The Quinnipiac Chronicle, Volume 91, Issue 1

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020• VOLUME 91 • ISSUE 1

The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929

THE STRIKE THAT ALMOST POPPED THE BUBBLE P.4 ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR LAWLESS

NEWS P.3: Election Day

Students demand Election Day off in an online petition.

PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM

A&L P.8: Leading women in politics

New organization comes to Quinnipiac, striving to bridge the gender gap in politics.

PHOTO FROM CHRONICL ARCHIVES

SPORTS P.10: QU NHL edition ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR LAWLESS

An in-depth look at two former Bobcats emerging in the NHL.

Quinnipiac professors are not being tested for COVID-19 Faculty members share their concerns

By KALLEEN ROSE OZANIC Associate News Editor

Quinnipiac University’s COVID-19 protocols are not requiring professors to be tested for the virus for the fall 2020 semester, according to Dr. David Hill, professor of medical sciences, COVID-19 task force member and director of the Global Public Health program.

Hill outlined testing requirements stated in an Aug. 6 email sent to students that onground students were required to have negative COVID-19 test results administered both before and after move-in, with “weekly testing of approximately 15% of all undergraduate residential and non-residential students.”

However, there are no testing requirements for professors.

“If a faculty or staff member has symptoms, we’d ask them to contact their primary care provider and they can be tested not through our system, but tested through their primary care provider,” Hill said.

The summer educational experience at Quinnipiac “had 300 or 400 people on campus every day all summer long” as well as students in the occupational therapy, physi-

cal therapy and medical programs interacting with professors in July and no cases were reported during that time, according to Hill.

While Quinnipiac has not yet experienced an outbreak, there are COVID-19 cases within New Haven county.

“The cases of COVID-19 in Hamden remain high even though they are much lower than in other cities and other states,” said Marcos Scauso, assistant professor of political science. “I am also concerned with the amount of work that faculty have been asked to do with the increase of classes and students per class.”

Scauso is teaching classes this semester on campus and virtually, both synchronously and asynchronously. He said he is concerned for everyone’s health at this time.

“I feel like we should all be tested in order to have a more healthy community,” Scauso said.

Although not all those affected were considered in planning the semester, Scauso said that he believes the university is putting forth its best effort given the situation.

See TESTING Page 2

CONNOR LAWLESS/CHRONICLE

Students underwent a second round of COVID-19 testing after arriving on campus.

2| News

MEET THE EDITORS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brendan O’Sullivan MANAGING EDITORS Jessica Simms Jared Penna CREATIVE DIRECTOR Connor Lawless NEWS EDITOR Emily Flamme ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Kalleen Rose Ozanic Chatwan Mongkol OPINION EDITOR Toyloy Brown III ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR Michael Sicoli ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Emily DiSalvo ASSOCIATE ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Ashley Pelletier SPORTS EDITOR Riley Millette ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Peter Piekarski DESIGN EDITOR Michael Clement PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Morgan Tencza PODCAST PRODUCER Xavier Cullen COPY EDITOR Nicole McIsaac THE QUINNIPIAC CHRONICLE is the proud recipient of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors’ award for College Newspaper of the Year in New England for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2015-16.

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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

September 9, 2020

Quinnipiac students against partying

Students support ‘harsh and unprecedented’ policies

By EMILY FLAMME News Editor

Parties, a common activity among college students, are now condemned by some Quinnipiac University college students.

“I think that nobody should be partying on campus this year,” said Talya Castonguay, a sophomore film and media studies double major. “If people want to get together, they should be hanging out outside with masks on while socially distancing.”

The university policy this semester prohibits visitors from entering residence hall buildings. Only students who live in a particular building are allowed.

Students may hangout inside a residence hall with people from the same residence building. However, the group must not exceed twice the occupancy of the unit with the maximum of 10 people.

The rules for off-campus gatherings include having a maximum of 16 people outdoors or 10 people for indoors, depending on the space. Everyone is required to wear a mask and practice social distancing.

“Quinnipiac Public Safety is working in collaboration with the Hamden Police Department to monitor off-campus gatherings and will take action if these rules are violated,” according to an email from Monique Drucker, vice president and dean of students.

If the restrictions on gatherings are broken, the first offense results in being prohibited from attending on-ground classes and extracurricular activities for up to four weeks, depending on the Student Conduct Office’s decision.

The second offense results in suspension from the university for at least one semester without tuition and room and board reimbursements.

“These policies may appear harsh and unprecedented, but we are living in unprecedented times. We ask that you join in the campus and community-wide efforts to keep us all safe,” Drucker wrote in the email.

ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR LAWLESS

Samantha Hartmann, a sophomore marketing major, thinks the current university policy is reasonable since students will be sent home if they routinely break the rules.

“On campus, partying really shouldn’t be happening if we want to stay,” Hartmann said.

Julia Orlofski, a senior nursing major, created a petition that calls for the university to adopt a zero tolerance policy in regards to partying. “(Students partying on campus) makes me furious,” Orlofski said. “I can’t comprehend how people could be so ignorant and selfish.

It’s a blatant disregard for the rules, a blatant disrespect for all of the work staff and students alike have done to make this on-campus semester possible and an unquestionably inconsiderate action against fellow Bobcats.”

The petition Orlofski created asks that anyone who is found hosting or attending a large gathering without social distancing be

removed from the university.

“The students of Quinnipiac will not stand for the actions of the inconsiderate few to ruin the chances of the rule-abiding majority to have a safe and healthy on campus semester,” Orlofski said in the petition.

Orlofski said that the best way to hold students accountable is to encourage them not to be bystanders. By speaking up about what students see, Orlofski feels people will not want to break the rules.

Castonguay feels that any students caught partying should be removed from university housing. She also feels that students should face some kind of academic repercussions too.

“If someone breaks the rules, the university should give no exceptions,” Castonguay said.

“If students see their peers are being punished, they won’t be as willing to break the rules.”

Hanley: ‘The point is to break the chain of transmission’ TESTING from cover “As a professor, I do think, however, that more faculty input could have helped in some of the decisions,” Scauso said.

Hill explained the university’s decision regarding testing requirements.

“We feel that it’s really the students who are living and congregating together (that) present the biggest risk because faculty have been coming in for several hours to a few hours,” Hill said. “They’ll be socially and physically distanced and be wearing face coverings so the transmission in that is really low.”

Rich Hanley, associate professor of journalism, said he believes that testing should be universal.

“Everyone who is on campus should be tested and that includes faculty, staff and administrators,” he said. “The point is to break the chain of transmission wherever it occurs, and testing of everyone would help that effort.”

Hanley said due to his age, 64, and existing heart conditions, he is remotely teaching all of his classes.

“I’m not teaching on campus, but I do hope that all the measures taken by the university

“There’s no reason to think faculty are any less vulnerable or any less likely to be infected than anyone else.”

— DENNIS RICHARDSON

PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY

and individuals will keep everyone safe and healthy,” Hanley said.

Dennis Richardson, professor of biology, also acknowledged the university’s role in planning and testing.

“I know Quinnipiac has put a phenomenal amount of planning and thought into it,” he said. “Every effort is being done to base it on science. I know there’s some schools in other parts of the country that have not done the pretesting like we did that has resulted in a lot of problems.”

Though Richardson said he appreciates the university’s role in taking precautions, he still prefers further preventative measures.

“Personally, I feel like it would be a good idea for all members of the community to be tested,” Richardson said. “Simply in order to provide a complete picture of potential transmission. There’s no reason to think faculty are any less vulnerable or any less likely to be infected than anyone else.”

