THE TEMPLE NEWS
WHAT’S INSIDE LIVE IN PHILLY, Pages 12-13
First annual Bald Fest comes to Philly.
FEATURES, Page 15 Students struggle with SEPTA cuts.
FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2025
Check out The Temple News’ Football Preview for analysis on K.C. Keeler’s opening season, quarterback picks and more. Read more on Pages 17-24.
THE TEMPLE NEWS
Sidney Rochnik Editor-in-Chief
Valeria Uribe Managing Editor
Anna Augustine Managing Editor
Ryan Mack Co-Chief Copy Editor
Bradley McEntee Co-Chief Copy Editor
Sophia Levine News Editor
Nathan Horwitz Assistant News Editor
Connor Pugh Assistant News Editor
Caelan O’Neill Opinion Editor
Wania Irfan Assistant Opinion Editor
Madelynne Ferro Features Editor
Benjamin Dipalma Assistant Features Editor
Sienna Conaghan Co-Sports Editor
Colin Schofield Co-Sports Editor
Jacob Moreno Assistant Sports Editor
Leah Duffy Investigative Reporter
Ireland Davies Investigative Reporter
Julia Anderson Director of Audience Engagement
Nathaniel Thrush Co-Community Engagement Coordinator
Kayla McMonagle Co-Community Engagement Coordinator
Isabella Farrow Audience Engagement Editor
Nalani Chiles Audience Engagement Editor
Xavier Johnson Sports Engagement Editor
Brian Nelson Photo Editor
Lillian Prieto Assistant Photo Editor
Aidan Gallo Assistant Photo Editor
Ava Campbell Multimedia Editor
Jeremy Shover Assistant Multimedia Editor
Jack Larson Print Design Editor
Daniya Eggleston Graphic Design Editor
Chili Ramgolam Data Editor
Ariana Droz Podcast Editor
Sage Spohn Newsletter Editor
Nadia Bodnari Web Editor
Maria Lombana Advertising Manager
Aaliyah Abdur-Rashid Advertising Manager
Jeffrey Darr Business Manager
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.
CORRECTIONS
BRIAN NELSON, AIDAN GALLO, LILLIAN PRIETO & JACK LARSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
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
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 Sidney Rochnik at editor@temple-news.com.
NEWS
What SEPTA’s cuts mean for Temple community
CITY North Central could see less parking, more cars and more students with little other options.
BY SOPHIA LEVINE News Editor
SEPTA cut services by 20% on Aug. 24 and will raise fares by 21.5% starting Sept. 1, after failing to receive state funding by its deadline of Aug. 14. As the Fall semester begins, Temple is bracing for the impact of these cuts.
The cuts include the elimination of 32 bus routes, shortened service on 16 others and reduced services on the regional rail. Metro services will also be reduced by up to 20% and will stop running after 9 p.m.
Around 86% of Temple’s students, faculty and staff commute to campus, according to the 2022 Transportation and Sustainability Culture Survey Report conducted by the Office of Sustainability. More than 36% of those surveyed used some form of public transportation.
In response, the university is discounting flex parking, or day-today “first come, first serve” parking from $13 to $11. The university is also offering shared parking permits, which allows multiple students to buy a shared parking permit. The shared parking permit allows one student to park in their spot and is intended for carpoolers. Parking rates range from $266 to $426, depending on a student’s parking plan.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and its impact on Temple and our operations,” a university spokesperson told The Temple News. “As information changes, we will be sure to keep the Temple community apprised.”
More than 10,000 students, faculty and staff commute by car as their primary mode of transportation while 12,236 rely on the bus, regional rail, subway or trolley, according to the Sustainability Report.
SEPTA cuts can add an estimated 275,000 vehicles to the road,
WHYY reported.
Jeffrey Doshna, a professor for city and regional planning, said that Temple will feel the impact of SEPTA cuts both in the short and long term, citing the university’s reliance on public transportation that the campus cannot function without.
“Temple has a number of students who live off campus, who rely on the subway, buses and the regional rail, we have faculty who rely on it to get to work every day, and we have thousands of staff who work here who rely on it every single day,” Doshna said. “So if all those folks have to get in their cars, some of them don’t have cars, so we don’t know how they will get to campus, it’s going to affect them.”
Michael Sances, a political science professor, said the gridlock in Harrisburg played a major role in SEPTA’s inability to find funding.
The democrats controlling the House of Representatives and the Republicans controlling the Senate failed
to reach a deal on public transportation allotments in the annual state budget, NBC10 reported.
SEPTA is facing a structural deficit of $213 million in its 2026 fiscal budget after the COVID-19 federal funding expired. The Pennsylvania legislature can pass the budget piece by piece, but SEPTA and other public transportation have yet to receive funding.
“Most of the budget has been passed with some lingering items, including SEPTA,” Sances said. “They do need to pass this budget eventually.”
If no funding agreement is reached, additional SEPTA cuts will be made by Jan. 1, 2026, terminating service for five regional rail lines: Cynwyd, Chestnut Hill West, Wilmington/Newark, Paoli/ Thorndale and Trenton.
The short-term impact will include more traffic coming to campus as more students, faculty, and workers drive to Temple and search for parking, according to Doshna. He believes that the lack of parking spaces will impact the
North Philadelphia community, citing the negative relationship between the university and the local community.
“Historically, we’ve been not so great about it as a university, and so there’s going to be an impact, even folks who aren’t working here or studying here, they’re going to feel the impact just on us,” Doshna said.
sophia.levine@temple.edu @sophia_levine
LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
The Cecil B. Moore station on Friday Aug. 23, 2025.
CAMPUS
Expanded Paley Hall opens for the Fall semester
The building housing the College of Public Health and bookstore has been years in the making.
BY CONNOR PUGH Assistant News Editor
Temple opened Paley Hall, the new home for the College of Public Health, on Aug. 25 — six years after the Paley Library closed for renovations. The building also contains a new, expanded Temple bookstore.
Construction on Paley Hall began in Spring 2023, finishing in the summer of 2025 with a soft opening for staff on Aug. 19. The building process was carried out by Rycon Construction and designed by S/L/A/M and PZS architectural firms, completing the large-scale transformation and expansion of the Paley Library, which first opened in 1966.
As the new home of CPH, which was initially spread across 10 different buildings on multiple campuses, Paley Hall now features updated facilities and accommodations for the entire program to be centered in one location on Main Campus.
“The best way to describe [the pro
clude a simulation center designed to immerse students in various circumstances connected to real life experiences in their academic fields, like a restaurant and ambulance bay.
Paley Hall also includes a comprehensive teaching kitchen gifted by Aramark Collegiate Hospitality designed to train students in realistic environments of food preparation and cooking. The simulation centers are open for academic use, and the teaching kitchen is planned to open within the next couple weeks.
The consolidation of the various aspects of the CPH into one location is a unique challenge for the staff and students within the college’s various programs. CPH contains a wide array of research programs and departments from social work to epidemiology, which led to the relocation taking considerable planning and manpower.
“The whole thing was done in a day,” said Philip McCallion, a professor and director of the School of Social Work at the College of Public Health. “It seemed to go like clockwork.”
Paley Hall contains centrally located facilities for CPH administration, including new advising offices for CPH
School of Social Work which provides opportunities for career enhancement and research opportunities.
The building also has numerous quiet spaces and lounge areas for student
Paley Hall also houses the newly expanded Temple bookstore, relocated from its previous location in the Howard Gittis Student Center basement to a more spacious venue.
the bookstore in the Student Center is planned to be converted into an Essential Needs Center part of the Hope Center for Basic Student Needs, according to Droz.
Paley Hall is the latest project to be completed in Temple’s broader plan for campus development initiated with Visualize Temple in 2014. The project included other building projects such as the construction of the Charles Library, the skywalk connecting Alter and Speakman halls and modernizations of building facilities on Main Campus and abroad campuses.
The new two-story location features a larger stock, improved systems for getting course materials and an event space and lounge areas for meetings and author events.
Ibrahim hopes the redesign will achieve its goal of serving the community of students in CPH and the broader student body.
“I think one of the benefits is that it feels more open,” said Martin Droz, associate vice president for planning, design and construction.
The old location of
“We’re using the tagline of ‘Welcome home,’” Ibrahim said. “I want students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members to feel that this is a warm and welcoming place, and this is our home that we’ll do amazing things together.”
connor.pugh@temple.edu
LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
The new Paley Hall building located at 1210 Pollett Walk on Aug. 24, 2025.
