The Reporter Issue IV

THE

EPORTER ISSUE IV

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Failing Out: Greek Life on the Brink

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Stetson Men’s Basketball and the 2021 College Basketball Invitational

STETSON PETS

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VOL. CXXVIII

LETTERS from the editors

WHAT A YEAR IT’S BEEN. Here we are at the end of both this crazy semester and this crazy year as a whole. After one of the hardest years ever, it’s astonishing to think about the changes we’ve faced, the obstacles we’ve overcome, but also the amazing things we’ve accomplished despite these circumstances.

I’ve been so proud to be a part of the journey that has been this year, and after four amazing issues, I’m also so proud of and thankful for our staff who have made all of this happen. To the seniors who are graduating, we’ve been so extremely lucky to have you as part of our team. We couldn’t have done it without your hard work and dedication, and we will of course miss you, but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you.

In this issue we wanted to put a smile on everyone’s face as finals approach, and what better way to do so besides featuring Stetson pets right on our cover? These pages are also filled with some important insight on the changes we’ll be facing next semester and, as always, a look into the people that make up the Stetson community itself. Despite the uncertainty of what next year will bring, I’m hopeful that we’ll be back together next year with some sense of normalcy. I’m so excited to see what that will bring for us as a team and the things we’ll be able to deliver to you, dear readers.

Until next year, happy reading and happy studying!

Executive Editor, Calista headrick 2

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THE FLOWERS HAVE BLOOMED, THE CATERPILLARS HAVE FALLEN, AND THE MOTHS HAVE ARRIVED, GIVING US VISUAL CUES THAT THE SPRING SEMESTER IS COMING TO A CLOSE. And with the spring semester comes graduation, and it’s absolutely crazy to think that many of The Reporter staffers we’ve gotten close to are leaving and starting anew so soon.

This past year, although we may have lost any semblance of “normalcy,” we may not have sat in a physical classroom since March of 2020, we may have said “you’re muted” more times than we’ll ever have to again, but I think despite this, The Reporter has found its stride, telling stories that are about the student population and that affect the student population.

And that’s all thanks to our incredible dedicated, talented staff, whom I am so, so proud of.

For the end of the semester, we’ve opted for pieces that are more relaxing: take a walk in the woods with Arts and Culture staffer Allie Wilson, learn about students’ pets as roommates with Emily Derrenbacker, and learn about Stetson’s switch from Blackboard to Canvas.

The next editor letter I’ll write will be the beginning of the end, the first of my senior year, but I’m trying to avoid thinking about that, and focus on the now, which is really, seriously, studying for my exams.

Editor-In-Chief, Ruby Rosenthal

follow us on instagram @hatternetwork

BACK STAGE

HELLO READERS! This issue in particular was a unique magazine to shoot for compared to the past. Usually we go to the photo studio underneath Flagler where there is plenty of studio light and backdrops—it’s basically the perfect setting for a great photo. However, this time our cover story features the pets and pet owners here at Stetson, and this means changing up the environment to cater to our furry friends on campus!

For this issue I met with three dog owners: Jaida, Liza, Kelly and their dogs Misty, Cash, and Mr. Beau. I met with Jaida and Liza on one day outside in Palm Court separately and Kelly on another day, with our shoots lasting for about 30 minutes each. I’m typically a fast photographer, and we walked around Palm Court trying different poses and doing our best to avoid the furry caterpillars.

I found that the key to this photo shoot was patience. I’m personally not experienced with dogs. I’ve never owned a dog, but I learned to be patient and take a lot of photos at once and take advice from the pet owners such as treats and dog toys to get their attention. I treated this also as a personal photo shoot for them, because I know it’s nice to have really cute photos of you and your loved ones including the furry ones! It was so fun shooting with the dogs and their funny faces, especially the ones Cash made. After seeing the product from start to finish, I’m super excited to finally be able to share it with you all!

Jillian semmel, photo editor

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EDITORS EDITOR

Ruby Rosenthal

Calista Headrick

editor-in-chief

executive editor

Jillian Semmel

Isabel Solorzano

Natalie Bergeron

Rene Campbell

Vivianne Skavlem

Ihsaan Fanusie

Julia Gray

Bella Steiret

photo editor

arts & culture editor

social media director

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creative director

news editor

web designer

multimedia editor

sports editor

Arnaldo Chow web director

the

r e t r repo

hatternetwork.com

april 2021

s back from If you could bring a specie be? extinction, what would it

staff

Ruby Rosenthal, Editor-in-Chief Calista Headrick, Executive Editor Isabel Solorzano, Creative Director Vivianne Skavlem, News Editor Rene Campbell, Arts & Culture Editor A woolly mammoth Ihsaan Fanusie, Sports Editor Jillian Semmel, Photo Editor Natalie Bergeron, Multimedia Editor Arnaldo Chow, Webmaster Julia Gray, Social Media Director Alejandra Correa, Multimedia Staff Velociraptors, it would be fun Taylor Williams, Social Media Staff to run around with them… if Zoe Boykin, Designer Cassandra Bradley, Designer they didn’t try to eat me.

Bella Steiert, Designer & Web Designer Maxx Smith, News Writer Chase Berger, News Writer - Web Brett Zimmerman, News Writer - Web Bijou Aliza, Arts & Culture Writer Emily Derrenbacker, Arts & Culture Writer Jay Stearman, Arts & Culture Writer Allie Wilson, Arts & Culture Writer Erica Lucio, Arts & Culture Writer - Web Alessandra Rubello, Arts & Culture Writer - Web Bryce Hoynoski, Sports Writer Luke McClatchy, Sports Writer

Any dinosaur, really. I would provide enough enrichment to prevent them from being the center of a movie franchise.

Brachiosaurus because I think their long necks are cool.

contributors Jenny Fang, Writer

JOINING US

When it comes to joining The

Reporter, we’re not picky.

Whether you’re interested in writing an article, designing a page, taking photos or creating some graphics for us, we want to hear what you have to say. The Reporter is an extracurricular, volunteer operation made for students, by students, and we aim to cover the full spectrum of student life here at Stetson. If you’re interested in getting involved or have any questions, comments or concerns, email our editor-in-chief, Ruby Rosenthal, at rrosenthal@stetson.edu or apply on Engage.

CORRECTIONS

As an official media outlet for students on campus, we push ourselves to be constantly improving our standards and correcting our mistakes. We care about accuracy and providing you with the most accurate information we can give. If there are mistakes, let us know by emailing us at hatternetwork@gmail.com. In issue 3, we stated that Mauree Turner is the country’s first openly transgender state senator. Mauree Turner is the country’s first openly nonbinary state lawmaker.

ABOUT US

The Reporter is the oldest collegiate

publication in the state of Florida.

The magazine is produced six times per year, three a semester. Florida Sun Printing prints 300 copies per issue on 8.5 x 11inch, 80#Gloss Text. Most body text is 11 point Adobe Garamond Pro with 13 point leading set with a combination of regular, italic, and bold.

All pages were designed using Adobe Creative Suite CC software InDesign with photographs and artwork handled in Photoshop and Illustrator. For additional information, please visit hatternetwork.com. Questions and comments can be mailed to 421 N Woodland Blvd., Unit 8416 DeLand, Florida 32723 or emailed to hatternetwork@gmail.com. We plan to forge a media group that meets our own high standards of excellence and integrity through expression in print and online. Ultimately, student media at Stetson University will be a representation of just that: the students. And because we are serving our peers, we will be honest in the stories we tell. Because if we don’t tell them, who will?

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A Student’s Best Friend: Stetson Pets, Mental Health, and COVID-19 How the pandemic has affected the relationship between humans and their pets.

Failing Out: Greek Life on the Brink Examining how Greek Life found itself in crisis and how it can grow stronger given its tumultuous history, both historic and recent.

Stetson’s Fall 2021: A Possible Return to Normalcy As things slowly begin to return to some sense of normalcy, the university has decided to return to an in-person experience for Fall 2021. But what exactly does this entail?

Ditching Blackboard: Stetson Makes the Switch to Canvas A look into the university’s decision to move from Blackboard to Canvas.

A Walk in the Woods These great adventures are waiting just outside of DeLand.

Sitcoms and Marvel Madness Come Together in WandaVision “WandaVison” follows Avengers Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they live a life in a world that feels like a sitcom. The couple soon finds out that everything in this world is not as nice as it may seem.

Stetson Men’s Soccer: Insight from Coach Rutkowski Despite the obstacles that the Stetson’s men’s soccer team faced during a season of COVID-19, Coach Rutkowski conveys his pride for the team and what they have to look forward to in the future.

Stetson Men’s Basketball and the 2021 College Basketball Invitational Hatters’ First Postseason Berth Marks Critical Step Towards Program Relevance Ampersand Q&A with Blaze

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a Student’s best friend:

Stetson Pets, Mental Health, and COVID-19

Story by Emily Derrenbacker Photos by Jillian Semmel Layout by Cas Bradley

How the Pandemic Has Affected the Relationship Between Humans and Their Pets You’re half way through your 9:45 a.m. class on a Monday morning, and you still haven’t completely woken up. As you glance through the Zoom squares of everyone desperately trying to appear as if they are paying attention, you notice someone has sent a message in the chat which says: “aljblejflrbb.”

Amidst your confusion, you see a cat walk across the screen, and it all makes sense.

For the most part, pets are our unproblematic best friends.

There’s no drama, except when they interrupt your Zoom class, and they love you unconditionally, except when you come home smelling like another dog.

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Animals can have a profound way of making the day seem a little brighter. Is there a scientific reason for this? What is it about animals that makes people feel better?

According to the American Psychological Association, “The problem of chronic and unhealthy levels of stress is at its worst among college-age students, according to some research.

While most adults report experiencing elevated stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adults ages 18 to 23 are experiencing the highest stress levels.” Abruptly transitioning to online learning and leaving campus at the start of the pandemic was an unexpected change most college students didn’t know how to handle. Even though many are back on campus this year, mostly online classes and a lack of social events make students feel more isolated than ever.

As a way to combat this high level of stress for the Stetson community, in past semesters, the DuPont Ball Library has brought in PAWS Therapy Dogs, a non-profit organization that brings therapy dogs for students to sit and play with. While this alone a few times a semester isn’t enough to fix college students’ worsening mental health problems, there have been studies that show that animals actually improve our mood: A study published by the National Institute of Health shows that college students experience reduced anxiety and an improved mood after interacting with dogs.

The benefits pets offer humans extends long term as well: “Pet owners, and particularly dog owners, have greater life satisfaction, enhanced

self-esteem, reduced levels of loneliness and anxiety, more ambition and more positive moods,” states the Mental Health Foundation. The effects might simply stem from the responsibilities of owning a pet. Pets can act as a great motivator for their owners. Dogs need to go on walks, and exercise is beneficial to those with depression. Even the small tasks of feeding your pet gives one’s day purpose and a sense of achievement.

Ultimately, people feel needed when they have something to care for.

In many of the housing options available at Stetson, students are allowed to have their pets stay with them as long as they fill out an application in advance.

Vice President of Campus Life and Student Success Lua Hancock, Ph.D., explained why she thinks it’s

important to give students the option of living with their pet on campus: “Pets can be helpful for so many people in providing comfort, companionship and routine.

