The Tower - The Independent Voice Of Kean University - April 2022 Issue

visit us at kutower.com Cougar Hall Concerns

Awarded NJ's 2020 #1 college newspaper

Page 5

@KeanTower Kean Softball

Page 10

April | 2022 WWW.KUTOWER.COM

TH E I N DEPEN D EN T VOI C E OF K E AN U N IV E R S IT Y

Gearing up for Graduation:

Class of 2022 Senior Class Royale

By Harmony Sanchez The Class of 2022 at Kean University kicked off the celebration for their upcoming graduation at the Senior Class Royale this March. The Student Government Association hosted the formal on Saturday, March 29 at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, where

night was great and it was an awesome turnout overall,” Martha Julemis, Senior at Kean and Student Government Association Executive Vice President said.

Julemis stressed that every step of the event, from planning to execution was a memorable experience for her leading up

“The Senior Formal allowed for everyone to just truly enjoy themselves and their hard work and dedication to their studies.” students gathered with one another to take photos, enjoy food and dance the night away.

The formal started with a cocktail hour including hor d'oeuvres, an open cash bar for guests 21 and over, and shrimp cocktail. Students who attended the formal purchased their all-inclusive tickets for $50.00 Photo by Harmony Sanchez prior to the event. At check-in, the LED Robot and Dance Floor vaccination cards and ID’s of each guest were verified.

“The Senior Formal was an amazing to graduation. time, absolutely enjoyable. The Vice “The Senior Formal allowed for President of Programming from the everyone to just truly enjoy themselves Student Government Association, and their hard work and dedication to Yessica Jimenez and myself were able to their studies and because of that the plan that wonderful night with the help scenery, the overall formal was something of the senior class President and formal continued on page 8 committee. Seeing the students enjoy the

The Tower Named Among Top College Newspapers in NJ for Sixth Time The Tower has been awarded second appeal, effectiveness, and readability into place for General Excellence among New account, according to NJCPA rules.

The judges, who are professional Jersey’s college newspapers, both public journalists, said The Tower had “good and private, by the New Jersey Collegiate front page stories with a good mix” of Press Association. journalism, including enterprise stories, This is the sixth time since 2015-2016 that The Tower was ranked among the top news, local features and profiles and a three college newspapers in New Jersey, nice layout.”

“I am honestly proud of the hard work including winning the most coveted number-one slot for General Excellence our staff of writers and editors put in, given that we had spent more than a year in 2019-2020.

Chelsey Jaipersaud and Cindy Lazo, online and just recently transitioned back both Communication/Journalism majors to in-person," Lazo said. "This award is a testament to their who graduate in May, contributions.” served as co-editors Jaipersaud was also in chief of the awardawarded third place in winning paper in Fall the Column/Opinion 2021. This semester, Writing category Jaipersaud serves as for her piece, “One Editor-in-Chief, while Relationship That Runs Lazo now serves as Deep,” a personal essay Features Editor. about her relationship “I’m very proud of with God. all the editors and Contest judges reporters, they worked deemed Jaipersaud’s hard and this is their piece “wonderfully win,” Jaipersaud said. honest, brave and Photo by Andrey Nalbantov “I’m also grateful for beautifully written.” the faculty advisors Chelsey Jaipersaud, Editor-in-Chief, Cindy Lazo, Former Co-Editor-in-Chief Jaipersaud received a and previous editors second-place award last that helped me become the writer I am year in the same category for a column today.” titled, “Coping with Heartbreak During The General Excellence award is Covid-19.” based on “coverage, writing quality, The Tower is required as part of the copyediting, style and layout in the academic program in journalism in the newspaper.” Judging also takes local continued on page 13

2 THE TOWER

April, 2022

The Semester Town Halls Continue with President Repollet, His Staff & Students

Students Frustrated about Gas Price Increase

By Chelsey Jaipersaud President Lamont Repollet addressed student concerns regarding tuition, changes within facilities and buildings and dining service advancements on campus during the Spring semester Town Hall.

The Town Hall was held on March 22 and alongside Dr.Repollet were Class President Kobe Robinson as well as Vice President for Planning Photo by Kean University Official Instagram Felice Vazquez and Associate Vice President Lamont Repollet President for Facilities and Campus university and they have not raised tuition Planning Steve Remotti. for the last two years.

“I think as we start to create a system President Repollet further explained that’s inclusive, we must improve the voices that incoming students who hold a 3.2 of our students and I think that’s very GPA or higher and make less than $65,000 important,” Dr. Repollet said. a year will have their tuition covered by Dr. Repollet said that when you’re looking the university for the first year. Students at a student-centered or learning-centered also have the Garden State Guarantee

“I think as we start to create a system that’s inclusive, we must improve the voices of our students and I think that’s very important.”

By Steven-Ross Bugayong Gas prices are at an all-time high. In New Jersey, gasoline prices have climbed to an average of $4.18 a gallon for regular gas, almost doubling the cost of $2.92 a gallon drivers were paying this time last year. The increase in gas prices has been a rough go, affecting everyone, including those who commute to school.

The increase in gas prices stems from several factors. One reason is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the second leading oil distributor in the world. With tensions at an all-time high, there is a concern that oil distribution will stifle, thus causing a higher oil demand.

Another is the effects of the pandemic and how it jolted the economy, everyone lost jobs, and companies lost money.

People weren't traveling, but as vaccines rolled out and cases decreased, Americans found it safe to travel again, thus making gas more vital than ever. To double down on the increase in gas prices, Kean students have been making sacrifices and changing the way they do daily activities.

"For me, I have been picking up extra

student, any dollar you can make means the world. It's just unfortunate that half of my paycheck goes into paying for the gas in my car."

Like DosSantos, many other students who have part-time jobs have picked up extra hours at work to ensure they have the proper funds to pay for gas while also spending money to buy the essentials to live their everyday lives.

Kennedy Griffen, a senior majoring in Communication, has been picking up extra shifts at work to ensure she has additional funds to pay for gas and has also been avoiding driving as much as possible.

"I travel to both campuses union and ocean; I honestly try not to drive that much if I don't have to," Griffen said. "I live across the street from where I work, so I'll walk or ride my bike if it's nice out.

But I'm trying not to go to the union campus next semester so that I don't have to deal with gas."

Kean is a commuter school, even though housing is available to students.

Most students who attend the university commute to campus daily to achieve their

"I spent over 200 hundred dollars on gas in the past two weeks."

Photo by Chelsey Jaipersaud

Students and staff seated at the Town Hall

university or institution, you’re looking at what its needs are, what they need to do to reach their self actualization.

“This forum is not created to attack and to criticize, it is for moving this university forward and to ensure that your experience on this campus is actualized and you persist to graduation,” Dr. Repollet said.

A Kean student voiced their concern about tuition to which President Repollet responded that Kean University has one of the lowest tuition rates in the state of New Jersey for a four year comprehensive

which offers free tuition with the same requirements.

“The state of New Jersey has designated us as a research university and with that comes some incentives for students,” Dr. Repollet said.

Dr. Repollet explained that with the university established as a research institution there comes some incentives for students and that within the next two years students may start to see the Tuition Aid Grant or the New Jersey Educational continued on page 13

Photo by Steven-Ross Bugayong

Gas machine

hours at work and started door dashing," Justin DosSantos, a junior majoring in Forensic Science, said. "It's crazy that all the money I have been making from Door Dash has been to pay for gas. As a college

Photo by Steven-Ross Bugayong

Gas prices at a local Wawa

academic goals and students have been affected by the increase in gas prices one way or another, no matter how far they travel.

continued on page 7

April, 2022

Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Government Rebranding Ceremony

By Davaughnia Wilson On April 4, the Student Government Association (SGA) and Graduate Student Government (GSG) hosted their rebranding ceremony where they introduced their new logo, spoke about some of their major accomplishments and also their commitment to donating $450,000 to scholarships for Kean students.

The event, held in the Miron Student

reserves that were collected from student fees over a period of time. He decided that there was no better way to spend $450,000 than to spend it on scholarships for Kean students. This money will give scholarships to students annually.

“We have put $250,000 into President Repollets Future Scholarship Fund, $100,000 into the Dr. Morgan Laury scholarship, as well as an additional

Photo by Davaughnia Wilson

The Executive Board of the Student Government Association

Photo by Davaughnia Wilson

Jason Pleitez

$100,000 into our endowment funds to ensure that the current scholarships that we offer through SGA, with the Kean Foundation, proceed to support our students in the upcoming years,” Pleitez said.

