The Quadrangle- Issue 10, Fall 2022

Students Spend a Day at the UN

CHRISTOPHER BELDEN/COURTESY

Manhattan Caucus: The ‘Red Wave’ Did Not Come this Election Day

Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief

A week after Election Day, some of the country’s top po litical races are still too close to call. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the “red wave” experts had predicted and that Republicans hoped for did not come.

In fact, the Democrats have actually taken control of the Senate, despite remarkably tight races in critical swing states.

The three major races experts had their eyes on in the days following Election Day were in Arizona, Nevada and

Georgia.

In Arizona, Democrat Mark Kelly won the Senate seat over Republican Blake Masters with 52% of the vote, FiveThirtyE ight reported on Nov. 12.

Arizona’s northern neigh bor, Nevada, had an even tighter race for Senate. Dem ocrat Catherine Cortez Masto claimed the Senate seat from Republican candidate Adam Laxalt with just 1% of the vote, FiveThirtyEight projected on Nov. 12.

The wins in Arizona and Ne vada have given Democrats the 51 seats needed in the Senate to claim power of the chamber. However, a highly anticipated

Senate race still has not been called.

In Georgia, a winner will not be named until December, as neither Democrat Raphael Warnock nor Republican can didate Hershel Walker were able to take more than 50% of the state’s vote, Georgia state officials said.

Incumbent Warnock won his Senate race in 2020 with a runoff, alongside fellow Demo cratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who was not up for reelection this cycle. Warnock filled a retired Senator’s seat in 2020, so this is

Thomas O’Malley Returns as the Chair of the Board of Trustees

Flores Asst. Features Editor

Thomas O’Malley ‘63, was appointed the chairman of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees for a second time af ter his predecessor William Dooley ‘75, stepped down.

According to manhattan. edu, O’Malley served as chair of the board from 2005 to 2012 and is a loyal donor to the school, with the O’Malley Li brary and the O’Malley School of Business being named after him.

O’Malley spoke to the Quadrangle via phone call about the circumstances be hind his appointment as the new chairman and his initial thoughts. He said that his pre decessor, Dooley, had asked him to fill in the role after hav ing to step down due to person al reasons.

“We’ve known each other a long time. He asked me to take over on a somewhat temporary basis. I agreed and for the last couple of months, I’ve been do ing the job,” O’Malley said.

O’Malley stated that being the chairman of the board in volves working with different people within the college ad ministration to ensure that they have the necessary resources to run the college efficiently and effectively.

“We work through the pro

vost, the faculty of the college and of course the president of the college to see what chang es are necessary. My role is an organizational role. My role is really to make sure that the col lege has the resources neces sary to run on an organized, ef ficient basis and on a basis that allows the college to provide an education at a very high level,” O’Malley said.

When asked how his cur rent term as chairman of the board differed from his previ ous term, O’Malley highlighted the impact of COVID-19 and technology on the college as well as the educational system as a whole.

“Well, it’s quite clear that the entire educational system is undergoing a change. The change was started by the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of remote education is kind of playing a substantial role in the future,” O’Malley said. “I think today, technology has changed the way we approach educa tion. Over the course of many years of running different cor porations, I’ve seen how tech nology has changed the way we approach business, and it’s certainly changed the educa tion sector. How we will apply technology at Manhattan Col lege is a very big element I’m very interested in.”

O’Malley also said that he

Karen

Volume CV, Issue 10

November 15, 2022

The Editorial Board

Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief

Caroline McCarthy Managing Editor Jilleen Barrett Managing Editor

Lauren Raziano Copy Editor

Nicole Fitzsimmons News Editor

Zoe DeFazio Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor

LETTER from the EDITOR

Dear Readers,

Megan LaCreta Arts & Entertainment Editor

Jilleen Barrett Features Editor

Angelina Persaud Asst. News Editor Caroline McCarthy Sports Editor

Angelica

Karen

Niedermeyer Maddie Mulkigan Asst. Sports Editors

Kranich Asst. Social Media Editor

Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor

I hope this week’s issue finds you well! I can’t believe I am almost through with my year as editor-in-chief of The Quadrangle. It has brought me such honor and joy to lead such a phenomenal publication.

Rebecca

Mars Ross Photography Editor

Adrianne Hutto

Jocelyn Visnov Production Editors

Flores Asst. Features Editor Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editor Nicholas Gilewicz Faculty Advisor

Jocelyn Visnov Lauren Raziano Web Editors

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 accu racy, 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.

I truly hope that everyone can find some thing for them in this paper, whether it be current events, sports updates, profiles on student life or the latest news from adminis tration. We love to give you the news, and we hope you love receiving it just as much.

While the last year has flown by with incredible speed, I’m not done yet! We have some fantastic things planned for our last couple of issues this semester, including our special issue for fall 2022!

In the meantime, please feel free to voice your concerns, your interest or your questions about our coverage or what’s happening on campus. You can send any of your questions, comments, potential pitch es or your very own letter to the editor to thequad@manhattan.edu or my email at kguilfoil01@manhattan.edu.

The Quadrangle is made for you, the Manhattan College community. Your voices are essential for our coverage! Let us know what’s going on.

Here’s to issue 10! Thank you for letting us do what we do.

Sincerely,

Thomas O’Malley Returns as the Chair of the Board of Trustees

believes having a career-orient ed education with a liberal arts background is helpful in the long run.

“Your education has to be able to give you a job when you get out of school. I think when [you] get out of college, you better be sure that you’ve taken enough courses that you get yourself a good job that pro vides you with a good living. So an education that is very much career oriented has become more important,” O’Malley said. “But I still believe that a liberal arts background is help ful. I don’t think you can go for ward and appreciate the world without having a fairly broad education.”

Brother Frank Byrne, FSC, the vice chair of the board, wrote via email that O’Malley is dedicated to the mission of the college and that the board is fortunate to have him as the chairman again.

“Thomas O’Malley embod ies the spirit and commitment Manhattan College instills in its students and The Board of Trustees is fortunate to have him as its new chairman,” By rne said. “I appreciate the op portunity to serve with some one so dedicated to the mission of this College.”

Rosanne Thomas Matza, ’82, the recently appointed vice chair of the board, wrote via

email that O’Malley embodies the Lasallian principles taught at the college and is someone who has demonstrated having the college’s best interests at heart.

“By appointing Thomas O’Malley as chair of the Man hattan College Board of Trust ees the College has chosen a leader who is a champion of its Lasallian principles,” Mat za said. “Tom cares so deeply about Manhattan College and both through his words and his incredible generosity. He has always demonstrated that he has the College’s best interests at heart.”