HOLLIS THOMAS AKA
ADMINISTRATION
Temple to pay employees for community service
The university aims to incentivize community engagement through Owls for Philly.
BY NATHAN HORWITZ Assistant News Editor
The Office of Community Impact and Civic Engagement is starting a program to pay non-faculty employees for civic engagement work, the university announced Aug. 14.
“We have launched what we believe is a robust civic engagement network that connects Temple students, faculty, staff, and alumni to community members, schools, and community organizations,” said Valerie Harrison, vice president for Community Impact and Civic Engagement.
Through the program, called Owls for Philly, full-time employees will be eligible to use up to eight hours of paid civic engagement time per fiscal year. Parttime employees will be able to use up to four hours. Civic engagement hours can only be used on volunteer opportunities through Owls for Philly and may be used in four- or eight-hour increments.
By giving staff paid time off work to volunteer in the community, Temple’s Office of Community Impact and Civic Engagement is trying to operate with even greater intentionality.
“We’re just trying to provide a mechanism so those persons who are working during the typical workday have flexibility to participate in volunteer activities,” Harrison said.
The community engagement connections are made through volunteering, partnerships, mentoring, community-engaged learning and research and a soon-to-launch service called Temple OnBoard.
Temple OnBoard is a branch of the program that aims to equip and match Temple faculty, staff, and graduate and professional students to nonprofit organizations to serve on their boards, Harrison said.
Owls for Philly will offer a wide
range of opportunities that volunteers can select based on their interests or expertise.
For example, a student who is a finance major could volunteer to help a nonprofit organization in need of technical advice, Harrison said. Students in more creative disciplines could have opportunities to volunteer design efforts.
For paid civic engagement time, non-faculty employees will receive their usual hourly wage. A list of volunteer opportunities will soon be available through the TUportal homepage and will be updated regularly, according to the announcement.
Full-and part-time regular, non-faculty employees are eligible for the program, according to Temple’s civic engagement benefit time policy.
Owls for Philly also hopes to remedy the issue of social disconnection, which hinders economic mobility, Harrison said.
Harrison believes that combining diverse thoughts, ideas, and voices makes for a stronger society, and that
greater civic engagement doesn’t just help the local community, it also benefits Temple.
“It’s reciprocal,” Harrison said. “I learn as much from a long-term resident in this neighborhood as that resident could learn from me.”
Owls for Philly looks to build on Temple’s existing community impact initiatives like Temple Community Gateway, a resource that helps connect community members to Temple’s services.
Gregory Bonaparte, president of the board of trustees at Berean Presbyterian Church, located on Broad and Diamond streets, recognizes the value of compensating civic engagement. He believes the pay from Owls for Philly will inspire Temple employees to get involved in the community when they wouldn’t have done so otherwise due to their busy schedules.
“There’s not enough time in the day,” Bonaparte said. “So, I think it’s a good approach to try to figure out how we can filter more professional folks into
the civic part of things.”
Bonaparte recognizes the value of civic engagement and wants to see more of it in his community. He believes that getting young people more involved in civic activities will keep them out of trouble.
“It takes a village to build a youngster,” Bonaparte said.
Some residents feel that Temple’s expansive nature can negatively impact the surrounding communities and requires the university to increase its civic engagement efforts.
Barbara Perlman, director of Student Leadership and Engagement, believes the initiative will help non-faculty employees, like herself, find more time to get involved in the community. She can also see herself getting more involved because of Owls for Philly.
“I hope to explore some of the options that they’re providing,” Perlman said. “I’d be really excited to participate.”
nathan.horwitz@temple.edu
BRIAN NELSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS Community member Gregory Bonaparte sits in front of Berean Presbyterian Church on Aug. 24, 2025.
CAMPUS
WRTI faces $700,000 deficit after funding cuts
The station will need to raise $700,000 to compensate budget shortfall in 2026,
BY NATHAN HORWITZ Assistant News Editor
WRTI, a public radio station founded as Temple’s campus station, will face a $700,000 budget shortfall in fiscal year 2026 after federal funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
President Donald Trump signed a $9 billion rescission package that included $1.1 billion in cuts from the CPB on July 24. The bill cuts $1.4 million intended for WRTI’s daily jazz and classical broadcasting throughout the next two years. As a result of the bill’s passing, CPB will begin winding down operations and ultimately close.
WRTI, which already receives 80% of its overall budget from donations, is looking to its listeners to close the funding gap.
“If they can do more, we need them to do more,” said Bill Johnson, general manager of WRTI.
Temple holds the broadcast license for WRTI and contributed $367,483 of direct support in fiscal year 2024.
Public radio stations across the country were receiving portions of their funding through CPB. For WRTI, federal grant revenue constituted $310,724, or 5.5% of its revenue in 2024, according to their financial reports.
In addition to the grant revenue, CPB was negotiating and paying for WRTI’s acquisition of music royalties, the fees a station must pay to use an artist’s intellectual property.
Due to non-disclosure agreements around the negotiated terms of the royalties, it is very difficult for WRTI to determine how much they’ll have to pay for music rights without CPB’s assistance, Johnson said.
The rescission package’s impact will be felt by local stations across the country, and will result in diminished public service, according to Johnson.
Overall, larger music stations like WRTI won’t be impacted by the cuts as severely as smaller stations because they generate a vast majority of their content locally.
“Small, rural stations serving tribal communities are disproportionately harmed by the pullback of federal funding in such ways as it becomes existential for them,” Johnson said.
If a budget shortfall remains, public service will continue to be WRTI’s top priority, Johnson said. He hasn’t ruled out staffing cuts as a potential budget solution.
Delia Joyce, a senior media studies and production major working at WRTI, is concerned about what the CPB cuts could mean for job security.
“There are staff members that have been working at WRTI for 30 years, and that is their life, that is their livelihood,” Joyce said. “So, it is kind of scary to think that their jobs could be in jeopardy.”
In his rescissions request to Congress, Trump justified the cuts by arguing that federal funding for CPB “subsidizes a public media system that is politically biased and is an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer.”
In his two decades working in public broadcasting, criticisms about the industry’s alleged political bias have become familiar to Johnson. However, WRTI’s programming does not include political discourse.
“That’s not what we’re here for,” Johnson said. “We’re here to share this music with as many people as possible.”
WRTI’s programming runs classical and jazz music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with classical running from 6 a.m.
to 6 p.m., and jazz from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Melanie Spiegel, a 2025 media and studies and production alumna who worked with WRTI, is grateful for her time as a production assistant at the station and hopes future students will continue to benefit from its work.
“WRTI provides a lot of opportunities for Temple students,” Spiegel said. “They find as many ways as possible to collaborate with the school.”
While the cuts present a financial hurdle for WRTI’s budget, Johnson is prepared to make the adaptations necessary to continue the station’s 76-year-old legacy.
“As much as the federal cuts are difficult, they present an opportunity,” Johnson said. “We have to step up to that opportunity to grow our service. We’ve always wanted to do more. We have to do it differently now.”
nathan.horwitz@temple.edu
LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple student Deila Joyce is a production student worker at WRTI.
Flexible payment
After a summer of uncertainty and budget concerns, SEPTA’s first round of route cuts just went into effect on Aug. 24. The reduction of service aligns perfectly with the start of Temple’s fall semester and will affect those who rely on SEPTA to get to campus.
In addition to the burdens of buying textbooks, paying for tuition and settling into the semester, commuter students now have to find a safe and effective way to get to campus.
While not every commuter student owns a car or has access to a vehicle, those who do are saddled with a hefty parking permit fee. With extremely limited street parking options on Main Campus, Temple is able to capitalize off students who drive.
Temple parking permits range from $266 to $505 per semester. The parking office requires these permits to be paid for, in full, up front. There is no option for a payment plan or to roll the cost in to a student’s tuition to have their financial aid pay for it.
Temple students should be able to attend their classes without having to pay additional hefty fees. The Editorial Board urges Temple and Parking Services to alter their policy to allow flexible payment options.
Temple can start with implementing measures to alleviate students’ financial strains like lowering the cost of parking permits, allowing payment plans, combining fees into tuition so financial aid to pay for it and extending free street parking options. With students paying thousands of dollars to attend class, it’s unfair to put another monetary barrier in place
OPINION
to prevent students from getting to those classes they pay for.
