The Villanovan | Volume 114, Issue 17: October 5, 2022

Voter Registration is Not Enough

Chad Woerner Staff Writer

As the midterm elections approach on Nov. 8, campaigning is starting to enter high gear nationwide. All 435 seats in the house and 35 of 100 senators will be up for reelection, and the outcomes could have tremen dous consequences for the second half of President Joe Biden’s term.

Also accelerating are the calls by politicians from both sides of the aisle to vote. From the “I vot ed” stickers to the frequent urges from candidates, our election process is noisy with calls to simply vote. In the days leading up to the 2020 presidential election, a tweet by Biden simply saying “vote” garnered more than 370,000 likes, and before the 2016 election, Hillary Clin ton repeatedly sent similar messages on Twitter urging her supporters to vote. Before Ted Cruz was reelected as a Texas senator in 2018, he repeatedly pressured Texans to vote without urging them to first become familiarized with the candidates.

It is true that these requests by politicians are often targeted toward con stituents who are already supporters, but politicians are doing more naive voters a disservice by telling them to go vote instead of telling them that voters should of course be voting but also be educating themselves about the electoral process prior to the midterms.

While we should all strive for higher voter regis tration, advocating to vote in and of itself is missing the larger point of any demo cratic election: to elect the candidates that the voter be lieves are the most qualified and prepared to serve their constituents.

Merely urging others

Continued

Kelly’s Cracks Down on Fake IDs, Students Placed on “Tagged List”

Cate McCusker Senior Editor

Kendall Hayes Culture Columnist

Picture this. It’s 12:01 am on your 21st birthday. You make it to the front of the line at Kelly’s at the perfect time. With a wrinkled $5 bill in your hand and a cowboy hat on your head, you’re ready to finally be able to enjoy Coun try Tuesdays with your peers.

You hand your ID to the bouncer with a shaky hand, as you’re still getting used to the idea that what you’re doing is actually legal.

The machine blinks red. “Sorry, you’re banned,” the bouncer says. Wait….what?

With a new ID scanner in place at Kelly’s Taproom, Villanova’s famous watering hole, customers who used a fake ID in the past are now placed on a “tagged list” and are unable to enter the establishment, even if they’re now of legal drinking age.

Kelly’s is owned by the same people who run Flip and Bailey’s Bar and Grill, another famous Villanova bar. The University is known for having only a few bars in the area, and students often try to push their luck at these establishments before they are the legal drinking age and at tempt to enter with fake IDs.

This fall, the now-21 year old students who have visited Kel ly’s and Flip’s in the past are facing a problem they never thought they’d have again: the inability to enter a bar.

“We invested a lot of money in new scanners,” said Angie, owner of both Kelly’s and Flip’s, who asked that her last name not be used. “We’ve been dealing with (fake IDs) for many years, and it’s just gotten more significant. I have one (student) who pre sented eight different states.

It’s just very difficult when you’re receiving the same name but from a different state every other night.”

Angie explained that Kelly’s is constantly in fear of losing its liquor license, and

it’s doing its best to combat underage drinking.

“We’re always wor ried about losing it,” she said. “There’s so much liability out there. We want to be good to the community, we want to be good business owners, we want to be good operators. We implemented this because we’re tired of the fake IDs.”

“I’ve gone to Kelly’s twice this semester,” said a senior who wished to remain anonymous. “I wasn’t there for very long, and it wasn’t like I was belligerently drunk or anything.”

This senior turned 21 over the summer, but last year her fake ID was taken at Flip’s when she tried to get in at 20 years old.

Continued on p. 2

Campus Intruder Anthony Dimaio Banned

Lydia McFarlane Co-News Editor

In an email on Sun day, Oct. 3, Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police David Tedjeske informed stu dents of the arrest of Anthony Dimaio on the University’s campus on Friday, Sept. 30. Dimaio was issued a nontres pass order and is now banned from University property.

On Friday evening, Public Safety received a report from a student about a

Ethics

suspicious male walking in a courtyard of the Commons. The student did not believe the man to be a fellow student, and the student also noted that

A

Anders

the man was having difficulty walking, staying upright and maintaining his balance. The man was intercepted by Public Safety officers near the Per

Satire:

Men’s Tennis Competes

forming Arts Center. During this encounter, the man be came aggressive and combative and was then arrested by the Radnor Police for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and sev eral other offenses. The man was identified as the 43-yearold Dimaio from Bryn Mawr, PA. He was arraigned but released without having to post bail.

Public Safety officers recognized Dimaio as the individual from a report from students a few weeks ago.

Continued

Let’s

Women’s Tennis

Students

have to do community service in order to be unbanned.

Courtesy of Claire O’Halloran

Residents in the Commons are feeling unsettled following the community email. Olivia Pasquale/Villanovan Photography

RACHEL REINIGER SARAH SWEENEY SARAH WISNIEWSKI LYDIA McFARLANE

A.J. FEZZA ELENA ROUSE CHLOE MILLER MATTHEW RYAN MEGHANN MORHARDT MOLLY BAKER OLIVIA PASQUALE MICHAEL BRADLEY

PUBLIC SAFETY BLOTTER

Liquor Underage/ Public Drunkenness

September 24, KATHERINE HALL

One male resident student, under the age of 21, was found intoxicated in public, evaluated by VEMS, and released to a sober party.

Disorderly Conduct/ Public Drunkenness

September 24, SOUTH CAMPUS GROUNDS

An unaffiliated adult female was found to be intox icated in public and acting disorderly.

Liquor Underage/ Public Drunkenness

September 25, GOOD COUNSEL HALL

A male resident student, under the age of 21, was evaluated for alcohol intoxication and released.

Liquor Underage/ Public Drunkenness

September 25, GOOD COUNSEL HALL

A male resident student, under the age of 21, was evaluated for alcohol intoxication and released.

Liquor Underage/ Public Drunkenness

September 25, GOOD COUNSEL HALL

A female resident student, under the age of 21, was evaluated for alcohol intoxication.

Disorderly Conduct/ Criminal Trespass/ Public Drunkenness

September 25, MAIN CAMPUS GROUNDS

A male visitor appeared in public while intoxicated and displayed disorderly behavior after being con tacted about his presence in a campus residence hall.

Criminal Mischief

September 26, SULLIVAN HALL

An RA discovered damage to the four soap dis pensers in the men’s bathroom on the second floor in Sullivan Hall.

Disorderly Conduct

September 26, A-2 PAVILION REAR LOT

A male resident student acted in a disorderly man ner after receiving a parking citation.

Disorderly Conduct/ Carrying a Fake Identification Card/ Liquor Underage/ Public Drunkenness

September 29, LANCASTER PROPERTY GROUNDS

A male resident student, under the age of 21, was observed intoxicated in public while he engaged in disorderly behavior. The student was also found in possession of a counterfeit driver’ license.

CORRECTIONS

Factual

Kelly’s Cracks Down on Fake IDs

Cate McCusker Senior Editor

Kendall Hayes Culture Columnist

continued from p.1

“The third time I went, and I handed (the bouncer) my ID, and it scans, because I’m 21 years old,” she said. “Then the bouncer is like, ‘Sorry, no, you’re banned.’”

The senior questioned the bouncer, unaware of why she would be banned.

“He was like, ‘Have you ever had your fake ID taken?,’ and I was like, ‘Hmm, yeah, maybe,’” the senior said. “I asked the bouncer how I could get off the banned list, and he was, like, ‘That’s out of my paygrade. I don’t know.’”

This senior has yet to return to Kelly’s, and she was disappointed because she had hoped to visit the classic Villanova bar with her mother, who also went to Villanova, on Family Weekend.

“I was really disappointed, because, you know, Kelly’s is a coming of age for seniors,” she said. Howev er, she remains excited for the rest of the semester, remarking sarcastically, “There’s plenty of bars in the sea.”

Another senior who fell victim to this new policy was Grace. Instead of heading to one of the few other bars around Villanova, Grace emailed Kelly’s and asked how she could right her wrong. After weeks of waiting, Grace and other students in the same situation were invited to attend a meeting at Kelly’s.

“I met with the owners of Kelly’s recently with many other Vil lanova seniors in my same situation, and we were told that we must com plete some kind of community service for them,” Grace said. “We are al lowed in the establishment under the condition that we comply to whatever they ask of us.”

Another student who wished to remain anonymous also attended the meeting that Thursday, as her fake ID was taken at Kelly’s a week before her 21st birthday last April. She de scribed the meeting as “this weird mix between orientation and detention.”

“They set up a meeting for us

to discuss, and they talked about how their liquor license was at risk, and how they needed to crack down on everyone,” she said. “(The owner) was like, ‘I’m going to talk about myself and what Kelly’s is, and if you guys could go around and say your name, major, and where you’re from.’”

“Basically, all of the people that were there, there were maybe 15 of us, but if we want the ban to be lifted we have to agree to five shifts of ‘community service’ working the line at Kellys, making sure no one brings outside alcohol in, or throwing stuff in the bushes, or just behaving poorly outside of Kelly’s.”

“I haven’t done any of the shifts yet, but the ban has since been lifted because I agreed to do it,” she said and explained that these shifts must be completed between now and February. “If we don’t do it, the ban gets replaced, and we’re just, like, banned for life.”

“They said they were open to new suggestions, and I proposed com munity service around Bryn Mawr,” said another anonymous senior who attended the meeting. “I thought it would be a better idea to help out the community rather than helping out at the bar, but they kinda shut it down right away.”

The Villanovan was able to obtain a copy of the email sent by the Kelly’s owner after a student commit ted to doing this “community service.”

“Thank you for your patience and attending the meeting,” the email said. “We look forward to continuing the Kelly’s tradition and experience for future students and alumni. Your ban has been removed and I will reach out to you soon about possible dates.”

“That can’t be legal,” the senior student said, explaining her thoughts upon hearing of this new policy. “But I have no moral ground to stand on.”

Yet this actually…potential ly…may be legal.

Professor Todd Aagaard, a professor at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law, explained that Kelly’s can deny anyone entry based on any criteria they wanted to.

“They could just say every fifth person can’t come in, or every body wearing green can’t come in, and that’s entirely within their rights,”

Aagard said. “This is a private busi ness, and they’re running their busi ness on private property, so they can tell anybody they want that they can’t come in, subject to only anti-discrimi nation laws.”

Aagaard quickly clarified these laws.

“They can’t say you can’t come in because of your race, or you can’t come in because of your reli gion,” he said. “But frankly they could say you’re too tall. They can come up with any criteria they want as long as they’re not violating anti-discrimina tion laws.”

Now the potential required community service is where things get sticky.

Professor Ann Juliano, an other professor at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law, explained that some issues could arise regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The issue is if today Kelly’s is paying someone to do this, and now they’re making a student do it for free in order to get back into the bar, that’s the problem,” Juliano said. “If it’s something they’re otherwise not paying anyone to do, and they’re not going to, and they say you guys can go clean up the neighborhood, not just Kelly’s, then that would be more like actually community service organized by Kelly’s.”

