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Pets of Pitt Page 6 The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | July 5, 2017 | Volume 108 | Issue 9

LAW DEAN TO RESIGN IN 2018

OLD GLORY

John Hamilton Editor-in-Chief

The dean of Pitt’s law school, William M. Carter Jr., is stepping down to return to teaching full-time, becoming the second Pitt dean ending their tenure next spring.

Carter’s decision comes soon after engineering dean Gerald Holder announced in May he will step down and return to the faculty. Carter and Holder will both leave their positions as dean after the 2017-18 academic year.

“I just feel that, after what will be six years of service ... it’s time for me to return to full-time teaching,” Carter told the Rich Brewer, a U.S. Army veteran from Buffalo, New York, leads a group in folding a 36-foot American flag at Heinz Tribune-Review.

Carter, 46, began as dean in 2012 and History Center Tuesday, July 4. John Hamilton EDITOR-IN-CHIEF has overseen the formation of two new institutes — the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy & Security and the Energy Law & Policy Institute — as well as six new legal clinics and practicums at Pitt Law. In a letter sent to the Pitt community outlining Carter’s time as dean, Provost Patricia Beeson pointed out the law school’s increased rankings since 2012.

The school is now ranked 50th by legal music department knew Allen throughout that famous jazz musicians of the last three decades Grant Burgman employers and 37th in graduate employentire career.

He detailed Allen’ s infl uence on — including bassist Esperanza Spalding and Staff Writer saxophonist Ornette Coleman — and earned the genre — both musically and in dealing with ment at the nation’s largest law firms, the Geri Allen, who made a profound impact on letter said. Additionally, law school apher various accolades such as the Guggenheim gender issues. both the jazz genre and her students at Pitt, died “As a musician, she was amazingly influ- plications increased by 15 percent, as naFellowship in 2008 and the Danish Jazzpar prize. of cancer on June 27 in Philadelphia. She was 60.

Later in her career, Allen returned to Pitt as ential,” said Johnson. “First dealing with all the tional applications dropped by about 40 Born and raised in Detroit, Allen studied an educator, becoming director of jazz studies at issues with women in jazz, which she did with percent. at Howard University before going on to earn Though some of Pitt Law’s rankgrace and dignity, but more importantly fusing Pitt in 2013. her Master’s degree in ethnomusicology at Pitt Allen released over 20 albums as a bandlead- the whole history of jazz piano styles into her ings have increased during Carter’s tenin 1982. Allen spent the next 30 years making ure, U.S. News and World Reports’ 2018 er, in addition to collaborating with countless very modern playing.” jazz records and touring the world. Her work as rankings place Pitt 82nd among U.S. law Throughout her career, Allen worked to other influential jazz artists. a pianist paired her alongside some of the most See Law Dean on page 3 See Allen on page 2 Aaron Johnson, an assistant professor in the

PITT REMEMBERS PROFESSOR, JAZZ ICON GERI ALLEN JUNE 12, 1957 - JUNE 27, 2017

News

Gallery: Fourth of July in Pittsburgh online

TRUSTEES ELECT MEMBERS, RENAME PA. HALL

John Hamilton Editor in Chief

Pitt’s Board of Trustees elected four new members, approved construction projects and renamed Pennsylvania Hall at their June 30 meeting.

Pennsylvania Hall — which has held that name since its construction in 2004 — is now named K. Leroy Irvis Hall to honor K. Leroy Irvis, a Pitt alumnus and long-serving speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who passed away in 2006.

This is one of many honors Pitt has bestowed on Irvis. He was among the first class of Pitt Legacy Laureates in 2000, re-

Allen, pg. 1 further the careers of other women in jazz through tributes in her performances and directing an all-female jazz residency program at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Johnson attributed Allen’s unique playing style to the influences of other great jazz artists such as Thelonious Monk and Andrew Hill and lesser remembered pianists such as Elmo Hope. But he made sure to note that she still maintained her own individual sound.

“In fusing those styles, she created her own voice, both in her remarkable playing, [and] in her amazing compositions,” Johnson said.

