Veteran Provost William Clyde has reclaimed the titles of provost and executive vice presi dent of affairs of Manhattan Col lege as of July 1. He originally served in these roles from 2010 to 2020 before Steven Schreiner took over as provost in July 2020. When The Quadrangle reached out to Schreiner for a comment, an automatic reply email stating Schreiner is on sabbatical until January 2023 was sent in response. Schreiner did not directly reach out to The Quadrangle to provide any addi tionalClydeinformation.began working at Manhattan College after serving as vice president of academic affairs at Quinnipiac University from 1990 to 2007, and Queens University of Charlotte from July 2007 through June 2010. After his term as provost and executive vice president of affairs of the college, Clyde opted to demote himself from his admin istrative title and focus on being a professor of economics and fi nance.“I was ready to go back and be on the faculty,” Clyde said. “I started out a professor, [and] I actually started out my career in banking.”Clyde, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from Edinburgh Uni versity, a M.S. in chemistry from New York University and a B.A. in economics and chemistry from DePauw University, began his career as a trader and corporate advisor in the foreign currency markets.“Idid that for six and a half years and then I started on the path as a faculty member,” Clyde said. “I was effective for 10 years at another institution, became a tenured full professor there and then started into administration.”
Jilleen Barrett & Caroline McCarthy
“I think that it is fair to say that every faculty member who dealt with Clyde believed that he was a good human being and that he meant the absolute best for the institution,” Horn said. “And I know that there is and was and has come once again, tremendous support for his commitment to the vision of what Manhattan is supposed to be and who we want to be … I think that the choice of Clyde as the interim provost, to be able to help manage this time of transition, was really the only good choice in this one.”
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Clyde and Brother Daniel Gardner, FSC — who is currently
Women’s ball Coach Heather
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Bryan Wilkins, Ph.D., as sociate professor of chemistry at Manhattan College, wrote in an email to The Quadran gle that the campus is above the national average with their number of vaccinated individu als. “I feel that these numbers could be better across campus but that the school is in a de cent position,” Wilkins wrote. “I believe the national average of those over the age of 18 and fully vaccinated is roughly 77%. That average in NY state is about 88% (over the age of 18). Our campus is within those ranges, although I would have liked to see more of the student population receiving their full series of vaccinations.”
A growing body of evidence shows that people who are up to date with their vaccines are at substantially reduced risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 compared with un vaccinated individuals,” the emailFurthermore,wrote. the email wrote that the financial burden on students, employees and the college is reduced by commu nity“Invaccination.addition, vaccines help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the financial bur den on students, employees, and the College. We strongly encourage everyone to be ful ly up-to-date on vaccinations for the health and safety of the community,” the email wrote. In addition to changing protocols, there will be no COVID-19 test providers avail able on-campus for the fall 2022 semester. To minimize risks, Health Services recommends that all individuals complete a COVID-19 home test in the 24 hours before their first day on-campus.“Therewill be no COVID-19 test providers available on-cam pus fall 2022. All individuals should do a COVID-19 home test in the 24 hours before their first day on-campus for the Fall semester and report any posi tives; there is no need to report negative tests, unless directed by Health Services,” the email wrote.The daily symptom tracker has been revised to be a symp tom tracker that individuals will be required to fill out only once before the start of the semes ter. “The Daily Symptom Track er has been revised to be a Symptom Tracker to reflect the guidelines above and is no longer required to be complet ed daily for access to campus. The Symptom Tracker should be completed once on your first day back for the fall semester. This Green pass will allow ac cess to campus for the semes ter,” the email wrote. In addition, the visitor poli cy has been updated to match CDC
“As the summer comes to a close, we are excited to wel come students back to campus and to greet new and return ing colleagues next week. As of August 17, 81% of students and 89% of employees are fully up-to-date with the COVID-19 vaccine,” the One Manhattan Office email said.
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Lauren Raziano Copy Editor & Web
Before the Manhattan Col lege community returned to campus for the fall 2022 semes ter, the One Manhattan Office sent an email on Aug. 22 shar ing updated COVID-19 guide lines.The office presented the percentage of the up-to-date individuals in the community with the COVID-19 vaccine, both the initial vaccination and the booster shot.
William Clyde Steps inas Interim Provost ON 3
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Jeff Horn, Ph.D., a professor of history and the co-chair of the Faculty Welfare Committee told The Quadrangle about the gen eral reaction he gauged from the faculty upon hearing of Clyde’s return to office.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Welcome Back to Campus, Jaspers! Students, staff and faculty return to Riverdale for the start of the fall semester. KYLA GUILFOIL/ THE QUADRANGLE the Quadrangle Book onMidnightComeNook:VisittheLibrarypg.10 FREEVolume CVI, Issue 1 NEW YORK, AUGUST 30, 2022 Manhattan Opens Revamped Veter ans Success Center on pg. 4 IN NEWS: IN FEATURES: IN A&E: IN SPORTS: Upperclassmen Speak on their onIntershipSummerExperiencespg.6-7 THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
The One Manhattan email encouraged further wide spread vaccination among the Manhattan College community. “Vaccination is the leading prevention strategy to protect individuals from COVID-19.
Vulin Has Contract Extended on pg. 12 “We Journalism”Do VisitWebsiteOur mcquad.org
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As always, we are here to help the Manhattan College community stay up to date with the latest news and highlight what’s happen ing around campus. We continue to strive to give you all the most accurate, clear and trust worthy information on all things MC.
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Sports Editor AngelicaMaddieNiedermeyerMulkigan Asst. Sports Editor
AUGUST 30, 2022
DearWelcomeReaders,back to campus, my fellow Jas pers! To our new Jaspers, welcome to MC! My name is Kyla Guilfoil and I am the ed itor-in-chief of The Quadrangle, MC’s stu dent-run newspaper. We have the absolute pleasure of returning to campus this fall with a full print schedule, so make sure to check stands around campus ev ery Tuesday for our latest issue.
About The Quadrangle Connect with The mcquad@mcquad@mcquadmcquad.orgQuadrangle 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. Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief The Editorial Board OpiniOns & editOrials Caroline McCarthy Managing Editor Jilleen Barrett Managing Editor Jocelyn Visnov Lauren Raziano Web Editors Megan LaCreta Arts & Entertainment Editor Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor Jilleen Barrett Features Editor Zoe DeFazio Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Mars Ross Photography Editor Adrianne Hutto Jocelyn Visnov Production Editor Josh Grewal Asst. Social Media Editor Karen Flores Asst. Features Editor Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editor Nicholas Gilewicz Faculty Advisor Nicole Fitzsimmons News Editor Angelina Persaud Asst. News Editor fromLETTERTheEditor Connect with mcquad.org the Quadrangle Caroline
2 Volume CVI, Issue 1 August 30, 2022
Sincerely, Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief Lauren Raziano Copy Editor
This issue, we’re diving back in with sto ries about new changes in administrative positions and in the athletic department. We’re also highlighting some of the incredible internships our students have taken on over the summer and discussing important campus resources, such as mental health support. I hope you enjoy reading it just as much as we enjoyed creating it. Here’s to an exciting start to a fresh semester!
Editorial
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 accu racy, relevancy and professionalism. opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board, the College or the student body. McCarthy
William Clyde Steps in as Interim Provost
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“I think that they’re so ner vous to do anything about it and especially don’t want to face the backlash of setting up precautions. I get it, but it is concerning not to hear any thing,” Byrne wrote.
The Quadrangle will contin ue to cover any public health information released by the col lege or the One Manhattan Of fice throughout the semester.