Students bring pets from home that they have had an ongoing relationship with and it brings a wonderful family connection with them,” said Hancock.

Hancock expressed caution however; the responsibility that comes with taking care of a pet is not something everyone should take on: “We do have students who have allergies or anxiety about animals, so we have to meet their needs as well. And we have found that it can be too much for some students to navigate college life and be the sole caretaker for an animal in a college environment, which is different from their home environment.”

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Liza Tananbaum ‘22, has lived with her dog Cash, a miniature Australian shepherd, for almost two years now at Stetson. Tananbaum shared that bringing Cash to Stetson has had a positive impact on her mental health: “Whenever I have a rough day, he is my rock, having...something there that I can vent to, even if he doesn’t understand me, it’s just nice to have. And he’s a very affectionate dog. He loves to give kisses.

So even though sometimes it’s gross, it always cheers you up.

So it’s been really good,” she said.

Liza Tananbaum ‘22 and her dog Cash

Jaida Garnes ‘24, shared what bringing her dog Misty to Stetson has been like for her. Garnes has had Misty, a Belgian terrier lab mix, for three years. When Jaida found out dorms would be single occupancy this year, she felt encouraged to bring Misty with her, as she is registered as an emotional support animal (ESA). Garnes explained how Misty impacts her mood: “She really does play a role in my mood. If I’m annoyed or something I’ll just be ranting to my dog. I’m like, ‘Misty, you will not believe this.’”

Jaida Garnes ‘24 and her dog Misty

ESAs like Misty, according to the American Kennel Club are defined as providing “emotional support and comfort that helps them deal with challenges that might otherwise compromise their quality of life.” While ESAs are not service animals that receive training, and they are not automatically allowed in public spaces, pets can be registered as emotional support animals with a prescription from a mental health professional. Some universities like Stetson then allow pets on campus.

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Victoria Summers ‘22 adopted her seven month old cat Elfie in Oct. of 2020 as an emotional support animal as well.

“She’s really easy to take care of. She has a litter box and she’s fine all alone in the room if I have to go to class. It’s nice to have a pet here. Obviously, she’s an ESA, so it’s nice to have her,” she said. “She’s really good at keeping me relaxed. And if I’m stressed out about something, it’s just nice to have her here where I can just take a breath and pet her and play with her. I think it’s really beneficial for my mental health because this time of year is really stressful, and I’m a junior, so it’s a very stressful time of year especially.”

As for how the year has gone having Misty at Stetson, Garnes said, “I have really enjoyed it. It’s really nice to be stressed or something, and then she’s right there. I mean, it’s more work though, and I knew it would be a lot of work.

But sometimes it is like, ‘Oh my gosh I do not feel like walking her.’ But you just do it anyway.”

Garnes pointed out how even though having to take care of a dog can be a pain sometimes, it also is a source of motivation for her, which helps especially during the pandemic when it’s harder to get out of bed in the morning.

“I think that during the pandemic, a lot of people have kind of been down. I’ve been lonely, but Misty is a good way to keep me motivated too because I have to walk her. So I have to get up, I have to get out of my room. And so it’s kind of been good in that way too. Because she’s forcing me to get up and do things and not to just lay around all day. So it’s been good in that sense, too,” she said.

Tananbaum expressed a similar sentiment: “You know, the biggest reason I brought Cash to campus was because there are times where you are just sitting in your bed or in your room, and the last thing I want to do is get up. Having a dog forces you to get up and go outside and start your day because you have somebody else to take care of. It’s really great, because he also forces me to be social, especially when I was living on campus. I walk him around, and people would come up to me and talk to him. And so it was really nice, because you know, you would just meet people,” she said.

Similar to Tananbaum, Garnes mentioned that she can see how Misty brings happiness not only to her, but also to other people as well: “It’s really cool to see other people. We hear, ‘Oh my gosh,’ that’s really nice. Because I can tell that it makes other people’s days too.”

Kelly Ashley ‘24 and her dog Mister Beau

Kelly Ashley ‘24 brought her dog, named Mister Beau, to Stetson, and she credits Mister Beau with keeping her successful: “He’s the reason I’m successful, because he has to go outside every four hours, so I get four walks a day.

Sometimes I go out in the courtyard at University Hall so he can just wander around and I do my homework. So, I can have a ton of excuses to be outside,” she said. “And whenever you’re with a group of people, if I have Beau, everybody gets so excited, and they want to pet him and he loves it. It’s awesome.”

“I was stressed out earlier, and I just had a five minute cuddle session with him. Stress gone,” Ashley continued.

“He’s my best friend. So yeah, having him here is like therapy really. I think it should be way more common to have dogs.”

Pets have certainly been our constant companion throughout the pandemic, keeping us sane when it feels like the world doesn’t make sense. Science Daily states that “More than 90 percent of respondents said their pet helped them cope emotionally with the lockdown and 96 per cent said their pet helped keep them fit and active.”

The calming effects of pets and the stability they can bring to people’s lives has never been more obvious than during the pandemic. For example, animal adoptions have been increasing. The Washington Post reports that some animal shelters have seen pet adoptions increase 30 to 40 percent last year. Because people are working from home, some have felt that having a pet is more feasible. Relegated to staying at home, adopting an animal is the saving grace to those seeking companionship or to families who need something to distract their kids.

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Hancock also shared how adopting a cat has helped her family during the pandemic: “I am so happy that in January of 2020 my family and I got a cat, Jude—my kids like the Beatles—and she has been so great to have around at this time when we are all at home more and could use a few more snuggles,” she said.

Especially during the pandemic, the demand for pets at animal shelters is high and the supply is low. This is a wonderful problem to have, but the negative impact that the pandemic might have on newly adopted animals can’t be ignored. Animals have been having a blast with their owners at home more often with an abundance of play time, head scratches, and walks. But when all of this is over and people return to their jobs in person full-time, pets will face a stark difference in their lives.

Separation anxiety is a serious problem for dogs especially. The Humane Society explains what can cause separation anxiety: being left alone for the first time or after being accustomed to constant human contact, suffering a traumatic event, or changing the family’s routine or structure. Separation anxiety can take different forms like scratching at doors, destructive chewing, howling, barking, and whining, or urination. We’ve seen just how amusing this can get on TikTok as people show just how clingy their pets are, to the point of following their owners into the shower.

Separation anxiety, lack of exercise, and weight gain are all negative effects the pandemic is having on animals, specifically dogs. Animals aren’t built for endless hours of solitary confinement; owner’s will have to prepare their pets for this change.

Ashley said that her dog Mister Beau has had separation anxiety because they live in such close quarters. She hopes to be a veterinarian one day, and shared what she has noticed from working at a veterinary clinic: “I actually work at a veterinary clinic. And there’s this thing called ‘COVID puppies’ where during COVID-19 everybody started adopting puppies. And then, those puppies didn’t get socialized for the first critical year of their life, so they come into the vet petrified, completely scared. They’re like, ‘what is this?’ It’s really sad because a lot of the dogs at dog parks nowadays are not very well behaved. They don’t really understand” she said.

Summers discussed the effect the pandemic has had on her cat Elfie, who has gotten used to her being home with her so much. She also brought up how moving back and forth between Stetson and home as a college student has had an impact on her cat: “I got her in October when she was a kitten, so I’ve been home with her since she was a baby. And then we had that long break from Thanksgiving to December where I went home. So I think that the pandemic has had an effect on her with separation anxiety, and also getting used to her living space. She is so young, and having to go back and forth and adjust to new living areas I think also kind of had an effect on her.”

For pets like Mister Beau, The Guardian recommends that owners create frequent separations from their dog, about three to five times a day to help them get used to being alone while also ensuring the dog has its own space where they feel secure and rewarding them when they go in their crate to reinforce the idea that their crate is a happy space. Another important need for dogs is exercise, whether by walking or playing.

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Animals seem to be uniquely in tune with humans’ emotions, and this is why they are so great at comforting their owners when they need it. Not only can they tell when humans are stressed, but they also feel their stress, which can leave them more susceptible to sickness, according to the Las Vegas Sun. This is why it is important to be conscious of how they might unload their negative emotions onto their pets, especially when people don’t provide the same comfort to their pet that their pet provides them.

In a time of such tumultuous change, our pets have been there in every possible way over the past year. They calm us and motivate us, and for all they have done for us, it’s important to remember that we have to be there for them as well. The pandemic has affected them too, and as we slowly return to our normal lives, we can’t forget our pets.

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Failing Out: Greek Life on the Brink

Examining how Greek Life found itself in crisis and how it can grow stronger given its tumultuous history, both historic and recent.

Story by Jay Stearman & Maxx Smith Layout by Isabel Solorzano Graphics by Irene Falgueras

** TW: contains topics of racial and sexual misconduct

GREEK-LETTER ORGANIZATIONS IN REVIEW

It’s hard to ignore the branding “oldest private school in Florida” on banners flying around campus. It’s also hard to ignore Stetson’s crest emblazoned with the year of its creation. Stetson University was founded in 1883, and 40 years later in 1913 a group of young men—who presumably had been introduced to Greek organizations from colleges in Georgia—started a fraternity at Stetson University. They called it Nu Sigma and formally petitioned Sigma Nu to grant them a charter at Stetson University. They received a charter, threw in money, and purchased a house on Minnesota avenue, where Sage Hall stands today.

The same year, the Stetson University Society for Women applied to become a Pi Beta Phi chapter, the organization’s first in the state of Florida. One of these founding members was Harriett Hulley, the daughter of then Stetson President Lincoln Hulley, and the fraternity for women created the first house on what would become sorority row.

Thus was the creation of Stetson Greek Life—one of the oldest Greek systems in the state of Florida, at the oldest private school in the state of Florida,

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published in the oldest college newspaper in the state of Florida. Essentially, Tradition, with a big T, is a cornerstone of Greek-life culture. As a result, Tradition is a cornerstone of Stetson's culture.

For those not in a Greek organization, and even those in one, you might be unaware of how these social orders came to be. Understandable —it’s all pretty convoluted. Fraternities were originally established as book clubs: philosophical roundtables of like-minded men. Phi Beta Kappa, for example, was established by a group of revolutionaries upset with the curriculum at William & Mary. The first sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, was created with the exact purpose—to provide a social literary club for young college aged women.

Every organization has its own unique history, founders, symbols, and often reasons behind their names. Every organization also has a noble founding, be it from abolitionists, to individuals disgusted by hazing, to an attempt to reconcile after the Civil War. Today, however, after years of media abuse, tragic accidents, and disgusting incidents of racism and misogyny, fraternities and sororities are

often seen as nothing more than debaucherous, elitist, racist pyramid schemes where people pay for popularity and get away with whatever they want.

THE CATALYST FOR CONSIDERATION

In early March of this year, Stetson University's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement, in sponsorship with The Inter-Fraternal Council and Panhellenic, invited speaker Dan Faill to facilitate a keynote presentation addressing the stereotypes surrounding Greek Life. His presentation was centered on how the Greek-life system can overcome its previous failures and be a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming environment.

