The Hawk April 28, 2021

April 28, 2020

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Volume CII

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Est. 1929

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www.sjuhawknews.com

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

2021 University Student Senate Elections

VP

PRESIDENT

Kevin Gill ’22

Taylor Stokes ’22

(He/Him/His)

(She/Her/Hers) Criminal Justice Major Justice and Ethics in the Law Minor Senator since Sept. 2018

Finance Major Senator since Sept. 2019

Sal De Rienzo ’22 (He/Him/His)

Philosophy and Economics Majors Justice and Ethics in the Law Minor Senator since Sept. 2018

What made you decide to run for USS? I have always been heavily involved on campus. I really decided to run for president to ensure that the mission of St. Joe’s is being held to the highest standards. I strive to be the bridge between administration and students in everything I do. Additionally, I will ensure that the students have the resources to voice their opinions in their own words. I always lead with transparency and inclusiveness and strive to ensure that my communication is clear and frequent so that everyone is aware and can be a voice of change for St. Joe’s.

At first, it was a really tough decision for me because I am the Black Student Union (BSU) president and I’m secretary of inclusion and equity on the USS. I love the Black community. That is my life, that’s my love. But I think in this president role, I can really do all the work that I was doing in BSU and doing as a secretary, but with a greater push. I’m really trying to make sure I’m representing all students in this 21st USS that’s to come.

As we’re beginning to merge with USciences, a lot of policies and a lot of mandates that will essentially govern this merger will be going through University Council. I’m really excited about the merger, I’m also really interested in it and I want to make sure that student input is heard every step of the way. I want to help play a role in reshaping what our university looks like, and at every step of the way, incorporating student input.

What are your plans for the position if you win?

My platform is broken down into three pillars, which is fostering community, allowing input on the new USciences merger and ensuring accountability of administration. To go into this further, we must celebrate our differences and come together as a community. As president, I will strive to ensure that every student feels at home and safe on Hawk Hill.

My plans are to make sure that students have a say in the merger with [our] university and USciences and welcoming all students. If we think about this merger to come, we’re going to have a lot of different students that are going to be coming here and we need to be working to be more inclusive and a more welcoming space.

One of the plans is definitely to ensure that student voices are heard in university governance, not just with the merger, but just in general, and being able to effectively communicate with administrators for determining what mandates do go through. As vice president, it’s my job to ensure that every single member of this student senate, feels empowered to do their work and feels supported.

What change will you prioritize if you are elected?

An overarching goal that I have for this community is to be inclusive. For me, being inclusive means ensuring that everyone feels comfortable being their true selves. It’s providing a space that is welcoming to all and allowing individuals to express themselves completely. It’s inviting all to have a say in the decisions that directly impact them. The best way to really foster inclusion and foster a sense of community is to ensure that we are all being represented and heard.

Reporting by Eddie Daou ’22

The change I want to make the most on campus is leaving the university better than I found it. I wouldn’t say one change is better than another. Because as student body president, I want to represent all people, I want to represent all voices and make sure everybody has a seat. If I become the president of the 21st USS, I want everybody to have a seat at my table. And that means everybody’s caring about all issues. We have enough people, we have enough room.

One of the big changes on campus that I’d like to work towards is better communication between the administration and the student body. From being an executive board member now, and also speaking with former presidents and vice presidents, I’ve noticed that at times, there is a disconnect between the will of the administration and the will of the student body.

VOTE !

Voting will run from Thursday, April 29 at 8 a.m. to Friday, April 30 at 5 p.m. Current students of each class year can vote for student body president and vice president on The Nest.

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FEATURES

OPINIONS

05

Meet the St. Joe’s USS candidates

07

Read about students who are starting their own businesses

SPORTS

11

Men’s lacrosse continues undefeated NEC run

2

April 28, 2021

News

The Hawk Newspaper

Philly vaccine distribution shows racial and ethnic disparities DEVIN YINGLING ’22 News Editor As of April 26, the city of Philadelphia had administered 1,193,155 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with white individuals receiving their doses at higher rates than their Black and Hispanic counterparts, according to the latest data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH).

The city administered 40% of the total number of first doses to white individuals, while administering 22% to Black individuals and 23% to Hispanic individuals as of April 26, according to the PDPH. Dr. José Torradas, the medical director of Unidos Contra COVID (United Against COVID), an “ad hoc group of Hispanic, medical professionals,” said his group is looking to address the inequities of vaccine distribution

in the city’s Black and Hispanic communities.

“The disproportionality of Black and Hispanic people being affected worse from the pandemic has been set up over generations in this country,” Torradas said. “Federal, state and local policy has tended not to favor these groups.”

Philadelphia is not unique in its racial disparities of vaccine distribution. According to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 8.4% of Black individuals and only 10.7% of Hispanic or Latino individuals have received at least one dose of their vaccine in the U.S. as of April 12. Walensky recently declared racism a serious threat to public health.

Nneka Sederstrom, Ph.D., chief health equity officer with Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota, wrote in response to written ques-

Philadelphians line up outside the Liacouras Center at Temple University for the Black Doctor’s COVID Consortium’s 24-hours vaxathon on Feb. 19. The Black Doctor’s Consortium has been working to provide barrier-free testing and vaccinations in the hardest-hit areas of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22 THE HAWK

tions from The Hawk that because the country has prioritized a quick rollout plan, it has been done at the expense of equity.

“With the focus on speed and not equity, what was done continued to exacerbate problems within these communities as a result of systemic racism,” Sederstrom said. “Not intentionally calling out race as a risk factor that needed to be prioritized the distribution plan missed the mark on equity and uplifted systemic racism.”

Sederstrom said because the health care system has been built upon white supremacy and racism, the distribution of vaccines reflects this history.

Thi Nguyen ’21, a biology major and an undergraduate fellow at the St. Joe’s Institute of Clinical Bioethics, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that these systemic issues are highlighted in multiple ways, including technological and vocational barriers.

“Underserved communities often don’t have access to the internet,” Nguyen said.

“This would make it quite difficult to obtain knowledge on vaccine efficacy, safety and clinics. Even if vaccines were available, the distribution issue would still persist if these populations were not aware of availability.”

Crystal Piñeiros ’21, also a biology major and an undergraduate fellow with the Institute of Clinical Bioethics, said these systemic issues have created an environment where, if vaccines are available, there remains hesitancy to get the shot.

“Among the Hispanic people I know in my community in New Jersey, there’s even a fear of vaccination because we’re unaware of what it contains, how can it affect us and is it really meant to benefit us,” Piñeiros said. “It’s always been us versus them with our white counterparts and it’s still a fear.”

Sally Kuykendall, Ph.D., professor of

health studies, chair of the Department of Health Studies and a member of the university’s vaccine working group, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that there are multiple possible action steps that could be taken to address these systemic issues.

“To help everyone and particularly our most vulnerable friends and neighbors, we need to invest in an educated and diverse workforce with skills in the basic sciences, data management and cultural competency,” Kuykendall said.

Torradas said Unidos Contra COVID’s efforts to pursue culturally competent care have included making connections with community leaders and local vaccine providers to create an environment of inclusivity and trust. Torradas said this will be put into action at an upcoming event with a local vaccine provider on May 2.

“We want to just reach out to the local community and basically have it staffed completely with Spanish speakers and have the reach out be Spanish speakers as well,” Torradas said. “We recognize that culturally competent care or that being able to connect with somebody linguistically may make all the difference.”

Torradas said through these local efforts and the increased attention from the government on providing the vaccine to communities of color particularly in Philadelphia, there is reason to be optimistic.

“It’s 134 square miles and 1.6 million people, 60% of whom are Black and Hispanic,” Torradas said. “So you start to put the pieces together in the city with all the things that other people are doing and that’s how we get through this.”

Nick Karpinski ’21 contributed to this reporting.

Teachers at Gompers overcome pandemic challenges NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Managing Editor The coronavirus pandemic removed what were once daily-occuring characteristics of Samuel Gompers School: packed hallways, cheerful shouts during recess, spontaneous conversations among peers and even the occasional visit to the principal office.

With such characteristics taken away, in order to adjust to online learning, teachers have spent hours on a nightly basis to prepare virtual lesson plans. “[It’s] so I can stay present and make sure my students are as engaged as possible,” said Sharonda Smith-Sims, mindfulness teacher at Gompers.

However, after about a year, the once-normal physical activity at Gompers is beginning to return once again. Students in grades 3-5 began hybrid learning on April 26 and students in grades 6-8 will do the same starting on May 10. K-2 students and the student population with autism at Gompers began hybrid learning on March 8.

“It’s really good to have the staff [and students] back,” said Phillip Deluca, who has been the principal at Gompers since 2003. “The soul of the building is starting to slowly come back. But I don’t know when or if we’ll ever go back to the way it was.”

Staff and students’ return came after over a year in which the Gompers community adapted to online learning environments.

On March 16, 2020, The School District of Philadelphia closed its schools due to COVID-19 “to avoid non-essential travel.”

They planned to re-open on March 27, 2020.

However, as the pandemic worsened, what was supposed to be a two week pause from in-person learning, turned into months, and

eventually, over a year.

