The Quinnipiac Chronicle Issue 21, Volume 84

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The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929.

QUCHRONICLE.COM

MARCH 4, 2015

VOLUME 85, ISSUE 21

Sam: ‘I’m not the only one in the NFL that’s gay’ By NICK SOLARI Sports Editor

Michael Sam was forthright and sincere as he spoke to Quinnipiac students and faculty on Tuesday evening in Burt Kahn Court. Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted into the National Football League, revealed something to all in attendance: he’s not the only player that’s gay. “I’m just gonna say I’m not the only one in the NFL that is gay, I’m just the only one that is out,” Sam said. The former Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year acknowledged that he understands why others haven’t come out publicly. “They want to protect their livelihood,” Sam said. “But there will be a time [when they come out]. There’s going to be a day.” Sam spoke for about an hour on a variety of topics, including his future in football, his decision to come out as gay and the recent announcement that he’ll be participating in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. “It was a really cool experience, it was different,” Sam told The Chronicle after the event. “It was fun, it’s already been a year since I graduated. So it was nice to be back around people my age.” Sam talked about the upcoming NFL Veterans Combine, the first of its kind, on March 22 in Phoenix, Arizona. “I thought I did enough in the preseason (last season), but apparently it wasn’t enough,” Sam said. “I just have to work harder. I’m certain, whatever league I’m playing in, that I’m going to be playing football somewhere next year.” “I’ve fought adversity all my life. It helped me become me.”

BRYAN LIPINER/CHRONICLE

NFL defensive end and first openly gay player Michael Sam (R.) spoke at Burt Kahn Court Tuesday evening, tackling issues such as his sexuality and his future in football.

The defensive end also spoke about how his plan wasn’t to come out before the NFL Draft. Rather, he wanted to come out once he was drafted by a team. “If I had my choice, I would have never came out in a public manner,” Sam said. “My plan was not to come out publicly. But God had other plans, so I did what I did.” Sam even discussed his upcoming appearance on Dancing with the Stars. He announced on Feb. 24 that he would be participating in the ABC show, but added in a series of tweets that football remained his

top priority. “They wanted to do it last year, but it wasn’t the right time,” Sam said of the show. “They came back this year and I said ‘hell yeah, let’s do it.’ Sam’s partner on the show will be Peta Murgatroyd, who he says ‘challenges him every single day in training.’ “I joke around and tell her not to work me too hard,” he said with a laugh. Sam also talked about his sexuality, and specifically how it relates to his fiance Vito Cammisano.

“My fiance gave me the strength [to come out],” Sam said. “The challenge I get now is, why are you not dating a gay black guy? Why are you dating a white guy?” “Why would I do that?” Sam asked the audience. “Why would I leave someone I fell in love with and have been through so many challenges with.” Sam concluded by offering one last piece of advice to all the students in the room. “College goes by too fast,” he said. “Don’t be afraid of who you are, and keep working hard for what you truly believe.”

Cold weather causes damage in Village, Commons

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kler line broke. McLeod and his suitemates are among the students who were relocated to Larson. “There was no one living there in the first

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PHOTO COURTESY OF KELLY LEDWITH

Sophomore Kelly Ledwith and her suitemates were forced to relocate to Larson after a pipe burst in her room in Village due to cold weather conditions.

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Last week, a pipe burst and a sprinkler line broke in Commons and Village residence halls, respectively. This flooded rooms and forced residents to leave their suites, according to Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan. Freezing temperatures caused both incidents, according to Facilities, via Morgan. When a Village sprinkler line broke around 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 22, 16 of the 23 residents in the four suites were instructed to leave their residence hall so Facilities and an outside contractor could start the cleanup and repair process. In the meantime, the students in the Village 540s were relocated to another residence hall on Mount Carmel. Two days later, a similar incident occurred in Commons, when eight students were forced to leave their rooms for approximately three hours after a pipe burst. Most of the students living in Village 540s have returned to their suites. However, there are some students who haven’t been able to return to their rooms in Village yet. Sophomore Connor McLeod lives in Village 543, the room below where the sprin-

place, so we were all relocated together,” McLeod said. “They expect[ed] to have us back in our room by Friday [Feb. 27] or so, but they have to replace our walls and such

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

due to the damage.” The university contacted McLeod and his roommates later last week and told them they cannot return to their room until after spring break. Sophomore Kelly Ledwith lives in Village 541, the room in which the sprinkler line burst. Ledwith said the pipe was located in her bedroom on the second level of the suite. “When I got out of bed, water started rushing in on the floor and you could hear the sound of it through the wall,” Ledwith said. “Within a few minutes, our bedroom had three to four inches of water, the bedroom next door had water and it went down to our common room, which had at least an inch of water.” Ledwith said her and her roommates remained in a suite in Larson until Saturday morning. Both Ledwith and McLeod said personal property was ruined, but Quinnipiac has been working with them to assess how much harm has been done. “There was a lot of damage,” McLeod See LEAKS Page 5

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INDEX

By TARA O’NEILL

Associate News Editor

Interactive: 7 Opinion: 8 Arts & Life: 10 Sports: 14


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