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

September 9, 2020

News |3

Quinnipiac students demand Election Day off Students react to not being exempt from classes on Election Day

By NICOLE MCISAAC Copy Editor

Just like in previous years, Quinnipiac University will be hosting classes on the upcoming presidential election day, Nov. 3, and many students are voicing their opinion against it.

Kyra Angileri, a senior sociology major, started an online petition to make Election Day a university holiday, which would mean no classes can meet. She created the petition while sitting in on President Judy Olian’s speech during an orientation session for the class of 2024.

Angileri said Olian’s speech revolved around the importance of voting, regardless of one’s political affiliation or opinion.

“I thought that was pretty hypocritical to stress the importance of voting, but not give students that accessibility to do so,” Angileri said. “I wanted to bring that to the administration’s attention.”

Angileri created the petition at the beginning of August during Olian’s speech at other orientation sessions. As of publication, the petition has 852 signatures and continues to be shared through various social media platforms.

“This is something that I’ve always personally wanted and something that a lot of student organizations have pushed for consistently throughout the years,” Angileri said. “There are so many reasons as to why every single thing on the ballot matters and if we have classes, then students are at a higher disadvantage to go out and vote.”

Rebecca Torres, a first-year psychology major, said she felt a sense of instant relief when

coming across and signing the petition online.

“As a Latina woman, it was very intimidating coming into school feeling as though I’d still feel as helpless as I did back home

to allow more accessibility to voting for all students by accommodating for driving long distances, long lines at voting centers and social distancing guidelines, as stated in the petition.

“There are so many reasons as to why every single thing on the ballot matters and if we have classes, then students are at a higher disadvantage to go out and vote.”

–KYRA ANGILERI

SENIOR SOCIOLOGY MAJOR

with the situation about our politics today,” Torres said.“I’d sign petitions back at home and write about things, but I felt like nothing was ever being done. Coming to Quinnipiac University, I immediately saw that there were others who wanted to make the same change, even at the start of a small community.”

The reason behind creating the petition is

“I think that many people will choose to use mail-in ballots in order to stay safe and prevent catching and/or spreading COVID-19,” said Kimberly Janeczko, a sophomore nursing major. “Regardless if people choose to use mail-in ballots or go directly to the polls in safe and socially distant ways, one thing that I think COVID-19 has done for this election, above all else, is shown

each and every one of us just how much better we can and need to operate as a nation.”

Although Angileri has contacted the university about the petition, she said there hasn’t been any clear communication or answer about receiving the day off.

“I think that COVID-19 has taken away a lot of school days already,” said Mia Calore, a sophomore nursing major. “As important as Election Day is, I don’t think the university will take the petition seriously.”

Students are concerned that Quinnipiac does not see the importance of exercising their right to vote.

“As we approach the workforce, our perspectives are fresh and new, and without us voting for a president who reflects how we feel and what we believe, our voices will never be heard,” Janeczko said. “While we may not all agree on who we want to vote for, I think we can all agree on the fact that voting is a way for us to fight for what we believe is right and just.”

John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations said the university encourages students to register to vote and cast their ballots.

“Although classes will not be cancelled on Election Day, the flexibility of Q-Flex teaching and learning model we’re using this fall allows students in most classes whose class schedules conflict with the hours of operation of the polls to meet the learning objectives of the day’s class asynchronously,” Morgan said.

Voter Turnout in 2016 61.4%

Total

39.4%

18-24 36.5%

Men 18-24

42.4%

Women 18-24 GRAPHIC BY CONNOR LAWLESS

Voting Resources People can register to vote at https://vote.gov/ register/ct/ Students can request an absentee ballot at https:// www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/ People can locate their polling center at https:// www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/ Kyra Irene created this petition to ask for Election Day off.

SCREENSHOT FROM CHANGE.ORG

4| O p i n i o n

September 9, 2020

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

Opinion The strike that almost popped the bubble NBA players are not responsible for upending the police system in the U.S.

By TOYLOY BROWN III Opinion Editor

“The burden of having to represent is itself the shadow of racism. No one expects Kid Rock to represent. No one expects (President Donald) Trump to represent,” said Ta-Nehisi Coates, famed author and journalist.

There is nothing inherently wrong with someone famous representing a group of people — it can lead to empowerment and bring a sense of pride. However, the pressure Black NBA players have to spur real change in the United States is exorbitant and is a side effect of the racism that regularly besets Black people.

The Milwaukee Bucks were scheduled to play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic, on Aug. 26. The Bucks led the series 3-1 and needed a single victory to move on to the next round. However, 20 minutes prior to tipoff, Bucks players decided they no longer wanted to play and were willing to forfeit the match. Rather than play the playoff game, the Wisconsin-based team was compelled to call its state Attorney General Josh Kaul and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in the locker room. It was likely an attempt to convince Kaul and Barnes to arrest the police officer who shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, seven times in the back in front of his three sons, ages 3, 5 and 8.

The decision the Bucks made did not only start a wildcat strike, a strike without union leadership’s approval, in which every other NBA team in the bubble followed suit in solidarity, but other sports leagues like the NHL, MLS, MLB and the WNBA (which has been the most vocal and at the forefront of social issues for several years) all decided not to play their regularly scheduled games. Even some NFL teams decided to cancel practices and Naomi Osaka, the No. 9 ranked player in the Women’s Tennis Association, sat out her semifinals match at the Cincinnati Open to protest police violence. The unexpected unified defiance displayed across sports from athletes in varying leagues that in effect impacted the figurative wallets of sports’ stakeholders and disrupted the customary viewing of fans was an unprecedented occurrence in American sports.

The impetus for such massive dissent in professional sports was not merely due to the Kenosha, Wisconsin incident and the events following. The frustration that drove players to protest games span back to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daniel Prude, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and others who lost their lives at the hands of police officers (in the case of Arbery by a pair of vigilantes) in 2020 alone. The emotional devastation for these avoidable losses of Black lives are exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic that already has disproportionately affected African Americans. What occurred in Kenosha was the culmination, a breaking point for athletes, especially for the NBA team whose home city is only an hour away from the location where Blake was shot.

During the NBA protest, the question that took precedence for players and onlookers was whether the postseason was going to be continued. The shooting that left Blake paralyzed happened while NBA players were playing games in jerseys with phrases like “I Can’t Breathe,” “Respect Us,” “How Many More” along with others. They were playing on basketball courts that had “Black Lives Matter” inscribed large enough so it can be clearly read by TV viewers. Interview opportunities had been used by players to constantly talk about the racism that affects them personally and other Black people throughout the country. The players’ actions are an effort to shame America for the apathy it has shown for its Black citizens’ well-being and to inspire spectators to demand more from their country. However, it all seemed to be rendered pointless in an instant when another Black life simply did not matter in Kenosha.

The NBA season was in jeopardy not because there was a coronavirus outbreak in the bubble, but because the 80% Black league was sick of the rampant violence and fear instilled into African Americans from police officers. Players were virtually back in the same place they were in May and June when the nation was experiencing a social uprising against anti-Black racism and the prospects of the NBA playoffs were in balance. The players, as well as the viewers, are again urged to question whether basketball should be played in Disney World to begin with.

The question is straightforward, yet multi-layered. In the initial 200-plus NBA players meeting on the Wednesday the Bucks striked, the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers (the teams many would say have the best chance of winning the title) were the only teams who voted against continuing the playoffs out of the 13 teams who were still in the bubble at that point, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The next day, another meeting happened and the two teams reversed course and all the players agreed to continue playing.

