Special Issue, Spring 2025

The Observer Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

Tetlow Addresses Visa Revocations Fr. Massingale On the Struggle Animation, Cartoons & Lipani Gallery Sofia Arnesiev’s Rise To the Top

Letter from the editor Being a magazine journalist used to be the hot job of the Y2K romcom leads; these actors made any type of journalism look effortless. When I moved to New York, I knew breaking into a journalism career would run contrary to the movies. Through hard work, luck, and my time at The Observer, I landed an editorial internship at Travel + Leisure magazine, where I finally thought my life would come together and my journalistic ambitions realized. The theme for this year’s special issue is a magazine; to commemorate our love for the written word and allow us to be a bit more creative with our typical journalism.

Returning to The Observer as editor-in-chief for this 2024-2025 academic year has been a pleasure. We started this editorial board with a scrappy team and tripled the amount of talented editors and contributors. As journalists, we faced constant ethical deliberations around anonymity and sensitivity as we covered the May 2024 protests in our first issue under my and Stevie Fusco’s leadership. We scrutinized every photo, quote and administrative comment before publishing. By the fall, we increased our standards for accuracy with the creation of a fact-checking editorial role and fact-checking guide.

These rules have led us through coverage of the Presidential election, climate change coverage, mayoral elections and the repercussions of this second President Trump administration.

On April 4, the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) sent out a media alert regarding the pertinent coverage of the detentions and deportations of international students

by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). As student journalists, it is our ethical responsibility, as advised by SPLC, to minimize harm in three ways: reviewing anonymity and takedown policies, considering providing options for pseudonyms broadening anonymity sensitivity and educating newspaper staff on coverage risks. As we close out the year with further action from Students for Justice in Palestine in solidarity with international students and interactions with President Tetlow regarding her responses to student detention and deportation — we have taken these practices into complete account.

Although this issue is unique, we have still tried to print the most significant news stories in their most accurate capacity. Additional content unfit for the long-form format of this issue will be published online accordingly.

Thank you for engaging with The Observer this year! I will miss the challenges and successes and all the in-betweens that come with publishing this bi-weekly paper.

Avery Loftis Editor in Chief

UPPER MANAGEMENT Avery Loftis Stevie Fusco

Morgan Johnson

Ana Winston

Aurelien Clavaud

Shelby Williams

Editor in Chief

Online Editor

Online Editor

Creative Director

DEI Chair

Managing Editor

VISUAL DESIGN Anum Ansari Durga Desai

Kei Sugae

Grace Santoli

Layout Editor

Photo Editor

Asst. Photo Editor

Asst. Layout Editor

COPY AND ACCURACY Smile Butt Leeya Azemoun

Emma Dvorkin

Charlie Kuster

Head Copy Editor

Head Copy Editor

Photo Editor

Fact Checker

NEWS Sam Bracy

Alison Beinhaur

Mackenzie Cooper

Paris Mathuku

Michelle Wilson

News Editor

News Editor

Asst. News Editor

Asst. News Editor

Asst. News Editor

SPORTS & HEALTH Cora Cost

FEATURES Colby McCaskill

Ikma Inusah

Sports & Health Editor

Features Editor

Asst. Features Editor

ARTS & CULTURE Julia Jaramillo

Aditi Praveen Kariyanahalli

Katie Hohman

Nora Kinney

Vee Venning

Arts & Culture Editor

Arts & Culture Editor

Asst. Arts & Culture Editor

Asst. Arts & Culture Editor

Asst. Arts & Culture Editor

OPINIONS William Lee

Avery Grafeld

Laura Oldfather

Tucker Flynn

Vee Venning

Opinions Editor

Opinions Editor

Asst. Opinions Editor

Asst. Opinions Editor

Asst. Opinions Editor

EVENTS & NEWS

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

Mayoral Candidates Go Back to School Candidates attended a student-led panel inspired by a high school schedule

BY MACKENZIE COOPER AND MICHELLE WILSON Asst. News Editors

affordability concerns in an interview with The Observer after the forum.

“My main message would be to stay in New York. This is the most amazing city for young people. I know it’s unaffordable and I’m going to try and address that as mayor ... In terms of the dynamism, the opportunities, pick your area, tech, finance, the arts, this city’s got it all,” Tilson said.

A group of eight protesters from the Stop The Money Pipeline coalition interrupted Lander’s plan for New York City’s budget, climbing on stage and displaying a sign with the words “Black Rock Brad.” Lander walked off stage amid the protestors’ chants of “off fossil fuels Brad” and “Black Rock Brad.” Several audience members joined the heckling, shaming Lander for leaving.

avoided recent cuts).

The four also said they would support Local Law 97 of 2019, a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by Democratic mayoral primary candidates implementing strict limits for buildings faced questions on housing, education, over 25,000 feet by 2030. Jessica Ramos climate change and transit at a forum said the support must be provided to hosted by a student climate advocacy homeowners to facilitate compliance, group at the New York Society for Ethical referencing the jobs and housing Senate Culture on Mar. 29. bill she proposed.

In attendance were candidates Zellnor “Yes and we need to help those coMyrie, Jessica Ramos and Whitney Tilson. ops and other small building owners Brad Lander arrived later, followed by be able to comply with the law so that Michael Blake and Zohran Mamdani. they’re not just paying the penalty for not The two-hour event began with meeting the deadline,” Ramos said. a stand-up comedy routine met with Lander also expressed his support and tentative laughs from audience members. said he was one of the first co-sponsors One attendee heckled the comedian, for Local Law 97. saying “where are the politicians?”

When asked which issue they Upon arrival, each candidate delivered considered most pressing under the a 2-minute opening speech introducing Trump administration, Lander emphasized themselves and their vision for New York deportation, Ramos appointing civil and City’s future. criminal court attorneys and Tilson the The event was organized like a day fiscal impact on transportation, Medicare of high school with different panels and schools. named after different classes, beginning “I think he’s shredding our with “English class.” Any New York Constitution,” Myrie said. “I think if we City students or attendees could submit do not have the foundations for that and questions prior to the panel, which were push back, that we are going to see a city read by students in the Socratic seminarand a country that we do not recognize.” style panel.

BlackRock, one of the world’s Blake arrived near the end of this A moderator from TREEage, the largest asset management firms has panel, followed shortly by Mamdani. climate group which hosted the event, recently faced criticism for leaving the When asked which other candidate asked candidates about their budget plan Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, an they believe should be mayor, Mamdani, for the coming fiscal year should they be environmentalist investment group, and its Myrie and Ramos supported Blake due elected, and how it compares to current investments in companies contributing to to his emphasis on lowering the cost of mayor Eric Adams’s plan. Mamdani said the deforestation of the Amazon and other living. he would prioritize affordable housing major forests. Climate activists have urged “I’m running very simply because we and the cost of living in his opening New York City to divest from BlackRock need to help New Yorkers make and keep speech. and turn to more environmentally-friendly more money in their pockets,” Blake said.

“We stand in the wealthiest city in the organizations instead.

“We have an absolute clown in Donald wealthiest country in the history of the The protestors were escorted out, and Trump that is attacking us in every single world, and yet one in four New Yorkers TREEage organizers convinced Lander to way by going after Medicaid, by going are living in poverty,” Mamdani said. return. after immigration.”

He also directly addressed how cost of Elliot Ismail, Fordham University Myrie took the opportunity to express living concerns affect Fordham students. student at Lincoln Center ’28, said the his disdain for mayor Eric Adams and “If there is any hope for a Fordham protest was inevitable as the event was Andrew Cuomo, whose political careers University student to be able to afford free-entry, despite TREEage’s plans to have been derailed by indictment and their rent, to be able to afford their metro intercept protestors. sexual misconduct scandals, respectively. card, to be able to afford their ConEd bill, “We expected protesters, it’s a “I think anyone on this stage would they need to have a mayor who’s going public event, people are mad and upset, be a better mayor than Eric Adams or to fight for them each and every day, and it’s about politics, you know, I’m not Andrew Cuomo,” Myrie said. that’s what’s on the ballot on June 24th,” surprised,” Ismail said.

