Spring '25 Issue No. 14

The Signal

https://www.tcnjsignalnews.com/

Vol. LIII, No. 14

May 9, 2025

Serving The College of New Jersey since 1885

4% tuition increase proposed as state funding remains flat

Photo by Andre Paras

Students could see a 4% tuition increase if the president’s proposal is adopted.

By Matthew Kaufman Former Editor-in-Chief President Michael Bernstein and Interim Chief Financial Officer Richard Schweigert recommended a 4% tuition increase at the College’s annual tuition hearing on May 1, as the institution faces a possible reduction in state support.

Also proposed is a 4% increase in fees and a 2.69% increase in room & board costs.

If approved, in-state tuition would increase $612 to $15,906, fees would increase $174 to $4,520 and room & board would increase $385 to $14,709. Out-of-state tuition would

increase by $1,165 to $30,296.

“We do try and keep tuition as low as we can, but as you know, it’s hard in an environment where we’re very appreciative of what the state does for us, but it’s stagnant,” Schweigert said at the hearing, which was held during the May 1 Board of Trustees meeting, adding that the College is facing rising costs in payroll and other expenses.

The proposed increases must be approved by the Board of Trustees at a future meeting.

For the three years beyond FY2026, the tuition increase drops to 3% annually, the

fees increase remains at 4%, while the room & board increase hovers around 2.42%.

In an interview with The Signal on May 7, Bernstein said increases to tuition were necessary in the face of lackluster state aid, adding that annual increases of 4% are on the low end of colleges across the state. The Board of Trustees at Rowan University, for example, approved a 4.5% increase to undergraduate tuition and a 6.7% increase to undergraduate fees for the next school year, according to The Whit, Rowan’s student newspaper.

“Believe me, nothing would be better than if you could declare one year (that) we’re holding tuition flat this year,” Bernstein said in the interview. “But, you know, at the moment we just can’t balance the budget if we do that.”

The president added that the administration knows tuition increases can be “a burden for students, so we want to try and limit that as much as we can.”

The increases to housing costs will be allocated for improvements to the College’s

Table by Matthew Kaufman

The proposed tuition, fees, and room & board costs for the next four fiscal years, based on data presented at the tuition hearing October 2025.

TCNJ women’s track and field wins fifth straight NJAC title, men finish in second

By Eddie Young Managing Editor

The College’s women’s track and field won their fifth consecutive outdoor New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship, while the men finished in second place for the fifth year in a row. The women scored a point in all 21 events to get to their 223.5 total, helping them to fend off the secondplace Rowan team by 3.5 points. The men scored a point in all but one event.

Fifth-year Cassidy Quinn got the party started for the Lions on May 3, as she took home a gold in the 10,000-meter race, the first final of the weekend. She had a wire-to-wire lead, finishing the event in 39:05.44, 25 seconds before the secondplace finisher.

The Lions also earned a one-two finish in the hammer throw, with seniors Kerri McCarthy and Jessica Reilly continuing their dominance in the event this season.

McCarthy won gold with a 52.06-meter throw, while Reilly was right behind her, earning silver with a 50.08-meter throw.

“This conference title means more to me than any of the other championships we have won with it being the final one of my career,” McCarthy, a criminology

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major, said. “It was a fight from the very first event to the very last and I am just grateful and proud to know I did my part in helping my team get to this point because these girls earned it.”

Sophomore Maya Scannell also finished on the podium on Saturday, as she took second in the pole vault. She vaulted herself over the 3.35-meter bar, giving her silver and stopping an all-Stockton podium from happening in the event.

Senior Lily Lorio and junior Annalise Stephens earned silver and bronze medals in the javelin throw. They had throws of 37.45 meters and 37.20 meters, respectively, and finished amongst four Rowan competitors, stealing some crucial points for the College.

After day one of the event, the Lions were in second, trailing Rowan by 14.5 points. It took a big second day for the Lions to pass the Profs.

Junior Sarah Scepkowksi dominated the heptathlon, winning four of the seven events and finishing with 4,048 points for her second straight NJAC title.

Sophomore Samantha Magin was right behind her in second place, winning two of the three events Scepkowski did not win and earning 3,757 points for a silver

OPINIONS

Parking opinion

page 7

The College should implement protocol to ensure that parking on campus is safe.

EDITORIAL

EIC goodbye

residence halls, and the administration will make a $10 million investment over five years to upgrade housing facilities, Schweigert said at the meeting. These include replacing the flooring in Ely, Allen and Brewster halls, and adding air conditioning to more residence halls, except for Travers and Wolfe, which would be too expensive.

Despite lackluster state aid, Schweigert said the College was on track to deliver a balanced budget for the next five years.

“Things are looking up,” the treasurer said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year reduces funding for higher education institutions across the state, and the College could see a $2 million decrease in base appropriations if his budget is enacted, Bernstein said at the meeting. The College is currently advocating for state legislators to restore the cuts proposed by the governor, and lawmakers have until June 30 to provide a finalized budget.

medal.

In what ended up being a massive decision to help the Lions win the conference title, the 4x100-meter relay team took home the College’s final gold of the weekend after Rowan’s team got disqualified. Magin anchored the relay with sophomore Mackenzie Burke, sophomore Rukky Daranijo and freshman Petra Doherty, as they teamed up to cross the line in 48.54 seconds. Rowan’s disqualification in the event knocked them out of the points and moved the Lions from second to first.

Scepkowksi was able to find the podium in two other events. She cleared the 1.52-meter bar in her first try to win the silver in the high jump. She also joined Burke on the podium of the 100-meter hurdles, as Burke took a silver with 15.11 seconds and Scepkowski a bronze with 15.22 seconds.

“I was so happy to achieve podium finishes in three of my events, but the most rewarding part was celebrating the big team victory with the best teammates,” Scepkowski, a speech pathology major, said.

New library and student housing updates coming, LIONS Plan is ‘complete’

By Tristan Weisenbach Editor-in-Chief President Michael Bernstein’s LIONS Plan, which was developed over a year ago to address budget shortfalls, is essentially complete.

He told The Signal in an interview on May 7 that even though his administration “didn’t accomplish 100%” of what they had hoped, they were able to successfully balance the budget.

“The LIONS Plan worked, it accomplished what we needed it to,” Bernstein said.

Coordinated Action Teams, known as CATs, were created under the LIONS Plan to address specific campus policy areas. The CATs were tasked with producing reports on three areas: the College’s dashboard, student housing and the library.

The dashboard CAT has worked to develop both an internal an external dashboard. Once they are fully operational in the near future, employees of the College can use the internal dashboard to find information about the institution’s operations, finances, academic outcomes and more.

See TRACK page 16 page 10

Weisenbach pens his farewell letter as he gets set to graduate.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

‘Sinners’ review

See LIONS page 4 page 13

A review of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s latest hit movie.

SPORTS

Lacrosse NJAC title

page 16

The women’s lacrosse team claimed the NJAC title with a win over Rowan.

page 2 The Signal May 9, 2025

TCNJ joins program aiming to make its campus more energy efficient

Photo by Andre Paras

The College is progressing in its decarbonization efforts.

By Isabella Darcy Managing Editor The College’s Board of Trustees approved a $14 million investment on Thursday to launch a campuswide energy efficiency program that is expected to shrink the College’s environmental footprint and cut energy-related operating costs.

The program, called Engineered Solutions, is through PSE&G. Through the program, several of the College’s current energy systems will be replaced with more energy efficient alternatives, which are slated to reduce the College’s carbon

emissions by approximately 9.1 million pounds and reduce its annual electricity demand by over 10% over the new equipments’ life of measures — the amount of time it is is estimated to last.

Paul Romano, the College’s senior director of sustainability and energy management, told The Signal that he is “thrilled” to be entering the program. “We’re going to see this is the most impactful and financially prudent thing the College could be doing,” Romano said.

Nearly every building on campus will be affected by the program, primarily through changes in lighting.

Approximately 25,000 light fixtures on campus will be replaced with greener alternatives. The mechanical controls for those light fixtures will also be replaced to roll out energysaving occupancy sensors that will automatically turn off lights when a space is vacant for long enough.

Replacing the College’s existing lighting systems is the forefront initiative through Engineered Solutions, because lighting tends to be responsible for 20-25% of the electricity consumed on campus, according to Romano.

The new lighting systems are expected to be less harsh and better quality.

“You’re probably going to have less glare. It’s going to be more comfortable,” said Romano. “Pretty much everyone on campus in academic buildings, residential buildings will see improvement.”

Thermal comfort in all campus buildings, reduced maintenance and equipment failures, and the avoidance of future capital expenditures are also expected to be results of joining the program.

The College’s $14 million investment will cover the total cost of program projects. $14 million is a vast investment in energy efficiency for the College. Typically, the institution is more “modest” in how much money it allocates toward energy efficiency-related projects,

according to Romano.

PSE&G will cover roughly 55% of project costs, while the College covers the remaining 45%. While it pays for the program, the College will save enough money to not take on any additional debt. This is possible because it will repay its approximately $6 million share through on-bill repayment at 0% interest over an approximately 5-year period.

The College will pay $1,256,979 annually to PSE&G, while it saves $1,295,117 each year. This is about $38,000 in savings annually. Once the repayment period is over, the College is projected to save roughly $1.3 million each year on energy.

There are multiple other New Jersey higher-education institutions participating in the PSE&G program, including Rutgers University and Kean University.

Romano said Engineered Solutions is the first step in a broader initiative to decarbonize the College’s campus, meaning working toward eliminating how much carbon dioxide the College emits through its operations.

Carbon dioxide emissions exacerbate the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect, causing too much heat to be trapped in the atmosphere.

This contributes to global warming and climate change.

“Wherever we can reduce waste and help the environment is kind of great,” Romano said.

TCNJ continues to seek funding for upcoming fiscal year

By Ally Uhlendorf and Isabella Darcy Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor

As the upcoming 2026 fiscal year approaches, the College is continuing to advocate for appropriate funding.

The Signal held an interview with President Michael Bernstein on May 7 to discuss the College’s plans going into the next fiscal and academic year.

The College is projected to finish out the 2025 fiscal year in balance on June 30. To prepare for the 2026 fiscal year, the College is currently working on a budget to present to the Board of Trustees in mid-to-late June.

The College’s budget proposal for FY26 is presently too large, and needs to be reduced before it is presented to the Board. Bernstein attributed this to there being numerous funding requests from many individuals, as well as rising utilities costs.

“If we just simply did everything everyone wants, we’d have an unbalanced budget,” Bernstein said.

“We’re not gonna be able to do that.”

Originally going over budget and later making adjustments to it is “typical” during the pre-approval process, according to Bernstein.

Once the budget for FY26 is approved, the College’s five-year model for its budgeting will be adjusted accordingly.

“The five-year model continues to look very promising,” said Bernstein.

“In light of added revenue from the new [School of Graduate, Global, and Online Education], we are continuing to monitor costs.”

Also, by June 30, the state of New Jersey will decide how much funding it will allocate to the College for FY26. In past fiscal years, the College received significantly less funding from the state than it requested.

For current FY25, the College requested a little over $84 million, according to a copy of its state funding request. However, it received just over

President Michael Bernstein shared details about funding for the College with The Signal. $34.5 million, according to the state budget.

Along with receiving less than it requested, the College saw the lowest 10-year difference in state allocations between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2024 out of all New Jersey senior public institutions of higher education, according to New Jersey state appropriations budgets.

The College was the only one of these institutions to receive a single-digit percent increase in funding, while the others received double and triple-digit percent increases.

Administrators, faculty, staff and students have been advocating for more funding for the College. They have written letters to elected officials, attended hearings and spoken directly to New Jersey officeholders.

More funding would allow the College to hire more faculty and staff, resolve deferred maintenance, improve campus facilities, purchase new equipment and overall effectively execute the College’s mission,

according to Bernstein.

