Vol. 99.5 Iss. 12

THE TEMPLE NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019

BACK IN THE STANDS With two guests per student-athlete now allowed at outdoor sporting events, families welcome the return after being benched at home.

Read more on Page 26.

WHAT’S INSIDE FEATURES, PAGE 16

Students in phases 1A and 1B are getting vaccinated at Center City’s FEMA-backed site.

LONGFORM, PAGES 12, 13

VOL 99.5 // ISSUE 12 MARCH 30, 2021

Before he was a United States Senate candidate, Malcolm Kenyatta found his voice in Temple Student Government and poetry.

temple-news.com @thetemplenews

The Temple News

PAGE 2

THE TEMPLE NEWS A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Madison Karas Editor-in-Chief Bibiana Correa Managing Editor Colin Evans Digital Managing Editor Tyler Perez Chief Copy Editor Valerie Dowret Assignments Editor Jack Danz News Editor Victoria Ayala Assistant News Editor Amelia Winger Assistant News Editor Christina Mitchell Opinion Editor Magdalena Becker Essay Editor Emma Padner Features Editor Natalie Kerr Assistant Features Editor Lawrence Ukenye Assistant Features Editor Dante Collinelli Sports Editor Isabella DiAmore Assistant Sports Editor Adam Aaronson Assistant Sports Editor Haajrah Gilani Co-Intersection Editor Eden MacDougall Co-Intersection Editor Fallon Roth Staff Writer Maggie Fitzgerald Audience Engagement Editor Iris Wexler Asst. Engagement Editor Colleen Claggett Photography Editor Allie Ippolito Asst. Photography Editor Erik Coombs Multimedia Editor Matthew Murray Assistant Multimedia Editor Ingrid Slater Design Editor Hanna Lipski Assistant Design Editor Tyra Brown Alternative Story Format Editor Maryam Siddiqui Web Editor Carly Civello Advertising Manager Kaila Morris Advertising Manager Luke Smith Business Manager

Follow us @TheTempleNews

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-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Digital Managing Editor, Chief Copy Editor, Assignments Editor, News Editor and Opinion Editor.

The views expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News staff.

ON THE COVER

Fans watch the Temple University women’s field hockey game against Providence College at Howarth Field on March 27.

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Contacts Visit us online at temple-news.com News Desk 215.204.7419 Email section staff news@temple-news.com letters@temple-news.com features@temple-news.com intersection@temple-news.com sports@temple-news.com The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

CORRECTIONS On March 16, an article on page 20 titled “Alumna works on Biden communications team” inaccurately stated Khanya Brann’s title at Philly Counts and start date working for the Biden administration. Brann was an intern for Philly Counts and began working for the Biden communications team in January.

On March 16, an article on page 23 titled “Temple professor fights for students’ basic needs” inaccurately stated Nicholas Carmack’s position at the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice. Carmack is a research and practice assistant there.

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 Madison Karas at editor@temple-news.com.

The Temple News

NEWS

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CAMPUS

Counseling center may offer hybrid services in fall The hybrid plan depends on Tem- The Temple News reported.

“We’ve heard from students how ple’s fall plan and approval from much they’ve appreciated being able to the Division of Student Affairs.

BY FALLON ROTH Staff Writer

T

emple University’s Tuttleman Counseling Services, which has conducted its mental health services online since transitioning to a remote setting in March 2020, could offer hybrid versions of counseling in the fall semester, said Dan Dengel, interim director and associate director for training at Tuttleman Counseling.

The hybrid format depends on Temple’s campus plans for the fall semester and Tuttleman Counseling receiving approval from the Division of Student Affairs, he said.

“We are still in the process of determining how to best [accommodate] students come fall,” Dengel wrote in an email to The Temple News. “While we can’t name specifics just yet, we will likely be moving forward with a hybrid plan that combines in-person and remote services.”

Tuttleman Counseling should be able to accommodate students who want to receive their mental health services remotely or in person, and Tuttleman Counseling is working on a proposal to present to the Division of Student Affairs for Tuttleman Counseling’s program structure in Fall 2021, Dengel said.

“Maybe there’s a student who we’ve been working remotely and says like ‘This is great, could we keep it going?’

We should be able to do that,” Dengel said.

Temple announced on March 1 that classes for Fall 2021 will be held mostly in person and that it plans to open residence and dining halls, academic buildings, the Howard Gittis Student Center and athletic and recreation operations,

access mental health support from [Tuttleman Counseling] while they’re away from campus,” wrote Stephanie Ives, dean of students, in an email to The Temple News. “We always want to be responsive to our students’ needs and anticipate that there will continue to be a role for virtual counseling in appropriate situations.”

Tuttleman Counseling’s 30 counselors and five psychiatrists have been working remotely, and there is an oncall team of counselors that can reach out to students in crisis remotely and assign them to a clinician within 24 hours, Dengel said.

Jaclyn Kuzma, a freshman undeclared major, attended three or four virtual sessions with the Stress, Substances and Coping group.

“I feel like being online, kind of get that barrier, where you’re like, okay if I’m upset I can turn my camera off or go to the bathroom, I can turn my camera off or whatever I could just kind of sit here and like deflect,” Kuzma said.

Dengel imagines that some therapy services, like some workshops within the Resiliency Resource Center, where students can get help with general and social anxiety, depression, substance use disorder and more, may have to be in person, he said.

Tuttleman Counseling has seen 593 new students register for services from March 2020 to September 2020 and 1,433 new students register for services from September 2020 to March 2021, Dengel wrote in an email to The Temple News.

However, the number of students using Tuttleman Counseling decreased this year, Dengel said.

This drop could be for many reasons, like students who moved home during the pandemic and may be seeking

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Tuttleman Counseling Services is located on Broad Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue.

treatments close to home, technology and privacy issues at home, students not needing treatment anymore or students moving out of state, which would make them ineligible to receive Tuttleman Counseling services, except in crisis situations or referrals, Dengel wrote.

Since August 2020, Tuttleman Counseling also had 28 percent of first-time Tuttleman Counseling patients say they were seeking help due to a COVID-19-related matter, Dengel wrote.

Three out of four Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 have documented declining mental health in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, PBS reported.

Emily Praul, a freshman psychology major, began Tuttleman Counseling’s one-on-one therapy sessions in October 2020 to learn how to cope with anxiety and depression, she said.

“I definitely felt like [COVID-19] made it so much worse because we were so isolated, it wasn’t the normal life that

like I expected when I went to college,” Praul said.

This year, the most prominent reasons for students to seek help from Tuttleman Counseling are anxiety, depression and motivation, Dengel said.

Tuttleman Counseling has seen a 30 percent decrease in the number of students who do not show up for their appointments, Dengel said.

“I just think there’s been that ease of access,” Dengel said. “I mean, for me even students that at 9 a.m. never would have said, ‘I’m coming out of bed, I’m coming to your office,’ now will just like roll out and have a session, so it’s been nice.”

It’s important to reach out for help, especially during a time where many people feel isolated and disconnected, Dengel said.

“Students can still access quality care through what we offer and that, that accessibility is still there,” Dengel said. fallon.roth@temple.edu @fallonroth_

NEWS

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The Temple News

DEVELOPMENT

Construction of anti-racist center to begin in fall

Temple’s Board of Trustees approved $3.5 million for the construction of the center in March.

BY JACK DANZ News Editor Temple University will begin construction on the new Center for Anti-Racism in Anderson Hall in Fall 2021, said Dozie Ibeh, the associate vice president of Temple’s Project Delivery Group.

Temple will construct the Center for Anti-Racism on the deck connecting Anderson and Gladfelter halls by enclosing exterior space on the deck adjacent to the second floor of Anderson Hall’s new lobby, Ibeh said.

Temple expects to complete the project in Spring 2022, Ibeh said.

The Center for Anti-Racism will promote briefing papers, promote discussion about policies and behaviors in the United States concerning race and racism, produce occasional pamphlets and educational reports and host seminars and workshops, said Molefi Kete Asante, chair of the Africology and African American studies department.

“Africology and African American studies is actively engaged in an urgent matter to bring into existence a world where human beings matter and that is not based on patriarchy and hierarchy,” Asante said. “And then hopefully the center will start making a full analytical brief of the most critical issues confronting people of African descent.”

Temple’s Board of Trustees approved $3.5 million for construction of the Center for Anti-Racism and improvements to the Africology and African American studies department on the sixth and eighth floors of Gladfelter Hall on March 16, The Temple News reported.

Temple announced the creation of

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Molefi Kete Asante, chair of the Department of Africology and African American studies, sits at his desk in his office in Gladfelter Hall on Feb. 8.

the Center for Anti-Racism in September 2020 in its announcement of a $1 million anti-racist initiative, which increased funding for the Africology and African American studies department, created the Cecil B. Moore Scholars program and requiring diversity training for faculty search committees, The Temple News reported.

“I have to give him credit,” Asante said. “[Richard] Englert responded in a very positive way to the national crisis and the demonstrations and to my letter and to the letter from the students in our

department.”

In June 2020, Asante and Africology and African American studies graduate students wrote separate letters to Englert asking Temple to create the Center for Anti-Racism during the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and because Ibram Kendi, a leading anti-racist scholar, graduated from Temple, Asante said.

Kendi, who earned his doctorate in African American studies from Temple in 2010, created the Antiracist Research

and Policy Center at American University before joining the faculty at Boston University to create the Center for Antiracist Research, the Eagle reported.

Temple’s Center for Anti-Racism will house classrooms, department offices and a lecture space, Ibeh said.

“The intent is to bring a lot of activity to that deck area,” Ibeh said. “We wanted the center to have a public face so people can find it.”

Temple completed the most significant renovations to the exterior of Anderson and Gladfelter halls and Anderson Hall’s lobby in December 2020, The Temple News reported.

With approval from the Board of Trustees, the Project Delivery Group will fill out a request for proposal form, which allows contractors to bid on the project, and hire a design team for the center. The design and permitting processes, which the Project Delivery Group started, will take four or five months, Ibeh said.

Temple will also add furniture, paint the walls, replace the flooring and upgrade the ventilation system to the Africology and African American studies department on the sixth and eighth floors of Gladfelter Hall, Ibeh said.

Amid construction of the Center of Anti-Racism and the completion of other demands in Asante’s and the graduate students’ letters, Asante hopes Temple can be a leader in African American culture and history the way that the Africology and African American studies department is, he said.

“We don’t have to look to any other universities for leadership,” Asante said.

“Temple can be the leader in these areas.” john.danz@temple.edu @JackLDanz

NEWS

The Temple News

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DEVELOPMENT

Temple renovates Ritter, Speakman and walkway The university will remodel classrooms, administrative offices, hallways and Liacouras Walk.

BY JACK DANZ News Editor Temple University is signing contracts with development companies and mobilizing construction for several Main Campus renovation projects, said Dozie Ibeh, the associate vice president of Temple’s Project Delivery Group.

At its last meeting on March 16, Temple’s Board of Trustees approved $22 million in funding for three separate renovation projects to Ritter Hall, Speakman Hall and Liacouras Walk, The Temple News reported.

The Ritter Hall project has three phases, while the Speakman Hall project has four phases. Temple has funded the first two phases of both projects and fully funded the single phase Liacouras Walk project, Ibeh said.

Temple is ensuring that renovations to its facilities are designed for learning in a pandemic and post-pandemic environment, like reviewing HVAC ventilation units in buildings, Ibeh said.

