Volume 102 Issue 10

Page 1

“We Do Journalism”

the Quadrangle

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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924

Volume CII, Issue 10

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NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Studying Abroad in The Time of COVID-19 Carlos Pinto-Corredor Contributor

Campus Gets Spooky! The Resident Student Association decorated the quadrangle for Halloween this year. BRIAN ASARE / THE QUADRANGLE

Student Government Remains Active, Despite COVID-19 Colleen McNamara Staff Writer

Despite challenges amid a global pandemic, the Student Government Assembly has been working to ensure a fun and exciting year for students. SGA, which consists of the executive committee, the assembly, and the student court, has made it their mission this semester to bring virtual events to Manhattan students as well as keep them informed of global and campus news, especially during this unprecedented semester. Shannon Gleba, Anthony Bradley, and DeVaughn Harris, officers for the Student Government Executive Board, shared what they have been working on this semester. As Student Body President, Shannon Gleba oversees a number of committees on campus through her work with John

IN NEWS:

COVID-19 Campus Update on p. 6

Bennett, executive director of Student Engagement, Richard Satterlee, vice president of student life, and Tim Ward, dean of engineering and professor of civil engineering at Manhattan College. Student Government started their meetings and event planning earlier than any other year by managing several important tasks. The downtime many experienced due to COVID-19 afforded the members of the executive board the extra time needed to build a rapport with one another. “Typically when a board is elected they do not start until September, when we can have in-person meetings all together,” Gleba said. “This year was unique, we started looking at disease related and inequality and unrest issues going on in America right away. From the start, we were involved in conversations about returning back to campus since April.”

IN FEATURES: Remote students weigh in on their plans on p. 7

This fall semester has challenged SGA to respond to changes quickly and effectively. Aside from ensuring students, staff, and visitors are safe, Student Government has partnered with Black Student Union on how to further implement diversity and acceptance on campus. Anthony Bradley, executive vice president, plays a large role overseeing the budget allocations committee, the club oversight committee, and the social life committee. Additionally, Bradley aids Gleba when she facilitates discussions with the entire administration. “Recently, I personally have been brought up to the Board of Trustees to work on the strategic planning committee to see the future vision of our school, which is something that affects our school in the long run,” Bradley said. “So basically, we __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Due to the pandemic, study abroad programs have been greatly affected for the foreseeable future. The spread of COVID-19 around the world has affected Manhattan College students since March, and the Study Abroad office now faces several challenges in developing future international programs. How It Was The Spring 2020 semester started with a study abroad delegation in Peru with stops in cities like Cusco, Arequipa, and Lima. The delegation was there for 15 days as part of the Organizational Leadership program in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. “At that moment COVID was a topic on the news, but just about the situation in China. It was not a big concern,” Ricardo Dello Buono, director of Study Abroad at Manhattan College, said. In February, another SCPS-delegation visited Havana, Cuba. They were there the last week of February and the first week of March. This group was in an eight-day program, studying some of the transitions among private businesses and startups taking place in Cuba. “When we arrived in Havana all of the airport employees without exception had a mask on. We were like wow! What’s going on here?” Dello Buono said. At that time, Cuba had no reported cases of COVID-19, but the virus had already begun to move into Italy, Spain, Europe, and other countries, including the United States. Upon returning on March 7th, the Havana delegation was the last Manhattan College group to study abroad. There were 23 students overseas when Manhattan College decided to transition all courses to remote learning — 17 students were in Madrid, one in Budapest, one in Granada, two in Barcelona, and two in

IN A&E:

Virtual Cody Ko event garners major turnout on p. 10

Paris. “We decided that they needed to come home,” Dello Buono said. “It was also against time because it was in the same week President Trump announced that the U.S. was closing borders.” Organizing for the return of study abroad students was not an easy process for the Study Abroad team, in part because some of the international programs were run by partner institutions. Additionally, it was determined by the CDC that airports were a dangerous place for travelers where the transmission of COVID-19 was higher. The students studying in Madrid that came home quarantined for two weeks and arrived back in the United States just before international flights were cancelled. Some MC students, however, had to remain abroad. One student in Barcelona had to remain within the campus while taking virtual classes; another stayed with family members in Paris before returning to the U.S.; and a third student had to remain on a cruise ship in the Caribbean in what later was called a “sea-mester.” The Study Abroad office tracked all students and brought them home in an attempt to avoid all kinds of risks related to COVID-19. “None of our students got sick in any of our programs,” Dello Buono said. “Manhattan College made the right decision at the right time. The courses continued for everybody. All of the students continued their studies.” The Study Abroad office cancelled six programs for this past summer. The very first program cancelled was one in Sichuan, China. Then, one program in Italian language and another in communications were both coordinated in Rome, but ultimately had to be cancelled. The cancellations did not end there — two religion courses, one in Florence and another in Lisbon, and a new course in __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

IN SPORTS:

Manhattan soccer continues to train on p. 11


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