3.18.19

THE ORACLE

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BOT will finalize a decision for the next USF president this week

U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA

A profile: Britney Deas’ road to student body president

By Alyssa Stewart N E W S

President Judy Genshaft will be stepping down after her 19-year tenure at USF, effective July 1, 2019. ORACLE FILE PHOTO

By Alyssa Stewart N E W S

E D I T O R

The search for USF’s seventh president is speeding toward its conclusion.

After President Judy Genshaft announced her retirement in September, the past six months have been focused on finding her replacement. The Board of Trustees (BOT) will finalize a decision on her successor over a span of interviews this week.

The 15-member Presidential Search Committee will select a minimum of three candidates out of the final list of 32 applicants to advance onto a series of interviews that will be open to the public March 20-22.

The meeting announcing the final candidates will be

held Monday in the Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center Traditions Hall from 8 a.m to 1:30 p.m.

The applicants listed on the Presidential Search Committee website submitted their resumes and credentials by the March 15 deadline.

Some of the qualifications listed were as follows: “Has experience in seniorlevel leadership, academic credentials such as a Ph.D., able to work in a multicampus environment and a commitment to university health science centers and athletics.”

The applicants range from provosts, vice presidents, deans, chancellors and directors. There are 26 men and six women listed.

T h re e a p p l i c a nt s —

NEWS 3

Kenneth Goodman, Stephen Lanier and Charalabos Doumanidis — h ave experience in research.

Most candidates have worked at universities and specialized in their fields of study nationally, however, some have worked in Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, The Bahamas and Kazakhstan.

The search committee will proceed by having interviews with the candidates on March 20 in the Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center Traditions Hall from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The designated viewing locations will be located in Patel Center for Global Solutions (CGS) auditorium

n See SEARCH on PAGE 3

OPINION 6

E D I T O R

As a junior majoring in political science and minoring in mass communications, Britney Deas is not experiencing the typical college experience as she will be the first black female student body president.

However, she will use her passion for advocacy and diversity throughout her presidency.

The Miami native grew up in a Haitian family and lives with her mother and grandmother.

Deas said she has her mother to thank for instilling the value of education and hard work into her. She considers her mother as not only an inspiration

“

every day to get to school. She said her mother wanted to make sure she attended the best school possible, which meant distance would be a factor.

According to the website Niche, Deas’ high school — Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School — is rated number two for the best Catholic school in Broward County.

Her sophomore year of high school, Deas moved to Lakeland for two years, and Tampa shortly after she got accepted into USF. As a freshman, Deas was initially drawn toward the Black Student Union and Club Creole to be surrounded by her Haitian culture.

Nobody can say anything negative about her work ethic.

”

Judelande Jeune

but also as a best friend.

“My mom always says I’m her little purse because she takes me everywhere,” Deas said.

Deas’ extroverted personality derives from her mother putting her in modeling agencies, ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop classes at the age of three, as well as piano lessons.

“I took them all at the same time — I was that kid,” Deas joked.

In high school, Deas still made sure extracurriculars were apart of her life by joining cheerleading.

However, it was difficult for Deas to be more involved since she was commuting 40 minutes

“When I transferred to Lakeland, there was no one else that looked like me,” Deas said. “I was one of the only black girls in my high school so it was nice to be with people who I shared similarities with.”

With the help of her soonto-be mentor, Judelande Jeune, Deas was introduced to Student Government (SG) and made the switch from pre-med to political science.

The two bonded over a common culture and were able to speak Creole together which

n See DEAS on PAGE 3

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Deas

Continued from PAGE 1

made their friendship grow.

“From the first couple times we spoke with each other, I knew that [Deas] had a good head on her shoulders,” Jeune said. “She definitely had the passion and the work ethic that carried her throughout.

“Nobody can say anything negative about her work ethic.”

Jeune was never formally asked to be Deas’ mentor, but the nature of their relationship progressed that way because she is a few years older. “[Deas] has a way of forcing you into her life and making you love her,” Jeune said.