“Making sure that it’s adequate as we move to a post-COVID environment and make sure there’s a lot of flexibility that allows us to work in a pre-pandemic and post-pandemic model,” Ibeh said.

Here are the details and schedules for each project.

RITTER HALL

Temple is working on the Phase One and Two of the Ritter Hall project, which include renovations to College of Education and Human Development spaces in Ritter Hall and the Howard Gittis Student Center, Ibeh said.

The Board approved $9 million dollars on March 16 to renovate the first and second floors, lobby and entrances of Ritter Annex and the second floor of Ritter Hall in Phase Two of the project, Ibeh said.

Temple will also convert the Kiva Auditorium into classrooms and administrative offices because the auditorium was outdated and not used often, Ibeh

AMBER RITSON / THE TEMPLE NEWS Construction is ongoing on Liacouras Walk between Montgomery and Cecil B. Moore avenues on March 23.

said.

“We are finding that those are some of the least efficient areas to be flexible with,” Ibeh said. “So our auditoriums, from an efficiency perspective in a pandemic or post-pandemic environment, is something we as an institution need to study carefully.”

Temple is renovating the Institute on Disabilities in the Howard Gittis Student Center in Phase One of the project, which Temple started in Fall 2020 and will complete in May, Ibeh said.

Temple will replace the windows in Ritter Hall in Phase Three of the project, which will not begin until 2022, most likely during the summer, Ibeh said.

All three phases of the Ritter Hall project will cost $20.6 million, Ibeh said.

Temple received a $2 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the project.

Gregory Anderson, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, did not respond to a request for comment.

SPEAKMAN HALL

Temple is working on Phase Two of the Speakman Hall project, Ibeh said.

The Board approved an additional $5 million on March 16 to renovate

Speakman Hall, which brings the total cost of the Speakman Hall project to $7.9 million for the first two phases, The Temple News reported.

The $5 million will go toward Phase Two of the Speakman Hall project, which includes renovating administrative offices, classrooms, hallways and restrooms on the ground floor of Speakman Hall, Ibeh said.

Temple plans to complete the renovations in Phase Two before or during the fall semester, Ibeh said.

“These new spaces are more open and inviting, both for students and staff alike,” wrote Ronald Anderson, the dean of the Fox School of Business and the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, in an email to The Temple News. “The timing is also ideal, as everything should be complete prior to this fall when a larger number of students are expected to return to campus.”

In Phase One, which Temple completed, the university renovated administrative offices, classrooms, hallways and advising offices on the first floor of Speakman Hall, Ibeh said.

In Phases Three and Four, Temple will renovate administrative offices, classrooms, hallways and advising offices on the third and fourth floors of Speakman Hall, respectively, Ibeh said.

Temple will start each phase of the Speakman Hall project at the end of the spring semester and hopefully complete them by the fall semester, Ibeh said.

“We have a plan with the school to do pretty much one phase a year,” Ibeh said.

LIACOURAS WALK

The Board approved $8 million to repair damaged pavement on Liacouras Walk between Montgomery and Cecil B. Moore avenues as part of Temple’s master plan to create Liacouras Walk South with an adjacent plaza and green space, The Temple News reported.

Construction will begin in a couple of months and will close off that section of Liacouras Walk, Ibeh said.

“Students will be asked to walk or come down 13th Street or Broad Street and not walk through that zone in the fall,” Ibeh said.

Construction on Liacouras Walk will run into the fall semester and could close that section of Liacouras Walk for the entire fall semester, Ibeh said.

Jenna Zenouzi contributed reporting. john.danz@temple.edu @JackLDanz

PAGE 6

NEWS

The Temple News

CAMPUS

Students, faculty migrate platforms to Microsoft Roughly 68 percent of Temple’s student and faculty accounts have been migrated to Outlook.

BY VICTORIA AYALA Assistant News Editor As of March 30, Temple University has migrated 94,000 email accounts from Google to Microsoft Outlook 365, totaling 77 percent of the roughly 120,000 accounts expected to be migrated, said Mark Haubrich, director of information technology.

Temple’s Information Technology Services is working with Temple’s schools and colleges and allowing them to make the decisions on the account migration of all students, faculty and administrative staff, said Kamran Nizami, the director of technical services.

“Schools and colleges made the determination of whether they wanted to move everyone on one night, or they wanted to carve it out by department,” Nizami added. “We tried to encourage schools and colleges to group specific departments on different dates if they were going to have a multi-week or spreadout sort of migration.”

All schools and colleges have been scheduled for migration, Haubrich said.

On Sept. 9, 2020, Temple University announced it would move all email accounts and calendars to Microsoft Outlook 365 beginning August 2020 because the university can operate more efficiently on one platform, Haubrich said.

This transition is taking place gradually throughout the next year and a half, according to Temple ITS. An advisory group was assembled in Fall 2019 consisting of representatives from all schools and colleges to determine whether the university should stay with using two separate email platforms, Google and Microsoft Outlook 365, Haubrich said.

The Email and Calendar Advisory Group’s task was to recommend one easy-to-use platform that met the academic, business and technical needs of the university, including whether the platform could be used for sensitive, confidential and Health Insurance Por-

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Student, faculty and staff email accounts are migrated from Google to Microsoft Outlook 365.

tability and Accountability Act data, according to the group’s recommendation report.

Before making the recommendation, the Email and Calendar Advisory Group considered user experience, security and accessibility reviews, other university decisions and cost analysis, according to the report.

Temple decided it would be more efficient for the university to migrate to one platform, Outlook 365, Haubrich said. From there, a recommendation was made to and approved by Provost JoAnne Epps and President Richard Englert.

Ammar Ahmed, a fifth-year electrical engineering doctoral student, prefers Google to Outlook because he finds it easier to use.

“The experience with Outlook has been very messy,” Ahmed said. “The phone app and the computer website show differently.”

Temple anticipates that all email accounts will be switched from Google to Outlook 365 by December 2021, accord-

ing to the announcement.

Outlook 365, as opposed to Google, offers security and features requested by administration departments and the school and colleges at Temple, according to Temple ITS. Microsoft is modified regularly with “leading” security technologies. It would be more costly to provide the same level of features and protection with Google, according to Temple ITS. Shersten Stender, a senior psychology major, does not have much experience using Outlook. Although Outlook looks more professional, Google was easier for her to navigate and was more convenient, she said.

“My computer is slow as is, so downloading Outlook is only making it more difficult for my computer to run smoothly,” Stender said. “With Google, I could just open a new tab on a web browser that I was already using, but now I have to go through more effort to open a different program.”

Access to Google applications, including Google Docs and Google Drive,

will not be affected by the switch. Google Calendar will no longer be accessible.

Those that use TU Gmail will have their email, calendar and contacts migrated for them, which will still be accessible on Outlook after the switch, according to the announcement.

Karla Zavala, a junior criminal justice major, wished Temple gave students the option to switch.

“There are no features I like about Outlook,” Zavala said. “I just feel like it’s another application that I just don’t need in my phone.”

Kevin Jordan, a senior marketing major, said his issue is more with the transfer to Outlook rather than the email service itself.

“I don’t understand the motive behind it,” Jordan said. “If there was some huge pressing issue then sure, but if it was for a small reason, then it would be a difficulty with no benefit.” victoria.ayala@temple.edu @ayalavictoria_

The Temple News

NEWS

PAGE 7

BREAKING NEWS

University to offer some Fall 2021 classes online Temple annouced online courses will be available for students who need or prefer them.

BY AMELIA WINGER Assistant News Editor Temple University will hold Fall 2021 semester courses in a limited number of classrooms and provide online classes to students who need or prefer them, according to an announcement from Provost JoAnne Epps sent to students Monday evening.

The announcement comes after the university shared plans for Fall 2021 semester courses to be held primarily in person earlier this month, The Temple News reported.

Some classes, including many large lecture courses, will continue to be held online, Epps wrote.

Temple will continue to offer classes during all available morning, afternoon and evening time slots as usual, and the university is evaluating additional spaces to use for in-person courses as they monitor student registration activity, Epps wrote.

The university will publish the schedule for the fall semester on March 30, and registration for the fall semester will begin on April 12, Epps added. amelia.winger@temple.edu @ameliawinger

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COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Temple University announces plans for in-person and online classes for the Fall 2021 semester on March 29. Above, students of Bruce Hardy’s social science research methods class sit socially-distanced in a classroom in Paley Hall on Feb. 15.

OPINION

PAGE 8

The Temple News

STUDENT LIFE EDITORIAL

Stay informed Beginning this week, Temple University will administer vaccines to eligible students, faculty and staff and to Philadelphia residents at its White Hall vaccine clinic, The Temple News reported. The site will be open two days a week for at least six weeks. Students, faculty and staff who live in Philadelphia will be vaccinated on Wednesdays and city residents will be vaccinated on Thursdays.

The clinic will offer the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during the first three weeks and offer the second dose in the last three weeks. The Pfizer vaccine requires two shots at least 21 days apart, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Students, faculty and staff can complete a vaccine interest form online and will be invited to make an appointment if they are eligible.

The Editorial Board encourages students and faculty to stay informed on the changing and developing vaccine eligibility guidelines and vaccination distribution sites in the city.

Currently, Philadelphia is in Phase 1B of vaccination distribution, which includes frontline essential workers facing risk of exposure, people with high-risk medical conditions, people working or living in congregate spaces and individuals aged 65 years or older. Health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff became eligible for vaccines during Phase 1A, which began in December 2020.

The city is aiming to move into Phase 1C, which includes essential workers, like sanitation, transportation and maintenance

staff, in April and into Phase 2, which includes anyone 16 and older who isn’t vaccinated, on May 1, The Temple News reported.

Temple urged students to also sign up at locations outside of the university due to short supply of vaccinations in its vaccination clinic announcement on March 22.

The Editorial Board echoes the university’s announcement encouraging students to find other vaccination sites and urges students also to check their eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Students can sign up to be vaccinated at pharmacies located near Main Campus, like the CVS Pharmacy on Cecil B. Moore Avenue near 12th Street or the Rite Aid locations on Broad Street near Susquehanna Avenue or on Cecil B. Moore near Oxford Street. The Editorial Board urges eligible students to frequently visit the CDC’s vaccine finder, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s vaccine lookup tool, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s vaccination map and others, to find clinics nearby that offer the COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, Philadelphia has 200 vaccination sites including the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the Black Doctors Consortium and community groups using private contractors and pharmacies, 6ABC reported.

The Editorial Board commends the university for opening its clinic because it will give North Central residents more opportunities to be vaccinated and encourages students wanting to get vaccinated to check their eligibility and know where vaccines are offered near them.

Don’t include participation points in final grades “I don’t want other people to see my room,” A student argues that faculty should Crocker said. “If I have to pee, I’m obviously not subjectively measure participagoing to turn my camera off and leave without tion grades in online classes.

W

hen my kinesiology professor told my class of more than 50 students that we’ll lose participation points if we don’t turn on our camera, I wondered why participation was being enforced as though we were in person.

MAYA RAHMAN For The Temple While several of my proNews fessors adapted their attendance and participation policies when most classes moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some still require participation every session.

Flexible attendance and participation policies are the new normals; attendance and participation shouldn’t be in the equation when professors are calculating final grades at the end of this semester. Because engagement is more difficult to achieve and assess now than ever, it shouldn’t count against students.

