HERE’S TO THE FUTURE
Thousands of Temple students are preparing to walk the graduation stage next week.
Read more on Page 3.
WHAT’S INSIDE
A special collaboration with Palisades Charter High School and Rosebud Academy.
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2025
OPINION, Pages 9-15
The Temple News’ seniors say goodbye to college and the paper.
THE TEMPLE NEWS
Samuel O’Neal Editor-in-Chief
Sidney Rochnik Managing Editor
Claire Zeffer Managing Editor
Anna Augustine Co-Chief Copy Editor
Valeria Uribe Co-Chief Copy Editor
Evelyn Blower News Editor
Kylie Sokoloff Assistant News Editor
McCaillaigh Rouse Opinion Editor
Bradley McEntee Assistant Opinion Editor
Bayleh Alexander Features Editor
Mike Nonnemaker Assistant Features Editor
Jadon George Features Staff Writer
Ryan Mack Sports Editor
Colin Schofield Assistant Sports Editor
Sienna Conaghan Assistant Sports Editor
Leah Duffy Investigative Reporter
Julia Anderson Director of Audience Engagement
Oliver Economidis Public Engagement Coordinator
Isabella Farrow Audience Engagement Editor
Rai Ganesan Audience Engagement Editor
Jack Larson Co-Photo Editor
Jared Tatz Co-Photo Editor
Noel Chacko Staff Photographer
Kajsa Morse Multimedia Editor
Ava Campbell Assistant Multimedia Editor
Lyndsey Griswold Print Design Editor
The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.
Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.
Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.
The Editorial Board is made up of The Temple News’ Editor-inChief, Managing Editors, Chief Copy Editor, Deputy Copy Editor, News Editor and Opinion Editors. The views expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News staff.
ON THE COVER
The Owl Statue in Founder’s Garden on Temple’s campus on April 28.
Contacts
Visit us online at temple-news.com
Email section staff news@temple-news.com letters@temple-news.com features@temple-news.com sports@temple-news.com
The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122
Juan Colon Graphic Design Editor
Ava Fitzgerald Data Editor
Pablo Rouco Podcast Editor
Cara Kishter Newsletter Editor
Nadia Bodnari Web Editor
Lolade Kola-Adewuyi Advertising Manager
Matthew Eaton Advertising Manager
Daivik Bewtra Business Manager
CORRECTIONS
Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Samuel O’Neal at editor@temple-news.com.
JACK LARSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Dear Temple Students,
Here we are. The end of another school year as thousands of students at Temple prepare to graduate and begin their careers. It feels just like yesterday that I arrived on campus as a nervous freshman eagerly looking for ways to meet friends and begin a new life in Philadelphia.
Four years later and I couldn’t be more grateful for my college experience. I made lifelong friends, called this wonderful city my home, tried new things, joined clubs and poured my time and energy into making The Temple News the best possible news source for students and faculty members.
This paper means the world to me. I study its history like I’m preparing for a test. I could tell you almost every editor in chief since the turn of the century, what changes they made and their biggest coverage moments. I worked at the paper during a presidential election, a graduate student union strike, multiple highstakes political rallies, the resignation of a university president, the death of another and multiple campus tragedies like the death of students and a police officer.
Through all those experiences, I learned how to be a better writer, reporter, professional, friend and overall person. When I took my tour of Temple during the Spring of 2021 I couldn’t imagine all that was still ahead of me over the next four years. I’m currently sitting in our newsroom in the Howard Gittis Student Center during our final print production of my college tenure trying not to tear up thinking about all I’ve been able to accomplish.
I’m thankful for my family, friends, staff members, mentors, peers and all the readers of our paper. I hope every college graduate in the Class of 2025 shares a similar story. One of meeting great friends, making memories and being proud of their accomplishments. I will miss this place so bad that it hurts.
Be well, live well, do well.
Samuel O’Neal
103rd Editor in Chief of The Temple News
NEWS
COMMENCEMENT
What to know: Commencement
Graduation ceremonies will begin May 5 and continue through the following days.
BY EVELYN BLOWER News Editor
Temple will hold its 138th commencement ceremony alongside more than a dozen individual schools and colleges holding their own ceremonies for their graduating students in early May.
With ceremonies beginning May 5, here is a list of locations and times for each commencement.
University Commencement
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
ACCESSIBILITY: Doors open 90 minutes before the ceremony. The main entrance to the Liacouras Center is wheelchair accessible and the ceremony will be open-captioned and live streamed. An American Sign Language interpreter will be available for those who need the service.
SECURITY INFORMATION: Balloons, signs, noise making devices, flags, wrapped gifts and outside food and beverages are not permitted. Large bags and backpacks are not permitted and a clear bag policy will be in place. Professional camera equipment and detachable lenses or lenses longer than 2.5 inches are not permitted. Small clutch and belt bags are permitted.
School of Podiatric Medicine
WHEN: Monday, May 5 at noon
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
College of Education and Human Development
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: McGonigle Hall
School of Theater, Film and Media Arts
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
College of Liberal Arts Undergraduate
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
Boyer College of Music and Dance
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality
Management
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
College of Public Health and School of Social Work
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
College of Engineering
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: McGonigle Hall
College of Liberal Arts Graduate
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at noon
WHERE: Mazur Hall 17
University College
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
Klein College of Media and Communication
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
Tyler School of Art and Architecture
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: McGonigle Hall
College of Science and Technology Graduate
WHEN: Thursday, May 8 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
Katz School of Medicine
WHEN: Friday, May 9 at 9 a.m.
WHERE: The Kimmel Center
Fox School of Business and Management
WHEN: Friday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
School of Pharmacy
WHEN: Friday, May 9 at 2 p.m. WHERE: Temple Performing Arts Center
College of Science and Technology Undergraduate WHEN: Friday, May 9 at 2:30 p.m. WHERE: The Liacouras Center
Kornberg School of Dentistry
WHEN: Friday, May 16 at 4 p.m.
WHERE: The Academy of Music
Temple University Japan Campus
WHEN: Friday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hitomi Memorial Hall
Beasley School of Law
WHEN: Thursday, May 22 at 4 p.m.
WHERE: The Liacouras Center
POLITICS
Temple’s Department of Education investigations
Temple requires staff and students to complete new anti-discrimination training.
BY SIDNEY ROCHNIK Managing Editor
Temple is working through implementing the actions demanded from a resolved federal investigation into alleged antisemitism on campus last year, as another new investigation into similar allegations, conducted by the Trump administration, opened last month.
Through the resolution of the original investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Temple must provide additional training on harassment and discrimination for students and staff and analyze current student and staff experiences with discrimination based on shared ancestry.
“This resolution allows us to focus on our essential work in addressing all complaints of discrimination and harassment, including antisemitic, anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim and all unlawful discriminatory incidents that create a hostile environment for members of our community,” wrote President John Fry in an announcement to the Temple community regarding the resolution on Dec. 2, 2024.
The university is required to continue reporting to the OCR how it handles ongoing discrimination complaints until the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
As a university that receives federal funding, Temple legally must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The OCR would proceed with administrative enforcement or judicial proceedings if the university doesn’t comply with the resolution agreement.
Here is what has already come from the resolution and what Temple is required to do next based on the OCR resolution letter.
STUDENT AND STAFF TRAINING
Students received a notice on April 17 that they were required to complete a self-guided anti-discrimination course, similar to other mandatory Temple
courses like one on safe drinking and drug habits, as a part of the first resolution agreement between Temple and the OCR.
All students and staff are required to complete this training so the university can provide documentation proving this action item was completed by June 30.
The training course identifies potential instances of discrimination, harassment and how one can report them. Through the investigation, the university identified 50 instances of antisemitic harassment on campus between August 2022 to February 2024. Only one was further investigated by the Equal Opportunity Compliance office.
In the training course, the EOC office and the ethics and compliance hotline are identified as pathways to file a harassment complaint.
The OCR also requires the training to provide specific examples of harassment based on shared ancestry and how it manifests off-campus and on social media. Both “test” portions of Temple’s training asked students to identify instances of harassment related to a hypothetical person’s Jewish or muslim identity.
One example in the training was
similar to a real instance, which involved a Jewish student contending with someone drawing swastikas on their dorm room door. While incidents like this and others listed in the resolution letter were technically handled, the OCR concluded that Temple did not resolve them consistently or thoroughly enough, lending to the need for student training and other measures.
“OCR is concerned that the University appears not to have consistently taken steps to assess whether the incidents about which it had notice individually or cumulatively created a hostile environment for students, faculty, or staff, and, if so, taken steps reasonably calculated to end the hostile environment, as required by Title VI,” the OCR wrote in its resolution letter to President John Fry on Dec. 2, 2024.
The university was also instructed to implement training for all staff involved in investigating discrimination and harassment complaints, specifically those based in antisemitism, and how to determine harassment and conduct investigations and interviews with witnesses. This training was disseminated in January, to be reported to the OCR on
May 15.
STEPS TO TITLE VI COMPLIANCE
Temple was instructed to develop a climate assessment to analyze student and staff knowledge and experience of discrimination on campus for the OCR to review by Jan. 15. From there, the university must complete it and report back to the OCR its findings.
“Information gathered during the climate assessment will be used to inform future proactive steps taken by the University to provide an environment that is safe and supportive to all students and staff in compliance with Title VI,” the OCR wrote.
By April 1, the university delivered a review of its response to all discrimination and harassment reports during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic school years. The review holds the university responsible for determining whether the alleged incident created a hostile environment for any affected person.
The university will also be required to provide a similar review of the 202425 and 2025-26 academic years by their respective August deadlines.
sidney.rochnik@temple.edu
SARAH MADDEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Students received a notice on April 17 that they were required to complete an anti-discrimination course.
CAMPUS
Liberal Arts launches new cybersecurity major
The new program will explore the human side of cyberattacks through a blend of studies.
BY KYLIE SOKOLOFF Assistant News Editor
Temple is launching a new cybersecurity and human behavior major, an interdisciplinary program housed in the College of Liberal Arts, that will explore the psychological and ethical dimensions of cybersecurity threats starting in Fall 2025.
The program was developed in response to cybersecurity becoming increasingly relevant across academic disciplines at Temple, from philosophy and psychology to economics and banking, said Sandra Suárez, deputy dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of political science.
“What we know is most security breaches have a human component,” Suárez said. “Someone making a mistake.”
The program draws from multiple departments, including computer and information sciences, philosophy, psychology and other social sciences. There are 178 cybersecurity degree programs in the United States, as a relatively new major. Temple’s new program is unique in its focus on the human behavior behind cyberattacks, the psychology behind them and how to design policies, systems and strategies to prevent them.
The initiative was spearheaded by Suárez, alongside Hiram Aldarondo, senior associate dean for academic affairs at CLA, and Aunshul Rege, a criminal justice professor. Together, they led a committee pulling expertise from across all colleges to design the program.
Four new three-credit classes were developed for the major: Introduction to cybersecurity; social engineering and cybersecurity; cybersecurity governance, risk, compliance and policy; and community engagement and cyber hygiene.
Students will also take English courses in subjects like technical writing
to meet the rising demand for professionals who can both understand technological systems and clearly communicate policies.
“The need for cybersecurity has been incrementing over time,” Aldarondo said. “Since every company is going to need more and more expertise on cybersecurity, we know for sure students in this field are going to be able to find jobs right away.”
Brian Hutler, who contributed his existing ethics of artificial intelligence course to the new program, believes the growing use of AI in everyday life requires a deeper look at how these new tools intersect with human values and decision-making.
“I think it’s important for us to recognize how potentially game-changing and how much of our lives will be reshaped by the very sophisticated computer programs being developed today,” Hutler said.
A key topic the program will cover is “social engineering,” the manipulation of individuals to access sensitive information. This is a critical topic for future
cybersecurity professionals to understand and a focus that sets it apart from traditional cybersecurity programs, Aldarando said.
“Most traditional cybersecurity degrees emphasize coding technology and software to prevent attacks,” Aldarondo said. “But the reality is that many of the breaches in insider security are due to human mistakes, manipulation and behavioral patterns. Hackers often exploit human psychology.”
Forty-nine percent of public-sector organizations indicated that they lack the necessary talent to meet their growing cybersecurity needs, according to a January 2025 World Economic Forum survey.
Phillip Dames, a professor of engineering who guest lectured in Hutler’s ethics course, said while his work doesn’t usually overlap with ethics and behavior, engineers should think critically about who will use the systems they design and how those systems will affect people.
Social engineering, a manipulation tactic for taking control of one’s computer and personal information, goes
beyond simple scams. It has the potential to compromise national security, steal sensitive medical or academic data or even disrupt services like power and water, Dames said.
“There’s all these ways you could be directly or indirectly affected by cybersecurity,” Dames said. “There’s good reasons to make technology more efficient for it. Thinking about the social impacts and disruptions due to improper cybersecurity plays a helpful role in those conversations.”
The major is also rooted in the idea that digital identities are now inseparable from daily lives.
“You don’t leave the house without your phone,” Suárez said. “You can leave your keys, but not the phone, because it’s part of who we are and our identity is in the cloud. It’s a whole new world that requires people who are keeping up with these behavioral changes and understand how to protect us from ourselves.”
kylie.sokoloff@temple.edu
SARAH MADDEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS
The College of Liberal Arts’ new cybersecurity and human behavior major will examine the human component behind cyberattacks.
Temple collaborates with Habitat for Humanity
TUmove aims to lessen the trash created when students move out of apartments.
BY EVELYN BLOWER News Editor
Temple is establishing a new partnership with Habitat for Humanity to assist with waste and recycling efforts when students move out of their off-campus apartments.
The new Habitat for Humanity program allows students to sign up for pickup times to donate furniture in good condition from their curb for reuse at ReStore locations around Philadelphia.
TUmove, which is leading the partnership, was created in 2022, when North Central residents complained about trash management after students moved out of their off-campus apartments. It started with daily trash removal from an outsourced company and grew into a larger initiative.
“I was thinking that it would be better for us not to be reactive to the problem and be proactive,” said Mark Gottlieb, senior associate director of operations and logistics, who helped estab-
lish TUmove. “I came up with the idea of having students actually contact my office with their move out dates, then we developed a calendar and rationalized what was a scatter shot operation into a more regulated, professional type of operation.”
Now, TUmove operates four dumpsters and allows students to schedule trash collection at specific dates.
Gottlieb noticed that many students move out at specific times — mainly the week before Memorial Day, the last week in June and the weeks around August 1, which is typically a student’s lease end or start date.
“A lot of the material gets removed and put on the curb, and then after August 1, there are students who come in starting new leases,” Gottlieb said. “What I’ve seen from that time frame after August 1 is that they’re moving out furniture, they don’t like the furniture left behind by other students so they put that on the street. That’s by far the largest phase, the largest activity of material.”
The program mainly focuses on
the off-campus housing section West of Broad Street. They’ve reduced the number of dumpsters from seven in 2024 to four this year to prevent neighbors from adding more trash than they can handle, Gottlieb said.
The dumpsters are available from between May 12 to May 23 and again from July 14 to August 8. No registration is needed for the dumpsters and they are regularly emptied. Gottlieb recommended students utilize the pickup system, either for donations or waste, to best benefit students and the community.
“I was walking to the gym [yesterday] where a lot of students walk around, and there were couches, dirty rugs, I’ve even seen toilets thrown away because of construction in the area too,” said Mackinley Dowson, a junior risk management and insurance major. “It’s nuts what people just leave on the street and don’t even expect to clean up after themselves.”
Littering and dumping are frequent issues in Philadelphia, where 10% of all households report small or
large amounts of litter and trash on their block, according to the biennial 2023 American Housing Survey. Mayor Cherelle Parker established the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives in May 2024 to assist with sustainability and clean neighborhoods.
Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore shops will resell the student donations, with all profits going towards building and repairing homes in Philadelphia.
Jordan Knaub, a senior psychology major, lives off-campus on 17th Street near the dumpster locations. Knaub noted that some off-campus students don’t throw trash in cans, especially during move out. They believe more students should donate their furniture and used items instead of putting them in the landfill.
“For people that are off campus, I know that getting to donation centers here in Philly is a little hard,” Knaub said. “But it’s like, [either] go to a donation center which is going to be a little inconvenient, or pollute the environment. It’s like, girl, just go to the donation center.”
evelyn.blower@temple.edu
JACK LARSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Students can sign up for pick-up times to donate furniture to the new Habitat for Humanity program.
OPINION
EDITORIAL
Congrats grads!
Congratulations to the Class of 2025!
All of the strenuous years of schooling have amalgamated to this celebratory moment and students should take this opportunity in stride as they walk across the stage and accept their diplomas.
For many 2025 graduates, the past four years have been filled with unprecedented challenges within and outside the university walls. Many started their college career in virtual classes, beginning what is supposed to be the most liberating period in their lives confined to boxes in a Zoom meeting.