“The name change and rebranding gives us the opportunity to reintroduce ourselves today, to the campus community” Center (MSC) Atrium, featured the Executive Board of SGA, GSG, and Senators, as well as the unveiling of the new logos created by Freshman Class Senator, Joseph Abramson.

The ceremony highlighted SGA’s achievements this past year. SGA’s Executive Board President, Jason Pleitez, has committed his term to serving students at Kean in every way possible. He takes pride in the foundation that he has built within SGA and the changes that he has made to better accommodate and assist students.

In an effort to do this, Pleitez checked the SGA accounts and found that there was a substantially large amount of money in the

The Vice President of SGA, Martha Julemis, and Pleitez met and decided where the money would be allocated and how it would be split. They brought their proposal to SGA’s executive board and the senate and it was ultimately decided on with the support of the Director of SGA, Stephanie Faser.

“I think the best thing about the scholarships is that that money will always exist because we put that into an endowment account,” Pleitez said.

In their efforts to be inclusive and hear the voices of all students, such as commuters, residents and those in need continued on page 14

THE TOWER 3

The Fears that Come with Being a Woman

By Chelsey Jaipersaud

against women as “any act of genderbased violence that results in, or is likely Every Wednesday I leave my job to result in, physical, sexual, or mental at 8p.m., my keys clenched tightly harm or suffering to women, including in my hand threats of such and my finger acts, coercion continuously or arbitrary clicking the deprivation of unlock button liberty, whether while I nearly occurring in run to my car public or in across the street, private life.” constantly Women have turning my head been a subject back to make to violence sure no one for years and is behind me. although there When I reach are laws, such my car, I throw as the Violence my belongings Against Women on the passenger Reauthorization Photo by Chelsey Jaipersaud seat and Act of 2013 in The girls and their pepper spray immediately place to prevent lock the doors serious incidents from happening, it is while simultaneously checking the back still very prevalent. seat.

“My favorite thing in the world to I always thought it was just me, but do is to walk on a deserted beach for I started to see more and more women miles and yet talk about this the few times and even post I’ve had that videos about opportunity, if them checking I’m alone I'm the back seat always looking of their car to and if there's a make sure no man even off one was there. in the distance I continued to I can’t enjoy notice other it, relaxed, little things, such anymore. I start as that men do thinking about not immediately turning around turn around or leaving when they hear the beach,” the footsteps of said Kean someone walking behind them or that Psychology professor Dr. Emily Filardo. my male friends question why I carry “I feel frightened.” around pepper spray.

Women deal with the constant fear I even went out with a boy who asked, that if they’re alone, there is a greater “Do you plan on using that pepper chance of something happening to spray on me?” And when I responded them. The fear that is embedded within with, “If I have to,” he laughed and said, us could have easily come from our “You chicks are crazy.” upbringing. Young girls are often told Are we crazy?

According to UN Women one in three to sit properly and dress a certain way women worldwide experience physical so that they don’t draw attention to themselves. or sexual violence.

“This is so central to childhood, it just starts so young that I feel like it’s sad, but it’s become a central part of women’s psychology,” Filardo said.

The United Nations defines violence

continued on page 14

4 THE TOWER

April, 2022

PRSSA Opens Up Again on the Kean Ocean Campus

By Elaine Amico PRSSA, also known as Public Relations Student Society of America is officially reinstated on the Kean Ocean campus!

PRSSA is an organization among students who share a common interest in Public Relations and Communication. The organization provides long-lasting connections, and gives students opportunities to get their feet wet in the world of Public Relations, prior to starting their professional careers.

By joining PRSSA, students have the opportunity to work closely with a variety of clients, and help them with whatever their needs might be.

Professor Schwab is the faculty advisor for PRSSA, and is very optimistic about what is to come with the organization.

“I am so excited to bring the PRSSA back to Kean Ocean,” Schwab said. “We have very talented and energetic PR students in Ocean, and I can't wait to showcase their talents."

Maggie Lambusta, Junior at Kean Ocean, is very excited about being the new co-president of the organization.

“My role is to delegate specific duties enthusiastically, to motivate and drive professional work,” Lambusta said.

“Although this title sounds separate and prestigious, I am like my peers around me, so we work together as a team and help each other to gain the most out of this

“We have very talented and energetic PR students in Ocean, and I can't wait to showcase their talents.”

Photo by Kean Ocean Campus Life Social Media

First meeting of PRSSA on the Kean Ocean Campus

experience.”

Lambusta felt strongly about wanting to get student involvement back up at Kean Ocean, as the pandemic had definitely taken a toll on student morale.

“I want everyone in the school to be more involved, especially since this pandemic took away our college experience for quite some time,” Lambusta said. “Our goal for the students here at Kean Ocean is to build on

the skills taught in the classroom and put them to work.”

When you major in Public Relations, you are signing up to learn a variety of skills. Some of those skills include learning how to work with companies when they need events planned, crises taken care of, communication with the media, and much more. While taking classes helps prepare students, getting first-hand experience through organizations like PRSSA is extremely beneficial.

“In our Public Relations classes, we see what needs to be done in the textbook, but it is not enough of what it takes to accomplish it in real-time,” Lambusta said.

“PRSSA gives students the opportunities to practice PR before graduation, giving them the necessary skills, mindset, and professionalism to succeed in this industry.”

Rebecca Clifton, Junior at Kean Ocean, is co-president with Lambusta. Clifton has found that finding time for internships, alongside her work schedule and other commitments isn’t an easy task. PRSSA gives students the opportunity to still gain experience, but without the commitment of an internship.

“For students like myself who work full time and can't necessarily do an internship, PRSSA provides us with the opportunity to get experience in the field without having an actual internship,” Clifton said.

PRSSA will officially have meetings every Wednesday at 3:30 PM in the Gateway building, room 216. The organization is open to all majors, and is very eager for new students to join. n

Bonnet Talk: What It’s Like Being a Black Woman

By Tyra Watts As Women’s History Month comes to a close, Kean University’s Pan-African Student Union (PASU) hosted an event called Bonnet Talk on Tuesday, March 22, at the Nancy Thompson Library VISER Room.

The Pan-African Student Union is a cultural organization that unites all people of African descent to a greater awareness of self. Its mission is to provide knowledge and empowerment of precolonial roots so that people can provide strength for the future.

The union is run by President Esi McNeil, a senior majoring in Elementary Education in English and minoring in African Studies.

Bonnet Talk is an event where students discuss stereotypes about Black women and how it affects the confidence and interpersonal relationships of Black women, as well as what it means to truly “see” Black women.

The event was run by PASU Treasurer Samatha Horace, a senior majoring in

Photo by Samantha Horace

Bonnet Talk introduction slide

Photo by Samantha Horace

How Stereotypes Affects Dating for Black Women

Biology and Psychology.

Horace drew inspiration to create Bonnet Talk from comedian Monique Hicks (professionally known as Mo’Nique), who went viral last May for her take on Black women wearing bonnets in public.

“There are people of all races who love black women. It’s just that the negative side is always amplified.”

Bonnet Talk kicked off with a New York Times YouTube video featuring Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion titled Megan

Thee Stallion: Why I Speak Up for Black Women, which was narrated by the rapper.

The video focuses on the hardships that Women of Color (WOC), particularly Black women, often face within society.

The event transitions into a presentation about intersectionality, a concept named by American advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw. It is the understanding of how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege are shown. For example, when it comes to understanding women's health, you have to consider other social categories such as class, ability, nationality, religion, age, or race, to gain a better understanding of women's health concerns. In the case of Black women, they have to go through struggles such as being a woman (e.g. misogynoir, the patriarchy) and being continued on page 15

April, 2022

THE TOWER 5

April Is the Season of Blooming – and Sacrifice

By Cindy Lazo Easter season has often been associated with spring, egg hunts, Easter eggs and of course the Easter Bunny--in my case, however, this is a period of sacrifice and abstinence.

The practice of fasting and obligated dietary abstinence was something I had been practicing since I was young. It is a religious observation custom that is associated with Lent, a 40 day season of praying and fasting that starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment.

I will just make it plain and simple: I make a Lent sacrifice that I have to go through with and have to refrain myself from eating meat while having one full plate of food (with two small portions) on particular days during that time frame.

Easy, right? Well, it would be if it was not for the temptation of everyone around me that gets me to the point of saying ‘screw it’.

Growing up, I had to watch people around me enjoy the things I could not

indulge in--the years of school lunches where I had to sit back and watch my friends enjoying the pepperoni pizzas on Pizza Fridays while all I could have was

This year, I might have possibly taken a step too far for my Lent sacrifice; along with abstaining from meat consumption on Fridays and commemorative days,

"Growing up, I had to watch people around me enjoy the things I could not indulge in."

