The Marquette Tribune I May 2, 2023

Pocket prairies

New initiative to promote the return of native pollinators to the Marquette area

Deeper meaning

Sobelman’s to close at the end of semester

The St. Paul Ave. location will remain open for customers

By TJ Dysart theodore.dysart@marquette.edu

Sobelman’s at Marquette will close its doors permanently at the end of the semester, the university has confirmed.

The restaurant, which opened on Marquette’s campus in 2011 will not renew its lease to the Marquette-owned building.

There is no information regarding what business will take over the lease and move into the space come next year, however, they will continue to operate out of their St. Paul Ave. location.

Last fall, Sobelman’s was facing closure due to “lack of staff, especially servers.”

Barstool Marquette shared in an Instagram post encouraging Marquette community members to apply to work there.

“My first meal ever on Marquette’s campus was Sobelman’s, and I will never forget how much I loved it and me and my friend Ella went there every Sunday because we just loved it so much,” Mary Murray, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, said.

Murray said that she will support them as much as she can over the next month while the

Marquette location is still open.

“I think it holds a lot of history in Milwaukee, and I would love to try and help them out as much as I can while they are still open. I would tell people to ‘Go in and

try the mac and cheese burger’ and then talk to the staff in there,” Murray said. While some students said that they were shocked to hear the news, one student saw it coming.

“It’s a bummer really, it is like a campus staple,” Trevor Strickler, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said. “I feel like I saw this happening given the hours and stuff like that

it was kind of sad to see them struggling.”

Strickler said that management has previously hinted at closing.

“I know my girlfriend said that they almost closed back in 2020, but that was during COVID-19,” Strickler said.

While the news has been a shock for current students, Marquette alumni have also been impacted by Sobelman’s future closing.

Katie Delia, a Marquette graduate, said that Sobelman’s may have never recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but they never made it clear.

“They never let on what was going on, but they always rallied the community when things were getting tough,” Delia said. “After the restrictions were lifted (during COVID-19) I just wonder if it never really got back to the way it was before.”

Celia was an avid customer all four years of her tenure at Marquette, and said that its uniqueness was what kept her going back.

“It was something a little different and a little more special than anything else you could get on campus without leaving campus,” Celia said.

The Marquette Wire reached out to Sobelman’s at Marquette for comment, but the owners wish to comment at a later time.

This story is developing

Student government vacancies follow Lovell across MKE

UWM alumni, MU students speak on disciplinary actions

By Skyler Chun skyler.chun@marquette.edu

Mohammad Samir Siddique was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2013 when he was elected to be student government president. However, the university’s administration refused to recognize the election that year, and instead, hand-picked their own

student government, rewrote the student government constitution and required all elected students to step down.

The top administrator during this time was current Marquette University President Michael Lovell, then chancellor at UWM.

In 2014, a school committee disciplined Siddique, saying that he had falsely represented himself as student body president and ordered him to admit this to more than 1,000 students who had supported his student government group rather than the administration’s.

“Right from the get-go, I said, ‘They can’t do that. This is extralegal interference that the Supreme Court has said they can’t do,’” Taylor Scott, an elected student in 2013, said. “Right off the bat, I wanted to fight. And unfortunately, we didn’t really necessarily have all of the right people or all of the right drive to do that, just because we were exhausted from fighting them.”

The dispute resulted in a series of lawsuits in both the state and federal court, lasting nine years, and ending with a six-figure settlement from the university in June 2022.

Nearly 10 years after the initial student government case at UWM, student leaders at Marquette University held a demonstration at the New Student Convocation to hold the university accountable for how students of color are treated on campus Aug. 25, 2022. The result was another mostly vacant student government in Milwaukee within the same decade.

These demonstrators included student members of the Black Student Union, Marquette University Student Government, National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People at Marquette University and the Latin American Student Organization.

The university postponed the convocation and took disciplinary action against the participating students, sending them through the Student Code of Conduct process. From there, the students were put on probation, which later forced them to step down from their leadership positions.

“It’s worth stressing that while the students’ protest disrupted the convocation, it was university

Sobelman’s has been on Marquette University’s campus at the corner of 16th and W. Wells St. since 2011.

Photo by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu

LOVELL: UWM alumni receive six-figure settlement

Continued from page 1

administrators who canceled it. The students never had that power,” Ben Pladek, associate professor of English at Marquette University, said in an email. “At the convocation, administrators could have done many things to defuse the situation. Indeed, it was their job as leaders (and the ‘adults in the room’). They didn’t.”

Students’ response and consequences

After learning that their student government was being disbanded, Scott said he and Siddique were on the forefront of the legal research being done by the student body and the student association to understand their rights. However, Scott said they had already spent most of the academic year pushing back against the administration for more student resources.

“We saw for at least a year prior to that where (Lovell) and his vice chancellor for student affairs had started to be very heavy handed,” Scott said. “I think part of (the student government) saw it coming, but part of us were just exhausted while trying to represent the students while trying to make sure that their dollars were being spent wisely and in their best interest, while still being students ourselves.”

For example, Lovell had pushed to increase student fees to fund a new student facility costing over $100 million. The student association, who had rights to share input on these changes, had opposed it.

Members of the dissolved student association responded to the university by drafting a new student government constitution, which allowed students the power to select their own representatives. After over 1,300 students signed a petition to support the new constitution, the government held re-elections.

Siddique was again voted in as president.

But again, the university chancellor, Lovell, and administration refused to acknowledge the leadership role.

Siddique was required to participate in community service and to publicly admit that his group’s views were wrong. The consequence of disregarding these rules: Indefinite suspension from the university without the ability to transfer.

At Marquette this past year, the convocation demonstrators faced similar consequences. The original consequences for the student demonstrators was to pay a fine of $300, write an apology letter, complete 20 hours of community service and write an educational program on the demonstration policy.

Like Scott and Siddique, the Marquette students this year had to learn their legal rights quickly. They also stepped down from their leadership roles.

And both incidents were largely due to tensions with university administration, although this time, the Marquette students attributed their main cause for standing up to rac-

ism.

“It’s the fact that last spring a parent dropped off her daughter and saw some very explicit posters on the lamppost. And that was never really taken care of or addressed because I don’t know what happened after that. It’s the fact that we can come on campus and we can see instances where students of color are the only people of color in their class, and their professors are looking at them to be spokespersons for their race,” Samari Price, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and former executive vice-president of MUSG said. “It’s the fact that certain names are hard to pronounce, and they don’t even make an effort. They try to give you a name that they already created, but it’s like, that’s not my name. You don’t get to create a name for me when my parents already did it.”

Pladek said that from his perspective, university leaders are punishing the students for making them feel personally embarrassed and thrown off at convocation.

“It’s not just unfair, it’s immature. Our leadership should be better at handling these situations,” Pladek said in an email.

While the $300 fine was rescinded after the involved students appealed, the rest of the consequences remained.

“As for the consequences themselves, they were and remain needlessly punitive,” Pladek said in an email. “The process the students were put through … was closer to an interrogation than the ‘trust-building’ process the university claims to have adopted. Students cried and were asked to rat on each other. This is not restorative justice, and it’s certainly not going to rebuild trust. It’s a silencing tactic.”

Most of the students who were forced to step down from their leadership positions were students of color. Pladek said it has also forced

While the UWM university leaders may have received some complaints from students who lost the election, Scott said those issues should have been resolved through the student court. However, a few students who had lost the election were promised that the administration would solve it for them.

“If you were on the ground at the time and you saw the way the elections were going, this is kind of like if some tiny little party like the American Constitution Party or something were to suddenly say, ‘oh no, we have to overthrow the election. Biden didn’t win. Our guy would have won, but he was eliminated from the ballot in these two states.’ I mean, it was just ridiculous,” Scott said. “This was not anywhere near a close election.”

Rather than doing a re-election for the few students who potentially lost unfairly, the university refused to acknowledge them.

tion and former president of MUSG said the students all received different punishments through the student conduct process. While Flowers and Price received “suspension with abeyance,” other student leaders did not.

Suspension with abeyance means that violating the rules before probation ends could result in suspension for an entire year. A suspension could mean being required to withdraw from classes and not being able to apply for classes for the following semester.

Flowers and Price were the first all-Black ticket for president and vice president for MUSG at Marquette University.

the remaining student leaders to scramble to cover their spaces, and that it’s unfair to all the students in MUSG.

“I am glad the university rescinded the $300 fine, but the fact that they did so only after a public protest campaign speaks volumes,” Pladek said. “If you only do the right thing after you’re publicly embarrassed, you’re not doing it for the right reasons.”

Also, whether a coincidence or not, Marquette University is currently investing $80 million into a new wellness and recreational facility, just like Lovell did at UWM.

Behind-the-scenes: An independent investigation at UWM, changes in conduct process at MU

An independent investigation by officials at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater uncovered problems with the 2013-14 Student Association Elections at UW-Milwaukee, including old bylaws that were supposedly used to prevent certain students from taking office and lack of availability of party registration forms.

Lovell wrote to the outgoing student association president that he wouldn’t recognize the election results.

“This was Lovell asking UWWhitewater to do a quote-unquote ‘independent investigation’ of the elections so that he had outside justification in his mind to overthrow the elections, even though he didn’t have the authority to do so,” Scott said. “They were supposedly investigating the elections, but it was a farce. We ended up actually, I think we refuted every single one of the points that they made.”

The document states that this investigation was a response to Lovell’s request for the UWWhitewater team to investigate the UWM’s student association 2013 election process and formal complaints brought against it.

“(The university) said, ‘No one, even if they were running uncontested, is going to be allowed to take office,’” Scott said. “We’re throwing out the entire election, even the elections that there were no complaints about.”

With Lovell refusing to recognize the student government, the judicial branch of the student association appointed a new student government, called the Board of Trustees, which created a new student government constitution to prevent a similar situation from happening again. The new constitution, written by the Board of Trustees, made it harder for the UWM student association their own rights, and to have a say in university decisions, Grass and Scott said.

However, Scott said he thought the previous constitution was fine, and the new one didn’t do anything to fix it. While Scott said the Whitewater investigation’s recommendations were very vague, there was nothing written about creating a new constitution.

Scott said the investigation mostly included interviews with the students who were complaining, but they were mostly unable to verify the complaints.

“They wrote this thing that was fun to look at, but it didn’t really say very much,” Scott said. “They brought that up a couple of times during the lawsuit, so we said, ‘Bring it on,’ let’s litigate this because that report is ridiculous. Ridiculous and none of it will stand up if it actually goes to an actual legal proceeding.”

Scott said that if they did a real investigation with depositions and put those people on the stand, the courts would find that nothing in the election was seriously wrong.

While Marquette has not had any known independent investigations similar to the one at UWM, students said parts of the legal hearings and code of conduct process were confusing.

For example, Bridgeman Flowers, a junior in the College of Educa-

“It’s also even weirder because the punishment that (Flowers and Price) got, they said was designed for people who commit drug violations and alcohol violations, so to equate what we did to that,” Flowers said. “They say it’s for people who committed it repetitively … But this is the first time we’ve ever been on conduct and this is the punishment they gave us.”

Flowers and Price said the order of the hearings was also confusing to them

“All the Latinx students went on the same day. Some of them went together, but the Black students went back-to-back on different days,” Price said. “It was to the point where me and one of my peers, we could’ve went together because mine was first, his was next. But mine went so much over that it infringed on his.”

Legal Aspects

“I don’t approach my legal cases with a great deal of confidence usually,” Gary Grass, the attorney for the students in the UWM case, said. “I like to think that the law will be vindicated, but, you know, I’ve got a good record of winning some stuff.”

While Grass said most of his expertise lies in the criminal defense area – and criminal appeals are typically very difficult to win – he was only able to get justice for a few people who were unlawfully convicted.

