Observer Issue 14 Spring 2025 by Fordham Observer

By MACKENZIE COOPER News Editor

Observer

The STudenT Voice of fordham LincoLn cenTer

Fordham Students’ Visas Restored

All four Fordham international student visas revoked by the federal government have been restored as of 10 a.m. on April 27. This update comes after the university announced the reinstatement of the visa of one of the four international students affected on April 25.

“At this time, all international visas for Fordham students and scholars are in force,” according to an update posted on the Fordham website.

Since January, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has revoked over 1,000 international students’ visas nationwide. Fordham has continued to notify its community about the status of international student visas via a webpage titled “Updates on Evolving Political Landscape.”

University President Tania Tetlow met with student press on April 8 to discuss issues affecting the Fordham community

House v. NCAA

By CORA COST Sports & Health Editor

As of April 23, Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California threatened to throw out the House vs. NCAA (National College Athletic Association) settlement if an agreement is not reached within 14 days regarding the gradual implementation of roster sizes.

The House vs. NCAA settlement is a $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit ﬁled by several collegiate athletes against the NCAA, speciﬁcally the association’s largest conferences: Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12 and SouthEastern Conferences.

By ANA WINSTON Managing Editor

Pope Francis, whose papacy shifted the Vatican’s role in a changing world, died in the early hours of April 21. He was 88.

Francis was the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope and the first pope to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi.

According to Michael Lee, professor of theology at Fordham, Francis lived up to his namesake.

“The three great priorities of Saint Francis of Assisi were: poverty, peace, and creation. Certainly, Pope Francis has pursued all of those 3 priorities in powerful ways,” Lee said.

Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the Jesuit order of priests in 1969, serving as the archbishop of Buenos Aires in the 1990s before being elevated to the position of cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Fr. Bryan Massingale, praised Francis’ compassion for all of humanity.

“You sensed that when he acted, it was out of genuine humanity; a compassion that stemmed from his deep faith in God,” Massingale said.

Francis was an outspoken advocate for action to slow climate change. His 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’” presented environmental protection as a religious imperative for Catholics.

Pope Francis met with Indigenous leaders in Canada to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in building and maintaining residential schools. Under his leadership, the Vatican also rejected the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which claimed that all lands not inhabited by Catholics were open to “discovery” and seizure. This doctrine was used to justify colonialism and the religious persecution of Indigenous people.

The settlement was originally ﬁled in 2020 by Grant House, a swimmer at Arizona State University. He aimed to challenge the NCAA’s rules regarding athletes’ ability to make money from their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

Even though the class action lawsuit has yet to be approved by the courts in California, the conversation it started in 2020 has changed the landscape of college athletics forever.

The ramiﬁcations of the settlement include roster caps replacing scholarship limits, stricter NIL oversight and the implementation of a new revenue-sharing model between universities and their athletes. Despite the positive changes that will occur due to settlement, there are possibilities for future legal challenges around athlete rights and Title IX compliance, a law requiring schools receiving federal funding to treat men and women equally in athletic settings.

that relate to higher education and immigration.

During the meeting, Tetlow revealed that the Department of State did not notify the university about the four students’ change in visa status. Fordham has been referencing the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a digital federal database with records of student legal status, due to the ongoing executive orders on immigration. The Fordham student visa revocations were discovered during one of these routine SEVIS checks.

“You didn't used to have to do that, because there was no need to psychically intuit the government had changed its mind about a visa. So yes, we have been checking every morning, and that's how we found out,” Tetlow said.

The university continues to monitor the status of international student visas and provide resources, including no-cost legal consultations, to impacted individuals.

Mike Magpayo New Head Coach

By CORA COST Sports & Health Editor

Mike Magpayo has been hired as the new men’s basketball head coach, according to an announcement by the Fordham Athletics Department on March 29.

Magpayo comes to Fordham from the men’s basketball program at the University of California, Riverside, where he spent ﬁve years as head coach.

Magpayo is the ﬁrst head coach hired by Fordham’s new athletic director, Charles Guthrie, who assumed the position in November 2024.

“Mike Magpayo is one of the top coaches in college basketball, and we’re excited that he will be joining us at Fordham," said Guthrie. “Mike has a passion for nurturing student-athletes, and his data-driven analytics make him the perfect ﬁt for Fordham. His strategic approach to coaching

and recruiting has been proven to be successful.”

Magpayo worked on the Columbia University coaching staff during the team's most successful run, a four-year search that began in 2010. His time spent on the East Coast shaped his understanding of the signiﬁcance of New York City to a program like Fordham’s.

“It is about ﬁnding value in the margins. My whole approach to this whole program is that I really do believe Fordham is an undervalued asset. It's in New York City, where the people and the alumni want a winning program,” Magpayo said.

Faith in Magpayo’s leadership is also reﬂected by fans of the program. Kurt Sippel, sports writer for The Ram and commentator for WFUV Sports, understands the kind of skill set Fordham needs in an athletic leader.

KEI SUGAE/THE OBSERVER

Dozens of groups have sued the federal government for revoking international students’ visas.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Mike Magapyo on the sidelines coaching during his time at University of California, Riverside.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Pope Francis embodied Catholic values in every aspect of his life, helping to shift the Vatican’s role to reﬂect a more progressive world.

Fordham Introduces New Course Evaluation System

A newly innovated survey will replace the SEEQ form, emphasizing reﬂection and simplicity

By PARIS MUTHUKU Asst. News Editor

Fordham is replacing the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) form that students ﬁll out at the end of each semester with the Student Experience Survey (SES), a new course evaluation tool. Due to its length and lack of emphasis on student involvement, the SEEQ form was subject to complaints.

The change is meant to give teachers precise, actionable comments and to boost student involvement. Encouraging students to reﬂect on their education rather than only rating their professors and classes helps to embody the university’s Jesuit mission by minimizing areas where bias and misrepresentation can materialize.

The SES is a triaged version

Students are encouraged to self-evaluate their experiences in the course by providing quantitative and qualitative assessments.

of the SEEQ. It offers students between 13 and 15 questions to answer, which will take substantially less time to complete while providing valuable information. Students will be asked to verify their course participation feedback on a rating scale along with the narrative feedback submission. A number of additional questions devoted to study time and preparatory time for the course have

The new Student Experience Survey replaces the old course evaluations in order to account for the course curriculum and student engagement, taking the sole onus off the professor.

also been integrated.

The older system had grown outdated, according to Dr. Sharif Mowlabocus, Faculty Evaluation Committee member and chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies.

“The ﬁrst thing we can say about the SEEQ is it’s long. There are 41 questions. I don’t know about you, but when I start to ﬁll in a survey and it gets long, I kind of drift off,” Mowlabocus said.

Since the SES has fewer questions, it is quicker to complete while still gathering necessary information. Students are encouraged to self-evaluate their experiences in the course by providing quantitative and qualitative assessments.

“The SEEQ was almost entirely about the professor. But the SES

also asks students to reﬂect on their own engagement — how much time they spent preparing for class, how they approached assignments,” Mowlabocus said.

“That’s more aligned with our Jesuit mission and the kind of education we’re trying to foster.”

The older SEEQ questions were sometimes seen as irrelevant to actual learning outcomes. One prompt, for example, asked students to rate the professor’s sense of humor.

“I mean, what if my sense of humor doesn’t match yours? Should I mark you down for that?” Mowlabocus said. “We asked ourselves: Why are we even asking about that? That’s not really important.”

The SES was piloted with tenure-track faculty in the fall

of 2024 and showed promising results from students, with the shorter form being completed in higher amounts. Faculty members also received more qualitative feedback in this trial.

“We found that roughly the same number of students started the SES as the SEEQ. But far more of them actually ﬁnished it,” Mowlabocus said. “And we saw more written feedback, too, which was exciting.”

With the Faculty Evaluation Committee’s recommendation, Fordham’s Arts and Sciences Council ofﬁcially voted to adopt the SES beginning in Spring 2025.

Mowlabocus emphasized that evaluations are used during faculty reappointments and play an essential role in professional development.

“Every faculty member goes through a reappointment process, and we look to student evaluations as a key data point,” he said. “When students give speciﬁc, thoughtful comments, it really helps us grow — and it inﬂuences what happens in the classroom going forward.”

Mowlabocus also noted that evaluations can directly impact the way courses are taught.

“I want to know if that new module I introduced actually worked. Or if students thought my assessments were confusing. I can’t ﬁx what I don’t know,” Mowlabocus said.

Students can also beneﬁt from completing evaluations. Past course evaluations are visible on the Fordham student portal if a course has enough responses.

“Fordham is great at making resources available. But we’re not always great at telling students where to ﬁnd them,” Mowlabocus said. “If more people ﬁll out the SES, it means future students can make better decisions about what classes to take.”

Ultimately, Mowlabocus said he hopes for students to see the SES not as a chore, but as a meaningful opportunity to share about their educational experiences.

“Your voice really does matter. When you take the SES seriously, you’re not just helping your professor — you’re helping your classmates, your future self and the university as a whole,” Mowlabocus said.

Completing this survey will help you and the next cohort of students determine which courses to take, while also helping to celebrate the faculty who are doing especially well.

Fourth FitzSimons Civics Event Clarifies National Budget Process

Assistant Political Science Professor Jacob Smith delivered his ‘Power of the Purse’ lecture

By COLBY MCCASKIL Features Editor

A small group of the Fordham community learned about the federal budget process at a midday lecture on April 15.

Jacob Smith, an assistant political science professor, gave the talk in McMahon 109.

The event was the fourth in a series of general political education programs hosted by the FitzSimons Presidential Initiative on Civics and Civility. Tony Berry, Fordham’s FitzSimons fellow, moderated the event and introduced Smith before his talk.

“We’re fortunate enough to have professor Jacob Smith lead today’s conversation about the congressional power of the purse,” Berry said from the front of the room. “He focuses his research and teaching on the intersection of American politics and public policy.”

Smith, who is in his second year of teaching at Fordham, explained that his intention was to “demystify the budget process to some extent.”

“I think it’s really confusing,” Smith said. “Like, what needs 60 votes? What needs 51 votes?”

He said it is necessary for the national budget to be created by Congress, and not a solitary executive.

“That’s what the Constitution says. But also it’s desirable to have a Congress that’s having a big role in the budget process,” Smith said.

Smith began the lecture by asking the audience, less than a

dozen people, a couple of questions about shopping lists.

Hypothetically, Smith proposed, what would you say if instead of buying every item on your shopping list, the person you entrusted to do your shopping buys “two bottles of Two-Buck Chuck and three large candy bars and nothing else? Who thinks that’s okay?”

No one in the room raised their hand.

Smith went on to explain how, on a given shopping list, there can be reasonable variation in properly buying every item. However, there’s also “things that might not be okay based on the directions that you gave someone,” Smith said.

