WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26, 2022 www.villanovan.com @thevillanovan
STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916
VOLUME 114 | ISSUE 2
Board Editorial: Campus Safety
As the Spring semester began this month, the lively spirit of community, friendship and comfort that characterizes Villanova culture was abundant as ever on campus. Students feel at home here, translating naturally to a sense of ease and safety on campus and in the surrounding community. However, several jarring events have taken place just in the first few weeks of the semester. It is clear that our campus community needs a wake-up call: be aware, be conscious of your surroundings and look out for those around you. As most students— and certainly most Quad residents—know, an unidentified, non-University affiliated man entered Sheehan and Sullivan halls the week before classes began, knocking on doors and talking to residents (many of whom were female students on campus early for Panhellenic sorority recruitment). The immediate reactions following the fateful intrusion ranged from disturbed to near-hysterical as rumors raged in hall group chats and on YikYak. More than anything, though, students were shocked that such an event could happen on Villanova’s campus. More events to shake students’ implicit sense of safety have continued to occur since that first week. From concerning reports of druggings at parties to reports of clowns chasing people outside of a Bryn Mawr 7-Eleven, we must increase awareness of our surroundings. With examples of threats on and off campus seemingly on the rise, we as students must shift our mindset and awareness. Students need to reexamine their habitual assumption of complete safety and be more alert and careful as a community to ensure the safety of each Continued on p. 7
University Community Members Sign Petition to Waive Booster Mandate
The University has mandated all students get the booster, but some parents disagree with the policy. Courtesy of Graydon Paul/Villanovan Photography
Sarah Sweeney Co-News Editor
A group of more than 400 members of the Villanova community, including parents and alumni, have signed a petition urging the University to implement a modification to the COVID-19 Booster Mandate, which would allow three groups of students to be exempted from the mandate. These three groups of students include students who’ve had the two mandated mRNA vaccines and a natural COVID-19 infection within the span of the last 12-24 months,
students who’ve been vaccinated and had a “breakthrough infection” over Christmas Break and students who can prove robust and protective COVID-19 immunity is present in their bodies through a serological exam. The petition is in response to the University’s COVID-19 booster requirement, which was announced via email on Jan. 7, and requires all students to submit proof of their booster by Jan. 30. Meg Kohlhepp, a medical doctor and surgeon and parent of a current senior, explained her initial reaction to the announcement.
“I was angry,” Kohlhepp said. “I think it’s an overreach for a university to be mandating a product that is not FDA approved. There are no peer-reviewed, double-lined studies finding that children in this age group will benefit from the booster. There’s actually a lot of new evidence coming out that says it’s harmful to these children.” The petition cites safety concerns surrounding the booster shot, citing “rising rate of heart injury to our young people, and particularly young men in the 18-25-year-old age group.” The petition takes issue with what authors
see as a “medically unnecessary third booster shot [that] could prove dangerous and irreparably harmful in such already well immune individuals.” “There is a huge uptick in cardiac issues,” Kohlhepp explained. “We’re seeing young healthy people that are coming down with arrhythmias, that are getting atrial fibrillation, that are getting more and more myocarditis.” Tina Rose, mother of a sophomore and a board-certified nurse practitioner for 35 years, also signed this petition, due to concerns over adverse health effects.
Continued on p. 2
Winona LaDuke Delivers MLK Keynote Chloe Miller
Co-Culture Editor A.J. Fezza
author of seven books, and two-time Vice President candidate with the Green Party, LaDuke brought a unique perspective to her lecture.
Introduced by Rev. Peter M. Donohue O.S.A, Ph.D, LaDuke lives on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota with her extended family
Co-Culture Editor Villanova has hosted a Keynote Speaker to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. day since 2012. This year, Harvard graduate Winona LaDuke came to speak virtually to Villanova students on January 18. A climate activist, an
Winona LaDuke spoke to Villanova students virtually on Jan. 18. Courtesy of The Speak Out Now Organization
who partakes in a land-based way of life. For her tribe, the land of northern Minnesota is not only home, but it is sacred. This made it all the more important for her to take a stand when the Line 3 oil pipeline system was planned to head straight through the region. Throughout 2020 and 2021, LaDuke led protests against Line 3. The major police presence at the protest sites disturbed LaDuke. She drew a comparison between her Continued on p. 8
Students Pen Petition for Renewable Energy on Campus p. 3
Mask Waste on Campus p. 4
Villanova Continues to Listen to Science p. 5
Climate Change: Six Degrees of Wishful Thinking p. 7
Gamme Phi Beta Comes to Villanova p. 8
Mister Wildcat Comic p. 9
Film Review: Netflix’s Don’t Look Up p. 11
Men’s Basketball Tops DePaul, 67-43 p. 13
Individuals Shine at Villanova Invitational p. 14
Men’s Swim Loses Third Straight p. 15