“I tend to come into these things with a fairly low degree of confidence. But I always think that there’s something there,” Grass said. “I look at (the case), I look at the law, and I say, ‘Look, there’s something there. This could be fought.’”

So when Siddique and Scott asked Grass if he could represent them, Grass said he was hesitant at first.

“I said, that would be way too much work, I wouldn’t want to do that. That would be the dumbest thing in the world for you to get involved in this. And so ultimately what happened is, I gave them some counsel as to how to proceed,” Grass said.

But after Siddique and Scott began trying to start their own student government, which they were allowed to do under the statute, Grass

See LOVELL page 4

University President Michael Lovell was the former chancellor at UWM.

From the Archives Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries

New pocket prairies planted on campus

Initiative looks to return native pollinators to MU

By Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu

Earlier this week, students and visitors to campus may have been left wondering why there were two dirt holes in the ground near the Ray and Kay Eckstein Commons. It was not due in part to the ongoing construction on campus, but rather clearing space to plant pocket prairies.

A pocket prairie is a small patch of land that is used to attract pollinators and grow native plants. Pocket prairies are typically planted in urban environments since there is usually not enough space to grow a full-size prairie.

Nathan Lemoine, assistant professor in biological sciences, Chelsea Malacara, Sustainability & Energy Management coordinator and Kirsten Boeh, communications coordinator in the College of Arts & Sciences came up with the idea about 18 months ago, then applied for the Explorer Challenge grant in 2021 and received funding in 2022 to start their project.

The Explorer Challenge grant program encourages students, faculty and staff to submit project proposals that make a positive impact on the Marquette community. The challenge will grant up to $25,000 for each project.

The pocket prairies are located near West Wisconsin Avenue on the Ray and Kay Eckstein Commons. The original location for the prairies was going to be in front of the “Our Roots Say That We’re Sisters” mural but was changed so that more people could view them from the road.

“So one of the really cool things is that it’s not just folks on our campus that will see this, it’s people that are driving by. It sort of is just a representation of what it means to be Marquette now and

The MarqueTTe Tribune

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NEWS

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in the future,” Malacara said. Malacara and Boeh both said the university was responsive and supportive throughout the whole process of choosing the land and what species to plant. Students, faculty, staff and administration all had a hand in supporting the process.

“We are planting about 36, I think, different species of Wisconsin native wildflowers … Seeing the diversity of plants that existed here pre-colonization is just fascinating to me. It’s a history lesson just walking to class,” Boeh said.

The main goal of the prairies is to increase the presence of pollinators and native wildflowers on campus. Native plants promote biodiversity and provide shelter to wildlife.

“Native plants are more beneficial because [they need]

FAST FACTS

less watering and they’re more drought resistant and pesticide resistant,” Alina Dekirmenjian, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said.

and Kay Eckstein Commons near W. Wisconsin Ave. 12 years, I’ve been hoping that something like this would happen and the stars finally aligned, and it’s actually going in the ground and we’re getting great support from campus,” Boeh said.

In order for the pocket prairies to be maintained, the creators will be relying on volunteers to weed and monitor the plants. There are sprinklers in place to ensure that the plants are watered on a regular basis.

The creators of the project are planning on hiring interns for the first few years as the prairie develops to check on the plants and make sure no invasive species grow. One of the plots has empty space leftover in the middle that will be used for eventual research in biodiversity.

“I’m just so excited, I’ve been hoping to have some kind of a native plant installation on campus since I’ve been here. The last

First Republic Bank, the 14th largest bank in the U.S., was seized by regulators on Monday and was sold to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Former Vice President Mike Pence testified to a grand jury April 27 regarding the aftermath of the 2020 election and the involvement of former President Trump in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, says the nation could run out of cash and default by June 1 if the debt ceiling is not raised by Congress and the president.

Jostens printed a small number of graduation announcements with the old university seal. Those who received the incorrect announcements are receiving replacements at no additional costs.

The group is hoping to get more funding for a second phase that is already planned. They would like the current pocket prairies to be a community space and are hoping to place a hammock stand and benches so that students and community members can enjoy the area.

“We just installed the monument to the Land and Water Acknowledgement. To me, this is a way that we’re showing we’re living the land and water acknowledgment we’re not just saying that this is something we acknowledge, we’re actually making action on what that means,” Malacara said.

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ADVERTISING margaret.kemp@marquette.edu

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Tuesday, May 2

Cafe con Leche at AMU 11 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Wednesday, May 3

Soup with Substance: Meditation as Mental Health at AMU 227 at 12 p.m.

Self care stations at AMU 157 from 6 – 8 p.m.

The two patches of pocket prairies are located by the Ray

Photo by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu

Garner retires after decades-long career at Marquette

Former students reflect on impact of her mentorship

By Julia Abuzzahab julianna.abuzzahab@marquette.edu

Ana Garner came to Marquette as a professor 30 years ago. Now in nearly two weeks, Garner is saying goodbye as she enters retirement.

“I feel like it’s the right time for me,” Garner said. “But, the same thing that brought me here is the same thing that’s kept me here all these years … I really liked the people that I’ve worked with all these years.”

Garner is chair of journalism and media studies, digital media and performing arts.

Garner has also served as interim dean of the College of Communication twice throughout her time at Marquette.

As chair of journalism on campus, Garner said she has really tried to keep the traditions alive in the 100-year-old program.

“To continue that strong tradition of turning out really outstanding journalists, I think we’ve done that,” Garner said. “You all are doing just amazing work and to also just ensure that you are being prepared to face the real world of journalism as it changes and evolves and do so in a way that is meaningful to you so that you will be successful, whether it’s in journalism or any place else.”

Prior to Marquette, Garner worked at the University of

Iowa where she also eventually ended up getting her master’s and doctorate degree.

As she clears out the office that she’s worked in during the entirety of her time on campus, Garner said she’s finding past student names and old memories from years ago.

“I’m like ‘Wow, it’s been a long time since I thought about that particular student,’ but you all come back to me,” Garner said.

“I’m going to be sad. I’m going to miss having you all around my life every day.”

Garner said her students inspire her in ways they probably don’t realize, and she has been here long enough that she’s seen generations of students come through. She said the ways her students think, what they value and what they want to learn gives her hope, not only for the future of journalists, but also for the community and society.

“That’s energizing to me,” Garner said. “And now I’m going to have to read about it in the [Marquette] Tribune just like everybody else.”

Marquette alum John Steppe said he was taken aback by how much Garner cares. Garner was the acting dean for the College of Communication when Steppe met her as a second-semester high school senior. After picking Marquette, he had her not only as a professor his first semester, but also as an advisor.

“Obviously there’s the formal advising stuff, but even more than that, the stuff that I cherish was just the impromptu me stopping by her

office and picking her brain,” Steppe said. “She really pushed me to think more critically as a journalist.”

Not only taking her advice, Steppe said he probably owes her several pieces of candy that he would also take from her office.

After Garner leaves, Sarah Feldner, dean of the College of Communication, said she’s going to miss students having her as a mentor.

“I hear time and time again how great she is and that she really believes in the work and believes in journalism and its importance for our future,” Feldner said.

Feldner said Garner has impacted the College of Communication as a whole, but she said her influence has also gone beyond Johnston Hall.

“She didn’t just stick to her department,” Feldner said. “She opened her door for anybody,

regardless of the department in the college, and so I hope she knows she’s made a big difference.”

Steppe said he’s appreciative of everything Garner has done for him. As a sports journalist covering Iowa football with the Cedar Rapids Gazette, he said she really impacted his growth.

“I really cherish every opportunity that I had with her throughout the four years as a student at Marquette, before that as a prospective student and since then as an alum when I get back to campus,” Steppe said.

Although Steppe is happy for her new adventure in retirement, he said he’s also sad for the next generation of students who won’t have her. He said especially in her Introduction to Journalism class or her Race and Gender in Mass Media class, where he said they had really important critical conversations that he still

thinks about today.

Agreeing with Steppe, McKenna Oxenden, Marquette alum, said she’s also sad future students won’t be able to take Garner’s classes and experience her wisdom.

“At the same time, I am absolutely thrilled for her. She has worked incredibly hard and had a very successful career and deserves this,” Oxenden said in an email.

Oxenden had two classes with Garner: her very first semester and her last semester of college. But, Garner also became her advisor later in her Marquette career.

During her senior year, Garner became someone Oxenden went to for advice and pep talks.

“I’ll never forget getting to give her a big hug after walking across the stage for graduation. She did so much for me. Dr. Garner was always willing to lend a listening ear and share her wisdom, and I am forever grateful that she was a part of my Marquette story,” Oxenden said in an email.

Steppe said Garner genuinely cared about his success and that really meant a lot to him. He said she has truly exemplified what “Cura Personalis,” caring for the whole person, means.

“It’s been a really good run. I didn’t know whether or not I was even going to stay at Marquette. Nobody knows for sure, right?,” Garner said. “But, I’m kind of still surprised that I’ve been here as long as I have. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 30 years.”

LOVELL: MU students respond to conduct process

Continued from page 2

said the university said it was illegitimate. Grass said this blatantly violated the student’s First Amendment rights, and he decided to pick up the case.

“You really have to try to find something that’s almost exactly on point, where the same thing was done to someone else and it was found to be illegal,” Grass said. “In the case of what we did, what they did here, I thought it was so blatant that we would get past that, just because there were so obviously just, ‘I don’t like what they said, so we’re going to punish them for it.’”

It was found to be illegal not in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, but in the Seventh Circuit court, which serves Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

“It was so blatant. And it’s amazing, but I think you have to look at the student disciplinary system, which does not care about the rights of the students at all,” Grass said.

Grass said that similar to Marquette, UWM’s system is not a “courtroom model,” where the person has a chance to defend themselves and their legal rights.

“They feel that that model is not appropriate for the setting, that there’s almost no rights that the students should really have and you

shouldn’t give them any rights really beyond the very minimum,” Grass said. “What you really want to do is correct the problem.”

He said the UWM system presumes that the students are guilty, but this same idea is often perpetuated nationwide.

“We say ‘How do we bring this person back into the fold and how do we restore them to the community? How do you know what do they need to do to make it right?,’”

Grass said.

Grass said students can only go back to being a full member of the university community after completing the necessary consequences, whether it’s doing community service or writing a letter.

He also said he feels like the rights of the students are barely part of the constitution anymore.

In the UWM case, Grass said it was a disadvantage for students to have an attorney in the University of Wisconsin system, so when Siddique had his hearing, Grass said he didn’t go.

“It’s supposed to be an educational experience for you, not a disciplinary experience. It’s so weird,”

Grass said.

While he is unsure how student disciplinary hearings actually work at Marquette, he believes they

are similar.

“You get your chancellor usually from another university where they’ve acted as chancellor or president, so it’s all kind of one big homogenized field now. Everything is kind of the same everywhere,” Grass said. “I think that’s going to be particularly true between UWM and Marquette because here, they’re in the same city, you’ve got some of the same personnel and they’re obviously … they’re going to talk to each other.”

Grass said he thinks it’s very natural for the two universities to become similar even though one is public and one is private.

“When you start looking at the situation at UW-Milwaukee and the current situation at Marquette, you’re going to find that indeed there might be some of the same people, but I also would agree that there’s a larger cultural issue of not empowering students to take any roles of leadership where they might actually be able to think for themselves and truly represent the students as opposed to really just being an arm of administration,” Grass said. Changes, negotiations

In the settlement negotiations, Grass said that the legal counsel said they would make some of the requested changes, such as allowing

the student government to have a stronger say in decision-making and having clearer boundaries between the student government and university administration.

“We didn’t achieve the change we set out to,” Scott said. “The student government at UWM is still founded upon administrative interference, but it’s bittersweet to receive an apology from an assistant attorney general on behalf of UWM and the UW System for what we were put through in our attempt to stand up for the rights of students. They claimed as we settled that our actions led to changes at the university, but we never were told what change happened.”