The event started off relatively smoothly as the speaker recognized the traditional flaws and faults of Greek Life like cultural appropriation, over-sexualization, alcoholism, and

sexual misconduct. But things started to turn sour when the chat box slowly became littered with insensitive and irrelevant comments and jokes during the Q&A section of the event, and when the discussion pivoted to Divine 9 organizations. The Divine 9 is the common name for National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), nine historically all-black fraternities and sororities formed at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The chat box was full of questions asking what the point of these organizations were, why they existed, and why we would want them at Stetson. The speaker also touched on highly sensitive issues and showed somewhat graphic images without introducing trigger warnings, which sparked a debate. Altogether, many Greek affiliates left with the impression that the mandatory event was useful, but chaotically handled.

More than one sorority member voiced her concern about the lack of trigger warnings before serious topics like sexual assault and racial abuse. The failure of the moderators to remove trolling commenters in any reasonable time frame gave the impression that the facilitators were ill-prepared to handle a large virtual event and ensure its success. In all, these oversights made the speaker’s presentation seem more outdated and less professional.

Unfortunately, many Greek affiliates were further dissatisfied by the emails sent out the following morning. The Greek community received an email from Renee Dubois, Associate Director of Campus Vibrancy, and appreciated how it admitted to the administration’s lapse in properly handling the event. While apprative, many Greeks took issue with the campus-wide email which seemed to shift the blame off of administration entirely. While very few objected to its intent or overall message, many disliked the scant amount of context that was provided considering the email was sent to all staff, faculty, and students.

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The email apologized for the lack of trigger warnings and reprimanded the Greek members who chose to write the hurtful or otherwise disrespectful comments in the chatbox. This response led many non-Greek students to voice their frustrations online or elsewhere about the ineptitude or toxic nature of Greek Life at Stetson, which many affiliates felt were unfair in this circumstance. Greek community members felt that the email unfairly implied that the event soured because of the speaker’s ignorance and implicated the Greek community as a whole rather than taking more responsibility for poorly facilitating the event. The fraternity men who made the disrespectful comments deserved to shoulder the blame for the event’s unsatisfying outcome, but so too should the facilitators as Dubois admitted in the Greek community email when stating that “we could have stepped in sooner… [w]e recognize the missed opportunity.”

In other respects, many Greek affiliates found themselves having to relate their experience with the speaker over and over again to all the students, faculty, and staff members who had no idea what happened, but

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nevertheless received the concerningly-worded email.

It is disappointing, then, to hear Greek affiliates saying that the event and its aftermath did more harm than good for the community.

In fact, some of the most vocal criticisms of Greek Life at Stetson come from within the Greek community itself. They, of course, have seen firsthand how toxic masculinity and femininity have negatively shaped how friends and classmates live their college lives. One sorority member revealed that a number of her sisters have been treated inappropriately or taken advantage of by brothers of a fraternity on campus, yet are afraid to report the incidents for fear of damaging the reputation and relationships between the organizations. No one should be put in a place where they have to weigh the risks of damaging the reputation of a Greek chapter in order to prevent them from seeking the support and justice they deserve. The truth is that so many of us are aware of the dangers and incidents of harassment, racism, elitism, and discrimination which permeate our Greek system.

But they have also seen the benefits from being Greek, too. Affiliates build lifelong friendships and are often connected to thousands of brothers and sisters across the country who share their values and ideals. They find a home away from home which supports them through all the difficulties college life brings and pushes them to be involved and become a proud member of our Stetson community.

But how do you assign values to the benefits on one side and the harmful culture drawbacks on the other? You really can’t understand the full risks of college life, much less choosing to go Greek. The problems we see in Stetson’s Greek and adjudication system is a reflection of the same issues we see in society as a whole.

The problems of Greek Life are the problems of white America, U.S. higher education, cultures of toxic masculinity, and drug and alcohol abuse. The way that we deal with Greek Life members on college campuses is a reflection of the same way we try to hold members of society-at-large accountable.

For those of us whose stomachs turn and feel blood rush to our faces when we hear about systemic problems of injustice and of offenders escaping accountability, we need to be upset, we need to call for and work to bring change, we need to have uncomfortable conversations, we need to hold ourselves and each other to a high standard, and we need to call each other out every time if we truly want our world and community to improve.

NATIONAL PROGRESSION

The national conversation regarding the future of Greek Life carries a bleak tone and may introduce a dark reality for thousands of fraternity and sorority men and women across America. Colleges across the country have been dismantling Greek systems after headlines have been dominated with hazing-related deaths, alcohol abuse, and sexual misconduct coloring Greek culture. The removal of these systems have raised alarm bells at organizational headquarters and the two conglomerate

governing bodies that set legislation for most of the Greek organizations in America: The North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) and National Panhellenic Conference (NPC).

The war for Greek Life entered the courts as schools like Harvard, Yale, and Wesleyan seeked to end single-sex organizations. To date, all NIC and NPC organizations are single-sex, so when the most prestigious university in the United States attempted to ban Greek Life, it was a perfect place for two governing bodies to plant their flag and draw a line in the sand. After years of litigation, Harvard lost. NIC and NPC took a victory lap, but it didn’t last long.

Shortly after, in the summer of a pandemic and mass reckoning with racial injustice, an Instagram movement was born. From the University of Southern California to New York University, college student instagram feeds were littered with stories of misconduct by fraternity and sorority members. The #Justice movement provided an opportunity for victims of sexual misconduct and racial abuse at the hands of fraternities to come forward and anonymously share their stories.

But how do you assign values to the benefits on one side and the harmful culture drawbacks on the other?

It didn’t take long until a similar page was started at Stetson. Justice at Stetson, an Instagram account created for people to anonymously submit stories and experiences of racism, abuse, and sexual harassment did not just stop at Greek Life however—it appeared to call out the university's administration as a whole. The page criticized not just the people who enable such abuse, but also the system who many believe refuses to do anything about it. This is a common criticism at Stetson.

Individuals become frustrated that organizations are free to do seemingly whatever they want and face little to no consequences. To address this concern, and get some answers as to why this may be the case, we sat down with Director of

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Community Standards Barbs Hawkins.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND EQUITY

From the view of the Office of Community Standards, it’s difficult to determine whether or not a student has committed misconduct without evidence.

Students may feel frustrated due to reports not resulting in punishments, but Hawkins encourages the students to remain adamant and continue reporting misconduct: “We can’t follow up on everything, but there are times where we need the reports to get a sense of what’s going on.” Unfortunately, due to reports often coming anonymously or without any attached information Hawkins stated that, “Many times we can’t follow up on these reports.” According to Hawkins, students will engage in conversations that organizations are being held to a higher standard, yet aren’t filing completed reports.

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Tangible reports are what separate hearsay, however credible, from hard-soil evidence which can lead to disciplinary actions and sanctions. It is dangerous to have a defeatist approach to any judicial system, but especially to one which directly affects the safety of so many students.

Yet, it is not uncommon for students to feel frustrated that organizations aren’t held responsible for the actions of individuals. According to Hawkins though, “It’s difficult to determine the line between organization and individual.” The central theme of our conversation was determining where that line was. On instances such as hazing or unregistered events, the organizational leadership is most likely aware and is held responsible. In situations like Title IX violations, racist or xenophobic conduct by members, or vandalism,

it’s difficult to punish the sum of the whole. Hawkins remarked that Greek-Letter organizations, or GLOs, have internal mechanisms to punish individual members for misconduct such as the ones described, but Hawkins also called attention to the Code of Community Standards Review Board, which meets every two years, suggesting that they should spend time establishing a new code specifically tailored for organizations.

The board, which is composed of students and administrators to review the Code of Community Standards (CCS), discusses amendments and changes. Most recently, the board implemented new language to define racist and xenophobic acts that are punishable under the CCS. Renee Dubois was passionate about these problems in our conversation as well, and we dove into what members of the community had shared with us. “I'm in this line of work because I see the values fraternities and sororities bring to college campuses,” Dubois stated.

“Looking beyond alumni donations,” the Associate Director of Campus Vibrancy remarked, “we see the trend of higher academic achievement and greater campus involvement from our Greek affiliates.” On holding organizations accountable as a whole, she stated that “Accountability includes everyone: the university, the [Greek] chapters, the [IFC and Panhellenic] councils, and national organizations.”

She shared with us that IFC is currently planning on implementing its own internal judicial board, a mechanism that allows another step of punishment to be handed out to fraternities: “Fraternity presidents have indicated they wanted to hold each other accountable,” she said. Trust appears to be lacking between GLOs and the university, and in our conversations with members of Greek Life, multiple individuals indicated that they don't trust the office of FSI to have their best interests in mind. Greek students overwhelmingly saw the administration as a source of fear or distrust, with one student saying, “They act like they’re pseudo-cops and try to make our lives as difficult as possible.” In response to those fears, Dubois simply stated, “My goal is not to get a chapter in trouble, I am a resource.” Expounding on that statement, she added, “Building trust is the most important. If they don’t trust FSI we can’t start the work of changing cultures.”

Culture, which in the case of GLOs refers to the direction of leadership, attitudes, and personalities within a chapter, is a key concept when thinking about how organizations are prepared to challenge the status quo. Leadership positions within fraternities and sororities only last one year, and it’s incredibly difficult to change long-standing culture within a single year. Dubois acknowledges this problem: “Transitions are important,” she said. But to root out the problem, Dubois thinks that, “It starts with recruitment and how chapters market themselves. Next semester we’re planning on IFC and Panhellenic-planned Greek 101 programming to start educating on these issues.”

On the amount of diverse organizations at Stetson, Dubois made it incredibly clear that the university is in active conversations with NPHC organizations and informed us that in spring of 2020, a Latino Greek-letter fraternity was slated to begin on campus recruitment. This would have been the first Latino-Greek

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Letter organization in Stetson’s history. “We’re looking to add more diverse options for our students,” she said.

“These organizations add value.”

GRADING GREEK LIFE

The lack of visible action from the Greek student leaders and the infrastructure designed to help and hold them accountable is what has stirred much of the criticism from both within and outside of the Greek community.

When we asked individual members of the Greek community about where the responsibility lies to hold organizations accountable, the responses varied.

One member of Panhellenic expressed how the infrastructure above individual chapters like IFC, Panhellenic, and FSI has not been suited to the task of effectively regulating misconduct: “Accountability starts from the top down,” she said. “If people at the top are doing their jobs well, then individual chapter leaders will follow suit.”

“The system is built on the same issues that plague white America: sexism, racism, classism. Culture plays a huge role, you have people in frats at Stetson walking around campus thinking they’re better human beings because they wear some letters on their chest.”

So far, she has been impressed with the discussions led by Renee DuBois, who oversees Greek Life at Stetson: “She’s worked really hard with IFC and the Panhellenic Council to communicate that change needs to happen and that we need to do better,” she said. “But these conversations have been informal and there needs to be more going on. We need to do better because we still have so much work to do if we want to empower real change.”

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It’s not just administration on the student-life side that has been under the microscope, but IFC and Panhellenic, too, which are run by Greek student leaders. “I really think that the Panhellenic and IFC communities need to come together more, because they are worlds apart on the executive council level,” she explained. “With all due respect, the fraternities don’t seem to care as much as the sororities do. The culture won’t change unless we come together to tackle these important issues.”

