2-26-2021 Print Edition

the rocket

Friday February 26, 2021 • Volume 104, Issue Number 7 • An Independent, Student-Run Newspaper

www.theonlinerocket.com

'Strategic plan' furthers equity

By Nina Cipriani News Editor

Slippery Rock University created a Campus Inclusion Response Team (CIRT) and continues to work on its diversity and inclusion strategic plan to promote equity, diversity and inclusion on campus and in the community.

The university recently formed the CIRT that is designed to take action when incidents of bigotry, harassment or intimidation by or toward people of the community occur, according to an email from SRU Communication.

SRU President William Behre said that this response team has been in the works for a while.

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Denise Pearson advised that each Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools build one of these teams, according to Behre.

“How this system works is someone experiences what they think is a biased incident and they report it,” Behre said.

“Then someone in our system, Dr. Wilmes or his designee, reviews these things and says, ‘Well that is a serious-enough incident that we’re going to activate this team.’”

Behre said after the semester, he and the team will analyze the cases to consider what they can learn and do better in the future.

“There’ll be tweaks when we realize that you know that it didn’t work out like we thought it would,” Behre said. “…It’s a work in progress, everything is a work in progress.”

Permanent members of CIRT will also complete bias training prior to serving on the team, Behre said. Student and faculty representatives have not yet been appointed.

SRU has been working with CREDO since September to establish an equity, diversity and inclusion strategic plan. Terrence Mitchell, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion, said SRU spent

most of the fall 2020 semester preparing their strategic plan and now they are “actually doing the work.”

Recently appointed to the SRU position last year, Mitchell said diversity work is important and that SRU has been “doing equity and inclusion work for as long as [he] can see,” and that is what drew him to Slippery Rock.

“People think that diversity is just about those people who are marginalized,” Mitchell said.

“But people who are wanting to have a full, well-rounded experience, they’re looking for that information, regardless of whether or not a student is from a marginalized background.”

The university expects to review the first draft of the diversity and inclusion strategic plan by April, according to Behre.

SRU recently joined the National Association of Diversity Officers in High Education (NADOHE) to further its efforts in equity and inclusion on campus.

According to its website, NADOHE strives to produce evidence through research to inform diversity initiatives, identify practices, provide professional development for diversity officers, inform

"These things aren't ending points. They all become kind of a quilt of efforts."

– William Behre, SRU president

and influence national and local policies and create networking opportunities.

Behre ensures that the university’s efforts will go beyond just Black History Month.

“The diversity strategic plan is not a Black History Month thing, in fact, very few of [these] things are Black History Month things,” Behre said. “They are just efforts that make sense at the beginning of Black History Month to draw attention to … Black History Month is an inflection point to say, ‘Okay, how are we doing, what have we done?’”

Highlighted in an email from the Office of the President on Feb. 5, SRU hired Clitha Mason as its first Frederick Douglass Institute Scholars Fellow to support its mission and develop a curriculum.

Behre said the university intends on continuing the Frederick Douglass Scholar Program beyond this initial hire.

SRU launched an anti-racism and social justice resource webpage last semester. Behre said the President’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity recommended the creation of this webpage to provide students the ability to learn about antiracism efforts and allyship.

“These things aren’t endings points,” Behre said. “They all become kind of a quilt of efforts. I don’t think there’s any one thing that is going to be the thing [that works]. I think it’ll be a series of things and different students will approach it in different ways.”

Behre said the ultimate goal of all diversity work is to improve the outcomes for students through “fundamentally improving graduation rates.”

In order to keep a dialogue going about diversity and inclusion, Mitchell recommends that students “stay engaged” and talk to each other.

“A lot of times people just talk to people they’re comfortable with,” Mitchell said. “Talk to people you’re

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Manifest the negative test

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By Nina Cipriani News Editor

COVID-19 testing for residential students w a s d e l a ye d o n e we e k from the original start date after there were delays with the Shippensburg University l a b. Te s t i n g o f f i c i a l l y became available to

asymptomatic, oncampus residents Monday on the ground level of the University Union.

K r i s t i n a B e n k e s e r, director of student health services, said the delays with SU were “m u l t i f a c e t e d ,” a n d t h e re w a s “n o t h i n g t o do but wait.”

“There are lots of steps and lots of security and things to make sure that we have,” Benkeser said i n a Zo o m c a l l . “ T h e testing for this spring really is a pilot for what we do in the fall. So, we’re star ting off with what I consider a soft launch the week of Feb. 22, which is doing the

mandatory residence life testing.”

Jennifer Stoepfel, nurse practitioner and testing coordinator for SRU, said this effort is a huge part of getting more students back on campus in the fall.

“By [the fall] we will be r unning like a well-oiled machine, for

sure,” Stoepfel said in a phone call.

Benkeser estimates this free testing will be offered to about 600 students.

The general student body will receive an email on Feb. 24 on how they register for testing.

Benkeser emphasized that this testing in t h e Un i v e r s i t y Un i o n

mass testing center is only for those who are asymptomatic. If students feel ill in any way or are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, they must contact the Student Health Center and be tested there.

SEE SRU PAGE A-5

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News

SRU hosts campus forum

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Opinion

Emphasizing inclusivity

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Sports

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Club hockey's parting words

Campus Life

Corruption in schools

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VIDEO: WSRU-TV's "On The Rocks"

NEWS

Event halted by racist Zoom bombing

By Joe Wells Assistant News Editor

Editor's note: This story was updated Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6:15 p.m.

Slippery Rock University police and administration are investigating a possible hate crime after a poetry workshop was hit Saturday by a cyber attack known as “Zoom bombing.”

The tactic sees unwanted guests drop into a video conferencing call and hijack the conversation taking place.

Hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA)—a historically Black sorority—the workshop was supposed to be an evening of writing exercises and discussion of prominent Black poets when an unknown number of actors hijacked it.

The attack lasted an unknown amount of time.

It included the involuntary sharing of a video that showed a victim of mutilation along with a message which repeated a derogatory epithet for an African American over 90 times, according to Alexis Gish.

– Read "Black History Month events continue despite racist attack" at theonlinerocket. com

Gish, who serves as the vice president of diversity and inclusion for the Slippery Rock University Student Government Association (SGA), was not an attendee of the event but learned of the details through her role on SRU’s Campus Inclusion Response Team (CIRT).

Chief Student Affairs Officer David Wilmes said CIRT learned of the incident from a student around 8 p.m. on Feb. 13. The team, which had only stood up three days prior, met Sunday morning to discuss how the administration should respond and what could be done immediately to protect students.

The attackers’ identities and whether they have any affiliation to SRU have yet to be determined. According to Wilmes, once CIRT received the information, they passed it along to SRU’s information technology department and police.

According to SRU Police Chief Kevin Sharkey, SRU police are working with the local district attorney’s office to determine what criminal offenses may have occurred.

During Sunday morning’s meeting, CIRT decided upon two recommendations: having SRU President William Behre release a statement condemning the act and ensuring all other organizations holding events received resources to secure their online gatherings to prevent another attack.

CIRT plans to meet Feb. 16 to discuss the more significant issue of racist attacks on campus and how the community can get a handle on it, according to Wilmes.

SRU stakeholders were notified of the incident Monday morning in an email sent out

by Behre. In the email, Behre called the acts “reprehensible.”

“Frankly, I am disgusted and saddened that members of our community were attacked in this way,” Behre said.

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Behre asked for anyone who had information regarding the incident to come forward and fill out a CARE referral. He also requested that students show their support by participating in the many events SRU organizations are hosting during Black History Month.

“A great way to show your support is by showing up, listening, and learning about the many contributions that African Americans have made to our nation’s history,” Behre said.

While the administration was quick to respond to the incident, some students were not happy with the president’s message.

During the SGA informal meeting Monday night, students were encouraged to help develop the body’s response to the attack.

SRU student Brooklyn Graham told the SGA that she had only learned of the severity of the incident through the information put out by Gish earlier in the meeting.

For Graham, Behre’s email downplayed the ordeal.

“So, I think it’s kind of inconsiderate that the emails that we receive in the statements that are put out are kind of watering down the scenario,” Graham said.

She added that students, especially those of color, should not have the facts “glazed over” to share a more informed opinion on the matter.

Gish agreed that the president’s statement about the incident’s details did little to inform the students about what happened but understands there can be some hesitancy with using graphic language.

“But the vast majority of people who read the statement weren’t aware of what went down during the incident,” Gish said. “So, I would agree that if you were reading something that is just very vague language in terms of a racist act, it doesn’t entail everything that happened on Feb. 13.”

SGA President Joey Sciuto said getting the real story and not the “watered down” version out to students would be the first step SGA takes.

“Getting people fed up, getting people pissed off, is a good first step,” Sciuto said.

Sciuto asked the Senate body to talk with their professors and classmates about what happened and having College Senators reach out to their deans to share the story.

Along with spreading the word about what took place, Sciuto directed the executive board to begin drawing up a draft proclamation demanding the Student Counseling Center diversify their staff and include Black counselors.

Members of the Senate also felt it was important to give AKA and attendees their voices back. Sciuto said the executive board would begin looking at the best way to provide them with a platform to discuss what took place and how they were affected.

For Gish, she said she would continue fighting for students, through both the SGA and CIRT, to make sure students’ demands are made known to all in the administration.

“That’s what I’m there for, as a student representative it is my

role to make sure [the students’] voices are heard,” Gish said.

Slippery Rock University President William Behre announced an update to the ongoing investigation of the Zoom bombing incident that took place Saturday.

In an email to university stakeholder’s Feb. 17, Behre said the university police is working with the Butler County District Attorney’s Office, along with counterparts with the Pennsylvania State Police and FBI. “Authorities have advised the University that investigations of this kind can take time but that does not diminish their severity or importance,” Behre said in his emailed statement.

He added that if the attackers are determined to be SRU students, “they will face full disciplinary sanctions.”

Behre also announced SRU will be hosting three events to address the incident and talk about issues going into the future.

The first event will be held Feb. 22. Details will be emailed to the SRU community Thursday.

What's next: Campus discusses hate

By Joe Wells Assistant News Editor

After nine days of outrage from the Slippery Rock University community, the university administration brought stakeholders together to discuss the Zoom bombing incident, heal and make sure students of color are heard.

The virtual attack on a historically Black sorority left the campus community wondering not just how something like this could happen, but what exactly took place.

Students wanted to know what happened because communication put out by the president’s office was perceived by some to be a diluted version of the events compared to what was being shared in classrooms and student organization meetings.

In an email announcing Monday's forum, SRU President William Behre said he wanted to provide “opportunities for open discussion of ways to strengthen [the university’s] commitment to supporting a diverse campus.”

Yet, for the first 25 minutes of the forum, Behre and officials took turns condemning the racist attack on Feb. 13 and discussed

actions taken after being notified of the incident.

Officials from the Provost to the SRU Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) President leapfrogged statements. This included highlighting the work they had done to support minority students in higher education and the processes they had implemented and were working to implement for a more diverse and inclusive environment.

Behre also took time to address the lessons learned from the lack of detail in his communication.

“By not providing a greater level of detail, we actually created a situation where the individuals who were victims of this event were forced to repeat the story over and over and have to relive it,” Behre said. “That was terribly unfortunate, and I'm sorry that occurred.”

In the two hours of part presentation-part discussion, the only description of the attack provided by the administration was that a horrific video was played during the meeting.

Along with concerns that the administration would continue to gloss over details of any future incidents, some wanted to know how the university plans to keep

communication lines with its minority students open.

SRU student Brooklyn Graham, who started the #shameonyouSRU movement last week and a member of the President’s Commission of Race and Ethnic Diversity, said every time an incident happens, the university is quick to reach out to its students of color for their opinion and it is exhausting.

Behre plans to schedule regular meetings with student organizations like the Black Action Society. He agreed with Graham’s view that more open channels of communication will better serve the SRU community.

“Dialogue is best when it’s ongoing, not just when it’s in crisis,” Behre said.

Terrence Mitchell, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion, said the future would require diversity plans for the campus and throughout the academic and administrative units. While large meetings like the president’s forum can do a lot to spur conversation and exchange ideas, working through ideas and talking about issues in smaller groups can provide better results, Mitchell said.