Grass said he tried to contact the legal counsel at UWM and ask what changes have been made. He said he never got a response.

“Maybe they’ve listened to us a little bit, but I don’t see a whole lot of evidence of that,” Grass said. In the course of this whole thing, we came out with like a list of like 50 things that we wanted to change, and to my knowledge, haven’t really done any of them.”

Grass said there are lots of structural things where the students, just due to turnover, have given up a lot of authority and empowerment that they had, whether it was just based

on precedent or statutes.

He said students used to be a lot more involved in the leadership and administration of their universities.

“When we go into court and we try to explain student shared governance, we have to kind of get past this feeling,” Grass said. “They’re like, ‘No, this isn’t student council.’ They’re not organizing a dance. These are people that are supposed to be running the school.”

Marquette University student demonstrators were also supposed to be running the school.

Marquette administration declined to comment on the pending student conduct cases, as they are still ongoing. However, the Marquette community has shared hopes for change in the future.

Pladek said he hopes to see a real commitment from university leadership to understanding the causes for the legitimate anger of students of color on campus.

“Our BIPOC students have been agitating for meaningful chance since at least 2014, and every time change happens, it’s because the students themselves pushed hard for it,” Pladek said in an email. “They shouldn’t have to do this work for Marquette. They have a right to be frustrated. University administrators need to acknowledge that.”

Ana Garner spent over 30 years at Marquette and five as journalism chair.

Photo by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu

Dave Hanneken: The professor behind the comics

A look into creative process behind weekly cartoons

By Megan Woolard megan.woolard@marquette.edu

Dave Hanneken is more than just an instructor of strategic communication. He’s an author, cartoonist, Milwaukee native and Kopp’s custard aficionado.

Now, Hanneken is at Marquette teaching the same classes that he took when he was a student at Marquette.

“It’s really interesting to be teaching classes in advertising in the same building, that I took those same classes, in some instances, the same classrooms. It’s really weird but it’s also very surreal to me,” Hanneken said.

Hanneken has been a mainstay in The Marquette Tribune this year with his reoccurring comic strip “COLLIDE-O-SCOPE.”

“It’s like how sometimes things collide in life and that’s why I spelt it a little differently. The root being connected to the word collision. A collision of ideas, a collision of points of view. That’s primarily it and it’s just a silly name. I didn’t really overthink it,” Hanneken said.

Hanneken has been an adjunct instructor on and off again for the past 10 years, but this is only his second semester teaching full time. He’s worked as a creative

director at a number of different advertising agencies over the past 30 years throughout the Midwest and in Hawaii.

“A good creative director is, in essence, a teacher. Because you tend to have a department of people who have different experiences. Maybe they don’t have as much experience as you and they look to you for guidance or they look to you for lessons. Maybe they look to you for a perspective that experience has provided. And I feel it’s very similar to teaching here at Marquette,” Hanneken said.

Hanneken does more than just ads and cartoons, he’s also a published author. He has written a historical fiction novel titled “Home Front” and has another book in the final stages of development.

“Writing and drawing are both visual mediums. Writing is incredibly visual. Think about any book that you’ve ever written. The author is painting a picture in your mind through words. And if likewise, if you’re an artist, or even if you’re a cartoonist, you’re displaying that image on paper visually,” Hanneken said.

Though Hanneken’s love of drawing goes back long before he ever started creating “COLLIDE-O-SCOPE.”

“Doing the cartoons here at Marquette wouldn’t surprise any

of my high school classmates, because I was always drawing in class I was always drawing for them, everybody would give me their high school yearbook and want me to draw a little cartoon. I’ve always loved to draw and advertising was a really great way to sort of scratch that itch to be creative,” Hanneken said.

Andy Haas is one of those classmates from Pius XI High School. Not only was she his classmate in high school, but also throughout grade school and at Marquette.

“Dave sees the world through a little bit of a different lens because of his creativity and luckily that gets siphoned through his artwork and his cartooning,” Haas said.

One time in school when Haas wasn’t looking, Hanneken drew a

“He has just a natural ability as an artist, but he also has a combination of really quick wit, and just a general cleverness about him that makes him a perfect cartoonist,” Haas said.

The notebook art isn’t the only thing Hanneken has gifted Haas. As a wedding gift, Hanneken penned and inked a 24 by 36 replica of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” album cover.

“I still have it hanging in my house. It was such a treasure, and then Mary (Dave’s wife) wrote a poem about us, which is just so cool,” Haas said.

Though it’s been decades since Haas and Hanneken were

at Marquette together, Haas said it makes sense that he’s back teaching at his alma mater.

“It doesn’t surprise me that he’s a teacher because I think he’s just naturally a very affable person and a great conversationalist. And when you talk to him, he really listens, you know, an active listener and I was thinking back to him in grade school and his laugh was bigger than he was,” Haas said.

Stella Quinlan, a junior in the College of Communication, is one of the students that has benefited from Hanneken’s return to Marquette, even though she has never been in one of his classes.

“I was initially introduced to Dave through another advertising professor, and since I’ve met him, he’s been an incredible teacher and mentor. I always enjoy hearing stories he has from his years of working at a number or different advertising agencies. He’s really passionate about creativity and teaching, and I can imagine that makes him a great professor,” Quinlan said.

Though Hanneken said he loves making comics every week, he’d gladly step aside if a student ever wanted to take over the job.

Xavier Cole to become president at Loyola NOLA

Vice president of student affairs to leave at end of year

By Hannah Hernandez hannah.hernandez@marquette.edu

Upon the completion of his seventh year at Marquette, Xavier Cole, vice president of student affairs, will leave Marquette to serve as president at Loyola University New Orleans.

Cole said the decision to leave Marquette wasn’t an easy one.

“I learned several years ago that sometimes in order to meet the goals that you’re setting for yourself you can’t always sit still, and so as hard as it is to leave a place that has such great students and community, the city of Milwaukee … I have to allow myself that opportunity to think that way about another Jesuit institution and how I could take my gifts and talents and share them in that direction,” Cole said.

Cole grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi, and decided to leave the South for school. He began thinking about going home and said that New Orleans is a “stone’s throw” from his hometown.

“There’s just so much joy that brings to be back in the place

where you were formed, you’re comfortable. People there who are still there, who love you and know you when you’re just a little bit, and it’s something different to come home and then have them see how you’ve grown and how you can share those gifts and talents with them as well to give back to the place that formed you broadly my region,” Cole said.

Out of the 28 Jesuit universities in the United States, Cole said

there may be three to four openings for presidencies in any given year.

“This is a tremendous honor to be selected, to take one of those very few opportunities to lead and to steward a part of Jesuit education into the future,” Cole said. “I’ve worked in Jesuit education most of my career, and I care about it a great deal.”

Rick Arcuri, executive director of business operations and

auxiliary services in the Division of Student Affairs, will serve as acting vice president of student affairs starting May 1.

Arcuri has known Cole since he arrived at Marquette and said that it has been a pleasure to work alongside Cole.

“Dr. Cole allowed me to do my job and trusted me to keep him informed, but did not second guess me or micro-manage. I will miss being able to talk to him about difficult decisions to get his feedback and support,” Arcuri said in an email.

Cole was named vice president of student affairs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Arcuri said that Cole was tasked with a difficult role as he helped the Marquette community through a trying time.

Arcuri said that Cole is very caring and goes out of his way to reach out to people.

“He has a wide network of friends here at Marquette, many of them are people who do not report directly to him but see him every day,” Arcuri said. “He often stops to talk to them and let them know how much he values what they do for our students. He makes you feel good about yourself and what you are doing, and I think many people will miss

“As long as you want them, I’ll keep sending them. I want to make sure that I’m not pushing a student out of an opportunity. But until then, I’m happy to keep submitting them,” Hanneken said. him for it.”

Stephanie Quade, dean of students, said she knew Cole prior to Marquette through the national Jesuit student affairs organization. Quade said that Cole is very passionate about Jesuit higher education.

Quade said that Cole advocates for students and student affairs.

“He was able to secure funding in particular to help students in great need, both financially and emotionally. Financial support for programs like Backpack [MU Backpack Program], and of course, the Wellness and Recreation area, has provided (and will provide in the future) support for many, many students,” Quade said in an email.

Cole describes his time at Marquette as the best professional experience of his career.

“I just want to share just how grateful I am for the opportunity to serve here. And that back in 2016, Dan Myers and Michael Lovell, your president, gave me an opportunity to serve and trusted me to come in and not just do no harm, but to leave this place better than I found it. And I hope that I was able to leave Marquette and the Division of Student Affairs better.”

The “COLLIDE-O-SCOPE” comics is one of Hanneken’s creative outlets.

Cole took over his current position during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo courtesy of Dave Hanneken

Photo courtesy of Xavier Cole

rabbit on the back of one of her notebooks. Haas’ last name means “hare” or “rabbit” in German and Dutch.

MONDAY, MAY 1 –

SUNDAY, MAY 14

Students living in the residence halls are encouraged to donate any unwanted items to MarKept Move-Out. Visit our webpage to see which items can and cannot be donated.

marquette.edu/markeptmoveout

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

2. You are given this when you graduate

3. Graduation will be hosted here

5. This former Brewer was commencement speaker in 2012

7. _____ of 2023

9. Last year’s commencement speaker

10. Cap and ______

11. Graduates often take these with their loved ones DOWN

1. Marquette’s commencement speaker

4. Graduation will be held on ______ May 20

6. MU grads are only allowed four of these this year

8. You walk across this at graduation

LAST WEEK

CELEBRATING GRADUATION

ACROSS

2. Oak

3. Pollen

4. Morton

5. Trees

6. Friday

7. Root 9. Latin 10. Nebraska

11. Paper DOWN

1. Shade

3. Photosynthesis

6. Foliage

8. Timber

8. Stage ANSWERS

6. Tickets

4. Saturday

1. MarleeMatlin

11. Photos DOWN

10. Gown

9. DwyaneWade

7. Class

5. HankAaron

3. FiservForum

2. Diploma

ACROSS ACROSS

Comic by Marquette professor Dave Hanneken david.hanneken@marquette.edu

ARTs & eNTeRTAINMeNT

Milwaukee pop-up market promotes vegan lifestyle

Featured vendors

Bunny’s Bite, Gloss Moss and more

By Phoebe Goebel phoebe.goebel@marquette.edu

Veganism, a term that was coined back in 1944, is a dietbased lifestyle that involves completely cutting out animalbased products from someone’s diet. As the vegan movement has continued to develop and become more popular over the past couple of years, the vegan market has significantly expanded and is expected to be worth $24.06 billion by 2025.

Madison Vegan Pop-Up, Wisconsin’s first all-vegan pop-up market, hosted an event April 30 in Milwaukee. The market took place at the Historic Pabst Brewery and was an opportunity for Milwaukee residents to explore different vegan food vendors, as well as various merchants and nonprofit organizations.

Bunny’s Bite, an all-vegan and gluten-free bakery, had their own table at the event. By the last hour of the market, they were

almost all out of inventory with only a couple of cookies to sell.

Madeline Ruyle, the owner of Bunny’s Bite, originally started a vegan food blog when her and her boyfriend started following a vegan diet. After the blog became popular, she was invited to her first food festival in 2018 and has been selling her desserts and attending festivals ever since.

Ruyle specializes in anything from banana bread to cheesecakes and pies to cookies. She said that even though her products are allergy friendly and animal product free, she still makes sure that she is not risking the taste.

“It’s all vegan, gluten-free, soyfree and mostly organic. It’s super tasty and I try to make things as allergy friendly as possible but still very delicious. You can’t notice the missing ingredients that most baked goods have,” Ruyle said.