In July 2020, Temple implemented a temporary standardized attendance policy that requires professors to record attendance through Qwickly Attendance Pro, an online attendance system, for contact tracing. Students must inform professors if they are absent from class due to COVID-19, according to Temple Now. Participation, which can include attendance, can be measured by showing up for class, adding to in-class discussions or completing worksheets based on the material. Depending on the size of the class and the subject matter, it can be a major component of a student’s final grade in many cases.

In Leah Bates’ four classes, participation counts for anywhere from five to 15 percent of her final grade, and her professors require her class to have their cameras on the whole time.

“My family is loud,” Bates said. “They are cooking and watching television and my cousins are running around in their diapers.”

Aside from students’ hectic home lives in the background, nonverbal cues on Zoom are different than in a classroom, said Julie Crocker, a senior public health major.

saying something as in an in-person class.”

Crocker’s participation grades, counting for as little as five percent to as large as 20 percent of her grade, include attendance, she said.

Critics argue participation grades favor outgoing students more than shy students and are prone to professor bias against women and students of color in white, male-dominated classes, Inside Higher Education reported.

In the age of online learning, researchers encourage professors to make cameras optional due to increased anxiety, competing obligations, privacy rights, unreliable Internet access and Zoom fatigue. The face-only format of online classes is draining and forces students to rely on verbal cues, the Conversation reported.

Matthew Helmus, an ecology professor, doesn’t require his students to turn on their cameras for participation. Instead, he uses platforms like Slack to facilitate discussion among students that counts toward participation.

“While I do like seeing students when their video is on because it mimics the feedback I get while in the classroom, there is no need for my students to turn on their cameras if they are not comfortable doing so,” Helmus said.

Canvas discussion boards, which were used before the pandemic, are a prime example of engaging students without having them actively participate. Polls on Zoom gauge comprehension of the material, and breakout rooms allow students to collaborate at a time when peer interaction is especially difficult.

Professors should take advantage of this technology and utilize alternative options for participation beside forcing stifled conversation and incentivizing behavior.

Ultimately, we are paying for this education, and it’s our decision if we want to engage.

“On campus, participation only works because we are kind of in a vacuum of education, like a dome with minimal hometown interference,” Bates said. “It’s crazy to ask for the same commitment from school when we’re back where we have the most responsibilities.” maya.rahman@temple.edu @MayaRahman3

The Temple News

OPINION

PAGE 9

THE ESSAYIST

Forgiving my father for taking his own life

A student reflects on their dad’s suicide and how they understand and empathize with him now.

BY WENDY GARCIA For The Temple News Content warning: This story mentions descriptions of suicide, which may be uncomfortable for some readers.

I still remember the night before my dad died.

It was a Thursday in 2011. He pulled me aside and looked at me like he was on the verge of tears. He asked me if I loved my mom and my sister. I said, ‘Yes, I do love them.’ He asked my sister the same question.

I was confused, but I initially didn’t think much of it. Little did I know, this would be my last interaction with my dad.

The next day, when my mom picked me and my sister up from school, she was acting strange.

Once we got home, she pulled me and my sister aside and told us that our dad had died.

At first, I thought she was joking.

How could my dad die so soon? I was only nine, and my sister was only five. I didn’t think I would experience the loss of a parent until later in life.

It made me wonder how my dad knew he would die.

My dad was in a wheelchair after an accident at work left him unable to walk.

I sometimes helped him with daily tasks he was unable to do himself. My mom told me that taking care of him almost felt like taking care of another child.

She never told us how he died that night, and I didn’t bother asking because I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

I grew curious through the years, but I still didn’t try to seek out any answers.

In 2016, when my mom, her friend and I legally changed her last name, he mentioned my dad committed suicide.

When I heard that, my heart dropped. It took five years for me to find out that my dad committed suicide, and nobody told me directly. I only learned

HANNA LIPSKI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

by overhearing it in a conversation that wasn’t intended for me.

While I understood why my mom didn’t disclose this information to me when I was nine, I figured she would’ve told me eventually. But I wasn’t mad.

I was just shocked that my dad took his own life. I wanted to know more about his mental health leading up to this decision.

Four years later, my mom started to open up about some of my dad’s mental health issues and suicidal thoughts prior to his death. She said he contemplated stabbing himself with a knife because he thought he would be better off dead.

I wondered if he ever made previous suicide attempts, and I soon realized that he suffered much more than I thought he did when I was young. Besides his physical disability, he had underlying prob-

lems with his mental health that weren’t adequately treated, which had a negative impact on his relationships with loved ones and led to his passing.

As much as it pains me to say, I don’t think his death negatively affected me as much as I thought it would have.

Whether this is because he was only alive for the first nine years of my life or because the adjustment to only having one parent wasn’t too difficult for me, I’m not sure.

Of course, I still have moments when I think about how different my life would be if he were still here. Sometimes, I wish I’d done more to show him how important he was to my family.

But what matters most to me is that he’s no longer suffering. I know his disability made it exceptionally difficult to take care of two small children, and I

wouldn’t wish that pain on him.

I’ve dealt with depression, generalized anxiety and social anxiety for several years. I’ve also had suicidal thoughts, but I’ve never acted on them. In a way, I feel like my experiences helped me empathize with my dad.

He didn’t want to upset my family and loved ones. He only desired to escape from his agony.

Every year on Father’s Day, which sometimes coincides with his birthday, my family and I visit his grave to lay flowers. Although I miss him and wish I’d gotten to know him better, I know he’s looking down on me and proud of everything I’ve accomplished so far.

I have no hard feelings toward him.

I just hope he’s finally at peace. wendy.garcia@temple.edu

OPINION

PAGE 10

The Temple News HANNA LIPSKI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

HEALTH

Sexual assault prevention is not victim-blaming A student argues to improve sexual assault prevention programming through its language.

Content warning: This story mentions descriptions of sexual assault, which may be triggering for some readers.

Two tragic events that occurred just weeks apart reflected a SARAH WEITZMAN similar theme: womFor The Temple en being assaulted and News killed, sometimes in broad daylight or public spaces, despite taking precautions.

In early March, Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered while walking alone in London, England, CNN reported.

On March 18, two men allegedly raped and killed a Bucks County woman in a Miami hotel, ABC News reported.

April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This month, Temple University should target victim-blaming language and aim to stop perpetrators from committing crimes as opposed to encouraging women to be cautious.

Rape culture represents the ways so-

ciety blames the victim and normalizes sexual violence as an inevitable consequence of irresponsible actions, according to Brandon University.

A TUalert on March 13 notifying students of a reported sexual assault urged students to be aware of their surroundings, travel with friends, walk in well-lit and regularly traveled streets and call Temple Police or 911 if they feel concerned for their safety.

But caveats like this expect vulnerable people to be responsible for keeping others from harming them, said Laura Levitt, a religion professor and chair of the Committee on Sexual Misconduct for the Association of Jewish Studies.

“Prevention is about raising awareness about the problem and shifting perceptions,” Levitt said. “That is all about cultural change. Temple is doing the best it can, but we live in a culture that is still struggling with these issues.”

Victim-blaming attitudes that tell survivors the assault was their fault discourage them from reporting, Inside Southern reported.

As a result, students who experience sexual harassment often don’t think it was serious enough to fit the definition of harm, said Liz Zadnik, associate director of the Wellness Resource Center.

“I think one piece around language is validating that if something made you uncomfortable or violated your boundaries that it’s okay to feel harmed by that,” Zadnik said.

In 2019, 11 combined incidents of rape and fondling reported to Campus Safety Services occurred on campus and four occurred off campus, according to Temple’s 2020 Annual Crime Rates and Statistics.

Amina Shakeel, a freshman biophysics major, was sexually harassed outside of Johnson and Hardwick Halls earlier this year.

“An older man clearly just from the street made a comment about how ‘my ass looked fat in my pants’ and it was super uncomfortable,” Shakeel said. “All I could do was walk faster praying he didn’t follow.”

Women Organized Against Rape has a 24-hour hotline for survivors of sexual assault, and Tuttleman Counseling Services provides counseling to survivors, according to Student Health Services.

Temple also requires first-year students to complete one mandatory sexual assault training module in their first semester, The Temple News reported.

But the university needs to reassess

their primary prevention programs by changing victim-blaming language.

Sexual assault prevention programs must address the prevalence of victim blaming, like scapegoating women for walking alone or wearing certain clothes.

Sharing general safety measures is important, but when these messages are not inclusive and the wording guilts victims into doubting themselves, it becomes harmful, said Andrea Seiss, Temple’s Title IX coordinator.

“People have a right to dress how they want and walk where they want and not be subjected to danger. Safety conversations are important, but they’re across the board,” Seiss added. “It’s being able to explain here are universal safety measures for everybody.”

Changing social norms, empowering women and creating protective environments are effective primary prevention methods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As we begin Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Temple and other universities should teach sexual assault prevention as preventing a person from assaulting others, not the victim from being assaulted. sarah.weitzman@temple.edu

The Temple News

OPINION

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RACE AND DIVERSITY

Temple: Plan multicultural graduations this May A student argues the university should honor students’ legacies at cultural commencements.

As a graduating senior pursuing a degree in Temple University’s PSM Biotechnology program, I noticed that none of my professors in the College of Science and Technology are Indo-Guyanese MAYA RAHMAN For The Temple women like myself.

News I know first-hand how important it is to celebrate students’ differences and achievements, especially as I am entering a career where I am in the minority.

On March 16, Columbia University announced they will offer six additional graduation ceremonies for Indigeneous, Asian, Latino, Black, LGBTQ and first-generation students and those from low-income backgrounds. Georgetown University, Texas Woman’s University and Portland State University also have multicultural graduation ceremonies planned this year, USA Today reported.

Temple should add multicultural ceremonies that address students’ identities by incorporating traditions and celebrating contributions from each community, like wearing cultural attire, speaking in different languages and tailoring speeches for the audience. Recognizing historically marginalized individuals who graduated in a pandemic despite disproportionately low graduation rates encourages others to persevere.

On March 25, Temple announced each college will have in-person ceremonies with no guests on May 6, 7, 20 and 21 and a virtual, university-wide commencement on May 6, The Temple News reported.

Cultural graduations could be a more meaningful experience for families who can bond over a shared experience, said Cindy Nguyen, a first-generation Asian American student and senior Spanish major.

“I actually decided a while back, even before the pandemic, that I wouldn’t

HANNA LIPSKI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

want to walk at graduation because of how distant it feels when there are so many names that I don’t know and how they probably don’t even care about me,” Nguyen said. “But if the graduation was split up in the first-generation or Asian American community, I would be more willing to actually attend my graduation to cheer on my friends.”

While graduation is an incredible milestone for first-generation students and their families, it did not come without obstacles.

Fifty percent of first-generation students completed a college degree in six years, in comparison to 64 percent of students whose parents went to college, according to a 2011 report by the Postsecondary National Policy Institute.

Sixty-two percent of white students completed a degree or certificate program in six years, compared to 38 percent of Black students, Inside Higher Education reported.

Temple prides itself on being a diverse school, so they should display diversity in their graduation commencements, said Sarah Abrams, a senior marketing major and Pell Grant recipient who worked since she was 14 to pay her college tuition.

“A lot of students who have parents that also went to college think college is just an extension of high school and don’t realize how big of an accomplishment graduating college is for students who are first-generation and from marginalized backgrounds,” Abrams said.

