“We Do Journalism”
the Quadrangle
Visit Our Website mcquad.org
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
Volume CVIII, Issue 9
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 7, 2023
FREE
The New Fate of MC: 6 Schools Become 3 Angelina Persaud and Kyla Guilfoil
MC Students Show Halloween Spirit
News Editor and Managing Editor
MC dressed to impress on this past Tuesday. Students were even seen in the neighborhood handing out candy to trick or treaters. MANHATTAN COLLEGE/COURTESY
MC Rankings Point Towards Positive Campus Outlook Angelina Persaud and Grace Cardinal News Editor and Asst. News Editor
Manhattan College continues to show an upward projection in national ranking status among other schools in the nation for its various programs and student outcomes. Traditionally, MC ranks highly among both private and public colleges in the U.S. but has shown significant improvement in recent statistics. These polls have been conducted among 3.5 million participants representing more than 2,400
IN NEWS:
The New Fate of MC on pg. 3
colleges and universities across the nation. The 2023 Payscale College Salary Report revealed an increase in graduates’ mid-year salary after leaving MC. According to manhattan. edu, “The ranking, which is based solely on earning potential, reveals that the College’s mid-career salary of $152,400, outpaces universities such as USC, the University of Chicago and Wesleyan University.” Currently, this places MC in rank 13 out of 118 for both private and public universities, beating out local rival schools such as Fordham University. In terms of private, faithbased institutions, MC is
ranked sixth out of 559 across the nation. The real significance of these numbers is seen through MC’s improvement in graduate salary with a total increase of $77,300 from the previous year’s report. The U.S. News and World Report conducts surveys for colleges and universities including those that offer graduate programs. They mainly depend on responses from administrators regarding the outcomes and academic offerings of that particular institution. There was a four-way tie for thirteenth place, between Em__________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Four of Manhattan College’s six schools will be merged under the Kakos School of Arts and Science, college officials announced Thursday. Milo Riverso, president of Manhattan College, sent an email Thursday announcing that the School of Liberal Arts (SoLA), School of Health Professions (SoHP) and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) will be combined under the Kakos School of Arts and Science. The O’Malley School of Business and the School of Engineering will remain single-entity schools. In his statement, Riverso described the move as the, “restructuring of our six schools into three to better position you to acquire career-ready skills while building on our supportive, high-quality academic experience provided by our distinguished faculty.” Riverso added that the three remaining schools will focus on “top-tier” education focusing on primary majors in “the arts, the sciences, health, engineering or business.” He emphasized his personal connection to the college as a key factor in merging the schools, noting that he saw it as an opportunity to transform MC as a learning institution. “From my experiences as a Jasper, I know this is a place of positive transformation — it transforms knowledge, learn-
ing, and careers — and it will continue in this tradition as we move into the future,” Riverso stated. “I look forward to the opportunity this restructuring will bring for our entire community.” Cory Blad, Ph.D., dean of the School of Liberal Arts, sent an email to SoLA students addressing concerns from students that their degree pathways would be affected by the new changes. “We want to be clear that none of these changes will have any negative impact on your progress toward your degrees,” Blad stated in the email. “All students currently enrolled in any degree program at Manhattan College will be able to continue in that program and graduate as planned.” Blad said that there will be no hindrance to current students’ degrees for the majors they are already enrolled in, saying, “We’re just moving to a bigger house.” “Everyone at the College is dedicated to your education and in supporting you toward your goals,” Blad said. Rani Roy, the college’s acting provost, said in a statement from the college that the merging of the four schools into one will “enhance” students’ academic experiences, “by concentrating interconnected areas of study within a given school.” “This affords our students both depth and breadth of choices while preparing them for a world beyond Manhattan College that is filled with both challenges and opportunities,” __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
IN FEATURES:
IN A&E:
IN SPORTS:
MC Students Get Creative For Halloween on pg. 6
Scatterbomb Halloween Performance on pg. 7
Jasper Games of the Week on pg. 10
News
NOVEMBER 7, 2023
Volume CVIII, Issue 9 NOVEMBER 7, 2023
The Editorial Board
Jocelyn Visnov Editor-in-Chief Kyla Guilfoil Managing Editor
Lauren Raziano Multimedia Editor
Angelina Persaud News Editor
Grace Cardinal Asst. News Editor
Angelica Niedermeyer Features Editor
Angelina Perez Asst. Features Editor
Karen Flores Arts & Entertainment Editor
Mack Olmsted Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor
Isaiah Rosario Sports Editor
Andrew Mannion Asst. Sports Editors
Adrianne Hutto Production Editor Rebecca Kranich Social Media Editor Zoe DeFazio Angelina Perez Web Editors
Ivy Jaep Maizy Swift Asst. Production Editors Mary Haley Asst. Social Media Editor Nicholas Gilewicz Faculty Advisor
About The Quadrangle A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news or ganization run by the students of Manhattan College. We strive to cover news around campus and the greater community, publishing weekly in print and daily online. Our goal is always accuracy, relevancy and professionalism. The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the College or the student body.
