8-27-18

The Pitt News

T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | August 27, 2018 ­| Volume 109 | Issue 12

Pitt alumnae passed the “light of learning” to first-year women who participated in Pitt’s 98th annual Lantern Night in Heinz Chapel Sunday night. Read the full story inside on page 4. (Photos by Kaycee Orwig | Staff Photographer)

News

COOKING AT THE CONSERVATORY

Sam Weber Staff Writer

While a farmers market sat crowded on the lawn outside the main hall of Phipps Conservatory, an 18-student cooking class learned to how to make new cuisines with the market vendors’ products in the newly refurbished Botany Hall. Phipps is cooking up something special, and wants to share it with anyone interested.

Phipps Conservatory has always offered its beautiful gardens to the public, but recently added a new attraction — cooking lessons. Throughout this culinary arts course, local chefs teach students about different cuisines to empower students to find their own talents in the kitchen. The course allows students to get hands-on experience working with recipes from chefs from throughout Pittsburgh.

The lessons happen once a month and take place during the monthly farmers market, where all ingredients used are available for purchase. The theme for August was tomatoes and garlic.

The leader of Sunday’s lesson was Oakdale-based Cafe Chocolade owner and chef James Kaufmann, who has more than 36 years of culinary experience.

“I’ve gotten to travel the world learning from different cultures to help make my style of food,” Kaufmann said.

“Being able to share it with people is one of the best parts of working with

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cuisine that others might not know.”

His lesson took place in Botany Hall, which now features a high-tech kitchen area complete with multiple cooking surfaces, refrigerators, freezers and various tools and accessories.

Kaufmann began the lesson by explaining his background, from the first kitchens he worked in to the awards his dishes have won in the past. He also brought some of his products for students to sample while he taught the class how to make three dishes focused on Mediterranean cuisine.

The first dish he taught was his recipe for an avocado-based chutney, which he followed with a tomato-based chutney. The next was a sesame- and beanbased hummus which he said could be made with a variety of beans depending Chef Kaufmann teaches a tomato- and garlic-themed cooking class in Phipps Conservatory Sunday evening. Sam Weber CONTRIBUTING WRITER on the flavor requested. These were all prepared to pair with a multigrain flatbread that he showed.

While instructing the students, Kaufmann shared anecdotes from his own life. Kaufmann said that he disliked working in large-scale kitchens early in his career.

“The one thing that was terrible about working in a normal restaurant was not knowing what I would be making next,” Kaufmann said. “I went into pastry making at smaller shops because I always knew how many of what needed made.”

Kaufmann said that he enjoys seeing people trying to learn new skills, and teach others about his culinary style See Conservatory on page 6 that when he was given the chance to he was more than happy to accept. He

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Elise Lavallee DIGITAL MANAGER

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Lantern Night shines light on women’s education Madeline Gavatorta Staff Writer

Approximately 1,300 young women walked down the center aisle of Heinz Chapel Sunday night, clutching gold Pitt ribbons in their hands. Glass and metal lanterns with small white tea candles inside dangled at the ends.

Joye Karidis, who graduated from the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in 1986, saw why this event is so important for new students.

“I think tonight is symbolic of the beginning of their journey at the University of Pittsburgh,” Karidis said.

Karidis was one of several Pitt alumnae acting as flame bearers — the mothers or grandmothers of the first 38 of the female first-year students to register for the night who could light their daughter or granddaughter’s candle at the ceremony before lighting the rest of the incoming students’ candles.

Each lantern lit at Pitt’s 98th Lantern Night symbolized the passing of knowledge to the younger generation of women.

Lucinda Currie, a 1992 alumna from the Joseph M. Katz School of Business, noted this symbolism as she lit her daughter Isabella Currie’s candle.

“It’s the passing of the light. It’s taking your light and sharing it with another student, whether that’s your daughter or another student, and giving them a memory they can treasure,” Currie said.

Women at Pitt first began celebrating Lantern Night, the oldest tradition at Pitt, in 1920. The Alumni Association hosted the event, aided by the Alumnae Council and Blue and Gold Society. The Pitt Men’s Glee Club sang at the end of the event and a reception in the Alumni Hall Connolly Ballroom followed. The event included several speeches from members of the Pitt community, including Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, Alumni Association President Lisa Golden and master of ceremonies

A first-year Pitt student carries her candle down the aisle of Heinz Chapel Sunday night during Pitt’s annual Lantern Night. Kaycee Orwig STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Pitt News SuDoku 8/27/18 courtesy of dailysudoku.com

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SaLisa Berrien.

Gallagher gave the third speech to attendees, highlighting women’s importance in Pitt’s history. He mentioned two women in particular who inspired that first lantern night — Margaret and Stella Stein, namesakes of the on-campus gift shop Maggie and Stella’s. They were the first female undergraduate students in 1895 at the Western University of Pennsylvania — Pitt’s former title — and went on to become educators themselves.

“It celebrates the spark of scholarship that the Stein sisters lit over a century ago, and one that is still burning brightly at the University of Pittsburgh today,” Gallagher said. “So tonight, we celebrate the beginning of your academic journey as well as the pioneers who paved the

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way before you.”

Though he couldn’t attend the preceding reception, Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner said he looks forward to the event every year because of the symbolism of passing on wisdom and knowledge.

“Women are human beings, first and foremost.

