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TH E I N DEPEN D EN T VOI C E O F KE AN U N IV E R S IT Y
Kean Hiring Tenure-Track Faculty For First Time In Years
Action Underscores Effort To Become A Research University By Chelsey Jaipersaud
university with rigorous research activity that is directed at solving the problems of While most of Covid-19 consisted of layoffs the future. This will include publishing in and unemployment, Kean University has peer-reviewed journals, book-publishing, and decided to expand their staff by offering tenuregrant-writing. track faculty positions for As President Lamont the 2020-2021 school year, Repollet says “Kean in an attempt to maintain University is the next worldthe success of every student class research institution” and develop Kean into a and tenured faculty is research institution. required to move Kean to All open faculty positions a higher status among the are ten month, full time, universities in New Jersey. tenure track assignments The time commitment effective for the Fall to research is significantly semester of 2021. Some greater as opposed to responsibilities may include a university that is not day, evening, weekend and centered on research. online courses. Most research universities “It is certainly one of are classified as R1 or R2 the largest single blocks depending on the size of of hires we’ve ever had,” the university and the said Dr. Craig Donovan, amount of research being chair of the University completed. Tenure track Senate, which is responsible professors will have to for communicating reteach fewer classes in order commendations to the to dedicate time to their President on such matters as research. Photo by Kean University Website faculty affairs, curriculum, “They are looking to hire 45 professors, give or take instruction, student affairs, Potential Position and Qualifications and then they are looking finances and other matters to hire approximately 8 relevant to the welfare of postdocs,” said Donovan. Kean University. Donovan explained that “Normally it might be he did not know whether as few as 10, it might be as the postdocs were included many as 20”. in the 45 professors or not. Although it is an unusual “Eight Equity in Action number compared to the Presidential Postdoctoral number of professors the Fellows are being hired university normally hires, to help advance diversity it is predicated on President and scholarship at Kean,” Repollet’s goal to move Associate Vice President Kean to an R2 university. of University Relations Being that an R2 university Margaret McCorry said. would involve high research According to the official activity there is a need for a Kean Website fellows larger number of faculty. are designed to increase According to Kean’s the diversity of Kean Strategic Plan for the years University’s research, 2020-2025 they want to teaching, and clinical faculty steadily evolve to achieve and those demonstrating R2 designation by the superior performance Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Photo by Kean University Website continued on page 7 Education as a doctoral School of Psychology Position
Kean to Launch Competitive Esports Program By Dorian Alerte
Alexander Garcia,” Kean esports club secretary Amy Yang said. “He looked at the When Kean students clubs and thought ‘there’s no return to campus in Fall esports club here, I can start 2021, they can look forward something new.’” to a new addition to the Kean The club, as well as the athletics roster: Esports. competitive program are Esports has grown into a looking forward to a positive major industry in the gaming relationship that will help world. Esports is a type of students get the opportunity competitive video game to compete, as well as learn playing that has become from each other. increasingly popular. “I am more than open The co-ed esports team will and more than willing to see be the 15th Kean Athletics how we can work together,” program and will compete Williams said. “We’re against other universities completely open to working as a part of the Eastern with the esports club and College Athletic Conference some of the things that have (ECAC). The ECAC holds already been established.” competitions during the One of the main adacademic year and games vantages of the esports Photo by Kean Esports Instagram played include Madden, program is that the The current Kean esports club FIFA, Fortnite, Overwatch, university is now listed in Instagram page Rocket League, and many a conference, which now others. enables students to compete with other “I think right now for us, the esports move universities consistently. is a move that was going to be a progressive “From an ECAC point-of-view, we’re in a move,” director of athletics Kelly Williams conference,” Williams said. “There’s going to said. “The rest of the country is really starting be guidelines and bylaws that we are going to pay attention to have to cover, which changes the to it from a context of what competitive pointwe’re doing, but of-view. We wanted it also puts us in a to be involved in unique situation that uptick and where we have the that success and competitive gamthe opportunities ing days and a that it gives stuparticular system dent athletes to to follow… and compete on a give our students competitive level.” the opportunity The addition Photo by Kean.edu to compete under of the esports Rendering of the new esports arena a conference situateam comes as tion.” esports viewership Students will have the opportunity to is on the rise across the world. According practice and compete in the new esports to Business Insider, current viewership is arena that is being built on the second projected to rise from 454 million viewers in floor of the Green Lane Academic Building. 2019 to 646 million viewers in 2023. According to a press release, the area will be Esports are not new to Kean. The Kean a 2,612 square foot space, equipped with a Esports club was started on campus in the large screen for competitions, an area for Spring 2020 semester and became official in the Fall 2020 semester. continued on page 7 “The club was started by our club president
Shining a Light on Enslaved People at Liberty Hall By Tyler Clark Despite being one of the most diverse universities in the country, the land on which Kean stands was once worked on by enslaved people. As the extremely diverse student population walks to and from classes, they unknowingly retrace the steps of the enslaved. Rather than shy away from the connection b e t w e e n enslaved people and the history of New Jersey, Kean has chosen to use it as a tool to educate the public. Dr. C. Brid Bill of lumber (front) Nicholson, associate professor and assistant chair of history and director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program, is working on a project that will showcase the connection between the Liberty
Hall estate on the Kean campus in Union, NJ, and enslaved people during the 18th century. Dr. Nicholson is using documents from the Liberty Hall Collection. Most of the collection is from the 1780s-1830s and contains over 4,000 documents from the Livingston family, the
Photo by Tyler Clark
Photo by Tyler Clark
Back of bill of lumber, shows names of enslaved people
Kean family, and other families related through marriage. Dr. Nicholson has begun to analyze those documents in order to find the names of enslaved
people and create a database that identifies them. The database currently contains information on about 150 enslaved people. Not all of them lived at Liberty Hall; many were in homes in the South owned by Liberty Hall’s occupants. “My hope with this is that eventually we will have a database connected where we will literally be able to have biographies of as many of the enslaved as we can,” Dr. Nicholson said. Dr. Nicholson is incorporating her work with the Liberty Hall Collection into her History class “Special Topics in History: Enslaved and Liberty Hall”. Students in the class are working with Liberty Hall in order to redesign their tours so that they will include names and biographies of the enslaved. The class is also putting together an outline for an exhibit that explains the history of the enslaved at Liberty Hall. This will be the firstever exhibit at Liberty Hall that will focus on the identities of the enslaved. The documents in the Liberty Hall Collection are currently stored at the Special Collections Research Library and Archive at Kean University. Erin Alghandoor, head archivist of the Special Collections Research Library and Archive, is currently uploading the Liberty Hall Collection to the Learning Commons website. Alghandoor has helped in digitizing about 100 of the 4,000
documents and will continue adding more. Here is a link to the Liberty Hall Collection on the Learning Commons website: https:// digitalcommons.kean.edu/lhc/. Alghnadoor believes that the documents in the Liberty Hall Collection are important because they give a first-hand look at history.