Join The Quadrangle The Quadrangle’s staff holds weekly open meetings on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. in Kelly Commons Room 412. All are welcome to come and join the club.
Connect with The Quadrangle mcquad.org @mcquad @mcquad mcquad
2
LETTER from the EDITOR Hello and welcome to Issue 9! This week you can read about the consolidation of three academic schools into 6. We’ve also got some updates on recent rankings the college has earned. As a reminder to all students and staff of the MC community, The Quadrangle is always open to recieving pitches via email. If you have a tip or an event you would like to see covered, please reach out to thequad@manhattan.edu. We’re very excited to share that next week, The Quadrangle will be in print for the first time this semester! Keep an eye out for a very special issue on stands late afternoon next Tuesday. Our “regular” and special issue will be uploaded to our website, while a limited number of print copies will be available on campus. Thank you to everyone who has donated to The Quadrangle through our GoFundMe and supported keeping our print traditions alive. Have a great week!
Jocelyn Visnov
Sincerely,
Editor-in-Chief
News
3
THE QUADRANGLE
The New Fate of MC: 6 Schools Become 3 __________________________ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Roy said. The merging of the college’s four schools comes just a year after Aimee and Michael Kakos ‘58 donated $15 million to the School of Science. “Manhattan College has been the educational love of my life,” Kakos told The Quadrangle last November. “It is our pleasure to give back to Manhattan College where I received my college education, and I consider it the most valuable thing that I own.” He called the new Kakos School of Science his and his
wife’s “legacy,” saying, “May all of its future students be inspired by the dedicated administration, faculty and staff which is the hallmark of this great institution.” The Kakos family maintained their namesake to the school, but now sees classes merged with those of the arts, health and graduate studies. The shift to merge the schools also comes just months after the School of Health Professions was established as a standalone school in March while the Division of Education was merged into SoLA. According to a statement from the college last March,
the renaming of SoHP came as part of MC’s plan to expand its program options in the healthcare field to include a wider range of majors from occupational therapy, pharmacology, a nursing program and many others. With the new changes, it is unclear if these programs will still come to fruition. SoHP’s dean, Shelley Johnson, appointed in July 2023, left the college on Oct. 10. Riverso said that “administrative changes” will continue through the spring of 2024 and be finalized over the following summer.
The different flags for each school are on display in the chapel. MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY
MC Rankings Point Towards Positive Campus Outlook __________________________ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 erson College, Ithaca College, Manhattan College and Siena College. MC also rose through the ranks for colleges in the region that promote social mobility, moving up from 86 to 51 in 2023. This places MC in the top 50 best-value colleges in the region. President of MC, Milo Riverso, Ph.D., highlighted MC’s upward shift in rankings as the reflection of both the effort of students and faculty. He specifically credits MC’s academic programs with attracting a wid-
er audience, leading to these new results. “We are proud to be recognized by the U.S. News & World Report for our commitment to providing a high-quality education to our students,” Riverso said. “It also demonstrates our commitment to social mobility and that a Manhattan College education provides opportunities for students to achieve great things.” With ROTC and veteran programs continuing to develop on campus to support students in the military, MC did not go unrecognized for its efforts in enabling quality education for student veterans.
The college, “ranked third, up from sixth in 2023 among regional universities, continuing its perennial recognition as a school that embraces those who have served in the military,” according to manhattan. edu. There was also a slight rise in rankings for the engineering program at MC with the college coming in fortieth, beating out its previous standing at forty-second. Likewise, the business and teaching programs made significant improvements coming in at 310th and eighth place respectively.