We are all human beings, when we talk about diversity and inclusion, we talk about everyone, every human having a right and ability and capacity to contribute to the world,” Bonner said. “So women, men, black folks, international community are all important to this and I think [lantern night] symbolizes that and allows us to reflect on the journey of women in higher education … and women throughout the history of our world.”

Karidis discussed she

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and her daughter came to Lantern Night.

“For me, I feel like it’s an honor just to be invited to light for these freshmen girls to start off their education,” Karidis said. “It’s an exciting time for them.”

Her daughter, first-year Zoe Karidis, said the event was important because of the Pitt unity it brings to first-year and transfer women.

“I think it’s great because there are so many people here, like Pitt is such a big school so it’s really nice that all the girls, especially freshmen girls, can come together and all be in one place at the same time,” she said.

First-year Isabella Currie said the tradition reassured her that Pitt would make a fine new home.

“Even as a student touring here when I wasn’t even sure where I was going,

[people at Pitt] were instantly trying to make me feel like part of the Pitt family,” Currie said. “I think that this is one of the many traditions, like my mom said, that Pitt works hard towards making you feel at home.”

Ian Currie, husband and father to Lucinda and Isabella respectively, said from a father’s perspective, he was proud of the bond that his wife and daughter were making.

“But I’m even prouder to know that I have an independent daughter who is thinking high-level and wants to be a contributor, and especially in a maledominated industry, I know she is going to be able to stand confidently with what Pitt provides and what we have provided as parents, which is stand up, be strong and go forward,” Currie said.

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Conservatory, pg. 2 thought his Phipps students would have limited cooking experience, but to his surprise some of them had experience working with food in the past.

“I didn’t expect some students to be able to identify different elements of the food so easily,” Kaufmann said.

“It made explaining changes to recipes easier.”

Kaufmann was happy to see the variety of students in attendance for his lesson — and that’s part of Phipps’ intention, according to Associate Director of Adult Education and Community Outreach Gabe Tilove.

“One class we might be doing Chinese food or Indian food, the next could be grain-focused,” Tilove said.

“Some classes will be on particular things like that to spread cultural awareness.”

Tilove said the program has been very successful so far — each class is already sold out for membership, even though the kitchen only opened in May 2018. Tilove wants to make sure that Pittsburgh as a whole remains understanding of and embraces cultures that run throughout the city.

“It’s nice to see the audience for this program thriving,” Tilove said. “Seeing a mix of demographics lets me know we will have an accepting city.”

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PITTSBURGH-AREA SCHOOL TO KEEP CONTROVERSIAL COPS

Darnika Reed, 38, of Wilkins Township speaks at the hearing. “It’s still police brutality if it’s in khakis and a polo shirt,” she said. Kieran Mclean CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kieran Mclean Staff Writer

Woodland Hills students returned to school Monday morning — where they’ll start classes, go to football games and hang out in hallways guarded by police from departments with histories of violent interactions with students in the school.

The Woodland Hills School board voted unanimously Thursday night to renew its contracts with the Rankin and Churchill police departments and keep armed officers in schools to vocal disagreement from more than 20 protesters. The vote follows a 2017 federal civil rights lawsuit that five Woodland Hills students filed against the school’s former police officers — alternately titled school resource officers — and Woodland Hills administrators for fostering what the lawsuit called a “culture of abuse” in their high school.

It also comes on the heels of resignations by both the Woodland Hills Principal Kevin Murray and District Superintendent Alan Johnson, and the July murder of former Woodland Hills student Antwon Rose

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Jr. by East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld.

“Antwon Rose was murdered by a police officer. Now his friends have to go to school with the people who murdered him,” Dara Levy Bernstein, 28, of East Liberty said during the public comments portion of the meeting.

According to Woodland Hills Superintendent James Harris, whom the board appointed a week prior to the vote, school resource officers are necessary to prevent mass shootings at Woodland Hills.

“What would happen if an armed shooter entered the building?” Harris said. “I believe in school resource officers.”

But he’s changing their role in the disciplinary process in response to the protests.

“If anyone attacks a student or a teacher, they’re gone,” Harris said.

Churchill and Rankin police departments will station officers at the Woodland Hills Junior Senior High School in Churchill and at the Rankin Promise School in Rankin. As per the contracts, the officers See Woodland on page 11

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Woodland, pg. 8 will patrol in polo shirts and khakis instead of uniforms and will no longer carry tasers.

They will carry handguns.

Protesters said after the vote that the uniform changes didn’t matter as long as police retain arrest powers in schools, which board president Jamie Glasser said they would.

“We don’t care if police brutality is in khakis and polo shirts!” Darnika Reed, a Woodland Hills parent and Wilkins Township resident said to the board in tears.

“Churchill has not been reprimanding their officers,” Reed said in reference to the fact that Woodland Hills’ former SRO Steve Shaulis has yet to be criminally charged.

Woodland Hills students have a troubled history with police brutality.

In late spring last year, Shaulis hit 14-year-old Queshawn Wade so hard in the face that he knocked his front tooth out, Wade’s attorney Todd Hollis alleges. Hollis said Shaulis assaulted Wade in front of another officer and Murray, who was suspended earlier that year for threatening to do the exact same thing to a 14-year-old student with special needs.

“I’ll knock your [expletive] teeth down your throat,” Murray can be heard saying to the student on a cell phone recording of the incident.