Through the past four years, the Temple community has endured a contentious election cycle, President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the welcoming of Temple’s 15th president, John Fry. Temple has faced challenges like turnover of multiple university presidents, public safety issues on campus, student protests and the ongoing fears for international students.
Despite the challenges, the Class of 2025 persevered. The dedication to education demonstrates the willpower of this year’s graduating seniors. The time has come for students to celebrate their achievement and commencement with their friends, family and Temple community.
This year’s graduates should use this time to celebrate their final moments on the campus that shaped their lives for the last four years. The Editorial Board would like to congratulate all of the students, family members and university staff who have helped the Class of 2025 reach this major milestone. Without the determination of
students and the support of their communities, this would never have been possible.
Regardless of if graduating students are continuing their education in a graduate program, jumping into the job market or taking a well-deserved break in their hometown, we hope they take the memories they made on campus with them wherever they end up.
Four years is a short time, though it may feel like an eternity when you first step foot in your freshman year dorm. But the people you meet and the experiences you share make the time pass swiftly, so hold on tightly to the people and experiences that defined your time at Temple.
The Class of 2025’s time at Temple is coming to a close.The Editorial Board congratulates all Temple seniors and looks forward to seeing their future accomplishments.
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Consider unionization in post-graduation jobs
A student argues for their peers to consider unionization in their post-grad job search.
BY BRADLEY MCENTEE Assistant Opinion Editor
Mario Rodriguez Canuto is a member of the organization committee for the Temple Union of Resident Assistants, a collective formed in September 2024, fighting for fair wages and bargaining rights with university administration.
Temple’s RAs were previously allocated around $1,000 in Diamond Dollars, a now-defunct campus currency. To replace the loss of Diamond Dollars, the RA’s modified contract included a $200 stipend. One of the goals of their unionization was to have the negotiating power to correct this imbalance and ensure fair contracts and treatment.
“We needed to act on this because if they took away the Diamond Dollars, and the money that we thought we were gonna get, they can also do that with other stuff,” said Canuto, a senior media studies and production major. “And we don’t have any say or any power over that, if we don’t have the union.”
As students begin to navigate the job market, they face the dilemma of which workplace matches their career goals. When contemplating job offers, the question of a unionized workplace may fall to the wayside. Students should actively consider joining their workplace’s union, if they have one, for the best possible benefits, including salary and fair workplace treatment.
Being a union member affords workers the right to negotiate with employers about contracts, wages and insurance benefits. Unionized workers receive 10-15% higher wages compared to their nonunionized counterparts, according to the Department of the Treasury.
Additionally, many unions implement a “just cause” clause, which prevents unnecessary termination and protects workers from job insecurity. For example, while workers across the country faced mass layoffs due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, unions saw fewer job losses and terminations, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Lynne Andersson is a management professor specializing in workers’ organization. Though passionate about unionization’s material benefits, she also acknowledges their positive effect on workplace morale.
“Every union member that I’ve ever interviewed, worked with or been a part of takes pride and joy in it,” Andersson said. “It’s hard, but you love your fellow union members. You get camaraderie.”
Being a member of unionized workplaces carries undeniable benefits for jobs in both the private and public sectors. Students must understand the positive aspects of union work and actively pursue unionization when they’re in the job market.
Workers’ unions are one of the most vital institutions in American democracy. Through collective bargaining, unionization ensures workers get fair treatment, livable wages and competitive benefits.
Currently, companies like Starbucks have spent three years union-busting their employees, resulting in nearly 800 unfair labor practice lawsuits, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Mary Stricker, vice chair of the practice, instructional, research and clinical faculty at Temple, encourages students to analyze the source of the information and determine whether it’s trustworthy or propagandic amid the media haze of defamatory statements towards unionization.
“Look at the messengers that are telling you that unions are too political, or they’re just there to exploit you, etcetera,” said Stricker, a sociology professor. “You’re hearing those messages, messages from people who are the ones that are absolutely exploiting you and want to exploit you further in non-unionized workplaces.”
In the United States, unionization in 2024 went down to a staggering 10% from 21% in 1983, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor. Though the numbers are less than ideal, finding
unionized workplaces is still important. In the current state of political unpredictability, union jobs are crucial to maintaining fair workplace treatment.
Workers’ collectives are necessary, as they give anyone a fighting chance against oppressive bosses or corporations — a right any worker should have.
As students navigate the tumultuous job market, being protected by a union is key to ensuring their prosperity and well-being in the workforce. Though not all jobs come with a union membership, a collective of workers is powerful and something that should be celebrated and sought after, regardless of the industry.
bradley.mcentee@temple.edu
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
Optimistic nihilism: the art of realizing nothing
Opinion Editor Mccailliagh Rouse reflects on optimistic nihilism and how it added meaning to life.
BY MCCAILLAIGH ROUSE Opinion Editor
I still remember the day I realized that nothing really matters. It was the spring before I started college. That moment of clarity — or maybe confusion — came after the death of a family friend.
He was someone I saw as a brother, someone I still think about often, even if I rarely speak of the situation. Like most teenagers, I didn’t know how to talk about grief or emotions that felt too big to hold. So I stayed quiet.
But the loss shook me.
My perspective on the world shifted. Suddenly, everything felt fragile. Leaving the house became difficult because I couldn’t stop thinking about how quickly things could fall apart. Around that time, my imagination started to spiral about everything that could go wrong.
Maybe I’ve always had an overactive mind, but it began to feed off fear. I’d picture myself accidentally veering off a bridge on my drive home from school. I stopped going on walks alone, something I once loved, because I worried I’d collapse from some mysterious illness.
Minimizing my life and staying in my room felt like the safest option. Of course, my parents noticed the changes — how I lost interest in everything and how I had retreated from life.
That’s when I started seeing a therapist, someone I still talk to today who has effectively helped me gain new levels of confidence. After months of sessions and pushing through my fears with exposure therapy, I began to develop a new outlook on my life.
I realized the only controllable in life is the meaning I give it. I began to do things as simple as picking up a new hobby, like playing the guitar, to give my mind something to think about other than my anxiety. My friends and I began to take last-minute unplanned trips to different states – something that would’ve left me in tears before.
By exposing myself to uncertainty
and leaning into spontaneity, I began to understand that life is malleable. What I do day to day, and how far I allow myself to stretch, is entirely up to me. Not everything I do has to be life-changing for it to be meaningful.
That was when the idea that “nothing matters” was reinforced, not in a nihilistic way, but in a freeing one.
For some, that mindset sounds extreme or even harmful. But for me, it means the opposite: since nothing matters in a grand, cosmic sense, everything matters in the here and now. Life stopped being something to win and became something to experience.
Saying that I no longer picture an untimely death or imagine the worstcase scenario would be untrue. My imagination can still be my greatest vice, but now I let the bad thoughts flow past. Situations of disproportionate magnitudes may happen and may change my life, but I can’t control the when, where or how.
Now, in college, I’ve come to accept that I can’t control most things. The only constant I have is how I choose to re-
spond. When I started writing for The Temple News, that realization clicked. Writing became my anchor. It gave me a way to process my experiences, to reflect on what it means to be human and to advocate for what I care about.
December of my sophomore year is when I first got to write for The Temple News. It was an essay titled, “An acorn’s purpose: my new outlook on life,” which touched on comparable themes I still believe.
Since then, I’ve found a voice in opinion writing through telling the stories of others and sharing my personal experiences. Writing gave me something to put value on — it made me find the importance of little things. By writing and interviewing, I found a voice and a clearer picture of what I find important.
Understanding that nothing matters pushed me to produce stories I was passionate about, no matter the topic or backlash they may experience. I dove into divided politics, controversial Temple history and division within unions and administration.
Life has become lighter and more exciting since I accepted that I define my own existence and purpose. Nothing in life matters, which is exactly why every little thing does. Life is absurd and painful, but that’s why defining your own meaning and finding the things that bring joy is so important.
Taking chances, big or small, is necessary to enjoy life, whether the outcome is what you expected or not.
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Finding the right words and hoping they’re simple
Editor-in-Chief Samuel O’Neal describes how transformative working at TTN has been.
BY SAMUEL O’NEAL Editor-in-Chief
I’ve lived my college experience with one proverb in mind at all times.
“One day I’ll find the right words, and they will be simple.”
Those 12 words, written by poet Jack Kerouac and amplified by country singer Zach Bryan, inspired me to “burn, burn, burn and never settle” so much that it’s tattooed on my right forearm.
I’ve carried the mantra with me through every life experience, every time I was mad, annoyed at a friend or feeling like life was unfair. And especially when I pondered my career and what my life would look like in the future. It helped ease my mind when I was stressed or overwhelmed and reminded me that all things — good and bad — will pass.
So, as I thought about what I wanted to write in my final byline in The Temple News, I couldn’t help but recall the mantra one more time.
One day, I’ll find the right words. But for now, I’ll say this.
My first “holy shit” moment as Editor-in-Chief of TTN was June 14, 2024 when news broke that President Donald Trump would be holding a rally at The Liacouras Center in just nine days.
Before I had a chance to decide what kind of leader I wanted to be, give my staff a first impression or learn about the students I had hired just weeks prior, I was handing out assignments to reporters and photographers for a major, highstakes story.
I spent the weeks leading up to Trump’s Liacouras rally preparing for the year in every way I could think of. I made our schedule for the year, decided what I wanted to talk about at our staff orientation that was still months away and contemplated what newsroom strategies I wanted to implement that I had picked up from fellow EICs and editors at past internships.
I thought I had everything mapped out perfectly and laid the groundwork
for what would be a smooth year at TTN. I prepared myself for every possible outcome of our coverage, thought about how I would react to unexpected situations and practiced delivering tough feedback to a potential struggling staff member.
It took about 10 days of the fall semester to realize nothing would happen how I thought it would.
I took it extremely personally when people made mistakes or coverage didn’t pan out as I hoped. I thought it was my fault for not being a strong enough leader and failing to set up my staff for success. When I disagreed with other staff members about content decisions, I thought that giving in meant I was getting a diluted version of my plan and vision for the paper.
But I grew closer to members of staff as time went on. Instead of viewing every mistake made at TTN as a direct representation of my leadership ability, I started to view them as opportunities to help everyone improve.
My biggest goal when I found out
the publications board voted me as TTN’s next EIC was to have the same impact on the paper as those who came before me. I can’t help but think back to all the times former staff members helped me improve.
My freshman year, I was nervous to show up to my first-ever TTN Sports freelancer meeting and was quickly pitched a story by then-Sports Editor Bella DiAmore. I remember seeing computers with the names of staff members on them and how badly I wanted that.
I often close my eyes and envision my first print production as an Assistant Sports Editor. My fellow section members Nick Gangewere, Javon Edmonds and Chris Duong are making me laugh. We’re talking about which quarterback would make the jump to “elite status” this year and Javon is explaining why the Baltimore Ravens will finally make it back to the Super Bowl. (They didn’t, sorry Javon.)
I remember meeting, to this day, two of my closest friends in the world during my sophomore year in Lawrence
Ukenye and Oliver Sabo. We laughed in the newsroom, which led to nights out at the bar, which led to Lawrence and me visiting Oliver’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia. I remember one chaotic night in the “beer shed” that the three of us will remember and look back on with laughter forever. Lawrence, Oliver, Nick, Javon, Chris, Julia Merola, Maggie Fitzgerald, Sarah Frasca, Pablo Rouco, Molly Fiske, Emily Lewis, Bella DiAmore. These people made my TTN experience.
As I put the finishing touches on this essay, I’m still struggling with what to say as I prepare to leave the newsroom for the final time. Maybe one day I’ll find the right words to reflect on my TTN tenure, and they will be so damn simple.
samuel.oneal@temple.edu @SamuelOneal43
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
From city living to embracing the beauty of nature
Print Design Editor Lyndsey Griswold reflects on how the city made her love nature.
BY LYNDSEY GRISWOLD Print Design Editor
My mom grew up camping with her family in their pop-up camper almost every weekend. Being one of four, she’d squeeze into a bed with her older brother while her sisters slept on the foldable table and bench seat.
She’s been to almost all 50 states and always has a story to share about their ridiculous adventures. They’d hike, ride horses, swim, fish and play with the other kids at adjoining campsites. My grandpa would birdwatch and drag everyone to different national parks as often as possible. He loved nature and was the driving force behind most of the trips they’d make as a family.
But I still hated the thought of camping. I hated the thought of sleeping on some cold, hard ground; of waking up at dawn to go and walk around in the woods for hours, swatting bugs out of my face. My dad was more of a hotel and beach guy, and settled our family in a town 15 minutes from the Jersey Shore.
I love the beach, but the woods were different. The woods meant dirt and grime and bugs. Gross, creepy bugs.
In middle school, I would come home from classes every day and run into my bedroom to play video games until dinner, then do it all again the next day. I’d use any excuse to be inside.
When I moved to Philadelphia my freshman year, I didn’t expect my opinion about the outdoors to change much. I figured that less grass and more city cement meant fewer bugs, which inevitably meant my time here would be more enjoyable.
I wanted to escape suburbia. I wanted noise and chaos, and that concrete jungle Alicia Keys sings about. I was raised as a homebody, captivated by my material items and uninterested in what nature had to offer me, and at the time, that was enough.
But my stubborn perspective quickly began to shift after a couple of months.
As I met more people from unique backgrounds and cultures, I subsequently pushed myself to do things I wasn’t used to or typically found uncomfortable. I became friends with “outdoorsy” people who encouraged me to be outside more — something my younger self would cringe at.
I quickly learned the value of green spaces because they were so hard to come by in the city.
Warm weather days on campus were typically bustling with students, and I was persuaded to sit outside instead of staying indoors, where I’d have less chance of running into someone I knew. I noticed an improvement in my mood when I did homework outside in the sun.
I realized that a good bed of grass in the sun could be just as comfortable, if not more, than the bed in my dorm. I started to learn how valuable trees and grass were, something I had taken for granted my whole life, and found the beauty in different plants and wildflowers.
I didn’t have a car on campus, so I re-
lied on my two feet to get me places. If I wanted to explore, I’d have to commit to hiking there on my own, and while they weren’t the typical kind of hikes I was used to, with hills and branches, these long-winded walks across the city made me develop a love for walking.
Getting exercise while discovering new parts of the city became a favorite pastime for me. I had a moment in my day when my mind could relax and let my feet do the work. The natural warmth of the sun beating on my face was different from artificial heat coming from the central heating system in a building. It made me feel alive.
Lately, I find myself being drawn to the outdoors. I gravitate toward reading outside or going on nature walks nearby. I’m starting to love bugs. I’d rather hike, swim in a dirty lake or camp on an uncomfortable meadow than sit in my room, scrolling on social media.
When I want a moment to myself, I go to my favorite spot on campus and lie sprawled out on the grass. When I stare at the leaves of the tree hanging above me, I typically find my mind wandering
about the future and the nature I desperately want to see. A cross-country road trip is on my bucket list, along with seeing the Swiss Alps in person.
Maybe being outdoors is just in my blood, after all. My grandpa passed away when I was 14. I like to think that he’d look at me now with the cutest grin he’d always have plastered on his face, happy his granddaughter loves the Earth just as much as he always did.
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Experiencing college from behind the camera lens
BY NOEL CHACKO Staff Photographer
Photography has become more than just a hobby for me, it’s the lens through which I’ve found purpose, confidence and connection.
I didn’t go to school for it. I never had formal training and I taught myself everything I know through trial, error and a lot of YouTube videos. What started as curiosity slowly turned into one of the most meaningful parts of my life.
There’s something powerful about being behind the camera. I can be involved without always needing to be the center of attention. Sometimes, I feel more at home behind the lens than in front of it. Capturing all different types of moments, quiet ones, chaotic ones, emotional ones, feels like freezing time.
I started taking photos like many other people I know — by picking up an old camera I found. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I picked up my dad’s old Nikon that was buried in a closet at home. It was the same camera he used to take all our family photos growing up — birthdays, vacations, random moments — and holding it felt like holding a piece of our history.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I started taking pictures of everything around the house. It was awesome to learn something different and get immersed in all the details of the new gadget. By taking a bunch of photos and watching endless YouTube videos, I slowly built up my skills and confidence.
Joining The Temple News during my freshman year validated my skills and showed me the professional side of photography. Capturing moments for a newspaper was a completely different experience from just bringing my camera along to hangouts with my friends. I learned about framing, how to interact with subjects and how to tell a story through images.
At events, whether it be for a pro-
fessional gig or just with my friends, my camera helps me stay calm. It gives me something to stay occupied with, and I don’t feel the need to always be talking and interacting.
Being of service to others and doing something I enjoy at the same time gives me purpose. In social settings, I can sometimes feel awkward, especially with people I may not know that well. But with my camera, I have a reason to move through a crowd without feeling out of place. It’s like a shield sometimes — a way to be part of the energy without getting overwhelmed.
With money being tight as a college student, I’m extremely grateful for all the financial opportunities I’ve had because of photography.
