10/01/2018

The Oracle

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

Florida schools flunk in diversity report USF received an ‘F’ in representation equity for black students. Those same students are shocked.

According to Paul Dosal, vice president of Student Affairs and Student Student Success, the failing grade could be due to the study not including transfer students. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Matthew Cutillo S T A F F

W R I T E R

USF Tampa joined eight other Florida universities in receiving an “F” grade in representation equity — black students’ share of enrollment in undergraduate population compared to Florida’s general population of 18 to 24 year

olds — in a study conducted by The University of Southern California’s (USC) Race and Equity Center.

The study included the ranking of 13 Florida schools in terms of representation, gender and completion equity — the extent to which black students’ graduation rates match overall six year

graduation rates — as well as blackstudent to black-faculty ratio.

Although USF scored an “A” and “B” in gender and completion equity, the failing grade stands out to students for its inconsistency compared to grades of other categories.

Eight other state universities

in Florida received an “F” grade, including UCF, Florida and USF’s St. Petersburg and SarasotaManatee campuses.

Often touting itself as one of the most diverse schools in the state, the negative ranking came as a surprise to USF students and faculty alike.

“We remain committed to building and supporting a diverse student body,” Genshaft said in Sept. 5 at her Fall Address. “This is our responsibility as a metropolitan public university — to provide not only access to higher education, but

n See EQUITY on PAGE 3

USF staff members ordered to complete sexual assault training

By Leda Alvim

C O R R E S P O N D E N T

The Division of Human Resources is taking steps toward the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace by providing a mandatory sexual harassment training for all USF employees.

A letter from Human

Resources was sent out on Sept.

18 requiring that all employees complete the Sexual Harassment Prevention Training by Oct. 31.

According to Donna Keener, assistant vice president of Human Resources, the training will help increase the level of awareness of sexual harassment in the USF community and make

sure that the university is being proactive regarding the topic.

“With this training, we want to increase the level of awareness, be proactive and educate our community on awareness and prevention methods,” Keener said. “It’s always beneficial for an organization to educate their community on this topic.”

The training covers the definition of sexual harassment, identifies potentially harassing behaviors and explains USF policies and how to report such behaviors. According to the letter, it will serve as a helpful tool for all staff and faculty to understand their roles and responsibilities in the prevention

of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

The sexual harassment prevention training is being offered for the first time as an online course for all staff and faculty. In years past, Human Resources offered a typical

n See TRAINING on PAGE 3

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NEWS

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TRAINING

Continued from PAGE 1

classroom training in which, depending on the type of position that each employee held, was not always mandatory.

According to Keener, the online course creates an ease for employers to go through the training and complete the mandatory 10-question quiz, which can be taken as many times as they want in order to pass with a 70 percent.

Human Resources worked with individuals internally to make sure that the training conveys the USF brand. Together with IT, both departments worked to put together the program so it could be delivered online and to make sure that the training would reach all the 15,000 employees currently working at USF. The training will be available

online and it will take up to 45 minutes to complete. Once an employee completes the training and the mandatory quiz, the completion will be recorded on their GEMS Training Summary.

In the event that an employee does not complete the training after the deadline has passed, Human Resources will run a report to verify who still needs to complete the training and then reach out to those employees.

According to Keener, they would would follow up with those employees to make sure they complete as soon as possible.

“Overall, the feedback has been very positive,” Keener said. “Multiple people reached out to the Division of Human Resources saying that they are very appreciative for USF taking these measures to guarantee a safe workplace for all faculty and staff.”

All three USF campuses received a failing grade in representation equality for black students. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN

EQUITY

Continued from PAGE 1

to ensure students have the tools, all the resources, and all the support services to succeed.”

Students questioned why the image of the university does not match up with the supposed facts and statistics of the report.

Ada Williams, an AfricanAmerican sophomore majoring in psychology, said she doesn’t feel singled out at USF. “I can’t speak for other people, but I’ve had no issue being black at USF,” Williams said. “The data from that report might say we’re on the books a certain way, but even if African-American students are low in numbers, I’ve never once felt the

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All USF faculty and staff must score at least a 70 percent on a ten-question quiz about sexual assault.

ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN

effect of that.”

According to Paul Dosal, vice president of Student Affairs and Student Student Success, a possible explanation for the disconnect was that the survey conducted by USC did not include transfer students.

According to the USC study, “Federal graduation rates do not account for undergraduates who transferred from one institution to another, which is a limitation of our Completion Equity measure.”

Dosal says that transfer students make up a large part of the undergraduate student population.