“This gives us the most behind-the-scenes look that we can get into that time period,” Alghnadoor said “This gives us the most behind-the-scenes look that we can get into that time period,” Alghnadoor said, “You really get to know the characters and through that, you get to see history in a way that you don’t get to see when you’re looking at secondary sources.” continued on page 5
2 THE TOWER
April, 2021
Panel Offers Tips on Getting and Keeping the Job You Want By Alejandro Arcos
need people who are aware of what’s going on, not only in New Jersey but around the The School of Communication, Media and world.” Pavkovic said. Journalism, also Even those who known as the School may not be so of CMJ, hosted confrontational and its annual Spring extroverted can panel discussion. find success in their On the March 23rd, careers. 2021 edition of the “I understand panel, CMJ based not everybody is an the discussion extrovert like me, around the theme some people just of retaining your job work differently, position after being they prefer to think hired, advancing about something your career and being before coming to the hired fresh out of table with an answer, college in the first which is fine.” Stokes place. said. “Be curious, “Editors are more never say no when behind the scenes; somebody is giving editors are the you a new task, ones in the back Photo by Poster of the event as emailed by the Communication department wanting to try of the room doing Poster of the discussion something new,” the intake getting Stokes said. “I think stories, photos, people like that have everything ready for that curiosity they’re publication” Pavkovic very well read and up to said. date on current events. Students can be I think those are people expected to find just who do exceptionally about any position well at my firm.” that best suits their Christina Stokes is the skills and personality, Managing Producer of with the key takeaway NJ Advance Media, a being that being skilled local news station for with talking to people, NJ that delivers all news healthy persistence and about daily occurrences, thoughtfulness will go entertainment and a long way with keeping sports. one’s job position, let Curiosity, tenacity and alone finding one in the attentiveness would be first place. The annual prime traits for college spring discussion students whose major panel may be accessed is Communications through the YouTube to have, something account of Jeremiah Pavkovic would attest to Sullivan, the executive Photo by CMJ’s twitter logo as a journalist herself. director of CMJ. To “We’re journalists, contact Christina Stokes and so we have to be and Suzanne Pavkovic, interested and curious about the world visit the official Rubenstein and NJ Advance around us, when we interview people, we Media webpages online.
“Be curious, never say no when somebody is giving you a new task.”
PALS Camp for persons with Down Syndrome By Jalen Gaynor Renowned nonprofit organization PALS, held their fun virtual camp for persons with Down Syndrome this past week. The organization held sessions through zoom that took place from March 20-27. PALS’ mission is to create inclusive camp experiences for people with and without Down Syndrome. Their volunteer-led programs aim to change attitudes, transform lives, and inspire a world of belonging. Due to the pandemic, this year PALS had to host a brand-new virtual program with the help of volunteers to help serve the community. The program was originally designed to feature in person meetings, but was switched to a virtual style out of an abundance of caution. Every volunteer was paired with a peer-aged partner with Down syndrome for each event. Volunteers were accepted into the program after submitting an application and completing a short, informal interview. This was followed by the completion of 1 hour remote training modules on how the program works and what to expect. One volunteer for PALS this past week was Josephine O'Grady. She participated as a volunteer counselor and detailed her experience on the palsprogram.org blog. O’Grady opened up about how she was nervous Virtual camp week 2
at first because she was a new member, but was able to relax because of the kindness of everyone else involved. “The combined staff, volunteers, and campers quickly broke the ice, and we settled in for a fun, refreshing week of camp,” O’Grady wrote. Later in her post, O’Grady talked about some of the activities that were included in this event. “Each day of camp had a specific activity planned – from jazzercise and reflective drawing to Family Feud and Olympics, every day was just as fun, new, and exciting as the last,” she wrote. O'Grady went into detail about how everyone was given an opportunity to get to know one another without necessarily needing to be in a large
“Each day of camp had a specific activity planned – from jazzercise and reflective drawing to Family Feud and Olympics; every day was just as fun, new, and exciting as the last.”
Kean Highlights New Jersey Women Leading Change By Tiye Bracy A picture of Clara Kramer when she was 18 years old, her diary, and her book cover was shown while she spoke about her Holocaust experience during a Celebration of Diverse Achievements event which took place on
gender stereotypes.” The woman presented in this event was Florence Dwyer, by Erin Alghandoor, Head Artivist for the Special Collections Research Library and Archives. Dwyer was a Republican who was elected to serve seven consecutive terms.
“The face of Hitler he is consuming a heart and the s hoe represents blood, evil, and power,” Fittipaldi said. “Each shoe represents a theme of various ancient and modern gender stereotypes.”
Photo by Tiye Bracy
Clara Kramer book cover, diary, photograph
March, 15 via zoom. The event was sponsored by Kean University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The first influential woman that was talked about during the event was Clara Kramer. She is featured in the Holocaust Resource Center on campus.
“She was the second woman who was elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey,” Alghandoor said. Kean has over 400 Florence Dwyers Congressional papers. If any student would like to visit the Special Collections of Archives it is located in the Learning Commons.
Photo by Tiye Bracy
Photo by Tiye Bracy
Florence Dwyer holding letters
Amanda Yoakum artwork
“She co founded the Holocaust Resource Center, and it led to holocaust and genocide awareness to numerous teachers,” Spencer Martin, the Collection Coordinator at the Holocaust Resource Center said. Martin manages the collection that consist of over 200 survivors of the Holocaust. The video is available to all Kean students and faculty that can watch from the comfort of their own homes on a computer. Showcased in the event was Amanda Yoakum, presented by Christina Fittipaldi, Kean Gallery Program Manager. “She pairs two dimensional paintings, with her unique perspective of the world with her playful elements of design,” Fittipaldi said. Her artwork is made out of sneakers, Vans. During the event, they showed three of her art pieces. One called Consumption made in 2015 consists of a mixed medium on leather sneakers. The others were named Sitting Bull and Wanbi created in 2015 as well. “The face of Hitler he is consuming a heart and the shoe represents blood, evil, and power,” Fittipaldi said. “Each shoe represents a theme of various ancient and modern
Students can visit on Monday, Tuesday , Thursday, and Friday from noon to five in the evening. The topics in the collection includes campaigning, civil rights, education, local civic engagement, equal rights, transportation, and the Vietnam War. The last woman talked about in the event was Antoinette Brown Blackwell. She was the first woman to be a mainstream Protestant minister in the United States. Blackwell was a part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a leader in the women’s rights movement. A librarian at Kean University showed us how to find biographies on the Kean database. Another librarian staff taught the audience how to navigate through the Kean database to find primary and secondary sources. There is a database called American Women History in Kean Database. “This is definitely a database worth exploring,” said a Kean librarian. Finding Your Renovation is an exhibition that will be coming to Kean University between April 26, 2021 to June 18, 2021 located at Karl and Helen Burger Gallery.
