Volume 105 Issue 12

Fordham Move-In for the 2023-24 School Year

By GRACE GALBREATH ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Last weekend, new Fordham students were officially welcomed to campus. Residence halls opened for early movein on Aug. 16, first welcoming residence leaders, student-athletes, Urban Plunge leaders and participants and orientation leaders. Most students, however, arrived on Aug. 24 through 29, with first-year student move-in taking place on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Associate Vice President for Communications and Special Adviser to the President at Fordham, Bob Howe, commented on changes to housing.

Howe said, “There are no major changes planned for the housing program this year. The residence halls will open at full occupancy on Sunday, Aug. 27 with a fairly small number of first-year students assigned to converted triples where students receive a reduced room rate.”

First-year students, who began

SEE MOVE-IN, PAGE 3

The Fordham Ram

Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918

TheFordhamRam.com

Marketplace Closure Leads to Destination Dining

By EMMA KIM NEWS EDITOR

The McShane Campus Center Marketplace will officially stop operations on Friday, Oct. 6. During the weekend, there will be a transition upstairs into the McShane Campus Center Ballroom, and it will reopen on Tuesday, Oct. 10 as an “all you care to eat” location.

Bepler Commons — the second “all you care to eat” location that is replacing the Marketplace — will open on Tuesday, Sept. 19, and it will be open during the transition of the McShane Campus Center dining location.

Class of 2027: Fordham Introduces Most Diverse Class in History

The

By SOFIA DONOHUE DIGITAL PRODUCER

To commemorate the last meal served in the Marketplace since 1960, there will be a closing celebration on Oct. 5, said Deming Yaun, the dining services contract liaison.

Yaun explained that other options will be added during the construction of the Marketplace, including a food truck, two coffee carts and a snack cart.

“The food truck is going to offer a wide variety of menus.

SEE DINING, PAGE 4

By SOFIA DONOHUE ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Last Sunday, Fordham welcomed the Class of 2027 to campus, which is the most diverse class in the university’s history.

The class is 48% domestic students of color and 8% international students hailing from 57 different countries, the most popular being Vietnam, China, India, Russia, Canada, Italy,

Fordham Unveils McShane Campus Center Arcade

By EMMA KIM NEWS EDITOR

arcade connects the McShane Campus Center with

the surrounding buildings and serves as an entrance into both.

“The arcade unifies the campus center, the Lombardi Fieldhouse and the Rose Hill Gymnasium so that students can enter and then choose their path. So it unifies the whole area into one giant

location so that from the main entryway of the arcade you’re able to pick your destination,” said Stephen Clarke, associate director for campus center operations.

Ed Kull, director of intercollegiate athletics and recreational sports, SEE ARCADE, PAGE 5

the Philippines, Spain and Mexico. In comparison, the Class of 2026 was 46% domestic students of color and 7% international students while the Class of 2025 was more than 44% domestic students of color and 6.5% international students. This is the third year in a row in which Fordham has enrolled the most diverse class in the university’s history.

Domestic students in the Class of 2027 come from 45 states including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The states which brought in the most students were New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Massachusetts; the next most popular states are Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and Illinois. Additionally, more than 500

SEE 2027, PAGE 4

Fordham Reacts to Ruling on Affirmative Action

By EMMA KIM NEWS EDITOR

On June 29, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, meaning race can no longer be a factor in college admissions decisions. On the same day as the decision, President Tania Tetlow emailed the Fordham community regarding the ruling.

“I am both disappointed and determined to find a path forward,” President Tetlow said in the email.

She also wrote that it is impossible to line students up in rank order of merit and that many people have advantages such as private tutoring —

which was why Fordham decided to become a test-optional institution in fall 2021.

“Now, the Court gives us very mixed messages on whether we can consider one—and only one—obstacle, that of overcoming racism,” Tetlow wrote.

President Tetlow ended her email by asking for everyone’s commitment to creating a community where “every single one of us knows, at our core, that we belong here.”

Patricia Peek, dean of undergraduate admissions and associate vice president, explained that Fordham has been committed to achieving a diverse student body for years,

Page 12

COURTESY OF ALEX ANTONOV /THE FORDHAM RAM

The new McShane Campus Center arcade opened on Aug. 1 for the Fordham community.

Fordham welcomed the class of 2027 during the candle lighting ceremony on the last day of orientation.

new McShane Campus Center arcade opened on Aug. 1 for the Fordham community. The

PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS

Aug. 27

Alumni Court South

A visitor reported a stuck occupied elevator on the fourth floor of Alumni Court South. The supervisor responded and notified Centennial Elevator. The technician responded, freed the occupant and returned the elevator to service.

Aug. 28

Parking Lot

A student reported damage to their parked vehicle. A supervisor responded to the report and an investigation revealed an Uber backed into the student’s vehicle and fled campus. Public Safety provided the license plate of the Uber and the student contacted their insurance company.

Aug. 29

Faculty Memorial Hall

The security officer assigned to FMH reported a person stuck in the elevator. The supervisor responded and called Centennial Elevator. A technician responded and freed the occupant.

Sept. 4

Belmont

A student was walking eastbound on East Fordham Road near Roosevelt High School when they were approached by two men riding a motorcycle. One of the men indicated that he had a firearm and demanded the student’s property, then rode up on the student and snatched a chain from their neck. The assailants then fled westbound on East Fordham Road.

Urban Plunge Participants Engage in Community Service in New York City

By MICHELA FAHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By TASNIMAH RAHMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Incoming first-years sharing interest in social justice advocacy participated in the pre-orientation program, Urban Plunge, from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26. Urban Plunge is hosted by Fordham University’s Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) and tries to facilitate sharp thinkers in social justice issues starting locally in New York City.

Urban Plunge aims to cultivate an understanding of community and engagement for students when exploring the diversity of NYC. Learning the stories of NYC’s history is meant to show students that not all have access to the same opportunities.

Urban Plunge’s website states that they “fearlessly address systemic injustices and highlight the beauty that coexists despite it, encouraging students to experience the vibrant culture within all of NYC’s boroughs.”

Participants have the ability to appreciate the diverse life of NYC’s boroughs and become aware of injustice. Urban Plunge, in its 30-year existence, has attempted to help students learn about the communities surrounding Fordham and become active agents of their own communities.

This year’s Urban Plunge was centered around the theme “Bridge, Build and Begin.” As the program highlights community, students are able to engage with New York City, community partners and connect with each other. Some first-year students that participate meet their first friends. The theme is meant to encourage them to be bridge-builders connecting with each other and the outside community.

Hannah Anderson, FCRH ’27, a native New Yorker, expresses how the program enabled connecting with the community, “I thought my experience in Urban Plunge was very helpful, not only in learning more about Fordham, but also about the Bronx and how we can help different communities through experience and understanding.

It was fun meeting people from the Bronx and Fordham and

Wednesday Sept. 6

Edward’s Parade 3 p.m.

Join Campus Activities Board (CAB) and your fellow Rams for a fun game of paintball on Edward’s Parade. CAB’s 2023

Welcome Week also features a cultural raffle before paintball on Eddie’s at 2:30 p.m.

learning about their history, culture and how they are connected. I lived in New York for many years but this was the first time I explored different boroughs and its communities. The most important thing I took away from this experience is how you can directly impact people by contributing to different communities and working with others in a positive way. There are many programs you could be a part of to make positive change regardless of your experience or role in society.”

On the first day, students engaged in panel discussions with Fordham alumni and Urban Plunge participants, or “plungers.” Campuses are separate on day one. A commission ceremony took place after students moved into the separate campuses and commuters were welcomed. The students were then congratulated for making it to Fordham by parents and staff.

Soon after, an alumni panel, featuring Jeff Coltin, FCRH ’15, Roxanna Chowdhry-Velasquez, FCRH ’98, Emma Pfohman, FCRH ’98, and Murad Awawdeh, PCS ’19, took place. The panel allowed for the plungers to see that the alumni had completed the journey that they were undertaking and to see where alumni are now.

“This inspired them to go out and take action on issues they care about,” said Kujegi Camara, assistant director of Community Engagement and Operations at Fordham. The program aims to teach students how to be a good neighbor and learn about a new environment for those new to NYC. The aspect of “build” surrounds how to build relationships with one another as well as organizations students worked with.

“Begin,” expressed by Kujegi, is “encouraging them to begin something new here, to learn as much as they could, to engage in curiosity so that they can sort of begin their own Fordham journey.” The 30th anniversary of Urban Plunge was a celebration of a program that has been “instrumental” for Fordham students as it gets them in -

volved and creates a sense of Fordham’s mission. This 30th anniversary was incorporated into the theme, calling students to apply “bothered excellence” and “cura personalis.” The alumni theme was also incorporated to have firstyear students interact with alumni throughout the program. A scavenger hunt took place after the panelist discussion and community building activities.

On day two, all plungers came to the Rose Hill campus. In the morning, students participated in a panel discussion with community activists that spoke on the Cross Bronx Expressway, its impact on the Bronx and the work they are doing to reimagine it because it is a large casse of structural environmental racism, according to Kujegi.

After the panelist discussion, students did neighborhood tours. During the tour, they connected with a community organizer explaining the roots of the organization and providing a walk of the neighborhood. Students went to New Settlement Community Center near Highbridge, the Bronx Expressway, Kingsbridge Armory and other places.

They then had lunch in the area to support local businesses. In the afternoon, students went back to their engagement sites to support the work of a community organization. A large number of students participated in Back to School Festival in Fordham Plaza sponsored by CCEL. They gave out backpacks to thousands of families. Many organizations in the Fordham area were also tabling and organized by CCEL. After the engagement site everybody came back on campus to a music showcase of “From the Bronx to San Juan Hill” — a New York City hiphop culture and Cuban band.

On day three, everyone went to the Lincoln Center campus. In the morning, everyone participated in a morning reflection. Fordham Campus Ministry staff member, Carol Gibey, led

This Week at Fordham

Thursday Sept. 7

McNally Amphitheatre 5-7:00 p.m.

The Financial Issues Forum presents Leon Cooperman in Conversation with Mario Gabelli. Cooperman will be discussing his new memoir and attendees will receive a free copy of his book.

Friday Sept. 8

Yankee Stadium 8 a.m-7 p.m.

The Fordham University Alumni Association (FUAA) invites you to a fun-filled night at Yankee Stadium to watch the Yankees face off against the Milwaukee Brewers. Tickets are available to students and alumni.

a yoga session. Students engaged in breathing exercises to ground them and they also participated in building exercises such as writing letters to their future selves. Urban Plunge Assistants (UPA), who are student leaders for each small group, explored the city with their first-years. They went to Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan museums.

“Going into Urban Plunge, I expected to learn about the history of New York City, to work at community events and to move in three days early. While picking out my side of the room was a plus, what I did not expect was the amazing bonds I formed with my Plunge group. Watching many panels, walking for hours on end, even drawing a hopscotch board with chalk was all worth it because I got to do it with my Group Five. Our leaders Bea, Kaitlin and Vincent facilitated discussions officially while we learned more about each other through exercises like the Wheel of Intersectionality. My perception about my peers when I first met them versus the conclusion of Plunge completely changed for the better. We ran around the whole school doing a scavenger hunt on the first night (which we won). It felt like those three days were three years of getting to know each other. I’m still friends with all of my Plunge group to this day, and I’m so grateful to Urban Plunge for the opportunity to connect students through service,” said Lynn Cheng, FCLC ’27.

“I think the big thing about Urban Plunge is it’s, in short, like we put so much love into the program. I speak for all of us, you know, staff and the student leaders. It’s only a threeday program, right? It’s kind of a sprint, right? They’re like, oh, we like plunge them, right? And we immerse them into community, into experiencing something they may not have experienced for the first time,” Camara said.

Friday Sept. 8

Off-Campus 9 p.m.

Theory and Praxis is hosting a benefit show featuring Fordham student bands Zephyr and World’s Biggest Corporation. The entry fee is pay-what-you-can and all funds are donated to Niño De La Caridad.

Sunday Sept. 10

University Church 5 p.m.

Join the Fordham community for the 2023 Mass of the Holy Spirit, an annual Jesuit tradition in which the community comes together to invite the Holy Spirit to be with us during the academic year.

Fordham Move-In for the 2023-24 School Year

FROM MOVE-IN, PAGE 1

orientation programming immediately after move-in, were welcomed by returning students and orientation leaders who helped carry their things into their rooms. The Class of 2027 is the third largest incoming class in Fordham history. It is also the most diverse in university history.

Orientation Coordinator for Training and Staff Development, Grace Yearwood, FCRH ’25, said planning for orientation programming began in early 2023.

Yearwood said, “As a Coordinator, my job started in January 2023. We first planned the spring 2023 Transfer Student Orientation. Then all our focus was on August 2023 Orientation. We worked throughout February and March to recruit a team of about 250 student Orientation Leaders. We then trained these students in April. Throughout the summer we carefully planned and executed three Summer Orientation Programs all while completing tasks for the fall 2023 Program.”

Yearwood also mentioned that planning for move-in spans multiple departments and teams, requiring a lot of cooperation from Fordham staff.

She added, “There was a lot of work going into the coordination between different departments to plan move-in day. For example, the New Student Orientation Staff works closely with the Office of Residential Life and Public Safety in order to ensure a smooth day. Personally, there was not too much new planning that went into this year’s move-in day since Public Safety and the Office of Residential Life have worked the day for numerous years. It’s a pretty well-oiled machine.”

Yearwood said that the days of orientation programming were a success. She said, “We had good feedback from families, students and the departments that participated and helped make it happen. All of our events that happened throughout move-in had good attendance and ran in a timely fashion.”

Molly Ewing, FRCH ’25, was one of many orientation leaders who assisted in move-in. Student helpers were tasked with the job of carrying student belongings up four flights of stairs. Ewing helped in Martyrs’ Court.

Martyrs’ Court, a first-year dorm with no elevators, proved logistically and physically difficult for move-in. Ewing said,

“Let’s just say, I had 35,000 steps by the end of the day and about five fridges that I helped carry up the stairs.”

Despite the stairs, Ewing said the day was successful and very rewarding. She said, “It was very exciting. The energy on campus was very high.”

Bridget Woods, FCRH ’24, is a resident assistant in Walsh Hall. This year will be her third academic year working as a resident assistant and helping with move-in. She said this year’s move-in process went very smoothly.

Woods mentioned that she is excited for the upcoming year. “This semester, as a senior now, I am looking forward to taking full advantage of Fordham’s location within the Belmont community — especially through programming events,” she said.

Woods added, “I love seeing the campus full again, especially in the halls! For Walsh, it is super exciting to welcome many returner students as well as transfer students. We welcomed back lots of sophomores, juniors and seniors, and it was really fun to see all the upperclassmen settle in for the new year.”

Fordham Reacts to Ruling on Affirmative Action

but they will now expand upon those efforts.

According to Peek, those efforts include continuing to focus on recruitment and outreach; extending the test-optional policy through at least 2025; remaining liberal in application fee waivers; working to increase the number of veteran and military-connected students, community college graduates and first-generation college students; and refining the supplemental optional essay question to give students more opportunities to share their experiences.

“We also are very transparent that we are a predominantly white institution (PWI) committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and anti-racist community.

By SOFIA SEMPER STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, Aug. 31, the Fordham Rose Hill United Student Government (USG) met to discuss the new school year and special elections.

Executive Vice President Ava Coogan, FCRH ’25, began the meeting by explaining the expectations for every USG meeting and the standards that every member of the USG has to meet. She also announced that the USG retreat will be Sept. 23 and it will consist of activities and proposal writing workshops that will aim to prepare the new senators for their future proposals.

Jillian Choy, GSB ’24, and Emily Kennedy, GSB ’24, both presented their campaigns for the GSB class of ’24 special elections where two seats remained open on the senate. Choy stated

This is ongoing work that is supported by many areas of the university including, but not limited to, the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Student Affairs, Campus Ministry, as well as the wider faculty and staff,” said Peek.

Alan Ventura, FCRH ’24, president of El Grito and vice president of ASILI, does not have any programming yet planned based on the recent ruling but is ready to if there is a demand.

“Our foremost focus at both ASILI and El Grito is providing students of color at Fordham a space where they can feel a sense of security and belonging,” Ventura said. “Regardless, discussion surrounding the ruling is inevitable. Even when the topic is broad, we’re always pull-

ing from current events in our weekly meetings, and this being fresh in everyone’s minds means that we’ll constantly be grappling with it throughout the school year whether we’re programming around the topic or not.”

Ventura added that Fordham can work on creating an inclusive environment moving forward by staffing Counseling & Psychological Services with professionals who are trained to handle the needs of students of color, enforce more effective bias training for Public Safety and publicize the many studentorganized events of diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

“If anything, this stubborn restriction on how Fordham operates from this point on should prompt everyone to take a close

look at what we can change about how Fordham has operated up to this point,” Ventura said.