There are three primary reasons why NBA players have remained motivated to play basketball amid a pandemic and the country’s racial upheaval: to complete the basketball season they had already started, to prevent massive economic downturn in

the league that will have significant ramifications for future seasons and to utilize their collective platforms in the bubble to bring awareness to social justice issues — specifically law enforcements’ excessive violence against Black people.

People who disagree with the decision to resume the playoffs may minimize the impact of the strike because it was simply a postponement that lasted three days. They may question whether the players are committed enough to doing all they can when it comes to drastically changing the police state in the U.S. that has for generations punished the poor, authorized racism and cultivated a cesspool of injustice. Are players willing to put their careers on the line similar to Colin Kaepernick, which led to him being jettisoned from the NFL? If the players decided to only play until meaningful changes in laws occured, then the NBA’s economic standing would falter dramatically and without question, influential owners would have all the motivation to make moves to prevent the peril the NBA can face without Black bodies on the court.

That reasoning is sound and explains that a clearly more radical protest would increase the chances of a more radical result than playing basketball in the bubble.

stripped away from Black communities is another debilitating issue that is not heightened at this present moment but is worthy of its own movement. The point is that asking players to give up generational wealth and limit the potential money players who are not in the NBA yet can make is a grave move. And whenever basketball would have a way to return, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement players would have to consent to would be a nightmare to complete without being railroaded by owners into taking a raw deal. There is also a good argument to be had that a cancelled season would arguably be more debilitating for NBA players than it would be for owners and executives.

Speaking of owners, one of the least discussed angles of this entire matter is the silence and lack of action from them. The 22 billionaires who own at least 20% of an NBA team, according to Forbes, are being let off the hook. It has to be acknowledged that part of the decision to return happened after there was a meeting in which players spoke to owners. This interaction resulted in an agreement to include three additional items to assist players: all NBA arenas will be converted into voting sites, the creation of a social justice coalition and to have advertising during

The NBA and its players have been instrumental in keeping Black Lives Matter in the spotlight.

A layer that is crucial to highlight are the expectations players have in the fight against police brutality regardless of if they played in the bubble or not. We anticipated that NBA players would keep the “conversation” going with millions of people watching games and interacting on social media. That has been successful. However, did we anticipate that the NBA players’ decision to be in or out the bubble would make Black lives matter more than they have shown to be worth in the U.S.? More directly, did we expect police brutality to end or happen less frequently because of players’ decision to play or not? These may appear to be ridiculous questions to ask, but it serves the purpose of putting things into perspective when it comes to the power players have and the power it takes to uproot America’s policing problem. It is unreasonable to ask these Black men to shoulder this size of a load when they are not capable of creating legislation to enact these changes.

These millionaire basketball players did not create these issues and as mostly Black individuals, they are also the victims of racial profiling and cruel treatment from cops — the Bucks’s own Sterling Brown was unlawfully arrested, tased and kneeled on. These athletes, regardless of the millions they have earned, do not have to resolve issues regarding the police system that have lineage that directly correlates to the patrolling of enslaved African Americans.

It is not the responsibility of the oppressed to solve issues invented by the oppressors.

This fact seems obvious but is not reflected in everyday discussion of this matter. For example, why are we not questioning if the NHL season should be cancelled? How about the MLB or the PGA tour? An observant sports fan may realize and contend that the racial makeup of these leagues as majority white has something to do with the reason players in those leagues are not being asked to sacrifice their paychecks for a larger cause. The point is not to say athletes from those leagues have to solve these problems either, but it isn’t a coincidence that the league with more Black players bears that burden.

Should we also in good faith ask one of the wealthiest classes of Black people in the U.S. to give up money today they will never see again and limit the future earning power of players who aren’t in the league yet? The ways wealth and ownership has been

PHOTO FROM TWITTER

playoff games that promoted voting. These are positive things but this should have already been in place and are not nearly enough.

People should deride owners and demand them to answer questions about why they aren’t doing more to support what players are fighting for.

The players are skeptical of owners’ allegiance to these social justice causes, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Rightfully so.

“I think that promises are made year after year. We’ve heard a lot of these terms and these words before … and we’re still hearing them now,” said the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown in an interview.

“Long-term goals are one thing, but I think there’s stuff in our wheelhouse as athletes and our resources and the people that we’re connected to that short-term effect is possible as well. Everybody keeps saying that ‘change is going to take this, change is going to take that’ and that’s the incrementalism idea that keeps stringing you along to make you feel like something’s going to happen, something’s going and nothing’s happening.”

Whether the players decided to play or not, we should respect their decision. The amount of pressure on them to amplify social justice efforts and to continue spreading awareness to the degree they have done thus far is commendable, especially as they have been away from their children, spouses and other family members for months. However, they do not owe it to anyone to unilaterally “take one for the team” as many Black people have done in the past for this country.

What has been made clear, though, for everyone paying attention to the NBA is that players have the audacity — or temerity if using an owner’s perspective — to in essence, take a few days off to prioritize their mental health and to leave the NBA powers in the metaphorical dark. These modern NBA players are emboldened and are more willing to leverage their talents to get their demands.

The 23-year-old Brown is evidence of players who are young but not easily deceived. He is not buying what the owners are selling — the new superficial solutions and recycled empty promises from before he was even in the league. Incrementalism is no longer the game plan the NBA can employ on its players. As much as the NBA is their career, the players’ hearts are with their people.

September 9, 2020

Opinion|5

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

A lukewarm welcome

Quinnipiac needs to step up its game for international students’ arrival

By LACHIE HARVEY Contributing Writer

International students don’t make up a big portion of the Quinnipiac University community, but we’re still floating around here and there. As it goes with any group, when someone arrives on campus, they should be walking into their second home. This was most definitely the case for me when I first flew in from New Zealand last year. I came over to the United States for the second time in my life, and it took a mere handful of hours for me to fit in.

This year, COVID-19 took everyone’s plans and expectations and plopped them straight in the shredder. It’s fair to assume that some students may not be able to come into such a welcoming environment. That being said, the treatment of international students upon arrival at Quinnipiac this semester was totally unforgivable.

International students travel for an extremely long time in order to get to campus. I spent 37 hours in transit from leaving my house to arriving on campus. I thought that the international student department and residential life would be aware of this. I assumed that they were well prepared to ensure that when international students get on campus, they can rest up and settle in properly.

I was wrong. When I arrived, I had to first check in at the York Hill campus before heading to the Mount Carmel campus and moving into my temporary isolation housing. A small inconvenience, but an entirely avoidable one. The staff in charge of check-in were very kind and helped me get a public safety car to transport me down to the main campus.

When I got to my room, I met Sarah Driscoll, the head of the international student department, and my temporary

suitemate Phillip, a first-year from Austria, who had moved in the day prior. Driscoll was very friendly and clear with me, precisely outlining what was expected of us while staying in the housing.

After leaving us to our own devices, I asked Phillip where he’d come from and how his experience had been so far. As it turned out, Phillip had come in at 1 a.m the previous day. His driver, hired by the university, had arrived late to pick him up from John F. Kennedy International Airport. A poor start, I thought to myself.

Phillip then grabbed a set of sheets from beside the door as he was speaking and put them in his room. They were unused. He had slept the night before with no bedding. I was pretty blown away. This poor guy had spent his first night in

GRAPHIC BY CONNOR LAWLESS

the U.S in a room with no bedding, on a campus he couldn’t explore, all right after traveling 12 hours from Austria. We got an email a few minutes later stating that certain groups were required to isolate for two weeks.

“If they make me stay in here for two weeks, I’ll ask my mom to book me a flight home,” Phillip said.