Among all undergraduates at Temple, 8.3 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 13.8 percent are African American and 12.6 percent are Asian, according to Temple’s 2020-21 fact book.

Latino undergraduate enrollment nationally more than doubled between 2000 and 2015, but their graduation rate within six years is 10 percent less than white undergraduates, PBS News re-

ported.

Emily Gillam, a senior psychology and neuroscience major and Peruvian student, said attending a Latino commencement would make her graduation more special.

“Imagine being surrounded with other graduating students of similar backgrounds and celebrating one of the most important days in your life,” Gillam said.

Having a graduation with students who’ve struggled like me would make me more likely to attend graduation. I want my family to feel like they belong, regardless of it being online.

“It would be about much more than just my accomplishments, it would also be about the accomplishments of my community and my cultural identity,” Nguyen said. maya.rahman@temple.edu @MayaRahman3

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LONGFORM

The Temple News

HANNA LIPSKI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

ALUMNI

How Malcolm Kenyatta honed his voice at Temple The United States Senate candidate developed his candid way of speaking as a student.

BY COLIN EVANS Digital Managing Editor

M

ore than a decade ago, Malcolm Kenyatta stood on the wooden stages of Temple University’s auditoriums, searching for the words to describe his emotions through poetry.

“Poetry is finding words for those things that never had words before,” he said in 2009.

Kenyatta, now a state representative for the 181st District encompassing Main Campus, has found himself on countless stages since, but one thing has remained the same: his forthright, reverberant voice.

A native son of North Philadelphia, Kenyatta is looking to bring his community-oriented political message

to the national platform in his recently-announced bid for the United States Senate. The 2012 public communications alumnus is leaning on his ability to empathize with working people to propel him from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C. in an increasingly crowded race.

“People all across the Commonwealth, they don’t have to look like me, or love like me, to know that I’m gonna fight like hell for them,” Kenyatta said in an interview a week after announcing his run. “Because I’ve been where they’ve been, you know, I’ve been on both sides of those food lines.”

Kenyatta announced his Senate run on Feb. 18, joining Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and real estate developer Jeff Bartos in a field of candidates, which may also include political consultant Craig Snyder, former Rep. Ryan Costello and Rep. Conor Lamb, vying for retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat in 2022.

The 30-year-old state representa-

tive previously worked as a member engagement coordinator for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and started a foundation in his grandfather and grandmother’s name to benefit North Philadelphians, Philly Voice reported.

Elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2018, Kenyatta swiftly found the national spotlight, campaigning for President Joe Biden and delivering a keynote address at last year’s Democratic National Convention.

Kenyatta also gained attention through his advocacy in Harrisburg, with videos of him last year shared on social media as he’s seen speaking out against restrictive voting laws and criticizing efforts to curb Gov. Tom Wolf’s emergency powers on the House floor with a booming voice, waving and pointing his arms while shifting his gaze between fellow members in the House chamber.

More than a year before the Democratic primary, Kenyatta now faces a

steep uphill battle in the race against Fetterman, who entered the campaign with nearly $1.5 million in funds. Notably, Pennsylvania has not elected two Democrats to serve simultaneously in the Senate since 1944.

Kenyatta, who is the first openly gay person of color to serve in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, would make history as Pennsylvania’s first Black and first openly gay senator if elected in 2022.

He could also become the first U.S. senator with an office in North Central.

“I don’t like making a bunch of promises,” Kenyatta said. “But one promise I can make is that if I’m elected, I think for the first time in history, we’ll have a U.S. Senate office in North Philly, and, you know, I promise to not leave this neighborhood, ever.”

‘HE HELD A ROOM’

As a child, Kenyatta lived in five different homes in North Philadelphia

The Temple News

and attended kindergarten at Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School on Diamond Street near 15th.

He’s frank about the poverty he experienced growing up, recalling helping his mother do her taxes and pay the bills due to her being dyslexic.

“These are real people who in many cases, just like my mom, they’re working, they’re trying so hard, they’re doing everything they can to just put it all together,” Kenyatta said.

His father, Malcolm J. Kenyatta, a 1991 alumnus, first met his mother, Kelly Kenyatta, on Main Campus in 1988. Malcolm M. Kenyatta was born in Temple University Hospital in 1990 and spent time growing up in the Newman Center, Temple’s Catholic fellowship center, he said.

“Temple is not only sort of adjacent to my story, it’s part and parcel to my story,” Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta came to Temple in 2007 and majored in theater, where he met Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, a theater studies and playwriting professor, in her Poetry As Performance class.

Kenyatta enjoyed the class so much he took it three times and became a teaching assistant for Williams-Witherspoon.

Williams-Witherspoon recalls a time when Kenyatta was critiquing another student’s work in her class, where in a warm and professional way, “he pretty much told that particular poet that, you know, the work wasn’t authentic.”

Williams-Witherspoon pulled Kenyatta aside after class and told him that while he should tell the truth, he should choose his words so that people keep trying — which he’s taken to heart today, she said.

“He is very passionate, and because he has an incredible gift of rhetoric, he’s at least going to let you see and feel his side of the story,” Williams-Witherspoon added. “But he is open enough and caring enough and sensitive enough to listen to other perspectives.”

His love for her class inspired him to found Babel Poetry Collective, a student poetry performance troupe, in 2008 with Williams-Witherspoon as the faculty advisor.

“Poetry is a dying form of literature,” Kenyatta told The Temple News that year. “We felt that people weren’t treating it as a real form of art and wanted to

LONGFORM combat that idea on campus.”

Looking back, Kenyatta said Babel was working to build an organization that uplifted the voices of people from “vastly” different backgrounds and communities. Every time a poet took the stage to perform, it was raw, emotional and honest, he said.

“I don’t think there’s anything more powerful in the world than your lived experience, nothing more powerful,” Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta switched majors to public communications during his junior year.

He took courses in persuasion and argumentation with Scott Gratson, director of communication studies.

Gratson first met Kenyatta when he was reading a poem in Williams-Witherspoon’s class.

“I picked up that he was an incredibly gifted speaker the second I saw him,” Gratson said. “He held a room.”

Gratson’s seen Kenyatta speak several times after his graduation. Recalling a welcome speech he delivered in Mitten Hall for new students, Gratson said Kenyatta started speaking quietly before growing and shaking the rafters by the sound of his voice at the end.

“Seeing him grow as a speaker and seeing his voice both metaphorically and literally grow has been such a phenomenal experience,” he added.

A HISTORY OF ADVOCACY

In 2010, Kenyatta served as a representative of the Klein College of Media and Communication, then known as the School of Communications and Theater, in Temple Student Government’s senate.

As a TSG senator, he introduced a bill endorsing gender neutral bathrooms at Temple and a resolution to call for classes on LGBTQ-related topics to count toward the university’s race and diversity general education requirement.

TSG’s senate passed both bills.

That year, Kenyatta mounted a bid for Student Body President with goals to support diverse student groups and to bring awareness to arts and scholarships.

Kenyatta’s campaign then, like his U.S. Senate campaign today, put an emphasis on his neighborhood. During a debate, he said he planned to bring community residents in to work alongside students at Temple.

“This is my community,” he said in 2010. “Whenever everyone goes home for spring break, I go around the corner.”

Kenyatta and his team lost the election that year. He ran unsuccessfully again for Student Body President the following year. But looking back on his time in student government, Kenyatta’s proud of having said “the same stuff I’m saying now” regarding Temple’s relationship to the surrounding community.

Chris Carey, senior associate dean of students, developed his friendship with Kenyatta through his participation in Temple’s Service Immersion Program, a community service program that took approximately 12 students to the Rosebud Reservation, home to the Sicangu Sioux tribe, in South Dakota.

Although he wasn’t the official student leader on the trip, other students looked up to Kenyatta, who had graduated just before the trip, as an informal leader, Carey said.

“People are drawn to Malcolm, and it’s for all the right reasons,” Carey said.

“In my experience, he’s always been very kind and caring for people and wanting the best for people and to give a voice to as many people as possible.”

In his senior year, Kenyatta shifted his attention to Harrisburg, advocating for increased government funding for Temple and other state-related universities amid significant cuts to the state’s higher education budget.

In 2012, former Gov. Tom Corbett proposed a 30 percent cut to Temple’s state funding after Pennsylvania slashed funding for state-related universities by 19 percent the year before, The Temple News reported.

At a rally at the state capitol earlier that year, Kenyatta was “arguably the loudest speaker” among the students protesting for increased funding, The Temple News reported.

“This is not a negotiation,” he said at the rally.

Seven years later, he would find himself back in the Statehouse.

‘NORTH PHILADELPHIA PRODUCES GREAT THINGS’

In 2018, Kenyatta ran for public office in North Central. He entered the race to replace former Rep. Curtis Thomas, who held his seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for nearly 30 years. Weeks before the Democratic primary, Thomas announced his retirement and endorsed Kenyatta’s bid.

Kenyatta made clear his opposition to Temple’s plans to build an on-campus

PAGE 13

stadium during his campaign and advocated for an improved relationship between the university and the surrounding community, The Temple News reported.

He won the primary and beat Republican candidate Milton Street in the general election.

In Harrisburg, Kenyatta has advocated for action to curb climate change, against the elimination of Pennsylvania’s General Assistance program and in favor of suspending student loan payments to the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has also served on Gov. Tom Wolf’s Suicide Prevention Task Force.

Kathy Barnes, 53, a registered nurse who lives on Huntingdon Street near Eighth, first met Kenyatta when he visited a polling place in her ward, she said.

Barnes spoke to Kenyatta and told him he needed to show up more in the neighborhood. Kenyatta told her he promised to be more engaged in the community and has done just that, showing up at several local events Barnes has helped organize, she said.

“The community could benefit by having someone like our future U.S. senator who understands our pain in a position where he could do something about it,” Barnes said.

Kenyatta’s ascension to the national political stage has been quick. He joined the Biden campaign early in the Democratic primary, campaigning for the former vice president in Iowa in January 2020. Addressing a national audience in his Democratic National Convention speech, Kenyatta emphasized his personal connection to Biden, recalling Biden’s early support for gay marriage.

After Toomey announced his plans to retire after 2022 in October 2020, Kenyatta began thinking about his U.S. Senate run and talked it over with his family members before announcing his candidacy, he said.

With the spotlight now on him and North Philadelphia, he wants people to know how resilient his community is.

“I’m grateful to represent people who helped make me into the man that I am today,” Kenyatta said. “And I’m grateful to have the entire world know that North Philadelphia produces great things.” colin.evans@temple.edu @colinpaulevans

LIVE Philly

BY ALLIE IPPOLITO Assistant Photo Editor

in

A DAY OF

ACTION Philadelphia activists came together on Saturday for a National Day of Action Against Asian Hate.

O

n Saturday, hundreds gathered at Franklin Square on Seventh Street near Race for a National Day of Action Against Asian Hate.

Protesters stood in solidarity with the Asian American community in response to thousands of reported hate crimes toward Asian Americans linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the recent killing of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, six of them being women of Asian descent.

On March 16, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people at three separate Atlanta-area spas, the New York Times reported.

Long was arrested without incident

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS A protester holds a yellow flower while listening to speeches at the National Day of Action Against Asian Hate protest at Franklin Square on March 27.

that same night after a highway pursuit

by Georgia state police, Reuters reported.

