09-8-15

Page 1

The Oracle TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 I VOL. 54 NO. 9

Inside this Issue

www.usforacle.com

The Index

News.................................................................1 Lifestyle......................................................4 Opinion.......................................................6

classifieds..............................................7 Crossword.........................................7 sports............................................................8

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

USF holds first-ever Title IX rally

Former USF standout Watson dies in stabbing

LI F E STYLE

There are plenty of concert options for students this fall. Page 4

Montage

S PORTS Football earns feel-good victory. BACK

The 2015 Title IX Campus Kick-Off starts the second day of the rally with student activities at Bull Market. ORACLE PHOTO/JASMINE ABNEY By Chase O’Brien C O R R E S P O N D E N T

As sexual assault becomes an ever-growing issue on college campuses, many universities are taking new measures to raise awareness, including seminars during orientation and mandatory courses on the issue. From Sept. 8 to 10, USF’s department of Diversity, Inclusion & Equal Opportunity

(DIEO) is hosting the USF 2015 Title IX Conference, an event consisting of discussion panels, conferences and group activities to raise awareness of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Crystal Coombes, department of DIEO senior deputy Title IX coordinator, said she considers USF very proactive for being one of the first universities in the country to hold a seminar dedicated to this initiative. This rally is also the

first of its kind at USF. “Title IX is so important on a college campus because it affects every single person,” Coombes said. “It takes everyone to make a change and create a new culture for all Bulls, and USF is on a cutting edge standard for Title IX.” Signed into law in 1972, Title IX is a federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in any federally funded education program, including colleges

A S S T .

N E W S

E D I T O R

While student admission during the fall semester is typically more competitive than other semesters at USF, this year’s fall semester featured some particularly tough competitors. USF’s class of 2019 is the strongest class, academically, in the university’s history, with an average high school GPA of 4.08, up from

last year’s average of 4.00, and an average two-part SAT score of 1223, up from 1197 last year. “While we have adjusted recruiting strategies to bring in a class like this, I think the great lesson here is that high-quality students from around the state and country are now viewing USF as a destination,” said Paul Dosal, USF’s vice provost for student success. Dosal said this year’s class reflects an upward trend in the aca-

Special to the Oracle

By Jeff Odom S P O R T S

E D I T O R

demic strength of students admitted to USF and is largely the result of the university’s efforts to admit continually stronger students. “We’ve been trying to improve the college readiness of all of our entering classes for five to 10 years,” Dosal said. “We have seen these trends, but they’ve accelerated recently, and this year they took a big jump.” In addition to GPAs and SAT

Elkino Watson was known to his USF coaches and teammates for a wide smile and a never-quit attitude on the field. In lighter moments, Watson was “a jokester” in the locker room, as fellow defensive lineman Todd Chandler described Sunday, and someone who really could bust a dance move every now and then, despite being 6-foot-2 and 292 pounds. “(He was) someone who you knew always had your back,” Chandler said in a direct message to The Oracle. “No matter what.” That’s why the events of Sunday morning are as puzzling as they are heartbreaking. Watson was stabbed to death outside The Orpheum nightclub in Ybor City. He was 23. According to police, Watson and Desmond Horne, 22, were both stabbed in a parking lot

n See 2019 on PAGE 2

n See WATSON on PAGE 2

n See TITLE IX on PAGE 2

Class of 2019 strongest in history By Russell Nay

Former USF Defensive lineman Elkino Watson was killed in a stabbing incident in Ybor City Sunday morning.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.