Vol. 96, Iss. 29

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

VOL. 96 ISSUE 29

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

Feeling closer to home In the face of different challenges, international students access resources at Temple and find their own ways to cope.

BY THE TEMPLE NEWS STAFF

COURTNEY REDMON / THE TEMPLE NEWS

This map shows the native countries of the international students with whom we spoke for this story, including China, Germany and Bangladesh.

F

or Ying Zhang, the most challenging part of being an international student is shopping at the grocery

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ying Zhang (top), Anirban Swakshar (middle) and Yichen Yang all moved from their home countries to study at Temple.

store.

For Danna Wang, it’s making American friends. For Kathryn Edgar, it’s meeting domestic students outside her athletic team. For Arthur Heuzard, it’s understanding American small talk.

Pennsylvania is among the top 10 states in the country with the most international students enrolled, according to the Migration Policy Institute. At Temple, there

are more than 3,000 international students, and they face a variety of challenges that are often unfamiliar to domestic students.

Our staff at The Temple News set out to better understand the international student experience at Temple and what resources the university provides.

In this longform story, you’ll meet a handful of international students from more than 10 different countries, all of whom detail some of their struggles in America and the ways they learn to INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7

CRIME

Student shot to death in apartment

Going global with passion for STEM

Daniel Duignam is at least the sixth student to die suddenly this academic year.

A senior biochemistry major wants to help develop health care systems in Africa after graduation.

BY GILLIAN McGOLDRICK News Editor

Daniel Duignam, a junior risk management and insurance major, was found dead from gunshot wounds in his off-campus apartment on Diamond Street near 17th around 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Duignam called 9-1-1 on Saturday night and said “I can’t breathe” to operators, said Philadelphia Police Captain Jack Ryan at a press conference on Monday. When police arrived, Duignam had already died and his home had been “ransacked.”

Duignam lived alone in his off-campus apartment. Police said Duignam let the suspect into his home.

“We believe Mr. Duignam did know who was in the apartment and there were no signs of struggle,” Ryan added.

There are no suspects at this time, and police are asking anyone with information to call the Philadelphia Police tip line at 215-6868477. Police are offering $20,000 for information on Duignam’s death. Temple Police also requested anyone with information contact them at 215-204-1234 or the confidential tip line at 215-204-6493.

This academic year, at least two other Fox School of Business students died suddenly, in addition to three others across the university.

Ryan would not comment on whether drugs were involved in Duignam's death, but said he did not have a criminal history.

“The kid was a good kid from the Lehigh Valley with a nice family,” Ryan added. “It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Both Temple and Philadelphia police are investigating Duignam’s death, President Richard Englert said in an email to the Temple

STUDENT DEATH | PAGE 6

BY VERONICA THOMAS For The Temple News

GENEVA HEFFERNAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ralph St. Luce, a senior biochemistry major, pipets water in a laboratory in the Biology and Life Sciences Building on April 27. St. Luce attended high school in Togo and hopes to return to the country to help improve its health care system.

READ MORE COMMENCEMENT STORIES IN PRINT AND ONLINE AT TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

In a laboratory on the first floor of the Biology and Life Sciences Building, biology professor Darius Balciunas maintains tanks filled with thousands of freshwater zebrafish, each one about the size of a thumb.

For several hours a week during the past two years, senior biochemistry major Ralph St. Luce has conducted research in the lab, studying the genes of the zebrafish, an organism with the ability to regenerate its heart.

By administering antigens — substances that stimulate an immune response — to the fish eggs, St. Luce alters a zebrafish’s DNA in an effort to better understand this regenerative process.

“The coolest aspect is definitely gene editing,” St. Luce said. “You can order a sequence of DNA from your computer…inject it into a fish embryo and a couple months later, bam, you have a fish with that DNA in its genome.”

St. Luce first recognized his talent for science at the age of 15 while studying at the British School of Lomé, a boarding school in the African country of Togo. Originally from South Florida, St. Luce went to the boarding school because his mother wanted him to explore the world.

SCIENCE | PAGE 13

OPINION | PAGES 4-5

FEATURES | PAGES 11-14

SPORTS | PAGES 24-26

The editor-in-chief pens a goodbye letter to The Temple News before she graduates this week. Read more on Page 5.

A graduating senior works as the lead audio engineer at a recording studio in North Philadelphia. Read more on Page 11.

Former forward Obi Enechionyia hopes his 3-point shooting ability will intrigue NBA teams.

Read more on Page 26.

NEWS TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 2

FACULTY

Professor’s account tied to fake news comments Francesca Viola, a journalism professor, denied responsibility for the anti-Muslim comments posted by the account.

BY GILLIAN McGOLDRICK News Editor

An account registered to the Temple email address of Francesca Viola, a journalism professor, has posted anti-Muslim, antiimmigrant and fake news conspiracy theory comments on various media websites.

In Spring 2018, Viola taught Broadcast Newswriting and Journalism and the Law courses. The account, called “truthseeker,” posted comments on alt-right media sites like The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart News Network, as well as national news sites like the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Hill.

In one comment, the account registered to Viola responded to a story on The Gateway Pundit about Muslims praying in front of Trump Tower. The account’s comment called Muslims “scum.”

“Deport them,” the truthseeker account posted. “They hate us. Get rid of them.”

In another comment on a Philly.com article, the account registered to Viola posted about alleged disagreements with the comment approval policies on the new site.

“I’ve been tracking your pattern of not allowing comments on any stories that involve race, crimes that involve African Americans, or any article that would give readers a chance to express any anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant sentiments,” the account

wrote. “Although you and your editorial team may find these opinions uncomfortable and even repulsive, the First Amendment protects those opinions.”

Some of the comments posted by the truthseeker account promote conspiracy theories endorsed by far-right activists, including one that argues millions of people voted illegally in California in the 2016 presidential election and that the Democratic National Committee killed its employee Seth Rich for leaking information to WikiLeaks.

David Boardman, the dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication, wrote in a statement to The Temple News that Viola has “admitted to writing some but not all of these posts” and specifically denies writing the derogatory posts about Muslim people, which he said is “a comment we find particularly abhorrent.”

“We are troubled by the content of some of the other cited posts but acknowledge that those in the Temple community are entitled to exercise free speech within constitutional parameters,” Boardman added.

The account posted a comment on an article titled “People who are delusional, dogmatic, or religious fundamentalists are more likely to believe fake news,” which was published by the Nieman Journalism Lab, Harvard University’s journalism think tank.

Joshua Benton, the director of Nieman Lab, moderates the comments on the site.

On Friday, he tweeted screenshots of the account’s comment on the Nieman story, along with the account’s past comments. Benton

publicly identified Viola as a person connected to the truthseeker account.

“I was shocked to see that these comments…were coming from a journalism professor, posting with her Temple email address,” Benton wrote in a statement to The Temple News. “Everyone is entitled to their political opinions, but I think students and staff should be able to know when someone charged with teaching young people journalism holds these sorts of fringe and debunked views.”

The comments by the truthseeker account were all posted through a Disqus profile. Disqus is a service used by many news websites to create a profile of all comments posted by one account.

Each member of the Temple community receives a Temple email address that is connected to a TUMail account, which can be accessed with their name or their Accessnet username and password. The Disqus account registered to Viola has been regularly active since at least 2014.

The comment posted on Nieman Lab’s story has since been deleted, and the truthseeker Disqus account was unreachable as of Monday night. The Temple News was able to access these comments and the truthseeker Disqus account when our staff began to report on the story on Saturday morning.

The truthseeker account also uses identifying information about Viola — in several instances, the account posted that the person using it is a journalism profes-

sor on the East Coast and a lawyer who received their degree from Widener University. According to Viola’s biography on the Klein College website, Viola earned her law degree from Widener.

In a statement to The Temple News, Viola denounced Benton’s tweets and other posts about her. She said they were defamatory. Her full statement is as follows: “I dispute the incorrect attributions and specious allegations posted by Joshua Benton on his Twitter feed at Harvard’s Nieman journalism think tank. I am appalled his improper ‘doxxing’ and by his flagrant violation of the Twitter, Disqus, Nieman and Harvard’s terms of service, the apparent violation of the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act — as well as the ethical and legal standards of journalism. I consider this a personal defamatory attack as well as an attempt to silence academic freedom and people everywhere. Most importantly, as an investigation is now underway, I would ask the community not to assume I am the author of some or all of those comments.”

Many on Twitter came to Viola’s defense and condemned Benton for “doxxing” her. Doxxing is the act of publishing identifying or private information about an individual with malicious intent.

Benton denied allegations that he doxxed Viola. gillian@temple.edu @gill_mcgoldrick

TUJ

Title IX office brings sexual assault awareness to TUJ Temple University Japan recently had its first sexual assault prevention trainings.

BY LINDSAY BOWEN

On Campus Beat Reporter

Andrea Seiss, Temple’s Title IX coordinator, visited Temple University Japan in April to speak with students and faculty about Title IX resources for sexual assault prevention and gender-neutral bathrooms.

Seiss’ visit comes several months after The Temple News reported there were no resources to report sexual assault at TUJ. Bruce Stronach, the dean of TUJ, called Seiss’ visit “very productive,” in an email to The Temple News.

“Given the fact that our campus is almost 7,000 miles distant from Main Campus, and that many of our students and faculty and staff are not Americans and have not come up through the American university system, it was good to have the refresher sessions that Andrea provided to faculty, staff and students, as well as one-onone sessions,” Stronach wrote.

Temple received a grant worth more than $25,000 from It’s On Us in March 2018, which will fund sexual assault education programs, an online sexual misconduct reporting system and other efforts to increase awareness of on-campus sexual assault. TUJ and Temple Rome will also receive funding from this grant to improve sexual assault awareness resources, Seiss said.

“We’re going to spend this next year talking more with Japan and Rome and seeing what their specific needs are, what works for them and how we can help them more with education and marketing,” she added.

Although TUJ does not have any on-campus sexual assault resources, the TUJ student handbook now has a section detailing how students can handle sexual assault.

In November, The Temple News reported that there was no mention of sexual assault in the hand-

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

book.

TUJ will move into a new building that will be shared with Showa Women’s University in September 2019. The current TUJ campus is split between two buildings that are shared with other offices.

In this new building, there will be gender-neutral bathrooms, which Seiss encouraged Stronach to include, he said. Japanese university building codes call for only one universal bathroom, but TUJ asked for a total of three bathrooms for its six floors, Stronach wrote.

“While Japanese universities are somewhat lagging in this area, it is heartening to see that there is greater awareness in Japan,” Stronach wrote.

JAPAN’S #METOO MOVEMENT Japan is just now having conversations about sexual assault, as the country is regarded to often discourage women from speaking out about sexual assault and women’s rights, the BBC reported in April.

In May 2017, Shiori Ito, a young Japanese journalist, publically accused Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a high-profile journalist, of raping her in 2015. Japanese police investigated this claim and others, and ultimately decided to drop charges against Yamaguchi due to insufficient evidence.

Ito received death threats and backlash on social media after her public accusation, and subsequently moved to London with her family out of fear for their safety.

On April 9, TUJ hosted a discussion, led by students and faculty, with Ito about sexual assault and her experience with the criminal justice system in Japan. More than 60 students and faculty attended the event, Seiss said.

“Many students asked her more questions about her personal experience, and she told the students what was helpful and not helpful for her, support-wise,” Seiss said. “The room was packed. You could see that people want to have this conversation.”

KATHY CHAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Andrea Seiss, Temple’s Title IX coordinator, discusses the #MeToo movement in Japan in her office on April 25. Seiss held Temple University Japan’s first sexual assault prevention trainings last month.

“I thought it was both uplifting for our students to be able to hear the story of a woman who fought and prevailed, and also instructive to understand in a practical way that although we know Japanese society has many positives, it also has serious balancing negatives,” Stronach wrote.

In June 2017, for the first time in more than a century, Japanese parliament expanded the definition of rape, which was previously limited to vaginal penetration by a penis, to include “forced sexual intercourse” including anal and oral sex, and recognizes men as possible victims.

Seiss said she hopes this new law will start more conversations about sexual assault so people can feel more comfortable coming forward, regardless of how they identify.

“What I saw among the students, faculty, and staff is an openness to have those conversations,

but they’re just getting started with this,” she added. “In the United States, we’ve been talking about [sexual assault] much longer than Japan has, but we still struggle with it.”

JAPANESE LAW “While it is important to pressure universities to have better sexual assault resources, it is ultimately up to Japan’s judicial system to ‘resolve such events,’” wrote Mason Hester, a law professor at TUJ, in a statement to The Temple News.

“A couple areas for specific changes could be a law requiring arrest in domestic violence calls when evidence of domestic violence is found, and the restructuring of the judicial system to allow for mobility between the careers of private legal practitioners, judges, and prosecutors,” Hester wrote.

Hester hopes the #MeToo movement can be integrated with-

in a “larger minority rights movement” in Japan with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics,” an initiative he implemented in 2014 that increased the number of women in the Japanese workforce.

In 2016, the average percentage of women in the workforce in first-world countries was 59.4 percent, and Japan’s was 66.1 percent.

This number has increased since “Abenomics” was implemented, the BBC reported.

“If Abenomics’ economic empowerment of women could be coupled with the recently increased intolerance of sexual assault and harassment and the nascent homosexual rights movements, then a strong coalition of progressive sexand gender-related issues could bring about reform in those areas,” Hester wrote. lindsay.bowen@temple.edu @lindsay_bow

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

NEWS TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 3

STADIUM

Alumni respond to proposed on-campus stadium Some alumni have donated to the project while others have donated to prevent it.

BY WILL BLEIER Copy Editor

Students, faculty, alumni and community residents have all weighed in the past several months on whether the university should move forward with its proposed on-campus football stadium.

On May 1, a coalition of antistadium protesters marched south on Broad Street from Main Campus to City Hall, further fueling what has already become a highly controversial project since the university began pursuing it two years ago.

University officials told The Temple News last month that they intend to have all necessary city approvals by June to begin construction on the 35,000-seat facility. Alumni fundraising is supposed to fund at least $50 million of the $130 million project. We spoke with alumni on both sides of the heated debate to hear their opinions.

STADIUM SUPPORTERS Greg Hoffman, 67, a 1992 master’s of education alumnus, and his wife Cate Hoffman, 66, a 1976 education alumna, have seen Main Campus undergo many changes since their graduations.

Both of them remember the university’s old football stadium in the West Oak Lane section of the city on Cheltenham Avenue near Vernon Road, which was demolished in the 1990s. This memory sparked their interest in the potential to place a new stadium at the Ambler Campus, but they said they soon saw that could cause complications.

“If you go and move some place like Ambler, the only thing I see as a problem with that is the people who would normally take public

transportation in,” Cate Hoffman said. “It would be a real problem because of being out in the suburbs. It’s a nice thing to have your own stadium on campus.”

The anti-stadium coalition, made up of community residents, local activist organizations and students, recently released a statement urging the university to build the proposed stadium at Ambler Campus.

A university spokesperson wrote in an email to The Temple News that the Ambler Campus has not been considered as a possible site for the proposed stadium.

Greg Hoffman said the stadium, which he and his wife both support, will be hard to pass.

“You’ve got people’s homes, and I feel like it’s going to be an uphill battle for Temple to sell this,” he said. “We’d like to see it, but it’s just going to be an uphill battle.”

Christine Happel, 37, a 2002 biology alumna and a 2009 alumna of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, said President Richard Englert and other university athletic officials made her feel optimistic about the project when she talked to them at a Temple volleyball alumni weekend event on April 14.

“It’s really exciting to me, getting the football program onto Temple University’s Main Campus,” Happel said. “I really think that’s an exciting experience.”