Photo by Jezobell Jones

Photo by Malia Karlinsky

"Lent Logo 2008" by jezobeljones is marked with CC BY 2.0

"Yellow Happy Easter Sign - Good Egg" by Malia Karlinsky - Yesterday on Tuesday is marked with CC BY 2.0

my chocolate milk and a bag of 80 percent air-20 percent chips.

Or not enjoying the things I get pleasure from because I had to follow through with it. There are times where I just gave up because it was too much.

I challenged myself into going 40 days without consumption of soft drinks --my ultimate temptation.

While I do not consume soft drinks excessively, it is a bad habit of mine and I thought maybe this is a good way of

kicking out of it.

But if only I gave myself enough time to prepare and ease my way off sodas ahead of Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent season). Instead, I went full cold turkey and expected that it all be okay--which was at the start.

After a good first two weeks off of soft beverages, it seemed like everyone around me was drinking soda, whether it was a can of Pepsi, a cup of Fanta or a good ole bottle of Coca-Cola.

Eating out with friends saw that I made sure to steer away from them (and the red meat options if it was a Friday). The bottles of water I chugged during family dinners while family members (who had never thoroughly drank sodas) were enjoying their refreshing sodas and even tried to get me to break.

While I am satisfied that I have managed to go through this year’s Lent without cracking and even enjoyed the beneficial effects (like I am consuming more water and even shed a few pounds), I genuinely cannot wait for the week of Easter to enjoy the taste of the cool, refreshing bottle of Coke that is sitting in the fridge. n

Students Complain about Cougar Hall

By Ja’Bria Laster Dorming at a university could be expensive but has benefits for the students. Students are able to live among friends, or,meet new people and also have a sense of freedom living on their own.

Kean University has seven dormitory buildings on its main campus. The newest building, Cougar Hall, has more updated amenities in comparison to the other buildings on campus.

However, Cougar Hall has faced issues such as the water pressure in the residence’s rooms, only having cold water, and also the elevators stop working from time to time. As students became irate of these ongoing issues, a student, Tyshira Page shared her frustration and concern by using her instagram page @tyshira. marie to get attention to this problem.

A video created by Pagespeaks of her frustration and concerns. Page also created a Change.org petition called

“Reimbursement for Cougar residence.”

The petition was used to shine a light on the ongoing issues going on in Cougar Hall and to also be accommodated for the residents' troubles they’ve had endured.

Students rooming at Kean University typically pay about $6,000-8,000 alone just for room and board. “I feel taken advantage of especially when I am paying a lot of money as it is, why should we as students suffer, especially in a new building,” Page said.

Other issues have been reported within this one dormitory alone. As Cougar Hall tries to fix these issues, Tyshira feels that for the time spent using a cold shower there should be an accommodation to not only her but to the other students who have suffered as well.

“I have been residing in Cougar Hall for two semesters now. The biggest issues that I have encountered within my semesters at cougar hall have been having to wash with cold or barely warm

water, the water has been an issue since the fall semester and is still an ongoing issue this spring semester. Another big issue that we have been experiencing is the washing machines barely working,” Page said.

Other students living on the floor have also been impacted with the events that have happened. One of the residents, Synia Taitt, says “I love living on campus but here’s where I cross the line, we pay a lot of money to stay somewhere that is fairly new but has many issues.”

Taitt said she expressed her concerns multiple times but received no response.

In a statement, Kean spokesperson Margaret McCorry said: “The water pressure and laundry issues in Cougar Hall have been fixed. One of the two elevators in the building is out of service, and the part needed for the repair has been ordered. The repair will be made as soon as the part arrives. Residents of the building are encouraged to attend the

Photo by Ja’Bria Laster

Outside Cougar Hall Building

continued on page 15

6 THE TOWER

April, 2022

The Return of Kean’s Speech Contest

Department of Communication Kean University Center for Academic Success 1000 Morris Avenue Union, NJ 07083 Telephone: (908) 737-0470; Fax: (908) 737-0465 Email: thetower@kean.edu; www.kutower.com

By Ja’Bria Laster

into papers. To eliminate the contrast of interest Edgley brought aboard faculty who Imagine giving a speech on a research did not have direct contact with any of the topic in front of a live contestants for real audience and after your objective eyes looking speech you win a big at the presentations.

“We're starting to get prize. Kean University’s our feet wet and kind speech contest is back of see what options are for another year, hosted available,” Edgley said.

by Dr. Allison Edgley.

Edgley feels that Edgley, a her purpose is to help Communication students find and professor at Kean, tune their perspective, wanted to focus persuasive speaking on special projects skills for future jobs, or to help make their something that they are department's presence passionate about.. Her more known and job is to not only teach also create more students, but to also opportunities for Photo by Allison Edgley recruit students who students to showcase.

Printed flier of speech contest she feels have a great In spring 2020, the opportunity even if it’s first speech contest small, to do a speech to build interest. was held. The contest allowed students to She felt that starting small could be deliver a speech, followed by a persuasive great progress and reach larger audiences to presentation. The concept is for the make others aware of some of the research students to create a persuasive pitch, persuasive

arguments,

and

elements

The Tower is an independent, laboratory newspaper of Kean University’s journalism option in the communication major program. It is published monthly through the regular academic year and supported by advertising and the Department of Communication. The Tower is not responsible for claims made by its advertisers. The Tower is a public forum and is free from censorship and advance approval of content by the university administration. The Tower staff is responsible for its content.

EDITOR IN CHIEF: CHELSEY JAIPERSAUD FEATURES EDITOR: CINDY LAZO NEWS EDITOR: DAVAUGHNIA WILSON SPORTS EDITOR: RUBEN NIEVES ONLINE EDITOR: JULIA STRUGALA

continued on page 16

Teacher Fair Arrives at Liberty Hall Academic Center

ONLINE EDITOR: ANDREY NALBANTOV SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: MALLORY HELMES

By Victoria Cifelli

Teacher Education.”

With the ongoing teacher The College of Education at Kean shortage that is being amplified by the University hosted a job fair for education COVID-19 pandemic, the university held majors on a Teacher Job Fair.

Thursday, March Students were 24 in the Liberty able to connect with K-12 schools Hall Academic around the state Building to help who came to the future teachers job fair, who gave gain outreach to information on future jobs. job opportunities Schools around Photo by Kean University Website around the area. the state of New The Education career fair was held in Liberty Hall Susan Kandell, Jersey have been the Managing on the hunt for teachers for several years, who can help students within specific K-12 Assistant Director of Clinical Practice and subjects. The New Jersey School Board Teacher Placement, said the fair was big Association noted a decrease in education this year.

“It was bigger. We have expanded our degrees given out.

According to the New Jersey School district partnerships throughout the Board Association, “between 2006 and State, and many of those districts were 2019 there was a 22% decrease in the represented at the fair along with several education degrees conferred by American districts from other states,” Kandell said. colleges/universities according to the continued on page 16 American Association of Colleges for

STAFF WRITERS HARMONY SANCHEZ

JA’BRIA LASTER

HECTOR MORALES

FRANCHESKA KUBACKI

ISAIAH JOSEPH

STEVEN-ROSS BUGAYONG

ROSNEY HERRERA

ELAINE AMICO

TYRA WATTS

JUSTIN MCDANIEL

VICTORIA CIFELLI

KEYON GARDNER

JALEN GAYNOR

WAYNE DAWES

OPINION PIECES AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Tower welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor from any source.

Such material should be submitted to thetower@kean.edu or left at The Tower’s offices. To verify sources of written material, submissions must include the writer’s name and contact information. Students should include their class (sophomore, graduate, etc.) and major. Faculty and staff should include campus title or position. On request, names may be withheld from publication if The Tower staff determines there is a legitimate reason to do so, but no anonymous letters will be accepted for publication. The Tower reserves the right to edit, and refuse publication of any submission.

April, 2022

Chris Rock Gets Slapped by Will Smith

By Justin McDaniel The “Will Smith incident” at the Academy Awards has been heavily debated around the world as well as at Kean University where some students feel Chris Rock deserved the slap while others said it could’ve been handled in a more mature manner.

On March 27, at the 94th Academy Awards show, Oscars presenter Chris Rock made a joke about the bald head of actor Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, referring to her as being the next “G.I. Jane”. Smith bolted up to the stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face in defense of his wife. He then returned to his seat and, using an expletive that was dubbed over during the broadcast, yelled out to Rock that he needs to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.

What some people didn’t know is that Will Smith’s wife suffers from alopecia, a medical condition that causes extreme hair loss and sometimes baldness.

