A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.
Lawrence Ukenye Editor-in-Chief
Julia Merola Print Managing Editor
Fallon Roth Digital Managing Editor
Megan Phillips Chief Print Copy Editor
Kayla Maguire Chief Digital Copy Editor
Devon Russell Assistant News Editor
Justin Roig News Staff Writer
Shriya Gohel News Staff Writer
Oliver Sabo News Staff Writer
Sarah Frasca Opinion Editor
Molly Fiske Assistant Opinion Editor
Duay Augustine Assistant Features Editor
Sofia Kasbo Features Staff Writer
Nick Gangewere Sports Editor
Javon Edmonds Assistant Sports Editor
Samuel O’Neal Assistant Sports Editor
Maggie Fitzgerald Director of Audience Engagement
Emily Lewis Public Engagement Coordinator
Taylor Hargraves Audience Engagement Editor
Sara Wexler Audience Engagement Editor
Chris Duong Sports Social Media Manager
Earl Kufen Photo Editor
Robert Cruz Assistant Photo Editor
Nate Pullano Multimedia Editor
Will Colavito Multimedia Editor
Joelle Pacheco Print Design Editor
Allyson Tharp Graphic Design Editor
Isabella Medina Web Editor
Rachel Townsend Data Editor
Olivia Hall Podcast Editor
Rose Mastrangelo Advertising Manager
Matthew Eaton Advertising Manager
Kurt Nolasco Business Manager
The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.
Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.
Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.
The Editorial Board is made up of The Temple News’ Editor-inChief, Managing Editor, Digital Managing Editor, Chief Copy Editors, and Opinion Editors. The views expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News staff.
John Mangan stands holding his phone near a Temple University Police Department station on Jan. 30.
ROBERT CRUZ / THE TEMPLE NEWSAccuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Lawrence Ukenye at editor@temple-news.com.
The project would be carried out by the university’s project delivery group as opposed to a city agency.
ty crashes in the city between 2014 and 2018, according to the May 2021 OTIS
BY JUSTIN ROIG
Staff Writer
Temple University is adding a speed bump on Beasley’s Walk near Broad Street after a fatal accident killed a pedestrian there in the fall.
The incident involved a motorist pulling out of Beasley’s Walk and striking and killing a pedestrian, FOX 29 reported. The intersection where the accident took place is highly trafficked by personal vehicles entering and exiting the parking area and trucks serving the businesses on Liacouras Walk and in 1940 Residence Hall’s truck loading bay.
The university regularly evaluates alternative traffic control measures and is considering black, rubber speed bumps, wrote Jonathan Reiter, associate vice president of operations and finance, in an email to The Temple News.
The university has not yet outlined a timeline for the project.
Following the accident, students have questioned whether traffic calming measures would be added to the intersection.
Currently, there is a stop sign facing Broad Street at Beasley’s Walk. In the past, Temple’s Office of Parking Services has installed traffic calming measures, like retractable bollards, which are poles that can be lowered or raised to allow or block vehicle entry, in areas where pedestrian traffic is prioritized, like at Liacouras and Polett Walks.
“This contemplated modification is in line with other additional traffic-calming measures that have been, and are continuing to be, considered by Temple throughout our campus, but with a focus on campus access points to Broad Street,” Reiter wrote.
North Philadelphia had the highest number of pedestrian injury and fatali-
Vision Zero plan. Vision Zero is an initiative that promotes the implementation of traffic safety policies used in Europe in the United States.
The study found that pedestrian accidents were more likely to occur on arterial roads, highly trafficked main streets or thoroughfares, like Broad Street, and near transit stops and at schools. Broad Street and Beasley’s Walk is near the Broad and Norris Streets bus stop and several campus buildings.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to improving pedestrian safety, according to the report. However, the general recommendation for city planners and traffic engineers is to reduce roadway speeds, pedestrian crossing distances and conflicts with roadway users.
Louis Jackson, a freshman criminal justice major, witnessed the accident on Nov. 17. They believe drivers generally treat stop signs as suggestions and think there is a need for more traffic calming measures.
“Honestly, I’m surprised it took them this long,” Jackson said. “The crash happened right before fall break and we’re just hearing about it now.”
Jackson also thinks that Temple understands the need for safe pedestrian environments and hopes they create that environment on Beasley’s Walk.
“Honestly, Temple understands that we need a safe walkable campus,” Jackson said. “I mean, that’s why Liacouras Walk and the other areas exist and they just need to uphold their commitment to the health and safety of the students and anyone who walks on our campus.”
Kieran Elliot, a freshman art undeclared major, also thinks traffic calming measures are necessary to prevent accidents in the future.
“I think it would be a good idea to ensure that that doesn’t happen again,” Elliot said. “Because that was definitely traumatizing for the people who not only witnessed it, but the people who saw the aftermath of it.”
justin.roig@temple.edu
Students affiliated with Keep Us Safe TU, an Instagram, Twitter and TikTok account that highlights crimes near Main Campus, met with Jennifer Griffin, the vice president for public safety on Dec. 20 to discuss students’ campus safety concerns.
Griffin reached out to John Mangan, a senior finance major and one of the managers of KUSTU, to correct previous KUSTU posts that contained inaccuracies.
“The meeting was just really to introduce everybody, to talk about campus safety, to talk about the information that they get and how we go through a validating process when we get information from anything,” Griffin said. “If we get a call for service for shots fired, how we go through and kind of handle that here as the campus safety level.”
Mangan created the Instagram account in November, with the goal of holding Temple accountable for a lack of transparency in reporting crimes near campus. KUSTU is managed by Mangan, along with Temple students Nate Weinberg, Sophie Marcotte, Sophie Mettille, Adam Pysher and Maya Showell.
The page has been gaining popularity and has more than 4,000 followers on Instagram since launching in November, becoming a source for students looking to stay updated regarding off-campus safety.
The team’s strategy for posting consists of two main processes. First, the victim of a crime reaches out to KUSTU if it happened in the Temple University Police patrol zone, then KUTSU follows up to confirm details from a police source from Philly Crime Update, a social media account that reports crimes in the city of Philadelphia, Mangan said.
KUSTU also monitors different neighborhood safety apps, like Citizen, and waits for confirmed reports from police before posting on their own account.
During the group’s meeting with Griffin, they discussed what students feel is a lack of communication from the university regarding incidents, like an arson incident at a rowhouse on Cleveland Street near Norris on Nov. 15 and home invasions on Nov. 11 and Nov. 21, said Mangan, a senior finance major.
They also discussed the expanded FLIGHT shuttle service, the new manager of messaging and communications position and promises made by the university to increase security after the fatal shooting of a Temple student last year.
Griffin offered KUSTU insight as to the university’s improved security measures, and proposed working together to discuss potential solutions to enhancing student safety like installing lights and other system upgrades, Mangan said.
Mangan founded the account because he believes Temple’s current methods of alerting students aren’t effective, like instances in which the university has reported incidents days or weeks after they occurred.
“It seems like a lot of the information was people were hearing from secondhand sources and from students,” Mangan said. “We weren’t getting any
statements from Temple.”
Griffin’s department is working to hire a manager of messaging and communications to improve informing students about campus safety issues.
“This person’s sole job will be really to develop soon and enhance our communication and as part of those enhancements the public safety website is currently being completely redesigned to increase our transparency, engagement and even locating information and resources for our community,” Griffin said.
In January 2022, Temple created the Violence Reduction Task Force, composed of students, employees, parents and community members, to examine existing violence reduction measures at Temple and efforts at other institutions and collaborations violence reduction and communication strategies.