A March 2015 video shows Shaulis slamming a student to the ground and discharging a taser twice while Murray restrained the student. A 2009 video shows him tasing another student against a locker while Murray looked on.

The assaults prompted five students to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school in August 2017. Plaintiffs named Murray, Shaulis, Johnson, Assistant Principal Patrick Scott, the Churchill borough, Churchill police officer Chris Lewandowski and Dynasty Security, which provides additional security at the school, as defendants.

Murray, Johnson and Scott resigned last year.

This coming year, Harris emphasized that he’ll work with new staff members to change the school’s discipline process.

“This is a different Woodland Hills than the one from a few weeks ago,” Harris said.

According to Harris, all disciplinary matters will be handled by the incoming principal Phillip Woods, who was formerly a principal in the Penn Hills and West Mif-

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flin school districts. SROs will also be required to participate in implicit bias training with staff and teachers.

“Students will not be arrested,” Harris said. “Dr. Woods and I will not tolerate any abuse to our students.”

The Woodland Hills board also approved a “memorandum of understanding” to participate in the School Justice Partnership, a Department of Education program created to reduce juvenile justice referrals for low-level offenses and minor infractions. Woodland Hills will partner with the Allegheny County Court and local police departments on the program.

Board member Chardae Seligsohn also emphasized that they are subject to modification throughout the year.

“This process will be developing throughout the school year, and this is not the final answer,” Seligsohn said.

But for concerned parents and community members, a modified police agreement doesn’t do enough to address the district’s history of brutality toward students.

“You’re still trying to criminalize your students,” Jordan Malloy, 22, from Braddock, said to the board during the public comments portion of the meeting. “You criminalized Queshawn.”

Protesters also criticized the board for waiting until the day of the vote to release the contracts, despite Reed’s requests to see them months before.

“This is kangaroo [court]!” protester Melvin Pollard shouted from the audience shortly before walking out. “You’ve already decided how you’re going to vote.”

In response, board member David Graves said the plans couldn’t be released prior to the meeting for security reasons.

“We have great conversations behind closed doors,” Graves said. “If we discussed [the security plan] openly, then we’re providing that plan to the public.”

Woodland Hills parent Erica Yesko, 44, from East Pittsburgh, walked out of the room after Graves’ comments.

“The Woodland Hills staff is very frustrating to me,” Yesko said after leaving the room. “It’s so frustrating to live in a district where you don’t have any type of say-so.”

She’s considering removing her two youngest children from the Woodland Hills school district in response to the vote.

“They make you send your kids to school,” Yesko said, “and I don’t feel like my kids are safe in school.”

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Opinions

from the editorial board

CATHOLIC CHURCH COLLECTIVELY McCain deserves respect RESPONSIBILE FOR SEX CRIMES for continued integrity Neena Hagen

Assistant Opinions Editor For decades, the Catholic Church has been hammered with sexual abuse allegations in countless dioceses across the globe — and just last week, six Pennsylvania dioceses joined that list in dramatic fashion.

In a report that seems tragically familiar, Pennsylvania’s grand jury detailed the sexual abuse of 1,000 children over 70 years, perpetrated by more than 300 members of the Catholic clergy.

But even more egregious than the crimes themselves is the Church’s complicity in concealing them. The Catholic hierarchy — from priests to bishops to the pope — knowingly maintained a pact of silence, cover-up and outright lies that protected sex offenders and endangered innocent children.

Church officials downplayed the abuse by replacing words like “rape” with “inappropriate contact” in their reports, and often told churchgoers that their accused priest was on “sick leave” instead of the real reasons behind his removal.

The Church should stand for community values, love and solidarity — as Jesus called for in the Bible. But one look at this scandal shatters any delusion that the Catholic Church is meeting even the most rudimentary standards of decency.

A mere glimpse should alarm anyone who claims to live by Christian values.

Instead of decrying this widespread abuse and calling out their fellow clergymen, bishops like Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh reject the notion that the Church has concealed criminal activity at all.

“There was no cover-up going on,” Zubik said in a conference last Tuesday.

“We have, over the course of the last 30

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years, been transparent about everything that has in fact been transpiring.”

According to the grand jury, this is the kind of rhetoric that mimics the Church’s “playbook for concealing the truth” — a philosophy that deems it’s better to ignore the pleas of assaulted children and accomodate the pitiful excuses of their abusers than to inflict inconvenience upon the infallible dictator that is the Church.

And these deflection efforts don’t stop at bishops — they carry right up to the pope. On Good Friday in 2010, Pope Benedict’s personal preacher called the accusations of sexual abuse persecution against the Catholic Church, and even compared the allegations to “collective violence” Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust.

Pope Francis made a positive step toward validating the victims last week when he released a letter condemning the abuse as “morally reprehensible.” But his words haven’t translated to action.

Pope Francis — like all other popes before him — has never punished priests for abusing minors, nor has he suspended bishops for intentionally hiding these “incidents” from authorities.

With a pattern of such rampant sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, it seems these “incidents” are not coincidental but linked with Catholic ideology itself. Being celibate, as the Catholic Church demands of priests, requires a tremendous amount of sexual repression. And since church officials seem determined to cover up these common violations, the system is immaculately designed as a safe haven for sexual predators.

Protestants, who allow their religious See Church on page 16

Social media outlets exploded with both condolences and hateful comments following the death of 81-year-old Arizona Sen. John McCain on Aug. 25 due to brain cancer. Celebrities and politicians on both sides of the aisle tweeted sympathy to his family alongside testimonials of his courage and integrity.

