Quinnipiac Spring Concert took place this Saturday at the Quinnipiac People’s United Center. The 3-hour concert was presented by the Student Programming Board and hosted Blackbear and Bryce Vine as the artists.
Even though SPB’s intentions to bring people into the concert were good, not too many students attended the event.
“I wasn’t really interested in Blackbear, he’s just not someone I want to see perform, and I know two of his songs and stuff like that so it just didn’t appeal to me,” Quinnipiac student Sarah Boulanger said.
“I didn’t know who they were, I was like who’s Blackbear? I’ve never heard of him…” Quinnipiac senior Tommy Yang said.
Although some of the students that went to the concert had a good time, they felt bad for the artists due the lack of audience.
“I mean I thought it was quite sad at first to walk in and only see half of the audience and no one sitting down,” Quinnipiac student Anna Walmsley said.
Students also mentioned last year’s artist Khalid as a huge success. “When Khalid came it was completely packed, and there was a line outside the door to get in whereas this year there was no line or anything, it was just easier to get in” Walmsley said.
“I was kind of expecting more people going, apparently a lot more people went to last’s year concert Khalid, but it’s also Khalid, everyone knows who Khalid is,” Yang said.
Students like Boulanger hope that next year’s artist will be more appealing to Quinnipiac: “hopefully someone that appeals to Quinnipiac more, Blackbear is someone that was top chart once in 2017 or 16, or something like that, he hasn’t really being around since then, so hopefully someone a little more hipped up I guess.”
The university recognizes the need to advance inclusion initiatives in strategic plan proposal.
By Caitlin Fish
Abby Marton experienced a self-described culture shock when she arrived at Quinnipiac University in 2016 and found that the school did not reflect the world she understood.
“Coming here there was a culture shock on every level,” Marton said. “I noticed a lack of diversity right away. When I first got here I worried that I wouldn’t fit in. Everyone seemed tied together from home, there are mutual friends everywhere.”
Abby Marton, 21
Marton, a senior marketing major from Manhattan, New York, explained that she attended a diverse high school, The Bronx High School of Science, which exposed her to many different cultures and ways of seeing the world. Quinnipiac, in Hamden, Connecticut, did not reflect that diversity.
“I wouldn’t say white was the minority at my high school but it definitely wasn’t the majority,” Marton said. “I learned a lot about different people’s families and backgrounds, whether that be food, language or religion. It was just so immersive.”
Isaiah Nieves, a senior film major from Manchester, Connecticut, likewise noticed the sharp distinction between what he experienced in a high school teeming with racial and ethnic diversity and what he saw at Quinnipiac.
Nieves explained that he grew up around racial and class diversity and that he compares his experience attending high school to attending Quinnipiac as night and day.
“Considering that this school is a private school, it’s going to attract a certain crowd of people who can afford it,” Nieves said. “There is not much diversity on campus at all.”
Isaiah Nieves, 22
Marton and Nieves are not alone in describing Quinnipiac as an institution that is lacking in diversity. The school remains largely white despite efforts to shape the student body into one that reflects the changing demographics of the United States.
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report from 2018, the United States is projected to continue becoming a more racially and ethnically pluralistic society. By 2045 Non-Hispanic whites are no longer projected to make up the majority of the U.S. population.
“By 2020, fewer than one-half of children—49.8 percent—are projected to be Non-Hispanic white,” the report states.
Students find that the troubling lack of diversity extends to the people who teach them and keep the university operating.
An informal survey sent out by email to Quinnipiac students who belong to multicultural organizations on campus revealed that 70 percent noticed that lack of diversity in the faculty and staff.
“I think the professors are less racially diverse than the student body,” Issac Bauer, a junior communications major from White Plains, New York, said. “It makes me happy to see that there are a lot of women professors, but in education, it is important to have teachers of all different backgrounds.”
Isaac Bauer, 20
According to data on racial demographics cataloged on the university’s website, white students make up three-quarters of the undergraduate population, while data obtained by HQ Press from a faculty member who requested to remain anonymous reports that white faculty members make up more than three-quarters.
Pie charts outlining the racial demographics of the undergraduate population and fall 2018 full-time faculty at Quinnipiac.
Bar graph outlining the racial demographics of 2018 full-time faculty members by school.
Students have mixed opinions regarding the university’s attempts to increase diversity on campus. The informal survey of Quinnipiac students reports that 57 percent have noticed efforts by the university to increase diversity while 42 percent have not.
Quinnipiac President Judy Olian references diversity as a transformative element in her strategic plan proposal released in January to build what she described as a “university of the future.”
The plan recognizes that Quinnipiac needs to improve in that area.
“We are not yet where we need to be as an inclusively excellent institution–not in faculty or staff, not in students or alumni, not in programming,” the strategic plan states. “We aspire to be more.”
The university appointed Donald C. Sawyer III as chief diversity officer in 2018. Sawyer, a Quinnipiac sociology professor, is tasked with advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives and putting in place action steps to get there.