“We were just in crisis mode,” Deluca said about Gompers’ early pandemic adjustments. “I can’t believe that we pulled it off because it was something that we had never done before.”

Since then, three priorities have been at the forefront of his mind. Deluca made sure the students are healthy, that they’re online and that they’re being appropriately assessed.

Making sure students are able to get online is a large aspect of what Marcia Hill-Rivera, Gompers technology lead and tech teacher, is tasked with. With her dual teaching and technology responsibilities, Hill-Rivera said it’s been difficult to balance.

“When students or families or teachers have problems with their technology, they reach out to me and I try to do what I can, as much as I can virtually,” Hill-Rivera said.

Of the approximate 275 students enrolled at Gompers, 175 of them requested a computer, which they picked up at the school during designated timeslots back in March 2020, according to Hill-Rivera.

One hundred percent of Gompers students have access to the internet at their homes, however 10% were given WiFi hotspots to allow for sufficient connection, according to Deluca.

“Within three weeks of us closing [in March, 2020], any child that requested a device had one from us,” Hill-Rivera said.

Since online classes began on April 13, 2020, for Jarryd Hudock, a seventh and eight grade English and language arts teacher, it’s been like a normal school day schedule.

However, instead of standing in front of a room full of students, he stares at a screen filled with grey squares. Students tend to not activate their cameras, though the school’s

official policy asks students to keep them on.

“The most challenging aspect is building rapport with students that we haven’t had before, and keeping strong relationships,” Hudock said. “It’s a lot tougher to do that looking at an avatar or an emoji all day and talking to a screen.”

For some students, it’s been difficult to academically adjust to online learning.

Hill-Rivera said she currently has students that were successful face-to-face but are now struggling online.

“They were always top students in my class,” Rivera said. “Now that we’re virtual, I can barely get them to turn their cameras on or participate in a discussion.”

Gompers has found ways to assist students in their respective challenges, like the ones Rivera’s students face. One of those ways is through mindfulness classes, which have been taught at the school for the past three years.

Smith-Sims said mindfulness is “being present, being where you are in the moment and accepting anything that comes your way with kindness and compassion.”

She said her students value being in the classroom more now because of the amount of time they spend stuck at home.

“Teaching them mindfulness and to be present can help them, sustain themselves or survive during these different times,” Smith-Sims said.

Deluca said there are many ways Gompers has grown to adjust to new instructional methods and he’s proud of what his staff has been able to accomplish.

“One of the true highlights of the pandemic is to see how teachers grew in their ability to use technology,” Deluca said. “[We made] sure that our children got an equitable education during what could have been a disaster. We’ve made it into a celebration of learning.”

All grade levels at Gompers will be learning in a hybrid format by May 10. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

News

April 28, 2021

The Hawk Newspaper

3

Chinatown weathers pandemic and anti-Asian sentiment JACKIE COLLINS ’21 Senior Editor Ting Wan, owner of EMei Restaurant located on Arch Street in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, remembers when her restaurant was fully booked months in advance for the Chinese New Year on January 25, 2020.

But then came the last-minute cancellations after news began to spread about COVID-19.

“The business went down every week since then,” Wan wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk. “We decided to close the dine-in service before the government prohibited all dine-in service.”

Chinatown is located in Center City and stretches from Arch Street to Vine Street and from 11th Street to 8th Street.

In the mid-19th century, Cantonese immigrants settled in and then later developed what is now Chinatown. Today, the neighborhood is filled with restaurants and small businesses that represent Cantonese, Hong Kong, Fujianese, Northern Sichuan, Taiwanese, Korean, Thai, Malaysian, Burmese and Vietnamese cultures.

Chinatown business owners have not only weathered the pandemic but also racist political rhetoric and xenophobic and ignorant attitudes about the origin of the virus that have decreased foot traffic in the area.

Devon Stahl, communications and development associate at Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC), wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that PCDC has noticed the impact of this racist sentiment on Chinatown’s over 350 businesses from as early as January 2020.

PCDC, a grassroots, nonprofit, community-based organization is actively trying to preserve, protect and support Chinatown’s businesses during this time.

“Many of Chinatown’s businesses are owned by immigrants with limited English proficiency and digital literacy, which makes it difficult for small business owners to access city resources and COVID-19 small business relief,” Stahl said.

One of PCDC’s initiatives is its Main Street Program, which aims to enhance Chinatown’s image as a commercial and tourist attraction, improve the quality of life for all visitors and residents and promote economic development and diversity.

The organization ramped up that program in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“PCDC’s Main Street Program quickly expanded its bilingual services to provide Chinatown’s small businesses with technical assistance, online informational webinars and free promotion/marketing support,” Stahl said.

PCDC also launched a #AiLoveChinatown campaign on its social media platforms to support small business COVID-19 recovery. In addition, the group partnered with Franklin Square for a Chinatown Scavenger Hunt from February to March. The Chinatown Scavenger Hunt brought over 400 people to Chinatown to search for clues, win prizes and learn more about Historic Chinatown, according to Stahl.

Wan said she appreciates the efforts PCDC has invested to protect and improve the community. She added EMei has not experienced anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander hate personally.

“PCDC has done a lot for the resi-

dents and businesses in Chinatown during the pandemic,” Wan said. “They set up a Zoom workshop to educate residents on COVID-19, gave out free masks and hand sanitizers. They also helped all the frontline restaurant staff in Chinatown to get a vaccine shot.”

David Zhao is managing partner of Chubby Cattle International, which serves hotpot meals inspired by Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese philosophies of medicine and healing. The company has locations in Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas and on 10th Street in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

Zhao said the biggest challenge the restaurants have faced is the pandemic, but COVID-19 relief grants from city and federal governments have been a great support.

“Those have been crucial to the survival of businesses and restaurants across the board, especially with payroll intensive businesses like restaurants,” Zhao said.

For Wan, even though EMei’s dine-in sales are only 25% of what the restaurant made prior to the pandemic, they have been able to hang onto their customer base.

But they have lost employees due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19, she said.

“We ended up closing every Tuesday,” Wan said. “We don’t have enough staff to rotate the shift.”

Nationwide, Asian Americans lead in long-term unemployment, likely in part because of their high employment rates in industries heavily impacted by pandemic closures, like the food industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 48% of the Asian community’s estimated 615,000 unemployed were without work for six months-plus through the first quarter of this year. This is greater than

Ting Wan is the owner of EMei Restaurant.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

that of Black (43%), Hispanic (39%) and white (39%) populations.

According to one study, more than 233,000 Asian small businesses closed from January to March 2020, many closing before shutdowns went into effect due to increasing anti-Asian sentiment.

Zhao emphasized the importance of supporting Chinatown’s small businesses during this tough time.

“These are vital components of our community, and without them, Philadelphia or any city wouldn’t be what they are without all the unique shops that are around,” Zhao said.

To help protect and preserve Chinatown’s small businesses, you can donate to PCDC’s Main Street Program. Donate through PCDC’s website or through Venmo (@CraneCenter) and specify in the comment section, “PCDC Main Street Program.”

Derek Chauvin’s trial timeline George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, dies after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer. A video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes, recorded by 17-yearold Darnella Frazier, is shared on social media. Floyd is heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.”

May 25, 2020

Aug. 2021 J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are scheduled to be tried on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Protests begin in Minneapolis and then spread to other cities across the U.S. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fires all four officers involved: Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.

May 26, 2020

June 2021 Chauvin will be sentenced.

KAYLAH HERNANDEZ ’23 Staff Writer

Nationwide protests calling for racial justice intensify.

Now former police officer, Chauvin is arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other officers are charged as well.

May 27, 2020

May 29, 2020

April 21, 2021

April 20, 2021

Hundreds of thousands of people march in support of Black Lives Matter in the U.S. and around the world.

May through December 2020

April 19, 2021

Jury selection for Chauvin’s trial begins. The final jury consists of three Black men, one Black woman, Dozens of cities two white men, activate and deploy National Guard forces four white women and impose curfews and two women of mixed race. to quell the uprisings.

June 2020

April 11, 2021

Attorney General Mer- The jury deliberates for just over Lawyers make closing A 20-year-old Black man, Daunte Wright, is shot and rick Garland announc- 10 hours before pronouncing arguments.

Chauvin guilty on all three killed by police in a suburb es an investigation into of Minneapolis. policing practices in charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and secMinneapolis by the ond-degree manslaughter.

Justice Department.

Black teenager Ma’Khia Bryant is fatally shot four times by police.

March 9, 2021

March 29, 2021 Forty five witnesses give testimonies over the course of three weeks.

Footage of Floyd’s arrest is shown multiple times.

Department of Public Safety reports April 16-22 April 17

Public Safety was notified by an Aramark manager in Campion Dining Hall regarding a kitchen employee yelling at coworkers. The incident is under investigation.

Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm in Villiger Hall. Public Safety officers responded. The preliminary investigation revealed a student cooking activated the alarm. The alarm was reset.

April 18

Public Safety confiscated a quantity of empty liquor bottles from a St. Joe’s student’s room during a fire evacuation in Villiger Hall.

Residence Life was notified. Community Standards was notified.