Thankfully, we figured out that it wasn’t us. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that Phillip was released to meet and interact with his cohort almost a full week after they had all moved in. I understand that these times are difficult for everyone, hell I had it lucky back in New Zealand with six active cases when I left. That being said, Quinnipiac needs to seriously step up its game with its treatment of international students, especially in the first few weeks of freshman year.

The department is certainly not rude by any means; as I’ve said, all the staff I interacted with were friendly.

However, friendliness can only go so far. A much clearer set of parameters and instructions should have been set for international first-years. First, they should have all firstyear international students come in on the same day. There is enough space in the isolation rooms for all of them to fit.

This would make adapting unbelievably easier, even in an environment where they always have to keep six feet of space between themselves. It also means that the international department can have a day where they can clarify any and all queries that the first-years might have.

Next should have been ensuring that international students were brought in as early as possible. It’s totally unfair to send students out to meet their cohort several days after their arrival.

Finally, tests should be done the day international students arrive. This shortens the time spent in isolation, and it gives students the opportunity to socialize earlier.

Like I’ve said, the international staff are kind and respectful toward us international students, and I understand times are strange. But considering the majority of us travel for well over 10 hours to a school that is supposed to be our home away from home, the needs of international students should be a higher priority at Quinnipiac.

Something or nothing — you choose Following COVID-19 guidelines is the best way to have a semester at all

By MICHAEL SICOLI

Associate Opinion Editor

Isn’t it so good to be back?

The feeling that you had when you saw your roommate for the first time in months. The stupid smile that crept across your face when you walked across the quad. The pure joy that you felt when you spent that first night back on campus, laying down and realizing that it was only the first day with so many great nights to unfold.

Now imagine being sent home to live the next few months away from all of that.

Quinnipiac University’s COVID-19 rules have certainly drummed up their fair share of criticism since they were announced a few weeks ago. Banning visitors from off-campus housing and other residence halls, limiting dorm rooms and suites to 10 people and enforcing the wearing of masks are just a few of the new changes that anyone would have laughed at a year ago. The food ordering app, “Boost,” is now the primary source of dining to avoid clusters of students in dining halls and seating is spread out by markers.

Everyone knows these rules are far from ideal. Everyone knows that our college experience, no matter how much the university tries, will suffer. But everyone NEEDS to know that these rules are essential to having a college experience at all.

This is the bed we have made as a country and whether we contributed to the growing positive COVID-19 cases or not, it does not matter at this point. The fact remains that a majority of students in the United States do not have the opportunity to walk across their campus or room with their best friends. Over 30% of U.S. colleges are completely online or primarily online, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education and The College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College. There are more colleges entirely online than entirely in-person this semester.

To the first-year students who are undoubtedly yearning to socialize, consider the risk. You have yet to appreciate college.

Months of bonding and moments can be thrown in the fire. Perhaps more importantly you would deprive the rest of the school of another semester, namely the seniors who are experiencing the ticking time bomb of graduation. Get to know your building — there are some great memories to create in there.

It is unimaginable to spend another four months away from the campus and people that I hold so close to my heart.

I love my family more than anything in the world, but this is one of the most important times of my life and yours as well.

Wearing a mask and socially distancing is a small price to pay to experience college.

College is where friends become more than someone you go to school with. It is where you learn to live independently more than you ever were prior to now.

The best part is I don’t need to convince any of you to agree with that because I’m certain you are right there with me. But we only have that experience if we abide by these rules. Wearing a mask is one of the easiest things to do; they are readily available and drastically reduce the spread of COVID-19. Ordering through Boost, a huge concern of mine when returning to college, has been easy and painless. Sure, orders might get backed up but growing pains are to be expected. There are also several grab-and-go options. As for travel restrictions, it is a

MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE

shame but one we simply must live with.

With Quinnipiac reporting zero positive cases through initial testing, I thank everyone for the sacrifices they have made. However, always remember what positive COVID-19 cases could mean. It could bring yet another semester crashing to a halt.

So if you leave campus for any reason, I beg you to exercise extreme caution. If you are on campus, following the new rules is the easiest way to ensure we have the best college experience possible.

After all, something is better than nothing.

6|Arts and Life

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

September 9, 2020

Arts & Life

DESIGN BY MICHAEL CLEMENT

Cut to the conversation Black students on campus discuss a wide range of topics in a new barbershop segment

By EMILY DISALVO Arts and Life Editor

The buzz of hair clippers.

A rotating black chair.

Deep conversation.

It sounds like a barbershop, but it’s the Piazza in the Carl Hansen Student Center. Students sit around doing their homework, eating and socializing. But in the center of it all, right in front of the fireplace, sits a barbershop chair.

Here is the set for Quinnipiac University's production of “The Cut,” a series featuring conversations between Black men on the Quinnipiac campus. The first season, which aired in August, included a wide range of topics. But like at the barbershop, no comment is cut from the discussion.

“A lot of times these are conversations that are being had in more closed-off spaces, and these are feelings our students don’t know how to express properly,” said Esau Greene, host of "The Cut” and a senior political science major.

Quinnipiac is a Predominantly White Institution, or PWI as according to College Factual, it is 75.9% white.

Only 4.1% of the population is Black. Greene said that this show is helping to build a sense of community among the Black students on campus.

PHOTO FROM QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY

Esau Greene, host of 'The Cut,' and Don Sawyer, vice president for Equity and Inclusion spearheaded the effort to bring open conversations about being a Black man to campus.

"A lot of times these are conversations that are being had in more closed-off spaces, and these are feelings our students don’t know how to express properly" ~Esau Greene, host of "The Cut"

DESIGN BY MICHAEL CLEMENT

“Being a prospective student, if I am looking at other schools, I am trying to find something that gives me that sense of belonging,” Greene said. “It shows I could be a part of something or belong there. The issue at a lot of PWIs is that sense of community isn’t there, and that’s something we were hoping to do. I think we did a pretty decent job of it.”

Frank Scott, a sophomore film, television and media studies major, worked on “The Cut“ as a production assistant. He said that participating in the show behind the scenes was enlightening.

“Hearing firsthand how isolating being a person of color at Quinnipiac can be really helped me understand the importance of having spaces dedicated to minority communities on campus,” Scott said.

As a white student on campus, Scott said that he appreciates how the show features the experiences of Black

students without making Quinnipiac try to seem more diverse than it is.

“This is especially great for Quinnipiac's primarily white campus because it elevates Black voices without tokenizing them,” Scott said. “It acknowledges the issues that our school faces in the dialogue it facilitates, rather than pretending the problems aren't there.”

So far, "The Cut" has featured several Black students at Quinnipiac as they talk about topics like mental health, coping mechanisms, Kanye West and memories of barbershop experiences. The idea for "The Cut" came from Don Sawyer, vice president for equity and inclusion at Quinnipiac.

At the age of 13, Sawyer used to cut his friends’ hair as a business. When he came to Connecticut, he met up with a friend who was holding barbershop debates about various topics, especially hip-hop. They eventually expanded topics and started recording them. He decided to bring something similar to Quinnipiac.

“I was planning to record it on my own but then I thought this might be something that the university would be interested in,” Sawyer said.

He pitched the idea to The Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications. Initially, the office was

worried that such a segment would present a misleading image of Quinnipiac's diversity.

“This is not a false image,” Sawyer said. “These are our students and the conversations they have on a regular basis.

We are not selling anything that is not true.”

Sawyer said that the decision to film in the Piazza was intentional.

“It’s about centering the voices,” Sawyer said. “It’s also about taking up space. The space is ours as well. Everyone can participate and listen.”

