Volume 101 Orientation Issue by The Fordham Ram

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 101, Orientation Issue

University Undergoes Construction

FordhamRam.com

August 24, 2019

Welcome to the Ramily, Class of 2023

By SARAH HUFFMAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

At the end of last semester, Fordham announced various construction projects that would begin work over the summer. As the fall semester approaches, returning students will notice the ongoing work that started this summer. Marco Valera, vice president for facilities management, listed the most pervasive projects that began during the summer. The first is upgrades to utilities in of McGinley Center. Valera said the university has plans for major repairs to the building, but the first step is replacing the electrical system that powers the building. They are working on rerouting most of the utilities underground beneath the building’s foundation. Repairs to Thebaud Hall also started this summer. Valera said Thebaud Hall was built with a wooden interior structure, and over time, the structure needed to be reinforced with steel. Valera said they are also replacing the boiler plant in the building. The boilers in Thebaud Hall provide heating steam for two-thirds of campus. Valera said temporary boilers outside of Thebaud to will allow the campus to get through the winter while upgrades are made. The last major construction update is the work being done to make Collins Hall more accessible. These upgrades include adding a ramp to the front entrance and an elevator in the lobby. Accessibility in Collins Hall has been an ongoing concern among students. Facilities Management had planned to make the building wheelchair accessible by the end of 2018, but as of February 2019 it still has not begun. Other projects that were completed this summer include roof repairs, improvements made to the labs in John Mulcahy Hall and annual dorm preparations before the return of students, such as painting and cleaning. “A significant amount of progress has been made so far, but these are initial steps in projects that will take months to complete,” said Valera. The projects will continue throughout the academic year into next year. The most significant effect that the projects will have on students is related to the repairs on McGinley Center, according to Valera. Facilities is still scheduling for McGinley construction and will provide more details in late September, he said. In regards to all of the construction sites on campus, Valera said McGinley Center, Thebaud Hall and Collins Hall are the most notable because of each building’s outer appearance. Valera said there will be temporary fencing in front of McGinley Center at times, but access to the building will be maintained. “[Construction] sites are being protected by fencing and it is very clear that these are no go zones,” he said.

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KELLYN SIMPKINS/THE FORDHAM RAM

The Fordham Ram Looks Back at the Most Important Events of the Spring Semester By HELEN STEVENSON NEWS EDITOR

The Fordham Ram has compiled some of last semester’s biggest community events to make sure all of those new to school are up-to-date on anything your peers might be

talking about. The Ram Investigates MurrayWeigel and Clerical Abuse In November, The Fordham Ram reported that a priest credibly accused of sexual misconduct lived

and died at Murray-Weigel Hall, the Jesuit infirmary and retirement home at the university. In light of Jesuit provinces across the country releasing lists of priests with credible allegations of sexual misconduct, the university sent an email detailing the names of these priests with

connections to the university. While none of the priests listed were affiliated with the university or resided in Murray-Weigel at the time of the January 2019 email, some of the abuse allegedly happened while the priests were employed by the university and SEE EVENTS, PAGE 2

Court Rules Fordham Must Recognize SJP By AISLINN KEELY and HELEN STEVENSON Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) claimed a victory in its case against Fordham University, as Hon. Nancy M. Bannon ruled to annul the university’s 2016 decision disapproving SJP’s application for recognition. The Court directed the university to recognize SJP as a Universitysanctioned club in accordance with the Lincoln Center United Student Government’s (USGLC) November 2016 approval. The two have been locked in a legal battle since April 2017, when five students brought a case arguing the university violated its own rules by vetoing the USGLC approval of the club. Now, there could be an SJP chapter on Fordham’s campuses, according to Bannon’s ruling of Awad, et al. v. Fordham University. “Here, Fordham did not abide by its own published rules governing the approval and recognition of student clubs, in as much as it seemingly imposed an additional tier of review, by a dean, of an approval already rendered by the USG,” read the Court’s deci-

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SJP won a two-year legal battle against the university and will now be considered a University-sanctioned club.

sion order and judgment. The university said it remains committed to serving all students and their interests in and out of the classroom.

“The University is reviewing the court’s decision before deciding on a way forward,” said Bob Howe, assistant vice president for Communications.

Students sought to form a Fordham chapter at the Lincoln Center campus in 2016. After garnering USG-LC approval, SEE SJP, PAGE 3

NEWS

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August 24, 2019

The Most Important News of Spring Semester: Bringing You Up-to-Date on Community Events FROM EVENTS, PAGE 1

Fordham Prep. In a series of investigative pieces, The Ram found there were 10 priests who have lived at MurrayWeigel over the years with credible accusations of sexual misconduct of a minor brought against them, some of whom were still living at MurrayWeigel last school year. The university assured that the priests were removed from Murray-Weigel and in the process, students who regularly volunteered there were temporarily barred from entering the retirement home. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, reversed the bar on student volunteering based on the assurance that all Jesuits living in Murray-Weigel were not “restricted” and confirmed there would be no restricted Jesuits living in Murray-Weigel in the future. University Confirms: Cohen Threatened Legal Action if Trump’s Grades Revealed Michael Cohen, former lawyer and longtime advisor of President Donald Trump, testified that President Donald Trump instructed him to write letters to his former high school, colleges and The College Board before the House Oversight committee. The documents Cohen submitted to Congress include a 2015 letter addressed to Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, indicating legal action would be taken should President Trump’s academic records be released. Bob Howe, director of communications for the university, confirmed Cohen’s allegation in a statement to The Fordham Ram, and said the university could not/would not reveal any student’s private academic records. Fordham Removes the Spring

Weekend Headliners Spring Weekend, hosted by Campus Activities Board (CAB), is arguably the biggest on-campus event of the year and includes a free concert for students. Last semester, Fordham cancelled two of its headliners, rappers Soulja Boy and Sean Kingston. CAB’s former president Kathryn Teaney, FCRH ’19, and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) decided to remove Soulja Boy from the lineup on March 27 following his arrest for a weapons violation. According to former Spring Weekend Concert co-chairs, Madeline Cialani, FCRH ’20, and Elizabeth Roberts, FCRH ’19, the decision to remove Soulja Boy was made without their approval. On April 24, Dean of students Christopher Rogers cancelled Sean Kingston’s performance after student groups expressed concerns over a 2013 gang rape allegation against Kingston. An Instagram account with the handle @studentsagainstsean followed a number of Fordham students, demanding Kingston’s removal, and the United Student Government (USG) later supported the student group in their protest. Rodgers cancelled the headliner three days before the annual concert. Spring Weekend Lineup CAB hosted Whethan, Bryce Vince, and Fordham’s Battle of the Bands winner The Usual for its annual Spring Weekend concert on Saturday, April 27. Despite the cancelled headliners and less-than-perfect weather, students gathered on Martyr’s Lawn for the concert. Ellie Kemper, known for her roles in “The Office” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” spoke to Fordham students about her life before and in Hollywood for the Speaker Series event on Thursday, April 25. The weekend’s final event is the

annual comedy show on Sunday, April 28. Student comedians Erin Kiernan, FCRH ’19, and Andy Vega, FCRH ’21, opened the show to “roars of laughter and applause,” according to a review in The Fordham Ram. Alex Moffat and Mikey Day, two “Saturday Night Live” actors, followed. The Fordham Ram’s review said although some of their jokes failed to land, their sets were generally well-received and it was overall a successful night. University Names New Dean of FCLC and Provost Fordham welcomed two key administrators last year, both of whom started in their position this summer. The university named Dennis C. Jacobs, Ph.D., as its new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs on January 14. Jacobs has served as acting provost since July 1 and was chosen for the role by the Provostial Search Committee in partnership with the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. Jacobs served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Santa Clara University since 2011. Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., was appointed as dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) and started in her role on August 1. Auricchio is the first female dean of FCLC. She previously served as vice provost for curriculum and learning and dean within the Schools of Public Engagement at The New School. Auricchio earned two doctorates in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. Students Win Tinder #SwipeOff Competition Fordham students won a national #SwipeOff competition through the dating app Tinder, winning a free concert from Juice WRLD and Charlie XCX. Tinder hosted the concert at New York Expo Center, just a few miles from the university. According to Lauren Probyn, senior marketing director at Tinder, the win meant Fordham students had garnered the greatest number of “matches” using the Tinder University service within the application. Although she was unable to disclose the exact number of matches, Probyn said they were impressed by the Fordham communities’ dedication.

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

McShane confirmed there would be no restricted Jesuits living in MWH.

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Bryce Vine performed last semester for the 2019 Spring Weekend concert.

FDM Breaks Fundraising Record Fordham Dance Marathon (FDM) is a student-run organization that raises funds for the Andrew McDonough Be Positive (B+) foundation to fight pediatric cancer. Fundraising throughout the year culminates to a dance marathon, and the final donation total is revealed. Last year was the sixth annual dance marathon, and FDM raised a record-breaking $121,364.88. Sammy Adams headlined the final event and organizers were pleased with the total funds raised. Although the organization has publicized its fundraising goal in past years, FDM co-directors Jacklyn Onody, GSB ’20, and Kimona

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Fordham welcomed Dennis C. Jacobs, Ph.D., as its new provost in January.

HELEN STEVENSON/THE FORDHAM RAM

FDM raised a record breaking amount of money for the B+ foundation.

