in the evaluation meetings.

“We hope that the community will come out to the open meetings for faculty, students and the entire campus in general. It’s really important for the community to come together,” Roy said.

“With your continued support and participation we feel confident that we will achieve re-accreditation and continue making Manhattan College a special place,” Marin stated in the YouTube video linked to the email sent out to the MC community.

Essentially, the Middle States evaluation is about recognizing the accomplishments and goals of the community so that MC can continue to work on a better future for its students and community.

The MSCHE evaluation team visit will take place from April 3 to 6 for the peer review component of the self-study.

@MSCHEORG / COURTESY

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THE QUADRANGLE

Updates on Online Courses Offered at Manhattan College Josh Grewal

Asst. Social Media Editor Despite the college discontinuing most online and hybrid class options in the current academic year, the course catalog for the summer and fall of 2022 will include brief offerings of remote learning for further flexibility.

This year, students saw some hybrid implementation of both online and in person courses, mainly due to the looming threat of COVID. In the future, the college encourages that we will be back to a higher majority of in person classes, rather than their online counterparts.

An email sent from the Office of the President on March 19, 2021, announced the full in-person return of Jaspers to campus for the 2021-2022 academic year.

“We expect all students, faculty, and staff to be on campus, in-person. It is vital that we return to campus to provide students with the robust living and learning experiences that are a hallmark of the Manhattan College experience,” the email stated.

Because of the full return,

remote classes were mostly discontinued, which caused some problems for students who contracted the COVID-19 virus and could not attend classes.

Despite the information regarding the specific amount of online options for future classes being unknown, it can be said that online options will be present in the future for graduates and possibly undergraduate students. For the upcoming fall semester, the registration website includes offering a few hybrid instruction and completely online courses.

Provost Steven Schreiner states each learning style is important, about the matter. He breaks down the components that went into each learning style, and made it clear what was required for each, and how they would benefit the overall student body.

Schreiner was able to touch upon the importance of each learning style while comparing between in person learning and online learning, and how they differ from each other. He emphasizes the value of in person learning on the Manhattan College campus.

“Not that online isn’t equivalent to good, but for our typical undergraduate population, be-

“Not that online isn’t equivalent to good, but for our typical undergraduate population, being in person and in interaction with the professors and with each other in the classroom is of high value.”

MANHATTAN.EDU / COURTESY ing in person and in interaction with the professors and with each other in the classroom is of high value,” Schreiner said.

“So, I put it this way, gee, it would be strange if a student would be sitting in their dorm room and have all online classes, that’d be weird, right? That doesn’t make sense, you’re not taking full advantage of the en-

Despite the college discontinuing most online and hybrid class options in the current academic year, the course catalog for the summer and fall of 2022 will include brief offerings of remote learning for further flexibility.

MANHATTAN.EDU / COURTESY

vironment you’re in.”

Schreiner highlights the importance of flexible options during intercessions for students looking to make progress on their degrees, yet cannot have access to campus. Yet, he emphasizes the value of in-person learning for students on campus.

“For example, in intercession, we do offer online courses strategically, to help students get access to those courses and make progress to the degree,” Schreiner said. “So, in terms of summer and intersession courses, yes, undergraduates will have access to online programming, but not necessarily during the semesters.”

However, graduate programs will continue to offer online or hybrid course offerings, with some of the programs being completely online.

“The graduate program is a different story,” Schreiner said. “We have some graduate programs that are completely online, some of them asynchronous meaning, I go online and I take the course at my own place, in my own time, then sometimes there’s synchronous where it’s like no, I have scheduled meeting times, I’m actually going to be online, virtually with the faculty member, which we think has high value as well given the interaction with a faculty member. So our graduate programs have a variety of ways the online plays out.”

Schreiner believes the classroom is essential in Manhattan College’s future, yet will adapt to new advancements in technology.

“It’s amazing that you can learn deeper and faster than my generation did. That’s what technology is going to do. So,

we have to be open to that,” Schreiner said.

Freshman Evan O’Grady, a student who is contemplating taking classes in the summer, believes online course offerings have various benefits for the student body.

“Online classes are good because students who live farther from the school or have a hard time commuting can easily access a good education and people who do not want to fully commit to living inside a residence hall or owning a car if they are, even if gas prices are high even. That’s what online classes are best for. I am personally considering taking online classes,” O’Grady said.

Freshman Xavier Peña, a student who doesn’t have easy access to the campus during breaks, believes the system of retaining some online course options is really important.

“Well, currently I’m having a great semester at Manhattan College,” Peña said. “But this summer I’m thinking of taking an online course. Or, at least I’m planning on taking an online course. I don’t know. I think online courses are very convenient in the summer because I live very far. I’m currently living in California with my family.

So, I’ll definitely prefer an online course but it doesn’t mean I don’t like in person classes.

Honestly, it’s better. I learned better when I’m in person but an online course in the summer will be very helpful.”

Online classes are tools that are in place looking to assist those trying to advance their degrees. With these unprecedented times, the college is continuing to adapt their learning styles.

Features

Writing for Peace: Colombian Initiatives with Kate Vieira

APRIL 5, 2022

Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief

Kate Vieira broke down how the written word can build peace by presenting her work from Colombian schools to the Manhattan College community in the second installment of the college’s 2022 Peace Week events.

Vieira, professor and Susan J. Cellmer Distinguished Chair in Literacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, went to Colombia in 2018 after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, and began work focused on peacebuilding initiatives there.

In her presentation, Vieira established that her work was a very collaborative effort, made possible by her community members in Colombia, including educators, activists, poets, writers and young people.

“What I want to share today is how Colombians in one community are using writing to build peace in the aftermath of a decade’s long war, whose violence continues to reverberate,” Vieira said to the audience.

Essentially, Vieira explained that writing is an incredibly accessible form of peacebuilding, which she saw through her work with community members in Manizales, Colombia.

“I did not arrive in Colombia from a peaceful country to teach Colombians about peace,”

Vieira said. “Because we do not live in a peaceful country. As you may have noticed, I came to my work there as a researcher, writer and educator in the field of writing studies, who wanted to understand from an ethnographic and collaborative perspective how people write and teach writing in order to address pressing social problems.”

As Vieira explained in her talk, Colombia has the highest number of displaced people of any nation, with the exception of Syria. In 2016, the Colombian government signed the Peace Accords, which sought to rectify the prior 52 years of deadly conflict, which resulted in 200,000 deaths across the nation, and millions of people being forced from their homes.

However, these Peace Accords have not solved the issues of violence in Colombian communities. So, alongside larger political initiatives, people like Vieira and her team are part of grassroots initiatives to build peace from the ground up.

For Vieira, such initiatives revolve around the writing process. In her talk, she articulated how writing can be used for peacebuilding by using definitions from various scholars.

For one, she outlined writing as “an expressive embodied practice that can facilitate emotional healing.” In another, writing was described as being material, which makes it pos-

Kate Vieira has worked closely with Colombian community members to develop her research.

KYLA GUILFOIL / THE QUADRANGLE

sible “to hold social authority and circulate a shared social vision.”