The case’s investigation remains open and authorities are looking at every angle of the case, including the shooter’s motivations, according to a statement from the Atlanta Police Department.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, a legal advocacy organization protecting Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, released a statement following the killings.

“We are heartbroken by these murders, which come at a time when Asian American communities are already grappling with the traumatic violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by

the United States’ long history of white supremacy, systemic racism and gender-based violence,” it read.

Philadelphia’s Saturday protest was held alongside demonstrations in several cities across the country in a National Day of Action Against Asian Hate initiated by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation-Philly organized the protest, which started at 12 p.m at Franklin Square.

Tina Ngo, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and a 2020 political science alumna, said the protest was meant to uplift members of the community facing oppression.

“We’re not intending it to be a day of

reaction anymore,” Ngo said. “We have to make sure that we are uplifting ourselves. Whether that’s Asians or whether that’s Black people, or you know, the Latino community, we have to uplift ourselves to get together and to stand up together and be like, ‘We cannot keep letting this happen.’”

The rally was endorsed by several organizations, like the Temple University Asian Students Association, Black Alliance for Peace, Temple Young Democratic Socialists of America, Temple Students for Justice in Palestine and the Green Party of Philadelphia.

Katie Miernicki, a senior political science and philosophy major who is vice president of Temple Young Demo-

cratic Socialists of America, attended the protest.

“It’s very important to have that multinational solidarity and interracial solidarity with people,” Miernicki said.

Grace Ahn, associate director of admissions at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, gave a speech at the protest about being a Korean American mother who’s concerned for her daughter and her mother.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Ahn had a gut-wrenching feeling that it was going to be problematic for the Asian community, she said.

“And a few days later, while holding my two-year-old daughter’s hand walking to the playground, a man stopped his car in the middle of an intersection to yell at me to go back to China,” Ahn said.

“But as I stand here in front of all of you, I am comforted, I feel your strength, I feel your support, and I’m here to say out loud that I am proud to be Korean.”

After the speeches at Franklin Square, the crowd of demonstrators marched down Sixth Street and ended at the Chinatown Friendship Gate at 10th and Arch streets at 2:30 p.m.

Sister Gertrude Borres, 72, director for the Office for Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees who lives at 47th Street and Springfield Avenue, attended the protest.

“We Asians were very, very quiet, and we usually do not want to cause a lot of trouble,” Borres said. “But I think it’s time that we speak up and that we show that we cannot just allow Asian hate and discrimination.” allison.ippolito@temple.edu @allieippolito

MOVING CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP Naomi Klensin (left) stands next to her father, Jacob Klensin, holding a sign that reads “Please keep my grandma safe” at the National Day of Action Against Asian Hate protest at Franklin Square on March 27.

Akeneta Lalakobouma (left) and Gertrude Borres (right), Sisters from the Religious of the Assumption in Philadelphia, stand on Arch Street with their sign.

Protesters gather at 10th and Arch Streets as they say closing remarks at the National Day of Action Against Asian Hate protest on March 27.

Miriam Oppenheimer, an English as a Second Language professor at Temple, stands on Arch Street with her signs.

PAGE 16

FEATURES

The Temple News

CITY LIFE

Eligible students receive vaccine at FEMA clinic The clinic is open every day for row, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia 12 hours and transitioned to sec- Department of Public Health.

The clinic is one of more than 440 ond doses on March 24.

BY EMMA PADNER AND LAWRENCE UKENYE For The Temple News

A

fter receiving her doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on March 8 and March 29, Anna Wright is optimistic that the pandemic may soon be coming to an end.

“It feels very hopeful,” said Wright, a senior journalism major. “It feels like there is this kind of light at the end of the tunnel.”

Some eligible Temple University students are receiving COVID-19 vaccines at the Federal Emergency Management Agency-backed vaccination clinic in the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Arch Street near 13th. Students who are city residents and are in Philadelphia’s Phase 1B vaccination group feel lucky to receive the vaccine and hope the city's rollout will lead to a more normal-feeling summer with fewer restrictions on gatherings.

The city is currently in vaccination Phase 1B, which includes frontline essential workers, people aged 65 years or older, people with high-risk medical conditions and people working or residing in congregate settings, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center vaccination site, which officially opened March 3, is open every day from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The clinic, run

by FEMA, the federal agency that provides nationwide emergency assistance, provided first doses of the Pfizer vaccine during the first three weeks. From March 24 to April 14, the site will administer second doses, said James Gar-

FEMA vaccination centers created to reach President Joe Biden's plan of distributing 100 million shots in 100 days, according to a Feb. 26 release by FEMA. Residents complete an online interest form on the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s website and wait to be contacted to schedule a vaccination appointment.

Wright completed the city’s vaccine interest form on March 6 because she was eligible in the 1B category as a childcare worker. She didn’t expect to be eligible to receive the vaccine until much later in the year, she added.

“I thought maybe I’d be vaccinated by summertime,” Wright said. “I don’t have any other health conditions, so I didn’t feel like I was that much of a priority.”

The FEMA clinic will likely provide the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine from April 14 to April 28, after which the site will close, Garrow added.

The clinic averages 6,000 doses each day, and as of March 22, the clinic had administered 121,703 vaccine doses, Garrow wrote in an email to The Temple News.

Thomas Farley, the Philadelphia health commissioner, expects the city to move to Phase 1C in April and Phase 2 on May 1, The Temple News reported.

FEMA will open a second vaccination site next week at Esperanza Academy Charter High School on Hunting Park Avenue near Third Street, which will provide between 1,500 and 2,000 vaccines per day, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Brina Martin received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on March 10 because she’s a member service representative at the YMCA of Columbia North on Broad Street near Master, she said. She was worried about going to work and possibly infecting herself or her family.

“It feels good to have some sort of

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS People wait in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on 12th and Race streets on March 17.

protection now, but once I get the second vaccine I’ll feel a lot better,” said Martin, a junior international business major.

Martin didn’t spend much time waiting in line at the FEMA site even though the line wrapped around the block when she got there, she said.

“I thought I was going to be in line for hours when I first saw the line, but it took about 30 minutes in line,” Martin added.

Experts say the United States will reach herd immunity, the point when enough people are protected against infection that a virus cannot spread through the population, by vaccinating between 65 and 80 percent of the population, CNN reported on Feb. 26.

Seventy percent of the U.S. population could be vaccinated by midJune,and 90 percent could be vaccinated by the end of July, the New York Times reported.

Nicole Piusienski, a sophomore criminal justice major who works in the

grocery section of Target on Sixth Street near Spring Garden, felt lucky when she got an email on March 9 with a link to sign up for a vaccine appointment after registering online, she said.

Piusienski got her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on March 10 and scheduled her second dose for tomorrow. She waited at the Pennsylvania Convention Center clinic for about an hour and a half on March 9 but didn’t mind because everyone around her seemed happy to be getting vaccinated, she said.

“It was like a surreal moment kind of because it's been so long in the making, waiting for the vaccine,” Piusienski said.

“I was just so grateful that I could get one and that I was going to be helping to go toward a solution.” emma.padner@temple.edu @emmapadner lawrence.ukenye@temple.edu @lawrencee_u

The Temple News

FEATURES

PAGE 17

COMMUNITY

Local students selected in scholarship program Cecil B. Moore Scholarship recipients will take a summer course before attending Temple this fall.

BY NATALIE KERR Assistant Features Editor When Cory Matthews received an email from Temple University on March 2 congratulating him on earning a full tuition scholarship to the university, he and his mom celebrated by dancing and taking pictures outside Morgan Hall.

“It was literally like, one of my best days ever,” said Matthews, a senior at Parkway Center City Middle College who lives at 10th Street near Jefferson.

Twenty-five students from North Central high school will attend Temple in the fall with a four-year base tuition scholarship which they received on March 1 through the Cecil B. Moore Scholars Program, a scholarship initiative for high school students in North Central. Temple and Steppingstone Scholars, an organization that increases college access for students experiencing economic hardship, selected the recipients from the eight ZIP codes surrounding Main Campus.

Shortly after receiving the award, Matthews had to calm his excitement to focus on his Temple class, Why Care About College: Higher Education in American Life, he said.

“It was hard for me to even hold my bearings during my Temple class,” he added. “I went to the class and everything was normal, I just literally couldn’t stop smiling. I was so excited.”

The scholars program is a part of Temple’s $1 million anti-racist initiative announced in September 2020. The program aims to combat racial disparities in higher education by enabling more students from high schools in North Central to attend Temple, The Temple News reported.

Temple accepted 40 students into the program in November 2020 to participate in a dual enrollment course during the spring semester and be considered for the scholarship. All of the students attend high schools in the School District of Phil-

VICTORIA LANGOWSKA / THE TEMPLE NEWS Cory Matthews, 18, a Cecil B. Moore Scholar, stands in front of Morgan Hall on March 29.

adelphia or charter high schools and live in ZIP codes 19121, 19122, 19123, 19125, 19130, 19132, 19133 and 19140, according to Temple Now. The selection committee reviewed applications in mid-February and selected students two weeks later. The selection includes six additional students on a waitlist who will be given the scholarship if any of the recipients decline, said Chris Avery, vice president of programs at Steppingstone Scholars.

“Considering how competitive the process was, we wanted to be able to have as many of them as possible and decide to actually come to Temple,” said Avery, who served on the selection committee.

Anyae Scott, a senior at Simon Gratz High School who lives at 24th Street near Somerset, called her mom and some high

school teachers after she found out she received the scholarship.

“I felt good like, I felt relieved that most of my financial part would be covered,” Scott said.

The recipients will participate in a two-credit course summer bridge program during Temple’s Summer II session from June 22 to Aug. 2 focused on reading, writing and math proficiency; building community with other students; wellness practices; and preparing to be on campus in the fall, said Paris Williams, assistant director of student engagement and access at Temple, and program director for the scholars program.

The team is still determining the course’s format, but expects it will be virtual with some in-person connection and campus visits, said Williams, who will lead

the course.

Other students in the scholars program who did not receive the scholarship will complete the spring dual enrollment course, and the program team is advising these students on acquiring financial support that is separate from the scholars program, Avery said.

Scott is excited to attend a university that is familiar to her and has a calm and diverse environment, she said.

“I’m excited like, to go to college in general too, but like Temple being a school that I wanted to go to, I’m more excited,” Scott added. natalie.kerr@temple.edu @natliekerr

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FEATURES

The Temple News

STUDENT LIFE

Faculty, students discuss use of stimulus check Some students plan to save their stimulus, and others need the funds to pay for bills and rent.

BY FALLON ROTH AND LAWRENCE UKENYE For The Temple News Sonia Purohit works full time to support herself, so receiving the $1,400 stimulus check on March 24 gave her a sense of relief.

“Whether it’s like rent, food, in general, and then have to save up for tuition, it gets expensive,” said Purohit, a junior media studies and production and public relations major.

The American Rescue Plan Act, which provided checks up to $1,400 to Americans, reached some bank accounts through direct deposit by March 24. The bill included adults claimed as dependents through IRS deposits sent to their parents, Business Insider reported. Students are using $1,400 direct payments for necessities like groceries and to pay off student debt.

People who are receiving paper checks, EIP debit cards and other payment types may still have their stimulus payments processing, CNET reported.

Purohit’s parents are using the $1,400 to begin paying her student loans while the United States Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid has instituted a zero percent interest rate on student loans, Purohit said.