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Another public health cri sis was presented to New York City this summer with the rise of Monkeypox cases, which is “a rare disease caused by in fection with the monkeypox virus,” according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). A total of 2,888 monkeypox cases have been reported by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of Aug. 26. “I really am nervous,” By rne wrote. “Especially since we’ve taken away all the PPE requirements, there will be a lot of backlash from people if it needs to be reinstated. I will be getting vaccinated when I have the opportunity but un fortunately I feel like that’s all that’s currently available. The only thing I can do beyond that is wear my mask, monitor any possible symptoms, and hope that I’m not the lab rat for the college.”Wilkins is not immediate ly concerned about a possible Monkeypox spread in the cam pus community.
Wilkins, however, believes that the precautions the college currently has for COVID-19 will be sufficient enough to pre vent the spread of Monkeypox. “I believe a lot of the precau tions that we already have in place for COVID-19 help allevi ate some of the threats of Mon keypox spreading,” Wilkins wrote. “Since the beginning of the pandemic I have shifted a majority of my assignments to being submitted electronically. I even do this in the lab now, using an electronic notebook. This eliminates the need for having to physically handle papers and notebooks from students, limiting the spread of any viruses in general.”
As the college sheds some of the policies enforced during the pandemic — such as the isolation measures that were in place last spring or the mask mandates that were ended on April 9 — Clyde is working on a way to include the perspective of the student body in his decisions.“I’mcreating something called the Executive Vice Pres ident task force,” he said. “It’s going to be a very small group, seven people, and it’s going to have somebody from leadership from the faculty, somebody from leadership from students and somebody from leadership in ad ministration … Those representa tives can kind of share concerns and hot conversations coming out of theirClydeareas.”feels this will be a way to satisfy the needs of everyone at the college.“Iknow that there is a very serious desire for collaboration and conversation and transpar ency and I think a lot of that is, frankly, a national conversation, not just college-wide conversa tion,” Clyde said. “I can tell you that Brother Dan [Gardner] and I are very focused on that, and that always would have been some thing that I was thinking was im portant.”Clyde anticipates the school year being a good one for all. “It seems like it’s an exciting year, I hope, ahead of us,” Clyde said. “Obviously, there have been a lot of challenges we’ve all lived through the last couple of years, but I think that Manhattan has always been known for its read iness … I’ve been made aware of a lot of really exciting initiatives for students and for the college that are available to us, [and] Brother Dan [Gardner] and I are going to do everything we can to move things forward.”
William Clyde, PhD, who served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs from 2010 to 2019, will be taking over the role again this semester as Steven Sch reiner, Ph.D, will be on sabbatical until January 2023.
Although Wilkins will be on sabbatical this semester, he shared his stance on masking in classrooms and labs in dif ferent situations. “I am on sabbatical this se mester and will not be teaching courses. However, I believe I would ask students to wear masks if it was a class with a large enrollment in a room that was at capacity,” Wilkins wrote. “In lab spaces that have venti lation, less students, and room for social distancing, I would make it Madelineoptional.”Byrne, senior chemical engineering major, is choosing to wear a mask this semester amongst these changes.“My professors personally don’t seem to mind if we wear masks or not,” Byrne wrote. “Last semester I stopped wear ing a mask only to be met with the spread of COVID through our very small major. As some one who is immunocompro mised, I now have to be one of the people who ‘can’t let it go’ when it comes to wearing masks. I probably will have to continue to wear one for my own health and safety.”
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OneManhattan: Looser Restrictions for Fall 2022 dates and the removal of the Key to NYC requirements, visi tors to campus will no longer be required to be fully up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations. Vis itors should still take the Symp tom Tracker to receive a green pass on the morning that they arrive on campus,” the email wrote.The college may require masks at large indoor events, but the One Manhattan office has decided that the college will not require masks in in door or outdoor spaces unless it is“Masksrequested.will not be required indoors or outdoors except in classes by faculty request, in ad ministrative offices by request, and in Health Services, though they are highly recommend ed for high risk individuals, as well as those who have been exposed to COVID-19 (see be low) or who have recently test ed positive,” the email wrote.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 serving as president of the col lege — are both in their roles on an interim basis, meaning they are anticipating someone else taking over their roles in the fu ture. Clyde plans to prepare for that.“Brother Dan [Gardner] and I are going to do everything we can to move things forward, and to put us in a great place so that when we get the next president and next administration, whoever those folks are, they’re in great shape to move forward and and and can feel the same excitement we do,” Clyde said. One of the responsibilities Clyde will take on again is work ing with the Student Government Association. The SGA and the provost work closely together to make decisions that affect the college and its students. Nadia Itani, who served as Student Gov ernment Association’s Vice Pres ident of Academic Affairs during the 2019-2020 school year, told The Quadrangle what it was like to operate under Clyde. “[H]e was pretty real with us in terms of what [the college’s] administration was thinking on certain things and what he thinks that we could actually do, versus when things might not be realis tic … he was pretty good about being transparent with us,” Itani said.Itani and Clyde worked to create a pass/fail policy during the spring 2020 semester to alle viate stress students were experi encing due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Itani noted how he shows his concern for the student body.
“We worked directly together to write up the Pass/Fail policy … he was really, really good about making students’ voices heard, or at least making my voice heard on the Academic Affairs Commit tee,” Itani said. “Other than that, he was just a very personable guy – every time I saw him on cam pus, he would say ‘hello’ and ac tually be genuinely interested in myself and students that he had interacted with.”
“I do not get the sense that Monkeypox is of immediate concern on campus but I do not think this means that the college is not worried about it,” Wilkins wrote. “I encourage students to be honest and vig ilant about potential symptoms and to use their better judg ment when in spaces of close contact with others on cam pus.”For those who want to get vaccinated against Monkeypox, Anne Mavor MSN., APRN., director of Health Services, shared in an email with The Quadrangle that although the college will not be offering a vaccination clinic at this time, there are two vaccination sites available in the Bronx. “The College will not be offering a vaccination clinic at this time as all doses are be ing managed through the NYC Department of Health,” Mavor wrote.With these high levels in NYS, Byrne thinks that it is concerning that the college has not said anything about Mon keypox disease.
The search committee con sisted of several professors from the school of science, representatives from each ac ademic school, as well as two current MC students.
In addition to the furniture being installed, some small, simple things like data ports and electrical work still need to be done to the new center. The plan is on using it with the hopes that things will keep progressing, and according to Sloan the center is currently usable for student veterans. Sloan also explains al though the current center was open in 2017, the student vet erans outgrew the space very quickly. The current center had seating for only 13 people but would often have around 25 people in the center at once. “A cornerstone of what we do here and what is so import ant for the veterans is building a sense of community and I think it’s a sense for all students but within veterans, when they’re serving in the military, there’s a really strong sense of commu nity that is lost once they sepa rate from the military, and what we’ve done at Manhattan Col lege is giving them their com munity back, allowing them to make connections and build those bonds,” Sloan said. “The past vet center gave a place where they could organically connect with each other but it just became too crowded.”
ISAIAH ROSARIO/ THE
Isaiah Rosario Staff Writer It will be a two-for-one spe cial for student veterans this year, because in addition to the already functioning Stu dent Veterans Success Center, they will have a brand new Stu dent Veterans Success Center opened in Thomas Hall during the start of the fall semester.
Dr.MarcyPeteroy-KellyAppointedNewDeanofScience
After adjusting to the roles and responsibilities of a dean, Kelly hopes to eventually re turn to the classroom to contin ue teaching biology as to work closer with students.
Jocelyn Visnov Production Editor & Web Editor Manhattan College has welcomed a new dean to the Jasper community. Marcy Pet eroy-Kelly, Ph.D., now serves as the dean of the School of Science and a tenured profes sor of biology as of July 1, 2022. The search committee for the new Dean of Science was led by the dean of engineering, Tim Ward, Ph.D. As chair of the search committee, Ward guided the search committee which finally led to the appoint ment of Peteroy-Kelly.