Dussard, FCRH ’20, said organizers chose to keep it a secret to build more excitement about the reveal. The organization decided to maintain the secret even post-marathon, but Onody and Dussard said FDM succeeded in passing its goal. USG Finalizes New Constitution The United Student (USG) finalized a new constitution last semester, deciding on by-laws that long disputed by USG members. Select Committees, such as the Diversity Action Coalition (DAC), International Integration and Dining, may continue to be chaired by all members of USG, including Senators and Cabinet members. However, only Senators and nonUSG members may chair standing committees, such as Finance and Budgets, House, Operations, Dean’s Council, Communications, Sexual Misconduct and Sustainability. Then-Vice President of Student Life and current President of USG Ashley Qamar presented the Club Suite Guidelines that outlines House Committee jurisdiction, including allocating programming spaces in McGinley, Keatin, Collins Hall and Rodrigue’s Coffee House. Dining Committee co-chairs Senator Margaret Rothfus, FCRH ’20, and Frank LaGumina, GSB ’20, presented the Sustainability Subcommittee of Dining, which was approved by the senate to make an official committee. NYPD Resolves Car Chase on Campus On Friday, March 1, officers from the NYPD’s 52nd Precinct pursued a vehicle that drove onto the Fordham campus at the Southern Boulevard entrance. Officers took the three men in the car into cus-

tody shortly after, and no one was injured. During the pursuit, an emergency text message was sent to members of the Fordham community, reading, “RH campus NYPD in pursuit of two males in the vicinity of Martyrs Court, one male bald/ one male in camouflage.” Once the situation was resolved, another text was sent out to update the community. The text said, “NYPD has apprehended all males at the RH campus. No further safety concern.” Some students found the wording – “all males” apprehended – innacurate and comical. Some of Fordham’s class of 2023 may have seen this incident take place, as several tour groups were walking past the scene of the arrest. Fordham Community Mourns Losses The Fordham community and family lost multiple students last school year. The university held distinct masses and services to recognize and mourn each of the community members. On Thursday, Sept. 21, Nicholas Booker, FCRH ’22, died in St. Barnabas Hospital following a severe asthma attack. Booker was from St. Louis, Missouri and graduated from the John Burroughs School. He was 18. On Thursday, Feb. 21, Donika Celaj, FCRH ’19, died of a sudden illness. Celaj was from Yonkers, New York and graduated from Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy. She was majoring in psychology. She was 21. On Sunday, April 12, Sydney Monfries, FCRH ’19, died after sustaining a critical injury in a fall from Keating Hall clock tower. Monfries was from Portland, Oregon and graduated from Jesuit High School. She was 22.

NEWS

August 24, 2019

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Gov. Cuomo Signs Climate Act at Fordham Law By ERICA SCALISE PROJECTS EDITOR

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, FCRH ’79, came to Fordham Law on July 18 when he signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act into law alongside former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. The law will require greenhouse gas emissions across the economy to be cut to zero by the middle of the century and places New York at the forefront of the conversation to confront climate change. “In a few minutes, I will sign the most aggressive climate law in the United States of America,” Cuomo said to an audience of assembly members, activists and members of the Fordham community. The law requires the state to cut all greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050 and offset the remaining 15% with measures such as planting forests and capturing carbon for storage underground. Transportation and building heating systems would also run on clean electricity derived from renewable, carbon-free sources such as solar, wind and hydropower rather than oil and gas. “I thought the event was an excellent opportunity to be part of a historical event with a governor who is also a Fordham alumnus,” said Lesley Massiah-Arthur, associate vice president for government relations and urban affairs. “The fact that Fordham was chosen for this event aligns with what the university offers academically and socially, whether it’s our own environmental policies, our environmental law offerings, or the research at the Louis Calder Center.” Cuomo’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCP) originated as the Climate & Commu-

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act into law at Fordham Law.

nity Protection Act, which called for 50% renewable electricity by 2030 and reaching a 100% carbon-free goal economy-wide by 2050. As activists pushed for a more aggressive bill, the governor introduced his own bill just days before the end of the legislative session which targets 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% carbonfree electricity by 2040. On the very last day of the session, the bill was passed. The governor referred to the law as “the most consequential” of his administration that would “determine the future, or lack thereof.” It marks New York’s initiation in joining California, Nevada, Hawaii, Washington, New Mexico, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico in targeting 100% clean power and surpasses California’s goal which calls for an 80% reduction in all sources of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Dennis C. Jacobs, Ph.D., provost

of the university and senior vice president for academic affairs, said the university was honored to host Cuomo and Gore for the momentous bill signing. “Given Fordham’s longstanding commitment to promote environmental sustainability and pursue research that addresses climate change, we were thrilled to celebrate New York’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition the state toward a green economy,” Jacobs said. The law’s goals are not exactly a light load, however. According to the New York Times, a quarter of New York’s emissions come from homes and commercial buildings, many of which would need revamping from the natural gas or fuel oil they run on in order to make the switch to carbon-free electricity or renewable gas. Maggie Tattersfield, FCRH ’22, vice president of sustainability, said

the event is encouraging for Fordham students who are taking a stance on climate action. “As we’ve seen in the last year, Rose Hill has been making efforts to switch to sustainable forms of energy, including increasing the amount of solar panels on campus, and the Sustainability Committee is fully behind and excited about these improvements,” Tattersfield said. Tattersfield said her primary objective for the year is to increase transparency between the administration and facilities and the student body in order to improve sustainability on campus. “We will be continuing efforts such as increasing the [implementation] of native plants on campus, continuing and expanding the Fordham Flea events, and increasing student access to sustainable products,” Tattersfield said. According to Fordham’s 2018 An-

nual Executive Update of the Climate Action Plan, the university’s personal goal of achieving 40 percent emissions reduction by 2030 still stands. The Ram previously reported leaders of the sustainability committee urging the university to do more to reduce its carbon footprint. Critics of Cuomo’s new law echo a similar sentiment. “Although the law is considered the strongest piece of climate legislation, it isn’t strong enough,” said Lily Round, FCRH ’20, co-president of Students for Environmental Awareness and Justice (SEAJ), activist and member of Food & Water Watch, an NGO focused on corporate and government accountability relating to food, water and corporate overreach. According to Round, the law is not aggressive enough relative to what science has shown is necessary and neglects communities that are most vulnerable to environmental injustices and the transition to renewables. “Where Cuomo’s law really fails is in his elimination of provisions for workers and protections for environmental justice communities,” Round said. “In addition, the state is still building its fossil fuel infrastructure and doesn’t ban future projects.” Round cited an example of a campaign she is participating in that is working to reject the Danskammer Fracked Power Plant, a fracked gas plant posing risks to the air and water in Newburg. According to Round, the CLCP is no exception to SEAJ’s primary concern: environmental justice. “While we commend the governor for passing climate legislation, we acknowledge its shortcomings and try to focus on how to ensure a just transition off of fossil fuels,” Round said.

Court Directs University to Grant SJP Club Status SJP Students Claim Victory in Two-Year Legal Battle FROM CLUBS, PAGE 1 FROM SJP, PAGE 1

the group met a roadblock when Keith Eldridge, dean of students at Lincoln Center, vetoed the approval citing “narrowness” of the group’s political focus. “Fordham has no registered student clubs the sole focus of which is the political agenda of one nation against another nation,” the university’s official statement read. “For the University’s purposes, the country of origin of the student organizers is irrelevant, as is their particular political stance. The narrowness of Students for Justice in Palestine’s political focus makes it more akin to a lobbying group than a student club.” A group of students represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights subsequently brought a case against the university. The group’s deputy legal director Maria LaHood said the center is “thrilled” that students will now be able to form the club. “The students’ support for Palestinian rights and their demand to freely express that support truly exemplify Fordham’s stated values, unlike the Administration’s shameful actions here,” she said in a statement. SJP has about 200 school

chapters across the country, including New York University, Boston College and Columbia University. According to the organization’s national website, SJP focuses on freedom, equality and justice for Palestinian people. The group’s site states it believes all struggles for freedom, justice and equality are interconnected, standing against discrimination including homophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia among others. Ahmad Awad, FCLC ’17, the lead plaintiff of the suit, said he’s counted over 1,000 days since the initial approval process for SJP began. Despite graduating during the case and never getting to participate in the club he sought to form, he said he did not give up on his fight for free speech on campus. “I continued to advocate for justice in Palestine, and now because of Justice Bannon’s order, no Fordham student will be restricted or prohibited from advocating for justice in Palestine,” he said in a statement. Throughout the case, some students expressed their dissatisfaction with the university’s decision to veto a Fordham SJP chapter. In 2017 students organized a protest

VICTOR ORDONEZ/THE FORDHAM RAM

Students organized a protest on Lincoln Center campus in support of Students for Justice in Palestine in 2017.

on Lincoln Center campus, Fordham faculty members united to sign a petition in support of the protest and Catholic academics from across the country signed a letter to Rev. Joseph M. McShane,

S.J., president of the university, in an attempt to reverse the decision against SJP. Recently, students demonstrated at the 2019 Lincoln Center graduation ceremony. A hand-

ful of Lincoln Center students unfurled Palestinian flags as they walked across the stage in front of Walsh Library. SJP later confirmed to the Ram that this was an SJP-led demonstration.

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CULTURE

August 24, 2019

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Culture Looks Back at the Best of Last Semester By MARGARET ROTHFUS COPY CHIEF

Want to know what caught the Ram’s eye in the culture section last semester? Amongst all the happenings of spring 2019, a few stand out. Here’s the best of what our writers thought of spring’s music and movies, as well as moments on campus. “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO” by Billie Eilish

The 17-year-old singer who just beat Lil Nas X for Billboard’s number one spot, Billie Eilish has captivated not only those at the Ram but the majority of western masses. Eilish’s first album, “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO,” debuted on March 29 and was immediately number one on the US Billboard 200. What makes Eilish so special? Perhaps it is her soft voice accompanied by sharp and synthesized notes, beats and timbres that appeals to a generation enthralled with ASMR. Culture editor Rachel Gow, FCRH ’22, argued that it is Eilish’s “vocal universe that almost seems four-dimensional, constantly inundated with perfectly layered sound elements that trigger an out-of-body-like episode.” “Assume Form” by James Blake In his fourth album — and less than a year after his production

for “Black Panther” — James Blake combines his electronic compositions with several artists, including Travis Scott and André 3000. The sounds Blake brings to the table are at times nostalgic in the vaporwave sense (“Can’t Believe the Way We Flow,” “Don’t Miss It”), and while the closing track is “Lullaby for My Insomniac,” his duet with Rosalía on “Barefoot in the Park” is just as melodically calming. In the words of culture editor Kieran Press-Reynolds, FCRH ’21, “his music is a sonic portrait of contemporary existence.” "Avengers:Endgame” By Anthony and Joe Russo It’s no secret that 2019’s Avengers movie was one of the most anticipated films of the year, but how did Marvel’s biggest superhero crossover hold up? The large cast ended up being one of the movie’s strengths, as each member contributed to the drama with some “haunting” performances. Greg Mysogland, FCRH ’20, wrote a spoiler-free review, stating that “‘Endgame’ succeeds spectacularly as both a deeply heartfelt ending and an exciting new new beginning.” “Us”by Jordan Peele Jordan Peele’s follow-up to 2017’s “Get Out,” “Us” was a worldwide horror hit that had exceptional characterization, especially when compared to its contemporaries in the genre.