Each of the candidates filled out a Mamdani said.

In “gym class,” Lander, Myrie, Ramos detailed questionnaire prior to the event Tilson shared his disagreement with and Tilson answered rapid-fire yes or no with more information on their visions opposing financial opinions throughout questions. All four candidates answered for New York City’s future, which will be the forum and encouraged young yes to supporting funding for libraries published on the TREEage website on people to stay in New York City despite (whose $58.3 million budget has narrowly April 11.

Tetlow Addresses Student Visa Revocation The president of the university sat down with student press to answer questions

BY STEVIE FUSCO Managing Editor University President Tania Tetlow addressed serious issues plaguing Fordham University and higher education in America at a meeting with the student press on April 8.

Tetlow fielded questions on the student visa revocation of two Fordham students, the 4.65% tuition increase, and why Fordham students should practice civic engagement.

On Friday, April 4, Tetlow sent a university-wide email that announced an international undergraduate Fordham student’s visa was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. During the press conference Tetlow revealed that a second student’s visa was revoked.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Durga Desai // The Observer University President Tania Tetlow sits down with Fordham student press to discuss issue plaguing the university.

“I think everything within our control at Fordham is going stunningly well and Tetlow: No. I’m excited about that.”

Tania Tetlow University President The Observer: You said in your email that you wish that it was in your power to offer more reassurance. Is it painful to be in a position where you understand that something is frightening, but you don’t know what you can do about it?

Tetlow: Yes. My job is to provide hope and that is getting harder and I am, frankly, pretty angry about what’s going on right now.

The Ram: We heard that the DHS did not contact the University, and I know that the Columbia Spectator just published an article about how Columbia University does routine daily checks on this service SEVIS (Student Exchange and Visa Program) to check to see if students’ visas are going well.

Does Fordham do the same thing? Is that how they figured it out?

Tetlow: Yes, and 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.

Ram: And then did the university alert the student?

Tetlow: Yes. Ram: So, the student wasn’t contacted

by DHS either?

Ram: Since, has the DHS been in contact or provided a reason for the revocation?

Tetlow: Not that we know of, no. Not to us and I don’t believe to the student, although I don’t know the last one we talked to him.

Ram: And are you guys in contact with this current student at all?

Tetlow: Yes. We’re trying to provide as much support as we can because it is an unimaginable situation, and we are so upset on his behalf.

Observer: As of now, is there only one student who has had their visa revoked?

Tetlow: No, this morning we found another. But I don’t know that we’ve reached that student yet, so I can’t talk about it with specificity because, as you can imagine, the international students have privacy rights that we leave up to them. So, we’re not trying to share too specific details about them, that would be their choice.

Observer: Looking forward to next year, are you afraid that this uncertainty about the status of international students will decrease the amount of students who choose to enroll in Fordham from outside the United States?

Tetlow: I can imagine it will decrease the number of international students who enroll in institutions across the country.

So, it won’t be specific to Fordham, but I do worry about that.

Observer: What do you feel Fordham will lose in that eventuality?

Tetlow: American higher education has been one of the great exports of this country. The quality and prestige of our institutions has been something that has brought so many, I won’t say best and brightest minds because they are everywhere around the world, but the quality of our institutions has brought so many brilliant students and scholars to this country, some of whom stay. It has been a source of American influence around the world that so many people who become leaders of their countries were educated at universities here. I cannot fathom why anyone would damage that work.

Ram: I’m curious to know the reasoning behind sending out the email about the student. Why did you think that the Fordham community needed to know?

Tetlow: I want as many people as possible to know that this is happening and to spread the word through our community, through our board. All the stories that you are seeing about this happening nationally, it matters to know it is hitting home.

Observer: What would you say you want the Fordham community to do with that information?

Tetlow: We always walk a line of not wanting to create anxiety for students when they will feel powerless to do anything about the situation, which is a very real issue here, but also needing you to know what’s going on in the world that is affecting your classmates. I think for students to understand that their colleagues and friends who are here on student visas

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

may well be feeling anxious and deserve support and empathy at this moment would be a good start. That is within our control to do. I don’t want to talk politics in a divisive way, but that which affects Fordham directly I need to tell you about and then you tell the world what you think of it.

Ram: I’m curious if you know what Fordham stands to lose if there’s some kind of federal challenge like we’ve seen at Columbia and Harvard? If you know how much money we receive from the federal government and if that’s something you’re concerned about?

Durga Desai // The Observer

Tetlow: We receive more than 30 million a year in federal research grants. Beyond that, though, like every university, we receive the financial aid that students are awarded from the government and bring to each institution. So that would include Pell Grants, work study and federally guaranteed student loans, along with a few other programs as well. So what Title VI and other laws say is that if we do not comply with the statutes on the books, that you can lose all federal funding.

The student press conference was held on April 8 in Martino Hall at the Lincoln Center campus.

has gone up for all the reasons you might imagine. We are very aware that costs have also gone up for your families, that inflation hits your families as well. So our first priority is to contain those costs as much as we can. In general, bridging the gap between the excellence that students deserve and the price they can afford to pay is brutally hard. Our highest priority in the budget is financial aid, it’s Ram: And sort of a follow up, the EPA hundreds of millions a year. We continue grant. Are there concerns about that at all? to raise money from alumni for financial aid and so about half of our endowment Tetlow: As of yet, it is still in place. But I is dedicated to scholarship funds, and think all of higher ed is concerned with all that was a big part of the last fundraising of grants. campaign, and we will continue to make that the highest priority. For students who Observer: About the tuition increase for the absolutely can’t afford the higher cost of next academic year, where is the tuition their education, by cost I mean cost to increase going? provide it, not just cost and tuition, they should let financial aid know and file an Tetlow: The cost of educating students appeal.

Observer: Is there anything that you’re looking forward to in the next academic year and possibly beyond for Fordham?

Tetlow: I think everything within our control at Fordham is going stunningly well and I’m excited about that. And the challenge at this moment for everyone, given the level of uncertainty, is to keep doing the work that matters, to not get too distracted by that level of uncertainty from the fundamentals. What I remind the faculty and staff and administrators is that our job is to teach and serve and support the students at Fordham, and that’s what keeps me going and keeps them going and makes us love our work, even when it’s challenging.

Sam Bracy and Michelle Wilson contributed additional reporting to this story

Grace Santoli // The Observer Tetlow addressed the revocation of two Fordham students’ visas, tuition increase and student civic engagement.

FEATURES & PROFILES

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

Is Everything a Recession Indicator?

Tarriffs put the economy on the precipice, fashion is adjusting

BY LEEYA AZEMOUN Head Copy Editor The term “recession indicator” has surged in popularity online, but it’s not just another internet buzzword thrown around without meaning. Recession indicators are diagnosed by observing shifts in trends compared to past behaviors and spending habits. But they have far more to do with the public affect the economy causes than with economic shifts themselves.

Since the threat of a recession creates widespread despondency, resulting indicators reflect the two ends of a reactionary spectrum: embracing the somber mood through conservative trends, or chasing ebullience through temporary joys.

Vincenzo Domecq, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’28, shared a sentiment many have expressed online: absolutely everything seems like a recession indicator when “prices for everything are going up — especially what our government’s putting tariffs on.”

Kennedy Riggins, FCLC ’28, said she often sees the term pop up on her feed.

“There’s different things that go on that basically show that a recession is coming … like, people are buying more lip glosses, and that is an indicator. Stupid stuff like that,” Riggins said. The term is somewhat satirized on the internet, with many users sarcastically referring to every post they see as recession indicators in response to the phrase’s rapid increase in frequency. As people have gained motivation to learn about the economy in the wake of online fame, our cultural ability to expand the definition and understanding of a term has been put on display.

Domecq and Riggins are not wrong to agree with these social media users.