group. Breakout rooms were used by head counselors to make sure everyone was able to connect. O’Grady was lucky enough to form a bond with someone she was paired with during the week. PALS has been working hard over the
past year to make sure that these camps can continue to take place. PALS hopes that learning of O’Grady’s own positive experience will encourage others to get involved as well. PALS also takes donations. For more information, go to palsprograms.org.
Photo by Cougarlink website
Camp participants
Photo by @palsprograms on instagram
Photo by Palsprograms.org
PALS logo
April, 2021
THE TOWER 3
The Power That Beholds The Word Of All Women Five Female Undergraduates Selected To Present At National Conference
By Lenny K. Mata Cuevas For Rosa, Dolores, María, Daniela and Valerie, all started as a requirement course but turned into a gratifying experience of extracurricular work that marks a big step not only in their lives as students at Kean but also as women. This month, the five females will present at the National Council on Undergraduate Research, which due to Covid restrictions will be hosted online. This is the first time Kean has had such a large group presenting at the prestigious conference. While it’s a professional achievement, personally it has taken them to an even greater one: Hispanic women re-discovering “the power that their words behold,” as one of them said in Spanish. In a two hour Zoom session, the women explained that they found power, purpose and self-knowledge while researching Latin American Literature and History with World Languages Spanish Coordinator, Dr. Gregory Shepherd, for their upcoming presentation at the conference. Rosa Huanchi, a Linguistics Major seeking a K-12 teacher certification, said the nature of her research led her to question what she had never considered in the past. Based on the literature of Isabelle Allende and Rosario Ferré, Huanchi explored the role of Hispanic women in a patriarchal society. “When I started to study linguistics, there were some aspects which I was not used to questioning such as how were women treated, previously, how women have been living under a system of oppression by patriarchal society?" Huachi said, between pauses, in Spanish.
The Peruvian mother and wife, who thinks of herself as a “dreamer,” said her research and readings in Dr. Shepherd classes affirmed the idea that women deserve a high place in
things differently now. When I am going to act or do something, when I am going to say things and at any point in my life, I analyze
Photo by Lenny Mata
Zoom Meeting Screenshot 2
“Professors live for this type of engagement where students e mbrace learning to the degree that their critical skills flourish naturally.” Photo by Aimeedars
"NCUR: Poster Session" by Aimeedars is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
society that include rights and opportunities. “Now I say, no! Women have a voice.” Huanchi said in Spanish. “I think and look at
things." Dolores Quezada and María Kukla, both pursuing degrees in Spanish studies and elementary education, were influenced and inspired while doing their own research.
Quezada focused her work on the life of famous revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, while Kukla’s work contrasted the way women evolved throughout life in two of Luisa Valenzuela’s tales. Quezada, a perseverant Ecuadorian who was only 19 when she moved to the United States, wanted to learn in detail how and why Ernesto Guevara became “El Ché''. Basically, she wanted to understand and not judge the person just by what it is believed in pop culture. “I think no one is born as a revolutionary or a warrior,” Quezada said in Spanish. “You have to question and dig deeper in search of that transformation. I’d like to highlight the starting point where he changed his ideals and why?” Kukla agrees with the importance of Quezada’s research and confesses that she would have been very interested herself, but she felt she could not be objective. She believes that her opinion about Che Guevara could have compromised the work. “I am from Argentina; I would have been very interested in that topic. However, I found it difficult to make a fair statement about him and whether he was good or not just because he was from Argentina, too. I preferred to stay aside of that one and just appreciate Dolores' fantastic work," Kukla said in Spanish. Instead, Kukla decided to focus on literature, women’s freedoms, and their emotional evolution. She explained that she picked these tales as a “wake-up call” to “open your mind” and to stop judging women on how they chose to live their lives. She also had personal reasons, including her status as continued on page 4
University Drops 28 Disciplinary Actions Against Faculty Members By Cindy Lazo
“Issues along those lines” Craig Donovan, associate professor and Chairperson of the University Senate, was first notified of a disciplinary charge made against him between 3-4 months after a
An agreement has been made between the University and the Kean Federation of Teachers in securing the dismissal of 28 open disciplinary cases, which involved allegations of University policy violations, against faculty. In an email that was sent out, KFT President James Castiglione announced that these disciplinary charges against KFT members that were over two years old will be dropped, thanking University President Repollet for his consideration on the matter. The email also stated that many members were not aware that they An Association of Pressors, Professional Staff and Librarians had been targeted with disciplinary professional development session. charges. He said it was due to him failing to attend Castiglione said that some of the professional development days, which disciplinary charges had to do with multiple require faculty to register, sign in and attend allegations of violating University policies. sessions, despite having attended. As a “Some of them had to do with faculty who number of faculty members were receiving had missed mandatory meetings, missed those notices, he began encouraging everyone sessions of professional development days, to take pictures of their registration and problems with faculty timesheets, failing to submit office hours by deadline,” He said. attendance as proof.