Mirei Fukushima, GSB ’25, vice president of diversity and inclusion and chair of Diversity Action Coalition (DAC) for United Student Government (USG), emphasized that the USG committee will continue their same mission.

“The [DAC] will continue to operate as it has been in previous years by holding programming events to celebrate various cultures and promote diversity,” Fukushima said. “In recent news of the affirmative action ruling, I think it’s important for DAC to emphasize this change and continue to create a safe space where students can freely share their thoughts, concerns or questions regarding diversity and inclusion.”

USG Discusses Goals for New School Year

that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the class of 2024 was forced to miss out on many events that would have been held their freshman year so she hopes to be able to plan events that the class of 2024 did not have a chance to experience.

Kennedy explained that, during her previous years as a member of the USG, she worked on many mental health proposals and she hopes to be able to continue working to better the student experience at Fordham. Both Choy and Kennedy were elected as GSB 2024 senators.

Executive President Briana Al-Omoush, FCRH ’24, stated that she will be running USG information sessions for the class of 2027, and she plans to have a full senate by Thursday, Sept. 21.

Vice President of Operations Lauren Walczyk, FCRH ’25, said that the club fair last Wednesday went extremely well with some

clubs getting hundreds of new students to sign up and new club applications opened on Wednesday.

Vice President of Finance and Budgets Eron Maltzman, GSB ’25, stated that the applications for the budget committee closed on Monday, and he also explained that any senators looking to join the budget committee will still need to submit an application and be interviewed before they can join.

Vice President of Fordham College at Rose Hill Emma Balint, FCRH ’24, said that the FCRH Dean’s Council members nearly doubled in size from last year, and they have created two new subcommittees, an undergraduate research subcommittee and a study abroad subcommittee.

Vice President of Facilities and

Dining Jamie Serruto, FCRH ’24, said that he is very excited to make an impact on the Fordham community this year. He stated that the Marketplace Cafeteria in McShane Campus Center will be officially closing on Columbus Day weekend and the food truck will be revealed on Sept. 28. With the Marketplace closing soon, he said that they are working on many new plans to

Fukushima added that she is also planning for her committee to collaborate with other clubs and organizations this semester to get a wider range of opinions on how Fordham can work towards creating a more diverse and inclusive environment on campus.

“I joined DAC my freshman year for this same reason, and I hope this club will continue to serve as a space that will welcome all students,” Fukushima said.

With the new ruling, there will be changes made to admissions to be compliant, explained Peek. Racial status will not be viewable by the people responsible for making admission decisions.

“We will still seek to understand a student fully and in context within their high school and community environments,” Peek said.

make dining as successful and enjoyable as possible.

Lastly, the Ram Fit operating hours have changed since last year because they are supposedly following their summer schedule due to scheduling issues. Vice President of Student Life Brian Iguanti, FCRH ’24, and Serruto said that they will explore how the Ram Fit schedule can go back to normal.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

First-year students moved into campus on Aug. 27 and then had orientation.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Fordham welcomed students back to campus at the end of August.

Marketplace Closure Leads to Destination Dining

It’s really a small kitchen on the back of a truck. It’s one of the biggest food trucks we could find, so we can have as much flexibility as we want with it,” said Yaun.

The food truck — named CHOMP, like the sound of a ram eating — will open on Sept. 29 and will usually be in front of Finlay Hall.

The two coffee carts — Ram Roadega and Ram Central Station — will offer coffee and light foods, and the snack cart — Bronxie Bike — will be biked around campus with snacks for students. All of these options will work with a meal plan, cash or credit.

Another new addition to Fordham’s dining that is permanent is the new bagel shop — Bronx Bagel Co. — located in Dagger John’s and the Grab & Go located in the McShane Campus Center Gallery.

“The product line leans towards healthy,” Yaun said of the Grab & Go.

The items will include prepackaged meal items, CocaCola products and BKG Coffee — a Brooklyn-based coffee roasting company.

Yaun added that the changes to the Marketplace will not merely be cosmetic. The construction will strip the Marketplace to the beams, and instead of a separate food and sitting area like before, the construction will make it an intermixed area with food stations and seating. According to Yuan, construction is expected to be completed on Aug. 1.

Christian Joseph, FCRH ’25, is a meal plan holder, and said she is excited to see the changes to the Marketplace but not for the first-years.

“A new environment that’s bright and fresh could liven up the atmosphere of the space for students who enjoy eating at the dining hall,” Joseph said. “That being said, I think the timing of the renovations are ill fit to students’ best interests, especially freshman.

“On a campus with only one dining hall, it simply does not make sense to close the only establishment on campus that large groups of students can congregate and enjoy a meal together. Closing the marketplace for renovations at the beginning of the school year

will be done to the detriment of the new students on campus who are trying to integrate into the student body’s social network at Fordham,” Joseph said.

James Serruto, FCRH ’24, Vice President of Dining and Facilities for United Student Government (USG), is working with dining services to ensure the students’ voices are heard during the construction process.

“We’re in constant communication. We’ve had several committee meetings over the summer,” said Serruto. “We encourage anybody who has a specific dietary restriction to communicate with the staff. If they need to have a special meal that particular day or they are confused on a certain item, we can have that clarified right away.”

Serruto also wants to change the reputation surrounding Fordham dining.

“Over the years, the dining services have held a particular reputation, but I’m looking to change that,” said Serruto. “I want students to have a voice in the long-term plan of the university where a lot of their tuition dollars are going to,” Serruto said.

Class of 2027: Fordham Introduces Most Diverse Class in History

students in the first-year class are from New York City high schools, including more than 125 students from the Bronx.

According to Patricia Peek, dean of undergraduate admission, there are 1,179 Fordham College at Rose Hill first-year students and 537 Gabelli School of Business students. In total, there are 1,716 first-years at Rose Hill. Including Fordham College at Lincoln Center and the Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center, there are 2,444 firstyears across both campuses. This puts the class of 2027 as slightly smaller than other classes currently on Fordham’s campus. The class of 2025 still is the largest class with more

than 2,800 students, followed closely by the class of 2026 with about 2,600 students. The class of 2027 comes in at third, and the class of 2024 is the smallest class on campus with a little bit over 2,000 students.

“ They are a talented and diverse group of students who come from a range of backgrounds, perspectives, achievements and geographical locations,” said Peek of the class of 2027.

Move-in day began bright and early with some students and their families moving in as early as 7:30 a.m. Andrew Kravatz, FCRH ’27, said that he felt a sense of belonging and community as enthusiastic orientation leaders welcomed him to campus.

“I had an amazing experience during move-in day. The entire move-in crew was super helpful and friendly. I felt welcomed and like I belonged right from movein day. It really made me want to be part of the crew to make the next class of freshman feel as welcome as I did,” said Kravatz.

Similarly, Elizabeth Throop, FCRH ’27, expressed her gratitude for the orientation leaders’ warm welcome.

“My move in day experience was great! Everyone on the team was very helpful, the only thing was the people on my floor weren’t as welcoming as I thought,” said Throop.

Despite the flurry of activities on campus such as orientation and welcome events for parents

and new students, some incoming first-year students found time to explore Rose Hill and discover what the campus has to offer.

FROM 2027, PAGE 1 blanket and sit together.”

“My favorite part of campus is definitely Eddie’s,” said Throop. “I love the trees and how everyone is able to grab a

Kravatz also noted the abundance of greenery on campus: “My favorite part of campus is definitely the Martyrs’ Lawn area. I love seeing all of the paths and trees and greenery when I’m walking to the library or class.”

Junior Investigates Motivations for Sexting Behavior

By ALICE GAALSYWK STAFF WRITER

Diana Paradise, FCRH ’25, spent the summer researching the motivations and consequences of sexting amongst adolescent sexual minority men. Paradise’s research is a part of Celia Fisher’s, Ph.D., Human Development and Social Justice lab in the psychology department.

Paradise explained that a former Fordham student had previously been interested in sexting research, specifically amongst the population of adolescent girls. After learning about this research, Paradise wanted to take the next step and identify which other populations were suffering the negative consequences from sexting and having risky experiences associated with sexting. “The ultimate goal is to identify protective factors that can allow young, queer teenagers to explore their sexualities without also endangering themselves,” Paradise said.

Paradise identified this specific population of adolescent sexual

minority men as being particularly susceptible to the negative effects of sexting. This population experiences negative consequences of sexting that other populations may not necessarily face. For instance, Paradise noted that, “There are a lot of different negative effects, there is a wide range of consequences; they can range from just ‘oh, that made me feel bad about myself’ to ‘I was outed,’ and if you’re a straight person sexting, you don’t experience that consequence.”

Besides these consequences that are specific to this community, sexual minority men are at higher risk for other negative experiences including: sexual extortion, messages forwarded to unintended recipients, threat of legal action with institutions like schools or the adolescent’s parents and transactional sexting (i.e. sexting in exchange for things like money).

Over this summer, Paradise was mostly focusing on participant recruitment. After receiving Institutional Review Board approval, Paradise worked on setting

on Instagram to find participants. After sending the survey out, Paradise continually monitored the survey and went through the responses to determine whether or not the participants were legitimate by validating their ages and checking that their location matched with their zip code. Paradise also had to work on determining problem spots within the survey itself; for example, the phrasing for certain questions had to be reworked so that the participants understood what Paradise was asking. Paradise’s questions ranged from frequency of sexting, platforms participants used, whether or not they were sexting with someone they knew and motivations for sexting. “We were just trying to get as clear a picture as we could of their whole experience,” Paradise said.

After spending the summer working on participant recruitment, Paradise is now focused on going through the data to determine which responses can be used for analyses. Once this is

completed, Paradise will start drafting paragraphs and manuscripts for when they choose to submit their research to a publication. One of the key parts of the data that Paradise is most interested in analyzing is sexual identity development.

“My hypothesis is that sexual exploration will sort of mediate the relationship between number of sexting partners and frequency of sexting and negative consequences because one of the big ways that sexting can benefit youth is through sexual exploration, especially for queer youth who don’t have as many opportunities to do this in person,” Paradise said. They think that these positive consequences

of discovering more about one’s sexuality could buffer some of the negative consequences of engaging in sexting.

Doing this research validated Paradise’s ultimate career goal of becoming a sex therapist and reaffirming that they can work with sexuality and help people in this area of their lives.

“I’ve always been interested in researching sexuality, and that has only grown… it makes me feel like this is something that I’m good at, something that I can do, something that me doing would be worthwhile and would help the world and would help vulnerable populations,” Paradise said.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Destination Dining includes on-the-go carts for students to get snacks.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

There are 1,716 first-year students at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.

Diana Paradise’s researches revolves around teenage sexting habits.

Fordham Unveils McShane Campus Center Arcade

FROM ARCADE, PAGE 1

highlighted the new features that fans and athletes will now have access to in the arcade: a new ticket box office, new concessions set up, new book store area for merchandise sales, new restrooms the gym attendees can use, a new hospitality area for Maroon Club members, a festive welcome area and sponsor areas for giveaways on game day.

Kull added that the new area adds “accessibility in and out of the gymnasium, easier access to the Sports Medicine area and easier accessibility to the Fitness Center.”

Overall, the arcade creates “better synergy among the three athletics spaces of the McShane center, gymnasium and the Lombardi field house,” and “further engagement” for the entire Fordham community, said Kull.

The construction of the McShane Campus Center, previously known as McGinley Center, started in January 2020. COVID-19 ended up delaying the construction of the building, but it officially opened its first floor for student use in January 2022.

The completion of the arcade was phase two of the three-part construction plan.

Jordan Chiu-Skow, GSB ’26, uses the new arcade space in between classes.

“It’s a really nice place to just hang out and kind of rest. I

commute, so it’s a place where I kind of just chill for like 10 minutes before I head to my first class,” Chiu-Skow said.

Liv Lanford, FCRH ’26, also enjoys the new arcade.

“I really like it just because I like all the nooks,” Lanford said. “The only thing I find funny is the fact that [the brick wall] was literally outdoors, and now it’s inside… But it makes the aesthetic of [the arcade] really, really nice. And they added more plants to make it homey, so I feel like I can study here.”

Clarke added that new commuter lockers are being added to the lower level, and students will be able to access them via an app on their phones. In addition to that, the Marketplace renovations are the next step in construction.

“The construction for that is expected to complete before the end of the summer next year so that it will be ready to go with a brand new Marketplace experience — a new dining experience — for all students when classes resume next September,” said Clarke.

The final phase, or phase three, is called “The Renovation,” and it includes the updated Marketplace, a Multicultural Student Center, an expanded ballroom and a new separate strength and conditioning center that is dedicated to Fordham Athletics.

It is expected to be completely finished by 2025.

COURTESY OF SAMANTHA MINEAR/THE FORDHAM RAM

The new arcade features renewed access to the Rose Hill Gymnasium.

COURTESY OF SAMANTHA MINEAR/THE FORDHAM RAM

The extension breathes new life into the Joseph M. McShane Campus Center, which began renovations in 2020.

Serving the Fordham University campus and community since 1918

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RDon’t Give Me Creative Freedom. It’s Scary.

One thing about me (that my copy table friends can attest to) is that when I start talking, it’s hard for me to stop. I can go on forever about topics I find interesting — volleyball, sharks, the various books I’m reading, Taylor Swift lore, et cetera. It’s not just about hearing myself talk, but rather about how excited these topics make me.

However, I have been staring at this previously blank page for multiple days, trying to figure out what the heck I’m going to write.

That’s the thing with me. I prefer being told what to write, or, if it’s my own idea, having a set-instone outline for it. For instance, I know that in the next volume, this will be a “goodbye” letter to the Ram. I can’t write two “goodbye” letters, because that’s silly. So, this From The Desk can be just whatever my heart desires.

The whole “do whatever you want!” thing makes me anxious for some reason. I’ve always been this way, looking back on my life.

As a double Virgo and an oldest sister, I’m known to be somewhat of a control freak, as well as an obsessive over planner. Changing plans makes my skin crawl, and letting go of whatever level of control I have in a situation makes my hands shake.

Now, you would think that having full creative freedom to write to my heart’s desires is the perfect solution to my control freakness.

Well, you’re wrong. Because if there’s one thing I hate more than a last-minute change to long-term plans, it’s pulling thoughts out of thin air.

In a way, this FTD is allowing people to see the inside of my brain, my relatively unregulated thoughts and emotions. Allowing people insider status like this is relinquishing control. It’s one of the reasons why I am often terrified to write for the Ram — I don’t want people to edit my articles, to see the drafts of thoughts before they’re perfect. I have spent my entire college career thus far sitting at the copy table in B52. I have seen the editing process play out in real time. I have personally been part of the editing process. I don’t want people to see my writing the way I have seen everyone else’s, just looking for things to fix and polish until it’s perfect.

I keep looking at the word count. By this paragraph, I’ve passed 400 words, needing 300 more. So what else can I write about for another 300 words? My love for the ocean and the craving I feel to be in the water? How I miss my dog and the way too short life she lived? What am I doing to calm the overwhelming nerves of junior year and needing to figure out what I’m doing with my life? Where is my home and how do I justify having multiple places feel like home? What else is there? What else have I not already said

out loud, not wanting to burden people with the same old words over and over again?

500 words done now. I’ve switched from my laptop to typing this on my phone, sitting on a bench at Union Square Park listening to my “autumn” playlist on Spotify despite the annoying heat of early September.

Maybe I’m so anxious over this article because of doubt, of not wanting to hurt myself over peoples’ opinions on whether this is a good article or not. Before I submit an article, I have other people read it, just to make sure it’s okay to send to the Ram. My best friend Grace said this article made sense when I sent her screenshots over iMessage — I’m not sure why, but I trust her judgment enough.

“I’ve got a hundred thrown out speeches I almost said to you.” A beautiful lyric from “The Archer” by Taylor Swift that I’m finding quite relatable at the moment. There are so many things I want

Editorial | Supreme Court Ruling

to say, but none of them feel right. I’ve written and deleted multiple paragraphs of this article, trying to figure out what works best with whatever is running through the rest of the page. Maybe nothing is working, and I’m just trying my best. Who knows, because I sure don’t.

700 words. I’ve made the minimum. I don’t know what is more relieving, the fact that I don’t have to pull more words from thin air or the fact that I’m done before the deadline (you’re welcome, Nicole). Maybe both, maybe neither. You got to read a play-byplay of my thoughts, complaints and existential questions. Maybe you’ll skip over this article, and I don’t have to worry about what you might think of me. Maybe you’ll read the whole thing and decide I’m slightly crazy.

I don’t care anymore. This period of creative freedom is over, and I can now copy edit alongside my friends in peace.