It’s amazing to be doing something I love while also making an income. But more than that, it’s helped me create memories for other people. It’s given me a chance to witness milestones and to give those back to someone else in a way that lasts. I love bringing my pointand-shoot film camera to birthdays and taking photos that can be shared to re-
member those times together.
When I’m not shooting for a client or an assignment, I turn to photography to decompress. Especially with film photography, there’s no pressure to get the perfect shot. It slows everything down. I’m not worried about editing or deadlines.
There’s something freeing about not seeing the result right away. It forces me to be more present, to trust my instincts and to enjoy the process instead of the outcome. Shooting for myself reminds me why I fell in love with photography in the first place.
It’s also brought out a creative side of me that I didn’t always know how to express. The more I shoot, the more I experiment with angles, editing, light and color and storytelling. It’s helped me see beauty in places I used to overlook.
Photography has given me confi dence. Confidence to say I’m good at something. Confidence to show others the way I see the world.
With time, photography has be come something I’m known for. People associate me with the camera now, and
I like that. It’s become part of who I am, not just a thing I do, but a way I experience the world. I can’t imagine my life without it.
noel.chacko@temple.edu
Staff Photographer Noel Chacko reflects on his love for photography.
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
Couchsurfing and (maybe) finding my purpose
Features Staff Writer Jadon George explains how housing insecurity shaped his work.
BY JADON GEORGE Features Staff Writer
Two years ago, I became what’s known as “housing insecure”: Gone from my childhood home for a number of complicated reasons, so I spent a handful of months sleeping on a friend’s couch.
The people who helped me at my lowest point entered my world from all walks of life. Their willingness to suffer inconvenience and intrusion cuts across every line we’re told defines American society: Seemingly every race and ethnicity. Old and young. Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, agnostics and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Men, women and literally every letter of LGBTQ+. Welloff and at the razor’s edge of sustenance.
A friend and her roommates decided to let me into their home for a quarter of the year. A professor of mine, noticing small changes in my daily routine, asked if everything was okay and what he could do to help. At the job I then held, my fellow college students, many of whom saved on groceries by stockpiling discounted or mildly-expired food, secretly cut back on their own searches to make sure I could both eat and afford to get off the couch. And Leah Paulson Dunmire, then-Temple’s director of student housing, amended her crowded, chaotic schedule to make sure I found a place to live.
I’ve told this story to only a handful of people — a sibling from a rural part of the state, two editors at this publication, a handful of friends, colleagues and professors. It’s not inspirational or empowering. I feel terrible about it.
See, I was extremely fortunate. For one, my parents, despite their imperfections, worked incredibly hard to provide for our family. Whatever I’ve done nobly or right today is inextricable from what they helped instill in me. And whatever this story is, 200 words about a terrible time for all of us isn’t a full or fair picture of who they are, or what they’ve been
through themselves.
For another, I’d grown up Black, evangelical and homeschooled in a place where the Venn diagram of those three things was like a three-eyed binoculars. I often dove into niche projects and obsessions — work, work, work — to carry me through long stretches of loneliness and grief. At the time, I was still shedding a warped understanding of my faith — an interpretation that, perhaps inadvertently, taught me to fear difference instead of embracing it. So, I figured I’d be that way forever.
That so many people rushed to my side, many of whom I thought didn’t know me, was a shock. And I still feel like I owe them more than a simple, “Thank you.”
I became a journalist during that teenage disillusionment. Eli Baden-Lasar’s photo essay in The New York Times Magazine, Jane Coaston’s years reporting on America’s political culture and Eve Fairbanks’s profile of millennial nuns were part of a tapestry of tales that plunged me into love with the task of telling the human story. They reached
across vast differences and returned with empathy and wisdom. I wanted to do the same.
The night I moved off my friend’s couch and into an apartment, a homeless man having a breakdown was choked to death in a Manhattan subway car. Yet this might be the first time I’ve written about homelessness. What took me so long? I’m eating regularly now. Yet my poverty reporting is but a double byline and an “Always Sunny” pun. And I’ve spent only a few sentences on immigrants — the strangers and wayfarers among us — or the queer community.
The people who saved my life are under attack, and I’m over here writing about myself.
My faith has evolved since my childhood. We’re here — at newspapers, in school, in cities — to accomplish greater purposes. It’ll get done, whether we join the work or not. But we’ll be judged on what we did with the opportunity.
My mind drifts to the promise James Baldwin made to student activists during the Civil Rights Movement. “If you will promise your elder brother that you will
never, ever accept any of the many derogatory, degrading, and reductive definitions that this society has ready for you,” he pledged, “I … will never betray you.”
Walking across that stage won’t be easy. Yet staying here would be harder. Not because I’ve had my fill of this place, this program, this community, but the opposite: You who chase the truth, who live true to yourself and others, who practice grace and provide for others at extraordinary risk and cost. We left you something. We owe you more.
jadon@temple.edu @jgeorgescribe
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
How PERIOD. club changed my college experience
Data Editor Ava Fitzgerald reflects on joining an advocacy extracurricular on campus.
BY AVA FITZGERALD Data Editor
One moment, I was sitting in my first club meeting, watching a slide presentation about graduation cords — and now, in just two weeks, I’ll be walking across the stage wearing one of those cords myself.
During my sophomore year, feeling lost after joining clubs that didn’t stick, a friend suggested we try a new one.
I had seen their signage in the Mazur Hall and Charles Library bathrooms, a poster that screamed “TAKE OUR SURVEY” overhanging a tiny white bin with a bunch of period products sticking out.
I took the survey, admiring their proactive activism, and thought to myself that I wanted to be a part of something like that. The clubs I had previously been part of focused more on discussing change within the Temple community rather than taking active steps to advocate for it.
So when I saw an E-board application open up for PERIOD., I wrote about how I wanted to have a proactive role and applied for the project manager position. I was nervous before the interview, but as I sat down with one of the then-co-presidents, I was immediately met with a “Congratulations!”
I was so perplexed. “Isn’t this an interview?” I asked. It was in the subject line of the email I received. The then-co-president told me they were so moved by what I wrote that they felt like I was perfect for the position.
For the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with PERIOD., becoming the person who restocks those white bins I found oh-so inspiring all that time ago. But I found that along the way, I’ve been inspired by the people I have worked with.
Our treasurer, Conner, pushed me out of my comfort zone. During my junior year, he recruited me and our social media coordinator, Amelia, to be a part
of the Professional Sales Organization at the Fox School of Business — something I never dreamed of doing. At first, we went for the free pizza, but with time, I learned how to negotiate and interview with professionals — a skillset I realized I needed.
I’ve carried the skills I have learned at the PSO into new opportunities. That being said, when I had the opportunity to interview for a position with The Temple News last summer, I rambled a lot, but I never would have had the confidence to show up for that Zoom call if it weren’t for the elevator pitches I practiced multiple times with PSO.
I landed the job as a Data Editor for TTN, and applying was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Since then, I’ve found ways to blend my data analysis and writing skills across a range of projects. I’ve gone from someone who filled out surveys to someone who now creates them.
If it weren’t for Amelia pushing me to attend PSO meetings and supporting me in my project manager duties, I don’t
think I would’ve gotten nearly as far.
When I first started at PERIOD., I was pretty shy and only spoke up to give feedback reports. The girl sitting next to me would whisper funny comments during meetings — at first, I wasn’t sure she was talking to me. But her inability to stay quiet and her habit of sparking conversation helped me come out of my shell.
Amelia is one of the funniest people I know, and she made our club feel personable along with our other social media team member, Kathryn, who designed my good-bye card covered in messages from fellow E-board members.
Lastly, PERIOD.’s president, Allanah Nelligan, has also been a great inspiration. She has balanced three jobs and has still been an excellent leader, providing support for every project. Without her guidance, our club would not have been as great.
Reading the card and now passing the torch to another member of PERIOD., it feels odd to leave everything behind, as if my identity has been tied to
this role.
When I first stepped foot on campus, I didn’t know that there would be a domino effect of opportunity, now leading me to work for Temple’s Office of Community Impact and Civic Engagement. While I’ll be sad to walk away from it so soon, I know that with the red PERIOD. cord draped over my shoulders, it won’t be easy to forget the memories I’ve made here.
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
Realizing that the best things come from nowhere
Managing Editor Claire Zeffer reflects on her journey and college experience at Temple.
BY CLAIRE ZEFFER Managing Editor
Three years ago, coming to Temple was meant to be a temporary stepping stone to better things. I never imagined that it could actually be the better thing.
My post-high school experience was nothing short of chaotic. After finishing my freshman year at a different college and a subsequent COVID-induced gap year, I applied to Temple on a whim at the end of July 2022 after my previous school ran out of on-campus housing. My goal was simple: complete some gen-eds for a year at Temple, then transfer again to a new school and finally have the college experience of my dreams.
I got accepted, and just two weeks after applying, I was nearly 21, moving into Johnson Hall with a flurry of doeeyed 18-year-olds. My internal ageism was palpable, and the notion I held that my time at Temple was temporary made my first semester miserable. I had an aloof roommate, struggled to make lasting friendships and was a public health major with very little passion or direction.
I always knew writing was my strong suit, but I shut down the possibility that I could build a career out of a creative outlet, instead opting to stick it out as a STEM major. But by the end of my first semester, my premature quarter-life crisis had burst through the door, making it abundantly clear that I would regret neglecting what I truly wanted.
I remember texting my mom at the end of November, dropping the bomb that I wasn’t sure what to do — I couldn’t stick with Temple or public health, and I felt like I had done nothing so far in college but waste my time and money.
My mom responded, as nurturing as ever, asking the question I had been too afraid to ask myself thus far in my college journey, “I believe, wholeheartedly, that it is not too late for you to have the college experience you are looking for. Regrets are a waste of time. Just move
forward. What, in your heart, do you want?”
I wrote back, terrified, “In my heart, I want to do something creative. I don’t know, maybe journalism or something in media or communications.”
That was it. During winter break, I changed my major to journalism, and when I walked into Tuttleman at the start of semester two for my first journalism course, I knew I was finally exactly where I belonged.
Despite my inexperience, I anxiously started exploring class material, working at The Temple News and trying to find my voice not just as a journalist, but as a person. The newsroom was a workplace, but ultimately a haven of learning and community, allowing me to challenge myself and meet people who shared the same drive, passion and purpose.
So many people I met through journalism at Temple became more than classmates and coworkers — they became comrades to struggle with, but more importantly, friends to lean on and laugh with when I needed it most.
The decision to change my major was pivotal, and everything in my life from that moment on shifted. Temple, something that once felt like a misstep, became the most defining chapter of my life. The campus that was initially a layover started to feel like a home, and the city I didn’t want to get to know became a place I never want to leave.
I stopped comparing my experiences to the idealistic, linear college journey I dreamed of at 18, and instead took pride in the version I created for myself at 21. It wasn’t without its challenges — noth ing ever is — and it certainly wasn’t part of the original plan, but maybe that’s ex actly why it worked out so perfectly.
As I approach graduation, I look back on those texts with my mom from my first year as a reminder that it’s nev er too late to start fresh, to change your mind or to become the version of your self that you were always destined to be.
College taught me far more about myself than it ever did academically — it taught me resilience, self-determination, the importance of leaving my comfort
zone and how to forge a place for myself when it felt like there wasn’t one. Looking back on my time at Temple, I can now say with conviction that I didn’t just find my place – I built it.
claire.zeffer@temple.edu
JUAN COLON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
A collaboration with schools in the Palisades
Dear readers,
Recently, The Temple News had the special opportunity to collaborate with two schools in California that were affected by the Palisades forest fires. Rosebud Academy and Palisades Charter High School were both burned down in the fire, leaving students without places to study. Some were even forced to find new places to live after losing their homes.
The media giant Claire Smith, who has a colleague that now advises the student paper at Palisades Charter High School, connected us with the paper’s student leadership to discuss ways we can include their print product into our final issue of The Temple News. We very quickly accepted the offer and got to work with the collaboration.
Palisades Charter and Rosebud have a total of 13 pages in this week’s edition of TTN. This is the first time both schools have been able to create a print product since the fires that devastated their community.
We hope our readers on the East Coast can better understand all it is that folks in the Palisades have been forced to endure. Throughout the paper you will find personal essays, illustrations and news stories from both schools — including Tideline, Palisades Charter’s student-run newspaper.
Thank you to Claire Smith, Lisa Saxson, John DiCarlo, Zacharie Sergenian for helping bring this collaboration to life. Our hearts continue to be with those affected by the California wildfires as they work toward rebuilding their lives.
We hope you enjoy the work of the talented students at Rosebud and Palisades Charter.
Samuel O’Neal Editor in Chief
Roberts offers a helping hand for Palisades High
BY COLIN SCHOFIELD Assistant Sports Editor
When the Palisades wildfires broke out in January and ravaged southern California, one of the places affected was Palisades Charter High School. The school lost everything to the fires, including its baseball field, meaning the baseball team had nowhere to play.
With the team displaced, any sort of positivity was needed. That’s when Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stepped in.
Roberts has been a prominent baseball figure for 25 years, first as a player from 1999-2008 and has been the manager for the Dodgers since 2016. After the fires were finally under control and damage was assessed, Roberts was pre-
sented with an opportunity to visit with the Palisades Baseball team.
With everything they were going through, Roberts couldn’t turn the chance down.
“A friend of mine reached out and asked if I would be willing to chat with the team and the coaches,” Roberts said. “It was one of the best hours I’ve ever spent. I just got to watch them practice, have fun, compartmentalize what was going on in their lives, to then just play baseball and have fun with their teammates and coaches. So for me, it was just an opportunity to show my encouragement to them.”
Roberts has not been the only figure who has helped the school and offered sports. Professional sports teams from around the area have stepped in, including the Golden State Warriors and Los An-
geles Lakers. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr graduated from Palisades Charter High School in 1983 and invited the boys basketball team to the Warriors-Lakers game on Feb. 6. After the game, he and Lakers head coach JJ Redick met with the team privately.
In the months since the fires, Roberts has continued to be a helping hand for the Palisades baseball team. The return of baseball has assisted in the team returning to normalcy and the team was recently saluted at a Dodgers game. The healing process is far from done and Roberts hopes the Dodgers and the Dodger Foundation can continue to provide support for Palisades Charter High School.
Despite the sad situation that unfolded, the ability to give back and be a support figure has been
incredibly rewarding for Roberts. In a time where there has not been a lot to smile about, being able to help people who need it has put a smile on his face.
“It’s something for me that is very humbling,” Roberts said. “I say that because I just see myself as a father, a husband, a baseball coach. To have an impact on people because of what I do and the scope of my job, I just look at it as a grateful opportunity to add a little bit of excitement and hope to a very distraught and sad group of people. So for me to be in my position to give them a memory or some joy in a moment in time that really puts a smile on my face.”
colin.schofield@temple.edu
Palisades Charter High School Returns to In-Person Learning
BY YASMINE SANTINI Tideline Staff Writer
Elated to see their friends after three months of online schooling, Pali High students said on Tuesday, April 22 that the first day at the new location in Santa Monica came with mixed emotions and challenges.
This day marked the first time since Dec. 19 that Pali students attended classes in person. School administrators were forced to implement a distance learning plan after nearly 40 percent of the school was damaged or destroyed during the Palisades wildfires, which began on Jan. 7.
Senior Cyrus Hemmens expressed his positive outlook on returning to in person schooling, noting increased motivation and enjoyment compared to online learning.
“Being in person with other students really helps me with motivation… [because] when I’m with my peers I work harder,” Hemmens said.
Administrators announced on Feb. 20 that the school would relocate to the former Sears building in downtown Santa Monica. On April 21, teachers went to the site to set up their classrooms. The next day, students arrived for classes.
There were a few challenges the first day, ranging from inconsistent internet access to lack of soap in the student restrooms. Access and egress was an issue, too, as approximately 2,000 students exiting the building for nutrition found themselves in stand-still traffic on stairs and in hallways. By the end of the day, school officials developed a staggered dismissal schedule, which should ease the bottleneck traffic.
“There’s a lot of inconsistencies with
how to get out of the building and organization… especially with the exits,” Hemmens said.
Wifi access was also spotty, as many students said that they were unable to use personal hotspots in various areas of the building. The basement classrooms were off the grid, according to junior Anne Kelly. Nonetheless, she said she was impressed by the work done to create a temporary home for Pali High students and staff.
“I’m really proud of [Pali’s team] for putting this all together, it’s impressive how they put together little classrooms from a building with no walls,” she said.
After undergoing a transformation from a department store to a mixed-use development space known as Mark 302 in 2020, the iconic Sears building was renovated into a site suitable for classrooms. However, issues in construction, funding and permits prevented school officials from realizing the initial – and ambitious – goal of returning to in-person learning in mid-March.
Prior to resuming in person learning, teachers and students experienced roadblocks in diverse ways.
Social studies teacher Nick Albonico, who serves on the Board of Trustees, shared some of the challenges associated with finding a temporary location to accommodate a comprehensive high school.
