The Observer, Spring 2025 – Issue5 by CWU Observer

By the students, for the students

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DENNIS FRANCOIS DISCUSSES THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE DECISION TO CUT RUGBY

PAGE 8

Jackson Roberts Co-Editor-In-Chief

Athletic Director Dennis Francois sat down with The Observer to discuss both men’s and women’s rugby losing varsity sponsorship. The two programs have seen much success over their 10-year spans, with CWU alumni representing the Wildcats at the professional and national levels.

Francois commented on how the final decision being made so late may affect the athletes who planned on being here next year. “We made the final decision some time in February,” Francois said. “There is no doubt it turns their world upside down and impacts the lives of these young women and men in a very significant way and the implications of those go beyond what we foresee sometimes.”

“I know the impact it has on student athletes, especially if someone just made that choice to come to that university and then a year later,” the team is cut, Francois said. “Regardless of what year you are, it is a difficult thing. And you know, we kind of knew our decision and what it was going to be … watching our team compete, being out there for senior day and things of that nature, it feels really unfortunate this was going to be the last time.”

“We’re doing everything we can to hopefully provide the opportunity for those wanting to transfer from here to play at a different level. We are really trying to support that,” Francois said. “We are also honoring any of our athletic waiver scholarships for another year here at Central so hopefully that will provide a bridge for those individuals who feel like they still want to

“We will bring rugby within our athletic department as long as it doesn’t impact the student athlete experience in our other sports.”

play but feel like transferring is not in their best interest.”

When breaking the news to the athletes on April 15, Francois said he went into that meeting with zero notes and spoke from the heart.

“I am a pretty direct person, you know, right, wrong or indifferent.

I am not going to beat around the bush or try to sugarcoat anything. It’s devastating,” Francois said. “And it was really tough to sit there and look at their faces.”

Financial Decision

Francois touched on the money being saved by cutting varsity sponsorship. ”The operational costs, that’s everything they do: recruiting, travel, gear, purchasing equipment, laundry and so on and so forth. That’s about $450,000 in terms of those two programs in terms of cash amount. It is probably a little bit more when we look at some things like athletic training and travel.” Francois said. “There are a lot of other expenses we are probably not calculating on top of that.”

“We are facing a lot of different issues at the university level. And of course drop in enrollment is probably the main factor of a lot of these problems, issues and challenges that we are facing. Athletics is not exempt from that. We’ve lost about $450,000 of funding from the student fee perspective since the [fiscal year] 2020 due to low enrollment,” Francois said.

Rugby is not an NCAA sport and that played a role in the final decision. With rugby not being a part of the NCAA, it meant that travel for playoffs was not covered like CWU Athletics’ counterparts.

“We’ve got 13 sport programs that are NCAA sports and there are benefits associated with that. A big part of that is post-season travel,” Francois said. “The NCAA pays for all of it. All the travel, hotel and meals. Basketball this year made it to the [NCAA Division II National Championship Playoffs] and that was fully paid for by the NCAA. Unfortunately with rugby not being an NCAA championship sport, we

“There is no doubt it turns their world upside down and impacts the lives of these young women and men in a very significant way and the implications of those go beyond what we foresee sometimes.”

operate under the guides of USA Rugby and they do not support that … I communicated with those [rugby] athletes that if they had won that last round, we would have been paying another $40,000 to $50,000 and that’s the price of success. It is really tough to budget for.”

Throughout the course of the season, rugby athletes were raising money for their teams and raised over $6,000. Some of the athletes were worried that they were not getting that money back and that it is now in the school’s pockets. “Traditionally, when a person donates to the university’s foundation, it is not common practice to return funding. But that is something that our Vice president of [Advancement], Paul Elstone, is well aware of and looking into,” Francois said.

According to Francois, The idea is that fundraised money would still be used for rugby, but in hopes of reviving the rugby club if students show interest.

“Each of our programs have foundation accounts, men’s and women’s rugby are of course no exception. Those monies, we have communicated with people, will stay in those accounts, and should a club program develop, those funds would be utilized or turned over for the club for their use to continue to participate in rugby and expenses that they have,” Francois said. “[The

Dennis Francois after being named to Division II Football Committee. (Photo courtesy of CWU Athletics)

ascwu election stirs up controversy on fizz

Brandon Mattesich Co-Editor-In-Chief

Following the start of voting in the 20252026 ASCWU election on Monday, the student-only social media app Fizz has become a platform for anonymous accusations and controversy surrounding a variety of ASCWU student candidates.