Social media also erupted with posts that disrespected McCain’s legacy and in many cases expressed glee at his passing, criticizing him for his consistently hawkish pro-war stance and alleged past racist remarks.

Some of these commenters posted false accusations, such as one tweet that claimed he gave information “that led to the downing of 60 aircraft” and that he “trained North Vietnamese air defense personnel.” Others posted facts about his questionable — and sometimes wrong — decisions as a public servant.

After Sept. 11, 2001, he supported military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, even after public opinion turned against involvement, and he supported the bombing of Libya. There are accounts of insensitive and racist remarks McCain made over the course of his career, including a racial slur against his Vietnamese captors during his time as a prisoner of war, for which he refused to apologize.

But the outburst of crude and false accusations goes against the way he persistently held himself. His willingness to compromise and the way he handled many political disputes should be respected regardless of political affiliation, and we would do well to further emulate him in politics today.

The senator’s decades of service to his country include his time as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War,

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Sen. John McCain greets supporters after speaking at Brevard Community College in Melbourne, Florida, during his presidential campaign in October 2008. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS during which he was taken as a prisoner of war for five years and endured torture and confinement by his captors. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and four years later won a seat in the U.S. Senate that he would hold for the next 30 years.

In his time as a senator, he often voted against his party or teamed up with Democrats. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he called for campaign finance reform and was against tax cuts for the rich. He worked with former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman on a bill to direct the United States away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.

He also pushed for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in a bipartisan effort.

McCain’s long record of service and See McCain on page 17

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COURSES TO SPICE UP YOUR FALL SCHEDULE Classes are tough and scheduling can be a nightmare — once in a while, it’s best to take a course that will distract you from the rest of your boring schedule. Whether you’re still looking for a course to fulfill a gen-ed requirement or decided you need to tweak your schedule so you can get out of that 8 a.m. lecture, here’s a list of 10 quirky, interesting courses offered this fall semester.

by Maggie Durwald, Opinions Editor

A highly popular class, Russian Fairy Tales examines works of this genre as a way of exploring Russian tradition and thought. The course uses different approaches in analyzing the tales, such as psychoanalysis, Marxism, sociology, structuralism and feminism. It’s a good choice for those looking for a refreshing twist on literary analysis — understanding the Cyrillic alphabet is not necessary.

Enjoy performances Professor McGonagall may not teach this class, but it’s definitely still worth enrollment. Another popular offering, the Harry Potter class examines the characters, story arc and world construction of J.K. Rowling’s popular children’s fantasy series through the lenses of culture and universal experience.

It studies race, gender, politics, love, death, heroism and many more themes found throughout the books.

The course also examines the social and political activism the series ignited and the plethora of fan fiction and social media hubbub that has taken off following their publication.

Russian Fairy tales

Find the full story online at

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Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions expressed in columns, cartoons and letters are not necessarily those of The Pitt News. Any letter intended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words and include the writer’s name, phone number and University affiliation, if any.

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Harry potter: blood, power, culture

The Pitt News

Editor-in-Chief

Alexa Marzina Mia DiFelice

If you’re interested in concerts, sports, video games, religious proceedings and more — or if you just like to be entertained — you should consider getting on the waitlist for this course. It fulfills an arts gen ed requirement and explores aspects of the human brain, history, culture and body that want to be entertained. This course might be a good way to find out why you can’t stop watching Netflix.

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Church, pg. 12 officials to marry, face fewer sexual abuse allegations — so the Catholic Church should relax its celibacy standards if it doesn’t want to be mired in scandal.

But until that happens, bishops, the pope and police officers need to work together to bring assailants to justice — according to Frances Samber, whose brother committed suicide in 2010 after being abused by a priest in Pittsburgh.

“It’s good that the public sees this, but where is the justice? What do you do about it? Why aren’t these people in prison?” Samber said.

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While the Church is responsible for covering up cases of sexual abuse, it’s not completely responsible for the lack of convictions. Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations puts most of the crimes in the grand jury report out of reach for criminal prosecution — some victims were afraid to come forward, others saw their stories buried by bishops.

Shaun Dougherty, who testified for the AltoonaJohnstown grand jury, was abused by a priest at age 10 — he’s now 48.

“If this doesn’t start a serious debate on the elimination of the statute of limitation, there’s something seriously wrong with my fellow Pennsylvanians,” Dougherty said.

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Because sexual abuse at the hands of priests is so widespread and has taken place for decades, relaxing the statute of limitations may be the only way to bring a large chunk of past offenders to justice.

But if we want to eradicate this systematic abuse for good, the Church itself needs to take preventative measures and institute a greater network of accountability.

If the Church doesn’t change its attitude toward sexual abuse we’ll just see more abusive priests, more coverups and more empty prayers for victims.

So in the words of Juliann Bortz, one of the many victims in this scandal: “Stop the prayer … and start paying attention to victims.”

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McCain, pg. 12 devotion to what he thought was right in spite of party lines demonstrates what many politicians and celebrities have tweeted about — his undeniable commitment to the United States, willingness to work with all sides and a strong belief in fighting for one’s country.

An example of his integrity that has gone viral since his death is a video from a 2008 town hall between himself and thencandidate Barack Obama, in which a sup-

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porter of McCain voiced her inability to trust his opponent, calling him “an Arab.”