April 19

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe’s student regarding another student entering his room and starting to yell. Residence Life was notified. Community Standards was no-

tified. The incident is under investigation.

Public Safety was notified of a report of alleged bias by a St. Joe’s student filed against a Public Safety officer. Public Safety forwarded the information immediately to the Bias Activity Response Group, Title IX Coordinator and Community Standards.

The report is under investigation.

Public Safety was notified of a report of alleged bias by a St. Joe’s faculty member filed against a St. Joe’s student. Public Safety

forwarded the information immediately to the Bias Activity Response Group, Title IX Coordinator and Community Standards. The report is under investigation.

April 21

Public Safety was notified of an odor of marijuana coming from a room in the LaFarge Hall. A search of the room by Public Safety and Residence Life revealed no signs of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. Community Standards was notified.

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April 28, 2021

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

Our justice system still needs fundamental change Chauvin verdict not indicative of the system

Editor in Chief

Ryan Mulligan ’21 Managing Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 Copy Chief Cara Smith ’21 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner

Copy Editor Celia Hegarty ’21 Copy Editor Carly Calhoun ’21 News Editor Devin Yingling ’22

On Tuesday April 20, 2021, Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. The jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

While there is relief that the verdict holds Chauvin accountable, it does not address the systemic inequalities that continually target Black and brown Americans.

Our justice system needs fundamental and profound change.

Floyd is not the first Black man to die at the hands of police, and as we have seen, he won’t be the last. However, his killing resulted in immense national and international public protests, largely because his horrific death was recorded by a brave teenager.

And, so we ask: Would Chauvin have been found guilty if Darnella Frazier had not filmed Floyd’s death for the world to see?

This question highlights why our justice system needs to be overhauled so that Black Americans can also be assured of getting justice. We should not have to question whether murderers are going to be convicted unless there is evidence on film.

Americans, especially Black and brown Americans who are disproportionately killed by police, deserve to have a judicial system that upholds the law regardless of public outcry and viral attention.

“We should not have to question whether murderers are going to be convicted unless there is evidence on film.”

Of course murderers should be charged and convicted in every instance, but it is rare that police officers are actually held accountable for perpetrating violence against citizens. The Henry A. Wallace Police Crime Database at Bowling Green State University reported that only about 56% of police officers charged with violent crimes are convicted. Police tend to have leeway in the judicial system, and if they say they felt uncomfort-

able or threatened they are usually believed.

On the same day the jury found Chauvin guilty, a police officer fatally shot a 16-year-old girl in Ohio, Ma’Khia Bryant.

Bryant was the one who had called the police for help, stating that there were people fighting outside of her house. While Bryant appeared to have a knife, the officer could have deescalated the situation without killing her, the way they did for Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old white male who openly carried an AR-15 and killed two people. Police are still taking Black and brown lives at a disproportionate rate.

The outcome of Chauvin’s case is a small movement in the direction of justice for all, but the issues of police brutality and unaccountability need to be addressed at an institutional level. Our activism cannot end, there is still much work to be done.

The Hawk welcomes Letters to the Editor, typically no more than 300 words. They can be emailed to hawk.editorial@gmail.com.

Assistant News Editor Eddie Daou ’22 Assistant News Editor Christine DiSanti ’21 Opinions Editor Tayler Washington ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor Sehar Macan-Markar ’22 Assistant Opinions Editor Maggie Brennen ’22 Features Editor Giana Longo ’22 Assistant Features Editor Nenagh Sheehan ’21 Assistant Features Editor Elaina Wall ’21 Sports Editor Riley Frain ’21 Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Nice ’23 Graphics/Illustrations Editor Casey Wood ’23 Senior Editor Jackie Collins ’21 Photo Editor Mitchell Shields ’22 Social Media Manager Sam Jenkins ’21 Business Manager Angela DiMarco ’22 Assistant Business Manager Colin Messenger ’22 Assistant Business Manager Danny Remishevsky ’23 Assistant Business Manager Jillian Bodemer ’23 Distribution Manager Alec Mettin ’24 Distribution Manager Deborah Duong ’24

ALL U.S. ADULTS BEING ELIGIBLE FOR THE VACCINE All adults over the age of 16 are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine in all 50 states, so please go get your vaccine. Not only is being vaccinated a vital part in stopping the spread of COVID-19, but it’s a trendy thing to do.

LINKEDIN Does anyone else get really annoyed immediately after going on LinkedIn? It’s like we’re happy that you got an internship and all, but do you have to make it sound like you’re accepting an Academy Award? There is no other app that we close out of faster.

DB SPENDING SPREE It’s that time of the semester again. Now that the school year is coming to an end, it’s time to spend all that leftover DB that won’t carry over to next year. So go ahead, treat your friends (or yourself) to some bagels from Einstein’s. Or, if you’re feeling it, perhaps a shopping spree at the P.O.D.?

INTERRUPTING PROFESSORS IN CLASS We know that Zoom classes are difficult for many reasons, but interrupting professors when they’re speaking is just not hot. The little raise hand feature gets no respect. All we want is some order in all this chaos.

TRADER JOE’S VANILLA BEAN MINI SHEET CAKE We know what you’re thinking: a grocery store cake as a hot? That’s unheard of. But trust us—this is not your average cake. We don’t know how Trader Joe’s makes this, but it is truly one of the best things we’ve ever eaten. Do yourself a favor and buy one. You’ll thank us later.

PEOPLE BEING TOO LOUD IN THE LIBRARY There is nothing worse than when you’re actually trying to get work done in the library and people are having the loudest conversations next to you. It’s even worse when you’re on the third floor and want some peace and quiet. We just ask that you go somewhere else, please.

Opinions

The Hawk Newspaper

April 28, 2021

5

Get to know St. Joe’s USS candidates

KEVIN GILL ’22 Presidential Candidate

SAL DE RIENZO ’22 Vice Presidential Candidate

TAYLOR STOKES ’22 Presidential Candidate

As we enter a new chapter of growth for this university, my goal is to build a St. Joe’s that celebrates differences and promotes collaboration. While I strive to be a bridge between administration and students, I will ensure that students have the resources to voice their opinions in their own words. I will lead with transparency and inclusiveness, striving to ensure that my communication is clear and frequent.

This will allow everyone to be a voice of change for St. Joe’s. Furthermore, we may not have a say “if ” we merge with USciences, but as president, I will ensure we get a say “how” we merge, while keeping in mind our students and theirs. I plan to hold all individuals in the community accountable for their actions, so that we live out our mission to educate and care for the whole person.

My name is Taylor Stokes, I am a junior criminal justice major with a justice and ethics in the law minor. I have served on the executive board as the Secretary of Inclusion and Equity for the last two terms and want to use my past experience to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion is at the forefront of the 21st Senate. I am running to use my platform to guarantee equitable representation across the student body and in leadership. I will make sure students’ identities as well as their mental well beings are a top priority to the university. Also amplifying the student voices especially when it comes to having a say in HOW the merger with USciences happens. Finally, I will work to restore the same campus fun (safely) for ALL students to make the most out of their SJU experience. If elected, I will be the president FOR all, everyone gets a seat at THIS table!

Hello, everyone! My name is Sal De Rienzo and I hope to have the honor of serving as student body vice president. One of my goals, if elected, is to ensure that the Student Senate functions as a bridge between the administration and the student body.

As the merger between SJU and USciences progresses, it is crucial for there to be student input within the decision-making bodies of the university. Having two years of experience within university governance, where I have made strong connections with faculty members and administrators alike, I believe that I am the best candidate to enable student voices to be heard as we reshape our university. I hope you will join me and my running mate, Taylor Stokes, in these efforts!

Remember to vote on The Nest from Thursday, April 29 at 8 a.m. to Friday, April 30 at 5 p.m. Thank you!

Money Matters: Internships TODD ERKIS Columnist Todd Erkis is a visiting professor of finance at St. Joe’s who writes weekly columns answering students’ financial questions.

I just found out that my summer internship won’t start until the middle of June. I was hoping to start in May, right after the semester is over so I can make more money. Is it appropriate to ask if I can start earlier? Abby N. ’22, risk management and insurance major.

Unfortunately, at this point of the pandemic, many employers are still uncertain about the future of their business. This impacts how many interns they will be able to support and perhaps, even how many full-time employees they will need. Therefore, it might be that your company is just not sure they can keep you busy or will be able to use your skills appropriately until later in the summer.

You can always ask to start earlier. But to make sure it goes well, I would suggest sending an email to your contact at the company with a relatively light touch. Something like, “I saw the notice of my start date in June and I am excited to start my internship with

[company name]. Is there any way I could start earlier, even if it’s in another department? If not, I totally understand.”

I always suggest being as positive as possible, showing enthusiasm for the position and giving them an out if they can’t support your request. Note that in some cases, there may not be a budget available for more hours and in some larger companies, managers cannot make their own decisions on timing for internships. It’s likely they will

come back with no change to your start date ,but you never know.