“My job is to create a plan that partners with other people on campus to do the work of inclusive excellence,” Sawyer said. “The role is to work as a community, that’s faculty, staff and students, to bring about a campus that is inclusive for all people. Some people assume that my job is just here for students of color. That’s not it. It’s for all people.”
According to Sawyer, one of the ways the university is planning to address this lack of representation in the faculty is by diversifying its applicant pools when hiring for a new position.
“We have to be looking at ways to diversify our applicant pools, he said. “Not necessarily telling people who to hire. But, how do we make sure that when we are hiring for a position that the pool is representative of the diversity that exists in that particular discipline.”
Sawyer explained that not every school has a chief diversity officer, but he expects the position to become more common as it is important for universities to increase diversity and inclusion in order to stay competitive.
“Universities see that diversity is not just about doing it because it’s a good thing and feels good, it is to make sure they’re going to be the universities that survive,” Sawyer said. “To prepare so that they’re not going to be behind the curve. If you look at the students that are coming, you have to prepare for that representative diversity that we’re seeing in the K-12.”
Sawyer explained that a big part of his job is educating students about the differences between the terms diversity, inclusion and equity because a lot of people use them interchangeably.
“When we talk about diversity, we’re just talking about the representative, the numbers,” he said.
Inclusion goes hand in hand, as it is the active engagement with that diversity.
“Getting people here is pointless if you don’t have anything in place to make people feel welcomed and a part of the campus community,” he said.
The equity aspect is more complicated, as it works to remove obstacles and improve access for underrepresented students, according to Sawyer.
Xi Chen, associate professor of sociology at Quinnipiac, said she believes a historical denial of education for underrepresented students and weak points in the U.S. education system both contribute to the lack of diversity at the university.
Chen explained that public schools are funded by local and property taxes, so schools in poor or urban areas do not receive as many resources or as much funding as they do from affluent neighborhoods. In order to become a college student, you have to have been prepared along the way to even be able to apply, and many under-resourced schools do not deliver in this aspect.
“Students from the under-resourced schools are competing against the students in resource schools for the same seats in colleges,” Chen said. “If you have those obstacles in the way the system is set up for some people to be more successful than others.”
Chen said that she believes even with financial aid and scholarships, the cost of tuition prevents a more diverse applicant pool.
“Tuition for this university is very expensive and is geared toward New England North-Eastern upper-middle-class,” Chen said. “There is a huge racial gap in terms of what type of family can afford it due to social inequality in class and wealth.”
Although the university lacks in representative diversity, some students believe it is beginning to make inclusion a priority.
According to the informal survey of Quinnipiac students, 73 percent of respondents said they believe the university supports an inclusive environment.
The university has 17 student-run cultural and identity groups on campus that frequently hold events, open to everyone, aimed at educating students about different cultures, religions and ways of seeing the world.
Christina Ojo, a junior biology major from Providence, Rhode Island, is involved in many of these groups, including the African Caribbean Student Union, Black Student Union, Latino Cultural society and the Asian Student Alliance. However, she said that she does not believe the greater population of Quinnipiac recognizes these organizations.
“I don’t think Quinnipiac does enough to even get at why these organizations are important,” Ojo said. “I appreciate that we are, at the very least, here. I think the responsibility of educating is left to the students of diverse realities. It’s gaslighting.”
Christina Ojo, 20
Chidi Nwuneli, a junior political science major from the Bronx, New York, has attended many university events put on by the multicultural organizations but does not believe many students respond to the invitations.
“Quinnipiac does try (to be more inclusive) but I feel like students aren’t receptive because it’s not something they grew up around,” Nwuneli said.
Chidi Nwuenli, 20
Diversity on campus is not just about having students of color, according to Nwuenli. It is also about having students who have grown up around students of color because then there will be more diversity in thought.
“Accepting of change is hard, so I think it more falls upon where they’re recruiting people from,” Nwuenli said. “I heard President Olian said she wants to recruit more people from Florida, Texas and California. When you have more people from urban centers mixing with people who are from mid-sized small-sized towns, people start to become more open-minded and friend groups become more diverse.”
According to the informal survey of Quinnipiac students, 64 percent of respondents said they do not believe the general student population is interested in learning about diversity and inclusion.
Anytime Quinnipiac wants to get something done, such as the Big Event or Qthon, it uses Greek Life, according to Nwuenli. He said that he believes the multicultural organizations should belong in this partnership.
“Greek organizations should work with the multicultural organizations, it’s something that I’ve been saying since freshman year,” he said. “That’s the only way you can have exposure for both of them. If there is an event hosted by a sorority and the African Student Union, both groups will be there and you get to meet new people and create those bonds.”
Julia Miles, a junior nursing major from Oakland, New Jersey, said she believes that a majority of the students at the university do not seek out information about diversity and inclusion because it does not affect them directly.
“I think the school could integrate this type of education into the academic experience because most students who are not underrepresented won’t pay attention unless it is put in front of their faces,” Miles said.