MC main Quad turns picturesque colors in the fall. ANGELINA PERSAUD/ THE QUADRANGLE
QUADRANGLE
News
NOVEMBER 7, 2023
Welcome to MC, the Vice President Student Life Advisory Board
4
Angelina Perez
Asst. Features Editor & Web Editor Vice President for student life and dean of students Ronald Gray, Ph.D., has created a diverse advisory board consisting of members from student government, athletes, residence life and commuters to allow them to amplify their voices about student needs on campus. “Being Vice President, you don’t get a chance to really meet with students and hear their voices as much as you’d like,” Gray told the Quadrangle. “I initiated the work in the spring..it really is a guide for everyone so that they can hear the student voice.” Gray explains that he understands how important it is for students at Manhattan College to bring up issues they deem relevant to the betterment of the campus. “A lot of them had concerns about meal plan setup for commuters and what artist we’re going to have at spring fest,” Gray said. “They’re great ideas and a huge piece of information to help me do a better job and enlighten me on stuff that is cool and in popular culture.” The process for the advisory board to bring up relevant issues begins with students addressing their concerns at board meetings and then the issues are discussed with the relevant departments. “My hope is that we bring it back to them in a reasonable amount of time.“Students are extremely intelligent, and you just have to treat them like people. They don’t expect the world to change overnight as long as they know you’re working on something,” Gray said. Kristyn Smith is a senior marketing major who plans to involve commuter students with sports games during the day or when they are not on campus. “I think just understanding that there are other teams that don’t get the same support from regular students,” Smith said. “You’ll see a lot of other athletes at games, but I don’t see a lot of other students un-
Vice President for student life and dean of student, Ronald Gray, Ph.D.,has created a diverse advisory board consisting of members from student government, athletes, residence life and commuters to allow them to amplify their voices about student needs on campus. MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY less they happen to be passing by. Even then, they don’t necessarily stay for very long.” Discussion of what could benefit the athletes and students to increase attendance was brought up during a previous advisory meeting in hopes of more advertisements for games being pushed out on multiple social media platforms. “We’ve thought about tailgating,” Smith said. “There’s a big empty lot next to Leo that we can have people come out to and play backyard games, eat food and see other people around campus that you might get to know or have never seen before.” Harrison Bookner is a sophomore physical education major who started his first year at MC as a commuter. He is now living on campus and can see firsthand the difference in student engagement. “Last May, I took a class for
my kinesiology concentration, called Outdoor Pursuits, where I got to engage in leadership activities outdoors for seven days in upstate Connecticut,” Bookner said. “I felt left out that I wasn’t living on campus because the people I met all knew each other from the dorms. Now that I am living on campus, I feel like an actual part of the Manhattan College community, whereas in my first year, I didn’t.” Elizabeth Kennedy is a sophomore communications major with a minor in digital media arts who decided last semester she wanted to take her friends’ complaints and her own to a space where her voice would be listened to. Kennedy explained how the student advisory spoke about spring fest and making the whole experience for commuter students easier this upcoming spring semester. “It previously put [commut-
ers] in an awkward spot where they didn’t feel like actual students who could go to spring fest due to the guest policy not being accessible during that weekend,” Kennedy told The Quadrangle. “I think at least commuters should be allowed to stay over because those kinds of events happening on campus are important for socialization.” Senior Emilia O’Neil had previously established a working relationship with Gray before the application went out and knew the opportunity to join the advisory board would further develop her leadership skills in her double major in psychology and Spanish humanities. “I think there are a lot of opportunities on this campus for students to have their voices heard and collaborate with not just their classmates but with faculty and administrators at the higher level,” O’Neil said.
“I think [the advisory board] offers students an opportunity to feel empowered and have a platform where they are respected and in a position of change. O’Neil continued to explain how boards like the student advisory hold opportunities for personal improvement and development for the campus community to foster a more robust, collaborative environment. “I think opportunities like this are invaluable experiences for students on campus to challenge their thoughts, opinions, and perspectives on things in a respected and supportive environment that has power,” O’Neil said.“This board is an opportunity to express those sentiments to someone [Gray] who can be a vessel for change and set you up for dynamics that you will face in the future.”
