Vol. 100 Issue 11

THE TEMPLE NEWS

COMING UP SHORT After up-and-down seasons filled with injuries and COVID-19 postponements, Temple University men’s and women’s basketball ended their seasons with losses in the opening round of the AAC tournament.

Read more on Pages 20, 21.

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS, PAGE 5

Parliament continues their push for a bill that would redefine protest spaces on campus.

FEATURES, PAGE 16

Check out The Temple News’ guide on ways to get involved during Women’s History Month.

VOL 100 // ISSUE 11 MARCH 15, 2022

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

The Temple News

PAGE 2

THE TEMPLE NEWS A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Lawrence Ukenye Editor-in-Chief Jack Danz Print Managing Editor Amelia Winger Digital Managing Editor Natalie Kerr Chief Print Copy Editor Dante Collinelli Chief Digital Copy Editor Haajrah Gilani Assignments Editor Fallon Roth News Editor Monica Constable Assistant News Editor Maddie Sterner Staff Writer Jocelyn Hockaday Staff Writer Julia Merola Co-Opinion Editor Wendy Garcia Co-Opinion Editor Rosie Leonard Features Editor Eden MacDougall Assistant Features Editor Samantha Sullivan Assistant Features Editor Isabella DiAmore Sports Editor Nick Gangewere Assistant Sports Editor Victoria Ayala Assistant Sports Editor Maggie Fitzgerald Audience Engagement Editor Emily Lewis Assistant Engagement Editor Gracie Heim Web Editor Noel Chacko Co-Photography Editor Amber Ritson Co-Photography Editor Erik Coombs Multimedia Editor Allison Silibovsky Assistant Multimedia Editor Ingrid Slater Design Editor Ethan Carroll Assistant Design Editor Olivia Hall Podcast Editor Scarlett Catalfamo Advertising Manager Rose Mastrangelo Advertising Manager

Follow us @TheTempleNews

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 Editor, Assignments Editor, News Editor and Opinion Editor. The views expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News staff.

ON THE COVER Members of the Temple Men’s basketball team stand together on the court during a game against the University of Pennsylvania on Dec. 4 NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Contacts

Visit us online at temple-news.com News Desk 215.204.7419 Email section staff news@temple-news.com letters@temple-news.com features@temple-news.com intersection@temple-news.com sports@temple-news.com The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

CORRECTIONS A previous version of this story that ran on 2.22 misreported how researchers directed volunteers to view images of different faces and decipher their emotions as well as where a Temple researcher worked with Ipsos. The researcher worked in New York and volunteers responded through an online survey.

Accuracy 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 Temple News

NEWS

PAGE 3

COMMUNITY

Local pastor awaits approval to citizen commission If confirmed, Elder Melanie DeBouse will help investigate police misconduct in Philadelphia.

I

BY FALLON ROTH News Editor

n 1969, Elder Melanie DeBouse would walk by Evangel Chapel, located just around the corner from her childhood home in North Philadelphia, on her way to the playground.

Once DeBouse’s family became involved with the Evangel Chapel’s ministry, DeBouse learned that she could use the Bible as a mechanism for hope amid racial and economic discrimination.

“Have faith in the society that does not always offer people of color, the same kind of hope and the same kind of positive outlook on life that some have a tendency to get,” DeBouse said.

Now, DeBouse, a 1986 education alumna, awaits City Council’s confirmation of her appointment to Philadelphia’s Citizens Police Oversight Commission and is committed to bringing her deep-seated desire for justice and her connection with the community to the table.

The commission, officially announced in September 2021 and led by Councilmember Curtis Jones, was created to increase police accountability and transparency in the city.

Despite moving around throughout her life to places like North Carolina, DeBouse was drawn back to community service in Philadelphia to address poverty, hunger and education gaps in the city.

“I keep my finger on the pulse of the community and I can’t emphasize enough that I am not anti-police, I am pro-justice,” DeBouse said. “I am anti-corruption and I have a real problem with the reality that our police are not able or not willing to police themselves.”

Out of 320 applicants, the city’s selection panel chose DeBouse and eight other individuals. If confirmed to the commission, DeBouse will help investigate and oversee conduct and policies in the Philadelphia Police Department.

If approved, one of DeBouse’s main goals would be to ensure citizens who are

NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Elder Melanie DeBouse, a 1986 education alumna and co-director of POWER Live Free, stands inside the Children’s Mission in North Philadelphia on March 8.

impacted by police misconduct get “their day in court,” by ensuring officers, who engage in misconduct are held responsible.

“Any citizen who has an egregious act railed against him or her will know that there is a protection and nobody, even our police officers, is above the law,” DeBouse said.

The Philadelphia Police Department did not deliver significant consequences to officers who committed misconduct in 99.5 percent of situations between 2015 and 2020, NBC10 reported.

Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of POWER Interfaith, met DeBouse at least 12 years ago because his congregation, Living Water United Church of Christ, was two blocks down the street from DeBouse’s. At POWER, they have worked together on a variety of issues including stop-and-frisk-policies in Philadelphia.

“She’s extremely honest about both

sides of the various issues,” Royster said.

“So she’ll be fair-minded but she’s also going to advocate and hold the police department to a high standard.”

DeBouse has worked on police and criminal justice reform with Live Free for more than five years. Since then, Live Free advocated for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to veto the 2016 House Bill 1538 that would have made it a felony to release the name of a police officer involved in a killing of a civilian.

The campaign also advocated for City Council to pass a resolution to lessen reliance on cash bail, according to the campaign’s website.

“That’s her number one quality, passionate about the work, passionate about her community, about injustice and fighting injustice,” said Gayle Lacks, the cochair of Live Free.

Before arriving at POWER, DeBouse lived and worked as a teacher and com-

munity activist in North Carolina, seeking to close educational achievement gaps amongst marginalized students by starting a summer education camp that helped them with homework.

Upon returning to Philadelphia, DeBouse has continued organizing camps through Children’s Mission and helps cook about 40 to 60 pounds of food per household per week for 300 to 400 local residents.

Going forward, DeBouse hopes that the commission will allow individuals impacted by police misconduct to have a voice and be heard.

“My hope is that in the not too distant future, the citizens of Philadelphia will discover that if an egregious act is performed against them, they can file a complaint, that information will be heard,” DeBouse said. fallon.roth@temple.edu @fallonroth_

PAGE 4

NEWS

The Temple News

CAMPUS

Mental health task force begins navigating goals The task force’s co-chairs said the committee will gather its findings by Fall 2022.

BY MADDIE STERNER Staff Writer Temple University’s mental health and wellness task force, officially announced in February, is assessing how they will evaluate existing mental health infrastructure at the university.

After their first weekly meeting on March 10, the task force decided they will assess various clubs, mental health programs available to student athletes and mental health programs at other universities.

The task force, which includes faculty, staff and students, plans to gather its findings by the Fall 2022 semester, said Daniel Berman, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies and co-chair of the task force.

While the task force needs to solidify what they will evaluate, Berman imagines they will assess Tuttleman Counseling Services and the Wellness Resource Center because they are focal points of wellness on campus. The task force could also conduct focus groups on mental health and wellness with students and employees not in the task force.

“I don’t mean to say that we’re kind of coming in to do some sort of review that’s going to necessarily shake things up in some way or another, I don’t really know that yet,” Berman said.

Depending on what campus mental and health and wellness programs they evaluate, the task force could make recommendations for how the university funds, staffs or organizes certain programs, like Tuttleman Counseling, Berman said.

Provost and Senior Vice President Gregory Mandel announced last month that Temple would create the task force to address rising mental health and wellness concerns in the student body, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force will also focus on how Temple can support employees and how employees can support their students.

Students and faculty are navigating various challenges including the pandemic, violence in Philadelphia and the death of a

BRIAN MENGINI / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ava Hutchison (left), a freshman marketing major, and Fatema Kitabwalla, a junior neuroscience major, stand near the Bell Tower on March 14.

student last semester, said Melanie Cosby, the director of diversity and inclusion in the Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine and co-chair of the task force.

“There’s those things and they impact how people are able to show up in the class, in interpersonal connection, how staff are able to show up at work and be fully present,” Cosby said.

Students have expressed frustration with wait times and scheduling difficulties at Tuttleman Counseling.

“The counseling center is a little bit setup for failure, the counseling center can’t be the place that meets all the needs of such a large population of students, many of whom have extensive mental health needs,” said Cosby, who was a psychologist at Tuttleman Counseling before working at the medical school.

Two students, Fatema Kitabwalla, a junior neuroscience major and Ava Hutchison, a freshman marketing major, will be serving on the task force, but Berman is confident that the committee will also be seeking input from students who

are not involved in the task force.

Student Body President Bradley Smutek, who the Provost’s office asked for student recommendations, nominated Kitabwalla to be on the task force last month.

Kitabwalla, a member of Tuttleman Counseling’s Student Advisory Board, a group of students aimed at examining Tuttleman’s current practices, is passionate about examining mental health in marginalized communities.