Julia Miles, 20
Miles explained that in her nursing classes aspects of diversity and inclusion are incorporated into many of her projects.
“It’s clear that our program wants to create nurses that are aware of the world,” Miles said. “When doing projects, there is a component that requires us to include some cultural or religious factors that may affect treating the patient.”
There are many benefits to a diverse atmosphere and the students at Quinnipiac may be missing out on opportunities to become more aware of the world, according to Marton.
“It’s a huge way for people to connect, to diversify your school of thought even, Marton said. “It’s so unhealthy and ignorant to think that the way you grew up and what you know and what you’re familiar with is the only way to do things. You’re missing out on literally an entire world of different experiences and it’s a shame.”
Increasing diversity on campus is not just about doing something for the greater good, it is necessary for an environment to thrive, Sawyer said.
“It benefits all who are involved,” Sawyer said. “When we have diverse teams we solve more problems. We can attack more issues that are facing us as a society. So it goes beyond just something that feels good. This is important for the future of our institution.”
The university is in the process of putting numbers to the strategic plan, developing a budget and a fundraising goal, according to Sawyer.
“We’re looking at creating different types of admissions and outreach programs to get Quinnipiac on the radar in different parts of the country,” Sawyer said. “We’re looking at different types of student populations, veterans, people who have been historically underrepresented in higher education, people who transfer from community colleges. Diversifying faculty and staff in order to attract more people.”
Quinnipiac has been criticized for catering to its white population while disregarding the needs of underrepresented students. According to Sawyer, the university is on a path to changing this.
“If you want to see if something is important to an organization you look at the budget. So, the fact that inclusive excellence is in the strategic plan is one of the first markers that let you know hopefully were serious about this,” Sawyer said.
Protestors from Hamden and New Haven are continuing to march for Stephanie Washington, a 22-year-old woman who was shot and put in the hospital by Hamden and Yale Police officers.
Protestors are demanding that the investigation of the officer-involved shooting be transparent, that the officers involved, Devin Eaton and Terrence Pollock, be immediately fired and that all body and dash cam footage be released to the public.
Protest sign
Hundreds of Hamden and New Haven residents gathered in front of Hamden Police Department Friday, April 19 as protests continue for the fourth day following a string of protests that began three days prior.
Protestors met at Hamden Plaza where they marched up Dixwell Avenue, about 1.6 miles, to Hamden PD to protest the Hamden and Yale PD officers’ shooting that put Stephanie Washington in the hospital.
This protest is a follow up to the one that happened in New Haven on Thursday night, which lasted from 5 p.m. until midnight.
Protestors shut down several streets, first marching from Elm Street to College Street and then lingering at the intersection of College and Crown Street. New Haven Police blocked traffic from the site and rerouted cars around it. Police closed Exit 1 off of I-91 South to keep vehicles away from protestors.
Police close exit 1 off of of I-91 South
Gabby Veron, a 21-year-old Yale student said that she protested all night and will continue to march against police brutality.
“We have to recognize the act of violence that was committed by police against a young black woman in our community,” Veron said. “I’m here tonight to make it known that we will not accept this, we cannot turn a blind eye and we want answers.”
Yale students and New Haven residents stand at the intersection of College and Crown Street in New Haven.
Hamden Officer Devin Eaton and Yale Officer Terrence Pollick fired 12 rounds into a vehicle of which Washington was a passenger of.
Washington did not suffer life-threatening injuries and continues to recover in a local hospital, while the driver, 21-year-old Paul Witherspoon, was not wounded, according to an article by ABC News,
The article states that the shooting unfolded after Hamden police responded to a call of an attempted armed robbery at a gas station in Hamden. Officers Eaton and Pollock blocked the vehicle that Washington and Witherspoon were in because it matched the description of the one leaving the scene.
Footage from a nearby surveillance camera, obtained by WTNH-TV, shows Officer Eaton jumping out of his vehicle and firing rounds into the driver’s side window.
Protests first started to break out on Tuesday, as dozens of community members and Black Lives Matter protestors rallied outside the Hamden Police Department, according to an article by NBC Connecticut. On Wednesday protestors gathered outside the house of Yale President Peter Salovey.
“I write this evening to assure you that Yale will cooperate fully in the investigation that the Connecticut State Police and the State’s Attorney’s Office are conducting, Salovey said in a statement issued Wednesday. “when they have finished, and we can have access to the evidence, we will also conduct our own investigation into this matter. As the primary investigation proceeds, we will share whatever information we can as quickly as we can about the circumstances of the shooting.”
In response, New Haven and Hamden mayors and police chiefs addressed the officer-involved shooting at a press conference on Wednesday night.
New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said she believes the incident is unacceptable, According to an article by WNPR,
“This incident portrays police activity gone horribly wrong,” Harp said at the press conference Wednesday. “And now Stephanie as well as many residents, her family, her friends, must live with the consequences and the resulting uncertainty of what was by every definition an unacceptable response.”