Jeune introduced Deas to SG initially for minority representation. Now as the first black female student body president, she said she “couldn’t be more proud.”

“She’s getting more young black women to believe in themselves,” Jeune said.

Jeune was worried at first about Deas running for student body president because she didn’t

want her “bubble of good spirit and energy” to be tarnished.

However, she now admires how much Deas cares about other people and how outgoing she is.

Deas’ main goals for the next year are carrying out her term as student body president, passing her LSAT and getting accepted into law school.

“I don’t want to disappoint anyone or students,” Deas said. “As long as I know I tried my best to make something happen, that’s enough for me.”

It’s a lifetime goal for Deas to advocate for access to education and end world hunger. Her passion for these issues inspired her to create an initiative on her platform for students to donate leftover meal swipes at the end of the semester.

This issue also speaks loudly to Deas because of an experience she had when she was visiting Haiti.

“This boy couldn’t finish high school because he didn’t have enough money (equivalent to 25 American dollars), so I took out my wallet and gave him the money and his face lit up,” Deas said. “He said to me ‘I don’t care if I don’t eat,

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Deas will be the first female student body president at USF in 21 years. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE I don’t want to miss school’ and that made me realize how much people take education for granted.”

Deas said she always had an interest in politics but she was inspired to pursue it further after Barack Obama was elected into

office. She also looked up to Michelle Obama as a role model during her time as First Lady.

Although she is not sure which law school or specialty she wants to practice, Deas said she knows she wants to be an

advocate for her community.

“One of my biggest fears is not being successful but I know I will make it somewhere because I have that drive in me,” Deas said.

SEARCH

USF News Channel will also be live streaming most of the events.

According to an email sent from BOT Chair Brian Lamb and Les Muma, a “co nve rs at i o n s with candidates” will be conducted on March 21. This structure will give committee members from each campus an opportunity to participate in the question and answer period to learn more about the prospective president.

The interviews will be at 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and located in Tampa’s Sam and

Martha Gibbons Alumni Center Traditions Hall, St. Petersburg’s Ballroom and Sarasota-Manatee’s Room A320A. The BOT will interview each candidate March 22 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center Traditions Hall. The designated viewing locations for each campus remain the same as previously listed.

After the conclusion of the interviews Friday, the BOT will send their finalist to the Board of Governors to confirm a decision.

Continued from PAGE 1

On Monday, the 32 applicants hoping to replace Genshaft will be narrowed down to three. ORACLE FILE PHOTO

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at the Tampa campus, The Reef (dining area) at St. Pete and The Café at SarasotaManatee.

These locations may be changed throughout the week, according to the Presidential Search Committee website.

Un ive rs i ty s p o ke s m a n Adam Freeman said a detailed schedule for the week’s activities will be available a f te r Mo n d ay ’s s e a rc h committee meeting.

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OPINION

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U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA

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You can’t bribe your way into a career

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Democrats can win back middle America

By Jared Sellick C O L U M N I S T

Wake Forest University was one of the schools involved in the college-bribery scandal involving dozens of people including celebrities Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Aida Vazquez-Soto O P I N I O N

E D I T O R

Last week, news broke of a multimillion dollar racketeering ring used to bribe and cheat children into the nation’s top schools. The parents included famous celebrities like Full House star Lori Loughlin and the schools ranged from Yale and Stanford to Wake Forest and the University of Texas Austin.

While the scandal has angered some and saddened others, the reality is that for all the bribing and cheating that occurred, these parents cannot buy their children careers.

In a survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education, employers listed internships and employment during college as the most important attributes in evaluating recent college graduates for hire. College reputation was

ranked last.

It points to a system that rewards people who work hard throughout college, not just in high school. It also means that if you are only attending college for “the experience,” finding a job afterward will almost certainly be a headache, regardless of whether you went to Yale or USF. Furthermore, even when controlling for industry, internships and college employment still ranked at the top of those most important attributes. That includes industries from media, communications and business to non-profits, science and technology.