The moment was shocking as nothing like this has ever happened at the Academy Awards before and it directed the attention from the event. Rock did not press charges while Smith ended up winning the main award of the night “Best Male Actor” and gave a speech, which also received mixed reactions.

“Since when do we not only allow but celebrate violence and a man attacking another man on stage in front of everyone including his own family, it’s disrespectful,” English major Bryan Alvarez said.

However, some said Smith needed to stand up for his wife was something he

should have done.

“As her husband, it’s his job to protect his wife from everything, so when he sees his wife in pain about something she can't control like a disease I can see why he would react that way even though it was

are still waiting on The Academy to hand out a punishment for his actions.

Shortly after the incident, The Academy came out with a statement saying: “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted

The moment was shocking as nothing like this has ever happened at the Academy Awards.

Photo by Will Smith

Will Smith’s Apology Letter

definitely not the right way to handle the situation,” communication major Johan Civil said.

Since the incident, all upcoming films with Will Smith have been put on pause and he has announced via his Instagram story that he will be resigning from his position at the Academy. Yet some people

Photo by Will Smith

Will Smith’s Apology Letter

to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

One student said he didn’t think it was right to even consider taking away Smith’s Oscar for Best Actor. “ I find it crazy that people like Harvey

THE TOWER 7

Weinstein and his company can still hold onto their 81 oscars but they possibly may take Will’s oscar for defending his wife.” communication major Johan Civil said.

On April 18th the board will meet to discuss the consequences for Will Smith’s actions but it is highly unlikely that he gets his Oscar revoked as it has never happened before.

“As much as we cherish and respect Will Smith for all he has done, it's clear his relationship with Jada Pinkett has its issues and it may just not work out but besides that, it's obvious he needs help mentally,” accounting major Ivorie Melendez said.

Smith’s problems follow a year when he and wife Jada were in the news over her “entanglement” with singer August Alsina, which she discussed on her own talk show the “Red Table Talk.” The couple was criticized for airing their personal issues publicly.. Since then, things have died down but it seems as if there are still issues between the couple.

Will Smith said he has now committed to therapy and has apologized to The Academy and Rock for the smack. .It was an unfortunate night at a time when the Academy of Motion Pictures seems to have finally heard the voices of Black complaints about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Will Packer, who hosted, was the first Black man to direct the Academy Awards. Actor Samuel L. Jackson finally received an Oscar that as presented to him by Denzel Washington.

Despite these great moments, no one was prepared for what was to come next. n

Students Frustrated about Gas Price Increase continued from page 2

"I spent over 200 hundred dollars on gas in the past two weeks," DosSantos said. "I only go to campus twice a week, but it's a forty-mile drive for me. I already spent a lot of money on gas before the gas prices were like this, but this worsened. But there's nothing I can do. All I got to do is sacrifice some things that I want."

Sacrifice is a sentiment that many students follow.

To save money on gas, junior and Communication major Maggie Lambuster has made changes to save money on gas.

"It's changed how I've been making choices

lately,” Lambuster said. "Instead of going out and hanging out with friends, I stay in, instead of getting something I want with the money I earned from work. I'm sacrificing fun for gas, and it's crazy."

With all the trouble in the world, the increase in gas prices is total madness. The best thing to know is that eventually, prices will lower again, but when it will do so is yet to be determined.

n

Photo by Steven-Ross Bugayong

Gas pump

8 THE TOWER

April, 2022

Social Media, Culture, Identity, and Fashion at Kean University

By Keyon Gardner The culture of fashion in the United States and globally has changed dramatically over the last few decades thanks to social media and some of the fashion industry's most fashionable icons such as Asap Rocky and the late Virgil Abloh.

“Well “I think fashion is a part of globalization, only because Western culture nowadays fashion I feel like is being derived from other comes different cultures that aren’t western,” with the senior Karen Garcia said. “I think the impact of how we view other cultures and culture, how they dress is how I think we would your also like to imitate ourselves. culture is Fashion is a form of self-expression. It what you is another form of art that has a unique style and is another tool for people to wear.” express themselves.

The fashion culture at Kean has a wide range of students who are involved in expressing themselves with the clothes they have. For some students, their ethnicity plays a big role in their styling selection. Many different cultures around the world follow the trends pertaining to their own country's demographic.

For instance, Filipinos' sense of fashion is their adherence to appropriateness “Throughout history, Black fashion pioneers and African-American designers like Zelda Wynn Valdes and Stephen Burrows used

their talent to make a name for themselves in a highly competitive Eurocentric and predominantly white industry” According to L'officiel Magazine.

“In the Filipino community, we are strict on how we present ourselves and hold ourselves to a higher

“I feel like fashion is a circle coming around,” said Andre Siron, a sophomore who was noticeably quite stylish with his cotton fur hoodie with straight sweatpants and purple Nike air jordans 1 mids.

Spencer had an 8 am class and mentioned that he doesn’t put a lot of effort into styling his outfit and that he usually tries to plan his outfits the night before. “Most of the time I wing it,” said, Siron Most Kean students have a pretty good understanding of putting a good outfit together without having to put much effort into it.

Another Kean student, Antonio Scott who I ran into that I noticed was rocking a Kean hoodie apparel mentions that he doesn’t get inspired by other people and that he sees a certain outfit he likes he just puts it on himself. “ Everything is from Photo by Keyon Gardner Photo by Keyon Gardner Photo by Keyon Gardner Photo by Keyon Gardner Andre Siron my interest and colors of the stuff I find Spencer Fabe Isaiah Manuel Sunny Kagabo attractive to my eye,” he added.

Isaiah Manuel, a Kean student, describes social media standard,” junior Spencer Fabe said. as playing a big role in the way we like to style our clothes Spencer mentioned he was a big fan of Top Man which was a UK-based multinational men's fashion store chain and dress because we are influenced by artists and founded by Burton in 1978 and Zara a Spanish apparel celebrities and aspire to look like them even though we retailer based in Arteixo, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain that would never want to admit it.

“Whatever I wear has meaning to it, everything you specializes in fashion. Both stores are quite popular wear has meaning to it, you don't just put something amongst the large demographic of young people due to on be like no, you want people to see what you wear their superb quality or high-end line of clothing. and they will get an opinion of where you are from what continued on page 15

Gearing up for Graduation: Class of 2022 Senior Class Royale continued from Cover

like a dream come true,” said Kean Senior Allan Delgado, who was in attendance at the formal.

Allan described the formal as a celebration of all the hard work the Class of 2022 has put into their education throughout the pandemic and other life events.

After cocktail hour, guests transitioned into the reception area for dinner and dancing. At each seat, a party favor including a miniature graduation cap and wine glass was set up as a token to take home.

“Dinner consisted of various open buffet stations. There was a 360 Photo Booth which everyone enjoyed but lastly, at the Hora Loca performance, a LED robot topped the night off,” Julemis said.

The event included various fun elements, like a traditional photo booth where students took pictures with props. A special 360 photo booth that spins around the subject to create a slow-motion video

was even available too. Many students joined their friends to create videos using the 360 booth.

“DJ Posh was playing great songs to dance to,” Delgado said. “I would definitely say without a doubt the most memorable part about the formal was when out of nowhere there was a huge dancing robot surrounded us and was covered by lots of LED lights that followed the beat of the music.”

Students on the dance floor who were surprised with the LED Robot got handed balloons to celebrate and dance along.

A room booking discount was even offered as an option for students who planned on staying at Sheraton Parsippany Hotel after the formal.

“I did stay in the hotel there and it was very cozy and comfortable. In the room I purchased there was a nice king sized bed and spacious bathroom and shower, so it was honestly a comfortable stay,” Delgado said.

Towards the end of the event, students enjoyed the dessert bar and refreshments.

The Class of 2022 has only just begun their graduation celebrations. Seniors can look forward to several Gradation Events this coming April and May. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is hosting their Lavender Graduation Photo by Harmony Sanchez Ceremony on Friday, April Senior Formal Dinner & Dancing 29 for students a part of the a Senior Class Ring, submitting their LGBTQIA+ Community. The office of Africana Studies will also be Senior Portrait to the 2021-22 Kean hosting their Annual African Heritage University Yearbook or who need to know Graduation Ceremony this April as well. more information about graduation can Kean University is also hosting a visit https://www.kean.edu/universityGraduation Fair that will be taking place the first week in May, and graduating commencement for more details. seniors who have already ordered their Undergraduate Commencement takes place on May 19, at the Prudential Center. cap and gown can pick it up at the event.