But for all of her accomplishments, Allen maintained her humility — according to Michael Heller, who worked with Allen as an assistant professor of music at Pitt.

“She was an incredible genius,” Heller, 36, said. “But it never got in the way of her treating everyone she interacted with with respect and gratitude.”

Heller spoke of Allen as a caring person — someone who wanted to take care of the needs of those around her.

“She never acted like she was the great genius Geri Allen,” Heller said. “She always acted like a neighbor or a colleague or a friend. She just acted like someone looking out for everyone’s best interest.”

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ceiving the distinguished alumni award from the law school in 2004. The renamed building won’t be the first piece of Pitt architecture to display his name either — Pitt established the K. Leroy Irvis Reading Room in Hillman Library in 2001.

The board also re-elected Eva Tansky Blum as board chair, a position she’s held since 2015, and elected four new members — Louis Cestello, Tamara Haddad, Jeannine Schoenecker and Shawndya Simpson.

Simpson was elected last year to the New York Supreme Court. She is a Pitt alum, having earned both her bachelor’s and law degree at the University, in addition to Pitt’s Distinguished Alumnae

Award.

Schoenecker currently works as the president and chief operating officer of the American Refining Group. She is the first woman to hold that role.

Previously working as journalist, producer and political advisor, Haddad founded the broadcast firm Haddad Media in 2007. She earned her degrees in communication and English literature at Pitt.

Cestello, the last of the four newly elected members, is PNC’s executive vice president, head of regional markets and regional president for Pittsburgh.

In addition to electing new members,

the board approved construction projects — including renovations to Alumni Hall, the Cathedral of Learning and Hillman.

A news release said, when combined with other approved projects, they will create over 500 jobs, but did not provide any further details on the specifics of the projects.

The board also discussed Pitt Titusville following an analysis released in June that listed several options for the future of the campus — including closure. The University plans to pursue options that involve Pitt partnering with other organizations and sharing the operation of the campus, according to the release.

Heller emphasized Allen’s dedication to her students — something those students took note of.

“If there was a student having trouble getting through one of their requirements she would call me up on the phone and try to strat-

her students advance in their studies.

“She offered her time, literally hours and hours, to lessons and discussions with students outside of class,” Bagnato said. “She was always interested in the progress of my projects and intent on inspiring, guiding and lifting each of

“I was in awe of her composure and professionalism even when contending with adolescent behavior,” he said. “She showed all of her students respect, from graduates to those just beginning their musical studies.”

Heller shared his appreciation for Allen as not just a friend, colleague and educator, but as an influential musician and talented pianist.

“I worked with her mostly as a faculty member and I would be in conversations with her about various academic things,” Heller said.

“Then three or four times a year I’d get to hear her perform and I’d remember that she is one of the great jazz voices of our time.”

Heller credits Allen’s complex playing for helping to create modern jazz.

“She was a virtuoso,” he said. “She had a way of creating interplay between her hands that pianists now are still catching up to. Pianists playing in 2017 have a lot to owe to her.”

Like Heller, even with Allen’s long, illustrious career as an artist, Johnson remembers Allen equally for her generosity as an educator.

“Geri was demanding of time and effort, but completely dedicated to being a great educator,” he said. “And much like the way jazz works on the stage, she let you shine and get your groove on.”

A viewing will be held July 7 in Newark, New Jersey at Bethany Baptist Church. There will be a service at the same location on the following day.

Photo courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh egize how to help every person,” Heller said.

One student, John Bagnato, currently a doctoral candidate, was in his second year when Allen became the program director. He said Allen went well beyond what was required in helping

her students.”

Bagnato remembered many of Allen’s qualities, including her dedication, intensity, kindness and patience. But it was perhaps her professionalism that most struck him.

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school to equal opportunity.”

University spokesperson Joe Miksch expressed Pitt’s gratitude for Carter’s schools, down from 71st in 2012. work as dean.