“If they were generally clean ing the neighborhood, and Kelly’s was telling them to do that, that probably wouldn’t be unpaid labor,” she clarified. “If you’re subbing in the free labor for something you would

villanovan.eic@gmail.com

already pay someone to do, you’re in trouble.”

Kelly’s owner Angie explained that they haven’t decided what their plan is yet.

“We have talked about some suggestions, but it has not been decid ed,” she said. “It’s not been decided that people can right their wrong.

“It’s a case by case situation. There are some really good students that have come and been very apolo getic about it. They know what they did, and they were forthcoming with the apology. There are others that have not been so calm and protested and lied. It’s case by case. We want to make sure it’s something fair, but it’s also something that gets the message to the freshmen and sophomores, and some juniors. We’re kind of making this plan as we go. I have another round of students I’m going to be talking with in the next couple weeks, and from that we’re going to make a decision on how we’re going to move forward.”

Angie stressed that students need to understand the gravity of the situation.

“I mean they’re presenting an ID, allowing me to sell them a sub stance, and I could lose my license,” she said. “I don’t think anybody un derstands the liability that it exposes for small businesses. You lose a liquor license on a restaurant, and that’s your life, that’s your business.”

“We’re just trying to get the message out that it’s a serious issue,” she said. “Don’t ruin your senior year, wait until you’re 21.”

COLIN

Patrons

basketball

Villanova Community Shows Support for Iranian Women

Isabella Balian Staff Writer

Women in Iran are mourning the loss of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman beaten to death by the morality police after being arrested for improperly wearing a hijab.

The morality police are a group of men rigidly punishing wom en for not properly covering their hair or being modest enough for their stan dards. Amini was arrested and taken to a “re-education center,” which was allegedly in the back of a white van, for not abiding by the state’s hijab rules.

Her death has sparked mass protest and attention to gender inequality and gender-based violence in Iran by the oppressive regime that has been in power since 1979. More than 40 people have been killed, and the government has taken extremely violent measures by killing children, arresting women and shutting down the Internet.

Last Wednesday, passionate Villanova students held a rally in front of the Oreo in solidarity with the brave Iranian people fighting for change and mourning the death of those lost. Students held up signs with

the Iranian flag and photos to educate the Villanova community and spark conversation around the topic.

“The purpose of the event is to spread awareness of the injustices that Iranian women face by not hav ing the right to choose whether or not to cover their hair,” a Villanova stu dent said. “We also stand in solidarity with Iranian women as they bravely fight for their rights.’’

Protestors in Iran that wom en should have the right to choose whether or not to wear a hijab and fight against the enforcement of rules around that choice. Even before protests broke out, many women fled Iran due to the unfair rules surround ing wearing a hijab and restrictive laws toward women’s rights. Many Iranian women have also been re flecting on the bigger picture of the issue, realizing that it is not just about the wearing of hijabs, but the overall scope of women’s and basic human rights.

Since the protests broke out in Iran, a lot of Iranians are relying on the international community to spread the message online through social media platforms. The protest has united people of all social iden tities and classes, all coming together to protest for the fall of the regime. There are civilian women, students, children and many Iranians fighting

Campus Intruder

Lydia McFarlane Co-News Editor

continued

During the previous incident, Dimaio was inside of Bartley Hall during the day, acting erratically and trying to engage students in conversa tion.

“Like almost all colleges and universities, Villanova has an open campus and is subject to many of the same risks one would expect in the local community,” Tedjeske said in the email to students. “Students, faculty and staff should be aware of their surround ings and report suspicious behavior to Public Safety. In residence halls, do not prop exterior doors and do not allow strangers into your building.”

The email also included photos of Dimaio so students and staff alike can identify him and notify Public Safe ty if he is on campus again.

This incident follows one from the beginning of the semester, in which the South Campus intruder from last year was identified and awaiting trial. Forty-year-old Eugene Hammon broke into Good Counsel Hall on South Campus last October and was then arrested in May 2022 for loitering on South Campus.

With these events happening so close together, students may be feeling startled or upset. However, there is ac tion to take in the face of these types of situations, which Tedjeske told The Vil lanovan about when reached about the situation. He thanked students for their quick action, which assists Public Safety in handling these types of situations and offered resources for those who may feel unsafe in similar situations.

“In both situations with Mr. Dimaio, students did well by contact ing Public Safety to report his unusual behavior,” Tedjeske said. He then

Students are urged to contact Public Safety if they see Dimaio, pictured above, on campus at any time

Courtesy of David Tedjeske gave resources for students if another incident like the one on Friday evening occurs. “When students report things that don’t seem right, it allows Public Safety to look into the situation and ultimately makes the campus a safer place. Students can make reports by calling Public Safety by phone (610) 519-4444 or via text using the Nova Safe app.”

Residents in the Commons are feeling unsettled following the commu nity email.

“It is very disconcerting that there have been several incidents of trespassers returning to campus on multiple occasions to disrupt the safety of students,” senior Maria Tagliaferri said. “As a female student who lives and has lived in the areas on campus where these individuals have been reported, it makes me very uncomfortable and em phasizes the reality that even the ‘safest’ places on campus are still vulnerable to this kind of thing.”

and dying for their freedom every day.

Villanova students and com munity rallying in support of Iranian women believe that it is an individ ual’s right to choose if they would like to wear a hijab or not and are in support of these brave women fight ing for their rights. Additionally, they recognize the Internet shutdown and the significance of the international community standing beside them.

Many people question the im portance of this event and its relation to Villanova students. Why should we care? Despite Villanova’s mission of truth, unity and love, students some times bypass certain areas of activism, especially international causes. Villa

nova’s student involvement sphere has lots of ethnic cultural organizations to provide an opportunity for Villanova students to become more involved and educated on international mat ters.

“VMESA (Villanova Middle Eastern Students Association) is work ing to create a community for Middle Eastern students on campus while also educating the greater Villanova community on the various issues our people face,” the anonymous Villano va student said. “As an institution that preaches ‘Unitas, Veritas and Caritas,’ we must stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters fighting for their freedoms and rights.”

SIG: Immigration Protection

Sarah Wisniewski Co-News Editor

Following approval by the Provost last fall, the Strategic Initiative Group (SIG) for Immi gration and Refugee Protection has been created at the University.

Michele Pistone, J.D. started the initiative to create a resource for the University’s com munity to better assist and under stand the lives of immigrants and migrants. In addition to kick start ing this initiative, Pistone is also a professor at the Charles Widger School of Law, Faculty Director for Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates (VIISTA), the Director of the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee & Emigrant Services (CARES) and a Co-Managing Editor for the Journal on Migration and Human Security.

The initiative is in its begin ning stages, but the goals are clear to those involved. SIG aims to be a resource center for anyone directly involved within the immigration process. This includes immigrants themselves, family and friends of migrants, international students and individuals who wish to learn more about the current immigra tion system in the United States.

Idjatou Barry, the new Pro gram Administrator for the SIG, explained the goal of the initiative to understand its place at Villano va. Barry stated that the initiative is open to any student, employee or faculty’s ideas. SIG hopes to find its place on campus first with undergraduate students and then expand.

Barry said. “If we don’t have a system in place, then people do not know where to start. It starts at Villanova, but we want there to be a global awareness. We want all colleges to have resources.”

The initiative will further aim to build awareness around the stigma often associated with immigration. The goal of SIG will partially be to provide better education on what being a migrant or refugee is really like. This may include developing courses for students across all colleges at the University.

There is also a goal to connect VIISTA with the initia tive. VIISTA is an interdisciplinary educational program that trains individuals to advocate and rep resent migrants and refugees in court. The course goes in depth about the process immigrants go through, the culture in the nation and the history behind immigra tion policies. Taking the course allows an individual to understand the nuances of immigration.

“VIISTA is the tool, the physical resource to show we are here,” Barry, who is taking the course herself, said. “We encour age anyone entering this realm to take VIISTA to better understand and learn about immigration.”

The SIG team will contin ue to work on launching a website and newsletter. In the meantime, any student who wishes to get involved can reach out to Michele Pistone or Idjatou Barry. Their offices are located in the Campus Ministry offices, located in St. Mary’s Room 109.

On Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m., Pistone will also lead a panel to talk about immigration. The event is planned to be held in the Falvey Library.

Students and staff show their support for women in Iran. Courtesy of Isabella Balian

“We are student friendly,”

Author Jose Antonio Vargas Visits Campus

Arden West Staff Writer

Villanova’s One Book Com mittee selected “Dear America” as the campus book for the 2022-23 academic year. It welcomed author Jose Antonio Vargas to campus to speak to students, professors and faculty on Wednesday, Sept. 28 in the Villanova Room as a part of its annual One Book Villanova Lecture during the St. Thomas of Villanova Celebration.

One Book Villanova is a campus-wide effort that presents a book to the University that sparks discussion and dialogue. The books engage the entire community and “allow us to explore our humanity, our ability to empathize with the sufferings of others, and our will ingness to engage in hard truths about ourselves. The goal of One Book Villanova has always been to draw the Villanova community even more tightly together as we journey through the continuous adventure of a book.”

Vargas explained to the crowd how he least expected his book to be read in schools and never imagined his target audience to be students.

“I thought maybe Obama would read it and not like it,” he jokingly added. “But not people at school.”

Despite being the ultimate multi-hyphenate, Vargas is first a journalist, a story-teller. When he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in California, so he left the Philippines, leaving everything and everyone that he knew behind.

His first impression of America, he said, was “Macaulay Culkin’s masterpiece ‘Home Alone’ and the iconic ‘Thriller’ music vid eo.” However, the real place was not the Hollywood-dream-world that he imagined from the Philippines. Vargas never realized that his citi zenship and papers were fake until he attempted to receive his driving license at 16 and learned he was undocumented.

For a while growing up, Var gas hid his citizenship status, or lack thereof, and pursued his education, where he realized that journalism, a discipline that supported his inher ent desire to question everything, could be a “way of writing [him] self into America.”

“Listening to Jose speak was powerful because even though I am technically an American citizen and do not share an identical experi ence, the way he spoke about feeling

like you’re not actually an American struck a chord with me,” audience member Colette Jones said.

Jones is a native Hawaiian student at the University, and she described how as she grew up, she learned about Hawaiian history and the illegal annexation and stolen land that happened in the 19th cen tury.

“Because we know what the US has done to Hawaii in the past, we can’t help but feel as though our American identity is fake,” Jones said. “A lot of us associate ourselves with being Hawaiian much more, and this questioning of how we fit into our country can be sensitive.

However, living with so many minorities in Hawaii who understand this uncertainty feels like a privilege, and this is an experience that Jose never got to have. He is left questioning if he is American without feeling like he has a home.”

Vargas’ message also touched another listener, Ethan Lee.

“Both of my parents emi grated from Korea to build a new life for themselves in America, so our family was not kept together and we had to create a new one out of the community that we made as we started to put roots down,” Lee said. “I remember feeling alone sometimes, when other classmates

would go visit their grandparents or extended family and mine were across the ocean.”