“We have 2,500 students that need a place to go… It’s hard to split students up because some teachers teach [classes with] multiple grades,” he said.
Moreover, Albonico explained financial issues Pali administration faced regarding obtaining a permit for the use of the Sears building.
“It sounded like the total project was going to be around $11 million, and our insurance covers about $10 million,” Al-
bonico said.
Furthermore, Albonico said that significant construction changes were needed to transform Sears into a temporary campus.
Students and teachers agree that the three months spent in a distance learning environment were difficult.
“When you’re online, you’re really missing those face-to-face interactions,” English teacher Steve Klima said.
After visiting the Sears location while classrooms were under construction, Klima said he was encouraged.
“[At the building] I had some concerns with the acoustics…but talking with the administration, they’re trying to do a lot of different things to help… like carpeting and adding acoustic curtains,” Klima explained.
Junior Emma Almawy noted concerns she had about the Sears building serving as an environment conducive to learning.
“I think that it’s important to consider that there may not be enough separate rooms for teachers to teach their classes,” Almawy said.
Almawy added moving to a new site posed challenges for some of her classmates.
“A lot of people are already out of state and are staying with their families,” Almawy said. “It doesn’t make sense [to transition to Sears] because a lot of people will not be able to go in person, and it’s going to be very complicated adjust-
PROVIDED BY REED SAXON
ing to a new campus.”
Similarly, Junior Dylan Kuperburg who returned to Pali distance learning after transferring to Mira Costa for five weeks highlighted her mixed feelings regarding the return to in person classes.
“I think transitioning learning to Sears will be beneficial if and only if teachers are as understanding as possible,” Kuperburg said. “They can’t expect us to come in and learn like how it was before [the fires].”
While Kuperburg is excited to go back to in-person learning, she said she has concerns about the new location.
“I’m worried about parking, class sizes, and it’s going to be extremely difficult transitioning to learning from a day that spans from 8:30 a.m. to [noon], to one that goes from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,” Kuperburg said.
There is no denying that returning to in-person learning is a step forward for a school community that has endured many challenges and hardships.
In all, Klima voiced his hopes for the future of Pali.
“Looking at LA, the Palisades is a place of refuge… I love seeing students and staff in the village before a football game… I want that sense of community back,” Klima said.
OPINION
Staff Directory
Editors-in-Chief
Brigette Appelbaum-Schwartz,
Cloe Nourparvar, Kate Swain
News Editors
Arik Kraft, Ava Walker
Opinion Editors
Elise Larsson, Casey Scaduto
Satire Editor
Shane Masterson
Sports Editor
Isabella Aguilar
Features Editors
Kylie Lupescu, Nico Troedsson
Photo-Gallery Editor
Casey Scaduto
Managing Editor
Audrey Smith
Copy Editor Bailey No
Graphics Editors
Emma Hall, Zacharie Sergenian
Staff Writers
Brooke Abraham
Isabella Aguilar
Lila Bigalow
Arseniy Borisov
Lily Hunt
Ella Kraynak
Sophia Masserat
Yasmine Santini
Brynn Santos
Reina Stem
Sophia Winston
Photographer Eve Keller
Illustrators
Rafaella Rodinoff, Daria Sierova
Faculty Advisor
Mrs. Lisa Saxon
Hush-Hush Response to Discussing Politics in Classrooms
BY BRYNN SANTOS Tideline Staff Writer
Since the Republican victory of the House of Representatives and Senate in the 2024 election, numerous state legislations have made attempts to censor the discussion of politics in classrooms. While this has been happening for years, the trend gained momentum when Republicans won control of both chambers of the legislative branch. These mandates pose the question of whether political censorship in the classroom ultimately protects or hurts students.
There is a longstanding principle, set by Supreme Court case Garcetti v. Ceballos, that teachers, as employees of the state, may not attempt to influence their students’ political beliefs. Since the ruling, it became clear that teachers do not have the right to share personal political views, as that speech
is not protected under the First Amendment.
This has evolved into an unwritten rule that teachers should avoid discussing politics altogether, limiting their ability to truly educate their students. However, many states are beginning to write this ‘unwritten’ rule into law — restricting even nonpartisan political discussion.
In Florida, the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) is a classroom censorship law which restricts educators and students in Florida from discussing issues related to race and gender in educational settings. Florida is one of around 20 states across the country that have passed similar laws aimed at censoring discussions in the classroom since 2023. In Texas, for example, nearly 600 books covering a range of topics from LGBTQ+ themes to racial discrimination were banned across multiple school boards.
If these efforts continue, the next generation may be compelled to believe a version of history tailored to fit the views of a vocal, oppressive minority. If policymakers truly cared about education, they would focus on policies that will have a real, positive impact on all students, such as ending punitive discipline practices or expanding access to coursework on ethnic studies in order to adopt culturally-sustaining practices in schools. Instead, these censorship policies deprive students and teachers of the skills, knowledge and confidence necessary to hold critical conversations in the classroom.
Administrations that oppose the free discussion of politics in classrooms argue that young minds can be too easily manipulated and molded by what they hear and see. However, the reality is that students can actually benefit from political discussions, which have the potential to diversify their opinions through exposure to new perspectives.
In a study conducted by the Pew Re-
search Center, 78 percent of Americans agree that political discussions can help people better understand the views of others, fostering empathy. Further, in a study published by the Journal of Political Science Education, research found that participation in classroom discussions on politics actually increased students’ critical thinking skills.
Advanced Placement (A.P.) United States History and Introduction to Psychology teacher Justin Knoll discussed his perspective on political censorship as a teacher covering the evolution of modern political parties and social issues.
“As an educator, I believe my duty is to help students understand [political information], but within the parameters of an unbiased, unwavering influence,” Knoll said. “I make it a point to stay neutral and discuss all sides, and allow students to form their own positions.”
While some school boards argue that politics should be avoided in classes due to their potential to be polarizing, every opinion carries some level of bias, and ultimately, it is up to the individual to shape their own perspective. Just because students are young does not mean they are incapable of understanding concepts and forming their own stances on a topic. Restricting open political discussion in the classroom hinders students’ ability to understand their shared place in our democracy. Education thrives in diverse, equitable and inclusive school environments. Censorship denies students the knowledge they need to critically analyze our society and practice empathy towards different opinions and the people that hold them.
A.P. English Language and Composition and Business Pod teacher Shannon Skelly explained her philosophy on listening to different viewpoints.
“I feel that the more opinions we are exposed to, the more well rounded
we are as global citizens and human beings,” Skelly said. “It becomes a problem if teachers are trying to indoctrinate students and make them believe their same opinions, but having a conversation around politics and social issues helps students critically think and ultimately make up their own minds.”
“It is important to learn how to have civil dialogue in a space that’s considered ‘safe’, a classroom,” she added.
There is a balance between encouraging individual thought and fostering diverse opinions in the political realm. Teachers should not shy away from ‘scary’ or ‘intimidating’ discussions; the real world isn’t censored so school shouldn’t be either. Educators can guide safe political conversations without imposing their opinions onto others.
Furthermore, political knowledge can prove to protect students in their personal lives. On Jan. 21, the Trump Administration announced that the United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can now enter schools, churches, and hospitals, areas that had previously been protected, to detain suspected undocumented immigrants. In response, Adam Licea, one of Pali’s assistant principals, shared LAUSD ‘Know Your Rights’ red cards to Pali families and staff on Jan. 30. The cards provide guidance on how to speak with law enforcement to uphold users’ 4th and 5th Amendment rights.
Like Licea, Skelly alsoeemphasized the importance of equipping students with the ability to navigate current legislation and policies.
“As staff, it is an utmost priority to protect our students and keep them safe,” she said. “Without knowledge of the world around them, they can be isolated and unaware of possible dangers.”
The Trump Administration’s new policy regarding ICE only increases the vitality of giving students the resources to acknowledge and assess the legislation that could possibly affect them and
many individuals around them. It raises questions about whether the discussion of politics in classrooms becomes even more necessary when it regards students’ wellbeing.
Pali junior Isabel Bierner agrees that teachers have a responsibility to teach not only academics but also social and political literacy.
“Open discussion of politics is necessary for students to understand what’s going on in the world and navigate a tricky political climate,” Bierner said.
Students must learn that their voice is valued when they contribute to the larger conversation, and that their voices must be respected, understood and appreciated. As authority figures who are often asked questions by students, teachers have the responsibility to encourage political discussions. Dialogue on current events and activities that promote civic engagement are essential, especially in election years similar to the past one.
Skelly explained the importance of political discussions, especially as students become eligible voters, as witnessed in the past election where numerous Pali students cast their ballots.
“It is vital as teachers to empower our students and emphasize how much their vote matters, especially in local elections,” she said.
Knoll corroborated Skelly’s sentiment.
“We can do a better job of helping others understand elections, especially at the local level where we are closely affected,” he added.
It’s impossible to remove politics from the classroom because teaching itself is inherently political—-from the curriculum that is developed to textbooks that are chosen to funding that schools receive.
Our country was founded on the premise that debate is essential, and discussing politics reflects the liberty that America prides itself on. Censoring teachable moments would create a generation that fails to appreciate opposing viewpoints and avoids expressing their own opinions. Teachers must not shy away from discussing politics; instead, they must emphasize to students the power they hold as voters and their responsibility to engage in democratic processes as United States citizens.
Price Gouging in Rental Market Hits Home in Wake of Wildfires FEATURES
ELLA KRAYNAK Tideline Staff Writer
In the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed many homes throughout Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu, families of some Pali students are pushing back against illegal price gouging while searching for new housing.
According to the County of Los Angeles, price gouging is the practice of raising the price of goods significantly following an emergency. In California, Penal Code 396 states that inflating prices more than 10 percent after government officials have declared a state of emergency is illegal and punishable by $10,000 and/ or one year in jail.
Senior Eden Padawer recounted the shock she felt at the loss of her home in Pacific Palisades and attested to the added frustration that price gouging has had on already grieving families.
“The night before the fires, my dad and I were looking at houses online for fun and two days later we were searching for a place to live,” Padawer said. “With our own eyes we could see how crazy the prices were jumping.”
With her family planning to rebuild their home in the Palisades, Padawer described the raise in prices her family noticed in their search for a long-term rental home.
“Even to find a place with three bedrooms, the price raise is insane,” she said. “We were looking at a house in Beverly Hills and just overnight the rent tripled.”
Many areas throughout Los Angeles have experienced a significant spike in the price of rent. For example, despite the 10 percent legal limit, rent in Beverly Hills has increased by 76.5 percent and rent in Encino has ballooned by as much as 130 percent, according to the Washington Post.
extremely high, and many people are still without a home,” she said.
Senior Jamie Sinaiko experienced similar issues with price gouging, as the smoke damage and contamination to her home has made it necessary for her and her family to seek out a temporary residence.
“Places that were already expensive now have doubled or tripled in rent.”
Although his house did not burn down, senior Jake Treibatch was also displaced due to the Palisades Fire, and shared his turbulent experience searching for a temporary residence, particularly in regions south of West LA.
advantage of a terrible situation,” Irving said. “I know some friends who have dedicated their time to finding the illegal activity on online realty sites and reporting it.”
“We’ve been working with different real estate agents and everyone has warned us about the insane raise in prices that is happening basically everywhere,” she said.
Sinaiko explained her concerns that prices remain higher than normal.
“Despite the fact that it’s been a month since the fires, rental prices are still
“I noticed that when we looked at homes further away from the Palisades and West LA area, the prices seemed a lot more reasonable,” he explained. “I’m concerned that the astronomical raise in prices is going to force all of my friends and neighbors to move even further away.”
Senior Hazel Irving said that her family has also struggled to find a permanent residence amid the illegal price gouging.
“The landlords are taking
Since a state of emergency was issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, the California Department of Justice has engaged in several open investigations into price gouging incidents and has encouraged the public to report any illegal activity they experience. The resulting legal cases have led civilians to take to online realty sites, such as Zillow.com, to report the raise in prices.
Treibatch has witnessed the changes on Zillow and expressed his disgust about the price raises.
“So many of my friends are really struggling because of the fires,” he said. “The price gouging is forcing families to pay an insane amount of rent when they just lost everything they’ve ever owned.”
RAFAELLA RODINOFF / TIDELINE
FEATURES
School Leadership Seeks to Inform, Protect Vulnerable Students, Families
In the face of new deportation policies under President Donald Trump, some Pali families are experiencing fear and uncertainty over their ability to continue living safely in the United States.
Upon his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump signed 10 executive orders that would expand the range of legal reasons for undocumented immigrants to be subjected to deportation, encapsulating an attempt to end birthright citizenship. The orders also granted the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to enter sensitive locations to enforce deportation acts.
Historically, schools, places of worship and healthcare facilities have been out of the jurisdiction of ICE officers. However, a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security rescinds the safety of these protected areas.
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education Member for District Four Nick Melvoin described how LAUSD students and families could be impacted by these new policies.
“There are tons of families who are affected just through fear and anxiety,” Melvoin said. “We don’t have specific numbers, but we have a sense that there are a large number of families within LA Unified with at least one family member who’s not documented. It’s affecting attendance, it’s affecting mental health and it’s affecting academic performance.”
Pali High’s Assistant Principal Adam Licea is observing a similar pattern among families at Pali.
“We have students and families that could be affected,” Licea said. “Unfortunately, protecting students while they are off campus presents challenges. However, the best way we can support them is through education and proac-
BY SOPHIA WINSTON Tideline Staff Writer
tive communication.”
Pali Visual and Performing Arts teacher Angélica Pereyra commented on the likelihood of ICE officers appearing at a school campus.
“Schools can not officially document who has legal status and who doesn’t of their students,” she explained. “If immigration officers come to a campus asking about legal status, we don’t have that to offer.”
Nevertheless, ICE officers can still use a school campus as a place to find parents who might be undocumented.
“A school is a place where adults from families gather, as they walk their kids to school or pick them up,” Pereyra said. “Schools are a place where adults gather and so it is more likely that immigration officers might be hanging out outside of a school, in a park nearby or a parking lot. This is the main concern that parents have.”
LAUSD and Pali are attempting to equip students with as much information and as many resources as possible to ensure their safety and their families’ safety.
Licea outlined Pali’s protocols regarding any attempt made by an ICE officer to enter the school’s campus.
“The school would not share student records, immigration status or personal information with ICE without a legal warrant,” he said. “ ICE agents would not be allowed on campus unless they present a valid court order or subpoena.”
LAUSD is implementing regulations to ensure that they are a sanctuary district to all families.
“Our campuses are closed spaces, so people can’t get onto campuses unless they come with a judicial warrant,” Melvoin said. “Unless there is a criminal warrant signed by a judge, we will not let folks onto campus. We will not
share information. We will not be cooperating with any immigration enforcement actions.”
Additionally, Pali is planning to set up support groups and safe spaces for students to turn to if their family has been affected by detainment or deportation. The school will make counseling services, student support groups, know your rights workshops and confidentiality assurance available to all students.
about being approached by an agent, and when it does happen, it’s traumatic,” Pereyra explained. “People can use these Red Cards as instructions. They allow someone to go through the gestures of being silent while still being able to communicate through the card.”
Pali High encountered a similar situation in 2016 during Trump’s first presidential term. The school issued red cards so that students would have easy access to documentation confirming their constitutional rights.
While these red cards have been made available again to Pali students and families, easy distribution has been disrupted since Pali moved to online learning.
Pereyra explained how students can find and utilize these cards while being away from Pali’s campus.
“It communicates to the agent that a person does not wish to speak to them, answer their questions or sign or hand them any documents based on their fifth amendment right under the US Constitution,” she said.
The U.S. Constitution protects people that are documented and undocumented, which allows these cards to be a primary method of defense for intimidated students and families.
“You can imagine being concerned
Pali’s shift to online learning has revealed some difficulties with dispersing this information amongst students.
“We’re trying to get the word out and distribute [the Red Cards] to as many places as possible,” Pereyra said. “Until we can come together physically, we are launching this campaign digitally.”
Red Card templates have been posted on Pali’s Schoology page as well LAUSD’s website.
As the U.S. enters a new era of immigration and deportation policies, Los Angeles education officials hope for schools to remain as a place of safety and growth for all students.
“Our intended actions are to keep the two realms – the immigration enforcement world and the school world –separate,” Melvoin said. “We hope that during the school day, kids can continue to learn, be with their friends and be safe. It is our duty to protect the schools so that for the kids, school is just school, and not a place of fear.”
ZACHARIE SERGENIAN / TIDELINE
Students Say Access to Reproductive Rights Factors into College Plans FEATURES
BY ELLA KRAYNAK Tideline Staff Writer
As Pali’s Class of 2025 approaches the deadline to commit to a college, some seniors are considering several critical factor, such as affordability, academic opportunities and college rankings in their decision-making process
Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a new consideration was added to the list: local legislation concerning reproductive rights.
Senior and co-founder of the My Body My Choice club Dylan Weidling explained that the status of abortion rights has become a point of contention for many of her peers.
