The Commonwealth Times; April 30, 2018

Rams reign Tennis sweeps A-10 tournament

Richmond residents speak on changes in the city

Staff Writer

Walking along the stretch of Broad Street from North Belvidere to 2nd Street, the popular street is includes a myriad of art galleries, cafes, consignment shops and restaurants. These recent developments are part of why Richmond is receiving national attention as an ideal city for millennials to put down roots according to Forbes, Wallethub and Movehub.

There are also signs of urban blight: dilapidated houses, abandoned shops and a lack of access to basic necessities aside from a single Rite Aid and one convenient store, Blue Nine Market on 16 E. Broad St.

The contrast between these two images captures what some developers call “urbanization,” “transformation” or “revitalization,” but is more commonly known as gentrification.

The phrase gentrification was first coined by British-German sociologist Ruth Glass in 1964 after

she observed a new phenomenon of upper-class Londoners moving into and changing the neighborhoods of lower-class London. What was once an unknown strategy is now commonplace in cities throughout the world.

“Once this process of ‘gentrification’ starts in a district, it goes on rapidly until all or most of the original working class occupiers are displaced, and the whole social character of the district is changed,” Glass wrote.

The new attractions throughout Richmond are said to benefit the city and the people in it. However, there have not been signs to show they help the struggling public system or address lack of social services in the city. In fact, according to a report released last year, segregation in Richmond is near the levels they were in the pre-Civil Rights era.

There has been a 2.3 increase of White residents moving back to the city and 1.2 percent decrease in their poverty. Meanwhile, Black resident population has decreased by 2.5 percent , their poverty con-

A new generation takes the forefront in gun control debate

trol. What made the difference?

ALEXANDRA SOSIK

tinues to increase and they account for 43 percent of all new residents in Chesterfield and Henrico counties.

This leaves many of Richmond’s long-time and mostly Black residents questioning who the efforts to rebrand the city are for?

“You have to look at the population, the demographics of long-time residents versus why are we gentrifying, who are we gentrifying for,” said Ron Jones, owner of The HeadHunters Barbershop on 404 W. Broad St. “We’re not gentrifying for long-time residents in the African-American community we are gentrifying for White America, let’s just be plain and simple about that.”

Jones was raised between Richmond and Brooklyn and graduated from Huguenot High School in 1990, he went on to complete his studies at VCU. Gentrification, he said, masks the issues the city continues to have.

“When I was a kid we didn’t have police in schools, we didn’t go through metal detectors, but —continued on page 3

FADEL ALLASSAN Capital News Service

For the second time in as many months, thousands of students throughout the country united in a national school walkout last week, demanding government action on gun control with their piercing cry of “never again.”

The walkout marked 19 years since Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire in Columbine High School in Colorado, murdering 12 fellow students and a teacher. In the aftermath of that bloodbath, President Bill Clinton urged Congress to pass gun control laws. But nothing happened then – or after the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 or Las Vegas last fall. But after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day, the political winds seemed to have shifted in favor of gun con-

Generation Z – roughly defined as those born in the mid-1990s through the early 2000s.

On March 24, 17-year-old Harry Kelso stood atop a van with a megaphone in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. He looked at the crowd of some 5,000 gun control advocates gathered before him at the Richmond March for Our Lives.

“I pray for the school year without the drills and the hide-andlock exercises we’ve experienced since elementary school that remind us of the ever-present danger we face,” Kelso, a senior at Hermitage High School in Henrico, told the crowd. “I pray for the day I don’t have to pray about this anymore.”

Cameron Kasky – the 17-yearold firebrand and Marjory Stoneman Douglas student who made a name challenging Florida Sen. Marco Rubio during a CNN town hall – echoed a similar message at the main rally happening simultaneously in Washington, D.C.

More than 800,000 people attended that demonstration.

“My generation, having spent our entire lives seeing mass shooting after mass shooting, has learned our voices are powerful and our votes matter,” Kasky said.

“We must educate ourselves and start having conversations that keep our country moving forward. And we will. We hereby promise to fix the broken system we’ve been forced into and create a better world for the generations to come.”

Kelso and Kasky, in Richmond and D.C., respectively, were two of the many voices participating in the March for Our Lives – a protest sparked by the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. The protest, like a school walkout staged 10 days earlier, was organized primarily by high schoolage youths.

It all started Feb. 16, two days after the shooting in Parkland, when the hashtag #NeverAgain began trending on Twitter. That —continued on page

SIONA PETEROUS

PHOTO BY MICHEL MAULDING

PHOTO BY SHAYLA BAILEY

are confronting

—continued from page 1 became the impetus for a rally that was originally planned for Washington but then spread to cities and towns across the nation and world.

The movement, inspired by tragedy and fueled by anger, has used social media to galvanize members of Generation Z. Among other tactics, they have confronted businesses and excoriated political leaders who accept financial donations from the National Rifle Association.

The students have had some success. Just weeks after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, Florida enacted a gun-control law that bans rapid-fire “bump stocks” and raises the minimum age for buying a firearm from 18 to 21. Although Virginia did not follow suit, Democratic legislators have formed a committee to consider ways to stop gun violence, and Republican lawmakers appointed a panel to bolster school safety.

It’s not unusual to see Kasky or other survivors of the Parkland shooting such as David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez on cable news promoting their cause nationally. In Richmond, students such as Kelso and Armstrong High School freshman Corey Stuckey lead the charge.

The recent activity among young people surrounding gun control has been a long time coming.

Since 1982, there have been 98 shootings in the U.S. in which three or more people were killed.

Sixteen of those incidents happened at schools. Of all mass shootings, Marjory Stoneman Douglas had the seventh-highest number of fatalities; Sandy Hook ranked fourth; and Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed in 2007, was third.

On Dec. 14, 2012, 20 children and six staff members were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In response, parents created the Sandy Hook Promise to “prevent gun-related deaths due to crime, suicide and accidental discharge so that no other parent experiences the senseless, horrific loss of their child.”

But the Sandy Hook tragedy did not prompt governmental action on gun control. After the Columbine massacre in 1999, Larry Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, explained why such incidents don’t necessarily result in new laws.

“The Columbine shootings have energized the gun-control debate, and moreover, they have given the emotional edge to the gun-control advocates,” Sabato told theDenver Post. “However, an edge in a debate is not an edge in Congress or the state legislatures.”

Today’s generation of students advocating gun control faces a

similar test, and questions remain about whether they can impact the 2018 midterm election.

“One of the most difficult times for a movement is after the initial burst of energy when grinding work needs to be done,” said Derek Sweetman of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. “The movement will not end on Election Day, but I do expect many students in the movement will view the results as a measure of their influence, and therefore will work toward that date.”

The Sandy Hook survivors were too young to understand the magnitude of their tragedy, much less utilize technology to express their emotions. The Columbine survivors lived in a pre-digital age. The students leading the #NeverAgain movement, Sweetman said, are in the right place at the right time.

“Our political environment has destabilized some established political truths, and that has left more room for real action than we saw after Sandy Hook,” Sweetman said. “The students are taking advantage of that.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said the students’ efforts have already been more successful than previous attempts to influence gun policies. For example, Kaine noted, Walmart agreed to stop selling firearms to people under 21; Kroger decided to stop selling

guns altogether in its Fred Meyer stores; and Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would stop selling assault-style rifles.

Kaine, a Democrat, also credited activity in Congress to young activists. A spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in March lifted a decades-long ban that prevented the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research on the causes of gun violence. In addition, the bill prods federal agencies to upload records into the background-check system for gun purchases.

“I had grown somewhat despondent in my efforts with the General Assembly and Congress. But then I saw the students of this country ... standing up and saying to adults, ‘What matters more – our safety or political contributions?’” Kaine told students at the March rally in Richmond. “Now I have more hope because of you.”

Scott Barlow, a member of the Richmond School Board, said he has been inspired by the students’ grassroots activism.