Bunny’s Bite products are now being sold across Marquette’s campus at Brew Locations and The Tory Hill Cafe. Ruyle said that she had been wanting to be involved with a college campus for a while and her opportunity

to work with Marquette came at the perfect time.

“Melanie Vainess, who is the general manager of dining services at Marquette actually reached out to me,” Ruyle said. “It’s really funny because I have been thinking for so long that I need to be at Marquette. I knew it would be a great fit and because I am so allergy friendly, it all went from there.”

A couple of tables down from Bunny’s Bite was Dane4Dogs, a nonprofit organization that aspires to end the breeding, sale and use of dogs and cats for painful and distressing experimentation. The organization had a table at the event to encourage donations and volunteers, which paired perfectly with the vegan theme of the event.

Lawrence Cuneaz, a board member of Dane4Dogs, originally started as a volunteer when the organization started.

“We are about shutting research puppy mills down and letting the world know that we exist. We have passed legislation in different counties and legislatures come to us to learn how we’ve done it,” Cuneaz said.

Cuneaz said that in terms of the future, they are hoping to spread their message across Wisconsin and even throughout the country. Through tabling at a place like the vegan market, Cuneaz said more people who are passionate about animal abuse can become aware of the cause.

“We are trying to meet as many contacts from different areas as possible,” Cuneaz said. “This is a bipartisan issue so it affects everyone so we are looking for possible legislation from Dane County. It is all about making people aware of who we are and what we do.”

Along with the food vendors and non-profit tables, there were also multiple merchants who were selling their products to market-goers. Kat Klawes, a student in the Marquette Education Policy program, owns an organization called Gloss Moss which sells plants and other items to support Survivors Shoulders, an organization that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“This was all started by me and now we have a group of women who grow moss, fundraise, and

help gather materials for people who need housing and living.

Last year we raised $5,000 to help women and children into homes,” Klawes said.

Klawes said that her education at Marquette has really helped her in owning and operating her own business. Like other small businesses at the vegan market, Klawes said that inspiration has continued to drive her in her business, especially with the knowledge that she is bringing good to the world.

“Before I was a student at Marquette I took part of the summer boost program,” Klawes said. “I was really fortunate to learn from a lot of small businesses and I was inspired during the pandemic to start my own business and use it for good.”

REVIEW: Annie DiRusso headlines the Back Room

some of her most popular songs as well as some newer, unreleased ones.

By Sofía Cortés sofía.cortés@marquette.edu

Nashville-based artist Annie DiRusso is currently on her second headlining tour and her first stop was Milwaukee.

At the Back Room, the wall was lined completely with beautiful plants and ferns, string lights hanging overhead and there was even a sky light on the ceiling as well. The everchanging lighting was expressive, and the acoustics made it sound like I was sitting and talking to the performer face-to-face.

Hannah Cole and her band performed a beautiful opening set, her voice was angelic and soft but paired with fastpaced instrumentals that really complemented her vocal style and her lyrics. She played

As they were prepping the stage for DiRusso’s big entrance, there were various objects being put on stage to make it look like her bedroom. The stage was complete with a lamp, a bedside table, a bed and even a trampoline. It was eye candy and I had never seen something like it before on stage. DiRusso’s drummer, bassist and lead guitarist all walked out in matching shirts followed by DiRusso herself carrying her red and white striped guitar that matched her flaming red hair perfectly.

The tour name “God I love this Tour” celebrates the release of DiRusso’s first project and EP “God, I Hate this Place” which explores the act of growing up and the feeling of also not wanting to grow up.

Track “Emerson” speaks about her childhood bedroom and

what it feels like to come back home. This project is filled with emotion and love, and it was clear when I saw DiRusso perform live. Listening to her EP for the first time was the ultimate reminder of what it feels like to grow as a person.

On stage, Annie was asking fans how they were, telling them about her day and just repeatedly thanking them for being there. She even pointed out an audience member’s birthday and sang them a special happy birthday song with her band. It goes to show how much Annie cares about her listeners, and it made the show feel so much more intimate because as the audience we were also part of the show.

Annie candidly shared the backstory of her songs and why she wrote some of them. She mentioned that some were written while she was in college, and being in college right now, there was another level of

relatability I felt watching her perform. I thought it was beautiful that she acknowledged how these different ages she’s lived through impacted and affected her life and her music. Annie was performing her last few songs of the night, hinting at a probable encore, until she finally said she couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. The lights dimmed low, she and her band walked offstage until not even a few seconds later, to come back and end the show with two more songs, a definite encore and the perfect ending to the opening night of her tour.

Photo by Phoebe Goebel

Debut EP explores the fears and joys of growing up

SENIOR COLUMNS

Reelin’ in the years

By Emily Bittman emily.bittman@marquette.edu

I still remember walking into my first Wire all-staff meeting. Intimated, unknowing and alone, I sat in my chair observing the journalists around me. Being a business major, I already felt out of place in a sea of people chatting about columns and copy errors. There was so much I did not

understand and so much I didn’t feel like learning. Even in my Marquette Radio team, I felt like the odd one out.

For three years, our MUR team grew a little closer and I encouraged friends to join the desk along the way. However, something was still missing. From being the assistant music director to the music director to eventually the

assistant general manager, I experienced almost every part of MUR that I could in my first three years. By my junior year, I finally mustered up the courage to apply for the general manager position on MUR — a goal I had set ever since I became involved with radio in my first year of high school. Applying to GM was a chance to promote change and to build the culture and family I always wished I had at the Wire.

I wanted to ensure that in team meetings everyone got the chance to speak up and share their thoughts. I wanted to ensure that in all-staff meetings my team members felt like they could branch out and connect with other people on the Wire. I wanted to ensure

that on-air hosts felt a sense of community and knew the face of the person sending them a million emails. In March of last year, I was ecstatic to receive an email that I was selected as the next general manager of MUR for my senior year. It finally felt like all my hard work was paying off.

Flash forward to now, I am so proud of the community and culture we have built at MUR. We have connected with members of the Milwaukee music scene and started to build long-lasting relationships with artists. Collaborations with other branches of the Wire have taken us to new heights. People around campus now know what MUR is and how they can get involved. Thank you so much to my team for making this year so meaningful and always supporting each other no matter what. The family we have created is one I will

Running out of time

By Timothy Littau timothy.littau@marquette.edu

Time. As a news producer and reporter, it’s what I have thought about endlessly for the past two years. How to best use every minute of every newscast, every second of every story and how our fourperson multimedia journalist team will manage to prepare our content to be back on air 167 hours after we’ve finished critiquing the prior newscast. That is also what weighed so heavily on my mind when I returned to campus my junior year in the fall of 2021, after spending my sophomore year at home, taking my classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I also felt that I lost time as a first-year, only volunteering sporadically for MUTV because of the stress an unfortunate roommate pairing gave me in the fall of 2019 before the 2020 spring semester was cut short due to COVID-19.

With half my college experience already in the rearview mirror, I thought, “how do I make the most of the time that I have left?”

That’s precisely what a wise student asked me a couple weeks ago. But they’re a firstyear – and already worried about not having enough time!

It’s the exact feeling Jackson Browne conveys in the last line of his hit “Running On Empty”: “Running into the sun, but I’m still running behind.”

It’s a well-founded concern. Everyone says these four years will probably be the greatest of your life, but that’s the problem: it’s only four years.

Through many mistakes, moments of accomplishment and bursts of joy, these are the lessons I have learned from so many colleagues, mentors, friends and family.

1. Everyday is a day in which to excel. We only get to live each day once, so take advantage of every one that we’re blessed with, no matter our circumstances. Life changes in the blink of an eye, so don’t let it make the first move – you make the first move.

2. The difference between stress or boredom and an adventure is your attitude.

It’s easy to complain – everyone knows I’m the biggest complainer there is – but it’s far more fun to approach what’s at hand with a positive outlook.

3. People won’t remember everything that you say. They won’t remember everything that you do. But they will always remember how you make them feel. Don’t miss a chance to make a difference in someone’s day, week or life. And do not forget the power of words or actions. Think before you speak and do (I should more often!) and the effects it can have will be bigger than any of us can imagine.

4. Life is a puzzle. It’s never perfect, it doesn’t always make sense, not all of the pieces are in the right place at the right time, but look for value in every part of it. And when you take a step back, hopefully you see the beauty in it.

If you know me, you know I definitely don’t follow all of these notions perfectly, but I try to remember them to do better each day. This is what I hope my

never forget.

To Emily Sacco and Clare Lindstrom — You guys have stuck with me through it all. I am so grateful for you both and I will miss all the memories from the past few years.

To Hope, Nancy and Megan — Thank you for making the Wire feel like a home to me and always continuing to challenge me. Your leadership and humility have inspired me to be the leader I am today.

To Sam — You have taken a passion for radio to a new level and inspired so many people to get involved and continue this legacy. Words cannot express how proud I am of you and how excited I am to see all that you accomplish next year. Overall, my biggest takeaway was that the family and the culture that I so desperately wanted to create at MUR and the Wire were here the entire time. Sometimes you just need to put yourself out there to find it.

This article is pletely different that I have ever

It’s not every to write a senior you’ve been ticles for the To start off, I jor, on the complete end of journalism. wanted to join nization in my I wanted to join I loved to do out there. More I wanted to which I could behind at Marquette. thing people remember me

I have never with goodbyes.

fellow graduates keep in mind as we chase our dreams and run into that lyrical sun. And I hope my younger colleagues, both the ones I already know and the ones taking my place,

make the most of their time at Marquette as well as transform others’ time, too.

Time is a finite resource, but its true value is determined by what we do with it.

I remember talking before everything how easy it back and visit if I got home shot for fifty-some I-294 and I’ll kee Public Market, by the various the collective process of choosing eat with 100 ing to see the day that’s above hopping on the up to the Oriental a movie premier showing of “The Picture Show,”

Time is a finicky something I of, especially here writing before the deadline. something I to get right, thing I know begin to encapsulate experience I’ve

Since the start semester, my I have had a graduation ed on our wall. it dutifully squealing with hit another days, 60 days, and now, we weeks out. First-year me ing for joy

Emily Bittman (far left), reflects on her four years with Marquette Radio.

By Krisha Patel krisha.patel@marquette.edu

This article is going to be completely different from anything that I have ever written before.

It’s not every day you get asked to write a senior column when you’ve been doing opinion articles for the past three years.

To start off, I am a nursing major, on the complete opposite end of journalism. I knew I wanted to join a club or an organization in my sophomore year. I wanted to join something that I loved to do and put my voice out there. More importantly, I wanted to do something in which I could leave my legacy behind at Marquette. Something people would always remember me by.

By Anna Houston anna.houston@marquette.edu

I have never been good with goodbyes. I remember talking to my mom before everything changed about how easy it would be to come back and visit for the weekend if I got home sick. Just a straight shot for fifty-some miles down I-294 and I’ll be in the Milwaukee Public Market, surrounded by the various food stalls sharing the collective and overwhelming process of choosing just what to eat with 100 some people, going to see the sunrise on the first day that’s above forty degrees, hopping on the bus and riding up to the Oriental Theater for a movie premier or a midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” coming back to

Leaving my legacy

Most people would think that writing a 600-word paper once a week is a burden, but I looked forward to getting my voice out there. I did the school newspaper for fun in high school and I knew writing would always be something I loved to do. That’s why getting this opportunity again meant everything. It felt like such a privilege to be able to express myself and put myself out there.

This was an incredible opportunity to get my beliefs out there.

I knew I was taking a risk when I talked about controversial topics and how some people would disagree with them. However, I know how much my stories actually mattered. I’ve had students and even professors reach

out to me saying how much they liked my stories.

I did feel out of place at first, being that most of these kids knew each other from class.