“I began taking these pictures and every time I went to a session, I’d do a little selfie of me at the registration desk with the little topic thing there,” Donovan said, “so that I can show, ‘Yes I was in fact there’ if anybody
record is a major plus for faculty and to clean up the record of the administration. “It would’ve been nice if they’d simply asked us ahead of time we actually had in fact attended because many of us had proof that we attended.” Donovan said, “I could’ve supplied a picture of me at the event had I been asked rather than simply notified that I was in violation. And I think that was the difference between the president of the past administration.” The KFT acknowledges that these 28 dismissals represent all outstanding disciplinary charges that they are aware of, and it's unknown if all the professors who faced charges were Photo by Kean Federation of Teachers made aware that they were dropped. Margaret McCorry, the associate really wanted to question me.” vice president for University Relations, said that Kean University does not comment on He said that it all occurred during personnel matters. the previous administration and that at “Most of these were minor infractions,” the moment there are no professional Castiglione said. “but nonetheless, it was development days and is very pleased that a very welcome offer by the University to President Repollet dropped the charges, clean the slate and dismiss these charges saying that the vast majority of the charges so it was a good faith effort in part by the were more on the nature of a clerical issue administration” and getting these errors corrected and off the
Kean Returns to In-Person Instruction in Fall 2021 By Emily Robles Andrea Febres is a freshman at Kean, but has only been on campus a few times.Come fall, however, she will finally know what it's like to be on campus for a whole semester when Kean returns to in person instruction. In an email sent to all staff and students on
country moves toward herd immunity.” The president plans to continue following all CDC guidelines in order to schedule most classes to be face to face and to welcome back residential students. As of now, the housing application for the 2021-2022 school year is available on Keanwise.
some students expressed their feelings of excitement and joy at finally being able to be on campus. “I'm excited, but nervous,” Febres said. “Being a freshman I already adjusted to college life online, so now it’s going to be like starting all over again.” Febres said despite her nervousness, she’s
happy for the returning students who will be able to experience that. “Even though I’ll miss not being back, it’s much needed for the returning students,” Rojas said. With face to face classes on the verge of returning, President Repollet seems excited to be on campus and is determined to follow
“I am already looking forward to Move-In Day, Homecoming and all the other Fall activities” Photo by Via kean university instagram
Cougar Walk
March 12 , it was announced that come Fall 2021, Kean will be returning to face to face instruction. According to the email sent from the Office of the President, “This decision comes as COVID-19 vaccinations increase and the
Photo by Via kean university website
People walking on campus
“Over the next five and a half months, our team will work to ensure our classrooms, labs, residence halls and other spaces are safe and ready for full use in the Fall semester,” President Lamont Repollet said in the email. With this news about going back to campus,
ready to finally be on campus and get things back to normal. Arnold Rojas, a senior cell and molecular biology major, will be graduating this May and will not be returning to see the revival of face to face instruction, but said that he is
the right steps in order to get there. “I am already looking forward to MoveIn Day, Homecoming and all the other Fall activities. Remember, cougars climb higher. We’ve got this,” President Repollet said in the email.
4 THE TOWER
April, 2021
The Power That Beholds The Word Of All Women
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
Five Female Undergraduates Selected To Present At National Conference continued from page 3
an Argentinian student in the United States. “I wanted to honor someone from my country.” Kukla said. “I left my country when I was 20 years old, and I didn’t get to go to college there, so I did not know anything about my country, even less about this lady.” Then, thanks to her research she learned who she was and what her tales were about. “She was brave enough, to tell truth and expose something that is a topic that we cannot talk about in my country. It is scary to talk about it, but she did it. So, I’m like, I’m going to give her credit for that.” Kukla said. Finally, Colombian Daniela Riascos and Guatemalan Valerie Sanabria or the “babies of the group” as Kukla playfully called them, also presented projects based not only on literature but history as well. Riascos, who seeks a degree in education and certification for grades K-12, decided to work with Isabel Allende’s novel Eva Luna. Her work studies and analyzes a character in literature known as Zoom Meeting Screenshot 1 “subaltern subject”, according to Riascos. “The subaltern subject can be any person, male or female, who can physically speak, but their voice and what they mean to say is never heard by the people in power” explained Riascos in Spanish. Riascos also explained that this research has taught her about a concept which is not common hearing people talking about, “the share of power in society” as a tool to succeed in the quest of equality. “There is power in our words and we must learn how to use that power. My research appeals for that, for using that power without oppressing others.” Said Riascos in Spanish. In an ideal world, power should be a combination between both, man and woman with a mid-point where both genders satisfy their necessities.” Valerie Sanabria, a double major in Communication/Journalism and Spanish and is also Editor in Chief of The Tower. Sanabria established a series of similarities among four different Latin American authors as classic as José Martí and as modern as Puerto Rican Rap duo Calle 13. Her work defends the idea of how the rest of the American continent has been oppressed and mistreated throughout history. “José Martí, Ruben Dario, Neruda and Calle 13 are all from different periods in literature and culture, still they keep writing about how all of the other countries think that Latin American it’s their playground,” Sanabria said switching from English to Spanish.
However, Sanabria says that the intention of this research is to emphasize on the strength of Latin American people, regardless of all the horrible things they’ve gone through. “That’s what my research is really about; it explains chronologically how those four authors wrote about how imperialism has affected Latin America but also it shows about the beauty of the land and the culture of its people.” Sanabria said in Spanglish. Each one of the women chose contemporary but still, taboo topics in their Latino community as subjects of their research. They all recognized that this subject could be taken as controversial and induced difficult conversations, but they are ready to defend their points and theses. “Usually, I don’t do a lot of things related to feminism because I am scared of being judged for the way I think, and the way I feel. I never thought I was going to be presenting these subjects at a national conference, but what can I do? I’m here already.” Kukla said, laughing. Photo by Lenny Mata While Riascos affirms she is ready for debate. “I’m eager to find somebody who thinks different from me. That is what motivates me the most to be able to defend my thoughts and points of view.” Said Riascos in Spanish. Dr. Shepherd, who serves as the mentor for the project, encouraged them to submit an abstract and compete for a chance to participate at the National Council of Undergraduate Research. He shared his opinion on how proud and content he is by seeing how these ladies have been supporting each other while on this journey. “These particular five women have formed a tight group in the process of seeking national attention for their research; they have worked collaboratively and supported each other in many ways beyond the instruction they received from me. He is also excited about the commitment and great work, but mostly of the results that the research has left in the lives of these women. “Professors live for this type of engagement where students embrace learning to the degree that their critical skills flourish naturally.” Said Dr. Shepherd proudly. The five of them are receiving and embracing this opportunity as a chance to learn more about Latin American culture and sharing the same passion and excitement for what the National Council for Undergraduates Research might bring. More importantly, they have reaffirmed their beliefs in “The power that beholds the word of all women”, as Huanchi said in Spanish, as they all agreed.
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: VALERIE SANABRIA NEWS EDITOR: CINDY LAZO FEATURES EDITOR: CHELSEY JAIPERSAUD SPORTS EDITOR: STEVEN MERRILL ONLINE EDITOR/ SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: EMILY ROBLES ONLINE EDITOR: LENNY MATA CUEVAS
REPORTERS DORIAN ALERTE
ROB GREENE
ALEJANDRO ARCOS
CHRISTIAN GRULLON
TIYE BRACY
RUBEN NIEVES
TYLER CLARK
DAVAUGHNIA WILSON
JALEN GAYNOR
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.