Seniors who are interested in ordering The countdown to graduation begins! n

Make a Space to Feel Safe

By Isaiah Joseph Being comfortable in your environment is a vital factor in many aspects of work and life.

Apartments, parks, and libraries usually serve as personal spaces where an individual can find safety and comfort.

Kean University introduced an event that discusses the significance of safe spaces in a professional setting and how to establish them.

Dr. Rebecca Vicente of the department of counselor education gave a presentation on LGBTQIA+ and the importance of having a safe space established in a work environment.

“We can do a great job at creating inclusive safe spaces,”

Photo by Sylvia Duckworth

Wheel of Power and Privilege

Vicente is a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and the Coordinator of the Community Wellness and Counseling Center (CWCC) at Kean University.

She introduces why it is crucial to establish safe spaces at work among employees in the LGBTQIA+ community.

What is known about safe spaces is that everyone gathers together to share their experiences with marginalization, meaning how they are treated in certain circumstances.

In work environments, Inclusivity is very important in the language individuals may choose to use, such as using pronouns that someone has identified themself with.

“When someone asks you to use their pronouns they are asking you to respect their identity,” Vicente said.

During the presentation, Vincente brought up a chart known as the Wheel of Power and Privilege illustrated by Sylvia Duckworth, an award-winning teacher from Toronto, Canada, and Google Certified Innovator, Trainer, and Apple Distinguished Educator.

The chart helps to get a more detailed visualization of the term

April, 2022

THE TOWER 9

“marginalization;" the further you are from power, the more ignored and unimportant you feel.

As community members of Kean, students have probably witnessed uncomfortable situations where they have seen someone of the LGBTQIA+ community being misgendered and they don’t have the voice to speak up.

The community established at Kean has a purpose to prevent situations like that and it includes speaking up for the oppressed and showing that they have a safe environment to retreat to if things get rough for them.

“We can do a great job at creating inclusive safe spaces,” Vicente said.

Many can make a powerful community on campus knowing that students and staff have a place to voice their concerns, and learn more about what it means to establish a safe place in their work environment and community.

“We are the change-makers even if we don't want to be,” Vicente said. n

Forensic Expert Meets with Kean Students

By Jalen Gaynor El Paso County, Texas Chief Medical Examiner Mario Alberto Rascon talked to Kean students about a variety of topics including his current job, medical school, forensic pathology, and his experience in the field of forensics.

Kean’s Forensic Science Club and the Pre-Medical Pre-Dental Association hosted the meeting which promoted forensic pathology and why it is a viable career option for students.

According to nyc.gov, forensic pathology is the branch of medicine concerned with the investigation of sudden and unnatural deaths. Forensic pathologists determine the cause and manner of death to provide answers for families, protect public health, and inform the criminal justice system.

After completing a study in 2009, The National Institute of Justice found that for every autopsy to be performed by a fully trained and certified forensic pathologist there would need to be between 1,260 and 1,920 full-time pathologists. However, there are only 300 currently.

“There is a dire shortage of forensic pathologists in the country which

“There is a dire shortage of forensic pathologists in the country which translates into great opportunities to join the force” Photo by Jalen Gaynor

translates into great opportunities to join the force,” Rascon said.

Forensic pathologists do a variety of different tasks which means they have many different job opportunities. Medical examiners are important to public health and deal with identifying bodies, medical malpractice, in-custody deaths, mass fatality response, and veteran benefits.

“Most people would associate the word forensic pathology with doing autopsies, but that’s actually like ten percent of the way we spend our time,” Rascon said.

Rascon explained that other than autopsies, medical examiners also provide courtroom testimony as expert witnesses in criminal cases, help license cremations, spend time on the phone with lawyers and law enforcement officials, and

Mario Rascon

Photo by kuforensicsclub Instagram

Forensic Science Flier

Photo by Cougar Link

Meeting Information

provide outreach by speaking at schools and partnering with hospitals among other things.

Some of the available jobs on the website for the National Association of Medical Examiners are associate medical examiner, assistant medical examiner,

deputy chief medical examiner, and chief forensic autopsy technician.

Rascon expressed his disappointment for the fact that medical examiners are unable to speak with family members as often as he would like even though they complete an average of about 300 autopsies in a year. Although it is difficult, he gets satisfaction from delivering them news because it may be the first step in their healing process. n

April, 2022

SPORTS

10 THE TOWER

Kean Softball’s Impressive Start

By Hector Morales Kean University’s Softball team were off to an amazing start winning 17 of their first 22 games. To recap on their season so far, the Cougars started the year playing Apex, North Carolina back in February for the Grand Slam Triangle Classic and won two of their first three games.

In the beginning of March, the Cougars headed South to North Myrtle Beach for the

is 2.16, which is first in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and they are in the top five in team’s batting average.

“We have some great bats in the lineup, our pitching has done a nice job, defensively we are having a nice job, but every game we are getting a little bit better and learning from our mistakes.” Acker said.

Freshman infielder Eliza Filus has been one of the hottest hitters for the Cougars.

She leads the team with five home runs, eight

Filus is from Lebanon, New Jersey and she attended Thomas Jefferson University before she transferred to Kean this semester and it’s her first-time playing college softball.

“It’s just a good experience in my first year playing college softball and I didn’t think I had this amazing of a team,” Filus said.

Senior starting pitcher Heather Clevenger is also one of the key players on the team. The Hamilton native who is studying for criminal

“It’s just a good experience in my first year playing college softball and I didn’t think I had this amazing of a team.”

FirstPitch Dreams Classic, winning six of those seven games. Then the team headed to Virginia for the Cross Bay Bash series and won against Juniata College 3-0 but lost to Christopher Newport University 5-1.

“It was great to go away,” Head Coach Margie Acker said. “We took a good old fashion road trip, and it gave them an opportunity to spend some time together.”

The Cougars returned to Kean University on March 16, and they were 6-2 in the past eight games. Their team’s earned run average

Photo by Kean Athletics

Head Coach Margie Acker and Eliza Filus

doubles, and leads the NJAC with 30 runs batted in. It’s Filus' first year as a Cougar and she is studying public health for her major.

“It feels great,” Filus said. “I owe it all to the team because if I didn’t have the team that I do, then I don’t think I’ll be performing the way I am.”

Photo by Kean Athletics

Heather Clevenger

justice has a 7-1 record, 43 strikeouts, and a 2.25 ERA. “I feel great about my stats,” Clevenger said. “I definitely feel like my pitching has improved since last year since I'm more comfortable with my teammates. They continued on page 13

The Cougars Announce Partnership With The New York Red Bulls

By Andrey Nalbantov Kean University announced a new multi-

Corporate Partnerships Jordan Iannuzzi.

“Our marketing partnerships team is always looking for partners that have shared

Kean students both on the main Union campus, and at the teams' establishment.

In order for students to take the chance

would have to apply through a streamlined application process with the Major League Soccer (MLS) team.

Since there are no specific requirements

“If a student is interested in a career in the sports business industry, there is no better way to get hands-on experience than to intern with a professional team,” year partnership with the New York Red Bulls via email on Wednesday, March 23.

The soccer team initially approached Kean University with the idea of a partnership.

And after explanatory conversations, a mutual interest was built upon, according to New York Red Bulls’ Senior Manager of

values and a like-minded vision within the NY/NJ community,” Iannuzzi said. “We initially reached out to Kean University to see if they would have any interest and conversations developed from there.”

The collaboration with the New York team would offer multiple opportunities for many

Photo by Kean University

From Kean University and NY Red Bulls partnership video

in assessing those opportunities, they

Photo by NY Red Bulls

Joe Stetson, Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer with Kean President Lamont Repollet

continued on page 13

April, 2022

THE TOWER 11

Shannon McCoy Selected to All-ECAC First Team

By Christian Grullon Senior guard Shannon McCoy was selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) first team on March 23 and was recently named 2021-22 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) player of the year.

"I was just on Twitter, and then I saw something pop up, and it was pretty cool because I don't think I've gotten AllECAC before," McCoy said.

For the 2021-22 basketball season, McCoy averaged 16.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. She had a game-high 27 points in a Dec. 1 win against RutgersNewark; she also had a season-high 16 rebounds, with the score being 72-56.

On Jan. 22, McCoy had a 25-point performance in a tight 68-64 home win against Rowan University. She finished the afternoon 5-6 from the free-throw line and led the team with ten rebounds.

On February 27, McCoy scored her 1,000-career point in a 91-69 victory against Rutgers-Newark. She scored 24 points and added six 3-pointers. McCoy is also a four-time All-NJAC first-team honoree.