Currently, the College is working on a fundraising campaign. According to Bernstein, the formal campaign will be rolling out during the fall semester.

To prepare for the capital campaign, Bernstein is hosting conversations with alumni, Board of Trustees members and TCNJ Foundation members to discuss what leadership roles they can play in the campaign.

“We’ve been looking at the pavilion project and some other major fundraising projects, and that’s all part of this general issue about planning for a major fundraising campaign,” Bernstein said. “What are the key priorities? What’s the timing to complete one project? What’s the next project that comes to the top priority?”

With the LIONS Plan finally complete, the president wants to focus on implementing proposals that were created by Coordinated Action Teams. Specifically, he wants to focus on finalizing the library project and renovations. These renovation design

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

plans are aimed to be finalized by the end of the summer, according to Bernstein.

As library renovations occur over the next year, the president plans to keep the College’s spirit shop housed in the Barnes and Noble located in Campus Town — so long as the store remains open.

Going into the 2025-2026 academic year, Bernstein is looking forward to onboarding the new first-year class at the College. Currently, the administration is sorting through deposits for incoming first-year students and preparing for the fall semester.

Before he gets the ball rolling on the upcoming semester, Bernstein will be spending the beginning of his summer celebrating his daughter’s graduation at the University of Southern California’s Graduate School. He will also be spending time with his sisters on Eastern Long Island, something that has become a beloved family tradition.

May 9, 2025 The Signal page 3

Residence halls will see upgrades this summer systems in the hallways of some residential buildings, could begin as soon as this summer.

“It’s much cleaner lighting. It uses only just a fraction of the electricity,” Blanton said. “So it’s possible that we’ll be seeing some of the LED lighting project installed this summer.”

Electrical systems in Cromwell and Decker Halls will also be bolstered this summer to prepare for the installation of air conditioning next summer. The air conditioning units are set to be completely installed and ready for use by August 2026.

“When you go to a hotel, at times they’ll have that system in the wall where you can adjust it to make it hot or cold. That’s like the systems that we’ll be installing,” Blanton said. “The students will have the ability to adjust the temperature.”

The 40 chairs in the main lounge of Travers and Wolfe Halls will also be reupholstered this summer too, according to Ray Gonzalez, the Residential Education and Housing business manager.

President Michael Bernstein also clarified in an interview that the College is very close to finishing its fire alarm system upgrade project. He noted that this modernization will help reduce the number of disruptions that many residence halls have experienced in recent semesters. The system will sync alarms for all buildings across campus, and will be centralized in the Campus Police building.

“The quality of our residence halls affects our ability to recruit and retain students,” said Bernstein. “We want to make sure that they’re in the best shape possible.”

Photo by Erin Reilly

Decker and Cromwell Halls will receive air conditioning next year.

By Tristan Weisenbach Editor-in-Chief The College will have a busy summer upgrading many residence halls on campus in preparation for students to return for the fall semester.

About $2 million from the College’s asset renewal fund has been allocated to finance the improvements over the next two years, but many of the upgrades will occur this summer, according to Sharon Blanton, vice president of operations.

New tubs will be installed in New Residence Hall and Eickhoff Hall, upgrading

older tubs that Blanton said are in need of replacement. Additionally, in Eickhoff, the main stairwell will be painted, all desks and chairs will be replaced and new water heaters will be installed to improve the hot water system for both bathing and cooking purposes.

Ely, Allen and Brewster Halls will also be fully repainted over the summer.

The College’s Board of Trustees also recently approved a $14 million investment program with PSE&G, called Engineered Solutions, that aims to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint. Blanton said some upgrades related to this project, such as replacing light

Ewing Township debuts Ewing Buddy, new app for residential complaints, services and information requests

Photo by Joseph Caruso

The app went live on May 1.

By Tristan Weisenbach and Aidan Mastandrea Editor-in-Chief and News Editor Ewing Township released a new app called Ewing Buddy on May 1, where residents can file complaints or request services and information directly from the township.

The app includes a map feature that allows users to pinpoint the precise location of the request. Once it’s filed, the request will be automatically sent to the appropriate township department to complete it.

“It’s all about smooth government and open communications,” said Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann in an interview with The Signal.

Issues such as fallen trees, missing or broken street signs, potholes and garbage pile-ups can all be reported within the app. However, Steinmann clarified that Ewing Buddy is not intended to address neighbor disputes or crimes, which should be reported to the Ewing Township Police Department instead.

The app was inspired by similar programs in neighboring towns like Hamilton and Princeton, which have been successful, according to Ewing Township

Communications Director Julie Willmot.

Prior to the announcement of the app, some Ewing locals expressed their frustrations toward the town not resolving reported issues. Steinmann said that some older issues got “lost in the shuffle,” but residents can now fully expect their reports to be addressed through the app.

“Once a problem is in the process of being fixed, that person is notified automatically,” said Steinmann. “Users can follow the full life cycle [of the problem].”

“This will make us feel a bit more like our government is listening to us and that the people who are in charge are accountable to us,” said Ewing resident Nathan Henderson-James. “In the longterm, this will increase our overall trust in our local government.”

The app claims that there have already been nine issues fixed in the first week since its implementation. Users can see all of the requests made by their fellow residents, along with descriptions of the issues.

“I have downloaded the app and find the features easy to use. I like that I can see what the various reports are, when they were filed and what the updates are,” said Henderson-James. “The reporting tools are easy to use, but I haven’t actually reported anything.”

Because the app is new, Steinmann said there may be small technical issues that arise once users begin to explore its functionality. However, he said his team is prepared to “help residents navigate this tool.”

The app came across Steinmann’s desk in the early part of the year, and a team led by Robert Green, Ewing Township director of technology, designed it and prepared it for launch. While the team had no specific goal in terms of downloads, Green implored residents to check out the services Ewing Buddy will provide.

“I’d love for every resident to download the app,” said Green.

New tubs will be put in some buildings.

Photo by Elizabeth Gladstone

Ewing Township adds welcome signs

By Aidan Mastandrea News Editor Ewing Township has spent the early part of 2025 implementing “Welcome to Ewing” signs on main entries to town.

The project aims to place a sign at 19 locations around Ewing.

Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann credits his office along with Ewing residents, specifically Michael Dombrowoslki, for coming up with the idea for the project, according to a press release.

The first sign was unveiled on Olden Avenue.

“Mercer County traffic data indicates that over 20,000 vehicles pass this location daily,” Steinmann said. “That means thousands of people will see this sign every day, reminding them that Ewing is a thriving community that welcomes residents, visitors and businesses alike.”

There are multiple size designs amongst the 19 locations. The largest signs will appear on Olden Avenue, Scotch Road, Pennington and Parkway, and Pennington at Rockleigh Drive, and will be 96 inches wide and 46 inches tall.

“While I’m not sure how much good these signs will do, I tip my hat to those who put in the effort to design, create and install them,” said Martin Griff, the moderator of the Ewing Facebook group with 8,800 members. “These folks

are trying something to improve the township, which is far more productive than those complaining all day on online about everything Ewing.”

The funds for the project came from the Ewing Redevelopment Agency, but there is a belief among many on social media that the signs are paid for through tax dollars.

“We who live in Ewing don’t need signs to know where we are but for those flying in and out of Trenton/Mercer Airport the signs will let them know that they are passing through Ewing,” said Griff. “If the point of the signs is to put Ewing on the map for travelers, the signs are doing their job.”

The signs were designed and made by Zienowicz Signs & Fabrication.

“The gateway signs are easy to read and pleasant to look at. They come in three sizes. It appears that a lot of thinking went into this project,” said Griff.

Steinmann shared that the town is in the process of adding extra shrubbery to the back side of each sign to create a more pleasing look.

“This is another step forward in our efforts to raise Ewing’s profile,” Steinmann added at the unveiling.

“Especially along Olden Avenue, a major commerce corridor, we want businesses to know we appreciate them and are invested in their success.”

Photo by Aidan Mastandrea

There are 19 signs strategically placed around Ewing Township.

page 4 The Signal May 9, 2025

Cop Shop: Keeping Capital Health in business

Photo by Elizabeth Gladstone

These incidents were reported from April 22 to May 4.

By Alena Bitonti Arts & Entertainment Editor

The Signal and Campus Police work together on a weekly basis to inform the campus community about crime on and around campus. All records given to The Signal are public records and do not contain personal information. Some information provided may be triggering for some students.

Booted vehicles Between April 22 and May 5, there were four booted vehicles on campus.

A vehicle is eligible to be booted if it has three or more unpaid citations.

Campus Police has reported an increase in the number of car boots compared to previous years, largely due to AIMS, the police station’s new parking management system.

April 24: Medical emergency Campus Police were dispatched to the AIMM building at approximately 3:33 p.m. on report of a faculty/staff member experiencing chest pains and unable to

walk. The patient reported chest pains, cold sweats, and neck pain that began while teaching at approximately 2:30 p.m. She was voluntarily transported to Capital Health Hopewell for further evaluation.

April 26: Scam At approximately 11:16 p.m., Campus Police responded to Wolfe Hall on a report of a student who requested to speak to an officer regarding a scam she was involved in. She informed officers that she had fallen victim to a scam on the social media platform “X.” She explained that she had received a job offer in her direct messages and had eventually sent the scammer $500 through Cash App. Campus Police provided the student with an email to send documentation regarding the specific people she was in contact with, their usernames, a timeline of events, bank account information, and more. The report remains open until Campus Police obtain further information from the reporting party.

April 27: Medical emergency After a patient was experiencing difficulty breathing and chest pains, Campus Police responded to the outside of Infocus Urgent Care in Campus Town at approximately 1:37 p.m. Ewing EMS also arrived on the scene.

The patient was playing baseball at the College when he began having difficulties breathing, chest pains, and chills. He tried to go to the Urgent Care in Campus Town for treatment but it

was closed. The patient was transported to Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell for further treatment.

April 27: Stolen cash A student arrived at TCNJ Police Headquarters at approximately 7:13 p.m. to report money stolen from her wallet at the Fitness Center at Campus Town. She stated that she arrived at the gym around 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and placed her wallet and sweatshirt in the community lockers before her workout.

She left the gym around 4:00 p.m., returned to her dorm, and noticed only cash missing from her wallet.

The student was given a victim notification form and advised to contact the TCNJ Police Department if she had any further questions. Campus Police is continuing its investigation.

April 28: Phelps Phall Campus Police were dispatched to Phelps Hall at 4:55 a.m. after a student fell and hit her chin. Upon arrival, the student was laying on the floor of the kitchen area in her dorm. She informed Campus Police that she felt dizzy while getting water and blacked out, falling and hitting her chin, which resulted in a gash. Ewing EMS arrived on scene and assumed patient care. The student was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center for further care.

April 30: Medical emergency At approximately 9:08 p.m., Campus Police were dispatched to the basketball court between Hausdoerffer and Phelps Halls on report of a student experiencing

a seizure. The individual was awake and conscious upon arrival. He had been playing basketball when it began and was caught by a friend before he fell to the ground. He declined further assistance and said he would walk back to his residence.

May 2: Shoulder injury Campus Police arrived at Travers Hall at approximately 1:41 a.m. on a report of a male student who had dislocated his shoulder. The student stated he fell off a chair after leaning back too far. Initially declining medical attention, he changed his mind after the pain had returned.

TCNJ EMS arrived and assumed patient care at approximately 1:54 a.m.

Ewing EMS arrived at 2:10 a.m., and transported the student to Capital Health Regional Medical Center.

May 4: Allergic reaction Campus Police were informed of a female student in Townhouse South experiencing an allergic reaction at approximately 8:31 p.m. Upon arrival, the student was alert and conscious and reported that her throat felt like it was closing. She had administered an EpiPen to her right thigh. The student had stated she had eaten pistachios, which she believed triggered the reaction.