The account is more relevant to students who live off campus, and it’s a useful page, said Hannah Palmer, a freshman secondary education social studies major.
“It’s not really as relevant for me since I do live on campus,” Palmer said. “It’s really nice for people that do live off
campus to get alerts as to what’s going on and I feel like [KUSTU is] pretty on it unlike TUalert EMER is now and like Citizen as well.”
Palmer believes that the KUSTU team meeting with Griffin is a positive first step towards improving campus safety, she said.
“It’s a good thing, but has Jennifer Griffin really done anything?” Palmer said. “I don’t know, I think it’s a good first step, but we can always work towards better things and I haven’t seen any immediate action done other than that town hall.”
The university needs to take a more active role in addressing campus safety concerns, said Kaylie McCallion, a freshman health professions major, who uses KUTSU to stay alert on crimes that happen around campus.
“I think it’s kind of in the university’s hands at this point, they have to want to make a difference,” McCallion said. “These students can only take things so far, so I think the university really needs to step up and do their part in this situation.”
justin.roig@temple.edu
The fall semester for Temple Student Government was one marked by collaboration with student organizations, advocating for public safety efforts and engaging voters ahead of a significant midterm election.
During the Spring, TSG plans to continue working with Jennifer Griffin, vice president of public safety, to help address campus safety issues, and prepare for the upcoming TSG elections.
“In terms of the overall success of the semester, I would say we were very successful in terms of outreach, communication and advocacy,” said Student Body President Gianni Quattrocchi.
Here is what TSG accomplished in the Fall along with some of their goals for the Spring.
This past semester, TSG helped restore Temple’s chapter of It’s On Us, a national campaign created by the Obama administration that raises awareness for sexual violence survivors and allies across universities, called Student Activists Against Sexual Assault.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Temple’s previous chapter of It’s On Us failed to renew its status as a campaign, however TSG reached out to SAASA to restore Temple’s chapter status, Quattrocchi said.
TSG will work with It’s On Us chapter and SAASA to help support students, spread awareness on sexual assault and push for expanded sexual assault prevention policy at Temple.
TSG also aimed to address students’ basic needs on campus by hosting events, like a Campus Hunger Resource Table in November that provided information and resources on food security, the Cherry Pantry Food Drive and a Basic Needs Workshop curated by The Hope Center for College, Community and Justice.
They also focused on increasing
student feedback by hosting bi-weekly town halls and requiring student organizations to attend one TSG town hall every two months.
On Monday, Jan. 23, Quattrocchi joined Griffin, President Jason Wingard and TSG at a campus safety town hall to discuss Temple’s safety efforts, the Temple University Police Department and the challenges of addressing public safety. TSG will host another campus safety town hall on Feb. 2.
Additionally, TSG worked with Griffin to voice student concerns about campus safety. Griffin spoke at TSG town halls and roundtables with student organization leaders and campus safety members to discuss Temple’s existing safety services and areas of campus safe-
ty where students would like to see improvement.
After Quattrocchi voiced his concerns in the fall semester about FLIGHT, Temple’s fixed-route shuttle service, not including 10th Street where University Village, Kardon Atlantic, Apex on Diamond and the Regional Rail station are located, the service expanded its route to incorporate an East Loop on Jan. 14
“At TSG, we’re always working with university partners and administrators,” Quattrocchi said. “I meet with campus safety on a weekly basis.”
During the midterm election season, TSG worked with university administration to emphasize civic engagement on campus. TSG promoted general information about the midterms, hosted elected officials, like U.S. House Rep.
Brendan Boyle and State Rep. Jordan Harris, organized a civic engagement fair and provided stamps for students who were voting by mail.
TSG also met with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and State Sen. Sharif Street to talk about issues like college affordability, public transit and public safety.
TSG’s spring elections will include two application periods for students who want to run for a particular position. The campaign season will begin with the announcement of the initial candidate and conclude with students casting online ballots for candidates and potential referendums. The inauguration will take place in late April or early May.
“I’m going to have as little input over the elections as possible,” Quattrocchi said.
shriya.gohel@temple.edu
Temple University is preparing to renovate and expand Paley Hall, with exterior demolition set to begin in February. Scheduled to reopen in Fall 2025, the reimagined building will be the new home of the College of Public Health and a centerpiece of Main Campus.
On Nov. 18, the university announced that Paley will undergo a 150,000-square-foot renovation and a 160,000-square-foot expansion, which will include the addition of a fourth floor and construction on the east side of the building toward 12th Street, said James Templeton, university architect and assistant vice president for the Project Delivery Group, a group that leads projects through planning, design and construction.
The building will feature classrooms, collaborative spaces and a teaching kitchen, said Jennifer Ibrahim, the interim dean of the College of Public Health.
The building will also include a simulation center for clinical instruction that will recreate hospital and outpatient facilities and multiple situations reflective of the health care in the North Philadelphia community, including an EMS ambulance simulation.
“We really see this as an ideal training ground, and it also opens the door for other disciplines to come and work in that space, as well,” Ibrahim said. “So I think that’s something that’s really going to kind of be the gem of the building.”
The opening of the completed building will mark the first time that all programs in CPH will call one space their home. The college is currently spread out across at least 12 buildings on the Main and Health Sciences Campuses.
The initial interior demolition started during winter break and exterior demolition will begin in mid-to-late February, said Martin Droz, associate
vice president for the Project Delivery Group.
Final bids for construction on the project are expected to be submitted by early February, at which point the university will decide on a contractor and determine a final cost, Droz said.
Renovations are set to begin early this summer and construction on the addition will begin late summer or early fall. The design process has been completed and accounts for as much usable space as possible and plenty of natural light.
The building’s facade and north entrance will also be entirely redone while preserving as much of the existing structure as possible. The design will emphasize windows, a large lobby and an atrium to allow for more light than Paley currently has access to.
“That’s the overall biggest design challenge, a building that didn’t want
daylight in it because it was a library, now we’re trying to make sure has the most daylight of almost any building on campus,” Templeton said.
The design team focused on matching the theme of other recent landscape projects with the Bell Tower area, and plans on preserving lawn space and creating both covered and uncovered outdoor areas to promote physical activity.
Both Droz and Templeton believe that building off the current structure is challenging, but very doable. The Project Delivery Group is planning for Paley Hall to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
LEED is a green building rating system that measures the sustainability of a building, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Project Delivery Group also intends to obtain a LEED Silver Certification, and design teams for the univer-
sity produced plans with rain gardens, detention basins and other permeable surface areas to reach it, Templeton said.
Temple is also pursuing a WELL certification, which measures the health and well-being of the building’s occupants, Templeton said. Kitchenettes for workers and inviting cafe spaces are among the certification efforts being made.
As renovations begin, Pollett Walk will be unaffected by construction, most of which will be contained to the area immediately surrounding the building. The lawn area right next to the building will be under construction but the project will ultimately create more green space, Droz said.
The groundbreaking for the project will be on April 3, the first day of National Public Health Week, Ibrahim said.
oliver.sabo@temple.edu
@oliversabo20
On Jan. 23, the Task Force on Mental Health and Wellness provided recommendations for Temple University to improve mental health care divided into three areas of focus: culture and climate, services and support and administration.
Temple is establishing a Health and Well-being Division and dedicating $1 million annually to mental health and wellness on campus. The funding will be used to hire additional counselors, support and retain current counselors and aid the growth of mental health services. With the planned increase of available counselors, more students will be able to receive personalized mental health care.