“ That’s what the Constitution says. But also it’s desirable to have a Congress that’s having a big role in the budget process ”

Jacob Smith, Assistant Poltical Science Professor

Smith then brought the hypothetical into reality, explaining how President Trump and his executive administration, within their ﬁrst week in ofﬁce, sought to withhold federal funding that had already been approved, under a provisional budget.

The Office of Management and Budget, an executive branch office, prompted widespread confusion and concern when it sent out a memo on Jan. 27, stating that, “to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

The budget ofﬁce has since rescinded the memo. But President Trump’s administration has continued to work to reduce the amount of federal money going to overseas aid through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the size of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“This has had some real consequences: USAID funding that reduced deaths among children and anyone of reproductive age. HHS layoffs that are hitting senior citizens and those with disabilities. So, there are a lot of real consequences to what’s going on,”

Smith said.

Smith then talked for the next 40 minutes about the minutiae of the federal budget process and all the different processes that go into those decisions. He took a few questions at the end before breaking for lunch.

Berry explained after the lecture that the event, and the FitzSimons civics lecture series in general, were meant to create spaces where members of the Fordham community can “come and they can learn about different topics that relate to civics going on in the news, but foundation civics

things tied to the Constitution.”

Berry added that the kinds of political powers these FitzSimons events have covered — federal budgets, executive authority, tariffs, foreign aid spending — are “also topical issues” that Fordham students can watch play out on the world stage.

“I’m hoping that they become more knowledgeable in the topics that they discuss,” Berry said.

“My hope is that they’ll latch on to something that maybe they’re passionate about whether that is international aid, or whether that is actually getting into politics themselves in some way, shape or form.”

Philip Judge S.J., Fordham’s director of Campus Ministry , said he had been following these FitzSimons lectures for the past few weeks.

“Obviously, they’re timely,” Judge said. “It’s just interesting to get some — not insider — but educated opinions on what’s happening in the country right now.”

Adding to the point Smith made in his lecture, Judge explained that for him, alarm bells are going off.

“In two months we’ve upended so many things with nothing else in place — and how much real damage that’s done along the way. And there doesn’t seem to be any way to slow that down or question it, or stop it. And that’s concerning,” Judge said.

He said that he truly believes people care about other people.

“So, when you take things away from numbers, and take things away from lies and look at real people, that makes a difference,” Judge said.

GRACE SANTOLI/THE OBSERVER

COLBY MCCASKILL/THE OBSERVER

Assistant Professor Jacob Smith dove into the minutiae of the federal budget process and how it is a power explicitly granted to Congress.

Pope Francis was more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community than his predecessors. His track record on the issue of homosexuality was nuanced. Notably, when asked about a priest who was rumored to be gay, he did not pass judgment on the priest’s possible sexuality. However, homosexuality is still seen as a sin in Catholic doctrine.

According to Lee, Francis’ statement signaled “an openness to LGTBQl+ people never uttered from a pope before.”

“ You sensed that when he acted, it was out of genuine humanity; a compassion that stemmed from his deep faith in God ”

Bryan

Francis formally approved the practice of priests blessing samesex couples. Additionally, during his papacy, the Church clariﬁed that transgender people could be baptized and serve as baptismal godparents or witnesses to marriages.

“He wanted the church to be a place where everyone, without exception, were welcomed and treated with dignity,” Massingale said.

Francis was particularly outspoken about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, praying for peace in those regions during public appearances. He called a Catholic parish in Gaza regularly after bombings began in the region, according to CNN. During one of his last public appearances, he called for a ceaseﬁre in Gaza and condemned the war.

Recently, the Pope made headlines for denouncing the U.S. government’s immigration policy in a letter to U.S. bishops. Francis emphasized that Catholicism could not be weaponized to justify mass deportations of immigrants, as this was in violation of the human dignity of migrants.

In a university-wide email, University President Tania Tetlow echoed Pope Francis’ calls to reform the Church toward greater inclusivity and extended that mission to the Fordham community.

“His emphasis on social justice, inclusion, and environmental stewardship leaves a lasting legacy—one that calls

The Legacy of Pope Francis

Fordham reﬂects on the pontiff’s legacy of humility and compassion

each of us to continue his work,” Tetlow wrote.

Fordham has responded to Pope Francis’ papacy in many ways, including hosting the Outreach Conference, which centers around LGBTQ+ Catholic Ministry, in 2022 and 2023. The International Political Economy and Development graduate program published the Pope Francis Global Poverty Report in 2024. In addition, Fordham sent a delegation of students and professors to the Synod on Synodality in 2023 and 2024.

A synod is a meeting between community members that discusses Catholic doctrine. The 2023 synod was the ﬁrst to include laypeople, that is, those who are not ordained leaders of the church.

William Gualtiere, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’25, attended the synod with the Fordham delegation in 2023. He remembers Pope Francis as a leader rooted in love and joy.

“Pope Francis, until his ﬁnal moments, encouraged us to seek out grace in everyone, even those with whom we might not agree or align with, a powerful message for a society that often feels splintered and divided,” Gualtiere said.

Lee traveled to Vatican City in 2023 and 2024 alongside students and other faculty members. He said that the synods were indicative of Francis’ preoccupation with the voices of all church members.

“ Pope Francis, until his ﬁnal moments, encouraged us to seek out grace in everyone, even those with whom we might not agree or align with, a powerful message for a society that often feels splintered and divided ”

William Gualtiere, FCLC '25

“I can’t forget the image of the round tables of the synod hall replacing the huge auditorium that was only focused on one speaker. This is the church that Francis was inviting us to envision,” Lee said.

Tetlow met Pope Francis during a trip to Rome in June 2024.

According to Tetlow’s email, upon being presented with a Fordham sports jersey, the pontiff “smiled and blessed our great University.”

The funeral took place on

Saturday, April 26 in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Following Francis’ tendency to break from Vatican norms, his funeral followed an updated papal funeral rite that he approved in 2024. The updated rites allow for him to be buried outside of the Vatican in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

After the mourning period ends, a new pope is elected by the College of Cardinals. All cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to appear at the papal conclave, during which the cardinals will be locked in the Sistine Chapel and denied contact with the outside world as they vote until they come to a two-thirds majority conclusion about who the next pope should be. The next conclave will begin on May 7.

After Francis’ death, the expectations for what a pope can and should be like have changed.

Jay Doherty, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26, and a student who also attended the 2023 synod, expressed his hopes for a pope who would keep up with the changing Church.

“ Now is a moment for the Church to choose a leader who will represent the next century of Catholicism ”

Jay Doherty, FCRH '26

“I think it’s crucial that whatever happens, they take into account that the Church of ten years ago is not the same Church as today, the Church of a hundred

years ago is not the same as today,” Doherty said. “Now is a moment for the Church to choose a leader who will represent the next century of Catholicism.”

As the Church looks to the future, Francis’ example serves as guidance for those who hope for a more inclusive Church.

“I hope, like Francis, the new pope will continue to preach and be an inspiration for outsiders and those on the margins and, ultimately, inspire a continued welcoming Church that loves and delivers its people in a just and courageous direction,” Gualtiere said.

Pope Francis connected with many Catholics in an inimitable way. Through his unwavering commitment to the vulnerable and marginalized in society, Pope Francis will be remembered as a pontiff who exhibited exceptional care and compassion.

Massingale, Priest and Professor

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Pope Francis was the ﬁrst Latin American and Jesuit Pope.

University President Tania Tetlow met with Pope Francis in June 2024 and gave him a Fordham basketball jersey.

Pope Francis greets a crowd.

Pope Francis delivering a homily in St Peter's Basilica.

Immigration Rights in the Current Climate

The university hosted a forum providing practical advice for travel and interactions with government ofﬁcials

By MICHELLE WILSON News Editor

Fordham hosted an immigration forum to educate students on their rights and address the community’s concerns on the current immigration climate. The event was held on April 25 in the 12th Floor Lounge in the Lowenstein Center at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

Nationwide, the legal status of over 1,500 international students across the country have been restored. The Trump administration has indicated it will continue to pursue more stringent visa screenings.

Shari Crittendon, vice president of Fordham’s Ofﬁce of Legal Counsel and general counsel, gave a brief introductory speech regarding the intent of the event.

"We thought this would be a great opportunity to have a forum where you could hear about what the facts are, what the truth is at the moment, and be able to ask questions… We want this to be a very safe space for you and we want you to get information,” Crittendon said.

She emphasized that the event was not providing legal advice, and cautioned audience members to “not get very speciﬁc about an issue” when asking questions and “say it’s hypothetical.”

Crittendon handed the ﬂoor to Daniel Pierce, Daniel Schwarz and Michael Castiglione, three lawyers at Fragomen, an international immigration law ﬁrm. They gave a presentation and provided advice for international students, starting by discussing the risks of unnecessary travel.

“If you do decide to travel, we always recommend checking with a lawyer before you do,” Castiglione said. “Travel does carry more risk right now than it did before … But as I said, it’s not the same for everybody.”

“ If you do decide to travel, we always recommend checking with a lawyer before you do, ”

Michael Castiglione, Lawyer at Fragomen

Castiglione outlined four primary risk factors. The ﬁrst he mentioned was that criminal records are being more broadly construed when considering immigration petitions, even if an arrest or conviction has been wiped from the record. The Trump administration has been circumventing due process when deporting immigrants for alleged crimes.

“They're looking more broadly and using whatever they can ﬁnd in your record as a reason to give you a harder time,” Castiglione said.

Schwarz said that criminal history in the “immigration world” is more than just being arrested.

“When we use the phrase criminal history, it is really interactions with law enforcement history, not necessarily a conviction, not neces-

sarily handcuffs but interaction,” Schwarz said.

The second risk factor, according to Castiglione, is that immigration ofﬁcers have the authority to search phones at airports and borders. Castiglione said this isn’t new, but that artiﬁcial intelligence tools have given the government easier access to search people’s social media and messages.

“They're emboldened to really take this a little bit further. So at this point, again, it's all very evolving, but we've heard of instances of individuals having their phones checked or social media checked where they've had open statements that were perceived as anti-Semitic, and that caused issues,” Castiglione said.

Later, Pierce added that people should be aware of what electronics they carry across borders and what apps or messages might be seen by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ofﬁcers.

“CBP ofﬁcers can demand that you show them your phone, that you unlock it, that they look at your emails and your social media and if you refuse to give them access, they can turn you around. So fundamentally you should be thinking about, should I be traveling with everything? Do I need my phone to have all of the apps and these other things?” Pierce said.

Crittendon interjected to remind students of their First Amendment rights to free speech, but emphasized they should remain cautious nonetheless.

“ Carrying your documents is critical. It might feel weird because if you lose those documents, it's a pain in the neck, but it's important, ”

Daniel Schwarz, Lawyer at Fragomen

“Our constitution, First Amendment, is to speak against the government. However, you look at each of your individual situations to see if speaking against the government could compromise your ability to live and study in the United States at this moment. So it is an individual decision,” Crittendon said.

Castiglione also outlined individual visa status and potential travel bans as additional risk factors.