Temple released a statement on July 18 acknowledging how these cuts are going to drastically affect Temple’s community. Temple also claimed to understand that these parking permits may be an unexpected expense for students, and they were looking into solutions to alleviate the cost.
Vice President and Interim Chief Operating Officer David Marino released a statement five days before the start of the semester. Their solutions were limited to reducing flex parking by $2 and allowing for a carpool parking option that still costs $266.
The carpool parking permit sounds idyllic, but the permit only allows for one car to be parked at a time. Finding other students whose schedules align perfectly might not be plausible for all students who are already navigating a stressful time.
Parking permits are another financial barrier for students and during these tumultuous times, Temple should do more to support students who rely on SEPTA to make it to class.
Temple administration claims to understand the struggles students and faculty face, but the reality is, they have to follow through with actions to show where they stand.
Cautionary tale of age gaps
A student shares her experience in a relationship with an age gap and warns against its dangers.
BY CAELAN O’NEILL Opinion Editor THE ESSAYIST
Iwent on tour with Disney when I was newly 20 years old and I ended up losing myself. What was supposed to be the launch pad for my career was my biggest regret.
I was drinking more than I should have, something I rarely did before the tour started. I was putting on a facade and hanging out with people I didn’t like because I wanted their approval.
On the second day of the tour, I met a man seven years older than me and we started dating after a month. He had experiences I didn’t, which led to an unhealthy relationship.
I was so young, naïve and easy to manipulate. It was easy for him to mold me into whoever he wanted, someone meek and subservient. After we started dating, he quickly isolated me from my friends. I fought with my best friend, who warned me the relationship was unsafe, but I thought she didn’t understand it.
At first, my mother thought I was happy, but she eventually saw through the facade. She tried to talk to me about the distance he encouraged between us, but I shut it down. He alienated me until he became the only person I had to turn to.
I recognize the toxicity of the relationship. I know it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I shouldn’t have been preyed on by an older man. I felt like I had been waiting my whole life to hear the praise he was giving me, so I fell victim to the idea that this type of “love” would never be available to me. Regardless of how disingenuous it was.
Books and movies often give characters in an age gap relationship a happy ending without addressing the complexity involved. My boyfriend constantly reinforced the idea that I was mature for my age, which made me feel like I knew better than people around me.
I spent two years in this relationship, allowing him to treat me in whatever way he desired, but when he started mistreating my
dog that I knew it was time to go. The decision to leave was easy, but the process was difficult. Thankfully, my mother was still by my side to help me and let me move back in.
The aftermath was messy. I had several relationships to repair, and I was grieving. I wasn’t sad the relationship ended but I struggled to forgive myself for enduring this for so long and letting my relationships suffer.
It wasn’t until a year and a half after the relationship ended that I realized I would be loved again in a real, unproblematic way. I don’t love being a cautionary tale, but I learned what I want from a partner and what I will not tolerate.
Most importantly, I learned how crucial my friends and family are when it comes to romantic relationships. They can see things I can’t when I ’m too close to the other person, because distance allows for perspective.
Without my friends and family, I’m not sure where I would be today but I’m glad I don’t have to find out. I know they’ll always love me through my mistakes, and they’ll help pick up the pieces when I mess up.
This was one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn, but I think I came out a better person on the other side.
caelan.oneill@temple.edu
CAMPUS LIFE
Focus on true diversity and close the equity gap
A student argues that Temple should focus expand diversity among faculty members.
BY WANIA IRFAN Assistant Opinion Editor
Through his experiences as a Black student, Sena Agudu found it hard to deeply connect with his professors who didn’t share his same ethnic background.
“It might not seem like much on the surface but there is an underlying mental factor that plays into it. Say, I’m a Black student, all my professors are white. Yes I can still learn, even if it’s visual, it’s one thing I feel like I don’t relate to them with,” said Agudu, a junior sports tourism and hospitality management major.
Though the numbers are not yet confirmed, the Class of 2029 is projected to be the most diverse class in recent years. Interest has spiked from out-ofstate students, there are international students coming from 83 different countries and the deposits from students of color have increased, consisting of 66% of first year deposits, the university announced in July.
Temple has continuously welcomed its most diverse classes for the last few years. The Class of 2026 has the largest number of students of color in the last 25 years with more than 50% being students of color.
However, diversity among faculty is a different story. Students of color might see themselves represented among peers, but not as often in their professors. Sixty-five percent of all Temple faculty are white, while only 7.2% are African American, 11.7% are Asian and only 5% are Latino, according to Temple’s 20242025 Fact Book.
Temple’s core values include diversity and inclusivity, but the faculty must reflect that promise. Faculty diversity is crucial to ensure student success. Protecting diversity is paramount in the state of modern politics and Temple should make it a priority to hire and retain more people of color to maintain equity.
The gap in representation also has tangible impacts on students learning. It
effects mentorship, curriculum development and the classroom environment.
Having diverse faculty can be beneficial for students from underrepresented backgrounds because it makes them feel like they belong in the classroom which directly impacts retention rates and academic performance, according to a March 2024 report by the United State Government and Accountability Office.
However, learning from a diverse pool of instructors is not only beneficial for students from marginalized communities, but for everyone. Students should be learning from people with different backgrounds and experiences, so they get a fully rounded education.
Diversifying faculty can also impact students’ mental health and decrease depression, according to a December 2024 study by The National Library of Medicine.
At the same time, Temple should focus on retaining the diverse faculty it already has by proactively offering career growth opportunities, implementing fair policies and promoting a welcoming
environment for all.
Aaron Smith, a professor of Africology and African American studies, believes there should be more representation in advising and the hiring process should take diversity into consideration.
“I think we’ve been conditioned to look for diversity in representation, especially when it’s not there,” Smith said. “I don’t want to over emphasize the intent or the meaning behind the representation by those who might have put people in those positions.”
It’s important for students’ academic success to develop a connection with professors of a similar background as it can alleviate stress and help establish connections.
With recent threats to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s tenure, it is more important than ever to promote inclusivity across all of Temple.
Lauren Edwards believes Temple must change the way it addresses equity so that campus is more uplifting for
those who are underrepresented.
“Professors just need to make sure that they’re being accommodating of people’s educational needs because I feel like if it’s documented that a student has an educational need, I feel like they would have to respect that and not try to avoid it or hop over it,” said Edwards, a sophomore social work major.
If Temple wants to be more a truly diverse campus and more equitable, it needs to focus on hiring and retaining faculty of color. This will directly impact students’ academic success and well-being. Diversity without equity can come off performative; it might look good in the advertising aspect, but it doesn’t build a community where everyone can thrive.
wania.irfan@temple.edu
DANIYA EGGLESTON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
THE ESSAYIST
What “The Giving Tree” taught me about growth
A student reflects on reading “The Giving Tree” and how it impacts her life now.
BY WANIA IRFAN Opinion Editor
I first read “The Giving Tree” as a kid. At the time I perceived it as a sweet story embellished with child-like drawings that resembled my own. The book is about an apple tree who loves a boy and gives him everything he asks for as he grows older.
The tree loved the boy; the boy loved the tree. When the boy wants to express his love for a girl, he carves her initials in the trunk. When he needs money, the tree grants him her apples to sell in the market. When the boy was hungry, the tree gave him apples, and when the boy needed a house, the tree let him cut branches.
At the end of the story, the boy is old and needs somewhere to sit and the tree lets him use the stump; the only thing the tree has left to offer after giving him everything.
“The Giving Tree” is about giving and taking. It’s about love, generosity and sacrifice. Many people have compared this book to a mother’s love.
I never questioned the ending, I only thought about how generous the tree was and learned that loving someone meant giving everything to them. To me, this was a story about kindness and sacrifice, and I absorbed it like I did all the other lessons in children’s stories.
I read the book again in high school to experience the nostalgia, and I picked
up on things I didn’t before. I noticed how the boy kept taking from the tree and not giving anything in return. At the end, the tree was left as a stump in the ground, worn down by someone else’s needs but still happy.
Reading it now, I am not sure if the tree is meant to be praised, seen as a warning or maybe both. It could be a reminder that love without boundaries becomes depletion and that taking without gratitude becomes greed.
Endless giving isn’t love; it’s erosion. Allowing someone to repeatedly take without providing anything in return can be selfish.
In my reread of “The Giving Tree,” I reflected on my own relationships and realized I gave so much to others until I stopped recognizing myself.