When discussing equity, diversity and inclusion on campus, administrators said they are working

immediately on improving diversity in SRU’s academic offerings and faculty.

Students, like Kai Bright, said current diversity course offerings such as human diversity are outdated and riddled with misinformation.

To keep diversity courses offered at SRU up to date, the university is developing a training program for faculty that teach those courses. Along with required professional development, classes are being assessed to ensure they meet learning objectives and provide students with the most current information, according to Abbey Zink, who serves as SRU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs.

The university is also looking to offer students in the future a minor in African American studies, but implementing such a program will take a “coalition of the willing,” according to Zink.

Adding minors and updating courses can take up to a year. Pilot courses could begin as soon as the upcoming fall semester, but having the requirements in place may not happen until late 2022, Zink said.

As with adding courses, SRU wants to hire and retain more faculty of color, something higher

education has done a poor job of, according to Zink. Faculty and students of color make up about 12% to 15% of SRU’s population, but when they break down those numbers, the majority identify as Asian, Zink said.

When SRU puts out a search nationally for a faculty position, around 20% of those hired are faculty of color. According to Zink, when the university converts temporary faculty to those positions, they are overwhelmingly white.

Armed with that data, Zink said the university needs to make it a goal to conduct more national searches for positions and target graduate schools producing minority Ph.D. holders.

To achieve the university’s goal of moving the needle of diversity and inclusion, SRU must develop a standard training method, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he is throwing his support behind intergroup dialogue to achieve this. Those programs help facilitate open conversations between groups of different social backgrounds to provide a more inclusive environment and challenge people’s notions of diversity.

While those programs can be costly to set up, SRU

"Dialogue is best when it's ongoing, not just when it's in crisis."

– William Behre, SRU president already has administration and faculty trained. However, Mitchell said implementing the plans, specifically within structures like the freshman class, student-athletes and student organizations, is still in the recommendation phase.

If implemented, Mitchell is hopeful the culture and communication on campus will improve significantly.

“Hopefully, in three or four years, you'll have a campus that is having dialogue in different ways,” Mitchell said. “And be deeply understanding their role in conversations when we’re trying to build a community.”

NEWS Partners provide COVID-19 vaccines

February 26, 2021

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By Nina Cipriani News Editor

Over 48 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccination have been administered in the United States since Dec. 14, 2020, including staff from the Student Health Center and testing center.

Although students and staff are currently unable to get vaccinated on campus, the Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Slippery Rock Giant Eagle Pharmacy have administered vaccines to those who wish to be vaccinated. Some students who work in healthcare have also been vaccinated through SRU’s partners or at their clinical sites, such as UPMC. Director of Student Health Services Kristina Benkeser believes vaccines will eventually be distributed on campus when it is “college students’ turn” to be vaccinated. She envisions the COVID-19 vaccine being administered in a similar way to the Health Center’s flu shot clinics. AHN and other S RU p a r t n e r s w o u l d provide the university with these doses to administer to students and staff. “ We ’r e t r y i n g t o determine how this is going to work,” Benkeser said in a Zoom call. “[We are in the] very initial planning stages of vaccines. The ideal would be to have vaccines readily available whenever students wanted it.”

There would be differences between the flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine clinics, though.

Because there is most likely

a higher demand for the COVID-19 vaccine than there was for the flu shot, Benkeser said there will be stricter social distancing since there will be more people.

Students and staff would also have to schedule a time to receive their vaccine as opposed to the first-come, first-serve method of the flu shot clinics.

But, as of now, AHN and Giant Eagle Pharmacy receive doses randomly without advance notice, so it is more difficult to predict when they will have vaccines and how many people they would be able to give them to.

“The distribution of the vaccine comes in fi ts and starts,” Benkeser said.

“So, you might start out Monday with no vaccines,

by Wednesday you might receive 100 doses or a site

"The real way that we stop [the spread of COVID-19] is to vaccinate."

– Kristina Benkeser, director of student health services

might receive 1,000 doses.

It’s not really known for advanced planning.”

Because the vaccine is currently labeled as “emergency-use,” it is classified as “experimental.”

“I think this kind of throws some people off their game,” Benkeser said. “It’s not experimental in terms of ‘Do we know if it works or not?’, it’s experimental status because it’s new, which is typical for how this works.”

Before vaccines can be mandated or required, they have to be approved by the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), which has not yet happened for the COVID-19 vaccine.

So, the university cannot require students and staff to be vaccinated, Benkeser said. “[Being vaccinated] is heavily encouraged, but not required,” Benkeser said.

Students are advised to update their vaccine dates to the health portal so that the Student Health C e n t e r k n ow s t h a t a student did or did not receive the vaccine.

Based on clinical trial data, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are about 95% effective at preventing COVID-19 in people who have received two doses and were not previously infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Benkeser said this rate of effectiveness is better than the effectiveness of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78%

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effective against mumps and 97% effective against rubella. Two doses are 9 7 % e f f e c t i ve a g a i n s t measles and 88% effective against mumps, according to the CDC. The ultimate goal is for the campus to return to as close to normal conditions as possible, Benkeser said, and the way to do that is through testing and vaccination of the majority of students and staff.

“The real way that we stop [the spread of COVID-19] is to vaccinate,” Benkeser said. “Because testing isn’t

preventive, testing just lets us intervene earlier, but the vaccine is what actually stops disease. So ideally what we want is, when we come back in the fall, to have a large, large percentage of our faculty, staff and students vaccinated. My hear t would sing with joy if we could crack close to 90%.

That would be amazing coverage.”

Benkeser emphasized that students and staff would still have to wear a mask until there is a change in CDC guidelines. This is mainly because not everyone

would be vaccinated, so COVID-19 could still spread, said Benkeser.

She said she also believes that protocols like social distancing and restrictions on group gatherings will gradually disappear.

The CDC has recently discussed the effectiveness of double masking on their website. People can wear a surgical mask under their cloth mask as well.

“The most important thing is how tightly the mask actually fits you as well as wearing the mask correctly,” Benkeser said.

New Speaker More in-person classes set for fall elected by Senate

By Joe Wells Assistant News Editor

Slippery Rock University students can expect a sense of normalcy this upcoming fall semester as the university announced they plan to return 80% of classes to an in-person format.

In an email sent out to university stakeholders on Feb. 24, SRU President William Behre said when classes begin Aug. 23, students may still be wearing masks but will be a part of “a more traditional college experience.”

Along with a large increase of in-person courses, the experience will include welcoming back roughly 2,300 students to oncampus housing. As part of COVID-19 restrictions this academic year, SRU was only able to house around 700 students.

When they return in the fall, no more than two students will live together in student housing.

Behre added that students could expect in-person dining to resume and an increase of inperson co-curricular activities.

According to Behre, getting to an 80% in-person class rate has always been the administration’s goal. With the viral trend in the United States declining, along with a better understanding of the virus and mitigating its

spread, the university believes it has enough time to prepare the campus so it can welcome more students back to The Rock.

Part of those preparations is converting public spaces on campus like the ballroom and alumni house into larger classrooms. Behre added that the university is also looking to rent public spaces in the community during the week to accommodate as many classes as possible.

Along with the declining viral trend and rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, the university’s own preventative measures will allow for a more typical experience, Behre said.

Some of those measures are happening right now, according to Behre. Clear plexiglass barriers have been purchased and being installed throughout laboratories on campus to allow more students to work safely, yet closer, together.

The university also purchased more than 125 ionizers that “have been shown to eliminate 99% of viruses, bacteria, and molds,” Behre said in his email.

When students return to campus on Aug. 23, they can expect time to relax and refocus throughout the semester. The university plans to keep a scheduled fall break in midOctober and allow students time to visit family for Thanksgiving

before returning to close out the semester.

Behre stressed that those breaks are not set in stone because the pandemic’s effects have been unpredictable. While worried that a new strain of the virus could set the progress made back, his “complete intent” is to keep those breaks as scheduled.

With breaks and more students back in Slippery Rock, Behre’s email rounded out the expected fall experience to include more employees working on campus, study abroad opportunities to returnEnglish and collegiate sports with limited fan attendance, making a comeback.

Addressing the chaos the pandemic has caused, Behre thanked everyone for their diligence to make a normal semester a possibility.

“I know that these past 12 months have been difficult for the vast majority of us – faculty, staff, and students alike – as we’ve all tried to juggle school, work, and other responsibilities,” Behre said in his email. “But at the same time, I’ve been impressed by not only the resilience of our community in responding to the pandemic and its many challenges, but also for our collective dedication to our jobs, education, and, most of all, each other. Kudos to all.”

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By Joe Wells

Assistant News Editor

Senators elected and confirmed a new Speaker of the Senate Monday night during the Slippery Rock Student Government Association’s (SGA) formal meeting.

Sen. Hannah D’Egidio, a sophomore music education major, was elected and confirmed in a 20-10 vote to beat Sen. Caleb Covey. The two Senators were the only ones to apply for the position previously held by former Speaker Kyle Mennor.

D’Egidio said she was honored to be confirmed for the position in an emailed statement.

“As the Speaker, I plan on meeting regularly with current senate members to improve the function of the senate and create a welcoming community that will encourage more students to join us in the future,” D’Egidio said in her email.

D’Egidio will hold the position until the end of the semester when a new executive board will be elected.

Those elections now have a timeline announced Monday night by Sen. Madison King, who chairs the SGA Election Commission.

Applications for all available positions will open March 1 through March 19.

Candidates eligible to be on the ballot will be notified a week later.

Starting March 29, candidates will be able to begin campaigning before voting opens up on April 5.

On March 30, The Rocket and WSRU-TV will hold a candidate forum. Winners of the election will be announced on April 13.

In a move to cut time so Senators could attend SRU President William Behre’s discussion on the recent Zoom bombing attack, the

PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH D'EGIDIO

Sen. Hannah D'Egidio beat out Sen. Caleb Covey 20-10 to be elected and confirmed as the Slippery Rock Student Government Association's newest Speaker of the Senate. D'Egidio will hold the position until the end of the spring semester.

body rolled five funding measures totaling more than $260,000 into one vote that was approved.

More than half of the amount approved went to cooperative activities that requested funds equal to the portion of their previously cut budget due to the pandemic.

The $159,000 will be used to continue funding initiatives put forth by them.

ROCK the Weekend received $15,765 to continue with planned events.

The Flute Ensemble will receive $698 to pay for events that were scheduled almost a year ago.

The funding approval also fully funds the Happy Bus for the upcoming academic year and covers insurance costs.

The SGA and Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association both received $500 each in Conference Grants.

Organizations can apply for

money to help cover the costs of beneficial conferences that are held remotely.

Two bylaw amendments proposed at the last formal meeting were tabled again to give time for the language to be clarified.

The amendments will require Senators to participate in diversity and mental health events every year.

President Joey Sciuto said the measures should be tabled while the language is finalized and while the Senate work on new priorities in light of the Zoom bombing.

Before the SGA’s next formal meeting, it will hold a special meeting on March 1 at 5 p.m.

During the special meeting, the SGA will recognize the social justice response plan and vote on a proclamation recognizing the need for a counselor of color on campus.

NEWS

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February 26, 2021

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9 4 different locations - South Rock Apts. on Keister Road or South Rock Drive, Stone Crest Apts., & Main Street Apts.

9 2, 3 or 4 bedroom floor-plans 9 Over 180 apartments to choose from 9 Cable, internet, water, & trash included 9 Stove, microwave, dishwasher, disposal, fridge, washer & dyer included at South Rock & Stone Crest locations 9 NEW! On-site laundry facilities at Main St. location – NO COINS NEEDED! 9 Sofa, love seat, coffee & end tables, TV stand, twin or full size beds, dresser, desk, & night stand included 9 NEW! Bedroom furniture at South Rock!

9 24-hour emergency maintenance 9 Professional on-site management 9 Close proximity to SRU campus 9 Direct-wired smoke detectors 9 Fire extinguishers in each unit 9 Access to Clubhouse 9 Handicap apartments available 9 On-site parking 9 Close to SGA bus stop

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NEWS Students now eligible for SNAP

February 26, 2021

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By Joe Wells Assistant News Editor

Pennsylvania has begun implementing temporary changes for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility to allow more college students to utilize the benefit.

