The Slate 09-14-21

Page 1

A conversation about racism, B1

Social media impacts future work, C1

“Slime Rancher” game review, D1

SU remembers Brooke Emery, E1

@ShipUSlate Tuesday

Wednesday

88/66

86/70

The Slate @ShipUSlate

Please recycle

Reporting truth. Serving our community.

Volume 65 No. 3

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

SGA to hold meetings in rotating locations for 2021-22 year Conner Niszczak Guest Contributor

Carmine Sccichitano/The Slate

Charles Patterson and Noel Miller, Slate EIC, discuss his vision for the university in Old Main last Tuesday.

Get to know the president Interview with Charles Patterson

Noel Miller

Editor-in-Chief

Shippensburg University is going through a very transitional time. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is in the middle of redesign, the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the world and the U.S. has been going through social and political upheaval over the last few years. Despite this, the world still turns, and the SU community is faced with another change. In March 2021, Laurie Carter, then SU President, announced she would be leaving the university in the summer. Charles Patterson, then president of Mansfield University, would take her place as the interim president while the search for a new president began. Students would not meet Patterson until the fall 2021 semester when they returned to campus, fully in-person. As Slate editor-in-chief, I sat down with Patterson last Tuesday for an introductory interview.

Patterson started his work as interim president in July and spent the summer preparing for students to arrive. Patterson, his wife, Colleen, and their two dogs, Oliver the goldendoodle and Sweety the “small fluff of cotton” Cavachon moved into the Martin house. Their son is attending SU and lives on campus. Locals will often walk their dogs on campus at SU, bringing joy to their pups and the busy college students who sometimes get to pet them. Patterson said their dogs would be making an appearance on campus quite a bit. “We’re always walking them and sometimes we’ll bring them to events.” Only a month into the school year, Patterson and Colleen have taken part in campus life. “We have made it to the first football game,” he said, “and we dotted the ‘I’ with the band. That was a great event. We’ve been to First Fridays briefly and have just been making the rounds around the community. A lot of events that you’ll see on campus with our students, Colleen and I will be in at-

tendance.” Another important back-to-school tradition Patterson was asked about is the weekly Raider Bowls served in the Ceddia Union Building (CUB) each Wednesday. “Yes, I’ve had a Raider Bowl, and I would say it’s quite good.” Patterson said. The conversation moved to topics of less annual tradition but still vital to the start of the fall 2021 semester. Over the summer, SU announced those on campus no longer needed to wear masks — an important COVID-19 milestone brought about by the opening of vaccines to all — one step towards the university’s “return to normalcy” the school said. However, amid rising COVID-19 rates and the low vaccination rates of the campus and surrounding area, a mask-mandate was put back into effect one week before students returned to campus.

The Shippensburg Student Government Association (SGA) held its first public meeting of the academic year in the ShipRec this past Thursday. Riley Brown, SGA president, opened the meeting with remarks celebrating the start of a school year far closer to normal than what the campus community endured last year. “We are excited to begin the year where the student experience is back. Student activities and groups are back, academic opportunities await...the ability to connect with old friends and make new ones is back,” Brown said. Brown explained that SGA will hold its meetings in different locations across campus throughout the year to increase engagement and “meet students where they are at.” Chase Slenker, vice pres-

ident of finance, presented information about the mandatory budget training for student groups. Training sessions will be Nov. 1 though Nov. 5 in CUB 226. Two student leaders from every SGA-funded student organization and one representative from each SGA-funded department are required to attend. An email sent on Sept. 12 communicated further information about the training. Additionally, the Food Service Committee shared that the university’s dining services are “very much in need of student workers” and that the newly opened campus Chick-Fil-A is unable to open for breakfast until they hire more employees. Information on where and when SGA’s next meeting will be held can be found on the @ShipSGA Instagram.

The next SGA meeting will be held on: Sept. 23, 4 p.m. MSA, Gilbert Hall

See “PRESIDENT,” A2

ROTC remembers and honors 20th anniversary of 9/11 Adam Beam

Guest Contributor

Heather Ross/The Slate

Ethan Rosenberry and Kennedy Holt gave speeches last week in McFeely’s in preparation for the first-year senator elections which take place this week.

On the Monday following the 20th anniversary of 9/11, SU community members gathered in remembrance. The event was a brief ceremony held outside of the Ezra Lehman Library, where 20 years ago it was the site of a candlelight vigil held the night after the attacks. The memorial saw speeches from ROTC members and leaders who were

impacted by the events of the day, as well as a message from Interim President Charles Patterson. The campus also commemorated those lost with American flags adorning the academic quad at the heart of campus. Each one represents someone who perished, from those in the buildings, to the first responders and volunteers, and the 44 passengers of Flight 93 who heroically diverted the plane from it’s initial target of the U.S. Capitol.

First-year students give speeches for Class of 2025 senator elections Heather Ross

Asst. Multimedia Director

Ethan Rosenberry and Kennedy Holt, the freshmen candidates for the class of 2025 senatorial race, gave introductory speeches last Thursday night at McFeely’s. Voting for the class of 2025 elections opens Sept. 13 at 8 a.m. and closes the following Thursday, Sept. 23, at 4 p.m. The class of 2025 can access voting via the link

emailed to them in their university email. Rosenberry has a lengthy history of student government involvement. He served on the student council at Shippensburg Area Senior High School, where he spent two years as a council member and two years as president. He served as president for the class of 2021 at his high school. During this time, he contributed to getting the auditorium remodeled and

the addition of a new statue to the front of the school. Rosenberry chose Shippensburg University because he grew up in the area and is fond of the close-knit community, he said. He has high hopes for his SGA role if elected, as he has seen the impact an involved student government can have on students. See “ELECTION,” A2

Adam Beam/The Slate

Flags were placed in the academic quad to remember those who died on 9/11.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Slate 09-14-21 by The Slate - Issuu