For now, the use of that location is on hold due to COVID-19. They hope to film "The Cut" in Burt Khan Court or another space to allow for social distancing or the installation of Plexiglas shields.

While the pandemic and the past several months away have created some difficulties for the show, it has also provided loads of content.

“You got the coronavirus, as a college student being at home, all of that,” Sawyer said. “The impact of the virus on different communities. The racial uprisings that have happened after George Floyd. What is this new focus on Black Lives Matter in sports? The election. There’s so many topics.”

September 9, 2020

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

Arts and Life|7

A heartwarming, yet hard lesson ‘All Together Now’ provides a predictable, but inspiring story to its audience

By ASHLEY PELLETIER

Associate Arts and Life Editor

Wake up, volunteer at the retirement home, plan the school variety show, go to work, go to sleep — Amber Appleton does it all, but you would never know that she and her mother are homeless.

“All Together Now,” directed by Brett Haley, was released on Netflix on Aug. 28. Haley previously directed films such as “All the Bright Places” and “Hearts Beat Loud.” “All Together Now” combines the themes of both of Haley's films, featuring struggles with mental illness and the use of music to bring people together.

Auli’i Cravalho, who portrays Appleton, acts in her first feature film since “Moana.” Much like “Moana,” “All Together Now” allows Cravalho to shine both through her acting and singing. The film features an original song, “Feels Like Home,” written by Keegan DeWitt, the film’s composer. In the movie, the song is written by Appleton’s father, who died when she was young.

One thing that I particularly enjoyed about the film is Appleton’s relationship with her mother, Becky, played by Justina Machado. Becky struggles with alcoholism and a toxic relationship with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Oliver.

Becky’s relationship with Oliver is a point of tension between her and Appleton, which results in a pivotal fight between the two. This fight is reminiscent of any argument that a child has with a parent who is struggling with addiction, which can be sensitive for some viewers.

One bone I have to pick with this film is how much the screenwriter and author of the novel it was based on, Matthew Quick, threw at Appleton. Homelessness, a parent struggling with addiction, a sick pet and dropping out of high school is a lot of struggle for one movie. However, once Appleton overcame all of those difficulties, I thought that the movie did a good job balancing between hardship and happiness.

Other than Appleton, two stand-out characters in the film are Ty, played by Rhenzy Feliz, and Joan, portrayed by Carol Burnett. Of course, there is also the true star of the film, Appleton’s chihuahua, Bobby Big Boy. Ty is Appleton’s crush, who helps her with her audition to Carnegie Mellon and raises the money for Bobby Big Boy’s surgery. Joan is a crotchety old woman who tells Appleton that she will eventually “make her cry.” Spoiler alert, she does, but not in the way that you would think.

"All Together Now," directed by Brett Haley, was released on Netflix on Aug. 28.

While the end of the film is clichéd and predictable, it balances well with the lows experienced earlier in the film. After watching Appleton lose all of her belongings, her mother and almost Bobby, it was nice to see her get everything that she could have hoped for.

At its core, the main lesson to be learned from “All Together Now” is that asking for help is not a weakness.

Both Appleton and her mother struggle with the concept throughout the film, with Appleton finally realizing that asking for help does not have to be a bad thing in the end.

I really enjoyed the film. Even though some parts of the movie are sad or hard to watch, “All Together Now”

PHOTO FROM NETFLIX

is ultimately a feel-good movie about the strength of a girl who does everything she possibly can for her community and gets the favor returned.

4/5 Bobby Big Boys

Time travel through video AJRadico’s ‘Armor’ is a perfect example of the counterculture in rap

By OWEN DOODY Contributing Writer

The general understanding of today's style of rap is that it’s dominated by heavy bass, images of expensive cars, females and the dreaded “triplet flow,” a grouping of three syllables repeated in rapid succession. While these things aren’t bad on their own, the combination can turn off some listeners.

Therefore, the rap game has developed what the media calls a counterculture. AJRadico, a rapper and producer based out of Queens, New York, is a perfect example of this counterculture.

This counterculture came after the rise of artists like Tyler the Creator, Joey Bada$$ and Denzel Curry back in the early 2010s. These artists rapped over awkward time signatures with flows that would barely fit over beats and didn't hold themselves to the same clothing and jewelry standards as other artists. In basic terms, this counterculture was created because artists were tired of not being able to live in their own skin and be famous at the same time.

AJRadico rides the line between culture and counterculture through his fashion, lyricism and production.

His triplet flows are complicated and refreshing, his fashion sits somewhere between bougie and bummy and you really won’t find many beats like his.

AJRadico’s most recent music video for his song “Armor” goes deeper than this though. Not only is it a perfect display of an artist expressing their true self, but the video also portrays the environment that AJRadico is most comfortable in. The video was shot in New York City over a span of a few months.

But there's one thing that stands out: the normalcy.

Based on the types of clothing that people are wearing in the video you can tell it was shot sometime in the winter of 2019-20 before COVID-19 became prevalent in the United States. The sense of nostalgia hits almost immediately after you start the video.

No masks, no social distancing — just a typical NYC experience. What makes this even more nostalgic is the fact that the video is edited to almost look as if it was shot in the 1990s through grainy footage and rapid shaky shots. If the goal of AJRadico and his team was to capture the final normal moments of 2020, they achieved it. Even if you don’t enjoy this kind of music, the video is so well made that it could be mistaken for a historical reference for how life was before the pandemic.

The song itself is refreshing to say the least. It comes in hard on the eardrums, with a melody as complicated as the city streets on a Friday night. The bass is loud and deep, but not overwhelming because of good placement and notation.

AJRadico’s lyricism and cadence are clear as day, making it easy to understand on the first listen. He also includes a lot of references to early 2000s pop-culture and cartoons littered throughout with one example being the, “omelette du fromage,” line which is a reference to "Dexter’s Laboratory."

Armor has gotten 42,000 views in just three weeks. The song instantly became AJRadico’s most popular release, the only unfortunate part is that he can’t perform it. In the meantime, AJRadico livestreams his beat making process every other week on his Instagram.

4.5/5 Stars

PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM

AJRadico is a perfect example of counterculture in rap.

8|Arts and Life

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

September 9, 2020 DESIGN BY MICHAEL CLEMENT

Empowering future female political leaders New organization comes to Quinnipiac, striving to bridge the gender gap in politics

By JESSICA SIMMS Managing Editor

Empowering all people to pursue their dreams in politics is the mission of Leading Women of Tomorrow, one of Quinnipiac University’s new student organizations.

Leading Women of Tomorrow is a student-run, bipartisan, national organization that was founded by a girl, Medha Reddy, who wanted to see a change in politics. Its goal is to bridge the gender gap that is present amongst elected officials and public servants.

“It’s an initiative that encourages young girls, also men as well, anyone who really wants to pursue a career in public office or make a change in society,” said Ambar Pagan, director of political affairs and a junior political science major. “So we encourage that initiative and we make sure that we give everyone the resources and opportunities that they need in order to make that happen.”

The national organization of Leading Women of Tomorrow reached out to Quinnipiac, expressing interest in establishing a chapter at the university.

Scott McLean, professor of political science, emailed Quinnipiac students, explaining the organization to see if they’d be interested in joining and applying for a leadership position.

Many of these women had personal reasons for why they wanted to join the organization.

“I have always had a passion for empowering young women to work toward careers in public service being a politically active woman myself,” said Mary Gerdenich, director of public relations and a senior political science and criminal justice major.”I believe women have often seen careers in the government and politics as unattainable due to the challenges and scrutiny that comes along with it, but I aim to be a part of changing that.”