Cesca Gossing, a candidate for ASCWU Vice President (VP), posted a public response on her campaign Instagram following negative comments across Fizz. “I am coming to you not only as your VP Candidate but just as Cesca,” Gossing said in the statement.

“Recently, some defaming, harmful, and frankly just purely false statements have been made regarding me, my character and my campaign. Statements about my personality, profession-

alism, and even my sobriety at my workplace,” Gossing continued.

“In my two years working at ASCWU and at CWU in general, I have never been questioned by either a co-worker or a higher up about my professionalism, work ethic or personality. While my stoicism and frankness have been skewed as one thing, that is simply the way I behave professionally.”

The official Fizz Instagram account for Central Washington University, an account run by a student at CWU but owned by the Fizz corporation, and which makes comments from the student-only app public, shared a post detailing allegations against multiple ASCWU candidates with the caption, “the girlies are fighting again.” The post was later taken down.

LETTER from the EDITORS

Hey everybody,

Brandon: Man I hope that protest went well. Just kidding, I know it did. Planning this whole campaign and running the social media during this whole process has been both incredibly stressful and incredibly rewarding. All jokes aside though, I could not be more proud of everything we have done recently in terms of the ongoing fight for our funding, and I hope to see everyone who supports student media at the upcoming May 15 board meeting!

Jackson: By the time you are reading this we have already had our #Standwithstudentmedia walkout. We appreciate all of you who showed your faces in support of whatever program it may have been for. The support throughout this process from staff, alumni and of course the students, has been nothing short of amazing and I am so happy to see the community built here at CWU.

As you have seen from the front cover, The Observer had a chance to sit down with Athletic Director Dennis Francois, giving us an opportunity to pick his brain to get a better understanding on men’s and women’s rugby losing varsity sponsorship. Following the rugby situation has been a priority for the paper, and this combination of news and sports is something we would love to prioritize moving forward.

A lot of fun scene stories this week! We see the Parade of Nations event showcasing many of the different cultures represented here at CWU. Another great music event occurred as well this time in the form of the Piano club putting on a show. Finally, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter paid a visit to the school as well. Working on these stories so visually has posed a unique retro challenge for The Observer, harkening us back toward some of our older issues such as our “Rocky Horror” spread and other similar design heavy issues.

Design this week is pretty much the entire paper. When we have so many photo heavy stories it becomes even more important that our design can clearly share both the energy and imagery of the story in an easily digestible way. And our designers this week did just that, masterfully tackling every challenge we threw at them in this “return to format” of sorts for The Observer. We could not be more proud of the amazing team we have cultivated over the past few quarters here at The Observer, and we know the work we are doing now will be so beneficial to generations of students to come.

Gossing continued in her statement to describe how comments like this can impact a person outside the Fizz app. “This kind of rhetoric is not only completely inaccurate but deeply harmful,” Gossing stated. “I’m a human just like you all and, while fighting to uplift student voices, this election has gone to a dark place.”

STAFF

(Photo by Julia Snow)

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DENNIS FRANCOIS

DISCUSSES THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE DECISION TO CUT RUGBY

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

“[The money] would still be held, they wouldn’t be used for anything but rugby. The rugby program is the ideal use for that for sure.”

Looking back at the past success that the rugby clubs have had, Francois is confident the club, if brought back, can get back to its success over ten years ago. “The club on the men’s side was highly competitive. We were battling

“It’s devastating. And it was really tough to sit there and look at their faces.”

with University of California and St. Mary’s University and those schools on an annual basis. It has to be a student initiative though, it has to be on their end driven by them. It cannot be driven by us and that’s why it’s important to keep all of our equipment, uniforms and things of that nature. That way we can hand that off to them and hopefully eliminate some startup expenses.”

Both men’s and women’s rugby have made it an emphasis to make an impact on not only the CWU community but Ellensburg as a whole. Helping out with Ellensburg Youth Rugby and assisting the youth as their love for the fast growing sport continues. “Their actions, they represent us incredibly well, in competition, in the classroom, in the community and all they do,” Francois said.

Past and Future

When rugby was originally brought to CWU with varsity sponsorship in 2014,

the decision was made by Francois and former President James Gaudino under one condition: “We will bring rugby within our athletic department as long as it doesn’t impact the student athlete experience in our other sports,” Francois said. “It was more of a need to make sure we have the resources in order to successfully support them without pulling from the support that we’re providing our current programs.”

Francois said there were other alter natives to this decision. “There were definitely other conditions. I talked to our student athletes, coaches and sup port staff just saying to them that the alternative to this would go against a commitment I made ten years ago when we added rugby. Going in and cutting a third of our basketball operating bud get and volleyball operating budget to make up for this would lower our com petitiveness of all of our programs on top of going against the commitment and what I feel is right in that regard.”

When it comes to the CWU athletes, we have seen some of them move on to the professional or national level. How ever, that is not Francois’ main goal for the student athletes at CWU. “From day one when athletes go to student athlete orientation, you talk to them and you will ask ‘what does Dennis say?’ I say first and foremost we are here to get an education, that is our role here. Not to say you’re not going to go play professionally, we don’t want to crush those dreams. We want to support those dreams. That’s way down on our list for us in terms of what our purpose is here,” Francois said. “We hope you can achieve those goals and we’re going to hopefully provide you with the resources and ex periences to achieve that.”

“But at the end of the day, our job is to make sure that you get a great education and leave with a meaningful degree that’s going to pay dividends for the rest of your life and career.”

CWU men’s rugby team standing for the national anthem. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Herde)

Vivianne Wright vs University of Oregon. (Photo courtesy of Kaupo Hoopai-Waikoloa)

Piano Extravaganza

Piano club showcases their talents

Ethan Kennedy Staff reporter

Pianists took center stage at CWU’s piano extravaganza and performed famous pieces and performed for their peers. Piano club members each took their turns in group performances and some solo pieces. Family and friends gathered in the recital hall of McIntyre Hall on May 3, and kicking off the event was a rendition of John Williams’ Star Wars theme, played by piano club members Emmeline Baldwin and Daniel Hankes.

Guests were treated to an array of performances, ranging from quartets specializing in comedy, to a two-man arrangement with two separate pianos. Club members Mimi Ye, Nathan Ortiz, Gavin Ma and Kathryn Amdahl put all their hands together to perform Galop-marche, originally by Albert Lavignac. The quartet prioritized comedy for their piece, shushing one another when one of them would play loud. They even incorporated the audience by signaling to start clapping only to silence the audience shortly after.

A pre-college pianist, Spencer Borchert performed a song from Ernesto Lecuona’s Suite Andalucia, titled Malaguena. Borchert auditioned and was selected out of a multitude of pianists to participate and perform alongside the piano club. Borchert would go on to be the winner of this year’s annual piano extravaganza competition. He is a student of Darin Kaschmitter, pianist and professor at Yakima Valley College.

The piano club also commissioned the Ellensburg dance ensemble to come up with their own performances to match a few of the songs. Notably, on the last song performed, the entire dance ensemble came together, along with the entire piano club, to perform Circus Suite, by Mack McCray. As the song progressed, more and more members started to join, until both groups were up on stage, providing an upbeat atmosphere.

Dr. Yerin Kim, director of keyboard studies, hosted the event, noting that the concert would act as a fundraiser for not only the piano club, but all keyboard studies in the music department. Dr. Kim elaborated on the fundraising, “I see it as a trifold, there are funds used for student education here on campus … another one is students going out to summer festivals … and the third area of funds for design and to bring other artists here.”

The piano extravaganza event is stated to be the only ticketed event through keyboard studies. “It gets funded either by the piano club, or I apply for a grant and I apply for guest artist funding … when they come here through those funds, community members, students and staff can come for free,” Kim said.

With areas of the music program being defunded, holding fundraisers and events like this helps the clubs and the students that are in these programs. “I did read, and I did sign, so I’m get-

ting emails about the protests, and I’m looking forward to joining … I hope to get out there and not give up. Things always change, always in flux, there are ups and downs, but I think as long as you have your priorities clear and try to have a direction, I feel there’s always a way,” Kim said.

Brandon Matteisch Co-Editor-In-Chief

AUH-60 Black Hawk helicopter landed at CWU for the first time in recent years.

The helicopter was part of a larger training event hosted for ROTC and Air Force students at CWU to get hands-on experience in first aid and combat medical situations.

Jacob Daniels, a sophomore studying aviation management, was at the event, and spoke about how the experience was for him. “I did like participating in the event, it was really fun working with the Black Hawk on the radio and calling in 9-lines,” Daniels said. “Something I learned [was], definitely calling in a 9-line in real time and essentially controlling where the helicopter went.”

Daniels also touched on what the ROTC program as a whole has taught him as a student. “Something AFROTC has taught me is to hold true to my character, and let it be a driving factor in how I learn to be a leader,” Daniels said. “I’ve loved all the base visits and events we get to do as a detachment, which add on to all the cool experiences I would not have had otherwise.”

The event was originally just intended for training purposes, but the prospect

of a helicopter landing on campus brought students and families from all over Ellensburg to view the rare occurrence.

Jonah Jones, a sophmore industrial engineering student at CWU, was present at the event and witnessed the training exercises taking place. “It was really cool that the ROTC people were able to organize the helicopter to come to campus,” Jones said. “It was especially cool that it landed right outside my dorm.”

Over fifty people showed up to witness the training, lining the entire sidewalk against the lawn of the McIntyre Music Building. The training itself lasted just over an hour, with a barbeque and tours of the helicopter opening up to students and the community afterwards.

Daniels said he hopes that the event can continue for years to come. “I certainly hope it’s something CWU will help continue,” Daniels said. “Not only is it valuable training and practice for ROTC cadets, it’s also a way for other students and families to see something really cool in action, and even go up and touch it, and hopefully inspire them one day.”

Photos By Brandon Matteisch

Parade of Nations Parade of Nations

Photos and story by Brandon Mattesich Co-Editor-In-Chief

The Parade of Nations made its big return to CWU after years of inactivity. The event showcased the many cultures of CWU students from all over the world through a “beautiful” display of song, dance and fashion.

Ralph Ramier, a senior law and justice major, performed at the event as part of an appreciation for Philipino culture at CWU. “It was amazing,” Ramier said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to represent my culture outside of just a FASA event. I really love the way that they put this together, it got everyone together.”

Performances at the event spanned almost every continent with students proudly showcasing their cultures and clubs in displays of traditional and modern fashion and performance. Students represented countries ranging from Nepal to India, Mexico to Peru and many other countries as well.

Another performer, Judas the Beslayer, spoke on what performing at the event was like and just how important it was for the CWU community. “I love performing here. The audiences are always so energetic and so fun, and I feel so much love every time I perform here,” Judas said. “The world we live in is so unsure and rocky and there’s so much hatred that events like this just spread so much love and joy and educate people on so many different cultures. I didn’t know about a lot of the stuff [performed] and so it was really cool to see, along with performing and sharing the magic of drag with everyone else.”

The event was hosted by the Diversity and Equity Center (DEC), an organization at CWU responsible for lots of the events that happen at CWU every year.

Mal Stewman, director of the DEC, spoke on the importance of the event as well. “It’s important to celebrate culture. These are people that are all here in our community, so it’s important to have representation, and just have some fun and celebrate all the differences in our cultures and our community,” Stewman said.

The crowd was electric during the event, with many standing and cheering after each performance. Many students who attended the event, which was hosted this past Sunday, shared that they hope it will return in years to come.

“It’s really been a privilege to be able to do this for my last year,” Ramier said. “I really want my underclassmen to be able to keep on doing this.”

Stewman agreed with the students, stating that he would love to see this event happening “every year.”

The A beautiful showcase of student

Nations Nations

The world we live in is so unsure and rocky and there’s so much hatred that events like this just spread so much love and joy and educate people on so many different cultures.

-Judas the Beslayer “ ”

“ THUNDERBOLTS

A new era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Faith Henry Gonzalez Columnist

The newest Marvel movie, “Thunderbolts*” had been an anticipated Marvel movie for quite some time, ever since its announcement back in the summer of 2022. Many people, including myself, when first hearing the concept, of “a team of antiheroes teaming up together to defeat a greater evil,” I had doubts about it, thinking it was merely a copy of DC’s film, “The Suicide Squad (2016).”

The cast of characters didn’t look so great either, with about three super soldier characters and three assassins, it seemed like an absolute downgrade compared to the original Thunderbolts team comic book counterparts, as they had a diverse set of different antiheroes and villains.

But after watching the movie, I was certainly blown away by the quality of the film. After being burnt out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), especially during 2022 and 2023, where either “mid” to disappointing movies such as, “The Eternals”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels,” it seems like Marvel has finally produced a movie, that, well, feels like a real movie. Especially a movie where the characters feel like they have chemistry together.

Like I mentioned in the intro, Thunderbolts seemed like a cheap copy of DC’s, “The Suicide Squad (2016).” But, unlike “The Suicide Squad,” it’s a breath of fresh air compared to some of Marvel’s other

First off, I must applaud the choreography in this movie, as it’s not a jumbled mess and you can actually see the fighting scenes without having a million different cuts. I also mentioned the characters hav-

ing chemistry with each other as a team earlier, with characters such as Ghost from “Antman and the Wasp (2018),”John Walker from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021),” Yelena and The Red Guardian from “Black Widow (2021)” and Bucky/The Winter Soldier all working together to become an unlikely team to defeat the main villain. That villain, Sentry, the equivalent of a superhuman (or rather the Marvel version of Superman),who made his MCU debut in this film.