Vargas went on to write for The Washington Post, along with nu merous other publications, and he re ceived the Pulitzer Prize for his work covering the shootings at Virginia Tech. He also is an Emmy-nomi nated filmmaker, a Tony-nominated producer and the founder of the non-profit called Define American. He is one of Fortune’s “40 under 40” most influential people in gov ernment and politics and a TIME magazine cover star.

Throughout all of Vargas’ successes, he has remained pas sionately devoted to being a lead ing voice for immigrants and their rights. However, as he reminds the audience, his book is not just about immigration. It is a story, his story, of finding who you are and how you belong in the place where you end up. It is a story of creating a home where one never thought they would. Mostly, it’s a story of love, and this is why so many Villanovans who have lived vastly different lives will be able to relate and value this book.

His second book, “White Is Not a Country,” will be published by Knopf in 2023, and there will be a book discussion on “Dear America” on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.

Ethics and Empirics of Engineering Humanity Series

Isabella Carlin Staff Writer

Beginning on Oct. 24, the Charles Widger School of Law will host The Ethics and Empirics of Engineering Humanity Series. This interdisciplinary series will welcome speakers to campus on Nov. 27, March 20, March 27 and an additional date in the spring, which has yet to be announced.

The Oct. 24 and Nov. 27 lectures will be held from 3:455:45 p.m. in the Law School’s Room 102. Spring lectures will be held 4-6 p.m. in a location that has yet to be determined. No prior registration is required to attend.

“This interdisciplinary speaker series will cover ethical, philosophical and empirical is sues surrounding the engineering of artificial and human intelli gence,” the series’ website page states. “These include the dynamic interactions between AI and HI, how human-computer-interfac es affect humanity, how humans outsource thinking to computers and other related technologies, how digital technologies transform the production, dissemination and validation of knowledge, and how ethical values translate into tech nological and social decisions that affect who we are and who we are capable of being.”

This series has been made possible by a grant from the Of fice of Provost for Teaching and Learning and is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy. It has been organized by members of the law school faculty, Georg Theiner, Ph.D. (Associate Pro fessor, Philosophy and Executive Editor, Social Epistemology) and

Brett Frischmann (Charles Widger Endowed University Professor in Law, Business and Economics).

Scheduled speakers for lec ture series include Robert Epstein, Ph.D. (Senior Research Psycholo gist, American Institute for Behav ioral Research and Technology), Susan Schneider, Ph.D. (Founding Director, Center for the Future Mind), Emily Hund, Ph.D. (Au thor, The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media), Matthias Scheutz, Ph.D. (Professor of Computer Science, Director of the Human-Robot In teraction Laboratory and Director of the Human-Robot Interaction Degree Programs, Tufts Universi ty) and Barry Smith, Ph.D., FAC MI (SUNY Distinguished Profes sor of Philosophy and Julian Park Chair).

In 2019, Theiner and Frischmann received a grant for an annual cross-college seminar class, “The Ethics and Empirics of Engineering Humanity” (LAW 6262), that was open to students of all colleges at the Universi ty. This course offered a unique course format organized around presentations from scholars in related fields.

According to this course’s syllabus, learning outcomes of this class included “thinking critically about human-technology rela tions” and “thinking critically about ethical and legal issues that accompany techno-social engi neering.”

“This course was organized around prominent speakers who would send us some of their latest material, and then give a talk at our seminar that would allow stu dents to interact closely with them in the more intimate setting of a seminar,” Theiner said.

After the success of this seminar course, Theiner and Frischmann planned to offer the program again in Fall 2020. How ever, the pandemic caused their plans to shift.

“We had already invited speakers for fall 2020, but when COVID hit, we had to cancel the seminar,” Theiner said. “Because of the great importance we attach to face-to-face interactions with the speakers, we decided not to offer it in a virtual format.”

Despite this challenge, the Ethics and Empirics of Engi neering Humanity Series will be returning to campus shortly after a two-year hiatus.

“There is a growing consensus that society needs to confront a host of ethical issues surfacing in our digital networked environment,” Theiner said when asked why students should attend this series. “Many leading academ ic institutions are developing new Centers and Programs focused on these topics. Our speaker series is a rather modest first step for Villa nova to be a part of that conversa tion.”

For students who are interested in further exploring topics relating to the lecture series, Theiner will be offering a similar course in the spring: PHI 2990001(TOP: Engineering Humanity).

“Our speakers will come to class and discuss the topic of their talk in a conversational and infor mal setting that allows for close, personal interactions with some of the most prominent researchers in the field,” Theiner said while describing his course.

Theiner found it important to underline that PHI 2990-001 is not a “typical” philosophy class. This is because the course focuses

on the impact of digital technolo gy on humanity.

“The issues humanity faces in its dealings with emerging digital technologies are complex and largely unprecedented,” he said. “They require interdisciplin ary reflection and collaborative problem-solving. It is designed to attract students with diverse backgrounds and interests but a shared concern for the future of humanity. The material we’ll work through – and the topics of our speakers cuts across the domains of science, religion, humanities, technology, ethics and the law. The course will thus provide a unique opportunity for peer learn ing and cross-disciplinary discus sion.”

Dr. Robert Epstein will be the first speaker. He will speak about mechanisms used by tech companies.

Courtesy of Dr. Robert Epstein

OPINION

A Week of Fall Break Truly is Necessary

Zoe Manning Staff Writer

With the midpoint of the semester quickly approaching, mid term exams are in full swing, and schoolwork is continuing to pile up. Throughout the busy couple of weeks leading up to fall break, many students feel overwhelmed while trying to balance homework, studying for exams, extracurricu lar activities and spending enough time with friends. I am sure most students can agree upon the fact that some form of break is neces sary following the hectic weeks of the mid-semester, but the question remains: Do we really need an en tire week of fall break to recharge after a bustling few weeks?

For freshmen who are ex periencing homesickness, fall break can serve as a time for students to reconnect with their families, as the familiarity of home can be comforting during the transition to college.

“A week of fall break is especially important for freshmen since they are adjusting to college for the first time,” freshman Carly Newbold said. “After being in an unfamiliar environment for over a month, it’s good to go home and spend time with family.”

As a freshman myself, I believe that having a week-long visit with family is much-needed after being away from home for about seven weeks. Many freshmen miss their families and are thankful to be able to have a long visit with them without going home for a random weekend of the semester. After having some time to rest in

the comfortable environment of home, I feel that I will be ready to tackle the remainder of the semes ter while being away from family and friends.

Fall break is absolutely necessary since students need time to recharge their batteries with a week of no schoolwork. My sched ule is jam-packed the week lead ing up to our time off, and I am thrilled that we get an entire week to rest and not have to focus on schoolwork.

Freshman Marina Saad of fered her opinion on the length of fall break and whether it is neces sary to have at all.

“I do think we need a week

of fall break to reset after the first half of the semester, and I think taking some time off will motivate us to refocus on schoolwork for the end of the semester,” Saad said.

By having fall break placed at the midpoint of the semester, students will feel accomplished that they have made it to the halfway point and will utilize the time off to motivate themselves to finish strong for the second half.

However, it is important to note that many schools across the country do not have any sort of fall break in place for students, and the first opportunity that students get to return home occurs at Thanks giving. Unfortunately for Villanova

students, this means that many of their friends from home will still be at school, and they may begin to feel bored while stuck at home by themselves.

Senior Austin Koehler brought up a good point regarding the annoyance of making travel ing plans for students who live far away.

“I don’t think we should have a fall break,” he said. “I would rather get everything done all in one, continuous flow of a semester and then have a longer winter break after. That way, stu dents only have to fly home once for the semester, and then they can have a long break where they do not have to worry about studying or homework.”

Although flights are ex pensive, and it can be an incon venience to book multiple times throughout the semester, most students will be thankful for this time off to have the option to go home if they choose. Thankfully, students have the option to apply for fall break housing if necessary, but the time to rest and recharge is appreciated, whether it be at home or on campus.

A full week of fall break is absolutely needed for students to reset following the stress of mid terms and schoolwork of the first half of the semester. Many students utilize this time to focus on things besides academics and spend time with family, which is especially important for freshmen. To be ready to focus on the second half of the semester, a week-long break is absolutely essential. I am definitely looking forward to this much-need ed time off, and I know that many of my peers are as well.

How to Improve the Effectiveness of CATS

Taleen Postian Staff Writer

CATS, or the Villanova Course and Teacher Survey, is something students get reminders to fill out and allotted class time to complete at the end of each semes ter. As a way to let professors know students’ thoughts on and experi ence with the class, it is a tool that relies on open communication and faith in the tool itself to be effec tive. But students may be less likely to complete the CATS when they do not see the real results of their participation. Students want to feel that their actions are impactful and effective, and the current design of the CATS as a survey whose results are only used to improve future iterations of the course does not provide that user affirmation.

Seeing the effects of CATS would inspire more students to complete them and, as a result, make the entire initiative more effective and widespread, as well as make the effort of dedicated class time and professors’ energy to administer the survey worth it. Unfortunately, asking professors to develop some kind of CATS

report on changes made to their courses or teaching style is unlikely to happen and would likely be shot down as unnecessary extra work. The best solution to this issue is to replicate the CATS, whose formation and existence does a great service to the University, and administer it in the middle of the semester.

Professors will often im plore their students to email them or come to office hours if there is anything they want to commu nicate about their experience in the course, but often fear of grade retribution or lack of time prevent students from communicating clearly and openly with their pro fessors. With a midterm feedback survey, this channel of communi cation can be opened without stu dents holding back their construc tive criticism for fear of academic punishment.

The CLAS Academic Reform Committee (ARC), a club focused on improving the liberal arts college, developed and dis tributed a version of this solution last semester called the MidTerm Feedback Form. The aim of this mid-term class survey had open-ended questions developed by the professor that they could

then use to easily develop sugges tions and improvements to their class and teaching. Having ques tions developed by the professor on the ARC’s mid-semester feedback form allows the form to be tailored not only to the course itself but also to the current student cohort taking the class, and thus can be an even more effective teaching tool. ARC developed this feedback form when it noticed that some of its members were having professors ask for student feedback around midterms and were not always getting an amount of responses that were useful. This mid-semes ter feedback form will also provide professors with real-time data about the current state of their class and allow the students to see how their feedback is implement ed and used to guide the way the class is run in the latter half of the semester.

This initiative encourages dialogue between the students and their professors without the implic it power dynamics at play when giving feedback in a more public forum like in class or over email. The anonymity can be a conduit for more authentic evaluations and reports on the course.

Besides solving the main

issue of a lack of visible progress made to the students who must fill out the survey, having an anony mous mid-term feedback survey that still gives the professor cri tiques eliminates the concern that professors might have that a nega tive CATS review could put their job performance evaluation in jeopardy. The fact that a mid-term survey would not be administrative but only impactful on the class itself would make it less stressful for professors worried about the impact CATS can have on their job performance review. Instead, they can focus on really listening to and understanding the concerns and feedback of their students.

Opening new lines of com munication between students and professors is always a great idea, and this new ARC initiative is one that I have much faith in having an immensely positive impact on in dividual students’ learning experi ences. A mid-term feedback report will provide a way for students to see the results of their voices being heard in their classes. It will also give professors a much better understanding of how the class is receiving their teachings in im mediacy, resulting in a better class and course experience overall.

Fall break is especially long at Villanova, eliciting a variety of student reactions. Courtesy of @VillanovaU

EDITORIAL BOARD LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

MELKONIAN

ARON

FEZZA

Editor-in-Chief

Editor

The Villanovan encourages all members of the Villanova community to voice their opinions. Let ters to the editors may be submitted via e-mail to villanovan.eic@gmail.com. Letters must not exceed 500 words and must be signed. No anony mous letters will be published. All submissions be come property of The Villanovan and are subject to editing for clarity and space.

POLICY

The unsigned editorial that appears is the opinion of The Villanovan as determined by the majority of the Editorial Board. Other columns, letters and artwork represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Villanovan.

Technology’s Grasp on Villanova Students

DJ Comerford Staff Writer

In 2022, everyone is fully immersed in the world of tech nology. Villanova’s campus is no exception.

During my walk to class, all I see are students with their heads down in their phones or with headphones on, completely disen gaged from where they are.

They would rather focus on something that is not real than what is right in front of them. I am not saying that I do not go on my phone or listen to music when walking, but when I see 80% of students looking down at their phones, it rubs me the wrong way.

It is rare to find a student just walking with no earbuds or not looking at their phone.

I always imagine how someone from the 1980s would re act looking around campus. They would be amazed at how everyone is tied down to their devices.

The technology that rubs me the worst way is the electric scooters I see some athletes riding. First of all, the farthest walk on campus is 15 minutes, so they are not necessary. Second, they are athletes. They should welcome the opportunity to get exercise.

Technology has advanced at an incredibly fast rate, and Vil lanova students are falling victim to its grasp.

What should we do? We must become aware that consum ing mass amounts of content on social media does not serve our own lives in any way. It only pro vides a distraction from our prog ress.

With apps like Instagram, TikTok and now BeReal, students have become addicted to the lim itless content available to them at the tip of their fingers.

Villanova students need to turn off their phones and be truly present in the moment instead of looking to a small screen for enter tainment and gratification.

Everyone needs to stop fo cusing on everyone else and start focusing on themselves and how to improve their own lives.

If students really want to make use of their phones, they would start creating instead of

consuming. If one thinks that they are insightful, they should make advice videos on TikTok. If one thinks they are funny, they should make a comedy account on Insta gram.

Students do not realize that content creators today are just like them. They just decided to create instead of consume.

How does looking at what other people are doing benefit one’s own life in any way? The answer is it does not. Most people are aware of this answer, yet they continue to subject themselves to the experiences of others, get stuck

in comparisons and end up sad for the rest of the day.

Humans were not meant to consume the large quantities of content that students do on a daily basis. Humans were meant to be 100% focused on what they have going on. Now, students are giving mental energy toward other people and getting angry or sad before their feet even touch the ground in the morning.

We cannot allow technol ogy to so easily invade our minds. We must utilize it but not be controlled by it. Only then will we truly be free from its grasp.

My Name Majo: The Dignity of a Name

Majo James Staff Writer

College is a transitionary period, a time when people com plete the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. A time when people come into their own and become who they are. Hope fully, a person is true to themself. But this is not always an easy jour ney. There are times in all of our lives when we become conflicted about our identities. Dropping a sport or a club one does not have the time for, relationships chang ing and struggling to keep up with coursework makes people question themselves. As a person of color, my identity is challenged in ways that differ from many people on campus, including my very name.

I have heard every mispro nunciation in the book: Mah-ho, Mayo, Mah-jo, the list goes on and on. My real name is pronounced May-jo, spelled M-A-J-O. When I was younger, I desperately wished that I was named something else, something the other kids would not laugh at me for, something a teacher would be able to read as they were taking attendance, some thing normal. Even after all this time, as I started freshman year of college, there were a million ways I felt out of place during move-in day. I found myself looking around and remembering how different I was yet again. I was still the same kindergartener who spoke with an accent on the first day of school as the other kids jabbered away. But all it took for me to feel welcomed was introducing myself to anoth

er freshman and him smiling and saying, “Majo? That’s such a cool name!” Just like that, as I shook his hand, Villanova became my home.

When I was younger, I would not bother correcting people when they said my name wrong. I did not see a point to it. After all, I knew that they were referring to me. But as I got older, I realized that this was a terrible mindset to have, one that betrays me. If the names of everyone around me can be said properly, why not mine?

Names are not something that should be determined by any one but oneself. Referring to some one by what they want to be called and how they want to be called is a sign of respect, an acknowl edgement of the humanity of the person one is talking to. That is the true meaning of being an ally.

It is not a white savior complex that demands the less fortunate be rescued, not a self-prescribed label to be “woke,” but recognizing and standing up for the humanity of another person.

Villanova does its part to champion this cause, from intro ducing measures in the syllabus that require professors to address students as they would like to be addressed, to seminars on pro nouncing foreign names. But no matter how many initiatives the University takes, there will not be any significant change unless we the students decide that we want a difference, that we want to make sure everyone on campus feels seen. That is why I wrote this article, not as a call-to-arms, but as a suggestion on how to be a better person.

University students have been criticized by some as overly-attached to technology. Sam Rabkin / Villanovan Photography

COLIN BEAZLEY

Satire: Anthony’s Party Rentals

Kai da Luz Staff Writer

At Villanova, some things change all the time. If the forecast in the lovely city of Philadelphia says “sunny skies ahead,” it is time to break out the parka. But there is one constant, one thing that Villanovans can always count on. Every Friday of every week, it seems, the campus is taken over by a multitude of white trucks with blue tent logos. Villano vans look forward to these select days when the heart of Main Campus is blessed by the appearance of Antho ny’s Party Rentals.

Rain or shine, Anthony’s is always there for Villanovans, setting up tents, tables and chairs at every time of day. I mean, where is the fun in walking to your next class unim peded? Because of Anthony’s Party Rentals, students get to traverse over poles, dodge gigantic and inconve niently placed cement cylinders and navigate through a sea of partial ly constructed tents as they move throughout campus.

The white trucks alert Villa novans of an upcoming event before word about it can even get out. Before OSI hits send on its “This Week on Campus” email, Anthony’s is already on the scene. Talk about dedication.

Sometimes, I have absolute ly no clue what they are setting up for, and to be honest, I am not sure they know either. Nevertheless, these campus heroes set up tents like no tomorrow.

Two weekends ago, Villa novans celebrated Anthony’s Party Rentals Weekend, in which tons of glorious white tents and slightly wet folding tables painted our campus. The spectacular showing has been called by some “Anthony’s Aurora

Borealis.” Villanovans are lucky enough to view this occurrence every year. Students bring their families from across the country to spend the weekend and witness the awe-inspir ing handiwork that is Anthony’s. Villanova even holds a foot ball game, as well as an a cappella showcase, a special Mass and various other events to commemorate the occasion. However, I heard that this year, the University falsely dubbed this extravaganza Family Weekend, drawing attention away from the real reason people come from all over to witness this spectacle.

Such diligence, commitment and craftsmanship should be reward ed, as I know all Villanovans want to see more of Anthony’s Party Rentals. So, rather than limiting them to their weekly visits, I believe we should incorporate and utilize Anthony’s Party Rentals in more ways.

For example, while the construction at CEER has been progressing, I can guarantee you that if Anthony’s Party Rentals was given

the job, they would have finished yes terday. In fact, instead of construct ing a new building at all, why not simply erect a giant, wedding-size tent courtesy of Anthony’s. This way Villanova could finish construction in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the cost. Engineers have it tough academically, but I am confident that daily encounters with Anthony’s would brighten their days significant ly.

It is clear that Anthony’s Par ty Rentals plays a crucial role in each and every student’s life. I remember walking to Connelly Center with my friend one day and not being able to enter because there was a huge partially constructed tent blocking the way.

As she uttered, “you have got to be kidding me,” I could only imagine that she too was so dumb founded by the beauty and thought fulness before her that she could not believe her eyes. Clearly, Anthony’s Party Rentals thought that every stu dent deserved to see their tents in the

morning, so they left one precarious ly in front of the student center. It is the same when they leave their tents toppled over in front of Café Nova, because who needs a campus view when you can have a giant white tent blocking the window instead. Truly, their generosity and commitment to this University and its students knows no bounds.

Since they are on campus every week, I know many Villano vans are concerned that these chang es may be overworking Anthony’s Party Rentals, but do not worry. Though their website says they work “throughout Eastern & Cen tral Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Northern Delaware,” I am pretty sure 99.9% of their business comes from Villanova, because they love us as much as we love them.

My fellow Villanovans and I cannot wait for the next time Antho ny’s Party Rentals graces our morn ing or afternoon commute, but fret not, because this wait should not be long at all.

Let’s Get Real, Nova

Grace Janofsky Staff Writer

Time to BeReal. 2 min left to capture a BeReal and see what your friends are up to!

As BeReal has quickly taken over social media in an attempt to dismantle the “fakeness” of other social media platforms, like Insta gram and Snapchat, it has also very quickly taken over campus. The ex citing nature of the app makes it all the more appealing, not to mention that one gets to check in on what all their friends are doing. It is not only a great way to connect with new friends but also to keep up with old friends who may go to different schools. It is hard to imagine how quickly BeReal has taken off and how popular it truly is. However, despite its popularity, the almost utopian nature of the app makes it seem like a scene out of a comedy.

The other day, I was eat ing lunch in Pit with my friends when the BeReal notification came out. As I always do, I informed my friends, “Guys, it is time to be real.” We all pulled out our phones to snap a picture and returned to our meals. As I looked around the dining hall when the notification

went off, nearly every single per son looked down at their phones, opened up the app and snapped a picture of them eating lunch.

The premise of the app, Be Real, is that you have two minutes to take a picture of what you are doing right at that moment. Every one who has the app receives the notification at the same time, so the simultaneous nature of almost every single person in the dining hall pulling out their phones and taking a picture of their friends and their food is truly hilarious. The BeReal notification also went off on Friday, Sept. 30 at the University’s volley ball game against St. John’s, and the same scene occurred. Every one pulled out their phones to “be real.” However funny it is, the app is amazing in terms of connecting with people on another level.

There are some issues with the app, especially in the case of people waiting to post their BeRe al. The genuineness of the app is lost when people wait to post until they are doing something exciting during their day. However, BeRe al can also push people to better themselves and be more adventur ous.

There was a notification on Food Truck Friday, and a notifi

cation also went off during a rock climbing event a few weeks ago. There were many people who made an effort to climb to the top of the rock wall so they could then take their BeReal. Although not entire ly genuine in nature, this app can push people out of their comfort zone.

An interesting way that the University could utilize BeReal is as an admissions technique, either through an actual BeReal account that potential and active students could add, or through Instagram as a “week in the life’’ but with Be Real. Because BeReal has not only taken over campus at universities but also at high schools across the

country, it is an effective and inno vative way to connect with prospec tive students.

BeReal is an amazing app that allows students and friends to connect in more authentic ways. Although the BeReal notification might evoke feelings of a scene out of a dystopian movie or a comedy from afar, it is very fun to partake in. Furthermore, the University can recognize the popularity of the app on campus and collect great exam ples of students “being real” either at the library, Holy Grounds or at Food Truck Friday and market it towards prospective students on existing admissions social media accounts.

BeReal has taken over the social media scene with its creative concept. Courtesy of BeReal

Anthony’s Party Rentals trucks are a common sight on campus. Courtesy of anthonyrentals.com

Voter Registration Alone is Not Enough

Chad Woerner Staff Writer

to vote will not achieve this goal. We must first stress the need to get voters familiar with the candidates on the ballot, particularly the lesser known positions. For example, while the average voter may be familiar with the responsibilities of their

congressional representatives and senators, they may not have the same knowledge for positions within municipal government, school boards, public safety or even state congressional positions.

Education is a part of this goal, but social studies and civics classes will not predict for us what views future candidates will support. While such courses can increase our political knowledge, they can not reliably keep voters informed on

current events. Every voter should strive to know as much as possible about which policies are favored by the relevant candidates for their state, and they should come to the polling place with a pre-developed justification for their voting choices.

Let’s Vote Nova, an initia tive on campus, also focuses exten sively on the notion of voter repre sentative and less on the educative process of the different candidates. Its main goals are to encourage Villanova students to vote and to answer any administrative questions students may have about registra tion. Though Let’s Vote Nova may not have the resources to expand its

program, it too falls into the trap of encouraging voters who may have uninformed opinions to show up to the polls.

While swing states nation wide all have especially important elections, the races in Pennsylvania are particularly contentious, primar ily the house seats up for grabs in the 1st, 7th, 8th and 17th congres sional districts. This is all the more reason why voters should come to the poll not merely with a willing ness to vote, but also an informed opinion on why they believe in their selections. A more educated popu lace ought to lead to more effective government.

Satire: Fly the Villanova Skies: Gondolas On Campus

Isabella Ledet Staff Writer

Imagine that it is a rainy morning at 8:30 a.m., and one’s schedule says to head to the fourth floor of Tolentine Hall, but they

are in the lobby of St. Clare Hall. Time to trudge all the way across campus in shoes with questionable waterproofing and an old umbrella that has seen better days. Getting soaked is inevitable. Until one remembers the gondolas.

I am not talking about the gondolas that little men in striped shirts row around in Venice, Italy. I am talking about gondolas like in Disney World or that run up the sides of scenic mountains; enclosed boxes with windows sailing through the air attached to a cable in the sky.

These are the things we should have in order to connect West Campus and Main Campus.

It is far-fetched, I know. But would it not be incredible to step into one’s own floating box and be transported right over the Spring Mill Road bridge and delivered to Tolentine like a package? It would certainly be a magical way to ar rive to class.

I originally came up with the concept of connecting West and Main by gondola as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more I could picture gondolas as a solution to getting across campus.

Gondolas are efficient to get from one place to another and are safe in terms of the number of failures. I would imagine the most difficult part of having gondolas at Villa nova would be their installation. Where would one get on? Where would one get off? Where would the poles go?

Allow me to lean into the absurdity. Just beyond the Fedi gan/Tolentine guard booth, per haps in the center of the Tolentine parking lot, a platform would be constructed where one would climb some stairs to reach the top. At the top, one could hop on a gondola

after someone else has exited. The gondola would rise into the air, soaring perhaps 60 feet over Spring Mill Road, and would follow its cable path over the train tracks, over the bridge and along the outer edge of the West apartments. Out side of St. Clare would be platform similar to the one near Tolentine. The gondola would approach, and students would exit, transported safely to the back corner of West in just a few minutes. The poles would simply be installed where the road is not, and they would be tall enough to support the gondo la’s safe flight over to West Cam pus.

While being able to fly across campus would be incredibly amazing, I understand that this would be a nearly impossible feat. My purpose in writing this is not to seriously suggest gondolas — which would cost an exorbitant amount of money and would save only a small population a fair amount of time — but rather to open every one up to using their imaginations on campus. Take a moment to lean into the absurdity of any thought. The future could bring any thing. Gondolas could be cheaper and easier to install. We could have teleportation devices where one can simply materialize outside of any classroom just seconds before class begins. A drawbridge could be installed over Lancaster Ave nue connecting the Commons to Pit. Reimagining campus is like an exercise to reimagine the world, so have some fun.

Voters wait in line in Pennsylvania in 2020. Courtesy of WHYY.org

Materials needed for voter registration. Courtesy of Falvey Library

CULTURE

Social Justice Documentary Class Travels to Kenya

Chloe Miller Co-Culture Editor

The Social Justice Documenta ry program is a hallmark of Villanova University. Each year, a group of stu dents participates in a year long course where they form a production studio and produce their own social justice film.

Funded by Villanova’s Water house Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society and the Nord Family Foundation, the Social Justice Documentary Program offers an immersive experience for the students involved. There are both domestic and international Social Justice Documen tary courses taught each year. This year, the students in the international course, taught by Hezekiah Lewis, are traveling to Kenya over fall break to conduct interviews and collect footage for their film.

From August to October, the class is in pre-production. Once they return from Kenya, they move into the post-production phase, where they edit and put together the final film.

During the pre-production pe riod, the class decided on a production group name: Oak Tree Films.

“Oak Tree Films is the name of our production company for the documentary that we will be making,” student Joe Adams said. “I think that represents us so well, as similar to an oak tree, the group of us students and adults represents resilience and con nectedness as a group.”

For two weeks, students in the class will stay in Siaya, Kenya. They will also be traveling to Nairo bi, Kisumu and Lake Victoria. Other details the class planned before their

trip include fundraising, budgeting, organizing transportation, connecting with local organizations and pitching to investors.

“The class has spent an extensive amount of time conducting research on Kenyan and Luo culture specifically and having group discus sions about the directions we wish to take the film,” student A.J. Fezza said.

“We learned a bit of Swahili (Kenya’s lingua franca) and Luo (the regional language in Siaya).”

This year, the group has chosen to focus on women’s rights and educa tion in the town of Siaya. In order to properly portray this issue, the class will be working with the Siaya Muungano network, a women’s rights and youth development organization in the town.

“We are there to make this documentary, but more importantly for all of us, we are there to learn, listen, and tell the stories of the women that we are meeting from Siaya,” Adams said.

Each of the 14 members of the Social Justice Documentary program has a specific role for the duration of the project. These roles range from cinematographer, co-director, producer, multimedia co-director of photography and more.

Tiane Parris is one of two co-directors of the film and they help provide a vision for the film. Adams, a producer, is in charge of many of the logistics of the trip. These include booking flights, hotel rooms and ac quiring visas.

The hours of preparation are done to ensure things go as smoothly as possible, although it is challenging to predict what will happen in filmmak ing.

“Documentary filmmaking is challenging because you cannot quite

predict what the final outcome will be,” Parris said. “You are relying on research and a strong vision alone. On the ground, things may not pan out how you envisioned, and you simply have to roll with the punches.”

Participating in the Social Jus tice Documentary program has already been transformative for many of the students.

“This class is important for me because it has really caused me to reflect on my privilege as a white male in America,” Adams said. “I want to do

whatever I can to tell our collaborator’s stories, and by creating this documen tary, I hope that people will watch and wonder, ‘What role do I play in the global reproductive health crisis?’”

Oak Tree Films is just getting started. Departing on Oct. 7, they will fly from Washington, DC, to Doha, Qatar, to Nairobi, Kenya, to Kisumu, Kenya and then take a bus to Siaya, Kenya.

The final film will premiere in May of 2023. For more updates, check out @oaktreefilmsvu on Instagram.

Mark Redmond’s “What’s Credit & Other Stories”

Catherine Gunther Staff Writer

On Thursday Sept. 29, 2022, Mark Redmond ’79, re turned to Villanova to present “What’s Credit & Other Stories” in the Smith Performance Lab. Red mond has lived an incredible life full of giving and brimming with purpose and love. His experiences have given him a unique insight into human nature, suffering, the beauty found in each life and of course, moving stories that he has shared both nationally and interna tionally.

In 2013 on the Moth Radio Hour, Redmond first presented his stories on a large scale. When he first contacted the program, he did not expect anything to come from it. Since then, he has shared his stories in publications including The New York Times, The Wash ington Post and others. Redmond’s one-man show was chosen from hundreds of applicants to be part of the 2019 United Solo Theatre Festival on Broadway, titled “So Shines a Good Deed.” Redmond’s life is full of moments he has never forgotten, and his memory, attention to detail and the story’s

contents bring the audience on a journey, which pulls one along to see the highs and lows of work ing to protect and uplift the most vulnerable. Redmond’s storytelling abilities are credited to what he witnessed at gatherings of his large Irish-Catholic family growing up.

The time spent watching his father command a room with just his voice and a story taught him to do the same.

At the start of many stories, the audience is presented with a sense of hopelessness. As the story progresses, some hope begins to creep in, until finally the audience is given reason to believe that the world can change for the better.

The source of this belief comes from the people of the stories. The people are good people, who do beautiful things. Redmond’s sto ries focus on people; they are most compelling, and the most promis ing source of hope.

Redmond’s passion for doing meaningful work in service of others is a life-long one. While attending grad school, he was working at Catholic Charities, and he was approached by a priest, Father Bill, who was ministering to homeless men with AIDS and said he wanted to open a residence for

homeless men with AIDS in a con vent at St. Veronica’s. Redmond believed in the project and wrote a proposal to present to his manager. He was very persistent in being heard but was consistently ignored by his manager, who was a Monsi gnor. Months later, while watching television, he watched as the Mon signor announced that the resi dence would be opened. Redmond was furious for himself and those he had worked with. Years later, he was on a retreat and saw Father Bill. In his one-on-one session with the retreat leader, Redmond spoke about Father Bill and then told the story of the residence he had pro posed and expressed his unresolved anger. The retreat leader asked if the residence had opened and if it had fulfilled the intended purpose, when Redmond responded yes, he questioned why he was angry. After explaining that he did not receive any of the credit for the work, the leader looked at him and asked plainly, “what’s credit?”

One story addressed the attitudes people often have towards homeless individuals. A visitor to Spectrum Youth and Family Services was speaking to the young people there who are homeless, in the juvenile justice system or in

other ways vulnerable and in need of resources. The visitor asked the group if they could turn the clock back 10 years, what could they do differently. Each teen spoke about their lives, reflecting that 10 years ago, most of them were children, often in abusive homes, sometimes with parents with addiction, and they were powerless, there was nothing they could have done dif ferently. One young woman, after many individuals had told their stories, spoke up, saying that it is easy for people who observe the homeless to judge, to believe that they hold the blame for their situa tion. But these kids are victims, and though it is more difficult to admit that, it is important to find compas sion rather than judgment.

All of the audience mem bers were moved to tears as the deeply personal stories explore all of the beauty which can come from immense suffering and tragedy. Redmond is a catalyst for change and his stories compel others to be the same. He believes people want to do good, are generous and desire to give of themselves for others, they just don’t know how. His stories inspire those listening to seek ways to do good and believe that it can make a difference.

Fourteen students will travel to Kenya to shoot their social justice documentary. Courtesy of @oaktreefilmsvu on Instagram

Villanova Rowing Runs in CHOP 5K to Fight Cancer

Julia O’Keefe Staff Writer

On Saturday, Sept. 25, members of Villanova Rowing participated in the Children’s Hos pital of Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Run and Walk to fight cancer.

Thirteen members of Villanova Rowing and all of their coaches participated in the run to honor JJ Jones and his family, their former assistant coach whose son is currently battling leuke mia. Women’s Rowing co-captain Olivia Krause spoke about why she and her teammates decided to participate:

“We wanted to support him and his family,” Krause said. “He was a highly impactful coach at Villanova and left coaching to spend more time with his family. We wanted to honor his impact on our team and show our support.”

Presented by Citadel Credit Union, the Parkway Run and Walk is a 5K run and 2K walk that rais es funds for pediatric cancer re search and care at CHOP. With a $35 registration fee and thousands of participants, Villanova Rowing members among them, the run raised more than $2 million for CHOP’s Cancer Center according to their website and was marked an incredible success.

Runners lined up at the

starting line at 8:30 a.m. right in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art upon the conclusion of the opening ceremony and ended in that same spot. This year’s Park way Run was the first in-person event since 2020, and Krause expressed it was empowering to be running among thousands of people again, especially for such a good cause.

“There were over 10,000 participants at the race and it felt both inspiring and exciting to be surrounded by so many people for such an important cause,” Krause said. “It also put things into per spective for our team and remind ed us that there are so many peo ple outside of our small Villanova community.”

Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States past infancy. It doesn’t stop, and neither will the fight against it. More funding is needed to understand and conquer this disease right here in Philadelphia and everywhere around the world. Villanova Rowing contributed to the $2 million and change raised last weeked and was united around honoring a former assistant coach and his family.

Villanovans are privileged to have access to an organization right on campus rooted in fight ing childhood cancer. NOVA dance partners with the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation to raise funds for childhood cancer

research and provide financial as sistance to families.

The year-long fundraising effort concludes with a 12-hour Dance Marathon in the spring when the whole Villanova com munity comes together to support the cause. For those looking to learn more about the organization and get involved in the fight, one can sign up and start a personal donation page or join a team on

the NOVAdance website: http:// novadance.org/index.html.

For more information about CHOP’s Parkway Run and Walk and how to get involved in future events right near Villano va, visit https://parkway.chop. edu. One can make a donation to fund CHOP’s research at any time through its website and sign up to receive communication regarding upcoming fundraising events.

Kappa Kappa Gamma Breast Cancer Awareness Week

Elena Rouse Co-Culture Editor

The week of Oct. 17, Villa nova’s Kappa Kappa Gamma so rority chapter will host its week-long philanthropy fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.

The Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG)’s Zeta Iota chapter at Villano va, and the chapter at large, devotes time to their core mission of serving and helping those affected by breast cancer, as well as organizations work ing to cure the disease.

Villanova’s chapter partners with multiple organizations for the fundraiesr. BreastCancer.org is an online platform devoted to helping breast cancer patients find informa tion, support and community, while also working as a donation space for those directly impacted. The website has discussion forums, educational content and multiple sections for those either diagnosed with breast cancer or who know someone diag nosed with the disease.

KKG also partners with the Lankenau Medical Center located in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

Pilar Wisor, senior Kappa member and the chapter’s Philan thropy Chair, explained the specifics of the Lankenau partnership.

“Usually, we partner with Lankenau Medical Center to provide care packedges,” Wisor explained.

“This year, we have partnered with the Foundation for Hospital Art to help provide art for women undergo ing chemotherapy and radiation at the Lankenau location.”

Since 1984, the Foundation for Hospital Art has created over 50,000 paintings for over 7,500 hospitals in 195 countries in order to bring more color into the often unimaginably difficult circumstances of those in hospitals, according to the Foundation’s website.

Kappa Kappa Gamma is set to partner with Villanova’s Sigma Chi fraternity chapter to create these paintings for the local hospital.

As for the Breast Cancer Awareness week fundraiser itself, KKG is planning on having a week of tabling on campus. Students can expect to buy doughnuts with the po tential for other treats for the cause.

Aside from tabling, the chapter also does other fundraisers throughout the year. In the past, Hoops for Hope, an annual basket ball tournament, has been widely popular, attracting students from all walks of campus to participate to raise money for Breastcancer.org. In 2021, the event raised over 3,000 dollars.

The members of Kappa Kappa Gamma incorporate a per sonal touch to the week as well.

“We assemble gift baskets for family members of KKG members who have family members undergo ing, or have undergone treatment,” Wisor said.

Breast cancer awareness is a philanthropic cause close to KKG’s heart, with many members personal ly affected and/or impassioned by its mission.

“As women we all have a risk of developing breast cancer,” Wisor said. “Breast cancer personally impacts many women in our sorority

whether through family members or themselves. Everyone is passionate about the cause and this week is just one way we exemplify that care as a chapter.”

The chapter also participates in other philanthropic endeavors, such as the cause, “Reading is Fun damental,” which supports building a more literate society through read

ing with young children.

Upon returning from Fall Semester break, the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority will be in full force raising money for breast cancer awareness with severe dedication and a passion that is reflective of many of the philnatrhopic campaigns of respective Villanova panhellenic Interfraternity Council chapters.

The Villanova Rowing team poses at the Rocky Steps. Courtesy of Olivia Krause

Kappa Kappa Gamma members at their 2021 Hoops for Hope event.

Courtesy of @kkgvillanova Instagram

SPORTS Men’s XC Finishes Second in Paul Short Run

Jacob Artz Staff Writer

In its last meet before the much anticipated and highly compet itive meet at Wisconsin, the Villanova men’s cross country team shattered personal bests and littered the top-10 with fast times.

This all happened without its number one runner, graduate Haftu Strintzos, who was held out for one more meet. He is recovering from contracting COVID-19 a month ago, and head coach Marcus O’Sullivan wanted to make sure he is fully ready for the Wisconsin meet in two weeks.

Villanova finished second out of the 46 teams with a total score of 100 points at the Paul Short Run last Friday at Lehigh’s Goodman Campus Course, losing to North Carolina, which registered 64 points. The race was an 8K.

This race was especially im portant because of the national com petition, like North Carolina, which is ranked number 13 to Villanova’s ranking of 21.

“For us to be right there with [North Carolina], that bodes well for what we thought our team was going to be, and it looks like it is a strong team,” O’Sullivan said. “That was our first real race out.”

Villanova placed four runners in the top-10, with junior Liam Mur phy leading the runners with a time of 23:07.6 for a fourth place finish. He smashed his personal best by more than 40 seconds from the same race

last year, when he finished in 23:49.0.

Senior Charlie O’Donovan posted a fifth place finish, with a time of 23:10.7, again breaking his person al record by almost 30 seconds from the same race last year.

The other two top-10 runners for Villanova were senior Josh Phillips and junior Jack Jennings. Phillips post ed a time of 23:15.7 for ninth place and Jennings finished with a time of 23:16.8, good for 10th place.

O’Sullivan gave his runners much credit with their improved form over the quicker course conditions.

“Big jumps for the two guys that were in the top four was Liam [Murphy] and Jack Jennings, together as freshmen during COVID, and they have really matured this year, so that onto itself, has made a huge contri bution to where we are right now,” O’Sullivan said.

The more mature and older runners in Phillips and O’Donovan aided Murphy and Jennings with their steady progression.

In the overall team perspec tive, the difference between Villanova and North Carolina, according to O’Sullivan, is simple.

“Another guy,” O’Sullivan said. “Just switch one guy out and all of a sudden, you’re winning.”

The course was running ex tremely swiftly. The top eight finishers all recorded top-10 times in the race course’s established history, and the top-two runners broke the overall course record.

The fast conditions were aided by beautiful weather before the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ian and the pressure for the runners to keep up with highly nationally ranked teams.

“They went out very fast,” O’Sullivan said. “They went out in 4:35 for the first mile. Guys weren’t fading in the last mile. They were coming home really strong. My theory is the ground was very hard and dry, which provides for a very fast surface, and I also think with the storm rolling

in, it brings in a lot of clean air, a lot of oxygen. And you get the benefit of that. The conditions were very optimal for fast times.”

The Wildcats will take anoth er step up in their journey towards the Big East Championships, Regionals and Nationals at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Coun try Course. The meet takes place on Oct. 14.

Villanova is planning on taking 12 runners to Wisconsin, which has been narrowed down from 20 by injuries and runners who are suited for different races. The goal is to cut the list of runners to 10 for the Big East Championships on Oct. 29.

“There’s still room for play in terms of people being able to, you know, position themselves for the con ference spot,” O’Sullivan said.

The course itself is the same length as the Goodman Campus Course but different with its rolling hills. The weather will be a huge factor because the meet is taking place in Wisconsin in mid-October, and the weather conditions could vary.

The competition will be higher and deeper in this, as many top ranked teams will compete to accumulate points for Regionals, and the Wisconsin meet is an important determinant as to what teams qualify for that meet.

The week of the Wisconsin meet falls on Villanova’s fall break, which will allow for easier travel and the athletes to focus solely on the meet.

Women’s Soccer Falls to Xavier, Beats St. John’s

Victoria Newsome Staff Writer

On Thursday, Sept. 29, the Villanova women’s soccer team suffered a disappointing loss at home falling to Xavier, 1-0. Molly McLaughlin scored a goal at 20:10 to seal the win for the Musketeers. Xavier’s record improves to 9-21 and 3-0 in the conference. On Sunday, the Wildcats got back in the win column with a 1-0 victory over St. John’s. Villanova now has a 3-4-2 record and is 2-1 in the Big East. St. John’s is 5-4-3 (2-2 Big East).

The Wildcats had a diffi cult time scoring around the box against the Musketeers with six shots total but only one shot on goal. The Musketeers dominated their attack with 21 shots total and nine shots on goal. Big East Weekly Honor Roll mention and graduate goalkeeper for the ‘Cats, Megan McClay, ended the match with eight saves, the most she has had in any game this season. The leading ‘Cats of the game were Emma Weaver, Lauren Ashman, Makayla Stadler and Megan Don nelly.

In the first half, the ‘Cats had two only shots, as redshirt ju nior midfielder Kelsey DeLola had the first in the first five minutes and Ashman had a header off the corner around the 43rd-minute

mark.

The ‘Cats entered the sec ond half with three shots and one on goal. By the final score, Ash man had a total of two shots, and Weaver had the one shot on goal made in the second half.

After the loss against Xavi er, the ‘Cats were determined to get the win in their next Big East game at home. Rain or shine, the ‘Cats triumphed over St. John’s and won the match with a goal in the 55th minute by sophomore midfielder Brigid Molloy. The goal was assisted from a free kick by Weaver, which bounced off the

head of senior defender Alexa Wojnovich, setting Molloy up to make the score.

“I’m really proud of them,” head coach Samar Azem said to Villanova Athletics. “It’s a tough game to play with the weather. It was windy, it was rainy, but for whatever reason, this team loves playing in the rain, and I love that about them. They focused on themselves. They focused on how they wanted to move the ball. They focused on how they want ed to defend and what spaces we wanted to take away, and what we wanted to capitalize on. We want

to focus on who we are. Game in and game out…And we did well in the second half of the Xavier game, and it really capitalized in the right moments.”

In addition to Azem’s com ments, Molloy had some remarks to share after the match regard ing her game-winning goal. She emphasized what the win meant to her as the ‘Cats offensive attack and overall energy shined through in the second half at Higgins Sports Complex.

“Today was another big step for us in the right direction,” Molloy said. “It took all 27 of us to come out and play the way we did against a powerhouse Big East Team, getting our second confer ence win. The energy on the side lines I think was the best part of it all as well, all of us just supporting each other.”

The Red Storm and the ‘Cats both ended with seven shots total. The ‘Cats had three of those shots on goal in the second half while the Red Storm had two. Af ter the goal by the ‘Cats, the Red Storm had three shots, as McClay saved the two shots on goal. Both teams had two saves, and the Red Storm had trouble with eight fouls, while the ‘Cats had five.

The Wildcats are back in the winning column and on the road in the Big East as they will face Butler (4-6-1, 1-2 in Big East) this Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m.

Liam Murphy (above) finished in fourth place on Friday. Courtesy of Villanova Athletics

Megan McClay (above) was named to the Big East honor roll after giving up just one goal in two games. Sam Rabkin/Villanovan Photography

Volleyball Goes 1-1 Over Weekend

Zac Tipton Staff Writer

Jake Nevin Fieldhouse was filled with rowdy students at the conference home opener Friday night when Villanova volleyball (511, 1-3 Big East) pulled off its first conference win of the season in a crucial matchup against St. John’s (12-5, 3-1 Big East).

However, the next night, ‘Nova dropped a four-set decision to Seton Hall (12-4, 3-1).

Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach was happy to see the turnout for the St. John’s game.

“The energy was really good,” Steinbach said. “They were loud early, and I think that was probably a little intimidating to St John’s. It was a packed house for sure.”

The Wildcats came into this weekend needing a win follow ing two losses last weekend. They had the most packed atmosphere of the year for the Hoops Ma nia promotion. In doing so, they rewarded the fans with a four-set win, 3-1, over the Red Storm, which was 11-4 and had won both of their first two conference games.

Andrea Campos, who has been taking over the setting duties as of recently, had an strong per formance that included 34 assists.

“She’s one of our most athletic players with her ability to

run,” Steinbach said. “I thought she had an incredible night Friday night, where she seemed to get hitters in rhythm really well. She will keep starting for us this next week.”

Not only did Campos have a great night setting, but she also had four aces for Villanova, which was one of the big vulnerabilities for the team earlier in the season. Villanova has seemed to get the serve worked out, with the Wild cats tallying eight aces, including another two from senior Maddie Schieder. Schieder is now at 11 aces in the last seven games.

“I think we have definitely been serving better over the past couple of weeks,” Steinbach said. “We’ve been starting to serve better at home, and we are start ing to put defenses in vulnerable situations with how we’ve been serving.”

On offense, junior Kiera Booth went 12 for 16 on kills, while junior Riley Homer added another 11. Villanova had four women with more than eight kills in this game, and it has seen a lot of consistency from players like Booth and junior Madeline Bar ber.

The second game was not as successful as Villanova wanted, with hardly any fans in attendance for Saturday’s game, due to Hoops Mania.

“It was a bizarre empty night here,” Coach Steinbach said. “We had a few parents and that

was it. It was a very different feel in here than Friday.”

Campos did not have as good of a night placing the ball as she did the night before, so it made it hard for players to take good swings and get good chances.

“She didn’t have her best night,” Steinbach said. “But, I thought we still needed her on the floor, because of what she was doing running around.”

Campos still had 36 assists and two aces, but it was a slower night for her.

The big showing was from senior Kathleen Johnson, who

had 17 kills on the night and a .46 attack percentage. She had three kills in the last six points Villanova won to win the second set. However, the story of the game was blown opportunities. Villanova had big leads in the first and third set and could not hold onto them in part due to multiple attack errors by Villanova’s offen sive weapons.

Villanova heads back out on the road this week, first to Washington D.C. on Oct. 5 to face a 3-11 Georgetown team and then to Indianapolis on Oct. 9 to face a 7-9 Butler team.

Field Hockey Drops Two in a Row

The Wildcats played a scoreless first quarter before Le high was awarded a penalty stroke, when it scored to take a one goal lead on Villanova.

Following two overtime wins last weekend, Villanova field hockey fell to Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon, 4-0, and to Lehigh, 2-1, in overtime on Mon day night. With the losses, the Wildcats are now 7-4 on the sea son and have a 1-2 in conference record.

The ODU game was orig inally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 30, but due to unplayable field conditions as a result of the rain, the matchup was rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 1.

Head coach Joanie Milhous said how the Wildcats made the most out of the rain delay, despite the field being flooded.

“We actually used their volleyball court instead,” she said. “We played some volleyball. It was fun — our players loved it, our staff got involved…everyone was positive about the delay.”

The women carried this positivity into game day, getting two shots on goal in the first quar ter, but they came out of the first 15 minutes of play scoreless.

However, ODU stepped up their game in the second quarter, scoring three minutes into the corner and then scoring again less than a minute later to give themselves a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.

Milhous noted that the goals “weren’t a downfall” for the

team. “One was a straight shot that was really well placed, and the other was a rebound off a straight shot,” she explained.

“They just took advantage of good opportunities.”

ODU continued to take advantage of the offensive chances it was given in the second half as well, scoring two more goals in the third quarter to solidify its 4-0 win.

Reflecting on the game, Milhous said how the coaching staff was “disappointed because [they] were expecting to see more out of them.”

“The difference is that they took advantage of opportunities and we didn’t,” she said. “We know we have a lot more play in us, and we just need to consistent ly show that for four quarters in every game.”

On Monday, Oct. 3, the women took on the Lehigh Moun tain Hawks.

“I feel good,” Milhous said on Monday morning. “We took a lot of good takeaways from our short Sunday practice, which I think shows their focus, their dedi cation, the fact that they wanna be better, and that they wanna com mit to our higher standards.”

Heading into the second half, the Wildcats continued their high press and good defense, keeping it to a one goal game. With about 14 minutes remaining, junior forward Meghan Mitchell scored the tying goal for Villano va, sending the women into anoth er overtime match.

As the overtime period started, and just shy of 10 minutes into the quarter, Lehigh capital ized on its offensive press, with Guusje Hogdendoorn scoring and handing the Wildcats their second defeat in three days.

After the Mountain Hawks, the Wildcats will head back to home turf to take on the 7-4 Liberty Eagles on Friday, Oct. 7. The Eagles are currently 3-0 in the Big East, but for ‘Nova, a win over Liberty would bring it back to being a .500 team in conference, which Milhous is excited about.

“I’m glad we have them at home,” Milhous said. “Liberty is always legit, so what we need to do is basically take advantage of any opportunity we get in that game, and continue to minimize their opportunities by playing some really strong defense.”

The Wildcats will then close out their week of play by heading to Maryland for another non-conference matchup against the 4-6 Towson Tigers, which is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9.

Villanova volleyball picked up a needed Big East win on Friday. Christopher Taylor/Villanovan Photography

Brooke Ackerman Staff Writer

Meghan Mitchell (above) scored Villanova’s only goal of the weekend. Courtesy of Villanova Athletics

Anders Said It: Field Hockey is Surprise of Fall Season

Anders Pryor Sports Columnist

Despite a harsh 4-0 shutout loss at 10th ranked Old Dominion over the weekend and a tough 2-1 loss against Lehigh on Monday, the wom en’s field hockey team (ranked 36th) is off to a strong start at 7-4 overall. The Wildcats’ most impressive accomplish ment this season is their 6-0 record at their home stadium, which is located in Conshohocken. With a relatively easy home schedule remaining on the season, field hockey could be the “surprise team” on campus this year by going undefeated at home.

There always seems to be one or two surprise teams every year for Villanova. Last year, the men’s soccer team had its best season in four years that included a NCAA Tournament victory against Vermont. It was the same year we saw the women’s bas ketball team complete an exciting and incredibly noteworthy 11-6 seed upset against BYU. But the field hockey team, which finished with a disap pointing 6-12 record last year, could be the surprise team that grabs ev eryone’s attention and gets the whole campus talking about them come late October.

It won’t be an easy start. The next home game is Oct. 7 against Liberty, which will be the toughest home opponent Villanova will face all season. Liberty is led by senior forward Daniella Rhodes, who leads the team in both shots (42) and goals (nine). She will be the biggest road block in Villanova’s road to remaining undefeated at home.

If Villanova can edge out Lib

erty, it gets a lot easier from there. It finishes its schedule with three consec utive home games against unranked opponents with losing records in Davidson (3-7), Quinnipiac (4-6) and Georgetown (3-8). If Villanova can play to its record and momentum and close out those games, it would give them a 10-0 home record.

The chance for Villanova to accomplish this comes down to effort and energy through the game, some thing its coaches have been preaching all year.

Junior forward Meghan Mitchell, who scored two of the three goals in Villanova’s last home win against La Salle (3-2), including the game winner, spoke about the win and how the Wildcats were able to adjust throughout the game to come out with the win.

“I was really proud of our team’s effort today,” Mitchell said to Villanova Athletics. “I think it was a very hard-fought game throughout

the entire 60 minutes, and then going to overtime, I think we continued to play together as a team. In overtime, we really moved the ball effectively, which allowed us to get on the board quickly. We did a good job playing two touch field hockey, getting the ball quickly up the field.”

Mitchell has been leading the team’s amazing stretch, tying with fel low junior forward Amanda Middle man in goals made (six) and leading the team in shots on goal (23).

If the Wildcats can go on the undefeated home streak that they’re capable of, they can become the surprise team of campus this year that everyone talks about. If they get the wins they need to get and play to their best during non-conference games, they can use that streak to make a push to be one of the 19 teams to make the Field Hockey NCAA Tour nament, one that will have them face an exciting level of competition they haven’t faced in quite some time.

Wednesday, September 28

Men’s Soccer vs Penn State 1-0 W

Thursday, September 29

Women’s Soccer vs Xavier 1-0 L

Friday, September 30

Women’s Tennis @ Navy Blue and Gold Invitational

No Team Scoring

Women’s Cross Country @ Paul Short Run

6th of 46

Men’s Cross Country @ Paul Short Run 2nd of 46

Volleyball vs St. John’s 3-1 W

Saturday, October 1

Women’s Tennis @ Navy Blue and Gold Invitational

No Team Scoring

Men’s Tennis @ Lehigh Invitational

No Team Scoring

Field Hockey @ Old Dominion 4-0 L

Football @ Maine 45-20 W

Volleyball vs Seton Hall 3-1 L

Men’s Soccer @ Creighton 3-1 L

Women’s XC Places Sixth at Paul Short Run

Catherine Browne Staff Writer

Early Friday morning, Villa nova’s women’s cross country team competed in the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh, where it finished in sixth place out of 46 teams, with 279 points. The Wildcats competed against more than 425 runners in the 6,000-meter race on the Good man Campus Course and placed all five scoring athletes in the top 73. The five scoring runners were the same athletes that made an appear ance at the team’s first meet earlier this season.

“As a group, we were look ing to tighten our spread onethrough-five, and we put 32 seconds between our first runner coming in and our fifth runner coming in,” head coach Gina Procaccio said.

Graduate student Lydia Olivere marked a time of 20:06.22, finishing first for the Wildcats lineup and 26th overall. Olivere’s performance on Friday is now her third-fastest recorded time in her collegiate career in the 6,000-meter race.

“[Olivere] is very con sistent,” Procaccio said. “She is a great leader...and I was really pleased with her performance.”

Redshirt freshman Emma McGill came in second among her teammates and 42nd overall, with a time of 20:19.3. Procaccio shared

that McGill suffered from heat ex haustion at her first race earlier this season.

“So we were just looking for her to have a solid race and finish strong,” Procaccio continued.

“[McGill] did amazing...She ran a time that I was really impressed with, and I think there is a lot of good stuff to come with her.”

The remaining three scor ing runners all finished within four seconds of one another crossing the finish line.

“They train together,” Pro caccio said. “It helps really when you are working together to achieve a common goal.”

Freshman Amelia Arri eta recorded a time of 20:34.8, coming in 69th place. Sophomore Emily Robinson finished in 72nd place, with a mark of 20:37.3, and graduate student Ariana Gardizy followed very close behind, finish ing in 73rd place, with a time of 20:38.6.

Sophomore Margaret

Sunday, October 2

Women’s Tennis @ Navy Blue and Gold Invitational

No Team Scoring

Men’s Tennis @ Lehigh Invitational

No Team Scoring

Women’s Soccer vs St. John’s 1-0 W

Monday, October 3

Field Hockey @ Lehigh 2-1 L OT

Tuesday, October 4 None

Carroll finished in 167th, with a mark of 21:20.7, and junior Anna Helwigh came in 198th in 21:30.0, as she passed 37 competitors in the second half of the race.

Procaccio explained that for her young team of athletes, “their experience level is low but they are...really competing like true Villanovans.”

The Wildcats will compete in their next competition on Friday, Oct. 14 at 10:45 a.m. in the Penn State National Open being held on the regionals course.

“It is important for the young kids to have a chance to race on the course before regionals,” Procaccio said.

Penn State is also ranked ahead of the Wildcats. Princeton was previously ranked higher than the Wildcats but finished three spots behind, ending in ninth place following this week’s competition at the Paul Short Run.

Lydia Olivere led the Wildcats, finishing 26th overall in the race.

Courtesy of Villanova Athletics

Villanova is an undefeated 6-0 at home this season.

Courtesy of Villanova Athletics

Men’s Tennis Competes in Lehigh Invitational

James Haupt Staff Writer

This past weekend, the Villanova men’s tennis team com peted with some tough but famil iar foes as it attended the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 1 and 2. The Wildcats performed well once again, continuing their strong and exciting start to the season. The opposing teams included Fairfield, Colgate and the host, Lehigh.

The tournament consisted of a hidden dual format, which al lowed each team to face off against each other in dual style. This was a shortened format that can be at tributed to the poor weather over the weekend. Matches were held at the indoor complex at Lehigh, which only had four courts. This was something the Wildcats had to adjust to, but it proved to be a mi nor inconvenience, as they had a great tournament. Villanova tennis once again left its mark on a rival school’s home court.

Head coach Brad Adams noted the gradual increase in per formance throughout the season as the team really picked it up at the Invitational. The Wildcats took down Colgate and Fairfield with relative ease as they left Adams with many things to be excited about. Villanova’s toughest com petition was against Lehigh. The team struggled a bit in singles, going 3-5 for the weekend. Adams noted they were a little flat during

the singles matches.

Junior captain Josh Robin son showed up as usual, dominat ing opponents. He was a bright spot for Nova during the singles matches against Lehigh. He de feated one of Lehigh’s best, Jere my Learner, with a commanding 8-3 victory.

Another win came from sophomore Trey Fourticq, as he took on another one of Lehigh’s best players. He dominated the opponent Jackson Morash, 8-1, in what was a huge win for the Wild cats.

The last singles win against Lehigh came from senior Alex Kim. He demonstrated his veteran experience and skill in an 8-7 vic tory against Lehigh’s Luke Dono van.

The doubles matches against Lehigh were a completely different story. The Wildcats near ly swept Lehigh in doubles, only losing one match, 7-6. Robinson continued his strong weekend as he teamed up with junior Noah Winton to beat Lehigh’s top duo of Learner and Morash, 6-3. Fourticq got another victory on the day as he paired up with upand-coming star freshman Tighe Brunetti. They defeated Lehigh’s Wyeth Anzilloti and Jordan Paul, 6-1. Brunetti continued his terrific season at the Invitational with this victory and several others against Fairfield and Colgate.

The last doubles victory came from sophomore Lukas Choi

and junior Anthony Prokurat. They won, 6-4, against the Lehigh team of Michael Bukhalo and Donovan. The near doubles sweep rounded out a great matchup against Lehigh and contributed to an overall fantastic outing at the Invitational.

Villanova’s next tourna ment will take place from Oct. 1923 at the ITA Atlantic Regionals. Adams has a plan regarding stay

ing focused and being prepared despite the extended time off be tween matches. The team will be getting some time off during the break to recover and recharge and will be back in action on Wednes day next week, practicing every day up to the invitational.

The ITAs will present stiff competition and Adams hopes to get six to eight of the best players to attend and represent Villanova.

Women’s Tennis Completes Fall Season

Amanda McKean Staff Writer

On Friday, Sept. 30, the Villanova women’s tennis team traveled to the US Naval Academy to play its three-day Navy Blue and Gold invitational.

The singles play did not start off strong for most of the Wildcats. Out of the nine players on the lineup for singles play, just five made it past the Round of 16. Sophomore Chloe Floyd was eliminated in the quarterfinals after only two sets, in which she won a total of three games for the entire match. Nevertheless, head coach Steve Reiniger felt that she showed real improvement.

“I thought Chloe Floyd played the best tennis I’ve seen since she’s been here, and she’s a sophomore,” Reiniger said. “So her tennis is definitely trending up.”

Senior captain Amanda Ri vera and freshman Savarin Seebald were also eliminated in the quarter finals after losing a grueling third set that was decided by a 10-point tiebreaker. The only two players for the Wildcats to make it past the quarterfinals were senior captain Taylor Gould and junior Bella Steffen. In the quarterfinals, Gould won the match in just two sets, only conceding one game. However after winning the second set in the semifinals, Gould was defeated in the third set by a 10-point tiebreak. Steffen made it to the semifinals, where she faced a similar defeat as Gould and lost the third set by a

10-point tiebreaker.

“I thought Isabella Steffen probably had her best tourna ment,” Reiniger said. “I thought she played really well. She was working on stuff, so I appreciated the fact that she was trying what I was asking her to do and still com peting which was great.”

For doubles play, the Wild cats had three out of five of their teams make it to the quarterfinals or further. Steffen and Rivera won in the Round of 16 in a close match, but in the quarterfinals, they lost, 5-7. Senior captains Cailtin Fisher and Gould got a bye for the Round of 16 and won in the quarterfinals, 6-2. However, they faced a tough Navy team in the semifinals and lost. 6-1. The last team to make it far for the Wildcats was composed of sopho mores Emma Brogan and Valieriia

Kornieva. In the Round of 16, the pair won, 6-3, and in the quarterfi nals easily beat a team from UNC by a score of 6-0. However, they went up against a talented pair composed of a player from George town and another from the College of William and Mary and lost in a tiebreaker.

Despite this turnout, Rein iger was still impressed with the overall progress of the team.

“When I brought the team together at the end of the tourna ment I kind of echoed the same sentiments I did at Army’s invita tional,” Reiniger explained. “We’re implementing things that we didn’t do last year. The results are there. We’re more successful. Not that we’ve necessarily beaten a whole lot of teams. But we’ve been very com petitive with teams we made not have been with in the past. Such as

the Navy and Georgetown. Bella [Steffen] and Amanda [Rivera] matched up against Georgetown in their second match and played very well and so did Valieriia [Kornieva] and Emma [Brogan]. All five dou bles teams did what I was asking, worked on different formations at the net, got two up a lot. Just I thought it was very positive. I was pleased as a coach.”

Reiniger explained how he was less concerned about seeing wins and more about trying to im plement things he tells the players.

This was the last tourna ment in the fall for the Wildcats, whose main goal now is to try to correct their mistakes and get bet ter.

“The fall is our practice season, time to get better,” Reiniger said. “It’s hard to make improve ments while you’re competing. It means something in the spring when you’re playing for your team. This is your time to be selfish and get better as an individual. I con sider the offseason our practice season. I thought everything from singles and doubles is trending up.”

The Wildcats have a lot of time until the spring season starts, but Reiniger already knows what work is ahead of them.

“We’re gonna hit the ground running,” he said. “Right after we get back from winter break, I think we have a week of practice and then our first match. Our first match is at Princeton on January 20, and we get back to school on the 17th, so less than a week, so we gotta get to it.”

Alex Kim picked up a singles win for Villanova at the Invitational. Maggie Graw/Villanovan Photography

Chloe Floyd had a strong performance in her singles play. Sam Rabkin/Villanovan Photography

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ASK THE VILLANOVAN

“All my friends are going to Vegas for fall break but I somehow was out of the loop for the entire planning pro cess. How do I not have intense FOMO during break?”

This happens to more peo ple than you probably think. Since the planning is so far in advance and people are so flakey, it is hard knowing when plans are official made.

Unfortunately, a little bit of FOMO is probably unavoidable. However, fall break can still be just as fun, and your break will be much more relaxing.

While Vegas is fun, it’s only a couple days, not the whole break. Try to plan some fun things like going out with your home friends.

Spending time with your family, binging Netflix, and doing fall fun activities is another way to take up your time.

Have a good break and try not to focus on what you’re miss ing! There will be plenty of op portunities for fun trips with your friends in the future.

“I’ve had a sneaky link since the beginning of the year, and now we are approaching fall break. How do I ask them what the vibes are?”

First, try to hangout before break. Maybe even try to facetime or call during the break. This break and as Thanksgiving break approaches presents a good oppor tunity to figure out what is going on between the two of you.

It’s probably time to fig ure out what you want from this situation. You have to ask yourself where you picture this going and what you would want to get out of it.

From there, you can then figure out how to approach talking to them about moving forward. It might be best to be honest and upfront about what you personally want from this.

It probably would be best to have this conversation in per son, probably when you both get from break. Use this time to think about things and figure out how to go through the rest of the semes ter.