“As a woman in the United States, this issue feels extremely personal to me,” Weidling said. “I was crushed when I found out about the overturning of Roe v. Wade and it made me really scared for the future of women’s rights in this country. As co-founder of My Body My Choice I have talked to several young women at this school who are terrified about the prospect of going to college, especially when the future of abortion rights is so unclear.”
Thank You Temple University
Senior Sofia Mollica remembers her initial reaction upon finding out about the overturning.
“My friends and I were all heartbroken,” Mollica said. “It felt like our country had failed us.”
Mollica added that the states’ decisions in regards to abortion laws have completely changed her outlook during the college application process.
Senior Kayla Johnson hopes to go to school in New York, where abortion
The issue of a woman’s right to choose gained prominence in 1973 with the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which ruled 7-2 that a woman’s right to abortion is protected under the 9th and 14th Amendments. However, in 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned with the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson. As a result, states now have the authority to regulate their own abortion laws, and 13 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, have enacted total abortion bans as of November of 2024.
is legal until the 24th week of pregnancy. However, her final decision remains contingent on that legality.
“Theoretically, if the state I want to go to bans the right to abortion, then I am not going,” Johnson explained. “I am not comfortable going to a state where I know I will have limited reproductive rights.”
Abortion rights have been a rising factor in college decisions beyond Pali High. Young women around the world are now basing their college decisions on the differing state laws, with The Institute for Women’s Policy Research finding that 76% of students prefer to go to college in a state where abortion is legal and accessible.
Senior Eden Padawer, who plans to go to a university in Tennessee, echoes these national concerns.
“Obviously abortion rights are something that affects all women, and it is something that really scares me since I want to go to
ZACHARIE SERGENIAN / TIDELINE
the South,” Padawer said.
“Since Nashville is a more liberal city, I feel a little better about maintaining my rights. However, it is still a major factor in where I go to school.”
On the other hand, senior Sasha Tehrani said that reproductive rights didn’t affect her college application process.
“I didn’t initially take abortion rights into consideration because I’m really lucky to have the privilege to come back to California if I ever need to get one,” Tehrani said. “However, applying to colleges in the South definitely has given some perspective into living in a state without this privilege.”
Mollica shares the concerns of her fellow classmates.
“This is an issue that affects everyone,” she said. “Every woman should take it into account when they choose where to spend the next four years of their lives.”
These past few months have been turbulent and unpredicable as Tideline has had to navigate remote work and reporting on the wildfires that had swept through our own community. But being printed by Temple University has been an amazing opportunity that we at Tideline cannot be more grateful for. Thank you Temple University for this experience and thank you Temple News for all you have done to make this paper possible.
Signed, Tideline Staff
Support Palisades Charter High School
Consider donating to the Raise Pali fund to support relocation and rebuilding efforts Or purchasing items from the PCHS Amazon wishlist to replace items lost in the fires.
Pro Teams and Coaches Support Pali Students
BY LILA BIGALOW AND BAILEY NO Tideline Staff Writer, Copy Editor
After the Palisades fire left Pali’s sports teams without practice facilities and equipment, teams, coaches and players from professional golf, basketball, football and baseball supported student-athletes at numerous events and meetings.
Senior Luke Schultz, captain of the boys varsity golf team, attended the Genesis Invitational from Feb. 13-16 at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.
The four-day event, which had to be moved from Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades because of the wildfires, is a professional golf tournament hosted by Tiger Woods in Southern California as part of the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour.
“As an amateur of any sport, it’s always a privilege to watch the pros play,” Schultz said. “It’s a dream getting the opportunity to be inside the ropes, especially at a beautiful course like Torrey Pines.”
Throughout the tournament, Schultz said that he followed professional golfers Maverick McNealy and Collin Morikawa.
Schultz highlighted his conversation with Morikawa, stating that “he has empathy for what we are going through as he watched all his childhood memories fade away on TV as a Pasadena native.”
The Eaton fire ignited on Jan. 7 and destroyed numerous homes and businesses in Altadena and Pasadena.
Senior Ian Sullivan, first baseman and pitcher for Pali’s Varsity Baseball team, also shared his excitement meeting with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who attended a Pali baseball practice a few weeks after the Palisades wildfire.
“I’ve always loved him as a player and coach, and it was exciting to hear him talk, especially with all that is going on,” Sullivan said. “He was super genu-
ine and it truly seemed like he cared.”
Roberts visited the team on Jan. 29 at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center in Rancho Park, where he donated lightly used baseballs and uniforms and encouraged players to “take it day-byday, winning that day and staying hungry no matter what.”
Former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre and actor-comedian Billy Crystal visited the baseball team on Feb. 20 to share words of encouragement.
“[Torre and Crystal] talked about how tough the situation was and how baseball was a great outlet for us,” Sullivan added.
Additionally, the boys varsity basketball team was invited to the Golden State Warriors game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 6 at the Crypto. com Arena.
Junior Nikos Vasilevski, center and forward for the Boys Varsity Basketball team, described his experience attending the game.
“We went in through the courtside entrance where the players actually come out,” Vasilevski said. “We also got to go behind the scenes of the stadium which was awesome.”
In addition to exclusive access to the game, the team met with Lakers coach J.J. Redick, a Palisades resident, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a Pali alumni whose childhood home was destroyed in the wildfire. After the game, both players spoke to the team offering advice and motivation. Additionally, each player was gifted a pair of Kobe basketball shoes by the Warriors.
Vasilevski explained how the experience brought the team together.
“[It was great] spending time with my team and getting to do that together after we’ve been through all this stuff,” he said. “It was really fun just to be together with everyone.”
Moreover, the boys football team was invited to the Los Angeles Chargers training facility and participated in a workout where they also received Los Angeles Chargers merch.
Junior Skyler Walters, the Boys Varsity Football safety, described what took place at the event, and how they received a $50,000 grant from the Chargers, which will be used to replace the lost equipment.
“They took us into the gym, and there we met their strength coach, [Ben
PROVIDED BY COLE SUGARMAN
Herbert],” Walters said. “He gave us a speech about the importance of being active [and] being consistent in the gym, especially for football.”
The visit allowed the team to gain motivation and excitement as they experienced an insight into football on a professional level.
“It feels more real, we’re not only seeing them on TV, we’re working out where they work out and we’re talking to people who they talk to,” Walters said. “It makes it seem more doable if you want to go from playing in high school to playing on a professional level.”
Similar to other Pali sports, this experience has helped bring the team closer together.
“People are busy right now,” Walters said. “Many people have been relocated [and] some people are doing other sports, but everyone came out. It was great to see the entire team there, and it was great to just work out with them again.”
Fire Forces Student-Athletes to Move to New Schools
BY ISABELLA AGUILAR Tideline Staff Writer
The recent wildfire caused Palisades Charter High School to shift to virtual learning and forced some students to relocate. Consequently, many student athletes transferred to new schools to play for different teams.
Sophomore Berlin McCoy, a goalkeeper on Pali’s girls junior varsity soccer team, was forced to flee her home in the Palisades after the fire and now lives in Newport Beach. She currently attends Corona Del Mar High School and plays soccer for the school.
“I can’t even pick what I miss most [about the Palisades team],” she said. “I miss all the players, my friends, the staff and coaches – all of it.”
Despite no longer playing with her friends and coaches on the Pali soccer team, McCoy said that she feels welcome at Corona Del Mar.
“[My new teammates] have been really supportive and friendly, which is great because it’s really hard to make friends when you’re at a new school where everyone’s already been together,” she said.
Because many student athletes impacted by the fires, like McCoy, opted to transfer to new schools, some sports teams have been left without some of their key players. Track and field head coach Claudius Shropshire
said that he misses many vital runners who transferred to other schools.
“I’ve lost people that scored high in the city meets and have been league champions,” he said. “I’ve also lost some new people that I thought had a lot of potential.”
Shropshire expressed his understanding of the impact the fires have had on the lives of his runners, drawing from his own past experiences. He had relatives who were displaced by the Eaton fire and endured the Baldwin Hills fire in 1985.
These experiences have shown him that “the personal effects [of fires] are real” and has allowed him to understand how his athletes feel.
Shropshire said that he has helped some runners in the transition to new track teams in order to help them feel comfortable competing in a new team environment.
“I have personally contacted several coaches from other schools that people have transferred to from my track team, and those coaches are welcoming them,” he explained.
Shropshire said that he’s working toward a return to normalcy by continuing his team’s regular routine, despite their loss of players and their move to a temporary training facility at West LA College. He hopes to encourage his remaining runners to stay motivated and move forward.
Pali Sports Teams Find Temporary Homes
EVE KELLER / TIDELINE
BY BAILEY NO Tideline Copy Editor
In the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, Pali High’s sports facilities, equipment and gear were left in ruins, forcing all sports teams to relocate to new training grounds.
Pali’s track & field teams used to practice at Pali’s home field, Stadium by the Sea, but recently relocated to West Los Angeles College (WLAC). Senior Ronin Sherertz, captain of the boys track and field team said that the fires heavily affected the team.
“We were definitely impacted with a few kids losing their homes, some losing interest in the sport and other athletes transferring to different schools,” he said.
With the challenges the team faced during their relocation, Sheretez reflected on his unconventional final track season.
“I wish we could return to Pali, it just doesn’t feel real not practicing on our track,” he said. “It’s not ideal for [my] senior year but we have to continue to keep our heads up and hope for the best.”
Likewise, Pali’s cross country team initially relocated to the Santa Monica Community College Track and the Playa Vista Sports Park but is now practicing with Track & Field at WLAC.
“It’s all about getting stronger and becoming a better person from [the fires],” Shropshire said.
Senior Cecelia Tierney, captain of Pali’s girls cross country team, said that her teammates are similarly feeling the effects of relocation.
“The fire has hit a lot of us pretty hard, especially with many of my teammates losing their homes,” she said. “It is definitely different being relocated and I hope to return to Pali as soon as it’s safe.”
Despite these challenges, Tierney said that coach Robert Hockley has brought stability to the team.
“[Coach Hockley] has provided an immense amount of support by bringing us together to create a sense of normalcy,” Tierney said. “No matter where we are, it’s nice to be with each other and it helps clear our minds for a little bit.”
In a show of solidarity, some Pali teachers have begun attending student sports games, despite them no longer being held on Pali’s campus.
Senior Mason Oku, shooting guard of the boys varsity basketball team, shared that he was surprised to see so many teachers at Pali Varsity Basketball games.
“My old teachers like Ms. Benke and Dr. Ngo were at my games, which was nice to see,” said Oku. “I appreciated their efforts to show support during these rough times.”
Unlike cross country and track & field, the boys basketball team does not have a designated temporary practice facility.
“We have practiced at several different locations such as Memorial Park, Cheviot Hills Willows School and much more,” he explained.
According to Oku, the team remains resilient despite inconsistent practice areas.
“The team views this fire as another reason to work harder and win more games,” he said. “Coach always tells us to play for the name on our chest and it holds so much more meaning now since we’re representing our school plus those affected by the fires.”
Regardless of location changes, Pali athletes continue to demonstrate resilience.
“The fire had a major impact on our school as a whole but I believe we can get through this hardship by the end of the day,” Oku concluded.
People of Pali
NICHOLAS LABONTE , Class of 2025
When the fire erupted on Jan. 7, I was in Malibu working out at a gym by Point Dume. My mom and I watched the first set of fire trucks roll out, then a second and a third. The power cut out in Malibu because of the winds and we had no cell service. We were freaking out because our puppy was home alone. My mom kept calling our neighbors, but received no answer. We figured out that the fire had started out in the Highlands. By the time my mom reached our neighbor Rachel, she was across the street crying, “that she barely got out with her cat, and the fire was two doors away from our house.” My mom and I jumped in our car and sped down Pacific Coast Highway behind a yellow fire truck. We drove as far as we could go, being stopped at The Reel Inn right before Topanga Canyon Road.
We parked the car and proceeded to run. We ran along PCH and up Sunset Blvd. where policemen and firemen tried to stop us, but we ignored them and kept running. We ran up Marquez St.; the air was thick with smoke and the searing heat. We continued running up Lachman Ln. and then up to Charmel Pl. By then, the ash was the size of quarters and the heat was so intense that our faces felt sunburned. We could see and hear the bushes catching fire, snapping and crackling with each step. Our hearts
were pounding. We only had one wish: that our puppy was ok.
My mom told me where the spare key was on the deck and I ran inside and up the stairs and screamed out. My mom thought the worst at first, but I told her our puppy was okay. Luckily, we had a smaller car in the garage, but it had no room for anything except us, the puppy, a case of water and his dog food. That’s it. That is all we took. As we made our way down to Marquez St. and then on to Sunset Blvd., we saw the fire hop across Sunset Blvd. and set the Lake Shrine on fire. My mom whipped the car around and we escaped through the back of the BelAir Bay Club.
We had called ahead and reserved a room at the Oceana, a hotel in Santa Monica that we knew took dogs. As soon as we got to our room and the puppy settled, we went to Providence St. John’s Health Center for smoke inhalation. As we sat in the Emergency Room, we held our breath and checked
our Ring camera to see if our house was still standing.
Finally discharged from the hospital, we got into our car and took one last look at the Ring camera and saw our house in flames. Neither of us could speak. We sat in silence and heartbreak as we drove back to the hotel. When we arrived there were fire engines everywhere. We were being evacuated from that hotel because the fire had now reached Rustic Canyon.
We drove to Laguna Beach where we spent the next 23 days in a hotel room with our dog. My mom drove back and forth every day looking for housing. We finally found a place in Calabasas. I still have not processed anything and the pain is overwhelming. In one day, I lost my entire childhood, leaving me feeling stripped of my identity.
Out of respect for those who have lost their homes, please never tell someone it is “just a house.” Do not give unsolicited advice. A simple “I am sorry”, a hug or “how can I help?” will suffice. Homes are our safe place, our sanctuary. Finding the courage to first feel safe again and then take on the long road ahead to rebuild requires guts and fortitude and the help of friends.
“I started to worry when I saw flames outside of my window in the Highlands. I was not as worried as I probably should have been.”
Jenna Ringer, Class of 2025
“There’s nothing more eye-opening than watching your world go up in flames. It wasn’t just the houses, it wasn’t just the community, it was my childhood, my memories. The world was pulled up from beneath me as I watched it disintegrate before my eyes.”
Lily Clarke, Class of 2027
“By the time the fire was contained, everything I knew and loved was either destroyed or forever changed ... Over the next couple of days, my mindset started to shift into what I could be doing to help.”
Leila Heyat, Class of 2028
“Over a month later we found ourselves in unfamiliar homes in unfamiliar places, first in West Hollywood Hills and now in Mar Vista. We have been able to go back and view the wreckage, but it feels like you are in a war zone. The Palisades did not look like a fire swept through, it looked like a bomb had been dropped.’
Henry Kamer, Class of 2026
“I woke up to my phone vibrating from hundreds of notifications. Every single one had the same message: The Palisades is on fire. A week earlier, a smaller fire in the Palisades was swiftly contained. I anticipated a similar outcome, but my assumption was wrong.”
Ethan Jackson, Class of 2028
About People of Pali
Tideline, Pali’s newspaper, has created a section called “People of Pali” to give students a platform to share their stories regarding the Palisades Fire. Any student was able to send in a submission, which were then edited by Tideline staff.
We encourage everyone to read these narratives to learn about the fires from the perspective of Pali’s students
ROSEBUD ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL
Pasadena Rosebud Academy Charter School opened its doors in September 2007 with a vision to develop well-rounded critical thinkers who will have a positive impact on the world. This vision laid the foundation for creating a high-performing school that serves students of color. This school is so important to the Altadena/Pasadena community because it has created a space for students of color to THINK Bigger and DREAM Bigger through our curriculum, instructional practices, and programs.
Through financial literacy and field trips, we change the narrative for our students and expose them to real-world experiences that build confidence, curiosity, and a wealth mindset. We are changing the trajectory of their futures, equipping them not just to succeed academically, but to thrive as leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators. Pasadena Rosebud Academy is more than a school, it is a launchpad for dreams, a safe haven for growth, and a beacon of hope for families who believe in the power of education to transform lives and future generations.
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, which devastated our school campus, the need to rebuild is more urgent than ever. Our students deserve a permanent, state-of-the-art facility that reflects the excellence and promise of their futures. Rebuilding isn’t just about replacing what was lost, it’s about moving forward stronger, with renewed purpose and an even greater commitment to educational equity and opportunity. Pasadena Rosebud Academy must continue to thrive, not only for the families we currently serve, but for generations to come. Our school is a vital cornerstone in the Altadena/Pasadena community, and rebuilding it is an investment in the future of this community and the brilliant minds it holds.
Shawn Brown Founder and Executive Director Pasadena Rosebud Academy Charter School
After 9 years of walking through every hall,
Daniel Shorter, the president of all.
Rosebud’s love, that it gave me everyday
On January 7th, that dream was pushed away.
The winds loud emotion, a fiery exhale,
Overtook the walls, a fiery trail.
My school, gone in a blink
The home I knew, causing my heart to sink.
From a place of education, sky’s reining red,
My life dialed back, in the fire’s hothead
Rosebud’s ashes, settle low,
Where does an unsettled Rosebud go?
While mourning continues, hearts will mend,
From the fallen walls holding ash, we’ll rise again.
A comeback so strong, a future so bright,
Though Rosebud’s troubled ghost, still shines that light.
I’m the last of 5, so finish strong,
Our deep family roots, the memories belong.
We may feel homeless, deep in a well,
Yet in our hearts, Rosebud will dwell.
With our only home gone, where do we go,
The Beehive caught our fall, nice and slow.
We’ll build our own, we start from there
A new inspiration, to rebuild with love and care.
We’ll rise from ashes, a Phoenix’s flight,
Rosebud reborn, burning so bright.
Trauma may come, with a newborn sign
But when the time comes, Rosebud will forever shine.
Daniel Shorter, Eighth Grade
My whole life changed on January 7, 2025. It was a regular after-school routine. Around 4:40p.m., I finished my homework, and my dad was making dinner. Everyone had finished eating and was getting ready for bed. Then the next thing I heard was my mom on the phone with my dad, talking about a fire in Eaton Canyon. I lived about 10-15 minutes away from where the fire started. I started packing just in case.
At about 9:40 p.m., the power went out. That’s the moment when everyone in my house started rushing to pack. At 10:20, we left my house. My dad took my grandma, uncle, and his best friend’s mom to a safe place. I went to my grandma’s house, further in Pasadena, with my mom and sister. I was really nervous because I was away from my dad.
In the morning I woke up to the news saying that a school on Lake had burned down. Later on in the day, I saw a video of my school burning. It hurt a piece of me- my school, second home, my childhood. It was all gone. I had made so many memories at that school. I had been at Rosebud since kindergarten. I was nervous about my school and my house. In the morning, I found out that my house was gone.
To this day, I don’t know how I should feel. All I know is that I’m blessed that my family and I made it out alive. It made me realize, God is always by my side and everything happens for a reason. I was all the way out in La Mirada. Everyone else was still in Pasadena. I felt so far away from everyone. I really want things to go back to normal. I don’t want to be known as the girl who lost her house. This is not the attention I want. I want to be like a normal teenage girl again.
Who knew that a beautiful place like Altadena would be washed up. I remember I couldn’t wait for January to come to an end. January 7, 2025 was a total nightmare.
Rebekayh Betts, Seventh Grade
January 7, 2025, started out as a windy day for most Altadena and Pasadena residents.
At 6:18 p.m. near Midwick Drive and Altadena Drive, the fire began to spread.
Depending on your proximity to the fire, you would have been notified to evacuate. As worried residents gathered their belongings, the fire started to reach suburban areas.
People watched in horror as their homes were engulfed in flames. Business owners were devastated as all their hard work was erased, turning into tragedy. The fires burned schools and left children broken. The fires led to catastrophic damage to 9,418 structures and damaged 1,073 more. People lost their homes and cherished valuables.
Not only were structures and valuables lost, but approximately 17 people also lost their lives to the Eaton Canyon fires. The soil was contaminated with lead, especially around schools. The fires caused the air quality to decline immensely. Even if you weren’t directly impacted, there was a chance the polluted air could make you sick, or in extreme cases, lead to lung cancer. Residents were furious and demanded the truth.
People learned that a power line, which hadn’t been active for 50 years, was the cause of the fire. People were confused and ready to rebuild to recover their homes. After the fires, cleanup crews were dispersed among the wreckage. 14,000 acres were lost. Not only Pasadena and Altadena were affected by this; the fire also impacted the Palisades, with an estimated $28 billion lost in property damage. 6,831 structures and an additional 973 were damaged, including homes, businesses, and landmarks. Homes near the ocean that were burned caused runoff into the ocean, affecting shallow marine life. The recovered toxic ash, heavy metals, and debris polluted the waters. The Pacific Palisades coastline is further off-limits until further notice. 23,707 acres of the Palisades were claimed by the fire.
Marcus Hayes, Eighth Grade
I remember the day before the fire, it was super windy. My friends and I just played around and laughed about it. At a certain point me and my friends were scared because the wind made the dirt fly into our eyes. Then, we kept seeing the door fly open.
That same night the winds had started a small wildfire. At first, it was small, but then as time passed, it started gradually growing. When I heard the fires got bigger at 10 or 11 pm, my aunt and I got curious and decided to drive around to see what it looked like. Once I heard it got to Rosebud, I felt sad and scared. My friend who lived really close to the school had called me and said his house burned down.
I knew that this situation was bad when we had to evacuate our home. When we were packing a lot of our stuff I had to choose what to take and what not to. It was a really hard decision for me. When I heard my uncle’s housewhich held all the family reunions, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and just parties in general- burnt down, I was so devastated. When I heard that the fire got really close to my house, I was so scared, but it felt like God gave me another chance when it didn’t get to my home. I’m very thankful for my aunt who let us stay at her house in LA.
Dayvion Ridgell, Eighth Grade
In Altadena middle-sized houses line up the street
what a sight to see all the houses different on the street
Not a care in the world just a normal day
Not knowing what they’ll see until it is to be
The wind’s picking up
trees falling, landline destroyed, leaves at everyone’s door
Down come the powerlines- fires coming fast
Houses and habitats burnt down
Tragic fires destroy memories, livelihood, and routines
Leaving families in heartbreak
Families leaving everything behind
Not knowing where to go and having to start over
Year of work gone
A school for 17 years burnt to a crisp
not knowing where they’ll go, but that they’re here to stay
Everyone devastated
Field trips taking over class time and learning space donated
Two weeks go by
We are relocated again
Another school in the area donated their extra space
Now the temporary space feels like home
Life will never be the same,
But it keeps going
Never going back
Always going forward
Sha’Lind Moore, Seventh Grade
On January 7, 2025, it was a very windy day for Altadena and Pasadena. The wind blew into a power line, hitting it and causing the line to spark, which set it on fire. The fire spread to the mountains, and the embers reached all over Altadena, eventually reaching Pasadena and Rosebud Academy Charter School. This school had a small community of kids, staff, teachers, and parents. The fire impacted everyone because the school was home to many students, staff, and teachers.
All of Altadena was devastated by the blaze. The park was gone, the buildings were gone, the hangout spots were gone, and the school was gone. It was hard to come back from this, but the community was planning something. They set up a GoFundMe to start building a strong foundation with support from the community and other helpful people, and it took two weeks to come up with a plan.
Gabriel Franklin, Seventh Grade
It was January 7th at 11 pm, when my mom told me to go to bed because it was getting pretty late. I could see the fire growing and growing from the mountains, but I couldn’t go to bed. I layed with my parents and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t make myself relax and go to bed because the fires were on my mind. I was scared of what was going to happen next, so I stayed awake to make sure if things got worse, I could wake up my mom.
Around 12:30a.m., I heard my moms phone ring. It was my aunt. She told us we have to evacuate because the fires were getting too close to our house. We left with only our pajamas on and our family dog. We left around 1 am to my moms friend’s house to stay for the night. My mom told me everytings going to be fine, that we’ll be back tomorrow, but I wasn’t sure of that because the fire looked enormous, and I was anxious and unsure of what would happen. The next morning we got a phone call from my aunt again. I felt nervous and scared of what she would say next. She told us “I don’t know how to tell you guys this… I’m so sorry but we lost our house completely.”
I was devastated. I was sad, mad, and disappointed about why I didn’t bring anything with me. I cried for days. But people helped us recover some of our stuff. My dad lost his tools he used for work so he couldn’t work. We needed to maintain ourselves, eat food, and keep a roof over our head. To this day, I cry because I lost the home I was raised in. I’m extremely glad I brought my most valuable thing in life with me- my dog Bruno. I don’t know what I would do without him. I love him very much.
Keily Franco, Eighth Grade
Monday was normal as usual. We were just coming off our winter break. Then, on Tuesday it was super windy. I thought school was canceled but it wasn’t. Everyone went to school which was a pretty normal day- it was just windy. Everyone went home, and that’s when it all started.
Around 6pm the power on my block went out due to the winds. It was windy, dark, and you could hear the wind whistling inside of the house. We heard branches cracking and falling on the ground. Since the power went out, my uncle and cousin had to go to the car to charge our phones because they were about to die. That is when we saw a light coming from the mountains. We realized that it was a fire. A couple hours later, my family had to evacuate to Anaheim because the fire was nearing our house.
The next day, we woke up at my cousin’s house in Anaheim. We saw the fires on the news and it said that there was no contaminant of the fire. We were all very worried about our house. The whole night, I couldn’t sleep because I was very worried and anxious. I went to the store with my aunt and little cousin to clear my head. On Thursday I saw a video of my school slowly burning down. When I saw it, it was hard to believe at first. Then, I thought about all of my friends’ houses near the school. On Friday, we decided that we had to stay in Anaheim for about 2 weeks. On Saturday, I saw videos of my town being affected by the fire. It was surreal. On Sunday, I was talking to my friends about the fire and we all just wanted to check in on each other.
On Monday, my mom asked if I wanted to go back to see the effects of the fire. We saw all the houses, stores, and parks I used to always go to. Then I saw my cousins’ and family friends’ house burnt to the ground.
Julian Luna, Eighth Grade
One morning, I was getting ready to feed my dog when I heard high winds outside. My mom said that we were not going to school. There was also supposed to be a new student coming to our school that day. One night, my aunt called my mother, saying there was a fire near where she lived. My mom looked out of her window and saw the fire from our house. We saw that the firefighters were trying to put it out. My mom started to freak out. I was scared, and my stomach started to hurt.
My mom told us to start packing our things. I began packing some clothes, documents, and shoes. Then I texted my godmother and told her what was happening. She told me that everything was going to be okay and that I was safe. My mom and dad went to see what was happening, and they started driving toward Rosebud Academy. They called me and said that my school was burning down. One of my friends sent me a video of the school burning because they live really close to it.
I was really scared, and I started crying because I had been at Rosebud Academy for seven and a half years. I had a lot of memories there. After everything happened, I didn’t sleep for four days. I only took naps during the day. I barely ate at night or in the morning. I was praying to God to help us, protect us, and be with us.
It smelled so bad outside that we had to wear masks inside our house. I was on a call with my friends because they were scared too. Then I got a call from my godmother, and she said she had to evacuate. I told her I loved her and to be safe. She promised to update me. Later, we got a call from my dad’s friend named Steven. He told us that his house and his car had burned down. My mom and dad went out to buy him clothes, shoes, and other things he needed. He was really grateful. Then my dad asked if they wanted to play a soccer game to help clear their minds.
Genesis Zamudio, Seventh Grade
As I unsuccessfully attempted to drift off to sleep, the power having been off for two hours by that point, I was interrupted when I was told that we needed to leave. While I was scrambling to understand and not freak out, I heard that there was a fire. At one point, peered out the window and saw an orange glow over the horizon. The sky was pure orange, and at the right angle, I caught a glimpse of something like an orange light bulb behind the trees, glowing like the sun. We scrambled out with the cats, some clothes, lights, and nothing else. At one point, as we drove south, away from the mountains, down the street, I looked back and I could actually see the flames. Against the unobservable and dark mountains, the flames appeared to be flowing down like lava. The flames that I could see looked mere inches in size, but were likely hundreds of feet in height. The air was thick with ash, and the radio giving us the news did not help. We abandoned so much of our belongings, mostly hoping that we would be able to return. As I observed my surroundings, I directed my attention towards myself and realized, despite a warm night, I was shivering. The best explanation was that I was shivering in fear. We drove to a friend’s house for the night. We put the cats in the upstairs bathroom, to ensure they don’t go everywhere, and tried, desperately, to grasp some semblance of slumber. I repeatedly went into the bathroom to pay attention to the cats. For a while, the sky above us was just gray with ash.
I had just gotten back from Winter break when an event that changed my life occurred. On Tuesday morning, the winds were harsh. I had come home from cheer practice that day around 5:00 p.m. I was watching a movie with my family when trees started falling, power was going out, and fires started. We got calls from family and friends that they were evacuating and warned us that we should too. My mom was very scared and anxious. She told my sister and I to start packing clothes. I did as she said.
As I was packing my clothes, I wasn’t thinking about what I wanted to keep, but thinking about what clothes I was going to use during the time I was away. I thought I was going to come back home, but in the back of my mind, I didn’t think I would. I started throwing clothes and pictures on the floor. I saw the mess in my room and suddenly a weird feeling came over me that told me I wasn’t coming back, which made me panic even more. I started to grab my favorite pictures. We had 4 chickens that we raised since they were chicks. We didn’t know what to do with them. We didn’t have cages to put them in, so we left them behind, as well as my two turtles. We put everything in the cars and left. I went with my sister and our two dogs in her car and my parents went in my dad’s car. We all drove to Santa Ana to my aunt’s house. When we arrived, we went straight to sleep.
We woke up to terrible news. The house I had lived in my whole life was gone. All my memories were gone. My school was gone. Life didn’t feel real at that point. I was living at my aunts’ for about a month. While I was with them, I didn’t think about my home because I was distracted by other things. Now that we have found an apartment to stay in temporarily, I start to think about my home and am filled with sadness. Whenever I’m at the apartment, I picture my home. The apartment is nice, but not what I want. It might be a roof over my head, but it will never be home to me. My home will always be the one I grew up in…in Altadena.
Emily De La Torre, Eighth Grade
When I first saw the charred, ash dusted carcass of the house I’d lived in for 14 years now, it was just hard to imagine, despite seeing it right in front of my eyes. We’d had a cactus in our yard for so long, it started growing bark. The cactus tree, as we call it, survived. It was shriveled, & I presumed it was still alive. At least the cactus is dead now. My mom and a friend cut it down. Nothing remains of our house now, since the Army Corps of Engineers cleared the lot. It’s just weird seeing an empty space where so many memories took place just not there. It’s hard to recall the layout without walls.
William Yi, Eighth Grade
SENIOR
SAMUEL O’NEAL Editor in Chief
LYNDSEY GRISWOLD Print Design Editor
EVELYN BLOWER News Editor
JARED TATZ Co-Photo Editor
CLAIRE ZEFFER Managing Editor
BAYLEH ALEXANDER Features Editor
MCCAILLAIGH ROUSE Opinion Editor
DAIVIK BEWTRA Business Manager
KAJSA MORSE Multimedia Editor
PORTRAITS
NOEL CHACKO Staff Photographer
RAI GANESAN Audience Engagement Editor
KYLIE SOKOLOFF Assistant News Editor
MIKE NONNEMAKER Assistant Features Editor
MATTHEW EATON Advertising Manager
FITZGERALD Data Editor
JADON GEORGE Features Staff Writer
PABLO ROUCO Podcast Editor
LOLADE KOLA-ADEWUYI Advertising Manager
CARA KISHTER Newsletter Editor
YEAR in Photos
The photos taken this year from protests to new presidents and coaches.
BY JACK LARSON Co-Photo Editor
The Temple News’ 2024-2025 coverage was shaped by unprecedented chaos and leadership changes on many levels.
In September, four protestors, including one student, were arrested after a Temple Students Justice for Palestine protest at the College of Engineering’s fall career and internship fair in the Howard Gittis Student Center. They protested exhibiting defense contractors and weapons manufacturers participating in the Israel-Hamas war. The protestors were later released with no charges and SJP was placed on interim suspension.
The fight continued into October when Temple’s SJP rallied with pro-Palestine organizations from other Philadelphia schools. They recognized
and marched for the one-year anniversary since the initial Hamas attack.
November brought the country’s political tension to its peak in a strenuous presidential election, positioning Pennsylvania universities like Temple at its center. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris made a final plea to Americans on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art before ultimately losing to Republican candidate President Donald Trump.
Following the dismissal of Temple’s former head football coach Stan Drayton, December brought a new head coach to the mix, K.C. Keeler. He promised to improve Temple’s record, as he has the third most wins of any active NCAA coach.
Temple’s men’s basketball team continued on in January after a promising start to their season. Guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. became the nation’s second leading scorer at one point but the team would ultimately not find an NCAA berth for the sixth year in a row.
Philadelphia pride was at its highest in February after the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC Championship and eventually the Super Bowl. The Temple community celebrated the Eagles Super Bowl Parade on Feb. 14 and school closed for the day.
In March, Lourdes Cardomone and Janeese Hochstetler won the Temple Student Government election. Cardamone and Hochstetler each had experience in TSG as the chief of external affairs and the deputy chief of communications during the 2023-24 school year, respectively.
Temple President John Fry was officially inaugurated in April. The former Drexel president outlined development plans, including constructing Klein College of Media and Communication and CPCA’s new building while strengthening the university’s relationship with the North Philadelphia community.
jack.larson@temple.edu
OLIVER LOIS ECONOMIDIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Nov: Kamala Harris holds final presidential campaign rally on the steps of the PMA.