As a new organization on campus, Leading Women of Tomorrow is utilizing its Instagram account, @lwtquinnipiac, to connect with the Quinnipiac community, as well as encouraging prospective members to reach out via email at lwt@gmail.com. “(Students) can get involved if they go to our Instagram page — it’s very active,” said Ohidiani Imevbore, vice president and a junior political science major. “We try and

do a post a day, so if they just send a direct message to the Instagram page, they’ll definitely get a response within 24 hours.”

By launching a new organization on campus amid the pandemic and not having a budget as of yet, Leading Women of Tomorrow is “fighting a couple of uphill battles,” according to Gabriella Colello, president and a junior political science and law in society double major. However, the organization has some events planned for the fall semester and beyond.

“We already have planned a virtual speaker series and we’re incorporating Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, she should be scheduled to come in this semester and speak at some point, along with a lot of other elected officials or public representatives,” Colello said.

DeLauro represents Connecticut’s third congressional district, which stretches from New Haven to Waterbury.

Hamden is a part of this district, making it relevant for DeLauro to be a part of the speaker series.

Along with the speaker series, Colello said Leading Women of Tomorrow is planning to do some community outreach in the spring semester and create an online platform to share students’ voices with the community.

“Our main goal is to act as a liaison between our members and opportunities for them to grow and be involved in this professional lens,” Colello said. “So look out for a speaker series this semester and professional development type workshops soon with resumes, cover letters. As well as community outreach and overall just trying to connect with the community on growth, mentorship. A lot of things are coming.”

By joining the Quinnipiac community, the executive board of Leading Women of Tomorrow is hoping to empower others and create an inclusive environment.

“When we empower women, I think we create an inclusive environment within ourselves for them to grow,” Pagan said.

PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM

President of Leading Women of Tomorrow Gabriella Colello said the organization has already planned a virtual speaker series.

“If we can bring in these resources, bring in these events to our campus and promote female empowerment, promote gender equality on campus, then we’re going to create a change that’s not only going to benefit women, but it’s going to benefit everyone on campus because then everyone is going to have an equal voice, equal say and I think that’s what’s needed especially now in 2020.”

September 9, 2020

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

Arts and Life|9

Making Quinnipiac his Home Quinnipiac’s first chief experience officer is eager to learn more about living on campus

By EMILY DISALVO Arts and Life Editor

Quinnipiac University’s first chief experience officer, Tom Ellett, is no stranger to college campuses.

Ellett has spent his professional career doing similar work at other colleges like Utica College, Catholic University of America, Syracuse University and most recently, New York University (NYU). Ellett fills a new role, which involves overseeing all non-academic and non-curricular matters.

Previously, the role was combined with the provost.

“I really wanted to get back to a residential campus where a majority of life is on the campus,” Ellett said. “I had been to Quinnipiac a few years ago for a conference and always fell in love with the picturesque campus.”

Ellett returned to the campus, craving its “warm feel,” in hopes of attending a school small enough to make connections with the students.

“Where I came from, you might run into the same student once or twice a semester because we didn’t have a student center, we didn’t have a quad,” Ellett said. “It was just a different kind of urban setting.”

Thornton Lockwood, program director of the First Year Seminar (FYS) Program said he is hoping that Ellett can help connect the academic and residential aspects of Quinnipiac.

“I think faculty recognize that students learn both inside and outside the classroom,” Lockwood said. "I think Tom can especially help us with the latter. He has had amazing experiences at NYU about making NYC a part of NYU students' classroom. I think there are amazing opportunities for him to do something like that at QU also.”

While campus life in the COVID-19 era has a different atmosphere than in years past, Ellett hopes he can still focus on enhancing the student experience in a safe way. His goal this year and in future years is to create a non-academic environment that aids the academic environment.

“How can we make it supportive and conducive to the complementing academics that happen here and making sure that the out of classroom experience is just as rich as the rest?” Ellett said.

One of his first priorities is helping to plan the new health and wellness facility.

“How can we look at wellness in a holistic manner — but from an emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual way in terms of wellness?” Ellett said.

Ellett calls his second goal, “operational efficiency,” which means to make the administrative side of Quinnipiac more accessible to students.

“I am in the early stages of creating a one-stop operation,” Ellett said. “It is where students would go either (online) or in person to a place to have a question answered — about a bill, about registration, about their housing assignment, their Q-card not working — rather than having to move from one office to another.”

The residence halls are a particular focus of Ellett’s. In his first few weeks at Quinnipiac, he has been walking the Quad and the residential areas armed with a mask and some cookies.

“I have tried to do quick engagements with students,” Ellett said. “Walking around the first Friday students were

AUTUMN DRISCOLL/QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY

Tom Ellett, who raised his children in college dorms, said he is eager to improve the residential experience at Quinnipiac. here, myself and a number of staff stood on the quad and gave over 250 cookies out.”

At his past jobs on college campuses, Ellett has often opted to live in a residence hall so he can fully embrace the student experience. He and his wife, who also works in colleges, raised their kids in residence halls.

“It’s something that gives you great knowledge of the institution,” Ellett said.

Ellett has no plans of living in a Quinnipiac residence hall yet, but he said he would consider it down the road.

In the immediate future, he is working to connect faculty to campus life outside of the classroom. He has seen various models of Living Learning Communities (LLCs) that involve the faculty members who specialize in the same interest area as the LLC. “That’s why I think it is so important for me to immerse myself in the community so I can propose something that will make sense here,” Ellett said.

He hopes to create an advisory group of faculty, staff and students to consider the residential experience.

“You can’t take the same model and put it at any institution — it has to fit,” Ellett said.

At NYU, Ellett was criticized by Resident Assistants (RAs) who said he failed to address concerns about mental health training.

The NYU student newspaper, Washington Square News, covered a town hall in which Ellett failed to take any questions on a 40-page manifesto circulated by RAs complaining about “mental health, compensation, unionization and general mistreatment in the role,” according to an article in the NYU student-run newspaper from May 2020.

Ellett is working with professors Lockwood and Glenda Pritchett, of the first year writing program, about how to have “Pods on the Quad” programming that will invite faculty out on to the quad to engage with students. This event will be held on Sept. 13, with FYS faculty and first-year students.

“I think all of us are longing for the kinds of connections

"I really wanted to get back to a residential campus where a majority of life is on the campus.I had been to Quinnipiac a few years ago for a conference and always fell in love with the picturesque campus." ~Tom Ellett, chief experience officer that naturally occur with the opening of a new school year and are of course more difficult this year,” Pritchett said. “Tom is intent on creating opportunities for students and faculty to engage in conversations and create relationships outside the classroom, thereby enhancing students' sense of fully belonging to the Quinnipiac community.”

On top of “Pods on the Quad” Ellett sent an email to faculty hoping to recruit a group of them to walk around some evenings from 9-11 p.m. to monitor social distancing in residential areas.

“Our presence on campus and engagement with students will also help illustrate our community-wide support of physical distancing and mask wearing protocols we are all observing,” Ellett wrote in the email. “The only expectation is for you to loop the campus a few times and engage in some friendly conversation.”

Ellett encourages returning students to email him at cxo@ qu.edu with a SWOT analysis on Quinnipiac. This means he wants to know strengths, weaknesses, areas for opportunity and threats, like COVID-19 “It’s more about what is the strength of the community here and what they think is missing,” Ellett said. “What are the opportunities on this beautiful campus?”

Tom Ellett came to Quinnipiac partly because of its campus and quad.