“We have such a diverse population on our campus that I feel like creating one general program would not benefit all the students that we have,” Kitabwalla said.

Individuals in marginalized populations often have worse mental health because of discrimination, cultural stigmas and a lack of access to high-quality mental health services, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Smutek also asked Hutchison to be on the task force in November 2021 because of her involvement in the Tuttleman Counseling Student Advisory Board.

Hutchison hopes for more programs that are geared toward freshman mental

health and wellness, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise of violence in the city.

“I hope that as a Temple community, we can begin to understand the mental health conversation, while having an understanding of the university and how it’s here helping students,” Hutchison said.

Berman wants to study burnout and anxiety in students, something he has seen a rise in among his students.

In 2020, 40 percent of students experienced burnout, and in 2021, 71 percent of students had burnout, according to a 2021 Ohio State University study.

“This specific issue of burnout, which I think COVID again exacerbated, certainly anxiety is exacerbated, and if all of us can try to make a difference in that area is something that personally speaks to me,” Berman said.

Fallon Roth and Sarah Frasca contributed reporting. madeline.sterner@temple.edu @maddiesterner

The Temple News

NEWS

PAGE 5

TSG

Parliament bill aims to address campus protests

If passed, the bill would also provide resources for counterprotesting and mental health.

BY MONICA CONSTABLE AND FALLON ROTH For The Temple News Kendall Stephens always carries around a blowhorn to counter-protest any forms of hate speech on campus. Last semester, a demonstrator using hateful language in a protest on campus pushed Stephens, and, on another occasion, a demonstrator grabbed the blowhorn out of her hand, leaving a cut.

Stephens, a senior public health and social work major and the co-chair of Parliament’s Health and Wellness Subcommittee, introduced the Counterprotest Resolution Bill in October and December 2021 that, if passed, would encourage the relocation of protestors from high traffic, private areas to less busy, public areas on campus. The university and Parliament are still determining the private and public boundaries.

The bill would also establish the Protest Response Team, which would enforce crowd control through de-escalation techniques and provide students who witness protests with resources on counter-protesting, protest avoidance and mental health.

It would apply to all protestors who wish to demonstrate on campus, not just those who use hateful language, Stephens said.

In November 2021, Chris Carey, senior associate dean of students, Parliament Speaker Townley Sorge, Lillian Sclafani, the co-chair of the Student Health and Wellness subcommittee, and Antonio Mendoza, an at-large representative on the subcommittee, discussed public and private boundary lines on campus and how to relocate protests that are on private property, Stephens said.

Temple University Police Department, alongside student groups, the Of-

BRIAN MENGINI / THE TEMPLE NEWS Kendall Stephens (right) and Antonio Mendoza stand near the Bell Tower on Mar. 11.

fice of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership office, Temple Student Government and the Dean of Students Office, would also help notify students when protests occur, according to a summary of the bill.

Temple currently uses 25Live, a scheduling tool, where protestors can reserve a space to protest and inform the university if protestors will bring food or if minors will attend, wrote Jason Levy, senior director of the Student Center, in an email to The Temple News. The signups are content-neutral, meaning Temple does not know what each protest will be about.

Any sign-up policies that universities establish for protests would have to be content neutral because it would be more challenging to prove a policy based on content is constitutional, said Erin Coyle, a journalism professor and free expression expert.

“A public college campus can only

do so much to restrict the free speech activities including protests of students on that campus, and creating a policy that would restrict those kinds of free speech activities,” said Lindsie Rank, student press counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education.

To demonstrate on private property, Parliament proposes protestors would need a permit and permission from Temple, Stephens said. She is waiting to hear from a TUPD sergeant who can confirm the viability of the proposal.

Stephens said some students are emotionally affected by witnessing certain protests.

“You’re seeing students breaking down in tears, you’re seeing students becoming very enraged, you’re seeing the fear, you’re seeing the heightened anxiety,” Stephens said.

The Protest Response Team would distribute literature at protests that provide suggestions on disengaging with

protestors and how remaining calm can reduce feelings of stress and anger amid a confrontation, according to a summary of the bill.

NuRodney Prad, director of student engagement for IDEAL, has met with Stephens since the Fall 2021 semester and thinks the bill is a great way to show student support for inclusiveness on campus because it has the support of student government.

Many aspects of the Parliament bill align with IDEAL’s initiatives, like suggesting that students disengage with protestors, Prad said.

IDEAL does not actively participate in counter-protesting, like the Parliament bill advocates for, Stephens said.

Willow Knotts, a sophomore advertising major, feels uncomfortable when she sees protesters yelling at students through their megaphones.

“I would definitely support [Parliament] because, I don’t know, it just kind of disrupts the campus-feel,” Knotts said.

Despite the support, Parliament is struggling to pass the bill due to members voting no, when unanimous approval is needed.

Stephens reached out to the Parliament members who voted against the bill to ask if there were any improvements that could be made and to clarify any confusion about the bill, but has not received a response, she said.

“We praise ourselves as being diverse and protecting and respecting our diverse community, which means that it will see our diverse community being attacked because of those differences that are meant to bond us together not create divisions, we have to, as a Temple community, step in and do something,” Stephens said. monica.constable@temple.edu @mconstable7 fallon.roth@temple.edu @fallonroth_

PAGE 6

NEWS

The Temple News

PUBLIC SAFETY

Campus Safety on track to hire more police officers Temple University Police’s patrol zones will not expand even after hiring 50 percent more officers.

BY JOCELYN HOCKADAY Staff Writer Temple University’s Campus Safety Services is on track to increase its forces by 50 percent by the end of 2022.

Campus Safety Services hopes to fill 40 vacancies in the force, said Charles Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services.

Campus Safety Services will conduct necessary background checks on all hirings while abiding by TUPD’s self-evalution on equipment training, community engagement and mental health from former President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st-Century Policing, Leone said. Patrol zones will not expand after more officers are hired.

Temple President Jason Wingard announced this goal alongside plans to expand campus safety infrastructure and develop an anti-violence institute in response to the fatal shooting of Samuel Collington, a senior political science major in November 2021.

Several individuals are currently undergoing Campus Safety Services’ background check process, while 113 applicants are awaiting review for police academy training. Campus Safety Services hopes to place 12 potential officers into an upcoming police academy class.

The hiring process includes a background check, drug screening, a completed medical evaluation, a reading and writing comprehension test, a physical agility testing, interviews, orientation and onboarding, Leone said. Once hired, the applicant will participate in field training.

TUPD will comply with their self-evaluation based on the Task Force on 21st-Century Policing, which was created to increase trust of law enforcement officers. New hires will attend a training program led by Lori Pompa, executive director of Temple’s Inside-Out Center, and Norman Conti, the training coordinator at Inside-Out. Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program provides opportunities to incarcerated individuals.

ADAM PYSHER / THE TEMPLE NEWS A Temple University police officer rides a bike down Polett Walk on March 11.

Campus Safety Services will seek the community’s support and feedback on how the department can create a safer community, Leone said.

“We want to be held accountable,” Leone said. “We want people to look at us.”

Police are often called to respond to issues that they do not have the de-escalation and trauma-informed skills for, like domestic violence, said A’Brianna Morgan, a mass liberation organizer at Reclaim Philadelphia, a local activism group.

An increased police presence also raises certain issues for students and local residents, including racial profiling and the handling of mental health crises, Morgan said.

“If you’re a Black student on campus you’re dealing with the constant tension of like, ‘Oh, am I going to be seen as a student of this university or I’m going to be seen as a Black resident who needs to be like, watched vigilantly and maybe harassed, interrogated, about what you’re doing somewhere,’” Morgan said.

While participating in a communi-

ty walkthrough along 16th Street with Temple President Jason Wingard in December 2021, Cory Staples, a junior health professions major and Temple Student Government’s director of Campus Safety, said some students who joined them on the tour expressed their concerns that an increased police presence would cultivate fears among students and the community.

“I know me myself, you know, being a Black man on campus in North Philadelphia, that would probably instill a little bit more fear in me as well,” Staples said.

Jennifer Hedberg, a reading specialist and mother of a senior industrial and engineering systems major, hired JNS Protection Services, a private security company, to patrol the areas around 18th and 19th streets and Norris, Paige and Montgomery streets — the area near her son’s apartment, in response to increased crime in the city.

Currently, Campus Safety patrols between Jefferson Street and Susequehanna Avenue and 9th and 18th streets, according to the patrol map. Between Broad and 13th streets, officers patrol down to Girard

Avenue.

Hedberg believes that Campus Safety Services’ hiring is not happening quickly enough.

“If it’s taking too long, why can’t they take my idea?” Hedberg said. “I live in Massachusetts and from the minute I had this idea until there was someone patrolling the streets — 10 days.”

Leone suggests Temple should continue educating parents and students on the patrolled areas, especially when looking for off-campus housing.

The only way to mitigate the potential issues from an increased police presence is to stop the hiring and divert funds to student and community mental health services, Morgan said.