The Editorial Board encourages Temple to follow through with the task force’s recommendations by communicating updates to students via email to ensure that all students can access adequate mental health resources.
Many college students deal with mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, and 61 percent of college students seek counseling for anxiety, depression and academic performance, among other issues, according to The American Institute of Stress.
As many students experience the burden of mental illness, Temple must ensure the $1 million allocated in funding is used to hire more counselors who help students struggling with mental illness and create a designated location for students and faculty to receive counseling at the Health Sciences Campus.
In addition to implementing the recommendations, Temple should allocate some of the fund-
ing toward hiring a communications person to update students on new developments for mental health and wellness on campus.
The Health and Well-being Division would combine Student and Employee Health Services, Tuttleman Counseling Services and the Wellness Resource Center under one organizational structure. Temple will now have a single entity for mental health and wellness on campus.
In the past, students have experienced difficulties related to scheduling and wait times at Tuttleman Counseling. Combining these entities should hold all mental health and well-being services to the same standard, and ensure students can access the resources they need without the added frustration previously reported.
Students could hold Temple accountable for providing the best services for their mental health if the university directly communicates with students if and when improvements are made to Tuttleman Counseling and the Health and Well-being Division.
Temple students and employees can access the Wellness Resource Center’s services and additional resources by heading to their website.
Temple can best support its students’ physical and mental health and wellness by following the Task Force on Mental Health and Wellness’ recommendations and communicating with students about their progress.
STUDENT LIFEIn 2017, SheaMoisture, a previously Black-owned hair care brand for women of color, posted an anti-hair hate campaign video featuring two white women with straight hair and only one Black woman with curly hair on Facebook and received backlash from their Black consumers. SheaMoisture previously took pride in meeting the needs of women of color, but the brand adjusted its formula to allegedly attract white customers with straight hair, Teen Vogue reported.
Influencers heavily promote products on social media and can earn profits. Many college students consume content from these influencers and buy their promoted products without doing any research about who the product is meant for.
On platforms like TikTok, influencers can contribute to whitewashing products meant for people of color at a much faster pace when they promote them to white audiences. Hair and makeup industries tend to exclude people of color, so when white consumers purchase products white people want and other people need, they further limit the products’ availability.
It’s important for students, especially white students, to be more conscious when buying products recommended by influencers to reduce unnecessary purchases that limit access to products others need.
Recently, TikTok influencer Alix Earle has become popular with her impact referred to as the “Alix Earle Effect,” as her followers will immediately buy products she promotes.
On Dec. 28, Earle promoted Mielle Organics’ Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil. Mielle is a Black-owned brand, and Earle is a white woman with straight hair. Many white TikTok users who don’t need the product bought it after Earle, causing it to sell out and be less accessible to people of color who need the product, like the SheaMoisture incident.
Influencer marketing is almost a $14 billion industry, according to Influencer Market-
ing Hub. As social media becomes a massive marketing industry, consumers are sucked into buying products they have no knowledge about because an influencer posted a paid sponsorship about it.
Social influence can be damaging to body image because influencers are getting paid to promote products concerning vanity, which causes young adults to buy products they don’t need, said Sydney Kirchner, a junior communications studies major.
“It’s commodifying girlhood,” Kirchner said. “My little sister sees someone that she likes on TikTok, and she feels like she has to buy them.”
Influencers should also be transparent about the products they’re promoting and say who products are meant for and if they are in a paid partnership with the brand. This can give consumers honest reviews, so they put more thought into buying products.
Posting products and brands deals with transparency is vital, said Jenn Evans, a senior advertising major and TikTok and Instagram influencer.
“We need to take that extra step and be mindful of who we work with because now our name is associated with that brand,” Evans said. “In my captions, when I get the outfit details for each piece, I rate it one through 10 and I say why I like it or don’t like it, and if it’s functional or not functional.”
Additionally, influencers must learn how to use platforms without making harmful decisions that could reduce marginalized communities’ access to limited beauty products.
It takes time to think realistically about who the influencer is and why they’re appealing, said Guillermo Caliendo, a communication and social influence professor.
“The more we teach students across the university about the benefits and the detriments of social media, a person now is armed, equipped to decide what they take and what they need,” Caliendo said.
If students put in the effort to research the promoted products by influencers, they can navigate what they actually need and separate media from reality.
A student argues their peers should stop buying influencer-promoted products without prior research.ESSAYIST
For The Temple News
By the time I was 18, I accepted I had to be careful around men after reading stories about women being hurt by them. I knew how unsafe the world was for women, and I listened to my parents’ warnings about trusting my closest guy friends.
I analyzed every interaction I had with men and imagined the worst outcomes. Being alone with men made me feel weak and vulnerable. I knew if they wanted to hurt me, they’d take advantage of the situation.
When preparing for college, I needed to decide if I wanted to live on a coed floor. I was scared of being on the same floor as men because I thought I’d be a target for them to hurt me.
I felt guilty for being scared of people I hadn’t met; I didn’t know them but was already judging them. I needed an explanation of my fear to validate my feelings and stop the guilt.
Before I selected my residence hall, I needed to consider if I was willing to sacrifice the opportunity to meet interesting people who could teach me a lot just because I was scared of living on the same floor as men.
I thought that I could learn from people with similar interests by dorming in a Living Learning Community and decided to live in the Klein College of Media and Communication LLC in Johnson and Hardwick Hall, despite it being a coed floor.
When I met the guys living on my floor, their jokes made me laugh, they came up with spontaneous plans and they respected every boundary I had. I told myself I had nothing to worry about and I was overreacting, but a voice in my head insisted I should be afraid.
I gradually became closer to the guys on my floor, we went to Welcome Week events and hung out in my dorm, but I could still hear my parents’ voices in my
head saying I was in danger. I felt nervous when we walked around campus or ate alone, I was constantly on alert and expecting the worst.
Although they were nice to me, I couldn’t fully trust my new guy friends. I was convinced any man would eventually do something to hurt me.
I felt guilty about being scared because I had no logical explanation to fear the guys on my floor. I thought I was a bad person and there was something wrong with me.
I talked to my friends from home in Colombia and told them how I felt; they assured me I wasn’t alone in feeling nervous around men.
Knowing I wasn’t the only person thinking this made me feel better, but I was looking for a clear reason why I distrusted men and why I felt guilty.
“I Hate Men” by Pauline Harmange caught my attention while I was purchasing it for a friend because I thought I’d relate to the controversial title. I didn’t know what the book was about, but I purchased a copy for myself to understand my relationship with men. The book helped me accept my feelings by exploring the concept of inherently distrusting men, and the validity behind it.
Harmange, the feminist writer, helped me understand that navigating the world as a woman has made me aware of the dangers around me and influenced how I interact with men.
My relationship with men changed after reading the book, not because I trust them, but because I don’t feel guilty for not doing so immediately. My experiences as a woman — constantly hearing about abuse and feeling fear while
walking the streets — have shaped how I interact with men and I should never apologize for looking after myself.
Moving into an uncomfortable environment taught me it’s important to talk about confusing feelings and learn it’s not wrong to experience them. Living on a coed floor helped me face my fears because interacting with men on a daily basis showed I can be careful around men and also be friends with them.
It’s completely valid to mistrust men; the world is not a safe place for women. Talking about my feelings helped me see I wasn’t alone and knowing that gave me the validation I needed. Talking is important and uncomfortable feelings are valid.
valeria.uribe@temple.edu
A student describes how she has felt uncomfortable around men but no longer feels guilty.ALLYSON THARP / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
A student reflects on how he overcame the turmoils that come with Bipolar II Disorder.