MORGAN TENCZA/ CHRONICLE

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

10|Sports

September 9, 2020

Quinnipiac alumni: NHL Edition

An in-depth look at two former Bobcats emerging in the NHL

By PETER PIEKARSKI Associate Sports Editor

As the 2019-20 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on, it is fitting to look at two former Quinnipiac University hockey players that are currently making an impact in the league and its playoffs.

The first, and currently the most relevant player, is New York Islanders defenseman Devon Toews. In just his second season with the Islanders, Toews has played a considerable part in their stride to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 27 years.

He’s the second Bobcat to reach the NHL conference finals.

During his career with the Bobcats, Toews was an offensive force on the blue line, compiling a total of 67 points over 108 games.

Toews then took his talent to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, after being drafted in 2014. Three seasons and 130 games later, the Islanders called him up in December 2018 to replace the injured defender Thomas Hickey.

The fourth-round selection accepted the promotion and delivered, producing 18 points in 48 games (four of which came on the power play) while averaging 17:54 time on ice (TOI). Once reaching the playoffs, he continued his impact.

Toews helped the Islanders eliminate one of their Metropolitan rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. Toews experienced a slight increase in playing time, averaging just under two more shifts per game from his regular season totals. Additionally, Toews contributed two assists en route to a four-game sweep.

In Game 3 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Toews became the first Quinnipiac alumnus ever to net an NHL playoff goal. Toews received the puck just a few feet from the blue line, turned and ripped a snap shot past the blocker of goaltender Curtis McElhinney.

However, the Islanders were swept by the Hurricanes, ending Toews first playoff experience. Islanders fans’ expectations for the 25-year-old’s sophomore season were astronomically high, according to “Eyes on Isles,” an Islanders fan page.

Toews beat out Hickey for a top-four defensive spot during the 2019 training camp.

Multiple Islanders beat writers and fan pages assumed that Toews would receive more 5-on-5 playing time and quarterback one of the two power-play units.

Although Toews received more powerplay minutes, his offensive numbers took a bit of a dip compared to his rookie season.

Part of the reason was power-play opportunities, or lack thereof, because the Islanders finished last in the NHL in total power plays.

He also started 2% less shifts in the offensive zone as compared to the previous season, according to Natural Stat Trick. That part can be attributed to Barry Trotz, Islanders head coach, and his extreme demand for team defense.

The Islanders finished 24th in the league in scoring. They were also the third-worst amongst teams that qualified for the 24-team qualifying round for the 2020 postseason in terms of scoring.

Looking at the two most frequently used advanced hockey analytics, Corsi For (CF%) and Fenwick For (FF%), Toews was one of the most impactful blue liners for the Islanders.

Corsi calculates all shot attempts: on goal, missed the net, hit the post and blocked shots at even strength. Any chance attempted for is a plus and any chance attempted against is a minus. Any number above 50% is positive and any number below 50% is negative.

Fenwick is the same measurement as Corsi, except it disregards any blocked shots for or against.

Toews finished with a team-high 49.79 CF% and 49.78 FF%. The next closest defenseman in both categories on the team is Toews’ most frequent linemate, Scott Mayfield. Mayfield posted a 47.25 CF% and a 46.82 FF%.

In terms of Goals Above Replacement (GAR), Toews was the second most efficient blue liner for the Islanders. He finished the season with a 1.6 Even-Strength Offense Goals Above Average (EVO), 3.7 Even-Strength Defense Goals Above Average (EVD) and a 1.5 Penalties Taken Goals Above Average (TAKE).

His 4.9 GAR stands as the second-best among defensemen on the Islanders, his 0.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and his 1.7 Standing Points Above Replacement (SPAR) both rank second on the team.

Although his offensive numbers did not reach expectations, Toews impressively stepped up for the Islanders on the defensive end, most notably when Adam Pelech was injured and missed 30 regular-season games.

Similar to the previous postseason, Toews picked up his game under the spotlight of the playoffs. Through two rounds of play, Toews produced a goal and seven assists in 16 playoff matchups, assisting the

Islanders to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Averaging just over 20 minutes per game, Toews has been a substantial piece in the Islanders’ postseason success. Toews and the Islanders are four wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, a feat only one Bobcat alumnus has ever achieved.

As for the first player to make an appearance in the NHL conference finals, it’s Connor Clifton, a hard-hitting Boston Bruins blue liner. The former Bobcat has solidified a bottom-six spot provided he stays healthy.

After signing a two-year entry level contract in the offseason, Clifton was called up during November 2018, where he played a nine-game stint in the NHL. He was reassigned to Boston’s affiliate AHL team, the Providence Bruins.

Clifton had a solid 2017-18 AHL season, collecting 13 points in 54 games, but the Bruins decided he needed some fine-tuning before his return to the NHL. The small sample size of professional play lit a fire under Clifton, who proceeded to double his point totals from 13 to 27 and was then brought back up to be a third-line pair defenseman on a cup-contending Bruins roster.

He finished out the regular season with the Bruins and made his playoff debut during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clifton notched his first career NHL playoff points during the second-round, with assists in games 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Bruins then advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. During Game 2, Clifton came flying up the bench side, creating an odd-man rush. He passed the puck out front to forward Marcus Johansson and plotted himself on the weak side as he circled behind the net.

Johansson’s cross-crease pass didn’t make it through, but Clifton corralled the puck and fired it into the open net, notching his first career NHL playoff goal, merely 10 days after Toews netted his.

The Bruins then swept the Hurricanes and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, making Clifton the first Quinnipiac alumnus to reach the finals. However, the Bruins were defeated in seven games, meaning Quinnipiac will have to continue waiting for an alumnus to hoist hockey’s most coveted trophy.

During the offseason, Clifton signed a three-year extension deal.

Connor Clifton Boston Bruins Defenseman

GP

116

734

TOI

1905

CF CA

622 49.92 CF% 447 FF 476 48.43 PHOTO COURTESY OF NHL PRESS

Devon Toews

50 620

NY Islanders Defenseman

1791 1718 51.04 1318

FA

1253

FF%

51.26

GRAPHIC BY CONNOR LAWLESS

As the 2019-20 season rolled around, expectations for Clifton were to continue the same level of production as a bottompair defender. Playing time for Clifton was limited as Boston’s staple defenders Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo led the way.

Unfortunately, Clifton missed 28 games, spanning from late December to early March, cutting the COVID-19-affected season even shorter for the sophomore defenseman.

Through 50 career regular-season games played, Clifton has not had many opportunities to grow at either end of the rink. However, his advanced statistics show he’s quite useful as a bottom-pair blue liner on a defensively loaded Bruins core.

When the 2020 NHL Playoffs eventually began, Boston rotated around the bottompair defenseman as players dealt with minor day-to-day injuries. Clifton saw some action late in the first round and four of the six matchups against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.

Notwithstanding the limited games, Clifton collected three points in his six playoff appearances.

Even though it’s a smaller sample size through two seasons, Clifton’s analytics are very similar to Toews. Clifton has a 49.92% CF and a 48.43% FF. None of his GAR statistics are negative either.

His EVO stands neutral at 0. His most frequent linemate, Matt Grzelcyk, holds a -2.8 over the last two seasons. Clifton has a 2.1 EVD, a 0.4 TAKE, and a 0.6 Penalties Drawn Goals Above Average (DRAW).

Respectively, his GAR stands at 3.3, his WAR at 0.6, and his SPAR at 1.2. Even with limited exposure, Clifton proves to be a beneficial factor on the blue line for Boston.

Through their two short careers, both Toews and Clifton have proven that they will be solid players for several years.