Learning Commons & Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Explores Databases On Women’s History
Photo by Learning Commons Website
Nancy Thompson Library Learning Commons
By Christian Grullon In a special PowerPoint presentation honoring Women’s History Month, the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons & The University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion explored Women’s History through different time periods to show students to find resources on the university’s database on March 18. Librarians Craig Anderson, Linda Cifelli and Chrisler Pitts presented and shared different resources that students and faculty can use to research women’s history. One resource that was presented was American Women’s history, which can be found on the Women’s Studies subject on the Learning Commons Website when you click on ‘Databases A-Z, link. The topic provides you with resources on different time periods on Women’s History such as Women in the Civil War: 1861–1899 & Women in World War II: 1938–1960. The webinar had the presentation virtually through the zoom website and highlighted the Women’s research guide that is found on the Learning Commons website. The research guide offers information relating to Women's
and Gender Studies. On the Learning Commons website, you first find “Databases A-Z” then specifically look for databases regarding women’s studies instead of ‘all subjects.’ The databases that are listed as ‘best bet’ for women’s studies are American Women’s History, & Women and the Law. One resource that was mentioned was GenderWatch, a database that provides historical and current perspectives on gender roles and its evolution to men and women. GenderWatch also provides research on different topics like religion, sexuality, masculinity, societal roles, etc. Anderson said that most of the focus is letting people know resources are out there. Anderson shared that whether it’s Black History Month or Women’s History Month or Asian/Pacific Islander History Month, we want people to know what resources we have on these topics to find information about. “I think the Learning Commons is trying to collaborate with other departments or other units on campus to increase students’ access to resources available to them,” Cifelli said. The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
seeks to create a diverse community for all students, staff and faculty on the campus while working to ensure inclusiveness to all aspects of campus life.
Cifelli said that students have access to a much broader range of information than they would normally have just by searching through Google.
Photo by Moonjazz is marked with CC PDM 1.0
People Power, Speaking out for Human Rights
April, 2021
THE TOWER 5
The Power of Protest By Davaughnia Wilson
and the dominant discussion in our country, the dominant discourse, was to conform and to not dissent. To not do anything that would be seen as resisting unity.” As a Sociology major, Thompson learned how systems work in the U.S. The functions and power, and developing a language and understanding of her experiences and that of others. She explained that her time at college was about discovering her language through coursework, and by senior year, she was at
the team took the initiative to contact the Merchant Marine Academy, the school her team was scheduled to play next, to inform them of Thompson’s protest. “The Merchant Marine Academy prepared for our arrival for that game with what seemed like hundreds of flags filling the stands and the sidelines of the court. Cadet students in uniform lined along the sidelines screaming at us the entire game,” said Thompson. This incident, Thompson believes skyrocketed her protest in mass media. The
Social justice activist, Toni SmithThompson, at the March 18 virtual event, "Path from Protest to Participation," spoke of the importance of active and consistent protest as a way to address social injustice. In the winter of 2002, Thompson decided to exercise her right to freedom of speech and expression by turning her back to the American flag while the National Anthem played at her basketball game. Years before Colin Kaepernick kneeled in protest. “I decided to face the other way. I decided to do that because I thought it would draw less attention and be less offensive than sitting on the bench, or all of these other variations of what I could have done,” Thompson said. Thompson stated that by turning her back to the flag, she would still be able to stand and participate with her team, something that was important to her. The event was created by Adam Hutchinson and was co-sponsored by the Human Rights Institute, Kean Athletics Department, Women and Gender Studies at Kean University, and the Office of Diversity Equity and Photo by https://medium.com/@tonijsmith/about Inclusion. Event flyer, Toni Smith-Thompson “I started thinking about Toni Smith-Thompson inviting Toni Smith-Thompson to speak to students in 2017 while sitting backlash was severe. The media’s response a place where she was finding her voice and on a panel discussing the role athletics play and that of the public was gruesome. expression. in advancing social justice,” said Hutchinson. Thompson was completely unprepared for Thompson expounded that her decision Adding that, “My enthusiasm for asking Toni the backlash, and so was the university. The to protest stemmed from a conversation she to speak has grown over the years. Young reach was so broad, Thompson was featured had regarding her coursework and thought, people have long played an energizing role in an Italian newspaper. why should she stand and participate in the in advancing progressive American causes to The year Thompson protested, she was national anthem to play basketball. protest.” the team's co-captain, and that in itself was She protested for several games from Dec. Thompson’s protests emerged after the a conflict. Often she heard, as a leader, her 2002 into Jan. 2003 before any complaints Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York actions reflect on the rest of the players and were made. She stated that in response, City. Her first protest occurred during the that she should be unified with the team she a group of her teammate’s parents filed 2002 - 2003 basketball season. represents a complaint against her protest to the Thompson explained that sports were Thompson later realized that many University’s president. the driving force to reunite the country and relationships that she had developed with her The quiet protest soon gained momentum to heal through displays of solidarity and team were merely based on basketball. She and global attention when her team played patriotism. This motion to unite the country explains that when she began protesting, she a team whose assistant coach was deployed soon turned into a toxic nationalism as quickly realized that most of her teammates overseas. She explained that the school had a citizens were being forced to conform. were against her. strong response to her protest. According to Thompson, “The expectation “...from starting petitions to have Words were exchanged on both parts, and
my academic scholarship revoked, and demanding that I be kicked out of school. Parents of teammates who have welcomed me into their homes for dinner suddenly showing up to basketball games waving flags and not talking to me,” Thompson expressed. Comparing her sports team to current teams, Thompson has noticed the shift in introducing politics in a conversation and adapting and learning more about one’s teammate. “It's really easy to spend a lot of time with people and build relationships without asking the right questions about what do you value? Who are you? What do you know about me? Are we actually trying to go to the same place here and is there anything connecting us beyond this sports team?” said Thompson. According to Thompson, when team, identity, and unity are the reasoning given for why individuals need to conform to certain practices, they should ask who is this unity for and what is it in service of. Thompson joined the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2011, where she is the current senior organizer, working on campaigns and issues related to social justice and civil liberties. Photo by Cougarlink Thompson added that, during her protests, she fought for her right to exercise free speech and freedom of expression. What is a right if you can't use it? “The lesson that I learned during my protests, what is a right if you cannot use it? I have applied to the work that I do now,” Thompson said. Thompson responded to a series of questions posed by students in attendance. When asked if she believes that the pandemic is the driving force behind the recent protests and if they will die down after the pandemic ends, Thompson responded that the pandemic has certainly created pathways and opportunities for protests. “I think generally speaking protest movements happen in waves. There's a period of time where there's a convergence of events that kind of like gives birth to the next wave,” Thompson said.
