The Commonwealth Times; September 25, 2017

BEST SMALL, NON-DAILY —2017 Virginia Press Association The independent press of Virginia Commonwealth University

September 25, 2017 • Vol. 59, No. 5

NEWS Student protests • 3

SPORTS Volleyball • 5

SPORTS Sanders signs • 6

SPECTRUM Virginia Pride • 8

SPECTRUM Islam Awareness Week • 8

The future of Title IX Department of education pushes new sexual assault guidelines

Rights believe that providing all with an educational environment free from discrimination is extremely important.”

On April 4, 2011, VCU PresiDespite its seemingly casual dent Michael Rao received a let- presentation, the letter would ter signed by the President of the change how universities and colUnited States, Barack Obama. leges around the country dealt with “Dear Colleague,” it sexual assault cases on campus. read. “The U.S. Department of The administration’s new guidEducation and its Office for Civil ance sought to hold universities FADEL ALLASSAN Contributing Writer

to account for how they handle sexual assault cases under Title IX, one of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 forbidding discrimination on the basis of sex at any educational institution receiving federal funding.

“We are the first administration to make it clear that sexual assault is not just a crime, it can be a violation of women’s civil rights,”

OPINIONS Besty DeVos • 11

said Vice President Joe Biden the day the letter was sent.

Those new guidances, however, came under threat when Donald Trump became president and appointed Betsy DeVos to the Secretary of Education position. At her confirmation hearing in January, DeVos waffled when asked

by Washington Sen. Patty Murray whether the DOE’s Office of

Civil Rights would be able to enforce Title IX as it did in the past administration.

“Senator, if confirmed, I commit that I will be looking very closely at how this has been regulated and handled, and with great sensitivity to those who are victims, and also considering perpetrators as well,” DeVos said. “But please know that I am very sensitive to this.”

ILLUSTRATION BY JULIE WANG

NEWS Letter from a survivor • 3

Following a series of meetings with groups representing survivors of campus sexual assault and men’s rights groups in July, DeVos said it was time to reexamine the previous administration’s policies. continued on pg 3

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The Commonwealth Times

CRIME LOG

Monday, September 18 Simple Assault 600 W. Grace St Pending Larceny Cabell Library 901 Park Ave Pending Shoplifting ABC 1217 W. Broad St. Outside Agency Hit & Run 100 S. Harrison St. Outside Agency Theft 1418 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency

Tuesday, September 19 Alcohol Violation 1 N. Cherry St. Closed Hit and Run 101 S. Linden St. Pending Disorderly Conduct 830 W. Grace St Outside Agency Forgery by Prescription 520 W. Broad St. Outside Agency PHOTO BY CASEY COLE

Wednesday, September 20 Harassment 720 W. Franklin St. Pending

Hit & Run 900 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Drunkenness 900 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Alcohol Violation 1000 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Harassment 720 W. Franklin St. Pending Destruction of Property 1011 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Hit & Run 900 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Alcohol Violation 900 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Alcohol Violation 1000 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency

Thursday, September 21 Alcohol Violation 900 W. Main St. Closed Drug Violation 300 W. Main St. Closed Fraud - ATM 1108 W. Leigh St. Outside Agency Larceny 1400 W. Cary St. Outside Agency Hit & Run 500 N. Belvidere St. Outside Agency

Friday, September 22 Alcohol Violation B1000 W. Cary St Closed Hit & Run 500 N. Belvidere St. Outside Agency Alcohol Violation 900 W. Main St Closed Drug Violation 300 W. Main St. Closed Fraud 1008 W. Leigh St. Outside Agency Destruction of Property 1006 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency Larceny 1400 W. Cary St. Outside Agency Hit & Run

Download the VCU LiveSafe mobile phone app to report crimes anonymously.

To contact the VCU PD: (804) 828-1196.

For an on-campus emergency: (804) 828-1234.

For an off-campus emergency: 911.

VCU’s SGA held its first roundtable discussion with student organizations and members of the university’s administration since 2007.

Rao, SGA hold roundtable discussion EMMA GAUTHIER Contributing Writer VCU’s Student Government Association (SGA) resurrected the SGA roundtable on Sept. 22 for the first time since 2007.

SGA President Destinee’ Moragne said the reason for bringing back the roundtable is because, “face to face communication is better than constantly sending out emails or talking on social media.”

Moragne said this is a more beneficial way of communicating with VCU President Michael Rao. “It shows students that our president is an awesome human being and they can ask him questions,” Moragne said.

According to Moragne, SGA’s slogan, “empowering the students’ voice” means their main job is to

hear student concerns and voice them to administration so that actual change can occur on campus.

The purpose of the roundtable is to open up a new method of communication between the student body and VCU’s administration.

The discussion began with a Q&A between Rao and student representatives of organizations.

Rao opened with his vision of strategic planning and how it will come into effect in the five year plan. He broke this into three main sections including: community engagement, research, and an upgraded medical system.

To prove it’s commitment to community engagement, the SGA has put forward an incentive, “Ramcentive,” in which 26 student organizations will be eligible for an extra $300 in funding if they partake in at least 16 hours of commu-

nity service.

Ramcentive is expected to offer nearly eight-thousand dollars to student organizations.

In addition, Rao expressed his commitment to first-generation students. According to him, VCU does not want to increase tuition or tighten admission requirements especially for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend college.

“If you look at the university it’s a place with buildings and a library, but the most important part of the university is the human development,” Rao said. “That’s what makes a university a university.”

VCU aims to advance their research in addiction and cancer, involving fields of medicine and social work. In order to progress with the research department, VCU’s medical systems will also need to continue to strengthen.

In a given year, 600,000 patients are treated at the VCU Medical Center a year. Because of that, VCU is dedicated to making the medical system as comfortable and easy to navigate as possible.

Rao also commended the School of Business.

“One thing the school of business has done, with my full encouragement, is developing a strategic plan surrounding creativity which leads to innovation,” Rao said.

Alicia Thompson, a representative of the Association of Black Social Workers, said she believed the roundtable was helpful.

“It adds the avenues to where we continue to advocate and how we can plug our students into our VCU community because that’s important to us as social workers,” Thompson said.

Rao introduced a vision of

merging schools and majors. For example, he suggested that instead of having more than 100 programs of study to choose from, there will be subdivisions like creativity or innovation.

“I came in with an open mind, not knowing what to expect,” said Jasmine Williams, a representative of Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated. “I want to get direct questions from our organization to bring to President Rao and the VCU administration.”

SGA will hold more roundtables in the future and encourage students to be as involved as they can in voicing their opinions, concerns and visions directly to the university’s administration.

Doctoral student explores education system in new podcast ZOBIA NAYYAR Contributing Writer VCU School of Education doctoral student David Naff is inspiring students and teachers across Virginia through his podcast ‘Abstract,’ where he explores issues concerning K-12 education.“We created ‘Abstract’ to provide people in the metropolitan Richmond area with a place to learn about what is being done in their local schools, and to invite them into a broader conversation about current issues in public education,” Naff said.

In the first year ‘Abstract’ launched, they had episodes concerning racial disproportionality in school practices and policies, increasing cultural diversity in local school districts and understanding teacher morale.

In a series titled “Crosswords in Education,” the podcast featured conversations with local teacher, students, administrators, researchers, and policymakers on the future of public education.

“I applaud David’s effort to spread the word surrounding not only the problems with the status quo of education but also some of the solutions,” said Brian Condit, a preservice teacher and an active listener of the podcast.

All of these issues are related to their different projects with Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) in the School of Education at VCU. MERC deals with the needs of the VCU community and connects the

IMGAE COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Destruction of Property 1011 W. Marshall St. Outside Agency

VCU doctoral student David Naff explores issues in the U.S. education system, in his podcast, ‘Abstract.’

VCU School of Education with seven local districts in order to strategize and conduct research.

“At MERC, we are committed to conducting research that is relevant to our local school divisions and disseminating it in formats that are engaging and accessible,” said Naff.

He said he found that pod-

casts were the most engaging tool to share his findings and because we wanted the information to be easily accessible.