Pr e v i o u s e l i g i b i l i t y re q u i re m e n t s re q u i re d students aged 18-49 and enrolled at least half time would not be eligible for benefits and offered minimal exemptions like having a disability or working a certain number of hours a week.

The new rules, which we re s i g n e d i n t o l a w on Dec. 27 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, are part of the larger spending bill and Coronavirus relief legislation.

Now, students who are at least eligible for federal work-study or have a family contribution of $0 according to their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can receive SNAP benefits.

St u d e n t s w h o m e e t those qualifications and are under the age of 22 may also be counted as p a r t o f t h e i r f a m i l y’s household if they re c e i ve S N A P, a n o t h e r change from previous guidelines.

Karla Fonner, director of student support, said changes to the rules would do nothing but benefit students.

According to Fonner, before the changes, almost no students would qualify for SNAP.

GRAPHIC BY: RAYNI SHIRING

Unable to qualify, Student Support would have had to help students through other avenues like Bob’s Cupboard.

“This opens up a whole new door for us,” Fonner said.

For students interested in applying for SNAP, they can do so online, b u t Fo n n e r s a i d t h e government process could be a little daunting, and those who may want help should submit a CARE referral. Doing so allows the student to help

address their food needs and any other concerns like struggling to pay rent or utilities.

Fo n n e r a d d e d t h a t determining whether the student qualifies could be resolved in as little as 48 hours, but when they start receiving the benefit could be longer. In that case, the office could find s u p p l e m e n t a r y s o u rc e s for the gap between applying and receiving SNAP. “ Fo o d i n s e c u r i t y i s definitely one of those

things where I feel like we’re all hands on deck,” Fonner said. “We want to make sure that students get what they need.”

While she did not know the specific n u m b e r s , Fo n n e r s a i d there had been an uptick in students who needed assistance with food security due to job loss and reduced hours and positions for on-campus employment.

In a press release from Fe b. 8 , Pe n n s y l v a n i a Department of Health

Secretary Teresa Miller said SNAP enrollment had increased by 84,389 since February 2020.

Along with a 4.9% increase in SNAP recipients, Pennsylvania also saw a 12% increase in Medicaid enrollment in November.

A 2018 study conducted by the United States Government Accountability Office found nearly 2 million students who were eligible for SNAP benefits did not apply.

For Fonner, whether students seek assistance on their own, through Student Support or by other means like Bob’s Cu p b o a rd , s h e h o p e s students take advantage of the rule change while they can.

“I know it can be really difficult to ask for help or to admit that you might need benefits,” Fonner said. “So, I’m hoping that people can get themselves to a place where they feel a little bit more comfortable asking for help.”

SRU health portal allows students to schedule COVID-19 test CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-1 Student-athletes will continue to follow their testing schedule as outlined by their athletic trainers.

This testing is only for residential students who are not ill. Eligible students received an email on Feb. 18 about the process and COVID-19 related frequently asked questions.

The email said the biweekly COVID-19 testing is mandatory for all residential students and student-athletes. As for other students, testing is “strongly encouraged but not required.”

Re s i d e n t i a l s t u d e n t s are separated into two groups by their last name.

Students with last names

beginning with the letters A through K will be tested according to the green schedule. Students with last names beginning with the letters K through Z will be tested according to the white schedule.

The green group will be tested from Feb. 22 through Feb. 25, and the white group will be t e s t e d f ro m Ma rc h 1 through March 4. Testing is only available Monday through Thursday of each week. This schedule will continue alternating till the end of the semester.

Students can schedule a COVID-19 test in the SRU Student H e a l t h Po r t a l . O n c e logged in, choose t h e “a p p o i n t m e n t s”

tab on the left and select “schedule an a p p o i n t m e n t .”

Depending on a student’s last name, they will pick either the green or white testing group and then follow the given steps.

After scheduling the appointment, students will receive a confirmation email with specific guidelines on how to prepare for testing.

Because it is a salivabased PCR COVID-19 test, students cannot have anything to eat, drink or chew for one hour before their appointment. Brushing teeth, chewing gum, taking any medications, smoking, chewing tobacco, and vaping are also not

allowed for one hour prior to testing.

Students will receive a QR code after scheduling their testing appointment, which can be found in the confirmation email and in the Student Health Portal.

Students must show this QR code to registration staff after arriving at the testing center to check-in for their appointment.

Students should not be more than five minutes early for their scheduled appointment.

Positive and negative results of testing will be found in the Student Health Portal. Students will receive an email when their results are available.

Students who have been fully vaccinated do not

need to participate in this testing. In this case, the email sent to residents recommends students call the mass testing center to remove their names from the testing schedule.

Benkeser encourages students to keep their Student Health Por tal updated with vaccination information.

St u d e n t s w h o h a v e had COVID-19 in the last 19 days should not be tested either. There is more information about this in the FAQs of the COVID-19 SRU webpage.

Benkeser hopes that students take advantage of the free testing and anticipates a smooth process other than a few “glitches”.

RYANNE DOUGHERTY / THE ROCKET

Students who have scheduled a COVID-19 test will go to the ground level of the University Union to be tested. Students were separated into two groups based on their last name and will alternate testing groups each week.

“ The first few weeks are probably going to be a little glitchy,” Benkeser said. “People just need to be patient as we roll it out and recognize that prior to the pandemic, n o o n e h a s e ve r d o n e t h i s . We’r e a l l d o i n g our best and figuring it out. But I do think from the student viewpoint, i t’s g o n n a s e e m v e r y smooth.”

The university will continue to update the campus COVID-19 case n u m b e r s o n t h e S RU webpage.

"People just need to be patient as we roll it out and recognize that prior to the pandemic, no one has ever done this. We're all doing out best and figuring it out."

– Kristina Benkeser, director of student health services

O

OPINION

Our View

Beyond a conversation

OPINION

Volume 104, Issue Number 7

220 220Eisenberg EisenbergClassroom ClassroomBuilding Building Slippery SlipperyRock RockUniversity University Slippery SlipperyRock, Rock,Pennsylvania Pennsylvania16057 16057 Phone: Phone: (724) (724)738-4438 738-4438 Fax: Fax: (724) (724)738-4896 738-4896 E-mail: E-mail: therocketnewspapersru@gmail.com therocketnewspapersru@gmail.com

EDITORIAL BOARD Hannah Shumsky

Editor-in-Chief

Nina Cipriani

News Editor

Brendan Howe

Sports Editor

Sarah Anderson

Campus Life Editor

Lesa Bressanelli

Copy/Web Editor

Hannah Slope

Photo Editor

Aaron Marrie

Multimedia Editor

Joe Wells

Assistant News Editor

Tyler Howe

Assistant Sports Editor

Morgan Miller

Assistant Campus Life Editor

Ryanne Dougherty Rayni Shiring

Assistant Copy/Web Editor Assistant Photo Editor

Dr. Brittany Fleming

Faculty Adviser

ADVERTISING STAFF Elisabeth Hale

Advertising Manager

Brooke Miller

Assistant Advertising Manager

ABOUT US The Rocket is published by the students of Slippery Rock University five times per academic semester. Total weekly circulation is 1,000 (for fall 2020 semester only).

No material appearing in The Rocket may be reprinted without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

The Rocket receives funding from the SGA Student Activity fee paid each semester by students. All other income is provided through the sale of advertising.

Advertising inquiries may be made by calling (724) 7382643 or by emailing rocket.ads@sru.edu.

CORRECTIONS If we make a substantial error, we want to correct it.

If you believe an error has been made, call The Rocket newsroom at (724) 738-4438. If a correction is warranted it will be printed in the opinion section.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

GRAPHIC BY: RAYNI SHIRING

Our View is a staff editorial produced collaboratively by The Rocket staff. Any views expressed in the editorial are the opinions of the entire staff.

As we commit to educating ourselves and attending virtual events to celebrate and honor Black History Month, our community faced a horrific and racist Zoom bombing that attempted to disturb one student organization's goal to create poetry and reflect on Black writers.

On Feb. 13, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. hosted a Poetry Writing and Sip night to create poetry and discuss prominent Black poets. An unknown number of people hijacked the event, and The Rocket reported that the attack "included the involuntary sharing of a video that showed a victim of mutilation along with a message which repeated a derogatory epithet for an African American over 90 times," according to Alexis Gish, a member of the Campus Inclusion Response Team (CIRT) and the vice president of diversity and inclusion for the Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SRSGA).

The Rocket staff fully condemns the racist and senseless attack that disrupted a night planned for poetry and reflection. We support the sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., as well as the students of organizations who have released statements condemning the attack. We are listening.

Since the event, we have seen the activation of the CIRT, which was just announced on Feb. 10 and includes nine members. This team responded to the attack by calling for SRU President William Behre to make a statement on the attack and working with other members of administration. After this initial statement, Behre announced three virtual forums, the first of which was held on Monday and focused on the Zoom bombing and the university's response.

However, we now need to consider what happens next.

This was not the only instance of racism on our campus, as a Black History Month poster was vandalized in a residence hall in February 2019 and a video of a former student's hate speech made its rounds on social media over the summer break in 2020.

Further, this is not the only recent Zoom bombing attack during Black History Month, as two Penn State University campuses, Rutgers University, Rider University and the University of Wyoming have all seen similar racist attacks.

What will be different this time, and how can we make changes to make Slippery Rock University a safe place for students of color to thrive?

First, we must listen to our students of color at all times, not just in response to traumatic and racist attacks like the Zoom bombing. Our efforts to be actively anti-racist must extend beyond these attacks and beyond Black History Month.

Since the Zoom bombing attack on Feb. 13, many student organizations have taken to social media to release statements on the attack. The following are just some of the specific suggestions made by these student organizations directed toward change at the administrative level: • Black Action Society called for more Black faculty, staff and counselors.

• This coming Monday, the Slippery Rock Student Government Association will create a proclamation stating the importance of hiring a Black counselor.

• Black Life in Slippery Rock encouraged followers to send an email or letter to the Office of the President with concerns for safety.

• Slippery Rock University's Black Alumni Network committed to following up with the university regarding plans to "deter racial prejudice from our campus community."

As we continue to strive for a more inclusive campus, remember: by choosing to stay silent, you are choosing to be complicit in the face of injustice.

These are only some of the suggestions and statements made by student groups, and we encourage you to click here for the full list of statements.

Then, we need to call administration to make change for students, faculty, staff and community members of color.

Statements and emails alone, especially during this pandemic, will not make the change our students of color are calling for. We applaud the work of the Office of InclusiveExcellenceforsupporting students of color and especially Keshia Booker whose work as the assistant director of multicultural development is incredibly important in supporting and creating an environment to support all students.

We also recognize the university's changes in adding more class options in the Rock Studies program, hiringTerrence Mitchell as a special adviser to the university and forming the CIRT. These are steps in the right direction, but as we have read in the statements from students of color, this is not nearly enough.

However, we also need to understand that finger-pointing is not the way to get reasonable answers. Yes, it is absolutely valid for us to challenge and question our administration, however, our efforts need to be focused on systemic change within our university beyond this initial reaction.

The staff of The Rocket encourages all SRU community members to use our publication as a public forum for your perspectives, statements and concerns. Our opinion section has space dedicated to this civil discourse, and while the editorin-chief reaches out to select student organizations about this opportunity each semester, there is still usually additional space in thissectionthatcouldbefilledwith the perspectives of SRU students, faculty and administrators.

Beyond listening and having conversations, we must actively educate ourselves and continue to seek more information. Over this past summer, the President's Commission on Racial and

In the Quarantine By: Aaron Marrie

Ethnic Diversity (PCRED) created the Anti-Racism and Social Justice Resources webpage on SRU's website. This resource includes links to books, articles, podcasts and websites for topics surrounding race, diversity and social justice topics.

At the top of this webpage, PCRED quotes James Baldwin: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." We are currently facing the aftermath of a racist attack against our own students, but we cannot make the changes our students of color are calling for without continuously addressing these issues at hand.

Our staff recognizes that we alone cannot resolve the institutional racism that led to the Zoom bombing event, especially those beyond the university.