BY NICK GANGWERE Sports Editor
Trigger Warning: This essay contains mention of drug use and suicide.
I was 17 years old when my first depressive episode began. I remember sitting at a lunch table, wiping the uncontrollable tears from my face while I stared straight into my lap. I had to hide my face from my friends because I feared they’d ask me what was wrong, and I didn’t have the answer.
I spent hours alone in my room, journaling and sitting quietly, which only led to my anxious, racing thoughts taking over my mind.
In the brief moments I interacted with my family, I wanted them to ask if I was okay, even though I knew I would keep saying I’m fine because I wanted to hide my reality from the world.
I hoped that one day I could tell them the truth, that there were moments I didn’t want to be here anymore — that I didn’t want to be on this planet.
I didn’t know why I felt the way I did.
I perfected the fake smile, fake laughs and fake happiness that comes along with a depressive episode, but there were moments I couldn’t fake my way through life.
I began seeing a therapist toward the end of the initial episode and finally told my parents how suicidal I was. In April, 2020, after three psychiatrists examined me, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder, a mental disorder that causes mood deviations from hypomanic to depressive symptoms.
My doctors prescribed two antidepressants that forced me to adjust how I lived. They blocked any extreme emotion and allowed me to only find euphoria through things I enjoy. I was headed down the right path by speaking with my
therapist and truly focusing on my mental state.
Once I became adjusted to my new antidepressants, I started a mental journey to love myself again, and it took a long time to repair the damage that was done. My therapist taught me how to utilize gratitude lists, reflection charts and deep breathing as coping mechanisms when I had a bad day, and I was hoping it didn’t turn into a full-fledged episode.
My life was changing for the better during the next year until I reached college.
I forgot to take my medicine on the night of Oct. 25, 2021, and I woke up with a sense of despair the next day. I’d never forgotten to take my antidepressants before, so my body wasn’t used to the sensation of being without them.
The next night, it all came crashing down.
I wrote a message to my family, friends and loved ones. It was my suicide note — my last grasp — and it was how I thought I’d be remembered.
I started off with two or three of my antidepressant pills, swallowing them with NyQuil instead of water. When I didn’t feel their effects immediately, I took three more. By the end of the night, I’d taken about 1,400 milligrams worth of my 200 mg tablets.
My last memory from Oct. 27 was being stretchered out of my dorm room and down an elevator into an ambulance headed to Temple University Hospital. I overdosed; if it wasn’t for my roommate who called 911 and for the paramedic who rubbed my chest with enough velocity to leave scars, I would not be alive.
After consulting with my family, I began an intensive outpatient program at High Focus Centers, a mental health treatment center. In December and January of 2021-22, I spent more than 50
hours in the program, doing anything from team exercises to learning about self-care resources.
Today, I have found hope through my self-care techniques. Mental health is a balance of coping through bad times and finding joy in life.
My Bipolar II Disorder has let me find gratitude in my life and be thankful for every part of who I am. My illness is never going away, but that does not mean I need to hide it. I need to support my mental health, guide it and nurture it, because to love oneself is the best kind of love in this world.
I am Nick Gangewere, and I am not only a survivor of mental illness, but I am a better person because of it.
Read the full essay online at temple-news.com.
BY SARAH FRASCA Opinion Editor
In May 2021, Dean Bruce, a sophomore public relations major, attempted to donate blood at a blood drive in Raleigh, North Carolina, amid a decrease in nationwide blood donations and supply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they were rejected from donating due to their sexual history, which was a deeply painful experience, they said.
“It was sad,” Bruce said. “It was depressing to be like, ‘Oh, this is the way that we’re still operating.’”
Until last Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has prohibited any male who has had sexual contact with another male from donating blood for three months because it puts the donor at risk of becoming infected with HIV, according to the American Red Cross. Bruce identifies as nonbinary and bisexual, and, at the time, they were partaking in sexual relationships with male partners as a biological male.
However, this National Blood Donor Month, the FDA announced a proposal to assess blood donor eligibility through individual, gender-inclusive risk screenings to prevent HIV from entering the country’s blood supply after decades of criticism for a homophobic and outdated policy.
Although the FDA is taking a step toward inclusivity, this proposal still targets men who have sex with men by only restricting donors who have had anal sex, not vaginal sex, for an extended abstinence period. The FDA must continue to reevaluate the blood donor restrictions targeting MSM to stop the discriminatory misconception that gay men are the biggest spreaders of HIV.
This new policy will allow MSM in monogamous relationships to donate blood without abstaining from sex, but any person who has had anal sex with any new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months would be deferred from donation. Additionally, it will prevent people taking pre-exposure pro-
phylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis, medications to prevent HIV infections, from donating blood, according to the FDA.
The restriction previously singled out MSM while ignoring other people that partake in sexual activities that could increase the risk of HIV, like straight men and women who have unprotected sex. Now, it only focuses on anal sex, which is still more commonly a sexual experience between MSM than heterosexual couples.
Although MSM are still disproportionately affected by AIDS, 22 percent of HIV diagnoses, which can lead to AIDS if not treated, were acquired through heterosexual contact in the United States in 2020, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Any unprotected sexual activity could put a donor at risk for HIV, so MSM shouldn’t be singled out with restrictions placed only on anal sex.
“I consider a person’s sexuality an unalterable trait, while behavior is alter-
able,” said Billie Swiggard, an attending physician with specialty training in infectious diseases at the Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ health organization on Bainbridge and Broad Streets.
Sexually active people who take preventative measures, like PrEP or consistent condom use, or can present a negative HIV test should be able to donate blood without deferral. PrEP reduces the risk of contracting HIV through sex by about 99 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Additionally, all donated blood is tested for evidence of infectious disease pathogens, including HIV, according to the CDC. The window period for contracting the disease and a positive test is between 10 and 33 days with a nucleic acid test, which can be used to test donated blood samples.
With a nucleic acid test, the deferral period for people who have recently participated in high-risk behavior could reasonably be shortened to one month instead of three months.
MSM have been able to donate blood three months after their last sexual encounter since April 2020, down from the previous FDA rule of one year. Before that, there was a lifetime ban on all MSM donors since 1983, when the AIDS crisis was at its peak, NBC News reported.
“It really is a kind of throwback to the late 80s, early 90s with the HIV epidemic, and it didn’t make sense then, and it really doesn’t make sense now,” said Sarah Bass, a social and behavioral sciences professor and the director of the Risk Communication Laboratory in the College of Public Health, about the recently-adjusted guidelines.
This National Blood Month, the FDA must continue to evaluate its recently-released proposal before enforcing the new guidelines to fully remove homophobic restrictions from blood donation in the United States.
sarah.frasca@temple.edu
sarahhfrasca
A student argues that the FDA must reevaluate its new proposal because it’s still discriminatory.ALLYSON THARP/ THE TEMPLE NEWS
The award-winning, independent student-run newspaper of Temple University, The Temple News, is accepting freelance writers, photographers, videographers and designers for the Spring 2023 Semester. Freelancing is a great way to get involved at The Temple News as you’ll be able to gain experience that may position you to apply for staff positions in the future.
Freelancers can pick up pitches in any section and are paid $10 for every piece of work published in our print issue or online site.
Scan the QR code to see our full list of sections and their meeting times!
bring the community together and celebrate the Lunar New Year.