Different definitions determined writing to be a “social practice that can participate in processes of liberation and justice,” and to be “an art with potential to promote truth telling and social dreaming.”

However, Vieira makes clear that just writing isn’t what builds peace.

“People have to invest [in] writing with magic for it to perform magic,” she said.

To further explain her work in Colombia specifically, Vieira broke down the five community groups that she collaborated with to investigate the process of writing for peace.

Vieira interviewed 22 writers, and spent 14 hours obversibing her participants in literary workshops and events.

She also worked with sixth and tenth grader students by co-leading and observing 19 writing for peace workshops, alongside interviewing 11 focal participants to make up 52 interviews and collecting 300 student poems as well as a narrative reflection survey with 40 students.

Vieira observed 12 hours of planning workshops with three different instructors, and interviewed a total of four teachers.

She also observed 16 hours of rehearsals for the intergenerational music and poetry group Los Imaginantes Sonoros (The Sound Dreamers), and interviewed all of its members as well as family members of the members.

Finally, Vieira participated in the creation of a community published book and board game alongside other authors.

Vieira also spoke about testimonio, which is essentially different street art that demonstrates social and political calls for peace in Colombia. She shared different images of this testimonio, including an outline of a body on the sidewalk, and words calling for the end of violence and war for their children.

Vieira’s goal is to turn her work into a bilingual book that contains both English and Spanish. She says it is important for the book to have Spanish in it so that the true spirit and meaning behind the research and the experiences in Colombia cannot be understood fully through English.

Plus, adding Spanish will make it more accessible to the people of Colombia, which is of greatest importance to Vieira.

During her presentation, Vieira went on to talk about the power of listening to kids.

“I think we need to listen to kids,” she said. “I mean, I don’t want to get too political, but I

think about the response to the pandemic. For example, I live in Wisconsin. All of the bars were open, but my child couldn’t go to school. Like, what if we had taken a children’s perspective on what was important? I’m not saying that there aren’t other kinds of ways to think about this. But in any situation of armed conflict, you know, as we are all kind of watching the images come out of Ukraine right now, and we see these images of children. Like, what would the children say about that?

What if children’s voices were at the table?”

She went on to say that as a writing teacher, she feels there is too much pressure to teach kids to write a certain way, and that instead we should encourage our children to write because what they have to say is important, and we should be listening to what they actually want to say.

Robert Geraci, professor of religious studies, was able to make Vieira’s visit to MC possible as he actually met Vieira in their first English class at the University of Texas at Austin during their undergraduate years.

“Peace Week is an integral aspect of our mission at MC, and what Dr. Vieira brought to campus was a novel and interdisciplinary way of working with people to help them overcome the challenges of war and move toward reconciliation in the present,” he wrote to The Quadrangle. “By engaging in creative practices like game design and encouraging young people to express their own reality through journaling, fiction, and poetry, she and her collaborators in Columbia provide real ways of consolation and, even more, world building.

That is, her work with her collaborators helps young people build a new world for themselves and their neighbors. It’s really quite amazing!”

Geraci shared that he was particularly touched by the story of Vieira interviewing one of her twelve year old students in Colombia, named Luis.

In his poem, Luis said that he wished for his neighborhood to find peace and tranquility, and wrote, “when the birds sing, one feels the folklore of their song.” Luis told Vieira that that was his favorite line that he had written.

“I can’t stop thinking of Luis (age 12), who envisions a world where ‘birds sing and one feels the folklore of their song’,” Geraci wrote. “This remarkable image encourages me to think about the storytelling of our own environment. What is the folklore of our birds? I bet it includes all the love and care that our Lasallian community has

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brought to bear in making the world a better place. I hope that Peace Week will continue to reach out to our students, faculty, and staff--giving us hope and inspiring us to new heights.”

Nuwan Jayawickreme, a psychology professor who organized peace week, was impressed by Vieira’s work.

“I was impressed by how she conducted her research in Colombia,” he wrote to The Quadrangle. “She used a type of research methodology called participatory action research, where researchers work with their population-of-interest to develop research questions, identify appropriate methods and interpret the collected data. This type of research allows you to conduct research that is meaningful and impactful for the studied population.”

He added that her specific research was a powerful way to see how creative work can make a difference in healing.

Adam Koehler, an English professor and old friend of Vieira from graduate school, was also excited to have Vieira on campus.

“I thought the talk was a wonderful way of merging our work as scholars and our larger social and cultural work toward peace - all while coming out of the pandemic, which took a toll on all of us in so many ways,” Koehler wrote to The Quadrangle. “What stood out to me was the optimism in what Dr. Vieira found in her work with her collaborators. In a war-torn community, these young writers found a way to express what mattered most to them: their families, the beauty in their everyday lives, and their relationships with their teachers, and even their government. That the peace accords included listening to poetry written by young people — to provide that voice in the collective effort of rebuilding peace — is such a profound result to come out of what was meant to be a simple community building exercise.”

Koehler was also moved by the fact that Vieira chose to work so closely with young children.

“When she point blank identified how revolutionary that truly is — to listen to young people — I was taken by the way writing does the important work of recording our experiences so that the powers that be can do the important work of building peaceful spaces for those experiences,” he wrote.

“It’s a reminder of what I hope we can achieve in our classrooms, especially as we all begin to realize just how much we collectively went through after two years of remote and hybrid learning as it seemed the world was falling apart around us.”

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Radical Catholic Journalist Launches Peace and Justice Week at 8th Annual Dorothy Day Lecture Angelica Niedermeyer Staff Writer

The 8th Annual Dorothy Day Lecture gathered a panel of Catholic women journalists and a member of the Dorothy Day Guild, who discussed the intergenerational effect of Day and her ongoing process of canonization.

The Day lecture commenced the Manhattan College annual Peace and Justice Week titled “Contemporary Pathways to Peace and Justice.” The event was held on March 29 virtually, moderated by Kevin Ahern, associate professor of religious studies, with an introduction of the speakers by junior and student journalist Anna Woods.

The speakers who discussed Day, the renown American Journalist, social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, included Melissa Cedillo, National Catholic Reporter, Colleen Dulle, associate editor at America Magazine and co-host of the “Inside the Vatican” podcast and Eileen Markey, reporter and assistant professor of journalism at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

As for an update on the canonization of Day, George Hortan, a member of the Dorothy Day Guild said, “I hope that

you all had a chance to view the great moment on Dec. 8 when we celebrated over 20 years of work in gathering the evidence for Dorothy Day’s cause.

We look forward to Dorothy being named venerable within 1-2 years. Some of us hope that might even be sooner, if [Pope] Francis gets wind that it’s all there and ready for him to make a decision.”

Day, a New Yorker, was born on November 8, 1897 in Brooklyn Heights and died on November 29, 1980 in NYC, spending most of her personal and work life on Staten Island.

She became known for her Catholic journalism work in social justice and for the poor. According to The Official Website of the City of New York, Mayor Bill De Blasio announced in March 2021 that the new 2022 Staten Island Ferry was going to be named after Day in response to all her work.