“I think we do have a challenge in bringing in more AfricanAmerican freshmen to get closer to the overall representation of college age African-Americans in the state,” Dosal said. “At the same time, that metric does not include transfer students and I’ll just point out that transfer students make up more than half of our undergraduate student population.”

According to the 2018-19 USF

System Facts report, the total population of current AfricanAmerican students at USF Tampa is 4,184, which is 10.7 percent of USF Tampa’s student body of 37,333.

Foday Jaward, president of The African Student Students Association, said she would’ve never expected USF to be graded so low, but the numbers speak for themself.

“The survey does come as a surprise because usually perception is reality and fortunately USF has been really good at projecting itself to be multicultural and diverse,” Jaward said. “It’s funny how accurate this statistic is, because if you wash the makeup off of USF’s face then you would see that we do have an F.” Students regularly emphasized that they tend to view USF as a diverse campus.

Trevon Carter, an AfricanAmerican student, agrees that the report contradicts his personal experience at USF. “One of the reasons I wanted to

come to USF was because of the diversity,” Carter said. “I wasn’t told it was diverse, I witnessed it myself.

Hearing that USF was ranked an ‘F’ is pretty confusing to me.”

Marcel Thomas, another African-American student, says he feels bits of discrimination everywhere, but less when he’s at USF Tampa.

“It doesn’t really matter where you go, as a black man you’re going to feel different,” Thomas says.

“To its credit, USF is definitely a better place to be than some other schools.”

Dosal says these are all steps in the right direction for raising USF’s ranking among other universities.

“We’ll continue to do what we do every year — recruit aggressively,” Dosal says. “We’ll try to bring in a talented and diverse freshman class.

We’re working with communities around the state to build up access and readiness of high school graduates in the state of Florida.”

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OPINION

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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Delaying the vote was the right choice ●

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T H E O R AC L E

What you said Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman asked students if they think USF has a diversity issue.

By Samantha Moffett A S S O C I A T E

“I think USF is already diverse.”

E D I T O R

When the Senate Judiciary Committee delayed Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court Friday, it was met with mixed emotions. Many people are using the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh as an example of how the #MeToo movement is supposedly dividing America, while others are praising Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as a hero and an inspiration for women around the world.

Despite these mixed reactions, Senate made the right choice to delay the vote.

Ultimately, Kavanaugh is not on trial. This is a job interview of sorts, and any potential Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court should be thoroughly researched before being voted in.

Dr. Blasey Ford reported the alleged sexual misconduct before Kavanaugh was picked, in hopes that the White House would take this into consideration and investigate him.

However, Kavanaugh’s defense blocked the opportunity of an investigation. Shouldn’t someone who is up for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court encourage a thorough investigation of all parties involved if he has nothing to hide?

It is true that nobody can be certain of what is the truth as of right now.

Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony was powerful and backed by multiple reports of this previous alleged assault.

Kavanaugh came off aggressive as he claimed his innocence, and the

— Phinita Purohit, a senior majoring in psychology.

“I think it’s pretty diverse already.” ­ Natalie Lamson, a fresh— man majoring in biomedical sciences.

The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed the vote for Brett Kavanaugh for an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against him. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE behavior seemed inappropriate for a potential Supreme Court Justice.

Ultimately, Kavanaugh is not up for trial. He is looking to prove himself fit for a position. The U.S. needs the truth, and the debate of “he said, she said” can be finally put to rest with this investigation. Again, if Kavanaugh is truly innocent, he should welcome an investigation to prove that when such serious allegations are against him.

People are claiming that Dr. Blasey Ford just did this for personal gain and attention, but since her allegations were made public, she has been harassed, stalked and has even received multiple death threats

to her and her family causing them to relocate out of their home, according to a statement she released in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Why would Blasey Ford make such allegations and subject herself to such scrutiny if they held no merit?

This is a question I struggle to find an answer to.

I believe Dr. Blasey Ford. Many others believe Kavanaugh. The debate needs to be settled, and this investigation is the way to do it. If Kavanaugh was nominated without investigation, and was later found to be guilty, what would that do to the legitimacy and credibility of the Supreme Court?

“I see a lot of culturallydiverse people here, so I think it’s already diverse.”

— Likhidha Dhoolibalna, a masters student studying sustainabilty.

“I feel like if there was one organization that brought all those cultures together, that would be really cool.”

— Alexa Laux, a freshman studying pre-social work. civil engineering.

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PREVIEW

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rebounds per game in 29 starts last season.

Yetna, (6-foot-8 sophomore forward), won a bronze medal for France at the U20 FIBA European Championship in 2017.

Last season at Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Florida, Akec averaged 19.3 points and 10 rebounds as a senior.