“The lesson that I learned during my protests, what is a right if you cannot use it? I have applied to the work that I do now,” Thompson said
Shining a Light on Enslaved People at Liberty Hall continued from page 1
Once Kean reopens completely in the Fall of 2021, the Special Collections Research Library and Archive will be open to the public. Alghnadoor encourages the public to look through the documents themselves and help uncover the names and stories of the enslaved. Here is a link to the Special Collections Research Library and Archive on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keanscrla/ Dr. Elizabeth Hyde, professor and department chair of history, has worked with Dr. Nicholson, the archivists at the Special Collections Research Library, and Liberty Hall in analyzing and organizing the documents. Dr. Hyde believes that this will be an important opportunity for Kean students to grapple with the legacy of slavery in New Jersey. “It marks an important opportunity for us to help Kean students understand that the institution of slavery was not something that
was confined to the Confederate South,” Dr. Hyde said. Dr. Jonathan Mercantini, Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, in 2012 published the first statement revealing the connection between enslaved people and the Kean and Livingston families. He received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 2018, which allowed Kean to conduct a multiyear study of the world of William Livingston. The website “William Livingston’s World” was created using funding from the grant. It contains digitized versions of the Liberty Hall Collection. The website also contains resources that can be used to teach students about the institution of slavery in the North. Here is a link to the website: https://sites. google.com/kean.edu/williamlivingstonsworld/ home?authuser=0
Letter written by Susan Livingston
Dr. Mercantini feels that the Liberty Hall Collection is significant because it is an integral part of New Jersey’s history. “The Kean and Livingston families are among
the most significant New Jersey political families that go back to the Revolutionary War generation and that are still relevant to today,” Dr. Mercantini said. Dr. Nicholson gave a virtual talk about the work she is doing with the Liberty Hall Collection on March 23 that was uploaded to the Kean History Department Youtube channel. Here is a link: https://www. youtube.com/channel/UCZQ76z1Photo by Tyler Clark rywCV-QnJkZyuPg. “It’s really important in history that we flip the narrative. In other words, we stop looking at history the way it’s always been taught and we flip it. And we look at who history is about, who history impacts,” Dr. Nicholson said.
The Legalization of Cannabis and What You Should Know a lot of speculation on how the state will move forward with the rules and regulations of recreational cannabis use. One question that many New Jersians have is; who can smoke cannabis and where exactly can you smoke it without getting into legal trouble? Simply put, anyone over 21 can smoke cannabis anywhere that you cannot consume alcohol, you cannot smoke cannabis unless otherwise regulated. The distribution of marijuana is still illegal which also means we won’t see any dispensaries for some time. If authorities are notified, violators are subject to fines and arrests if Photo by Hoja de marihuana, by MarihuanayMedicina is marked with CC PDM 1.0 suspected of distribution. Hoja de marihuana The legalization of recreational By Leshay Jones cannabis really means that as long as you follow the regulations put into place, you After years of debate, Marijuana has finally won’t get into legal trouble for consuming cannabis products. been legalized in New Jersey.There has been
Adults 21 and over are permitted to have up to six ounces of cannabis without facing any real legal repercussions. Another big question that has been posed is DUI regulation. How will an officer know how much is too much when operating a vehicle? As of now, there are no accurate tests to see if someone has been driving under the influence of marijuana. Officials would have to catch you in the act to actually charge you for a DUI. What about those with drug charges on their record before legalization? According to the governor’s office, low level marijuanna records cannot be used in some judiciary cases stating that it “prevents low-level distribution and possession offenses from being used in pretrial release, probation, and parole decisions and provides certain protections against discrimination in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation.” This also means that what employer’s look for in drug testing will be modified.
With more than 300,000 arrests,New Jersey has some of the highest marijuana arrest rates in the entire country. Black communities are disproportionately affected by this, but this new legislation brings a beacon of hope. After receiving heavy criticism from the NAACP, Gov. Phil Murphy made the decision to replace a member of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission with a staffer from Cory Booker’s office named Charles Barker, who grew up in Newark. “This legislation will establish an industry that brings equity and economic opportunity to our communities while establishing minimum standards for safe products and allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on real public safety matters,” Murphy said in a press release.
6 THE TOWER
April, 2021
RELATIONSHIPS
What Don Quixote taught me about love
By Valerie Sanabria
in love with a frog and found real love easily. Some other people believe that there are no princes left. All of this sounds complicated, but this is part of the adventure. For Angie Torres, a third year English Writing student, love is an adventure because the person you love can make you feel what no one else can. “Love is wanting the best for somebody. When I love someone, I want them to be well, successful, and happy. I also want to have that person close to me as much as possible,” Torres said. In Don Quixote there is an adventure
After a semester studying Cervantes’ writing and going through a terrible break up I learned that “True love has no conditions” as Dr. Gregory Shepherd, World-Languages Coordinator at Kean, constantly repeated during one of the many literature classes I took with him during the last two years. I’m not sure how many books about love I’ve read, but I am sure that I found my own definition of what love really is after reading and analyzing Don Quixote. Miguel De Cervantes not only narrates the adventures of a man who is passionate about chivalric novels, there is so much more if we read between the lines. After I read Don Quixote for the second time and after hours of analyzing each adventure in class I realized that each one of us is going through a different path. The way we love and how hard we love Photo by Don Quijote de la Mancha, by rromer is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 depends on the Don Quijote de la Mancha experiences we have lived. where he hears about Marcela, a beautiful and I like to think that we are knight errant wealthy woman who decided not to marry ourselves learning from each adventure. and live a shepherdess’s life. She was free and Sometimes we mistakenly fall in love with happy by herself. She made her decision. who we think are Disney princes when those When I love, I give everything. are actually frogs, just as when Don Quixote I often think about love. It’s one of my saw windmills and thought those were giants. I’ve heard stories of people that never fell thousand obsessions. Losing those I love is
another obsession. While trying not to lose anyone, I forgot to love myself and I ended up losing everyone, including me. I lost myself trying to save everyone around me. I constantly breakup with myself to get everyone else back together. As Elvira Sastre, one of my favorite Spanish poets said, I was not feeling lost, but I was not sure where the ocean inside me ended and I was drowning. I was literally drowning. People fall in love during different stages in their lives. I don’t think there is a pattern. I have a pattern of seeing the good in everyone and trying to save those around me even if
Love is an adventure. It is an adventure with people around you, but also an adventure with yourself. You shouldn’t put restrictions on love, who you love, or how you love them. Enemies to lovers
I’m drowning. I had this crazy idea that you get your heartbroken by a romantic partner, but I understood that it does not work like that. Romantic people just like me get their heart broken constantly and anyone can be responsible, even our own thoughts.