The Opinions desk was its own little bubble compared to bigger desks such as the News desk. It was hard to fit in and find my place in this club. But I took that shot and I introduced myself and met new people. It was hard at first, getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people who I have never met before. It’s a terrifying thing to do in general and it definitely took me a lot of courage, but I would not have met these people who have had such a strong impact on my life.

Being a part of the Wire was

challenging yet so rewarding in many ways. There were times when stories and edits would be overwhelming, stories would get cut and work would pile up. But seeing your story in print every week or your Journal story come to life is a feeling like no other and knowing that it’s going to be out there forever. It is such an honor to say that writing is my talent. It served as a reminder of everything that I do in life. I have to get out of my comfort zone and take challenges head-on regardless of the outcome. Regardless if I fail, get rejected or secondguess myself. Dreams and goals are out there and they deserved to be chased after. Nothing in life comes easy, but if being on

Defining ‘See you later’

see Ring It Out or Spring Concert to support my friends I’m leaving behind. For me, that’s not a reality anymore. When you get the call that your dream is finally coming true, you forget that there are always trade-offs. I never envisioned myself leaving the Midwest so soon, headed to California of all places, leaving me less than two months to say goodbye to everything I’ve ever known. Though it took me a while, finding the Marquette Wire was one of the best things that has happened to me during my college career.

I started as an arts and entertainment reporter on a whim, writing about my passion for music with numerous concert reviews. This led me to apply to be a part of the Marquette Radio team my senior

year, doing a complete 180, running a social media page, planning live concerts, and having the opportunity to meet a multitude of Milwaukee artists. It gave me a glimpse into the music industry, giving me the confidence to potentially pursue a job in the music industry someday. I was able to be supported by so many amazing people, pushing myself to write for a paper and then to go on to plan my own event for Marquette Radio and making bonds that will last a lifetime.

My senior year has been the most difficult of all of my years at Marquette, despite what many may say, but I always felt like what I was doing with the radio was meaningful. Every single live concert we put on, I could see and feel the passion of every

one of the desk members permeate through the artists and the audience. Being a part of this team has truly been a light throughout it all. I know that this team is leaving behind a legacy that will stoke the fire of many future desks to come. It gives me a sense of pride knowing that I was a piece of this incredible puzzle. When there is so much to lose,

The passage of time

By Emily Sacco emily.sacco@marquette.edu

Time is a finicky thing and something I wish I had more of, especially now as I sit here writing this twelve hours before the deadline. This is something I desperately want to get right, but also something I know will never even begin to encapsulate every experience I’ve had thus far. Since the start of the spring semester, my roommates and I have had a countdown until graduation whiteboard posted on our wall. We updated it dutifully every single day, squealing with joy when we hit another milestone — 90 days, 60 days, 30 days — and now, we are a mere three weeks out.

First-year me would be jumping for joy if she knew we

made it this far. She would’ve been amazed to know that, yes, you will get through midterms and finals, and every stretch of time that feels like a hole, you’ll never be able to crawl out from. Sometimes, time gets stolen from us whether we like it or not.

Everyone has something to say about the peak of COVID-19, myself included. I vividly remember packing up my dorm and heading home for spring break, with no knowledge of the fact that I wouldn’t step foot on campus for another year and a half.

To say the pandemic threw a wrench in my plans is a severe understatement.

I knew from the moment I committed to Marquette that I wanted to join the Marquette

Wire, but I told myself that I would settle in first and get my head together, then apply my sophomore year. Spoiler alert: that didn’t happen.

I spent the entirety of my sophomore year at home, with a completely virtual class schedule and a corner of my room dedicated solely to Teams meetings and schoolwork.

The toll that 10-month period took on my mental health cannot be overstated. I was left feeling directionless and without purpose like it was inevitable that I was going to fall behind and ruin every opportunity presented to me thus far. Every day was a drag, and time seemed committed to going as slowly as possible.

The Wire taught me anything, the result is worth it. Looking back, my hard work and dedication are why I am the person that I am today and who I will be in the future.

I want to thank everyone on The Wire for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I am eternally grateful. And a special thank you to the Opinions desk for everything these past three years. Thank you for making my never-ending thoughts come to life. Being a part of this organization was something that empowered me to make my values matter when I couldn’t talk. They showed me the true power of my words. With that, I am signing out for the final time.

how do you say goodbye? It is simple, you don’t. You say, “See you later.” Thank you to every single person on The Marquette Wire for making it so hard to say goodbye and so easy to say “See you later.” I cannot wait to watch everything you will accomplish, even if it’s from a little more than fifty miles away.

The summer before my junior year, I took a leap of faith and decided I was going to apply to Marquette Radio. Mind you, I had absolutely no experience and was really just looking to get my foot in the door.

I never could’ve prepared myself for all that student media has taught and given me. Being involved in the Wire taught me the true value of time: that nobody ever has enough of it, but somehow we all still make some for each other. As we approach graduation, I find myself being even more grateful for the little moments; laughing in the newsroom until our stomachs hurt, team outings to explore the city that has given us so much and late-night Portillo’s

runs because we just need some fresh air and maybe a cake shake.

My time at the Wire is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Student media gave me my confidence, my voice and my purpose back — I just needed the right people to help me realize my potential.

Thank you to every single person who has crossed my path at the Wire in the last two years. I wish I had more time with all of you, but know that not a second of it has gone unappreciated.

Continue to do great things, and don’t let time pass you by. Make the most of every moment, and who knows where it might take you.

Emily Sacco (left), Anna Houston (right) are members of MUR.

By John Leuzzi john.leuzzi@marquette.edu

From an early age, I always knew I wanted to make a living involving sports. The initial dream, as it is for any nine-year-old, was to be a Major League Baseball player and play for my hometown team, the Philadelphia Phillies. But something about an 0-for-4 box score with three strikes during an 8th grade township game told me that dream was washed.

So I managed the baseball team all four years of high school to stay around the game, while also being part of the student broadcasting club. The latter seemed to be just a hobby at the time. Then the light bulb clicked going into my senior year: Why not cover sports for a living? My initial response was, “This could be cool.” Covering and broadcasting games these last three years have been fun. Why not? But what I did not know at the time was what this decision would soon bring me. My first two years at Marquette

I did it my way

and the Wire, I was following the “path” of those in front of me. It seemed like the logical thing to do if I wanted to find success at the Wire, so I thought.

Then came March 26, 2021. It seems like a random day picked out of the calendar, right? Not to me.

It’s the day that I realized I could do this thing called “journalism” and do it my way.

For sake of word count and already writing about this, I will SparkNote the symbolism: I followed Mark Zoromski’s advice of being a “I’ll do it” person.

It was by saying “yes” to the assignment of standing outside the Al McGuire Center as rumors of Shaka Smart becoming Marquette’s next head coach, I was able to get confirmation on the hire before any official release. This moment soon shaped what is now history. I took the leap of faith and belief that my colleagues, who have now become my best friends, had in me and applied for Executive Sports

Editor which I ended up getting and have served in the last two years.

And so, as I have grown as a journalist and editor the last two years, I’ve realized that I have formed my own path and have found success just as Frank Sinatra would: my way. I’m not sure if I would have spent the last two years as the lead men’s basketball beat reporter, which was capped off by being in Madison Square Garden to cover Marquette’s first Big East Tournament title run, if I didn’t say “Yes” on March 26.

To my Marquette Wire family, I will forever be grateful for our time and memories made inside and outside the newsroom. Thank you for allowing me to be myself and pushing me each day to be a better journalist.

To my sports desk, I don’t know where to start. Each and every single one of you mean everything to me. Serving as your Executive Sports Editor the last two years has been an honor and something I will

forever remember.

To my mentors — Dan Avington, John Steppe, Aimee Galaszewski, Jack Phillips, Matt Yeazel, Tyler Peters, Mark, Dave Umhoefer, Gerry Ahern and Michael Huang — I wouldn’t be the journalist I am today without each of you. Thank you for your constant support and friendship.

To Kim Cook, I’m lucky to have by my side and to have your constant love and support. Nothing has made me happier than sharing and spending my senior year

with you. Thank you for being my No. 1 fan.

And to my family, there are no words to express how thankful and grateful I am for the support from each one of you these last four years as I pursued this dream of mine. I love you guys!

This isn’t goodbye. It’s just a see you later. THANK YOU Marquette Wire for being my home away from home these last four years. THANK YOU for forming me into journalist I am today. THANK YOU for everything.

My junior year Entertainment allowed me to review series, The series allowed my interest in me to talk about interested in while use my own time. This was won three Wisconsin Awards for my at the Wire. All of this newfound the Wire made the radio desk tor. And man was for radio. Studio 7 Series, built with Milwaukee having an Open amazing to see able to do in a With my time ping up, I look som as an undergrad how to make

Leaving a lasting impact

By Andrew Amouzou andrew.amouzou@marquette.edu

I visited Marquette for the first time Aug. 4, 2017. After touring the campus, Marquette was not first on my list of schools. Nor was it second, third or even fourth.

Just two years later, however, Marquette seemed like a nobrainer. Now, I can’t thank God enough for my time here.

Although it barely squeaked my top-five list, there was something about the motto “Be the Difference” that I held onto and connected deeply with.

I have always carried a chip on my shoulder in all aspects of my life. I used to live by the saying “defy all odds” because no matter what so-

ciety and the statistics might say about me and how I grew up, I knew not to be or feel limited by them. Being the only Black person in my classes since preschool meant that people were getting a personal assessment of Black people through me. It meant that I had to educate myself on my history outside of slavery, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Ultimately, it meant that I carried myself with a level of humility, gratitude and determination for who I am and what I will achieve.

No other school reminded me of that mission. Although construction, an empty McCormick Hall, cold wind and rain highlighted my first visit to Marquette, I vividly remember the faculty and staff of the College of Communication tell my group to envision ourselves here and all the opportunities available to us.

On April 13, 2019, I visited Marquette for a second time and the memories of the gloomy first visit were replaced by the sunshine of Spring, renovated residence halls and the state-of-the-

art facilities in the College of Communication. Seeing myself on this campus became clear.

I envisioned myself showing the Marquette community my dedication to my craft, the skills I will continue to develop and the talents that I have been blessed with. My parents envisioned a convenient hour-and-a-half drive to Milwaukee from Illinois compared to the other schools on my list.

The next day, I eagerly announced my decision to attend Marquette University with my sister recording the special moment. I had some nerves but my excitement was rooted in starting my next chapter at a four-year university and walking across the stage at graduation four years later.

By May 2023, I wanted to have left a lasting impact. I wanted to be involved with student media right away, so I joined the Marquette Wire as a news reporter weeks before getting to campus. I envisioned having a sense of community, so I joined RISE, a multicultural preorientation program for underrepresented first-year students, and attended events hosted by the Black Student Union and Latin American Student Organization.

I joined Marquette Gospel

Choir to fellowship with students and express my faith and joined Marquette Mentors to be a sponge within Marquette’s strong alumni network. As a news reporter with faith and optimism, I grew journalistically and knew I could lead in my own way. Of course, I could not do it alone. Leaders such as Shane Hogan, Aimee Galaszewski and Alex Rivera Grant are three of many people who encouraged me to keep moving forward. Closing out my time as

Executive Director of the Wire has tied the perfect bow on my vision of being the difference. I was challenged in many ways that the leaders before me had not experienced, but what matters most to me is inspiring the next generation of leaders. I’m confident in knowing that I did my best to do just that. Thank you Marquette for everything. I know I made the right choice in choosing you.

In due time

By Rashad Alexander rashad.alexander@marquette.edu

If you had asked me six years ago about college, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. And if you had told me the things I would accomplish during my four years at Marquette University, I would ask you to get out of my face and stop lying. Sure, a lot got done during my time here, but it wasn’t as smooth as I wanted it to be.