BY EARL KUFENOn Jan. 28, more than 1,000 Philadelphians gathered at the Rail Park, a former rail line transformed that was turned into a green space with entrances at Noble Street and Callowhill Street, to see the Philadelphia Suns’ lion dance, a tradition meant to chase off bad luck and bring good luck for the new year.
Friends of the Rail Park, a nonprofit organization, hosted the event in collaboration with Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Asian Arts Initiative and the Philadelphia Suns to
The Lunar New Year celebrates the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, meaning people born this year will be gentle, quick-witted and easygoing, according to Lunar New Year traditions
Tom Hang, a teaching assistant living in Chinatown, attended the event to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
“So it’s kind of like a good luck thing,” Hang said. “Like if it’s your birth year, like your Chinese zodiac year. It’s gonna be a prosperous year for you, as well as some other people born on other animals, zodiacs, or it could be bad luck, so it’s both good luck and bad luck depending on where you are.”
Shortly after the event began, the Philadelphia Suns boomed down Cal-
lowhill Street with musicians playing drums, gongs and cymbals. Upon arrival at the Rail Park, the Suns danced displaying Kung Fu moves, history and art, capturing the attention of attendees.
Throughout the event, Friends of The Rail Park handed out free food to visitors and helped children make paper lanterns and cards thanking family members who gave gifts.
Vanessa Chandler has worked with the Friends of Rail Park since May 2022, and Saturday’s event was her first Lunar New Year celebration with the organization, and she believes the celebration is an important space for the community.
“We try our best to engage and provide activities for Chinatown residents and things that align with their culture and bring more awareness to some of their cultural practices,” said Chandler, the development and operations associ-
ate of the Friends of the Rail Park.
Attendees like Kareal Amenumey, a resident at Fourth Street near Morris, enjoyed being able to learn about new traditions they didn’t grow up with.
Amenumey attended the event with Michelle Meyer, a Washington D.C. resident, Meyer is visiting Amenumey for the holiday.
“I hope that the Rail Park will continue to foster this close relationship with Asian American people all across the city and especially in the Chinatown area,” Amenumey said.
earl.kufen@temple.edu
Cynthia Hioe holds a bunny during the Lunar New Year celebration at the Rail Park. A volunteer with the Friends of the Rail Park hands out pork buns to members of the community.
Kong Yang of the Asian Arts Initiative shows children how to stamp cards at the Rail Park during the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Performers with the Philadelphia Suns carry a dragon with poles at the Rail Park.
Child with the Philadelphia Suns dressed as a laughing Buddha runs through the crowd.
MOVING CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP
Advertise with The Temple News in our 101st year of publication! With 2,000 print copies distributed biweekly and thousands of followers on Instagram and Twitter accounts, you’ll have access to one of the most diverse student populations in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.
We offer ads in our biweekly print issue, online site, social media platforms, and weekly newsletter. For more information on our rates and how to get started, email advertising@temple-news.com
create beers of his own that he could share and sell. From there, the idea behind the first location in Kensington was born.
BY SOFIA KASBO Features Staff Writer
Alex Howell, a 2016 accounting alumnus and Maria Caldarise, a 2015 marketing alumna, met at Temple University during their junior year through mutual friends. The two bonded by exploring different breweries, trying new beers and observing how each company branded itself.
Howell and Caldarise opened their second location of Humble Parlor Brewing Co. on Jan. 14 in Fishtown located at Girard Avenue and Eyre Street, nearly a year after the grand opening of their first location in Kensington at Amber Street near Willard. Opening a second location has always been a dream for the two in order to continue sharing their passion for brewing with the community.
“I would say the biggest thing that sets us apart is, everything is small batch, hand-selected ingredients and high turnover,” Howell said. “So there’s always new beer coming out. And the good beers always going as well.”
During their success with their initial Kensington location, Howell and Caldarise noticed most of their customers were from Fishtown and South Philadelphia, and solidified their decision to open their second location in Fishtown.
Howell began brewing beers around seven years ago, and his interest in the craft beer industry grew. He wanted to
While Howell has always had an eye for business and a passion for brewing beer since he turned 21, Caldarise provides the marketing expertise.
When formulating the company’s name, Howell and Caldarise came up with Humble Parlor, referring to what each of their grandparents called the living room. They identified the parlor as a space that provided comfort and socialization.
“That’s kind of the atmosphere we wanted to set up in our brewery and taproom, so in our original location in Kensington, it’s couches and coffee tables,” Howell said. “We treat [customers] like friends and family and that’s kind of what we intend to do in Fishtown as well, which is why it’s still just me and Maria.”
The two worked together on construction projects themselves shortly after receiving their keys in June, in hopes of creating the perfect environment for their Fishtown location, Howell said.
“There was a lot, so we kind of underestimated how long it would take us to do all that work,” Howell said. “And then on top of that we had to go through the Liquor Control Board, basically federal, state and local obstacles just to open our doors.”
Humble Parlor Brewing received positive feedback from family, friends and local customers. The support from the community was echoed throughout their soft openings on Jan. 12 and 13 and
their grand opening.
“We had a super soft opening on Thursday, a soft opening on Friday for [customers,]” Howell said. “And then Saturday everyone, I swear, every other person that walked in said they lived right around the corner.”
Part of their popularity comes from the backstories behind the names of their beers. For example, their Mostly Oates NE IPA is named after John Oates, the famous Temple alumnus who is onehalf of Hall & Oates, the famous pop rock duo.
Michael McCloskey, a risk management 1996 alumnus, works closely with Howell and Caldarise on Temple-related events, showcasing some of their beer and providing food for Humble Parlor Brewing.
Howell and Caldarise are both opti-
mistic and are always open to his ideas, said McCloskey who owns Interstate Draft House which is located blocks from their Fishtown location.
“He has a good product. If you just position yourself the right way you’re gonna be fine,” McCloskey said “They’re not letting that go on them in any way.”
With their dedicated attitude and bright future, Howell and Caldarise are both looking forward to expanding their craft.
“I’m just excited that we’ll have a space of our own and working on the backyard and hopefully more opportunities to do events, because those are really fun,” Caldarise said.
Theresa Powell could be found riding around Main Campus on a cherry-red scooter, stopping to greet students and faculty as she rode through.
Stephanie Ives, interim vice president of student affairs, remembers running behind Powell through campus as she rode, always knowing that she’d have a chance to stop and catch up once Powell ran into somebody she knew.
Powell, vice president of student affairs, passed away suddenly on Jan. 2 in her home state of Texas. Powell came to Temple in 2002 and was responsible for advancing the culture and the function of the Department of Student Affairs throughout her time at the university.
Powell was involved in developing many programs at Temple, including Weeks of Welcome, which aimed to help new students acclimate themselves to campus, and Temple’s Cherry Pantry, which supplies students facing food insecurity with food, solidifying her reputation as a student advocate.
“Every time a student is in need, either because of food insecurity, financial insecurity or emergency, you know, that is the moment in their life when there is a crisis point and if they are served by the Division of Student Affairs through one of those programs, then perhaps at that moment they think ‘I’m really glad that vice president was such a wonderful student advocate,’” Ives said.
Throughout her career, Powell was recognized as a leader in the field of student affairs. In 2003, Powell was the recipient of the John L. Blackburn Distinguished Pillar Award, the NASPA Foundation’s highest honor and in 2022, Powell was celebrated by Diverse Issues
in Higher Education in a group of 25 leading women in higher education.
Powell was the first Black woman elected president of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, an organization of student affairs administrators in higher education.
She is remembered by those who knew her as a welcoming presence who always put people before business and would start every meeting off with a personal conversation.