“You cannot police your way out of gun violence and that is basically what this plan is meant to do,” Morgan said.

Fallon Roth and Devon Russell contributed reporting. jocelyn.hockaday@temple.edu

The Temple News

NEWS

PAGE 7

DEVELOPMENT

Phase three of Ritter renovations to begin soon Temple expedited its material ordering process to account for global supply chain issues.

BY FALLON ROTH AND JARRED ROSAR For The Temple News Temple University’s Project Delivery Group is in phase three of its $20.6 million renovation project for Ritter Hall and Ritter Annex, which includes replacing the windows in Ritter Hall and Ritter Annex to be more energy efficient. It’s expected to be completed by this summer.

The overall project aims to consolidate spaces for the College of Education and Human Development and involves adding a canopy to Ritter Hall’s south entrance and updating the landscape and hardscape west of the building.

Temple ordered the new window panes at the beginning of March after arranging to receive shop drawings – which are used to confirm the correct items are being installed – from their contractor earlier than usual, said Julia Mullin, associate director of construction.

“We started the project sooner than we typically would have had it so that we can do all the pre-ordering that we need to do to get the material in place in time,” said Martin Droz, interim associate vice president for the Project Delivery Group.

The COVID-19 pandemic created multiple supply chain issues for construction materials, like slow shipping times and increased prices, The New York Times reported.

Materials for the windows are not expected to arrive until June. The Project Delivery group previously experienced shipping delays while waiting for the arrival of doors for the second phase of construction, but were not installed until the week of Feb. 28, Mullin said.

NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Installation of double-pane windows, aimed at making Ritter Hall and Ritter Annex more energy efficient, will be completed this summer.

Majority of the second phase was completed in December 2021.

They are installing double-pane windows in Ritter Hall and Ritter Annex, which prevent outdoor temperatures from seeping into the building. The building currently has only single-pane windows, so replacing them will allow Temple to save energy on heating and cooling, Droz said.

Double-pane windows can reduce energy usage up to 24 percent in cold weather and up to 18 percent in hot weather, according to Home Advisor.

Reducing the amount of outside air that is heated and cooled in campus buildings is a focal point of Temple’s energy conservation efforts, detailed in the uni-

versity’s 2019 Climate Action Plan, according to the Campus Operations’ website.

The first phase, completed in June 2021, and the second phase consisted of renovating office spaces and the first and second floors, the lobby and the entrances of Ritter Annex and the second floor of Ritter Hall.

Some students who have classes at Ritter expressed frustration with ongoing renovations.

Payton Carey, a sophomore early childhood education major who spends the majority of her time on campus at Ritter Hall, described the construction as inconvenient and irritating.

“It’s not even just the construction that’s loud, either,” Carey said. “It’s also

the construction workers that aren’t really taking into consideration that students are trying to work while they are carrying out full conversations.”

Mila Ferraro, a sophomore public health major, is relieved the construction on Liacouras Walk South just outside Ritter has seemingly wrapped up.

“Now on the inside it’s mostly just on the first floor,” Ferraro said. “I have my class on the fifth floor, so it doesn’t really bother me.” fallon.roth@temple.edu @fallonroth_ jarred.rosar@temple.edu

OPINION

PAGE 8

EDITORIAL

Respect masking choices On March 11, Temple University announced students and employees will not be required to wear masks in most campus spaces beginning March 21. Temple will still require masks in classrooms, health care facilities and campus shuttles.

The Editorial Board asks students to respect each other’s decisions on whether or not to wear a mask in places where they aren’t required. While students must continue to wear masks when it is required, it’s important for people to determine what’s safe and comfortable for them when in places masks aren’t mandated. Students should also consider the boundaries others may have on removing masks and be mindful of people’s comfort levels if they continue wearing a mask.

Temple has 30 estimated active COVID-19 cases as of March 12, according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard. With fewer cases on campus, the university was able to ease mask guidelines, but will still monitor COVID-19 data and notify the Temple community of any further changes.

With a positivity rate of 1.1

percent, the city is in the All Clear COVID-19 response level where there’s no mask requirement in most public spaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Local universities have also recently adjusted their mask policies. The University of Pennsylvania will no longer require double-masking or KN95, KF94 or N95 masks in campus buildings, but wearing a mask is still mandatory. Drexel University will still require masks through March 19 and reassess community needs and risks. Thomas Jefferson University will also no longer require masks indoors beginning March 21.

Students will soon see changes in masking on campus, and should remember that the decision to wear a mask can be personal, so no student should be made to feel uncomfortable about their choice.

As COVID-19 requirements change due to decreasing cases on campus and in Philadelphia, the Editorial Board encourages students to be respectful of their peers’ decisions with masking moving forward.

The Temple News

STUDENT LIFE

Donate to Cherry Pantry

A student argues that their peers should be involved with the pantry through donations or volunteering.

S

ince February 2018, Temple University’s Cherry Pantry has offered free, non-perishable food to students in need. The goal of the Cherry Pantry is to help combat hunger in the Temple community by supplying JULIA MEROLA nutritious emergency food, Co-Editor according to their website.

Volunteering is a great opportunity for students to give back because it brings awareness to basic needs and can be as easy as donating an item, said Rachael Stark, the senior associate dean of students.

Twenty-five percent of students in Philadelphia’s four-year public colleges reported fearing they’d run out of food before they could buy more, and 26 percent reported being unable to afford balanced meals, according to a May 2021 survey from the Hope Center.

Because food insecurity is prevalent among college students in Philadelphia, students must donate food or hygiene items or volunteer their time at the Cherry Pantry.

Food insecurity is a systemic problem that cannot be addressed solely by students, but their support can help students at Temple in need.

If more students donated, the Cherry Pantry could build awareness about food insecurity among college students through volunteering and discussions about the pantry, said David Koppisch, the associate director of community engagement at the Hope Center.

“If nearly a third of students are saying they experienced food insecurity, then this is not some isolated cases of particularly unusually needy students, this is really a really widespread thing,” Koppisch said.

Students have different options, like setting up tables and collecting items, volunteering in the pantry or hosting their own food drives, Stark said. Students can also purchase

items from the pantry’s wish list to donate, according to their website.

Getting involved helps students better understand how their fellow students are affected by food insecurity, said Kristina Mueller, a senior health professions major, and the external coordinator for the Cherry Pantry.

“You really become aware of what is happening on campus and the challenges that students can face on campus when it comes to food insecurity,” Mueller said.

The pantry has collaborated with other organizations to promote the resources it offers. For example, the pantry partnered with the Office of Sustainability for their Pop-up Thrift Shop where students purchased clothing for under $5, and all proceeds went to the Cherry Pantry.

The pantry is currently facing more of a stocking issue rather than volunteering, said Samantha Roehl, a sophomore communications major and the publicist for the Cherry Pantry.

Because of the demand the pantry typically faces, they need more donations to meet students’ needs.

Students can help by donating food or hygiene items which can be dropped off as frequently as they’d like.

Students facing food and housing insecurity have lower grade point averages, poorer health and higher rates of depression and anxiety than those who don’t face these challenges, according to a May 2021 survey from the Hope Center.

“Having enough food during the week during your month, does correlate with student persistence,” Koppisch said. “So, in the long run, helping students meet their food needs, clearly is correlated to academic success and staying in school.”

By donating or volunteering to the Cherry Pantry, students can assist their peers facing food insecurity and help make a difference in their lives. julia.merola@temple.edu @juliaamerola

The Temple News

OPINION

PAGE 9

THE ESSAYIST

Reconnecting with my best friend from childhood A student describes reuniting with their longtime best friend after years of separation.

BY JETTA HOLIDAY For The Temple News We first met in second grade during my first week at a new school. She came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Do you want to play UNO?” When I said yes, she led me to the table where her other friends sat. On that day, we became best friends.

Her name was Jada. She was a sweet, bubbly, straight-A student who made friends everywhere she went. Her favorite color was blue, she loved playing with the latest Bratz and Barbie dolls and she was a night owl who went to sleep at 5 a.m. on the weekends. As the years went by, we did everything together.

Although I had a few friends before I met her, Jada was my very first best friend. There were things I could do with her I couldn’t do with anyone else, like sharing my embarrassing secrets and school crushes.

Shortly before my 11th birthday, I moved to Coatesville, Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia. I was devastated because I was leaving the city I grew up in and my best friend, whom I considered a sister. The worst part was I couldn’t even say goodbye because I left a few hours after I found out I was moving.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get in contact with her. Not being able to reach her made me feel like a bad friend because it seemed like I gave up trying to talk to her.

I moved and started a new school in April 2012. My mom said this move was

KRISTINE CHIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

supposed to be temporary, and I would return to Philadelphia in the summer.

However, as the summer came and went, the chances of seeing Jada again grew slim.

When I started my new school in Coatesville, I tried to make a new best friend. I wanted to make new memories to help me forget about everything my old best friend and I did together. I tried to find a new Jada by making new friends who matched her outgoing personality and liked the same things she did.