Although she is allergic to shellfish, she had not consumed any, leading her to suspect the nuts were the cause. At approximately 8:39 p.m., dispatch was informed that the student would be transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center.

LIONS / Bernstein’s plan ‘complete’

Continued from page 1

The external dashboard will provide the general public with information about the College’s performance statistics.

The library CAT has produced a blueprint for library renovations, and is now working with a design consultant to create a construction schedule for renovations.

Bernstein anticipates the schedule will be finalized by the end of the summer.

The renovations are expected to include updated study spaces, new technology and the inclusion of a spirit shop. However, because of the scale of the project, it is likely that renovations will need to occur throughout portions of the academic year.

“It’s going to be a little tricky because you’re basically changing a tire while the car is still going, right? Because we can’t just close the library and say, ‘okay, you all go away for a year and a half while we renovate the library,’” Bernstein said. “We’re going to have to phase stuff.”

Bernstein also clarified that Barnes and Noble will continue to serve as the College’s spirit shop through at least part of the spring 2026 semester, when the library could be ready to house the new spirit shop. However, the timeline for this is not solidified.

The housing CAT group has mapped

College fundraising for ‘TCNJ Pavilion,’ could out a five-year plan to address the needs of open by 2026 the student housing experience, according to Bernstein. It will begin this summer with improvements to the electrical systems of Decker and Cromwell Halls, in order to equip the buildings with the infrastructure needed to install air conditioning next summer.

Regular wear-and-tear maintenance is also expected in a number of other residential buildings on campus this summer.

“Dorms — I mean, they get beat to hell every year, and not for bad reasons. Just a lot of heavy use,” Bernstein said. “So they have to be refurbished.”

Bernstein also anticipates that the Trenton State College Corporation, the College’s administrative entity that oversees real estate, will examine the property portfolio this summer and identify locations that are best suited to convert into off-campus student housing.

The corporation will also identify properties for employee housing, and real estate that the College can sell to generate revenue to fund housing improvements in the future.

Bernstein said he is optimistic about the proposals developed by each of the CAT groups, and hopes to share more specific details about their progress by the start of the academic year.

Photo by Andre Paras

Barnes and Noble will continue to be the College’s spirit shop through spring 2026.

Photo courtesy of Eric James Montgomery

Ghani will take over as VPCFO in June.

By Raeanne Raccagno Copy Editor The College will have a new vice president and chief financial officer effective June 16.

President Michael Bernstein sent a campus-wide email on April 30 to announce Qadim Ghani as the new VPCFO, taking over Rich Schweigert’s current role as interim VPCFO. According to a previous job posting on Higher Ed Jobs, the VPCFO is responsible for managing the College’s finances and providing financial guidance to different offices and departments.

Currently, Ghani serves Montgomery County Community College as the vice president of finance. In his email, Bernstein said his portfolio includes budget development, accounting, procurement, enrollment management, advancement, grants, capital construction and auxiliary services. Ghani also managed a $100 million operating and capital budget and oversaw $50 million in construction planning and deferred maintenance at MCCC. “TCNJ’s dedication to academic excellence, strategic innovation, and its vibrant campus community aligns closely with my own values. I’m excited to contribute to the college’s continued growth, financial

strength, and mission-driven impact,” Ghani said in a statement to The Signal.

Ghani received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Temple University and his master’s in human resource development with a concentration in business administration from Drexel University. He will complete and receive an executive master’s of business administration from Saint Joseph’s University, specializing in applied investment management, this May. Ghani also works as a peer evaluator for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Before working at MCCC, he also served as the director of finance and administration for the College of Engineering at Villanova University and the director of finance and administration for Drexel University.

“I am thrilled to welcome Qadim to The College of New Jersey and look forward to his leadership as we continue to strengthen the college’s financial foundation and pursue our long-term strategic goals,” Bernstein wrote in his email.

Ghani is arriving during a time when the College has been going through budget cuts to help its current budget deficit. On top of the financial crisis the College is facing, the state has also proposed less funding for higher education institutions.

Features

Business students lead DEI efforts through Inclusion Council

Photo by Brooke Zevon

The SOBIC hosts initiatives aimed at educating the campus community.

By Parisa Burton Nation & World Editor The School of Business Inclusion Council, a student-led DEI advisory board formed in 2024 by the department’s DEI Committee, works to “coordinate professional development, School initiatives, and programming/events/campaigns with a DEI focus.” The council collaborates with School of Business Dean Tammy Dieterich and Administrative Assistant Stephanie Horner.

“We create diversity initiatives and different programs for the faculty and students so that they could get more educated on DEI on campus,” said Shreya Grandhe, SOBIC member and senior interdisciplinary business major. “The things that we do are diversity, equity and inclusion related.”

Grandhe said her business classes over the years have been taught by a variety of professors from different backgrounds, which she was appreciative of because they each brought a different perspective.

Miguel Hernández-Delgado, SOBIC cochair and sophomore management major, expressed similar gratitude. His first steps into the business school felt welcoming, he said, especially after establishing a meaningful connection with his Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican professor, who later wrote letters of

recommendation for him.

As for the community aspect, HernándezDelgado said he feels the social dynamic in most business classrooms is lacking but there is potential room for improvement. Students from diverse affiliations, such as sports, student government and greek life, bring a unique perspective to the classroom, yet these students don’t naturally interact. SOBIC hopes to change that.

“We’re just in our own world, our own bubble, which is okay but it’s not the real world,” Hernández-Delgado said. “We’re going to go into meetings and need to connect with people.”

So far, SOBIC initiatives have been education-based, but the group recently partnered with the School of the Arts and Communication to host an art contest inviting participants to create work that embodies both inclusivity and business for a monetary prize.

The winner’s work will also be displayed in the School of Business lounge.

“One of the bigger things that we did was host a DEI presentation on microaggressions for both the faculty and peer mentors.” Grandhe said. “What we realized through that initiative was that not only can we be there for students and try to educate them, but we can educate the faculty.”

Grandhe recalled that one of the faculty

members did not initially know what microaggressions were, which was alarming to her considering his high authority on campus.

“The fact that he didn’t know just shows me that people are unintentionally ignorant and that’s okay…but you’re dealing with such a diverse group of students in the business world, so I feel like you need to be a lot more educated on that,” Grandhe said.

Hernández-Delgado echoed this concern, noting that his white peers sometimes subconsciously say things that can be harmful and that educating them through initiatives like presentations is a key part of addressing this ignorance.

For the art mural, the overarching goal is to diversify the business space through creative and cultural expression that still resonates with business. However, Grandhe and HernándezDelgado recalled that many students felt that the prompt was too narrow and difficult to interpret.

“It isn’t as narrow as you think because there are so many examples,” Grandhe said.

Hernández-Delgado added that “Mexicans are entrepreneurs by heart…My uncle has three businesses…People sell in the markets in our countries where people buy their fruit…

Somebody can paint something like that, something cultural. It doesn’t have to be in an office. That’s how the American side looks at it… that’s what they only see as business, but there’s so much more out there that people can consider.”

Major challenges the council has faced thus far stem from being a new organization without an established blueprint. There were no positions initially assigned, so it was left up to students to decide how to organize themselves.

Additionally, its members are all highly involved on campus, making time management another hurdle.

A key goal for SOBIC is to raise DEI awareness on campus while branching out beyond education-focused initiatives to bring in a wider range of students during events.

“There isn’t exactly something to look

forward to in the sense that other cultural clubs have food and performances whereas this one, since it’s more educational, it’s harder for people to come because they’re not interested,” Grandhe said.

SOBIC is working to address the lack of student interest. The group plans to host future events that feature cultural performances and food to entice people, while still incorporating an educational component. Funding hasn’t been an issue so far, as Dieterich has given them the green light to create initiatives that resonate with students, as long as they are properly planned and meaningful.

SOBIC also aims to build a social media presence on Instagram to promote their value and partner with different campus organizations, such as Cultures United, which fosters the sharing of diverse cultural experiences.

A long-term goal of theirs is for every school at the College to have a DEI student inclusion council, unified under student government and overseen by Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Tacquice Wiggan Davis. With her guidance, these councils can align with the College’s goals and spread messages more effectively through a network of passionate students.

As a predominantly white institution, Grandhe noted that this has led to a sense of seclusion on campus, with students often gravitating toward people with similar backgrounds. She also pointed out that cultural club events tend to see limited turnout from those outside the represented groups.

“If our white peers were a bit more educated or a bit more willing to experience other cultures, this kind of bubble wouldn’t be there,” Grandhe said. She hopes that SOBIC can bridge this gap by encouraging more students to engage with and appreciate diversity on campus.

Hernández-Delgado believes that increased exposure to cultural diversity would help reduce the isolation of people of color at the College.

Read more on our website!

Blawenburg Band to celebrate 135th anniversary at Kendall Hall

By Olivia Ramos Correspondent The Blawenburg Band, a nonprofit community band based in Blawenburg, New Jersey, will debut its 135th anniversary concert at Kendall Hall on May 18.

In addition to celebrating the band’s formation, the concert will acknowledge conductor Jerry Rife’s 40th year with the band. Their anniversary concert will incorporate and debut musical pieces written

by John Anastasio ‘69, who will be performing.

The concert will include the Spanish song “Granada,” Irish tune, British sweet movement, selections from the musical “Les Miserable,” an opera overture, a flute solo, a salute to the U.S. Navy and the Armed Forces, and a march dedicated to the Gold Lions Society, written by Anastasio.

The Gold Lions Society consists of alumni who have graduated from the College 50 years ago. This will be the first time the march has been performed, and it will highlight the College’s alma mater song, as well as a piece from Phi Mu Alpha’s song, the College’s music fraternity.

“My membership in the Phi Mu Alpha fraternity continues to this day and I have the pleasure of meeting with the collegiate brothers at TCNJ and taking part in many of

their activities throughout the year,” Anastasio said. “My life would never have been as rich and fulfilling without the wonderful time I’ve spent and continue to spend at the school.”

Anastasio, who graduated from the College with a bachelor’s degree in music education, was very involved with the fraternity during his time at the College. After graduating, he served on the board of the Alumni Association for eight years. He is currently a part of the Gold Lion’s Society.

“It was the real beginning of my life as a musician and an educator.

It was at the College that I learned the skills that enabled me to become a member of the Air Force band program and travel extensively,” Anastasio said.

William Fernekes, a trombone player who is on the band’s grants and fundraising committee, encouraged Anastasio to join the band while they were both employed as teachers at Hunterdon Central Regional High School.

After visiting one of the band’s rehearsals and coming to another one to play his clarinet, Anaswas asked to be the concertmaster by Rife.

Afterwards, he began to arrange and create the musical composition for the band, which he still does regularly.

“A lot of long-time players… keep coming back to the band year

after year, decade after decade,” Rife said. “I find that to be really gratifying because they’re having a good time…I do some talking on the podium but we really just play music and people wanna play music.”

The band’s humble beginning dates back to 1890, where it originated in a village with a blacksmith shop and church to practice in. The band started as a brass ensemble with some drums included and has expanded in size and instruments.

Today, there are 75 total musicians in the Blawenburg Band, and they currently practice in the Princeton Montessori school. They perform around 20 to 25 concerts every year and many of these performances are played during the summer.

“Music has always allowed me to do something new, do something different, go someplace I’ve never been before, meet new people, make new friends,” Anastasio said.

Photo courtesy of Linda Garvey

The Blawenburg Band performing a concert to a filled auditorium.

page 6 The Signal May 9, 2025

Alumni Adventures: Jessica Gebauer’s journey to entrepreneurship

By Erica Remboske Correspondent Knowing the path you want to follow for your career may come naturally for some, but for Jessica Gebauer ‘11, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and painting, it may not have been.

Gebauer was a transfer student from the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she was a jewelry and metal smithing major. She came to the College hoping to further her education and learn more about fine arts.

“I always really loved school, and I love just being able to be creative,” said Gebauer, who always loved to make things.