Despite having similar powers to Superman, Sentry is quite an intimidating villain and the VFX in this movie absolutely showcases that. The pacing and humor are well done too, especially with the humor, no more of that quippy/quirky Marvel Cinematic Universe dialogue.

Now, the main meat of this film is that it contains quite an emotional and needed message and theme, which is quite funny, considering May happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month. I was quite surprised that Thunderbolts, of all films, dives into these topics. The movie doesn’t spoon feed you or shove it down your throat, but instead introduces it through each character’s past and motivations. Each character gets a chance to shine throughout the film, and if you’re interested in morally grey characters who come together and confront their past with emotional beats and humor, then this movie is for you. Basically, it seems like Marvel is finally heading into the right direction.

SOUND BITE

Kyley Glenn Columnist

The steady rising artist, 22-yearold Olivia Rodrigo, has seamlessly nailed the task of marketing herself to Generation Z. From heartache to growing up, she has created a career built off relatability.

Her signature purple color has slowly faded away into red leaving many fans theorizing of a rebrand. They believe that the next album as well as the cover will be a completely new vibe.

Music, although an important part of a musician’s career, is not the sole factor of their success. The way they are marketed to their audience is a huge deciding factor as to how their career will play out.

A huge factor in a fan’s ability to become interested in a celebrity is their relatability. There has to be a connection to the music.

Rodrigo’s music has grown at the same pace as her fans while still consisting of a similar style. Her achievements of topping charts and winning awards has also made great strides for Filipino-American women.

Rodrigo’s debut album ‘SOUR’ which be gan with the purple theme included hits like ‘Driver’s License’ and ‘Déjà vu’. Originally these were TikTok hits that many girls in

middle and high school would use to share with their viewers that they are going through similar experiences and feel heard. They were also on the radio for many months after which made it abundantly clear she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

To follow the success she accumulated so quickly, Rodrigo released her sophomore al bum ‘GUTS’. The purple color still nota ble although darker.

This Week In Music

Brandon Mattesich Columnist

Welcome back to Sound Bite! It’s been a minute, like, a long minute. Because of that, this is going to be a very untraditional Sound Bite, as I’m going to be recapping all the major releases I’ve missed since Sound Bite Volume: 26.

Her continued releases allowed for these fans to still feel as though they relate due to hits like ‘Get Him Back’ and ‘All American B**** which were fea tured on the album’.

Heartbreak is a never-ending cycle. ‘Guts’ allows the consumers to release their anger over their heartache while still enjoying a

Let’s start off with Playboi Carti, specifically “I AM MUSIC,” his latest album which was released following years of delays and anticipation. This album was long, in my opinion too long. The ratio of hits to misses on this album was about even to me, and I think with a bit of trimming it could have been a much more solid album. That said, I loved all the features and the production, in classic Carti style, was super unique and fun to listen to.

Following up Carti Iets jump into a personal favorite of mine, Ariana Grande. Following the success of her album “Eternal Sunshine” Ariana Grande released a follow up deluxe version adding a total of six new bonus tracks. To me, these were all hits, to an extent that I rarely see from deluxe drops. I feel like nowadays we get new album variations the day after an album drops, Taylor Swift’s latest album having 36 versions being a prime example. But this deluxe really fit the theme of the original album while still adding substance and style to this already masterful genre album.

Now it would be hard to talk about music without talking about two industry staples who recently teamed up, both on and off the track, to make their latest collab album “I Said I Love You First.” The two staples being, of course, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco. Now what I’m about to say is going to sound pretty controversial, but this album really wasn’t that bad. In fact, I think there were a couple songs on here that were pretty solid. Is this album original, not really. But is it a bad listen, not really. If you like her music, I would definitely recommend it.

And before I wrap up this latest Sound Bite there’s something, or someone, I’d like to weigh in on. That someone is Ye, also known as Kanye West. Ye recently dropped a version of his latest album “Bully,” as well as some song titles off of his upcoming album “WW3.” I didn’t listen to “Bully”, and I certainly won’t be listening to “WW3.” And my take as a reviewer, you shouldn’t listen to them either. Any streaming of his songs is putting money in his pocket, and at this point it is wholly unethical to support him. And yes, that includes his classics as well. If it wasn’t time before (it was), it’s certainly time now. Do some deep cleaning, take Ye out of your playlists, and don’t engage with his music anymore.

Photo and Design by Brandon Mattesich