The friends I made at my new school were nothing like my best friend from home. We couldn’t hold a short conversation without it being awkward, and some of them weren’t as sweet as Jada. I had nothing in common with these new friends at school, but Jada and I had everything in common.

I gave up trying to find a new best friend. The stories I heard about my new classmates and their best friends from grade school made me realize the friendship I had with Jada was something special

and irreplaceable. I felt determined to continue my search to reconnect with Jada.

It took almost two years before I got in contact with Jada again. The first thing I asked was if she remembered me, and I felt my heart stop when she said she hadn’t forgotten. Happiness washed over me as we talked that day.

We shared new interests with one another and reminisced over the things we did before we were separated. Our conversation flowed naturally, as if we never lost contact.

The call left a smile on my face because I finally reached the person I had been longing for. Our conversation made me feel like a little kid again, especially when she invited me to her sixth grade graduation.

I remember how wide Jada’s eyes widened when we made eye contact, and how she pulled me around the auditorium to introduce me to her other friends.

Seeing Jada happy made me happy too because I finally had my best friend back.

We made a promise to never lose contact with each other again, and because of that, our friendship only grew stronger.

Jada and I still have our moments when we’re obsessing over High School Musical, but our relationship has changed since elementary school. I’m in college and Jada is a full-time mother and entrepreneur, our free time doesn’t always align.

Whether it be at a restaurant or her house, we try to see each other as much as we can. This year, we’ll be celebrating 16 years of friendship, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. jetta.holiday@temple.edu

.. .

ADVERTISEMENT

i t r

e v

o T t

n a W

d A

e s

ti h

W

s U

But Don’t Have Artwork?

The Temple News is now offering ad artwork services for advertisements in our print issue, online site and on social. If you’d like to advertise with us but don’t have artwork or promotional material, we’re able to provide you with artwork that best fits your advertisement.

Scan the QR code to visit the advertising page on our website Email advertising@temple-news.com for all inquiries.

The Temple News

OPINION

PAGE 11

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

Students, give back to female health care workers Two students argue their peers should donate to and advocate for health care workers.

BY SOPHIA REIS AND JULIA MEROLA For The Temple News

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” as a tribute to the work that caregivers and health care workers have provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roughly 80 percent of health care workers and 83 percent of workers providing social assistance, including child care and emergency services, are women, according to Time’s Up, a non-profit group that raises money to support victims of sexual harassment.

“Women experience things differently, particularly if they had traditional caregiver roles,” said Laura Sinko, a nursing professor. “Across the board, nurses and health care providers in general have been really hit hard by the pandemic.”

During Women’s History Month, it’s important we all give back to women in health care and acknowledge their hard work. Supporting health care workers can include volunteering time in medical facilities, asking health care workers in our lives what they need and advocating for equitable policies regarding parental leave, sick days and child support.

Students can begin celebrating Women’s History Month this year by learning about the accomplishments of female medical pioneers, said Dr. Mary Kraemer, a clinical medicine professor.

For example, after being rejected by all Philadelphia medical schools and the Philadelphia Medical Society, Ann Preston went on to recruit an all-women board to establish the Woman’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, where women could receive clinical training, in 1861.

Many of these female medical pioneers are left out of history, said Sraavya Pinjala, a sophomore biology major.

“There are so many unsung heroes, women who haven’t been given credit

KRISTINE CHIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

when they should have and aren’t a part of history,” Pinjala said.

Giving credit to women highlights struggles that are not discussed enough, like gender roles in STEM fields, Pinjala said.

“The care that we do, as women, is often seen as not as important,” said Anne Frankel, a social and behavioral sciences professor.

Gender stereotypes teach women that men are more qualified to work in STEM fields, which has made women in STEM less likely to share ideas and more likely to discount positive feedback on their work, according to the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, an organization that publishes articles about faculty research.

Learning about women’s work in medicine and other STEM-related fields raises awareness of additional burdens

women experience in the workplace due to societal expectations like their roles in the home or workplace.

Women working in health care fields often face obstacles like unequal pay, limited opportunities for career advancement and unfavorable policies promoting the patriarchy, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Although it’s good to express support through simpler methods like following COVID-19 protocols, the real effort needed is advocacy for health care workers’ rights to parental and sick leave.

“When we think of giving back and maybe our first thought is saying thank you, or some of the things that we participated in during the pandemic, like writing notes, or putting up banners or doing gift boxes for our health care providers,” Frankel said. “We need to do

more than that.”

Advocacy for more equitable workplace policies can include calling out discriminatory policies and enabling others to use their voices to speak up, volunteering with women’s rights organizations or continuing activism online.

While it’s important for students to donate their time by advocating for equitable policies in the health care industry or donating time for child support, they should also help lower pandemic burnout for women, especially nurses.

There are many ways to give back to female health care workers during Women’s History Month, and we must do so to acknowledge their hard work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. sophia.reis@temple.edu julia.merola@temple.edu @juliaamerola

PAGE 12

OPINION

The Temple News

POLITICS

Gendered language reinforces harmful stigmas A student argues that gendered language is harmful because of the gender beliefs it perpetuates.

Although more gender-neutral terms are being used in English, gendered language is still common in everyday dialogue because people assume someone’s gender based on their appearance.

WENDY GARCIA Co-Opinion Editor Gendered language involves assumptions about gender-based characteristics or a bias toward one gender. For example, using Mr. to refer to any man, regardless of marital status, but using Ms. to refer to a single woman and using Mrs. to refer to a married woman.

Although the effects of everyday dialogue may seem minor, language has a significant impact on how we perceive the world. As a result, people may unintentionally harm others with how they speak by assuming someone’s gender or pushing gender stereotypes.

In the May primary, Philadelphians can vote to remove gendered language from the city’s most important documents. City Council approved two bills on Feb. 24 to replace gendered references in the Home Rule Charter and remove gender-specific language from the charter’s Education Supplement, Billy Penn reported.

While Philadelphians can vote to remove gendered language from these documents, the negative effects of gendered language are also exacerbated through the language people use.

Using gendered language reinforces stereotypes like viewing certain jobs as only available to men, seeing women as inferior and believing only two genders exist. These messages make it difficult to achieve gender equality and should be combated by using gender-inclusive lan-

KATHERINE WANG / THE TEMPLE NEWS

guage to respect everyone.

Gender-inclusive language consists of not viewing men as the default and not basing occupation titles on a person’s gender, such as waiter and waitress being gender-specific.

“I don’t use male-gendered language as the norm when I write because it excludes others,” said Amy Friedman, an English professor. “I try to work in a non-gendered way.”

People can swap out gendered phrases for gender-inclusive alternatives. For example, people can address a group as “everyone” and use singular “they” pronouns to refer to a person whose gender they don’t know yet.

It’s important to evaluate the gen-

dered language we may use because of how it can reinforce the idea of only having two genders, said Rob Faunce, an English professor.

Constant references to male and female groupings can be alienating for people who don’t fall neatly into the binary categories. Adjusting our language to reflect gender diversity helps everyone feel included.

“People like to talk about how sick they are of hearing about it, but our dayto-day is just as important as the big issue,” Faunce said.

When comparing countries’ most spoken language and their global gender gap rank, countries where gendered languages are spoken tend to have less gen-

der equality compared to countries with genderless languages, like Iceland and Norway, according to Nimdzi, a market research and consulting company.

Not everyone is a woman or a man, so it’s important to be as inclusive with language as possible, said Brad Windhauser, a professor in the English and gender, sexuality and women’s studies departments.

“So much of what we understand about our world comes through language, and so if we introduce or sort of disrupt language around gender, then I think that will force people to think differently,” Windhauser said.

The amount of gender equality in an area is connected to the language that’s used, and something as small as changing a few words can make a difference in combating stereotypical messages and being inclusive.

There are many opportunities for people to use inclusive language while speaking or writing to promote acceptance, Friedman said.

“Even if every person in a meeting is using [she or he] pronouns, it still says we as a crowd of people are welcoming and we recognize our responsibility to do something to make everyone feel welcome,” Friedman said.

It’s important to affirm transgender and non-binary people through everyday language. Using gender-inclusive language ensures they feel accepted and lessens the impact of gender beliefs by recognizing multiple genders.

The dialogue people use can have an effect on gender equality and how genders are perceived. Adjusting everyday language to be gender-inclusive is a small but significant step toward promoting gender equality and not alienating people during conversations. wendy.garcia@temple.edu

The Temple News

OPINION

PAGE 13

THE ESSAYIST

Hoarding destroyed all my childhood memories A student recounts their first time entering their childhood home after many years.

BY JULIA MEROLA Co-Opinion Editor Growing up, my parents had two separate houses, one on Long Island and the other on Staten Island.

Most of the mornings that we were on Staten Island, my grandparents brought bagels for breakfast, and I spent my days with my cousins or with the other kids on my street.

After moving to New Jersey when I was seven, my mom didn’t want to spend as much time on Staten Island because she saw it as overcrowded and difficult to drive around in compared to our new home. Because we spent little time on Staten Island, my grandmother moved into our old house.

