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Volume 64 No. 18
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
PASSHE to appoint interim president Hannah Pollock Editor-in-Chief
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors is scheduled to appoint Shippensburg University’s interim president at its meeting Thursday. In the public meeting agenda, which is available online at passhe.edu, PASSHE officials list the business under No. 13, “Board Consideration.” The board will appoint the university’s interim president and will also issue a resolution honoring current SU Carmine Scicchitano/ The Slate
Pastor Aden Rusfeldt, right, and James Ross hold signs while preaching to students outside of the Ceddia Union Building (CUB). They repeatedly spoke about the immoral behavior of women and what the role of women should be. The group eventually moved to the lawn next to Reisner Dining Hall.
Campus leaders have message of support following demonstration Noel Miller News Editor
Editor’s note: This story includes language used by the demonstrators that some readers may find offensive. Shippensburg University campus leaders are responding and offering support after a group of self-described “Bible believers” drew a crowd on campus last week. SU Police Department Chief Michael Lee identified the lead demonstrator as Pastor Aden Rusfeldt. Rusfeldt notified the university of the group’s plans to visit campus. After visiting websites listed on the bottom of the demonstrators signs and comparing photos and accounts to a Philadelphia Inquirer article, the Slate staff found the group is from the Key of David Christian Center, a small non-denominational church based in Philadelphia that is led by Rusfeldt. Rusfeldt was joined by two women and another man, James Ross, who spoke with members of the Slate staff.
Ross is identified as having been at another protest at Princeton University and the College of New Jersey with Aden and the Key of David Christian Center in an article from The Daily Princetonian and The Signal. Ross said the group demonstrates on college campuses and that their goal is “to warn students about sin.” “We go to every campus, this one isn’t just getting picked on today. It’s just the one that came up,” he said. A Slate staff member first attempted to speak with Ross when he was preaching outside of the Ceddia Union Building (CUB). When the reporter introduced themself and asked to speak with them, Ross promptly asked about their sexuality. Ross refused to talk after the staff member declined to answer his questions regarding their sexuality. When a second member of the staff asked if he would speak to them instead Ross told them, “If you’re a faggot I don’t answer you.” Ross eventually agreed to speak to the staff members.
Representatives from different campus organizations like the Spiritual Center, the Pride Center and the Women’s Center also came out to the demonstration. United Campus Ministry leader the Rev. Jan Bye observed the demonstrator’s actions at a nearby table outside of the CUB. “I think they misrepresent a lot of Christian people. When folks wander by they think that Christian folks are like these judgmental, hateful, horrible name-calling kinds of people. And I think most Christians are not that way,” Bye said. Bye said it was ironic that the group demonstrated during Holy week, in which Good Friday and Easter Sunday are a celebration of grace and salvation. She encouraged those who have a different perspective of faith than the demonstrators to use this as an opportunity to “share how their Christian faith is different than this kind of hateful rhetoric.”
WSYC delivers listeners entertainment in pandemic Hannah Pollock Editor-in-Chief
Editor’s note: Interviews for this story were conducted in fall 2020. When Shippensburg University moved classes online due to the COVID-19 coronavirus last spring, many on-campus groups lost access to offices and had to cancel events. Members of WSYC (We Serve Your Community) 88.7 FM, the student-run radio station, lost access to their station in the Ceddia Union Building (CUB). The station’s general manager, adviser and other officials could not gain access to the studio. “It was just the same thing for hours and hours,” WSYC general manager Leah Fuoco, a senior communication/journalism major, said of the loop of music that played at the end of the spring 2020 semester. “That was a struggle because as a radio station you’re doing the same thing over and over.” WSYC also had to cancel its annual, “Up All Night” event, which is held every spring. During “Up All Night” WSYC members are on air for 24 hours giving away prizes includ-
ing concert tickets, restaurant gift cards and more to callers during shows. “Last semester [spring 2020] was the hardest when we shut down,” Fuoco said. WSYC members expected to return after spring break to continue broadcasting. “Everything stopped.” A year later, WSYC is back in action and held the student-favorite “Up All Night” from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on April 10. DJs gave away gift cards, Airpods, Squishmallows and more. But the road back into the studio was bumpy at times. As students returned to SU in the fall, they had to adapt to meet new rules and guidelines to keep everyone safe and healthy. For WSYC, this meant wearing masks off-air, social distancing, plexiglass dividers and lots of cleaning and sanitation. There were also limits to how many people could be in each room in the studio. The studio continues to follow these guidelines during the spring 2021 semester. The equipment in the studio is labeled with cleaning instructions along with bottles of disinfectants. For Fuoco, one of her biggest
President Laurie Carter. Carter announced on March 4 that she will depart the university this summer to take the same position at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Carter began her tenure at SU in August 2017 following the retirement of former president George “Jody” Harpster. SU community members expressed concerns of potential integration or consolidation during PASSHE Chancellor Daniel Greenstein’s virtual visit to campus on March 8. See “INTERIM,” A2
Officials work for R3 solution Noel Miller News Editor
Shippensburg University is continuing to get its on-campus rapid testing program back up and running. Officials stopped testing at the Raider Rapid Results (R3) Center in early March and modified testing protocols for SU campus community members. The lab that processed SU’s samples is located in Sunnyvale, California. State health department officials suspended the lab from analyzing samples because it did not have the correct outof-state permit. Pennsylvania Department of Health Deputy Press Secretary Maggi Barton said the ShieldT3 labs did not have a Pennsylvania clinical laboratory permit and could not continue testing the state’s samples until they had one. Neither ShieldT3 or university officials were aware of this requirement when R3
testing began, according to Barton. SU stopped the R3 testing after notification of the issue, according to Sue Mukherjee, SU chief strategy officer and senior associate provost. The university is working to get approval from the state health officials to begin testing in ShieldT3’s Washington, D.C., lab, which meets the health department’s out-of-state requirements, Mukherjee said. “Yes, we acknowledge challenges with our testing initiative but Shippensburg University and ShieldT3 have (and continue to) work on getting the R3 Testing Lab operational so we can serve the Shippensburg University community soon,” Mukherjee said. Mukherjee added that R3 testing should re-open by the end of April, however, it depends on how long it takes the department of health to process the Washington, D.C., lab’s permit.
See “SUPPORT,” A2
Hannah Pollock/The Slate
WSYC was able to host its annual “Up All Night” program last weekend. challenges as general manager is making sure everyone is keeping up with the new cleaning and distancing guidelines. However, there have been some unexpected benefits to the new routines. Fuoco said she thinks the extra cleaning is an added benefit and hopes that they will continue the practice long after the masks and social distancing are no longer needed. “It was hard, but we learned to overcome and adapt,” Fuoco said. “We’re just glad that we can do shows again and be on air.” WSYC held its general interest meeting
during the fall semester and gathered a lot of inquiries about becoming members of the station. The station ran about 30 shows during the fall semester, according to Fuoco. According to WSYC’s website, students are volunteers and any major is free to join the organization. Listeners can hear music, talk shows, news and more over the airwaves between Carlisle and Chambersburg, and also listen anytime online at wsyc-fm.squarespace.com.