However, it would be foolish and irresponsible of us to think that staying comfortable in silence will lead to the systemic changes we are asking for. This kind of hate exists here because some might be more comfortable staying quiet than directly addressing racism and privilege.

Here is The Rocket's commitment: we are not staying silent. We will continue to use our public forum for telling the community's stories and local issues surrounding race, gender, disability, socioeconomic status and mental health. We will continue to ask administration the tough questions, holding them accountable for the changes our students and faculty of color are calling for.

Just like we are continuing to hold administration accountable for its decision, we are asking you to hold us accountable. If there is something you want us to cover or if you have an opinion piece you want us to consider for publication, please email our editor-in-chief at hms1015@ sru.edu.

As we continue to strive for a more inclusive campus, remember: by choosing to stay silent, you are choosing to be complicit in the face of injustice.

Choose to be an advocate, not a bystander.

Question: Now that we are nearly halfway through the semester, what are your plans for your organization for the remainder of the semester?

Subscriptions to The Rocket are available.

Subscriptions are $20 per academic semester and $35 for the full academic year. Inquiries should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief at the address listed here.

EDITORIAL POLICY The Rocket strives to present a diverse range of opinions that are both fair and accurate in its editorials and columns appearing on the Opinion pages. “Our View” is the opinion of the Editorial Board and is written

by Rocket editorial board members. It reflects the majority opinion of The Rocket Editorial Board.

“Our View” does not necessarily reflect the views of Slippery Rock University, its employees or its student body. Columns and cartoons are drafted by various individuals and only reflect the opinions of the columnists.

LETTERS POLICY The Rocket welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication.

The Rocket retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes the property of The Rocket and cannot be returned.

Anonymous submissions will not be published.

Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Please limit letters to a maximum of 400 words.

Submit all material by noon Wednesday to: The Rocket, 220 ECB, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057. Or send it via e-mail to: rocket.letters@sru.edu.

Julianna Ríos President Student Organization of Latinos/Hispanics and Allies "SOL realized that now, more than ever, the general body and students need a form of community. We decided to host community nights once a month where people can come to chat and enjoy each other's company. SOL is also incorporating events this semester such as Drag Bingo and other smaller, fun events.

SOL hopes to have an end of the year hybrid event to take place of the Cien Fuegos event the club would typically host."

Laura Shope President Musical Theatre Society

Julianna Sabol President Gender Studies Club

“Musical Theatre Society is currently working on a fullyremote musical production of *The Theory of Relativity*! It's an awesome show about connection, relationships and the challenges and joys people our age experience throughout college and beyond.

Coming April 15-17!"

“Our goal as an organization is to create a fruitful environment for not only our students, faculty, staff, outsiders, insiders— anyone really. Moving forward, we will continue that style... Our upcoming general body meeting on March 9 at 7:30 p.m. will be focused on 'Extremism' in all of its forms. We have another meeting March 30, we are hoping to book a pretty credible intersectional activist.

Our final meeting is pending for April 20."

OPINION

February 26, 2021

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SOL's statement on inclusivity and community

Student Organization of Latinos/Hispanics and Allies (SOL)

SOL is a student-run organization that looks to promote and educate the SRU community about the Hispanic and Latin cultures through general body meeetings, events and other educational programs.

SOL has always worked to establish an inclusive environment that is welcome to everyone. We along with other student organizations have all worked together to educate our community about our respective cultures, and to try to bring unity through understanding.

We are dedicated to bringing our community together. This is why we were disheartened

"We must always strive to do better, to be better, for ourselves as much as for our community."

– SOL to learn about the disruption that took place during a Black History Month poetry event (hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated).

Sharing literature is a fantastic way to connect us to each other and gain an understanding about diverse ways of life.

That anyone would commit such an act during this poetry reading is reprehensible and

disappointing. This may have been targeted at a Black History Month event, but it affects all of us and disrupts our community.

SOL has always and will always stand with our brothers and sisters in creating a better, more united campus. We do not in any way condone or stand for such hateful acts. It is up to all of us in this community to show respect to those around us and make this an environment free of racism and hatred.

We are all part of the same community, and during such a divisive time it is more important than ever to stand united. These events reflect the worst among us, so it is up to the rest of us to reflect the best that this community has to offer. Our hearts go out to those affected by these individuals, and we hope they can continue to move forward alongside us with a vision of a better community.

We must always strive to do better, to be better, for ourselves as much as for our community.

AD DESIGN: BROOKE MILLER

AD DESIGN: ELISABETH HALE

February 26, 2021

THE ROCKET

B-3

AD DESIGN: RAYNI SHIRING

S

VIDEO: Sanders on success

SPORTS

SRU football pushes back

By Brendan Howe Sports Editor

Right now, one of the most well-known black athletes in Slippery Rock says, people are more scared of getting kicked out of school for plagiarism than for racism.

Jermaine Wynn Jr. was incensed. His friends in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., (AKA) were dealing with the frustration that came with a senseless, racially motivated Zoom bombing. Something needed to be done.

Wynn, a senior wideout who’d ranked fifth in the nation in receiving yards last football season, reached out to his team’s head coach, Shawn Lutz, and told him how he felt about what had happened.

Lutz invited Jermaine to his office and, before he knew it, he was speaking on a video call with Slippery Rock University President William Behre.

“There’s not a lot of presidents at universities that will promptly respond to a text from a coach saying, ‘I have a player here that’s upset,’” Wynn says. “I poured my heart out to President Behre and I understood the tough position he’s in dealing with these situations.”

The talk broadened Wynn’s perspective on how Behre deals with such instances.

A week ago, Wynn says, he would have been much more frustrated and fired up about what had happened.

“[I’ve realized] what he’s doing to try to diversify the people who work here and the steps he’s taking to try to fix this type of stuff and make black students feel more comfortable around this community,” Wynn says. “It was definitely settling and I appreciated it a lot.”

The receiver brings up a point that Behre introduced in conversation. “[Behre] thinks these racial tensions will continue to flare up because that’s who’s losing power in the world,” Wynn says. “People who believe in these certain things, they’re slowly but surely becoming unpopular.

It’s becoming unpopular to be a racist. It’s becoming unpopular to do things like what happened at our university.”

Wynn reiterates another idea, from what he described as a recent heated debate with teammate Dalton Holt.

“He said, ‘We’ve got to make these people who want to do things like that—you know, bomb Zoom meetings and deface Black History posters— we’ve got to make them feel like they’re the minority,” Wynn said. “We’ve got to make them feel like it’s not cool to be racist.”

This August, it will have been five years since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat for the national anthem for the first time. Even in sparking an ongoing dispute, the protest served its purpose of

bringing awareness to topics such as police brutality and systemic racism.

Wynn has had conversations with people who disagreed with and were irritated by the act. Though, with all that has transpired since then, Wynn says, those same peoples’ perceptions have changed.

“I think [activism in sports] has opened a lot of people’s eyes,” Coach Lutz says. “I think it’s been nothing but a positive thing.”

Wynn speaks about the impact Kaepernick has had, in particular.

“I do think Kaepernick taking that knee [has] definitely influenced a lot of what’s going on today in terms of us speaking out,” Wynn said. “Even with all of the athletes and all of the influential people speaking out on this, I think we still have a long way to go to completely fix this issue of race.”

This summer, tensions reached a fever pitch and protests were organized nationwide.

Lutz’ stance, he stresses, is that he is white and, because of that knowing he couldn’t comprehend such issues, his team needs to know he cares. As a group over Zoom meetings, he listened as black players and staff detailed their experiences of racism, profiling, and inequality.

“It’s hard for me to say, ‘Hey, I understand what you’re going through,’” Lutz says. “To me, the black players are the only ones that know that, that deal with racism.”

GRAPHIC BY: HANNAH SLOPE

The team’s coaches, says Wynn, went above and beyond in bringing the team together during the turmoil that followed George Floyd’s murder this past summer. Aware and understanding of what was going on, the players fully embraced it.

About what happened with Floyd’s murder, Lutz says, “There’s just got to be accountability for people’s actions. We talk in our program about accountability and that needs to be in society, as well.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of teams out there who just kind of brushed that type of stuff off to the side,”

Wynn says. “We had players that were just able to voice how they felt and voice their experiences with things like that. I think it really opened up a different perspective for our white players, they come from much different places than a lot of our black players.”

Wynn is aware that you can’t change everyone who’s in the locker room’s views.

Preventing a divide because of this only takes buying into the team’s culture, he says.

“I think [black players] just want to have a voice,” Lutz says. “To have a voice [with which] they can communicate their concerns and how they feel

[…] There’s guys hurting on our football team and there’s guys hurting probably everywhere. To me, there’s been a lot of good changes in sports.”

The personal encounters that Wynn shares are those he’s had with police officers.

“My first ever time being pulled over by a police officer, his reasoning was because he told me that my hoodie on my head looked suspicious,” Wynn says. “As a firsttime driver and a first time experiencing something like that, it really messed me up in a way.”

SEE CHANGE PAGE c-4

Sanders serves as example for athletes

By Brendan Howe Sports Editor

“Sometimes Plan B is better than Plan A, you learn in life,” the 56-year-old man advises over a Zoom call.

Outfitted in a white t-shirt with gray sleeves and glasses without lens frames sitting atop his nose, his appearance doesn’t particularly resemble that of the athlete he’d been over 30 years earlier. His wife even calls to let him know she picked up his prescriptions.

Former Slippery Rock University running back Chuck Sanders’ original Plan B was an unforeseen one. He’ll tell that he was “nowhere near a star player” in high school at Penn Hills. He hadn’t even made an all-conference team and, initially, he intended on working for his father’s construction company.

However, a friend of his had received a scholarship to play football at Slippery Rock and, as fate would have it, something popped up where his dad couldn’t take him to the school. He asked Sanders if he could get a ride.

“When I was dropping him off, the football coach at the time, Don Ault, [saw] me,” Sanders says. “He said, ‘Hey, I’ve seen you on the film also, where are you playing football?’”

Sanders told him that he wasn’t playing anywhere. For all he was concerned, he was done wearing on shoulder pads and a helmet. Ault couldn’t offer a scholarship, but, hinging on grades, he invited Sanders to attend SRU. Sanders’ dad offered to pay tuition if he could get in.

Two weeks after submitting

his application, Chuck Sanders was on the football team at the Rock.

With scholarship players ahead of him in the meeting room, Sanders hit a late growth spurt his freshman year, sprouting a few inches taller and gaining around 35 pounds.

“Immediately, it became obvious that I was one of the more talented people on the team,” he said, adding that he’d soon climb to the top of the depth chart and stay there until graduating.

He also recounts a unique circumstance that helped him take the job from the goodlooking incumbent starter.

“He was lightning fast,” Sanders says. “He could move, shake, everything. And the guy was gorgeous […] I can’t make this story up.”

Playboy Magazine, Sanders says, would bounce around different campuses, and in this situation, they were featuring Slippery Rock.

“The [Playboy] playmate and [the starter] ran off,” he says. “He quit the team and ran off with a [Playboy] playmate. And that was my opportunity.”

It’s sureness that Sanders attributes to his success while toting the football at Slippery Rock. He was a selfdescribed big fish in a small pond. In the time period that he played collegiately, Div. II was the road less traveled to the professional level of the game. The opportunity to show his skills in a competitive setting early on helped pave the way for him to eventually get drafted.

“It was interesting, because I think I was one of that

first wave of [Div. II players to reach the pros],” Sanders says. “You dominated and you played so much because you had the confidence. If I’d have went to Pitt, yeah, I might’ve started, but it would’ve been my senior year.

One year. And I might’ve lost confidence.”

At one point, John Carpenter, SRU’s sports information director at the time, approached Sanders with a thought that appeared zany to most.

“He was like, ‘You’re coming off of an AllAmerican year, you led the nation in rushing your junior year. We really want to put a campaign [together] and start it out, pretty much tongue-in-cheek, [for] a Heisman candidate from Div. II football,’” Sanders says. “I’m positive it was the first time [it was ever done].”

Before the 1985 schedule, Carpenter sent postcards to media all over the country, announcing Sanders as the upcoming season’s first Heisman candidate.

The tailback even made an appearance on Good Morning America. To this day, no player outside of Div. I has ever received the award, so, naturally, it was all taken as a gag.