Fordham Should Commit to Reaffirming Affirmative Action

In one of the summer’s biggest news stories, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in a 6-3 ruling. For those unfamiliar with affirmative action, it is a practice that allows employers and educational institutions to look at how discrimination in several forms, including race, gender, ethnicity or age, would have excluded someone from various opportunities. The policy was originally enacted under President Lyndon B. Johnson to assist Black Americans in the U.S. with receiving equal opportunities. Eventually, the policy expanded to consider other races and add other factors such as gender and age.

To claim that universities using affirmative action in their admissions process is giving some applicants “a leg up” over others is extremely ignorant to the institutionalized racism in the United States. Affirmative action helps bring equity to higher education.

For a Supreme Court justice to claim we have a “colorblind Constitution” and that “all men are created equal, are equal citizens, and must be treated equally before the law” is extremely concerning. To be clear, the second part of that quote should be true, but sadly, historically that has not been the case. It has not been the case because we do not have a “colorblind Constitution,” and we do not have a colorblind society in the U.S. It is extremely concerning that someone who is supposed to be the foremost expert on the Constitution would claim the document is colorblind.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

said it best in her minority opinion: “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”

Affirmative action gives space for applicants to share what life experiences or obstacles they have had to overcome on their path to receiving an education. Taking away affirmative action does not even the playing field; it simply reverts back to favoring white, resource-rich students who have not felt the effects of systemic racism. The Supreme Court is ruling in opposition to progress.

To take a more insular look, Fordham University President Tania Tetlow released a statement to the Fordham community in an email sent the day the decision was released, June 29. In the statement, Tetlow writes “as a university president — and a law professor who focused on the constitutional guarantee of equal protection — I am both disappointed and determined to find a path forward.” This provides a message of hope for the path Fordham will take forward in relation to the college admissions process and finding a way to implement the beneficiary role affirmative action plays while not violating the Supreme Court decision.

However, within their supplemental questions on the Common Application, Fordham does not make it clear they are hoping to hear how race could impact their college decision. The three questions ask students to share an

experience that changed their perspective, describe how they would contribute to our campus and community or write what has prepared them for receiving a unique opportunity to live and learn in New York. Looking at this from the applicant perspective, it is unclear if any of these questions are asking about the impact of race on their life and education.

Other universities have found ways to operate within the “window” that the Supreme Court has left open in a clearer way than Fordham has. Harvard, one of the schools involved in the cases heard before the Supreme Court, found a subtle way to reference affirmative action. One of their supplemental questions details that “Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?”

Sarah Lawrence, another private university in New York, took a more explicit approach to the question. The Sarah Lawrence application pulls a quote from the majority opinion outlining how they are permitted to ask questions about how race has impacted a student’s life. They follow this quote with a question asking students to draw “upon examples from your life, a quality of your character, and/or a unique ability you possess, describe how you believe your goals for a college education might be impacted, influenced, or affected by the Court’s decision.”

Looking outside of private universities, public institutions have

also found a way to ask questions with a more direct reference to affirmative action than Fordham has. The University of Michigan prefaces their question by stating that “everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage.” The applicant is then asked to describe their place within the community they choose.

These three examples show that other universities, both public and private, in New York and out, have been able to find loopholes to the Supreme Court’s decision. As Tetlow wrote in that June 29 email, the Supreme Court left space to ask applicants “how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” Fordham has space to push their questions to be more explicitly about affirmative action just as these other schools have done.

Fordham claims to be “committed to diversity in all dimensions.” It’s too soon to tell how Fordham’s student body diversity will be affected by the overturn of affirmative action, and whether the university has taken a strong enough stance to uphold their desire for a diverse community. It does seem that Fordham is taking a soft approach at the moment to the issue of affirmative action, but hopefully in the future and following in the footsteps of these other institutions, Fordham can more boldly stand defiant to the overturn of affirmative action. Only time will tell.

Battle for the Busway: Fordham vs. Fordham Road

By ABBY DZIURA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Talk to most Rose Hill students and they will tell a horror story about almost getting hit by a car on Fordham Road — the main, multi-lane road that borders Fordham’s Bronx campus — but fewer will be able to tell the story of the deep and bitter brawl currently raging from Webster Ave to Jerome Ave. At the heart of this tale is the overwhelming sentiment that we need to address the bus situation on Fordham Road.

Fordham Road currently has limited eastbound and westbound curbside bus lanes, which are travel lanes that are restricted to buses during certain hours of the day Monday through Friday on various stretches of the road. For years, drivers, pedestrians, students, business owners and bus riders alike have complained about the trafficky, double-parked state of Fordham Road. While the area is home to the secondmost popular bus route in the entire city — the Bx12 — it is also home to some of the worst bus speeds in the city, with sections of bus routes near Rose Hill averaging speeds of less than four miles per hour. This is untenable for pretty much anyone. In 2022, the Department of Transportation published a series of proposals for the buses on Fordham Road, one of which excited transit advocacy groups: a busway spanning from Webster Ave to Jerome. A busway is a more restrictive version of a bus lane that would limit traffic on that section of Fordham Road to strictly trucks, buses and emergency vehicles, and it is exactly what Fordham Road needs.

Riders will be treated to significantly improved wait and ride times on the bus if vehicle traffic is reduced (a model that has already proven successful in other boroughs).

Most of the recent fight for Fordham Road took place over the summer, when the majority of students were not on campus. Had this battle taken place during the school year, students would have learned two things: one, many of the protests by groups like Riders Alliance have taken place mere steps from university gates, and two, Fordham University publicly opposes the implementation of a busway.

According to a May 2023 letter signed by President Tania Tetlow (representing Fordham University) in opposition to the busway, the main concerns of the University are the environmental ramifications of redirecting car traffic, the potential impact on local pedestrian safety and the potential impact on local businesses. Overall, they call for a reconsideration of the Department of Transportation’s Fordham Road proposals and for more research on the issue. This is not only a gross misread of the situation, but also a misleading one.

First and foremost, it completely disregards the alreadypublished data that the Department of Transportation made publicly available at their Community Advisory Board meetings (which covers quite a few of their main concerns). But more broadly, it ignores the tenuous history of the Bronx, city transportation and the environment. The Bronx boasts some of the highest pediatric asthma, asthma hospitalization and asthma mortality rates

in the entire country by a wide margin, which is due in no small part to the Cross Bronx Expressway. The implementation of a busway on Fordham Road would result in reduced car traffic — and therefore car emissions — to the area. Shoppers on Fordham Road surveyed by the Department of Transportation also agreed that improved bus service in the area would increase their chances of riding the bus, which would also result in reduced car traffic.

Plus, any Fordham Road pedestrian can tell you that the current situation is already unsafe. In just four years, 83 people were killed or significantly injured on Fordham Road between Deegan and Boston Road. Car accidents are the leading cause of injury-related death in New York. It is no big stretch to say that reducing the amount of cars on Fordham Road will positively affect pedestrian safety. And, despite the biased Arthur Avenue street survey Fordham and other opponents of the busway often cite that claims “50% of those surveyed would definitely cut back on their visits [to the Arthur Avenue area] with the implementation of a busway,” the numbers published by the Department of Transportation paint a different story about the effect of a busway on local businesses: 86% of shoppers in the area around Fordham Road walked, biked or took public transit to their destination. Customers within walking distance to local businesses most likely do not drive to their destinations, so logically, a busway should not pose a major existential threat to any Italian restaurant or bak-

ery on Arthur Ave. We can see that all of the reasons Fordham opposes a busway are misguided at best.

The Fordham-signed letter, which was also signed by the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Gardens, had no small effect on the Department of Transportation’s decision to not move forward with the busway proposal, instead choosing to move forward with their most conservative offset bus lane alternative mere days after it was published in an unsurprising move to placate these institutions rather than support the local community.

What’s most disappointing about Fordham University’s lack of support for the busway is the positive impact it would have on the residents of the Bronx, who would receive more consistent bus service and better bus speeds. Fordham’s own, publicly-posted mission statement says that “Fordham is committed to research and education that assist in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights and respect for the environment.” Through the busway came an opportunity for the university to help the Bronx, and instead they turned it away. What happened to

“the promotion of justice”? Or the “respect for the environment”? What about Fordham’s self-proclaimed responsibility to the city? Did the “mission” disappear?

Car proponents will lie, but numbers do not: a busway would help 85,000 riders daily, many of whom are students and employees at Fordham. I firmly believe that it is Fordham’s duty to support a community-oriented proposal with overwhelming support from the people in our neighborhood. When surveyed, 70% of local riders support a busway, and the vast majority of respondents (89%) support improving existing bus lanes and conditions on Fordham Road. 62% of households along the Bx12 corridor do not have access to a private vehicle, and an astounding 71% of those same households walk, bike or take public transit to work. The path is clear. We must implement a busway. Fordham must support a busway. True men and women (and people!) for others believe in the importance of public transportation and community justice.

Trump’s Absence Loomed Large on the Debate Stage

By MICHAEL DUKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The current state of the competition for the Republican nomination for president is a Trump win-win. Candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie are trying their hardest for a distant second place from former President Donald Trump. All the candidates’ poll numbers combined coming out of the debate cannot overtake Trump’s in any coming contest — mainly Iowa or New Hampshire, let alone at the convention next summer.

On Aug. 24, Fox News hosted the first Republican primary debate, in which 13 million viewers tuned in to hear from candidates on the issues that matter most to them: border security, “Bidenflation,” allocation of federal funds, strengthening alliances with foreign nations and abortion.

However, because former President Trump chose not to attend the event, the debate

stage missed the largest gladiator in any ring and somehow felt more presidential in many ways. With limited mudslinging, candidates had the opportunity to distinguish themselves and show what they had to offer. One candidate and long-shot hopeful, Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND), spent 7 minutes and 50 seconds laying out his platform for the American people. It gave him some more exposure, but did not seem to make a dent in his polling. That said, I found him to be favorable, especially with his quip at the beginning about injuring his leg shortly before the debate began and appealing to voters as an average-Joe governor.

However, with the scorchedearth policy that Trump has established within the Republican Party, many candidates couldn’t refuse to take shots at others. In reference to Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence noted his youth and inexperience by stating, “Now is not the time

for on-the-job training. We don’t need to bring in a rookie.” However, with candidates clearly seeing Ramaswamy as a threat and Ramaswamy fending off attacks from farleft, sort-of-right and center, Ramaswamy seized the opportunity to set himself apart from the establishment Republicans and took shots at candidates for their hypocrisy in their claims against him. He at one point even wetted his finger and held it up so as if to check which way the wind blows when Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla) was speaking about one of his platform points, a gesture which allows people to see Ramaswamy as someone who holds elected officials accountable for saying one thing and acting another.

To young people who want their voices heard in a government that allows barely-ablebodied and elderly senators to retain their seats and miss hearings, meetings or votes, Ramaswamy is an exciting take and is arguably one of Trump’s

biggest allies in the field, as they have similar missions despite being competitors.

However, with new thresholds of donor contributions in place for the next debate, many candidates have seen either a boost in fundraising or are running on fumes, as Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has suspended his campaign after failing to meet the threshold to be on the stage on the 24th and is officially the first major name in the Republican Party to drop out.

It seems like no matter what happens on the stage at the next debate, similar to the last one, it is only seen as tryouts to impress former President Trump to potentially put one of the current candidates on his ticket as vice president. Again, the distance between the frontrunners for second place right now is still lightyears behind Trump. The candidates all have their own innovatively crafted stance on each issue and it is somewhat working, except for Chris Christie who is relating

all issues back to Trump, as his campaign is solely focused on taking him down, and his poll numbers reflect this.

But, with indictments of Trump, posterboys of the party from a year ago not being exciting enough (DeSantis) and other uninspiring candidates, a lot is questionable. Some questions that come to my own head in regard to the entirety of the Republican contest are: What happens if Trump falls behind in the polls? Is it better for Trump to go on the stage at the next debate, or should he keep moving as he has done already by not attending given his lead in the polls? Who is the next to drop out, and what cabinet position might they be given in return for their endorsement of Trump?

The answer to all of these: “Too early to call.”

Abby Dziura, FCRH ’24, is an American studies major from Cheshire, Conn.

Michael Duke, GSB ’26, is undecided from Scottsdale, Ariz.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

A busway on Fordham Road is necessary to keep drivers and pedestrians safe.

Ray Rice & Fordham’s Lack of Transparency

By ELEANOR SMITH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Aug. 24, former NFL player Ray Rice came to Fordham to speak to the football team. Rice, who is from New Rochelle, N.Y., was a running back for the Baltimore Ravens from 2008 to 2013. His NFL career ended in 2014 when he was arrested for assaulting his then fiancée Janay Palmer. Rice is now a public speaker, talking about his life and promoting good decisionmaking to college football teams across the country.

In February 2014, Rice and Palmer were in an Atlantic City hotel elevator together when Rice hit Palmer twice, knocking her unconscious, then dragged her to their hotel room. The NFL initially suspended Rice for only two games, but after TMZ released the video to the public in September 2014, Rice was suspended indefinitely, ending his professional football career. Rice pled guilty and agreed to attend an “intervention program” rather than facing a trial and possible jail time.

Both the NFL’s handling of the situation and the legal proceedings and punishment for Rice were criticized as too lenient. While the NFL did suspend Rice indefinitely once the video was released to the public and maintained that nobody within the NFL had seen the video before it was released, the Associated Press produced a voicemail from April 2014, in which an NFL

executive commented on the video.

Not only did the NFL and the legal system fail to properly punish Rice, but Fordham also did not acknowledge the severity of his actions. In a short article published on the Fordham sports website on August 24, it was written that Rice was “involved in a domestic violence incident.” This wording does not accurately describe what happened and removes responsibility from Rice for his violent actions, likely in an attempt to validate the decision to bring Rice in to speak to the football team.

Rice has stated that he understands that he’s “dealing with a situation where it’s going to have to come down to some forgiveness and somebody willing to say this guy deserves a second chance.” He is making the best out of a bad situation, framing his journey as a cautionary tale and promoting good decision making.

While Rice is genuinely remorseful for his actions and has taken full responsibility for them, Fordham did a disservice to the community in failing to acknowledge Rice’s role in the “domestic violence incident.”

Fordham’s failure to properly address and disclose Rice’s actions is part of a larger pattern within the institution of unwillingness to hold perpetrators accountable for their behavior.

In January 2018, two students at the Lincoln Center campus visited two

Philosophical Ethics sections taught by Dr. William Jaworski on the first day of class. Before Dr. Jaworski arrived, Samantha Norman and Eliza Putnam informed the students that there were multiple Title IX complaints and two substantiated claims made against the professor, something that they felt they had a duty to do, as Fordham had not yet addressed the issue.

Rather than more closely examining the many formal and informal complaints made against Dr. Jaworski, Fordham University launched an investigation into Norman and Putnam’s behavior, charged them with dishonesty and suspended Dr. Jaworski with pay until the end of the calendar year. When asked for comment by the New York Times, Bob Howe, a spokesman for Fordham, said that he could not comment on specifics, but that Fordham “took and [is] taking appropriate action in these cases,” although investigating victims rather than the perpetrator hardly seems like appropriate action.

In January 2019, a list of Jesuits accused of sexually abusing minors was released by the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus. Nine of the Jesuits on that list were connected with Fordham University and Fordham Prep, and rather than addressing the accusations against them directly, these priests were moved to different positions and locations in order to avoid more public scrutiny, as was the norm within the Catholic

Church. While the university did inform the community of the release of this list, for decades, Fordham ignored the crisis. Even once the list was released to the public, Fordham shifted blame to the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus, rather than taking accountability for what they had control over and acknowledging their failure to intervene.

Fordham, and other academic institutions, are businesses and brands. In efforts to protect its reputation, Fordham is willing to sweep issues of misconduct under the rug and defend their decisions rather than holding perpetrators and the institution accountable for their actions. This pattern of behavior is not only true for Fordham, but also for colleges and universities across the country.

However, it is impossible for an academic institution

to maintain their reputation by any means necessary and prioritize their bottom line while also focusing on the well-being and education of their students. This is demonstrated in how the university chooses to handle Title IX and misconduct cases, and in the unwillingness of the Fordham administration to agree to a fair contract with the Fordham Graduate Student Workers union. It is past time for Fordham, and other colleges and universities, to reckon with their actions and come to a decision about what matters most.

It’s Not Summer; It’s Three Warmer Months

By FRANCES SCHNEPFF MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR

So many times this summer I’ve wanted to have sticky fingers from a soft plum that I ate on the porch. I’ve wanted to wipe them dry and sit down to read or write, to feel in a way I can only feel in the summer. I would set some sort of mood, with a yellow light and creaking floorboards, the feathers my mom told me never to pluck grazing my prickly legs against the cotton, bordering on both pain and the pleasure of nostalgia.