As of July 1st, 2022, Dr. Marcy Peteroy-Kelly serves as the new Dean of Science.
ManhattanOpensRevampedVeteransSuccessCenter
Tiana Sloan, director of the Veterans Success Programs, spoke to The Quadrangle about when the new Student Veterans Success Center will be open to student“[Weveterans.are]hoping to official ly open starting the first day of classes next week,” Sloan said. “It is going to still be a work in progress, but the furniture got installed this week.”
MANHATTAN.EDU/ COURTESY
for this new Student Veterans Center can
After working with a search firm, the committee commu nicated with the office of the President to narrow down the number of potential candi dates. After a recommendation of a select number of candi dates was made, Peteroy-Kelly was appointed to the position. The position of Dean of Science was previously held by Janet McShane, Ph.D., who has served as interim dean of science since July of 2020. According to Dean Ward, McShane had always planned to retire once the position was filled.“I am very much looking forward to working closely with Dean Kelly on mutual ly beneficial projects to move both schools forward,” Ward said.Sarah Rosen, a senior math ematics major, served as the undergraduate student repre sentative on the search commit tee. Rosen believes that student representation throughout the search process was essential.
“In discussing with these candidates I spoke out about the importance of things like support of undergraduate re search, funding to programs like the Center for Academic Success, and the ability for stu dents to connect with the pro spective dean,” Rosen said. “If it were up to me, there should be more than one undergrad uate student representative on each hiring committee. Even though I tried my best, it is im possible for me as one person to represent the beliefs of hun dreds of Newlystudents.”appointed Kelly is a New York native, having grown up not far from MC in Rock land County, NY. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from SUNY Buffalo and her Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics from Rutgers University. Kelly spent her early career inside the lab, completing research with a number of biologists working with viruses and bacteria which causes infectious diseases. “My bench research is on respiratory infectious disease, which now is kind of cool be cause everybody knows my language because of this pan demic,” Kelly said. After returning to the class room for several years to teach biology at the undergradu ate level, Kelly most recently served as the chair of biology at Pace University. Kelly is also part of a professional organiza tion called the American Soci ety for Microbiology. As dean, Kelly hopes to fos ter an integrated community of scholars within the department and throughout the school. “I am working to build rela tionships also with the School of Liberal Arts and Business and so on and so forth,” Kelly said. “But I think we certainly need to start by building our capacity in our community in science and I’m really, really looking forward to doing that.”
The new Student Veterans Success Center as of Aug. 24, 2022.
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The revamped Student Vet erans Success Center will have three distinct areas: a social space, a group study space and a quiet study space. In terms of admissions, the staff believes that this move will help Manhattan College com pete with higher-end schools in terms of its veteran program. Director of transfer and veter an admissions, Robert Rahni, believes this newly revamped center will benefit the college in various“Frommanners.anadmission stand point, this veteran center puts us on par with other institu tions of higher education that have been recognized as being military friendly,” Rahni said. “This is a full fledged center which will meet the needs of our students, which the previ ous base just simply couldn’t. It’s going to be appealing to prospective military-connected students because they’re going to know that the infrastructure is there for them. Having a full fledged center as opposed to before shows that the college truly is military friendly more thanExcitementever.”
stem down the way from ad missions all the way to student veterans themselves. Senior and president of the Student Veteran Organization Christo pher Norberto wrote an email to The Quadrangle discussing his excitement for the new cen ter. “To say we are excited about the new vet center open ing up is an understatement,” Norberto wrote. “This new center is going to provide all of us with the space to help us succeed, not just this coming semester, but for all the rest to follow. The commitment that Manhattan college has shown and provided to its vet eran community is top-tier, and I cannot put into words how grateful I myself and the rest of the student veteran community are to this institution.”
AUGUST 30, 2022 news
“I can envision myself get ting back into the classroom, maybe teaching one class a year because I miss working with students,” she said. “I mean, you [the students] are why I got into this, right? Your energy, your curiosity, your passion. So I really, really want to get back into the classroom and kind of practice some of the things I’ve always done and maybe add some new things.”
The Counseling Center is located on the fifth floor of Mi guel Hall, accessible through the north stairwell.
KYLA GUILFOIL/THE QUADRANGLE
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semester. ANNA WOODS/THE QUADRANGLE
While Fairchild is not a clinician herself, she said stu dents will come to her in part because they are reluctant to see therapy or counseling be cause there are still many stig mas surrounding psychothera py and who it is appropriate for. While students come to her with a myriad of struggles, Fairchild said circumstances where students have feelings of burnout, stress and being gen erally overwhelmed have in creased over the last two years. Fairchild often works to help guide students to clinical help at the counseling center, but said there are two common issues.The first is that students are not aware of where the ser vices actually are, or what they include. The second is that the services are stretched thin and students do not have easy ac cess to “Tooappointments.often,students don’t seek help until they are at a crit ical point of stress and anxiety, and I think this is often when students turn to trusted profes sors for a kind ear,” Fairchild said. “It isn’t just on-campus, but even in the broader com munity it can be hard to get help immediately without long waitMcNeelytimes.” said that she too has noticed that some students do not feel the counseling cen ter offers services that are ade quate for their needs, and that it often feels like a one-sizedoesn’t-fit-all situation.
Esmilda Abreu-Hornbos tel, Ph.D., associate vice presi dent for student life and dean of students, said the administra tion has worked to expand well ness opportunities, like yoga, meditation training and other events on However,campus.there does not seem to be any plans to expand access to clinical support for those seeking therapy. For now, McNeely said SGA is building the foundation for a better system at the col lege, one where the burden of seeking and accessing mental health services doesn’t fall on the struggling student. McNeely said she encour ages students to take the extra time for their mental health and say something if they notice they are struggling.
“It’s really difficult to bal ance social life, balance your classes, make sure you’re get ting multiple meals in a day, making sure you’re getting enough sleep, all these dif ferent things that you have to balance and that you’re pretty much learning on your own,” McNeely said. “If it gets dif ficult, take some time to let someone know.”
Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief Changes in Manhattan College’s upper administration and long-held confusion about what services the college actu ally offers has sparked calls for change when it comes to men tal healthTensionsupport.rose when stu dents called on the college’s administration last spring in a walkout on the quadrangle, ad vocating for the improvement of mental health services on campus in the wake of junior Christian Gallante’s death in March.Brennan O’Donnell, the president of the college at the time, had met with the Stu dent Government Association to discuss possible solutions going forward, to expand and improve mental health access at theUppercollege.administration has shifted significantly since those meetings last spring, with new names filling the roles of both president and provost. Broth
er Daniel Gardner is currently interim president and William Clyde has replaced Steven Sch reiner as provost. SGA president, Calissa McNeely, told The Quadrangle that the change in administra tion has impacted the process of implementing new measures to the college’s mental health services.“The conversations we were having were with people who aren’t here anymore,” Mc NeelyHowever,said. seeking better mental health resources is still an important part of SGA’s agenda, McNeely said. The SGA wants to take their time developing a new plan and cre ating relationships both with new administrators and with groups on campus who hope to be a part of the change. PhKimberly Fairchild, Ph.D., associate professor of psychol ogy, stated that she has helped students who have come to her with mental health struggles.
THE QUADRANGLEFeatures
Christin Nedumchira, staff psychologist at the center, and Briana Azzarelli, staff counsel or at the center, told the Quad rangle the services available at the Tocenter.seek individual or group therapy, crisis intervention services and referrals for long term treatment, Nedumchira and Azzarelli encourage stu dents to reach out via email or phone call, or by stopping into the Theoffice.
MentalHealthServicesatManhattan-What’sGoingOn?
Counseling Center is located on the fifth floor of Miguel Hall and accessible through the northern staircase.