McCain immediately interrupted the woman and replied that “he’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what the campaign’s all about.”

Rather than playing into a supporter’s ignorance and fear, he stood up for his opponent because it was the decent thing to do. A difference in opinions on fundamental issues was no reason for any sort of disrespect from McCain to his opposition.

Democrats seem to have just as much praise for McCain as Republicans. Former presidents Obama and Bill Clinton, Sens.

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, as well as many others have voiced their positive opinions of McCain’s service to the United States. Warren even remembers “forceful” disagreements on policy, but notes her respect for the fact that McCain always truly believed what he was doing was best for Americans.

Even when he was wrong, McCain held himself to a high standard in the way he treated and worked with others. He often

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took ownership of his mistakes and apologized for them, like when he didn’t ask for Confederate flags to be taken down at a 2000 South Carolina campaign stop. He later apologized and admitted he “chose to compromise [his] principles” out of political self-interest.

McCain’s grace in owning his mistakes — whether or not he took responsibility for each of them — is a dying trend in politics. Negative commenters should take a lesson from McCain about how to respectfully disagree with someone’s politics, rather than spewing more hatred.

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Sports QC PITT BRINGS MAGIC TO CAMPUS MUGGLES ties fair, because we say we’re quidditch, we get a lot of ‘Harry Potter’ nerds that haven’t played a sport or anything and we have to let them know that this is a Most students don’t expect to see other students pretty aggressive sport.” flying on broomsticks and chasing a tiny winged goldMost participants, like QC Pitt, play with PVC en ball as they stroll through campus. That, however, pipes between their legs rather than broomsticks, would be the thinking of a Muggle. though teams with enough funding do use brooms.

QC Pitt, the campus club quidditch team, is very Th e Snitch is a neutral human with a tennis ball or real — and preparing to soar to its first Quidditch yellow fl ag hanging from their waist. The Snitch enWorld Cup in several years. QC Pitt’s origins stem ters the game 17 minutes in, and is worth 30 points from several students’ discovery of the sport on You— a mere fi ft h of the value of the Snitches Harry Tube in 2008.

Potter himself captured.

Real-life quidditch — the kind played by QC Pitt Cipcic has an exceptional love for quidditch, and dozens of other teams throughout the world — is especially her position of chaser. She is particularly a sport derived from the award-winning “Harry Potfond of the chasers’ team within a team, of sorts. ter” book series written by J.K. Rowling. In the books, “I love chasing, ” Cipcic said. “I love being a part young witches and wizards compete on school quidof a small unit where we all work together and try ditch teams, flying through the air on brooms and to do diff erent strategies to score goals, and it’s just scoring points for their teams by catching, throwing an exhilarating position.

I love the feeling of runand avoiding various types of balls.

The Pitt Quidditch Club holds a practice game at the Charles L. Cost ning up and down the court and passing the balls QC Pitt attempts to imitate the game, practicing on Sports Center in February 2016. TPN file photo through people and just working as a team.”

Friday nights and Sunday mornings on the Cathedral Although the quidditch team has always had Lawn or in the Cost Sports Center, in preparation for In the novel version, chasers attempt to score points in enough players to form a team, numbers have been on a slight the fall and spring seasons. According to senior captain and me- hoops with balls called quaffles while beaters attempt to keep decline.

Th is poses an interesting challenge, one that Stilwell chanical engineering major Emma Stilwell, the fall and spring flying bludgers from hitting other players. The seekers are given seems ready to tackle this year. seasons have different dynamics. the ultimate task of searching for the Golden Snitch — a tiny, “The last year was probably our smallest,” Stilwell said. “But “The fall is usually really intense and then spring is more just winged golden ball that floats around the quidditch pitch of its the people who are dedicated are really dedicated, and we got to have fun,” Stilwell said. own accord. Catching the Snitch usually wins the game, since some really good freshmen, so it balances out. We’re really tryThis is because QC Pitt seeks to qualify for the Quidditch it’s worth 150 points. ing to get our numbers up this year.”

World Cup during the fall — something it hasn’t achieved since In real life, a volleyball serves as the quaffle, and the chasIn contrast to the current situation at QC Pitt, quidditch’s 2013, when it was eliminated in the group stage. The two-day ers still attempt to score on three hoops, which stand about six popularity as a sport has continued to grow competitively and weekend regional tournament against the rest of the Mid-At- feet in the air. The keeper plays the same role, and beaters throw strategically since its start over a decade ago. Chandler Larkin, lantic Conference occurs every year at the end of the fall season, dodgeballs at opposing players in an attempt to get them off a 2017 Pitt graduate and former chaser and captain, saw this pitting QC Pitt against rivals like Penn State. Although the fall their game. fi rsthand as someone who started playing quidditch a few season determines whether QC Pitt will achieve a Quidditch “There are some chasers that I played with since I was a years aft er it was made into a real sport.

World Cup berth, the high stakes don’t take the fun out of the freshman, so we kind of know each other like that, and same “Quidditch as a whole became a lot more competitive,” game. with the beaters,” Stillwell said. “You get to know each other’s Larkin said.

“Gradually, you would see teams start to develop The game of real-life quidditch tries to mimic its fictional playing style.” strategy.