The alumna said she believes that trying new things can allow one to push boundaries, and become more creative and knowledgeable.

“These things are what really helped me in my business today because that’s something you can’t stop learning,” said Gebauer.

Gebauer is the owner and founder of Krysset, an artisan boutique and market located in Yardley Borough, Pennsylvania — just 15 minutes away from the College.

The shop offers handmade items, such as candles, snacks and jewelry, from

many different small businesses. Threequarters of the businesses Krysset sources its products from are women-owned, according to Gebauer.

Krysset also has an online e-commerce store that allows customers to shop for handcrafted home decorations, savory and sweet snacks, greeting cards and jewelry.

There are over 150 makers that contribute to the online store, and all of them define themselves as small businesses.

Marketing was one of the skills that Gebauer wishes she had learned during her time at the College, as she believes this was missing from her skills. “If someone who is a jewelry designer, or maybe they want to open a textile company, or even become a graphic designer, a lot of the time they’re missing that component.”

Her transition into a career in business and retail came after she became a director of education at a company that taught people how to market jewelry designers’ work.

Before opening Krysset in September 2021, Gebauer started a different small business — a gift box shop that sold themed boxes. She was always doing work from her basement and making social media content, but she wanted to do something more. At that point, she decided she was done being a maker and wanted to

Photo courtesy of Jessica Gebauer

Jessica Gebauer, owner of Krysset, reflects on her time at the College as well as her accomplishments in her career. become a business owner.

That is when the idea of Krysset becoming an actual store came up.

“I really felt like I was feeling this pull to the downtown,” said Gebauer.

“Retail and stuff like that in downtown were struggling, but I also saw it as an

opportunity because there really wasn’t anything there and I really, really wanted to see something like Krysset in Yardley.”

As a result of Gebauer’s accomplishments, Krysset was featured in Suburban Life Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine and other local publications.

WILL celebrates 25th anniversary during Alumni Weekend

By Grace Murphy Correspondent Women in Learning and Leadership celebrated its 25th year as a program this past weekend. Current students in the program, staff members and alumni came together to recognize the impact WILL has had on them.

WILL is a co-curricular program that students apply to and work toward a Women in Learning and Leadership minor. This was the College’s first certificate-bearing program, where the certificate would appear on a student’s final transcript. Students can also just be a part of the student organization and attend general body meetings and events, without being involved in the academic aspect.

No matter how involved students are in the program, they are there for the same reason. In every conversation with current and former WILL members, the word “empowerment” was a common theme.

“The purpose of WILL is to empower women, but also give

them opportunities to explore their leadership capability, who they are as activists, and what they believe in, in regards to where they stand on social issues,” said Cecilia Colbeth, the director of WILL and a women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor.

Members are asked to attend weekly meetings and at least three “gender events” per semester. These can be presentations on social justice issues, events held by WILL or similar organizations, or professional development events to encourage the learning and leadership aspects. They also must complete five elective courses to earn the minor, typically related to WGSS, race and ethnicity, and social justice.

For the rest of the campus community, WILL also holds multiple legacy events, like its annual “Slut Walk,” a protest march around campus to end rape culture, Redefining Sex Week, events held to change stigma around gender and sex, and its newly-revised WILL

Photo courtesy of Cecilia Colbeth

WILL held an event during Alumni Weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Monologues. The WILL Monologues are performances by students that they or other members wrote about their lived experiences, as well as pieces of a play from the 1990s, “The Vagina Monologues.”

“We want to make a safe space for anybody who wants to come to WILL, to come. But in order to do that, you need to be ready to learn,” said Jackie Anderson, a junior psychology and WGSS major and the president of WILL. “We have the resources, we have the time, we do the research.

For you, all you have to do is come, listen and learn and contribute.”

WILL is an organization found at multiple college campuses across the country and around the world.

It was brought to the College after a history professor, Cynthia Paces, was hired, and was a member during her undergrad at the University of Richmond. She helped to start the conversation, and WILL was then formed in 2000 to complement the WGSS department. Two years later, Mary Lynn Hopps became the director for 20 years before retiring in 2022.

“My goals were to really support young women and provide opportunities for them to develop leadership skills,” Hopps said.

Hopps returned for the anniversary celebration to speak about her experience and presented to WILL a program of the original proceedings from Now Conference, the first women’s conference in Houston from the 1970s. Hopps was at the conference and had the program signed by Gloria Steinem, a journalist and feminist activist.

Multiple alumni spoke and connected with current students at the celebration. Colbeth, Hopps and all who have advised the program are proud of the strong alumni network that has been built, and the close-knit community between their members.

Colbeth explained how they still go to weddings or baby showers along with other former members to celebrate them, and how alumni can often help find jobs or internships for current students.

“We’ve had professors, teachers, doctors, lawyers, one dentist, a librarian, just lots of very cool people doing great research,” Hopps said.

“It’s very exciting for me to catch up with them and see what they’re doing and how they have evolved.”

WILL ensures that their members are hardworking, dedicated and passionate. They start recruiting and gauging interest for freshmen during admissions season and will typically take 80 to 100 students per class.

Through asking for resumes and about students’ leadership, activism and aspirations, they can see who will be truly invested in the program.

Students join for many different reasons, but all have very similar goals and values. Anderson went to an Accepted Students Day panel as an incoming freshman and was positive that WILL was a place for her. She was looking to get involved on campus and ended up joining what she called “the most transformative experience I’ve had at TCNJ.” After being involved for two years, she eventually became the program’s president.

“Truly I am not the same person that I was when I first joined,” Anderson said. “There’s things that the curriculum in WILL teaches you about that otherwise a lot of people wouldn’t know unless they bothered to look.”

All are welcome to apply, join the RSO, or just come to events; it is not exclusively for those who identify as women. WILL encourages members of different backgrounds and hopes to engage in meaningful conversations with different members of the campus community. These conversations help with their goal of creating socially responsible individuals working towards positive change.

“If you want to find a group of like-minded individuals who are working for the betterment not only of your local community, but also the national and global community, and are interested in activism and social justice, we are the group for you, regardless of how you identify,” Colbeth said.

Students should not have to worry about their safety when parking on campus

By Ally Uhlendorf Managing Editor

There have been two armed car robbery attempts on campus in Lot 7 since December. Both of these attempts occurred on the top level of the parking garage, a spot that holds mainly student vehicles.

The most recent attempt on April 17 involved suspects who were not affiliated with the College, armed with a knife, at around p.m. One subject was arrested the next morning, and charged in connection with the robbery. Since then, students at the College have not been informed of further information.

At the College, there are designated parking lots for students depending on where they live — on or off campus. Lot 7, specifically, is designated for undergraduate and graduate commuter students, Pennington College Houses and student apartments resident assistants, visitors with a permit, and, on the top floor only, Campus Town residents. If residents do not park where they are assigned, they are at risk of being ticketed.

Campus Town residents, if not assigned to the Campus Town parking lots, can only park on the top level of Lot 7, where these crimes are occurring. On the top level, there are no safety features, such as security cameras or bright lights. Simply parking your car after the sun goes down should not be something to fear or worry about, especially at a college campus.

Although the campus community receives an alert via text message and an email when these incidents occur, it is becoming increasingly difficult to feel safe parking in these crime hot spots.

Because some classes go later than 9:30 p.m., it is hard to feel secure with no security systems in these dimly lit parking lots due to these recent circumstances.

To ensure safety in these parking spaces, the College must take immediate and transparent action. Through installing security cameras, having Campus Police monitor the lots at night and adding brighter lights in the lots, these spaces can have an extra layer of security for students.

Students are expected to adhere to the College’s parking guidelines and punished if they do not follow these rules — why shouldn’t the College be held to the same standards when it comes to ensuring the safety of students in these locations?

Students should not feel fearful when simply walking back to their vehicles after class. If the College can afford to issue citations to students for parking violations, when they are simply parking in a “safer” spot, they can afford to implement basic safety measures in all parking locations on campus.

The College needs to be more proactive in these situations, not just reactive. Students should be notified immediately when these incidents happen, not just after they have already been resolved.

The burden of campus safety should not fall on the students — we should not be expected to have to carry pepper spray, walk in groups or call a friend when simply trying to park on or leave campus after dark, just to feel marginally more secure.

This is not how any student should have to live.

Illustration by Sky Stewart

Review of the Trenton Farmers Market, a local food haven the owner’s recommended dishes is the rainbow tacos, which consists of smashed avocado, red cabbage, yellow corn, tomatoes, a house made lemon caper aioli and roasted chickpeas — all placed on corn tortillas.

Just steps away from Lady and The Shallot is Terra Momo Bread Company,

Photo by Ashley Peng

The Trenton Farmers Market houses nearly 40 vendors.

By Ashley Peng Correspondent Beginning on Thursday mornings, drivers pull into the parking lot of the over 80-year-old Trenton Farmers Market. Inside of the market, there’s a familiar scene of people browsing, buying or eating the products from nearly 40 different vendors housed in the market. One can find everything from farm fresh produce to baked goods and takeaway meals.

“We have a lot of customers who come in and they don’t know if they need anything or if they want anything, but they come here and always find something,” said Trenton Farmers Market manager Bill Kearney ‘86.

The market was originally a place for local farmers to convene in one area to sell produce. The first location was near Coopers Riverview in Trenton, and has since been located on Spruce Street in Lawrence Township. The building is set up in a cross-like shape, with each section of the market consisting of

different vendors.

A notable vendor is Lady and The Shallot, which offers a variety of vegan and gluten-free dishes. It offers both dine-in or take out options. One of Photo by Ashley Peng

Photo by Ashley Peng

selling bakery staples such as breads, cookies and croissants. Terra Momo Bread Company offers a few different croissant flavors, but the strawberry croissant is my personal favorite.

They also have a physical bakery in Pennington that has more baked goods to offer.

In what could be considered the north wing of the market is Tea-ForAll, a specialty tea shop that sells a variety of products. It has a menu of hot and cold tea-based drinks that changes seasonally. It has a quaint seating area for customers to enjoy their drinks.

For a visually appealing drink that can be posted to social media, but also tastes good, try the butterfly pea flower tea with the seasonal hibiscus lemonade.

The owners of Tea-For-All are very

knowledgeable about all the varieties of tea they offer and are more than willing to answer any questions.

Next door to Tea-For-All is the Savory Leaf Cafe. They are another plant-based food vendor that specializes in vegan versions of classic comfort foods such as pizza, mac and cheese, burgers and sandwiches. Although some of the vegan alternatives aren’t exact to the original meat-based versions, Savory Leaf Cafe still offers good options for those who are on plant-based diets.

The Pie’d Piper sells a variety of baked goods and pierogies. The pierogies are freshly made and sold in packs that are made to be taken home to cook. Its donuts are one of its many popular items and have a variety of flavors.

The most recommended by the vendor is the Amish Long John. It is a log-shaped donut with vanilla creme filling. For those that like their sweets on the sweeter side, the Pie’d Piper is the place to go.

Terhune’s Orchard is known for their family-owned farm located in Princeton.

However, some of the items sold at their farm’s store can also be found at the Trenton Farmers Market. It sells fresh produce, pies, cookies and its famous cider donuts.

The Trenton Farmers Market is a less than 10-minute drive from the College’s campus, and offers students a place to go explore during down time or on the weekends. The farmers market is open year round on Thursdays to Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We have such a diverse offering of vendors, as well as customers, that it’s one of the few places in the area where everyone can come together, feel comfortable and forget the troubles of what’s outside,” Kearney said. “It’s a kind of a little local utopia.”

page 8 The Signal May 9, 2025

TCNJ is in a financial crisis. State legislators need to stop ignoring us

By Tristan Weisenbach Editor-in-Chief The College is in a financial crisis. At least, that’s what many people on campus are calling it. Some administration officials may be hesitant to say it publicly, but the bottom line is that we’re struggling.