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Billie Eillish, a seventeen year old indie pop sensation , has just topped the Billboard Top 100 with her song "Bad Guy."

“Us” successfully balances external and internal conflicts amongst its characters in such a way to make it one of the best directed films of 2019. Staff writer Matt Dillon, FCRH ’20: “‘Us’ is one of the most memorable films to come out of this decade and should put to rest any assertion that horror movies somehow do not constitute ‘real’ art.” Mimes and Mummers’ “Into the Woods” Last February, Mimes and

Mummers performed the highly anticipated musical “Into the Woods” in Collins Auditorium. Having formed in 1855, Mimes and Mummers is one of Fordham’s oldest clubs All performances for its spring musical had full houses for audiences. Displaying their “raw talent and thorough rehearsal,” the performers and crew once again proved that a show one month in the making can still have top-tier quality. FET’s Feminist Playwright In April, Fordham Experimental

Theatre and Women’s Empowerment collaborated to put on the latter club’s annual Feminist Playwright Festival in the Fordham Blackbox Theatre. Directed by Lily Ochs, FCRH ’20, the show utilized both humor and raw emotion successfully to display the different aspects of intersectional feminism. While it featured a variety of student-written poems and skits, what made the show cohesive was its theme and message, which according to our editor was that “feminism is a framework in which all people can find a place.”

Fall Preview: Kanye West, Star Wars and More By KIERAN PRESS-REYNOLDS CULTURE EDITOR

Here's a quick look at what we are anticipating this fall. Music Kanye West - “Yandhi” Kanye has been teasing “Yandhi”

since the end of last year. A bootleg leak dropped the other day on YouTube, and there has been no confirmation as to whether it is real or not. Chances are, if it is, Kanye will scrap the whole project and produce a new one — because getting your album leaked is rough. Judging by the leaked material, though, the theme is pretty good and closer to his older stuff ("808s & Heartbreaks," "Yeezus"), which is a welcome sign.

The release date is unknown. Playboi Carti - “Whole Lotta Red” Playboi Carti is one of the most hyped artists of 2019. Ever since debuting his titillating “baby voice” half-whine, halfmoan style, which a Ram review compared to "a genderless alien creature foaming with lean at the

mouth," he has racked up incredible numbers on unreleased tracks. In a strange controversy, one of his leaked songs, “Kid Cudi,” hit number one on Spotify after a fan posted it under a fake name. “Whole Lotta Red” has been teased for a while now, and practically the entire album has leaked. The release date is unknown.

“Joker” Tame Impala - TK There is no name for his album yet, and it is unknown whether it will even come out in 2019, but Kevin Parker — the creative genius behind Tame Impala — said last year he would be releasing one. He has already dropped a couple of singles for it. Tame Impala is one of the most interesting artists of this generation. He somehow appeals to nearly everyone, from hip-hop fans to ambient electronic lovers. Maybe it is middle-of-theroad mediocrity; more likely, though, he just has a better sense of twenty-first century emotions than other musicians. Movies “It Chapter Two”

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After a two year break, Flume returns with an excellent mixtape full of ear-pleasing textures and mind-melting drops.

chapter of “It,” the hugely successful movie series based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. “It Chapter Two,” directed by Andy Muschietti (who also directed the first installment), will premiere on Sept. 5, 2019. The sequel is set 27 years after the first film and will have a mix of new and old actors.

Fans of scary clowns and clownish scares alike can prepare for another

It is Joaquin Phoenix time. One of the most hotly-anticipated movies of the year, Todd Phillips’ “Joker” will hit theaters on October 4, 2019. The script is apparently inspired by Martin Scorsese’s films, particularly “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The King of Comedy.” So, yeah, it is going to be good. “Star Wars: The Rise of Sky walker” This is it — the third and final installment of the third and final trilogy of Star Wars (at least regarding the main saga, i.e. Skywalker). The Jedi and the Sith will finally end their long battle. Directed by J.J. Abrams and starring an ensemble cast that we’ve come to know very well, it is sure to be the most epic space opera you have ever seen. It is premiering in December, but buy your tickets early.

CULTURE

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August 24, 2019

Taking a Little Bite From the Big Apple: Things to do By RACHEL GOW CULTURE EDITOR

Moving into college is a daunting feat for anyone, but attending Fordham requires an additional undertaking: New York City. Not only do Fordham students jump from the comforts of their families and houses and land in the college routine of roommates and laundry, they must make this transition in one of the biggest cities in the world. For some, this may elicit a wideeyed excitement — for others it may be overwhelming. But fear not, New York City has a place for both the eager and the anxious. Plus, contrary to popular belief, activities in the city are not always expensive or crammed with tourists. Here is a list of fun places to go

in the Bronx and surrounding boroughs that will help you conquer the city and keep your summer savings in check. "SNL": Camping out for tickets and attending and Saturday Night Live show is somewhat of a rite of passage for New York students. While the process is lengthy, taking up the majority of a weekend, it is very inexpensive, costing only the subway fee to and from NBC studios. It is also a great way to impress family at Thanksgiving. Standby tickets — tickets given out to fill the seats of ticket holders who do not show up for the live taping, are given out at 7a.m. on the Saturday of the show at the 48th Street side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. People will begin lining up

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Camp out on a New York sidewalk for a chnace to see SNL live.

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Take a free trip to the Bronx Botanical Gardens for a relaxing walk or energizing run with friends.

around 2 a.m. for an average show but much earlier if the host or musical guest is particularly popular. Try to judge the esteem of both and pick an appropriate time to get in line. Go with a group of friends to keep you company (there’s nothing like sleeping on a New York sidewalk with someone to build your friendship.) It’s wise to bring snacks, blankets and, if you happen to have one, some sort of folding chair to sit on. Once you get to the front of the line you can either receive standby tickets for the rehearsal or the actual show. You have a better chance of getting into the rehearsal but the real show is a more coveted experience. The person giving out tickets will need to see your ID before telling you your spot in line. Make sure to go home and nap after getting your ticket so you’re rested when you go back for the show. At

this point you can only hope for the best. A different number of people get into each show and there’s no way of knowing beforehand if your ticket number will gain you a seat. At best you’ll get to see Alec Baldwin in the flesh and at worst you take a mini New York camping trip. Botanical Gardens: Perhaps one of the easiest and cheapest campus gateways is the Bronx Botanical Gardens. Located just across from Fordham’s front entrance (the one by the parking garage and book store) on Southern Boulevard, it is a perfect destination for runs, picnics and destressing. Better yet, it's free: a Fordham ID will grant you entry into the grounds portion of the park (this excludes the greenhouses). Pop over in the beginning of the semes-

ter to talk with new friends or catch up with old ones, and again when the leaves change to unwind during midterms. It is a great place to take friends and family when they visit as well as one to enjoy solo. SoHo: While definitely not the destination for bargain buys, SoHo makes for the perfect window shopping experience. Take the D train about fifteen stops to Broadway- Lafayette and then walk a couple of blocks to Wooster or Prince Street where a number of the designer shops are. You can guess with friends how much that plain black tee-shirt dress costs ($500) or admire the stores interiors, many of them designed by the same person or company as the clothes. It feels much like a museum, and a free one at that.

Where to Eat A big part of conquering New York is conquering the New York food scene. While food touring all five boroughs could take a life time, eating your way through the Fordham neighborhood is far easier. Arthur Ave, best known for its Italian restaurants and bakeries is also home to a variety of other ethnic eateries. Try out these spots with friends or have mom or dad treat you when they visit.

Best Deli Open 24/7, Best Deli is a fan favorite among Fordham students. It’s located on East Fordham Road a couple of store fronts down from the White Castle. While not a great sit down place to bring the family, its perfect after nights out or in the wee hours of a Tuesday morning when you need to refuel for your all-nighter. The menu is massive including

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The Best Deli & Grill on East Fordham Road boasts a massive menu and friendly short order cooks

everything from pancakes and muffins, to mozzarella sticks and veggie burgers, all costing under $10. If nothing else, go for the company — the cooks are always down for a chat. Estrellita Poblana III:

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Pugsley's Pizza has become a favorite among Fordham students.

Estrellita Poblana III, located at 2328 Arthur Avenue, is slightly more expensive than Best Deli but far cheaper than other Arthur Ave eateries making it the perfect location for a weekend dinner with friends. It serves authentic tacos, fajitas and some of the best guacamole I’ve ever had. If you’re under a time crunch you can also order a couple of tacos to Fordham and

scarf them down in the lobby of the library (which makes for a pretty great dining experience.) Enzo's: You can’t fully experience Arthur Avenue and little Italy until you’ve eaten at Enzo’s. With fancy white table clothes and entrées starting at around $20, it is definitely a place to have mom and dad take you when they visit. Located at 2339 Arthur Avenue it is only about a 10 minute walk from campus. Enzo’s serves all the Italian classics: spaghetti and meatballs, penne vodka and gnocchi. The servings are huge and make for great leftovers or mid-

night snacks. Pugsley’s: A mom-and-pop pizza shop with big slices and a lot of personality, it is not unusual for Pugsley’s to have a line out the door on a Friday or Saturday night. While any slice you order is bound to satisfy those greasy pizza cravings, the favorite is definitely penne alla vodka, pizza piled high with penne pasta and steaming vodka sauce. If you are feeling bold you can also step out of the pizza realm. Pugsley’s serves up great garlic knots, pasta dishes and calzones as well.