Calls for better mental health resources came to a point during a student-led walkout in April last
Jamie Robbins: I interned at Concourse House, a shelter for women and children in the Bronx.
JR: I worked directly with several mothers who were transitioning into affordable housing and moving out of the Con course House. A big part of my summer was spent doing crochet. One of my favorite things at Concourse House is that they promote peace and unity among neighbors - they do this by yarnbombing. Yarnbombing is the act of creating a large crochet art piece and installing it to a fence in public to spread happiness.
Maura McCarthy, Economics/ManagementSenior major
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Upperclassmen Speak on their Summer
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TQ: What was your overall impression of this experience? BW: This internship was truly an incredible experience. I got to work on numerous projects and gained a lot of hands-on experience. I worked with a lot of different machinery, so it was very interesting to see how it all worked. Going forward, I could see myself working in a similar environment to what I experienced.
TQ: What did you think of the overall experience?
JR: I loved working at Concourse House, I feel like it really opened my eyes to how easy it is to become homeless in NYC and to be appreciative of life’s everyday treasures. I feel really grateful to have this experience coupled with my major in urban studies because in the future I would love to make a change in the inequalities people face because of social circumstances.
Brian Weir ‘23 BRIAN WEIR/COURTESY
TQ: What did you do during your time with them? BW: I worked with the production department where I got to oversee the packaging of protein powder. The overall goal of my internship was to help increase the efficiency of the line where this protein powder was packaged, so all my day-to-day activities revolved around trying to improve that.
Maura McCarthy, left, at an educational tabling setup for the Water Resources MAURACenter. MCCARTHY/COURTESY
As the majority of students return to the classroom for the first time since May, for a number of upperclassmen, summers were spent taking their expertise beyond campus to continue their pre-professional careers. The Quad spoke with several juniors and seniors to learn about their experience completing summer internships or research programs.
Brian Weir: Glanbia Nutritionals
The Quad: Where did you intern this summer?
Maura McCarthy: So I interned with the National Science Foundation’s Coast line and People grant through East Carolina University. It’s a five year five-mil lion dollar grant working on the protection of the tar Pamlico watershed in eastern NorthTQ:Carolina.Whatdid you do there? MM: So I was working at the Coastal Studies Institute, which is partnered with East Carolina University. I was working on their social science team, more so to get the community involved. I ran programs with like local middle school students to get them involved in community science. We did things like board meetings where we shared our work with the community we did like water sampling and a lot of surveying.TQ:What was your overall impression of the program? Was it similar to some thing you might want to pursue in the future? MM: Yeah, so I’m sort of continuing with it throughout the year. So over the summer, I was doing more community based stuff while I was physically living there. Now I’m going to be doing more from the research side. So figuring out the next projects is more like taking an academic lens on the project than community driven, I guess. I’ve done a couple of other research projects at Manhattan College with some of the grants that they have available, and I really, really love research.
Jamie Robbins ‘24 JAMIE ROBBINS/COURTESY
TQ: Any advice or additional comments? JR: I remember I was terrified to start working here, but being pushed out of your comfort zone is the only way to grow and I am entirely grateful for my experience.
TQ: What were your responsibilities there?
Jamie Robbins Urban/Environmental’24 Studies major
The Quadrangle: Where did you intern this summer?
Production Editor & Web Editor Manhattan College has been nationally recognized for preparing students for a successful transition from classroom to career. As written on their website, the college believes that “Opportunities available in all academic disciplines lead students to secure high salaries and jobs at top companies.”
Brian Weir ’23 Chemical Engineering major The Quad: Where did you intern this summer?
TQ: What were your responsibilities? ES: My main job was to understand how the machines send data to the operator and then convert that data into an easy guide for users. So one project I worked on was learning how to track API productivity data of a machine and import that data into Excel. API is Application Programming intern interface, which is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with one another.
Summer Internship Experiences eatures
Marin Bultena: I was grounded at MC doing historical research. I was a Branigan scholar for the summer under the adviso ry of Dr. Nefertiti Takla. I had the opportunity to pursue research in the field of my interest after doing a whole grant process, and it’s been a good summer so far.
The Quad: Where did you intern this summer?
EMILY SPECHT/COURTESY
DV: I’m a senior now, so I’m applying to be a Ph.D. student at MIT next year. The program is really supportive, like all the alumni want to help [program participants] with getting to like top colleges. But I’m sort of stuck on like the MIT mindset, like, I want to go back there.
ON THE QUAD
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The Quadrangle: What did you do this summer?
Marin Bultena ‘23 MARIN
Emily Specht, left, with her fellow student interns at Ei3, a company which is based in Pearl River, NY.
TQ: What did you think of the experience overall? ES: I think it was great to broaden my horizons. It was interesting to learn about the machines and how they operate. So, maybe that could lead to something else in the future.
Donovan Vincent: I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I did a research opportunity at MIT. It was so much fun, it was amazing.TQ:What did your day-to-day look like? DV: Every day was different, which is kind of what I liked about it. Typically what I would do is I’ll get into the lab and I would work with some sort of cell. So we were using something called HEK cells, which stands for human embryonic kid ney. Once the cell had DNA inside of it, we expressed the antibody that we coded for it. And so we were just able to test how strong the antibodies were, what concentration we needed. Other things like that, we’re doing this against diseases like SARS, COVID, yellow fever virus and HIV.
Marin Bultena, Senior International Studies/History major The Quadrangle: Where did you complete research this summer?
TQ: What was the research scholars program like? MB: So in the beginning of the summer, we did bi-weekly seminars with all the scholars on topics like research ethics, resume building, ect. The programs are built with a different set of requirements and metrics. But for Branigan it concludes with 50 to 70 pages of humanities research that is comparable to something like a master’s thesis.
DONOVANDonovanBULTENA/COURTESYVincent‘23VINCENT/COURTESY
Emily Specht: I worked at a company called Ei3, and they’re based in Pearl River, New York. They bring the power of artificial intelligence to industrial machines and processes. They create these controls to help reduce carbon footprint and monitor machines downtime and display the OEE which is the overall equipment efficient, efficient pneus of a machine. So it identifies the percentage of a machine’s time that is truly productive, like the most productive machine can be.
Donovan Vincent ’23 Chemical Engineering major
Emily Specht ’24 Civil Engineering major
TQ: What did your research look like? MB: I’m working in humanities, and humanities research does not look like stem research. There’s no labs, my equipment is archival sources. So my project is looking at anti-trafficking and prostitution reform in interwar Egypt. So in between the First World War and the Second World War, there were a lot of people really concerned about trafficking and prostitution in these in a setting of the British Empire. So I’m looking at how these sources were talking about the issue and trying to under stand how their ideas about race, gender, and class might have impacted their approach to the issue and how they viewed it. So I’m doing that by looking at their internal documents.
TQ: Do you think you may want to do something similar in the future?
Manhattan College has a brand new club rolling into campus this fall semester –the Manhattan College Skate boarding Society.
Isabel Quiñones ’20, ’21, the former co-president of the Manhattan College chapter of the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi, is now serving as the designated representa tive of the national organiza tion, which has a status at the United“I’mNations.veryexcited to an nounce that I have been se lected as a Designated Rep resentative for the United Nations NGO Kappa Delta Pi,” Quiñones posted on LinkedIn. “Through this role, I will work to explore how this collabora tion will better benefit teachers in America’s classrooms and increase teachers’ global com petencies.”Quiñones has been work ing toward this since her days at Manhattan, when she won a scholarship through KDP to pay for school. From there, she was asked to participate in the organization’s Knowledge De velopment Advisory Council. This led to her being nominat ed for the position she is cur rently“Whenserving.Iwas in contact with [national headquarters], they asked me if I was interested in being a part of this council that basically was to be a little bit more inclusive of all differ ent perspectives of teachers,” Quiñones told The Quadrangle.
Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editor
SkatingSocietyRollsintoMC
While the Skateboarding Society is not an official MC club yet, they are in the works of going through the process of filling out the paperwork and meeting with the student government. They also have a faculty advisor, Robin Lovell, Ph.D.Lovell shared their thoughts on why they believe the club will be a welcomed addition to MC.“I think the more the mer rier on campus because people have really distinct, specific and unique wants and needs,” Lovell said. “If someone is not interested in anything but skateboarding, now there’s a home for them where they can make friends and have more community as a college experi ence. So I think that it’s super important on that level.” The Skateboarding Society is planning on having a table at the club fair on Tuesday, Sept. 6. You can follow them on ins tagram @mcskatesociety for updates and future information.
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AUGUST 30, 2022 Features
The idea of the club was originally thought up back in fall 2021 by current senior Re ese Hollister and now alumni Stephanie Seubert. Hollister and Seubert met while skate boarding where they also met Nicholas Pagoria, Aiden Fee ney and Max Esser, who are also members of the club. “The idea comes from Van Cortlandt skatepark just being so close to Manhattan College,” Hollister said. “It’s such a great resource. I can go in between classes, I can go in the morn ings, I can go anytime. So the whole point of the club is just to have that group where you can text up who wants to skate. That’s what it’s all about…All you have to do is skate down the hill and you’re there.”
“Just having a supportive environment at Manhattan Col lege is a really awesome thing that I think people should take advantage of if skateboarding is an interest,” Seubert said. The terrain gives students motivation that drives them to want to explore the urban setting around them. For the Skateboarding Society it means that the city is their playground waiting to be explored.
recently hired to teach for the upcoming school year in addi tion to taking on this role with the QuiñonesU.N. believes part of the reason she is able to have access to so many different op portunities is because she was a part of KDP at Manhattan.
“One of the things the ed ucation department at Man hattan really stressed was that they had this relationship with KDP,” Quiñones said. “I didn’t realize the larger scope of KDP and what they have.” This is what Quiñones told students at Manhattan who were inducted into KDP this past year. Tara Fox, who was serving as the chapter’s pres ident at the time, reached out to Quiñones to speak at the in duction because she knew her experiences would be helpful for the new inductees.
MCAlumnaIsabelQuiñonesSelectedDesignatedRepresentativeofKDPattheU.N.
The perspectives she has learned about since she started come from all across the world as she now participates in con versations about increasing access to equitable education across the globe. Quiñones said they do that by comparing ed ucation styles between the fifty states, and then comparing the U.S. to other countries who are part of the U.N. One of the panels she at tended recently addressed ed ucation on human rights, and how that is being worked into curriculums for children. “I didn’t really learn about human rights — like what my rights are as a human — until I was older and researched it on my own,” Quiñones said. “[Now], there’s curriculums set for kindergarten all the way up through high school, so that is something I am going to im plement myself this year and bring to my school … so every student [in the district] is get ting some sort of human rights education.”Quiñones hopes to imple ment human rights education across the White Plains City school district, where she was
Isabel Quiñones ‘20 ‘21 had the chance to run Safe Hal loween when she was the president of the Manhattan College chapter of Kappa Delta ISABELPi. COURTESYQUINONES/
Jilleen Barrett Features Editor/ManagingEditor
The club’s main goal is to have fun together at the local skate parks while skateboard ing. The Skateboarding Society plans to practice tricks togeth er and film them for their Insta gram, @mcskatesociety. All the founding members are experienced skaters and want to help grow their com munity, with their targeted de mographic being anybody who is a student at MC. You don’t need any experience to join, but it is recommended that you have your own board. The club chooses not to have a leader or hierarchy sys tem in any way, according to its founders. Everyone will be seen as equals while Hollister will organize events. The club will have an initial meeting where they explain what they will be doing and where they will meet, howev er there will not be traditional meetings. As of now they plan on meeting on a free basis, where members can meet up whenever they would like. There will also be occantion al meet ups at skateboarding events and different skate parks around the city. Since Van Cortlandt Park is so close to MC, they feel that it is a great way to spend time in the neighborhood in which they go to school. The park is where the club will usually have their “Manhattanmeetups.College being in the city is super important, we’re in the Bronx,” Hollister said. “Skateboarding is by na ture an urban activity … not only can you skate at the park, but you can skate in the streets and you can skate the real ar chitecture of the city. You’re in New York City, the cultural capital of the sport. You can’t beat that. So being able to use the urban environment is really important.”TheSkateboarding Society wants to be inclusive to every body. Seubert explained how they want to take inspiration from NYC skateboarding asso ciations like PANSY and Bronx Girls Skate in an attempt to reach all corners of the skate boarding community.
Founders Reese Hollister and Stephanie Seubert taking a break from STEPHANIEskateboarding.SEUBERT/COURTESY
“We wanted someone to connect the values of KDP and education, and speak to our in ductees to offer some words of encouragement, some advice, helpful wisdom and to share her experience,” Fox said. “She always values her time in Man hattan … It’s just kind of full circle for everybody.” Ruth Zealand, Ph.D., is the faculty advisor for the honor so ciety and worked closely with Quiñones when she was the chapter co-president. She said Quiñones’ drive to help others was clear in the classroom, across campus and now, in her career.“Everywhere you would turn, she was helping students at orientation, or leading tours of campus – she always seemed to make time for other students and volunteering,” Zealand said. “I was actually going to suggest her as the [KDP induc tion] speaker, so it was a real delight that the students, on their own, thought she would be great.”Going forward, Quiñones hopes to see more Manhattan KDP members using the orga nization to their advantage in their careers like she has been able“Ito.would want people in un dergrad to know it’s not just an honor society,” Quiñones said. “They’re going to support you all the way through.”
“PURE/HONEY” Sampling from Moi Re nee’s “Miss Honey,” Beyoncé will have you question if you should stand to the left or right, perhaps even the mid dle. This track is so much fun to play in the shower. It’s just one of those songs where you pretend your hairbrush is the microphone. Make faces to yourself in the mirror while listening to this song and feel yourself become Miss Honey.
“MOVE” This song is featured with Grace Jones, a legendary icon in the disco world known for wildness and self-assurance. Grace Jones doesn’t hop on any track. Jones has stated that she is very meticulous with whom she works with, and refuses to let this new generation of art ists have the luxury of working with her for clout purposes. “Move” is a high-energy song that makes you want to put on your flashiest boots and stomp around. And I suggest you do so when listening to this song.
“HEATED” This song takes voguing to the next level. Beyoncé looks back on all her accolades in this song such as her Adi das-partnered athletic line “Ivy Park” along with her and her husband, Jay Z’s recent “About Love” campaign with Tiffany & Co. This song will absolutely get you fierce and worked up in a matter of time. After you lis ten to this song there’s no way anyone can stop you.
THE QUADRANGLE
“AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” Now this one is actually my favorite song. Dance to this song late at night when you can’t fall asleep because you have too much energy. By the third time you play this song, you will be exhausted. It’s hard to not dance hard to this song. In order to enjoy the full expe rience, you have to put your all into every single movement you make.
“I’M THAT GIRL” “I’m That Girl” is the first track of Renaissance, and it definitely starts with a bang. The song is sampling from the 1995 single “Still Pimpin” by Tommy Wright III featuring Princess Loko. “Im that girl” is about asserting your dom inance and letting yourself know that you are, in fact, ‘that girl.’ Beyoncé reassures you that being ‘that girl’ isn’t about wearing diamonds or pearls or even having a super fly partner. It’s about being confident in who you are and not letting any one invalidate your worth. This song is in a sensual tone with the right amount of cockiness. I recommend listening to this song as you get ready to start your day in class or a night out.