One of the things I tell my students when they are interviewing is to discuss how you can help the company and not how the company can help you. The people interviewing you are not normally doing it for your benefit only. Yes, they want a happy worker, but it is not very persuasive to focus on how what you want will help you. For example, I would not say in the email that you would like to start

earlier to earn more money. It can appear that you are not valuing the experience you will earn as much as how much you are paid.

Companies generally hire interns for two main reasons. Some interns are hired because the company needs specific work done (likely a special project) and believes the intern can focus on it over the summer and get it either done or substantially completed. The other main reason is for the company to evaluate whether or not to extend a full-time offer to the intern after the summer is over. This might be the case with your situation as they will still have enough time with you at the company to see what kind of a worker you are and how you fit in.

It would also be fine to decide to live with their decision (i.e., don’t ask for a change) and to get another job until this one starts. It can be impressive to show that you worked two jobs in the summer and the story of you making the best of the later start date is a nice one to have when you are interviewing for positions next year.

Good luck with it and I hope it all works out!

6 April 28, 2021

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

SJU Theatre Company: “Spoon River Anthology” ELAINA WALL ’21 Assistant Features Editor The SJU Theatre Company is presenting a completely virtual production of “Spoon River Anthology,” that is available for free on demand on the SJU Theatre Company website through Kaltura, a video streaming platform, from April 24 to May 17, according to Laura Pattillo, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and director of the production.

Brenna Maguire ’22, who is one of the seven cast members of the production, was excited when she learned that there was going to be a virtual production.

“I’d seen a couple of online performances before and I thought it was really neat, the way people are still able to put on shows despite everything that has been going on,” Maguire said. “I also thought that this is probably the best format for this kind of show.”

Pattillo said the play lends itself well to a virtual format because it was originally published as a collection of poems that can be monologues.

“The book ‘Spoon River Anthology’ was written by Edgar Lee Masters and first published in 1915,” Pattillo said. “It’s a collection of over 200 poems, but we’re only doing a fraction of what’s there.”

Pattillo said that the play can be adapted for shorter productions because it’s in the public domain, and she adapted it to 80 poems in total so that each cast member plays several characters. Maguire acts in 11 different roles throughout the play.

“All of the characters in the play are in the cemetery in this little town in Illinois, and instead of seeing their actual epitaphs, you’re hearing what they have to say from the grave,” Pattillo said. “I tried to pick some of the greatest hits that people are familiar

with and also a few that go towards the end that get a little more spiritual and cosmic.”

The rehearsals for this production were held several times a week over Zoom, oneon-one with each cast member and one Zoom rehearsal was held with everyone to read through the parts, according to Pattillo.

Maguire said the one-on-one rehearsal process allowed her to learn and focus more specifically on her characters than she would have in a big group rehearsal setting.

“It was almost like having a private lesson in a way,” Maguire said. “[Dr. Pattillo] was coaching us through how we should deliver our monologues. She would give us pointers to put more emphasis on one part or slow down at another, and also character notes and more background info about how this character would fit into the time period.”

Juliet Gentilucci ’24 , another cast member who also plays 11 different roles, said the individual meetings didn’t hinder the community aspect and connection between the cast as a whole because of Pattillo.

“It really made it feel like less of an isolated setting, because she was really interactive with us,” Gentilucci said. “Dr. Pattillo made sure that we all felt like really a part of the team.”

Gentilucci had a unique experience among the cast because her roommate, María Filgueira ’24 was part of the production as well.

“It was definitely really cool to have a friend in the play, but also a roommate that you’re literally sharing the space with because you’re kind of going through it together,” Gentilucci said. “We could talk about the backstories of our characters and help each other with filming too.”

Each of the cast members were given a green screen, a ring light and costume pieces to record themselves with their iPhones

RJ Hall ’24 (left) and Juliet Gentilucci ’24 (right) perform in “Spoon River Antholgy.”

SCREENSHOT: ELAINA WALL ’21

in their own space, and Benjamin Ellis, manager of Media Production and Event Services, edited them together for the final video, according to Pattillo.

Ellis said the production process was mostly pre-production discussions with the cast members about how to set up their spaces for filming with proper lighting and audio, and then compiling all of the final recordings in one space.

“As they started to record their parts, they would put them in the Google Drive folder and Laura Pattillo would review all of them,” Ellis said.

Gentilucci said she liked that each member had the responsibility to make sure that they had the proper settings on the equipment and that they were placed in the correct framing for the recording.

“If we didn’t do that, then it was kind of our own fault,” Gentilucci said. “I just like that we had the responsibility. If we were in a normal theater, we would be given more direction.”

Maguire said the self-taping was difficult because she considers herself a perfectionist and the filming allowed her to have multiple takes to get it right, which is different from a typical live performance.

“I really prefer doing [performances] in person because of the adrenaline of being in front of people because that makes you do better,” Maguire said. “You don’t have all those eyes on you and you don’t have that pressure. When it’s just you and your camera, you can do as many takes as you want.”

Gentilucci said she’s most excited for an audience to see how everyone in the cast and production team worked hard to produce something as a team although they weren’t together in person.

“I’m excited that people can see that we persevered through the pandemic and we still managed to create art through interesting and unique circumstances,” Gentilucci said.

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

Senior brings passion for art and tattoos to the campus community Gayton has done three of her own tattoos. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

ELISE WELSH ’22 Hawk Staff After getting her first tattoo when she was 17, Riley Gayton ’21 fell in love with the art form and recently decided to teach herself how to tattoo.

“I feel like it’s the ultimate form of self-expression,” Gayton said. “Tattoos are just such a cool way to express who you are, and it’s forever. It makes me feel like a walking art piece.”

Although Philadelphia allows tattooing without a license, Gayton still spent a lot of time researching and talking to professionals before she began. She consulted an uncle’s brother who is a tattoo artist in New Jersey, and a best friend’s brother in Florida, getting equipment and product recommendations. Gayton also watched a lot of videos on YouTube.

“I’m very much a process person, so I want to know if I’m doing this, why am I doing it,” Gayton said.

In February, Gayton started tattooing friends and family in her off-campus home in the Wynnewood neighborhood of Philadelphia. So far, Gayton has tattooed about 37 people who found her through friends

or her Instagram account, @triple2tattoos.

She charges a minimum of $40, with higher prices depending on size and detail.

Gayton, a psychology major, said it is important to her that people feel at ease when coming to her for a tattoo.

“Being in my house just creates this relaxing environment,” Gayton said. “I always burn incense before I start to clear my space.

I’ll put out a couple of intentional crystals, and then I play music.”

Katie Friedman ’23 went to Gayton for her second tattoo specifically for the informal environment.

“I didn’t want to call the shops and go through the whole process of making the initial appointment and getting the consultation and then going back and actually getting it and everything,” Friedman said. “Especially with COVID, it’s a strenuous process.”

Friedman said she appreciated how easy it was to work with Gayton to find the perfect sketch and placement of her tattoo. Her tattoo is a picture of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet with a quote in her brother’s handwriting.

“She’s just so welcoming,” Friedman said.

“I changed my mind a few times, and she was just really helpful with everything.”

Gayton set up her workspace in the dining room of her shared home. Her roommate, Soph Escario ’21, who also runs Gayton’s Instagram account, said Gayton makes sure everyone follows safety protocols.

“She always tells us when people are coming, and then she will clean, sanitize and wrap the table and the area around it,” Escario said. “Everyone has to wear masks and has to follow COVID protocols.”

Colin Lake ’18 wanted to get a tattoo from Gayton because he knew her from his time at St. Joe’s and trusted her.

“I went in and I signed a waiver and everything,” Lake said. “She had everything wiped down already and covered with some Saran Wrap. She showed me it was a brand new needle and then opened all the new cartridges, so I knew everything was safe. I knew it was, I wasn’t worried about that, but her going through that process was definitely comforting.”

Lake got a tattoo of the famed Philly Special from Super Bowl LII. Gayton made a TikTok of the tattoo, which caught the attention of ESPN SportsCenter.

“My friend texted me, ‘Dude, you’re on SportsCenter,’” Lake said. “So we looked it up, and we were on their Snapchat story. It was really cool.”

That was the second time Gayton had made a social media splash with her tattoos.

In February 2021, Gayton tattooed herself, inspired by the song and album cover of the singer SZA’s, “Good Days.” She posted a photo of it on her personal Instagram and tagged SZA, who then reposted the post to her own Instagram story.

For Gayton, the best part is not the shortterm attention but the permanent impact her art has on someone else.

“I love tattooing other people because to me one of the greatest things you can do in your life is change someone else’s for the better,” Gayton said. “With tattooing, it feels like a piece of me is with them forever. My art is on their body forever. Even if I only see the person that one time, someone eventually will ask about the tattoo I gave them and in that way, I’m a part of their story forever.”

April 28, 2021

7

Ally Craskey ’23 @wonderfullymadebyally Craskey began her business in July and sells handmade polymer clay earrings that are designed and painted with care.

“The root of Wonderfully Made by Ally is my faith, and a way of living out my faith through art. It was a way I found progress in a time where I was feeling lost.

Janine Gasarowski ’22 @janineray.art Gasarowski sells homemade art, including paintings and sketches, as well as jewelry, including earrings, necklaces, bracelets and more. Her work is sold at Artesano Cafe, where she works as a barista.

“I grew up going to the beach at Seaside Park, and I’ve always been into art and making jewelry and anything I can be creative with.

I also grew up collecting seashells, and over quarantine I started to make jewelry with seashells, and everything grew from there.”

Students turns sticker shop to sweatshirt business DEVON FITZPATRICK ’22 Hawk Staff One night last winter break, Ali Hendricks ’23 realized that being at home for so long because of the coronavirus pandemic left her with a lot of free time on her hands. So Hendricks did what any enterprising marketing major might do: she started her own business.

That business, AllAliMakes, began with Hendricks’s custom-designed sweatshirts but has since expanded to include sweatpants as well.

“Over winter break was probably the peak of how busy I was,” Hendricks said. “I was probably making 30 sweatshirts a day.”

The pandemic also gave Hendricks more customers.

“The pandemic not only increased online shopping, but it’s given me more free time to focus on putting more effort into my work,” Hendricks said.

Hendricks creates her designs in Adobe Illustrator, then prints them on vinyl, which she presses onto the sweats with a hot iron. Once she adds products to her website, where she sells the sweats for $35 to $79, depending on the design, they do not last long.

At times, Hendricks has had trouble

keeping up with demand.

“I would load my website,” Hendricks said. “I would stock it up with about 100 items, and then I would go on my Instagram and say, ‘Alright, they’re going to be dropped at 6 p.m.’ They would actually sell really, really quick. Then people would DM me. ‘Can you restock this?’ Once I would restock, the same thing [would happen] over and over.

My DMs are a little flooded. I can’t always get around to them, but I try my best.”

Hendricks said she is responsive to customers who ask for different colors or other changes to fit their tastes, and that customizing is important to her and what sets her business apart.

“If you look at bigger companies or bigger brands, they can’t necessarily take a picture and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, let me do this, let me change this font,’” Hendricks said. “They can’t customize it. But the way I make them through Adobe Illustrator, it can literally be customized any way you want.”

From a young age, Hendricks said she knew she wanted to create and own her own business. In 2017, when she was in high school, Hendricks opened her very own Etsy shop, selling custom-designed stickers.

“People would just ask me to make them

stickers after seeing my own water bottle or my laptop, and then it got to a point where so many people were asking me,” Hendricks said. “After that it just evolved.”

Hendricks said balancing her sticker business in high school helped prepare her for operating one while in college.

“That taught me time management lessons because when I was in high school, I played sports, so I was literally always coming home from practice and working, doing stickers and then finding time for homework in between all of that,” Hendricks said.

Shannon Moran ’23, a longtime friend of Ali, said Hendricks’s creativity is her trademark and that she is often able to do things that “no one else could really pull off.”

Maggie McLaughlin ’23, an avid buyer of sweats, owns a variety of Hendricks’s products, which she said are a good value for the quality.

“They’re so soft. I probably have 10 by now,” McLaughlin said. “I wear them every single day. They’re so comfortable.”

Hendricks said AllAliMakes is not about making money but doing what she loves.

“I’ve always wanted to do something where I can work and do something that I really enjoy at the same time,” Hendricks

said. “Seeing people wearing my sweatshirts makes me happy.”

Hendricks with one of her newer designs available on her website.

PHOTO: LUKAS VAN SANT ’21/THE HAWK

8

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

April 28, 2021

Student Creators

Longtime friends create new online platform NICK DETULLEO ’23 Special to The Hawk

Karla Holmes ’20 @thrift.happens._ Holmes handpicks thrifted clothing and resells them on her social media. She started her business in August.

“I have always had a huge passion for thrifting clothing. I love finding a good bargain, and I love the idea that someone’s old clothes can be new to someone else. I also have a huge passion for sustainability, so I figured out that thrifting and reselling clothing would be a great way to combine the two.”

Claire Martin ’21 @customsby_cam Martin and her boyfriend are up and coming artists in Philadelphia and she sells custom-made designed clothing including jeans, shoes, jackets, hats and more.

“I made art to promote World of Limm and NxG, and realized I could take this further. I started to paint on my dad’s old jeans, and I was having fun with them. Someone was interested in buying them, so I made my first sale there.”

Michael Perino ’23 and his childhood friend Dan Beneventado have found a way to translate their middle school years playing Minecraft into a new social media platform they hope will change the way people interact online.

Beneventado and Perino, who grew up in Madison, New Jersey, have been friends since seventh grade, and their interest in computer technology has been a driving force in their personal and professional relationships. Their online platform, which they hope to launch in mid-May, is called Comet.

“He and I both are not people that necessarily like being told what to do, so we always had this dream that maybe we could start our own business or start something together,” Perino said.

Their dream is Comet, an open-sourced, community-based platform for discussion and chats on any topic that users want to talk about. It takes what platforms like Reddit and Discord, other online social media platforms, do well and combines it into one fully functioning network.

Perino said he hopes Comet will make an impact on the online community.

“I would really like to disrupt the market in some interesting ways,” Perino said. “I’m not gonna sit here and say, ‘Oh, we want to be the next big thing’ and all this stuff. For the short term, I think it would be cool if we were a niche platform.”

Perino and Beneventado are working virtually on their start-up, not because of COVID-19 but because they live in different states. While Perino attends St. Joe’s, Beneventado is a sophomore at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. Beneventado does the programming.

Perino contributes new ideas, features and new ways to optimize efficiency, while also handling the business and financial side of the platform.

Comet is the product of a lot of trial and error between the duo. The newest version of Comet and consists of almost 500 different files. This is the pair’s sixth model of the platform, which they hope to be the last.

“It’s been a pretty long process. It’s been in the works for almost two years now,” Beneventado said. “We’ve gone through five different versions and the idea has changed pretty drastically since it first started.”

Jon Slominski ’23, Perino’s roommate, has witnessed firsthand the progression of the platform.

“Last year, when he first showed me the website, it was very basic, and it seemed like they were just trying to get the bones of the website down,” Slominski said. “Then as it progressed into this year, it seemed as they were trying to come up with more unique features.”

Slominski was also able to become one of the first users of Comet, testing the platform.

“I like the ideas of it because basically you can have your own kind of categories that interest you,” Slominski said. “So, if you were into, movies, per se, and you want to learn or come up with a new movie to watch that night, I’m sure there’s gonna be like a whole category for that.”

Ultimately, according to Beneventado, Comet aims to give users of Reddit and Discord the best of both worlds while also addressing some of the problems with each.

“I think a major problem with Reddit is that most big subreddits have a Discord server,” Beneventado said. “So, their users are kind of forced to use two different platforms in the chat system.”

Perino and Beneventado were able to create a platform that allows users to operate on one system throughout the network, while still being able to use features from

other systems.

For Comet to function and gain traction in the online platform community, it needs to gain users to not only test the back end functionality of the network, but also gauge enjoyment of the system.

“In the short term, you just want to pick up a decent user base and just grow it to at least a few thousand users and hopefully be able to monetize it and possibly be able to work on it full time,” Beneventado said.

App development is a major goal for Comet, but Perino and Beneventado know that will only be possible if the platform gains user traction.

Perino said they will be pitching Comet to on-campus clubs and organizations to entice them to start using it as their main medium of communication, instead of messaging apps like GroupMe. In the meantime, Perino is taking the long view about where Comet will take him. Perino said his “Plan A” is to graduate from St. Joe’s and find a job, but “Plan B” is that Comet takes off and he becomes fully self-employed.

“Honestly, I’d love for Plan B to be Plan A, but in realistic terms, I just got to play the game of life,” Perino said. “Five years from now, if Comet doesn’t go up, it’s a damn good something to put on a resume. And I’ve learned a lot from working on it.”

Comet recently released a new redesign. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

Mia Nixon ’23 @flybeads

Nicholas Jones ’23 @trovailworldwide

Owen Casarella ’21 @hawkeyeautodetailing

Nixon sells homemade bracelets made out of recycled paper.

Jones sells T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, beanies and more showcasing art designed by his friends and other artists.

Casarella’s business is an interior and exterior detail service to cars, which he started last summer out of a passion for cars and washing cars.

“I would take old magazines, cut them up, paint them over and make bracelets. I then started selling them on Etsy, and I love knowing my bracelets are sustainable.”

“It’s just a whole conglomeration of things like art, photos and music. It’s everything that I do, but it’s structured in a way that I'm only producing clothes that are done by my friends and artists I’ve reached out to. It’s all about the unappreciated art, moments, pictures and music.”

“You can turn something that you’re passionate about into a way to make money. Do what you love, and do it well.”

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

April 28, 2021

9

Rock to Remember: students host annual benefit concert online SARAH HARWICK ’21 Hawk Staff FATMATA SAKHO ’21 Special to The Hawk Nick Shisler ’21 will headline the first night of Rock to Remember, an annual benefit concert run by St. Joe’s students.

The concert, which will take place from 8-10 p.m. on April 29 and 30, will be held on Zoom because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The tickets are pay-as-you-can prices, ranging from $2 to $10. Admission includes access to both nights.

Proceeds will benefit HawkHUB, the university’s food and basic needs resource center.

Shisler will perform songs from his new extended play “Handful,” followed by performances from the duo The Attire. The second night features performances from Shira, MatRAD and Ionika.

Students in Entertainment Marketing, a course taught by Janée Burkhalter, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, have been fully responsible for planning and executing the concert, according to Mariana Ruiz ’21, a student in the class.

“We choose the artists,” Ruiz said. “We choose the date and time, how we’re going to raise money and how we’re going to sell tickets. The only thing that’s chosen for us is who we’re giving the money to.”

In 2012, Burkhalter created the course that handles the annual concert.

“Every year I identify a regional nonprofit organization for the students to support through their work,” Burkhalter said.

This year’s organization is close to home.

“I chose HawkHUB because I wanted to help bring awareness to an on-campus organization and because I thought it might be more manageable for the class to have a hyperlocal client,” Burkhalter said.

The class’s fundraising includes posting

Venmo boards on social media, asking local businesses for donations and promoting ticket sales, according to Hadley Champe ’22, a member of the fundraising committee.

Olivia Clark ’22, treasurer of HawkHUB, said the organization is grateful to be the recipient of this year’s proceeds.

“Opening in the midst of a pandemic, we were extremely concerned about the need for a facility like HawkHUB,” Clark said. “Having such an important event like Rock to Remember contributing to this fundraising need is going to be extremely impactful for the future of HawkHUB and for its longevity.”

As of April 26, Rock to Remember had raised $390 for HawkHUB, Clark said.

Since this year’s concert is virtual, the class didn’t have to budget for a venue and could provide more donations directly to HawkHUB, according to Emily Dunn ’22, a member of the marketing class. Plus, none of the performers are charging a fee.

“They’re doing it either for the exposure for themselves or because they’re interested in the cause,” Dunn said.

Diversity was also an important factor for the class when sourcing performers for the concert, Ruiz said.

“A lot of students opted to look out for artists that were diverse in their music, in their culture and in their portrayal,” Ruiz said. “We are speaking to artists that are strictly R&B. We are speaking to artists that only sing Spanish. We are speaking to St. Joe’s students and people from out of the SJU community. We’re trying to purposefully involve a lot of people from different aspects so that everyone can enjoy at least some part of it.”

Trying to plan a virtual concert in the midst of a pandemic has added challenges to the class’s efforts, according to Julia Grundfast ’22, a student in the class.

“Every single year that they’ve done this,

Shishira Philip ’22 is performing on the second night of Rock to Remember on April 30.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHISHIRA PHILIP

it’s always been in person,” Grundfast said.

“Trying to get everyone to move on to a virtual platform is definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s something that’s worth pursuing.”

Despite the challenges, hosting Rock to Remember virtually has a far bigger reach, Ruiz said. The virtual webinar grants more people access to the concert than a physical space could allow.

Ruiz said she is excited to see the end result of the class’s work.

“It’s definitely a bit daunting,” Ruiz said.

“But I think that working and knowing that

we’re doing something for the greater good makes it a lot easier and worth it. I think that this cause is incredible. We do our part to make this organization known and to help out is extremely rewarding.”

Tickets to the event can be purchased through SJU Ticketing. HawkHUB is accepting direct donations through Venmo @HawkHub. More information about the event and where to donate can be found on Instagram @rocktoremember.

Wolfington picnic tables: the hot seat on campus ROBERT WHITNEY ’23 Special to The Hawk Because of COVID-19 restrictions, hanging out on campus is not what it used to be.

Campion Dining Hall has limited seating, residence halls don’t allow guests and the majority of classes this year meet online or in a hybrid format.

Enter the picnic tables outside Wolfington Hall, which have become the epicenter of the community on campus during a rough year. Even though there are only four of them. And they are falling apart.

“This year, I think I’m using them the most that I’ve ever used them,” said Maggie Dunn ’22, who uses the picnic tables to study and meet friends about once a week.

“With COVID, it’s really nice to be able to sit outside and see people.”

The tables can sit six people each (though, um, not socially distanced), and often draw in students looking for outdoor seating to eat their meals from Campion or a place to relax between classes.

There are other beat-up picnic tables on campus, like one behind Merion Hall and another near Mandeville Hall. There are also other outdoor options like the tent on Villiger Lawn and “Barb Beach.” They just don’t measure up to the Wolfington tables, according to fans of the tables.

“Barb Beach is concrete, and the tables are not as comfy as picnic tables,” said Grace Sammon ’23, a picnic table regular, who uses them four to five times a week to study and attend her online classes.

For Dunn, it all comes down to the sunlight.

“The sun shines on them for longer, and it’s warmer, especially during this time of year where it does get chilly still,” Dunn said. “I love to spend time outside, so I will spend most of my day outside if I can.”

Sammon also likes the picnic tables’ central location, which makes seeing people, an occurrence more difficult than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic, more feasible.

“Everyone walks by between classes because everyone goes through Campion,” Sammon said. “So if I see someone, I’ll wave down my friend and say, ‘Come over here.’”

As if to demonstrate, Sammon, who was sitting at the table while talking to The Hawk, saw her friend, Liam Majewski ’22, and called him over.

Majewski said he liked the central location of the tables, too.

“It’s a high traffic area where I can see a lot of people,” Majewski said. “It’s nice to get to see people I haven’t seen in a while.”

While the tables have proven to be a valuable resource for connections, students said they could use some upgrades.

Sarah Walker ’22 said the biggest problem with the tables is their lack of proximity to electrical outlets. And in a school year filled with Zoom classes and virtual meetings, access to charging stations is vital.

“I’ll occasionally stop by [the tables] for a couple of minutes. I’d love to sit out here longer, but unfortunately my laptop doesn’t stay on if it’s not plugged in,” Walker said.

“The school should have charging stations or maybe portable chargers that you could

Nicole Visco ’22 and Hailey Scratchard ’22 sit at the picnic tables outside of Wolfington Hall on April 26.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

bring outside.”

Beth Hagovsky, Ed.D., director of Student Leadership & Activities, said the university is evaluating outdoor seating options.

“We want to watch traffic patterns for the rest of the spring semester, and then maybe make some real determinations this summer about, do we need more picnic tables, do we need some more benches, should we invest in some more sturdy Adirondack chairs and place them in strategic places around campus,” Hagovsky said.

Tim McGuriman, associate vice president in the Office of Administrative Services, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk that there are a number of factors the university uses to determine where new furniture is placed.

“We evaluate pedestrian traffic patterns to guide our efforts in where outdoor furniture is placed,” McGuriman said.

In the meantime, Dunn has ideas.

“Umbrellas,” Dunn said. “I want to work outside, but sometimes it’s so hot that it gets our laptops to overheat, or you can’t see your screen.”

Majewski has a vision for what the space could be as well: it doesn’t involve picnic tables at all.

“A good public hammock selection in this area would be good,” Majewski said. “University hammocks, maybe a little SJU emblem. It could be gray on a red background.”

Kenzie Allen ’23 contributed to this story.

10 April 28, 2021

Features

The Hawk Newspaper

PHL Youth Commission leaders strive for a better Philadelphia RYAN MULLIGAN ’21 Editor in Chief For Alfredo Praticò, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, it was a deteriorating recreation center in his Spring Garden neighborhood. For Mia Velez, a senior at Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School, it was the 2016 presidential election and issues of immigration. They both looked around and saw they wanted a better world, and a better Philadelphia.

“Oftentimes we hear that the youth is our future, but I don’t like that statement,” Velez said. “I’d like to say that we’re the present.

Because what’s happening in government, what’s happening with legislation, policy, it directly affects us now. What we choose to do with our voices will forever affect us.”

Velez is the vice chair for communications for the Philadelphia Youth Commission, which works to improve the lives of Philadelphia’s youth by advising the mayor, City Council, Philadelphia school administrators and other decision-makers on issues relating to young people.

“As young people, if we want change to happen we have to be that change that we want to see,” Velez said. “We’re going to take those steps to get it because we’re more than just someone that’s going to take a seat in a position 20 years from now. This is our world right now and it still matters.”

The Philadelphia Youth Commission’s plans were heightened during the coronavirus pandemic and the summer of 2020, which saw protests against racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd. The members of the Youth Commission fostered discussion about systemic racism and gun violence.

Praticò, the Youth Commission’s chair, said since June they have hosted four or five panels with members of City Council, different offices under the mayor, young people and parents of young people that were focused on the rise in gun violence that coincided with the pandemic. Praticò said these were not just spaces to speak about their experiences but

Velez was appointed to her position by Councilwoman Maria D. Quiñones Sánchez.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIA VELEZ

also places they can use to “heal or to make changes in their community.”

“Some of the most powerful things that I’ve heard in my time on commission has come out of those meetings, speaking with other young people who, even though one person is from North Philly, one person’s from West Philly, one person’s from Southwest Philly, the experiences are the same,” Praticò said. “Their experience, experiences that I share, living in Philadelphia that I’m sure Mia shares, that pain we feel is the same universally. It’s powerful and it’s something that gives me hope for post-pandemic change that our generation will be able to make.”