Many in the Greek community feel that these oversight bodies can do more or do better, and also feel that the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement isn’t robust enough to deal with all these challenges. “I really feel like FSI needs a board of people working to better guide and educate Greek Life the same way IFC and Panhellenic have executive boards, instead of it all falling on Renee [DuBois],” a member of Panhellenic said. “Because right now it’s not working. There’s a huge disconnect between IFC, Panhellenic, and FSI.” When asked about where she saw the trajectory of Greek Life heading, she said, “If we continue the way we are, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an abolish Greek Life movement very soon.”

When asked about the pushback towards Greek Life as a whole and at Stetson, another member associated with Panhellenic warned about the dangers of cancel culture: “A responsible and just Greek community would benefit Stetson as a whole,” she said.

“Cancelling Greek Life will not solve the issues and is harmful because there are so many of us within the community who are trying to make the system more inclusive and safer for women,” she added.

When asked the same question, a fraternity president responded similarly yet aired caution: “The system needs to be less elitist. This is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life, but look, the system is dying and it’s obvious why.” He continued when asked about specific problems that, “The system is built on the same issues that plague white America: sexism, racism, classism. Culture plays a huge role, you have people in frats at Stetson walking around campus thinking they’re better human beings because they wear some letters on their chest.”

When asked if he thought his organization was

making positive progress he responded, “For sure, we’re proud of our ethnic and intellectual diversity.

We’ve established new diversity and inclusion guidelines, we have mandatory Title IX training and alcohol abuse training. We want our members to grow and succeed, not just have a place to drink and get away with awful things.”

The fact is that individuals and organizations alike are often defined by what they allow to happen. This is precisely why the way forward must be brought on through each chapter and individual in Greek Life: the members of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. “What really needs to happen is a cultural change,” said a member of panhellenic.

“We have the tools for training and education available to us, we just need to use them more.”

“As a whole, Greek Life needs to become more action-oriented,” she continued. “We need to be self-reliant to tackle the issues and negative stereotypes of sexual assault, racial discrimination, and addictive behavior.” Our Greek community desperately needs to be one that actively works to undo past injustices and reestablish the Greek community as a union of students both the university and the affiliates should be proud of.

“The responsibility falls on the individual Greek members of Stetson,” she concluded. “After all, we help create the experience and environment of Stetson.”

Utilizing the plethora of campus training and educational resources is a great step towards changing this culture— they just need to be adopted by Greek chapters and incorporated into their own education programs. Fraternities lag behind sororities when it comes to diversity and inclusion as well as education on Divine 9.

In fact, many people have seen Sigma Gamma Rho’s plot behind Sampson Hall but are unaware who it belongs to and the fact that it is a sacred space which should only be used by the sorority’s members and guests.

One member of panhellenic suggested that diversity and inclusion training should be mandatory for chapters and that it should be a formal standing committee at the higher levels: “Especially with what’s happened in the country after the murder of George Floyd, the zoombombing incident last semester, the @ justiceatstetson Instagram page, with our previous director of alumni relations, and Proud Boys putting out flyers around town,” she explained, “we need to do more than just put out statements. We need to outline actionable steps and follow through with them, holding each other accountable along the way.”

PASS OR FAIL

Greek Letter Organizations should be scrutinized; after all, the goal of each and every one of them is to form its members into better people.

In theory, Greek affiliates should be the academic and moral leaders of campus, yet recently the reputation has been anything but. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of Greek affiliates going against the narrative, especially at Stetson where the Greek community is more closely knit and both looks and feels entirely different than it would at a state school.

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The successes of Greek Life are the development and support of young adults and the building of the leaders of the next generation. Chapters can find the passion in volunteering with nonprofits and giving back to their communities, as well as becoming a ground to build up the voices of student activism.

The Greek community is capable of being so much more than the stereotypes we see in Hollywood or on Barstool and TFM. There will always be some people who embrace and reinforce them and others which fight against them to create a safer, more diverse system. Many of us in Greek Life sympathize with the tired calls for reform. It is up to us, all of us, to listen, learn, organize, and most importantly, act.

All too often, the majority of statements, opinions, and actions you hear about Greek Life on a national scale are overwhelmingly negative. And sometimes chapters seriously deserve the worst of our outrage.

But don’t forget that Greek affiliates really are a

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population. There are thousands of chapters scattered among campuses in every corner of the country. And a good amount of these chapters have been at a college for more than 100 years, each one having their own evolving culture and traditions. It might not be wrong to say Greek Life is facing a crisis of culture in step with American society.

If fraternities and sororities want to keep their traditions, they have to actively redefine the image, face previous shortcomings, and address the system’s ongoing flaws. We must continue to learn and push ourselves to become better brothers, sisters, friends, students, and leaders. We need to improve our Greek Life system and engage all areas of Stetson’s community in the process. But how can our communities believe in those trying to change a flawed and oppressive system from within, if you don’t hear about their efforts? Trust is built through communication and action, and Stetson Greeks need a healthy dose of both if we don’t want to fail out entirely.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

To Stetson University’s RGIP TEAM B Members Austin Carroll Smith, Jonathan Winer, CJ Rogan, and Giao Nguyen

For their victories in this year’s CFA Institute Research Challenge, these four students: 1. Took First Place in the State of Florida; 2. Competed in the Southeast Regional Competition – and then advanced to the Regional Semifinal; 3. Competed in the Regional Semifinal and were selected to be in the top 5 teams (out of 20) to advance to the Regional Final Round. These Stetson students were 1 of only 3 U.S. teams chosen to advance to the Regional Finals.

4· The 2 winners of the Regional Final Round will be deemed the “Americas Champions” and will advance to the Final Global Competition.

The CFA (Certified Financial Analyst) Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition for university students who are tested on their analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills.

The sub-regional, regional, and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute in the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. The winning teams from each subregional competition advance to the regional competition. Regional winners advance to the Global Final, where one team will emerge as the global champion.

CONGRATULATIONS & GOOD LUCK IN THE FINAL ROUND!!!!

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STETSON’S FALL 2021: A Possible Return to Normalcy

As things slowly begin to return to some sense of normalcy, the university has decided to return to an in-person experience for Fall 2021. But what exactly does this entail?

Story by Chase Berger Layout by Isabel Solorzano Graphics by Veronica Iezzi

A

mid the Coronavirus pandemic, the world has seen a multitude of drastic changes. As a microcosm of society, Stetson University has undergone quite a few changes as well in the past academic year. However, with the release of an email by Provost Noel Painter on March 10, it appears that more changes are yet to come—changes that may provide a sense of normalcy as the university heads in a positive direction.

In an email sent out to the Stetson community on planning for Fall 2021, Executive Vice President and Provost Noel Painter, Ph.D., stated that, “With the strongly positive directional changes identified above, and recognizing the successes of Stetson’s mitigation efforts thus far, we [the university] feel confident in planning for a largely inperson educational experience for fall 2021.”

In planning for this in-personal educational experience that the Stetson community has missed so greatly in the past year, Painter outlined the steps that were put in place in establishing the fall 2021 semester plans.

Beyond taking into consideration the results of the Fall 2021 Academic Calendar and Daily Schedule Survey sent out via email on March 1, as well as taking into account news sources and data from other public and private universities and colleges and their decisions, they also engaged with various facets of the university in order to reach their decisions.

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According to Painter, these initial decisions were made largely by incorporating input from the Academic Affairs Committee and the Faculty Senate in regards to the calendar and class schedule, and collaboration also occurred with members of the Safer Stetson Task Force and the five academic deans of the university.

Additionally, the Operations team—which

according to Painter is the “university’s decision making body when it comes to COVID related changes” consisting of the president, vice presidents, athletic director, and the Dean of the College of Law— were taken into account.

“

Painter explained that decisions are being made with the information currently available regarding things like cases and vaccine availability. Perhaps the most important driving factor of the announced changes has to do with vaccines and what this may look like on campus.

This is in the best interest of the community. Safety is not the only factor. Safety is an important factor. Learning is a really important factor for me.”

- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND

PROVOST NOEL PAINTER, PH.D. “We've got vaccines, and President [Biden] is telling us that we're going to have availability for all Americans, by some point in May. We've got declining rates rather than increasing or stable rates. We've got more people saying that they're going to get the vaccination,” said Painter.

With the increase of vaccine availability throughout the state and country, this begs the question of what vaccination expectations may look like on campus that would allow us to return to some sense of normalcy as is currently planned. According to Lynn Schoenberg, Ed.S., Dean of Students and Co-Chair of the Safer Stetson Campus Task Force, “vaccination for COVID-19 for the fall is highly encouraged for our community but not mandatory. So, we firmly believe it's in our community's best interest for everyone who can get vaccinated to do it, and to do it as fast as they're able based on the guidelines.”

Schoenberg explained that vaccines won’t be mandatory for a few reasons: “The vaccines are still only authorized under an emergency FDA use; the ACHA/CDC/ DOH and the state of Florida do not recommend mandating the vaccine for any population groups at this time and there are still vaccine availability concerns,” she said.

In an effort to vaccinate as many members of the community as possible, vaccination events have also begun to be held on campus. Priority groups have been established by the university and students and faculty in these groups have been able

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to register for an appointment to get the Moderna vaccine.

After all appointments are filled, a waitlist is then used to gauge the additional vaccination demand. The Safer Stetson Task Force and the university have also provided buses to vaccination sites around the area. Through these measures, as well as the hope that students will continue to get vaccinated at home during the summer, the number of vaccinations will begin to populate on the COVID dashboard of the Safer Stetson website because as Schoenberg points out, “that number will be really, really important for switching tiers... and for knowing what we can do as a community.”

Savannah Rheingold (‘22) has already been vaccinated and hopes that others who are able to do so will follow in her footsteps. “I would like for it to be mandatory [to be vaccinated] next semester. However, I understand if it’s not, because there’s some religious reasons... [and] other reasons... [such as] allergies,” she explained.

With the increase in information regarding vaccines, the university feels confident in holding mainly in-person classes with required face coverings and only three feet of social distancing between students is in accordance with

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new CDC guidelines regarding schools. The amount of hybrid and online classes will be limited in number as it’s expected that the reduced social distancing will restore capacity in the classroom that closely matches that of pre-pandemic. Painter stated in his email that the “core educational experience is borne out through relationships, and those are formed most powerfully in-person and on campus.”

"This is in the best interest of the community. Safety is not the only factor. Safety is an important factor. Learning is a really important factor for me… I do believe that the changes that we're making are within the safety guidelines that have guided us this entire time. And I believe strongly that we're moving us to a position where the learning outcomes for the students are going to be met as best we can,” he said.

With this in mind, the modality of a class will be based mostly on accommodation, which the university has used to describe a medical situation, rather than adjustment, which has been used to describe what a person is comfortable with. According to Painter, “So for students and staff and faculty, we're moving to a situation in the fall,

where that latitude is not as broad... Where it's not about one's comfort, because we feel like the availability of the vaccine changes the situation.”