McCoy led the team in several categories, such as scoring, and games played. She also led the team in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, etc.

McCoy is grateful for her teammates and coaches. She explained that every single day, they helped her to grow and

“If I didn’t have my teammates or my coaches, I wouldn’t be as successful as I am.”

Photo by Larry Leventai

McCoy driving the basketball Photo by Larry Leventai

Shannon McCoy

get better. If she didn't have her teammates or her coaches, she wouldn't be as successful as she is.

McCoy genuinely enjoys the game and finds fun in playing the game of basketball. She had originally planned to play soccer but had grown to love basketball through time.

"Basketball is just fun. It's my free space to be who I want to be and enjoy myself," McCoy said.

McCoy has also earned other accolades in her basketball career.

On March 13, McCoy became the first Cougar to be

named a finalist for the Jostens Trophy Award. She also got a selection as an honorable mention of the 2022 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). McCoy led the team to a top seed in the NJAC tournament, finishing with a 17-8 record.

"I come from a very competitive family, and I grew up with sports. Any time I'm with my team, there's never a dull moment,” McCoy said.

McCoy said, "I'm still in the process of figuring out what I'm doing right now. I'm on track to get my master's in Education, so I'll finish with my Interior Design degree."

In her four seasons as a Cougar, McCoy averaged 16.3 continued on page 13

Men’s Lacrosse Looking for Return To Conference Championship Game

By Wayne Dawes The weather is getting warmer and the Kean university Men’s Lacrosse team is ready to make a playoff push and get to the conference championship. To see how the lacrosse team gets ready for that task Head coach Shelley Sheiner and Senior player Joseph Photo by Keanathletics.com McNulty gave their take on what to do to have another successful McNulty Named USILA Preseason All-American season.

“One of the keys is to stay injury free. We've had some guys in and out of the lineup so I think the key to success right now is to have everyone “healthy,”coach Sheiner “said”.

Coach Sheiner expressed that staying healthy as a team is most certainly a key to team success.

Players have to stay healthy during the season and the off Photo by Keanathletics.com season, so when their number is Moore Tabbed CSAC Player of the Week men’s lacrosse is called they are ready to help their kind of a year round team get the win.

“Even at the division three level all sports not just commitment, such as working out, we also have a non

“The main goal would be to win the conference championship again and get back to the NCAA tournament, and I think to have fun along the way.”

traditional fall season and the traditional spring season, during the dark months which is october, november and december the guys are lifting, doing study hall and running around”,Sheiner said.

Playing a sport at the collegiate level involves a lot of hard work and commitment and that is what the Men’s Lacrosse team brings year round whether that be the non traditional season, the regular season in the spring or as coach Sheiner said the dark months where players take time to get a workout in to stay in shape.

When it comes to sports, every team has goals, but there is one main “goal the lacrosse team is looking to accomplish.”

“The main goal would be to win the conference championship again and get back to the NCAA tournament, and I think to have fun along the way, coach Sheiner said.

A student athlete has a lot on their plate, it is not made for everyone, but for some they can handle the responsibility of being a student athlete.

“Being a student athlete here at kean is not easy, balancing school and athletics is definitely a big full time commitment, School is always first and with lacrosse we do study halls and gpa is a big thing. Sports is a way to get that balance and allow yourself to relieve some stress or put school aside and go to practice and enjoy yourself ”Senior Midfielder Joseph McNulty said. continued on page 16

12 THE TOWER

April, 2022

Kean’s Esports New Arena Officially Opened as Playoffs Set to Begin

By Ruben Nieves Kean’s Esports arena has officially been opened. The arena located on the second floor of the Green Lane building had their grand opening March 15.

The new facility has all new state of the art equipment where the student athletes compete for their competitions.

Athle tic Director Kelly Williams was excited when he saw the final completion of the arena.

“It puts us into a whole different Esports world.”

Williams said.

“This facility is one of the few that’s in the northeast and what we are offering, not too many universities offer that.”

The new arena allows the different teams such as Valorant, Rocket League, O v e r w a t c h , Entrance of Esports arena League of L e g e n d s , Rainbow 6, Madden, NBA 2K, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to have their own space to compete with their gaming stations setup.

The main gaming station has a total of 12 PC’s, six on each side and a main screen where students can come and support the team. Outside of the main gaming station there are 24 PC’s that can be used for free play where Kean students can come and play from 12 to 5 P.M. Monday through Friday.

Outside of the arena, there are televisions set up where students can plug in their consoles and play on the televisions there.

Head coach Matt Czopik after seeing the completion of the arena was excited

about the future of the Esports program.

“A lot of our student athletes have been waiting since we launched this program in Fall 2021,” Czopik said. “It’s a new chapter for our program, it makes our program feel legit, professional, and it will definitely attract a lot of current students and future students to want to

playing across the country,” Sarnoski said. “We’re giving them that competitive opportunity and they’re becoming our Kean athletes and there’s nothing better than that to me.”

League of Legends player Gerald Davis was impressed with the new equipment in the arena.

with many other colleges throughout the United States.”

With their season over, the playoffs are set to begin. 6 of Kean’s Esports teams have made it to the playoffs. Czopik did see some improvement from the Overwatch team and their Madden player.

“There were definitely some shining improvements, like our Madden player got a better seed and our Overwatch team also got a very solid record,” Czopik said. “But I believe all of our teams definitely stepped up and did a good job.”

With the playoffs set to begin April 6, Czopik believes his team has a fair shot in the playoffs.

“I think they all have a fair shot making it far, but the competition is fierce n o n e t h e l e s s ,” Czopik said. “It really comes Photo by Ruben Nieves down to anyone coming in on Wednesday (April 6) and Saturday (April 9) and seeing how they do and definitely as much support as we can get can really ultimately boost and build a lot of motivation for our teams.”

With the completion of the Esports arena, Williams believes it will bring awareness of athletics in Kean.

“This is a positive marketing tool and a great prudent tool, there are so many individuals that are looking to find an opportunity to identify with a program in Kean,” Williams said. “Now we are spreading our wings and diversifying our athletic department where you don’t have to be a 6 '6 stud baseball player or football player; we’re excited to be a part of one of the few universities in this state that offer this to this level.” n

“It’s a new chapter for our program, it makes our program feel legit, professional, and it will definitely attract a lot of current students and future students to want to compete and also play at our state-of-the-art arena”

Photo by Ruben Nieves

Photo by Ruben Nieves

Kean Esports Logo

compete and also play at our state-of-theart arena.”

Czopik is amazed by the support of the university in the Esports program.

“The Esports industry is still young, so a lot of universities haven’t really fully committed to and embraced having an Esports program,” Czopik said. “The fact that Kean has embraced it, I think it's amazing and it shows how student driven this program can really be and benefit the students.”

Rocket League head coach Joe Sarnoski feels with this new arena, it allows the students involved to be Kean athletes.

“We have a system that very few universities in the entire country have and we have something here where they’re

Main Gaming Station

“My performance increased dramatically,” Davis said. “It’s better connection, better performing PC’s, everything’s super-fast and super smooth.”

It was announced by the ECAC that 16 different universities across the country will be joining the conference. Czopik is excited to have the Kean Esports program compete against these different universities.

“That’s the best part about this program, the fact that we have the ability to compete with so many different schools across the country, ranging from Division III to Division I,” Czopik said.

“As the ECAC collegiate league is growing, we will have the opportunity to compete

April, 2022

The Tower Named Among Top College Newspapers in NJ for Sixth Time continued from Cover

School of Communication, Media & Journalism and currently has a staff of 20 students. Pat Winters Lauro, director of the journalism program, and Lois DeSocio, adjunct professor, serve as the paper’s advisers. Both worked previously as reporters and editors.

“This award is especially gratifying given the circumstances the reporters and editors have had to work against for the past two semesters due to Covid,” said Lauro and DeSocio in a joint statement. “It’s a testament to their commitment to journalism — The Tower delivered without pause.”

The awards luncheon took place on Saturday, April 9 at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Twp. n

Kean Softball’s Impressive Start continued from page 10

always put in the time and hard work.”

Clevenger played softball at Nottingham high school and at Mercer County Community College before transferring to Kean.

The Cougars are 17-5 into the season and now facing the NJAC teams in the month of April. They split the doubleheader against The College of New Jersey Lions on April 2 in Ewing, New Jersey and sweep the doubleheader against Montclair State University RedHawks on April 6. Acker will focus on improving her team’s defense so they can have a better chance of reaching the NJAC tournament.