“She really wanted every interaction to start off with the person,” Ives said.
Within Temple’s Department of Student Affairs, Powell is credited with fostering a family-driven environment, which Michael Scales, associate vice
president of business services, hopes that Powell is remembered by.
“Just her insistence that the Division of Student Affairs be a family environment, and she really modeled that, whether it was her opening breakfast where every staff member was invited and encouraged to come, to her end of the year staff functions,” Scales said.
Amy Hecht, vice president of student affairs at Florida State University, worked with Powell for four years while Hecht was an assistant dean of students at Temple. She remembers Powell as someone who helped further her career.
“I remember one day telling her someday I wanted to come home to Florida, and I said I saw the dean of students at the University of Florida left and that
would be a dream job for me and she said ‘I’ll make a call, I know the vice president there, I’ll make a call,’ and she’s done that for me many, many times, and then I realized she’s done that for hundreds of people,” Hecht said.
By all accounts, Powell was a hugger and would greet all she knew with a warm embrace.
“I have said more than once in the past two weeks that hugging was her love language, and everybody hugged her and she hugged everyone,” Ives said.
Temple will be hosting a celebration of life for Powell at the Temple Performing Arts Center on Jan. 31. duay.augustine@temple.edu
After coming to Temple and noticing a divide between students and local residents, Andrew Ankamah Jr. felt he had to take action to help “bridge the gap” between the communities.
“Even at the end of last semester, I walked past a block and there was people’s trash from students moving out and I’m like ‘This is not how we should be taking care of our community,’” said Ankamah, a senior political science major and director and founder of The Accountability Initiative. “I think the problem is we don’t see it, well I don’t want to generalize, but some people don’t see it as their community.”
Ankamah decided to establish TAI, dedicated to cultivating activism and community service, at Temple on Jan. 9, the organization’s first official chapter. The group’s first action was a protest against gun violence after the fatal shooting of Samuel Collington, a senior political science major in 2021. After the protest, the organization, which was founded in Ankamah’s home state of New Jersey in 2020, continued to grow and Ankamah worked to solidify the official Temple chapter.
In the Spring, the organization hopes to host community service events, like college information fairs at local high schools. TAI also wants to pursue projects, like the #100StoriesCampaign, that aims to highlight community members’ experiences with gun violence. The campaign would include a series of interviews with local residents who have dealt with gun violence to raise awareness of the issue within North Philadelphia.
“We’re looking to, at the end of the semester, hopefully bring those 100 stories to the city leadership and university leadership to, you know, to push to push the need for change,” Ankamah said.
After creating a constitution, form-
ing an executive board and signing on 10 members, Ankamah submitted and received approval from Student Activities on an application to start an official chapter at Temple.
Sierra Kamara, a senior political science major and president of TAI, wanted to change the relationship between Temple and the North Philadelphia community after working with Philadelphia political leaders at an internship in Harrisburg.
“Just talking to them about the different issues like gun violence, education, housing insecurity, food insecurity and having this feeling that I wanted to make a change on campus,” Kamara said.
Kamara wanted to be more involved with the community and joined TAI after meeting Ankamah at a town hall meeting with a local community leader about the gun violence prevalent in North Philadelphia. She enjoyed small group conversations with the intention
of creating change.
“I feel like joining that conversation is what really sparked our professional relationship with working together and bringing his organization, The Accountability Initiative, from his hometown in North Brunswick, New Jersey, to Temple University,” Kamara said.
Zoë Singleton, a senior chemistry major, joined TAI because she has always wanted to participate in social activism but was unsure where to start.
“I’ve always felt that activism was important, but I didn’t really know how to go about that, so seeing like that another student put this type of organization together, it felt like something I wanted to do,” Singleton said.
Singleton believes TAI is an important organization because she thinks it can help students and faculty hold themselves accountable for their responses to situations that occur on and around campus.
Ankamah looks forward to the continued growth of the organization and hopes for TAI to become a place for any student interested in activism.
“I want this organization to be a place where those individuals are able to build themselves as student activists, and also a place where if there’s a problem in the community, you go to The Accountability Initiative and we will, we’re going to do what has to be done,” Ankamah said.
duay.augustine@temple.edu
EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWSCAMPUS
Students are excited to watch the Eagles play in the Super Bowl for the second time in five years.
SAMUEL O’NEAL Assistant Sports EditorAs soon as Eagles’ backup quarterback Gardner Minshew took a knee in the final seconds of the NFC championship game to run out the clock, many Temple students and community members were already heading out the door, on their way to Center City.
Crowds of people jumped and danced in blocked off streets with songs from Philly artists, like “Dreams and Nightmares” by Meek Mill and “20 Min” by Lil Uzi Vert, blasting from speakers that fans held above their heads.
“It’s honestly been like the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life,” said Jenny Herman, a junior psychology major. “The environment is very uplifting. Everybody went to the subway, came to City Hall, the subways were packed.”
On Jan. 29, the Eagles defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 to advance to their second Super Bowl in five years. Students across Temple’s Main Campus are excited about the Eagles returning to the Super Bowl and many took to City Hall to celebrate the milestone.
The win came just months after the Phillies advanced to their first World Series since 2009, before falling to the Houston Astros in the best of seven series. It is just the second time both the Eagles and Phillies made their league’s championship in the same year, which last happened during the 1980 seasons.
Although the Phillies didn’t win the World Series, the unlikely run brought the city together in the way only sports can. Even students who don’t consider themselves sports fans have soaked in the excitement from the teams’ success.
“First it all started with the Phillies,” said Samantha Burgess, a junior nursing major. “I was never super into sports before I moved to Philly for college but it has been the most fun time I’ve had in college like going out every Thursday and Friday and getting ready for the
games and everything, it was the most fun.”
Like they did before the Phillies World Series berth, Philadelphia city workers greased poles and blocked off streets around City Hall in an attempt to limit potential celebrations. Despite their efforts, many Temple students immediately rushed to South Penn Square after the Eagles officially reached the Super Bowl.
A few fans climbed the porte cochère in front of the Ritz-Carlton hotel and danced on top of it. Another fan climbed halfway up a light pole and ripped off a “Go Eagles” flag before tossing it down to a crowd of people below him.
“It’s so electric and the streets are just full and everyone is yelling,” Burgess said. “Everyone usually watches at Pub Webb or someone’s house or a bar and then we immediately just ran to the SEPTA and it’s just so cool.”
When the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game and eventually the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2018, the celebrations resulted in $2.7 million in police overtime and damages.
After Sunday’s win, the celebrations were just as rampant as the ones in 2018. While the team has not yet won the Super Bowl, that didn’t stop fans from climbing and falling through the roofs of bus stops, setting off fireworks or blaring their horns as cars drove down a congested Broad Street.
“It’s been so crazy,” said Kyrstin Saudinger, a junior biology major. “But there is just so much energy and so many good vibes and I have just been loving it.”
While fans would love for the Eagles’ season to end with a parade down Broad Street, they are also ensuring they take time to enjoy the moment.
Just six players remain from the 2017-18 team that took down the Patriots. For a team to completely change rosters and have another championship caliber team just five seasons later is impressive, and fans are soaking in the team’s success.
“It’s a whole new team and a whole new energy,” said Andrew Scott, a junior finance major. “Even waking up yesterday morning you could just feel the vibe in the air and the whole city is illuminat-
ed by the fact that we’re going to the Super Bowl and we are going in there with confidence.”
The Eagles will play in the NFL’s 57th Super Bowl on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Glendale, Arizona, in hopes of securing the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory.
“No one expected them to be there,” said Kai Jacketti, a senior chemistry major. “They proved everyone wrong this year so it’s good to see that for Philly.”
samuel.oneal@temple.edu
samueloneal43
ROBERT JOSEPH CRUZ / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Find all the words hidden in the across, down, and diagonally, with backwards.
1. The last names of the brothers competing on opposing teams in the Super Bowl
2. The head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
3. The team that lost in the AFC Championship game.
4. The team the Eagles defeated in the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs.
5. A Temple Football alumnus and starting linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles.
6. The team the Philadelphia Eagles defeated in the 2018 Super Bowl.
7. The host city of the 2023 Super Bowl.
8. The starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.
9. The team the Philadelphia Eagles will be competing against in the Super Bowl.
10. The musician headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.
BASKETBALL Temple forward Nick Jourdain’s game has evolved to having a key role under Aaron McKie.
BY NICK GANGEWERE Sports EditorNick Jourdain grew up with many athletic talents. Throughout his childhood, the Temple big man went from baseball to soccer to football, excelling at each. Yet the day he picked up a basketball, the other sports seemed to fade into the back of his mind.
“I’ve always been drawn to basketball,” Jourdain said. “I was always a bit more talented playing [basketball]. I knew naturally it was going to put me in the best position.”
Jourdain, a Temple Men’s Basketball sophomore forward, now stands at 6 feet, 8 inches tall and has one of the highest vertical leaps on the team. His versatility in playing other sports has developed into utility on the basketball court.
In Temple’s 61-59 loss to the University of Memphis on Jan. 15, Jourdain stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. He made several clutch plays down the stretch for the Owls and went 6-for-6 from the foul line. Although he allowed Tigers’ fifthyear guard Kendric Davis to score the game-winning shot against him, Jourdain’s performance leading up to the final play was a key reason the Owls had a chance to win the game.
While the contest against Memphis was Jourdain’s most notable performance to date, his game-changing ability has been no secret to the team.
“He’s a versatile player, helps us in a number of different ways,” said head coach Aaron McKie. “Offensively, we can run some stuff through him. Defensively, he can get out there and play some five for us at the end of games.”
While Jourdain has seen a surge in playing time after sophomore center Jamille Reynolds’ thumb injury in December, he’s struggled to find consistent
minutes during his Temple career. He lacked the strength to keep up with opposing centers and wasn’t quick enough to keep pace with other forwards.
Jourdain played in 29 games during the 2021-22 season, starting in 18 of them. A block magnet, he finished second in The American Athletic Conference in blocks per game, averaging 1.7. Jourdain’s timing and athleticism down low have allowed him to become a strong rim protector.
This season, Jourdain ranks fifth in the conference in blocks per game with 1.4 while starting in every conference game so far for the Owls.
Even though he has gained significant muscle since high school, Jourdain has plenty of work to do in terms of filling out his body and improving his quickness on the floor to become a more agile defender.
“He had to get a little bit stronger coming from high school,” McKie said. “I don’t think his body is completely filled out, he has more room to pack some muscle then I think he’ll be the
complete player I think he can be.”
By working on different aspects of his game, Jourdain has become a multidimensional weapon for Temple, an archetype his post-grad prep school coach, Ian Turnbull, saw from day one. Turnbull coached Jourdain at Covenant College Prep in Neptune City, New Jersey, for two years and saw him blossom from a four-sport athlete to a pure basketball player.
“He had exceptional physical ability,” Turnbull said. “When he came to us I tried to get him to expand on his skills.”
These skills included footwork, ball handling and shot creation, aspects of Jourdain’s game that received less attention growing up.
To improve as an athlete in high school, Jourdain showed up at local parks around Clifton, New Jersey, to get some extra practice in. While playing AAU and high school basketball at the time, he knew it would take extra practice to round out his skill set.
The only problem was, he showed up to the courts by himself and needed to
prove he could be an asset before playing alongside the locals of Paterson or Passaic, New Jersey.
“I was that annoying kid asking ‘can you pick me up, can you pick me up,’” Jourdain said. “So I was like alright, let me play defense, so I would try to guard the best player.”
Jourdain knew he needed to improve his offensive skills because he focused strictly on defense when at the parks. He developed a mindset where his work ethic defensively came before his offensive focus.
For right now, though, it is all about winning for Temple’s flex player.
“For this year I really badly want us to finish first in conference play,” Jourdain said. “As long as the team’s doing good, I’m doing good.”
nicholas.gangewere@temple.edu @nick_gang16
ROBERT CRUZ / THE TEMPLE NEWSWhen a team has been at the pinnacle of its sport for decades and loses its head coach, it’s oftentimes a sign of a closing era. The retirement of Nikki Franke, Temple Fencing’s head coach for more than five decades, left a hole in the program that was extremely difficult to fill.
Franke leads the NCAA with more than 898 all-time wins and won the 1992 NCAA Championship. However, Temple’s current head coach Jennie Salmon knows a thing or two about how Franke ran her program after she fenced for Temple from 1992-1995 and served as team captain for two seasons.
“Since I’ve left Temple as an athlete, I’ve always stayed connected,” Salmon said. “She got me started in coaching with inner city games when I was here in my fifth year.”
Salmon was a fitting coach to lead after Franke, and while her Owls have faced some adversity in the dawn of the season, her team was recently ranked No. 11 in the latest coaches’ poll with quality opponents on deck.
Fencers must be fearless with each match, and this mentality has taken Salmon from the strip to the sidelines, first as a coach at Brandeis University for four years and now at Temple. Many would shy away from becoming Temple’s second-ever fencing head coach, but Salmon accepted her offer in August 2022 with confidence.
After knocking off third-ranked Columbia University and fifth-ranked Northwestern University, along with only a few one-match losses, her team is gaining confidence with each event.
“I hope we can get a win against some schools like Penn State that recently have been beating us,” said senior epee Margherita Calderaro. “But I know Temple Fencing can beat them.”
Salmon has also utilized her experience as a former Temple fencer to build a
relationship with her team.
No matter the sword, Salmon has attempted to get to know each of her athletes. The same sentiment Franke carried throughout her coaching career is being echoed throughout the TU Pavilion on Temple’s Main Campus today.
“I can look at them and go ‘I know what this is,’” Salmon said. “I’ve been there.”
Along with the quick feet and shoulder fakes in practice, there is a sense of camaraderie as each bout ends with a high-five or a hug. The fencers watching give their teammates tips and there is no negativity within the sabres, epees or foils; the exact culture Franke hoped would remain strong beyond her tenure.
“[Franke] was calming in a sport like this where it’s tense,” Calderaro said. “I think [Salmon] knowing how the pro-
gram is is nice. It was nice having someone who knows Temple Fencing.”
As for the performances themselves, Temple sophomore foil Anna Novoseltseva and Calderaro are two examples of fencers setting their foundation with Franke and expanding their skills under Salmon. Calderaro recently led the entire Philadelphia Invitational on Jan. 22 with a 10-2 mark as epee while Novoseltseva had a 3-0 record against No. 3 Columbia University at the Penn State Invitational on Jan. 15.
“The impact [Franke] had on me was making me a stronger fencer mentally and physically,” said sophomore foil Anna Novoseltseva. “Her coaching changed the way I fenced.”
The team has been training since mid-October and will be competing through late March. Despite having a
long season, Temple competes in only 14 to 16 tournaments or dual meets. Every match matters in these competitions, and Salmon knows firsthand the importance of preparation.