Painter expressed his confidence in the mitigation of the university so far and the positive direction of vaccinations as a driving reason for this transition back to an in-person modality for classes: “We feel like the mitigation efforts that we've put in place so far, with everybody wearing masks, the cleaning that we've done, the additional equipment that we have those big boxes that are cleaning the air in the big rooms around our campus, that's proven to be really quite effective. We still have not one single example of the transmission of the virus in a classroom at Stetson, or even one single example of the transmission of the virus in a classroom in any independent college in Florida— not one,” Painter said.

Ultimately, this will most greatly impact faculty and students who have been most directly affected by the past year spent in an online format. “I feel perfectly safe being in classes,” said Logan Flynn (‘24). Similarly, Savannah Rheingold is looking forward to returning to mostly inperson classes: “I think students are really looking forward to having in-person classes next semester… I think it’ll help campus vibrancy.”

As always, there are contingency plans in place. If need be, the university will restore the 6 feet social distancing rule and there are already plans to turn several spaces into classrooms, as well as increase the use of tents to hold class.

In addition to feeling confident in planning for a largely in-person educational experience, the school has announced a variety of other changes for the next academic year. Resident halls, apartments, and catalyst houses will return to double occupancy next semester.

However, students are hesitant about returning to full occupancy.

“It’s best to play it safe. I mean obviously the school needs to make money to run properly so I understand why they're doing double occupancy. I think for the most part things will hopefully die down by next semester, but if they wanted to keep it as safe as this semester, I don’t see why they wouldn’t do single occupancy,” Flynn explained.

Rheingold mirrored Logan’s opinion: “Personally, I don’t believe it’s in the best interest of students for there to

be double occupancy… I’m very unsure about it.”

The decision was also made for next academic year to include a fall break (which will be two days long), a Thanksgiving holiday, and on campus classes with exams in December. According to Painter, “There were a lot of people who are saying, especially students, who are saying, ‘we just can't do this anymore, without having breaks in the semester. It's too much.’ And I think that a number of faculty felt the same way.” The Academic Affairs Committee and Faculty Senate also decided that a “normal” class schedule will be implemented in the next semester with 10-15 minutes between classes instead of 30 minutes between classes that has been used this semester.

According to Schoenberg, there will be a major redrafting of the tier system over the course of the summer.

As she explains, “We're intentionally waiting until the summer because things are changing so fast right now in terms of medical information, and the CDC just came out with completely new guidance for people who are vaccinated, which is wonderful, and will definitely change some of what we have for the more advanced tiers. So we decided to wait because it's changing so quickly. We didn't want to make a bunch of changes and confuse people and then have to change it again,” said Schoenberg. “We'll still have the tiers, but they will look different. And we'll make sure we communicate that really well.” Overall, she believes “there's a lot of things that we're moving towards in terms of leniency for the fall.”

The changes that are to be implemented into the next academic year are set in stone unless drastic changes are called for, and the university has already planned to evaluate the state of the situation at various points during the summer. These changes should help return the Stetson University population to a sense of normalcy in a time that can be described as anything but normal.

Lynn Schoenberg reminds the Stetson community that as things slowly become normal again, the university “[does] have to ask the Stetson community to remain on top of things... swe don't want to mess up what we have going on right now...So we just continue to ask for everybody's help to try to make this happen. Because it requires everyone and we're so thankful for everyone doing everything they have. And just a reminder that we want to stay on that train.”

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Ditching Blackboard: Stetson Makes the Switch to Canvas

A look into the university’s decision to move from Blackboard to Canvas.

Ditching Blackboard: Stetson Makes the Switch to Canvas Story by Calista Headrick Design by Isabel Solorzano Readings Handouts Tools

Course Introduction

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s colleges and universities have had to continuously adjust to remote circumstances amid the COVID-19 pandemic, learning management systems like Blackboard have become more important than ever. But as Stetson has continued to evaluate the efficiency and capabilities of Blackboard Ultra, the university has decided to make the transition to Canvas, another learning management system used by many other universities, beginning in the Summer 2021 term.

Leading this effort are Associate Provost for Faculty Development Rosalie Richards, Ph.D., and Associate Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Jose Bernier, Ed.D., as part of the Academic Affairs IT Collaborative team. Together, Dr. Richards and Dr. Bernier work to ensure that the needs of the university are addressed adequately: Richards focuses on the needs of the faculty and Bernier focuses on IT and pedagogies of learning. As Bernier says, “We try to provide a technology, or meet the technology needs, to make sure that their [faculty] dreams of the way that they want to engage the students can happen.”

Even given the long-lasting relationship that Stetson has had with Blackboard, the university began to notice a dissatisfaction among students, faculty, and staff which spurred the consideration for a move away from Blackboard.

In a time where support in an online environment is of such importance, Berner pointed out that “...there were a few performance issues that we have experienced. And it seems like Blackboard did not increase their resources when it came to support the massive move to the online environment. So we were experiencing some lack of response when it came to fixing some of the issues that we were experiencing, and it seems like they just didn’t have enough resources. So that’s what led us to start asking our peer institutions and others, so what are you guys doing?

How are you addressing this? And that led us to move to Canvas.”

According to Bernier, Stetson is part of the Independent

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Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF). With feedback from peer universities and other partners, Stetson was then able to use the input from ICUF to guide their decision to transition to Canvas. Stetson was not the first ICUF school to make this transition, and according to Stetson University’s website, after consulting with both EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University and Rollins College, the university was able to evaluate their satisfaction with Canvas after moving from Blackboard to guide the decision for Stetson as well.

The decision was grounded from feedback inside the university based on the needs of faculty and staff alike.

“It was collaborative and inclusive and research-based and addressed needs based on the data that had been collected,” said Richards, and also incorporated input from various facets of the university.

“We had a group...to help us make the decision, and we were looking at some of the different needs. They were going to have things that they wanted to be addressed, and based on that group that had some faculty members in it and deans, and they helped us select the system,” said Bernier.

“We also worked with a group on the Campus Life and Student Success side that included student representation from Student Government, and then...asked Canvas to host a session for that group so that they could address directly some of the questions of the Campus Life area, which included a student rep from Student Government,” said Richards. “Sort of anecdotally we have been long hearing a desire by a number of constituencies to move to a Canvas system.”

Apart from performance issues, Richards described the “industry shift increasingly toward Canvas-type systems that are built on cloud-based systems,” that makes Canvas more user-friendly than Blackboard, which is still transitioning to a cloud-based system. “When you look at the data...you see how Canvas was sort of outpacing some of the other

learning management systems,” said Richards. Essentially, as Bernier put it, “It was a trend on the industry that showed that people were moving towards Canvas and leaving Blackboard.”

In addition to the inefficiencies that the university saw with the lack of a cloud-based system, Blackboard also fell short in terms of pricing which led Stetson to consider a move to Canvas. “Blackboard was increasing their cost, [which] seems to me like, maybe taking advantage of the increase in use, and rather than rewarding the loyalty, they took advantage of the opportunity, which didn’t seem too fair to me,” said Bernier.

As Bernier highlighted, “There were several features that not only sometimes Canvas offered but Blackboard did not, but also that Canvas offers as a standard. So it’s coming included with the license that we are going to get from Canvas while the problem was that Blackboard may offer the same feature, but it was charging every time that we added a new feature into that. So it made it more and more and more expensive, the more features that we wanted to utilize. One particular feature that we’re very excited about is the ADA compliance feature that with Blackboard, it was an add on, and it was a very expensive add on to add to make sure that all the online courses are ADA compliant.

It’s going to be part of our standard license with Canvas.”

The cloud-based approach of Canvas also lends itself to more cohesive and consistent capabilities as a system. “We’re really very much concerned about making sure that the look and feel of the environment for students is consistent across courses,’’ said Richards. “If you’re trying to find the syllabus in one course, you shouldn’t be looking, you know, running around to try and find the syllabus in another course... so everything from reporting or emailing, you know, all of that can be done in the particular environment, and so you don’t have to keep jumping and skipping.” Essentially, Canvas offers a fuller integration than Blackboard’s current capabilities, where even Office 365, Teams, and Zoom will be seamlessly integrated.

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Ditching DitchingBlackboard: Blackboard:A Stetson StetsonMakes Makesthe theSwitch Switchto toCanvas Canvas look into the university’s decision to move from Blackboard to Canvas.

Ditching Blackboard: Stetson Makes the Switch to Canvas Story by Calista Headrick Design by Isabel Solorzano Readings Handouts Tools

Course Introduction While some may feel hesitant about having to transition to and learn a new system, Anna Laine (‘22), a junior at the University of Cincinnati, commented that “As familiar as I was with Blackboard, I prefer Canvas 1000%.”

Having used Blackboard throughout high school as well as her freshman year at Baldwin Wallace University, a private university in Ohio, she described finding Blackboard’s layout as “...unattractive and unnecessarily cluttered. It wasn’t necessarily hard to navigate, but there were always way too many things to look at on every page.

Canvas is much cleaner, and each class is its own separate icon as opposed to an obnoxiously long class name as a hyperlink. It is more customizable than Blackboard so I can rename and color coordinate my classes which makes it easier for me to learn and stay organized.”

Canvas also offers various features that Laine found more useful than what Blackboard offered: “In terms of grading, Canvas has a feature called ‘What-If Scores’ in which you can type in a particular score to see its effect on your total grade. I find this tool to be super helpful in understanding what grade I need to strive for, but also what grades I can get away with in order to pass my classes. Overall, I find Canvas to be superior in presentation, layout, and efficiency over Blackboard,” said Laine.

Rollins College also made the transition from Blackboard to Canvas in Aug. of 2019. After conducting surveys in focus groups and having faculty teach both Blackboard Ultra and Canvas in pilot tests, Rollins ultimately decided to make the switch to Canvas.

Hannah Ewing, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Rollins, was one of the faculty included in the Learning Management Systems Pilot Committee. After having previously taught with Blackboard for four years, in the fall of 2018 she then tested Blackboard Ultra for one of her courses and had access to Canvas to experiment with its features in order to compare the two.

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According to Dr. Ewing, “The committee was led by our Instructional Design and Technology team, but included

faculty from all across the college. We had multiple faculty members from each of the academic divisions of the college. Half of the committee taught in Blackboard Ultra for a semester; half taught in Canvas. We then brought our real-world experiences using the systems back to the Instructional Design team.”

“While I liked the old Blackboard, I thought the other two systems [Ultra and Canvas] were more forwardthinking in terms of how students now access and navigate course material in a greater variety of ways. Of the two systems we tested in 2018, I preferred Canvas,” said Ewing.

Although Ewing preferred Blackboard Ultra’s gradingrubrics and grading-comment features more, she ultimately favored Canvas. As she said, “This was largely because Blackboard Ultra was still buggy at that time—it kept eating parts of the feedback I left on student assignments—and was not as easy to customize.”

In the long run, Ewing preferred Canvas over the old Blackboard system that Rollins originally used, largely in part to the features that Canvas offers: “The modules make it easy to integrate readings and assignment links together, rather than having them live in separate areas. The pages feature is also great for de-cluttering the homepage and clustering related materials together. Being able to use colors and thumbnails on the Canvas landing-page makes it easy to locate your courses, so you don’t have to search through a long list...On the whole, I am happy with the switch...and I am especially thankful to have gotten over the learning curve with the new course management system before the pandemic hit.”