Up until that point, I allowed my emotions to interfere with my logic. I believed that if I continuously gave and poured myself into others, it would eventually circle back.
I found that when I cared for some-
one, I did any favor for them without hesitation. Ranging from small favors, like handing them something, to bigger ones, like buying them things even when I wasn’t in the greatest financial situation.
Like the tree, these favors added up over time. I was spending most of my energy on other people and barely made time for myself.
I was tearing myself to pieces to validate other’s feelings. At the beginning, it was difficult to see what was truly happening even though it was right in front of my face. My love for a person blinded me to everything else.
“The Giving Tree” showed me that if no boundaries are set, people can treat kindness as an endless source, whether it is knowingly or unknowingly. Genuine love cannot exist when it’s one-sided.
The evolution of my perception of love shows my growth as a person. It reminds me that the meaning of books doesn’t remain static, they evolve just like humans. The book has stuck to me through all these years and it taught me a
lesson that I remember every day. The book has influenced the way I give and receive love. It became less about nostalgia and more about reflection. What makes “The Giving Tree” a powerful story is its ability to mean something different depending on when I read it.
Despite the realizations, “The Giving Tree” is still one of my favorite books, even if it is a children’s book. As a child, I saw only generosity and sweetness. As a high schooler, I saw selfishness and imbalance. I now see a mixture of both, the beauty of love and the danger of how far it can go.
wania.irfan@temple.edu
DANIYA EGGLESTON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
My lack of memory and those who surround me
A student reflects on the gaps in her memory, what it means, and how she compensates.
BY CAELAN O’NEILL Opinion Editor
I struggle with a terrible memory. Yet I think one of the best ways to show appreciation for people is to remember details they’ve shared, so I often feel like I’m unable to convey how deeply I care.
Being unable to recall most of my life makes me feel disconnected from experiences I’m having. It makes it difficult to participate when my friends reminisce about shared memories, because I feel like I’m always hearing the stories for the first time.
I originally thought this only affected my childhood and teenage years. I chalked it up to repressed memories from traumatic experiences from that time. But at 25, I’ve realized I don’t remember my early twenties that well.
It’s not just big events that I can’t remember, but simple conversations from recent weeks too. I struggle to show my friends that I care about what’s going on in their lives because I can’t recall what they share with me.
My body seems to show up, but my mind doesn’t. It’s isolating to feel so absent from my own life. It’s even more confusing to try to articulate this experience.
My best friend has an incredible memory, and it seems like she keeps track of my mine for me because she’s been such a big part of my life for so long. I feel like a lot of my life would be missing without her. While it’s frustrating to not be able to remember things myself, I’m grateful to have someone like her.
I’ve talked to my therapist about this and tried to work through traumatic experiences to unlock my memories. I tried for almost a year, but after therapy failed I went on several Reddit deep dives and listened to podcasts.
I discovered that this is a common experience, and my lack of memories may not be linked to trauma. Some people’s brains have to write over old memories to make space for new ones, and others have something called Childhood Amnesia. This isn’t a diagnosis, but perhaps an explanation that brings some relief.
Social media also affects my ability to remember recent events. With short form media becoming the newest way to deliver information, I can feel my attention span shortening. Nowadays there’s so much bombardment of information and I struggle to hold on to all of it.
It’s also comforting to learn the difference between remembering and recall. Struggling to recall something until prompted doesn’t mean it’s forgotten altogether. Sometimes I’m unable to pull
out a memory until I hear a few details. I wish my memory was stronger, but I suspect most of my early memories are gone.
Knowing others online have a similar experience is less isolating, because I don’t know anyone personally who struggles with their memories. While it makes me nervous for the future and what I’ll remember as I age, I’ve adjusted my life to help me feel less disconnected.
I started writing almost everything down four years ago. Including details about my friends and family, even if I’ve known them for years. It reinforces and strengthens the information in my brain, and that makes it easier to recall things. Sometimes I have to read my note multiple times to be able to remember the information, but it does feel helpful in the long run.
I keep a “circle back” list in my notes app consisting of topics my friends told me about recently. It’s simple stuff, like a doctor’s appointment or a restaurant they’re trying. I check it once or twice a week to jog my memory so I can follow
up on things happening in their lives.
I never want my lack of memory to affect those in my life. I want my people to know how deeply I care about them, and that means not making them repeat themselves.
Pictures have also become extremely important to me in the past few months. I realized I remember events better when I have photos of them to refer to. While social media has both negative and positive aspects, it’s very helpful to have visuals of my friend’s lives.
My Instagram serves as a time capsule for photos and memories. While these aren’t permanent solutions, they are helpful in navigating the blank spaces in my memory. My friends are patient with me and don’t seem to mind reexplaining events or stories when I need it, and for that I’m grateful.
I hope that one day this won’t be necessary but until then, I will truly value the support I have around me.
caelan.oneill@temple.edu
DANIYA EGGLESTON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
TEMPLE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
S I T J C C C I D H C N K V Q N R I L
D M G T A Q H Z K K T X A A D H Q L M S
A U D E B S A C V R E B H R V A C I Z A
I S T X X T F F N P X T F J O Y O B D F
I
X X T S E V X B N L A J J C K L K A I X
C D L J A V B B Y G S V C V J K I T I Y
Q Q Q Z P Y U I G T E S I G W R T N B C
Q Q Q Z P Y U I G T E S I G W R T N B C
U V U L I Q R L U H U M V U M A S S A P
U V U L I Q R L U H U M V U M A S S A P EAST CAROLINA GEORGIA TECH NORTH TEXAS CHARLOTTE OKLAHOMA TULANE
EAST CAROLINA GEORGIA TECH NORTH TEXAS CHARLOTTE OKLAHOMA TULANE
HOWARD TULSA UMASS
UTSA NAVY ARMY
LIVE in Philly
Bald, Bold and Proud at Philly’s first-ever Bald Fest
Dozens gathered in Grays Ferry for a celebration of baldness on Aug. 23.
BY BRIAN NELSON Photo Editor
As the sun dipped behind the Grays Ferry Bridge, a line of shining heads filed onto the stage at Grays Ferry Skatepark.
An eruption of cheers could be heard from bald cap wearers and fullhaired attendees alike as chants of “For the bald and bald-at-heart” filled the air.
Bald Fest 2025 filled Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood with music, bald pride and community spirit on Saturday, Aug. 23. The event featured skateboarding, live performances, a DJ set, exclusive merchandise and a headlining show from organizer Robert Capron.
Capron decided to establish Bald
Fest, the first music festival dedicated to the celebration of exposed scalps, after shaving his head in June.
“I shaved my head and had one of the best months of my life,” he said.
Capron feels that baldness is often seen as a flaw instead of a trait to embrace, leaving many feeling ashamed. Capron didn’t want anyone to face that stigma alone.
“I feel like going bald is definitely one of the most necessary evils that some men and women have to go through,” he said.
Though attendees came for different reasons, the festival shared one purpose: celebrating music, culture and rejecting beauty standards.
“I struggle from female pattern baldness – a common condition regarding the thinning of hair – so I get it, “ said Grace Tennesen, Philadelphia native, music fanatic and attendee at Bald Fest.
Robert Capron, known as rapper Abstract Louv, speaks at the first annual Bald Fest at Greys Ferry Skatepark in Philadelphia on Aug. 23, 2025. | AIDAN GALLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Bald Fest goers sit and enjoy the scene. | LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
A majority of the crowd came with a full head of hair while only a handful of individuals sported the event’s titular lack-of-hairstyle. One thing remained constant: the mildly humorous energy the community formed.
“It’s amazing having support from your own community and the people around you,” said Jada Linder, who attended Saturday’s festival.
brian.nelson003@temple.edu
Attendees in bald caps sit on the grass at 2025 Bald Fest. | LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Ty Rennick (left) and Jordyn Katilas (right) dress up as Steve Harvey and Dr. Phil for Bald Fest on Aug. 23. | AIDAN GALLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Punk band “F*ck Tomb” perform live for the crowd at Bald Fest | LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Bald Fest 2025 merchandise is sold at the Greys Ferry Skatepark on Aug. 23. | AIDAN GALLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Vendors chat through the music of Bald Fest on Aug. 23. | AIDAN GALLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS
FEATURES
COMMUNITY
Local sneakerhead hones craft through Gateway
Timothy Fontaine is learning how to expand his business through Temple classes.