Among Carter’s goals when he was “The University respects his decision hired, he said he wanted to increase and is grateful for his accomplishments Pitt’s bar passage rate — 83 percent for as dean, which first time takers in include guiding 2012. Though that the school to adnumber jumped vances in teachsubstantially in ing, research and 2014 to 90 perpublic service,” he cent, the passage said. “It is of great rate fell to 76 perbenefit to Pitt that cent in 2016, lowhe will continue to er than Penn State contribute to the and Temple. school as a faculty Carter arrived member.” at Pitt in 2012 after Chancellor teaching at Case Patrick Gallagher Western Universaid the law school sity and Temple. made “strides forHe is well-known ward by many in the field for his measures” during work dealing with Carter in 2013 PITT NEWS FILE PHOTO Carter’s tenure. the Thirteenth “We shall miss Amendment. The first African-American his guidance, but we embrace his return dean at the law school, he said in 2012 he to the classroom where he will continue hoped his hiring would “project a stateto make a difference,” Gallagher said. ment about the commitment of Pitt’s law

Law Dean, pg. 1

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The Pitt News Editor-in-Chief JOHN HAMILTON editor@pittnews.com

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Opinions Editor

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Single copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each.

Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns, cartoons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter in tended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University affiliation, if any. Letters may be sent via e-mail to letters@pittnews.com. The Pitt News reserves the right to edit any and all letters. In the event of multiple replies to an issue, The Pitt News may print one letter that represents the majority of responses. Unsigned editorials are a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, listed to the left.

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3

Opinions column

from the editorial board

Pitt moves in the right direction on board representation, but has a long way to go The Board of Trustees at Pitt has some serious power — by its own words, the Board “retains ultimate responsibility for all University affairs,” meaning its diversity is all the more important.

Pitt appointed four new board members on June 30, three of whom are women. And while there’s still a lot of progress to be made on the path to equal representation, this crucial decision shows that Pitt’s seems to recognize the importance of diversity for both student representation and longterm success.

This comes at a crucial time — across the nation, women made up 57 percent of all college undergraduates, but a mere 28 percent of public university boards in 2010 — with Pitt sitting below that average.

During the past academic year, less than 20 percent of Pitt’s appointed voting board members were women — including an inexcusable zero women appointed to the board by the state government. And while the latest appointments will increase that percentage, it still won’t begin to compare to Pitt’s 52 percent female student body.

Of course, change takes time. Pitt cannot elect an entirely new board overnight, and therefore its decision to appoint more women should be one that happens each time new positions open.

And they have good reason to do so — recent findings show that the current disparity on many boards like Pitt’s harms the ability of boards to reflect

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the people they represent, and can negatively affect the quality of work they achieve as well.

Researchers at Catalyst and York University of Toronto found serious benefits to fixing the gender disparity, including better decision making, enhanced dialogue and higher quality of guidance to management. More diverse boards also yield higher client satisfaction, something that students and University partners should certainly care about.

The women that Pitt elected to its Board include one of Washingtonian’s Most Powerful Woman of 2015, the first female president and COO of American Refining Group and a New York State Supreme Court justice. The decision to elect these three women to four of the open positions signals that Pitt recognizes how crucial diversity is at the executive level, and is trying to achieve it.

Pitt could surely use a board that is well-equipped to handle high pressure situations, particularly during the State’s recurring budget crises — heterogenous boards are more effective at managing crises, according to the York study.

With students year after year calling for more transparency and a change to the culture of secrecy surround the board, Pitt could use a gender-heterogenous board that makes positive changes to boardroom culture.

Adding three new women to the board is a welcome start to fixing the problem, but we must hope that Pitt is able to continue this success.

FRATS PROMOTE DANGEROUS, ELITIST CULTURE

Christian Snyder Opinions Editor

At Penn State’s fraternity Beta Theta Pi’s Bid Night, on a cold February night in State College, Timothy Piazza fractured his skull and ruptured his spleen when he fell down a flight of stairs.

His fraternity brothers called an ambulance nearly 12 hours later after slapping him, sitting on him and repeatedly punching him in the stomach. Before help arrived, they tried to dress his stiff, unresponsive body in order to make his body appear more normal, according to reporting based on a courtroom video.