Speaking to Day’s mission spreading, Ahern said, “It’s important that it’s not just about her, but it’s about her reading of the gospel and the works of mercy. Every week there’s some other article in a secular major news source about Dorothy Day. She’s clearly capturing the imagination of people.”

The next step to sainthood is looking for a miracle.

“There, you can be of help

to us. If there is anything that you have asked of Dorothy, please let us know about that,” Hortan said. “The problem of the miracle is a major step we have to accomplish before she’s named blessed.”

Day held many roles in her life; she was a holy woman, a radical, a pacifist, an anarchist and a working mother.

“Her vocation as a journalist is one that has not been explored as much as I think it could be,” said Ahern.

In May 1933, Day co-founded and released the first issue of the Catholic worker newspaper alongside Peter Maurin, which would later start this radical movement. The panel’s journalists shared their embodiment of Day’s desire to see the world as a reporter first finding God through hearing people’s accounts.

“When I think about her career as a journalist, I think about obviously her commitment to truth,” Markey said.

“Dorothy Day has been very informative to many of our lives and the ways in which we understand Catholicism. But it was her role as a journalist that led her into the places where she then understood God in the way she spent most of her life proclaiming.”

Each journalist had their own personal connection to

Day which inspired them to excel in their vocation.

“I can’t relate to all of her, but there are so many specific things that are so human and I think that that’s the reason that she is adaptable to secular papers,” Cedillo said.

As the Catholic church decides whether or not she will become a saint, Day is still seen in a controversial light as she is known for having an abortion after a failed relationship.

Cedillo then brought up the following questions: “How do we not admire folks for being radical in the past? How do we challenge ourselves to not wait until someone has passed?”

Day has made an ongoing effect on Catholic media with her radical views and progressive work as a woman journalist especially, in the 1930s.

“She was fearless. She was on the ground actually meeting people, boots on the street and all that, which is exactly who you want to be as a reporter,” Dulle said. “I think it’s way too easy, especially in the age of COVID to kind of be more distant. She was so committed to being up close with the people who were affected by the policy decisions made in the halls of power, but telling the stories of the people who were affected by them.”

Day, with her constant ef-

fort to learn, attended many protests standing up for the minority and what she believed in.

“I think that is what is most inspiring about Day, is this idea that we don’t wonder where she stood on issues. It did not make us trust her more or her reach the idea of truth any less,” said Cedillo.

Day’s effect on the media today takes form in the journalistic want to witness and tell the truth. The panelists brought up the current media industry and its reliance on opinion whereas Day and the Catholic worker newspaper showed how to be objective.

“As Pope Francis has invited us to do, there needs to be intergenerational dialogue.

There is so much for us to learn from each other,” Cedillo said.

To help promote Day’s sainthood, there are ways to help.

“There are a lot of volunteer opportunities to join the guild, to participate in this experience,” Hortan said. “If you go to www.dorothydayguild.org you’ll be able to access a lot of information and the opportunity to join us in this process.”

United States and at De La Salle’s headquarters in Rome, Italy. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the tenth edition of the program went virtual.

Riley and Reyes are part of this select group reflecting together as a Lasallian international community, and analyzing the challenges of global development as global citizens.

They joined participants from 14 different countries who are leaders in their own campuses, from different disciplines, different advocacies, diverse contexts, religions and cultures but with the same sense of commitment and dedication.

“In the past few weeks throughout our sessions, I have learned from incredible leaders and student leaders who have been an exemplary guide of what it means to be a Lasallian leader. Lasallian values are for all people, it is respect, inclusivity, and doing good for those around you and the world,” Riley said.

According to Diana Loera, associate director of IALU, the

most important thing is that the students are able to identify themselves as Lasallians in an international, multicultural, and diverse community.

“The program aims to highlight the difference that Lasallian principles and values make in our leaders and how they make a difference with their important impact on communities around the world,” Loera said.

The development program offers the students training in communication, multiculturalism, empathy, adaptability, while developing a sense of Lasallian identity and leadership.

“Introducing our students to St. John Baptist De La Salle as a Leader who made a difference and continues to impact our communities, encouraging us to work for those most in need and those who suffer injustice, is always inspiring,” Loera said.

A better understanding of other cultures and nationalities motivates students to share their perspectives on the needs

and social problems of the globalized world. It also allows participants to reflect on their personal leadership talents while making connections with their peers.

“Over these past sessions, I’ve learned the principles and standards for not only Lasallian development but the development of being a true leader as a whole, as well as the variety of people in leadership. This development program has allowed me to find new ways I could be a leader in programs, life, along with how I can follow in others’ footsteps to better the world,” Reyes said.

In addition, the program allows participants to attend sessions with renowned experts and representatives from various Lasallian institutions and organizations around the world. Past and recent versions of the program have included the participation of Manhattan College’s Vice President for Mission, Brother Jack Curran, Professor Dr. Pamela Chasek and Hayden Green, Director of

the Multicultural Center.

“I’m sure that by participating in this International Student Leadership program, both Jazi and Kayla, who are already demonstrating significant leadership skills, will further deepen their Lasallian identity by virtue of their participating with more than 60 other Lasallian university students from around the globe,” Curran said. “With the focus of this Lasallian Leadership Program on addressing justice issues associated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Kayla, Jazi and the other Lasallian university students will more confidently lead our Manhattan College community in our efforts to advance the common good.”

The experience for Riley and Reyes will end on May 12 with the creation of potential projects addressing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals from a Lasallian cooperative and global perspective.

Editor’s note: Anna Woods, who is mentioned in this article, is managing editor for The Quadrangle.

Two Jaspers at the Lasallian International Development Program for Student Leaders

Carlos Pinto-Corredor Contributor

Jazi Riley ‘25 and Kayla Reyes ‘25 are the two Manhattan College fellows participating in the 2022 Lasallian International Development Program for Student Leaders run by the International Association of Lasallian Universities (IALU).

Jazi Riley is a political science major and is the Student Government Association freshman class representative. Kayla Reyes is a civil engineering student. Both students belong to the Manhattan College Emerging Leaders Programs that encouraged and nominated them as the college’s representatives in the international experience.

Since the first week of March, 70 students from 34 of the 64 Lasallian universities around the world have advanced in seven sessions of multidisciplinary leadership training. Previous versions of the program have been held at Lasallian universities in Brazil, France, Mexico, Spain, the

Features

APRIL 5, 2022

9

New York to New Haven: Meet Manhattan College’s Soon to Be Yalie Caroline McCarthy Sports Editor

Isabel Frazza, a Christian raised, camel-tattoo sporting senior at Manhattan College, is set to attend Yale University Divinity School to pursue a masters degree in religion with a concentration in women, gender and sexuality studies in the Fall of 2022. When asked how these seemingly contradictory subjects relate to one another, Frazza chuckled and asked, “Only a little?”

Her fascination with gender roles in religion stemmed from a change in clergy at her childhood church. The new priest determined that The Bible prohibited girls from serving at the altar, leaving Frazza feeling lost and causing her to question The Bible’s teachings.

“That was one of the reasons I backed away from my faith,” Frazza said. “And then I came to a Catholic college.”