“From my perspective, I think the university really tries to work with the surrounding community to make sure that anything they’re doing is going to be both of benefit for the university itself, but also for the residents and the local community,” she added. “I think they work really hard on those compromises.”

The university must sign a community benefits agreement with residents to address their concerns with the project, like trash, noise and partying off campus.

Happel, who lives in Columbia, Maryland, said she would be willing to return to Main Campus for football games if the stadium

was completed.

Michael Leslie, 41, a 1998 political science alumnus, served as the student manager of Temple football for two years. He said he thinks an on-campus stadium would increase the school spirit surrounding the football program for both students and players.

The university envisions using several spaces on campus, including Liacouras Walk and Founder’s Garden, as “game-day fun zones” for activities like tailgating to enhance spectators’ experiences.

“Overall, I think it’s a great thing for North Philadelphia, I think it’s a great thing for Temple and I think it’s a great thing for Temple football,” Leslie said. “And, I’m excited to one day hopefully watch a football game right on campus.”

“Maybe [Temple] is not doing a good enough job of highlighting the benefits, or maybe I’m not seeing them communicate those benefits as much, but I think that would help,” he added.

STADIUM OPPONENTS There are several alumni that see the project differently.

Matt Lachs, a 28-year-old 2012 sociology alumnus, was the university’s men’s basketball student manager during his undergraduate years at the university.

Lachs said he is an active donor to Temple Athletics, but he ensured that his recent donations did not fund the stadium.

“Calling this a multipurpose facility, first of all, call it what it is, it’s a stadium,” Lachs said. “A multipurpose facility is like the [Student Center]. That’s a multipurpose facility. Don’t change the name and think it changes what it is.”

Temple considers the facility to be “multipurpose” because it is slated to house — in addition to the football field — classroom, research and retail space.

Lachs said the university should seek donations for scholar-

ships and other educational programs for students instead of funding the $130 million stadium.

“I’m proud to be a supporter of the athletic programs at Temple, however, I believe they’re being very irresponsible in this plan,” he said.

University officials have had several stadium proposal presentations with city officials this year, but said last month they expect to have a final presentation for the stadium in June.

Lachs said he thinks the proposal could be passed by Philadelphia City Council, but not before being stalled due to opposition.

Regina Bennett, 67, is a 1983 MBA and 1990 Beasley School of Law alumna. She said City Council members should vote with community residents in mind.

“City Council should be responsive to the residents who they are supposed to serve and represent,” said Bennett, who still attends church in North Philadelphia. “If they can’t do that, then they have no business being in council.”

A spokesperson for City Council President Darrell Clarke said in a statement to The Temple News in March that Clarke does not have the intention to support legislation for the stadium. His support is necessary to close 15th Street between Norris Street and Montgomery Avenue where the stadium is proposed to be built.

Bennett said Temple makes promises to the community that it can’t keep.

“For decades, Temple University has swung its elbows around to get whatever it wants,” she added.

“And it may make some promises in the beginning about how we will all live happily ever after and drink whatever it is that Temple wants, but ultimately the only beneficiary in the whole side of it I see is Temple University.”

Lincoln Financial Field, the current home of Temple football, would be the most suitable location for play, she said.

“What is the problem with staying where you are at Lincoln Financial Field?” Bennett said.

“It would at least hopefully draw all of the noise, traffic and whatever else goes with football, and I like football, but that would draw it away from the community, so that the community gets a chance to exhale,” she added.

Temple officials have cited a 200 percent increase in rent at the Lincoln Financial Field as a reason to pursue the stadium.

ALUMNI FUNDRAISING Marked with a $130 million price tag, the stadium will be funded by a mix of private donations and bonds, according to the university’s project overview. At least $50 million is expected to come from fundraising.

Jim Cawley, the vice president of Institutional Advancement, said his office has not started soliciting donations from alumni for the multipurpose facility. He added that it would not make sense to begin this process for an idea that has not fully come to fruition.

Cawley said the proposed stadium could attract alumni back to Temple to see other improvements to Main Campus, like the incoming Charles Library.

He added that he is hopeful the community and the university can find an agreement that makes the facility possible.

“There has been a lot of interest among [alumni], quite frankly across the age spectrum, who are excited about the project,” Cawley said. “There have been some verbal commitments of financial support from substantial ones.”

“We really do believe that it will help to grow the relationship between the university and the alumni, as certainly many of the discussions that I’ve had so far that belief is being worn out,” he added. william.bleier@temple.edu @will_bleier

STADIUM

Stadium could cause club sports to lose practice fields Geasey Field, which is used by club sports, would be built over if the stadium is approved.

BY MADISON SEITCHIK For The Temple News

Some students are upset that if Temple’s proposed on-campus stadium is approved, they may no longer have outdoor space like Geasey Field, a facility where club and intramural sports practice. The stadium is proposed to be built atop Geasey Field at the corner of 15th and Norris streets.

Campus Recreation currently offers eight intramural sports and has 36 sport clubs utilizing indoor and outdoor spaces, including the Student Training and Recreation Complex, Geasey Field, the Student Pavilion and the Temple Sports Complex. Depending on the time of year, club sports and intramurals sports are scheduled to use Geasey Field Sunday through Friday from 6 to 11:30 p.m.

The space for the 35,000-seat proposed stadium would stretch from Broad Street to 16th between Norris Street and Montgomery

JAMIE COTTRELL / THE TEMPLE NEWS Geasey Field was built at the corner of 15th and Norris in 1956. Geasey Field is part of the university’s proposed on-campus football stadium.

Avenue. The university would also demolish the Student Pavilion, which is a practice space for student-athletes and club sports, to build the stadium.

“Like many institutions located in an urban setting, outdoor field spaces are limited here at Temple,” Senior Director of Student Services for Campus Recreation John Doman wrote in an email. “We understand that and try to accommodate as many requests as possible, but unfortunately we cannot provide unlimited outdoor open recreation.”

Doman added that he is unaware if there are any current discussions regarding the creation of new outdoor recreation space on Main Campus.

Students like sophomore finance major Francis McKeown already struggle to access Geasey Field and any other spaces for recreational activities. McKeown is a part of the Temple Ultras soccer club.

“Last year we found it very difficult just to get on the field, but having nothing would be even worse because there’s nowhere else even remotely close,” McKeown said. “One day me and a couple guys tried to go find the next closest field, and we had to walk two miles into Center City just to find

an open field that we could play on.”

In Fall 2016, the university opened the Temple Sports Complex on Broad Street near Thompson, which houses a track and field that is mostly used by Division I teams like field hockey and soccer.

It has limited hours for community resident use.

“We basically got pushed to the backburner,” McKeown said. “I think the team’s really let down by the university. It definitely seems like Temple doesn’t care. All Temple cares about is football.”

The loss of Geasey Field would also affect the future of the club softball team, as it is one of the few facilities that the team is allowed to use for practice, team members said.

This would be the latest blow for the sport, as softball was one of four Division I sports cut by the university in July 2014.

The club softball team is only allowed to practice at Geasey Field and the Student Pavilion. It can only host scheduled games at Ambler Campus, but it isn’t allowed to practice there, said Emily DiLossi, the president of the softball club and a senior kinesiology major.

During practices at the approved locations, the team is not allowed to hit balls for safety reasons be-

cause it shares the facility with other teams like fencing and rowing.

The members of the team fear that if the university receives all of its city approvals by June — which administrators told The Temple News they expect to do — their club may fold due to lack of practice space.

DiLossi and the team only learned about possibly losing practice space after Maddy Coady, a junior early childhood education major and the incoming president of the club, scheduled a meeting with one of the club’s administrators.

Club softball team members said it’s likely if the stadium project is approved, they’ll have to end their team or pay out of pocket to rent other spaces, where they could possibly be reimbursed.

“We have to fight for ourselves completely, no one has our back,” DiLossi added. “I don’t even think we would’ve been told about the stadium. I don’t even think we would’ve been told about anything.

I guarantee other club sports don’t know. I bet intramural sports don’t know that the field they use every day is getting taken away.” madison.seitchik@temple.edu

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

OPINION TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 4

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.

Michaela Winberg Editor-in-Chief Grace Shallow Managing Editor Jenny Roberts Supervising Editor Julie Christie Enterprise Editor Gillian McGoldrick News Editor Jayna Schaffer Opinion Editor

Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.

Emily Scott Features Editor Evan Easterling Sports Editor Kelly Brennan Asst. News Editor Tom Ignudo Asst. Sports Editor Ian Walker Asst. Features Editor Will Bleier Copy Editor Shannon Hutchinson Multimedia Editor Jake Cepis Assistant Multimedia Editor

Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.

Designing a newspaper, finding myself in the process

Visit us online at temple-news.com.

Send submissions to letters@temple-news.com.

The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243

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EDITORIALS

Celebrate, but remember While commencement is an exciting time, the Temple community must not forget the students who didn’t make it to graduation day.

In the final print edition of each academic year, The Temple News publishes The Commencement Issue. It’s our way to highlight students who will graduate this year and say goodbye to Main Campus, and to touch on the themes that have emerged in our coverage.

For graduating seniors, commencement is often a time of celebration. But during this academic year, we have been regularly reminded that not all students make it to their graduation day. The most recent reminder was on Saturday night, when Danny Duignam, a junior risk management and insurance major, was found dead in his offcampus apartment.

Danny is at least the sixth student to die suddenly this academic year. At The Temple News, we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, as well as the loved ones of other students who died this year: Jenna Burleigh, Richard Dalcourt, Cariann Hithon, Michael Paytas and James Orlando.

Graduation is a time to say goodbye. For graduating seniors, it’s goodbye to the profes-

sors who dedicated their time to them both inside and outside the classroom. It’s goodbye to the activities and student organizations that enriched their education. It’s a goodbye to their peers, with whom they forged close bonds over the years.

But for some students, goodbye looks a little different. We must not forget the Temple students who never got the chance to say these goodbyes. Instead, their loved ones had to say goodbye to them.

Some Temple students, faculty, staff and alumni were close with the students who died this academic year. For them, the unexpected loss of people who they love must have been harrowing.

And even for members of the Temple community who didn’t know them personally, loss was tangible on Main Campus this year.

At the core of all of this, we are all members of the same Temple community — we all felt the pain of these tragedies.

To this year’s graduating seniors: Congratulations, and always remember those who can’t stand beside you.

Students deserve truth We condemn posting fake news and offensive comments.

An account registered to the Temple email address of Francesca Viola, a journalism professor, has posted anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and fake news conspiracy theory comments on various media websites.

In a statement to The Temple News, Klein College of Media and Communication Dean David Boardman wrote that Viola took responsibility for some of the comments posted by the account — which is called “truthseeker” — but specifically denied derogatory posts about Muslim people.

“Deport them,” the truthseeker account wrote. “They hate us. Get rid of them.”

We are concerned that an account registered to a professor’s email is contributing to the dissemination of fake news — like conspiracy theories about the Democratic National Committee murdering a former employee — especially considering it is Viola’s duty to teach the next generation of journalists.

The truthseeker account

posted comments on alt-right media sites like The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart News Network, which have argued that liberal media outlets and political figures squash freedom of speech when they accuse these sites of spreading fake news.

We understand the necessity of hearing diverse political viewpoints. In fact, Klein was honored for its diversity last month by The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. We hope Temple can be a place where people with different beliefs have constructive conversations.

But that acceptance ends at fake news.

To be a journalist, one must accurately and objectively report information. To be a peddler of fake news, one threatens the credibility and fundamental principles of the craft.

At The Temple News, we treat accuracy as an essential principle to uphold — it’s our business. We’d hope our professors do the same.

COURTNEY REDMON / THE TEMPLE NEWS

The design editor reflects on her college experiences, selfdiscovery and growth.

BY COURTNEY REDMON

I

went into college as a confused, self-conscious and anxiety-riddled 18-year-old.

I was incredibly cynical and depressed, and I had a rampant eating disorder that only exacerbated my issues. I was truly unhealthy.

When I first started college, I attended George Washington University in Washington D.C. I was there for a year and a half before I decided to transfer to Temple.

My time there only exacerbated my mental health issues.

During my freshman year alone, I moved twice and had three different sets of roommates.

My first roommate stole my possessions and money. My second roommate verbally and emotionally abused me over the course of five months, then held me at knifepoint.

My sophomore year wasn’t much better. The friends I’d chosen to room with turned against me and began victimizing me for my eating disorder.

I dreaded doing things. I wasn’t interested in learning, and I had grown to detest everything I’d once loved about journalism, politics and other social sciences.

I needed out.

The initial move to Temple was more an effort to escape extremely traumatic circumstances than anything else. When I applied to transfer, I’d never even been to Main Campus and had only visited Philly a handful of times. I was taking a blind leap of faith.

That winter, I was diagnosed with various anxiety disorders, manic-depressive disorder and mild post-traumatic stress disorder — every time I heard a door open, my heart would immediately lurch into action and my adrenaline would spike. I had recurring, vivid nightmares about my former roommates.

When I transferred to Temple in January 2015, I had virtually no friends. I felt alien to everyone and everything in Philadelphia. I spent a lot of time walking around the city alone, or sitting and peoplewatching.

During the 2015-16 school year, I became increasingly interested in graphic design. I had a decent understanding of the Adobe Creative Suite, but I wasn’t entirely confident in my abilities.

At the end of Spring 2016, my Intro to Magazines professor and the faculty member who I appointed my spirit guide, Larry Stains, suggested I apply to be a designer for The Temple News.

So I did. And I was accepted to come aboard the 2016-17 staff.

I wasn’t expecting much out

of the job, to be honest — I had a tendency to not follow through on things, along with major commitment and trust issues. Joining a team full of strangers to produce a weekly, 18-page newspaper sounded like an undertaking that I’d quickly grow to resent.

I was dead wrong.

I have not once in my life encountered a more close-knit, determined and talented community in my life, and I seriously doubt I’ll experience anything quite like it ever again. There lives within that newsroom ceaseless amounts of passion and drive — it’s contagious.

I went from being a selfdoubting defeatist who gave up at the slightest whiff of difficulty to a self-starting, scrappy creative who’s always hungry for a problem to solve. Whenever I wake up (sometimes it’s still not until after 1 p.m.), I immediately jump into action — I near-always have a project that needs doing, and nothing makes me happier.

Over the past two years, The Temple News gave me the strongest sense of purpose and belonging I’ve ever experienced. I have never felt more at peace with who I am and what I do after stepping foot in that newsroom. courtney.redmon@temple.edu @_ourt

CORRECTIONS In an article that appeared on Page 7 in the April 24 issue headlined “Physics student wins Goldwater Scholarship,” Marcus Forst’s involvement with the Temple University Physics Club was misstated.

He started the club’s peer recitation in Spring 2018.

In a photo caption that ran on the front page of the April 24 issue with the article headlined, “After high school injury, finding an interest in orthopedic research,” the photo was miscredited. Kashif Wykee took the photo.

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 Michaela Winberg at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6737.

letters@temple-news.com

May 18, 1966: Millard E. Gladfelter, the university’s president at the time, stands with Senior Giving Committee members as they unveil the University Mace, a ceremonical staff. The mace was a gift from the class of 1966.

This week in The Commencement Issue, Editor-in-Chief Michaela Winberg wrote a sendoff column about her time working at The Temple News, where she told the stories of the university and its surrounding community.

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

OPINION TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 5

Leading a newsroom of powerful storytellers The editor-in-chief describes the reporting she’s done for The Temple News and the spirit of the staff she managed this year in a sendoff column.

I

t was two weeks ago when The Temple News’ weekly production was interrupted.

On a Monday night at 11 p.m., I was working with my news team to perfect our stories before we published them on Tuesday morning. We worked hard to ensure every piece of content we sent to the printer that night was bulletproof — no errors, no misspellings, not even a misplaced comma.