These risks arise from two recent executive orders from January. The ﬁrst states that “the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.” The second executive order addresses the Trump administration’s crackdown on antisemitism, which has created concerns for pro-Palestinian student protestors, as the House of Representatives equated anti-Zionism to antisemitism in 2023.

“When you combine those things, there's a lot of discretion at the end of the government, which then allows them to take some of these policies that the government has made, and really sort of exercise them as they see ﬁt in execution of what their duty is, which is to secure the border and secure the country,” Castiglione said.

The panelists also gave suggestions as to what to do if approached by ICE or other law enforcement ofﬁcials, which

Schwarz said is a “very unlikely scenario.” Schwarz said students on temporary visas should carry their documents with them when traveling and in their everyday lives.

“Carrying your documents is critical. It might feel weird because if you lose those documents, it's a pain in the neck, but it's important,” Schwarz said. “The likelihood of that, again, extremely, extremely low, but those are the two things to remember. Stay cool, contact public safety.”

Schwarz also said students should ﬁll out a change of address form on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website if they change residential address while on a temporary visa. Schwarz deﬁned the overall shifts in immigration policy under the Trump administration as “vetting and screening to the maximum degree possible.”

“That’s the policy, which is to look for reasons and look for issues, be vigilant. Whereas under the prior administration, the goal was maybe a little bit different. It was more of ‘make it efﬁcient’ versus extreme vetting,” Schwarz said. “Everything's going to be a little bit slower, sometimes a lot.”

Schwarz also said that, while there has been an increase in scrutiny on immigration petitions, there has not yet been an increase in denials.

“We're not seeing an uptick yet in denials, but we are seeing more questions, which again is not unexpected nor is it outside of the realm of what the government can do under a change in administration,” Schwarz said.

There were around 50 attendees and the event lasted just under two hours. The ﬁrst half was devoted to the presentation before the ﬂoor was opened for questions.

In order to protect student anonymity, Crittendon “asked for no law enforcement to be in this meeting,” and attendees could submit written questions on ﬂashcards. The questions revealed some of the anxiety many international students were feeling, as they largely consisted of speciﬁc and hypothetical questions.

Fordham will continue to post news on the “Updates on Evolving Political Landscape” webpage. There will be another immigration forum held on

at 1 p.m. on Thursday,

Zoom

May 1.

KEI SUGAE/THE OBSERVER

Shari Crittendon, Fordham’s general counsel and vice president of Fordham’s Ofﬁce of Legal Counsel, moderated the event.

KEI SUGAE/THE OBSERVER

Michael Castiglione, an immigration lawyer, advised attendees about the extra risks posed by unnecessary travel under the current federal administration.

KEI SUGAE/THE OBSERVER

The panelists provided advice to international students on travel and interacting with immigration ofﬁcers.

Universities Stand Together

Higher education responds to the Trump administration’s attacks on immigration and education policies

On April 9, Fordham University joined 85 other educational institutions on an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit opposing the revocation of student visas. The brief, in support of the American Association of University Professors, states that a “climate of fear” created by visa revocations will discourage non-citizens from studying and teaching at American universities.

Tetlow also shared at the presser that she had met with other presidents of Jesuit universities to discuss federal funding cuts brought on by the Trump administration.

Tetlow explained that the 27 presidents meet in person twice a year, and more often via Zoom call. Tetlow said the challenges facing higher education have brought university administrators together.

“People who run universities do it because they love the work; because they’re fueled by students; because they care about what universities can achieve for the world. So I’d say, if anything, right now, yes, we are a tight-knit group,” Tetlow said.

On April 22, the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences released a public statement in response to actions from the Trump administration regarding higher education. This prompted the collaboration of university and college presidents, administrators and professors from across the nation to come together to respond.

“The unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the statement read.

Tetlow is among 534 educational leaders, including university and college presidents, who have signed the petition.

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair ﬁnancial practices, but we must reject the coercive use

of public research funding,” the statement read.

19 out of the 28 Jesuit universities in the U.S. are represented in the list of signatures.

The Big Ten Academic Coalition announced its alliance to oppose President Donald Trump’s attack on higher education.

The schools included in this coalition are as follows: University of Illinois; Indiana University; University of Iowa; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; Michigan State University; University of Minnesota; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Northwestern University; Ohio State University; University of Oregon; Pennsylvania State University; Purdue University; Rutgers University - New Brunswick; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Southern California; University of Washington; and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The alliance stems from the Trump administration’s threat to

freeze federal funding for universities that do not comply with their standards.

The University of Michigan released a “Resolution to Establish a Mutual Defense Compact for the Universities of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise.”

The university passed four resolutions, all to do with the faculty’s concerns with the ongoing changes to the higher education system. They included a pledge to protect international students, faculty and staff from unwarranted threats to their visa statuses from the government.

This measure overwhelmingly passed with 2,744 votes yes, 203 no and 141 abstentions. This resolution urges the university to establish a legal support system for individuals facing threats.

Harvard was the latest university to receive cuts to their funding, with $2.26 billion currently

impacted. The amount is divided into $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts. Other Ivy League institutions affected include Cornell University, Brown University, Columbia University, Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania.

Columbia University was among the ﬁrst universities to receive drastic cuts to their funding. On Mar. 21, Columbia agreed to rebuild its security measures and protest policies, compromising with the Trump administration and receiving its $400 million in funding back.

At least 10 Florida universities have signed agreements with ICE, giving campus police immigration enforcement powers as of mid-April.

The number of universities ﬁghting back against the Trump administration's policies on student visas is growing by the day. On April 25, lawyers representing the government in several lawsuits against the federal

government spoke on the reasons for the policy change.

According to the Associated Press, Brian Green, a lawyer for a plaintiff in one of the suits, provided a copy of a statement given to him by a government lawyer on the issue of the revocation of international student visas.

“ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be reactivated if not currently active and ICE will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC ﬁnding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination,” the statement read.

Fordham remains committed to supporting their international student community. Updates will continue to be posted to the Fordham University website.

Additional Reporting by Shelby Williams and Charlie Kuster

GRAPHIC BY GRACE SANTOLI/THE OBSERVER

6 out of the 28 Jesuit universities, alongside 515 other educational leaders, have signed a joint statement against the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education.

JESUIT UNIVERSITIES from page 1

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Fordham notiﬁed its community about the reinstatement of the four international students’ visas on its webpage, “Updates on Evolving Political Landscape.”

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Universities across the country have launched lawsuits and petitions against the government’s actions regarding student visas and academic oversight.

Sports & Health

Enthusiasm for Baseball is Infectious

The sport’s reputation as a hallmark of the spring season is well-deserved

By ANA WINSTON Managing Editor

As soon as the tulips begin to bloom in Central Park, I’m almost guaranteed to receive a text message inviting me to a baseball game. The feverish springtime desire for baseball is contagious: team jerseys and baseball caps abound, Major League Baseball (MLB) statistics get thrown around in everyday conversation and Instagram feeds are rife with stadium pictures. With baseball’s relaxing atmosphere, fortuitously timed season and evocation of American tradition, the sport has earned the honor of America’s favorite pastime.

Baseball season lines up suspiciously well with the start of spring. This year, most MLB teams had their opening day on March 27, right when the days start getting warmer and all anyone wants is an excuse to stay outside. If city parks are crowded, outdoor dining spots are full and it’s still too cold for the beach, why not buy a ticket to a baseball game?

A baseball stadium is the perfect place to feel the fresh, springtime air while escaping pollen-dropping trees. Hot dogs, ice cream, drinks and peanuts are always within walking distance. The seats might not be the most comfortable in the world, but the entertainment sure makes up for it.

Instead of rotting your brain on TikTok, a nice conversation over hot dogs and baseball might be better for you in the long run.

Some might critique baseball as a boring sport, but that actually works to its credit. Watching a live game isn’t about constant excitement — the entertainment is what you make of it. The lulls between innings can spark interesting conversations if you go to a game with friends. If you go solo, the shared experience of watching the game bonds you to everyone around you; the game itself is conducive to connection.

Split-screen TikTok videos, combining mobile games like Subway Surfers with narrated Reddit posts, have increasingly risen in popularity. Some might say that the trend demonstrates

the crisis of shortened attention spans that younger generations are currently facing. Instead, I argue it’s proof that multitasking is something innate to humanity and a habit that is healthily practiced while watching baseball. Instead of rotting your brain on TikTok, a nice conversation over hot dogs and baseball might be better for you in the long run.

The communal aspect of baseball should not be underestimated, either. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg deﬁnes the term “third place” as a neutral space that is not one’s home or workplace — places where people can publicly enjoy themselves, like a coffee shop or town plaza. It could be argued that baseball stadiums are a type of third place. Although payment is necessary to enter professional baseball stadiums and better views are priced higher, there is still equity in the fact that everyone is there to watch the same game.

Sometimes, you can be a part of it for free. Games often occur in public parks with baseball diamonds, which you can attend at your leisure. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching the major leagues or the minor leagues; a game of baseball constitutes a neutral ground, in which the only concern of the audience is to relax and enjoy the game.

Of course, however, not everyone feels relaxed while watching the game. The innate competitiveness of baseball makes it a thrilling

experience. Putting your faith in a team and encouraging the players throughout the game is a healthy release of tension and an exercise in good sportsmanship. Indulging in team rivalries and bonding with people over your common team’s wins and losses builds community spirit that lasts long after the ﬁnal out.

Baseball’s popularity stems from people identifying with the teams they root for, making the game an intimate experience.

Americans are often proud of the states they hail from, and baseball offers a chance to channel that pride into a concrete event. Especially when someone is living away from home, watching their team play can connect them to their roots. Baseball’s popularity stems from people identifying with the teams they root for, making the game an intimate experience.

After the infamous springtime closet cleanout, it’s not uncommon to realize you have no clothes for the newly warm weather. However, for a baseball game, the dress code is lax: The only

requirement is to wear your team’s colors, another reason for the sport’s popularity. Rules in fashion seem restrictive, but a uniform can actually inspire more creativity. A baseball team’s color scheme forces attendees to rummage through their wardrobes to ﬁnd matching clothes. These team colors also encourage people to pair pieces they might not have put together before, revealing new outﬁts. A ballpark is a great place to take fashion risks. After all, there’s nothing to fear for the fashionably challenged; it doesn’t matter what you wear as long as you’re wearing the right colors.

Each team has its own history and culture, interwoven with the personal stories of the families that root for them.

Wearing team colors means participating in long-standing traditions, as many MLB teams are around a hundred years old. Baseball fanaticism doesn’t just connect you with your peers, but also previous generations. Each team has its own history and culture, interwoven with the personal stories of the families that root for them.

I come from a family of Boston Red Sox fans. Even though I was born and raised in New York, the Red Sox’s enemy territory, I stick with my family’s team and keep the tradition alive.

Some of my favorite parts of Fenway Park, the Red Sox’s stadium, are the brick ﬂoor sections just outside the ballpark. The stadium allows fans to purchase a brick in honor of a dedicated Red Sox fan. My grandfather has a brick dedicated to him, which makes attending a game at Fenway a more meaningful experience for me; it’s heartwarming to think that the stadium I go to today is the same stadium he went to when he became a fan in 1950.