5
Features
THE QUADRANGLE
Hook-o-ween with MC Crochet Club
Anna Segota Staff Writer
The Crochet Club hosted their annual Halloween event this past Monday, with members coming together to celebrate and make some new creations. The Crochet Club hosts several different holiday events, such as Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Their next crochet event will be a Thanksgiving project on Monday Nov. 20th, right before break starts. At each event the club hosts, a new themed pattern is selected for the members to make and practice their skills on, with seasonal treats also being served. Since this event was for Halloween, trick-ortreat candy was set out for everyone to enjoy. During the meeting, members were given a pattern for a pumpkin coaster, and provided with the materials needed to make it by the board. While most people participated in the coaster project, members were also encouraged to get creative, with some using the materials to create pumpkin bracelets, or working on personal projects as well. The club’s board provides yarn, hooks and other necessary materials for the members. The board pays for all of the costs and needs of the club themselves. Members told The
Quadrangle crochet supplies are very expensive, and the cost of buying for the entire club is hard on the board members. The club is hoping to host a fundraising event, perhaps selling some of their crochet projects. The Crochet Club was founded last year by current seniors Samantha Pericelli, Isabella Vidales and Jess DeFeo. They originally made the club to crochet and create together, as it was hard to find time in their busy schedules. “Samantha and I are both super busy, but we have contrasting schedules and one of the reasons why we bonded in the first place is because we both like to crochet,” said Vidales when asked about the club’s origins. “So, we were interested in making a dedicated time for us to be able to crochet together and then we realized that other people were interested as well.” Now in its second year, the club has experienced a lot of growth, with new interest from upperclassmen, as well as freshman joining, the Crochet Club’s membership has almost tripled since this time last year. “I’ve been crocheting for a couple of years and I just wanted more exposure to different projects,” said freshman Ashley Zegler, when asked why she attends meetings. Board member’s first hosted a three part introductory event to crocheting before
The board of the crochet club showing off examples of what the pumpkin coasters should look like! ANNA SEGOTA/COURTESY starting regular meetings this year. Crocheting is a complicated process, and the board wanted to make sure that new members wouldn’t be intimidated or discouraged from joining and could understand the basics before moving onto larger projects. The crochet club allows people to learn and share their interest in this hobby with one another, some members being life-long crocheters, and others picking up hooks for the first time. The engagement brought on by students here at MC have helped keep this centuries old practice alive, and reigniting family traditions. “My mom taught me how to crochet,” said DeFeo. “She’d send me to my grandma’s house and we would crochet and then I kind of just forgot about it. Last year, I saw Sam and Jess crocheting again and thought maybe I should pick it up. Then I did, and it was so fun! I will probably never put it down ever again.”
The crochet club shows off their Halloween creations! ANNA SEGOTA/COURTESY
Features
NOVEMBER 7, 2023
6
Halloween Fashion Finds: MC Students Get Creative IV: For the Strawberry Shortcake one, I crocheted a strawberry hat and a longsleeved shrug. I also crocheted a frog hat and green top for another night!
Lauren Raziano Multimedia Editor
Halloween allows students to dress up and wear whatever character or personality they want. MC Students embraced the Halloween weekend by sporting creative and unique outfits around campus and the city. Read on to get the scoop from The Quadrangle about five students’ spooky looks.
TQ: What do you think is an important decision when choosing a costume? IV: Find something that makes you excited to wear it! TQ: Any advice for students who want to make a creative costume? IV: Definitely don’t wait until the last minute in case it all goes wrong.
Cynthia Cruz ’25 and Maddie Siefert ’24 Featured Costume: Glow in the dark stick figures English Secondary Education & History Secondary Education The Quadrangle: You did a duo costume, how did you decide what costume to wear this year? Cynthia Cruz: It was honestly a really last minute decision, but we wanted to do something funny and creative for Halloween, so we made an entire list of costume ideas. Out of all the ideas, we decided on the one that was college student budget friendly and hilarious to think about. TQ: Did you craft or make any cool unique items to compliment your costume? Maddie Siefert: I actually bought a ton of glow sticks from Target, along with safety pins, duct tape and a hot glue gun. We only ended up really using the glow sticks and duct tape. TQ: What do you think is an important decision when choosing a costume? CC: The weather. If it’s freezing outside for Halloween, we’re definitely bundling up. We think that creativity is also an important decision when it comes to choosing costumes. TQ: Any advice for students who want to make a creative costume? CC: Definitely create a list of ideas yourself and then share that list with your friends. You can either choose from the list or think of an entirely new idea together. Do whatever you want, Halloween is that night to be whatever you want. TQ: How many costumes did you plan out for Halloween weekend? CC: Way too many. We both had 3 costumes in total for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
TQ: What is your favorite costume you ever wore? IV: [It would] probably [be] the cow onesie I wore when I was a toddler, it would moo when you pushed on the stomach!