The College was sitting on just over $360 million in debt as of the end of the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, according to S&P Global Ratings, a leading global credit rating agency.

S&P revised its outlook on the College’s financial stability from stable to negative, citing continued budgetary pressure throughout the following two fiscal years and “the college’s modest level of financial resources in comparison to total debt outstanding and total adjusted operating expenses.”

Students, faculty and staff are feeling the constraints of such a grim budget outlook.

Class offerings are being reduced while class sizes increase. Some building maintenance is being deferred until it’s absolutely necessary.

Academic departments are being restructured to prevent academic funding cuts, and department budgets are being downsized — all to save every dollar possible.

President Michael Bernstein was brought to the College nearly two years ago as the 17th president, tasked with solving this financial burden. His administration has been working tirelessly to do the most with the least, developing working groups aimed at solving specific issues on a thin budget, and identifying new revenue sources wherever possible.

However, operating on less means working with less, and the campus community is feeling the struggle. How can state legislators expect an administration to be fully committed to academic excellence when it also needs to prevent itself from going bankrupt? Our administration is certainly doing its best, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

The state of New Jersey has neglected the College for years now, denying it the funding that it rightfully deserves as the No. 1 College in the North region, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Year after year, the College gets pennies of an increase — if at all — compared to other colleges and universities across the state.

From fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2024, the state of New Jersey provided millions of dollars in additional funding to many other schools, according to New Jersey state appropriations budgets. Rutgers University, for example, saw an 83.9% increase in its funding from 2014 to 2024. Rowan University, a 157.5% increase. And Thomas Edison State University saw the largest difference in funding, a 478.1% increase. Where does the College sit on this list?

Graph provided by Jennifer Keyes-Maloney

details.

The current governor, Phil Murphy, announced his budget proposal on Feb. 25, and he is proposing a cut in funding to many higher education institutions across the state, including the College.

State funding in New Jersey has different components. The general appropriations that the College receives are broken into two categories: general allocation and outcomes based allocation.

This fiscal year, the College received just over $28.5 million in general allocations, and just under $6 million in outcomes based allocations, according to the state budget. Outcomes based allocations are determined in a formulaic way and take into consideration criteria such as the number of degrees granted, the number of low-income students, the number of transfer students and more.

For fiscal year 2026, the state has recommended providing the same amount of money for the general allocation, but reducing the outcomes based allocation by nearly $2 million.

Combined, the state is recommending a total base operating funding allocation of about $32.5 million.

However, the College requested a little over $84 million for this current 2025 fiscal year, according to a copy of its state funding request — a much greater amount than what was ultimately allocated.

Impacts on students Students are feeling the effects of the state refusing to increase our allocations year after year after year.

Just one example is the increasing number of students per class, slowly chipping away at one of the College’s proudest selling points — small class sizes — because it can’t sustain them financially.

According to the College’s Quick Facts webpage, the average number of students per class is 23. However, a previous version of this webpage from 2021 listed the average class size as 21 students.

As student journalists, we feel these struggles in our classes too, along with many of our friends. If New Jersey state legislators hear these issues and still continue to decline increases in appropriations, they cannot label themselves as true supporters of higher education.

With higher allocations, the College could expand its course offerings, providing students with more opportunities to delve into various research sectors, explore different areas of interest and gain expertise in more niche disciplines within their majors.

Impacts on faculty With expanded course offerings comes an increased need for faculty and staff, too.

Bernstein implemented a temporary hiring freeze soon after he began his term just under two years ago in an effort to reduce the College’s budget deficit. While there have been exceptions for filling positions that are essential, most other positions remained unfilled for quite some time. Some have yet to be rehired.

When the College hires faculty and staff, it must support those employees with benefits like healthcare, in addition to their salaries.

State appropriations increases 20142024.

All the way at the bottom, with just an 8.7% increase over the last 10 years. That’s right.

8.7%. The only school to see a single-digit percent increase.

What’s the story behind our lack of state funding? How did we get here?

How the state budget process works The State of New Jersey’s budgeting process is a multi-month long procedure that starts in February. The governor of the state announces their budget proposal before handing it over to the state legislature to work out the

Graph provided by Jennifer Keyes-Maloney

Fringe benefits for each institution.

When the College hires faculty and staff, it must support those employees with benefits like healthcare, in addition to their salaries.

The state offers support for this in the form of fringe benefits. Currently, the College is approved for state funding for fringe benefits of 909 employees, according to state appropriations data. However, the College is requesting that number to be increased to 1,101 employees, according to its state funding request.

Since the College is a public institution, employees who work here are state employees. The College has to reimburse the state for the fringe benefits of employees that are not covered under the annual budget. This comes out to about 200 employees that the state has declined to recognize with fringe benefit support that the College must reimburse the state for — a total estimated cost of around $9 million annually.

State legislators are not proponents of higher education if they refuse to recognize all employees who work to provide students with an elevated educational experience. State legislators are not proponents of providing state employees with fair workplace benefits if they leave it up to an institution in financial turmoil to carry the burden of funding them, despite the state having the resources to do it.

Impacts on facilities Class offerings and employee benefits only account for part of a college’s expenses.

The facilities that students live and learn in are equally as important.

There are many academic buildings that provide students with state-of-the-art tools and spaces to thrive in. The Art & Interactive Multimedia building is fit with a Makerspace, painting and recording studios, and an art gallery. The Science Complex houses a multitude of labs with new, revolutionary equipment that spurs advanced research projects.

However, the College’s dorms are notorious for being in need of a little sprucing up, particularly Travers and Wolfe Halls, known as the Towers. These 10-story brick buildings were built in 1971, and in recent years have been plagued with numerous maintenance issues.

Some first-year students who live in them cite their nostalgic elements, and enjoy the bonding opportunities that they provide. However, the lack of air conditioning, malfunctioning elevators and crumbling infrastructure cannot be overlooked much longer.

First-year housing is one of the most decisive factors that influence where a student chooses to attend college. The most recently constructed student housing, Campus Town, is a public-private partnership that was opened in 2015 and features apartment-style living for mostly upperclassmen. However, living in Campus Town is technically considered off-campus, since the College does not operate these dorms or collect room and board revenue from them.

Many of the residence halls that are open to first-year students were built decades ago.

While some have undergone renovations in more recent years, they are still quite outdated when compared to newer dorm buildings like Phelps and Hausdoerffer Halls, both of which opened in 2009.

If a student is comparing two similar schools in terms of academics, but one has newly-built, air conditioned dorms and the other has decades-old, un-air conditioned dorms, which school do you think that student will choose?

This is especially true now that the College is implementing a first-year residential requirement for the upcoming fall 2025 semester. All first-year students, with a few exceptions, will now be required to live on-campus — many of which will live in dorms with no air conditioning, plagued with an ever-growing list of maintenance issues.

The College’s current financial situation prevents it from obtaining the funding needed to construct new residence halls or renovate existing ones. If the College thought $120 million was too much to renovate or replace the Towers a few years ago, think about how much it’s going to cost now, in the midst of ris-

ing inflation, tariffs and economic uncertainty.

The College desperately needs the state’s help in securing funding to address Travers and Wolfe Halls, along with other capital projects. New Jersey has done it before, and it can do it again. In 2021, the state allocated $400 million to improving higher education infrastructure across the state, according to the New Jersey Monitor. Now is not the time to wait around.

In the past, various bond and grant authorities in the state have issued funding for capital projects at the College, including $40 million through the Building Our Future Bond for the STEM Building that was completed in 2017, and $33 million through the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education of New Jersey in 2023 for renovations to Forcina Hall and Roscoe West Hall, as well as network upgrades and academic equipment.

This fiscal year, the College asked for $25 million in support from the state for expanding its business program to accommodate increasing undergraduate and graduate enrollment in the School of Business. The project would “provide additional workforce training programming, create innovation/incubator space, and house the Small Business Development Center under the same roof.” Its request for funding this year was not met.

Deferred maintenance is another area that the College is requesting support for. The College has been working on emergency repairs on its underground steam heating system for multiple years, costing upwards of $14 million, according to its state funding request.

Much of the underground infrastructure is about 90 years old, well beyond its typical lifespan and in desperate need of replacement.

This project would cost about $32 million total — a cost that the College requested support from the state for this fiscal year. The College also asked for $9.7 million for upgrades to its fire safety system.

Where we go from here The looming financial crisis that the College is dealing with is not entirely the state’s fault. But, it’s not inherently the College’s own fault, either. Could the College have managed its deferred debt from past bond agreements better? Yes. Could the College have cut smaller costs wherever possible sooner? Yes. But the state could have done more a long time ago, too. If it had stepped in and increased its allocations in years prior, the College would not be in the situation it’s in right now. And the College has been lobbying state legislators for years, working tirelessly to spread awareness about our need for increased funding, only for those calls for help to fall on seemingly deaf ears.

U.S. News & World Report just ranked New Jersey as the No. 1 state for education.

Despite this, more than half of New Jersey high school graduates attend college out of state — about 30,000 students per year, according to mycentraljersey.com.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, has a majority of its high school graduates stay in-state for college. Plus, it’s also one of the top three states that students from out of state go to for college. One of the most common states that these students come from is New Jersey, according to WHYY. If state legislators want to stop letting Pennsylvania and other states steal its college students, then they need to start paying more attention to what the real needs of its in-state colleges and universities are, and start investing in them. Abandoning the College, its best performing public higher education institution, to drown in debt is not the way to build a reputation of a state that supports higher education.

State legislators: it’s time to band together and provide The College of New Jersey with the allocation funding that it rightfully deserves. Don’t continue to abandon our institution’s hard-working students, faculty, staff and administrators any longer.

Read more on our website!

Editorials Letter from the editor: Don’t underestimate the power of journalism

By Tristan Weisenbach Editor-in-Chief It was the first week of classes during the fall 2021 semester — my very first semester as a college student — when the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept across our region, leading to widespread flooding and tornadoes.

It was a Wednesday, and I was looking forward to attending my first TCNJ Orchestra rehearsal that night. As a commuter student, I became increasingly worried that I would have to stay home and skip rehearsal due to the worsening road conditions.

In my mind, I was conflicted. I didn’t know the attendance policy, since it was the first week of class. What would happen if I didn’t show up? Do I take the risk and drive to campus, or stay home?

Messaging from the College’s administration and emergency response personnel was lackluster at best. There was no word of classes being cancelled, and no advice given to commuters about what to do.

I didn’t find out until the following day that I made the right choice by staying home the night prior. The orchestra spent its rehearsal sheltered in the Music Building basement due to an active tornado warning, while many commuters spent the night in the Brower Student Center because the parking lots were too flooded to drive out of.

It seemed like a student safety disaster, but maybe I was wrong. I was only a freshman after all, I didn’t know how things worked on campus yet.

Fast forward to the spring 2023 semester, when a gunman shot and killed three students and wounded five others at Michigan State University on Feb. 12, 2023. The following day, all TCNJ students woke up to an emergency alert notifying them that academic buildings on our campus would be placed on swipe-access only until further notice. One piece of information that was missing from this message, however, was why?

Soon, though, it was discovered that the Michigan State University shooter had ties to Ewing, N.J., and was found with a note when he was apprehended, threatening further violence against Ewing Public Schools.

Why hadn’t the initial emergency alert identified the reason behind the swipe-access-only implementation? Would I or my classmates have known what to do if the College were targeted by a shooter? These questions ran through my mind for days following this tragic event.

As a member of The Signal’s editorial board, I set out to take on the task of investigating the College’s safety procedures alongside the editor-in-chief at the time, Chelsie Derman.

Our initial goal was to focus solely on the College’s policies as they relate to violence and fire safety. We interviewed numerous faculty and staff members from across campus to hear their input.

However, based on the feedback we received while conducting interviews, our focus quickly expanded to also incorporate the College’s responses to extreme weather events — like we had experienced just over a year earlier — and other various safety concerns. We published our findings in an article titled “Ewing school threat exposes faults in campus safety.”