Once my grandma was settled, we rarely went into the house because of the state of my grandma’s hoarding. I sometimes peered into the house and saw clothes on the couch, unused boxes and plastic bags beside the TV, piles of old VCR tapes beside the front door among other useless things.

Whenever my mom went inside, she was often distraught at the sight of the house. She hated seeing what her mom had done to the house, and was always upset when we left because of the damage.

Hoarders, like my grandmother, have persistent difficulty parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save the items. Oftentimes the resulting clutter disrupts the ability to use living spaces, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

When I was 15, my grandma moved in with us for a few months due to health complications. While she stayed with us, my mom confronted her about the state of our house on Staten Island and her hoarding.

That night, my mom finally told me why she was always upset after leaving Staten Island, because she felt my grandma was destroying our house.

ALLYSON THARP / THE TEMPLE NEWS

I stepped foot into our house for the first time since I was seven this past winter break. Unlike before, I wasn’t just peering in, I actually walked through the destruction from the hoarding.

I was shocked, it wasn’t the childhood home I remembered. There was junk everywhere, and the dining room table where my grandma brought over bagels was covered in a strangely organized mass of letters.

Because my grandma didn’t actually need my room for anything, my room became her personal storage room.

Everything was piled on top of each other, practically to the height of the ceiling. My old bed was covered by her things and barely visible.

It felt like my childhood was shattering right in front of my eyes. Up until this day, I held hope that beneath the garbage,

my childhood home was still there.

I couldn’t stay in the house for more than 30 minutes before I felt I was going to throw up. Becoming a hoarder has been one of my biggest fears since I first saw the signs of hoarding when I was in elementary school. Seeing my grandmother’s junk sit there, collecting dust and her refusal to throw anything away disgusted me.

Walking into her house only solidified this fear, and I had the urge to throw out everything I owned.

Once we got home to New Jersey, I immediately cleared out my room. I impulsively purged my clothes and anything else I felt wasn’t needed.

I thought about my apartment at school, and became fearful as to how much I could’ve accumulated during the fall semester. It killed me knowing I’d have to wait until I could purge my apartment too.

As I walked away from the house, I realized it was officially time to let go of what this house meant to me and close that chapter of my life. It was difficult for me, because I never thought I’d see the house I loved so much be completely destroyed.

In the days after my visit, I knew I had to come to terms with the state of my house. It was important to me because I had so many vivid childhood memories there, but I had to acknowledge that my grandmother had an illness that she couldn’t control.

After years of denying the effects I knew hoarding would have on the house, I now know it’s okay to say goodbye to the house, because I’ll be able to take all of my good memories with me. julia.merola@temple.edu @juliaamerola

LIVE Philly in

BY NOEL CHACKO Co-Photo Editor

BACK ON T R A C K

The 120th Annual Philadelphia what propels it, and the relationship you Auto Show returned to the have with your automobile.”

New to the show this year was the Philadelphia Convention Center.

The latest in car technology and classic cars from the 1900’s were on display during the 120th annual Philadelphia Auto Show at the Philadelphia Convention Center on Saturday.

The Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia organizes The Philadelphia Auto Show and works with more than 15 car manufacturers like Ford, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Volvo and Hyundai to display their vehicles at the show from March 5 through 13. Attendees had access to look at interiors, trunks and engines of some of the vehicles on the show floor. “[The show] has been around for 120 years and it’s been part of the fabric of Philadelphia,” said Kevin Mazzucola, executive director of the Philadelphia Auto Show. “We just want to make sure that [the show] is what it has always been in regards to the city and the consumers in the auto industry.”

The show attracts between 200,000 to 250,000 people each year during the nine days of the show, which drives business for Reading Terminal Market, parking garages, hotels, SEPTA and more.

As usual, the supercars were attention grabbers, but the Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia put an emphasis on electric vehicles this year. “[This] transition is the biggest technological transition probably since the Model T,” said Mazzucola. “We’re talking about the soul of the vehicle,

NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sean Weisner, a Newtown, Pennsylvania resident, plays the Hyundai Racing Challenge on the show floor at the Philadelphia Auto Show at the Philadelphia Convention Center on March 12.

Tyler Napier, a Wilmington, Delaware resident, sits inside a Subaru WRX. A gated-off 2022 Chevrolet Corvette is on display on the show floor.

ON OPPOSITE PAGE: Attendees interact with different Ford models on the show floor.

e-Track, the show’s first-ever multibrand electric vehicle test track. Attendees were able to take a ride in five different vehicles driven by professional drivers to experience the differences between combustion and electric vehicles.

The Auto Dealers Caring for Kids Foundation, a foundation under The Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia, has donated roughly half a million brand new coats to underprivileged kids during the past 12 years using portions of revenue generated from The Philadelphia Auto Show, said Mazzucola.

“In high school, my first car was a 1990 Miata. That kind of got me into it,” said Mike Moses from Havertown, Pennsylvania, about how he became interested in the car scene. He said working at a car dealership as a detailer furthered his interest in cars.

“And it’s cool to be back here. I like how they moved the classic cars separately, and they put all EV models all together.”

The show returned this year after being canceled last year due to COVID-19.

“It’s really exciting to see all the new models that have been kind of held back because of COVID and actually seeing them now, even if they’re pre-production or just like show models, it’s nice to see them,” said Martin Martinez, a marketing director from Wilmington, Delaware. noelchacko@temple.edu

PAGE 16

FEATURES

The Temple News

COMMUNITY

Women’s History Month Community Resources WHM honors contributions and achievements of women who helped shape the United States.

BY ROSIE LEONARD AND SAMANTHA SULLIVAN

M

arch is Women’s History Month, and there are plenty of ways to honor and celebrate it both on Temple University’s campus and around Philadelphia.

Women’s History Month, originally created in 1981 as a week-long celebration, became a month-long observance in 1995, dedicated to honoring the contributions and achievements women have made over the course of United States history.

Here are some ways for students, faculty, staff and community members to celebrate and get involved this month.

EVENTS: Harriet Tubman 200th Birthday Commemoration

The Cecil. B. Moore Freedom Fighters will host a discussion about the influence of Harriet Tubman’s courage and activism. The Jubilee School students will also present short stories they wrote about activists who contributed to the fight for women’s rights during the event.

The discussion will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, March 16 at 2 p.m.

tory Month celebrations. The event will begin with an art market at 6 p.m. and end with a poetry recitation and musical performances on Wednesday, March 23, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Room 217 of the Howard Gittis Student Center.

Who Run It!? Women’s Art Showcase

On Saturday, March 26, Sunflower Philly will host TAMEARTZ’s, art curator at Sunflower Philly, Annual “Who Run It!?!” Woman’s Art Showcase at 1725 N. 15th Street from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The day will begin with a free yoga class at 10 a.m., followed by live painting, music, poetry readings and guest speakers like Kali Silverman and Tiffany Jade.

VOLUNTEER: Black Women’s Health Alliance BWHA aims to improve health care for African American and other minority women and their families through advocacy, education, research and support services. Individuals can apply to volunteer at their programs, health fairs and workshops, via their website, or in person at 1324 W. Clearfield Street.

Women of Excellence

Diamond Screen Film Series is hosting the Women’s Film Festival on Friday, March 18, at 5 p.m. in The Reel of the Howard Gittis Student Center. The festival will highlight films made by female writers, directors and cinematography students in the Film and Media Arts Department. For those who can not attend in person, there will be a virtual streaming option from March 18 to 24.

WE is a nonprofit that provides temporary housing and prevention programs to assist women, girls and families reach their full potential. Interested individuals can volunteer their time in WE’s mentor programs, to help participants work toward goals and establish personal accountability, or their empowerment workshops that explore topics like health and wellness, communication, time management and personal development. To volunteer, visit their location in person at 2848-50 N. 9th Street, or contact them at 215-226-4999 or info@ womenexcel.net.

Art Fair

Throw like a woman

Women’s Film Festival

HERstory is an annual performing arts showcase and banquet hosted by The Office of Leadership and Development that celebrates women who are often overlooked in traditional Women’s His-

TLAW supports institutions that assist under-represented and vulnerable populations through virtual workshops, training sessions, assessments and community building through work with

CARLY CIVELLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

nonprofit organizations. Anyone interested can volunteer to aid in leadership development, resource planning, performance management, recruitment and onboarding for nonprofits in the Philadelphia area. To volunteer, contact them at 267-728-4110 or email them at info@ throwlikeawoman.com

DONATE: Women Against Abuse

WAB is a nonprofit that provides resources and support, like free legal representation to persons experiencing intimate partner violence, with hopes of ending domestic violence through their advocacy and community education like workshops and training. People can donate via their website or by check mailed to 100 S. Broad Street, Suite 1341, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.

Women’s Way

Women’s Way is a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of women, girls and gender equity. Donations will

aid in creating more equitable opportunities through educational resources, forums and workshops about gender, race and wages. To donate, visit their website.