Cynthia Cruz and Maddie Siefert wore glow in the dark stick figure costumes to wear on Halloween. CYNTHIA CRUZ/ COURTESY Christopher Colavito ‘25 Feature Costume: Stella from Bloom Biology The Quadrangle: How did you decide what costume to wear this year? Christopher Colavito: Most of my friend group did a group costume to do the Winx Club. My friend Analia came up with the idea because I know she really likes Winx and we had enough people to do it. In order to choose who was going to be which character was chosen actually by a BuzzFeed quiz that was for seeing what Winx club member you are. I did have a little tiff with my other friend Maddie because we both wanted to be Bloom, but the quiz settled it as it said I would be Stella and she would be Bloom. TQ: What do you think is an important decision when choosing a costume? CC: An important part of making a decision on a costume is seeing what you can afford or what you already have on hand to add to this year’s idea. TQ: How many costumes did you plan out for Halloween weekend? CC: I originally planned to do two costumes; the Winx club costume for Friday night and Allan from the Barbie movie for Saturday night. However, the Allan costume never came
in the mail so I just did Winx for both nights. TQ: What is your favorite Halloween tradition? CC: My favorite Halloween tradition is returning the costume after the weekend to get your money back. TQ: If you could wear only one costume for the rest of your life, what would you wear and why? CC: If I could only wear one costume for the rest of my life, if it was for literally everyday it would be my Eddie Munson costume I did last year because it looks like the most regular. If it’s that I can only wear one costume for every Halloween again it would be this year’s Winx costume.
Lewis Forster ‘28 Featured Costume: USA Flag Mechanical Engineering The Quadrangle: You dressed as the USA, how did you decide what costume to wear this year? Lewis Forster: Well, my original idea was to be a Queen’s Guard, but Amazon had canceled my order so I had to take a quick trip to Spirit
Halloween. I saw the American costume and just thought it would be super ironic. TQ: Did you craft or make any cool unique items to compliment your costume? Makeup? LF: I borrowed my friend’s bumbag and white sunglasses to add to the costume, mainly because I had no pockets. TQ: What do you think is an important decision when choosing a costume? LF: First, you have to decide whether you want it to be actually “scary” or just a funny dress up, and whichever you choose, you gotta go big or go home. TQ: Any advice for students who want to make a creative costume? LF: Be unique and go for something others wouldn’t have thought of. A great idea is if a group of you all dress the same or follow a theme. That’s effective. TQ: If you could wear only one costume for the rest of your life, what would you wear and why? LF: Something with a lot of pockets so it’s useful.
Isabella Vidales ‘25 Featured Costume: Crocheted Strawberr y Shortcake & frog Economics, Spanish minor The Quadrangle: Describe your costume, how did you decide what costume to wear this year? Isabella Vidales: I chose the frog costume because I had a lot of green yarn left over from making the hat for my Strawberry Shortcake costume! My friend group had planned to do all the characters. TQ: Did you craft or make any cool unique items to compliment your costume? Makeup?
Isabella Vidales made handmade crochet items for her Halloween costumes. ISABELLA VIDALES/COURTESY
Arts & Entertainment
7
THE QUADRANGLE
Scatterbomb Gets Spooky with Halloween Themed Performance Maizy Swift
Asst. Production Editor Manhattan College’s improv group, Scatterbomb, brought some humor to the spooky season with their first performance of the semester on Oct. 27. Scatterbomb invited students to come and dress up as well as take part in a costume contest. The group had everyone in the room laughing with their ludicrous humor and crazy costumes. Colin Ratner, senior stu-
dent at MC and Scatterbomb member, said he had a great time performing at this show. “The experience was fun and new, it’s a great creative outlet and the best part is the people I’ve met and grown closer to along the way,” Ratner said. Ratner has high hopes for what the future of Sactterbomb holds. “I’m looking forward to future performances when we can polish off some of the unsavory aspects like the awkward silences.”
New member and freshman student Jason Matute had a very positive experience at his first show. “I feel better about myself now because I noticed everyone was laughing, everyone’s being funny,” Matute said. “I feel that all the years went away once I got on stage in the past overthinking, but now I’m fine.” Mature said that going through his first show gave him some experience and confidence that will help him in the future with his performance.
He also hopes that the group can progress even more in upcoming shows. “I hope in the future that of course we have more fun, and we also learn some new things, and we also get together better as a team,” Matute said. Matute encourages more MC students to attend Scatterbomb shows in the future. “ I would say, come because you’re having a great time, everyone’s laughing and ultimately [you] meet new people and make new friends,” Matute said.