CULTURE

August 24, 2019

Page 15

A Guide to Fordham's Freshman Dorms By RACHEL GOW CULTURE EDITOR

The three questions you ask and get asked by fellow freshman in your first month at Fordham are "what’s your name," "where are you from" and, of course, "what dorm are you living in?" Get to know all of Fordham’s freshman dorms here. Loyola: Frequently referred to on campus as "Hotel Loyola," this dorm is definitely one of the nicest freshman living places on campus. Each room is large, generally accommodating three students, and has hardwood floors and a personal sink. O'Keefe, a 24-hour study guide on the first floor of Loyola, is another perk, allowing residents to avoid trekking to the library in the cold winter months. Because Loyola doubles as an academic community and is smaller than other dorms on campus, the stu-

dents who live here get to know each other a bit better than those in South or Loschert. This can be good or bad. It is also important to keep in mind that Loyola lacks a full kitchen and community printer. Consider buying a printer for your room and leave pasta that can’t be microwaved at home. If you live in this dorm freshman year appreciate the working air conditioning and extra space. Alumni Court South: As one of the largest freshman dorms on campus, Alumni Court South, but dubbed South, always has a bustling feel to it. It is a common meeting spot for hangouts and known to be the fun dorm. Despite South’s excitement however, its size can also make it daunting. You can’t know everyone in the building so try to start with your floor. Each one has its own study lounge which you can go into for school work

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

Loyola, which houses the Manresa Program, has hardwood floors , a study common and personal sinks in each room.

and as a way to make friends. It is also located at the far end of campus. This makes it convenient when residents want to pop over to the library or get a P.O.D. sandwich, but make sure you factor in its location when setting alarms for your 8:30 in Faculty Memorial Hall. Another thing to keep in mind is South’s lack of air conditioning. Pack your fans. Loschert: Formally called Alumni Court North (and still called this on Snap Maps), Loschert is basically the same building as South — just 50 yards closer to McGinley. Enjoy (or don’t) the proximity to the cafeteria and, again, don’t forget a fan. Queens Court:

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

Alumni Court South is one of the largest freshman dorms on campus.

Queens Court, the wellness dorm on campus, is similar to Loyola in that it doubles as living

space and community. Residents apply to dorm in Queen’s Court and must sign a contract when they arrive that pledges a drug and alcohol-free life style. This allows likeminded individuals to live together and contributes to the dorm's tightknit community. If you live there, take advantage of the beautiful Harry Potteresque study areas and great programming. Queen’s Court has a larger budget than other dorms on campus and puts on great events for the students who live there. Instead of going out on a Friday night, enter a lottery for free Broadway tickets or participate in movie marathons. Martyrs': While Martyrs' is often considered the most dreaded dorm on campus, it definitely has its redeeming qualities. The walls are close together and the air

conditioning units can't fully alleviate the warm conditions in these tight living quarters, but being physically close to the undergraduates around you also makes the emotional bonds you form with fellow residents much stronger. Like South it has study commons on each floor, helping you to make friends and providing study spaces when you are too lazy to leave the dorm. If you live in Martyrs', embrace the crowd. If you need space, Martyrs' steps is always a great place to chill. At the end of the day, there is no perfect dorm for you; by the same token, there is no wrong dorm. They all have their perks as well as their faults. They also all house a bunch of fellow students waiting to be your freinds. And if you find that you click better with people in other dorms, by all means hang out with them!

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SPORTS

Page 16

August 24, 2019

Fall Sports Preview Continues with Football and Golf FROM CROSS COUNTRY, PAGE 20

finished in the top 11 in the New Jersey Meet of Champions last year. On the women’s side, freshman standouts include Alexandra Thomas, Taylor Mascetta and Sarah Rubenheimer. Thomas and Mascetta both placed in the top six at various events in their respective state meets this past season. “The conference is very tough and deep in the team competition,” Horowitz says. “But we see ourselves as a threat and look to compete along with the other top teams in the conference.” The conference should be deep and competitive this year. So should these Rams. - Jimmy Sullivan

Football Over the last three years or so, Fordham football has not been much to cheer about. Sitting unbothered on the island that the FCS of Division I college ball can sometimes be, the program has had a rough go of it, with multiple coaching changes, an influx of injuries, and a two-win season last year. But in the gridiron world, the climax of summer heat and the beginning of the end for the leaves on the trees symbolize a type of spring (perhaps a sign of the sport itself), and for the Rams, we all might have to admit that in 2019, things may just now be getting better. In 2018, Fordham finished tied for fourth in the Patriot League, but their overall record was 2-9. Their first year under the new head coach Joe Conlin, the nine losses consisted of some close calls, but also a handful of games that were not as close, most notably a 41-0 home loss to eventual conference champion Colgate. The Rams were a young and inexperienced team in many ways, and they paid the price for it. However, with these losses came a trait that comes only with time: experience. The offensive line, which was good enough to allow Fordham to lead the Patriot League in passing yards per game with 200.7 yards, was made up mostly of

freshmen and sophomores, and in 2019, they will presumably all return with a year under their belts, ready to hold down the fort again. At the quarterback position, the injury of Austin King and the loss of him last season allowed then-freshman Tim DeMorat to start eleven games, set the school freshman record with eleven touchdown passes, and earn the conference’s Rookie of the Week honors three different times. In 2019, the Rams will have a great problem to have: a senior and a proven sophomore ready to take the snaps. Fordham’s running game is in a similar situation. The first two games of 2018 saw great offensive production from Zach Davis, with 94 yards on 26 carries before suffering a season-ending injury. Enter Tyriek Hopkins, a transfer from Florida who led the Rams with 476 rushing yards and even had 71 reception yards. This year, Hopkins, now a senior, will be joined by Davis for what they can only hope will be a full season. All of that aside, the Rams’ strength in 2019 might actually end up being on the other side of the ball. While Fordham may have graduated All-Patriot League cornerback Dylan Maybin, the preseason All-Patriot League team for this year includes Fordham senior corner Jesse Bramble, and senior defensive back James Biggs-Frazier will be returning to the team after missing all of 2018. The linebackers will also have some star power in 2019, including two 2018 All-Americans: Ryan Greenhagen and another member of last year’s All-Patriot League first team Glenn Cunningham. The Fordham football Rams of 2019 will be entering the season with a considerable amount of talent and a coach that now has his first year under his belt, and they have been picked in preseason polls to finish fourth out of the seven in the Patriot League. Perhaps this is the year Fordham will finish above our expectations and remind the football world that the Seven Blocks of Granite was no architectural fluke. -Dylan Balsamo

Golf After a disappointing 2018–19 campaign, the Fordham University golf team is looking to reload to improve on their last place finish in the A-10 tournament. Rising junior Dean Cerimido says, “we have a group of new faces coming into the mix, and the lineup will look a little different than it has in prior years.” Paul Dillion’s squad needs to improve after last year, when they did not place higher than 4th in a seven-team event. Its schedule looks similar to last year’s, with tournaments hosted by Central Connecticut State and University of Hartford kicking off the season in September. Cerimido is confident that the team will make its presence known unlike last year, saying that the Rams look to be “consistent competitors in all events.” The key for this year’s Ram golf team will be the improvements of the younger players as they become more accustomed to playing at the collegiate level. With three freshmen and three sophomores on the 10-man squad last year, lack of experience can certainly be cited as a reason for their struggles. In 2019, the team only has two spots from graduating seniors to fill, the only issue being one of those seniors was their best player, Josh Madarang. It will be on players like Anthony Wells, Mithran Denbow and Aidan Denning as the lowest scoring underclassmen from last year to pick up the slack left by Madarang. The Fordham University golf team is looking to make significant improvements on last year’s rough season, and they will have to start the season strong to do so. After tough tournaments at Central and Hartford, they matchup against Dartmouth, where they placed 11th out of 12 teams in 2018, and then to Yale, where they are coming off a dead last finish. The other teams at these tournaments are looking to improve on last year just like the Rams, and they will have to rely on the scoring from the top to compete with previously superior teams. Fordham’s golf team is coming off a tough season, and are looking to improve, using new faces to the lineup, more experience under the belt of the underclassmen, and improving in the tournaments they played in last year. These three keys will help Fordham golf to a successful season, with hopes of improving its last place A10 status. - Chris Hennessey

Men’s Tennis

ALLY WHITE/THE FORDHAM RAM

The Rams look to improve after a disappointing 2-9 campaign last season.

With the U.S. Open getting underway this week right here in New York, Fordham Tennis is also set to initiate as its 2019–20 campaign is right around the corner. Typically, the start of a new season brings fresh faces and freshman eager to learn the ins and outs of Division 1 sports. Key word—typically. For Fordham

Men’s Tennis, they have the same exact roster as last year with no additions. This bodes well for the team as it went 4–2 in the A-10 Conference and 8–1 at home culminating to an overall record of 17-6 which is the most wins since the 2011-12 season. Head Coach, Mike Sowter, who is going into his 5th year at the helm of Fordham Men’s Tennis, talked about last year’s success and what this upcoming season holds. “Last year was a great step forward for our program. Since we don’t have any athletic scholarships it’s difficult to recruit blue chip talent but we have a core group of guys that work extremely hard day in and day out. The results were a good indicator of how the team has progressed from year-to-year and validated a lot of our hard work so I hope to continue that in the future.” Speaking of the future, this season shows a lot of promise, as each of the men on the team have one more year of experience under their belt. Last year, there was not one senior on the team; this year there are a total of six seniors, three juniors and one sophomore. The senior group, led by Finn Kemper, Fabian Hansch Mauritzson and Steven Duka, is ready to take on the challenge of competing for an A-10 Championship. Kemper was awarded an A-10 player of the week award last season while finishing the season with a 14–10 singles record and a 14–12 record in doubles play. Coach Sowter is looking forward to one final ride with his senior class, “I’ve really enjoyed working with all our seniors over the last few years and I know how much time, effort and sacrifice they’ve put in to being successful studentathletes so I’m looking forward to their final year.” Fabian Hansch Mauritzson posted a 16–11 record in singles play while also winning 12 out of 22 doubles matches. As an upperclassman on this Fordham squad he also won his second consecutive team Spirit Award, showcasing his true leadership on the team. Steven Duka, a senior from Mahopac, N.Y., went 6–6 in singles matches during his junior year. Notable matchups to look forward to this season are the Big East Champion Saint John Red Storm and the Radford Highlanders who come in as the Big South Champions. Radford will make the trek to New York to face Fordham on March 13 in Harrison while Saint John’s will host the Rams in Queens on April 4. Fordham’s season gets under way on Friday Sept. 20 as they travel to Hamden, Connecticut for the Quinnipiac invitational. - Dominic Capone

Women’s Tennis Fordham Women’s Tennis squad has a tall order on their hands coming up in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020. That task: pick up the pieces of what they lost after last season. Finishing out the 2019 spring season at 11–11, Fordham was the seventh seed in the Atlantic