We also ate pistachios.

Suddenly, our peaceful hard work was interrupted.

I watched my newsroom break out into a full-blown pistachio shell fight. Our news team threw shells at our photo team, often missing and hitting the feaMICHAELA tures team. On either side WINBERG of the room, our sports and EDITOR-IN-CHIEF copy editors laughed.

I laughed along with them, despite knowing every thrown pistachio shell was one I would have to clean up later, and every passing minute meant another I wouldn’t sleep that night. I was used to it. After all, it

The Temple News recently launched a partnership with Mighty Writers, an educational writing nonprofit for Philadelphia kids. As part of this collaboration, the students at Mighty Writers’ North Philadelphia branch came together to voice their opinions on Temple’s proposed on-campus stadium.

was our second-to-last issue of the year, and as the editor-in-chief of The Temple News, you forgo sleeping on Monday nights the second you accept the position.

Watching my coworkers, I found myself reflecting on my year leading our university’s student newspaper. I remembered all four years of college, each of which I spent as a dedicated reporter and editor at The Temple News.

When I look back, I remember the stories. My sophomore year, I sat down with a Temple employee who had been sentenced to life in prison. Then as a senior, I met mothers, friends and significant others of students who had died during their time at Temple.

I also learned how to tell my own stories — I came out as queer in The Temple News, and I later mourned the death of the LGBTQ icon who helped me do it.

I watched my coworkers tell similarly powerful stories. This year, The Temple News reported on the loss of an iconic North Philadelphia church to a fire. We highlighted the lack of sexual assault resources at Temple’s Japan campus. We also sounded off on important issues, like the proposed on-cam-

frankly don’t care if it’s all knocked down. Whatever they put in its place will just be unhelpful, just like the conversation on the stadium as a whole. Gentrification is a problem, but it’s not the BIG problem. It’s one of the spin-off problems attached to the BIG problem, which is education, or the lack of it for minorities. Bias, wage gap, de facto segregation, gentrification, prejudice. All of these are caused by a lack of education.

Jalah Green

Brianna Crooks

Dear Temple University, I think you building a football stadium is a bad idea. Kids in this area need to focus more on their work and do not need distractions.

And there is a lot going on whereas a student and a child, I believe that it is wrong. You’re taking away a park and a track field. You already took half of this area for your students. What more do they need?

And some of your students think it is wrong, because you can’t have everything.

Temple has provided a proposal to build a football stadium.

Who doesn’t love football? The only issue is that the stadium would be built across the street from the place I call my second home, George Washington Carver HSES. This is an issue because this establishment is a school, a place where students from seventh to 12th grade receive a decent education.

Just the idea of a stadium being built across the street can lead to a foreshadow of further expansion on a stadium built on our school grounds.

Eighth grade Eastern University Academy Charter School

Danielle Mason

10th grade Philadelphia Military Academy High School

A new stadium? Why are you trying to build a new stadium? Do they have the money for that? I believe building a new stadium will cause a lot of chaos. There are two high schools right near Temple.

The Philadelphia Military Academy High School is practically on Temple’s campus. I attend the Philadelphia Military Academy High School, and when I walk outside I see Temple students walking up and down the street. Imagine how it would be if they were to build a football stadium — so much contact with high school students and college students. I believe college students should not be connected on a friendly level. Building a stadium will also move people out of their homes. Temple is largely populated and has a lot of acres for property. I just believe that Temple has enough buildings. It’s like they are trying to build their own little city in the middle of North Philly.

So please do not build a stadium.

Jalen Peterson

9th grade Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School

I don’t live in North Philly.

I don’t live near the universities, the projects, the copy-and-pasted houses lined up one by one. I

11th grade George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science

Isaac Mooney

10th grade George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science

In my opinion, I think having a new stadium is a bad idea because it takes up too much space. Also, they make things so messy. I don’t think anybody wants to waste their time building a big stadium so Temple can have their games. In my opinion, this is all publicity just to make Temple look good. They want to be in competition so their peers can be more attractive to them and want other college students to come to Temple.

Philip Rodriguez

12th grade Charter High School for Architecture and Design

How I feel about the Temple stadium is that Temple shouldn’t be expanding their “wings” so far.

Kicking people out of their homes is wrong, and now you have homeless people on the street. I so disagree with Temple upgrading everything they own like every five years. If it started affecting me, I would totally fight back. Let’s fight Temple.

pus stadium and controversies in Greek life.

When I remember these stories, it’s impossible not to remember my coworkers.

This academic year, I can tell you exactly what you’d see walking into our newsroom on a Monday morning: our design team, with a handful of 24-ounce coffees, stressed out because InDesign just crashed again.

Our photo editors, cracking jokes and praising the Sixers. Our features editors, digging for the nitty-gritty details about some weird art exhibit in Fishtown. And our opinion editor, sitting beside them with a bowl always full of candy for when times got tough.

Sports and news editors were across the aisle, taping reminders to their cubicle walls, calling administrators and showing each other memes.

The multimedia editors toiled away in their private office — often freezing cold — and the members of our senior staff ate pretzels with hummus and blasted ‘80s pop music.

There were the copy editors, who factchecked so many words over the course of one year that their brains must have grown

12 times bigger in 10 months. Across from them sat our faculty adviser — always ready with the advice I needed to hear (and probably looking at pictures of his dog).

I know my staff about as well as I know anyone — it gets that way when you spend just about every day with the same group of people, all of whom share the same goal: telling the stories that matter to the Temple community.

The truth is, by the end of the year, these people have become much more than just my staff. They’re lifelong friends. I have never met a more dedicated, sharp group of student journalists, and I’m excited to watch them continue to grow in the future.

I am proud of the stories we’ve told, and I’m proud of the 22-person staff that made them happen.

And if I had to pick up a few pistachio shells along the way, it was well worth it. michaela.winberg@temple.edu @mwinberg_

INCLUSIVITY

‘A Quiet Place’ accommodates a regularly silenced community The new movie, which features very little dialogue, makes movie-watching more accessible for deaf people.

I

recently went to the theatre to see the new horror movie, “A Quiet Place,” for two reasons: to be scared out of my seat, and to see John Krasinski, also known as Jim Halpert from “The Office,” on the big screen. I left the theater with both of those expectations being met, but I also came away from the movie with a new, unexpected interest — the Deaf community.

“A Quiet Place” is a post-apocalyptic movie that focuses on the Abbott family, who’s trying to survive in a world where any noise they make causes deadly, soundRAE BURACH sensitive extraterrestrial LEAD COLUMNIST creatures to attack. Because of this, there is very little dialogue, and the family communicates through sign language.

Within the first few scenes of the film, the audience learns that Regan, the daughter in the family, is actually deaf. And the actress who plays her character, Millicent Simmonds, is deaf in real life, too.

“A Quiet Place” is praiseworthy not only for authentically representing a deaf character by casting a deaf actress, but for exposing the general public to an underrepresented community and providing access to viewers who can’t hear.

Harmful stereotypes of marginalized groups often originate in popular media, and misrepresentation can do even more damage than no representation at all. By casting a deaf actress in a deaf role and having an ASL coach on set, “A Quiet Place” was able to create an authentic portrayal of deafness and avoid misrepresenting the Deaf community and misinforming the public.

“A Quiet Place” is 95 percent silent with very little dialogue or music and has subtitles. This allows deaf people to be able to experience the film in the same way that people with hearing can. Other recent movies, like “Baby Driver” and “The Shape of Water,” have also incorporated ASL and the presence of hearing-impaired characters, but movies are still rarely accessible to deaf people in theaters.

Katelyn Carson is a junior speech pathology major and a member of Talking Hands, Temple’s American Sign Language club. She said that just through the presence of American Sign Language, or ASL, in the film, the general public gains knowledge about Deaf culture.

“It’s more inclusive of a group that is normally suppressed,” she said. “I think our society tends to categorize [deafness] as a problem, rather than just someone that’s a little different.”

Simmonds embraces her difference.

Seeing someone in a major motion picture who is empowered by her disability is important for hearing-impaired people who don’t often see characters like themselves on the big screen.

“All my life, I didn’t really have someone to look up to, a mentor, a deaf role model,” Simmonds said in an interview with Good Morning America. “So I feel like that’s very important for me.” “[Representation is important] not just for deaf people, but for all disabled people, and letting Hollywood know that we can be anything,” Simmonds added. “We can be included in more films, we can be airplane pilots, we can do anything we want to do. I think that’s an important message.”

Meghan Rainone is an ASL instructor for the Communication Science and Disorders Department in the College of Public Health and a member of the Deaf community. She said it’s important to accurately represent people with disabilities in movies.

“It’s really important, because it teaches the general population about that smaller population,” Rainone said. “An inaccurate representation in a movie will influence how hearing people view deaf people and how they approach [them].”

“We just need to be more aware overall of their needs and their community, their culture,” said Kara Ozimkiewicz, a junior speech pathology major and a member Talking Hands.

The more movies we have with closed captioning, the closer we get to normalizing the presence of assistive tools for deaf people. The same goes for having interpreters at lectures, events and productions. Seeing this movie has helped me become more mindful of the Deaf community and realize there needs to be more effort put into the widespread inclusion of all groups of people.

“I really have recognized myself as a minority,” Rainone said. “We have our own language, we have our own culture.”

Immersing students into the community through education is an effective way to spread awareness. rbur@temple.edu

COURTNEY REDMON / THE TEMPLE NEWS

letters@temple-news.com

NEWS TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 6 TSG

TSG leaders reflect on their impact, initiatives The administration created more than two dozen initiatives during its time.

BY ALYSSA BIEDERMAN TSG Beat Reporter

The ActivateTU administration stepped down from Temple Student Government to induct IgniteTU on April 30 at the final General Assembly meeting of the year.

Since its induction in May 2017, ActivateTU delivered on at least 28 of its 36 platform points. These programs included topics like community engagement, sexual assault resources, sustainability, campus safety, diversity and student life.

Some of ActivateTU’s on-campus achievements include advocating for all-gender restrooms, creating Sexual Assault Prevention Week, holding four live feedback forums with university leaders and hosting the Peer-Mentorship Program.

Kayla Martin, the exiting vice president of services, said working with Paul L. Dunbar School students to create their first student government this semester was one of her favorite initiatives.

“It was really rewarding to work with those students,” Martin said. “We had an actual impact on them, and we set a precedent for a mentorship that will continue with future administrations.”

Externally, ActivateTU also hosted three community forums, started a high school mentorship program, collaborated with other student organizations on the recently opened Cherry Pantry and hosted block clean-ups.

Exiting Student Body President Tyrell Mann-Barnes said he appreciated working on Sexual Assault Prevention Week because it showed him the power TSG has to make change indirectly.

“It showed that when student government takes an active role in combating an issue, students will get on board,” Mann-Barnes said. “Now, we’ve seen a lot of other organizations come out of the woodwork to support this issue.”

ActivateTU also reformed TSG by creating an Ethics Board and a director of student health and wellbeing position. The group also reformed Parliament by creating a communications director position and giving more responsibility to the role of Speaker.

Martin said she believes ActivateTU worked with integrity. She is proud that the group was able to accomplish so many of its goals.

“Once you’re elected, it can be hard with all the new pressure to stay true to the platforms you campaigned with,” Martin added. “I think we did really well with that. The team you see right now is the same team that was elected last April.”

The team’s leaders said they have grown personally from their experiences with TSG. Paige Hill, the exiting vice president of external affairs, said community forums and speaking for community members at meetings with administrators has taught her the importance of listening.

“Learning how to relay a voice without misrepresenting it in any way and taking those ideas and advocating for them in a concrete way to students and administrators is really important,” Hill said. “You don’t want to hijack someone else’s message.”

Martin and Mann-Barnes said being inclusive and representative of the diversity at Temple was something they understood better after being in office.

“You really learn how to make things that affect 40,000 students,” Martin said. “I learned how to listen to people with different opinions than me and bridge that gap to make sure we all work toward a common goal.”

“We have so much responsibility to make spaces representative of the body we represent,” Mann-Barnes added. “We hope we have created an inclusive environment that spreads to the entire campus.”

Mann-Barnes, Martin and Hill are finished with TSG, but they have big plans moving forward.

Hill is graduating, and plans to stay in Philadelphia and get involved with local government while pursuing a Ph.D. in political science. She wants to continue her research on the representation of women in developing democracies.

Martin, who is also graduating, will begin earning her law degree at the Beasley School of Law next year. Martin hopes to go into employment and civil rights law.

Mann-Barnes will enter his final year of undergraduate studies this fall, and after graduating, he hopes to begin medical school.

“Last year, ActivateTU really started a movement,” Mann-Barnes said. “People from a multitude of backgrounds were excited to get involved. I hope that moving forward, TSG continues to be representative and inclusive of all students.” alyssa.biederman@temple.edu @BiedermanAlyssa

SHEFA AHSAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Paige Hill (left), Tyrell Mann-Barnes (center) and Kayla Martin inducted IgniteTU as the new administration on April 30.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 STUDENT DEATH

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS A memorial was placed on the stoop of Daniel Duignam’s off-campus apartment on Diamond Street near 17th. On Saturday night, he was found dead inside the builidng by police.

News Desk 215.204.7419 news@temple-news.com

community on Sunday morning. Police do not believe Duignam’s death was a “random act” and will increase patrols around Main Campus as investigations continue.

Police told NBC10 that Duignam was shot three times: in his stomach, face and right arm.

“On behalf of everyone at Temple, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Daniel’s family and friends at this tragic time,” Englert wrote. “They are in the thoughts and prayers of us all.”

Duignam was an active member in the Sigma Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, a risk management and insurance student professional organization, Fox School of Business Dean Moshe Porat told The Temple News.

“We join President Englert and the rest of the Temple University community in extending our condolences to Daniel’s family and those closest to him,” Porat said in a statement.

“Whenever our school and our university suffers a loss such as this, we encourage those affected to seek help and support from available on campus resources and from one another.”

Duignam is at least the third student from Fox to die suddenly this academic year.

Englert encouraged students to utilize Tuttleman Counseling Services, which will offer special hours on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Walkin hours will also be available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Temple Student Government also encourages students to access Tuttleman Counseling Services as well as the Crisis Response Center at Einstein Health that is open 24/7 for emergencies. The Crisis Response Center can be accessed at 215-951-8300.

“This has been a difficult year, Owls,” said Hailey McCormack, TSG’s director of communications, in a statement to The Temple News.

“We have endured multiple tragedies in just one academic year, and we have seen firsthand the horrific effects of gun violence. We will continue to push unity and peace through these times, because pain is always easier to deal with when you have a community surrounding and encouraging you.” gillian@temple.edu @gill_mcgoldrick

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

SPECIAL PROJECT TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 7

Feeling closer to home CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 INTERNATIONAL cope. You’ll hear from administrators on the efforts they make to help international students adjust.

In the online version of this story, you can also read personal essays from writers at Freely Magazine, an international student publication on Main Campus. Visit longform. temple-news.com to explore the interactive,

multimedia project.

To the international students who shared their stories with us, we say thank you. As a staff made up entirely of domestic students, the stories you shared with us were enlightening and valuable.

Your openness was essential to our accurate reporting of this project, and we learned so much from you. We know the Temple community will learn something too.

HOW DO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS GET TO TEMPLE? At Temple, enrolling international students often starts with Jessica Sandberg, the director of international admissions in the Office of International Affairs. Alongside Nathan Jones, the director of international recruitment, Sandberg traveled to about 30 countries in the last year for recruitment.

When she recruits students to Temple, Sandberg said she tries to outline the university’s global opportunities: Main Campus is situated in a major American city, and the university has additional campuses in Japan and Rome.