Coming into my first year, I didn’t really know who I wanted to be at Marquette. Being a firstgeneration Black man at a predominantly white institution, I struggled with finding my crowd and what I wanted to do with my free time. I didn’t want to play baseball anymore, and I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in with journalism. It was a

time where I struggled to really figure out what was gonna make me happy.

And then, of course, March 2020, and you know how that went. So when I joined the Wire during my sophomore year, in the midst of the pandemic, I saw an angrier and impatient version of myself that I just never knew. I was so miserable with not being able to do anything on campus that I began to wonder if Marquette was even the right place for me. I was convinced I was done and ready to move on from Marquette. After some soul searching, I entered my junior year with fewer COVID restrictions, where I was able to really find myself and realize what I was truly passionate about at Marquette.

see page 11

Director of the perfect bow being the difchallenged in the leaders not experimatters most inspiring the next leaders. I’m knowing that I just that.

Marquette for evI made the choosing you.

continued from page 10

My junior year role as an Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor allowed me to start up my music review series, Rashad’s Records. The series allowed me to take my interest in music and allowed me to talk about the artists I was interested in while being able to use my own voice in the meantime. This was the same year I won three Wisconsin Broadcast Awards for my multimedia work at the Wire.

All of this newfound success at the Wire made me eager to join the radio desk as Music Director. And man what a year this was for radio. The creation of the Studio 7 Series, the bonds we’ve built with Milwaukee artists and having an Open Mic Night, it’s amazing to see what we’ve been able to do in a year.

With my time at Marquette wrapping up, I look at my late blossom as an undergrad to show how to make the most of what’s

in front of you. While my college experience was far from perfect, I know I’ve been able to leave my mark as I cross the stage.

To the Wire, thank you for helping me find myself in journalism. I don’t think I’d have any idea of what I’d want to do with journalism without y’all.

To my Marquette Radio family, thank you for such an amazing year in student media. Like Emily Bittman said, this year was the renaissance for Marquette Radio, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.

To Andrew and Avi, the co-founders of our podcast, “Between Me & You,” there’s nobody else I’d spend time in the radio studio with on a Friday night. A trio like us is truly unstoppable in my eyes.

Even though it’s almost over, I can only look back at the happy times from my time here at Marquette. And in due time, I’ll know that everything I went through happened for a reason.

Finding my home

By Hannah Hernandez hannah.hernandez@marquette.edu

When I first came to Marquette, I often asked myself, “Who am I?” I struggled with the idea that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and if I was on the right path.

Most of my friends had already decided what their life would look like, and they were content with the path that they were on. I, on the other hand, chose to be a doctor because I knew the ending destination. I was envious that they knew their plans, and I didn’t.

At this point, I was okay with not being able to control every aspect of my life and not being completely sure where the path would lead me. I had to be in control.

Although my heart wasn’t in medicine, I convinced myself that it was the place for me. I loved writing, but I could never choose it because I couldn’t see where it would lead me. I quickly discovered that this was not the place for me and I couldn’t pretend anymore.

After much trial and error and switching majors, I ultimately decided to become a journalism major. Little did I know this would be the place I would call “home.”

After my first journalism

class, I knew that journalism was where I belonged. I always loved writing, and I finally decide to choose it.

I then joined the Wire my junior year and I had no idea what to expect. Luckily I was met with a welcoming group of people that supported me and challenged me to become a better writer and journalist. Despite all of this, I was ready to leave Marquette after my junior year. Over the summer before senior year, I went to New York and was convinced that Marquette was no longer the place for me. I wanted to transfer to a college in New York and never come back. But, for some reason, when the time came, I just couldn’t leave behind all the friends and memories I made at Marquette. During these last two years at the Wire, I have had the opportunity to write stories about both the Marquette and Milwaukee community. I discovered new passions from going inside the different communities.

Since becoming a journalism major and writing for the Wire, I found my passion: shining a light on places, people and things that are often overlooked and dismissed. The question I asked myself changed from “Who am I?” to

Lights, camera, action

By Skyler Chun skyler.chun@marquette.edu

If my college years were a movie, my time at the Marquette Wire would be the green screen — A quiet backdrop to some of the most exciting, inspiring and challenging years of my life.

struggled to really was gonna make course, March 2020, that went.

the Wire during year, in the midst saw an angrier version of myself knew. I was so being able to campus that I beMarquette was for me. I was done and ready Marquette. searching, I enyear with fewer restrictions, where I was myself and retruly passionate

It was the bright pop of neon green that was everything new and exciting (but slightly intimidating) about beginning a new chapter. But it was also a witness to all the hardships I endured, and a safe place for me to camouflage as I tried to find my way over the past four years.

I always thought I would go into the film industry. I loved the idea of being creative behind the camera, and bringing my writing to life on the screen. But when I started gravitating towards documentary and news-writing at the end of my high school career, I realized there could be other paths for me. And somehow, life led me to the second floor of Johnston Hall — A life-changing place, though I had no idea at the time.

For most of college, I avoided

the lights, cameras and action. I worked really hard, but quietly behind the scenes.

I began my time at the Marquette Wire as a first-year student, serving as a copy editor and volunteer writer for the Arts & Entertainment desk. But shortly after joining, a handful of A&E members began to leave – one by one – until it was just myself and another reporter.

My Monday’s changed nearly overnight. From eagerly observing everything about the production process to frantically putting together the seventh and eighth pages of the Tribune alone, I had to learn a harsh lesson pretty quickly: Life (and news) doesn’t slow down for anyone. I did my best to keep up.

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had become the Executive Arts & Entertainment Editor, and had just started adjusting to my new role. Learning and working remotely was difficult for everyone, but I faced a few extra barriers with my home and school lives being 4,000 miles apart. And sometimes, it

was difficult to see what my hard work was really for.

Becoming the managing editor of the Marquette Journal during my junior year changed that; It was like the “climax” of my time at the Wire. Leading all branches of student media to bring my creative ideas to light gave me a sense of confidence and pride I hadn’t felt before.

It also meant stepping out from the shadows sometimes, too.

I challenged myself to anchor or try new roles, and ended up on “Down to the Wire” a few times to talk about my work. The bright green of our television studio –or the constantly bustling newsroom – slowly became something I wasn’t so afraid of. It was something I was proud of. And somewhere under all the lights, I learned that I could be the director of my own show — Or, I could write my own story.

This year, I have had the honor of being the executive investigative editor, where I really learned the value of my words. It’s not where I imagined concluding my time here, but I think it was the

“Who are they?”

To Marquette and the Wire, thank you for challenging me to think critically and look internally to ensure that the media I am producing is not causing harm. Just as I have grown in my undergraduate career, I know that I will be further challenged to improve professionally and academically as I move on to graduate school.

My time at Marquette hasn’t been perfect, and I often struggled with feeling conflicted about staying or transferring. Ultimately I am so glad that I stayed because I made lifelong friends and memories that I will never forget.

To my parents, thank you for always supporting me, being by my side and encouraging me to follow my dreams. I could not have done any of this without you! I look at all the great things that you have accomplished and I hope that someday I can do the same.

To my siblings, thank you for always making me laugh, bringing me food and being ready to play an intense game of spades.

To my besties, Maiya Sabree, Lizzy Ibitoye and Jillian Haygood, thank you for making these last four years the best years of my life.

perfect resolution. I am incredibly proud of my team — Jolan, Briana and Connor — and what they have accomplished this year.

To mom, dad, Cody and Ethan: You have always been my biggest supporters, even half the country and an ocean away. That will

always mean the world to me.

To the Marquette Wire Staff: Thank you for everything. Soon the credits will roll, and I hope you know you’ve all played an important role.

I can’t wait to see what the next film has in store.

Hannah (4th from left), and Rashad (far right), are graduating.

Moments

By Kimberly Cook kimberly.cook@marquette.edu

“What is your moment?”

I have kept this question in my mind ever since Mark Zoromski posed it to me during my interview for managing editor of the Marquette Journal.

As I described my vision for the issues we would publish for the 2022-23 school year to Mark and the Board of Student Media then, we all have moments in our lives that define us, that lead us through the metamorphosis of life.

My answer to this question, of course, has changed many times over the course of my life. Different moments mean different things in different contexts, but that day, I recounted the times when my papa would tell me stories of his experiences and travels; I explained that he was the person who introduced me to stories and the power they can hold. Looking back, there are so many experiences packed into my three years with the Wire, all of which hold a special place in my heart.

It is hard to pinpoint a singular instance, one singular person that has made the greatest impact.

But, of all of the flashes of memory, there are a few that stand out as moments that have defined my time here and who I am as a person.

The first time seeing my name in print, getting the email that I had been chosen as the next managing editor of the Marquette Journal, opening the first box of “Life in Color” this past November and feeling nothing but fulfilled are all beautiful successes and memories that still bring a smile to my face.

But while those moments are special, they aren’t enough to encapsulate how much the space within four walls can mean to a person.

So, you might call this cheating — or a regression on my part — when I say that my three years at the Marquette Wire is the

most definitive moment of my college career. The Wire is the place where I found the confidence to say “I’ll do it” even though my head told me I wasn’t good enough; it is the place where I found relationships that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

To my Marquette Wire family: You all inspire me every day. I am so grateful to know you all, and I know that you are all going to do amazing things. Thank you for all of the memories and for all of the care that you have shown me these last three years.

To Katie, Nora and Anna: Thank you for all of the laughs and smiles over the past four years, especially when I needed a break from the stress of every day or the weight of things on my plate. I love you all so much, and I don’t know what I would do without you.

To Mark: Thank you for being the guiding force that led me to my Marquette Wire family. You have no idea how much you mean to me — to all of us.

To John: Words are not enough to thank you for all that you have done for me. You are the sounding board for all of my ideas and my No. 1 fan, always. Your love and support mean the world to me, and I am so happy that we both decided that happiness is the only option.

To my family: Your support over these last four years is something that I will be forever grateful for. Thank you for your time and every sacrifice you made to help me achieve my dreams. I love you all!

And while my answer to “What is your moment?” may change again if you were to ask me four years from now, that is okay. Change and growth are necessary to discover the newest versions of ourselves. And while I may be growing into my next chapter, this one has been full of moments that I will remember always.

A home far away from home

By Ivy Wen ivy.wen@marquette.edu

As an international student who did not come home for four years, the Marquette Wire became a home far away from home to make friends, practice directing skills and help me achieve my dream of being an international director. When I first came to Marquette, I was ignorant, but now I am about to graduate and my eyes are full of reluctance. I used to think four years was a long time, and we still have a lot of time, but we only have a few weeks left now. I still don’t know how to say goodbye to the place where I stayed for four years.

I still remember the first time I came to MUTV; I fell in love with the fancy technologies in the control room and signed up to volunteer in the teleprompter position. During the rehearsal, the anchor said, “That’s way too fast; slow down!” I felt like I did a terrible job and found it hard to do the teleprompter. After the first time I volunteered, I didn’t sign up to volunteer for a couple of weeks because I didn’t want to hold everyone back and make mistakes. Former production directors Julia Jarman and Maize Baldus asked me, encouraged me to return and told me I was doing great. I came back to volunteer again. Practice makes perfect. I did a better job than my first time, it was not perfect, but it was better. Trying and practicing are the first steps of learning.

In my sophomore year, I nervously applied for the position

By Jackson Gross jackson.gross@marquette.edu

of production assistant director. After applying, I thought I would not get the offer because my English is not good, and so many people are better than me. However, I was pleasantly surprised to get the offer. I appreciated this opportunity and wanted to do as many things as possible in this position. Then I become the only international student in MUTV.

