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January 17, 2017 Vol. 54 No. 51
Black Lives Matter BLM co-founder comes for ULS
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Healthcare can’t be gambled with Page 4
Ways to land an internship Page 6
Strong’s 2017 class taking shape Page 10
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the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966
Editor in Chief Jacob Hoag oracleeditor@gmail.com Managing Editor Miki Shine oraclemeditor@gmail.com Assistant News Editor Chelsea Grosbeck Sports Editor Vinnie Portell oraclesportseditor@gmail.com
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News Briefs
news
The division of Black Lives Matter UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Eighty-one false killer whales found dead in Everglades
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Students plan protest for Inauguration Day By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G
Ninety-five false killer whales — a dolphin that lives in temperate and tropical waters — were found stranded in Everglades National Park on Monday. Of those, 81 were found dead off the coast of Hog Key, according to NBCMiami. One of the mammals was found alive and the other 13 are still unaccounted for. The National Park Service closed the scene, with no flyovers or boats allowed in the area.
Ringling Bros. Circus to drop the curtain in May After working to delight customers for 146 years, the Ringing Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced it would be closing after May. The circus has been coming under fire by animal rights activists for several years and has been seeing a decline in ticket sales, according to the Washington Post. In 2015, the show announced that it would be retiring its elephants from the show, which the Post said only encouraged the show’s eventual closing.
they didn’t know enough about the issue to offer an opinion. Erik Withers, a professor of sociology at USF, believes part of the division lies in the misconceptions regarding the movement. “(BLM) is about affirming the accomplishments of black Americans throughout history,” Withers said. “There’s gender components to BLM and it’s about respecting differences, empathy, all of these things, those messages don’t get out in the media. “It gets cut off right at aggressiveness and police violence and then the rest of the narratives don’t get heard. I think honestly if those narratives got out a little bit better, more people would be more accepting of it.” Garza and her fellow founders echo the belief that the movement is complex and empathetic in their 13 guiding principles. According to the guidelines of BLM, inclusivity
An era will end Friday and a new one will begin when Republican Donald Trump is officially sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Across the country, college students are planning to make a statement against Trump and some of the policies he’s proposed. Members of USF’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will be among the young adults participating in this statement on Friday. “We’re trying to get students to come out of class and attend a rally or protest to show that, as Trump is inaugurated, we as SDS and we as students are going to begin a long process of fighting back and opposing all of the reactionary and oppressive measures that Trump will introduce and has claimed he will introduce during his presidency,” Sam Beulter, a member of SDS, said. Due to the small number of classes held on Friday, SDS expects about 50 students to show up to the protest held outside of Cooper Hall at 1 p.m. Since Trump’s election, SDS chapters across the country have led protests, spoken with universities about becoming sanctuary campuses to keep undocumented immigrants safe and the “Education for All” campaign that pushes for free tuition to public colleges and increased enrollment for
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The Black Lives Matter movement was started in 2012 in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
By Breanne Williams O P I N I O N
E D I T O R
A polarizing movement since its inception, Black Lives Matter (BLM), which has been showcased at multiple protests and demonstrations throughout the nation over the past five years, has opened the door to discussions on systemic racism. Alicia Garza, a co-creator of BLM is speaking tonight at the Marshall Student Center Ballroom at 8 as part of USF’s MLK Commemorative Week. The lecture will discuss race relations in America and how the movement became a part of national conversation. Garza, the social activist who coined the phrase, helped spur the movement that took the nation by storm following the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. “The sad part is, there’s a section of America who is cheering and celebrating right now,” wrote Garza
on Facebook. “And that makes me sick to my stomach. We gotta get it together y’all… Btw stop saying we are not surprised. That’s a damn shame in itself. “I continue to be surprised at how little black lives matter. And I will continue that. Stop giving up on black life. Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.” From those words penned in a moment of anger and mourning, a movement was born. BLM is a cry for change intended to ensure black lives were no longer “systematically and intentionally targeted for demise,” according to the movement’s website. On paper, the idea seems like a stance everyone would support, however the physical embodiment of the issue has split the nation in two. According to the Pew Research Center, 40 to 45 percent of Americans are in favor of BLM with 20 to 25 percent in opposition and approximately 30 percent saying
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Healthcare: A right that cannot be gambled with By Breanne Williams C O L U M N I S T