Donald Gibson, Ph.D., dean of the O’Malley School of Busi ness, believes that having Man hattan College alumni such as O’Malley involved within the school allows for them to use their experiences to keep the Lasallian traditions going.

“The chair of the board, typically has been an alum of Manhattan College. They un derstand and have a sense of the tradition and have Lasallian values that show what it’s like to be at this college because of their experiences,” Gibson said. “We look forward to work ing with Mr. O’Malley who can give terrific advice to students, faculty and deans on potential directions for the school.”

O’Malley attributes his suc cess and ability to give back to his community to his family, education, his service in the

United States military as well as other aspects in his life.

“I’ve had a few things that helped in that regard. First of all, a strong family. I’ve been married to my wife, Mary Alice, for 58 years,” O’Malley said. “I think serving [in the military] is an important element and I know it helped me. So I would say service does not have to be in the military. Service can be with the mission of the Chris tian Brothers, helping other

people. Service can be to the environment, service can be to a lot of things … but give back to the community.”

O’Malley hopes that stu dents will aim high and take risks in order to successfully achieve their goals and be able to give back to others.

“My advice to students in college and to any person that I talked to, is to aim high. Don’t limit yourself. Take some risks. Take a shot at really ac

complishing something in your life,” O’Malley said. “I support many things and just if you’re very lucky and very successful, being generous would be my remark. I’m generous because I’ve been very lucky and suc cessful. That comes from that earlier point that I made which was don’t be afraid. Take some risks, stay organized, and may be you’ll succeed.”

Manhattan Caucus: The ‘Red Wave’ Did Not Come this Election Day

his first full-term race.

Now, with a sliver of a lead over Walker, Warnock is back to a runoff race again. The run off election is scheduled for Dec. 6, and results could take days to count.

As of Nov. 13, Republicans have 211 of the 218 House of Representatives seats they need to secure power of the legislative body. Democrats have taken 204, according to a FiveThirtyEight count on Nov. 11.

Experts are projecting that Republicans will secure the House, although it’s still too close to call.

President Biden spoke at a press conference on Nov. 9 where he said the “red wave” that Republicans had projected had not come.

“While any seat lost is painful — some good Demo crats didn’t win — last night

— Democrats had a strong night,” Biden said at the press conference. “And we lost few er seats in the House of Repre sentatives than any Democratic President’s first midterm elec tion in the last 40 years. And we had the best midterms for governors since 1986.”

On the opposite side, at least 14 of former president Donald Trump’s handpicked and endorsed candidates have lost their elections, according to ABC News.

Nonetheless, Trump said on his new social media plat form, Truth Social, that Tues day was a “GREAT EVENING.”

Three of Trump’s high pro file candidates, Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc, have all lost their races.

Meanwhile, incumbent Re publican Ron Densantis, who won the Florida governorship by a landslide on Tuesday, is

one of several successful Re publican candidates who has distanced themselves from Trump.

“This was the end of the Trump era and the dawn of the DeSantis era,” a Republican op erative close to the Trump or bit told ABC News. “Like every other Trump catastrophe, he did this to himself with stupid and reckless decisions.”

Beyond Trump-Biden en dorsements, voters cast their ballots largely with two issues on their minds: inflation and abortion rights.

Pre-election polls across the country cited crime as a major concern among voters, and many campaigns reflected that. In New York, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin gave incumbent Demo crat Kathy Hochul a run for her money due to his heavy focus on crime statistics in his cam paign.

However, in critical swing states and beyond, voters showed up on Election Day

more concerned about inflation and abortion, according to exit polls.

According to ABC News exit polls, about 32% of voters nationwide cited inflation as their biggest issue. Shortly be hind, 27% said abortion was on top of their agenda. Crime con cerns were reported at a much lower level among voters, ABC News polls said.

While inflation was an ex pected issue for voters nation wide, earlier polls suggested abortion rights had dimmed in importance for voters since the initial overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.

But on Election Day, a right to abortion won Demo crats significant votes. In Penn sylvania, where the Senate race remained razor-thin for weeks, Democrat John Fetterman bested Republican candidate Mehmet Oz with 51% of the state’s vote.

According to ABC News’ exit polls, abortion was the number one issue for voters in

the state.

Voters also reported abor tion as their number one con cern in Michigan, where Dem ocratic incumbent governor Gretchen Whitmer won the race against Republican candi date Tudor Dixon with 54% of the vote, according to FiveThir tyEight.

In Michigan, and four oth er states, abortion itself was on the ballot.

Voters in Michigan, Califor nia and Vermont voted to codify a right to abortion in their con stitutions. In Kentucky, voters rejected an amendment that would say there is no constitu tional right to an abortion.

In Montana, as of Nov. 11, votes are still being counted for a proposal that would further restrict abortion services in the state.

For more information on this year’s midterm elections, search ‘Manhattan Caucus’ on mcquad.org.

Thomas O’Malley returns as the chair of the Board of Trustees. MANHATTAN.EDU/ COURTESY

CeilingLeaksinCommunications DepartmentCauseInconvenience

Grace Cardinal Staff Writer

Leaks caused by the new air conditioning system in the communications department are making it difficult to navi gate around the office’s tech nology storage room.

Jeffrey Anderson, manager of media technology at Man hattan College, spoke about the difficulties faced by the de partment following the leaks.

“The leak became an issue probably about two weeks ago when we noticed they had done an air conditioner replacement to the unit of the ceiling, and there was a delay getting that work done,” Anderson said. “Then, once they completed the work, we didn’t notice anything for the first week, and then the ceiling started taking on water. That’s when we noticed it was actually dripping.”

Ceiling tiles in the technolo gy storage room began to take on water to the point that they became inches thick and start ed to droop.

“I would say that it had to be several gallons of water, be cause the ceiling was really sat urated,” Anderson said. “The tiles grew to be about two and a half to three inches thick, just from water. They were kind of like a sponge, and they contin ued to take the water until they started to sag in the ceiling and then they would crack out and fall.”

Stress levels ran high as staff were forced to move equipment, which interrupted daily work. Having the technol ogy inventory elsewhere made it hard to keep track of.

Joe Ruggiero, producer and director in the communications department, commented on the limited access to the tech nology room and how the staff had to keep track of inventory.

“We had to have our stu dent workers remove all of our technology and all of the equip ment out of that room into our conference room, which we couldn’t use for a couple of weeks,” Ruggiero said. “It’s tough to keep track of every thing and inventory, because it’s expensive stuff and it’s got to be kept safe because any wa ter is going to destroy it.”

The loss of the conference room was a major inconve nience for staff and students alike, especially in a week packed with advising appoint ments.