The article said Hamden Mayor, Curt B. Leng, said the state needs to complete the investigation to ensure justice is done.
“If there’s any resident or business that has any information regarding this incident, whether they’ve seen something, heard something, or most importantly, possibly, if they have any video evidence — please bring it forward,” Leng said.
With hometown roots grounded in Hamden, Jen Hudak has gone on to become an American freestyle skier. She is a two-time world champion and has secured five X-Games medals, four national titles and was an ESPY nominee. After several injuries, Hudak retired from her career as a professional skier and now serves as a life coach to help retired athletes in transition. In 2018, Hudak appeared on the 30th season of The Amazing Race with teammate Kristi Leskinen, finishing third. The two became the first team to place in the top three for all 12 legs of the competition and hold the record for the highest average score of any female team in all 30 completed seasons.
“I’ve been with the Hamden fire department 16 years, 8 years in the firehouse and 8 years in the fire marshal office. I was watching a documentary, after 9/11, on firehouses and FDNY and it seemed like a rewarding career. I like the comradery and decided that after I got my master’s I would enroll in EMT school and pursue this career. Any call we go on, we’re responding to a crisis situation and you’re trying to bring the most positive outcome possible. Something bad’s happening and you try to make the situation better than what it was before the call started. There was one (a fire) in my neighborhood, an old friend’s house I had been in plenty of times and I was new. I was told to go to the roof. We cut holes in the roof to vent out the heat for the crews going inside with the hoses. When you’re in the moment we all have a healthy fear and respect of fire. You’re also focused on the task at hand so you don’t think about, well it’s always in the back of your mind, that stuff can go bad.”
Three members of Quinnipiac’s senior management team will be leaving the university, according to an email from President Judy Olian to faculty and staff Wednesday, April 17.
Vice President for Public Affairs Lynn Bushnell, Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Don Weinbach and Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Greg Eichhorn announced their intentions to depart from the university following Executive Vice President and Provost Mark Thompson’s decision to leave to become President of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.
Bushnell is retiring June 2019 after 25 years with the university.
Weinbach is retiring June 2020 after 24 years at the university.
Eichhorn is leaving June 2019 as well, but with intentions to continue admission efforts for the entering class of 2019/20.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will have many opportunities to express our gratitude to Mark, Don, Lynn and Greg for their dedicated service and impact at Quinnipiac,” the email read. “They have meant so much to our institution, and to our students, staff and faculty. We wish them the very best in the next chapters of their lives.”
President Olian came into her position in July 2018. Since then four total members of the senior leadership team have announced their leave from the university, but Bushnell said this is not surprising.
“I don’t know that it’s a total coincidence,” Bushnell said. “I think that people always expect a lot of turnover when a new president comes in. You know he or she always wants their own people in place. My good fortune is that it coincided with my own plan or that my own plan coincided with her arrival.”
While some of the other departures may have come as a surprise to Quinnipiac community members, retirement has always been in the plans for Bushnell.
“My plan has always been to retire this June,” Bushnell said. “My husband and I, when we first learned when John Lahey was intending to retire, I made the decision that I would see him out and see the new person in for a year and assist in that transition and then I would ‘vamos.’”
In her 25 years with the school, Bushnell has been accredited with advancing the university’s national visibility and overseeing the growth of key units of the school including the Quinnipiac Poll, amongst many other things. Reflecting on her time here, it felt only fitting to see out longtime President Lahey and welcome in President Judy Olian to Quinnipiac and her position.
“I think I’ve done a good job with that [the transition] and get President Olian inaugurated and get through all of the final commencements cause it’s such a crazy season,” Bushnell said. “Then I’ll go off into the sunset at the end of June.”
Before she can go off on her fairytale ending, Bushnell must see through one of her last major tasks – President Olian’s inauguration. Former President Lahey held the position for 31 years so for many, if not all of the administrators, this is the first inauguration they had to plan.
“I’ll feel better when we’re on the other side of the inauguration,” Bushnell said. “That’s a big deal and none of us have done one before cause John was here for so long.”
While Bushnell has spent a quarter of a century on campus, her Bobcat roots run deeper than administration.
“I love this place. I have three children, all three of them have attended at least part of their educational career here,” Bushnell said. “I have very fond memories, not just as an employee, but as a parent.”
With three weeks left of the semester, Bushnell is nostalgic wrapping up her time at Quinnipiac, but looking forward to retirement.
“I would like to travel a lot and I think I’ll probably move to Boston for a year,” Bushnell said. “I posted on Facebook today a memory that I had posted six years ago that ‘I will always be a bobcat.’ So, I will be.”
Protestors gather in front of the Hamden Stop & Shop at 2335 Dixwell Avenue as the strike continues for the eighth day.
Stop & Shop employees across New England began their eighth day of strikes today against the billion dollar corporation whose new contract proposal would significantly decrease their healthcare and retirement benefits as well as their take-home pay.