Although Stetson does not have this same advantage of making the switch before the pandemic, Richards and Bernier believe that even given the learning curve that comes along with the transition during a time of such change and adjustment, the switch is ultimately the best decision.

“When you end up in a pandemic situation, things that might have not been as big a deal are more amplified. And so with increased use by all constituencies, I don’t think we

could continue, you know, ignoring the performance issues that were mentioned, as well as the increasing costs,” said Richards. “So what happens as we move post-pandemic, and given the fact that we’re already in such a unique time of massive change, this might be the best time. It sounds counterintuitive to make that shift, but then we’ll emerge from a pandemic even stronger with a robust system that will allow us to do the next iteration of our work in ways that we probably would not have been able to do it before.

So you know, we want to emerge ready and not emerge having to engage in another set of change again, so what better time to do it then now?”

The university is dedicated to making this transition as smooth as possible and have already begun to invest a substantial amount of time and effort into training in order to ensure that faculty and staff feel as comfortable as possible. According to Richards, “What we have done specifically is put in place a faculty staff transition team, learning management system transition team, and part of their core work is to work towards easing the transition for everyone. And so they are working specifically with all of our constituencies to really address some of the issues that will and have come up, right? Things that both Dr. Bernier and I and other staff support in this area would not think about. And so we’re also open to looking at that as a possibility for our students as well.”

Ultimately, the goal is to make the transition for faculty and students so that “students can focus on learning the content rather than learning the system, while faculty can focus on teaching and or presenting and content without having to focus on the system,” said Bernier.

As Richards points out, “We recognize that the world that we’re going to emerge into, the next iteration of that, will be one that is particularly dependent on learning from anywhere at any time, and that’s not something that’s new. But the focus certainly has been shifted to the role of learning as a different sort of paradigm globally. And so our roles in this collaborative is to make sure that we’re well positioned to have the best state of the art features available the reporter 31 for that learning to take place.”

A WALK IN THE WOODS 32 issue 3

The scrub pine fields of the St. Francis trail are stunning to explore.

These great adventures are waiting just outside of DeLand.

Story & Photos by Allie Wilson Layout by Ruby Rosenthal

Oak trees and soft streams have been the picture of peace in my mind for years. A short trail through the mangroves lies near the town I grew up in. I take my dog through those trodden paths whenever I’m home.

The light splinters through the trees in shards throughout the entire trip until I reach a boardwalk that bursts out of the trees and slams into the sunlight straight on. I used to lose myself in those moments of light and shadow.

With finals creeping closer and the stress from midterms having finally subsided, an escape is on everyone’s mind right about now.

For me, that escape comes in the form of hiking trips. Whenever classes, family, or work become too overwhelming I find a few trees or some water and practice taking deep breaths. It’s a great way to stay active, of course, but it’s also a good way to benefit your mental health.

Over the last few community days and weekends, I’ve been exploring everything Volusia County has to offer in the sense of nature trails and preserves. I’ve found some thrilling areas, some gorgeous views, and some annoyingly barren paths. If you’re up for a little adventure for your next day off, add one of these exciting spots to your agenda.

ST. FRANCIS TRAILHEAD, OCALA NATIONAL FOREST: 8/10

With around eight miles of trails to discover, St. Francis lies right off of the St. Johns River about 15 minutes from campus. The trailhead is hidden behind a dirt road that will rattle your bones if your vehicle doesn’t have shocks.

This is the first trail I found when I moved into Stetson a year and a half ago. The oak trees and shaded trail reminded me of home. Here in Central Florida, the climate tends to be drier with a lot of scrub pines and saw palmettos, and it’s harder than I imagined finding covered trails with trees tall enough to create a canopy over you.

St. Francis has an easy-to-follow trail system, with two loops depending on how much time

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you want to spend. It’s recommended to set aside around seven or eight hours to explore the entire 7.9-mile loop, which takes you to the river and offers quite a few brilliant views. For those of us who don’t have that kind of time, there’s a 3-mile loop called the Yellow Trail, which serves as the beginning of the longer route.

Oak trees grow in abundance in the Ocala National Forest, so St. Francis is littered with them. If you’re looking for even more adventure, you’ll even find a spot where an oak has fallen across the trail and you have to climb over it to continue on. The trail is a rather easy one, with a worn path through the forest and quite a few sets of boardwalks. But be careful if it has rained—not only will part of the trail flood, but those boardwalks get extremely slippery.

The history of the St. Francis trail is a bit interesting as well. According to the United States Forest Service, St. Francis used to be a port off of the river in between St. Johns Port and Sanford where steamboats would stop to sell wares to the community before continuing either way. Once railroads began taking over, the port faded away. But now, hikers can take a walk through the past and enjoy the sights of nature that have grown since then.

BLACK BEAR WILDERNESS LOOP TRAIL, BLACK BEAR WILDERNESS: 10/10

Roots are littered throughout the entire Black Bear Wilderness trail.

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Roots, steep declines, and drop-offs make certain that this trail is a difficult one. The entire loop is 7.1-miles, half of which is overlooking the St. Johns River. If you’re not up to the challenge, you can also settle for the round trip to the river overlook and back, which is only two miles. The trail is around half an hour from campus, right across the St. Johns.

The variety of wildlife at this preserve is incredible, and trail traffic usually deters most animals from hanging out near the pathways.

While I was at Black Bear, however, I saw at least six alligators just a few feet away from the path and an array of birds and turtles hanging around the mangroves.

“It was very peaceful… you could hear the wind,” Roxana Triana, ‘23, commented, having gone on the trail with me and tripped over every root she came across. Her favorite moment is right before the river outlook, where a boardwalk overlooks the marshes and dandelion fluff flies through the air.

“I had never felt such inner peace… with the whole school year being so busy, it was nice to just live and relax,” - Kaylan Hernandez, ‘23

MYACA TRAIL, LAKE WOODRUFF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: 8.5/10

DID YOU KNOW?

The Myaca trail in Lake Woodruff offered some great backdrops.

Environmental Science professor Tony Abbott, Ph.D. is on the board of the St. John’s River-to-Sea Loop Alliance, and is working on a 260-mile bike trail.

According to river2sealoop. org, this trail begins at DeLeon Springs State Park, runs southwest to St. Petersburg, north to Palatka, east to St. Augustine, and south to Titusville.

Located right down the road from DeLeon Springs, the Lake Woodruff Wildlife Refuge is a beautiful place to spend the day only 15 minutes from campus. The refuge offers up to six miles of trails with benches and pavilions to relax and enjoy the scenery.

A couple of friends explored this trail with me, and we took a nice calming break right beside Lake Woodruff. The lake’s view is astounding and gives it a bit of an edge over St. Francis. The trail is mostly covered, with the path outlining the lake being the largest uncovered area.

You’ll also get to enjoy the wildlife. We spied a few turtles on the walk and some birds hanging around the lake. If you’re lucky enough, you may even run into a few alligators.

“I had never felt such inner peace… with the whole school year being so busy, it was nice to just live and relax,” said Kaylan Hernandez, ‘23, a music student who jumped at the chance to get lost in the woods with me.

According to Florida Hikes, the trails are “subject to flooding if the St. Johns River is high.” Bug spray is highly recommended and sunscreen as well, if you burn as easily as I do.

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SPRING TO SPRING TRAIL, LAKE MONROE CONSERVATION AREA: 8/10

The trail at Lake Beresford serves as a nice walk after.

LAKE BERESFORD PARK, DELAND: 7.5/10

A little over 10 minutes from campus, Lake Beresford is the closest hike on this list. It’s also connected to the Spring to Spring Trail, which wraps around the park’s outer perimeter. A few miles of trails outline the lake, which visitors can hike over or bike if they choose to. The views of the water from the trail are spectacular, though parts of the walkway are a little overgrown.

If you take the Spring to Spring Trail for about a quarter of a mile, you’ll run into a red blaze trail that weaves through the forest as well.

This trail is also intertwined with a blue blaze trail that totals around five miles between the two of them. The entire trail is covered, with just enough breaks in the branches to give off a beautiful glow when the sun is up.

Be warned: Orb spiders are all over the place here. They won’t hurt you unless you mess with them, but some of their webs are threateningly close to the trail.

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There are at least nine different entrances to the Spring to Spring Trail of Volusia County. If you’re looking for a loop trail, this long stretch of boardwalks and sidewalks isn’t for you; with around 15 miles of trails for biking or walking, it has some great scenery, even if you only hike a portion of it. Volusia County has planned a total of 26 miles of trails connecting four of the springs with one paved trail.

I entered the trail near the southernmost entrance at Lake Monroe. This entrance is about 25 minutes from campus. From there, a boardwalk threads through a cypress grove, making for a beautiful view. Eventually, it opens into a stretch of uncovered trail where I discovered an unnamed blue blaze trail that veers off into the swampy mangroves.

Blazes are markers for hikers to follow, so they don’t accidentally go off the trail. The most common colors are red or blue, but they aren’t limited to just those.

There are several picnic tables and benches for anyone who wants to relax in the scenic spaces along the trail.

There’s no shortage of scenery on the Spring to Spring Trail.

HEART ISLAND, LAKE GEORGE WILDLIFE AREA: 7/10

The sun was shining as bright as it could at Heart Island.

If you’re lucky, you may run into horses on this trail, but unfortunately, I didn’t have that pleasure when I visited. Heart Island is a part of the larger Lake George Wildlife Management Area, which offers horse trails, camping, and hunting.

This particular web of trails amounts to almost five miles of soft sand and scrubs. There are three separate loops to choose from, varying in length from just over a mile to almost two miles. The terrain is easy enough, but the sand will remind you of trekking on a beach.

“Having never been on a hike before, I found that [Heart Island] had this serenity to it that made me come back to this idea of being a part of nature and the beauty in that,” Peter Lorenzo 23’ mused after enjoying this trail with me.

The longleaf pines framing the trail don’t give much shade, but my friend, Kaylan, enjoyed collecting the pine cones leftover.

OSPREY TRAIL, SPRING HAMMOCK PRESERVE: 9/10

This trail is a bit of a drive, but if you don’t mind 45 minutes, it’s well worth it. Situated right on the edge of a part of the Florida Trail, it opens up into two miles of covered hiking.

While this is a fairly easy hike with a clear path, it does have some incline which turns it into a little less of a leisurely stroll.

The path is surrounded by wetlands with narrow footpaths leading through the lush oaks and pines. A small creek follows the trail with a few bridges cutting over it at times. There is also a hidden portion of the trail that I stumbled upon that leads right underneath a railroad.

I even came across a large oak that had fallen across a wider part of the creek, which was a highlight of the trail. I don’t have the best track record when it comes to crossing bodies of water on logs, but I couldn’t resist trying it out. I didn’t get my feet wet, so I considered it a success.

At Osprey, you’re likely to see a few turtle friends.

All of these trails are wonderful spots to explore and take your mind off of any stress that you may be facing.