18 members of the now-closed chapter of Beta Theta Pi are facing nearly 1,500 criminal charges — including eight charges of involuntary manslaughter — but it will not be enough to make up for the death of Tim Piazza. It will be not enough to change the persistent, dangerously elitist culture that enables Greek life’s perpetual success. The only thing that will be enough at this point is to put an end to Greek life’s elitist, dangerous culture.

Piazza’s story may be the most vivid, due to the fraternity house’s security cameras, but it certainly isn’t unique. Chun Deng died during hazing rituals at a Baruch College fraternity in 2015.

David Bogenberger died in 2012 from alcohol poisoning at California State University during a fraternity hazing event. The list goes on and on — and doesn’t end with manslaughter.

A Georgia Tech fraternity was disbanded in 2013 after circulating an email titled “Luring your Rapebait.”

A University of Oklahoma fraternity gained national infamy after a video of its explicitly racist chant went viral in 2015.

Each of these fraternities isn’t unique. Each

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of these incidents isn’t unique. Even the students aren’t unique — these aren’t cases of outliers.

Members of fraternities are three times as likely to commit sexual assault or rape. There has been at least one hazing-related death on a college campus every year since 1970.

And this elitist, inbred culture doesn’t just harm individuals. A fraternity in California was charged with chopping down nearly three dozen trees in a U.S. National Park. One group threw a “Clemson Cripmas” party in 2015, where fraternity brothers dressed as gang members.

Greek organizations, which purport to build brotherhoods and sisterhoods, are found at the centers of scandals so often now that their existence negates their principles. Take Beta Theta Pi, for example, the fraternity responsible for Piazza’s death. Their core values include mutual assistance, trust, responsible conduct and integrity, according to their website. Clearly these values were tossed aside the night of Piazza’s death, but it wasn’t the first time.

Every time someone blacks out at a party and is shown the curb, mutual assistance is violated.

Every time alcohol or illegal drugs are provided to underage students, responsible conduct is violated.

Every time someone is sexually assaulted, every single principle is violated.

Behavior like this all rests on a core principle of Greek culture on college campuses — elitism.

And the specific type of elitism that fraternities breed is overwhelmingly white and male. Racist party themes and racist chants are all too commonplace in frats but it’s more systemic than that — a 2010 study found that only 3.8 percent of members from eight east coast fraternities identified as non-white in 2006.

See Fraternities on page 5

4

Fraternities, pg. 4 When it comes to gender, regulations that prevent sororities from serving alcohol give fraternities all the power, reinforcing a patriarchal system.

When it comes to class, the cost of fraternities is often prohibitively high for students of lower-income backgrounds. The cost of living in fraternity housing can total over $30,000 through the course of students’ fraternity years, making it inaccessible for those who can’t afford such high living costs.

And just like with race or gender, classbased segregation is more systemic than the individual — at Princeton, one of the few schools that collects demographic data on Greek life, less than 5% of Greek life members came from lower to middle class families, compared to the school’s 21% of freshman from the same income brackets.

This larger, more structural type of insular elitism is why even in the face of persistently horrifying headlines like Tim Piazza’s, fraternities are still able to succeed. 85 percent of US Supreme Court justices, 76 percent of US congressmen, 80 percent of Fortune 500 executives and nearly every president belonged to fraternities, according to Cornell University.

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Greek-letter organizations even have a political Super PAC representing them in front of our lawmakers — Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee — that pushed bills that would limit college rape investigations.

It’s not to say that providing these types

of opportunities is wrong. For those that seek them and use the system to their benefit, they have a much greater chance at success. But the problem is that regardless of how much it benefits individual students or how many “good guys” there are in fraternities, the system per-

Fraternity men make up

only 2%

of the male population in America, but hold...

80% 76%

of Fortune 500 executive positions of congressional seats

Information sourced from Cornell University, 2014 Jordan Mondell LAYOUT EDITOR

July 5, 2017

petuates and normalizes class-, race- and gender-based discrimination.