“We got some good pitching and we put some runs on the board, but it's important to play solid defense,” Acker said. n

Shannon McCoy Selected to All-ECAC First Team continued from page 11

Photo by Larry Leventai

McCoy attempting layup against NJCU defender

points-per-game, 183 assists, 144 steals, and 1,449 points.

On February 27, McCoy scored her 1,000-career point in a 91-69 victory against Rutgers-Newark. She scored 24 points and added six 3-pointers. McCoy is also a four-time All-NJAC first-team honoree.

To find more information about McCoy or the team, visit https://keanathletics.com/sports/womens-basketball. n

THE TOWER 13

The Semester Town Halls Continue with President Repollet, His Staff & Students continued from page 2

Opportunity Fund go up.

“We looked at every room in Vaughn Eames and ensured that we went back,” Remotti said. “We did find some issues, corrected those issues. We’ve since gone back and continued to audit that building, make sure we stay on top of those issues.”

President Repollet will be doing facility rounds with his leadership team in the near future to make sure the proper measures are taken. He also stressed the importance of having patience because these changes are going to take time.

Kean University is a majority commuter school and some students do not have schedules that alot them a great amount of time to stop and eat. Students brought up concerns regarding dining services, having healthier options and figuring out a better way for students to receive their food on time.

“When we’re looking at healthy food, what does that mean?” Dr. Repollet asked. “Are we looking at the dietary requirements of health by the federal government and what they require or what your perception of a healthy meal is?”

President Repollet said that he thinks the university is meeting those requirements, but he would prefer to hear from the students about food options that they consider

healthy. With this comes student cooperation. The surveys that the university sends out are important for students to fill out because that is how the university goes about making effective changes whether that be involving food or maintaining the climate of the university.

Two surveys that were sent out to students were the campus dining survey and the climate survey Director of Financial Planning and Analysis Orley Wainberg indicated that 933 students filled out the dining survey back in December.

According to the official Kean website the Climate Survey will assess where the university is as an institution and where they plan to go. The survey will guide Kean as it works to grow as a welcoming, inclusive and diverse university.

“It’s the communication that you guys share with us that is just so valuable in helping us shape how we’re moving forward because it's really difficult to understand fully the student experience,'' Wainberg said.

Students are encouraged to fill out all surveys sent from the university to help Dr. Repollet and his team get a better understanding of changes that need to be made.

“Your voices are important, continue to advocate,” Dr. Repollet said. n

The Cougars Announce Partnership With The New York Red Bulls continued from page 10

needed for Kean students in order for them to apply for the program, all current and recent graduates are encouraged to get involved with the project. This can be done through Kean’s Career Service department.

Some of the opportunities that the university will receive from its official partnership with the NY team include internships, access to full-time jobs, and sales. And the Red Bulls will host an employee mentorship program for students that will include shadowing and networking events. The organization will also give students a chance to participate in community service projects.

The employee mentorship program will proceed in this manner. Front office employees from the MLS team will work with a limited number of Kean students, who they would educate about careers in the sports business industry.

According to Iannuzzi, the program can be of great benefit to Kean students, because they will have a streamlined connection with one of MLS’ premier franchises for potential internship and job opportunities.

The internship options for students would be provided to Kean’s Career Services by the Red Bulls. Depending on the season various internship departments would be available, such as Partnerships, Ticket Sales, and Marketing.

Students that are approved for any of the internships would receive university credit upon completion. At the moment this is pending approval from Kean University’s

Career Services.

So why should students apply for those internships?

According to Iannuzzi, that is the best way for students who are interested in the world of sports business to get firsthand experience through interning with a sports team. Iannuzzi even mentioned that some of the workers in the NY Red Bulls have started their employment in that manner.

“If a student is interested in a career in the sports business industry, there is no better way to get hands-on experience than to intern with a professional team,” Iannuzzi said. “A majority of Red Bulls' front office employees started their career with an internship within the industry.”

Kean University’s President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed. D. shared his excitement about the upcoming collaboration in the email that was sent out to the Kean community.

“We are thrilled to launch this partnership with the New York Red Bulls,” wrote Repollet in the email. “It’s another example of how Kean is working with major organizations and companies to support our work and our students.”

A video released on the University’s YouTube channel stated that the mission of this partnership is to serve the Kean community and to focus importance on the power of diversity.

“Sports bring us together,” said the speaker in the video.

“That’s why Kean University partners with organizations that support our mission and help us serve our students.” n

14 THE TOWER

April, 2022

Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Government Rebranding Ceremony continued from page 3

of scholarships, SGA added a new position to the executive board at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester: The Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a position held by finance student Mekhia Baker.

The position serves to enhance the quality of life of students at Kean and to alert SGA to all social justice issues concerning the campus and its community while working closely with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Pleitez explained that one of the challenges that he faced as president is making SGA known to students at Kean. He stated that trying to represent every single student that goes to Kean is a huge challenge because he doesn’t know how they are affected if they don't speak up.

He stated however that his office tries its best to involve every single person because everyone deserves a seat at the table.

“With our SGA Instagram account, we've done our best to respond to students, right, because it can be a lot, but I think as long as we develop that personal connection with each student, that has helped us with combating that challenge,” Pleitez said.

Last October, SGA’s executive board and senate passed the official name change from Student Organization to Student Government Association.

“The name change and rebranding gives us the opportunity to reintroduce ourselves today, to the campus

community,” Pleitez said.

He added that the new name change was step one and the creation of a new logo was next on the agenda. SGA started the process of having a new logo in late October

Photo by Davaughnia Wilson

Joseph Abramson

with a graphic designer. He explained that the result wasn’t what SGA was looking for so they decided to have a contest to involve students at Kean and have them design the new logo for SGA and GSG. Pleitez said that he is extremely proud of finally having

a new logo. The winning submission aligned with SGA’s mission and its new image. Abramson’s logos for SGA and GSG were chosen to represent each respective governing body.

Pleitez encourages the 2022 - 2023 Executive Board President of SGA to take advantage of the work that he and his team created this past year and to build upon it, “for the next year's president definitely try to take it to another level for sure.”

After graduation, Pleitez will be getting his Master’s in Public Administration here at Kean and he will be working as a Graduate Assistant for President Repollet for the next two years. He decided that he will not join GSG, instead, he will focus on his studies and his future plans.

He explained that he has been a part of student government since his freshman year and though he has enjoyed his time there, he believes it is time to move on and have someone else step up.

“Although there were many important decisions that shaped our term, we are excited for the upcoming elected board members and student leaders to continue and build upon the foundation that we are witnessing form today.

Today's celebration of not just the present but the future as well,” Pleitez said. n

The Fears that Come with Being a Woman continued from page 3

“This is so central to childhood, it just starts so young that I feel like it’s sad, but it’s become a central part of women’s psychology,” Filardo said.

Filardo explained that girls get this talk all the time: Parents will talk about how to handle yourself in certain situations to avoid any problems that can stem from it.

Violence against women does not only affect the woman experiencing it, but everyone else involved or a part of her life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children who grow up in families where there is violence may suffer a range of behavioral and emotional disturbances.

Not only are some of these young girls a witness to violence against the women in their family, but when they get older they’ll be a subject to it. Unfortunately, there are some who experience sexual violence at a young age.

“Of course there are situations which men are subject to violence, but men are less often subject to sexual violence and also not from women,” Filardo said. “Most sexual violence against men is by other men.”

As a society, it is important to recognize the violence that comes from not only being a woman, but a woman who is Black, Hispanic, Asian, or other.

One’s race now plays a role in the violence inflicted

on women. There are also women who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and women who happen to fall in both spectrums.

I am Puerto Rican and Guyanese, but my physical features reflect my Hispanic side and because of that I’ve been stereotyped for it. My race has affected the way people treat me and the way I think about myself.

The term “intersectionality,” which was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American Civil Rights activist and leading scholar of the Critical Race Theory, defines it exactly. Intersectionality is described in the Oxford dictionary as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise.”

In Crenshaw’s book: “Mapping the Margins'' she stated that the violence many women experience is often shaped by other dimensions of their identities such as race and class. Not only do women have to worry about their gender, but now they have to think about their ethnicity, class and sexual perference.

“Black women are targets of rape in part because of the same reasons anyone is a target, but also because Black women in our country have been perceived as ‘unrapeable’,” Filardo said, explaining that historically because it was legal to rape Black women during slavery,

and even after the end of slavery, rapes of Black women were rarely prosecuted for over 100 years.

“By the way, something that few people know about the famous Rosa Parks is that at the time she famously refused to give up her seat on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks was already an activist, and she was working on a project for the NAACP to try to bring to justice, for the first time in Alabama, a white man for raping a Black woman,” Filardo said.