10 conference when they entered the conference tournament at the USTA National Campus at Orlando, Florida in late April, and they found themselves making it to the second round before falling to second-seeded George Washington, getting swept by the Colonials 4–0. Arina Taluyenko and Tatiyana Grigoryan fought hard in doubles, and Gianna Insogna even won a set against Victoria Kogan in singles, but the Rams left the matchup without a point. A-10 women’s tennis has 14 teams, meaning the Rams coming in seventh over the regular season leaves them just squeezing in to the top half of the conference. That is not a result that any squad is particularly satisfied with, but it is certainly a season that a team building up its program can be used as a launching pad, especially with the talent among the eight members of the 2018–19 squad. Here’s the catch: four of those eight (Grigoryan, Insogna, Whitney Weisberg and Alexis Zobeideh) were seniors that have now graduated. In a sport where rosters are that small, losing half can be a devastating blow, but there is absolutely more than just a glimmer of hope for these Fordham Rams. Sophomore Nicole Li is coming off a stellar rookie season, going 16–11 in singles play as a freshman, earning an Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week honor, and still finding time to be an ITA Scholar-Athlete and make the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Genevieve Quenville also had a freshman season of promise in 2019 going 8–9 in singles and 11–6 in doubles. She was named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll as well. As the lone senior, Maia Balce will be the rock of the squad. The native of the Philippines was named to the second team AllConference in both her freshman and sophomore years. Her junior year in 2018–19 saw considerably less success, and Balce will look to rekindle her old success in 2019–20. The guiding light for this team, however, will be Arina Taluyenko. She was named to the All-Atlantic 10 first team last season, her first at Fordham, was awarded the conference’s Player of the Week twice and was named the best player in the Republic of Kazakhstan at age 14. If the Rams find themselves in a hole this year, expect Taluyenko to be entrusted with the shovel. The 2019–20 season would be a difficult season of rebounding for the Fordham program, as it would be for any program. But if there is a squad that can navigate times like these, it is these Rams. - Jimmy Sullivan

Rowing It may have taken longer than anticipated, but Fordham Rowing showed what it was capable of as the 2018–19 season neared its conclusion. The truest indicator of this performance was a share of a thirdplace showing at the Atlantic 10 Championships in May. After the regatta was completed, three SEE ROWING, PAGE 19

SPORTS

August 24, 2019

Page 17

Softball’s Seven Spot and Other Spring Occurrences Softball The 2019 Fordham Softball was a wild roller coaster that the Rams rode all the way to Seattle, where they fell 1-0 in an elimination game to Seattle University in their home regional. For a club that was not favored to finish at the top of its conference for the first time in seven years, the season included some award-winning performances in the circle, at the plate and in the coaching staff that helped the Rams bring home a team batting average of .308 (tied for third best in program history), an Atlantic 10 title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance. With an overall record of 29-26, the Rams had plenty of positives to look back on from 2019. The unrelenting star of the squad was junior pitcher Madie Aughinbaugh, who etched her name into the Fordham record books with her 2019 campaign. She is the fifth player in Fordham softball history to make 75 starts and the seventh to make 100 appearances. She becomes the fifth Ram to throw 500 or more innings, the third to notch 50 wins and 50 complete games and just the second to ever throw 25 complete games in a season after Jen Mineau. She also now ranks fifth among Rams all-time in innings pitched in a season with 212. Her historic season and deGromian dominance won her Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year. Offensively, the Rams spread the wealth all season, getting major contributions from seniors Molly Roark, Maria Trivelpiece and Chelsea Skrepenak (not to mention the success Aughinbaugh found at the plate too). Skrepenak ended her Fordham career by securing herself a spot near the top of the program’s all-time rankings. While she sits just outside of the top 10 in games played and games started, her career totals of 142 runs scored and 37 stolen bases puts her at the seventh spot in both of those categories. The Rams defied the preseason rankings in 2019 and finished first in the Atlantic 10 regular season champions, a title that would later come in handy when a rain-out in the winner-take-all championship game of the conference tournament allowed Fordham take the A-10’s automatic tournament bid. Before the rain-out, they had played four games in the tournament, and unsurprisingly, Madie Aughinbaugh, who led the tournament in both pitching and hitting, was named Most Outstanding Player. The Seattle Regional of the NCAA Tournament did not go as swimmingly for Fordham, as consecutive losses to Washington and Seattle University eliminated the Rams from the NCAA’s, effectively ending their season. Fordham head coach Melissa Inouye, who herself won A-10 Coach of the Year, said after the final game, “Tough way to end our season but I’m so proud of the way our team competed today and this weekend. I can’t say enough about the way Aughie [Aughinbaugh] pitched her heart out and helped carry us through this postseason run.”

The Fordham Softball season may not have ended in the best way, but with Aughinbaugh having one more year, 2020 may be the year of the Ram. -Dylan Balsamo

Golf The Fordham golf team had a disappointing 2018-19 season, failing to finish in the top half of any of the tournaments it competed in. The team struggled to compensate for the departures of seniors Matt Schiller, Joseph Trim and James Mongey, the three lowest-scoring golfers in the history of the program. As such, head coach Paul Dillon’s team trended younger last season – Josh Madarang and Thomas Hayes were the only seniors, and the rest of the team was comprised of a junior, three sophomores and four freshmen. The Rams got off to a rocky start last September and never quite recovered. In their first four tournaments, Fordham finished 12th out of 13, 17th out of 20, 11th out of 12 and last out of 14 to close out the first month of the season. One of the main positives for the team was the play of Madarang, who turned in his best performance of the year at the season-opening Ryan Lee Memorial, with a third-place finish after back-toback rounds of 72. He also turned in a first-round 68 at the Wildcat Invite the next week and a second-round 71 at the MacDonald Cup in the month’s final tournament. Madarang finished the fall semester with topten finishes at the Lehigh Invitational and the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship, despite the team finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard in both tournaments. Despite similar results in the spring, the team showed signs of promise for the future. After missing the fall semester, junior Tomas Nieves returned for the spring and flashed his potential. His 74.5 average round was the lowest on the team in the spring, and his best performance was a 3rd-place showing at the Rhode Island Invitational to close out the season in mid-April. However, the team was unable to put it all together at the Atlantic 10 championships, finishing 39 strokes behind La Salle and coming in last. However, despite last season’s shortcomings, the team has reasons to look forward to better things this year. All but two of last year’s players will be back for this year, and Nieves should return for a full season. Paul Dillon’s 24th season at the helm should be better than his 23rd, and it starts at the Ryan Lee Memorial in Simsbury, Conn. Sept. 6 and 7th. We’ll see if Fordham shows signs of improvement from last year. -Jimmy Sullivan

Track & Field The 2018-2019 outdoor season for Fordham Track and Field saw another solid spring season for the Rams. Its best finish came in day 2 of the 2019 Metropolitan Outdoor Track and Field Championship held at Rutgers University, where Fordham finished second out of 12 teams. In the Atlantic 10 Championship,

Fordham Men’s Track and Field shocked the conference by finishing fifth, powered by distance runners Brian Cook and Ryan Kutch, who each won two gold medals for the Rams that weekend. The fifth place finish was Fordham’s best conference showing since 2012. Cook, a graduate student, finished his outdoor career by becoming the Atlantic 10 Champion in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 1,500 meter run. As for Kutch, the junior became the first runner in Atlantic 10 history to win the individual championship, as well as both distances events at the indoor and outdoor championships. Kutch also became the first Ram to win the A-10 individual cross country title. His incredible season earned him First Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. The two distance runners joined senior distance runner Laurel Fisher as the only three members of Fordham Track and Field to be invited to compete in the NCAA Track & Field East Regional. Fisher enjoyed a successful season herself, which saw the senior earn two bronze medals at the Atlantic 10 Championship. More importantly, Fisher was part of the women’s 4x800 relay team which won gold at the 2019 ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The team consisted of Fisher, senior Aidan Moroz, sophomore Dana Beggins and junior Sydney Snow. Fisher and Moroz would both earn All-East performers after capping off memorable senior seasons. However, the season saw a huge departure in the retirement of longtime head coach, Thomas Dewey. The two-time Fordham Coach of the Year and 2005 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year retires after 39 years at Rose Hill. Under Dewey, the Fordham men’s program won its first indoor and outdoor championship in five decades. Brian Horowitz was recently promoted to head track and field/cross country coach and will step up in Dewey’s place next season. Horowitz has served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Fordham for the last six years. A four-year letterwinner for Fordham track and field/cross country, expect both the men’s and women’s team to not miss a beat with Horowitz at the helm. -Andrew Posadas

Men’s Tennis The Fordham Rams 2018-19 Men’s Tennis was a season that can only be characterized by untapped potential. They were a team that had youth on their side: a young head coach in Mike Sowter and a roster without a single senior on it. There was also only one Freshman on the squad, meaning the bulk of the team were sophomores and juniors that had experience and chemistry together that is rare in a game where rosters are this small. And despite this treasure trove of a core, the Rams squad turned out a year that was ultimately a disappointment. The fall season saw the Rams showcase just how much talent they had, as they found successes in each of their invitational tournaments.