A year removed from the university’s first alumni NHL playoff experience, Quinnipiac nearly witnessed the first-ever Quinnipiac alumnus matchup in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Had the Bruins defeated the Lightning, the Islanders and Bruins would have met in the conference finals.

Either way, Quinnipiac proudly looks at its former Bobcats with pride, awaiting the next wave of Quinnipiac alumni to rise up the prospect list.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NHL PRESS

September 9, 2020

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

This week last year

Sports|11

Sports editor Riley Millette highlights Quinnipiac’s athletics from this week last year

September 7

COURTESY OF QUINNIPIAC ATHLETICS

Cross Country Women’s cross country finished second of eight teams at Shawn Nasseney Invitational and men’s cross country finished third of 11. The women had three top 10 finishers in senior Meghan Curtin, freshman Emily Young and junior Brooke Hagen. Michael Kiernan finished in third place of all male runners, and Cameron Starr was the only other Bobcat to finish in the top 10, finishing 10th.

september 8

RHEA GHOSH/CHRONICLE

Women ’s Soccer Women’s soccer shut out the University of Hartford 2-0 to improve to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 at home. Sophomore Gretchen Kron netted the game-winning goal in the 36th minute, and senior defender Kylie Lance sealed the win with another goal in the 60th minute. Freshmen Meaghan Phillips secured her third shutout victory of the season. She would go on to finish the season with seven such performances.

MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE

Women’s Volleyball Women’s volleyball beat Fairleigh Dickinson and Morgan State at the Knights Fall Classic tournament. Senior middle blocker Kaleigh Oates fiinished with 29 of Quinnipiac’s 88 kills between the two matches. The Bobcats allowed just 54 kills on the day, 34 fewer than their total. The team didn’t lose a single set on the day, going a perfect 6-0.

september 9

MEGAN LOWE/CHRONICLE

Men’s Soccer Men’s soccer lost to the University of Vermont 1-0, falling to 1-2-1 on the season. The Bobcats managed just seven shots on the day, and only two were on goal. Quinnipiac junior goalkeeper Jared Mazzola made three saves, but Vermont attempted four shots on goal. The Bobcats committed 20 fouls compared to Vermont’s 27, with the two teams combining for 47 overall. The Bobcats were shut out two more times during the remainder of the season.

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Women’s Rugby Women’s rugby beat Penn State 33-23, overcoming an 8-point deficit with All-American wing and sophomore Clara Lemal-Brown scoring two tries. Freshman back Bianca Coelin succesfully scored three penalty kicks, the only other scores on the day aside from Lemal-Brown’s.

september 11

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Women ’s Soccer Women’s soccer lost to UMass Lowell 2-1 in overtime.

Sophomore forward Lauren Wendland was the lone scorer for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac lost its second game of the season, falling to 4-2 overall. The Bobcats’ hot start came to an end following this game as they lost four of their next five games.

September 13 Women ’s Tennis The Bobcats won three of five A Singles matches and were 8-14 overall at the Quinnipiac Invitational. Freshmen Jordan Bradley, Emmie Lindholm and Andie Williams each won their first match as Bobcats. Williams and seniors Layla Rodriguez and Amy Zammarieh finished the tournament following semifinal losses.

Women ’s Volleyball

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Volleyball lost to Colgate 3-0, sophomore hitter Olga Zampati led the team with seven kills. Freshman outside hitter Aryanah Diaz and senior libero Alejandra Rodriguez led the team in assists (7) and digs (10). This loss marked the start of a sixgame losing streak.

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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

12|Sports

September 9, 2020

Sports QUCHRONICLE.COM/SPORTS @QUCHRONSPORTS

It starts with the athletes If a buzzer goes off and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?

By RILEY MILLETTE Sports Editor

The stadium buzzer echoed through the empty seats in Orlando, Florida on Aug. 26. Not an unfamiliar sound, though, since the NBA had been carrying on without fans for weeks in a tightly-monitored bubble due to COVID-19. But this buzzer was different.

There wasn’t a single player on the court.

Game 5 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic was scheduled to commence, but the athletes remained in the locker room when the game clock began counting down from 12 minutes.

On Aug. 23, Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black civilian, was shot in the back seven times by police. Three days later, the Bucks made the decision not to take the floor as a form of peaceful protest against police brutality. Many other teams followed suit, as several games were postponed. When the bubble came back to life, players voiced their opinions.

Players around the league, donned with messages across the backs of their jerseys like “Black Lives Matter” and “Say Her Name,” made sure that everyone watching knew that they were tired of the injustice, tired of the hate and tired of the murders.

And here in Hamden, 1,156 miles away from Orlando, the NBA players’ actions are rippling into the community.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced a new program called MAAC United For Justice, in which it is promoting messages of racial equality. Players will be allowed to wear patches on their jerseys and messages across the back of their shooting shirts. Floor decals and jumbotron graphics will be provided to teams by the MAAC. Most importantly, the MAAC is assembling and promoting multiple committees and programs that aim to educate their respective communities about racism and celebrate diversity.

“The MAAC is committed to organizing diversity and inclusion programming to educate administrators, coaching staffs and student-athletes,” the MAAC stated.

Quinnipiac University women’s basketball head coach Tricia Fabbri has been an integral part of the program, as have many other coaches in the MAAC. “We were unanimous in our conversations in doing our part,” Fabbri said. “Having a voice in the movement culminated in a good call with the men’s coaches, and out of that sprung a great program.”

The MAAC planned a plethora of other initiatives, including an educational program for middle and elementary school students in the community.

“We knew that was very important to all of us, we were just on a call yesterday with another in-depth reading program we’re pursuing,” Fabbri said. “The coaches have been very active for change and being consistent with our actions.

That’s where we’re taking big steps forward. These conversations will continue to evolve, and the target date is to roll out in February.”

Fabbri’s activism is about open conversation. She said that in order for all her teammates to be on the same page and to come to an agreement about how to convey their message, it has to start with continuous dialogue that allows everyone’s opinion to be heard. Their conversations have been stirring for a while and are ongoing.

The problem for the women’s basketball team is the distance between the players and coaching staff. Up until recently, they were all at home, speaking via Zoom.

“There’s been a lot of individual and team dialogue,” Fabbri said. “The challenge is not being in the same room. We’ve pretty much had good, constructive, hard conversations about the social injustice that’s happening in our country. We’ve also said we need to continue this conversation. It’s not just we hit on a topic and move on, we’ll pick it up.”

Fabri believes that the most important aspect is the longevity of the movement. She wants to make sure this isn’t just

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a fad that will get buried when something else comes along and takes away attention.

“We want to embrace and be really proud about the work that has been done, what the NBA and WNBA have started, seeing it on the floor,” Fabbri said. “We wanna make sure it’s not just ‘this was great for a time’ and it hasn’t gone away.”

This is a prime example of how sports can be a vehicle for social change. Instead of merely following a trend and turning a generational movement into a repetitive attention-grabber, the NBA and WNBA commandeered the conversation and influenced both major and collegiate sports into following in their footsteps.

The MAAC’s actions show appreciation, sensitivity and awareness of an issue that’s much larger than sports, as do Fabri and the other coaches actions in the conference.

“It’s about what we as a team can do with our voices, how we can be united,” Fabbri said. “It’s not just a poster saying, it’s about listening to people of color who have stories to tell and really learning the history of our country.”

So to answer the question, yes. If a buzzer sounds in an empty stadium with no fans or players around to hear it, it does make a sound. It makes a deafening sound. These players heard it first, the coaches heard it, the front offices heard it, and they’re leading the charge into a new day.

The Bobcats gather in the huddle during a timeout on Feb. 25, 2020.

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