Everything — down to the “stupid stuff” — can indicate a recession because of its recently overwhelming imminence. James Ng, a senior financial advisor with Wells Fargo, said that “nothing is doing well” following Trump administration-sanctioned tariffs.

These economic realities can be observed in popular fashion choices. Some choose to take a modest route. One recession prediction theory is the “hemline index,” coined by economist George Taylor in 1926.

It refers to the notion that the more severe an economic downturn, the longer the hemline of skirts and pants will be Although the correlation may not be so accurate, the innate desire to cover up — as in the case

of baggy clothing — for added comfort is a psychologically-backed phenomenon — a subconscious complement to a melancholy mood — according to InStyle.

“People are more conservative nowadays.

There’s a really big trend of long skirts,” Riggins said.

Eloise Lebee, a wardrobe supervisor with West Street Productions, said that she’s seen similar shifts as wardrobe demands have changed.

“As soon as a recession hits, or inflation, or anything like that, there’s a lot more callback to things that are comfortable or things that are practical,” Lebee said.

But not all Americans express their recession-induced anxieties by the same means.

A longing to return to a more enjoyable time allows nostalgia to acutely permeate the culture, an approach that contrasts a somber or strictly pragmatic style. Pop music is an oft-cited recession indicator — a sign that a demand for “fun” is dire, firmly attributed to 2007-2009 recession-era artists like Kesha, T-Pain, Lady Gaga or Skrillex, all of whom are regaining popularity.

Marc Yeh, FCLC ’28, notices that people seem to be drawn to more music festivals and concerts. The bright, flamboyant visual styles of the 1980s through the 2000s are returning alongside this zeal for excitement since they act as temporary havens against harsh realities. In beauty, changes as minute as the middle part by the supposedly subversive side part are being cited as recession indicators.

“Everyone’s becoming more comfortable, kind of expressing themselves how they want to express themselves … a surge in creativity … you know, being yourself and showing that physically,” Caron said.

Lebee further discussed how a rapid turnover of fashion interests comes with this “surge of creativity,” as people try on different forms of individuality. People gravitate toward microtrends that they do not personally resonate with, instead

experimenting with “something that is more fleeting and momentary.”

For some, however, this period of experimentation serves as a time of discovery and deepened values. As recession fashion grows in topicality, the political messaging that clothing sends — whether intentional or not — is entering the public sphere.

For instance, Lebee called attention to a notable shift from subdued, drab hues to bright, in-your-face colors in the mid-2010s, a change attributed both chronologically and politically to the 2016 presidential election, when women’s finances were particularly vulnerable. At the time, President Donald Trump threatened the Fair Pay order that protected equal pay for all genders — a violation of individual rights that served as the impetus for more brash individuality. Lebee said the departure from “seft” pastels coincided with a departure from “feminine” gender roles in response to threats against women’s rights.

Hampton Ramos, FCLC ’28, enumerated some other shifts toward eye-catching styles: “low rise, big sunglasses, all of that stuff … bows on everything.” She continued, “people used to dress more casual, now I feel like I’ve seen a lot more people dressing up every day.”

The “fleeting and momentary” phenomenon that Lebee highlighted extends far beyond fashion. Much like the lip gloss trend Riggins mentioned, a Raymond James article defines the “lipstick index” as the purchasing of affordable, novelty items as a means of sparking joy — akin to the “trinket-collecting” trend that has gained traction for similar reasons.

According to USA Today and the National Library of Medicine, spending on drugs and alcohol, sometimes referred to as “vice spending,” is a thriving attempt to meet incessant demands for a pick-me-up during a recession. These impulse decisions feel gratifying in the moment, but of course, are ultimately detrimental.

Although they may seem trivial, staying aware of these evolutions in fashion and culture can help us maintain an awareness of the equally rapidly changing economy and political landscape. A recession is undoubtedly daunting, but there are more productive ways to deal with it than others.

Panic-buying and substance abuse are dangerous outlets for economic anxieties that could be somewhat remedied by trying out a new look instead.

Joy in the Struggle Fr. Bryan Massingale on Ignatian values and the struggle for justice

BY SAM BRACY News Editor Bryan Massingale doesn’t love it when people write about him. In fact, he said he hates the way profiles preserve a particular account of who he is, like a fossil of an extinct specimen trapped between layers of sediment.

“I hate these kinds of profiles because even more than the label, the profile itself becomes a fossilization of who you are in a sense, and it never quite does justice to it,” Massingale said.

Labels also can reduce people to a handful of constructed identities that can other people and perpetuate harm.

Massingale is wary of the way certain words are externally imposed whether marginalized people want to adopt them or not.

“These labels are socially constructed and they never capture the fullness of our reality,” Massingale said. “At the same time, those socially constructed labels have socially destructive impacts. So even if we do not like the labels gay, queer, trans, whatever, there are very powerful forces in our society that are going to use those identities that cause us great harm.”

Despite these feelings around labels, Massingale embraces the particularity of his experience as a Black gay Catholic priest and lifelong educator. He said he wants to act as a pioneer to encourage others who might continue to bring something new into the world.

“Is it a ‘both and’ reality that, am I a Black priest? Yes. Am I only a Black priest? No. But I do think it is important to be visible as a Black priest precisely because of what Blackness means in our society,” Massingale said.

On Saturday, Massingale’s book “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church” was purged from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library alongside hundreds of other books deemed to be a part of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. As President Donald Trump’s administration attacks diverse voices on federal monuments and websites — and infringes upon the civil liberties of activists and immigrants — Massingale said Americans need to reckon with deep questions about their country’s values.

“I think we need to get beyond policy debates and disagreements and say what is really at stake here,” Massingale said.

“What do we stand for? Who are we? I think that is the question that the country really needs to wrestle with and is wrestling with but does not know how to wrestle with it because we have very few forums where those kinds of deep value questions can be raised, which is where I think Jesuit education comes to mind.”

On a rainy Monday in late March, Massingale met with students in a stony seminar room inside Duane Library on

Sam Bracy // The Observer Fr. Brian Massingale embraces his personal experiences in the Church.

the Rose Hill campus. It was the first class meeting after spring break, and the first since the Trump administration began detaining international students associated with campus activism. Massingale opened the floor to his students, asking how they felt. One student replied that she felt disillusioned to the extent that she was asking herself, “what’s the point?”

Later, Massingale said disillusionment can be positive or even necessary.

Illusions, he said, prevent us from recognizing societal issues. In his class, he and his students take their disillusionment as a challenge to fight for change.

“If disillusionment leads to a sense of defeat or despair, then disillusionment is counterproductive. But disillusionment is a way of saying, ‘wait a minute, my country, my church, my institutions are not what I thought they were.’ Now can that spur me to take action to make them be what they ought to be?” Massingale said.

For Massingale, shedding harmful illusions and spurring people to action is the work of a Jesuit education. He sees the synthesis of faith and justice in Ignatian values not just as an application of Catholic teachings, but as an essential part of the Gospel. He said that the role of Jesuit institutions and educators intertwines the interrogation of faith and justice as two practices and ideals, in order to discover their deep connection.

Massingale speaks with the passion of a preacher, the depth of a professor and the candor of a friend. He talks in structured depth, as if delivering a speech, but cracks jokes as well. He does not keep a shell around his emotions either and will be honest if a memory is painful for him to recall.

While Massingale admires Ignatian values and has spent much of his life walking alongside Jesuits, he himself is not a member of the Society of Jesus.

Massingale said maybe he would have been, had the Society asked him to join.

As an undergraduate at Marquette University, Massingale was an exceptional

student with a clear path to becoming a man of the cloth.

“I was a daily mass-goer. I was a leader in campus ministry retreats, majored in theology and philosophy, had a four point average in it all. I mean, I had priestly vocations stamped on my forehead in neon lights,” Massingale said.