With all this to think about, I started thinking of men who have transitioned into a woman or are in the process of transitioning and whether or not they have the same fears.

“When you’re a trans woman someone views you as a guy who became a woman and women are of lower status,” Filardo said.

When a male transitions to a female, in the eyes of some men that is seen as a downgrade. It has more to do with power and giving up that power when you transition into a woman. This is where the fear can start to build for trans women.

Women are constantly thinking about what they can do to protect themselves, but what if more men start thinking about ways they can protect women? I don’t just mean finding ways to stop violence against women, but stopping the stereotypes and judgments that lead to violence as well. n

April, 2022

THE TOWER 15

Bonnet Talk: What It’s Like Being a Black Woman

Students Complain about Cougar Hall

continued from page 4

continued from page 5

Black (e.g. racism, stereotypes). when she wore hooped earrings around them, and how Following intersectionality was a slide about the it affected her. different stereotypes of Black women, such as the “If you hear it enough, you’re going to feel it,” Horace “Jezebel”, which portrays Black women as promiscuous, said. the “Mammy”, which depicts Black women working in When talking about dating, statistics showed that a white family and nursing the family's children, and Black women were less likely to get a response from men the “Sapphire”, (aka “The Angry Black Woman”), one of all races on dating apps. of the most popularized “There are people of stereotypes of Black all races who love black women, portraying women,” McNeil said. “It’s them as rude, loud, and just that the negative side stubborn. is always amplified.”

A compilation video The discussion of of how Black women are dating as a Black woman talked about in the media then transitioned to was then shown. The the Bumble situation, video includes R&B singer which involves the tragic Queen Naija, describing death of Lauren Smiththe people that bullied her Fields, who was found growing up as “Black, little dead in her apartment nappy-headed girls,” and after her Bumble date. that “ugly people” always The situation highlighted bullied her. how the police did not This led to the next slide take the case seriously. of the presentation, a It also highlighted how discussion with a series of Black women, in general, questions that varied from are not taken as seriously Photo by KeanPASU Instagram identity and perception Esi McNeil, President of Kean PASU compared to their white to negative comments to counterparts. dating experiences (both Towards the end good and bad). of Bonnet Talk, there On the question of how were a few slides about we identify and perceive sisterhood which provided ourselves, Horace was good advice such as vocal about how Black uplifting your sisters, women have to constantly protecting black women, prove themselves to and remembering who society. you are.

“We always have With protecting black something to prove, and women, Horace suggested it’s not healthy,” Horace creating a safe space for stated. them and checking your The bulk of the politics (e.g. what things conversation occurred do you support that may on the topics of negative harm the livelihood of comments and dating black women), joining experiences as a Black organizations, believing woman. With negative in black women, and Photo by KeanPASU Instagram comments, most of the most importantly, leaving Samantha Horace, Treasurer of Kean PASU attendees expressed their several seats for black experiences of hearing women at the table. comments mostly from friends and family members.

Horace also expressed how essential it is to uplift your The comments ranged from friends asking the sisters by educating others. attendees about the quality of their natural hair to their “You’re learning and passing on knowledge to the next white and Non-black FOC (Friends of Color) saying the group of women,” Horace stated.

N-word.

If you are interested in attending events by Kean When it came to family, Horace shared her experiences University’s Pan-African Student Union, you can follow of hearing negative comments from her Haitian family them on Instagram @keanpasu. n

“The petition was used to shine a light on the ongoing issues and to also be accommodated for the residents' troubles they’ve had endured.”

Photo by Ja’Bria Laster

Outside Cougar Hall Building

Residence Hall Council meetings, held twice a month on Mondays, to get the latest updates and voice any concerns. The University regrets the inconvenience caused by these disruptions and is working diligently to resolve the issues.” n

Social Media, Culture, Identity, and Fashion at Kean University continued from page 8

you're wearing,” Scott said.

With the times changing and the rise of new influencers in the industry of fashion, this generation we live in seems to be shifting towards more of a judgment-free zone when it comes to styling a certain outfit together.

“Well fashion comes with the culture, your culture is what you wear,” Scott said.

Your cultural background will always play a part in how you dress and ultimately view yourself when putting on an outfit. We often get inspired by our ethnic backgrounds' choice of style and it can impact our style preferences.

“I'm an African male but I also have Cherokee in my bloodline, but however the African American background being that I'm very in tune with my culture, it does impact how I dress being street fashion or professional,” said Scott. n

16 THE TOWER

April, 2022

The Return of Kean’s Speech Contest continued from page 6

of the behaviors they would want people to take action on.

The goal was not set for how many students could register, even if it were only a handful of students the organization would be lucky to have them and still be able to give them an experience to build their confidence. The contest is to also help spread awareness about the factual information to show what it is to really support an argument.

The winner of the first speech contest was Lauren Ventriglia.

“The speech contest really helped me to see that I am actually able to successfully speak in front of a group of people and get my point across,” Ventriglia said. “I do tend to think of myself as a bit of a rarity in the fact that I enjoy public speaking and look forward to such opportunities.”

There are many values that you learn when public speaking. Ventriglia said that one of the values she learned

“The speech contest really helped me to see that I am actually able to successfully speak in front of a group of people and get my point across.” was the value of practicing and accepting help from others.

“Whenever I do any work, I tend to have the bad habit of not reviewing my "finished" product thoroughly. In fact, it hasn't hurt me yet, but I am aware that practicing and

reviewing are very important skills to have. I also learned the importance of accepting help from others. I am extremely stubborn, but learning to take criticism and apply it to the things that I do is the only way to succeed in anything.”

Ventriglia gave tips for upcoming applicants who are interested in joining the upcoming speech contest. “The most important tip that I could give is to have fun. I see so many people who worry about the formalities of public speaking and let their anxiety take a hold of them while they are up there. The fear of public speaking is so common that you definitely aren't alone no matter how alone you may feel when standing up there,” Ventriglia said.

The next speech contest, which will take place Wednesday, May 4 from 3pm to 5pm and will have a grand prize of $250 for the winner. Applicants who are eligible are high school students and current Kean students (all majors). n

Teacher Fair Arrives at Liberty Hall Academic Center continued from page 6

“I always wanted to be a teacher; it’s probably a little more discouraging the fact that there is such a shortage. I am still determined, it is still my goal, and it is something I always wanted to do.”

“78 districts actually participated, on campus, at the fair and this can be attributed to several factors: an eagerness to hire the high quality of teachers that Kean produces as well as a teacher shortage in the State of New Jersey.”

Student Makenzie Powell, a senior Elementary Education major with a Teacher of Students with Disabilities certification, comments on how she thinks the teacher shortage will affect her after graduation.

“For me, I always wanted to be a teacher; it’s probably a little more discouraging the fact that there is such a shortage. I am still determined, it is still my goal, and it is something I always wanted to do,” Powell

Photo by Kean University Website

The lobby of Liberty Hall was filled with tables representing each school district that participated

said.

Representatives from school districts such as Belleville, Morristown, and Newark

were at the fair to help students find a district that would work well for them in the future. Students were able to meet with these representatives and speak to them about what their school district offers for their teachers.

There were students who had an opposing viewpoint of how they think the teacher shortage will affect them after they graduate, such as Natalie Munoz, a senior Early Childhood Education major.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, for me it is a bit encouraging since there are so many more positions open since there is such a shortage, so that motivates me,” Munoz said. n

Men’s Lacrosse Looking for Return To Conference Championship Game continued from page 11

Sports are a way of taking away stress. As a college student the semester can get crazy when midterms and finals come around but as a student athlete there is no playing around as they put in time into their sport and the classroom. Aside from being a student athlete, being a good team player is one of the most important things of team success.

“The most important quality would definitely be putting your teammates first, that is very important because if you’re just an I guy you only care about yourself your ego gets in the way and that can cause problems with teammates. Some other qualities would be listening and learning, you’re not always right and you can always learn from one another no matter if you are a senior or a freshman’’ McNulty said.

Team chemistry is very important, when everyone is brought in, has each other's backs and has the same goal that can bring a team to far places.

“A big goal as a team would be to go back to the conference championship and win again. We proved to ourselves that we can do that and winning it last year made us even hungrier to win it again so that is the ultimate goal. Another goal on the side other than winning would be to build brotherhood and relationships with each other” McNulty said.

“Besides winning conference championships and getting to the NCAA tournament, building a brotherhood is very important to Joseph and the Men’s lacrosse team as relationships can be great on and off the field, playing sports creates bonds that can never be broken. n

Photo by Keanathletics.com

Moore Scores Six as Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Maritime