“They’re trying to double and triple what we pay every week,” Joe Renaldi, assistant grocery manager at the Hamden Stop & Shop, said. “They’re trying to double and triple our deductibles that you have to hit before they’ll cover it (medical expenses). They want to make Sunday a regular payday (as opposed to paid overtime).We can’t stand for it.”
Over 31,000 workers across 249 stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts took part in the strike.
Jorge Cabrera, The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) representative for the striking workers said, “This strike is about basic dignity and respect. This is a multi-billion dollar company that made $2 billion in profits last year, and got a huge over $300 million tax cut,” Cabrera said. “All we’re asking is to make sure that they keep these workers with good health insurance, a decent pension so they can retire, and good wages so they can provide food for their families.”
Jorge Cabrera (Left) and Joe Renaldi (Right) pose for a picture in front of the Hamden Stop & Shop location.
Other labor Unions such as The American Federation of teachers (AFT Connecticut) and The American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees (Council 4 AFSCME) came out on Monday, April 15, and donated $2,500 each to a fund supporting the striking workers. Others have also brought food, drinks and other supplies to help those on the picket lines.
Jan Hochadel, the president of AFT Connecticut said, “We are proud to stand with the 31,000 members of UFCW on strike across New England. They deserve to maintain what they’ve worked so hard to achieve — a middle-class life for their families,” Hochadel said. “When a profitable corporation like Stop & Shop tries to rob its employees of their shot at the American Dream, our members will rise up in solidarity. That’s what the ‘U & I in Union’ is all about.”
Hochadel and Jody Barr, the executive director of AFSCME, both have said that their respective organizations will donate $500 per week to the strike fund. They will also reach out to other labor unions to solicit donations for the striking Stop & Shop workers.
“These union members are taking a bold and courageous stand for workers everywhere,” Barr said. “Their fight for a fair contract and for dignity on the job is our fight. Our union members stand behind them because we recognize that we are in this together.”
AFT Connecticut and AFSCME both donated $2,500 each to the strike fund in support of the protesting Stop & Shop employees.
The support from the unions collectively has been overwhelmingly positive and their contributions up to this point have not gone unnoticed, said Jessica Petronella, UFCW Local 371 organizing director.
“We are incredibly grateful to Council 4 and AFT Connecticut for their generous contribution to the joint strike fund,” Petronella said. “This flood of support shows New England is a place that values hard-working union families and believes workers have earned the right to build a better life and community.”
Despite the efforts of the unions to support the picket lines, the workers are hoping that the strike will end soon so that they can get back to doing their jobs.
Renaldi said, “We want to go back to work. Everybody wants to work. But we can’t afford to take the cuts and everything that they want to do. We just want a fair contract.”
The general public might not understand why these workers are protesting instead of working. But for many of these employees, the proposed changes will change the course of their lives for the foreseeable future.
Renaldi said, “It’s all the health care and the retirement and all that. They just want to kill it. I mean I’m going to be retired in like four years, five years. Its big for me. It’s big for a lot of people here.”
Stop & Shop released a statement on its website acknowledging the strike and admitted that it’s not “business as usual”. The grocery store chain went on to say that it is hopeful that the two sides can come to an agreement in the near future.
“Stop & Shop recognizes the valuable role our associates play in creating a great experience for you, our customers. They are a part of your lives, a part of our community, and key to our success. That’s why it is so important to us to provide a fair contract to our employees who are members of the UFCW unions currently on strike,” the statement said. “We are committed to resolving our labor negotiations as quickly as possible so that our employees can return to their jobs and we can get back to serving you and the community.”
Asked how long the workers would continue to fight for a new and improved contract, Cabrera said, “As long as it takes.”
Quinnipiac Public Safety stands by the suspicious individual in the cafeteria.
(Photo: Cait Fish)
A suspicious white male caused a scene in the Mount Carmel Campus cafeteria after attempting to sell bagged white powder to Quinnipiac students Tuesday, April 16. Matthew Allen, a New Haven resident according to his Facebook profile, was surrounded by Public Safety officers in a booth in the cafeteria where they confiscated and searched his bag, witnesses said.
Quinnipiac Public Safety confirmed that the powder was not an illegal substance, but rather an energy powder. Allen was arrested and issued a no trespass order by Quinnipiac that he signed.
“It wasn’t drugs,” Public Safety Officer Lieutenant Don Distefano said. “It was a substance called Bang Energy Powder that he put in different bags and tried selling at $80 a bag.”
A member of the Hamden Police Department Records Division said that the last he heard, the substance was not illegal, and a police report is currently being filed and will be available in five to seven days.
Allen posted Tuesday morning stating his intentions to head to QU and ‘pitch’ to students the substance.
“Getting banged up before heading to Quinnipiac College to “pitch” and con gullible coeds into sleeping with me,” the post stated.
Allen then followed his initial post hours later with visuals of the powder and of himself sitting in the cafeteria.