Scatterbomb, brought some humor to the spooky season with their first performance of the semester on Oct. 27. ANGELINA PEREZ/THE QUADRANGLE
An audience member, Andrew Bolanos, a freshman at Manhattan, came to support his friends who are a part of Scatterbomb. “I feel enlightened on what my friend can do because he’s using the performance and I’m proud of him, I got to support them,” Bolanos said. Bolanos, never having seen a Scatterbomb performance, can see the positive impact the improv group has on students. “You can have fun, you can be yourself and no one really cares because everyone’s just here to have fun times, anyone can join,” Bolanos said. Rory O’Connor, a junior at MC and yellow audience member was also attending his first Scatterbomb show. “ It was really good,” O’Connor said. “I’ve never been to one of these before, it was my first time out and it was fun and a cool way for people to be creative.” O’Connor also mentioned he would consider joining the group because of what they do for the MC community. “They [Scatterbomb] give people a chance to be great, you never get a chance like this once you join a community,” O’Connor. Another audience member, Mathew Renda, a junior at MC, also attended Scatterbomb for the first time. “I liked how festive it was, the people had cool costumes and it got the audience in the spirit for Halloween,” Renda said.
NOVEMBER 7, 2023
Arts & Entertainment
Manhattan Magazine Hosts Scary Writing Workshop
Mack Olmsted
Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Manhattan Magazine held a Scary Story Workshop where students were invited to strengthen their creative writing skills with reading and writing poetry using horror themes inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Students gathered in Kelly 3.05, occupying almost every seat at the table to practice their writing skills. While the workshop was hosted by Manhattan Magazine, the event itself was led by two professors, Adam Koehler Ph.D., and Dominika Wrozynski Ph.D. The event was popular and many students had the beginning of a short story that they were working on. Junior Claire Cunniffe, a literary editor for the magazine, noted her main takeaways from the event. “I learned different new ways to write poetry and fiction,” Cunniffe said. “Overall the experience was great, everyone was really friendly and it felt very open and comfortable. I would recommend it for
anybody who wants to learn to write better.” Koehler explained the inspiration for the event, and why he thought the genre would be popular among writers. “We were Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the ways in which writing works it’s a communal activity as well as solitary as it is when you are always writing to others,” Koehler said. “So the idea of getting people together, especially this time of year, scary stories are in the air as part of the sort of moment that we’re in right now.” Koehler said he hopes that those who participated saw the way in which thinking about their target audience plays a role in creating a strong story. “It makes sense to kind of pull a bunch of writers into a room in order to have them think through what it means to write for an audience. With this specific goal, right, which is to sort of bring these more scary corners of our lives to life for each other, and to celebrate it to have fun with it,” said Koehler. The entire conference room was filled with participants who came for a variety of different reasons. Both poetry and fic-
tional writing were discussed. Participants got to figure out how to generate ideas. Wrozynski said oftentimes that’s the hardest part about writing which is why the event was hosted. “I hope they had fun,” Koehler said. “I really hope that there’s some joy in it, you know, it’s not a graded thing. It’s supposed to be in the spirit of the season, and I want them to enjoy the process. It’s hard work to write. It’s very difficult. The pleasure and the difficulty are timeless. But it’s just great to remind yourself that you’re part of the community because so much of the process is so solitary.” According to Wronzynski, most professional writers have writing groups and writing partners outside of their jobs. She writes with a small group of women that she’s been writing with for a very long time. Wronzynski wanted to show writers that they can work to help each other. The participants who went to the workshop were given the opportunity to submit their finished short story for publication and a chance to win a book. “This event is sort of a very
8
3.05 for a productive Scary Story Wokshop. MANHATTAN MAGAZINE/COURTESY
small way to show people how powerful peers can be, how you can be in a room of people who are interested in the same thing, and how you can bounce ideas off of each other,” Wronzynski said.
If you are interested in joining or participating in Manhattan Magazine please contact manhattanmagazine@manhattan.edu or follow @manhattan. magazine on Instagram.