In his podcast, Naff features work done in Richmond’s local school divisions including Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Powhatan, and Richmond. They also have

listeners from all across the world.

“Those educators (in the local school divisions) are a key part of our audience because we want to share information that is meaningful to them,” Naff said.

Naff hosts and produces the podcast with the help of education researchers and practitioners. They offer their thoughtful perspectives

on complicated issues while Naff shares them.

“I have listened to other ‘Abstracts’ and think they are amazing,” said Laura Faulcon, assistant principal of Chesterfield County Public Schools. “I think they give multiple perspectives and encourage listeners to think for themselves about difficult topics.”

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, September 25, 2017

A survivor’s letter

Will future sexual assault survivors get the justice they deserve?

NICOLE* Special to The CT

ILLUSTRATION BY ALLISON VERJINSKI

Editor’s Note: The following content may be triggering for some readers. It is an account of a young woman who survived sexual assault on campus. She has asked to go by her middle name for safety concerns.

I can only remember flashes.

There were street lights above and the cold cement beneath my body, my mind disoriented, my throat dry and head throbbing.

After that, I remember laying naked on a couch, scared and confused, not knowing where I was or what happened. The final thing my mind has allowed me to remember is standing alone in Monroe Park surrounded by darkness.

I returned to my dorm room at Brandt Hall, still unsure of what had happened -- all I knew was I needed a shower and sleep to stop the nausea. I awoke at four in the morning gripped by a panic attack. My roommate tried to calm me down and started asking me what had happened.

Throughout the day we began to piece together the horror I had survived.

Then there was the hospital.

I went to the emergency room that evening and had a rape kit performed. Between the eight vials of blood, the shots and swabs, and of course the pelvic exam revealing vaginal tearing, the full realization of what I had gone through came to light.

The blessing during the exam was the forensic nurse who comforted me and called a wellness advocate to sit with me and help me remain calm. The VCU Police came and questioned me to try and figure out where the assault occurred and alerted the school.

As a freshman who wasn’t from

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the area, I wasn’t sure of my surroundings. I told them about the party, and how I had gotten there and who I went with. I told them how I couldn’t find my friends and asked an acquaintance to walk me home, then after that there was a lapse in memory, and the flashbacks started. Later, the police pieced together the specific block in Uptown where the assault took place and informed me.

The VCU Title IX coordinator reached out to me and shared the available resources our school offered and ensured me not to worry about starting classes right away.

I started going to The Well and University Counseling Services a few days later.

If it hadn’t been for The Well I don’t think my life would’ve normalized as quickly as it did. They served as a liaison between myself and the detective on my case.

The people in my life who know about my assault continue to ask me why I didn’t press charges.

To be frank, I just wanted it all to be over with as soon as possible.

I wanted to start classes, meet new people and have my life return to normal once again.

However, with the Title IX reform I am concerned as to what will happen if I do ever decide to reopen my case and pursue charges.

I’m at such a good place now a year after my assault that I don’t want to be stuck in a limitless loop of accusations and appeals by my attacker.

As for future victims and recent survivors, I can only hope they will have confidence in the resources our school provides. As for receiving justice for the unforgettable, traumatizing events that happened to them, I’m not so sure anymore.

NIA TARIQ Contributing Writer VCU Libraries commemorated the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution’s signing with a week of educational events.

Among these events was a presentation called “You Can’t Say That! What does the U.S. protect in terms of free speech?” Wednesday in the Cabell Library.

Stephani Rodgers, user services coordinator of VCU Libraries’ Teaching, Learning and Information Department, organized the event.

She praised the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., for his initiative in pursuing Constitution education programming for federally-funded institutions.

“The university is required by law to make the Constitution available to students,” Rodgers said.

VCU Libraries is part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP.) The U.S. Government Publishing Agency (GPO) extended a special thanks to several public libraries - VCU Libraries included - on the FDLP website for participating in Constitution Day activities.

Some libraries just put up a poster, Rodgers said. However, she affirmed that VCU has some of the most personable history and political science professors here to explain the Constitution in an understandable context.

John Kneebone, chair and associate professor for the VCU Department of History, and John Aughenbaugh, assistant professor of the VCU Department of Political Science, led the discussion on First Amendment rights.

Aughenbaugh said colleges are

torn between trying to be inclusive while also valuing all speech.

Speech can be regulated in certain areas of campus. At VCU, that location is The Compass.

Aughenbaugh said this is because safety is the utmost concern.

“The power of hate speech is that it’s not comfortable and it’s unacceptable,” Kneebone said.

“Such speech, although repulsive to some, can attract people, which creates a necessity for college campuses to have safe forums.”

One attendee asked the professors’ their thoughts on campus safe spaces.

“Universities have made commitments to provide safe spaces to young people,” Aughenbaugh said. “I would prefer to have them be the classroom.”

He also stressed the importance of political discourse in the college classroom, calling on students who do not share the beliefs of the majority to speak up and share their opinions – not just complain about professor’s ideology. “[Professors] are the arbiter of whether or not a student has gone too far,” Aughenbaugh said.

Laura Bryant, a senior political science student, echoed the importance of the inclusivity of different ideologies, especially at VCU. “We support discourse and discussion,” Bryant said, despite her feelings that the university “doesn’t leave room for ‘the right’ to express their views.”

Rodgers emphasized the importance of young people across the nation being acquainted with the Constitution.

“How do you know what you’re fighting for if you haven’t read it?”

Rodgers said. “The language is not easy but it is worth it.”

PHOTO BY MYLES T. FRANCISCO

VCU Libraries takes on freedom of speech for Constitution Day

Assistant professor in the school of politcal science, John Aughenbaugh, (pictured above) helped lead the discussion.

Universities get new sexual assault guidelines continued from pg 1 Last Friday, she made her intentions more clear when she rescinded Obama-era directives giving guidance to university officials on how to investigate on-campus sexual assault cases.

The Department of Education withdrew the Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence from 2011,

and the Questions and Answers on Title IX Sexual Violence from 2014 — reversing the Obama administration’s policy.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter of her own, DeVos said schools should continue to tackle the issue of campus sexual assault, but the process must be “fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in

its outcomes.”

The DOE issued new interim guidelines for dealing with campus rape. A new Q&A was posted on the department website.

“This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly,” Devos said.

VCU Pres. Michael Rao re-

sponded to the Department of Education’s new guidelines on dealing with sexual assault this morning, saying the new instructions do not change the university’s legal responsibilities.

In a statement, Rao said VCU “maintains its inexorable commitment to the safety, security and success of all of our people.”

Title IX training will continue to be mandatory for faculty, staff and students, Rao said. The university will also maintain policies aimed at equity as well as its grievance procedures. The statement did not make clear, however, whether the new guidelines mean the university will change anything about its approach to handling sexual as-

sault cases.

“Together, we will continue to enhance our culture of trust and work to eliminate all forms of sexual violence on our campuses,” Rao said.

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The Commonwealth Times

Expert Christina Mancini on what Title IX changes could mean for VCU

What did Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, originally propose to change?

In a Congressional hearing,

You said Title IX is a broad legislation. How does Title IX specifically address sexual violence?

The way it’s been interpreted is

that students are entitled to a safe and non-hostile environment. If students are being sexually harassed or are at high risk of being sexually victimized merely because they’re attending college-- this would suggest that a campus is a hostile educational environment.

This is a gender neutral type of legislation, but it is predominantly concentrated on female students because they tend to be victims of sexual victimization in the general population, but even more so in the college population. That’s why there has been a call for colleges to provide a fair and safe environment for students.

We all are all familiar with the required Title IX training that everyone on campus is required to complete. I will say, having looked at our Title IX services and based on what I’ve seen at other universities, I think we really are a model for people nationally.

We have an excellent set of resources -- this is true for the complainants and the respondents. Remember, universities have to be fair watch dogs here. The university cannot take sides. We have services for survivors and services for respondents -- individuals who face these disciplinary review boards.

In a recent project you partnered with The Wilder School to look into mandatory reporting laws.

In a poll, 92% of respondents said sexual assaults should be reported to police -- not handled by university officials. Can you speak to the thought process behind that response?

I think what that 92 percent

was getting at was supporting a mandatory reporting law and that’s exactly what we’ve incorporated in the Commonwealth. Every employee at a publicly funded university and college in Virginia must report any allegation of a sexual assault.

For example, if a student discloses to me that they have been assaulted I would have to forward that information to our Title IX coordinators. The coordinators would then contact the individual and conduct an investigation based on a committee decision. They would also decide if the allegation appears to warrant additional law

PHOTO BY HIBDA AHMAD

DeVos mentioned that she cared about the safety of individuals on college campuses, so that presumably can mean that she is conThe Commonwealth Times sat down cerned about victimization. She with Christina Mancini, associate also expressed that some of the professor of criminal justice in the measures passed under the forDouglas L. Wilder School of Govern- mer administration, most notably ment and Public Affairs, to discuss the the “Dear Colleague” letter of role and future of Title IX on college 2011. According to legal commencampuses. tators, the letter provided more guidelines and responsibilities for What’s your background and universities to stamp out sexual research you’ve done? victimization and to incorporate a lot of measures that are more I have done my doctoral work in sex offending and sexual victim- pro-victim, which is known as the complainant or those who bring ization. My current work looks at forth instances of sexual assault. campus crime and criminal justice There were some commentators policy including public opinion. who felt that it was an overstep on I’ve done some polling research the Obama Administration’s part. to uncover public perceptions of crime and justice and the measures The “Dear Colleague” letter is not an official law or an amendment to we should take. I also study the the original 1972 Title IX act, but sexual abuse of children and just rather guidance. general sex offenders laws.

The letter was incorporated What is the Title IX legislation without any public comment or an and what led to its inception? act of Congress and this is where the controversy stems from. She’s Title IX is a very broad law. It concerned about trying the indiwas enacted in 1972 and it was viduals in kangaroo courts, and enacted in response to concerns with the ‘preponderance of eviof gender inequality in education, which is very broad because it cov- dence’ standard -- the standard of evidence that is provided to a disers sports, extra curricular activiciplinary board, which is just a hair ties, etc. But the law also refers to above believing that the alleged reK-12 schools to make ensure that spondent bears some responsibility have fair and equal environments for assaulting the complainant. and avoid any hostile educational It is a much lower bar than what environments for any gender. we use in the criminal justice sys The events that kickstarted the tem, which is proof beyond reasonlegislation were events that were able doubt. DeVos has expressed happening in larger society: conconcern about that standard, which cerns of civil rights, the women’s is really the law of the land even movement, more women entering though the “Dear Colleague” letter the workforce and higher number wasn’t necessarily a law. of women entering higher educaAll universities have instituted tion. Many of these factors likely influenced the creation of Title IX. that standard provided by the letter. Prior to 2011, universities had The reason Title IX is applied discretion and some, according to to this debate around campus sex federal reports, used ‘clear and conassault is because a part of the law vincing’ standard and some used says colleges create environments the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that are fair for any gender. If standard for evidence which would women or men are being sexually make it difficult for any review harassed or victimized within the board to find anyone responsible. university setting, either by faculty It’s an incredibly high bar. members, other students or even Theoretically, a student could generally on the university campus still pursue a criminal investigathen there needs to be some protion on the legal side within the tection for these folks. That’s why criminal courts.

Title IX applies in that context.

HIBA AHMAD News Editor

Christina Mancini is an associate professor of criminal justice in the Douglas L. Wilder of Government and Public Affairs. enforcement presence. Remember, sometimes victims don’t want to report to law enforcement. We encourage involving police because it helps with the overall investigation. It may help reduce predatory crime and helps keep the university safe. It can also certainly give resources to the survivor.

I think what that 92 percent is really capturing is concern among the public.

We also found that 66 percent of the public also supports greater accountability at the university level in preventing campus sex crime.

Perhaps we need to refine our measures, but what the results from those two questions collectively tell me is that the public is concerned about this issue and feels that the university plays some role. At the same time, the public acknowledges that these are still crimes and where they can be reported and investigated from a criminal standpoint, they should be.

Again, there are many societal barriers as to why survivors don’t report and there is a concern of false reporting, but what the data are telling us is as much more likely an individual does not report when a sex crime occurs than for a crime to be falsified.

What the data are telling us is that underreporting is more of the

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norm and perhaps of more concern.

Any kind of false allegation is something there should be systems to prevent incidents of that as well.

Hopefully a fair proceeding would be able to identify those.

Could you talk about some of the drawbacks of reporting directly to the police and not to the university?

If the university isn’t aware of the situation, then the they cannot offer services to the survivors.

They can’t necessarily make accommodations for them in classrooms. The “Dear Colleague” letter specifies that schools do all that they can to prevent unsafe and hostile environments.

For example, if a student was assaulted by another student and both individuals are in the same course and that semester, the university can take measures to protect the individuals. They can work with the professor to provide online assignments if the student requests. There might be other accommodations to it as well: mental health counseling, medical services and more.

There are two sides of the argument when it comes to Title IX. According to DeVos’s criticism, it seems to apprehend innocent people rather than people who are actually responsible for as-

sault. Is there a way to reach a middle ground?

Fair procedures are the way to go. Maybe the ‘preponderance of evidence’ standard is too low, but I think that’s something that could be looked at more systematically than jumping to a very high standard of providing evidence.

I still think that due process is important and universities should be objective -- all respondents have the right to fair treatment.

There are rights allotted to both sides. For example, both sides can have an advisor of their choice accompany them to the disciplinary review board hearings. If the university has an appeals process, both are allowed to appeal. Both parties are given the same information at the same time. Both have the right to see the evidence on either side.

So there are procedures that are in place under the due process model, but the concerns that DeVos expressed leverage the question: do the methods favor one side? Maybe universities should have a say in these policies since they are the ones being asked to follow all of these guidelines. If we don’t give universities the requisite training and education we’re setting them up for failure.

sports

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, September 25, 2017

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Stat of the Week

With their eighth win Sunday, field hockey has already surpassed their win total from last season.

Press Box

Trump vs. the sports world Not that he was ever in touch with it — or reality for that matter — but Donald Trump has officially alienated the sports community.

Trump, who already faced widespread backlash for his relentless criticism of free agent quarterback and social activist Colin Kaepernick, recently butted heads with a series of prominent athletes and journalists.

ESPN anchor Jemele Hill garnered widespread support last week for candidly tweeting that “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”

After Golden State Warriors’ point guard Stephen Curry announced he was considering whether or not to attend his team’s championship trip to the White House, Trump tweeted “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

In turn, Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James showed his support for Curry by tweeting at Trump.

“U bum,” James wrote. “Going to the White House was a great honor before you showed up!”

PHOTOS BY JULIE TRIPP AND BROOKE MARSH; EDIT BY IAIN DUFFUS

ZACH JOACHIM Sports Editor

James and Curry’s sentiment is spreading. The University of North Carolina’s championship basketball team announced last week they will likewise forego the traditional presidential trip.

Curry told reporters he hoped to “inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country.”

Curry’s mission has become a shared one in the sports commu-

nity. More than ever, athletes and sports journalists feel empowered to use their platform to speak out against systematic oppression and bigotry such as that purported by Trump. Unlike the modern version of traditional network news, the sports world has evolved into a vibrant forum for social and political discourse.

“ESPN to me is at the center of

a lot of conversations in America — sports are,” Atlantic columnist Vann Newkirk said in a speech at Harvard University on Sept. 20. “I refer to sports as the new American church and religion. ESPN is the mother church. I would look to ESPN and sports as a microcosm of America right now.”

Trump has obviously recognized the powerful societal sway these specific detractors hold. His response to Curry and criticism of Kaepernick this past weekend relay the fact that he feels threatened by their criticism.

At a rally Friday night in Alabama, Trump said that NFL owners should respond to player’s protests by getting “that son of a bitch off the field right now.”

Careful, Mr. President. Egregiously arrogant Twitter activity may be your norm, but starting a social media mudslinging war with the sports community is a quick route to drastic dips in already sub-par approval ratings.

Keep making enemies like LeBron James and Steph Curry President Trump.

Please, I beg you, continue to play with fire.

You might just get burned.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH HUMPHREYS

Volleyball rolls ‘other’ Rams, continues streak

Volleyball is enjoying an unprecedented level of success this season — the Rams have won 12 consecutive contests, their longest streak dating back to the 1985 season which they finishd 43-3.

ZACH JOACHIM Sports Editor Volleyball (15-2, 2-0) extended its win streak to 12 games — the program’s longest in 32 years — last week after defeating the ‘other’ Rams of Fordham University and the University of Rhode Island.

Fordham A tightly contested second set highlighted a straight-set sweep for VCU over Fordham University on Sunday to give the Black and Gold

their 12th consecutive win.

VCU came out on top 25-22, 26-24 and 25-16, but Fordham nearly made a match of it in the second set.

With the Black and Gold down 21-19, sophomore opposite hitter Gina Tuzzolo came up with a clutch kill off a perfect feed from sophomore setter Dajah Ard. After a service error on the other end to tie things up at 21-21, Fordham subsequently called a timeout with the potentially match-tying set up in the air.

Out of the timeout, another kill from Tuzzolo followed by

two Fordham service errors and a botched set put the Rams on the doorstep of a 2-0 lead, 25-24.

Fordham called another timeout, but the Black and Gold were not deterred. An attack error by Fordham’s Kaitlin Morley sealed the ‘other’ Rams fate — they would never recover from the slew of self-inflicted errors and VCU dominated the final set. Fordham hit a dismal -.038 and committed eight errors in the third set.

Senior outside hitter Alicia Kandler led VCU in kills on Sunday with 10. The Black and Gold spread the wealth, with Tuzzolo

chipping in nine kills of her own.

Sophomore outside hitter Vicky Giommarini and junior middle blocker Tori Baldwin contributed eight and seven, respectively.

Rhode Island The Rams rolled through their Rhode Island counterparts at the Siegel Center on Friday night in straight sets, 25-18, 25-21 and 2518 en route to their 11th consecutive victory.

The key deciding factor in the Black and Gold’s dominance was

their blocking prowess in front of the net. URI hit an abysmal .062 on the evening. VCU collected 13.5 blocks, mostly thanks to Baldwin, who finished with eight of her own.

Kandler was yet again the star of the affair, collecting a matchhigh 12 kills on 28 swings without committing an error. Kandler added eight digs and a pair of blocks.

Giommarini contributed a wellrounded stat line of her own with 8 kills, 9 digs and 4 blocks.

Legendary senior libero Rebekah Strange shored up the back

row as always with 14 digs, leaving her just 13 away from becoming the fifth VCU player to ever compile 1,500.

The win over URI began VCU’s conference portion of the season -- 13 of their next 14 matches feature A-10 opponents. The Rams will return to action with an unprecedented 13th consecutive victory in mind on the road against A-10 foe Davidson University next Saturday at 6 p.m.

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sports

The Commonwealth Times

RAM IN ACTION

PHOTO BY JACOB MEDLEY

Field hockey wins sixth in-a-row

Sophomore midfielder Rebecca Ward has compiled two shots in three games started this season.

ADAM CHEEK Contributing Writer VCU field hockey (8-1) swept the week’s two games, pulling off wins against Lock Haven University and Central Michigan University. The Black and Gold required overtime to emerge victorious over LHU by a score of 2-0. The Rams outscored CMU 4-3 to take down the Chippewas. VCU extended their winning streak to six games and tallied their third shutout of the season.

Central Michigan

Lock Haven

RTO N

Rafael Andrade Santos JESSICA WETZLER Contributing Writer

What is your goal for this season?

VCU men’s soccer senior midfielder Rafael Andrade Santos started the season by being selected to the preseason AllConference Team. Last season, Santos was named NSCAA Third Team All-Region, Second Team VaSID All-State and earned First Team All-Atlantic 10 Honors.

Starting all but one of his 19 appearances last season, the new campaign brings promise for the senior. Santos is one of the few players remaining who was a part of the last two teams that made it to and lost the A-10 Championship game.

After consecutive heartbreaking conclusions to his sophomore and junior years, Santos is particularly driven heading into his final journey in Black and Gold.

My main goal for this season is to definitely win the A-10 because we’ve been there the past two years and we always have this feeling of disappointment by the end of each tournament.

I think my goal, and the rest of the team’s goal, is to win the tournament and then go from there on to the NCAA.

How would you compare this season to previous seasons?

I think for now, we are in a really similar position than the past two, maybe three seasons.

We lost some tough games here on our opening night and opening weekend. Were trying to bounce back and I mean this year has been tough because we had a two week break without games.

So far we have just played four games and there our teams that have played eight games. Hopefully we are going to bounce back and get some victories, especially in a few weeks going into the conference games.

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J U L IE

T R IP

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How do you prepare yourself for each game?

P HO T

The Rams head to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the Tar Heel Intercollegiate tournament on Oct. 7 and 8. VCU Golf will not be back in the state until the Black and Blue Cup in Richmond on April 21.

DGE

The Rams hosted the VCU Janney Shootout September 18-19 at the Country Club of Virginia Tuckahoe Creek Course. Twelve teams from Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland competed including in-state rivals the University of Richmond and Old Dominion University.

The Janney Shootout was VCU golf ’s second tournament of the season after traveling to Verona, New York last week for the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate where they tied for sixth, out of 15 schools.

The VCU Janney Shootout was the first home tournament of the season out of only two planned for the area.

Senior Alister Balcombe from Cleyedon, England, led the Rams and finished tied for sixth overall.

Balcombe started off his first round just above par on the front nine and lowered his score on the back half, giving him an under four start on the first day.

The back nine, and most likely some fatigue, wore into Balcombe — he had four bogeys and ended up two over after his second round.

In a last ditch effort to give the Rams a solid placement, Balcombe shot five under in the third round and finished the tournament seven under. His bounceback performance put him at 67 on the day —a personal best.

Senior Osama Khan, senior Daniel Stamper and freshman Kristian Tannum Donaldson all tied for 35th place overall. Sachin Kumar, from Trinidad & Tobago,

finished 43rd at five over.

Sophomore Alston Newsom, the only Virginia native on the team, struggled through his final round including a quadruple bogey on a par three. Newsom ended eight over and tied for 52nd.

Errol Clarke, a senior from Maryland, had a tough third round as well, finishing 69th despite being the only one on the team to record an eagle.

Stamper and Newsom had the best second round on the team, both ending at par. Stamper and Kumar did the best in their pairings—Kumar finished four or more under his Rutgers University and Radford University counterparts.

Newsome vastly improved, shooting an average 74.67 compared to last year’s 80.25.

Khan also improved at Tuckahoe Creek, shooting a 73 each day, improving from an even 77 in the 2016-2017 season.

VCU finished eighth at one over, narrowly beating out James Madison University at three over.

West Virginia University won the VCU Janney Shootout. Atlantic 10 teams George Washington University and Richmond finished 10th and 12th, respectively.

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DANIEL PURYEAR Contributing Writer

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Rams finish sixth at VCU Janney Shootout

BY

Field hockey will be back in action next Friday and Sunday. They will face Saint Joseph’s University on Friday, Sept. 29, and will play Appalachian State University on Sunday, Oct. 1. Friday’s game against the Hawks will begin at 3 p.m., while Sunday’s match against the Mountaineers will begin at 1 p.m., with VCU looking to extend its winning streak to seven and eight games. The Rams have already surpassed their win total from last season.

TO

Friday’s game against Lock Haven ended in a 2-1 VCU victory, with VCU needing overtime to finish off the Bald Eagles and extend their winning streak to five games.

Lock Haven notched their first shot on goal in the 21st minute off of a penalty corner, but the shot went wide. After the relatively uneventful first half, with the score still a stalemate at 0-0, Lock Haven opened the scoring with a goal less than two minutes into the second half.

McNamara provided the Rams with their first goal of the game in the 46th minute off a

penalty corner.

After McNamara tied the game, the Black and Gold scored their second goal in overtime in the 84th minute, courtesy of Bohmke.

Earning a penalty stroke, Bohmke delivered to give VCU the victory with her first goal of the season.

In addition to her score, McNamara also tallied 12 shots, including five on target, and Tossone added two shots and an assist.

Kownurko also made three saves on the four shots that she saw.

VCU led 13-4 in penalty corners.

P HO

The Rams took down the Chippewas on Sunday at home, shutting out Central Michigan by a score of 2-0.

Racking up their third shutout of the season, and winning their sixth match in a row, the Black and Gold scored one goal in each half.

Senior midfielder Spencer Tossone and junior forward Lauren Kaup were the heroes, with Kaup scoring her first goal of the season and notching five shots, including three on goal.

Tossone scored her goal in the 19th minute, while Kaup immedi-

ately answered a save of her 44th minute shot with a goal. Junior forward Emily McNamara and senior defenseman Natalie Bohmke added one assist apiece, with Bohmke helping to limit Central Michigan to three shots.

VCU led the Chippewas by 20 shots, outshooting them 23-3 and 15-2 in shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Chessa Kownurko earned a shutout, saving the only two shots on goal that she faced.

I’m always trying to be ready everyday. Everyday after practice I’ll go to the weight room and get stretched and roll outs on my body so I feel good for the next day. For the games, I just try to rest as much as I can and try to stay active a little bit during the day and not sit around and sleep.

Considering you are a senior and there are new freshman coming in, how do you see yourself as a leader?

It’s hard because I never saw myself as a leader, but with the freshman I just try to encourage them as much as I can, and if they ever need anything, they can always reach out. With the freshmen who are playing right now, I always try to encourage them and give them confidence in their playing because they have the potential. I just try to be a role model for them right now and make them feel comfortable on the team and on the field.

Is there anything, either personally or with the team overall, that needs to be worked on?

There’s always things that have to be worked on but for now it’s just our mentality because I think our mentality is what is making us not getting those winnings that we are supposed to. That’s the main thing for me, the mentality of the team. Always coming in everyday and be ready to play and be ready to perform and be ready to compete in the fight because that is how we are going to succeed.

What have been your biggest challenges since the moment you started playing soccer for VCU to now?

Knowing how to take care of my body so I am healthy for the whole season. The past years, I can say that I didn’t do that, that I didn’t take care of myself and didn’t do the things I was supposed to in order to get my legs and my body to feel good. I think my biggest challenge this year is just to get this team as far as I can and I feel like I have a good responsibility on that.

I am always trying my best in order for the team to go high and reach our goals.

Are there any records that you want to beat this season?

I definitely want a winning season and I want the team to win the A-10 and go as far as we can in the NCAA tournament. I think that is my main goal and main record to beat.

Why did you decide to play soccer?

I’m from Brazil so soccer is our main sport and our only sport that people really care about, I think. Everyone plays even whether your good or your bad, everyone likes soccer and everyone plays it. I guess I grew up with something and that made me want to play it and pursue something.

Why did you want to play at VCU? I came here because I felt a good environment and Coach Gifford always wanted me to come here and trusted my potential and trusted that i would be a good fit and help the school. Also the way we play and the guys here, it was always a good environment and good people around so I think I made the right choice.

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, September 25, 2017

7

Soccer: men cold after layoff,

women hot entering conference play NICK VERSAW Staff Writer

Women’s soccer (5-2-2) enjoyed a successful week of conference play, drawing A-10 foe Dayton University 0-0 at home before defeating Davidson University 3-2 on the road.

Davidson Women’s soccer opened up A-10 competition with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Davidson University on Sunday afternoon.

Junior defender Stephanie Stahl opened up the scoring for the Black and Gold in the 30th minute. Stahl curved her shot into the upper far corner of the net from outside the box after sophomore defender Amanda Tredway fed her from midfield.

Junior midfielder Maddi Santo doubled the Rams lead in the 52nd minute after freshman midfielder Samantha Jerabek slid a nifty feed through the Davidson back line.

A pair of second-half goals from the Wildcats were not enough to overcome the offensive onslaught by the Black and Gold.

Santo knocked in her second goal of the afternoon in the 76th minute after a failed clearance gave her a golden opportunity to put things away for good.

The match was not nearly as close as the final scoreline would suggest, as the Rams outshot Davidson 25-6, with 11 of those efforts finding their target.

Dayton The Rams opened up Atlantic 10 competition Thursday, playing to a 0-0 draw against Dayton University at Sports Backers Stadium.

It would be the second time in as many games the Rams would see a 0-0 final score, moving the Black and Gold to 4-2-2 on the season.

VCU dominated the stat sheet

after ripping off 25 shots on the night, but unfortunately Dayton keeper Kaelyn Johns was a brick wall, stopping all 10 of the Rams’ on-target shots.

Tredway, junior forward Julia Suarez and freshman midfielder Lyndsey Gutzmer each ripped five shots on the night, with the freshman leading the way with three on goal after becoming the early catalyst for the Rams.

Despite the Rams coming out strong in the game’s opening minutes, the Flyers would have the best chance of the first half after a Madeleine Morrissey shot would ricochet off the crossbar in the 42nd minute of action.

The Black and Gold would hold a 7-3 shot advantage at the half, but the game still sat scoreless after 45 minutes.

The Rams would come out of the gates strong, with freshman midfielder Kimberly Ito getting a shot off in the half ’s opening seconds, but the offense would soon begin to fall flat.

Dayton began to pick up the pace in the game’s final 10 minutes as the Flyers narrowly missed the net twice and put up four total chances in the closing minutes.

Ultimately, VCU redshirt-junior goalkeeper Audrey Sanderson kept them off the board, securing a 0-0 draw for the Rams.

Women’s soccer will look to continue their winning ways at Duquesne University on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The men (1-3) were not so lucky, as they looked cold after a 16-day layoff in a 1-0 loss at Old Dominion University.

Men’s soccer came out cold afteMen’s soccer came out cold after a 16-day layoff, falling to instate rival Old Dominion University 1-0 Tuesday.

The Monarchs dominated the game early, holding the Rams without a shot until the 30th minute, when senior midfielder Luc Fatton

broke through to put a header on goal — the game’s best chance for either team until that point.

Unfortunately for the Rams, just three minutes later, ODU’s Niko Klosterhalfen was able to sneak in behind the Black and Gold backline and put the Monarch’s up 1-0.

Just before the end of the first half, senior midfielder Francesco Amorosino gave the Rams another

solid chance to get on the board, only to have his shot saved by ODU keeper Mertcan Akar.

In the second half, the Rams were unable to get through their opponent’s defense, as the Monarchs would ultimately prevent the Black and Gold from putting a single shot on target the rest of the game.

The Rams kicked up the offense in the game’s final 30 minutes, but

were unable to get on the scoreboard, ultimately falling to the Monarchs 1-0 for their third loss of the season.

Men’s soccer will look to get their season on track at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on Saturday at 7 p.m.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sophomore midfielder Allysa Tallent has recorded two goals and two assists so far this season.

PHOTO BY ERIN EDGERTON

Old Dominion

8

spectrum

The Commonwealth Times

On this day

Author. playwrite, professor and nobel-laureate winner, William Faulkner, is born on Sept. 25 1897 in Mississippi.

He is known for his short stories and awarded screen plays.

VA PrideFest lets its colors shine Brown Island was dotted with colorful rainbow flags and clothing as Richmond celebrated VA PrideFest 2017 this past Saturday. Thousands of LGBT members and allies attended the Commonwealth’s largest Pride festival.

“When I was a teenager I felt stuck in self-guilt and hate about my sexuality and now I’m here I am 20 years later watching teenagers fully embrace themselves,” said Jennifer Bloomington, a pride participant.

Bloomington and her partner were raised in Richmond and moved to Maryland after college.

“We (Bloomington and her partner) often think about how lucky we are to witness the growth of LGBTQ identities in our lifetime? How many kids are embracing themselves? How many other people like this went their entire lives without seeing this?”

Among the attendees was Mayor Levar Stoney, who echoed Bloomington’s statement.

“I don’t think if we look back 10, 20 years that this sort of display of diversify would’ve occurred,” Stoney said. “But now, I hold it up as an example of why Richmond is great for anyone. No matter who you love, who you pray to, what color your skin may be.”

PrideFest, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, featured dozens of vendors and included sponsors

PHOTO BY JACOB MEDLEY

EMILY BAGALAWIS Contributing Writer SIONA PETEROUS Spectrum Editor

VA PrideFest is the largest pride festival in Virginia and celebrates people across the LGBTQ spectrum of gender and sexuality.

PH OT O BY JA CO B M ED LE Y

like Capital One, Altria Theater nau, community engagement coGroup and Wells Fargo. The latter ordinator at HI Richmond Hostel. funded the organization’s $8,000 In her role, Loustaunau hopes scholarship to reimburse the finan- to encourage queer travelers to feel cial costs of the 2017-18 school year more safe traveling into southern to one LGBTQ+ student who has America, despite the current lemade significant contributions to gal, political and social hostilities their community. surrounding rights of LGBTQ+ “You know, Pride started as pro- people. tests, it started with gay and trans “Richmond is the gateway to the women of color at Stone Wall South so it’s important that the throwing rocks so see- hostel fosters an inclusive enviing the interest of ronment,” Loustaunau said. “As a large companies queer person I know it’s scary but in investing in if people see this (pride) and are in Pride is prob- a safe environment like the hostel lematic but we can open up entire parts of the also shows world for LGBTQ travelers.” something Organizations such as the Human is chang- Rights Watch were present at the fesing,” said tival to provide handy information to M a n o n people on how to be an ally, how to Loustau- come out and where to find resources as an LGBTQ+ person. It reminded attendees that pride is about just about embracing and creating community for people of various sexual orientations and gender identities as it is about raising awareness of issues faced by the community.

Joy Heaton manned the Quaker’s Friend Society booth, acknowledging that despite fraught relationships between religious organizations and the queer community, the Quakers, or Friends as

they call themselves, is historically radically progression.

“They’ve been feminists from the 1800’s,” Heaton said. “From the very beginning every single person should be treated with dignity.”

Heaton joined the Quaker church six years ago after being rejected from the church herself.

“I was trying to gently lead the church into being more open to LGBTQ so they fired me,” she said.

In addition to being a minister for the Quaker church, Heaton also works at VCU’s Department of Alumni Relations.

“I remember when Pride in Richmond was just a small thing held behind Diversity Thrift Shop,” said D. Tremaine Nelson, a longtime LGBT activist based in Richmond.

“But just because we are growing in support doesn’t mean it’s all great and we’re done fighting, I’m interested in fixing my community because it does need fixing,” Nelson said.

Nelson said that his identity as a black gay man and experience as an activist makes him aware of racial and class divisions among the LGBT community. He rejects the idea that there is automatic unity in oppression and points out that hierarchies continue to exist in the LGBT community. In order to dismantle homophobia in people’s day-to-day lives outside of large festivities, Nelson said it’s neces-

sary to address these issues since “making progress doesn’t mean we don’t have to do more.”

The festival included a slew of performances and the festivities reached far beyond Brown Island, as the city celebrated pride in other locations including, Godfreys and Babes of Carytown. PrideFest itself featured a drag show with Aja from Ru Paul’s Drag Show and ended Saturday evening with a DJ dance part from Dollz Entertainment LLC. Deanna Danger, the Richmondbased and internationally recognized burlesque dancer, helped in organizing some pride events.

“In my time in Richmond since 2003 it’s (LGBTQ culture) become more accepted but I do hope to see more queer-oriented events in the future events.”

Among the many people who attended PrideFest were straightcis allies, like Dylan Cunningham.

He founded a nonprofit organization called the Celtic Knot Project which works to support equality for and positivity in people who aren’t traditionally accepted into society.

Cunningham attended his first pride this year in ordering support his friends who do identify as queer.

“That’s what our society needs right now, unconditional support.”

Cunningham said.

As Bloomington noted early in the day, young people were out in

droves during PrideFest both as LGBT people and allies: among them were Wesley and Alex. Their last names were withheld for privacy concerns.

Wesley came out as transgender when he was 16. Alex knew she was gay when she was 13, but only recently realized it was okay to identify as queer. They discussed their opinions on the state of the country amidst political turmoil on LGBTQ+ rights.

“I feel our election doesn’t represent our mindset of the general community,” Alex said. “(Trump is) going backwards and our community is going forwards.”

Wesley also shared his thoughts on the president’s ban on transgenders in the military.

“I’ve never felt like I didn’t have rights.” Wesley said. “I thought about it and it’s like I’m not an equal citizen in that sense.”

Despite the apprehension shared by some attendees during PrideFest, there wasn’t a doubt PrideFest was a safe space to fully celebrate queer culture and the spectrum LGBTQ+ sexualities and fluid gender.

“The way people come dressed to Pride we can see them dressing like that in their everyday lives and that shows a huge progress in the 10 years since I’ve attended Pride in Richmond and across the country,” Nelson said.

“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is all style and no manners SAMUEL GOODRICH Staff Writer

IL L U STR AT I ON

BY I A IN DUF F US

The original “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was surprisingly a hit with audiences and critics alike: garnering positive reviews, raking in over $400 million worldwide, and becoming a cult favorite. With it’s creative action sequences and cartoonish jabs at James Bond serotypes, it was a fun breath of fresh air from the stale action flicks we were getting in the early 2010’s.

Three years later Matthew Vaughn has returned as director/ writer of the sequel, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” With expectations set high from the original, it’s disappointing that this continuation lacks focus, failing to create an exciting future for the franchise.

Set one year after the first film, “The Golden Circle” sees Kingsman being destroyed as Eggsy and Merlin, our protagonists from the first film, regroup to team-up with their cousin organization, Statesman.

The two must utilize the tools from the American based spy agency to stop Poppy, a drug cartel leader ob-

sessed with 1950’s Americana and having her talents as a businesswoman recognized worldwide.

“The Golden Circle” begins with a fun and impressive car chase

reminiscent of the action scenes from the first film. In general, the set pieces do a good job at capturing the comic book panel style of the fight scenes, where small move-

ments are given individual focus in the middle of the fight.

Yet, the set pieces themselves fall flat overall. While the opening chase and a shootout near the end are fun,

nothing ever tops the church massacre or final battle of the original film.

There aren’t moments or sequences that act as the selling point, the one that audiences will be talking about for years to come.

Herein lies the sequel’s major issue: it never tries to outdo the first “Kingsman.” There are constant references to the first film, as if the writers are poking you with a stick, asking if you remember how cool the original was.

The problem with this technique is that we are never given a reason to start liking this new movie. Instead of bringing its own creative and fun ideas to the table, “The Golden Circle” chooses to play on the audience’s’ love of “The Secret Service” to make them think they like this one.

This truly is a shame since there are many interesting concepts which are never fully fleshed out. The actors do a great job, with Taron Egerton remaining charming as an experienced Eggsy, and Mark Strong remaining cool as tech specialist Merlin. Julianne Moore is also fun to watch as Poppy, exuding obnoxious

nostalgia in hilarious ways.

The Statesman are disappointing on two fronts: a talented cast who are never given anything to do acting as an organization that we never get to explore or understand.

One of the reasons we don’t get more time with the Statesmen is because too much time is taken up by an obnoxious amount of subplots. There are so many vapid and unnecessary relationships and developments bogging down the running time, to the point where the middle of the film feels like it’ll never end. It’s a long stretch of chuckle-worthy jokes and few entertaining moments.

Despite these issues, it’s difficult for me to say I disliked “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” It’s a flawed but fine film, one that has entertaining moments worth seeing in theaters if you’re a fan of the original. I just hope Vaughn and company can find a compelling reason to make a third, because there is potential in “Kingsman” that has yet to be fully used.

www.commonwealthtimes.org

Monday, September 25, 2017

9

RVA Street Art Festival livens the concrete giant When the Richmond Flying Squirrels Diamond baseball stadium first opened in 1985 it received a series of awards for its unique modernist art-deco architectural designs. 32 years later, the stadium is harkening back to its creative roots by hosting the fourth annual RVA Street Art Festival.

From Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, the stadium’s signature concrete walls transformed into massives canvasses for over three dozens artists to create and display public murals.

Founded in 2012 by City Council member Jon Baliles and renowned street artist, Ed Trask, the Festival has become a staple for celebration of Richmond’s expansive mix media art scene.

“I’m from Oakland but moved to Richmond this year after being invited by the festival a few years ago,” said Mimi*, founder of the national all-women art collective skateboard crew, Few and Far Women. “Events like these always broaden your reach as an artist but really I’m always evolving as an artist and people here are interested in artistic and personal evolution.”

Mimi’s mural space was graffitied with the words, “Stay Positive,” summing up the overall mood of artists, attendees and vendors alike.

Holly Gordon, programs and operations manager for Hands On Greater Richmond, said the volunteer organization partnered with Street Art Festival this year to end their week of service.

“Today alone we have around 1,400 volunteers throughout the Richmond area helping at various events,” Gordon said. “Not only are we bringing the volunteer element to Street Art but it’s just nice to see people who want to do good.”

The festival challenged the negative connotations of street art often displayed in mass media since the 1970’s with the advent of graffiti culture in urban centers like Richmond. This was done not only with the presence of volunteer organizations but with the decision to incorporate vendors like Richmond-

PHOTO BY CASEY COLE

SIONA PETEROUS Spectrum Editor

RVA Street Festival offered a chance for kids and adults alike to immerseively interact with local art projects. based fashion brand Love This.

The owner of Love This, Rupa Singh, is an architect by trade but following 2008 financial crisis turned to community involvement which led to the creation of the company and it’s slogan, “shop goods that do good.” Singh’s company has its own quirk: it is completely based out of a large caravan.

“I curate the items I sell from color to shape to make sure it’s handmade products made by people or companies which give back to their community because art, fashion does has influence for change,” Singh said.

The festival featured dozens of vendors who captured Richmond’s street art culture in their own way.

One of the vendors, Endeavor RVA, is known for its open studio space and draws a large crowd on First Fridays.

Three of Endeavor’s in-house artists, Ian Hess, Christina Wing Chow and Alex Beck, created a massive mural near the the entrance portion of The Diamond. Chow, who goes by the artist name Wing Chow, said that her portion of the mural was completely improvised.

“It’s nice to have such a large public space to work with cause normal-

ly, when I’m doing a small canvass, space is so limited,” Chow said.

Each artist had only four days to create their murals start to finish.

Thousands of attendees watched in awe and walked through the Diamond’s sprawling upstairs section to watch as the muralists immersed themselves in their work.

A big pull was a mural titled, “Phoebe,” created by well-known muralist, Nils Westergard, whose signature murals are haunting portraits of women’s faces. Brian Gonnella created an ode to Richmond in a bright mural titled, “River City,” which featured everything

from the James River to downtown.

However, the festival was also giving novice painters and muralists a chance to shine as well.

Richmond native, Hassan Roberts, volunteered for the festival last year and was told this past Thursday that organizers wanted him to paint something.

“To give a chance to a a smaller artist who hasn’t done that much it shows what a kind town this is and how great it is and how much they love the art,” Roberts said.

Pedro Gabriel, a Bronx native who moved down to Richmond in an unexpected job relocation four

years ago echoed Robert’s sentiments of the River City’s dedication to protecting and promoting artists.

“New York right now is trying to scrub all the art away but here it’s embraced,” Gabriel said. “I left the job, but I stayed in the city cause, I mean really look at all this talent that is being truly appreciated by this community and if we ever needed street art to resist the bullshit it’s now in my opinion.”

*Chose to go by artist name

Latino history in Richmond receives its due ture something more than just a face,” Casanova said. “For me and for the team putting it together it feels like that’s what happened for the exhibit.”

Upon entering the exhibition space, visitors are immediately immersed in its environment with music played on a small, contained speaker and the bright pops of red, yellow and blue text on the otherwise white walls.

PHOTO BY RAELYN FINES

I hope (visitors) realize that the name of the exhibit is literal, these are Latino in Richmond. These are people that are dealing with the DACA situation, these are people that are your neighbors.

“Nuestras Historias,” explores the overlooked history of Latinos in Richmond and Central Virginia.

GEORGIA GEEN Contributing Writer The Valentine exhibit, “Nuestras Historias,” which opened July 27 and will run until April 15 of 2018, conveys the decades-long history and culture of Latino in Richmond, a group whose presence is often thought of as contemporary.

“To think that Latino have been coming to the State of Virginia in permanent settlements since the mid-20th century, about 50 years ago and more, and

that for the first time an exhibit about has been created in the State of Virginia, I think says a lot,” said Latino Project Coordinator, Wanda Hernandez.

Hernandez is from northern Virginia and admits to being unaware of the early presence of Latino immigrants in Richmond until her work with “Nuestras Historias.”

“There was a prominent Cuban community in central Virginia during the mid-20th century and there were Puerto Ricans. That was to my surprise, I thought

people just started moving to Richmond,” Hernandez said.

“Nuestras Historias” is the end product of 65 interviews conducted by Hernandez over the course of about seven months in 2016. Hernandez said she extracted common themes from the interviews, the base of the project, in order to plan other components of the exhibition, such as the photos lining the walls.

In the early stages of conducting interviews, photos weren’t taken, so as to make the subjects more comfortable.

“You’re asking them to tell their life story and then there’s a camera there. It’s hard enough to do it with a tape recorder,” Hernandez said. “Especially in a community that is told to lay low, mind your business, do your work and go back home.”

The main photographer for the exhibition, Steven Casanova, said a comfortable environment is essential for taking a quality portrait. He made sure the subjects felt “like themselves.”

“I think that my skill set in making portraits is to try to cap-

Wanda Hernandez, The Valentine’s Latino Project Coordinator “I wanted to have a collage of the Latino community so it seems like you just walked into your grandmother’s home who has all her grandbabies, all her children and her in-laws, pictures on her walls,” Hernandez said.

The exhibition is the first bilingual one of its kind in Virginia, with all of its written content displayed in both Spanish and English. Audio interviews in

both English and Spanish are incorporated in several portions of the exhibition. Transcriptions are readily available in both languages, as well.

“Nuestras Historias,” strikes a balance between education and empowerment of Richmond’s Latino community. Hernandez, being Latina herself, said mixing the two goals came naturally.

“In doing this exhibit, nonLatino were not the priority. This was for my community so they can learn about their own stories and if someone who is not Latino can get something from it, great,” Hernandez said.

That being said, Hernandez added that non-Latino visitors should be able to find a “point of connection” with the narratives, being that they were painted in an emotional light.

“I hope (visitors) realize that the name of the exhibit is literal, these are Latino in Richmond.

These are people that are dealing with the DACA situation, these are people that are your neighbors,” Casanova said.

As part of her role as coordinator, Hernandez has begun to organize school tours of the exhibit.

She says any educators interested in visiting should feel free to reach out. The information can be found at thevalentine.org “Ultimately the goal is to create pride in one’s culture or acknowledgement of their interactions with the latino community,” Hernandez said.

Casanova said he hopes “Nuestras Historias” will help visitors connect real stories to the “statistics” they so often hear.

“It’s a very intense time for Latinos, with national disasters, with national policy, the last month has been a very emotional time. I hope people do go see it,” Casanova said.

spectrum

10 The Commonwealth Times ADVERTISEMENT

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Monday, September 25, 2017 11

opinions

Quote of the week:

“There’s a thin line between giving the accused fair trials and letting them off the hook.” — Katie Bashista, Opinions Editor

Protecting the predators:

DeVos withdraws Obama-era Title IX KATIE BASHISTA Opinions Editor Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Friday she’s reversing Obama-era Title IX revisions and placing temporary rules for guidelines on handling sexual assault on campus. The biggest change to Title IX is moving from a “preponderance of evidence” to a “clear, convincing standard of proof ” which essentially means raising the standard of evidence needed to find someone guilty.

The administration has also done away with the 60 day timeline for coming to a decision and added a “notice-and-comment” policy that looks to the public, the institution, the students and professionals to create a more well-rounded decision. While Title IX was in desperate need of being revised, these revisions are working towards granting more protections for the accused, and that’s difficult for me to wrap my head around.

Critics of Obama-era Title IX argue there’s a prejudice preventing the accused from having fair trials.

The Department of Education released a statement on their website that says the 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter and the 2014 “Questions and Answers” documents ignored notice and comment and created a system that “lacked basic elements of due process.” They’ve created a new “Question and Answer” document explaining the school’s responsibility in dealing with campus sexual misconduct.

DeVos wants to rely more on professionals than the universities themselves. It will be more effective to have professionals dealing with sexual assault cases but I’m concerned that shifting reliance away from the school will create more leniency with colleges combating sexual assault. Colleges need to be on board with reporting and addressing sexual assault on their campuses and while the trials themselves could be handled better by professionals, schools still need to be held accountable.

Candice Jackson, assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights, said in July that 90 percent of all campus sexual assault cases emerge

ILLUSTRATION BY IAIN DUFFUS

from drunk sex or bad breakups.

The Department of Education and Jackson later apologized for the false statement.

DeVos also sparked controversy in July when she met with men’s rights groups including the National Coalition for Men. Critics were concerned these actions would lead to Title IX revisions working against victims and for those accused.

I understand there are cases in which a student is accused of sexual misconduct when they are completely innocent, and this can destroy their reputation regardless of the verdict. It’s hard to redeem yourself after your name has been associated with any type of sexual

misconduct case but there’s a thin line between giving the accused fair trials and letting them off the hook.

Christina Mancini, associate professor of criminal justice in the Douglas L. Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, says it’s much more likely an instance of sexual assault would go unreported than it is a falsified report would be filed. While false reporting should be addressed, data shows that underreporting is more of an issue that should be dealt with. RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the U.S., says only 20 percent of female college students report sexual assault.

The revisions to Title IX will grant

more protection to the accused and this might discourage even more victims from coming forward.

The new legislation rids Title IX of a specific timeline a case needs to be resolved within. It was previously 60 days. Now there is no time limit.

This could be useful in cases that entail large amounts of complicated evidence, but it gives more leeway to the schools to take their time reaching a decision. Both parties could be left dealing with a lengthy case spanning several months. This will take their time, money and attention for the majority of a semester or even a school year.

Case after case, we’ve seen guilty men get off with very little punishment and we’ve seen vic-

DACA termination threatens the American dream

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NADIA VENTURA-AABBAS Contributing Writer If we don’t inform ourselves of the situation and stand up, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals retraction will take away the most vital members of our society — immigrants.

Immigrants are critical to America’s economic structure — let’s get that straight. The Small Business Administration said immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start a small business than non-immigrants which created 4.7 million jobs in 2007.

Their presence also boosts the demand for local goods. The Immigration Policy Center says Latinos and Asians combined reach trillions in their collective spending power. Their taxes (which, yes, they are responsible for paying) helped reduce the federal deficit by $2.2 billion over the span of 10 years. With DACA’s termination, the fruits of this blessing will be thrown out and tossed aside as though they’re rotten.

DACA was announced in 2012, stating that if someone came to the U.S. illegally as a child and met specific requirements, they could qualify to stay in the states for two years.

On Sept. 5, a statement was issued by the Department of Homeland Security stating DACA was going to be terminated in the next few months, during which only six months will be open for consideration of requests. DACA recipients keep their status until its expiration and if someone’s DACA expired prior to Sept. 4, it can’t be renewed.

I am a firm supporter of people trying to find their American

dream, despite how outdated that saying may be. I believe it should be encouraged people come to our country and we should protect and open the way for them to become citizens or legal residents here. It is unjust to promote the idea of “land of the free”, while simultaneously trying to rid ourselves of the population that has done so much for us as a nation.

Many of the underage immigrants this effects have never been out of the U.S. and are being threatened with deportation to countries they are unfamiliar with.

I am the child of immigrants, and if I was to be sent out to either of the countries which I am ethnically from, my opportunities would be tremendously limited. Many nations in Central and South America, the people from which DACA has helped the most, are war-torn and dangerous to live in. El Salvador, where my mother is from, is beautiful but tattered compared to what it once was and parts of which are unsafe for teens and young adults to live in due to gang violence. Deporting people to places like this, without properly reintroducing them there, could be a disaster. People have come to this country for asylum and to pursue a better life for themselves and their progeny. Isn’t that the American Dream? #DefendDACA is a movement to protest the termination of this process. It’s headed by immigrants, their children and people with compassion for their experiences.

Their website, weareheretostay.org offers multiple paths to contribute.

Our country’s most fundamental members are struggling, it’s time to flex our rights as citizens.

tims left helpless and shoved to the side. After Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman and was sentenced to six months in jail, serving only three, general faith in the justice system dealing with sexual assault collapsed.

The Atlantic recently wrote a three-part series that looks deeper into the specifics of sexual assault highlighting how the accused are treated in court, the role of memory in a case and the role that race plays in a court decision. If the Department of Education is concerned with the rights of those accused, the way race factors into a court decision should be examined too.

The Office for Civil Rights does not require campuses to document

the race of the accused or the accuser. The sexual assault cases we see in the news are most commonly white men and since the Brock Turner case, he has become a picture of what a rapist looks like. This doesn’t undermine the number of Black college men accused of sexual assault every year that are given unfair trials because of inherent biases. The OCR investigated Colgate University for racial discrimination and found in the 2013-2014 academic year, 4.2 percent of students were Black and they made up 50 percent of the cases reported and 40 percent of students adjudicated. The investigation didn’t go beyond statistics and no formal examination into each case was made.

Let’s consider the bias that works in favor of a school’s best athletes.

Aside from Brock Turner being one of Stanford’s best swimmers, football players get away with sexual misconduct regularly, especially during football season. Football programs kick sexual assault allegations under the rug because they can’t afford to lose their best players while in season. They get quietly resolved and the reputation of the program is hardly tarnished. Unfair trials go beyond accusing innocent men, but I don’t see the administration directly addressing that.

Colleges are still required to have a Title IX coordinator and to report all cases of sexual assault.

They’re currently given the option to either implement the new higher standard guidelines or to continue executing Title IX the way they have been. I’m assuming this is so they can test the waters with the new guidelines and allow for a smoother transition into a new era of Title IX regulations.

Granting more fair legal rights to parties involved in sexual assault cases is not a bad thing. Logically, it makes sense but I can’t imagine DeVos and the Trump administration coming up with sexual assault legislation that does anything but take advantage of the victims. Given President Trump’s language when discussing sexual assault and women in general, I have very little faith in how beneficial these new sexual assault regulations will be.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Don’t be fooled by the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill To the Editor: The Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill proposed by Senator Lindsay Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, is the latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare.

This proposal is different from the past Republican repeal attempts because it dismantles many of the current provisions of Obamacare, whereas the previous attempts kept many Obamacare provisions, but provided less generous funding. Proponents of the bill argue it will lead to increased coverage, but that’s not feasible under this plan.

In defense of the bill, Senator Cassidy implied that states will be able to increase their health care spending because it will take the money from the federal government and give it “back to the states to make sure that those who have needs, are able to have their needs addressed.” In reality, they’re simply changing the way in which states receive money, which distracts from the fact that states are getting less and financial help to some individuals disappears.

Yes, states will receive a lump sum of money in the form of block grants to use on healthcare,

but they’re not required by any mandate to use that money to help people pay for insurance and health care. Since the GrahamCassidy proposal eliminates the Obamacare cost reduction subsidies that helped people purchase health plans, and halts Medicaid expansion in 2020, as well as cutting its funding, the people who need the most help might end up getting less depending on the state you live in.

The Graham-Cassidy proposal “allows” states to keep Obamacare and Medicaid expansion if they want, but since the block grants amount to less than what states get under Obamacare today, they’ll be forced to either cut benefits per recipients, or kick people off the programs to keep spending per recipient equal.

Prominent Republican senator from Arizona, John Mccain, has announced that he cannot “in good conscience” support the latest proposal, which will likely prevent the bill from going through. Republican senators Susan Collins from Maine, and Rand Paul from Kentucky have also expressed intentions to vote no, likely dooming Graham-Cassidy’s future.

—Taylor Nguyen

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