“If anyone at Quinnipiac University wants to try Bang Energy Powder for free I’m here waiting in the dining hall while everyone ignores me except the coeds in their skintight yoga pants who keep eyefucking me,” the post read. “I’m not actually looking for sex but I am looking to make money off a high quality product I invested in. I’m charging Yale students $80/bag not everyone, fwiw.”
Screenshots of Matthew Allen’s Facebook page in which he mentions attempting to sell Bang Energy at Quinnipiac and explains the substance.
The campus breach comes only months after Uber driver Sean Brozek was arrested with stalking, threatening and trespassing onto the Mount Carmel campus for following a female student to her dorm. At that time, the Public Safety Department issued a ‘timely warning’ regarding the ongoing investigation to students via the university alert system, forwarding students to their MyQ account for more information.
Distefano explained that this was not the case this time around because Allen did not serve the same kind of threat that Brozek had.
“Based on a person’s behavior we do a threat assessment and we determine, ‘Is this an isolated instance we have at this moment or is it a threat to the community?’” Distefano said. “The threat assessment [in this case] was very low. He wasn’t targeting anyone specific, was in one place, wasn’t violent, was very cooperative and clearly had mental health issues.”
The Quinnipiac Annual Security and Fire Safety Report breaks down the specifics of why a ‘timely warning,’ like the one issued last November, would be issued to students, faculty and anyone subscribed to the university alert system.
“The university does not condone actions that are detrimental to the school’s resources, facilities, community members or image, or those that violate applicable laws or school policy,” according to the 2017 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report of the Mount Carmel and York Hill campuses. “A ‘timely warning’ will be issued in the event that a situation arises, either on or off campus, that in the judgment of the chief of public safety or his/her designee, constitutes an ongoing or continuing threat criminal in nature.”
In Brozek’s case, Public Safety was unaware of the situation until after Brozek had entered campus, followed a specified student to her dorm, harassed her and then left without notice. Allen, on the other hand, was sighted and reported immediately by officers who responded with Hamden PD to remove and arrest him in a timely manner that, once detained, was no longer deemed a threat to the Quinnipiac community by Public Safety.
“The past instance he was focusing on a specific student, penetrated the campus in the form of a dorm and left before we were notified,” Distefano said. “This person yesterday wasn’t.”
In wake of these incidents, students have begun to question their safety at the university when it comes to intruders.
“It was odd because there was this older looking man sitting in the cafe, surrounded by public safety officers,” junior biology major Matthew Williams said. “Whether it ended up being cocaine or an energy powder doesn’t matter to me. What was concerning is the fact that this man easily obtained access to our campus, despite the fact that we have Public Safety.”
Allen has been contacted, but has yet to respond with a comment.
Stay with HQ Press for further updates and details as they become available.
A Hamden PD officer speaks with an individual in violation of distracted driving.
(Photo: Sam Bashaw)
“Black Honda Pilot, AL, white male, texting, right hand, right lane.”
This is the call Captain Ronald Smith makes to four police officers a block away from his undercover position in front of the Hamden Plaza. Sergeant Gregg Curran, of the Hamden Police Department Traffic Division, slows down the traffic on Dixwell Avenue, pulls over the Honda Pilot driver and writes him a $150 ticket for texting while driving.
During the month of April the Hamden PD and the Connecticut Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office are partnering with the United States Department of Transportation for their national “U Drive — U Text — U Pay” campaign, according to a press release sent out by Hamden PD.
This means that a heavier police squad presence around town, namely at the intersection of Sherman and Whitney Avenues, in front of Hamden Plaza and the intersection of Whitney and Mount Carmel Avenues, will be watching and ticketing drivers utilizing their phones.
“(The campaign) is all throughout the state,” Smith said. “We regularly participate because our numbers and the amount of tickets we’ve given out have been enormous.”
The Hamden PD has been participating in the “U Drive — U Text — U Pay” campaign for several years and its most recent venture in August of 2018, produced more than 600 issued tickets in less than a month’s time.
“It’s been a constant flow,” Smith said of the number of cars his officers have pulled over in the first two hours of their four-hour shift. “(The no texting while driving law) has been on the books for several years and people just don’t abide by it and think it’s not a big problem.”
During the campaign, Hamden PD rotates two, four-hour shifts every day from Monday through Friday. One officer will dress in plain clothes as the ‘spotter,’ who inconspicuously radios a violation to a team of three to four officers in uniforms and police cars about a block or two down from the spotter’s location.
Each officer helping in the campaign is compensated in the form of overtime that comes from a grant provided by Connecticut Department of Transportation.
“The sad thing is that when we don’t have the grant we don’t have the manpower to enforce this specific law,” Smith said. “Officers on the street here have so many other things to do and they don’t have a lot of time to look for distracted driving, they’re going to calls and other things, accidents, etc…. Unfortunately, budgetary constraints and things like that make it difficult. (The grant) is nice because it doesn’t really affect the taxpayers in town.”
Andrew Tran, a 29-year-old from West Haven, was pulled over on April 15 while Smith and his team were doing checks.