In their final bout of the fall, the Fordham Quad at the Hawthorne/ Rooney Tennis Courts, the Rams saw themselves at least in the semifinals of every singles and doubles draw, a result that was not out of character for the November squad. The talent displayed in the fall was evident during the spring, with Max Green and Finn Kemper winning individual weekly awards along the way, and Green joining Fabian Hansch Mauritzson on the Second Team All-Atlantic 10. However, these Rams lacked strength as a team on the road. The Rams were 17-6 during the spring, which is the sign of a good squad. They were also 4-2 in Atlantic 10 regular season play and were 8-1 on their home court, which are also signs of good teams. What makes a good team a great team, however, is the ability to execute and get the victories that they need when they are the away team. Fordham was .500 (4-4) on opponent’s soil. Coming into the final month of the regular season, Fordham’s failure to come through on the road is what had them headed for the bottom third of the conference standings, but a six game winning streak to end the campaign secured the seventh of twelve seeds in the conference tournament. After a 4-0 shutout of #10 Saint Louis in the first round of the A-10’s, the Rams then met #2 Richmond and dropped the bout 4-1 to end their year. 2018-19 was not what one could call a season of success for Fordham, but with the entire squad slated to return for the upcoming year, fans can only imagine what 2019-20 will have in store. -Dylan Balsamo

Rowing Rowing is a collegiate sport that usually flies under the radar, but there are a few things about it that every person knows. The foremost among those things: it is a team sport, an activity that is impossible to complete, let alone have success in, without the unrelenting dedication of everyone involved. The 2019 Fordham Rams are a perfect example of that simplistic yet truthful trope. Fordham’sWomen’sRowingteam had a spring season that was strong throughout, with moderate to great success at the Cooper Invitational Regatta, the Cherry Hill Invitational Regatta and Dad Vail. Half the squad even flew across the country in early April to take part in the San Diego Crew Classic, where they faced off against some of the top programs in the country and held their own. The climax of the season for the squad was also the twilight of it, as the Rams finished third overall in the team standings at the Atlantic 10 Championships, held in mid May at New Jersey’s Cooper River. Fordham’s third place mark of 25 points is shared with Massachsetts, while the two teams ahead of the Rams were Rhode Island with 54 and George Washington with 48. Leading the way for the Rams was the Varsity 8, who placed third themselves and

helped Fordham seal their fate. It was the Ram’s first V8 medal in over a decade. Nobody could doubt the heart thrown into this squad by these young women. All this goes without mentioning that the teams five seniors, Emma Spoldi, Danielle Kosman, Cynthia Luz, Erin Parker, and Caroline Roncinske, all chose to compete in the event rather than walk at their graduation. It is not an easy sacrifice to make, but a willingness to do such is perhaps the truest mark of athletes who will do anything for their squad. Following the tournament, Parker and sophomore Aleska Bjornson both received All-Atlantic 10 first team recognition, and Caroline Roncinske was even named to the second team. Fordham’s postseason honors even went beyond rowing, as Bjornson was also named to the AllAcademic Atlantic 10, and 10 other Rams were CRCA Scholar-Athletes. Two days after a successful Atlantic 10 regatta for Fordham, Spoldi, Kosman, Luz, Parker and Roncinske were all part of a special private graduation ceremony in order to officially receive their diplomas. Even after the rowing was over and the pomp and circumstance was complete, this true team graduated together. -Dylan Balsamo

Baseball Fordham Baseball brought the magic back in 2019. The season was noteworthy for any number of reasons. The team– among other things–reached its first NCAA Tournament in 21 years, led the nation in stolen bases (178) and sent three players to major league organizations at the end of the season. But how did the Rams get to this point? The season started with a challenging schedule but an encouraging performance from Kevin Leighton’s squad. Despite losing five of their first six games, the Rams turned things around in short order, and by the time Atlantic 10 play kicked off, Fordham was 12-9 despite facing teams like Texas A&M and North Florida to start the year. Conference play got off to an uneven start, as Fordham lost three of its first five Atlantic 10 series. At a critical crossroads entering May, Leighton’s team locked in and won seven of its last nine A-10 games to earn a conference playoff berth. Not only would the Rams compete for a conference title, but they would also do so on their home turf. When it came time for the Rams to defend their home turf, they did so with aplomb. The first game of Fordham’s Atlantic 10 Tournament was arguably its most exciting. The Rams were down 6-3 with six outs to play with, but like they had all year, the Rams responded. Three runs in the bottom of the eighth tied the game and sophomore Jake MacKenzie’s RBI single in the tenth gave the Rams their first victory in the double-elimination tournament. Two straight seven-inning, one-earnedrun performances from sophomore SEE BASEBALL, PAGE 18

SPORTS

Page 18

August 24, 2019

A Spring of Many Seasons FROM BASEBALL PAGE 17

Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year John Stankiewicz and senior Anthony DiMeglio sent Fordham to the championship game(s) on Saturday. The situation for Fordham was simple: win one of two games against Dayton, who the Rams beat the day before, and win the Atlantic 10. The first–and possibly last–game of the day was in Fordham’s hands with a 3-2 lead in the ninth and allconference sophomore closer Kyle Martin on the mound. However, Dayton’s Alex Brickman spoiled the party with two outs in the inning, sending a home run over the fence to keep the Flyers’ season alive. Nonetheless, Martin buckled down and turned in two more scoreless innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Fordham broke through, loading the bases with one out in the inning. Senior catcher Justin Bardwell, who had started at catcher for the team each of the last four years, drew a walk to send Fordham to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. Despite a two-game ouster from the Morgantown Regional at the hands of West Virginia and Texas A&M, Fordham Baseball had one of its best seasons ever. With several key pieces–MacKenzie, Stankiewicz, senior Alvin Melendez, junior C.J. Vazquez and junior Matt Mikulski, among others–returning for 2020, Kevin Leighton and company will look to do it again. -Jimmy Sullivan

Men’s Basketball After winning just nine games in 2017-2018, the beginning of the 2018-2019 began auspiciously for head coach Jeff Neubauer and Fordham Men’s Basketball. By the end of December, Fordham had already matched last year’s win total, going 9-5 in non-conference play. Unfortunately, that would be the height of The Rams momentum. The new year brought the beginning of Atlantic 10 Conference play, where Fordham’s youth and inexperience was visibly apparent. Losing its first eight games in conference, the Rams went nearly two months before winning its 10th game against the University of Massachusetts. The season would not get any better, as the team dropped eight of its last ten games to finish the regular season. In the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, Fordham would suffer a last second, heart-breaking loss in the first round to Richmond University, thus capping off a disappointing season that showed such promise early on. Fordham finished its 2018-2019 campaign with a 12-20 record. Its 3-15 conference record left the Rams dead last in the Atlantic 10 standings for the second straight year. While it may be looked at as an improvement from winning nine games the year before, the reality is that this is the third consecutive losing season under coach Neubauer. After going 17-14 in his first year as coach, Neubauer has accumulated a woeful 34-61 record since. Improving that record will prove to be a difficult task this upcoming season, especially after the departure of Freshman stud point guard, Nick Honor. Honor was Fordham’s best player all season, leading the team in scoring and assists (15.3 and 3.0, respectively). For his great

play, Honor was named the 2019 Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Rookie of the Year and the 2019 Atlantic 10 men’s basketball All-Rookie team. Honor’s production will be sorely missed as he has transferred to the University of Clemson, leaving a gaping hole at the point guard position. Senior guard Antwon Portley and Sophomore Jalen Cobb were the only other players to average double-figures in scoring besides Honor, and will be asked to do even more in the upcoming season. Make no mistake, the 2019-2020 season may prove to be make or break for Neubauer and the Rams. Historic Rose Hill Gymnasium has gone under renovations this summer, and with those renovations come expectations. Will Neubauer be able to deliver? The jury is still undecided. -Andrew Posadas

Squash The 2018-19 season was historic for Fordham Squash. Fordham was looking to complete the season with its first Chaffee Cup title at the CSA (Collegiate Squash Association) championships in May. The team suffered tough losses in the team championships the past two seasons and was looking to avenge prior defeats in the Chaffee Cup’s championship match. The Rams started their season off on a high note, with five wins at the season-opening Vassar Round Robin. However, head coach Sahel Anwar’s team ran into some trouble at the Navy Round Robin, winning only two of five matches there against the likes of Navy, Northeastern, Haverford and Western Ontario. After this, the Rams returned home for the rest of 2018, starting with a matchup against nationally-ranked Virginia. Fordham would be shut out in that match, but the Rams regrouped to win the final five matches of the calendar year. Once the calendar turned, it seemed like inclement weather would be the only thing that could stop the red-hot Rams, and that’s what happened the weekend of Jan. 19-20. Fordham was scheduled to play three matches against Connecticut College, Northeastern and Vermont, with the latter two contests taking place at Vassar College. However, a local snowstorm prevented those matches from ever taking place, and Fordham would have to wait one more week before resuming their season. Once the Rams did, on Jan. 26, the team returned to its winning ways. A home loss to Bucknell was followed by five straight wins to take the team into February. In the final weekend of the season, the Rams defeated local rival New York University before back-to-back losses on Feb. 10 to Connecticut College and Wesleyan to complete the regular season. Fordham entered the CSA Championships trying to complete the work the previous two teams started. The weekend started with a thrilling first-round matchup with NYU, the team that beat Fordham in the 2018 Chaffee Cup final. The 2019 edition of the rivalry came down to the final individ-

ual match. The Rams turned to senior Will Beatrez, while the Violets leaned on Alex Murphy. Beatrez prevailed in four sets to send Fordham to the Chaffee Cup semifinals against Hamilton. In that match, Hamilton jumped out to a 3-2 lead before Fordham took the final four individual matches to move on to a semifinal date with Northeastern. The Northeastern match started very similarly to the previous day’s, with the Huskies jumping out to a 3-2 lead. Once again, Fordham bounced back, and senior Justin Esposito’s four-set victory over Will Greaves-Tunnell clinched Fordham’s first Chaffee Cup victory in recent memory. Individually speaking, Esposito was one of three 20-match winners for the Rams last season. The others were freshman Jack Reed and sophomore Justin Deckoff, both of whom are back for the upcoming season. Despite the graduations of Esposito, Beatrez and Will Pantle, the Rams will have every chance to defend their crown again this coming February. -Jimmy Sullivan

Swimming & Diving For the Fordham men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, the spring season saw perfection for one of the squads. The women’s team went a perfect 7-0 on the year, culminating in a third place finish out of 11 teams in the 2019 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championship. The team’s performance earned First Team All-Atlantic 10 honors for graduate student Milly Furneaux and sophomore Caitlin McNary, as well as Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors to senior Tara Brunner. Brunner had a monster season, becoming the second Fordham swimmer in history to medal seven times in one Atlantic 10 Championship. The successful season earned her a trip to the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, where she came away with a bronze medal in the 100 yard freestyle event. The women’s team also found success outside of the swimming and diving pools. They were one of eight Fordham University athletic teams recognized by the NCAA for high academic achievement. Not to mention, 26 women’s swimming and diving student-athletes were named to the 2018-2019 Spring A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. As for the men’s side, the season did not go as planned. The men’s team finished with a record of 3-4, its second consecutive season finishing below .500. It’s lone bright spot came from junior Christopher Sleutjes, who earned A-10 Academic All-Conference honors this spring, along with being named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Men’s At-Large teams. Sleutjes was not the only men’s swimmer/diver to excel in the classroom. 24 men’s swimming and diving student-athletes were also named to the Spring A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Also, for the 16th consecutive year, the men’s and women’s

swimming and diving teams were named by the CSCAA to its Scholar All-America team. However, the team’s success as a whole has been lacking the last two seasons. The men’s team has finished at the bottom in the last two Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships. All is not lost moving forward though, as the men’s side has nowhere to go but up next season. It wasn’t too long ago when the men’s team finished 6-2 in 2016-2017, which ended in a top-5 finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship. -Andrew Posadas