Both Praticò and Velez said people in city government are receptive to hearing from youth and incorporating their voices and their perspectives into legislation and policies. Velez said sometimes people are afraid to open the door to youth perspective, but she hasn’t seen that in Philadelphia.

“I’ve seen the willingness that people have to listen to young people and get their perspective on ideas,” Velez said. “Whether it be about how we experience things in our generation, or if it’s just ‘Hey we’ve never thought of any solutions for these issues, what is your take on it, can you bring some new fresh ideas to the table?’ It’s been really great to see people be willing and open to hearing about a youth perspective, because I feel like often young people are just written off as young and inexperienced, but it’s amazing to see that people are willing to hear what we have to say.”

In fact, Praticò said this receptiveness can feel a little unexpected at times, but he is grateful that members of the Youth Commission have the opportunity to include their voices in these discussions.

“People have come to welcome youth voice more,” Praticò said. “I’m genuinely surprised that people are willing to hear and willing to listen to us.”

A lot of what the Youth Commission can speak to most are issues of education.

Praticò attended Masterman High School in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia. He also served on the Philadelphia Board of Education, where he said he was able to see that the problems he saw in his own public high school permeated throughout the city.

“You could make the argument that there have been more than one lost generation of Philadelphia’s young people,” Praticò said. “I went to public schools. For us it was a normal day if we had to stick trash cans in the hallway to collect the water coming in from the ceiling when it rained. Those are circumstances that are very present and have very real consequences on Philadelphians.”

It wasn’t just infrastructure problems that Praticò saw, but a desperate need for basic digital literacy. Praticò said many students in Philadelphia’s public schools do not have enough experience with Microsoft Of-

Praticò leads a January 2020 meeting of the commission. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHL YOUTH COMMISSION

fice to make cover letters or resumes when applying for jobs.

“If we as a city can’t provide that sort of basic stuff for young people, we’re just going to have another lost generation,” Praticò said. “Now, with COVID especially, we see ourselves in the position to ensure that another casualty of COVID-19 is not Philadelphia’s young people. If there aren’t people speaking up, people will not listen or not pay attention, and our collective futures and the future of the city, very honestly, will just go down the drain.”

Vice-Chair Jessica Bernal-Camejo, currently a sophomore at Temple University, said she isn’t surprised at the work that Velez and Praticò are doing, calling them “real-life superheroes.”

“They are absolutely amazing leaders and they put a tremendous amount of work and effort into the Youth Commission,” Bernal-Camejo said. “Always available to work with you and create projects and events that will benefit the city and its youth.”

One project Velez is currently working on with Philadelphia public schools is a pilot program working to make sanitary products, like sanitary wipes and tampons, more

Praticò started with the commission in 2015.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALFREDO PRATICÒ

accessible in the school district. The Sanitary Products Committee has distributed over 20,000 products so far.

Velez said although she has been a student in a private school like Cristo Rey and was equipped with tools for success, her work with the Youth Commission allowed her to see the struggles that other students face and has driven a lot of her work.

“Something that I feel so blessed and grateful to have had in my high school experience is business literacy and financial literacy,” Velez said. “I feel like those need to be built into the schools’ curriculums because those are not luxuries, those are necessities for us to be able to succeed and thrive within our city and beyond.”

Velez will study political science at Yale University in the fall. She wants to go to law school following her undergraduate years to be an immigration attorney. While that may be further down the road, Velez’s current work is striving towards a different Philadelphia.

“I just want to see a safer Philadelphia,” Velez said. “I want to see a city where young people don’t have to fear going outside and visiting the park by themselves because of the gun violence that plagues our streets. I want children to be able to be in their front yards for hours at a time without their mothers over their shoulders every five seconds to make sure that the street is fine. I just want people to be able to thrive in this city without the shadow of death over their shoulders.”

Praticò said his goal after he graduates is to continue to create change and uplift youth voices in the city that he was born and raised in.

“We’re going to need, collectively, a type of energy and motivation for change that we’ve only seen a few times in American history in general,” Praticò said. “I would say over the medium-term future that collective willpower to do something positive in a nonpartisan fashion is the only thing that’s really going to change the trajectory of the city and our neighborhoods.”

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April 28, 2021

11

Women’s rowers race toward A-10 match-up Men’s basketball ADAM FINE ’23 Hawk Staff St. Joe’s women’s rowing has nine races this season, but only two are important: the one that gets them to the top of the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Tournament, and the one they are currently training for.

That, anyway, is Head Coach Gerry Quinlan’s mantra, according to graduate student Shannon Mulgrew, coxswain and team co-captain. She said it has been a part of the team’s mentality for the five years she has been a Hawk.

Quinlan explained what drives his team’s philosophy.

“Our main way to get to the NCAA Championships is by getting an automat-

ic qualifier from A-10’s, so that’s our overall goal,” Quinlan said.

As for the second most important race: “We take care of business week to week, and we learn and we make adjustments,” Quinlan said.

Because COVID-19 canceled last year’s season, every race this year takes on added importance, said senior rower and co-captain Shane Devine.

“When we got shut down last spring, it was difficult at first to process,” Devine said.

“But we basically took it as we didn’t get a race last season, so we’re going to do everything in our ability to train hard throughout quarantine and throughout last spring, this past summer and this fall, to really give ourselves the advantage to compete and to compete well.”

In the 2019 Dad Vail Regatta, the St, Joe’s Varsity Eight finished 15th out of 23 boats.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJU ATHLETICS

Mulgrew said this preparation is only possible through discipline on and off the water.

That means avoiding gatherings that would put team members at risk of getting COVID-19.

“We had one case in the fall that shut down half of the team, but since then we haven’t had anything,” Mulgrew said.

Quinlan attributed this success to the leadership from graduate students and seniors on the team.

“It’s the key to our success so far, having people who lead mainly by example, always doing the right thing and taking the time to genuinely care about everybody else and make sure everybody’s in the right frame of mind,” Quinlan said.

Next up on the schedule for the Hawks is the Kelly Cup, which takes place May 1, and the Dad Vail Regatta, which will be held May 7 and 8.

“The Kelly Cup is really cool because it’s all the Philly schools, and then Dad Vail is really cool because you have a lot of colleges coming in with a lot of good competition,” Devine said.

The ultimate goal is the A-10 Tournament, though, which begins on May 15.

“We’ve had a lot of experience with racing a few A-10 teams these past few races, so we’re definitely in the mix, and it should be a good race,” Devine said.

George Washington University and the University of Massachusetts will be big matchups. But Quinlan said there is one team in particular that the Hawks are looking to knock off the top—The University of Rhode Island.

“We’re faster than we were when we raced them two weeks ago, and I'm sure they’re faster than they were two weeks ago, so it’s a matter of who could add more speed in the closing couple of weeks,” Quinlan said. “But we have a good plan, and I think it’s going to be exciting.”

Men’s Lacrosse continues NEC undefeated run RILEY FRAIN ’21 Sports Editor After a 14-13 victory over Long Island University, the only other undefeated team in Northeastern Conference (NEC) play, the St. Joe’s men’s lacrosse team has been crowned NEC regular season champions and will head into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed.

This most recent victory over the Sharks has helped to propel St. Joe’s into the national spotlight with Insider Lacrosse ranking them No. 20 in the nation for the week of April 25 to May 1.

While the Hawks have started to pick up steam heading into the conference tournament, this season didn’t begin quite how Head Coach Taylor Wray and his squad had hoped. Due to loss of practice time because of COVID-19 restrictions, the team struggled through the beginning of the season, losing their first three regular season matchups.

“With the limited amount of practice time in the fall, it took us a little bit longer than normal to figure out our team,” Wray said. “It always takes some time going through the season, but when you’ve had a full fall to get to know your players and some fall scrimmages and things like that, it usually comes together a little more quickly.”

But since those first three defeats of the season, which included a 5-13 loss to nationally ranked No. 2 Army West Point, and the start of NEC play, the men’s team managed seven consecutive wins.

Senior goalkeeper Tucker Almany said since turning things around early in the season, the team is working well together.

“We definitely struggled to begin the season, but without a full fall, and without spring scrimmage season, those were kind of our beginning tests,” Almany said. “But when we hit conference play, that’s where it really matters. Fortunately we’re starting to figure it out, we’re getting better each week.”

Almany added that this collective improvement is led by the veterans on the squad.

The Hawks currently have five graduate students and 12 seniors who have taken this opportunity to help the underclassman improve.

“Having 17 seniors and grad students is always something that’s going to promote extreme leadership just because those guys

have so much experience not just playing, but in going through everything,” Almany said. “We were able to really help promote that culture, bringing on the freshmen and continuing to lead the younger kids as we go through the season.”

And after picking up their seventh consecutive win, the Hawks were not shy about their ambitions for this season.

“We should be the winner of the regular season NEC and we also should host the first round of the NEC tournament,” said sophomore attacker Matt Bohmer. “We just take it one game at a time and try to get better, week by week.”

transfers and recruits update RILEY FRAIN ’21 Sports Editor

Gearing up for the 2021-22 season, the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team added two new incoming freshmen with their 2021 recruiting class and two incoming transfers who will join the Hawks this offseason.

Erik Reynolds Bullis School Reynolds, an incoming freshman for the Hawks, was the highest rated St. Joe’s recruit since 2010 at the time of his commitment to St. Joe’s. Reynolds was listed as the 70th ranked prospect for the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.

Reynolds is a guard with strong ball handling capabilities who can create shot opportunities, has great floor vision and can run the fast-paced style of offense Head Coach Billy Lange plays. He should be able to have an immediate impact on Hawk Hill.

Kacper Klaczek Long Island Lutheran High School Klaczek will join Reynolds in the St. Joe’s 2021 recruiting class. Listed at 6-feet8-inches and 215 lbs., Klaczek will add skill, athleticism and size to a Hawks’ team that is desperate for interior presence and height.

Klaczek can play multiple positions including four, three and two which will suit Lange’s positionless offensive scheme well. Klaczek lived in Poland until he was 16 years old, so he has experience at the international level having represented Poland at the U-16 FIBA European Championship.

Ejike Obinna Vanderbilt University Obinna has a plethora of experience playing in the Southeastern Conference, picking up over 220 rebounds during his three seasons on the court for the Commodores. He committed to St. Joe’s as a graduate transfer for the 2021-22 season.

Obinna, a 6-foot-10-inch forward who can rebound and provide defensive coverage when perimeter defenders get beat, adds depth and experience to a Hawks roster loaded with young guards.

Charles Coleman East Carolina University Coleman, a sophomore who is transferring from East Carolina University, started 20 games during his freshman season for the Pirates, leading the team with 19 blocks. He’ll fit in nicely with Lange’s desire to take high percentage 3-point shots while running a fast paced offense.

Coleman can sit under the rim collecting rebounds and putting back dunks while adding that interior defensive presence being listed at 7 feet.

Although Klaczek and Obinna’s heights will provide added depth in the frontcourt, Coleman towers over them.

St. Joe’s men’s lacrosse are NEC regular season champions. PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

12

April 28, 2021

Sports

The Hawk Newspaper

Community remembers Mark Dombroski TYLER NICE ’23 Assistant Sports Editor This was the year Mark Dombroski ’21 was supposed to graduate from St. Joe’s.

But Mark Dombroski will not be here to walk across the stage. In 2018, Mark Dombroski died in an accident from a fall in Bermuda during a trip with the St. Joe’s men’s rugby team.

“It’s very difficult for me to think about Mark graduating because when I do that I feel such a loss of unrealized potential,” said his mother, Lisa Dombroski ’81. “But I think Mark has so much promise.”

That promise is now in the Mark Dombroski Foundation, which the Dombroski family started to honor Mark Dombroski’s legacy. The Foundation’s mission is to provide funding to organizations that support and promote youth education, athletics, safety and well-being.

Each year on Mark Dombroski’s birthday, the foundation hosts a “Fit and Fun Day” as a fundraiser, Lisa Dombroski said. Instructors lead fitness classes in disciplines like Pilates, Tai Chi and Yoga.

“We try to celebrate the day as Mark would want us to by helping others be more healthy and enjoying each other,” Lisa Dombroski said.

Additionally, the foundation plans to sponsor a new playground at Middletown Free Library, where Mark Dombroski volunteered in his hometown of Media, Pennsylvania. It will be named “Mark’s Park” and is estimated to be completed no later than 2023, according to Lisa Dombroski.

On May 1, the foundation will host a “Mark Dombroski Fun Walk,” a mile-long walk on the Philadelphia side of St. Joe’s campus. Proceeds from the walk will go towards funding for Mark’s Park.

The event is presented by The Beautiful Social (BSocial) Research Collaborative, a creative digital media collaborative within the Communication and Media Studies Department at St. Joe’s. Stephanie Rapp ’21 is in charge of the student group organizing the event.

“The walk will head down to Villiger Hall and the chapel where BSocial will have two stations set up: the first is a memory photo album where participants can write down their favorite thoughts they had with Mark or about him,” wrote Rapp in response to questions from The Hawk. “The final station will be at Mandeville Hall where the [Mark] Dombroski Foundation will display Mark’s jersey, photos and more information about Mark’s Park.”

Matt Lydon ’21, a member of the St. Joe’s rugby team, remembered Mark Dombroski not only as a rugby powerhouse but also as a “character” who was “always cracking jokes” and had a “goofy smile” on his face.

For Lydon, Mark Dombroski motivated him to exert extra effort—and still does.

Whether it was staying after rugby practice for an extra few minutes to hone his skills, or taking the time to ask someone why they were upset, Mark Dombroski always gave more, Lydon said.

“Mark was that person that was always doing the extra 5%, and that’s something I try to live by,” Lydon said.

Every season, the top rookie performer on the St. Joe’s rugby team is presented with the Mark Dombroski Award. In the Delaware High School State Championship for rugby sevens, the tournament’s MVP earns the Mark Dombroski MVP Award. The MVP trophy awarded for the collegiate championship for rugby sevens takes the same name.

Andrew Ballenger was one of Mark Dom-

Dombroski played fullback for the men’s rugby team, making his varsity debut as a freshman.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK

broski’s close friends at St. Joe’s. The two met in English class during their first semester.

Ballenger now attends Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he is a senior on the baseball team. After Ballenger was cut from the St. Joe’s baseball team, Mark Dombroski encouraged Ballenger to not give up on playing college baseball. When Mark Dombroski died, Ballenger transferred from St. Joe’s to pursue his dream.

Ballenger said he thinks about Mark Dombroski every day.

“I try to live how he would live, make

the decisions he would make,” Ballenger said.

“I’m not perfect, but I try to remind myself that he’s watching over me.”

Mark Dombroski had an “innate quality” to uplift and empower those around him, according to his mother.

“It was a part of who he truly was, to try to help other people get through their struggles, to feel better about themselves, to feel better about their situation and to enjoy life,” Lisa Dombroski said.

Former St. Joe’s rugby teammates open boxing club LILY McSTRAVICK ’23 Hawk Staff As the coronavirus pandemic began to close gyms and other fitness centers last year, Matt Lydon ’21 and Sam Berman ’19, former teammates on the St. Joe’s men’s rugby team, saw an opportunity to give people an at-home alternative.

The men’s usual gym, Manayunk Boxing Club, had closed due to the pandemic, leaving them with only one option, to train from their homes. To continue training, they began traveling back and forth between Berman’s home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Lydon’s home in Manayunk.

“Over time, we were basically like, ‘We should start something up because nothing else is open right now,’” Lydon said. “A lot of people were hitting us up to ask if they could train with us.”

Lydon and Berman decided they would enjoy working with other people, and could make money in the process. Both are passionate about fitness and have experience in boxing.

In February, they started “Yunk Fit Boxing Club.” Workouts are currently held in the basement of and outside the home that Lydon shares with his three roommates in Manayunk. Lydon said the two have recently been in contact with a gym in Manayunk about the possibility of moving operations there.

Lydon and Berman have been boxing together for three years. During his junior year on the rugby team, Lydon suffered an injury that left him unable to play. Howev-

er, he could still box. At that time, Berman was training for a professional fight, and Lydon joined that training to prepare for his own fights.

“We were training three or four days a week together, and then a couple days just on our own running and stuff,” Lydon said.

At Yunk Fit, Yunk being short for Manayunk, Lydon and Berman typically work on teaching boxing techniques such as footwork, punches, including hooks and uppercuts, dodge work, rope work, pad and heavy bag work.

“A lot of my sessions I tailor to what you want,” Lydon said. “Most people who come to me just want to box, which is totally fine with me, but then I have a few people who want to box but also want to work on squatting or push-ups, so I’ll tailor that into the boxing workout.”

Each session is $20 for 45 minutes.

For Katie Kerlin ’22, the price and catering to the individual are two aspects she enjoys.

“They tailor it to the person,” Kerlin said. “So I feel like that’s a good rate for personal training.”

Lydon said they have to figure out what works best for each person they train.

“I’ve done a ton of training in my life, whether it’s been rugby, boxing, running clubs,” Lydon said. “You have to realize you can’t train one person like you’re going to train another.”

Lydon said it all comes down to understanding the dos and don’ts of people, as well as their limits.

“The biggest challenge also is not working people too hard in their first session because then they won’t come back,” Lydon said.

The club got off to a slow start.

“The first week we put out the schedule not one person signed up, and I was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go,’” Lydon said.

But, with the help of friends and advertising on social media, Lydon and Berman were able to build a clientele that now includes an average of 10 people per week, consisting mostly of St. Joe’s students.

Lim Kamara ’20 and Abby Nolan ’22 heard about Yunk Fit from being friends with

Lydon, as well as through the club’s Instagram account, @yunkfitboxingclub.

Nolan had no prior boxing experience but said that at Yunk Fit, she feels “way less intimidated” compared to going to a wellknown boxing club or gym.

“If you’re in Manayunk or a St. Joe’s student, it’s very convenient,” Kamara said.

“I’d recommend them because they truly care about the person.”

Lydon trains Katie Kerlin ’22 on April 23, at a park outside his house.

PHOTO: MITCHELL SHIELDS ’22/THE HAWK