Even if you don’t have a familial connection to any baseball teams, the simple experience of attending a game means participating in tradition. The older a stadium is, the more fans have passed through its gates. However, the desire to watch a baseball game and root for your team has not changed nor dissipated. Baseball is a dependable sport — it kicks off the start of spring, provides an outlet for state or family pride and offers a low-pressure environment to hang out with friends or even meet new people. Becoming a professional baseball player might be hard, but there’s no skill required to watch a game and make an experience of it. When people ask if you’re interested in attending a baseball game this spring, I advise you to respond in the afﬁrmative.

MATTHIAS LAI/THE OBSERVER

As the weather gets warmer, New Yorkers venture out to play baseball at one of the many baseball diamonds in Central Park.

CHARLIE KUSTER/THE OBSERVER

Citi Field in Flushing, New York is home to the New York Mets, who currently have the best record in the MLB.

MATTHIAS LAI/THE OBSERVER

“America’s Pastime” swings into full force with the start of spring.

West Coast to East Coast Basketball

“I think the future of the program is in good hands. It was a little strange what hire Fordham went with, Mike Magpayo, a guy that’s really not known very much anywhere, but I think it’s still a pretty cool hire when you look into his record with UC Riverside,” Sippel said.

“ I think the future of the program is in good hands. ”

During his tenure at Riverside, Magpayo had a cumulative 89-63 record, with 55-32 in conference play. This year, the Highlanders ﬁnished with a 21-13 record, making it the second 20-win season under Magpayo.

The Rams have struggled both on and off the court in the last two years while led by former head coach Keith Urgo. There was never a lack of talent on the ﬂoor for the Rams, but they struggled to follow through on their potential. The 2024-25 season ended after the Fordham Rams won an opening round game of the Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship.

“It’s not that this team wasn’t really good because we see that they had the potential to be really good. There was just something that was going wrong,” Sippel said.

It has been over a month since the Fordham Athletics department ﬁred Urgo. Since his departure from the program, several

Fordham University hires Mike Magpayo as the new men’s basketball coach House v. NCAA, a multi-billion dollar antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, awaits ﬁnal approval

eligible players have made the choice to enter the transfer portal. Between a large graduating class and transfer decisions, there is a blank canvas for Magpayo to try and turn the Rams’ squad into a winning program.

“It is going to be a brutal 60 days. Number one, getting my staff in here, and number two, ﬁlling this roster, it’s a blank canvas, and we have to paint it and we have to paint it well, but we have to paint it on the hustle,” Magpayo said. “So being able to adapt and stay agile, stay poised and calm through it all is a challenge, but I can feel the team behind us, and it takes a village.”

Part of the challenge will be recruiting new Rams to the squad. For Magpayo, there are six key skills that he wants to instill in all his players.

“We like six-tool players. We evaluate players on: Can they dribble? Can they drive? Can they pass? Can they shoot? Can they defend and can they rebound?” Magpayo said. Magpayo is not the only new addition to the basketball program from UC Riverside. Fordham announced on April 25 that forward Rikus Schulte has signed to the team. Schulte’s commitment to Fordham marks his return to the A10. Before his

time with the Highlanders, Schultes played his freshman year at Davidson College.

Another struggle for Fordham Athletics has been fan turnout. It is no secret that basketball games are more fun when fans pack the stands and the players feed off their energy. Magpayo is focused on building a team that students will want to come out and support.

“I think the responsibility, you know, falls on us — myself, our coaching staff and the guys that we bring in and the type of student athletes that we bring in,” Magpayo said. “We have to put a good product on the ﬂoor. And

if you put a good product on the ﬂoor that’s competitive, and that plays a winning style of basketball, people will come.”

The last two months have proved to be turbulent for the men’s basketball program. Despite the noise, Magpayo is focused on the most vital element: basketball.

“The ball is everything, so taking care of that rock is very important. That’s the most important part as you get guys in — that we’re all aligned and we’re all preaching the same thing. It’s to defend, rebound and take care of the ball, so you can expect a gritty team,” Magpayo said.

Rams Await the Future of College Athletics

The most recent obstacle to ﬁnalizing the settlement has been a back-and-forth over potential roster caps. Possible changes to the number of spots on a roster will have direct effects on sports like football, and swimming and diving.

These possible changes are on the minds of many athletes across the country, including Fordham Rams. Hope Nolan, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26, is one of those athletes. Nolan has been on the women’s swim team since her ﬁrst year. Although no athlete at Fordham has been cut due to potential roster sizes, Nolan’s concerns stem from what she has seen in the wider collegiate swimming community.

“ So many of my friends on different teams across the country have just been cut on a random day. ”

“So many of my friends on different teams across the country have just been cut on a random day,” she said. “It’s just scary.”

This year, Fordham athletes have been waiting to see how the Athletics Department will handle the upcoming settlement.

“I don’t think it’s honestly ever been formally addressed to all of

athletics. I’m on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, so it has been brought up basically every month for the entire school year,” Nolan said. “It’s been like, ‘oh, we’ll let you guys know when we get more information on this; we’ll update you guys as it comes.’”

One of the most proposed updates to roster sizes for swimming and diving teams will cap the women’s squad at 30 athletes and the men’s at 26. Even if

Fordham keeps all their athletes on its roster, this may not be true at other universities.

“It is a difﬁcult situation because I don’t know if other coaches have as much guidance from their moral compasses,” Nolan said. “My coaches did not want to cut kids; they do care about us so much.”

As of 2024, the NCAA has updated its transfer portal rules: athletes in good academic

standing are eligible to play directly after transferring. The potential inﬂux of athletes into the transfer portal will reshape the competition Fordham sees in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

“What is changing is all the Power Four, Power Five schools are cutting so many people. Those people are entering the portal, and they’re trickling down into mid-major, and it has made everything way

more elite than it’s ever been,” Nolan said.

Even though the settlement has not been ofﬁcially ﬁnalized, schools nationwide have participated in this new age of college athletics. In 2023, Fordham unveiled The Rose Hill Exchange, an online portal allowing student athletes to capitalize on their NIL by connecting them with local businesses.

“ Everybody’s been prepared for this and the Fordham administration is opting in. ”

If an agreement can be met between the two parties in the suit, the proposed changes could take effect as soon as July 1. According to new Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Magpayo, Fordham plans to ﬁnd a place in this new era of college athletics.

“Everybody’s been prepared for this and the Fordham administration is opting in,” Magpayo said. “We are waiting on the house settlement to be completed, but we are prepared for it and operating as such.”

If the settlement is approved in California, it will set off a new landscape for college athletics that will only continue to evolve over the 10-year period outlined in the agreement.

Hope Nolan, FCRH ‘26

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Mike Magpayo with Fordham Athletic Director Charles Guthrie and University President Tania Tetlow.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

The swimming and diving team is one of the sports within Fordham Athletics that could be impacted by the changes to roster sizes outlined in the House v. NCAA settlement.

Kurt Sippel

WFUV Sports Commentator NCAA

Mike Magpayo, Men’s Basketball Head Coach

Understanding Football Fans Across the Pond

Fordham students abroad

ﬁnd out English football passion is not loud, but instead, lived

By JANE ROCHE Editor-in-Chief

On the evening of March 24, my family, two friends and I rode the Metropolitan line of the London Underground six stops from Farringdon to Wembley Park. It was the World Cup Qualiﬁers and England was set to face Latvia.

On the train, we found whatever spare seats we could, separated by a mix of after-work commuters and football fans. As the train sped through the dim tunnels of the Underground, waves of men in red and white England scarves and jerseys boarded at each stop, gradually ﬁlling the aisle that separated me and my family seated opposite. We could no longer exchange knowing looks of amusement or concern in reaction to the thick northern accents and obvious drunken sways.

Kickoff was set for 7:45. We heard the famous phrase “mind the gap” and stepped off the tube at Wembley Park Station. The stadium’s iconic arch glowed red and white ahead of us, sending chills down my spine. I led our group towards the designated entrance on our tickets, Gate B. Every few steps, I looked over my shoulder to ensure no one got swept away in the crowd. The trek down Olympic Way, the one-kilometer stretch between the tube and the stadium, proved tame and lacked ﬂying beer cans. I said a silent thanks.

As we approached the security checkpoint, I was reminded that

the game had already begun after glancing at the start time on my ticket. It was then seven minutes past kickoff, but other than the sea of fans still marching down Olympic Way in English red and white, there was no indication of a match on the other side of the stadium walls.

I was prepared for utter chaos. I had seen the clips on social media of the disorderly antics and the unwavering passion of English football.

“Why can’t I hear anything?” I said to my mother before scanning my ticket and walking through the double doors.

I was prepared for utter chaos. I had seen the clips on social media of the disorderly antics and unwavering passion of English football. I understood that the crowd would be pint-fueled and white-knuckled. I had seen the Netﬂix documentary titled “The Final: Attack on Wembley,” in which ticketless England fans stormed Wembley for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 ﬁnal after vandalizing and destroying Olympic Way in a drunken, drug-induced haze.

Instead, it was eerily calm.

A fellow study abroad student, Katie Brosky, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’26, was at

the same game. She was accompanied by her parents, who were visiting London for the ﬁrst time from her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“We met this guy on the tube on the way there,” Brosky said. “He heard that we were American and came over to us and was like, ‘Are you guys ready for a proper football game?’”

But the Brosky family’s benchmark was set by the National Football League (NFL).

“I went to an Eagles game this past December, and the reactions after we got a touchdown, or even a minor point, were times 100 of the reactions of England’s crowd,” she said. “I feel like you’re barely ever sitting down at an Eagles game.”

Upon entering the stadium, no one was on their feet, which we later realized was partly because of the “ground regulations” published by Wembley National Stadium Limited. The policy was put in place in 1994 to ensure the safety of football fans following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when 97 Liverpool fans died because of overcrowding in standing areas of the arena.

“Unless in a designated safe standing area, nobody may stand in any seating area whilst play is in progress. Persistent standing in seated areas during an Event is strictly forbidden and may result in ejection from the Ground,” ground regulation 11 states.

A hum of conversation ﬁlled the space as if the match was background entertainment and

the 90,000 people were there to chat among themselves. Brosky described the lack of noise from the English crowd as deafening.

“The section in front of me was Latvia fans,” Brosky said. “I feel like they were more excited to be there than anyone else. They were the ones that I saw jumping up and down and doing a kind of Latvia chant, and they didn’t even score.”

Thirty-eight minutes into the 94-minute match, Defender Reece James scored a goal to put the ﬁrst point on the board. The crowd erupted in cheers, followed by a brief “Go, England, Go!” chant. The excitement subsided after about 20 seconds of celebrations and everyone was directed by the steward in their section to sit down.