Women’s Tennis Fordham’s women’s tennis team went 11-11 last season and made it to the second round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. The Rams started out the season by competing in several individual tournaments in the fall. There were some individual highlights in the fall portion of the year, including Nicole Li’s victory in the Staten Island draw of the Columbia Invitational, Arina Taluyenko’s trip to the finals in the A singles draw at West Point and the Harvard Fall Scramble in October, where Taluyenko went a perfect 6-0 on her matches over four days. Once the fall season began, the Rams dealt with inconsistency and up-and-down play. The fall slate started in late January with back-to-back shutout losses to Harvard and Yale. A win over Quinnipiac on Feb. 2 was offset by a tough 4-3 loss to NJIT on Feb. 8. The Rams defeated Seton Hall 5-2 at home on Feb. 15 before losing 4-1 to Army on Feb. 22 and defeating St. Bonaventure 7-0 to open A-10 play the next day. Once March began, the Rams finally began to hit their stride. After dropping the month’s first two matches on March’s first two days, Fordham ripped off four straight wins over Drexel, Queens College, Oral Roberts and Hope College. Following a loss to LIU Brooklyn, the team went .500 over its last six matches to finish the regular season 11-11 and 3-3 in Atlantic 10 play. At the Atlantic 10 championship, the Rams defeated George Mason in the first round before falling to George Washington on April 25 to end their season. Individually, the Rams had four individual 10-match winners over the course of the season. Sophomore Arina Taluyenko went 13-4, while seniors Tatiana Grigoryan and Gianna Insogna, along with Li, each won 10 matches. After her excellent play throughout the season, Taluyenko was honored with a first-team all-conference nod. While Grigoryan and Insogna graduated in May, Li and Taluyenko will be back again for the 2019-20 season. As for this year’s team, head coach Bette-Ann Speliotis Liguori and her staff will have to replace Grigoryan, Insogna, and fellow departures Whitney Weisberg and Alexis Zobedieh. However, the team showed last year it has enough talent to win matches and make noise in the Atlantic 10. -Jimmy Sullivan

Women’s Basketball Fordham Women’s Basketball reached new heights last season. A program-record 13 Atlantic 10 victories. A share of the Rams’ firstever regular-season conference title. And, most importantly, a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The season started with a challenging out-of-conference slate that included the likes of nationallyranked Texas, Penn State, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Maine. Despite the difficult schedule out of the gate, Fordham finished an impressive 12-6 and capped off the first two months of the season with two victories to win the Fordham Holiday Classic in December. Once the conference schedule kicked off in January, the Rams started to hit some speed bumps. After three straight wins to start the month–including a thrilling win over Saint Louis thanks to a gamewinning basket by sophomore Zara Jillings with five seconds left–the Rams dropped two straight games to conference heavyweights VCU and Dayton. Head coach Stephanie Gaitley’s team lost its third out of four games on Jan. 27 to Davidson after holding a 15-point lead in the first half. The Rams got a tough win on Jan. 31 over La Salle to enter a threegame home stretch that included contests with preseason favorite Duquesne, pesky Saint Louis and George Mason, the latter of which featured eventual Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Nicole Cardaño-Hillary. The season arrived at a critical crossroads; would the Rams buckle down or fall further back in the Atlantic 10 pack? As it turned out, the loss to Davidson would be Fordham’s last in the regular season. Fordham took down the Dukes on Super Bowl Sunday in what was– up to that point–arguably their best performance of the year in a 57-46 victory. The Rams followed that up with another close, thrilling victory against Saint Louis and a double-digit victory over George Mason. The team continued its excellent play with five straight wins to end the season over Davidson, St. Bonaventure, UMass, Dayton and Saint Joseph’s. The Rams entered the A-10 tournament playing their best basketball of the season. At said conference tournament, held in Pittsburgh, Pa., Gaitley’s team took the first game over UMass 73-62 in what turned out to be their closest call of the weekend. Fordham followed up that game with a historic 42-point blowout over Duquesne and resounding 62-47 victory over top-seeded VCU on Sunday to clinch the team’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2014. The Rams lost their first and only NCAA Tournament game 70-49 to Syracuse. The stars of the tournament for the Rams were senior Mary Goulding and sophomore Bre Cavanaugh, both of whom made the Atlantic 10’s first team at season’s end. Goulding was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after averaging over 20 points per game and shooting nearly 58% from the field over the three games. Goulding and fellow seniors Lauren Holden and Alexa Giuliano are gone, but Cavanaugh is back. She’ll try to lead Gaitley and the Rams back to the promised land… again.

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Page 19

Aquatics Rounds out The Ram’s Fall Sports Preview FROM ROWING, PAGE 16

Rams—seniors Erin Parker and Caroline Roncinske, along with current junior Aleksa Bjornson—were named to the all-Atlantic 10 team. “We had a rough start to the beginning of the season but we managed to come together and prove to ourselves what we are capable of as a team,” Bjornson said. In 2019-20, the team will look to rebound after losing Parker and Roncinske, two of its main leaders. Other losses to graduation include Noelle Chaney, Danielle Kosman, Cynthia Luz, Emma Spoldi, Erin Stepka and Sarah White. The team, led by 28th-year head coach Ted Bonanno, will look to offset these losses with a fresh batch of recruits and improvement from athletes on the current roster. Consistency was another issue for the team last year, and one that the Rams will have to correct if they want to become the class of the Atlantic 10. Bonanno has had experience with nationally-regarded team; according to Fordham Athletics, Bonanno’s crews have won a combined 17 national championships. “Improving consistency will be our main focus; aiming to start strong and end strong,” Bjornson says. “Having high expectations for ourselves combined with a large incoming class of freshmen recruits will hopefully lead to strong finishes at our fall regattas.” “In terms of improving, our key element is for all our rowers to continue to develop both technically and physically,” head coach Ted Bonanno said. “Last year more than half our squad did but some key rowers did not, mainly due to injuries. We look forward to keeping everyone healthy and hopefully free from injury.” In terms of that development from last season, Bonanno cited senior Erika Selakowski, sophomore Lizzie Kerrigan, senior Brikena Prendaj, junior Anna

Grace Cole and Elizabeth Berejka as rowers who made significant strides over the course of the season. “Our goals for this season are lofty,” Bonanno says. After finishing third in the A-10 Conference last season, we are looking to move up and challenge for the championship.” Fordham had an extremely successful season last year, but the Rams believe they are capable of achieving even more. If they are able to start this season as well as they finished last year, chances are they’ll be right. - Jimmy Sullivan

Swimming and Diving The 2018-19 season saw several scintillating achievements for Fordham’s swimming and diving team. On the women’s side, the team pulled in a third-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship in February in Geneva, Ohio. Multiple school records were broken, including the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. The star of the swim team was senior Tara Brunner, who had a hand in breaking three of those Fordham swimming records. However, Fordham’s top performers last season weren’t necessarily upperclassmen. Sophomore Caitlin McNary made first-team Atlantic 10 with her performance in the 500 freestyle, and she returns for her junior year this season. Then-junior Theresa Mullen returns after being a part of three all-Atlantic 10 relays. Over on the diving side, the return of one standout performer should give the team hope for another excellent season. Current senior Molly Dunn competed at the NCAA Zone Diving Competition on March 12 in Annapolis, Md. Dunn qualified for this tournament after a fourthplace finish in the one-meter dive

at the conference championship the month before. The North Attleboro, Mass. native will look to add to her already-impressive resume in 2019-20. On the men’s side, the team will look to rebound from an upand-down campaign. Freshman recruits such as Nicholas Chao, Evan Fenska, Wade Meaders, Luka Mikadze, Ethan Murray, Nicolas Trichery and Kavin Weerasinghe will look to invigorate the program with new life and improved results. The team stands to improve after finishing last out of eight teams at February’s Atlantic 10 Championships. However, not all was lost last season; the team showed its potential by surging to blowout victories over Fairfield and Manhattan, which were followed by a close victory over local rival Iona. The men’s team did lose several key pieces to graduation, such as captain Travis Monahan. However, many of the team’s most exciting athletes from last year, including seniors Christopher Sleutjes and Greg Lombana, juniors Scott Stern and Danny McGowan and sophomore A.J. Frakes, among others, are returning for the coming season. That return rate should lead to a marked improvement starting this fall for head coach Steve Potsklan and his team. Fordham Swimming and Diving saw some great performances last season, particularly on the women’s side. This season, the task will be to match, if not exceed, those historic performances and improve on what was an excellent 2018-19 season. This team, on both the men’s and women’s sides, has the pieces to get it done. - Jimmy Sullivan

to obtain wins early in the year, but ended the season with a balanced 16-16 record overall. The team was also 6-6 in conference play and finished in fourth place at the MAWPC Championships. The Rams lost six seniors to graduation, including Ian Watson and utility player Magnus Sims, who was second in goals and assists for the team (44 and 48 respectively). Their absence has altered the size dynamic and style of play for the Rams. “We did lose some size on offense at the twometer position with the loss of Ian Watson, but I believe we will have overall more speed which will allow more counter-attack opportunities,” stated head coach Bill Harris. Despite these losses, the Rams have significant depth to their roster this season with the inclusion of nine new players in the 2019 recruiting class. With all these fresh faces, the start of this year will be a major adjustment period for the Rams. For the players, the goal is “just getting used to this new group and get to a point where we feel ready to play together” said senior Jake MillerTolt. For the coaches, the mission is “to blend the new arrivals with the returning athletes into a cohesive unit that can be strong contenders in the east” stated Coach Harris. The new recruits will look to the team’s experienced, standout veterans for leadership and guid-

ance, like sophomore goalkeeper Bailey O’Mara and senior driver Jake Miller-Tolt. Miller-Tolt had a phenomenal 2018 season, netting 104 goals and racking up 68 assists. He also became just the second Fordham Ram to score over 100 goals in a single season, averaging at least one goal in 30 out of 32 games. The Rams will kick off the 2019 season playing in the Navy Labor Day Open in Annapolis, Maryland, facing the 2018 National Champion UCLA on September 7th. Coach Harris said that the team is looking forward to the UCLA game most, because “it is an opportunity to play against the best in the country.” As for the rest of the season, the Rams hope to continue improving their team defense, aggressive offense, overall movement, and scoring during crucial penalty time situations. Coach Harris declared that the team’s number one goal remains the same; “to improve our conference standing, win our conference and progress to represent the CWPA in the NCAA playoffs in November.” Though the Rams certainly face some fierce competition, this year’s squad could be a strong competitor with what Coach Harris called “a great group of talented, hard-working athletes.” This 2019 season has all the potential to be successful and exciting. - Sabrina Boyd

Water Polo Fordham Men’s Water Polo will enter the 2019 season looking to start strong after a solid 2018 season. In 2018, the Rams struggled

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Mens Water Polo finished with an even 16-16 record last season.