JASPER JAMS
“CHURCH GIRL” Honestly, not the kind of song I was expecting with this title. But once again Beyoncé lets us know that assumptions are not allowed in her house. Sampling from The Clark Sis ters “Center Thy Will” and Lyn Collins’s “Think (About It),” this song makes you wanna dance in more ways than one. The beat, the flow and the en ergy surrounding this song will make you find out how well you can move your hips.
“CUFF IT” Sampling from Teena Ma rie’s “Ooh La La La,” this song is so raunchy but you’d never even know it because of the cute beat in the background. The song sounds so light and fluffy. I can’t help but to dance. This song makes you wanna pop and lock joints in your body that you didn’t even know existed. It’s a great song with lyrics you just wanna yell out loud. But, it’s a raunchy song, so be careful where you’re yell ing these lyrics.
Scan here to listen to Theplaylist!Quadrangle’s 9 arts & entertainment
“COZY” A song sampling from Lidell Townsell and M.T.F’s 1992 sin gle “Get With U.” Beyoncé and her sneaky ways seemed Zoe DeFazio Asst. Arts &EditorEntertainment to paint a bright picture with this song. With a melody that expresses body positivity and overall self-love, she sprinkles in beautifully crafted lyrics to pay respect to the LGBTQIA+ community by referencing each color of the Progress Pride flag. My personal favorite part is when the sample from TS Madison’s “B**** I’m Black’’ comes on. Listen to this song while drinking coffee. I prom ise it’s worth it. Something about a hot girl walk combined with an iced caramel macchia to with oat milk and this song makes you seem like those re ally attractive people who strut down the streets of Manhattan in slow-mo on TikTok.
“ALIEN SUPERSTAR”
Jasper Jams: Kick-Start Your Spring Semester
“ENERGY” One of the smoothest song transitions I’ve ever heard. This song feels more like an in terlude that helps transition to the next track.
Beyoncé is back and better than ever. After a long hiatus, the Beyhive has been blessed with a sixteen-track album ti tled “Renaissance,” which is a part of a three-act project. The whole album pays homage to the Black men and women who paved the way for Black ballroom music by sam pling classic favorites that bring nostalgia and the urge to dance. With her quick-witted lyrics and Sasha Fierce creeping in the background, Beyoncé has once again left her mark on mu sic history.Beyoncé has dedicated this entire album to her late Un cle Johnny, who designed and made the most of Beyoncé’s early Destiny’s Child costumes and outfits, and introduced Be yoncé to house music. Johnny passed away when Beyoncé was seventeen from HIV com plications, but his legacy con tinuesRenaissanceon. is a perfect album filled with positive affir mations to help yourself with your confidence. Take a deep dive into the lyrics and watch yourself manifest into an alien superstar.Grabyour fan and put your heels on. It’s time to serve.
“BREAK MY SOUL” Beyoncé’s lead single never fails to shock the world. Sam pling from Robin S’s “Show Me Love” along with Big Freedia’s “Explode,” this song can and will get you moving. Put on your dancing songs and feel the rhythm flow through your soul as Beyoncé tells you that you can’t and won’t break hers. Dance to this song with LED lights on and friends in the background. Feel like the main character with this song. It’s hard not to.
“THIQUE” My second favorite song on this album. Sasha Fierce, Be yoncé’s alter ego who retired in the late 2000’s, has made a comeback. I’m so speechless about how good this song is that I can’t even write a review.
RENAISSANCE”“SUMMER Sampling from Donna Sum mer’s “I Feel Love,” Beyoncé shares a plethora of emotions about love and style. Beyoncé even shares her fashion ad vice. Birkins are out and Telfar bags are in and I couldn’t agree more. This song perfectly clos es out Act I and I wouldn’t have it any other way
Sampling from Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” this song is perfect for most occa sions. Wanna take a long show er and have the same song on repeat because you don’t know what playlist to put on? Play “Alien Superstar.” Wanna go shopping and pretend you’re in a Y2K movie but need a lead single? Play “Alien Superstar.” Wanna post a picture of your self that’s nice enough for your story but not nice enough for your feed but need a song? Play this song. A versatile song for the vixen within.
Megan LaCreta & Zoe DeFazio A&E Editor and Asst. A&E Editor Music is calling! Manhat tan College has awarded a new class of performing arts schol ars.Each year up to twelve incoming students who are interested in the performing arts are awarded a scholarship. This year, nine freshmen were selected, said Andy Bauer, di rector of performing arts. “We have some really great, talented freshmen coming in,” Bauer said. “I can’t wait to get working with them. We have in strumentalists and singers and all kinds of musicians. So I’m very excited about that. And they seem to have a lot of ener gy andEthanenthusiasm.”Haley,a freshman drummer, is one of the fresh men who was awarded the scholarship this year. Like so many musicians, Haley started at a young age. He began play ing piano as a child and later advanced to the trumpet as he reached adolescence. Haley’s true passion, however, is per cussion.“Drums are my primary instrument. I switched to that in band class for high school as well, and then I’ve learned a bunch of other instruments on my own time, too,” Haley said. Students must audition for a panel in order to lock in their scholarship spot, Bauer said. While many might find it intim idating, Haley had a breezy au dition experience. Confidence in his work and dedication to wards the many instruments he plays, helped Haley through the “Theprocess.audition experience was much more relaxed than I expected it to be,” Haley said. “There is a panel of judges there, but the panel is all cur rent students in the ensembles, typically people who have also helped with the scholarship, and then just a member of faculty as well. So it’s not like a super high-pressure environ ment. They’re all very support ive. We had a fun time.” Through the scholarship, students are able to explore their passion, and get some money while doing it. Recipi ents are required to participate in two ensembles, where they can learn more about their par ticularAnotherskill.
Isabella Suero, freshman in strumentalist and vocalist has been playing the clarinet since she was in the third grade. Af ter learning to play clarinet she has learned many more instru ments and even added vocals to add to her skill set. Suero will participate in Singers and or chestra, where she can expand on both her instrumental and vocal skills.
“I want to learn as much as I can about everything,” Suero said. “Even things I may not be as into, like, producing music. I just love to learn about music in general. I really hope that I can grow as a musician and a part of Manhattan College.”
scholarship recip ient, freshman vocalist Maria Budelman, is no stranger to performing. Budelman has starred in a number of pro ductions growing up in a wide range of genres, but she still feels that she has a lot to learn.
been looking forward to get ting back into a jazz band.”
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“I am hoping to learn more about using my voice,” Budel man said. “My mom has been my voice teacher since I was little, and so she taught me everything I know. But I know there is so much more to know as well. So I’m hoping to learn a lot more in that, and to contin ue to be able to share my talent at Manhattan College and my love for Budelmansinging.”has always been surrounded by music. Being involved in plays, musicals, choirs and lessons for years, Budelman believes she has what it takes for Manhattan College’s performing arts de partment, where she will take part in Singers and Music Min istry.“I have always loved to sing in a choir. I’ve done many cho ral groups, so when I saw that there was an opportunity to au dition for [the performing arts scholarship], I knew I wanted to go for it,” Budelman said. Haley also expressed his excitement for finally being a part of the school’s music com munity, where he will be partic ipating in the jazz band and pep band.“From what I’ve seen in pic tures, it looks like the pep band is a lot of fun,” Haley said. “I see that at the games there’s a lot of high energy, so I’m excited about that. And jazz band, I’ve
AMAZON.COM / COURTESY BOOK NOOK
Matt Haig’s novel “The Midnight Library” begins with a quote from Sylvia Plath.
Come Visit the Midnight Library
“I can never be all the peo ple I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and vari ations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.”