Women’s Opportunities Resource Center

WORC promotes social and economic self-sufficiency for economically disadvantaged women and their families. They provide training, individual business assistance, incentive savings programs, job placement and access to business and financial resources. Donations can be made on their website or by check, mailed to Women’s Opportunities Resource Center 2010 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103. Donations aid in supplying loans to those without proper access to education and trainings to help people start small businesses. mary.rose.leonard@temple.edu samantha.sullivan0002@temple.edu

The Temple News

FEATURES

PAGE 17

ALUMNI

Temple alumna develops Mars rotorcraft at NASA Athena Chan graduated in December and started working at NASA full-time on Jan. 18.

BY ROSIE LEONARD Features Editor While experimenting in her AP Physics class as a junior in high school, Athena Chan discovered her love for science.

Two months ago, that passion became her career.

Chan graduated from Temple University in December 2021 and started her full-time position as a mechanical engineer working on the Mars rotorcraft at NASA on Jan. 18. Chan is helping develop a rotor blade test stand to be used in a low pressure chamber that mimics conditions on Mars, like air density, to determine how rotorcrafts can perform when sent to Mars.

“I was thrilled, this is such a fun opportunity,” said Chan, a 2021 mechanical engineering alumna.

In 2019, Chan worked as an intern at NASA, where she helped create concept designs for the Mars Science Helicopter, and as a research intern for the space agency in 2020. Because she interned there during college, she was offered a contracting position after graduating from Temple, she said.

Chan’s interest in engineering first sparked when enrolled in Patrick Kaplo’s Advanced Placement Physics class her junior year of high school, where she learned to combine her love for science with aerospace through hands-on projects and experiments, Chan said.

Kaplo, a physics teacher at Windham High School in Windham, New Hampshire, remembers Chan for her hardwork and genuine interest and curiosity for physics, he said.

Although Chan only took one class with Kaplo, they formed a strong bond and she would often seek advice and support from him for her other classes and he helped her decide which college to attend.

He admires how passionate she is and that she is pursuing a career path where she is not limited to just one of her interests.

ATHENA CHAN / COURTESY Athena Chan, a 2021 mechanical engineering alumna, stands in front of a bomber plane from World War II at the Ames Research Center in 2019.

“[Chan] is not constrained by these boundaries that most people think are there, and she just chooses not to believe in them, does whatever she wants with her mind, and that’s pretty cool,” Kaplo said.

Athena’s hard work and passion shone through in her courses, like Mohammad Kiani’s Introduction to Engineering and Engineering Economics courses.

Although Kiani has taught many students, Chan stood out to him, because she would often push-back in his lectures, and encourage more open discussion of class topics.

He appreciates how eager she is to learn and constantly expand her skillset, said Kiani, a mechanical engineering professor.

“She had more than just a narrow focus, and she was definitely multi-dimensional,” Kiani said.

He is not surprised with how successful she has become at such a young age and feels she will do well in whatever she pursues in life, Kiani added.

Chan has also written five science fiction books, “You, Myself, and Her,” “The Celestial Seas,” “Of Silver and Stars,” “The Secret Currency” and “Warpers.”

Chan always loved reading science fiction and decided to try her hand in writing about it in high school and college, she said.

Looking to expand her skills in writing and editing, Chan joined Scribophile, an online group for critique partners, during her freshman year of college and became a critique partner, someone who provides feedback for manuscripts, for J.S. Dewes, a science fiction author.

As her critique partner, Chan read Dewes’ manuscript, “The Last Watch,” and grew fascinated with the idea of outer space, she said. Shortly after reading Dewes’ book, she watched “The Expanse,” a science fiction television series, and grew more invested in aerospace.

Reading Dewes’ manuscript taught Chan more about aerospace and helped her solidify her desire to pursue mechan-

ical engineering as a major, Chan said.

“It was those two particular works of fiction that got me very interested in aerospace and space, and I was like, ‘maybe I can try my hand at aerospace,’” Chan said.

Chan originally attended college at The U.S. Military Academy West Point in Orange County, New York, but transferred to Temple to pursue mechanical engineering after her first semester.

Chan is grateful she never limited herself to pursuing just one of her passions and plans to write more books and hopes to stay at NASA for a few more years, Chan said.

“There’s nothing stopping me from pursuing writing on the side, so I think that’s just kind of the path I took, and I’m quite happy with how it turned out,” Chan said. mary.rose.leonard@temple.edu

PAGE 18

FEATURES

The Temple News

STUDENT LIFE

Jewish students look forward to in-person Purim Purim celebrates queen Esther saving the Jewish people from state-sanctioned murder.

BY EDEN MacDOUGALL Assistant Features Editor Growing up, Rafael Friedlander celebrated Purim by going to services at Congregation Beth El in Montgomery County, Maryland, where congregation members would sing Purim-themed parodies of songs, interspersed with readings from the Megillah.

This year, Friedlander, an architecture undeclared freshman, is celebrating on campus with events like baking Hamantaschen, a triangle-shaped cookie with a sweet filling, hosted by Chabad, an organization dedicated to promoting Jewish life on campus.

Purim is a Jewish holiday that tells the story of Haman, the adviser to king Ahasuerus who planned to kill all the Jewish people in the Persian empire, and how queen Esther, the king’s Jewish wife, exposed his plot and saved the Jewish people, according to Chabad.

Purim is traditionally celebrated by observing four mitzvot: donation to charities, feasting, sharing food with loved ones and hearing the story of Purim, known as the Megillah, read aloud, according to Chabad. Other traditions include dressing up in costume, booing or using noisemakers whenever Haman’s name is said to symbolize beating Haman’s spirit back into purgatory and praying.

This year, Purim begins at sundown on March 16 and ends at sundown on March 17. Chabad is hosting a party with a Megillah reading, sushi chef and cocktails on March 16, and a bagel lunch with a Megillah reading at the Medical Education and Research Building on March 17, said Rabbi Baruch Kantor, the Chabad rabbi.

RABBI BARUCH S. KANTOR / COURTESY Rabbi Baruch Kantor sits with students attending Chabad’s Hamantaschen bake on March 9.

Hillel, a student organization dedicated to connecting students with their Jewish heritage, is offering Hamantaschen baking on March 16. Meor, an organization that aims to create Jewish leaders, is hosting a cocktail-style costume party on March 16.

The Megillah does not mention God, but his presence is implied by other characters and the miracle performed, which is Esther being in a position to save the other Jewish people, Kantor said.

“The miracle of Purim was really the miracle which is kind of hidden,” Kantor added. “It’s not like a miracle, like the sea splitting or the water turning into blood or anything like the Passover miracles, it’s a miracle that seems to be very much within nature.”

The hidden miracles are reflected in the tradition of wearing costumes because they hide a person’s true appearance, he said.

Friedlander enjoyed baking Hamantaschen at Chabad on March 9, he said.

The dough was already made and rolled into balls, roughly the size of an apple, and students flattened them before filling the centers with lemon, raspberry and chocolate.

Friedlander decided to attend the baking event because he was more involved with Chabad in September 2021 and wants to be active in the organization again, he said.

Friedlander plans to attend Chabad’s Purim party on Wednesday and is looking forward to the Megillah reading and

using noisemakers to blot out Haman’s name, he said.

“Regardless of the purpose of waving it around, they’re just fun to wave around in general,” he said.

Madison Leonard attended Chabad’s Hamantaschen bake with her brother Maxwell, an undecided freshman at Temple, and her cousin Elizabeth Schecter, a senior communications sciences and disorders major at Pennsylvania State University, and plans on attending Chabad’s party on March 16, she said.

She is looking forward to celebrating in person again because the 2020 Chabad Purim party was one of the last events she attended in person before the COVID-19 pandemic forced most places to shut down, said Leonard, a senior health professions major.

Leonard’s favorite Purim tradition is making Hamantaschen, and she made Nutella and cherry-flavored ones with her family during the weekend, she said.

“That just brings everyone together, it gets everyone in the spirit,” Leonard added.

For Leonard, Purim is about coming together and having fun with family and friends, something that is even more important to her because of the pandemic, she said.

During the pandemic, she wasn’t able to celebrate with Chabad but baked “many, many batches” of Hamantaschen at home, Leonard said.

Friedlander plans to attend the Chabad party and meet other Jewish people there, he said.

“I’m looking forward to being able to celebrate in person because it’s the first time since 2020 and because it’s my first Purim here at Temple,” he added. eden.macdougall@temple.edu @EdenMacDougall

The Temple News

FEATURES

PAGE 19

ACTIVISM

Senior raises awareness for Church of Advocate Preserving and revitalizing the church Tyler Ray wants to preserve will help the church continue to connect the historic building and the with and serve the North Philadelphia Advocate’s legacy of social justice.

BY EDEN MaCDOUGALL Assistant Features Editor As a child, Tyler Ray spent hours at the Church of the Advocate with his father, but it wasn’t until he saw the church’s roof leaking during a storm in 2018 that he realized how badly the church needs repairs.