Swaths of people, including my two friends and I, stepped out into the concourse area to down a pint, knowing another goal likely wouldn’t follow before halftime at the 45-minute mark. Brosky and her family followed suit. Drinking is prohibited in the seating area. Pints of beer must be ﬁnished only at the bar area where they are sold.

“My parents were actually quite shocked about that, and pretty disappointed,” Brosky said.

Queues quickly formed at each stand, and the surrounding area began to look like a pub, filling with men there to watch the final moments of the first half on the television screens with a pint of beer in hand.

The Brosky family spent halftime chatting with diehard football fans fascinated by their American accents. They

JANE ROCHE/ THE OBSERVER

Wembley Stadium was roaring with supporters. Many chanted “Go, England, Go!”

COURTESY OF HADAR SHOVAL Football culture in England surprised many of Fordham’s abroad students with a level of tameness that was not expected.

exchanged American and British quirks and the Broskys got a taste of Premier League soccer tribalism.

There are 20 Premier League soccer teams in England, seven of which are London-based. Fans often align with the team from where they grew up and the players are often seen as hometown heroes. The top 17 teams from the previous season and the three top teams from the lower championship league make up the following year’s league.

“I remember these guys. We actually still refer to them in my family as the ‘Ipswich guys’ because they were like, ‘Ipswich is the team to root for,’” Brosky said. “We met a lot of different people who were all convinced that their team was the right team.”

Hadar Shoval, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill ’26, is a loyal Manchester City fan and has been to four of their games, only one of which was during his semester abroad.

“There’s still fans that will be lifelong fans for these teams that never really make it big, but for those small moments, those mean more to them,” he said. “It’s a more romantic following.”

For the 2024-2025 season, Ipswich Town was promoted to the Premier League after a 22-year absence.

Charlie Binns, FCLC ’25, is an international student from London studying at Fordham Lincoln Center. From Highbury in North London, Binns is a lifelong Arsenal fan, the second-ranked team in the Premier League championship this year.

“Football means a great deal to me because obviously, I love when we win; I hate when we lose. But it’s also about the connections you make with your

community and how you identify yourself,” he said.

Binns has also been to his share of American sports games.

“ I love when we win, I hate when we lose, but it’s also about the connections you make with your community and how you identify yourself. ”

Charlie Binns, FCLC ’25

“It’s a different level of passion. And that’s not to say that American sports fans don’t have passion, it’s just expressed in different ways. It’s a little bit more subdued,” he said. “Like sports are important, but it’s not life or death.”

While Premier League football ignites personal and rivalrous passion from its fan bases, England’s national football team unites them.

Within the last decade, the England national team has been a top competitor internationally with one of its strongest rosters ever. In 2021, the team made it to a final for the first time since 1966, where they won their first and only major title at the World Cup. England lost to Italy at the COVID-19-postponed 2020 UEFA Euro final at Wembley Stadium, and in 2024, were runners-up again after a loss to Spain in the European final.

Because of England’s competitive record, the result against Latvia was never really in question.

In the second half, striker and national league veteran Harry Kane scored a goal for

England at the 68-minute mark and midﬁelder Eberechi Eze at the 76-minute mark. On both occasions, there was a rush of excitement that followed. Quickly thereafter, the crowd settled back into a casual buzz.

“You feel a little on your own with soccer games. The game, there is a halftime break, but it’s constantly ﬂowing. And you do have to bank on something good happening in order to have that moment of jubilation, like going crazy in the stands,” Shoval said.

My family and I left shortly after Eze’s goal, which set the ﬁnal score at 3-0. We had every intention of beating the crowds with an early departure. How ever, the entire stadium seemed to think the same. The walking trafﬁc back up Olympic Way to the tube station was packed toe to heel and slow-moving.

Security personnel worked crowd control at the bottom steps before the station entrance. Every so often, they halted the crowd to allow the platform above to clear, then allowed the throngs of fans to continue upwards before the next tube arrived.

There were no riots or storm ing of the stadium. It was no “Attack on Wembley.” As the train approached the station, a little boy sat atop his father’s shoulders and chanted, “Go, England, go!”

“American sports culture is a lot more about entertainment. It’s more about increasing the amount of consumption that fans get. You get halftime shows, national anthems before every thing, performances,” Binns said.

Two 45-minute halves of nonstop gameplay paired with a mostly-still audience felt for eign and subdued. But to an English fan, it typiﬁed passion and tradition.

JANE ROCHE/ THE OBSERVER

England played Latvia at Wembley Stadium on March 24. Around 90,000 fans cheered on the national teams.

COURTSEY OF HADAR SHOVAL

Hadar Shoval, GSBRH ’26, has attended four football games in his life, now including one at Wembley Stadium during his time abroad.

Opinions

Approaching Art with Zeal

On the joys of treating art as a means of religious experience

I have never been very religious. Although I’ve received Christian sacraments and attended private Catholic schools all my life, faith has played a minuscule part in it. I do not attend mass or any other religious service of any kind. In high school, I mainly used the ﬁfty-minute period as time for a ﬁfty-minute nap. The wooden pews are deceptively comfortable.

Despite my apostasy, it is not as though I feel my life does not contain any meaning at all. On the contrary, I ﬁnd that art has consistently given weight to my existence. I may have shed the burden of belief in the Judeo-Christian God, but I do not live my life lightly. I believe art is the vehicle through which we weave meaning into our lives. In other words, the divine comes to us through art.

A reading from a theology class I am currently taking can provide an illustration of this. In Chapter 6 of the Book of Isaiah, the titular prophet receives a message from God to relay to the people of Judah, urging them to give up their wicked ways and to turn back to God. Verses nine and 10 read, “and he (God) said, Go, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”

Although these verses are open to some degree of interpretation, this passage becomes incredibly thought-provoking if one interprets the closing of eyes and ears as directly leading to healing. This then raises the following question: Is turning toward the divine a matter of experiencing without attempting to understand?

I recently read philosopher Simon Critchley’s newest book, “Mysticism,” which opened my eyes to the beautiful variety of belief systems one can take on. He wrote in his book’s introduction that mysticism “is a form of elevation or healing that does not have to culminate in union with the divine, but which is intensely focused on the presence of God as experienced by the consciousness of the mystic.” The intimacy of this description was already a marked difference from my past religious experiences. In contrast to the hierarchy I had grown used to in ecclesial settings, Critchley’s words on mysticism show an approach of personal dialogue between the participant and the greater world around them. It is the active decision to accept and submit to a longing for the world we are born into to be more than we initially perceive. Emphasized above all else is a focus on experiential — as distinct from strictly contemplative — faith.

On the contrary, I ﬁnd that art has consistently given weight to my existence. Is turning toward the divine a matter of experiencing without attempting to understand?

above all when we listen to music that we love.” Reading this position on aesthetic objects gave me plenty of pause. Many artworks that hold importance for me came to mind. I ﬁnd myself hoping, needing for my favorite pieces — the works that make me feel as though there is nothing more magnanimous, magnetic or impossible to fully dissect than themselves — to be as divine as they make me feel. I feel as though I have ﬁnally begun to understand what many are able to receive from religious ritual.

of that which may only be expressed in negations. He writes of that which can only be described by all that it is not.

It is not as though the type of experience Critchley describes is completely separate from any conceptualization. He writes that “theology can be productive of experience that might — for us — be unlived, but we might be moved by it, and seek to understand it, or strive to imitate it in the mode of an exemplar.” In this sense, writings and accounts of or by mystics are not historical accounts. One reads of mysticism not simply to hear of others’ journeys, but to embark on a spiritual odyssey of their own.

Critchley’s writing struck me so deeply because of the many potential implications of Christian mystical approaches to religion. He writes, “the closest we get to feeling and communicating with an animated universe is in aesthetic experience, and perhaps

As I read and reﬂect on “Mysticism,” I think of the music of American band Swans. In particular, their later records like “The Seer,” “The Glowing Man” and “Leaving Meaning” are sonically ecstatic. Each evoke images of primordial events shaping the world unto eternity. I’ve long enjoyed much of their discography for that feeling — the feeling that I am conversing with something unknowable, something beyond my plane of being. I’ve good reason to believe the traces of this mystical, pantheistic impression was attempted with intention: “The Glowing Man” opens with a pair of songs titled “Cloud of Forgetting” and “Cloud of Unknowing.” While I did not know it upon my ﬁrst listen, these clouds refer to the medieval Christian mystical text “The Cloud of Unknowing,” a work referenced often by Critchley in his work. I am also drawn to think of my favorite poems by the English Renaissance poet John Donne. The manner in which he writes of love always feels to me as though he were drawing from a much more ancient — and potent — well. His poem “Negative Love” does this rather directly. Donne writes of a meaning or substance found in love that cannot be articulated. He declares to his audience, “if that be simply perfectest / which can by no way be expreset / but Negatives, my love is so.” The love of Donne’s poetry is not only of the people in his life; he writes of the cosmic, the inexpressible grandness with which we experience our banal lives. He writes

Buffalo-based rapper Westside Gunn comes to mind, who, through his music, can become something beyond mortal. His empire is not built of albums; I accept his declaration as he exclaims, “I’m not a ... rapper / I’m an artist / I’m a specialist / I’m a culture curator” on the track “Davey Smith Boy.” Gunn’s distinct vocal style, along with his love of fashion and World Wrestling Entertainment, makes it feel as though he belongs to many eras other than the current moment. Nevertheless, he remains on the cutting edge, putting out music at a relentless pace. Consistent references to professional wrestling, cocaine and jewelry craft Gunn into something much larger than life and its mundanity. I dare not equivocate Westside Gunn’s music with a church service, but I am unable to see his work as anything if not extraordinary.

I picture Wolfgang Tillmans’ harrowing photograph of a bridge under construction. “Macau Bridge” deadens its subject, rendering the pillars that would go on to support the completed structure isolated from time, unmoving and unbecoming. Tillmans captures the construction and reshapes its history by placing it into a still image. In my view, these beams become incomprehensible by reason and logic alone. But they become so much more evocative. When I ﬁrst came across the image, I addressed the pillars in my journal, writing “are you not shaken by the coming corrosion … you stubborn mementos.”

A line of Critchley’s that has stuck with me as I write this article is as follows: “For the mystic, for the devotee, and perhaps for a lot of ordinary people at least some of the time, things take on a transitional, magical quality, alive with powers grander than our own and possessed of a salviﬁc, healing function.” I wholeheartedly afﬁrm. I have turned toward art and been healed time after time. It has made all the difference. I present this pantheist view of aesthetics while recognizing that verifying the truthfulness of such assertions is not fully possible. I will not attempt to create a universal truth. I choose to say only what I believe. Above all, I wish to show what can be gained after choosing to hear and not understand, to see and not perceive, to let art wash over oneself while offering no resistance.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The divine comes to us through art.

JACK BRUDECKI Fact Checker

KEI SUGAE Creative Director

I do not agree with a majority of President Donald Trump’s actions, but one thing he gets right is the way he eats pizza. I am referring to the 1995 Pizza Hut commercial where Trump promotes the stuffed crust by eating it ﬁrst. I am here to tell you that this is the correct method for eating your pizza: crust ﬁrst.