The Fordham Ram Sports Section needs new writers!

Think you know sports? Want to write about them? Or just like to write and will do it for whoever will take you?

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August 24, 2019

The Ram’s Guide to Previewing Fordham Fall Sports Compiled by The Ram’s Sports Section

Women’s Soccer Last season, Fordham Women’s soccer team made big strides in improving their record, and their confidence that they can make some noise in the A-10. This season, the team is ready to take that next step. The first step for the team was to avenge the 2017 season where they finished with a record below .500 for the first time since 2014. They did just that by rounding out 2018 with a 9-9-1 and making their first A-10 Tournament appearance since 2016. The highlight of the season was when the team went on a six-game winning streak after starting the year only 1–5. The Rams will have to regroup and move on without six graduating seniors, including team captain and NCAA Woman of the Year Award nominee, Brooke Salmon. With some spots now left vacant on the team, head coach Jessica Clinton welcomed a new recruiting class to the Bronx in May. The recruiting class consists of five new freshmen—forward Kristin Cocozza from Coopersburg, Pa., midfielder Danielle Etienne from Paterson, N.J., forward Katlin Kennedy form Manhasset, N.Y., defender Alexa Morello from Northville, Mich., and midfielder Maura Murphy from Mokena, Ill. Clinton said she is excited to have the newcomers at Rose Hill and can’t wait to see them in action. “We have 5 strong first year players. They’ve shown that they can not only compete in training, but have made some big plays for us on the field. The more comfortable this group gets, the more you will see from them. They are fun and exciting to watch and they are fearless. It’s exactly what we need.” Along with the five freshmen, the Rams will also have new faces in terms of leadership roles. Clinton named seniors Margaret Roughley and Julianna Mascelli as team captains back in May. Both women played in all 19 games for the Rams last season and have been valuable players on the pitch over the course of their three seasons at Fordham. Roughley, a 2018 Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference selection, scored a team-high four goals last season and added nine points on the year. Mascelli has scored two goals in her career at Rose Hill and was a member of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. With the season underway and the team mentally and physically ready for the task at hand, Clinton wants her team to remain consistent all year long so they can take the A-10 by storm. “We are at a place where I believe our group is challenging each other physically in training. They are tough on the ball and it’s hard to take it away. We need that for the rest of the season so

when we can honestly say that we’ve prepared ourselves for the next step. We need to dig in each session to be physically prepared going into tough games. It’s even a step for our returners to do it, but if we can get it to be an every training session/game goal, then it becomes a part of our culture and it becomes easier for the 1st years.”

Men’s Soccer Newly hired Fordham Men’s Soccer head coach Carlo Acquista has massive shoes to fill following the resignation of former head coach Jim McElderry last December. When McElderry initially resigned, it came as a complete shock to everyone on campus considering the success he attained in the previous five years. In that five-year period, McElderry led the men’s soccer program to two Atlantic 10 Championships and three NCAA Championship appearances. In particular, Fordham soccer fans will never forget the team’s magical Cinderella run to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2017. McElderry finishes with 127 wins at Fordham, second only to his predecessor, Frank Schnur. Now, McElderry takes his coaching prowess to the University of Rutgers. Enter Carlo Acquista. He may not be the new head coach you were expecting, but make no mistake, he has the qualifications to succeed at Rose Hill. For starters, Acquista played four years at St. John’s University, where he helped the Red Storm win two Big East Championships and the Division 1 national title in 1996. Six years later, he would become one of the youngest Division 1 coaches at the age of 23 when he took the head coaching job at St. Francis College (NY). He then moved on to Adelphi University, where he spent 11

seasons and totaled a record of 120-69-19. In 2016 and 2017, Acquista led the Panthers to consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championships, earning ECAC Coach of the year both times. He was serving as a scout for the New York Red Bulls since February 2018 before ultimately taking over at Fordham. Acquista believes he’s more than ready for this challenge at Fordham, saying, “as a native New Yorker, I understand the history of Fordham University’s men’s soccer program and I will continue with the men’s soccer traditions already established.” Moving on to the team, Acquista inherits a team that lost two alltime great players in Janos Loebe and Rashid Nuhu to graduation. Fortunately, the team returns a majority of its starters from last season, including senior captain Joergen Oland. Oland is now the unquestioned sole leader of this squad and he’s not backing away from it. When asked about the pressure, Oland responded, “With Janos and Rashid gone, I do not feel any pressure having to take over responsibility. I take it as a challenge to lead by example on and off the field.” No matter who the head coach is, Oland says the Rams main goal is still the same: to win the Atlantic 10. That goal will be emphasized even more this season, as Fordham University plays host to the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. Oland would love nothing more than to end his career with a second A-10 title, saying, “To end my college career by winning the conference on our home field would be a dream come through. We are going to do what we can to prepare ourselves for this season and accomplish that dream!” Get ready, folks. Fordham’s finest is back in action! - Andrew Posadas

ALLY WHITE/THE FORDHAM RAM

Even with a new head coach, expectations are still high for Men’s Soccer.

Volleyball After finishing the 2018–2019 season on a high with their exciting five-set victory over A10 foe George Mason, the 2019–2020 squad will be gearing up for a great and competitive campaign. It will kick off its play August 30 in Atlanta, Georgia and will start Atlantic 10 play in late September. The Rams finished conference play with a record of 3-11, and an overall record of 10-17, a win percentage they are hoping to increase with the goal of making the Atlantic 10 tournament. “We are anticipating it to be a challenging season, but we are working hard to break the streak of not making A-10s and hopefully find ourselves playing for a championship this year,” junior stud McKenna Lahr notes. Furthermore, Head Coach Ian Choi hopes that the Rams will maintain their success, focusing on the back end of the season in order to qualify: “Our goals comparatively to last year, are to start peaking later which means we can continue to develop and sharpen our skills, technique, and knowledge a little longer to create a higher ceiling for our level of play.” Not only does he want to drill technique into this roster, but he hopes to finish in the top six of the conference. In order to add more depth and talent in hopes of qualifying for a shot at the A-10 title, the squad is excited about their six additions to the Class of 2023: freshmans Megan Brzozowski, Aneliesa Cartledge, Jessica Doty, Mallory Lipski, Aria De La Rosa and Chloe Pejouan. In order to incorporate the newcomers and ensure the whole team is ready for competition, the key is in intelligent practices: “Since volleyball is a high impact sport we as coaches have to be mindful of how frequently our athletes max jump in any given practice but with the depth of middle blockers we have some more jumps and opportunities to work with.” Lahr attests to this adaptive practice method: “What we’re excited for is getting the chance to play with the incoming freshmen and really establish ourselves as a top contender in our conference. We’re working everyday on new things to ensure we will be at our best when we start conference play.” Of course, the team is led best by its upperclassmen, who will lead and inspire younger players. Liberos seniors Morgan Williams and Michelle Rodrigues combine with two fellow seniors in blocker Elise Benjamin and hitter Kaitlin Morley to create an unstoppable force on the court. Coach Choi is encouraged by having such a great group of leaders: “I’m happy to see an intrinsic motivation for the game combined with the maturity of our seniors to hold the team and themselves accountable for the work and discipline required to make a splash in our conference.”

This combination of great senior leadership and young, raw talent will be sure to push the Rams up the ranks of the A-10. “The culture of the program is only getting brighter and more refined and as we continue to be process-oriented we should only see improvement.” Choi states. - Gigi Speer

Cross Country The 2018 season was a historic one for the Fordham cross country team. The year saw several historic performances, led by then-junior Ryan Kutch and senior Angelina Grebe. Kutch became the first Ram runner ever to win the Atlantic 10 championship in October while both Kutch and Grebe made it to the all-Atlantic 10 team at season’s end. Additionally, the women’s cross country team finished with a program-best thirdplace finish at the Atlantic 10 championship. However, 2019 is a new season, and with it have come some significant changes. The biggest difference between 2018 and 2019 for the Rams is at coach, as Tom Dewey retired over the summer after 39 years at the helm of the program. Stepping into his place is former assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Horowitz, who had been one of Dewey’s assistants since 2013. The move is an adjustment for the Rams, but the team’s familiarity with Horowitz should ease the transition. “It is going to be a big adjustment just because of what coach Dewey brought to the team with his experience, knowledge and coaching ability,” Kutch says. “However, coach Horowitz has done a great job as an assistant and the whole team is confident he will do equally as well as a head coach.” Kutch is returning for his senior year having reached the pinnacle of achievement last season. That being said, he and his coach are still focused on improvement despite all of his achievements last year. “Ryan has been very consistent over the past three years,” Horowitz says. “His consistency has led to continuous progression in performances each year. We hope to continue to take the next step and have Ryan compete against the other top distance runners in the country.” Kutch will lead the men’s team with other solid returners, including sophomore Brandon Hall and senior Sean Sullivan. On the women’s side, the team will be led by seniors Katia Krzyzanowski and Sydney Snow, both of whom will be captains for the coming season. The former has a strong 17th-place showing at last year’s Atlantic 10 Tournament while Snow anchored the team’s ECAC champion 4x800 team. The team will also get reinforcements in newcomers like John McGovern, Colin Flood and Nick Lundberg, all three of whom SEE CROSS COUNTRY, PAGE 16