When employers ranked the importance of reputation and compared regionally known colleges and universities to nationally known ones, the difference was insignificant.

College is an investment in one’s

future.

It is an opportunity to learn but also to get involved in your career early and quickly. Attending a more well-known or nationally ranked university is great, but only if you take advantage of the opportunities afforded to you at that school.

The best medicine for apathy is a dose of reality.

The academic apathy of these children drove their star parents to desperate lengths to guarantee a desirable college placement. Now, with many of these same parents facing jail time, it will fall to the children to support themselves.

Time will tell if they take advantage of those undeserved opportunities or not.

Aida Vazquez-Soto is a senior majoring in political science and economics

The Democratic National Committee announced Monday the location of its 2020 convention.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This news was disappointing to democrats in Miami and Houston who were vying to host the new Democratic nominee in their home cities. It is traditional for a political party to host its convention in what are deemed “swing states.”

The last three Republican conventions were Ohio, Florida and Minnesota and the last three Democratic conventions were in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Colorado.

The reason these cities were chosen was because of their electoral significance, which makes the choice of Milwaukee, Wisconsin notable. This choice makes clear that Democrats are determined to win back the middle of the country and with the right policies that benefit midwestern workers, they can do it.

However, the gesture toward the Midwest has to be more than symbolic and the Democratic party must implement new policies that will benefit the workers.

It is no surprise that 2016 Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton lost the presidency due to her inability to win in places like Wisconsin, despite the fact that former President Barack Obama won this state in his two elections.

Her loss was, in part, due to the lack of hope she gave to the industries that are prevalent in midwestern states. President

Donald Trump, on the other hand, was not shy about making big promises of prosperity on the campaign trail.

Democrats can send a similar message of hope that will be radically different from what they heard in 2016.

If the Democrats choose to focus on issues that are relevant to blue-collar workers like wage increases, unionization and common-sense trade, Republican support will shake.

Trump’s trade policy has been sporadic and inconsistent and has often scared the markets, if Democrats offer a level-headed approach, it could very well convince those that rely on trade to vote for them.

Rather than bragging on the stock market and other economic indicators that do little to increase wages for everyday Americans, Democrats should be advocating for policies like a minimum wage increase and Medicare for all, which lessens the economic burden on the country as a whole.

Thirdly, if the Democrats go back to their roots and support unions whole-heartedly and stand with workers in order to increase their benefits, it will be difficult for Republicans to rally the same kind of support they saw in 2016.

If these policies are successfully implemented in the 2020 agenda, it will put the Democrats on a road to success — and potentially the White House.

Jared Sellick is a senior majoring in political science

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Baseball

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Seventh-inning rally propels Bulls to victory against Dartmouth

By Josée Woble C O R R E S P O N D E N T

USF recorded its second sweep of the season against Dartmouth after defeating the Big Green 4-1 on Sunday at the USF Baseball Stadium.

A seventh-inning rally helped lead the Bulls to their Sunday sweep.

With the bases loaded and one out, Jordan Santos stepped up to the plate.

On the first pitch he saw, Santos singled to right field, sending Alex Bello and Tyler Dietrich home for a two-run RBI. “We just kept battling back,” coach Billy Mohl said. “Santos with the big hit kind of blew it up out there.”

The Bulls had to battle back because they gave up an early

Basketball

By Brian Hattab A S S I S T A N T

S P O R T S

run in the first inning, and then also failed to tally their first hit of the game until the sixth inning.

“It’s kind of been the story of the year so far,” Mohl said. “Late in the game, our guys find a spark.”

In addition to the late offensive performance, USF’s bullpen combined for eight strikeouts, giving the Bulls a chance to secure the series win.

Ben Koff made his first start of the season. He pitched four innings, giving up five hits while striking out two.

“He knocked some rust off early,” Mohl said. “He kind of struggled with some feel of the strike zone.