MARIA BUDELMAN / COURTESY
The main character Nora Seed is introduced at a time when she is unhappy with her life choices. Her cat died, she and her fiancé canceled their wedding and she lost her job. She attempts to end her life. When she blacks out, she wakes up in a mysterious place between life and death, a library with never-ending shelves of books, known as the Midnight Library.Inthis library is her child hood librarian, Mrs. Elm, who guides her through the process of choosing a new life. With an infinite amount of books that grant her a chance to live a new life story, Nora has the oppor tunity to explore any dream or choice she wishes she would have pursued in her life, as long as the clock is stuck at 00:00.Nora chooses to pursue the different lives she regrets not having chased. In her first life, she is transported into the life of a gold medal Olympic swim mer, a dream life her deceased dad desired for her. She learns that as a competitive swimmer, her dad is alive, but an affair broke up the marriage be tween him and her mother. In another life, Nora dis covers what it would’ve been like to marry her ex-fiance, Dan. She learns that as a cou ple they were able to achieve the opening of their dream bar called The Three Horseshoes. But during one long night at the bar, Nora figures out that Dan had become a spiteful drunk and is likely cheating on her, prompting her to return back to the library. Nora learns that the alter nate realities of her life were not as she once thought they would be like. She wakes up on an arctic boat with a gun near
Lauren Raziano Copy Editor & Web Editor her head and a major head ache, the lifestyle of an Antarc tic glaciologist. In the next life, she moves to Australia with her best friend, then in another life, the band she was a part of is signed to a record label and becomes a star. But in these lives, one of the people that matters most to her has passed on, something she does not want to face. In one of her final lives she and her neighbor, Ash, go on a coffee date that Nora originally turned down. In this life she has an epiph any, she must return to her “root life” and find the courage to love.“Itis not the lives we regret not living that are the real prob lem. It is the regret itself. It’s the regret that makes us shriv el and wither and feel like our own and other people’s worst enemy,” Haig writes. When the clock ticks past 00:00 Nora is ready to return to her original life with a new outlook. “It is quite a revela tion to discover that the place you wanted to escape to is the exact same place you escaped from. That the prison wasn’t
Matt Haig’s novel “The Midnight Library.”
the place, but the perspective,” HaigMattwrites.Haig’s novel “The Mid night Library” aims to make the reader analyze their own life choices and distinguish the insignificant versus consequen tial actions of our lives to truly determine how to get what we really want.
art & entertainment
Performing Arts Scholarship Recipients Are Ready To Make Music
Maria Budelman has received the performing arts scholar ship for her vocal skills.”
When the spring semester ended, the women’s basketball team bid a farewell to two of its own: Allie Bassetti and Kiam bra “Kiki” Griffin. After years of encouraging the team to make moves on and off the court, the former coaching staff members are making some big leaps of theirBassetti,own. who served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, is now working at Columbia University as an as sistant coach for their women’s basketball team. Bassetti was part of the coaching staff when the team went to the MAAC championships this past spring.
“We are in the process of searching for our next head coach. David Vandercook is our interim head coach until Mike Cole’s successor is offi cially named,” Phil Paquette, assistant athletic director, said. Vandercook was in his third year at the college as a volun teer assistant coach, before becoming interim head coach. Prior to his time here, Vander cook was an assistant coach at Dartmouth College. The athletic department
Angelica Niedermeyer Assistant Sports Editor has declined The Quadrangle access to speak with players regarding this matter until an official new coach has been de termined.Manhattan has also lost two women’s basketball coaches and a golf coach. Allie Bassetti, the assistant coach and recruit ment coordinator is now at Co lumbia University, while Kiki Griffin, the director of basket ball operations, is now working at the Women’s National Bas ketball Association. Golf Coach Phil Wildermuth left for St. Johns and is now replaced by Keith Prokop.
Christina Katsamouri speaks highly of Kiki Griffin, who helped her find a summer internship at Kids in the Game.
Kendall Rogers, a writer for D1Baseball, posted on Twitter. Head Coach Tracz was also hired this summer, coming fromColeMarist.spent five years with Manhattan baseball, bringing in 90 wins and coaching the Jaspers to the program’s 15th MAAC Tournament in 2019. “Our baseball program is one of the most storied and his toric programs in the country, and we are committed to find ing the next leader to guide our young men to success both on the field and in their careers,” ReillyThesaid.athletic department has appointed David Vandercook, former assistant coach for the Jaspers, while the search for a new head coach takes place.
Allie Bassetti and Kiki Griffin of Women’s Basketball Part Ways with the Jaspers
Bassetti credits Coach Heather Vulin and the Man hattan program for her career success.“Ifelt personally I had the opportunity to help build that program under Coach Vulin’s tutelage,” Bassetti said. “[R] ecruiting high academic ath letes is how I was able to tran sition from assistant recruiting coordinator with Manhattan to being an assistant here at Co lumbia.”Griffin, who was the direc tor of basketball operations at Manhattan, is now working with the Women’s National Basketball Association as a league operation analyst. “I came to the Jaspers as an intern,” Griffin said. “I could see a lot of growth that was happening with the program … A lot of what I wanted to do was off court and sort of this off court development for our players. I think that’s been ex pressed as just as important as what they do on the court.” Griffin said that academics, internships and opportunities for the players outside of bas ketball were extremely im portant to the coaching staff.
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CHRISTINA KATSAMOURI /COURTESY
Baseball Head Coach Mike Cole Accepts Assistant Position at Army
celebrations.Bassetti’s roles as recruit ing coordinator will be taken over by Rena Wakama and Callan Stores, who previously served as assistant coaches. Wakama will continue assistant coaching along with Samera Marsh, who was the assistant coach of the women’s team at Monroe College from 2010 to 2015. Griffin’s position has been assigned to Raven James, who was recruited to Villanova University by Coach Vulin, ac cording to a post on the wom en’s basketball team’s Insta gram.
Christina Katsamouri, guard and forward for the women’s team as well as a communica tion major, said Griffin helped her get a social media intern ship at the sports-based youth development program Kids in the “SheGame.went above and be yond to help me get an intern ship this summer,” Katsamouri said. “[S]he didn’t let me give up and she kept reaching out to people for me and encour aging me to keep looking even though I was being turned down, and thanks to her I now have an internship in the city and I could have never done it without her help.”
Griffin felt similarly, adding how her work at Manhattan and her relationships in the unofficial “sixth borough” will stick with her for her entire ca reer.“You remember all that you’ve done and the impact that you’ve had on the people that you’ve been around, and vice versa,” she said. “Those are things we don’t forget. These are things that you carry on to your next move.”
Bassetti, who served as the assistant coach and recruiting coor dinator, is now working at Columbia University.
Both Griffin and Bassetti said the coaching and admin istrative staff are close with the team, which made leaving more“Wedifficult.feltlike as a staff, we recruited student athletes who knew what it was like to be a Jasper,” Bassetti said. “[They] had to go out and get every thing that they earned, and I really identified with that, and so leaving the team is not something I necessarily was looking to do. Having to have that conversation with Coach V. (Vulin) — who was more than supportive of me moving on — and the staff and then having to call the girls … was really hard.”
“We wish Mike Cole the best of luck in his future coach ing position at Army West Point and thank him for his dedica tion to our baseball program over the past five years,” Mari anne Reilly, director of athletics said.Cole is to become Army’s Chris Tracz’s top assistant,
GOJASPERS/COURTESY
Jilleen Barrett Managing/Features editor
Manhattan College Head Coach Mike Cole has left the Jaspers to take on the position of associate head coach at the United States Military Acade my in West Point, New York.
Head Coach Mike Cole guided the Jaspers for five seasons before accepting an assistant coaching position at The Unit ed States Military GOJASPERS/COURTESYAcademy.