In response to realizing the dangers that fraternities represent, many people — from journalists in the business world to researchers publishing peer-reviewed academic journals — are calling for serious changes to the way Greek life exists in the larger college experience.

But just like nearly 1,500 criminal charges won’t be enough, even serious change won’t work anymore. Fraternity culture is so entrenched with rape culture, binge drinking culture and racist attitudes that nothing could save them now. It’s time for colleges and their students to stand up against these prejudiced institutions to protect the well-being of the greater student body.

Fraternities respond to claims like this with defense. Usually using the principles of friendship, philanthropy, leadership and integrity to justify their existence, and even necessitate it.

But no amount of philanthropy and no number of friends could ever be justification for the bare facts — Greek life is where elitist culture thrives and where its evils manifest, and we shouldn’t stand by as it continues.

Christian is the Opinions Editor. He primarily writes on social justice and campus issues.

Write to him at cgs197@pitt.edu

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Culture

GALLERY: Anthrocon hits PGH online

Pets of Pitt:

STUDENTS FIND FURRY FRIENDS ON CAMPUS

W

inston prowls around a house on Bates Street — meowing, knocking things over with his black-and-white paws and chewing on the mail. For Georgia Vidal, a college student with a limited budget, housing space and time, her cat is a handful.

Vidal, a fifth-year senior majoring in media and professional communications, didn’t plan on having a pet in college. That is, until she saw a friend’s Instagram and Facebook photos of foster kittens, and fell in love with a cat she later named after Winston Bishop from the Fox television show “New Girl.”

Since she adopted Winston he can be found either playfully sprawled out on his back on the carpet in Vidal’s house or staring out the window with sharp, green eyes at the South Oakland streets. Vidal picked him from a shelter as an attempt to curb the loneliness in the large house she moved into with a couple of housemates.

“I have a companion when I’m around,” Vidal said. “I’m a cat person, and I grew up with animals. When I moved initially, the house felt really empty, and I was like, ‘It would be cute if there was a little cat walking around.’”

As students go off campus and settle into apartments and houses, many opt to adopt pets — if pets are allowed. But with academic, social and financial pressures, students face challenges while caring for their animals.

“It’s kind of expensive,” Vidal said, explaining that with cat food at $7 to $10, and litter at $11, she spends about extra twenty dollars a month providing for her cat.

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By Prachi Patel, Staff Writer Vidal faces other challenges, like being woken up as early as 5:45 a.m. to put out cat food, not being able to ride home on a bus with a cat and not being able to let Winston outside because of the potential dangers of Oakland streets.

And with unpredictable hours at her job as a server, she doesn’t always know when she’ll get to see Winston.

“Sometimes I’ll feed him, and I don’t know when I’ll come home. So that’s kind of difficult — leaving him and knowing that no one is home,” Vidal said. “I can’t even let him outside to explore, so I do feel bad that I leave for the day, and then he’s kind of just like bored.”

Vidal is committed to the long-term care of Winston and knew before adopting that she would be more equipped to care for a cat than a dog. She suggests students considering adopting a pet be aware of the needs and life span of their prospective animal.

“Know the animal you’re getting yourself into, because it’s not just going to be for the next six months, it’s going to be for as long as they live,” Vidal said. “I’m going to have this cat until I’m 35. It’s a big commitment — I would say as much as [having] a kid.”

Pitt students looking for an animal friend without the commitment of caring for a dog or cat may turn to adopting a fish through the sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi’s annual goldfish fundraiser.

“A lot of people really love it,” said Megan Heintz, a political science and gender, sexuality and women’s studies double major and religious studies minor, who will be vice

Top: Students pet a Pyrenees during a Therapy Dog Tuesday in the Cathedral of Learning last fall. John Hamilton EDITOR IN CHIEF Bottom: Georgia Vidal adopted her cat, Winston, when she moved off campus Jordan Mondell CONTRIBUTING EDITOR president of finance and philanthropy for the sorority next year.