The American Rescue Plan Act differs from previous stimulus packages, like the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and the January Consolidated Appropriations Act, because the stimulus checks are larger and more Americans are eligible like dependents, wrote Wayne Williams, an accounting professor, in an email to The Temple News.

There is also a stronger focus on giving tax breaks to households with children, funding school reopenings

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sonia Purohit, a junior media studies and production and public relations major, sits on Liacouras Walk on March 19.

and vaccine distribution and extending unemployment benefits from 24 to 53 weeks, he wrote.

The first stimulus bill, which was passed on March 27, 2020, provided singles checks of up to $1,200, and the second stimulus bill, which was passed on Dec. 27, 2020, provided checks of up to $600, the New York Times reported.

Temple received $44.2 million in aid from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, of which $15 million went directly to students, The Temple News reported.

Williams believes Temple should use their allocated money to stabilize tuition, give faculty and staff classroom resources and pay competitive salaries to employees.

“How do we keep tuition down at a time where enrollment in the future becomes a challenge across the universi-

ty?” Williams said. “So how do we keep down tuition? How do we look at programs that are aligned with values and the mission of the university?”

Sam Collington, a senior political science major, feels the federal government should’ve passed the bill sooner and included $2,000 stimulus checks.

“I don’t think $1,400 is enough,” Collington said. “When you compare where we were with the first stimulus bill versus where we are now, that’s a very huge gap. I think they should’ve paid people the entire time.”

Collington plans to save most of his $1,400 stimulus check and use the rest on immediate necessities like rent, utilities and groceries, he said.

He hopes Temple uses any funding it receives to offer financial assistance to

students and faculty affected by the pandemic, he said.

Three in five college students reported experiencing basic needs insecurity due to the financial hardships imposed by COVID-19 in an April through May 2020 survey from the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice.

“If this helps anyone then that’s great, I hope it helps a lot of people,” Collington said. “I’m glad I got it.”

Because Katelyn Barbour already receives unemployment benefits and her parents still help her financially, she and her parents decided to split the stimulus check, with Barbour keeping $700.

This is the first COVID-19 stimulus payment Barbour received and she plans to save the money to buy a car to use during her summer internship at Temple’s film and media arts study away program in Los Angeles, California.

Barbour thinks college students should receive stimulus checks because many will save it or spend it on rent or necessities, she said.

“I feel like college students are always stuck in that limbo of being a fulltime student, so it’s hard to make money anyways,” Barbour said. “Especially people that are graduating, they are more likely to spend it on responsible stuff like investing your money or buying a car.”

Passing another stimulus bill will likely depend on the timeline of vaccine efforts and the uncertainty of the pandemic, Williams said.

“The elephant in the room is the, what will happen with the pandemic, and I think what happens with the vaccination, and whether or not we can restore the baseline of public health in order for us to return to a more normal economy is uncertain,” he added. fallon.roth@temple.edu @fallonroth_ lawrence.ukenye@temple.edu @lawrencee_u

The Temple News

FEATURES

PAGE 19

ON CAMPUS

Women faculty support students in STEM fields With research and outreach, really have to push yourself.”

Although women enter higher edwomen in STEM make male-domucation programs at a higher rate than inated fields more inclusive.

BY KRISTINE CHIN, SAMANTHA SULLIVAN AND NATALIE KERR For The Temple News Professors Irina Mitrea and Nancy Pleshko solve intricate equations and research complex scientific phenomena, but they hope their legacy will be the doors they open for other women in science, technology, engineering and math.

The work of female-identifying faculty and students in Temple University’s STEM programs is creating new research methods, earning them accolades in the science community and advancing scientific expertise. In light of Women’s History Month, women faculty and students in STEM highlight their success, which can be overshadowed by advantages men often experience in these historically male-dominated fields.

Fifty percent of women in STEM jobs have experienced gender discrimination at work, according to a 2018 report from the Pew Research Center. Although total STEM jobs increased by 79 percent since 1990, women’s positions in fields like mathematics, computer science and engineering have stayed about the same or decreased.

While earning her bioengineering doctorate at Rutgers University in the 1980s, a male peer told Pleshko to wash all the glassware their group used during labs, a remark she views as unacceptable today. Yet, she notices female STEM students are still often viewed as less talented than their male peers, she said.

“As a trainee in someone’s lab, as a female, are you going to be equally considered for jobs, even if your work is just as good? Are you going to be as equally considered as a male scientist?” said Pleshko, a bioengineering professor. “You

men, they only earn 36 percent of STEM bachelor’s degrees and only hold one in four STEM jobs in the United States, according to a 2020 study by the University of California, San Diego, despite making up the majority of the workforce.

As faculty, Pleshko and others in the College of Engineering are dedicated to encouraging their female-identifying students and supporting their research, she said.

“We just really, really like to help give those students a little push, you know, and a little confidence if they need it to say, ‘Yes, you can do, you know, you can do this, and just as well, or better than anybody else,’” Pleshko added.

Alyssa Veneziale, a junior health professions major, said working in Pleshko’s lab helped her gain confidence as a woman in STEM. Veneziale researches brittle bone disease, something she would not have been able to do without Pleshko’s support, she added.

“I’ve never felt as at home like I do in Dr. Pleshko’s lab,” Veneziale said. “Like just our little tiny group of 11 is so diverse ... There’s like four girl undergrads and I would never expect that because it’s just like not how science normally pans out.”

Sakina Bookbinder, a senior bioengineering major, has worked in Pleshko’s lab since her freshman year doing data acquisition and processing for students’ research projects.

Bookbinder uses techniques she learned from Pleshko in her own research, including studying chemical bonds in biomaterials and the makeup of proteins, she said.

“Through her lab and also with her encouragement, I’ve had the ability to learn a lot, like a huge diverse range of skills that I don’t know how I would have learned otherwise,” Bookbinder said.

ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS Alyssa Veneziale (left) and Sakina Bookbinder (right) work together in the Tissue Imaging and Spectroscopy Lab located on the eighth floor of the Engineering Building on March 25.

Mitrea, a math professor and chair of the math department, is the first female Laura H. Carnell professor in the College of Science and Technology. She earned the title, one of the highest honors for Temple faculty making outstanding contributions to their department, in July 2020.

Mitrea’s love for math began in her childhood home in Urziceni, Romania, with a mother who taught geography but “was fascinated with mathematics” and encouraged math discussions, she said.

At the University of Bucharest in Bucharest, Romania, where she earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics, Mitrea had a close group of female friends who are now math professors at universities across the world, she said.

“We sort of created this group that felt extremely supportive but it also had this professional angle,” Mitrea said.

“Everyone was determined to succeed at some level.”

But Mitrea still notices how few women and people of color are at the

conferences she attends and in classes she teaches, she said.

“I think that many times women shy away from mathematics because there is a perceived sense of, ‘I don’t belong here,’” she added.

In 2011, Mitrea hosted the first Sonia Kovalevsky Day at Temple, created to encourage middle school girls to pursue their interest in STEM. Mitrea hopes her outreach work and success as a mathematician will help other women in STEM get the same recognition as their male colleagues, she said.

“I have a big deal of hope in the younger generation of women,” Mitrea said. “I am so enthusiastic to see them standing up for what is right and for what they deserve.” kristine.chin@temple.edu samantha.sullivan0002@temple.edu natalie.kerr@temple.edu @natliekerr

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FEATURES

ON CAMPUS

Food vendors hopeful for in-person fall

Temple’s increased campus ac- last year in February, and so far, business tivity in Fall 2021 gives vendors has been “up and down,” he said.

He started working at BTS Food prospects for more business.

BY EMMA PADNER Features Editor Before students left campus in Spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Penelope Kyriazis spent her days busily working beside three other people in The Crepe Truck Philly.

Now, with only one or two workers in the truck, she’s spent the last year watching and waiting for students from the truck window on Norris Street near 13th.

“That’s how slow we are,” said Kyriazis, part-owner of The Crepe Truck Philly. “We’re very excited for everyone to come back in September.”

As warmer weather rolls in and more students are outside on campus, food vendors hope business will increase during the Spring 2021 semester. With the university planning to hold a majority of classes in person for the Fall 2021 semester, restaurants, food trucks and stands around Temple University anticipate steady business returning in the coming months.

While spring weather increased business for The Crepe Truck Philly, it’s still only about 10 percent of what they made before campus closed last spring.

It’s difficult for three full-time employees to support themselves, Kyriazis said.

“We’re all supporting ourselves with one truck, usually it’s more than enough, but now it’s like nothing,” Kyriazis said.

“So it’s been tough, it’s been really tough.”

Dien Dinh, the owner of Tommy’s Lunch Truck on Norris Street near Liacouras Walk, said business picked up in March, but he still closes early at 3 p.m. because of the lack of student traffic. Dinh thinks business will improve during the Fall 2021 semester, he added.

“Next semester, maybe full time, right?

Get open, get more hours,” Dinh said. “I work here a long time, I see when I’m open how a lot of students go around here.”

Justino Jimenez, the owner of Los Jimenez located at 12th Street near Polett Walk, reopened for the first time since

L.L.C., a food distribution center in Philadelphia and New Jersey, when he wasn’t sure when he could reopen the truck. He’s looking forward to operating full time in the spring, he added.

“I’m ready for it, I can’t wait because right now I’m working, I have a job plus I’m doing this, so it’s kind of like, hard, you know what I mean?” Jimenez said.

“Basically I’m working double to survive with this with this being slow.”

Fall 2021 classes will be held in a limited number of campus classrooms, and Temple will continue to have online courses for those who need or prefer them, The Temple News reported.

Jennifer Paek, the owner of the Honey food truck on 12th Street near Norris, is ready for students to return in September, she said.

Paek's also nervous about large numbers of students returning to campus, she added.

“Well as a business owner, yeah I’m happy, but I’m a little concerned because of COVID, if a lot of gatherings will be happening if schools open,” Paek said.

Natalie Insinna, a junior psychology and Italian major, orders from food trucks at least once a week to support small businesses on campus.

“A lot of them have shut down, which is really sad, but I’m hoping that next semester because we're in person again, they’ll pick back up and stuff,” Insinna said.

Kyriazis is also excited to see more students around campus, something she’s missed throughout the past year, she said.

With more students on campus, Kyriazis thinks life might feel a little more normal, she said.

“It's been a weird, scary year, and it's been hard for everyone, but also especially small businesses, especially businesses that are on college campuses,” Kyriazis said. “Even on the walk, no one’s really open, no one’s really busy.” emma.padner@temple.edu @emmapadner

The Temple News

VOICES

How did you spend the third stimulus check?

CLARE SYKES Freshman communication studies major I spent a lot of mine supporting small businesses.

DISHA UCHIL Second-year finance graduate student I am an international student. I didn’t get any stimulus check.

JACKSON PEPPER Sophomore economics major I didn't get a stimulus check because I am pretty sure that I am a dependent on my parents’ taxes or how that works, but it would have been useful to get the money to pay for like books and school.

ANNETTE LUBA Freshman speech, language and hearing science major I mainly just spent it on clothes and like, jewelry and that kind of thing.

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RELIGION

Jewish students, staff discuss plans for Passover Some Jewish people will have and community among Jewish students, small in-person celebrations this closed their in-person operations last year, while others will stay online. year, so Levitt celebrated with his imBY JULIA ALBERTSON For The Temple News

L

ast year, Emma Holtzman celebrated Passover with her extended family on a Zoom call.