Junior forward Maricevic transferred to USF from Casper College in Wyoming. The 6-foot10 forward scored 15.5 points and grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game as sophomore while shooting 67 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line.

“Everybody in our program we brought in,” Gregory said.

“Which is hard to do in year number two. At the same time, no one in our program has been here more than fifteen months.”

Collins looks to build on his freshman campaign and the depth of the team is a strength he considers an important factor this season. Though he’s just a sophomore, he is tasked with leading the Bulls.

“As a program we have made a big culture shift,” Collins said.

“We have 13 players going at it in practice. Iron sharpens iron.”

The Bulls open the season at home November 6th at the Yuengling Center against Alabama A&M. Coach Brian Gregory and the Bulls will rely on a young team with an international flavor in 2018-19.

With their top two scorers graduated from last year season — Stephan Jiggetts and Payton Banks — sophomore guard David Collins will have an opportunity to step up in his second year.

Collins averaged 10 points and two and a half assist per game last season and expand his leadership role for the Bulls, which has a roster of five freshmen and three sophomores.

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T H E O R AC L E

He shot 50 percent from the field last season and was named to the AAC All-Rookie team.

Gregory said he wants Collins to be more assertive, make more plays and take more shots this season.

“David [Collins] had a tremendous freshman year,” Gregory said. “We need him to take it another level as a sophomore. He is not allowed to pass up an open shot.”

Gregory is also looking forward to the process and challenge of molding a young team into a winning program.

“I like where we are at in the building process heading into this year,” Gregory said. “A lot of good things are happening with this program. As a program we look at a lot of different things off the court and on the court to make sure we are making the progress we want to make.”

The Bulls went 10-22 (3-15 in the AAC) last season in Gregory’s first year as head coach.

“I do like the effort our guys play with,” Gregory said. “I think it one of our greatest strengths.

We have a hard working group.”

In the offseason, the Bulls have focused on limiting mental mistakes.

“We needed to become mentally tougher to be able to bounce back and continue the process we are on,” Gregory said.

“I thought our guys have really embraced and done a good job in that.”

Redshirt senior T.J Lang will suit up for the Bulls after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Lang played three seasons at Auburn, starting 44 games in his three seasons in the SEC. The senior guard was relegated to practice participation last year.

“Last year I used to go to sleep praying and dreaming, wishing I could just play now,” Lang said.

“This year is a dream come true.”

The Bulls have five

international players on their roster. Madut Akec and Mayan Kiir (Sudan), Nikola Scekic (Serbia), Antun Maricevic (Croatia) and Alexis Yetna (France).

“All of our international players came to the States and went either to high school or junior college,” Gregory said. “We are an international university with great diversity on campus and we sell that.”

Only 7-foot-2 senior center Scekic has played for the Bulls.

He averaged 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 29 starts last season.

Yetna, (6-foot-8 sophomore forward), won a bronze medal for France at the U20 FIBA European Championship in 2017.

Last season at Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Florida, Akec averaged 19.3 points and 10 rebounds as a senior.

Junior forward Maricevic transferred to USF from Casper College in Wyoming. The 6-foot10 forward scored 15.5 points and grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game as sophomore while shooting 67 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line.

“Everybody in our program we brought in,” Gregory said.

“Which is hard to do in year number two. At the same time, no one in our program has been here more than fifteen months.”

Collins looks to build on his freshman campaign and the depth of the team is a strength he considers an important factor this season. Though he’s just a sophomore, he is tasked with leading the Bulls.

“As a program we have made a big culture shift,” Collins said.

“We have 13 players going at it in practice. Iron sharpens iron.”

The Bulls open the season at home November 6th at the Yuengling Center against Alabama A&M.

PUNTER

Continued from PAGE 8

to fit in,” Schneider said. “I try to make my age not a factor if that makes sense. I do get called ‘grandpa.’”

Despite the difference, Schneider said his age doesn’t affect the way coaches treat him.

“Coaches are coaches,” he said. “I’m probably older than half the GAs here, but that doesn’t seem to affect the way they talk to me.”

Schneider isn’t the only Australian at USF. He actually grew up twenty minutes away from USF men’s soccer goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares. The two went to rival high schools where their soccer teams would play against each other.

Because of their age difference, however, Schneider and Devenish-Meares never faced one another.

One construction company and two schools later, Schneider is a successful college punter — in USF’s most recent game against ECU, Schneider tied a school record with a 72-yard punt. But even chasing his dream isn’t the most important thing for him.

“You learn a lot about yourself doing this, that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

“Anything’s possible. Going back to school was a big deal to me because I hadn’t done it for so long…You can do anything basically.”