OLIOVER LOIS ECONOMIDIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Apr: President John Fry announces construction plans at his Investiture Ceremony April 4.
From top to bottom:
Dec: President John Fry announces K.C. Keeler as the football head coach during a press conference. | NOEL CHACKO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Jan: Guard Zion Stanford celebrates with teammates after win against Memphis. | LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Oct: Temple SJP joined the four other universities in Philadelphia SJP Alliance at Drexel Square Park to commemorate a year of resistance. | JACK LARSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
From top to bottom:
Feb: Eagles Quarterback and Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts led the parade in his float. | OLIVER ECONOMIDIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Sept: Four Temple SJP members were arrested after protesting at the College of Engineering Fall Career and Internship Fair. | ALISON BECK / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Mar: Lourdes Cardomone and Janeese Hochstetler speak with students following student president debate. | JARED TATZ / THE TEMPLE NEWS
2025 DIAMOND AWARD WINNERS
Flavia Astete-Garcia Philadelphia, PA
The Lew Klein College of Media & Communication Major — Advertising
Lourdes B. Cardamone Philadelphia, PA
College of Liberal Arts Major — Political Science
Gopiga Dass Huntingdon Valley, PA
College of Science & Technology Major — Biology
Matthew T. Dewhurst Beaver Falls, PA
College of Public Health Major — Public Health
Soren I. Dickson San Antonio, TX
College of Liberal Arts Major — International Affairs
Hunter Gashi Harding, PA
College of Public Health Major — Public Health
Peyton A. Giordano Philadelphia, PA
College of Liberal Arts Major — Criminal Justice
Calistha T. Gunawan Philadelphia, PA
The Lew Klein College of Media & Communication Major — Communication Studies
Lindsey Hoffman Voorhees, NJ
College of Public Health Major — Public Health
Natalie E. Knox Philadelphia, PA
College of Liberal Arts Major — English
Hiu Kwok Philadelphia, PA
College of Liberal Arts Major — Criminal Justice
Wendy Liu Philadelphia, PA
College of Liberal Arts Major — Political Science
Amirah Malcolm Neptune, NJ
College of Public Health
Major — Speech Language and Hearing Sciences
Minal M. Mistry Warwick, PA
Fox School of Business & Management
Major — Statistical Science and Data Analytics; Marketing
Erin M. Mraz Levittown, PA
College of Public Health, Tyler School of Art & Architecture Major — Public Health
Elle Nguyen Philadelphia, PA
College of Science and Technology Major — Data Science
Timilehin S. Olofinyolemi Lansdowne, PA
College of Engineering Major — Electrical + Computer Engineering
Hannah M. Palmer Philadelphia, PA
College of Education & Human Development
Major —Secondary Social Studies Education: History Concentration
Alexandra R. Pombo Branford, CT
The Lew Klein College of Media & Communication Major — Communication Studies
Madeline P. Ruder Pittsburgh, PA
College of Liberal Arts
Major — Economics, Global Studies
Jasmine C. Smith Elmont, NY
College of Liberal Arts
Major — History; Africology and African American Studies
Markella M. Vassil Lancaster, PA
College of Science & Technology Major — Biology
Kristina Vo Boston, MA
College of Liberal Arts Major — Political Science
Ashley V. Wright Philadelphia, PA
College of Education & Human Development, College of Public Health
Major — Public Health
The Diamond Awards are annual awards distributed by the Division of Student Affairs to recognize outstanding achievements and leadership of Temple students.
FEATURES
COMMENCEMENT
Couple finds a match in medicine and each other
Post-graduation, Nicki KarimiMostowfi and Daniel Kotas will tie the knot next May.
BY BAYLEH ALEXANDER Features Editor
Nicki Karimi-Mostowfi entered medical school with lofty goals: to become a doctor and to fall in love somewhere along the way.
It didn’t take her long — on the first day of orientation, she introduced herself to a fellow classmate who caught her eye.
Her interest was sparked right away, and kismet stepped in when they were paired in the same anatomy lab because their last names started with the same letter.
“I knew from the beginning it was gonna be something,” said Karimi-Mostowfi, a fourth-year medical student. “On white coat ceremony, which was that Friday, five days after we met, I made a little bit of an effort for my parents to meet him really briefly.”
Karimi-Mostowki’s confidence to approach her now-fiance, Daniel Kotas, paid off and helped her achieve her goal of finding love at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. After four years balancing time with noses stuck in textbooks and building a lasting relationship, the couple is set to tie the knot in Los Angeles on May 30, 2026.
Kotas got down on one knee in front of Karimi-Mostowfi in August during a quiet moment at the Morris Arboretum and Gardens at the University of Pennsylvania. After she said yes, he surprised her with dinner at Pizzeria Vetri, where friends and family from across the country were waiting.
Kotas tasked Alex Iancu, Karimi-Mostowfi’s best friend since medical school orientation, with sneakily getting her nails done before the proposal. This proved to be a daunting task, especially since the bride-to-be had a feeling Kotas was set to propose.
Iancu disguised the gesture as a
birthday present for Karimi-Mostowfi’s birthday, which was the week before the proposal. But she had a sneaking suspicion anyway.
“I had one job to do, and I was just really stressed to make sure it got done,” said Iancu, a fourth-year medical student. “I didn’t want to be the one where something went awry. She had been kind of talking about it and anticipating it for a long time, so I just wanted it to be perfect for her.”
The couple sent in their postgraduate residency applications in September after getting engaged in August. Their journey to ending up in Los Angeles was not left up to them — medical school students are selected to match specific specialties for post-graduation residencies in cities spread across the United States by the National Resident Matching Program.
Karimi-Mostowfi’s family is from San Diego, making California the ideal location for them to move to be close to loved ones when getting married and starting a family. She and Kotas applied for their respective specialties through NRMP’s couple match program, an option that allows couples to coordinate their ranked list and have a higher probability of being matched to the same city.
The chances of the couple ending up in the same city were high, but not 100%.
Karimi-Mostowfi still gets teary thinking about Match Day on March 21, when she learned she and Kotas both matched in Los Angeles. Though they pursued different specialties — neurology for her and internal medicine for him — their top priority was ending up in the same city.
“The next couple of days after [Match Day] we would be talking about plans over the next couple of years, and we would kind of have to remind ourselves that we’re going to be in Los Angeles,” Kotas said.
Karimi-Mostowfi is in a four-year neurology program, and Kotas is in a three-year internal medicine program starting in June, both requiring at least 60 to 70 hours of work weekly.
They’ve been each other’s best
friends and support systems throughout medical school, a foundational aspect of their relationship that they know will aid them in residency and their life after they get married.
“This is a first step for us that’s going to be for the rest of our lives,” Karimi-Mostowfi said. “So, it’s really nice to think about, and very exciting overall.”
As the couple prepares for their big move in just a few weeks, their apartment decor consists of haphazardly arranged moving boxes and an orphaned monstera plant named Phyllis, who will be adopted by a friend before the move.
But more than their items, they have each other: all they’ll need to get through the rigorous next three to four years of residency.
“They’re one of the very few couples that I know in real life that I genuinely look up to,” Iancu said. “Sometimes you see your friends and relationships that maybe aren’t the best, but the two of them are people that I really admire, both individually and together.”
bayleh.alexander@temple.edu
Senior’s beekeeping career sparks campus buzz
Allison Slakoper’s experiences with nature and changed her outlook on life.
BY JADON GEORGE Features Staff Writer
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, isn’t famous for its farmland. The names of its woodland parks and riverside trails don’t necessarily roll off the tongue or adorn tourism brochures.
Yet the steady, formulaic suburban sprawl — which is to say, the transformation of the countryside into a long string of parking lots — leaves plenty of room for nature, just the same. White-tailed deer sprint across highways dark as marble; flora and fauna of every vibrant hue dot the shadows of treehouses and McMansions alike.
More to the point, there’s room to keep bees.
Senior horticulture major Allison Slakoper took a beekeeping class at Temple two springs ago. She wasn’t afraid, or nervous, or even unfamiliar as instructor Vincent Aloyo took strings of students through hives and honeycombs, bare-handed. Slakoper had been around bees since she was a child.
“I’ve kind of grown up pretty outside, so a lot of my time was just gardening and just being exposed to bugs and stuff like that,” Slakoper said. “So, when I got into actually beekeeping, there was really not much that freaked me out.”
A friend’s father maintained his own bee colony, on and off, a short walk from Slakoper’s house. One day, Slakoper and her friend moseyed through the grass and followed him among the bumbling swarms.
Slakoper collected and worked with bugs as a member of her local 4-H club. And her love for nature moved her to study flowering plants and their impact on the world while a student at Temple.
The famed Boston sportswriter Bill Simmons wrote 13 years ago about “The
Consequences of Caring.” He’d started attending hockey games with his eightyear-old daughter during his time as a sportswriter for “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
She fell — hard — for the Los Angeles Kings during their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012.
But the younger Simmons didn’t just find a team of masked skaters in draped jerseys to cheer for roughly 100 times a year; through her, Simmons the elder saw how sports fandom can feed the emotional connective tissue of a community. Westerners — rich in money and bombarded with desire — face enormous pressure to recklessly consume. Rare are the opportunities to consider how to form a symbiotic relationship with nature.
Case in point: Human beings’ relationship to bees. We mostly see the honey they produce and their power to inflict agony and even death with venomous stings. But there’s more to them than that: Their powers of pollination make possible many everyday foods.
That interconnectedness is part of
what students learn from horticulturalists like Aloyo.
“I try to get them to appreciate that there’s all these other aspects that don’t immediately come to mind,” Aloyo said.
Greg Masters grew up in Upper Bucks County, another suburban realm where miles of lush forests and tucked-away wildlife bracket the winding banks of the Delaware River. At eight years old, Masters and a friend happened upon a yellowjackets’ nest in a log and hectored it. One ventured out of the downed branch, lodged itself in Masters’ ear, and stung him.
It was a honey-dripping kamikaze mission.
“I heard him in there buzzing around,” Masters, a senior jazz performance major, remembered. “I heard him leave, too, which was comforting.”
The incident changed Masters’ relationship to bees, for sure; passing hives along the trail became a hands-off experience afterwards. But he also says he’s developed a deeper relationship to na-
ture — and its power to heal — in the years since.
Working in — and with — nature has changed the way Slaykoper thinks about her own life, she said. Volunteering with Temple’s community gardens at Ambler and in North Philadelphia has helped her see how her interest in plants could help others patch up gaps in their diets and cabinets. And she hopes bringing others deeper into the natural world helps them see it — and their place in it — more clearly.
“It does give me a lot of hope,” she said, “because even if my impact is small — just between people that I know and stuff — I could also spread the news to them and let them know that even small impacts definitely could make a change.”
jadon@temple.edu @jgeorgescribe
COURTESY / ALLISON SLAKOPER
Senior continues film entrepreneurship journey
Victoria Wilcox will expand her production company, Torian Studios, after graduation.
BY BRADLEY MCENTEE Assistant Opinion Editor
Before stepping into the director’s chair, Victoria Wilcox recalls working in the lighting department for student films in her freshman year. Though she wasn’t at the forefront of these artistic endeavors, she was constantly absorbing the creativity and artistic drive of those around her.
Witnessing her peers fulfill their creative desires sparked something within her to finally step into the spotlight and fulfill her dream of telling stories through film.
“I got sick of just sitting around and letting my anxiety eat at me, because I realized everything that I want to do is possible,” said Wilcox, a senior film and media arts major. “It might take a lot of work, but I’m not asking to go to the moon. I’m asking to share stories of people who are literally around me in North Philadelphia.”
Wilcox founded the production company Torian Studios in 2020 to explore her love of photography and film directing. With the less burdensome workload after graduation, Wilcox intends to grow the business to produce commercials for local businesses. She’s most excited to step into the world of documentary filmmaking — a natural extension of her affinity for human storytelling.
“When it came to COVID [I thought I needed] some structure in my life,” Wilcox said. “Like everything in the world is kind of crazy. Let me go to college. What is something that’s been in my life for all this time? It’s always been storytelling.”
Since childhood, Wilcox has always been attuned to the narratives of human life. She remembers her adolescent fascination with dolls and the stories she imagined and created for them. When it came time for college applications, Wilcox was at a loss for how to plan her future because committing to a university
felt like a daunting task.
While deep in contemplation of how she wanted to proceed in her education, she remembered Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther.” The director’s surgical attention to detail in developing the film’s antagonist began to represent the transformative power of filmmaking and inspired Wilcox to dedicate her career to the cinematic arts.
As a Black woman, Wilcox’s natural drive to tell human stories extended to her exploring narratives she felt her culture could relate to. Her coursework and exploration of Black life stuck out to her professors, as her depictions often had a refreshing perspective and depth of emotion.
Micah Magee was one of Wilcox’s professors during her junior year. She was struck specifically by Wilcox’s ability to portray both the struggles of her Black characters and the beauty of their everyday lives.
After seeing Wilcox’s work, Magee nominated her for The National Princess Grace Foundation Scholarship Awards and awarded her the Deglin Scholarship, both of which celebrate student achievements in filmmaking.
“She was willing to take a stand and negotiate the constraints of the project parameters in order to use her voice the way she wanted and to tell the story that she felt needed to be told, which wasn’t a single person story,” Magee said. “It was a story of a collective.”
Her cinematic achievements at Temple came to a peak after the screening of her senior thesis, “The Village It Took,” which took home four awards at Temple’s BFA Film Showcase earlier this month. The accolades she received include best directing, best cinematography, best producing and best lighting.
Before instructing her course for the senior thesis, Neal Dhand was Wilcox’s professor for two other courses between her sophomore and senior year. Despite the success of her most recent project, Dhand still recalls feeling blown away by one of the first pieces she made in a collaborative project when she first enrolled in his filmmaking class.
“That’s a really nice feeling when you can see a young filmmaker who [puts] themselves into the work,” Dhand said. “That was an early time. I didn’t know Victoria nearly as well as I know her now, but I think I felt then, ‘Here’s a filmmaker who’s got a style and something to say.’”
Though she’s sharpened her craft and artistic vision at Temple, Wilcox is eager to take her artistic talents to the next level. She wants to focus on finding a blend of her two passions of directing commercials and documentaries to best accomplish her goals of uplifting voices and aiding her community.
“I do think that there is a space for documentary within commercials, like it doesn’t have to be this spectrum, there
can be a mix of it,” Wilcox said. “So I’m really just excited to have more space just to be a student of life.”
bradley.mcentee@temple.edu
OLIVER LOIS ECONOMIDIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Wilcox aims to grow Torian Studios to explore her love of photography and documentary film directing.
Senior to Rock n’ Roll across the country on tour
Benny Glassman, drummer for the band Traitor, will embark on a national tour this summer.
BY STEVE JEFFRIES & BAYLEH ALEXANDER For The Temple News
Somewhere in the mountains of Virginia in January, salt, slush and snow piled along the dark road. The thrash metal band Traitor was on route to Harrisburg, Virginia, for the second-to-last gig of a 10-day tour.
Twenty minutes from their hotel, their rented U-haul trailer, jam-packed with the band’s gear, threw a wheel.
“It was great shit,” said Benny Glassman, a senior communication and social influence major and drummer for the band. “Unloading the trailer, it was like four in the morning in the middle of the mountains somewhere. It’s covered in snow everywhere. It was fun.”
Glassman joined Traitor as the drummer in the fall and toured for the first time with the “Unrest Across The Midwest” tour. Although a crumbling U-Haul and less-than-ideal touring con-
ditions may deter others, for Glassman, it was all the more incentive to stay and create more memories with the band.
Glassman will go on tour through the United States and Canada with Traitor this summer after he graduates. The band will open for the British heavy metal band Satan and play festivals like Blades of Steel in Madison, Wisconsin. The band also has hopes — and tentative plans — for a brief European leg of the tour.
The tour will start in Providence, Rhode Island, on Aug. 24 and last for two weeks. Although all the stops are not entirely certain yet, Glassman is excited to travel parts of the U.S. that he has yet to explore, he said.
He met Traitor’s guitarist, Brian Mikus, at PhilaMOCA, an alternative music and film venue in Philadelphia. Glassman was playing with the punk band, Vile Enemy, and Mikus was singing for Rubbish, a rock band of Temple alumni. Traitor was on the lookout for a new drummer when Mikus offered Glassman the chance to audition.
“I was wearing a Nuclear Cell T-shirt and a bullet belt, and I guess that was the ticket,” Glassman said.
V O I C E S
are you looking forward to post-graduation?
Glassman got the gig after joining a few practice sessions with the band, and Mikus recognized in him the talent, drive and commitment that Traitor was looking for, despite being much younger than his other bandmates.
“He’s very dedicated and has a great work ethic and definitely sees the big picture,” Mikus said.
Traitor visited cities across the Midwest from Chicago to St. Louis during a 10-day self-booked tour in January. The trip was Glassman’s first time touring through many of the cities. The warmest day of the tour was the Chicago concert, where the temperature almost rose above freezing.