So as other teams started to get better and more counterpart as closely as possible. There are some catches — a In “Harry Potter,” quidditch is an aggressive and often viostrategic with everything we did, we pretty much were forced fictional sport where players fly on broomsticks and a tiny gold- lent sport — and the quidditch played in the real world adopts to follow that trend. ” en ball zooms around like a sentient object cannot be replicated this violent nature by including legal tackling. Ashley Cipcic, a As a senior and captain approaching her last year at QC to perfection. junior chemistry major, noted that it’s sometimes been difficult Pitt, Stilwell had nothing but excitement when describing the In both versions of the game, there are seven players on to get players that would be a good fit for this type of sport. sport that has made her college years special. the field per team — three chasers, two beaters, a keeper and “So far, I’m not gonna lie, it’s definitely a difficult thing to do, “It’s fast-paced, running around, cheering each other on, yella seeker. to grab kind of athletic people,” Cipcic said. “During the activiing for Pitt,” Stilwell said. “It’s just such a fun game to play!”

Nick Carlisano For The Pitt News

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SUMMER ROUNDUP:

PANTHERS SPORTS STAY ACTIVE Nick Carlisano For The Pitt News

A hiatus in Pitt sports followed the summer heat, with little to no action occurring in June or July. That’s not to say the season was entirely uneventful, however, as both the softball and baseball teams capped off postseason runs in May while the men’s basketball and football teams stayed hot on the recruiting trail.

Softball Team and Baseball Team Pitt’s baseball and softball teams had an eventful summer, with both making their way to the ACC Playoffs for their respective sports.

The softball team played its most successful season to date with a 33-18-1 record as ACC Coastal Champions. Though Pitt lost the championship game, the team gained several ACC honors, with former head coach Holly Aprile earning ACC Coach of the Year. Coach Aprile

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WEEKEND RECAP:

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL, SOCCER TEAMS ROLL THROUGH OPENING

announced her resignation in mid-July, Tessa Sayers with intentions of accepting a head coach Staff Writer position at Louisville. Athletic Director Volleyball Pitt volleyball proved why it was ranked Heather Lyke hired former Ohio University head coach Jodi Hermanek to replace No. 1 in the ACC preseason coaches’ poll when it went 3-0 to win the Panther Classic at Aprile Aug. 15.

The baseball team also outperformed the Fitzgerald Field House this weekend. The its ACC Championship expectations, Panthers finished the weekend with 147 kills, making its first ACC semifinals appear- 11 aces, 29.5 blocks and 143 assists, while only ance in program history but ultimately losing one set to go 7-1 on the weekend with falling short to Louisville. The loss put two sweeps.

Sophomore Kayla Lund was named to the an end to the team’s record-breaking season under head coach Joe Jordano — one All-Tournament team, recording 42 kills on that would prove to be his last. Jordano the weekend. She led the Panthers in kills in announced his resignation on June 21 two of their three games, while also recording after 21 seasons as the head coach. Lyke five aces and 32 digs. Pitt juniors Layne Van announced former Florida State assistant Buskirk and Nina Markovic were also AllMike Bell as the new head coach on July Tournament selections.

The Panthers’ first win came in a sweep 10. In addition, five Pitt baseball players were selected in the MLB draft. RJ Freure, against Butler. In two of the three sets, Pitt held Matt Pidich, Derek West, Liam Sabino and the Bulldogs to fewer than 15 points and domiSee Summer on page 24

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nated in every category. The Panthers finished with 44 kills on 84 attempts and five aces.

Van Buskirk led the offense attack with 13 kills and five aces. Lund finished right behind her with 10 kills, two aces and two blocks.

The Panthers then turned around and beat their first ranked opponent since the 2016 NCAA Tournament later that night, when they knocked off No. 24 Cal Poly 3-1.

Cal Poly came out fighting and won the first set 25-22 after jumping out to an early 10-2 lead.

But Pitt didn’t let the Mustangs’ lead last long and bounced back to win the next three straight sets, not allowing Cal Poly to score more than 19 points in any game.

Lund was once again one of the forces behind Pitt’s offense, recording 20 kills, one ace and one block in the match.

Pitt’s last win of the weekend came in a three-set sweep against Pepperdine. The See Weekend on page 26

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CAPEL’S FIRST YEAR FOR IMPROVEMENT Cale Berger Staff Writer

When Pitt hired Jeff Capel to be its next men’s basketball coach in March, it brought excitement to a program that has been plagued by mediocrity since Pitt’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016. After winning just four conference games over the last two years under former head coach Kevin Stallings, the Panther fan base seems to be re-energized with Capel’s hiring.

Athletic Director Heather Lyke embodied the general sentiment toward Capel with her comments at his introductory press conference in March.

“Early on, a wise friend of mine told me that you need five characteristics in hiring anyone — integrity, character, culture, work ethic and talent — in that order,” she said. “And we found those characteristics in Jeff.”

Capel’s coaching resumé — three NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University and Oklahoma, then the recruitment of 19 McDonald’s All-Americans as an assistant coach at Duke — speaks for itself and fans should absolutely be excited about the future of Pitt basketball. But they shouldn’t expect his inaugural Pitt team to take the college basketball world by storm. It’s important to keep in mind that this is a team comprised of first-years, graduate transfers and a cast of veterans who failed to win a single ACC game last season.

True, Capel has done an impressive job transforming Pitt’s disastrous recruiting class into the sixth-best class in the ACC, according to 247Sports.

His impact on the program without even coaching a game is notable. Still, they are competing in the best conference in college basketball, with a roster that is largely not of his own design.