Most international students at Temple come from China, with 42.6 percent of international students hailing from the country.

Following China are India, South Korea, Kuwait and Vietnam.

Why do so many Chinese students come to Temple? Sandberg cites the country’s economy. When China became a major economic power in the 1970s, more parents could afford to send their children abroad for secondary education, according to the Yale Economic Review.

“We, as in the United States, have enjoyed this onslaught of students that are coming because we are the dream in terms of higher education,” Sandberg said.

Sandberg and her staff also recruit international students who came to the United States for high school — she said 35 percent of Temple’s 2,058 international students studied here.

In Fall 2017, Sandberg and her colleagues visited about 40 high schools within driving distance of Main Campus to recruit international students.

“Sometimes I’ll talk to colleagues from other universities across the U.S. and they’ll say, ‘What’s the trick? How did you get so many students from the U.S. high schools?’” Sandberg said. “I just say, ‘We’ll look at the map. It’s our backyard.’”

Ruben Ciowela, a senior economics major, is among those in-

ternational students who were enrolled in a U.S. high school before they arrived at Temple. Ciowela, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, moved to New Jersey in 2012 because of his father’s job at the United Nations.

Spending his last two years of high school in the U.S. helped him acclimate to life at Temple more quickly, Ciowela said.

“It really helped me with my English,” he said. “It helped me get familiar with the culture and what to expect from college.”

JAMIE COTTRELL / THE TEMPLE NEWS Jessica Sandberg, the director of international admissions in the Office of International Affairs, traveled to about 30 countries in the last year to recruit international students.

IMMIGRATION Joan McGinley, the interim director of immigration services for International Student and Scholar Services, said being an international adviser in today’s political climate is difficult.

In particular, McGinley said her office didn’t support President Donald Trump’s travel ban of people from seven countries in January 2017.

The countries affected by Trump’s latest iteration — which was approved by the United States Supreme Court in December 2017 — of the travel ban include: • • • • • • •

IRAN LIBYA SYRIA YEMEN SOMALIA CHAD NORTH KOREA

“We didn’t like it, to put it the politically correct way,” she said. “It was awful.”

McGinley and her staff assist members of the Temple community with their visa sponsorships so they can pursue education, research or employment. Once a student has been admitted, ISSS helps them obtain the necessary documentation.

Most international students at the university are on a nonimmigrant visa, which is for non-

TOP FIVE COUNTRIES REPRESENTED BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN 2017-18

SOURCE: TEMPLE UNIVERSITY STUDENT FACT BOOK 2017-18 JULIE CHRISTIE / THE TEMPLE NEWS

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Joan McGinley, interim director of immigration services for the International Student and Scholar Services, discusses the challenges associated with President Donald Trump’s travel bans.

U.S. citizens who are interested in coming here temporarily for things like tourism, education or medical treatment. There are dozens of different types of visas, but McGinley said the most common student visas are an F-1 or J-1.

Most of the students at Temple with visas study in the Fox School of Business, according to ISSS data.

McGinley, who has worked at Temple since the 1980s, said the student visa application process has gotten easier throughout the

years.

“For maybe the last 10 years, 15 years, we haven’t had many visa denials at all really, which was great,” McGinley said.

Immigration reform under the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations made American universities more accessible to international students. The 2000 American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act and the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 removed numerical caps on the H-1B visa

TOTAL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENROLLED SINCE 2013

SOURCE: TEMPLE UNIVERSITY STUDENT FACT BOOKS PUBLISHED FROM 2013-18 JULIE CHRISTIE / THE TEMPLE NEWS

and added 20,000 H-1B visas for those graduating from U.S. institutions with a master’s degree.

But McGinley worries that, under the current administration, navigating the visa and immigration process can be “more dicey” for international students. Her job often includes dispelling myths and calming fears of deportation due to Trump’s immigration views.

Shortly after the Trump’s first travel ban was announced, McGinley began to worry about the students who had been admitted to Temple from the banned countries.

In particular, she thought of one woman from Iran who was already on her way to Temple. Fortunately, McGinley said, ISSS staff members and two immigration lawyers helped the woman get to the U.S. safely.

“They are still getting here, and when they’re here, they’re just Temple students,” she said. “I like to think they recognize the fact that the ban is one person’s opinion.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

editor@temple-news.com

SPECIAL PROJECT TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 8 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

ONCE THEY’RE HERE, WHAT PROBLEMS DO THEY FACE? HOUSING When Tong Tong Zhu committed to Temple for four years, she had only seen the city and university she would call home through pictures on her computer.

“I have no idea how the life will be lived in the dorm or what the location looks like,” said Zhu, a sophomore accounting major who is from China. “All I can do is just search online and sometimes use resources.

It’s kind of like having no idea. I just have to choose one.”

Zhu attempted to live on campus during her freshman year, but had to singlehandedly find off-campus housing because there were no available on-campus spaces.

She eventually signed a 12-month lease with The Edge, an apartment complex leased by the university on 15th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue.

Though, complications continued when she moved into The Edge and found bed bugs. After reporting it, staff did not respond, she said. Only after going to the Office of International Student Affairs to report her problem did the housing complex allow her to move to a different space in The Edge — at the additional cost of $200 for her rent.

“I felt so helpless,” she said. “I had no choice to leave [my lease].”

A spokesperson from The Edge told The Temple News that the housing complex has no reported issues for which it did not contact a vendor to address the problem.

“The Edge takes all reported issues seriously and we move quickly to ensure they are addressed in a very timely manner,” said Ajiri Ekpebe, general manager at The Edge.

For international students who do get on-campus housing, University Housing and Residential Life works closely with International Student and Scholar Services to support them, said Shana Alston, the interim director of housing operations for UHRL. “It’s really important for us that we create inclusive and supportive environments for all students,” Alston said. “So much of what we do for students is on an individual basis.”

Many international students learn choose through housing only through UHRL’s website. But Alston said international students sometimes encounter barriers like translation or even having the website blocked in certain countries when trying to access the website.

Alston said she emails international students directly to help connect them to the right resources for their housing or other needs before coming to Temple.

There is a Global Living Learning Community that is open to international and domestic students living on campus, but one of the biggest challenges international students can face when choosing on-campus housing is the limited time they can spend in residence halls, Alston said.

Even though students can stay in the dorms during Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, they can’t stay during the summer unless they are enrolled in summer classes, she said. UHRL will work with international students who want to stay in one place for a year or more to find other options.

“We want our international students to live on campus and we want to make it accessible and easy for them,” Alston said.

Other international students, like Yichen Yang, struggle to adjust to the cultural differences that arise when living with domestic students.

When Yang attended college in Taiwan, she shared a room with five other Chinese students. This situation, however, was preferable to Yang’s first year at Temple, when she shared a room with one American student in Morgan Hall. “[In Taiwan], we had the same habits, living habits,” said Yang, a senior communications major. “I just found there’s a difference in us. Chinese people are slow. It’s like, you guys are very quick into it. Maybe it just took more time for Chinese to get to know each other.”

Yang said the strain that cultural differences put on her relationship with her first year roommate was exacerbated by her rocky English. She spent most of that year hanging out in other international students’

rooms.

During Arthur Heuzard’s freshman year, he was the only international student living on his floor in Johnson Hall. He struggled to acclimate to American small talk, specifically the phrase “How are you doing?”

“I thought people didn’t like me because they would just say it and walk away,” said Heuzard, a senior sports and recreation management major from France. “In France, when you say something like that, you have a conversation.”

But Heuzard said overall his floor was welcoming and living with domestic students helped him integrate into American culture. Ray Ruani, a junior international business major from Brazil, agreed: her American roommate in 1300 Residence Hall introduced her to new things, like indie rock music, during her freshman year.

“It’s a lot harder to make friends with American people,” Ruani said. “It lacks that initial point of conversation. I would say if you have the option to live with an international student and a American student, go for the American student because you’re going to make those international friends regardless.”

However, Ruani, Yang and Zhu all currently live with international students. Ruani moved in to The View with another Brazilian student, and Zhu also lives in the View with three other international students.

Yang happened to be placed with a Chinese student when she moved into Sydenham Commons on Sydenham Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Fall 2017.

Ultimately, living with another international student makes Yang’s apartment — in a city more than 7,000 miles away from her native country — feel more like home.

“I feel comfortable in my own room,” Yang said. “We are like roommates, but also friends. Our relationship is much more easier.”

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ying Zhang, a law Ph.D. student from China, hosted a party to celebrate the Chinese New Year in her Oxford Village apartment.

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Yichen Yang, a senior communication studies major, prepares food in her Sydenham Commons apartment.

DAILY CHALLENGES The biggest daily challenge Ying Zhang, a Ph.D. law student from Beijing, faces is the language barrier.

It’s more pervasive for her than any other obstacle associated with being an international student. It complicates making friends, doing homework and even going to the grocery store.

“Suppose you want to cook something,” she said. “You always don’t know what anything is. … You can’t always find the right thing that you’re looking for.”

Zhang is working toward her Ph.D. at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, which has a partnership with Beasley School of Law’s civil litigation program. She plans to study at Temple for a year before returning home.

For her law classes, Zhang is often assigned research papers that are about six to eight pages, double-spaced. That can take her two full days, even if she’s familiar with the material, she said.

“That is a huge challenge for me,” Zhang said. “Law is all about language, and we have different law systems. It’s really hard, and it takes me lots of time.”

She can get by when she’s speaking to someone in person — context clues like body language and facial expressions help fill in the gaps when she’s not sure exactly what someone means. Zhang encounters more problems speaking with people on the phone.

Despite her effort, the language barrier makes being an international student especially lonely, Zhang said. In her classes, American students seem unwelcoming and reluctant to speak with her.

“It’s crowded here at the university,” Zhang said. “Most of the people, they won’t talk to you. They concentrate on their own stuff.”

For older international students, an age gap can further exacerbate the sense of isolation — from both domestic and international students.

Arash Hosseini, 28, a second-year civil engineering Ph.D. student, is from Tehran, Iran. He spent a year studying in Colorado before transferring to Temple because he missed the diversity of a “big city” like Tehran.

Once he got here, Hosseini said he

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS A Chinese calendar sits on the bedside table of Yichen Yang, a senior communication studies major, in her Sydenham Commons apartment.

sought out social events, like the Office of International Affairs’ #YouAreWelcomeHere event series in March, to meet new people and make friends. But the events target teenagers in their first year of college, and many of his fellow graduate students are reluctant to attend them, Hosseini said.

“Some of them are hesitating to participate,” Hosseini said. “So if we can have [events] similar to this but for graduate students, I think that would be a good idea.”

“Especially for international students, you need to find more friends to feel like home,” he added.

When international students try to make domestic friends, cultural barriers can inhibit the process.

Robert Tucker, a junior history major, came to Main Campus from the United Kingdom. At every party he attends, he said any hope of a normal conversation is lost as soon as he speaks.

“I’m having the same conversation, ‘Ah, you’re from England, what swear words do you have? What slang do you have?’” Tucker said. “I understand it’s not these people’s fault. It’s kind of a novelty. It’s different. But it’s repetitive for me.”

“I like music, I like films” he added. “We can talk about normal stuff. We don’t have to talk about the Queen.”

Tucker said the intense curiosity about foreign cultures is rooted in the global dominance of the U.S. While Americans often know little about other countries, most international students have been exposed to American culture for their entire lives, he said.

“We have American music, we have American shows,” Tucker said. “Everyone in the world knows who Donald Trump is.

How many people in the world know who the Korean president is?”

Beyond this lack of cultural awareness, Tucker said another source of disconnect can come from American students’ different social mannerisms — like their readiness to add anyone they meet on Snapchat.

For Chinese international student Danna Wang, the five years she’s spent at Temple — first as an undergraduate and now as a doctoral student — has helped her establish strong friendships with domestic students.

But the prevailing attitude among Americans is still to keep a narrow circle of friends, she said.

“Many American students, they only care about their own lives,” said Wang, a first-year business analytics Ph.D. student.

“It will be hard for international students to make friends with them [unless] the effort is from both sides.”

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editor@temple-news.com

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

SPECIAL PROJECT TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

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HOW DO THEY FIND SUPPORT? INTERNATIONAL RESIDENT COORDINATORS AND BUILDING MANAGERS Working at off-campus residences can entail being the first person to meet international students when they arrive in the U.S., said Kathy Ran, the property manager at Sydenham Commons.

In the past, Sydenham Commons staff have picked up international students at the airport if they can’t easily find transportation, Ran said. She added that she and Lili Mo, her assistant property manager, also answer basic questions, like where to buy bedsheets.

“Every person comes in with a different background because some of them have spoken to

their friends so they have an idea of where everything is,” said Ran, who uses her fluency in Chinese to communicate with international students. “It’s just the small things, the everyday things where they’re not really sure where to buy shampoo.”

At other off-campus residences, there are international resident coordinators designated to help students transition to Temple.

Ruani, who is an IRC in The View, said four other complexes have IRCs: Diamond Green, The Edge, University Village and Apartments at 1220 North Broad.

IRCs respond to any concern international students have, which can range from academics, roommate conflicts or day-to-day strug-

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE Source: Christyna Stires, general manager How many international students live in your building?

124 students How do you facilitate relationships with international students?

They often find University Village through word-of-mouth from either fellow international students or university staff in UHRL’s Office of OffCampus Living, Stires said. University Village is also recommended on a list of local, off-campus apartment complexes on the University Housing and Residential Life website.

Do you offer specific policies to benefit international students?

University Village has an international resident coordinator who lives in the facility and helps build community for international students through outreach and events. Although not specifically designed for international students, leases at University Village can be signed online, which helps students who may not be able to come to the office.

DIAMOND GREEN Sources: Randi Fair, property manager, and Brenda Santos, assistant property manager How many international students live in your building?

30 students How do you facilitate relationships with international students?

International students living in Diamond Green are often referred there by other former international residents, Fair said.

Do you offer specific policies to benefit international students?

There are several policies that Diamond Green developed specifically in response to international student tenants. The apartment complex does not require a cosigner for international students and accepts Western Union money transfers as payment, which can help students who don’t have a U.S. bank account.

Diamond Green also has an international resident coordinator.

THE VIEW Source: Ray Ruani, international resident coordinator How many international students live in your building?

About 70 to 80 students How do you facilitate relationships with international students?

Like other apartment complexes, many international students who live at The View were referred by past tenants who they know personally, Ruani said.

Do you offer specific policies to benefit international students?

The View also has an on-site international resident coordinator.

SYDENHAM COMMONS Sources: Kathy Ran, property manager, and Lili Mo, assistant property manager How many international students live in your building?

Sydenham Commons allows a maximum of eight international students, split between four boys and four girls, as tenants, Ran said.

How do you facilitate relationships with international students?

Ran said most of the international student tenants hear about Sydenham Commons through word-of-mouth referrals.

Do you offer specific policies to benefit international students?

To accommodate international students, Sydenham Commons offers them semesterly leases — but the entirety of their rent is required up front.

THE EDGE Sources: Shardé Johnson, assistant director of residence life, and Helen Watson, director of leasing How many international students live in your building?

Johnson said at least 77 international students live at The Edge.

How do you facilitate relationships with international students?

International students are referred to The Edge from the university’s website, which recommends specific off-campus housing options.

Do you offer specific policies to benefit international students?

The Edge offers semester- and year-long leases, Watson said. It also has international resident coordinators, Johnson said.

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Hai-Lung Dai, the vice president of international affairs, discusses his plans to establish an International Center, which will house all of the resources international students may need.

gles, Ruani added.

Xiaoye Xu is the IRC at Diamond Green, an apartment complex on Diamond and 10th streets.

Though he is from China and can use his Mandarin to better communicate with some international students, he said the biggest challenge they face is understanding American social norms.

“When I talk with [students] and they feel like, ‘Oh so that’s how it is,’ or they realize that’s how American culture goes, then I feel like...I’m actually helping them adopt American culture,” Xu said.

To help build a community, IRCs coordinate events at each of their complexes. Ruani said the IRCs held events on Valentine’s Day and Halloween at The View this year.

It can be challenging to maintain close contact with the 7080 international students living in The View, Ruani said, but she tries to make herself especially approachable and warm.

“It’s kind of like a friendship almost,” Ruani said. “I feel like the kids I’m closer to, they’re more comfortable asking me stuff. … I just try to get to know them and help them however they need it.”

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADVISING When international students arrive for orientation on Main Campus, the two sole international student advisers at Temple, Joanne Garfield and Leanna Arnold, try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

But last week, Temple had an orientation for the first time in China. Garfield, Arnold and Assistant Director of International Student Affairs Leah Hetzell were awarded a grant by the Office of International Affairs to have a “pre-departure orientation” in Beijing and Shanghai.

Garfield said she hopes the trip will give incoming international students a head start.

“We want to be able to start the conversation with them way earlier than that,” Arnold said. “So when they arrive, they already know our faces. They already talked to us.

They’ve already seen a little bit of what Temple has to offer.”

Arnold and Garfield also offer two webinars for international students over the summer. The online presentations can be accessed through Temple’s WebEx. Arnold said a representative from the ISSS office will join the webinar to inform incoming students about official documentation, like visas, that they’ll need

when they arrive in the U.S. “We can answer their questions along the way instead of having all of that added stress of the unknown when they arrive,” Arnold said. “Hopefully, we’ll make them feel more comfortable and ease their transition.”

After international students arrive on Main Campus, academic advisers in the each of student’s respective college will refer them to Garfield and Arnold if they need more support.

Garfield said it’s hard to quantify how many students get referred to their advising office. But the busiest times are usually during times when students add, drop and withdrawal from courses, she added.

If students get referred to international advising, Griffin said they try to help international students understand the role of adviser because they might not have a comparable figure in their international institution. They also encourage international students to use available academic resources, like the university’s Writing Center.

When international students visit Arnold, she said she’ll sometimes introduce them to Elizabeth Ursell, the assistant director of language services for the Writing Center to make the adjustment easier for the students.

“We’ve made a big push to have very strong communication with Leah and [Ursell],” Garfield said.

“So instead of just telling someone where to go, you can actually connect them with the person.”

INTENSIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM For some international students, there’s a caveat to their acceptance to Temple: They must complete the Intensive English Language Program’s Temple Tran-

sitions Program.

IELP, which was adopted by Temple in the 1970s, helps nonnative English speakers learn the language at hundreds of U.S. universities, said IELP Director Jackie McCafferty.

At IELP, there are several different options, including shortterm programs, transitional programs and international graduate student programs.

For students who aren’t proficient enough in English, the university offers transitional programs like Temple Path and Access Temple. Both of these programs require students to spend time in the IELP before moving on to their undergraduate courses. If students participate in Access Temple, they are exempt from the TOEFL or IELTS, which are exams that test English language skills.

Once students graduate the Temple Path program, they move on to the Access Temple program.

On average, about 30 to 50 students enroll in Temple Path, and 70 to 80 students enroll in Access Temple per term.

The university also offers seven-week courses that focus on writing, reading, speaking and listening, and those have long been the most popular. But McCafferty said recently, the program has seen a shift toward short-term programs.

On average, McCafferty said 100 to 200 students enroll in each seven-week IELP class.

One of the most popular classes is “Chatting with Americans,” in which students engage with native English speakers on Main Campus.

Other classes focus specifically on pronunciation or spelling for students that are from countries that use different alphabets, like Arabic and Asian countries.

McCafferty added that the student demographic varies between each program. In the IELP,

STUDENTS ENROLLED IN TEMPLE’S INTENSIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM

SOURCE: LISA MERITZ, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS JULIE CHRISTIE / THE TEMPLE NEWS

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editor@temple-news.com

SPECIAL PROJECT TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 10 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

national students are so far from their families when issues arise.

To address high-level concerns, like visa issues, arrests and suicidal ideation, Hetzell said she teams up with Director of Immigration Services Joan McGinley and Miller. She added that she goes “back and forth” with the Dean of Students Office.

FINDING YOUR TEAM

SYDNEY SCHAEFER, EVAN EASTERLING & GENEVA HEFFERNAN / FILE PHOTOS ILLUSTRATION BY COURTNEY REDMON / THE TEMPLE NEWS

students tend to hail from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia or China. For Access Temple and Temple Path, it’s mostly Chinese students, and for the short-term programs, the department sees a lot of Korean and Taiwanese students.

McCaffery recognizes that IELP students often feel isolated from the rest of the university. In response, the program added a student services coordinator who organizes activities, like on-campus events and field trips. The program also encourages participation in student organizations.

“We’re trying to keep them closer to home and feeling more engaged with being here instead of putting them on buses and going places,” McCafferty said.

OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The Office of International Affairs, headed by Hai-Lung Dai, the vice president of international affairs, is composed of two divisions: one for outbound students leaving the U.S. to study abroad and another for inbound students.

Martyn Miller, the assistant vice president for international programs, oversees the International Program’s five units: • • • • •

GLOBAL PROGRAMS INTENSIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AND RECRUITING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AND SCHOLAR SERVICES INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AFFAIRS

Miller and his office staff are a resource for international students regardless of their concerns, he said.

“You all know the ‘Temple shuffle,’” he said. “You know that students are shuffled from one office to one office to one office. We try not to make that happen for the international students. So if a student comes to my office, she will never walk out with, ‘I don’t know,’ as the answer or, ‘Go see somebody else.’ I would pick up the phone and call. I would get on the internet and find the resources.”

Dai also acknowledged that Temple’s bureaucracy can create a burden for international students.

He said he hopes to centralize international student resources by building an International Center in the next five years, which would house all the resources international students might need.

“One of the biggest issues is trying to get the rest of the university community to understand the importance of international education, both coming and going,” Miller said. “It’s a lack of knowledge of the international student.

Once you introduce them, that ignorance goes away, that separation goes away.”

editor@temple-news.com

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AFFAIRS Two red knots hang on the wall of Christine Brady’s office, where she works as the director of alumni relations. The symbolic decorations were given to her by two international students from China.

“They signify something, and they explained them to me,” Brady said. ”I think one of them is family unity.”

Brady coordinates a program called TemPALS alongside Hetzell, the assistant director of International Student Affairs, to help international students adjust to Philadelphia culture by pairing them with Temple alumni to show them around campus and the city. Brady said Len Mellman, a 1949 alumnus and donor, was the mastermind behind the 10-year-old program.

“We try to you know give them that kind of authentic experience,” Hetzell said. “Our students really think that it’s one of the best programs that we offer, just to really be in someone’s home and have that experience.”

“You don’t have to take them on expensive outings,” Brady added. “Students often want to sit in an American living room.”

TemPALS is one of the many ways Hetzell and her team provide international students with support. They begin to assist incoming students as early as April. The students work with ISSS to get their visas. After that, International Student Affairs helps the students register for orientation.

Once they’re on campus, Hetzell said international students may be referred to several different on-campus resources when seeking support.

“An issue might come up through maybe an academic adviser,” Hetzell said. “And then they say, ‘Oh wow that’s beyond me, you might need to go to maybe Tuttleman Counseling’ or get some other sort of referral. ... We’re going to send them to the correct resource.”

One particular way that the department connects with international students is through the peer mentorship program, which pairs American and international student leaders with new international students.

Hetzell recalls a time when a peer-to-peer leader told her about a Korean student who had been at Temple for more than six weeks, but had never left campus. It became the mission for that leader to show her other sections of Philadelphia.

“Now, she’s actually applying to be one of the leaders for next year,” Hetzell said. “She’s involved, she’s found her place at Temple.

But that only happened because we were making an effort to intervene.”

Hetzell said it is important to provide support because inter-

Irem Asci mainly enjoys mainstream music — popular artists like Sam Smith, Adele and Rihanna.

But ever since she left her home country of Turkey in 2014 to play volleyball for the University of North Carolina Charlotte, she’s started to listen to more Turkish music, too.

“My parents were really surprised,” Asci said. “She’s like, ‘You know this song?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, mom. I’m Turkish too.’”

Asci transferred to Temple after one season at UNC Charlotte because her coach, Gokhan Yilmaz, resigned in January 2015.

The chance to play a sport while obtaining a college degree often draws student-athletes like Asci to U.S. schools.

Asci has connected with several fellow international teammates since arriving at Temple. During her first year, she shared a room with Carla Guennewig, a junior middle blocker from Germany.

She is also close with Serbian outside hitter Dara Peric and Croatian middle blocker Iva Deak. Asci and Deak sometimes cook together.

And she’s still connected with international alumni — Asci often visits former setter Sandra Sydlik, a 2015 marketing alumna from Germany, and Semen Sen, a 2016 UNC Charlotte international business alumna from Turkey, in their new homes in New York.

For international studentathletes, support from their teammates helps them adjust to a new country.

“You go to a different country, different culture, no friends, no family here, different language,” said Hermann Doerner, a junior men’s soccer player from Germany. “Basically everything is different. But I think I’m a part of a team with 32 guys and I was able to adjust really well with them. They helped me a lot.”

Doerner has befriended Kari Weiner, a freshman foil on the fencing team whose native country is also Germany.

Kathryn Edgar, a rising junior midfielder on the field hockey team from Northern Ireland, said her teammates helped her transition to a brand new culture. But at times, she finds it difficult to meet people outside of athletics because her schedule is so intense.

“It is challenging at times to kind of go outside of that box and outside of our comfort zone,” Edgar said. “But it’s still a main goal of mine to meet more people outside and reach different kind of groups of people outside of the sports realm here.”

“It’s actually really nice to be an athlete because you get in the community when you get in and you’re actually forced to hang out with other people,” Asci said. “When you don’t have any group of people you always hang out, you’re so isolated.

It makes it harder to adjust to the culture.”

THE COMMONALITIES Ying Zhang, a Ph.D. law student from China, misses a lot about Beijing. She misses the food, the culture. More than that, she misses her family and friends. Some days, living in America is isolating.

“I’m not a part of this,” she said.

“I know nothing about Philadelphia, and I have no friends here.”

Challenging as the obstacles may be, Zhang and other international students have found ways to cope.

On the days she feels most homesick, Zhang listens to her favorite podcast.

There’s one in particular that offers her solace in hard times.

“Modern Love,” produced by Boston NPR-affiliate WBUR and the New York Times, is an audio series in which people share the joys and hardships of love.

The podcast is only produced in English. Still, its message is comforting for Zhang. It reminds her of the love she feels for her family and friends who are thousands of miles away.

“People speak in different languages, but they all have something in common,” she said. “Love is common. Friendship is common.

It’s not about the culture. It’s about human beings.”

At Temple, Zhang joined the Badminton Club — and she’s pretty good. When American students ignore her in her classes, they’ll pay attention to her at the gym.

“There are some native speakers in that club, and sometimes, I’m playing better than them, so they’re willing to play with me,” Zhang said.

“I feel a sense of belonging,” she added. “You are in a totally strange circumstance, and you feel lonely. I like the sense of belonging.”

For Zhang, the sense of belonging has manifested in her personal life. She’s made friends through badminton — some international students, some domestic.

This semester — her second at the university — she hosted a party for the Badminton Club in her Oxford Village apartment to celebrate

the Chinese New Year. She even cooked homemade dumplings.

One of her friends from the club is Anirban Swakshar, a physics Ph.D. student from Bangladesh.

When he moved to Philadelphia last semester, it was the first time Swakshar ever left his native country.

Unlike others, adjusting to academics in the U.S. came naturally for Swakshar. Physics is mostly math — the same no matter which language you speak. Plus, many of his professors in Bangladesh earned their Ph.D. in the U.S., too, and inherited an American style of teaching.

Still, Swaskshar misses his family and friends. Most of all, he misses the food — a complaint that Huy Nguyen, a sophomore economics major from Vietnam, shares. Nguyen and his roommates, who are also from his native country, will buy Vietnamese food at Center City markets to prepare in their apartment.

He said the smell of the cooking reminds them all of home.

One day in Fall 2017, Swakshar was so homesick, he couldn’t sleep.

At midnight, Swaskshar took the Broad Street Line to City Hall.

It was only the second time he made it to Center City since moving to the U.S. The air was cool that night, and the sidewalks and streets were free of traffic. He saw homeless people sleeping on benches and in subway stations, reminding him of the homeless people in Bangladesh.

He thought, perhaps Philadelphia was more like his old city than he originally thought.

That night — for the first time since he moved to the U.S. — Swaskshar felt at home in Philadelphia.

“I realized that the main thing, wherever I come, the characteristics of people doesn’t change,” he said. “It doesn’t matter country to country.”

“Everyone is unknown to you,” Swaskshar added. “When you’re born, your mother is unknown to you. Unknown doesn’t matter.

If you don’t talk, then how will you know each other? When we talk with each other, we become friends.” editor@temple-news.com @TheTempleNews EDITOR’S NOTE: Xiaoye Xu previously worked at The Temple News as the advertising manager. He had no part in the reporting or editing of this story.

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Huy Nguyen, a sophomore economics major from Vietnam, sits on his bed in his apartment on the 1500 block of Bouvier Street on Monday.

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 11

Childhood of traveling inspires education plans Senior Jannatul Naima volunteered with The Muslimah Project and the United Muslim Relief Organization at Temple.

BY EMMA PADNER

For The Temple News

A

fter studying abroad in high school in her native Bangladesh and visiting her extended family there, Jannatul Naima wanted a college major that would enable her to learn about different cultures around the world.

“I feel like every culture has something to teach you,” said Naima, a senior international business major. “There’s always something you can learn from different people. You get to work with a lot of international clients as well, and then you also get to understand the markets in different countries.”

A first-generation college student, Naima was raised in Philadelphia and attended West Philadelphia High School.

“You don’t really have access to those resources that someone

whose maybe parents or siblings went to college before you, so it’s a very different experience,” Naima said. “From applying to college to now finally graduating, I think it’s amazing.”

Following graduation, Naima will enter a rotational program for a corporate analyst development program at JPMorgan Chase, a multi-national investment and financial services firm. She interned with the firm in Wilmington, Delaware, last summer in the project management department. The program she is entering will teach Naima about risks and controls, data analytics and process management.

“Because there [are] three rotations, I’d be able to work in three different areas and kind of get a feel for what the different areas entail for me,” Naima said. “They give you leadership roles within those rotations where you take initiative and then take ownership for different tasks, and that’s really great because it really builds you up for

FOX | PAGE 13

VEENA PRAKRIYA / THE TEMPLE NEWS Jannatul Naima, a senior international business major, will start a rotational program at JPMorgan Chase after graduation.

Entrepreneurship student produces music for ‘Insecure’ Senior Ben Thomas has worked with major hip-hop artists like Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Dicky and Brian McKnight.

BY LAURA SMYTHE For The Temple News

COURTESY / NICHOLE HUMBRECHT Nichole Humbrecht, a senior engineering fundamentals major, served as the senior director of operations for HootaThon this year.

Engineer helps others with ‘a steady hand’ Senior engineering fundamentals major Nichole Humbrecht tutored students and helped organize HootaThon.

BY AYOOLUWA ARIYO For The Temple News

While growing up, Nichole Humbrecht’s father, who is a mechanic, taught her how to use household equipment and electronics, like a lawn mower.

He soon began helping her build her school projects. When she was in the fourth grade, Humbrecht and her father created a lunch box that had an alarm in it, in case someone tried to steal her lunch.

Looking back, Humbrecht realizes the process of making that lunch

box was a lot like the engineering work she does today.

“I was doing a lot of those things that people do who tend to head into engineering professionally,” Humbrecht said. “If you like to learn about how things work, you spend a lot of time doing that, whether you know it or not.”

Humbrecht, a senior engineering fundamentals major, will move to Washington, D.C., for a job after graduation. Due to the nature of the position, Humbrecht cannot disclose where she will be working.

During her time at Temple, Humbrecht was heavily involved in HootaThon, an annual 12-hour dance marathon that raises money for the Child Life Services depart-

ENGINEERING | PAGE 12

Months after Ben Thomas produced the song “Insecure” with hip-hop artists Jazmine Sullivan and Bryson Tiller, he was shocked to discover that HBO planned to use his creation in the July 2017 premiere of its comedy series, “Insecure.”

The song would be played during a couple episodes of season two of “Insecure,” which follows the lives of two Black women who are best friends living in Los Angeles. The show stars Issa Rae, who is also the writer and creator, and Yvonne Orji.

The song also ended up on the show’s soundtrack.

Thomas, the song’s audio engineer, had all but forgotten about his work on the song when he found out it was being used on the show.

“You do your work and move on with the

song,” said Thomas, a senior entrepreneurship and innovation management major. “We’re not that connected in what happens to [songs] after our part is done. I heard it, and then proceeded to completely freak all the way out.”

As an audio engineer, Thomas handles the technical aspects of producing a song like using auto-tune, mixing synthetic sounds into a song and piecing parts of a song together.

Thomas’s first foray into the music industry involved making a “really bad mixtape” with a friend in ninth grade. Two years later, he went to GRAMMY Camp, a music industry camp in Los Angeles for high schoolers run by the Recording Academy, which puts on the GRAMMY Awards.

After attending the camp, Thomas returned to his Germantown home eager to pursue a career in audio engineering. He set up a studio in his mother’s basement.

Now, Thomas works as the lead audio engineer for Studio Breed, a recording studio on 7th Street near Callowhill, and RECPhilly, a startup music company that provides member musicians with access to creative resources like recording

HIP-HOP | PAGE 12

HANNAH BURNS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Ben Thomas, a senior entrepreneurship and innovation management major, works on freelance audio engineering work in his home studio on Park Avenue near York Street on April 25.

ART | PAGE 12

SPORTS | PAGE 13

LIVE IN PHILLY | PAGE 14

YEAR IN PHOTOS | PAGES 20-21

Autumn Wallace, a senior ceramics and painting major, will start an apprenticeship this summer with a Philadelphia artist.

A senior sport and recreation management major will begin an internship in MLB’s youth program this summer.

The Philadelphia Beard Festival returned for the second year to The Schmidt’s Commons in Northern Liberties on Sunday.

Take a look at the most compelling photos from The Temple News for the 2018-19 school year.

FEATURES TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 12

Painting, ceramics major to start apprenticeship Autumn Wallace wears unique clothing to complement her exhibits at the Tyler School of Art.

BY MAUREEN IPLENSKI For The Temple News

Autumn Wallace, a senior ceramics and painting major from Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, is well known in the Tyler School of Art for the decorative outfits she wears when showcasing her artwork.

For her senior thesis show, “Single with Pets,” which was shown at the Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, Wallace displayed paintings and sculptures of deformed beings, some of which were halfanimal, half-human creatures.

While presenting her work, Wallace wore a straight, dusty, rose-colored hairstyle with a Lolita-inspired dress.

“I liked the Lolita dress because it was a non-sequitur,” Wallace said. “The dress connects to the punchline of my work: the let down. Oftentimes, when my audience attempts to interpret the meaning of my pieces, they are let down because the descriptions only share limited information. I like when viewers can create their own meaning, one that is purely unique to them.”

Wallace’s fashionable attire gained the attention of her peers and professors, and her paintings and sculptures piqued the interest of Philadelphia artists.

This summer, Wallace will work as an apprentice for Philadelphia-based pottery artist Roberto Lugo.

Lugo is known for incorporating themes of poverty, social inequality and racial injustice into his pieces.

Similar to Lugo, Wallace uses

her artwork as a means to address social change.

Illustrating individuals as large, curvy beings with slightly distorted features, Wallace aims for her portrayal to encourage viewers to see beauty in the imperfect.

“She paints people who aren’t ashamed of being who they are,” said Jackie Rosenzweig, a senior painting and education major. “[Her subjects] do the things they do and act the way they act without worrying about other people’s judgments.”

Rosenzweig and Wallace have been close friends since they met at their freshman orientation four years ago. Since then, the pair has supported each other throughout their artistic endeavors.

In the past, the two shared a sketchbook. By exchanging it, Rosenzweig and Wallace were able to consistently add to each other’s illustrations.

“Although\ our artwork is really different, it complements each other,” Rosenzweig said.

“Every year I look at her work, and I see how amazing it is...and every year I wonder how it could get better,” Rosenzweig added.

“But I know it is going to continue to improve, which is crazy to think about.”

Wallace plans to continue strengthening her painting and ceramics skills while working at Lugo’s studio this coming summer.

“I’m planning on building a body of functional work to sell at different craft venues throughout the city,” Wallace said. “I’m also trying to build my portfolio up, so I can apply to master’s school with a ton of new material.”

In the last four years, Wallace has developed her knowledge of the arts and established community-wide connections by working

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 ENGINEERING ment of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Soon after coming to Temple, she became a part of the organization. She had been involved in planning two successful Mini-THONs, which are high school dance marathons organized by Penn State University, at her high school in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

“I...loved it, had a great time, found where I want to be, my niche,” Humbrecht said. “I was like, ‘This this is where I want to go.’”

Humbrecht joined HootaThon’s finance committee her sophomore year, helping with fundraising. The following year, she became the director of dance marathon operations, for which she planned the 12-hour event with more than 1,000 participants.

She was this year’s senior director of operations. Humbrecht was in charge of logistics and overseeing other directors. She is most proud of moving the dance marathon to the spring semester, instead of having it during the fall like it has been in past years.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 HIP-HOP equipment, merchandise and public relations services.

“A lot of time, I’m the last person in the line of people who write [a song] and make the beats,” Thomas said. “Helping people realize their vision and its fullest potential is definitely my favorite part.”

Thomas has worked with major hip-hop artists like Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Dicky and Brian McKnight. He said big-name artists are often fast-paced and highly skilled, but the work he does is no different from working with local artists.

“It doesn’t matter who’s standing at the microphone, I still press command-space bar to start recording,” Thomas said. “They’re being vulnerable to you. They’re opening themselves and their art

features@temple-news.com

at Blick Art Materials on Chestnut Street near 13th.

Working at Blick, Wallace said she enjoys some perks, like discounts on art supplies and flexibility with her schedule as a student.

She also said the store helped her build a name for herself as a student artist.

Last summer, Wallace was accepted into the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art in Connecticut.

During this time, Wallace created several art pieces under the supervision of Yale professors.

Most recently, Wallace received a Creative Arts, Research and Scholarship Grant to study at the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Titled “The Origins of Respect[ability],” her research paper focused on themes of queerness and femininity, specifically within the Black community.

Last month, Wallace presented her research to students and faculty at the Temple Undergraduate Research Forum and Creative Works Symposium (TURF-CreWS).

“I want people with vastly differing or stagnating viewpoints to discuss taboo topics by proxy,” Wallace said. “Not a proxy as in a full, metaphorical discussion where the subject is avoided, but a certain proxy that inspires conversations outside of one’s comfort zone.”

Wallace said she has not personally experienced discrimination based on her appearance or sexuality. Still, she feels inspired by those who identify as queer.

“I noticed that in more homogeneous situations, the margin of stigma would be significantly higher somehow,” Wallace said. “I wanted to see how and why these

It was also during her time with the student organization that the dance marathon’s venue moved from Mitten Hall to the Liacouras Center.

“It’s been super fun,” Humbrecht said.

“It’s definitely a reason why I think I’ve gotten the jobs, the co-ops I’ve gotten, is because I’ve developed so many skills through [HootaThon] and had to intervene in so many weird professional situations you don’t hit while you’re in college.”

She added that she wants to change the perception that engineers aren’t personable.

“I think engineers typically get a rap that like...we’re not good public speakers or communicators, but if you’re making sure you’ve engaged in those things, there’s no reason you couldn’t be good at those things,” she said.

Apart from HootaThon, Humbrecht was involved in other activities on and off campus. She tutored student-athletes at the university’s Resnick Academic Support Center in math, chemistry, physics and sometimes engineering.

She said it was rewarding to watch the students she tutored start to understand the

up to you, so they just want you to treat them like a regular person.”

Last year, Thomas created music for the Class of 2017 Commencement anthem, “Soar Time.”

He used to work as a campus ambassador for GrammyU, which connects college students with music industry resources and professionals. He also co-founded his own record label, nicethingsMUSIC, with West Philadelphia rapper Chill Moody.

Thomas said the two started their own company in 2015 after they realized too many local artists were leaving Philadelphia to access the distribution and development resources they needed to start their careers.

“While we had A-level talent, we had C- and D-level industry,” Thomas said. “We wanted to make it so you didn’t have to leave here to achieve your dreams.”

JAMIE COTTRELL / THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior painting and ceramics major Autumn Wallace works in her studio in the Tyler School of Art on April 26.

types of criticisms were so present in certain communities and what the reactions should or could be versus what they have been.”

As graduation approaches, Wallace said she is excited for her future art career.

Currently, Wallace is waiting to hear back from multiple artist residencies, including the Ox-Bow School of Art, the Clay Art Center

coursework.

“It’s fun to watch someone who doesn’t understand a whole lot, and then they get to a certain level they’re like, ‘Holy cow, I know all of this now,’” she said. “It’s fun to see that progression with a person.”

She left the center last year after she started a co-op at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in its Office of Safety and Medical Operations, which was a more professional workspace relating to her major and took more of her time.

Humbrecht completed an internship at Abington Hospital — Jefferson Health the summer after her freshman year, working on patient variances in length of stay using a concept called Lean Six Sigma, an improvement methodology in engineering. She said this is a concept that many students don’t learn about until later in their careers or during MBA programs.

By the end of this semester, Humbrecht will be certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt, a form of certification for doctors and engineers who have been working professionally with Lean Six Sigma for a minimum of three years. MaryAnn Thackrah, a senior psychol-

Chill Moody, who met Thomas at a Recording Academy event at Hard Rock Cafe, said the most impressive thing about Thomas is his versatility.

“I’ve seen him record full string sets of a full orchestra, and I’ve seen him do live sound at an event, to recording some of the most hardcore gangster rap I’ve heard,” Chill Moody said. “He fits right in, and he’s himself in all of those situations.”

Timothy Welbeck, an adjunct instructor in the Africology and African American studies department, taught Thomas in his HipHop and Black Culture course this semester. He said people can tell Thomas is passionate about making music.

“When he talks about music, he becomes animated, he speaks with a level of knowledge that demonstrates a level of expertise that’s

and the Vermont Studio Center.

Within the next few years, Wallace plans to start an MFA program.

“I’m excited to see what the future holds,” Wallace said. “Creating art is what I love doing, and I’m going to continue doing it regardless of the criticism that I get. I want it to be my life.” maureen.iplenski@temple.edu

ogy major, has known Humbrecht since their freshman year, and they have worked together on HootaThon since sophomore year.

“Nichole is like the mom of most people’s friend groups that she encounters,” Thackrah said. “I think she’s the epitome of a steady hand.”

“She’s definitely passionate about the cause and 100 percent dedicated,” Thackrah added. “She always says she had a very nice and very privileged childhood, and to be able to give back is such a privilege in and of itself.”

Humbrecht said she’s always been a jack of all trades, getting involved in many different things at once and trying to excel at all of them.

“Getting that involved is one of the best ways to find so many communities within Temple, you know, get to know people and get to build a wide diverse friend group,” Humbrecht said. ayooluwa.ariyo@temple.edu

well beyond his years,” Welbeck said. “He also has a level of passion and enthusiasm for the preservation of originality and quality of music.”

Welbeck added that he hopes to see Thomas teach other aspiring producers and audio engineers about the industry in the future.

Chill Moody said he has already seen Thomas use his industry experience to guide others.

In April, Chill Moody and Thomas were at a filming of an episode of “The Vibe” — TUTV’s hip-hop culture and music TV show — on campus. They overheard a freshman saying he wanted to leave Temple to attend Full Sail University in Florida, which caters to students pursuing entertainment, media, arts and technology.

Thomas pulled the student aside and explained why working in the music industry out-

weighs learning about music in a classroom. He told the student he thought Temple was a better option because of the networking opportunities and on-the-job experience available.

“By the end, he had changed that guy’s whole outlook on life,” Chill Moody said.

After graduation, Thomas plans to keep working as a freelancer in the music industry in Philly. One day, he hopes to win a Grammy.

“The fact I can say I want to win a Grammy and it doesn’t feel like some far-fetched, stretched goal that will never happen, and I can see the steps that need to be taken to achieve it, that is amazing,” Thomas said. laura.smythe@temple.edu @lcs_smythe

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

FEATURES TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 13

Student dreams to bring inclusion to the NFL This summer, senior Nikki Green will begin an internship in the MLB’s youth program.

BY SYLVAIN BATUT For The Temple News

At 12 years old, Nikki Green wanted to be the first woman to coach in the NFL. She was always a passionate athlete as a child and said she loves the way sports connect people.

“Sport is a universal language,” she said. “You can always find common ground with someone, even if you’re fighting with them.”

She played softball and basketball while growing up, and also managed her high school football team in Montclair, New Jersey.

The team won back-to-back championships during that time.

Ten years later as a senior sport and recreation management major, she wants to one day work to bring inclusion for people with disabilities to the NFL. This summer, Green will intern for a year with the MLB’s youth program in New York City.

The youth program includes several initiatives that bring younger fans to games and offers social support, like after-school tutoring.

For her, working with the youth program relates to her own obstacles as a child. When Green was in the fourth grade, she was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability that can cause difficulties in reading, writing and pronouncing words.

“I had no idea how to overcome it,” Green said. “I was lucky

in fifth grade to have a teacher who was doing a master’s in specialized education with a focus on dyslexia, and she helped a lot.”

As a career goal, Green ultimately wants to bring diversity to the NFL because football is her favorite sport.

While other leagues like the NBA promote international diversity, the MLB is the only one to have a department dedicated to inclusion and social responsibility.

This department ensures that the MLB addresses issues like LGBTQ discrimination or bullying of any form.

“MLB has taken a proactive stance in adding more diversity and inclusion initiatives to their hiring practices,” Green said. “The NFL has not made these kinds of strides and does not have a diversity and inclusion director on their team as of yet.”

Green said she hopes to one day oversee the creation of such a department in the NFL. “The MLB has a lot of internal inclusion, and the NFL has no one from the headquarters taking the same type of initiatives,” Green said. “My goal is to do it for the NFL.” Green encountered challenges with her disability first hand. While in high school, she decided to work harder, even though she faced difficulties while learning.

“One day I woke up and took the initiative,” Green said. “I realized I had to change it. In my junior year of high school, I...did not take a lunch so I could fix my GPA. This was really hard.”

Since then, Green never

earned anything short of an A in her classes. But she also credits the support of professors and staff in the Disabilities Resources and Services office.

Among the jobs she had while studying at Temple, Green worked for Temple football as the student equipment manager. She worked 80 hours per week including her job with the football team, classes and homework.

Green said she was thankful for the help she’s received from her teachers in her time at Temple.

“I just had really great teachers since I’ve been at TU,” Green said. “They were really supportive. I wouldn’t be where I am as a woman without them, being able to take full advantage of my opportunities.”

Green also received support from DRS through the Charlotte W. Newcombe Scholarship, which is awarded to students with disabilities who have documented financial need.

Vanessa Dash, the student services coordinator at DRS, met Green when she came to the department to seek resources for her learning disability.

“She’s her own biggest self-advocate,” Dash said. “She stands out with how she’s driven, and she motivates herself despite how life can be rough sometimes.”

Green spent this semester interning with USA Football, the governing body for amateur American football, in Indianapolis.

USA Football holds youth football camps across the country.

For Green, this was a step toward her goal of bringing more di-

MAGGIE LOESCH / THE TEMPLE NEWS Nikki Green, a senior sport and recreation management major, will start an internship with the MLB’s youth program in New York City this summer.

versity and inclusion to sports.

At USA Football, Green created youth and high school football online education courses, wrote posts for the organization’s coaching blog and assisted in implementing a learning management system that USA Football will use next year.

For the education courses, Green helped design a curriculum on USA Football’s website to ensure young players are taught safety skills, like how to properly tackle.

“During my time at USA Football, I learned a lot about the battle to make the game of football more safe from the youth to the professional level through safe tackling and better coaching,” Green wrote in an email. “It was a great experience that gave me a full perspective

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 FOX

GENEVA HEFFERNAN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior biochemistry major Ralph St. Luce works in the zebrafish lab in Temple’s Biology and Life Sciences Building on April 27.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 SCIENCE Only after coming to Temple did St. Luce realize he could combine his love of science, medicine and business.

“I just gravitate toward it,” St. Luce said. “I like health care entrepreneurship and innovation. … But it wasn’t until I started my research here at Temple when everything just clicked.”

At the height of the spring semester, St. Luce spent 10 to 12 hours in the lab a week studying a protein coding gene, TBX20, in the developing hearts of zebrafish. The gene is one of several that students are studying to determine what exactly controls the heart’s ability to regenerate.

“It’s almost a similar process of if you get stabbed and it heals,” St. Luce said.

“You can’t cut the heart in such a way that it stops circulating blood, but if you cut a piece, it will regenerate.”

“We want to apply this research to human biology one day,” he added. “Although zebrafish look very different from humans, a lot of the internal processes are similar.”

St. Luce has worked in Balciunas’ lab since Spring 2016.

“Ralph is a brilliant student,” Balciunas said. “He’s really focused and has done a fantastic job.”

On his days off from lab work, St. Luce has volunteered as an EMT for Temple University Emergency Medical Services, a student-run emergency response group.

“It’s exciting,” St. Luce said. “The

police lights are all around, people are watching you to see what you’re going to do. Obviously the goal was to make sure the patient is OK…but it’s an adrenaline rush.”

After graduating with a distinction in research and magna cum laude honors, St. Luce will spend his summer conducting heart research at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also will enroll this fall to begin an MD and MBA dual-degree program.

“I’m so happy,” St. Luce said. “I remember staying up long nights studying.

It’s nice to have recognition that after all that hard work, it pays off.”

Later on in his career, he hopes to return to Africa and apply his medical knowledge and entrepreneurship to open health care facilities there.

“I lived there for too long and got too close to not go back,” St. Luce said. “It’s an obligation in some way or another. When people go [to Africa] for a week they say, ‘Help the people,’ but that’s a very downward view on the continent. When you live there, it’s a different experience.”

St. Luce feels some visitors to Africa impose a “colonial” mindset on African nations. His desire to return however, comes from his love for the continent.

“I want to go back and be involved in health care in some capacity,” he added.

“I’m not a savior, but I’ll try my best to help those who need it.” veronica.elizabeth.thomas@temple.edu

that management position.”

During Naima’s time at Temple, she’s worked on the executive board of two student groups, The Muslimah Project — an organization that advocates for empowerment of Muslim women, while raising awareness about stereotypes they face — and the United Muslim Relief Organization, which provides aid and relief to alleviate global humanitarian issues.

In January, Naima also participated in a 10-day business immersion program in Vietnam with the Fox School of Business.

During her trip, she visited multiple companies and got to experience Vietnamese culture.

The Muslimah Project is no longer active, but the UMR, which is a chapter of the national nonprofit humanitarian organization, works to provide students with opportunities to serve the community.

This year, UMR made cards for Eid, an Islamic holiday, and gave them to the Nationalities Service Center, a refugee center in Philadelphia that then distributed them to Muslim refugees.

“I joined the two orgs because both orgs allowed me to help others, but in different ways,” Naima said. “The Muslimah Project allowed me to empower other women through discussions and workshops, while United Muslim Relief allowed me to provide assistance to those less fortunate in the community and around the world through various awareness events and drives.”

In her four years at Temple, Naima said she’s glad to have dedicated time to charity work in Philadelphia. She thinks it’s important for every student to give back to their community.

“As Temple students, we are a part of this community, so we have the responsibility to give back to the community that were taking from,” Naima said. “The people serving or working in the stores are providing services to us, you know they are giving to us, and they’re helping us have this experience in college. So I think in that sense, we have the same responsibility.”

Bertrand Guillotin, a strategic management professor who taught Naima in two capstone courses, said he thinks Naima’s humility and work ethic will set her apart from others in her future career.

“She will lead by example,” Guillotin said. “Being humble, hardworking, open-

on what the NFL is looking to do to protect the game and the amazing initiatives and strategies USA Football has in place.”

In her role with the MLB’s youth program, Green will tackle the league’s problem with aging fans. Its youth program works to bring young fans to the league through the combined initiatives of the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program and the youth academies of nine MLB franchises, including the Philadelphia Phillies.

These youth academies help kids through after-school tutoring.

“Sports gave me a greater purpose and something to work toward even when it felt impossible,” Green said. sylvain.batut@temple.edu @sylvain31000

minded, all those attributes when you put them together, I think she will be a standout employee at JPMorgan.”

Naima found that the Center for Student Professional Development in Fox assisted her while she was searching for internships and building her resume.

She also worked in the dean’s office in Fox since her freshman year. This helped her develop career-related skills like writing professional emails and using Excel.

Guillotin and Anthony Seeton, another strategic management professor, influenced Naima during her time at Temple, she said.

Seeton taught Naima in the Fundamentals of International Business class, which helped her gain more understanding of the international business major. Guillotin taught Naima’s Global Entrepreneurship and International Business capstones.

For the International Business capstone, students worked for 10 weeks with a local company to address its current challenges.

Students may help with attempts to enter new markets or improve the company’s presence in the current market.

Naima worked with a skin care product company called Lindi Skin. The company wanted to expand internationally, so she worked as their consultant, helping them decide where to expand and with whom to partner, as well as the company’s budget.

“It’s really intense, it’s really challenging, but again, Jannatul stood out by being ready, being positive, working well with her classmates, and she had great results,” Guillotin said. “The client was very happy.”

Guillotin found Naima’s positivity and preparedness for class helped her stand out.

“Naima always has what I call some intellectual curiosity, that leads to great questions,” Guillotin said. “She has done a lot of group work in those two classes, and she has also shown some entrepreneurial spirit.”

Naima is looking forward to applying her international education experience and the knowledge she gained at Fox to the rotational program at JPMorgan Chase. She also hopes to continue to learn about different countries through their economies and cultures.

“I feel like every culture has something to teach you,” Naima said. “I think international business gave me that good balance between understanding a country through its economy and also its culture.” emma.padner@temple.edu

features@temple-news.com

FEATURES TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 14

JAMIE COTTRELL & MIKE NGUYEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

The Schmidt’s Commons hosts beard festival The Philadelphia Beard Festival returned for the second year to The Schmidt’s Commons in Northern Liberties on Sunday.

Sponsored by Wahl, a hair clipper corporation, the event featured craft beers, whiskey tastings, an “epic beard contest,” beard grooming and chocolate chip cookie cups. Some guests, like Justin Duvall from Harford County, Maryland, traveled across state lines to attend the festival. Duvall and his 8-month-old daughter Lillian attended the event with other members of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Bearded Villains, an international group of bearded men who do charity work for organizations like the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Others, like Kylie and Nick Garrety from Media, Pennsylvania, attended the event out of curiosity.

“We both love beards,” Kylie Garrety said. “It’s funny because we rate beards when we go out.”

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ALUMNI WEEKEND: WHAT 2018 GRADS NEED TO KNOW

The Temple University Alumni Association has several events planned for Class of 2018 graduates.

BY KEVIN REEDER

For The Temple News

For May 2018 graduates, finishing final exams and walking across the stage to receive their diploma in the same week can be a trying time, but also exciting.

Dana Synoski, a senior strategic communication major, said this bittersweet feeling is largely due to how many positive memories she has made while at Temple.

“The university has given me a lot over the years,” Synoski said. “So I think it’s important to now be able to give back and stay involved as I start my career.”

For those of you who can relate to Synoski, the Temple University Alumni Association can help you stay connected to your inner-Owl post graduation, starting as soon as this month.

TUAA has a long list of events lined up for graduating seniors at their annual Alumni Weekend. Each year, the organization hosts an event-packed few days in hopes of introducing recent graduates to the exciting things they can accomplish as young alumni.

This year, Alumni Weekend kicks off on May 18 and continues through May 20. Throughout the five-day celebration, events like Temple Made Happy Hour and Morning Mimosas with Marquis bring new and old alumni together.

The fan-favorite of Alumni Weekend is Dîner en Cherry, based off of the European Dîner en Blanc. The fourth annual Dîner en Cherry is a giant pop-up party for Temple graduates offering food and drinks. The Alumni Association hosts the party on Main Campus every year, but never reveals the location until the night of the event.

Dîner en Cherry attendees arrive dressed in cherry and white colors and meet at a specified location on campus

to experience the reveal of the party’s location, each year following a different theme. Once the location is presented, the attendees walk to the event together, meeting other young alumni and professionals during the night for drinks and music.

Dîner en Cherry is scheduled for May 19 at 6:30 p.m. Discounted tickets are available for young alumni and the Alumni Association recommends registering online before the event at alumni.temple. edu to reserve their spot before the event sells out. General admission tickets are sold for $45, but 2018 graduates can purchase their tickets for $20.

Temple Made Happy Hour, a night out at one of Philadelphia’s most popular pizza restaurants Porta on Chestnut Street near 12th, includes pizza, craft cocktails, beer and wine. The event takes place on May 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Alumni are also invited to join their peers at HipCityVeg on 18th Street near Sansom on May 19 at 8:30 a.m. for “Morning Mimosas with Marquis.” The inaugural “Temple Made Me” event is hosted by Nicole Marquis, a 2005 communication studies alumna and owner of HipCityVeg, and bars like Charlie was a sinner. and Bar Bombón.

So instead of feeling heavy hearted as you leave campus, stay involved! Synoski, who is graduating in a mere few days, advises all 2018 graduates to “keep involved with the university no matter where your career takes you,” as she realizes the importance of staying active in the Temple community.

All 2018 graduates are encouraged to participate in Alumni Weekend as their journey officially begins as Temple alumni. Register for Alumni Weekend and use #AW18 to celebrate your accomplishments and connect with fellow Owls for the first of many revisits to Temple after graduation day. kevinreeder7@temple.edu

PHOTOS COURTESY / TEMPLE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

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Congratulations, Sydney!

We’re so proud of you and your accomplishments.

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AYANNA ONAJE SHÉRIA MCMILLA Klein College With all that we’ve done wrong, we must have done something right To deserve your hugs in the morning and butterfly kisses at night We’re so proud of you Mom & Dad What a beautiful flower you’ve become

FIONA MCCANNEY Klein College Summa cum laude

Congratulations, Fiona! Best of luck.

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MATTHEW TREMBLAY Fox School You’ve worked so very hard for this day. Proud of you, as I always am.

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MICHAELA WINBERG Klein College On 3rd-grade parents’ night, her teacher told us, “Michaela is the best reader in the class and the kindest person.”

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JOANNA FITZMORRIS Tyler School of Art & Honors College Congratulations! Now use your talents to make the world a better place.

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MARY MCFARLAND Temple University ’18

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With love, from your family

Congratulations on your graduation – we are so proud of you.

Mom, Dad, Kelly & Katelyn

NIA MÄATI BECKETT College of Public Health

OWEN J. MCCUE Klein College

RACHEL AMELIA PORTER

Congratulations on a job well done. We are so proud of you!

Love always, Mom & Dad

Awesome job, Owen!

Keep writing! Love, Mom, Dad, Casey & JJ

Always shoot for the stars #writergirl. We love you, Mom & Dad

SABRINA NOEL HARRIS Temple University ’18

NICK WOHLSCHLEGEL College of Liberal Arts

CONGRATULATIONS, TREY WESTPHAL!

Congratulations, graduate! We are so excited for you. The day of your dreams has finally arrived. It was never easy, but you did it. We are so proud of you.

Love, your family in L.A.

We can’t wait for your next success.

Love, Mom + Dad

Fox School ’18

Fox School

Klein College

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PAGE 23

KAYLA ROSE YUSKOSKI College of Science and Technology

Best of luck to the best big sister ever!

Congratulations!

Love, Alayna & Sophia

TYLER GENE IVY

TFMA

I am so proud of you! Know that I am your biggest fan and I will always be there for you! Congratulations!

Love, Mom

Congratulations, Ty! On to amazing things.

Love, your VERY proud family

CARMEN PRATICO Temple University ’18

JOHN C. KUMPF Fox School

JOSHUA WEST Klein College

You’vecome a long way!

We are so proud.

Love, Mom & Gregory Jr.

You’vecome a long way!

We are so proud.

Love, Mom & Gregory Jr.

Joshua, We’ve watched you grow from a sweet kid that loved Calvin & Hobbes to an amazing, talented young man.

We are so proud of you. Love, Mom, Jordan, Grandmom + Aunt Sharon

KIANA NOELLE MANN Temple University ‘18

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2018!

FROM, THE TEMPLE NEWS STAFF Kiana, your future looks bright from every viewpoint.

Congratulations on your graduation. Love Fam Squad

SPORTS TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 24 CLUB SPORTS

Two frisbee club members to play on local pro team Brandon Lamberty and Igor Smola made the Philadelphia Phoenix at a tryout in December.

BY JONATHAN MICHALSKI For The Temple News

Brandon Lamberty and Igor Smola are the most recent Temple players to join the Philadelphia Phoenix ultimate frisbee team.

Since 2012, the Philadelphia Phoenix have played professionally in the American Ultimate Disc League, which has four divisions of 23 total teams in the United States and Canada. Zack Eskin and Steve Ng, who both graduated in 2013, 2014 alumnus Elliott Lamborn and 2016 alumnus Sam Peezick are former members of the Phoenix. This year, Temple coach Himalaya Mehta was named a captain of the Phoenix during his first season as a member.

Lamberty, a sophomore political science major, and Smola, a senior mechanical engineering major, practiced for Temple on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-10 p.m.

During the Owls season, which ended in late April, they also practiced for the Phoenix on Wednesdays. They joined the Phoenix after open tryouts in December.

“I think it’s a different mindset,” Lamberty said. “The frisbee is still frisbee, but there’s people around and there’s volunteering at events and helping people out so that we can get our name out there.”

This summer, Lamberty and Smola will play home games for the Phoenix at A.A. Garthwaite Stadium in downtown Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and travel to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Ontario, New York and Washington, D.C. Smola is most excited to compete against Darryl Stanley, who coached the Philadelphia Spinners in the now-defunct Major League Ultimate in 2016 and now coaches

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 RECRUITING scorer with four goals. Grasela ranked fourth with three goals and Fula Luzolo tied for fifth with two.

Rowland has already started to find recruits who may be able to fill some gaps.

Temple has two incoming freshmen — Virak Nhek and Santiago Majewski — committed to play for the team next season, according to Top Drawer Soccer.

Majewski is a midfielder from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. He helped the Falcons start their season 10-0 and win a Southern California tournament.

Majewski said he visited Temple within the past few weeks, and the coaches told him they want the Owls to play possession-type soccer, which his club team uses. “[Senior midfielder] Hermann Doerner

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 ENECHIONYIA Shooting consistently became an issue for Enechionyia in the final two years of his career. In the first seven games of his junior season, Enechionyia averaged 21 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. He only scored 15 points or more six times during the rest of the season.

To start the 2017-18 season, Enechionyia received MVP honors at the Gildan Charleston Classic after Temple won the tournament against Clemson University on Nov. 19. He averaged 15.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during the three-game tournament.

But Enechionyia also had 16 games this season where he shot 25 percent or worse from 3-point range.

Junior guard Shizz Alston Jr. said teams began to guard Enechionyia differently by running him off the 3-point line.

Alston added that Enechionyia is also sometimes not selfish enough. Instead of being aggressive, Enechionyia looked to get Alston and sophomore guard Quinton Rose, Temple’s leading scorer, involved in the offense.

“Everything that is wrong can

sports@temple-news.com @TTN_Sports

the DC Breeze. Smola worked with Stanley at tryouts and clinics and is eager to cross paths with him when Philadelphia travels to face the Breeze on June 30.

“When I first started playing frisbee, he was a role model to me,” Smola said.

For both Smola and Lamberty, ultimate frisbee was originally something they did for fun, but it has now become a serious sport.

Smola started playing during his sophomore year to get back in shape after his freshman year, he said.

Since then, Mehta has noticed significant improvement in Smola’s game.

“He has really good closing speed and is a threat deep,” Mehta said. “He started playing only three years ago, and he was still growing into his body. He started doing things that I really liked. He’s one of the most selfish players in a good way, in that he wants to be the one that scores. He wants the frisbee.”

Lamberty began playing ultimate frisbee during his freshman year of high school as an alternative to playing soccer. The frisbee team at Stoughton High School in Wisconsin was in its first year when he saw a flyer and decided to join.

Lamberty has now been playing frisbee for six years, and Mehta thinks his experience makes him as valuable as some of Temple’s veterans.

The team voted Lamberty as a captain and club president for next season on Wednesday night.

“He came in as a freshman with a lot of experience already,” Mehta said. “His big calling card is that he has huge throws, he can bomb a backhand at least 80 yards and he’ll do it often. He has big creative throws, and he can make a lot happen on the field because of where he can place the frisbee.”

Smola has seen Temple improve since 2014, the team’s first year with a coach. The Owls advanced to the Ohio Valley regionals

is one of the players I’m very excited to play with,” Majewski said. “He seems like he’s very good on the ball and barely loses it.”

Nhek is a left back and center back from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was attracted to Temple because of the city and coaching staff.

“Temple’s outstanding academics and great athletic programs really speak for themselves,” Nhek said. “I was convinced that under the guidance of the coaches and staff, I would be able to succeed both on and off the field.”

Nhek, who has been playing soccer since age 6, plays for the PA Classics Academy, a club based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His coach, Steve Klein, helped him connect with Rowland and his assistant coaches Brian Grazier and Armante’ Marshall.

Rowland said he is impressed by Grazier and Marshall’s scouting ability.

be fixed,” Alston said. “That’s why I feel like he has a good opportunity to play professionally, because all of his issues can be fixed.”

Before he went to Las Vegas, Enechionyia participated in the Portsmouth Invitational, a fourday, 12-game tournament from April 11-14 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The tournament gives college seniors the opportunity to play in front of representatives from every NBA team.

Enechionyia averaged 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his three appearances. He shot 33 percent from the field, including 1-for-12 from 3-point range.

Enechionyia said that he had meetings with representatives from the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. The teams asked Enechionyia about his life and upbringing, he said.

“I know all of the teams that wanted to interview me know pretty much everything about me as they possibly can without meeting me in person,” Enechionyia said. “They all know how I play, how my game will translate to the next level. … So I knew that was coming.”

Enechionyia’s agent, Pedro

JAMIE COTTRELL / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sophomore Brandon Lamberty practices at the Temple Sports Complex on April 17. Lamberty is one of two athletes on the men’s ultimate frisbee team who also plays for the Philadelphia Phoenix, a professional team based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

in each of the past two years and have played high-ranked opponents like the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota, which are both in the top 10 of the USA Ultimate rankings.

Both Lamberty and Smola enjoy the competitions against local rival Villanova.

Temple and Villanova play together in the Eastern Pennsylvania section of USA Ultimate. Both teams have reached the sectional final in the last two seasons, with Villanova winning both matchups.

Lamberty and Smola played for Temple at a regional competition in Columbus, Ohio, on April 28 and 29 to end their college seasons. The team placed fifth, one spot behind Villanova.

“It’s a much more strategic game be-

cause we know [Villanova], and we know what they are gonna do,” Lamberty said. “We play with three of them on Phoenix, and a lot of us are friends. They are pretty good guys, so it’s cool to just really go at it with them.”

Lamberty and Smola will travel the country playing ultimate frisbee, but they still have to work to earn starting spots.

“Being on a pro team is cool, and it’s good recognition,” Lamberty said. “There’s a lot of guys who made the team, so it’s not like it’s the final step. There’s a lot more we can do to become the very best players.”

“I think both were very capable to come in right away and lend their experience in all areas, and both are very strong recruiters, which is something that set them apart,” Rowland said. “It was for making sure that we can start to really be a well-known group that recruits really well.”

In order to attract top talent, the coaching staff must be able to sell the team and school to recruits. Because he is new to Temple, Rowland is still learning about the university.

But he could immediately pitch the team to recruits by talking about his vision for the program and highlighting the competition that comes from playing in the American Athletic Conference, he said. Three teams from the league finished the 2017 season in the top 60 of the Ratings Percentage Index.

The new coaching staff hopes to continue pushing Rowland’s agenda. But it un-

derstands the constraints that come with the initial transition, like catching up to other programs in recruiting and having players adapt to a different style of play.

Still, Rowland is optimistic about next season and the players who will join the program.

“That’s our goal, to bring all that energy and excitement around this program and recruit really quality people,” Rowland said. “We’re really excited about some of the pieces that we’ve put into place and the direction that we’re headed, and we’re definitely looking forward to continue to grow the program.”

jonathan.michalski@temple.edu

maura.razanauskas@temple.edu @CaptainAMAURAca Evan Easterling contributed reporting.

SYDNEY SCHAEFER / THE TEMPLE NEWS Former forward Obi Enechionyia takes a jump shot during the Owls’ 75-72 overtime loss to Memphis on Jan. 13 at the Liacouras Center.

Power of YouFirst Sports, has several clients who play basketball overseas.

But Enechionyia isn’t considering playing internationally yet.

He has his eyes set on the NBA, even if that means fighting for a roster spot through the NBA Sum-

mer League.

Coach Fran Dunphy thinks a team would like the 6-foot-10 forward because of his ability to hit 3-pointers.

“The game has changed dramatically,” Dunphy said. “Very few teams are playing with power

forwards. They’re playing with stretch forwards, and that’s why there’s a number of teams who do have some great interest in him. So hopefully it will pan out for him.” thomas.ignudo@temple.edu @TomIgnudo

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

SPORTS TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018

PAGE 25

MEN’S SOCCER

Senior heads to grad school after all-AAC year Divin Fula Luzolo had two goals and three assists for Temple in 2017.

BY DONOVAN HUGEL

Track and Field Beat Reporter

One play former midfielder Divin Fula Luzolo made last season sticks out to his teammate and roommate, former midfielder Brendon Creed.

After former forward and midfielder Joonas Jokinen drew a foul during the Owls’ 3-1 win against the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Oct. 17, Fula Luzolo set up for a free kick.

“Before he took it, he looked at me and told me where he was going to place the ball,” Creed said. “He told me to just make sure I was there when the ball got there, and I ended up scoring.”

In his lone season at Temple in 2017, Fula Luzolo had two goals, three assists and started all 18 games. Fula Luzolo also earned American Athletic Conference first-team honors and made the Philadelphia Soccer Six AllStar Team.

Fula Luzolo, who is from Le Mans, France, spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons at Hawaii Pacific University, a Division II school in Honolulu.

“He instantly had a positive impact when he came over from Hawaii,” Creed said. “He had played at a pretty high level in France, so he brought a lot of experience with him, and it wasn’t hard for him to adapt. He’s a really technical and skillful player, and from the first day that he trained with us that was clear for us to see.”

In 2015, he started in 16 of his 17

KAIT MOORE / THE TEMPLE NEWS Former midfielder Divin Fula Luzolo recorded seven points and earned first-team American Athletic Conference honors during the 2017 season.

games at Hawaii Pacific and had three goals and two assists in 1,154 minutes.

He played 1,037 minutes in 2016.

After two seasons at Hawaii Pacific, Fula Luzolo decided to transfer.

“It’s no secret that I really wanted to play [Division I] soccer,” Fula Luzolo said. “That’s a dream that a lot of people in this world have. I also really wanted to be somewhere new and see something else, and the trip from Hawaii to France was really long, and I didn’t want to have to deal with that anymore.”

Even though Fula Luzolo came from a smaller school with less than 5,000 students, Creed said he had “quiet confidence” that really stood out on the team.

“It didn’t seem like he was nervous,” Creed said. “He was quiet at first, but that’s normal seeing that he was new to Temple and Philadelphia as a whole. He came in January and around early February once he got comfortable with everyone, he was a team favorite in the locker room.”

“He’s someone I felt comfortable around pretty quickly, and living with him has been a great time,” Creed added. “He has a lot of personality, and you’re never short on laughs when Divin’s around.”

After he leaves Temple, Fula Luzolo will attend the Université du Québec à Montréal, a graduate school in Canada, in Fall 2018 to study marketing. He will also try to play soccer for the university.

“Right now, I’m really focused on my academics, but after that, if I have the chance to play at a professional level either in the states or in Europe, then I’ll try to pursue it,” Fula Luzolo said. donovan.hugel@temple.edu

LACROSSE

Senior hopes to bring love of art to elementary classrooms Kaitlin Suzuki wants to teach carousel that holds my paints. And second graders and run a summer usually my desk is pick or choose, camp for kids when she is older. either school work or painting

BY JAY NEEMEYER

Lacrosse Beat Reporter

Kaitlin Suzuki has a full laundry basket, but she isn’t putting off washing her clothes. Instead, it is full of supplies for her hobby, which is painting.

Suzuki plans to graduate with a degree in early childhood elementary education in Fall 2018.

She hopes to use her artistic skills to customize supplies for her future students.

“My room is quite a mess,” said Suzuki, who played as a defender on the lacrosse team from 201518. “I have a shelf, and then this

supplies.”

When Suzuki graduates, she will be certified to teach kindergarten to fourth-grade students in traditional education and kindergarten to eighth-grade students in special education. Suzuki said her ideal job would be teaching second grade.

“I think second grade is kind of the perfect time,” Suzuki said.

“You’re getting up there in the world, and then you’re really starting to learn.”

Before she decided to study in the College of Education, Suzuki considered pursuing graphic design. In high school, she ran a small business customizing classmates’

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 ASCI ing off a season in which she recorded 504 kills, which is the third-highest single-season total in program history since 2008.

Asci said she underwent ACL surgery about a month after her injury and had an expected recovery period of six to nine months. Now, she’s at the six-month period of her recovery, and she expects to be fully recovered by the end of July.

Asci spent her freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before transferring to Temple. Asci earned American Athletic Conference first-team honors in each of her first two seasons at Temple.

In her volleyball career, Asci has 1,386 kills, 1,063 digs and 94 aces.

While she was injured, Asci missed Temple’s two matches in the National Invitation-

graphing calculators. She also made phone cases for herself and her father. Her favorite subjects to paint were animated characters, especially Winnie the Pooh.

In addition to calculators and cellphones, Suzuki has also painted furniture and headphones. She has used her artistic ability to give gifts to fellow Temple athletes.

Suzuki painted a portrait for volleyball graduate outside hitter Irem Asci last year.

The painting was a surprise for Asci, who now has it on her wall, Suzuki said.

“If it didn’t go well, I didn’t have to give it to her,” Suzuki said.

She didn’t have to worry. Asci commented “Best gift I’ve ever had!!!” on Suzuki’s Instagram post of the piece.

al Volleyball Championship in Morgantown, West Virginia. Temple beat Campbell University, 3-0, in the first round on Nov. 28 before it lost to West Virginia University, 3-0, in the second round on Nov. 29.

Though she didn’t play, Asci said she was more excited than sad, because it was the first time the team made it to the postseason in 15 years.

“I got to see how the postseason works,” Asci said. “Of course, it was hard to watch and not being able to do anything. I thought it was a really good experience for me to see it from the sideline. Hopefully, we’ll make it next year, so I’ll be able to play.”

Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said Asci’s experience will help the team, especially because it mostly features freshmen and sophomores.

Asci will be a graduate student alongside the Owls’ four seniors. The other seniors are

In Spring 2016, Suzuki painted the graduation cap for Rachel Hall, who played goalkeeper from 2012-15 for the lacrosse team. Hall graduated in 2015, but her mother had to accept her diploma on her behalf after she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a hit-and-run accident. Hall recovered and walked at graduation one year later with the class of 2016.

Suzuki painted the head of a shark, Hall’s favorite animal over an American flag motif and added the No. 16, which Hall wore during her career.

“It was nice to do something for someone, that it meant a lot,” Suzuki said. “It was really cool. She was the one who had all the ideas, so it was really easy to figure out the best design for it.”

defensive specialist and libero Mia Heirakuji, middle blocker Iva Deak, middle blocker Carla Guennewig and setter Hannah Vandegrift.

Temple will add five incoming freshmen — right side hitter Peyton Boyd, outside hitter Gem Grimshaw, middle blocker and right side hitter Xeryah Salanoa, setter Tyler Lindgren and outside hitter Miray Bolukbasi. The other four players on Temple’s roster are sophomores, including redshirt outside hitter Dana Westfield. Temple doesn’t have any juniors on its 2018 roster.

“It means a lot for us to have Irem back to provide leadership on the court and off the court,” Ganesharatnam said.

“She’s a big part of our offense,” Ganesharatnam added. “She’s a really good allaround player. She does a good job controlling the ball with the first touches. She does a really good job reading the play and playing

Suzuki is open to painting graduation caps for her teammates, but she said nobody has approached her about it yet this year.

When she becomes a teacher, Suzuki also wants to work with children during summers.

“One day, I’m going to open up my own summer camp for kids,” Suzuki said. “Sports would be a big thing, and then art, and I’d have a music person too.”

Suzuki would run the art aspect of the camp herself.

“I can’t wait to like bring that, and incorporate it into teaching,” she said. jay.neemeyer@temple.edu @neemeyer_j

some good defense.”

Asci will graduate this week with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. After she graduates, Asci will enroll in a master’s program at Temple for two years. Asci was accepted into a program that starts this summer for conducting research on Alzheimer’s Disease.

Asci said she is excited to have another year of NCAA eligibility to return to Temple.

“That process when we were waiting to see if I’ll be able to redshirt or not was stressful for me,” Asci said. “To able to know that I’ll be able to play again is pretty relieving.

I’m so happy that I’ll be with the team again for another year.” alex.mcginley@temple.edu @mcginley_alex

sports@temple-news.com @TTN_Sports