Manhattan College Pipes and Drums take 1st Place at NYC Parade Andrew Mannion Asst. Sports Editor
After marching in the 2023 New York City St. Patrick’s day parade, the Manhattan College Pipes and Drums took first place for best high school and college band in the parade. This was the first awards ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic, and MC gladly claimed the achievement. The award meant a lot to the band given its history. With it being the first chance in 3 years, the band felt seen and was proud of their work. John Howard, senior accounting major in the band, talked about what the surprise award meant. “(Winning the award) felt great, it really felt great,” Howard said. “I believe we have won it a couple of times in the past, but this is the first time since 2018 that we have won the award. I wasn’t expecting to win it either. So it felt really good to accept first place.” The band proved themselves to be deserving of the award. The Manhattan College Pipes and Drums beat out a long list of other schools that have their own band and par-
ticipated in the parade. “(The awards) included a first, second and third place. There are many schools that are accounted for. We beat out West Point and St. Anthony’s. So coming out first place is great,” explained Howard. It’s almost impossible, however, to become a great group or band without a tightknit practice routine. Brendan Keane, a junior civil engineering major, noted the band’s practice regime. “We practice drums and bagpipes for about three hours on Thursdays,” Keane said. We pretty much just prepare for the parade season in March. Then we attend at least 10 parades on the weekends in March, and then the city one which can fall on any kind of day, usually March 17.” The club is made up of both MC alumni and current students. Keane shared with The Quadrangle that there are networking opportunities as well as a chance to just have fun. “Actually two of my uncles are in the band and they are alumni. They encouraged me to join and it’s been fun,” said Keane. “The dynamic between
students and alumni is very good, there’s a lot of networking possibilities. A lot of people in the fields of engineering, education, business etc. [John and I] serve as the student representatives in the group and it’s just been a great time.” Alumni member of the band, Colleen Corrigan remarked on her years of experience in marching band, and has found a tight family within the Manhattan College Pipes and Drums. “I recently joined the Manhattan College Pipe band in January 2023. I am a graduate of Mount St. Vincent. Back when I attended college, I took classes on Manhattan College’s campus since the schools were affiliated,” Corrigan said. “I joined the bagpipe world in 1992 when my best friend and her brother joined County Tyrone’s pipe band. I was originally a snare drummer and played the drum for 8 years before transitioning over to the bagpipes. I was just getting back into piping again after raising a family and reached out to the band and was welcomed with open arms.” Howard encourages both
Manhattan College Pipes and Drums at at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. FLIKR/COURTESY students and alumni to join Pipes and Drums, no matter their level of experience or lack of equipment. “Everything is paid for, like the instruments, uniforms and kilts. It’s all expenses paid and
we’re always looking for new members,” said Howard. If you or anybody you know is interested in joining the band, you can reach out to pipesanddrums@manhattan.edu with any questions.
Sports
9
THE QUADRANGLE
Sacred Heart and Merrimack Set to Join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2024! Isaiah Rosario Sports Editor
Effective in the fall of 2024, Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as full-member institutions. Merrimack is home to 28 D-1 athletic teams and Sacred Heart is home to 33 D-1 athletic teams. The membership committee of MAAC presidents and athletic directors looked at various schools in the hope of finding candidates to join the conference. The committee was focused on whether schools would increase the MAAC’s profile from both an academic and an athletic standpoint. After researching and looking for schools, the committee put Merrimack and Sacred Heart at the top of the list. Merrimack will be the only school in the MAAC Conference to be located near the Boston area. Merrimack is located in Andover, Massachusetts, which is approximately 223 miles from Manhattan College. Sacred Heart is located in Fairfield, Connecticut which is about 48.9 miles from MC. “Going into the Boston market helps us in a couple of different ways,” Travis Tellitocci, commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference said. “From an exposure standpoint, there are over 2.2 million homes in that region, it’s a top 10 media market, I think it brings a new fanbase into the fold again … the other part from an institutional standpoint is the ability to gather alumni in that area. A lot of our schools have alumni in the Boston area, now they’ve got their schools visiting Merrimack … I think that gives [schools] an opportunity to engage their alumni.” In Merrimack’s first year in D-1, they were able to earn the honor of NEC men’s basketball, regular season and NEC tournament champions. Since Merrimack was in a transition year from D-2 athletics, they were unable to qualify for the
Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will be joining the MAAC Conference effective in the fall of 2024. MAACSPORTS.COM/COURTESY NCAA Tournament despite being first in the NEC Conference. In March, Sacred Heart’s women’s basketball team was able to secure the NEC’s first win in the NCAA Tournament in conference history. The MAAC does not sponsor four of Sacred Heart’s sports: football, men’s volleyball, field hockey, and women’s bowling. According to the Sacred Heart Athletic Director Judy Ann Riccio, they are continuing to look for what to do with these sports as they were sitting in the NEC Conference and we should expect an announcement in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, other sports like fencing and hockey are set with their respective conferences. There has been a lot of conference realignment across the board nationally in D-1. Some of the major schools that have transitioned conferences are Oregon, the University of Southern California, the Uni-