BY BEN DIPALMA Assistant Features Editor
Ever since Timothy Fontaine was 11 years old, he has coveted sneakers. Growing up, his mom didn’t have the money to buy name brand shoes, so Fontaine took matters into his own hands. He spent time at local car washes to raise enough money to sport a new pair of kicks.
“As I got older, there was a desire for me to be financially blessed so that I could provide for my family and my children, and so they wouldn’t have to go through what I had to go through,” Fontaine said.
For more than two decades, Fontaine has worked to make that dream a reality by selling sought-after sneakers to the North Central community at affordable rates.
Fontaine started selling sneakers in 2003 with just a single table on Diamond Street. After eight years, he eventually moved to a brick-and-mortar store in Southwest Philly called Tilwear. The site was short-lived, and he was forced to shut down the store in 2011. Now, he’s moved back to what helped his business thrive and looked to hone his skills with the help of the Temple University Community Gateway program.
“After we shut the store down, we repositioned ourselves where we were more successful,” Fontaine said. “We came back to our community.”
In the mid-summer heat, Fontaine opens his car trunk in the afternoon on a corner near 20th and Diamond streets. He lays out an assortment of Asics, Nike Dunks, Jordans and other trending sneakers in enough colors to make out a rainbow, just in time for locals to stop by on their commute home from school or work.
Fontaine sets up shop just a few blocks away from Main Campus and provides the North Philadelphia com-
munity with a place to shop for namebrand sneakers. Fontaine is motivated by a desire to be successful, while wanting the community to benefit from his business.
“We wanted to make [the sneakers] affordable for our community,” Fontaine said. “Back in our day, we used to get dressed for Easter and other holidays. There were some people who could afford it and some who couldn’t. They used to get talked about and bullied because they couldn’t afford it.”
Sashai Rivers has bought sneakers from Fontaine for several years. Her and her kids continually return to Fontaine’s store for his wide array of available items, which includes socks and clothes alongside the multitude of popular shoe brands.
“He’s very professional. He has a lot of variety, different types of sneakers, me and my kids love it too,” Rivers said.
In February, Fontaine began his enrollment in a 6-week course at the
Fox School of Business with the help of Community Gateway. The program is intended to support Philadelphians like Fontaine by connecting them to courses at the university and accommodating financial assistance.
Temple started its Community Gateway program in May 2024 to connect North Central residents to the services the university offers.
“[The Gateway] is the middle person to the resources,” said Ramond Nelson, vice president for public affairs at the Community Gateway, and a class of 2021 alumnus. “We’re the first ones who communicate with all of the department heads to see what they have in the university. In short, we don’t run the programs, but we act as the hotline for the university when it comes to resources.”
For Fontaine, this meant being able to take night classes on business development without having to become a full-time student. He learned a variety of skills, such as digital marketing, business
management and networking at Temple.
Nelson first met Fontaine during a tabling event, where he helped to get him involved with the Community Gateway. He saw raw potential in Fontaine’s business knowledge, acquired from years of experience.
“He just needed more sharpening on the logistics and legal aspects of how to market himself and better brand himself,” Nelson said. “He was already knowledgeable about the product. He just needed the support.”
Fontaine hopes that other entrepreneurial-minded Philadelphians will utilize the Community Gateway just like he did.
“There’s a lot of talent in this community,” Fontaine said. “Temple is helping people like me take that ambition and use it for something good.”
benjamin.dipalma@temple.edu
BRIAN NELSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Timothy Fontaine, graduate of Temple Community Gateway, showcases his sneaker pop-up shop on Diamond Street July 28.
AROUND CAMPUS
Temple students weigh in on SEPTA budget cuts
SEPTA’s budget cuts will leave many Temple students looking for new means of transportation.
BY BEN DIPALMA Assistant Features Editor
Charlotte Johnson relies on her part-time job as a dog walker to make some extra cash when she isn’t busy with classes and homework. She rides the bus to Manayunk almost every day, but with a large percentage of SEPTA’s bus lines being slashed in August, she no longer has a commute to work.
“I usually take the bus to a lot of the clients’ houses, because they live in more residential areas,” said Johnson, a junior journalism major. “Having those bus routes cut will definitely affect how I get to my job on a day-to-day basis”
SEPTA moved forward with its budget cut proposal, which includes a 20% service cut and a 21.5 % fare increase for bus and metro routes on Aug. 24. Regional rail cuts will begin on Sept. 1. A second wave of cuts is slated for January 2026, which will eliminate five regional rail lines, impose a 9 p.m. curfew on all rail services and cut 18 additional bus routes.
The result will be a 45% service reduction, with an impact that will reach a large population of Temple students who rely on the services provided by SEPTA to carry out daily tasks, work and travel the city.
Many students use public transit to commute to the university from different parts of Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs. Almost 86% of students are commuters, with 37% of them relying on buses, trolleys and rails as a part of their commute, according to a 2022 Transportation and Sustainability Culture Survey conducted by the Office of Sustainability.
Hayden Shuker, a junior civil engineering major, uses a variety of SEPTA services when he travels to competitions for the debate club.
“We’ll go to a few competitions on the regional rail,” Shuker said. “We’ve
gone to Haverford and other towns with SEPTA, and it’s essential for living here without a car or anything. I just don’t really know any other way.”
In addition to the changes to SEPTA affecting school, extracurriculars and work commutes, students are concerned about how their social life will change following the implementation of curfews and line reductions.
“I think it’s a cut to both Philly tourism and sports events that rely pretty heavily on regional rail,” said Joy Donovan, a junior film major. “It’s also going to hurt the multitude of people who work or live in the area and then commute to Philly or New York.”
Donovan takes the Paoli/Thorndale line to get home, work and to go to doctors’ appointments. The line is expected to be eliminated entirely following a second wave of cuts, leaving her with a restricted ability to complete her tasks.
While Johnson expects to bike to
her dog-walking clients in West Philadelphia, Donovan feels forced to use rideshare services like Uber and Lyft as an alternative to public transit in the wake of the service reductions.
“I expect to have to use Uber a lot more. It is really pretty terrible considering Uber is already dealing with some ongoing lawsuits about their kind of artificial pricing,” said Donovan, referring to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission which alleges that the company charged consumers for its Uber one subscription without their consent, failed to deliver promised savings and made it difficult for users to cancel the service.
In addition to dismay over the forced reliance on privatized ride sharing services, students have expressed concern over the additional costs incurred by the cuts. SEPTA has already raised the fare price by 21.5% resulting in a $2.90 fare, and ridesharing services often cost significantly more.
“The other night, I had to use an Uber to get home because I missed the train,” said John Joyce, a sophomore marketing major who takes the Doylestown line home. “It was about 23 bucks compared to the $3 to $5 it would have been.”
Temple will continue to monitor the situation closely and its impact on Temple and its operations, the university wrote in a statement Aug. 20. They also offer a SEPTA semester pass program, which provides a 10% discount on SEPTA transit for students that opt-into the program.
“Without public transportation the city wouldn’t be what it is,” Johnson said. “Cutting funding and major routes will take down this city, and they will have to deal with the consequences when people can’t get to work, go places they need to or commute from residential areas.”
benjamin.dipalma@temple.edu
LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS SEPTA cuts went into effect Aug. 24, just one day before classes start for Temple.
AROUND CAMPUS
Student grows social media brand NoShortsUSA
Santiago Ortiz has more than 300,000 followers across several social media platforms.
BY MADELYNNE FERRO Features Editor
By the time Santiago Ortiz had graduated high school, he was no stranger to social media content creation. Starting in seventh grade, Ortiz created various monetized accounts with subjects ranging from NBA memes to Star Wars facts. But making dispassionate content didn’t cut it for Ortiz, and an unexpected gap year between high school and Temple left space for a serious passion project.
“It was a saying that my friends and I had,” said Ortiz, founder of “NoShortsUSA” social media and content creation brand and senior marketing major. “We all rowed in high school, and during workouts we say, ‘No shorts, no shortcuts. Winners don’t take short cuts.’”
NoShortsUSA is a Philly social media brand that has gained more than 280
V O I C E S
thousand followers on TikTok and more than 91 thousand followers on Instagram. Ortiz posts videos featuring local businesses, Philadelphia sports, comedic skits, and Pennsylvania colleges like Penn State and Temple, mainly using a “man-on-the-street” style interview for his unscripted videos.