So many times I’ve wished for a night exactly like this, and yet every time I set the perfect mood, that summer feeling never comes in the way I envision. For some reason, summer is the season defined by its difference, by the unique break it gives a child in the midst of their long year of learning. Now, when I come home in May, I am still taking a break from school, but the softness, the stickiness of summer is far from what I remember it being.

So far, my summers home

from Fordham are where I have discovered the true pressure of these three months. As soon as the water in Lake Michigan is warm enough to dive into, and the cement beach that wraps around Chicago is full of young people, my so-called summer begins. These summers have been full of work, hot kitchen air, the mundane work that constitutes intern-hood, commutes on buses and trains, bike crashes and sticky hands — but not from plums, from assembling hot dogs all day. These summers have left stains on my cheeks from crying after working a double, and having tables yell at me like I’m a child. They have been full of sunburns in all the wrong places and an ever growing pile of laundry that I never seem to have time to wash. And still, every year I stop myself in mid-July and tell summer to slow down. There is no other season that I have the same affinity towards, which makes me question the real reason why summer is so important to me, and to so many other 20-yearolds across the world. Summer

when you were young was the time to make a bucket list with your siblings at the kitchen table, and to make sure they were all checked off by Sept. 1. These lists set in place a criteria for fun, in a way, these childish activities are still the standards I have based the success of my summers off of well since I’ve stopped making them. Go to the lake, go downtown, play some sort of game, have a shopping spree, maybe even sell hot dogs. Today, summers have the same pressure that came with these lists, but it stems from a different source. I want to check off something that cannot be checked off: I want to feel the same magic that summer provided when I was eight.

This year, I’ve realized that this longing for summer is not for the months that define it, but for a feeling that will never exist again in my life, and that, in many ways, makes me resent what summer means for my future. Summer will no longer be complete freedom from responsibilities, or months that grant me the privilege of time and ease. Rather, summer will

be a continuation of January, February, March, April and May, just 30 degrees warmer. And although this may sound like I am accepting the demise of magic in life, it doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy the beautiful times of these months. Summer’s best moments aren’t when we are thinking of it as some metaphor for youth; it’s when we are completely and utterly in the moment, laughing and crying, expressing and experimenting.

These are the memories that create summer, and they are also the ones that exist separately from the pressure the title “Summer” manifests. I will still

jump in the water with friends, or roam around outside on hot starry nights, or maybe even eat plums on the deck of my house. But it does mean that the months of June, July and August may not have the same expectations that they have held for me since before I left for college. Now, these months are free from the definite identity that “Summer” carries in my head and I’m excited to enjoy them just as much, but no longer as “Summer,” just as three warmer months.

Frances Schnepff, FCRH ’25, is a communications major from Chicago,Ill.

Rice, former NFL player charged with domestic abuse, spoke at Fordham.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

Eleanor Smith, FCRH ’26, is a history and American studies major from St. Paul, Minn.

As we get older, the meaning of summer evolves into something new.

COURTESY OF FRANCES SCHNEPFF / THE FORDHAM RAM

Is Putin’s Power as Uncontested as it Appears?

By BEN OPPENHEIMER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In late June of this year, Russia appeared to be in the midst of an organized rebellion. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former leader of the Russian statefunded, private military company Wagner Group, abruptly announced in a video on June 23 that “there are 25,000 of us and we are coming to sort things out… Those who want to join us, it’s time to finish with this mess.” Within 24 hours, tanks and other armored vehicles were deployed throughout Moscow as a security precaution, while Putin remarked in a televised address that the rebellion was “treason” and stated that “harsh steps” would be taken to quell the uprising. Although an agreement was made between Wagner and the Russian military apparatus by the next day, political leaders across the world were quick to pounce on the rebellion as an example of Putin’s weakness. President Joe Biden remarked that Putin was “absolutely weakened” by the mutiny while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that “Russia’s weakness is obvious.”

When Prigozhin died in a plane crash alongside a number

of other Wagner Group members on Aug. 23, it appeared that Putin got the last laugh in the aftermath of the failed rebellion. On a surface level, it would seem that Putin’s suffocating grip on Russia is as strong as ever as Prigozhin’s death could be seen as a warning to any domestic opposition. But looking at the current state of Russia as a whole can give credence to the idea that Putin’s leadership is much flimsier than originally thought.

While Prigozhin’s death is the elimination of a rival for Putin, it also comes with unforeseen consequences that will leave Russia weaker. With their leader deposed, the Wagner Group now has a power vacuum that could leave multiple factions competing for control of Wagner’s business empire, as well as a divide between those who support integrating with the Russian military and those who are firmly opposed to the idea. Prigozhin’s death also cut off key connections that the Wagner Group made in the African continent, with exports such as gold and diamonds coming out of Mali and the Central African Republic now stopped short. Beyond numerous countries in Africa, Wagner was reported to have had operations in Syria and Belarus,

as well as Venezuela. A chaotic void of leadership and internal conflict in a Russian private military company is a foreboding recipe for a decline of Russian influence abroad.

Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion as well as his (presumed) assassination also bring up existential questions for the future of Russia and its current political system. Despite the fact that Wagner fighters helped capture significant cities in Eastern Ukraine earlier this year, Wagner troops have been “out of action” in Ukraine since Prigozhin’s rebellion, with most of them stationed in nearby Belarus or absorbed into the Russian Ministry of Defence. Because of Prigozhin’s rebellion, what was regarded as Russia’s “most effective fighting force in Ukraine” is now on the sidelines, which could potentially be a serious bane for Russia’s offensive in their military campaign. This brings up the point that Prigozhin’s short rebellion only happened because of the war in Ukraine in the first place, which Prigozhin himself called a war “based on a lie” in his speech before he commenced the rebellion.

While Russian polls say support for the war in Ukraine is still relatively high, that may change, as Russia’s economy is

currently under a stranglehold of economic sanctions from western countries. The country’s biggest exports, oil and gas, have lost buyers since the war started. In regards to GDP growth, the Russian economy sank by 2.2% in 2022. The country’s population itself is declining, as one million Russians have fled the nation since the invasion began, which has caused major problems for Russia’s labor force. Out of those one million that left for greener pastures, 80% of them are estimated to be college educated, and 86% of them are under the age of 45. This has prompted many experts to call the mass exodus a “brain drain,” and it doesn’t appear to be letting up. In fact, many experts note that Russian refugees are leaving not just because of the economic fallout from the war, but the fear of being drafted themselves. When Putin announced last year he would send in reserves to fight in Ukraine, satellite images showed traffic jams of citizens feeling at the Russian border. While Prigozhin’s attempt to fight against Putin’s regime could be seen as a “lightning in a bottle” event that Putin and the Russian Defence Ministry quickly resolved, the economic plight that has caused the distress and anger of everyday

Russian citizens may be a sign that Putin’s regime is showing serious cracks.

In global affairs, Russia’s difficulties in Ukraine and the unrest and dissatisfaction in the country domestically are certainly being watched by allies like China. President Xi Jinping, the strongman leader of the PRC, who has openly expressed his desire for “reunification” with the small island nation of Taiwan, has remained vague about his hopes for a resolution to the war in Ukraine. As the superpower of China expressing desire to invade Taiwan can be compared to Russia invading the much smaller country of Ukraine, one can assume that China is observing the difficulties Russia is having in Ukraine, and the unrest domestically. With this in mind, perhaps China, and numerous other nations, see the toll the invasion is taking on Russia’s global reputation and its citizens, and realize that invading a smaller country simply because “it belongs to you” is not an effort worth undertaking.

Maui’s Need for Tourism and a Better Response

By SAISHA ISLAM STAFF WRITER

Since Aug. 8, wildfires have ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui leading to the death of more than 110 people and causing significant damage to homes and businesses. After the harm caused by this incident, many local officials have been criticized for their response to the fire. Additionally, there are further concerns about whether tourism is appropriate for Maui at this time as well as long-term consideration of how climate change factors into this disaster.

In regards to local officials, many residents are upset by the lack of preparation and communication in the response to the fire. These critiques are reasonable especially considering that a wildfire occurred in Maui in 2018 under similar circumstances. Despite this past incident, “no wildfire management or other preventative methods were taken to mitigate future disasters,” according to Nicholas Krau, the Maui chapter chair for the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers. Additionally, first responders also lacked adequate equipment in dealing with the fire as police officers who aided in the incident “suffered smoke inhalation because they didn’t

have proper respiratory protection, even after it was requested following previous fires.” Many people were also angered that local officials didn’t use tsunami sirens to warn residents during the wildfire. In response to this critique, “former Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya said the protocol is to use the coastal sirens only during tsunami warnings, not during wildfires, and that they feared people would head inland.” Despite tsunami warnings serving a different purpose, local officials should have planned beforehand for separate ways to warn residents about wildfires, especially considering their rising occurrence due to the prevalence of favorable weather conditions.

Wildfires have become common natural disasters and have “quadrupled in Hawaii in recent decades” due to weather factors which cause red flag conditions and make it easier for wildfires to start and spread. These factors include gusting winds, low humidity, lack of rainfall and dry vegetation. Scientists state that while it is “difficult to link the Maui fires to the climate crisis without a thorough analysis…conditions there are consistent with trends that are known as climate changes.”

It is no surprise that climate change has impacted Hawaii as it has also “exacerbated the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to ignite and grow in many parts of the plane.” Considering these recent climate changes, it is important for officials to not only start planning for shortterm solutions to wildfire in terms of equipment and proper communication but also consider the long-term effects of the weather patterns brought on by climate change.

In relation to changing weather conditions and the importance of considering the next steps to these changes, Maui survivors and residents have filed a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) because they “‘inexcusably kept their power lines energized’ despite forecasts of high winds that could topple power lines and potentially ignite a fast-spreading blaze.” It has been found that potentially key information on determining the cause of the fire has been compromised according to HECO and that there has been a complaint which states that the fire was “believed to have ignited near a power substation ‘where authorities reported a downed power line early on Aug. 8, 2023.’”

In light of this information,

it is important for local officials to better their response to wildfires, especially since they will most likely become more common in the future.

On the other hand, there has been a debate about whether tourists should still travel to Maui after the fire.

I believe that tourists should still travel to Maui after the fire with some limitations.

Richard Bissen, the Maui County mayor, stated that “West Maui is not currently the place for people to go, but the rest of Maui is open.”

It is important for tourists to travel to Maui as local businesses need the support and income. This is vital considering that unemployment claims have skyrocketed from about 100 to the thousands

and “furloughs and layoffs are starting to pick up because people think the whole island is closed.” While some Hawaiian natives hold a complicated relationship with tourism, it is needed for the economy and would greatly help Maui in recovering more quickly. It is important for tourists to be respectful and sensitive while they visit. If this peaceful relationship is maintained, both tourists and Maui residents will be able to benefit from each other.

Ben Oppenheimer, FCRH ’24, is a film and television major fromHempstead,N.Y.

Saisha Islam, FCRH ’25, is a biology major from New York, N.Y.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Smoke billows behind emergency responders as they arrive on scene in Maui.

Miley Cyrus Reflects on When She “Used to Be Young”

By MICHAEL SLUCK PRODUCTION EDITOR

When the title of Miley Cyrus’s newest song, “Used to Be Young,” became public knowledge, several music critics commented on the seeming inappropriateness of the title. At the ripe old age of 30, Miley Cyrus is still relatively young, and a song reflecting on lost youth seemed unsuitable for the artist. On closer examination though, there is something uniquely fitting about Cyrus’s singing about lost youth, and the song stands out as one of her finest to date.

The song is particularly suited to her because, in the eyes of many, Miley Cyrus is so associated with childhood. She came to prominence in her Disney Channel-starring role as Hannah Montana, and for many people who grew up watching her, it’s a reputation she’ll never quite be able to shed. Following her Disney years, Cyrus faced major criticism as she tried to shake her Disney star image, as she was associated with the “wild stage” that so many young pop stars go through. In the music video for “Used to be Young,”

Cyrus sports a Mickey Mouse shirt beneath a sparkly red top, in clear reference to the different stages of her life.

Listening to some of Cyrus’s early songs reminds one of precisely how far Cyrus has come;

moving away from her early pop roots, her voice and music have matured, leading to songs in different styles, dealing with more complicated ideas (to understand precisely how much her voice has changed, I would recommend listening to her original version of “See You Again” versus her 2022 cover).

The simplest way to write a song about the past would be to view the issue as blackand-white. Either the past is regrettable, or something to be mourned. Cyrus, however, instead balances the nuanced ways we often view youth.

In the lyrics, Cyrus expresses some measure of regret for the things that she had done in her past, pointing out that “it’s not worth cryin’ ‘bout/The things you can’t erase/Like tattoos and regrets, words I never meant.”

At the same time, Cyrus revels in her youth, suggesting at least some of her so-called “mistakes” were not something to be regretted, singing, “I know I used to be crazy/Messed up, but, God, was it fun.”

And while Cyrus suggests that she’s not sad to have moved on from that stage of her life

(“You tell me time has done changed me/That’s fine, I’ve had a good run”), the song’s soft, slow melody, so different than many of Cyrus’s rockinspired anthems, suggests that there is some small measure of sadness when she considers her

youth. These lyrical and melodic elements aren’t contradictory, however. Growing up is a confusing, often paradoxical mix of emotions, and Cyrus manages to touch on all of them in some form or another.

Joni Mitchell was only 22 years old when she wrote the song many consider to be her masterpiece, “Both Sides Now.” Much like Cyrus with “Used to be Young,” critics pointed out the seeming absurdity of a 22-year-old commenting on the passing of youth. These criticisms, however, reflect a narrow-minded view of our views on age and experience — who better to comment on youth than youth itself? The idea that only older people can feel nostalgia for earlier times, or feel sad about changes in their lives, ignores the feelings of countless young people struggling with these emotions everyday. In my opinion, “Used to be Young” is one of Cyrus’s masterpieces (which is saying a lot, considering her incredible career), and will be held up for decades to come as a brilliant piece of music.

Those who say that Cyrus is too young to write about the passing of youth miss the point of the song. Being young is relative, and there’s something in “Used to be Young” that everyone can relate to. It is no coincidence that Cyrus released this song as the summer draws

to a close, and so many people face new beginnings. Times of momentous change inevitably prompt self-reflection on the person you used to be, and the bittersweet nostalgia of knowing you can never really be that person again. “Used to Be Young” is more than an elegy to lost youth; it is an acceptance of the people we once were, coupled with the mournful thought

that we can never quite be those people again.

As September begins and classes start up again, I urge you to listen to “Used to Be Young.” No matter where you are in life, be it a senior contemplating life after college or a first-year just beginning your Fordham career, there’s something in this song that can resonate with everyone — and isn’t that the beauty of it?

Cyrus’ new track reflects on her long career and past decisions.

Naudline Pierre Explores Beyond “All There Is”

By FIACHRA COSTELLO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“This Is Not All There Is” is a story of transformations. With the new exhibit, the Drawing Center appears like an Italian chapel: squatting on cream columns, surrounded by the cobbles of SoHo. Inside, the works of Naudline Pierre line the walls like stained glass, framed in wooden archways.

The exhibit — organized by the Drawing Center’s Chief Curator, Claire Gilman — is as much a story about a transforming artist: it is the first showcase to focus exclusively on Pierre’s canvas drawings.

Entering the showroom of the Drawing Center, viewers get a sense of familiarity. Blending styles like abstractionism with Renaissance techniques, Pierre’s work may seem to point to something more traditional.

Setting these genres as her foundation, however, Pierre moves towards a mythical and unexplored artistic realm. Her drawings focus on a cast of feminine subjects, at once fiery and muted, angelic and serpentine, but never just one: always transforming. There is never a clear point in which the subject, or indeed the viewer, is saved or damned.

“There’s strife but also reward,

love and tenderness but also evil,” said Pierre in a recent interview with “The Cut.”

In “This I Know to Be True,” a blackened space bends and distorts around dimly lit stars, hiding feminine figures that swirl and swim through the darkness. In “In the Infinite,” a winged woman is set ablaze in dampened shades of green and blue, seeming stationary but still transcending.

Throughout “There Is,” religious motifs blend and present themselves as ideas in tension. A surface-level confusion reveals itself as a beautiful, selfevident logic as one reaches the end of the exhibit. Within each lens is a disintegration of tradition, a freedom which, like her characters, allows Pierre to move towards her own Black and feminine mythology.

The daughter of a Haitian pastor, Pierre has often centered her work around spirituality. She is careful, however, not to become too attached to any particular labels.

“I said once that my dad is a Haitian pastor, and that I did grow up in church, experiencing supernatural things… But that’s not the only door through which to access my work. I want to be seen as a painter,” said Pierre during her residency in the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Avoiding explicit Christian symbols, Pierre finds inspiration in the fleeting nature of humanity: “It’s about doing what you need to do on this earth to get to another place that’s new, where you’ll be transformed, where you’ll be the self you were meant to be.” There is, for Pierre, a faith involved in creating, too. By

focusing solely on drawing, Pierre has surrendered some of the control she had in painting, forcing her to rely on her characters to come to her and guide their own creation.

Based in Brooklyn, Pierre has been making a name for herself with her recent residency in the Studio Museum in Harlem and a fantastic showing at this year’s

Frieze, New York, which preluded the current exhibit at the Drawing Center. For those wishing to see the next evolution of this young artist’s journey, or just want to see a beautiful display of color and spirituality, “This Is Not All There Is” is a must-see. Entry is free and the exhibit is open until Sept. 10, 2023.

The Drawing Center displays Naudline’s Pierre’s eerie, bold collection, “This Is Not All There Is.”

COURTESY OF TWITTER

“Barbenheimer” Breathes New Life Into Cinema

By LANDIS HALL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The two biggest movies of the summer at the box office, Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” mark a significant break from trends. Over the past two decades, the highest earning films have tended to be superhero movies, sequels, remakes and reboots. These franchise films already have a preexisting audience built into them, meaning they’re decidedly risk-free investments from a studio perspective. However, the total supremacy of these films at the box office has led to a creative slump in studio filmmaking. The successes of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” are somewhat peculiar; the former is a delightfully constructed modern riff on technicolor musicals while the latter is a lengthy, dialogue-heavy historical drama. It’s safe to say that they aren’t the kind of films mass audiences have been accustomed to, yet they’ve both been wildly successful — and they’re really quality pictures, too. Their successes clearly mark a major turning point in the current moment of cinematic history, but what “Barbenheimer” — the internet’s moniker for a proposed double feature of the films, both of which released the same day — will lead to down the line remains to be seen.

As franchise films began filling multiplex seats en masse throughout the 2010s, a parallel boom in auteur-driven indie cinema developed to

counteract the commercially driven blockbuster scene. Led by distributor A24, the movement winkingly proclaimed themselves as the highbrow, artsier alternative to an increasingly sterile cinematic landscape, with films like “Moonlight,” “Midsommar,” “Uncut Gems” and “Lady Bird” garnering acclaim. Cinematography became a key aspect of these films, and individual shots seemed tailormade for sharing on Instagram; cinephilia became a cool and chic way to market yourself on social media, which is why the movies resonated most with young people. The awards ceremonies seemed to recognize this shift in tastes as well, with A24’s “Moonlight” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” securing Best Picture wins at the Oscars. Now, even loyal Marvel and DC fans have tired of the constant deluge of ready made franchise movies, so it was only a matter of time before the major studios finally caught on and bet big on filmmakers.

The bet paid off. “Barbie” has made well over a billion dollars at the box office to become the highest grossing movie of the year, while “Oppenheimer” isn’t too far behind. And the films are good, too. Both eschew CGI in favor of good old fashioned practical effects, and they both have thematic value beyond being mere entertainment. As if that wasn’t enough, a large part of their wide appeal lies in the artists who made the films.

“Barbie” is directed by Greta Gerwig, the indie film darling

behind “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” while “Oppenheimer” is helmed by blockbuster auteur Christopher Nolan of “Inception” and “Interstellar” fame. For the first time in a while, going to the movies felt like an event as movie theater lobbies turned into a sea of pink costumes. But if the success of “Barbenheimer” represents anything, it represents a disconnect, not necessarily a victory. Both films were released during the early days of the concurrent ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, two of the major trade unions representing artists in the motion picture industry. The reasons for striking vary between the two unions, given the different roles of writers and actors, but they are both striking in solidarity against cost-cutting measures taken by the studios, especially with regards to streaming residuals and the use of AI as a replacement for human labor. In spite of the near total shutdown of American film and television production, the studio heads have refused to meet the demands of artists. The success of both movies amidst the strikes shows a clear disconnect between studios and audiences. Audiences clearly want a return to the Hollywood of decades previous, during which studio and independent pictures alike flourished artistically, but the studios either willingly ignored this demand or simply lost the plot. It’s likely the latter, as shortly after the

release of “Barbie,” Warner Bros. announced that they would be making a movie franchise out of Mattel toys.

So, will theater offerings start to reflect audience tastes? Or is the success of “Barbenheimer” merely business as usual in an increasingly commercial industry? While Hollywood’s future looks uncertain, its history is defined by the victory of artistic innovation. The 1950s and 60s were a similar dead zone in moviemaking, but they

led directly into the 70s and New Hollywood, possibly the most exciting and iconic era in American film history. The 80s, too, were dominated by large franchise films but gave way to the 90s and the initial boom of independent cinema. How the industry moves forward after the strike’s completion is up in the air, but it’s clear that “Barbenheimer” will have a seismic effect on what kinds of movies are made in the near future.

Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”: Better On the Second Watch

By AMELIA SILVESTRO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Simply in the first 10 minutes of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” as the audience is being introduced to the bright, cartoonish and surrealistic Barbie World, the

film delivers extremely powerful messages about the way women act, are taught to act and expected to carry themselves in our world. Through imaginative storytelling and a sense of childlike wonder, the film shares deeply important and moving

messages about the complexity of the human experience.

The camera floats through Barbie world, showing the audience the myriad of roles Barbie has, we see Barbies accepting awards. Instead of shrinking herself into, “I don’t deserve this,” she states, “I worked really hard for this and I deserve it.” Lawyer Barbie, played by Sharon Rooney, argues a case and defends it saying, “I have no difficulty holding logic and feeling at the same time. And it does not diminish my powers, it expands them.” This line holds so much power and is presented as a normal way of being. Here, Lawyer Barbie is celebrated for her full emotional capacity — it is not seen as a weakness, but rather supported as one of her strengths.

The film presents many lines of dialogue such as this one, matter of factly stating meaningful and extremely powerful ideas that gives women the chance to re-examine the way in which they exist in the world, what it feels like to express yourself, to be respected and the value of emotions.

Barbie’s position as a commercialized, plastic doll allows

the writers to create characters that speak candidly and directly. Because Barbie was figuring out what it is like to be a woman in the Real World, she was able to have strikingly clear realizations, flipping preconceived notions and ideas about women and the way the world works on their heads. Whereas this might seem out of place or need to be hidden in a metaphor in a usual film, the artificiality of the Barbie World makes it fit right into place.

Gerwig, the director of the film, describes it as grounded in the look of 1950s sound stage musicals: “Wonderfully fake, but emotionally artificial spaces.” From the sets of Barbie World that combine real life objects and plastic — almost edible looking — set pieces, to the attention to detail in the color juxtaposing two worlds, to the commitment to truthfully expressing emotions, the film is intricately designed and artfully crafted.

Although the commerciality of the brand, Mattel, is a slightly jarring presence in the film, with moments of abrupt cuts to “commercial,” the film is still able to impart a heartfelt message.

I had to watch “Barbie” twice

to catch and be able to absorb all of the messages that were presented and packed into the film. Throughout “Barbie,” Gerwig and the team that created the film explores what it means to be a woman, what it means to be human, the impacts of the patriarchy and everyone’s part in dismantling it.

The discussion around girlhood and what it means to grow into being a woman carries beyond the cinema and starts before audiences even see the film. Audience members dressing up in pink to watch the film indicates an important shift in embracing a color that has been seen as “too girly” or somehow a negative thing. This act of dressing in pink feels symbolic of re-embracing girlhood and not viewing this as a weakness.

The second time I went to see “Barbie” there were two older ladies sitting next to me (both wearing pink). Getting to experience the film together, realizing that many of the people in the audience had shared similar experiences and emotions — all of us being able to see ourselves on screen — resonated with audiences across multiple generations.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

“Barbenheimer” throws the current paradigm of cinema into quest ion.

“Oppenheimer”: More Morality Tale Than Character Study

By LANDIS HALL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Like many of his previous films, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is so caught up in its own excess that it forgets to sufficiently explore the humanity of the titular nuclear physicist. Parts of his life outside of his involvement with constructing the atom bomb, such as his leftist political leanings and his fraught romantic relationships, are briefly touched upon, but his interior self seems distant, locked away behind the steely indecipherable gaze of lead actor Cillian Murphy. Yet in willfully throwing aside Oppenheimer’s complexity, the film becomes something else entirely. The film is less a character study and more a morality tale: a bleak, uncompromising look into the dehumanizing effects of the collision between scientific progress and political ambition. It’s a thriller, but one in which the cathartic outburst of violence — the result of all that pent up suspense — is eerily silent.

Adapted from “American Prometheus,” Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Nolan’s film follows Oppenheimer’s career as a scientist, his political history and how the two affected his personal life, doing so by presenting his life in fractured form, frequently jumping back and forth through time.

Color film stock represents Oppenheimer’s own perspective. Played rather pensively by Murphy, Oppenheimer perhaps sees the world through rose tinted glasses. A Jewish leftist, he frequently makes moral justifications for his work, claiming that if the United States doesn’t build the bomb then Nazi Germany would almost certainly beat them to the punch. Yet when Germany surrenders in May 1945, he is surprised to learn that work on the bomb will continue, irreparably shaking his idealistic worldview to the core. Now he’s locked in with no way out, and he becomes withdrawn and reflective, realizing too late his own complicity in perpetuating the injustice he sought to destroy and his powerlessness in stopping it. Black and white, on the other hand, signals the perspective of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), Oppenheimer’s rival and a member of the Atomic Energy Commission founded shortly after the war’s end. Strauss, fueled by a personal grudge against Oppenheimer, sees the gray areas that his rival can’t. He accepts that the state of the world post-atomic bomb is far too complex to be fixed by idealistic solutions and instead chooses power and material gain. The interaction between the color and black-and-white sections of the film creates a push and pull effect that drives the narrative forward that is

only intensified by the deft editing. For a three-hour movie, mostly consisting of dialogue heavy scenes of historical figures waxing philosophical in boardroom settings, it’s surprisingly kinetic. Nolan’s blockbuster chops are on full display, and the tension in knowing exactly how destructive Oppenheimer’s invention proves to be elevates the movie from stuffy drama to a suspense picture Hitchcock would envy.

But for all of its interest in the moral implications of the atomic bomb, “Oppenheimer” can’t help but falter in its treatment of the characters’ humanity. We never get a strong grasp on Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty (Emily Blunt), nor his on-and-off lover Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), both of whom seem to only exist in the narrative to motivate Oppenheimer. There is something to Blunt’s performance — Kitty’s loyalty to Oppenheimer in spite of the toll his work takes on their home life comes off as especially tragic, and Blunt conveys her anger towards and emotional distance from her husband with aplomb — but Pugh’s Tatlock, who was arguably Oppenheimer’s most interesting personal relationship, feels underutilized. And here lies the film’s biggest problem: the breakneck pacing never gives us enough time to slow down and truly get to know the characters on a personal level. A who’s

who of actors populates the movie, yet most of the characters come off as historical action figures. In Nolan’s films, there is always a cold distance between the audience and the characters. Cinema allows the audience to see their own humanity in those that are their exact opposite in every way, yet Nolan is a technical filmmaker to the point where his films overlook the subtler aspects of cinema. A large part of the appeal of biographical pictures is that they allow the

audience to better understand how their subjects exist as human beings — the genre’s best films, like “The Social Network” and “Malcolm X,” help deepen our understanding of real people who have become abstracted by their own historical significance. Even Oppenheimer himself, famously charismatic in real life, remains trapped behind the icy blue eyes of Cillian Murphy. “Oppenheimer” may not understand its subject, but it understands the ripple effect his actions continue to have to this day.

Find Nostalgia and Comfort in “Harry Potter”

By SOFIA DONAHUE ASST. NEWS EDITOR

The first week back at school is stressful. Between unpacking all my belongings and knick knacks, dropping an entire paycheck on textbooks and going to class for the first time in months, the fact that I’ve been assigned Editor’s Pick has been the most worrying. My close friends know

that I don’t consume a lot of media. I watch the same three shows, listen to the same artists and if you ask me if I’ve seen a movie, there is almost a 100% chance that the answer is no. Whenever someone suggests I watch a show, I pretend that I’m eventually going to watch it, knowing fully that I never will. My lack of fluency in pop culture and modern media is, frankly, embarrassing.

I wrote about “Gilmore Girls” last fall, so what am I going to write about? While planning a potential movie night with my friends, it hit me. In the leastnerdy way possible, I’m going to write about “Harry Potter.” I may not have seen many movies, but I have seen every “Harry Potter” movie a minimum of five times. Although the first movie came out in 2001 (before

I was born), I feel as though I grew alongside the film’s characters. I first started reading the series and watching the movies when I was eight, and Harry, Ron and Hermione are 11 years old in the first book of the series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Watching the characters mature in real time allowed me and other members of Gen Z to connect with the story on a more personal level. Although adventure, magic and the battle between good and evil is a large component of the series, “Harry Potter’” is also, at its core, a story of friendship and growing up in a rapidly-changing world, themes which my generation can largely relate to. Although many of my friends also grew up with “Harry Potter,” fans of the franchise span across generations. For example, my dad likes to recount the first time he read “Harry Potter” when he was staying at a Jesuit’s house and picked up “Sorcerer’s Stone” from a bookshelf.

The official “Harry Potter” soundtrack is pivotal to my fondness of the book and movie series. John Williams’ and Alexandre Desplat’s contributions to the cinematic universe are undervalued. Not only do

the scores compliment the films and enhance the viewer’s experience, but they’re so iconic that listening to a specific soundtrack score can transport the listener back in time. When I listen to “Leaving Hogwarts” or “Reunion of Friends,” I remember how important and formative this fictional world was to me as a child. I’m reminded of the late nights I spent staying up past my bedtime reading my Kindle, the excitement when I finished a book and my dad popped the movie disc into the DVD player and the first time I encountered a curse word in “Deathly Hallows” and had no clue what it meant. Because of my personal attachment to the series, the soundtrack is my go-to when it comes to studying. Listening to the “Harry Potter” soundtrack brings me a sense of nostalgia and comfort that’s much needed when I’m trapped in Walsh Library working on an essay or a difficult reading.

“Harry Potter” is the perfect movie series to rewatch whenever you’re yearning for that ache of nostalgia, an ideal book to reread over a holiday break and a soundtrack with the perfect ambiance for when you need to study.

I love everything about “Harry Potter” and if that makes me a nerd, then so be it.

Fans of “Harry Potter” span generations due to its effective soundtrack and overall relatable themes.

“Oppenheimer” denies the audience an intimate study of its characters.

Editor’s Pick | “Harry Potter”

College Cuisine: Picnics on Eddie’s

By KARI WHITE CULTURE EDITOR

On the bright, sunny days that mark the beginning of the school year, students flock to Edward’s Parade — that green expanse that sits squarely in the center of campus. As classes end, the green becomes alive with students playing spikeball, throwing frisbees, listening to music and eating. Of course, that last activity prompts the average picnic-goer to debate what on earth they are going to bring to their Eddie’s escapade. My friend and I had this debate only a few days ago, while we searched our fridge for snacks to share. We landed

on grapes (which, to our dismay, had seeds), pretzel sticks, baby carrots and chocolate chip cookies. This random selection fits the three tenets that I would recommend for all picnic pickings: something sweet, something salty and something fresh. Of course, sometimes the occasion calls for more than simply raiding your fridge for a few snacks. You want something more organized! This article will help to brainstorm different ideas for your picnic spread.

First, charcuterie. Originating in France, charcuterie traditionally refers to a delicatessen that specializes in dressed meats, such as prosciutto, soppressata, etc., and dishes containing these

meats. The term also refers to the products themselves, including the meat dishes and the accoutrement that accompany them. The only necessary elements of charcuterie are meat and cheese, but there’s a whole world of items to pair them with. I would highly recommend getting a nice loaf of bread, and following the three tenants for picnic food: salty, sweet and fresh. The meat and cheese themselves will bring plenty of salt, and candied nuts, dried fruit and jellies can counter the salt with their sweetness. Fresh fruit will also cut the heaviness of meat, cheese and candied goods, often acting as a palette cleanser. My favorites are grapes, apples and pears. The ingredients for a charcuterie board can be found right outside Rose Hill’s gates, on Arthur Avenue. There’s no need to travel into the city to patronize big box stores when Teitel Brothers is a ten-minute walk off campus. They have a wide variety of cured meats, cheeses and pairings for both. After grabbing whatever you’d like, you can walk down Arthur for only half a block more to reach Madonia Bakery. The food is delicious, the people are friendly and the prices are affordable. When I have had charcuterie before, my friends and I spent around $25 each and

had prosciutto for breakfast the next day. However, charcuterie is not everyone’s favorite. Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or just not a huge fan of cheese, there are plenty of other items that can decorate your picnic blanket.

Second, salads. I know, I know, they sound so boring. The word “salads” elicits images of a bowl filled with leaves, dotted with tomatoes and drizzled with dressing, but they can be so much more. There’s the mayonnaise-heavy chicken, tuna or egg salad, all of which can be spread onto sandwiches or toasted baguettes, and pasta salad. The latter has a terrific amount of versatility, as it only requires the combination of cooked pasta with vegetables. Mix farfalle with tomatoes, peas and feta; tortellini with bell peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes; even couscous with mint leaves, feta and tomatoes. If you have couscous, elevate your salad by making tabbouleh, a Mediterranean salad consisting of chopped vegetables, parsley, lime juice and olive oil. The beauty of salads is that they combine a variety of ingredients, many of which might be floating around the back of your fridge. They’re simple to make, easy to customize and delicious. Third, sandwiches. Sandwiches are a great picnic food as they

hold up well, can be packed neatly and can be shared amongst multiple people. Like salads, sandwiches possess only one requirement: there needs to be bread. Beyond this, the fillings, flavors and textures within the sandwiches can vary — even the forms can. Stack a hero roll a mile high with deli meats, cheeses and vegetables; press ciabatta, mozzarella and tomato into a panini; and cut white bread, filled with cucumber and cream cheese, into finger sandwiches fit for English High Tea. The best part of these sandwiches are that they are all fit for sharing, regardless of whether you eat a handful of finger sandwiches or a segment of a hoagie — sorry, hero.

The most important element for any picnic is sharing food amongst those present. Picnics are great venues for potlucks, which is when every member of the group brings a dish to share. These are great avenues for sharing your favorite foods with your closest friends or a new group of people, and few conversations are better than those shared over the course of a meal. So spend the final gasps of summer on Eddie’s, drinking in the sunlight as you dine on an assortment of snacks. Hopefully this article has helped to inspire your personal picnic menu.

“Bottoms”: A Quirky Comeback for Comedies

By NICOLE DiPIETRO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past week’s release of “Bottoms” might have been one of the best features to hit theaters all year. Directed by Emma Seligman and co-written by Rachel Sennott (who also stars as one of the leading roles in the comedy), the film revived the unfortunately dying genre of good high school satires. After the release of “Booksmart” in 2019, arguably one of the last really good films that encapsulates high school in a witty, comedic light, high school comedy flicks released in the past few years have been missing the mark in a variety of ways. They end up either too corny or cringy, and overall just take themselves way too seriously. “Bottoms” does exactly the opposite. It satirically depicts the pinnacle of American high school culture (sexism, misogyny, etc.), while hitting all the classic points you’d see in something like “Not Another Teen Movie,” a parodical comedy from 2001. The film follows two queer best friends, PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who are striving to lose their virginities before finishing up their senior year of high school. The way in which they go about reaching that goal is teaming up with fellow school lesbian-outcast,

Hazel (Ruby Cruz), to make an all-girls “fight club.” PJ and Josie have plans to use the club as a front to gain the attraction of their straight-presenting crushes on the cheerleading squad, PJ with Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Josie with Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) who, unfortunately, is taken by the school quarterback. Hazel, on the other hand, was simply excited for the club to be a safe space for girls at the school to learn how to defend themselves, while also making new friends along the way. Surprisingly, the girls in school do appreciate the idea of learning how to protect themselves, and thus they begin their weekly meetings by throwing hilarious punch after punch at each other.

Alongside a band of outcasts, another thing you can’t miss in the making of a high school classic is a football team full of jocks, and “Bottoms” has just that. One of my personal favorite scenes in the movie was when the quarterback, Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), runs out into the football field in an enthusiastic trance of school spirit, turning around to reveal the name on the back of his jersey is, simply, “Jeff.” And of course the quarterback always needs his sidekick and this is no exception. Jeff’s best friend and teammate, Tim (Miles Fowler), spends his screen time in the film doing absolutely everything

“Bottoms” has reinvigorated the high school comedy genre with fresh plotlines and well-written characters.

in his power to stop PJ and Josie’s club of women empowerment.

One of the film’s biggest takeaways for me was that being gay was not the central root of conflict in this movie like it is for a lot of other queer films. PJ and Josie weren’t disliked and outcasts because they’re gay; it’s because they’re weird, and they definitely are weird. In a scene getting ready for their town’s fair, PJ overtly

refers to them both as being unliked because they are “ugly and untalented” but not because they’re lesbians. While there is a multitude of importance in representing the difficulty of the queer experience in high school, a lot of what makes “Bottoms” work was the fact that it didn’t try to retell another story of high school homophobia, or follow a discovery storyline. The main characters

know they’re queer from the beginning, and the telling of their queer experience didn’t come to a halt with a coming out story. However, this does not mean the impact of films that do follow the commonly used “gay discovery” storyline is lessened. It is only creating more variety in this genre, and increasing representation for a wider repertoire of stories in movies.

Enjoy the warm weather and follow these tips for a picturesque picnic.

COURTESY OF KARI WHITE/FOR THE FORDHAM RAM

Who’s That Kid? | Kelly Cimaglia

Use Junior’s Princess Polly Code for 20% Off

By GRACE GALBREATH ASST. NEWS EDITOR

For Kelly Cimaglia, FCRH ’25, Fordham University was always the future. Cimaglia, who is a New Jersey native, first visited the campus in seventh grade, when her brother was touring colleges as a high school senior.

“I toured it when I was really young, so that was kind of my first impression of any college. I always pictured myself going here because it’s the only college I had ever seen. So, it just worked. It’s also close to home, and I like New York,” said Cimaglia.

At Fordham, Cimaglia is a “Ramfluencer,” sharing lifestyle videos on the university’s official social media accounts. She is also secretary of Fordham’s student-run fashion and lifestyle magazine, Mode Magazine.

Cimaglia, who has amassed over 125,000 combined social media followers, has 96,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 26,000 on TikTok. She started producing content from a young age, and her videos quickly “blew up.”

“I started making YouTube videos when I was in fifth grade. I would do makeup tutorials because that was super in at the time. I just started because I was so obsessed with all the popular YouTubers at

By CALEB STINE COLUMNIST

In my first meeting of a sociology course this semester, the professor started class, like most do in the first week, with a simple introductory icebreaker. In addition to the standard-issue questions of calling on students to share their name, major and hometown with the class, he also asked us what word of advice we would give to someone moving to New York City.

My answer was to venture out into all five boroughs of the city and expand your horizons past Midtown and lower Manhattan. A sentiment that is often repeated by locals, residents, students like ourselves and even a handful of visitors.

But this word of advice, that I so strongly feel as I write this, was simply lip service and one that I didn’t fully believe or practice until a few years ago when I visited Astoria for the first time.

Astoria might be one of the most unique neighborhoods in New York. In the sense that it doesn’t really have a reference point of another neighborhood. Park Slope? The Upper West Side with shorter buildings, a smaller park and more strollers. Murray Hill? The

the time, like Bethany Mota, that whole genre of YouTubers. I did YouTube for such a long time. I wouldn’t really say I do it anymore because I’m not consistent, but I feel like no one really does YouTube anymore. I switched over to TikTok and I have been doing TikTok consistently since 2020. That is just kind of how social media changes over the years,” said Cimaglia.

The social media accounts, listed under the usernames, “KellCims” and “KellyMargot,” primarily document Cimaglia’s bustling New York City lifestyle. She describes her content as documenting anything and everything that interests her.

She said, “I do a lot of vlogs, a lot of talking. Sometimes

I’ll do mental health stuff. Just kind of whatever I’m feeling; my vibe is very simple. I am an open book online, which is a good and a bad thing. I feel like that is what makes people drawn to me, because I kind of overshare, and people feel like they have someone they can relate to about things that they can’t talk about with other people. I am just kind of all of the above, whatever I want.”

For Cimaglia, the supportive community of subscribers that she has built have become like friends and family. Being able to interact with people online, respond to comments and share day-to-day life tips, has been a transformative experience.

Because of her social media presence, Cimaglia has received

several exciting opportunities. She has attended BeautyCon events and created partnerships with many well-known brands, including Skillshare and CASETiFY. Cimaglia has also repeatedly partnered with Princess Polly, a very popular Australian fashion brand.

In 2019, Cimaglia also received the opportunity to attend a private Ruel concert, which was held at the YouTube space in New York City.

She said, “I went when I was a junior [in high school.] It was a 20-person concert, and I got to meet him after. That was one of my favorite moments, because I was such a big fan.”

The opportunity to attend a Ruel concert was exciting for Cimaglia, who is a big music

fan. When she is not editing and posting videos, you can find her listening to music, going to concerts and making playlists.

Cimaglia’s social media presence also led to her current internship with Rare Beauty Brands. She said, “I am doing influencer and social media marketing. I think I stood out to them because of my social media presence and experience. It is something that I can take into my future, and it’s really fun.”

Despite Cimaglia’s social media fame, she would rather pursue a more traditional career path in the corporate marketing world while continuing with her social media accounts on the side.

“I definitely want to work a corporate job, but I also never want to stop doing stuff online. I think the two can go hand in hand. It’s something that I want to do for a long time, on top of other things,” said Cimaglia.

As for her dream partnerships, Cimaglia would love to partner with any and all food brands. She immediately mentioned two of her favorite restaurants, CAVA and Chipotle, as dream collaborations. Cimaglia, who is a big Emma Chamberlain fan, would also love the opportunity to work with the famous social media star.

Cimaglia started with makeup tutorials on YouTube and has now amassed over 125,000 social media followers.

NYC Neighborhood | Astoria

Astoria: A Whole New World

Upper East Side with less art, more bars and an average age 25 years younger.

Astoria doesn’t have a sister neighborhood. I’d argue it barely has a cousin.

What lies in Queens’ northwestern corner, offering a breathtaking view of the city from the East River is truly a different world from anyone raised outside of Astoria. A world that inspires and motivates, and frankly, may even have you ascribing the dreaded “overrated” label to the borough across the river. But hopefully not.

Astoria started, like many neighborhoods outside the borders of Manhattan, as a recreational destination for the city’s wealthy. During the latter parts of the 19th century, however, Astoria became a haven for the wave of recent European immigrants. Germans, most notably Heinrich Steinweg, founder of Steinway and Sons piano company, moved into the neighborhood. As Germans moved east towards central Queens later in the early 1900s, Astoria effectively became a Greek stronghold for the second half of the 20th century.

By 2015, Astoria was ranked one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York, with over 100 ethnicities

recorded living in the area.

Today, Astoria boasts my favorite New York City museum outside of Manhattan: The Museum of the Moving Image on 37th St. and 35th Ave. Astoria played an integral part in the development of American cinema, championing one of the first film studios in the country, Kaufman Studios, which is still alive and well to this day.

The Museum of the Moving Image is filled with hundreds of props, make up, cameras and anything else that an NYU film major would annoyingly explain to you the importance of for hours.

The Jim Henson exhibit is the crown jewel here, with props of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and more, straight from the set of Sesame Street. Appropriately, there is also special attention paid to the history of Kaufman Studios throughout the museum as well.

I have heard from multiple sources that the Museum of the Moving Image is superior to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. That’s as good of a recommendation for this museum as any.

Food options in Astoria are far and wide. Classic, cheap,

To keep up with Cimaglia’s busy life, follow her on either Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. From one subscriber to another, you won’t regret your choice!

mouth-watering tacos from Mi Espiguita on 31st St. can never go wrong. Hip atmospheres and new American dishes are in large supply here, too, by way of Sanford’s and The Trestle, both on Broadway.

Astoria shines in so many ways, but perhaps its best quality is it is able to seemingly balance old New York and new New York so well. In a city that moves at the speed of light in some areas, and not at all in others, Astoria is Queens’ gift to the modern world that still urges us to remember where it came from.

COURTESY OF KELLY CIMAGLIA/ THE FORDHAM RAM

Volleyball Starts Hot With Five Straight Wins

By BRETT TULIP STAFF WRITER

What a start for the Rams!

The Fordham volleyball team headed to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW) for the Hampton Inn University Invitational and the Big Apple Tournament and crushed their opposition by going 3-0 and 2-0 in their respective tournaments. This included big wins against Stetson University and Columbia University, making for an exciting start to the season.

Looking back at their first tournament, the team was able to take down Presbyterian College, led by senior Whitley Moody’s team-leading 17 kills along with freshman Whitney Woodrow’s double-double of 50 assists and 13 digs. It was a strong 3-1 victory, and the momentum continued into their next game against Stetson, where tournament MVP Moody continued to shine with her 19 kills, 18 digs and two aces. Graduate students Nailah Jenkins and Mallory Lipski also shined and were named among the tournament’s best players.

Onto the Big Apple Tournament, where the Rams spoiled Columbia’s season opener with their 3-0 defeat on Friday. Standouts included Moody, sophomore Audrey Brown, Woodrow and Jenkins.

Head coach Ian Choi explained

Water Polo Ranked 15th in National Poll, Splits Opening Series

By LOU ORLANDO ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Fordham’s big key to success but acknowledged Columbia’s ability to disrupt the team’s discipline. He said after the match, “Nine times out of ten, when our team has that conviction, we come out on top.”

This year’s team is really playing hard and showing out for coach Choi, and it is easy to see why when he explains, “They reflected in the trust they hold in themselves, in each other and in the coaches.” In this match, the Lions attempted multiple comebacks, but all were squashed quickly by Fordham’s quick decision-making and resolve. After Columbia, they played against Quinnipiac University, handedly taking them down 3-1 led by two double-doubles from both Moody and Woodrow. Moody had 17 kills and 11 digs, while Woodrow provided 16 digs and 41 assists. The Rams controlled the match throughout, being able to securely put away the Bobcats in efficient fashion.

The team has one more tournament before Atlantic 10 conference play and the Rose Hill Classic. Next weekend, they will play in the Iona Invitational, facing off with Iona College, Long Island University and Boston College. Fordham will look to keep the ball rolling and continue their best start in recent memory.

Athletes of the Week

The New Mexico transfer certainly impressed in his home debut, throwing for 319 yards and five touchdowns while completing passes at a whopping 77.4% rate. Montes earned a Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention as he led Fordham Football to their first win of the season against Wagner College.

Fordham Water Polo enters the 2023 season with massive expectations. Once again picked to finish atop the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), the backto-back league champs also earned a cool feather in their cap from the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).

Fordham is ranked 15th in the CWPA preseason national polls, the highest the Rams have ever been ranked nationally at any point in the season since the CWPA started recording national polls online in 2008.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the start of the season is going to be smooth sailing, as seen by Fordham’s 2-2 split in their opening four game series at the Bruno Classic.

On top of having to incorporate seven new additions into their system, the Rams will start their season without junior goaltender Thomas Lercari, sidelined with an injury that will cause him to miss some time in September. Lercari received First Team All-MAWPC honors in a sophomore campaign that saw him take over the reigns as Fordham’s starter in net.

Junior Riccardo Di Giuseppe got the start in net for Fordham’s season opener against #11 Pepperdine University, recording five saves as the Rams fell 16-10. Junior attacker George Papanikolaou helped the Rams keep it close through three, opening his season strong with a two goal, three assist and three steal effort, but the Rams were unable to overcome a late game sixgoal surge from Pepperdine.

Fordham rebounded later that Saturday, blowing out Augustana College 24-8. The Rams flexed their muscles on both sides, scoring at least five goals in every quarter while holding Augustana to just two goals a period.

Senior Christos Loupakis, juniors Mark Katsev and Papanikolaou and sophomore Balazs Berenyi each

tallied hat tricks in the offensive onslaught while freshman goaltender Panayiotis Giannas got his first taste of collegiate action in the second half.

The Bruno Classic concluded on Sunday with another double header. The Rams kept the offensive momentum going, posting another double digit victory as they defeated Iona College 18-8. Led by a game-high five goals from junior Lucas Nieto Jasny on a perfect 5/5 shooting and four tallies from junior Jacopo Parrella, the Fordham offense flexed its muscles yet again.

Unfortunately, the Rams could not come away with a Sunday sweep, falling 18-13 to a Brown University team that received votes in the national poll. Fordham started things strong enough, leading 6-1 at the end of the first quarter, but Brown responded, holding the Rams scoreless in the second while tallying five of their own to tie things at halftime. Brown took the lead late in the third and never relinquished it, sending Fordham home with an opening series split.

notched his first career hat trick against Brown while freshman Christopher Gray and junior transfer Paul Armingol tallied their first Fordham goals.

Fordham certainly flashed their offensive dominance, but the two losses to teams in the national poll conversation might draw some skepticism. The Rams certainly see themselves as a team that can compete with the nation’s best.

That said, it might take a few weeks for the Rams to hit their groove. Even disregarding the injury to Lercari, the addition of five freshmen and two transfers will provide an extra layer for head coach Brian Bacharach and the coaching staff to deal with.

The reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week had another strong pair of outings, recording 16 digs on Friday and 13 on Saturday while adding 7 assists as the Rams continued their winning ways, staying undefeated and improving to 5-0.

AWAY

Men’s Cross Country Women’s Cross Country

Volleyball

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Soccer

Football

Each week, The Fordham Ram’s sports section honors two athletes for their on-field performances as their “Athletes of the Week.”

Water Polo

This week marked the debut for seven new Rams, some of which made their impact felt immediately.

Freshman Barnapas Eppel

Fordham’s rigorous schedule continues as they face Princeton University next weekend in the Princeton Invitational. If a match with #18 Harvard University wasn’t enough, the Rams will go toe-to-toe with #8 Princeton University, the highest ranked program on the east coast and the team responsible for ending Fordham’s season in each of the last two years. Don’t be surprised if next weekend is a preview of an NCAA opening round matchup.

Varsity Calendar

CJ Montes Sophomore, Football

Mallory Lipski Graduate Student, Volleyball

The Rams are making national polls higher than they’ve ever made them before.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Overtime: The Saudi Arabia Question

By NICK GUZMAN SPORTS EDITOR

In soccer, the summer transfer window is always an exciting time. The world’s best players have the opportunity to move clubs and take their careers in a different direction. Clubs can make improvements on their team from the previous season, while also shedding any dead weight.

But, this summer the transfer window looked a lot different. Dozens of players from Europe’s top five leagues decided to take their talents to the Saudi Pro League in Saudi Arabia. Players like Neymar, Karim Benzema, Fabinho, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez and many more left their respective European clubs and signed with Saudi teams instead. The appeal for these players is simple: money. Just like LIV Golf, the Saudi Pro League is backed by the Saudi Investment Fund, meaning the clubs have just about an unlimited pool of cash to pull from. This means incredibly large salaries for the players and the ability of these Saudi clubs to pay huge transfer fees to European teams in order to acquire their stars.

Each new Saudi player is on a salary that greatly trumps what they were making in Europe. And this money isn’t just reserved for stars like Neymar, who is rumored to make over $300 million a year from Saudi club Al-Hilal. Someone like Jordan Henderson, the former Liverpool captain who is an excellent player but not a superstar by any means, is making $46.9 million a year in Saudi Arabia. Henderson was previously taking home $7 million a year as the captain of Liverpool.

We’ve previously seen this kind of movement from Europe with the Chinese Super League’s growth seven years ago and even MLS. But there are some key differences between then and what

Varsity Scores & Stats

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is happening with the Saudi Pro League now. The Chinese Super League attracted good European players with exuberant salaries, but no one to the level of Neymar, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

And now, the Chinese Super League is facing all kinds of financial problems stemming from over-investment in players less than a decade ago.

In MLS, European stars moving stateside were almost exclusively past their prime. For David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo and more, MLS was simply the last stop of their careers before retirement.

The Saudi Pro League is different. While some of the new players coming to Saudi Arabia are past their prime, most of them are still world class. Neymar, Benzema, Mane and Mahrez are still among the best players in the world. In addition, Saudi Arabia has been able to attract talented young players. The 21-year-old Spaniard Gabri Vega was rumored to be wanted by clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool, but he instead opted to sign with Saudi outfit Al-Ahli.

The money also isn’t going to dry up anytime soon. The Saudi Public Investment Fund is said to be worth around $538 billion. They will continue to try to attract the best talent in world soccer, including a player like Kylian Mbappe, who was reportedly close to a Saudi move over the summer.

With this new power in the global game, the landscape of soccer is changing.

And for all of the players who moved to Saudi Arabia, the money spoke a lot louder than any potential ethical drawbacks.

Human rights in Saudi Arabia are often ranked among the worst in the world. This is common knowledge, and any player who’s moved to Saudi Arabia has simply chosen to ignore it. As wealthy footballers, they won’t have to see any of these problems first hand.

These players were all millionaires before Saudi Arabia. It’s particularly upsetting to see someone like Jordan Henderson, who was previously an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, throw that all away for a big payday. Henderson has come out and said that his move was not motivated by money, but that really is hard to believe.

The appeal of generational wealth is obviously a big one, but it’s not like these players were making pennies before. They were already rich. Now, Neymar, Benzema, Mane and the others are simply more rich.

Many have said you can’t fault the players for taking the money. I think you can, especially when you consider the ethical implications of getting paid by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. But the precedent has already been set: no one is really going to bat an eye if you move to Saudi Arabia. Yes, there has been some public pushback, but nothing to deter the continued exodus of players from Europe to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s increased presence in professional sports will continue to grow. It’s all a part of an effort to diversify the country’s economy from just oil exports. The Saudi Pro League will continue to court the world’s top players as time goes on. Europe is still the place with most of the world’s best players as of now, but the Saudi Pro League is doing their best to change that.

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Men’s Cross Country Stony Brook Invitational NTS (No Team Scoring)

Women’ Cross Country Stony Brook Invitational

4th/7 teams

News & Notes

Joe Moglia Honored in

Renaming of Football and Soccer Stadiums

Fordham Alumni Joe Moglia, FCRH ’71, was recently honored by Fordham University as the namesake of the football and soccer stadium on campus. After graduating Fordham, Moglia served as a football coach for 16 years at Fordham Prep as well as other schools such as Lafayette College and Dartmouth College. He later retired from the sport for a period of time, becoming CEO and board chairman of TD Ameritrade. In 2012, he returned to coaching, serving as head coach at Coastal Carolina University. He is the fourth alumnus to receive the Fordham Founder’s Award as well as being inducted into Fordham’s Hall of Honor and the Athletics Hall of Fame.

Baseball and Softball To Hold Walk On Tryouts

Both Fordham Baseball and Softball will be hosting walk-on tryouts for Fordham students in the upcoming weeks. Softball will host their tryouts for the upcoming season at Bahoshy Field on Friday, Sept. 8, with the time to be determined. Baseball will be holding their try-outs for prospective student athletes on Monday, Sept. 18, beginning at 2 p.m. at Houlihan Park.

Previewing the 2023 NFL Season

By NOAH HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As students return to school and the weather soon changes, it means it’s football season again. The previous NFL season was one to remember with many storylines, including the retirement of Tom Brady, the resurgence of many franchises and ending with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs hoisting the Lombardi Trophy once more. With lots of familiar faces in new places, football fans are certainly in store for another season they won’t forget.

The AFC East is one of the most competitive divisions in football. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills still have a strong chance of repeating as division champs for the fourth consecutive season, but each team has a case to make. The most interesting storyline that came out of the offseason was the addition of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, immediately putting

them in Super Bowl contention. If Rodgers can regain his MVP form, along with a stellar defense led by Sauce Gardner and head coach Robert Saleh, the Jets will be in a fight for the division. The 2023 Dolphin’s success largely depends on Tua Tagovailoa’s health, if he can stay healthy, the Fins could find themselves back in the Wild Card.

The New England Patriots can’t be counted out with Bill Belichick in charge, but they have one of their steepest hills to climb.

The AFC North is the Bengals to lose, with one of the best wide receiver rooms in the entire league, and Joe Burrow leading the way. They are not only in a prime position to repeat as division champions but also a favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Their main competition will be the Baltimore Ravens if their former MVP can return to form. After an eventful off-season regarding whether

Lamar Jackson would play this coming season, the two sides signed a long-term contract deal. Deshaun Watson and the Browns had a season to forget in year one of a five-year fully guaranteed dealer. If history repeats itself, the contract could become one of the worst contracts in sports history.

Rounding out the AFC North are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have not had a losing record under head coach Mike Tomlin. This year will test that streak.

The AFC South could be one of the most exciting divisions. It is led by Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who managed to win the division last year in head coach Doug Pederson’s first year. Lawrence will look to jump into MVP consideration as the Jaguars hope to be Super Bowl contenders.

The Tennessee Titans can never be counted out with one of the better head coaches in the league, Mike Vrabel, and

a workhorse in the backfield in Derrick Henry.

The bottom two teams don’t have high expectations but have exciting storylines, with two of the top rookie quarterbacks from this year’s draft, CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson, coming from the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts, respectively. Rounding out the AFC is the West Division, home to the 2023 Super Bowl champion and current favorite, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Their main competition in the division will come from the Los Angeles Chargers after quarterback Justin Herbert signed a huge contract extension.

After a disastrous first season for Russell Wilson in Denver, which started with Super Bowl hopes and ended with his coach being fired mid-season, the Broncos will look to rewrite the ship. Sean Payton will lead this charge, who, after a year off from coaching, decided to return to the NFL to try and shift the 2022 Ponies back to the Broncos.

The Las Vegas Raiders replaced long-time quarterback Derek Carr with an injury-prone Jimmy Garoppolo while not addressing or making any improvements on the defensive side of the ball, this adds up to a low ceiling for the team and what could be a long season for Raiders fans.

–Compiled by Maddie Bimonte

Under-the-Radar Offseason for the Rangers

By ALLIE COPPOLA STAFF WRITER

Coming off of a disappointing first-round playoff loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers are gearing up to have a bounce-back season after last year’s high expectations. Chris Drury, the Rangers’ general manager, made a splash at the deadline months ago, acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane, among others. The risky moves didn’t work out for them, and they lost not only Kane and Tarasenko in the offseason, but Tyler Motte and Niko Mikkola who were also high-impact rentals. Last season’s decisions seem all for naught, and Drury took a slightly less drastic approach this offseason.

In last season’s news, young center Filip Chytil signed a fouryear extension, which dictated the contracts of other young Rangers in the summer months. Former first overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere signed a two-year extension which puts him under a lot of pressure to improve, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find him elsewhere before those two years are up if he doesn’t step into a bigger role this year. Defenseman K’Andre Miller signed a two-year

extension as well, which will act as a bridge deal giving Miller time to improve and earn a larger salary when the relatively short contract concludes. Similarly, Zac Jones signed for another two years, this time on a one-way contract which guarantees him the same salary in either the NHL or the AHL. He found himself up in Hartford with the Wolfpack quite a lot last year after he proved inconsistent in the NHL, but Braden Schneider’s partner on the third defensive pairing still seems to be a question mark. Jones will fight for that spot in the coming months.

With the young stars locked in for a couple more years at least, Drury made a series of low-risk, high-reward free agent signings.

The biggest of which is the addition of Blake Wheeler, a former Winnipeg Jets captain and right wing. Drury signed him at the low price of $1.1 million for one year, and his salary cap hit is $800,000, giving the team room for other additions.

Wheeler is definitely not a game changer at this point in his career, but he is a seasoned veteran with years of leadership experience, and he fills one of the

spots left by the losses of Kane and Tarasenko. Drury also signed three-time Stanley Cup winning goalie Jonathan Quick to a one year contract, replacing Jaroslav Halak as Igor Shesterkin’s backup. He was a cheap signing as well, especially coming off his stint on the Vegas Golden Knights’ Cup-winning squad. He’ll look to back up the Rangers to a potential Stanley Cup, after beating them in the Finals just nine years ago. The smaller, but equally as economical signings, included veteran center Nick Bonino, centers Tyler Pitlick and Riley Nash and defensemen Connor Mackey and Erik Gustafsson. With the exception of last year, Bonino is a consistent 20 to 30 points-per-year player, and contributed to the Pittsburgh Penguins back-to-back Cup wins in 2016-17. The other big name is Gustafsson, a reliable point-scoring defenseman coming off of a 42-point season in just 70 games. He has incredible value for the small price of $825,000. Of all contracts Drury negotiated this offseason, Gustafsson’s may be the biggest steal. It’s hard to say where all these new additions

will fit into the lineup this season. Gustafsson is a likely pick for the final spot on the third defensive pairing, with Zac Jones likely the “seventh defender” who will occasionally slot in or fill in during injuries. The amount of forwards Dury signed is a bit of a head-scratcher considering the young guys coming up, like

is likely to crack the lineup this year, so it’ll be interesting to see where the rest of them slot in.

Drury set the team up for success in the 2023-24 campaign, and fans will wait and see if it’s enough to make a deep playoff run this season.

Student Athlete Column: What Running Means to Me

By SOPHIA CRUCS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As I enter my fourth year of track and field here at Fordham, I cannot help but reflect on my experience as an athlete. My relationship with running is a complicated one, as I’m sure it is for many. It’s exhausting to wake up earlier than most of my peers every morning for practice and to keep up with the increased responsibilities that come with being a student athlete. There’s paperwork, endless meetings, team lifts and then the season starts and it’s time to give up many of my weekends to travel, all for a race that lasts about a minute. Running track is not only extremely physically demanding, but mentally draining. It’s difficult to eat right, get enough sleep and keep up in school while simultaneously competing. It makes you wonder: why would anyone ever want to do this?

There’s the obvious answer that many student athletes receive some level of scholarship and some even are on full rides, but when I walked on as a freshman during the 2020 pandemic, this was not an option available to me. My first season of track, if you can even call it a season, was rough to say the least. We had to wear masks even when sprinting and running bleachers, which made these already arduous tasks worse. The season wore on with no promise of competition on the horizon as no one knew how the pandemic

would progress. It felt like we were training for nothing and it became increasingly difficult to get up each freezing cold, black winter morning before the sun to trek across campus for practice in sometimes below freezing temperatures. Then, after being contacted in February 2020 and spending 10 days in quarantine, I finally contracted COVID-19 (for the first time) in March 2020 and lost what little momentum I had managed to build up after getting out of my first quarantine. This was right around the time it was decided we would have an extremely abbreviated season. Of course, there was no shot I could get back in shape in time to compete, so I ended my first year of track and field without ever running a single race. A lot of my teammates told me they never thought I’d

return in the fall to the team, as it was extremely difficult getting used to the “NARP” (Non-Athletic Regular Person) lifestyle and then returning to play. So once again, why did I keep doing this? Somehow, I was there on the first day of practice sophomore year.

I do not remember exactly where I first heard this idea, but the saying “wisdom comes from suffering” has always stuck with me. I looked it up and apparently it is a quote by an ancient Greek philosopher. I often think of it when I’m training. Sometimes it can feel like I’m metaphorically (as well as physically) running in circles. Training is often physically painful. Many workouts I leave the track to walk to the cafeteria seeing stars, on legs that feel like they are made of jello. Sometimes, I’ll get lucky and come out

of a workout with a runner’s high, but I’m just as likely to suffer from “tempo tummy.” This act of suffering, however, as dramatic as that might make it sound, is an essential part of my life. I love running, no matter how painful it can be at times. I love the opportunity for reflection it presents. I think it makes me a better person, both physically and mentally. Doing track has instilled me with endurance and resilience (both physical and mental). The act itself of training and racing may be at times incredibly onerous, but the ends justify the means. Running doesn’t just make me happy, it gives me a deeper satisfaction with life.

I contracted COVID-19 for a second time my sophomore year over winter break and it once again interrupted my progression.

I don’t know what motivated me to start over yet again when it felt like all of my work over the past year and a half had essentially summed to nothing. I kept going, and eventually scored a point in one of the spring meets. This doesn’t sound like much, but I felt like I had finally proved myself. Although in the moment the first few seasons of track felt like a total wash (and in many ways they were), there was significance in the choice I made to continue to show up. Things were not great, in fact a lot of workouts made me feel like I got hit by a bus, but there was importance in that suffering. When I reflect now as a senior, it’s not the personal bests or points I’ve scored in meets that I’m most proud of, although I do recognize that I’ve come a long way as an athlete; rather, it’s my resilience.

When I was in sixth grade, my mom signed me up for cross country, and I was put in a 1.2 mile race. I collapsed at the finish line, and through my tears, I screamed at my mother that I would never, ever run again. Now, a decade later, I’ve never been more happy to have been so wrong. The best times in my life were those that I was suffering because it made me who I am today. There has been a lesson in every single mile I’ve run since then. Running has taught me patience, resilience, endurance, courage and inner strength, and though it certainly hasn’t been easy, it has most definitely been worth it.

Brennan Othmann, Will Cuylle and Adam Sykora. Othmann

The Rangers have been active in acquiring talent during the offseason.

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Track, for me, has its pros and cons. But all in all, it’s the sport I love and choose to do because it’s taught me a lot.

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Men’s Soccer Shocks Penn, Ties Georgetown

By MADDIE BIMONTE SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham men’s soccer team is off to a strong start to their 2023 campaign after a major upset against the former Ivy League Conference champions, the University of Pennsylvania. Ranked 14th in the nation last year, Penn came to Moglia Stadium hoping to start off their year with a win, but the Rams were hungry for a victory.

New addition to the squad, graduate student Liam Salmon, made his mark early on in the sixth minute, capitalizing on a pass from sophomore Daniel D’Ippolito, who wrangled the ball 10 yards out from the goal, slotting it into the upper 90 corner for the first goal of the game.

The Quakers would not shy away so easily in this game, continuing to play hard resulting in both sides being called on numerous fouls, with Penn leading 23-18 on that statistic and four Rams receiving warnings from the referee.

Penn got their equalizer in the 23rd minute of the game, as the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, Stas Korzeniowski, received a well-placed ball from teammate Ben Do, slipping it right past senior Alex Dolce, making his first start as a Ram.

Salmon made his mark again just under a minute after the Quaker goal as he drew a foul inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Rams. Graduate student Timo Hummrich stepped up

to the spot for the Rams, delivering the win for the Rams right into the lower-right corner of the goal.

Penn was not able to find the back of the net after that, giving the Rams their second win of the season, 2-1, and their second win at home.

It was five years to the day that the Rams unseeded a top school — last time, it happened against the University of Wisconsin, taking down the Badgers 1-0.

Challenges continued for the Rams as they went on this past weekend to face off against another tough opponent in Georgetown University. The Hoyas took home the title for the BIG EAST as well as the 2019 National Championship title.

This time, the Rams struggled in the first half, conceding three goals to Georgetown early on. The first goal came from the Hoyas in the 27th minute, off of a header from Maximus Jennings. The assist from the goal came from the recently subbed in Trevor Burns, who would make an impact later on for the second goal as well. With five minutes left in the first, Burns passed it to Kieran Sargeant, who took it to the endline before crossing it for Cole Parete to make it 2-0 at the half.

Right as the second half opened for play in the 50th minute, the Hoyas piled it on for a three-goal lead, with a goal from the head of Zach Zengue.

Fordham was not ready to

Cross Country Begins Season at Stony Brook

By COLIN LOUGHRAN STAFF WRITER

relent just yet, however. Even though the Rams were lackluster in their opportunities in the first half, they outplayed the Hoyas incredibly going into the last half of the game. Roughly seven minutes after that, sophomore Andre Insalaco headed a rocket from Hummrich to cut the Hoyas’ lead down to two.

Seven minutes later, graduate student Kai Griese crossed the ball over to Insalaco. In incredible fashion as he was turned away from the goal, Insalaco looped the ball over his shoulder toward Hummrich, who finished the deal with a shot making it a 3-2 game.

With 15 seconds left in regulation, junior Jed Dixon sent a ball into the box from a distance that found its way to D’Ippolito just shy of the six-yard box. Once again, the ball was able to find the head of the sophomore into the lower-right hand corner of the goal just past the outstretched arms of the goalie.

The Rams secured the tie, 3-3, ensuring their 2-0-2 record thus far.

Fordham will play two more out-of-conference games before their first Atlantic 10 matchup of the year against St. Bonaventure University on Sept. 16. The first matchup will be against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Friday at 7 p.m. on the road. The Rams will then travel back to Jack Coffey Field to face Loyola University Maryland for a game on Monday at 4 p.m.

The men and women of Cross Country competed at the Stony Brook Invitational this past Saturday, and while it’s too early to make any bold predictions regarding how the team will fare this season, it is clear that certain members have the ability to rise to the occasion on any given course.

The men were not able to post a team score given that only four runners competed, but those who did performed admirably in a field that was holistically won by Stony Brook University’s 27 points. Quinnipiac University won the women’s side with 33 points, but the women of Fordham finished fourth out of seven teams and showed the kind of promise that could evolve as the season progresses.

Senior Steven Zucca placed 11th in the 6k course with a time of 19:12.10. The senior was last year’s team MVP and has begun what could be his final collegiate year with a more than respectable outing.

Graduate student Colin Flood took 22nd overall thanks to a time of 19:34.80. Additionally, sophomores Darren Croke and Anderson Baker placed 39th and 56th with times of 20:37.30 and 22:46.60, respectively.

Fordham’s women were led by junior Caitrina Barton who finished 25th with a time of 15:05.70. Graduate students Mary Kathryn Underwood and Alexandra Thomas were not far behind. They placed 36th and 40th with times of 15:25.70 and 15:32.80, respectively.

Seniors Marin Bogulski, Maddy Kopec, Molly Mulvaney and Clodagh McGroary, juniors Caroline McDonagh, Madeleine Ryan and Helen Moloney and sophomore Alexis Smith also competed at the invitational, and were all within the top 70 finishers in a field of 74.

Cross Country will continue their campaign on Sept. 9 when they host the Fordham Fiasco at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Leaders in Women’s Soccer are Failing their Athletes

By JULIA MOSS STAFF WRITER

In the aftermath of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, there is genuinely so much to be happy for and celebrate. The scenes of host country Australia backing their Matildas team is one that will undoubtedly give you goosebumps. Progress can be found in so many places throughout women’s soccer in the present day, whether that be through viewership numbers or revenue in tickets at both national and club levels. However, as the sport continues to become more visible and mainstream, the light on the injustices, harassment and blatant sexism by those who are at the very top shines brighter, and brings forth story after story of what these women have had to endure to get to this point. That unfortunately is still not a thing of the past, with Spain’s Soccer Federation and FIFA itself showing that there is so much more to accomplish in the fight to make women’s sports equal.

For those who don’t know, Spain won its very first Women’s World Cup this year. The athletes on this team have been dealing with unrest within its management and front office publically for the better part of a year and even longer behind closed doors. In September 2022, 15 of Spain’s National Team players refused call-ups as a protest against their now former manager Jorge Vilda. The players stated that Vilda was controlling, and his

management negatively impacted their health both physically and mentally. Furthermore, it was reported that the manager frequently would inspect players’ personal belongings and until 2019, forced players to leave their hotel room doors unlocked to perform bed checks. Spain’s federation RFEF replied by emphatically standing with Vilda and that if any player wanted to ever return, an apology would be required. Of the 15 who initially quit, only three were brought back for the World Cup roster. It took well over a year to actually fire him, providing setbacks to several professional players who felt uncomfortable playing for their country. While it’s positive Vilda is no longer involved with this team, the way Spain handled this was not.

It unfortunately doesn’t stop there. The President of RFEF, Luis Rubiales, who was Vilda’s main supporter early in the year, unsurprisingly found himself in a similar situation after acting incredibly inappropriately on the world’s biggest stage. During Spain’s medal ceremony, Rubiales pulled player Jenni Hermoso’s face in and kissed her on the lips. Hermoso was immediately taken aback and expressed her discontent with the action.

To be crystal clear: this is abuse in itself. For Rubiales to feel so comfortable doing this when he knows for a fact cameras are on him, what is he capable of when there are no

cameras? And given his support for manager Vilda’s inappropriate coach-to-player interactions, it’s hard to imagine what else has gone on within this country’s team. Rubiales has also claimed that he had asked Hermoso for a small peck prior to the medal ceremony, which even if true, is just blatantly inappropriate when you consider the power dynamics of a boss asking an employee to kiss him. Admitting that, which is likely a lie in itself given other footage released, was a move that’s led many to scratch their heads.

After ridiculously unbelievable speeches given by Rubiales, who claims he is a victim of “fake feminism” and “social assassination,” we are left with more questions than answers. Players from all across every women’s league in the world have sent an outpouring of support for Hermoso along with several players from Spain’s Men’s National Team. As of now, Rubiales is expected to either be fired or asked to resign in the coming days or weeks, and as of Tuesday, Sept. 5, RFEF officially fired Vilda, but with how this has all played out there is no way to guess which direction this is heading until something is officially announced.

This situation has left fans and journalists of the sport with a moral dilemma. In the wreckage of these stories, the spotlight has shifted away from a history-making

win for the Spanish women who have just earned their first World Cup. It’s almost become the afterthought of the tournament itself, which is obviously not fair to the players who have just achieved the highest honor in all of soccer.

However, the other side to this is that if these instances of abuse go unspoken about and don’t make mainstream news, the road to progress becomes more difficult.

Look at the American National Women’s Soccer League. A couple of years ago the league was plagued with horror stories of players dealing with every kind of abuse from coaches and front office staff. It was uncomfortable and heartbreaking to hear about, but swift action was taken in a complete overhaul of coaches and staff all around the league, and as far as the general public is aware of, the well-being of players has increased dramatically.

There’s a wider scale issue here as well that was painted perfectly by a quote given in a speech by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Infantino said of the progress of women’s soccer, “say to all the women that you have the power to change. Pick the right battles. Pick the right fights. You have the power to change. You have the power to convince us men what we have to do and what we don’t have to do. You do it. Just do it. With men, with Fifa, you will find open doors. Just push the doors. They

are open.” There’s a lot to dissect here. The boldness Infantino has to speak to a group of women who have paved their own way to progress in their sport with oftentimes no help from their male leaders that they “will find open doors” is like a slap to the face.

Furthermore, telling these athletes and staff members to “convince us men what we have to do” is in itself an assumption that women aren’t in those positions to make change. When there are no women in the room to make decisions about a sport that is played by majority women, that’s when you have to look around and realize that there might be a reason so many issues plague the women’s game like we’ve seen time after time.

It’s a bittersweet time to follow women’s soccer. Spain and the rest of the world have caught up to the previously dominant United States Women’s National Team, which will make tournaments more competitive and generally fun to watch. The World Cup smashed all expectations of attendance and revenue, and club levels in Europe, Spain and America continue to break records. There’s clearly a lot to be excited about in the game itself even with the horrific off-the-field stories. If this World Cup has taught us anything, it’s that progress has absolutely been made, but there is a lot of space to grow and be better at fundamental levels to protect the players.

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Cross Country kicked off their season in a promising fashion.

Football Tops Wagner in Home Opener

By NICK GUZMAN SPORT S EDITOR

Although it happened a week later than they would have liked, Fordham Football is in the win column in 2023.

Boosted by a five-touchdown performance from sophomore quarterback CJ Montes, the Rams took down Wagner College 4616 in the home opener at Moglia Stadium on Jack Coffey Field this past Saturday.

Montes and Fordham’s offense were much-improved from last week’s season-opening loss to the University at Albany, where the Rams struggled to get any kind of momentum going. Montes was sacked eight times against the Great Danes and threw for just 198 yards as Fordham slumped to a 34-13 defeat.

In week two, the offensive line did a much better job protecting the University of New Mexico transfer. Montes was sacked only twice as he totalled 319 yards on 24/31 passing and five touchdowns against Wagner.

Fordham’s head coach Joe Conlin was pleased with the improvement of Montes from last week, saying after the game, “I thought he was a little hesitant in game one, and tonight he was pretty well on. I didn’t realize he had the night he had until I looked at it after… He was pretty sharp.”

The Rams struck early and often on Saturday.

On Fordham’s opening offensive possession of the game, Montes hit senior wide receiver Mekai Felton over the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown to get the Rams started on the right note.

Wagner responded with a field goal late in the first, but junior running back Julius Loughridge gave Fordham a 14-3 lead by scoring his first touchdown of the season early in the second quarter.

Montes then connected with senior wide receiver MJ Wright on a 23-yard score to put the Rams on top 20-3 heading into halftime.

The second half saw more of the same, with junior linebacker James Conway forcing a fumble early in the third to set Fordham up deep in Wagner territory. From there, it took just one play for Montes to connect with Wright for a 21-yard touchdown, making it a 27-3 Fordham lead.

After a Wagner touchdown made it 27-10, Montes hit senior wide receiver Garrett Cody on a floated pass down the seam for a 22-yard touchdown

strike. Cody was the Rams leading receiver on the day with 102 yards and a score.

Wagner once again struck early in the fourth quarter to get a little closer, but late touchdowns from junior tight end Jaden Allen and freshman running back Jacob Rodriguez (the first of his career) sealed the deal for the Rams and secured the 46-16 victory.

Behind Cody, Wright and Felton had big days in the receiving game, totaling 96 yards and 95 yards, respectively. In the rushing game, Loughridge led the way with 85 yards and a score. But the Rams also got excellent rushing contributions from Montes, who showed off his legs to the tune of 58 rushing yards on the day. Montes looked much more comfortable in all facets of the game in his second start as a Ram.

Just as the offense was

much-improved in week two, so was the defense. Led by Conway, the Rams forced three turnovers and could have had more if not for several dropped interceptions. Conway himself had 13 tackles and a forced fumble as Fordham’s defense sacked Wagner quarterback Steven Krajewski three times and allowed just 16 points. Sophomore defensive lineman Sam Buerkle recovered two fumbles, while fellow sophomore linebacker Mark Pretto registered nine tackles and a sack.

Fordham’s defense allowed the most points in team history last season, so an improvement this year was a necessity. The Albany game left a lot to be desired, but the Fordham defense bounced back in a big way against Wagner and showed what they can do when things are clicking on all cylinders.

After the game, Conlin was pleased with his team’s performance overall but insisted that there are still plenty of things for the team to improve on.

“Too many dumb penalties, have to do better there,” Conlin said. “Some early special teams things that we cleaned up later on. Saw a lot of growth during the game, but still if we want to be the team we want to be there’s a lot we’ve gotta clean up.”

Through two weeks, we’ve seen two distinctly different versions of Fordham Football. If the week two version is the one we’re going to see the rest of the year, Fordham fans have a lot to be excited about. Montes and the offense were clicking in a big way in week two, as was the defense. Fans will hope this past week was a sign of things to come for the Rams as they continue their non-conference schedule.

Fordham’s next test will be their toughest of the season thus far as the Rams travel to upstate New York this Saturday to take on the University of Buffalo, a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school.

Buffalo faced the nationally ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers last week and showed fight, despite eventually falling to the Badgers by a score of 3817.

Last season, Fordham fell just short of beating an FBS school when they lost 59-52 to Ohio University. They’ll look for a statement win against Buffalo this Saturday in what will be the Bulls home opener. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and can be watched live on ESPN+ or listened to on WFUV 90.7 FM.

Women’s Soccer Ties With Stony Brook, Falls to Fair field

By NOAH HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After a road loss to start the season, the women’s soccer team rebounded with two wins at home. The two wins were excellent defensive efforts, resulting in shutout victories of 4-0 over Wagner College and 2-0 over Stonehill College. In the two games combined, the Ram’s defense allowed four times fewer shots at 13 than their opponents who allowed 54 in total. They hoped to take that momentum into their next matchup this past Thursday with their Leukemia Awareness game against Stony Brook University.

Stony Brook started the first half controlling the ball but only got off four shots in the first 20 minutes of the contest, two being on target and saved by Fordham’s goalie, sophomore Kyla King. Although unable to maintain control of the ball for a considerable amount of time, the Rams made the most of the opportunities given to them, getting off seven shots in that same time frame. Four of those seven came from sophomore forward Sydney Nicholas.

At the 19-minute mark, the Rams were given a corner kick after Riley Carroll’s shot hit the crossbar and rolled off a defender out of play. The two freshmen, Lena Johnsen and Carroll teamed up, leading to the first goal of the game after the Stony Brook goalie mishandled Johnsen’s corner, and Carroll was able to tap it in. Two minutes later, a foul in the box led to a penalty kick for Fordham. Graduate student

Caroline Monahan capitalized on the opportunity and easily netted the shot, giving Fordham a 2-0 lead.

Stony Brook cut the lead in half after a score in the 38th minute, sending the game into the half at a score of 2-1. Fouls plagued the Rams throughout the game, after 11 in the first half they committed 12 in the second, for a total of 23 on the day. One of the fouls led to a corner kick for Stony Brook,

which was headed in for the equalizer. The Fordham offense threatened in the final two minutes but could not find the back of the net, ending the game at a 2-2 tie.

Fordham’s next matchup came against Fairfield University at home on Sunday. On a hot day in the Bronx, where temperatures would reach 90 degrees, the Rams and Stags battled it out. Through the first 30 minutes of the game, the two sides certainly

felt the heat, with neither team able to put together a successful offensive possession and both defenses dominating. This all changed at the 33-minute mark after King grabbed the ball outside the penalty box, resulting in her being handed a red card and disqualifying her from the game. Fairfield capitalized on the free kick and took a 1-0 lead.

Due to the red card on King, Fordham would go the rest of the game playing 10 against 11, putting them at a clear disadvantage. Fairfield took advantage of the mismatch and scored two more goals in the second half, putting them up 3-0.

At the 84-minute mark, a long punt from senior Serena Mensah, who replaced King, to forward Carmen Hardwick led to a Cambrie Arboreen goal, cutting the deficit to two. That would be the only point scored by Fordham as they lost the game 3-1.

The tie and loss put the team at 2-2-1 for the season. Next up, they face Columbia University at home on Thursday night before traveling to the University of Albany for a Sunday day game.

CJ Montes and Fordham Football won their first game of the season on Saturday against Wagner College.

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Fordham Women’s Soccer lost to Fairfield despite a late goal from senior captain Cambrie Arboreen.

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