versity of Oklahoma, the University of Texas and the University of Arizona. The mid-major conferences are now joining the likes of high-major conferences with the realignment and reconstruction of their conferences. “There’s a lot of conference realignment going on, and that’s the name of the game, to make sure that you position your school in the best possible situation,” Riccio said when speaking about the main factors about joining the MAAC Conference. “I think for us, we were just ensuring that our programs competed with stability and our programs had access to the AQ for championships in sports for years to come, so that was our primary driver.” Sacred Heart and Merrimack will join the likes of Mount St. Mary’s University, who left the NEC Conference to join the MAAC Conference last year. With the expansion of 3
new schools in the past three years comes new challenges that schools in the MAAC have to face. It is important to many schools in the MAAC to ensure that their facilities are up to par with other schools in their conference to make sure that they can compete with their rival schools. “We’re relying on loans and sponsorships to ensure to allow our student-athletes to excel in every level here at Manhattan College … we’re gonna have to think outside the box a little bit,” Manhattan College Athletic Director Irma Garcia said. “For us, it’s more numbers, student-athletes, maybe some sports do look at it that way, or maybe we get very generous people. We need some angels out there that supply and see the goodness because at the end of the day, it’s about the students and everybody looks at it that way.” A meeting between the presidents and athletic direc-
tors is coming in the next few weeks regarding scheduling and travel as Merrimack is now farther out for some schools in the MAAC, Garcia said. With the expansion of the MAAC, a lot of schedules that were set in stone for next season are practically out of the window with the addition of these two teams. It raises the question of how the schedule will look for next year, whether we have one division or two divisions in the MAAC. “What I like about this, is that there are conversations, that it’s not going to be in silos, and that the conference is not doing their own thing and they’re allowing us to think about it, and you can’t make rash decisions,” Garcia said. “For me to give you an answer right now, it’d be silly, right? I have to think about it after listening to my colleagues and how we all collectively can move the conference forward.”
NOVEMBER 7, 2023
Sports
Jaspers Games of the Week
Isaiah Rosario and Andrew Mannion
Jasper Talks
Sports Editor and Asst. Sports Editor
Men’s Golf: The Jaspers men’s golf team finished up the season finishing second within the MAAC. They finished by shooting 600, which turned into +40. They finished one stroke behind the champions, Saint Peter’s. Coach Keith Prokop noted how he believes the team has made a big turnaround and is on track to keep improving for the spring. “Our program is heading in the right direction,” head coach Keith Prokop said. “We saw it all semester long, it just did not show up on the scoreboard until this tournament. Losing by one hurts as I’m sure we are all reflecting on the decisions we made both good and bad, but coming in second in a large field just shows our progression.” Men’s Soccer: The Jaspers soccer team fell 2-0 during their last regular season game this season. After a scoreless first half, Iona broke open the game with a 55th-minute goal. That would be all the scoring until the last 30 seconds of the game, where Iona iced the game with their second goal. Despite the shutout, they had created good chances to score throughout the game. Dahan, Studenhoff, and Yeboah combined for seven shot attempts throughout the game. Head coach, Jorden Scott remarked on his pleasure with the team’s ability to create an offense, and how it will “We felt like we had some good control of the game today and created chances to score but couldn’t quite take them,” Scott said. “Now that the regular season is done we look forward to the playoffs where it’s win or go home and we will be ready to give everything we have.”
Tony Yeboah weaved through Iona defenders in a difficult 2-0 loss. GOJASPERS/COURTESY
10
Women’s Basketball: The Lady Jaspers beat Queens College in an exhibition execution game, with a final score of 68-42. The big win was led by Jayla James, who put up a team-high 14 points alongside five steals and three rebounds. Anne Blair and Tegan Young also netted 13 points each, while Petra Juric dominated the boards with 11 rebounds. Head coach Heather Vulin noted how fluidly the team played and what that meant so early into the season. “I’m excited with the energy, connectedness, and the hustle that the team is playing with,” Coach Vulin said. “We did a tremendous job sharing the ball tonight, responding and making adjustments.” The Lady Jasper’s first regular season game will be on Monday, November 6, as they take on Central Connecticut State University. Women’s Volleyball: After a hot streak, the Lady Jaspers cooled down against Fairfield after losing in three straight sets. The Lady Jaspers started the first set strong, but then the Stags went on a three-point run. The lead for the Stags went up to eight points in the first set. After the Lady Jaspers dropped the first set by only five points, it would be all Stags after that as they dominated the final two sets by winning the final two sets by eight points and nine points respectively. The leading Jaspers tonight were Maike Bertens and Mikalah Curran as they tallied 13 and 12 kills for the Jaspers. Sarah Emmons led the Jaspers with 32 assists. The next game for the Lady Jaspers will be on Nov. 8 against Binghamton University in Draddy at 7 P.M.