This is part of my method of eating pizza, which I call the “best-for-last” method. I feel it is a common rule for eating that gets thrown out the door all too often, especially when it comes to eating pizza. The method is fairly simple; you choose the best part of your meal and save that for last so you are left with the best aftertaste. This also means you should eat the worst part ﬁrst so that you can forget about the bad parts as quickly as possible.

Ultimately, my goal with any meal is to end on a joyous note by taking in my favorite dish last.

Now of course, some of you may wonder why we must save the best for last. I have come to this out of habit, but it isn’t without good reason. I believe that part of appreciating food is recognizing what your own personal preferences are and letting the last taste in your mouth be your favorite part of the meal. For example, when I am presented with a full array of dishes such as Thanksgiving dinner, I try each dish, identify my favorite and leave that dish for the last bite of the meal. In my case, I usually go for the mashed potatoes — which can even supersede the pumpkin pie if made extremely well. Ultimately, my goal with any meal is to end on a joyous note by taking in my favorite dish last. I simply apply this to the act of eating pizza and start with the worst part, the crust.

When we ﬁrst get a slice of pizza, we must examine the whole slice to appreciate the Italians for this delicious cuisine.

Many may question the statement that the crust is the worst part of the pizza. Some may even say that the crust is their favorite part of the pizza. If that were the case, then why not just eat a plain baked crust? Because no one is eating the pizza for its crust. The sauce, cheese and various toppings are what make the pizza different from a ﬂatbread, and the crust is nothing more than the remnants of that ﬂatbread. Additionally, I would argue that no one ever leaves the sauce and topping part of the pizza uneaten unless it is not to their taste or they are too full. On the other hand, many people will eat only up until the crust or, in extreme cases, even cut off the crust and leave it. If any part of the pizza is to be deemed the worst, it is easily the crust. That is why we must start there.

When we ﬁrst get a slice of pizza, we must examine the whole slice to appreciate the Italians for this delicious cuisine. Then, we can dive right into the crust. I know many of you hold your pizza by the crust, but in the modern age of pizza on paper plates, we can simply hold the pizza from the bottom by lifting it with the plate. Now, we devour that crust. Even if it is the worst part of the pizza, it is still deserving of appreciation.

The next step is a little more tricky. We must look at the remaining part of the pizza and determine the most delicious part of the slice. This is hard because different people will have different priorities. For example, with a plain cheese slice, you can look for the best-cooked part of

Crust First

An outside approach to a New York classic

the cheese. It is a good pizza when cooked evenly, but there will still be a part of the cheese that has cooked more, and is showing the beautiful brown crisp on the best bite of your slice. This best bite should be our last.

We must look at the remaining part of the pizza and determine the most delicious part of the slice.

Now, start consuming the slice. It is not essential to start at the tip of the pizza, but I suggest you do. It may look delicious, and even like a good candidate for the last bite, but it is always the most ﬂoppy, and will most likely have missing cheese or toppings that fell off when removing the slice from the rest of the pizza. Starting at the tip, we make our way up the slice, continuously sliding the slice down the plate so that we can eat the pizza right off the edge of the plate, all the while supporting the slice with one hand from the bottom.

Of course, choosing the right bite for you can be a difficult task. I myself struggle with the decision from time to time. Say you are looking at a slice of pepperoni pizza and you see a spot where there is more pepperoni concentration. If you are a big pepperoni fan, this is definitely your spot, but if you prefer a balanced bite, this may not be your best choice. Now, I would recommend choosing a combination of both, where you find the densest area for pepperoni but you also locate an adjacent patch of cheese so that you can save both for your last and slightly larger bite. Topping distribution and cheese coloration are great places to start if you are struggling to locate your last bite.

The ﬁnal step is taking the last bite. This should be a part of the pizza that isn’t too small, but isn’t so large that you need to shove it into your mouth. This should be the most pleasant bite for you, and may vary from person to person. Before you ﬁnish this last bite, take a minute to appreciate what you have in front of you. Centuries of history and innovation have brought this slice to your taste buds, and now you are about to eat it in the best way possible. Now take the bite.

I would like to mention that there are, of course, outliers to this method. Not all pizza is the same. The method I have described here is for pizza that you might ﬁnd at a pizza shop in New York City.

Eating in a restaurant is going to be a different experience. However, we can still apply the same theory of eating the best part last. Instead of eating it off of a paper plate and biting off of the pizza until the last bite, we can use a knife and fork to cut off the crust and eat that first, and then cut up your slice while making sure that you are saving the best part of the slice for the last bite. Additionally, one exception to this method (even with a classic New York slice) is when the tip of the slice is too floppy to sustain its toppings for the duration of eating the crust. In this scenario, feel free to bite off the tip first so that the slice doesn’t completely fall apart while you are eating it.

The method I have described here is for pizza that you might ﬁnd at a pizza shop in New York City.

I’m sure many people are still skeptical about eating pizza in this unfamiliar way, but this method comes from the intention of savoring the pizza in the best way possible. Using the antiquated method of holding it by the crust just doesn’t make sense in a day and age where we are given paper plates to hold the slice.

The crust may once have been necessary for consuming pizza when it was ﬁrst invented, and for that, we can still appreciate that it exists. However, we must devour our old tools and ﬁnd new methods of savoring one of the best meals in the world.

PHOTOS BY KEI SUGAE/THE OBSERVER

Begin by eating the crust, the worst part of the pizza, ﬁrst.

All food is best enjoyed when the ﬂavor is savored.

Make your way through the pizza, setting up the last bite.

Topping distribution and cheese coloration are great places to start if you are struggling to locate your last bite.

Arts & Culture

Tariffs and Tulle

Fashion’s new accessory is reshaping the industry

By CHENIYA BROWNLEY

Contributing Writer

Fashion has always thrived in tension: between creativity and commerce, heritage and innovation, couture and consumerism. Now, tariffs are the latest force reshaping the industry, not just as a logistical hurdle, but as a cultural reckoning. Can fashion rework its foundation and preserve its power or will the seams split under pressure?

Fast fashion and mass retail are already feeling the squeeze. Brands once prized for rapid turnaround and wallet-friendly prices are grappling with rising costs. According to The Wall Street Journal, the latest wave of tariffs is pushing consumer prices higher across the board, including apparel costs, forcing companies to make difﬁcult choices between raising prices, absorbing costs or cutting back. That $5 impulse buy is quickly becoming a $10 consideration, and consumers are noticing.

Emerging brands, particularly women-led and minority-owned labels, operate on razorthin margins, even in stable times.

As Gabriella Santaniello, founder of A Line Partners, recently told Bloomberg, “When prices climb across the board, shoppers become much more discerning. Apparel is one of

the ﬁrst sectors where we see spending tighten.”

The pressure could intensify. Proposed tariff hikes targeting imports from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh — major hubs for the apparel industry — could send sourcing costs even higher.

Brands like Zara, H&M and midtier American retailers may soon face a choice: pass the costs onto increasingly price-conscious consumers, or fundamentally rethink sourcing, production and pricing strategies.

Luxury brands are not immune either. Though they often manufacture closer to home, luxury houses still feel the ripple effects.

Louis Vuitton’s oft-publicized Texas factory, once hailed as a strategic hedge against tariffs, has

proven less effective than hoped, according to Business of Fashion. Even with domestic production, supply chain bottlenecks, labor costs and material sourcing, complexities continue to gnaw at the bottom line. When even legacy houses have to course-correct, the industry at large takes notice.

“Reshoring production doesn’t mean you’re insulated from global disruption,” Mario Ortelli, luxury consultant and managing partner at Ortelli & Co., said in an industry analysis earlier this year.

Independent designers face the steepest uphill battle. Emerging brands, particularly women-led and minority-owned labels, operate on razor-thin margins, even in stable times. Rising production costs, shipping

delays and inﬂationary pressures leave them with impossible choices: raise prices and risk alienating their core audiences, or absorb the costs and gamble with their survival. The creative voices that fuel fashion’s dynamism are often the ﬁrst casualties when the industry shifts into survival mode.

Ironically, tariffs may accelerate a movement fashion has long ﬂirted with: sustainability. As fast fashion struggles to maintain its pricing edge, resale platforms and secondhand marketplaces are thriving. The Economist reports that the secondhand clothing market is booming globally, driven mainly by Gen Z consumers seeking affordability, individuality and lower

Stranger Things Have Been on Broadway

environmental impact. In a landscape where new garments are becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive, vintage and resale are not just virtuous, but essential.

Consumers who once ﬁlled carts with trendy, disposable pieces are thinking twice.

Shopping behavior is already evolving. Consumers who once ﬁlled carts with trendy, disposable pieces are thinking twice. Hauls are shrinking. Wardrobes are curated. It is no longer about owning everything — it is about owning the right things. The fashion editor’s closet is back: sharp, intentional, built to last. That return to discernment could ripple outward, from inﬂuencers reshaping taste to brands rethinking their business models.

Fashion stands at a pivotal crossroads. Tariffs are not just an economic inconvenience — they are a mirror, forcing the industry to confront harder questions: What does fashion stand for? Who gets to participate? What systems are being upheld — and which should be dismantled? Whatever comes next will demand imagination, resilience and a willingness to evolve. If fashion wants to remain culturally potent — if it still dares to lead rather than follow — it must reimagine how it produces and why it creates. The next chapter is not just about survival.

It is about rewriting the story — and doing it in style.

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ offers impressive feats of staging in Netﬂix’s most recent foray onto the stage

By ANDREW DEFRIN Contributing Writer

In a Broadway season that includes multiple Hollywood A-listers and Oscar winners, it only feels appropriate that these mega-stars be joined by a mega streaming service. Welcome to Broadway, Netflix. Though the company has previous production experience under their belt, Netflix has now installed one of their biggest titles right at the top of the Marriot Marquis in Times Square. “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a prequel play by Kate Trefry based on the hit Netflix series, has made its longawaited transfer from London’s West End.

The play’s opening sequence plunges the audience into the inter-dimensional world of the series. A cold open that depicts a naval experiment gone wrong masterfully takes the audience from an empty ocean to an unknown dimension, with the bow of a massive battleship suddenly materializing center stage. Flashlights flicker, gunshots ring and a few flower-faced creatures feast on the crew. Before you can catch your breath, a blast of smoke fills the auditorium, upon which the iconic series title sequence theme song buzzes through the theater.

Jumping ahead to 1959, Henry Creel, played by Louis McCartney, and his family arrive in Hawkins, Indiana. A few other familiar faces from the series are present: a young Joyce Maldonado, Jim

Hopper Jr. and Bob Newby round out the scenes at Hawkins High School. Thankfully, the production doesn’t require impressive VFX to keep the story moving.

Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin’s direction is able to introduce the characters and world of the play in a skillfully intimate way. New to the lore is Bob’s adopted sister, Patty Newby, played by Gabrielle Nevaeh, the “girl from nowhere” who befriends young Henry.

