WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2020 www.villanovan.com @thevillanovan
STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916
VOLUME 111 | ISSUE 14
COVID-19 Tracker p. 2 Public Safety Blotter p. 2
Nnenna Lynch ’93 Named Co-President of the Association of American Rhodes Scholars
Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation Hearings p. 2 Frischmann Receives NSF Grant p. 3 Behind the Scenes: Community First’s Wonder-Fall p. 3 Two Townhalls, One Night p. 4 Georgia’s Instances of Voter Suppression p. 5 Midterm “Week” Left Students too Stressed p. 5 George Floyd’s Killer Released: Examining the Impact p. 6 The Ghosts of Villanova’s Campus p. 7 Bobby Sanderson’s Café Aromático p. 7 Ridiculum and CAT Host Stand-Up Commedy Show p. 8 Club Spotlight: Villanova Pastoral Musicians p. 8 CAT Discusses Fall Events and Activities p. 9 Student-Athlete of the Week: Volleyball’s Mallory Potts p. 10 Softball’s Paige Rauch Relives 2019-20 Success p. 11 Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Kyle Neptune Receives Recognition p. 11
Chloe McAloon Staff Writer
University alumna, trustee and former Rhodes Scholar Nnenna Lynch ’93 has been elected Co-President of the Association of American Rhodes Scholars (AARS). On Sept. 26, the AARS Board of Directors unanimously elected Lynch and Janice R. Ugaki as co-presidents. The AARS has elected three women to top leadership positions for the first time since its founding in 1907. This election marked the first time a woman has served as president since the organization’s founding. Established in 1902, Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest graduate fellowships in the world, pre-
senting students from the U.S. and 44 other countries with the opportunity to pursue postgraduate education at Oxford University. In 1979, an Act of Parliament presented women with the opportunity to become Rhodes Scholars for the first time in history. In 1993, Lynch was named the University’s first-ever Rhodes Scholar. Lynch earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. As an undergraduate, Lynch was a standout runner, earning five NCAA and nine Big East titles, in addition to NCAA Woman of the Year and NCAA Top Eight Awards. In 2011, the University inducted Lynch into the Athletics Hall of Fame.
University alumna, trustee and former Rhodes Scholar Nnenna Lynch Courtesy of Nova Nation All-Access
In 1996, Lynch earned her Master’s degree in Social Anthropology from Oxford. Upon completing her postgraduate studies, Lynch served as Senior Policy Advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for six years. In this role, Lynch directed inter-agency teams, working towards the implementation of economic development policies, projects and initiatives. Later in her career, Lynch served as Director of Development at The Georgetown Company, LLC. A member of Villanova University’s Board of Trustees since 2015, Lynch is currently the Founder and CEO of Xylem Projects, a real estate invest-
ment and development firm committed to preserving housing and creating mixed-use projects. Today, the AARS has a membership of more than 2,300 Rhodes Scholars elected from or currently living in the USA. The AARS serves to bring Rhodes Scholars in America together in support of the Rhodes Scholarships and Oxford University. The qualities of scholarship, leadership and service serve as the foundation of the awards. “The American Oxonian,” published by the AARS, promotes reunions, events and administers charitable trusts supporting Oxford, as well as the distinguished Eastman Professorship at Oxford.
Black at Villanova: Reflections in Forty Years Claire Stalder Staff Writer On Thursday Oct. 15, the University’s Africana Studies Program held a virtual conversation with professors’ reflections on being Black at Villanova over the past 40 years. Professor Danielle Gadson moderated the discussion between Professor Terry Nance and Professor Maghan Keita, two professors who knew each other as children in Cleveland and found themselves working together at the University over the past 40 years.
The conversation began with both faculty speaking to their own experiences with racism on and around campus. Nance recalled when she first began working at the University, people assumed she was traveling from the city to clean houses on the Main Line. Keita told a story of a faculty member telling him that his discussion on activism in South Africa would have prevented his hiring at the University had it been a professional talk rather than a casual one. As they moved into conversations on the social climate of the school when
they first started, both saw their students having similar experiences. Nance explained that students of color lived in isolation, specifically due to socioeconomic status, and Keita discussed the gap between the majority Irish Catholic students and those who weren’t “Catholic enough.” Seeing these challenges made them more dedicated to changing the social climate. Among their work with the school, Nance worked with the Center for Intercultural Affairs and helped head the development of creating a study space for all of the
students. Keita explained the development of Global Interdisciplinary Studies that recognized those students’ work at levels equal and above honors students. Within the program, students’ achievements were awarded with everything from Rhodes to Fulbright Scholarships. Despite the challenges they have seen over time, Keita and Nance have remained dedicated to their students over the years. In short, Keita and Nance saw themselves as two professors “trying to set the world right, one step at a time.”