HAMMOND, LA
AUGUST 27, 2019
S O U T H E A S T E R N L O U I S IA NA U N I V E R S I T Y
MAKING THE MOST OF DISABILITY SERVICES
ZEN AESTHETICS AT HAMMOND REGIONAL ARTS CENTER
see pg. 2
see pg. 5
VOLLEYBALL SEASON GOALS
see pg. 7
Lions prepared to take on Gamecocks ANNIE GOODMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
This weekend, the Lions football team will open the season against last season’s number one team in the Ohio Valley Conference. The game is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. “I don’t have any concerns right now,” stated Frank Scelfo, football head coach. “Just want to see how well our team comes together and how well they stay together. That’s the big thing. Through thick and thin, we gotta be able to handle anything that comes in front of us.” After playing against their own teammates as practice, Scelfo is ready to see how the team reacts in a real game setting. “I’m excited watching our guys go against another team,” said Scelfo. “We’ve been banging on each other over the last month, so this will be good for them. The big thing is to watch our team come together throughout the summer and the fall. It’s been really exciting for us.” Scelfo’s plan for this game and the season is to start strong and not give up. “We want to come out fast and
Thursday night’ matchup against the Gamecocks can be seen on ESPN or listened to on KSLU 90.9 FM. This will be the Lions’ first non-conferencematchup of the year and only non-conference game at Strawberry Stadium. FILE PHOTO/THE LION’S ROAR play really hard earl,” explained Scelfo. “I think if we can do that, then it’ll carry over throughout the whole game.” Jacksonville State will be a tough opponent having won their conference for five consecutive
years, but Scelfo is interested in seeing how the players respond to such a strong team. “More than anything else, when we hit the tough spots, the adversity during the course of the game, which it’ll come because
they’re a really good football team, I want to se how we react to it,” stated Scelfo. Over the course of the summer, Scelfo said the focus of practice was the culture in a football team.
He explained, “Making sure everyone is on the right page, pulling in the right direction, at the same time.” Since it is a home game, there will be tailgating in friendship circle prior to the start of the
game. Scelfo feels it is important to attend the game to showcase one’s school spirit and see what the team and spirit groups have been working on. “It’s the pride in the university and in the campus,” explained Scelfo. “It’s college football. The pageantry of college football between the two teams playing, the fans that come, the band, the cheer squads, everybody, everybody involved in the game from the university represents us. The opportunity to be able to support the other people who represent us on a daily basis sometimes gives a voice to those people who normally don’t have one” Last season, the Lions finished ninth out of eleven in the Southland Conference with a 4-5 in conference, but Scelfo has his sights set high for the team this year. “We want to win the conference championship, and we want to develop some continuity as to who we are every week,” said Scelfo. “We can’t have highs and lows. We gotta level off the playing field. Play hard all the time and do what we’re supposed to do all the time so that we can put ourselves in a position to win.”
State law changes university free speech policy
JACOB SUMMERVILLE OPINIONS EDITOR
Recent changes to the university’s free speech guidelines have allowed for both on and offcampus groups more liberty on how they wish to express their First Amendment rights. Senate Bill 364, signed by Governor John Bel Edwards in June 2018 and now called Act 666, became the catalyst to the changes made to the University Policy on Public Speech, Assembly and Demonstrations. The new Act requires the university to comply with state law. Dr. John Crain, president of the university, explained that the new laws restrict how the university can influence outside groups’ freedom of expression on campus. “We are prohibited by the new state law from doing some of the things that we used to be able to do that were legal under the federal law to guide external groups’ ability to engage with our students by managing reasonable time and place restrictions,” shared Crain. “We face a little bit different scenario now. We had to change the university’s policy so that it reflects the state legislation, accommodates those restrictions.” Last revised on Oct. 31, 2018, the new policy allows for any person or organization to assemble without prior approval from the university so long as there is not a pre-scheduled university event occurring at that location and that the gathering does not violate any other university policies. “The changes that were made were necessitated because we have to follow state law,” explained Erin Cowser, executive director of public and governmental affairs. “So, it wasn’t necessarily that these changes were things that our administration wanted to implement.” Before, public assembly and demonstration was limited to the steps in front of the Student Union Annex/grass area immediately in front of the steps, the grass area in front of the Pennington Student Activity Center, and the Presidential Plaza. Now groups can gather at any location on campus.
One concern among the campus community is the presence and message broadcasted by offcampus preachers. Under the “Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedure” section in the 2019-2020 Student Handbook, several terms are defined including sexual harassment: “unwelcomed conduct of a sexual nature when... (iii) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s employment or education, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment or educational environment, and has no legitimate relationship to the subject matter of a course or academic research.” Students who believe they have been sexually harassed can use the Incident Reporting Form on the university website to document the interaction. Any incident that is actually or potentially harmful to a member of the community can be reported through this method. “Anything that is lude, anything that is provocative, suggestive about somebody of any gender can rise to the level of sexual harassment,” said Gene Pregeant, an EEO/ADA compliance officer. Additionally, members of the community who feel that outside individuals are disrupting classroom activity can also use the Incident Reporting Form or contact the office of the Dean of Students. Dr. Gabe Willis, dean of students, explained that although someone’s place of expression cannot be moved inconsequentially, people’s disruption of university functions can be addressed. Willis explained an incident where a university adviser reached out whenever a preacher was standing outside the Center for Student Excellence. “They had a legitimate complaint to say that they were interrupting advising sessions which are considered classroom activities or business of the university,” discussed Willis. “So, we were able to shift that person back a little deeper into the grassy area right there outside of the CSE.” Students looking to seek change concerning Act
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Because of legislation passed last year, the university has updated its free speech policies to comply with state law. This will allow any person or group to make demonstrations on any part of campus so long as it follows university policies. FILE PHOTO/THE LION’S ROAR
666 can do so through the ROAR Network. “There’s an easy way for students to login through that,” said Cowser. “It shows them who their legislator is if they would choose to want to reach out and advocate for change.” Crain advises any student, faculty member or parent that pushes for change to the state law to reach out to state legislature. “If you think it is making situations on campus that are undesirable or intolerable, then petition your legislature to work to change the law,” said Crain. Although students and faculty have the constitutional right to engage in a counter-protest,
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Campus Life ................................2 Opinions ....................................3 A&E ...........................................4
Horoscope, Crossword, Sudoku ...5 Sports & Fitness ..........................6 News .........................................8
Crain believes that the effort would only encourage the preachers to comeby more frequently. “I think that that would be the ultimate goal of the outside group is if there were a counter-protest because it brings publicity and the spotlight to their point of view, and that’s what they really want,” shared Crain. “The most powerful message that our students and faculty can send them is to not engage with them because they simply can’t stand being ignored.” The new policy can be found on the university website as “Public Speech, Assembly, and Demonstration” under “University Policies and Manuals,” subsection “Policy Detail.”
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Volume 91, Issue 3 A Student Publication www.lionsroarnews.com lionsroar@southeastern.edu