The lobbying for Sanders to win the most prestigious trophy in all of college football did what it was intended to.

Sanders reminds that football is about gaining exposure for most educational institutions and, then striving for a degree in marketing and management, he was excited throughout by the promotion aspect of the movement.

Admittedly, though, it all placed added pressure on Sanders when play commenced.

“The beginning of the season, [with] all of these news people coming to the games, my first couple of games were shaky,” Sanders says. “Because, now, the spotlight was so much bigger and I couldn’t just concentrate on playing ball.”

The East-West Shrine Bowl, following Sanders’ senior season, was his first wake-up call. When he arrived for the postseason college all-star game, he confesses, the names and alma maters

of the other players shook his conviction. He didn’t play well. The stage had intimidated the normallycollected All-American.

“I even remember, when we went around the room and you said what school you were from,” Sanders laughs, his eyes darting back and forth. “I was like, ‘Slippery Rock-Pitt.’ Everyone was like, ‘What school is that?

Slippery Rock? Or Pitt?’ All the jokes started. Where is it? Slimy pebble, all of that.”

Still, he was hoping for his chance to join a franchise at the next level. Draft coverage in 1986 was not the same as

draft coverage today. ESPN was, for all intents and purposes, still in its stages of infancy. Later rounds of the event, Sanders says, were not broadcast over television.

“Me and my buddy were living out on Route 8,” Sanders says. “We had a little shack. There was a communal phone that everybody used. Somebody called me and said, ‘Chuck, there’s a phone call for you.’

I go get on the phone and it was [San Diego head coach] Don Coryell.”

SEE SANDERS PAGE c-4

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHUCK SANDERS

Sanders started for three years at Slippery Rock. He piled up 2,706 yards and 17 touchdowns before graduating in 1986.

SPORTS

C-2

February 26, 2021

Lights shut out on men's hockey

By Brendan Howe Sports Editor

The investigation began with a phone call, an anonymous individual on the other line. It ended with the Slippery Rock University men’s club hockey team being barred until 2025.

Before giving any of his team’s side of things, senior physical activity and fitness management major and President of the club, Luke Grossman let it be known that he understood others’ obligations. “ The first thing,” Grossman said, “is that we totally acknowledge and understand that the university’s intention throughout this whole process was to keep students safe. And that was our intention, as well.”

Grossman acknowledged times are changing and that some team-building practices are no longer acceptable, but said that the team’s aim was always to be inclusive and welcoming to all members.

“We didn’t realize [those] things that we were doing were wrong,” Grossman said. “I don’t believe that anybody was ever in any danger. And I don’t believe that anybody ever felt singled out, or bullied, or hazed.”

It was August 2019 that the team was hosting its annual “Rookie Day.” A week earlier, the team held its tryouts and picked its roster, and the purpose of the festivities were to welcome new players.

Grossman emphasized that the party was not a mandatory team event and mentioned that a number of the team’s freshmen didn’t attend.

“It was meant to be an opportunity for the rookies to get to know us, for them to get know each other, and for us to have a little fun […] and celebrate the opportunity of a new season,” Grossman said.

To start the day, around 11 a.m., Grossman said the team held a “short, maybe 30yard” freshman footrace, with a Yeti tumbler as the winner’s prize. There was a reminder beforehand, Grossman said, that it was optional. Some elected not to run, without facing any repercussions.

Following the opening competition, new club members were split into two teams for a scavenger hunt, Grossman said.

The objectives were all landmarks within the campus or community, such as taking a photo in front of Bob’s Subs, and items that were meant to help familiarize them with the upperclassmen.

While the new players were out, the upperclassmen stayed back and got together at the Heights to cook food for when the groups returned.

The hunt, Grossman said, is a significant step in helping members of a new class get acquainted. They would be experiencing a lot of the same things over the next four years, such as living away from home and navigating college coursework and hockey.

“It was intended to be a fun day,” Grossman said.

“The university saw both [the footrace and scavenger hunt] as hazing.”

Later in the night, a party was held that a draft of the report findings mentioned the company included exotic dancers.

“That portion […] should not have happened,” Grossman said. “That was something that had been a tradition in the past […]

I felt at the time that that shouldn’t have happened and, in hindsight, if I had to do it over again, I would’ve been more aggressive to make sure that that didn’t occur.”

Grossman said, in his knowledge, the scavenger hunt concludes Rookie Day festivities.

“That evening wasn’t an official team activity,” he explained. “Everybody there was over 18. Everybody

GRAPHIC BY: HANNAH SLOPE

there had their own choice if they wanted to be there or not […] Other people, it wasn’t their scene, so they stayed home. They never received any backlash.”

Grossman also mentions that the other three members of the board— Kevin Belanger, Jamie Mauro, and John Seibert— hadn’t yet gained their spot.

Gro s s m a n t o u c h e d upon the allegation that underclassmen were left to pick up pucks following practice and to fill water bottles for games and practices.

“As far as filling water bottles for games goes, the players that were scratched or not participating in that game were the ones filling [them],” Grossman said.

“While it may seem like it was mostly freshmen or new club members at the beginning of the season, it’s because they hadn’t worked their way into the lineup, necessarily, yet.”

Grossman clarified that, at the conclusions of practices, there was optional free time for players to remain on the ice and further work on their game. Whoever stayed until the very end would gather pucks.

Furthermore, the team would hold a shootout to close Monday practices, with a member of the losing side having to wear a cowboy hat to a class.

It was seven months after the welcoming party that the nameless phone call was made.

An email was sent to every team member, Grossman said, telling them they were mandated to meet at the Office of Student Conduct in two hours, without giving any reason for summoning the club. Members were separated and put into individual rooms as soon as they’d arrived.

Professors from the school’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Department were called on to question each member.

“That was an extremely s t r e s s f u l s i t u a t i o n ,” Grossman said. “They pretty much held all the power in this instance.”

The team’s head coach of four years, Dave Grimm wasn’t privy to the situation.

“It being a club sport, coaches really have no sort of interaction with the university,” Grimm said. “We’re completely left out. We rely on the student board for all the information, for all the deadlines, budgets, funds, and stuff like that.”

Through six months and an entire season following those interviews, Grossman said, the team heard nothing. Then, he received an email from Leigh Ann Gilmore, the

director of the Office of Student Conduct. He was told that they’d decided on a two-year suspension of the program, with the condition that members that had been part of the team prior would be unable to contribute again.

“We saw it as a death sentence,” Grossman said.

“It didn’t matter if they gave us a two-year or a tenyear suspension.”

Hockey, with its scant NCAA governing, is unlike other college sports, Grossman said.

Participating in American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Div. I, Slippery Rock had been recruiting skaters across the country. The team hadn’t reached the playoffs for seven seasons, before returning in 2017. The next season, it made its conference’s title game.

Under former volunteer assistant Grimm and his staff, Grossman said, the program’s ethos was beginning to shift.

Alongside both a passionate parent organization and alumni association, the program would have been on the ice for its 50th season.

“The thing that has driven the direction of this program has been the members of the program currently,” Grossman said.

“We had created a new culture with this program.

One that had so many positive things to offer […] We’d even improved our relationship with the university. We were working directly with the president on creating new opportunities to bring in out-of-state players and for them to have the opportunity to see how great Slippery Rock is and for them to be able to expand that recruiting web all across North America.”

When Grimm had taken the reins, one of his first orders of business was to change any hazing in the culture of the program. He’d been commended by those in the university for the improvement that was made.

“That stuff doesn’t happen overnight,” Grimm said. “It’s hard to weed out things that had been going on for, say, seven, eight, nine years.”

Grimm, who’d played for SRU when it had first joined the ACHA for the 2003-2004 campaign, returned in 2016 to help manage the team’s budget and run practices. He was happy just to be back and involved with the club, even after being gifted a cardboard box full of receipts dating as far back as six years earlier.

“We were about $6,000 in the hole, that we owed out in bills,” Grimm said. “We

owed out to the Lemieux Center for ice time, we owed out to the equipment supplier we used at the time.”

The team decided on a coaching change the next season, and Grimm found a way to pay back the club’s debts. He set a priority for players to represent the university first, in the classroom or otherwise.

The club played Liberty University twice on ESPN+ last season, but it wasn’t only with skates on that it was leaving a p o s i t i v e i m p re s s i o n .

Grossman spoke proudly of community service efforts and charitable contributions to causes such as breast cancer awareness and men’s mental health.

“We were really on the right track to do a lot of good for the community and the university, and we had felt that stepping away for that [proposed] two years wasn’t acceptable for us,” Grossman said.

The team appealed, with its hearing taking place three months later.

During a ten-hour Zoom call, Grossman and an advisor that the school had assigned to help sat in with both Gilmore and a hearing board. The entire hockey team and its coaches cleared their schedules for the day, waiting to be called upon as witnesses for the process.

During their tenures, Grimm and his assistant, Mike Menchyk, both SRU alumni, declined a salary for their positions.

“They just wanted to give back to the program that they had played for,” Grossman said. “They really cemented that idea of the hockey program being what draws us all to the university and wanting to give back to the university because of that.”

Grossman couldn’t see there being any more evidence brought to light during the hearing that would contribute to the thought that there was hazing present. His coaches were repeatedly thanked for giving back to the club and told how good of role models they were being by dedicating their time to the university.

“I genuinely thought throughout that process that this was all just going to go away after that,” Grossman said.

A few weeks after the hearing, the team was given word that the ban was lengthened another two years, meaning that the club sport wouldn’t be eligible to return until spring 2025.

“It was a really jarring and heartbreaking thing to hear,” Grossman said, rubbing his forehead in

frustration. “Because this team has been a support system for each other the entire way through […] We really felt that they didn’t give us an opportunity to explain and didn’t attempt to understand where we were coming from.”

With the ruling being held that no former members could help rebuild the program, a network of proud alumni is washed away.

“I put up whatever amount of money on my own to keep things going and start going in the right direction,” Grimm said. “It’s tough to see all that progress, where they’re praising you and saying, ‘Hey, you did a great job, we like the way you’re going with this.’ […]

To have that squashed over that […] was hard.”

"We saw it as a death sentence. It didn't matter if they gave us a two-year or a ten-year suspension."

– Luke Grossman, president, men's club hockey

For the program to run every year, it cost nearly $200,000. The team found a way, through things such as fundraisers, to make it work.

“There was a lot of student involvement,” Grimm said. “We put a lot of responsibility on the players [and] on the club members. We wanted them to take ownership.”

Previous to the appeal, Grossman had composed an email to Gilmore detailing what kind of ruling the team was looking for. He recognized the fact that rules were put in place to keep students safe.

“We weren’t trying to say that, under their rules, we didn’t do anything wrong,” Grossman said. “We were acknowledging the fact that we broke a rule, we think that we should have some sort of punishment, but their punishment had gone too far. We had asked for a one-year suspension [and] the ability for players to continue to participate with

the organization.”

Grossman also requested a probationary period of the board’s discretion, following the team’s proposed sanction, that the club could work directly with the university to become a model program moving forward. He also made a similar statement during the hearing.

He never received any comment back from Gilmore or the hearing board regarding the suggestion.

“There are a lot of clubs, and NCAA teams, that aren’t operating under these rules,” Grossman said. “I don’t think that’s any secret, that there are organizations at Slippery Rock, and all across the county at the college level, that aren’t following all of the rules to a T. There are members of every club and NCAA team that drink. There are underage players of every club and organization that drink.

And these are some of the things that they use as grounds for a suspension.”

The main findings the program was suspended for, Grimm agrees, wasn’t because of hazing, rather the furnishing of alcohol to minors.

“Now, if somebody who plays football or baseball or whatever,” Grimm said.

“If someone stops them and they’re charged for underage drinking, do you kill the baseball program?

Do you kill the basketball program?”

Grossman circles back to whoever might have picked up the phone to chronicle the allegations, but only to stress that no member had ever expressed a feeling of being hazed.

“No members of the club ever spoke out to say that they felt hazed, or bullied, or belittled,” he said. “This call had entirely come in anonymously. It could have been an opponent that we played against.”

Grimm wishes that any complaint could have been brought to his attention.

“If somebody was uncomfortable with whatever happened, by all means, 100%, please come talk to somebody,” Grimm said.

“Come see us, let us know what’s going on. From a coach’s standpoint, we weren’t aware of all the stuff that had happened.”

With no immediate future to look to for the club, Grossman glanced backward.

“I still think that the best thing that we can do is put an end cap on this program that remains a positive one,” he said.

There isn’t a period that a transfer has to sit out for in the ACHA, meaning Slippery Rock players can relocate to another school and promptly lace up their skates. For the most part, Grossman said, seniors are going to stay and finish their studies at SRU. Grimm said his phone has rung off the hook with other coaches hoping to pick up players from the program.

The upperclassmen continue to make efforts to help find younger players a new home that, Grossman hopes, is like the one they had in Slippery Rock, especially during the ongoing pandemic.

“It was the university’s goal to keep students safe and, with this decision, they effectively did the exact opposite,” Grossman said. “We needed each other right now. We needed that support system. People are struggling emotionally and mentally and having their whole worlds flipped upside down right now.”

Still, he knows players will remember their time in green and white.

“I’m proud of what we put together as a team,” Grossman said, smiling.

“Nobody can take that away from us. The school suspending the team can’t take that away from us.

The friendships that we have made are lifelong friendships […] I’m proud of the entire experience.”

February 26, 2021

SPORTS

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Rice, Rock softball ready to take their cuts

By Madison Williams Senior Rocket Contributor

Masking up is not going to stop the Slippery Rock women’s softball team from handing requirements and stepping onto the field next week.

As the team gears up to take a swing at their first pitch in nearly a year, head coach Stacey Rice says she is excited to return to play next week. Their season abruptly ended in Florida around this time last year.

“For some girls they knew it was earth-shattering and it would be the last time they’d play a softball game,” says Rice.

She added how it also was something these girls handled with grace and understanding, and how they’re all learning to be flexible because of it.

The team also had to become flexible with the players they had, as the school was strict on allowing recruitment visits during the pandemic. With the team being unable to hold walk on tryouts or have students on campus for recruiting in the busy summer season, the process had hit a dead period.

Because of this, building a roster, and adding new faces to the mix was nearly impossible. For a foreseeable

amount of time, the roster may see long-term effects, but Rice says a lot of other universities are in the same boat.

“It will be aggressive and future recruits will find it more challenging,” said Rice.

Although the team hasn’t expanded much at all, they were excited to get back to it when they university gave them the okay. Rice says expectations are lower as this is not business as usual for them. She added how it is a great year to learn from.

For senior returner and catcher Leah Vith, the expectation for greatness is still there. Her and grad student and fellow returner Alexa Guglielmino are projected to be large assets to the team’s success as a whole this year. Vith is the lone senior and was a leader to the team last year. Coach Rice says she is “excited to see her play again this year after all that has been taken away.”

For Guglielmino, the past year has been a challenge.

While the pandemic itself was stressful enough, her father lost his battle with brain cancer.

“I see big things from her this season,” says Rice, glad to have her back. “She’s done everything she could, navigating her father’s passing and not playing softball because of the pandemic.”

She’s worked hard and

PARIS MALONE/THE ROCKET

In its last full season, the softball team went 18-27. In an abbreviated season, they'll look to make it back to the playoffs.

decided to use her extra year of eligibility at SRU to continue playing and making her father proud.

“Very few players will use this extra year since it is a financial decision more so than a decision about wanting to play softball,” says Rice.

This will give Guglielmino the sweet ending she deserves.

Since everyone has had to

deal with the requirements surrounding the pandemic, there is not one team going into this season that is more equipped than another.

While some private schools may have been able to practice a bit longer, Rice says it is anyone’s game this year.

In preparation for this upcoming season the team was finally able to return to practices in early February.

With no practices in the fall, Rice said it was a slow start and that they’re beginning at the foundation and getting things done. The team was mostly excited to be together again, regardless of the masks and mandates they must abide by.

In preseason rankings the girls are sitting at seventh in the PSAC, out of ten teams.

For Rice, “the rankings don’t

mean a lot, nobody has played.” She added how, with this mentality, the womens’ team is mostly just looking forward to competing again and having a little sense of normalcy.

Their first matchup of the season will be next Friday, March 5, against Indiana University of Pa. Weather depending, the game will be played at the SRU Softball

Women's lacrosse forges ahead

By Tyler Howe Assistant Sports Editor

This spring is all about starting anew for the Slippery Rock women’s lacrosse team under Coach Kelsey Van Alstyne. Now in her fourth year, things look a lot different for the team as a whole and obviously this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, this is a challenge that Van Alstyne is excited for as the team finally looks to get back on the field.

“I was really stressed out when I had my baby, because I didn’t know what was going to happen with my program and by the end of the semester, I was very proud and excited at how much the team came together,” Van Alstyne said.

Van Alstyne had her baby girl, Adelynn, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and she said it was one of the most exciting things she had ever experienced. There was a point at which she didn’t know if her husband was going to be able to make it to her daughter’s birth, but he actually wound up helping in the delivering of their baby.

She returned from maternity leave in November of last year, but that left the team without any staff on campus since the former assistant coach, Sarah Lamphier, left for a new job in June of last year. And in her absence, she feels that the upperclassmen and captains stepped up big time. “[This past semester] was a whole different experience for the girls with COVID-19 and what we were allowed to do and not having any coaches on campus, so it’s been pretty hard and there’s been some frustration, but there were also some positives to come out of it,” Van Alstyne said.

Luckily all the freshmen were able to be on campus and live together, something that Van Alstyne thinks will be really important to getting them back on the field and meshing together. Some of the players have were able to work out together at the ARC, which in the long run may mean a lot to a team that, like many others, is just getting to know each other again.

To add to that fresh start, there is also a new assistant coach, whom Van Alstyne has worked with before and

someone she considers to be a close friend. Taryn Burkholder, who for the past three years was a head coach herself. She took over at Morrisville for Van Alstyne when she left and won the conference title (regular season and tournament) both years that there were full seasons before COVID-19 hit. Van Alstyne has recruited her before, and when the two of them have had a team together they’ve been able to make special things happen.

“The team was awesome, we have a group me chat and they were getting weekly pictures of my baby girl and we did very few zoom calls, because I decided this was my time with my child,” Van Alstyne said. “These are adult girls and they’ve been with me for three years and they knew what needed to get done, so it was very hands off and I’m not used to that.”

There are a lot of players who Van Alstyne expects to make a big splash this season, including one of her three captains, Katie Hart. Hart is joined by Emily Benham and Hayley Pimentel. All three of them will be expected to step into big roles this upcoming season. Benham recorded

12 points in only five games played last season and in 16 played in 2019, she tallied 23. Had the season not been canceled she had been on her way to a good season. Pimentel had 16 points in 2019 and two last year in four games.

“We have a great group of seniors and upperclassman.

I think the nine juniors and four seniors will step into their leading by example role quite well,” Van Alstyne said.

Van Alstyne had thoughts of shortening her maternity leave, but after long consideration she decided that she wanted to take advantage of the time she had with her baby. When she returned to in-person, she had a lot more meetings with her players and was able to get back to a version of what she’s used to.

But she feels that the players who stepped up last semester are a major reason for how smoothly things went, even though the circumstances were anything but normal.

“I think it’s everything, we do a lot off the field when it comes to mental health and working together, but I think that [those leaders] are very important to the culture of this team. And I think that what

they’ve done will be extremely important to this upcoming season,” Van Alstyne said.

This season will consist of many new starts for this team, from new players to new experiences. And another thing that’s new for this season are the turf in the stadium, which the women’s lacrosse team will be the first to play on. They didn’t get to play on the field last season because it wasn’t finished before the season was canceled and they were scheduled to play on it the day after the season had been canceled. The team will also be wearing new uniforms, so by the time they get back on the field, they’ll have a completely different look than just 365 days ago.

The Rock will look to get back to the post season this year in an odd year. They missed out on the playoffs two years ago finishing 7-9 overall. That season was the first losing season that Van Alstyne had as a head coach, and last year the team started out 2-3 before things were shut down.

“I expect this team to look like a cohesive unit on both sides of the field. We have returners in every position

except goalie, and I think having that experience all over the field will help us immensely,” Van Alstyne said.

“We, like everyone else, are still learning what works best for us, but this group has a great work ethic and attitude and I think we will find our rhythm and stride quickly.”

Last time the Rock had a full season, Shyanne Toomer was the leading scorer with 35 points and Benham was second with her 23. But now, Toomer is gone as she was one of the seniors to leave. Toomer also led last year with 16 over the five games played and the team will miss her production, but players like Benham will be expected to take on bigger roles in a very uncertain season.

“My biggest hope for this season is that we get to play every game on our schedule, and that there is no COVID-19 outbreaks with us or with teams that we play on schedule and we can compete and hopefully make the PSAC playoff,” Van Alstyne said. “I hope it’s the closest thing to a normal season that we can have and that this attitude of being grateful for everyday continues, because it’s been some of the most enjoyable days of coaching I’ve ever had.”

PARIS MALONE/THE ROCKET

With a new member in her family, Coach Van Alstyne will look to lead her team to success. Her team won 7 of 8 home games in 2019.

SPORTS Sanders enjoys business success

February 26, 2021

C-4

CONTINUED FROM C-1

Selected with the 293rd turn, in a round that no longer exists, Sanders was buzzing with excitement at the thought of packing up and leaving for Southern California and the Chargers.

“The girlfriend I was dating at the time—I can’t believe this—but somehow, some way, she had a San Diego Charger hat,” Sanders says. “I was like, ‘How the heck? How could you possibly know?’”

Sanders touched down in San Diego and instantly fell for the difference in living.

Practicing alongside icons such as Kellen Winslow and taking handoffs from quarterback Dan Fouts, Sanders says he was scared to death. He wasn’t yet prepared for what came with being in the league.

San Diego was too much of a good time, Sanders says, that’s why it was a short time.

“Real soon, [San Diego] was like, ‘Look, we like you, but you’re just not ready for this level of team. We’re going to let you go, but trade you,’” Sanders says.

He perked up. Was he going to play for the Raiders? For the Chiefs?

No, Pittsburgh.

Sanders reenacts his incredulity, “I was like, ‘Wait, you’re sending me back home?!’”

There were burdens and distractions in being back

in the place he’d knew his entire life. Everybody wanted tickets or to critique his game, Sanders says. He believes his playing career might have lasted longer had he not suited up for the Steelers, but also that his business career wouldn’t have taken off in the way that it did.

During one of his first practices with the Steelers, Sanders was approached

by Art Rooney Sr., known as “The Chief.”

The owner asked him if his dad went by Charlie.

Sanders was taken aback, wondering how Rooney knew his father. The team’s founder told Sanders how he remembered his dad’s trucks coming back and forth to help build Three Rivers Stadium.

“My chest just blew up,” Sanders says. “I was like, ‘Mr. Rooney knows my dad is a businessman.’ And my dad was my idol.”

All said, Sanders played in 19 games with the Steelers, carrying the ball a total of 15 times for 77 yards and a score. He found himself attending events off the field, starting his networking while still employed by his hometown team.

Cut from rosters seven times during his career, he had to think of when to walk away. After speaking with his pastor, Sanders was content with his football life and the fact that he’d made it as far

as he had. He looked at the man in the mirror and was realistic. He wasn’t Walter Payton, but there was much more to come.

“My big paradigm shift was, stop looking at yourself as an old football player,” Sanders says, “and start looking at yourself as a young CEO.” Sanders doesn’t take full credit for opening the door for other Slippery Rock players, such as Marcus Martin and Wes Hills, to step foot in the league.

“The idea that somebody could even get to the NFL from Slippery Rock, for me, started with Ricky Porter,” he says, admiring the first member of SRU’s program to ever get drafted.

“Now, I think because of the Heisman Trophy [campaign], because of the All-American [honor], because of the leading the nation in rushing, I really put a lot more eyes on it […] I definitely was one of the trailblazers […] and it’s something I’m extremely proud of.”

Football helped Sanders network, but it was his schooling that put him in a better position to succeed when he hung his cleats up, helping him parlay his experience into a career in business.

“My dad had a sixth-grade education,” Sanders says.

“It does help me when I’m talking to younger people

Wynn, Lutz speak for change

CONTINUED FROM C-1

The officer ended up writing Wynn a ticket for rolling through a stop sign, but Jermaine says that the first thing he said was that he began following him because of how he was wearing the hood of his sweatshirt.

To this day, Wynn doesn’t wear a hoodie while driving, and he feels that he has to fix his posture in front of the wheel so not to give an officer a reason to stop him.

B e i n g p u l l e d ov e r again and treated with respect, Jermaine gained two perspectives of the same sort of situations.

Wynn feels like, due to the number of cases of police brutality posted online, that, at a certain point, it can become commonplace to or desensitize those who are watching.

“When I actually find myself in a situation, and me being a black man, I’m always scared to death,” Wynn says. “It’s important for black men to know, let your pride go when you get pulled over. Even if you don’t think you did anything wrong, prove it through court. Don’t try to prove it through that officer.

Who knows if that officer is not having a good day?”

It’s not easy for some to share their experiences, Wynn says, balling his right fist and putting his pointer finger and thumb parallel to each other.

“What I shared about getting pulled over, that’s only probably about this much of the harshness some of my teammates said,” Wynn says.

While Jermaine is a football player at the school, with the ability to easily get in touch with President Behre, he realizes that thousands of other black students at the school don’t have the same privilege of communication.

“I think the school needs to voice [its] support for [its] black students a little more,” Wynn says. “Not just in February on Black

History Month. It’s not a secret that […] you drive through town and see Confederate flags and stuff. We all know, in a way, what that symbolizes to some people.”

Wynn does understand the difficulties that Behre runs into, but also believes students should face more consequences for such heinous acts.

In addition to his conversation with Behre, Wynn also joined him in listening in on a recent Black Action Society meeting. Over the course of the gathering, a number of black students expressed that they would not recommend SRU to other minorities looking for a college to attend. “ I d o n’t w a n t t h a t from the place I’ll c a l l m y a l m a m a t e r,” Wynn said. “I want to b e a b l e t o re f e r t h i s university to anyone.

And it was kind of sad hearing a large portion of the black students say [that], […] so whatever I can do to try to help change that narrative, I’ll be full-go for my next semester-and-a-half.”

Wy n n a d o r e s t h e raucous cheers heard

"I think the school needs to voice its support for its black students a little more."

– Jermaine Wynn, AllPSAC West receiver

throughout campus on fall Saturdays and, in his personal experience, he’s been treated well by the outside community.

“Once we’re off that field, we’re not really identified as black or white,” Wynn says. “We’re pretty much identified as Rock football players and I think that’s actually a problem, also. I don’t want to just be identified as a football player, because I’m much more than that. And that’s why it’s always been important for me to have a footprint in the community.”

Lutz agrees with this value.

“Love to me […], it’s more caring about them as an individual than a football player,” Lutz says. “So whatever they feel they need to do as an individual, as long as they’re doing it the right way, they’re being respectful, and they’re trying to make a change, we on our staff and in our program fully support that.”

Wy n n goes on to explain that the interactions in the town are minimal, though, and he doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable walking into community business.

“Usually I just want to get in there and get out,” Wynn says. “Because, usually I have eyes on me for some reason.

People are staring at me […] Other than being identified as just a Rock football player, I can’t really say that I have [heavy] community support as a black person.”

Players can find a safe haven in the locker room, especially with Lutz’ backing.

“We’re a family,” Lutz says. “We always talk and communicate and have those uncomfortable conversations […] When there’s something that’s going on that needs to be discussed—a world topic, a problem with inequality and racism— we don’t mind having those [talks].”

to be able to say I graduated from college. I’ve made way more money off of my degree than I have off of football.”

Sanders began his own small marketing company.

Each day, he combed through the business section of the newspaper.

At a point, he noticed that a man named Bob Murphy had started a semi-pro basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association.

Sanders reached out and was brought on to help with marketing and management.

The league didn’t end up turning out as Murphy hoped, but Sanders picked up on the man’s wealth and golf course ownership.

“I finally got to a point where we were [cool] enough where I could ask, ‘What do you do? How did you make all of your money?’

That’s when he explained the mortgage business to me.

And the mortgage servicing business. Title, appraisal, closing, back office work.

That’s when I said to him, ‘I want to work there. I want to work for your mortgage company.’”

Murphy was somewhat confused, thinking that Sanders wanted to remain on the sports side of things.

Rather, Sanders desired to be on the side that bought the team.

Sanders worked under Murphy for about five

years at ValuAmerica , learning the business, then started his own company, which eventually came to be known as Urban Living Solutions, in 2000.

"I've made more money off of my degree than I have off of football."

– Chuck Sanders, former All-American tailback “It just took off from there,” Sanders says. “I became definitely the largest minority-owned company, and one of the top companies in the country, in providing mortgage solutions […] At our peak, we were No. 8 in

the country, doing about $250 million a year.”

His company grew to over 4,000 employees at offices in Denver, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. The biggest growth in the company, he says, happened during the real estate crisis that began in 2007. He started selling the company in 2012, starting a charity along the way.

He’s also opened SAVOY Restaurant and worked with the medical marijuana business, as well.

Sanders acknowledges racial challenges in his line of work. Systemic racism is present, he says, yet some institutions don’t even recognize it.

“Let’s be real,” Sanders says. “[Real wealth for black people usually] comes out of sports. There aren’t too many 6’8” LeBron Jameses. We should be able to have more foundation as minorities to build businesses that can lead to generational wealth.

Because that’s where you really make a change.”

Because of COVID-19, Sanders senses another housing crisis. He’s started a new company, Diverse Mortgage Solutions, to work with banks on modifying loans and help families stay in their homes.

“I’m after Jay-Z,” Sanders says. “I want his money. I’m after Warren Buffett. There’s always a ladder to go up after.”

C

STORY: NEDAwareness Events at SRU At theonlinerocket.com

CAMPUS LIFE

Hashtag spreads over social media

By Morgan Miller Asst. Campus Life Editor

On Feb. 13, a racially motivated attack occurred that disrupted a virtual poetry workshop. On Feb. 15, the university sent an email to the SRU community addressing the incident. SRU students felt this email did not explain the severity of the event that occurred.

On Tuesday Feb. 16, student Brooklyn Graham, an executive board member of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and member of the President’s Commission of Race and Ethnic Diversity, posted a comment on her personal Instagram page starting the social media trend #SHAMEONYOUSRU. In the post, Graham wrote about her frustrations with the university’s response and shared more in-depth details of the incident.

Graham encouraged other students to not end the conversation and to share other frustrations.

“I thought it was important to make a statement to let everyone know what was going on so that it is not the same people in the black community retelling and retelling the story and traumatizing themselves,” said Graham.

Students began to add Graham’s post to their social media accounts to spread the word of the severity of the incident. This allowed for students to start and engage with the discussion and voice their frustrations of how the

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university responded. It is important for students to start conversations and use their voice in a positive way to create a safe space for all communities at SRU. Due to the storm that Graham’s post started, SRU students were able to meet with the president. Graham expressed that it should

not have to take incidents like this to occur to be able to communicate frustrations from African American students. Graham believes that an open line of communication with the president and SRU administration can help.

Julianna Sabol, president of the Gender Studies

Club and vice president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, spoke on her thoughts.

“I think the biggest message that we could send is just to actively listen to our Black and Brown community," said Sabol. “A lot of the times as students, especially at a predominantly

white institution, we insert ourselves into the conversation because we are the dominant race here even though that is a completely different social structure.”

Sabol encourages students to listen and construct a plan with what we hear.

On Feb. 22, SRU held an open forum addressing

the incident and the response which allowed for students to listen directly to President Behre and the administration.

The forum lasted around two hours and involved discussions between the SRU community with the administration laying out numerous plans to provide a more inclusive campus and eliminate hate within the campus.

Terrence Mitchell, special assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion, spoke at the forum about some action plans in progress. One of these plans was to do research about intergroup dialogue which allows for a more inclusive campus and challenges people’s old notions and ideas around diversity. Another possible action plan is to approach a change through the curriculum. This would allow for students to learn inside and outside of the classroom.

President Behre and the Black student leaders at SRU will also now meet once a month.

"I think if we went about our days and realize that different things affect different people for different reasons, and everyone has their own perspectives,” said Graham. “I feel if we looked at the world in that way, especially on campus, there would have a lot better relationships on this campus, but we don’t because we don’t really see it as that big of a deal when it is.”

SGA Movie Series goes virtual

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By Sarah Anderson Campus Life Editor

In recent weeks the Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SRSGA) has moved their Movie Series to a virtual platform. Once gathering in the third floor theater of the Smith Student Center, students can now participate from the comfort of wherever they reside, whether on campus or at home.

During the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year, the movie series was held socially-distanced and at a smaller capacity.

Only about 25 students were allowed in the theater at a time, including those who volunteered in the operations.

The lack of attendance and the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic gave SRSGA the push to change their format to virtual viewing for students.

The hope was that by moving the movies to a platform more safe and accessible to students, there would be more participation.

The platform SRSGA is now using is called Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. This platform has a plentiful amount of movies to choose from, b u t t h e y a re f a c i n g one downside by using it: SGA has no way of tracking those who click

the link or watch the movies.

"With the streaming, it is going a lot better.

I've streamed the movies with friends and it's been good," said Amanda Reilly, vice president of campus outreach for SRSGA and viewer.

Students are able to get engaged with the movie series via CORE. There is a link available for streaming on the SRSGA CORE page where students will get access to after putting in their SRU email.

With February being Black History Month, SGA had a double feature including "Just Mercy" and "True Justice."

". . . socializing and just being around people is really important for interaction."

– Amanda Reilly, vice president of campus outreach for SRSGA

This semester holds hope for some in-person movies. Reilly started to get into the plans, "In March, I believe, we're going to be starting our drive-in movies again," R e i l l y s a i d . " We ' r e actually partnering with UPB for those events."

COVID-19 has altered the way people socialize and it has made staying inside so much easier for everyone. Reilly is hoping that the drive-in movie series will help with these two struggles.

"We're hoping to get students out of their dorms a little bit more and out of their apartments," Reilly said. "With COVID and everything, socializing and just being around people is really important for interaction."

The hope is that giving this opportunity of sociallydistanced socialization will help boost students' moods and serve as a light for students to have as a push through the rest of the semester.

The drive-in movies are currently planned for "Grease" on March 12 and "Jurassic Park" for March 26. ". . . with COVID there weren't a lot of current releases, so we're just hoping to do a more fun throwback with movies that you might have watched when you were younger," Reilly said.

Not only has COVID-19 caused some questions in

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the longevity of the movie series, but so has the rise of streaming services.

Most college students and families in general have some version of Hulu or Netflix.

Reilly talks about the way SRSGA has been working through this dilemma.

"We were like, 'what's gonna happen with the movie series?,' so we're trying to take these steps now so in the future we're still able to have a really strong grasp on our students," Reilly said.

With all of the new events and collaborations

happening, Reilly's position may be expanding to be two rather than one.

Although there is not an official title for this new position, it is a possibility in the works.

"There will be a new position that will be a new job opening within the Office of Student Engagement and would work alongside UPB and SGA," Reilly said.

"So that's a position that students will be able to apply for come next semester."

SRSGA is also hoping to open the movie series

up to being an outlet for on-campus clubs and organizations. The hope is that SGA is the vessel for the space, and the club or organization will take care of choosing their movie and the discussion that may follow.

SRSGA has many plans and ideas looking to be implemented that students can look forward to. Information re g a rd i n g t h e Mov i e Series is available on CORE and there will soon be more information regarding the drive-in movie series.

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February 26, 2021

Being a LGBTQ+ person of color in America

By Morgan Miller Asst. Campus Life Editor

Febr uar y is Black History Month and the Pride Center hosted a Rock Talk, “What Does America Mean for Queer and Trans People of Color” Wednesday night.

The event consisted of two panelists, Kayla Mayers and Kristopher Oliveria. Oliveria is a

"America is a fighter. I think in the past year with the protests and everything that has happened we don't just sit there and let justice slip through our hands."

– Kayla Mayers, sophomore in the recreational therapy program at SRU

SRU alumni who now serves as the director at the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity at the University of Kansas. Mayers is a sophomore at SRU. She is part of the Recreational Therapy program and is on the pretrack for Occupational Therapy.

Each panelist discussed their thoughts and experiences within the queer and transgender POC community.

Mayers spoke on her views of America as a person of color in the LGBTQ+ community.

“America is a fighter. I think in the past year with the protests and everything that has happened we don’t just sit there and let justice slip through our hands,” Mayers said. “It felt like I wasn’t alone, like I had supporters everywhere.

To know that it was happening elsewhere was such a surreal feeling.

And for that America is a fighter.”

Ol i ve r i a s p o k e o n the lack of POC and LGBTQ+ groups within colleges and institutions.

“There are institutional spaces where you can find black and queer c o m m u n i t i e s ,” s a i d Oliveria. “But to create a group where these communities a re c o m b i n e d , yo u must informally start your GroupMe’s and meet people through meetings that are not intended for those spaces and then hopefully set that up for yourselves.”

Oliveria encourages these communities to advocate for themselves and push to have the conversations and

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dialogs, just like the discussion in this Rock Talk.

During the event, the panelists also discussed what students, staff and faculty can do t o p r o m o t e a s a f e r, healthier and more we l c o m i n g s p a c e f o r

LG BTQ + c o m m u n i t y members and POC. “I would say show up, pay attention, keep your ears open. And I would say creating a space for others and recognizing where your identities hold privilege,” Oliveria said. “But also when you

are using that voice to uplift others.”

The Pride Center is currently holding LGBTQ+ Support Groups every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

Students can find the Zoom link on CORE. St u d e n t s c a n a l s o connect with the

panelists via Instagram and Twitter.

“Be friendly. Be nice.

I feel that especially for POC and the LGBTQ+ community, it is harder for us to get that,” said Mayers.

“Let’s just be nice. It’s not that hard.”

February 26, 2021

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Pride Center hosts movie night

By Sarah Anderson Campus Life Editor

We d n e s d a y n i g h t S RU ’s Pr i d e C e n t e r will be hosting a movie night from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They will be featuring a movie titled “Paris is Burning,” a documentary highlighting the 80’s ballroom culture in NYC for LGBT Black and Brown people in the community.

Desolina Valenti, a senior student worker in the Pride Center, described what the ballroom culture was like.

“They formed basically a community of themselves like a family in these ballrooms,” Valenti said. “They would do dances, fashion and stuff.

They would have houses and these houses would be like their own kind of found family.”

She added, “They don’t get a lot of support from their own families and that’s one thing that the film explores.”

This film ser ves a purpose for both the Pride Center and their contribution to Black H i s t o r y Mo n t h . It includes LGBT history that is important to discuss but has a very powerful message pertaining to Black history as a whole.

These ballrooms were specifically for Black and Brown members of the LGBT community where they had their own space. There was also a very similar ballroom culture that was for white members of the LGBT community.

Valenti talks about this separation in the LGBT community by saying, “ They [white LGBT members] were racist and weren’t as accepting of people of other races, so it’s important to look at the culture that came out of that oppression.”

The theme of racism in the LGBT community is still able to be observed today. Valenti gave her opinion on this.

“We can make LGBT culture more inclusive of other races so that they don’t feel so excluded and like they have to make their own culture,” Valenti said. “. . .I don’t know if there is, but I feel like there should be more inclusion for LGBT students of color on campus, because I think what we have now isn’t exactly the best.”

After watching this film, discussion will most likely revolve around what these ballroom cultures meant to these people and the dynamic between white and people of color in the LGBT community in the 80s.

T h e Pr i d e C e n t e r got involved with Black Histor y Month earlier this month by participating in a social media campaign where they posted different Black women and Black LGBT people in history and brought attention to what they did. They also hosted a Rock Talk discussing what America means for LGBT people of color.

Information regarding the Pride Center’s Movie Night can be found on CORE.

WEEKLY STUDENT ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHTS: Black Action Society

Spanish Club

By Morgan Miller Asst. Campus Life Editor

T h e Bl a c k Ac t i o n Society’s (BAS) mission is to promote and educate the SRU community about the African American community's experiences on campus.

BAS focuses on culture, identity, advocacy and social action.

Since going virtual at SRU, the club holds general body meetings about twice a month.

BAS usually holds a new event about every other week. The events held have discussed colorism, what it is like getting a job as a person of color, holidays and the roots of the Black community,

as well as mental health, traditions, and Black love, among other cultural topics.

BAS allows all people in the community to join the club.

Ma y a h Pe r r y, v i c e president of the Black Action Society, spoke on students at SRU getting involved within the club.

“I feel there's a little stigma as far as when it comes to the Black Action Society,” she said. “I feel like some people think you have to be Black to joining the club which is not true at all. Anyone can come. People of color or people not of color.”

The best way for students to get involved within the club is to

attend the full body meetings. During these meetings, students can ask questions and engage in discussions. By attending the events and general body meetings, students can gain a greater understanding of the African American experience at Slippery Rock University.

“Black Action Society wants you to come and e d u c a t e yo u r s e l f, b e involved, participate and celebrate our culture,” said Perry. “It is important to learn in college about the different kinds of cultures because when you go out in the career field, you are going to be working will all different people.”

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By Brandon Pierce Senior Rocket Contributor

Spanish Club is Slippery Rock U n i v e r s i t y ’s Spanish language and c u l t u re o r g a n i z a t i o n .

Even though it has been inactive for different stretches of time, Spanish Club is still prevalent on campus and in the community.

Within Spanish Club, students are able to comfortably practice and learn Spanish in a stressfree environment. The club is tailored towards students who have an interest in the Spanish language and wish to further their Spanish speaking skills. “ The main goal of Sp a n i s h c l u b i s t o p r ov i d e a s p a c e f o r students to practice S p a n i s h . We s t r i v e to create meaning ful opportunities to those who seek to study Spanish and are interested in the language,” said Logan McIntyre, Spanish Club president. “We try to keep it interesting and get people involved,” said McIntyre.

In the past, Spanish Club offered students opportunities to attend many different events to help further their learning of the Spanish language. Most of these events involved speaking Sp a n i s h w i t h o t h e r students in Spanish Club and in other Spanish Clubs from neighboring colleges. Additionally,

Spanish Club would host cooking nights, which were professor taught classes where professors would demonstrate how to cook native dishes of their countries. Spanish Club also takes part in different fundraisers to promote money and supplies for those in need.

Due to the pandemic, Spanish Club has hosted all their events and meetings virtually. For example, every month, m e m b e r s o f Sp a n i s h Club meet online to have discussions and

conversations entirely in Spanish. This helps to keep the members connected, all while enhancing their Spanish speaking skills.

Furthermore, Spanish Club always try to adapt to what members want.

The Club adapts to the feedback of members, and is always open to new ideas and events. Anyone who is interested in Spanish Club can attend one of their meetings or can check out Spanish Club’s upcoming E-Board elections.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOGAN MCINTYRE

This is one example of Spanish Club educating through experience. Various Spanish Club members and Spanish students learn how to make traditional Panamanian food, taught by Dr. Dieter, in October 2019.

February 26, 2021

THE ROCKET Movie Review: Nomadland

By Dereck Majors Review Columnist

It’s rare for a film to have all the right ingredients blend together so well that it nears a masterpiece. Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” is a film that was destined for greatness both for its ambitious creative decisions made on and off screen. It’s a film that feels familiar in its themes, though is completely unique in the way Zhao captures the essence of life in America’s unfamiliar territories.

After the closure of a Sheetrock factory in early 2011, the city of Empire, Nevada is completely erased from existence. Exemployees are left in the ruins of the once thriving town, held together solely by the mine that was affected by the economic crisis that swept had recently the nation. Fern, a recent widow and employee of the mine, begins the next phase of her life on the road. Packing all of her necessary and memorable belongings into a white van (which she names Vanguard), Fern travels the country in search of work and in hopes of finding herself along the way.

“I’m not homeless,” Fern tells a worried teenager she used to tutor early in the film, “I’m just houseless.”

Frances McDormand captures the heart and soul of a nomad. Playing Fern may have simultaneously been the most challenging yet relaxing part McDormand has ever taken on. Often a recluse to the media and the

usual Hollywood spotlight, the two-time Oscar winner easily melts into the role of Fern, absorbing all of the raw, human qualities that go into a performance that feels documentary-esque.

There is a simple shot in the beginning of the film following Fern walking across an RV park. Her friends call her over to enjoy the warmth of the fire, yet she keeps walking.

A light piano melody plays in the background and the audience feels every emotion hitting her. She is grieving her husband, attempting to come to terms with his loss, but she realizes there is so much beauty amongst the rusted RVs that surround her in this simple life. It’s a role only McDormand could take on.

This performance is elevated by a cast of real-life nomads. Zhao is a master at directing non-actors, allowing for these fascinating individuals to tell their own stories and explore their grief and experiences. She expertly incorporates these stories into her narrative, giving the film an extra sense of realism and more open, raw emotion.

One fascinating character is that of Bob Wells, who runs a YouTube channel discussing the nomadic lifestyle. In one of the film’s final scenes, Fern describes the death of her husband to Wells, who in turn begins to speak on a tragic moment that allowed him to appreciate his life as a nomad. It’s these passionate moments that

showcase how every aspect of the film comes together wonderfully.

But everything would not come together so wonderfully had it not been the genius herself, Chloé Zhao. Zhao is able to expertly write, direct, and edit the film all herself. She is present in every aspect of this picture, making it a film that could not be tackled by any other filmmaker.

While she has been in the indie scene her entire career, her next film is Marvel’s “Eternals” which will see her take her talents to a magnitude with one of the largest blockbusters to come this year. It’s no surprise why Marvel would want to work with this filmmaker as her already successful career continues to soar.

As award season (finally) begins, it’s no surprise that “Nomadland” is the leader of the pact. With a story that explores America and its citizens at its core, it’s easy for audiences to relate to and feel moved by this film. One of the most enduring aspects of the film is how open and honest it is, something many films today lack. A film like this being in the hands of the general public in theaters and (now) on Hulu allows for audiences to have a constructive conversation about what home means and how to deal with loss.

As Wells tells Fern in some of the best advice in the film, “I don’t ever say a final goodbye. I always just say, ‘I’ll see you down the road.’”

School to Prison Pipeline

By Morgan Miller Asst. Campus Life Editor

The Gender Studies Club and Criminology Club joined together to host an event Tuesday night, “School to Prison Pipeline.”

The school to prison pipeline is a national trend where children are funneled out of schools which can lead them into juvenile and criminal justice systems. Some schools resemble prisons when the building consists of security cameras, police officers, metal detectors and more.

This has been an ongoing issue that researchers say will get worse.

The Gender Studies Club and Criminology Club are not usually two clubs that collide. Both clubs decided to come together for this event to pull knowledge from each discipline to teach and educate the SRU community about this national issue.

Gender Studies Director Cindy Lacom

spoke on how students’ roles can impact the future of this issue.

“I think it is imperative that we take diversity, equality and inclusion seriously,” said Lacom.

“And all you students on this screen have the capacity to change our futures in a really positive way. So, these programs are essential to change the world.”

The school to prison pipeline involves school systems, administration, faculty and even parents.

Addressing this problem within the school system can include appropriate training, restorative justice and social supports and resources. These changes can help create a positive and healthier environment for students in public schools.

A s s o c i a t e Pro f e s s o r in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department Sarah Keuhn commented on the way students can partake while in college. “ We t r y t o b e comfortable and surround ourselves with people who

have the same mindset, the same background and the same cultural views,” said Keuhn. “But I think it is really, really important that you challenge yourself and be with other departments and hear other viewpoints.

We heard in the discussion all these different perspectives.”

The Criminology Club is open to students who are a part of the Criminology department. Students in this department can find information about the club on CORE. The Gender Studies club is open to any students, staff and faculty who are interested in issues of gender, diversity, intersexuality and embodiment. Students can find information about the club on CORE or through the club’s social media accounts.

Future events including “Masculinity and Mental Health: Breaking Intersectional Barries” and “Dying to be Heard: A Discussion about Black Maternal Health” can be found of CORE. Both events will occur in March.

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