One of the major policies created by the Obama administration was the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which many dubbed “Obamacare.” The universal health insurance ensured nearly 20 million Americans had coverage. Now, that system is in the process of being repealed. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, the Senate took major steps toward repealing the ACA. It had been frustrated with the policy for years, and understandably so. The insurance, though well intended, is highly unaffordable for many Americans. And the kicker? It is mandatory, with a fine for those who forgo enrollment. It was required in hopes of encouraging citizens to take their health seriously, but for many, making it a priority is causing them to go into debt. However, those with a low enough income do have the fee waived, which has allowed many who never had insurance to begin to go to the doctor without fear of unaffordable bills. Should the entire policy be scrapped? No. The insurance, though problematic, is helping millions of Americans. It also ensured children could remain on their parents’ insurance until they were 26, a policy that allows so many college students and young adults to be able to maintain their health without having
to give up grocery money or pick up a third job. It needs to be fixed. But gutting the plan and starting completely over will cause far more issues than working on improving the policy will. This is all completely arbitrary if the Trump administration does in fact have the practically perfect replacement plan the president-elect has been touting over the past week. According to Trump, the incoming plan will ensure “insurance for everybody,” and revamp Medicare and Medicaid. Like every other policy Trump has championed, he has refused to reveal any semblance of specifics for the replacement, which unfortunately implies he does not in fact have a concrete plan solidified. This could prove disastrous. Despite its flaws, the ACA is helping 20 million Americans have coverage and their right to health care cannot simply be revoked because a bitter Congress suddenly has a new mouthpiece in office. If Trump does have a wellthought-out plan, which is more comprehensive than its predecessor on the backburner, replacing the ACA may actually not prove detrimental to the 20 million currently ensured. Trump claims the mysterious replacement is going to provide coverage for everyone in the nation, not just the wealthy. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it,”
Trump said. “That’s not going to happen with us.” If such a replacement does exist, the president-elect may soon find a new set of hurdles in his future. His plan, one for healthcare for every citizen, is the very definition of socialized medicine. Just because he wears a Republican badge does not mean the Republican Congress will back his socialized plan. Without a receptive Congress, Trump will face the same issue Obama did. Obtaining the funding necessary to get the program off the ground. Perhaps he will be able to bend congressmen to his whim by bullying them on social media. It does seem to be his favorite strategy in handling opposition. Trump has many pressing issues he will need to address upon entering our nation’s highest office. Creating an entirely new healthcare plan is not one of them. If Trump has a magical replacement that will solve all of the ACA’s issues then by all means, scrap it and start over. Otherwise, focus on fixing the problems in the current plan. It’s not perfect, but it is working. Ripping coverage to advance a party’s agenda will end up hurting the people our politicians have sworn to protect.
Breanne Williams is a senior majoring in mass communications.
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EDITORIAL
No nostalgia spared for end of Ringling Bros. circus Officials of Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, announced Saturday that it will “fold the tent” for good in May. The company stated that 462 people would now be out of a job and cited low-ticket sales and high operating costs as the cause of its financial troubles. Yes, the fact that hundreds are now searching for new employment is sad. However, Ringling should not search for pity from the public over the closing of its doors. Any writer with half a brain can wax poetic about the mystique and allure of an old-fashioned circus full of deathdefying feats and exotic animals, as is being showcased in the many nostalgia-themed articles flooding papers across the country. The truth is not so pleasant. For 146 years, the Ringling Bros. circus used animal cruelty to put on a slightly nauseating show. Asian elephants were forced to perform like dolls for the captivated public and animal activists have fought tooth and nail to end the cruel treatment needed to evoke such seamless performances. In 2016 the company caved to the many lawsuits and protestors and retired all 40 of its elephants to the Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. However, it made no such promises for the lions, tigers and kangaroos that performed stunts in the show. It’s hard to call up pleasant memories of clowns piling out of cars when you automatically recall the look in the elephant’s eye as it tried to balance on a ball to please its trainer. Humans swinging from trapezes were entertaining, lions being whipped into submission was not. The practice is outdated and with the current focus on ensuring rights for those who can’t speak for themselves — a practice that should have always been a priority, but sadly seems to just recently matter to most Americans — the circus had to learn to function without its graceful four-legged stars. So no, the closing of Ringling Bros. circus is by no means a tragedy. The company stated it would aid in the transition of its employees to other jobs so hopefully the majority of them are able to find work elsewhere without a hassle. And at the end of the day, a group of animals who have been exploited their entire lives now have a shot at a peaceful retirement. So put away the tissues America and grab some confetti. If you’re really missing the pizazz of circus life, flip on Dumbo, and in an hour and a half, you’ll be over it and no animals will have had to work for your enjoyment.