Ortiz has interviewed high-profile celebrities like Jason Kelce and covered issues like the Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital closures. While the page has taken off, Ortiz admits when he started the account in August of 2020, the content was lacking a general focus.
“It would take me an hour to do these animated videos, simple stuff like Pennsylvania versus New Jersey,” Ortiz said. “It was basically rage bait. But the reason some of that content did well was because it was local.”
In the past two years, Ortiz has expanded his content further, collaborating with local content creators like Jamie Paglieli aka “ThePhillySportsGuy” and fellow Temple alum Kyle Pagan and
Matt Peoples of “Men at Work.”
To Pagan, Ortiz has found a niche that could turn content creation into a long-term career.
“He chooses topics wisely and there’s no blending it all together like him,” said Pagan, a 2015 marketing alumnus. “People always want to be in the know and it’s easier to consume his videos than it is reading 300 words or trying to get around a paywall.”
For Ortiz, NoShortsUSA is more than chasing clout or virality. Building his brand as a sustainable business is the utmost priority.
During his freshman year, Ortiz considered leaving Temple to focus on his social media brand but ultimately decided to finish his finance degree. R.B. Drennan’s Intro to Risk Management had a large impact on Ortiz’s decision to stay in school because Ortiz valued the lessons in business he received from the course.
“If you’re doing social media, that’s a loss exposure,” explained Drennan. “People might not like the fact that you
portrayed them in a certain way.”
Now approaching his senior year, Ortiz knows he made the right decision in staying. He’s also committed to keeping Philly as his home base, despite the prevalence of social media influencers in other major cities across the nation.
“I’m not moving to LA, I’m not moving to Miami, I’m not moving to New York City,” stated Ortiz. “Unless Philly gets nuked, I will always be here.”
Ortiz’s love for Philadelphia and its people has fueled his work, and he isn’t running out of that power anytime soon.
“I can be obsessed with something if it feels fulfilling,” said Ortiz. “If it can be my full-time job and I can have fun, impact the community positively, that’s everything I want out of a career.”
madelynne.ferro@temple.edu
WHAT DID YOU DO TO GET READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS?
KAITLYN BROWN
Sophomore political science major | she/her
“ I called my mom for about 35 minutes. ”
MARIE LEVASSUER
Sophomore marketing major | she/her Question?
“ I slept in and made myself toast. ”
JACK MELI
Sophomore early childhood education major | he/him
“ My friend who lives on the floor below us came up and brought tomatoes and mushrooms and then I made us omelets. ”
CHLOE WEBB
Senior marketing major | she/her
“ It took me a while to figure out an outfit today. ”
FOOTBALL P R E V
BRIAN NELSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Keeler determined to guide Owls back to success
Head coach K.C. Keeler’s winning pedigree will help the Owls get back on track.
BY COLIN SCHOFIELD Co-Sports Editor
The 2020s have not been kind to Temple.
The Owls had four straight three-win seasons, sinking to the bottom of the American Conference. Former head coach Stan Drayton was fired on Nov. 17, 2024 following Temple’s 18-15 win against FAU, ushering in a new chapter for the team.
The Owls needed an experienced coach at the helm to fix what was broken and K.C. Keeler was the right guy for the job.
The 32-year head coach sits as the second-winningest active head coach in college football with 271 wins and won two FCS national championships. He has achieved success at every stop in his career, but getting Temple back to the top may be an uphill battle.
Winning 271 games is no accident. Keeler’s hard-nosed, high-expectation coaching style has consistently worked for three decades and his philosophies and winning pedigree are what the program needs. While it may take a year or two for fans to see results on the field, Keeler is on his way to guiding Temple back to the success it saw a decade ago.
“The lens that I look at Temple Football through, this was a great football program at one time,” Keeler said. “It has had periods of greatness, and the goal is to get back there. People say it’s not possible or it’s unrealistic and I told the team ‘If you are unrealistic, then you are playing for the wrong guy.’”
Keeler is used to challenges. He walked into a program at Delaware that won just four games the year prior when he was named head coach in 2002. He easily guided the Blue Hens to a 6-6 record in his first season, then a national championship right after — their first since 1979.
Keeler added another national championship to his resume while at
Sam Houston State in 2020, but his real challenge with the Bearkats came a few years later. Sam Houston transitioned to the FBS level of college football in 2023, and it was his job to guide them. It’s rare for teams to jump to FBS and find success quickly, yet Keeler did. He led them to nine wins and a bowl game in 2024, the Bearkat’s second season at the FBS level.
On the other hand, Temple has won nine combined games during the last three seasons.
“His philosophy is winning, and he knows how to win everywhere he’s been,” said running back Jay Ducker. “I think everyone is buying in and then once everyone is bought in, there’s only one thing to do: win.”
Keeler emphasized re-establishing the local recruiting pipeline at Temple to inject regional talent since his hiring. He followed through on that goal in his first recruiting offseason, landing 19 commitments in the 2026 class from Maryland,
New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
The recruiting class is likely to change before National Signing Day in February 2026, but the early recruitment success offers significant hope for Temple’s future. The Owls have strayed away from recruiting locally for years and Keeler focusing on local recruiting since the start is a good sign.
“When I moved to Texas, I figured out very quickly, I was gonna recruit Texas, Texas and Texas,” Keeler said. “When I came back here, I figured out very quickly that the football that we want to play here and the talent that is in this region, from Connecticut down to Virginia out to Ohio, that’s going to be our footprint.”
Even though Temple is yet to play a game under Keeler, his coaching style already has the program pointing upwards. With recruiting momentum and players buying into Keeler’s beliefs, the Owls will likely find success again. Re-
alistically, it may not happen during the first season, but this is not a bad sign. Rebuilding a team takes time and Keeler is ready for the challenge and to defy the odds.
“During the team meeting, he said he doesn’t want guys who aren’t unrealistic,” said defensive lineman Sekou Kromah. “And I like that. I’m unrealistic. I want everything that’s unrealistic, like winning the championship, all of that. Because I’m gonna make that realistic.”
colin.schofield@temple.edu @ColinSchofield9
BRIAN NELSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
Head coach K.C. Keeler sets to make his return to the Northeast football scene after coaching Sam Houston State for a decade.
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Transfers shape Temple’s roster in the new era
Temple deepened nearly every position with 26 transfers heading into the 2025 season.
BY SIENNA CONAGHAN Co-Sports Editor
When K.C. Keeler took the head coaching position at Temple in December 2024, his first step was to hire his own staff. After that was done, the next phase was to find players who fit the vision Keeler had for his new team.
General Manager Clayton Barnes took charge of recruiting.
Keeler and Barnes assessed the previous roster and filled any depleted position rooms when they arrived at 10th and Diamond. They did so again following spring camp, with the transfer portal as their most useful tool. Temple added 25 transfers during the offseason and Keeler put an emphasis on the Owls’ need to bond as a family to see success.
“It’s just identifying what’s our strengths, what our weaknesses are and where can we get better,” Barnes said. “I think we did a good job of upgrading our roster. I feel like you see more depth across the board. I think you see more competition. So that’s just gonna make us better across the board.”
One of the first new Owls to land was running back Jay Ducker, who played for Keeler at Sam Houston State last season. They completed the room by reeling in veteran Hunter Smith in April.
Ducker has 2,514 career rushing yards and 745 of them came last season. Smith is coming off an ACL tear, but he led Louisiana-Monroe in rushing yards and touchdowns with 507 and three, respectively, in 2023 to provide depth and experience.
Temple’s secondary struggled for most of the 2024 season, so the coaches put a heavy emphasis on loading the roster with experienced cornerbacks and safeties.
Youngstown State transfer Jaylen Castleberry and Hampton transfer Omar Ibrahim were recruited soon after Keeler’s hiring. Castleberry has 90 career tackles, with 50 of them coming from last season. Ibrahim has played corner-
back his entire career and racked up 44 career tackles.
Safeties Dontae Pollard, Pooh Lawton and Willy Love also joined the roster. Pollard and returner Javier Morton will bring experience to the room.
Pollard finished last season at Samford with a career-high 40 tackles and added 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Lawton has 46 career tackles and three interceptions after two seasons at Slippery Rock. Love lacks the experience the other transfers have, but he played in all 12 games at Monmouth last season as a true freshman. Love was a linebacker for the Hawks, but was converted to safety once he got to Temple.