But he was not invited to become a Jesuit. Massingale planned to attend seminary school and work toward priesthood instead. He recalled a Jesuit telling him, “I am sure if you had what it took to be a Jesuit we would have asked you,” when he was 21 years old.

“I thought about that and I said, well, wait a minute, what am I lacking?

Especially because I had, you know, white classmates who did not have all of that going on for them and they were asked. And I realized that what he meant was that it was because I was Black,” Massingale said.

Massingale realized that the institutions he looked up to, like the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus, were also guilty of the sin of racism.

This moment of disillusionment is still a painful memory for Massingale four decades later, but he said standing outside of the Society of Jesus allows him to confront obstacles to racial justice.

“There are times when even the Society of Jesus falls short and it needs to be challenged to live up to its aspirations, and I think sometimes those who are outside the Society have a freedom to raise those questions,” Massingale said.

As a professor, priest and activist, Massingale uses inquiry to challenge and reveal oppression. Massingale said that he is made afraid by the seeming impunity of the Trump administration’s targeting of activists and academics, but that his faith gives him the courage to struggle.

“Courage is doing what we believe is right despite being afraid,” Massingale said. “That’s what courage is all about, it is not letting our fear control us. It’s being motivated by something that’s deeper than fear. And that’s love.”

Glass Courts Not Glass Ceilings

Sofia Arseniev made a strong impression at Fordham when she was first being recruited.

Courtesy of Fordham Athletics

Sofia Arseniev makes Fordham athletic history by being the first female squash athlete to play on a Division I roster

BY CORA COST Sports & Health Editor

was on full display during her comeback in last year’s nationals match against Vassar.

Down two games in a nationals match last “I think it’s the self-confidence in season, Sofia Arseniev was hit in the face her now, when she’s out there nothing with a racket. When Arseniev came out fears her, and, you know, I’m sure it’s to recover, Fordham men’s squash coach probably happening outside of the Sahel Anwar thought she would end up squash court as well too,” Anwar said. defaulting the match. Instead, Arseniev took a beat to ice her face. She got back For many people, squash is on the court and ended up winning the a sport they have match, 2 - 3. never been acquainted “It was crazy. She was like, ‘no, I’m with. Squash is often going to go back and play.’ And I’m like, inadequately compared to ‘okay, yeah, it’s okay. You don’t need tennis or pickleball, but to go!’ And she’s like, ‘no, I want to go. they share few I want to play, I want to play.’ And she similarities in reality. iced herself for a little bit and she went back on court, and then, yeah, she won Arseniev’s squash career started the third game, fourth game and ended long before she became a Ram. Born up winning the fifth game,” Anwar said. into a squash-playing family, Arseniev Arseniev, Fordham College at Lincoln picked up her first racket at age nine.

Center ’25, joined the squash program Growing up in Russia, Arseniev’s family her first year, becoming the first female saw squash as a stepping stone to an squash athlete to play on the Division acceptance to an American university.

I men’s team ladder. Four years later, “I got into it because my aunt played Arseniev closed out her Fordham squash squash and she had okay grades in high career by playing her last match this school, but she got into UPenn because March and becoming the first female she got recruited for squash,” Arseniev squash player to have a career win in the said. “At the time I was living in Moscow, program’s history.

Russia when I was nine — my father’s Throughout her career, coach Anwar Russian. My parents kind of thought, ‘oh has seen Arseniev develop into both a this could be a ticket to university from technically and mentally strong squash Russia,’ like an out of Russia kind of athlete. The strength of this mentality thing, and so I started playing.”

For many people, squash is a sport they have never been acquainted with.

Squash is often inadequately compared to tennis or pickleball, but they share few similarities in reality. Squash is played in a glass court where the two players hit a small rubber ball against a wall. The truly niche nature of squash is what draws Arseniev to the sport.

“I think squash is a very unique sport.

You have to be very athletic for it. It’s a lot of endurance,” Arseniev said. “The ball does not bounce at all. A tennis ball is very bouncy, but the whole point about squash is you have to hit the ball hard enough that it gets warm and it gets bouncier.”

Arseniev finally moved to the United States to live in Washington D.C. with her grandparents, before highschool.

The move from Russia to the U.S. was in hopes of having a better opportunity to be recruited by American universities.

In the U.S., Arseniev played on the squash team at her all girls high school, National Cathedral School. She found a lot of success on the court while in D.C., she was a two time MVP and in 2019 she was a U.S. Junior Squash All-American.

With her success in high school and Junior Squash, Arseniev started the college recruitment process in the hopes of continuing her squash career. Then the unexpected hit — in 2020, Arseniev found herself at home like most of the

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While stuck at home, Arseniev decided to put down her racket and quit the recruitment process. So ultimately her decision to apply to Fordham had nothing to do with potential squash prospects.

“I kind of had a little bit of a rebellious streak and I quit and so I stopped. I was in the process of getting recruited but I just didn’t reply to any of the emails and just applied normally and got into Fordham,” Arseniev said.

Even though squash was not the reason Arseniev joined the Ramily, it was not long before she picked her racket back up. Fordham has a Division I men’s squash team, along with a women’s club squash team. During Arseniev’s first year, her mother encouraged her to return to the sport and try out for the women’s club team.

“Once I played with the guys and they saw that I was good as well, it was kind of a no brainer.”

Courtesy of Sofia Arnesiev Sofia Arseniev started playing squash when she was nine years old living in Moscow, Russia.

seniors, my three captains freshman year, were so nice. They immediately treated me really as part of the team.”

It is extremely rare that varsity athletes at Fordham are students seeking their Sofia Arseniev degrees at FLC instead of the Rose Hill FCLC ’25 campus. Despite not being advised by the athletics department, as a neuroscience As a student at Fordham Lincoln major, Arseniev decided to not move up Center (FLC), Arseniev had to take the to the Bronx. inter-campus transportation, the Ram “Fordham was not happy with me Van, to club practices. The drive between when I didn’t transfer to Rose Hill after the Lincoln Center and the Bronx starting the season,” Arseniev said. campus would soon become a staple of Staying at FLC, Arseniev has had to Arseniev’s Fordham career. be highly conscious of her schedule.

After a couple of practices with the Over her four years at Fordham, Arseniev club team, Arseniev decided to reach had to balance her academic classes, 8 out to coach Anwar. Anwar invited a.m. practices and travel between The Arseniev to play at the squash court in Bronx to Manhattan. From when the team the Lombardi Fieldhouse at the Rose Hill begins practices in October to when the campus. squash season ends in March, Arseniev “To be honest, she was basically a has had to be both an athlete at Rose Hill walk on,” Anwar said. and a student at Lincoln Center.

From the moment that Arseniev “She made it work. It was all her, it played on the Lombardi Squash Courts, Anwar moved to put her on the “Women’s squash has a huge program’s roster. potential, and I mean, I “Once I played with the guys and honestly enjoy watching they saw that I was good as well, it was women play squash more kind of a no brainer. I should play for the than men playing squash men’s team,” Arseniev said. because it’s also a lot Despite being a “no brainer” for more tactful,” Arseniev to be a member of the Division I squash roster, the transition onto the Sofia Arseniev team was anything but smooth. For one, FCLC ’25 Arseniev had never played on an allmen’s team before. Initially Arseniev had nothing to do with me, to be honest. was confronted with the shock of a new It was all her effort being able to get up playing environment but once she found and come in the morning and classes and her footing she felt incredibly welcomed whatnot and her schedules,” Anwar said. by the Fordham Squash team.

The first two years on the team were “I was 18, fresh out of high school, an adjustment period for Arseniev as and I also went to an all-girls high school. squash player, according to coach Anwar.

So that was such a shock to be, like, at Arseniev’s first year was the first time she an all-girls high school and then an allhad played competitively against male men squash team, but the guys were nice athletes. to me,” Arseniev said. “It was definitely “When you put her in a situation kind of hard because I was like, oh, do where now she’s competing with the I have to be kind of a cool girl? Should I men as well too, it is very difficult. I be more quiet? Should I be more talkative think in the beginning we kind of went and I guess be more myself, but the three through that where she had to learn to

overcome that. And then the last two years, honestly, it’s just been great, the way she’s been able to compete. It’s been a good ride with her on the team,” Anwar said.