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Sports

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

An early look at USF men’s basketball

By Steven Gerardy

C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Coach Brian Gregory and the Bulls will rely on a young team with an international flavor in 2018-19.

With their top two scorers graduated from last year season — Stephan Jiggetts and Payton Banks — sophomore guard David Collins will have an opportunity to step up in his second year.

Collins averaged 10 points and two and a half assist per game last season and expand his leadership role for the Bulls, which has a roster of five freshmen and three sophomores.

He shot 50 percent from the field last season and was named to the AAC All-Rookie team.

Gregory said he wants Collins to be more assertive, make more plays and take more shots this season.

“David [Collins] had a tremendous freshman year,” Gregory said. “We need him to take it another level as a sophomore. He is not allowed to pass up an open shot.”

Gregory is also looking forward to the process and challenge of molding a young team into a winning program.

“I like where we are at in the building process heading into this year,” Gregory said. “A lot of good things are happening with this program. As a program we look at a lot of different things off the court and on the court to make sure we are making the progress we want to make.”

The Bulls went 10-22 (3-15 in the AAC) last season in Gregory’s

first year as head coach.

“I do like the effort our guys play with,” Gregory said. “I think it one of our greatest strengths.

We have a hard working group.”

In the offseason, the Bulls have focused on limiting mental mistakes.

“We needed to become mentally tougher to be able to bounce back and continue the process we are on,” Gregory said.

“I thought our guys have really embraced and done a good job in that.”

Redshirt senior T.J Lang will suit up for the Bulls after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Lang played three seasons at Auburn, starting 44 games in his three seasons in the SEC. The senior guard was relegated to practice participation last year.

“Last year I used to go to sleep praying and dreaming, wishing I could just play now,” Lang said.

“This year is a dream come true.”

The Bulls have five international players on their roster. Madut Akec and Mayan Kiir (Sudan), Nikola Scekic (Serbia), Antun Maricevic (Croatia) and Alexis Yetna (France).

“All of our international players came to the States and went either to high school or junior college,” Gregory said. “We are an international university with great diversity on campus and we sell that.”

Only 7-foot-2 senior center Scekic has played for the Bulls.

He averaged 2.3 points and 2.6

n See PREVIEW on PAGE 7

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From Australian heat to punting for USF, Schneider embraces his opportunity

By Sam Newlon S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Before he was a punter for USF football and even before he was one at Santa Barbara City College in California, Trent Schneider remembers a five-day construction job in the Australian heat.

“We were pulling the roof off a house and it was 105-degree heat for five days straight,” Schneider said. “There was a big storm coming, so every day we would be out there in the heat for eight hours straight trying to get this roof completed because we knew they needed to have the roof on.”

For the Australian native, that mentality to persevere through tough times has helped him develop a work ethic to chase his dream.

“If you can do that, a couple hours out on the field isn’t a big deal,” he said. “When it gets hard, that’s what I think of.”

Schneider’s journey to USF has spanned roughly more than 9,000 miles. He left his own construction company behind when he came to the U.S. He was part of Prokick Australia, an organization dedicated to helping Australian student-athletes find their way to college and professional football by kicking.

The program has produced several professional and college punters including

Trent Schneider is native to Australia, but came to the U.S. chasing his dream of playing sports at a high level. SPECIAL TO THEORACLE/GOUSFBULLS

Jordan Berry, who punts for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was the 2017 Ray Guy award winner — which is presented annually to college football’s most outstanding punter — and Michael Dickson, who now punts for the Seattle Seahawks.

“As a kid, I always wanted to do sports at a high level,” Schneider said. “In Australia we don’t have college sports. So once you hit 16 and you haven’t done anything at the state or international level you kind of have to give up on your dream, face reality and get a job.”

For Schneider, finding a spot as a college punter was his way to live out his childhood dream, but it didn’t come without a cost.

He went from working for his own construction company to a normal college student quickly.

“It seems like a huge risk,”

Schneider said. “Not making the money each week is different. You can’t go out to fancy restaurants or things like that. Or treat yourself to whatever you want, but the risk wasn’t actually as big as someone might think.”

According to Schneider, if his career as a college punter didn’t work out, he’d be able to pick up a job the day he landed back in Australia.

“This has put my life on pause for a few years,” he said.

“I’ve got enough people I can work for, that the day I land, I’d have a job.”

If Schneider wasn’t already unique enough, he’s the oldest player on the team. At 28 years old, Schneider is almost a decade older than some of his teammates at USF. “I try to not act my age. I try

n See Punter on PAGE 7