Frazza says her religious studies requirements at Manhattan College allowed her to see her faith in a more intellectual way, one that was focused on social justice. She believes religion and gender studies are interdisciplinary and essential to a functioning society. According to Frazza, there is no clear distinction between religious beliefs and political decisions.

“We like to pretend that there’s this big separation of church and state, but there’s not and never has been,” Frazza said. “So understanding the Bible and being able to say, ‘Well, actually, it says this,’ and ‘Yes it says this, but let’s look at its context’. I feel it is very important to understand these different systems of oppression and where they come from, and then understanding how we can then tackle them and remove them and deconstruct them.”

By studying religion and how that relates to gender identity, Frazza’s goal is not to dismantle Christianity, but rather reinterpret how The Bible is inevitably used in government decisions to come to a better understanding of modern times.

“Some days I’m more hopeful than others,” Frazza said in regards to these efforts. “Some days it feels almost impossible to impact such a long-held, setin-its-ways type of institution.”

Yet, Frazza finds hope in recent changes to the Catholic Church Doctrine as well as

more progressive clergy and Catholic school administrators, like President O’Donnell.

“Right now we have a Catholic president who, although I don’t agree with him on a lot of things, he says that he’s Catholic. He identifies as Catholic, goes to church and in the same breath says that he’s an ally for the LGBTQ community,” Frazza said. “And I think that shows that there’s change. Things are not where they were a couple years ago.”

Frazza is a devoted student in the Peace and Justice, Religious Studies and Philosophy departments, all of which she believes are intertwined in a curriculum that supports social justice and Catholic reconciliation. Her senior thesis, a yearlong research project studying the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ faculty in Catholic secondary schools, comes a year earlier than expected as Frazza is only in her third year of study at Manhattan College.

“It’s been a real honor to work with Isabel over the past year in her senior honors thesis, where she has demonstrated a real capacity to both critically engage and explore complex theological ideas and to attend and listen to the experiences of real people today,” Kevin Ahern, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, said.

One case study that stood out to Frazza consisted of an openly gay professor being terminated from employment by the Brooklyn Diocese after moving in with his significant other.

“A lot of it has kind of come with marriage equality and people just LGBTQ faculty deciding to get married to their longtime partners,” Frazza said. “And with social media, there’s a lot more potential say, for instance, some of them have posted about their relationships and they’ve used that to then terminate them.”

Frazza used this senior thesis as an addition to her applications to University of Chicago Divinity School, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Duke Divinity School, Vanderbilt Divinity School and Yale Divinity School. Though the paper is still a work in progress, the research she had gathered, along with what she learned at Manhattan College, impressed these institutions — especially Yale.

“I’ve met many academics who are great at engaging

Isabel Frazza, class of ‘22, will pursue her masters at Yale University Divinity School next year.

ISABEL FRAZZA / COURTESY ideas and I’ve met activists who can listen to the needs of people on the margins, but it’s rare to see a student who can so skillfully do both,” Ahern said.

“Isabel shows the real potential of both a Religious Studies or Peace and Justice Studies Major at Manhattan College.”

But before any plans of post-grad education or Catholic reformation, Frazza was known by her peers as a student leader, one who served on the student government board for two of her three years. Frazza was first elected as the vice president of the freshman class in 2019, and later became vice president of the school of liberal arts during the 2021-2022 school year. Between these sessions, Frazza served as secretary of the senate.

“I feel like [vice president of the freshman class] was one of the biggest roles that I’ve had so far, because freshmen, we obviously have a lot of questions. We’re trying to figure out life at Manhattan College, and how we can have our voice heard,” Frazza said.

Frazza has used her positions to advocate for mental health on campus, especially after her first term on the student government board was cut short by COVID-19. According

to her, the pandemic gave room for over-involved students, like herself, to take a step back and learn how to assume a less demanding role while remaining a leader on campus.

“I definitely recommend that freshmen do not take on too much … easier said than done,” Frazza said. “The burnout is … real. But with the pandemic, everything slowed down a little bit, so I guess that’s one good thing that came out of it.”

Frazza’s original career goal was to attend law school after graduation, but after time to reflect during the pandemic, she realized it was more important to do something that made her happy, rather than what may have been expected of her by others.

“I like, sat back, and I thought, what do I actually want? To do what’s going to make me happy, regardless of what other people may want me to do or or list of like, ideas that my younger self wanted me to pursue. That kind of led me to pursue an unconventional degree and like a not so guaranteed career. Because I think I have experienced that burnout,” Frazza said.

With mental health being on the forefront of her academ-

ic experience, Frazza credits her professors for putting their students’ needs above that of assignment deadlines or classwork.

“At Manhattan College the professors have always made space to talk about things and when they’ve noticed students being stressed, because of the small classroom environments, there’s like that personal connection,” Frazza said. “You as a person come before and the due dates are like this class is not more important than your well being so that’s really helpful.”

As Frazza continues her passions in hopes of one day earning her doctorate degree and becoming a professor of religious studies, her teachers are cheering her on from Manhattan College — especially David Bollert, Ph.D. “Isabel is a born philosopher, one whose thinking is rigorous, creative, and deep,” Bollert said. “She is Socratic in her approach to class conversation — listening to and building on her peers’ observations — and her commitment to shared exploration is Lasallian in spirit and practice. I have learned much from Isabel, and I am thankful for it. She will thrive at Yale.”

Arts & Entertainment

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THE QUADRANGLE

The Shack BOOK NOOK

Katie Heneghan Senior Writer

William P. Young’s “The Shack” is my personal favorite book, but also one of the most influential pieces of literature I’ve ever read. When my mom first suggested I read “The Shack” I passed it off as just another religious novel she wanted me to read, in hopes of inspiring my own personal experience with religion and faith. When a friend of mine similarly suggested the book and noted its profound impact, I knew I had to give it a try— little did I know it would have a deep impact on the way I look at life.

“The Shack” at its core, is a religious book, however, I think it’s worth a read whether you are religious or not.

For me, this book had a grand impact on my outlook on life, faith, anxiety, grief and love.

In Young’s fictional novel, the main character, Mack, suffers an unimaginable tragedy: the death of his young daughter. His daughter is brutally murdered in a shack in the woods while on a family camping trip. Years later, after struggling with his faith and grief as a result of the tragedy, Mack is called upon by an external force he believes to be God, to return to the shack.

When Mack returns to the Shack, he is met with a flood of emotions, but more notably he is met with three individuals: Sarayu, Jesus and Papa.

The three characters are representative of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Mack spends a weekend at the shack, confronting his doubts in faith, anxieties about the future, and most importantly comes faceto-face with the grief and pain of losing his daughter.

This book offers a truly unique and transformative perspective on anxiety and fear of the future. I turn back back to this quote often, which references our human nature to try and grasp control of the future: “It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can’t. It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn’t even real. You try to play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try to make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear,” Young writes.

This quote has stuck with me as I feel it perfectly encapsulates my own personal feelings of anxiety for the future and the unknown, and challenges them. When I reflect on what “The Shack” taught me, I realize I lacked a lot of trust that everything would eventu-

The Shack, by William P. Young. @CBN.COM / COURTESY

In 2017, The Shack was made into a film.