“You can win or lose by a touch,” Salmon said. “I come from a squad that lost 14-2 to Penn State in the season by eight or nine one-touch losses, then beat them in the championship, turning that around. So it’s so ingrained in me.”
Temple fencing’s prime era is far from closing. While the retirement of Nikki Franke meant the departure of an iconic figure in these fencers’ lives, Salmon established she has what it takes to fill the hole left by Franke’s retirement. nicholas.gangewere@temple.edu
Temple guard Tiarra East has been one of the Owls’ most reliable scorers this season.
BY SAMUEL O’NEAL Assistant Sports EditorWhen Owls’ sophomore guard Tiarra East started taking basketball seriously, her only goal was to follow in her older brother’s footsteps, who plays basketball at the University of Missouri, and leave her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and pursue her dreams of competing at the highest level.
When Temple offered East a full scholarship in 2020, it was an easy decision for her to leave home and head to Philadelphia to make her dream a reality.
“I always wanted to leave home,” East said. “When I was younger I used to get homesick but as I grew up I wanted to get away more and coming to Philly was an opportunity to do so. After seeing what my brother went through, and his struggles to get where he’s at, it made me want to fight more.”
East, who was named the Temple Athlete of the Month in December, has quickly emerged as a key piece for a Temple team searching for an identity under first-year head coach Diane Richardson. Despite being a guard, East leads the team in rebounds per game and steals per game and ranks second on the
team in points per game.
East is able to use her 5-foot-10 frame as an advantage, allowing her to drive to the basket and fight for rebounds that most guards wouldn’t be able to collect. She has already recorded double-digit rebounds in four games this season, including three double-doubles.
“When I was younger I didn’t play guard, I played the post,” East said. “Me being, of course, taller than everybody and stronger than everybody, I’m able to get in there to the post and do a good job of rebounding and just fighting in there with them.”
During a two-game stretch against Big 5 rivals La Salle and Penn on Dec. 5 and Dec. 11, East dominated in all phases of the game. In the two games, she scored a combined 48 points, 15 rebounds and eight steals while playing like the best player on the floor. The performances gave Richardson a glimpse of the type of player East can become and displayed the guard’s importance to the program’s future.
“She had some games where she wasn’t doing very well and so she made a switch,” Richardson said. “She just uses her size and her strength to get to the rim.”
When East was originally recruited to Temple by former head coach Tonya Cardoza in 2020, the Owls were looking to build a roster that could score without
UCF, a Quadrant 1 matchup against the school that sat Reynolds on the bench for two years.
the help of the program’s all-time leading scorer Mia Davis, who graduated in May 2022.
Despite playing just one season under Cardoza before the university decided to part ways with the former head coach, East has not lost any playing time under Richardson. In fact, she averages 27 minutes per game and has appeared in all 19 of Temple’s games this season.
“It was a pretty smooth transition,” East said. “After the big change we got right to it, we got right to work. [Richardson] puts a lot of belief and confidence in us so I think that’s a big plus and harking down on each of our players, especially me.”
For much of the season, the Owls had a rotation of five guards who received regular playing time, one being junior transfer Tarriyonna Gary, who followed Richardson from Towson University to Temple.
Although it can be difficult for Richardson to give both players consistent minutes, East and Gary do not view working to earn minutes as a competition. Instead, they bring out the best in one another when they are on the floor together, Gary said.
“She does it all,” Gary said. “She can score, she can score from the guard position, the post position, she does it all and she does it well. Whatever the coaches ask of her, she is always gonna do that,
to come on the road and get this win and continue to build our resume.”
To further display confidence in his current starting lineup, Temple head coach Aaron McKie brought Reynolds off the bench with Dunn and fellow redshirt-sophomore guard Khalif Battle. With Reynolds teaming up with the preseason all-conference duo, the Owls now have three starting-caliber players in their second unit.
“It’s a spark,” Dunn said after the USF win. “I think it’s something that we just have to embrace, and we’re doing a good job of that. We just want to win basketball games.”
Up next for the Owls was a game at
Dunn said he knew that Reynolds would be ready for what would be an emotional game. Reynolds finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in Saturday’s win while also contributing two blocks in 21 minutes of play.
After a shooting slump, Battle is averaging 25.5 points per game in his last two contests. With Reynolds back, the Owls have life despite their three best players all coming off the bench.
“This is a big win for us,” McKie said after Saturday’s win. “That’s a team that’s going to have some say in the conference. They’re a good team, so we wanted
like getting rebounds, scoring and that is a good piece that we can rely on.”
It hasn’t been the season anyone on the team had hoped for, but the Owls are going through important growing pains during Richardson’s first year at the helm and East has proved to be a key piece to the Owls both in the present and future.
“I [want to] accomplish a conference win and get to the NCAA tournament,” East said. “I just want to keep earning accolades and continue to improve on my game more than previous years, that’s my main goal, to just keep improving.”
samuel.oneal@temple.edu
@samueloneal43
The Owls won two overtime games in less than a week after losing their first two overtime matchups of the season at home, with a win against then-No. 16 Villanova University (10-10, 4-5 Big East Conference) sandwiched in between them.
Although an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament is most likely out of the window, Temple is hitting its stride and has eight days off before its rematch with No. 3 Houston at The Liacouras Center.
A win in that game would prove the Jan. 22 win wasn’t a fluke, move the Owls to 4-0 in Quadrant 1 games and
give Temple sole possession of first place in the AAC.
Suddenly, a ticket to the big dance doesn’t seem impossible. It’s still unlikely as the Owls would need a lot of help around the country for an at-large bid. However, Temple’s success in conference play means the Owls cannot be counted out as a possibility to win the conference tournament.
javon.edmonds@temple.edu
@javonedmonds45
After suffering a buzzer-beating loss at the hands of Memphis’ (16-5, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) fifth-year guard Kendric Davis, the Tigers’ reigning conference player of the year, Temple Men’s Basketball finds itself on a four-game winning streak.
It started with another electric performance by guard Damian Dunn in what may be the fourth-year sophomore’s final game against his hometown school East Carolina (11-10, 2-6 The American).
It was followed by an upset at then No. 1 Houston (20-2, 8-1 The American), then two overtime wins against both South Florida (9-12, 2-6 The American) and Central Florida (13-8, 4-5 The American).
After a non-conference performance that presumably left the Owls dead in the water, Temple is now 3-0 in Quadrant 1 games and is likely to receive a National Invitation Tournament bid.
Temple (14-9, 8-2 The American) won six of its first eight conference games to take sole possession of second place in the AAC. The Owls were without center Jamille Reynolds for those games as the redshirt-sopho-
more was sidelined with a broken right thumb.
Reynolds was advised after Temple’s Dec. 10 loss at Penn (11-11, 3-4 Ivy League) to have thumb surgery to be ready for Temple’s back end of conference play. He was originally ruled out for 6-8 weeks but returned to practice after four weeks and returned to play about two weeks later.
“It wasn’t as bad as people thought,” Reynolds said after Temple’s win against USF. “I thought I was out for the season, at least the conference tournament. But I got the surgery and they said that it wasn’t that, so I’m just thankful.”
Reynolds, who is still working his way back into basketball shape, returned in the Jan. 25 win against USF in a limited 12 minutes. Although he played on a minutes restriction, Reynolds’ four fouls contributed to the limited playing time.
The center showed an encouraging sign of health with a block using the previously injured hand while he shot 1-for-3 from the field and 0-for-1 from the free throw line.