Over her four years at Fordham, Arseniev has seen growth both in her play on the court and in her ability to articulate her needs as an athlete. Being the only female athlete on an all-male roster has been challenging, but Arseniev felt the most important thing for her was to be able to take space from the team when needed.

“There were definitely some times where I really was like, ‘this is really annoying me when you’re on the Ram Van for seven hours with all guys and they’re being very crude,’” Arseniev said.

“I’m like, ‘what am I doing right now?’

But I think it was just key for me to articulate that with my coach because it got to a point where I realized that no, I can’t be like one of the guys, so I just have to take my time when I need it and when I feel like it,” Arseniev said.

From walking on to the team her first year to graduating as a Division I squash athlete, Fordham Squash has shaped Arseniev’s Fordham career and her future.

“I’m definitely very glad that I played, and I will definitely be in contact with some of the guys — probably for the rest of my life,” Arseniev said.

As her career as a Fordham athlete has come to an end, Arseniev hopes that the opportunity she has had to be a female squash athlete at Fordham does not end with her. She said that there are so many talented female squash athletes who are waiting for the opportunity to get on the court at the collegiate level.

“Women’s squash has a huge potential, and I mean, I honestly enjoy watching women play squash more than men playing squash because it’s also a lot more tactful,” Arseniev said. “There’s a bunch of girls who are very good but don’t get recruited because there’s just not enough teams, and I think Fordham would have a great women’s squad.”

THE ARTS

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

Animation’s Capacity for Complexity While often misconceived as childish, this medium is a diverse mode of creation

Illustrations by Ikma Inusah // The Observer

BY VEE VENNING Asst. Opinions Editor Animation has undergone tremendous developments in the past century, and as the medium evolves, its popularity continues to soar. In 2023, North America’s animation market was valued as the largest in the globe, with a revenue of $23.22 billion and an expected annual growth rate of 5%.

In spite of its indisputable presence in the entertainment industry, animation is regularly written off as childish. Although a significant portion of animated media admittedly caters to younger audiences, it is crucial to remember that animation is a medium, not a genre. It is a unique mode of creation with the capacity to transport audiences to worlds that transcend reality, and this potential manifests in mature and adolescent content alike.

While artists like J. Stuart Blackton and Winsor McCay made notable animated pieces in the early 20th century, their characters and stories created a foundation upon which Walt Disney quickly capitalized.

Disney solidified itself as a dominant force in the industry with the advent of Mickey Mouse and synchronized sound featured in its 1928 animated short film “Steamboat Willie.” The company’s subsequent release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” one of the earliest animated feature films, marked another significant shift in the commercialization of the medium and Disney’s claim on it.

Considering the correlation between the rise of Disney’s success and animated media, it’s no surprise that animation has developed a reputation as a childish medium. However, to write it off as such is to belittle its value as an art form and a means of storytelling.

Disney has since morphed into a mega-conglomerate, encompassing notable studios such as Marvel and Pixar in 2009 and 2006, respectively. Disney then went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film 13 times since its conception in 2002. This considerable critical acclaim further established the studio as a leading force in animation, simultaneously strengthening the medium’s connection to Disney and, subsequently,

childhood.

However, Disney and its seemingly endless stream of releases should not define our perception of animation. In fact, plenty of other studios are more than worthy of our acclaim.

Considering the correlation between the rise of Disney’s success and animated media, it’s no surprise that animation has developed a reputation as a childish medium.

Cartoon Saloon, located in Kilkenny, Ireland, is one of many smaller studios making waves in the animation industry.

With releases like “The Breadwinner,” a 2017 PG-13 film based on a young adult novel, Cartoon Saloon proves to audiences that animation can capture relevant themes in a beautiful and imaginative fashion. The movie delves into discussions of misogyny, political unrest and more as it depicts the story of Parvana (Saara Chaudry), a young girl living under the Taliban regime.

While some may categorize this film as

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

family-friendly, this shouldn’t mean that it, and others like it, should be solely enjoyed by children and their reluctant parents.

“The Breadwinner” reveals a substantial point about how we perceive children’s cinema as a whole — what exactly defines a piece of media as juvenile?

The label “kid-friendly” insinuates an absence of violence, strong language and sexually explicit content. However, it also implies an inaccurate lack of maturity. In branding all animated films as childish, their capacity for complexity is dismissed.

Consequently, adults do not generally seek out these films, and as a result, they miss out on all that animation brings to the table.

Some noteworthy animated films include “Isle of Dogs,” “Paprika” and “Princess Mononoke,” the last of which was released by Studio Ghibli in 1997 and distributed throughout the U.S. by Disney. The movie follows a prince named Ashitaka and his quest to lift a deadly curse. Particularly violent, “Princess Mononoke” stands in stark contrast to some of Studio Ghibli’s more kid-friendly films.

Disney wasn’t prepared for the level of intensity that the movie delivered, and this divergence generated tension between the two studios. Disney’s inaccurate expectations and subsequent attempts to modify Ghibli’s work reveal

its carefully curated family-friendly image.

This deliberate branding, paired with Disney’s prevalence, contributes to the misconceptions surrounding animation.

LAIKA Studios is another independent studio creating exceptional animated work. With five feature-length films and a sixth in production, LAIKA is renowned for its innovative use of stop-motion techniques to tell compelling and beautiful stories.

As one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki’s work is renowned worldwide, and films like “Spirited Away,” “Grave of the Fireflies” and “My Neighbor Totoro” have become cult classics since their release.

The studio’s most notable film, “Coraline,” is a perfect example of another misjudged piece of animation.

Despite its misleading PG rating, the film is both chilling and surreal. The horror in “Coraline” presents yet another danger that arises when all animation is misconceived as childish. When animation is immediately classified as kid-friendly, audiences automatically assume that it is suitable for all children. This is not always the case, and when the general public believes it to be, children may be inadvertently exposed to a level of maturity they are unprepared for.

Even when animation’s capacity for maturity is rightly acknowledged, the medium’s range is often condensed into two opposing categories: kid-friendly and adult-oriented. While these labels may seem comprehensive, the idea that animation must be one or the other is a misconception. It seems as though we can only understand animation as overly simplistic or overtly crude, and this becomes evident when examining what we consider adult animation.

Shows like “Family Guy” and “Robot

Chicken” are prime examples of explicitly adult animation. Rife with drug use, violence and sexual innuendos, these shows cater to an unmistakably adult audience. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this. These shows are beloved by many, and for good reason — if anything, they demonstrate animation’s diverse potential. However, the issue arises when this particular genre is perceived as one of only two possibilities.

When audiences can only recognize animation in terms of “Cocomelon” versus “Rick and Morty,” the medium’s multiplicity is lost in translation.

It’s also important to consider the significant manpower required to produce animated media. While the emergence of computer generated imagery (CGI) in the 1990s drastically transformed the industry, the animation process remains both intricate and painstaking. The medium is a labor of love, and the time and consideration that it demands is especially evident within the work of Japanese animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

As one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki’s work is renowned worldwide, and films like “Spirited Away,” “Grave of the Fireflies” and “My Neighbor Totoro” have become cult classics since their release. In an interview with Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli’s former president, he revealed that it takes a team of 60 animators a month to produce a single minute of animation. While admirable, Studio Ghibli’s dedication and attention to detail are not uncommon in the animation industry.

Around the globe, animators are developing innovative films only made possible by their technical and creative talent; these individuals’ exceptional work merits ample praise. Animation can be simple and kid-friendly, yes, but it can also be deeply profound, serious and even unsettling. In reexamining our perception of this diverse medium, we can gain a greater appreciation for all that it has to offer, broadening our tastes in the process.