The audience quickly gathers that Henry is, despite his mother’s afﬁrmations, not a normal kid. After he “accidentally” blinded a boy in Nevada,

the Creel family set out for a fresh start. Unfortunately for young Henry, a shadow is not far behind him. Only in his moments with Patty, a relationship much improved and reworked from the West End iteration I saw, do we get to see Henry attempt to be “normal.” These humanizing moments contrast with his nighttime routine, during which he practices his newfound abilities by killing his peers’ pets.

Illusion designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher depict these brutal moments in full, with sound designer Paul Arditti emphasizing the snap of every bone.

These chilling effects offer more than the show’s weaker narrative turns. The B-plot, involving a high school play-within-a-play directed by Joyce, portrayed by Allison Jaye, provides supposed comedic relief, but as the tension and stakes rise for Henry’s story, the scenes feel more redundant. For a nearly three hour play, every scene must feel vital to the story. Unfortunately, Trefry has mainly written for the TV series, a form that differs greatly from a piece of dramatic stagework.

Henry’s story reaches tragic proportions in Act II by introducing the infamous Dr. Brenner, played by Alex Breaux.

McCartney, who is reprising his role on Broadway after debuting in the West End production in 2023, delivers a visceral performance as the tormented youth. From delightfully awkward hallway interactions to intense seizures endured in Hawkins National Laboratory, McCartney is the heart of the production. His performance culminates with the design in a thrilling sequence in Act II that includes a gargantuan Mind Flayer puppet descending from the rafters. While the play supposedly holds a key to the long-anticipated ﬁnal season of the series, the ﬁnished product comes out as a mix of theme park, tragedy and musical in its extensive runtime.

There is an abundance of enjoyment to be found in “The First Shadow.” It is masterfully directed and designed, successfully bringing horror to the stage. Yet, it can’t seem to shake the pressures of a streaming-service-produced play. The fear following an intense jump scare in the play’s final moments is palpable, until it is followed by a gag that features the signature Netflix “Watch Credits” and “Next Episode” option buttons. This eye-rolling bit does not outweigh the beauty found in impressively epic theatre, but it does make me reflect on what this means next for the industry to have a streaming service producing some of the largest-scale productions. Will we have to pay to skip ads during intermission?

GRACE SANTOLI/THE OBSERVER

Fast fashion brands like H&M that outsource their clothes manufacturing overseas are feeling the economic pressure.

ANDREW DEFRIN/THE OBSERVER

Prequel to the hit Netﬂix show, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” makes its Broadway debut

Actor

From Class Clown to Horror Heartthrob

Corteon Moore talks ‘From,’ ‘Overcompensating’ and life as a Canadian in New York

By ELIZABETH CORALLO & MORGAN JOHNSON Staff Writer and Online Editor

Unless you frequently ﬁnd yourself on the horror side of Reddit, you have probably never heard of actor Corteon Moore. So, who exactly is this actor featured in fan theories about the show “From” and seen in TikTok edits about his character, Ellis Stevens?

Moore grew up in Toronto and attended the Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts. He still frequents Canada to ﬁlm the MGM+ television series “From,” which is about to begin ﬁlming its fourth season, but now his home base is New York City. Bouncing back and forth from Canada to New York, he manages to keep up with the culture of his original home and his new one.

“Bacon, egg and cheese spinach wrap and a black coffee is on the daily,” Moore said about his regular bodega order.

Moore’s breakout role was Ellis Stevens in “From,” a show that follows a group of people who mysteriously get stuck in a town with human-like monsters who hunt them at night. Ellis is the son of the town’s sheriff, Boyd Stevens, played by actor Harold Perrineau, whose primary goal is to ﬁnd an escape from the town.

This type of character development is rare nowadays, with many shows getting canceled before they can build a fanbase or get their bearings.

Moore’s character has grown tremendously throughout the show’s run. In the ﬁrst season, Ellis is a moody teenager who refuses to acknowledge his father’s goal of escape and stays mainly in the shadows of the other characters. During the show’s third season, Ellis begins to move into the spotlight,

ﬁnding himself stuck in dangerous situations as he improves his relationship with his father. This type of character development is rare nowadays, with many shows getting canceled before they can build a fanbase or get their bearings.

Streamers and television networks want shows that will be instant successes, but this is not always the case. Shows like Netﬂix’s “Bridgerton” are rare, having accumulated millions of views within two weeks of its premiere, or “Severance,” which has exploded in popularity after the release of its second season. It is more likely that a show will have the same fate as Hulu’s “High Fidelity,” starring Zoë Kravitz, which was canceled roughly six months after it premiered.

When auditioning for his role in “From,” Moore expected the same fate.

“It was going to be a cool summer-spring gig, and then I’d probably be unemployed after it got canceled and then go on to another show and keep doing that for the rest of my life,” Moore said.

Thankfully, “From” broke that cycle. It is a testament to the fans and the conversations they facilitate, he said, which Moore sneaks a peek at every once in a while.

“It’s really cool to slowly watch it build up organically, strictly because of the people at home that watch it,” Moore said. “We haven’t had the same in-your-face push a lot of shows get in their ﬁrst season.”

One of the perks of longrunning shows is that the cast and crew form a lifelong bond.

One of the perks of long-running shows is that the cast and crew form a lifelong bond. Moore said they are like a family, especially after spending half a year together ﬁlming. He considers Ricky He, who plays Kenny Liu in the show, as a best friend, and he

loves running into Scott McCord, who plays Victor Kavanaugh, in the city. He said Perrineau is not only his character’s father in the show, but also a father ﬁgure and mentor in real life.

“Any time I get to stand opposite of him, I’m just in awe because he’s truly one of the greatest actors to ever live,” Moore said.

Despite those ﬁrst few takes, where he was scared out of his mind and forgot how to breathe, Moore understood that he had to rise to this occasion. It was an incredible opportunity that he had to seize. He knew that working with Perrineau, along with the rest of the “From” cast, would make him a better actor.

“There’s no one way to do it, and I think I really learned that on the set of ‘From,’” Moore said. “Everybody is so different, but somehow in the same show, on the same set, in the same place, it all works.”

Moore’s success and experience have taken him into a different genre: comedy. He plays Gabe on the upcoming Amazon Prime and A24 sitcom, “Overcompensating,” written and executive produced by Bennito Skinner. Because Moore came from a background in horror and science ﬁction, he said that transitioning to acting in a comedy has required some adjusting and a return to his older ideas about the art form.

“When I started acting, it was out of a need to be seen and heard,” Moore said. “I was a

class clown. I would never shut up in class. The approach then was really just like, ‘how loud can I be and how much space can I take up?’”

Moore’s success and experimentation in these various acting roles increased his ambition for the rest of the year.

Moore’s “class clown” approach to acting may have faded on the set of “From.” Still, his experience building meaningful and long-lasting friendships with his “From” castmates was essential to working with the actors in “Overcompensating.” Moore said that working alongside the cast’s comedy pros helped him revive his louder and funnier self.

“I was just looking around at my fellow castmates and just going off of what they were doing and what they were bringing to the table. The one thing I knew about my character is he just had absolutely no ceiling, so if they would do something, I would just try to go even bigger,” Moore said. “I was just lucky enough to be surrounded by some of the best comedians working and some of the funniest people in the industry.”

Despite diverging from the comfort zone he fostered on the set of “From,” working on

“Overcompensating” felt like a return home for Moore. He spoke about his childhood love for “Even Stevens” and working in an environment that allowed him to channel these beloved comedic characters with a matured perspective on acting.

“It started as this very wild, very hectic, chaotic thing,” Moore said about his acting process. “It has turned into something almost meditative and pure.” Moore’s success and experimentation in these various acting roles increased his ambition for the rest of the year. He has always envisioned seeing his work on the screen. 2025 seems to be the year he will ﬁnally make that happen after years of writing and developing multiple projects. Now, Moore said he has some feature scripts that he is ready to execute.

Until then, Moore said he is proud and excited about the upcoming release of “Overcompensating” on May 15. He said it is the perfect show to watch with friends.

“If you go out with your friends on a Saturday night, they all sleep over and you guys start it on Sunday, then you can watch the entire show that day,” Moore said. “It’s really, really, really heartwarming and we haven’t had something like that in so long.”

Speaking of shows to watch with friends, Moore is a fan of “Severance.” After watching the season two ﬁnale, he said he is ofﬁcially on team Mark’s innie.

COURTESY OF JACKIE BROWN/THE OBSERVER Moore plays Gabe (left) in Amazon Prime and A24’s new college comedy “Overcompensating.”

COURTESY OF CHRIS REARDON/THE OBSERVER

Corteon Moore (left) and Ricky He (right) pictured in a season 1 still of MGM+’s “From.”

COURTESY OF KRISTINA RUDDICK/THE OBSERVER

Canadian actor Corteon Moore speaks on his experience in shifting from horror to comedy roles

By GEMMA OSHIRO

Contributing Writer

Maintaining a plant-based diet is crucial in combating the climate crisis and ensuring a sustainable future. However, it is not realistic for everyone to adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet. Knowing about plant-based options nearby Fordham can make eating sustainably much easier for students.

Meat consumption is on the rise across the globe, and the current production of meat causes harm to the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food-related greenhouse gas emissions are caused primarily by land use and agriculture. For example, a signiﬁcant amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when forests are cleared out for farmland. Reducing meat consumption reduces carbon emissions, waste byproducts and water use, among other beneﬁts. Plantbased diets even have the ability to minimize diet-related land use by over 70%.

In honor of Earth Day, here are some delicious and sustainable food options near Fordham Lincoln Center:

The most obvious sustainable food options are restaurants that serve exclusively plant-based meals. The word “vegan” tends to scare people as it has gained a negative reputation throughout the media and popular culture. Despite the stigma, plant-based restaurants have delicious options, and eating at any of them is a great way to support businesses that serve climate-friendly food without fully committing to a vegan lifestyle. These restaurants’ meals are as tasty and ﬁlling as those of

Plant-Based Eats Near Campus

A guide to sustainable food options near Fordham Lincoln Center

their animal-based counterparts.

Le Botaniste is a vegan restaurant located near the corner of Columbus Avenue and 67th Street. This restaurant offers a variety of bowls, soups, salads and more in a casual and warm environment.

The Tibetan Mama bowl and the Spicy Chili Sin Carne bowl feature bold ﬂavors and are perfect for people who like a little spice.

P.S. Kitchen is a sit-down vegan restaurant about a 20-minute walk from campus. They serve a wide selection of vegan options for brunch, lunch and dinner, including the Beyond burrito and Thai chicken sandwich.

Aside from restaurants serving entirely plantbased menus, there are a lot of affordable vegan or vegetarian options on the menus of favorite Fordham lunch spots.

Aside from restaurants serving entirely plant-based menus, there are a lot of affordable vegan or vegetarian options on the menus of favorite Fordham lunch spots.