He didn’t walk anybody but he’s working his way back right now.”

After throwing 57 pitches through four innings, Noah Yager headed to the mound in the fifth inning. Yager missed the first few weeks of the season due to an arm injury, but that didn’t stop him from performing well enough to close out the game for the Bulls.

“I’m glad we have him back,” Mohl said. “He’s a guy that has plus command of all three pitches. You saw that today - not a single walk.

He was really good for us today.”

The Bulls never allowed a walk Sunday and held Dartmouth to five runs in 27 innings this series.

With no mid-week game scheduled, USF returns home Friday to face Cincinnati at 7 p.m.

Noah Yager threw six strikeouts in five innings to hold off Dartmouth’s offense Sunday. ORACLE PHOTO/JOSÉE WOBLE

USF Basketball: What you missed over spring break E D I T O R

Men fall to UConn in AAC Tournament As quickly as No.8-seed USF men’s basketball started the AAC Tournament, it was on its way home, losing to No. 9-seed UConn 80-73 in the first game of the tournament Thursday at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

The Huskies shot 13-of-24 from 3-point range, including an AAC Tournament record nine in the first half.Inthepreviousmatchupbetween the two teams on March 3, UConn went 0-of-15 from 3-point range.

Trailing by 15 points with under five minutes to go, USF went on a 10-1 run, eventually cutting the deficit to five with 34 seconds left in the game. UConn went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the late stages of the game to keep the Bulls away.

Laquincy Rideau led all USF scorers with 19 points. Rideau also recorded seven assists, moving him into ninth place on the USF single-season assist list with 162. It was the eighth time this season that Rideau recorded at least seven assists.

Several Bulls earn AAC postseason honors Several USF basketball players earned AAC postseason honors, including a first for USF men’s basketball.

Rideau took home the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award, the conference announced last week. Rideau is the first player in program history (48 seasons) to take home a conference defensive player of the year award.

Rideau’s season included setting the program record for steals in

a season on Feb. 7 and the AAC’s record on Feb. 13. His award was the first time since 2001 a USF player took home an individual postseason conference award.

Rideau may have been the first Bull in almost 20 years to earn an individual postseason award, but he wasn’t the only player to earn one this year.

Alexis Yetna was named the AAC Freshman of the Year by the conference last week. Yetna is the second player in program history to take home a conference freshman of the year award and the first in 40 years. Yetna finished the regular season with more individual doubledoubles than six teams in the AAC. Additionally, Rideau and David Collins earned spots on the AAC All-Conference third team, USF’s first representation on an AAC All-Conference team since the

conference’s inception. Yetna earned a spot on the all-freshman team.

For USF women’s basketball, Enna Pehadzic earned a spot on the AAC All-Conference second team while Sydni Harvey was named to the all-freshman team.

Women win two games in AAC Tournament No. 5-seed USF women’s basketball won two games in its AAC Tournament appearance last weekend in Uncasville, Connecticut.

After defeating No. 12-seed Tulane 61-52 in the tournament opener, a second-half surge helped the Bulls upset No. 4-seed Houston 72-55 in the tournament quarterfinals.

In the game against Houston, USF trailed by one point at the half before exploding for a 21-point third quarter, outscoring the

Cougars by 15. The big blow was a 13-2 run, led by 3-pointers from Enna Pehadzic and Sydni Harvey.

USF eventually fell to No. 1-seed UConn 81-45 in the tournament semifinals.

Despite an injury-plagued season, the Bulls advanced to the AAC Tournament semifinals for the sixth straight season.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of this team. We just kept on fighting and just through all that adversity; we just kept fighting for one another,” Harvey said in a statement.

Over the course of USF’s appearance in the tournament, Pehadzic led the way in scoring with 45 points, earning her a spot on the AAC All-Tournament Team.

Other than one representative from UCF, Pehadzic was the only non-UConn player to be selected to the six-player team.