When Capel was hired he immediately began recruiting, bringing in combo guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens, the latter of whom was rated as a four-star recruit and the

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10th best at his position in the nation by 247Sports. Assistant coach Milan Brown told The Pitt News that they, along with the other first-years on the roster, will have the opportunity to see ample court time in their first year on the team.

As the team’s most prized additions and heirs to the program, Johnson and McGowens will absolutely play. But Capel will need Pitt’s returning players to buy into his new system and show improvements from last season if the team seeks to make it out of the ACC basement.

Some of those returning members have already voiced their support for the new playing environment. Senior guard Jared Wilson-Frame hinted that the new staff is pushing the program in the right direction.

“Our coaching staff … is pushing us to new levels as a whole,” WilsonFrame said. “And the whole program is reaching new heights … it’s just a higher level than I’ve seen since I’ve been here. I haven’t been here that long, but the whole culture is different.”

Wilson-Frame was the Panthers’ leading scorer last season, but his onball defense and offensive efficiency left much to be desired. Sophomore guard Khameron Davis was the team’s best perimeter defender last season, ranking second on the team in steals and blocks, but he only averaged four points per game. Starting guards Marcus Carr and Parker Stewart — who finished second and third in points scored, respectively — transferring out of the program certainly didn’t help matters either.

The Panthers’ new recruits will provide solid depth up top and on the wings, but the team will have some serious difficulty protecting the paint.

There are only four truly big men on the roster, and only junior Kene Chukwuka and sophomore Terrell Brown played meaningful basketball for the Panthers last season.

Chukwuka provides hustle plays and See Capel on page 30

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Summer, pg. 21 Yaya Chentouf have signed commitments to play the sport professionally.

Pitt Football Recruits Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi landed an astonishing nine football commitments on June 17, doubling the commitments already made that summer. The group is highlighted by a quartet of talent that will look to fill the gaps left by the Panthers’ current core of seniors.

Linebacker Leslie Smith was the first player this summer to commit to Pitt on June 10. Hailing from Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Smith recorded 90 tackles and double-digit sacks this past season as a junior. The addition of Smith addresses a future need at the linebacker position for the Panthers, with three seniors currently starting at linebacker.

Tight end Travis Koontz became the second player — and also the highest ranked, according to 247Sports — to commit to Pitt football. Koontz will return close to his home state of Ohio in 2019 after spending his first-year season at Los Angeles Pierce College and his second-year season at Ventura College, both California schools. Koontz is expected to immediately make an impact upon his arrival at a position that has recently experienced quite a bit of turnover.

Brandon Hill, Pitt’s second-ranked recruit, hails from Apopka, Florida, and committed to Pitt on June 17 over offers from 22 other schools. Hill is a 5-foot11, 200-pound safety who is considered a three-star prospect by Rivals and 247Sports and a four-star prospect by ESPN. Hill’s aggressive, downhill playing style will make him a valuable asset to Pitt’s secondary, an area where the team has struggled in recent years.

Defensive end Brandon Mack — considered the Panthers’ third-ranked recruit— joined in with a commitment on June 17. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound native of Montgomery, Alabama, should add an imposing presence to Pitt’s defensive line — a unit that has shown promise in recent years under Narduzzi.

Pitt Basketball Commitments Coach Narduzzi and the football team weren’t the only Panther squad that had a successful summer of recruiting. New basketball head coach Jeff Capel, formerly the associate head coach of ACC rival

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Duke, landed his inaugural commitment in four-star point guard Trey McGowens on April 24.

McGowens’ commitment set an early high standard for the direction of the Panthers under Capel. The talented 6-foot-4 point guard is ranked 83rd in the country in Rival’s national rankings, making him the highest-rated recruit since former head coach Jamie Dixon nabbed James Robinson and Steven Adams in 2012. McGowens earned this recognition his senior year at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, averaging over 18 points, six

assists, five rebounds and three steals a game.

A few weeks after McGowens chose Pitt, Capel landed another point guard in three-star recruit Curtis Aiken Jr., who attended nearby North Allegheny Senior High School and will be a preferred walkon this season. He chose Pitt over Tennessee and TCU, the latter of which is led by former Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. Aiken Jr.’s father, Curtis Aiken, also played for Pitt in the 1980s and was the school’s first McDonald’s High School All-American.

Au’Diese Toney is a 6-foot-6 small

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forward who chose the Panthers over Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. He joined fellow guard McGowens as the second player ranked in the top 150 of the 2019 class to commit to Pitt. Toney made his decision while on a visit to Pitt and cited his admiration for coach Capel as one of the factors influencing his selection.

Despite only having the position for two months, Capel garnered the best recruiting class at Pitt since 2013. He is off to a great start in turning around a program that has struggled mightily in the past few years.

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Weekend, pg. 21 Panthers recorded 42 kills, three aces, 11 kills and 42 assists in their 25-23, 25-20, 25-13 victory. Lund led once again, recording her second double-double of the weekend with 12 kills and 12 digs.

Pitt volleyball will return next weekend when it competes in the Seton Hall Classic in South Orange, New Jersey. The Panthers’ first game will be Friday against Oklahoma.

Women’s Soccer Only nine days into the 2018 season, Pitt women’s soccer has already matched its number of wins from last season. Under the direction of first-year head coach Randy Waldrum, the Panthers tied Kent State 1-1 and beat Jacksonville 2-1 at Am-

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brose Urbanic Field this weekend to remain undefeated and improve to 3-0-1 on the season.