“Students haven’t had the opportunity to lend their voice in this debate. Now they’re bringing the perspective of people who are most impacted by school shootings, and the most impacted by gun violence in our city,” Barlow said about the rally. “It was the first time in a long time I felt optimistic about our

Inclusivity commission holds seminar for VCU women to network

LOGAN REARDON

Contributing Writer

Constance Relihan, a dean and professor at Auburn University, will take over the head position at the University College in July, VCU announced last week. As dean of the University College, her responsibilities will include being the supervisor of the department’s faculty and acting as an advisor for its students. Shelli Fowler is serving at the interim dean.

Relihan studied English as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and continued her academic studies at the University of Minnesota pursuing her Master’s degree. She has worked at Auburn since 1990, where she served as an academic advisor.

“I have worked a lot with improving the quality of academic advising across campus, and I’m very proud of that,” Relihan said.

Not only did Relihan bring Auburn’s advisor to student ratio down below 300 to one, but she was also a key figure in creating the University College at the school, to host the interdisciplinary studies program.

Relihan applied for the position at VCU because it encompasses many of her core passions, including helping students get a solid footing on their degree and working with faculty who are dedicated to the same principles. Relihan also said that she was impressed with the innovation and wide range of options available at VCU.

Relihan said she thinks it’s a little early to plan goals and accomplishments to meet during her tenure. She wants to meet with the University College’s provost and faculty to gauge a clear sense of what they envision for the college. She also said she wants to teach a Focused Inquiry course at VCU to get to know the student experience here.

The College of Humanities and Sciences’ Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity Commission hosted a forum for female journalism students to interview fellow female students, faculty and staff about the experience of being a woman in the professional realm.

Topics of Wednesday’s discussion included the success of the LGBTQ community, sexual violence survivors and women of color.

Ravi Perry, one of the co-chairs of IDEC, said he wanted to end the semester emphasizing female connections, following the Men of Color Symposium held in February.

“We wanted to conclude the year by focusing on women — particularly because we know that’s an under-discussed topic, not only at VCU but everywhere.”

Montserrat Fuentes, dean in the college of Humanities and Sci-

ences, spoke at the event. She said the university needs to offer more encouragement, support, advocacy and mentoring to women.

“It is only when we hear about experiences that we can start working together,” she said. “This is the conversation that we need to be having and I hope this can be the start of an open dialogue.”

According to Fuentes, women were only 44 percent of tenured and tenure eligible faculty at VCU in 2016, up from 42 percent in 2011. However, she said the tenure track female teachers still aren’t representative of the 60 percent female student body.

Gail Hackett, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said she blames the toxic academic environments women are raised in.

“Academia is still quite sexist, there are still elements of racism (and) homophobia,” Hackett said. “Unfortunately, those things are still happening. More

and more people know it’s stupid to say those things so they don’t say them as much, but they’re still thinking them.”

Florence Johnson, programs and events coordinator for the Division for Inclusive Excellence, said in her interview that a possible remedy is for women to let their determination drive them.

“It almost seems like there are parts of society that have taken a step backwards in defining what it means to be a woman,” she said.

“You have to understand the importance of being more than how you appear, that there’s a whole world out there that needs all the help and talent it can get, and just to press forward with your education.”

Joann Richardson, chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health sciences, said women need to make a concerted effort to connect with one another in order to foster success.

“Those who have accomplished

already need to reach back and help those who are trying to reach their goals,” Richardson said. “I think the sisterhood is very important on a college campus. The bond that we’re able to create I think takes (students) a long way.”

Student interviewers Brianna Scott and Hannah Eason said they appreciated the networking and educational aspects of the discussion.

“Doing things to get yourself exposure is really important as a Black woman, especially in spaces that are predominantly male or predominantly White,” Scott said.

Perry said he hopes the inaugural event can happen annually.

“(I) have the responsibility — the awesome responsibility — to insure that everyone in the college is exposed to as many resources about diversity and inclusion as possible,” Perry said. “We must begin by giving voice to those marginalized groups that have not had it before.”

During a panel in early April at Ohio University, Relihan talked about the importance of promoting safe free speech on college campuses. She said these are values she would like to see brought to VCU.

“I think that we need to be sure that people can disagree safely on university campuses,” Relihan said. “We’re about exploring ideas and asking hard questions about ideas and so I would definitely be supportive of efforts to make sure that voices are heard.”

Relihan says she is also impressed with VCU’s commitment to community engagement.

“The city of Richmond seems like a cool place that I might very much like to explore,” Relihan said. “I look forward to getting to know both the campus and the city.”

Relihan said she is ready to move on from Auburn.

“There were a lot of reasons and I was ready for a change. I’ve kind of gone as far as I could go here at Auburn in terms of finding new challenges,” she said.

“Having been in this division for seven years, I was ready for something new.”

Constance Relihan to become new dean of the University College

Young people are leading a movement and they’re demanding gun reform.

Seminar for the female experience in the work place featured discussions on the LBGTQ community and women of color.

Young people

businesses and political leaders who accept donations from the National Rifle Association.

The head University College position begins in July.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH HUMPHREYS

PHOTO COURTESY OF VCU NEWS

PHOTO BY ERIN EDGERTON

VCU promotes summer course registration through advertising campaign

NIA TARIQ

Staff Writer

Plastered across sides of buses, on Twitter and Facebook feeds and featured on the televisions and posters lining the hallways of campus facilities are VCU summer course registration advertisements.

Launched during the 20152016 school year, the marketing campaign is a an effort between the divisions of Strategic Enrollment Management and University Relations. The collaboration’s goal is to encourage students to take part in what is referred to among professionals as the “third semester” of school.

In 2015, the university began summer registration in February, as opposed to late March and early April, when fall registration occurs.

“You’re really using it in a strategic way so that you not only are getting your degree, but you’re also having the opportunity to maybe get a minor or explore a topic that you haven’t looked at in the past because you haven’t had time to in the regular semesters,” said Daphne Rankin, associate vice provost of the division of strategic enrollment management.

The marketing campaign won the 2017 Marketing Award at North American Association of Summer Studies Conference and is a finalist for the Public Relations Society of America EDU Digital

Award for Social Media Content.

In 2017, the university also saw a 2 percent rise in summer course registration.

Joanne Jensen, the director of marketing and communications for the division, said she wants the mindset to change from summer classes being a punishment to them being beneficial for many reasons.

“There is no single reason why students attend summer session,” she said. “The choice could be based on needing certain courses to graduate on time, wanting fewer distractions to be able to focus on one subject, wanting to get ahead, take a class that (the student) might not otherwise be able to take, or just to experience summer in Richmond.”

The ads are featured on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat videos, photos and flyers, The Commonwealth Times quarter-pages and digital content, posters at a bus shelter and on all Ram Ride buses and three informational events on campus, among others. One of the videos, which included features of summer course professors, became a viral hit with nearly 30,000 organic views.

“The messaging behind that is really that our professors are approachable. They are kind of down-to-earth and going to one of their classes could actually be fun,” Jensen said.

Although the campaign for summer session enrollment is not new, the avenues for reaching students have evolved by utilizing local platforms and social media. For example, Robert Reid, media director for university relations, said the campaign’s advertisement potential expanded when platforms like Snapchat began to open up to more businesses.

“Snapchat only allowed their advertising platform to be open to national or regional advertisers who had millions of dollars to spend,” Reid said. “Now, they allow local advertisers who are able to target niche audiences.”

Jensen and Reid also said the target audience is not just limited to current students. Parents, students of other universities and non-degree-seeking students are also encouraged to choose VCU as a summer course destination.

“If you’re in a college campus situation like here at VCU already, you would probably want to stay here,” she said. “But we’re also targeting the larger community — even students further out than Richmond.”

“We’re really targeting students throughout the state who consider Richmond their home base, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t neglect that audience,” Reid said.

Richmond residents ask: “Whose city is it?”

—continued from page 1 now because the media is saying the city is ‘safer’ people are ignoring the fact the city isn’t providing us the means to go on an upwards and onward cycle,” Jones said.

That, according to Glass, is the point of the process. Not only is it upper-income people moving into an area and displacing the lower class from said area, it does not deal with the underlying reasons of why certain demographics are more likely to end up in poverty.