“It sucks, but I wasn’t texting,” Tran said. “I was holding it, but I wasn’t using it, but I get why I was pulled over.”
Tran was unaware of the $150 ticket he would receive after getting caught. Under Connecticut’s cell phone and texting law, a second violation doubles to $300 and then to $500 for each subsequent offense, according to the Department of Transportation.
“I think a warning would’ve been nice,” Tran said. “I’ve never gotten stopped before so now I’m aware of it.”
However, Smith thinks that issuing warnings or reducing the fines would not be a smart decision.
“Obviously, the $150 ticket isn’t a deterrent enough,” Smith said. “(For example), if lawmakers decided that if you were to utilize the cellphone while driving, then your license would be suspended for three months or a short period of time.”
This solution wouldn’t solve all their problems, but Smith thinks it is one way to prohibit drivers from breaking the law repeatedly.
Marlo Wehrer, a 21-year-old Quinnipiac University athletic training major from Pequannock, New Jersey was pulled over on April 10 for texting while driving. She was stopped on the corner of Whitney and Mount Carmel Avenues, having no idea why she was getting pulled over.
“Literally between the time of me pulling out of North Lot and getting to the stop sign at New Road, supposedly there was someone there who had seen me on my phone,” Wehrer said. “When I kept driving toward the light, I thought there was an accident because so many cars were pulled over to the side, there were at least four or five cars already.”
Although she disagrees with her ticket, Wehrer will not go to court to petition it because she is from out of state and does not think the fine amount was unreasonable. “I was OK with it because it’s not a crazy amount of money,” Wehrer said. “I’ve heard people getting tickets that are much more expensive and as well, sometimes an event like this you would get points off your license, so I’m super thankful I didn’t get points off.”
Wehrer’s biggest quarrel with the “U Drive — U Text — U Pay” campaign is the location Hamden PD is choosing.
“I wouldn’t say that I am against (the campaign), but the fact that they’re sitting (near) a college campus; I feel like that’s kind of dumb,” Wehrer said. “Why are you attacking these kids who are paying so much money to go to that school anyway? We’re not just people who are working who have money to throw around like it’s nothing. So I think that’s messed up and I know a lot of people were upset by that and seeing how many people they had pulled over, they must have made so much money. It was crazy.”
However, Smith sees Quinnipiac students as a large demographic of distracted drivers in Hamden and pulling them over is keeping the public safer.
“For Quinnipiac students, a lot of them are on their phone,” Smith said. “I don’t know what their state laws are but I believe they’re the same, I’m certain. It’s quite a problem with Quinnipiac students and in the past there have been accidents and fatals; people crossing Whitney Avenue, not paying attention.”
Graphics: Aliza Gray
In 2007, Jennifer Herschkowitz, a Quinnipiac University freshman, was walking across Whitney Avenue and was fatally hit by a car while she was on her cell phone. For Smith, it’s not just about making sure the drivers are safe, but the pedestrians are too.
“We’ve been very vigilant about the campaign because it has affected our community,” Smith said. “I consistently read reports where distracted driving was the cause of an accident. A woman was crossing the street at one of our summer concerts last July and a distracted driver killed her. She had a family and kids.”
For Wehrer, getting a ticket has made her more aware of not touching her phone while driving.
“It definitely made a mark on me,” Wehrer said. “It’s a huge problem that people are texting and driving and you see awful things that occur with people being on their phone and getting in these crazy accidents. This definitely showed that to me, and I think other people would be the same way.”
Although the “U Drive — U Text — U Pay” campaign ends April 18, it will start up again at the beginning of August and continue for years to come, according to Smith. Smith’s advice for drivers is to simply obey the law and pull into a parking lot or off to the side of the road if they want to send a text, or even better, put their phone in the back seat of the car.
“There have been people who have been seriously injured and killed, families who have lost loved ones over something as stupid as responding to a text, and that’s very sad,” Smith said. “Our officers respond to scenes like that and it’s something you’ll never forget and it’s for what? To text someone that you’ll be there soon? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
At 8 p.m., ballots closed. 8:30 p.m. No phone call. 8:45 p.m. The phone rings. Austin Calvo lunges for his cell phone. Just a friend. Not the person he hoped for, not the person he needs. Fifteen minutes pass. No call. Thirty minutes. No call.
9:45 p.m. The phone rings again. This time, it was Quinnipiac University’s current Student Government Association President Ryan Hicks. The moment Calvo was waiting for. His anxiety washed away.
He did it. He won.
Quinnipiac Student Government Association President-elect Austin Calvo
(Photo courtesy: SGA)
On Wednesday, April 10, the Quinnipiac student body elected Calvo, a junior political science major, as its next SGA president. Calvo has broken the mold as one of the first openly gay SGA presidents to be elected.
Joining Calvo on the executive board as vice president-elect is a second openly gay member of the LGBTQ+ community, Sophia Marshall. Along with Calvo and Marshall, the student body elected two people of color, Esau Greene, vice president-elect of student experience, and Jamien Jean-Baptiste, vice president-elect of marketing and public relations, making this one of the most diverse executive boards in Quinnipiac history.