Abjecting Innocence: Post-9/11 Artistic Production Disruptive contemporary aesthetics track the destabilization of childhood’s structure

BY GRACE MISKOVSKY Contributing Writer

footage from Afghanistan. In a feedback loop of exposure and self-reproduction, “JonBenet Ramsey and the Culture of when do children stop Child Abuse; Can We Clone Humans?” being innocent and instead “Who Speaks for Kids? As growing up start being complicit in in America grows more perilous, the childhood’s demise? battle heats up over how best to help our “Ah, youth! Third graders children.” “Kids without a Conscience? smoke pot. Teenagers are Rape, murder, a baby dead at a prom: A covered with tattoos and look at young lives that seem to have gone piercings and brandings and very, very wrong.” “Too Fat? Too Thin? How body cuttings. Girls starve media images of celebrities teach kids to themselves to look sexy. hate their bodies.”

Gangs recruit eight-year-olds Curator Jean Crutchfield cited these to run drugs … Children headlines in her introduction to “Presumed are born into a world full Courtesy of Dario Lasgani Here, Lee titillates sexual euphemisms by cornering Innocence,” a 1998 exhibition examining of crack babies, drive-by the exaggerated, bulging eyes of Tom. changing structures of childhood and shootings, AIDS, horrible adolescence in the late twentieth century pollution, congestion, in relation to television’s exposure to fierce competition, no jobs, no hope, no self that one finds particularly disturbing. war, violence and cultural anxieties. The guarantees, no future,” wrote Kathryn Much of contemporary art since 2000 has longstanding, mistaken presumption of Hixson in her 1998 essay “Youthful Hysteria dealt with abjection: the dispelling of horror childhood innocence is undermined by and Wild-eyed Delirium: Youth Culture manifested in childhood via trauma, digital a group of conceptual artists such as Fights Back,” included in the exhibition’s indoctrination or exposure to violence Mike Kelley, Lisa Yuskavage and Inez publication. Margaret Mead noted in her which one cannot truly separate from itself. van Lamsweerde. Within the exhibition, 1970 “Culture and Commitment: A Study Bernadette Corporation’s “Get Rid they acknowledge the agency, frustration of the Generation Gap” that “there are of Yourself” from 2003 examines the and potential violence of children — now no elders who know more than the “aesthetics of rebellion” in a post-9/11, deconstructing stuffed toys, re-appropriating young themselves about what the young anti-art, anarchic landscape. The hour-long the supposed naivete of cartoons and are experiencing.” Philosopher Theodor “antidocumentary” tracks the experiences cyberizing childlike forms. Childhood, Adorno’s theory of “well-informed of rioters from the 2001 G8 summit in according to “Presumed Innocence,” is superiority” applies well here, in which Genoa, Italy, converging with digitally endangered by perilous social and cultural seemingly informed people underestimate distorted footage of 9/11, pointing to the conditions. the powers they are up against. At the time disturbance of civil life due to the pressures of its inauguration 27 years ago, “Presumed of capitalism and the subordination of the In a feedback loop of Innocence” examined the dire nature of poor. In evidencing the leering presence exposure and social death, its impact on children who of local and transnational empires and self-reproduction, when do adopt and perpetuate it and a thinning colonization, “Get Rid of Yourself” presents children stop being generational gap in which parents and a strata of naturalized violence exacerbated innocent and instead start children alike become ill-equipped to by 9/11 which seeps into daily life and being process a fragmented culture. coming of age. complicit in Since then, post-9/11 and contemporary Children, victims of exposure to childhood’s demise? art production has similarly dealt with the trauma detailed in “Get Rid of Yourself,” disturbing abyss of the digital age, now at some point become capable of enacting In the 1990s, various artists explored manifested in brain-rotted virtual realities, such violence. As perpetrators, children how childhood’s supposed innocence is 4Chan and deep-web manospheres. The act out fantasies of social disintegration further destabilized by access to knowledge iPhone has replaced the through television, media and digital television as a mirror, pressed structures that children are not cognitively up against the faces of able to process. Notable examples include young teens hidden under “Kylie” (1997) by Dinos & Jake Chapman, their bedsheets late into the “Glock” (1994) by Daniel Oates and night. Anxiety is revealed “Pinocchio Pipenose Household Dilemma” by contemporary art in the (1994) by Paul McCarthy. Technologies are deconstruction of a hypernot innocent in exploiting the image of the sexualized, exploitative and prepubescent child in selling youth culture, pornographic self-image. or even in contributing to a 41% increase The landscape of violence in violence on television between 1992 and in contemporary art is 1994, as noted by Hillary Clinton in her also different, set against book “It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons the cultural backdrop of Children Teach Us.” Columbine, the murder of The mirror, a foundational object Tamir Rice and Trump’s rise for children’s construction of the self, is to power. Abjection, coined replaced by the television; children mimic

by Julia Kristeva in her book Anne de Vries courtesy of Schinkel Pavillon the chaos inside, seeing their reflection “Powers of Horror,” refers to Uddenberg examines babyhood and agency alongside overlay a diet pill advertisement or live war the rejection of parts of the the liminal deconstruction of self-image.

Vol. XLV // Issue XIII // April, 9 2025

manifested through their screens. In Bunny Rogers’ “Mandy’s Piano Solo in Columbine Cafeteria” (2016), digital snow flecks accumulate on the floor of a virtual rendering of the Columbine High School’s cafeteria, where in 1999 students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold massacred fifteen students and then themselves.

Mandy, Rogers’ recurring digital character, melancholically sips red wine on the bench of a grand piano as her spindly, triangular fingers brush up and down the keys.

spiraling into the Creepypasta web page, stabbed their friend in the woods to appease the fictional video game character Slender Man. The agency of the child is then questioned. As adults “fear the children we would protect,” their power as perpetrators of violence is realized. Conversely, Hong Kong’s “Chalk Girl,” a fifteen-year-old arrested Much of contemporary art in 2014 for drawing flowers since 2000 has dealt with in chalk on a government abjection: the dispelling building, became an icon of of horror manifested in the Umbrella Movement and Courtesy of Henrik Schedin “Hundis” serves as a notable example of the postchildhood via trauma, children’s political rebellion.

9/11 aesthetic. digital indoctrination or Children like “Chalk Girl,” exposure to violence which symbols of childhood purity, one cannot truly separate double as undisciplined resistors. aesthetic. As Lee imbues aggression from itself.

Anna Uddenberg’s “Closing” (2022) and suggested sexuality into antiquated examines babyhood and agency as much children’s imagery, the gap between the Johanna Fateman refers to the as it discusses the liminal deconstruction of dawn of television and the weird, web-ish Columbine shooting in her review of self-image. A man dressed in a diaper and fissures children and teenagers subscribe to Rogers’ work in Artforum as a “fin-decrocs suggestively crouches, backside to the is illuminated. millennium media event that produced sky, within a sterilized bassinet doubling as shocking new icons of alienated masculinity a suitcase. Constrained and molded within On the back of the AIDS and remapped the American high school a sickly sweet blue and gray contraption, crisis and early 90s retro as a site of spectacular violence.” “Mandy’s complete with leather frills on its hinges, technology, “Presumed Piano Solo in Columbine Cafeteria” also the man-as-baby is subject to the space Innocence” reflected contributes to new icons in the post-9/11 around him. Suggesting a subliminal desire systems of childhood era of artistic production in its ominous to reconnect with intrauterine existence as withering throughout the liminality. The cafeteria, a space designated detailed by Paul Federn’s “Womb Fantasy,” twentieth century. for children, becomes the uncanny the man is received by a womb-like animated detritus of societal collapse as machine, thereby giving up his own agency.