Black Bear takes the gold for me compared to the rest of the hikes I discovered. The tricky slopes and uneven terrain of the seven-mile loop were very enticing and spoke to my love for harder trails that bring out the excitement. It made me think back to hiking in actual mountains. This being Florida, which is mainly flatlands, you don’t often find trails with that much elevation gain. Whether you like a challenge or would rather a calm stroll through the forest, there’s a walk in the woods out there waiting for you. the reporter

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Sitcoms and Marvel Madness Come Together in

n o i s i V a d n a W

“WandaVison” takes the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a new level with the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) show to premiere on Disney+. The show follows Avengers’ Wanda Maximoff and the Vision living their ideal domestic lives in the suburbs as a happily married couple in a sitcomesque world. However, as the show goes on, civilians and agents of S.W.O.R.D. find out that Wanda’s life might not be as perfect as it seems.

The pilot of the show is very reminiscent of shows like “I Love Lucy” and the “Dick Van Dyke Show.” The episode is in black and white is shot in a 4:3 ratio to fully give it the stylistic looks of a 1950’s sitcom and even has an adorable, catchy intro song. The first three episodes of “WandaVision” follow the standard classic sitcom format that includes a peppy theme song, a laugh track, and lots of cheesy jokes.

Each episode centers around a different decade, and the 1960’s episode “don’t touch that dial” even plays direct homage to “Bewitched.” These episodes are full of quirky dialogue, a laugh track, and peppy performances from Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda) and Paul Bettany (Vision).

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“WandaVison” follows Avengers Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they live a life in a world that feels like a sitcom.

The couple soon finds out that everything in this world is not as nice as it may seem.

Story & Layout by Bella Steiret

The supporting cast is also brilliant in these first three episodes.

Kathryn Hahn plays Agnes, the noisy neighbor who’s always barging in on Wanda’s business and causing shenanigans. Hahn is so clever and charismatic in this role; she has great comedic timing and is so entertaining to watch. Her performance even made me reminiscence on her role as Jen Barkley in “Parks and Recreation.”

Teyonah Parris plays Geraldine, a friendly citizen of the town of Westview. She is happy and ready to help Wanda out but as the plot progresses, she begins to get confused and senses that something might be wrong. Teyonah Parris does a great job of showing all the various emotions her character is put through and is very convincing.

Things start to take a bit of a darker turn in the third episode; Wanda’s powers start to get out of hand while she goes through the pregnancy and birth of her twin sons. The action gets more intense around episode three, and the show starts to incorporate more elements that feel reminiscent of Marvel films with big action scenes and serious moments. Wanda’s brother Pietro, who has died, is mentioned in episode three and you can see in that scene that she is grieving his death, which provides a setup for the darker shift that the series takes.

The sitcom plotline pauses during episode four. It shifts its focus to Monica Rambeau and the agents of S.W.O.R.D. as they process life after the “blip” to discover that Wanda has made a sitcom by using her magic and has trapped citizens in her little world. Episode four adds more supporting cast members. Randall Park reprises his role as Agent Jimmy Woo from the Ant-Man series, and Kat Dennings reprises her role as Darcy Lewis from the Thor series. I really enjoyed the performances given by these supporting characters, since most of them only had small roles before, and it was nice learning more about them. I especially loved Jimmy Woo; he has great charisma, is funny, loveable, and has the potential to be a bigger character in the MCU in the future.

Even though the supporting cast is stellar, what is really great about the show is how the main characters are written.

Prior to the show airing, I liked both Vision and Wanda when they appeared in past films, although they never were my favorites because I felt like I didn’t know that much about them. “WandaVision” does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters’ personalities, thoughts, and feelings.

Wanda’s story is also very well done. She is grieving the loss of a loved one, which is one of the worst possible trials a person can go through. What makes Wanda’s grieving process so interesting to watch is that she is in full denial. She can’t handle the fact that Vision is gone and she creates this sitcom-themed fantasy because as a child she would watch sitcoms for comfort.

As the series goes on, Wanda is forced to remember that she is in a fake world as she gets calls from the S.W.O.R.D. agents asking her to stop putting on this fake show, making the series even more interesting as it progresses. In one episode, Wanda is forced to go back to sad moments from her childhood and even sees Vision dead. She is a very complex character who is going through a horrible experience, but she also is very strong, as she is processing grief and learning to cope in a world without the people she values most. In fact, most of the tension and problems that arise in the series come from Wanda struggling to grieve in a healthy way.

Wanda is also known as the Scarlet Witch. This means that she has the ability to perform magic and manipulate things.

As the show progresses, the viewers learn more about her superpowers and how she uses them. Probably my favorite part of the series was the show’s villain and how they revealed her.

I loved how fun and snarky this character is, and I hope they make more appearances in the MCU. One of the most enjoyable parts of the show was Paul Bettany’s performance as Vision. In this series we learn a lot more about his character where in a couple of episodes, we see Vision trying to act like a human and work an office job, which provides great comedic relief. But he also gets excellent character development. He starts to sense that there is something off about the life he is living with Wanda in Westview, which builds conflict in their relationship. Bettany gives his stand-out performance in episode eight, where he gives this emotional monologue to Wanda about grieving the death of her brother and says the line, “But what is grief, if not love persevering?”

What makes Wanda’s grieving process so interesting to watch is that she is in full denial.

She can’t handle the fact that Vision is gone and she creates this sitcom-themed fantasy because as a child she would watch sitcoms for comfort.

There were a lot of elements to “WandaVision” that I heavily enjoy, but the show’s biggest problem is its pacing. This pacing problem became an issue for me around episode seven which ends with the reveal that the nosy neighbor Agnes is actually a villain. She is a powerful witch named Agatha and has captured Wanda’s children. The episode ends with an original song “Agatha All Along” which explains that Agatha has been the one causing Wanda trouble throughout the entire series. The scene with “Agatha All Along” was styled like an old sitcom intro and I thought it was such a clever way to do a villain reveal and end the episode. Episode seven has been my favorite so far. I absolutely loved Karthyn Hahn’s performance as Agatha and was anxiously waiting on how the rest of the show would go after this big reveal.

I was slightly disappointed when I saw episode eight, which is an episode filled with flashbacks and tackles Wanda’s past. In the episode Agatha shows Wanda a bunch of moments from her childhood, and we see how Wanda watches sitcoms as a way to process hard moments in her life. It is an interesting concept, but I was expecting a bit more than just the two characters making banter while looking through old memories. The flashbacks do help with giving more depth to Wanda’s character and helped the viewers learn why she is making this false reality. I had just wished this information had been given in an earlier episode, not in the second to last one.

Then the finale ends the series with a giant marvel action sequence that lasts for about half of the episode. After the long battle, Wanda and Vision do get a good wrap-up scene, however, I feel like the other character did not. After the episode, I felt as though something was missing. The action scene was visually stunning, but would have benefitted from more sitcom callbacks, some more scenes with the agents, or one last catchy theme tune.

I found it frustrating that after introducing Agatha’s character, the show wraps up so fast without giving Agatha and Wanda some more moments together before their battle at the end. The finale felt like cramming so much into an hour between the action and the personal wrap ups for all the characters.

I do wish that “WandaVision” kept some of the light and fun qualities that were present in the earlier episodes into the ending as well, and I also think that it should have had 10 episodes, instead of nine, so the finale would’ve been less rushed. But overall, you’ll enjoy “WandaVison” and its action packed and riveting story.

RATING: 7/10 the reporter

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40 issue 3

Stetson Men’s Soccer:

insight from coach

Despite the obstacles that the Stetson’s men’s soccer team faced during a season of COVID-19, Coach Rutkowski conveys his pride for the team and what they have to look forward to in the future.

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Story by Luke McClatchy Layout by Isabel Solorzano Photos by Jillian Semmel

he Stetson men's soccer team is off to a bit of a rough start this season, standing at 0-4-2 currently. However, this hasn’t discouraged head coach Emmett Rutkowski in the slightest as he attempts to create a culture change within the team.

“It has been an interesting first season as head coach. I was an assistant coach for two seasons, and Stetson on the men’s soccer side has been really difficult for a number of reasons,” said Coach Rutkowski. “We’ve had six coaches in eight years, so that’s not generally a recipe for success. You don’t have consistency in retaining talented student athletes. One of the first things I knew is we had to bring in a large class of talented freshmen who we knew were going to be here for the next four or five years.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has not made being a new head coach any easier, but Rutkowski gives his young team credit for powering through the confusion and adversity.

“It’s made me realize things and reflect as a coach because I’ve noticed things I never would have done pre-COVID. Now I’m doing it more in practice, like now we’re using Zoom and it is so much more efficient with film because everyone can be there in a 15-20 minute time window versus getting everyone to meet at the same time in a building for an hour,” said Rutkowski. “So it’s really cool to actually see what has made me be better as a coach but also see what has helped our student athletes become better players in terms of using stuff that wasn’t prevalent before COVID. I can see us continuing to use these resources after COVID.” Coach Rutkowski thinks the team hasn’t yet come close to meeting its full potential. Even given the circumstances, the team continues to persevere.

“I would say we’ve gotten better every week. We’ve never had a fully healthy team because of COVID. But everyone sees we are getting a lot better,” he said.

“All the teams we have been playing have been much older and more experienced than us, and so for me it’s about the long term of getting out of the spring but also preparing ourselves so we can become the best version of ourselves.”

Despite the record, Coach Rutkowski feels there has been evidence of growth and high points in the season. Take Stetson’s game against Florida Gulf Coast University—even given that they’re the top team in the Atlantic Sun Conference, Stetson was competing with dedication even despite injuries and absences due to COVID-19 protocol.

“It ended up being 0-0, but I was really proud of the fact we as a team have

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made massive jumps in our mentality and how guys are learning how to get through a game at an extremely high level. Not just from a physical standpoint, but the mental side as well. When you’re starting seven or eight freshmen against six or seven seniors, to me that’s massive. It means we’re knocking on the door, but the next part is learning how to close out and win those games, and that can take some time,” said Rutkowski.

In a COVID inflicted and reduced season, the team is bound to have some low points as well, including having a game canceled due to COVID protocol. But Coach Rutkowski insists that the team should focus on what they can control.

“I would say it was the low point because you know, for the mental health of some of the guys, they love the game and they’re passionate about the game. So getting a match canceled, that can be tough because you have to hit the reset button and go into isolation for several days, and you lose a lot in the physical and mental aspects of the game,” said Rutkowski. Since the cancelation, however, Rutkowski gives his team credit for bouncing back and climbing out of the mental slump.

With the benefit of hindsight, Coach Rutkowski identified a few things he would have done differently: “In hindsight I definitely would have focused more on the mental aspect of our team. What I mean by that is COVID has changed people’s perspective on different things at different times of this past year, and everyone has handled those moments differently,” he said.

“

He also stated how important the skill of effective communication is when dealing with such a young and diverse roster.

I would say it was the low point because you know, for the mental health of some of the guys, they love the game and they’re passionate about the game. So getting a match canceled, that can be tough because you have to hit the reset button and go into isolation for several days, and you lose a lot in the physical and mental aspects of the game,”

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- COACH EMMETT RUTKOWSKI

“I think with the first few months of COVID you saw a lot of young men who weren’t sure of what was going on, and their outlet was playing soccer. We did as much as we could with the mental aspect: we listened to podcasts, we watched the documentary “The Last Dance,” and we tried our best to get guys away from thinking about COVID. I thought it went really well, but looking back I would have done even more with it. I think it really weighed on people, and I could sense it when we were training because of the stresses that COVID brings.”