While Pitt’s Residential Handbook, mentions a strict no-pet policy in residence halls and campus apartments, small fish bowls under one gallon of water capacity are allowed in university housing, according to Steve Anderson, the associate dean and director of residence life.

This makes adopting a goldfish an option for all students, regardless of whether they live on or off campus.

“People usually think the fish will die quickly, but they don’t,” Heintz said. “The majority of people that get [goldfish] love the fish

July 5, 2017

and take care of the fish, which is really good.”

The sale takes place in Towers and Sutherland lobbies, with AEPhi providing students with a fish, a glass bowl, gravel and starter fish food for $5. Although no date has been finalized for the upcoming fall 2017 goldfish sale, it has taken place in November in past years.

For this year’s sale, Heintz plans to share a pamphlet with students purchasing a fish explaining proper goldfish care.

“A lot of the freshmen are homesick and they want to buy a fish, but don’t know how to take care of it,” Heintz said. “We want to give people a little friend to have with them, See Pets on page 7

6

Pets, pg. 6 but we tell them, ‘If you don’t have the time, don’t do it.’”

Marsha Robbins, a dog trainer and the creator of the Therapy Dog Tuesdays program at Pitt, agrees that college students may not have enough time to care for a pet. Unless it’s an animal that can be easily cared for in a cage or tank, Robbins doesn’t think it’s a good idea for students to adopt their own pets.

“College students like to have fun — they like to have a social life,” Robbins said. “If you [care for a pet] properly, there’s a lot of responsibility and time and dedication involved, and that’s a lot to pay on top of the demands of a college student.”

Robbins says a college student lifestyle cannot provide the exercise, mental stimulation, grooming, food and veterinary care required to support an active animal. To provide an alternative to students who cannot support a pet, but seek the comfort and emotional support of an animal, Robbins developed the Therapy Dogs Tuesday program at Pitt almost 15 years ago.

“Here, we’ll take care of the dogs, you come and love them,” Robbins said. “You

don’t have to pay for them, you don’t have to walk them, you don’t have to take them out to the bathroom at 5 a.m. You just have to come and love them.”

And Pitt students — many who have pets of their own at home — do flock around the therapy dogs at the Cathedral to show their love. According to Robbins, around 300-500 students come every Tuesday to pet the dogs near the start of the fall semester.

“We can offer support to hundreds of students each term,” Robbins said. “Kids will emanate towards dogs that they can identify with. So if they’ve got a big fluffy dog at home, they like hanging out with the big fluffy dogs in the Cathedral. If they’ve got a tiny little dog at home, they like hanging out with the teeny little dogs in the Cathedral.”

For Pitt students who cannot adopt a pet, but want to interact with a variety of animals without the crowds of Therapy Dog Tuesdays, Pitt’s Animal Lover’s Club provides more animal interaction options.

Although the club’s primary goal is to fundraise for struggling local animal shelters, the club also strives to maximize student interactions with animals by scheduling animal-related events and bringing a pet to every general body meeting.

Club members have brought dogs, cats and even a pig to meetings in the past, according to Zoe Simpson, a sophomore psychology major and studio arts minor who will be the vice president of the Animal Lover’s club next year.

“Usually they’re rescue animals,” Simpson said. “You get to hear stories about how the rescue process works and what the animals’ backgrounds are — so that’s great.”

Compared to crowds at Therapy Dog Tuesdays, Simpson appreciates how the club allows for intimate interactions with animals.

“It’s in a smaller group setting, so you can have one-on-one with animals, whereas Therapy Dog Tuesdays gets kind of out of hand,” Simpson said.

Each year the club takes a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, where club members get a behind-the-scenes look at the work done by zoo-keepers and how employees work with animals.

“We actually went to the lions’ enclosure, and I got to see a 300 pound adult lioness from like five feet away,” Simpson said. “It was crazy.”

Simpson will be moving off-campus next year, but despite her interest in ani-

mals, she won’t adopt a pet because her new apartment is not pet-friendly. In the future she would love to foster an animal or temporarily care for an animal before it gets adopted to a permanent home.