This year, her plans are still uncertain, but she’ll likely attend another Zoom meeting as an alternative to gathering in person, she said.

“It was just me, my parents and my brother in California,” said Holtzman, a freshman health professions major.

“Then we Zoom-called my grandparents.”

This year for Passover, some Jewish students and organizations are still modifying their observances of the major holiday in accordance with the social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some students are still celebrating on Zoom, but others are able to gather in person with vaccinated family members.

Holtzman’s previous celebrations with extended family included a custom Haggadah with songs and a play that her aunt created, she said.

“She put in different songs and things into it,” Holtzman added. “We have a plague song where she’ll throw frogs. It’s a little interactive show.”

The Haggadah is a collection of texts that retells the story of the Egyptian Pharaoh freeing Jewish people from slavery and guides the ritual feast called a Seder, which is held on the first night of the seven-day-long holiday beginning at sundown on March 27 this year.

For students who are not able to celebrate in person, the interfaith council organization Hillel at Temple University offers Zoom Seder options, said Rabbi Daniel Levitt, the executive director of Hillel.

Hillel, which promotes leadership

mediate family. This year, he intends to celebrate with his extended family members who’ve been vaccinated, he said.

“That’s a big deal,” said Levitt, who is vaccinated. “We will not be isolated like we were last year.”

It is safe for fully vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks and with unvaccinated people from one other household, unless someone in that household is at a high risk for COVID-19-related complications, according to CDC guidelines.

In his Passover teachings, Levitt incorporates concepts of freedom and servitude with guiding questions for self-reflection, he said.

“What are the values that are forming the choices and decisions we make?

Are they truly free decisions or are we just going along with what’s natural and around us?” Levitt added. “The message of Passover is to be free to really choose the thing you are compelled to do and the person you’re compelled to be.”

The meanings and values of Passover vary between students’ experiences, even in a virtual form.

To Rita Rom, a freshman supply chain management major, food is an integral part of her Passover.

“I really love making matzo ball soup with my family,” Rom said. “We all roll the matzo balls together. It’s nice to have a new diet for a week to try and explore.”

According to the Torah, when the Jewish people were freed from Pharaoh’s control, they only had a short amount of time to leave before he changed his mind, Rom said. Therefore, the bread they quickly made was unleavened.

“We eat matzah to remember that,” Rom said. “All the foods on the Seder plate represent something.”

Rom’s favorite matzah variations

KRISTINE CHIN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

are matzah pizza with goat cheese and nutella-covered matzah, she said.

For the second consecutive year, Rom is unable to celebrate Passover with her extended family because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was definitely sad because Passover is a holiday where you gather with a lot of people, and it was very different than years before,” Rom added.

Emmie Kaplan, a freshman tourism and hospitality major, also celebrated on Zoom last year and is looking forward to Passover this year because it’s her favorite holiday, she said.

“I love it and spending it with my family,” Kaplan added. “I’m really excited for this year’s Seder, even if I have to see my extended family over Zoom.”

Passover is a time to rejoice with family and appreciate freedom, Kaplan said.

“It celebrates the fact that we as the Jewish people are still here and have all the freedoms that we do,” she said. “I feel like a lot of our holidays celebrate that,

but in my opinion, Passover is the most important one since we talk about how we were slaves in Egypt.”

Zoe Fisher, a sophomore sociology major, celebrated Passover on Zoom last year, which made it easier for family members to attend. She plans on participating in a virtual celebration this year as well, she said.

For Fisher, the story of Passover serves as a reminder to fight against injustice in the modern world. This inspired her to take part in the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer because the desire for justice resonated with her, she said.

“The story of Moses is so meaningful because, so the story is about Jews being freed from Egypt as slaves,” Fisher said. “I feel like the whole story kind of just gives me and my family a sense of justice, which sort of helps out in the real world when I see injustice to others.” julia.albertson@temple.edu

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THE ESSAYIST

Recovering from depression, one book at a time

A student describes how reading novels again relates to his recovery from depression.

BY EDEN MACDOUGALL Co-Intersection Editor Content warning: This story contains mentions of suicide and self-harm that may be triggering for some readers.

Growing up, I always had my nose in a book. I’d make weekly trips to the library and come out with a stack of books so tall it hid my face.

I’d read pretty much anything. Science fiction adventures, high fantasy, murder mysteries, it didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t boring. Toward the end of middle school, I expanded my reading habits to other media when a friend introduced me to manga. It quickly became my preferred medium, although I still read prose novels regularly.

I was an avid reader throughout the first two years of high school, but not for the reasons I once had. I still loved reading, but now it also provided me with an escape from myself.

I’ve been depressed since I was 13 years old. I’ve self-harmed and I attempted suicide in middle school. I couldn’t stand myself. It felt like I couldn’t do the simplest of tasks correctly and I was destined to be a failure at life.

Reading gave me a distraction from all of that — I can’t think about how much I hate myself if I’m wrapped up in a book.

Two symptoms of depression are losing interest in hobbies and an inability to concentrate. As a result, I stopped reading prose novels altogether in the middle of my sophomore year of high school.

It was easier to hold onto manga because it relies heavily on images and

GRACE DiMEO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

took less brainpower to read. I tried to get back into novels a few times, but to no avail. I just couldn’t get my brain to focus on the walls of text long enough to make any headway.

So I gave up.

And for a while that was just fine.

Even when I started seeing a therapist and got medicated, I had little interest in reading novels again.

I tried again last year, thinking if I read novel tie-ins to the comic books I like, I’d somehow be able to power through. It worked briefly. I finished the first book in the “Green Lantern: Sleepers” series by Christopher Priest. It wasn’t a good book, but I finished it.

A few weeks later, I sat down to read

the sequel and didn’t get past page 38.

Maybe the first time had been a fluke? I went back to giving up.

But after a while I wanted to try reading novels again. This time, I thought rereading something from middle school or high school might work out better, and because Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series was getting a TV adaptation, why not start with those books?

That worked out a lot better.

It took a while but I reread the first two books in the series last summer and I’m rereading the third one now. I’ve also started reading “Star Trek” novels.

At first, I didn’t think much of what this meant, I was too busy enjoying my-

self. But while I was reading, it occurred to me just how far I’ve come since middle school. I’d been feeling better for a while now thanks to medication, but being able to focus on novels and enjoy them was when it really hit me that I am recovering.

There are still days when I feel empty inside and don’t want to be alive, but those days are less frequent. I’m never going to be the same person I once was, and I don’t want to be. But getting my old favorite hobby back feels good, and I’m looking forward to discovering new books and continuing to improve my mental health. eden.macdougall@temple.edu

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PAGE 24

The Temple News

THE ESSAYIST

Grieving another year lost to the pandemic

A student reflects on feelings of loss and missing out on her birthday during the pandemic.

BY EMILY FRANTZ For The Temple News The twentieth year of my life is gone.

When asked how I’ve been doing this year, my answers are generally the same: “good,” “fine,” and other mild-mannered descriptors.

At the end of the second March in the pandemic, however, I’ve come to realize just how messed up I’ve felt this past year. This March was the lowest point of my year so far: the culmination of a year of pent-up frustration, disappointment and exhaustion.

In what feels like waking up from a

stress-induced nap, the last year’s slipped by with only blurred memories of online classes and cleaning my groceries with hand sanitizer. I’ve just turned 21, but I can’t truly acknowledge that milestone.

This year, instead of celebrating at a bar, I found myself in my parents’ living room, wistfully hoping for next year to be better, just as I did last year. Obviously, that dream did not pan out.

A year into the pandemic, I’m struggling to find hope for a better future.

While I couldn’t care less about the lack of celebration if it’s the safest decision to make, I can’t help but feel that these dates are two pillars marking a lost year. It doesn’t help that at this age, it’s nearly impossible to escape the mantra that these undergraduate years will be “the best of my life.”

I’ve lost time and experiences to the

pandemic that I’ll never be able to get back, including my plans to study abroad this semester, the opportunity to work in a physical writer’s room and months of lost moments spent with friends before I graduate. While I tell myself these losses are small compared to the bigger losses of this crisis, my mental health has suffered.

Despite losing the last year on campus to a pandemic, I don’t feel that I have any right to grieve. I can’t help but think, “I have been so ‘lucky’ throughout this entire ordeal, I have no right to feel this unhappy.” No friends or relatives of mine died of COVID-19, I haven’t caught the virus myself and I managed to get the highest GPA of my college career thus far in the fall, yet I’m less satisfied than ever with my life, too busy wrestling with what I didn’t realize was grief

until recently.

The more I don’t allow myself to process this grief, the worse it becomes, fueling the lows I continue to experience as no real relief from social distancing comes a year after the crisis started.

Losing my birthday celebration is a small part of a bigger series of losses, some that I probably won’t process fully for quite some time, but acknowledging even small losses is one step in the right direction.

As I head into April a year older, I’m acknowledging and releasing the disappointment I’ve clung to amid all this uncertainty. After all, there are far worse ways to spend a birthday than sharing a bottle of wine with my mom. emily.frantz@temple.edu

HANNA LIPSKI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

The Temple News

SPORTS

PAGE 25

FOOTBALL

Positional battles to watch during spring practice Temple football begins its spring practice on April 5 with an open quarterback competition.

BY DANTE COLLINELLI Sports Editor Temple University football added nine transfers this offseason to replace the 17 players who transferred away from Temple after its 2020 season ended.

Ten starters or key contributors to the team were a part of the transfers, meaning there will be plenty of competition for starting spots when the team begins spring practice on April 5.

Here’s a breakdown of three positional battles for fans to pay attention to during spring practice.

QUARTERBACK

Temple needs to replace former starting quarterback Anthony Russo, who transferred to Michigan State University on Dec. 16, 2020.

The top two competitors are redshirt-sophomore Re-al Mitchell and freshman D’Wan Mathis because they have the most playing experience.

Mitchell is the incumbent quarterback and is already familiar with Temple’s playbook. He transferred from Iowa State University in the summer of 2020 and played in three games for Temple last season when he threw for 238 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Mitchell also ran for 114 yards on 34 attempts.

Mathis transferred from the University of Georgia to Temple on Dec. 14, 2020. He began the 2020 season as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback against the University of Arkansas.

Mathis was benched against Arkansas and got few playing opportunities the rest of the season. He played in four games and recorded 89 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

Mathis was a four-star recruit coming out of Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan.

CORNERBACK

Temple lost two contributors in its cornerback room when Christian Bras-

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Redshirt-sophomore quarterback Re-al Mitchell surveys the field during the Owls’ game against Southern Methodist University at Lincoln Financial Field on Nov. 7, 2020.

well and Linwood Crump announced their intent to transfer after the 2020 season. Braswell hasn’t announced a destination yet, while Crump is heading to Colorado State University.

Temple is welcoming two transfers: junior Keyshawn Paul, who transferred from the University of Connecticut, and Cameron Ruiz, who transferred from Northwestern University and will give the team previous starting experience.

Paul last played in 2019 because the Huskies canceled their 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, he played in all 12 games for the Huskies and recorded 36 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one interception. On Nov. 30, 2019, Paul played against the Owls and recorded three tackles and one pass breakup.

Ruiz spent his last four seasons at Northwestern University and played in 32 total games. He had his best season in 2019 when he recorded 44 tackles, three tackles for loss, seven pass breakups and

one interception, all of which were career highs.