“It’s tough because we can’t use the conference room for many meetings, whether it’s The Quad or PRSSA or any of our other student clubs,” Rug giero said. “Sometimes I like to meet in the conference room with advisors, and our copy machine is in there. I’m trying to get to the supplies that are in there. Every time we’re trying to go in there for something quick, we have to step over equipment, we have to be care ful of everything.”

The leak caused issues beyond just a wet ceiling and threats to the hundreds of dol lars worth of equipment stored in the room. The situation was disruptive to daily work and created a ripple effect of incon veniences for anyone needing to use the department’s facili ties.

Arshia Anwer, associate professor in the communica tion department, spoke about the difficulties she faced when dealing with the leak situation.

“It majorly disrupts my work as workmen haul equip ment in and out of the suite of offices or the noise levels go up when an immediate fix is being implemented, making concen tration and work impossible,” Anwer said. “The men working on the issue are very courte ous, but the nature of the work itself is very disruptive to the workplace.”

Physical Plant was believed to have solved the issue the week of Halloween. Unfortu nately, the repairs did not hold and the leak returned short ly after. It has yet to be read dressed by Physical Plant.

Michael Grabowski, chair of the communication depart ment, spoke about the next steps of placing a work order to address the situation and the wait to hear a response from Physical Plant.

“Last week, we noticed the drip starting to happen again, so we put the buckets back out to catch the drips and put in a

work order. We’re just waiting for Physical Plant to come back now and address it,” Grabows ki said. “It’s certainly less than it was before, the problem is better, but it’s not completely solved yet. It’s just a matter of finishing the job, making sure that it doesn’t leak and confirm that it won’t leak,”

The hope for future issues is that they will be resolved in a more timely manner.

“I understand in older build

ings, there are always going to be maintenance issues and we try to work through them as best we can,” Ruggiero said.

“My goal is to make whatever issues pop up be as least dis ruptive as possible. It’s unfor tunate this incident was more disruptive, but I don’t know what else could’ve been done.

I’m hoping that the next main issue that happens is resolved in a more timely fashion.”

WelcomingErikaPichardo:ManhattanCollege’s NewTitleIXOfficer

Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor

Erika Pichardo, Ph.D., has accepted her new role at Man hattan College as the newest Title IX officer.

This position has been left open since the last Ti tle IX Officer left in the Spring 2022 semester and since Goldie Adele, chief compliance officer, has been filling in as interim Ti tle IX chief compliance officer.

The role of Title IX officer is the first line of contact be tween the MC community and Title IX violations and policies.

“If a student has any ques tions, concerns or reporting related to Title IX, they start with me. After meeting with the student or the faculty [mem ber], or if I get report because

if there’s mandated reporters that would come to me, I would then reach out to the students to determine what their next step is, whether they want to do a formal process, an informal process and then what those steps would look like,” Pichar do said.

Pichardo will be handling both sexual assault and harrassment cases, as well as discrimination cases in her new role. Title IX is currently in a transition period, as Pich ardo is beginning to take on cases alongside Adele.

“Right now we’re transition ing because I was acting as the Interim Officer, and so we’re working on cases together, and training her through the pro cess,” Adele said.

Pichardo most recently worked at MC’s neighboring

school, College of Mount Saint Vincent. as an adjunct instruc tor of criminal Justice and the prevention director for educa tion on a grant from the De partment of Justice for violence against women.

“She used to be at Mount Saint Vincent, which is also a Catholic school. So she has a lot of experience with working with students, which is import ant, being able to connect to students and understand stu dents. So we’re excited to have Erika in this role,” Adele said.

“I wanted to come into this role because I wanted a more streamlined view into the first kind of point, because Title IX is where students come to get some information, some ed ucation, and that’s why I fell into this role to be able to help students decide whether they

want to do a formal versus in formal and understanding the educational components be hind what Title IX is,” Pichardo said.

As the new Title IX Officer, Pichardo will be working close ly alongside Adele, as well as the Lasallian Women and Gen der Research Center. On Nov. 8, Pichardo held her first meet and greet in collaboration with the LWGRC.

Caitlin Lambe, an intern at LWGRC, spoke about her hopes on working with Pichar do in the future.

“The LWGRC works close ly with the Title IX office and it is so important to maintain a constant line of communication with our new title IX officer Er ika. We are so excited to work alongside her and continue this work for diversity, equity, and

inclusion, on campus,” Lambe said.

Pichardo is eager to work with students and the campus community as a whole, and will be maintaining an open door policy in her office if anyone has any questions regarding the Title IX process or is look ing for guidance.

“I’m really excited to be here and to work with students and with the Manhattan Col lege community. And I do have an open door policy. So stu dents want students, anyone on the Manhattan College campus really who wants to come in and say hi, ask questions. My door is here and we’ll all learn together,” Pichardo said.

Some of the damage left from the ceiling leaks in the technolo gy storage room.

JILLEEN BARRETT/ THE QUADRANGLE

StudentsSpreadBlack GirlMagicatMC

Megan LaCreta Arts and Entertainment Editor

Students are spreading Black Girl Magic all around the Manhattan College campus this semester, thanks to a new club.

This semester, senior Mackenzie Lauture co-founded Black Girl Magic alongside Ca lissa McNeely. Both currently serve as co-chairs for the club. Lauture explained how the idea of the club came out of a need for a place for Black women to come together at Manhattan College.

“This past summer, Calissa and I were kind of just talking about how there aren’t a lot of safe spaces on campus for Black girls specifically at this PWI (predominantly white in stitution),” Lauture said. “We kind of talked about wanting to create that safe space not just for us, but also for the other women on campus.”

Junior Hyllary Jean-Bap tiste joined Black Girl Magic, and is hoping to join its leader ship board. She explained why it’s so important for spaces spe cifically for Black students and

students of color to exist on the Manhattan campus. Manhattan is a PWI, with only six percent of undergrad students identify ing as Black or African Ameri can, compared to 50 percent who identify as white, accord ing to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I think going to a PWI, like sometimes we do feel over whelmed or less seen [due to] the fact that there’s not many of us,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I feel like we can have these clubs that all of us can come to you and feel safe and can talk about what we’re going through … and we can not feel alone in that sense.”

While the college current ly hosts clubs and organiza tions targeted towards wom en and people of color, Black Girl Magic aims to discuss the intersection of those experi ences. Junior Tyla-Rae Wash ington-Boone, vice co-chair of Black Girl Magic, explained why the club’s intersectional angle is needed at Manhattan.