Additionally, as a new head coach during the COVID-19 pandemic, the recruiting process was anything but easy.

“It was actually very difficult--the recruiting process-when I took over. I got the job in February 2020, and back

then COVID was semi-prevalent in the United States. But it was around two weeks later when other sports leagues like the NBA took notice and started shutting down. Stetson really started shutting down around the middle of March as well. The NCAA has had Division I in a so-called ‘dead period’ for the last year. Meaning, we cannot physically recruit, so we have had to do a lot more video interviews or other forms of contact,” said Rutkowski.

Besides COVID-19 however, recruiting itself is quite simple for Coach Rutkowski.

“I actually feel Stetson is one of the easiest places to recruit to, and I remind the guys of this all the time, because how hard is it to recruit someone to one of the best schools academically in the southeast and also be 20 minutes from the beach and 40 minutes from downtown Orlando? I mean, I send pictures of the campus and it sells itself. So for us I think it’s not a tough sell, believe it or not. So in my mind, you actually have to be more careful with recruiting, making sure players see this place as more than a destination, or a place where you are near Disney World and have fun all the time.”

Coach Rutkowski doesn’t want players to think having fun in their free time is a bad thing though. He communicates with his team the balance between having fun and making progress in their academic and athletic careers.

“You’re here at Stetson to get a great education and be the best person you can be as a student athlete, and that’s what we have to remind ourselves,” stated Rutkowski. “That can be one of the trickiest parts of getting the best out of our players, because of those distractions you have to keep them locked in, especially as young men. There are a lot of good things to do here, but we have to remind ourselves of our season goals and focus of academics and athletics.”

Emmett Rutkowski, Head Coach of the men’s soccer team.

After a season full of such perseverance, Coach Rutkowski has big expectations for season two and beyond for the men’s soccer program.

“Obviously you want to win the regular season and conference every year, and I want us to begin having that standard for those of us who have been recruited here. Teams before these guys have won the regular season, and that’s the standard,” stated Rutkowski. “You know you have older guys like, ‘ok this is what we have accomplished, this is who we are,’ Right now we are building within ourselves and our culture, and I want that genuine culture of guys who know how we started and when we are a championship caliber team they know to keep improving and getting better, that’s when I’ll know I’ve done my job.”

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Sophomore guard Rob Perry scored 16 points as the Hatters fell to Coastal Carolina University in the second round of the CBI.

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STETSON MEN’S BASKETBALL AND THE 2021 COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL:

Hatters’ First Postseason Berth Marks Critical Step Towards Program Relevance

Story by Bryce Hoynoski Layout by Isabel Solorzano Photos Courtesy of Stetson Athletics

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tetson University men’s basketball has been a lackluster program for a long time. That time might be over. Fresh off a semifinals run in the 2021 College Basketball Invitational — Stetson’s first NCAA Division I postseason appearance in program history — the Hatters finally have something to smile about.

To call the history of the Stetson men’s basketball program lackluster may actually be putting it lightly. Formerly members of the NAIA, the Hatters were elevated to NCAA Division I status back in 1971. Under the guidance of legendary basketball mind Glenn Wilkes, things were good in DeLand for a long time. The “Godfather of Florida Basketball,” Wilkes led the Hatters to a .526 winning percentage in his 22 years with Stetson at the DI level. Wilkes retired in 1993, and the program took a nosedive.

From 1993 to 2019, under six different head coaches, the Hatters won only 220 of 670 games — good for a .328 winning percentage. That number would rank as the seventeenth-worst winning percentage of any program in NCAA history. Excluding all now-defunct programs would drop Stetson into the eighth-worst spot. To put it bluntly, since the retirement of Glenn Wilkes, the Stetson Hatters have been one of the ten worst programs in college basketball.

As if things could not have gotten any worse for the program, the Hatters hit rock bottom under former coach Corey Williams. Between 2013 and 2019, the Hatters won fewer than a third of their games — a 0.303 winning percentage. Stetson lost over 20 games in every season under Williams. Despite the best efforts of some of the most prolific players in Hatter history, such as all-time leading scorer Divine Myles, all-time 3-pointer leader Luke Doyle, and all-time assist leader Angel Rivera, the Hatters toiled in six miserable campaigns.

Things looked dark for Stetson men’s basketball as it

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Freshman Chase Johnston and the Hatter bench celebrate after an opening round win in the 2021 CBI.

seemed more than ever like the program was content with mediocrity.

Enter Donnie Jones. Brought on as head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, Jones has led an improbable program turnaround that many students, fans, and alumni had likely dismissed as nothing more than wishful thinking. Shortly after his hiring, Jones tore apart the Hatter roster, and what followed was nothing short of astounding. In 2019, Jones led a roster highlighted by seven freshmen to the winningest season for the program in over a decade, and outsiders took note.

After last season, the Hatters received invites to both the CBI and CIT postseason tournaments. The Hatters never

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accepted either invitation before the advent of COVID-19 shut down the sports world, but Stetson had taken the first step towards a program revival.

In a season of uncertainty under the pandemic, it may have been easy for Stetson to take a step back in 2021.

The 2020-21 season may not have been as glamorous for the Hatters, who finished with fewer wins and a losing conference record, but Jones still led his team to a secondstraight ASUN Conference semifinals appearance. The Hatters fell to the eventual ASUN champions, Liberty University, but Stetson received a nice consolation prize — an invite to the CBI for the second straight year. In Stetson’s 50th season of DI competition, the Hatters would finally get their chance to see a postseason. Jones was quick to recognize

the importance of the milestone for the program, especially after the shutdown a season ago.

“Oh it’s huge,” Jones said. “We’re trying to rebuild a program. We had the biggest turnaround in college basketball… Last year, we had that taken away with COVID. Obviously, the CBI respected us enough to give us an opportunity again this year, and I think that speaks volumes of what these kids have done in a difficult environment. I think it’s huge for our kids.”

For Stetson men’s basketball, the opportunity to participate in the CBI is a crucial first step towards earning respect as a program. It is just that, however — a step. Jones and the Hatters are not content with anything less than success at the game’s highest level.

“Obviously, the NCAA [tournament] is the level you want to be at, and that’s what we’re striving for, but to be able to reach some type of postseason is a huge hurdle for a place that hasn’t been there in 50 years,” said Jones.

On March 22, the Hatters took their talents to Daytona Beach hoping to make some noise in the CBI. In their first postseason appearance in half a century, the new-look Hatters made quite the impression. The Hatters trailed Bowling Green by 15 points with eight minutes to play in the second half of the quarterfinal game. From there, it was all Stetson. Carried by sophomore big man Mahamadou Diawara, the Hatters closed the game on a 15-2 run, capped off by a three-point dagger with 17 seconds left to play from a fellow sophomore, guard Rob Perry. The Hatters held on and advanced to the semifinals against Coastal Carolina.

“

We’ve done it the old-fashioned way, where we started with all freshmen, and that’s what we’ve been playing with. I think it’s huge for our program to be able to keep moving forward regardless of circumstances, and it’s a credit to what we’re doing here with these kids.”

- COACH DONNIE JONES

One night later, on March 23, Stetson’s run would end short of a CBI title, but not without a fight. The lone senior on Stetson’s roster, Christiaan Jones, scored a game-high 28 points against the Chanticleers, but the Hatters came up short in the semifinals. They fell to Coastal Carolina in overtime by a final score of 77-72.

The Hatters saw their season end without taking home any hardware. What they earned instead may be much more valuable in the long term. Jones sees bigger and better things in the future for the Hatters – that cannot happen overnight.

“I think when you’re building a culture, that’s something that takes time,” Jones said. “It doesn’t happen in two years. We’re trying to build a winning environment, and I think [the] environment is what you do now - that’s creating an expectation of playing for a postseason. We’ve done it the old-fashioned way, where we started with all freshmen, and that’s what we’ve been playing with. I think it’s huge for our program to be able to keep moving forward regardless of circumstances, and it’s a credit to what we’re doing here with these kids.”

There are over 350 Division I college basketball programs – 92 of them saw a postseason in 2021. The rest went home. The Hatters earned their spot in that exclusive group, but a CBI berth should not be enough. As Jones continues to build the program, his way, Stetson is well-equipped to build on 2021 for years to come. With one of the youngest rosters in the country and another recruiting class on the way, the Hatters have nowhere to go but up next season and beyond.

The dark ages of Stetson men’s basketball are firmly in the past, and the future looks bright. If things go according to plan, Jones and the Hatters may find themselves dancing on a bigger stage at this time next year.

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ampersand

Interview by Rene Campbell Layout by Zoe Boykin Photos Courtesy of Blaze

Q&A WITH BLAZE Tell us a little about yourself.

I am Blaze. I am a studio art major here sprinkled in with a creative writing minor there. I adore single speed bikes and everything about them. I love the game of soccer and playing guitar. My two favorite books are “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton and “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse.

What was your creative process for “Age of Aquarius” and “Age of Aquarius 2?”

Like most things I made in high school, this is just the result of me putting my head down and putting my pen on the paper. I love the look of a black ink trail on a fresh piece of white paper, and even better if it is in my sketchbook. I must have drawn one hundred anatomical hearts growing up; these two just speak the loudest to me now.

What do each of the pieces symbolize and how do they work separately/together?

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I believe the works can be continuously transforming and changing in a way that is relatable to the ending of the Age of Pisces and the dawning of the Aquarius. It has been a time. Precisely 2,150 years. We have made it, we have arrived. These works symbolize this awakening. I feel like the works function like real hearts. They seem to work on their own, but also have this beautiful potential to beat together.

What do the creative arts mean to you?

What do creative arts mean to me? What does air mean to my lungs?

Who/what influences your artistic style?

I have drawn anatomical hearts since I was a kid, and I have always been fond of them. My creative teachers, like Terri Witek, Katie Baczeski, and Luca Molnar, impact me heavily today. A lot of different things inspire me. For these works, I was mostly inspired by the possibility to escape the monotony of high school. My work is influenced by blaze. And blaze is inspired by my work.

"Age of Aquarius 2"

What does love mean to you?

Love is everything to me, and I enjoy watching the many ways in which it sneaks out of me and sprinkles out in the world around me. To love and receive love are top reasons why I think we are here.

How would you describe the relationship between love and the creative arts?

In a way, when you create something you reveal something.

A lot of times for me, these revelations come from expressions of my heart. The biggest creative art project, right now, we are working on together. How can we love? The expanded field is life, and it is conspiring all the time. To me, love will always be a creative expression worth following.

Do you have any advice for other artists?

The best advice that I received was, “Blaze! And don’t ever forget who you are.” Give yourself permission to be the real you because that person has things they would like to say. The most unadulterated. This person is always an artist.

"Age of Aquarius"

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WHAT

are you listening to?

Stream Stetson’s best (and only) radio station live on hatternetwork.com Or download Radio.Co to tune in

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@hatternetwork

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