“I know a lot of people who have fostered animals at school and they’ve had success,” Simpson said. “It’s a great thing when you want to have an animal for a couple months, but don’t want to adopt for the entirety of its life.”

Whether it means caring for their own animal, or visiting Animal Lovers Club or Therapy Dog Tuesdays, Pitt students have plenty of ways to catch a glimpse of a whiskered face or a wagging tail.

Robbins agrees that having pets on campus benefits students. She thinks bringing friendly dogs who love to nuzzle up against Pitt students is another way to make a difference in a college student’s life.

“It feeds your soul,” Robbins said. “It makes us feel like we may be doing something to affect the future. On a night when [students] are feeling particularly down, instead of going out and getting drunk, they can come and pet the dogs. Maybe we’re teaching them healthy ways of coping with stuff.”

The Pitt News SuDoku 7/5/17 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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July 5, 2017

7

Sports

FALL SPORTS Return to Greatness: PREVIEW: MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SOCCER Ryan Zimba Sports Editor

With the start of the school year fast approaching, each of the fall sports teams are beginning to gear up for their 2017 seasons.

In August, training camps will start before the Panthers take to the field toward the end of the month.

So over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to take a look at where each team — except football — stands and what they’ll need to do in order to succeed. Up first are the men’s and women’s soccer teams, which are both coming off hugely underwhelming seasons in 2016.

Men’s Soccer The men’s soccer team continued its recent history last season by finishing with a losing record for the 16th consecutive year. After starting 2-2-1, the squad was consistently outplayed in the ACC, finishing 0-6-2 in conference play.

Despite the poor record, there were some positives second-year Head Coach Jay Vidovich can build upon. Notably, then-redshirt freshman goaltender Mikal Outcalt was spectacular all year and was one of the reasons the Panthers were able to keep many of their losses close.

Outcalt ranked near the top of the conference in several statistical categories, including finishing first in saves with 88 and save percentage — where he finished third at .815.

Find the full preview online at

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Basketball alums compete in annual tournament Former point guard Levance Fields handles the ball during Pitt’s 78-76 loss to Villanova in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. TNS

Steve Rotstein

Senior Staff Writer More than seven years after Pitt’s memorable run to the Elite Eight came up just short against Villanova, then-Panthers point guard Levance Fields got another chance to reach a different Final Four — this time with $2 million on the line.

But just like that loss in the 2009 Regional Final, Fields and his team of Pitt alums walked off the court in defeat after a heart-wrenching finish. This time around, it wasn’t the NCAA tournament he and his teammates were knocked out of — it was the 2016 edition of The Basketball Tournament.

Like March Madness, TBT — founded in 2014 by Jon Mugar — is an annual five-onfive, single-elimination basketball tournament. But instead of just bragging rights, the

64 teams are competing for a winner takes all $2 million prize.

Fields helped lead a new team of Pitt alumni known as The Untouchables to three wins in a row in the 2016 TBT, including a win over a team of Syracuse alums in a renewal of the classic Big East rivalry. But after jumping out to a 13-point halftime lead over No. 1-seeded City of Gods in the Elite Eight, The Untouchables let the advantage slip away in the second half of an 85-79 defeat.

“It’s a terrible feeling,” Fields said. “It brought back the emotions and memories of being close and not making it to the Final Four, especially this being an even bigger prize with $2 million on the line.”

Fields, of course, was one of the “Big Three” — along with forward Sam Young and center DeJuan Blair — on Pitt’s 2008-

July 5, 2017

09 team. That team ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the country for the first time in school history and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, only to lose on a last-second shot by Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds in the 2009 Elite Eight.

A senior at the time, Fields had just hit two clutch free throws with six seconds left to tie the game, only to watch Reynolds put an end to his college career. This time, though, Fields has a shot at redemption — but with an entirely new cast of teammates.

Former Pitt guard Brad Wanamaker, another star on last year’s TBT team and a standout professional player in Germany, will miss this year’s tournament while getting set to compete in the NBA’s Summer League. Several other players got hurt, so the See Alumni Basketball on page 9

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Alumni Basketball, pg. 8

succeeded Fields as Pitt’s point guard from 2009-2012 and enjoyed a successful career while leading the Panthers to a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Gibbs may act as more of a scorer while Fields plays the role of distributor, but he should be able to help lighten Fields’ load this time around.

“It’s going to be fun. I think we complement each other well,” Fields said. “Me being able to break down the defense, him being a shooter. I think it should help and I look forward to it.”

Fields said it was a great experience getting to reunite with his former teammates last year, even if it didn’t end as planned.

And although he says the team’s mindset is to take things “one game at a time,” the Brooklyn native is well aware that if the team makes it through the first two rounds in Philadelphia, he’ll have the opportunity to play the next two games in his hometown.

“Without question, without trying to look forward, that’s definitely enticing knowing the Sweet 16 round is in Brooklyn, getting a chance to play in front of my family and friends if I make it that far,” Fields said. “That’s why we’re trying to take it one

game at a time, focus on [first-round opponent] Sideline Cancer and go from there.”

If Fields and the No. 5-seeded Zoo Crew do make it back to the Sweet 16, they’ll likely run into some familiar faces. The Northeast Region’s No. 1 seed goes by the name FCM Untouchables, made up of many of Fields’ former TBT teammates.

And maybe if they make it past the Elite Eight and into the Final Four, they’ll get a shot at the No. 1 seed in the South Region and two-time defending champion Overseas Elite.

With a lineup including local hoops legends D.J. Kennedy and DeAndre Kane of Schenley High School, Overseas Elite’s roster was already scary, and their championship pedigree is undeniable. With a threepeat now in reach, they went out and added the 6-foot-7, 270-pound Blair — their former high school teammate and one of the best players in Pitt basketball history.

Pitt alums vs. Schenley grads. Fields vs. Blair, eight years later. One can dream, right?

The Basketball Tournament begins Saturday, July 8. Zoo Crew faces No. 12 seed Sideline Cancer in its first-round matchup in Philadelphia.

The Pitt news crossword 7/5/17

remaining members of The Untouchables merged with a team from Baltimore. Fields, meanwhile, decided to start from scratch with a new group of some old friends.

He and General Manager Aron Minkoff scrambled to put together a team in the last two months, making calls to former Panthers who were still in game shape and interested in competing again. They emerged in early May with a new lineup and a new name inspired by Pitt’s student section — the Zoo Crew.

Fields recruited his former Pitt teammate, power forward Tyrell Biggs. Minkoff, with Fields’ help, found six more former Panthers — guards Ashton Gibbs, Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon and forwards Chevy Troutman, Levon Kendall and John DeGroat.

But Minkoff, a Temple University alum, still thought there was something missing — so he reached out to former Temple sharpshooter Jesse Morgan.

“I was thinking, ‘What else do we need?’

We have Ashton and Ronald, who was always a good 3-point shooter but is more of a mid-range guy now,” Minkoff said. “We

didn’t have a guy who could go off for a 30or 40-point game at any moment, which is what Jesse did at Temple.”

The Zoo Crew also needed a new coach, as last year’s coach Brandon Driver is still with The Untouchables. So Minkoff — a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School — again tapped into his past connections, bringing on Allderdice Head Coach Buddy Valinsky, the 2016 PIAA Class AAAA Coach of the Year.

“If you look at all the great teams, they all have great coaches. That’s why we went out and got Buddy,” Minkoff said. “I think he’ll really be the X factor for us.”

Valinsky, though, seems content to let Fields run the show until his input is needed.

“Being a point guard as I played in college, I know the point guard is usually the coach on the floor, and that’s where I’ll be leaning heavily on Levance Fields,” Valinsky said. “He knows how to run it, he knows who’s hot, who’s not. He will be the extension on the court and I will piggy back off him when he needs some help.”

Fields won’t be the only floor general in the Zoo Crew’s backcourt, as he and Gibbs will likely split time at the position. Gibbs

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