The most talked about competition leading into the season has been the quarterbacks, however, fuel was also added to the wide receiver room. Temple needed to replace its top four receivers from last season and turned to the portal for production.
Receivers Colin Chase and JoJo Bermudez joined in the spring and added to
the competition for a starting role. They immediately turned heads and impressed the coaches with their performance.
Chase came from three seasons at St. Thomas, a FCS school in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had 195 receiving yards in 2023 but improved and totaled 633 yards on 37 catches in 2024. Bermudez racked up 493 yards on 50 catches and two touchdowns during the 2023-24 seasons at Delaware.
“I tell these guys every day, ‘I’m recruiting guys that are going to take your spot,’” said wide receivers coach Roy Roundtree. “That’s the only way we’re going to be competitive in our room. And being able to compete at the highest level is bringing guys like JoJo, Colin and bring those guys in to uplift the room.”
Outside linebacker Ty Davis has been an anticipated transfer since he arrived at Temple. Davis played three seasons at Delaware, where he tallied 144 tackles and five sacks. Linebacker Curly Ordonez can be helpful alongside Davis with 99 tackles and four intercep-
tions from two seasons at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas.
Keeler planned team bonding activities to ensure they grew close during the summer so the Owls can use their strong connections to their advantage on the field.
“I think the new players coming in have felt embraced,” Keeler said. “One of the things I talked to our current players, when I took over, I said, ‘Listen, we’re gonna be bringing some new players in. I know this, if we keep an arm’s length, we’ll never get out of them what we could get out of it. But if you embrace them, then they have a chance to help this football team.’”
Jacob Moreno contributed reporting.
sienna.conaghan@temple.edu @Sienna_Paige2
AIDAN GALLO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Head coach K.C. Keeler recruited players to bolster the roster during the offseason.
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Battle for quarterback heads into the final stretch
McCoy and Simon have competed for the quarterback job since May.
BY RYAN MACK Copy Editor
Temple recruiting a new quarterback was the worst-kept secret during the offseason. When head coach K.C. Keeler was hired on Dec. 1, 2024, he made it clear the Owls were bringing competition for Evan Simon.
Simon started nine games for the Owls last season, after replacing Forrest Brock. The former Rutgers transfer effectively became the leader of the offense and the unit’s production increased noticeably. He threw 15 touchdown passes along with 2,032 yards, which were both in the top 10 of the American Conference.
But Simon’s offensive efforts didn’t lead to many wins.
Temple finished the season with three wins for the fourth consecutive season, so Keeler was hired after the season ended to bring life back into the program. His first order of business was reshaping the team through the transfer porta, with additions including former Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy.
“There’s a reason why we brought Gevani in. He’s super talented,” Keeler said. “Evan [is] the kind of guy that you might in theory say, ‘He doesn’t need competition.’ Everyone needs competition. By saying he doesn’t need competition is [saying,] ‘He’s such a great kid, he’s gonna push himself.’ I don’t care how great they are, they need to be pushed with someone else there that could take their job. So, it’s a wide open battle.”
The two spent the summer battling for the role of the main signal caller. They have essentially traded places in reps with the presumptive starters and second stringers. Keeler stated picking a quarterback won’t be an easy call, so the starter is still up in the air with the Owls’ season opener against UMass looming.
Temple has improved at nearly every position on offense, but the quarter-
back remains unresolved. However, the Owls are in a better spot than last season when Brock started the first two games before Simon took over.
One of Simon’s advantages is that he has a better understanding of the playbook. McCoy, on the other hand, missed all of spring ball because he didn’t join the team until April. Simon can help the team with his experience and knowledge of the Owls’ offense.
Simon was the anchor of the team during the offseason and he was also named a single digit. He is constantly the loudest during practice and the team responds the most to him. However, his performance this summer has been inconsistent.
“The strength of that quarterback room just can’t be one player,” said offensive coordinator Tyler Walker. “They’re better because they’re both in there and they know that this job is not going to be one day, it’s not gonna be one rep, it’s not going to be one week. They’re gonna have to earn it.”
McCoy played three seasons at Idaho before transferring to Oregon State last season. He threw just three touchdown passes in 10 games in 2024 but dished out 43 during his time with Idaho. Following the 2024 season, he transferred to Texas State, but left the Bobcats after the spring.
McCoy quickly made up for lost time with the Owls and, despite not knowing the offense as well as Simon, he’s just as comfortable when his number is called during practice.
“I feel super comfortable in the system,” McCoy said, “I’ve been here for some time now and so we worked all off-season and put in that work. So it feels really good and I feel very comfortable here. I’m excited for this season.”
The former Idaho quarterback has been able to use both his arms and his legs to make plays during training camp. He has also fluctuated during his reps. However, McCoy has was the better quarterback with five touchdown passes during the Owls’ two
scrimmages this summer.
At Montana State, Walker schemed an offense that boasted three 1,000-yard rushers, including quarterback Tommy Mellott. He is looking to run a similar scheme at Temple, which fits McCoy’s running playstyle.
Temple began last season with one starter before ushering in another signal caller. There is a chance history could repeat itself in 2025. While Simon knows the offense better, McCoy is better suited for the offensive style Walker is running.
Regardless, the main quarterback will be whoever puts the Owls in the best position to win.
“Our sole focus is, can one of these guys go out and take the job and make the 10 guys around them better?” Walker said. “If there’s a situation where they don’t, anything’s on the table.”
ryan.mack0001@temple.edu @Ryan_mack18
BRIAN NELSON & LIILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Evan Simon (left) and Gevani McCoy (right) practice at summer training camp.
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Ducker pursuing success at his final college stop
Jay Ducker is at his fourth school, looking to find offensive success one more time.
BY COLIN SCHOFIELD Co-Sports Editor
Jay Ducker had a decision following the 2024 campaign.
He had one more year of eligibility after a season with Sam Houston State, where he ran for 745 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Ducker had a resurgence with the Bearkats under head coach K.C. Keeler after a down season the year prior at Memphis. Right as Ducker thought he found a permanent home, Keeler left for Temple.
Ducker decided to enter the transfer portal and followed Keeler to 10th and Diamond to play his last season.
Temple is Ducker’s fourth school and he has been successful at each of them. He is now expected to be the centerpiece of the Owls’ revamped offense. The playbook spotlights the rushing attack and Ducker hopes to end his career on a high note.
“Every day is a new day,” Ducker said. “It’s just adversity at every place, but every place I’ve been has always opened me up as well. When I got to a place, I’ve led the team in rushing. So, I’ve never been scared to bet on myself and I’m gonna keep betting on myself.”
Ducker committed to Northern Illinois in 2020 and made an instant impact as a true freshman in 2021. He won the Mid-American Conference freshman of the year with 1,184 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He transferred to Memphis the following season, where he led the Tigers in rushing with 544 yards and seven touchdowns.
However, Ducker’s role diminished in 2023 and he played only four games before transferring to Sam Houston, where he had the chance to bounce back. Ducker is now the veteran in Temple’s running back room and his experience and success are valuable to both Keeler and running backs coach Andrew Pierce.
“He makes you comfortable as a coach when he goes out there on the football field because he knows what he’s
doing,” Pierce said. “He’s a smart player and he can do it all. He can run between the tackles, he can catch the ball out of the backfield and he can pass block.
That’s all you want in a running back.”
Ducker joins a running back room consisting of Terrez Worthy, Joquez Smith and Louisiana Monroe transfer Hunter Smith. The group will be the vocal point of the offense and Ducker is expected to lead them. Even in the heat of competition during fall camp, Ducker has made sure to lighten the mood and keep the environment fun in the locker room.
“Each and every day, he has a smile and that keeps all of us happy,” Joquez said. “Even when he’s arguing, he’s smiling right out. So, he keeps a smile on his face every morning and we know Jay comes in ready to work every morning. He’s the same dude.”
While Ducker has a strong connection with his coaches and teammates, Temple’s offense is the fourth scheme he’s had to learn. However, Ducker has
accepted the constant scheme changes with open arms and has not been fazed by different plays or packages.
Temple offensive coordinator Tyler Walker’s scheme is arguably the best fit for Ducker. The offense relies heavily on the running back, both for rushing and receiving. Ducker worked as a receiving back in high school with 315 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a senior, so the adjustment to Walker’s scheme has been refreshing and exciting for the redshirt senior.