“To have two out, proud people of the LGBTQ community and to have two proud black men on this executive board is amazing,” Calvo said. “This is the most unique SGA I’ve ever seen and I’m really excited to see what we can bring.”
The road to the office was not an easy one for Calvo. His sexuality was never something he wanted to hide and with it so openly on display, Calvo experienced slight pushback from members of the Quinnipiac community.
On the day of the executive board debates, one of Calvo’s campaign posters was defaced with homophobic remarks. Calvo received a call from Hicks informing him that the posters had been immediately taken down.
The comments affected Calvo’s confidence during the debates later that day. Calvo said he felt as if he needed to dial back aspects of his personality. He didn’t even feel comfortable bringing up his bright yellow water bottle covered in stickers for fear of appearing gay.
“It’s just something you’re always conscious of,” Calvo said. “You always have to be aware that you’re not the norm.”
According to Lindsey Downey, the sophomore president of Quinnipiac’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, visibility of the LGBTQ+ community is necessary to eliminate homophobia like which Calvo experienced.
“A lot of hurtful actions that people say or do (come) from a place of ignorance,” Downey said. “They don’t know or they weren’t exposed to (LGBTQ+). If you’re not exposed to people of the LGBTQ community, if you don’t know people of color or what their culture is, the queer culture or any other culture, there’s no way to know what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
But Calvo refuses to let negativity about his sexuality affect him. His passion for student government and advocacy drove him to push through this homophobia.
Hicks explained that it was difficult to make that call and tell Calvo his posters were defaced, but added that Calvo’s tenacity was inspiring.
“It was heartbreaking to see that picture and it was heartbreaking to deliver that news,” Hicks said. “But I don’t think that that should really be the story, I think the way Austin handled that news and said, ‘This isn’t going to be something that I stop fighting for,’ I think that’s what should be focused on … Austin’s rebound to it and his continuation throughout the week.”
Instead of quitting, Calvo learned to adjust his campaign strategies. He made it his mission to seek out the opinions of the heterosexual males with whom he struggled to connect. He began to realize that the student body cared less about his sexuality and more about his ideas and how he could affect the university.
Throughout his first few years at Quinnipiac, even with slight resistance from a very small percentage of the student body, Calvo has been able to embrace every aspect of himself.
“It was just so nice that over these past three years I have unapologetically been myself,” Calvo said. “I have shared every view I have in class, any opinion I have with my friends and people around me, I have never been scared to step down.”
Sophomore Sophia Marshall, the SGA vice president-elect and also a member of the LGBTQ+ community, has faced less resistance than Calvo. As she puts it, she has the benefit of looking straight. There were points when Marshall herself questioned what people would think of her because of her sexuality. But she has ensured that what represents her are her ideas.
Unlike other members of LGBTQ+, she feels that, even among those who do not support her, she at least commands respect.
“I think even in my experience, some of the people who don’t accept the way that I am, which is very, very, very seldom, even those people will respect my work ethic and will come to me regardless because they know that I can get things done,” Marshall said.
Quinnipiac Student Government Association Vice President-elect Sophia Marshall
(Photo courtesy: SGA)
Marshall believes that the results of this SGA election are reflective of the progressiveness of Quinnipiac’s student body, of its faculty and of its community as a whole. The students backed ideas and chose their elected officials based on campaign platforms, not on sexuality.
“I think it kind of goes to show that Quinnipiac is moving in a more progressive way, which is really exciting,” Marshall said. “And I think the other thing is, I’m really proud of the fact that I’m super gay.”
Downey agrees and hopes that Marshall and Calvo can serve as inspirations for members of Quinnipiac’s LGBTQ+ community to feel more comfortable with their sexualities.
“Austin and Sophia are both very open about their identity within the community, which is amazing,” Downey said. “There are so many LGBTQ faculty, staff, students here, but to have them sort of like front and center is nice because people can look at them and be like, ‘they’re here.’”
But how will this diverse new e-board have an impact on the student body?
With new voices and perspectives on SGA’s executive board, the student body population, as a whole, has a voice. According to Calvo, advocacy for minority groups becomes stronger when minority groups have representatives speaking up for them specifically.
“It gives almost every niche community of Quinnipiac a voice in the room,” Calvo said.
The next few years of Quinnipiac’s future will be full of change. With a new president, Judy Olian, and with the introduction of her strategic plan, SGA will need to advocate for the students more than ever.
The newly elected executive board represents members of the LGBTQ+ community, it represents people of color, it represents women and it represents men. But more importantly, the board is full of passion for change and advocacy. It’s full of passion for Quinnipiac’s students. As the current e-board steps down, Hicks said he is more than confident that he’s leaving SGA in the hands of a new group of leaders that has every student at Quinnipiac in its best interest.
“When I look at how eager they are and how enthusiastic they are and how passionate they are, it just shows how much they want this and how much they want to represent and advocate for the students.”