In my junior year, Mazie encouraged me to direct a sports show. My first thought was no because my English was not good, and I didn’t think I had enough knowledge and experience to direct a show. Other production members, Richie and Caroline, supported me and told me to try directing a show. I felt nervous, but Mazie sat next to me during rehearsals and live broadcasts and encouraged me, telling me that I did a good job and that this was the beginning of my directorial journey. After the first time directing a show, I saw many shortcomings in myself and felt that I was still far from my dream of becoming a director. In my senior year, I felt more confident about every production role I was doing since I stayed on this team for almost four years. I can also teach Luke everything I know and let other people find a home that I found before.

Richie encouraged me to direct Marquette Lately, and I did it. I have more and more experience in directing, and I have become more confident.

My growth and experiences were not smooth sailing, but I am grateful to the Marquette Wire for letting me feel everything is much better than I imagined. I can’t imagine how I would spend every night if I didn’t join MUTV. I didn’t have a chance to return home because of the pandemic, and I miss my family so much, but I am grateful to Marquette Wire for giving me the feeling of home. Thanks for so many opportunities here to let me become a better version of myself; thanks for taking a chance on me even if I didn’t know anything initially. Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me over the past four years.

Along the way

It’s incredible to think that I began my Marquette Wire journey all way back in August 2019. So much has changed since then.

I had no idea as a freelance writer and volunteer for Marquette University Television where this wonderful place would take me.

From places as big as New York City and Minneapolis, to small towns like Uncasville, Connecticut. I’ve ventured to places in Milwaukee that I never would have without being here.

I have been able to go to some amazing sporting events in my time here with the Wire. Broadcasting the first Big East tournament title for the Marquette men’s basketball

team, covering the first Sweet 16 run for volleyball since 2018 and the best season in Marquette women’s lacrosse history. However, it all would have been meaningless without the people I’ve met along the way. They are the ones who have truly made this part of my life truly memorable.

Wire Executive Director Andrew Amouzou has truly been one of the best friends I could have asked for. From talking sports in the halls, to our NBA 2K battles to having conversations about what it’s meant to live the last four years. I am truly grateful to have met him. #MSLBrosforLife.

Everyone I have met on this path has made me a better person or professional in some way and I truly thank them all for everything we have went

through together.

College has been hard for me, missing out on a year and a half of being on campus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, it was because of my family from home and the family I had here at the Wire that I was able get through it all. The constant support from both areas of my life have gotten me through breakups, being sick for days, last minute deadlines and so much more.

I hate to be leaving after all the time we have all had together. I really started to feel at home here with you all.

However, I know that our friendships will go beyond the newsroom at Johnston Hall. Thank you to everyone in my life making the past four years some of the best of my life.

Mother’s sacrifices create collegiate career for Scheetz

Iowa native combines Arab and American cultures in Milwaukee

By Kaylynn Wright kaylynn.wright@marquette.edu

Coming into this season, senior Rami Scheetz knew this was going to be his final year donning the blue and gold, despite having extra years of eligibility. Regardless Rami’s mother, Hala, who is a full-time teacher, made sure she was at every single one of his matches, no matter the distance.

“Just having her there and supporting me through a lot of the stuff that I was going through, especially in this last year, it’s not lost on me,” Rami said. “She, my dad and my brother are the three main reasons that I ever achieved anything and that’s very clear.”

Hala is a Syrian immigrant who traveled to the United States at the age of 19 in the pursuit of higher education at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Hala said making the decision to fly over 6,000 miles away from home was far from easy.

“For a female from the Middle East, to venture that far along from home alone, I didn’t have family here, but just for the purpose of higher education,” Hala said. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but I come from a family that put emphasis on education for men and women equally important.”

Rami said that his mother’s choice to put her education first displayed the nature of her true character.

“Could you imagine doing that now without FaceTime or Skype?” Rami said. “The kind of bravery it took for her to do that, it’s very telling of the

type of woman she is.”

Now, over 35 years later, Hala has been teaching English to non-native speakers at a community college in Iowa for 15 years.

“I teach English as a second language now, so it went into the full circle,” Hala said. “To me, language is not just the words you learn, it is the culture that you learn with learning the language. The same thing that I teach my students when I teach them English, and I teach them the American culture.”

This concept was also applied to Rami’s life, as he and his siblings learned to speak fluent Arabic along with being taught about Arab culture by the rest of

grew up in learning about that Arab culture, seeing my family and learning what is important about the culture.”

Rami, who has played tennis for 12 years, said that growing up around Arab culture gave him a different perspective while on the court.

“Arab culture is one of a lot of humility,” Rami said. “Being around that culture of nobody’s better than another person was very influential in my upbringing. It applies to sports especially. It’s always like ‘Keep chasing something.’ That’s a very cool thing that culture has provided me.”

After his first year,

he always has to win. He’s such a competitive person, whether it’s sports or literally anything.”

Despite the adversity that the team faced this season, Hala was there for her son through it all, traveling to every single one of Rami’s matches.

“When you’re an athlete, especially in the sport of tennis, and you see a parent who doesn’t live right down the street and is making the effort to come to away matches and home matches is pretty remarkable,” Rodecap said. “Rami’s support system there was pretty strong. That was a big factor for Rami’s success as well as the support he had behind him from home.”

Rami said that he could not be more thankful for his mother’s constant encouragement throughout his tennis career.

Marquette head coach Steve Rodecap noticed about Rami was his intense passion for tennis.

“First and foremost, he was hungry for an opportunity,” Rodecap said. “His desire to be good in tennis is just remarkable. That was probably one of the things that stood out to me early was how hard he was going to work to make sure he met his goals.”

Junior Ian Brady, Rami’s roommate and teammate, said that Rami’s love for competition is something that he admires about his best friend.

“He’s a hard competitor, and he loves to be out there and compete. A great dude to have on your team,” Brady said. “I always tell him he’s a narcissist because

WIRE SPORTS ROUNDUP

“In tennis, nobody’s really cheering you on,” Rami said. “It’s been that way since I was eight. There’s a thing we like to joke about, Arab mom syndrome. They’re always f—— there no matter what. It can get annoying as s— sometimes, but they’re always there.”

When reflecting on Rami’s success, Hala said there were no words to explain how proud she is of her son.

“You don’t have to be Rami’s mom to know what kind of a mindset he has, to know how hard he works and how diligent he is about everything he does,” Hala said. “The effort that he put in tennis, on the court, off the court, the goals that he put for himself and the leadership that he showed from when he was very young. I firmly believe that he will be successful in anything he decides he wants to do and pursue.”

MEN’S TENNIS

You don’t have to be Rami’s mom to know what kind of a mindset he has, to know how hard he works and how dilligent he is....”

Hala Abumaizer-Scheetz Scheetz’s mom

Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Henry’s kindness and leadership build team chemistry

Now, as a fifth-year senior, Henry has made her mark on and off the field.

By Emma Kroll emma.kroll@marquette.edu

Five years ago, Marquette women’s lacrosse associate head coach Caitlin Wolf took a chance on a then-young lacrosse player named Ellie Henry.

That risk has paid off for both parties.

“It’s hard to imagine that she was even in that place because of how big of an impact she has on our team,” assistant coach Jill Rizzo said. “Not just as an athlete, but as a leader, as a teammate. She’s a really special kid. I can’t imagine what it’d be like if Caitlin (Wolf) and Coach (Black) didn’t take that risk.”

Coming in with only three years of experience, but a background in both soccer and basketball, Henry looked to learn as much as possible.

“Since then, my goal has been ‘How can I absorb as much information and grow as much as I can?’” Henry said. “Junior year, I was nominated as a captain. You’re going from that position of learning and growing so much to now being someone that people look up to and having the confidence to do that.”

Henry has broken several records during Marquette’s historic season this year. She currently sits as all-time No. 2 in draw controls (254), No. 7 in caused turnovers (61) and No. 3 in single

season draw controls (97).

The records stand as a translation of Henry’s leadership on defense.

“She leads by action,” sophomore defender Molly Powers said. “You just see her working so hard, and it makes you want to work harder. She’s always willing to answer questions. She’s close with everyone, from freshmen all the way up to the fifth years, and she’s someone everyone can go to.”

Henry has been a key component in changing the defensive mindset, making the shift from “me” to “we.”

“The biggest change we’ve implemented in our defense is the mentality. In the past, we were a very individual defense and that’s why we were stuck playing manto-man for so many years,” Henry said. “But then also it’s why our zone is so useful. You’re only as strong as your weakest player in any defense, so that gets exposed because you’re passing that off, you’re sharing responsibility between all areas of the field. We’re working together as a unit more than ever before.”

Henry has taken on the role of mentor for the young defense. She too was once a sophomore looking to learn as much as

TRACK & FIELD

possible, much like Powers.

“I’m always asking her, ‘What should I have done better in that situation?’” Powers said. “She not only tells me but then she shows me or if I still don’t understand she sits me down after the game and she’ll walk me through it. She takes that extra step to make sure that they truly do understand it and it’s amazing how someone truly does care about everyone.”

In a more connected than ever team, Henry has helped foster the bond.

Whether it’s by hosting home cooked dinners in her apartment for underclassmen or getting to know everyone on the team, Henry has ensured a home for everyone.

“She truly does make this place feel like home,” Powers said. “Being in a dorm, it’s hard and she’ll be like, ‘Hey, come on for dinner, I’m going to cook you a homemade meal.’ She truly does want to connect with everyone. Even though she’s an upperclassman, she doesn’t care. She’s like, ‘I’m going to become best friends with the freshmen.’”

One of the ways she was able to connect with the entire team was by sitting down with each of her teammates.

“At the beginning of the

season, she made a list of dates that she was meeting with every single person on the team,” Rizzo said. “She’s always doing whatever it takes to help others, not just in lacrosse, but she is a very selfless person and her leadership has made an impact.”

Henry’s kindness and compassion have carried into the team values. The biggest value for Henry she said is the importance of everyone.

“First and foremost, you need to respect everyone you’re playing with and part of that respect means holding people to that standard,” Henry said. “On defense, we’ve set such a high standard of success and set those goals before us of what we want to achieve and what that looks like.”

Through and through, Henry said she hopes her lasting impact goes back to respect.

“The lasting legacy that I want to leave is that everyone’s vital and everyone’s important and that the emphasis of hard work,” Henry said. “I would not be where I am today without hard work. It doesn’t matter who comes in or how you come into this program. That with hard work, you will succeed. I think that’s very much translated into life.”

Jochims trades in cleats for Navy and dentistry school

Senior runner will begin new journey in U.S. armed forces

By Benjamin Hanson benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu

Senior distance runner Kate Jochims wants to do more than just get her education and go into the workforce. She wants to serve her country in the United States Navy as a dentist stationed on a naval base.

After going through a two-year application process, of which 300 applied and only 50 got in, Jochims was finally accepted into the program. She will complete the required four years at the Marquette School of Dentistry, then her Navy career will begin. She will attend a “boot camp” for five weeks and will be stationed on various bases on land for four years. During this time, she will continue to practice dentistry at the bases as her job.

“I think my reasoning of doing this comes from an interest of trying something new to push

myself out of my comfort zone,” Jochims said. “I don’t have much family that’s been in the military, so I’m learning a lot, and I’m excited to have a really awesome job when I graduate. I think it’s a great opportunity to move elsewhere and serve elsewhere from where I’m hoping to settle down: here in Milwaukee.”

Assistance coach Sean Birren said Jochims has been able to take on whatever has been thrown her way during times athletic career, which he said will serve as a strong foundational mindset when she heads into the Navy.

“You think about the adversity in Track & Field. The schedule doesn’t always go as planned and just being able to be aware and be ready to go is so important and she’s done a great job with that,” Birren said. “She’s always able to lock in on race days when it matters, which has played a big role in her being consistent. She’s able to focus in when she gets to the line and that will carry over very well when she goes into

the Navy.”

In the Navy, Jochims said that she will just be working a typical workday. She said she gets to go on base and practice dentistry in her scrubs and all.

Jochims said she knows that this experience will help her in her career and possibly help her become her own boss.