“When I first came onto Broad Street in the 1970s it was vibrant,” said Richard Jr. Waller, 80. “A lot of people came. They had big department stores like Thalhimer, Miller Roads and Woolworths and then gradually, gradually, gradually, they closed up and business somewhat slowed down, but we’ve always been busy.”

Waller is the owner of 118-yearold establishment Waller & Company Jewelers on 19 E. Broad St.

The business was started by his grandfather, Marcellus Carrington Waller, in 1900 and despite several moves in locations, it has maintained generations of a steady following. He runs the store alongside his two sons and several of his five sisters.

Across the street from the jewelry store is Barkys Spiritual Stores

18 E. Broad. Barksdale “Barky” Haggins, 86, opened the store in 1956 immediately after serving in the military.

“When we first went into business we were carrying records period. The records consisted of rhythm and blues and gospel and at that time, James Brown was beginning to get started. The Teenagers were popular and B.B. King had released some new songs,” Haggins said.

Haggins and Waller have seen Richmond, specifically the Jackson Ward district, go through a variety of transformations over the span

of several decades. They remember the district when it was called the “Black Wall Street of the South” and how the creation of I-95 in 1954, as well as integration in the post-Civil Rights era, disrupted the area.

“I remember when we first started the business Richmond was being called a chocolate city, like D.C., because during that era, Richmond had become predominantly Black,” Haggins said. “A lot of the White people had moved out, they were selling their properties in the North side for $12,000 because they didn’t wanna live around us.”

The phenomenon Haggins described is called White flight — a period when many White Americans moved to less ethnically and racially diverse suburbs to avoid integration.

Like many urban centers, Richmond was negatively impacted by the War on Drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. During this period the

city was listed as murder capital of America and reached 147 homicides in 1997. However, though the murder rate has largely plummete Jones said that it does not mean efforts of revitalization, which have been catapulted in large part by VCU, makes the city safer.

“I don’t think there’s been a change in Richmond,” Jones said.

“I can’t think of a time period in certain parts of the city when there wasn’t a beef that has constituted a high concentration of violence, it just gets reported in a roller coaster ride.”

However, the sense of safety for some, no matter how legitimate it may or may not be, is enough to encourage the continued signs of gentrification.

Richmond’s bus system carries around 35,000 people per day and according to the Pew Research Center, residents who are lowerincome, Black or Hispanic, immigrants or under 50 are most likely

to be affected by unreliable transportation.

Though efforts to build the GRTC Pulse: Bus Rapid Transit, it has been advertised as a way to better connect Richmond residents.

But it has faced controversy because it will connect two affluent neighborhoods: Willow Lawn to Rocketts Landing.

“In my opinion, as far as the buses are concerned, they are going the wrong direction,” Waller said. “They should be going towards short pumps, that’s where the jobs are and there is maybe one city bus headed there right now.”

The decision to shut down the existing bus lines on Broad Street has already negatively impacted local shop owners, including Adam Hussein, the owner of Blue Nile Market.

“The city just shut down the buslines and since then business is half at most,” Hussein said. “There aren’t many convenient markets left

on Broad Street and it makes me wonder if the city wants us to stay open. I don’t know.”

Haggins accounted for the change in business flow to the natural progression of time.

“The people who used to come here are teenagers are now in their 50s, 60s and many of them have moved on,” Haggins said. “I bought this building in 1980 and get approached all the time to sell it but I have no plans to do so.”

Waller said that there is not much that could make him want to sell the company.

“I recognize what goes on and I have to work harder. I have to work cheaper to maintain but I’m determined to succeed, I have that in me,” Waller said. “We are not selling unless I’m offered a couple million dollars and an island in the Caribbean, if not we’ll be here.”

Small business owners in Richmond are reflecting on the changes seen in the city in the past 40 years and are voicing concerns on issues of gentrification.

Stat of the Week

Jamal

Band members, administration, community react to “Requiem for The Peppas”

ZACH JOACHIM Executive Editor - Elect

Two weeks ago, the CT published an article headlined “Requiem for The Peppas: how a nationally renowned band lost its spirit.” Since, myriad band members, fans, alumni and members of Athletics administration have weighed in on the controversy surrounding VCU’s famed pep band through emails, interviews and phone conversations. Here’s what the community had to say about alleged disharmony in The Peppas.

Duane Coston, Band Director

It is my privilege to work with a group of musicians as talented as The Peppas. It’s my mission to support our members and continue to elevate the band. While a change in leadership typically requires a transition period, I’m proud of the way our students continue to represent this band with passion and class while providing an unbelievable gameday experience for VCU’s student-athletes. We have made great strides toward improving the experience of our band members each year, including the band’s student advisory board and the huge growth to our members to 150, by far our largest group yet. This student-centric leadership ensures that every Peppa can enjoy a positive, memorable experience while playing for VCU.

Ed McLaughlin, Director of Athletics

I continue to be pleased with Duane Coston’s leadership as Director of the Peppas. The students in the band continue to produce terrific music and an energetic environment. Duane has brought professionalism to the position and continued the tradition of the Peppas being one of the premier pep bands in the country.

Based on overwhelming feedback I continue to receive from our Peppa Student Advisory Board, students in the band, donors and fans, the atmosphere surrounding the Peppas is very positive. We have addressed questions and complaints that we have received. Some of them were misunderstandings, some were helpful in improving the experience of the students in the band and some were complete fabrications and exaggerations. I encourage everyone to support the Peppas in their entirety through next year and years to come.

Susan Joynes, local server and longtime fan

I’ve waited tables for 15 years at a diner located just down the street from the VCU campus. I didn’t attend VCU but consider myself a big fan of the basketball team as well as the Peppas. As a fan I’ve seen a big difference in the band and the atmosphere in the Siegel Center. It just hasn’t been the same. The excitement seems gone. Fans just knew that the band would give the team that extra push to get the job done! No longer is that the case. I see VCU students, faculty, fans, don(o)rs, coaches, and team members every day. And I can safely say that I’m not the only one who is disappointed. Ryan is very much missed by all I talk to. He was more than just the pep band director. He mentored many of those kids. They looked up to him. They could count on him. He DID care. Apparently those days are over. It’s sad to hear that Mr. Coston cares so little and publicly shames the kids he should be supporting.

Summer Griffin, former Advisor for The Rowdy Rams Leadership Board

During the transition from Ryan to Duane, I was the Advisor for the Rowdy Rams Leadership Board which is sponsored by VCU Athletics. Our goal was to make the

Robert Stepp, senior and fouryear tuba player for The Peppas

I also agree that the heart and energy of the band is missing. But the heart of the band wasn’t Ryan, it was us. Ryan did his best to shield us from how Athletics mistreated us, which allowed the band to flourish. But now that the director has been replaced by a yes-man, many of us (particularly the most talented performers) have gotten too disillusioned to give our 110%, or even have genuine fun with it. For me, the band has turned from something truly magical into just something interesting to do on the weekends.

Deidre Belcher, alumni and fan

It’s incredibly disheartening to read how these talented and dedicated students are being mistreated. As a VCU alumni and basketball fan, it’s been tragic to see our once nationally recognized band succumb to lackluster status. However, the greatest tragedy is the mistreatment of our students.

Siegel Center the best basketball environment in the country, and a big part of that involved working with the band on chants and ideas to make us a cohesive unit. Duane stopped caring about this effort once he took over and frankly seems to not really care about much of anything else.

Some people ask why I care so much, I was never in the band. Well, I love VCU as a whole and I think it’s the best university on the planet. I don’t like seeing injustice. Students not being able to speak freely and not getting scholarship money that they were promised from the band just isn’t fair. And no matter how many complaints come, Athletics does nothing. Yes it’s just a band, but for some students who aren’t in the music school, this is the only outlet they have to express themselves. For some students, its their passion. For Duane, it is not his passion and his attitude is only causing more problems for the band. Athletics knows it, and won’t do anything about it, mainly because of ego. I mean if they bow down now to all of the fans and students who have been complaining, how will it make them look?

Dylan Thomas, five-year Peppas member

The band has gone down in energy the past couple years, that’s been obvious to notice. But the band doesn’t sound bad. Everyone except for this one single clique is

saying we sound good...The article was an unfair representation of how the band is. I think it’s complete and utter lies, and plenty of people in the band will back that up...It’s one group that’s been causing all (the infighting)...Most of the band wants to move on. Ultimately, the cliquiness and infighting will disappear because we have so much positive energy coming into this band...The band is expanding rapidly, we’re getting better energy...Directors are always going to change, but if we have a good foundation of the band’s energy, any changes will go with it...Ryan isn’t coming back, and Duane isn’t forever. We need to move forward.

Leah Carmichael, three-year clarinet player for The Peppas

In the end, the band is whatever you make it out to be. I go there to have fun and so does my section, I always encourage them to get up, scream, dance and shout. If you’re not having fun, then that’s really on you. The band director can’t make you have fun...I just want to have fun.

Wilson Tolbert, senior tromboneplayer for The Peppas

I think it (the article) was a complete overreaction to the change in the organization...if you’re not communicating with us and show-

ing up to events, how can you be a part of any organization?...We’ve tried to be flexible and communicative with students to retain as many people that wanted to be in the band as possible...Most people just come to have fun and don’t get scholarship money out of this... we’ve tried to work with students and make (the band) accessible for everyone...From my personal standpoint I think Duane has been perceived wrong throughout the community — we’ve had a great relationship…he wants to continue the reputation, but he’s limited by all this drama.

Nico Roberts, sophomore and two-year Peppas member I think it was definitely a one sided article because it was only about people who were upset. I would argue the majority of the band is pretty satisfied being a member of the ensemble...A lot of the new members that have come in don’t have any grievances with Duane. Whereas the older members might have more of a bone to pick because of the differences in leadership, and I can’t speak on that...all of this culminates in prospective members thinking this isn’t going to be fun and seeing it as a place filled with drama. I don’t want people to get that image of us, because I don’t think that’s what we are.

Brunt, former assistant at Miami under Jim Larranaga, has joined Mike Rhoades’ staff to replace former assistant coach Jeremy Ballard, who took the head job at Florida International.

Former Director of The Peppas Ryan Kopacsi departed in 2016 after 18 years on Broad Street. Since, current and former band members say a “hostile” environment has developed.

Current director Duane Coston has led The Peppas since spring 2016.

I love VCU as a whole...I don’t like seeing injustice. Students are not being able to speak freely.

Summer Griffin, former Advisor for The Rowdy Rams Leadership Board

It is my privelege to work with a group of musicians as talented as The Peppas. It’s my mission to support our members.

Duane Coston, Band Director

The spectacle that is the NFL Draft

NILE MCNAIR

Contributing

Writer

It’s Christmas in the middle of spring for America. Football is the most popular sport in the U.S., and aside from the Super Bowl, the NFL draft is its most popular event. The draft is a spectacle to behold for a multitude of reasons including player interviews, fans’ passion and theatrical display.

Nile McNair, Contributing Writer

First, the buildup to the NFL draft is like none other in the sporting world. Every year you have the debate over who should be chosen No. 1 overall. This conversation is generally centered around the quarterback position. This year, the debate was about which one of the top four quarterbacks should be selected number one by the Cleveland Browns. In the end, it was Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma who went first overall — a shocker to many, because Sam Darnold out of the University of Southern California seemed to be the consensus No. 1 pick to NFL personnel around the league. Darnold ended up going third overall to the New York Jets. Prospects who enter the draft are scouted heavily for two straight

months — NFL teams want to know everything about a player before they draft them. Every time you turn on the television breaking news has been discovered that will either help or harm a prospect’s draft stock. Scouts not only want to know what you can do on the field, but what type of person are you off the field. During the interview process NFL teams ask very personal questions

According to reports, prospect Derrius Guice out of Louisiana

State University said he was asked highly controversial and insensitive questions during the interview process.

“I go in one room, and a team will ask me do I like men, just to see my reaction,” Guice said. “I go in another room and they ask, ‘Hey, I heard your mom sells herself. How do you feel about that?’”

Teams may probe too far into players personal lives behind closed doors, but the passion of NFL fans is what drives the draft — fans’

Baseball splits four despite 44 runs

ADAM CHEEK

Contributing Writer

It was a high-scoring week for the Rams if not a successful one, as VCU racked up 44 runs over four games, despite only winning two of those four matchups. The Black and Gold improved to 28-16, adding several homers and recording a pair of blowout wins over Davidson College and Longwood University.

Sunday

VCU suffered a disappointing end to a strong offensive week, falling to Davidson by a score of 13-9. Freshman utility player Hogan Brown recorded a four-for-five game, while senior infielder Daane Berezo drove in four of the Rams’ runs. VCU attempted to rally in the eighth, but left several runners on, only managing a run out of the effort. However, VCU continued to chip away, falling just short of a win to close out the week.

Saturday

Saturday’s matchup against Davidson proved to be the Rams’ largest win of the season, as the Black and Gold rebounded from a close Friday loss by scoring 14 runs. The 14-1 win was sealed by the second inning, as the Rams scored a run apiece in each of the opening two innings. VCU followed that up with 11 runs scattered over the fifth through the seventh frames and tacked on an additional run for good measure in the ninth for the final nail in the coffin. Davidson only managed a single run on the day, responding

to VCU’s three-run fifth with one of their own.

Senior pitcher Sean Thompson, coming off of a no-hit bid the previous weekend, put in eight innings of work while striking out six. He tied last week’s outing for his longest of the season, and also tied sophomore Conor Gillispie for the team lead in wins with six. Brown had a career day, reaching in all six plate appearances on three hits and three walks, crossing the plate four times. Senior center fielder Haiden Lamb, junior infielder Zac Ching, and freshman infielder Liam Hibbits each tallied two or more hits, while eight of the nine players added at least one hit over the afternoon. Sophomore infielder Paul Witt also drove in four runners, and Hibbits added his team-leading third home run of the season.

Friday

VCU scored nearly as many runs the night before, but fell short, as the Wildcats edged the Black and Gold in a 10-9 loss for the Rams. The opening half of Friday’s game had the Rams flying high, as VCU took a 7-2 lead through the first four-and-a-half innings. However, Davidson chipped away, with the Wildcats down 8-6 heading into the ninth. Senior infielder Mitchel Lacey added an insurance run for VCU, homering in the top of the final frame to put the Rams up by three runs.

The Black and Gold bullpen, however, imploded as the game neared its conclusion, surrendering four runs to give Davidson a walk-off win. Sophomore infielder Steven Carpenter recorded the

first four-hit game on the season for the entire team, driving in two runs, while Brown went three-forfive and crossed the plate three times. Lacey also drove in two, as did Witt, and Berezo added an RBI of his own.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s matchup against Longwood proved to be another blowout, as the Rams excelled on both offense and defense, emerging victorious with a 12-2 blowout over the Lancers. After scoring two runs without a hit, VCU proceeded to knock the ball around the park and put up a six-run first inning. The Black and Gold plated four runs in the third and two in the fourth, holding Longwood to only one more run for the duration of the game.

Hibbits reached base all three times on three singles, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice. Ching added a double, while Carpenter and Brown each racked up two hits, with Carpenter crossing the plate three times. Sophomore pitcher Hayden Moore hurled two shutout innings, tallying his third win in relief, with the entire pitching arsenal holding Longwood to three hits.

VCU faces the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia for the second time this season on Tuesday at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. The Rams routed the Cavaliers 11-3 earlier this season at The Diamond. Next weekend’s series will be a homestand against the University of Richmond, with Friday’s opener kicking off at 6:30 p.m.

hopes and aspirations for the future of their teams lay within the process. Supporters believe the players their team selects can lead to championships in the future. No matter how bad their team was the previous year, fans are optimistic that the draft can solve their team’s problems. For example, the Browns didn’t win a single game last season. But since they had the first and fourth pick in this year’s draft, Browns fan believe this was their year to finally turn things around.

Houston Texans’ superstar defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted out praise to NFL fans’ enthusiasm for the event.

“You gotta love NFL fans. There are thousands of people in a stadium right now to watch a guy read a name off of a piece of paper,” Watt wrote. “That’s crazy!! Much love to all the crazy, passionate, loyal fans out there.”

Location, Location, Location.

Where the draft is held each year is a major factor in why the draft is so

exciting. The NFL draft has been held in eight different cities since it first started in 1936, the most drafts being held in New York City. For the first time this year the NFL draft was held in Dallas, Texas, in AT&T Stadium, aka Jerry World. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ stadium is nicknamed Jerry World because it cost the business tycoon $1.15 billion to build and is considered the pinnacle of modern sports architecture with a staggering capacity of 100,000 spectators. The 2018 draft was held inside the stadium right on the football field where the Dallas Cowboys play each and every Sunday. What makes the draft truly special is the individual stories of each and every player who is eligible to be drafted Thursday through Saturday. Every year there is one player who beats the odds to be in the position to get drafted. This year that was Shaquem Griffin from the University of Central Florida. What makes Griffin’s story so unique is that he only has one hand. After amputating his left hand at the age of four due to amniotic band syndrome he went on to be very successful in college at UCF. The Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the fifth round on Saturday so he could go on to play with his twin brother Shaquill Griffin.

Every year the NFL draft brings about a lot of emotions; fear that your team will draft a bust and waste a pick on a no good player, optimism that one player selected on those three days could change your whole franchises future, and pure joy of knowing the draft just gets all NFL fans one step close to the first game of the season. The NFL draft is a win for all — a win for the fans, the teams selecting their next generations and the players who finally get to live out their life long dreams.

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Every time you turn on the television breaking news has been discovered that will either help or harm a prospect.

Junior infielder Zac Ching is hitting .237 this season with two home runs, 23 RBI, 22 runs scored and 6 stolen bases.

Lacrosse falls to GMU, regroups for A-10 tourney

Women’s, Men’s tennis capture A-10 titles

JESSICA WETZLER

Writer

Staff

Men’s tennis secured its second consecutive conference championship, while women’s exacted revenge against University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who defeated the Rams in last year’s title match.

throughout the tournament. Kostin praised his roster up and down following the title match.

“I think everybody played their heart out. After winning the doubles point, it helps, and the lower guys came through at 4, 5 and 6,” Kostin said. “I’m proud of the guys.”

Women’s

ZACH JOACHIM

Executive Editor - Elect

Lacrosse had a Saturday to forget in Fairfax, as the Black and Gold fell to the Patriots of George Mason University 23-8. Despite the letdown, VCU will go into the A-10 tournament as the fourth seed.

Junior midfielder Sky Hyatt recorded a brace to lead the Rams’ offensive efforts. With her second goal, Hyatt became the first Ram in lacrosse’s three-year history to

reach the 50-goal threshold.

Sophomore midfielders Keriann McTavish and Isabella Evans-Reister added a goal and an assist a-piece. Junior defender Morgan Hoff led VCU in ground balls with four. GMU outshot the Black and Gold 31-16 including a dominant 23-6 in the first half.

VCU will open the A-10 tournament against fifth-seeded Davidson Thursday, May 3 at 11:30 a.m. at Robbins Stadium on the University of Richmond campus.

Men’s

MEN’S WOMEN’S

VCU faced St. Joseph’s University in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Quarterfinals in Orlando, Florida Friday — the top-seed men’s tennis team dominated the Hawks, closing the match up 4-0.

VCU swept through 4,5, and 6 singles courts in straight sets with wins made by sophomore Javier Amantegui, freshman Inigo Torre Martin and sophomore Ignacio Rivero Crespo. Amantegui picked up his 17th singles win this year while Rivero Crespo picked up a win in the doubles to bring the score to four for the Rams.

On Saturday, the Black and Gold reached the A-10 Championship match for the sixth straight season after defeating the University of Richmond 4-1. Rivero Crespo and Martin claimed both singles and doubles wins to get past fifth-seed Richmond. Junior Arvid Noren clinched the win for VCU after winning a singles match.

The Rams kept on rolling in the final match of the tournament, defeating Dayton University 4-1 Sunday to capture their second consecutive A-10 title. Rivero Crespo racked up a pair of wins for the third straight match. Amantegui secured the championshipclinching point.

With the win over Dayton, men’s tennis advances to its 22nd NCAA Tournament in 28 years under head coach Paul Kostin. VCU’s depth stood out over the weekend, as the Black and Gold went a combined 7-0 on the 4, 5 and 6 courts

The women’s tennis team started early this week as they competed in the A-10 quarterfinals, defeating eighth-seed Fordham College to progress into the semifinals.

Leading the path to victory was freshman Paola Exposito DiazDelgado, winning her 17th singles match of the season.

VCU also received wins from sophomore Noumea Witmus in the singles and freshman Sofia Sualehe in singles and doubles.

Advancing to the A-10 Semifinals, VCU battled against fifthseed Richmond to come out with another win, sending the team off to the finals.

Diaz-Delgado, Witmus, and sophomore Kanako Yano won points in the singles matches while Diaz-Delgado, Witmus, freshman Marina Alcaide Bakkari, and freshman Sofia Sualehe won points in doubles. The Black and Gold continued their dominant weekend Sunday in the title match against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The Rams downed the Minutewomen by a 4-2 final to capture the 2018 Atlantic 10 Women’s Tennis Championship.

UMASS took the doubles point early on, putting all the pressure on VCU to pull out the title in singles competition. Junior Anna Rasmussen joined Sualehe, Witmus and Alcaide Bakkari with singles wins Sunday afternoon — all four were victorious in straight sets. With the win, the Rams exacted revenge on the Minutewomen, who defeated them last year in the A-10 title match.

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Lacrosse earned the fourth seed in the A-10 tourney.

Women’s tennis avenged last season’s defeat to UMASS in this year’s Atlanitc 10 title match.

PHOTO BY ERIC MARQUEZ

Movies to see during the summer 2018

SAMUEL GOODRICH

Staff Writer

With two weeks of finals standing in the way between you and your break, or your entrance into the real world, it can seem like there’s no hope. Well, I’m here to let you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, specifically a projector light. This summer is looking to give movie fans tons of options, and I’ve compiled a list of the most interesting and most anticipated movies coming out in the next four months. I can’t guarantee that all of these will be good, but I can say that they at least have good trailers.

Deadpool 2 (May 18)

Ever since the original “Deadpool” became a surprise hit in 2016, its sequel has been highly anticipated and highly teased. Only a few weeks away, “Deadpool 2” is looking to utilize its bigger budget and deserved self-confidence to make a more action-packed superhero movie. It it also looks like it’ll more fully embrace the goofy, crude humor the character it is known for. Even better, newcomers like Josh Brolin as the antagonist Cable and Julian Dennison playing Russell (whoever that is) will most likely bring some new laughs and exciting fights to the series.

Hereditary (June 8)

When “Hereditary” was shown at film festivals earlier this year and last, critics and audience members had nothing but overwhelmingly positive things to say, particularly in terms of how terrifying the film is. Following a family who discovers dark secrets about their recently deceased grandmother, the trailer is full of creepy imagery, upsetting scenarios and an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety.

Ocean’s 8 (June 8)

A sort of sequel/spin-off of the “Ocean’s” heist films from the 2000s, this entirely female casted heist blockbuster looks to recapture the magic from the original films.

“Ocean’s 8” touts an spectacular cast, including heavy hitters like Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway and Cate Blanchett. The trailer sells the stylish tone and sense of camaraderie the originals are known for, but hopefully this film can stand on its own and possibly produce a new series of tightly made and endlessly fun heist flicks.

The Incredibles 2 (June 15)

“The Incredibles” is one of, if not the best, Pixar movies and has been begging for a sequel for more than ten years. Almost 15 years later, the original writer/director Brad Bird has returned to bring the animated superhero family back to the big screen. While Pixar’s recent films have been hit or miss, and their sequels have been more on the miss side, “The Incredibles 2” has the talented and interesting world to make it near impossible to make a bad film. The talent and interesting world of “The Incredibles 2” mean it’s nearly impossible to make a bad film.

Sorry to Bother You (July 6)

After premiering at Sundance earlier this year, “Sorry to Bother You” quickly made a name for itself with its hilarious and bizarre marketing. The film follows a young Black man working in telemarketing who discovers an ability to modify his voice to sound like a White person, propelling him to success. The outlandish premise is enough to make this a must see, but the vibrant visuals mixed with the inventive filmmaking on display in the two-minute trailer alone cements this as a film not to miss.

Christopher Robin (August 3)

For a few years now, Disney has been revitalising their old properties, mostly with derivative remakes that change very little from the source material. Now we have “Christopher Robin,” a sequel of sorts to the Winnie the Pooh films where an adult Christopher Robin rediscovers Pooh in his time of need. While Winnie the Pooh was always part of my childhood, the mixture of live action and CGI in the trailer looks seamless and it’s guaranteed to make me bawl uncontrollably by the end.

Okay, Goodbye.

able course outside of academia can build you up in a fashion most wholesome. Or you can be someone that only writes for their classes, and see where that gets you, I don’t know. For me, academia had a habit of warping passion into painful obligation.

Enclosed environments based around common passions are fantastic. All you need in common here at the CT is curiosity. The birds will come flying backwards. Your unpredictable opportunities will arrive.

JESSE ADCOCK

Copy Editor

Odds are, here at the CT is where it starts. I’m sure there are many writers in college that don’t engage with their student paper. I’m sure there are birds that fly backwards. I’m sure there are fish without gills that hold their breath for their entire lives. There are instances of unpredictable courses and paths in all things. If I would say anything, it’s this: bet on a predictable course. If you want to write, you have to write. It sounds

intuitive. It’s not. Life has a way of making excuses for you. Getting yourself an arc and an outlet is essential. The CT can be that predictable course. It’s cute to play dumb and imagine yourself an unrealized genius, until you’ve run out of youth and time. Hangovers and backaches may evolve into real concerns. It may become ever harder to roll the rock back up the hill. If you come to college like me, as a 19-year-old, about as much use to anyone as wet toilet paper, you may find that slow burns are the best, that setting yourself on a predict-

In the meantime, if you work for the CT, you may teach yourself to write. Maybe you’ll win some awards, make friends and learn how to walk on your hands and perform other circus acrobatics—but if you teach yourself to write— that will be most important. And not just that kind of writing that’s for you, in those selfindulgent run-ons with too many adjectives. I mean write for an audience. For the ages. As high and far as your aspirations might reach, you’ve got to learn to put your right and good words down. Does this sound like projection? It is. This is as much a love letter to a younger me, thanking him for choosing the CT, as much as it is careful advice to anyone that’s young and wants to be a writer. To be a plumber, one must plumb. Is writing so different? Thank you to all of the sweet souls at the CT and the SMC for making it the haven that it is. I’m off to fly backwards now. Okay, goodbye.

Student exhibitions explore traditional and non-traditional spaces

GEORGIA GEEN

Spectrum Editor

VCUarts students from a variety of departments hosted exhibitions between April 27 and 29 to commemorate the end of the semester and — in some cases — to obtain professional experience in formal and informal venues.

Junior photography students planned and hosted “Up to No Good: A Photo Exhibition” on April 27 in a classmate’s home, as opposed to a traditional gallery space. Annie Hodgkins — whose work, “Her Deepest Exhaustion Part 3,” examines feminine presence in the traditionally masculine art world — said viewing work in a nontraditional space can provide room for more interpretations.

“For me, I think it works so well. I love a good gallery space, but they’re so sterile and galleries are

made for nothing else to be there to distract from what the art is,” Hodgkins said. “Seeing it in a different space can make it more approachable and also give it a different context.”

Hodgkins’ described her work as “hyper-conceptual,” with abstract touches of the feminine hand throughout sculptural elements. One of the way this theme appears is through paint brushed across the sculpture; this is a challenge to the norm, she says, being that most classical painters are men.

“What I’m trying to do is make these huge, giant installations and make characteristics that could be considered masculine, like really large things that dictate the space you walk in,” Hodgkins said. “But I want them to have the feminine hand throughout them.”

“Up to No Good” was independent of VCUarts, which made it

more “grown-up,” Hodgkins said. It wasn’t required by any class, the students wanted to celebrate the work they’d done throughout the semester.

“For the most part, I think most shows I see are affiliated with VCU,” Hodgkins said. “We created our own gallery space in one of our classmate’s house, that’s where it lies unique from anything I’ve seen.”

Maya Jackson, who also featured work in the exhibition, was inspired by having grown up in Richmond in the creation of her three untitled projections and one print.

“All the places where I film animation in are places I would go growing up,” Jackson said. “I feel like part of the work has to do with feeling trapped or feeling stuck in one place.”

Jackson said having the exhibition in a person’s home limited the possibilities for experimentation,

but made the planning process interesting. Many of her peers took the unique venue into account when coordinating their pieces, she said.

Like Hodgkins, Jackson felt the independent nature of the show was a helpful experience for the students.

“I think sometimes artists think about exhibitions as being scary or monumental or a lot of work to do by yourself but we really did just do it by ourselves,” Jackson said. “I think it’s cool that we can all come together, having a bunch of different ideas to make one show, one exhibition.”

In a more traditional route, senior Painting and Printmaking students began planning their show, “Business Casual,” at the beginning of the semester, which student Benjamin Winans said is an essential experience for art students.

“This one is much more of a realworld practical thing, how to deal with people, how to actually make

contacts, use contacts,” Winans said. “Those things are really key to being an artist and existing outside a school.”

Winans said the exhibition’s venue, Main Street Station, where the exhibition was displayed between April 27 and 29, added weight to the event. It gave an opportunity for non-art students to view the work and add their perspectives, he said.

“In the Fine Arts Building we hang stuff up on the tall white walls all the time to have it judged by other students and teachers,” Winan said. “It’s more of a gravity to it.”

VCUarts graduate student Johannes Barfield used domestic and organic materials in his sculptural work, “My Eyes Due See” to counteract the harsh environment of a traditional gallery. The work is part of the second round of the MFA Thesis exhibition, which opened at

The Anderson on April 27 and will remain on display until May 12.

“When I go into gallery spaces a lot of times, I don’t see people that look like me,” Barfield said. “When I go into gallery spaces, there’s a coldness that happens a lot of times.”

Barfield used objects that evoked a sense of his experiences with family as a child, juxtaposed with a video examining objective reasonableness, which gives parameters to when police can fire on a suspect. He said the MFA program has helped him examine materials more specifically, including those based in his own experiences and those of others.

“I’ve definitely evolved,” Barfield said. “I think I definitely owe that to my time here.”

“Up to No Good” exhibited works in a student’s home, while the MFA Exhibition and “Business Casual” utilized The Anderson and Main Street Station.

Students educate on fashion industry’s ethical concerns

The rise of fast fashion — a term encompassing brands like H&M, Forever 21 and Zara — has led to humanitarian and environmental concerns which VCU fashion students addressed on April 23 as part of Fashion Revolution Week.

Members of VCU Assistant Professor Tammy Davis’s Survey of the Fashion Industry course stood around campus with signs in an effort to educate students on the fashion industry’s negative effect on the environment and abuses faced by factory workers.

“They went to thrift stores or they went to their closets and pulled stuff that they had not looked at in years and remade it into something that they could and would wear

again,” Davis said. The fashion industry is the second biggest polluter after oil. Davis said becoming aware of the environmental impact has led her to think harder about her purchases.

Pesticides used to grow cotton used for garments and runoff from factories are some of the ways fashion pollutes in the production stage.

Discarded garments accumulate in landfills — the U.S. discards about 25 billion pounds of textiles per year, and 85 percent of that ends up in landfills, according to the Council for Textile Recycling.

This problem is perpetuated by the high rate at which North Americans purchase clothing due to the low prices offered by many retailers.

“Because we are able to purchase some of it so cheaply, we tend to purchase more. And by purchasing

more, we’re not necessarily putting more money into the economy because it’s not being made here,” Davis said. “The cost of making it is so cheap it becomes disposable.”

Fashion Revolution Week was started in response to the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 people in 2013. Davis says consumers should take steps to investigate the brands they purchase from to see if they provide fair wages and conditions for their workers. Companies in developed nations should take initiative to better these conditions, she said.

“We’re the ones paying these workers, essentially,” Davis said. “We’re hiring them for their abilities and we have a responsibility to make sure they’re paid living wages.”

Davis suggests upcycling one’s

Local musicians light up RVA All Day Block Party

own wardrobe by mending and making simple modifications like adding patches or buttons as a way to decrease pollution. Thrifting is also an option for purchasing new clothing, instead of going to retailers that attract students with their low prices.

“You can look presentable for less money and at the same time there’s less textile waste going into the environment,” said sophomore fashion major Marisa Tortora, one of Davis’s students. “A lot of the stuff you donate actually doesn’t end up in a thrift store, it ends up in a landfill in some foreign country.”

High volume donations to developing nations overwhelm local markets. Contrary to popular belief, these items aren’t always given away freely, but sold to retailers that charge for the goods.

“They will have to salvage through those [items] as jobs, but then it ends up killing the local fashion industries,” Tortora said.

Social media, particularly Instagram, has impacted the fashion industry through consumer culture, Tortora said.

“It is an art form, but with fast fashion coming in, it’s becoming less of an artisan craft and more of something we constantly consume,” Tortora said. “It’s easy to get an Instagram model to take a picture with something and then all of a sudden everyone wants that thing.”

Ethical Style Collective, a Richmond group founded this year, hosted a talk on ethical fashion at Verdalina boutique alongside the owner, Deborah Boschen. She opened the store five years ago with a focus on environmentally-friend-

ly and ethical fashion.

“I never really wanted to sacrifice style for sustainability,” Boschen said. “I wanted beautiful clothes, I wanted the quality to be there, I wanted the style to be there.”

Boschen said she always asks brand representatives about the origins of the garments before purchasing, a practice she says they “are kind of funny about,” sometimes because they might not even know the details.

Boschen also makes an effort to make the entirety of Verdalina environmentally friendly by reducing packaging materials and recycling.

“It’s not just the brands, it’s what you can do as a business to be sustainable,” Boschen said.

QUENTIN RICE

Contributing Writer

The Broadberry hosted the RVA All Day Block Party on April 28, an all-day music festival featuring performances from local acts such as Dharma Bombs, Night Idea, Angelica Garcia and NO BS! Brass Band.

Dharma Bombs opened up the night of music with their first performance in Richmond since December. They played the hits from their debut album, as well as a new song from their planned sophomore record.

Armed with banjos, mandolins, a double bass and a new drummer, the band kicked off the night with upbeat Appalachian Dixieland, borrowing sounds from the Appalachian mountains and the streets of New Orleans. It was an appropriately quaint start for the show.

New drummer Austin Tekamp gave the band a sound that more closely identified them with jazz. The crowd danced away and sang along to tunes like “Abigail” and “Sunny Always.” The group closed with their driving and explosive “Apocalypse Now,” priming the audience for Night Idea’s dizzying rhythms.

Night Idea took the stage, featuring auxiliary percussion from Reggie Pace of NO BS! Brass Band. The band treated the crowd to some

dizzying math rock grooves and epic musical climaxes. Their odd time signatures created some very interesting grooves, and their solos were impressive, if a bit lengthy. They closed with their single “Canopy” and its disorienting guitar solos over a steady and true six-string bass made for a fantastic performance.

People in the crowd ranged from ages 5 to 65 and were quintessentially Richmond: dyed hair, tattoos, colorful floral clothes and, more often than not, a PBR in hand.

Angelica Garcia soon took the stage, adorned in a flowing black and orange kimono. Draped over her mic were a floral bandana and a string of artificial orange flowers, similar to the ones on her dress and emblematic of her song “Orange Flower.” Hers was far and away the most visually impressive act of the night.

Garcia entranced the crowd with her haunting wails and bluesy fingerpicking. Backed by a guitarist, drummer and synth player, Garcia established herself as one of the most eclectic acts of the night. Even her soundcheck, for which she created a vocal loop in a vaguely arabian scale, captivated me. She closed with a solo performance composed completely on the spot with vocal loops as blue fractals of light danced behind her, creating the most beautiful and artful im-

age of the night.

The crowd filled up quickly as stagehands and band members set up for NO BS! Brass Band to take the stage. Everyone stood shoulder to shoulder, anxiously anticipating the moment that Richmond’s premiere brass band would bring it home.

The lights came alive as the band delivered the tight brass riffs and the driving tempos they’re known and loved for. The crowd was electric. People were singing along with the lyrics or scatting the horn licks. Tunes like “Run Around” and the band’s bombastic take on “Take On Me” had bodies jumping and voices shouting. These guys are more than musicians; they’re entertainers.

Their performance of “RVA All Day,” the festival’s namesake, was rightfully an absolute banger. The call and response section of the song was symbolic of the whole night, which had been a rambunctious and intimate celebration of some of Richmond’s finest musical talent.

Between songs trombonist Reggie Pace said “we should make this an annual thing.” Hopefully that is the consensus, and Richmond has another great music festival to look forward to every year.

GEORGIA GEEN Spectrum Editor

Students in assistant professor Tammy Davis’s Survey of the Fashion Industry course made garments out of clothing they thrifted or retreived from their closets.

Angelica Garcia’s performance was the most visually engaging of the RVA All Day Block Party.

opinions

Quote of the week

“Can you swipe me?”: The underlying problem with dining plans

AMNA KAYANI

Contributing

Writer

Freshman year of college is full of monumental events and firsts — moving into the dorms, getting a roommate and, let’s not forget, the freshman fifteen, which is fueled by the dining plan.

The meal plans are required for all freshmen who live on campus and include both swipes and dining dollars. The default for incoming students is a 200 swipes and 300 dining dollar plan. The swipes are

used at swipe exchange locations such as Market 810 and Bleecker St. The dining dollars can be used at participating retail locations like Chili’s. The problem with the dining plans is not that they are mandatory, but that the options are excessive and expensive.

The default dining plan I mentioned earlier, which according to VCU dining services, is also the most popular plan, costs $2,032 per semester. It’s a high cost for a meal plan that does not transfer onto the

next semester. It may not seem like a big deal, but for students who are first generation or from low income families, it adds up. It could end up being the reason they don’t live on campus, which isolates them from the first-year experience. The options aren’t great either. VCU has 23 campus dining locations which can get repetitive really fast when you take into consideration the limited hours in which these places accept swipes. For example, Canes only accepts swipes after 5 p.m and Chick-Fil-A only

Organizing for a better world on May Day

JIMMY O’KEEFE

Contributing Writer

In 1886, the working class decided May 1 wasn’t going to be like any other day. Rather than work their usual long hours in harsh conditions, the working class took to the streets and began to strike.

Thanks in part to their efforts during this strike, the eight-hour work day was implemented, and demands for a series of other progressive workplace reforms were set into motion. To commemorate the strike that occurred in 1886, labor activists began celebrating International Workers Day, or May Day, each year to bring attention to the plight of the working class.

Perhaps it seems pointless for many of us to observe May Day, but we are living during a time when labor organizing can be useful in improving lives in materialistic ways. When the working class organizes into unions, they are able to effectively demand higher wages, more comprehensive benefits and safer, more pleasant workplaces. Since these are things that most people deal with every day throughout their lives, everyone would be able to see significant, tangible improvements in their lives.

The benefits of unions are clear.

According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, workers

who are unionized typically receive 20 percent higher pay than workers that are not unionized. In addition to higher pay, unionized workers also tend to receive more comprehensive health benefits. Unions also played a central role in creating safer workplaces, establishing reasonable work hours, and abolishing child labor.

The recent teachers strikes in West Virginia and Oklahoma illustrate the value of unions. In West Virginia, teachers realized they were not being fairly compensated for their valuable labor. They organized a statewide strike that shut down every public school for nine days. Through this direct action and organizing, the teachers were able to see real results: a 5 percent pay raise. The West Virginia teachers strike set an example in other states throughout the country, most notably teachers in Oklahoma, who also went on strike for nine days. The Oklahoma strike won an additional $479 million in school funding for students and teachers.

Labor organizing has also been talked about frequently at VCU this year. In December, a protest was held in support of the art program’s adjunct professors, who were requesting to be paid a living wage. Though this situation has yet to be resolved, organizing a union is one way in which adjunct pro-

fessors can fight for higher wages and benefits. This illustrates how unions and other forms of organized labor can work to create a positive difference in people’s lives. Oftentimes, it seems as though the only way to make a change is through the political process. While working within the confines of the political arena certainly has its benefits, working for reform in the workplace is one way that many people can experience positive change in their daily lives. The best way to reform a workplace is through a union, as it allows for workers to collectively bargain for the changes they wish to see the most.

Rosa Luxemburg, a German political theorist, wrote about the significance of May Day in one of her earliest essays, writing, “when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance, then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honor of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past.”

May Day should be observed as a day to rally behind organized labor in their pursuit for a better workplace, and thus a better world. This year, May Day is intended for action so next year May Day can be centered around celebrating a world that is more fair, more safe and more equal.

accepts swipes on Saturdays.

I’m not arguing that we should get rid of the dining plan for firstyear students, as I do believe it is a viable option for students. However, if VCU is going to require first-year students to buy a large amount of swipes that must be used in the duration of one semester, they either need to provide us with more dining locations, or they need to allow more flexibility when it comes to how many swipes you are required to buy along with your housing.

Other schools such as Virginia Tech, which was ranked No. 2 by Niche in 2018 for “Best Campus Food,” have adopted a different type of dining plan. Although students living on campus are still required to buy a dining plan, it is affordable and practical. The major flex plan offered by Tech, which costs $1,739 a semester, essentially works as a debit card, allowing students to eat whatever they want at all dining locations. Students with the plan receive meals at a 50 to 67 percent discount at dining centers,

for example a meal that retails at $11.95 at the dining center will cost a student with a major flex meal plan only $3.95. Not only does this allow for flexibility and options, but the Tech meal plans also carry over from the fall semester to spring. I’m not arguing VCU should have the same dining plan as Tech, but I would encourage VCU to reevaluate its current meal plans to better fit VCU students.

SOPHIA

BELLETTI Executive Editor

I’ve been staring at a blank Google doc with the taxing spacebar flashing at me for about 20 minutes. I get it. It’s 6:30 p.m. on Sunday and I still need to write this sign off before sending out my very last issue of The Commonwealth Times — but how do I articulate all my feelings about a 10 page piece of paper that has consumed my life for eight semesters?

I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with this sign off. Do I want to be sarcastic and witty, or should I just flood this page with my sappy feelings about how I’ll “never work in an environment as indescribable as this one”? — I’ll try to go the middle route.

When I first arrived at VCU in August 2014, I never imagined my life would revolve around the CT for eight whole semesters and I certainly did not anticipate every weekend of my junior and senior year would be engulfed by editing copy until my eyes bled, and nonetheless, I would not want to wrap up college any other way.

I’m not sure what most CT readers think goes on inside the windowless room that is the CT production room, but it’s definitely not what I imagined when I first sought out a position with my college newspaper. When editors’ and writers’ eyes stop bleeding from reading hours of copy and designers’ hands aren’t cramping from moving copy and fixing orphans, we’re taking two

minute dance breaks, singing karaoke, watching last night’s SNL clips and planning the “lunch move.”

The production room isn’t full of grey cubicles, corded phones or stacks of anonymous tips like in “The Post” or “All the President’s Men.” Instead, the room is a conglomerate space of random desk chairs, photoshopped pictures of various staff members and a painted canvas painted by our very own Copy Editor, Jesse, which serves as our window and provides metaphorical sunlight.

I’ve never thought of myself as the “mom friend” in any group I’ve been part of. I trip a lot and drop my phone in the toilet. I get distracted by every little thing on the street and bring home random trinkets I find. Every other sentence I say turns into word vomit because I have so much to say but struggle to get it out.

But this year I became a mom to over 15 staff members. I gained a family of 19 to 30-something year old children who I would do just about anything for — whether that is staying up hours after I planned to go to bed on a Tuesday to copy edit their artist statement for class, piling six of them into my car to drive them home in the rain at 2 a.m. or driving them outside of Richmond to pick up something from Craigslist.

My time here has been the experience of a lifetime. There have been an ungodly number of times

I’ve wanted to kick, scream, quit and cry but the silver lining is, that

number is overshadowed by the amount of love I have for this paper and staff. The number of times this staff has made me laugh until I cry and my stomach hurts. By how proud I am when I watch a writer’s skill set grow. When members of the staff bring home awards from the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. I got so much more out of this job than I ever imagined I would.

I got to interview professional athletes and fly to Salt Lake City, Utah for the NCAA basketball tournament. I learned how to handle a budget and hire people. I learned what goes into advertising and how to fix kerning on InDesign. I learned I love drawing comics even though I can’t draw for shit (thanks Ryan).

I couldn’t be more excited to pass the torch of Executive Editor over to my former Sports Editor compadre, Zach. Dude you’re going to kill it and yes, I’ll come in for the first issue when InDesign crashes at 11 p.m. and you’re scrambling to put the paper back together.

Four job titles, eight semesters, 116 issues and over 150 articles later. Thank you, The Commonwealth Times and the Student Media Center, for giving me another family and consuming my entire weekend countless times. I’m not much of a crier on the outside (it makes my head hurt and my contacts stick to my eyes) but my heart is definitely crying as I finish my last CT production.

“Perhaps it seems pointless for many of us to observe May Day, but we are living during a time when labor organizing can be useful in improving lives in materialistic ways.” — JimmyO’Keefe

ILLUSTRATION BY ALLISON VERJINKSI

Last CT Comic by Jacque Chandler

VLP by Adam Goodman

Executive Editor Sophia Belletti bellettisr@commonwealthtimes.org

Managing Editor Fadel Allassan allassanfg@commonwealthtimes.org

Creative Director Desiree Choe choeda@commonwealthtimes.org

Copy Editor Jesse Adcock adcockj@commonwealthtimes.org

News Editor SaraRose Martin martinsr@commonwealthtimes.org

Sports Editor Zachary Joachim joachimz@commonwealthtimes.org

Spectrum Editor Georgia Geen geengr@commonwealthtimes.org

Opinions Editor Katie Bashista bashistakp@commonwealthtimes.org

Illustrations Editor Iain Duffus duffusim@commonwealthtimes.org

Photgraphy Editor Erin Edgerton edgertonee@commonwealthtimes.org

Staff Writers Siona Peterous peterous@commonwealthtimes.org

Sam Goodrich goodrichs@commonwealthtimes.org

Jessica Wetzler wetzlerjg@vcu.edu

Nia Tariq tariqny@vcu.edu

Saffeya Ahmed ahmedss2@vcu.edu

Staff Columnists Shaun Jackson jacksonsk@commonwealthtimes.org

Staff Illustrators Steck Von huangw2@vcu.edu

Yewei Wang wangy52@vcu.edu

Allison Verjinski verjinskiaf@vcu.edu

Jacque Chandler chandlerja@vcu.edu

Outreach and Marketing Intern Dina Alemu alemudd@commonwealthtimes.org

Social Media Specialist Phoebe Lake lakepa@vcu.edu

ABOUT THE CT

Four years later ... by Sophia Belletti

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Commonwealth Times. Unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of The CT staff. The Commonwealth Times strives for accuracy in gathering news. If you think we have made an error, please email the appropriate section editor. Corrections will appear on the opinion pages and/or online. One CT per person. Additional copies can be purchased at the Student Media Center for $1 each.

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