“It seems like it was just one, giant, nine-day snowstorm,” Mikus said. “I will never ever think about snow the same way after that tour.”
Faculty who have worked with Glassman attest to his work ethic and acknowledge the work it takes to balance school and drumming in the band. Jason Del Gandio, an associate professor of instruction in the Klein College of Media and Communication, had Glassman in several classes and appreciates how he pushes through.
SIERRA SOSA
Senior finance major major | He/Him
“ Spending time with my family at home. ”
“Balancing schoolwork, a job and band commitments is a challenge, no doubt,” Del Gandio said. “But Benny always did a great job negotiating these responsibilities. He’d be tired once in a while, or maybe more than once in a while, but he’d always push through.”
Glassman is no stranger to a busy schedule and held a six-month internship with the City of Philadelphia in a community outreach position, all while playing in the band. He is able to balance the work due to his long-time passion for the art.
Now gearing up for his second tour with Traitor, Glassman is also preparing to graduate from Temple. Although his drumming job is less traditional than an office job, he still hopes to use his degree in a community outreach position while maintaining his role with the band.
“[Going on tour is] something I’ve always wanted to do,” Glassman said. “And now that I’ve done it once, I know it’s the life for me.”
stephen.jeffries@temple.edu bayleh.alexander@temple.edu
BRADEN
MASON
Senior business administration major | He/Him
“ Looking forward to finally canceling my Chegg subscription. ”
ISH GODBOLE
Senior film & media arts major | He/Him
“ Getting sleep. Like, consistently proper amounts of sleep. ”
MADISON YOUNG
Senior communications major | She/Her
“ Having time for hobbies and exploring myself as a non-student. ”
COMMENCEMENT
SPORTS DeMasi leaves lasting legacy through advocacy
Natalie DeMasi has used her own mental health experiences to help the student-athletes.
BY AMARNA MILNE For The Temple News
Content Warning: This story contains mentions of sexual assault and eating disorders. If you find the content disturbing, please seek help at Tuttleman Counseling Services.
Natalie DeMasi was walking to the sideline during a practice her freshman year when she collapsed. She had struggled with anxiety throughout high school but never understood what she was feeling until that moment.
“I went to a trainer and they were like, ‘You’re having an anxiety attack,’” said DeMasi, a defender on Temple’s women’s soccer team. “And I thought, ‘Oh, this is what that is?’ I’ve been having these my whole life.”
This led DeMasi to TUWell counseling, where she got a diagnosis for what she had been experiencing for years. It was also where she discovered Morgan’s Message, a nonprofit that promotes mental health awareness among student-athletes. Temple didn’t have a chapter, so she started one.
“I wanted it to be student-led,” DeMasi said. “It’s easy to hear it from a clinician or a therapist, but it’s different to hear it from someone who sits next to you in the locker room.”
DeMasi built the chapter from scratch with guidance from TUWell and a small group of student-athletes. She formed an executive board, collaborated with student organizations and hosted meetings that covered topics beyond general mental health like performance anxiety, disordered eating and how to balance school and sport became important topics for the chapter.
Even though DeMasi’s journey at Temple is coming to an end, her impact will be felt long after she graduates.
“[Natalie] always puts others before herself,” said defender Phoebe Hollin. “Everything she’s achieved is a testament to how hard she works. Nothing has come easy for her — she’s faced so much adversity and she’s overcome all of it. She’s changed my life and the way I
look at the world.”
DeMasi was a multifaceted athlete growing up, excelling in lacrosse, soccer and dance—before the pitch captured her heart.
She tried out for Albertson Fury Soccer Club on Long Island, New York, one of the most competitive programs in the state. The tryout had more than 200 girls and only two made the cut. DeMasi was one of them.
The tryout made her realize what the elite level demanded. Showcases in Texas with more than 150 college scouts were no longer far-off dreams; they were real.
As the success mounted, a darker reality unfolded. One of her former club coaches, a figure she once looked up to, was convicted of sexual misconduct.
“Something actually happened between me and him and this is why I want to go into sports law,” DeMasi said. “I want to advocate for girls in sports.”
DeMasi joined East Meadow SC shortly after Albertson Fury shut down following the incident. There she found
the support and coaching she had been missing. She started getting serious looks from colleges and eventually landed at Temple in 2021.
But college brought challenges that impacted DeMasi’s mental health.
DeMasi’s relationship with food and her body became increasingly complicated as she tried to keep up with the demands of college athletics. She was barely eating during the day and her body couldn’t keep up.
Everything going on in DeMasi’s life caught up to her during the panic attack, leading her to the realm of mental health initiatives. DeMasi was prepared to make a difference for her peers and got Temple’s chapter of Morgan’s Message up and running.
“I’ve had teammates tell me it helped them through tough nights,” DeMasi said. “Trainers have said athletes came in the next day talking about what they learned. That’s when I knew it was making a difference.”
DeMasi had become one of Temple’s most reliable players by her senior year,
not just for her consistency in games, but for the energy she brought every day.
“Natalie was really enjoyable to coach and be around,” said head coach Chris Shaw. “She had a great senior year. She worked hard, stayed consistent, and always brought a good mood with her. Even when it wasn’t going to be fun, she’d put a smile on and make the best of it.”
At Temple, DeMasi built something lasting — a mental health support system that will continue to help student-athletes long after she’s gone. She will now go into law to fight for young athletes like herself.
“I don’t care if people remember me as ‘nice,’” she said. “I hope they remember me as someone who cared. Someone who showed up. Someone they could talk to, without judgment.”
JEREMY SHOVER / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Natalie DeMasi prepares to throw a ball in play during a Temple Women’s Soccer game last fall.
COMMENCEMENT
Bunch ready for her next chapter after graduation
Julia Bunch decided to start her professional career instead of one last college season.
BY COLIN SCHOFIELD Assistant Sports Editor
It was a regular Thursday practice for midfielder Julia Bunch last fall. Temple’s 2024 season was in full swing and the team was preparing to take on Penn the next day.
Bunch was pursuing a pass from her teammate as the three-hour practice was coming to an end, but slipped. She had avoided injuries her whole career, but knew something was wrong.
Her knee had popped and Bunch knew a “horror story” was about to unfold. She sat out against Penn on Sept. 13 and her fears were confirmed after. She tore the ACL in her left knee and her senior season was finished earlier than expected.
However, Bunch’s career was technically not finished. She had the option to use a medical redshirt and return for another season, but something was holding her back from jumping at the opportunity.
Bunch worked off the field during her four years at Temple to build her professional career and had a full-time job as a tax consultant at Deloitte lined up after graduation. Bunch decided against playing the extra year to start her professional career. Although Bunch’s career came to a premature end, the impact she had on the program is evident and has set the stage for the next chapter of her life.
“I sat with the opportunity and the idea of doing my fifth year, but I realized that it’s time for me to start my career,” Bunch said. “I don’t want to delay these awesome opportunities that I created for myself. So ultimately, field hockey was life-changing for me and a huge part of my life, but I knew it wasn’t going to continue forever, so I didn’t want to delay that next step.”
When Bunch joined Temple in 2021, the coaching staff immediately fell in love with her hard-nosed attitude. She was hard-working and passionate,
and that mindset translated on the field. She never racked up eye-popping stats but still became a natural leader for her teammates.
That leadership earned her the honor of being a team captain for the 2024 season. She remained a captain even from the sidelines and built a support system for her teammates on and off the field.
“We want to always be like, it’s not just one of us, it’s all of us mentality,” said associate head coach Carissa Vittese.
“I think even those injured, who are still showing up and being there and putting the team first, that’s kind of the mentality we want. I know it’s not easy for those injured, which shows the resilience and mindset that Julia had, being able to do that.”
While Bunch put in endless work for field hockey, she did the same off the field.
Bunch’s family owns Shan-Gri-La Sod Farm, a small business that grows and delivers sod. She got involved in the family business at a young age, helping
out everywhere, but really gravitated toward the office side of the business.
Bunch was good with numbers and her brain clicked in the office, eventually leading her to become an accounting major at Temple.
“She started to get into the numbers and the math of things,” said Beth Bunch, Julia’s mom. “Mentally, her brain works with the numbers. I’m more of an artsy person, but she loved that stuff. She loves spreadsheets and planning out things and doing all that. She was good at dealing with customers and dealing with credit cards and the QuickBooks program. She knew she was good at math and was good with the numbers.”
Bunch had a few internships while at Temple, but the biggest opportunity for her came in the summer of 2024. She landed an internship at Deloitte as a tax intern and managed to turn the experience into a full-time job with the company this coming fall.
While Bunch loved field hockey, she knew everything she had worked for had led to this opportunity and she couldn’t
turn it down. With her graduation on the horizon, Bunch has set herself up for success and her motivation to prosper has been evident.
“I’m not sad, I think Julia is just getting started,” Beth Bunch said. “She is so motivated and so determined to be successful and to pursue the things she worked so hard for. So I’m not going to be sad. I’m going to be so excited for her.”
Bunch’s ACL recovery was supposed to take up to 12 months, but she is preparing to run the Broad Street Run on May 4, just seven months post-surgery.
“I’m more so doing this just to kind of prove to myself that I’m healthy again and kind of wrap up my college career doing something through Philly with some friends,” Bunch said.
colin.schofield@temple.edu @ColinSchofield9
COURTESY / TEMPLE ATHL:ETICS
Temple’s rebuild season leaves room for growth
The Owls struggled on both sides of the field and matched its most losses in a season with 12.
BY SIENNA CONAGHAN & AUSTIN BOYNES
For The Temple News
Despite making the American Athletic Conference tournament last season, Temple Lacrosse head coach Bonnie Rosen knew 2025 was going to be a rebuild year. Just one of the team’s top five scorers from 2024 returned, but players and coaches still hoped they could make noise in the conference.
That hope was extinguished almost immediately when star attacker Amelia Wright suffered an injury against St. Joseph’s on Feb. 19, just the third game of the season. The injury sent the offense on a downward spiral and the defense followed suit.
“I think this year we had to step up and do a much bigger role than we previously had anyway but losing Amelia really contributed to that as well,” said midfielder Sabrina Martin. “I think it forced
CONTINUED FROM 40 ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
UNDERWHELMING POSTSEASONS
Temple Men’s and Women’s Basketball both entered the 2024-25 season with high expectations. The men’s team came off four American Athletic Conference tournament wins in as many days before falling to UAB in the finals last season. The women’s team was one play away from making a conference championship appearance last year, but a bad inbound pass against Rice sent them home.
Both teams hoped to build on their success last season, but were sent home earlier than expected instead.
The men’s team headed to Fort Worth, Texas, as the No. 7 seed after an inconsistent season. The Owls reached the program’s 2,000th win milestone and took down nationally-ranked Memphis on Jan. 16. However, they endured a
us to step out of our comfort zones and have to do things that we wouldn’t have had to do if we were relying on Amelia.”
Temple finished the season with a 4-12 record and went just 2-4 in conference play. The Owls matched the program’s most losses in a season and missed the AAC tournament for only the second time in the last five seasons.
Even though Wright played in just eight games, she still finished the season second on the team in goals with 22. Others stepped up in her absence, specifically the midfield duo of Erin King and Martin. They led the offensive production and finished first and third on the team with 36 and 21 goals, respectively. Midfielder Sarah Gowman also became a staple and scored in all but four games.
While the offense was adjusting, the defense struggled all season and allowed double-digit goals in all but one game. The Owls were outscored by 64 and gave up 14 goals per game, ranking them 97 of 120 teams in the nation.
“I think we just need more communication,” said goalkeeper Taylor Grollman. “Especially from the top down, we’re pretty solid around the crease, but we kind of lose that communication up
top and then once you get beat from that top side, there’s not much you can do about it.”
Temple couldn’t effectively halt any opposing offenses they faced and allowed 400 shots on goal on the season, putting pressure on Grollman. Despite topping her career-best in saves twice, she wasn’t always consistent in the cage and recorded zero saves against East Carolina on March 28 and Vanderbilt on April 5. Goalkeeper Colleen Berardino stepped in when Grollman couldn’t stop a shot and is expected to anchor the defense next season.
The Owls struggled with inconsistency all season. There were moments that showed signs of improvement, but they quickly faded as the clock ticked down. Temple was tied with UMBC on March 1 but allowed three straight goals in the final quarter to lose 11-9. They had a four-goal cushion against ECU heading into the fourth quarter, but allowed the Pirates to take control and win 11-10 in overtime.
“Our biggest thing is just playing a full four quarters,” King said. “We just have to stay focused and really not let up the pressure once we’re in games and
then capitalize off our good moments.”
The Owls hit multiple bumps in the road but started to correct their mistakes toward the end of the season and finished strong with a five-goal victory against Charlotte on April 26.
A large portion of the roster is set to come back next season, so Temple hopes to return to form as a contender in the AAC once it gains more experience and finds its groove on both sides of the field.
“Our motto all week has been to finish strong and start ahead,” Rosen said. “Meaning finish the season strong and everything we do right now sets the tone for being ahead of where we want to be next year.”
sienna.conaghan@temple.edu @Sienna_Paige2 austin.boynes@temple.edu
six-game losing streak and leading scorer guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. missed the last seven games of the season. Temple held a 14-point lead in the second round of the AAC tournament against 10-seed Tulsa before ultimately losing 75-71.
“Disappointed, obviously, that the season comes to an end, especially the way it did,” said head coach Adam Fisher after the season-ending loss. “Great credit to Tulsa. They made more plays than we did and dominated the second half. But I’m really proud of our team, we had injuries throughout this season, guys had to step up.”
The women’s team secured its second consecutive 20-win season and claimed the first-ever Big 5 Classic Championship, but it didn’t come without struggles. The Owls boasted head coach Diane Richardson’s famous “equal opportunity offense” but suffered stretches where no one was able to sink a shot, which caused them to drop multiple games they led by double-digit points.
They went into the AAC tournament as the No. 4 seed and cruised past
No. 12 Charlotte by 31 points, but fell 6749 to No. 9 Rice in the semifinals for a second straight year.
GROWING PAINS FOR LACROSSE
Temple Lacrosse was built around the same nucleus of players for the last four seasons. Following the 2024 season, when Temple made the AAC tournament, those four players and seven other seniors graduated and the team faltered.
The Owls struggled to score consistently and stop other teams on defense without attacker Mackenzie Roth, midfielder Belle Mastropietro and defenders Maddie Barber and Katie Shallow, who had become staples on the field.
Attacker Amelia Wright was expected to lead the Owls’ offense but went down with an injury after three games and missed the next eight. Temple went just 1-7 without Wright and scored single-digit goals five times. Taylor Grollman was named the AAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, but has been inefficient and even pulled from multi-
ple games due to stretches of her being unable to record any saves.
Despite the difficult season, multiple underclassmen emerged as key building blocks for head coach Bonnie Rosen and are expected to play key roles next season. Midfielder Sabrina Martin and attacker Sarah Gowman are third and fourth on the team in goals, respectively and both can come back next season.
ryan.mack0001@temple.edu
@Ryan_mack18
colin.schofield@temple.edu
@ColinSchofield9 sienna.conaghan@temple.edu
@Sienna_Paige2
STORIES OF THE SPRING
Temple’s sports teams experienced ups and downs and some teams even got a rebrand. Here are the top storylines of the spring semester.
BY TTN SPORTS STAFF
So far, 2025 has been the year of change for Temple and multiple sports teams.
A new era began for the football program, while the basketball teams both stumbled in the postseason and the department’s non-revenue programs are going through rebuilding campaigns.
With the academic year coming to an end, here is a look at the biggest storylines of the spring semester for Temple’s sports teams.
NEW VIBE ON 10TH AND DIAMOND
Temple Football was in dire need of a fresh face to close the 2024 season. Then-head coach Stan Drayton was ousted on Nov. 17, 2024 after three underwhelming seasons. Former Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler was reeled in on Dec. 1, 2024 to give the program a breath of fresh air.
Though just three months into Keeler’s tenure, the department is optimistic that things are
headed in the right direction. Temple has kept nearly the same roster, but has overhauled their system on both sides of the ball. Keeler brought former Montana State coordinator Tyler Walker to run the offense, shifting to a more runheavy scheme.
Brian Smith was also brought in from Rice to run the defense and has converted Temple to a 3-3-5 look, which uses three linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs in the base formation. Temple has recruited players to help avoid its fifth consecutive 3-9 season, with running back Jay Ducker and quarterback Gevani McCoy on offense and Ty Davis on defense.
Despite a new staff and team identity, there’s still work that needs to be done before Temple kicks off its season in August.
“We’ve improved so much, it’s been dramatic,” Keeler said. “But we have a long way to go. We’re not shooting for okay. If we’re shooting for okay, we’re pretty close to being okay.”
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JOSHUA CRELLIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Two Temple football players in a scrimmage during Temple’s spring season at Edberg-Olsen Hall.