The following semester, in fall 2023, I worked on two follow-up articles that took a deeper dive into how prepared both faculty and students felt about safety on campus. These articles highlighted numerous aspects of the College’s protocols that faculty largely agreed needed to be updated or reworked, as well as identified safety training opportunities that students felt were missing.

As I’ve studied journalism over the past few years, I’ve seen many instances where articles in the news have led to change, whether it be political change, social change, environmental change or something else. Even just recently, when The Atlantic reported on United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal (no, not The Signal newspaper) to discuss secret

military plans, it had a huge impact.

But all of these examples I had seen were from major mainstream publications, written by journalists who have been in the field for decades. I never imagined that I, a student journalist, could make an impact — until it happened.

In spring 2024, the College implemented its first mandatory safety training for all students — something that Sharon Blanton, vice president of operations, later said in an interview was largely due to the reporting on campus safety conducted by The Signal.

My hope with reporting on campus safety was to highlight areas where it could be improved, leading to a better community for us all to co-exist in. Seeing that come to fruition will always be so fulfilling to me.

Since then, I’ve reported on many other topics — both alone and alongside many of my fellow Signal writers and editors — such as commuter parking, course scheduling and registration, and a rise in personnel departures.

I’ve received lots of feedback regarding these articles, and some of them have also spurred conversations on campus that have seemingly led to changes, such as the creation of additional commuter parking spaces.

I share my successes not to brag, but to show the power that journalism can have. Student reporters keep our campus community informed about important issues, and the need for journalism could not be greater at this moment in time.

My former business journalism professor Stacie Sherman recently said during a visit to The Signal earlier this semester that there are two kinds of reporters: those who take the metaphorical press release that’s handed to them and rewrite it, and those who take it and go beyond it.

Investigating and reporting on complex topics like campus safety are time-consuming and often daunting, but that doesn’t make it impossible. Reading between the lines and seeking out stories that aren’t simply handed to you is what sparks conversation. Because of this, The Sig-

The Signal

https://www.tcnjsignalnews.com/ Email: signal@tcnj.edu Business Email: thesignalbusiness@gmail.com

Editorial Staff

Ally Uhlendorf Tristan Weisenbach Editor-in-Chief Isabella Darcy Eddie Young Managing Editors

Illustration by Sky Stewart

Student reporters keep our campus community informed about important issues. nal is, and should continue to be, an outlet where students, faculty, staff and the greater College community can turn to and learn about issues that matter most.

You don’t have to be an excellent writer, a perfect interviewer or a craftsman with words to be able to spur real change and leave an impact with your reporting. We’re all students after all — it’s our job to learn from our experiences and continually improve ourselves.

All it takes is to set your mind to it, and you can make it happen. Take inspiration from the compelling reporting of bigger news outlets like The Atlantic, but don’t try to replicate them. Be your own reporter and seek out unique stories that have yet to be told.

As I round out my time both as a college student and as the editor-in-chief of The Signal, I urge students across campus not to sit back and watch what’s on the surface of our community, but to be curious, investigate and dig deeper.

Don’t doubt for one second your ability to make an impact; the power of journalism is limitless.

Administrative Staff Elizabeth Gladstone Multimedia Coordinator Andre Paras Video Editor Raeanne Raccagno Copy Editor Ela Kirimca Social Media Editor Amanda Incalcaterra Social Media Assistant

Aidan Mastandrea News Editor

Jenna Weldon Web Editor

Alena Bitonti Ashley Ragone Arts & Entertainment Editors

Liam Simonelli Sky Stewart Editorial Cartoonists

Lake DiStefano Opinions Editor

Cristina Collins Business Manager

Rebecca Heath Features Editor Eddie Young Sports Editor Parisa Burton Nation & World Editor

Natalia Tomczak Community Outreach Coordinator Kathleen Webber Faculty Advisor

POLICIES The Signal is published bi-weekly during the academic year and not financed by the Student Activity Fund, but solely by advertisement revenue. Any student may submit articles to The Signal. Publication of submitted articles is at the discretion of the editors. All materials submitted become the sole property of The Signal.

The Letters section is an open forum for opinions. Submissions that announce events or advertise in any way will not be printed.

The Signal willingly corrects mistakes. If you think we have made a mistake, contact us at signal@tcnj.edu.

TeacherWord Appreciation Word Search Search F A C E D U C A T O R S O G H G G E H G H P H L Y F K S C L H R R F G S S M I H G Y M L E H N K A C I U I U B I J Q A S E I K E D N H B D Y E B H S S L N L V Z I Y J S B Y M J S O T O S B B I N T L T G E J R N L V TW V Y Z G Y N I N Q O A E C U R R I C U L U M T T O P A B B A X M DWD Q T O U M P R G R S D G Q P X Z F R A T L N D I Z T E A C H E R S V Q E I W R I K T E X T B O O K S S N T U T O R I N G Q J U N G G G H E M F H P E N C I L S F G substituteteachers

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May 9, 2025 The Signal page 11

Happy Graduation Crossword Down 1. Test you take at end of semester 3. The strings that hang from your cap 4. Level of degree as undergrad 5. Celebratory drink 7. Robe to go with your cap 8. The typical grade for graduating Across

2. Sash-like accessory 5. The square hat you wear while walking 6. Paper describing your academic accomplishment 10. Another word for graduation 11. Ceremony celebrating the end of your academics

Medium Puzzle #1

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S u d o k o

US foreign tourism is declining amid geopolitical tensions

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

U.S. tourism is plummeting, driven by recent trade disputes and immigration tensions.

By Parisa Burton Nation & World Editor Interest in foreign travel to the United States has dropped significantly during the Trump administration so far, particularly among European and Canadian visitors. This trend is partly driven by recent trade disputes and immigration tensions.

Total foreign visits to the U.S. fell 12% in March, the sharpest decline since 2021, a significant shift given that tourism contributes 2.5% to the U.S. GDP, according to Rude Baguette.

Summer flight bookings from Canada have declined 21%, a notable

change considering that the country accounts for approximately a quarter of all foreign visitors, according to The New York Times.

CBS News found that even a 10% drop in Canadian tourists could cost the U.S. more than $2 billion in spending and threaten 140,000 jobs.

Summer flight bookings from Europe have dipped 2%, with variance among different countries. For example, bookings from Spain and Portugal have both increased 8%, but Netherlands and Germany bookings have dropped 17% and 12%, respectively.

The International Trade Association reported a 17% decrease in European

Harvard University sues Trump administration over funding freeze

By Zo Terrana Staff Writer Harvard University, in its fight against the Trump administration, filed a lawsuit on Apri 21. against the administration’s actions to terminate the university’s funding.

Harvard argued that the administration violated its constitutional rights and endangered its “academic independence,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in Massachusetts, NPR reported.

Harvard President Alan Garber said in a message to the Harvard community, “The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting.”

Garber also said research initiatives, such as working to improve the likelihood of children who survive cancer, the development of cancer and disease outbreak research, and pain reduction for wounded soldiers will be jeopardized by the Trump administration’s funding cuts.

Garber spoke on the possible future implications of the funding freeze, stating how the government is “slamming on the brakes” on impending opportunities to decrease the risk of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

According to Garber, by “indiscriminately” cutting medical, scientific and technological research, this prohibits the U.S.’s ability to save lives and maintain the country’s world leadership position in innovation.

The funding freeze comes amid accusations by the Trump administration that Harvard has failed to protect Jewish

students against antisemitism, according to NPR. Harvard, refusing to comply with a list of obligations from The Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, had its funds frozen.

Among these demands included that Harvard grant the federal government supervision of admissions, hiring and the ideology of students and staff, according to the Wall Street Journal. Harvard ultimately rejected these guidelines.

Harvard has adamantly condemned antisemitism according to the filed lawsuit. The university addressed the rise in antisemitism due to the Palestine protests pertaining to the Israel-Hamas conflict within the Middle East.

“We have strengthened our rules and our approach to disciplining those who violate them,” Garber said. “We have enhanced training and education on antisemitism across our campus and introduced measures to support our Jewish community and ensure student safety and security.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Harvard has altered its safety policies, constituting discipline and strengthened programs aimed at confronting bias and promoting ideological inclusivity.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a statement on April 14, which said “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”

Read more on our website!

travel to the U.S. in March, compared to the same period in 2024. This decline is largely due to geopolitical tensions driven by Trump-era policies, with many European citizens increasingly perceiving the U.S. as unwelcoming, according to Rude Baguette.

Tourism Economics, which initially projected a 5% drop, now estimates a 9.4% decline in international travel visitors to the U.S. in 2025.

Canadian travel resistance has been linked to recent tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, including a 25% tariff on imported cars and parts enacted on March 26. Another speculated reason for the travel boycott is the Trump administration’s recent rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state.

According to the New York Times, “the link between politics and personal travel decisions appears unmistakable.

Since President Trump stepped up his hostility toward Canada, border crossings have plummeted.”

Travel advisors in countries including Canada, France, Belgium, Finland, Portugal and the United Kingdom have started warning citizens about increased U.S. border security, including electronic device inspections and increased entry enforcement, Travel and Tour World reported.

“In the first quarter of this year, we are down about 29% to 30%,” Kami Farhadi, CEO of Los Angeles’s Starline Tours, told CBS News. “They don’t feel safe. They don’t feel welcome.”

Border crossings from Canada into the U.S. plunged 32% in March and air

travel to the U.S. fell 13%, according to CBS News.

While Canada redirects its travel spending to domestic, European and other non-U.S. destinations amid recent political tensions, tourism to Caribbean countries and Latin America has soared, according to Travel and Tour World.

At a recent Caribbean and Latin America conference, tourism leaders highlighted a boom in travel to countries like Mexico, Columbia and the Dominican Republic, citing a resurgence in hotel occupancy, flight bookings and cruise tourism as key indicators of this growing trend.

To meet this new demand, countries in the CALA region are investing heavily in travel infrastructure, including airport runway expansions, ferry services and cruise terminals.

Meanwhile, the average daily rate, a key metric used in the hospitality industry, currently surpasses pre-pandemic levels in the CALA region, reflecting increased revenue earned per occupied room.

It remains to be seen whether Trump’s policy decisions will continue to threaten the tourism economy, with resistance from key market segments like Canada and Europe threatening to further disrupt the industry.

“During a wave of uncertainty, one thing is evident — Trump’s policies and pronouncements have produced a negative sentiment shift toward the US among international travelers,” Tourism News reported. “Negative shifts in sentiment toward the US are expected to adversely impact its global market share.”

Trump administration to reduce Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration is working to cut operations within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

By Zo Terrana Staff Writer

President Donald Trump in a recent initiative in reducing government size has now gone after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Operations at the bureau were halted in early February, according to NBC Chicago, and a stream of legal concerns has followed the situation, which puts CFPB efforts to protect consumers in peril.

The CFPB was established after the Great Recession in 2008 to produce a lone agency responsible for enforcing consumer protection laws.

United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson blocked the Trump administration’s efforts in the firing of 1,500 out of 1,700 employees and overturned a “stop-work” order aimed at the bureau in March. CFPB staff members have stated that the employee cuts hinder the agency’s capability to supervise banks,

maintain consumer complaint databases, and provide oversight of mortgage and credit fair lending laws, according to NBC Chicago.

According to NBC Chicago in a court file, Mark Paoletta, CFPB acting chief legal officer, stated that the agency should be trimmed down to about a 200 person staff which can “fulfill its statutory duties and better aligns with the new leadership’s priorities and management philosophy.”

As the Trump administration takes control, the U.S. bureau has dropped previously filed lawsuits.

These lawsuits include improper debt collection practices directed by National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts targeting private student loan borrowers, as well as a lawsuit pertaining to Zelle fraud tied to Early Warning Services, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, according to NBC Chicago.