“I just saw water running down the interior wall and it was just ignored by everybody and I’m just looking over, like, ‘you know this isn’t normal, right? it’s not supposed to rain inside a building,’” said Ray, a senior community development and historic preservation major.

Ray has wanted to preserve the church since he was young because of its historical importance to the North Philadelphia community and his family, who have been active members there since 1963. This summer, he plans to set up a nonprofit with the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania’s permission, the church’s governing body, to fundraise money and help pay for the church’s repairs and upgrades.

The church needs a cooling system, panic bars for the doors and a new roof, which is estimated to cost a total of $7 million, BillyPenn reported in 2019.

Some repairs were already made to the roof in 2016, and the church applied for a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation so they can continue making repairs, Ivey said.

The church was built in 1887 as a memorial to George South, a businessman and community leader, and has a history of progressive milestones and historic events, like ordaining the first female priests in the Episcopal church, and hosting the National Conference of Black Power in 1968 and the Black Panther Conference in 1970, according to the church’s website.

community, said Reverend Betsy Ivey.

“That’s what the core of the revitalization of the church is: engaging with the community in such a way that we are answering the needs of the community,” Ivey said Ray is still in the planning stages of forming a nonprofit and spoke with Ivey about the church’s future role in the nonprofit, Ivey said.

Ray’s family began attending the church after his grandmother moved to Philadelphia from the South during the Great Migration, a mass movement of Black southerners in the twentieth century who moved north in search of better economic prospects.

Ray’s dad was baptized in the church in the early 1960s and worked there as a sexton, a church groundskeeper, in the early to mid-2000s and was responsible for building maintenance, Ray said.

During the summer, Ray’s dad would bring him to work and show him around the church’s crypts, underground chambers where people are buried, Ray said.

To raise awareness about the church’s existence, history and conditions, Ray started giving tours to Temple University employees about the church’s architecture and murals depicting the experience of Black people in America during his freshman year and joined the Community Affairs department in Fall 2021, where he has continued his work, he said.

There isn’t much Ray can do on his own because any decision about repairs to the church must be made by the Episcopal Diocese, he said.

Judith Robinson, a realtor, public historian and tour guide docent at the church, met Ray when he toured the church with Temple, and Robinson and Ray talked about the church’s crypts.

Robinson was impressed with how well

JORDAN KOFFI / THE TEMPLE NEWS Tyler Ray, a senior community development and historic preservation major, stands inside the Church of the Advocate on Diamond Street near 18th on March 14.

Ray knew the church, she said.

Now that Ray is giving tours as part of his job in Community Affairs, he and Robinson sometimes give joint tours with Ray focusing on the building itself, and Robinson focusing on the church’s history, she said.

Robinson loves working with Ray because he is driven, hardworking and a North Philadelphia community member, and they are working on starting the nonprofit together this summer, she said.

In Fall 2021, Ray joined the Community Affairs team under Andrea Swan, the director of community and neighborhood affairs, because he wanted to help strengthen the relationship be-

tween Temple and the North Philadelphia community, which uses the church as an unofficial headquarters, he said.

In the future, Ray wants to continue doing preservation work with low-income neighborhoods, like Tioga, Stanton and Strawberry Mansion, to help them maintain their sense of identity and resist gentrification, he said.

“If you take away certain key identifiers of a certain neighborhood, then it feels like that culture is being lost,” Ray said. eden.macdougall@temple.edu @EdenMacDougall

PAGE 20

SPORTS

The Temple News

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Owls fall short in tournament after shaky season Temple men’s basketball ended its season by falling 69-60 to Tulane in The American quarterfinals.

BY ISABELLA DiAMORE AND NICK GANGEWERE Sports Editors With postponements and many injuries, head coach Aaron McKie had to make adjustments on the fly this season.

“What I was trying to explain to these guys, nobody cares if you have injuries or if you have a few guys sit out because of COVID,” McKie said. “You have to continue to play games, you have to continue at a high level and that’s life.”

The Owls had three of their starters go down with injuries this season, resulting in a next-man-up mentality.

While McKie already had a young team, he relied on the bench to fill those holes.

However, lack of game exposure made it difficult for this roster to finish games down the stretch.

After clinching the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye, Temple University men’s basketball fell 69-60 to Tulane University (14-15, 10-8 The American Athletic Conference) in The American quarterfinals on March 11, finishing out the season with a 17-12 record overall and 10-7 in The American.

Temple was ranked 357 of 358 NCAA Division I teams in terms of game experience. By the end of the season, Temple’s starting five consisted of freshman forward Nick Jourdain, freshmen guards Hysier Miller and Jahlil White, redshirt-sophomore guard Tai Strickland and redshirt-freshman guard Damian Dunn.

Dunn and Strickland are the only players with more than two seasons of game experience under their belts.

“We certainly knew we had some flaws, but we managed to get this far with it,” McKie said on making it to the quarterfinals. “I wanted to go further, but it didn’t happen. Through it all, I’m

NICK DAVIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Damian Dunn, a redshirt-freshman guard, prepares to make a move with the ball in an Owls’ game against the University of South Florida on March 6.

still proud of these guys.”

When sophomore guard Khalif Battle, who averaged 21.4 points per game, was ruled out for the season with a fractured metatarsal, McKie turned to a scoring committee to fill the scoring gap.

McKie leaned on a deep rotation that was able to score by committee.

Freshman guard Quincy Ademokoya got his first start in place of Battle. Hicks and Miller, who both averaged more than 18 minutes a game, also saw more minutes off the bench. But it was Temple’s backcourt with Dunn and Williams that gave this team some consistency.

Williams, the primary ball handler, would try to find open looks on offense, where he would usually look to Dunn, a solid shooter. In a 71-63 defeat against East Carolina on Feb. 2, Dunn led with 26 points, shooting 3-of-5 from three — two of those 3-pointers were assisted by Williams.

Jourdain also became another scoring option for Temple. When the Owls

played at the University of Tulsa (11-20, 4-14 The American) on Jan. 12, Jourdain scored 23 points on 52.9 percent shooting from the field in a 69-64 win.

A large part of Temple’s game midway through the season was its defense.

In The American, Temple finished second in three-point field goal percentage defense, meaning they could push teams to take shots from the perimeter, but not allow them to fall.

“We take defense personal,” Dunn said. “It’s a part of our culture and that’s just something that we really take pride in.”

However, Temple still had flaws throughout the entire season. The Owls finished second to last in scoring offense and three-point percentage.

As a team, Temple shot 40.3 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from three.

They exposed their inability to make shots when Williams (shoulder) and Dunn (ankle) went down with injuries in a 52-49 loss to South Florida on Feb. 7.

Temple relied on Hicks and Miller

to fill Dunn and Williams’ roles, while adjusting to half-court sets to accommodate the versatility of players like Jourdain.

While Jourdain saw more minutes, he was one of many players who fell into foul trouble late in games, forcing McKie to use a deeper bench. Fouling was an issue for the Owls all season, but down the stretch it became a bigger problem during higher-stakes games.

In big losses to the University of Memphis (21-9, 13-5 The American) on Feb. 24, and the University of Houston (28-5, 15-3 The American) on March 3, Jourdain fouled out of both games, while redshirt-sophomore forward Arashma Parks fouled out against the Tigers. This gave more minutes to guys like freshman forward Emmanuel Okpomo, but limited the team’s versatility overall.

And even when all forwards were available for Temple, it was their lack of presence down low leading to games getting out of hand.

McKie preached establishing a presence in the paint before each game, but rarely could rely on this brand of basketball when shots were not falling. This was clear in The AAC Tournament loss when Tulane pulled away because of its superior defensive presence down low.

Next season the Owls will not only return the majority of their players but will be able to develop the young talent as well. They should have a healthy lineup with Battle, Dunn and Williams in the mix, but McKie can also look to his deep bench for players who already have a year of experience under their belt.

“Everyone on our team can step it up,” Williams said. “We all had to adapt this season.” isabella.diamore@temple.edu nick.gangewere@temple.edu @belladiamore13 @nick_gang12

The Temple News

SPORTS

PAGE 21

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Owls motivated by exit in conference tournament Temple women’s basketball marked its fifth year without a postseason run in The American.

BY SAMUEL O’NEAL AND VALERIE PENDRAK Women’s Basketball Beat Reporters When Temple University women’s basketball (13-15, 8-8 The American Athletic Conference) entered the conference tournament as the fourth seed, they had their sights on a conference championship.

Instead, Temple was eliminated in the second round of the tournament after a 63-55 loss to Southern Methodist University (14-14, 7-7 The AAC) on March 8, due to young players’ lack of experience in big games.

The Owls failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the fifth-straight season, but the team showed encouraging flashes throughout the season.

“You look at our starting lineup, and we have three freshmen getting a lot of game experience,” said head coach Tonya Cardoza. “We are hoping that this season will make them realize that they don’t want to be back in this position again and that they really devote their time to getting better.”

After winning seven of their first 12 conference games, the Owls lost four consecutive games late in the season, costing them their early momentum going into the conference tournament.

The early exit made the Owls’ young players eager to return to the conference tournament as a better team next year, said freshman forward Kyra Wood.

“We got a little taste of the tournament,” Wood added. “I feel like getting that first taste just makes you want to go back for more, and everyone is encouraged and motivated to get back and get farther next year.”

Temple struggled to work in sync and communicate, going -2.5 in the turnover margin and only recording 213 steals compared to their opponents’ 246.

The Owls also struggled to mount

NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Mia Davis, a graduate student forward, talks with Alexa Williamson, a junior forward, during halftime of an Owls’ game against Wichita State on Feb. 2.

consistent 3-point shooting, converting on just 24 percent of 3-pointers, which was good for last in the conference.

Temple failed to string together a streak of consistent conference wins, and lost multiple games to teams below them in the standings, like the University of Houston (16-15, 7-9 The American) on Feb. 23, losing 80-60 and committing 24 turnovers. They also fell to the University of Memphis (16-12, 6-9 The American) 64-61 on Jan. 29 due to their inability to guard the 3-point shot late in the game.

“We are so young,” said freshman forward Caranda Perea. “We know that we have a lot more years playing together and a lot more years to grow, and it didn’t go the way that we wanted it to go. But we have so much time to make it right and we have the right people.”

The Owls will go into next sea-

son without graduate student forward Mia Davis, the program’s all-time leading scorer. Temple relied on running screens to get Davis the ball down low, and her presence in the paint allowed other players to get open opportunities from the wing.

Without Davis, Temple will need to find someone else who can get physical under the basket, like freshman guards Aniya Gourdine and Tiarra East, to create space for open mid-range jump shots.

Gourdine, who won back-to-back AAC freshman player of the week awards on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, averaged 7.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. She also recorded the team’s first two triple-doubles in program history on Feb. 6 and Feb. 12.

Gourdine is a smart ball handler who could find open teammates on the floor and set them up with good opportunities

at the basket. She can also drive to the rim and convert on contested layups.

Five of the Owls’ eight players in their regular rotation were freshmen.

Young players are eager to step up next season and will benefit from getting valuable minutes during big games in a tough conference, Perea said.

“With [Davis] leaving, everyone wants to contribute more,” Perea added.

“Everyone will have to be a bigger part of the offense. And I’m not sure who all is coming in next year through transfers and recruiting, but we are always surrounded by good players that want to help us reach our goals.” samuel.oneal@temple.edu valerie.pendrak@temple.edu @ValeriePendrak @samueloneal43

ADVERTISEMENT

Want to Freelance for 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 2022 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 below to see our full list of sections and their meeting times:

The Temple News

SPORTS

PAGE 23

GYMNASTICS

Roland seeks back-to-back postseason successes All-around Julianna Roland plans said. “That would be pretty cool, so not to win the EAGL Championship focusing on scores, but I would like to and qualify for NCAA Regionals. get bigger scores, I would like to end my

BY SEAN McMENAMIN Gymnastics Beat Reporter At ‌six years old, senior all-around competitor Julianna Roland wanted to compete in gymnastics at the collegiate level, and in eighth grade, while competing at Cherry Hill Gymnastics Academy in New Jersey, Temple University’s program was the team she wanted to be on.

“I wanted to come to Temple so early because it was close to my house,” Roland said. “I loved watching the team compete. It always looked like everyone was having so much fun and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Now, Roland, who has one more year of eligibility with Temple University gymnastics’ program, is looking to build on her 2020-21 season success by setting a career high in each event at the EAGL Championship and qualifying for NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regionals.

Roland posted her career-highs on vault and beam with 9.925’s on Feb. 25 against North Carolina State. She also set the new school record on vault and became the third person in school history to score at least a 9.925 on beam.

She notched a career high of 9.900 on the floor at the EAGL Championships in the 2021-22 season.

“I really want to make it to regionals, and I really want to win EAGL,” Roland

CONTINUED FROM 24 | FOOTBALL Drayton hoped the community service would instill a broadened sense of respect and responsibility in the players.

The hope is that respect and responsibility will translate into further initiative on the field, Wilson said.

Besides community service, coaches are making it a priority to better understand the players they will be around every day.

“We have to step outside the building,” Drayton said. “Take them out to

career on that note.”

Last season, she was an NCAA Regional Qualifier on floor and vault. Roland was also named to the All-EAGL First Team and All-EAGL All-Tournament First Team. However, those accomplishments required a dedicated offseason.

After her success in the 2020-21 season, Roland intensified her training.

She spent more time getting in reps on routines, while also mentally becoming stronger by pushing herself to new limits, Roland said.

“Work ethic wise, I mean, no one works harder than [Roland],” said head coach Josh Nilson.

Roland didn’t originally start her collegiate gymnastics career as an Owl. When Roland attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey, she committed to the University of Bridgeport because of the teaching program, she said.

After spending two seasons with the Knights, Roland found out Bridgeport was going to potentially shut down its gymnastics program, which led her to transfer, she said.

One coach who reached out to Roland in the portal was Nilson, who told her that there was a spot available on the team and they wanted her to join the program. She joined the Owls midway through her junior season, Nilson said.

“I found my love for gymnastics here again,” Roland said. “Competing here

has given me the opportunity to find the love for that but also to grow.”

Roland is one of three captains on the team this season, alongside senior all-around competitor Ariana Castrence and graduate student all-around competitor Tori Edwards. She’s found her leadership in leading the group on beam, whether it’s huddling up and getting each other hyped or preparing each other to compete, she said.

“I’m the one that brings the medicine in, the snacks,” Roland added. “But in the past couple of meets I’ve shown my leadership on beam by taking charge of beam and getting everybody calm,

cool and collected.”

Roland wants to get back to the basics to prepare herself for the EAGL Championship, which means focusing on her form and technique. Roland puts a strong emphasis on clean execution and details on her performance, she said.

Roland will look to carry her success and leadership into the EAGL Championships on March 19 in Washington, D.C., hoping to win the title in back-toback years.

dinner, walk them to class, whatever it may be, to establish a relationship and a level of trust.”

The Owls brought in a full slate of coaches to turn the program around when former head coach Rod Carey was let go on Nov. 29, 2021, after finishing with a 12-20 record in three seasons.

Drayton, who was hired on Dec. 15, 2021, solidified his staff in January by hiring Danny Langsdorf as offensive coordinator and D.J. Eliot as defensive coordinator.

“Everything we do from a systematic standpoint will support who we are as a

university and as Temple TUFF,” said Drayton at his introductory press conference on Dec. 16, 2021.

The coaches come from different backgrounds and bring a multitude of qualities to North Broad, including experience with recruiting, personnel and in-game coaching. The players are already seeing the potential this new staff has in bringing more energy to the program, said redshirt-freshman running back Trey Blair.

“Coaches are holding players accountable more,” Blair added. “Us players, we are going to be able to hold each

other accountable because of it.”

Drayton, who came from a large program at the University of Texas, wants to build off the “Temple TUFF” moniker, even though it lost some of its value during the past three seasons due to former coaches finishing with losing records.

“Players holding each other accountable to a standard that goes beyond all the selfish concepts you have for yourself,” Drayton said. “Working together for a common goal, that’s Temple TUFF.”

NICK DAVIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Julianna Roland, a senior all-around competitor, competes on the beam at the Pink Meet against Yale on Feb. 18.

sean.mcmenamin@temple.edu @sean102400

nick.gangewere@temple.edu @nick_gang12

PAGE 24

SPORTS

The Temple News

OWLS’ COACHES BRING

NEW CULTURE

NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Members of the Temple football team stand together after a game against the University of Houston on Nov. 13, 2021.

Temple football hired an entirely new staff this offseason to cultivate a winning program.

BY NICK GANGEWERE Assistant Sports Editor

T

emple University football has a new coaching staff and atmosphere that is centered around discipline. Most importantly, the coaches are focused on getting the players to

believe in their process by gaining their trust, said head coach Stan Drayton.

“The culture has definitely changed,” said sophomore linebacker Kobe Wilson. “I think it has changed for the better.

We’re competing more than ever.”

Drayton’s priority is creating a close-knit team, and since he’s filled out his coaching staff, they’ve started building relationships with players through positional meetings and off-the-field bonding experiences, like team dinners and community service work.

Every day of practice, there is a vigorous routine and a high level of intensity. The players push each other in the weight room and on the field by getting loud, but the off-the-field bonding has created a more focused environment, said redshirt-sophomore running back Edward Saydee.

Players are more focused on the minor details of plays and workouts in practice and are looking to rely on one another more often.

“We’ve had meetings everyday about

football, about life, and we are being around each other more,” Saydee said.

Away from the facilities, the program is participating in team social events. On Feb. 19, the team took part in a charity event at the Salvation Army located on Arch Street near 55th, where they built a piano for a family, unloaded trucks, organized canned goods and helped move boxes.

FOOTBALL | 23