In 2020, Ruiz recorded 23 tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups and helped the Wildcats’ defense allow the fewest points per game in the Big Ten Conference that year.

With experience in a strong conference like the Big Ten, Ruiz should have an advantage when competing for Braswell’s and Crump’s spots this spring.

Graduate student Freddie Johnson returned to the team this season by using his extra year of eligibility given to players due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johnson played in four games last season and recorded 13 tackles and one pass defended. His knowledge of the defensive scheme makes him a competitor for starting cornerback reps this season.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

The Owls lost two contributors on their interior defensive line when Ifeanyi Maijeh and Khris Banks transferred to

Rutgers University and Boston College, respectively, while former starter Daniel Archibong declared for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Temple recruited two defensive tackle transfers from the University of North Carolina this offseason with redshirt-sophomore Lancine Turay and redshirt-junior Xach Gill.

In his career with the Tar Heels, Gill recorded 17 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, while Turay barely played but made his collegiate debut in 2019 against Mercer University.

The Owls also have senior Kevin Robertson returning this season after he played in six games last season in a rotational role.

With the Owls losing three players at defensive tackle, there’s a good chance these three players will see the field this coming season. dantecollinelli@temple.edu @DanteCollinelli

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SPORTS

The Temple News

ATHLETICS

Athletes’ family members allowed back to stands Temple Athletics is allowing two preassigned guests to attend outdoor sporting events.

BY ISABELLA DiAMORE Assistant Sports Editor At each of Sydney Beck’s field hockey games last season, her mom, Kathy Beck, was in the stands cheering her on.

But this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Kathy Beck had to stand outside the gates of Howarth Field to view her daughter’s games.

“It would be hard for me not to be there,” Kathy Beck said. “Even if I have to stand outside, I’m going to do it, so it actually just means everything to be able to be back in the stadium.”

Temple University Athletics began allowing a limited number of fans in the stands for outdoor athletic contests at the Temple Sports Complex and Howarth Field earlier this month. Despite the regulations, student-athletes are just happy their families can watch them play again.

Both stands are operating at 20 percent capacity. Prior to COVID-19 restrictions, each could carry 500 people at each field, but with social distancing requirements in place, the capacity is down to 96 people for each field, said Lee Roberts, senior associate athletic director for facilities and event management.

“Once inside the gates, everybody has to wear a mask, everything is restricted, no pregame stuff and no postgame stuff,” said Jessica Reo, executive senior associate athletics director and senior women’s administrator. “Once they leave the facility, they can do what they want, but in the facility, they can’t do anything.”

Student-athletes are granted two complimentary tickets for guests to attend home games. Although the gameday tailgating traditions are no longer allowed, student-athletes and parents have found different ways to capture the game-day experience.

Before a home game, student-athletes assign their tickets to guests who will be in attendance on the game day.

The list is then sent to security to make sure they know who is coming inside,

COLLEEN CLAGGETT / THE TEMPLE NEWS Fans stand outside the gates of Howarth Field to watch the Temple University women’s field hockey game against Providence College on March 27.

said Sydney Beck, a sophomore forward for Temple’s field hockey team.

Once arriving at Temple Sports Complex or Howarth Field, guests are allowed inside 30 minutes before the game starts. Parents must show photo identification to security to make sure their name is on the list provided by student-athletes, Sydney Beck said.

“They closed the bathrooms at our facility, so it’s just you go, sit down, watch the game and you’re up and out,” Sydney Beck said. “They aren’t allowed to hang out. If they do, they have to be outside of the gate.”

Kathy Beck notices the changes from last season but is mindful of distancing herself from the other parents and understands the security team is making sure safety is first, she said.

Although family members can’t mingle together during the game, parents have made it their job to be the best fan section and show their love and support for the team, said Lauren Zinkl, a

junior midfielder on Temple’s lacrosse team.

“My dad has been leading our cheers for when we score, it’s nice to have our cheering section back whenever we score,” Zinkl added.

Jenn Rodzewich, a senior midfielder on Temple’s lacrosse team, misses the tailgates before and after the game because parents would make food for everyone, Rodzewich said.

But in their absence, Rodzewich feels fortunate to have her dad, who’s her number one supporter, back in the stands for her last season with the Owls, she said.

“Most recently, our Florida game had fans, which Florida fans were allowed in the stands, so having a Temple crowd there was really helpful because Florida was a really big game for us,” Rodzewich added.

Similar to the lacrosse team, parents from the field hockey team would bring food and snacks last season. Everyone

would set up chairs and walk around Temple Sports Complex with their family to talk about the game, Sydney Beck said.

“They’ve been trying to do stuff before we get on the bus that would mock a tailgate, like have little goodie bags for us before we get on the bus,” Sydney Beck added.

As the 2020-21 sports season wraps up, Reo believes students will be welcomed back into the stands and things will start to return to a new normal in the 2021-22 sports season, she said.

Being side-by-side with the girls’ families watching Temple field hockey means everything to Kathy Beck, who’s attended field hockey games for 10 years, she said.

“Four years go quick and you don’t get them back,” Kathy Beck added. “It’s wonderful to be there.” isabella.diamore@temple.edu @belladiamore

The Temple News

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WOMEN’S SOCCER

Freshman fills vital midfield position for AAC play Lexy Endres takes the team’s set pieces and generates scoring opportunities with her passing.

BY DONOVAN HUGEL Women’s Soccer Beat Reporter

In Lexy Endres’ first game for Temple University women’s soccer, she had butterflies in her stomach.

“My heart was racing a lot,” said Endres, a freshman midfielder. “It took a bit, but once I settled in, I was fine. I’m just a freshman going up against girls on teams like Memphis and UCF that are three-year starters and All-Americans.”

Endres is a key contributor to Temple’s (4-4-1, 2-4-1 The American Athletic Conference) offense as an attacking midfielder tasked with an advanced playmaker role. Her job is to sit between the midfield and forward groups in the middle of the field or on either wing to help create scoring opportunities.

Usually the attacking midfielder role, or the “number 10” role, is reserved for an older and more mature player, but head coach Nick Bochette is confident Endres is the right player for the spot, he said.

“She can really open a defense up with her passing ability,” Bochette added.

“She’s a little deceptive with her passes. If we set up shop in the attacking third and get her the ball, she’ll find those little slip balls through to either [junior forward Gabriela Johnson] or [junior midfield-

CONTINUED | GYMNASTICS “It usually takes a while for us to settle in and until the new team chemistry and like get used to the dynamics of the team changes every year,” Castrence added. “I think we started to just become comfortable and not so tense.”

Because of their poor start to the season, Temple knew they had to win the conference championship to make NCAA Regionals.

“I don’t think any of us woke up that day feeling like we could come home not

NICK DAVIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman forward and midfielder Lexy Endres dribbles the ball down the field during the Owls’ match against the University of Central Florida at the Temple Sports Complex on March 26.

er Hailey Gutowski] or whoever else it might be.”

On the field, Endres is surrounded by upperclassmen like Gutowski and senior midfielders Emma Wilkins, Arryana Daniels and Julia Dolan.

The upperclassmen hold her to the same standards they hold each other to, Dolan said.

“She’s just really shown how technically sound she is, how fit she is,” Dolan added. “She just is a really good player all

around. She’s really gonna make an impact.”

Temple’s coaching staff and teammates’ trust in Endres is evident, with Endres taking many of Temple’s set pieces and swinging crosses into the box.

In Temple’s 1-1 draw with East Carolina on Feb. 28, Endres took the corner kick in the 62nd minute that led to freshman defender Róisín McGovern’s goal.

Endres also scored the tying goal on a penalty kick in Temple’s 2-1 win

winning,” said junior Julianna Roland.

“It was all like, ‘There’s no way we’re not getting back on the bus without the trophy.’”

Temple moved from the Eastern College Athletic Conference to the East Atlantic at the beginning of the 2021 season. The East Atlantic is a tougher conference and has produced 137 NCAA team bids in 38 years.

“I still think, you know, some teams will underestimate us,” Castrence said.

Roland, senior Faith Leary and a couple of the other girls pray before each meet, which has created a welcoming

environment, Roland said.

“That’s such a big aspect of it like, you want to be on a team that’s fun and lets you have the college career that you wanted,” she added.

During the team’s final rotation in the championship, they needed to score a 48.500 on vault to tie North Carolina State University. The Owls then scored a 48.975 to win the East Atlantic Championship.

“Most of us cried,” Leary said. “But it was just excitement we’ve never felt as a team before.”

As one of the older members of the

against Cincinnati on March 15. After Johnson drew the penalty kick in the 47th minute, Endres took the kick instead of several upperclassmen who could’ve taken it. “[Endres] has a skillset that makes her very versatile,” Bochette said. “That’s why you’ve seen her on the left, in the middle, taking set pieces, and she honestly could play forward as well. As a young player, she’s starting to figure out how to play with more dynamic players.”

Even with her teammates and coaches’ trust, she admits there’s more she can learn, Endres said.

“I definitely still need to be playing quicker, the pace of the game is a lot quicker,” Endres added. “You can’t dribble really, you just have to make your decisions right off the bat.”

Endres and the rest of the freshman class offer Temple a bright future to compete in The American Athletic Conference. Since 2010, Temple has made The American conference tournament three times, but they lost in the first round each time.

“We all got here and we knew that the culture wasn’t where it should be,” Endres said. “Our class always talks about when we’re seniors, we want to be winning the conference. We don’t want to sell short of our goals.” donovan.hugel@temple.edu @donohugel

team, Leary focused on getting everyone to enjoy competing, even when the team was struggling, because she knew they could improve quickly, she said.

“Just like fun and loving and supportive is something that I won’t let them take for granted,” Leary added.

“Like before the meets like, I’m just like, ‘Just have fun and soak in every moment because like, we won’t get this time back like, ever.”’ sean.mcmenamin@temple.edu @Sean102400

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The Temple News

GYMNASTICS

FROM FOURTH TO

FIRST

NICK DAVIS / THE TEMPLE NEWS Sophomore all-around Grace Busch (center) high-fives teammates and coaches during the Owls’ meet against the University of North Carolina at McGonigle Hall on Feb. 21.

The Owls qualified for NCAA Regionals after winning the East Atlantic League Tournament.

BY SEAN McMENAMIN Gymnastics Beat Reporter

T

emple University gymnastics lost their first seven games of the 2021 season and didn’t win their first meet until almost two full months into the season.

“We started training in the middle of October, had a couple little bumps in the road,” said head coach Josh Nilson. “We really only trained for maybe six to eight weeks before we competed, which is insane. There are people in our conference that train starting in July.”

Despite their slow start, the Owls (4-13-1, 3-10-1 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) will compete at the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time since 1992 on April 1 against the

University of Arizona (0-6-0, 0-5-0 Pac12 Conference) after winning the East Atlantic Gymnastics League championship on March 20.

The Owls entered the East Atlantic championship with a record of 3-131, putting them in fourth place in the conference, but they ended the season by winning three out of their last four meets, giving them momentum heading into the event.

“We stayed the course,” Nilson said.

“It ended up great. I mean, five season highs in a row is a pretty cool story so, but I don’t know if there’s a magic bullet.”

The key for the Owls’ higher competition scores wasn’t practice adjustments or changes to their event routines. They just needed time, said junior Ariana Castrence.

GYMNASTICS | 22