“I want the ball,” Ducker said. “I think Coach Walker’s offense is definitely, as a running back, what you want to do and where you want to go. We are going to get the ball, whether it’s in the backfield, you’ve seen a lot of empty and catches in space. As a running back, this is where you want to be.”
Even though he will only spend one season with the Owls, Ducker has the chance to help set the standard for a new era of Temple Football. With one more
season of college football, Ducker shares the same mindset as everyone else in the building — win.
“Personal goals come with team goals,” Ducker said. “Obviously, our team goal is to win the conference, go to a bowl game and in this conference, you do that, maybe you go to the playoffs. That’s our goal and then everything else will take care of itself.”
Jacob Moreno contributed reporting.
colin.schofield@temple.edu @ColinSchofield9
LILLIAN PRIETO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-senior Jay Ducker was named to Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List.
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Osueke takes full advantage of fresh opportunity
Ben Osueke is becoming a leader in his final season after getting an extra year of eligibility.
BY SIENNA CONAGHAN Co-Sports Editor
Ben Osueke thought his college career had ended when he stepped off the field after Temple’s season finale loss to North Texas on Nov. 30, 2024. The game closed out his fourth and final season of collegiate eligibility.
He spent his first two seasons at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas, before transferring to Temple for his final two seasons. Junior college seasons had always counted against college eligibility, but Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia disagreed.
Pavia played two seasons in JUCO and was slated to run out of eligibility. He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in November 2024, arguing that JUCO years should not count against eligibility.
The lawsuit worked and athletes who used eligibility at a JUCO prior to the 2024 season got a waiver if that was going to be their last year of eligibility, the Associated Press reported.
Osueke was one of the players who benefited from the ruling. Suddenly he found himself preparing for his final season of college football, instead of for the NFL Draft.
“It was surreal. I knew there was a possibility of it happening, but it was never a guarantee,” Osueke said. “But honestly, it was just a blessing. I was ready to get back to work. I was ready to get back into a program, into a brotherhood and I was excited.”
There was never a doubt that Osueke was returning to Temple and he quickly adjusted to the changes the program endured. The Richmond, Texas native heard only positive things from his teammates about new head coach K.C. Keeler, as well as from Keeler’s former players at Sam Houston State.
Osueke had already formed a relationship with defensive coordinator Brian L. Smith, who joined the Owls after seven seasons at Rice. Smith tried to recruit Osueke after his years at Blinn, but
was only able to reel him in two years later.
Osueke saw a jump in production after his first year at Temple in 2023 and finished the 2024 season with seven more tackles than the year prior in two less games. He constantly works to fine-tune his skills and has continued to improve since spring ball. Smith noticed his increased confidence and physicality on the field.
“He’s such a good athlete,” Smith said. “He’s long, he moves well, he’s not afraid to come up and tackle. He’s what you’re looking for at corner. So, it’s been great to have him now after not being able to get him coming out of JUCO.”
Osueke is the only starting cornerback returning from last season, thrusting him into a leadership role. However, it took time for him to find comfort in the role. He had to learn how to adapt to being a leader who knows when to not be a friend.
He has now started sharing his knowledge and became someone reliable for his teammates to lean on.
“We still have a fairly young room and so he’s really taking that leadership role, which I appreciate, because when you have a player-led team, that’s when you have something special,” said cornerbacks coach Henry Baker. “Right now, he’s kind of shown that he’s the one that’s going to set the standard, he’s going to try to raise the bar for everybody in the room.”
The team grew close during the summer as they were all collectively focused on the upcoming season. They endured tough practices together and enjoyed their company during team-bonding activities like bowling, baseball games and a Philadelphia Eagles’ practice. The coaches encouraged the team to become a family that shares the common goal of winning.
Osueke completely embraced the winning mindset and his priority for this season is to take everything one snap at a time to put himself and his teammates in the best position to succeed.
“We’re attacking this from game one, and that’s to win, and that’s to win
championships,” Osueke said. “I don’t think any team should go into any season not chasing the championship. That is the whole goal of playing in a conference, to win the conference, to be the best in the conference. So, we just focus on getting better and the personal success will come with it.”
sienna.conaghan@temple.edu @Sienna_Paige2
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
What to know for Temple’s 2025 season opener
Temple will look to begin its new era under K.C. Keeler on the right foot on Aug. 30 against UMass.
BY TTN SPORTS STAFF
For The Temple News
It is officially time to kick off the K.C. Keeler era at Temple. The 32-year veteran head coach was hired in December 2024 and will try to pull the Owls out of five straight losing seasons. Up first for Keeler is a road matchup against UMass on Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m.
Temple heads into the game with more than 40 new players and a new staff curated by Keeler. The team has added the depth it lacked in previous years, but there are still lingering questions about the future of the team.
“I’ve been really hard on them,” Keeler said. “And I think they know the reason I’m so hard on them is because I do think there’s enough talent here that you can have some success.”
Keeler and the Owls have a golden opportunity to start the season on the right foot against a UMass team that is not expected to be competitive. Here is everything you need to know before Temple’s week one game at UMass.
CONQUERING ROAD HORRORS
The Owls went 0-15 on the road during former head coach Stan Drayton’s tenure, but their road struggles preceded him. Temple hasn’t picked up an away win since the 45-24 victory against Akron on Sept. 11, 2021.
The Owls nearly broke the pattern against UConn on Oct. 5, 2024, but instead fumbled the ball and the game away at the goal-line to keep their road misfortunes alive.
Keeler’s first game gives him a chance to snap the Owls’ 20-game road losing streak and start the new era on a high note.
QUARTERBACK QUESTIONS
Keeler made it clear once he got to Temple that he was going to recruit another quarterback to compete with Evan Simon. He did so in the form of Gevani McCoy and fall camp has seen the two
battle for the starting role.
They both played about the same number of snaps with the first-string during practices and formed strong connections with their teammates, making it a tight battle.
“Honestly, I sometimes can’t really tell who’s back there,” said wide receiver Colin Chase. “I’ve had connections with both of them, Evan, Geo. So whoever’s back there, I think I’m good with and more importantly, I think the team’s good with.”
Simon has the advantage of being well versed with the playbook, as McCoy didn’t transfer to Temple until after spring camp. Simon has displayed his leadership skills, which Keeler has praised all summer and earned him a single-digit. But that honor does not guarantee him the starting job.
McCoy has versatile skills that might him to take the edge ahead of Simon. The Owls hope to be a run-first offense and McCoy finished last season at Oregon State with 328 rushing yards, compared to Simon’s 20.
Both quarterbacks have had their highs and lows, but Keeler’s lips are sealed and he won’t reveal who won the starting spot until lineups are announced at UMass.
ON UMASS
UMass is heading into the season looking to finish above .500 for the first time since 2010. The Midshipmen are in the same boat as Temple, as they hired a new head coach Joe Harasymiak after finishing the 2024 season with a 2-10 record.
However, the Minutemen have already solidified their quarterback pecking order before the season-opener. Harasymiak announced that Utah transfer Brandon Rose won the job and beat AJ Hairston and Yale transfer Grant Jordan on Aug. 18. Rose played three games for the Utes, totaling 157 passing yards on 53% completion, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
There’s not much UMass can form an offensive foundation on from last season as they were near the bottom of
the NCAA in yards per game. UMass lagged behind on defense, ranking 124th in scoring defense last season and gave up 35 points per game. With a reset on all fronts, Temple could take advantage and pick up a season opening win.
“Whatever they are going to come out and do, we have something for it,” said defensive lineman Allan Haye.
sienna.conaghan@temple.edu
@Sienna_Paige2 colin.schofield@temple.edu @ColinSchofield9 jacob.moreno00001@temple.edu @jmoreno76ers
BRIAN NELSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS
The Owls’ have had four consecutive 3-9 record seasons and head coach K.C. Keeler looks to change things around.
STAFF PREDICTIONS
Colin Schofield Co-Sports Editor
Sienna Conaghan Co-Sports Editor
Jacob Moreno Assistant Sports Editor
Xavier Johnson Sports Engagement Editor
Colin Schofield:
@ColinSchofield9
Sienna Conaghan:
@Sienna_Paige2
Jacob Moreno:
@Jmoreno76ers
Tyrese Whitaker
JoJo Bermudez
Ryder Kusch
Breakout Performer MVP
Best Offensive Player
Jay Ducker
Best Defensive Player
Ty Davis
Xavier Johnson:
@JXavier_J17
JoJo Bermudez
Jay Ducker