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Sexual harassment lawsuit involving USF professor settled
The lawsuit concerning USF professor Herb Maschner was settled for $170,000 between Idaho State and Kelly Pokorny. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE According to the Journal, By Jacob Hoag E D I T O R I N C H I E F Pokorny claimed that Maschner entered her office on Oct. 25, Idaho State University, 2013, closed the door and forcibly and former school employee kissed and grabbed her. Maschner Kelly Pokorny settled a sexual then left after she resisted. harassment lawsuit Friday Pokorny said there were other involving current USF professor similar comments and actions and former executive director for leading up to this event and filed the Center for Virtualization and a complaint three days later, Applied Spatial Technologies Herb according to the Journal. Maschner, according to the Idaho ISU’s human resources Journal. department and the school’s The lawsuit stemmed from Equal Opportunity Affirmative allegations that Maschner, who Action and Diversity Office has since been removed from both investigated the validity of his executive director position Pokorny’s claims, according to the after failing to disclose these Journal, finding that she was, in allegations to USF prior to being fact, telling the truth. hired, forcibly kissed and grabbed According to the Times, Pokorny in October 2013. Pokorny took a voluntary leave The lawsuit was settled for of absence for four months while $170,000 after multiple attempts her complaint was investigated. at mediation, according to the During her leave, Maschner began Journal. complaining about Pokorny’s Maschner, 57, was hired by work ethic, according to court USF in August 2015. He failed to records obtained by the Times. tell the school of the allegations Maschner was suspended at Idaho State until shortly before without pay for two weeks, given the news was going to break back a formal reprimand and ordered in Idaho. to attend sexual harassment In an email provided to training, according to the Times. The Tampa Bay Times by USF Maschner received a 1 percent in October 2016, Maschner merit pay increase in his final requested a meeting with Dean of months at ISU, elevating his pay the College of Arts and Sciences to $137,550, according to the Eric Eisenberg, claiming that a Times. newspaper in Idaho was going He failed to fulfill his sexual to publish a story regarding the harassment training prior to sexual harassment allegations. leaving ISU to take a position at On Nov. 16, Maschner was USF. stripped of his title as executive USF admitted in an article director, but retained his status as in the Times that the hiring of a professor.
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BLM
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lies at the core of the movement. “To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a necessary prerequisite for wanting the same for others,” write the founders. Yet Garza herself has faced heavy opposition when speaking about the issue. In February of 2016, she was scheduled to speak at Webster University in St. Louis, sparking uproar on social media and causing her to cancel the lecture. Garza said she made the decision after receiving threats and online attacks toward not only herself, but also the organization as a whole. Withers said social media has heavily impacted the way our community as a whole responds to issues like BLM. Unlike in prior generations, people are no longer able to “escape” controversial issues or other people’s opinions on those issues. They are constantly bombarded with thoughts, opinions and a feed of updates on whatever the topic may be, and many of the people they love will voice opinions online that may contradict their own, causing lines to be drawn. America’s political leaders also play a strong role in the division, according to Withers. The current political climate is saturated in “doomsday” paranoia and elected officials feed that fear to the masses. “(The message is) there’s no hope, the future is doomed unless we make boundaries right now, make sides,” Withers said. “There’s us and there’s them and that’s it… There lacks leadership that is trying to spread a message of bridging gaps. There lacks leadership on the highest levels that is trying to be empathetic and bridge gaps between groups. “We’re in a time right now where leadership is explicitly trying to create gaps and that’s what we’re seeing then play out in the media and then on social media and things like that.” With division, comes closedmindedness. The social media marketing firm Rantic polled 10,000 Facebook users and found that 94 percent of Republicans, 92 percent of Democrats, and 85 percent of Independents said they’d never altered or reversed their view of an issue or stance based on a Facebook post. Regardless of the validity of
Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, will be speaking Tuesday evening at 7 in the Oval Theater. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE the information, in most cases of the movement, highlighting the social media has been proven to growing activism of the millennial Yet Withers said have little influence in changing generation. stances. However, it is successful in he worries the activism itself is spreading an issue worldwide, as creating a divide amongst the seen in BLM. Facebook took what generation. “One thing that’s really was simply a comment on a single incident and created a national terrifying to me, I keep thinking conversation. That conversation about identity formation while has caused many to analyze the we’re talking and collective identity American justice system and if formation,” Withers said. “There systemic racism is truly permeating are these millennials that are all for social justice and want to speak up our society. Now, the conversation is being on issues and support things like BLM but then there’s this other brought to USF. “The ULS student organizers identity formation that’s anti-that. “I’m not really sure what they’re chose Garza with the expectation that she will engage the audience for but they’re anti-that. That’s in a timely discussion about race becoming kind of concerning relations in America and how her too, that we’re building identities organization’s activism became around all of this.” BLM has become a household the national movement it is today, galvanizing individuals to stand up name, however, no changes have together against violence, police yet to be made regarding the brutality and social injustice,” government’s role in protecting the Marion Huntley, Coordinator for the rights brought up in the movement. “Everybody is now aware of Center for Student Involvement, Black Lives Matter, for the most part said. Garza’s lecture will discuss … but it doesn’t mean systemic transforming BLM from a hashtag racism has been eradicated,” to a human’s rights organization. A Garza said in an interview with USA TODAY/Rock the Vote survey The Guardian. “We’ve got dozens found 58 percent of Americans and dozens of laws that prevent age 18 to 34 had a favorable view discrimination, but there’s still
LIFESTYLE
Ways to find internships before graduation
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By Nicole Cate L I F E S T Y L E
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Now, probably more than ever, soon-to-be college graduates find themselves anxious about their uncertain future. Students are bombarded with news reports about the lack of jobs almost daily, much less the income they can look forward to. Friday, the AP reported “millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve data by the advocacy group Young Invincibles.” Students who want a leg up against their ambitious counterparts should aim to get at least one internship in their chosen field under their belt before they graduate. While having a few would be opportune, just one is enough to show potential employers that an applicant is not only serious about their industry, but that they also have adequate experience already. People who don’t know where to find these coveted positions can start their search at these four places. They should also keep in mind that most internships are unpaid and should plan accordingly. Advisers
Academic advisers should always be a student’s first stop whenever they don’t know what their next step is. They are the Yoda to a pupil’s Skywalker, leading them toward the Force to the best of their abilities. Students can go to their advisers because they’re the ones most likely to have their ears to the ground about available internships and maybe even jobs. Before an appointment, students should ensure they don’t waste any advising time. They should go in with specific positions they feel as
Students can visit their advisor, professor or look online for internship opportunities in their given field. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE. if they’d be suited for and businesses they’re interested in working at. This gives the adviser a better idea of what to look out for. The chances of a student landing a perfect internship right away are low, but knowing what they want will allow them to narrow their search and find the closest possible opportunity. Professors Another person who could help is a professor in the department, preferably one who has worked in the exact field that the student wants to work in. Students in college should already make it a priority to get to know their profes-
sors personally. These are the people who write recommendations for graduate schools and even jobs. Most professors who have worked in industries other than higher education probably still have connections at their previous workplaces. If a student is comfortable enough with their professor to ask, they can inquire about internships at a previous job that the professor has had. Students will be surprised by how willing their instructors are to help out. They, as well as advisors, may even be aware of available internships not posted online or anywhere else, so students should not rule out visiting either of these people
because of the internet.
worth it.
Cold email
Internet
For students who have had their eye on the perfect position at the perfect company, and they don’t see any opening on their website, don’t be scared of cold emailing the company. Find out the head of the exact department, human resources, or just the owner or boss, and send them an email describing your passion for their company, along with your resume and cover letter tailored to the job. Be sure to outline all the benefits you would add to their team. If they’re creating a position for one person, they better be
Students who are comfortable in their research skills can do what everyone does in the 21st century when looking for answers of any kind: Google it. They can either do a general web search for internships, or look on websites made for internships such as internships.com, looksharp.com, or even, popular job board, indeed.com. Also, some departments have their own websites where they post any and all internships in their field that they find. Students can ask a professor or advisor about this.
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Classifieds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
To place a classified ad go to
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http://www.usforacle.com/classifieds
CHILD CARE
HELP WANTED
Driver/tutor Female driver for middle school student, from Tampa Palms to Land’O Lakes. 2X a day, around 6-8am, & 3:15-4:15pm. Pay time will start out from driver’s home & end at driver’s home. Will pay gas. Some Saturday night coverage. Email kejiazhang@yahoo.com
File Clerk South Tampa Law Firm is seeking full and part time file clerks for busy office; Must be able to work Monday through Friday during regular 8am5:30pm business hours.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Responsibilities include filing, errands, copy projects and assisting with processing mail, etc. Applicant must have valid Florida driver’s license with reliable transportation and professional appearance. Typing speed of 70 wpm + is preferred but not necessary. Please respond to tampa.jobs@ rissman.com and reference “Tampa File Clerk”.
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ketball team rebounded quickly with a 79-48 win over East Carolina on Saturday. Senior Ariadna Pujol led USF back to the win column with a 23-point, eight-rebound performance that landed her on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll. Though the Bulls responded with a 31-point win after their devastating loss to the Huskies, coach Jose Fernandez said his team still has work to do when it comes to playing with the right mindset. “In order for us to be great, the score shouldn’t matter,” Fernandez said. “Every possession matters. That’s why Connecticut is so good. The score doesn’t matter, every possession does. That’s what separates the good from the great. That’s what this team needs to realize. We have to play every possession like it matters, like it’s
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the last possession of the game and the game is tied. Until that happens, we won’t reach where we want to get to.” USF will have an opportunity to show Fernandez it’s ready to be great when it hosts Memphis and No. 9 Louisville this week, beginning with a game tonight at 7 against the Tigers at the Sun Dome. No. 25 USF men’s tennis sweeps FGCU. In the Bulls’ first return to action in the spring semester, the USF men’s tennis team swept FGCU in both singles and doubles play at the FGCU Spring Invite. Sunday, USF finished strong as four Bulls, including newcomers Pierre Luquet and Jakub Wojcik, won their matches without dropping a single set to the Eagles. Next up for the Bulls will be ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Gainesville, beginning with a match against LSU on Jan. 28.
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minority students, according to the national website. “What SDS stands for is standing for the rights of students who are immigrants, we fight against racism and all these things,” Beulter said. “Trump sort of represents this figure that is openly racist, openly sexist and we feel like to not oppose him is to not oppose someone who represents a threat to a lot of these communities.” Members of SDS consider a large portion of Trump’s policies to be negative responses to socially progressive movements made over the past eight years. This includes motions to lower wages for workers and deport
undocumented immigrants. “Trump does represent a threat to immigrants,” Beulter said. “His policies toward immigrants are reactionary. His policies even toward workers are very harmful. If you look at his policy, he has what he hopes to accomplish in the first 100 days and there’s policies that were drafted that would ultimately end up making wages much lower.” Beulter said this protest is the beginning of the organization’s movement to continue standing up for its values that don’t match up with Trump’s policies. “We just feel like our goal as SDS is to continue to fight back against Trump’s agenda of hatred and oppression that we see coming for the next four years,” Beulter said.
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Maschner did not involve the same reference checks “routinely applied to other searches at the time and now required by USF policy in all searches.” New hiring policy came into effect after USF learned of a report by a past employer of former Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications Director Samuel Bradley, which detailed inappropriate actions, often sexual, that had occurred with students. Bradley was eventually fired and new hiring policies were put in place. Maschner and USF spokesmen were unable to be reached for comment regarding the settlement.
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
The Rundown Outside USF
Oregon players hospitalized At least three Oregon football players have been hospitalized after going through “grueling strength and conditioning workouts,” according to The Oregonian. The workouts, led by former USF strength coach Irele Oderinde, were described as similar to basic military training. Hospitalized players were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, which is a syndrome where muscle tissue is broken down with leakage into the blood stream of muscle contents. Oregon coach Willie Taggart checked in with the hospitalized players before leaving the state to continue recruiting.
Football
Women’s Basketball
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ECU USF Men’s Basketball
USF Memphis
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Notebook
USF’s 2017 recruiting class taking shape Two Bulls drafted into MLS
Marcus Epps became the highest drafted Bull since Ben Sweat was taken 14th by the Columbus Crew in 2014. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ JACKIE BENITEZ
USF coach Charlie Strong has two weeks to go before locking in his first recruiting class as coach of the Bulls.
By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S
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ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ
By Chuck Muller S T A F F
USF weekend scoreboard
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A little over a month into the Charlie Strong era of USF football, one of Strong’s strengths and reasons behind bringing him in is already being put to the test. With National Signing Day just over two weeks away on Feb. 1, the Bulls currently sit with the fifth best recruiting class in the AAC, according to 247sports.com, and seventh according to Scout.com. Both sites currently project Memphis to have the best class in the conference. All of USF’s 13 hard commitments are from Florida, with six hailing from the Tampa Bay area. The Bulls also have one early enrollee, receiver Jernard Phillips (Miami, FL), who enrolled at the university
Jan. 10 from Miami Central High School, according to his Twitter account. Presently, USF is without a four or five-star commitment. Last season at Texas, Strong signed 18 four-star recruits and one five-star. The highest rated players of the Bulls’ three-star recruits from the 2017 class are athlete Bruce Judson (Cocoa, FL) and offensive guard Jean Marcellus (Tampa, FL). Judson, who was a fouryear starting quarterback at Cocoa High School, finished his senior season with over 7,000 career all-purpose yards. Listed as an athlete, Judson originally committed to USF on July 7 while being recruited by newly named Oregon coach and former Bulls coach Willie Taggart. Before potentially signing as a Bull at the end of the month, Judson has scheduled a recruiting visit to check
out Taggart and the Ducks on Jan. 20 before making an official decision. After several injuries to the offensive line this past season, the 6-foot 3-inch Marcellus shapes ups to be the prospect with the highest likelihood of seeing the field next season after a season-ending injury to freshman right tackle Billy Atterburry and lingering injuries to senior left tackle Kofi Amichia. Marcellus, graduating from Tampa’s Jefferson High School, is the 33rd-rated offensive guard in the country, according to 247sports.com. Though it remains to be seen exactly who will wind up faxing in their letters of intent to USF on the morning of Feb. 1, Strong’s history of recruiting and coaching at both Louisville and Texas bodes well for the Bulls keeping many of their 2017 commits.
Coming off a season in which they helped USF win the regular season AAC title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, former Bulls men’s soccer players Marcus Epps and Lindo Mfeka were drafted in the MLS Super Draft on Friday night. A four-year starter for USF, Epps became the first Bull to be drafted since 2015 when he was selected with the 25th pick of the draft by the Philadelphia Union. Mfeka, also a four-year starter, was taken minutes later when the San Jose Earthquakes drafted the midfielder with the 28th overall selection. The pair joins a group of 23 other USF players who have been selected in the MLS Super Draft. Women’s basketball bounces back Following the worst loss in program history, a 102-37 beatdown by UConn, the USF women’s bas-
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University’s athletic leaders are being whisked away as teams turn the corner
USF athletic director Mark Harlan is in the third year of a five-year contract with the school, but will likely be targeted by Arizona in its search of a new athletic director. ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ Over the years, USF has grown accustomed to the coaching turnover often seen in Division I athletics. In the past, much of this instability was due to a lack of sustained success, something that can become difficult to hold Vinnie Portell onto outside of a Power-5 COM M ENTAR Y conference. In recent years, USF wound up stuck paying for several coaches it no longer employed like Jim Leavitt, Skip Holtz and Stan Heath. But, times are changing at USF. Aside from the firing of men’s basketball coach Orlando Antigua to open the new year, USF’s coaches have been reversing the trend. With former football coach Willie Taggart gone to Oregon and former men’s soccer coach George Kiefer now employed by N.C. State, USF coaches are moving on to greener pastures for the first time.
Soon, the man behind the reconstruction of USF athletics could join the growing list of athletic leaders on campus to make the jump to a Power-5 school. With Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne reportedly accepting the same position at Alabama, some in the media have pointed to USF athletic director and Arizona alum Mark Harlan potentially replacing Byrne in Tucson. Though Arizona has yet to make an announcement on how they will replace Byrne, it’s only a matter of time before Harlan hears from them. But unlike the loss of coaches like Taggart or Kiefer, keeping Harlan on board is essential to the budding future of an athletics program going through a time of transition. Since being hired to replace Doug Woolard in the spring of 2014, Harlan oversaw a program turnaround that led to postseason success of nearly every team on campus. The crowning achievement in his tenure with the school has been the resurgence of the Bulls football
team, which won a school-record 11 games in 2016 after winning only two games in 2013. Harlan also worked to extend the deals of both Taggart and women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez, along with hiring baseball coach Mark Kingston, who led USF to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. His most celebrated hire came this winter, when he swiftly agreed to terms with USF football coach Charlie Strong, who was let go from Texas at the end of the 2016 season. Along with adding Strong, Harlan has also launched studies to gauge the potential value of building an on-campus stadium. The vision and direction that Harlan has used to steadily guide USF athletics cannot be overlooked and is sorely needed on Fowler Avenue. Even though there may not be much USF can do to compete with the money and power that a Power-5 school such as Arizona can offer, the school should make every effort to retain Harlan before it finds itself a victim of its own success.
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