Pitt took the lead early against Kent State when first-year Anna Rico scored her third goal in three straight games in the 16th minute on a pass from sophomore Dixon Veltri. Waldrum praised Rico for carrying Pitt’s offense in an interview with the athletic department. “[Rico] has been the key because she’s carrying the load offensively right now and she had another great goal early,” Waldrum said. “The efficiency that she’s had in front of the net has just been something. Hopefully we keep her going but get a few more going as well.”

Kent State tied the game in the 53rd minute on a goal from sophomore Maddie Holmes when converting a corner kick.

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Despite two overtimes, neither team was able to find the net again — largely thanks to redshirt sophomore goalie Amaia Pena, who ended the game with six saves.

Waldrum made some changes in Pitt’s game against Jacksonville on Sunday. He moved sophomore Aideen O’Donoghue to a forward position in hopes of finding someone besides Rico to score goals. O’Donoghue proved herself 17 minutes into the first half when she scored her first career goal and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead. The lead didn’t last long and Jacksonville scored two minutes later to tie it up going into halftime.

“We had a much better second-half performance,” Waldrum said in the interview. “We were not great at all in the first half and I was pretty unhappy with them at halftime in the locker room, but the second half was a much more inspired performance and created a lot more opportunities.”

Veltri started the turn around when she scored her first career goal off the crossbar to give the Panthers the lead and the eventual win.

Pitt recorded 14 shots in the game but was able to limit Jacksonville from four shots in the first half to only two shots in the second half.

The women’s soccer team’s next game is on Thursday when it travels to Texas to play TCU. Men’s Soccer Despite leading in shots, shots on goal and corner kicks, Pitt men’s soccer lost its first game of the season 1-0 against Colgate at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Friday. After a long defensive battle in the first half that kept both teams from taking a shot for the first 17 minutes of the game, Colgate’s senior forward Freddy Jonsson scored the first and only goal of the game 73 minutes in.

Pitt’s head coach Jay Vidovich told the athletic department he thought this game was a good starting point for his team.

“I think it was a great test for our guys coming in against a team that has experience playing in the NCAA Tournament and winning championships,” Vidovich said. “I think the guys stepped up to it. It was a tight first half and in the second half I think we had our chances to finish the game and win the game, and unfortunately we didn’t.”

Pitt outshot Colgate 9-4 in the second half of the game, forcing Colgate’s junior goalkeeper Jacob Harris to make four saves.

The Panther’s offense was led by sophomore Edward Kizza, who had five shots — including four on goal. Sophomore Alexander Dexter and redshirt freshman Fiorre Mane both contributed two shots. Vidovich singled out the underclassmen gaining experience as another high point.

“We had a lot of young guys out there,” Vidovich said. “So it gave us a taste of the game and what it’s all about.”

The men’s soccer team will be back in action Monday for an away game against Delaware.

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Capel, pg. 22 infectious energy, but he isn’t a good rebounder or shot blocker. Brown was the Panthers’ leading shot blocker last season, but he lacks necessary physicality and is a poor rebounder in his own right, grabbing only 3.4 boards per game as a first-year. Both players struggle to score in the paint consistently, as Brown averaged just 4.4 points per game and Chukwuka 2.5.

With the steady supply of stellar big men whom the ACC seems to provide

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year in and year out, the Panthers are going to have a tough time not getting bullied in the post.

As a result of their size deficiencies, Pitt will likely have to play some three- or even four-guard lineups to capitalize on the team’s speed and athleticism. Junior guard Malik Ellison believes that Capel’s style will suit their skill set perfectly.

“His style is simple,” Ellison told The Pitt News in an interview. “It’s fast-paced.”

Like many of his freshman team-

mates, Ellison is an unknown for the Panthers. The St. John’s transfer sat out all of last season, and he is itching to get back on the court for his first taste of competitive basketball in nearly two years.

“Feels good [to be back],” he said.

“As a basketball player, it’s hard not to be out there.”

The coaching staff certainly thinks highly of him as well, as Brown noted his leadership skills and willingness to mentor some of the younger players on the team.

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“Malik has done a grewt job leading by his voice and his actions,” Brown said.

Ellison very well could be the most important player for the Panthers this season. His versatility at 6-foot-6 will allow him to potentially play and defend four different positions, which will prove quite useful to Capel and his staff if they do decide to play small.

Unfortunately, it remains a mystery what Ellison can do. He only averaged about seven points per game at St. John’s, and he was just an average shooter and creator. It seems like more of a sure bet that he will have his largest impact on the defense, likely matching up with the opponent’s best perimeter threat.

With all of the potential difficulties this team may encounter, fans may wonder exactly what they should want from Capel’s first season as coach.

The answer is relatively simple. Pitt fans should just expect growth and improvement. They should root for a team that is tough, competitive and getting better each week, crafting the foundation of a culture that will pay off down the road.

This team is not going to win the ACC and they are probably not going to make the NCAA Tournament, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t enjoy the 2018 season.

Pitt will do well in non-conference play, as their only true test is West Virginia.

They will likely win between seven and eight conference games and they may even have a few upsets up their sleeve — and that’s absolutely enough. We should interpret their victories as hope — signs that Pitt basketball will return to the glory days. It may not happen right away, but it will be worth the wait.

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