TORONTO STAR / COURTESY

ally workout.

The most important thing I believe “The Shack’’ taught me was that when tragedy strikes, we are so quick to try and place blame, or think we would have acted differently in the past, done more or even done less, but in reality everything happens for a reason and there is a plan beyond our control and understanding.

If something wasn’t supposed to happen, it wouldn’t have. Whether you have faith in a higher power, or in the universe, I think this is a lesson for all.

Young has an interesting way of telling the story.

His perspective on faith lacks judgment and is filled with un-

derstanding, compassion and charisma. Young aims to make readers understand that faith and fear don’t have to go hand in hand, and that changing your mindset can have a very profound effect on your life.

William P. Young acts as a wonderful crossover of a theologian and man of faith, and a writer with a purpose of telling a story. There is no doubt the book will make you think, question and reflect, but more importantly it may change your mindset and help better equip you for the uncertainty of the future.

“The Shack” has since been made into a major motion picture, but I highly encourage you to read the book prior to

watching the movie, in order to formulate your own ideas and understanding before being offered a visual idea of each character.

Young started an initiative called “The Missy Project”, encouraging those who are touched by the book to pass it on to others to continue the message. The book had little to no marketing budget, but became what it is today through others sharing the message.

If you do read “The Shack,” I highly encourage you to pass it on to your friends and family.

If you’ve ever faced an event of grief or tragedy in your life where you’ve asked yourself “why?” I can’t recommend “The Shack” enough.

APRIL 5, 2022

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LWGRC Reading Series Hosts “Self-Preservation and Creating Embodied Boundaries” Nicole Rodriguez Senior Writer

On Monday, March 28, the Lasallian Women and Gender Resource Center (LWGRC) hosted a student-led discussion entitled “Self-Preservation and Creating Embodied Boundaries” as part of their reading series.

The event, led by senior Ashley Lawton and junior América Pineda, focused on Carmen Maria Machado’s

short story “The Husband Stitch” — a cynical, insidious love story that follows a female protagonist who wears a green ribbon around her neck.

Pineda explained in detail how Machado’s text was not your typical love story, but rather posed questions regarding consent, privacy and the overall female experience for readers.

“It is a fairy tale retelling, but it does have a thriller kind of feeling to it,” said Pineda.

“When we learn more about the relationship, the husband is asking his wife about this

green ribbon that she’s always had her whole life. He constantly asked her about it and she never really answered his question. She tries to protect her privacy and finally after asking her multiple times again, ‘Can I please untie it? What does it mean?’ she concedes. She says yes. She consents to it and after he unties the ribbon, her head falls off.”

Pineda also highlighted the significance of the title of Machado’s text itself.

“Generally, [a ‘husband stitch’ is] like an extra stitch

The event was lead by senior Ashley Lawton and junior América Pineda. @LWGRC_MC / COURTESY

that doctors will sometimes give women most times without their consent, without them even knowing and it was deemed to be more pleasurable for the male, but extremely painful for the female,” said Pineda. “Oftentimes, they wouldn’t be able to have regular sex, or sexual intercourse, or sometimes it would even affect the reproductive system so it was a really harmful, misogynistic thing that was done to women who literally just gave birth to a child and are in a completely vulnerable situation.”

Those in attendance were encouraged throughout the guided discussion to use a feminist lens to critically analyze Machado’s plot, define consent and learn about the unique boundaries that inform women’s experiences.

“The mission of the LWGRC Reading Series is to create a space to speculate, discuss, explore, analyze and appreciate the work of feminist authors,” Lawton said. “It is our hope that the discussion participants use this space to contextualize their own experiences and lives through a continuous dialogue.

The goal of this series is to bring a culture of appreciation and intersectional thinking to our campus.”

To facilitate a continuous dialogue, guidelines were set for the discussion which in-

cluded avoiding debating, assumptions about others and generalizations about everyone’s experiences. Attendees were instead prompted to try to learn from one another, build on each other’s ideas and to be constructive.

Junior Marina More Andres shared her experience having attended the event and detailed the value of holding this kind of discourse on campus.

“I attended the discussion to learn more about the story and see other people’s opinions and views on it. Going to these types of events, you learn other people’s opinions, you have different ideas about things based on what they say, you ask yourself questions on topics, and I think that’s very important,” More Andres said.

Anyone interested in submitting a story for the reading series can email their suggestions to alawton01@manhattan. edu.

“Please submit texts,” Lawton said. “If there was something that stood out in your classes like, I can still tell you stuff that I read freshman year because of the impact that it had on me, reach out and tell me who the professor was that assigned it. I would be happy to either work with that student or work with the professor and we can totally do something with it.”

Arts & Entertainment

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THE QUADRANGLE

Art of Digital Photography: A Safe Space for Personal Expression Nicole Rodriguez Senior Writer

In her fourth year of teaching at Manhattan College, Lili Kobielski has sparked interest in photography for novices and students with prior experience alike.

Kobielski’s fascination with photography began in high school and has since developed into her blossoming career.

“I started in high school actually,” Kobielski said. “A lot of my friends had a thing that was their identity, whether they’re musicians, or they’re interested in fashion design or whatever it was, I was looking for my thing. I took a photography class, and it just really spoke to

me. I ended up going to NYU, got a degree in photography and I’ve never looked back.”

Kobielski received a BFA in photography from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s degree in digital media from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Her work has been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post, Narratively, Thirteen, Quartz, The Wilson Quarterly, Vice and The Vera Institute of Justice.

Apart from being her career choice, she describes photography as one of the joys of her life. She hopes to share this joy with her students who inspire her on a daily basis.

“I love photography, it’s how I make a living, and it

gives me true joy. Being able to share that with young people, it’s just really fulfilling. You guys really are an inspiration to me,” she said. “Seeing people discovering it, falling in love with it, making careers out of it or just as a hobby is just totally inspiring and it keeps me excited about what I do. So that’s why I do it.”

Geared to encourage personal expression, Kobielski’s class creates a safe space for students to find their own voices and interests visually through both assigned photoshoots and projects of students’ choosing.

“Our first shoot was our block, then branched out to our entire neighborhood and now we’re getting more intimate with self portraits and narra-

A sample of Lili Kobeliski’s portrait photography.

LILIKOBELISKI.COM / COURTESY

A sample of Kobeliski’s photography from her personal website.

LILIKOBELISKI.COM / COURTESY

tives,” said junior finance major Laura Litvak. “Every week we present what we shoot to the class and we give all feedback to our fellow classmates. Lili always gives helpful advice to guide you along which is always super helpful and she always gives us words of encouragement to give reassurance.

She really inspires us to delve deeper into the subjects of our shoots and gives us good directional feedback.”

Students in the class this semester had the opportunity to present their midterm projects on a topic of their choosing to Buzzfeed News photography editor Pia Peterson.

“I was very intimidated at first, but our professor made it such a comfortable environment for us to share our work.

Since we had practiced every week prior [by] presenting to our entire class, it made it a lot easier of an adjustment,” Litvak said.

For junior communication major Juliette Cazzari, presenting work from class to a real world professional was incredibly helpful and rewarding.

“She critiqued us on some of our work and it was really cool to have somebody that is in the industry give us advice and real world criticism,” Caz-

zari said.

Senior psychology major Andy Ortiz had a similar experience having taken the class semester and even found himself wanting to pursue photography on a more professional level.

“I found that it was a really great way for me to express myself, express how I viewed the world through art and it was just a really fun and interesting experience. I do think that this experience definitely expanded my mind about what is possible for my future and for my future career,” said Ortiz.

Even if her class may be the only time that her students pick up a camera in their lives, Kobielski is grateful for her students.

“The students have been really wonderful and I really appreciate the diversity in so many meaningful ways, in people’s interests and their backgrounds,” Kobielski said.

“That’s been really an amazing experience for me as a teacher and I really mean when I say that you guys are an inspiration for me to stay excited about photography. Your energy is just infectious to be around. I feel grateful for you all.”

APRIL 5, 2022

Arts & Entertainment

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Joe Hale’s Journey from Track Star to Pro-Photographer Katie Heneghan Senior Writer

Joe Hale’s fascination with track and field photography started on the opposite side of the camera. Hale has always been passionate about track and field and even competed at the Division 1 level at Manhattan College, but his true talents can be seen through his photography.

It’s difficult to convey Hale’s accomplishments, but in an article with Opal House Magazine, writer Ethan Hermann summed it up perfectly.

“Hale, according to his website, is ‘a freelance commercial photographer,’” Hermann wrote. “According to social media, he is @jkh_photo, based in New York City. If you ask most runners out there, he is the photographer for the professional running group Tinman Elite out in Boulder, Colorado.”

Similar to his collegiate track and field career, Hale’s photography career began at Van Cortlandt Park during his junior year of high school.

When a fellow athlete lent him a DSLR camera, something instantly clicked—literally.

“I really enjoyed shooting that day, and after that, I took my high school’s photo class.

Eventually, I saved up from my summer job and bought my own camera. In my senior year, I was on the cross-country and track and field team, and brought my camera to all of my races, taking photos of my friends on our team and in our league,” said Hale.

Hale’s journey as an athlete brought him to the Bronx, but the connections he would make within the track community allowed him to progress his freelance photography career beyond what he ever could have imagined. While he specializes in commercial pho-

tography with a heavy focus on track and field athletes, his work has grown in scope and range significantly.

“I specialize in shooting commercial images for sports brands,” Hale said. “This means images are being put towards marketing efforts and campaigns that these brands use. A lot of my work happens in the track and field sphere, so that means lots in the “performance run” industry. I’ve been lucky enough to work with brands like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Diadora, and On Running.”

Hale’s work has brought him around the country and to some of the biggest sporting events the track and field sphere has to offer.

“I also do enjoy shooting more editorial, coverage-based assignments as well. Still, in the running space, I’ll work with publications to cover various track and field events across the country. Some of my favorites have been the Olympic Trials, Millrose Games, NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and NYC Marathon,” Hale told The Quadrangle.

Hale continues to grow his business and focus beyond Track and Field.

“I recently shot my first MLS game at Yankee Stadium and I’d love to shoot an NBA or MLB game sometime soon,” Hale said. “Even outside of sports, working with fashion brands and working in studios has become increasingly interesting to me. I have a small studio set-up that I keep in my dorm that I like to break out every once in a while when it fits for a job.”

Hale stepped away from his role as a student-athlete to focus on his business and studies. As a communications major, Hale has put his creativity to work in the classroom, while simultaneously managing a

rather extensive business operation. Managing a photography business, traveling the country and balancing schoolwork is no small undertaking. Nonetheless, prioritizing his art and his business has paid off in a big way.

“I’ve spent countless weekends on the road and working when lots of my friends are out on Friday and Saturday nights,” Hale said. “Even if I’m not on the road, chances are on the weekend I’m grinding even harder on my photography work than during the week at school. I’ll probably be sitting at my desk sending emails or reaching out to anyone and everyone I can about upcoming opportunities and shoots. I don’t see it as a negative, but rather an investment. I figure it will be worth it down the line, and with the events I’ve gotten to go to and the people I’ve gotten to meet, I think it already has been.”

In terms of the highlights of his career, Hale points to his work with professional athletes and world-renowned brands as some of his most favorable art.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really cool people on a variety of projects over the past few years,” Hale told The Quadrangle. “When I first got to college, I was the photographer for a Hoka-sponsored track and field team, New Jersey New York Track Club. Also during this time, I was working as a photographer at The Armory, which is branded as ‘the fastest track in the world’.

It hosts multiple competitions a year with fields full of Olympians and World Champions, and the events are always streamed on primetime NBC. It’s been super cool to get a behind-thescenes look at the productions and see how they operate.”

When COVID hit the US in 2020 and classes went online, Hale took advantage of the flexibility of online classes to move to Colorado to further pursue

A behind-the-scenes look of the men’s NCAA 1500m final as they were getting announced on NBC, just before a national champion was crowned (June 2021).

JOE HALE / COURTESY

A portrait of Aaron Templeton styled in new merchandise that would be used in a Tinman Elite clothing campaign (April 2021) JOE HALE / COURTESY his photography career.

In his podcast, “The Running Effect,” Dominic Schlueter describes Hale saying, “Joe is a man of many talents… He took a big step and had big ambitions. He didn’t expect to be Tinman Elite’s intern, but he ended up becoming their ‘Tintern,’ as they call him,”.

“I moved to Boulder, Colorado for a year and a half to work as a photographer and social media manager for an Adidas-sponsored professional team called Tinman Elite,” Hale said. “I photographed elite athletes at essentially every moment of their lives as they trained for the Tokyo Olympics.

While I was focusing on their performances, the team was working on a collaboration for a sneaker with Adidas. I got to be a part of designing the shoe and discussing the marketing, to photographing the shoe for release. It was super interesting seeing the project from conception to release. Maybe the coolest part was seeing my photos used by Adidas globally on print, website, and social media platforms.”

Hale recalled seeing his work displayed at the Adidas flagship store in New York City, and the feelings of accomplishment that come with that kind of exposure.

“One day I was in the Adidas store on 5th Ave and happened to turn the corner and see my photo hung up on the wall. That was pretty special to see,” he said.

Despite working with Olympians, World Champion athletes and household name brands, Hale is still humbly in-

spired by athletes and photographers around the world, but also right here in the Bronx.

“Through my work, I’ve been able to meet and befriend a lot of my heroes as a high school and middle schooler,” said Hale. “From 9th to 12th grade, the lock screen on my phone was Matt Centrowitz, an Olympic Gold Medalist. When I got to Manhattan College, his dad was one of my coaches.

He’d come and visit, and I’d get to photograph his training sessions. Even today, we always get to catch up when we’re at various events at the same time and stay in touch over social media.”

Oftentimes Hale turns to the sports photography community for inspiration and support.

Since creatives as a whole are quite underpaid and taken advantage of frequently, everyone is looking out for one another. There are plenty of super talented photographers, and I feel like we all draw inspiration from one another. We all basically go to the same competitions, so it’s fun seeing familiar friends and faces on the circuit throughout the year.”

Looking to the future, following his graduation from Manhattan College in May, Hale will continue his photography career in a grand way. Hale will be the team photographer for Portugal’s National Team at this year’s World Championships this coming summer.

You can find Hale’s extensive portfolio at www.josephkhale.com, or on Instagram @ jkh_photo.

14

Sports

Jasper Golf Swings into Spring Season

Lauren Raziano Web Editor/ Asst. Sports Editor

The Manhattan College Golf team was picked 8th in the MAAC Conference and is planning to rise the ranks this season.

They started off slow, finishing ninth at the Sacred Heart Invitational, which was held at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. This past weekend, the Jaspers finished 20th on the final day of the Battle at Rum Pointe, on the Rum Pointe Seaside Golf Links in Berlin, MD. According to GoJaspers, the Jaspers finished the match with a second-round team total of 322 (+33) and an overall

score of 641 (+65).

The article highlighted top players.

“Colby Norton was the top finisher for the Jaspers. The senior finished T73 after posting a total score of 156 (+12) over 36 holes. Sam Taraian and Lincoln Haymaker ended the day T92, carding a 159 (+15).” the GoJaspers website reported.

Head Coach, Phil Wildermuth, started in Fall 2018 and is motivated to exceed the MAAC Conference’s expectations this season.

“We are very motivated right now to prove people wrong,” Wildermuth said. “I love being the underdog. I believe in the future we will not be the underdog either.”

COVID-19 has impacted the team greatly but Wildermuth is looking forward to this new semester with old and new faces.

Jaspers swing into Spring.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

THE QUADRANGLE

This past weekend, the Jaspers finished 20th on the final day of the Battle at Rum Pointe, on the Rum Pointe Seaside Golf Links in Berlin, MD. GOJASPERS/COURTESY

“It’s made me think outside the box a lot more. It made me more concerned for my players’ health … It affected the team greatly. It set us back a couple of years,” Wildermuth said. “I know it set everyone back too so I don’t want to use it as an excuse. But I’ve learned a lot through all this. I think everyone has.”

One standout player for Wildermuth is junior Lincoln Haymaker.

“I think an underdog is Lincoln Haymaker. He has the potential to play, a couple 100 par I believe, He is pretty steady,” Wildermuth said. “He has good body language on the course, he’s a patient player, and he’s just really a great guy.”

Lincoln Haymaker is grateful for Coach Wildermuth’s dedication and leadership to the team.

“I just want to say that none of this would be possible without the efforts of Coach Wildermuth,” Haymaker wrote in an email to the Quadrangle.

“He goes above and beyond what is required of him for the success of this team. He truly cares about us as players, but more importantly as people. He lives and breathes Manhattan College Golf just like us.”

Haymaker responded to the announcement of the MAAC Conference pick and is determined that the Manhattan College team will rise above 8th.

“Recently, there was a preseason poll that ranked Man-

hattan College towards the bottom of the MAAC Conference and that does not sit well with any of us,” Haymaker wrote.

“We are a force in the MAAC and we plan to demonstrate such.”

Haymaker is ready to work hard this season.

“I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses, I have the direction I need and I’ve been working to continue getting better,” Haymaker wrote.

“We’ve had some good momentum as of late and I think the whole team is hungry and determined to keep that momentum going. We’ve been working hard and we’ve spent the last few months waiting for this Spring season.”

In February, the golf team held a fundraiser via the players posting on Instagram.

Wildermuth credits Whitney Swab, Senior Associate Athletic Director, for the fundraising idea.

“I have to give Whitney Swab all the credit,’’ Wildermuth said. “Our team is very appreciative of Whitney and we’re happy to have her on,” Wildermuth said. “My role was just to let my players know ‘Hey, send this out to your friends and your family. It would be a big help for the rest of the spring season.’ ” Haymakers was appreciative of the support for the fundraiser from his friends, family and past alumni.

“It was awesome to see all

the love and support from our friends and family as well as alumni,” Haymaker wrote. “It was great to see how many people truly care about Manhattan College Golf. The support goes a long way. We want to show everyone who we are and what we are capable of.”

There are two senior players this Spring 2022 season, Jimmy Escoto and Sam Taraian.

“I have two seniors playing this season. Sam Taraian, we call him ‘the train’. He’s a two time Academic All American and I would think he’s probably going to be a three time Academic All American at the end of this season, which is an amazing compliment and accomplishment,” Wildermuth said.

There are two new freshman players that have joined the golf team this year, Greg Seo from Carrollton Texas, and Christopher Lee from Ijamsville, Maryland.

“I have a couple of young guys that are playing this semester that don’t have a lot of experience so I’m excited to see how they bond because I know they have a lot of talent and ability. Let’s see how they handle the pressure.” Wildermuth said.

The next Manhattan golf match is Monday, April 4th at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

Sports

APRIL 5, 2022

15

Jasper Softball Recognizes Teammate’s Brother During Brain Injury Awareness Month Karen Flores Asst. Features Editor On March 20, the Manhattan College women’s softball team recognized teammate Jessie Rising’s older brother, Michael Rising, during a pregame ceremony to show solidarity during brain injury awareness month. Michael threw the ceremonial first pitch to Jessie before the first of two games against the Wagner Seahawks.

Head coach Cat Clifford came up with the idea and wanted to celebrate Michael’s recovery after his accident.

“With him [Michael] making so much progress starting to walk in the fall, it’s just something that we thought would be a nice idea. We put it through all the channels and got the approval,” Clifford said.

Rising and her family loved the idea and everything was put into motion to prepare for the special day.

Jessie Rising, senior biology major and pitcher for the MC softball team, spoke about her brother’s accident. According to Rising, a firework misfired and hit her older brother Michael Rising’s hands during a July 4 celebration in 2020.

His head took the brunt of the impact and rising underwent a 12-hour surgery where they removed half of his skull due to brain swelling.

He remained on life support throughout the night and spent two weeks unconscious. When they woke him up two weeks after the incident, they found he had a brain bleed. Rising went into another surgery which left

him bed ridden for 28 days.

“They said that the only reason he lived was because his body had that [extra] muscle to eat because fat goes first, or else he would have gotten organ failure,” Jessie Rising said.

Michael, who was formerly a bodybuilder, found himself in a rehabilitation center for eight weeks in a minimally conscious state.

“He made tiny gains but by the time he left he was able to swallow food,” Jessie Rising said. “He was learning how to move his tongue and how to do a peace sign, stuff like that.

And now he walks with a cane.

He remembers everything.

You know, he is himself completely, which is a miracle in and of itself.”

Michael Rising said that being given the chance to throw the ceremonial pitch to his sister is something that he is very thankful for and made him very happy.

“I was very excited. I was really nervous though. I’m honored,” Jessie Rising said.

“Though his recovery has been going well, he said that it’s ‘a lot and a lot of work’.”

Michael said he hopes students and people who saw him pitch to Jessie that “nothing is impossible.”

Michael and Jessie’s parents, Paul and Tracy Rising, said that they were extremely humbled and grateful to Coach Cat and Manhattan College for allowing their son and daughter to have that special moment together.

“It was very emotional in the sense that everyone could see what Michael worked hard for and the pride that Jessie felt,” said Paul Rising. “Their

Michael Rising, accompanied by father Paul Rising, throwing ceremonial pitch to his younger sister, Jessie Rising @JASPERSSOFTBALL/COURTESY

The Rising family pictured with the MC softball team @JASPERSSOFTBALL/COURTESY bond since they were young has been incredible. So I think it was a lot of emotions being very proud of them both. For her hard work to be where she was and his hard work to get where he’s gotten, you know, with the injury, to see him come together again was really exciting.”

Tracy Rising said that one of the biggest things in their family is “faith over fear” and that it is something that people should keep in mind.

Paul Rising said that this accident created a different type of bond between the already close knit family.

“It was a different type of bond where it wasn’t just love and respect and fun to be around. It was the need for each other to get through it.

So I think it just bonded us in a mannerism that we’d never been bonded to before,” Paul Rising said.

Mr. and Mrs. Rising were extremely grateful to the MC softball team, Wagner team and everyone else who

showed their support to Michael as he was throwing the pitch.

“I walked up with Michael and you know, seeing our team, you’re, you know, a lot of them knew Michael, but a lot of them didn’t and to see the support from our team alone was was breathtaking, but to see the amount of girls on the other team who had never even met Michael, and to see the support the tears, the smiles was just, you know, over the top it was it was very humbling,” Paul Rising said.

Clifford was excited when she saw Jessie and Michael together on the field.

“They’re such a close family,” Clifford said. “I was just happy to be a part of it and be able to see him and I’m just so proud of them. My hope for her is that she always understands that we’re [her and the softball team] always in her corner regardless of what it is and this was a really special thing for their family to be able to do.”

Jessie and her family hope

students can see that despite hard times, they can overcome and fight as long as they have support and are determined to keep going.

“Support simply from family, friends, all those things, you’ve got to utilize,” Paul Rising said “You can’t just go rogue on your own and think that you’re going to overcome form. I mean, the battles that you’re going to go through are meant for you to rely on other people. They’re not meant for you to fight alone.”

“I’m just super thankful to my team, my coaches, and Manhattan in general,” Jessie Rising said. “They’ve been really supportive. I mean, to let me be there for my family as much as I have been, but also juggling softball and school like it could have been really bad for me and I would have had to make a lot more harder choices. They’ve been super supportive, obviously. And it was an honor and something that he and I will both remember forever.”

Sports

16

The Peacocks Help Put The MAAC on the Map Isaiah Rosario Asst. Sports Editor Saint Peter’s University: what else is there to say. The Peacocks have been the talk of the country since beating the number two ranked University of Kentucky 85-79 in the first round of March Madness. But Saint Peter’s success does not stop there.

In the second round of March Madness, the Peacocks defeated number seven ranked Murray State 70-60. In the Sweet 16, many across the nation believed that their time dancing was coming to an end.

Even though many doubted the Peacocks, they kept their heads high and rallied together to defeat 3 seeded Purdue 6764.

Unfortunately, two days later, the Peacock’s were defeated by the Tarheels of North Carolina, ending the Cinderella story with a score of 69-49.

But the success of an underfunded, purely passion-driven team is something that will never be forgotten at the MAAC and all across the country. The Peacocks were the first team in NCAA history to advance to the Elite 8 as a 15-seed and the first team in MAAC history to ever even go past the second round.

Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball at

the MAAC, Jordan Confessore, spoke to the Quadrangle about what this magical run from Saint Peter’s does for the MAAC. “It does a tremendous amount of things for the MAAC,” Confessore said. “Having a team compete at this level comes with a lot of exposure.

Nationally, the entire nation was rallying behind Saint Peter’s, especially after their first win but as they went further and further into the tournament.”

This run by Saint Peter’s was incredible for their school, basketball team and athletic program but with this run also comes great publicity for the whole MAAC conference.

“It says a whole lot for the MAAC, whether it be exposure, some financial implications that come with winning in the tournament as well,” Confessore said. “This has been quite an incredible run for the Saint Peter’s team and it’s been awesome for the MAAC.” The amount of exposure that the MAAC and Saint Peter’s University received comes as a massive publicity boost for all schools at the MAAC conference. Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Manhattan College, Marianne Reilly spoke about what this run does for the MAAC and Manhattan College.

“It helps [the MAAC] get a little bit more national recognition,” Reilly said. “As you prob-

ably already know, the website crashed for St. Peter’s, they were just off the charts as far as social media goes. People are curious, they want to know, well, who is this team? Where are they located? … I think it’s an exciting time for the institution that makes it.”

This run by Saint Peter’s helps show that with determination and belief in yourself and in your teammates, you are able to achieve anything.

“As much as we compete against each other throughout the year in all of our sports, we root for each other when we are at this point, how could you not,” Reilly said. “For a school like St. Peters, which is a small school, very similar in size to [Manhattan College] it makes you realize that, hey, you know, with a couple of breaks here or there, you do catch lightning in the bottle every once in a while.

If it can happen, it can happen to anybody.”

According to an NBC Newscast, applications to be admitted into Saint Peter’s are already up 56% since the beginning of their March Madness run. With the rise of publicity, name dropping and success in a place like March Madness, Reilly predicts high school athletes will begin to look more into MAAC programs.

“Whenever you win, it creates an aura that people are curious about when they win, they will come,” Reilly said.

Saint Peter’s Victory Parades in Jersey City on April 1st after their historic run to the Elite 8.

NBC4NY/COURTESY

THE QUADRANGLE

Doug Edert celebrating with his team over their win against Kentucky.

JAMIE SABAU/COURTESY “It’s really interesting, having been part of the building process and watching them when recruiting becomes a little easier and sometimes even more strategic because now you get to choose who you want on your team. They’re all coming to you because they all want to be a part of a winning program.

When you have consistency in winning, that will happen.”

Manhattan has seen their fair share of winning and publicity with the success of last year’s softball team as they were the 2021 MAAC Champions.

“The fact that we won last year in softball definitely helps us advance and tells our story,” Reilly said “When your coach and you are recruiting, you can tell that story to recruits. Everybody wants to be part of a winner and just makes recruiting a little bit easier.”

Although all of this talk has been about men’s basket-

ball, it does not shy away from the fact people will look at the MAAC program as a whole.

During the March Madness games, screens next to the bench displayed the conference in which the team was from. Google Trends shows a spike in searches for “MAAC” in the month of March. When success comes in one sport in the MAAC, it always seems to filter down to other sports on campuses across the MAAC. “When there are eyes on Saint Peter’s, they started looking oh, what league is Saint Peter’s in, they are in the MAAC … I do think that that will filter down to some degree to the other sports because with all that exposure in the eyes of this conference,” Confessore said. “I think that it’ll definitely cause some interest that might not have been there already or some people that weren’t as familiar will understand how great this league actually is.”