The agency also moved to enforce a requirement stating that non-bank firms offering financial services, like payments and wallet apps, must obey the same regulations.

However, this requirement has been overturned by lawmakers, and Trump has stated that he will sign it.

Some payment apps will be supervised while others will evade the supervision, according to Adam Rust, the director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America, according to NBC Chicago.

A movie you’ll want to sink your teeth into: Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’

Photo courtesy of IMDb

“Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld in a 1930s Jim Crow-era horror.

By Abigail Holliday Staff Writer “Sinners” was released in theaters on April 18 by “Black Panther” and “Creed” Director Ryan Coogler.

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Canton, the film is a shocking and tragic horror set deep in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era, circa 1932.

Young Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore, played by Miles Canton, goes on a day out with his cousins, the Smokestack twins. Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore, both played by Michael B. Jordan,

have returned home from Chicago to open up a juke joint, a place for music and dancing.

“Sinners” alludes to the seven deadly sins tempting the Moore cousins and their friends. The Smokestack twins wreaked havoc through Chicago, stealing from the Irish and Italians to be able to open their juke joint. “Preacher Boy” Sammie is tempted through alcohol and adultery, getting a small taste of the life that fame has to offer.

Before he leaves, Sammie’s father, the pastor, warns him that if “you keep dancing with the Devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”

Sammie performs with his guitar at the twins’ juke joint to a lively crowd; the blues are playing, alcohol is flowing and people are dancing.

Mosaku portrayed Annie, Smoke’s wife and a Hoodoo practitioner, who set the tone for the movie, saying, “There are legends of people with the gift of making music so true they can conjure spirits from the past and the future. This gift can bring fame and fortune, but it can also pierce the veil between life and death.”

The blues party is interrupted

by Remmick, an Irish vampire who suffered at the hands of the Christians when they expanded into Ireland, and his two guests. They were attracted to the area because they heard Sammie’s voice through the building. They ask for an invite inside, claiming they have money to spend and they, too, can sing and would love a chance to perform.

He preaches love and unity and

claims that he only wants to help because the KKK is still active and is planning to come after them. His way of “helping” is turning people into vampires like him so they can become a community. What he doesn’t realize is that, in forcing people to become like him, he has become the people he hates.

Remmick was attracted to Sammie and his voice because he can “pierce the veil,” performing alongside past and future performers. In the beautifully transcendent scene, Sammie conjures electric guitarists, ballerinas, Zaouli dancers, Chinese Peking opera performers and many more Black performers throughout history. Remmick wanted to turn Sammie so he could reunite with his family, as being a vampire means your soul is trapped to wander Earth forever alone.

Mary, Stack’s girlfriend, played

by Hailee Steinfeld, ventures after the group. Mary, being family, is invited back into the building, starting the horror and attacks and delivering her famous line, “we’re gonna kill every last one of you.”

This movie is a period piece about the Black experience and uses culture and appreciation mixed with historical and supernatural horrors to paint the picture. The juke joint was a sacred space where the Black people of Mississippi could come and relax with music, dancing and beer until they were interrupted by the white vampires who wanted to appropriate their traditions. In the credit scene, an older Sammie calls that night

the best and worst night of his life, which encapsulates the American Black experience, according to The Guardian. “Sinners” also gave representation of the Delta Chinese and Native American population in 1930s Mississippi.

“Sinners” has taken the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, beating out “A Minecraft Movie” and “The Accountant 2.” The film is also only taking a six percent decline in viewers on the second weekend after its release, where most horror movies see a 50-65% decline, according to Blexmedia.

The film has amassed over $161.6 million worldwide since its release, and has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It has also received an “A” score on CinemaScore, the first ever horror film to score that high in the website’s 47-year existence. Coogler also made a unique deal with Warner Bros., stating that after 25 years, he will solely own the rights to “Sinners,” making it so he and his family will most likely receive royalties for the rest of their lives.

Coogler made history with “Sinners” because it was the first to be shot on Imax (1.43:1) film and Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1), according to the Los Angeles Times, putting him on the same level as Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino.

Also, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw accomplished another “first” on the set of “Sinners” by being the first woman director to shoot a film on large format IMAX film, according to AP News.

A review of Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ introducing the ‘New Avengers’

By Abigail Holliday Staff Writer Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*,” directed by Jake Schreier, premiered in theaters on May 2. The film stars a band of human-weapon rejects including Black Widow Yelena Belova, played by Florence Pugh, and Winter Soldier James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, played by Sebastian Stan.

“Thunderbolts*” ties in characters from multiple recent Marvel projects such as former Captain America John Walker from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Ava Starr as the Ghost from “Ant-man and the Wasp” and Yelena and the Taskmaster from “Black Widow.”

U.S. Agent Walker, played

by Wyatt Russell, Ghost played

by Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster and Yelena are all part of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s “clean-up” crew. De Fontaine, played by Julia LouisDreyfus, is the director of the CIA in the middle of an impeachment trial after being caught partaking in illegal and morally wrong human trials.

Forced to work together to save their lives, the group of unlikely allies band together to take down De Fontaine and help their new friend and simultaneous enemy, The Sentry, played by Lewis Pullman.

David Harbour ’s Red Guardian and Yelena’s father Alexei didn’t hesitate to rejoin the action to save his daughter and act as the glue

during their adventure to take down De Fontaine.

This movie had the feel of the old Marvel atmosphere that has been noticeably absent since “Avengers: Endgame.”

“Thunderbolts*” parallels iconic scenes in past Marvel movies, one example being the famous “on your left” quote borrowed by Walker. The film was a blend of comedic relief, action scenes and heartwarming breakthroughs.

The Sentry faces difficult mental challenges that every member of the Thunderbolts can relate to in their own way. They are forced to relive their past individually and are challenged to work together in a beautiful metaphor for depression.

The “New Avengers” are made up of a team of ex-super soldiers and hired assassins, and the audience gets to watch as these characters struggle to abandon their lone-wolf attitude and save the city together.

“Thunderbolts*” scored an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and has amassed $76 million during its opening weekend with an optimistic projection as it remains in theaters.

The film also broke a record for the longest post-credit scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at 2 minutes and 54 seconds. The post-credit scenes help to hint at future movies, including the highly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday,” welcoming Robert Downey Jr. back into the MCU. Go see “Thunderbolts*” in theaters and don’t forget to stay for both extra credit scenes.

Photo courtesy of IMDb

MCU’s Thunderbolts* starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan aired in theaters on May 2.

page 14 The Signal May 9, 2025

A story of healing and a love letter to the environment in ‘The Outrun’

By Sky Pinkett Staff Writer

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, who had become a fan favorite starring in major films such as 2017’s “Ladybird” and 2019’s “Little Women,” gives another powerful performance in 2023’s “The Outrun,” a film experiencing a surge of newfound attention after being recently added to Netflix.

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt and adapted from the 2016 memoir of the same name by Amy Liptrot, the movie tells the tale of a woman named Rona, played by Ronan, who has returned to her home town in the Orkney Islands to reconcile with her troubled past as well as to heal from her present problems.

The story is not told in the most linear format. We follow Rona from her wild social life in London to a quieter and solitary existence in her hometown. It is easy to follow which scenes are flashbacks, which scenes are dreams and fantasies of the main character and which scenes are moments of the present through what color Rona’s hair is dyed, as each hair color choice is indicative of a different period in her life.

As the movie description suggests, Rona is in her hometown, reckoning with issues in a serious manner.

“The Outrun” gives a raw look at themes that tackle addiction, mental disorders and family trauma. It does so without any flashy camera tricks or a booming music score, preferring to focus on the natural look and sounds of the Orkney Islands and Ronan’s compelling acting.

This film feels as much of a love letter to the ecosystem and culture

of the Orkney Islands as it does a serious drama on healing from trauma. Orkney is an archipelago off the northeastern shore of Scotland, and despite the challenges all of the characters in the movie experience, their love and respect for Orkney stands as a constant.

Interspersed throughout the movie are monologues from Rona about the island’s various myths and cultural traditions, coupled with wide shots of the island’s endless green fields, dark blue coastlines and gray skies.

The fact that Rona possesses a passion for various fixtures of the environment helps give the movie an added environmental message.

This is a slow-paced type of film.

The most flash anyone can get from it are from the strobe lights found in the flashback scenes of Rona’s partying days in London. The dialogue is sparse, and the majority of the action featured in it comes from scenes that are difficult to watch.

For the most part, the viewer accompanies Rona through everyday tasks and occurrences such as farm work, having dinner with family, traveling through Orkney and more mundane activities that are intermittently interrupted with flashbacks and forward skips in time.

It is not the most riveting watch.

The word “boring” could justifiably be used if you’re looking for the kind of Netflix drama about characters with a troubled past, family secrets and juicy relationship dynamics that are accompanied by the kind of stylized cinematography found in most movies in this category.

Read more on our website!

Photo courtesy of IMDb

The film is experiencing newfound attention after being recently added to Netflix.

Samia’s take on self discovery in ‘Bloodless’

By Mia Shea Correspondent

H.A.G.S

S - The Signal

The 40-minute album titled “Bloodless” by Samia is 13 tracks long and explores themes of self discovery and vulnerability. The record was released on April 25.

Samia shared with Rolling Stone that for this album, she wanted to be seen as human by fans and listeners and not as some mythical monster.

“When you don’t talk things through, there’s just a lot of fantasy being created,” she said. “I was feeling the consequences of being made into a fantasy and not being able to have a chance to explain myself and be a human being.”

The record opens with a 15-second instrumental introduction titled “Biscuits Intro,” which includes ambient noises of a record playing and then skipping.

Track two, the lead single, titled “Bovine Excision,” was released on Jan. 14 of this year. Along with the single, Samia also released a music video for this track, featuring nostalgic clips of herself that embody purity.

She spoke with Grand Jury about this track specifically. “I noticed a pattern in my life of wanting to live up to the person I became in someone’s head; you become a lot bigger with distance,” she said.

As the indie-pop album progresses, the same introspective, nostalgic themes of confronting the imperfect self prevail.

Listening to this album feels like one big nostalgic spring day as a teenager.

Several songs make references to blood in regards to guilt, purity as well as childhood, so the title being

Photo courtesy of Apple Music

American singer-songwriter Samia released her third studio album, titled “Bloodless.”

“Bloodless” is really fitting.

Tracks such as “Hole In A Frame,” “Lizard,” “Dare” and “Spine Oil” all have a melancholy feel to them — a theme that Samia is quite familiar with.

Something else that Samia does repeatedly well throughout all of her records is being vulnerable with her audience. Her 2023 album, “Honey,” showcases this as well with hits such as “Kill Her Freak Out” and title track “Honey.”

This vulnerability is stagnant in tracks such as “Carousel” and “Proof.”

The record closes with the sixminute track about self-discovery, titled “Pants.” This track encapsulates the energy of the rest of the album. It explores coping with the idea that you are not who you once were and that you should have nothing to hide.

The song repeats several times, “Wanna see what’s under these Levis?

I got nothin’ under these Levis.” She is allowing herself to be vulnerable because she has nothing to hide.

“Bloodless” is now streaming on all music platforms.

May 9, 2025 The Signal page 15

Baseball stuns No. 7 Kean, advances in NJAC tournament

Photo by Elizabeth Gladstone

The Lions are two games away from winning the NJAC title.

By Jhett Laurie Staff Writer The Lions started their week of New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament play by taking on Montclair State for the third game in a row. Star senior pitcher Jackson Malouf took the mound for the Lions in hopes of shutting down Montclair’s offense.

The Red Hawks got up early when they scored a run in the top of the second. The Lions roared back in the bottom of the fourth, with seniors Zach Hochheiser and Andrew Fernandez collectively driving

home three runs.