Works like Leila Hekmat’s 2022 play digital pixels converge to reflect an early The work engineers his posturing, “CROCOPAZZO!” explore sexually charged 2000s tech aesthetic. referencing a pornographic self-image, family dysfunction, while Stanya Kahn’s Ben Davis typifies this post-9/11 and alludes to the sexual development of “Stand in the Stream,” produced from aesthetic in his essay “Culture Has No Name children we would rather not talk about, 2011-2017, documents interactions with for this Cursed Vibe. It’s Everywhere,” and which Freud did, extensively. Once more strangers on Omegle. Colin Montgomery’s writes that the ill-defined movement, which returning to Kristeva’s theory of abjection “Emergency Doors (Smithsonian has extended until the present, displays “the and Lacan’s theory of a child’s “mirror American History Museum)” from 2006 sense of a digital reality-collapse that is now stage,” Robert Hobbs writes in his essay implies violence towards school group accelerating faster and faster … (present in) “Youth’s Purgatory” that “Kristeva’s … tours, imposing the conditional usage the dark feeling I get from the story of the insidious oedipal narrative characterizes a of emergency doors. Tobias Bradford’s young man who tragically took his own recurrent … pattern in which one rejects “Hundis” comes to mind as reflective of life because his A.I. clone of ‘Danaerys’ aspects of oneself … in order to come the post-9/11 aesthetic, as a nightmarish from “Game of Thrones” told him to ‘come to terms with the symbolic name-of-thepresentation of an animatronic dog-man home.’ ... It’s the influencers literally eating father.” Uddenberg’s sculpture welcomes who appeared in the artist’s dreams as a themselves to death on camera.” This brings and disgusts the man which it encapsulates child. to mind the 2014 stabbing in Waukesha, because it reveals his internal desire to On the back of the AIDS crisis and early Wisconsin, in which two teens, after reject the self and become one again with 90s retro technology, “Presumed Innocence” the parent and womb. reflected systems of childhood withering Gowoon Lee explores throughout the twentieth century. In postthe underpinnings of 9/11 artistic production, the idyllicism of violence and sexuality in childhood is further deconstructed. Out Mickey Mouse, Looney of red-pilled male supremacy, right-wing Tunes and other early extremism, QAnon, Slender Man and Elon children’s cartoons that Musk’s DOGE coin, the art of abjection is subsume modern relevance. produced — grotesque, self (and society) In “Asphyxia,” (2022) Lee repellant and liminal. It is a result of the titillates sexual euphemisms horrifying realization that kids kill each by cornering the exaggerated, other, police brutality footage is streamed bulging eyes of Tom from on YouTube and the Nazi party is being Tom and Jerry. Intensely reimagined before our eyes. The worst furrowed eyebrows constrict part is, that we all belong to a culture bulbous forms, referencing which allows it. Therefore, the post-9/11 adult anatomy. Upon a and contemporary aesthetic negates the searing red backdrop, Tom innocence of children and adults alike, grotesquely transforms repelling manifestations of societal evil into a veiny, aggressive upon art objects. We watch, stare and shiver Courtesy of Bunny Rogers Rogers contributes to icons in the post-9/11 era icon while Lee maintains a at how much these art objects look just like of artistic production in its ominous liminality. familiar cartoon-ish painterly us.

Visions of the Heart in Lipani Gallery

Two photographers’ senior theses meditate on kinship and belonging

BY NORA KINNEY Asst. Arts & Culture Editor On March 28, a crowd gathered in Lipani Gallery to celebrate Lucy Duckett and Kenzie Roberts, two Fordham seniors presenting their thesis projects for the visual arts program from March 25 to April 8.

Duckett (FCLC ’25) and Roberts (FCLC ’25) completed their theses independently, and their work involved different narratives.

However, when exhibited in the same space, a visual synergy suffused the room. Photos taken by both artists felt like memories — flashes of a never-ending summer, and of sheltering within it.

In one of Roberts’ images, a young woman lays in a shallow pool of water while waves crash further down the beach.

Duckett showcased a similarly composed photo – a person half submerged in the reedy waters off an embankment, their head tilted to the sky.

I spoke to Duckett first about her thesis, “En Gallop,” named after the Joanna Newsom song, which she called “a connecting force … ongoing, unending, like this project.” Duckett’s photos reflect the time she spent at independently-run “transgender healing farms” in the rural midwest, where she lived and bonded with the people who operate them. The first town she visited had a population of 973.

“I feel like being transgender in the middle of nowhere, in a town of less than a thousand people — and it’s like ‘Trumpland,’ like ‘MAGA-land’ — that’s terrifying,” she said. “I think that’s what drew me in.”

Duckett found a directory of LGBTQ+ farming projects last summer and started cold-pitching her thesis. After numerous dead-ends, she finally heard from a few farmsteaders who were open to hosting her.

Fordham awarded Duckett an undergraduate research grant to cover her expenses, and she set out for middle America.

In Hesperia, Michigan, Duckett camped on the land and met folks there who aim to create a community for transgender and queer people. In Viroqua, Wisconsin, she befriended a flower farmer named Rufus, whose portrait, “Rufus Buzzes Hair,” is a highlight of the collection. The photo shows Rufus standing shirtless in their front yard, shaving their head with an electric razor.

Light glances off a hand mirror and onto their scarred chest.

Duckett stressed the importance of gaining her subjects’ trust in order to portray them intimately.

“You can’t just go to those kinds of places and start photographing immediately.

You have to form a connection,” she said. “I didn’t want them to think that I was taking advantage of them. I wanted them to know that I cared about them, and that I cared about what they were doing.”

“En Gallop” feels like the first sign of spring; the miracle of beginning anew. The sparse pastoral backdrop gives the series a dreamy quality. While traveling, Duckett, the

Kei Sugae // The Observer Kenzie Roberts poses infront of her work in Lipani.

outsider, noted that “the hills seem to go on forever … I can’t tell the difference between anything here.” Her subjects seem habituated to their natural surroundings; they traverse it as if they have always been there.

Yet impermanence pervades the collection. One image shows a tiny church in disrepair, the remainder of a faithful community that no longer exists. I was curious about a collage that featured a dead moth — Duckett said the insect was from Rufus’ home. She taped it to the back of a note and framed it with a photo she had taken of a dead cat.

The morbid implications add a layer of complexity to Duckett’s photos. I contemplated the significance of rural havens for a group of people who face increasing threats to their access to medical care, the perversion of their identity in mainstream media and overt erasure by the governmwent. Is it exile? Is it paradise?

For Duckett, it is a community persisting in unexpected places. Her time on the farms opened her eyes to a way of purposeful living that defied her own judgement.

“I always thought that I needed to be in a city (to be) settled down,” she said. “Life is not what you expect it to be. These people did not expect to be what they’re doing …

Community is everywhere, it really is.”

Similarly poignant but differing in subject matter, “Fibers” by Kenzie Roberts centers on female kinship and the preservation of youth. The frameless images range in size, from polaroids to large prints, and are displayed on the gallery walls in neat clusters.

Roberts created several prominent pieces of fiber art to accompany her photographs.

Two are large-scale monochrome crochet portraits, feats of craftsmanship that Roberts takes great pride in. She made the first over the course of three weeks, and the second one in just three restless days. Woven in the likeness of her loved ones, the portraits evoke the artist’s unbreakable bond with the subjects.

Highlighting the people in her life is not out of the ordinary for Roberts. Before her thesis, she regularly photographed her friends and family, and her instincts lent to particularly alluring images. When a

professor pushed her to develop a cohesive narrative for them, the undertaking felt like a natural extension of her artistic gaze. She took more photos in Hawaii, South Carolina and her home in Seattle, among other places.

“My sister is in a couple of them, my best friends from home are in them, my best friends from here are in them,” Roberts said.

“It’s just a culmination, it’s all very personal.”

The photos that comprise “Fibers” brim with tenderness and light. Between snapshots of sun-drenched flower beds, interior scenes and ephemera, there are girls. They lounge by open windows and on sofa beds, entangled in each other’s limbs.

They romp in various states of undress and tumble onto the grass. There is freedom in the way they wield their bodies and bare their skin. The girls look directly into the camera lens, inscrutable and utterly captivating.