Part of what makes the team special, Griffin and Bas setti agreed, was how they celebrated each other no mat ter what, and they said Coach Vulin usually influenced those
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“That’s one of the big rea sons I wanted to stay is because this is a place where I can run the program the way I want to run in terms of developing my players on and off the court, but they’re really surrounded by just tremendous people that want to help them get to that next step,” she said. According to Vulin, assis tant coach and recruiting co ordinator Rena Wakama holds the responsibility of finding community service opportuni ties for the team. During the 2019-20 season, the team was ranked fifth for most communi ty service hours logged out of
Heather Vulin, the coach of the women’s basketball team, recently had her contract extended till 2028.
“The first year obviously, you inherit, so it’s not like you got to pick everybody that’s on the team … maybe they weren’t at the talent level or the com mitment level that you would expect to try to be running at a Division I program,” Vulin said. Part of what helped Vulin shape the team to her style of coaching was staffing the type of coaches who could show her players how to be successful in different areas of their lives.
Before taking on the role of head coach at Manhattan College, Vulin served as a re cruiting coordinator at Virgin ia Tech, Villanova and Sacred Heart. Having always wanted to be a head coach, Vulin cred its Manhattan Athletic Direc tor Marianne Reilly ’82 — who was a member of the women’s team herself — for giving her a chance to pursue this opportu nity in Ever2016.since then, Vulin has worked to build a strong pro gram, which she said proved to be difficult during her first two years, as she was working with players she did not recruit.
Editor’s Note: Caroline Mc Carthy contributed to reporting this article.
This August, the Manhattan College men’s basketball team took a pre-season getaway to the Bahamas and competed in the Battle 4 Atlantis tour nament. From Aug. 5 to Aug. 12, the Jaspers traded Draddy Gymnasium for the North At lantic Ocean while preparing for their season with three competitive games.
The NCAA hosts an inter national preseason trip once every four years and the Jas pers made sure that they were taking full advantage of the opportunity provided. The Ba hamas is only one of the team’s international travels. The Jas pers make another trip to En gland for the London Classic in November, sponsored by the MAAC tournament. In their opening game at the Bahamas, the Jaspers pulled off an 84-80 win against the Abaco Squad. With Silverio dominating the scoreboards
AUGUST 30, 2022
The trip was also used to acclimate three new members to the Jaspers’ team. Freshman Raziel Hayun, graduate trans fer Student Omar Silverio and 5th year Adam Walden made their 2022-2023 debuts at the tournament. All three games were played in the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis at 7:30 p.m., which gave the team and its newcomers plenty of time to adjust to island time.
Jilleen Barrett Managing/features editor
Women’s Basketball Coach Heather Vulin Has Contract Extended
After six seasons with the Jaspers and an impressive win ning streak at the 2022 MAAC Championships, Heather Vulin’s contract as head coach has been extended till 2028.
Vulin feels that a winning team is not the only important thing, which is why she recruits players based on attitude as well as ability. “I feel my staff and I have done a tremendous job of bringing in the right people,” she said. “A big thing that we look for is not just talented play ers, but players that are willing to sacrifice for each other and put the team before them selves, and when you’re with a group that is highly motivated [and] super talented, it’s just really fun to be in the gym with them.”With Allie Bassetti and Kiki Griffin moving on to other op portunities, Vulin has a few new people on her coaching staff as well as some familiar faces being promoted. Raven James, who was recruited to Villanova by Vulin, will be the director of team operations. Sa mera Marsh, formerly of Mon roe College’s women’s bas ketball team, will be stepping into the role of assistant coach along with Wakama, who has held that role with the Jaspers for more than five years. In addition to assistant coaching, Wakama will be working with Callan Stores (who is currently on maternity leave) as recruit ing coordinators.
Men’s Basketball Travels to the Bahamas for Pre-Season Tournament
Maddie Mulkigian Assistant Sports Editor for Manhattan, the team was able to focus on forcing 17 turnovers on defense in a tight game where every point mat tered.Manhattan’s second game saw something very similar to its first as the team had anoth er four-point-win against Raw Talent Elite. The relationship between Silverio and Fifth Year Jose Perez grew stronger as their minutes together contin ued as they combined for 41 points on offense, aiding the 92-88Manhattanwin. secured an un defeated preseason tourna ment in their last game against Discount Distributors Rockets with a more comfortable 87-79 win. This game both secured an undefeated tournament as well as a double-double perfor mance for three games straight for fifth-year Josh Roberts.
Vulin also prides her pro gram on not only preparing her players to compete on the court, but also in the classroom and professional environment. Vulin encourages the team to seek out internships, even if it conflicts with basketball, as part of her goal to coach intelli gent and career oriented wom en, not just talented basketball players.“Ithink one of the strong suits we have here at Manhat tan College is the proximity to these incredible internships,” Vulin said. “So it’s part of the re cruiting process … It may not be perfect for you or perfect for me, but we will somehow fig ure it out so you can do these internships.”Vulinshares that the team typically has two or three play ers participating in summer internships and the occasional school-year internship. Though this may make it more difficult to find a practice time that suits the schedules of all the players, Vulin considers it imperative to the program she has built and is continuing to build.
all Division I women’s basket ball teams in the nation. “[T]his summer, we worked with Grow our Gain, which is a nonprofit organization in Har lem, where our girls help eight to 10 year old girls fall in love with basketball,” Vulin said. “During the school year, we also work at local soup kitch ens … we try to do community service where it’s more serving people that need it.”
Vulin says her hopes for the team’s season are to maintain the team’s health and improve wherever they can “be pre pared to compete for a MAAC regular season title — that’s the goal — and then to be play ing our best basketball going into the MAAC tournament so we can However,win.”
GOJASPERS/COURTESY
“I’m very excited [about] where this season is going to get us and where Coach V (Vulin) is going to get us, she really loves this team and this job and she puts her heart and her whole life into it and that makes it even more fun be cause she cares,” Katsamouri said. “It’s not just another job for her. It’s actually her entire life and you would want to have a coach that cares so much be cause that’s contagious.” Reilly said the way Vulin cares for the team contributes to their ability to thrive in col lege.“Basically the reason why we wanted to commit to [Vulin] is because she’s done an unbe lievable job with the culture,” Reilly said. “She’s so engaged on campus [and] with differ ent constituents on campus and she does a great job with her program, holding our stu dent-athletes accountable for the things they need to be held accountable for … So to me, she’s building the culture for a championship caliber program that we’re looking to build here.”One of Vulin’s traditions in cludes “culture nights,” where everyone on the team brings a dish that “makes them think of home.” During the 2021-22 season, Vulin had five interna tional players on the team. The 2022-2023 season is expected to include more, however, as several transfer students and incoming freshmen from dif ferent countries have officially signed to be a part of the team. “I would say like the first time we did the cultural night, like that was a really special time because not only were we spending time together, but it was really nice to hear the sto ries that were behind the food,” VulinOnesaid.ofVulin’s favorite mem ories from culture nights was when Dee Dee Davis, a guard for the team, brought candy apples. Davis said bringing this dessert “allow[ed] my team mates to see a very important element of my childhood” in Concord, New Hampshire, where she spent her summers growing up. “The real reason I chose to bring candy apples for culture night this year was because we’d have them as a family af ter each beach day, fishing trip, carnival experience, etc,” Davis said. “They symbolize the little girl in me who’s never left Con cord or the people who looked after me there.”
“I feel like I’ve done a really good job of hiring just really dy namic females that have been incredible workers for me, but also just incredible mentors for our student athletes,” Vulin said.Christina Katsamouri, a senior guard/forward for the team, told The Quadrangle that Vulin is like a mother to the team. Having moved from Thessaloniki, Greece to come to Manhattan, Katsamouri said that having someone look out for her was imperative for her. She is looking forward to the upcoming season.