El Burrito Box, located near the corner of 57th Street and 9th Avenue, offers a vegetarian section of its menu. Burritos can be ordered with different vegetarian ﬁllings, such as grilled mushrooms and tofu, which are then served with soy cheese and tofu sour cream.

Fordham’s trusty Halal Cart, located at the corner of 60th

El Mitote on Columbus Avenue offers a variety of vegetarian alternatives and additions to

Street and 9th Avenue, offers delicious vegetarian options as well. Its falafel over rice dish is a popular choice among many students.

To grab a meal with friends or family, explore the menu at sitdown restaurants around Fordham for great plant-based plates.

El Mitote is a casual Mexican restaurant that is a great spot for groups due to its outdoor seating options and wide variety of food and drink offerings. There are several vegetarian taco filling options on their menu, including a mushroom filling and a bean and potato filling, both of which can be ordered wrapped in lettuce instead of a traditional corn or flour tortilla.

Over in Hell’s Kitchen, Der Krung Thai serves classic Thai dishes in a relaxed atmosphere.

Menu items such as their crispy veggie rolls, fresh summer rolls, Thai salad and eggplant tofu with spicy basil sauce are all plant-based.

Momofuku is a noodle bar on the third ﬂoor of The Shops at Columbus Circle that serves delicious starter plates and noodle dishes. The ginger scallion noodles are 100% plant-based.

Bagel shops are a convenient and affordable way to eat sustainably for students. Broad Nosh Bagels offers a variety of vegan spreads and cream cheeses, and Ess-A-Bagel offers completely vegan bagels.

Coffee shops and bakeries near campus also have plantbased options. Joe Coffee Company, located on Columbus Ave between 68th and 69th Street, offers a vegan chocolate chip

Absurd Stakes in Kiyawat’s Court

cookie.

Le Pain de Quotidien has various plant-based options, such as avocado toast and chia seed pudding made with coconut milk.

For those who do not like paying extra to get a milk alternative in their coffee, Pret A Manger adds no additional charge for dairy-free milks. Furthermore, Birch Coffee’s default milk is oat milk. Other non-dairy milk options can also be requested free of charge. Eating sustainably does not mean you must completely change your lifestyle and adopt a fully vegan or vegetarian diet. However, if you ﬁnd yourself wondering where or what to eat while you are on campus, consider choosing the more sustainable option; it is good for you and the planet.

The studio play by Leela Kiyawat boldly subverts conventions of the courtroom drama

By AVA BAUER & NORA KINNEY Contributing Writer and Arts & Culture Editor

In “Kiyawat V. God,” a woman stands trial before a jury for skinning her friend alive. But if the play sounds grueling, and its setting conventional, you have the wrong idea.

In this Fordham Studio Theatre show, playwright Leela Kiyawat, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC ) ’25, and director Fabiola Arias, FCLC ’24, take the familiar structure of the courtroom drama and give it a surreal, playful new language. The titular character Kiyawat, played by Emily Miteli Bongoy, FCLC ’27, and her lawyer, played by Elian Rivera, FCLC ’25, are not up against your typical judge and jury. They stand trial in the court of God, pleading for the salvation of Kiyawat’s soul in light of her crime and making their case directly to the audience.

As the play’s foundation is shaken, so are its systems of morality — religious, legal and social.

But Kiyawat has not committed just any crime; she has committed a crime against a white girl, the type of case the court pays special attention to. Marilyn Mary Mary-Anne, played by Olivia Rain McCarthy, FCLC ’28, was “ethnically Polish, and a bit French if you squint your eyes”

before Kiyawat cut off her skin to use as a mask.

As for Kiyawat’s ethnicity?

“Only God knows the answer to that question,” the defense said in the play. Before a sharp and hilarious panel of divinely ordained judges, Trudy Cohen, FCLC ’27, Phia Funicello, FCLC ’27, and Isabella Gallegos, FCLC ’25, order crumbles.

When writer Leela Kiyawat began drafting the screenplay for her thesis four years ago, she drew from her experience growing up Indian-American in a predominantly white suburb of Los Angeles.

“I felt from a young age this need to assimilate,” Kiyawat said.

“I remember as a child feeling how violent those needs were. There was something visceral about wanting to replace my skin with

my best friend’s skin; replace my hair with my best friend’s hair.”

The world of the play seems ordinary enough at ﬁrst, subduing the brutal narrative thrust. The courtroom, designed by Natalie Foo, FCLC ’25, is pristine. The clothing, designed by costume designer Teri Salmon, FCLC ’26, is professional, and the use of legal jargon is copious. The setting gradually deteriorates into a dimly-lit, otherworldly realm abundant with gore, designed by lighting designer Tian Yi, FCLC ’27.

As the play’s foundation is shaken, so are its systems of morality — religious, legal and social. Heaven and hell are merely known as “up” and “down.”

Kiyawat’s lawyer argues his client was moved by the “violence of assimilation” that made her overwhelmingly envious of her white

friend. Chaos crescendos in a scene so riotous that God herself shows up to intervene, played to charismatic perfection by Alexandra Aurora Pupo, FCLC ’26.

Kiyawat knew she wanted to play on the surreality of judicial bureaucracy after digging into public-access court transcripts from Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court case that eliminated the federal right to abortion. She also cites her introduction to absurdist theater as a major inspiration.

“Supreme Court cases, the United States, the justice system and plays like Caryl Churchill’s ‘Top Girls’ were all in my head at the time,” she said. “I decided to combine the courtroom drama with my experience with racialized assimilation in the United States.”

Post-colonial writers Frantz Fanon and Edward Said are referenced in the playbill. In the character of Kiyawat, we get a dynamic picture of a young woman ﬁghting for her pride against the forces of racial and cultural assimilation. The subversion of the courtroom drama in “Kiyawat V. God” cleverly dodges the genre’s usual focus on dispute. There is no question that Kiyawat has skinned Marilyn. Instead, it begs the more complex question: Who and what is truly to blame?

Once God enters, audience members submit paper ballots for or against Kiyawat’s salvation. God converses with the house as she sorts the votes and ultimately throws out the verdict. In such an irreverent show, it should be no surprise that the simple “guilty” or “not guilty” binary is not observed.

By breaking the fourth wall, the show gave agency back to the audience and encouraged them to engage with the themes.

“Usually we get some gasps and some uncomfortable giggles at ﬁrst, because people are not used to being allowed to participate in a show,” Kiyawat said. “That’s the most fun part of the play for me, is actually when it goes off the script.”

At the show on April 25, the audience voted 20-14 to send Kiyawat “up.” Instead of heeding the jury’s decision, God instructed Kiyawat to go back to Earth and start life over again in a poignant monologue on the cyclical nature of mortal life. “My people are citizens of skin … Be careful with yourself,” God tells Kiyawat.

“Kiyawat V. God” concluded its sold-out run at the Veronica Lally Kehoe Studio Theatre on April 26.

GRACE SANTOLI/THE OBSERVER

classic Mexican dishes.

COURTESY OF KIYAWAT V. GOD PRODUCTION/THE OBSERVER

Kiyawat’s salvation lies in the hands of God in this surreal courtroom drama.

un & ames

Crossword: How to Say Goodbye

BY DAMIAN GROVE

19. *Seize someone another time?

21. New Yorkers may still want to bring one with them on a seemingly warm day

said to

a bad future

22. Concert section for the highest paying fans

23. *This is everybody?

29. Stylishness

31. Hair color substance

32. Expressions of disgust

33. Financial proﬁtability metric (Abbr.)

34. How many parents feel on their child’s graduation day

38. African mammal: ___dvark

39. _ pain __ the neck (2 Wds.)

40. Extinct ﬂightless bird

41. Herpes strain (Abbr.)

43. *This will not happen before the following occasion?

48. 2027 Super Bowl number, in Roman numerals

49. Fury

50. *Hasta luego, hermano?

56. Weak or unable, of a group or person

58. Belonging to a seaside Brazilian city, for short

59. Spherical bacteria

60. “Tobermory” and “The Open Window” author

61. “Attention!” reversal: “At ___”

62. “If all ___ fails”

63. Advanced STEM degree (Abbr.)

64. They can sometimes be connected on the fun & games page?

Ramses Graduates!

BY ABBY GRUNZINGER

It's finally graduation day! Ramses is so _______________ to receive his diploma. He got up at _______________ to get ready, and he put on his _______________ before putting on a cap and gown. He made his way to Rose Hill for the commencement ceremony via _______________. The speaker was _______________, who spoke about the importance of _______________ and _______________. Ramses was very impressed.

When it came time for Ramses to accept his diploma, he _______________ across the stage with pride. His whole family was there to watch, including his _______________ and _______________. To celebrate, they all went to Ramses' favorite

restaurant, _______________, for dinner. All in all, it was a really _______________ day. Ramses can't wait to start the next chapter of his life working as a(n) _______________ at _______________, and he knows that he will always be a part of the Ramily!

1. College-based military program (Abbr.)

2. “Man or Muppet” iconic chorus opener (3 Wds.)

3. Proﬁt for an old Brit

4. Pasta-like potato dumplings

5. ___-__-home mom (2 Wds.)

6. People attached to harmful beliefs

7. Beige shade

8. ___ __ your senses (2 Wds.)

9. Barber’s concern

10. Indeﬁnite articles

11. California zone (Abbr.)

14. Preﬁx referring to the sun

15. Recurrent theme

18. Italian city near the ruins of Pompeii

20. Grays with age

23. Damage or tarnish

24. Spiral-horned antelope

25. Corrosive compound

26. Hostile way to say 19-Across, 23-Across, 43-Across or 50-Across

27. 1957 war ﬁlm: “The Bridge on the River ___”

28. Antidepressant medication (Abbr.)

29. Miss, in German

30. Common pork cut

35. Prenatal tests, for short

36. Severus Snape’s patronus

37. Common chicken cut

42. Spread cream cheese on a bagel, in Manhattan

44. Fascist title for Benito Mussolini

45. 2029 Super Bowl number, in Roman numerals

46. Elephant features

47. Strategy

50. College-level course for high school programmers (Abbr.)

51. Snake’s hiss

52. Polite address for a gentlewoman

53. Bye, in 18-Down

54. Party thrower

55. Microsoft Windows and Linux, for two (Abbr.)

56. Hockey ﬂooring

57. Unit in chemistry, for short

KenKen®

1. Each row and column of the KenKen puzzle should be ﬁlled in with a number from 1-5 exactly once.

2. The bolded lines break the puzzle into multiple sections of 1-3 cells, with each section containing a target number and mathematical operation in the top left. The numbers in each section must be combined using the given operation to create the target number. For example, in the top right section made up of two cells and given the rule of 1-, the two cells should be subtracted together (in any order) to get the target number 1.

3. A number can be used more than once in the same section, as long as the ﬁrst rule is not violated.

1. Hit a bell 5. Flying disc: fri___e 8. Crack, as lips

Occurrence

foreshadow

Habitual twitches