When I heard Dr. Shepherd said, “Love with conditions is not love” my life changed a little. That phrase helped me understand everything and also Marcela’s story. We often forget to love the person we are. We often forget to celebrate how powerful, beautiful and smart we are. We compliment others, but we can easily forget to compliment ourselves. We don’t need a romantic partner if we don’t want to, but if we do, we should also feel free. Love is about freedom and about being happy, love should be about choosing by ourselves, love should be about choosing us and then someone else to be free with. Love is an adventure. It is an adventure with people around you, but also an adventure with yourself. You shouldn’t put restrictions on love, who you love, or how you love them. I wanted to have everyone Photo by Naomi Sanabria @leyendobooks around me all the time and I wanted them to be happy, but I was making everyone crazy in the process. I was stealing their freedom. I stopped loving me because I was focusing on everyone around me. I was not like Marcela. I was Don Quixote living in my own reality and yes, love is wanting the best for someone else, but also the best for you.
OPINION
Don’t Waste Time Trying to Get Trump Supporters to Accept the Fact that Their Man Lost the Election Fairly. It’s a Waste of Time.
By Christian Grullon We are now four months removed from the 2020 election, and Trump as well as his supporters continue to baselessly claim that the election was stolen, and that Trump actually won. President Joe Biden won the election surpassing the required 270 electoral college votes with 306 votes while former President Donald Trump finished with 232. Trump lost. To all of the people who have encountered Trump supporters falsely claiming election fraud, my advice at this point is ignore them, don’t even bother to debate them or try to convince them that Biden won fairly. It’s one thing to correct people but if people you are speaking to are not willing to accept facts, or even understand your point of view, you will only be exhausting yourself engaging with them. In order to make voting easier to combat the pandemic, states adopted practices of mail-in voting, early voting, weekend voting, drop box voting, and extending voting hours. These practices made voting easier especially for young voters and voters of color who t ra d i t i o n a l l y vote for Democrats. Many voters took advantage of early voting with mail-in ballots, perhaps increasing the number of voters. Voting is a good thing; it supports d e m o c r a c y. However, R e p u b l i c a n s Congrats Donald Trump
saw these changes as a negative and Trump himself set the stage early for his “Stop the Steal” effort with claims made prior to the election that mail-in ballots can lead to massive fraud. According to a poll done by the R Street Institute, a free markets group, 67 percent of Republicans believed that last year’s election was invalid, compared to 23 percent who believed it was valid. Not surprisingly, after the election results, Trump and Republican lawmakers doubled down on the election fraud claims and, of courseTrump’s supporters followed suit. Considering that Trump had already cast doubts on mail-in voting prior to the election, it’s honestly not a surprise that he filed lawsuits to overturn the election or that his radical base spread false election fraud claims. Trump lost dozens of lawsuits aiming to overturn the election results. Even Former Attorney General William Burr who served in the Trump administration said that the US Department of Justice had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud. The
Trump base will believe anything he says, no matter what it is, and nothing is going to change their minds. I understand that Trump’s actions eventually led to the Jan 6 riot in Washington D.C. when his supporters stormed the Capitol Building resulting in 5 deaths including a Police Officer. Before the riot Trump spoke at a rally near the White House in which he said to his base, “We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," According to a Fox news poll, 77 percent of Trump supporters who cast ballots:, believed that the election was stolen from him. Not all Trump supporters have fallen prey to the election fraud claims just as not all Trump supporters are racist, sexist, or hateful of immigrants, but that doesn’t mean they will listen to you. Take Mike Pence.. Former Vice President Mike Pence wrote an op-ed in the The Daily Signal, a conservative news website based in Washington, DC. where he repeated the false election claims. Pence said “After an election marked
Photo by Congrats Donald Trump, by Az-Jean is marked with CC PDM 1.0
by significant voting irregularities and numerous instances of officials setting aside state election law, I share the concerns of millions of Americans about the integrity of the 2020 election.” It’s so appalling that Pence would be the one to continue to spread this disinformation despite the Capitol Hill rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” at the insurrection. Trump criticized Pence on Twitter for ‘not having the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” With that said, the election is over and done. I know our democracy now is pretty much in danger and that’s scary enough but the last thing we need to do is to go back and forth with Trump loyalists who are perpetuating false claims of systemic voter fraud. We have plenty of other issues to be concerned about.
Photo by Donald Trump Banners, by farkous is marked with CC PDM 1.0
Donald Trump Banners
April, 2021
Kean Hiring Tenure-Track Faculty For First Time In Years
Kean to Launch Competitive Esports Program
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Action Underscores Effort To Become A Research University
SPORTS
will be given priority consideration for appointment to a tenure-track faculty position at the close of the fellowship period. Kean University does have faculty whose main focus is research, therefore there is a need to hire more people whose focus isn’t necessarily dedicated towards their research. This doesn’t mean that those professors aren’t interested in teaching, but their attention is on research. “There are faculty who see themselves and want to have a primarily teaching load, they are passionate about teaching,” Donovan said.
Kean is exploring two tracks for professors and opening greater opportunities for those who want to advance in their career and focus on their research. “Kean’s additional tenure-track opportunities, and others in the future, will help advance the University’s efforts to achieve R2 research status and further demonstrate our commitment to research and scholarship,” McCorry said. All available tenure track-faculty positions can be found on Kean’s official website.
spectators, and state-of-the-art gaming computers and consoles, including Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5 and Xbox. The esports program will also take advantage of the streaming platform, Twitch, to stream competitions and events. Competitions in the fall will also be held virtually against other schools. Both the Kean esports club and the esports
THE TOWER 7
program are looking forward to the new opportunity that presents itself in the Fall 2021 semester. The team is actively recruiting members. “We definitely want to collaborate,” Yang said. “The best thing that can happen is that we get together and this works out. We’ll hopefully make this into something statewide, like tournaments and leagues.”