Malouf would continue to dominate Montclair State on the bump, giving up only one hit after allowing a run. The College would add some run security in the bottom of the sixth when junior Brian Lovaglio hit a double to score two runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, a series of hits from senior Justin Marcario, junior Tyler Provost and Hochheiser would lead to three more runs for the Lions. Malouf would come out of the game in the top of the eighth after a strong seven innings. The Red Hawks attempted to rally, however they fell short of the Lions’ seven-run lead.

The Lions won their first game of the NJAC Tournament 8-5 after strong performances from Malouf and sophomore Evan Frank on the mound and fifth-year Gianni Marano at the plate, recording two doubles.

The College then traveled to Montclair on May 4 to take on No. 13 Rowan for their second game of the NJAC Tournament.

The Profs got off to a hot start, putting up six runs over the first three innings.

The Lions were in hot pursuit as a fourth inning rally saw them even the score after Fernandez hit a solo home run and senior Ryan Goodall scored two on a single. The teams would exchange blows in the fifth, each scoring a run to keep the game tied.

The game slipped away in the top of the sixth as a strong inning gave Rowan a three-run lead over the Lions. The team failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, which sealed their fate, as they lost 12-7.

Dropping the game resulted in the Lions moving to the losers’ bracket for the remainder of the tournament. Senior Mike LaGravenis had an outstanding day at the plate, going 4-5 with a double. Fernandez also stayed on a hot streak, recording a home run and his second double of the tournament.

The College now faced a tremendous task in their third game. After being upset

by Rutgers-Camden in the first game of the tournament, No. 7 Kean also fell into the losers’ bracket.

Malouf was set to make his second appearance of the tournament after

dominating Montclair State in the first round. Marcario got the team on the board at the top of the first with a sacrifice fly to score junior Jack O’Donnell.

Fernandez would then record his second home run of the tournament, ripping a home run over the left field wall to add to the Lions’ lead. Malouf was stellar on the mound, keeping the Cougars at bay long enough for Fernandez to strike again, hitting his second home run of the day.

Marcario and Marano would each drive in runs in the fifth and sixth innings, giving the team a 5-0 lead. Kean would score their lone run in the bottom of the sixth; however, the Lions would immediately answer with three runs of their own in the top of the seventh. LaGravenis would beat out a ball hit in the infield to stop the Cougars from turning two. This brought Provost home and set up Fernandez to score on a wild pitch.

Sixth-year Ben Amon came in to relieve Malouf in the bottom of the eighth after giving up only one run over seven innings.

Hochheiser would seal the win in the top of the eighth with an RBI double, giving the Lions a 9-1 win.

Fernandez has been outstanding for the Lions when it matters most, going 7-9 with six extra base hits and five RBIs. Malouf has also been tremendous on the mound, leading the way for both of the Lions’ victories.

The Lions are set to face off against Rowan on May 9 before the winner of that matchup takes on Rutgers-Camden for the NJAC Championship.

Men’s tennis falls short in WIAC Championship Softball knocked out of NJAC Tournament

Photo by Jimmy Alagna

Harrison Maitland-Carter earned East Division Player of the Year in the WIAC.

By Tyler Morello Staff Writer The College’s men’s tennis season concluded over the weekend in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, as the Lions fell 4-2 to No. 30 Wisconsin-Whitewater in a tight battle to the end.

The Warhawks traveled to Ewing for this championship match on Saturday, May 3, bright and early at 9:30 a.m. They were 15-5 coming into the day, with the majority of their losses only coming against some of the best teams in the nation.

The Warhawks also had the WIAC Player of the Year in sophomore Theo Billson. The England native was stellar in leading the team to many victories this season.

Despite being the underdogs, the Lions were a real threat in this match. Juniors Alberto Thomas and Brett Schuster fought well in their match to come out with a 7-6 win in a tiebreaker, but this posed as the lone doubles win for the Lions on the day.

Down 1-0 heading into the singles matches, the Lions needed everything they could get to complete the comeback.

Schuster got the Lions on the board and was able to pull away in his match after winning the first set 7-6 and 7-5 in the tiebreaker, and then 6-4 in the second set.

On court one, Billson was matched up with the College’s junior Harrison Maitland-

Carter. After dropping the first set, MaitlandCarter dug deep to force a third set and defeat the WIAC Player of the Year, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

This win narrowed the series score to 3-2, but the Lions were not able to come away with another match victory on the day.

Despite the loss, the team has a lot to be proud of this season, as they were not projected to make it this far with a younger team in recent years.

“Our top three guys either graduated or transferred, so there were some big shoes to fill,” Thomas, an applied mathematics major, said. “No one’s graduating, so next year we’re gonna keep going and hopefully have a better season and win our conference.”

To put a bright spot on the week, five Lions received All-Conference honors for their play.

Maitland-Carter was named East Division Player of the Year and named to the singles and doubles First Teams.

Freshman Sidd Arudi is the East Division Newcomer of the Year, while Schuster and Thomas were also selected to the singles and doubles teams. Maitland-Carter’s doubles partner, junior Asa Wong, made the doubles team as the two went 13-4 as a duo.

The sky is the limit for this Lions team next season, and they are eager to have a bounce-back 2026 campaign.

“I’m proud of our team, I think we finished really strong, and surpassed a lot of expectations in the end,” sophomore Nathan Chan, an accounting major, said.

Photo by Elizabeth Gladstone

Sophomore catcher Sara Vincent had a hit in each NJAC Tournament game.

By Joseph Caruso Staff Writer The College’s softball team was eliminated from the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament after losing back-to-back games to Ramapo and Kean, respectively.

Riding high off a season-high seven-game win streak, including an all-time win against Rowan, the Lions earned themselves the second seed in the NJAC Tournament, where they awaited Ramapo on Saturday, May 3.

Sophomore pitcher and First Team All-NJAC recipient Maya Knasiak took the mound for the College and held things together, throwing six innings of one-run ball before exiting the game. The game was scoreless before the NJAC Player of the Year, fifth-year Julia Kinnally, homered to put the Lions ahead 1-0.

That score held until the seventh, where Ramapo chased Knasiak with a solo shot to tie the game. Junior Elizabeth Gosse entered the game in relief and surrendered three runs in two innings of work. Down 4-1, the College tried to rally in the eighth, and got another RBI from Kinnally

to pull within two, but they couldn’t break through and were defeated by Ramapo, 4-2.

The Lions would get another chance later in the day against fifthseeded Kean, with no more room for error. Similarly to the first game, Knasiak held strong in the early innings, and Kinnally collected two RBIs to vault the Lions ahead 2-0 in the top of the third.

Still leading by two runs heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Lions collapsed, allowing ten runs in one inning. Knasiak was pulled after giving up three runs, as senior Julia Roessler entered the game. Roessler gave up two runs of her own in a third of an inning before Gosse took her place, who ended up surrendering the final five runs en route to a Kean 10-2 run-rule victory.

Back-to-back losses on Saturday marked the end of the Lions’ NJAC Championship hopes, a disappointing end to an otherwise spectacular year that saw the College go 23-15 on the season, with players earning a plethora of individual honors as well.

They will now wait and see if they earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Photo courtesy of Arion Owes

Sophomore Mackenzie Burke and Senior Eliza Bruncaj finished third and fourth respectively in the 400-meter hurdles.

Track Attack!

TRACK / Women win fifth straight NJAC title Continued from page 1 Reilly was able to earn herself another silver medal on day two, as a 36.62-meter throw would get her second place in the discus throw.

Junior Kelly O’Grady took home a silver in the 800-meter race, crossing the finish line in 2:12.11 seconds. She also later teamed up with Daranijo, Burke and freshman Brenna Omert in the 4x400-meter relay, as the group

came in second with a time of 3:50.68.

Daranijo also put together an impressive performance in the 400-meter dash. After having the best time in the preliminary round on Saturday, she took home a bronze on Sunday with a time of 57.21 seconds.

She joined Scepkowski and Burke as the three Lions to earn three medals on the weekend.

Senior Eliza Bruncaj won bronze in the 400-meter hurdles, as she came

in third with a time of 1:03.04, just barely keeping the fourth-place Burke off of another podium.

Every point-scoring finish proved crucial for the College, as it was only 3.5 that gave them the title over Rowan.

For the men, the first day of the event did not see any victories, but there were four bronze medal performances.

Junior Nate Kidwell finished in third in the 3000-meter steeplechase,

freshman Noah Traverso in the long jump, senior Steve Daramola in the hammer throw and senior Alexander Bogues in the javelin.

Day two saw six gold medals earned for the Lions.

Freshman Maxin Rychkov continued his historical freshman year as he took three medals on the day, two gold and one silver. He won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 10.51 seconds and 20.98 seconds, just beating out Shamar Love and Robert McKinney in both events.

His time in the 200 broke his own program record, doing so for the third time this year.

Junior Jayvee Dumas won the decathlon, finishing with 6,142 points and stunning in the pole vault, with his best effort being 4.65 meters.

Sophomore Christian Farhat won the shot put with a throw of 15.31 meters. Junior Jayden Wright also finished in third in this event, with a throw of 14.86 meters.

Daramola added to his bronze from the day before with a gold in the discus throw. His 44.87-meter throw got the job done for the win in the event.

Sophomore Lucas Lattimer rounded out the gold medals for the Lions with a win in the 800-meter race for the second year in a row. He won the event in a photo-finish, crossing the finish line just three-hundredths of a second before the second place finisher. He had a time of 1:53.92 seconds, and junior Thomas Blach took bronze with a time of 1:54.16.

After finishing their conference championship meet, the Lions will now look ahead to the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championship on May 14-15 in Williamstown, Massachusetts, before the NCAA Outdoor Championships take place on May 22-24 in Geneva, Ohio.

Women’s lacrosse clinches NJAC title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament

TCNJ Athletics Schedule

By Tyler Fennell Staff Writer

Baseball Friday, May 9, 11 a.m.

Neutral Site vs. No. 13 Rowan NJAC Tournament

The College’s women’s lacrosse team played their New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament games on April 30 against Stockton University and May 3 against Rowan University. The Lions walked away from the tournament with the NJAC Championship after winning both games.

Fifth-year Ally Tobler earned her third Attack Player of the Year in the NJAC and was named to her fourth All-NJAC team. Tobler led the conference in goals with 69, and ranks 14th in the nation in goals per game.

The first game of the tournament against Stockton was a commanding 17-9 win. Standout performances from the semifinal included sophomore CJ Kole’s seven points, five of which were goals, and Tobler’s six-point performance with four goals.

The College dominated in every team stat except for saves, but that is also a byproduct of the lack of shots faced.

In their second game of the tournament, and the final, the College took a win in a close 16-12 game.

Each team stat was neck and neck with no clear leader in each category.

The difference maker for this game

Women’s Tennis Friday, May 9, 2 p.m.

Neutral Site vs. Hartwick NCAA Tournament First Round

Photo courtesy of Arion Owes

The Lions won the NJAC Championship for the 14th straight season. was accuracy and goaltending, the same factors that led the College to their win against Rowan at the end of the regular season.

Fifth-year goaltender and the NJAC’s Goaltender of the Year Julia Charest had 11 saves, whereas Rowan had eight saves. With a close game in terms of possession, those extra three saves were a big difference maker.

Junior Marissa Lucca and Tobler both had identical stat lines in this game with seven points and five goals. Kole also had a strong game,

less so on the point side of things with three goals for three points, but more so on the possession side of the game, leading both teams in draw controls with five. Junior Veronica Campbell had a similar impact and tied Kole in draw controls.

May 10 marks the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The College plays their first game on May 11 and will face the winner of the Stevens vs George Fox game here in Ewing.

Both are strong teams with records of 15-4 and 13-4, respectively.

Women’s Lacrosse Sunday. May 11, 1 p.m.

Home vs. Stevens or George Fox NCAA Tournament Second Round Track and Field Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14 All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships Track and Field May 22-24 NCAA Outdoor Championships