“I think it’s important be cause a lot of the women’s cen ters here feel very white dom inated, like they’re for white women, so you kind of walk in there you still feel slightly

tokenized,” Washington-Boone said. “I feel like in a space pre dominantly for Black women and women of color, [you can] come and be like, no, like, I don’t have to explain to you why being Black was hard to day. I don’t have to explain to you, you just understand with out that layer of education with it.”

Lauture explained that her goal in creating Black Girl Magic was to make those who joined feel recognized, heard, and safe to express themselves.

“We want it to be an envi ronment where people really do feel secure to be 100 percent themselves, regardless of what ever they’re going through … and we want it to be a space where they feel appreciated and rewarded and accepted in ev erything that they are. Because we do some amazing things, everyone on campus does, but especially Black women, and I feel like that doesn’t get recog nized as much as it should be,” Lauture said.

Black Girl Magic met for the first time just last week, and will start hosting more events soon, which Lauture previewed for students interested in get ting involved.

“There’s a couple events that we’re planning on doing just for the club in general. I know we’re thinking about do ing a hair braiding night like, food visits and stuff like that,” Lauture said.

As for the name of the club, Lauture noted that it is an or ganization that exists across many college campuses. How ever, each student offered their own unique take on what the phrase “Black Girl Magic” means to them.

“Black magic means the power that Black women have, the things that we do, how we overcome things, the way we can change our hair, the way we speak, the way we can wear

all types of colors, the way we dress,” Jean-Baptiste said.

“Black women as well are magical. Don’t let yourself be bogged down by being inter sectional with your oppression. [Don’t feel like] you aren’t spe cial, that you aren’t capable,” Washington-Boone said.

“Black girl magic to me is basically highlighting all the things that as a Black woman I get to do, or that just comes with being a Black woman on campus,” Lauture said. “So yeah, Black girl magic. I don’t know. It’s just, it’s a spirit. It’s happiness. It’s joyful. It’s all the good things about being a Black girl.”

Calissa McNeely, co-founder and co-chair of Black Girl Magic.

JASPERS ANGELS/COURTESY

Mackenzie Lauture, co-founder and co-chair of Black Girl Magic, spoke with The Quad rangle about creating the club.

JASPERS ANGELS/COURTESY

Holocaust,Genocideand InterfaithCenter CommemoratesKristallnacht

Makenzie Swift Staff Writer

Last Wednesday was the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when in 1938 the Nazis de stroyed Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes as well as arrested and murdered Jewish people. The Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Educa tion Center held a night honor ing the victims of Kristallnacht with a ceremony and lecture by guest speaker, Victoria Barnett Ph.D.

Barnett gave an inspiring speech sharing her insight af ter studying Nazi Germany and living in Germany for years. She explained how as Ameri cans and humans in general, we need to understand our his tory and learn from it,

“Let us also think about our place in history now and in the time to come,” Barnett explained. “Specifically, please be alert to whatever you can do to fight against antisemitism in our country, and in this mo ment, but broadly, please think about what kind of world you want to live in, and how you would like to be remembered a few years from now by a group of students in the room.”

Barnett continued to de scribe ways in which Man hattan students can aid in the discontinuation of antisemitism and hate in general as she stat ed,

“This is something to bring up with class,” she said. “Start that conversation. I mean, I

think all of us have a respon sibility to increase awareness of the importance of having a sense of moral self fulfillment and realizing that there are cer tain things you just don’t do.”

Barnett’s speech reminds us to speak up about hate. The worst thing we can do as people is sit back and allow for these cruel comments to be made.

“We’re not brought up, I don’t think to tell people when we’re offended, but it’s not a bad idea,” she said. “If some body says something to look up and say we’re not really upset, or that really offended me.”

Overall, Barnett wants to remind us that it is important to speak up when someone makes hateful and prejudiced claims towards a specific group, espe cially with commonly targeted groups such as Jewish people.

One student, Jennifer Gali cia, revealed how this ceremo ny impacted her.

“I think this is a very hon orable and respectful event that took place here at college,” Galicia said. “It definitely trans formed my way of thinking be cause it’s kind of like a reality check to see that nobody re ally speaks about this around me. If it wasn’t for me taking a class with Dr. Afridi, I wouldn’t have known about any of these events taking place here or any thing related to these topics.”

Jennifer Galicia’s interpre tation of this event shows how important it is to talk about antisemitism in America, espe cially since she was not aware

of these topics until she was ed ucated on them from school.

“I definitely feel like social media plays a big role in this because that’s what young kids are more into,” she said. “But I feel like if they [influencers] speak about this and influence young people’s minds to think about it, they will definitely be more alert to it.”

The Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Edcation center does not only speak about an tisemitism, but all types of hate. Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D., a profes sor at Manhattan College who runs the HGI, explained the importance of being educated on the hate that marginalized groups experience.

“I think if we’re educated about antisemitism or about

Kristallnacht, which is what tonight is about, we kind of understand that small, even if you think of those small acts of violence, they can become na tional terrors for people,” Afridi said.

Mehnaz Afridi has a goal to educate people on how geno cides begin, and the impacts they have on people who are victims of them.

“What I’m trying to do is ed ucate students on this campus about any hate, but particularly the Holocaust, because I think antisemitism is one of the lon gest standing hatreds.”

Afridi also has criticisms for Manhattan College as a Cath olic Institution, and questions the ways in which the college attempts to make all students

feel welcomed and safe on cam pus.

“There are things that we do that we need to be self crit ical of that are hurtful to Jews on campus,” Afridi states, “We need to ask yourself the ques tion, why don’t we have so many Jewish students on cam pus? What is it about a Catholic college that doesn’t draw a lot of Jews?”

“If we care about this his tory, it is our responsibility to stand up and challenge antise mitic rhetoric and actions if we seek to condemn the people who use them and to push back and show up and reach out to our fellow Jewish citizens where they need us,” Barnett said.

Students light candles at HGI event in memory of the victims of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust MACKENZIE SWIFT/THE QUADRANGLE

Man-tatted : A Look into the Ink of MC Students

Adrianne Hutto Production Editor

A campus full of 20-some thing year-olds and veterans, it is no surprise that MC students would be showcasing some unique tattoo pieces. From meaningful to fun and detailed to simple, students feature art of all kinds.

Chris Norberto, a senior and veteran, has lost count of

for sure.”

For him, tattooing is a re laxing experience. Noberto explains that it can be cathartic for him, allowing him to enter into a zen state.

“I’ve always enjoyed the ar tistic side of it,” Noberto said. “It’s like it’s the most intimate form of self expression I think because it’s permanent.”

Opposite of Noberto is se nior John O’Connor who re cently got his first tattoo. The piece itself holds a lot of mean

I’ve always said, ‘reflect on your past, but keep moving forward.’ So kind of acknowledge where you came from. And then there are three butterflies surround ing the mirror. And that is me and my two cousins.”

O’Connor explained that he likes tattoos because it allows you to add artwork to your body with total control as to where it goes and the meaning you take from it. While it can be anything from a small to a big piece, there is a special con nection between someone and their tattoo.

“It makes a special connec tion between the image and yourself and some people have tattoos where you can’t even

Corcoran said. “So, my dad has his kids’ names underneath it, my brother has his daughter’s name around it and then like my sister has a whole thing. So it’s the family.”

Corcoran explained that he enjoys tattoos because he sees the body as a blank canvas that can be fun and expressive when covered.

“It’s just a fun expression,” Corcoran said. “It’s boring, like your body, it’s a blank canvas and so you just want to cover it with things that you like.”

perience overall.”

Campbell Alfaro, a senior communications major, got her first tattoo a year ago on a whim when a friend of hers came to campus to visit. While each girl only got a dot behind their ear, since then Alfaro has gotten two unique tattoos, her favorite of the two being her Yankees tattoo.

how many tattoos he has, with them on his arms, chest and thighs. While it is hard for him to choose, Norberto likes his chest tattoo the best, while it does depend on the day.

“It’s a tiger with like Goth ic filigree done in traditional style,” Noberto said. “But I’m also a big fan of my ‘la muerte’ tattoo on my right bicep to shoulder and then some days it’s this one, my sugar skull. It’s hard to pin it down, but those would be my top three

ing for O’Connor and was even designed by a close friend of his.

“My tattoo is two fuzzy dice hanging from a rearview mir ror with a nice landscape in the mirror,” O’Connor said. “So the numbers on the dice make out 1111. And so that’s always been my lucky number, but also my grandma’s birthday is Nov. 11th, which is 1111. So there’s the meaning within that and then in the rearview mir ror, there is a landscape and

see them,” O’Connor said. “It’s just to have it there. There’s so many ways to kind of carry something with you. And that was kind of my thing. I wanted it to be special because I want ed to carry the message that I have on my body now with me for the rest of my life.”

Kevin Corcoran, a senior at MC, has six tattoos across his body. His favorite being a knife on the back of his leg. How ever, he got his first one at 16 when his parents took him to New Jersey to get a symbol that has been consistently tattooed on everyone in his family.

“The shamrock one kind of always symbolizes you and then all my family kind of builds around it [the shamrock],”

Another senior at MC, Sa mantha Miraglia, has 13 tat toos. Her first tattoo was done when she turned 18, and is an elephant that she got done with her mother.

“It’s the facade that wrapped around the stadium,” Alfaro said. “It’s personal to me because I was raised on the Yankees and my parents both worked for the Yankees. So, it’s kind of just a little thing I did to contribute to them and to my childhood.”

ADRIANNE HUTTO/ THE QUADRANGLE

“Elephants have always been a symbol used in our fami ly for good luck,” Miraglia said. “My brother was supposed to get it too but he chickened out.”

Of the tattoos she has, Mi raglia explained that her favor ite is a piece saying ‘You Are Art.’

“I think those are my favor ite just because the whole idea of my tattoos is that my body is art and I want to do with it what I can,” Miraglia said.

For Miraglia, getting a tat too can be an adrenaline rush.

“It’s the excitement of it all,” Miraglia said. “I always look forward to when I finally pin point the idea I like and where I’m going to put it. It’s a fun ex

Since getting her tattoos, Alfaro is more comfortable with the idea of getting more.

“My most recent one I got two weeks ago and that was like a Campbell’s soup can,” Alfaro said. “So, the random ideas kind of just come to my head and then I just go for it but it comes right out with it. Ever since I got those done I’m less skeptical about just going for ward because I’m like ‘what’s done is done.’”

While experiencing the un common, MC student’s them selves are uncommon in their style and taste. As tattoos be come more and more normal ized, the number of MC stu dents with personalized art is likely to increase.

Kevin Corcoran got the shamrock as his first tattoo when he was 16 with his parents. Having an Irish background, Corcoran’s family all has shamrocks tattooed on them.

John O’Connor got his tattoo over the summer and was de signed by a close friends of his.

JOHN O’CONNOR/COURTESY

Alfaro grew up with the Yankees because of her family and her tattoo honors that.

CAMPBELL ALFARO/COURTESY

Campus “Collective Rage” Reading Gives Queer Women’s Stories the Spotlight

Jilleen Barrett Features Editor/Managing Editor

The MC Players, Rainbow Jaspers and the Lasallian Wom en and Gender Resource Cen

ter collaborated on a reading of “Collective Rage: A Play of Five Betties,” a performance which follows five Queer women, all named Betty, as they come to understand and embrace their sexualities.

Maren Kain, a senior com munication major, directed this

play with Deirdre O’Leary, Ph.D., a professor in the depart ments of English and music/ theater. Kain told The Quadran gle that stories involving Queer women often do not illustrate their journeys the way “Collec tive Rage” does.

“Gender-queer and female

characters are often very one-dimensional,” Kain wrote. “Their stories are often in the background and their journey serves to support the princi pal narrative of the white male lead.”

Kain feels this is a problem because it means Queer voices aren’t being heard, which leads to Queer audiences feel mis represented.

“This show centers these stories of Queer people in a rad ical way,” she said. “Stories that are sad, and lonely, and sexy, and tragic, and lovely, and so incredibly joyous.”

The Quadrangle spoke with Betty numbers one, three and five just before the show went on: Sophie Ryan, Elliot Babilo nia and Caroline Jerrems.

Betty number one, Ryan explained, is a housewife who takes up boxing as a hobby when she finds out her husband is cheating on her. Through boxing, she meets Betty num ber five.

Ryan got involved with the play through her position as an intern with the LWGRC. She was already familiar with the role, though, as she had read the monologue at the Kennedy Center American College The ater Festival, which she used to compete for an award she had been nominated for through their annual program.

“I thought it was hilarious, super well-written, it has its moments of being completely irreverent but it’s also really sincere and earnest and sweet at points,” Ryan said.

The play reading was co ordinated in only three weeks. Jerrems said because they were able to read from the script during the performance, it wasn’t too hard to put togeth er, and it gave them the oppor tunity to be more creative with their stylistic choices.

“We did a table read and then just started working on

blocking bit by bit and then we just had a couple of lengthy rehearsals this week,” Jerrems said. “It’s not very hard be cause we don’t have to mem orize the script so we can get more free and try a bunch of different readings of it, you know?”

Betty number three — played by the Rainbow Jaspers’ freshman representative Elliot Babilonia — is an aspiring ac tress who is very aware of who she is and who she wants to be.

Babilonia shared they were very nervous to take on the role of a woman because they are a transgender man. How ever, they also felt compelled to take on the role because of how much they relate to the character’s questioning of her sexuality. They saw this as an opportunity to use their own experiences to explore Betty number three’s story.

“I kind of felt like I shouldn’t limit myself … simply because I’m a boy, I shouldn’t feel limit ed to only playing male roles,” Babilonia said. “Like I do want to audition and try something else that isn’t in my comfort zone.”

Ryan pointed out that sto ries like all five of the Betty’s stories might be slightly more common today, but they are still not talked about enough, which is exactly why Kain wanted to direct this play in the first place.

“I think this is a play that is not comfortable,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot of bad language. It talks about, you know, sex, it talks about female anatomy a lot, and I think a lot of times … those conversations are still swept under the rug a lot and not encouraged to be talked about and so I think you can’t really get away from it.”

Despite The Result, Manhattan College Men’s Soccer Dominates in Semi-final Versus Iona

Maddie Mulkigian and Isaiah Rosario Asst. Sports Editor & Staff Writer

The Manhattan College men’s soccer team advanced to the semi-finals after a suc cessful win against Fairfield on Thursday.

Manhattan men’s soccer took the field against Fairfield in the quarter-finals of the 2022 MAAC Tournament on Nov. 6. The last time that these two teams met it was a defensive battle as Manhattan narrowly beat Fairfield with a score of 1-0.

In the 18th minute, Fair field defender Cormac Pike slowly passed the ball back to Fairfield’s goalkeeper, James Anderson. Manhattan forward Gunnar Studenhofft noticed the slow roller to the goalkeep er and accelerated toward the ball, and tapped the ball in for Manhattan’s first goal of the game and leaving the Jaspers with a 1-0 lead.

Things got a little bit chip py in the 30th minute. Studen hofft had a breakaway when Pike stepped in for the ball and took out Studenhofft on the way. Studenhofft and Pike went face-to-face for a short period.

After flared tempers, Stu denhoff stayed calm on a break away and passed the ball to the right to midfielder, Ronaldo Da Silva. Da Silva made a quick cut to the middle and took the shot into the bottom left corner to raise Manhattan’s lead to 2-0 in the 31st minute.

45 minutes in Manhattan leads Fairfield 2-0 at the half. The tone was set early, and af ter a slow second half, Manhat tan was able to beat Fairfield with a score of 2-0. According to GoJaspers, Manhattan led in almost every single catego ry. Manhattan had four more shots, one more shot on goal than Fairfield, and two more corners. Manhattan had one more save than Fairfield and one less foul. “In the first half, we put on a really good perfor mance. I think it was probably the best half of the whole sea son,” Henry Hamilton from the Jaspers said. “Gunnar per formed incredibly, got a goal and an assist, and can’t ask much more of your number nine in 45 minutes. Coming out of that first half, we were super confident. We knew going into the second half we needed to defend our lead. We are in the

semi-finals and coming out of the game completely, I think we’re very confident.”

Following the Farfield game, the Jaspers experienced a devastating loss to the Iona Gaels in the MAAC Semifinal losing 1-0. Looking at the sta tistics of the game, Manhattan wins. Watching the game and the possession that Manhat tan held throughout the game, Manhattan wins. However, the only thing that stood in the way of a Jaspers’ celebration was an Iona goal in the fourth minute of the game.

The last time Manhattan met Iona, the Jaspers suffered a 2-1 loss. Hamilton scored a penalty kick in the 11th min ute to make it 1-0. The rest of the game was all Iona, as Iona scored 2 goals, one in the 33rd minute and one in the 60th min ute.

This time around, Manhat tan experienced a similar result, but with a different story. Man hattan dominated the game in all statistics as they led 11-3 in shots, 3-1 in shots on goal, and 6-1 in corners. In fact, the most action that goalkeeper Danny DiMarco received throughout the match was when he left his box to join the rest of his team mates in a corner to attempt to score. While Manhattan domi nated the game in every aspect of the MAAC Semifinal, it was Iona’s only shot on goal that was the winning goal of the game.

“I’ve never been in a MAAC semi-final where I felt that we were clearly better. And for an opposing head coach to apol ogize to me at the end of the game for the manner in which they won the game speaks to who Manhattan College soccer is now,” Scott said. “There are never guarantees in sports, but we have to be up there compet ing for championships every year. That’s where we should be every year. We know that the additions we’ll make and we’ll be back up there next year. I have no doubt about that whatsoever.”

The statistics versus the result of the match prove what a cruel sport the game of soc cer can be. Whether it was striker Gunnar Studenhofft smashing the crossbar in the 36-minute or the timekeeper allowing the clock to run an ex tra 30 seconds during an injury late in the second half, the un controllable aspects dominated the game almost as much as the Jaspers did.

In a key moment of the second half, all Jasper fans erupted with frustration and arguments when striker Gun nar Studenhofft had a one-ver sus-one goal-scoring opportu nity with the goalkeeper and was taken out by the legs. The center referee’s whistle blew and Manhattan immediately began cheering, believing that Studenhofft earned the team a penalty kick, for the referee to

instead call the foul on the tack led striker.

This backward call resulted in a high amount of frustration from all parties of Manhattan’s team. However, the Jaspers had to regain control of their game and continue to play their style despite the impact the referee was having on their goal-scor ing opportunities.

“I think what we think you’ll find is that we have a real high-tempo style of play that people want to watch,” head coach Jorden Scott said. “Be cause of that high press, that high intensity there’s going to be little fouls here and there. I think what we struggled with earlier in the season was going on the road and dealing with referees who have never seen that intensity before.”

Fouls and calls not going the Jaspers’ way was something that the team has experienced all season. It is an aspect of the game that Scott makes sure he trains his boys to be prepared for.

“You’re not dealing with full-time professionals. And so it’s really difficult when things go against you to stay focused, but we expect perfection. And that’s just unrealistic,” Scott said. “I mean, the boys will tell you in practice, I’ll deliberate ly call out the wrong direction all the time. I’ll give the other team the ball just to really piss the team off, to see if I can get them to react, and then learn

from the moment. But you have to do that because that’s the environment you walk into every single MAAC game.”

As frustrating as that call on Studenhofft and a majority of the referee’s other decisions were, the Jaspers did not look to blame the calls on why they didn’t get the result they want ed.

“We created the chanc es, but we just weren’t good enough to put them away. Obviously, the ref could have helped us a bit more with his decisions. But there’s nothing you can do now. We’ve never had a referee who’s been per fect,” midfielder Jamie Cotter said. “We just need to be better and put the goals away because everywhere else, we were bet ter than them.”

“I think certainly the fu ture is bright,” junior defender Ensa Sanneh said. “It’s tough to move on from yesterday, but we have to because we have to get better, we have to get stron ger, we have to fix all the things that we have to work on.”

As sad as it is for this squad to return to Manhattan’s cam pus without a MAAC Champi onship trophy, it’s devastating to the players, coaches, and fans. However, this season was the start of a bright future for the Jaspers. Thursday’s loss to Iona will only add fuel to the fire for the team to compete in the coming years.

Manhattan striker Gunnar Studenhofft challenges Iona goalkeeper in Thursday’s MAAC Semifinal game. GOJASPERS/COURTESY

sports

Manhattan College Women’s Basketball Shine In Their Own Spotlight

OPINION

Angelica Niedermeyer Asst. Sports Editor

The Manhattan College women’s basketball team is the shining star this year. Led by the always supportive Coach Heather Vulin in her seventh season and three motivated captains — Dee Dee Davis, Brazil Harvey-Carr and Chris tinia Katsamouri — the Lady Jaspers deserve more praise than ever for their efforts this year.

Despite their current 0-2 re cord in non-conference games against Wagner and Stony Brook this week, after being picked second in the preseason poll and Davis being picked preseason player of the year, the team shares their expec tations for their bright season ahead.

“It’s an honor to be picked so high whenever you are rec ognized as one of the top three teams in the league,” Davis, a senior guard, said. “Howev er, we do know that with that comes a lot of responsibility. We want to continue to hold ourselves to the standards that our coaching staff holds us to and gun for that first spot.”

Some may look at the two losses already this season as a step back, but the team seems to be taking notes. They plan to carry out their predicted pre season ranking expectations onto the court by using their teamwork skills and defensive assets to their advantage.

“I think that it sounds real ly simple, or it is really simple to us,” said Davis. “Do what put us in these positions to be successful in the first place. [We are] not trying to do these ESPN highlight things every play, not trying to win it in the first or second possession. What’s going to get it done for us is being poised and stay ing true to our defensive prin ciples. [We are] not playing anyone else’s competition, not playing anyone else’s caliber or not letting anyone speed us up. [We are] just doing what we do best, which is rebounding, box ing out, and running fast.”

Not only will the team ad vance because of their skills, but it will be the team’s closeknit dynamic which shows on the court and that leads them

to win.

“We are definitely going to carry our DNA on the court,” senior captain Katsamouri said. “I feel like what is so special about us is our culture and this is something that I believe is one of the reasons why we were ranked so high and why we have been very successful in the past year.”

After an extremely close loss in overtime to Wagner of 60-63, which Vulin refers to as “the best opening game crowd we have had since I have been here” and a tough setback to Stony Brook of 51-69, the team sees the losses this early in the season differently than others would.

“Unfortunately, we lost the first two games of our season, but this will allow us to stay focused on our principles and allow us to be mentally tough for the games we have leading on to MAAC play,” said senior guard Harvey-Carr.

The team’s outlook on the season is to learn from the other highly ranked teams not in their conference and to win a championship in the MAAC. Even though their current MAAC ranking is 7 out of 11, this is only the beginning for the Jaspers.

“I told the team, we sched ule a non-conference to play other teams that want to com pete for championships,” Vulin said. “The first team we played was picked first in their league. The second team we played was picked third. Next Satur day, when we open up at home we are playing another team picked to win their league. We want to bring a championship to Jasper Nation. So, we have a very challenging schedule. Un fortunately right now, we have a number of key injuries. Brazil is out, Petra is out, but we were picked second for a reason.”

Before the Lady Jasper’s started their season, they were honored at the Manhattan Madness pep rally for the bas ketball teams and spirit squads. Despite the news about the men’s head coach and a num ber of players leaving, it did not affect them because the wom en are stars on their own.

“We create our own energy and feed off each other’s ener gy,” said Davis. “We are always at 1,000 if people notice that or

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

not. We had an amazing pre game meal and ceremony with lots of loved ones and family members. In our world, things went as expected. We were ab solutely amazed by the love we received. We are absolutely so grateful for the faculty, staff and everyone involved.”

The women’s team really deserved their time in the spot light and was grateful for earn

ing it.

“It was our time, said Katsamouri. “Yeah, we are friends. We love the Men’s basketball team because we are close, but at the end of the day it is our season. We have so many reasons to celebrate.

The women believe that Madness and their games attract different fans, so the men’s team has nothing to do

with them and their season.

“I strictly think our fan base is based on our performances and how people see us on so cial media,” said Harvey-Carr. “They want to come out and support, not necessarily from the people that come to the men’s games or hear about the circumstances they are in.”

”It’s an honor to be picked so high whenever you are recognized as one of the top three teams in the league,” Davis, a senior guard said.

David Mlynek Places at Men’s Golf Invitational

JASPER TALKS

Jocelyn Visnov Production Editor/Web Editor

Freshman David Mlynek started his Jasper athletic ca reer strong this fall bringing home a 10th place lead for the men’s golf team at this year’s Autumn Invitational.

The Autumn Invitational took place in Lake Placid, New York. After three rounds, the team putted a total score of 895 (+43). At the conclusion of the tournament, the Jaspers remained in 10th place, just be hind Holy Cross. Mlynek was joined by several other team members placing high at the tournament.

“The Jaspers were led in round three by Colby Norton, who shot a 71 (E), Lincoln Hay maker, and Jimmy Escoto, who shot 74 (+3) on Sunday. Top fin ishers for Manhattan were Da vid Mlynek with a 220 (+7) and Haymaker, who finished at 223 (+10) in the three-day event,” according to GoJaspers.

Mlynek is a freshman fi nance major and an interna

tional student originally from Prague, Czech Republic. Mly nek wrote to The Quad that he had always planned to come to the United States to play golf in college.

The Quad: What made you decide to play golf at Manhat tan College?

David Mlynek: Playing in the USA was always a clear de cision for me. I just had to fig ure out where it would be, and Manhattan College seemed like the right option of how to combine golf with academics.

TQ: How did you feel about placing at the Autumn Invita tional? How do you feel about your performance?

DM: I left a lot of shots out there on the greens. I’m giving myself a lot of birdie opportu nities, but not making enough of the putts. It is something I’m trying to work on so hope fully it will get better when the spring season comes up.

TQ: How does it feel to have placed at a match so early in your college athletic career?

DM: I think I still haven’t

achieved anything huge. There is a lot of work left to be done and hopefully the next season will be even more successful.

TQ: How do you feel about the team’s performance this season?

DM: The energy in the team is great, but there is still a lot of work in front of us. Ev erybody is willing to put in the work through the winter, so I think by the next season we should start seeing some better results.

TQ: What are you most looking forward to for the fu ture of the golf team?

DM: Growing with the team, and putting in the work and starting to win tourna ments.

In addition to his success es at the Autumn Invitational, Mlynek continued the season placing at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate tournament in West Orange, New Jersey at the Montclair Golf Club.

“David Mlynek and Colby Norton both finished their first round in the top ten individu ally. Mlynek ended the day T6

with a 71 (+1), while Norton is currently T8th after posting a 72 (+2),” according to GoJas pers.

The men’s golf team con cluded their fall season with a

fourth place finish at the Met ropolitan Intercollegiate tour nament. The team will be on the green once again in March for the start of their spring sea son.

Draddy Basketball Court Conditions Causes Home Opener to be Postponed

Grace Cardinal and Andrew Mannion Staff Writers

On Friday night, the Jas pers men’s basketball team prepared to have their home opener against Central Con necticut State University. Go ing into the game, there was chatter that it could turn into a big night. The Jaspers were looking for their first win of the season, and they were favored to win against the Blue Devils by 6.5 points. A win would have also given Rashawn Stores his first win as a Head Coach, while doing it on a court where he has already earned himself an impressive resume as a player.

At around 6:55 p.m., the team found out that they would have to wait a little longer to open up their home opener at Draddy Gymnasium. Officials canceled the game due to an unplayable court and concern for student-athlete safety.

“Due to unplayable court conditions and a concern for student-athletes safety, both schools decided to postpone the game tonight tentatively, we’ll announce at a later date when the makeup is,” said Phil Paquette, assistant athletic di

rector.

Riverdale was hit with al most an inch of rain over Friday afternoon. Issues began with the court, speculated to be re lated to the rainy conditions and increased humidity. Manhattan student athletes apart from the men’s team noticed issues with the court during their practices before the game.

“We [the team] were say ing the floor was slippery, peo ple were coming to wipe the floors, but it just didn’t seem to change,” said sophomore track and field athlete Makayla Dorvil. “It stopped, and then it was slippery again. This gym is extremely hot and it was rain ing outside too, which made everything humid. I’m not sur prised the game was canceled because of the wet floors. Just walking on it now you can hear it squeaking.”

Friday evening was lining up to be a big night even out side of the basketball game itself. Students from Manhat tan College were preparing to broadcast the matchup over ESPN services. Director and producer Joe Ruggiero said he was proud of the hard work of his students despite an unfortu nate situation.

“I just want to thank my students and announcers for

showing up on time and setting everything up,” Ruggiero said. “We were ready to go, unfortu nately, the court was deemed unplayable. We still had a great broadcast on our end, we just didn’t get to broadcast out to the world.”

Ruggiero continued to say that while the situation was un fortunate for students, it was out of anyone’s control, and the broadcast team is ready for a great home opener next week end, albeit delayed.

While Friday evening’s

game wasn’t able to be played, the men’s basketball team will be back at Draddy Gymnasium on November 18 at 7 p.m. They will open up a four-game home stand against a borough rival with the Dolphins out of Mount St.Vincent.

Draddy Gymnasium, home of the Manhattan College Jaspers. GO JASPERS/COURTESY

David Mlynek takes a swing at the Metropoltin Intercolle giate Tournament.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

An Outlook on Jaspers Men’s Basketball 2022-23 Season

OPINION

Andrew Mannion Staff Writer

It’s safe to say this has been a wild and unexpected start to basketball season for the Jas pers. Steve Masiello, the head coach for the Jaspers, was fired just two weeks before the start of Manhattan’s season. Jose Pe rez, the MAAC preseason play er of the year, headed to West Virginia. With the loss of Masi ello, Perez and former assistant coach Matt Grady, the Jaspers will have a much different team than they thought they would have.

It starts at the top, with interim head coach Rashawn Stores ’16. Stores, the former associate Head Coach, was giv en the interim head coach title as soon as Masiello was dis missed. Stores graduated from Manhattan College and played a stellar career with the Jaspers basketball team. He was a twotime captain and a Defensive All-American player. During his career, he helped the Jaspers win back-to-back MAAC Cham

pionships. He is ninth in school history for assists, totaling 314 over his career.

Stores has spent the past five years as a coaching staff member under Steve Masiel lo, rejoining the Jaspers as a coach in 2017. He spent his first two years on the coaching staff as an assistant coach. In 2019, Stores was promoted to associate head coach. He held that position until he recently took on the job of interim head coach.

Stores will now take the reins on the Manhattan pro gram with the help of Man hattan’s leading players who are desperate to bring home a MAAC Championship. Guard and highest returning scorer Ant Nelson will look to carry his two years of dominating on the court to Manhattan’s 20222023 season. After transferring to Manhattan from Seton Hall, he found immediate success and averaged double figures in his season with the Jaspers.

Also helping Stores and Nelson make an impact on the court, 5th Year shooting guard

Elijah Buchanan will provide the Jaspers with versatility and athleticism. Buchanan’s return to the Jaspers will help the team in terms of confidence and re liability amidst the personnel changes that have occurred in the past weeks.

Another star player to be on the lookout for is last year’s leading rebounder and effi cient scorer Josh Roberts. After transferring from Saint John’s University, he had his first sea son in Riverdale last year. Rob erts has excelled while wear ing a Jaspers’ jersey and will continue to be another reliable and productive player on the court for the 2022-2023 season.

Roberts’ stats are impressive on their own as he scored an average of 8.9 points and 6.5 re bounds per game while shoot ing 69.7 percent from the field.

Even with the significant changes for the Jaspers, they will remain a strong competitor against the rest of the MAAC schools.With 12 players and 3 coaches returning, the team can continue to build up from their past seasons. As of Nov. 10, ESPN ranked the Jaspers at fourth in the MAAC. Although this is a drop from the MAAC Preseason coaches poll, which had them second, they still seem to be in a good position in the conference.

The basketball season is only just beginning and Man hattan will work to rebuild the places and personnel that are now missing. Anything can happen and the MAAC will consist of another extremely competitive conference sea son. Teams like Fairfield, Rider and Saint Peters will be Man hattan’s most closely matched games as their rankings and stats are similar to the Jaspers. Only time will be able to tell how Manhattan fares this year, but they will undoubtedly have a solid roster to play through out this season.

Interim Head Coach Rashawn Stores (#12), playing for the Jaspers before his coaching career.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY