thursday, mar. 21, 2024 celebrating 120 years
N • Bargaining breakdown
SGEU will vote on a tentative contract agreement next week after six months of negotiations with Syracuse University
Page 3
C • Decades of hardcore The hardcore rock community in Syracuse gathered to celebrate and honor the long legacy of the genre in the area.
Page 4
leah cohn design edior
Syracuse University Assistant Teaching Professor
Valeria Herrera is suing SU, the School of Architecture and its dean, Michael Speaks, alleging she faces racial discrimination and a hostile work environment at the university.
Herrera, a Latina woman, joined SU as a part-time instructor in the School of Architecture in 2018 and became a full-time assistant teaching professor, the position she holds today, in 2019. The civil lawsuit alleges that, during her time at the university, she has been denied or passed over for tenure-track positions, program director positions, research grants, awards and participation in the school’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Council. Many of the positions she expressed interest in applying to were ultimately filled by white men, according to the lawsuit filed on Feb. 20.
“The school uses (Herrera) as a prop, as a lure for recruitment, for mentoring of graduate students, and for producing the image of diversity representation in their efforts to appear as if they are committed to diversity, equity, access, and equality while simultaneously working to prevent (Herrera) from opportunity, access, and equal treatment,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint demands $3.2 million, according to the case’s civil cover sheet. Citing university policy regarding active litigation, a university spokesperson did not provide comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit lists eight causes of action, including discrimination claims under the 14th Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law as well as retaliation claims under Title VII, NYSHRL and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The causes of action also included the creation of a hostile work environment under NYSHRL and the violation of rights derived from the state’s constitution.
The lawsuit states that, under the leadership of Speaks, Herrera has “effectively been excluded” from DEIA involvement. She allegedly was never included or invited to participate in any DEIA events and meetings. Even as the only
Latina working full time on the school’s faculty, she was never asked to participate in events for Latin and Hispanic Heritage Month, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges Speaks spoke to Herrera about serving as the school’s DEIA director, but only with increased restrictions as well as reduced support and autonomy compared to her white predecessor, Lori Brown.
While Speaks allegedly first expressed interest in her taking the position in March 2022, he next spoke to Herrera about the topic that August. At the meeting, he allegedly asked Herrera to “construct a blueprint-proposal for DEIA that (Herrera) would submit for his review.”
However, while Brown’s position allegedly did not have any term limits, Speaks offered Herrera a single nine-month term, according to the lawsuit. At one point, Speaks also called the position “interim,” according to the lawsuit, which he would later amend “only after showing his true intent.”
Speaks also offered Brown “absolute autonomy” on programming, scheduling, agendas and the purview of DEIA at the school, none of which were offered to Herrera, according to the lawsuit. But, by meeting with her two weeks before the fall semester started, Speaks allegedly restricted her ability to “construct any meaningful fall programming.” Instead, he articulated his agenda and control over DEIA, the lawsuit states.
Speaks allegedly provided Brown 15 credit hours of course relief per academic year for the position and offered Herrera none.
In his communications with Herrera, the dean allegedly was “adamant” in his suggestion that she not speak with Brown until after she signed an agreement. Herrera claims that she then “immediately” reached out to Brown, who explained her own compensation, course relief and autonomy to her. Brown allegedly recommended that Herrera decline the offer.
The lawsuit also alleges that, in a November 2020 email to Speaks, then School of Architecture Undergraduate Chair Larry Davis nominated Herrera for a Meredith Teaching Recognition Award, a university award for untenured faculty. see lawsuit page 6
free
S • ‘Lax rat’
Alexa Spallina set to bring a relentless mindset to Syracuse women’s lacrosse as the No. 1 ranked recruit in the class of 2025.
Page 16
Construction of the new Syracuse University residence hall on Ostrom Avenue will begin later this year, Chancellor Kent Syverud announced at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting.
The “modern, new” residence hall, which is located by Thornden Park, is currently being designed, Syverud said. He said the size and timeline for the demolition of Marion and Kimmel Halls to be replaced with two new modern residence halls remains under evaluation.
Announced on Feb. 26, the pair will be the first new dorms built since Ernie Davis Hall 15 years ago, according to a Monday press release. Neither will be completed for the 2024-25 school year’s housing selection, Syverud said.
Syverud said the university held “listening sessions” with first and second-year students, peer educators, living learning community students, Student Living staff and the Student Advisory Council to ensure the Ostrom Avenue hall “meets student needs.”
The two new residence hall announcements come after plans to convert the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center and The Marshall — which are now known as 801 University Ave. and 727 S. Crouse Ave., respectively — into second-year student housing. The university will begin converting the Sheraton after commencement in May, and both units will be part of second-year housing selection for the 202425 academic year, Syverud said.
The added housing comes as the result of a three-year housing review and is part of a push to get sophomores “onto central campus and off of South Campus,” Syverud said.
At the meeting, Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter confirmed that Syracuse Graduate Employees United and the university’s bargaining committees reached a tentative agreement that includes “significant increases” in some minimum stipends for both Ph.D. and master’s graduate assistants. The agreement also includes “enhanced health care coverage” and “an agreed upon workload,” Ritter said.
“I want to thank the members of both bargaining committees for their thoughtful, diligent and constructive engagement to get us here,” she said. “I’m hopeful that the union will ratify this contract in the weeks to come, and in the meantime, we’ll be meeting with all of the deans and helping them to think about how to manage some of the budgetary impacts of this new agreement.”
Ritter also discussed the ongoing efforts to generate the “Syracuse Statement” — the university’s upcoming statement on academic freedom and free speech. She said over 200 students, faculty and staff have joined the working group in recent forums and that the campus-wide survey has received hundreds of responses.
“Our goal is to collect as much feedback from as many people as possible,” Ritter said. “This input will directly inform the development of agreed-upon principles and a guiding senate.” see usen page 6
Editor@dailyorange.com
News@dailyorange.com
Opinion@dailyorange.com
Culture@dailyorange.com
Sports@dailyorange.com
Digital@dailyorange.com
Design@dailyorange.com
BUSINESS 315-443-2315
The Daily Orange is an independent, nonprofit newspaper published in Syracuse, New York. The editorial content of the paper — which started in 1903 and went independent in 1971 — is entirely run by Syracuse University students.
The D.O., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is editorially and financially independent from SU, and the paper receives no funding from the university. Instead, The D.O. relies on advertising revenue and donations to sustain operations.
This fall, the paper will be published Thursday when SU classes are in session. The D.O.’s online coverage is 24/7, including while SU is on break.
To show your support to The D.O.’s independent journalism, please visit dailyorange.com/donate. Donations are tax deductible.
If you are a Syracuse University or SUNY-ESF student interested in contributing to The D.O. on either its advertising or editorial teams, please email editor@dailyorange.com.
The D.O. strives to be as accurate in our reporting as possible. Please email editor@dailyorange.com to report a correction.
The D.O. prides itself as an outlet for community discussion. To learn more about our submission guidelines, please email opinion@dailyorange. com with your full name and affiliation within the Syracuse community. Please note letters should not include any personal information pertaining to other people unless it is relevant to the topic at hand. All letters will be edited for style and grammar.
The best quotes from sources in today’s paper.
“This input will directly inform the development of agreed-upon principles and a guiding statement.” - Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter on Syracuse Statement sessions
Page 1
“It’s important for any subculture to know what came before you. It’s just going back and realizing what makes Syracuse hardcore.” - Colin Mras, Syracuse resident and hardcore fan
Page 4
“It’s important to understand that natural hair is more than just what hairstyle I am going to wear day-to-day, it’s a direct representation of my self-worth and cultural history.” - Alexis Rouson, Syracuse sophomore studying Exercise Science
Page 10
“I think I’m the same type of player as Joey, and I’m going to work for it.” - Alexa Spallina, brother of Joey Spallina and 2025 Syracuse commit
Page 1 5
Noteworthy events this week.
WHAT: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion: Open Skate
WHEN: March 22, 2 - 4 p.m.
WHERE: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion
WHAT: Orange After Dark: Otto’s Birthday
WHEN: March 23, 9 - 11 p.m.
WHERE: Schine Student Center, Atrium
WHAT: We Brunchin’ - Celebrating Women’s History Month
WHEN: March 24, 1 – 3 p.m.
WHERE: Barner-McDuffie House, Social Lounge
After about six months of initial negotiations with Syracuse University, Syracuse Graduate Employees United announced Tuesday that members will vote on its first tentative contract agreement next week.
In its 19 negotiations with the university, the union has called for protections and benefits in the following categories: compensation, healthcare, discrimination and harassment, international graduate students’ experience, family and parental support and workplace protections.
The tentative agreement includes a median 24% stipend increase for next year, along with 80% subsidized health insurance and 100% subsidized preventative dental care, according to an SGEU Instagram post.
The Daily Orange broke down SGEU’s bargaining tracker, which details status updates from negotiations between the union and the university since its second negotiation session on Oct. 3.
Compensation
SGEU’s bargaining committee and the university reached a tentative agreement on a final comprehensive offer for base compensation on March 7.
In the fall 2024 semester, all Ph.D. academic graduate assistants with a two-semester appointment will receive a minimum stipend of $28,00o for the 2024-25 academic year – a 27.27% increase from the current academic year. By the 2027-28 academic year, the minimum stipend will have increased by at least 36.36%.
Master’s academic graduate assistants with a full 20-hour academic year assistantship will receive a minimum stipend of $24,000, increasing by 20%. The stipend will reach a minimum percentage increase of 25% by the 2027-28 academic year. Graduate students who work as assistants for one-semester appointments will receive half of the stipend for the academic year.
Graduate assistants with a less than 20-hour appointment will receive a pro-rata percentage — a proportional allocation of the minimum stipend. For instance, the tentative agreement suggests an assistant with a 10-hour appointment would receive 50% of the minimum stipend amount.
SGEU initially proposed a tiered pay table for first and second-year graduate assistants, pre-candidacy graduate assistants and Ph.D. candidates, in which years of service correspond with an increase in stipend.
According to the bargaining tracker, the university proposed its first offer for minimum stipends on Jan. 11 for the 2024-25 school year. SU initially proposed $23,000 for Ph.D. students and $20,900 for graduate assistants with a two-semester appointment.
The final comprehensive offer represents an increase of over $1,000 from SU’s March 1 offer.
The university proposed $27,000 and $22,720 for Ph.D. and master’s students, respectively.
The contract, if approved, would be the first increase in the minimum stipend levels since December 2022. The university raised the stipend from $16,980 to $20,000 — a 17.79% increase — for graduate assistants with full 20-hour academic year assistantships and $16,980 to $22,000 — a 29.56% increase — for Ph.D. students.
The university also agreed to provide all Ph.D. students with full remission of tuition for their required coursework over at least four academic years, according to the document, and will waive the full Student Health and Wellness Fee for graduate assistants with a 20-hour appointment.
Each graduate student will receive a onetime ratification bonus of $1,000 after the union’s membership has fully ratified the agreement. The bonus will be paid 45 days after ratification.
Healthcare
Graduate assistants and eligible dependents will be eligible for 80% subsidized health insurance and 100% subsidized preventative dental care through the university’s dental insurance plan.
Graduate assistants will be eligible to enroll in SU’s Student Health Insurance Plan, and the university will maintain or improve all benefits covered by SHIP for the duration of the agreement. The dental insurance plan will be administered by First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, or an equivalent dental plan.
The university will contribute $50,000 per fiscal year to a “Graduate Assistant Healthcare Support Fund” for the reimbursement of medical expenses that “represent demonstrated financial hardship.”
The document states graduate assistants will be eligible if they have spent at least $501 or more in out-of-pocket SHIP-eligible expenses, drug costs or dental insurance-eligible expenses. The university will review all applications and approve disbursement based on standards established by the university in its “sole discretion.” The fund will be established after ratification of the contract.
SGEU will also designate one of its members to participate on the university’s Student Health and Wellness Advisory Committee. In November, the Barnes Center at The Arch announced it would form a Student Health Advisory Committee for the spring 2024 semester.
Discrimination and harassment
SGEU claims 17.56% of graduate employees report experiencing work-related discrimination or harassment, according to its website, which increases among women, non-binary, and “LGBTIQ+” university employees as well as Middle Eastern and North African, Black and Hispanic graduate employees.
A non-discrimination article from Dec. 7 includes a “Statement of No-Discrimination or Harassment,” as well as procedures for discrimination, harassment, retaliation and Title IX claims.
If a graduate assistant is not satisfied with the outcomes of the applicable university procedures, the parties will engage in a formal, mandatory mediation with a mediator from the American Arbitration Association’s Employment Law Panel.
SU agreed to use graduate assistants’ preferred names on university documents and communication and will not prohibit graduate assistants from engaging in legal political activities, as long as it does not interfere with the “performance of their employer-assigned duties.”
The university will also provide antidiscrimination, anti-harassment and antiretaliation training to the supervisors of graduate assistants. This training will also include information on how supervisors should respond to requests for a “reasonable accommodation.”
Throughout the bargaining process, committee members and the university addressed concerns surrounding the experiences of international graduate students, ranging from healthcare to reimbursement of Visa and SEVIS fees.
In a January university proposal, Provost Gretchen Ritter and Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves wrote that the university will commit to establishing an internal working group to address international graduate assistant housing.
The group’s goals will be to identify the primary housing challenges facing international students after a comprehensive assessment, create a plan with concrete recommendations to address the issues and at the end of one year, coordinate with SU Labor Relations to share the plan with SGEU.
“It is our hope these efforts will enable a smoother, more seamless transition for all our international graduate students and further support their holistic well-being,” Ritter and Groves wrote.
In the fall 2024 semester, SU will establish an “International Graduate Assistants Healthcare Dependent Premium Support Fund” for the partial support of healthcare premiums for dependents of international graduate assistants through SHIP. International graduate students must submit proof of SHIP-dependent coverage to the Graduate School in order to be eligible. The university will contribute $100,000 per fiscal year to the fund and will review all applications and determine the amount of support.
Through its Center for International Services, SU will provide fully subsidized access to tax preparation programs for international
graduate students’ federal and New York state tax returns. The university will also hold a session during graduate assistant orientation that addresses payroll, social security and tax withholding for international graduate assistants.
SU will also establish an “International Graduate Assistant Economic Hardship Fund,” which may cover SEVIS and Visa fees. The disbursements will be limited to $510 per international graduate assistant.
Family and parental support
According to an article from Jan. 15, assistants earning less than $65,000 in household income per year with a child under the age of 6 are eligible for a childcare subsidy of $1,500 per child. The maximum subsidy per family is $3,000.
In December 2022, the university doubled the childcare subsidy from $500 to $1,000 per child under age 6 for “qualifying graduate students,” and raised the maximum subsidy per family to $2,000. The website does not list the qualifying income for the increased subsidies.
No strike or lockout
SU and the bargaining committee have agreed to a no strike - no lockout provision.
The document from March 6 states that neither the union or any graduate assistant will “directly or indirectly cause, sanction, threaten, instigate, aid, condone, authorize, establish, or participate in any strike.”
Rejected or withdrawn articles
SGEU and the university have rejected or withdrawn four articles: officer compensation, one-time retroactive cost of living bonus, moving and relocation expenses and waiver and entire agreement.
SGEU asked for a monetary bonus of no less than $10,000 per academic year to three SGEU members serving in essential, elected, officer roles for SGEU in lieu of Union Release Time — paid time off for unionized workers to attend union events. This was last updated on Feb. 19.
In November, SGEU proposed a conceptual cost of living bonus to account for “extraordinary inflation experienced during the COVID-era.” The bonus would range from $500 to $1,500 depending on the graduate’s year. It also proposed a one-time “moving expenses” payment that would cover plane tickets, gas money, security deposits or other costs. Neither moved past the conceptual stage.
Information session and voting
SGEU plans to hold an informational meeting to share more details about the tentative bargaining agreement on Friday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Huntington Beard Crouse Gifford Auditorium.
Voting for union members will take place on Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In
effort to urge Syracuse University students to support communities harmed by the Interstate 81 project, Connect 315, a student-run club, hosted local leaders to share their perspectives on the viaduct project Wednesday evening.
Around 50 people gathered in SU’s Lyman Auditorium for the club’s panel. The six panelists, including I-81 Project Director Joe Driscoll, spoke about the importance of student involvement in efforts to mitigate the harms caused by I-81. Panelists attributed the low quality of life for Black families in the 15th Ward to developments SU has made alongside the construction of I-81.
“That old neighborhood that we’re talking about that was erased by Interstate 81, Syracuse (University) was a part of that. West Campus, BBB, that used to be Black people’s homes,” said panelist Deka Dancil, the president of the Urban Jobs Task Force.
The development of the I-81 viaduct project and community grid runs through the 15th Ward, a historically Black neighborhood. I-81 has harmed Syracuse’s Black population “for generations” and “still physically separates (the city’s) poorest and wealthiest communities,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
After years of legal dispute, the city of Syracuse will proceed with the demolition of the
I-81 viaduct and the construction of the community grid — a greener alternative featuring improved public transportation, sidewalk space and bike lanes.
Tara Harris, the lead neighborhood navigator for the nonprofit organization Blueprint 15, is a resident of the 15th Ward and has experienced the harms of the I-81 viaduct, she said. The Renew 81 For All lawsuit — which initially halted progress on the project — claimed that the New York State Department of Transportation did not consider that new traffic patterns brought by the project would degrade air quality.
Mayor Ben Walsh has acknowledged that the city is concerned about I-81’s construction worsening air quality for those who live by the viaduct but believes that the long-term impact of the grid will result in a “net positive impact.”
“I live on a street that has a steam plant, a railroad track. I live right by the highway, the hospital. I just got sick all of a sudden,” Harris said.
Dancil said she defined the conditions that residents of the 15th Ward face as “environmental racism” and encouraged students to “push back on Syracuse University.”
“(Tara) got sick from all the toxins in the air … so that y’all could have a hot shower in university housing,” Dancil said.
The city must earn the trust of the residents of the 15th Ward, Driscoll said, as it works to improve citizens’ quality of life.
“I’d say the scale (of responses) ranges from not believing anything that we’re saying, to, kind of like ‘Yeah, we’ll see,’” Driscoll said.
Kiara Van Brackle, a Ph.D. student at SU and clinical neuroscientist for Upstate University Hospital, said she often treats health conditions caused by lead poisoning that Syracuse’s young Black children disproportionately face.
“The young babies, the kids that you might see if you venture off this hill, in the malls and the playgrounds and the streets downtown … I treat them. I have treated them for lead poisoning,” she said.
Van Brackle said she could have attended another “private white institution,” but decided to stay at SU to pursue further education because of the “environmental injustices” in the city.
Student attendees asked panelists how to be involved in racial equity work related to the I-81 viaduct project. Sarah Walton, the director of East Adams Neighborhood Redevelopment, said the most effective way for students to aid their cause was to join and help out with campaigns already in motion, such as Blueprint15.
Walton encouraged students to demand a local community focus in their coursework. Students don’t have many opportunities to engage with the Syracuse community, she said.
“I would encourage students to use the immense power that you have to hold (SU) accountable to not further harm the residents of this neighborhood,” Dancil said.
“You are the most powerful constituency on this entire campus.”
Stephanie Moon, an SU sophomore who attended the panel, said the event showed her the importance of utilizing her power as a student in the Syracuse community.
“I feel a lot about being aware of our responsibility to give back to the city,” Moon said. “You know, we’re sucking up a lot of the resources in this town and not giving back at all.”
Connect 315 became a registered student organization with the university this semester. As the club continues to develop, it will continue to focus on civic discourse, sophomore founding member Anna Mirer said. She said while the organization plans to continue focusing on I-81, it may expand to addressing other Syracuse community issues.
“We want to encourage students to learn in community and really push past just what their curriculum offers,” Mirer said. “We want to make sure that students are not only pushing for something, but having an informed stance, becoming informed volunteers.”
Van Brackle is one student pushing for change, and cited the student body’s responsibility to the rest of the city as Syracuse residents.
“We have the power. Put it in motion ... we’ve got stuff to do,” Van Brackle said. “I don’t want to continue to examine children or teach people how to look for lead paint.”
While Christmas shopping with his family in December 2012, Lukas Reed recalls his older sister asking if he wanted to sneak out to a hardcore show later that night. As a middle school student, he felt like he had to take the opportunity.
“Your big sister wants you to do some cool, grown-up things? Obviously I said yeah,” Reed said. “From that point onward I was just so enamored by everything, just the energy and the comradery of it all, it felt so unreal.”
Whether there are 30 people in a venue or hundreds, hardcore shows have a spirit that Reed carries with him everywhere. He maintains that feeling when managing the Syracuse Hardcore Instagram page and organizing events for the local community.
Even four decades after the scene started popping up, the hardcore rock community in Syracuse still thrives. On March 15, crowds celebrated how far the scene has come with a hardcore exhibit at the Silver Street Community Center that included memorabilia dating back to the ‘80s. Newspapers and flyers from past shows decorated the walls of the venue and vendors sold items like vinyl records and clothing.
Hardcore is a subgenre of punk rock notable for its fast-paced rhythms and aggressive vocals. Syracuse has produced nationally beloved hardcore bands, including Earth Crisis and The Promise. For community members – from children to people who have loved hardcore since
the beginning – the scene invites a sense of family and chances to celebrate the music and culture they love.
Colin Mras has been going to hardcore shows in Binghamton since 2006 and started going to shows in Syracuse in 2010. After moving to Syracuse in 2021, he joined the band Deal With God. Since becoming a part of the local scene, he said events like Saturday’s exhibit are vital.
“These people are my family,” Mras said. “It’s important for any subculture to know what came before you. It’s just going back and realizing what makes Syracuse hardcore.”
Bryan Krause, another Syracuse local, has been going to hardcore shows in the city for two decades. He said he listened to bands including Another Breath and Forfeit, and was gifted merchandise at shows as a kid. Now 36, he said he’s glad he’s able to do the same for kids of today.
“Ever since COVID there’s been such a youthful resur-
of memorabilia brought the together to celebrate their past
gence in the Syracuse scene and I think a big takeaway is to remind everyone this didn’t just come out of thin air,” Reed said. “This has been 40-plus years of ebbs and flows and it’s mostly a labor of love from most people.”
Reed said the local hardcore community values these experiences, calling it tight-knit to the point where everyone essentially knows everyone.
“It’s one of those things of paying it forward and passing it on to the next,” Reed said. “It’s not like this is a main job for anyone. It’s just that my friends have some shirts that they want to give to a younger person.”
Jamie “Pickslide” Talucci echoed Reed’s thoughts, saying that it’s great to not only see people continuing to be active in the community but to also see the city’s younger generation participate more.
Talucci has been around the Syracuse hardcore scene since 2003 and, along with his partner Thao Crash, is in
punk rock duo War Lovers.
“(It’s about) making friends and then eventually making friends with those guys’ kids because their kids are in bands,” Talucci said.
The couple recently concluded a world tour where they played in cities including Syracuse, Seoul, South Korea and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The two artists don’t plan on resting as they have another tour starting this May in New Jersey.
From the time that she started recording concerts, Syracuse local Sarah Miller said that what she loves the most about the hardcore community is how inclusive it is. Miller also appreciates seeing more transgender people, people of color and women feel welcome in the scene.
Miller has been frequenting hardcore concerts since 1998 and runs an Instagram page where she posts hard-
core sets recorded on VHS from as early as the late ‘90s.
“Everything is so inclusive it also makes me cry,” Miller said. “It melts me every time to see so many people together being happy.”
She started filming shows herself around two years ago using a VHS camera, quickly realizing that people loved seeing shows through a retro lens. After sharing her collection over the years, she said making her own is a unique way to give back to the hardcore community.
Whether through music, photography or art, Miller said the progress that the local hardcore scene and its members have made is inspiring to see.
“This started in Syracuse and it meant a lot to people then,” Miller said. “The fact that it still is now so much to so many people, it’s really important.”
sthoma10@syr.edu
When Tristan Martin, a licensed therapist and assistant teaching professor, joined Syracuse University’s Marriage and Family Therapy department in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in 2022, his leadership became crucial in reimagining Trans Support Day.
Since its inception, Martin and the rest of the Transgender Affirmative Support Team, who run the initiative, have significantly increased the number of transgender support services available at the event, he said. This year’s Trans Support Day will feature 19 local gender-affirming care providers, which Martin said is the most in its history.
“(Trans Support Day) is really a safe space that connects trans people with vital gender-affirming resources,” Martin said. “From my clinical practice, I’ve learned not a lot of people know about the resources here.”
Trans Support Day will be held on March 23 from 12 to 4 p.m. in Peck Hall. The event will host free hair and makeup stations and lawyers knowledgeable in legal name changes, Martin said. It will also feature local healthcare providers, including gender-affirming surgeons, voice
from page 1 lawsuit
In the email, Davis allegedly wrote that it was important for the school to nominate a Latina woman for the first time.
Speaks did not respond to the message until three weeks after the nomination period ended, according to the lawsuit, adding that the award was for an “online teaching specialist.” The lawsuit claims that the award going to an “online teaching specialist” would violate the award’s “consistent annual basis for eligibility and evaluation.”
A university award program coordinator confirmed that the award has a “diversity and inclusion component,” according to the lawsuit.
Speaks allegedly nominated two white men for the award before the email exchange and nominated another after. Speaks also allegedly did not nominate Herrera in 2021 or 2022, which, the lawsuit writes, supports the assertion that the “obstrucion” of her nomination in 2020 was not because of a changed theme but an act of “targeted discrimination.”
The lawsuit adds that no Latina woman in the School of Architecture has ever been nominated for a Meredith Teaching Recognition Award.
The lawsuit also alleges that the dean’s office denied Herrera the opportunity to work as a design studio coordinator during her time at SU.
“Multiple SoA-Bylaws-ineligible faculty members at Plaintiff’s rank, some below her rank, some part-time and some with significantly less teaching experience than Plaintiff, often white, or male or both, have been invited to serve in these … positions,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges the denial impeded Herrera’s professional growth.
The process of selecting faculty is a “secretive ‘tap on the shoulder’ practice” at the School of Architecture, the lawsuit states. Speaks allegedly assigned inexperienced part-time instructors — some in their first semester at SU — to serve as design studio coordinators.
The lawsuit specifically names part-time instructor Cait McCarthy, writing that she was assigned to be a design studio co-coordinator in her first three semesters at the school.
“McCarthy was one year out of school, has never held a full-time position, has never taught her own design studio, and who is Caucasian, was selected for three consecutive semesters, to co-coordinate studios and then later, asked to replace Plaintiff as the required drawing course instructor, though she had also never taught a drawing course,” the lawsuit states.
Herrera allegedly was never asked to co-coordinate a design studio. No Latina woman has ever worked as a design studio coordinator at the School of Architecture, the lawsuit states.
coaches, nutritionists and hormone providers.
Located in SU’s Couple and Family Therapy Center, TAST — a team with resources available to transgender and gender-diverse individuals throughout the Syracuse community — trains SU students interested in gaining “specialized training and experience” in gender-affirming care, according to its website.
The day of celebration is not a pride event, but rather aims to support trans people and their families by making them aware of resources available across the city of Syracuse, said Deborah Coolhart, TAST’s founder and an associate professor in the MFT department. She also said the event works to combat the “mistreatment” of trans youth across the United States.
In 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union tracked 510 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in the U.S. — over half of which specifically targeted transgender youth and put them at risk of losing access to genderaffirmative care, the ability to participate in school sports and the use of bathrooms aligning with their gender identity, according to the Williams Institute.
In November, over 60 people protested an event hosting Sara Stockton — a local marriage and family therapist whom SU’s College Republicans labeled a “gender expert” — at Drumlins Country Club in Syra-
The lawsuit refers to incidents dating back as early as the summer of 2013 when Herrera was a teaching associate in the school’s Three Cities International Program. In the program, Herrera was working with her domestic partner, who was the director of the school’s Florence program and directing the Three Cities program, the lawsuit states. Speaks disallowed Herrera from taking the same position for the next two summers, claiming there was an image of a conflict of interest, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that, since 2002, there have been 10 couples employed by the School of Architecture at the same time. Of the 20 individuals in those relationships, 19 of them were white, according to the lawsuit — the one remaining being Herrera. Speaks allegedly was “demonstrably supportive of filling positions and even in inventing new teaching positions for partners of spouses of faculty/administrators.”
Speaks only aided white administrators with white partners, according to the lawsuit. This included Speaks supporting then Graduate Program Chair Brian Lonsway in hiring his wife Kathleen Brandt to teach in the graduate program despite, according to the lawsuit, Brandt not having an architectural degree.
The lawsuit states that Speaks also created positions for other faculty’s spouses. After appointing David Shanks as Florence architecture director, Speaks allegedly created a teaching position for Shanks’s wife, Aurélie Frolet, for the 2018-2020 term. Speaks created a new administrative position for then School of Architecture Associate Dean Julia Czerniak’s husband, Mark Linder, according to the lawsuit.
In May 2022, Speaks allegedly announced a program for funding summer research grants. All of the faculty members who applied were approved except for two: Herrera and her domestic partner, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also states that the university and Speaks retaliated against a February 2023 discrimination complaint filed by Herrera by replacing her with McCarthy for a required drawing course. Herrera states she had previously taught the course independently for four years and had received a unanimous positive teaching evaluation and formal recommendation for contract renewal.
After McCarthy declined the assignment, allegedly stating she felt uncomfortable as she had never taught the content, the school hired Omar Ali as a new faculty member to teach the course. The lawsuit alleges the two were required to teach digital content “in clear violation of the course description,” which then led to Speaks allegedly accusing Herrera of lacking “expertise.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the school denied Herrera standard multi-year assistant teach-
ligence-related efforts on campus, including a March 6 event that hosted AI expert Rumman Chowdhury, which she said was “especially relevant” for the task force.
cuse. Before the talk, Syracuse community members were concerned about the event, citing Stockton’s opposition to gender-affirming care for children and anti-trans statements on social media.
“(Transgender) rights are under attack across the country, so having a space where they’re really affirmed and welcomed and supported, feels especially important now,” Coolhart said.
Coolhart also said she hopes this year’s event will continue to create an “affirmative space” for trans individuals across the community.
Trans Support Day takes place annually but “started small” in 2018, Martin said. He said the event recently saw significant growth compared to previous years with over 250 participants last year.
Kirsten Mathieson and Gabrielle Presutti, MFT master’s students and the president and vice president of TAST, respectively, described the initiative as an ongoing “labor of love.” This year, TAST sought to have a broader reach with Trans Support Day.
“We wanted to provide bespoke medical providers that would maybe be difficult for people to access normally,” Mathieson said.
Along with supporting trans individuals themselves, Trans Support Day aims to connect their family members with support services, Mathieson said. TAST therapists help families understand the
ing professor contracts and instead offered her one-year contracts that she had to continuously re-apply for. Speaks and Czerniak gave out the standard multi-year contracts to “dean-favorite assistant teaching professors,” the lawsuit alleges, and renewed them without the required review.
However, the school’s administration allegedly used Herrera’s lack of a review as a reason to not provide her with the standard contract. Czerniak allegedly claimed the multi-year contracts did not exist when “she had administered them for some dean supported ATP faculty,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that, in 2019, Herrera told Czerniak she was interested in being the Florence program director for the 2020-21 academic year. Czerniak allegedly replied that the appointment was “all set” even though it wouldn’t be officially filled for months. The position’s three-year term went to Daniele Profeta, who, the lawsuit states, is the fifth consecutive white man to hold the position.
When Herrera expressed interest again in January 2023, this time to current School of Architecture Associate Dean Kyle Miller, Miller told her that Profeta would continue to serve as the program’s director.
Speaks, according to the lawsuit, made six administrative appointments, all of whom were white, in the spring 2022 semester without informing the faculty that the positions were open, the lawsuit states.
Speaks also denied two of Herrera’s requests to be hired as an “‘Opportunity Hire’ - a designation that allows the school to hire tenure-track faculty outside of the normal search process to address issues and opportunities relevant to the school,” according to the lawsuit. After Herrera’s second request in March 2022, Speaks allegedly suggested that Herrera was trying to improperly circumvent the normal hiring process. The lawsuit posits that opportunity hires are “a normal and supported part of the university’s hiring practice.”
During the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters, Speaks excluded Herrera from a “major Drawing Workshop Series and Exhibition,” the lawsuit alleges. After Speaks and Miller — who was then an associate professor — worked on the series during the spring and summer of 2021, they asked Herrera if she would “‘help out’ with the logistics,” according to the lawsuit.
Herrera then asked if she could participate in the series as drawing is her area of expertise, research and teaching, the lawsuit alleges. Speaks denied the request, saying the event “came together very quickly,” which the lawsuit states is a lie. After the series, one of the participants was hired tenure-track for a position Herrera also applied to.
Herrera did assist with the workshop at
process of transitioning and gender exploration by providing general therapy services and medical transition support letters, which are often required to be considered for gender-affirming procedures, according to its website.
“There (are) so many families that came last year where it was a trans teens’ first time out with their parents,” Mathieson said. “We want their parents to have a chance to understand the resources better too.”
Martin said SU has supported Falk’s trans support initiatives and hopes the university will introduce similar events in the future.
The university offers year-round trans and gender-affirming services through the Barnes Center at The Arch, including the monitoring of hormone injections, mental health services and gender-affirming health supplies. SU’s LGBTQ Resource Center provides additional events and resources dedicated to supporting LGBTQ university students.
“It’s really just a space to welcome and support trans people, particularly in the current times when their rights are being attacked,” Coolhart said. “It’s important they have a space that feels like it’s theirs.”
dsrangel@syr.eduSpeaks’ request, moderating two “post-lecture conversations.” While other people involved in the series are presented on the school’s web pages, Herrera is allegedly the only person “entirely erased from this series of six events over two semesters.”
After being directed to negotiate salary, Stephanie Freeney, the school’s director of budget and administration, allegedly told Herrera that a negotiation would not be possible and that there were no additional funds for her salary. Four and a half hours before the school’s deadline for Herrera to sign her contract, the school told her that if she did not sign by the deadline, it would move on to new candidates, the lawsuit states.
After Herrera did not comply with the deadline, the school offered a $2,000 raise, an action that confirmed there was additional money available for salary, according to the lawsuit.
“Defendants were aggressive and threatening,” the lawsuit states. “It was a deeply stressful situation as (Herrera) had to basically play a game of chicken with her employer and risk losing her job.”
The lawsuit states the salary increase was relayed to Herrera over “an aggressive Zoom conversation with Dean Speaks where he scolded her for the timing of her actions,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that the dean’s office instructed Andrew Molloy, the school’s director of IT services, to disable Herrera’s access to all “SU resources and communications” within two hours after the office was informed that Herrera was approved for medical leave starting that day.
Molloy allegedly “expressed concern for the scale and scope” of the action, which included restricting access to email, HR’s benefits and payroll pages, academic resources and all university-provided software. Speaks’ office then allegedly instructed Molloy again to cut Herrera’s access.
After Herrera asked about the legality of the restrictions, all access was restored, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that the restoration confirmed the “noncompliant overreach” and “vindictive motivations by the dean in an effort to punish (Herrera).” The school allegedly has not taken the same action against any other faculty member on medical leave.
“This is a lawsuit to vindicate Plaintiff Valeria Herrera’s constitutional rights and to obtain compensation for the violation of her rights under federal and state law, and for the economic, reputational, emotional, and mental harm caused to her by Defendants Syracuse University and the Syracuse University School of Architecture,” the lawsuit reads.
kschouin@syr.edu @Kyle_ChouinardRitter also announced a new “AI academic task force,” which will be charged with developing an “AI academic strategy.” Ritter said she is charging the task force to “consider AI’s impact” on the classroom, academic policy and research to identify next steps.
The new task force is co-chaired by Duncan Brown, SU’s vice president for research; Lois Agnew, associate provost for academic programs and Andrew Sears, the dean of SU’s School of Information Studies. The task force will also includes interdisciplinary faculty and staff. She also spoke about recent artificial intel-
Syverud confirmed that iSchool professor of practice Jeff Rubin will become the university’s chief digital officer and inaugural senior vice president for digital transformation. In the position, he will establish a university-wide AI strategy, oversee data management and security and lead the information technology team, Syverud said.
“I’m confident that under his leadership, the university is on course to be a digital and technology leader,” Syverud said.
The Agenda Committee shared proposed motions to update the Student Life Committee’s
charges and a motion to expand the number of senators the Agenda Committee can add in future elections. Votes on both proposals will be held in the Senate’s next meeting, Agenda Committee Chair Kira Reed said.
During the meeting, the Academic Affairs Committee reviewed the faculty manual revision process that began summer 2023, said Jamie Winders, associate provost for faculty affairs. The revisions discussed at Wednesday’s meeting are “a first go” at revising the entire manual, she said.
The revisions were divided into sections and completed by the Agenda Committee, Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics, Committee on
Research and Committee on Appointment and Promotions. Reed said that an open forum to discuss the proposed revisions will be announced and held before the revised manual is voted on in April.
At the end of the meeting, the Senate held an “executive session” — which only senators can attend — for a scheduled Honorary Degrees Committee report. USen’s next meeting on April 17 will be the final meeting of the spring semester and will be held in person at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
gbrown19@syr.edu @GriffinUriBrown
While most secondsemester drama seniors go to New York City, Blaise Rossmann graduated early to embark on the “Pretty Woman The Musical”
By Rose Boehm asst. culture editorWhen Blaise Rossmann was a student in the Syracuse University department of drama, he attended shows like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the Landmark Theatre. He hoped that one day, he could be on a national tour like the ones that performed in Syracuse. Now, he is performing at the Landmark in the “Pretty Woman” national tour.
“It just worked out that it was going through Syracuse for a week,” Rossmann said. “I was like, ‘Wait, this is a funny full circle.’”
Rossmann is in the ensemble of the national tour of “Pretty Woman: The Musical.” Playing a cowboy, they’re dressed in a fringe jacket, cowboy boots and hat as he travels to cities across North America, from Los Angeles, California, to Montreal, Canada. This week, the tour is in Syracuse and will have nightly shows until Saturday.
Last fall, the SU alumnus graduated early to join the musical tour. Like many second-semester seniors in the SU drama department, Rossmann was planning to go to New York City for a Tepper Semester to get real-life experience in the entertainment industry. Although Rossmann was missing out on a tradition with their
slice of life
friends, he was able to get a similar experience – and get paid.
“(Rossmann) was to the end of his training anyway,” said David Lowenstein, one of Rossmann’s musical theater professors. “So it seemed like a really good opportunity for him to go and launch into the profession.”
When choosing whether to take part in the national tour, Rossmann consulted professors like Lowenstein, searching for confirmation that he was making the right decision.
It’s important to figure out what performers enjoy in the industry, one of his dance professors, Andrea LeighSmith, said. From her own career, LeighSmith learned she didn’t like touring, but these opportunities are how performers get to put their education into practice and experience that joy.
Rossmann decided to go on tour while still being able to take time off and walk across the stage this May with his peers. He had enough credits to graduate, so they decided it was an opportunity he had to take.
“Both of (the professors) were like, ‘Well, do you have the credit to graduate?’ They were like, ‘Please, you realize this is a good thing,” Rossmann said. “It's scary and it's fast. But you're gonna leave with a degree that you paid for. You're gonna get your first real big credit.”
Since most of his friends are in the city, Rossmann sometimes misses them and
questions his decision. Seeing them on social media exploring their first experiences in the acting industry makes him sad. However, his mom and friends remind them that he is on the right path.
“In the beginning, I remember feeling like ‘Oh God, I wish I was in the city with my friends,” Rossmann said. “Then everyone was like, ‘Blaise you went to school to do this. You’re doing the thing. You're exactly where you should be.’”
Being on tour reminds Rossmann of a line from the song “N.Y.C.” in “Annie: The Musical.” One character, Star-To-Be, sings “Three bucks, two bags, one me.” Rossmann gets one tech bag for all his show materials, a carry-on bag and one extra — a backpack.
While studying abroad, Rossmann learned how to put his whole life in a few bags. They believe traveling to different countries each weekend prepared him the most for going on the “Pretty Woman” national tour, which is one of the hardest things he’s ever done.
The tour has already led him to places he wouldn’t have otherwise gone, like Montreal, performing to bilingual audiences. Rossmann is also a part of major theater milestones – the “Pretty Woman” national tour’s performance was the first
time the show was done in Boston, MA.
While at SU, Rossmann refined his performance skills. Leigh-Smith recalls being at his audition where he said he had only been dancing for less than two months. They already had a lot of experience in singing and acting, but at SU, they had to work on dance.
Leigh-Smith taught Rossmann in beginner jazz classes, where he was eager to hone that part of his theater see pretty woman page 9
At 26 years old, Morgan Harper Nichols dropped out of her first year MFA program and experienced what she recently identified as “autistic burnout.” She said something was going on in her life that she couldn’t identify and asked her doctor if she might be on the spectrum.
Without looking up from his clipboard, Nichols’ doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. For the next three years, while still undiagnosed and struggling, Nichols created art in what she said felt like “the unknown,” seeing it as an escape and also a profession.
In 2020, Nichols’ TikTok algorithm started recommending videos about adult autism diagnosis, which encouraged her to pursue six months of evaluation, leading to her diagnosis. Afterward, she wanted to share her experience.
“This is amazing, but it would also be amazing if other people could have this, too,” Nichols said in her talk. “Stories matter. Seeing yourself in a story matters.”
Hosted by Neurodiversity at SU, Nichols, an artist and advocate who wrote “All Along You Were Blooming,” discussed her journey with autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sensory
processing disorder (SPD) since being diagnosed in her 30s. Nichols started her talk Wednesday by expressing her shock at the Syracuse snowfall, but her love for the “warmth” of her audience. Immediately, she sensed she was in a room of people who cared about imagining a better world where more people feel free to be themselves.
“I just think it’s so important that we address stigmas about not always doing your 100% best in all the areas all at once and to talk about creating space for yourself to breathe and the process and to just be who you are,” Nichols said.
Meaghan Krazinski, a Doctoral Candidate in Inclusive Special Education at SU and organizer for the event, related to Nichols’ circuitous experience in neurodivergence.
“I love the different connections that she brings and I feel like it’s also relatable to people that may be neurotypical, too,” Krazinski said. “(Nichols) definitely has an effect of bringing people together as a community.”
Syracuse University instructor Sara Jo Soldovieri’s class filled a row of seats in the Schine Student Center and whispered excitedly during the presentation. Soldivieri teaches students with diverse needs.
“I think in education broadly, but specifically in special education, when we talk about disabled students, we leave them out of the conversation,” Soldovieri said. “We talk about disabled students in this abstract way, but here is someone who is really important.”
Nichols’ story resonated with senior Claire Meagher, who cried while speaking with Nichols after the event. Meagher and her mother were diagnosed as highly sensitive people (HSP) at the same time Meagher started college. Meagher looked up to Nichols as a mentor since her freshman year. see nichols page 9
Not to brag or anything, but I had the best spring break ever. A whole week off from feeling bad about skipping assignments was exactly what the doctor ordered. She also ordered me some medication for my mysterious rash, but that’s not what this is about. I absolutely lived it up during the break, and even got a new job! Very exciting stuff.
One of the best parts about my break was the new friend I made! His name is Bobby, and right off the bat, he said he was very impressed with my credentials and offered me a job selling organic skin care products! He said he couldn’t pay me yet, but the brand was backed by J. Lo, so who was I to decline? I told Bobby I’d get to work right away.
After that exciting proposition, I hit the skies to go to the 62nd most beautiful place (according to me) in the world: the Florida Keys! After a stressful first half of the semester, I was excited to sit back, relax and watch a classic vacation movie, like “Mamma Mia!” or “The Human Centipede (First Sequence).”
However, duty calls. Even though my airplane mode was on, Bobby still somehow texted me about
selling 30 organic products for the week. When I tried to tell him I was on vacation, he texted me my hotel’s address. So I figured I might as well just get in that “grindset.”
As it turns out, planes are a “no soliciting” zone, and the flight attendants threatened to put me in with the luggage if I didn’t stop trying to hawk $60 face cream made of zebra mucus to the people in first class.
Before I knew it, I was on the beach. The waves, the sand and the salt in my hair made it the perfect place to relax. Well, that and the fact that Bobby told me that it was the perfect place to recruit new salespeople. Something about people wanting to earn back the money they had blown on their timeshare? I don’t remember.
After scaling the whole beach, looking for new pals to join me in my business endeavors, I finally made my first sale to a woman who agreed to buy our cheapest product – a makeup brush made out of squirrel tail – if I left her alone! A big day for Sarah, indeed.
Bobby was also very excited about this sale, saying I could use the money from my commission to pay for my (only) six hundred dollar training! If I keep up the good work, I may
even receive health insurance at some point.
When I called my mom to share the good news, she did seem a little nervous. She expressed concerns about Bobby selling me on something called a “triangle scheme?” Oh, pshaw. Someone doesn’t understand entrepreneurship. I confidently told her she wouldn’t be living with me in my New York City penthouse (overlooking the meatpacking district, posh!) when I become rich and famous.
Hot off the heels of my recent sale, I shared the link to Bobby’s website with all of my friends –just like he told me to. One of my friends actually seemed pretty excited about it, responding, “This is crazy. Are you serious?”
I know! It’s almost too good to be true!
After a stellar week, basking in the glow of my newfound “Wolf of Wall Street” persona, I flew back to Syracuse. When I landed, I got a weird text from Bobby. Something about “Delete this number” and “Decline any interviews with the police?” Classic prankster Bobby, yanking on my tail!
I responded with three laughing crying emojis, but found out Bobby had blocked my number. Apparently, greatness intimidates some people. sswells@syr.edu
from page 7
performance. Rossmann learned how to combine acting, singing and dancing, Lowenstein said.
“We're not in the 1950s. The singer, the dancer and the actor who was hired today in the industry is somebody who can hopefully do it all,” LeighSmith said. “They may have some strengths in one area, butit also makes any well-rounded performer who is appreciative of the skill set in all the other areas, not just one dimensional.”
Rossmann was in several Syracuse Stage performances. They learned how to swing, or
from page 7 nichols
Nichols shared stories about getting confused at the Department of Motor Vehicles; being overjoyed by a picture of roots, which she used to exemplify the concept of connection; and her special interest in The Sims 4. The crowd laughed even while she discussed difficult concepts of neurodivergence.
“I’m still recovering from my birthday party I had at 20 years old,” Nichols said during her presentation. “I’m 34 years old, y’all!”
Throughout her presentation, Nichols emphasized the importance of community and establishing connections because she struggled with that. She recalled other people making friends easily and she wondered how. So, to end her presentation, she prompted audience members to raise their hands when they agreed that they enjoyed a certain activity.
Over the raised hands, she said, “Look around, these are your people… these might be your friends for life.”
vbhargav@syr.edu
fill in for an ensemble member, in “Matilda,” how to be a dance captain in “As You Like It” and how to be in an ensemble in “Guys and Dolls,” playing a drag queen. Joining the “Pretty Woman” tour, he never felt like he didn’t know what to do or what was expected of him because of the resilience he learned at SU.
In the opening number, “Welcome to Hollywood,” Rossmann spends three minutes running around the stage and “doing the most,” they said. “Pretty Woman” is more fun than a lot of current musicals, which are heartwrenching, and Syracuse prepared him to be a part of a show like this.
“I’m always bringing joy to whatever city
and I don't think a lot of people get to say that like, ‘Oh my job for these like five, six months has been like, I get to see 10,000 people a week and tell them a very story that ends on a happy note,’” Rossmann said.
This week of performances is what Rossmann is considering his “home show.” His parents, teachers and roommates who are studying at Tepper are coming to Syracuse to see the show.
Some department of drama students have had a similar trajectory to Rossmann. However, very few have graduated early to go on a national tour, Lowenstein said. rlboehm@syr.edu
Glass Skeleton Death March will take center stage at The Song & Dance Friday night. Hailing from Syracuse, the fourperson band has a progressive metal-rock sound with hits like “Death Rides the Dawn” and “Asylum.” The band is “technical but tasteful,” according to their website. The Antarctican, Seventh Siege, Haishen and Burn The Empire will also perform. Tickets are available for purchase online.
WHEN: March 22 at 7 p.m.
PRICE: $19.78
Funk ‘n Waffles
Albany’s Annie in the Water will perform this weekend at Funk ‘n Waffles. The Americana indie rock band is known for their ability to play multiple genres from rock to funk and reggae to hip hop. Tickets for the six-piece band are available online.
WHEN: March 22 at 8 p.m.
ARTIST: Price: $18.22
Redgate
DJ Lucas, 22BB and Char are performing at Redgate this Friday. DJ Lucas is a rap DJ from western Massachusetts inspired by artists like Three 6 Mafia and Black Sabbath. 22BB also hails from the western Massachusetts rap scene and often performs with DJ Lucas. Direct message Redgate’s Instagram account for presale tickets.
WHEN: March 22 at 10 p.m.
PRICE: $7 presale, $10 at the door
The Dollhouse
Senior Living, Jam Poetry and Cigarettes Inside are set to perform at The Dollhouse, a student-run house show venue, Saturday night. The bands are known for their alternative, emo-rock music styles. This show also marks Cigarettes Inside’s first performance. Tickets are available for purchase at the door.
WHEN: March 23 at 8 p.m.
PRICE: $7
Westcott Theater
With support from JD Simo, Samantha Fish continues her BulletProof Tour this Friday at Westcott Theater. The singer-songwriter draws from genres such as rock, country and bluegrass but is often labeled a blues artist, according to her website. The Kansas City, Missouri native is inspired by iconic artists like Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. Tickets for the show are available online.
WHEN: March 23 at 8 p.m.
PRICE: $35 - $115
As a Black woman at Syracuse University, the journey to embracing and celebrating my natural hair has not come without its challenges. I have had my fair share of unwanted criticism and microaggression aimed toward my hair and what I choose to do with it on a daily basis. Based on conversations with other minority students, it is apparent that these interactions are not unique to just my college experience.
From comments about how “wild” and “fun” my hair looks when I wear my curls out, to hearing that I should wear my hair straight more often when they see it in its “unnatural” state, these encounters deplete my confidence and self-esteem and reinforce negative assumptions about professionalism and Blackness.
Navigating the complexities of being a minority at a predominantly white institution (PWI) like SU is a challenging and complex journey of self-acceptance entwined with cultural identification. The most significant of these challenges is accepting natural hair in a setting where professional standards sometimes dismiss and undermine the deep-rooted diversity of Black beauty.
It’s important to understand that natural hair is more than just what hairstyle I am going to wear day-to-day, it’s a direct representation of my self-worth and cultural history.
Kristen Denise Rowe, a professor at California State University Fullerton, wrote that “for Black women and girls, hair has always been a generative space for constructing meanings of identity.”
However, within PWIs, there is often a sense of pressure to adhere to long-dominated Eurocentric beauty standards “that privilege straighter hair and loose, wavy curl patterns –known colloquially and intra-racially as ‘good hair,’” Rowe continued.
The “Good Hair” Study conducted by the Perception Institute found that generally speaking, white women express overt prejudice toward the textured hair of Black women.
Compared to smooth or straight hair, they consider it to be less elegant, less attractive and less professional. For Black students, we often must contend with the notion that our natural hair is “not put together,” or “unsuitable for formal occasions.”
Unfortunately, these experiences extend beyond college into the corporate world, which led to the creation of The CROWN Act.
The CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) is a legislative campaign that seeks to abolish those prejudices against people because of their natural hairstyles, especially ones connected
to their race or heritage. That being said, there are some “kinks” that need to be worked out so that there are no discrepancies.
For example, due to his refusal to cut his locs, Darryl George, a Black student at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, was given in-school suspension for many months. While his family, lawyers – and I quite frankly – view this as a violation of The CROWN Act, a Texas judge determined that the law was not violated by the school district's dress code.
The trajectory of this case in its entirety serves as a stark reminder that the stigma associated with natural hair at PWIs needs to be quickly dismantled. It stems from ingrained prejudices and structural inequalities, not simply a matter of how someone chooses to style their hair. One of the most significant means to confirm Black identity and promote diversity on campus is to embrace natural hair.
PWIs have a responsibility to pay attention to these opinions, confront deeply held prejudices, and endeavor to make the school a more welcoming and supportive place for all students. To see the positive effects of diversity on our campus, and the development of a more inclusive environment, the problem at hand must be both acknowledged and validated.
Prioritizing education and awareness campaigns is essential for educational institutions such as SU to dispel prejudices and encourage the acceptance of other cultural traditions. I will say that the Black students here at Syracuse continue to persevere in challenging the status quo and defying expectations in the presence of the hardships we face. We create and provide spaces where other minority students can come together and feel empowered, celebrating and affirming each other.
Whether that means expanding the Black hair care section in the Schine Student Center’s Campus Store or hosting more events such as the Black Beauty Expo hosted by the Black Student Union, National Association of Black Accountants and Office of Multicultural Affairs, these events and initiatives should not be confined to the bounds of Black History Month.
PWIs, SU included, need to make a strong and intentional effort to not only hire but to retain diverse faculty and staff who can act as role models and support systems for students of color. As a Black student, when I walk into a room and see a professor or staff member of color who proudly wears their natural crown of hair, I feel a powerful message of affirmation and encouragement: what I choose to do with my hair doesn’t dictate what I can or can’t do in my life.
They may not know it but they are truly making a difference and inspiring future generations.
Alexis Rouson is a second-year student studying Exercise Science.
hair, I feel a powerful message of
CLAIRE MCBRIDE BEST OPINIONS FROM A LESBIAN
Growing up in suburban Illinois, I went to church almost every Sunday with my family. And not just my immediate family either – we would meet up with my aunts, uncles and cousins at church too. For me, church was a family reunion.
Being raised Christian, I took my practice seriously. I read the Bible, prayed and happily went to church. I had been surrounded by Christians in my family and many of our family friends were Christian too. I had no reason to question the faith I had known.
But as I got to the end of middle school, I began to rethink my connection to the church and Christianity. It was the same year I realized I was queer and had an interest in women, and there was no denying that had led me to question the religion I had grown up with.
I knew how both my own small church and larger religious institutions felt about queer people. It was prevalent in the scriptures I was taught and sermons I attended. I was lucky, though, that my parents and friends never held the same anti-queer sentiment many others do. But I still wasn’t fully shielded from the homophobia that many churches present.
When I realized I was queer, I stopped going to church.
I struggled heavily with my religious identity, constantly feeling bad about the fact that I was queer while still considering myself a Christian. I felt like a hypocrite around some of my Christian family members for being a lesbian when they were so strong in the faith that they believed denied me the ability to be queer. I also worried that I was betraying the queer community by believing in a religion that has been used to persecute queer people.
This struggle was deepened by the fact that there wasn’t a prevalent group of religious queer people where I lived.
As time went on and I came out to my parents, they accepted and supported me wholeheartedly. One of the first things my dad said was that God still loved me no matter what.
Those words were really what I needed to hear, as what many churches and other Christians were saying was the opposite. One of my old friends even said that while God probably still loved me, I would never live a full and happy life in God’s eyes by being queer.
But that’s not true at all. The greatest dis covery I made on my journey with my spiri tuality was finding the difference between being religious and being part of the Christian church; I realized that I could be queer and religious at the same time.
Many queer people who grew up within anti-queer religious institutions struggle with those two identities together, since, for many, the religious side of their life doesn’t align with their queerness. But the impor tant thing to remember is that every single person’s relationship with their sexuality and with their religion is different.
For some people, leaving behind reli gion entirely helps them accept their identities. For others, myself included, reevaluating their religious experi ences and beliefs can lead to a new understanding of the intersection between identities.
Finding a church that is open and accepting of various sexu alities and gender identities may help some reconcile with their faith as a part of the queer community. But for me, distancing myself from the church was more help ful in understanding my beliefs.
Breaking off from the church itself and some of its less accepting teachings allowed me to focus on my own personal spirituality
be
and connection with the Christian faith. This has led me to see that I identify more as an agnostic believer than strictly Christian.
As I’ve grown up and moved on to college, I’ve been able to learn even more about myself. Talking to my queer friends about their own religious identities and how those intersect with their queer identities has helped a lot too.
One of my friends
especially in a conservative and religious town. He was surrounded by people from his old church that didn’t accept his identity until he came to college and found a community where he could discuss both his queer and past religious identity.
I discovered my queer identity years ago, but for many college students, it is a very recent discovery. Because of this, it is important to have an ongoing conversation with yourself and others about important topics such as the church and sexuality. And at Syracuse University there are plenty of community-focused queer and religious spaces. For example, the LGBTQ+ center on campus always has staff and peers willing to talk and SU offers courses that delve into religion and sexuality’s intersection such as Christianity and Sexuality
While my experience may be different from the millions of other queer and religious people, it still tells my story of growth and acceptance. You may not go down the same path or come to the same conclusion as me, but your own journey will be just as beneficial and important.
Claire McBride is a freshman Magazine, News and Digital Journalism major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at Cpmcbrid@syr.edu.
I realized that I could be queer and religious at the same time.
Claire McBride columnist
No matter how you view TikTok, banning the platform would be censorshipBy Bryce Whitham
Dear Senator Schumer,
I am writing to give you a different perspective on the bill now in front of the Senate. The bill forces TikTok to decouple from Chinese ownership and, barring some miracle, will effectively ban it in the United States.
As a Ph.D. student and media scholar at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University studying social media behavior, I concur with you a lot about TikTok that you already know. TikTok’s proprietary “For You” algorithm is designed to build a personality profile around you and serve you with only the most instantly mesmerizing content. It’s made TikTok the most successful app in history, surpassing Google as the world’s most visited web domain.
And for many students here at SU, it’s become an addiction akin to nicotine. I did a study last year, and many students admitted they can spend up to five hours a day watching TikTok videos. Research also shows that excessive TikTok watching leads to “digital dementia,” causing anxiety, depression and the loss of attention span.
I am not a big fan of TikTok, but I am against banning it. Before returning to school, I lived and worked in China for 17 years as an advertising executive in American and British firms. I personally witnessed the growth of Bytedance and the dominance of Douyin, TikTok’s sister platform in China. During that time, I also saw the dramatic rise of Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube and online news platforms such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, which the Chinese government all effectively blocked because they didn’t follow the Communist Party line.
It is for this reason that I am opposed to the bill banning TikTok. It is fundamentally unAmerican and we are simply following China’s censorship playbook. Blocking TikTok in any way effectively stops one of the core values that both you and I hold dearly, which is also our strength: openness. Are we willing to follow China and
apply it here? America is better than this.
The argument is that the Chinese Communist Party is extracting data from us. If the Chinese government wanted to get our data, they could find many different ways. They could take a chapter from Russia and simply go to X, formerly known as Twitter, or Meta and do not need their own platform. Fueled by artificial intelligence, our American social media platforms are so porous and flawed, but our congressional leaders seem to do little about them despite hearings after hearings. And Americans simply do not value data privacy compared to other countries. Your bank credit score knows more about you than any piece of data that the CCP knew about me back in China.
There has only been speculation of a massive TikTok data breach without much hard evidence, only to say, “they could if they wanted to.” And given easily accessible data alternatives, why would the CCP jeopardize a highly-profitable company? TikTok is a cash cow, and it would be bad business to disrupt it, especially now that the Chinese economy is experiencing a slowdown.
There are better solutions than what Congress is proposing. What ever happened to Project Texas, the plan to house TikTok data in Oracle servers which would be Apple’s equivalent in China under their data localization laws? Project Texas would have been a reasonable compromise if we were worried about data leaving our shores.
Some have also argued that the CCP is using TikTok to spread anti-American propaganda. If this were the case, it wouldn’t seem to be working. Why wouldn’t the CCP use TikTok to improve American opinions on China? American opinions on China are now at an all-time low.
Why is Congress doing this? It’s an emotional reaction to our government’s failure to control social media. If TikTok’s addictive and potentially harmful algorithm leaves our youth due to the ban, platforms like Meta will pick up the slack.
We are so worried that the CCP will undermine democracy, so what do we do? Block or ban a social media platform. I have lived under a censorious regime, and I can tell you it is not something we want for our country.
women’s national championship
If anyone asked Gabriela Knutson if she would play professional tennis after college, she would have answered no. The Syracuse tennis alumna never imagined she’d be living out of her suitcase 30 weeks out of the year to play professional tennis. But after competing in the qualifying rounds of the 2024 Australian Open, Knutson knew she made the right decision.
“It was (a) really rewarding (experience) because (it) was my goal,” Knutson said. “It (was) even more gratifying to get to where I got to on my own merit.”
At SU, Knutson prioritized her studies in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications as a broadcast and digital journalism major. She wasn’t committed to a professional career despite winning the second most matches in Syracuse history (179) and leading the Orange to three NCAA Tournament appearances. But Knutson eventually opted to make the jump to the professional stage in 2021 and has advanced as far as the third qualifying round of the Australian Open.
“I always thought she had enough talent and dedication to pursue pro tennis if she wanted to,” Syracuse head coach Younes Limam said.
Knutson’s mother, Ilona, introduced her daughter to tennis when she was 2 years old. While living in California, Ilona began hitting balls with Knutson at their local country club and eventually began training her more intensely. But Ilona explained that her daughter faced a lot of pressure at home after moving to the Czech Republic when she was 12. She recalled Knutson crying after a tournament while her father and uncle told her what she should have done differently.
“Here in the Czech Republic, it (is) so goal-oriented. You have to succeed,” Ilona said. “I think (Gabriela) was kind of fed up with tennis (because of it).”
College was the only time Knutson got to say “yes or no to tennis.” But she was adamant
The Syracuse Common Council will vote Monday to place an honorary sign for former men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim at the intersection of Irving and East Raynor Avenues, according to syracuse.com. The intersection is near the southern approach of the JMA Wireless Dome.
Common Councilor Corey Williams, who represents the district that includes SU’s campus, brought the resolution forward. Along with Boeheim’s accomplishments in coaching, the council will pay tribute to the former coach’s charitable work through the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, which focuses on local children and supports the elimination of cancer.
Boeheim was previously honored on Feb. 24 during the Orange’s matchup with Notre Dame, which featured a variety of videos and presentations. State Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli and State Senator John Mannion honored Boeheim with a proclamation on behalf of the city of Syracuse that made the date officially “Jim Boeheim Day.” henrywobrien1123@gmail.com @realhenryobrien
about playing because it was her only path to a higher education.
When Knutson got to Syracuse, she didn’t experience the same pressure as she did in the Czech Republic. Tennis became a team sport for Knutson, Ilona said. It was the first time she got to experience winning and losing with a group.
During her senior year at Syracuse, Knutson, ranked then-No. 4 in Division I, played alongside Miranda Ramirez in doubles. The pair defeated three nationally ranked duos, including Miami’s then-No. 17 Daniella Roldan and Daevenia Achong.
from page 16
Beyond elite facilitating, Alexa takes pride in her balance as a player, holding a near 1:1 goal-toassist ratio. At Mount Sinai High School — the alma mater of SU stars Meaghan and Emma Tyrrell — Alexa has played varsity since seventh grade and is a two-time All Suffolk County recipient. As a middle schooler and underclassman, she quickly became a key part of the team’s attack. In the county semifinals last year, where Mount Sinai was a No. 7 seed, it needed to mount a comeback.
Head coach Shayna Pirreca said that once it came to crunch time, the team needed to get the ball to Alexa. It’s a scenario she always wants to thrive in. She did.
from page 16
in a row for the Orange with 2:54 remaining in the first. And even with Jake Naso winning all five faceoffs in the first quarter, Syracuse found itself ahead 3-1.
Part of the reason for the low-scoring affair was the head-scratching turnovers. Hiltz got free on a dodge but his ensuing pass went awry. On multiple occasions, routine passes from Duke flew over a teammate’s head.
O’Neill got his first points by finding Andrew MaCadory on the wing to break a 15-minute Blue Devils scoring drought, but Luke Rhoa answered with a rocket from 10 yards out to make it 4-2 with 5:36 remaining in the first half.
Even though Syracuse didn’t have much of a rhythm on the offensive end, the Blue Devils looked all over the place. Josh Zawada curled around from X, but Mark thwarted the attack with his 10th save of the first half. O’Neill tried his luck with two efforts on the run, but each was rushed and went well wide of the net.
After Jameison denied Thomson for his ninth save of the half, Duke gained one last possession to halve its deficit. The Blue Devils searched for an opening but nothing developed deep into the shot clock. MaCadory controlled the ball, yet had it poked away without a shot on net as Syracuse went into halftime with a two-goal advantage.
Syracuse’s faceoff unit came alive in the second half after going 0-for-8 as a unit in the 30 minutes. A violation on Naso gifted SU possession before Hiltz opened the secondhalf scoring. On the ensuing faceoff, Mason Kohn won it for himself and turned upfield. With no defender sliding to him, Kohn fired home his fifth goal of the season.
Spallina was held without a point for over 35 minutes but found Jackson Birtwistle on a cut to put Syracuse up 7-2, giving Duke its largest
“I think she generated a lot of pace on her shots and worked extremely hard on her fitness,” Limam said. “She was one of the best players in college.”
While Knutson was always passionate about tennis, she wanted autonomy over her career goals, so she chose not to pursue the sport professionally. Instead, after graduating from Syracuse in 2019, she continued playing tennis at Durham University (England) and received two master’s degrees in marketing and renewable energy.
Yet while she was there, Knutson began playing on the Universal Tennis Rating Pro Tennis Tour in 2021. During the season, she won the PTT Bulgaria Women’s $25k Clay 3 title. At that moment, Knutson realized she wanted to commit fully to a professional career.
“I finally had the urge,” Knutson said. “I really (wanted) to try and see how good I (was).”
Due to the expense of hiring a tennis coach, Knutson began tackling her professional tennis career on her own. Her training days begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. Six days a week, she prepares for her next tournament before traveling, competing and returning to her home in the Czech Republic. Then, the cycle repeats. Knuston worked her way up in the women’s tennis singles rankings, landing the No. 150 spot in the Australian Open in January.
Everything Knutson worked toward was building toward this year’s opening Grand Slam. She defeated No. 17 Anna-Lena Friedsam 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 and Raluka Serban 6-1, 5-7, 6-1. But Knutson fell to Yuliia Starodubtseva 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 in the qualifying final of the tournament and didn’t make it to the first round of the main field.
“It was (a) really rewarding (experience) because (it) was my goal,” Knutson said. “It (was) even more gratifying to get to where I got to on my own merit.”
But there are times when Knutson faces hurdles on tour as she’s surrounded by competition 24/7. While Knutson has several friends on tour,
Alexa scored the game-tying and go-ahead goals in the final minutes of the game, lifting Mount Sinai to the championship game. Sophomores are rarely tasked with leading a heroic win, but Alexa wasn’t like anyone else in her class.
“I don’t think anything was handed to her. She worked for everything,” Pirreca said. “All the accolades, everything that she got, she 100% deserved. There was a lot of hard work and dedication that went into that.”
When the class of 2025 recruiting window opened on Sept. 1, 2023, Alexa was in a unique position. Not because she was the No. 1 recruit in her class but because of the connections she had to Syracuse and Stony Brook.
“I think no one had to experience (recruiting) the way I had to experience it,” Alexa said.
it’s difficult for her to build relationships with other players because of the intense atmosphere.
“It’s a bit of a toxic environment,” Knutson said. “There are times on tour where it’s just you and your suitcase, and you have a terrible loss and you have a string of bad tournaments in a row and you’re not playing well.”
Despite the hurdles Knutson faces, she explained the best way to overcome them is “faking it until you make it.” Taking every day hour by hour, while emphasizing self-care, is the key to Knutson’s success.
I always thought she had enough talent and dedication to pursue pro tennis if she wanted to.
Younes Limam su tennis head coach
She most recently competed against Polina Kudermetova in the International Tennis Federation Slovenia 01A tournament. Despite losing to Kudermetova 4-6, 3-6, Knutson currently ranks No. 191 in the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings.
“(In) professional sports, the pros and cons are so polarized… You (experience) the highest highs of your life and the lowest lows of your life as well,” Knutson said. “I think even if I hadn’t gotten to the heights that I have now with tennis, I don’t think I would have regretted (my decision) because it’s just one of those things that you want to try. You want to see how good you are.”
ecstark@syr.edu @emmacstarkBut once her brothers held up a No. 22 jersey — Joey’s number and a historic number within the men’s program — and asked her to join them at Syracuse, Alexa said she was convinced. Beyond her brothers’ influence, Alexa said she’s confident that SU head coach Kayla Treanor and her coaching staff can bring her to the next level.
While Alexa’s jump from high school to college is still a couple of years away, she’s already positioned herself to flawlessly transition. It’s not just because she’s a generational player. She already trains like a collegiate athlete and pushes herself to unprecedented levels. For Alexa, it’ll be business as usual.
“With Alexa, it’s her mindset and her work ethic that really sets her apart,” Pirreca said. “She’s a true lax rat.”
justingirshon@gmail.com
@JustinGirshon
deficit of the season. Another Birtwistle finish extended SU’s lead to six, but Zawada got one back for Duke with 2:07 remaining in the third.
As the Blue Devils looked to possibly go on a run, the Orange responded 61 seconds later. Spallina circled around at X, connecting with Christian Mulé on the crease to make it 9-3 heading into the fourth.
The Orange kept their foot on the pedal as Duke continued to shoot itself in the foot. After a defensive stop, Jameison cleared into Syracuse’s half, but the Blue Devils were offside. Syracuse punished the mistake when Hiltz extended the lead to seven on the ensuing offensive possession.
O’Neill finally got on the board with 10:30 left in the game. Controlling the ball on the right side, the attack used a hesitation move to get his hands free and finish past Mark as the Blue Devils trailed 10-4. But whatever Duke tried from then on it didn’t work. O’Neill continued to misfire and Mark stood on his head in net. Syracuse prevented Duke’s nation-leading offense from scoring back-to-back goals as Gait picked up his second-ever win against a topfive opponent.
zakwolf784254@gmail.com @ZakWolf22
Stemming from her pristine work ethic and mindset, Syracuse commit Alexa Spallina became Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 class of 2025 recruit.
By Justin Girshon asst. sports editorJoe Spallina is difficult to gain admiration from. He’s witnessed plenty of elite lacrosse players throughout his 16-year coaching career, so he isn’t the type of person to give someone their flowers before they deserve them.
Yet, for his daughter Alexa, a junior in high school, he made an exception.
“She could play college lacrosse right now,” Joe said. “She’s a smart catch. She understands the game better than a lot of coaches.”
Alexa, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025, committed to play for Syracuse on Sept. 21, 2023. While she has two more high school seasons before moving upstate from Long Island, Alexa will join her brothers Joey, Jake and Brett — who are on SU’s men’s team — playing for the Orange in 2026.
Joe said Alexa’s game is very similar to Joey’s, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 recruit in the class of 2022. As a freshman in 2023, Joey led the Orange in goals (36) and assists (32). As a sophomore, his dominance has continued, leading Syracuse in goals (24) and assists (35) 10 games into its season. When Alexa arrives on campus, she’s determined to make a Joey-like impact on the women’s team.
“I think I’m the same type of player as Joey, and I’m going to work for it,” Alexa said. “I want to start all four years and I think I’m willing to work for it and I think I’m willing to produce what ‘Cuse needs.”
Hard work is something Alexa has valued throughout her life. In elementary school, she began training with her brothers and played lacrosse against boys. As a fifth grader, while Joey was in eighth and Jake and Brett were in seventh grade, she played in a box lacrosse tournament with her brothers. Alexa rapidly developed her skills, honing in on her stick handle and shooting.
“A lot of brothers wouldn’t want their sisters to be running around with a bunch of their friends,” Alexa said. “I think there was a difference though. My brothers wanted me out there.”
As box lacrosse is known for its physicality, Alexa was laid out by an opposing player in one game. Even though her brothers instantly turned protective, coming to Alexa’s defense, physicality became a part of lacrosse she embraced.
“I’d rather someone cross-check me across the neck than not hit me at all,” Alexa said.
Around the same time, in addition to playing with her brothers, Alexa began practicing with Stony Brook, where Joe has served as the head women’s lacrosse coach since 2012. Despite not even being a teenager while facing high-end Division I competition for the first time, Joe pushed Alexa to her highest limits, expecting her to score one-on-one goals in drills.
From these experiences, Alexa’s poise quickly advanced, needing to mature playing against intensified competition. But it also developed her on-field skills and desire to improve — something she always expects from her teammates.
“She expects everybody to be wired the same way she is,” Joe said. “She’s got a little bit of that Kobe (Bryant) in her where there’s no such thing as an off day. Everybody’s
over as Syracuse head coach in 2021. Back-to-back 1-5 seasons left the Orange tied with North Carolina for the worst record in the ACC during that span. But Gait’s lack of success in the conference is just a reflection of Syracuse’s performances as a whole since joining
gotta be working their ass off and doing everything pos sible to win.”
Alexa leads by example off the field, which is what’s elevated her to become the best player in her class. Once her brothers started driving, the four siblings began training at 5 a.m. every day.
“We go to the gym before school because we know that everyone’s still sleeping,” Alexa said.
But it didn’t stop there.
After school ended, if the siblings didn’t have team practice, they worked on speed, strength and agility training. Then, it was time for stick work. Whether that was participating in a clinic, shooting or going to Stony Brook, the work continued — every day.
When Alexa was in middle school, she and Joey started training with Jack Kensil, the founder and head of performance and founder of 2 Wolves Performance. When Kensil trains siblings, he joked that he often points out he’s not their babysitter. With the Spallinas, that was never a problem, especially with Alexa.
“It’s very evident when you have a player that’s willing to go the furthest lengths to get where they want to be,” Kensil said. “That was evi dent early on. Any group that she’s in, everybody has to elevate their game and their intensity.”
Beyond training with her brothers, Alexa also practices with her Long Island Yellow Jackets teammates — the club team she has played with since third grade. Among the club’s class of 2025 players, 60 are committed to playing in college. Because of its deep roster, Alexa plays a quarterback-like role, feeding her team mates from X — a similar role to Joey’s at Syracuse.
“I know when to cut and she is able to make perfect passes for us to finish … She gets everyone to be success ful,” said Aubrie Eisfeld, Alexa’s club teammate since third grade who is also committed to SU in 2025.
Growing up, Joey instilled in Alexa that assists should be worth two points, not one. With a heavy emphasis on passing, Alexa said she see the game differently and developed a unique IQ.
Under Joey’s guidance, she learned how to pass players open. Instead of waiting for players to become free, Alexa’s field vision allows her to hit players who have yet to beat their defenders.
“The great ones are able to do different things and raise the level of the players around them,” Joe said. “And that’s why Alexa, while being highly touted, being the No. 1 recruit, I think she’s about as low risk as a kid as I’ve ever coached coming out of high school just because she can do so many different things.”
the Orange have finished above .500 just twice. But with its most talented roster under Gait, the Orange have the chance to pull themselves out of mediocrity and return to the top of the ACC once again. The first conference test in 2024 was No. 4 Duke — the reigning national runner-up — a team Syracuse lost to twice last season.
The Orange got a chance at revenge Tuesday. Not only did Syracuse get the job done, but it made a statement in doing so.
alexa spallina followed in her brother’s Joey’s footsteps, committing to Syracuse. courtesy of alexa spallina
Anchored by an air-tight defensive performance, No. 6 Syracuse defeated No. 4 Duke 10-4. The Orange held reigning Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill to just one goal and forced the Blue Devils into 19 turnovers. Will Mark was on fire in net with 14 saves, constantly thwarting Duke’s dangerous attack. On the offensive side, SU was led by Owen Hiltz’s hat trick and, though Joey Spallina was held scoreless, the Orange had seven different goal scorers as they defeated Duke for the first time since 2021.
Despite Spallina and O’Neill leading two explosive offenses, each team started slow. Duke’s leading scorer, Dyson Williams, found himself wide open three minutes in but failed to test Mark in net. A couple minutes later, Benn Johnston got the Blue Devils on the board.
The Orange seemed frazzled by Duke’s extended pressure and couldn’t get anything by Patrick Jameison in net. But SU received a man-up chance after Jake Caputo
was penalized. Without the extended pressure, Syracuse took advantage as Finn Thomson ripped home SU’s first with 6:39 remaining in the first quarter.
Thomson’s opener sparked a three-goal spurt. A few minutes after Thomson’s tally, Michael Leo put the Orange in front. Operating from the right wing, Leo absorbed contact from his defender before firing low to beat Jameison. Hiltz used another low finish to make it three
see spallina page 15 see duke page 15