Those images are the ones Roberts likes most, because the eye contact creates an interaction with the viewer. She designed her exhibition with those intimate moments of connection in mind — which is why she included smaller photo sizes that require close-up viewing.

Getting the right shot was intuitive for Roberts, but it helped to put her subjects at ease first. She often captured them in familiar environments like their bedrooms.

“I didn’t want to put someone in a room and have it be inauthentic and weird.

I wanted them to be comfortable in the setting and just do what they wanted,” she said. “I didn’t want it to feel foreign, like a performance.”

Roberts’ process reflects her greater objective for “Fibers,” which she said is to memorialize this time in her life through art. Looking at her photos depicting female friendship, I felt a sense of displaced nostalgia, like I was attaching my own memories to someone else’s. I wondered aloud what it will be like to look back on the project decades in the future, as if it were a universal scrapbook.

Through Roberts’ eyes, girlhood is not a batch of tropes, but rather a projection of uninhibited joy and companionship that will hold true forever.

Observer-Feed Quiz: Which Fordham Dining Option are You? Our Lincoln Center campus has a variety of fine dining options for Rams to enjoy, each one with its own unique flavor and personality.

Which one are you most like?

Jot down how many times you selected each letter and flip to the back page to see your results!

On a Friday night, you are most likely to be … a.

At a Broadway show b.

Wherever, as long as I’m with friends c.

Out on the town d.

Studying

What’s your comfort show? a.

“Community” b.

“Modern Family” c.

“The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” d.

“Gilmore Girls”

Your roommate’s candle tipped over and set the dorm on fire … QUICK! Pick something to save: a.

Your laptop b.

Your favorite outfit c.

Your digital camera d.

Your favorite stuffed animal

Pick your favorite place to study on campus: a.

Law Library b.

The Plaza c.

I’d rather be off-campus d.

Quinn Library

What is your go-to midnight snack? a.

I’m not a big snacker b.

Midnight is usually when I eat dinner c.

Chips d.

Something sweet

Which of the following best describes your mornings? a.

I like a substantial breakfast to start my day b.

I usually like to eat a quick snack before class c.

I always roll out of bed and get straight to class d.

I cannot operate without my morning bev

Where is your dream vacation destination? a.

Italy b.

Mexico c.

Japan d.

France

Which Hogwarts house do you most associate with? a.

Hufflepuff b.

Gryffindor c.

Slytherin d.

Ravenclaw

Which section of The Observer (besides Fun & Games, of course!) do you most look forward to? a.

News b.

Arts & Culture c.

Sports & Health d.

Opinions

Grace Santoli // The Observer

Fun and Games Crossword: Background Noise

BY JASMINE WHITE

Across 1. Big party 5. Physiques, slangily (Abbr.)

9. Genre for Willie Colón, Celia Cruz and others 14. Poker pot starter 15. Operatic solo 16. A wedding cake may have many 17. *JoJo Siwa’s debut single

19. “Hasta la vista!”

20. “Much ____ About Nothing” 21. Permits 22. Source of white meat 23. Medical setback 25. Charlemagne’s domain (Abbr.)

26. Bit of body art (Abbr.)

27. *Freeloader 32. Pepsi and Coke, for two 35. Catch a wave 36. Bloodbending inventor in

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” 37. *Broadway classic with singing nuns, and what can be heard in the starred clues 40. “____ No Mountain High Enough” 41. Architect ____ van der Rohe who designed the Seagram Building in New York City 42. Final Nirvana album: “In ____” 43. *Places for journalists’ jottings 45. Genetic messenger (Abbr.)

46. Function 47. Worked on a canvas 51. Detection devices 55. Neither fem. nor neut.

(Abbr.)

56. Bollywood star Aishwarya 57. At ____ for words (2 Wds.) 58. *Tool-turned-weapon in an angry mob 60. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” author 61. Numerical prefix 62. Actor Noah of “ER” fame 63. Blackhead locales 64. Word after black or before box 65. Barely passing grades

Down 1. Elephant of children’s literature 2. Battery terminal 3. Bar seat 4. Bottom of a dress, skirt or pant leg 5. Most minimal

6. Give a speech 7. Cacophonies 8. Wilt 9. Took a long look 10. White House staffer 11. “Star Wars” princess 12. Some NYC listings (Abbr.)

13. 10-Down, abbreviated 18. West Texas birthplace of Debbie Reynolds and Khalid 22. “Garden State” actor and director Zach 24. Just one small bite (2 Wds.) 25. Subs 27. Bros 28. Himalayan nation with a dragon on its flag 29. Alleviate 30. “The Kite Runner” protagonist 31. Fast food chain: ____ Bell 32. “South Park” kid 33. The Buckeye State 34. Fender flaw 35. Snarky 38. Amherst school (Abbr.)

39. German city that is home to Oktoberfest 44. Handbags 45. “Life is a Highway” hitmakers ____ Flatts 47. Singer LaBelle or LuPone, for two 48. “Got Me Started” singer Sivan 49. TikToker Alix 50. Flood stoppers 51. Speak hoarsely 52. Voice below soprano 53. Place for a peephole 54. R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World ____ Know It” (2 Wds.)

55. Flaky mineral 58. When doubled, a cheerleader’s need 59. Email chain abbreviation

Which Fordham Dining Option Are You? Quiz Answers — See Inside for Questions!

Mostly A's:

Mostly B's:

Mostly C's:

Mostly D's:

You are the COMMUNITY DINING HALL. You are a reliable and dependable person who everyone can count on. Variety is the spice of life, as you like to say, and you are definitely someone who likes to try new things and encourage others to step out of their comfort zones. You handle criticism with grace, constantly rising above and never letting it shake your confidence. You know everyone always appreciates you coming through to save the day when other plans fail.

Even though you always make time for friends, you also remember to save some space for yourself to recharge.

Thanks for always being there for us!

You are the RAM CAFÉ. Everyone says that you are an upbeat, welcoming person. You have lots of friends and probably tend to have someone by your side for any occasion. In fact, you actually might enjoy a good hang too much, sometimes losing sight of your priorities. Still, your enduring popularity just goes to show that your personality will take you far, and you know that prioritizing your relationships is sometimes more important than other things. You are kind and trusting (which could be a problem since people sometimes take advantage of your generosity) and you can make friends with just about anybody.

Right now, you’re working on yourself, and we can’t wait to see how you grow!

You are ROLLS AND BOWLS. Whether you like it or not, you have a sense of mystique about you. Some people may think you’re difficult to place, but those who know you understand there’s no one more fun to hang out with. You always know the best spots to enjoy the weekend, and you’re the first to encourage your friends to join you in your adventurous spirit. But even with all the fun you have, you still make it a point to take care of your health, especially if a cool new smoothie place or workout class is involved. Hanging out with you can be a wild ride, but it always leads to making memories!

You are ARGO TEA. You are an absolute sucker for nostalgia and a little bit cautious about change. You have your habits, and while some might not always be the healthiest, they are part of what makes you who you are. No matter what, though, you always get the job done (even if it means pulling an all-nighter). Still, you know that work is far from everything and that balance is key. You love a laid-back hangout with friends — whether it be grabbing coffee, browsing through bookstores, having a study session or all of the above. Your versatility is what makes you so beloved, and no matter where life takes you, you will always have a special place in our hearts!

Tied between letters: You are SCHMELTZER DINING HALL. You are the responsible one, often being called “the parent” of the friend group, and you find this role very rewarding. You may feel like an outsider sometimes, but you have a lot to offer that others do not, and there are always people counting on you. Your close-knit collection of friends is a diverse bunch who mean the world to each other. When it comes to your personal life, your days are always jam packed with random side quests and fulfilling your passions. You are a go-getter, and nothing stands in your way. To some people, you might be hard to describe, but you know who you are and that’s more than most can say!

GRAPHICS BY ABBY GRUNZINGER & DURGA DESAI