Men’s Lacrosse Takes the Field Again at Kean By Ruben Nieves The Kean Men’s Lacrosse team have taken the field once again, after their season last spring was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had won their first three games of the season before the cancellation. Head coach Shelley Sheiner led his team to a 2-0 start on the season and had its game against Cairn University cancelled due to health and safety protocols. Despite an early cancellation, Sheiner is happy to be having a season. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am to the administration to (Athletic Director) Kelly Williams and (President) Dr. Repollet,” Sheiner said. “For putting a safe and effective plan in place for us to practice and compete competitively.” Just like other sports, the lacrosse team will be playing a shortened season, compared to their normal 18-game season. “We are hoping to get all nine games played in this shortened season,” Sheiner said. “It's not a regular season, but it is a season
nonetheless.” With the pandemic still ongoing, Matt Tanis, a senior defender, went through a completely different preparation for the season. “It’s definitely different this season having to go through all the protocols and not being able to schedule as many games,” Tanis said. “But the team is prepared for the games we have and aren’t taking it for granted.” Like his coach, Tanis is grateful to be having his senior season. “I’m just grateful to be having one more shot at being with a great team,” Tanis said. “Being a senior this year and having one more opportunity is great, I just wish we were able to have more fans to watch.” As they play through this season, the team has been taking the necessary precautions to make sure everyone is safe and healthy for the entirety of the season. “The guys have been doing a good job of social distancing themselves,” said Sheiner. “We make sure to shut down any
player for a week if they are not feeling well and they make sure to get COVID tested, to make sure we get ahead of problems and just adapting to guys being in and out of practice.” Staying in shape while dealing with the pandemic was a unique situation for Matt Palmieri, a senior long stick middie or a middle infielder, who went through hip surgery in June.
does feel bad for those who did not return. “It’s awesome to have those seniors returning,” Sheiner said. “The ones who couldn’t return, I feel bad for them, but it was a point in their lives that they needed to move on.” With those senior players that are returning, Sheiner looks forward to them playing their final season. “To get some of these guys back to finish a season is great,” Sheiner said. “I love all my guys, the ones that came back, I’m happy that they were able to come back for one more year.” Like his teammate Palmieri, Tanis has some personal expectations for himself for this season. “Expectations I have for myself are to be first team all-conference,” Tanis said. “And hopefully have the chance to be an AllPhoto by Matt Tanis Tanis on defense American.” With the team already winning for their first Photo by Kean Athletics two games of the season, Men’s Lacrosse head coach Shelley Sheiner Sheiner believes this team can win a conference championship and make the NCAA tournament. “I believe this team can win a conference championship and make it to the NCAA tournament,” Sheiner said. “This team is good, we have the resources to compete at a high level, the sky's the limit for this team.” Palmieri agrees. “I told Photo by Matt Palmeri myself I would help lead Palmeri awaits for the opposing team this team to a conference “Before surgery in June, I was doing all championship when I came here in 2017,” Palmieri said. “I feel sorts of at-home workouts to keep quarantine interesting,” we're poised for that this year; we want this ride to last as long Palmieri said. “I would go outside running or riding a bike.” as possible.” Palmieri hopes to be the best version of himself as a player Tanis has great expectations for the team and also hopes it and earn some accolades for his play. can end with an appearance in the NCAA tournament. “I want to be a greater version of myself,” Palmieri said. “I “I have great expectations because I know we have the was runner up for defensive player of the year, so to get that potential to have an awesome season,” Tanis said. “Make a back would be great, along with being an All-American.” push in the conference tournament and win it and advance in Sheiner is happy to be having the seniors returning, but he the NCAA tournament.”
“This team is good, we have the resources to compete at a high level, the sky's the limit for this team”
Kean Baseball Remains Motivated By Rob Greene After coming into 2021 nationally ranked in the preseason top five for Division III programs, Kean Baseball is looking to stay on track as the home stretch approaches this spring. A successful start to the season included head coach Neil Ioviero’s 700th career victory over William Patterson in his 24th year at the helm. Main contributions have come from senior pitcher/outfielder Frank LoGiudice, who returns for his extra year of eligibility due to last season being canceled from the pandemic. “Overall pitching went fairly well for us this past weekend back on the field in over a year,” LoGiudice said. “Our guys were excited to be back, taking every chance like it’s our last. The guys had an extra driving factor to pick up that first win of the season knowing it would be coach’s 700th career win.” It was originally up in the air if the team would have a season due to health-and-safety protocols. “I think I am most impressed by the kids ability to be flexible, adaptable and having the fortitude to overcome the current situation
that our country is facing,” assistant coach Steve Bucchignano said. “As many in our country, these student athletes had their entire worlds flipped upside down. We are asking so much of them right now in order to get this season completed and a lot of it has nothing to do with baseball. Constantly reminding them to stay safe, be aware of surroundings and keeping themselves healthy is a huge part of getting through
execute and handle the bat consistently. We have put up some nice numbers but haven’t really executed to the level we need to. So if we can continue to have quality at-bats and execute more effectively and consistently, I think this could be one of the better offenses we have had in recent years.” LoGiudice, a Division III Baseball AllRegion First Team player in 2019 and American Baseball Coaches Association All-
“As with most college athletes, as they get older, their skill set improves and that is exactly what you are seeing with Frank,” Bucchignano said. “A constant and consistent work ethic as well as a desire to be the best he can is what propelled Frank to one of the best two-way players in our league. Frank’s confidence, skill set and work ethic are three tremendous qualities to have separately. Frank having all three of these is what makes him a top player on our team and in our league.” With a career ERA hovering 3.00, LoGiudice has picked up where he left off from 2019 so far. “The best will be the best and true colors will show,” Marzano said. “We need to be adaptable, roll with the punches and be ready at any time.” Understanding the high standards due to the bright outlook on the year, LoGiudice knows Kean still has work to do. “We are constantly putting together the pieces we need to win games, sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “We go into every game expecting to win and when we fall, it hurts, but we pick each other up and refocus for our next upcoming game.”
“I think I am most impressed by the kids ability to be flexible, adaptable and having the fortitude to overcome the current situation that our country is facing.” this season all while keeping the standard of expectations we have.” Bucchignano, former Cougar from 1999-2003 and now six-year assistant, acknowledges the teams’ hot start offensively in the first month of the season but understands putting quality at-bats together each inning of each game will allow Kean to be more consistent on offense. “We need players to understand what their strength is, as an offensive player and stay within those strengths and not try to be a player they are not,” Bucchignano said. “A huge part of our offense is the ability to
Region Second Team selection, is mainly focused on winning. “Personal accomplishments are great but all I can do is self acknowledge they are there,” he said. “My goal is to obtain something I can enjoy and celebrate with family, friends, extended family (teammates), a championship. In this conference (NJAC) and in baseball everywhere, anyone can beat anyone. In the end, it might just be the team that stays healthy the whole season that wins it all.” Bucchignano sees LoGiudice’s work ethic and his knack for wanting to be great.