“The Navy has a lot of really good technology, so getting ready to potentially open my own practice once I’m out of that is a possibility,” Jochims said. “Being able to learn what kind of resources are out there while also working with and learning from other dentists is something I see as very valuable for my future.”

Senior distance runner Laurel Moneysmith said Jochim’s personality lends itself very well for going into the Navy.

“She definitely likes a challenge, and this is going to fit really well with her personality and her commitment,” Moneysmith said. “She’s an extremely hard worker, she knows how to time manage and if there’s anyone

that’s going to be able to do it, it’s her for sure.”

Though there will be countless obstacles in her future, Jochims said that she will rely on her positive attitude to overcome them.

“With this scholarship opportunity in the Navy that helps pay for dental school, it’s definitely a great reward, but like with anything, there will be sacrifices. If deployment is something that comes about, I have to be ready for that. I’m also a homebody, and knowing that I’ll have to move away in four years is going to be difficult for me,” Jochims said. “This will definitely challenge me the most I’ve ever been challenged.”

Birren said Jochims has faced many challenges during her time on the track & field team. Yet, she has been able to get past them.

“Whether it’s in adverse times or when things are going smoother, she knows that the best path forward is doing things the way that they are supposed to be done,” Birren said. “She’s always found ways to work through

adversity and that kind of stuff.”

While Jochims had been going through the application process, she had been also setting records in running distance for the track & field team. She holds the freshman record in the steeplechase and the number three mark all-time.

“I’ve been really happy with my experience at Marquette on the team,” Jochims said. “Being able to get my name in these record books is maybe something I wouldn’t have been able to do at any other schools. It’s something I’m very proud I was able to accomplish.”

Jochims said that she is excited about the overlap between athletics and the Navy.

“I want to have the opportunity to serve my country and make very unique relationships with others who have similar goals as me,” Jochims said. “Being in athletics is very similar to being in the Navy by having people surrounding you that have a tough mindset, discipline and the same goals.”

Senior defender Ellie Henry operates the defense in Marquette’s system

Photo by Keifer Russell keifer.russell@marquette.edu

Defender sits No. 2 all-time in draw controls with 254

LAX: Marquette helps put wheelchair lacrosse on map

Continued from page 16

But with 58 surgeries behind him, the young athlete thrives through adversity.

“I was born just outside of Milwaukee in Oak Creek. I started with wheelchair basketball when I was little, so I got into adaptive sports early and then that led into finding out about wheelchair lacrosse through all the adaptive sports people here in Wisconsin,” Krenz said. “My passion took off from there, I couldn’t say no, I always wanted to come back.”

Krenz’s passion, which was introduced by Lee, took him all the way to the cover of USA Lacrosse’s April magazine.

“Being from [a] small town, it speaks for itself. It’s my drive for everything, wanting to be the best person and teammate I can be and bring my teammates up with me,” Krenz said. “As far as being well recognized in wheelchair lacrosse, I want to take my whole team with me and that’s that small-town mentality.”

The honor is one of many Krenz has earned, but his eyes remain on the big prize, a Wheelchair Lacrosse USA National Championship.

“Everybody that comes to practice, that’s been around for a while, has their eyes on a national championship for wheelchair lacrosse,” Krenz said. “That’s what I’m so hungry for. We got some new additions to the team, and we’re all on the same page and fighting for that championship win.”

came up to me and was like ‘You should try wheelchair basketball’ and I was like, ‘Dude, I just lost my f------ legs. What are you talking about?’

“Then a couple days later, he took me to a gym, gave me a basketball and it was the most fun I’ve ever had. Even though I was in this weird position of adapting to my new body and trying to understand what my role would be in society now as a disabled combat veteran, I found solace in sports, and it is very fulfilling.”

Lewis was one of the first Milwaukee Eagles players. In fact, Lewis accompanied Lee to a wheelchair lacrosse demo in Philadelphia. As a vet, Lewis said he finds a similar sense of unity with the Eagles as he did in the Army.

“It’s like a family, we’ve grown together, we’ve lost some players, we’ve gained some players and we’ve gained so much knowledge. I remember the first practice we had and no one knew what the hell they were doing. We were throwing that ball to the ceiling and breaking windows and all kind of crazy stuff,” Lewis said. “I’m glad Marquette gave us this opportunity to utilize some of the athletes, to come in and give us a hand. It’s always good to be part of something bigger than yourself, to be a part of a team.”

Now on the Eagles, Reinholz finds strength through her teammates.

“I’ve struggled with mental health, body acceptance and disability acceptance,” Reinholz said. “Being on this team has given me the opportunity to be surrounded by people with disabilities that have good relationships with their bodies. They taught me to respect my body and that it is something to treasure, that I can use for good instead of something that holds me back.”

Reinholz’s ties with Marquette run deeper than just through lacrosse, for her

Eagles team, and he asked me, ‘Have you ever thought of adaptive sports?’”

That fateful moment confirmed Zvara’s need to join the Milwaukee Eagles.

“If that’s not a sign from God, I don’t know what it is,” Zvara said. “That was a Sunday. I called the following Monday, and I was at the next earliest practice. The rest is history.”

The only regret Zvara has is not playing adaptive sports sooner.

“I wish I learned about it earlier. It has changed my life. It gives me a reason to get up

Alan Lewis

In 2003, Alan Lewis, now a US Army veteran, was sent out to Iraq in the initial years of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“On the mission on the 16th of July, my vehicle hit a Humvee and I sustained multiple injuries with the inclusion of loss of both my legs, arm damage, eye damage, burns and things like that,” Lewis said. “I was in the hospital and one of the guys

Rebecca Reinholz

While in the process of moving out of her parents’ house, Rebecca Reinholz wanted something new, something different.

“I found out about adaptive sports a couple of years ago when I was in mental health treatment,” Reinholz said. “The providers told me about the Eagles team and I was like ‘Let’s check this out.’”

mother, Lora Reinholz, is a professor of finance at Marquette. “Having the partnership with Marquette has been great, she (Lora) came to one of my practices last season and held office hours during our practice,” Reinholz said. “Some students showed up, and they got to see practice at the same time.”

Mike Zvara

A simple google search and the desire for a new hobby led Mike Zvara to wheelchair lacrosse. Zvara wasn’t completely sold on the sport until after his son Colton’s lacrosse game.

“My son, who was seven at the time, had his last field lacrosse tournament. It was after the last game and they’ve got all kinds of vendors all over the place, so I’m rolling through looking at a couple of these things and out of nowhere a referee came up to me, oddly, standing next to me just looking at me for what felt like a little uncomfortable moment,” Zvara said. “Turns out to be Ryan Cornelius who’s on the

in the morning, go to the gym and to stay healthier. My family is the best reason to stay healthy, but it’s really helped me be more focused on it,” Zvara said. “It’s improved my life. It’s improved my marriage, I get to spend more quality time with my son and my daughter.”

The bond

Mutualistic is a term often used in biology, but it is fitting for the relationship between Marquette men’s lacrosse and the Milwaukee Eagles.

“The two communities really benefit from each other in so many ways, and I’m just a small part of making sure those interactions continue to happen,” Richard said. “My role is minimal, the guys (Marquette team) kind of run the show, bring the energy themselves. It’s all about the athletes and the players.”

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Milwaukee Eagles or any adaptive sport, learn more at www.wasa.org.

Photos courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Photos by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu

If that’s not a sign from God, I don’t know what it is.

Mike Zvara Milwaukee Eagles player

“

Milwaukee Eagles practice each Monday at Cudahy High School.

Expanding MKE lacrosse

Marquette helps bring deeper meaning to sport through Eagles

By Ava Mares ava.mares@marquette.edu

Cudahy High School may be the “Home of the Packers,” but on Monday evenings, the small back gym becomes home to none other than the Milwaukee Eagles Wheelchair Lacrosse team.

Propped open with a plastic bucket, the back gym door leads directly to a parking lot of cracked pavement and faded white lines. With quick and purposeful steps, Dr. Kenneth Lee hauls loads of equipment from his trailer through the door.

Without Lee, the chief of Spinal Cord Injury Division at the Milwaukee VA, there would be no practice. In fact, there would likely be no team at all.

“In 2015, a couple of the veterans and I went to Las Vegas for a wheelchair lacrosse clinic,” Lee said. “I didn’t know what it was, but I fell in love with it. When I came back (to Milwaukee), the vets wanted to form a team. Since I had no idea how to even play lacrosse, I reached out to then head coach of Marquette men’s lacrosse, Joe Amplo. Right away, he said this was a great project for his athletes, so we hooked up and from then on, we had the Milwaukee Eagles wheelchair lacrosse team.”

Officially formed in 2016, the Milwaukee Eagles are one of 13 total members of Wheelchair Lacrosse USA (WLUSA). For the past seven years, a close bond between Marquette men’s lacrosse and the Eagles has taken shape.

Current Marquette assistant coach and head coach of the Milwaukee Eagles Jake Richard has been volunteering with the Eagles program since his days of playing in blue and gold.

“I was in the same shoes as a lot of the guys out here helping, just a student-athlete on the team that was really excited about the opportunity,” Richard said. “I actually had a brother that grew up in a wheelchair, so being involved in these kinds of activities were near and dear to my heart. Once I was involved as (a) student-athlete, I made a lot of great relationships with really great people here and couldn’t walk away. It’s been amazing to see all of

MEN’S GOLF

them grow.”

From Lee’s perspective, he said growth for the players happens on and off the game clock.

“Having a disability doesn’t mean they’re stuck in a chair, rather they use a wheelchair as part of their daily life,” Dr. Lee said. “They use sports as a springboard for many of their activities. Many of them use sports and then get back into school, get a job afterwards and stay active and stay healthy

because of these sports opportunities that they get. Sports is not just an activity, it’s part of their lifestyle and it’s a great way to do rehab.”

Mark Krenz

At the age of 26, Mark Krenz has been dubbed “The best in the world.” Not only the best wheelchair lacrosse player, but the best person as well. Born with myelomeningocele, a form of spina bifida, Krenz has tackled challenges his entire life.

See LAX page 15

Golden Eagles claim fifth conference title

Sima-Aree falls short of individual title in 55th hole playoff

By Trevor Hilson trevor.hilson@marquette.edu

Marquette men’s golf won its fifth Big East Tournament title Sunday at Riverton Pointe Country Club in Hardeeville, South Carolina.

The Golden Eagles shot 873 (+9) over the 54-hole weekend and won the conference tournament by three strokes over St. John’s.

Individually, senior golfer Bhoom Sima-Aree was the highest finisher for Marquette, as he was a co-medalist with St. John’s senior golfer Jack Simon. Sima-Aree fell short of winning the individual title on a 55th-hole playoff to Simon, who birdied to secure the top spot individually.

Sima-Aree’s best round came during his second round of 68 (-4). However, it was not the low round of the weekend for the Golden Eagles. Graduate student Tyler Leach’s second round was a career-low, course

record-tying 66 (-6), which played a large role in launching Marquette into the lead after a T4 team finish after round one.

Head coach Steve Bailey said in an interview with Big East Digital Network’s John Fanta that his team’s ability to overcome adversity together played a big role in clinching a title.

“We’ve talked a lot about how the ‘we’ is bigger than the ‘me’,” Bailey said. “These guys went through COVID and a semester where they couldn’t even play golf, so we have emphasized building those bonds

with one another.”

As Big East Champions, Marquette earns an automatic

bid to the NCAA Championship, which begins May 15-17.

SENIOR MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER EMPHASIZES TIE OF FAMILY ROOTS

Marquette men’s assistant coach Jake Richard (left) serves as the head coach of the Milwaukee Eagles Wheelchair Lacrosse team.

Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics Marquette outlasted St. John’s Sunday to win the Big East Championship.

Photos by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu